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 BY JEREMIAH CHAPLIN. 
 
 LtFE OF CHARLES SUMMER. With an Introduction by Hon. 
 Wm. Claflin, late Govemot of Mass. Finely illustrated. i2mo, cloth. 504 
 pp. Price 1.50. 
 
 Extract from a letter of the poet, JOHN G. WHITTIER, to Messrs. D. Lothrop 
 & Co. " / have to thank you for a copy of the 'Life of diaries Sumner, ' by 
 y. andy. D, Chaplin. I have read it with much satisfaction* It seems to me 
 to five as full and adequate an account of the great senator as could well be 
 Compressed in a volume of its size. I shall be glad to see the every way creditable 
 volume you have just published "widely circulated and -widely pondered by the 
 founf men of ow country." 
 
 LIFE OF BExyAMix FRANKLIN, izmo, cloth, illustrated. 
 
 Price $ 1.25. 
 
 At a leader of men, an inventor, an editor, a man of ideas, a humorist, and 
 publicist, Franklin is without superior. It gives us pleasure to invite attention 
 to Mr. Chaflin' i admirable biography of this famous A merican. Thert are 
 Urger works upon his life, but none better. EPISCOPAL REGISTER. 
 
 J. HE AlEMORIA L IIoUR ; or, TUB LORD'S SUPPER IN ITS RELATIC 
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 FROM THE 
 
 WHITE HOUSE 
 
 OB, SELECTIONS FROM THE 
 
 SPEECHES, CONVERSATIONS, DIARIES, LETTERS, AND 
 
 OTHER WRITINGS, OF ALL THE PRESIDENTS 
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 COMPILED BY 
 
 JEREMIAH CHAPLIN. 
 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY, 
 
 32 FKANKLIN STREET. 
 1881.
 
 COPYRIGHT, 
 
 1881, 
 BT D. LOT1IUOP & CO. 
 
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 MS Wuhknffc* St., Botton. 
 
 8IMKOTTPW) AT THE DOCTON 8TIUCOTTPK FOCNDKI, 
 
 No. 4 PKAKL STRKCT.
 
 TO 
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD, 
 
 WORTHY SUCCESSOR 
 
 TO THE BEST WHO HAVE PRECEDED HTM IN THE 
 HIGHEST OFFICE OF THE REPUBLIC, 
 
 IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. 
 
 MARCH I, 1881.
 
 THE PRESIDENTS. 
 
 FROM 1789 TO 188192 YEARS. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, Virginia, 1789-1797 8 years. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS, Massachusetts, 1797-1801 4 years. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, Virginia, 1801-1809 8 years. 
 
 JAMlIo MADISON, Virginia, 1809-1817 8 years. 
 
 JAMES MONROE, Virginia, 1817-1825 8 years. 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, Massachusetts, 1825-1829 4 years. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON, Tennessee, 1829-1837 8 years. 
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN, New York, 1837-1841 4 years. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, Ohio, 1841 1 month. 
 
 JOHN TYLER, Virginia, 1841-1845 3 years and 11 months. 
 
 JAMES K. FOLK, Tennessee, 1845-1849 4 years. 
 
 ZACIIARY TAYLOR, Louisiana, 1849-1850 1 year, 4 months, 
 
 6 days. 
 MILLARD FILLMORE, New York, 1850-1853 2 years, 7 months, 
 
 22 days. 
 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE, New Hampshire, 1853-1857 4 years. 
 JAMES BUCHANAN, Pennsylvania, 1857-1861 4 years. 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, Illinois, 1861-1865 4 years, 1 month, and 
 
 11 days. 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON, Tennessee, 1865-18693 years, 10 months, 
 ^^~ and 17 days. 
 
 yLYSSES 8. GRANT, niinois, 1869-1877-8years. 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, Ohio, 1877-1881 4 years. 
 
 JAMES A. GARFLELD, issi- 
 
 6
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 THE present volume is not intended to be so much 
 a contribution to political science, as to exhibit aa 
 interesting phase in American histor} T , as it appears in 
 the opinions, upon a variet} T of subjects of general 
 interest, political and otherwise, of the men who, dur- 
 ing the period of nearly a centuiy, have successively 
 reached the highest position in the Republic. It is an 
 occasion for just pride for ourselves, and cheering 
 anticipations for mankind, that, bej'ond all precedent 
 in ancient and modern times, in the regular succession 
 of rulers, the chief magistrates of the United States 
 have all been men of fair reputation and abilities, and 
 many of them men of superior intellectual capacity 
 and singular devotion to the interests of humanity and 
 freedom. This fact speaks loudly in favor of popular 
 self-government, as opposed to hereditary rule. In 
 this important respect, as in other ways, the people 
 have never failed to show their capacity to manage 
 their own affairs. And the history of the past fur- 
 nishes a guarantee, that no man of feeble ability or
 
 8 PREFACE. 
 
 questionable morality can hereafter gain the suffrages 
 of the free citizens of America, to represent and exe- 
 cute their will in the highest office in their gift. 
 
 In the case of two or three of the Presidents, the 
 selections from their writings are necessarily brief and 
 unsatisfactory ; but for the rest, more abundant mate- 
 rial has enabled us to present their opinions with 
 sufficient fulness. 
 
 It is proper to state that for the conversations of 
 General Grant, we are indebted to a work of much 
 interest and value "Around the World with General 
 Grant in 1877-1879," by JOHN R. YOUNG. J. C.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 I. GEORGE WASHINGTON 11 
 
 II. JOHN ADAMS 45 
 
 III. THOMAS JEFFERSON 88 
 
 IV. JAMES MADISON Ill 
 
 V. JAMES MONROE 127 
 
 VI. JOHH QCINCY ADAMS 133 
 
 VII. ANDREW JACKSON . . . . . .176 
 
 VIII. MARTIN VAN BUREN 186 
 
 IX. WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON .... 195 
 
 X. JOHN TYLER 202 
 
 XI. JAMES K. POLK 205 
 
 XII. ZACHARY TAYLOR 210 
 
 XIII. MlLLARD FlLLMORB 212 
 
 XIV. FRANKLIN PIERCE 217 
 
 XV. JAMES BUCHANAN 219 
 
 XVI. ABRAHAM LINCOLN 223 
 
 XVII. ANDREW JOHNSON . . . . . . 284 
 
 XVIII. ULYSSES S. GRANT 292 
 
 XIX. RUTHERFORD B. HAYES 347 
 
 XX. JAMES A. GARFIELD 388 
 
 9
 
 " THERE is not, perhaps, one sovereign of the Continent who, 
 in any sense of the word, can be said to honor our nature, 
 while many make us almost ashamed of it. The curtain is 
 seldom drawn aside without exhibiting to us beings, worn out 
 with vicious indulgence, diseased in mind if not in body, the 
 creatures of caprice and insensibility. 
 
 " On the other hand, since the foundation of the American 
 Republic, the chair has never been filled by a man for whose 
 life, to say the least, any American need to blush." London 
 Morning Chronicle, after the death, of Adams and Jefferson, 
 
 " Every four years there springs from the vote created by 
 the whole people a President over that great nation. I think 
 the world affords no finer spectacle than this : I think it affords 
 no higher dignity that there is no greater object of ambition 
 on the political stage on which men are permitted to move. 
 You may point, if you like, to hereditary royalty, to crowns 
 coming down through successive generations in the same fami- 
 lies, to thrones based on prescription or on conquest, to sceptres 
 wielded over veteran legions or subject realms, but to my 
 mind there is nothing more worthy of reverence or obedience, 
 nothing more sacred, than the authority of a freely chosen 
 magistrate of a great and free people." JOHN BRIGHT, Speech 
 at Rochdale, Eng.,*Dec. 4, 1860. 
 
 10
 
 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 BORN 1732; DIED 1799, AGED 67. MAJOR IN 1751. MEMBER 
 OF PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA. COMMANDER- 
 IN-CHIEF OF THE CONTINENTAL ARMY, JUNE 15, 1775. 
 RESIGNED HIS COMMAND, DECEMBER 23, 1783. MEMBER 
 OF THE CONVENTION WHICH FRAMED THE CONSTITU- 
 TION, 1787. PRESIDENT, 178&-17OT. 
 
 [To Captain Robert Mackenzie, of Virginia, who had 
 written to Washington from Boston, September 13, 1774, 
 complaining of the province of Massachusetts as aiming at 
 " total independence," and that " the rebellious and numer- 
 ous meetings of men in arms, their scandalous and ungen- 
 erous attacks upon the best characters in the province, 
 obliging them to save themselves by flight, and their re- 
 peated but feeble threats to dispossess the troops, have fur- 
 nished sufficient reasons to General Gage to put the town 
 in a formidable state of defence, about which we are now 
 fully employed, and which will be shortly accomplished, to 
 their great mortification."] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 9 October, 1774. 
 
 DEAR SIR : Your letter of the 13th ultimo, from 
 Boston, gave me pleasure, as I learnt thereby that 
 
 you were well, and might be expected at Mount 
 
 11
 
 12 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Vernon, in your way to and from James River, in 
 the course of the winter. 
 
 When I have said this, permit me, with the 
 freedom of a friend, to express my sorrow that 
 fortune should place you in a service thut must fix 
 curses to the latest posterity upon the contrivers, 
 and, if success (which, by the by, is impossible) 
 accompanies it, execrations upon all those who 
 have been instrumental in the execution. 
 
 I do not mean by this to insinuate that an officer 
 is not to discharge his duty, even when chance, 
 not choice, has placed him in a disagreeable situ- 
 ation ; but I conceive, when you condemn the con- 
 duct of the Massachusetts people, you reason from 
 effects, not causes ; otherwise you would not won- 
 der at a people, who are every day receiving fresh 
 proofs of a systematic assertion of an arbitrary 
 power, deeply planned to overturn the laws and 
 constitution of their country, and to violate the 
 most essential and valuable rights of mankind, 
 being irritated, and with difficulty restrained from 
 acts of the greatest violence and intemperance. 
 For my own part, I confess to you candidly, that 
 I view things in a very different point of light 
 from the one in which you seem to consider them ; 
 and though you are led to believe by venal men, 
 for I must take the liberty of so calling those new- 
 fangled counsellors who fly to and surround you, 
 and all others who for honor or pecuniary grati-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 13 
 
 fication will lend their aid to overturn the consti- 
 tution, and introduce a system of arbitrary gov- 
 ernment, although you are taught, I say, by 
 discoursing with such men, to believe that the- 
 people of Massachusetts are rebellious, setting up 
 for independency, and what not, give me leave, 
 my good friend, to tell you that you are abused, 
 grossly abused. This I advance with a degree of 
 confidence and boldness which may claim your be- 
 lief, having better opportunities of knowing the 
 real sentiments of the people you are among, from 
 the leaders of them, in opposition to the present 
 measures of the administration, than you have 
 from those whose business it is not to disclose 
 truths, but to misrepresent facts in order to jus- 
 tify as much as possible to the world their own 
 conduct. Give me leave to add, and I think I 
 can announce it as a fact, that it is not the wish 
 or interest of that government, or any other upon 
 this continent, separately or collectively, to set up 
 for independence ; but this you may at the same 
 time rely on, that none of them will ever submit 
 to the loss of those valuable rights and privileges 
 which are essential to the happiness of every free 
 state, and without which, life, liberty, and prop- 
 erty are rendered totally insecure.
 
 14 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [From a reply to a Congratulatory Address by the President 
 of the New York Congress, 1775.] 
 
 As to the fatal but necessary operations of war, 
 when we assumed the soldier we did not lay aside 
 the citizen; and we shall most sincerely rejoice 
 with you in that happy hour when the establish- 
 ment of American liberty on the most firm and 
 solid foundations shall enable us to return to our 
 private stations, in the bosom of a free, peaceful, 
 and happy country. 
 
 [From a letter to his wife, on his appointment to the com- 
 mand of the American army, 1775.] 
 
 You may believe me when I assure you, in the 
 most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this 
 appointment, I have used every endeavor in my 
 power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness 
 to part with you and the family, but from a con- 
 sciousness of its being a trust too great for my 
 capacity, and I should ftnjoy more real happiness 
 in one month with you at home than I have the 
 most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay 
 were to be seven times seven years. But as it has 
 been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon 
 this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it 
 
 is designed to answer some good purpose 
 
 I shall rely confidently on that Providence which 
 has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to 
 me, not doubting but that I shall return safe to
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 15 
 
 you in the fall. I shall feel no pain from the toil 
 or danger of the campaign ; my unhappiness will 
 flow from the uneasiness I know you will feel from 
 being left alone. I therefore beg that you will 
 summon your whole fortitude, and pass your time 
 as agreeably as possible. Nothing will give me 
 so much sincere satisfaction as to hear this, and to 
 hear it from your own pen. 
 
 [From a letter to his brother John Augustine, on the same 
 occasion.] 
 
 I am now to bid adieu to you, and to every 
 kind of domestic ease, for awhile. I am embarked 
 on a wide ocean, boundless in its prospect, and in 
 which, perhaps, no safe harbor is to be found. 
 I have been called upon by the unanimous voice 
 of the colonies to take the command of the con- 
 tinental army ; an honor I neither sought after nor 
 desired, as I am thoroughly convinced that it re- 
 quires great abilities, and much more experience 
 than I am master of. ... I shall hope that my 
 friends will visit, and endeavor to keep up the 
 spirits of, my wife as much as they can, for my 
 departure will, I know, be a cutting stroke upon 
 her ; and on this account alone I have many disa- 
 greeable sensations.
 
 16 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Letter to George William Fairfax, England. The fight at 
 Concord, here referred to, occurred April 19, 1775.] 
 PHILADELPHIA, 31st May, 1775. 
 
 DEAR SIR : Before this letter will come to hand 
 you must undoubtedly have received an account 
 of the engagement in the Massachusetts Bay be- 
 tween the ministerial troops (for we do not, nor 
 can we yet prevail upon ourselves to, call them 
 the king's troops) and the provincials of that gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 General Gage acknowledges that the detach- 
 ment under Lieutenant-Colonel Smith was sent 
 out to destroy private propert}', or, in other 
 words, to destroy a magazine which self-preser- 
 vation obliged the inhabitants to establish. And 
 he also confesses, in effect, at least, that his men 
 made a very precipitate retreat from Concord, 
 notwithstanding the reinforcement under Lord 
 Percy ; the last of which may serve to convince 
 Lord Sandwich, and others of the same sentiment, 
 that the Americans will fight for their liberties and 
 property, however pusillanimous in his lordship's 
 eye they may appear in other respects. 
 
 From the best accounts I have been able to col- 
 lect of that affair, indeed from every one, I believe 
 the fact, stripped of all coloring, to bo plainly this : 
 That if the retreat had not been as precipitate as it 
 was, and God knows it could not well have been 
 more so, the ministerial troops must have surren-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 17 
 
 dered, or been totally cut off. For they had not 
 arrived in Charlestown (under cover of their ships) 
 half an hour, before a powerful body of men from 
 Marblehead and Salem was at their heels, and 
 must, if they had happened to be up one hour 
 sooner, inevitably have intercepted their retreat to 
 Charlestown. Unhappy it is, though, to reflect, 
 that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a 
 brother's breast, and that the once happy and 
 peaceful plains of America are either to be 
 drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad 
 alternative ! But can a virtuous man hesitate in 
 his choice? 
 
 [From a letter to Joseph Reed.] 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, 14 January, 1776. 
 
 DEAR SIR : The reflection on my situation, and 
 that of this army, produces many an unhappy 
 hour when all around me are wrapped in sleep. 
 Few persons know the predicament we are in on a 
 thousand accounts ; fewer still will believe, if any 
 disaster happens to these lines, from what cause it 
 flows. I have often thought how much happier I 
 should have been if, instead of accepting the com- 
 mand under such circumstances, I had taken my 
 musket on my shoulder and entered the ranks, or, 
 if I could have justified the matter to posterity and 
 my own conscience, had retired to the back coun- 
 try and lived in a wigwam. If I shall be able
 
 18 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 to rise superior to these and many other difficul- 
 ties which might be enumerated, I shall most re- 
 ligiously believe that the finger of Providence is in 
 it, to blind the eyes of our enemies ; for surely, if 
 we get well through this month, it must be for 
 want of their knowing the disadvantages we labor 
 under. 
 
 [To Benedict Calvert.] 
 
 MOUNT VERNON, 3 April, 1773. 
 
 DEAR SIR : I am now set down to write you on 
 a subject of importance, and of no small embarrass- 
 ment to me. My son-in-law and ward, Mr. Cus- 
 tis, has, as I have been informed, paid his addresses 
 to your second daughter, and, having made some 
 progress in her affections, has solicited her in mar- 
 riage. How far a union of this sort maybe agree- 
 able to you, you best can tell ; but I should think 
 myself wanting in candor, were I not to confess 
 that Miss Nelly's amiable qualities are acknowl- 
 edged on all hands, and that an alliance with 
 your family will be pleasing to his. 
 
 This acknowledgment being made, you must 
 permit me to add, sir, that at this, or in any short 
 time, his youth, inexperience, and unripened edu- 
 cation, are, and will be, insuperable obstacles, in 
 my opinion, to the completion of the marriage. As 
 his guardian, I conceive it my indispensable duty 
 to endeavor to carry him through a regular course
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 19 
 
 of education, (many branches of which, I am sorry 
 to add, he is totally deficient in,) and to guard his 
 youth to a more advanced age before an event, on 
 which his own peace and the happiness of another 
 are to depend, takes place. Not that I have any 
 doubt of the warmth of his affections, nor, I hope, 
 I may add, any fears of a change in them ; but at 
 present I do not conceive that he is capable of be- 
 stowing that attention to the important consequences 
 of the married state, which is necessary to be 
 given by those who are about to enter into it, and 
 of course I am unwilling he should do it till he is. 
 If the affection which they have avowed for each 
 other is fixed upon a solid basis, it will receive no 
 diminution in the course of two or three years, in 
 which time he may prosecute his studies, and 
 thereby render himself more deserving of the lady, 
 and useful to society. If, unfortunately, as they 
 are both young, there should be an abatement of 
 affection on either side, or both, it had better pre- 
 cede than follow marriage. 
 
 Delivering my sentiments thus freely will not, I 
 hope, lead you into a belief that I am desirous of 
 breaking off the match. To postpone it is all I 
 have in view ; for I shall recommend to the young 
 gentleman, with the warmth that becomes a man 
 of honor, (notwithstanding he did not vouchsafe to 
 consult either his mother or me on the occasion, ) 
 to consider himself as much engaged to your
 
 20 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 daughter as if the indissoluble knot were tied; 
 and, as the surest means of effecting this, to apply 
 himself closely to his studies, (and in this advice I 
 flatter myself you will join me,) by which he will, 
 in a great measure, avoid those little flirtations 
 with other young ladies, that may, by dividing the 
 attention, contribute not a little to divide the af- 
 fection. 
 
 It may be expected of me, perhaps, to say some- 
 thing of property ; but, to descend to particulars, 
 at this time, must seem rather premature. In 
 general, therefore, I shall inform you, that Mr. 
 Custis's estate consists of about fifteen thousand 
 acres of land, a good part of it adjoining the City 
 of Williamsburg, and none of it forty miles from 
 that place ; seyeral lots in the said city ; between 
 two and three hundred Negroes ; and about eight 
 or ten thousand pounds upon hand, and in the 
 hands of his merchants. This estate he now holds 
 independent of his mother's dower, which will be 
 an addition to it at her death ; and, upon the 
 whole, it is such an estate as you will readily ac- 
 knowledge ought to entitle him to a handsome por- 
 tion with a wife. But as I should never require a 
 child of my own to make a sacrifice of himself to 
 interest, so neither do I think it incumbent on me 
 to recommend it as a guardian. 
 
 At all times, when you, Mrs. Calvert, or the 
 young ladies can make it convenient to favor us
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 21 
 
 with a visit, we should be happy in seeing you at 
 this place. Mrs. Washington and Miss Custis join 
 me in respectful compliments, and 
 
 I am, dear sir, your most obedient servant. 
 
 [Letter to Miss Phillis Wheatley, a colored poet, who pub- 
 lished a volume of poems in 1773, when she was nine- 
 teen years of age. She addressed a letter and poem to 
 Washington.] 
 
 CAMBRIDGE, 28 February, 1776. 
 
 Miss PHILLIS : Your favor of the 26th of Octo- 
 ber did not reach my hands till the middle of De- 
 cember. Time enough, you will say, to have given 
 an answer ere this. Granted. But a variety of 
 important occurrences, continually interposing to 
 distract the mind and withdraw the attention, I 
 hope will apologize for the delay, and plead my 
 excuse for the seeming but not real neglect. I 
 thank you most sincerely for your polite notice of 
 me, in the elegant lines you enclosed ; and how- 
 ever undeserving I may be of such encomium and 
 panegyric, the style and manner exhibit a striking 
 proof of your poetical talents ; in honor of which, 
 and as a tribute justly due to you, I would have 
 published the poem had I not been apprehensive 
 that, while I only meant to give the world this 
 new instance of your genius, I might have incurred 
 the imputation of vanity. This, and nothing else, 
 determined me not to give it place in the public 
 prints.
 
 22 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 If you should ever come to Cambridge, or near 
 head-quarters, I shall be happy to see a person so 
 favored by the Muses, and to whom nature has 
 been so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations. 
 
 I am, with great respect, your obedient humble 
 servant. 
 
 [From Orderly Book, August 3d, 1776.] 
 That the troops may have an opportunity of at- 
 tending public worship, as well as to take some 
 rest after the great fatigue they have gone through, 
 the General in future excuses them from fatigue 
 duty on Sundays, except at the ship-yards, or on 
 special occasions, until further orders. The Gen- 
 eral is sorry to be informed that the foolish and 
 wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing, 
 a vice heretofore little known in an American 
 army, is growing into fashion ; he hopes the offi- 
 cers will, by example as well as influence, endeavor 
 to check it, and that both they and the men will 
 reflect that we can have little hope of the blessing 
 of Heaven on our arms, if we insult it by our im- 
 piety and folly ; added to this, it is a vice so mean 
 and low, without any temptation, that every man 
 of sense and character detests and despises it. 
 
 [From a letter, August 20, 1778.] 
 The hand of Providence has been so conspicu- 
 ous in all this, that he must be worse than an
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 23 
 
 infidel, that lacks faith, and more than wicked, 
 that has not gratitude enough to acknowledge his 
 obligations. 
 
 [To Dr. John Cochrane, Surgeon and Physician General.] 
 WEST POINT, 16 August, 1779. 
 
 DEAR DOCTOR : I have asked Mrs. Cochrane and 
 Mrs. Livingston to dine with me to-morrow ; but 
 am I not in honor bound to apprise them of theii 
 fare ? As I hate deception, even where the imagi- 
 nation only is concerned, I will. It is needless to 
 premise, that my table is large enough to hold the 
 ladies. Of this they had ocular proof yesterday. 
 To say how it is usually covered is rather more 
 essential; and this shall be the purport of my 
 letter. 
 
 Since our arrival at this happy spot, we have 
 had a ham, sometimes a shoulder of bacon, to 
 grace the head of the table ; a piece of roast beef 
 adorns the foot ; and a dish of beans or greens, 
 almost imperceptible, decorates the centre. When 
 the cook has a mind to cut a figure, which I pre- 
 sume will be the case to-morrow, we have two beef- 
 steak pies, or dishes of crabs, in addition, one on 
 each side of the centre dish, dividing the space 
 and reducing the distance between dish and dish to 
 about six feet, which without them would be near 
 twelve feet apart. Of late he has had the surpris- 
 ing sagacity to discover that apples will make pies
 
 24 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 and it is a question, if in the violence of his efforts, 
 we do not get one of apples, instead of having 
 both of beef-steaks. If the ladies can put up with 
 such entertainment, and will submit to partake of 
 it on plates once tin but now iron (not become so 
 by the labor of scouring), I shall be happy to 
 see them ; I am, dear Doctor. 
 
 Yours, etc. 
 
 [From a letter to Lafayette, in 1783, four years before the 
 adoption of the Federal Constitution, and six years before 
 his inauguration as President.] 
 
 We are now an independent people, and have 
 yet to learn political tactics. We are placed among 
 the nations of the earth, and have a character to 
 establish ; but how we shall acquit ourselves time 
 must discover. The probability is (at least I fear 
 it), that local or state politics will interfere too 
 much with the more liberal and extensive plan of 
 government which wisdom and foresight freed 
 from the mist of prejudice, would dictate; and 
 that we shall be guilty of many blunders in tread- 
 ing this boundless theatre before we shall have 
 arrived at any perfection in this art ; in a word, 
 that the experience which is purchased at the price 
 of difficulties and distress, will alone convince us, 
 tliat the honor, power, and true interest of this 
 country must be measured by a continental scala, 
 and that every departure therefrom weakens the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 25 
 
 Union, and may ultimately break the band which 
 holds us together. To avert these evils, to form 
 a new constitution that will give consistency, sta- 
 bility, and dignity to the Union, and sufficient 
 power to the great council of the nation for gen- 
 eral purposes, is a duty incumbent on every man 
 who wishes well to his country, and will meet 
 with my aid as far as it can be rendered in the pri- 
 vate walks of life. 
 
 [From a letter to Robert Morris.] 
 
 MOUNT VERNON, 12 April, 1786. 
 
 I hope it will not be conceived from 
 
 these observations that it is my wish to hold the 
 unhappy people who are the subject of this letter, 
 in slavery. I can only say that there is not a man 
 living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see 
 a plan adopted for the abolition of it ; but there is 
 only one proper and effectual mode by which it can 
 be accomplished, and that is by legislative author- 
 ity ; and this, as far as my suffrage will go, shall 
 never be wanting. But when slaves who are 
 happy and contented with their present masters 
 are tampered with and seduced to leave them; 
 when masters are taken unawares by- these prac- 
 tices ; when a conduct of this kind begets discon- 
 tent on. one side and resentment on the other ; and 
 when it hapens to fall on a man whose purse
 
 26 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 will not measure with that of the society, and 
 he loses his property for want of means to defend 
 it ; it is oppression in such a case, and not human- 
 ity in any, because it introduces more evils than it 
 can cure. 
 
 [From a letter to Lafayette.] 
 
 MOUNT VERNON, 10 May, 1786. 
 
 The benevolence of your heart, my 
 
 dear Marquis, is so conspicuous upon all occasions 
 that I never wonder at any fresh proofs of it ; but 
 your late purchase of an estate in the colony of 
 Cayenne, with a view of emancipating the slaves 
 on it, is a generous and noble proof of your hu- 
 manity. Would to God a like spirit might dif- 
 fuse itself generally into the minds of the people 
 of this country. But I despair of seeing it. 
 Some petitions were presented to the Assembly at 
 its last session for the abolition of slavery, but 
 they could scarcely obtain a reading. To set the 
 slaves afloat at once would, I really believe, be pro- 
 ductive of much inconvenience and mischief; but by 
 degrees it certainly might, and assuredly ought to, 
 be effected, and that, too, by legislative authority. 
 
 [From a letter to John F. Mercer.] 
 
 September 9, 1786. 
 
 I never mean, unless some peculiar 
 
 circumstances should compel me to it, to possess
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 27 
 
 another slave by purchase, it being among my first 
 wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery 
 in this country may be abolished by law. 
 
 [From a letter to Henry Knox, 1787.] 
 
 It is among the evils, and perhaps not the 
 smallest of democratical governments, that the 
 people must always feel before they will see. 
 When this happens they are roused to action. 
 Hence it is that those kinds of government are 
 so slow. 
 
 [From a letter to David Stuart.] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, July 1, 1787. 
 
 Happy, indeed, will it be, if the con- 
 vention shall be able to recommend such a firm and 
 permanent government for this Union, that all who 
 live under it may be secure in their lives, liberty, 
 and property ; and thrice happy would it be if 
 such a recommendation should obtain. Every- 
 body wishes, everybody expects something from 
 the convention ; but what will be the final result 
 of its deliberation, the book of fate must disclose. 
 Persuaded I am that the primary cause of all our 
 disorders lies in the different state governments, 
 and in the tenacity of that power which pervades 
 the whole of their systems. Whilst independent 
 sovereignty is so ardently contended for ; whilst
 
 28 cnirs FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the local views of each state, and separate inter- 
 ests by which they are too much governed, will 
 not yield to an enlarged scale of politics, incom- 
 patibility in the laws of different states, and disre- 
 spect to those of the general government, must 
 render the situation of this great country weak, 
 inefficient, and disgraceful. It has already done 
 so, almost to the final dissolution of it.* 
 
 [From a letter to the Marquis cle Chastellux.] 
 
 MOUKT VERNON, 25 April, 1788. 
 
 MY DEAR MARQUIS : In reading your very 
 friendly and acceptable letter, which came to 
 hand by the last mail, I was, as you may well 
 suppose, not less delighted than surprised to 
 meet the plain American words, " My wife." A 
 wife ! Well, my dear Marquis, I can hardly re- 
 frain from smiling to find you arc caught at last. 
 I saw by the culogium you often made on the hap- 
 piness of domestic life in America that you had 
 swallowed the bait, and that you would as surely 
 be taken, one day or another, as that you were a 
 philosopher and a soldier. So your day has at 
 length come. I am glad of it with all my heart and 
 soul. It is quite good enough for you. Now you 
 arc well served for coming to fight in favor of the 
 American rebels all the way across the Atlantic 
 
 * The present constitution went into full operation in 1789.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 29 
 
 Ocean, by catching that terrible contagion, domes- 
 tic felicity, which, like the smallpox, or the 
 plague, a man can have only once in his life, 
 because it commonly lasts him (at least, with us 
 in America I know not how you manage these 
 matters in France) for his whole lifetime. And 
 yet, after all, the worst wish which I can find in 
 my heart to make against Madame de Chas- 
 tellux and yourself is, that you may neither 
 of you ever get the better of this same domestic 
 felicity during the entire course of your mortal 
 existence. 
 
 If so wonderful an event should have occasioned 
 me, my dear Marquis, to write in a strange style, 
 you will understand me as clearly as if I had said, 
 what in plain English is the simple truth, "Do me 
 the justice to believe that I take a heartfelt inter- 
 est in whatsoever concerns your happiness." And, ' 
 in this view, I sincerely congratulate you on your 
 auspicious matrimonial connexion. I am happy 
 to find that Madame de Chastellux is so intimately 
 connected with the Duchess of Orleans ; as I have 
 always understood that this noble lady was an 
 illustrious example of connubial love, as well as 
 an excellent pattern of virtue in general. . . . 
 
 P. S. May 1st. Since writing the above I 
 have been favored with a duplicate of your letter 
 in the handwriting of a lady, and cannot close this 
 without acknowledging my obligations for the
 
 30 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 flattering postscript of the fair transcriber. In 
 effect, my dear Marquis, the characters of this in- 
 terpreter of your sentiments are so much fairer 
 than those through which I have been accustomed 
 to decipher them, that I already consider myself 
 as no small gainer by your matrimonial connexion ; 
 especially as I hope your amiable amanuensis will 
 not forget sometimes to add a few annotations of 
 her own to your original text. 
 
 [From a letter to Lafayette.] 
 
 MOUNT VERXOX, 28 April, 1788. 
 
 On the general merits of this proposed 
 
 Constitution [adopted in the course of this year] , 
 I wrote to you some time ago my sentiments pretty 
 freely. . . . There arc other points in which opin- 
 ions would be more likely to vary ; as, for in- 
 stance, on the ineligibility of the same person for 
 President after he should have served a certain 
 course of years. Guarded so effectually as the 
 proposed Constitution is, in respect to the preven- 
 tion of bribery and undue influence in the choice 
 of President, I confess I differ widely from Mr. 
 Joflcrson and you as to the expediency or neces- 
 sity of rotation in that appointment. The matter 
 was fully discussed in the Convention, and to my 
 full conviction, though I cannot have time or room 
 to sum up the arguments in this letter. There 
 cannot, in n^y judgment, bo the least danger that
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 31 
 
 the President will by any practicable intrigue ever 
 be able to continue himself one moment in office, 
 much less to perpetuate himself in it, but in the 
 last stage of corrupted morals and political de- 
 pravity ; and even then there is as much danger 
 that any other species of domination would pre- 
 vail. Though when a people shall have become 
 incapable of governing themselves, and fit for a 
 master, it is of little consequence from what quar- 
 ter he comes. Under an extended view of this 
 part of the subject, I can see no propriety in pre- 
 cluding ourselves from the services of any man, 
 who, on some great emergency, shall be deemed 
 universally most capable of serving the public. 
 
 In answer to the observations you make on the 
 probability of my own election to the presidency,* 
 knowing me as you do, I need only say, that it 
 has no enticing charms and no fascinating allure- 
 ments for me. However, it might not be decent 
 for me to say I would refuse to accept, or even 
 to speak much about, an appointment which may 
 never take place ; for, in so doing, one might pos- 
 sibly incur the application of the moral resulting 
 from that fable in which the fox is represented as 
 inveighing against the sourness of the grapes, be- 
 cause he could not reach them. All that it will be 
 necessary to add, my dear Marquis, in order to 
 show my decided predilection, is, that at my tune 
 
 * Washington became President in 1789.
 
 32 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of life,* and under my circumstances, the increas- 
 ing infirmities of nature and the growing love of 
 retirement do not permit me to entertain a wish 
 beyond that of living and dying an honest man on 
 my own farm. Let those follow tho pursuits of 
 ambition and fame who have a keener relish for 
 them, or who may have more years in store for 
 the enjoyment. 
 
 [From a letter to Lafayette, 1788.] 
 
 It is a wonder to me that there should be found 
 a single monarch w r ho does not realize that his own 
 
 O 
 
 glory and felicity must depend on the prosperity 
 and happiness of his people. How easy is it for 
 a sovereign to do that w r hich shall not only im- 
 mortalize his name, but attract the blessings of 
 millions. 
 
 [From the same.] 
 
 You see I am not less enthusiastic than I ever 
 have been, if a belief that peculiar scenes of 
 felicity are reserved for tliis country is to be de- 
 nominated enthusiasm. Indedtt, I do not believe 
 that Providence has done so much for nothing. It 
 has always been my creed, that we should not be 
 left as a monument to prove "that mankind, under 
 tho most favorable circumstances for civil liberty 
 and happiness, are unequal to the task of govern- 
 ing themselves, and therefore made for a master." 
 * He was now fifty-six.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 33 
 
 [From a letter to John Lathrop, 1788.] 
 
 How pitiful, in the eye of reason and religion, 
 is that false ambition which desolates the world 
 with fire and sword for the purposes of conquest 
 and fame, when compared to the milder virtues 
 of making our neighbors and our fellow-men as 
 happy as their frail conditions and perishable na- 
 tures will permit them to be ! 
 
 [To Charles Pettit, 16 August, 1788.] 
 
 The great Searcher of hearts is my wit- 
 ness that I have no wish which aspires beyond the 
 humble and happy lot of living and dying a private 
 citizen on my own farm. 
 
 [To Count cle Moustier, 15 December, 1788.] 
 
 In whatever country useful inventions 
 
 are found out, and improvements made, I rejoice 
 in contemplating that those inventions or improve- 
 ments may, in some way or other, be turned to the 
 common good of mankind. 
 
 [To Rev. John Lathrop, 22 June, 1788.] 
 
 In truth, it appears to me, that, should the pro- 
 posed government be generally and harmoniously 
 adopted, it will be a new phenomenon in the politi- 
 cal and moral world, and an astonishing victory 
 gained by enlightened reason over brutal force. 
 
 3
 
 34 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [To Benjamin Lincoln, 29 June, 1788.] 
 ..... No one can rejoice more than I do at 
 every step the people of this great country take to 
 preserve the Union, to establish good order and 
 government, and to render the nation happy at 
 home and respectable abroad. No nation upon 
 earth ever had it more in its power to attain 
 these blessings than United America. TVondrously 
 strange, then, and much to be regretted indeed 
 would it be, were we to neglect the means, and 
 to depart from the road, which Providence has 
 pointed out to us so plainly. I cannot believe it 
 will ever come" to pass. The great Governor of 
 the universe has led us too long and too far on 
 the road to happiness and glory, to forsake us in 
 the midst of it. By folly and improper conduct, 
 proceeding from a variety of causes, we may now 
 and then get bewildered ; but I hope and trust 
 that there is good sense and virtue enough left to 
 recover the right path before we shall be entirely 
 lost. 
 
 [To Lafayette, 29 July, 1789. 
 
 If I know my own heart, nothing short 
 
 of a conviction of duty will induce me again to 
 take an active part in public affairs ; and in that 
 case, if I can form a plan for my own conduct, mv 
 endeavors shall be unremittingly exerted, even at 
 the hazard of former fame or present popularity,
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 35 
 
 to extricate my country from the embarrassments 
 in which it is entangled through want of credit ; 
 and to establish a general system of policy, which, 
 if pursued, will ensure permanent felicity to the 
 commonwealth. I think I see a path as clear and 
 as direct as a ray of light, which leads to the at- 
 tainment of that object. Nothing but harmony, 
 honesty, industy, and frugality are necessary to 
 make us a great and happy people. 
 
 [To Benjamin Harrison.] 
 
 9 March, 1789. 
 
 ...... Men's minds are as variant as their faces, 
 
 and, where the motives of their actions are pure, 
 the operation of the former is no more to be im- 
 puted to them as a crime, than the appearance of 
 the latter ; for both, being the work of nature, are 
 alike unavoidable. Liberality and charity, instead 
 of clamor and misrepresentation, ought to govern 
 in all disputes about matters of importance. 
 
 [To Henry Knox.] 
 
 MOUNT VERNON, 1 April, 1789. 
 
 I feel for those members of the new 
 
 Congress who hitherto have given an unavailing 
 attendance at the theatre of action.* For myself, 
 the delay may be compared to a reprieve ; for, in 
 
 * New York was now, temporarily, the capital. Wash- 
 ington was inaugurated April 30.
 
 36 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 confidence I tell you, (with the world it would 
 obtain little credit,) that my movements to the 
 chair of government will be accompanied by feel- 
 ings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to 
 his place of execution ; so unwilling a:n I, in the 
 evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares,* 
 to quit a peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, 
 without that competency of political skill, abilities 
 and inclination, which are necessary to manage the 
 helm. lam sensible that I am embarking the voice 
 of the people, and a good name of my own, on this 
 voyage ; but what returns will be made for them, 
 Heaven alone can foretell. Integrity and firmness 
 are all that I can promise. These, be the voyage 
 long or short, shall never forsake me, although I 
 may be deserted by all men : for of the consola- 
 tions which are to be derived from these, under 
 any circumstances, the world cannot deprive me. 
 
 [From his Inaugural Address.] 
 
 April 30, 1789. 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND OF THE 
 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES : 
 
 Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event 
 could have filled me with greater anxieties than 
 that of which the notification was transmitted by 
 your order, and received on the fourteenth day 
 of the present month. On the one hand I was 
 
 * He was now fifty-seven years old.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 37 
 
 summoned by my country, whose voice I can never 
 hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat 
 which I had chosen with the fondest predilection, 
 and, in my nattering hopes, with an immutable de- 
 cision, as the asylum of my declining years; a 
 retreat which was rendered every day more neces- 
 sary, as well as more dear to me, by the addition 
 of habit to inclination, and by frequent interruptions 
 of my health, from the gradual waste committed 
 on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude 
 and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my 
 country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the 
 wisest and most experienced of her citizens a dis- 
 trustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not 
 but overwhelm with despondence one who, inherit- 
 ing inferior endowments from nature, and unprac- 
 tised in the duties of civil administration, ought to 
 be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. 
 In this conflict of emotions, all I dare aver is, that 
 it has been my faithful study to collect my duty 
 from a just appreciation of every circumstance by 
 which it might be .affected. All I dare to hope is, 
 that if, in executing this task, I have been too much 
 swayed by a grateful remembrance of former in- 
 stances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this 
 transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow- 
 citizens, and have thence too little consulted my 
 incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty 
 and untried cares before me, my error will be pal-
 
 38 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 liated by the motive which misled me, and its con- 
 sequences be judged by my country with some 
 share of the partiality in which they originated. 
 
 [To his nephew George S. Washington.] 
 
 MOUNT VERNON, 23 March, 1789. 
 
 DEAR GEORGE : As it is probable that I shall 
 soon be under the necessity of quitting this place, 
 and entering once more into the bustle of public 
 life, in conformity to the voice of my country, and 
 the earnest entreaty of my friends, however con- 
 trary it is to my own desires or inclinations, I 
 think it a duty incumbent on me, as your uncle 
 and friend, to give you some advisory hints, which, 
 if properly attended to, will, I conceive, be found 
 very useful to you in regulating your conduct, and 
 giving you respectability, not only at present, but 
 through every period of life. 
 
 You have now arrived at that age when you must 
 quit the trifling amusements of a boy, and assume 
 the more dignified manners of a man. At this cri- 
 sis your conduct will attract the notice of those 
 who are about you ; and, as the first impressions 
 are generally the most lasting, your doings now 
 may mark the leading traits of your character 
 through life. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary, 
 if you mean to make any figure upon the stage [of 
 action] , that you should take the first steps right. 
 "What those steps arc, and what general line is to
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 39 
 
 be pursued to lay the foundation of an honorable 
 and happy progress, it is the part of age and ex- 
 perience to point out. This I shall do as far as is 
 in my power, with the utmost cheerfulness, and I 
 trust that your own good sense will show you the 
 necessity of following it. 
 
 The first and great object with you at present is, 
 to acquire, by industry and application, such 
 knowledge as your situation enables you to obtain, 
 and as will be useful to you in life. In doing this, 
 two other important advantages will be gained, 
 besides the acquisition of knowledge, namely, a 
 habit of industry, and a disrelish for that profusion 
 of money and dissipation of time which are ever 
 attendant upon idleness. I do not mean by a close 
 application to your studies, that you should never 
 enter into those amusements which are suited to 
 your age and station ; they can be made to go hand 
 in hand with each other, and, used in their proper 
 seasons, will ever be found to be a mutual assist- 
 ance to one another. But what amusements, and 
 where they are to be taken, is the great matter to 
 be attended to. Your own judgment, with the 
 advice of your real friends, who may have an op- 
 portunity of a personal intercourse with you, can 
 point out the particular manner in which you may 
 best spend your moments of relaxation, better than 
 I can at a distance. One thing, however, I would 
 strongly impress upon you, namely, that when you
 
 40 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 have leisure to go into company, it should always 
 be of the best kind that the place you are in will 
 afford ; by this means you will be constantly im- 
 proving your manners, and cultivating your mind, 
 while you are relaxing from your books ; and good 
 company will ever be found much less expensive 
 
 than bad 
 
 I cannot enjoin too strongly upon you a due ob- 
 servance of economy and frugality, as you well 
 know yourself the present state of your property 
 and finances will not admit of any unnecessary ex- 
 pense. The article of clothing is now one of the 
 chief expenses that you will incur, and in this I 
 fear you are not so economical as you should be. 
 Decency and cleanliness will always be the first 
 objects in the dress of a judicious and sensible 
 man. A conformity to the prevailing fashion in a 
 certain degree is necessary ; but it does not from 
 thence follow, that a man should always get a new 
 coat or other clothes upon every trifling change in 
 the mode, when perhaps he has two or three very 
 good ones by him. A person who . is anxious to 
 be a leader of the fashion, or one of the first to 
 follow it, will certainly appear in the eyes of judic- 
 ious men, to have nothing better than a frequent 
 change- of dress to recommend him to notice. I 
 would always wish you to appear sufficiently 
 decent to entitle you to admission into any com- 
 pany where you may be ; but your own knowledge
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 41 
 
 must convince you, that you should be as little 
 expensive in this respect as you properly can. 
 You should always keep some clothes to wear to 
 church or on particular occasions, which should 
 not be worn every day ; this can be done without 
 any additional expense, for whenever it is neces- 
 sary to get new clothes, those which have been 
 kept for particular occasions will then come in as 
 every-day ones, unless they should be of superior 
 
 quality to the new 
 
 Mnch more might be said to you as a young 
 man, upon the necessity of paying a due attention 
 to the moral virtues ; but this may, perhaps, more 
 properly be the subject of a future letter when you 
 may be about to enter into the world. If you 
 comply with the advice herein given, . . . you 
 will find but few opportunities and little inclina- 
 tion, while you continue at an academy, to enter 
 into those scenes of vice or dissipation which too 
 often present themselves to youth in any place, 
 and particularly in towns. If you are determined 
 to neglect your books, and plunge into extrava- 
 gance and dissipation, nothing I could now say 
 would prevent it ; for you must be employed, and 
 if it is not in pursuit of those things which are 
 profitable, it must be in pursuit of those things 
 which are destructive.
 
 42 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Letter to General Armstrong.] 
 
 March 14, 1792. 
 
 I am sure there never was a people who had 
 more reason to acknowledge a divine interposition 
 in their affairs, than those of the United States ; * 
 and I should be pained to believe that they have 
 forgotten that agency which was so often manifested 
 during our revolution, or that they failed to con- 
 sider the omnipotence of that God who is alone 
 able to protect them. 
 
 [To the Members of the New Church in Baltimore.] 
 
 January, 1793. 
 
 We have abundant reason to rejoice that, in this 
 land, the light of truth and reason has triumphed 
 over the power of bigotry and superstition, and 
 that every person may here worship God according 
 to the dictates of his own heart. In this enlight- 
 ened age, and in this land of equal liberty, it is 
 our boast, that a man's religious tenets will not 
 forfeit the protection of the laws, nor deprive him 
 of the right of attaining and holding the highest 
 offices that arc known in the United States. 
 
 [From a Speech to both Houses of Congress.] 
 
 December 8, 1795. 
 
 While we indulge the satisfaction which 
 
 the actual condition of our western borders so well 
 
 * Referring to the successful progress of the war.
 
 GEOKGS WASHINGTON. 43 
 
 authorizes, it is necessary that we should not lose 
 sight of an important truth, which continually re- 
 ceives new confirmation ; namely, that the prjovis- 
 ions heretofore made with a view to the protection 
 of the Indians from the violence of the lawless 
 part of our frontier inhabitants are insufficient. It 
 is demonstrated that these violences can now be 
 perpetrated with impunity ; and it can need no ar- 
 gument to prove that, unless the murdering of In- 
 dians can be restrained by bringing the murderers 
 to condign punishment, all the exertions of the 
 government to prevent destructive retaliations by 
 the Indians will prove fruitless. The frequent 
 destruction of innocent women and children, who 
 are chiefly the victims of retaliation, must continue 
 to shock humanity, and an enormous expense to 
 drain the treasury of the Union. 
 
 To enforce upon the Indians the observance of 
 justice it is indispensable that there should be 
 competent means of rendering justice to them. 
 ... I add, with pleasure, that the probability even 
 of their civilization is not diminished by the ex- 
 periments which have been thus far made under 
 the auspices of government. The accomplishment 
 of this work, if practicable, will reflect undecaying 
 lustre on our national character, and administer 
 the most grateful consolation that virtuous minds 
 can know.
 
 44 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [From the Farewell Address to the people of the United 
 States, September 17, 1796.] 
 
 Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to 
 political prosperity, religion and morality are indis- 
 pensable supports. In vain would that man claim 
 the tribute of patriotism who should labor to sub- 
 vert these great pillars of human happiness, these 
 firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. 
 The mere politician, equally with the pious man, 
 ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume 
 could not trace all their connections with private 
 and public felicity. . . . And let us, with cau- 
 tion, indulge the supposition that morality can be 
 maintained without reli<rion. Whatever mav be 
 
 J 
 
 conceded to the influence of refined education on 
 minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience 
 both forbid us to expect that national morality can 
 prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 45 
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 BORN, 1735; DIED, 1826, AGED L GRADUATED AT HABTARD 
 COLLEGE, 1755. TAUGHT A GRAMMAR SCHOOL, 1755. BEGAN 
 PRACTICE OF LAW, 1758. REPRESENTATIVE IX THE GEN- 
 ERAL COURT OF MASSACHUSETTS, KTOi DELEGATE TO THE 
 CONGRESS OF 177 4. TO THE COXTTNEXTAL COXGRESS, 1775. 
 PRESIDEXT OF BOARD OF WAR AXD ORDINANCE, K7&. COM- 
 MISSIONER TO FRANCE, 1777. MEMBER OF COXVENTION TO 
 FRAME A COXSTITUTIOX FOR MASSACHUSETTS, 177. MTN- 
 ISTER TO GREAT BRITAIN, 1773 MINISTER TO HOLLAND, 
 1780. MINISTER TO GREAT BRITAIN, K8& MEMBER OFTHE 
 COXTIXENTAL CONGRESS, 1188. VICE-PRESIDENT, 1789. 
 RE-ELECTED, 1792. PRESIDENT, 1797-lHtt. 
 
 [From a letter to His. Adams, at Brain tree.] 
 
 BOSTOS, 12 Mar, 1774. 
 
 WE lire, my dear soul, in an age of 
 
 trial. What will be the consequence, I know not. 
 The town of Boston, for aught I can see, must 
 suffer martyrdom. It must expire. And our 
 principal consolation is, that it dies in a noble 
 cause the cause of truth, of virtue, of liberty, 
 and of humanity, and thus it will probably have a 
 glorious resurrection to greater wealth, splendor, 
 and power than ever. 
 
 Let me know what is best for me to do. It is 
 expensive keeping a family here, and there is no 
 prospect of any business hi my way hi this town 
 this whole summer. I dont receive a shilling a 
 week. We must contrive as many ways as we 
 can to save expenses : for we may have calls to 
 contribute very largely, in proportion to our cir-
 
 46 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 cumstances, to prevent other very honest, worthy 
 people from suffering for want, besides our own 
 loss in point of business and profit. 
 
 Don't imagine from all this that I am in the 
 dumps. Far otherwise. I can truly say that I 
 have felt more spirits and activity since the arrival 
 of this news than I had done before for years. I 
 look upon this as the last effort of Lord North's 
 despair, and he will as surely be defeated in it as 
 he was in the project of the tea. 
 
 [From a letter to James Waterhouse.] 
 It has been, in all times, the artifice of despot- 
 ism and superstition to nip liberty, truth, virtue, 
 and religion in the bud, by cutting off the heads 
 of all who dared to show regard to either. But 
 when a process so summary could not be effected, 
 the next trick was to blast the character of every 
 rising genius who excited their jealousy, by propa- 
 gating lies and slanders to destroy his influence. 
 
 [From a letter to J. II. Tiffany.] 
 
 I would define liberty to be a power to do as we 
 would be done by. 
 
 I advise every young man to keep school. I 
 acquired more knowledge of human nature while 
 I kept school than while I was at the bar, than 
 while I was in the world of politics or at the Courts 
 of Europe. It is the best method of acquiring 
 patience, self-command, and a knowledge of char- 
 ter. JOHN ADAMS.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 47 
 
 [Letter to Mrs. Adams, at Braintree. Reference is had to 
 serious interruptions in his legal business, in Boston, from 
 his political principles.] 
 
 YORK [MAINE], 1 July, 1774. 
 
 I am so idle that I have not an easy moment 
 without my pen is in my hand. My time [at 
 home] might have been improved to some purpose 
 in mowing grass, raking hay, or hoeing corn, 
 weeding carrots, picking or shelling pease. Much 
 better should I have been employed in schooling 
 my children, in teaching them to write, cipher, 
 Latin, French, English, and Greek. 
 
 I sometimes think I must come to this to be 
 the foreman upon my own farm, and the school- 
 master to my own children. I confess myself to 
 be full of fears that the ministry and their friends 
 and instruments will prevail, and crush the cause 
 and friends of liberty. The minds of that party 
 are so filled with prejudices sgainst me that they 
 will take all advantages, and do me all the damage 
 they can. These thoughts have their turns in my 
 mind, but in general my hopes are predominant. 
 
 Dr. Gardiner arrived here to-day from Boston, 
 brings us news of a battle at the town meeting, 
 between Whigs and Tories, in which the Whigs, 
 after a day and a half's obstinate engagement, were 
 finally victorious by two to one. He says the 
 Tories are preparing a flaming protest.
 
 48 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 I am determined to be cool, if I can. I have 
 suffered such torments in my mind heretofore as 
 have almost overpowered my constitution, without 
 any advantage. And now I will laugh and be easy 
 if I can, let the contest of parties terminate as it 
 will ; nay, whether I stand high or low in the esti- 
 mation of the world, so long as I keep a conscience 
 void of offence towards God and man. And this 
 I am determined, by the will of God, to do, let 
 what will become of me or mine, my country or 
 the world. 
 
 I shall arouse myself ere long, I believe, and 
 exert an industry, a frugality, a hard labor, that 
 will serve my family, if I can't serve my country. 
 I will not lie down in despair. If I cannot servo 
 my children by the law, I will serve them by agri- 
 culture, by trade, by some way or other. I thank 
 God I have a head, and heart, and hands, which 
 if once fully exerted altogether, will succeed in the 
 world as well as those of the mean-spirited, low- 
 minded, fawning, obsequious scoundrels who have 
 long hoped that my integrity would be an obstacle 
 in my \\ay, and enable them to outstrip me in the 
 race. But what I want in comparison of them of 
 villany and servility, I will make up in industry 
 and capacity. If I don't, they shall laugh and 
 triumph. I will not willingly see blockheads, 
 whom I have a right to despise, elevated above 
 me and insolently triumphing over me. Nor shall
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 49 
 
 knavery, through any negligence of mine, get the 
 better of honesty, nor ignorance of knowledge, nor 
 folly of wisdom, nor vice of virtue. 
 
 I must entreat you, my dear partner in all the 
 joys and sorrows, prosperity and adversity of my 
 life, to take a part with me in the struggle. I 
 pray God for your health entreat you to rouse 
 your whole attention to the family, the stock, the 
 farm, the dairy. Let every article of expense 
 which can possibly be spared be retrenched ; keep 
 the hands attentive to their business, and the most 
 prudent measures of every kind be adopted and 
 pursued with alacrity and spirit. 
 
 [To Mrs. Adams, at Braintree ; written while on his way to 
 Philadelphia, as a delegate to Congress.] 
 
 PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY, 28 August, 1774. 
 
 I received your kind letter at New York, and it 
 is not easy for you to imagine the pleasure it has 
 given me. I have not found a single opportunity 
 to write you since I left Boston, excepting by the 
 post, and I don't choose to write by that convey- 
 ance for fear of foul play. But as we are now 
 within forty-two miles of Philadelphia, I hope there 
 to find some private hand by which I can convey 
 this. 
 
 The particulars of our journey I must reserve, 
 to be communicated after my return. It would 
 take a volume to describe the whole. It has been,
 
 50 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 upon the whole, an agreeable jaunt. We have 
 had opportunities to see the world, and to form 
 acquaintance with the most eminent and famous 
 men in the several colonies we have passed 
 through. We have been treated with unbounded 
 civility, complaisance, and respect. We yester- 
 day visited Nassau Hall College, and were politely 
 treated by the scholars, tutors, professors, and 
 president, whom we are this day to hear preach. 
 To-morrow we reach the theatre of action. 
 God Almighty grant wisdom and virtue suffi- 
 cient for the high trust that is devolved upon us. 
 The spirit of the people, wherever we have been, 
 seems to be very favorable. They universally 
 consider our cause as- their own, and express the 
 firmest resolution to abide by the determination 
 of the Congress. 
 
 I am anxious for our perplexed, distressed 
 province ; hope they will be directed into the right 
 path. Let me entreat you, my dear, to make 
 yourself as easy and quiet as possible. Resigna- 
 tion to the will of heaven is our only resource in 
 such dangerous times. Prudence and caution 
 should be our guides. I have the strongest hopes 
 that we shall yet see a clearer sky and better 
 times. 
 
 Remember my tender love to little Abby ; tell 
 her she must write me a letter, and inclose it in 
 the next you send. I am charmed with your
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 51 
 
 amusement with our little Johnny.* Tell him I 
 am glad to hear he is so good a boy as to read to 
 his mamma for her entertainment, and to keep him- 
 self out of the company of rude children. Tell 
 him I hope to hear a good account of his accidence 
 and nomenclature when I return. . . . Your ac- 
 count of the rain refreshed me. I hope our hus- 
 bandry is prudently and industriously managed. 
 Frugality must be our support. Our expenses in 
 this journey will be very great. Our only [rec- 
 ompense will] be the consolatory reflection that 
 we toil, spend our time, and [encounter] dangers 
 for the public good, happy, indeed, if we do 
 any good. 
 
 The education of our children is never out of 
 my mind. Train them to virtue. Habituate them 
 to industry, activity, and spirit. Make them con- 
 sider every vice as shameful and unmanly. Fire 
 them with ambition to be useful. Make them dis- 
 dain to be destitute of any useful or ornamental 
 knowledge or accomplishment. Fix their ambition 
 upon great and solid objects, and their contempt 
 upon little, frivolous, and useless ones. It is 
 time, my dear, for you to begin to teach them 
 French. . Every decency, grace, and honesty 
 should be inculcated upon them. ... I am, with 
 the tenderest affection and concern, 
 Your wandering 
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 * John Quincy Adams.
 
 52 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Letter to Mrs. Adams, at Braintrce.] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 16 September, 1774. 
 
 Having a leisure moment while the Congress is 
 assembling, I gladly embrace it to write you a line. 
 
 When the Congress first met, Mr. Gushing 
 made a motion that it should be opened with 
 prayer. It was opposed by Mr. Jay of New 
 York, and Mr. Eutledge of South Carolina, be- 
 cause we were so divided in religious sentiments, 
 some Episcopalians, some Quakers, some Anabap- 
 tists, some Presbyterians, and some Congrcgation- 
 alists, that we could not join in the same act of 
 worship. Mr. Samuel Adams arose and said he 
 was no bigot, and could hear a prayer from a gen- 
 tleman of piety and virtue, who was at the same 
 time a friend to his country. He was a Stranger in 
 Philadelphia, but had heard that Mr. Ducho (Du- 
 shay, they pronounce it) deserved that character, 
 and therefore he moved that Mr. Duchc, an Epis- 
 copal clergyman, might be desired to read prayers 
 to the Congress to-morrow morning. The motion 
 was seconded, and passed in the affirmative. Mr. 
 Randolph, our president, waited on Mr. Duch6, and 
 received for answer that if his health w r ould per- 
 mit he certainly would. Accordingly, next morn- 
 ing, he appeared with his clerk, and in his pontifi- 
 cals, and read several prayers in the established 
 form ; and then read the Collect for the seventh 
 day of September, which was the thirty-fifth
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 53 
 
 psalm. You must remember that this was the 
 next morning after we heard the horrible rumor 
 of the cannonade of Boston. I never saw a 
 greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if 
 heaven had ordained that psalrn to be read on that 
 morning. 
 
 After this, Mr. Duche, unexpected to every- 
 body, struck out into an extemporary prayer, 
 which filled the bosom of every man present. I 
 must confess I never heard a better prayer, or one 
 so well pronounced. Episcopalian as he is, Dr. 
 Cooper* himself never prayed with such fervor, 
 such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in 
 language so eloquent and sublime, for America, 
 for the Congress, for the Province of Massachu- 
 setts Bay, and especially the town of Boston. It 
 has had an excellent effect upon everybody here. 
 I must beg you to read that psalm. If there was 
 any faith in the Sortes Biblicae, it would be 
 thought providential. 
 
 It will amuse your friends to read this letter 
 and the thirty-fifth psalm to them. Read it to 
 your father and Mr. Wibird. I wonder what our 
 Braintree churchmen will think of this ! Mr. 
 Duche is one of the most ingenious men, and best 
 characters, and greatest orators in the Episcopal 
 
 * Pastor of the Brattle Square church, Boston, and a 
 zealous patriot.
 
 54 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 order, upon the continent, yet a zealous friend of 
 liberty and his country.* 
 
 I long to see my dear family. God bless, pre- 
 serve, and prosper it. Adieu. 
 
 [From a letter to Mrs. Adams.] 
 
 7 October, 1775. 
 
 . . . The situation of things is so alarming, that 
 it is our duty to prepare our minds and hearts for 
 every event, even the worst. From my earliest 
 entrance into life, I have been engaged in the 
 public cause of America, and from first to last, I 
 have had upon my mind a strong impression that 
 things would be wrought up to their present crisis. 
 I saw, from the beginning, that the controversy 
 was of such a nature that it never would be 
 settled, and every day convinces me more and 
 more. This has been the source of all the disqui- 
 etude of my life. It has lain down and risen up 
 with me these twelve years. The thought that we 
 might be driven to the sad necessity of breaking 
 our connection with Great Britain, exclusive of 
 the carnage and destruction which, it was easy to 
 see, must attend the separation, always gave me a 
 great deal of grief. And even now, I would 
 cheerfully retire from public life forever, renounce 
 
 * Three years later, Mr. Adams wrote: "Mr. Duche, I 
 am sorry to inform you, has turned out an apostate and 
 traitor. I pity his weakness, and detest his wickedness."
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 55 
 
 all chance for profits or honors from the public, 
 nay, I would cheerfully contribute my little prop- 
 erty to obtain peace and liberty. But all these 
 must go, and my life too, before I can surrender 
 the right of my country to a free constitution. I 
 dare not consent to it. I should be the most mis- 
 erable of mortals ever after, whatever honors or 
 emoluments might surround me. 
 
 [Letter to George Wythe.] 
 
 January, 1776. 
 
 You and I, my dear friend, have been sent into 
 life at a time when 'the greatest lawgivers of an- 
 tiquity would have wished to live. How few of 
 the human race have ever enjoyed an opportunity 
 of making an election of government more than of 
 air, soil, or climate, for themselves or their chil- 
 dren? When, before the present epocha, had three 
 millions of people full power and a fair oppor- 
 tunity to form and establish the wisest and hap- 
 piest government that human wisdom can contrive ? 
 
 Genius, in a general, is oftener an instrument 
 of divine vengeance than a guardian angel. 
 
 [To Mrs. Adams.] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 23 April, 177G. 
 
 This is St. George's Day. . . . The natives of 
 Old England in this city heretofore formed a so- 
 ciety, which they called St. George's Club. Upon
 
 56 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the 23d of April, annually, they had a great feast. 
 But the Tories and politics have made a schism in 
 the society, so that one part of them are to meet 
 and dine at the City Tavern, and the other at the 
 Bunch of Grapes. Israel Jacobs and a third party 
 go out of town. One set are stanch Americans, 
 another stanch Britons, and a third half-way men, 
 neutral beings, moderate men, prudent folks ; for 
 such is the division among men upon all occasions 
 and every question. This is the account which I 
 have from my barber, who is one of the society, 
 and zealous on the side of America. 
 
 This curious character of a barber I have a great 
 inclination to draw for your amusement. He is a 
 little, dapper fellow, short and small, but active 
 and lively. A tongue as voluble and fluent as you 
 please, wit at will, and a memory or an invention 
 which never leaves him at a loss for a story to tell 
 you for your entertainment. He has seen great com- 
 pany. He has dressed hair and shaved faces at 
 Bath, and at court. Pie is acquainted with several 
 of the nobility and gentry, particularly Sir William 
 Meredith. He married a girl, the daughter of a 
 Quaker in this place, of whom he tells many droll 
 stories. He is a sergeant in one of the companies 
 of some battalion or other here. He frequents, of 
 evenings, a beer-house kept by one Weaver, in the 
 city, where ho has many curious disputes and ad- 
 ventures, and meets many odd characters.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 57 
 
 I believe you will think me very idle to write 
 you so trifling a letter, upon so uninteresting a 
 subject, at a time when my country is fight- 
 ing pro aris et focis. But I assure you I am 
 glad to chat with this barber while he is shaving 
 and combing me, and to divert myself from less 
 agreeable thoughts. He is so sprightly and good 
 humored that he contributes more than I could 
 have imagined to my comfort in this life. Burne 
 has prepared a string of toasts for the club to 
 drink to-day at Israel's : " The Thirteen United 
 Colonies," " The Free and Independent States of 
 America," " The Congress for the time being," 
 " The American Army and Navy," " The Gover- 
 nor and Council of South Carolina," etc., etc., 
 etc. " A happy election for the Whigs on the 1st 
 of May," etc. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 23 April, 1777. 
 
 My barber has just left the chamber. The fol- 
 lowing curious dialogue was the amusement during 
 the gay moments of shaving : 
 
 " Well, Burne, what is the lie of the day?" 
 
 " Sir, Mr. told me that a privateer from 
 
 Baltimore has taken two valuable prizes with six- 
 teen guns each. I can scarcely believe it." 
 
 " Have you heard of the success of the Rattle- 
 snake, of Philadelphia, and the Sturdy Beggar, 
 of Maryland, Mr. Burne? These two privateers 
 have taken eleven prizes, and sent them into the
 
 58 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 West India Islands ; nine transports and two 
 Guinea-men." 
 
 " Confound the ill luck, sir ; I was going to sea 
 myself on board the Rattlesnake, and my wife fell 
 a yelping. These wives are queer things. I told 
 her I wondered she had no more ambition. ' Now,' 
 says I, ' when you walk the streets, and anybody 
 asks who that is, the answer is " J3urne the bar- 
 ber's wife" Should you not be better pleased to 
 hear it said, "That is Captain Burners lady, the 
 captain of marines on board the Rattlesnake ? " 
 'Oh,' says she, 'I would rather be called Burne 
 the barber's wife than Captain Burne's widow. I 
 don't desire to live better than you maintain me, 
 my dear.' So it is, Sir, by this sweet, honey lan- 
 guage, I am choused out of my prizes, and must 
 go on with my soap and razors and pincers and 
 combs. I wish she had my ambition." 
 
 If this letter be intercepted by the Tories, they 
 will get a booty. Let them enjoy it. If some of 
 their wives had been as tender and discreet as the 
 barber's, their husbands' ambition would not have 
 led them into so many salt-ponds. What an ignis 
 faluus this ambition is ! How few of either sex 
 have arrived at Mrs. Burne's pitch of moderation, 
 and arc able to say, " I don't desire to live better, 
 and had rather be the barber's wife than the cap- 
 tain's widow 1 " Quite smart, I think, as well as 
 philosophical.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 59 
 
 [From a letter to Mrs. Adams.] 
 
 BALTIMORE, 15 Feb. 1777. 
 
 We have, (in Congress,) from New 
 
 Hampshire, a Colonel Thornton, a physician by 
 profession, a man of humor. He has a large bud- 
 get of droll stories, with which he entertains' com- 
 pany perpetually. I heard, about twenty, or five- 
 and-twenty, years ago, a story of a physician in 
 Londonderry, who accidentally met with one of our 
 New England enthusiasts, called exhorters. The 
 fanatic soon began to examine the doctor concern- 
 ing the articles of his faith, and what he thought 
 of original sin. " Why," says the doctor, "I sat- 
 isfy myself about it in this manner. Either orig- 
 inal sin is divisible or indivisible. If it is divisible, 
 every descendant of Adam and Eve must have a 
 part, and the share which falls to each individual 
 at this day is so small a particle that I think it is 
 not worth considering. If indivisible, then the 
 whole quantity must have descended in a right 
 line, and must now be possessed by one person 
 only ; and the chances are millions and millions 
 and millions to one that that person is now in 
 Asia or Africa, and that I have nothing to do 
 with it." I told Thornton the story, and that I 
 suspected him to be the man. He said he was. 
 He belongs to Londonderry.
 
 60 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [To Mrs. Adams.] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 20 August, 1777. 
 
 This day completes three years since I stepped 
 into the coach at Mr. Cushing's door, in Boston, 
 to go to Philadelphia in quest of adventures ; and 
 adventures I have found. I feel an inclination 
 sometimes to write the history of these last three 
 years, in imitation of Thucydides. There is a 
 striking resemblance in several particulars between 
 the Peloponnesian and the American war. The 
 real motive to the former was a jealousy of the 
 growing power of Athens by sea and land. The 
 genuine motive to the latter was a similar jealousy 
 of the growing power of America. The true 
 causes which incite to war are seldom professed 
 or acknowledged. 
 
 We are now upon a full sea ; w r hen we shall ar- 
 rive at a safe harbor, no mariner has skill and ex- 
 perience enough to foretell. But by the favor of 
 Heaven we shall make a prosperous voyage, after 
 all the storms and shoals are passed. 
 
 [To Patrick Henry.] 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, 3 June, 1776. 
 
 The dons, the bashaws, the grandees, 
 
 the patricians, the sachems, the nabobs, call them 
 by what name you please, sigh, and groan, and 
 fret, and sometimes stamp, and foam, and curse, 
 but all in vain. The decree is gone forth, and it
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 61 
 
 cannot be recalled, that a more equal liberty than 
 has prevailed in other parts of the earth, must be 
 established in America. That exuberance of pride 
 which has produced an insolent domination in a 
 few, a very few, opulent, monopolizing families, 
 will be brought down nearer to the confines of 
 reason and moderation, than they have been used 
 to. This is all the evil which they themselves will 
 endure. It will do them good in this world, and 
 in every other. For pride was not made for man, 
 only as a tormentor. 
 
 3 July, 1776. 
 
 But the day is past. The second day * 
 
 of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha 
 in the history of America. I am apt "to believe 
 that it will be celebrated by succeeding genera- 
 tions as a great anniversary festival. It ought 
 to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance, 
 by solemn acts of devotion to Almighty God. It 
 ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, 
 with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, 
 and illuminations, from one end of this continent 
 to another, from this time forward, for evermore. 
 
 You will think me transported with enthusiasm, 
 but I am not. I am well aware of the toil, and 
 blood, and treasure, that it will cost us to maintain 
 
 * The Declaration of Independence was agreed to on the 
 second day of July, but not formally approved and signed 
 till the fourth.
 
 62 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 this declaration, and support and defend these 
 states. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the 
 rays of ravishing light and glory. I can see that 
 the end is worth more than all the means, and that 
 posterity will triumph in that day's transactions, 
 even although we should rue it, which I trust in 
 God we shall not. 
 
 [To Mrs. Adams.] 
 
 PASST, 3 June, 1778. 
 
 On the 13th of February I left you.* It is now 
 the 3d of June, and I have not received a line nor 
 heard a word, directly or indirectly, concerning 
 you, since my departure. This is a situation of 
 mind in which I never was before, and I assure 
 you I feel a great deal of anxiety at it ; yet I do 
 not wonder at it, because I suppose few vessels 
 
 have sailed from Boston since ours It 
 
 would be useless to attempt a description of this 
 country. It is one great garden. Nature and art 
 have conspired to render everything here delight- 
 ful. . . . . There is so much danger that my 
 letter may fall into malicious hands, that I should 
 not choose to be too free in my observations upon 
 the customs and manners of this people. But thus 
 much I may say with truth and without offence, 
 
 * He had been appointed Commissioner at the Court of 
 Versailles, to act in conjunction with Dr. Franklin and 
 Arthur Lee.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 63 
 
 that there is no people in the world who take so 
 much pains to please, nor any whose endeavors in 
 this way have more success. Their acts and man- 
 ners, taste and language, are more respected in 
 Europe than those of any other nation. Luxury, 
 dissipation, and effeminacy are pretty nearly of the 
 same degree of excess here and in every other part 
 of Europe. The great cardinal virtue of temper- 
 ance, however, I believe flourishes here more than 
 in any other part of Europe. 
 
 My dear countrymen ! how shall I persuade you 
 to avoid the plague of Europe ? Luxury has as 
 many and as bewitching charms on your side of the 
 ocean as on this ; and luxury, wherever she goes, 
 effaces from human nature the image of the Divinity. 
 If I had power I would forever banish and exclude 
 from America all gold, silver, precious stones, 
 alabaster, marble, silk, velvet, and lace. 
 
 Oh, the tyrant ! the American ladies would say. 
 What ! Ay, my dear girls, these passions of 
 yours, which are so easily alarmed, and others of 
 my own sex which are exactly like them, have 
 done and will do the work of tyrants in all ages. 
 Tyrants different from me, whose power has ban- 
 ished, not gold indeed, but other things of greater 
 value, wisdom, virtue, and liberty. 
 
 My son * and servant are well. I am, with an 
 ardor that words have not power to express, yours. 
 
 * John Quincy.
 
 64 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 PARIS, Feb., 1780. 
 
 I have the honor to be lodging here with no less 
 a personage than the Prince of Hesse-Cassel, who 
 is here upon a visit. We occupy different apart- 
 ments in the same house, and have no intercourse 
 with each other; but some wags are of opinion 
 that if I were authorized to open a negotiation 
 with him, I might obtain from him as many troops 
 to fight on our side of the question as he has 
 already hired to the English against us! 
 
 [To Mrs. Adams.] 
 
 Don't disturb yourself about any malicious at- 
 tempts to injure me in the estimation of my coun- 
 trymen. Let them take their course, and go the 
 length of their tether. They will never hurt your 
 husband, whose character is fortified with a shield 
 of innocence and honor ten thousand fold stronger 
 than brass or iron. The contemptible essays, 
 made by you know whom, will only tend to their 
 own confusion. My letters have shown them their 
 own ignorance, a sight they could not bear. Say 
 as little about it as I do. I laugh, and will laugh 
 before all posterity at their impotent rage and 
 envy.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 65 
 
 [To Mrs. Adams, June 9, 1783, referring to French in- 
 trigues, difficulties in America, and opposition in Eng- 
 land to a treaty of peace with Great Britain.] 
 
 I anr weary, worn, and disgusted to death. I 
 had rather chop wood, dig ditches, and make fence 
 upon my poor little farm. Alas, poor farm ! and 
 poorer family ! what have you lost that your coun- 
 try might be free ! and that others might catch fire 
 and hunt deer and bears at their ease ! 
 
 There will be as few of the" tears of gratitude, 
 or the smiles of admiration, or of the sighs of pity 
 for us, as for the army. But all this should not 
 hinder me from going over the same scenes again, 
 upon the same occasion scenes which I would 
 not encounter for all the wealth, pomp, and power 
 of the world. Boys ! if you ever say one word, 
 or utter one complaint, I will disinherit you. 
 "Work ! you rogues, and be free. You will never 
 have so hard work to do as papa has had. Daugh- 
 ter ! get you an honest man for a husband, and 
 keep him honest. No matter whether he is rich, 
 provided he be independent. Regard the honor 
 and the moral character of the man more than all 
 circumstances. Think of no other greatness but 
 that of the soul, no other riches but those of the 
 heart. 
 
 5
 
 68 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [To Thomas Jefferson, 1813.] 
 
 The human understanding is a revelation froit* 
 its Maker, which can never be disputed 01 
 doubted. 
 
 [To Dr. J. Morse.] 
 
 QCISCT. 22 December, 1815. 
 
 In the course of these ten years [from 
 
 1765 to 1775], they [the British ministry] formed 
 and organized and drilled and disciplined a part}- 
 in favor of Great Britain, and they seduced and 
 deluded nearly one third of the people of the 
 colonies. . . . Let me confine myself to Massa- 
 chusetts. . . . Daniel Leonard was the only child 
 of Colonel Ephraim Leonard, of Norton. He 
 was a scholar, a lawyer, and an orator, accord- 
 ing to the standard of those days. As a member 
 of the House of Representatives, even down to 
 the year 1770, he made the most ardent speeches 
 which were delivered in that House against Great 
 Britain, and hi favor of the colonies. His popu- 
 larity became alarming. The two sagacious spirits, 
 Hutchinson and Sewall, soon penetrated his char- 
 acter, of which, indeed, he had exhibited very vis- 
 ible proofs. He had married a daughter of Mr. 
 Hammock, who had left her a portion, as it was 
 thought, in that day. He wore a broad gold lace 
 round the rim of his hat, he had made his cloak 
 glitter with laces still broader, he had set up his
 
 chariot and pair, and constantly travelled in it 
 from Tanntoo to Boston. Ibis made the world 
 stare; it was a novelty. Xot another lawyer in 
 the province, attorney or barrister., of whatever 
 age, reputation, rank, or station, presumed to ride 
 
 in a coach or a chariot. The discerning; ones soon 
 
 - 
 
 perceived that wealth and power must hare charms 
 to a heart that delighted in so much finery, and in- 
 dulged in such unusual expense. Such marks 
 could not escape the vigilant eyes of the two arch- 
 tempters. Hutchmson and Sewafl. mho had more 
 art, insinuation, and address than all the rest of 
 their party. Poor Daniel was beset with great 
 zeal for his conversion. Hntchinson sent for him, 
 courted him with the ardor of a lover, reasoned 
 with him,, nattered him, overawed him,, frightened 
 him, invited him to come frequently to his house. 
 As I was intimate with Mr. Leonard dnrmg the 
 whole of this process, I had the substance of this 
 information from his own mouth., was a 'iin^g 
 to the progress of the impression made upon him, 
 and to many of the labors and struggles of his 
 mind, between his interest or his lanily, and his 
 duty. 
 
 [Letter to WOBam TMar.J 
 
 QTESCT- 24 Jmmsuy, 1817. 
 
 Bernard, Hntcfainson. Oliver, the commissioners 
 of the customs, and their satellites, had an espio- 
 nage as mqiusilivft, as zealous, and as faithful as
 
 70 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 that in France, before, during, or since the revo- 
 lution, by which the Tories were bettter informed 
 of the anecdote which I am about to relate to you, 
 than the Whigs were in general. . . . 
 
 The public had been long alarmed with rumors 
 and predictions that the king, that is, the min- 
 istry, would take into their own hands the pay- 
 ment of the salaries of the judges of the Supreme 
 Court. The people would not believe it ; the most 
 thinking men dreaded it. They said, "With an 
 executive authority in a governor possessed of an 
 absolute negative on all the acts of the legislature, 
 and the judges dependent only on the crown for 
 salaries, as well as their commissions, what pro- 
 tection have we? We may as well abolish all lim- 
 itations, and resign our lives and liberties at once 
 to the will of a prime-minister at St. James's. You 
 remember the controversy that General Brattle 
 excited concerning the tenor of the judges' com- 
 missions, and the universal anxiety that then pre- 
 vailed on the subject. The despatches at length 
 arrived, and expectation was raised to its highest 
 pitch of exultation and triumph on one side, and 
 of grief, terror, degradation, and despondency on 
 the other. The legislature assembled, and the 
 governor communicated to the two houses his 
 Majesty's commands. 
 
 It happened that I was invited to dine that day 
 with Samuel Winthrop, an excellent character,
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 71 
 
 and a predecessor in the respectable office you 
 now hold in the Supreme Court. Arrived at his 
 house in New Boston, I found it full of counsel- 
 lors, and representatives, and clergy. Such a 
 group of melancholy countenances I had rarely, 
 if ever, seen. No conversation, except some in- 
 sipid observations on the weather, till the great 
 topic of the day was introduced, and at the same 
 time a summons to the feast. All harps upon the 
 willow, we sat down to a triste dinner, which all 
 the delicacies before us could not enliven. A few 
 glasses of good wine, however, in time brought 
 up some spirit, and the conversation assumed a 
 little vigor, but it was the energy of grief, com- 
 plaint, and despair. All expressed their detesta- 
 tion and horror of the insidious ministerial plot, 
 but all agreed that it was irremediable. There 
 was no means or mode of opposing or resisting it. 
 Indignation and despair, too, boiled in my breast 
 as ardently as in any of them, though, as the 
 company were so much superior to me in age and 
 station, I had not said anything; but Dr. Win- 
 throp, the professor, then of the council, observing 
 my silence, and perhaps my countenance, said : 
 "Mr. Adams, what is your opinion? Can you 
 think of any way of escaping this snare ! " My 
 answer was : "No, sir ; I am as much at a loss as 
 any of the company. I agree with all the gentle- 
 men, that petitions and remonstrances to king or
 
 72 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 parliament will be ineffectual. Nothing but force 
 will succeed ; but I would try one project before 
 I had recourse to the last reason and fitness of 
 things." The company cried out, almost or quite 
 together, "What project is that? What would 
 you do?" A. "I would impeach the judges." 
 "Impeach the judges? How? Where? Who 
 can impeach them?" A. "The House of Repre- 
 sentatives," " The House of Representatives ? Be- 
 fore whom? Before the House of Lords in Eng- 
 land?" A. "No; surely. You might as well 
 impeach them before Lord North alone." " Where, 
 then?" A. "Before the governor and council." 
 " Is there any precedent for that ? " A. "If there 
 is not, it is now high time that a precedent should 
 beset." "The governor and council will not re- 
 ceive the impeachment." A. " I know that very 
 well, but the record of it will stand upon the jour- 
 nals, be published in pamphlets and newspapers, 
 and perhaps make the judges repent of their sal- 
 aries, and decline them; perhaps make it too 
 troublesome to hold them." "What right had we 
 to impeach anybody ? " A. " Our House of Rep- 
 resentatives have the same right to impeach as the 
 House of Commons has in England, and our gov- 
 ernor and council have the same right and duty to 
 receive and hear impeachments as the king and 
 House of Lords have in parliament. If the gov- 
 ernor and council would not do their duty, that
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 73 
 
 would not be the fault of the people ; their repre- 
 sentatives ought nevertheless to do theirs." Some 
 of the company said the idea was so new to them 
 that they wished I would show them some reason 
 for my opinion that we had the right. I repeated 
 to them the clause of the charter which I relied 
 on, the constant practice in England, and the ne- 
 cessity of such a power and practice in every free 
 government. 
 
 The company dispersed, and I went home. Dr. 
 Cooper and others were excellent hands to spread 
 a rumor, and before nine o'clock half the town, 
 and most of the members of the general court, 
 had in their heads the idea of an impeachment. 
 The next morning, early, Major Hawley, of North- 
 ampton, came to my house under great concern, 
 and said he heard that I had yesterday, in a pub- 
 lic company, suggested a thought of impeaching 
 the judges ; that report had got about, and had 
 excited some uneasiness, and he desired to know 
 my meaning. I invited him into my office, opened 
 the charter, and requested him to read the para- 
 graphs that I had marked. I then produced to 
 him that volume of Selden's works which contains 
 his treatise on Judicature and Parliament; other 
 authorities in law were produced to him, and the 
 State Trials, and a profusion of impeachments, 
 with which that work abounds. Major Hawley, 
 who was one of the best men in the province, and
 
 72 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 parliament will be ineffectual. Nothing but force 
 will succeed ; but I would try one project before 
 I had recourse to the last reason and fitness of 
 things." The company cried out, almost or quite 
 together, "What project is that? What would 
 you do?" A. "I would impeach the judges." 
 "Impeach the judges? How? Where? Who 
 can impeach them?" A. "The House of Rcpre- 
 sentatives," " The House of Representatives ? Be- 
 fore whom? Before the House of Lords in Eng- 
 land ? " A. " No ; surely. You might as well 
 impeach them before Lord North alone." " Where, 
 then?" A. "Before the governor and council." 
 " Is there any precedent for that ? " A. "If there 
 is not, it is now high time that a precedent should 
 be set." " The governor and council will not re- 
 ceive the impeachment." A. " I know that very 
 well, but the record of it will stand upon the jour- 
 nals, be published in pamphlets and newspapers, 
 and perhaps make the judges repent of their sal- 
 aries, and decline them ; perhaps make it too 
 troublesome to hold them." "What right had we 
 to impeach anybody ? " A. " Our House of Rep- 
 resentatives have the same right to impeach as the 
 House of Commons has in England, and our gov- 
 ernor and council have the same right and duty to 
 receive and hear impeachments as the king and 
 House of Lords have in parliament. If the gov- 
 ernor and council would not do their duty, that
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 73 
 
 would not be the fault of the people ; their repre- 
 sentatives ought nevertheless to do theirs." Some 
 of the company said the idea was so new to them 
 that they wished I would show them some reason 
 for my opinion that we had the right. I repeated 
 to them the clause of the charter which I relied 
 on, the constant practice in England, and the ne- 
 cessity of such a power and practice in every free 
 government. 
 
 The company dispersed, and I went home. Dr. 
 Cooper and others were excellent hands to spread 
 a rumor, and before nine o'clock half the town, 
 and most of the members of the general court, 
 had in their heads the idea of an impeachment. 
 The next morning, early, Major Hawley, of North- 
 ampton, came to my house under great concern, 
 and said he heard that I had yesterday, in a pub- 
 lic company, suggested a thought of impeaching 
 the judges ; that report had got about, and had 
 excited some uneasiness, and he desired to know 
 my meaning. I invited him into my office, opened 
 the charter, and requested him to read the para- 
 graphs that I had marked. I then produced to 
 him that volume of Selden's works which contains 
 his treatise on Judicature and Parliament; other 
 authorities in law were produced to him, and the 
 State Trials, and a profusion of impeachments, 
 with which that work abounds. Major Hawley, 
 who was one of the best men in the province, and
 
 74 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 one of the ablest lawyers and best speakers in the 
 legislature, was struck with surprise. He said, 
 "I know not what to think. This is in a manner 
 all new to me. I must think of it." You, Mr. 
 Tudor, will not wonder at Major Hawley's embar- 
 rassment, if you recollect that my copy of Sel- 
 den's works, of the State Trials, and the Statutes 
 at Large, were the only ones in Boston at that 
 time. . . . 
 
 My strange brother, Eobert Treat Paine, came 
 to me with grief and terror in his face and man- 
 ners. He said he had heard that I talked of an 
 impeachment of the judges ; that it had excited a 
 great deal of conversation, and that it seemed to 
 prevail, and that, according to all appearances, it 
 would be brought forward in the House ; he was 
 very uneasy about it, etc. I knew the man. In- 
 stead of entering into particular conversation with 
 him, I took him into my office, and showed him 
 all that I had before shown to Major Hawley. He 
 had not patience to read much, and went away 
 with the same anxious brow. This man had an 
 upright heart, an abundance of wit, and, upon the 
 whole, a deeper policy than I had. lie soon 
 found, however, that the impeachment was pop- 
 ular, and would prevail, and prudently acquiesced. 
 Major Ilawlcy, always conscientious, always de- 
 liberate, always cautious, had not slept soundly. 
 What were his dreams about impeachment, I know
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 75 
 
 not. But this I know; he drove away to Cam- 
 bridge, to consult Judge Trowbridge, and ap- 
 pealed to his conscience. The charter was called 
 for; Selden and the State Trials were quoted. 
 Trowbridge said to him what I had said before, 
 that " the power of impeachment was essential to 
 a free government ; that the charter had given it to 
 onr House of Representatives as clearly as the 
 Constitution, in the common law or immemorial 
 usage, had given it to the House of Commons in 
 England." This was all he could say, though he 
 lamented the occasion of it. 
 
 Major Hawley returned full in the faith. An 
 impeachment was voted, a committee appointed 
 to prepare articles. But Major Hawley insisted 
 upon it in private with the committee that they 
 should consult me, and take my advice upon every 
 article before they reported it to the House. Such 
 was the state of parties at that moment, that the 
 patriots could carry nothing in the House without 
 the support of Major Hawley. The committee 
 very politely requested me to meet them. To 
 avoid all questions about time and place, I invited 
 them to my house in the evening. They came, 
 and produced a draft of articles, which were ex- 
 amined, considered, and discussed, article by arti- 
 cle, and paragraph by paragraph. I objected to 
 some, and proposed alterations in others. Some- 
 times succeeded, and often failed. . . . The re-
 
 76 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 suit, upon the whole, was not satisfactory to me in 
 all points, but I was not responsible. 
 
 Next day I met Ben Gridley, who accosted me 
 in his pompous style, "Brother Adams, you keep 
 late hours ! Last night I saw a host of senators 
 vomit forth from your door after midnight." 
 Now, brother Tudor, judge you whether this 
 whole transaction was not as well known at head- 
 quarters, and better too, than in the House of 
 Eepresentatives. This confidence of Major Haw- 
 ley in me became an object of jealousy to the pa- 
 triots. Not only Mr. Paine, but Mr. [Samuel] 
 Adams and Mr. Hancock, could not refrain from 
 expressing, at times, their feeling of it. But they 
 could do nothing without Major Hawley. These 
 little passions, of which even the apostles could 
 not wholly divest themselves, have, in all ages, 
 been small causes of great events ; too small, in- 
 deed, to be described by historians, or even known 
 to them, or suspected by them. 
 
 These articles were reported to the House, dis- 
 cussed, accepted ; the impeachment voted, and 
 sent up in form to the governor and council ; re- 
 jected, of course, as everybody knew beforehand 
 that it would be ; but it remained on the journals 
 of the House, was printed in the newspapers, and 
 went abroad into the world. And what were the 
 consequences? Chief Justice Oliver and his Su- 
 perior Court, your Supreme Judicial Court, com- 
 menced their regular circuit.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 77 
 
 The Chief Justice opened his court as usual. 
 Grand jurors and petit jurors refused to take their 
 oaths. They never, as I believe, could prevail on 
 one juror to take the oath. I attended at the bar 
 in two counties, and I heard grand jurors and 
 petit jurors say to Chief Justice Oliver, to his face, 
 " The chief justice of this court stands impeached 
 by the representatives of the people of high crimes 
 and misdemeanors, and of a conspiracy against the 
 charter privileges of the people. I therefore can- 
 not serve as juror, or take the oath." The cool, 
 calm, sedate intrepidity with which these honest 
 freeholders went through this fiery trial filled my 
 eyes and my heart. 
 
 In one word, the royal government was from 
 that moment laid prostrate in the dust, and has 
 never since revived in substance, though a dark 
 shadow of the hobgoblin haunts me at times to 
 this day. 
 
 [From a letter to William Tudor, 1817.] 
 
 The bloody rencounter between the citi- 
 zens and the soldiers on the 5th of March, 1770, 
 produced a tremendous sensation throughout the 
 town and country. The people assembled first at 
 Faneuil Hall, and adjourned to the Old South 
 Church, to the number, as was conjectured, of ten 
 or twelve thousand men, among whom were the 
 most virtuous, substantial, independent, disinter-
 
 78 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 ested, and intelligent citizens. They formed them- 
 selves into a regular deliberative body, chose their 
 moderator and secretary, entered into discussions, 
 deliberations, and debates, adopted resolutions, 
 appointed committees. ... A remonstrance to 
 the governor was ordained, and a demand that the 
 regular troops should be removed from the town. 
 A committee was appointed to present this remon- 
 strance, of which Samuel Adams was the chair- 
 man. ... In his common appearance he was 
 a plain, simple, decent citizen, of middling stature, 
 dress, and manners. He had an exquisite ear for 
 music, and a charming voice, when he pleased to 
 exert it. Yet his ordinary speeches in town meet- 
 ings, in the House of Representatives, and in Con- 
 gress, exhibited nothing extraordinary ; but upon 
 great occasions, when his deeper feelings were ex- 
 cited, he erected himself, or rather Nature seemed 
 to erect him, without the smallest sj^mptom of affec- 
 tation, into an upright dignity and gesture, and 
 gave a harmony to his voice which made a strong 
 impression on spectators and auditors, the more 
 lasting for the purity, correctness, and nervous 
 elegance of his style. 
 
 This was a delicate and a dangerous crisis. The 
 question in the last resort was, whether the town 
 of Boston should become a scene of carnage and 
 desolation or not. Humanity to the soldiers con- 
 spired with a regard for the safety of the town, in
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 79 
 
 suggesting the wise measure of calling the town to- 
 gether to deliberate. For nothing short of the 
 most solemn promises to the people that the sol- 
 diers should, at all hazards, be driven from the 
 town, had preserved its peace. Not only the im- 
 mense assemblies of the people from day to day, 
 but military arrangements from night to night, were 
 necessary to keep the people and the soldiers from 
 getting together by the ears. The life of a red- 
 coat would not have been safe in any street or cor- 
 ner of the town. Nor would the lives of the in- 
 habitants have been much more secure. The 
 whole militia of the city was in requisition, and 
 military watches and guards were everywhere 
 placed. We were all upon a level ; no man was 
 exempted ; our military officers were only our 
 superiors. I had the honor to be summoned, in 
 my turn, and attended at the State House with 
 my musket and bayonet, my broadsword, and 
 cartridge-box, under the command of the famous 
 Paddock. . . . He called me, common soldier as 
 I was, frequently to his councils. I had a great 
 deal of conversation with him, and no man ap- 
 peared more apprehensive of a fatal calamity to 
 the town, or more zealous by every prudent meas- 
 ure to prevent it. 
 
 Such was the situation of affairs when Samuel 
 Adams was reasoning [in the council chamber] 
 with Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson and Lieu-
 
 80 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 
 
 tenant-Colonel Dairy mple. He had fairly driven 
 them from all their outworks, breastworks, and 
 intrenchments, to their citadel. There they 
 paused and considered and deliberated. The 
 heads of Hutchinson and Dalrymple were laid 
 together in whispers for a long time ; when the 
 whispering ceased, a long and solemn pause en- 
 sued, extremely painful to an impatient, expect- 
 ing audience. Hutchinson, in time, broke silence ; 
 he had consulted with Colonel Dalrymple, and the 
 Colonel had authorized him to say that he might 
 order one regiment down to the castle, if that 
 would satisfy the people. 
 
 With a self-recollection, a self-possession, a self- 
 command, a presence of mind that was admired 
 by every man present, Samuel Adams arose with 
 an air of dignity and majesty of which he was 
 sometimes capable, stretched forth his arm, though 
 even then quivering with palsy, and with an har- 
 monious voice and decisive tone said, " If the 
 Lieutenant-Go vernor or Colonel Dalrymple, or 
 both together, have authority to remove one regi- 
 ment, they have authority to remove two, and 
 nothing short of the total evacuation of the town 
 by all the regular troops will satisfy the public 
 mind or preserve the peace of the province." 
 
 These few words thrilled through the veins of 
 every man in the audience, and produced the 
 great result. After a little awkward hesitation,
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 81 
 
 it was agreed that the town should be evacuated, 
 and both regiments sent to the castle. 
 
 After all this gravity it is merry enough to relate 
 that William Molineux was obliged to march side 
 by side with the commander of some of these troops, 
 to protect them from the indignation of the people 
 in their progress to the wharf of embarkation to 
 the castle. Nor is it less amusing that Lord North, 
 as I was repeatedly and credibly informed in Eng- 
 land, with his characteristic mixture of good 
 humor and sarcasm, ever after called these troops 
 by the title of " Sam Adams' two regiments." 
 
 [From a letter to William Tudor, with reference to the of- 
 fensive "writs of assistance," inquisitorial revenue regu- 
 lations, sought to be forced upon the people.*]. 
 
 QUIKCY, 29 March, 1817. 
 
 Whenever you shall find a pointer, male 
 
 or female, I pray you suggest a scene and a sub- 
 ject for the pencil. 
 
 The scene is the Council Chamber, in the old 
 Town House, in Boston. The date is in the 
 month of February, 1761. . . . The Council 
 
 * A special effort to enforce the navigation laws, and to 
 prevent the colonists from trading with other nations, was 
 made by Parliament, in 1761, by means of "Writs of Assist- 
 ance," or general search-warrants, authorizing any sheriff, 
 or officer of the customs, to enter a store or private dwelling, 
 and search for foreign merchandise, which he suspected had 
 not paid duty. 
 
 6
 
 82 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Chamber was as respectable an apartment as the 
 House of Commons, or the House of Lords, in 
 Great Britain, in proportion. ... In this cham- 
 ber, round a great fire, were seated five judges, 
 with Lieutenant-Governor Hutchinson at their head 
 as Chief Justice, all arrayed in their new, fresh, 
 rich robes of scarlet English broadcloth ; in their 
 large cambric bands and immense judicial wigs. 
 In this chamber were seated at a long table all the 
 barristers-at-law of Boston, and of the neighbor- 
 ing county of Middlesex, in gowns, bands, and tie 
 wigs. They were not seated on ivory chairs, but 
 their dress was more solemn and more pompous 
 than that of the Roman Senate when the Gauls 
 broke in upon them. . . . Two portraits, at 
 more than full length, of King Charles the Second, 
 and of King James the Second, in splendid 
 golden frames, were hung up on the most con- 
 spicuous sides of the apartment. . . . One 
 circumstance more. Samuel Quincy and John 
 Adams had been admitted barristers at that 
 term. John was the youngest ; he should be 
 painted looking like a short, thick archbishop of 
 Canterbury, seated at a table, with a pen in his 
 hand, lost in admiration, now and then minuting 
 those poor notes which your pupil, Judge Minot, 
 has printed in his history. . . . You have now 
 the stage and the scenery ; next follows a narra- 
 tion of the subject [arguing the question of the 
 legality of the "writs of assistance."]
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 83 
 
 Now for the actors and performers. Mr. Grid- 
 ley argued, with his characteristic learning, inge- 
 nuity, and dignity, and said everything that could 
 be said in favor of Cockle's [the deputy-collector's] 
 petition [for writs of assistance] ; all depending, 
 however, on the " if the Parliament of Great Brit- 
 ain is the sovereign legislature of all the British 
 empire." Mr. Thacher followed him on the other 
 side, and argued with the softness of manners, the 
 ingenuity and cool reasoning, which were remark- 
 able in his amiable character. 
 
 But Otis * was a flame of fire ! With a promp- 
 titude of classical allusions, a depth of research, 
 a rapid summary of historical events and dates, a 
 profusion of legal authorities, a prophetic glance 
 of his eye into futurity, and a torrent of impetuous 
 eloquence, he hurried away everything before him. 
 American independence was then and there born ; 
 the seeds of patriots and heroes were then and 
 there sown, to defend the vigorous youth, the non 
 sine Diis animosus infans. Every man of a 
 crowded audience appeared to me to go away, 
 as I did, ready to take arms against writs of 
 
 * James Otis was the advocate for the Admiralty, whose 
 duty it was to argue in favor of the Writs ; but he resigned, 
 in oi-der to plead the cause of the people. "To my dying 
 clay," he said, " I will oppose, with all the power and facul- 
 ties God has given me, all such instruments of slavery on 
 the one hand, and villany on the other." Patton's History 
 of the United States.
 
 84 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 assistance. Then and there was the first scene of 
 the first act of opposition to the arbitrary claims 
 of Great Britain. Then and there the child Inde- 
 pendence was born. In fifteen years, namely, in 
 1776, he grew up to manhood, and declared him- 
 self free. . . . Mr. Otis's popularity was without 
 bounds. In May, 1761, he was elected into the 
 House of Representatives by an almost unanimous 
 vote. On the week of his election I happened to 
 be at Worcester, attending the Court of Common 
 Pleas, of which Brigadier Ruggles was Chief Jus- 
 tice, when the news arrived from Boston of Mr. 
 Otis's election. You can have no idea of the con- 
 sternation among the government people. Chief 
 Justice Ruggles, at dinner at Colonel Chandler's 
 on that day, said, " Out of this election will arise 
 a d d faction which will shake this province to its 
 foundation." Rtiggles's foresight reached not be- 
 yond his nose. That election has shaken two 
 continents, and will shake all four. For ten years 
 Mr. Otis, at the head of his country's cause, con- 
 ducted the town of Boston, and the people of the 
 province, with a prudence and fortitude, at every 
 sacrifice of personal interest, and amidst unceasing 
 persecution, which would have done honor to the 
 most virtuous patriot or martyr of antiquity. 
 
 The minutes of Mr. Otis's argument are no 
 better a representation of it than the gleam of a 
 glow-worm to the meridian blaze of the sun.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 85 
 
 [To Robert I. Evans, 1819.] 
 
 I have, through my whole life, held the practice 
 of slavery in such abhorrence, that I have nevei 
 owned a negro or any other slave, though I have 
 lived for many years in times when the practice 
 was not disgraceful, when the best men in my 
 vicinity thought it not inconsistent with their char- 
 acter, and when it has cost me thousands of dol- 
 lars for the labor and subsistence of freemen, which 
 I might have saved by the purchase of negroes at 
 times w T hen they were very cheap. 
 
 [To Samuel Miller, 1820.] 
 
 . . . That you and I shall meet in a better 
 world, I have no more doubt than I have that we 
 now exist on the same globe, if my natural reason 
 did not convince me of this. Cicero's Dream of 
 Scipio, and his essays on friendship and old age, 
 would have been sufficient for the purpose. But 
 Jesus has taught us that a future state is a social 
 state, when he promised to prepare places in his 
 Father's house of many mansions, for his disciples. 
 
 [To Thomas Jefferson, 1820.] 
 
 When we say God is a spirit, we know w T hat we 
 mean, as well as we do when we say that the pyr- 
 amids of Egypt are matter. Let us be content, 
 therefore, to believe him to be a spirit, that is, an 
 essence that we know r nothing of, in which origi-
 
 86 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 nally and necessarily reside all energy, all power, 
 all capacity, all activity, all wisdom, all goodness. 
 
 [To Richard Rush, 1821.] 
 
 Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that 
 leads to liberty, and few nations, if any, have 
 found it. 
 
 [To Thomas Jefferson, 1821.] 
 
 I may refine too much, I may be an enthusiast, 
 but I think a free government is a complicated 
 piece of machinery, the nice and exact adjustment 
 of whose springs, wheels, and weights, is not yet 
 well comprehended by the artists of the age, and 
 still less by the people. 
 
 [To Richard Rush, 1821.] 
 
 Never before, but once, in the whole course of 
 my life, was my soul so melted into the milk of 
 human kindness ; and that once was when four or 
 five hundred fine young fellows appeared before 
 me in Philadelphia, presenting an address, and 
 receiving my answer. On both occasions I felt as 
 if I could lay down a hundred lives to preserve 
 the liberties and promote the prosperity of so 
 noble a rising generation. 
 
 o 
 
 [To Thomas Jefferson, 1823.] 
 
 Right and justice have had hard fare in this 
 world, but there is a Power above who is capable 
 and willing to put all things right in the end.
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 87 
 
 [To Thomas Jefferson, 1825.] 
 
 The substance and essence of Christianity, as I 
 understand it, is eternal and unchangeable, and 
 will bear examination forever; but it has been 
 mixed with extraneous ingredients, which I think 
 will not bear examination, and they ought to be 
 separated.
 
 88 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFEESON. 
 
 BORN, 1743; DIED, 1826, AGED 83. ENTERED WILLIAM AND 
 MARY COLLEGE, VA, 17GO. BEGAN PRACTICE OF LAW, 1767. 
 MEMBER OF HOUSE OF BURGESSES, VA., 1769. MEMBER 
 OF VIRGINIA CONVENTION, 1774. DELEGATE TO CON- 
 GRESS, 1775. WROTE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, 
 1776. MEMBER OF A CONVENTION TO FRAME A CONSTITU- 
 TION FOR VIRGINIA, 1776. PROCURED PASSAGE OF A BILL 
 PROHIBITING THE FUTURE IMPORTATION OF SLAVES, 1778. 
 GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, 1779. DELEGATE TO CONGRESS, 
 1783. MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY TO EUROPE, 1781. 
 MINISTER TO FRANCE, 1785. SECRETARY OF STATE, 1790. 
 VICE-PRESIDENT, 1797. PRESIDENT, 1801-1809. TOOK AC- 
 TIVE PART IN ESTABLISHING THE UNIVERSITY OF VIR- 
 GINIA, 1817. 
 
 TRAINED in these successive schools, (the 
 Virginia Assembly, the Council of State, and 
 Congress,) he [Madison] acquired a habit of self- 
 possession which placed at ready command the 
 rich resources of his luminous and discriminating 
 mind, and of his extensive information, and ren- 
 dered him the first of every assembly afterward 
 of which he became a member. Never wandering 
 from his subject into vain declamation, but pur- 
 suing it closely, in language pure, classical, and 
 copious, soothing always the feelings of his adver- 
 saries by civilities and softness of expression, he
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 89 
 
 rose to the eminent station which he held in the 
 great National Convention of 1787 ; and in that 
 of Virginia, which followed, he sustained the new 
 constitution in all its parts, bearing off the palm 
 against the logic of George Mason, and the fervid 
 declamation of Mr. Henry. With these consum- 
 mate powers was united a pure and spotless virtue, 
 which no calumny has ever attempted to sully. 
 Of the powers and polish of his pen, and of the 
 wisdom of his administration in the highest office 
 of the nation, I need say nothing. They have 
 spoken, and will forever speak for themselves. 
 Writings, Vol. I, p. 33. 
 
 The bill [in the General Assembly of Virginia] 
 for establishing religious freedom ... I had drawn 
 in all the latitude of reason and right. It still met 
 with opposition ; but, with some mutilation in the 
 preamble, it was finally passed; and a singular 
 proposition proved that its protection of opinion 
 was meant to be universal. Where the preamble 
 declares that coercion is a departure from the plan 
 of the holy author of our religion, an amendment 
 was proposed, by inserting the words "Jesus 
 Christ," so that it should read, " a departure from 
 the plan of Jesus Christ, the holy author of our 
 religion " ; the insertion was rejected by a great 
 majority, in proof that they meant to comprehend 
 within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and
 
 90 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the Gentile, the Christian and Mahometan, the 
 Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination. 
 Writings, Vol. I., 36. 
 
 [Letter to John Randolph.] 
 
 November 29, 1773. 
 
 Believe me, dear sir, there is not in the 
 
 British empire a man who more cordially loves a 
 union with Great Britain than I do. But, by the 
 God that made me, I will cease to exist before I 
 yield to a connection on such terms as the British 
 Parliament propose ; and in this, I think I speak 
 the sentiments of America. 
 
 The passage of the Patowmac [Potomac] through 
 the Blue Ridge is perhaps one of the most stupen- 
 dous scenes in nature. You stand on a very high 
 point of land. On your right comes up the Shen- 
 andoah, having ranged along the foot of the moun- 
 tain an hundred miles to seek a vent. On your 
 left approaches the Patowmac, in quest of a pas- 
 sage also. In the moment of their junction they 
 rush together against the mountain, rend it asun- 
 der, and pass off to the sea. The first glance of 
 this scene hurries our senses into the opinion that 
 this earth has been created in time, that the moun- 
 tains were formed first, that the rivers began to 
 flow afterwards, that in this place particularly they 
 have been dammed up by the Blue ridge of moun- 
 tains, and have formed an ocean which filled the
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 91 
 
 whole valley ; that continuing to rise, they have at 
 length broken over at this spot, and have torn the 
 mountain down from its summit to its base. The 
 piles of rock on each hand, but particularly on the 
 Shenandoah, the evident marks of their disrupture 
 and avulsion from their beds by the most powerful 
 agents of nature, corroborate the impression. 
 
 But the distant finishing which nature has given 
 to the picture is of a very different character. It 
 is a true contrast to the foreground. It is as placid 
 and delightful as that is wild and tremendous. For 
 the mountain being cloven asunder, she presents to 
 your eye, through the cleft, a small catch of 
 smooth, blue horizon, at an infinite distance in the 
 plain country, inviting you as it were from the riot 
 and tumult roaring around to pass through the 
 breach and participate of the calm below. Here 
 the eye ultimately composes itself; and that way 
 too the road happens actually to lead. You cross 
 the Patowmac above the junction, pass along its 
 side through the base of the mountain for three 
 miles, its terrible precipices hanging in fragments 
 over you, and within about twenty miles reach 
 Fredericktown, and the fine country round that. 
 This scene is worth a voyage across the Atlantic. 
 1781. JVotes on Virginia. 
 
 The Natural Bridge, the most sublime of nature's 
 works, is on the ascent of a hill, which
 
 92 - CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 seems to have been cloven through its length by 
 some great convulsion. The fissure, just at the 
 bridge, is, by some admeasurements, two hundred 
 and seventy feet deep, by others only two hundred 
 and five. It is about forty-five feet wide at the 
 bottom, and ninety feet at the top ; this of course 
 determines the length of the bridge, and its height 
 from the water. Its breadth in the middle is about 
 sixty feet, but more at the ends, and the thickness 
 of the mass, at the summit of the arch, about forty 
 feet. A part of this thickness is constituted by 
 a coat of earth, which gives growth to many large 
 trees. 
 
 The residue, with the hill on both sides, is one 
 solid rock of limestone. The arch approaches the 
 semi-elliptical form; but the large axis of the 
 ellipsis, which would be the chord of the arch, is 
 many times longer than the transverse. Though 
 the sides of this bridge are provided in some parts 
 with a parapet of fixed rocks, yet few men have 
 the resolution to walk to them, and look over into 
 the abyss. You involuntarily fall upon your hands 
 and feet, creep to the parapet, and peep over it. 
 Looking down from this height above a minute 
 gave me a violent headache. 
 
 If the view from the top be painful and intoler- 
 able, that from below is delightful in an equal ex- 
 treme. It is impossible for the emotions arising 
 from the sublime to be felt beyond what they are
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 93 
 
 here : so beautiful an arch, so elevated, so light, 
 and springing as it were up to heaven, the rapture 
 of the spectator is really indescribable! 1781. 
 Jfotes, etc., p. 34. 
 
 THE NEGROES. 
 
 Whether further observation will or will not 
 verify the conjecture that nature has been less 
 bountiful to them in the endowment of the head, 
 I believe that in those of the heart she will be 
 found to have done them justice. That disposi- 
 tion to theft with which they have been branded 
 must be ascribed to their situation, and not to any 
 depravity of the moral sense. The man in whose 
 favor no laws of property exist probably feels him- 
 self less bound to respect those made in favor of 
 others. When arguing for ourselves, we lay it 
 down as a fundamental, that laws, to be just, 
 must give a reciprocation of right ; that without 
 this they are mere arbitrary rules of conduct, 
 founded in force and not in conscience ; and it 
 is a problem which I give to the master to solve, 
 whether the religious precepts against the viola- 
 tion of property were not framed for him as well 
 as his slave? and whether the slave may not as 
 justifiably take a little from one who has taken all 
 from him, as he would slay one who would slay 
 him ? That a change in the relations in which a 
 man is placed should change his ideas of moral
 
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 right and wrong is neither new nor peculiar to the 
 color of the blacks 
 
 Notwithstanding these considerations, which 
 must weaken their respect for the laws of prop- 
 erty, we find among them numerous instances 
 of the most rigid integrity, and as many as among 
 their better instructed masters, of benevolence, 
 gratitude, and unshaken fidelity. 
 
 The opinion that they are inferior in the faculties 
 of reason and imagination must be hazarded with 
 great diffidence ; ... let me add, too, as a cir- 
 cumstance of great tenderness, where our conclu- 
 sion would degrade a whole race of men from the 
 rank in the scale of beings which their Creator 
 may, perhaps, have given them. 1781. Notes, 
 etc. p. 211. 
 
 There must, doubtless, be an unhappy influence 
 on the manners of our people produced by the ex- 
 istence of slavery among us. The whole com- 
 merce between, master and slave is a perpetual 
 exercise of the most boisterous passions, the most 
 unremitting despotism on the one part, and de- 
 grading submissions on the other. Our children 
 see this, and learn to imitate it ; for man is an im- 
 itative animal. This quality is the germ of all 
 education in him. From his cradle to his grave 
 he is learning to do what he sees others do. If a 
 parent could find no motive either in his philan-
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 95 
 
 thropy, or his self-love, for restraining the intem- 
 perance of passion towards his slave, it should 
 always be a sufficient one that his child is present. 
 But generally it is not sufficient. The parent 
 storms, the child looks on, catches the lineaments 
 of wrath, puts on the same airs to the circle of 
 smaller slaves, gives aloose to the worst of pas- 
 sions, and thus nursed, educated, and daily exer- 
 cised, cannot but be stamped by it with odious 
 peculiarities. The man must be a prodigy who 
 can retain his manners and morals undepravcd by 
 such circumstances. And with what execration 
 should the statesman be loaded, who, permitting 
 one-half the citizens thus to trample on the rights 
 of the other, transforms those into despots, and 
 these into enemies ; destroys the morals of the one 
 part, and the amor patriae of the other. For if a 
 slave can have a country in this world, it must be 
 any other in preference to that in which he is 
 born to live and labor for another, in which he 
 must lock up the faculties of his nature, contrib- 
 ute, as far as depends on his individual endeavors, 
 to the evanishment of the human race, or entail 
 his own miserable condition on the endless genera- 
 tions proceeding from him. 
 
 With the morals of the people their industry 
 also is destroyed. For in a warm climate no man 
 will labor for himself who can make another labor 
 for him. This is so true, that of the proprietors
 
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 of slaves a very small proportion indeed are ever 
 seen to labor. 
 
 And can the liberties of a nation be thought 
 secure when we have removed their only firm 
 basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that 
 these liberties are of the gift of God ; that they are 
 not to be violated but with his wrath ? Indeed I 
 tremble for my country when I reflect that God is 
 just ; that his justice cannot sleep for ever ; that 
 considering numbers, nature, and natural means 
 only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an ex- 
 change of situation is among possible events ; that 
 it may become probable by supernatural inter- 
 ference ! The Almighty has no attribute which 
 can take side with us in such a contest. 1781. 
 Notes, etc., p. 240. 
 
 What an incomprehensible machine is man ! 
 who can endure toil, famine, strife, imprisonment, 
 and death itself, in vindication of his own liberty, 
 and the next moment be deaf to all those motives 
 whose power supported him through his trial, and 
 inflict on his fellow-man a bondage, one hour of 
 which is fraught with more misery than ages of 
 that which he rose in rebellion to oppose. Letter 
 to a friend. 
 
 We must wait with patience the workings of an 
 overruling Providence, and hope that that is pre- 
 paring the deliverance of these our brethren.
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 97 
 
 "When the measure of their tears shall be full, 
 when their groans shall have involved Heaven 
 itself in darkness, doubtless a God of justice will 
 awaken to their distress. Nothing is more cer- 
 tainly written in the Book of Fate than that this 
 people shall be free. 1778. 
 
 I served with General Washington, in the legis- 
 lature of Virginia, before the revolution, and, 
 during it, with Dr. Franklin, in Congress. I 
 never heard either of them speak ten minutes at a 
 time, nor to any but the main point, which was to 
 decide the question. They laid their shoulders to 
 the great points, knowing that the little ones 
 would follow of themselves. Writings, Vol. I., 
 p. 47. 
 
 It is not by the consolidation or concentration 
 of powers, but by their distribution, that good 
 government is efiected. Were not this great 
 country already divided into States, that division 
 must be made ; that- each might do for itself what 
 concerns itself directly, and what it can so much 
 better do than a distant authority. Every State 
 again is divided into counties, each to take care of 
 what lies within its local bounds ; each county 
 again into townships, or wards, to manage minuter 
 details ; and every ward into farms, to be gov- 
 erned each by its individual proprietor. Were we 
 directed from Washington when to sow, and when
 
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 to reap, we should soon want bread. It is by this 
 partition of cares, descending in gradation from 
 general to particular, that the mass of human 
 affairs may be best managed, for the good and 
 prosperity of all. Writings, Vol. I., p. 66. 
 
 [Letter to Peter Carr, Aug. 19, 1785.] 
 
 Give up money, give up fame, give up 
 
 science, give the earth itself and all it contains, 
 rather than do an immoral act. . . . Whenever 
 you are to do a thing, though it can never be 
 known but to yourself, ask yourself how you 
 would act, were all the world looking at you, and 
 act accordingly. ... If ever you find yourself 
 environed with difficulties and perplexing circum- 
 stances, out of which you are at a loss how to 
 extricate yourself, do what is right, and be assured 
 that that will extricate you the best out of the 
 worst situations. Though you cannot see, when 
 you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow 
 truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear 
 their leading you out of the labyrinth, in the easi- 
 est manner possible. . . . Nothing is so mistaken 
 as the supposition that a person is to extricate 
 himself from a difficulty by intrigue, by chicanery, 
 by dissimulation, by trimming, by an untruth, by 
 an injustice. This increases the difficulties ten- 
 fold ; and those who pursue these methods get 
 themselves so involved at length, that they can
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 99 
 
 turn no way but their infamy becomes more ex- 
 posed. It is of great importance to set a resolu- 
 tion not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. 
 ... This falsehood of the tongue leads to that 
 of the heart, and in time depraves all its good 
 dispositions. Writings, Vol. I., 285. 
 
 [To a friend who had invited him to share in some promis- 
 ing business enterprise, he replied] : 
 
 When I first entered on the stage of public life 
 (now twenty-four years ago) , I came to a resolu- 
 tion never to engage, while in public office, in any 
 kind of enterprise for the improvement of my for- 
 tune, nor to wear any other character than that of 
 a farmer. I have never departed from it in a sin- 
 gle instance ; and I have, in multiplied instances, 
 found myself happy in being able to decide and to 
 act as a public servant, clear of all interest, in the 
 multiform questions that have arisen, wherein I 
 have seen others embarrassed and biassed by hav- 
 ing got themselves in a more interested situation. 
 Then I have thought myself richer in contentment 
 than I should have been with any increase of 
 fortune. Certainly I should have been much 
 wealthier had I remained in that private condi- 
 tion which renders it lawful and even laudable to 
 use proper efforts to better it. 
 
 An honest heart being the first blessing, a know- 
 ing head is the second. Writings.
 
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 The object of walking is to relax the mind. You 
 should therefore not permit yourself even to think 
 while you walk, but direct your attention by the 
 objects surrounding you. Walking is the best 
 possible exercise. Vol. I., p. 287. 
 
 The modern Greek is not yet so far departed 
 from its ancient model, but that we might still 
 hope to see the language of Homer and Demosthe- 
 nes flow with purity from the lips of a free and 
 ingenious people. Vol. I., p. 289. 
 
 You have formed a just opinion of Monroe. He 
 is a man whose soul might be turned wrong side : ' 
 outward, without discovering a blemish to the 
 world. Vol. II., p. 15. 
 
 I think that by far the most important bill in 
 our whole code, is that for the difliLsion of knowl- 
 edge among the people. No other sure founda- 
 tion can be devised for the preservation of freedom 
 and happiness. If anybody thinks that kings, 
 .nobles, or priests are good conservators of the 
 public happiness, send him here. It is the best 
 school in the universe to cure him of that folly. 
 He will see here, with his own eyes, that these 
 descriptions of men arc an abandoned confederacy 
 against the happiness of the mass of the people. 
 Letter from Paris, 1786, Vol. II., 45.
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 101 
 
 Preach a crusade against ignorance ; establish 
 and improve the law for educating the common 
 people. 
 
 The Virginia act for religious freedom has been 
 received with infinite approbation in Europe, and 
 propagated with enthusiasm. I do not mean by 
 the governments, but by the individuals who com- 
 pose them. It has been translated into French 
 and Italian, has been sent to most of the courts of 
 Europe, and has been the best evidence of the 
 falsehood of those reports which stated us to be in 
 anarchy. It is inserted in the new Encyclopedie 
 and is appearing in most ot the publications re- 
 specting America. In fact, it is comfortable to see 
 the standard of reason at length erected, after so 
 many ages, during which the human mind has 
 been held in vassalage by kings, priests, and nobles, 
 and it is honorable for us to have produced the first 
 legislature who had the courage to declare that the 
 reason of man may be trusted with the formation 
 of his own opinions. Vol. II., p. 64. 1786. 
 
 The rights of conscience we never submitted, 
 we could not submit. "VVe are answerable for them 
 to our God. The legitimate powers of government 
 extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. 
 But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say 
 there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks
 
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 my pocket nor breaks my leg, If it be said his 
 testimony in a court of justice cannot be relied on, 
 reject it then, and be -the stigma on him. Con- 
 straint may make him worse by making him a 
 hypocrite, but it will never make him a truer man. 
 It may fix him obstinately in his errors, but will 
 not cure them. Reason and free inquiry are the 
 only effectual agents against error. Give aloose 
 to them, they will support the true religion, by 
 bringing every false one to their tribunal, to the 
 test of their investigation. They are the natural 
 enemies of error, and of error only. Notes. 
 
 [From the Declaration of Independence.] 
 
 When, in the course of human events, it be- 
 comes necessary for one people to dissolve the 
 political bands which have connected them with 
 another, and to assume, among the powers of the 
 earth, the separate and equal station to which the 
 laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a 
 decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires 
 that they should declare the causes which impel 
 them to the separation. 
 
 We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all 
 men are created equal ; that they are endowed by 
 their Creator with certain unalienable rights ; that 
 among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
 happiness. That, to secure these rights, govern- 
 ments are instituted among men, deriving their
 
 THOMAS JEFFEKSON. 103 
 
 just powers from the consent of the governed; 
 that, whenever any form of government becomes 
 destructive of these ends, it is the right of the 
 people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a 
 new government, laying its foundation on such 
 principles, and organizing its power in such form, 
 as to them shall seem most likely to effect their 
 safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dic- 
 tate that governments long established should not 
 be changed for light and transient causes ; and, 
 accordingly, all experience hath shown, that man- 
 kind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are 
 sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing 
 the forms to which they are accustomed. But, 
 when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pur- 
 suing invariably the same object, evinces a design 
 to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is 
 their right, it is their duty, to throw off such gov- 
 ernment, and to provide new guards for then: fu- 
 ture security. 
 
 [A passage in the original draft of the Declaration of In- 
 dependence, which was stricken out by Congress.*] 
 
 He [George HE.] has waged cruel war against 
 human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights 
 of life and liberty in the persons of a distant peo- 
 
 * The clause reprobating the enslaving the inhabitants of 
 Africa was struck out in complaisance to South Carolina and 
 Georgia, who had never attempted to restrain the importa- 
 tion of slaves, and who, on the contrary, still wished to con-
 
 104 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 pie who never offended him, captivating and carry- 
 ing them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to 
 incur miserable death in their transportation thither. 
 This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of INFIDEL 
 powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of 
 Great Britain. Determined to keep open a mar- 
 ket where MEN should be bought and sold, he has 
 prostituted his negative for suppressing every 
 legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this 
 execrable commerce. And that this assemblage 
 of horrors might want no fact of distinguished 
 dye, he is now exciting those very people to rise 
 in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of 
 which he has deprived them, by murdering the 
 people on whom he has obtruded them ; thus pay- 
 ing off former crimes committed against the 
 LIBERTIES of one people, with crimes which he 
 urges them to commit against the lives of an- 
 other. 
 
 The man who fights for the country is entitled 
 to vote. 
 
 "One must be astonished," says the Abbe 
 Kaynal,* " that America has not yet produced a 
 
 tinuc it. Our northern brethren, also, I believe, felt a little 
 tender under those censures ; for though their people had 
 very few slaves themselves, yet they had been pretty con- 
 siderable carriers of them to others. THOMAS JEFFERSON, 
 Writings, Vol. I., p. 15. 
 * Died, 1796.
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 105 
 
 good poet, an able mathematician, one man of 
 genius in a single act or a single science." 
 
 "America has not yet produced one good poet." 
 When we shall have existed as a people as long as 
 the Greeks did before they produced a Homer, the 
 Romans a Virgil, tho French a Eacine and Vol- 
 taire, the English a Shakespeare and Milton, should 
 this reproach be still true, we will inquire from 
 what unfriendly causes it has proceeded, that the 
 other countries of Europe and quarters of the 
 earth shall not have inscribed any name in the roll 
 of poets. Has the world as yet produced more 
 than two poets acknowledged to be such by all 
 nations ? An Englishman only reads Milton with 
 delight, an Italian Tasso, a Frenchman Henriade, 
 a Portuguese Carnoens, but Homer and Virgil have 
 been the rapture of every age and nation ; they 
 are read with enthusiasm in their originals by 
 those who can read the originals, and in transla- 
 tions by those who cannot.* 
 
 But neither has America produced "one able 
 mathematician, one man of genius in a single art 
 or a single science." In war we have produced a 
 Washington, whose memory will be adored while 
 liberty shall have votaries ; whose name will tri- 
 umph over time, and will in future ages assume its 
 just station among the most celebrated worthies of 
 
 * This sentence has been transferred from a note to the 
 text.
 
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 the world, when that wretched philosophy shall be 
 forgotten which would have arranged him among 
 the degeneracies of nature.* In physics we have 
 produced a Franklin, than whom no one of the 
 present age has made more important discoveries, 
 nor has enriched philosophy with more, or more 
 ingenious, solutions of the phenomena of nature. 
 We have supposed Mr. Rittenhouse second to no 
 astronomer living ; that in genius he must be the 
 first, because he is self-taught. As an artist he 
 has exhibited as great a proof of mechanical genius 
 as the world has ever produced. 
 
 4-s in philosophy and war, so in government, 
 in oratory, in painting, in the plastic art, we might 
 show that America, though but a child of yester- 
 day, has already given hopeful proofs of genius, 
 as well as of the nobler kinds, which arouse the 
 best feelings of man, which call him into action, 
 which substantiate his freedom, and conduct him 
 to happiness, as of the subordinnte, which serve to 
 amuse him only. 
 
 We, therefore, suppose that this reproach is as 
 unjust as it is unkind ; and that, of the geniuses 
 which adorn the present age, America contributes 
 its full share. For comparing it with those coun- 
 tries where genius is most cultivated, where are 
 
 * Referring to Buffon's theory " of the tendency of nature 
 to belittle her productions on this side of the Atlantic."
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 107 
 
 the most excellent models of art, and scaffolding 
 for the attainment of science, as France and Eng- 
 land, for instance, we calculate thus : The United 
 States contain 3,000,000 of inhabitants ; France, 
 20,000,000 ; and the British Islands, 10,000,000. 
 We produce a Washington, a Franklin, a Rit- 
 tenhouse. France, then, should have half a dozen 
 in each of these lines, and Great Britain half that 
 number, equally eminent. Notes, p. 97. 
 
 In every government on earth is some trace of 
 human weakness, some germ of corruption and 
 degeneracy, which cunning will discover, and 
 wickedness insensibly open, cultivate, and im- 
 prove. Every government degenerates when 
 trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The 
 people themselves then are its only safe deposito- 
 ries. And to render them safe, their minds must 
 be improved to a certain degree. 1781. Notes, 
 p. 220. 
 
 But are there no inconveniences to be thrown 
 into the scale against the advantage expected from 
 a multiplication of numbers by the importation of 
 foreigners ? It is for the happiness of those united 
 in society to harmonize as much as possible in 
 matters which they must of necessity transact 
 together. Civil government being the sole object 
 of forming societies, its administration must be
 
 108 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 conducted by common consent. Every species 
 of government has its specific principles. Ours, 
 perhaps, are more peculiar than those of any other 
 in the universe. It is a composition of the freest 
 principles of the English constitution \, ith others 
 derived from natural reason. To these nothing 
 can be more opposed than the maxims of absolute 
 monarchies. Yet from such we are to expect the 
 greatest number of emigrants. They will bring 
 with them the principles of the governments they 
 leave, imbibed in their early youth ; or, if able to 
 throw them off, it will be in exchange for an un- 
 bounded licentiousness, passing, as is usual, from 
 one extreme to another. It would be a miracle 
 were they to stop precisely at the point of tem- 
 perate liberty. These principles, with their lan- 
 guage, they will transmit to their children. In 
 proportion to their numbers, they will share with 
 us the legislation. They will infuse into it their 
 spirit, warp and bias its directions, and render it 
 a heterogeneous, incoherent, distracted mass. . . . 
 If they come of themselves, they are entitled to 
 all the rights of citizenship ; but I doubt the 
 expediency of inviting them, by extraordinary en- 
 couragements. 1781. Notes, p. 128. 
 
 [Frbm his first Inaugural Address, March 4, 1801.] 
 Every difference of opinion is not a difference 
 of principle. We have called by different names
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 109 
 
 brethren of the same principle. We are all Re- 
 publicans we are all Federalists. If there be 
 any among us who would wish to dissolve this 
 Union, or to change its republican form, let them 
 stand undisturbed, as monuments of the safety 
 with which error of opinion may be tolerated 
 where reason is left free to combat it. 
 
 Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted 
 with the government of himself. Can he then be 
 trusted with the government of others ? Or have 
 we found angels in the form of kings to govern 
 him? Let history answer the question. 
 
 Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all 
 nations entangling alliances with none. 
 
 March 23, 1804. 
 
 I am in hopes . . . they will find that 
 
 the Christian religion, when divested of the rags 
 in which they have enveloped it, and brought to 
 the original purity and simplicity of its benevolent 
 institutor, is a religion above all others most 
 friendly to liberty, science, and the freest ex- 
 pression of the human mind. 
 
 March 29, 1801. 
 
 Civil Service. The right of opinion shall suffer 
 no invasion from me.* Those who have acted well, 
 
 * He had just become President.
 
 110 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 have nothing to fear; those who have done ill, 
 however, have nothing to hope ; nor shall I fail to 
 do justice, lest it should be ascribed to that differ- 
 ence of opinion. 
 
 Had the doctrines of Jesus been preached al- 
 ways as pure as they came from his lips, the whole 
 civilized world would now have been Christian. 
 June 26, 1822. 
 
 [Letter to S. A. Wells, May 12, 1829.] 
 
 SAMUEL ADAMS : I can say that he was truly a 
 great man, wise in council, fertile in resources, 
 immovable in his purposes, and had, I think, 
 a greater share than any other member [of Con- 
 gress] , in advising and directing our measures in 
 the Northern war. As a speaker, he could not be 
 compared with his living colleague and namesake,* 
 whose deep conceptions, nervous style, and un- 
 daunted firmness, made him truly our bulwark in 
 debate. But Mr. Samuel Adams, although not of 
 fluent elocution, was so vigorously logical, so clear 
 in his views, abundant in good sense, and master 
 always of his subject, that he commanded the 
 most profound attention whenever he rose in an 
 assembly, by which the froth of declamation was 
 heard with the most sovereign contempt. Writ' 
 ings, Vol. /., 99. 
 
 * John Adams.
 
 JAMES MADISON. Ill 
 
 JAMES MADISON. 
 
 BORN, 1751; DIED, 1836, AGED 85. ENTERED PRINCETON COL- 
 LEGE, 1769. BEGAN PRACTICE OF LAW, 1772. MEMBER OF 
 VIRGINIA CONVENTION, 1776. OF THE GENERAL ASSEM- 
 BLY, 1776. OF CONGRESS, 1780. OF THE GENERAL ASSEM- 
 BLY, 1784. OF THE CONVENTION WHICH FRAMED THE 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 1787. OF THE 
 VIRGINIA CONVENTION, 1788. OF CONGRESS, 1789. PRESI- 
 DENT, 1809-1817. 
 
 ORANGE Co., VA., November 9, 1722. 
 
 " I THINK you make a judicious choice of history 
 and the science of morals for your winter's study. 
 They seem to be of the most universal benefit to 
 men of sense and taste in every post, and must 
 certainly be of great use to youth in settling their 
 principles and refining their judgment, as well as 
 in enlarging knowledge and correcting the imagi- 
 nation. I doubt not but you design to season 
 them with a little divinity now and then, which, 
 like the philosopher's stone, in the hands of a good 
 man, will turn them and every lawful acquirement 
 into the nature of itself, and make them more pre- 
 cious than fine gold. . . . Pray do not suffer 
 those impertinent fops that abound in every city to 
 divert you from your business and philosophical 
 amusements. ... I am luckily out of the way
 
 112 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of such troubles, but I know you are surrounded 
 with them ; for they breed in towns and populous 
 places as naturally as flies do in the shambles, be- 
 cause there they get food enough for their vanity 
 and impertinence." 
 
 [To William Bradford, Jr., Philadelphia.] 
 
 ORANGE Co., VA., 1774. 
 
 " If the Church of England had been the estab- 
 lished and general religion of all the Northern 
 Colonies, as it has been among us here, and unin- 
 terrupted tranquillity had prevailed throughout tho 
 continent, it is clear to me that slavery and subjec- 
 tion might and would have been gradually insinu- 
 ated among us. Union of religious sentiments 
 begets a surprising confidence, and ecclesiastical 
 establishments tend to great ignorance and cor- 
 ruption ; all of which facilitates the execution of 
 mischievous projects 
 
 " I want again to breathe your free air. I expect 
 it will mend my constitution and confirm my prin- 
 ciples. I have indeed as good an atmosphere at 
 home as the climate will allow ; but have nothing 
 to brag of as to the state and liberty of my coun- 
 try. Poverty and luxury prevail among all sorts ; 
 pride, ignorance, and knavery among the priest- 
 hood, and vice and wickedness among the laity. 
 This is bad enough, but it is not the worst I have
 
 JAMES MADISON. 113 
 
 to tell you. That diabolical, hell-conceived prin- 
 ciple of persecution rages among some ; and to 
 their eternal infamy, the clergy * can furnish their 
 quota of imps for such business. This vexes me 
 the most of anything whatever. There are at this 
 time in the adjacent county not less than five or 
 six well-meaning men in close jail for publishing 
 their religious sentiments, which in the main are 
 very orthodox. I have neither patience to hear, 
 talk, or think of anything relative to this matter ; 
 for I have squabbled and scolded, abused and ridi- 
 culed so long about it to little purpose, that I am 
 without common patience. So I fnust beg you to 
 pity me, and pray for liberty of conscience for 
 all." 
 
 [To Mr. Bradford, Philadelphia, 1774.] 
 
 " Our Assembly is to meet the first of May, 
 when it is expected something will be dono in 
 behalf of the dissenters. Petitions, I hear, are 
 already forming among the persecuted Baptists, 
 and I fancy it is in the thoughts of the Presby- 
 terians also to intercede for greater liberty in 
 matters of religion. . . . The sentiments of our 
 people of fortune and fashion on this subject are 
 vastly different from what you have been used to. 
 That liberal, catholic, and equitable way of think- 
 ing, as to the rights of conscience, which is one of 
 
 * Of the then established church, the church of England.
 
 114 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the characteristics of a free people, and so strongly 
 marks the people of your Province, is but little 
 known among the zealous adherents of our hie- 
 rarchy. "VVe have, it is true., some persons in the 
 legislature of generous principles both in Religion 
 and Politics ; but number, not merit, you know, 
 is necessary to carry points there. Besides, the 
 clergy [of the church of England] are a numerous 
 and powerful body, have great influence at home 
 by reason of their connection with and dependence 
 on the Bishops and Crown, and will naturally em- 
 ploy all their art and interest to depress their 
 rising adversaries, for such they must consider 
 dissenters, who rob them of the good-will of the 
 people, and may in time endanger their livings 
 and security. You are happy in dwelling in a 
 land where those inestimable privileges are fully 
 enjoyed, and the public has long felt the good 
 effects of this religious as well as civil liberty." 
 
 [From an address to the States, April, 1783. Adopted by 
 Congress.] 
 
 Let it be remembered that it has ever been the 
 pride and boast of America that the rights for 
 which she contended were the rights of human 
 nature. By the blessing of the Author of these 
 rights on the means exerted for their defence, they 
 have prevailed over all opposition, and form the
 
 JAMES MADISON. 115 
 
 basis of thirteen independent states. No instance 
 has heretofore occurred, nor can any instance be - 
 expected hereafter to occur, in which the unadul- 
 terated forms of republican government can pre- 
 tend to so fair an opportunity of justifying them- 
 selves by their fruits. In this view the citizens of 
 the United States are responsible for the greatest 
 trust ever confided to a political society. If jus- 
 tice, good faith, honor, gratitude, and all other 
 qualities which ennoble the character of a nation, 
 and fulfil the ends of government, be the. fruits of 
 our establishment, the cause of liberty will ac- 
 quire a dignity and lustre which it has never yet 
 enjoyed, and an example will be set which cannot 
 but have the most favorable influence on the rights 
 of mankind. If, on the other side, our govern- 
 ments should be unfortunately blotted with the 
 reverse of these cardinal and essential virtues, the 
 great cause which we have engaged to vindicate 
 will be dishonored and betrayed; the last and- 
 fairest experiment in favor of the rights of human 
 nature will be turned against them, and their 
 patrons and friends exposed to be insulted and 
 silenced by the votaries of tyranny and usurpation. 
 
 It were doubtless to be wished that the 
 
 power of prohibiting the importation of slaves had 
 not been postponed until the year 1808, or rather 
 that it had been suffered to have immediate opera-
 
 116 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 tion. But it is not difficult to account either for 
 this restriction on the general government, or for 
 the manner in which the whole clause is expressed. 
 It ought to be considered as a great point gained 
 in favor of humanity, that a period of twenty 
 years may terminate forever within these states 
 a traffic which has so long and so loudly upbraided 
 the barbarism of modern policy ; that within that 
 period it will receive a considerable discouragement 
 from the federal government, and may be totally 
 abolished by the concurrence of a few states which 
 continue the unnatural traffic, in the prohibitory 
 example which has been given by so great a ma- 
 jority of the Union. Happy would it be for the 
 unfortunate Africans if an equal prospect lay be- 
 fore them of being redeemed from the oppression 
 of their European brethren ! Federalist, No. xlii. 
 
 The British constitution was to Montesquieu 
 
 what Homer has been to the didactic writers on 
 epic poetry. As the latter have considered the 
 work of the immortal bard as the perfect model 
 from which the principles and rules of the epic 
 art were to be drawn, and by which all similar 
 works were to be judged ; so this great political 
 critic appears to have viewed the constitution of 
 England as the standard, or, to use his own ex- 
 pression, as the mirror of political liberty. 
 Federalist, No. xlvii.
 
 JAMES MADISON. 117 
 
 A popular government, without popular infor- 
 mation, or the means of acquiring it, is but a pro- 
 logue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps to both. 
 
 The great security against the gradual concen- 
 tration of the several powers in the same depart- 
 ment, consists in giving to those who administer 
 each department the necessary constitutional 
 means and personal motives to resist encroach- 
 ments of the others. The provision for defence 
 must in this, as in all other cases, be made com- 
 mensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition 
 must be made to counteract ambition. The inter- 
 est of the man must be connected with the consti- 
 tutional rights of the place. It may be a reflec- 
 tion on human nature that such devices should be 
 necessary to control the abuses of government. 
 But what is government itself but the greatest of 
 all reflections on human nature ! If men were 
 angels, no government would be necessary. If 
 angels were to govern men, neither external nor 
 internal controls on government would be neces- 
 sary. In framing a government which is to be 
 administered by men over men, the great difficulty 
 lies in this : you must first enable the government 
 to control the governed ; and in the next place 
 oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the 
 people is no doubt the primary control on the 
 government; but experience has taught mankind
 
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 the necessity of auxiliary precautions. Federalist, 
 No. li. 
 
 Justice is the end of government. It is the end 
 of civil society. It ever has been, and ever will 
 be, pursued until it be obtained, or until liberty be 
 lost in the pursuit. In a society under the form 
 of which the stronger faction can unite and oppress 
 the weaker, anarchy may as truly be said to reign 
 as in a state of nature, where the weaker individual 
 is not secured against the violence of the stronger ; 
 and as in the latter state, even the stronger indi- 
 viduals are prompted, by the uncertainty of their 
 condition, to submit to a government which may 
 protect the weak as well as themselves, so in the 
 former state, will the more powerful factions or 
 parties be gradually induced, by a like motive, to 
 wish for a government which will protect all par- 
 ties, the weaker as well as the more powerful. . . . 
 And happily for the republican cause, the practi- 
 cable sphere may be carried to a very great extent 
 by a judicious modification and mixture of the fed- 
 eral principle. 
 
 [To Thomas Jefferson.] 
 
 NEW York, October 17, 1788. 
 
 Wherever the real power in a government re- 
 sides, there is the danger of oppression. In our 
 government the real power lies in the majority of
 
 JAMES MADISON. 119 
 
 the community, and the invasion of private rights 
 is chiefly to be apprehended, not from acts of gov- 
 ernment contrary to the sense of its constituents, 
 but from acts in which the government is the mere 
 instrument of the major number of the constit- 
 uents. This is a truth of great importance, but 
 not yet sufficiently attended to. ... Wherever 
 there is an interest and power to do wrong, w r rong 
 will generally be done, and not more readily by a 
 powerful and interested party than by a powerful 
 and interested prince. The difference, so far as it 
 relates to the superiority of republics over mon- 
 archies, lies in the less degree of probability that 
 interest may prompt abuses of power in the former 
 than in the latter, and in the security of the former 
 against an oppression of more than the smaller 
 part of the society, whereas in the latter, it may 
 be extended in a manner to the whole. 
 
 [To Thomas Jefferson.] 
 
 NEW YORK, May 23, 1789. 
 
 My last enclosed copies of the President's inau- 
 gural speech, and the answer of the House of 
 Representatives. I now add the answer of the 
 Senate. It will not have escaped you that the 
 former was addressed with a truly republican sim- 
 plicity to George Washington, President of the 
 United States. The latter follows the example, 
 with the omission of the personal name, but with-
 
 120 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 out any other than the constitutional title. The 
 proceeding on this point was in the House of Rep- 
 resentatives spontaneous. The imitation by the 
 Senate was extorted. The question became a 
 serious one between the two houses. John Adams 
 espoused the cause of titles with great earnestness. 
 . . . The projected title was, His Highness the 
 President of the United States and Protector of their 
 liberties. Had the project succeeded, it would 
 have subjected the President to a severe dilemma, 
 and given a deep wound to our infant government. 
 
 [To Edmund Randolph, New York, 1789.] 
 
 I think it best to give the Senate as little agency 
 as possible in executive matters, and to make the 
 President as responsible as possible in them. 
 Were the heads of departments dependent on the 
 senate, a faction in this branch might support 
 them against the President, distract the executive 
 department, and obstruct the public business. The 
 danger of undue power in the President from such 
 a regulation is not, to me, formidable. I sec, and 
 politically feel that that will be the weak branch 
 of the government. 
 
 [From a message to Congress, 1803. 
 
 The war* has proved that our free govern- 
 ment, like other free governments, though slow in 
 
 * The war of 1812-1815, with England.
 
 JAMES MADISON. 121 
 
 its early movements, acquires in its progress a 
 force proportioned to its freedom, and that the 
 union of these states, the guardian of the freedom 
 and safety of all and of each, is strengthened by 
 every occasion that puts it to the test. 
 
 . [Letter to Edward Livingston, 1822.] 
 
 I observe with particular pleasure the 
 
 view you have taken of the immunity of religion 
 from civil jurisdiction in every case where it does 
 not trespass on private rights or the public peace. 
 This has always been a favorite principle with 
 me ; and it was not with my approbation that the 
 deviation from it took place in Congress when 
 they appointed chaplains to be paid from the 
 national treasury. It would have been a much 
 better proof to their constituents of their pious 
 feeling, if the members had contributed for the 
 purpose a pittance from their own pockets. 
 
 There has been another deviation from the strict 
 principle in the executive proclamation of fasts and 
 festivals, so far, at least, as they have spoken the 
 language of injunction, or have lost sight of the 
 equality of all religious sects in the eye of the con- 
 stitution. Whilst I was honored with the execu- 
 tive trust I found it necessary on more than one 
 occasion to follow the example of predecessors. 
 But I was always careful to make the proclama- 
 tions absolutely indiscriminate, and merely recom- 
 mendatory
 
 122 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE* 
 
 It was the belief of all sects at one time that the 
 establishment of religion by law was right and 
 necessary ; that the true religion ought to be 
 established in exclusion of every other ; and that 
 the only question to be decided was, which was 
 the true religion. . . . We are teaching the 
 world the great truth that governments do better 
 without kings and nobles than with them. The 
 merit will be doubled by the other lesson, that 
 religion flourishes in greater purity without than 
 with the aid of government. 
 
 [Letter to Mr. Ringgold, 1831.] 
 
 I need not to say to you how highly I 
 
 rated the comprehensiveness and character of his 
 [Monroe's] mind, the purity and nobleness of his 
 principles, the importance of his party services, 
 and the many private virtues of which his whole 
 life was a model. 
 
 [Letter to I. C. Caball, 1831.] 
 
 I know not whence the idea could pro- 
 ceed that I concurred in the doctrine, that although 
 a state could not nullify a law of the Union, it had 
 a right to secede from the Union. Both spring 
 from the same piosonous root, unless the right to 
 secede be limited to cases of intolerable oppres- 
 sion, absolving the party from its constitutional 
 obligations. 
 
 I hope that all who now see the absurdity of
 
 JAMES MADISON. 123 
 
 nullification will see also the necessity of rejecting 
 the claim to effect it through the state judiciaries, 
 which can only be kept in the constitutional career 
 by the control of the federal jurisdiction. Take 
 the linch-pin from a carriage, and how soon would 
 a wheel be off its axle, an emblem of the speedy 
 fate of the federal system were the parties to it 
 loosened from the authority which confines them 
 to their sphere. 
 
 [James Monroe.] Few men have ever made 
 more of what may be called sacrifices in the ser- 
 vice of the public. When he considered the inter- 
 ests or the dignity of his country involved, his 
 own interest was never regarded. Beside this 
 cause, his extreme generosity, not only to the 
 numerous members of his family dependent on 
 him, but to friends not united by blood, has greatly 
 contributed to his impoverishment. 
 
 [To J. R, Paulding, 1831.] 
 
 [Alexander Hamilton.] That he possessed in- 
 tellectual powers of the first order, and the moral 
 quality of integrity and honesty in a captivating 
 degiee, has been decreed to him by a suffrage now 
 universal. Of his theory of government, deviating 
 from the republican standard, he had the candor 
 to avow it, and the greater merit of co-operating
 
 124 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 faithfully in maturing and supporting a system 
 which was not his choice. 
 
 [Benjamin Franklin.] He has written his own 
 life, and no man had a finer one to write, or a 
 better title to be himself the writer. 
 
 [Thomas Jefferson.] It may, on the whole, be 
 truly said of him, that he was greatly eminent for 
 the comprehensiveness and fertility of his genius, 
 for the vast extent and rich variety of his acquisi- 
 tions, and particularly distinguished by the phil- 
 osophical impress left on every subject which he 
 touched. Nor was he -less distinguished for an 
 early and uniform devotion to the cause of liberty, 
 and systematic preference of a form of government 
 squared with strictest degree to the rights of man. 
 In the social and domestic spheres, he was a model 
 of the virtues and manners which most adorn 
 them. 
 
 [John Adams.] That he had a mind rich in 
 ideas of his own, as well as its learned store, with 
 an ardent love of country, and the merit of being 
 a colossal champion of its independence, must be 
 allowed by those most offended by the alloy in 
 his republicanism, and the fervors and flights origi- 
 nating in his moral temperament.
 
 JAMES MADISON. 125 
 
 9 
 
 [To N. P. Trist, 1832.] 
 
 I have received yours of the 19th De- 
 cember, enclosing some of the South Carolina pa- 
 pers. There are in one of them some interesting 
 views of the doctrine of secession one that had 
 occurred to me, and which for the first time I have 
 seen in print, namely, that if one state can, at will, 
 withdraw from the others, the others can, at will, 
 withdraw from her, and turn her, nolentem volen- 
 tem, out of the Union. ... It is high time that 
 the claim to secede at will should be put down by 
 the public opinion. 
 
 [To Edward Coles, 1834.] 
 
 You call my attention, with much emphasis, to 
 the principle that offices and emoluments were the 
 spoils of victory, the personal property of the 
 successful candidate for the presidency, to be given 
 as rewards for electioneering services, and in gen- 
 eral to be used as the means of rewarding those 
 who support, and of punishing those who do not 
 support, the dispenser of the fund. I fully agree 
 in all the odium you attach to such a rule of 
 action. 
 
 [To Edward Coles, 1834.] 
 
 Nullification has the effect of putting 
 
 powder under the Constitution and Union, and a 
 match in the hand of every party to blow them up 
 at pleasure.
 
 126 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Abolition of the Slave-trade.] 
 
 The dictates of humanity, the principles of the 
 people, the national safety and happiness, and 
 prudent policy, require it of us. It is to be hoped 
 that by expressing a national disapprobation of the 
 trade, we may destroy it, and save our country 
 from reproaches, and our posterity from the im- 
 becility ever attendant on a country filled with 
 slaves. 
 
 It is wrong to admit into the Constitution the 
 idea that there can be property in man. 
 
 We have seen the mere distinction of color 
 made, in the most enlightened period of time, a 
 ground of the most oppressive dominion ever ex- 
 ercised by man over man.
 
 JAMES MONROE. 127 
 
 JAMES MONROE. 
 
 BORN, 1758 ; DIED, 1831, AGED 73. EDUCATED AT WILLIAM AND 
 MARY COLLEGE. LIEUTENANT IN THE ARMY, 1776. MA- 
 JOR, 1777. MEMBER OF ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA, 1782. OF 
 THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF VIRGINIA, 1782. OF CON- 
 GRESS, 1783. RE-ELECTED TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 
 1787. DELEGATE TO THE VIRGINIA CONVENTION FOR DE- 
 CIDING UPON THE ADOPTION OF THE FEDERAL CONSTI- 
 TUTION, 1788. UNITED STATES SENATOR, 1790. MINISTER 
 TO FRANCE, 1794. GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, 1799. ENVOY 
 EXTRAORDINARY TO FRANCE, 1802. MINISTER PLENIPO- 
 TENTIARY TO ENGLAND, 1802. MEMBER OF VIRGINIA 
 GENERAL ASSEMBLY, 1810. GOVERNOR OF VIRGIOTA, 1811. 
 SECRETARY OF STATE, 1811. SECRETARY OF WAR, 1814. 
 PRESIDENT, 1817-1825. 
 
 [From a Message, November 17, 1818.] 
 
 I communicate with great satisfaction 
 
 the accession of another State, Illinois, to our 
 Union ; because I perceive from the proof afforded 
 by the additions already made, the regular progress 
 and sure consummation of a policy, of which his- 
 tory affords no example, and of which the good 
 effect cannot be too highly estimated. By ex- 
 tending our government on the principles of our 
 constitution, over the vast territories within our 
 limits, on the Lakes and the Mississippi and its 
 numerous streams, new life and vigor are infused
 
 128 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 into every part of our system. By increasing the 
 number of the States, the confidence of the State 
 governments in their own security is increased, and 
 the jealousy of the national government propor- 
 tionally diminished. The impracticability of one 
 consolidated government for this great and grow- 
 ing nation will be more apparent, and will be uni- 
 versally admitted. Incapable of exercising local 
 authority, except for general purposes, the general 
 government will be no longer dreaded. In those 
 cases of a local nature, and for all the great pur- 
 poses for which it was instituted, its authority will 
 be cherished. Each government will acquire a 
 new force and a greater freedom of action, within 
 its proper sphere. 
 
 [From a Message, 1819.] 
 
 Due attention has been paid to the sup- 
 pression of the slave trade, in compliance with the 
 law of the last session. Orders have been given 
 to the commanders of all our public ships to seize 
 all vessels navigated under our flag engaged in the 
 traffic, and to bring them in, to be proceeded 
 against in the manner prescribed by the law. It 
 is hoped that these vigorous measures, supported 
 by the acts of other nations, will soon terminate a 
 commerce so disgraceful to the civilized world.
 
 JAMES MONKOE. 129 
 
 [From a Message, 1822.] 
 
 The military academy forms the basis, 
 
 in regard to science, on -which the military estab- 
 lishment rests. It furnishes annually, after due 
 examination, many well-informed youths to fill the 
 vacancies which occur in the several corps of the 
 army, while others, who, retired to private life, 
 carry with them such attainments as, under the 
 right reserved to the several states to appoint the 
 officers and train the militia, will enable them, by 
 aifording a wider field for selection, to promote the 
 great object of the power vested in Congress, of 
 providing for the organizing, arming, and disci- 
 plining the militia. Thus, by the mutual and har- 
 monious co-operation of the two governments, in 
 the exercise of a power divided between them, an 
 object always to be cherished, the attainment of a 
 great result, on which our liberties may depend, 
 cannot fail to be secured. I have to add, that in 
 proportion as our regular force is small should the 
 instruction and discipline of the militia, the great 
 resource on which we rely, be pushed to the ut- 
 most extent that circumstances will admit . 
 
 [From a Message, 1824.] 
 
 Experience has already shown that the 
 
 difference of climate and of industry proceeding 
 from the cause inseparable from such vast domains,
 
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 and which, under our system, might have a repul- 
 sive tendency, cannot fail to produce, with us, 
 under wise regulations, the opposite effect. What 
 one part wants the other may supply, and this will 
 be most sensibly felt by the parts most distant 
 from each other, forming, thereby, a domestic mar- 
 ket and an active intercourse between the extremes, 
 and throughout every part of our Union. Thus, 
 by a happy distribution of power between the 
 National and State governments, governments 
 w T hich rest exclusively on the sovereignty of the 
 people, and are fully adequate to the great pur- 
 poses for which they were respectively instituted, 
 causes which might otherwise lead to dismember- 
 ment, operate powerfully to draw us closer to- 
 gether. 
 
 [Message, December, 1823.] 
 
 The political system of the allied powers* 
 
 is essentially different from that of America. This 
 difference proceeds from that which exists in their 
 respective governments. As to the defence of our 
 own, which has been achieved by the loss of so 
 much blood and treasure, and matured by the wis- 
 dom of their most enlightened citizens, and under 
 
 * From 1815 to 1853 the world was substantially pre- 
 served from any war of importance by the live great powers 
 who preside over the destinies of Europe, namely, France, 
 Great Britain, Russia, Austria, and Prussia. Appletorfs 
 Cyclop.
 
 JAMES MONROE. 131 
 
 which we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this 
 whole nation is devoted. AVe owe it therefore to 
 candor, and to the amicable relations existing be- 
 tween the United States and those powers to 
 declare, that we should consider any attempt on 
 their part to extend their system to any portion of 
 this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and 
 
 safety 
 
 Our policy with regard to Europe, which we 
 adopted at an early stage of the wars which have 
 so long agitated that quarter of the globe, never- 
 theless remains the same, which is, not to inter- 
 fere in the internal concerns of any of its pow- 
 ers ; to consider the government de facto as the 
 legitimate government for us ; to cultivate friendly 
 relations with it, and to preserve those relations 
 by a frank, firm, and manly policy ; meeting in all 
 cases the just claims of every power ; submitting 
 to injuries from none. But in regard to those con- 
 tinents [North and South America] , circumstances 
 are eminently and conspicuously different. It is 
 impossible that any allied powers should extend 
 their political system to any portion of either con- 
 tinent without endangering our peace and happi- 
 ness ; nor can any one believe that our Southern 
 brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of 
 their own accord. It is equally impossible, there- 
 fore, that we should behold such interposition, in 
 any form, with indifference. If we look to the
 
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 comparative strength and resources of Spain and 
 those new governments, and their distance from 
 each other, it must be obvious that she can never 
 subdue them. It is still the true policy of the 
 United States to leave the parties to themselves, 
 in the hope that other powers will pursue the same 
 course. 
 
 [From a speech in the Virginia Convention.] 
 
 We have found that this evil (slavery) has 
 preyed upon the very vitals of the Union, and has 
 been prejudicial to all the States in which it has 
 existed.
 
 JOHN QUIXCT ADAMS. 133 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 BORN, 17(57 ; DIED, 1848, AGED, 81. AT THE UNIVERSITY OP 
 LEYDEN, 1780. PRIVATE SECRETARY TO FRANCIS DANA, 
 MINISTER TO RUSSIA, 1782. ENTERED HARVARD COLLEGE 
 IN ADVANCE, 1786. BEGAN PRACTICE OF LAW, 1791. MIN- 
 ISTER TO THE HAGUE, 1794. MINISTER TO BERLIN, 1797. 
 MEMBER OF MASSACHUSETTS SENATE, 1802. OF THE 
 UNITED STATES SENATE, 1803. PROFESSOR OF RHETORIC 
 AND BELLES LETTRES IN HARVARD COLLEGE, 1806. MIN- 
 ISTER TO RUSSIA, 1809. RESIDENT MINISTER IN ENGLAND, 
 1815. SECRETARY OF STATE, 1817. PRESIDENT, 1825-1829. 
 REPRESENTATIVE TO CONGRESS, 1831. 
 
 [From an Oration delivered at Plymouth, 1802.] 
 
 THIS theory [a community of good] results, it 
 must l?e acknowledged, from principles of reason- 
 ing most flattering to the human character. If in- 
 dustry, frugality, and disinterested integrity were 
 alike the virtues of all, there would, apparently, 
 be more of the social spirit in making all property 
 a common stock, and giving to each individual a 
 proportional title to the wealth of the whole. Such 
 is the basis upon which Plato forbids in his re- 
 public the division of property. Such is the sys- 
 tem upon which Rousseau pronounces the first man 
 who enclosed a field with a fence, and said, This 
 is mine, a traitor to the human species. A wiser
 
 134 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 and more useful philosophy, however, directs us 
 to consider man according to the nature in which 
 he was formed, subject to infirmities which no 
 wisdom can remedy ; to weaknesses which no in- 
 stitution can strengthen ; to vices which no legis- 
 lation can correct. Hence it becomes obvious that 
 separate property is the natural and indisputable 
 right of separate exertion that community of 
 goods without community of toil is oppressive and 
 unjust ; that it counteracts the laws of nature, 
 which prescribe that he only who sows the seed 
 shall reap the harvest ; that it discourages all 
 energy by destroying its rewards ; and makes the 
 most virtuous and active members of society the 
 slaves and drudges of the worst. 
 
 Rhetoric- alone can never constitute an orator. 
 No human art can be acquired by the mere knowl- 
 edge of the principles upon which it is founded. 
 But the artist who understands the principles will 
 exercise his art in the highest perfection. 
 
 The profoundcst study of the writers upon archi- 
 tecture, the most laborious contemplation of its 
 magnificent monuments, will never make a mason. 
 But the mason thoroughly acquainted with the 
 writers, and familiar with the construction of those 
 monuments, will surely be an abler artist than the 
 mere mechanic, ignorant of the mysteries of his 
 trade, and even of the names of his tools. Lec- 
 tures on Rhetoric and Oratory, Lect, n.
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 135 
 
 The art of speaking must be most eagerly sought 
 where it is found to be most useful. It must be 
 most useful where it is capable of producing the 
 greatest effects, and that can be in no other state 
 of things than where the power of persuasion 
 operates upon the will, and prompts the actions 
 of other men. The only birthplace of eloquence, 
 therefore, must be a free state. Under arbitrary 
 governments, where the lot is cast upon one man 
 to command, and upon all the rest to obey ; where 
 the despot, like the Roman centurion, has only to 
 say to one man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, 
 Come, and he cometh, persuasion is of no avail. 
 Between authority and obedience there can be no 
 deliberation ; and wheresoever submission is the 
 principle of government in a nation, eloquence can 
 never arise. Eloquence is the child of liberty, and 
 can descend from no other stock. . . . Our institu- 
 tions, from the smallest municipal associations, to 
 the great national bond, which links this continent 
 in union, are republican. Their vital principle is 
 liberty. Persuasion, or the influence of reason 
 and of feeling, is the great if not the only instru- 
 ment whose operation can effect the acts of all our 
 corporate bodies : of towns, cities, counties, states, 
 and of the whole confederated empire. Here, then, 
 eloquence is recommended by the most elevated 
 usefulness, and encouraged by the promise of the_ 
 most preci,ous rewards. Lect. n.
 
 136 CHIPS FROM TIIE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 When the cause of ages and the fate of nations 
 hang upon the thread of a debate, the orator may 
 fairly consider himself as addressing not only his 
 immediate hearers, but the world at large, and all 
 future times. Then it is, that, looking beyond the 
 moment in which he speaks, and the immediate 
 issue of the deliberation, he makes the question of 
 an hour a question for every age and every region ; 
 takes the vote of unborn millions upon the debate 
 of a little senate ; and incorporates himself and his 
 discourse with the general history of mankind. 
 On such occasions and at such times, the oration 
 naturally and properly assumes a solemnity of 
 manner and a dignity of language commensurate 
 with the grandeur of the cause. Then it is that 
 deliberative eloquence lays aside the plain attire 
 of her daily occupation, and assumes the port and 
 purple of the queen of the world. Yet even then 
 she remembers that majestic grandeur best com- 
 ports with simplicity. Her crown and sceptre may 
 blaze with the brightness of the diamond, but she 
 must not, like the kings of the gorgeous east, be 
 buried under a shower of barbaric pearls and gold. 
 Lect. xi. 
 
 [From his Diary, August 19, 1822, when Secretary of State.] 
 
 Answered General Dearborn's letter, and re- 
 ceived one from my wife, chiefly upon an attack 
 against me in one of the Philadelphia newspapers
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 13? 
 
 on account of the negligence of my dress. It 
 says that I wear neither waistcoat nor cravat, and 
 sometimes go to church barefoot. My wife is 
 much concerned at this, and several of my friends 
 at Philadelphia have spoken to her of it as a seri- 
 ous affair. In the Washington City Gazette, some 
 person unknown to me has taken the cudgels in 
 my behalf, and answered the accusation gravely as 
 if the charge were true. It is true only as re- 
 regards the cravat, instead of which, in the extrem- 
 ity of the summer heat, I wear round my neck a 
 black silk ribbon. But even in the falsehood of 
 this charge what I may profitably remember is the 
 perpetual and malignant watchfulness with which 
 I am observed in my open day and my secret 
 night, with the deliberate purpose of exposing me 
 to public obloquy or public ridicule. There is 
 nothing so deep and nothing so shallow which po- 
 litical enmity will not turn to account. Let it be 
 a warning to me to take heed to my ways. 
 
 [From his Diary, October 13, 1822.] 
 
 This ode [Pope's " Dying Christian to his Soul "] 
 is exquisitely beautiful, though most singularly 
 compounded of five half-ludicrous Latin lines, said 
 to have been spoken by the emperor Hadrian at 
 the article of death, of Sappho's fiery lyric ode ; 
 and of that triumphant and transporting apos- 
 trophe of St. Paul, in the fifty-fifth verse of this
 
 138 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 fifteenth chapter of Corinthians : " O death, where 
 is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 
 From these materials, upon a suggestion and at 
 the request of Steele, Pope wrote this truly se- 
 raphic song, to be set to music. In comparing it 
 with the lines of Hadrian, I see the effect of the 
 Christian doctrines upon the idea of death. Pope 
 contends that there is nothing trifling, or even gay, 
 in the lines of Hadrian ; but his imagination leads 
 his judgment astray. The heathen philosophers 
 taught that death was to be met with indifference, 
 and Hadrian attempted to carry this doctrine into 
 practice by joking at his own death, while in its 
 agonies. Yet the thought of what was to become 
 of his soul was grave and serious, and his idea of 
 its future state was that of darkness and gloom. 
 The character of his lines, therefore, is a singular 
 mixture of levity and sadness, the spirit of which 
 appears to me to be lost in Pope's translation of 
 them, given in a letter to Steele. I set down the 
 lines here, with a translation of them as literal and 
 as much in their spirit as I can make them. 
 
 Animula, vagula, blandula, 
 Hospcs comesque corporis, 
 Qnrc nunc abibis in loca? 
 Pallidula, rigida, nudula, 
 Nee (ut soles) dabis joca! 
 
 Dear, fluttering, flattering little soul, 
 Partner and inmate of this clay,
 
 JOHN QTJINCY ADAMS. 139 
 
 Oh, whither art thou now to stroll? 
 Pale, shivering, naked, little droll, 
 No more thy wonted jokes to play! 
 
 Pope insists that the diminutives are epithets, 
 not of levity, but of endearment. They are sig- 
 nificant of both, and the repetition of them, with 
 the rhyme of "loca" and "/oca," in Latin verses 
 of that age, decisively marks the merriment of 
 affected indifference. In the process of the cor- 
 respondence, Steele desired Pope to make an ode 
 as of a cheerful, dying spirit ; that is to say, the 
 emperor Hadrian's "Aniinula, vagula," put into 
 two or three stanzas for music. This hint was 
 Pope's inspiration. He made the cheerful, dying 
 spirit a Christian, and cheerful death then became 
 the moment of triumphant exultation, and the song 
 is, as it were, the song of an angel. 
 
 To A BEREAVED MOTHER. 
 
 Sure to the mansions of the blest, 
 
 When infant innocence ascends, 
 Some angel, brighter than the rest, 
 
 The spotless spirit's flight attends. 
 On wings of ecstasy they rise, 
 
 Beyond where worlds material roll, 
 Till some fair sister of the skies 
 
 Receives the unpolluted soul. 
 That inextinguishable beam, 
 
 With dust united at our birth, 
 Sheds a more dim, discolored gleam, 
 
 The more it lingers upon earth.
 
 140 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 But when the Lord of mortal breath 
 
 Decrees his bounty to resume, 
 And points the silent shaft oMeath 
 
 Which speeds an infant to the tomb, 
 No passion fierce, nor low desire, 
 
 Has quenched the radiance of the flame; 
 Back to its God the living fire 
 
 Reverts, unclouded as it came. 
 Fond mourner be that solace thine! 
 
 Let Hope her healing charm impart, 
 And soothe, with melodies divine, 
 
 The anguish of a mother's heart. 
 
 Oh, think! the darlings of thy love, 
 
 Divested of this earthly clod, 
 Amid unnumbered saints, above, 
 
 Bask in the bosom of their God. 
 O'er thee, with looks of love they bend ; 
 
 For thee the Lord of life implore; 
 And oft from sainted bliss descend, 
 
 Thy wounded quiet to restore, 
 Then dry, henceforth, the bitter tear; 
 
 Their part and thine inverted see. 
 Thou wert their guardian angel here,. 
 
 They guardian angels now to thee. 
 
 Beading further in Walpole's Memoirs, or Se- 
 cret History of the British Administrations from 
 1750 to 17 GO, I find in them many things that re- 
 mind me of the present state of things here. The 
 public history of all countries and all ages is but 
 a sort of mask richly colored. The interior work- 
 ing of the machinery must be foul. There is as 
 much mining and countermining for power, as
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 141 
 
 many fluctuations of friendship and enmity, as 
 many attractions and repulsions, bargains, and 
 oppositions, narrated in these Memoirs as might 
 be told of our own times. Walpole witnessed it 
 all as a sharer in the sport, and now tells it to the 
 world as a satirist. And shall not I, too, have a 
 tale to tell? Diary, Nov. 9, 1822. 
 
 [From his Inaugural Address, 1825.] 
 
 Ten years of peace at home and abroad 
 
 have assuaged the animosities of political conten- 
 tion, and blended into harmony the most discord- 
 ant elements of public opinion. There still re- 
 mains one effort of magnanimity, one sacrifice of 
 prejudice and passion, to be made by the individ- 
 uals throughout the nation who have heretofore 
 followed the standards of political party. It is 
 that of discarding every remnant of rancor against 
 each other, of embracing as countrymen and 
 friends, and of yielding to talents and virtue alone 
 that confidence which in times of contention for 
 principle was bestowed only upon those who bore 
 the badge of party communion. 
 
 [From an Address at a public dinner in Faneuil Hall in con- 
 nection with the annual examination of the public schools.] 
 
 It was from schools of public instruction insti- 
 tuted by our forefathers that the light burst forth.
 
 142 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 It was in the primary schools, it was by the mid- 
 nights lamps of Harvard Hall, that were conceived 
 and matured, as it was within these hallowed 
 walls that were first resounded, the accents of that 
 independence which is now canonized in the 
 memory of those by whom it was proclaimed. 
 
 [A representation having been made to President Adanis, 
 that a certain functionary of the general government was 
 using his influence against his re-election, and therefore 
 ought to be removed, he replied] : 
 
 That gentleman is one of the best officers in the 
 public service. I have had occasion to know his 
 diligence, exactness, and punctuality. On public 
 grounds, therefore, there is no cause of complaint 
 against him, and upon no other will I remove him. 
 If I cannot administer the government on these 
 principles, I am content to go back to Quincy. 
 
 */* '>'A< " '"' ''" " ^ ^"k^-u 
 
 /' SUNDAY, November 5, 1826. 
 
 Heard Mr. Little from Psalms, cxix. 133. 
 . . . Among his quotations from Scripture was 
 that of the first seven verses of the fifth chapter 
 of Isaiah. the song of the vineyard that brought 
 forth wild grapes. In this instance, as in number- 
 less others, I was struck with the careless inatten- 
 tion of my own mind when reading the Bible. I 
 had read the chapter of Isaiah containing this para- 
 ble, I dare say, fifty times, and it was altogether 
 familiar to my memory ; but I had never perceived
 
 JOIIN QUINCY ADAMS. 143 
 
 a fiftieth part of its beauty and sublimity. The 
 closing verse of the parable, especially, which 
 points the moral of the allegory, speaks with irre- 
 sistible energy : " For the vineyard of the Lord of 
 hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah 
 his pleasant plant : and he looked for judgment, 
 but behold oppression ; for righteousness, but be- 
 hold a cry." The parallel is pursued no further. 
 He had said in the parable how the vineyard 
 would be destroyed, and here, after declaring 
 what, the vineyard was, and what its fruits had 
 been, he leaves the conclusion of ruin and destruc- 
 tion to the imagination of the reader. This art of 
 selecting ideas to be presented, and of leading the 
 mind to that which is not expressed, is among the 
 greatest secrets of composition to make the sup- 
 pressed thoughts, like the statues of Brutus and 
 Cassius at the funeral of Junia, most resplendent 
 because they are not exhibited in the highest effort 
 of skill. Diary. Nov. 5, 1826. 
 
 May 6. 
 
 I heard Mr. Campbell. . . . His text 
 
 was from Eev. ii. 16: "Eepent, or else I will 
 come unto thee quickly." Mr. C. dwelt largely 
 and earnestly upon the universal depravity of 
 mankind. It is a matter of curious speculation to 
 me how men of good understanding and reasoning 
 faculties can be drilled into the sincere belief of
 
 144 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 these absurdities. The Scripture says that the 
 heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. This is 
 certainly true, and is a profound observation upon 
 the human character. But the language is figura- 
 tive. By the heart is meant, in this passage, the 
 selfish passions of man. But there is also in man 
 a spirit, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth 
 him understanding. It is the duty of man to dis- 
 cover the vicious propensities and deceits of his 
 heart, to control them. This, with the grace of 
 God, a large portion of the human race in 
 Christian lands do accomplish. It seems, there- 
 fore, to be worse than useless for preachers to de- 
 clare that mankind are universally depraved. It 
 takes from honest integrity all its honors ; it de- 
 grades men in their own estimation. 
 
 Mr. Campbell read a hymn, which declared that 
 we were more base and brutish than the beasts, 
 a spiritual song of Isaac Watts. What .is the 
 meaning of this? If Watts had said this on a 
 week-day to any one of his parishioners, would he 
 not have knocked him down ? And how can that 
 be taught as a solemn truth of religion, applicable 
 to all mankind, which, if said at any other time 
 to any one individual, would be punishable as slan- 
 der? Diary, 1827. 
 
 I read also the speech of John Randolph, on re- 
 trenchment and reform, published by himself in a
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 145 
 
 pamphlet, with notes. It is, like all his speeches, a 
 farrago of commonplace political declamation, min- 
 gled up with a jumble of historical allusions, scraps 
 of Latin from the Dictionary of Quotations, and a 
 continual stream of malignity to others, and of in- 
 flated egotism, mixed in proportions like those of 
 the liquor which he now tipples as he speaks in the 
 House, and which he calls toast-water, about 
 one-third brandy and two-thirds water. This is the 
 speech in which he charges Clay with having conde- 
 scended to electioneer with him ; asserts there was a 
 combination of Webster and Clay against me, which, 
 in a note, he says I defeated by causing the votes 
 which Mr. Crawford got in the New York Legis- 
 lature to be given to him, and thereby securing 
 his return to the House, and excluding thereby 
 Mr. Clay. This idea of my causing votes of the 
 New York Legislature, which I could not obtain 
 for myself, to be given to Mr. Crawford, is one of 
 the most ingenious in the whole pamphlet, and is 
 a sample of the materials of which his accusations 
 are composed. The rancor of this man's soul 
 against me is that which sustains his life, and so it 
 is of W. B. Giles, now governor of Virginia. 
 The agony of their envy and hatred of me, and 
 the hope of effecting my downfall, are their chief 
 remaining sources of vitality. The issue of the 
 presidential election will kill them by the gratifica- 
 tion of their revenge. Diary, March 11, 1828. 
 
 10
 
 146 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Rev.] Mr. Baker made also some inquiries con- 
 cerning my religious opinions, and particularly con- 
 cerning my ideas of the trinity. I spoke to him as 
 freely as I did with the general of the Jesuits at St. 
 Petersburg. I told him, in substance, . . . that 
 I was not either a Trinitarian or a Unitarian ; that 
 I believed the nature of Jesus Christ was super- 
 human; but whether he was God, or only tho 
 first of created beings, was not clearly revealed to 
 me in the Scriptures. Diary > March 17, 1828. 
 
 I went to the Presbyterian church to hear Mr. 
 Smith, but his place was supplied [by another]. 
 His text was from Luke xv. 17 : "And when ho 
 came to himself he said, How many hired servants 
 of my father's have bread enough and to spare, 
 and I perish with hunger ! " A commonplace of 
 Calvinism. The argument was that all unregen- 
 erate sinners were insane, or beside themselves, 
 and that conversion was nothing more than ;v 
 return to reason, or coming to themselves. In 
 the common aifairs of the world, an eloquent ex- 
 hortation to the insane to come to himself would 
 sooner send the preacher to Bedlam than release 
 his hearer from it ; but this is orthodox Calvin- 
 ism, and our pulpit orator urged us all, with 
 great and anxious earnestness, to come to our- 
 selves. Diary, March 20, 1831.
 
 JOHN QUrSTCY ADAMS. 147 
 
 Mr. Munroe is a very remarkable instance of a 
 man whose life has been a continued series of the 
 most extraordinary good fortune, who has never 
 met with any known disaster, has gone through a 
 splendid career of public service, has received 
 more pecuniary reward from the public than any 
 other man since the existence of the nation, and is 
 now dying, at the age of seventy-two, in wretch- 
 edness and beggary. I sat with him perhaps half 
 an hour. He spoke of the commotions now dis- 
 turbing Europe, and of the recent quasi revolution 
 at Washington ; but his voice was so feeble that 
 he seemed exhausted by the exertion of speaking. 
 I did not protract my visit, and took leave of him, 
 in all probability, for the last time. Diary, New 
 York, April 27, 1831. 
 
 His [President Monroe's] life for the last six years 
 has been one of abject penury and distress, and they 
 have brought him to a premature grave, though in 
 the seventy-third year of his age. His administra- 
 tion, happening precisely at the moment of the 
 breaking up of old party divisions, was the period 
 of the greatest tranquillity which has ever been en- 
 joyed by this country; it was a time of great 
 prosperity, and his personal popularity was un- 
 rivalled. Yet no one regretted the termination of 
 his administration , and less of popular veneration 
 followed him into retirement than had accompanied
 
 148 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 all his predecessors. His last days have been much 
 afflicted, contrasting deeply with the triumphal pro- 
 cession which he made through the Union in 1817 
 and 1819. Diary, Washington, July 4, 1831. 
 
 In the primitive principles of the parties, the 
 Federalists were disposed to consider the first 
 principle of society to be the preservation of 
 order; while their opponents viewed the benefit 
 above all others in the enjoyment of liberty. 
 Eulogy of President Monroe, August 25, 1831. 
 
 [From an Oration on the Life and Character of Lafayette, 
 1834.] 
 
 Let us observe the influence of political 
 
 institutions over the destinies and the characters of 
 men. George the Second was a German Prince ; 
 he had been made king of the British Islands by 
 the accident of his birth ; that is to say, because 
 his great-grandmother had been the daughter of 
 James the First ; that great-grandmother had been 
 married to the king of Bohemia, and her youngest 
 daughter had been married to the Elector of Hanover. 
 George the Second's father was her son, and, when 
 James the Second had been expelled from his throne 
 and his country by the indignation of his people, 
 revolted against his tyranny, and when his two 
 daughters, who succeeded him, had died without 
 issue, George the First, the son of the Electress of
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 149 
 
 Hanover, became king of Great Britain, by the 
 settlement of an act of Parliament, blending to- 
 gether the principle of hereditary succession with 
 that of Reformed Protestant Christianity, and the 
 rites of the Church of England. 
 
 The throne of France was occupied by virtue of 
 the same principle of hereditary succession, differ- 
 ently modified, and blended with the Christianity 
 of the Church of Rome. From this line of suc- 
 cession all females were inflexibly excluded. 
 Louis the Fifteenth, at the age of six years, had 
 become the absolute sovereign of France, because 
 he was the great-grandson of his immediate pred- 
 ecessor. He was of the third generation in de- 
 scent from the preceding king, and, by the law 
 of primogeniture, engrafted upon that of lineal suc- 
 cession, did, by the death of his ancestor, forthwith 
 succeed, though in childhood, to an absolute throne, 
 in preference to numerous descendants from that 
 same ancestor then in the full vigor of manhood. 
 
 The first reflection that must occur to a rational 
 being, in contemplating these two results of the 
 principle of hereditary succession, is, that two 
 persons more unfit to occupy the thrones of Brit- 
 ain and of France, at the time of their respective 
 accessions, could scarcely have been found upon 
 the face of the globe. George the Second, a for- 
 eigner, the son and grandson of foreigners, born 
 beyond the seas, educated in uncongenial manners,
 
 150 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 ignorant of the Constitution, of the laws, even of 
 the language of the people over whom he was to 
 rule ; and Louis the Fifteenth, an infant, incapable 
 of discerning his right hand from his left. Yet 
 strange as it may sound to the ear of unsophisti- 
 cated reason, the British nation were wedded to 
 the belief that this act of settlement, fixing their 
 crown upon the heads of this succession of total 
 strangers, was the brightest and most glorious 
 exemplification of their national freedom ; and not 
 less strange, if aught in the imperfection of 
 human reason could seem strange, was that deep 
 conviction of the French people, at the same 
 period, that their chief glory and happiness con- 
 sisted in the vehemence of their affection for their 
 king, because he was descended in an unbroken 
 male line of genealogy from Saint Louis. 
 
 Among the dark spots in human nature, which 
 in the course of my life I have observed, the de- 
 vices of rivals to ruin me have been sorry pictures 
 of the heart of man. They first exhibited them- 
 selves at college, but in the short time that I was 
 there their operation could not be of much effect. 
 But from the day that I quitted the walls of Harvard, 
 II. G. Otis, Theophilus Parsons, Timothy Picker- 
 ing, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan 
 Russell, William H. Crawford, John C. Calhoun, 
 Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster, and John Da-
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 151 
 
 vis, W. B. Giles, and John Randolph, have used 
 up their faculties in base and dirty tricks to thwart 
 my progress in life, and destroy my character. 
 Others have acted as instruments to these, and 
 among these Russell was the most contemptible, 
 because he was the mere jackal to Clay. He is 
 also the only one of the list whom I have signally 
 punished. To almost all the rest I have returned 
 good for evil. I have never wronged any one of 
 them, and have even neglected too much my self- 
 defence against them. Diary, Washington, Nov. 
 23, 1835. 
 
 There was in the National Intelligencer ', this 
 morning, an advertisement signed James H. Birch, 
 and Edward Dyer, auctioneer, headed " Sale of 
 Slaves," a sale at public auction, at four o'clock 
 this afternoon, of Dorcas Allen and her two sur- 
 viving children, aged about seven and nine years, 
 (the other two having been killed by said Dorcas 
 in a fit of insanity, as found by the jury who lately 
 acquitted her). The advertisement further says 
 that the said slaves were purchased by Birch, on 
 the 22d of August last, of Rezin Orme, warranted 
 sound in body and in mind ; that the terms of sale 
 will be cash, as said slaves will be sold on account 
 of said Rezin Orme, who refuses to retake the 
 same and repay the purchase money, and who is 
 notified to attend said sale, and, if he thinks proper,
 
 152 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 to bid for them, or retake them, as he prefers, upon 
 refunding the money paid and all expenses in- 
 curred under the warranty given by him. 
 
 I asked Mr. Frye what this advertisement meant. 
 He seemed not to like to speak of it, but said the 
 woman had been sold with her children, to be sent 
 to the South and separated from her husband ; that 
 she had killed two of her children by cutting their 
 throats, and cut her own to kill herself, but in that 
 had failed ; that she had been tried at Alexandria for 
 the murder of her children, and acquitted on the 
 ground of insanity, and that this sale was now by 
 the purchaser at the expense of the seller, upon 
 the warranty that she was sound in body and mind. 
 
 I called at the oifce of the National Intelligencer 
 and saw Mr. Seaton ; inquired of him concerning 
 the advertisement. . . . He answered with re- 
 luctance, and told me the same story that I had 
 heard from Mr. Frye, adding that there was some- 
 thing very bad about it, but without telling me 
 what it was. 
 
 It is a case of conscience with me whether my 
 duty requires or forbids me to pursue the inquiry 
 in this case to ascertain all the facts, and ex- 
 pose them in all their turpitude to the world. The 
 prohibition of the internal slave-trade is within the 
 constitutional power of Congress, and, in my 
 opinion, u among their incumbent duties. I have 
 gone as far upon this article, the abolition of
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 153 
 
 slavery, as the public opinion of the free portion 
 of the Union will bear, and so far that scarcely a 
 slaveholcling member of the House dares to vote 
 with me upon any question. I have, as yet, been 
 throughly sustained in my own State, but one step 
 further and I hazard my own standing and influ- 
 ence there, my own final overthrow, and the cause 
 of liberty itself for indefinite time, certainly for 
 more than my remnant of life. Were there in the 
 House one member capable of taking the lead in 
 this cause of universal emancipation, which is 
 moving onward in the world and in this country, I 
 would withdraw from the contest, which will rage 
 with increasing fury as it draws to its crisis, but 
 for the management of which, my age, infirmities, 
 and approaching end, totally disqualify me. There 
 is no such man in the House. Diary, Oct. 23, 
 1837. 
 
 [To this he added on the 28th.] 
 
 There was in the National Intelligencer of this 
 morning an advertisement, again, of the sale of a 
 woman and two children, at eleven o'clock. I 
 went between eleven and twelve o'clock to the 
 room. The woman and children, girls of seven 
 and nine years of age, were there, the woman 
 weeping and wailing most piteously. I inquired 
 of Dyer if they were sold. He said, no, that they 
 had been sold last Monday, and bought in by the
 
 154 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 husband of the woman, who was free, and a 
 waiter at Gadsby's ; he had bought them in for 
 four hundred and seventy-five dollars, but was un- 
 able to raise the money, which was the reason why 
 they were to be sold again. They were waiting 
 for the man, who was endeavoring to procure, by 
 subscription, upon his own engagement to repay 
 the money, the means of paying for his purchase 
 last Monday. [On the 13th of November Mr. 
 Adams paid fifty dollars towards this object, and 
 General Walter Smith, of Georgetown, undertook, 
 with the other subscriptions, to pay the whole 
 sum and take the bill of sale, by which the emanci- 
 pation was secured.] 
 
 [On presenting what professed to be a petition from some 
 slaves, in the House of Representatives, February 7, 1837, 
 which created intense excitement, Mr. Adams said] : 
 
 Sir, it is well known that from the time I entered 
 this House down to the present day, I have felt it 
 a sacred duty to present any petition couched in 
 respectful language, from any citizen of the United 
 States, be its object what it ma}' : be the prayer 
 of it that in which I could concur, or that to which 
 I was utterly opposed. It is for the sacred right 
 of petition that I have adopted this course 
 
 Where is your law which says that the mean, 
 the low, and the degraded shall be deprived of the 
 right of petition if their moral character is not
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 155 
 
 good? Where, in the land of freemen, was the 
 right of petition ever placed on the exclusive basis 
 of morality and virtue ? Petition is supplication 
 it is entreaty it is prayer! And where is the 
 degree of vice or immorality which shall deprive 
 the citizen of the right to supplicate for a boon, or 
 to pray for mercy $ Where is such a law to be 
 found ? It does not belong to the most abject des- 
 potism. There is no absolute monarch on earth 
 who is not compelled by the Constitution of his 
 country to receive the petitions of his people, 
 whosoever they may be. The Sultan of Constan- 
 tinople cannot walk the streets and refuse to re- 
 ceive petitions from the meanest and vilest of the 
 land. This is the law even of despotism. And 
 what does your law say ? Does it say that before 
 presenting a petition you shall look into it, and see 
 whether it comes from the virtuous, and the great, 
 and the mighty? No, sir, it says no such thing. 
 The right of petition belongs to all. And so far 
 from refusing to present a petition because it might 
 come from those low in the estimation of the world, 
 it would be an additional incentive, if such incen- 
 tive were wanting.
 
 156 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Speech in the House of Representatives, upon a petition 
 from the women of Plymouth, Mass., remonstrating 
 against the annexation of Texas, as a slaveholding ter- 
 ritory.] 
 
 June 26, 1838. 
 
 The honorable gentleman [Mr. Howard] 
 
 considered it " discreditable " not only to the sec- 
 tion of country whence these memorials came, but 
 discreditable to the nation. Sir, was it from a son 
 was it from a father was it from a husband, 
 that I heard these words? Does the gentleman 
 consider that women, by petitioning this House in 
 favor of suffering and distress, perform an office 
 " discreditable " to themselves, to the section of 
 country where they reside, and to this nation? I 
 trust to the good nature of that gentleman that he 
 will retract such an assertion. I have a right to 
 make this call upon him. It is to the wives and 
 to the daughters of my constituents that he applies 
 this language. Am I to consider their conduct in 
 petitioning this House as a discredit to that section 
 of the Union and to their country? Sir, if there 
 is anything in which they could do honor to their 
 country, it was in this very act. He says that 
 women have no right to petition Congress on polit- 
 ical subjects. Why, sir, what does the gentleman 
 understand by " political subjects?" Everything 
 in which this House has an agency everything 
 which relates to peace and relates to war, or to any
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 157 
 
 other of the great interests of society, is a politi- 
 cal subject. Are women to have no opinions or 
 action on subjects relating to the general welfare ? 
 This must be the gentleman's principle. "Where 
 did he get it ? Did he find it in Sacred history ? 
 in the account which is given of the emigration of 
 a whole nation from the land of Egypt, under the 
 guidance of Moses and Aaron? What was the 
 language of Miriam, the prophetess, when, after 
 one of the noblest and most sublime songs of tri- 
 umph that ever met the human eye or ear, it is 
 said : 
 
 "And Miriam, the prophetess, the sister of 
 Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand ; and all the 
 women went out after her with timbrels and with 
 dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to 
 the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously ; the 
 horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." 
 
 Sir, is it in that portion of sacred history that 
 he finds the principle that it is improper for women 
 to take any concern in public affairs ? This hap- 
 pened in the infancy of the Jewish nation. But 
 has the gentleman never read or heard read the 
 account which is given, at a later period, of the 
 victory of Deborah? 
 
 " And Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lapi- 
 doth, she judged Israel at that time. And she 
 dwelt under the palm-tree of Deborah, between 
 Kamah and Bethel, in Mount Ephraim ; and the 
 children of Israel came to her for judgment."
 
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 Has he never read that inspiring cry : 
 " Awake, awake, Deborah ; awake, awake, utter 
 a song ; arise Barak, and lead thy captivity cap- 
 tive, thou son of Abinoam." 
 
 Is the principle recognized here that women 
 have nothing to do with political affairs? no, 
 not so much as even to petition in regard to them ? 
 Has he forgotten the deed of Jael, who slew the 
 dreaded enemy of her country, who had so often 
 invaded and ravaged it? Has he forgotten the 
 name of Esther, who, by a PETITION, saved her 
 people and her country? . . . Sir, I might go 
 through the whole of the Sacred history of the 
 Jews, down to the advent of our Saviour, and find 
 innumerable examples of women who not only 
 took an active part in the politics of their times, 
 but who are held up with honor to posterity be- 
 cause they did so. I might point him to the 
 names of Abigail, of Huldah, of Judith, the 
 beautiful widow of Bethulia, who, in the days of 
 the captivity, slew Holofernes, the commanding- 
 general of the King of Babylon. But let me 
 come down to a happier age under the dispen- 
 sation of the new covenant. . . . But now, to 
 leave sacred history and go to profane history. 
 Does the chairman of the Committee find there 
 that it is " discreditable " for women to take any 
 interest or any part in political affairs ? Let him 
 read the history of Greece. Let him examine the
 
 JOHN QUIXCY ADAMS. 159 
 
 character of Aspasia, and this in a country where 
 the conduct and freedom of women were more se- 
 verely restricted than in any modern nation, save 
 among the Turks. It was in Athens, where female 
 character had not that full development which is 
 permitted to it in our state of society. . . . Can 
 he have forgotten the innumerable instances re- 
 corded by the profane historians, where women 
 distinguished, nay, immortalized their names, by 
 the part they took in the affairs of their country ? 
 
 Why does it follow that women are 
 
 fitted for nothing but the cares of domestic life ? 
 for bearing children and cooking the food of a 
 family? devoting all their time to the domestic cir- 
 cle, to promoting the immediate personal comfort 
 of their husbands, brothers, and sons? Observe, 
 sir, the point of departure between the chairman 
 of the committee and myself. I admit that it is 
 their duty to attend to these things. I subscribe 
 fully to the elegant compliment passed by him 
 upon those members of the female sex who devote 
 their time to these duties. But I say that the 
 correct principle is, that women are not only jus- 
 tified, but exhibit the most exalted virtue when 
 they do depart from the domestic circle, and enter 
 on the concerns of their country, of humanity, and 
 of their God. The mere departure of woman 
 from the duties of the domestic circle, far from 
 being a reproach to her, is a virtue of the highest
 
 160 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 order, when it is done from purity of motive, by 
 appropriate means, and towards a virtuous pur- 
 pose. There is the true distinction. The motive 
 must be pure, the means appropriate, and the pur- 
 pose good. And I say that woman, by the dis- 
 charge of such duties, has manifested a virtue 
 which is even above the virtues of mankind, and 
 approaches to a superior nature. 
 
 [Speech in the House of Representatives, 1838.] 
 
 I am well aware of the change which is taking 
 place in the moral and political philosophy of the 
 South. I know well that the doctrine of the Dec- 
 laration of Independence, that " all men are born 
 free and equal," is there held as incendiary doc- 
 trine, and deserves Lynching ; that the Declara- 
 tion itself is a farrago of abstractions. I know all 
 tin's perfectly ; and that is the very reason that I 
 want to put my foot upon such doctrine ; that I want 
 to drive it back to its fountain, its corrupt foun- 
 tain, .and pursue it till it is made to disappear 
 from this land and from the world. Sir, this phi- 
 losophy of the South has done more to blacken the 
 character of this country in Europe than all other 
 causes put together. They point to us as a nation 
 of liars and hypocrites, who publish to the world 
 that all men are born free and equal, and then hold 
 a large portion of our own population in bondage. 
 
 But I have been drawn into observations which
 
 JOHN QUIXCT ADAMS. 161 
 
 are, here, very much out of place ; and which I 
 probably should not have made, and certainly not 
 with the force I have endeavored to give them, 
 had it not been for the interruption of the gentle- 
 man from South Carolina.* If he will put such 
 questions he must expect to receive answers cor- 
 responding to them ; and he will receive not only 
 my answer, but those of others, who are far 
 deeper thinkers than I, not only in this country 
 but abroad ; for. this debate will go on the wings 
 of the wind. The account of the gentleman's prin- 
 ciples will come back from all parts of Europe -and 
 of the civilized world in hisses and execrations 
 that a man should have been found, in the highest 
 legislative body of this free republic, to avow 
 opinions such as we have just heard from the lips 
 of that gentleman. I shall dismiss that branch of 
 the subject now. If the gentleman is desirous of 
 more ; if he wishes to enter into a full and strict 
 scrutiny of the question of slavery in all its ' bear- 
 ings, either at this session or the next, and God 
 shall give me life, and breath, and the faculty of 
 speech, he shall have it to his heart's content. 
 
 * Mr. Campbell had said, among other remarks, that 
 " many worthy men, who were formerly somewhat uneasy 
 at the existence of this institution, now feel themselves 
 called upon by every motive, personal and private, by every 
 consideration, public and patriotic, to guard it with the most 
 jealous watchfulness, to defend it at every hazard." 
 11
 
 162 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [From the same Speech.] 
 
 The Declaration of Independence, which united 
 the people of thirteen separate and independent 
 states into one, speaks from the beginning to the 
 end in the name of the people. ... I pass on to 
 the Constitution of the United States. . . . The 
 very first words were such as put the People in 
 action ; they declare that it is the act of one People 
 who have separated themselves from another, and 
 have agreed to frame for themselves this Consti- 
 tution of Government. 
 
 I shall not enter on the captious quibbling 
 whether the People voted man by man, through- 
 out the Union, or whether they voted by their rep- 
 resentatives in special conventions assembled in 
 each of the states separately. It is not necessary 
 to settle any such questions. These are the cob- 
 web threads of justification, all spun from the 
 bowels of slavery. The language of the whole 
 instrument is, "We, the People." It has, from 
 the beginning, been the government of " us, the 
 People," and will, I trust, be that of posterity. 
 
 The conflict between the principle of liberty and 
 the fact of slavery is coming gradually to an issue. 
 Slavery has now the power, and falls into convul- 
 sions at the approach of freedom. That the fall 
 of slavery is predetermined in the counsels of 
 Omnipotence, I cannot doubt ; it is a part of the 
 great moral improvement in the condition of man,
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 163 
 
 attested by all the records of history. But the 
 conflict will be terrible, and the progress of im- 
 provement perhaps retrograde before its final 
 progress to consummation. Diary, December 
 13, 1838. 
 
 On December 20th, 1838, in the House of Bep- 
 resentatives, Mr. Adams presented a petition for 
 the establishment of international relations with 
 the Republic of Hayti, and said : . . . Then, sir, 
 I come back to my position, that every man in 
 this country has a right to be an abolitionist, and 
 that in being so he offends no law, but, in my 
 opinion, obeys the most sacred of all laws. 
 
 [In 1832, South Carolina passed an ordinance 
 declaring the tariff laws " null and void," and that 
 the State would secede from the Union if force 
 should be employed to collect any revenue at 
 Charleston ; upon which President Jackson issued 
 a Proclamation denouncing "nullification," and 
 declaring his purpose to execute the laws. It was 
 in December of this year, that Mr. Adams wrote 
 in his Diary] : " I told Hoffman that the real ques- 
 tion now convulsing this Union was, whether a 
 population spread over an immense territory, con- 
 sisting of one great division, all freemen, and an- 
 other, of masters and slaves, could exist perma- 
 nently together as members of one community or
 
 164 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 not ; tnat, to go a step further back, the question 
 at issue was slavery." 
 
 I do believe slavery to be a sin before God. 
 Speech in the House of Representatives, 1838. 
 
 It is among the evils of slavery, that it taints 
 the very sources of moral principle. It estab- 
 lishes false estimates of virtue and vice ; for what 
 can be more false and more heartless than this 
 doctrine, which makes the first and holiest rights 
 of humanity to depend upon the color of the skin ? 
 It perverts human reason, and induces men en- 
 dowed with logical powers to maintain that slavery 
 is sanctioned by the Christian religion ; that slaves 
 are happy and contented in their condition ; that 
 between master and slave there are ties of mutual 
 attachment and affection ; that the virtues of the 
 master are refined and exalted by the degradation 
 of the slave, while, at the same time, they vent 
 execrations upon the slave-trade, curse Britain 
 for having given them slaves, burn at the stake 
 negroes convicted of crimes, for the terror of the 
 example, and writhe in agonies of fear at the very 
 mention of human rights as applicable to men of 
 color. Diary. 
 
 [From the Introduction to the Memoir of Elijah P. Lovejoy, 
 1838.] 
 
 In the biographical narratives of the Founder 
 of the Christian religion, and of his primitive dis-
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 165 
 
 ciples, there is an internal evidence of truth, not 
 less conclusive than that of the miracles which 
 they performed. The miracles were the evidence 
 necessary to prove the authenticity of his mission 
 to his contemporaries, to whom he was accredited, 
 to whom he revealed the hidden mystery of their 
 own immortality, and to whom he proclaimed the 
 laws of their own nature, the obligations of mutual 
 benevolence and charity : love upon earth and life 
 hereafter were the everlasting pillars of his system 
 
 of religion and of morals 
 
 In the progressive revolutions effected by the 
 Christian system of religion and morals, it was in 
 the order of Providence that its operations should 
 be slow and gradual, embracing a period of many 
 thousand years. ... In these doctrines [of uni- 
 versal love and eternal life] , however, there was a 
 principle of vitality destined to survive all persecu- 
 tion, and to triumph over all human power. The 
 moral precepts of the Levitical law, purified and 
 refined, shone with undying lustre in the new dispen- 
 sation, its rites and ceremonies, its priests and 
 Levites, its sacrifices of blood, its visions, and its 
 dreams, gave way to a simple and spiritual form of 
 worship ; the working of miracles, no longer neces- 
 sary for the authentication of faith, was withdrawn 
 from the disciples of the cross, and the new sys- 
 tem of religion and morals was left to make its 
 way in the world by the perpetual miracle of its
 
 166 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 celestial origin, self-evident by the internal dem- 
 onstration of its irresistible power and its super- 
 human perfection. 
 
 [On the opening of the 26th Congress, De- 
 cember, 1839, there being a twofold delegation 
 from New Jersey, the clerk, on reaching that 
 State, refused to proceed with calling the roll, and 
 the members could effect no organization. It was 
 so for three days. On the fourth day, when the 
 State of New Jersey was reached,* Mr. Adams 
 rose and said] : " I rise to interrupt the clerk," 
 which created an intense excitement. " It was not 
 my intention to take any part in these extraordi- 
 nary proceedings. I had hoped that this House 
 would succeed in organizing itself; that a Speaker 
 
 * On December 2, 1839, at the opening of the 26th 
 Congress, the clerk commenced calling the roll of mem- 
 bers. When he came to New Jersey, (whose members 
 were then elected by general ticket,) he stated that the 
 seats of live of the six members from that state were con- 
 tested : that he did not feel authorized to decide the ques- 
 tion of their right to their seats, and that lie should there- 
 fore pass over their names, and proceed with the call. The 
 election of these members was certified to by the governor 
 of New Jersey. It so happened that these five members 
 were all whigs. Parties were so evenly balanced in the 
 House, that if these five membci's were admitted at once, 
 it would give the whigs control of its organization, includ- 
 ing the election of Speaker. Applcton's New Amer. Cyclop., 
 Art. Fillmore.
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 167 
 
 and Clerk would be elected, and the ordinary 
 business of legislation would go on. This is not 
 the time or place to discuss the merits of the con- 
 flicting claimants for seats from New Jersey ; the 
 subject belongs to the House of Representatives, 
 which, by the Constitution, is made the ultimate 
 arbiter of the qualifications of its members. But 
 what a spectacle we here present ! We degrade 
 and disgrace ourselves ; we degrade and disgrace 
 our constituents and the cpuntry. We do not, 
 and cannot organize ; and why ? Because the 
 clerk of this house, the mere clerk, whom we create, 
 whom we employ, and whose existence depends 
 upon our will, usurps the throne, and sets us, the 
 Representatives, the vicegerents of the whole 
 American people, at defiance, and holds us in con- 
 tempt. And what is this clerk of yours ? Is he 
 to control the destinies of sixteen millions of free- 
 men? Is he to suspend, by his mere negative, 
 the .functions of government, and put an end to 
 this Congress ? He refuses to call the roll ! It is 
 in your power to compel him to call it, if he will 
 not do it voluntarily. [A member "here said that 
 he was authorized to say that the clerk would 
 resign rather than call the roll of New Jersey.] 
 Well, sir, then let him resign, and we may pos- 
 sibly discover some way by which we can get 
 along without the aid of his all-powerful talent, 
 learning, and genius. If we cannot organize in
 
 168 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 any other way if this clerk of yours will not 
 consent to our discharging the trusts confided to 
 us by our constituents, then let us imitate the ex- 
 ample of the Virginia House of Burgesses, which, 
 when the colonial governor, Dinwiddie, ordered it 
 to disperse, refused to obey the imperious and 
 insulting mandate, and, like men [here followed 
 a burst of enthusiasm, when Mr. Adams sub- 
 mitted a motion requiring the acting clerk to pro- 
 ceed in calling the roll. Many members inquiring, 
 " How shall the question be put?" "Who will put 
 the question?" Mr. Adams replied, "/ intend to 
 put the question my self I" Whereupon Mr. Rhett, 
 of South Carolina, exclaimed, "I move that the 
 Hon. John Quincy Adams take the chair of the 
 Speaker of this House, and officiate as presiding 
 officer till the House be organized by the election 
 of its constitutional officers. As many as agree to 
 this will say, Aye ; those " which was followed 
 by an universal shout of Aye. And order came 
 out of confusion.] 
 
 [A "gag-law," forbidding the presentation of 
 petitions on the subject of slavery, having passed 
 the House of Representatives, Mr. Adams, at the 
 commencement of each subsequent session, de- 
 manded its abolition, and continued to hand in 
 petitions as before. He was threatened with ex- 
 pulsion, assassination, and indictment before the
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 169 
 
 grand jury of the District of Columbia. On one 
 occasion he said] : 
 
 Do the gentlemen from the South think they 
 can frighten me by their threats ? If that be their 
 object, let me tell them, sir, they have mistaken 
 their man. I am not to be frightened from the 
 discharge of a sacred duty by their indignation, 
 by their violence, nor, sir, by all the grand juries 
 in the universe. I have done only my duty ; and 
 I shall do it again under the same circumstances, 
 even though they recur to-morrow. 
 
 [When, in the year 1845, the "gag-law" was re- 
 scinded, Mr. Adams exclaimed] : " God be praised ; 
 the seals are broken, the door is open." 
 
 [In an address at Pittsfield, Mass, in 1843, he 
 said] : In 1775 the minute-men from a hundred 
 towns in the province were marching at a moment's 
 warning to the scene of opening war. Many of 
 them called at my father's house in Quincy, and 
 received the hospitality of John Adams. All were 
 lodged in the house whom the house would con- 
 tain ; others in the barns, and wherever they could 
 find a place. There were then in my father's kitchen 
 some dozen or two of pewter spoons ; and I well 
 recall going into the kitchen and seeing some of 
 the men engaged in running those spoons into bul- 
 lets for the use of the troops ! Do you wonder
 
 170 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 that a boy of seven years of age, who witnessed 
 this scene, should be a patriot? 
 
 The influence of Mr. Jefferson over 
 
 the mind of Mr. Madison was composed of all that 
 genius, talent, experience, splendid public ser- 
 vices, exalted reputation, added to congenial tem- 
 per, undivided friendship, and habitual sympathies 
 of interest and of feeling could inspire. Among the 
 numerous blessings which it was the rare good 
 fortune of Mr. Jefferson's life to enjoy, was that 
 of the uninterrupted, disinterested, and efficient 
 friendship of Madison. But it was the friendship 
 of a mind not inferior in capacity, and tempered 
 with a calmer sensibility and a cooler judgment 
 than his own. Eulogy on President Madison. 
 
 A confederation is not a country. There is no 
 magnet of attraction in any league of sovereign 
 and independent states which causes the heart- 
 strings of the individual man to vibrate in unison 
 with those of his neighbor. Confederates are not 
 counfrymen. Eulogy on President Madison. 
 
 The Declaration of Independence annulled the 
 national character of the American people. That 
 character had been common to them all as subjects 
 of one and the same sovereign, and that sovereign 
 was a king. The dissolution of that tie was pro-
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 171 
 
 nounced by one act common to them all, and it 
 left them as members of distinct communities in 
 the relation towards each other, bound only by the 
 obligations of the law of nature and of the Union, 
 by which they had renounced their connection 
 with the mother country. 
 
 But what was to be the character of their 
 national existence? This was the problem of 
 difficult solution for them ; and this was the 
 opening of the new era in the science of govern- 
 ment, and in the history of mankind. Eulogy on 
 President Madison. 
 
 [From the same.] 
 
 The principle that religious opinions 
 
 are altogether beyond the* sphere of legislative 
 control is but one modification of a more exten- 
 sive axiom, which includes the unlimited freedom 
 of the press, of speech, and of the communication 
 of thought in all its forms. 
 
 [From the same.] 
 
 In most of the inspirations of genius there is 
 a simplicity which, when they are familiarized 
 to the general understanding of men by their 
 effects, detracts from the opinion of their great- 
 ness. That the people of the British colonies, 
 who, by their united counsels and energies, had 
 achieved their independence, should continue to be
 
 172 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 one people, and constitute a nation under the form 
 of one organized government, was an idea in itself 
 so simple, and addressed itself at once so forcibly 
 to the reason, to the imagination, and to the 
 benevolent feelings of all, that it can scarcely be 
 supposed to have escaped the mind of any reflect- 
 ing man from Maine to Georgia. It was the dic- 
 tate of nature. But no sooner was it conceived 
 than it was met by obstacles innumerable and in- 
 superable to the general mass of mankind. They 
 resulted from the existing social institutions, di- 
 versiiied among the parties to the projected na- 
 tional union, and seeming to render it impractica- 
 ble. There were chartered rights, for. the main- 
 tenance of which the war of the revolution itself 
 had first been waged. There were state sovereign- 
 ties, corporate feudal baronies, tenacious of their 
 own liberty, impatient of a superior, and jealous and 
 disdainful of a paramount sovereign, even in the 
 whole democracy of the nation. There were colli- 
 sions of boundary and of proprietary right west- 
 ward in the soil ; southward, in its cultivator. In 
 fine, the diversities of interests, of opinions, of man- 
 ners, of habits, and even of extraction, were so 
 great, that the plan of constituting them one peo- 
 ple appears not even to have occurred to any of 
 the members of the convention * before they were 
 
 * For forming new Constitution.
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 173 
 
 assembled together. . . . Nearly four months of 
 anxious deliberation were employed by an ^assem- 
 bly composed of the men who had been the most 
 distinguished for their services, civil and military, 
 in conducting the country through the arduous 
 struggles of the revolution ; of men who, to the 
 fire of genius, added all the lights of experience, 
 and were stimulated by the impulses at once of 
 ardent patriotism and of individual ambition 
 aspiring to that last and most arduous labor of 
 constituting a nation destined in after times to 
 present a model of government for all the civil- 
 ized nations of the earth 
 
 [From the same.] 
 
 Government, in the first and most obvious 
 aspect which it assumes, is a restraint upon hu- 
 man action, and, as such, a restraint upon liberty. 
 The constitution of the United States was intended 
 to be a government of great energy, and, of 
 course, of extensive restriction, not only upon in- 
 dividual liberty, but upon the corporate action of 
 states claiming to be sovereign and independent. 
 The convention had been aware that such restraints 
 upon the p&ople could be imposed by no earthly 
 power other than the people themselves. They 
 were aware that to induce the people to impose 
 upon themselves such binding ligaments, motives 
 not less cogent than those which form the basis of
 
 174 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 human association were indispensably necessary ; 
 that the first principles of politics must be indis- 
 solubly linked with the first principles of morals. 
 They assumed, therefore, the existence of a Peo- 
 ple of the United States, and made them declare 
 the constitution to be their own work, speaking 
 in the first person, and saying, We, the People of 
 the United States, do ordain and establish this 
 constitution for the United States of America ; 
 and then the allegation of motives, to form a more 
 perfect union, to establish justice, insure domestic 
 tranquillity, provide for the common defence, pro- 
 mote the general welfare, and secure the blessings 
 of liberty to ourselves and our posterity. These 
 are precisely the purposes for which it has pleased 
 the Author of nature to make man a social being, 
 and has blended into one his happiness with that 
 of his kind. 
 
 How much of the South Carolina character origi- 
 nated in Locke's Constitution ? How much in the 
 sub-tropical climate ? How much in the cultivation 
 of indigo, rice, and cotton? How much (more 
 than all the rest) in negro slavery? How much 
 in the Christian religion ? And . how much in 
 Anglo-Saxon descent? These elements, mixed 
 with the casual diversities of individual men in the 
 progress of population, have produced an average 
 associate character different from that of any other
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 175 
 
 state in the Union from none more than from 
 that of its next-door neighbour, North Carolina. 
 This character shows itself everywhere in the 
 city, in the field, by the family fireside, in the 
 social circle, at the bar, in the legislative hall, and 
 finally in the pulpit. Diary, May, 1840.
 
 176 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 AKDEEW JACKSON. 
 
 BORN, 1767; DIED, 1845, AGED 78. BEGAN PRACTICE OF LAW, 
 1786. SOLICITOR OF THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF N. CAR- 
 OLINA, 1788. DISTRICT ATTORNEY OF TENNESSEE, 1796. 
 MEMBER OF CONVENTION TO FRAME A CONSTITUTION FOR 
 TENNESSEE, 1796. REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS, 1796. 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATOR, 1797. JUSTICE IN THE SU- 
 PREME COURT OF TENNESSEE, 1798. ENGAGED IN THE 
 CREEK WAR, 1813, 1814. MA JOR-GENERAL IN THE UNITED 
 STATES ARMY, 1814. COMMANDER AT NEW ORLEANS, 1815. 
 
 COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE SOUTHERN DIVISION OF 
 THE U. S., 1815 ENGAGED IN THE SEMINOLE WAR, 1817. 
 
 GOVERNOR OF FLORIDA, 1829. UNITED STATES SENATOR, 
 1823. PRESIDENT, 1829-1837. 
 
 [From a Message to Congress, December, 1831.] 
 
 [AFTER a review of our foreign relations, the 
 President said] : "I have great satisfaction in mak- 
 ing this statement of our affairs, because the course 
 of our national policy enables me to do it without 
 any indiscreet exposure of what in other govern- 
 ments is usually concealed from the people. Hav- 
 ing none but a straightforward, open course to 
 pursue, guided by a single principle that will 
 bear the strongest light, we have happily no 
 political combinations to form, no alliance to en- 
 tangle us, no complicated interests to consult ; and 
 in subjecting all that we have done to the con-
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 177 
 
 sideration of our citizens, and to the inspection of 
 the world, we give no advantage to other nations, 
 and lay ourselves open to no injury. 
 
 [From a Message to Congress, July 10, 1832.] 
 The Congress, the Executive, and the [Supreme] 
 Court must each for itself be guided by its own 
 opinion of the Constitution. Each public officer, 
 who takes an oath to support the Constitution, 
 swears that he will support it as as he understands 
 it, and not as it is understood by others. It is as 
 much the duty of the House of Eepresentatives, 
 of the Senate, and of the President to decide upon 
 the constitutionality of any bill or resolution which 
 may be presented to them for passage or approval, 
 as it is of the Supreme Judges, when it may be 
 brought before them for judicial decision. The 
 opinion of the judges has no more authority over 
 Congress, than the opinion of Congress has over 
 the judges, and on that point the President is 
 independent of both. 
 
 It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful 
 too often bend the acts of government to their self- 
 ish purposes. Distinctions in society will always 
 exist under every just government. Equality of 
 talents, of education, or of wealth, cannot be pro- 
 duced by human institutions. In the full enjoy- 
 ment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of
 
 178 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man 
 is equally entitled to protection by law. But when 
 the laws undertake to add to these natural and just 
 advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, 
 gratuities, and exclusive privileges to make the 
 rich richer and the potent more powerful the 
 humble members of society the farmers, me- 
 chanics, and laborers, who have neither the time 
 nor the means of securing like favors to them- 
 selves, have a right to complain of the injustice of 
 their government. There are no necessary evils 
 in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. 
 If it would confine itself to equal protection, and, 
 as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on 
 the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it 
 would bo an unqualified blessing. 
 
 [Letter to Col. A. J. Hamilton.] 
 
 WASHINGTON, November 2, 1832. 
 
 Mr DEAR SIR : I have just received your letter 
 of the 31st ult., with the enclosure, for which I 
 thank you. 
 
 I am well advised of the views and proceedings 
 of the great leading nullifiers of the South in my 
 native State (South Carolina) , and weep for its 
 fate, and over the delusion into which the people 
 are led by the wickedness, ambition, and folly of 
 their leaders. I have no doubt of the intention 
 of their leaders to alarm the other States to submit
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 179 
 
 to their views rather than a dissolution of the 
 Union should take place. If they fail in this, to 
 cover- their own disgrace and wickedness, to nullify 
 the tariff, and secede from the Union. 
 
 We are wide awake here. The Union will be 
 preserved, rest assured of this. There has been 
 too much blood and treasure shed to obtain it, to 
 let it be surrendered without a struggle. Our 
 liberty and that of the whole world rests upon it, 
 as well as the peace, prosperity, and happiness of 
 these United States. It must be perpetuated. 
 
 [Letter to Col. J. A. Hamilton.] 
 
 WASHINGTON, December 6, 1832. 
 
 Yours of the 3d inst. is just received. I accord 
 with you fully in the propriety of the people giv- 
 ing fully and freely their sentiments and opinions 
 on nullification, and the course pursued by South 
 Carolina in her late proceedings. 
 
 The ordinance passed, when taken in connection 
 with the Governor's message, is rebellion and war 
 against the Union. The raising of troops under 
 them to resist the laws of the United States is 
 absolute treason. The crisis must be, and as far 
 as my constitutional and legal powers go, will be 
 met with energy and firmness. Therefore the pro- 
 priety of the public voice being heard, and it ought 
 now to be spoken in a voice of thunder that will 
 make the leaders of the nullifiers tremble, and
 
 180 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 which will cause the good citizens of South Caro- 
 lina to retrace their steps and adhere to that con- 
 stitution of perpetual union they have sworn to 
 support. This treasonable procedure against the 
 Union is a blow against not only our liberties but 
 the liberties of the wo'rld. 
 
 This nullifying movement in the South has done 
 no great injury abroad, and must not only be 
 promptly met and put down, but frowned down 
 by public opinion. It is therefore highly proper 
 for the people to speak all over the Union. I am 
 preparing a proclamation to the people of the 
 South, and as soon as officially advised of these 
 rebellious proceedings, will make a communication 
 to Congress. 
 
 - 
 
 [From a Message to Congress, January 16, 1833.] 
 
 A recent proclamation of the present 
 
 Governor of South Carolina has openly defied the 
 authority of the Executive of the Union, and gen- 
 eral orders from the head-quarters of the State 
 announced his determination to accept the services 
 of volunteers, and his belief that, should their 
 country need their services, they will be found at 
 the post of honor and duty, ready to lay down 
 their lives in her defence. Under these orders, the 
 forces referred to are directed to " hold themselves 
 in readiness to take the field at a moment's warn- 
 ing ; and in the city of Charleston, within a collec-
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 181 
 
 tion district and a port of entry, a rendezvous has 
 been opened for the purpose of enlisting men for 
 the magazine and municipal guard. Thus South 
 Carolina presents herself in the attitude of hostile 
 preparation, a_nd ready even for military violence, 
 if need be, to enforce her laws for preventing the 
 collection of the duties within her limits 
 
 It therefore becomes my duty to bring the sub- 
 ject to the serious consideration of Congress, in 
 order that such measures as they, in their wisdom, 
 may deem fit, shall be seasonably provided ; and 
 that it may be thereby understood that, while the 
 government is disposed to remove all just cause of 
 complaint, so far as may be practicably consistent 
 with a proper regard to the interests of the com- 
 munity at large, it is nevertheless determined that 
 the supremacy of the laws shall be maintained. 
 
 By these various proceedings the State of South 
 Carolina has forced the general government, un- 
 avoidably, to decide the new and dangerous alter- 
 native of permitting a State to obstruct the execu- 
 tion of the laws within its limits, or seeing it able 
 to execute a threat of withdrawing from the Union. 
 That portion of the people at present exercising 
 the authority of the State solemnly assert their 
 right to do either, and as solemnly announce their 
 determination to do one or the other. 
 
 In my opinion both purposes are to be regarded 
 as revolutionary in their character and tendency,
 
 182 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 and subversive of the supremacy of the Constitu- 
 tion and of the integrity of the Union. The result 
 of each is the same ; since a State, in which, by an 
 usurpation of power, the constitutional authority 
 of the Federal government is openly defied and set 
 aside, wants only the form to be independent of the 
 Union. 
 
 The right of the people of a single State to ab- 
 solve themselves at will, and without the consent 
 of other States, from their most solemn obligations, 
 and hazard the liberties and happiness of the mil- 
 lions composing the Union, cannot be acknowl- 
 edged. Such authority is believed to be utterly 
 repugnant both to the principles upon which the 
 General Government is constructed, and to the ob- 
 jects which it is expressly formed to attain. 
 
 Against all acts which may be alleged to tran- 
 scend the constitutional power of the government, 
 or which may be inconvenient and oppressive in 
 their operation, the Constitution itself has pre- 
 scribed the modes of redress. It is the acknowl- 
 edged attribute of free institutions that, under 
 them, the empire of reason and law is substituted 
 for the power of the sword. To no other source 
 can appeals from supposed wrongs be made con- 
 sistently with the obligations of South Carolina ; 
 to no other can such appeals be made with safety 
 at any time ; and to their decisions, when consti- 
 tutionally pronounced, it becomes the duty, no
 
 ANDKEW JACKSON. 183 
 
 less of the public authorities than of the people, in 
 every case to yield to a patriotic submission. . . . 
 
 Independently of these considerations, it will 
 not escape observation that South Carolina still 
 claims to be a component part of the Union, to 
 participate in the national councils, and to share in 
 the public benefits, without contributing to the 
 public burdens thus asserting the dangerous 
 anomaly of continuing in an association without 
 acknowledging any other obligation to its laws 
 than what depends upon her own will. 
 
 In this posture of affairs the duty of the Govern- 
 ment seems to be plain. It inculcates the recog- 
 nition of that State as a member of the Union, and 
 subject to its authority ; a vindication of the just 
 power of the Constitution ; the preservation of the 
 integrity of the Union, and the execution of the 
 laws by all consistent means 
 
 While a forbearing spirit may, and, I trust, will, 
 ,be exercised towardsth e errors of our brethren in 
 a particular quarter, duty to the rest of the Union 
 demands that open and organized resistance to the 
 laws should not be executed with impunity 
 
 For myself, fellow-citizens, devoutly relying 
 upon that kind Providence which has hitherto 
 watched over our destiny, and actuated by a pro- 
 found reverence for those institutions I have so 
 much cause to love, and for the American people, 
 whose partiality honored me with this high trust,
 
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 I have determined to spare no effort to discharge 
 the duty which, in this conjuncture, is devolved 
 upon me. That a similar spirit will actuate the 
 Representatives of the American people is not to 
 be questioned ; and I fervently pray that the Great 
 Ruler of nations may so guide your deliberations, 
 and our joint measures, as that they may prove 
 salutary examples, not only to the present, but to 
 future times ; and solemnly proclaim that the Con- 
 stitution and the laws are supreme, and the Union 
 indissoluble. 
 
 [From a letter to Rev. A. J. Crawford, May 1, 1833.] 
 
 The tariff was only a pretext [for nullifi- 
 cation] , and Disunion and a Southern Confederacy 
 the real object. The next pretext will be the 
 negro or slavery question. 
 
 [From a Message, December 6, 1836.] 
 
 Variableness must ever be the character 
 
 of a currency of which the precious metals are not 
 the chief ingredient, or which can be expanded or 
 contracted without regard to the principles that 
 regulate the value of those metals as a standard iii 
 the general trade of the world. . . . The pro- 
 gress of an expansion, or rather a depreciation of 
 the currency, by excessive bank issues, is always 
 attended by a loss to the laboring classes. This 
 part of the community has neither time nor oppor-
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 185 
 
 tunity to watch the ebbs and flows of the money 
 market. Engaged from day to day in their use- 
 ful toils, they do not perceive that although their 
 wages are nominally the same, or even somewhat 
 higher, they are greatly reduced in fact by the 
 rapid increase of a spurious currency, which, as it 
 appears to make money abound, they are at first 
 inclined to consider a blessing. 
 
 To a Major Lewis, of Kentucky, who rather 
 pompously said to General Jackson, " Well, Gen- 
 eral, I have all my life been voting against you," 
 he replied, " Well, Major, I have all my life been 
 fighting the battles of my country in order that 
 you might enjoy that privilege." Nashville Ban- 
 ner, 1880.
 
 186 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN. 
 
 BORN, 1782; DIED, 1862, AGED 80. SURROGATE OF COLUMBIA 
 COUNTY, N. Y., 1808. STATE SENATOR, 1812. MEMBER OF 
 THE CONVENTION TO REVISE THE NEW YORK STATE 
 CONSTITUTION, 1821. UNITED STATES SENATOR, 1827. 
 GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK, 1828. SECRETARY OF STATE, 1829. 
 MINISTER TO ENGLAND, 1831. VICE-PRESIDENT, 1832-1836. 
 PRESIDENT, 1837-1841. 
 
 [From an Address, 1819.] 
 
 THE struggle which gave birth to our nation 
 must ever be regarded as one of the most impor- 
 tant and interesting eras the world has ever wit- 
 nessed. History records no event which called 
 into action a race of statesmen equal in all the 
 splendid virtues which adorn and give celebrity to 
 the human character. And it is a fact honorable 
 to our nation, that of the long-list of patriots and 
 sages who, at the hazard of all that was dear to 
 man, signed the Declaration of Independence, and 
 of those who framed the grand charter of our lib- 
 erties, there has not been one who, in after life, 
 has fallen from the eminence to which, by his con- 
 nection with those events, he was raised, or has 
 in the least impaired the character he thus ac- 
 quired. Those whom the ravages of time have yet
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN. 187 
 
 spared to their country are everywhere honored 
 and respected; and those whose deaths we de- 
 plore, who are now numbered with " the spirits of 
 just men made perfect," have descended to the 
 tomb accompanied by a nation's tears, and blessed 
 with a nation's gratitude. 
 
 [From a Speech in the Convention for revising the Consti- 
 tution of New York, 1821, in favor of a proposition to 
 vest in the Governor a revisory power upon the acts of 
 the legislature.] 
 
 Distinct branches are not only necessary 
 
 to the existence of government, but when you 
 have prescribed them, it is necessary that you 
 should make them, in a great degree, independent 
 of each other. No government can be so favored 
 as to make them entirely separate ; but it has 
 been the study of the wisest and best men to in- 
 vent a plan by which they might be rendered as 
 independent of each other as the nature of govern- 
 ment would admit. The legislative department is 
 by far the strongest, and is constantly inclined to 
 encroach upon the weaker branches of govern- 
 ment, and upon individual rights. This arises 
 from, a variety of causes. In the first place, the 
 powers of that department are more extended and 
 indefinable than those of any other, which gives 
 its members an exalted idea of their superiority. 
 They are the representatives of the people, from
 
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 which circumstance they think they possess, and 
 of right ought to possess, all the power of the peo- 
 ple. This is natural, and it is easy to imagine the 
 consequences that necessarily follow. 
 
 This is not all. They hold the purse-strings of 
 the state ; and every member of all the branches 
 of the government is dependent on them for his 
 subsistence. You have been told, and correctly 
 told, that those who feed men, and enjoy the priv- 
 ilege of dispensing the public bounty, will, in a 
 greater or less degree, influence and control them. 
 Is it unreasonable or improbable to suppose that 
 power, thus constituted, should have a tendency 
 to exert itself for purposes not congenial with the 
 true interests of the other branches of government ? 
 . . . Such is the superior force and influence of 
 legislative power; such is the reverence and re- 
 gard with which it is looked up to, that no man in 
 the community will have the temerity, on ordinary 
 occasions, to resist its acts or check its proceed- 
 ings. I cannot illustrate this position more 
 strongly than by a reference to the constitution of 
 England. There the executive is a branch of the 
 legislature, and has an absolute negative. Sur- 
 rounded as he is with prerogative, and placed far 
 beyond the reach of the people, yet since the year 
 1692 no objection has been made by the king of 
 Great Britain to any bill presented for his ap- 
 proval. Rather than produce the excitement and
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN. 189 
 
 irritation which, even there, would result from the 
 rejection of a bill passed by the Parliament, he has 
 resorted to means which have degraded the gov- 
 ernment and dishonored the nation, to prevent the 
 passage of bills which he should feel it his duty to 
 reject. In the Declaration of Independence, in 
 the category of wrongs under which our fathers 
 had been suffering, one of the most prominent 
 w T as, that the king had exercised his prerogative, 
 and had refused his sanction to salutary laws. 
 Gentlemen may, therefore, rest satisfied that very 
 little danger is to be apprehended on this subject. 
 
 [From " Political Parties in the United States."] 
 
 John Adams was in every sense a remarkable 
 man. Nature seems to have employed in his con- 
 struction intellectual materials sufficient to have 
 furnished many minds respectably. It would not 
 be easy to name men either of his day or of any 
 period, whose character presents a deeper or a 
 stronger soil, one which duringjrjs long- grid some- 
 what boisterous public life was thoroughly probed 
 by his enemies without disclosing any variation in 
 its depths from the qualities and indications of its 
 surface. Still more deeply was it turned up and 
 exposed to light by himself with the same result. 
 His writings, which have been more extensive and 
 more varied than those of any of his contempo- 
 raries, have been given to the world apparently
 
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 without reserve. These, with his diaries and auto- 
 biography have turned his character inside out, 
 and shown us, without disguise of any sort, the 
 kind of man he was ; and the representation is in- 
 variably that of the same "always honest man" 
 that he was three quarters of a century ago when 
 that high praise was accorded to him by his not too 
 particular . friend Benjamin Franklin, in a com- 
 munication not designed to be over civil. . . . 
 Mr. Jefferson, but two years before the death of 
 both of them, on referring to that [the revolution- 
 ary] period, and to Mr. Adams' great services, in 
 my presence, was warmed by the subject, and 
 spoke of him as having been the mainmast of the 
 ship the orator of the Revolution, etc. 
 
 [From the Same.] 
 
 Mr. Jefferson commenced the discharge 
 
 of his official duties by an act which, though one 
 of form, involved matter of the highest moment. 
 I allude to the decision and facility with whicji, in 
 his intercourse with other branches of the govern- 
 ment, he suppressed the observance of empty 
 ceremonies which had been borrowed from foreign 
 courts by officials who took an interest in such 
 matters, and were reluctantly tolerated by Wash- 
 ington, who was himself above them. Instead of 
 proceeding in state to the capitol to deliver a 
 speech to the legislature, according to the custom
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN. 191 
 
 of monarchs, he performed his constitutional duty 
 by means of a message in writing, sent to each 
 House by the hands of his private secretary, and 
 they performed theirs by a reference of its con- 
 tents to appropriate committees. The executive 
 procession, instead of marking the intercourse be- 
 tween the different branches of the government, 
 was reserved for the Inauguration, when the Presi- 
 dent appeared before the people themselves, and in 
 their presence took the oath of office. 
 
 [From his Reply to the Committee of the Convention which 
 nominated him for the Presidency.] 
 
 We hold an immense stake for the weal 
 
 or woe of mankind, to the importance of which we 
 should not be insensible. The intense .interest 
 manifested abroad in every movement here that 
 threatens the stability of our system, shows the 
 deep conviction which pervades the world that 
 upon its fate depends the cause of republican gov- 
 ernment. The advocates of monarchical systems 
 have not been slow in perceiving danger to such 
 institutions in the permanency of our Constitution, 
 nor backward in seizing upon every passing event 
 by which their predictions of its speedy destruc- 
 tion could be in any degree justified. Thus far 
 they have been disappointed in their expectations, 
 and the circumstances by which they were encour- 
 aged, however alarming at the tune, have in the
 
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 end only tended to show forth the depth of that 
 devotion to the Union which is yet, thank God, 
 the master passion of the American bosom. 
 
 [From a Message to Congress, September 5, 1837.] 
 
 It has since appeared that evils similar 
 
 to those suffered by ourselves, have been expe- 
 rienced in Great Britain, on the Continent, and in- 
 deed throughout the commercial world, and that 
 in other countries as well as in our own, they have 
 been uniformly preceded by an undue enlargement 
 of the boundaries of trade, prompted, as with us, 
 by unprecedented expansions of the systems of 
 credit. A reference to the amount of banking 
 capacity and the issues of paper credits put in cir- 
 culation in Great Britain by banks and in other 
 ways, during the years 1834, 1835, and 1836, will 
 show an augmentation of the paper currency there, 
 as much disproportioned to the real wants of trade 
 as in the United States. With this redundance in 
 the paper currency, there arose in that country 
 also a spirit of adventurous speculation embracing 
 the whole range of human enterprise. Aid was 
 profusely given to projected improvements ; large 
 investments made in foreign stocks and loans ; 
 credits for goods were granted with unbounded 
 liberality to merchants in foreign countries ; and 
 all the means of acquiring and employing credit 
 were put in active operation, and extended, in 
 their effects, to every department of business, and
 
 MARTIN VAN BUEEN. 193 
 
 to every quarter of the globe. The reaction was 
 proportioned in its violence to the extensive char- 
 acter of the events which preceded it. 
 
 .... In view of these facts, it would seem 
 impossible for sincere inquirers after truth to 
 resist the conviction, that the causes of the revul- 
 sion in both countries have been substantially the 
 same. Two nations, the most commercial in the 
 world, enjoying but recently the highest degree of 
 apparent prosperity, and maintaining with each 
 other the closest relations, are suddenly, in a time 
 of profound peace, and without any great national 
 disaster, arrested in their career, and plunged into a 
 state of embarrassment and distress. In both coun- 
 tries we have witnessed the same redundancy of 
 paper money, and other facilities of credit ; the same 
 spirit of speculation, the same partial successes ; 
 the same difficulties and reverses ; and at length 
 nearly the same overwhelming catastrophe 
 
 All communities are apt to look to government 
 for too much. Even in our own country, where 
 its powers and duties are so strictly limited, 
 we are prone to do so, especially at periods of 
 sudden embarrassment and distress. But this 
 ought not to be. The framers of our excellent 
 Constitution, and the people who approved it, 
 with calm and sagacious deliberation, acted at the 
 time on a sounder principle. They wisely judged 
 that the less government interferes with private 
 
 13
 
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 pursuits, the better for the general prosperity. 
 It is not its legitimate object to make men rich, or 
 to repair, by direct grants of money or legislation 
 in favor of particular pursuits, losses not incurred 
 in the public service. This would be substantially, 
 to use the property of some for the benefit of 
 others. But its real duty, that duty, the perform- 
 ance of which makes a good government the most 
 precious of human blessings, is to enact and en- 
 force a system of general taxes commensurate with, 
 but not exceeding, the objects of its establishment, 
 and to leave every citizen and every interest to 
 reap, under its benign protection, the rewards of 
 
 virtue, industry, and prudence 
 
 The great agricultural interest has, in many 
 parts of the country, suffered comparatively little ; 
 and, as if Providence intended to display the mu- 
 nificence of its goodness at the moment of our 
 greatest need, and in direct contrast to the evils 
 occasioned by the waywardness of man, we have 
 been blessed, throughout our extended territory, 
 with a season of general health and of uncommon 
 fruitfulncss. 
 
 It is a high gratification to know that we act for 
 a people to whom the truth, however unpromising, 
 can always be spoken with safety, for the trial of 
 whose patience no emergency is too severe, and 
 who are sure never to despise a public functionary 
 honestly laboring for the public good.
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 195 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 
 
 BORN, 1T73 ; DIED, 1841, AGED 68. CAPTAIN IN THE ARMY, 
 1795. SECRETARY OF THE TERRITORY NORTH-WEST OF 
 THE OHIO, 1797. DELEGATE TO CONGRESS, 1790. GOVERN- 
 OR OF THE TERRITORY OF INDIANA, 1801. ENGAGED IN 
 THE BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE, 1811. BRIGADIER-GENERAL 
 AND COMMANDER OF THE NORTH-WEST FRONTIER, 1812. 
 MAJOR-GENERAL, 1813. COMMANDER IN THE BATTLE OF 
 THE THAMES, 1813. REPRESENTATIVE TO CONGRESS, 1816. 
 IN THE STATE SENATE OF OHIO, 1819. IN THE UNITED 
 STATES SENATE, 1821. MINISTER TO COLOMBIA, 1828. 
 PRESIDENT, 1841. 
 
 [From an Address, when Governor and Commander-in-chief 
 of the territory of Indiana, to the Legislative Council 
 and House of Representatives, 1805.] 
 
 AN enlightened and generous policy 
 
 has forever removed all cause of contention with 
 our western neighbors [by the acquisition of Lou- 
 isiana in 1803]. The mighty river which sepa- 
 rates us from the Louisianians will never be stained 
 with the blood of contending nations, but will 
 prove the bond of our Union, and will convey 
 upon its bosom, in a course of many thousand 
 miles, the produce of our great and united em- 
 pire
 
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 The interests of your constituents, the interests 
 of the miserable Indians, and your own feelings, 
 will sufficiently urge to take it into your most 
 serious consideration, and provide the remedy 
 which is to save thousands of our fellow-crea- 
 tures. ... So destructive has the progress of 
 intemperance been among them, that whole vil- 
 lages have been swept away. A miserable remnant 
 is all that remains to mark the names and situation 
 of many numerous and warlike tribes. In the 
 energetic language of one of their orators, it is a 
 dreadful conflagration, which spreads misery and 
 desolation through their country, and threatens 
 the annihilation of the whole race. 
 
 Is it then to be admitted as a political axiom, 
 that the neighborhood of a civilized nation is in- 
 compatible with the existence of savages? Are 
 the blessings of our republican government only 
 to be felt by ourselves ? And are the nations of 
 North America to experience the same fate with 
 their brethren of the Southern Continent? It is 
 with you, gentlemen, to divert from those children 
 of nature the ruin which hangs over them. Nor 
 can I believe that the time will be considered as 
 misspent which is devoted to an object so consist- 
 ent with the spirit of Christianity and with the 
 principles of republicanism.
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 197 
 
 [To the Legislature of the territory of Indiana, 1807.] 
 
 The propriety and policy of a law of this 
 
 kind [authorizing the general and circuit courts to 
 grant divorces] has been strongly contested in 
 many parts of the United States ; and it is be- 
 lieved that the principle has been everywhere con- 
 demned, save in one or two States only. It can- 
 not be denied that the success of one applicant for 
 a divorce has always the effect of producing others, 
 and that the advantages which a few individuals 
 may derive from a dissolution of this solemn con- 
 tract, are too dearly purchased by its injurious 
 effects upon the morals of the community. The 
 scenes which are frequently exhibited in trials of 
 this kind are shocking to humanity. The ties of 
 consanguinity and nature are loosened the child 
 is brought to give testimony against his parent 
 confidence and affection are destroyed family 
 secrets disclosed and human nature is exhibited 
 in the worst colors. 
 
 [From a letter dated Headquarters, Detroit, 9 October, 
 1813, giving an account of the victory of the American 
 troops over the combined Indian and British forces under 
 General Proctor.] 
 
 Whilst I was engaged in forming the in- 
 fantry, I had directed Colonel Johnson's * regiment, 
 
 * Richard M. Johnson.
 
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 which was still in front, to be formed in two lines, 
 opposite to the enemy, and, upon the advance of 
 the infantry, to take ground to the left, and form- 
 ing upon that flank, to endeavor to turn the right 
 of the Indians. A moment's reflection, however, 
 convinced me that from the thickness of the woods 
 and swampiness of the ground, they Avould be un- 
 able to do anything on horseback ; and there was 
 no time to dismount them and place their horses 
 in security ; I therefore determined to refuse my 
 left to the Indians, and to break the British lines 
 at once by a charge of the mounted infantry. The 
 measure was not sanctioned by anything I had 
 seen or heard of, but I was fully convinced that 
 it would succeed. The American back woodsmen 
 ride better in the woods than any other people. 
 A musket or rifle is no impediment to them, being 
 accustomed to carry them on horseback from their 
 earliest youth. I was persuaded, too, that the 
 enemy would be quite unprepared for the shock, 
 and that they could not resist it. Conformably to 
 this idea, I directed the regiment to be drawn up 
 in close column, with its right at the distance of 
 fifty yards from the road (that it might be in some 
 measure protected by the trees from the artillery), 
 its left upon the swamp, and to charge at full 
 speed as soon as the enemy delivered their fire. 
 The few regular troops of the 27th regiment, 
 under their colonel (Paul), occupied, in column
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 199 
 
 of sections of four, the small space between the 
 road and the river, for the purpose of seizing the 
 enemy's artillery, and some ten or twelve friendly 
 Indians were directed to move under the bank. 
 The crotchet formed by the front line and General 
 Desha's division was an important point. At that 
 place the venerable governor of Kentucky (Shelby) 
 was posted, who, at the age of sixty-six, preserved 
 all the vigor of youth, the ardent zeal which dis- 
 tinguished him in the Revolutionary war, and the 
 undaunted bravery which he manifested at King's 
 Mountain.* With my aid-de-camp, the acting 
 assistant adjutant-general, Captain Butler, my gal- 
 lant friend, Commodore Perry, who did me the. 
 honor to serve as my volunteer aid-dc-camp, and 
 Brigadier-General Cass, f who , having no command , 
 tendered me his assistance, I placed myself at the. 
 head of the front line of infantry, to direct the 
 movements of the cavalry, and give them the 
 necessary support. The army had moved on in 
 this manner but a short distance, when the 
 mounted men received the fire of the British line, 
 and were ordered to charge ; the horses in the 
 front of the column recoiled from the fire ; an- 
 other was given by the enemy, and our column at 
 length getting in motion, broke through the enemy 
 with irresistible force. In one minute the contest 
 
 * In North Carolina, October 9, 1780. 
 f Lewis Cass.
 
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 in front was over ; the British officers, seeing no 
 hopes of reducing their disordered ranks to order, 
 and our mounted men wheeling upon them, and 
 pouring in a destructive fire, immediately surren- 
 dered. It is certain that three only of our troops 
 were wounded in this charge. Upon the left, 
 however, the contest was more severe with the 
 Indians. Colonel Johnson, who commanded on 
 the flank of his regiment, received a most galling 
 fire from them, which was returned with great 
 effect. The Indians still farther to the right ad- 
 vanced, and fell in with our front line of infantry, 
 near its junction with Desha's division, and for a 
 moment made an impression upon it. His excel- 
 lency Governor Shelby, however, brought up a 
 regiment to its support, and the enemy, receiving 
 a severe fire in front, and a part of Johnson's 
 regiment having gained their rear, retreated with 
 precipitation. The loss was very considerable 
 in the action, and many were killed in the re- 
 treat.* 
 
 [From his Inaugural Address, 1841.] 
 
 The spirit of liberty is the sovereign balm 
 
 for every injury which our institutions may re- 
 ceive. On the contrary, no care that can be used 
 in the construction of our government, no division 
 of powers, no distribution of checks in its several 
 
 * Tecumseh was killed in this battle.
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. 201 
 
 departments, will prove effectual to keep us a free 
 people, if this spirit is suffered to decay, and de- 
 cay it will without constant nurture. . . . And 
 although there is at times much difficulty in dis- 
 tinguishing the false from the true spirit, a calm 
 and dispassionate investigation will detect the 
 counterfeit, as well by the character of its ope- 
 rations as the results that are produced. The true 
 spirit of liberty, although devoted, persevering, 
 bold, and -uncompromising in principle ; that se- 
 cured, is mild, and tolerant, and scrupulous as to 
 the means it employs ; whilst the spirit of party, 
 assuming to be that of liberty, is harsh, vindictive, 
 and intolerant, and totally reckless as to the charac- 
 ter of the allies which it brings to the aid of its 
 cause.
 
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 JOHN TYLER. 
 
 BORN, 1790; DIED, 1862, AGED 72. GRADUATED AT WILLIAM 
 AND MARY COLLEGE, 1807. BEGAN PRACTICE OF LAW, 
 1809. IN LEGISLATURE OF VIRGINIA, 1811. CONGRESS, 
 181G. STATE LEGISLATURE, 1823. GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, 
 1825. UNITED STATES SENATOR, 1827. IN THE STATE LEG- 
 ISLATURE, 1838. VICE-PRESIDENT, 1841. PRESIDENT, 1841. 
 
 [From an Address as President of the Senate, March, 1841.] 
 
 HERE are to be found the immediate 
 
 Representatives of the States, by whose sovereign 
 will the government has been spoken into exist- 
 ence. Here exists that perfect equality among the 
 members of this confederacy, which gives to the 
 smallest State in the Union a voice as potential as 
 that of the largest. To this body is committed, 
 in an eminent degree, the trust of guarding and 
 protecting the institutions handed down to us from 
 our fathers, as well against the waves of popular 
 and rash impulses on the one hand, as against at- 
 tempts at executive encroachment on the other. 
 It may properly be regarded as holding the balance 
 in which is weighed the powers conceded to this 
 government, and the rights reserved to the States 
 and to the people. It is its province to concede
 
 JOHN TYLER. 203 
 
 what has been granted to withhold what has 
 been denied ; thus, in all its features, exhibiting 
 a true type of the glorious confederacy under 
 which it is our happiness to live. Should the 
 spirit of faction, that destructive spirit which reck- 
 lessly walks over prostrate rights, and tramples 
 laws and constitutions in the dust, ever find an 
 abiding place within this hall, then, indeed, will a 
 sentence of condemnation be issued against the 
 peace and happiness of this people, and their 
 political institutions be made to topple to their 
 foundations. But while this body shall continue 
 to be what by its framers it was designed to be, 
 deliberative in its character, unbiassed in its coun- 
 sel, and independent in its action, then may liberty 
 be regarded as intrenched in safety bchmd the 
 sacred ramparts of the Constitution. 
 
 [From a Message to Congress, June 1, 1841.] 
 
 I must be permitted to add, that no 
 
 scheme of governmental policy, unaided by indi- 
 vidual exertions, can be available for ameliorating 
 the present condition of things, Commercial 
 modes of exchange, and a good currency ai*e but 
 the necessary means of commerce and intercourse, 
 not the direct productive sources of wealth. 
 Wealth can only be accumulated by the earnings 
 of industry and the savings of frugality, and 
 nothing can be more ill-judged than to look to
 
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 facilities in borrowing, or to a redundant currency, 
 for the power of discharging pecuniary obligations. 
 The country is full of resources, and the people 
 full of energy ; and the great and permanent rem- 
 edy for present embarrassments must be sought in 
 industry, economy, the observance of good faith, 
 and the favorable influence of time.
 
 JAMES K. POLK. 205 
 
 JAMES K. POLK. 
 
 BORN, 1795; DIED, 1849, AGED 54. GRADUATED AT THE UNI- 
 VERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, 1818. ADMITTED TO THE 
 BAR, 1820. IN THE TENNESSEE STATE LEGISLATURE, 1823. 
 ELECTED TO CONGRESS, 1825. SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE 
 OF REPRESENTATIVES, 1835. GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE, 
 1839. PRESIDENT, 1845-1849. 
 
 [From his Inaugural Address, March, 1845.] 
 
 " WHO shall assign limits to the achieve- 
 ments of free minds and free hands, under the 
 protection of the glorious Union ? No treason to 
 mankind, since the organization of society, would 
 be equal in atrocity to that of him who would lift 
 his hand to destroy it. He would overthrow the 
 noblest structure of human wisdom, which pro- 
 tects himself and his fellow-men. He would stop 
 the progress of free government, and involve his 
 country either in anarchy or destruction. 
 
 Has the sword of despots proved to be a safer 
 "or surer instrument of reform in government than 
 enlightened reason? Does he expect to lind 
 among the ruins of this Union a happier abode for 
 our swarming millions than they now have under 
 it? Every lover of his country must shudder at
 
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 the thought of the possibility of its dissolution, 
 and will be ready to adopt the political sentiment : 
 Our Federal Union ; it must be preserved. 
 
 Nor will it become in a less degree my duty to 
 assert and maintain, by all consistent means, the 
 right of the United States to that part of our terri- 
 tory which lies beyond the Rocky Mountains. 
 Our title to the country of the Oregon is clear and 
 unquestionable, and already are our people pre- 
 paring to perfect that title, by occupying it with 
 their wives and children. But eighty years ago 
 our population was confined on the west by the 
 ridge of the Alleghanies. Within that period 
 within the lifetime, I may say, of some of my 
 hearers our people, increasing to many mil- 
 lions, have filled the eastern valley of the Missis- 
 sippi, adventurously ascended the Mississippi to 
 its head springs, and are already engaged in estab- 
 lishing the blessings of self-government in valleys 
 of which the rivers flow to the Pacific. The world 
 beholds the peaceful triumphs of the industry of 
 our emigrants. To us belongs the duty of pro- 
 tecting them adequately, wherever they may be 
 upon our soil. The jurisdiction of our laws, and 
 the benefits of our republican institutions, should 
 be extended over them in the distant regions 
 which they liave selected for their homes.
 
 JAMES K. POLK. 207 
 
 [From his first annual Message, December, 1845.] 
 
 It is well known to the American 
 
 people, and to all nations, that this government 
 has never interfered with the relations subsisting 
 between other governments. We have never 
 made ourselves parties to their wars or their alli- 
 ances ; we have not sought their territories by 
 conquest; we have not mingled with parties in 
 their domestic struggles ; and believing our own 
 form of government to be the best, we have never 
 attempted to propagate it by intrigues, by diplo- 
 macy, or by force. We may claim on this conti- 
 nent a like exemption from European interference. 
 The nations of America are equally sovereign and 
 independent with those of Europe. They possess 
 the same rights, independent of all foreign inter- 
 position, to make war, to conclude peace, and to 
 regulate their internal affairs. The people of the 
 United States cannot, therefore, view with indiffer- 
 ence attempts of European powers to interfere 
 with the independent action of the nations on this 
 continent. The American system of government 
 is entirely different from the European. Jealousy 
 among the different sovereigns of Europe lest any 
 one of them might become too powerful for the 
 rest has caused them anxiously to desire the estab- 
 lishment of what they term the "balance of power." 
 It cannot be permitted to have any application on
 
 208 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the North American Continent, and especially to 
 the United States. We must ever maintain the 
 principle, that the people of this continent alone 
 have the right to decide their own destin} 7 -. Should 
 any portion of them, constituting an independent 
 state, propose to unite themselves with our confed- 
 eracy, this will be a question for them and us to 
 determine, without any foreign interposition. 
 
 Nearly a quarter of a century ago the principle 
 was distinctly announced to the world in the an- 
 nual message of one of my predecessors, that " the 
 American continents, by the free and independent 
 condition which they have assumed and main- 
 tained, are henceforth not to be considered as 
 subjects for future colonization by any European 
 powers." This principle will apply with greatly 
 increased force should any European power at- 
 tempt any new colony in North America. 
 
 [From a Message, December, 1848.] 
 
 Any attempt to coerce the President to 
 
 yield his sanction to measures which he cannot ap- 
 prove would be a violation of the spirit of the con- 
 stitution, palpable and flagrant ; and if successful 
 would break down the independence of the execu- 
 tive department, and make the President, elected 
 by the people, and clothed by the constitution 
 with power to defend their rights, the mere in-
 
 JAMES K. POLK. 209 
 
 strument of a majority of Congress. A surrender 
 on his part of the powers with which the constitu- 
 tion has invested his office would effect a practical 
 alteration of that instrument, without resorting to 
 the prescribed form of amendment. 
 
 14
 
 210 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOE. 
 
 BORN, 1T84; DIED, 1850, AGED 66. CAPTAIN IN THE UNITED 
 STATES ARMY, 1810. COLONEL, 1832. IN THE BLACK HAWK 
 WAR, 1832. BRIGADIER-GENERAL, 1837. COMMANDER-IN- 
 CHIEF IN FLORIDA, 1838. IN THE MEXICAN WAR, 1846, 
 1847. PRESIDENT, 1849. 
 
 [From a Message to Congress, December 27, 1849.] 
 
 As indispensable to the preservation of 
 
 our system of self-government, the independence 
 of the representatives of the states and the people 
 is guaranteed by the constitution, and they owe no 
 responsibility to any human power but their con- 
 stituents. By holding the representative respon- 
 sible only to the people, and exempting him from 
 all other influences, we elevate the character of the 
 constituents, and quicken his sense of responsi- 
 bility to his country. It is under these circum- 
 stances only that the elector can feel that, in the 
 choice of a lawmaker, ho is himself truly a com- 
 ponent part of the sovereign power of the nation. 
 
 With equal care we should study to defend the 
 rights of the executive and judicial departments ; 
 our government can only be preserved in its purity 
 by the suppression and entire elimination of every
 
 ZACHARY TAYLOR." 211 
 
 
 
 claim or tendency of one co-ordinate branch to en- 
 croachment upon another. With the strict observ- 
 ance of this rule, and the other injunctions of the 
 constitution ; with a sedulous inculcation of the 
 respect and love of the union of the states, which 
 our fathers cherished and enjoined upon their chil- 
 dren ; and with the aid of the overruling Provi- 
 dence which has so long and so kindly guarded 
 our liberties and institutions, we may reasonably 
 expect to transmit them, with their innumerable 
 blessings, to the remotest posterity. 
 
 But attachment to the union of the states should 
 be habitually fostered in every American heart. 
 For more than half a century, during which king- 
 doms and empires have fallen, this Union has 
 stood unshaken. ... In my judgment, its disso- 
 lution would be the greatest of calamities, and to 
 avert that should be the study of every American. 
 Upon its preservation must depend our own happi- 
 ness and that of countless generations to come. 
 Whatever dangers may threaten it, I shall stand 
 by it and maintain it in its integrity to the full ex- 
 tent of the obligations and the power conferred 
 upon me by the constitution.
 
 212 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 MTLLARD FILLMOEE. 
 
 BOKN, 1800; DIED, 1874, AGED 74. BEGAN PRACTICE OF LAW 
 1823. ELECTED TO THE NEW YOKK LEGISLATURE, 1828. 
 TO CONGRESS, 1832. RE-ELECTED, 1836. AGAIN, 1838 AND 
 1840. CHAIRMAN OF COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. 
 NEW YORK STATE COMPTROLLER, 1847. VICE-PRESI- 
 DENT, 1849. PRESIDENT, JULY 10, 1850-1853. 
 
 No individuals have a right to hazard 
 
 the peace of the country, or to violate its laws, 
 upon vague notions of altering or reforming gov- 
 ernments in other states. . . . Friendly relations 
 with all, but entangling alliances with none, has 
 been a maxim with us. Our true mission is not 
 to propagate our opinions, or impose upon other 
 countries our form of government, by artifice or 
 force, but to teach by example, and show by our 
 success, moderation, and justice, the blessings of 
 self-government and the advantages of free institu- 
 tions. Let every people choose for itself, and 
 make and alter its political institutions to suit its 
 own condition and convenience. But while we 
 avow and maintain this neutral policy ourselves, we 
 are anxious to see the same forbearance on the 
 part of other nations, whose forms of government
 
 MILLARD FILLMORE. 213 
 
 are different from our own. The deep interest 
 which we feel in the spread of liberal principles 
 and the establishment of free governments, and 
 the sympathy with which we witness every strug- 
 gle against oppression, forbid that we should be 
 indifferent to a case in which the strong arm of a 
 foreign power is involved to stifle public senti- 
 ment and repress the spirit of freedom in any 
 country. 
 
 [From a Message, December, 1850.] 
 
 The great law of morality ought to 
 
 have a national as well as a personal and individual 
 application. We should act toward other nations 
 as we wish them to act toward us ; and justice and 
 conscience should form the rule of conduct be- 
 tween governments instead of mere power, self- 
 interest, and the desire of aggrandizement. To 
 maintain a strict neutrality in foreign wars, to cul- 
 tivate friendly relations, to reciprocate every 
 noble and generous act, and to perform punctually 
 and scrupulously every treaty obligation ; these 
 are the duties which we owe to other states, and 
 by the performance of which we best entitle our- 
 selves to like treatment from them ; or if, in any 
 case that be refused, we can enforce our own rights 
 with a just and clear conscience.
 
 214 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [From a Message, December, 1862.] 
 
 It has been the uniform policy of this 
 
 government, from its foundation to the present 
 day, to abstain from all interference in the domes- 
 tic affairs of other nations. The consequence has 
 been that while the nations of Europe have been 
 engaged in desolating wars, our country has pur- 
 sued its peaceful course to unexampled prosperity 
 and happiness. . . . During the terrible contest 
 of nation against nation which succeeded the 
 French revolution, we were enabled, by the wis- 
 dom and firmness of President Washington, to 
 maintain our neutrality. While the nations were 
 drawn into this wide-spreading Avhirlpool, we sat 
 quiet and unmoved upon our own shores. While 
 the flower of their numerous armies was wasted 
 by disease, or perished by hundreds of thousands 
 upon the battle-field, the youth of this favored land 
 were permitted to enjoy the blessings of peace be- 
 neath the paternal roof. While the states of 
 Europe incurred enormous debts, under the bur- 
 den of which their subjects still groan, and which 
 must absorb no small part of the produce of the 
 honest industries of those countries for generations 
 to come, the United States have once been enabled 
 to exhibit the proud spectacle of a nation free from 
 public debt ; and if permitted to pursue our pros- 
 perous way for a few years longer in peace, we 
 may do the same again.
 
 MILLAED FILLMOEE. 215 
 
 But it is now said that this policy must be 
 changed. Europe is no longer separated from us 
 by a voyage of months, but steam navigation has 
 brought her within a few days' sail of our shores. 
 We see more of her movements, and take a deep 
 interest in her controversies. Although no one 
 proposes that we should join the fraternity of po- 
 tentates who have for ages lavished the blood and 
 treasure of their subjects in maintaining " the bal- 
 ance of power," yet it is said that we ought to 
 interfere between contending governments and 
 their subjects, for the purpose of overthrowing the 
 monarchies of Europe, and establishing in their 
 place republican institutions. It is alleged that 
 we have hitherto pursued a different course from a 
 sense of our weakness, but that now our conscious 
 strength dictates a change of policy, and that it is 
 consequently our duty to mingle in these contro- 
 versies, and aid those who are struggling for 
 liberty. 
 
 This is a most seductive but dangerous appeal 
 to the generous sympathies of freemen. Enjoying, 
 as we do, the blessings of a free government, there 
 is no man who has an American heart that would 
 not rejoice to 'see these blessings extended to all 
 other nations. . . . Nevertheless, is it prudence, 
 or is it wisdom to involve ourselves in these foreign 
 wars? Is it indeed true that we have heretofore 
 refrained from doing so merely from the degrading
 
 216 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 motive of a conscious weakness? For the honor 
 of the patriots who have gone before, I cannot ad- 
 mit it. ... The truth is, that the course which 
 they pursued was dictated by a stern sense of inter- 
 national justice, by a statesman-like prudence, and 
 a far-seeing wisdom, looking not merely to the 
 present necessities, but to the permanent safety 
 and interest of the country. They knew that the 
 world is governed less by sympathy than by reason 
 and force ; that it was not possible for this nation 
 to become a "propagandist" of free principles with- 
 out arraying against itself the combined powers of 
 Europe ; and that the result was more likely to be 
 the overthrow of republican liberty here than its 
 establishment there.
 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE. 217 
 
 FKANKLIN PIEECE. 
 
 BORN, 1804; DIED, 1869, AGED 65. GKADUATED AT BOWDOIN 
 COLLEGE (ME.), 1824. ADMITTED TO THE BAR, 1827. 
 ELECTED TO THE NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE LEGISLATURE, 
 1829. SPEAKER, 1832. ELECTED TO CONGRESS, 1833. TO 
 THE UNITED STATES SENA.TE, 1837. GENERAL IN THE 
 MEXICAN WAR. PRESIDENT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL 
 STATE CONVENTION, 1850. PRESIDENT, 1853-1857. 
 
 [From a Message, December 6, 1854.] 
 
 OUR forefathers of the thirteen United 
 
 Colonies, in acquiring their independence, and in 
 founding this republic of the United States of 
 America, have devolved upon us their descendants 
 the greatest and most noble trust ever committed 
 to the hands of men, imposing upon all, and 
 especially such as the public will may have in- 
 vested, for the time being, with political functions, 
 the most solemn obligations. We have to main- 
 tain inviolate the great doctrine of the inherent 
 right of popular self-government; to reconcile 
 the largest liberty of the individual citizen with 
 complete security of the public order ; to render 
 cheerful obedience to the laws of the land, to unite 
 in enforcing their execution, and to frown indig- 
 nantly on all combinations to resist them; to har- 
 monize a sincere and ardent devotion to the insti- 
 tutions of religious faith with the most universal
 
 218 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 religious toleration ; to preserve the rights of all 
 by causing each to respect those of the other ; to 
 carry forward every social improvement to the 
 utmost limit of human perfectibility by the free 
 action of mind upon mind, not by obtrusive inter- 
 vention of misplaced force ; to uphold the integrity 
 and guard the limitations of our organic law ; to 
 preserve sacred from all touch of usurpation, as 
 the very palladium of our political salvation, the 
 reserved rights and powers of the several States 
 and of the people ; to cherish, with loyal fealty 
 and devoted affection, this Union, as the only sure 
 foundation on which the hopes of civil liberty 
 rest ; to administer government with vigor, in- 
 tegrity, and rigid economy ; to cultivate peace and 
 friendship with foreign nations, and to demand and 
 exact equal justice ^rom all, but to do wrong to 
 none ; to eschew intermeddling with the national 
 policy and the domestic repose of other govern- 
 ments, and to repel it from our own ; never to 
 shrink from war when the rights and the honor of 
 our country call us to arms, but to cultivate in 
 preference the arts of peace, seek enlargement of 
 the rights of neutrality, and elevate and liberalize 
 the intercourse of nations ; and by such just and 
 honorable means, and such only, while exalting the 
 condition of the republic, to assure to it the legiti- 
 mate influence and the benign authority of a great 
 example amongst all the powers of Christendom.
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN. 219 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 BORN, 1791; DIED, 1868, AGED 77. GRADUATED AT DICKIN- 
 SON COLLEGE (PENN.), 1809. ADMITTED TO THE BAR, 
 1812. ELECTED TO PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE, 1814. 
 TO CONGRESS, 1821. MINISTER TO RUSSIA, 1831. UNITED 
 STATES SENATOR, 1833. SECRETARY OF STATE, 1845-1849. 
 MINISTER TO ENGLAND, 1853. PRESIDENT, 1857-1861. 
 
 [From his Message to Congress, December, I860.] 
 
 In order to justify secession as a consti- 
 tutional remedy, it must be on the principle that 
 the Federal Government is a mere voluntary asso- 
 ciation of States, to be dissolved at pleasure by 
 any one of the contracting parties. If this be so, 
 the confederacy is a rope of sand, to be penetrated 
 and dissolved by the first adverse wave of public 
 opinion in any of the States. In this manner our 
 thirty-three States may resolve themselves into as 
 many petty, jarring, and hostile republics, each 
 one retiring from the Union, without responsibility, 
 whenever any sudden excitement might impel them 
 to such a course. By this process, a union might 
 be entirely broken into fragments in a few weeks, 
 which cost our forefathers many years of toil, pri- 
 vation, and blood to establish. 
 
 Such a principle is wholly inconsistent with the
 
 220 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 history as well as the character of the Federal Con- 
 stitution. After it was framed with the greatest 
 deliberation and care, it was submitted to conven- 
 tions of the people of the several States for ratifi- 
 cation. Its provisions were discussed at length in 
 these bodies, composed of the first men of the 
 country. Its opponents contended that it con- 
 ferred powers upon the Federal Government dan- 
 gerous to the rights of the States ; while its advo- 
 cates maintained that, under a fair construction of 
 the instrument, there was no foundation for such 
 apprehension. In that mighty struggle between 
 the first intellects of this or any other country, it 
 never occurred to any individual, either among its 
 opponents or advocates, to assert, or even to inti- 
 mate, that their efforts were all vain labor, because 
 the moment that any State felt herself agrieved she 
 might secede from the Union. What a crushing 
 argument Avould this have proved against those 
 who dreaded that the rights of the States would 
 be endangered by the Constitution ! The truth is, 
 that it was not till many years after the origin of 
 the Federal Government that such a proposition 
 was first advanced. It was then met and refuted 
 by the conclusive arguments of General Jackson, 
 who, in his Message of the 16th of January, 1833, 
 transmitting the nullifying ordinance of South 
 Carolina to Congress, employs the following lan- 
 guage : " The right of the people of a single State
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN. 221 
 
 to absolve themselves at will, and without the con- 
 sent of the other States, from their most solemn 
 obligations, and hazard the liberty and happiness 
 of the millions composing this Union, cannot be 
 acknowledged. Such authority is believed to be 
 entirely repugnant both to the principle upon 
 which the General Government is constituted, and 
 to the objects which it was expressly formed to 
 attain." 
 
 " This government, therefore, is a great 
 
 and powerful government, invested with all the 
 attributes of sovereignty over the special subjects 
 to which its authority extends. Its framers never 
 intended to implant in its bosom the seeds of its 
 own destruction, nor were they at its creation 
 guilty of the absurdity of providing for its own 
 dissolution. It was not intended by its framers to 
 be the baseless fabric of a vision, which, at the 
 touch of the enchanter, would vanish into thin air ; 
 but a substantial and mighty fabric, capable of re- 
 sisting the slow decay of time, and of defying the 
 storms of ages." 
 
 [Proclamation for a National Fast, on January 4, 1861.] 
 
 The Union of the States is at the present 
 
 moment threatened with alarming and immediate 
 danger panic and distress of a fearful character 
 prevail throughout the land our laboring popu- 
 lation are without employment, and consequently
 
 222 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 deprived of the means of earning their bread in- 
 deed, hope seems to have deserted the minds of 
 men. All classes are in a state of confusion and 
 dismay ; and the wisest counsels of our best and 
 purest men are wholly disregarded.
 
 ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 223 
 
 ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 BORN, 1809; DIED, 1865, AGED 56. CAPTAIN IN THE BLACK 
 HAWK WAR. ELECTED TO THE ILLINOIS STATE LEG- 
 ISLATURE, 1834. AGAIN, 1836. ADMITTED TO THE BAR, 
 1837. ELECTED TO CONGRESS, 1846. MEMBER OF THE 
 COMMITTEE ON POST-OFFICES AND POST-ROADS AND 
 WAR-DEPARTMENT EXPENSES. MADE HIS FIRST SPEECH 
 IN CONGRESS, JAN. 12, 1818, IN OPPOSITION TO THE MEX- 
 ICAN WAR. SPEECH IN COOPER'S INSTITUTE, NEW YORK 
 CITY, I860. PRESIDENT, 1860-1865. 
 
 [" HE is the author of a multitude of good say- 
 ings, so disguised as pleasantries that it is certain 
 they had no reputation at first but as jests ; and 
 only later by the very acceptance and adoption 
 they find in the mouths of millions, turn out to be 
 the wisdom of the hour. I am sure if this man 
 had ruled in a period of less facility of printing, 
 he would have become mythological in a very few 
 years, like ^JEsop or Pilpay, or one of the Seven 
 Wise Masters, by his fables and proverbs. 
 
 " But the weight and penetration of many pas- 
 sages in his letters, messages, and speeches, hidden 
 now by the very closeness of their application to 
 the moment, are destined hereafter to a wide fame. 
 What pregnant definitions ! what unerring com-
 
 224 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 mon-sense ! what foresight ! and, on great occa- 
 sions, what lofty, and, more than national, what 
 humane tone." Ralph Waldo Emerson. 
 
 How his quaint wit made home-truth 
 
 seem more true. London Punch.'] 
 
 [From a Lecture before the Springfield Lyceum, on the 
 Perpetuation of our Free Institutions, January, 1837.] 
 
 At what point, then, is the approach of 
 
 danger to be expected ? I answer, if it ever reach 
 us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come 
 from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must 
 ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation 
 of freemen, we must live through all time, or die 
 by suicide. 
 
 [Letter to Mr. Herndon.]* 
 
 WASHINGTON, February 1, 1848. 
 
 That vote affirms that the [Mexican] 
 
 war was unnecessarily and unconstitutionally com- 
 menced by the President; and I will stake my 
 life, that, if you had been in my place, you* would 
 have voted just as I did. Would you have voted 
 what you felt and knew to be a lie ? I know you 
 would not. Would you have gone out of the 
 House, skulked the vote? I expect not. If 
 you had skulked one vote, you would have to 
 
 * Mr. Lincoln voted for Mr. Ashmun's amendment.
 
 ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 225 
 
 skulk many more before the end of the session. 
 Richardson's resolutions, introduced before I made 
 any move, or gave any vote upon the subject, 
 make the direct question of the justice of the war ; 
 so that 00 man can be silent if he would. You 
 are compelled to speak ; and your only alternative 
 is to tell the truth or tell a lie. 
 
 [To the Same.] 
 
 WASHINGTON, July 10, 1848. 
 
 The way for a young man to rise is to 
 
 improve himself every way he can, never sus- 
 pecting that anybody wishes to hinder him. Allow 
 me to assure you that suspicion and jealousy never 
 did help any man in any situation. There may 
 sometimes be ungenerous attempts to keep a young 
 man down ; and they will succeed, too, if he allows 
 his mind to be diverted from its true channel, to 
 brood over the attempted injury. Cast about, and 
 see if this feeling has not injured every person you 
 have ever known to fall into it. 
 
 [From a Speech in Congress, July 27, 1848.] 
 
 The other day one of the gentlemen from 
 
 Georgia, an eloquent man, and a man of learning, 
 so fur as I could judge, not being learned myself, 
 came down upon us astonishingly. He spoke in 
 what the Baltimore American calls the M scathing 
 and withering style." At the end of his second 
 
 15
 
 226 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 severe flash I was struck blind, and found myself 
 feeling with my fingers for an assurance of my 
 continued physical existence. A little of the bone 
 was left, and I gradually revived. 
 
 I say that no man is good enough to govern 
 another man without that other's consent. Oct. 
 1854. 
 
 [From a Speech in. 1856.] 
 
 Twenty-two years ago, Judge Douglas and I 
 became first acquainted; we were both young 
 men he a trifle younger than I. Even then we 
 were both ambitious, I perhaps quite as much as 
 he. With me the race of ambition has been a 
 failure a flat failure. With him it has been one 
 of splendid success. His name fills the nation, 
 and it is not unknown in foreign lands. I affect 
 no contempt for the high eminence he has reached, 
 so reached that the oppressed of my species might 
 have shared with me in the elevation. I would 
 rather stand on that eminence than wear the richest 
 crown that ever pressed a monarch's brow. 
 
 [From a Speech delivered in 1857. Describing the helpless 
 state of the American slave, he said] : 
 
 They have him in his prison-house. They have 
 searched his person and left no prying instrument 
 with him. One after another they have closed the 
 heavy iron doors upon him, and now they have
 
 ABE AH AM LINCOLN. 227 
 
 him, as it were, bolted in with a lock of a hundred 
 keys, which can never be unlocked without the 
 concurrence of every key ; the keys in the hands 
 of a hundred different men, and they scattered to 
 a hundred different and distant places ; and they 
 stand musing as to what invention, in all the 
 dominions of mind and matter, can be produced 
 to make the impossibility of his escape more com- 
 plete than it is. 
 
 [From a Speech,* delivered at Springfield, Illinois, June 17, 
 1858, before the Republican State Convention.] 
 
 If we could first know where we are, and whith- 
 er we are tending, we could better judge what to 
 do, and how to do it. We are now far into the 
 fifth year since a policy was initiated with the 
 avowed object and confident promise of putting an 
 end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of 
 that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, 
 
 * Mr. Lincoln read this speech, before its public delivery, 
 to Mr. Herndon. When he had finished the first paragraph, 
 he asked his auditor, " How do you like that? What do you 
 think of it?" "I think," returned Mr. Herndon, "it is 
 true ; but is it entirely politic to read or speak it as it is 
 written?" "What makes the difference?" Mr. Lincoln 
 said. " That expression is a ti'uth of all human experience, 
 'A house divided against itself cannot stand;' and 'he that 
 runs may read.' The proposition is indisputably true, and 
 
 has been true for more than six thousand years ; and 
 
 I will deliver it as written. I want to use some universally 
 known figure, expressed in simple language as universally
 
 228 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it 
 will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached 
 and passed. " A house divided against itself can- 
 not stand." I believe this government cannot en- 
 dure permanently half slave and half free. I do 
 not expect the Union to be dissolved. I do not 
 expect the house to fall ; but I do expect it will 
 cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, 
 or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery 
 will arrest the further spread of it, and place it 
 where the public mind shall rest in the belief that 
 it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its ad- 
 vocates will push it forward till it shall become 
 alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, 
 north as well as south. 
 
 [In the same speech, Mr. Lincoln said that the 
 doctrine of " Squatter Sovereignty," otherwise 
 
 known, that may strike home to the minds of men, in order 
 to rouse them to the peril of the times. I would rather be 
 defeated with this expression in the speech, and it held up 
 and discussed before the people, than to be victorious with- 
 out it." 
 
 Mr. Lincoln was not elected senator. In the summer of 
 1859, at a party of friends, the subject of this speech was 
 discussed. "We all insisted," says Mr. Swctt, who was one 
 of the company, "that it was a great mistake," losing him 
 his election. " Well, gentlemen," replied Mr. Lincoln, 
 "you may think that speech was a mistake; but I never 
 have believed it was, and you will see the day when you 
 will consider it was the nicest thing I ever said." See LA- 
 MON'S Life of Lincoln.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 229 
 
 called " sacred right of self-government," as ex- 
 pressed in the " Nebraska Bill," by which the right 
 of a slaveholder to hold slaves in any territory or 
 state, was affirmed, amounted to this :] " That 
 if any one man chose to enslave another, no third 
 man shall be allowed to object." 
 
 [From a Speech in reply to Mr. Douglas, July 10, 1858.] 
 
 We are now a mighty nation ; we are thirty, or 
 about thirty millions of people, and we own and 
 inhabit about one-fifteenth part of the dry land of 
 the whole earth. We run our memory back over 
 the pages of history for about eighty-two years, 
 and we discover that we were then a very small 
 people in point of numbers, vastly inferior to what 
 we are now, with a vastly less extent of country, 
 with vastly less of everything we deem desirable 
 among men, we look upon the change as extreme- 
 ly advantageous to us, and to our posterity, and 
 we fix upon something that happened away back, 
 as in some way or other being connected with this 
 rise of prosperity. We find a race of men living in 
 that day whom we claim as our fathers and grand- 
 fathers ; they were iron men ; they fought for the 
 principle that they were contending for ; and we 
 understood that by what they then did it has fol- 
 lowed that the degree of prosperity which we now 
 enjoy has come to us. We hold this annual cel- 
 ebration to remind ourselves of all the good done
 
 230 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 in this process of time, of how it was done, and 
 who did it, and how we are historically connected 
 with it ; and we go from these meetings in better 
 humor with ourselves $ we feel more attached the 
 one to the other, and more firmly bound to the 
 country we inhabit. In every way we are better 
 men in the age, and race, and country in which 
 we live, for these celebrations. 
 
 But after we have clone all this we have not yet 
 reached the whole. . . . We have besides these 
 descended by blood from our ancestors, men 
 among us, perhaps half our people, who are not 
 descendants at all of these men ; they are men 
 who have come from Europe, German, Irish, 
 French, and Scandinavian, men that have come 
 from Europe themselves, or whose ancestors have 
 come hither and settled here, finding themselves 
 our equals in all things. If they look back 
 through their history to trace their connection 
 with those days by blood, they find they have 
 none ; they cannot carry themselves back into 
 that glorious epoch, and make themselves feel 
 that they are part of us; but when they look 
 through that old Declaration of Independence 
 they find that those old men say that " We. 
 hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men 
 are created equal,'* etc.., and then they feel that 
 that moral sentiment taught in that day evidences 
 their relation to, tfrpse men, that it is the father of
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 231 
 
 all moral principle in them, and that they have a 
 right to claim it as though they were blood of the 
 blood and flesh of the flesh of the men who wrote 
 that declaration ; and so they are. That is the 
 electric cord in that declaration that links the 
 hearts of patriotic and liberty-loving men to- 
 gether, that will link those patriotic hearts as long 
 as the love of freedom exists in the minds of men 
 
 throughout the world 
 
 Those arguments that are made, that the inferior 
 race are to be treated with as much allowance as 
 they are capable of enjoying ; that as much is to 
 be done for them as their condition will allow. 
 What are these arguments? They are the argu- 
 ments that kings have made for enslaving the peo- 
 ple in all ages of the world. You will find that 
 all the arguments in favor of king-craft were of 
 this class ; they always bestrode the necks of the 
 people, not that they wanted to do it, but because 
 the people were better off for being ridden. That 
 is their argument, and this argument of the judge 
 is the same old serpent that says, You work, and I 
 eat; you toil, and I will enjoy the fruits of it. 
 Turn it whatever way you will, whether it come 
 from the mouth of a king, an excuse for enslaving 
 the people of his country, or from the mouth of 
 men of one race as a reason for enslaving the men 
 of another race, it is all the same old serpent, and 
 I hold if that course of argumentation that is made
 
 232 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 for the purpose of convincing the public mind that 
 we should not care about this, should be granted, 
 it does not stop with the negro. I should like to 
 know, taking this old Declaration of Independence, 
 which declares that all men are equal upon princi- 
 ple, and making exceptions to it, where will it 
 stop? If one man says it does not mean the 
 negro, why not another say it does not mean some 
 other man ? If that declaration is not the truth, 
 let us get the statute book in which we find it and 
 tear it out ! Who is so bold as to do it ! If it is 
 not true, let us tear it out ! [Cries of " No, no ! "] 
 Let us stick to it, then ; let us stand firmly by it, 
 then. 
 
 [From a letter to Mr. Speed, August 24, 1858.] 
 
 Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be 
 pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declar- 
 ing that " all men are created equal." We now 
 practically read it, " All men are created equal, 
 except negroes." When the Know-nothings get 
 control it will read, " All men are created equal, 
 except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics." 
 When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating 
 to some country where they make no pretence of 
 loving liberty ; to Russia, for instance, where des- 
 potism can be taken pure, and without the base 
 alloy of hypocrisy.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 233 
 
 [From a speech delivered October, 1858.] 
 
 The judge has alluded to the Declaration of In- 
 dependence, and insisted that negroes are not in- 
 cluded in that declaration ; and that it is a slander 
 upon the framers of that instrument to suppose 
 that negroes were meant therein ; and he asks you, 
 Is it possible to believe that Mr. Jefferson, who 
 penned the immortal paper, could have supposed 
 himself applying the language of that instrument 
 to the negro race, and yet held a portion of that 
 race in slavery ? Would he not at once have freed 
 them? I only have to remark, . . . that I believe 
 the entire records of the world, from the date of 
 the Declaration of Independence up to within three 
 years ago, may be searched in vain for one single 
 affirmation, from one single man, that the negro 
 was not included in the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence ; . . . that Washington ever said so, that 
 any President ever said so, that any member of 
 Congress ever said so, or that any living man upon 
 the whole earth ever said so, until the necessities 
 of the present policy of the Democratic party, in 
 regard to slavery, had to invent that affirmation. 
 And I will remind Judge Douglas and this audi- 
 ence, that while Mr. Jefferson was the owner of 
 slaves, in speaking upon this very subject, he used 
 the strong language, that "he trembled for his 
 country when he remembered that God was just."
 
 234 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 . . . Ho supposed there was a question of God's 
 eternal justice wrapped up in the enslaving of any 
 race of men, or any man, and that those who did 
 so braved the arm of Jehovah ; that when a nation 
 thus dared the Almighty, every friend of that na- 
 tion had cause to dread His wrath. 
 
 [From a Speech delivered in 1858.] 
 
 Judge Douglas declares that, if any community 
 want slavery, they have a right to have it. He can 
 say that logically, if he says that there is no wrong 
 in slavery ; but if you admit that there is a wrong in 
 it, he cannot logically say that anybody has a right 
 to do wrong. He insists that, upon the score of 
 equality, the owners of slaves and owners of prop- 
 erty, of horse, and every other sort of property, 
 
 should be alike, and hold them alike, in a new 
 territory. That is perfectly logical if the species 
 of property arc alike, and are equally founded in 
 right. But if you admit that one of them is wrong, 
 you cannot institute any equality between right 
 and wrong. And from this difference of sentiment, 
 
 the belief on the part of one that the institu- 
 tion is wrong, and a policy springing from that 
 belief which looks to the arrest of the enlargement 
 of that wrong ; and this other sentiment, that it is 
 no wrong, and a policy sprung from that sentiment 
 which will tolerate no idea of preventing that 
 wrong from growing larger, and looks to there
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 235 
 
 never being an end of it through all the existence 
 of things, arises the real difference between 
 Judge Douglas and his friends on the one hand, 
 and the Republicans on the other. Now I confess 
 myself as belonging to that class in the country 
 who contemplate slavery as a moral, social, and 
 political evil, having due regard for its actual ex- 
 istence amongst us, and the difficulties of getting 
 rid of it in any satisfactory way, and to all the 
 constitutional obligations w r hich have been thrown 
 about it; but, nevertheless, desire a policy that 
 looks to the prevention of it as a wrong, and looks 
 hopefully to the time when, as a wrong, it may 
 come to an end. 
 
 [From a Speech at Alton, Illinois. To the question, "Is 
 slavery wrong? " Mr. Lincoln said] : 
 
 That is the real issue. That is the issue that 
 will continue in this country when these poor 
 tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be 
 silent. It is the eternal struggle between these 
 two principles right and wrong throughout 
 the world. They are two principles that have 
 stood face to face from the beginning of time, and 
 will ever continue to struggle. The one is the 
 common right of humanity, and the other the di- 
 vine right of kings.
 
 236 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [From a Speech at Springfield, Illinois.] 
 
 Judge Douglas is going back to the era of the 
 Revolution, and, to the extent of his ability, muz- 
 zling the cannon which thunders its * annual joy- 
 ous return. When he invites any people willing 
 to have slavery to establish it, he is blowing out 
 the moral lights around us. When he says he 
 " cares not whether slavery is voted down or voted 
 up," that it is a sacred right of self-government, 
 he is, in my judgment, penetrating the human 
 soul, and eradicating the light of reason and the 
 love of liberty in this American people. 
 
 [From a Speech in New York, at the Cooper Institute, Feb- 
 ruary 27, I860,] 
 
 Wrong as we think slavery is, we can 
 
 yet afford to let it alone where it is, because that 
 much is due to the necessity arising from its actual 
 presence in the nation; but can we, while our 
 votes will prevent it, allow it to spread into the 
 national Territories, and to overrun here in these 
 Free States? 
 
 If our sense of duty forbids this, then let us 
 stand by our duty fearlessly and effectively. Let 
 us be diverted by none of these sophistical con- 
 trivances wherewith we are so industriously plied 
 
 * The celebration of Independence, on the 4th of July.
 
 ABEAHAM LINCOLN. 237 
 
 and belabored contrivances such as groping for 
 some middle ground between the right and the 
 wrong, A^ain as the search for a man who should be 
 neither a living man nor a dead man such a 
 policy of " don't care " on a question about which 
 all true men do care, such as Union appeals be- 
 seeching true Union men to yield to Disunionists, 
 reversing the divine rule, and calling, not the sin- 
 ners, but the righteous, to repentance such as 
 invocations to Washington, imploring men to un- 
 say what Washington said, and undo what Wash- 
 ington did. 
 
 Neither let us be slandered from our duty by 
 false accusations against us, nor frightened from it 
 by menaces of destruction to the government, nor 
 of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that 
 right makes might ; and in that faith, let us, to 
 the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it. 
 
 [Farewell Speech to his neighbors, from the platform of the 
 car, as he was leaving Springfield for Washington, Feb- 
 ruary 11, 1861.] 
 
 Friends, No one who has never been placed 
 in a like position can understand my feelings at 
 this hour, nor the oppressive sadness I feel at this 
 parting. For more than a quarter of a century I 
 have lived among you, and during that time I have 
 received nothing but kindness at your hands. Here 
 I have lived from my youth, until now I am an old
 
 238 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 man. Here the most sacred ties of earth were 
 assumed. Here all my children were born ; and 
 here one of them lies buried. To you, dear 
 friends, I owe all that I have, all that I am. All 
 the strange, checkered past seems to crowd now 
 upon my mind. To-day I leave you. I go to as- 
 sume a task more difficult than that which devolved 
 upon Washington. Unless the great God, who 
 assisted him, shall be with and aid me, I must fail ; 
 but if the same omniscient mind and almighty arm 
 that directed and protected him, shall guide and 
 support me, I shall not fail, I shall succeed. 
 Let us all pray that the God of our fathers may 
 not forsake us now. To Him I commend you 
 all. Permit me to ask that, with equal sin- 
 cerity and faith, you will invoke His wisdom 
 and guidance for me. With these few words I 
 must leave you ; for how long I know not. Friends, 
 one and all, I must now bid you an affectionate 
 farewell. 
 
 [Tn an Address to the Legislatui'e of New Jersey, on his 
 way to Washington, February, 1861, Mr. Lincoln said] : 
 
 I shall endeavor to take the ground I deem most 
 just to the North, the East, the West, the South, 
 and the whole country. I take it, I hope, in good 
 temper, certainly with no malice toward any sec- 
 tion. I shall do all that may be in my power to 
 promote a peaceful settlement of all our difficulties.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 239 
 
 The man does not live who is more devoted to 
 peace than I am none who would do more to 
 preserve it. But it may be necessary to put the 
 foot down firmly. And if I do my duty, and do 
 right, you will sustain me, will you not? Received 
 as I am by the members of a Legislature, the ma- 
 jority of whom do not agree with me in political 
 sentiments, I trust that I may have their assistance 
 in piloting the ship of State through this voyage, 
 surrounded by perils as it is ; for if it should suf- 
 fer shipwreck now, there will be no pilot ever 
 needed for another voyage. 
 
 [At Philadelphia, in " Independence Hall," from which was 
 issued the Declaration of Independence, in 1776, Mr. 
 Lincoln said] : 
 
 I am filled with deep emotion at finding myself 
 standing here, in this place, where were collected 
 the wisdom, the patriotism, the devotion to prin- 
 ciple, from which sprang the institutions under 
 which we live. You have kindly suggested to me 
 that in my hands is the task of restoring peace to 
 the present distracted condition of the country. I 
 can say in return, sir, that all the political senti- 
 ments I entertain have been drawn, so far as I 
 have been able to draw them, from the sentiments 
 which originated and were given to the woild from 
 this hall. I have never had a feeling politically 
 that did not spring from the sentiments embodied
 
 240 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 in the Declaration of Independence. I have often 
 pondered over the dangers which were incurred 
 by the men who assembled here, and framed 
 and adopted the Declaration of Independence. 
 I have pondered over the toils that were en- 
 dured by the officers and soldiers of the army 
 who achieved that independence. I have often 
 inquired of myself what great principle or idea it 
 was that kept this confederacy so long together. 
 It was not the mere matter of the separation of the 
 colonies from the mother-land, but that sentiment 
 in the Declaration of Independence which gave 
 liberty, not alone to the people of this country, 
 but, I hope, to the world for all future time. It 
 was that which gave promise that in due time the 
 weight would be lifted from the shoulders of all 
 men. This is a sentiment embodied in the Decla- 
 ration of Independence. Now, my friends, can 
 this country be saved upon this basis ? If it can, 
 I will consider myself one of the happiest men 
 in the world if I can help to save it. If it cannot 
 be saved upon that principle, it will be truly awful. 
 But if this country cannot be saved without giving 
 up that principle, I was about to say, I would 
 rather be assassinated on this spot than surrender 
 it. Now, in my view of the present aspect of af- 
 fairs, there need be no bloodshed or war. There 
 is no necessity for it. I am not in favor of such a 
 course, and I may say, in advance, that there will
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 241 
 
 be no bloodshed unless it be forced upon the Gov- 
 ernment, and then it will be compelled to act in 
 self-defence. 
 
 My friends, this is wholly an unexpected speech. 
 ... I may, therefore, have said something in- 
 discreet. I have said nothing but what I am will- 
 ing to live by, and, if it be the pleasure of Al- 
 mighty God, to die by. 
 
 [From his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1861.] 
 
 Why should there not be a patient 
 
 confidence in the ultimate justice of the people? 
 Is there any better or equal hope in the world ? 
 In our present differences, is either party without 
 faith of being in the right ? If the Almighty Ruler 
 of nations, with his eternal truth and justice, be 
 on your side of the North, or on yours of the 
 South, that truth and that justice will surely pre- 
 vail, by the judgment of the great tribunal of the 
 
 American people 
 
 You can have no conflict without being your- 
 selves the aggressors. You have no oath regis- 
 tered in heaven to destroy the government, while 
 I shall have the most solemn one to " preserve, 
 protect, and defend " it. 
 
 I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but 
 friends. We must not be enemies. Though pas- 
 sion may have strained, it must not break our 
 bonds of affection. The mystic chord of memory, 
 
 16
 
 242 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 stretching from every battle-field and patriot 
 grave to every living heart and hearthstone all 
 over this broad land, will yet swell the ciiorus of 
 the Union, when again touched, as surely it will 
 be, by the better angels of our nature. 
 
 [From a Message to Congress, July 4, 1861:] 
 
 It might seem, at first thought, to be of 
 
 little difference whether the present movement at 
 the South be called " secession," or " rebellion." 
 The movers, however, will understand the differ- 
 ence. At the beginning they knew they could 
 never raise their treason to any respectable mag- 
 nitude by any name which implies violation of law. 
 They knew their people possessed as much of 
 moral sense, as much of devotion to law and order, 
 and as much pride in, and reverence for, the his- 
 tory and government of their common country, as 
 any other civilized and patriotic people. They 
 knew they could make no advancement directly in 
 the teeth of these strong and noble sentiments. 
 Accordingly they commenced by an insidious de- 
 bauching of the public mind. They invented an 
 ingenious sophism, which, if conceded, was fol- 
 lowed by perfectly logical steps, through all the 
 incidents, to the complete destruction of the 
 Union. The sophism itself is, that any State of 
 the Union may, consistently with the National 
 Constitution, and therefore lawfully and peace-
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 243 
 
 fully, withdraw from the Union without the con- 
 sent of the Union, or of any other State. The 
 little disguise that the supposed right is to be ex- 
 ercised only for just cause, themselves to be the 
 sole judge of its justice, is too thin to want any 
 notice. 
 
 With rebellion thus sugar-coated, they have 
 been drugging the public mind of their section for 
 more than thirty years, and until at length they 
 have brought many good men to a willingness to 
 take up arms against the government the day after 
 some assemblage of men have enacted that farcical 
 pretense of taking their State out of the Union, 
 who could 1 
 day before. 
 
 who could have been brought to no such thing the 
 
 [Speaking of what was called the right of peaceful secession, 
 that is, secession in accordance with the National Con- 
 stitution, he said] : 
 
 This sophism derives much, perhaps the whole, 
 of .its currency from the assumption that there is 
 some omnipotent and sacred supremacy pertaining 
 to a State to each State of our Federal Union. 
 Our States have neither more nor less power than 
 that reserved to them in the Union by the Consti- 
 tution, no one of them ever having been a State 
 out of the Union. The original ones passed into 
 the Union even before they cast off their British 
 colonial dependence, and the new ones each came
 
 244 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 into the Union directly from a condition of depend- 
 ence, excepting Texas. And even Texas, in its 
 temporary independence, was never designated a 
 State. The new ones only took the designation 
 of States on coming into the Union, while that 
 name was first adopted for the old ones in and by 
 the Declaration of Independence. Therein the 
 " United Colonies " were declared to be " free and 
 independent States ; " but, even then, the object 
 plainly was not to declare their independence of 
 one another, or of the Union, but directly the con- 
 trary, as their mutual pledge, and their mutual 
 action, before, at the time, and afterward, abun- 
 dantly show. The express plighting of faith by 
 each and all of the original thirteen, in the arti- 
 cles of Confederation, two years later, that the 
 Union shall be perpetual, is most conclusive. 
 Having never been States, either in substance or 
 in name, outside of the Union, whence this magi- 
 cal omnipotence of " State rights," asserting a claim 
 of power to lawfully destroy the Union itself? 
 Much is said about the " sovereignty " of the 
 States ; but the word even is not in the National 
 Constitution, nor, as is believed, in any of the 
 State Constitutions. What is a " sovereignty " in 
 the political sense of the term? Would it be far 
 wrong to define it a " political community, with- 
 out a political superior? " Tested by this, no one 
 of our States, except Texas, ever was a sover-
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 245 
 
 eignty ; and even Texas gave up the character on 
 coming into the Union ; by which act she acknowl- 
 edged the Constitution of the United States, and 
 the laws and treaties of the United States made in 
 pursuance of the Constitution, to be, for her, the 
 supreme laws of the land. The States have their 
 status IN the Union, and they have no other legal 
 status. If they break from this, they can only do 
 so against law, and by revolution. The Union, 
 and not themselves separately, procured their 
 independence and their liberty. By conquest, or 
 purchase, the Union gave each of them whatever 
 of independence and liberty it has. The Union is 
 older than any of the States ; and, in fact, it 
 created them as States. Originally, some de- 
 pendent colonies made the Union, and, in turn, 
 the Union threw off their old dependence for them, 
 and made them States, such as they are. Not 
 one of them ever had a State constitution indepen- 
 dent of the Union. Of course, it is not forgotten 
 that all the new States framed their constitutions 
 before they entered the Union; nevertheless de- 
 pendent upon, and preparatory to, coming into the 
 Union. 
 
 This relative matter of National power and State 
 rights, as a principle, is no other than the princi- 
 ple of generality, and locality. Whatever con- 
 cerns the whole should be confided to the whole
 
 246 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 to the general government; while whatever con- 
 cerns only the State should be left exclusively to 
 the State. This is all there is of original principle 
 about it. 
 
 Our adversaries have adopted some declarations 
 of independence, in which, unlike the good old 
 one penned by Jefferson, they omit the words, 
 " All men. are created equal." Why? They have 
 adopted a temporary national constitution, in the 
 preamble of which, unlike our good old one signed 
 by Washington, they omit " We, the people," and 
 substitute " We, the deputies of the sovereign and 
 independent States." Why? Why this deliber- 
 ate pressing out of view the rights of men and the 
 authority of the people? This is essentially a 
 people's contest. On the side of the Union, it is 
 a struggle for maintaining in the world that form 
 and substance of government whose leading object 
 is to elevate the condition of men ; to lift artificial 
 weights from all shoulders ; to clear the paths of 
 laudable pursuit to all ; to afford all an unfettered 
 start, and a fair chance in the race of life. Yield- 
 ing to partial and temporary departures, from ne- 
 cessity, this is the leading object of the govern- 
 ment, for whose existence we contend. I am most 
 happy to believe that the plain people understand 
 and appreciate this.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 247 
 
 [Reply to a Letter of Horace Creel ey, entitled, "The Prayer 
 of Twenty Millions," to President Lincoln.] 
 
 August 22, 1862. 
 
 I have just read yours of the nineteenth, ad- 
 dressed to myself through the New York Tribune. 
 If there be in it any statement, or assumptions of 
 fact, which I may know to be erroneous, I do not 
 now and here controvert them. If there be in it 
 any inference, which I may believe to be falsely 
 drawn, I do not now and here argue against them. 
 If there be perceptible in it an impatient and dic- 
 tatorial tone, I waive it in deference to an old 
 friend, whose heart I have always supposed to be 
 right. 
 
 As to the policy I " seem to be pursuing," as 
 you say, I have not meant to leave any one in 
 doubt. 
 
 I would save the Union. I would save it the 
 shortest way under the Constitution. The sooner 
 the National authority can be restored, the nearer 
 the Union will be " the Union as it was." If there 
 be those who would not save the Union unless they 
 could at the same time save Slavery, I do not 
 agree with them. If there be those who would 
 not save the Union unless they could at the same 
 time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. 
 My paramount object in this struggle is to save 
 the Union, and is not either to save or destroy 
 slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing
 
 248 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 any slave, I would do it ; and if I could save it by 
 freeing all the slaves, I would do it ; and if I could 
 do it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I 
 would also do that. What I do about slavery and 
 the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to 
 save this Union ; and what I forbear, I forbear 
 because I do not believe it would help to save the 
 Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe 
 what I ani doing hurts the cause, and I shall do 
 more whenever I shall believe doing more will 
 help the cause. I shall try to correct errors when 
 shown to be errors ; and I shall adopt new views 
 so fast as they shall appear to be true views. 
 
 I have here stated rny purpose according to my 
 view of official duty, and I intend no modification 
 of my oft-expressed personal wish, that all men, 
 everywhere, could be free. 
 
 [To a delegation of clergymen from Chicago, who urged 
 him to issue a proclamation of emancipation, September 
 13, 1862.] 
 
 I do not want to issue a document that the 
 
 whole world will see must necessarily be inopera- 
 tive, like the pope's bull against the comet. . . . Do 
 not misunderstand me, because I have mentioned 
 these objections. They indicate the difficulties 
 which have thus far prevented my action in some 
 such way as you desire. I have not decided 
 against a proclamation of liberty to the slaves, but
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 249 
 
 hold the matter under advisement. And I can 
 assure you that the subject is on my mind, by day 
 and night, more than any other. Whatever shall 
 appear to be God's will, I will do. 
 
 [To strictures upon his conduct of the Avar by somo Western 
 gentlemen, he replied] : 
 
 Gentlemen, suppose all the property you were 
 worth was in gold, and you had put it in the hands 
 of Blondin to carry across Niagara Falls on a tight- 
 rope, would you shake the rope while he was pass- 
 ing over it, or keep shouting to him, "Blondin, 
 stoop a little more ; " " Go a little faster ? " No, I 
 am sure you would not. You would hold your 
 breath as well as your tongue, and keep your hands 
 off until he was safely over. Now the government 
 is in the same situation, and is carrying across a 
 stormy ocean an immense weight ; untold treasures 
 are in its hands ; it is doing the best it can ; don't 
 badger it ; keep silence, and it will get you safely 
 over. 
 
 [General Order respecting the observance of the Sabbath in 
 the army and navy.] 
 
 November 16, 1862. 
 
 The President, Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
 and Navy, desires and enjoins the orderly observ- 
 ance of the Sabbath by the officers and men in 
 the military and naval service. The importance 
 for man and beast of the prescribed weekly rest,
 
 250 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, 
 a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a 
 Christian people, and a due regard for the Divine 
 will, demand that Sunday labor in the army and 
 navy be reduced to the measure of strict neces- 
 sity. 
 
 The discipline and character of the national 
 forces should not suffer, nor the cause they defend 
 be imperilled, by the profanation of the day or 
 the name of the Most High. " At this time of 
 public distress," adopting the words of Washington 
 in 1776, "men may find enough to do in the ser- 
 vice of God and their country without abandoning 
 themselves to vice and immorality." The first 
 general order issued by the Father of his Country 
 after the Declaration of Independence, indicates 
 the spirit in which our institutions were founded 
 and should ever be defended : " The General hopes 
 and trusts that every officer and man will endeavor 
 to live and act as becomes a Christian soldier de- 
 fending the dearest rights and liberties of his coun- 
 try." 
 
 [To Mr. Colfax, on the evening of the day on which Mr. 
 Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, January 
 1, 1863.] 
 
 The South had fair warning, that if they did not 
 return to their duty, I should strike at this pillar 
 of their strength. The promise must now be 
 kept, and I shall never recall one word.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 251 
 
 [Reply to an Address by the citizens of Manchester, Eng- 
 land, after the issuing of the Proclamation of Emanci- 
 pation.] 
 
 January 19, 1863. 
 
 To the Workingmen of Manchester : . . . 
 When I came, on the fourth of March, 1861, 
 through a free and constitutional election, to pre- 
 side in the Government of the United States, the 
 country was found at the verge of civil war. 
 Whatever might have been the cause, or whose- 
 soever the fault, one duty, paramount to all others, 
 was before me, namely, to maintain and preserve 
 at once the Constitution and the integrity of the 
 Federal Republic. A conscientious purpose to 
 perform this duty is the key to all the measures 
 of administration which have been, and to all 
 which will hereafter be pursued. Under our frame 
 of government and my official oath, I could not 
 depart from this purpose if I would. It is not 
 always in the power of governments to enlarge or 
 restrict the scope of moral results which follow 
 the policies that they may deem it necessary, for 
 the public safety, from time to time to adopt 
 
 I know, and deeply deplore, the sufferings which 
 the workingmen at Manchester, and in all Europe, 
 are called to endure in this crisis. It has been often 
 studiously represented that the attempt to over- 
 throw this Government, which was built upon the 
 foundation of human rights, and to substitute for
 
 252 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 it one which should rest exclusively on the basis 
 of human slavery, was likely to obtain the favor 
 of Europe. Through the action of our disloyal 
 citizens, the workingmen of Europe have been 
 subjected to severe trial, for the purpose of forcing 
 their sanction to that attempt. Under these cir- 
 cumstances I cannot but regard your decisive utter- 
 ances upon the question as an instance of sublime 
 Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in 
 any age or in any country. It is indeed an ener- 
 getic and re-inspiring assurance of the inherent 
 power of truth, and of the ultimate and universal 
 triumph of justice, humanity, and freedom. I do 
 not doubt that the sentiments you have expressed 
 will be sustained by your great nation ; and, on 
 the other hand, I have no hesitation in assuring 
 you that they will excite admiration, esteem, and 
 the most reciprocal feelings of friendship among 
 the American people. 
 
 I hail this interchange of sentiment, therefore, 
 as an augury that, whatever else may happen, 
 whatever misfortune may befall your country or 
 my own, the peace and friendship which now ex- 
 ist between the two nations will be, as it shall be 
 my desire to make them, perpetual.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 253 
 
 [From his Reply to Resolutions of the Naw York Demo- 
 crats, May 19, 1863, protesting against his suspension of 
 the writ of habeas corpus, and arrest of Mr. Vallanding- 
 ham for the crime of seeking to prevent the enlistment 
 of troops.] 
 
 Prior to my installation here it had been 
 
 inculcated that any State had a lawful right to 
 secede from the National Union, and that it would 
 be expedient to exercise the right whenever the 
 devotees of the doctrine should fail to elect a 
 president to their own liking. I was elected con- 
 trary to their liking ; and accordingly, so far as it 
 was legally possible, they had taken seven States 
 out of the Union, had seized many of the United 
 States forts, and had fired upon the United States 
 flag, all before I was inaugurated, and of course 
 before I had done any official act whatever. The 
 rebellion thus begun soon ran into the present 
 civil war; and, in certain respects, it began on 
 very unequal terms between the parties. The in- 
 surgents had been preparing for it more than 
 thirty years, while the government had taken no 
 steps to resist them. The former had carefully 
 considered all the means which could be turned to 
 their account. It undoubtedly was a well-pon- 
 dered reliance with them that in their own unre- 
 stricted eiforts to destroy Union, Constitution, and 
 law, all together, the government would, in great 
 degree, be restrained by the same Constitution
 
 254 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 and law from arresting their progress. Their 
 sympathizers pervaded all departments of the gov- 
 ernment and nearly all communities of the people. 
 From this material, under cover of " liberty of 
 speech," "liberty of the press," and habeas corpiis, 
 they hoped to keep on foot amongst us a most effi- 
 cient corps of spies, informers, suppliers, and 
 aiders and abettors of their cause in a thousand 
 ways. They knew that in times such as they were 
 inaugurating, by the constitution itself, the habeas 
 corpus might be suspended ; but they also knew 
 they had friends who would make a question as to 
 who was to suspend it ; meanwhile their spies and 
 others might remain at large to help on their 
 cause. Or if, as has happened, the executive 
 should suspend the writ, without ruinous waste of 
 time, instances of arresting innocent persons might 
 occur, as are always likely to occur in such cases, 
 and then a clamor could be raised in regard to 
 this, which might be, at least, of some service to' 
 the insurgent cause. It needed no very keen per- 
 ception to discover this part of the enemy's pro- 
 gramme so soon as by open hostilities their ma- 
 chinery was fairly put in motion. Yet, thoroughly 
 imbued with a reverence for the guaranteed rights 
 of individuals, I was slow to adopt the strong 
 measures which by degrees I have been forced to 
 regard as being within the exceptions of the 
 Constitution, and as indispensable to the public 
 safety
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 255 
 
 I understand the meeting, whose resolutions I 
 arn considering, to lie in favor of suppressing the 
 rebellion by military force by armies. Long 
 experience has shown that armies cannot be main- 
 tained unless desertion shall be punished by the 
 severe penalty of death. The case requires, and 
 the law and the Constitution sanction this punish- 
 ment. Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier-boy 
 who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a 
 wily agitator who induces him to desert ? This is 
 none the less injurious when effected by getting a 
 father, or brother, or friend, into a public meeting, 
 and there working upon his feelings till he is per- 
 suaded to write the soldier-boy that he is fighting 
 in a bad cause, for a wicked administration of a 
 contemptible government, too weak to arrest and 
 punish him if he shall desert. I think that in such 
 a case to silence the agitator and save the boy, is 
 not only constitutional, but withal a great mercy. 
 
 Nor am I able to appreciate the danger appre- 
 hended by the meeting, that the American people 
 will, by means of military arrests during the rebel- 
 lion, lose the right of public discussion, the liberty 
 of speech and the press, the law of evidence, trial 
 by jury, and habeas corpus throughout the indefi- 
 nite peaceful future which, I trust, lies before 
 them, any more than I am able to .believe that a 
 man could contract so strong an appetite for
 
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 emetics during temporary illness as to persist in 
 feeding upon them during the remainder of his 
 healthful life. 
 
 In giving the resolutions the earnest considera- 
 tion which you request of me, I cannot overlook 
 the fact that the meeting speak as "Democrats." 
 Nor can I with full respect for their known intel- 
 ligence, and the fairly presumed deliberation with 
 which they prepared these resolutions, be permit- 
 ted to suppose that this occurs by accident, or in 
 any way other than that they prefer to designate 
 themselves Democrats rather than American citi- 
 zens. In this time of national peril I would have 
 preferred to meet you on a level one step higher 
 than any party platform, because I am sure that 
 from such more elevated position we could do bet- 
 ter battle for the country we all love than we pos- 
 sibly can from those lower ones where, from the 
 force of habit, the prejudices of the past, and 
 selfish hopes of the future, we are sure to expend 
 much of our ingenuity and strength in finding 
 fault with, and aiming blows at, each other. But, 
 since you have denied me this, I will yet be thank- 
 ful, for the country's sake, that not all Democrats 
 have done so. 
 
 [Letter to James C. Cqnkling.] 
 
 August 16, 1863. 
 
 There are those who are dissatisfied 
 
 with me. To such I would say, You desire peace,
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 257 
 
 and you blame me that we do not have it. But 
 how can we obtain it ? There are but three con- 
 ceivable ways. First, to suppress the rebellion 
 by force of arms. This I am trying to do. Are 
 you for it ? If you are so, we are agreed. If you 
 are not for it, a second way is to give up the 
 Union. I am against this. If you are, you should 
 say so plainly. If you are not for force, nor yet 
 for dissolution, there only remains some imaginary 
 compromise. I do not believe that any compro- 
 mise embracing 1 the maintenance of the Union is 
 now possible. All that I learn leads to a directly 
 opposite belief. The strength of the rebellion is 
 its military, its army. The army dominate all the 
 country, and all the people within its range. Any 
 offer of terms made by any man or men within 
 that range in opposition to that army is simply 
 nothing for the present ; because such man or 
 men have no power whatever to enforce their side 
 of a compromise, if one were made with them. 
 
 You dislike the Emancipation Proclamation, and 
 perhaps would have it retracted. You say it is un- 
 constitutional. I think differently. I think the Con- 
 stitution invests its Commander-in-chief with the 
 law of war in the time of war. The most that can 
 be said, if so much, is that slaves are property. 
 Is there, has there ever been, any question that by 
 the law of war property, both of enemies and 
 
 17
 
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 friends, may be taken when needed? And is it 
 not needed whenever taking it helps us and hurts 
 the enemy ! Armies the world over destroy ene- 
 my's property when they cannot use it ; and even 
 destroy their own to keep it from the enemy. 
 Civilized belligerents do all in their power to help 
 themselves and hurt the enemy, except a few 
 things regarded as barbarous or cruel. Among 
 the exceptions are the massacre of vanquished foes 
 and non-combatants, male and female. 
 
 But the Proclamation, as law, is valid, or is not 
 valid. If it is valid, it cannot be retracted any 
 more than the dead can be brought to life. Some 
 of you profess to think that its retraction would 
 operate favorably for the Union. Why better 
 after the retraction than before the issue ? There 
 was more than a year and a half of trial to sup- 
 press the rebellion before the Proclamation was 
 issued, the last one hundred days of which passed 
 under an explicit notice that it was coming, unless 
 averted by those in revolt returning to their 
 allegiance. The war has certainly progressed as 
 favorably for us since the issue of the Proclamation 
 as before 
 
 You say you will not fight to free negroes. 
 Some of them seem to be willing to fight for you. 
 But no matter. Fight you then exclusively to 
 save the Union. I issued the Proclamation on 
 purpose to aid you in saving the Union.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 259 
 
 Whenever we shall have conquered all resist- 
 ance to the Union, if I shall urge you to continue 
 fighting, it will be an apt time then for you to de- 
 clare that you will not light to free negroes. 
 
 I thought that in your struggle for the Union, to 
 whatever extent the negroes should cease helping 
 the enemy, to that extent it weakened the enemy 
 in his resistance to you. Do you think differently? 
 I thought that whatever negroes can be got to do 
 as soldiers leaves just so much less for white sol- 
 diers to do in saving the Union. Does it appear 
 otherwise to you? But negroes, like other peo- 
 ple, act upon motives. Why should they do any- 
 thing for us if we will do nothing for them ? If 
 they stake their lives for us they must be 
 prompted by the strongest motive, even the 
 promise of their freedom. And the promise, be- 
 ing made, must be kept. 
 
 The signs look better. The Father of Waters 
 again goes unvexed to the sea. Thanks to the 
 great North-west for it. Nor yet wholly to them. 
 Three hundred miles up they met New England, 
 Empire, Keystone, and Jersey hewing their way 
 right and left. The sunny South, too, in more 
 colors than one, also lent a hand. On the spot 
 their part of the history was jotted down in black 
 and white. The job was a great national one, and 
 let none be banned who bore an honorable part in 
 it. And while those who have cleared the great
 
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 river may well be proud, even that is not all. It 
 is hard to say thut anything has been more bravely 
 or better done than at Antietam, Murfreesboro, 
 Gettysburg, and on many fields of lesser note. 
 
 Nor must Uncle Sam's web-foot be forgotten. 
 At all the waters' margins they have been present, 
 not only on the deep sea, the broad bay, and the 
 rapid river, but also up the narrow, muddy 
 bayou, and wherever the ground was a little 
 damp, they have been and made their tracks. 
 
 Thanks to all. For the great Republic, for 
 the principles by which it lives and keeps alive for 
 man's vast future, thanks to all. 
 
 Peace does not appear so distant as it did. I 
 hope it will soon come, and come to stay, and so 
 come as to be worth keeping in all future time. 
 It will then have been proved that among freemen 
 there can be no successful appeal from the ballot 
 to the bullet, and that they who take such appeal 
 are sure to lose their case, and pay the cost. 
 
 And then there will be some black men who can 
 remember that, with silent tongue, and clenched 
 teeth, and steady eye, and well-poised bayonet, 
 they have helped mankind on to this great con- 
 summation, while I fear there will be some white 
 men unable to forget that, with malignant heart 
 and deceitful speech, they have striven to hin- 
 der it. 
 
 Still, let us not be over sanguine of a speedy
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 261 
 
 final triumph. Let us be quite sober. Let us 
 diligently apply the means, never doubting that a 
 just God, in his own good time, will give us the 
 rightful result. 
 
 [To Mr. Colfax, in the winter of 1863, the morning after 
 unfavorable news from the army.] 
 
 How willingly would I exchange places to-day 
 with the soldier who sleeps on the ground in the 
 Army of the Potomac. 
 
 [From his third Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 
 1863.] 
 
 When Congress assembled a year ago, 
 
 the war had already lasted nearly twenty months, 
 and there had been many conflicts on both land and 
 sea with varying results. The rebellion had been 
 pressed back into reduced limits ; yet the tone of 
 public feeling and opinion, at home and abroad, 
 was not satisfactory. With other signs, the popu- 
 lar election, then just passed, indicated uneasiness 
 among ourselves, while amid much' that was cold 
 and menacing, the kindest words coming from Eu- 
 rope were uttered in accents of pity that we were 
 too blind to surrender a hopeless cause. 
 
 [From a Speech after his re-election, November 10, 1864.] 
 
 So long as I have been here I have not willingly 
 planted a thorn in any man's bosom. While I am
 
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 deeply sensible of the high compliment of a re- 
 election, and duly grateful, I trust, to Almighty 
 God for having directed my countrymen to a right 
 conclusion, as I think, for their own good, it adds 
 nothing to my satisfaction that any other man may 
 be disappointed or pained by the result. 
 
 [To a Committee of the New York "Workingrnen's Republi- 
 can Association, March 21, 1864.] 
 
 The strongest bond of human sympathy, 
 
 outside of the family relation, should be one unit- 
 ing all working people, of all nations, tongues, and 
 kindreds. Nor should this lead to a war upon 
 property or the owners of property. Property is 
 the fruit of labor; property is desirable, is a posi- 
 tive good in the world. That some should be rich 
 shows that others may become rich, and hence is 
 just encouragement to independence and enter- 
 prise. Let not him who is houseless pull down 
 the house of another, but let him labor diligently 
 and build one for himself; thus by example as- 
 suring that his own shall be safe from violence 
 when built. 
 
 [From a letter to Colonel Hodges, of Kentucky.] 
 
 WASHINGTON, April 4, 1864. 
 
 You ask me to put in writing the substance of 
 what I verbally said the other day in your pres- 
 ence to Governor Branilette and Senator Dixon.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 263 
 
 It was about as follows : "I am naturally anti- 
 slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is 
 wrong. I cannot remember when I did not so 
 think and feel, and yet I have never understood 
 that the Presidency conferred upon me an unre- 
 stricted right to act officially upon this judgment 
 and feeling. It was in the oath I took that I would 
 to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and 
 defend the Constitution of the United States. I 
 could not take the office without taking the oath. 
 Kor was it in my view that I might take an oath 
 to get power, and break the oath in using the 
 power. I understand, too, that in ordinary and 
 civil administration this oath even forbids me to 
 practically indulge my primary abstract judgment 
 on the moral question of slavery. I had publicly 
 declared this at many times and in many ways. 
 And I aver that, to this day, I have done no offi- 
 cial act in mere deference to my abstract judgment 
 and feeling on slavery. I did understand, how- 
 ever, that my oath to preserve the Constitution to 
 the best of my ability imposed upon me the duty 
 of preserving, by every indispensable means, that 
 Government that nation of which the Consti- 
 tution was the organic law. Was it possible to 
 lose the nation, and yet preserve the Constitution ? 
 By general law, life and limb must be protected ; 
 yet often a limb must be amputated, to save a life ;
 
 264 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I 
 felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, 
 might become lawful by becoming indispensable to 
 the preservation of the Constitution, through the 
 preservation of the nation. Eight or wrong, I as- 
 sumed this ground ; and now avow it. I could 
 not feel that, to the best of my ability, I had even 
 tried to preserve the Constitution, if, to save 
 slavery, or any minor matter, I should permit the 
 wreck of government, country, and constitution 
 all together. ... I add a word whicli was not in 
 the verbal conversation. In telling this talc, I at- 
 tempt no compliments to my own sagacity. I 
 claim not to have controlled events, but confess 
 plainly that events have controlled me. Now at 
 the end of three years' struggle the nation's con- 
 dition is not what either party or any man devised 
 or expected. God alone can claim it. Whither 
 it is tending seems plain. If God now wills the 
 removal of a great wrong, and wills also that we 
 of the North, as well as you of the South, shall 
 pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, impar- 
 tial history will find therein new causes to attest 
 and revere the justice and goodness of God."
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 265 
 
 [From Carpenter's "Six Months at the White House," 
 
 1865.] 
 
 I put the draft of the Emancipation Proclama- 
 tion* aside, waiting for a victory. Well, the next 
 news we had was of Pope's disaster at Bull Run. 
 Things looked darker than ever. Finally came 
 the week of the battle of Antietam [September 17, 
 1862] . I determined to wait no longer. The 
 news came, I think, on Monday, that the advan- 
 tage was on our side. I was then staying at the 
 Soldiers' Home. Here I finished writing the sec- 
 ond draft of the proclamation ; came up on Satur- 
 day ; called the cabinet together to hear it, and it 
 was published the following Monday. I made a 
 solemn vow before God, that if General Lee was 
 driven back from Maryland, I would crown the 
 result by the declaration of freedom to the slaves. 
 
 As affairs have turned, it is the central act of 
 my administration, and the great event of the 
 nineteenth century. 
 
 [From Noah Brooks's " Reminiscences."] 
 
 I should be the most presumptuous blockhead 
 upon this footstool, if I, for one day, thought that 
 I could discharge the duties which have come upon 
 
 * The original draft was prepared in the July preceding 
 when the Federal forces were in the midst of reverses.
 
 266 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 me since I came into this place, without the aid 
 and enlightenment of One, who is stronger and 
 wiser than all others. 
 
 [From " Six Months," &c.] 
 
 I have never united myself to any church, be- 
 cause I have found difficulty in giving my assent, 
 without mental reservation, to the long, compli- 
 cated statements of Christian doctrine which char- 
 acterize their Articles of Belief and Confessions of 
 Faith. When any church will inscribe over its 
 altar, as its sole qualification for membership, the 
 Saviour's condensed statement of the substance 
 of both law and gospel, " Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
 and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thy- 
 self," that church will I join with all my heart and 
 all my soul.* 
 
 You say your husband is a religious man ; tell 
 him, when you meet him, that I say I am not 
 much of a judge of religion, but that, in my opin- 
 ion, the religion which sets men to rebel and fight 
 against their government, because, as they think, 
 that government does not sufficiently help some 
 men to eat their bread in the sweat of other men's 
 
 * Said to Hon. H. C. Deming.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN". 267 
 
 faces, is not the sort of religion upon which people 
 can get to heaven.* 
 
 Here are twenty-three ministers, [of Spring- 
 field, Illinois,] of different denominations, and all 
 of them are against me j- but three ; and here are 
 a great many prominent members of the churches, 
 a very large majority are against me. Mr. Bate- 
 man, I am not a Christian, God knows I would 
 be one, but I have carefully read the Bible, and 
 I do not so understand this book.J These men 
 well know that I am for freedom in the Territories, 
 freedom everywhere as free as the constitution and 
 the laws will permit, and that my opponents are 
 for slavery. They know this, and yet, with this 
 book in their hands, in the light of which human 
 bondage cannot live a moment, they are going to 
 vote against me ; I do not understand it at 
 all 
 
 Doesn't it appear strange that men can ignore 
 the moral aspect of this contest? A revelation 
 could not make it plainer to me that slavery or 
 the government must be destroyed. The future 
 would be something awful, as I look at it, but for 
 this rock on which I stand, [alluding to the Testa- 
 
 * Said to a lady from Tennessee, who asked the release 
 of her husband, N. Brook, held as prisoner of war. 
 f In the canvass for United States senator. 
 J He had in his hand a copy of the New Testament.
 
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 ment, which he still held in his hand,] especially 
 with the knowledge of how these ministers are 
 going to vote. It seems as if God had borne with 
 this thing [slavery] until the very teachers of reli- 
 gion had come to defend it from the Bible, and to 
 claim for it a divine character and sanction ; and 
 now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of 
 wrath will be poured out.* 
 
 . [With reference to a remark made by a lady : " Some men 
 seem able to do what they wish in any position, being 
 eqnal to them all," Mr. Lincoln replied] : 
 
 Versatility is an injurious possession, since it 
 can never be greatness. It misleads you in your 
 calculations from its very agreeability, and it inev- 
 itably disappoints you in any great trust from its 
 want of depth. A versatile man, to be safe from 
 execration, should never soar ; mediocrity is sure 
 of detection. c. 
 
 There is no more dangerous or expensive anal- 
 ysis than that of trying a man. c. 
 
 
 
 [From an ai'ticle in the New York Citizen, by Colonel 
 Charles G. Ilalpine, containing an account of an inter- 
 view with President Lincoln. The reference is to pres- 
 idential receptions.] 
 
 But the office of President is essentially 
 
 a civil one. For myself, I feel though the tax 
 
 * Said privately to Mr. Newton Bateman, Superintendent 
 for Public Institutions for the State of Illinois, residing at 
 Springfield. Holland's Life of Abraham Lincoln.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 2G9 
 
 on my time is heavy that no hours of my day 
 are better employed than those which thus bring 
 me again within the direct contact and atmosphere 
 of the average of our whole people. Men moving 
 only in an official circle are apt to become merely 
 official not to say arbitrary in their ideas, and 
 are apter and apter, with each passing day, to for- 
 get that they only hold power in a representative 
 capacity. Now this is all wrong. I go into these 
 promiscuous receptions of all who claim to have 
 business with me twice each week, and every ap- 
 plicant for audience has to take his turn, as if 
 waiting to be shaved in a barber's shop. Many 
 of the matters brought to my notice are utterly 
 frivolous, but others are of more or less impor- 
 tance, and all seem to renew in me a clearer and 
 more vivid image of that great popular assemblage 
 out of which I sprung, and to which, at the end 
 of two years, I must return. I tell you that I 
 call these receptions my public-opinion baths; for 
 I have but little time to 'read the papers, and 
 gather public opinion that way ; and though they 
 may not be pleasant, in all their particulars, the 
 effect, as a whole, is renovating and invigorating 
 to my perceptions of responsibility and duty. 
 
 [In reply to the remark of a clergyman that he " hoped the 
 Lord was on our side," Mr. Lincoln said] : 
 
 I am not at all concerned about that, for I know 
 that the Lord is always on the side of the right.
 
 270 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 But it is ray constant anxiety and prayer that I 
 and this nation should be on the Lord's side. c. 
 
 [After the repeal of the Fugitive-slave law, in June, 1864, 
 Mr. Lincoln said] : 
 
 " There have been men base enough to propose 
 to me to return to slavery 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 will, I will keep my faith with friend and 
 foe. My enemies pretend I am noAV 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 emancipation policy, and every other policy 
 calculated to weaken the moral and physical forces 
 of the rebellion." 
 
 [In the Annual Message to Congress, December 6, 18C4, Mr. 
 Lincoln said] : 
 
 "In presenting the abandonment of armed re- 
 sistance to the national authority on the part of 
 the insurgents as the only indispensable condition 
 to ending the war on the part of the government, 
 I retract nothing heretofore said as to slavery. 
 
 " I repeat the declaration made a year ago, that 
 while I remain in my present position I shall not 
 attempt to retract or modify the Emancipation
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 271 
 
 Proclamation. Nor shall I return to slavery any 
 person who is free by the terms of that proclama- 
 tion or by any of the acts of Congress. If the 
 people should, by whatever mode or means, make 
 it an executive duty to re-enslave such persons, 
 another, and not I, must be their instrument to 
 perform it. In stating a single condition of peace, 
 I mean simply to say that the war will cease on 
 the part of the government whenever it shall have 
 ceased on the part of those who began it." 
 
 [Of his second inaugural address, the London Spectator 
 said : " We cannot read it without a renewed conviction that 
 it is the noblest political document known to history, and 
 should have for the nation and the statesmen he left behind 
 him something of a sacred and almost prophetic character. 
 Surely, none was ever written under a stronger sense of the 
 reality of God's government. And certainly none written 
 in a period of passionate conflict ever so completely ex- 
 cluded the partiality of victorious faction, and breathed 
 so pure a strain of mingled justice and mercy." 
 
 " No statement of the true objects of the war more com- 
 plete than this has ever been made. It includes them all 
 Nationality, Liberty, Equal Rights, and Self-Government. 
 These are the principles for which the Union soldier fought, 
 and which it was his aim to maintain and to perpetuate." 
 President Hayes, September, 1878. 
 
 Of Mr. Lincoln's second inaugural, M. Edouard Labou- 
 layesaid: "His inaugural address shows us what progress 
 had been made in his soul. This piece of familiar elo- 
 quence is a masterpiece ; it is the testament of a patriot. 
 ... I do not believe that any eulogy of the President
 
 272 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 would equal this page, in which he has depicted himself in 
 all his greatness and in all his simplicity."] 
 
 [Second Inaugural Address, March 4, 1865.] 
 
 Fellow Countrymen : At this second appearing 
 to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is 
 less occasion for an extended address than there 
 was at the first. Then a statement somewhat in 
 detail of a course to be pursued seemed very 
 fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of 
 four years, during which public declarations 
 have been constantly called forth on every point 
 and phase of the great contest which still absorbs 
 the attenfion and engrosses the energies of the 
 nation, little that is new could be presented. 
 
 The progress of our arms, upon which all else 
 chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as 
 to myself; and it is, I trust, reasonably satisfactory 
 and encouraging to all. With high hope for the 
 future, no prediction in regard to it is ventured. 
 
 On the occasion corresponding to this, four 
 years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed 
 to an impending civil war. All dreaded it ; all 
 sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address 
 was being delivered from this place, devoted alto- 
 gether to saving the Union without war, insurgent 
 agents were in the city, seeking to destroy it with- 
 out war, seeking to dissolve the Union and 
 divide the effects by negotiation. Both parties
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 273 
 
 deprecated war ; but one of them would make war 
 rather than let the nation survive, and the other 
 would accept war rather than let it perish ; and 
 the war came. 
 
 One eighth of the whole population were colored 
 slaves, not distributed generally over the Union, 
 but localized in the Southern part of it. These 
 slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. 
 All knew that this interest was somehow the cause 
 of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate, and ex- 
 tend this interest, was the object for which the 
 insurgents would rend the Union, even by war, 
 while the government claimed no right to do more 
 than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. 
 
 Neither party expected for the war the magni- 
 tude or the duration which it has already attained. 
 Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict 
 might cease with, or even before the conflict itself 
 should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, 
 and a result less fundamental and astounding. 
 
 Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same 
 God, and each invokes his aid against the other. 
 It may seem strange that any men should dare to 
 ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread 
 from the sweat of other men's faces ; but let us 
 judge not, that we be not judged. The prayer of 
 both could not be answered. That of neither has 
 been answered fully. The Almighty lias his own 
 purposes. "Woe unto the world because of of- 
 
 18
 
 274 CHIPS TROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 fences, for it must needs be that offences come ; 
 but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh." 
 If we shall suppose that American slavery is one 
 of these offences which, in the providence of God, 
 must needs come, but which, having continued 
 through his appointed time, he now wills to re- 
 move, and that he gives to both North and South 
 this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom 
 the offence came, shall we discern therein any de- 
 parture from those divine attributes which the 
 believers in a living God always ascribe to him ? 
 
 Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that 
 this mighty scourge of war may soon pass away. 
 Yet if God wills that it continue until all the 
 wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and 
 fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and 
 until every drop of blood drawn with the lash 
 shall be paid with another drawn with the sAvord ; 
 as was said three thousand years ago, so still it 
 must be said, "The judgments of the Lord are 
 true and righteous altogether." 
 
 With malice toward none, with charity for all, 
 with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see 
 the right, let us strive on to finish the work we 
 arc in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for 
 him who shall have borne the battle, and for his 
 widow and orphans, to do all which may achieve 
 and cherish a just and a lasting peace among our- 
 selves and with all nations.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 275 
 
 [From an Address, March 7, 1-865.] 
 
 I have always thought that all men should be 
 free ; but if any should be slaves, it should be 
 first those who desire it for themselves, and sec- 
 ondly, those who desire it for others. 
 
 I have been driven many times to my knees by 
 the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere 
 else to go. My own wisdom, and that of all about 
 me, seemed insufficient for that day.* 
 
 I should be the most presumptuous blockhead 
 upon this footstool, if I for one day thought that 
 I could discharge the duties which have come upon 
 me since I came into this place, without the aid 
 and enlightenment of One who is wiser and 
 stronger than all others. f 
 
 [The Emancipation Proclamation in the Cabinet. From 
 the Diaiy of Secretary Salmon P. Chase, September 22, 
 1862.] 
 
 Gentlemen, I have, as you are aware, thought a 
 great deal about the relation of this war to sLrrery, 
 and you all remember that, several weeks ago, I 
 read to you an order I had prepared upon the sub- 
 ject, which, on account of objections made by 
 some of you, was not issued. Ever since then 
 
 * From Holland's " Life of Lincoln." 
 
 f The Proclamation was issued January 1, 1863.
 
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 my mind has been occupied with this subject, and 
 I have thought all along that the time for acting 
 on it might probably come. I think the time has 
 come now. I wish it was a better time. I wish that 
 we were in a better condition. The act 'on of the 
 army against the rebels has not been quite what I 
 should have best liked. But they have been driven 
 out of Maryland, and Pennsylvania is no longer in 
 danger of invasion. Yv 7 hen the rebel army was at 
 Frederick, I determined, as soon as it should be 
 driven out of Maryland, to issue a proclamation 
 of emancipation, such as I thought most likely to 
 be useful. I said nothing to any one, but I made 
 a promise to myself and [hesitating a little] to 
 my Mjiker. The rebel army is now driven out, 
 and I am going to fulfil that promise. I have got 
 you together to hear what I have written down. 
 I do not wish your advice about the main matter, 
 for that I have determined for myself. This I say 
 without intending anything but respect for any 
 one of you. .But I already know the views of 
 each on this question. They have been heretofore 
 expressed, and I have considered them as thor- 
 oughly and carefully as I can. What I have 
 written is that which my reflections have deter- 
 mined me to say. If there is anything in the ex- 
 pressions I use, or in any minor matter, which any 
 one of you thinks had best be changed, I shall be 
 glad to receive your suggestions. One other ol>
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 277 
 
 serration I will make. I know very well that 
 many others might, in this matter as in others, 
 do better than I can ; and if I was satisfied that 
 the public confidence was more fully possessed by 
 any one of them than by me, and knew of any 
 constitutional way in which he could be put in my 
 place, he should have it. I would gladly yield it 
 to him. But though I believe that I have not so 
 much of the confidence of the people as I had 
 sometime since, I do not know that, all things con- 
 sidered, any other person has more ; and, however 
 this may be, there is no way in which I can have 
 any other man put where I am. I am here. I 
 must do the best I can, I bear the responsibility 
 of taking the course which I feel I ought to take. 
 
 [From " Six Months," etc.] 
 
 Many of my strongest supporters urged eman- 
 cipation before I thought it indispensable, and, I 
 may say, before I thought the country ready for it. 
 It is my conviction, that, had the proclamntion 
 been issued even six months earlier than it was, 
 public sentiment would not have sustained it. 
 Just so as to the subsequent action in reference to 
 enlisting blacks in the Border States. The step, 
 taken sooner, could not, in my judgment, have 
 been carried out. A man watches his pear-tree 
 day after day, impatient for the ripening of the 
 fruit. Let him attempt to force the process, and
 
 278 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 he may spoil both fruit and tree. But let him 
 patiently wait, and the ripe pear at length falls 
 into his lap ! We have seen this great revolution 
 in public sentiment slowly but surely progressing, 
 so that, when final action came, the opposition was 
 not strong enough to defeat the purpose. I can 
 now solemnly assert that I have a clear conscience 
 in regard to my action on this momentous ques- 
 tion. I have done what no man could have helped 
 doing, standing in my place. 
 
 [Dedicatory Address at Gettysburg.*] 
 Four score and seven years ago our fathers 
 brought forth upon this continent a new nation, 
 conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the propo- 
 sition that all men are created equal. 
 
 Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing 
 whether that nation, or any nation so conceived 
 and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met 
 on a great battle-field of that war. We are met 
 to dedicate a portion of it as the final resting-place 
 of those who here gave their lives that that nation 
 might live. It is altogether fitting and proper 
 that w r e should do this. 
 
 * " His brief speech at Gettysburg will not easily bo sur- 
 passed by words on any recorded occasion. This, and one 
 American speech, that of John Brown to the court that 
 tried him, and part of Kossuth's speech at Birmingham, 
 can only be compared with each other, and with no fourth." 
 R. W. Emerson.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 279 
 
 But in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we 
 cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. 
 The brave men, living and dead, who struggled 
 here, have consecrated it far above our power to 
 add or detract. The world will little note nor 
 long remember what we say here, but it can never 
 forget what they did here. It is for us the living 
 rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work 
 that they have thus far so nobly carried on. It 
 is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great 
 task remaining before us that from these honored 
 dead we* take increased devotion to the cause for 
 which they here gave the last full measure of 
 devotion that we here highly resolve that the 
 dead shall not have died in vain ; that the nation 
 shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, 
 and that the government of the people, by the 
 people, and for the people, shall not perish from 
 the earth. 
 
 [When Mr. Lincoln had ended his speech, which 
 had been preceded by a long and eloquent one by 
 Edward Everett, he turned and congratulated the 
 latter on having succeeded so well. "Ah, Mr. 
 Lincoln," was the reply, "how gladly would I 
 exchange all my one hundred pages, to have been 
 the author of your twenty lines."]
 
 280 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON, July 13, 1863.* 
 
 To MAJOR GENERAL GRANT. 
 
 My Dear General : I do not remember that 
 you and I ever met personally. I write this now 
 as a grateful acknowledgment for the almost 
 inestimable service you have done the country. I 
 wish to say a word further. When you first 
 reached the vicinity of Vicksburg, I thought you 
 should do what you finally did, march the troops 
 across the Neck, run the batteries, with the trans- 
 ports, and thus go below. I never had any faith, 
 except a general hope, that you knew better than I 
 did ; that the Yazoo Pass Expedition, and the like, 
 could succeed. When you got below, and took 
 Port Gibson, Grand Gulf and vicinity, I thought 
 you should go down the river and join Gen. Banks ; 
 and when you turned northward, east of the Big 
 Black, I feared it was a mistake. I now wish to 
 make a personal acknowledgment that you were 
 right and I was wrong. 
 
 Yours very truly, A. LINCOLN. 
 
 [Written after the Battle of Chattanooga, 1863.] 
 
 To GENERAL GRANT : . . . Understanding that 
 your lodgment at Chattanooga and at Knoxville 
 is now secure, I wish to tender you and all under 
 your command my more than thanks, my pro- 
 
 * After the capture of Vicksburg.
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 281 
 
 foundest gratitude for the skill, courage, and per- 
 severance with which you and they, over so great 
 difficulties, have effected the important object. 
 God bless you all. 
 
 [To General Grant, April 30, 1864.] 
 
 LIEUTENANT-GENERAL GRANT : Not expecting 
 to see you before the Spring campaign opens, I 
 wish to express, in this way, my entire satisfaction 
 with what you have done up to this time, so far as 
 I understand it. The particulars of your plans I 
 neither know nor seek to know. 
 
 You are vigilant and self-reliant, and, pleased 
 with this, I wish not to obtrude any restraints 
 or constraints upon } r ou. While I am very anx- 
 ious that any great disaster or capture of our men 
 in great numbers shall be avoided, I know that 
 these points are less likely to escape your attention 
 than they would be mine. If there be anything 
 wanting which is within my power to give, do not 
 fail to let me know it. And now, with a brave 
 army and a just cause, may God sustain you. 
 
 [In reply to a deputation from the National Union 
 League, June 8, 1864, who congratulated him upon 
 his re-nomination for the Presidency, Mr. Lincoln 
 said :]..."! have not permitted myself, gentle- 
 men, to conclude that I am the best man in the 
 country ; but I am reminded in this connection of
 
 282 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 a story of an old Dutch farmer, who remarked to 
 a companion once, that 'it was not best to swop 
 horses when crossing streams.' " 
 
 [From a letter written December 11, 1864] : 
 
 " You say you are praying for the war to end. 
 So am I, but I want it to end right. God alone 
 knows how anxious I am to see these rivers of 
 blood cease to flow ; but they must flow until trea- 
 son hides its head." 
 
 It matters not to me whether Shakespeare be 
 well or ill acted ; with him the thought suffices. 
 
 There is one passage of the play of " Hamlet " 
 which is very apt to be slurred over by the actor, 
 or omitted altogether, which seems to me the 
 choicest part of the play. It is the soliloquy of 
 the king after the murder. It always struck me 
 as one of the finest touches of nature in this world. 
 
 The opening of the play of " King Richard the 
 Third " seems to me often entirely misappre- 
 hended. It is quite common for an actor to come 
 upon the stage, and, in a sophomoric style, to be- 
 gin with a flourish : 
 
 " Now is the winter of our discontent 
 Made glorious summer by this sun of York, 
 And all the clouds that lowered upon our house, 
 In the deep bosom of the ocean buried."
 
 ABKAHAM LINCOLN. 283 
 
 Now this is all wrong. Richard, remember, 
 had been, and was then, plotting the destruction 
 of his brothers, to make room for himself. Out- 
 wardly, the most loyal to the newly-crowned king, 
 secretly, he could scarcely contain his impatience 
 at the obstacles still in the wa}' of his own eleva- 
 tion. He appears upon the stage, just after the 
 crowning of Edward, burning with repressed hate 
 and jealousy. The prologue is the utterance of 
 the most intense bitterness and satire. 
 
 [From a letter written just before the assassination.] 
 
 I assure you that as soon as the business of this 
 war is settled, the Indians shall have my first at- 
 tention ; and I will not rest until they shall have jus- 
 tice with which both you and they will be satisfied. 
 
 There are some quaint, queer, verses, written, I 
 think, by Oliver Wendell Holmes, entitled, " The 
 Last Leaf," one of which is to me inexpressibly 
 touching : 
 
 "The mossy marbles rest 
 On the lips that ho has pressed 
 
 In their bloom ; 
 
 And the names he loved to hear 
 Have been carved for many a year 
 On the tomb." 
 
 For pure pathos, in my judgment, there is noth- 
 ing finer than those six lines in the English lan- 
 guage.
 
 284 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 ANDKEW JOHNSON. 
 
 BORN, 1808 ; DIED, 1875, AGED 67. ALDERMAN AT GREENVILLE, 
 TENN., 1828. MAYOR, 1830. IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE, 
 1835. AGAIN, 1839. STATE SENATOR, 1841. - REPRESENTA- 
 TIVE TO CONGRESS, 1843. GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE, 1853. 
 RE-ELECTED, 1855. UNITED STATES SENATOR, 1857. 
 MILITARY GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE, 18G2. VICE-PRESI- 
 DENT, 1805. PRESIDENT, 1865-1869. 
 
 [From a Speech in the United States Senate, March 2, 1861.] 
 
 SIR, have we reached a point of time at 
 
 which we dare not speak of treason ? Our fore- 
 fathers talked about it ; they spoke of it in the Con- 
 stitution of the country ; they defined what treason 
 is. Is it an offence, is it a crime, is it an insult, 
 to recite the Constitution that was made by Wash- 
 ington and his compatriots ? 
 
 What does the Constitution define treason to 
 be ? " Treason against the United States shall 
 consist only in levying war against them, or in 
 adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and 
 comfort." There it is defined clearly. . . . Who 
 is it that has been engaged in conspiracies ? Who 
 is it that has been engaged in making war upon 
 the United States ? Who is it that has fired upon
 
 ANDREW JOIIXSOX. 285 
 
 our flag ? Who is it that has given instructions to 
 take your arsenals, to take your forts, to take your 
 dock-yards, to seize your custom-houses, and rob 
 your treasuries ? Who is it that has been engaged in 
 secret conclaves, and issuing orders for the seizure 
 of public property in violation of the Constitution 
 they were sworn to support ? In the language of 
 the Constitution of the United States, are not 
 these who have been engaged in this nefarious 
 work guilty of treason? I will now present a 
 fair issue, and I hope it will be fairly met. Show 
 me the man who has been engaged in these con- 
 spiracies ; show me the man Avho has been sitting 
 in these nightly and secret conclaves, plotting the 
 overthrow of the government ; show me who has 
 fired upon our flag, has given instructions to take 
 our forts, our custom-houses, our arsenals, and our 
 dock-yards, and I will show you a traitor ! [Ap- 
 plause in the galleries, followed by a demand to 
 have them cleared.] 
 
 Mr. President, when I was interrupted ... I 
 was making a general allusion to treason as de- 
 fined in the Constitution of the United States, and 
 to those who were traitors and guilty of treason 
 within the scope and meaning of the law and the 
 Constitution. My proposition was, that if they 
 would show me who were guilty of the offences I 
 have enumerated, I would show them who were 
 the traitors. That being done, were I the Presi-
 
 286 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 dent of the United States, I would do as Thomas 
 Jefferson did in 1806 with Aaron Burr, who was 
 charged with treason : I would have them arreste'd 
 and tried for treason ; and, if convicted, by the 
 Eternal God, they should suffer the penalty of the 
 law at the hands of the executioner. Sir, treason 
 must be punished. 
 
 [From a Speech at Nashville, 1864.] 
 
 Slavery is dead, and you must pardon me if I 
 do not mourn over its dead body ; you can bury it 
 out of sight. ... I desire that all men shall have a 
 fair start and an equal chance in the race of life, 
 and let him succeed who has the most merit. I am 
 for emancipation, for two reasons : first, because it 
 is right in itself; and second, because in the eman- 
 cipation of the slaves we break down an odious and 
 dangerous aristocracy. I think that AVC are freeing 
 more Avhites than blacks in Tennessee. 
 
 In the support and practice of correct principles, 
 we can never reach Avrong results. 
 
 [Speech, when Governor of Tennessee, Nashville, 1864.] 
 
 Colored Men of Nashville : you have all heard 
 of the President's Proclamation, by which he an- 
 nounced to the world, that the slaves in a large 
 portion of the seceded states were thenceforth and 
 forever free. For certain reasons, which seemed
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON. 287 
 
 wise to the President, the benefits of that Procla- 
 mation did not extend to you and to your native 
 state. Many of you, consequently, were left in 
 bondage. The taskmaster's scourge was not yet 
 broken, and the fetters still galled your limbs. 
 Gradually this iniquity has been passing away ; 
 but the hour has come when the last vestiges 
 of it must be removed. Consequently I, too, 
 without reference to the President, or any other 
 person, have a proclamation to make ; and, stand- 
 ing here upon the steps of the Capitol, with the 
 past history of the state to witness, the present 
 condition to guide, and its future to encourage me, 
 I, Andrew Johnson, do hereby proclaim freedom, 
 full, broad, and unconditional, to every man in 
 Tennessee. ... I speak now as one who .feels 
 the world his country, and all who love equal 
 rights his friends.^ I speak, too, as a citizen of 
 Tennessee. I am "kerj/on my own soil ; and here 
 I mean to stay, and fignt this great battle of truth 
 and justice to the triumphant end. Rebellion and 
 slavery shall, by God's good help, no, longer pol- 
 lute our state. Loyal men, whether white or 
 black, shall alone control her destinies ; and when 
 this strife, in which we are all engaged, is past, I 
 know we shall have a better state of things, and 
 shall all rejoice that honest labor shall have the 
 fruit of its own industry, and that every man has 
 a fair chance in the race of life.
 
 288 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [To a delegation of citizens of New Hampshire, after the 
 death of Mr. Lincoln.] 
 
 I have now, as always, an abiding faith in the 
 ultimate triumph of justice and right, and I shall 
 seek the inspiration and guidance of this faith in 
 the assured belief that the present struggle will 
 result in the permanent establishment of our gov- 
 ernment, and in making us a free, united and 
 happy people. This government is now passing 
 through a fiery, and, let us hope, its last ordeal, 
 one that will test its powers of endurance, and will 
 determine whether it can do what its enemies have 
 denied, suppress and punish treason 
 
 I know it is easy, gentlemen, for any one who is 
 so disposed, to acquire a reputation for clemency 
 and mercy. But the public good imperatively 
 requires a just discrimination in the exercise of 
 these qualities. What is clemency? What is 
 mercy ? It may be considered merciful to relieve 
 an individual from pain and suffering ; but to re- 
 lieve one from the penalty of crime may be pro- 
 motive of national disaster. The American people 
 must be taught to know and understand that trea- 
 son is a crime. Arson and murder are crimes, the 
 punishment of which is the loss of liberty and life. 
 If, then, it is right in the sight of God to take 
 away human life for such crimes, what punishment, 
 let me ask you, should be inflicted upon him who
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON. 289 
 
 is guilty of the atrocious crime of assassinating the 
 Chief Magistrate of a great people? I am sure 
 there is no one present who has not the answer 
 ready upon his lips ! Him, whom we loved, has 
 been removed from our midst, by the hand of a 
 ruthless assassin, and his blessed spirit has gone 
 to that bourn whence no traveller returns. If his 
 murderer should suffer the severest penalty known 
 to the law, what punishment should be inflicted 
 upon the assassins who have raised their daggers 
 against the life of a nation, against the happiness 
 and lives of thirty millions of people ? Treason is 
 a crime, and must be punished as a crime. It 
 must not be regarded as a mere difference of polit- 
 ical opinion. It must not be excused as an unsuc- 
 cessful rebellion, to be overlooked and forgiven. 
 It is a crime before which all other crimes sink 
 into insignificance ; and in saying this, it must not 
 be considered that I am influenced by angry or 
 revengeful feelings. 
 
 Of course, a careful discrimination must be 
 observed, for thousands have been involved in this 
 rebellion who are only technically guilty of the 
 crime of treason. They have been deluded and 
 deceived, and have been made the victims of the 
 more intelligent, artful, and designing men, the 
 instigators of this monstrous rebellion. The num- 
 ber of this latter class is comparatively small. 
 The former may stand acquitted of the crime of 
 
 19
 
 290 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 treason the latter never ; the full penalty of 
 their crimes should be visited upon them. To 
 the others I would accord amnesty, leniency, and 
 mercy. 
 
 [To the 1st Colored Regiment of the District of Columbia, 
 October 10, 1865.] 
 
 Liberty is not a mere idea, a mere va- 
 gary. . . . Liberty does not consist in doing all 
 things as we please ; and there can be no liberty 
 without law. In a government of freedom and 
 of liberty, there must be law, and there must be 
 obedience and submission to the law without re- 
 gard to color. Liberty (and may I not call you 
 my countrymen?) consists in the glorious privilege 
 of work ; of pursuing the ordinary avocations of 
 peace with industry and with economy ; and, that 
 being done, all those who have been industrious 
 and economical are permitted to appropriate and 
 enjoy the products of their own labor. This is 
 one of the great blessings of freedom 
 
 Henceforth each and all of you must be meas- 
 ured according to your merit. If one man is 
 more meritorious than another, they cannot be 
 equals ; and he is the most exalted that is the most 
 meritorious, without regard to color. And the 
 idea of having a law passed in the morning that 
 would make a white man a black man before night,
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON. 291 
 
 and a black man a white man before day, is ab- 
 surd. That is not the standard. It is your own 
 conduct ; it is your own merit ; it is the develop- 
 ment of your own talents and of your own intel- 
 lectuality and moral qualities.
 
 292 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 
 
 BOEN, 1822. ENTERED WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY, 
 1839. LIEUTENANT IN THE ARMY, 1845. IN THE MEXICAN 
 WAR, 1846-1847. CAPTAIN, 1847. ENGAGED IN BUSINESS, 
 1854. CAPTAIN OF VOLUNTEERS, 18C1. COLONEL, JUNE 17, 
 1861. BRIGADIER-GENERAL, AUGUST 23, 1SC1. COMMAN- 
 DER OF THE MILITARY DISTRICT OF CAIRO, DECEMBER, 
 1861. TOOK FORT DONELSON, FEBRUARY 15, 18C2. COM- 
 MANDER OF THE DEPARTMENT OF WESTERN TENNESSEE, 
 JULY, 1862. TOOK VICKSBURG, JULY 4, 18G3. MAJOR-GEN- 
 ERAL, 1863. COMMANDER OF THE MILITARY DISTRICT OF 
 THE MISSISSIPPI, OCTOBER, 1863. LIEUTENANT-GENERAL, 
 MARCH 1, 18G4. ASSUMED COMMAND OF THE ARMIES OF 
 THE UNITED STATES, MARCH 17, 1864. CAPTAIN-GENERAL, 
 APRIL, 1865. SECRETARY OF WAR "AD INTERIM," AUGUST 
 12, 1867. PRESIDENT, 1869-1877. 
 
 [At the outbreak of the rebellion, 18G1, he said to a friend] : 
 
 THE government has educated me for the army. 
 What I am, I owe to my country. I have served 
 her through one war, and, live or die, will serve 
 her through this. Phelps. 
 
 [To the citizens of Paducah, Kentucky, September 6, 1861.] 
 
 I have come among you not as an enemy, but 
 as your fellow-citizen ; not to maltreat or annoy 
 you, but to respect and enforce the rights of all 
 loyal citizens. An enemy in rebellion against our
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 293 
 
 constitutional government has taken possession of, 
 and planted its guns on the soil of Kentucky, and 
 fired upon you. Columfeus and Hickman are in 
 his hands. He is moving upon your city. I ani 
 here to defend you against this enemy, to assert 
 the authority and sovereignty of your government. 
 I have nothing to do with opinions. I shall deal 
 only with armed rebellion and its aiders and abet- 
 tors. You can pursue your usual avocations 
 without fear. The strong arm of the government 
 is here to protect its friends, and punish its ene- 
 mies. Whenever it is manifest that you are able 
 to defend yourselves, and to maintain the authority 
 of the government, and protect the rights of loyal 
 citizens, I shall withdraw the forces under my 
 command. 
 
 [General Buckner, of the Confederate army at Fort Donel- 
 son, having sent a letter to General Grant, February 16, 
 1862, proposing " the appointment of Commissioners, to 
 agree upon terms of capitulation," General Grant re- 
 plied the same day.] 
 
 Yours of this date proposing an armistice and 
 the appointment of commissioners to settle on the 
 terms of capitulation, is just received. 
 
 No terms, except unconditional and immediate 
 surrender, can be accepted. 
 
 I propose to move immediately on your works. 
 I am, very respectfully, 
 
 Your obedient servant.
 
 294 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [After Mr. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, General 
 Grant issued the following order] : 
 
 MILLIKEN'S BEND, LOUISIANA. 
 
 Corps, division, and post commanders 
 
 will afford all facilities for the completion of the 
 negro regiments now organizing in this depart- 
 ment. Commissioners will issue supplies, and 
 quarter-masters will furnish stores, on the same 
 requisitions and returns as are required for other 
 troops. It is expected that all commanders will 
 especially exert themselves in carrying out the 
 policy of the Administration, not only in organiz- 
 ing colored regiments and rendering them efficient, 
 but also in removing prejudices against them. 
 
 [From a letter to General Banks, with reference to Vicks- 
 burg, May 25, 1863.] 
 
 ..... I feel that my force is abundantly strong 
 to hold the enemy where he is, or to whip him 
 should he come out. The place is so strongly for- 
 tified, however, that it cannot be taken without 
 either a great sacrifice of life or by a regular siege. 
 I have determined to adopt the latter course, and 
 save my men.
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 295 
 
 [To a proposition of General Pemberton, July 3, 1863, for 
 " an armistice for hours, with a view to arranging 
 terms for the capitulation of Vicksburg, ... to save the 
 further effusion of blood," General Grant replied the 
 same day] : 
 
 GENERAL : Your note of this date [July 3] 
 just received proposes an armistice of several 
 hours for the purpose of arranging terms of capitu- 
 lation through commissioners to be appointed, etc. 
 The effusion of blood you propose stopping by 
 this course can be ended at any time you may 
 choose, by an unconditional surrender of the city 
 and garrison. Men who have shown so much en- 
 durance and courage as those now in Vicksburg 
 will also challenge the respect of an adversary, 
 and, I can assure you, will be treated with all the 
 respect due to them as prisoners of war. I do 
 not favor the proposition of appointing commis- 
 sioners to arrange terms of capitulation, because 
 I have no other terms than those indicated above. 
 
 I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient 
 servant. 
 
 On the afternoon of the same day (July 3) Gen. 
 Pemberton sought an interview with Gen. Grant, 
 and said : " General Grant, I meet you in order 
 to arrange terms for the capitulation. What terms 
 do you demand ? " 
 
 " Unconditional surrender," was General Grant's 
 reply.
 
 296 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Pemberton rejoined : " Unconditional surren- 
 der ! Never, so long as I have a man left nie. I 
 will fight rather." 
 
 General tjrant replied, "Very well." 
 On July 4, came the following from Pember- 
 ton : " General, I have the honor to acknowledge 
 the receipt of your communication of this date, 
 and, in reply, to say that the terms proposed by 
 you are accepted." 
 
 [When recommending (1863) Sherman and McPherson for 
 promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General in the reg- 
 ular army, General Grant wrote] : 
 
 " The first reason for this is their great fitness 
 for any command that it may ever become neces- 
 sary to intrust to them. Second, their great 
 purity of character and disinterestedness in any- 
 thing except the faithful performance of their duty 
 and the success of every one engaged in the great 
 battle for the preservation of the Union. Third, 
 they have honorably won this distinction upon 
 many well-fought battle-fields. The promotion of 
 such men as Sherman and McPherson always adds 
 strength to our army." 
 
 [To a letter from Secretary Chase (July 4, 1863) , 
 in which he says : " I find that a rigorous line 
 within districts occupied by our military forces, 
 from beyond which no cotton or other produce can 
 be brought, and within which no trade can be
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 297 
 
 carried on, gives rise to serious and to some 
 apparently well-founded complaints." Gen. Grant 
 replied] : 
 
 My experience in West Tennessee has 
 
 convinced me that any trade whatever with the 
 rebel states is weakening to us of at least thirty- 
 three per- cent, of our force. No matter what the 
 restrictions thrown around trade, if any whatever 
 is allowed, it will be made the means of supplying 
 the enemy with what they want. Restrictions, if 
 lived up to, make trade unprofitable, and hence 
 none but dishonorable men go into it. I will ven- 
 ture to say that no honorable man has made money 
 in Western Tennessee in the last year, while many 
 fortunes have been made there during that time. 
 
 The people in the Mississippi valley are now 
 nearly subjugated. Keep trade out for a few 
 months, and I doubt not that the work of subjuga- 
 tion will be so complete, that trade can be opened 
 freely with the States of Arkansas, Louisiana, and 
 Mississippi ; that the people of these States Avill be 
 more anxious for the enforcement and protection 
 of our laws than the people of the loyal States. 
 They have experienced the misfortune of being 
 without them, and are now in a most happy con- 
 dition to appreciate their blessings. 
 
 No theory of my own will ever stand in the way 
 of my executing, in good faith, any order I may 
 receive from those in authority over me ; but my
 
 298 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 position has given me an opportunity of seeing 
 what would not be known by persons away from 
 the scene of war ; and, I venture, therefore, to 
 suggest great caution in opening trade with rebels. 
 
 VICKSBDRG, July 11, 1863. 
 
 "I am anxious to get as many of these negro 
 regiments as possible, and to have them full, and 
 completely equipped. ... I am particularly de- 
 sirous of organizing a regiment of heavy artillery 
 from the negroes, to garrison this place, and shall 
 do so as soon as possible." 
 
 VICKSBURG, July 24. 
 
 The negro troops are easier to preserve discipline 
 among than our white troops, and I doubt not will 
 prove equally good for garrison duty. All that 
 have been tried have fought bravely. 
 
 [In 1863, hearing that some negro troops in the service of 
 the United States had been hung at Milliken's Bend, 
 General Grant wrote to General Richard Taylor] : 
 
 I feel no inclination to retaliate for the offences 
 of irresponsible persons ; but if it is the policy of 
 any General intrusted with the command of troops 
 to show no quarter, or to punish with death pris- 
 oners taken in battle, I will accept the issue. It 
 ,may be you propose a different line of policy 
 towards black troops, and officers commanding 
 them, to that practiced towards white troops. If
 
 ULYSSES S. GKANT. 299 
 
 so, I can assure you that these colored troops are 
 regularly mustered into the service of the United 
 States. The Government, and all officers under 
 the Government, are bound to give the same pro- 
 tection to these troops that they do to any other 
 troops. 
 
 GENERAL ORDERS, No. 50, VICKSBURG, August 1, 1863. 
 
 2. The citizens of Mississippi within 
 
 the limits above described, are called upon to 
 pursue their peaceful avocations, in obedience to 
 the laws of the United States. Whilst doing so in 
 good faith, all the United States forces are pro- 
 hibited from molesting them in any way. It is 
 earnestly recommended that the freedom of negroes 
 be acknowledged, and that, instead of compulsory 
 labor, contracts on fair terms be entered into 
 between the former masters and servants, or 
 between the latter and other persons who may be 
 willing to give them employment. Such a system 
 as this, honestly followed, will result in substantial 
 advantages to all parties. 
 
 All private property will be respected, except 
 when the use of it is necessary for the government, 
 in which case it must be taken under the direction 
 of a commissioned officer, with specific instructions 
 to seize certain property, and no other. A staff 
 officer of the Quartermaster of Subsistence Depart- 
 ment will, in each instance, be designated to receipt
 
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 for such property as may be seized, the property 
 to be paid for at the end of the war on proof of 
 loyalty, or on proper adjustment of the claim, 
 under such regulations and laws as may hereafter 
 be established. 
 
 4. Within the county of Warren, laid 
 
 waste by the long presence of contending armies, 
 the following rules, to prevent suffering, will be 
 observed : Major-General Sherman and Major- 
 General McPherson will each nominate a Com- 
 missary of Subsistence who will issue articles of 
 prime necessity to all destitute families calling for 
 them, under such restrictions for the protection of 
 the government as they may deem necessary. 
 Families who are able to pay for the provisions 
 drawn, will in all cases be required to do so. 
 
 [On August 25, 1863, General Grant visited Memphis, Ten- 
 nessee. A committee of loyal citizens having tendered 
 him the hospitality of the city, he sent a letter of ac- 
 ceptance, in which he said] : 
 
 In accepting this testimonial, which I do at a 
 great sacrifice of my personal feelings, I simply 
 desire to pay a tribute to the first public exhibi- 
 tion in Memphis of loyalty to the government which 
 I represent in the Department of the Tennessee. 
 I should dislike to refuse, for considerations of 
 personal convenience, to acknowledge anywhere, or 
 in any form, the existence of sentiments I have so 
 long and so ardently desired to see manifested in
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 301 
 
 this department. The stability of this government 
 and the unity of this nation depend solely on the 
 cordial support and the earnest loyalty of the 
 people. While, therefore, I thank you sincerely 
 for the kind expressions you have used toward 
 myself, I am profoundly gratified at this public 
 recognition, in the city of Memphis, of the power 
 and authority of the government of the United 
 States. 
 
 [!N THE FIELD, CHATTANOOGA, TENN., December 10, 1863. 
 Congratulatory Order.] 
 
 The General commanding takes this opportu- 
 nity of returning his sincere thanks and congratu- 
 lations to the brave armies of the Cumberland, the 
 Ohio, and the Tennessee, and their comrades from 
 the Potomac, for their recent splendid and decisive 
 successes achieved over the enemy. In a short 
 time you have recovered from him the control of 
 the Tennessee River, from Bridgeport to Knox- 
 ville. You dislodged him from his great stronghold 
 upon Lookout Mountain, drove him from Chatta- 
 nooga Valley, wrested from his determined grasp 
 the possession of Missionary Ridge, repelled, with 
 heavy loss to him, his repeated assaults upon 
 Knoxville, forcing him to raise the siege there ; 
 driving him at all points, utterly routed and dis- 
 comfited, beyond the limits of the State. By 
 your noble heroism and determined courage 
 you have most effectually defeated the plans of
 
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 the enemy for regaining possession of the States 
 of Kentucky and Tennessee. You have secured 
 positions from which no rebellious power can 
 drive or dislodge you. .For all this, the General 
 commanding thanks you, collectively and individ- 
 ually. The loyal people of the United States 
 thank and bless you. Their hopes and prayers 
 for your success against this unholy rebellion are 
 with you daily. Their faith in you will not be in 
 vain. Their hopes will not be blasted. Their 
 prayers to Almighty God will be answered. You 
 will yet go to other fields of strife, and with the in- 
 vincible bravery and unflinching loyalty to justice 
 and right which have characterized you in the past, 
 you will prove that no enemy can withstand you, 
 and that no defence, however formidable, can 
 check your onward march. 
 
 IN THE WILDERNESS, HEAD-QUARTERS IN THE FIELD, > 
 May 11, 1864, 8 A. M. 5 
 
 We have now ended the sixth day of very 
 heavy fighting. The result, to this time, is very 
 much in our favor. Our losses have been heavy, 
 as have been those of the enemy. I think the 
 losses of the enemy must be greater. 
 
 We have taken over five thousand prisoners by 
 battle, while he has taken from us but few, except 
 stragglers. 
 
 I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes 
 all summer.
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 303 
 
 CITY POINT, VIRGINIA, August 16, 18G4. 
 
 To HON. E. B. WASHBURNE. 
 
 Dear Sir : I state to all citizens who visit me, 
 that all we want now to insure an early restora- 
 tion of the Union is a determined unity of senti- 
 ment North. The rebels have now in their ranks 
 their last man. The little boys and old men are 
 guarding prisoners, grading railroad bridges, and 
 forming a good part of their garrisons for en- 
 trenched positions. A man lost by them cannot 
 be replaced. They have robbed the cradle and 
 the grave equally to get their present force. Be- 
 sides what they lose in frequent skirmishes and 
 battles, they are now losing from desertion and 
 other causes at least one regiment per day. 
 
 With this drain upon them the end is not far 
 distant, if we will only be true to ourselves. Their 
 only hope now is in a divided North. This might 
 give them re-enforcements from Tennessee, Ken- 
 tucky, Maryland, and Missouri, while it would 
 weaken us. With the draft quickly enforced the 
 enemy would become despondent, and would make 
 but little resistance. I have no doubt but the 
 enemy are exceedingly anxious to hold out until 
 after the presidential election. They have many 
 hopes from its effects. 
 
 They hope a counter revolution ; they hope the 
 election of the Peace candidate. In fact, like
 
 * 
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 " Micawber," they hope for something to " turn 
 up." Our Peace friends, if they expect peace 
 from separation, are much mistaken. It would be 
 but the beginning of war with thousands of 
 
 O O 
 
 Northern men joining the South because of ^our 
 disgrace in allowing separation. To have " peace 
 on any terms," the South would demand the res- 
 toration of their slaves already freed ; they would 
 demand indemnity for losses sustained ; and they 
 would demand a treaty which would make the 
 North slave-hunters for the South. They would 
 demand pay for the restoration of every slave es- 
 caping to the North. 
 
 [Address to all the armies.] 
 
 WASHINGTON, June 2, 1SC5. 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED 
 STATES : By your patriotic devotion to your coun- 
 try in the hour of danger and alarm, your mag- 
 nificent fighting, bravery, and endurance, you 
 have maintained the supremacy of the Union and 
 the Constitution, overthrown all armed opposition to 
 the enforcement of the law, and of the proclamation 
 forever abolishing slavery, the cause and pre- 
 cept of the rebellion, and opened the way to 
 the rightful authorities to restore order and inaug- 
 urate peace on a permanent and enduring basis on 
 every foot of American soil. Your marches, 
 sieges, and battles, in distance, duration, resolu-
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 305 
 
 tion, and brilliancy of results, dim the lustre of 
 the world's past military achievements, and will be 
 the patriot's precedent in defence of liberty and 
 right in all time to come. In obedience to your 
 country's call you left your homes and families, 
 and volunteered in its defence. Victory has 
 crowned your valor, and secured the purpose of 
 your patriotic hearts ; and with the gratitude of 
 your countrymen, and the highest honors a great 
 and free nation can accord, you will soon be per- 
 mitted to return to your homes and families con- 
 scious of having discharged the highest duty of 
 American citizens. To achieve these glorious 
 triumphs, and secure to yourselves, your fellow- 
 countrymen, and posterity, the blessings of free 
 institutions, tens of thousands of your gallant 
 comrades have fallen and sealed the priceless 
 legacy with their lives. The graves of these a 
 grateful nation bedews with tears, honors their 
 memories, and will ever cherish and support their 
 stricken families. 
 
 [From the Report of the Operations of the Armies of the 
 United States, 1864-'65.] 
 
 WASHINGTON, July 22, 1865. 
 
 From an early period of the rebellion 
 
 I had been impressed with the idea that active and 
 continuous operations of all the troops that could 
 be brought into the field, regardless of season and
 
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 weather, were necessary to a speedy termination 
 of the war. The resources of the enemy and his 
 numerical strength were far inferior to ours ; but, 
 as an offset to this, we had a vast territory with a 
 population hostile to the government to garrison, 
 and long lines of river and railroad communica- 
 tions to protect, to enable us to supply the oper- 
 ating armies. 
 
 The armies in the East and West acted inde- 
 pendently and without concert, like a balky team, 
 no two ever pulling together, enabling the enemy 
 to use to great advantage his interior lines of com- 
 munication for transporting troops from East to 
 West, re-enforcing the army most vigorously 
 pressed, and to furlough large numbers, during 
 seasons of inactivity on our part, to go to their 
 homes and do the work of producing for the sup- 
 port of their armies. It was a question whether 
 our numerical strength and resources were not 
 more than balanced by these disadvantages and 
 the enemy's superior position. 
 
 From the first I was firm in the conviction that 
 no peace could be had that would be stable and 
 conducive to the happiness of the people, both 
 North and South, until the military power of the 
 rebellion was entirely broken. 
 
 I therefore determined, first, to use the greatest 
 number of troops practicable against the armed 
 force of the enemy; preventing him from using
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 307 
 
 the same force at different seasons against first 
 one and then another of our armies, and the possi- 
 bility of repose for refitting and producing neces- 
 sary supplies for carrying on resistance. Second, 
 to hammer continuously against the armed force 
 of the enemy and his resources, until by mere at- 
 trition, if in no other way, there should be nothing 
 left to him but an equal submission with the loyal 
 section of our common country to the Constitu- 
 tion and laws of the land. 
 
 
 
 It has been my fortune to see the armies of both 
 the West and East fight battles, and from what I 
 have seen I know there is no difference in their 
 fighting qualities. All that it was possible for men 
 to do in battle they have done. The Western 
 armies commenced their battles in the Mississippi 
 Valley, and received the final surrender of the 
 remnant of the principal army opposed to them in 
 North Carolina. The armies of the East com- 
 menced their battles on the river from which the 
 Army of the Potomac derived its name, and 
 received the final surrender of their old antagonist 
 at Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The 
 splendid achievements of each have nationalized 
 our victories, removed all sectional jealousies, (of 
 which we have unfortunately experienced too 
 much,) and the cause of crimination and recrimi- 
 nation that might have followed had either section
 
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 failed in its duty. All have a proud record, and 
 all sections can well congratulate themselves and 
 each other for having done their full share in 
 restoring the supremacy of law over every foot of 
 territory belonging to the United States. Let 
 them hope for perpetual peace and harmony with 
 that enemy, whose manhood, however mistaken 
 the cause, drew forth such herculean deeds of valor. 
 
 [When, August 17, 1867, President Johnson ordered Gen- 
 eral Grant to remove from command at New Orleans 
 General Sheridan, and at the same time asked him to 
 make suggestions in regard to the order, General Grant 
 replied] : 
 
 I am pleased to avail myself of this invitation 
 to urge, earnestly urge, in the name of a patriotic 
 people who have sacrificed hundreds of thousands 
 of loyal lives, and thousands of millions of treasure, 
 to preserve the integrity and union of this country, 
 that this order be not insisted on. It is unmis- 
 takably the expressed wish of the country that 
 General Sheridan should not be removed from his 
 present command. 
 
 This is a republic where the will of the people 
 is the law of the land. I beg that then* voice may 
 be heard. 
 
 General Sheridan has performed his civil duties 
 faithfully and intelligently. His removal will only 
 be regarded as an effort to defeat the laws of 
 Congress.
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 309 
 
 [During the suspension, for political reasons, of Mr. Stanton 
 as Secretary of War, by President Johnson, General 
 Grant was appointed Secretary of War, ad interim. 
 When the Senate, January 13, 1868, passed a resolution 
 of non-concurrence with the suspension, General Grant 
 immediately surrendered the keys of the office, which 
 ofl'ended Mr. Johnson. A correspondence between them 
 ensued. General Grant's closing letter is as follows] : 
 
 The course you understood I agreed to pursue 
 was in violation of law, and that without orders 
 from you ; while the course I did pursue, and 
 which I never doubted you fully understood, was 
 in accordance with law, and not in disobedience 
 of any orders of my superior. 
 
 And now, Mr. President, when my honor as a 
 soldier, and integrity as a man, have been so 
 violently assailed, pardon me for saying that I can 
 but regard this whole matter, from beginning to 
 end, as an attempt to involve me in the resistance 
 of law for which you hesitated to assume the 
 responsibility, in order thus to destroy my char- 
 acter before the country. I am in a measure 
 confirmed in this conclusion by your recent orders 
 directing me to disobey orders from the Secretary 
 of War, my superior, and your subordinate, with- 
 out having countermanded his authority. I con- 
 clude with the assurance, Mr. President, that 
 nothing less than a vindication of my personal 
 honor and character could have induced this cor- 
 respondence on my part.
 
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 [From his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1869.] 
 
 CITIZENS or THE UNITED STATES : Your suffrages 
 having elected me to the office of President of the 
 United States, I have, in conformity with the Con- 
 stitution of our country, taken the oath of office 
 prescribed therein. I have taken this oath without 
 mental reservation, and with a determination to 
 do, to the best of my ability, all that it requires 
 of me. 
 
 The responsibilities of the position I feel, but 
 accept them without fear. The office has come to 
 me unsought ; I commence its duties untram- 
 melled. I bring to it a conscious desire and deter- 
 mination to fill it, to the best of my ability, to the 
 satisfaction of the people. On all leading ques- 
 tions agitating the public mind I will always ex- 
 press my views to Congress, and urge them accord- 
 ing to my judgment, and when I think it advisable, 
 will exercise the constitutional privilege of inter- 
 posing a veto to defeat measures which I oppose. 
 But all laws will be faithfully executed, whether 
 they meet my approval or not. 
 
 I shall on all subjects have a policy to recom- 
 mend, none to enforce against the will of the peo- 
 ple. Laws are to govern all alike those opposed 
 to as well as those in favor of them. I know no 
 method to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious 
 laws so effectual as their strict execution
 
 ULYSSES S. GRAJST. 311 
 
 A great debt has been contracted in securing to 
 us and our posterity the Union. The payment 
 of this, principal and interest, as well as the re- 
 turn to a specie basis as soon as it can be accom- 
 plished without material detriment to the debtor 
 class or to the country at large, must be provided 
 for. To protect the national honor, every dollar 
 of the government indebtedness should be paid in 
 gold, unless otherwise especially stipulated in the 
 contract. Let it be understood that no repudia- 
 tion of one farthing of our public debt will be 
 trusted in public places, anckit will go far towards 
 strengthening a credit which ought to be the best 
 in the world, and will ultimately enable us to re- 
 place the debt with bonds bearing less interest 
 than we now pay. 
 
 [From a Message, December, 1870.] 
 
 As soon as I learned that a Republic had 
 
 been proclaimed at Paris, and the people of France 
 had acquiesced in the change, the- minister of the 
 United States was directed by telegraph to recog- 
 nize it, and to tender my congratulations and those 
 of the people of the United States. The re-estab- 
 lishment in France of a system of government dis- 
 connected with the dynastic traditions of Europe 
 appeared to be a proper subject for the feli citations 
 of Americans. Should the present struggle result in 
 attaching the hearts of the French to our simpler
 
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 form of representative government, it will be a sub- 
 ject of still further satisfaction to our people. While 
 we make no effort to impose our institutions upon 
 the inhabitants of other countries, and while we 
 adhere to our traditional neutrality in civil contests 
 'elsewhere, we cannot be indifferent to the spread 
 of American political ideas in a great and highly 
 civilized country like France. 
 
 [From a Message, December, 1871.] 
 
 In Utah there still remains a remnant of 
 
 barbarism repugnant to civilization, to decency, 
 and to the laws of the United States. . . . Neither 
 polygamy nor any other violation of existing stat- 
 utes will be permitted within the territory of the 
 United States. It is not with the religion of the 
 self-styled Saints that we are now dealing, but 
 with their practices. They will be protected in 
 the worship of God according to the dictates of 
 their own consciences, but they will not be per- 
 mitted to violate the laws under the cloak of reli- 
 gion. 
 
 [From a Message, December 7, 1875.] 
 
 As we are now about to enter upon our 
 
 second centennial commencing our manhood as 
 a nation it is well to look back upon the past, 
 and study what will be best to preserve and ad- 
 vance our future greatness. ..... 
 
 We should look to the dangers threatening us,
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 313 
 
 and remove them as far as lies in our power. We 
 are a republic whereof one man is as good as an- 
 other before the law. Under such a form of gov- 
 ernment, it is of the greatest importance that all 
 should be possessed of education and intelligence 
 enough to cast a vote with a right understanding 
 of its meaning. A large association of ignorant 
 men cannot, for any considerable period, oppose a 
 successful resistance to tyranny and oppression 
 from the educated few, but will inevitably sink into 
 acquiescence to the will of intelligence, whether 
 directed by the demagogue or by priestcraft. 
 Hence the education of the masses becomes of the 
 first necessity for the preservation of our institu- 
 tions. They are worth preserving, because they 
 have secured the greatest good to the greatest pro- 
 portion of the population of any form of govern- 
 ment yet devised. All other forms of government 
 approach it in proportion to the general diffusion 
 of education and independence of thought and ac- 
 tion. As the principal step, therefore, to our 
 advancement in all that has marked our progress 
 in the past century, I suggest for your earnest con- 
 sideration, and most earnestly recommend it, that 
 a constitutional amendment be submitted to the 
 legislatures of the several States for ratification, 
 making it the duty of each of the several States 
 to establish and forever maintain free public 
 schools adequate to the education of all the chil-
 
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 dren in the rudimentary branches within their re- 
 spective limits, irrespective of sex, color, birthplace 
 or religions ; forbidding the teaching in said schools 
 of religious, atheistic, or pagan tenets ; and pro- 
 hibiting the granting of any school funds or school 
 taxes, or any part thereof, either by legislative, 
 municipal, or other authority, for the benefit or in 
 aid, directly or indirectly, of any religious sect or 
 denomination, or in aid or for the benefit of any 
 other object of any nature or kind whatever. 
 
 [From a Speech at the Annual Reunion of the Army of the 
 Tennessee, at Des Moines, Iowa, September 29, 1875.] 
 
 Comrades : It always affords me much gratifi- 
 cation to meet my old comrades in arms of ten or 
 fourteen years ago, and to live over again in mem- 
 ory the trials and hardships of those days hard- 
 ships imposed for the preservation and perpetuation 
 of our free institutions. We believed then, and 
 believe now, that we had a good government, worth 
 fighting for, and, if need be, dying for. How many 
 of our comrades of those days paid the latter price 
 for our preserved Union I Let their heroism and 
 sacrifices be ever green and in our memory. Let 
 not the results of their sacrifices be destroyed. 
 The Union and the free institutions for which 
 they fell, should be held more dear for their sacri- 
 fices. We will not deny to any of those who
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 315 
 
 fought against us any privileges under the govern- 
 ment which we claim for ourselves ; on the contra- 
 ry, we honor all such who come forward in good 
 faith to help build up the waste places, and to per- 
 petuate our institutions against all enemies, as 
 brothers in full interest with us in a common heri- 
 tage ; but we are not prepared to apologize for the 
 part we took in the war. It is to be hoped that 
 like trials will never again befall our country. In 
 this sentiment no class of people can more heartily 
 join than the soldier, who submitted to the dangers, 
 trials, and hardships of the camp and the battle- 
 field. On whichever side they may have fought, 
 no class of people are more interested in guarding 
 against a recurrence of those days. 
 
 Let us then begin by guarding against every 
 enemy threatening the perpetuity of free republican 
 institutions. I do not bring into this assemblage 
 politics, certainly not partisan politics ; but it is a 
 fair subject for soldiers in their deliberations to 
 consider what may be necessary to secure the prize 
 for which they battled in a republic like ours. 
 AVhere the citizen is sovereign and the official the 
 servant, where no power is exercised except by the 
 will of the people, it is important that the sover- 
 eign the people should possess intelligence. 
 
 The free school is the promoter of that intelli- 
 gence which is to preserve us as a free nation. If 
 we are to have another contest in the near future
 
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 \ 
 
 of our national existence, I predict that the divid- 
 ing line will not be Mason and Dixon's, but between 
 patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and 
 superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other. 
 Now in this centennial year of our national exist- 
 ence, I believe it a good time to begin the work of 
 strengthening the foundation of the house com- 
 menced by our patriotic forefathers one hundred 
 years ago, at Concord and Lexington. Let us 
 all labor to add all needful guarantees for the 
 more perfect security of free thought, free speech, 
 and free press, pure morals, unfettered religious 
 sentiments, and of equal rights and privileges to 
 all men, irrespective of nationality, color, or re- 
 ligion. Encourage free schools, and resolve that 
 not one dollar of money appropriated to their 
 support, no matter how raised, shall be appro- 
 priated to the support of any sectarian school. 
 Resolve that the State or Nation, or both combined, 
 shall furnish to every child growing up in the land, 
 the means of acquiring a good common-school edu- 
 cation, unmixed with sectarian, pagan, or atheistic 
 tenets. Leave the matter of religion to the family 
 altar, the church, and the private school support- 
 ed entirely by private contributions. Keep the 
 church and state forever separate. With these 
 safeguards, I believe the battles which created the 
 Army of the Tennessee will not have been fought 
 in vain.
 
 ULYSSES S. GEANT. 317 
 
 [From a Letter explanatory of a passage in the above 
 Speech.] 
 
 I . feel no hostility to free education going as 
 high as the state or national government feels able 
 to provide, protecting, however, every child in 
 the privilege of a common-school education be- 
 fore public means are applied to a higher educa- 
 tion for the few. 
 
 [From a Message.] 
 
 In a former Message to Congress I had occasion 
 to consider this question, [the recognition of bel- 
 ligerent rights,] and reached the conclusion that 
 the conflict in Cuba, dreadful and devastating as 
 were its incidents, did not rise to the fearful dig- 
 nity of war. 
 
 [From a Message, December, 1876.] 
 
 The compulsory support of the free 
 
 schools, and the disfranchisement of all who can- 
 not read and write the English language, after a 
 fixed probation, would meet my hearty approval.* 
 
 [Veto Message of the Senate Currency Bill.] 
 
 I am not a believer in any artificial method of 
 making paper mpney equal to coin when the coin 
 
 * He would not have this action retrospective. It should 
 apply only to future voters.
 
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 is not owned or held ready to redeem the promise 
 to pay, for paper money is nothing more than 
 promises to pay. 
 
 [From a Speech at a banquet in the Town-hall, Birming- 
 ham, October 17.] 
 
 He [Mr. Chamberlain, M. P.] alluded 
 
 to the great merit of retiring a large army at the 
 close of a great war. If he had ever been in my 
 position for four years, and undergone all the 
 anxiety and care that I had in the management 
 of those large armies, he would appreciate how 
 happy I was to be able to say that they could be 
 dispensed with. I disclaim all credit and praise 
 for doing that one thing. . . . Further, we 
 Americans claim to be so much of Englishmen, 
 and to have so much general intelligence, and so 
 much personal independence and individuality, 
 that we do not quite believe that it is possible for 
 any one man there to assume any more right and 
 authority than the constitution of the land gave to 
 him. Among the English-speaking people we do 
 not think these things possible. We can fight among 
 ourselves, and dispute and abuse each other, but 
 we will not allow ourselves to be abused outside ; 
 nor will those who look on at our little personal 
 quarrels in our own midst permit us to interfere 
 with their own rights. Around the. World with 
 General Grant, by John Russell Young.
 
 ULYSSES S. GKANT. 319 
 
 [From a Speech, in reply to an Address on behalf of the 
 International Arbitration Union, Birmingham.] 
 
 I am conscientiously, and have been 
 
 from the beginning, an advocate of what the so- 
 ciety represented by you is seeking to carry out ; 
 and nothing would afford me greater happiness 
 than to know, as I believe will be the case, that, 
 at some future day, the nations of the earth will 
 agree upon some sort of Congress, which shall 
 take cognizance of international questions of diffi- 
 culty, and whose decisions will be as binding as 
 the decision of our Supreme Court is binding on 
 us. It is a dream of mine that some such solution 
 may be found for all questions of great difficulty 
 that may arise between different nations. In one 
 of the addresses reference was made to the dismis- 
 sal of the army to the pursuit of peaceful industry. 
 I would gladly see the millions of men who are 
 now supported by the industry of the nations re- 
 turn to industrial pursuits, and thus become sen- 
 sustaining, and take off the tax upon labor winch 
 is now levied for their support. Around the 
 World. 
 
 [In reply to an Address of the Iron-Founders' Society, 
 July 3, 1877.] 
 
 I recognize the fact that whatever there 
 
 is of greatness in the United States, or indeed hi 
 any other country, is due to the labor performed.
 
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 The laborer is the author of all greatness and 
 wealth. Without labor there would be no govern- 
 ment, or no leading class, or nothing to preserve. 
 With us labor is regarded as highly respectable. 
 Around the World. 
 
 [At a lunch in the Guild hall, London, June 16, 1877. After 
 having spoken once before, he said] : 
 
 Habits formed in early life and early education 
 press upon us as we grow older. I am not aware 
 that I ever fought two battles on the same day in 
 the same place, and that I should be called upon 
 to make two speeches on the same day under the 
 same roof is beyond my understanding. What I 
 do understand is, that I am much indebted to all 
 of you for the compliments you have paid me. 
 All I can do is to thank the Lord Mayor for his 
 kind words, and to thank the citizens of Great 
 Britain here present in the name of my country 
 and for myself. 
 
 [Later in the day, at a dinner in the Crystal Palace, Mr. 
 Thomas Hughes proposed the health of General Grant, 
 adding that he did not impose the burden of a reply. 
 General Grant, however, said] : 
 
 Mr. Hughes, I must none the less tell you what 
 gratification it gives me to hear my health pro- 
 posed in such hearty words by Tom Brown, of 
 Rugby. Around the World.
 
 ULYSSES S. GKANT. 321 
 
 [A Speech at a dinner-party at Hamburg, of American la- 
 dies and gentlemen, July 4, 1878.] 
 
 MR. CONSUL AND FRIENDS : I am much obliged 
 to you for the kind manner in which you drink my 
 health. I share with you in all the pleasure and 
 gratitude which Americans so far from home should 
 feel on this anniversary. But I must dissent from 
 one remark of our consul, to the effect that I saved 
 the country during the recent war. If our country 
 could be saved or ruined by the efforts of any one 
 man we should not have a country, and we should 
 not be now celebrating our Fourth of July. There 
 are many men who would have done far better 
 than I did under the circumstances in which I 
 found myself during the war. If I had never held 
 command ; if I had fallen ; if all our generals had 
 fallen, there were ten thousand behind us who 
 Avould have done our work just as well, who would 
 have followed the contest to the end, and never 
 surrendered the Union. Therefore it is a mistake, 
 and a reflection upon the people, to attribute to 
 me, or to any number of men who held high com- 
 mand, the salvation of the Union. We did our 
 work as well as we could, and so did hundreds of 
 thousands of others. "We deserve no credit for it, 
 for we should have been unworthy of our country 
 and of the American name, if we had not made 
 
 every sacrifice to save the Union. What saved 
 21
 
 322 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the Union was the coming forward of the young 
 men of the nation. They came from their homes 
 and fields, as they did in the time of the Revolu- 
 tion, giving everything to the country. To their 
 devotion we owe the salvation of the Union. The 
 humblest soldier who carried a musket is entitled 
 to as much credit for the results of the war as 
 those who were in command. So long as our 
 young men are animated by this spirit there will 
 be no fear for the Union. Around the World. 
 
 With a people as honest and proud as the Am- 
 ericans, and with so much common-sense, it is 
 always a mistake to do a thing not entirely right 
 for the sake of expediency. Around the World. 
 
 When I was in the army I had a physique that 
 could stand anything. Whether I slept on the 
 ground or in a tent, whether I slept one hour or 
 ten in the twenty-four, whether I had one meal 
 or three, or none, made no difference. I could lie 
 down and sleep in the rain without caring. But I 
 was many years younger, and I could not hope to 
 do that now. Around the World. 
 
 The only eyes a general can trust are his own. 
 Around the World. 
 
 I never saw the President [Lincoln] until he 
 gave me my commission as Lieutenant-general.
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 323 
 
 Afterwards I saw him often, either in Washington 
 or at head-quarters. Lincoln, I may almost say, 
 spent the last days of his life with me. I often 
 recall those days. He came down to City Point 
 in the last month of the war, and was with me all 
 the time. He lived on a dispatch-boat in the 
 river, but was always around head-quarters. He 
 was a fine horseman, and rode my horse Cincin- 
 nati. He visited the different camps, and I did all 
 I could to interest him. He was very anxious 
 about the war closing ; was afraid we could not 
 stand a new campaign, and wanted to be around 
 when the crash came. 
 
 I have no doubt that Lincoln will be the con- 
 spicuous figure of the war ; one of the great figures 
 of history. He was a great man, a very great 
 man. The more I saw of him, the more this im- 
 pressed me. He was incontestably the greatest 
 man I ever knew. What marked him especially 
 was his sincerity, his kindness, his clear insight 
 into affairs. Under all this he had a firm will, 
 and a clear policy. People used to say that 
 Seward swa} r ed him, or Chase, or Stanton. This 
 was a mistake. He might appear to go Seward's 
 way one day, and Stanton's another, but all the 
 time he was going his own course, and they with 
 him. It was that gentle firmness in carrying out 
 his own will, without apparent force or friction, 
 that formed the basis of his character, He was a
 
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 wonderful talker and teller of stories. It is said 
 his stories were improper. I have heard of them, 
 but I never heard Lincoln use an improper word 
 or phrase. I have sometimes, when I hear his 
 memory called in question, tried to recall such a 
 thing, but I cannot. I always found him pre- 
 eminently, a clean-minded man. I regard these 
 stories as exaggerations. Lincoln's power of il- 
 lustration, his humor, was inexhaustible. He had 
 a story or an illustration for everything. Around 
 the World. 
 
 I would deal with nations as equitable law re- 
 quires individuals to deal with each other. 
 
 I knew Stonewall Jackson at West Point and in 
 Mexico. At West Point he came into the school 
 at an older age than the average, and be^an with a 
 
 O ~ 7 O 
 
 low grade. But he had so much courage and 
 energy, worked so hard, and governed his life by 
 a discipline so stern, that he steadily worked his 
 way along and rose far above others who had more 
 advantages. Stonewall Jackson at West Point 
 was in a state of constant improvement. He was 
 a religious man then, and some of us regarded him 
 as a fanatic. Sometimes his religion took strange 
 forms hypochondria fancies that an Evil Spirit 
 had taken possession of him. But he never re- 
 laxed in his studies or his Christian duties. I 
 knew him in Mexico. He was always a brave and
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 325 
 
 trustworthy officer, none more so in the army. I 
 never knew him or encountered him in the rebellion. 
 I question whether his campaigns in Virginia justify 
 his reputation as a great commander. He was 
 killed too soon, and before his rank allowed him 
 a great command. It would have been a test of 
 generalship if Jackson had met Sheridan in the 
 Valley, instead of some of the men he did meet. 
 From all I know of Jackson, and all I see of his 
 campaigns, I have little doubt of the result. If 
 Jackson had attempted on Sheridan the tactics he 
 attempted so successfully upon others he would 
 not only have been beaten but destroyed. Sudden 
 daring raids, under a fine general like Jackson, 
 might do against raw troops and inexperienced 
 commanders, such as we had in the beginning of 
 the war, but not against drilled troops and a com- 
 mander like Sheridan. The tactics for which 
 Jackson is famous, and which achieved such re- 
 markable results, belonged entirely to the beginning 
 of the war and to the peculiar conditions under 
 which the earlier battles were fought. They would 
 have ensured destruction to any commander who 
 tried them upon Sherman, Thomas, Sheridan, 
 Meade, or, in fact, any of our great generals. 
 Consequently Jackson's fame as a general depends 
 upon achievements gained before his generalship 
 was tested, before he had a chance of matching 
 himself with a really great commander. No doubt
 
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 so able and patient a man as Jackson, who worked 
 so hard at anything he attempted, would have 
 adapted himself to new conditions and risen with 
 them. He died before his opportunity. I always 
 respected Jackson personally, and esteemed his 
 sincere and manly character. He impressed me 
 always as a man of the Cromwell stamp, a Puri- 
 tan much more of the New Englander than the 
 Virginian. If any man believed in the rebellion, 
 he did. And his nature was such that whatever 
 he believed in became a deep religious duty, a 
 duty he would discharge at any cost. It is a 
 mistake to suppose that I ever had any feeling for 
 Stonewall Jackson but respect. Personally we 
 were always good friends ; his character had rare 
 points of merit, and although he made the mistake 
 of fighting against his country, if ever a man did 
 so conscientiously, he was the man. Around the 
 World. 
 
 The war, when it broke out, found me relieved 
 from the army, and engaged in my father's business 
 in Galena, Illinois. A company of volunteers 
 were formed under the first call of the President. 
 I had no position in the company, but having had 
 military experience I agreed to go with the com- 
 pany to Springfield, the capital of the State, and 
 assist in drill. When I reached Springfield I was 
 assigned to duty in the Adjutant's Department, and
 
 ULYSSES S. GEANT. 327 
 
 did a good share of the detail work. I had had 
 experience in Mexico. As soon as the work of 
 mustering-in was over, I asked Gov. Gates for a 
 week's leave of absence to visit my parents in 
 Covington. The Governor gave me the leave. 
 While I wanted to pay a visit home, I was also 
 anxious to see McClellan. McClellan was then in 
 Cincinnati in command. He had been appointed 
 Major-General in the regular army. I was de- 
 lighted with the appointment. I knew McClellan 
 and had great confidence in him. I have, for that 
 matter, never lost my respect for McClellan's 
 character, nor my confidence in his loyalty and 
 ability. I saw in him the man who was to pilot us 
 through, and I wanted to be on his staff. I 
 thought that if he would make me a major, or 
 a lieutenant-colonel, I could be of use, and I 
 wanted to be with him. So when I came to Cin- 
 cinnati I went to the head-quarters. Several of 
 the staff officers were friends I had known in the 
 army. I asked one of them if the General was 
 in. I was told he had just gone out, and was 
 asked to take a seat. Everybody was so busy 
 that they could not say a word. I waited a 
 couple of hours. I never saw such a busy crowd 
 so many men at an army head-quarters with quills 
 behind their ears. But I supposed it was all right, 
 and was much encouraged by their industry. It 
 was a great comfort to see the men so busy with
 
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 the quills. Finally, after a long wait, I told an 
 officer that I would come in again next day, and 
 requested him to tell McClellan that I had called. 
 Next day I came in. The same story. The 
 general had just gone out, might be in at any 
 moment. Would I wait? I sat and waited for 
 two hours, watching the officers with their quills, 
 and left. . . . McClellan never acknowledged my 
 call, and, of course, after he knew I had -been at 
 his head-quarters I was bound to await his ac- 
 knowledgment. I was older, had ranked him in 
 the army, and could not hang around, his head- 
 quarters watching the men with the quills behind 
 their ears. I went over to make a visit to an old 
 army friend, Reynolds, and while there learned 
 that Governor Gates, of Illinois, had made me a 
 colonel of volunteers. Still I should like to have 
 joined McClellan. 
 
 This pomp and ceremony was common at the 
 beginning of the war. McClellan had three times 
 as many men with quills behind their ears as I had 
 ever found necessary at the head-quarters of a much 
 larger command. Fremont had as much state as a 
 Sovereign, and was as difficult to approach. His 
 headquarters alone required as much transporta- 
 tion -as a division of troops. I was under his com- 
 mand a part of the time, and remember hoAV impos- 
 ing was his manner of doing business. He sat in a 
 room in full uniform, with his maps -before him.
 
 ULYSSES S. GEANT. 329 
 
 When you went in, he would point out one line- or 
 another in a mysterious manner, never asking you 
 to take a seat. You left without the least idea of 
 what he meant or what he wanted you to do. 
 
 McClellan is to me one of the mysteries 
 
 of the war. As a young man he was always a mys- 
 tery. He had the way of inspiring you with the 
 idea of immense capacity, if he would only have a 
 chance. Then he is a man of unusual accomplish- 
 ments, a student and a well-read man. I have never 
 studied his campaigns enough to make up my mind 
 as to his military skill, but all my impressions are 
 in his favor. I have entire confidence in McClellan's 
 loyality and patriotism. But the test which was 
 applied to him would be terrible to any man, being 
 made a major-general at the beginning of the war. 
 It has always seemed to me that the critics of Mc- 
 Clellan do not consider this vast and cruel responsi- 
 bility the war a new thing to all of us, the army 
 new, everything to do from the outset, with a rest- 
 less people and Congress. McClellan was a young 
 man when this devolved upon him, and if he did 
 not succeed, it was because the conditions of suc- 
 cess were so trying. If McClellan had gone into the 
 war as did Sherman, Thomas, orMeade, had fought 
 his way along and up, I have no reason to suppose 
 he would not have now as high a distinction as any 
 of us. McClellan's main blunder was in allowing 
 himself political sympathies, and in permitting him-
 
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 self to become the critic of the President, and in 
 time his rival. This is shown in his letter to Mr. 
 Lincoln on his return to Harrison's Landing, when 
 he sat down and wrote out a policy for the govern- 
 ment. He was forced into this by his associations, 
 and that led to his nomination for the presidency. 
 I remember how disappointed I was about this let- 
 ter, and also in his failure to destroy Lee at Antie- 
 tam. His friends say that he failed because of the in- 
 terference from Washington. I am afraid the inter- 
 ference from Washington was not from Mr. Lincoln 
 so much as from the enemies of the administration, 
 who believed they could carry their point through 
 the army of the Potomac. My own experience with 
 Mr. Lincoln and Mr. Stanton, both in the western 
 and eastern armies, was the reverse. I was never 
 interfered with. I had the fullest support of the 
 President and Secretary of War. No general could 
 want better backing, for the President was a man 
 of great wisdom and moderation, the Secretary a 
 man of enormous character and will. Very often 
 where Lincoln would want to say Yes, his Secretary 
 would make him say No ; and more frequently when 
 the Secretary was driving on in a violent course, the 
 President would check him. United, Lincoln and 
 Stanton made about as perfect a combination as I 
 believe could, by any possibility, govern a great 
 nation in time of war. Around the World.
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 331 
 
 A general who will never take a chance in a bat- 
 tle will never fight one. Around the World. 
 
 Sherman is not only a great soldier, but a great 
 man. He is one of the very great men in our 
 country's history. He is a many-sided man. He 
 is an orator with few superiors. As a writer he is 
 among the first. As a general I know of no man 
 I would put above -him. Above all, he has a fine 
 character so frank, so sincere, so outspoken, so 
 genuine. There is not a false line in Sherman's 
 character nothing to regret 
 
 The march to the sea was proposed by me in a 
 letter to Halleck before I left the Western army ; 
 my objective point was Mobile. It was not a sud- 
 den inspiration, but a logical move in the game. 
 It was the next thing to be done. We had gone 
 so far into the South that we had to go to the sea. 
 We could not go anywhere else, for we were cer- 
 tainly not going back. The details of the march, 
 the conduct, the whole glory belong to Sherman. 
 I never thought much as to the origin of the idea. 
 I presume it grew up in correspondence with 
 Sherman ; that it took shape as those things always 
 do. Sherman is a man w r ith so many resources 
 and a mind so fertile, that once an idea takes root 
 it grows rapidly. My objection to Sherman's plan 
 at the time, and my objection now, was his leaving 
 Hood's army in the rear. I always wanted the
 
 332 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 march to the sea, but at the same time I wanted 
 Hood. Around the World. 
 
 [From his Speech in London, when presented with the free- 
 dom of the city, June 15, 1877.] 
 
 Although a soldier by education and profession, 
 I have never felt any sort of fondness for war, and I 
 have never advocated it except as a means of peace. 
 Around the World. 
 
 I was never more delighted at anything than the 
 close of the war. I never liked service in the 
 army not as a young officer. I did not want to 
 go to West Point. My appointment was an acci- 
 dent, and my father had to use his authority to 
 make me go. If I could have escaped West Point 
 without bringing myself into disgrace at home, I 
 would have done so. I remember about the time 
 I entered the Academy there were debates in Con- 
 gress over a proposal to abolish West Point. I 
 used to look over the papers and read the Congress 
 reports with eagerness to see the progress the bill 
 made, and hoping to hear that the school had been 
 abolished, and that I could go home to my father 
 without being in disgrace. I never went into a 
 battle willingly or with enthusiasm. I was always 
 glad when a battle was over. I never want to 
 command another army. I take no interest in 
 armies. When the Duke of Cambridge asked me 
 to review his troops at Aldershot, I told his Royal
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 333 
 
 Highness that the one thing I never wanted to see 
 again was a military parade. When I resigned 
 from the army and went to a farm I was happy. 
 When the rebellion came I returned to the service 
 because it was a duty. I had no thought of rank ; 
 all I did was to try and make myself useful. My 
 first commission as brigadier came on the unani- 
 mous indorsement of the delegation from Illinois. 
 I do not think I knew any of the members but 
 'Washburne, and I did not know him very well. 
 It was only after Donelson that I began to see how 
 important was the work that Providence devolved 
 upon me. . . . You see, Donelson was our first 
 clear victory, and you will remember the enthusi- 
 asm that came With it. ... When other com- 
 mands came I always regretted them. When the 
 bill creating the grade of Lieutenant-General was 
 proposed, with my name as Lieutenant-General, I 
 wrote Mr. Washburne opposing it. I did not 
 want it. I found that the bill was right and I was 
 
 O 
 
 wrong, when I came to command the Army of the 
 Potomac that a head was needed to the army. I 
 did not want the Presidency, and have never quite 
 forgiven myself for resigning the command of the 
 army to accept it ; but it could not be helped. I 
 owed my honors and opportunities to the Republi- 
 can party, and if my name could aid it I was 
 bound to accept. The second nomination was 
 almost due to me if I may use the phrase be-
 
 334 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 cause of the bitterness of political personal op- 
 ponents. My re-election was a great gratification, 
 because it showed me how the country felt. 
 Around the World. 
 
 I always dreaded going to the Army of the 
 Potomac. After the battle of Gettysburg I was 
 told I could have the command, but I managed to 
 keep out of it. I had seen so many generals fall, 
 one after another, like bricks in a row, that I " 
 shrank from it. After the battle of Mission Ridge, 
 and my appointment as Lieutenant-General, and I 
 was allowed to choose my place, it could not be 
 avoided. Then it seemed as if the time was ripe, 
 and I had no hesitation. Around the World. 
 
 The most troublesome men in public life, are 
 those over-righteous people who see no motive in 
 other people's actions but evil motives ; who be- 
 lieve all public life is corrupt, and nothing is well 
 done unless they do it themselves. They are nar- 
 row-headed men, their two eyes so close together 
 that they can look out of the same gimlet-hole 
 without winking. Around the World. 
 
 Andrew Johnson, one of the ablest of the poor 
 white class, tried to assert some independence ; 
 but as soon as the slaveholders put their thumb 
 upon him, even in the Presidency, he became 
 their slave. Around the World.
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 335 
 
 I do not believe in luck in war any more than 
 in luck in business. Luck is a small matter ; may 
 affect a battle or a movement, but not a campaign 
 or a career. Around the World. 
 
 Speaking of the notable men I have met in Eu- 
 rope, I regard Bismarck and Gambetta as the 
 greatest. I saw a good deal of Bismark in Berlin, 
 and later in Gastein, and had long talks with him. 
 He impresses you as a great man. 
 
 Gambetta also impressed me greatly. I was 
 not surprised, when I met him, to see the power he 
 wielded over France. I should not be surprised 
 at any prominence he might attain in the future. I 
 was very much pleased with the Republican lead- 
 ers in France. They seemed a superior body of 
 men. My relations, with them gave me great hopes 
 for the future of the Republic. They were men 
 apparently of sense, wisdom, and moderation. 
 Around the World. 
 
 I have always had an aversion to Napoleon and 
 the whole family. When I was in Denmark the 
 Prince Imperial was there, and some one thought 
 it might be pleasant for me to meet him. I de- 
 clined, saying I did not want to see him or any of 
 his family. Of course the first emperor was a 
 great genius, but one of the most selfish and cruel 
 men in history. Outside of his military skill, I do
 
 336 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 not see a redeeming trait in his character. He 
 abused France for his own ends, and brought incred- 
 ible disasters upon his country to gratify his selfish 
 ambition.- I do not think any genius can excuse a 
 crime like that. The third Napoleon was worse 
 than the first, the especial enemy of America and 
 liberty. Think of the misery he brought upon 
 France by a war, which, under the circumstances, 
 no one but a madman would have declared. I 
 never doubted how the war would end, and my 
 sympathies at the outset were entirely with Ger- 
 many. I had no ill-will to the French people, but 
 to Napoleon. After Sedan, I thought Germany 
 should have made peace with France ; and I think 
 that if peace had been made then, in a treaty which 
 would have shown that the war was not against 
 the French people, but against a tyrant and his 
 dynasty, the condition of Europe would now be 
 different. Germany, especially, would be in a better 
 condition, without being compelled to ami every 
 man, and drain the country every year of its young 
 men to arm against France. . . . There exists, 
 and has since the foundation of our government 
 always existed, a traditional friendship between 
 our people and the French. I had this feeling in 
 common with my countrymen. But I felt at the 
 same time that no people had so groat an interest 
 in the removal of Napoleonism from France as 
 the French people. Around the World.
 
 ULYSSES S. GRAXT. 337 
 
 [From a Speech at Elgin, Scotland.] 
 
 I am happy to say, that during the eight years 
 of my Presidency it was a hope of mine, which I 
 am glad to say was realized, that all differences 
 between the two nations should be settled in a man- 
 ner honorable to both. All the questions, I am 
 glad to say, were so settled, and in my desire for 
 that result, it was my aim to do what was right, 
 irrespective of any other consideration whatever. 
 During all the negotiations, I felt the importance 
 of maintaining the friendly relations between the 
 great English-speaking people of this country and 
 the United States, which I believe to be essential 
 to the maintenance of peace principles throughout 
 the world, and I feel confident that the continu- 
 ance of those relations will exercise a vast influence 
 in promoting peace and civilization throughout the 
 world. Around the World. 
 
 [From a Speech at Newcastle.] 
 
 The President [of the Chamber of Com- 
 merce] in his remarks has alluded to the personal 
 friendship existing between the two nations. I will 
 not say the two peoples, because we are one people ; 
 but we are two nations having a common destiny, 
 and that destiny will be brilliant in proportion to 
 the friendship and co-operation of the brethren on 
 the two sides of the water. . . . These are two 
 
 22
 
 338 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 nations which ought to be at peace with each 
 other. We ought to strive to keep at peace with 
 all the world besides, and by our example stop 
 those wars which have devastated our own coun- 
 tries, and are now devastating some countries in 
 Europe. Around the World. 
 
 [From a Speech to the workingmen at Newcastle.] 
 
 I was always a man of peace, and I have always 
 advocated peace, although educated a soldier. I 
 never willingly, although I have gone through two 
 wars, of my own accord advocated war. I advo- 
 cated what I believed to be right, and I have 
 fought for it to the best of my ability, in order 
 that an honorable peace might be secured. Around 
 the World. 
 
 Now, there is one subject that has been alluded 
 to here, that I do not know that I should speak upon 
 at all, I have heard it occasionally whispered since 
 I have been in England, and that is, the great 
 advantages that would accrue to the United States 
 if free trade should only be established. I have a 
 sort of recollection, through reading, that England 
 herself had a protective tariff until she had manu- 
 factories somewhat established. I think we are 
 rapidly progressing in the way of establishing 
 manufactories ourselves, and I believe we shall
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 339 
 
 become one of the greatest free-trade nations on 
 the face of the earth ; and when we both come to 
 be free-traders, I think that probably the balance of 
 the nations had better stand aside, and not contend 
 with us at all in the markets of the world. 
 Around the World. 
 
 [From a Conversation with Bismarck.] 
 
 I regard Sheridan as not only one of the great, 
 soldiers of our war, but one of the great sol- 
 diers of the world, as a man who is fit for the 
 highest commands. No better general ever lived 
 than Sheridan. 
 
 The truth is, I am more of a farmer than a sol- 
 dier. I take little or no interest in military 
 affairs, and, although I entered the army thirty- 
 five years ago, and have been in two wars, in 
 Mexico as a young lieutenant, and later, I never 
 went into the army without regret, and never re- 
 tired without pleasure. Around the World. 
 
 [The following conversation took place between General 
 Grant and Bismarck.] 
 
 " You had to save the Union just as we had to 
 
 save Germany." 
 
 " Not only save the Union, but destroy slavery." 
 " I suppose, however, the Union was the real 
 
 sentiment, the dominant sentiment ? "
 
 340 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 " In the beginning, yes ; but as soon as slavery 
 fired upon the flag, it was felt, we all felt, even 
 those who did not object to slaves, that slavery 
 must be destroyed. We felt that it was a stain to 
 the Union that men should be bought and sold like 
 cattle." 
 
 " I suppose if you had had a large army at the 
 beginning of the war it would have ended in a 
 much shorter time ? " 
 
 " We might have had no war at all ; but we 
 cannot tell. Our war had many strange features ; 
 there were many things which seemed odd enough 
 at the time, but which now seem providential. If 
 we had had a larger regular army, as it was then 
 constituted, it might have gone with the South. 
 In fact, the Southern feeling in the army among 
 high officers was so strong that when the war 
 broke out the army dissolved. We had no army. 
 Then we had to organize one. A great com- 
 mander like Sherman or Sheridan even then might 
 have organized an army and put down the rebel- 
 lion in six months or a year, or, at the farthest, 
 two years. But that would have saved slavery, 
 perhaps, and slavery meant the germs of new re- 
 bellion. There had to be an end of slavery. 
 Then we were fighting an enemy with whom we 
 could not make a peace. We had to destroy him. 
 No convention, no treaty was possible, only de- 
 struction."
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 341 
 
 " It was a long war, and a great work well 
 done, and I suppose it means a long peace." 
 " I believe so." Around the World. 
 
 [From a letter to Governor Chamberlain, of South Carolina, 
 July 26, 1876.] 
 
 Too long denial of guaranteed right is sure to 
 lead to revolution, bloody revolution, where suffer- 
 ing must fall upon the innocent as well as the guilty. 
 
 [From a Speech at Galveston, Texas, March 25, 1880.] 
 
 ...".. It was my fortune, more than a third of 
 a century ago, to visit Texas as Second Lieutenant, 
 and to have been one of those who went into the 
 conflict which was to settle the boundary of Texas. 
 I am glad to come back now on this occasion to be- 
 hold the territory which is an empire, in itself, and 
 larger than some of the empires of Europe. I wish 
 for the people of Texas, as I do for the people of 
 the entire South, that they may go on developing 
 their resources, and become great and powerful, and 
 in their prosperity forget, as the worthy Mayor 
 expressed it, that there is a boundary between the 
 North and South. I am sure we will all be happier 
 and much more prosperous when the day comes 
 that there shall be no sectional feeling. Let any 
 American, who can travel abroad, as I have done, 
 and with the opportunity of witnessing what there 
 is to be seen that I have had, and he will return to
 
 342 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 America a better American and a better citizen than 
 when he went away. He will return more in love 
 with his own country. Far be it from me to find 
 fault with any of the European Governments. I 
 was well received at their hands on every side, by 
 every nation in Europe, but with their dense pop- 
 ulation and their worn-out soil it takes a great deal 
 of government to enable the people to get from the 
 soil a bare subsistence. Here we have rich virgin 
 soil, with room enough for all of us to expand and 
 live, with the use of very little government. I do 
 hope we long may be able to get along happily and 
 contentedly without being too much governed." 
 
 [From a Speech at Warren, Ohio, September 28, 1880.] 
 
 In view of the known character and ability of the 
 speaker who is to address you to-day, and his long 
 public career and association with the leading states- 
 men of this country for the past twenty years, it 
 would not be becoming in me to detain you with 
 many remarks of my own. But it may be proper 
 for me to account to you on the first occasion of 
 my presiding at political meetings for the faith that 
 is in me. 
 
 I am a Republican, as the two great political 
 parties are now divided, because the Republican 
 party is a National party, seeking the greatest good 
 for the greatest number of citizens. There is not 
 a precinct in this vast Nation where a Democrat
 
 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 343 
 
 cannot cast his ballot and have it counted as cast. 
 No matter what the prominence of the opposite 
 party, he can proclaim his political .opinions, even 
 if he is only one among a thousand, without fear 
 and without proscription on account of his opinions,. 
 There are fourteen States, and localities in some 
 other States, where Eepublicans have not this priv- 
 ilege. 
 
 This is one reason why I am a Republican. But 
 I am a Republican for many other reasons. The 
 Republican party assures protection to life and 
 property, the public credit and the payment of the 
 debts of the Government, State, county, or muni- 
 cipality so far as it can control. The Democratic 
 party does not promise this; if it does, it has 
 broken its promises to the extent of hundreds of 
 millions, as many Northern Democrats can testify 
 to their sorrow. I am a Republican, as between the 
 existing parties, because it fosters the production 
 of the field and farm and of manufactories, and it 
 encourages the general education of the poor as 
 well as the rich. The Democratic party discour- 
 ages all these when in absolute power. The Re- 
 publican party is a party of progress and of liber- 
 ality toward its opponents. It encourages* the 
 poor to strive to better their children, to enable 
 them to compete successfully with their more for- 
 tunate associates, and, in fine, it secures an entire 
 equality before the law of every citizen, no matter
 
 344 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 what his race, nationality, or previous condition. 
 It tolerates no privileged class. Every one has the 
 opportunity to make himself all lie is capable of. 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, do you believe this can 
 be truthfully said in the greater part of fourteen 
 of the States of this Union to-day which the 
 Democratic party controls absolutely? The Re- 
 publican party is a party of principles, the same 
 principles prevailing wherever it has a foot- 
 hold. The Democratic party is united in but one 
 thing, and that is in getting control of the Govern- 
 ment in all its branches. It is for internal im- 
 provement at the expense of the Government in 
 one section and against this in another. It favors 
 repudiation of solemn obligations in one section, 
 and honest payment of its debts in another, where 
 public opinion will not tolerate any other view. 
 It favors fiat money in one place and good money 
 in another. Finally, it favors the pooling of all 
 issues not favored by the Republicans, to the end 
 that it may secure the one principle upon which 
 the party is a most harmonious unit, namely, get- 
 ting control of the, Government in all its branches. 
 
 I have been in some part of every State lately in 
 rebellion, within the last year. I was most hospi- 
 tably received at every place where I stopped. My 
 receptions were not by the Union class alone, but 
 by all classes, without distinction. I had a free 
 talk with many who were against me in the war,
 
 ULYSSES 8. GRANT. 345 
 
 and who have been against the Republican party 
 ever since. They were in all instances reasonable 
 men, judged by what they said. I believed then 
 and believe now that they sincerely want a break- 
 up in this "Solid South "political condition. They 
 see that it is to their pecuniary interest as well as 
 to their happiness that there should be harmony 
 and confidence between all sections. They want 
 to break away from the slavery which binds them 
 to a party name. They want a pretext that enough 
 of them can unite upon to make it respectable. 
 Once started, the Solid South will go as Ku- 
 kluxism did before, as is so admirably told by 
 Judge Tourgee in his "Fool's Errand." When the 
 break comes those who start it will be astonished 
 to find how many of their friends have been in 
 favor of it for a long time, and have only been 
 waiting to see some one take the lead. This desir- 
 able solution can only be attained by the defeat 
 and continued defeat of the Democratic party as 
 now constituted. 
 
 [Speech in New York, November 20, 1880.] 
 
 Now, in regard to the future of myself, which 
 has been alluded to here, I am entirely satisfied 
 as I am to-day. I am not one of those who cry 
 out against the republic, and charge it with being 
 ungrateful. I am sure that, as regards the Amer- 
 ican people, as a nation and as individuals, I have
 
 346 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 every reason under the sun, if any person really 
 has, to be satisfied with their treatment of me. 
 
 [Speech in New York, December 1, 1880.] 
 
 The government owes much to the service of its 
 volunteer soldiers. Too much credit cannot be 
 paid them. The very fact that the country can 
 raise so great and good an army, in such an emer- 
 gency as our late civil war, is a proof that we 
 have institutions in which all the people have an 
 equal part; that we have a government, not for 
 the privileged class, but for the people and by the 
 people. When the peaceful citizen changes to the 
 soldier, he does so readily, feeling that he is fight- 
 ing for himself when he is fighting for his govern- 
 ment. I hope and feel that the country will not 
 again have to call upon such numbers of its citi- 
 zens for support. I am confident that we will not 
 have another civil war, but should the menaces of 
 a foreign foe cause a call to arms, we will find 
 the same support and readiness in organizing an 
 army as in 1861.
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 347 
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 
 
 BORN, 1822. GRADUATED AT KENYON COLLEGE, O., 1842. 
 MEMBER OF HARVARD COLLEGE LAW SCHOOL. BEGAN 
 PRACTICE OF LAW, 1845. MAJOR IN THE UNION ARMY, 
 JUNE 7, 1861. JUDGE ADVOCATE OF THE MILITARY DE- 
 PARTMENT OF OHIO, 18C1. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL, OCTO- 
 BER 24, 1861. BRIGADIER-GENERAL, MARCH 13, 1865. 
 ELECTED TO CONGRESS, 1865. CHAIRMAN OF THE LI- 
 BRARY COMMITTEE. RE-ELECTED, 1867. GOVERNOR OF 
 OHIO FOR THREE TERMS, 1868-1872. PRESIDENT, 1877-1881. 
 
 GIVE me the popularity that runs after, not that 
 which is sought for. College Diary. 
 
 Judge [Stanley] Mathews and I have agreed to 
 go into the service for the war if possible, into 
 the same regiment. I spoke my feelings to him, 
 which he said were his own, that this was a just 
 and a necessary war, and that it demanded the 
 whole power of the country ; that I would prefer 
 to go into it, if I knew I was to be killed in the 
 course of it, rather than to live through and after 
 it without taking any part in it. May 15, 1861. 
 
 [From a Speech in Ohio, 1867.] 
 
 The uniform lesson of history is, that unjust 
 and partial laws increase and create antagonism,
 
 348 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 while justice and equity are the sure foundation 
 
 of prosperity and peace 
 
 The truth is, that every step made in advance 
 towards the standard of the right has in the event 
 always proved a safe and wise step. Lvery step 
 toward the right has proved a step toward the ex- 
 pedient; in short, that in politics, in morals, in 
 public and private life, the right is always ex- 
 pedient. 
 
 [From a Speech, in 1867, during the political campaign.] 
 
 Our adversaries are accustomed to talk- of the 
 rebellion as an affair which began when the rebels 
 attacked Fort Sumter in 1861, and which ended 
 when Lee surrendered to Grant, in 1865. . . . 
 But the causes, the principles, and the methods 
 which produced the rebellion are of an older date 
 than the generation which suffered from the fruit 
 they bore, and their influence and power are likely 
 to last long after that generation passes away. 
 Ever since armed rebellion failed, a large party in 
 the South have struggled to make participation in 
 the rebellion honorable, and loyalty to the Union 
 dishonorable. The lost cause with them is the 
 honored cause. In society, in business, and in 
 politics, devotion to treason is the test of merit, 
 the passport to preferment. They wish to return 
 to the old state of things, an oligarchy of race 
 and the sovereignty of States.
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 349 
 
 To defeat this purpose, to secure the rights of 
 man, and to perpetuate the national Union, are the 
 objects of the congressional plan of reconstruction. 
 . . . There are now within the limits of the United 
 States about five millions of colored people. They 
 are not aliens or strangers. They are not here by 
 the choice of themselves or their ancestors. They 
 are here by the misfortune of their fathers and the 
 crime of ours. Their labors, privations, and suf- 
 ferings, unpaid and unrequited, have cleared and 
 redeemed one-third of the inhabited territory of 
 the Union. Their toil has added to the resources 
 and wealth of the nation untold millions. Whether 
 we prefer it or not, they are our countrymen, and 
 will remain so forever. 
 
 They are more than our countrymen they are 
 citizens. Free colored people were citizens of the 
 colonies. The constitution of the United States, 
 formed by our fathers, created no disablities on 
 account of color. By the acts of our fathers and 
 of ourselves, they bear equally the burdens, and 
 are required to discharge the highest duties of citi- 
 zens. They are compelled to pay taxes i and bear 
 arms. They fought side by side with their white 
 countr}Tnen in the great struggle for independence, 
 and in the recent war for the Union. . . . Slaves 
 were never voters. It was bad enough that our 
 fathers, for the sake of union, were compelled to 
 ullow masters to reckon three-fifths of their slaves
 
 348 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 while justice and equity are the sure foundation 
 
 of prosperity and peace 
 
 The truth is, that every step made in advance 
 towards the standard of the right has in the event 
 always proved a safe and wise step. Every step 
 toward the right has proved a step toward the ex- 
 pedient ; in short, that in politics, in morals, in 
 public and private life, the right is always ex- 
 pedient. 
 
 [From a Speech, in 1867, during the political campaign.] 
 
 Our adversaries are accustomed to talk- of the 
 rebellion as an affair which began when the rebels 
 attacked Fort Sumter in 1861, and which ended 
 when Lee surrendered to Grant, in 1865. . . . 
 But the causes, the principles, and the methods 
 which produced the rebellion are of an older date 
 than the generation which suffered from the fruit 
 they bore, and their influence and power are likely 
 to last long after that generation passes away. 
 Ever since armed rebellion failed, a large party in 
 the South have struggled to make participation in 
 the rebellion honorable, and loyalty to the Union 
 dishonorable. The lost cause with them is the 
 honored cause. In society, in business, and in 
 politics, devotion to treason is the test of merit, 
 the passport to preferment. They wish to return 
 to the old state of things, an oligarchy of race 
 and the sovereignty of States.
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 349 
 
 To defeat this purpose, to secure the rights of 
 man, and to perpetuate the national Union, are the 
 objects of the congressional plan of reconstruction. 
 . . . There are now within the limits of the United 
 States about five millions of colored people. They 
 are not aliens or strangers. They are not here by 
 the choice of themselves or their ancestors. They 
 are here by the misfortune of their fathers and the 
 crime of ours. Their labors, privations, and suf- 
 ferings, unpaid and unrequited, have cleared and 
 redeemed one-third of the inhabited territory of 
 the Union. Their toil has added to the resources 
 and wealth of the nation untold millions. Whether 
 we prefer it or not, they are our countrymen, and 
 will remain so forever. 
 
 They are more than our countrymen they are 
 citizens. Free colored people were citizens of the 
 colonies. The constitution of the United States, 
 formed by our fathers, created no disablities on 
 account of color. By the acts of our fathers and 
 of ourselves, they bear equally the burdens, and 
 are required to discharge the highest duties of citi- 
 zens. They are compelled to pay taxes j and bear 
 arms. They fought side by side with their white 
 countrymen in the great struggle for independence, 
 and in the recent war for the Union. . . . Slaves 
 were never voters. It was bad enough that our 
 fathers, for the sake of union, were compelled to 
 yllow masters to reckon three-fifths of their slaves
 
 350 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 for representation, without adding slave suffrage 
 to the other privileges of the slaveholders. But 
 free colored men were always voters in many of 
 the colonies, and in several of the States, North 
 and South, after independence was achieved. 
 They voted for members of the Congress which 
 declared independence, and for members of every 
 Congress prior to the adoption of the federal con- 
 stitution ; for the members of the convention 
 which framed the constitution ; for the members 
 of many of the State conventions which ratified 
 it, and for every president, from Washington to 
 Lincoln. 
 
 Our government has been called the white man's 
 government. Not so. It is not the government 
 of any class, or sect, or nationality, or race. It 
 is a government founded on the consent of the 
 governed. It is not the government of the native- 
 born, or of the foreign-born, of the rich man, or 
 of the poor man, of the white man, or of the col- 
 ored man it is the government of the freeman. 
 And when colored men were made citizens, sol- 
 diers, and freemen, by our consent and votes, we 
 were estopped from denying to them the right of 
 suffrage . 
 
 To corrupt the ballot-box is to destroy our free 
 institutions. 1868.
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 351 
 
 [From the Annual Message, as Governor of Ohio, 1869.] 
 
 All agree that a Republican government will fail ^ 
 unless the purity of elections is preserved. Con- 
 vinced that great abuses of the electoral franchise 
 cannot be prevented under existing legislation, I 
 have heretofore recommended the enactment of a 
 registry law, and also some appropriate measure 
 to secure to the minority, as far as practicable, a 
 representation upon all boards of elections. 
 
 [From the Inaugural Address, as Governor, 1870.] 
 
 Our judicial system is plainly inadequate 
 
 to the wants of the people of the State. Exten- 
 sive alterations of existing provisions must be 
 made. The suggestions I desire to present in this 
 connection are as to the manner of electing judges, 
 their terms of office, and their salaries. It is for- 
 tunately true that the judges of our courts have 
 heretofore been, for the most part, lawyers of 
 learning, ability, and integrity. But it must be 
 remembered that the tremendous events and the 
 wonderful progress of the last few years are work- 
 ing great changes in the condition of our society. 
 Hitherto, population has been sparse, property not 
 unequally distributed, and the bad elements which 
 so frequently control large cities have been almost 
 unknown in our State. But with a dense popula- 
 tion crowding into towns and cities, with vast
 
 352 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 wealth accumulating in the hands of a few persons 
 or corporations, it is to be apprehended that the 
 time is coming when judges elected by popular 
 vote, for short official terms, and poorly paid, Avill 
 not possess the independence required to protect 
 individual rights. Under the National Constitu- 
 tion judges are nominated by the Executive and 
 confirmed by the Senate, and hold office during 
 good behavior. It is worthy of consideration 
 whether a return to the system established by the 
 fathers is not the dictate of the highest prudence. 
 I believe that a system under which judges are so 
 appointed, for long terms and with adequate sala- 
 ries, will afford to the citizen the amplest possible 
 security that impartial justice will be administered 
 by an independent judiciary. 
 
 [From a Speech at Columbus, Ohio, 1870.] 
 
 The sectarian agitation against the pub- 
 lic schools was begun many years ago. During 
 the last few years it has steadily and rapidly in- 
 creased, and has been encouraged by various indi- 
 cations of possible success. It extends to all of 
 the states where schools at the common expense 
 have been long established. Its triumphs are 
 mainly in the large towns and cities. It has 
 already divided the schools, and in a considerable 
 degree impaired and limited their usefulness. 
 
 The glory of the American system of education
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 353 
 
 has been, that it was so cheap that the humblest 
 citizen could afford to give his children its advan- 
 tages, and so good that the man of wealth could 
 nowhere provide for his children anything better. 
 This gave the system its most conspicuous merit. 
 It made it a republican system. The young of 
 all conditions of life are brought together, and 
 educated on terms of perfect equality. The ten- 
 dency of this is to assimilate and to fuse together 
 the various elements of our population, to promote 
 unity, harmony, and general good-will in our 
 American society. 
 
 But the enemies of the American system have 
 begun the work of destroying it. They have forced 
 away from the public schools, in many towns and 
 cities, one third or one fourth of their pupils, and 
 sent them to schools, which, it is safe to say, are no 
 whit superior to those they have left. These youths 
 are thus deprived of the associations and the educa- 
 tion in practical republicanism and American senti- 
 ment which they peculiarly need. 
 
 Nobody questions their constitutional and legal 
 right to do this, and to do it by denouncing the 
 public schools. Sectarians have a lawful right to say 
 that these schools are " a relict of paganism that 
 they are "godless," and that "the secular school- 
 system is a social cancer." But when, having thus 
 succeeded in dividing the schools, they make that 
 a ground for abolishing school taxation, dividing 
 
 23
 
 354 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the school fund, or otherwise destroying the system, 
 it is time that its friends should rise up in its de- 
 fence. 
 
 We all agree that neither the government nor 
 political parties ought to interfere with religious 
 sects. It is equally true that religious sects ought 
 not to interfere with the government or with politi- 
 cal parties. We believe that the cause of good 
 government and the cause of religion both suffer 
 by all such interference. But if sectarians make 
 demands for legislation, of political parties, and 
 threaten a party with opposition at the elections in 
 case the required enactments are not passed, and if 
 the political party yields to such threats, then those 
 threatenings, those demands, and that act of the 
 political party become a legitimate subject of polit- 
 ical discussion, and the sectarians who thus inter- 
 fere with the legislation of the State are alone 
 responsible for the agitation which follows. 
 
 [From his Annual Message, as Governor of Ohio, January, 
 1871. Civil Service Reform.] 
 
 What the public welfare demands is a 
 
 practical measure which will provide for a thorough 
 and impartial investigation in every case of sus- 
 pected neglect, abuse, or fraud. Such an investi- 
 gation to be effective must be made by an authori- 
 ty independent, if possible, of all local influences. 
 When abuses are discovered, the prosecution and
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 355 
 
 punishment of offenders ought to follow. But 
 even if prosecutions fail in cases of full exposure, 
 public opinion almost always accomplishes the ob- 
 ject desired. A thorough investigation of corrup- 
 tion and criminality leads with great certainty to 
 the needed reform. Publicity is a great corrector 
 of abuses. 
 
 [From a Speech at Glendale, Ohio, 1872.] 
 
 We want a financial policy so honest that 
 
 there can be no stain on the national honor, and no 
 taint on the national credit ; so stable that labor 
 and capital and legitimate business of every sort 
 can confidently count upon what it will be the 
 next week, the next month, and the next year. 
 We want the burdens of taxation so justly dis- 
 tributed, that they will bear equally upon all 
 classes of citizens in proportion to their ability to 
 sustain them. We want our currency gradually 
 to appreciate until, without financial shock or any 
 sudden shrinkage of values, but in the natural 
 course of trade, it shall reach the uniform and per- 
 manent value of gold. 
 
 [From a Speech at Marion, Ohio, 1872.] 
 The objections to an inflated and irredeemable 
 paper currency are so many that I do not attempt 
 to state them all. ... It promotes speculation 
 and extravagance, and at the same time discour- 
 ages legitimate business, honest labor, and econ-
 
 356 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 omy. It dries up the true sources of individual 
 and public prosperity. Overtrading and fast liv- 
 ing always go with it ; it stimulates the desire to 
 incur debt ; it causes high rates of interest ; it 
 increases importations from abroad ; it has no 
 fixed value ; it is liable to frequent and great fluc- 
 tuations, thereby rendering every pecuniary en- 
 gagement precarious, and disturbing all existing 
 contracts and expectations. It is the parent of 
 panics. Every period of inflation is followed by 
 a loss of confidence, a shrinkage of values, depres- 
 sion of business, panics, lack of employment, and 
 wide-spread disaster and distress. The heaviest 
 part of the calamity falls on those least able to 
 bear it. The wholesale dealer, the middle-man, 
 and the retailer, always endeavor to cover the 
 risks of the fickle standards of value by raising 
 their prices. But the men of small means and the 
 laborer are thrown out of employment, and want 
 and suffering are liable soon to follow. 
 
 When government enters upon the experiment 
 of issuing irredeemable paper money, there can be 
 no fixed limit to its volume. The amount will de- 
 pend on the interest of leading politicians, on their 
 whims, and on the excitement of the hour. It af- 
 fords such facilities for contracting debt that ex- 
 travagance and corrupt government expenditures 
 are the sure result. Under the name of public 
 improvements, the wildest enterprises, contrived
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 357 
 
 for private gain, are undertaken. Indefinite ex- 
 pansion becomes the rule, and, in the end, bank- 
 ruptcy, ruin, and repudiation. 
 
 [From an Address at the Dedication of a Soldiers 1 Monu- 
 ment in Findley, Ohio, 1875.] 
 
 I know not how many of them [the fal- 
 len soldiers] have been gathered into the ceme- 
 teries near their homes ; I know not how many 
 others have been gathered into the beautiful na- 
 tional cemeteries near the great battle-fields. I 
 know not how many are lying in swamps, along 
 the mountain sides, in nameless graves, the un- 
 known heroes of the Union ; but wherever they 
 are, and however many there may be, you people 
 of Hancock County have erected your monument 
 to all who fell, who left your county. All sol- 
 diers, I am sure, feel like thanking you for this. 
 
 I remember well the first of the saddest days of 
 my life was after one of our great battles in the 
 early period of the war. Recovering from wounds 
 with other comrades who had been wounded there, 
 we passed near the battle-field, as soon as we felt 
 able to do so ; and when we came there, what did 
 we learn? Passing up the mountain, charging the 
 line of the enemy, they fell ; and everywhere were 
 the shallow graves in which were deposited the re- 
 mains of our seven hundred companions who had 
 fallen. And how were they buried? and how
 
 358 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 was their last resting-place marked? Hastily, 
 tende"rly, no doubt, the parties detailed to bury 
 them had gathered up their remains. You soldiers 
 know how it was done. They placed upon the 
 face of each man who died, whenever they could 
 ascertain his name, a piece of an envelope, or a 
 scrap of a letter, or something of the kind, con- 
 taining his name, his company, his regiment, 
 fastening it there, hoping some day his friends 
 might come and find him, and learn who was there 
 buried. And then, you remember, there were no 
 coffins, nothing of the sort ; but they took the 
 blue overcoat and placed it around the man, and 
 took the cape, and bringing it over the face, 
 fastened it down. This was his shroud ; this was 
 his coffin ; and he was placed away to rest until 
 the resurrection morn. That was the manner of 
 his burial. And strange, I may say, was the re- 
 sult of that woollen material over the face ; satu- 
 rated in the water and covered with the earth, it did 
 so protect them from decay that months afterwards 
 many were recognized by their friends, preserved 
 as they were by the overcoat-cape. And how was 
 the grave marked ? With a pencil they scratched 
 upon a piece of fine board a thin piece of 
 cracker-box the name and company, which was 
 placed at the grave. This was all then ; and we 
 did not know what the result would be. We did 
 not know what friends would do, what monuments 
 would be reared.
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 359 
 
 As we left that field, talking to each other, we 
 said there must be a soldiers' monument for the 
 soldiers of our regiment. 
 
 After the famous Antietam campaign 
 
 was fought, we called the men together four 
 hundred and fifty or five hundred men, and from 
 the scanty pay which was to support the men, and 
 to some extent, their families, the majority of the 
 remainder subscribed at least one dollar, and others 
 more, according to their ability, and raised in the 
 regiment two thousand dollars to build a monu- 
 ment, on which, it was agreed, should be inscribed 
 the name of every man in the regiment who had 
 fallen, and every man who should fall during the 
 continuance of the war. 
 
 [From his Letter of Acceptance of the Nomination for the 
 Presidency, by the Republican National Convention.] 
 
 COLUMBUS, OHIO, July 8, 1876. 
 
 The fifth resolution adopted by the 
 
 Convention is of paramount interest. More than 
 forty years ago, a system of making appointments 
 to office grew up based upon the maxim, " To the 
 victors belong the spoils." The old rule, the 
 true rule, that honesty, capability, and fidelity 
 constitute the only real qualifications for office, 
 and that there is no other claim, gave place to the 
 idea that party services were chiefly to be con- 
 sidered. All parties in practice have adopted this
 
 362 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [From his Message, vetoing the Silver Bill, February 28, 
 1878.] 
 
 National promises should be kept with unflinch- 
 ing fidelity. There is no power to compel a nation 
 to pay its just debts. Its credit depends on its 
 honor. The nation owes what it has led or allowed 
 its creditors to expect. I cannot approve a bill 
 which, in my judgment, authorizes the violation of 
 sacred obligations. The obligation to the public 
 faith transcends all questions of profit or public 
 advantage. Its unquestionable maintenance is the 
 dictate as well of the highest expediency as of the 
 most necessary duty, and should ever be carefully 
 guarded by the Executive, by Congress, and by 
 the people. 
 
 [From the Message vetoing the Chinese Bill, restricting 
 Chinese immigration.] 
 
 The principal feature of the Burlingame treaty 
 was its attention to and its treatment of the Chinese 
 immigration, and the Chinese as forming, or as they 
 should form, a part of our population. Up to this 
 time (1859) the uncovenantcd hospitality to immi- 
 gration, our fearless liberality of citizenship, our 
 equal and comprehensive justice to all inhabitants, 
 whether they abjured their foreign nationality or 
 not, our civil freedom and our religious toleration 
 had made all comers welcome, and under these pro-
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 363 
 
 tections the Chinese, in considerable numbers., Lad 
 made their lodgment upon our soil. . . . . . 
 
 Unquestionably the adhesion of the government 
 of China to these liberal principles of freedom in 
 emigration, with which we were so familiar, and 
 with which we were so well satisfied, was a great 
 advance toward opening that empire to our civili- 
 zation and religion, and gave promise in the future 
 of greater and greater practical results in the diffu- 
 sion, throughout that great population, of our arts 
 and industries, our manufactures, our material im- 
 provements, and the sentiments of government and 
 religion which seem to us so important to the wel- 
 fare of mankind. The first clause of this article 
 [of the Treaty] secures this acceptance by China 
 of the American doctrine of free emigration to and 
 fro among the people and races of the earth. 
 
 [Veto Message Military Bill, April 29, 1879.] 
 
 It is the right of every citizen, possessing the 
 qualifications prescribed by law, to cast one unin- 
 timidated ballot, and to have his ballot honestly 
 counted. 
 
 [From the Veto of the Bill " to prohibit military interfer- 
 ence at elections," May 12, 1879.] 
 
 Under the sweeping terms of the bill, the national 
 government is effectually shut out from the exercise 
 of the right, and from the discharge of the impera-
 
 364 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 tive 4 u tyj to use its whole executive power, when- 
 ever and wherever required, for the enforcement 
 of its laws, at the places and times when and where 
 its elections are held. The employment of its or- 
 ganized armed forces for any such purpose would 
 be an offence against the law, unless called for by, 
 and, therefore, upon permission of, the authorities 
 of the States in which the occasion arises. What 
 is this but the substitution of the discretion of the 
 State governments for the discretion of the govern- 
 ment of the United , States as to the performance 
 of its own duties? In my judgment, this is an 
 abandonment of its obligations by the national 
 government ; a subordination of national authority, 
 and an intrusion of State supervision over national 
 duties, which amounts, in spirit and tendency, to 
 State supremacy. 
 
 [Veto of the Bill regulating the pay and appointment of 
 United States Deputy Marshals, June 15, 1880.] 
 
 We hold it to be an incontrovertible principle 
 that the Government of the United States may, 
 by means of physical force, exercised through its 
 official agents, execute in every foot of American 
 soil the power and functions that belong to it. 
 
 [From the Veto Message Army Appropriation Bill.] 
 
 Upon the assembling of this [forty-sixth] 
 
 Congress, in pursuance of a call for an extra ses-
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 365 
 
 sion, which was made necessary by the failure of 
 the Forty-fifth Congress to make the needful ap- 
 propriations for the support of the government, 
 the question was presented whether the attempt 
 made in the last Congress to engraft, by construc- 
 tion, a new principle upon the Constitution, should 
 be persisted in or not. This Congress has ample 
 opportunity and time to pass the appropriation bills, 
 and also to enact any political measures which may 
 be determined upon in separate bills by the usual 
 and orderly methods of proceeding. But the ma- 
 jority of both Houses have deemed it wise to 
 adhere to the principles asserted and maintained in 
 the last Congress by the majority of the House of 
 Representatives. That principle is that the House 
 of Representatives has the sole right to originate 
 bills for raising revenue, and therefore has the 
 right to withhold appropriations upon which the 
 existence of the government may depend, unless 
 the Senate and the President shall give their assent 
 to any legislation which the House may see fit to 
 attach to appropriation bills. To establish this 
 principle is to make a radical, dangerous, and un- 
 constitutional change in the character of our insti- 
 tutions 
 
 The enactment of this bill into a law will estab- 
 lish a precedent which will tend to destroy the 
 equal independence of the several, branches of the 
 government. Its principle places, not merely the
 
 366 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Senate and the Executive, but the judiciary also, 
 under the coercive dictation of the House. The 
 House alone will be the judge of what constitutes 
 a grievance, and also of the means and measures 
 of redress. 
 
 [From an Address at the Annual Reunion of the 23d Regi- 
 ment, Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry, at Youngstown, 
 Ohio.] 
 
 No man has ever stated the issues of the civil 
 war more fully, more clearly, or more accurately 
 than Mr. Lincoln. In any inquiry as to what may 
 fairly be included among the things settled by our 
 victory, all just and patriotic minds instinctively 
 turn to Mr. Lincoln. To him, more than to any other 
 man, the cause of Union and liberty is indebted for 
 its final triumph. Besides, with all his wonderful 
 sagacity, and wisdom, and logical faculty, dwelling 
 intently, and anxiously, and prayerfully, during 
 four years of awful trial and responsibility, on the 
 questions which were continually arising to perplex 
 and almost confound him, he at last became the 
 very embodiment of the principles by which the 
 country and its liberties were saved. All good 
 citizens may now well listen to and heed his words. 
 None have more reason to do it with respect and 
 confidence, and a genuine regard, than those whom 
 he addressed in his first inaugural speech as " my 
 dissatisfied fellow-countrymen." The leader of
 
 EUTHEEFOED B. HAYES. 367 
 
 the Union cause was so just and moderate, and 
 patient and humane, that many supporters of the 
 Union thought that he did not go far enough or fast 
 enough, and assailed his opinions and his conduct ; 
 but now all men begin to see that the plain people, 
 who at last came to love him and to lean upon his 
 wisdom and firmness with absolute trust, were 
 altogether right, and that in deed and purpose he 
 was earnestly devoted to the welfare of the whole 
 country, and of all its inhabitants. 
 
 Touching the remaining important controversy 
 settled by the war, the public avowals of opinion 
 are almost all in favor of the faithful acceptance of 
 the new constitutional amendments. On this sub- 
 ject the speeches of public men and the creeds and 
 platforms of the leading political parties have for 
 some years past been explicit. In 1872, all parties 
 in their respective National Conventions adopted 
 resolutions recognizing the equality of all men be- 
 fore the law, and pledging themselves, in the words 
 of the Democratic National Convention, "to main- 
 tain emancipation and enfranchisement, and to 
 oppose the reopening of the questions settled by 
 the recent amendments to the Constitution." In 
 1876, the great political parties again, in the lan- 
 guage of the St. Louis National Convention, 
 affirmed their " devotion to the Constitution of the 
 United States, with its amendments universally
 
 368 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 accepted as a final settlement of the controversies 
 that engendered the civil war." Notwithstanding 
 these declarations, we are compelled to take notice 
 that, while very few citizens anywhere would wish 
 to re-establish slavery if they could, and no one 
 would again attempt to break up the Union by 
 secession, there still remains in some communities 
 a dangerous practical denial to the colored citizens 
 of the political rights which are guaranteed to them 
 by the Constitution as it now is. In the crisis of 
 the war Mr. Lincoln appealed to the colored people 
 to take up arms. About two hundred thousand 
 responded to the call, enlisted in the Union armies, 
 and fought for the Union cause under the Union 
 flag. Equality of rights for the colored people, 
 from that time, thus became one of the essential 
 issues of the war. General Sherman said, " when 
 the fight is over, the hand that drops the musket 
 cannot be denied the ballot." Jefferson said long 
 before, " the man who fights for the country is en- 
 titled to vote." When, with the help of the 
 colored men, the victory was gained, the Fifteenth 
 Amendment followed naturally as one of its legiti- 
 mate results. No man can truthfully claim that he 
 faithfully accepts the true settlements of the war, 
 who sees with indifference the Fifteenth Amend- 
 ment practically nullified. 
 
 No one can overstate the evils which the country 
 must suffer if lawless and violent opposition to the
 
 RUTHERFOED B. HAYES. 369 
 
 enjoyment of constitutional rights is allowed to be 
 permanently successful. The lawlessness which 
 to-day assails the rights of the colored people will 
 find other victims to-morrow. This question be- 
 longs to no race, to no party, and to no section. 
 It is a question in which the whole country is 
 deeply interested, f 
 
 Patriotism, justice, humanity, and our material / 
 interests, all plead on the right side of this ques-l 
 tion. The colored people are the laborers who| 
 produce the cotton which, going abroad to the mar- 
 kets of the world, gives us that favorable balance 
 of trade which is now doing so much for the revival 
 of all business. The whole fabric of society rests 
 upon labor. If free laborers suifer from oppres- . 
 sion and injustice, they will either become discon- 1 
 tented and turbulent, destroyers of property, and/ 
 not producers of property, or they will abandon 
 the communities which deprive them of their in- 
 alienable rights. In either case, social order and 
 the peaceful industries upon w T hich prosperity de- 
 pends, are imperilled and perhaps sacrificed. It will 
 not do to say that this is an affair which belongs 
 solely to the distant States of the South. The 
 whole country must suffer if this question is not 
 speedily settled, and settled rightly. Where the 
 two races are numerous, prosperity can only exist 
 by the united and harmonious efforts of both the 
 white people and the colored people. The only 
 
 24
 
 370 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 solid foundations for peace and progress in such 
 communities are equal and exact justice to both 
 races. Consider the present situation. Whatever 
 complaints may have been heard during the prog- 
 ress of reconstruction, candid men must admit 
 that all'sections and all States are now equally re- 
 garded, and share alike the rights, the privileges, 
 and the benefits of the common Government. All 
 that is needed for the permanent pacification of the 
 country is the cordial co-operation of all well-dis- 
 posed citizens to secure the faithful observance of 
 the equal-rights amendments of the Constitution. 
 
 To establish now the State rights doctrine of the 
 supremacy of the States, and an oligarchy of race, 
 is deliberately to throw away an essential part of 
 the fruits of the Union victory. The settlements 
 of the war in favor of equal rights and the suprem- 
 acy of the laws of the nation are just and wise, and 
 necessary. Let them not be surrendered. Let 
 them be faithfully accepted and firmly enforced. 
 Lc^ them stand, and, with the advancing tide of 
 business prosperity, we may confidently hope, by 
 the blessing of Divine Providence, that we shall 
 soon enter upon an era of harmony and progress 
 such as has been rarely enjoyed by any people.
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 371 
 
 [An Address at the Soldiers' State Reunion.] 
 
 COLUMBUS, OHIO, August 11, 1880. 
 
 The citizens of Ohio who where soldiers 
 
 in the Union Army, and who have assembled here 
 in such large numbers, have many reasons for mu- 
 tual congratulations as they exchange greetings and 
 renew old friendships at this State reunion. We 
 rejoice that we had the glorious privilege of enlist- 
 ing and serving on the right side in the great 
 conflict for the Union and for equal rights. The 
 time that has passed since the contest ended is not 
 so great but that we can without effort recall fresh- 
 ly and vividly the events and scenes and feelings 
 and associations of that most interesting period 
 of our lives. We rejoice, also, that we have been 
 permitted to live long enough to see and to enjoy 
 the results of the victory we gained, and to meas- 
 ure the vast benefits which it conferred on our 
 country and on the world. I shall not attempt to 
 make a catalogue of those benefits, or to estimate 
 their value. A single fact, to which I call your 
 attention, will sufficiently illustrate, for my present 
 purpose, the immeasurable blessing conferred upon 
 the United States by the success of the Union arms. 
 The statistics of emigration, showing the move- 
 ments of population which are going on in the 
 world, aiford a very good test of the comparative 
 advantages and prosperity of the various civilized
 
 372 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 nations. People leave their own country and seek 
 new homes in foreign lands to better their condi- 
 tion. Immigration into a country, therefore, is 
 an evidence of that country's prosperity. It is 
 also a most efficient cause of the progress of 
 the country which receives it. During our civil 
 war, and during the disturbed and troubled years 
 which immediately preceded and followed it, im- 
 migration fell off and became of comparatively 
 small importance. But now, our country's pros- 
 perity, the stability of our government, and the 
 permanent prevalence of peace at home and with 
 foreign nations, blessings which could not have been 
 enjoyed by this country if the Union arms had 
 failed, have given to the world a confidence in the 
 future welfare and greatness of the United States 
 which is pouring upon our shores such streams of 
 immigration as were never known before. This is 
 a fact of the most pregnant significance in our pre- 
 sent condition. If we take a survey of the globe, 
 we shall find everywhere, among civilized nations 
 especially, many people who are eagerly looking 
 forward to the time when they can emigrate to some 
 more favored land. Only one of the great nations 
 is in no danger of losing its capital and labor and 
 skill by emigration. We find only one which by 
 immigration is gaining rapidly in numbers, wealth 
 and power. All are losing by this cause except 
 the United States. The United States alone is
 
 RUTHERFOED B. HAYES. 373 
 
 gaining. Other nations see their people going, 
 going. "We see, from every quarter, the people 
 of other countries coming, coming, coming. There 
 is one flag, and in all the world only one, whose 
 protection good men and women born under it will 
 never willingly leave. There is one flag, and only 
 one in the world, whose protecting folds good men 
 and women born under every other flag that floats 
 under the whole heavens are eagerly and gladly 
 seeking. That flag, so loved at home, so longed 
 for by millions abroad, is the old flag under which 
 we marched, to save, what in our soldier days we 
 were fond of calling, " God's country ! " It is easi- 
 ly seen what it is that chiefly attracts this immigra- 
 tion. It goes where good land is cheap ; where 
 labor and capital find profitable employment ; where 
 peace and social order prevail ; and where civil and 
 religious liberty are secure. If we draw nearer to 
 the subject, and ask where in our own country does 
 this immigration mainly go, the recent census, whose 
 results we are now getting, gives us the answer. 
 That census shows us parts of our own country, 
 where land is cheap and where capital and labor are 
 needed, that are not rapidly increasing in prosperi- 
 ty. In these States it will be found that two things 
 are wanting the means for popular education are 
 not sufficiently provided, and the good order of 
 society is disturbed by a practical popular refusal 
 to accept the results of the war for the union.
 
 374 CHIPS FHOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 These two defects, wherever they prevail in our 
 American society, are hostile to the increase of pop- 
 ulation and to prosperity. They arc found gener- 
 ally to exist together. Where popular education 
 prevails, the equal rights "amendments to the Con- 
 stitution of the United States, embodying the re- 
 sults of the war, arc inviolable." It must, perhaps, 
 be conceded that there was one great error in the 
 measures by which it was sought to secure the re- 
 sults , to harvest the fruits of our Union victory. The 
 system of slavery in the South of necessity kept in 
 ignorance four millions of slaves. It also loft un- 
 provided with education a large number of non- 
 slave-holding white people. With the end of the 
 war the slaves inevitably became citizens. The 
 uneducated whites remained as they had been, also 
 citizens. Thus the grave duties and responsibili- 
 ties of citizenship were devolved largely, in the 
 States lately in rebellion, upon uneducated peo- 
 ple, white and colored. And with what result? 
 Liberty and the exercise of the rights of citizenship 
 are excellent educators. In many respects we are 
 glad to believe that encouraging progress has been 
 made at the South. The labor system has been 
 reorganized, material prosperity is increasing, race 
 prejudices and antagonisms have diminished, the 
 passions and animosities of the war are subsiding, 
 and the ancient harmony and concord and patriotic 
 national sentiments are returning. But, after all,
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 375 
 
 we cannot fail to observe that immigration, which so 
 infallibly and instinctively finds out the true con- 
 dition of all countries, does not largely go into the 
 late slaveholding region of the United States. A 
 great deal of cheap and productive land can there be 
 found where population is not rapidly increasing. 
 When our Revolutionary fathers adopted the ordi- 
 nance of 1787 for the government of the north- 
 west territory, out of which Ohio and four other 
 great States have been carved, they were not con- 
 tent with merely putting into that organic law a 
 firm prohibition against slavery, and providing 
 effectual guarantees of civil and religious liberty, 
 but they established, as the corner-stone of the 
 free institutions they wished to build, this article : 
 "Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary 
 to good government and the happiness of mankind, 
 schools and the means of education shall forever 
 be encouraged." Unfortunately for the complete 
 success of reconstruction in the South, this stone 
 was rejected by its builders. Slavery has been 
 destroyed by the war : but its evils live after it, and 
 deprive many parts of the South of that intelligent 
 self-government without which, in America at least, 
 great and permanent prosperity is impossible. To 
 perpetuate the Union and to abolish slavery were 
 the work of the war. To educate the uneducated 
 is the appropriate work of peace. As long as any 
 considerable numbers of our countrymen are un-
 
 376 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 educated, the citizenship of every American in 
 every State is impaired in value, and is constantly 
 imperilled. It is plain that at the end of the war 
 the tremendous change in the labor and social svs- 
 
 O ^ 
 
 terns of the Southern States, and the ravages and 
 impoverishment of the conflict, added to the bur- 
 den of their debts, and the loss of their whole cir- 
 culating medium, which died in their hands, left 
 the people of those States in no condition to pro- 
 vide for universal popular education. In a recent 
 memorial to Congress on this subject, in behalf of 
 the trustees of the Peabody educational fund, lion. 
 A. H. II. Stuart of Virginia shows that "two mil- 
 lions of children in the Southern States are with- 
 out the means of instruction " ; and adds, with 
 great force, "Where millions of citizens are grow- 
 ing up in the grossest ignorance, it is obvious that 
 neither individual charity nor the resources of im- 
 poverished States will be sufficient to meet the 
 emergency. Nothing short of the wealth and power 
 of the Federal Government will suffice to over- 
 come the evil." The principle applied by general 
 consent to works of public improvement is in point. 
 That principle is, that whenever a public improve- 
 ment is of national importance, and local and pri- 
 vate enterprise are inadequate to its prosecution, 
 the General Government should undertake it. On 
 this principle I would deal with the'questioa of ed- 
 ucation by the aid of the National Government*
 
 EUTHEEFORD B. HAYES. 377 
 
 Wherever in the United States the local systems 
 of popular education are inadequate, they should 
 be supplemented by the General Government, by 
 devoting to the purpose, by suitable legislation and 
 with proper safeguards, the public lands, or, if 
 necessary, appropriations from the treasury of the 
 United States. The soldier of the Union has done 
 his work, and has done it well. The work of the 
 schoolmaster is now in order. Wherever his work 
 shall be well done, in all our borders, it will be 
 found that there, also, the principles of the Dec- 
 laration of Independence will be cherished, the 
 sentiment of nationality will prevail, the equal- 
 rights amendments will be cheerfully obeyed, and 
 there will be " the home of freedom and the refuge 
 of the oppressed of every race and of every clime." 
 
 [From an Address at the Reunion of Ohio Soldiers and 
 Sailors, at Canton, Ohio, September, 1880.] 
 
 At the Soldiers' State reunion in Columbus, last 
 month, I made some remarks on the duty of the 
 general government to complete the work of recon- 
 struction by affording aid, wherever it is needed, 
 for the education of the illiterate white and colored 
 people in the late slaveholding States. I am firmly 
 convinced that the subject of popular education 
 deserves the earnest attention of the people of the 
 whole country, with a view to wise and compre- 
 hensive action by the government of the United
 
 878 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 States. The means at the command of tho local 
 and State authorities are, in many cases, wholly 
 inadequate to deal with the question. The magni- 
 tude of the evil to be eradicated is not, I appre- 
 hend, generally and fully understood. Consider 
 these facts : 
 
 1. In the late slaveholding States, under the 
 system of slavery, education was denied to the 
 colored people, and the education of the non- 
 slaveholcling white people was greatly neglected. 
 By reason of this state of things, in 1870 more 
 than four millions of people in the South of school 
 age and over that age were unable to read and 
 write, and more than three-quarters of a million 
 of voters are too illiterate to prepare or even to 
 read their own ballots. This evil is not rapidly 
 diminishing. By tho latest available statistics it 
 appears that in 1878 the total school population, 
 white and colored, in the late slaveholding States 
 was 5,187,584, and that only 2,710,096 were 
 during that year enrolled in any school'. This 
 leaves 2,477,488 almost two and a half millions 
 of the young who are growing up without the 
 means of education. Citizenship and the right to 
 vote were conferred upon the colored people by 
 the government and people of the United States. 
 It is, therefore, the sacred duty, as it is the highest 
 interest, of the United States to see that these new 
 citizens and voters are fitted by education for the
 
 RUTIIEEFOHD B. HAYES. 379 
 
 grave responsibility that has been cast upon them. 
 Dr. Ruffner, school superintendent of Virginia, in 
 an argument that the general government should 
 aid the public schools of the South, says : " I 
 know not what is true of Northern or Western 
 States, but I can say for my State, and for most 
 of the Southern States, we are not able to educate 
 our people in any tolerable sense. We are too 
 poor to do it. A few years ago I showed this 
 conclusively by statistics. . . . There has not been 
 much increase in financial ability in these States 
 since that time ; no increase on an average of my 
 own State, so far as I can judge, and every well- 
 informed man knows that, whatever be the wants 
 of a State, her power of taxation has a limit." 
 
 2. In the Territories of the United States it is 
 estimated that there are over two hundred thousand 
 Indians, almost all of whom are uncivilized. They 
 have heretofore been hunters and warriors. But now 
 no one who observes the rapid progress of railroads 
 and settlements in the West can fail to see that 
 the game and fish, on which the Indians have hith- 
 erto subsisted, are about to disappear. The solu- 
 tion of the Indian question will speedily be either 
 the extinction of the Indians, or their absorption 
 into American citizenship, by means of the civil- 
 izing influences of education. With the disappear- 
 ance of game, there can no longer remain Indian 
 hunters and warriors. The days of Indian wars
 
 380 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 are drawing to a close. There will soon be no 
 room for question as to the department to which 
 the Indian will belong. In a few years all must 
 agree that he should belong, like every other citi- 
 zen, only to himself. The time is not distant 
 when he should be chiefly cared for by the civil- 
 izing department of the government the Bureau 
 of Education. 
 
 3. The people of the Territory of New Mexico 
 have never been provided with the means of edu- 
 cation. The number of people in that Territory 
 in 1870, ten years old and upward, who could not 
 read and write, was fifty-two thousand two hun- 
 dred and twenty. This is largely more than half 
 of the population. The school population is now 
 over thirty thousand, of whom only about one-sixth 
 are enrolled in schools. It will not be questioned that 
 the power of the general government to " make all 
 needful rules and regulations respecting the Ter- 
 ritory belonging to the United States," is sufficient 
 to authorize it to provide for the education of the 
 increasing mass of illiterate citizens growing up in 
 New Mexico and in the other Territories of the 
 United States. 
 
 4. The number of immigrants arriving in the 
 United States is greater than ever before. It is 
 not improbable, from present indications, that 
 from this source alone there will be added during 
 the current decade to the population of our coun-
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 381 
 
 try 5,000,000 of people. On one day last spring 
 there arrived in New York 4,907 immigrants, 
 almost five thousand in a single day at that one 
 port. During the quarter ending the 30th of 
 June last, the number of immigrants into the 
 United States averaged 80,000 a month, and dur- 
 ing the four months ending the 31st of July last 
 there were nearly 300,000. 
 
 Happily for the United States, several of the 
 large elements of this immigration contain very 
 few people who are wholly uneducated. The 
 Germans and Scandinavians have for the most 
 part been educated at public schools in their own 
 country. But it is probable that from one-fourth 
 to one-third of the present total immigration into 
 our country is from foreign nations in which popu- 
 lar education is greatly neglected. It may rea- 
 sonably be estimated that at least from twenty to 
 twenty-five per cent, of the immigrants are illiter- 
 ate. In the current decade we shall probably re- 
 ceive from abroad more than a million of people 
 of school age and upward who are unable to read 
 and write any language ; and of these about a 
 quarter of a million in a few years will share with 
 us equally, man for man, the duties and responsi- 
 bilities of the citizen and the voter. Jefferson, 
 with his almost marvellous sagacity and foresight, 
 declared, nearly a hundred years ago, that free 
 schools were an essential part one of the col-
 
 382 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 umns, as he expressed it of the republican edi- 
 fice, and that " without instruction free to all, the 
 sacred flame of liberty could not be kept burning 
 in the hearts of Americans." Madison said, almost 
 sixty years ago, "A popular government, without 
 popular information, or the means of acquiring it, 
 is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or per- 
 haps to both." Already, in too many instances, 
 elections have become the farce which Madison 
 predicted ; and the tremendous tragedy which we 
 saw when we were soldiers of the Union, and in 
 which we bore a part, could never have occurred, 
 if in all sections of our country there had been 
 universal suffrage based upon universal education. 
 In our country, as everywhere else, it will be 
 found that, in the long run, ignorant voters are 
 powder and ball for the demagogues. The failure 
 to support free schools in any part of our country 
 tends to cheapen and degrade the right of suffrage, 
 and will ultimately destroy its value in every other 
 part of the Republic. The unvarying testimony 
 of history is, that the nations which win the most 
 renowned victories in peace and war are those 
 which provide ample means for popular education. 
 Without free schools there is no such thing as af- 
 fording to " every man an unfettered start and a 
 fair chance in the race of life." In the present 
 condition of our 'country universal education re- 
 quires the aid of the general government. The
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 383 
 
 authority to grant such aid is established by a line 
 of precedents beginning with the origin of the Re- 
 public, and running down through almost every 
 administration to the present time. Let this aid 
 be granted wherever it is essential to the enjoy- 
 ment of free popular instruction. In the language 
 of Mr. "Webster : " The census of these States 
 shows how great a proportion of the whole popu- 
 lation occupies the classes between infancy and 
 manhood. These are the wide fields, "and here is 
 the deep and quick soil, for the seeds of knowledge 
 and virtue, and this is the favored season, the 
 very springtime for sewing them. Let them be 
 disseminated without stint ; let them be scattered 
 with a bountiful hand broadcast. Whatever the 
 government can fairly do toward these objects, in 
 my opinion, ought to be done." 
 
 [From an Address at the Anniversary of the Hampton In- 
 stitute, Virginia, May 20, 1880.] 
 
 The President said that he should be glad if he 
 could speak to all who are entitled to the credit of 
 establishing and sustaining the Institute the feel- 
 ing of all who have listened to the exercises of the 
 day ; but the stream of congratulation and encouV- 
 agement for the Institute flows so deep and strong 
 that it is hardly necessary to add anything to it. He 
 desired only to thank the principal, Gen. Armstrong, 
 who has done so much, the trustees, the teachers, the
 
 384 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 pupils, and these who were now to go out, and to 
 express to them all the gratitude and the satisfac- 
 tion which he felt in what had been done. The 
 question you are dealing with is the oldest and one 
 of the most difficult, and indeed one of the most 
 vital how to deal with the seemingly repugnant 
 elements which mako up our population. When I 
 remember the diversity of climate and soil and 
 natural resources which characterize our country, 
 it seems to me that these conditions required, if 
 they did not create, the diverse elements of the 
 population. The great task is, how to fuse a peo- 
 ple differing so widely in raceand jnationality into 
 one harmonious whole ? and this is the problem 
 which Hampton Institute is solving. It is teaching 
 us to deal with all these diverse races and classes 
 as children of the same great Father. It is helping 
 to wipe out sectionalism and race prejudice and 
 these are the only two enemies America has ever 
 had to fear. We do not wish to repeal or change 
 the laws of nature ; what God has made separate 
 and distinct, we do not mean to interfere with. 
 We do not wish to abolish the distinctions between 
 the races. We are willing that they should remain 
 distinct and separate as the fingers of the hand ; 
 but we want them, for effectiveness in every good 
 work, and for the national defence, to be united, 
 to become one as the hand. This is the problem, 
 so hard and difficult, which has caused so much
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HATES. 385 
 
 anxiety, and so much suffering and affliction, which 
 Hampton is solving. The question is settled, and 
 there is no need of making a speech about it. 
 
 [From an Address to the Citizens of Detroit, Michigan, 
 September 18, 1880.] 
 
 The practice of creating public debts, as it pre- 
 vails in this country, especially in municipal gov- 
 ernments, has long attracted very serious attention. 
 It is a great and growing evil. States, whose good 
 name and credit have been hitherto untarnished, 
 are threatened with repudiation. Many towns and 
 cities have reached a point where they must soon 
 face the same peril. I do not now wish to discuss 
 the mischiefs of repudiation. My purpose is mere- 
 ly to make a few suggestions as to the best way to 
 avoid repudiation. But, in passing, let me ob- 
 serve : Experience in this country has shown that no 
 State or community can, under any circumstances, 
 gain by repudiation. The repudiators themselves 
 cannot afford it. The community that deliberately 
 refuses to provide for its honest debts, loses its 
 good name and shuts the door to all hope of fu- 
 ture prosperity. It demoralizes and degrades all 
 classes of its citizens. Capital and labor and good 
 people will not go to such communities, but will 
 surely leave them. If I thought my words could 
 influence any of my countrymen who are so unfor- 
 
 25
 
 386 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 tunate as to be compelled to consider this question, 
 I would "say, let no good citizen be induced, by 
 any prospect of advantage to himself or to his 
 party, to take a single step toward repudiation. 
 Let him set his face like flint against the first 
 dawning of an attempt to enter upon that down- 
 ward pathway. It has been well said that the 
 most expensive way for a community to get rid of 
 its honest debts is repudiation. 
 
 [From a Message to Congress, February, 1881.] 
 
 The Indians should be prepared for citizenship 
 by giving to their young of both sexes that indus- 
 trial and general education which is requisite to 
 enable them to be self-supporting and capable of 
 self-protection in civilized communities. 
 
 Lands should be allotted to the Indians in sever- 
 alty, inalienable for a certain period. 
 
 The Indians should have a fair compensation for 
 their lands not required for individual allotments, 
 the amount to be invested, with suitable safeguards, 
 for their benefit. 
 
 With these prerequisites secured, the Indians 
 should be made citizens, and invested with the 
 rights and charged with the responsibilities of citi- 
 zenship. 
 
 Nothing should be left undone to show to the 
 Indians that the government of the United States
 
 EUTHEEFORD B. HATES. 387 
 
 regards their rights as equally sacred with those of 
 its citizens. 
 
 [With reference to the Poncas, and their alleged wrongs, he 
 added] : 
 
 Whether the Executive, or Congress, or the pub- 
 lic is chiefly in fault is not now a question of prac- 
 tical importance. As the chief Executive at the 
 time when the wrong was consummated, I am 
 deeply sensible that enough of the responsibility 
 for that wrong justly attaches to me to make it my 
 personal duty and earnest desire to do all I can to 
 give these Indian people that measure of redress 
 which is required alike by justice and by hu- 
 manity.
 
 388 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 
 
 BORN, 1831. GRADUATED AT WILLIAMS COLLEGE, MASS, 1856. 
 
 PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT LANGUAGES IN HIRAM INSTI- 
 TUTE, OHIO, 1856. PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLLEGE, 1857. 
 
 ELECTED TO THE STATE SENATE. OHIO, 1859. ADMITTED 
 TO THE BAR, 1860. COLONEL OF AN OHIO REGIMENT, 1861. 
 BRIGADIER-GENERAL, 1862. MEMBER OF THE FITZ^-JOHN 
 PORTER COURT-MARTIAL, 1862. CHIEF OF STAFF UNDER 
 GENERAL ROSECRANS, 1863. ELECTED TO CONGRESS, 1863. 
 
 MEMBER OF THE MILITARY COMMITTEE. RE-ELECTED 
 TO CONGRESS, 1865. MEMBER OF COMMITTEE OF WAYS 
 AND MEANS. VISITED EUROPE, 1867. CHAIRMAN OF THE 
 COMMITTEE ON THE TARIFF, 1870. ON APPROPRIATIONS, 
 1871-1875. RE-ELECTED TO CONGRESS, 1878. MEMBER OF 
 THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION, 1876. ELECTED TO THE 
 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES FROM OHIO, 1880. - PRESI- 
 DENT, 1881. 
 
 [Speech on the Currency. 46th Congress.] 
 
 No man can doubt that within recent years, and 
 notably within recent months, the leading thinkers 
 of the civilized world have become alarmed at the 
 attitude of the two precious metals in relation to 
 each other ; and many leading thinkers are becom- 
 ing clearly of the opinion that, by some wise, judi- 
 cious arrangement, both the precious metals must 
 be kept in service for the currency of the world. 
 And this opinion has been very rapidly gaining
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 389 
 
 ground within the past six months to such an ex- 
 tent, that England, which for more than half a cen- 
 tury has stoutly adhered to the single gold stand- 
 ard, is now seriously meditating how she may 
 harness both these metals to the monetary car of 
 the world. And yet outside of this capital, I do 
 not this day know of a single great and recog- 
 nized advocate of bi-metallic money who regards 
 it prudent or safe for any nation largely to increase 
 the coinage standard of silver at the present time 
 beyond the limits fixed by existing laws. . . . Yet 
 we, who during the past two years have coined far 
 more silver dollars than we ever before coined 
 since the foundation of the Government ; ten times 
 as many as we coined during half a century of our 
 national life ; are to-day ignoring and defying the 
 enlightened universal opinion of bi-metallism, and 
 saying that the United States, single-handed and 
 alone, can enter the field and settle the mighty 
 issue. We are justifying the old proverb that 
 "fools rush in where angels fear to tread." It 
 is sheer madness, Mr. Speaker. I once saw a 
 dog on a grea't stack of hay that had been floated 
 out into the wild overflowed stream of a river, 
 with its stack-pen and foundation still holding to- 
 gether, but ready to be wrecked. For a little 
 while the animal appeared to be perfectly happy. 
 His hay-stack was there, and the pen around it, 
 and he seemed to think the world bright and his
 
 390 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 happiness secure, while the sunshine fell softly on 
 his head and hay. But by and by he began to 
 discover that the house and the barn, and their 
 surroundings were not all there, as they were 
 when he went to sleep the night before ; and he 
 began to see that he could not command all the 
 prospect, and peacefully dominate the scene as he 
 had done before. 
 
 So with this House. We assume to manage this 
 mighty question which has been launched on the 
 wild current that sweeps over the whole world, 
 and we bark from our legislative hay-stacks as 
 though we commanded the whole world. In the 
 name of common sense and sanity, let us take 
 some account of the flood ; let us understand that 
 a deluge means something, and try if we can to 
 get our bearings before we undertake to settle the 
 affairs of all mankind by a vote of this House. 
 To-day we are coining one-third of all the silver 
 that is being coined in the round world. China is 
 coining another third ; and all other nations are 
 using the remaining one-third for subsidiary coin. 
 And if we want to take rank with China, and part 
 company with all of the civilized nations of the 
 "Western world, let us pass this bill, and then ''bay 
 the moon " as we float down the whirling channel 
 to take our place among the silver mono-metallists 
 of Asia.
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 391 
 
 [Letter to B. A. Kimball.] 
 
 COLUMBUS, OHIO, February 16, 1861. 
 
 Mr. Lincoln has come and gone. The rush of 
 people to see him at every point on the route is 
 astonishing. The reception here was plain and 
 republican, but very impressive. He has been 
 raising a respectable pair of dark-brown whiskers, 
 which decidedly improve his looks, but no ap- 
 pendage can ever render him remarkable for 
 beauty. On the whole, I am greatly pleased with 
 him. Ho clearly shows his want of culture, and 
 the marks of western life ; but there is no touch 
 of affectation in him, and he has a peculiar power 
 of impressing you that he is frank, direct, and 
 thoroughly honest. His remarkable good sense, 
 simple and condensed style of expression, and 
 evident marks of indomitable will, give me great 
 hopes for the country. And, after the long, dreary 
 period of Buchanan's weakness and cowardly im- 
 becility, the people will hail a strong and vigorous 
 leader. 
 
 [To the Same.] 
 
 A monarchy is more easily overthrown than a 
 rebublic, because its sovereignty is concentrated, 
 and a single blow, if it be powerful enough, will 
 crush it.
 
 392 cinrs FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 As an abstract theory, the doctrine of Free 
 Trade seems to be universally true, but as a ques- 
 tion of practicability, under a government like 
 ours, the protective system seems to be indis- 
 pensable. 
 
 [Speech on a Draft Bill, June 21, 1864.] 
 
 It has never been my policy to conceal a truth 
 merely because it is unpleasant. It may be well 
 to smile in the face of danger, but it is neither 
 well nor wise to let danger approach unchallenged 
 and unannounced. A brave nation, like a brave 
 man, desires to see and measure the perils which 
 threaten it. It is the right of the American people 
 to know the necessities of the Republic when they 
 are called upon to make sacrifices for it. It is this 
 lack of confidence in ourselves and the people, 
 this timid waiting for events to control us when 
 they should obey us, that makes men oscillate 
 between hope and fear ; now in the sunshine of the 
 hill-tops, and now in the gloom and shadows of 
 the valley. To such men the bulletin which 
 heralds success in the army gives exultation and 
 high hope ; the evening dispatch, announcing 
 some slight disaster to our advancing columns, 
 brings gloom and depression. Hope rises and falls 
 by the accidents of war, as the mercury of the ther- 
 mometer changes by the accidents of heat and 
 cold. Let us rather take for our symbol the
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 393 
 
 sailor's barometer, which faithfully forewarns him 
 of the tempest, and gives him unerring promise of 
 serene skies and peaceful seas. 
 
 [Speech in New York City, 1865, on the Assassination of 
 President Lincoln.] 
 
 By this last act of madness it seems as though 
 the Rebellion had determined that the President 
 of the soldiers should go with the soldiers who 
 have laid down their lives on the battle-field. 
 They slew the noblest and gentlest heart that ever 
 put down a rebellion upon this earth. In taking 
 that life they have left " the iron " hand of the people 
 to fall upon them. Love is on the front of the 
 throne of God, but justice and judgment, with 
 inexorable dread, follow behind; and where law 
 is slighted and mercy despised, when they have 
 rejected those who would be their best friends, 
 then comes justice with her hoodwinked eye, and 
 with the sword and scales. From every gaping 
 wound of your dead chief, let the voice go up for 
 the people to see to it that our house is swept and 
 garnished. I hasten to say one thing more. For 
 mere vengeance I would do nothing. This nation 
 is too great to look for mere revenge. But for 
 security of the future I would do everything.
 
 394 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Speech in Congress on the Constitutional Amendment to 
 abolish slavery, January 13, 1865.] 
 
 On the 21st day of June, 1788, our national 
 sovereignty was lodged, by the peoplo, in the 
 Constitution of the United States, where it still 
 resides, and for its preservation our armies are 
 to-day in the field. In all these stages of devel- 
 opment, from colonial dependence to full-orbed 
 nationality, the people, not the States, have been 
 omnipotent. They have abolished, established, 
 altered, and amended, as suited their sovereign 
 pleasure. They made the Constitution. That 
 great charter tells its own story best : 
 
 "We, the people of the United States, in order to form a 
 more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tran- 
 quillity, provide for the common defence, promote the gen- 
 eral welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
 and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
 for the United States of America." 
 
 That Constitution, with its amendments, is the 
 latest and the greatest utterance of American 
 sovereignty. The hour is now at hand when that 
 majestic sovereign, for the benignant purpose of 
 securing still farther the ' blessings of liberty,' is 
 about to put forth another oracle ; is about to de- 
 clare that universal freedom shall be the supreme 
 law of the land. Show me the power that is
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 395 
 
 authorized to forbid it. ... They made the Con- 
 stitution what it is. They could have made it 
 otherwise then ; they can make it otherwise now. 
 
 In the very crisis of our fate, God brought us 
 face to face with the alarming truth* that wejmust 
 lose our own freedom, or grant it to the slave. 
 In the extremity of our distress, we called upon 
 the black man to help us save the Republic, and 
 amidst the very thunder of battle we made a cov- 
 enant with him, sealed both with his blood and 
 ours, and witnessed by Jehovah, that when the 
 nation was redeemed, he should be free, and share 
 with us the glories and blessings of freedom. In 
 the solemn words of the great proclamation of 
 emancipation, we not only declared the slaves for- 
 ever free, but we pledged the faith of the nation 
 r to maintain their freedom" mark the words, "to 
 maintain their freedom " The Omniscient witness 
 will appear in judgment against us if we do not 
 fulfil that covenant. Have we done it? Have 
 we given freedom to the black man? What is 
 
 O 
 
 freedom ? Is it a mere negation ? the bare privi- 
 lege of not being chained, bought, and sold, 
 branded, and scourged? If this be all, then free- 
 dom is a bitter mockery, a cruel delusion, and it 
 may well be questioned whether slavery were not 
 better. 
 
 But liberty is no negation. It is a substantive,
 
 396 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 tangible reality. It is the realization of those im- 
 perishable truths of the Declaration, "that all men 
 are created equal," that the sanction of all just 
 government is " the consent of the governed." 
 Can these truths be realized until each man has 
 a right to be heard on all matters relating to 
 himself? 
 
 Mr. Speaker, we did more than merely to 
 break off the chains of the slaves. The abolition 
 of slavery added four million citizens to the Re- 
 public. By the decision of the Supreme Court, 
 by the decision of the attorney-general, l>y the 
 decision of all the departments of our govern- 
 ment, those men made free are, by the act of free- 
 dom, made citizens. 
 
 If they are to be disfranchised, if they are to 
 have no voice in determining the conditions under 
 which they are to live and labor, what hope have 
 they for the future ? It will rest with their late 
 masters, whose treason they aided to thwart, to 
 determine whether negroes shall be permitted to 
 hold property, to enjoy the benefits of education, 
 to enforce contracts, to have access to the courts 
 of justice in short, to enjoy any of those rights 
 which give vitality and value to freedom. Who can 
 fail to foresee the ruin and misery that await this 
 race to whom the vision of freedom has been pre- 
 sented only to be withdrawn, leaving them with-
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 397 
 
 out even the aid which the master's selfish, com- 
 mercial interest in their life and service formerly 
 afforded them? Will these negroes, remembering 
 the battle-fields on which nearly two hundred 
 thousand of their number have so bravely fought, 
 and many thousands have heroically died, submit 
 to oppression as tamely and peaceably as in the 
 days of slavery? Under such conditions there 
 could be no peace, no security, no prosperity. 
 The spirit of slavery is still among us ; it must be 
 utterly destroyed before we shall be safe. 
 
 Mr. Speaker, I know of nothing more dan- 
 gerous to a Republic than to put into its very 
 midst four million people, stripped of every attri- 
 bute of citizenship, robbed of the right of repre- 
 sentation, but bound to pay taxes to the govern- 
 ment. If they can endure it, we can not. The 
 murderer is to be pitied more than the murdered 
 man ; the robber more than the robbed. And we 
 who defraud four million citizens of their rights 
 are injuring ourselves vastly more than we are 
 injuring the black man whom we rob. 
 
 Throughout the whole web of national existence 
 we trace the golden thread of human progress to- 
 ward a higher and better estate. 
 
 e 
 
 The life and light of a nation are inseparable.
 
 398 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 We confront the dangers of suffrage by the 
 blessings of universal education. 
 
 We should do nothing inconsistent with the 
 spirit and genius of our institutions. We should 
 do nothing for revenge, but everything for secu- 
 rity : nothing for the past ; everything for the 
 present and future. 
 
 There are two classes offerees whose action and 
 reaction determine the condition of a nation the 
 forces of Repression and Expression. The one 
 acts from without ; limits, curbs, restrains. The 
 other acts from within ; expands, enlarges, propels. 
 Constitutional forms, statutory limitations, con- 
 servative customs, belong to the first. The free 
 play of individual life, opinion, and action, belong- 
 to the second. If these forces be happily balanced, 
 if there be a wise conservation and correlation of 
 both, a nation may enjoy the double blessing of 
 progress and permanence. 
 
 It matters little what may be the forms of Na- 
 tional institutions, if the life, freedom, and growth 
 of society are secured. 
 
 There is no horizontal stratification of society in 
 this country like the rocks in the earth, that hold 
 one class down below forevermore, and let another 
 come to the surface to stay there forever. Our 
 stratification is like the ocean, where every indi-
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 899 
 
 vidual drop is free to move, and where from the 
 sternest depths of the mighty deep any drop may 
 come up to glitter on the highest wave that rolls. 
 
 The Union and the Congress must share the 
 same fate. They must rise or fall together. 
 
 Real political issues cannot be manufactured by 
 the leaders of political parties, and real ones can- 
 not be evaded by political parties. The real polit- 
 ical issues of the day declare themselves and come 
 out of the depth of that deep wilich we call public 
 opinion. The nation has a life of its own as dis- 
 tinctly defined as the life of an individual. The 
 signs of its growth and the periods of its develop- 
 ment make issues declare themselves ; and the 
 man or the political party that does not discover 
 this, has not learned the character of the nation's 
 
 [Reply to Mr. Lamar, in a Committee of the Whole.] 
 
 Mr. Chairman, great ideas travel slowly, and 
 for a time noiselessly, as the gods, whose feet 
 were shod w r ith wool. Our war of independence 
 was a war of ideas, of ideas evolved out of two 
 hundred years of slow and silent growth. When, 
 one hundred years ago, our fathers announced as 
 self-evident truths the declaration that all men are 
 created equal, and the only just power of govern- 
 ments is derived from the consent of the governed,
 
 400 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 they uttered a doctrine that no nation had ever 
 adopted, that not one kingdom on the earth then 
 believed. Yet to our fathers it was so plain that 
 they would not debate it. They announced it as 
 a truth "self-evident." 
 
 Whence came the immortal truths of the Dec- 
 laration ? To me this was for years the riddle of 
 our history. I have searched long and patiently 
 through the books of the doctrinaires to find the 
 germs from which the Declaration of Independence 
 sprang. I find hints in Locke, in Ilobbes, in Rous- 
 seau, and Fdnelon ; but they were only the hints 
 of dreamers and philosophers. The great doc- 
 trines of the Declaration germinated in the hearts 
 of our fathers, and were developed under the new 
 influences of this wilderness world, by the same 
 subtile mystery which brings forth the rose from 
 the germ of the rose-tree. Unconsciously to them- 
 selves, the great truths were growing under the 
 new conditions, until, like the century-plant, they 
 blossomed into the matchless beauty of the Decla- 
 ration of Independence, whose fruitage, increased 
 and increasing, we enjoy to-day. 
 
 It will not do, Mr. Chairman, to speak of the 
 gigantic revolution through which we have lately 
 passed as a thing to be adjusted and settled by a 
 change of administration. It was cyclical, epochal, 
 century-wide, and to be studied in its broad and
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 401 
 
 grand perspective a revolution of even wider 
 scope, so far as time is concerned, than the Revo- 
 lution of 1776. We have been dealing with ele- 
 ments and forces which have been at work on this 
 continent more than two hundred and fifty years. 
 I trust I shall be excused if I take a few moments 
 to trace some of the leading phases of the great 
 struggle. And in doing so, I beg gentlemen to 
 see that the subject itself lifts us into a region 
 where the individual sinks out of sight and is ab- 
 sorbed in the mighty current of great events. It 
 is not the occasion to award praise or pronounce 
 condemnation. In such a revolution men are like 
 insects that fret and toss in the storm, but are 
 swept onward by the resistless movements of ele- 
 ments beyond their control. I speak of this revo- 
 lution not to praise the men who aided it, or to 
 censure the men who resisted it, but as a force to 
 be studied, as a mandate to be obeyed. 
 
 In the year 1620 there were planted upon this 
 continent two ideas irreconcilably hostile to each 
 other. Ideas are the great warriors of the world ; \ 
 and a war that has no ideas behind it is simply 
 brutality. The two ideas were landed, one at 
 Plymouth Rock, from the Mayflower, and the other 
 from a Dutch brig at Jamestown, Virginia. One was 
 the old doctrine of Luther, that private judgment, 
 in politics as well as religion, is the right and duty 
 of every man ; and the other, that capital should 
 
 26
 
 402 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 own labor, that the negro had no rights of man- 
 hood, and the white man might justly buy, own, 
 and sell him and his offspring forever. Thus free- 
 dom and equality on the one hand, and on the 
 other the slavery of one race and the domination of 
 another, were the two germs planted on this con- 
 tinent. In our vast expanse of wilderness, for 
 a long time, there was room for both ; and their 
 advocates began the race across the continent, 
 each developing the social and political institutions 
 of their choice. Both had vast interests in com- 
 mon ; and for a long time neither was conscious 
 of the fatal antagonisms that were developing. 
 
 For nearly two centuries there was no serious 
 collision ; but when the continent began to fill up, 
 and the people began to jostle against each other ; 
 when the Roundhead and the Cavalier came near 
 enough to measure opinions, the irreconcilable 
 character of the two doctrines began to appear. 
 Many conscientious men studied the subject, and 
 came to the belief that slavery was a crime, a sin, 
 or, as Wesley said, ' the sum of all villanies.' 
 This belief dwelt in small minorities for a long 
 time. It lived in the churches and vestries, but 
 later found its way into the civil and political 
 organizations of the country, and finally found its 
 way into this chamber. A few brave, clear-sighted, 
 far-seeing men announced it here, a little more 
 than a generation ago. A predecessor of mine,
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 403 
 
 Joshua E. Giddings, following the lead of John 
 Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, almost alone 
 held up the banner on this floor, and from year to 
 year comrades came to his side. Through evil 
 and through good report he pressed the question / 
 upon the conscience of the nation, and bravely/ 
 stood in his place in this House, until his white \ 
 locks, like the plume of Henry of Navarre, showed 
 where the battle of freedom raged most fiercely. 
 
 And so the contest continued; the supporters 
 of slavery believing honestly and sincerely that 
 slavery was a divine institution ; that it found its 
 high sanctions in the living oracles of God and in 
 a wise political philosophy; that it was justified 
 by the necessities of their situation; and that 
 slave-holders were missionaries to the dark sons 
 of Africa, to elevate and bless them. We are so 
 far past the passions of that early time that we 
 can now study the progress of the struggle as a 
 great and inevitable development, without sharing 
 in the crimination and recrimination that attended 
 it. If both sides could have seen that it was a 
 contest beyond their control ; if both parties could 
 have realized the truth that " unsettled questions 
 have no pity for the repose of nations," much less 
 for the fate of political parties, the bitterness,- the 
 sorrow, the tears, and the blood might have been 
 avoided. But we walked in the darkness, our 
 paths obscured by the smoke of the conflict, each
 
 404 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 following his own convictions through ever-increas- 
 ing fierceness, until the debate culminated in " the 
 last argument to which kings resort." 
 
 This conflict of opinion was not merely one of 
 sentimental feeling ; it involved our whole politi- 
 cal system ; it gave rise to two radically different 
 theories of the nature of our government; the 
 North believing and holding that we were a nation, 
 the South insisting that we were only a confedera- 
 tion of sovereign States, and insisting that each 
 State had the right, at its own discretion, to break 
 the Union, and constantly threatening secession 
 where the full rights of slavery were not acknowl- 
 edged. 
 
 Thus the defence and aggrandizement of slavery, 
 and the hatred of abolitionism, became not only 
 the central idea of the Democratic party, but its 
 master passion, a passion intensified and in- 
 flamed by twenty-five years of fierce political con- 
 test, which had not only driven from its ranks all 
 those who preferred freedom to slavery, but had 
 absorbed all the extreme pro-slavery elements of 
 the fallen Whig party. Over against this was 
 arrayed the Republican party, asserting the broad 
 doctrines of nationality and loyalty, insisting that 
 no State had a right to secede, that secession was 
 treason, and demanding that the institution of 
 slavery should be restricted to the limits of the 
 States where it already existed. But here and
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 405 
 
 there many bolder and more radical thinkers de- 
 clared, with Wendell Phillips, that there never 
 could be union and peace, freedom and prosperity, 
 until we were willing to see John Hancock under 
 a black skin. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ought the Republican party to 
 surrender its truncheon of command to the Democ- 
 racy? The gentleman from Mississippi says, if 
 this were England, the ministry would go out in 
 twenty-four hours with such a state of things as we 
 have here. Ah, yes ! that is an ordinary case of 
 change of administration. But if this were Eng- 
 land, what would she have done at the end of the 
 war? England made one such mistake as the 
 gentleman asks this country to make, when she 
 threw away the achievements of the grandest man 
 that ever trod her highway of power. Oliver 
 Cromwell had overturned the throne of despotic 
 power, and had lifted his country to a place of 
 masterful greatness among the nations of the earth ; 
 and when, after his death, his great sceptre was 
 transferred to a weak though not unlinealhand, his 
 country, in a moment of reactionary blindness, 
 brought back the Stuarts. England did not re- 
 
 O O 
 
 cover from that folly until, in 1689, the Prince of 
 Orange drove from her island the last of that weak 
 and wicked line. Did she afterward repeat the 
 blunder?
 
 406 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 I am aware that there is a general disposition 
 " to let by-gones be by-gones," and to judge of 
 parties and of men, not by what they have been, 
 but by what they are and what they propose. 
 
 That view is partly just and partly erroneous. 
 It is just and wise to bury resentments and an- 
 imosities. It is erroneous in this, that parties have 
 an organic life and spirit of their own an individ- 
 uality and character which outlive the men who 
 compose them ; and the spirit and traditions of a 
 party should be considered in determining their 
 fitness for managing the affairs of a nation. 
 
 I will close by calling your attention again to 
 the great problem before us. Over this vast hori- 
 zon of interests North and South, above all party 
 prejudices and personal wrong-doing, above our 
 battle hosts and our victorious cause, above all 
 that we hoped for and won, or you hoped for and 
 lost, is the grand, onward movement of the Re- 
 public to perpetuate its glory, to save liberty alive, 
 to preserve exact and equal justice to all, to pro- 
 tect and foster all these priceless principles, until 
 they shall have crystalized into the form of endur- 
 ing law, and become inwrought into the life and 
 the habits of our people. 
 
 And, until these great results are accomplished, 
 it is not safe to take one step backward. It is still 
 more unsafe to trust interests of such measureless
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 407 
 
 value in the hands of an organization whose mem- 
 bers have never comprehended their epoch, have 
 never been in sympathy with its great movements, 
 who have resisted every step of its progress, and 
 whose principal function has been 
 
 " ' To lie in cold obstruction ' 
 across the pathway of the nation. 
 
 "No, no, gentlemen, our enlightened and pa- 
 triotic people will not follow such leaders in the 
 rearward march. Their myriad faces are turned 
 the other way ; and along their serried lines still 
 rings the cheering cry, ' Forward ! till our great 
 work is fully and worthily accomplished.' " 
 
 [From a Speech in Congress, 1866.] 
 
 Duties should be so high that our manufacturers 
 can fairly compete with the foreign product, but 
 not so high as to enable them to drive out the for- 
 eign article, enjoy a monopoly of the trade, and 
 regulate the price as they please. This is my doc- 
 trine of protection. ... I am for a protection that 
 leads to ultimate free trade. I am for that free 
 trade which can only be achieved through a reason- 
 able protection. 
 
 [Letter to A. B. Hinsdale.] 
 
 WASHINGTON, January 1, 1867. 
 
 I am less satisfied with the present aspect of pub- 
 lic affairs than I have been for a long time. . . .
 
 408 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Really there seems to be a fear on the part of many 
 of our friends that they may do some absurdly 
 extravagant thing to prove their radicalism. I am 
 trying to do two things : dare to be a radical and 
 not be a fool, which, if I may judge by the exhibi- 
 tions around me, is a matter of no small difficulty. 
 . . . My own course is chosen, and it is quite 
 probable it will throw me out of public life. 
 
 We provide for the common defence by a system 
 which promotes the general welfare. 
 
 [From an Address at Hiram College, June 14, 1-867.] 
 
 It is to me a perpetual wonder how any child's 
 love of knowledge survives the outrages of the 
 school-house. I, for one, declare that no child of 
 mine shall ever be Compelled to study one hour, or 
 to learn even the English alphabet, before he has 
 deposited under his skin at least seven years of 
 muscle and bone. 
 
 [From the Same.] 
 
 The student should study himself, his relations 
 to society, to nature, and to art, and above all, in 
 all, and tlirough all these, he should study the rela- 
 tions of himself, society, nature, and art, to God, 
 the Author of them all.
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 409 
 
 [From the Same.] 
 
 It is well to know the history of those magnifi- 
 cent nations whose origin is lost in fable, and 
 whose epitaphs were written a thousand years ago 
 but if we cannot know both, it is far better to 
 study the history of our own nation, whose origin 
 we can trace to the freest and noblest aspirations 
 of the human heart a nation that was formed 
 from the hardiest, purest, and most enduring ele- 
 ments of European civilization a nation that, by 
 its faith r:id courage, has dared and accomplished 
 more for the human race in a single century than 
 Europe accomplished in the first thousand years 
 of the Christian era. The New England township 
 was the type after which our Federal Government 
 was modelled ; yet it would be rare to find a col- 
 lege student who can make a comprehensive and 
 intelligible statement of the municipal organization 
 of the township in which he was born, and tell you 
 by what officers its legislative, judicial, and execu- 
 tive functions were administered. One half of 
 the time which is now almost wasted, in district 
 schools, on English Grammar, attempted at too 
 early an age, would be sufficient to teach our chil- 
 dren to love the Republic, and to become its loyal 
 and life-long supporters. After the bloody bap- 
 tism from which the nation has arisen to a higher 
 and nobler life, if this shameful defect in our sys-
 
 410 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 tern of education be not speedily remedied, we 
 shall deserve the infinite contempt of future gene- 
 rations. I insist that it should be made an indis- 
 pensable condition of graduation in every American 
 college, that the student must understand the his- 
 tory of this continent since its discovery by Euro- 
 peans, the origin and history of the United States, 
 its constitution of government, the struggles through 
 which it has passed, and the rights and duties of 
 citizens who are to determine its destiny and share 
 its glory. 
 
 Having thus gained the knowledge which is 
 necessary to life, health, industry, and citizenship, 
 the student is prepared to enter a wider and grand- 
 er field of thought. If he desires that large and 
 liberal culture, which will call into activity all his 
 powers, and make the most of the material God 
 has given him, he must study deeply and earnestly 
 the intellectual, the moral, the religious, and the 
 aesthetic nature of man ; his relations to nature, to 
 civilization, past and present, and above all, his 
 relations to God. These should occupy nearly, if 
 not fully, half the time of his college course. In 
 connection with the philosophy of the mind, he 
 should study logic, the pure mathematics, and the 
 general laws of thought. In connection with moral 
 philosophy, he should study political and social 
 ethics a science, so little known either in colleges 
 or congresses. Prominent among all the rest
 
 JAMES A. GAREIELD. 411 
 
 should be his study of the wonderful history of the 
 human race, in its slow and toilsome march across 
 the centuries now buried in ignorance, supersti- 
 tion and crime ; now rising to the sublimity of 
 heroism and catching a glimpse of a better destiny ; 
 now turning remorselessly away from, and leaving 
 to perish, empires and civilizations in which it had 
 invested its faith, and courage, and boundless en- 
 ergy for a thousand years, and plunging into the 
 forests of Germany, Gaul, and Britain, to build for 
 itself new empires, better fitted for its new aspira- 
 tions ; and, at last, crossing three thousand miles 
 of unknown sea, and building in the wilderness of 
 a new hemisphere its latest and proudest monu- 
 ments. 
 
 [Speech in the House of Representatives, February 12, 1867.] 
 
 I cannot forget that we have learned slowly. 
 ... I cannot forget that less than five years ago 
 I received an order from my superior officer com- 
 manding me to search my camp for a fugitive 
 slave, and if found, to deliver him up to a Ken- 
 tucky captain who claimed him as his property; 
 and / had the honor to be perhaps the first officer 
 in the army who peremptorily refused to obey such 
 an order. We were then trying to save the Union 
 without hurting slavery. ... It took us two years 
 to reach a point where we were willing to do the
 
 412 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 most meagre justice to the black man, and to rec- 
 ognize the truth that 
 
 " A man's a man for a' that! " 
 
 Sir, the hand of God has been visible in this 
 work, leading us by degrees out of the blindness 
 of our prejudices, to see that the fortunes of the 
 Republic and the safety of the party of liberty are 
 inseparably bound up with the rights of the black 
 man. At last our party must see that if it would 
 preserve its political life, or maintain the safety of 
 the Republic, we must do justice to the humblest 
 man in the Nation, whether black or white. I 
 thank God that to-day we have struck the rock ; 
 we have planted our feet upon solid earth. Streams 
 of light will gleam out from the luminous truth 
 embodied in the legislation of this day. This is 
 the ne plus ultra of reconstruction, and I hope we 
 shall have the courage to go before our people 
 everywhere with " This or nothing" for our motto. 
 
 Now, sir, as a temporary measure, I give my 
 support to this military bill properly restricted. 
 It is severe. It was written with a steel pen made 
 out of a bayonet ; and bayonets have done us 
 good service hitherto. All I ask is that Congress 
 shall place civil governments before these people 
 of the rebel States, and a cordon of bayonets 
 behind them.
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 413 
 
 Now, what does this bill propose? It lays the 
 hands of the Nation upon the rebel State govern- 
 ments, and takes the breath of life out of them. 
 It puts the bayonet at the breast of every rebel 
 murderer in the South to bring him to justice. It 
 commands the army to protect the life and prop- 
 erty of citizens whether black or white. It places 
 in the hands of Congress absolutely and irrevo- 
 cably the whole work of reconstruction. 
 
 With this thunderbolt in our hands shall we 
 stagger like idiots under its weight? Have we 
 grasped a weapon which we have neither the 
 courage nor the wisdom to wield ? 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD.* 
 
 When in' Europe in 1867, my attention was 
 particularly drawn to the significant fact that the 
 pictures of Lincoln and Seward were the only por- 
 traits of American statesmen that were notably 
 prominent, and that these were everywhere seen 
 together. I asked a Frenchman of distinction why 
 
 * "Another talk that I recall was at a social gathering. It 
 was at a dinner-party, after the failure of Greeley's cam- 
 paign. The host was, perhaps, the most original genius in 
 Washington. He was an old companion of Greeley at 
 Brook Farm. He was giving the dinner in payment of a 
 bet he had lost by reason of Greeley's defeat. The conver- 
 sation embraced all the topics of the day, and, in the course 
 of it, turned to Seward. A member of the company 
 thought that Seward had been dead years before he was put
 
 414 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Seward was held in such high estimation ; and his 
 answer most seriously impressed me with the 
 thought that perhaps, after all the slanders of his 
 detractors, Mr. Seward had buildcd for the future 
 more wisely than we knew. This gentleman said : 
 " Mr. Seward is the American statesman who looms 
 up the most prominently from over the water. 
 His diplomacy in Mexico has placed the imprint of 
 greatness upon his name. Halting for a moment 
 in the midst of the turmoil of the civil war, with 
 his pen he dismembered the coalition organized to 
 place Maximilian upon the Mexican throne, and 
 thus placed the first mineunder the throne of the 
 Third Bonaparte. He has undertaken what the 
 combined powers of Europe have not ventured to 
 essay to break the sceptre of the Second Em- 
 pire." The views entertained by this distinguished 
 Frenchman seem also to have been held in Mexico, 
 for upon the occasion of the death of Mr. Seward, 
 the press of that country all made the most grate- 
 ful mention of his services in that regard. 
 
 into the grave. General Garfield thought differently, and 
 delivered, on the spur of the moment, a remarkable eulogy 
 on the dead statesman. Soon afterward, I reduced to notes 
 the outlines of that eulogy, so far as my memory served 
 me, and I reproduce it here. General Garfield possesses 
 rare convei-sational powers, and uses, in social discourse, a 
 diction not less eloquent and elegant than that to which ho 
 is accustomed in the forurn." Washington Correspondent 
 of the Chicago Tribune.
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 415 
 
 The enthusiasm of this Frenchman, continued 
 General Garfield, had not perished from my 
 memory later when public duties called me to the 
 State Department, The Alaska treaty had just 
 been signed. I found the Sage of Auburn alone, 
 in the thoughtful mood so common to him when 
 meditating upon great subjects. Our conversation 
 fell upon himself, and I found that he had been 
 meditating upon his withdrawl from public life. 
 He had been eight years in the second highest 
 place in this Nation. He had almost had the 
 Presidency within his grasp ; but the displeasure 
 of his party had fallen upon him, and he was about 
 to retire from the political arena. He told me that 
 power was sweet to him ; that he clung even then 
 fondly to its shadow ; and that he relinquished his 
 sceptre with regret. His exact language, in speak- 
 ing of his past career was : " It is unpleasant to 
 yield up power." The conversation turned upon 
 Alaska. The Secretary fell into the dream-like 
 attitude that was never seen except by those who 
 were familiar with him, and commenced to explain 
 his theory of the Alaska purchase in forcible, pro- 
 phetic, almost pathetic words which I never shall 
 forget. I left the room then with grander ideas 
 of the man than I had ever entertained before. His 
 conversation indicated that he had been following 
 a particular course of study, for he remarked that, 
 to his notion, the two greatest books of the century
 
 416 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 were Marsh's " Man in Nature," and the Duke of 
 Argyll's " Keign of Law." The application of Ar- 
 gyll's theory of law as applied to political develop- 
 ment, Mr. Seward had evidently studied with much 
 care. He had been reasoning upon natural laws 
 as they affect a nation. He had been speculating 
 upon the elementary forces of a nation's grandeur, 
 and upon the contrivance in combining them to 
 make them operate in a direction desired. This 
 theory was founded upon the possibility of tracing 
 these forces in history, and of discovering the 
 operation of these laws under conditions which had 
 actually determined the course of mankind and 
 nations in definite directions. The text of his 
 theory was the history of the world's seas. History 
 had taught him that the grandest achievements of 
 man had been associated with the shores of the 
 world's seas. To go back no further than the be- 
 ginning of the Christian era, the most sacred, 
 solemn story of the hopes of man had been written 
 in wanderings on the banks of the Sea of Galilee. 
 With the progress of Christian civilization, thus 
 sea-born, the advancing tide of human progress 
 was staid by the banks of the Mediterranean. It 
 was along the borders of this sea that the Byzantine 
 Empire flourished and was destroyed ; that Eome 
 attained her supremacy, and fell. With the pro- 
 gress of time, and the advance of civilization west- 
 ward, the Atlantic took the place of the Galilean
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 417 
 
 Sea and of the Mediterranean. It is the sea of the 
 present. But unless the laws of political geogra- 
 phy are false, the contests of the future are to be 
 around the shores of the " still sea," now our own 
 Pacific. The nation of the future is the nation that 
 holds the key of those waters. The purchase of 
 Alaska has given our Republic a foothold on both 
 sides of that sea. It is a geographical, impossibil- 
 ity that any other nation can occupy a position in 
 its own territory upon both sides of the Pacific. 
 This is the theory of the purchase. It secures the 
 control of the Pacific to the young Republic. It 
 assures the future of the world's dominion to 
 Yankee civilization. This was the theory. 
 
 And his outlook, said General Garfield, with en- 
 thusiasm, was grand. In his political horoscope, 
 he saw the Republic enjoying a prosperity of which 
 the annals of human affairs had furnished no ex- 
 ample ; he saw our country rising to the place of 
 umpire among the world's powers ; he saw how, 
 by wise statesmanship, our material prosperity and 
 peaceful conquests grew together; how our in- 
 creasing commerce made us mistress of the seas ; 
 how Western civilization and Oriental decrepitude 
 were staid upon the borders of that Pacific sea, and 
 compelled to render homage to Young America, 
 who had become the keeper of the world's keys. 
 
 These were the grand thoughts of Mr. Seward 
 as he was about to relinquish the mantle of his 
 
 27
 
 418 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 power, and, continued General Garfield, his views 
 have left a lasting impression upon me. Mr. 
 Seward could not have died more successfully than 
 he did. He passed away in the lull between two 
 elections, and received the merited eulogiums of 
 both parties. He bore success followed by failure 
 better than any American I know. He was for 
 nearly a decade next to the source of power, and 
 missed the place which was the goal of his later 
 years, retiring from public life suffering the dis- 
 pleasure of his party. But he quietly retired to 
 private life, and never lost his genial spirit or his 
 noble ways. 
 
 [This report of the conversation is indorsed by 
 General Garfield as " in the main correct." 
 
 J. C.] 
 
 [Speech on the Currency Question, 1868.] 
 
 As a medium of exchange, money is to all busi- 
 ness transactions what ships are to the transporta- 
 tion of merchandise. If a hundred vessels, of a 
 given tonnage, are just sufficient to carry all the 
 commodities between two ports, any increase of 
 the number of vessels will correspondingly decrease 
 the value of each as an instrument of commerce ; 
 any decrease below one hundred will correspond- 
 ingly increase the value of each. If the number 
 be doubled, each will carry but half its usual freight, 
 will be worth but half its former value for thai
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 419 
 
 trade. There is so much work to be done, and no 
 more. A hundred vessels can do it all. A thou- 
 sand can do no more than all. 
 
 When the money of the country is gold and sil- 
 ver, it adapts itself to the fluctuations of business 
 without the aid of legislation. If at any time wo 
 have more than is needed, the surplus flows off to 
 other countries through the channels of interna- 
 tional commerce. If less, the deficiency is sup- 
 plied through the same channels. Thus the mone- 
 tary equilibrium is maintained. So immense is 
 the trade of the world, that the golden streams 
 pouring from California and Australia into the 
 specie circulation are soon absorbed in the great 
 mass, and equalized throughout the world, as the 
 waters of all the rivers are spread upon the surface 
 of all the seas. 
 
 Not so, however, with an inconvertible paper 
 currency. Excepting the specie used in payment 
 of customs and the interest on our public debt, we 
 are cut off from the money currents of the world. 
 Our currency resembles rather the waters of an 
 artificial lake, which lie in stagnation or rise to full 
 banks at the caprice of the gate-keeper. 
 
 [A Speech on Currency and the Banks, 1870.] 
 
 The business of the country is like the level of 
 the ocean, from which all measurements are made
 
 420 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of heights and depths. Though tides and currents 
 may for a time disturb, and tempests vex and toss 
 its surface, still through calm and storm the grand 
 level rules all its waves and lays its measuring- 
 lines on every shore. So the business cf the coun- 
 try, which, in the aggregated demands of the peo- 
 ple for the exchange of values, marks the ebb and 
 flow, the rise and fall of the currents of trade, and 
 forms the base-line from which to measure all our 
 financial legislation, and is the only safe rule by 
 which the volume of our currency can be deter- 
 mined. 
 
 The State bank system was a chaos of ruin, in 
 which the business of the country was again and 
 again ingulfed. The people rejoice that it has 
 been swept away, and they will not consent to its 
 re-establishment. In its place we have the Na- 
 tional-bank system, based on the bonds of the 
 United States, and sharing the safety and credit 
 of the government. Their notes are made secure, 
 first, by a deposit of government bonds, worth at 
 least ten per cent, more than the whole value of 
 the notes ; second, by a paramount lien on all the 
 assets of the banks ; third, the personal liability 
 of all the shareholders to an amount equal to the 
 capital they hold ; and, fourth, the absolute guar- 
 antee by the government to redeem them at the
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 421 
 
 National Treasury if the banks fail to do so. In- 
 stead of seven thousand different varieties of notes, 
 as in the State system, we have now but ten varie- 
 ties, each uniform in character and appearance. 
 Like our flag, they bear the stamp of nationality, 
 and are honored in every part of the Union. 
 
 [From a Speech in the House, April 1, 1870.] 
 
 As an abstract theory of political economy free- 
 trade has many advocates, and much can be said 
 in its favor ; nor will it be denied that the scholar- 
 ship of modern times is largely on that side ; that 
 a large majority of the great thinkers of the pres- 
 ent day are leading in the direction of what is 
 called free-trade. 
 
 While this is true, it is equally undeniable that 
 the principle of protection has always been recog- 
 nized and adopted in some form or another by all 
 nations, and is to-day, to a greater or less extent, 
 the policy of every civilized government 
 
 Protection, in its practical meaning, is that pro- 
 vident care for the industry and development of 
 our own country which will give our own people 
 an equal chance in the pursuit of wealth, and save 
 us from the calamity of being dependent upon 
 other nations with whom w^e may any day be at 
 war. . 
 
 In so far as the doctrine of free-trade is a pro-
 
 422 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 test against the old system of oppression and pro- 
 hibition, it is a healthy and worthy sentiment. 
 But underlying all theories, there is a strong and 
 deep conviction in the minds of a great majority 
 of our people in favor of protecting American in- 
 dustry 
 
 [Speech on the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, 
 April 4, 1871.] 
 
 Nothing more aptly describes the char- 
 acter of our Republic than the solar system, 
 launched into space by the hand of the Creator, 
 where the central sun is the great power around 
 which revolve all the planets in their appointed 
 orbits. But while the sun holds in the grasp of 
 its attractive power the whole system, and imparts 
 its light and heat to all, yet each individual planet 
 is under the sway of laws peculiar to itself., 
 
 tinder the sway of terrestrial laws, winds blow, 
 waters flow, and all the tenantries of the planet 
 live and move. So, sir, the States move on in 
 their orbits of duty and obedience, bound to the 
 central government by this Constitution, which is 
 their supreme law; while each State is making 
 laws and regulations of its own, developing its 
 own energies, maintaining its own industries, 
 managing its local affairs in its own way, subject 
 only to the supreme but beneficent control of the
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 423 
 
 Union. When State-rights ran mad, put on the 
 form of secession, and attempted to drag the States 
 out of the Union, we saw the grand lesson, taught 
 in all the battles of the late war, that a State could 
 no more be hurled from the Union, without ruin 
 to the nation, than could a planet be thrown from 
 its orbit without dragging after it, to chaos and 
 ruin, the whole solar universe. 
 
 In 1865 we had a debt of two billions seven 
 hundred and seventy-two millions of dollars upon 
 our hands, the debt accumulated from the great 
 results- of the war ; we were compelled to pay 
 from that debt one hundred and fifty-one millions 
 of dollars in coin a year as interest, and that was a 
 dreadful annual burden. In the year after the 
 war ended, we paid five hundred and ninety mil- 
 lions of dollars over our counter in settling the 
 business of the war and maintaining the ordinary 
 expenses of the government. These tremendous 
 burdens it seemed for a time we could not carry, 
 and there were wicked men, and despairing men, 
 and men who said we ought not to try to carry the 
 burdens ; but the brave nation said, This burden is 
 the price of our country's life, all through it there 
 is the price of blood and the price of liberty, and, 
 therefore, we will bow our knees to the burden, 
 we will carry it upon the stalwart shoulders of the 
 nation.
 
 424 CHIPS FKOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Letter to Professor Demmon, December 16, 1871.] 
 
 Since I entered public life, I have con- 
 stantly aimed to find a little time to keep alive the 
 spirit of my classical studies, and to resist that 
 constant tendency, which all public men feel, to 
 grow rusty in literary studies, and particularly in 
 the classical studies. I have thought it better to 
 select some one line of classical reading, and, if 
 possible, do a little work on it each day. For 
 this winter I am determined to review such parts 
 of the Odes of Horace as I may be able to reach. 
 And, as preliminary to that work, I have begun 
 by reading up the bibliography of Horace. 
 
 The Congressional Library is very rich in ma- 
 terials for this study, and I am amazed to find bow 
 deep and universal has been the impress left on 
 the cultivated mind of the world by Horace's 
 writings. 
 
 The Student should study himself, his relation 
 to Society, to Nature and to Art and above all, 
 in all, and through all these, he should study the 
 relations of Himself, Society, Nature, and Art to 
 God the Author of them all. 
 
 Greek is perhaps the most perfect instrument 
 of Thought ever invented by Man, and its Litera-
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 425 
 
 ture has never been equalled in purity of style and 
 boldness of expression. 
 
 History is but the unrolled scroll of Prophecy. 
 The world's history is a divine Poem, of which the 
 history of every nation is a canto, and every man 
 a word. Its strains have been pealing along down 
 the centuries, and though there have been mingled 
 the discords of warring cannon and dying men, 
 yet to the Christian, Philosopher, and Historian 
 the humble listener there has been a divine 
 melody running through the song which speaks 
 of hope and halcyon days to come. 
 
 The lesson of History is rarely learned by the 
 actors themselves. 
 
 Theologians in all ages have looked out admir- 
 ingly upon the material universe, and from its 
 inanimate existences demonstrated the Power, 
 Wisdom, and Goodness of God ; but we know of 
 no one who has demonstrated the same attributes 
 from the History of the human race. 
 
 Mankind have been slow to believe that order 
 reigns in the universe, that the world is a Cosmos, 
 not a chaos.
 
 426 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 The assertion of the reign of Law has been 
 stubbornly resisted at every step. The divinities 
 of Heathen superstition still linger in one form or 
 another in the faith of the ignorant, and even 
 many intelligent men shrink from the contem- 
 plation of one Supreme Will acting regularly, not 
 fatuitously, through laws beautiful and simple, 
 rather than through a fitful and capricious Provi- 
 dence. 
 
 English liberty to-day rests not so much on the 
 government as on those rights which the people 
 have wrested from the government. The rights 
 of the Englishman outnumber the rights of the 
 Englishman's king. 
 
 Poetry is the language of Freedom. 
 
 Liberty can be safe only when Suffrage is illu- 
 minated by education. 
 
 [Speech on the last Census.] 
 
 The developments of statistics are causing his- 
 tory to be re-written. Till recently the historian 
 studied nature in the aggregate, and gave us only 
 the story of princes, dynasties, sieges, and battles. 
 Of the people themselves the great social body, 
 with life, growth, forces, elements, etc. he told 
 us nothing. Now, statistical inquiry leads us into 
 the hovels, houses, workshops, mines, fields, pris-
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 427 
 
 ons, hospitals, and all places where human nature 
 displays its weakness and strength. In these 
 explorations he discovers the seeds of national 
 growth and decay, and thus becomes the prophet 
 of his generation. 
 
 Statistical science is indispensable to modern 
 statesmanship. In legislation, as in physical sci- 
 ence > it is beginning to be understood that we can 
 control terrestrial forces only by obeying their 
 laws. The legislator must formulate in his statis- 
 tics not only the national will but also those great 
 laws of social life revealed by statistics. He must 
 study society rather than black-letter learning. 
 He must learn the truth that " society usually pre- 
 pares the crime, and the criminal is only the in- 
 strument that completes it," that statesmanship 
 consists rather in removing causes than in pun- 
 ishing, or evading results. 
 
 [Speech on National Aid to Education, February 6, 1872.] 
 
 We look sometimes with great admiration at a 
 government like Germany, that can command the 
 light of its education to shine everywhere, that can 
 enforce its school laws everywhere throughout the 
 Empire. Under our system we do not rejoice in 
 that, but we rather rejoice that here two forces 
 play with all their vast power upon our system of 
 education. The first is that of the local municipal 
 power under our State government. There is the
 
 428 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 centre of responsibility. There is the chief edu- 
 cational power 
 
 But there is another force even greater than that 
 of the State and the local governments. It is the 
 force of private voluntary enterprise, that force 
 which has built up the multitude of private schools, 
 academies, and colleges throughout the United 
 States, not always wisely, but always with enthu- 
 siasm and wonderful energy. 
 
 I am considering what is the best system of 
 organizing the educational work of a nation, not 
 from the political stand-point alone, but from the 
 stand-point of the school-house itself. This work 
 of public education partakes in a peculiar way of 
 the spirit of the human mind in its efforts for 
 culture. The mind must be as free from extra- 
 neous control as possible ; must work under the 
 inspiration of its own desires for knowledge ; 
 and while instructors and books are necessary 
 helps, the fullest and highest success must spring 
 from the power of self-help. 
 
 So the best system of education is that which 
 draws its chief support from the voluntary effort 
 of the community, from the individual effort of 
 citizens, and from those burdens of taxation which 
 they voluntarily impose upon themselves. . . . 
 Government shall be only a help to them, rather 
 than a commander, in the work of education.
 
 JAMES A. GARF1ELD. 429 
 
 I would rather be beaten in Right than succeed 
 in Wrong. 
 
 Present evils always seem greater than those 
 that never come. 
 
 Poverty is uncomfortable, as I can testify ; but 
 nine times out of ten the best thing that can hap- 
 pen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and 
 compelled to sink or swim for himself. In all my 
 acquaintance I never knew a man to be drowned 
 who was worth the saving. 
 
 For the noblest man that lives there still re- 
 mains a conflict. 
 
 No man can make a speech alone. It is the 
 great human power that strikes up from a thousand 
 minds that acts upon him and makes the speech. 
 
 After the battle of Arms comes the battle of 
 History. 
 
 There is a fellowship among the Virtues by 
 which one great, generous passion stimulates 
 another. 
 
 Growth is better than Permanence, and per- 
 manent growth is better than a'll. 
 
 The principles of Ethics have not changed by 
 the lapse of years.
 
 430 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 The possession of great power no doubt carries 
 with it a contempt for mere external show. 
 
 [From a Speech on Repealing the Salary Clause, 1873.] 
 
 One of the brightest and greatest of men I 
 know in this nation [Louis Agassiz] , a man who, 
 perhaps, has done as much for its intellectual life 
 as any other, told me not many months ago that 
 he had made it the rule of his life to abandon any 
 intellectual pursuit the moment it became com- 
 mercially valuable ; that others would utilize what 
 he had discovered ; that his field of work was 
 above the line of commercial values, and when he 
 brought down the great truths of science from the 
 upper heights to the level of commercial values, 
 a thousand hands would be ready to take them, 
 and make them more valuable in the markets of 
 the world. He entered upon his great career, not 
 for the salary it gave him, for that was meagre 
 compared with the pay of those in the lower 
 walks of life ; but he followed the promptings of 
 his great nature, and worked for the love of truth 
 and the instruction of mankind. 
 
 [Letter to B. A. Hinsdale, 1874.] 
 
 The worst days of darkness through which I 
 have ever passed have been greatly alleviated by 
 throwing m} r self with all my energy into some 
 work relating to others.
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 431 
 
 [Speech on the Currency and the Public Faith, April 8, 
 1874.] 
 
 There never did exist on this earth a body of 
 men wise enough to determine by any arbitrary 
 rule how much currency is needed for the business 
 of a great country. The laws of trade, the laws 
 of credit, the laws of God impressed upon the 
 elements of this world, are superior to all legisla- 
 tion ; and we can enjoy the benefits of these immu- 
 table laws only by obeying them. 
 
 It has been demonstrated again and again that 
 upon the artisans, the farmers, the day-laborers 
 falls at last the dead weight of all the depreciation 
 and loss that irredeemable paper-money carries in 
 its train. Let this policy be carried out, and the 
 day will surely and speedily come when the nation 
 will clearly trace the cause of its disaster to those 
 who deluded themselves and the people with what 
 Jefferson fitly called ' ' legerdemain tricks of paper- 
 money." 
 
 [Speech on the Railway Problem, June 22, 1874.] 
 
 We are so involved in the events and movements 
 of society that we do not stop to realize what is 
 undeniably true that during the last forty years 
 all modern societies have entered upon a period 
 of change more marked, more pervading, more
 
 432 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 radical than any that has occurred during the last 
 three hundred years. In saying this, I do not for- 
 get our own political and military history, nor the 
 French Revolution of 1793. The changes now 
 taking place have been wrought, and are being 
 wrought, mainly, almost wholly, by a single me- 
 chanical contrivance, the steam locomotive. Im- 
 agine, if you can, what would happen if to-morrow 
 morning the railway locomotive, and its corollary, 
 the telegraph, were blotted from the earth. At 
 first thought, it would seem impossible to get on at 
 all with the feeble substitutes we should be com- 
 pelled to adopt in place of these great forces. To 
 what humble proportions mankind would be com- 
 pelled to scale down the great enterprises they are 
 now pushing forward with such ease ! But were 
 this calamity to happen, we should simply be 
 placed where we were forty-three years ago. 
 
 There are many persons now living who well 
 remember the day when Andrew Jackson, after 
 four weeks of toilsome travel from his home in 
 Tennessee, reached Washington and took his first 
 oath of office as President of the United States. 
 On that day the railway locomotive did not exist. 
 During that year Henry Clay was struggling to 
 make his name immortal by linking it with the 
 then vast project of building a national road a 
 turnpike from the national capital to the banks 
 of the ISIississippi.
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 433 
 
 In the autumn of that very year George Ste- 
 phenson ran his first experimental locomotive, the 
 "Rocket," from Manchester to Liverpool and back. 
 The rumble of its wheels, redoubled a million 
 times, is echoing to-day on every continent. 
 
 The American people have done much for the 
 locomotive, and it has done much for them. We 
 have already seen that it has greatly reduced, if 
 not wholly destroyed, the danger that the govern- 
 ment will fall to pieces by its own weight. The 
 railroad lias not only brought our people and their 
 industries together, but it has carried civilization 
 into the wilderness, has built up States and Terri- 
 tories, which, but for its power, would have re- 
 mained deserts for a century to come. "Abroad 
 and at home," as Mr. Adams tersely declares, "it 
 has equally nationalized people and cosmopolized 
 nations." It has played a most important part in 
 the recent movement for the unification and pres- 
 ervation of nations. 
 
 It enabled us to do what the old military science 
 had pronounced impossible to conquer a revolted 
 population of eleven millions, occupying a territory 
 one-fifth as large as the continent of Europe. In 
 an able essay on the railway system, Mr. Charles 
 F. Adams, Jr. has pointed out some of the remark- 
 able achievements of the railroad in our recent 
 history. For example, a single railroad track 
 
 28
 
 434 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 enabled Sherman to maintain eighty thousand fight- 
 ing men three hundred miles beyond his base of 
 supplies. Another line, in a space of seven days, 
 brought a re-enforcement of two fully equipped 
 army corps around a circuit of thirteen hundred 
 miles, to strengthen an army at a threatened point. 
 He calls attention to the still more striking fact 
 that for ten years past, with fifteen hundred mil- 
 lions of our indebtedness abroad, an enormous debt 
 at home, unparalleled public expenditures, and a 
 depreciated paper currency, in defiance of all past 
 experience, we have been steadily conquering our 
 difficulties, have escaped the predicted collapse, 
 and are promptly meeting our engagements ; be- 
 cause, through energetic railroad development, the 
 country has been producing real wealth, as no 
 country has produced it before. Finally, he sums 
 up the case by declaring that the locomotive has 
 " dragged the country through its difficulties in 
 spite of itself." 
 
 In the darkness and chaos of that period, the 
 feudal system was the first important step toward 
 the organization of modern nations. Powerful 
 chiefs and barons intrenched themselves in castles, 
 and, in return for submission and service, gave to 
 their vassals rude protection and ruder laws. But 
 as the feudal chiefs grew in power and wealth, 
 they became the oppressors of their people, taxed
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 435 
 
 and robbed them at will, and finally, in their arro- 
 gance, defied the kings and emperors of the Medi- 
 aeval States. From their castles, planted on the 
 great thoroughfares, they practised the most capri- 
 cious extortions on commerce and travel, and thus 
 gave to modern language the phrase, " levy black- 
 mail." 
 
 The consolidation of our great industrial and 
 commercial companies, the power they wield, and 
 the relations they sustain to the State and to the 
 industry of the people, do not fall far short of 
 Fourier's definition of commercial or industrial 
 feudalism. The modern barons, more powerful 
 than their military prototypes, own our greatest 
 highways, and levy tribute at will upon all our 
 vast industries. And, as the old feudalism was 
 finally controlled and subordinated only by the 
 combined efforts of the kings and the people of 
 the free cities and towns, so our modern feudalism 
 can be subordinated to the public good only by 
 the great body of the people, acting through their 
 governments by wise and just laws. 
 
 I shall not now enter upon the discussion of 
 methods by which this great work of adjustment 
 may be accomplished. But I refuse to believe 
 that the genius and energy which have developed 
 these new and tremendous forces, will fail to 
 make them, not the masters, but the faithful ser- 
 vants of society. It will be a disgrace to our age
 
 436 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 and to us, if we do not discover some method by 
 which the public functions of these organizations 
 may be brought into full subordination to the 
 public, and that, too, without violence, and with- 
 out unjust interference with the rights of private 
 individuals. It will be unworthy of our age, and 
 of us, if we make the discussion of this subject a 
 mere warfare against men. For in these great 
 industrial enterprises have been, and still are en- 
 gaged, some of the noblest and worthiest men of 
 our time. It is the system its tendencies and 
 its dangers which society itself has produced, 
 that we are now to confront. And these indus- 
 tries must not be crippled, but promoted. The 
 evils complained of are mainly of our own mak- 
 ing. States and communities have willingly and 
 thoughtlessly conferred these great powers upon 
 railways ; and they must seek to rectify their own 
 errors without injury to the industries they have 
 encouraged. 
 
 It depends upon the wisdom, the culture, the 
 self-control of our people and their representa- 
 tives, to determine how wisely and how well this 
 question shall be settled. But that it will be 
 solved, and solved in the interest of liberty and 
 justice, I do not doubt. And its solution will 
 open the way to a solution of a whole chapter of 
 similar questions that relate to the conflict between 
 capital and labor.
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 437 
 
 [From a Speech in the House of Representatives, June, 
 
 1874.] 
 
 The division between church and state ought to 
 be so absolute that no church property anywhere, 
 in any State or in the nation, should be exempt 
 from taxation ; for, if you exempt the property of 
 any church organization, to that extent you impose 
 a church-tax upon the whole community. 
 
 Occasion may be the bugle-call that summons 
 an army to battle, but the blast of a bugle can 
 never make soldiers or win victories. 
 
 Things don't turn up in this world until some- 
 body turns them up. " . 
 
 We cannot study nature profoundly without 
 bringing ourselves into communion with the spirit 
 of art which pervades and fills the universe. 
 
 If there be one thing upon this earth that man- 
 kind love and admire better than another, it is a 
 brave man ; it is a man who dares to look the 
 devil in the face, and tell him he is a devil. 
 
 It is one of the precious mysteries of sorrow, 
 that it finds solace in unselfish thought. 
 
 True art is but the anti-type of nature, the em- 
 bodiment of discovered beauty in utility.
 
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 In order to have any success in life, or any 
 worthy success, you must resolve to carry into 
 your work a fulness of knowledge ; not merely a 
 sufficiency, but more than a sufficiency. 
 
 Be fit for more than the thing you are now doing. 
 
 If you are not too large for the place, you are 
 too small for it. 
 
 What the arts are to the world of matter, lit- 
 erature is to the world of mind. 
 
 Many books we can read in a railroad car, and 
 feel a harmony between the rushing of the train 
 and the haste of the author ; but to enjoy stand- 
 ard works, we need the quiet of a winter evening ; 
 an easy-chair before a cheerful fire, and all the 
 equanimity of spirits we can command. 
 
 He who would understand the real spirit of 
 literature should not select authors of any one 
 period alone, but rather go to the fountain-head, 
 and trace the little rill as it courses along down 
 the ages, broadening and deepening into the great 
 ocean of thought which the men of the present 
 are exploring. 
 
 The true literary man is no mere gleaner, fol- 
 lowing in the rear and gathering up the fragments 
 of the world's thought ; but he goes down deep
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 439 
 
 into the heart of humanity, watches its throbbings ; 
 analyzes the forces at work there ; traces out, with 
 prophetic foresight, their tendencies, and thus, 
 standing out far beyond his age, holds up the pic- 
 ture of what it is and is to be. 
 
 [Letter to A. B. Hinsdale, 1876.] 
 
 I have followed this rule [as a lawyer] : when- 
 ever I have had a case, I have undertaken to work 
 out thoroughly the principles involved in it ; not 
 for the case alone, but for the sake of comprehend- 
 ing thoroughly that branch of the law. 
 
 [From "Life and Character of Almeda A. Booth," June 22, 
 1876.] 
 
 We can study no life intelligently except in its 
 relation to causes and results. Character is the 
 chief element ; for it is both a result and a cause 
 the result of all the elements and forces that 
 combined to form it, and the chief cause of all 
 that is accomplished by its possessor 
 
 Every character is the joint product of nature 
 and nurture. By the first, we mean those inborn 
 qualities of body and mind inherited from parents, 
 or rather from a long line of ancestors. Who shall 
 estimate the effect of those latent forces, enfolded 
 in the spirit of a new-born child, which may date 
 back centuries, and find their origin in the unwrit- 
 ten history of remote ancestors forces, the germs
 
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 of which, enveloped in the solemn mystery of life, 
 have been transmitted silently, from generation to 
 generation, and never perish? All-cherishing Na- 
 ture, provident and unforgetting, gathers up all 
 these fragments that nothing may be lost, but that 
 all may reappear in new combinations. Each new 
 life is thus the " heir of all the ages," the possessor 
 of qualities which only the events of life can un- 
 fold. 
 
 By the second element, nurture, culture, we 
 designate all those influences which act upon this 
 initial force of character, to retard or strengthen 
 its development. There has been much discussion 
 to determine which of these elements plays the 
 more important part in the formation of character. 
 The truth doubtless is, that sometimes the one and 
 sometimes the other is the greater force ; but so 
 far as life and character are dependent upon volun- 
 tary action, the second is no doubt the element of 
 chief importance. 
 
 [From the Same.] 
 
 Not enough attention has been paid to the marked 
 difference between the situation and possibilities 
 of a life developed here in the West, during the 
 first half of .the present century, and those of a 
 life nurtured and cultivated in an old and settled 
 community like that of New England. 
 
 Consider, for example, the measureless differ-
 
 JAMES A. GAKFIELD. 441 
 
 ence between the early surroundings of John 
 Quincy Adams and Abraham Lincoln. Both 
 were possessed of great natural endowments. 
 Adams was blessed with parents whose native 
 force of character, and whose vigorous and thor- 
 ough culture have never J)een surpassed by any 
 married pair in America. Young Adams was 
 thoroughly taught by his mother until he had com- 
 pleted his tenth year ; and then, accompanying his 
 father to France, he spent two years in a training- 
 school at Paris and three years in the University at 
 Leyden. After two years of diplomatic service, 
 under the skilful guidance of his father's hand, he 
 returned to America, and devoted three years to 
 study at Harvard, where he was graduated at the 
 age of twenty-one ; and, three years later, was 
 graduated in the law, under the foremost jurist of 
 his time. With such parentage and such oppor- 
 tunities, who can wonder that by the time he 
 reached the meridian of his life, he was a man of 
 immense erudition, and had honored every great 
 office in the gift of his country ? 
 
 How startling the contrast, in every particular, 
 between his early life and that of Abraham Lin- 
 coln. . . . Born to an inheritance of the extrem- 
 est poverty, wholly unaided by his parents, sur- 
 rounded by the rude forces of the wilderness, only 
 one year at any school, never for a day master of 
 his own time until he reached his majority, forcing
 
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 his way to the profession of the law by the hard- 
 est and roughest road, and beginning its practice 
 at twenty-eight years of age, yet, by the force of 
 unconquerable will and persistent hard work, he 
 attained a foremost place in his profession. 
 
 "And, moving up "from high to higher, 
 Became, on fortune's crowning slope, 
 The pillar of a people's hope, 
 The centre of a world's desire." 
 
 [From the Same.] 
 
 It is one of the precious mysteries of sorrow, 
 that it finds solace in unselfish work. 
 
 A pound of pluck is worth a ton of luck. Let 
 not poverty stand as an obstacle in your way. 
 
 Here is the volume of our laws. More sacred 
 than the twelve tables of Rome, this rock of the 
 law rises in monumental grandeur alike above the 
 people and the President, above the courts, above 
 Congress, commanding everywhere reverence and 
 obedience to its supreme authority. 
 
 That man makes a vital mistake who judges 
 truth in relation to financial affairs from the chanjj- 
 
 O 
 
 ing phases of public opinion. He might as well 
 stand on the shore of the Bay of Fundy, mid from 
 the ebb and flow of a single tide attempt to deter- 
 mine the general level of the sea, as to stand upon 
 this floor, and from the current of public opinion
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 443 
 
 on any one debate, judge of the general level of 
 the public mind. It is only when long spaces 
 along the shore of the sea are taken into account 
 that the grand level is found from which the 
 heights and depths are measured. And it is only 
 when long spaces of time are considered, that we 
 find at last that level of public opinion which we 
 call the general judgment of mankind. 
 
 Bad faith on the part of an individual, a city, or 
 even a State, is a small evil in comparison with 
 the calamities which follow bad faith on the part 
 of a sovereign government. 
 
 In the complex and delicately adjusted relations 
 of modern society, confidence in promises lawfully 
 made is the life-blood of trade and commerce. It 
 is the vital air Labor breathes. It is the light 
 which shines on the pathway of prosperity. 
 
 An act of bad faith on the part of a State or 
 municipal corporation, like poison in the blood, 
 will transmit its curse to succeeding generations. 
 
 "We are accustomed to hear it said that the great 
 powers of government in this country are divided 
 into two classes ; National powers and State 
 powers. That is an incomplete classification. 
 Our fathers carefully divided all governmental 
 powers into three classes ; one they gave to the
 
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 States, another to the Nation ; but the third great 
 class, comprising the most precious of all powers, 
 they refused to confer on the State or Nation, but 
 reserved to themselves. This third class of 
 powers has been almost uniformly overlooked by 
 men who have written and discussed the American 
 system. 
 
 Congress must always be the exponent of the 
 political character and culture of the people, and 
 if the next centennial does not find us a great Na- 
 tion with a great and worthy Congress, it will be 
 because those who represent the enterprise, the 
 culture, and the morality of the Nation do not aid 
 in controlling the political forces which are em- 
 ployed to select the men who shall occupy the 
 great places of trust and power. 
 
 There is scarcely a conceivable form of corrup- 
 tion or public wrong that does not at last present 
 itself at the cashier's desk and demand money. 
 The Legislature therefore, that stands at the cash- 
 ier's desk and watches with its Argus eyes the de- 
 mands for payment over the counter is most cer- 
 tain to see all the forms of public rascality. 
 
 A steady and constant Revenue drawn from 
 sources that represent the prosperity of the nation, 
 a Eevenue that grows with the growth of na- 
 tional wealth, and is so adjusted to the expendi-
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 445 
 
 tures, that a constant and considerable surplus is 
 annually left in the Treasury above all the neces- 
 sary current demands, a surplus that keeps the 
 Treasury strong, that holds it above the fear of 
 sudden panic, that makes it impregnable against 
 all private combinations, that makes it a terror to 
 all stock-jobbing and gold-gambling, this is fi- 
 nancial health. 
 
 [From the "Atlantic Monthly," July, 1877.] 
 
 The most alarming feature of our situation is 
 the fact, that so many citizens of high character 
 and solid judgment pay but little attention to the 
 sources of political power, to the selection of those 
 who shall make their laws. ... It is precisely 
 this neglect of the first steps in our political pro- 
 cesses that has made possible the worst evils of 
 our system. Corrupt and incompetent presidents, 
 judges, and legislators can be removed, but when 
 the fountains of political power are corrupted, 
 when voters themselves become venal, and elections 
 fraudulent, there is no remedy except by awaken- 
 ing the public conscience, and bringing to bear 
 upon the subject the power of public opinion and 
 the penalties of the law. ... In a word, our 
 national safety demands that the fountains of 
 political power shall be made pure by intelligence, 
 and kept pure by vigilance ; that the best citizens 
 shall take heed to the selection and election of the
 
 446 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 worthiest and most intelligent among them to hold 
 seats in the national legislature ; and that when the 
 choice has been made, the continuance of their 
 representatives shall depend upon his faithfulness, 
 his ability, and his willingness to work. 
 
 [Speech on the presentation to Congress of Carpenter's 
 painting of President Lincoln and his Cabinet, at the 
 time of his first reading of the Proclamation of Emanci- 
 pation, January 16, 1878.] 
 
 Let us pause to consider the actors in that scene. 
 In force of character, in thoroughness and breadth 
 of culture, in experience of public aifairs, and in 
 national reputation, the cabinet that sat around 
 that council-board has had no superior, perhaps no 
 equal in our history. Seward, the finished scholar, 
 the consummate orator, the great leader of the 
 senate, had come to crown his career with those 
 achievements which placed him in the first rank 
 of modern diplomatists. Chase, with a culture 
 and a frame of massive grandeur, stood as the rock 
 and pillar of the public credit, the noble embodi- 
 ment of the public faith. Stanton was there, a 
 very Titan of strength, the great organizer of vic- 
 tory. Eminent lawyers, men of business, leaders 
 of states, and leaders of men, completed the 
 group. 
 
 But the man who presided over that council, 
 who inspired and guided its determinations, was
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 447 
 
 a character so unique that he stood alone, without 
 a model in history, or a parallel among men. Born 
 on this day, sixty-nine years ago, to an inheritance 
 of extremest poverty, surrounded by the rude 
 forces of the wilderness ; wholly unaided by par- 
 ents ; only one year in any school ; never, for 
 a day, master of his own time until he reached 
 his majority ; making his way to the profession of 
 the law by the hardest and roughest road ; yet, by 
 force of unconquerable will and persistent, pa- 
 tient work, he attained a foremost place in his pro- 
 fession, 
 
 "And, moving up from high to higher, 
 
 Became, on fortune's crowning slope, 
 
 The pillar of a people's hope, 
 The centre of a world's desire." 
 
 At first it was the prevailing belief that he 
 would be only the nominal head of his adminis- 
 tration ; that its policy would be directed by the 
 eminent statesmen he had called to his council. 
 How eiToneous this opinion was, may be seen 
 from a single incident. Among the earliest, most 
 difficult, and most delicate duties of his adminis- 
 tration, was the adjustment of our relations with 
 Great Britain. Serious complications, even hostil- 
 ities, were apprehended. On the 21st day of 
 May, 1861, the Secretary of State presented to 
 the President his- draught of a letter of instruc- 
 tions to Minister Adams, in which the position of
 
 448 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 the United States and the attitude of Great Britain 
 were set forth with the clearness and force which 
 long experience and great ability had placed at the 
 command of the Secretary. 
 
 Upon almost every page of that original draught 
 are erasures, additions, and marginal notes in the 
 handwriting of Abraham Lincoln, which exhibit a 
 sagacity, a breadth of wisdom, and a comprehen- 
 sion of the whole subject, impossible to be found 
 except in a man of the very first order. And 
 these modifications of a great state-paper were 
 made by a man who, but three months before, had 
 entered, for the first time, the wide theatre of 
 executive action. 
 
 Gifted with an insight and a foresight which the 
 ancients would have called divination, he saw, in 
 the midst of darkness and obscurity, the logic of 
 events, and forecast the result. From the first, in 
 his own quaint, original way, without ostentation 
 or offence to his associates, he was pilot and com- 
 mander of his administration. He was one of the 
 few great rulers whose wisdom increased with his 
 power, and whose spirit grew gentler and tenderer 
 as his triumphs were multiplied. 
 
 [From the " North American Review," May-June, 1878.] 
 
 The Secretary of War is a civil officer ; one of 
 the constitutional advisers of the President his
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 449 
 
 civil executive to direct and control military affairs, 
 and conduct army administration for the President. 
 . . . This was clearly understood in our early his- 
 tory, and it is worthy of note that our most emi- 
 nent Secretaries of War have been civilians, who 
 brought to the duties of the office great political 
 and legal experience, and other high qualities of 
 statesmanship. 
 
 Perhaps it was wise in Washington to choose as 
 the first Secretary of War, a distinguished soldier, 
 for the purpose of creating and setting in order 
 the military establishment; but it may well be 
 doubted if any subsequent appointment of a soldier 
 to that position has been wise. In fact, most of 
 the misadjustments between the Secretary of War 
 and the army, so much complained of in recent 
 years, originated with a Secretary of War who 
 had been a soldier, and could hardly refrain from 
 usurping the functions of command. . . . 
 
 No very serious conflict of jurisdiction and 
 command occurred until Jefferson Davis became 
 Secretary of War. His early training as a soldier, 
 his spirit of self-reliance and habits of imperious 
 command, soon brought him into collision with 
 General Scott, and were the occasion of a corre- 
 spondence, perhaps the most acrimonious ever 
 carried on by any prominent public man of our 
 country.
 
 450 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [From a Speech at Faneuil Ha>l, Boston, September 11, 
 
 1878.] 
 
 The Republican party of this country has said, 
 and it says to-day, that, forgetting all the animosi- 
 ties of the war, forgetting all the fierceness and 
 the passion of it, it reaches out both its hands to 
 the gallant men who fought us, and offers all fel- 
 lowship, all comradeship, all feelings of brother- 
 hood, on this sole condition, and on that condition 
 they will insist forever : That in the war for the 
 Union we were right, forever right, and that in 
 the war against the Union they were wrong, for- 
 ever wrong. We never made terms, we never 
 will make terms, with the man who denies the 
 everlasting rightfulness of our cause. That would 
 be treason to the dead and injustice to the living ; 
 and on that basis alone our pacification is com- 
 plete. We ask that it be realized, and we shall 
 consider it fully realized when it is just as safe 
 and just as honorable for a good citizen of South 
 Carolina to be a Republican there as it is for 
 a good citizen of Massachusetts to be a Democrat 
 here. 
 
 [ From an Address at Hiram College.] 
 
 Our great dangers are not from without. We 
 do not live by the consent of any other nation. 
 We must look within to find elements of danger.
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 451 
 
 [From a Speech on the Ninth Census.] 
 Statesmanship consists rather in removing causes 
 than in punishing, or evading results. 
 
 [From a Speech, December 10, 1878.] 
 The man who wants to serve his country must 
 put himself in the line of its leading thought, and 
 that is the restoration of business, trade, com- 
 merce, industry, sound political economy, hard 
 money, and the payment of all obligations ; and 
 the man who can add anything in the direction of 
 accomplishing any of these purposes is a public 
 benefactor. 
 
 The scientific spirit has cast out the Demons and 
 presented us with Nature, clothed in her right mind 
 and living under the reign of law. It has given 
 us for the sorceries of the alchemist, the beautiful 
 laws of chemistry ; for the dreams of the astrol- 
 oger, the sublime truths of astronomy ; for the 
 wild visions of cosmogony, the monumental rec- 
 ords of geology ; for the anarchy of diabolism, 
 the laws of God. 
 
 We no longer attribute the untimely death of 
 infants to the sin of Adam, but to bad nursing and 
 ignorance. 
 
 Truth is so related and correlated that no depart- 
 ment of her realm is wholly isolated.
 
 452 CHIPS moM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Truth is the food of the human spirit, which 
 could not grow in its majestic proportions without 
 clearer and more truthful views of God and his 
 universe. 
 
 Ideas are the great warriors of the world, and a 
 war that has no ideas behind it is simply brutality. 
 
 I love to believe that no heroic sacrifice is ever 
 lost, that the characters of men are moulded and 
 inspired by what their fathers have done ; that, 
 treasured up in American souls are all the uncon- 
 scious influences of the great deeds of the Anglo- 
 Saxon race, from Agincourt to Bunker Hill. 
 
 Eternity alone will reveal to the human race its 
 debt of gratitude to the peerless and immortal name 
 of Washington. 
 
 I doubt if any man equalled Samuel Adams in 
 formulating and uttering the fierce, clear, and inex- 
 orable logic of the Revolution. 
 
 The last eight decades have witnessed an Empire 
 spring up in the full panoply of lusty life, from a 
 trackless wilderness. 
 
 In their struggle with the forces of nature, the 
 ability to labor was the richest patrimony of the 
 colonist. 
 
 The granite hills are not so changeless and abid- 
 ing as the restless sea.
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 453 
 
 To him a battle was neither an earthquake, nor 
 a volcano, nor a chaos of brave men and frantic 
 horses involved in vast explosions of gunpowder. 
 It was rather a calm rational combination of force 
 against force. Oration on Geo. If. Thomas. 
 
 After the fire and blood of the battle-fields have 
 disappeared, nowhere does war show its destroy- 
 ing power so certainly and so relentlessly as in the 
 columns which represent the taxes and expendi- 
 tures of the nation. 
 
 [From a Speech, June 2, 1879.] 
 
 The Resumption of Specie Payments closes the 
 most memorable epoch in our history since the 
 birth of the Union. Eighteen hundred and sixty- 
 one and eighteen hundred and seventy-nine are the 
 opposite shores of that turbulent sea whose storms 
 so seriously threatened with shipwreck the pros- 
 perity, the honor, and the life of the nation. But 
 the horrors ajid dangers of the middle-passage 
 have at last been mastered ; and out of the night 
 and tempest the Republic has landed on the shore 
 of this new year, bringing with it union and lib- 
 erty, honor and peace. 
 
 Our country needs not only a national but an 
 international currency.
 
 454 CHIPS FEOM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 Let us have equality of dollars before the law, 
 so that the trinity of our political creed shall be 
 equal States, equal men, and equal dollars through- 
 out the Union. 
 
 [Address, at the Memorial Meeting, in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, January 16, 1879.] 
 
 No page of human history is so instructive and 
 significant as the record of those early influences 
 which' develop the character and direct the lives of 
 eminent men. To every man of great original 
 power, there comes in early youth, a moment of 
 sudden discovery of self recognition when his 
 own nature is revealed to himself, when he catches, 
 for the first time, a strain of that immortal song to 
 which his own spirit answers, and which becomes 
 thenceforth and forever the inspiration of his life 
 
 " Like noble music unto noble words." 
 
 More than a hundred years ago, in Strasbourg, 
 on the Rhine, in obedience to the commands of his 
 father, a German lad was reluctantly studying the 
 mysteries of the civil law, but feeding his spirit as 
 best he could upon the formal and artificial poetry 
 of his native land, when a page of William Shakes- 
 peare met his eye, and changed the whole current 
 of his life. Abandoning the law, he created and 
 crowned with an immortal name the grandest epoch 
 of German literature.
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 455 
 
 Recording his own experience, he says : 
 
 At the first touch of Shakespeare's genius, I made the 
 glad confession that something inspiring hovered above me. 
 . . . The first page of his that I read made me his for life ; 
 and when I had finished a single play, I stood like one born 
 blind, on whom a miraculous hand bestows sight in a mo- 
 ment. I saw, I felt, in the most vivid manner that my ex- 
 istence was infinitely expanded. 
 
 This Old World experience of Goethe's was 
 strikingly reproduced, though under different con- 
 ditions and with different results, in the early life 
 of Joseph Henry. You have just heard the inci- 
 dent worthily recounted ; but let us linger over it 
 a moment. An orphan boy of sixteen, of tough 
 Scotch fibre, laboring for his own support at the 
 handicraft of the jeweler, unconscious of his great 
 power, delighted with romance and the drama, 
 dreaming of a possible career on the stage, his 
 attention was suddenly arrested by a single page 
 of an humble book of science which chanced to 
 fall into his hands. It was not the flash of a poetic 
 vision which aroused him. It was the voice of 
 great Nature calling her child. With quick recog- 
 nition and glad reverence his spirit responded; 
 and from that moment to the end of his long 
 and honored life, Joseph Henry was the devoted 
 student of science, the faithful interpreter of 
 nature. 
 
 To those who knew his gentle spirit, it is not
 
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 surprising that ever afterward he kept the little 
 volume near him, and cherished it as the source of 
 his first inspiration. In the maturity of his fame 
 he recorded on its fly-leaf his gratitude. Note his 
 words : 
 
 This book, under Providence, has exerted a remarkable 
 influence on my life. ... It opened to me a new world of 
 thought and enjoyment, invested things before almost unno- 
 ticed with the highest interest, fixed my mind on the study 
 of nature, and caused me to resolve, at the time of reading 
 it, that I would devote my life to the acquisition of 
 knowledge. 
 
 We have heard from his venerable associates 
 with what resolute perseverance he trained his 
 mind and marshalled his powers for the higher 
 realms of science. He was the first American after 
 Franklin who made a series of successful original 
 experiments in electricity and magnetism. He 
 entered the mighty line of Volta, Galvani, Oersted, 
 Davy, and Ampere, the great exploring philoso- 
 phers of the world, and added to their work a final 
 great discovery, which made the electro-magnetic 
 telegraph possible. 
 
 It remained only for the inventor to construct 
 an instrument and an alphabet. Professor Henry 
 refused to reap any pecuniary rewards from his 
 great discovery, but gave freely to mankind what 
 nature and science had given to him. The vener- 
 able gentleman of almost eighty years, who has
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 457 
 
 just addressed us so eloquently, has portrayed 
 the difficulties which beset the government in its 
 attempt to determine how it should wisely and 
 worthily execute the trust of Smithson. It was a 
 perilous moment for the credit of America when 
 that bequest was made. In his large catholicity 
 of mind, Smithson did not trammel the bequest with 
 conditions. In nine words he set forth its object 
 ' ' for the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
 among men." He asked and believed that America 
 would interpret his wish aright, and with the lib- 
 eral wisdom of science 
 
 For ten years Congress wrestled with those nine 
 words of Smithson and could not handle them. 
 Some political philosophers of that period held 
 that we had no constitutional authority to accept 
 the gift at all [laughter] and proposed to send it 
 back to England. Every conceivable proposition 
 was made. The colleges clutched at it; the 
 libraries wanted it; the publication societies de- 
 sired to scatter it. The fortunate settlement of 
 the question was this : that, after ten years of 
 wrangling, Congress was wise enough to acknowl- 
 edge its own ignorance, and authorized a body of 
 men to find some one who knew how to settle it. 
 [Applause.] And these men were wise enough 
 to choose your great comrade to undertake the 
 task. Sacrificing his brilliant prospects as a dis- 
 coverer, he undertook the difficult work. He
 
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 drafted a paper, in which he offered an interpre- 
 tation of the will of Smithson, mapped out a plan 
 which would meet the demands of science, and 
 submitted it to the suffrage of the republic of 
 scientific scholars. After due deliberation it re- 
 ceived the almost unanimous approval of the 
 scientific world. With faith and sturdy persever- 
 ance, he adhered to the plan and steadily resisted 
 all attempts to overthrow it. 
 
 In the thirty-two years during which he admin- 
 istered the great trust, he never swerved from his 
 first purpose ; and he succeeded at last in realizing 
 the ideas with which he started. 
 
 The germ of our political institutions, the pri- 
 mary cell from which they were evolved, was in the 
 New England town, and the vital force, the inform- 
 ing soul of the town, was the Town Meeting, 
 which for all local concerns was king, lords, and 
 commons in all. 
 
 It is as much the duty of all good men to 
 protect and defend the reputation of worthy public 
 servants as to detect public rascals. 
 
 Political parties, like poets, are born, not made. 
 No act of political mechanics, however wise, can 
 manufacture to order and make a platform, and 
 put a party on it which will live and flourish.
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 459 
 
 [On the Relation of the Government to Science, February 
 11, 1879.] 
 
 What ought to be the relation of the National 
 Government to science ? What, if anything, ought 
 we to do in the way of promoting science ? For 
 example, if we have the power, would it be wise 
 for Congress to appropriate money out of the 
 Treasury, to employ naturalists to find out all that 
 is to be known of our American birds ? Orni- 
 thology is a delightful and useful study ; but would 
 it be wise for Congress to make an appropriation 
 for the advancement of that science? In my 
 judgment, manifestly not. We would thereby 
 make one favored class of men the rivals of all the 
 ornithologists who, in their private way, following 
 the bent of their genius, -may be working out the 
 results of science in that field. I have no doubt 
 that an appropriation out of our Treasury for that 
 purpose would be a positive injury to the advance- 
 ment of science, just as an appropriation to estab- 
 lish a church would work injury to religion. 
 
 Generally, the desire of our scientific men is to 
 be let alone to work in free competition with all 
 the scientific men of the world ; to develop their 
 own results, and get the credit of them each for 
 himself; not to have the Government enter the lists 
 as the rival of private enterprise. 
 
 As a general principal, therefore, the United
 
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 States ought not to interfere in matters of science, 
 but should leave its development to the free, vol- 
 untary action of our great third estate, the people 
 themselves. 
 
 In this non-interference theory of the Govern- 
 ment, I do not go to the extent of saying that we 
 should do nothing for education for primary 
 education. That comes under another consider- 
 ation the necessity of the nation to protect 
 itself, and the consideration that it is cheaper and 
 wiser to give education than to build jails. But I 
 am speaking now of the higher sciences. 
 
 To the general principle I have stated, there are 
 a few obvious exceptions which should be clearly 
 understood when we legislate on the subject. In 
 the first place, the Government should aid all sorts 
 of scientific inquiry that -are necessary to the in- 
 telligent exercise of its own functions. 
 
 For example, as we are authorized by the Con- 
 stitution and compelled by necessity to build and 
 maintain light-houses on our coast and establish 
 fog-signals, we are bound to make all necessary 
 scientific inquiries -in reference to light and its 
 laws, sound and its laws to do whatever in the 
 way of science is necessary to achieve the best 
 results in lighting our coasts and warning our 
 mariners of danger. So, when we are building 
 iron-clads for our navy or casting guns for our 
 army, we ought to know all that is scientifically
 
 JAMES A. GAKFIELD. 461 
 
 possible to be known about the strength of ma- 
 terials and the laws of mechanics which apply to 
 such structures. In short, wherever in exercising 
 
 7 O 
 
 any of the necessary functions of the Government 
 scientific inquiry is needed, let us make it, to the 
 fullest extent, and at the public expense. 
 
 There is another exception to the general rule 
 of leaving science to the voluntary action of the 
 people. Wherever any great popular interest, 
 affecting whole classes, possibly all classes of the 
 community, imperatively need scientific investiga- 
 tion, and private enterprise cannot accomplish it, 
 we may wisely intervene and help where the Con- 
 stitution gives us authority. For example, in 
 discovering the origin of yellow-fever and the 
 methods of preventing its ravages, the nation 
 should do, for the good of all, what neither the 
 States nor -individuals can accomplish. I might 
 perhaps include in a third exception those inquiries 
 which, in consequence of their great magnitude 
 and cost, cannot be successfully made by private 
 individuals. Outside these three classes of in- 
 quiries, the Government ought to keep its hands 
 off, and leave scientific experiment and inquiry to 
 the free competition of those bright, intelligent 
 men whose genius leads them into the fields of 
 research. 
 
 And I suspect, when we read the report of our 
 commissioner to the late Paris Exposition, which
 
 462 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 shows such astonishing results, so creditable to our 
 country, so honorable to the genius of our people, 
 it will be found, in any final analysis of causes, 
 that the superiority of Americans in that great Ex- 
 position resulted mainly from their superior free- 
 dom, and the greater competition between mind 
 and mind untrammelled by Government interfer- 
 ence ; I believe it will be found we are best 
 serving the cause of religion and science, and all 
 those great primary rights which we did not dele- 
 gate to the Congress or the States, but left the 
 people free to enjoy and maintain them. 
 
 [Speech on the National Election.] 
 
 The great danger which threatens this country is, 
 that our sovereign may be dethroned or destroyed 
 by corruption. In any monarchy of the world,, if 
 the sovereign be slain or become lunatic, it is easy 
 to put another in his place, for the sovereign is a 
 person. But our sovereign is the whole body of 
 voters. If you kill, or corrupt, or render lunatic 
 our sovereign, there is no successor, no regent to 
 take his place. The source of our sovereign's 
 supreme danger, the point where his life is vul- 
 nerable, is at the ballot-box, where his will is 
 declared ; and if we cannot stand by that cradle 
 of our sovereign's heir-apparent and protect it to 
 the uttermost against all assassins and assailants, 
 we have no government and no safety for the future.
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 463 
 
 [Remarks, in the House of Representatives, February 11, 
 1879, on the Life and Character of Gustave Schleicher.] 
 
 We are accustomed to say, and we have heard 
 to-night, that he [Gustave Schleicher] was born 
 on foreign soil. In one sense that is true ; and yet 
 in a very proper historic sense he was born in our 
 fatherland. One of the ablest of recent historians 
 begins his opening volume with the declaration that 
 England is not the fatherland of the Engligh-speak- 
 ing people, but the ancient home, the real father- 
 land of our race, is the ancient forests of Germany. 
 The same thought was suggested by Montesquieu 
 long ago, when he declared in his Spirit of Laws 
 that the British constitution came out of the woods 
 of Germany. 
 
 To this day the Teutonic races maintain the 
 same noble traits that Tacitus describes in his ad- 
 mirable history of the manners and character of the 
 Germans. We may therefore say that the friend 
 whose memory we honor to-night is one of the 
 elder brethren of our race. He came to America 
 direct from our fatherland, and not, like our own 
 fathers, by the way of England. 
 
 We who were born and have passed all our lives 
 in this wide New World can hardly appreciate the 
 influences that surrounded his early life. Born on 
 the borders of that great forest of Germany, the 
 Odenwald, filled as it is with the memories and
 
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 traditions of centuries, in which are mingled 
 
 ' O 
 
 Scandinavian mythology, legends of the middle 
 ages, romances of feudalism and chivalry, histories 
 of barons and kings, and the struggles of a brave 
 people for a better civilization ; reared under the 
 institutions of a strong, semi-despotic government ; 
 devoting his early life to personal culture, enter- 
 ing at an early age the University of Giessen, 
 venerable with its two and a half centuries of ex- 
 istence, with a library of four hundred thousand 
 volumes at his hand, with a great museum of the 
 curiosities and mysteries of nature to study, he fed 
 his eager spirit upon the rich culture which that 
 Old World could give him, and at twenty-four 
 years of age, in company with a band of thirty- 
 seven young students, like himself, cultivated, 
 earnest, liberty-loving almost to the verge of com- 
 munism and who of us would not be communists 
 in a despotism? he came to this country, at- 
 tracted by one of the most wild and romantic 
 pictures of American history, the picture of Texas 
 as it existed near forty years ago ; the country dis- 
 covered by La Salle at the end of his long and 
 perilous voyage from Quebec to the northern 
 lakes and from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico ; 
 the country possessed alternately by the Spanish 
 and the French and then by Mexico ; the country 
 made memorable by such names as Blair, Houston, 
 Albert Sidney Johnson, and Mirabeau Lamar, per-
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 465 
 
 haps as adventurous and daring spirits as ever as- 
 sembled on any spot of the earth ; a country that 
 achieved its freedom by heroism never surpassed, 
 and which maintained its perilous independence for 
 ten years in spite of border enemies and European 
 intrigues. 
 
 It is said that a society was formed in Europe 
 embracing in its membership men of high rank, 
 even members of royal families, for the purpose of 
 colonizing the new Republic of the Lone Star, and 
 making it a dependency of Europe under their 
 patronage ; but without sharing in their designs, 
 some twenty thousand Germans found their way 
 to the new Republic, and among these young 
 Schleicher came. 
 
 [From the " North American Review," March, 1879.] 
 
 The ballot was given to the negro not so much 
 to enable him to govern others as to prevent others 
 from misgoverning him. Suffrage is the sword 
 and shield of our law, the best armament that 
 liberty offers to the citizen. 
 
 [From the Same, June, 1879.] 
 
 If our republic were blotted from the earth and 
 from the memory of mankind, and if no record of 
 its history survived, except a copy of our revenue 
 laws and our appropriation bills for a single year, 
 the political philosopher would be able from these 
 
 30
 
 466 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 materials alone to reconstruct a large part of our 
 history, and sketch with considerable accuracy the 
 character and spirit of our institutions. 
 
 [Speech in Congress, on the first anniversary of Mr. Lin- 
 coln's death.] 
 
 There are times in the history of men and 
 nations when they stand so near the veil that sep- 
 arates mortals and immortals, time from eternity, 
 and men from their God, that they can almost 
 hear the breathings, and feel the pulsations of the 
 heart of the Infinite. Through such a time has 
 this nation passed. When two hundred and fifty 
 thousand brave spirits passed from the field of 
 honor through that thin veil to the presence 
 of God, and when at last its parting folds ad- 
 mitted the martyred President to the company of 
 the dead heroes of the republic, the nation stood 
 so near the veil that the whispers of God were 
 heard by the children of men. Awe-stricken by 
 his voice, the American people knelt in tearful 
 reverence, and made a solemn covenant with God 
 and each other that this nation should be saved 
 from its enemies ; that all its glories should be 
 restored, and on the ruins of slavery and treason 
 the temples of freedom and justice should be built, 
 and stand forever. It remains for us, consecrated 
 by that great event, and under that covenant with 
 God, to keep the faith, to go forward in the great
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 467 
 
 work until it shall be completed. Following the 
 lead of that great man, and obeying the high be- 
 hests of God, let us remember 
 
 "He has sounded forth his trumpet, that shall never call 
 
 retreat ; 
 
 He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment- 
 seat; 
 
 Be swift, my soul, to answer him; be jubilant, my feet; 
 For God is marching on." 
 
 Every great political party that has done this 
 country any good has given to it some immortal 
 ideas that have outlived all the members of that 
 party. 
 
 [Speech at Cleveland, Ohio, October 11, 1879. Resump- 
 tion of Specie Payments.] 
 
 Now, what has been the trouble with us? 
 1860 was one shore of prosperity, and 1879 the 
 other; and between these two high shores has 
 flowed the broad, deep, dark river of fire and 
 blood and disaster through which this nation has 
 been compelled to wade, and in whose depths it 
 has been almost suffocated and drowned. In the 
 darkness of that terrible passage we carried liberty 
 in our arms ; we bore the Union on our shoulders ; 
 and we bore in our hearts and on our arms "what 
 was even better than liberty and Union we bore 
 the faith, and honor, and public trust of this 
 mighty Nation. And never, until we came up out
 
 468 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 of the dark waters, out of the darkness of that 
 terrible current, and planted our feet upon the 
 solid shore of 1879 never, I say, till then could 
 this country look back to the other shore and feel 
 that its feet were on solid ground, and then look 
 forward to the rising uplands of perpetual peace 
 and prosperity that should know no diminution 
 in the years to come. 
 
 [Speech at Cleveland, October 11, 1879. Appeal to 
 Young Men.] 
 
 Now, I tell you, young man, don't vote the 
 Republican ticket just because your father votes 
 it. Don't vote the Democratic ticket, even if he 
 does vote it. But let me give you this one word 
 of advice, as you are about to pitch your tent hi 
 one of the great political camps. Your life is full 
 and buoyant with hope now, and I beg you, when 
 you pitch your tent, pitch it among the living and 
 not among the dead. If you are at all inclined to 
 pitch it among the Democratic people and with 
 that party, let me go with you for a moment while 
 we survey the ground where I hope you will not 
 shortly lie. It is a sad place, young man, for you 
 to put your young life into. It is to me far more 
 like a graveyard than like a camp for the living. 
 Look at it ! It is billowed all over with the graves 
 of dead issues, of buried opinions, of exploded 
 theories, of disgraced doctrines. You cannot live
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 469 
 
 in comfort in such a place. Why, look here ! 
 Here is a little double mound. I look down on it 
 and I read, "Sacred to the memory of Squatter 
 Sovereignty and the Dred Scott decision." A 
 million and a half of Democrats voted for that, but 
 it has been dead fifteen years died "by the hand 
 of Abraham Lincoln, and here it lies. Young man, 
 that is not the place for you. 
 
 But look a little farther. Here is another mon- 
 ument a black tomb and beside it, as our 
 distinguished friend said, there towers to the sky 
 a monument of four million pairs of human fetters 
 taken from the arms of slaves, and I read on its 
 little headstone this : " Sacred to the memory of 
 human slavery." For forty years of its infamous 
 life the Democratic party taught that it was di- 
 vine God's institution. They defended it, they 
 stood around it, they followed it to its grave as a 
 mourner. But here it lies, dead by the hand of 
 Abraham Lincoln. Dead by the power of the 
 Republican party. Dead by the justice of Al- 
 mighty God. Don't camp there, young man. 
 
 But here is another a little brimstone tomb 
 and I read across its yellow face in lurid, 
 bloody lines these words : " Sacred to the memory 
 of State Sovereignty and Secession." Twelve mil- 
 lions of Democrats mustered around it in arms to 
 keep it alive ; but here it lies, shot to death by 
 the million guns of the Republic. Here it lies, its
 
 470 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 shrine burnt to ashes under the blazing rafters of 
 the burning Confederacy. It is dead ! I would 
 not have you stay in there a minute, even in this 
 balmy night air, to look at such a place. 
 
 But just before I leave it I discover a new-made 
 grave, a little mound short. The grass has 
 hardly sprouted over it, and all around it I see 
 torn pieces of paper with the word "fiat" on them, 
 and I look down in curiosity, wondering what the 
 little grave is, and I read on it : " Sacred to the 
 memory of the Rag Baby nursed in the brain of 
 all the fanaticism of the world, rocked by Thomas 
 Ewing, George H. Pendleton, Samuel Gary, and 
 a few others throughout the land." But it died 
 on the 1st of January, 1879, and the one hundred 
 and forty millions of gold that God made, and not 
 fiat power, He upon its little carcass to keep it 
 down forever. 
 
 Oh, young man, come out of that ! That is n6 
 place in which to put your young life. Come out, 
 and come over into this camp of liberty, of order, 
 of law, of justice, of freedom, of all that is glorious 
 under these night stars. 
 
 Is there any death here in our camp ? Yes I 
 yes ! Three hundred and fifty thousand soldiers, 
 the noblest band that ever trod the earth, died to 
 make this camp a camp of glory and of liberty 
 forever. 
 
 But there are no dead issues here. There are
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 471 
 
 no dead ideas here. Hang out our banner from 
 under the blue sky this night until it shall sweep 
 the green turf under your feet 1 It hangs over our 
 camp. Read away up under the stars the inscrip- 
 tion we have written on it, lo ! these twenty-five 
 years. 
 
 Twenty-fiVe years ago the Republican party was 
 married to Liberty, and this is our silver wedding, 
 fellow-citizens. A worthily married pair love each 
 other better on the day of their silver wedding 
 than on the day of their first espousals ; and we 
 are truer to Liberty to-day, and dearer to God 
 than we were w r hen we spoke our first word of 
 liberty. Read away up under the sky across our 
 starry banner that first word we uttered twenty- 
 five years ago ! What was it ? " Slavery shall 
 never extend over another foot of the territories 
 of the great West." Is that dead or alive? Alive, 
 thank God, forevermore ! And truer to-night than 
 it was the hour it was written ! Then, it was a 
 hope, a promise, a purpose. To-night it is equal 
 with the stars immortal history and immortal 
 truth. 
 
 Come down the glorious steps of our banner. 
 Every great record we have made we have vindi- 
 cated with our blood and with our truth. It 
 sweeps the ground, and it touches the stars. Come 
 there, young man, and put in your young life 
 where all is living, and where nothing is dead but
 
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 the heroes that defended it ! I think these young 
 men will do that. 
 
 [From a Speech, January 14, 1880.] 
 
 I say, moreover, that the flowers that bloom 
 over the garden-wall of party politics are the 
 sweetest and most fragrant that bloom in the gar- 
 dens of this world, and where we can fairly pluck 
 them and enjoy their fragrance, it is manly and 
 -delightful to do so. 
 
 [Letter of Acceptance, July 10, 1880.] 
 
 Next in importance to freedom and justice is 
 popular education, without which neither justice 
 nor freedom can be permanently maintained. Its 
 interests are intrusted to the States, and to the 
 voluntary action of the people. Whatever help 
 the Nation can justly afford should be generously 
 given to aid the States in supporting common 
 schools ; but it would be unjust to our people, and 
 dangerous to our institutions, to apply any portion 
 of the revenues of the Nation or of the States to 
 the support of sectarian schools. The separation 
 of the Church and the State in everything relating 
 to taxation should be absolute. 
 
 Our country cannot be independent unless its 
 people, with their abundant natural resources, 
 possess the requisite skill at any tune to clothe,
 
 JAMES A. GAKFIELD. 473 
 
 arm, and equip themselves for war, and in time of 
 peace to produce all the necessary implements of 
 labor. It was the manifest intention of the found- 
 ers of the Government to provide for the common 
 defence, not by standing armies alone, but by rais- 
 ing among the people a greater army of artisans, 
 whose intelligence and skill should powerfully con- 
 tribute to the safety and glory of the nation. 
 
 Over this vast horizon of interests, North and 
 South, above all party prejudices and personal 
 wrong-doing, above our battle hosts and our vic- 
 torious cause, above all that we hoped for and won, 
 or you hoped for and lost, is the grand onward 
 movement of the Eepublic to perpetuate its glory, 
 to save Liberty alive, to preserve exact and equal 
 justice to all, to protect and foster all these price- 
 less principles until they shall have crystallized 
 into the form of enduring law and become in- 
 wrought into the life and habits of our People. 
 
 I look forward with joy and hope to the day 
 when our brave people, one in heart, one hi their 
 aspirations for freedom and peace, shall see that 
 the darkness through which we have travelled 
 was but a part of that stern but beneficent disci- 
 pline by which the great Disposer of events has been 
 leading us on to a higher and nobler national life. 
 
 The hope of our National perpetuity rests upon
 
 474 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 that perfect individual Freedom which shall forever 
 keep up the circuit of perpetual change. 
 
 Whatever opinions we may now entertain of the 
 Federalists as a part}-, it is unquestionably true that 
 we are indebted to them for the strong points of the 
 Constitution and for the stable government they 
 founded and strengthened during the administra- 
 tion of Washington and Adams. 
 
 While it is true that no party can stand upon its 
 past record alone, yet it is also true that its past 
 shows the spirit and character of the organization, 
 and enables us to judge what it will probably do 
 in the future. 
 
 Parties have an organic life and spirit of their 
 own an individuality and character which out- 
 live the men who compose them ; and the spirit 
 and traditions of a party should be considered in 
 determining their fitness for managing the affairs 
 of the nation. 
 
 It is a safe and wise rule to follow in all legisla- 
 tion, that whatever the people can do without legis- 
 lation will be better done than by the intervention 
 of the State and Nation.
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 475 
 
 [From a Speech, at the unveiling of a Soldiers' Monument, 
 Painesville, Ohio, July 4, 1880.] 
 
 I once entered a house in old Massachusetts, 
 where over its doors were two crossed swords. 
 One was the sword carried by the grandfather of 
 its owner on the field of Bunker Hill, and the 
 other was the sword carried by the English grand- 
 sire of the wife on the same field, and on the other 
 side of the conflict. Under those crossed swords, 
 in the restored harmony of domestic peace, lived 
 a happy and contented and free family, under the 
 light of our republican liberties. I trust the time 
 is not far distant when, under the crossed swords 
 and the locked shields of Americans, north and 
 south, our people shall sleep in peace and rise in 
 liberty, love, and harmony, under the union of 
 our flag of the stars and stripes. 
 
 [Speech to a Delegation of four hundred Young Men 
 First Voters of Cleveland, Ohio, at Mentor, October 8, 
 1880.] 
 
 I have not so far left the coast of youth 
 
 to travel inland but that I can very well remember 
 the state of young manhood, from an experience 
 in it of some years, and there is nothing to me in 
 this world so inspiring as the possibilities that lie 
 locked up in the head and breast of a young man. 
 The hopes that lie before him, the great inspira-
 
 476 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 tions around him, the great aspirations above him, 
 all these things, with the untried pathway of life 
 opening up its difficulties and dangers, inspire him 
 to courage, and force, and work. 
 
 [From a Speech in New York, August 6, 1880.] 
 
 Ideas outlive men. Ideas outlive all 
 
 things, and you who fought in the war for the 
 Union fought for immortal ideas, and by their 
 might you crowned our war with victory. But 
 victory was worth nothing except for the fruits 
 that were under it, in it, and above it. We meet 
 to-night as veterans and comrades, to stand sacred 
 guard around the truths for which we fought, and 
 while we have life to meet and grasp the hands of 
 a comrade, we will stand by the great truths of the 
 war ; and, comrades, among the convictions of that 
 war which have sunk deep in our hearts there are 
 some that we can never forget. Think of the 
 great elevating spirit of the war itself. We gath- 
 ered the boys from all our farms, and shops, and 
 stores, and schools, and homes, from all over the 
 Republic, and they went forth unknown to fame, 
 but returned enrolled on the roster of immortal 
 heroes. They went in flie~splrit 01 tnose soldiers 
 of Henry at Agincourt, of whom he said, " Who 
 this day sheds his blood with me, to-day shall be 
 my brother. Were he ne'er so vile, this day shall 
 gentle his condition ; " and it did gentle the condi-
 
 JAMES A. GARFIELD. 477 
 
 tion and elevate the heart of every working sol- * 
 dier who fought in it, and he shall be our brother 
 for evermore ; and this thing we will remember ; 
 we will remember our allies who fought with us. 
 Soon after the great struggle began we looked be- 
 hind the army of white rebels and saw 4,000,000 
 of black people condemned to toil as slaves for our 
 enemies, and we found that the hearts of this 
 4,000,000 were God-inspired with the spirit of 
 freedom, and that they were our friends. We ' 
 have seen white men betray the flag and fight to 
 kill the Union, but in all that long, dreary war we 
 never saw a traitor in a black skin. Our prisoners, 
 escaping from the starvation of prison, and fleeing 
 to our lines by the light of the North-star, never 
 feared to enter the black man's cabin and ask for 
 bread. In all that period of suffering and danger 
 no Union soldier was ever betrayed by a black man 
 or woman, and now that we have made them free, 
 so long as we live we will stand by these black 
 citizens. We will stand by them until the sun of 
 liberty, fixed in the firmament of our Constitution, 
 shall shine with equal rays upon every man, black 
 or white, throughout the Union. Now, fellow- 
 citizens, fellow-soldiers, in this there is all the 
 beneficence of eternal justice, and by this we will 
 stand forever.
 
 478 CHIPS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 
 
 [Remarks at Chatauqua, August 1, 1880.] 
 
 I would rather be defeated than make capital 
 out of my religion. 
 
 [From an Address at the Anniversary of Hiram College, 
 directly after the Chicago Convention, 1880.] 
 
 FELLOW-CITIZENS, NEIGHBORS, AND FRIENDS OF 
 MANY YEARS : It always has given me pleasure to 
 come back here and look upon these faces. It has 
 always given me new courage and new friends. It 
 has brought back a large share of that richness 
 that belongs to those things out of which come the 
 joys of life. While I have been sitting here this 
 afternoon, watching your faces and listening to the 
 very interesting address which has just been de- 
 livered, it occurred to me that the best thing you 
 have that all men envy I mean all men who 
 have reached the meridian of life is, perhaps, 
 the thing that you 'care for less, and that is your 
 leisure, the leisure you have to think ; the 
 leisure you have to be let alone ; the leisure you 
 have to throw the plummet with your hand, and 
 sound their depths and find out what is below ; 
 the leisure you have to walk about the towers of 
 yourselves, and find how strong they are, or how 
 weak they are, and determine what needs building 
 up, and determine how to shape them, that you 
 may make the final being that you are to be. Oh,
 
 JAMES A. GAEFIELD. 479 
 
 these hours of building ! If the superior beings 
 of the universe would look clown upon the world 
 to find the most interesting object, it would be the 
 unfinished, unformed character of young men, or 
 of young women. These behind me have, proba- 
 bly, in the main settled such questions. Those 
 who have passed into middle manhood and middle 
 womanhood are about what they shall always be, 
 and there is little left of interest or curiosity as to 
 our development. But to your young and yet 
 uninformed natures no man knows the possibilities 
 that lie treasured up in your hearts and intellects ; 
 and while you are working up these possibilities 
 with that splendid leisure, you are the most envied 
 of all classes of men and women in the world. I 
 congratulate you on your leisure. I commend you 
 to keep it as your gold, as your wealth, as your 
 means, out of which you can demand all the pos- 
 sible treasures that God laid down when He 
 formed your nature, and unveiled and devel- 
 oped the possibility of your future. This place is 
 too full of memories for me to trust myself to speak 
 upon, and I will not; but I draw again to-day, 
 as I have for a quarter of a century, evidences of 
 strength and affection from the people who gather 
 in this place, and I thank you for the permission 
 to see you, and meet you, and greet you, as I 
 have done to-day.
 
 INDEX.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Adams, John, 45, 66-C8, 82, 85, 87, 124, 169, 189, 190. 
 
 Adams, John Quincy, 51, 133, 143, 144, 441. 
 
 Adams, Samuel, 52, 80, 110. 
 
 Agassiz, Louis, 430. 
 
 Alaska, 415. 
 
 Allied Powers, The, 130. 
 
 Amendment, The Fourteenth, 422. 
 
 Amendments to the Constitution, 367-370. 
 
 America, and England, 318, 337. 
 
 Arbitration, International, 337. 
 
 Bible, The, 67, 143. 
 
 Bi-metallism, 389. 
 
 Birmingham, England, 359, 360. 
 
 Bismarck, 335. 
 
 Bonaparte, Napoleon, 335, 336. 
 
 Books, 438. 
 
 Boston, 45, 47, 77-80. 
 
 British Constitution, 116. 
 
 Burlingaine Treaty, 362. 
 
 O. 
 
 Calvinism, View of, 146. 
 
 Cass, Lewis, 199. 
 
 Cassel, Prince of Hesse-, 64. 
 
 480
 
 INDEX. 481 
 
 Chaplain to Congress, 121. 
 
 Character, 98, 439. 
 
 Chase, S. P., 275, 446. 
 
 Chinese Immigration, 362, 363. 
 
 Christianity, 87, 109, 110, 164, 165. 
 
 Church-membership, 266. 
 
 Church and State, 437. 
 
 Civil Service, 109, 120, 142, 354, 359-361. 
 
 College Studies, 410. 
 
 Colored Citizens, 290, 349, 350, 368, 369, 374, 378, 465. 
 
 Colored Soldiers, 260, 270, 290, 294, 298, 477. 
 
 Commercial Reverses, 192. 
 
 Communism, 133. 
 
 Concentration of Power, 97, 117. 
 
 Concord, Battle at, 16. 
 
 Confederation, The, 170. 
 
 Congress, 444. 
 
 Congress, Organizing, in 1839, 166. 
 
 Congress, International, 319. 
 
 Consolidated Government, 97, 127. 
 
 Constitution, The U. S., 171-174, 177, 394. 
 
 Convention, Constitutional, 24, 172. 
 
 Credit, Expansion of, 221. 
 
 Currency, The, 184, 192, 317, 355, 356, 388, 418-420, 431. 
 
 ID. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 449. 
 
 Debt, The National, 311, 423. 
 
 Debts, Public, 385. 
 
 Declaration of Independence, 102, 160-162, 170, 186, 189, 230- 
 
 233, 240, 244, 400. 
 
 Declaration of Independence, Signers of, 59, 186. 
 Democratic Party, The, 343-345, 468. 
 Depravity, Human, 143. 
 Dissolution of the Union, 211, 219. 
 Divorce, 197. 
 Douglas, Stephen A., 226, 233, 236.
 
 482 INDEX. 
 
 Draft Bill, 392. 
 
 Duche, Rev. Mr., 52-54. 
 
 EL 
 
 Education, Popular, 100, 107, 117, 141, 313, 314, 317, 352-354, 
 
 372-383, 376, 460, 472. 
 Education, Popular, National Aid to, 427. 
 Elections, Purity of, 351, 363, 462. 
 Elective Franchise, 351, 363. 
 Emancipation, 270. 
 Emancipation Proclamation, 248, 250, 257-259, 265, 275-278, 
 
 285, 294, 304, 446. 
 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 223, 278. 
 England and America, 337. 
 English Constitution, The, 188. 
 Everett, Edward, 279. 
 
 Federalists, The, 148, 474. 
 Fillmore, Millard, 212. 
 Finance, 355. 
 France, 62. 
 
 Franklin, Benjamin, 97, 124. 
 Free Trade, 338, 392, 421. 
 French Republic, 311. 
 Fourth of July, 61. 
 Fugitive Slaves, 411. 
 Future Life, The, 85. 
 
 Q-. 
 
 Gag-law, 168, 169. 
 
 Garfield, James A., 388, 411, 413. 
 
 Ganibetta, 335. 
 
 Genius, 55, 66. 
 
 Georges, The, 148. 
 
 Gettysburg, Address at, 278, 279.
 
 INDEX. 483 
 
 Goethe, 454, 455. 
 
 Government, 118, 119, 177, 178, 187. 
 
 Grant, U. S., 280, 281, 232, 326, 332-334, 339, 345. 
 
 Greek Language, The, 424. 
 
 Greeley, Horace, 247. 
 
 H. 
 
 Habeas Corpus, 253-253. 
 
 Hadrian, Lines of, 138. 
 
 Hamilton, Alexander, 123. 
 
 Hampton Institute, 383. 
 
 Harrison, William Henry, 195. 
 
 Hayes, Kutherford B., 347. 
 
 Hayti, 1G3. 
 
 Henry, Joseph, 455. 
 
 Hereditary Succession, 149. 
 
 Hesse-Cassel, Prince of, 64. 
 
 History, 425. 
 
 Hodges, Colonel, 262. 
 
 Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 283. 
 
 Horace, 424. 
 
 Hughes, Thomas, 320. 
 
 Hutchinson, Governor, 68, 60, 79, 80, 82. 
 
 Ideas, 399, 476. 
 
 Illinois, 127. 
 
 Immigration, 107, 371-373, 375, 381 ; Chinese, 362, 363. 
 
 Indians, The, 43, 196, 283, 379, 386. 
 
 . J. 
 
 Jackson, Andrew, 163, 176, 284, 309. 
 Jackson, " Stonewall," 324. 
 Jefferson, Thomas, 88, 124, 170, 190, 381. 
 Johnson, Andrew, 234, 284, 308, 309. 
 Johnson, Eichard M., 197, 200, 334. 
 Judiciary, The, 70, 72, 351.
 
 484 INDEX. 
 
 L. 
 
 Labor, 319. 
 
 Laboulaye, E., 271. 
 
 Law, Beign of, 426. 
 
 Legislative Department, 187. 
 
 Leisure, 478. 
 
 Liberty, 46, 86, 171, 290, 406. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, 223, 271-273, 278, 279, 322-324, 330, 366, 
 
 367, 368, 391, 393, 413, 446-448, 466. 
 Literature in America, 104-107. 
 Locke, John, 174. 
 " Lost Cause, The," 348. 
 Louis XV., 149. 
 Louisiana, 195. 
 
 M. 
 
 Madison, James, 88, 111, 170, 382. 
 
 Manchester, England, 251. 
 
 Massachusetts, 12, 13. 
 
 Massacre, Boston, 77. 
 
 Mathews, Stanley, 347. 
 
 McClellan, George B., 327-330. 
 
 Metallic Basis, 184. 
 
 Military Academy, 129. 
 
 Militia, The, 129. 
 
 "Minute-men" of 1775, 169. 
 
 Miracles, 165. 
 
 Mississippi, The, 195. 
 
 Monroe, James, 100, 122, 127, 146, 147. 
 
 " Monroe Doctrine," 130, 207, 214. 
 
 Napoleon Bonaparte, 335, 336. 
 
 Napoleon, Louis, 336. 
 
 National Authority, 364 ; and State Authority, 130. 
 
 National Credit, 213, 311, 322, 362.
 
 INDEX. 485 
 
 National Debt, 311, 423. 
 
 National Morality, 115, 213, 322, 324, 348. 
 
 National Policy, 204. 
 
 Natural Bridge, The, 91. 
 
 Nature, Conformity to, 6G. 
 
 Negroes, 93. 
 
 Neutrality, 207, 208, 214. 
 
 New England, 440. 
 
 New Jersey Delegation of 1839, 1G6. 
 
 New States, Admission of, 127 
 
 North Carolina, 173. 
 
 Nullification, 122, 123, 125, 163, 178-184. 
 
 O. 
 
 Orator, The, 134. 
 
 Oregon Territory, 206. 
 Otis, James, 83, 84. 
 
 F. 
 
 Parties, Origin of, 399, 458. 
 
 Party Spirit, 141. 
 
 Pemberton, General, 295. 
 
 People, The, 66, 394. 
 
 Perry, Oliver Hazard, 199. 
 
 Persecution, Eeligious, 112, 113. 
 
 Petition, Eight of, 152-161, 168. 
 
 Pierce, Franklin, 217. 
 
 Polk, James K., 205. 
 
 Poncas, The, 387. 
 
 Pope, Alexander, 137. 
 
 Potomac, The, 90. 
 
 President and Senate, 138. 
 
 Presidential etiquette, 190; receptions, 268; title, 120. 
 
 Profanity, 22. 
 
 Property, 262. 
 
 Protective Duties, 407. 
 
 Public Schools, 141. 
 
 Punch, 224 n.
 
 486 INDEX. 
 
 R. 
 
 Railway System, The, 431. 
 
 Randolph, John, 144. 
 
 Raynal, Abbe, 104. 
 
 Reason, a revelation, 68. 
 
 Rebellion, The, 348. 
 
 Rebel States, 29G, 297. 
 
 Reconstruction, 412. 
 
 Religion, 44, G7, 26G. 
 
 Religious Freedom, 42, 89, 101, 113, 114, 121, 171. 
 
 Republican Party, The, 312-345, 450, 470. 
 
 Repudiation, 311, 385. 
 
 Revenue, National, 444. 
 
 Revenue Bills, 3G4. 
 
 Revolution, The American, 186. 
 
 Rhetoric, 134. 
 
 Ruffner, Dr., 379. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabbath, The, 22, 249, 250. 
 
 Schleicher, G., 463. 
 
 School-keeping, 46. 
 
 Schools, Public, 352-354; Sectarian, 352, 472. 
 
 Science, 451 ; relation of government to, 459. 
 
 Secession, 122, 125, 163, 179-182, 242, 243. 
 
 Secretary of War, 448. 
 
 Sectarian Schools, 472. 
 
 Self-government, 55, 109. 
 
 Senate, Functions of the, 120. 
 
 Separation from England, 54. 
 
 Seward, William H. 413, 446. 
 
 Shakespeare, 282. 
 
 Sheridan, Gen., 325, 339. 
 
 Sherman, Gen., 331. 
 
 Sin, Original, 59.
 
 INDEX. 487 
 
 Slavery, 25, 26, 85, 93-97, 104, 126, 128, 132, 151-154, 1CO-162, 
 164, 184, 226, 231-236, 247, 263, 264, 267, 268, 270-275, 
 286, 287, 339, 340, 374, 375, 378, 394, 395-397, 401-4* ", 
 411. 
 
 Slave-trade, 126, 128. 
 
 Smithsonian Institute, 457. 
 
 " Solid South," The, 345. 
 
 South Carolina, 125, 163, 174, 178-183. 
 
 Special Privileges, 206. 
 
 Specie Payments, Eesumption of, 453, 467. 
 
 Spectator, The London, 271. 
 
 " Spoils of Office," 125, 359. 
 
 " Squatter Sovereignty," 228. 
 
 Stanton, Secretary, 330, 446. 
 
 State Eights, 27, 243-246, 364, 370. 
 
 Statistics, 426. 
 
 Stuart, A. H. H., 376. 
 
 Student, The, 408-411, 424. 
 
 Suffrage, Negro, 465 ; unrestricted, 350. 
 
 " Surrender, Unconditional," 293. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tariff, The, 184, 338, 407. 
 
 Taylor, Zachary, 210. 
 
 Teutonic Races, 463. 
 
 Texas, 244, 245, 341, 465. 
 
 Thames, Battle of the, 197-200. 
 
 Thomas, Gen., 458. 
 
 Township, The New England, 409, 458. 
 
 Trade with Rebels, 296, 297. 
 
 Treason, 284, 288, 289. 
 
 Trinity, The, 146. 
 
 Tyler, John, 202. 
 
 TJ. 
 
 Union, Saving the, 247, 257-259, 339.. 
 Union Soldiers, 321, 357-358, 371. 
 Utah, 312.
 
 488 INDEX. 
 
 V. 
 
 Van Burcn, Martin, 186. 
 Vicksburg, 280, 294-296. 
 Volunteer Soldiers, 346. 
 
 "W. 
 
 Walpole, Memoirs of, 140. 
 
 War, 332, 335, 338. 
 
 War, Civil, Philosophy of the, 399, 400. 
 
 Washington, George, 11, 97, 119, 214. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, 383. 
 
 Wheatley, Phillis, 21 
 
 Wilderness, The, 302. 
 
 Woman, Political Influence of, 156-160. 
 
 Writs of Assistance, 81, 82. 
 
 Young man, Advice to a, 225. 
 Young Men, 475.
 
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