THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

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JAMES G. ELAINE,

EMBRACING

A SKETCH OF HIS CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH ; HIS EDUCATION ; THE BEGINNING OF
HIS PUBLIC CAREER; HIS RISE AS A STATESMAN ; HIS PART IN THE ADMIN-
ISTRATION OF GARFIELD ; HIS LITERARY WORK, AND HIS NOMI-
NATION FOR THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES.

TOGETHER WITH A SKETCH OF THK LIFE OF

GEN. JOHN A. LOGAN,

TO WHICH IS ADDED

A Compendium of Political Statistics and Information,

INCLUDING

LIVES AND ADMINISTRATIONS OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES; HIS-
TORY OF ALL POLITICAL PARTIES ; TABULATED SUMMARIES, GIVING
THE STATISTICAL FACTS AND FIGURES CONNECTED WITH
EVERY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ; THE WHOLE
CONSTITUTING AN INVALUABLE

VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

By JOHN CLARK RIDPATH, LL. D.,

Author of a Popular History of the United States, Life and Work of Garfield, etc., etc,

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY WM. H. ELAINE.

MARTIN GARRISON & CO.

i;<>STON\ MASS: -V, ;

COPYRIGHTED, 1884, BY JOHN T. JONES.

PRBFACE.

FOR as many as three general reasons the nomination of
JAMES G. ELAINE for the Presidency may be received
with great satisfaction. The first of these is that at the
Chicago Convention of 1884 the Dark Horse folly was ef-
fectually, let us hope forever, buried out of sight. As a
c/j general rule, the big brained men have been kept from pre-
ferment under our political system. The theory which the
i obscure many have adopted for the subordination of the
illustrious few is that it is fatal for a man to have a record.
l He must be great, but have no record. He must be eloquent,
|Q but never say any thing ; work, but never do any thing ; lead,
g but never lead any thing. On several occasions in our polit-
ical history this theory has prevailed to the extent of thrust-
g ing aside the great Americans to the end that some obscure
6 Accident without a record might go up to the high places
I of power.

It might be invidious to specify the instances in our

J history in which the notion that unknown mediocrity is

' more " available " than genius has prevailed over common

sense. Time and again we have witnessed the spectacle

of some unheard-of intelligence stepping into the arena and

carrying off the wreath which patriotism had woven for the

4 PREFACE.

forehead of the great. At last, however, the reaction has
set in, and as a consequence the Dark Horse droops his head.
He is no longer admired. It is doubtful whether he will
ever again be an object of interest. His stall in the politi-
cal livery is, for the time, at least, abandoned, and it is not
likely that the crowds will ever again return. For this re-
sult the Nation is indebted to the steady and determined
supporters of Mr. Elaine in the Chicago convention. They
had made up their minds that the great Equus niger Amer-
icanus should be turned to grass, and that the man with a
record should hereafter be preferred to the political Nobody.
The result is satisfying.

In the second place, the Chicago convention is notable
for this, that the grand army of office-holders has gone to
the rear ; they have fallen back before a victorious charge
of the people. There is no doubt that for a time, at least,
the unorganized masses have triumphed over the organized
cohort of officials, determined as they were to keep them-
selves in power forever. One of the most dangerous ten-
dencies recently exhibited in American politics has been the
continuance of men in office until their terms have run be-
yond the usual limit, then to transfer them to other posi-
tions in the service, and so on ad infinitum.

The American Government does not belong to any class
of men. As a matter of fact, it is a government of the
people, and is intended to be only incidentally beneficial to
those who are in office. For some time past it has appeared
that the opposite theory and practice were about to prevail ;
that the government is intended to be a government of the
office-holders, and only incidentally beneficial to the people.

PREFACE. 5

Against the latter principle the Chicago Convention planted
itself defiantly, victoriously. In that body the officials
were, as a rule, determined to compass the defeat of him
who, in the end, proved to be too strong for their battalion.
The office-holder who favored the nomination of Elaine was
a bird as rare as his plumage was fair. Doubtless the Re-
publican candidate is himself a politician, skilled in all the
tactics which may be suggested by profound originality and
varied experience. Doubtless, too, he has long held office,
and is well acquainted with, the ways by which the office
once gained is kept. Still the fact stands as before, that
Mr. Elaine was the people's man at Chicago, and that the
office-holders of the country were against him almost to a
unit. The people for once won the battle, and the victory
has become in some sort a pledge and vindication of the
principle that the offices of the Republic do not belong of
prescriptive right to the occupants.

In the third place, the nomination of Elaine marks the
reappearance of civic abilities in the high places of the
Nation. It was inevitable that the Civil War should trans-
mit to the American people a vast array of military talent
and reputation, not specially distinguished for skill in the
management of the state. It was equally inevitable and
perhaps right, that the people should for more than two dec-
ades after the close of the conflict continue, sometimes at
their own expense, to honor those who had defended the
Nation with their lives by raising them to high office, this
without an over-scrupulous regard to fitness. But it was
also necessary that in the course of time statesmanship, a
thing withal not less necessary and honorable than military

6 PREFACE.

heroism, should reassert itself in the conduct of public
affairs. It remained for the year 1884 to witness, not indeed
the neglect of the soldier, but the vindication of the citizen,
and the recognition of his rights to the joint honors of his
country.

Mr. Elaine is a civilian. His tremendous influence over
the opinions and actions of his fellow-men proceeds wholly
from his abilities as a statesman. Thoroughly loyal to the
soldier, his own activities have been exerted in the manage-
ment of civil affairs, the direction of legislation. Albeit no
soldier himself, he has been the soldier's champion in the
arena of fierce conflict, and has won for the defenders of the
Union victories almost as renowned as those which they
themselves achieved in the bloody field of war.

The Republican candidate for the Presidency has a tre-
mendous hold upon the affections of his party friends. He
is popular. It is not to be denied or overlooked that his
positive and aggressive spirit has aroused the antagonism of
not a few prominent men in the ranks of his own party. It
was impossible that he should not do so ; but it is very
hard for any one to say that he does not hold Elaine in
high respect. Jfot only Republicans, but Democrats as well,
have as a general rule been constrained to acknowledge
this the sterling qualities of the Chicago nominee and his
great strength with the people. It was the peculiarity of
the Democratic notices of the result at Chicago that very
few underrated the powerful ticket which the Republicans
had put into the field. This sentiment may well be illus-
trated in the following extract from the leading editorial in
the Cincinnati Enquirer of the 7th of June :

PREFACE. 7

" The idol of the Republican masses has achieved a most decis-
ive victory. The politicians, tricksters, manipulators, and profes-
sional schemers for power and place have been overthrown, and
the man of the people chosen.

"James G. Blaine was not born with a silver spoon in his
mouth. As a boy he was compelled to battle with poverty, and in
the hand-to-hand struggle with life had to push aside the arro-
gance which wealth invariably begets and wears. As a young man,
he was compelled to be the tutor instead of the spoiled and pam-
pered pupil. When he dared to enter political life, he was met by
that rascality which wealth is too often the parent of. But Mr.
Blaine always maintained a steadfast course, and to-day he is the
most conspicuous figure and the strongest man in his party. It
must be conceded that he is the most capable man and the most
thorough master of politics that can be found within the Republi-
can hosts to-day. Blaine is a statesman, while too many of his
contemporaries are merely politicians. Always the defender of
American interests, he will awaken an enthusiasm that no other man
in his party possibly could.

"The means by which certain of his own party sought to com-
pass his defeat were of the vilest and most vicious character, and
naturally have fallen harmless upon him. To the unparalleled lying
of a few of the daily newspapers and the low caricatures of a portion
of the illustrated press, Mr. Blaine should feel much indebted.
The magnanimity, the manliness and the spirit of fair play which
predominate in the American character asserted themselves by
awarding the victory to Blaine in answer to the vile attacks which
were made upon him."

Another striking circumstance of the Chicago Convention
was that the second place on the ticket was not flung away
to a Nobody. In this respect the delegates exercised great
care and circumspection. It is known to all the world, that
General John A. Logan made a strong race for the head of the

8 PREFACE.

course, and but for the invincible strength of Mr. Elaine might
have succeeded in gaining the coveted position. By the law of
fitness General Logan was precisely the man to name for the
Vice-presidency. His brilliant record as a soldier of the
Union is happily balanced against the equally brilliant rec-
ord of Elaine as a civilian. There is just enough of un-
likeness in the men to give great strength to the combina-
tion. The "team" is as strong as their coupled names are
euphonious.

Such are the principal sources of interest in the Repub-
lican standard-bearers of 1884. Added to these is the ex-
citing fact that the pending election is in the very nature
of things destined to be a close and hot encounter, and the
other fact that presidential elections in the United States
always attract the closest attention of the people and a pro-
found interest in their candidates.

These reasons are sufficient for opening to American
voters, especially to those of the Republican faith, an account
of the lives and deeds of their favorite leaders.

j. c. R.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.
PARTIES AND PARTISANS.

Value of freedom. Necessity thereof in Republican form of Govern-
ment. Laborers and wages. Free vs. pauper labor. Advantage of
parties. The Republican party in particular. Protection to American
industry A party of the people. Democracy anarchic. The attempt
to destroy the Union. The Democratic regime. Responsibility of
Democratic leaders. The Party revolutionary. Attitude of the Democ-
racy in 1860. What a party is. The present Democratic organization.
Americanism and Republicanism synonymous. Should the Government
remain under Republican control? Pages 17-32

Life and Public Services of James G. Elaine.

CHAPTER I.

TYPICAL MEN OF THEIR EPOCH.

Scarcity of genius. The ancient Greek. Charlemagne. His work.
Washington. His character and deeds. Lincoln. His place in his-
tory. Henry Clay. His greatness. Distinguished men of the present.
Elaine in particular, Pages 33-40

CHAPTER H.

JAMES GILLESPIE ELAINE.

Birth and parentage. Ephriam and Ephriam L. Blaine. The
mother. Early training. Anecdotes. Preparation for college. Blaine
as a student. A teacher. Professor in military institute. Marries Miss
Stanwood. Removes to Maine. Career as journalist. Takes up poli-
tics. Elected to Congress. Three times Speaker. Senator. Secretary
of State. Candidate for presidential nomination, in 1876 and 1880.
Personal appearance. Magnetic qualities. Elaine's vote in '76. Also
in '80. The four ballots at Chicago in 1884 Nominated, . Pages 41-54

10 CONTENTS.

CHAPTEK III.

THE REPUBLICAN LEADER.

Elements of Elaine's leadership. Relations to Garfield's administra-
tion. Necessity of vigor in the presidential office. Protection to the bal-
lot. Republican lease of life. Qualities of Elaine's mind. Likeness to
Clay. Democratic free trade. Elaine's jealousy of foreign influence.
Heads the party of progress. Extract from his "Twenty Years in Con-
gress." Testimony of a former pastor to Elaine's integrity, Pages 55-64

CHAPTER IV.

THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.

The eighth National Republican Convention. Description of the
great hall. The personalities. Mahone. The Clayton-Lynch contest.
George William Curtis. Lynch. Kellogg. Phelps. The delegations.
The women. Sabin opens the convention. Lynch temporary chair-

.. His speech. Routine, Pages 65-80

man

CHAPTER V.

THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.

The second day. Ladies and Resolutions. Hawkins. Knight.
Curtis again. Henderson for permanent chairman. His speech. Shall
we support the nominee ? The veterans want in. More resolutions and
speeches, Pages 81-90

CHAPTER VI.

THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.

The committee on credentials report. The platform. Evening ses-
sion. The nominating speeches. Enthusiasm for Elaine. Ready for
,the crisis, Pages 91-98

CHAPTER VII.

THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.

Fourth day. First ballot. Second ballot. Third ballot. Fourth
ballot and Elaine. Uproar over the result. More speeches. Eve-
ning session. Nomination of Logan. An infinity of oratory. Votes of
thanks, and adjournment sine die, Pages 99-124

CONTENTS. 11

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE.

What Storrs had to say about it. And the New York Tribune.
And the Chicago Tribune. The Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. And
Murat Halstead. The Philadelphia Times. The Boston Journal. The
Philadelphia Ledger. The Philadelphia Press. The Philadelphia In-
quirer. The Providence Star. And the St. Louis Call. The St. Louis
Democrat. And the Washington Republic. And a hundred others.
Mrs. Garfield sends a dispatch. The people for Blaine, especially in Re-
publican States. Likeness of Clay and Blaine, . . . Pages 125-159

CHAPTER IX.

BLAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE.

Able men in Congress. Integrity and strength. Moral power in
politics. State of the country when Blaine entered the House. Ag-
gressive men then demanded. Leaders in '63. Amendments to the
Constitution. Elaine's early aspirations. Speaks for Maine. On the
Conscription bill. "What the government owes its subjects." On the
Greenback question. Elected Speaker. His speech on taking the
chair. Receives the thanks of the House. Re-elected. Speaks again.
Debates with Ben. Butler. And then a third time. Valedictory.
The Democrats in power. Elaine's speech on amnesty and pensioning
Jeff. Davis. Discusses the Currency question, . . . Pages 160-223

CHAPTER X.

BLAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. CONTINUED.

Blaine is appointed Senator. Opposes the electoral commission.
Antagonizes the Southern policy of Hayes. Speaks on the silver dol-
lar. Address on the Halifax fishery award. Advocates the purity of
elections. Views on the tariff. Discusses Jefferson Davis again. The
use of troops at the polls. Blaine a candidate for the Presidency.
Beaten at Chicago. In Garfield's cabinet. Retires, . Pages 224-275

CHAPTER XI.

BLAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. CONTINUED.

Reminiscences of the Plumed Knight. Anecdotes of his school
days. His life at the capital. At home in Augusta. Political scandals

1 2 CONTENTS.

and their refutation. Harper's Weekly in particular. Public speeches.
The currency question at Biddeford. Cooper Institute speech. Elaine
is officially notified of his nomination. Frye's speech in the convention
of 1880, Pages 276-301

Logan, the Soldier Statesman.

CHAPTER XII.

OUTLINE.

Value of biographies. Birth and early life of Logan. Education.
Election to office. Sent to Congress. A soldier of the Union. At
Belmont. Donelson. Corinth. Vicksburg. Commands the Fif-
teenth Army Corps. A part of the " Snapper." South of Atlanta.
In command of the Army of the Tennessee. Jonesboro. Flint
River. Returns to Congress. Makes his mark. Succeeds Yates in
the Senate, Pages 302-307

CHAPTER XIII.

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN.

Outbreak of the war. Davis's treasonable speech. South Carolina
secedes. The Confederate Government organized. Logan's previous
military career. A loyal Democrat. Resigns his place in Congress.
Colonel of the Thirty-first Illinois. Gallantry at Belmont. Services at
Henry and Donelson. Wounded before Vicksburg. At Kenesaw.
Death of McPherson. Ought to command the Army of the Tennessee.
His heroism. Exploits beyond Atlanta. Bravery at Jonesboro. High
estimation among the officers of the army. His care of the men.
Stumps Illinois for Lincoln. -Farewell address to the Army of the Ten-
nessee, Pages 308-331

CHAPTER XIV.

IN THE COUNCIL.

Logan a Republican. Speaks on Democratic principles. His loyalty
to General Grant. Advocates placing the latter on the retired list.
Opposes the restoration of Fitz John Porter. His great address on that
question. The arrogance of the Confederacy at the beginning of the
war. Logan's courage. Anecdote of his heroism before Atlanta. His
composure in battle, Pages 332-364

CONTENTS. 13

PART II.

HISTORY OK POLITICAL

Necessity of party spirit. Free government sustained thereby. Two
parties necessary in a republic. Genealogy of the Democracy. First
division of political parties in our country. Federalist and Anti-Feder-
alist. Condition of affairs under Jefferson and Madison. The Era of
Good Feeling. The election of Adams. Jackson's relations to party
history. Van Buren appears in the horizon. The father of modern
Democracy. Harry of the West. Van Buren and Clinton. The party
in power usurps the name Democratic. Jackson's military and civil
career. Puts his friends in office. His methods and principles. Hos-
tility to the bank. Van Buren succeeds to the Presidency. Whigs and
Democrats. One term of Van Buren enough. The Sub-treasury bub-
ble. Brief triumph of the Whigs. Tyler's political defection. Princi-
ples of the Whigs. Polk shoots up to the Presidency. Birth of the Re-
publican party. Its cardinal principle. James Buchanan. Democracy
in secession. The party revolutionary. And half treasonable. Democ-
racy, ancient and modern. The party's responsibility for various here-
sies. Secession among the number. Bayard as a mouth-piece. Stephen
A. Douglas. Career of the Republican party, . . . Pages 365400

Policy of protection. Its first assertion. Is it retaliatory? Great
Britain would keep the American Colonies hi commercial dependence.
Various acts of the House of Commons. Jealousy of the mother coun-
try on account of our manufactures. Anxiety of the board of trade to
abolish all American enterprise. Acts of 1732 and 1750. The stamp
act a part of the system. The Revolution, and afterwards. Anxiety of
Great Britain to keep our country dependent. We should produce, and
she should manufacture. Our rising industry. Calhoun's tariff of
1816. Ruin of 1817-20. Henry Clay arises. Tariff of 1824-28.
Great Britain still active to keep us down. She becomes the benevolent
evangelist of free trade. Sly Mr. Bull. Parliament would fain govern
America. Tariff of 1842-64. Robert J. Walker." A tariff for reve-
nue only," ............... Pages 401-416

14 CONTENTS.

OK THE PRESIDENTS.

GEOEGE WASHINGTON. Birth and ancestry. Education. French
and Indian war. Washington's marriage. In the House of Burgesses.
His modesty. Stands firm for colonial liberty. In Congress. Com-
mander-in-chief of the army. His diffidence. Goes to the field Dor-
chester Heights. Enters Boston. Retreat across the Jerseys. Trenton
and Queenstown. Chad's Ford. Valley Forge. Treason of Arnold.
France to the rescue. Yorktown. Washington and the Constitution.
Elected President. His administration. Troubles in his cabinet. Un-
popularity of his measures. Relations with Great Britain. The Jay
treaty. Treaty with Spain. Farewell Address. Death, Pages 417-434

JOHN ADAMS. Birth and education. Marriage. Opposes the stamp
act. A writer. Sent to Congress. Nominates Washington. On com-
mittee of Declaration. Sent to France Minister to England. Vice-pres-
ident. President. Retires. Old age and death, . . Pages 435-439

THOMAS JEFFERSON. Birth and childhood. Education. A law-
yer. Enters public life. Marries. A Democratic patriot. In the Bur-
gesses. In Congress. Writes the Declaration. Secures the revision of
the statutes of Virginia. Governor. In Congress. His measures.
In Paris. Secretary of State. President. Death, . Pages 439-447

JAMES MADISON. Birth and education. Early entrance into public
life. Services in Congress. Aids in the formation of the Constitution.
Again in the Virginia Legislature. Marries. Secretary of State.
President. His Administration. Death, .... Pages 447-450

JAMES MONROE. Birth and education. In the Revolutionary army.
In the Virginia Legislature. In Congress. Marries. Again in the
Virginia assembly. In the Senate. Minister to France. Governor of
Virginias Negotiates the purchase of Louisiana. Minister to Great
Britain. Again Governor of Virginia. Elected to the Presidency.
Events of his administration. Retiracy and death, . Pages 450-455

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. Birth and youth. In Europe. Extensive
education. Literary abilities. Esteemed by Washington. Minister to
Holland and Portugal. And Berlin. In the Massachusetts Senate In
Congress. Professor in Harvard. Plenipotentiary to Russia. Minister
to Ghent. And St. Petersburg. And St. James. Secretary of State.

CONTENTS. 15

And President. His administration. Re-elected to the House. The
old man eloquent. Death, % . . . Pages 455-463

ANDREW JACKSON. Birth and boyhood. Lad of the Revolution.
A soldier at fourteen. Battle of New Orleans. Seminole war. Hangs
Arburnot and Armbrister. Governor of Florida. Candidate for the
Presidency. Beaten by the House Elected in 1828. His administra-
tion. Devoted to the Union. Dies at 78, . . . . Pages 464-470

MARTIN VAN BUREN. Birth and education. Lawyer and politi-
cian. Judge and Senator. Secretary of State. Minister to England.
Elected President. Beaten for re-election. Death, . Pages 470-472

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON. Birth and education. Enters the
army. At Fort Washington. Governor of Indiana. Elected to Con-
gress. President. Inaugurated and dies, .... Pages 472-474

JOHN TYLER. Succeeds to the Presidency. His youth. In Con-
gress. Governor and Senator. Breaks with the Whigs. President of
the Peace Congress. A Confederate Senator. Death, . Pages 474-475

JAMES KNOX POLK. Birth and youth. Education. Congress-
man. A conservative. Speaker of the House. Governor of Tennes-
see. Elected President. His administration. Dies, . Pages 476-477

ZACHARY TAYLOR. Birth and education, A soldier. In the
Florida war. In command on the Rio Grande. At Palo Alto and
Buena,Vista. Elected President. Dies in office, . . Pages 477479

MILLARD FILLMORE. Succeeds to the Presidency. Birth and educa-
tion. A lawyer and Whig. Elected Vice-president. His administra-
tion. Re-nominated and beaten. Death, .... Pages 479-481

FRANKLIN PIERCE. Birth and education. Lawyer and legislator.
United States Senator. In the Mexican war. Elected President.
Events of his administration. Death, . .'-*... Pages 481-483

JAMES BUCHANAN. Birth and education. Minister to Russia.
Senator. Secretary of State. Minister to England. President. His
administration. Retirement and death, Pages 483-485

ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Birth and boyhood. Farmer and captain.
Lawyer. In the Legislature of Illinois. A lover of freedom. Debates
with Douglas. Nominated for the Presidency. Elected. Policy of

16 CONTENTS.

Lincoln. His greatness during the conflict. Re-elected. Assassin-
ated. Summary of his character, Pages 486-498

ANDREW JOHNSON. Birth and youth. Tailor and Mayor of
Greenville. In the State Senate. Elected to Congress. In the United
States Senate. Military Governor of Tennessee. Elected Vice-presi-
dent. Succeeds to the Presidency. Death, .... Pages 498-500

ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT. Birth and education. In the Mexican
war. In the Union army. In Tennessee. Major-general. His career
in the war. Nominated for the Presidency. Elected. Administration.
Re-elected. His tour of the world. In private life, . Pages 500-503

RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES. Birth and education. A lawyer.
In the Union army. Wounded and promoted. A representative in Con-
gress. Three times Governor of Ohio. Elected President. So said the elec-
toral commission. His administration. In private life, . Pages 503-506

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. Birth and youth. Enters public life.
A soldier of the Union. Elected to Congress. Senator of the United
States. President. Assassinated, Pages 506-508

CHESTER ALLAN ARTHUR. Succeeds to the Presidency. Birth and
education. A lawyer. Quartermaster -general. Collector of New
York. Removed by President Hayes. Elected Vice-president. His
administration, . , Pages 508-510

THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 511-516

NOMINATING SPEECHES, 517-528

POLITICAL STATISTICS.

Summary of popular and electoral votes, . . . 529-531

Popular vote of 1880 and 1876, .... 532

Electoral vote of 1880, 533

Presidents and their cabinets, . . . . . 534-538

Public debt of the United States, 538-539

Qualifications of voters, ...... 539

Apportionment of representatives in Congress, . . 540

Aggregate issues of paper money in wars, . . . 540

Population of the United States by races in 1880, . . 541

Citizenship with a total male population in 1880, . 542

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GARFIELD, . . ... . 543-560

INTRODUCTION.

By WILLIAM H. ELAINE.

" The greatest glory of a free-born people
Is to transmit that freedom to their children."

HAVAKD.

PARTIES AND PARTISANS.

FREEDOM is a blessing. In servitude, no race of men
was ever prosperous or happy. Life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness are the guarantees of free government.
If all men are created equal, then these blessings should be
equally guaranteed to all. Certainly, every man, woman,
and child beneath the American flag should be protected in
their enjoyment.

In speaking of freedom, we do not mean license. The
first is the desire and the pride of the good man; the sec-
ond the boast of the bad. It is the just remark of a mod-
ern writer that the coveted liberty of a state of nature
exists only in a state of solitude. In every kind and degree
of union., and intercourse with his species, it is possible that
the liberty of the individual may be augmented by the very
laws which restrain it; because he may gain more from the
limitation of other men's freedom than he suffers from the
diminution of his own. Natural liberty is defined as the
right of common upon a waste; civil liberty is the safe, ex-
clusive, unmolested enjoyment of a cultivated inclosure.

The fourth article of the Constitution declares that " the

2 17

1 8 INTROD UCTION.

United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union
a republican form of government." But there can be no re-
publican government until every citizen of the United
States is protected in every right guaranteed by the Con-
stitution and the laws. American slavery so far, at least,
as its legality is concerned is a thing of the past. It was
destroyed by the civil war, and we have gone through the
form of conferring political privileges upon the freed people;
but have we adequately protected them in the exercise of
these privileges ? Have we placed them in a position to assert
civil and political rights equal to those enjoyed by the domi-
nant race ? Evidently not. It is true that in many localities
the people of color vote, and their votes are honestly returned.
In other localities it is only the form of voting the shadow
without the substance for the ballots of the colored popu-
lation are thrown out of the count, as was discovered at the
South in 1876; and in still other places the colored man is
not permitted to vote at all, unless he deposits the ballot
prepared for him by his employer, or some one equally
posted in public affairs. If we seek to benefit the colored
man, these irregularities should be promptly reformed.

The privilege of engaging in remunerative toil is one of
the blessings of freedom which ought to be highly appre-
ciated in the United States. In this country, wages are
high. They are, and they ought to be, higher than in any
other country of the world. The reason is, that the labor-
ers of this country are the country itself. The vast pro-
portion of those who own the soil cultivate their own acres.
The proprietors are the tillers the laborers. But this is
not all. The citizens of our country are part and parcel of

INTRODUCTION. 19

the government. Such a state of things exists nowhere
else upon the face of the globe.

If we desire to maintain free government, we must
see to it that labor with us is not put in competition
with the ignorant pauper labor of Europe. Our men who
labor have families to maintain, to educate, and fit for the
responsible duties of freemen. They have sons to fit for
the discharge of the manifold duties of life; they have a
responsible and intelligent part to act for themselves and
their connections. And is labor like this to be reduced to a
level with that of the half-fed, half-clothed, ignorant, de-
based, dependent wage-serfs of the great part of Europe?
America must then cease to be free and independent.
Her government must then be taken from the hands of the
people ; for t^ey would be unfit to rule, if reduced to the
condition which free trade would make inevitable. What
would the free traders give us in return for our republican
institutions? But it is scarcely necessary to ask. The re-
sources of all the world are too poor to afford an equivalent
exchange for them. Free trade is inimical to our best de-
velopment, to our independence, and to the very genius of
republicanism. It should be stamped out of all our politics
as a pestiferous heresy.

The predominant interests of our countrymen are involved
in the issue of great and oft-recurring political contests.
These contests are always of prevailing concern, at times
all-absorbing; and the leading intellects of the country, so
long as our institutions shall happily remain free, must be
largely devoted to the discussion of questions pertaining to
the management of the national government. As the coun-

20 INTRODUCTION.

try progresses in extent and increases in population and
wealth, these questions are becoming more varied and
complicated.

The necessity for new measures, and for the enlarged
application of established principles to meet the exigencies
of the times, demand constant action upon the part of those
to whom the people have committed their most sacred affairs,
and the formation of parties assuming antagonistic positions
upon these matters is a necessary result aside from the
inducements to division arising from personal ambition, cu-
pidity, and love of place and power, which are found mixed
up with all human interests. Of such organizations, numer-
ously existing or constantly springing up, the greater part
are indeed of a local nature, or grow out of temporary ex-
citements ; two, however, embrace all the rest, and mainly
divide the commonwealth. These great organizations are
born of different elements, exist by different means and in
a different atmosphere. In every thing of vital concern
their relation by principles, policy, practice, is that of natu-
ral, unavoidable opposition.

That to whose principles, policy, and practice we have
devoted special attention in the following pages, is the real
party of progress and improvement. It commends itself to
the people and is supported by them, not less for its stead-
fast and unyielding loyalty to the nation for its unwaver-
ing support of constitutional and established rights, and its
endeavors to preserve law. liberty, and order inviolate
than for the ameliorating and liberalizing tendency of its
principles and policy. In all that tends to give strength to
the Union, and knit together its various sections by the in-

INTRODUCTION. 21

dissoluble bands of a common interest and affection, the
REPUBLICAN PARTY occupies the advance, and proposes to
maintain it.

Protection to the laborer and the producer, to the merchant,
the manufacturer, and the agriculturist; integrity and econ-
omy in the discharge of official trusts ; the vigilant defense,
as against the world, of national dignity and honor; the ob-
servance of good faith in all our dealings with and treatment
of other nations ; the maintenance of a sound currency ; an
extension of the resources of the country by the construc-
tion of harbors, the improvement of water-ways, and assist-
ance to other means of commerce as the wants of the people
demand ; a vigorous administration of the laws ; the separa-
tion of the seats of justice, by all possible barriers, from
popular impression ; the general promotion of knowledge and
an enlargement of the means of education ; the reservation
of the public lands for the use of actual settlers ; the protec-
tion of every citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and
the products of his own hand and brain, these form an out-
line of the distinctive principles of the Republican party ; by
these and other cognate sentiments and measures it is known
and celebrated, and will be known to the remotest posterity.

It is distinctively the party of the people, and when
the personal rivalries and partisan asperities of the day
shall have been forgotton, and the mellowing hand of time
shall have consigned to the future only the virtues of the
present, the positions, the aims, and the glorious achieve-
ments of the Republican party will stand out like watch-
towers and beacon-lights upon the most elevated points of
history, and be referred to and quoted as monuments to

22 INTRODUCTION.

inspire, as precedents to guide, another race of statesmen
and patriots; and whatever it may now do, the world will
then acknowledge the moral heroism of those who, doubtless
with some defects and some temporary mistakes, withstood
in their day the assault of treason armed and determined,
the tide of corruption, the insidious arts of demagogues,
and the clamors of faction, and taking their stand upon the
platform of the Constitution, defended the honor, the integ-
rity, the very life of their country, from open and secret
assault, and preserved to their countrymen the inestimable
blessings of a free government.

The other great political division is essentially anarchical
in its principles and tendencies. In saying this we would
not be understood as denying to the great body of its
members their claim to sincerity; for the mass of the
people, whatever may be their predilections, and however
erroneous their views, are unquestionably sincere and honest
in their professions. Whatever the pretensions of their
leaders may be, they are practically working to destroy the
prosperity of the country, to corrupt the morals of the
people, to weaken the authority of law, and utterly to change
the primitive elements of the government, precisely as they
worked for these ends twenty-five years ago. Had they the
power, they would yield to the South its once desired Con-
federacy, with all the name implies, provided the South
would receive it. These are grave charges, but they are
substantiated by the record and by living evidence.

There is an unhappy and imperishable part of our na-
tional history which convicts the leaders of this antagonistic
party of a systematic, determined, and long-continued

INTRODUCTION. 23

attempt to dismember and destroy the American Union.
Larger ability for destruction was all they needed to insure
its downfall. Professing an exclusively democratic creed, and
pretending to entertain an earnest desire to advance the
greatest good of the greatest number, every period of the
dominancy of this party in the government was signalized
by wide-spread ruin and distress, as plainly as the smolder-
ing pile and the ravaged field ever marked the course of an
invading army.

A profligate waste of the public treasure ; a general de-
pression in all the various branches of business and enter-
prise; the country without a currency at all equal to its
wants; depreciation of nearly every species of property; a
denial to the people of their only safe means of securing an
adequate market for the products of the soil, cheating hon-
est industry of its rewards; a dishonorable treatment of
public creditors ; a blind obedience to party dictation, in
which the voice of conscience is stifled, and patriotism and
the eternal principles of right and justice thrown aside as
worthless considerations; a corruption of the elective fran-
chise; the civil power defied and the military degraded;
countenance and support to organized revolutionary parties
acting in direct hostility to the laws, and in subversion of
all government ; the basest perfidy toward foreign nations ;
the boldest disregard of the most sacred trusts, these acts
and consequences have attached themselves to and distin-
guished the party which has strangely arrogated to itself the
title of DEMOCRATIC as if democracy consisted not in level-
ing up and preserving, but in reducing all things to an
equality of faithlessness, degradation, and ruin.

24 INTRODUCTION.

Practical errors of individuals or of nations are com-
paratively of little consequence. They are of the present
and may be retrieved. They belong to history, and their
effects become weaker with remoteness in the past. It is
the elements native to the character, the ineradicable prin-
ciples and tendencies, that are of abiding concern. And
these, with the leaders of the Democratic party, appear to
us subversive of all correct principles and thoroughly perni-
cious. The rank and file of the party are led on by delu-
sive cries, they know not well to what; but discerning men
can not fail to see that they are, in different ways, according
to different sections of the country, practically working to
relax the whole spirit of law among us, to disorganize and
change the original frame-work and proportions of our
government, and under the deceptive name of advancement,
descending in a rapid progression to schemes of evil. There
is scarcely any dangerously radical opinion, any specious,
delusive theory upon social, political, or moral points, which
does not in some part of the country find its peculiar ali-
ment and growth among the heterogeneous elements of this
party.

They are not content with sober improvement, but desire
a freedom larger than the Constitution. They have a feel-
ing that the very fact an institution has long existed, makes
it insufficient for the growth of the age for the wonderful
demands of the latter-day ripping up and tearing down. In
a word, revolution with them is progress, and the more
destructive the greater the advance. Whenever the mad-
dened voice of faction or the mercenary designs of party
leaders demand a triumph over established institutions and

INTRODUCTION. 25

rightful authority, they the party rush blindly but exult-
ingly forward, and call it " reform." They have always
shown themselves ready to set aside the most solemn
covenants upon a bare change of majorities. In some sec-
tions of the country they have exhibited :i marked hostility
to useful corporations, even to the crying down institutions
of learning as aristocratic monopolies. They have always
been disposed to make the stability of legislation dependent
upon the dominancy of a party, and to consider the law of
the land v as having no majesty, no authority, no divine force
inherent in itself; as not a great idea enthroned among
men, coeval with Eternal Justice which feeling alone can
keep it from being trampled under foot of the multitude
but as derived from and existing by the uncertain sanction
of the popular will. And in all this they are not merely
loosening the foundations of order and good government, as
they did in the act of secession ; they are paving the way
or would, if they could first, to anarchy ; then to despotism.
Such is the natural tendency of the Confederate notions they
fought for once, and to which they are ready to sacrifice the
country whenever they obtain control of the government.
We are well aware of the serious character of this ar-
raignment; but it is a true bill. The Democratic party
during the past twenty-five years has resorted to the most
desperate trickery that political bankruptcy could suggest
to the cunning of the mountebank, the delusions of the
stock gambler, and conditional promises of empire to the
sworn enemies of the government. Trained in a disci-
pline which regards politics as an arena, not a battle-field,
and dealing with its conflicts as mere prolusions of arms,

26 INTRODUCTION.

and not an honest and serious warfare; bred in a school of
absolute political skepticism, where anything or nothing
may be professed for the time being, to answer the demand
of the hour, they, one and all, leaders and followers, masters
and disciples, demagogues and dupes, regard a political cam-
paign as merely a game of skill and chance, in which the
spoils of office are the highest stake at risk, and when they
are lost, Democratic grief is comfortless.

The great leader of the Democratic party in 1859-60,
interposed no serious objection to an unconditional surren-
der of the government into the hands of the Secessionists,
and our armory, our military chest, and many of our im-
portant defenses, were betrayed to them in a spasm of weak-
ness and treachery beyond the descriptive power of words;
but they were unquestionably devoted to some promised
advantage to the Democratic cause. The situation brought
about by this treason, this surrender to the slave power, was
unparalleled in all history. It bred throughout the country
a political pestilence, temporarily enfeebling to the nation, but
apparently surcharged with vitality for the embittered fol-
lowers of Davis, Vallandigham, Toombs & Co. How is it
possible to brand deep enough the infamy of this act, which
was so full of woe to free institutions, and so imperiling to
the beneficent dominion of constitutional government? It
was the murderous devotion of the results of our first cen-
tury of independence to the fire and sword of faction, the
judgment of traitors, the mercy of spoilsmen. Faction is
the proper term. The Democratic party merged itself into
secession as naturally as ever the purwiggy merged into the
batrachian, and then it found its true level in faction.

INTR OD UCTION. 2 7

Let us explain. A party is an organized union upon the
basis of a principle or a system of principles, and proposes
the good of those it represents. Opposing parties differ in
their principles, and of course in their measures, but agree
in their objects the common weal. A faction confines its
aims and objects within itself; "its be all and its end all"
is self-aggrandizement. Factions, then, are as much the
foes of popular government as parties are its ministers and
defenders. The generous spirit of party, vehement though
it be, invigorates and warms, cherishes and sustains, the
whole fabric of the State. The gnawing tooth of faction
corrodes every prop, and exhausts every spring of public
prosperity. It venerates nothing whose destruction seems
to promise the success of its schemes, and opposes nothing,
however criminal it may be, which bids fair to assist the
realization of its hopes. Little parties operating within nar-
row limits, dealing with small interests, and, of necessity,
somewhat confounding public and personal concerns, are
constantly in danger of sinking into factions; but the dig-
nity, amplitude, and diversity of the elements which make
up the character and the substance, the soul and the body,
of a great national party, had, up to twenty-five years ago,
been supposed to present sufficient obstacles to a general
degradation of its objects and a universal profligacy in its
means and measures. But such general degradation and
universal profligacy, when they once thoroughly obtain in a
powerful party of an empire or a State, augur a lamentable
decay of public virtue in many of the leading minds of a
people, and a coldness of patriotism in its common mass,
which, unchecked, must precipitate its ruin. This is what

28 INTRODUCTION.

they threatened for the Union of these States, when the Dem-
ocratic party, or faction, assumed the position of bottle-
holder for the solid South; and had there been no Repub-
lican party in 1860, to-day there would be no United States
upon the American continent! And we would have had
no one to thank or criticise for its absence but the so-called
Democratic party.

It is of interest to inquire as to what this Democracy
has busied itself in and about since 1860, and what its po-
sition is at the present time. During the civil war, it
exerted its best talents to help the enemies and discourage
the friends of the Union. Its disciples at the North were
the most despicable traitors a country ever harbored spies
in the camp of the Union and at the South they were
destroying the lives of the Nation's defenders, hoping
through their destruction to drain the life-blood of the gov-
ernment. Since the war, they have resolved themselves
into the old factional condition taught by previous experi-
ence ; but having no question of slavery to bank upon, no
Fugitive Slave-law to discuss, no Dred Scott Decision to
celebrate, no Kansas and Nebraska Bill to resolve about,
they have been forced into a mere negative position upon
every question except the protective tariff, upon which their
partisans in the various sections of the country adhere to
every variety and shade of doctrine yet discovered by civ-
ilized man. What the real " democracy " of the question is,
seems quite past finding out.

The great plank of their platform is Democracy in the
Abstract, not embodied in any system of principles, nor yet
shaped into any project of measures, and not even incar-

INTRODUCTION. 29

nate in the form of any man, since the self- withdrawal from
public view of the lamented Tilden. If the factional Democ-
racy has its will, the omnipotence of the "popular element"
will be illustrated and established in the approaching cam-
paign beyond all cavil; for out of nothing it will create
something. The right and the capacity of the people to
choose their own rulers will be vindicated by the extremest
test requiring them to vote for (1), Abstract Democracy;
(2), Abstract Availability; (3), Abstract Spoils. If they
declare this to be their platform, they will prove the po'sses-
sion of more honesty than they have exhibited at any time
in the past quarter century ; for, seriously and truthfully, it
is all they would have to go upon. And they would like
to realize upon this soon as possible !

The American flag is the banner of the Republican party.
By the Republican party has it been preserved, and its
bright stars kept untarnished and undimmed. Through blood
and anguish the Republican party made it, twenty years ago,
the flag of the freedman.

The motto of the Republican party is, " JS Pluribus
Unum" It is theirs by right of conquest. Without their
aid it would have been erased from the great seal. With-
out their prowess and good judgment, it would long ago
have become inapplicable to the great seal, and practically
meaningless to Americans.

Is there a citizen of the United States who does not ap-
preciate the benefits and blessings of our free government?
What is it now as compared with its condition under the
administrations of Pierce and Buchanan? Then it was
weak, timid, anarchical. Now it is strong, self-assured, and

30 INTRODUCTION.

united. From 1852 to 1860 it passed through eight years
of desperate feud and faction, and then, weak, crippled, and
despairing, it was surrendered into the hands of the Repub-
licans. We respectfully request the obliging reader to
peruse the history of our country for the past thirty-two
years, and then decide whether he wishes the control of the
government to remain with the Republican party, or whether
he is willing to turn it over to the political executors of
that faction which disregarded its covenants and mangled
its integrity.

W. H. BLAINE.

ANNOUNCING iTHE RESULT OF THE FOURTH BALLOT.

CALIFORNIA AND MAINE DELEGATES EN ROUTE TO AUGUSTA.

LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES

JAMES G. ELAINE

CHAPTER I.

TYPICAL MEN OF THEIR EPOCHS.

" Great men stand like solitary towers in the city of God, and secret
passages running deep beneath external nature give their thoughts inter-
course with higher intelligences, which strengthens and consoles them,
and of which the laborers on the surface do not even dream."

LONGFELLOW.

r I ^HERE is a curious sentiment of Lavater, that the pro-
JL portion of genius to the vulgar is like one to a million ;
but genius without tyranny, without pretension, that judges
the weak with equity, the superior with humanity, and
equals with justice, is like one to ten millions. We can not
look upon a really great man without advantage to our-
selves. The more we study him, the greater will be our
profit from the observation, from knowledge of his methods,
deeds, and results. For us the man of the epoch is the
living light -fountain, which it is good and pleasant to be
near; the light which enlightens the dark places of the
world and the gloom of human hearts; and this, not as a
kindled lamp only, but rather as a natural luminary, shin-

3 JJ

34 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

ing by the grace of God ; a brilliant light-fountain of native
original insight, of manhood and heroism, in whose radiance
all minds are cheered and ennobled. In the world's records
the names of such are few, but the history of some is inter-
leaved with the annals of those times called " barbaric," and
of the dark ages, and even then they sowed the seeds of
that civilization which has fructified in the liberal enlighten-
ment of the present day.

From the era of the great prophet, who saw in the burn-
ing bush that which the mind of man is powerless to com-
prehend, and whence the first great promise of human
emancipation, mental as well as physical, was received,
down through all the circling years, through the crumbling
of empires and the downfall of States, through the sorrows
of war, pestilence, and cruel wrong, as well as sometimes
through the brief sunlight of triumph and joyfulness, down
to the era of Lincoln, who, for truth and a better manhood,
died, not alone for his country, but for the holy cause of
liberty to the world, there have lived men in every age
who have stamped its achievements and its laws with the
indelible impress of their genius. With them success has
followed upon the heels of every effort ; steadfast well-
doing has brought them renown and the highest favor ; and
their names are enrolled upon the register of the centuries
in a form as imperishable as history. Their deeds are sub-
stantially the history of the time in which they lived cer-
tainly the most instructive part of it. How much interest
would the history of the eighth century elicit from the
reader of to-day, were the achievements of Charlemagne
that master-mind who laid the first solid foundation for a

TYPICAL MEN OF THEIR EPOCHS. 35

permanent system of Christian government and institu-
tions omitted from its details?

He was the author of many of the laws and the ardent
promoter of the best elements of civilization. Succeeding
to an empire torn by intestine feuds, he checked its turbu-
lence with vigor and address, compelled the recognition of
national law, inspired a wide circuit of Europe with a com-
mon interest and common objects, and led men to pursue
these interests and maintain these objects with collective
counsel as well as with united resources and efforts. He
founded the original of all royal societies and academies,
and was the first to combine in one military monarchy a
feudal nobility, a somewhat free commons, and a kind of
constitutional assembly of States. He is justly regarded as
the father of the modern policy of Europe, and has claims
which are universally acknowledged to the regard and vener-
ation of the ages which have benefited from his doings and
his life. The world dates a new era from his wise and be-
neficent reign. Insensibly it may be, but surely, his spirit
pervades the thoughts and politics of all modern nations,
teaching them, by precept and example which can not be
too highly esteemed, how best to pursue the gradual paths
of an aspiring change.

The American student of men possesses a higher arche-
type of nobility for his imitation than any of those em-
balmed in ancient story. It was our good fortune to begin
the active life of this government under the guidance of
Washington a man whose highest point of honor was loy-
alty to his country and his God; whose judgment was
ripened by the most arduous experience in the struggle for

36 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

independence ; whose intelligence was comprehensive and
admirably adapted to the exigencies of his administration.
Every word of high encomium yet applied to man belongs
to him, for in his eyes duty was the law of every correct
life ; duty, the upholding principle through which the weak-
est become strong ; without which all strength is unstable
as water. He believed that the conviction of duty implies
the soundest reason, the strongest obligation of which our
nature is susceptible, and while " he stood firm before the
thunder, he yet worshiped the still small voice." Duty is
the prompting of conscience. Washington was a conscien-
tious man, and his intelligence directed conceptions of duty
to heroic deeds. The auspicious occasion assisted him, but
any occasion for the exercise of heroism would have proved
equally auspicious. Patriotism, nobility, and soldiership are
all synonyms of duty, and these qualities culminated in his
life. He was the man of the eighteenth century, as was
Charlemagne of the eighth not so much by force of his
genius, as by his purity and trustworthiness. He was faith-
ful in small things as well as in great. Every talent con-
ferred upon him was put to the best possible use. He fol-
lowed the dictates of conscience, whichever way they led.
" Honest, truthful, diligent," were the insignia of his creed.
His best products, as are those of all deliberate men, were
happy and sanctifying thoughts, which, when once formed
and put in practice, are capable of extending their fertilizing
influence for thousands of years, and from generation to gen-
eration. But the life of Washington has been so often writ-
ten that it is unnecessary in this place to refer to it further
than to point out the thorough conscientiousness, the self-

TYPICAL MEN OF THEIR EPOCHS. 37

sacrificing spirit, the purity of motive with which he entered
upon and carried out to completion the liberation and inde-
pendence of his country. No man could be more pure, no
man more self-denying. In victory he was self-controlled ;
in defeat, unshaken. Throughout he was magnanimous and
pure. In his life it is difficult to learn which to admire
most ardently, the nobility of his character, the firmness
of his patriotism, or the purity of his conduct ; but the com-
bination made him a man of divine temper, and "take him
for all in all," it is not to be expected that we shall look
upon his like again.

Lincoln was of another, but not less heroic mold. His
greatness was morally gigantic and unexplainable.

"Ev'n to the dullest peasant standing by,
Who fasten'd still on him a wondering eye,
He seem'd the master-spirit of the land."

He was incomparable, and his character and achievements
more difficult of analysis than those of any American in
history. The great charms of the man were his honesty,
geniality, and faithfulness, and these, thank God ! will always
remain the pre-eminent charms of poor humanity ; but we
must not forget that Lincoln encountered obstacles, assumed
duties, and conquered impediments which were entirely new
to every American citizen previous to his time. Difficulties
and calamities sharpened his apprehension, and called into
activity all the faculties of his powerful intellect. His mind
was brightest in disaster most alert under defeat. It is
thought probable that Madame de Maintenon would never
have mounted a throne had not her cradle been rocked in a
prison. So with hundreds who have risen to greatness.

461443

38 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

There was needed something in their path to surmount be-
fore they could rise to the gaze of the world. Difficulties
are a mere stimulus to men like Lincoln, supplying the disci-
pline which greatly assists their onward and upward course.
He, like thousands of great men before him, was a disciple
of Plato, but, perhaps, unconsciously so ; at any rate, he fol-
lowed the advice of that wonderful philosopher, " Let men
of all ranks, whether they are successful or unsuccessful,
whether they triumph or not, let them do their duty and
rest satisfied." But the qualities of the man most difficult
of analysis were those which compelled the admiration and
respect of the civilized world; which conquered the preju-
dices of political opponents, and commanded the love of all
who knew him personally. Said a Virginian, who had
called upon him at the prompting of idle curiosity : " I be-
lieve he is the greatest man in the world. When I went
there I expected to find a fellow to make fun of, but I 'm
the one to laugh at. He knows more about my State than
I do, and I was born in Old Virginia, and thought I knew
all about her. When I told him I was a Democrat, he
smiled and said some of his best friends were troubled with
the same disease, but he supposed they could n't help it.
After it had run its course he thought they would come out
all right, if they lived. We had a hearty laugh, and he asked
me to call whenever I came to Washington. I tell you, if
all radicals were like him, I 'd be one myself."

This incident appears simple in the reading, but it illus-
trates the power of Lincoln over every mind with which
he came in contact. And this is the power no one has
yet attempted to analyze, although some observers call it

TYPICAL MEN OF THEIR EPOCHS. 39

" personal magnetism," and seem content without explana-
tion. It was possessed in a large degree by Henry Clay,
and attracted the people toward him like the obedient steel
which turns "forever to the pole. Garfield had the same
power in a degree which remains a wonder to his friends ;
and Elaine is endowed with it beyond precedent or example.
It is the magnetism if that is the proper term of intel-
lectual supremacy; the regality of mind which is apparent
to the world, but of which the possessor is unconscious;
which can not result from instruction, but is self-creative,
and springs up under every disadvantage. It works its sol-
itary but irresistible way through all obstacles, while nature
seems to delight in disappointing the assiduities of art, with
which it would rear dullness to maturity ; and to glory in the
vigor and luxuriance of her chance productions. She scat-
ters the seeds of genius to the winds, and though some may
perish among the stony places of the world, and some may
be choked by the thorns and brambles of early adversity,
yet others will now and then strike root even in the clefts
of the rock, struggle bravely up into the sunshine, and
spread over their sterile birthplace all the beauties of vege-
tation. Although genius may be conscious of its advan-
tages, in minds like those referred to it is rarely aware
of superiority to associate minds; and its achievements
which others celebrate are frequently but its ordinary per-
formances.

Charlemagne was born for the glory of his country;
Washington, Jefferson, Clay, Webster, Lincoln, Grant, Gar-
field, and Blaine for the glory of theirs. These names are
used to typify the qualities of mind and heart we are cele-

40 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

brating ; not to distinguish them above all others who have
lived; for hundreds who have blessed the world are equally
deserving of praise. One of these great names is just now
in the mouths of all the people, and it brings " smooth com-
fort" to such a multitude, that we shall devote to the his-
tory and qualities of its honored bearer several of the suc-
ceeding chapters of this work.

JAMES GILLESP1E ELAINE. 41

CHAPTBR II.

JAMES GILLESPIE ELAINE.

"He is a noble gentleman ; withal
Happy in 's endeavors ; the general voice
Sounds him for courtesy, behavior, language,
And every fair demeanor an example.
Titles of honor add not to his worth,
Who is himself an honor to his title." FORD.

JAMES GILLESPIE ELAINE, Republican nominee for
President of the United States, at the Chicago Conven-
tion, June 6, 1884, was born January 31, 1830, in Union
Township, Washington County, Pennsylvania.

His boyhood years were spent in Washington County,
where many reminiscences of the lad are now extant, and
where the elderly gossips have suddenly awakened to an
appreciation of his early cleverness. The country awak-
ened to an appreciation of his great abilities near twenty
years ago.

A word about his ancestors. His great-grandfather,
Ephraim Elaine, was an officer in the war of the Revolution,
and was with Washington at Valley Forge, with the thinly
clad and inadequately fed patriots who were encamped
there in the winter of 1777-78, the details of whose experi-
ence upon this occasion furnish one of the most pathetic
records of the struggle for independence. To the arduous
labors and cool judgment of Colonel Elaine as commissary-

42 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

general is attributed in a great measure the preservation of
the American forces during the most trying emergency our
patriot forefathers were compelled to encounter.

The father of the subject of this chapter, Ephraim L.
Elaine, was one of the leading men in his county, a magis-
trate of great influence, and well deserving the title, " a
gentleman of the old school." Liberal, hospitable, full of
that genial sociability which is so prominently developed in
his elder son, his home was the gathering point for all the
choice spirits of the neighborhood, where the feast of
reason was not infrequently followed by a banquet of more
substantial quality. His reputation for open-hearted gener-
osity was well-founded, and so fully illustrated in his life
that in a few years he became a poor man, but his good
name never suffered from the reverse. His old friends and
neighbors speak of his integrity with veneration, and cele-
brate many instances of true Spartan honesty which were
characteristic of his life.

The maiden name of Mr. Elaine's mother was Gillespie.
She was of Celtic parentage and a Catholic, but she united
her fortunes with those of Ephraim Elaine, a Presbyterian,
and found a congenial match. She was a lady of great in-
telligence, commanding beauty and quick observation, and to
her sterling qualities of head and heart is James G. Elaine
indebted for the early training which laid the foundation for
his life work.

Father and mother are now lying at rest in the church-
yard near their old home, where a monument erected by
their distinguished son marks the place of their earthly
repose.

JAMES G1LLESP1E BLAISE. 43

The early training of young Blaine was supplemented by
the village school, where he developed great aptness of
memory and. a decided taste for history and mathematics.
These were sure indications at this early age of the practi-
cal mind which has since estimated occasions and results
with so much accuracy, and upon whose wonderful reten-
tiveness'many of the sharpest repartees ever made in the
houses of the American Congress hinged and balanced.

An old friend of the family at West Brownsville relates
the following anecdote : At the close of a school term, when
Blaine was a mere lad of nine or ten years, he among others
was called upon for a declamation, or, as it was called, to
" speak a piece." He pleaded lack of preparation ; but the
teacher replied that he must stand up and repeat something,
no matter what. Arising from his seat, he declaimed, with
wonderful gestures and astounding emphasis, the Apostles'
Creed, which he remembered from hearing it repeated a few
times by a school-mate. It answered the emergency.

Many stories are told of his aptness, his combative tend-
encies, his early habits of industry, his youthful friendships
and enmities, all of which are miniatures of the qualities
which now shine with so much brilliancy in the developed
man, whose honest, ardent nature never fails to make
friends of those who can appreciate it, and probably ene-
mies of those who can not.

He left the elementary school to attend an academical
institution at Lancaster, Ohio, where he prepared for college.
Here, in the family of his uncle, Hon. Thomas Ewing, then
Secretary of the United States Treasury, he enjoyed every
advantage for social and literary advancement, and improved

44 LIFE AND SER VICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

them to the utmost. His preparatory course was finished
in two years, and then he returned to Pennsylvania and
entered Washington College, whence he graduated in 1847.

Mr. Gow, a Pennsylvania editor, who was one of Elaine's
classmates, has this to say about his school-days : " Elaine
graduated in the class of '47, when he was only seventeen
years old. I graduated in the same class. We were
thrown a great deal together, not only in school but in
society. He was a great favorite in the best social circles
in the town. He was not noted as a leader in his class.
He could learn his lessons too easily. He had the most re-
markable memory of any boy in school, and could commit
and retain his lessons without difficulty. He never demon-
strated in his youth, except by his own wonderful memory,
any of the great powers as a debater and thinker that he
has since given evidence of." It is not always easy for a
youth of seventeen to pass unerring judgment upon the
capabilities of a comrade in school. The official record says
that he graduated at the head of his class.

It is said that upon leaving college he besought the influ-
ence of Hon. Thomas Ewing to procure him an appointment
to some federal office; but the old statesman discouraged
this scheme, and advised him to seek a living in a more
independent occupation. He adopted teaching, and in this
choice we note the similarity between the early bent of his
mind and the minds of such men as Webster, Wright, Clay,
Garfield, and a host of great workers in the vineyard of
humanity. It is the most exclusively intellectual employ-
ment known to man, and peculiarly attractive to those who
desire distinction in mental work.

JAMES GILLESPIE ELAINE. 45

He secured a professorship in the Western Military In-
stitute, at Georgetown, Kentucky, where he remained two
years, and was eminently successful as a teacher. During
this time he applied himself diligently to the study of the
law in hours which did not belong to the duties of his reg-
ular employment, and to such good purpose that at the end
of the period he was admitted to the bar ; but he has never
been a practicing attorney. In the fine logic of many of his
forensic efforts the effect of his legal reading is apparent to
the critical observer.

While at Georgetown he became acquainted with Miss
Stanwood, a New England lady of distinguished family, and
married her. Soon thereafter he removed to Maine, where
an engagement in journalism was open for his acceptance.
He assumed control of the Kennebec Journal, an old paper
of respectable antecedents, but with a limited income. It
proved insufficient for the comfortable support of those de-
pendent upon it, and Mr. Elaine transferred his services to
the Portland Advertiser. But it was not long before he re-
turned to Augusta, where he has continued to live for near
twenty-five years.

As a journalist he made a brilliant reputation. He knew
the wants of newspaper readers, and administered to them
intelligently and promptly. His editorials were not lengthy,
but they were clear, crisp, and pointed, expressing ideas in
a way to please and convince, without offense, but still in
that positive, uncompromising tone that brooks no half-way
measures. A great many editors who write what they
mean, do not impress the public with the idea that they
really mean it, and thus their editorials have no effect. A

46 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

sincere and positive writer opens his heart with his pen and
makes dissimulation and doubt impossible. No one who has
read his editorials or his speeches will doubt that Mr. Elaine
is a very sincere and a remarkably positive man. He has
always declared his convictions without fear or favor, with
becoming modesty, but at the same time with the genuine
courage of the true reformer. Evidently, he long ago agreed
with Mrs. Browning, that

"There's too much abstract willing, purposing,
In this poor world. We talk by aggregates
And think by systems, and, being used to face
Our evils in statistics, are inclined
To cap them with unreal remedies
Drawn out in haste on the other side the slate."

No man who does not scorn hypocrisy and pretense can
write or speak as he does. No man who lacks the absolute-
ness of honesty in his inmost soul can write or speak as he
does. No man living writes or speaks with more directness
or effect than James G. Blaine.

The step from journalism to politics was natural and
easy. In 1858 he first came before the people as a candi-
date for their suffrages, and he was elected as a representa-
tive to the Legislature of Maine by a handsome majority.
In 1860 his fellow-members elected him Speaker of the
House, and it was while in this position that his fame began
its most rapid growth. With great assiduity he perfected
his knowledge of parliamentary law, and his rulings were in-
variably prompt and correct. So much ability did he dis-
play in this position that his constituents prevailed upon him
to make the race for Congress, and in 1862 he was elected
to the National House of Representatives by a majority of

JAMES GILLESPIE ELAINE. 47

3,422. For the six terms to which he was subsequently
elected he received the following majorities :

1864 .". 4,328

1866 6,591

1868 3,346

1870 2,320

1872 3,568

1874 2,830

He was three times chosen Speaker of the House, and
served six years in that capacity, from March 4, 1869, to
March 4, 1875. He received the nomination for the Speak-
ership upon each occasion, in the Republican caucus, by ac-
clamation an honor not enjoyed by any other candidate for
the Speakership before nor since and he never had a de-
cision reversed or overruled by the House during the entire
time of his holding that onerous and difficult office. He
presided with dignity and impartiality, and commanded the
respect of members of both political parties.

He was appointed Senator July 8, 1876, to fill the va-
cancy caused by the resignation of Lot M. Morrill to be-
come Secretary of the Treasury, and he was elected Senator
January 16, 1877, both for the long and short terms, by
the unanimous vote of the Republicans in the Maine Legis-
lature, both in caucus and in their respective Houses. He
was made Secretary of State March 4, 1881, by President
Garfield, and held that office until December 12, 1881, when
he was succeeded by F. T. Frelinghuysen. Mr. Elaine's
public life began in January, 1858; it closed temporarily at
the end of 1881, being a period of twenty-four years. It
was continuous. He was promoted by the people from one
place to another, and he never got before the people that he was

48 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

not elected. His defeats have been confined to two National
Conventions of his own party, in both of which he was the
undoubted choice of a majority of the delegates from the
Republican States. The politicians have beaten him twice,
but the people never.

Fresh in the memory of every one is the fight, hard and
heroic, of Elaine's supporters, who sought his nomination at
the Cincinnati Convention, of June 6, 1876. Three hundred
and seventy-nine votes for Hayes, three hundred and fifty-
one for Elaine, and twenty-three for Bristow, stood the sev-
enth ballot. Again in 1880, he renewed his candidacy, and
was successful in defeating the third-term movement, and
largely instrumental in bringing about the nomination of
Mr. Garfield, whose cabinet he entered in March, 1881, as
Secretary of State. His career since then is too familiar to
need recital. His personal appearance is altogether striking.
A rugged mien, a face furrowed with strongly marked lines
surrounding the mouth, and other features, bespeak will-
power indomitable, and firmness unswerving. Sparse, closely
cut hair, and full, frosty beard betray the approach of life's
autumn. A youthful elasticity of movement, however,
seems to belie the years written to his account in a tell-
tale Congressional record. His height is nearly six feet, his
frame almost colossal. His attire is altogether appropriate
to a carriage too manly to admit of any slouchiness, even
in apparel. Neither mind nor body is lacking in muscle
and sinew. Face and form alike convey an impression of
vigor and resolution.

It is, however, in a certain psychological influence over
Ms fellow-men that Mr. Elaine is most conspicuously dis-

JAMES GILLESPIE ELAINE.

tinguished from his companions in high political life. His
power flows from his mind and enters the minds of others.
Men call it magnetism. He gives off to those with whom he
associates and receives from them the electrical currents of
sympathy and fraternity. Men are drawn to him. They
follow him by preference, and sway to the movements of
his will. To no other of the present political leaders in
our republic do men look with so much enthusiasm as to
the magnetic Elaine.

The following table exhibits Mr. Elaine's vote in the
Cincinnati Convention of 1876, and in the Chicago Conven-
tion of 1880, by States. It is specially valuable for refer-
ence at this time:

STATES.

1876

1880

STATES.

1876

1880

Alabama

17
11
6
6
2
6
8
14
35

1
12

3
6

8
10
26
22
6
1
2
14
7

21
4

Nebraska

6
6
10
16
17

Arkansas

Nevada

New Hampshire, ....

7
12
9

Colorado

Connecticut .......

Delaware

North Carolina.

Florida.

Ohio

9
6
23

6
2

Georgia

6
30
2
7
6
1

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

22
10

South Carolina .....

Kansas

Tennessee

Kentucky

Texas .

Louisiana,

14
14
16
5

Vermont

Maine

Virginia ........

14
6
16
14

3
8
7

284

Maryland

Vv^est Virginia

Massachusetts

Wisconsin

Michigan

Territories

Minnesota .

Total

Mississippi

351

Missouri,

Following are the details of the ballots taken upon his
nomination at Chicago, June 6, 1884, in the most convenient
form for easy reference :

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

FIRST BALLOT.

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

Arthur...

Elaine....

Edmunds

Sherman

Hawley...

Lincoln..

W. T.

Sherman

I 9

Massachusetts

Michigan ........-

S 9

NBW Jersey

^few York

Ohio

Rhode Island,

South Carolina,

Tennessee

Texas

Virginia

District of Columbia, ....

Utah

Totals

820

278

334J

Whole number of votes cast, 818.

CHESTER A. ARTHUR.

GEN. JOHN A. LOGAN.

GEORGE F. EDMUNDS.

JAMES G. ELAINE.

CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION.
Republican Convention, Chicago, 1884.

JAMES GILLESPIE ELAINE.

SECOND BALLOT.

STATES AND TEKKITORIES.

a
o

Arthur ...

Elaine....

Edmunds

Sherman

Hawley ..

Lincoln..

%*
a>

20
14
16
6
12
6
8
24
44
30
26
18
26
16
12
16
28
26
14
18
32
10
6
8
18
72
22
46
6
60
8
18
24
26
8
24
12
22

17
3

2
11
16
6

Arkansas,

Colorado,

Connecticut,

Delaware,

1
7
24
1
9

2
17
9

4
3
4

1
17
10
2

17
16
11

21
6

Florida,

Illinois,

3
18
26
13
5
4
12
12
1
15
7
1
7
8
6

9
28
3
23
6
47

7
13

12
11
2
2
1

Indiana,

Iowa,

Kansas

2
2
2

. .

Kentucky

24
5
6

Michigan,

Minnesota,

Nebraska,

Nevada,

New Hampshire,

3
6
12

1
1

New York

North Carolina,

Ohio

Oregon

1
8

South Carolina,

Tennessee .

1
2

Texas,

AVest Virginia

District of Columbia

1
?

Idaho,

Utah . .

Total vote

820

276

349

Whole number of votes cast, 818.

LIFE AND SERVICES OF BLAINE AND LOGAN.

THIRD BALLOT.

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

No.Votes

Arthur....

Blaine

Edmunds

Sherman

Hawley...

Lincoln...

W. T.
Sherman

20
14
16
6
12
6
8
24

17
3

2
11
16
6

Alabama,

7
24

5
1

Delaware,

Florida,
Georgia,

Illinois,

44
30
6

1
10

18
fi

18
26
16
12

16
9

15
6
4
I 9

2
2

16
28
26
14
18
32
10
6
8
18
72
22
46
6
GO
8
18
24
26
8
24

4
3
4
2

lo-
ll

1
32

16
17
11

12
1

18
7
1
12
10
6

11
28
4
25
6
50

7
14

24
3
5

Ohjo

1
8

Tennessee,

Texas,

Virginia,

West Virginia,

22
f)

2
2

1
1

Idaho,

Montana,

Wyoming,

Totals,

820 274

3751 69j 53

Whole number of votes cast, 819.

ROBERT T. LINCOLN.

GEN. WILLIAM T. SHERMAN.

GEN. JOSEPH R. HAWLEY

JOHN SHERMAN.

CANDIDATES FOR PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION.
Republican Convention, Chicago, 1884.

JAMES GILLESPIE ELAINE.

FOURTH BALLOT.

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

No. Votes.

Arthur....

Blalne

Edmunds

Hawley. .

'Lincoln ..

Alabama

*>o

I 9

California

Colorado

I 9

1?,

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana . ........

Iowa

9 6

Kansas .... .

Kentucky

9 6

Louisiana

Maine

I 9

Maryland

Michigan

9 6

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri ...............

Nebraska^

Nevada

New Hampshire ...........

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

I 9

Ohio,

Oregon

Pennsylvania ...........

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

I 9

Texas

9 6

Vermont .

~\ e >

"Wisconsin

Arizona,

Dakota

Idaho

Montana,

Utah, . .'

^Vashino'ton

Total,

8 9

207

541

Whole number of votes cast, 813.

54 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

The nomination was promptly made unanimous amid great
enthusiasm.

Thus have we faintly outlined Mr. Elaine from his youth
up to his nomination for the highest earthly honor, glancing
only at the salient points of his history until we get him
fairly before the reader, and purposely reserving details for
those more intimate interviews which are to follow.

THE REPUBLICAN LEADER. 55

CHAPTKR III.

THE REPUBLICAN LEADER.

" A brave captain is as a root, out of which, as branches, the cour-
age of his soldiers doth spring." SIDNEY.

leader of leaders, James G. Elaine," exclaimed

A Ingersoll, in 1876. It seemed a startling announcement
then ; but now every body acknowledges, and nearly every
body appreciates, its appropriateness. He has been a leader
of leaders from the moment he stepped out as the vanguard
of the Republican party, more than ten years ago, and it is
a position he will not be apt to surrender soon ; at least,
such is the public hope. The people understand what his
leadership means. They know that it means, when the
necessary power is secured, justice to every human being
under the American flag, to be asserted peaceably if we can,
forcibly if we must.

It means due protection to every American interest,
whether agricultural, commercial, mechanical, social, or legal ;
not for revenue only, but for the commonwealth.

It means national preservation, let the cost be what it
may ; and arrays itself in opposition to such " entertain-
ments" as have recently been popular in Copiah County,
Mississippi.

It means the policy of Garfield, revivified and animated
by the combativeness and vim of Elaine.

What could be more comprehensive and desirable ?

56 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

But the reader will say that the policy of Garfield was
the Elaine policy from the beginning. Steady, good friend !
It was the Elaine policy expressis verbis, but not always in
action. To be, is one thing ; to act, another. Shakspeare
declares that " strong reasons make strong actions ;" but
there are too many exceptions for mere proof of the rule.
Had he lived, Garfield would have given us an administra-
tion with plenty of himself and a goodly sprinkling of
Elaine in it, and therefore such an administration as it
would be difficult to improve upon; but circumstances have
changed since Garfield's decease. There was never more
positive need of a strong government in the United States
than at the present time. If the object of fighting the
South in the late civil war was the preservation of the
Union in its original integrity, it failed of some portion of
its attempt, and therefore a good part of the point must be
gained under the reign of peace. But it must be a strong
reign, by a hand that can not falter in the right, guided by
a cool and determined head.

It must protect the ballot, wherever it is and by who-
ever cast whether it is a Republican ballot, a Democratic
ballot, or a ballot under some other name. Whatever the
ballot is, if legally cast, it must be made free to* every free-
man, without regard to partisanship, color, or previous con-
dition; whether it is cast at the North or the South, the
East or the West. This is not only Republican doctrine
under the truest and brightest light of Republicanism, but
American doctrine under the most ordinary construction of
Republican rights and privileges. The Republican party is
the only organization, however, that honestly attempts to

THE REPUBLICAN LEADER. 57

sustain and defend it; and unless it is so sustained and de-
fended, it will cease to be, and the party will cease to be at
the same juncture.

It is believed that the Republican party has still a long
lease of life, and that its mission has only just begun. For
twenty-five years its history has been filled with brilliant
achievements, and during this period its annals contain, sub-
stantially, the history of the country. In the early years
of its existence it sowed some dragon's teeth, at which a few
of its weak members were affrighted; but when they sprang
up armed men, as at ancient Thebes, and fought the illustri-
ous battle of freedom in triumph, the down-trodden of all
the world greeted the party as a new Emmanuel, and prayed
that its good right arm might be extended for them day and
night until the emancipation of man became universal. It
was the party of freemen, in the noblest sense of the designa-
tion. And what does this imply? The essence of all re-
ligion that was and that will be, says Carlyle, is to make
men free. Who is it that in this life-pilgrimage will conse-
crate himself, at all hazards, to obey the higher law and its
servants, and to disobey the devil and his? With pious
valor this free man walks through the roaring tumults invin-
cibly, the way whither he is bound. To him in the waste
Saharas, through the grim solitudes peopled by galvanized
corpses and doleful creatures of rebellion, there is a lode-
star ; and his path, whatever that of others be, is towards
the Eternal. Such a man is well worth consulting, well
worth taking the vote about matters temporal ; in fact,
the only kind of man worth considering in an age of
great deeds.

58 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Such a man was Lincoln; such was Garfield ; and, "in
full and rounded measure," such is Elaine. To the calm
judgment of Lincoln and the stern honesty of Garfield, he
adds an intelligence which is illuminated by the effulgence
of reason, and this he reflects upon all surroundings in life
and deed. And he has courage sufficient for any emergency;
not that courage which consists in blindly overlooking dan-
ger, but in confronting it face to face, and conquering it at
all risks. He dares do "all that may become a man," but
he does not believe in sneezing every time a foreign poten-
tate takes snuff ! He has been called the Henry Clay of his
party, and this is a title of peculiar honor; but he is in a
striking degree a combination of Clay, Webster, and Seward.
To the brilliancy of the first he adds the prescience of the
second and the liberality of the third, and he crowns all
with something still nobler true Christian manhood. From
the ranks has he fought his way up to the exalted position
of leadership. To him the contest has been what the Italian
campaigns were to Napoleon the foundation of, and prep-
aration for, his eventual supremacy. The enemies of the
government look upon the impending election with the ex-
pectation that it will decide whether the Union is to be
preserved complete and impregnable, or whether it is to be
surrendered to the dominion of the solid South ; and under
this view of the situation no one should be surprised at
their objections to the candidacy of Elaine. He is at least
as strong as that abstract Democracy whose platform is
simply an invoice of negatives, and whose great idol of free
trade seems to have "fallen with its face to the ground,"
like Dagon in the house of the Philistines; and the foot-

THE REPUBLICAN LEADER. 59

prints of the pilgrims to its altar are all reversed, as if in
hasty flight.

This is the. book of the generation of free trade in the
I United States: The South disliked the North in the days
of slavery, and was jealous of the prosperity of our manu-
facturers. For the purpose of getting even with these
manufacturers, and at the same time adding some strength
to the tenure of the " patriarchal institution," they op-
posed a tariff for protection, in the hope that they would
be enabled to bring our labor into close competition with
that of Europe, which would reduce our toilers to the con-
dition of serfs; and then the Northern States would be-
come the home of slavery as abject as that under the black
"institution" in the sunny clime. But since slavery in the
South has been abolished, manufactures have sprung into
existence there, and the natural resources of that section are
bringing opulence to free labor. In those localities where
the best progress has been made, the friends of a protective
tariff are increasing rapidly, and the day may not be very far
distant when the Southland will send up a plea for protection
to her industries, quite as eloquent, fully as logical, and doubt-
less in every point as convincing, as was ever any similar pe-
tition from New England or Pennsylvania. Free trade in the
United States is the enemy of free labor. It tends to rob
enterprise of its spirit and vigor; to a declaration of de-
pendence upon Great Britain. We are not just ready to go
under the colonial yoke again, and it is to be hoped we will
be slow in getting ready.

Mr. Elaine feels less interest in the inhabitants of foreign
countries than in our own people. This is one reason why

60 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

he believes in protection to home industry. He is strong in
the view that our own markets should be first enjoyed by
our manufacturers, farmers, and merchants, who pay taxes
to sustain the institutions which protect them ; and then, if
there is a demand for the products of the foreigner, let him
come and sell under such regulations as subject him to a
due proportion of the tax. What is more reasonable than
an arrangement like this ? It is not desirable, we presume,
to tax our citizens for something we would grant free to
aliens. He believes we are a Nation, as contradistinguished
from a confederation, and entitled to rank with the great
nations of the earth. A few individuals profess to believe
that there is danger in this sentiment, and that its assertion
will embroil us with foreign powers. Whether dangerous or
not, he would be a poor apology for an American who would
not assert and maintain it against all comers. He would
lack manly dignity and forfeit every claim to respect. Be-
sides all this, Mr. Elaine is opposed to permitting foreign
governments to gain any additional foot-hold upon this con-
tinent. He prefers to have them keep their enterprises,
their little schemes of empire, and their pauper labor away
from our shores ; but if they have any good, industrious,
honest laborers to spare, he is ready to promise them cheap
lands for homes, or steady work at fair wages in mechanical
or agricultural employment. We fail to discover any thing
to criticise in views like these. If the foreigner encroaches
upon our heritage, and attempts to possess any part of it, he
should be smitten hip and thigh, as Samson smote the
Philistines; and it would be a poor specimen of American
patriot who would not join in the disturbance.

JAMES G1LLESPIE ELAINE. 61

There are no apologies to make for Mr. Elaine. He
stands at the head of the party of the Nation ; the party
of the Peoplej the party of Progress; of Enlightenment;
of Civil and Religious Liberty; of Equal Rights to all
who claim the protection of the American flag ; and if any
one ever proved his title clear to the leadership of such a
party, James G. Elaine is the man. He is the man of the
Nation, of the People, of Progress, and of all those mas-
terly qualities which recommend his party to the public re-
gard. He commands the respect and veneration of every
true Republican in the same degree that Henry Clay ex-
cited these sentiments in the breast of every true Whig, by
the magetism of his great, sympathetic heart, which beats
in unison with the patriotic impulses of his powerful brain.
He is not only a representative Republican, but a represen-
tative American ; not only a representative statesman, but a
representative Man. Nobody with native sense has the
least idea of calling him the candidate of " availability."
He was nominated by the people months before the Chicago
convention assembled. That convention did little more than
ratify the people's choice, and make a platform which re-
sponds to the people's faith. And now that he is to be our
President, let his own words declare the sentiments which
animate his patriotism and dictate his statesmanship upon
those questions in which he is supposed to feel the strong-
est interest. We quote the concluding lines of the first
volume of his " Twenty Years in Congress : "

"This brief history of the spirit rather than the events
which characterized the foreign relations of the United
States during the civil war, has been undertaken with no

62 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

desire to revive the feelings of burning indignation which
they provoked, or to prolong the discussion of the angry
questions to which they gave rise. The relations of nations
are not and should not be governed by sentiment. The interest
and ambition of States, like those of men, will disturb the
moral sense and incline to one side or the other the strict
balance of impartial justice. New days bring new issues,
and old passions are unsafe counselors. Twenty years
have gone by. England has paid the cost of her mistake.
The Republic of Mexico has seen the fame and the fortunes
of the emperors who sought her conquest sink suddenly
as into the pits which they themselves had digged for their
victims and the Republic of the United States has come
out of her long and bitter struggle so strong that never
again will she afford the temptation or the opportunity of
unfriendly governments to strike at her National life. Let
the past be the past, but let it be the past with all the in-
struction and the warning of its experience.

"The future safety of these continents rests upon the
strength and maintenance of the Union, for had dissolution
been possible, events have shown with what small regard
the interests or the honor of either of the belligerents would
have been treated. It has been taught to the smaller re-
publics that if this strength be shattered, they will be the
spoil of foreign arms and the dependent provinces again of
foreign monarchs. When this contest was over, the day of
immaturity had past, and the United States stood before the
world a great and permanent Power. That Power can
afford to bury all resentments. Tranquil at home, devel-
oping its inexhaustible resources with a rapidity and sue-

THE REPUBLICAN LEADER. 63

cess unknown in history, bound in sincere friendship, and
beyond the possibility of hostile rivalry with the other re-
publics of the continents, standing midway between Asia
and Europe, a power on the Pacific as well as on the
Atlantic, with no temptation to intermeddle in the ques-
tions which disturb the Old World, the Republic of the
United States desires to live in amicable relation with all
peoples, demanding only the abstinence of foreign intervention
in the development of that policy which her political creed,
her territorial extent, and the close and cordial neighbor-
hood of kindred governments, have made the essential rule
of her national life."

So long as other nations behave themselves, we propose
to treat them right; when they misbehave, they may ex-
pect us to chastise them more in sorrow than in anger,
perhaps, but in a way they will not forget.

A few Republicans have conceived the idea that this is to
be a defensive campaign, and they are fortifying accordingly.
But they may as well come out of the entrenchments at
once, and drive the foe from the field. There is nothing to
defend in either candidate or platform, but probably some-
thing to gain by a prompt assault upon the opposing ranks.
Democrats have no fresh powder to burn in their attacks
upon Elaine, and all the old campaign bombs were exploded
long ago, without hurting any one but their compounders.
While we are referring to this part of the subject, however,
a voluntary tribute from Mr. Elaine's former pastor, who
knew him intimately for ten years (1872-82), may be sub-
mitted to the reader. His name is J. H. Ecob, and he re-
sides now at Albany, New York. Following are his words :

64 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

"I have been very near to Mr. Elaine, not only in the
most trying political crises, but in the sharper trial of great
grief in the household, and have never yet detected a false
note. I would not be understood as avowing too much for
human nature, but I mean that as I have known him he has
stood loyally by his convictions; that his word has always
had back of it a clean purpose, and that purpose has always
been worthy of the highest manhood. In his house he was
always the soul of geniality and good heart; there was
always summer in that house, whatever the Maine winter
might be without, and not only his rich neighbors and kins-
men welcomed him home, but a long line of the poor hailed
the return of that family as a special providence. In the
Church he is honored and beloved. The good old New Eng-
land custom of Church-going, with all the guests, is en-
forced strictly in the Elaine household. Whoever is under
his roof, from the President down, is expected to be with
the family at Church. Fair weather or foul, those pews
were always well filled. Not only his presence, but his in-
fluence, his wise counsels, and his purse are freely devoted
to the interests of the noble old South Church of Augusta.
The hold which Mr. Elaine has maintained upon the hearts
of such great numbers of his countrymen, is not sufficiently
explained by brilliant gifts or magnetism; the secret lies in
his generous, manly, Christian character. Those who have
known him best are not surprised that his friends all
over the country have been determined that he should se-
cure the highest honor within their gift. It is because they
believe in him. The office has sought the man, the political
papers to the contrary notwithstanding."

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 6 5

CHAPTER IV.

THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.

' ' The nobly born are not the only noble ;
There is a line more royal, more majestic,
Than is the sceptred line of mighty crowns ;
An ancestry so bright with glorious names
That he who truly feels himself akin to such,
May stand before the throne, noble
Amidst the noblest, kingly amid kings.
He that inherits Honor, Virtue, Truth,
Springs from a lineage next to the divine,
For these were heirs of God; and we, their heirs,
Prove nearest God when we stand next to them.
Man heir to these is rich, and wealth may bow
To greatness it can cherish, not create." SWAIN.

THE CONVENTION.

I^HE Eighth National Convention of the Republican party
assembled at Chicago on Tuesday, 3d June, 1884. Its
place of assemblage was the large hall of the beautiful Ex-
position Building, which is of extraordinary dimensions and
admirably adapted to auch a meeting. Some of the most
graphic writers upon the press of Chicago supply us the sub-
joined description of the hall and the scenes of opening.

" The elliptical area of the hall in which the delegates
assembled, the lofty walls and the rising of the tiers of seats
resemble somewhat the ancient Coliseum in the days of its
glory; but in another respect it was like the Flavian reser-

66 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

voir on which the great amphitheater was built. It was a
reservoir yesterday, and then a modern Coliseum. It was a
reservoir into which there began to trickle through little
leaks, as it were, from the great human flood that surged
outside. The leaks grew into rivulets, and these into streams
and torrents as the swollen waters of a river first push rills
through the levees, and then, growing in dimensions, carry
all before them.

"And then the reservoir became a Coliseum. The hu-
man tides flowed in till all the spaces were black with people.
These people covered the level floor ; they surged up and
occupied the elevated seats ; they swarmed far up into the
high galleries, and even thronged what seemed like little
dove cotes above the eaves beneath the roof. By and by the
surge of the tides ceased, and there was peace.

"The interior of the hall is imposing as to dimensions,
fairly good as to proportions, variegated as to color, and in-
artistic as to effects. There are the blue of the rafters and
the ceiling of the roof; the dull red of the arches ; the
brown of the barricades ; and staring prominently from every-
where the red, white, and blue of flag, shield, and banner.
There is no blending of the various dyes with which the in-
terior is decorated. Moral harmony amidst such intrusive
accessories will be heroic.

"In time, after the citizens had taken their places, the
doors of the arena opened wide, and the gladiators marched
in. They were shimmering with decorations, which were
resplendent with all the colors of Iris. The crowd recognized
its favorites, and gave them plaudits as did the Romans their
renowned athletes. The first who attracted attention, and

REP UBLICAN NO Ml N A TIONS. 6 7

who got a hand from the spectators, was a short, slender
man in black, who jauntily swung a soft felt hat in his hands
as he tripped along. His hair is down to his shoulders, his
face open and smiling, his shirt-front expansive beyond the
requirements of the temperature or the fashion. He is the
ogre of Democratic Virginia Mahone. He is so light, airy,
insouciant, so delicate as to waist and slender as to foot and
hand that no stranger would recognize in him the famous
leader of the cohorts of readjustment. There were others who
were recognized, but the fates were hostile to an entry full of
dignity and in which the heroes were individually conspicuous.
The procession was hustled in. There was no opportunity for
a loftiness of carriage or dignity of personal bearing. All of
these were lost in the jam. The contingent from the Em-
pire State was intensely respectable as to appearance, noted
men all of them, but were so thrust about and intertwisted
that they were scarcely to be recognized as differing from
the delegates from a Territory or the Far-West States. In
time all had ranged themselves beneath the banners of their
respective States, and the convention of 1884 was called to
order.

" Whether afflicted by the inharmonious colors, or the
east wind, or the profundity of their own reflections, the
auditory did not seem inspirited. Possibly the formalities
of the opening were too commonplace for them, too dull to
excite their interest. The great masses beyond the lobbies
had little to say. They evidently were waiting for the real
battle to begin. They understood nothing of the preliminary
disposition of troops, and did not comprehend that the out-
come of a combat may often be settled before a blow is

68 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

struck. Clayton and Lynch did not interest them. They
did not suspect that there was maneuvering for position.

" But there was a lobby that seemed to possess vitality
and lungs. When a delegate voted for Lynch the lobby was
exhilarated ; when somebody else announced that he cast his
ballot for Clayton, the lobby was jubilant. Taking Lynch
as the keynote, there was a psean of triumph ; starting at
the sounding of the pitch of Clayton, a massive chorus took
up the theme, and roared it till the blue rafters thrilled with
the clamor.

" There was a noticeable level, a dead sort of a plane of
faces with nothing to distinguish one of them from another.
The display seen from the front was that of a floor paved
with heads. One could see no bodies, no hair, only the up-
turned faces, creating the grotesque impression that the level
was covered with dissevered heads. From out these there
occasionally shot up a noticeable figure. George W. Curtis,
of New York, reared himself to the height of a chair, as a
tribune from which to speak. Then there came into view a
man of medium stature, square as to back and shoulders,
gray, bushy side-whiskers, smooth upper lip, a face as if of
wrinkled parchment, and features suggestive of a combina-
tion of the lineaments of Wendell Phillips and William H.
Seward. His gray- white hair is worn short behind his ears,
and nicely banged and parted in the middle on his forehead.
He speaks not ungracefully, with great self-possession, and
in a voice which has some of the tremolo which comes from
overuse.

"Ajiother figure that came into view for a brief second
was that of a substantial delegate, who rose, said "Lynch,"

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS. 69

and seated himself in a flash. The face and head are mas-
sive, filled out by a full beard and unimpaired headgear of
nature's own make. The face is calm, modest, self-reliant,
and indicative in its composure of limitless reserves of
strength. Such is the pilot, Robert Smalls, of South Caro-
lina, whose gallant achievements during the war have given
him a world-wide renown.

"Out of the mass rose, betimes, Illinois's old citizen,
William Pitt Kellogg. He has grown gray; his organs of
ideality and veneration are denuded of their hirsute cover-
ing, and in all he resembles the grandfather of himself as
in the troublous days of reconstruction his prow entered the
political waters of Louisiana. Pinchback, tall, stately, and
swart, responded to the imperative conjuration of Lynch or
Clayton. General Carr, of Illinois, rotund, huge-voiced,
genially bald, and mustached, came up from the mass of
heads, and was cheered for his effort. Taft, of South Caro-
lina, rose up and held the audience for a brief minute with
an impassioned utterance. Young Roosevelt, of New York,
stood for a moment on a chair, and one saw a young man
of less than medium size, with eye-glasses, reddish as to
hair and complexion, determined in the cut of features,
awkward but forcible as to speech and gesture, and who re-
ceived a round of applause for his appearance. Horr, of
Michigan, small, spectacled, white of hair, a purplish-gray of
face, smooth-shaven, gentle and deprecatory as to voice and
manner, made himself heard for a moment, and obtained a
cheer for his effort. When he voted he was rapturously
applauded by his admirers, and seated himself as if he were
satisfied that all were serene.

70 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

"W. Walter Phelps, of New Jersey, said 'Clayton,' when
he was called on for an opinion and a vote. He is small, in-
telligent in expression, quick in motion, and retiring in ap-
pearance. He was greeted with a substantial cheer as he
took his seat. When Mahone rose to his feet and responded
'Lynch,' there appeared to be born a great joy among some
of the spectators and delegates. Many rose to their feet
and threw up their hats and cheered again and again, as if
the millennium had now truly come, and the dapper little
gentleman were the one who had brought it. He bore his
honors well, and smiled, bowed, and waved his thanks as
gracefully as if he were Irving himself responding to a final
call before the curtain on the last night of a successful engage-
ment. Flanagan, of Texas, was duly recognized, and so was
the voting for Clayton by some of the colored delegates
from Mr. Flanagan's State.

"Lynch is a small man, about as dark as a Frenchman,
and lighter than a Spaniard. He has square shoulders, an
oval face, a good forehead, large, dark, handsome eyes, a
coal-black mustache and chin whiskers. He has a clear
voice which reaches well out through the vast audience. He
gestures little, speaks without hesitation, and it may be said
to his credit and that of his race, that, as an orator, he
ranks below no man who at the first day's session addressed
the convention."

The following pencil sketch of the scenes at the opening
is furnished by another Chicago journalist :

" The crowd that filled the house numbered between six
thousand and seven thousand persons, about seven hundred
being females. It was sad to see the number of unoccupied

REP VBLICAN NOMINA T10NS. 7 1

seats in the lower end of the building, and remember the
crowds of people outside who would have made almost any
kind of a sacrifice for them. The only people in the vast
throng who were not alert were the delegates. They came
straggling along in all sorts of order, some alone and some
in squads of six and eight. The New York men came in
en masse, and were handsome and fair to look upon. They
were all fine-looking fellows, well dressecl, and polished, and
almost every man was shod in new, French calf, low-cut
shoes. They carried themselves like so many Stalwarts,
and their very bearing was Oriental. As a rule, they were
serious, taciturn, and the far-away look in some of their
eyes did not portend the greatest assurance of success.
The leader was Mr. George William Curtis, with his handsome
white whiskers and blue-edged handkerchief, daintily per-
fumed with sweet-pea. He had on his arm Theodore Roose-
velt, who bowed right and left to delegates and newspaper men.
"The Georgia delegates were modest and so shy that
they came in softly, sat down quietly, folded their hands,
and looked as demure as though preparing for some relig-
ious exercise of a solemn character.

" Three black-eyed, broad-shouldered Missourians came
next, and by the time they had found comfortable quarters
all the Ohio men appeared, some with toothpicks, some with
rolls of papers, and not a few gloved, and as trim and
spruce as so many cadets. The Nevada men were as bald
as some of their own mountain-tops ; the California folks
looked well-fed and well-to-do; the Connecticut men were
nearly all dyspeptics; the Arizonians all strange; while the
familiarity of the Iowa men was equally remarkable.

72 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

"Any one could tell that the Virginia fellows had
been in some kind of mischief the night before, for they
came in with eyes downcast and saw nobody till they were
seated.

"The Illinois folk did not arrive till after twelve o'clock.
They looked plump and rosy, and as one of the men had a
bit of strawberry shortcake on his chin, it was the inference
that they had luncned first.

" Senator Mahone with a fan in his hand, his lip in his
mouth, and a buttercup in his lapel, lead the van. This del-
egation moved the house to plaudits, which the senator
acknowledged with a low bow and gracious smile.

" The Rhode Islanders, almost as small as their State,
came in behind the Massachusetts people, and about that
time Governor Oglesby, white, smiling, and serene, came in
through the press door and went upon the stage, where he
was seated in the front row.

"Miss Phoebe Couzins led the way for her distin-
guished-looking father, who was trying very hard to see
somebody over his left shoulder.

"As the musicians in Hand's orchestra struck up a
march there was a general tnrning of heads, and really the
rudeness was pardonable, for the picture was magnificent.
There was a perfect sea of faces; faces belonging to beauti-
ful women and intellectual men; the house was flooded with
light ; gay little fans swayed to and fro wafting the perfume
from a thousand fragrant flowers that ornamented corsage
and lapel.

"There were no women on the main floor, which was re-
served for the delegates. There were two noticeable fea-

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS. 73

tures about this great body of men ; they were all as quiet
and as bald as so many babies. The boxes on either side
of the house were reserved for guests. The most distin-
guished ones, however, had been assigned to chairs back of
the stage.

" There was a little storm of excitement among the
leaders when Senator Sabin appeared on the platform and
began to rearrange the floral design that some one had
placed on the chairman's table. The fair creatures mistook
him for Senator Logan, and his heavy black mustache, pale
face, and bright eyes became the topic of conversation. A
search was then made for Mrs. Logan, who was not found.

" The entrance of Powell Clayton was a signal for ap-
plause. He wore a glossy, well-fitting coat, and his empty
sleeve won the hearts of the women instantly. His face
was almost as pale as his white mustache and heavy
goatee.

" The female portion of the audience was restless long
before the chairman was elected, and doubtless many were
disappointed. One young woman wanted to see "the dark
horse." Another nearly blinded herself with a poor opera-
glass looking for Elaine. She had found, as she thought,
Arthur, Conkling, and Mayor Harrison, and, although she
carried a photograph of the ex-Secretary of State, had failed
in finding the original up to two o'clock.

" A box full of ladies ' got hungry as bears,' although
they had been masticating caramels and chocolate creams
for an hour or more. They agreed to draw lots to see who
should go out for some sandwiches. The politician of the
group lost, and, collecting some forty cents, went off 'to

74 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

the Crawford for some nice tongue sandwiches/ but, like the
Three Fishermen, she never came back any more.

" Girls with tally-sheets and gold pencils grew weary of
waiting, and some of them nibbled off the corners of the
pasteboard for want of something better. The inconsist-
ency of woman was shown in the galleries, where ladies for
Elaine wore Arthur badges, because, as one said, ' They
were so sweet, and would do for patch-work.'

"When at last the roll-call was over and John R. Lynch,
of Mississippi, was declared elected chairman of the Re-
publican Convention they clapped their little gloves together
and prepared to be interested, but great was the dismay in
the west boxes when he was found to be ' not white.'

" Mr. Lynch is a slender man of the average height,
with narrow shoulders, long head, and high forehead. Be-
sides being an easy, graceful, and terse speaker, he is a man
of fine executive ability, intolerant of the slightest disorder,
but with all his decisiveness and persistency he is amiable,
firm, and patient. That Senator Clayton felt his defeat
keenly was evident, for as he passed the writer, escorting
Lynch to the chair, his face was deathly pale, his hand
trembled, and the tremor in his lip was perceptible from be-
neath his heavy mustache. As he returned from the ros-
trum after the address of Lynch he was greeted by scores
of friends. Governor Oglesby and ex-Governor Beveridge
reached over the stage gallery to shake hands with him,
and even Norman Williams patted him on the back, and told
him to be of good cheer."

At twenty-five minutes past twelve, noon, Senator
Dwight M. Sabin, of Minnesota, chairman of the National

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS. 75

Republican Committee, rapped with his gavel upon the desk
from which the nomination of James A. Garfield was
announced four years ago. When comparative quiet was
gained, he addressed the assemblage as follows :

" Gentlemen of the Eighth Republican National Convention :
The hour having arrived appointed for the meeting of this
convention it will now be opened with prayer by the Rev.
Mr. Bristol."

At the conclusion of the prayer, Secretary Martin, of
the National Committee, read the formal call for the Con-
vention. Then Chairman Sabin addressed the delegates in
the following eloquent words :

" Gentlemen of the Convention : On behalf of the Na-
tional Republican Committee permit me to welcome you to
Chicago. As chairman of that committee, it is both my
duty and pleasure to call you to order as a National Repub-
lican Convention. This city, already known as the City of
Conventions, is amongst the most cherished of all the spots
of our country, sacred to the memories of a Republican. It
is the birthplace of Republican victory. On these fields of
labor gathered the early fathers of our political faith and
planned the great battle for the preservation of the Union.
[Applause.] Here they cho^e that immortal chief that led
us on to victory Abraham Lincoln. [Cheers.] Here were
gathered in council those gifted men who secured the fruits
of that long struggle by elevating to the first place in the
Nation the foremost chieftain of that great contest General
Grant. [Cheers.] Here was afterwards witnessed that
signal triumph which anticipated the wish of the Nation by
nominating as color-bearer of the party that honored

76 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

soldier, that shining citizen, that representative American,
James A. Garfield. [Long continued cheers.] Every de-
liberation of Republican forces on this historic ground has
been followed by signal success. [Applause.] And every
contest planned on this spot has carried forward our line
of battle until to-day our banners overlook every position of
the enemy.

" Indeed, so secure now is the integrity of the Union, so
firmly embodied in the Constitution and laws of the land
are the safeguards of individual liberty, so fairly and fully
achieved is the past, that by general consent the time has
now arrived for new dispositions of the party forces in con-
templation of new lines of operation.

" Having compassed the defeat of our opponents on all
former occasions, the party is about to set its house in
order and take counsel as to the direction and management
of its future course. In the comparative lull of party
strife which distinguishes the present condition of National
politics, there is observable an increasing disposition to look
after the men who are to execute and the methods that are
to guide them in the execution of the powers committed to
them for the management of the affairs of the Republic.

"As the result of a rule adopted in the last National Con-
vention this convention finds itself constituted by a large
majority of gentlemen who have been clothed with delegated
powers by conventions in their several congressional districts.
On this consideration may be grounded a hope that the
voice of the people [applause] will, beyond recent precedent,
be felt in molding the work you are summoned to perform,
so that its results may be such as to win the unhesitating

REP US LIC AN NOMINA TIONS. 7 7

and undeviating support of every lover of those principles
by which the party has heretofore triumphed and yet will
triumph. [Applause.]

"When we consider the memories of the past, so inti-
mately connected with this city, and even with this edifice,
which the people of Chicago have so generously placed at
your disposal, when we reflect upon the deep-seated concern
among all people in the result of your deliberations, and the
various incentives to the abandonment of personal ambitions
in the interest of the party welfare, you can not wonder
that the committee, and beyond it the great Republican
masses, extend you a most hearty welcome to this scene of
labor, in the confident hope that your efforts will result in
such an exposition of Republican doctrine and disclose such
a just appreciation of Republican men in the choice of your
nominees as to rejoice the hearts of your constituents and
keep victory on the side of our ever victorious banners." [Ap-
plause.]

There was a spirited contest over the election of tem-
porary chairman of the convention. Chairman Sabin pro-
posed as the nominee of the National Committee, Hon.
Powell Clayton, of Arkansas. Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, of
Massachusetts, placed in nomination Hon. John R. Lynch,
of Mississippi. This was in contravention of the precedents
of forty-four years, during all of which time it has been the
custom for the National Committee to name the temporary
chairman of conventions. It led to extended debate, which
was characterized by considerable eloquence, but no exhibi-
tions of bad temper. Upon a call of the roll it was found
that of eight hundred and eighteen votes cast, Hon. John R.

78 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Lynch received four hundred and thirty-one; Hon. Powell
Clayton three hundred and eighty-seven.

THE CHAIRMAN. Mr. John R. Lynch having received a
majority of the votes of this convention is declared the
nominee.

GEN. CLAYTON. Mr. Chairman, I move to make the elec-
tion of Mr. Lynch unanimous.

The motion was carried.

THE CHAIRMAN. John R. Lynch is declared the tempo-
rary chairman of this convention. The chair will appoint as
a committee to escort Mr. Lynch to the platform Gen. Powell
Clayton, of Arkansas, Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts,
and Mr. Taft, of South Carolina. The gentlemen will please
wait upon Mr. Lynch to the platform.

The committee escorted Mr. Lynch to the platform amid
great applause.

THE CHAIRMAN. Gentlemen of the convention, I have the
honor and the great pleasure to present to you as tempo-
rary chairman of this convention the Hon. John R. Lynch,
of Mississippi. [Applause.]

Mr. Lynch on assuming the chair addressed the conven-
tion as follows :

" Gentlemen of the Convention : I feel that I ought not to
say that I thank you for the distinguished honor which you
have conferred upon me, for I do not. Nevertheless, from
a standpoint that no patriot should fail to respond to his
country's call, and that no loyal member of his party should
fail to comply with the demands of his party, I yield with
reluctance to your decision, and assume the duties of the
position to which you have assigned me. [Applause.]

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS 79

Every member of this convention who approached me upon
this subject within the last few hours knows that this posi-
tion was neither expected nor desired by me. If, therefore,
there is any such thing as a man having honors thrust upon
him, you have an exemplification of it in this instance. [Ap-
plause.]

" I wish to say, gentlemen, that I came to this conven-
tion not so much for the purpose of securing the defeat of
any man or the success of any man, but for the purpose of
contributing to the extent of my vote and my influence to
make Republican success in November next an assured fact.
[Applause.] I hope and believe that the assembled wisdom
of the Republican party of this Nation, through its chosen
representatives in this hall, will so shape our policy and will
present such candidates before the American people as will
make that victory beyond the shadow of a doubt. [Ap-
plause.]

" I wish to say, so far as the different candidates for the
presidential nomination are concerned, that I do not wish
any gentleman to feel that my election by your votes is in-
dicative of any thing relative to the preference of one can-
didate over another. [Applause.] I am prepared, and I
hope that every member of this convention is prepared, to
return to his home with an unmistakable determination to
give the candidates of this convention a loyal and hearty
support, whoever they may be. [Applause.] Gentlemen
of the convention, I am satisfied in* my own mind that
when we go before the people of this country our action
will be ratified, because the great heart of the American
people will never consent for any political party to gain the

80 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

ascendency in this government whose chief reliance for
that support is a fraudulent ballot and violence at the polls.
[Applause.] I am satisfied that the people of this country
are too loyal ever to allow a man to be inaugurated Presi-
dent of the United States whose title to the position may
be brought forth in fraud and whose garments may be sat-
urated with the innocent blood of hundreds of his country-
men. [Applause and cheers.] I am satisfied that the
American people will ratify our action, because they will
never consent to a revenue system in this government
otherwise than that which will not only raise the necessary
revenue for its support, but will also be sufficient to protect
every American citizen in this country. [Applause.]

" Gentlemen, not for myself, but perhaps in obedience to
custom, I thank you for the honor you have conferred upon
me." [Applause.]

The further proceedings of the first day's session were
wholly routine, consisting of the appointment of honorary
officers, the arrangement of the various committees, discus-
sion of rules and the introduction of some unimportant reso-
lutions. By some friends of other candidates, the election
of Lynch to the temporary chairmanship was construed as
inimical to Elaine, but it had no such significance, as the
subsequent proceedings proved. Unless considered discour-
teous to the National Committee, the selection was probably
as good as could have been made.

REP UBLICAN NOMINA T10NS. 8 1

CHAPTER V.

THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.

"If I am asked who is the greatest man, I answer the best; and if I
am required to say who is the best, I reply, he that has deserved most
of his fellow-creatures." SIR WILLIAM JONES.

THE CONVENTION CONTINUED.

A CORRESPONDENT kindly furnishes the following
general view of the second day's proceedings:

" There was something in the atmosphere of the hall at
the beginning of the second day's session quite different
from that of the opening day. There was a suggestion of
eagerness and expectancy in the faces of all. The audience
was charged as if with a sort of moral or mental electricity.
The contact of negative and positive points was incessant,
and gave out sparks which, while not always seen were
felt. There was a charged battery, of which the delegates
were the chemical components, \which made its currents felt,
now in tingling anticipation, now in shocks which permeated
the entire audience. As if in expectation of something un-
usual there had been some more flags added, with the result
to still more confuse the eye with multifarious hues, and
to add still more incompatible details to the inharmoni-
ous whole.

" There were more ladies in the boxes, the galleries, and
on the sloping stage. There was a gorgeous bouquet on the

82 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

chairman's desk, one both fragrant and sightly, and by the
side of which the complexion of the swarthy occupant be-
came imbued with a yellow tinge. The opening prayer
was quite as eloquent as the day before, although not so
clear an exposition of the political situation. The crowd
around the press-table was, as before, three reporters to
each seat, with one-third of the seats vacant, and held for
some one who did not come.

" The usual cargo of resolutions arrived, and its charac-
ter was duly announced in detail by the patient chairman
and partly listened to by the impatient audience. An
amendment to the Constitution of the United States seems
to be in the nature of a catholicon for all evils, or at least
is so regarded by innumerable people. By and by there
came a resolution which, unlike all its predecessors, attracted
some attention. Mr. Hawkins, of Tennessee, was the gen-
tleman who secured the first general hearing for a resolu-
tion. It was the same as that of Conkling four years ago,
pledging the delegates to support the nominations. Hawkins
is rather a fine-looking man. Tall, with a long, flowing,
light-brown beard; well-formed, and broad of chest, clad in
a tight-fitting black frock-coat, as is ever the fashion in the
South, he presented a rather imposing appearance, as he
stood upon a chair and argued his resolution.

" Mr. Knight, of California, favored the resolution in a
vehement address. He was effective as a speaker; he is
broad, solid, with a good head, a brown mustache above
gleaming teeth, and a voice full of feeling, and far-reaching.
Conspicuous from his size and the intensity of his utter-
ances, he secured silence and universal attention. When

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS. 83

with long, swinging gestures he hurled a defiance at the
"editors of newspapers," or "great weekly periodicals,"
there was the first electric shock poured through the audi-
ence, and all eyes were at once turned on the seats of the
New York delegation. Curtis was on his feet at this allu-
sion, and for the first time seemed to have lost his profound
indifference. His gray eyes were flashing angrily, his
fingers were clinching in his palm and opening nervously,
and he presented the appearance of an enraged tiger-cat
about to spring on some intruder. When the gentleman
from California had finished, the editor of a "great weekly
periodical " gained the altitude of the seat of his chair and
turned his back to the audience so as to face the delegates.
He was evidently a trifle angry ; his voice was deep and
hoarse, the expression on his face intense, and the light in
his eyes was a blue, steely incandescence. He spoke at his
best. The intensity of his feelings was transferred to his
words, and the effect was like a series of electric shocks.
When he sat down the roof echoed again and again the
roars of his admirers.

" There is something kaleidoscopic about Curtis. The
day before, his face seemed made up of features taken
from Wendell Phillips and William H. Seward. Yesterday
he had lost these, and one could readily detect in his coun-
tenance a mixture of Gladstone and James Russell Lowell.
Does he shadow forth these men according to the mood in
which he happens to be ? It may even be possible that in
the eyes of the gentleman from California, who called him to
his feet, the editor of a "great weekly periodical" may pre-
sent the gleaming and suggestive features of a Catiline.

84 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

" Mr. Lynch laid down his gavel, and his place was taken
by Henderson. The audience saw, as the latter was being
escorted to his place, a tall, slender gentleman, whose figure,
close-clipped beard and mustache, and compact head, remind
one of General Sherman. He is fairly tonsured by nature on
the crown of his head possibly an unintended but never-
theless apropos species of consecration for the duties of the
high position to which he has been elevated by the conven-
tion. His face is rather a finished one ; there have been left
no rugged prominences or undue protuberances ; there is a
suggestion of energy in the countenance, but nothing of rude
strength or grinding friction. He commenced to read his
address in a voice which was hoarse from a cold or embarrass-
ment. Those in the vicinity listened politely for a few mo-
ments, but finding that they could hear only an occasional
fraction of a sentence they gave their attention to something
else, and resolved to get the remarks from the newspapers.
The speaker took a sip or two of water, and his voice im-
proved. It extended further and further from the desk, and
soon reached far into the black mass that rolled on beyond
the delegates. And now, suddenly, those who had resolved to
wait and read his speech in the morning papers found them-
selves listening. He began to speak of the men whom the
convention had for a choice of candidates. He spoke of
what Vermont had to offer, and there was a fair wave of
enthusiasm that swept over the audience in the shape of
cheers and waving of hankerchiefs. Illinois was mentioned,
and the services of her " favorite son " on the battle-field
and in official life were hinted at, and the response from the
delegations was emphatic in one or two localities, but did not

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 8 5

make any excursions outside of the barricade among the
people. New York was gracefully mentioned as one of the
States which is. in a position to furnish what the convention
and the party need to win the coming battle. And then the
uproar began. Portions of the delegates cheered vocifer-
ously, and here and there from out the distant masses there
came roars of approval. And then in choice and elegant
language he brought up Maine, and eulogized the gift to the
Nation which that State is prepared to make.

" In a second a majority of the delegates, the long blocks
of people to the right and left, to the rear, and from gallery
to gallery, and from pit to dome, were on their feet, and the
grand structure rocked with the thunders of the cheers !
The air was white and black with waving hankerchiefs and
flying hats. It was a veritable thunder-storm of enthusiasm.
It rolled from horizon to horizon of the hall, it roared up the
cloud-banks of people to the zenith of the roof, and as it died
away it was taken up and again and again repeated till it
seemed as if the storm were without end ! What was most
apparent in this tumultuous outburst was, that it was with-
out the slightest premonition. It came as unexpectedly as
a flash of lightning sometimes does out of a clear sky. It
was spontaneous and unpremeditated as is the fall of a stone
to the earth when its support is withdrawn. One instant,
the vast audience had possibly not even the thought of
Blaine in its minds, and the next it was wild with an en-
thusiasm which even those who were most affected could
not wholly explain.

" The speaker closed his address, after the repeated and
long drawn-out enthusiasm of the people would permit him

86 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

to resume, by an allusion to what was within the reach of
Ohio in the person of one who is distinguished as a patriot,
and the greatest of living soldiers, and who might be avail-
able in case the demand of the States for a leader should
fall upon Ohio. There was considerable hurrahing over this
allusion to the warrior member of the Sherman family, but
nothing so enthusiastic as over the proffered gift of Maine.
How far the compliments of the chairman to General Sher-
man were intended as a civility to a great captain, and how
far as an attempt to familiarize the people with the name of
a possible candidate is something which was not precisely in
the address.

" The two episodes referred to rescued the morning hour
from any thing like stagnation. The attempt to make the
delegates agree to bind themselves to sustain the nomina-
tion, whoever it might be, found an indignant opponent in
Curtis, who asserted that he was a free man and needed no
chains to bind his honor. He denounced the intended move-
ment as an insult to every member of the convention, and
did it so effectively that he carried the sympathies of the
delegates and the audience with him, and placed himself in
the very front of the speakers who have thus far obtained a
hearing. The Elaine episode shows the inflammable nature
of the people ; one moment the vast assembly-room was of a
twilight obscurity, and the next it was blazing in every por-
tion of its space. To kindle them, as in the case of certain
matches, it is only necessary to scratch them on the proper
chemical surface. In the present case, the Maine chemical
composition seems to have been the one needed to secure the
ignition of the masses.

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS. 87

"At night the convention was slow in assembling, and
still slower in coming to order after the hall was filled.
Despite the thunder-storm and the pouring rain, every seat
was taken, the women turning out in immense force.
The gaslights and the gay colors of the lady visitors were
exhilarating, the audience was cheerful, and there were fond
anticipations of an evening of sensational enjoyment. The
square jaws and resolute mouth of young Roosevelt were
detected in close proximity to the ear of the chairman;
Curtis was surrounded in one of the aisles by a mysterious
crowd of half a dozen ; the gigantic Ex-Congressman Donnan,
of Iowa, was seen to be engaged in whispered interviews
with some members of the press, from all of which acute
observers were led to conclude that the prospects were ex-
cellent for a lively evening session.

" Matthews, of the Illinois contingent, caught the eye
of the chairman, and sent up a resolution that 500 addi-
tional entrance-tickets be printed for the use of veteran
soldiers who might be in the city. The mover then pro-
ceeded to describe the condition of the veterans who had
come here from all parts of the Union to witness the pro-
ceedings of the assemblage. When assured that a ticket for
every seat in the hall had been sold, Mr. Matthews movingly
implored that the travel-worn veterans be permitted to occupy
a seat here and there when the regular owner was absent,
and the remainder of the time they could lie about the porti-
coes on the outside of the building. Somehow the delegates
did not take kindly to the movement. There was a sarcastic
motion that the distribution of the additional tickets be given
to the Illinois delegation, whereat there was much laughter.

88 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

" The debate over the resolution drew out several speak-
ers, but none were friendly save a venerable colored dele-
gate from Florida, Mr. Lee, who beamed benevolently over
the great audience through enormous spectacles, and mag-
nanimously proposed, as there are no veterans from his
State, the tickets due the delegation should be given to
some State which has veterans of its own."

The routine proceedings previous to the permanent or-
ganization were not important, except to those immediately
interested. They consisted in the introduction of miscella-
neous resolutions and much desultory discussion. General
John B. Henderson, of Missouri, was selected as permanent
president, and Hon. Charles W. Clisbee, of Michigan, as
permanent secretary. The regulation number of vice-presi-
dents and honorary secretaries were also reported. Upon as-
suming the chair, President Henderson addressed the conven-
tion as follows :

" Gentlemen of the Convention : We have assembled on
this occasion to survey the past history of the party, to re-
joice as we may because of the good it has done, to correct
its errors, if errors there be, to discover, if possible, the
wants of the present, and with patriotic firmness provide for
the future. Gentlemen, our past history is the Union pre-
served, slavery abolished, and its former victims equally
and honorably by our sides in this convention ; the public
faith maintained, unbounded credit at home and abroad; a
currency convertible into coin, and the pulses of industry
throbbing with renewed health and vigor in every section
of a prosperous and peaceful country. These are the fruits
of triumphs over adverse policies gained in the military and

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS. 89

civil conflicts of the last twenty-four years. Out of these
conflicts has come a race of heroes and statesmen challeng-
ing confidence ajid love at home and respect and admiration
abroad.

"And when we now come to select a standard-bearer
for the approaching contest, our embarrassment is not in the
want but in the multiplicity of presidential material. New
York has her true and tried statesman [applause], upon
whose administration the fierce and even unfriendly light
of public scrutiny has been turned, and the universal ver-
dict is: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."
[Cheers.] Vermont has her great statesman, whose mind
is as clear as the crystal springs of his native State, and
whose virtue is as firm as its granite hills. [Applause.]
Ohio can come with a name whose history is but the his-
tory of the Republican party. [Applause.] Illinois can
come with a man who never failed in the discharge of pub-
lic duty [cheers], whether in counsel-chamber or upon fields
of battle. [Cheers.] Maine has her favorite, whose splen-
did abilities and personal qualities have endeared him to the
hearts of his friends, and the brilliancy of whose genius
challenges the admiration of mankind. [Cheers and waving
of handkerchiefs for several minutes.] Connecticut and In-
diana also come with names scarcely less illustrious than any
of these. [Applause.] And now, gentlemen, in conclusion,
if because of personal disagreements amongst us, or the
emergencies of the occasion, another name is sought, there
yet remains that grand old hero of Kenesaw Mountain and
Atlanta. [Applause.] When patriotism calls, he can not,
if he would, be silent; but grasping that banner, to him so

90 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

dear, which he has already borne in triumph upon many a
bloody field, he would march to a civic victory no less re-
nowned than those of war.

" Gentlemen, I thank you for this distinguished mark of
your confidence, and will discharge the duties imposed at
least with impartiality." [Applause.]

In the course of the proceedings the following pream-
ble and resolution were introduced by Mr. Johnston, a dele-
gate from California :

" In behalf of those who represent the great and fundamental
industry of our country, we demand that agriculture shall have a
special representative in the President's cabinet ; therefore, be it

" Resolved, That the commissioner of agriculture be made
cabinet officer."

THE CHAIRMAN. The resolution will go to the Committee
on Resolutions, of course.

The convention adjourned at an early hour, but the
larger portion of the delegates and spectators remained to
listen to stirring and patriotic speeches from Governor
Oglesby, of Illinois, and Congressman Horr, of Michigan.

R EP UBL1CAN NOMINA TIONS. 9 1

CHAPTER VI.

THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.

" Men are never so likely to settle a question rightly as when they
discuss it freely." MACATJLAY.

THE CONVENTION CONTINUED.

THERE was an idea abroad that the nominating speeches
would be made at the morning session of Thursday,
June 5th, and therefore every seat in the vast hall was
filled at an early hour. But the anticipations of the im-
mense assemblage were disappointed. Routine proceedings
were the order of the hour, and there was little to interest
the ordinary spectator.

"The unanimity of the report of the Committee on Cre-
dentials disappointed many who had hoped to see a fight at
this stage of the proceedings. There was a little ripple of
excitement and a few not ear-splitting; cheers when the report
announced that the Mahone delegates were to retain their
seats, and a tolerable welcome in the way of cheers greeted
the little Readjuster as he, with a gratified smile, walked
down the aisle to his seat. The presentation of the report on
rules afforded an hour which tried men's souls. Innumerable
amendments were offered, substitutes were presented, the pre-
vious question moved, no body could hear anybody else, the
aisles were filled with moving people, and the gavel of the
chairman punctuated in rapid measure the confusion, adding to
instead of subduing it. Finally, there came an amendment to

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

the rules by which it was ordered that no person shall be
a member of the National Committee who is not eligible as
a member of the Electoral College. This attracted some
little attention, for it was explained by the venerable Sena-
tor Hoar that it was meant to prevent Federal officers from
contributing to or soliciting money from other Federal offi-
cers for party purposes.

"The most exciting occurrence of the morning session
was the presentation and discussion of the minority report
in regard to the appointment of delegates to future conven-
tions. It brought several speakers to their feet, among
whom Lynch, the colored delegate from Mississippi, and
Judge W. 0. Bradley, of Kentucky, carried off the honors.
The latter is a very large but not a badly proportioned man,
with a good face, and fairly good oratorical ability. He de-
nounced the report as an injury and an insult to the South.
He was vehement in his utterances, and by the very inten-
sity of his action succeeded in inspiring a large sympathy,
which was manifested in much applause during his speech
and a hearty round at its conclusion. Lynch was called for
by the crowd, although there were a dozen other men on
their feet trying to get the eye of the chairman. He deliv-
ered one the best speeches of the session. It was brief, but
immensely forcible both in the character of its arguments
and the intensity and earnestness with which it was deliv-
ered. He was long and freely applauded. Mr. West, the
blind delegate from Ohio, gained the floor for a few minutes,
during which he spoke against the report in a manner so
impassioned that at times he was almost incoherent.

"The withdrawal of the obnoxious minority report was

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 9 3

greeted with extravagant delight, especially by the colored
delegates, who exhausted all possible available agencies, such
as hats, hands, lungs, newspapers, and the like, in order to
give emphasis to their satisfaction.

Reading of the platform resolutions was listened to with
marked attention, and many of the strong points were
greeted with loud huzzas. It is a strong and well consid-
ered declaration of views and its unanimous adoption was
effected in that matter-of-course style which proved every
delegate fully informed in all the details of Republican doc-
trine. The business of this day's session was dispatched in
a prompt, orderly way, and although there was a good deal
of it, the morning session was concluded at 2 P. M. Be-
sides the report of the Committee on Resolutions, the Com-
mittees on Credentials, Rules and Order of Business, all
made elaborate reports, and there was extended diftussion
of a resolution introduced by Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania,
to change the basis of district representation in national
conventions.

The adjournment from 2 o'clock/ 1 till 7, evening, was a
surprise to the crowd, but not to a large number of dele-
gates. It was announced that the nominating speeches
would be made at night, and then it became generally un-
derstood that the adjournment had been brought about by
influences more friendly to the candidacy of others than to
that of Mr. Blaine. It was thought Jbest to have the
speeches so late that no ballotings could be had thereafter
until the delegates had slept upon their impressions, and this
plan was thought to favor any aspirant rather than the man
of Maine.

94 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND .LOGAN.

How ridiculous this pretense appeared to those who
were giving it attention outside the convention, and who
knew that the moral pressure concentrated in the hopes
and prayers of four million Republican voters would pre-
vent the nomination of any but Elaine. Nominating-
speeches do not make votes in conventions composed of
alert and intelligent delegates, such as were here assembled.
If they did, Judge Foraker's effort would have greatly in-
creased the strength of Senator Sherman, for it was the
most eloquent and finished speech of the occasion. All the
speeches were good; but among those specially compli-
mented were, West's, Foraker's, and Long's, made respect-
ively for Elaine, Sherman, and Edmunds.

The evening session was the brilliant culmination of the
Convention. At 7 o'clock the exposition building groaned
with people ; every foot of room was filled, and thirty min-
utes later the doors were closed. None of the aisles were
permitted to be occupied, but up in the galleries every pil-
lar was encircled by a score or more men.

The band played "The Stars and Stripes." All the
house looked anxious and ready to have the work begin.
The delegates were nearly all seated, but there was no ap-
parent restlessness on their part, and the curious faces seen
in their ranks defied analysis.

The chairman was nursing a cold, and ate first a licorice
drop and then a troche, and, after a draught of water to
wash them down, tried chewing at the end of a piece of
oolt's-foot. Back of him sat Senator Lapham, his white
hair, round, rosy face, and smiling countenance making him
the object of universal attention.

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 95

Mr. Roosevelt, of New York, stood out in the front
aisle with his arm round some Ohio delegate's neck. He
listened attentively, pulled his mustache vigorously, and
looked out of the corner of his eye-glasses at the ladies in
the east box.

Mr. McPherson, for many years clerk of the House, did
the coaching for the chairman, and had a hard time to ex-
change pleasantries with ever body who passed him.

The first speaker, Augustus Brandegee, of Connecticut,
mounted the stage and took position at the left of the chair-
man. He looked like a little iron war-horse, with his small,
narrow frame well covered with a net-work of muscles, and
iron-gray chin beard and mustache, and a pair of steel-gray
eyes that fairly flashed with fire and animation. He pounded
his little, fat hands on the table, and filled the great hall
with his eloquence, which, however, was far in excess of
his voice. Water was served, but in less than five minutes
he was as hoarse as the chairman at his side. And when
the yells of the crowd outside were heard he was as red as
the badge on his bosom, and the perspiration rolled down his
face in little streams.

When Maine was called, it was like springing a mine.
Up to their feet sprang five thousand men and woman with
the cry of " Elaine." The storm of cheers raged until it
seemed that human nature must give out. Brazen music
tried to drown the noise, but the thousands of tongues
refused to be overcome. A white plume perched on top of
a pyramid of flowers was held aloft on the stage. It was
saluted as the insignia of the great commoner. Flags were
torn from their decorations, and were dipped from the galleries.

96 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN. .

Delegates whirled around their hankerchiefs, and even opened
umbrellas, and danced them up and down. The chair could
not, with his gavel, bring about order. But at last human
nature did. Judge West made the nominating speech.
Some passages were magnificent in their eloquence.

When he mentioned the name of Hon. James G.
Elaine, the convention rose en masse, and such rounds
and storms of enthusiasm were not heard in the city since
the nomination of James A. Garfield. Men got up, took off
their coats, and pulled down the flags and banners that
draped the gallery rails. These stars and stripes were given
to the ladies, who waved them as long as their strength
lasted. Umbrellas were raised, whistles and shouts rent the
building and reached the throng out on the street.

The great staff of patrolmen and police were set aside,
and thousands of men and boys scaled the balconies, and
not only filled every window, but opened those that were
closed, and lent their fresh lungs to the tired throats in the
house.

The ladies at this moment sent greetings to the " Plumed
Knight, the champion of the land that above all lands cham-
pions and respects the cause of women." The tribute con-
sisted of a helmet made of pink and white roses, over which
waved a plume of white yak hair. Bands of red, white, and
blue satin strings finished the typical design. This was
seized and hoisted on the apex of one of the American flags
in sight of the yelling crowd. The sight of it renewed the
people to louder and longer plaudits, and it was more than
half an hour before the sightless orator could finish his
remarks.

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 9 7

Again was the vast building filled with wild huzzahs
when the orator repeated the name of Elaine, and the throng
took them up outside. Could the popular preference be mis-
taken? men asked. Grow, for Pennsylvania, and Platt, for
New York, seconded the nomination. So did Colonel Goodloe,
for Kentucky, in passionate and brilliant eulogy. Arthur re-
ceived a rival demonstration when New York was called. It
was grand. But in after mention of the President it was
evident that the popular heart was not touched. Townsend,
of Troy, made a bad mess of the nominating speech. An
attack was made on Conkling that was in exceeding bad
taste, and was deservedly hissed.

In nominating Sherman, Judge Foraker received quite an
ovation. He was listened to with great attention. Nobody
who heard Foraker could doubt his loyalty to John Sherman.
It was peculiar that while the Sherman part of the Ohio
delegation refused to participate in the Elaine demonstration,
the entire delegation joined in the applause fo v Sherman.
Foraker spoke of Arthur. There were a few cheers. Then
he expressed his admiration for that brilliant chieftain of
Maine. The Elaine fever broke out again. Foraker gave
Elaine, merely by an incidental reference, the biggest boom
he had had yet. The galleries got uncontrollable. The white
plume was seized and put on top of a starry flag, and amid
the wildest imaginable scenes it was carried around the
center aisle. Foraker conducted himself amazingly under
the ordeal. He made a good point when quiet again reigned
over the convention, by reminding his hearers that they
should not shout until they had got out of the woods. The
happy turn was greeted with applause and cheers.

98 LIFE AND SER VICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Judge Holt, of Kentucky, seconded the nomination of
Sherman in a good, practical, well-put speech.

Governor Long's effort in behalf of Edmunds was forcible,
clear-cut, logical, and earnest. Like Foraker's, it was an ap-
peal to sober judgment. In beauty of imagery, Governor
Long's speech was a masterpiece of oratory.

George Wm. Curtis seconded the nomination of Edmunds.
His rich voice, schokrly enunciation, and purity of style
attracted the deep attention of his hearers.

It should have been mentioned in due order, that when
Illinois was called, Governor Cullom presented the name of
General John A. Logan, in an eloquent and well considered
address, which was received with enthusiastic plaudits.*

At the close of Mr. Curtis's second of the nomination
of Edmunds, half an hour after midnight, the nominating
speeches were concluded. Then there was considerable
skirmishing to reach a ballot, and no little managing by those
opposed to a ballot at this juncture to secure an adjourn-
ment. Finally, an adjournment was decided upon, till Fri-
day morning, June 6th.

* This speech, and several others which are thought to be important to the
completeness and interest of this volume, are reproduced in some of the later
pages.

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 99

CHAPTER VII.

THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS.
"WHEN GREEKS JOIN'D GREEKS, THEN WAS THE TUG OF WAB."

' ' The streets adorn'd, the doors with statues graced,
Vast thronging crowds retard the great procession,
Whose loud repeated shouts divide the air.
With garlands crown'd, the Virgins strew the ways,
And in glad hymns repeat his glorious name." HIGGON.

THE CONVENTION CONTINUED.

TTPON the fourth and last day of its session, the Eighth
\J National Republican Convention was called to order at
11.20 A. M., by Chairman Henderson. The session was
opened with an invocation by Rev. Dr. Scudder, of Chicago.
After the effusions of eloquence last night in presenting
the names of candidates, the workers arose this morning for
renewed efforts on the home stretch. One of the things
sought by Senators Miller and Chaffee, Congressman Elkins
and other Elaine managers, was to hold their vote for a con-
tinued struggle of a hundred ballots, if need be. They said
they would be more steadfast than the "Old Guard," if
necessary. In this they scored their success. No dilatory
motions for recess or anything else could break their march
or in any manner demoralize them. They felt their strength,
and in the hotel lobbies this morning, while their followers

100 LIFE AND SERVICES OF BLAINE AND LOGAN.

were still noisy, the managers were confident and cool.
They said they were simply working to prevent the will of
the people from being defeated ; that the boom for Elaine
needed no motive power, but that they had only to look out
for breakers and trickery.

The attention of the morning session was given to the
ballot for the nomination of a Presidential candidate. Hav-
ing given the details of the ballots in a previous chapter,
only the aggregates are here presented:

FIRST BALLOT OFFICIAL FOOTINGS. Elaine 334 i, Arthur
278, Edmunds 93, Logan 63*, John Sherman 30, Hawley 13,
Lincoln 4, General Sherman 2.

SECOND BALLOT. The result of the second ballot was an-
nounced at 1.20, and the increase of Elaine's vote was the
cause of an exuberant demonstration on the part of the
audience.

Official footings of the second ballot : Whole number of
delegates, 820; whole number of votes cast, 818; necessary
to a choice, 411. Elaine received 349, Arthur 277, Edmunds
85, Logan 61, John Sherman 28, Hawley 13, Lincoln 4, Gen-
eral Sherman 2.

THIRD BALLOT. The result of the third ballot was an-
nounced at 2 .10.

The official footings were : Whole number of votes cast,
819. Elaine received 375, Arthur 274, Edmunds 69, Logan
53, John Sherman 25, Hawley 13, General Sherman 2,
Lincoln 8.

The gains made in the Elaine vote, and the understand-
ing that the Logan vote would probably be transferred to
Elaine, produced another storm of cheering and wild enthusi-

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 101

asm for Blaine. Bingham of Pennsylvania, William W. Phelps
of New Jersey, and one or two colored delegates endeavored
to get a hearing,, and vociferated and gesticulated without
succeeding in being heard, their voices being drowned in
tumultuous yells, cheers, and demands for a call of the roll.
Not deterred by their failure, Roosevelt of New York, car-
ried away by the excitement, got up on his seat, waving his
arms, and appeared as if he was saying something, but not a
word was heard from him.

Finally, at 2 .30, the taking of the fourth ballot was be-
gun. Before the vote of Alabama was given, there was
another uproar, in which Butcher, Roosevelt, and other New
York delegates took prominent parts. It arose upon the
technical point that a motion to take a recess had been made,
and had been decided by the Chair in the negative, although
calls had been made for a vote by States. At last a Blaine
delegate appealed to his friends to have the vote on the
recess taken by States, and at 2 .30 the vote by States
began.

The result of the vote on the motion for a recess was,
yeas 364, nays 450. The announcement was hailed with
vociferous applause, as a Blaine triumph. It was a long
time before order was restored sufficiently to have business
proceeded with. Judge Foraker, of Ohio, proposed to
nominate Blaine by acclamation, but Mr. Burrows, of Michi-
gan, insisted that the taking of the ballot should go on. It
was evident that the crisis was at hand, and that nothing
could stay the coming deluge.

FOURTH BALLOT. Finally, at 3 .15, the convention pro-
ceeded to the fourth ballot. The changes from the third

102 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

ballot were as follows : Alabama, Blaine gains 6, Arthur
loses 5, Logan loses 1 ; Arkansas, no change ; California, no
change ; Colorada, no change ; Connecticut, no change ; Dele-
ware, no change; Florida (vote being polled), Blaine gains
2, Arthur loses 2 ; Georgia, no change. Illinois being called,
Senator Cullom rose and said he wished to read a dispatch
which he had just received from General Logan. Objections
were promptly made and sustained. [The dispatch received
by Senator Cullom read as follows :

"WASHINGTON, D. C., June 6th.
" To S. M. CULLOM, Illinois Delegation :

" The Republicans of the States that must be relied on to elect
the President, having so strongly shown a preference for Mr. Blaine,
I deem it my duty not to stand in the way of the people's choice,
and I recommend my friends to assist in his nomination.

"JOHN A. LOGAN."]

Mr. Cullom then withdrew the name of General Logan, and
cast 34 votes of Illinois for Blaine. The change in Illinois
from Logan to Blaine made Elaine's vote 414. Mr. Cullom
completed his report, giving Blaine 34, Logan 7, and Ar-
thur 3, a gain to Blaine of 31, a gain to Arthur of 2
and a loss to Logan of 33. Indiana cast 30 votes solid for
Blaine, a gain to Blaine of 12 and a loss to Arthur of 10,
and to Logan of 2. Iowa, Blaine loses 2, x Arthur gains 2.
Louisiana, Blaine gains 5; Maine, no change; Maryland,
Blaine gains 3 ; Kansas, Blaine gains 3 ; Kentucky, Blaine
gains 3 ; Massachusetts, vote polled ; Michigan, Blaine gains
8 ; Minnesota, Blaine gains 2 ; Mississippi, Blaine gains 1 ;
Missouri, Blaine gains 22 ; New Hampshire, Blaine gains 3 ;
New Jersey, Blaine gains 6. [A dispatch was received

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 103

from President Arthur by Mr. Curtis, of the Inter-Ocean,
saying : " If Blaine is nominated on this ballot have Dutcher
ask to make the nomination unanimous, and thank my
friends for me."] New York (vote polled), no change;
North Carolina, Blaine gains 5; Ohio, the whole vote
was cast for Blaine, a gain of 21 ; Oregon, no change ;
Pennsylvania gave Blaine 51 votes, a gain of 1 ; Rhode
Island, Blaine gains 7 (the Illinois delegation has tele-
graphed to Logan asking whether he will accept the nomi-
nation for the Vice-presidency, and is waiting for an an-
swer) ; South Carolina, no change ; Tennessee, Blaine gains
4 ; Texas, Blaine gains 1 ; Vermont, no change ; Virginia,
no change ; West Virginia, no change ; Wisconsin cast her
22 votes for Blaine, a gain of 11 ; Idaho, Blaine gains 1;
Montana, Blaine gains 1 ; New Mexico, no change ; Utah,
Blaine gains 2 ; Washington, no change ; Wyoming, Blaine
gains 2.

The result was announced at 4.40. Instantly, and even
before the last figures were pronounced by Mr. McPherson,
the vast audience arose and broke out into another mad dem-
onstration of enthusiasm. Cheers resounded, the band
struck up an inspiring air, hats, handkerchiefs, and national
flags were waved. A large square banner from Kansas was
carried through the hall, promising a large majority in that
State for Blaine, and with its two uprights capped with new
brooms. A stuffed eagle from Colorado was also carried
around in the procession. The roar of artillery outside was
heard, booming with the louder roar of voices inside, and
amid great enthusiasm the nomination was made unanimous;
suggested by telegraphic request from President Arthur.

104 LIFE AND SERVICES OF BLAINE AND LOGAN.

THE CHAIRMAN, after a comparative lull in the tumult
James G. Elaine, of Maine, having received the votes of a
majority of all the delegates elected to this convention,
the question now before the convention is, shall the nomi-
nation of Mr. Elaine be made unanimous ? [Applause.]
On this motion the Chair recognizes Mr. Buiieigh, of
New York.

MR. BURLEIGH, of New York Mr. President and brother
Republicans, in behalf of the President of the United States,
and at his request, I move to make the nomination of James
G. Elaine, of Maine, unanimous, and I promise for the
friends of President Arthur, who are always loyal at the
polls, and for Old Northern New York, twenty thousand
Republican majority in the north ; and I promise you all that
we will do all we can for the ticket and the nominee, and
we will show you in November next that New York is a
Republican State. [Cheers.] It elected James A. Garfield,
and it will elect James G. Elaine, of Maine. [Applause.]

SENATOR SABIN, of Minnesota Mr. Chairman, four years
ago in this very hall, and as a delegate to the National Re-
publican Convention, I was opposed to Chester A. Arthur
and to the elements with which he then associated. Since
then he has been called, under the most trying circumstances,
to fill the first place in the gift of the people of this country.
So well, so nobly has he filled that trust ; so happily has he
disappointed not only those of his opponents, but his
friends ; so fully has he filled the position of the gentleman
that he is of a scholar, and of a gentleman possessed of
that great, good common sense which has made his admin-
istration a great and pronounced success that he has grown

REP UBLICAN NOMJNA TIONS. 105

upon me, until to-day I honor and revere Chester A. Arthur.
As a friend of his, I no less honor and revere that prince of
gentlemen, that- scholar, that gifted statesman, James G.
Elaine, and it affords me the greatest pleasure to second the
motion to make his nomination unanimous, with the predic-
tion that his name before this country in November will pro-
duce that same spontaneous enthusiasm which will make him
President of the United States the fourth of March next.

SENATOR PLUMB, of Kansas Mr. Chairman, this conven-
tion has discharged one of its most important trusts, and is
now, notwithstanding the length of time it has been in ses-
sion and the exciting scenes through which it has passed,
in thorough good humor, and I believe ready to go on and
conclude the business which brought us here. [Cries of
" No !" " No !"] Mr. President, before proceeding to this,
I desire also, in connection with the senator from Minnesota,
and responding to the sentiment which pervades this entire
convention, to second the motion that this nomination be
made unanimous, and I hope there will not be a dissenting
voice in all this vast assemblage. [Applause.]

THE SECRETARY I have been requested to read to the
convention the following telegraphic dispatch :

The President has sent the following dispatch to Mr. Blaine :
" The Hon. James G. Blaine, Augusta, Maine. As the candi-
date of the Republican party, you will have my earnest and cordial
support. CHESTER A. ARTHUR."

The announcement was received with applause.
THE CHAIRMAN The motion is, Shall the nomination of
Mr. Blaine be made unanimous ?

The motion was carried amidst much cheering.

106 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

During the final ballot it was with the utmost difficulty
that the excitement could be repressed until the roll was
complete and the official result was announced, which was
done by Secretary McPherson. The latter, in announcing
the vote, began with the lowest, leaving Elaine to the last.
When the latter's name was reached McPherson got no
further than " Elaine, five hundred," when the storm of ap-
plause burst, and the additional votes above the five hun-
dred were unheard. Then ensued a scene which beggars
description. For fully fifteen minutes the vast crowd was
on its feet, and the roar of cheers and yells was continuous.
Men paraded the aisles with banners of strange device.
From outside the building, where vast crowds were in wait-
ing, came the echoing cheers and the booming of cannon.
It was a magnificent demonstration of satisfaction at a result
which is as clearly the people's choice as any that was ever
made by a political party. On the motion to make the nom-
ination unanimous there was not a dissenting vote or voice
in all the immense throng.

George William Curtis was loudly called for after the
nomination was made, but he refused to respond. The del-
egates from the Pacific States could find no bounds to their
joy. Before the recess was taken, the cannon began boom-
ing all along the lake shore ; the printing presses were rat-
tling off pictures of the great leader, and the city that has
its exchanges rattling away all the time with as much noise
as a National Convention, was soon alive with the "Hurrah
for Elaine."

At the evening session, the roll of States was called for
the nomination of candidates for Vice-president.

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS. 107

When Illinois was called, Senator Plumb, of Kansas,
came forward, and spoke as follows :

"Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen of the Convention: This
convention has already discharged two of the most serious
obligations which rested upon it the adoption of a platform
and the nomination of a candidate for the Presidency. [Ap-
plause.] The platform is one upon which all good Repub-
licans and all good citizens can unite, and of which they can
well feel proud. The candidate for the presidency needs no
eulogium from me, and I can also say for him that he can
meet any man in the Democratic party, whether that man be
dead or alive. [Applause.] Upon that statement it might
seem a matter of comparative indifference as to who should
fill the second place ; but, Mr. President and gentlemen,
there is such a thing as proportion. Having nominated a
statesman of approved reputation, a man of whom we are all
proud, we owe it to the party to nominate the best and
most available man we have for the second place. [Ap-
plause.]

"Mr. President, this is the first time in the history of
the Republican party since the war when the man who is
to fill the first place is not a soldier. There are a million men
yet living who served their country in the late war. And
now, Mr. President, twenty years after the lapse of that
war they are bound together by ties as strong as they ever
were while serving under arms, and the great brotherhood
of the soldiery of the United States is one of the most im-
portant factors in the social and political life of the Ameri-
can Republic. [Applause.] It is due, not as a matter of
availability, but as a matter of just recognition to that great

108 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

body of soldiery who made the Republican party possible,
that a fit representative of theirs should have the second
place upon the team a man who, wise within himself, has
not only the qualities of a soldier, but also the qualities of
a statesman because the American people are becoming
now considerate of the second place upon the National
ticket, and it is a matter of grave concern that the man to
be chosen shall be fit to step into the shoes of the man in
the first place. [Applause.]

" Mr. President, as I said, if it were only a question of
electing a ticket, we might nominate any body. But it is
more than that. It is not only a question of carrying and
electing a President and a Vice-president, but it is a ques-
tion of the election of a majority of the House of Repre-
sentatives in Congress. It is a question of rehabilitating
States where Legislatures have been lost, and, consequently,
representatives in the Senate have been equally lost. You
want especially to strengthen this ticket, if so it may be, by
adding to it a man who has his representatives in all por-
tions of this broad land, in every township, in every school
district, in every representative district, and in every
county, in order that the ticket may be carried to the far-
thest confines of the Republic, and its remotest places, with
that good will and recognition which will make sure of a
full vote. [Applause.]

"We have come to that point since the war when the
kindly feeling growing out of association has come to be a
power, and out of that kindly feeling has grown the organ-
ization of the Grand Army of the Republic, which has now
in its communion more than three-fourths of the men who

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 109

lately wore the blue. [Loud applause.] They are Repub-
licans because the Republican party is true to them, to their
interests, and ta all those things for which they fought and
sacrificed ; and it is only just and proper that, in making
tickets and in making platforms, we should recognize that
great body of honorable and self-sacrificing men.

" Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, in presenting to you a
candidate, I shall present one to you who, I believe, fills all
the qualifications necessary for even the first place upon this
ticket; a man whose military and civil record will not be
obscured by even so brilliant a one as that of the head of
the ticket. [Loud applause.] That is the kind of a man
we want a man tried in war and in peace, a man who has
in every capacity in which he has been tried so acted that
to-day his name and fame are a part of the proud heritage
of the American people. [Loud applause.] By the terms
of your resolution you have abridged that which I would
say ; but it is enough for me to say that the man whom I
present for your consideration, believing that he will add
strength to the ticket, and believing that he will justify the
words I have spoken, is General John A. Logan, of Illinois."
[Loud applause.]

The applause at this point was repeatedly renewed, and
lasted for several minutes.

The speaker, resuming, said : " His reputation is no
more the property of Illinois than it is of Kansas; but
there are seventy-five thousand ex-soldiers of the late war
upon the prairies of Kansas who, with one accord, when
they hear of the nomination of John A. Logan, will rise up
and indorse it and ratify it. [Loud applause.] I know

110 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Illinois begrudges him to the country ; like Hosea Bigelow's
wife, they want him for home consumption. But, Mr.
President, it is a command which we have a right to lay
upon them, and I know that in Illinois, with that command
upon them, they will do as General Logan would do him-
self. He obeys the duty and obligation of party, the com-
mand of the party and the country ; and, in fact, he never
disobeyed but one order, and that was when he disobeyed
an order not to fight a battle.

" Therefore, in behalf of the ex-soldiers of the Union, in
behalf of the State of Kansas, by whom I am commissioned
for this purpose, and in behalf, generally, of the great body
of the Republican party of the Union, who admire and
esteem this man, I present his name for your consideration,
and hope that he may receive the nomination at your hands."
[Loud applause and shouts.]

THE CHAIRMAN. Judge Houck, of Tennessee.

JUDGE HOUCK. Mr. Chairman, gentlemen of the conven-
tion : Thus far, while I have not received my first choice,
this convention has done well. [ Cries of " Good !"
" Good !" and applause.] Under the leadership, at the
head of the ticket, of the Plumed Knight of Maine, we
expect in November, all other conditions being equal, to
march to glorious and final victory over the Democratic
party in the United States. [Applause.] Now that the
first part of our duties has been discharged ; now that we
have a candidate at the head of the ticket whom every
genuine Republican in these United States, whether for or
against him in this contest, can cheerfully and heartily sup-
port; now that we have started thus well, let us complete

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. Ill

our work by adding as the candidate for Vice-president of
the United States one who, as we all know, may have to
enter the Executive Mansion and discharge the duties of
the first office of the Nation I say, let us now see if we can
not come to an understanding and agreement and unite upon
one who will do equal honor in that position as the distin-
guished leader who is at the head of our ticket.

And in looking over all this country, looking through
the halls of Congress, going back over the reminiscences of
the war, analyzing the character of men upon the field or
in the halls of legislation, wherever he has been called to
duty, John A. Logan has never been found wanting [cheers
and loud applause] ; and it has been well said by the gen-
tleman who has preceded me that, having nominated a
civilian for the first time since the war, it is now all-impor-
tant to give to the soldiers of the country, who fought the
battles of the Union to preserve it to the people, a repre-
sentative upon that ticket. That being so, in whom can we
find all the elements necessary to make up the statesman-
ship which is necessary to discharge the duties of this high
office, but in General John A. Logan? I can do it the more
cheerfully it is perfectly natural to me ; it becomes a part
of my nature and goes into my sympathies, into the very
sympathies of my heart to advocate his nomination com-
ing as I do (perhaps I will give you something that some
of you never thought of), coming as I do, as a representa-
tive of that part of the country where two Congressional
Districts, the First and Second of Tennessee, gave more
soldiers to fight under the flag than any two other Districts
in the United States of America. [Applause.] That being

112 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

so, representing these elements, I know that when the wires
shall have transmitted the news of the nomination of John
A. Logan for the Vice-presidency of the United States to
the soldier boys of East Tennessee, they will rejoice there,
as they will rejoice everywhere the news is transmitted.
[Cheers and loud applause.] It is an inviting theme, but I
am admonished that under the rules I should desist after a
few more words.

Now, gentlemen, let us join hands. The truth is, there
ought not to be any other nomination. [Applause and
cheers.] John A. Logan ought to be nominated by acclama-
tion. Our delegation, as you have seen, has been somewhat
divided on every thing else, but when you come to John A.
Logan we are united twenty-four strong. [Great applause.]
Mr. President and gentlemen of the convention, for the con-
siderations which I have mentioned, I now place John A.
Logan's destinies in your hands, with the full conviction that
when the roll is called you will make him the candidate of
the party, and in November victory will perch upon our
banners. [Great applause.]

THE CHAIRMAN Mr. Thurston, of Nebraska.

MR. THURSTON Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the con-
vention : In seconding this magnificent nomination on behalf
of a great veteran constituency I have only this to say, let
us write upon the banner of the Republican party for this
glorious campaign this invincible legion " Blaine and
Logan" [great applause] "Blaine and Logan: Peace
and War." The great gratitude of the American people will
crown these victors of them both with their grand and
glorious approbation. [Loud applause, and cries of " Time ! "]

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 118

THE CHAIRMAN Mr. Lee, of Pennsylvania.

MR. LEE Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the conven-
tion : You have. inaugurated here to-day a glorious victory
for November [applause] by nominating for President a na-
tive of Pennsylvania, but whose fame was too great for his
own State. It is of the whole country. You will complete
the work which you have so well begun. The people be-
lieved, with a belief which amounted to conviction, that
you would recognize their sovereign will in the nomination
which you would here ' make, and you have not disap-
pointed them.

And so with you, knights of the great Commonwealth
of Kansas, in seconding the nomination of a man for Vice-
president who was fit to be President of the United States,
I second, on behalf of the great Middle States of Pennsyl-
vania and Ohio, the nomination of John A. Logan.
[Applause.]

MR. HORR, of Michigan Mr. Chairman

Calls were made to Mr. Horr to take the stand, but he
declined, and continued as follows :

" I will be through before I can get to the stand. I
simply rise, Mr. Chairman, in behalf of that large army of
us men who stayed at home during the war [laughter], and
at the request of the State of Michigan, to second the
nomination of John A. Logan, of Illinois [applause], and I
only wish to say that in doing that we will light the camp-
fires among the soldiers of the country from one end of this
Nation to the other." [Applause.]

MR. DANCY, of North Carolina Mr. Chairman and gentle-
men of the convention : I am here, the humble representa-

114 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

tive of twelve hundred thousand colored voters in this coun-
try ; and I believe, gentlemen of the convention, that with
the nomination already made of the Hon. James G. Blaine,
of Maine, if to that you will add the name of John A.
Logan, you will strengthen the confidence and courage of
this twelve hundred thousand colored voters, and each and
every one of them on the day of the election will be found
at the polls casting their votes for him. [Applause.] Gen-
tlemen, we know John A. Logan in the South ; we have
learned to love him and to honor him. He has stood by us
under any and all circumstances. We will be certain
to stand by him. [Applause.] Great in war, he has been
likewise great in peace, and, keeping the even tenor of his
way, he has won the confidence and the respect, not only of
the Republican party, but of the Democratic party as well
[applause] ; and I believe that he can command as many
votes in the State as any man who could be named ; and, as
we have a State that was Democratic by only three hun-
dred, two years ago, we know that with this ticket we can
carry it and give five thousand majority in this election.
[Applause.] And so, speaking for North Carolina, I say for
it, as I say also for some others of the Southern States, we
are for John A. Logan first, last, and all the time.

Mr. Arnold, of Georgia, was recognized by the Chair.
Some enthusiastic delegate moved that Logan be nominated
by acclamation, but was not recognized.

MR. ARNOLD Mr. Chairman : As the representative of
twenty -four true and noble men as ever trod the soil, and
who stood by Chester A. Arthur until his flag went down,
I rise in my place to second the nomination of John A.

REP UBLICAN NOMLNA TIONS. 115

Logan. [Applause.] And while we, sir, in Georgia, are not
able to give you an electoral vote, we pledge to you our
aid, sympathy, active support, and all that there is within
us. [Applause.]

MR. DAWES, of Missouri Mr. Chairman, I move you that
the nomination of John A. Logan be made by acclamation.

Mr. Howe, of Nebraska, make a similar motion.

The Chairman put the question on the motion, and, on
the vote being had, said : " It requires two-thirds to suspend
the rules, and the Chair being in doubt the roll will be
called."

The Clerk called the State of Alabama.

MR. CARR, of Illinois Mr. Chairman, there have several
gentlemen expressed a desire to speak, and so far every one
who has spoken, has spoken words that are grateful and
precious to every Illinois heart. There are others who still
desire to speak and I hope that the roll will not be called.
I hope that this action will be suspended until gentlemen
from other States who desire to speak shall have been heard
from. [Applause.]

Mr. Bradley, of Kentucky, had been standing on his
chair attempting to get the attention of the Chairman, and
loud calls were made for him.

MR. HOWE, of Nebraska Mr. Chairman, we are assured
by the gentlemen who have already spoken that it is only
a question of time that the nomination of John A. Logan
will be made unanimous, and I withdraw my motion to
make it by acclamation.

Considerable confusion was caused by delegates in all
parts of the hall attempting to gain the eye of the Chair-

116 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

man. One delegate suggested to the Chair that he ought to
preserve order or put some one in the chair who could.

Mr. Lee, of South Carolina, was recognized by the
Chairman, but the calls for Bradley were renewed, and Mr.
Lee was unable to proceed.

A delegate from Mississippi suggested that the gentle-
man from Kentucky go ahead on the east side of the hall
and Mr. Lee on the west. [Laughter.]

MR. LEE I most cheerfully yield to the distinguished
gentleman from Kentucky, provided I shall be accorded the
privilege of speaking for the Republicans of my State when
he shall have finished.

MR. BRADLEY, of Kentucky Mr. Chairman, I am warned
by the condition of my voice not to undertake to speak
against the tumult of this multitude. I simply arise as one
of those fifteen faithful Kentuckians who, through sunshine
and through storm, followed the fate of our gallant leader,
Chester A. Arthur, to second the nomination of the great
volunteer soldier of Illinois a statesman wise in council, a
soldier upon whose sword there is no stain of dishonor, a
friend of the oppressed. No more gallant knight ever drew
lance upon the bloody fields of Palestine, or fell beneath
the gleaming scimiter of Saladin. I arise for the purpose of
seconding the nomination of General Logan in behalf of the
hundred thousand, yes the hundred thousand brave soldiers
who have marched under the Union flag, and kept step to
the music of the Union from the State of Kentucky.
[Cheers.] You have given us a great statesman from Maine,
and I for one bow my humble acquiescence, and am willing,
with all the Republicans of this Union, to follow where his

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 117

white plume shines. [Loud cheers.] With Elaine as our
candidate for President, with Logan as our candidate for
Vice-president we shall sweep the country and wipe from
the political map the name of Democracy, so that the places
that know it now shall know it no more forever. [Loud
applause.] I would like to say more upon this fruitful
theme, but the condition of my voice, as well as the state
of your patience, remind me that I have said enough. [Cries
of "Go on, go on."] And now, in conclusion, fellow-citi-
zens of the whole Republic who are assembled here and del-
egates in this convention, down in the State of Kentucky,
where the black cloud of Democracy still hovers over us,
let me say to you that, while we can not give you our elec-
toral votes, we will in November poll for Elaine and Logan
120,000 brave men and true. [Applause.] I have said
enough, and I thank you again and again for your kindness
in asking me to second this nomination. [Loud applause.]
MR. LEE, of South Carolina I come from a State that
gave the United States Government the first colored sol-
diers that the United States Government ever had in its
army. In 1862, in the town of Beaufort, South Carolina,
Colonel Higginson, of Massachusetts, organized the first
colored troops. I am here to-night, and I am glad that it
is my privilege upon this occasion, to say to the American
people assembled here in a Republican National Convention
that those people in South Carolina never can forget the
memorable march through that State of Sherman's army.
In that army was the gallant and brave John A. Logan.
[Applause.] They know him and they love him, and their
anxious hearts have been waiting, hoping to hear from this

118 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

convention, that if the first choice, Chester A. Arthur,
should not not made the nominee of this convention, their
hearts would be made glad by the news being wired to
them that John A. Logan was the fortunate choice of this
convention. [Applause.]

MR. PETTIBONE, of Tennessee Mr. Chairman, in the name
of three-quarters of a million of the old soldiers of the Re-
public who did not stay at home, but went to the front, and
in the name of 30,000 ex-rebel soldiers of Tennessee, we all
of us rejoice in the name of Black Jack Logan. [Cheers.]

MR. LEE, resuming, said : Tennessee feels at liberty
to take any privilege she sees a chance to take. [Laugh-
ter.] Mr. Chairman, I shall not move to strike out the gen-
eral s part, for he and I, away from the close relations that
our States bear to each other, are closely allied as individ-
uals, until I am always proud to be connected with him in
any way. And I wish to say also, briefly, that South Car-
olina gave the first volunteer to the United States navy in
the person of the hero, Robert Smalls, who carried the ban-
ner to the harbor of Charleston, and brought it over from
the Confederate army and delivered it up to the Federal
navy. The people in South Carolina will go to the polls if
John A. Logan is upon the ticket with the brilliant genius
of James G. Elaine, and will get there at any risk, as they
have done before ; and no name connected with James G.
Blaine will create that enthusiasm in South Carolina as the
name of John A. Logan.

Several delegates at this point tried to attract the atten-
of the Chair, but there was too much confusion and cries of
" Call the roll."

REPUBLICAN NOMINATIONS. 119

The Chair finally recognized Mr. Frank Morey, of Lou-
isiana, who advanced to the platform and spoke as follows :

MR. MOREY -Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the con-
vention : At the request of the solid delegation of more than
one Southern State besides the State of Louisiana, I rise to
second the nomination of John A. Logan. Mr. Chairman,
in 1861, when I left my prairie home in Illinois to assist in
fighting the battles of the Union, it was my good fortune to
be under the command of General John A. Logan in our
march from the Ohio River on our way to the Gulf. At
the conclusion of the war, and after peace had settled upon
the country, and when a fighting constituency had sent me
from my new home in Louisiana to the halls of Congress,
my first committee work was done on the Committee of
Military Affairs, of which General John A. Logan was the
Chairman. Mr. President, I know him well, and I love him
with my whole heart. I have watched his career as a
statesman, and on all public questions he has been almost
invariably right, and upon all questions touching the pro-
tection of the lives and the liberties, particularly the polit-
ical and civil rights of the Republicans, both white and
black, in the South, he has been always right. And, sir,
the Republicans of the South will feel, in the election of
General John A. Logan as Vice-president, that they will
always have a true friend and tried counselor having
the confidence of the Chief Executive of the Nation. It
will give renewed courage to the saddened hearts of South-
ern Republicans now fighting the unequal battle of Repub-
licanism in the South. General Logan is the grand develop-
ment of the brave, generous, and courageous sentiment of

120 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

the people, and combines the glorious manhood of the true
and gallant soldier and the eminent statesman. [Applause.]
Every element of his character is that of a true American,
and his nomination as Vice-president, with James G. Elaine
[loud applause], will electrify the patriotic sentiment of the
loyal people of this country [loud applause] and will fee the
cap-sheaf of the magnificent work begun by this convention.

MR. HILL, of Mississippi I suggest that we proceed to
nominate General Logan by acclamation, and let us go to bed
and have the other speeches printed. [Laughter.]

MR. BLAIR, of Virginia I speak by request of General
Mahone, the chairman of the Virginia delegation, and inas-
much as Senator Mahone is not able to be here to-night by
physical disability. I am here to represent in this convention
the Union soldiers that followed General John A. Logan in the
last contest, but I am here as a member of the Republican
Virginia delegation, that represents in Virginia 30,000 Con-
federate soldier that have come to the rescue of the Republic.
I was a Confederate soldier myself for four years, as were
many of the delegation with whom I am now associated,
and I serve notice upon these Northern Republicans that
they must look well to their laurels, because in old Virginia
we have erected the standard of Republicanism, and in the
vocabulary of Virginia liberalism, there is no such word as
fail. [Loud applause.] And that little handful of ex-
Confederate soldiers and Virginians who raised the revolt
against Democratic outrage have grown in their growth and
strengthened with their strength until to-day we have 127,000
that will vote for James G. Elaine and John A. Logan as
President and Vice-president of the United States. I, there-

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 121

fore, in behalf of the Virginia delegation, rise to second the
nomination of John A. Logan, and move that the nomina-
tion be made unanimous.

MR. TAYLOR, of Illinois I now renew my motion that
the rules be suspended and General John A. Logan be de-
clared the nominee of this convention for Vice-president.
[Applause.]

GENERAL J. S. ROBINSON, of Ohio Mr. Chairman: In
behalf of the Republicans of Ohio, I desire to second the
nomination. I followed General Logan on many a hard-
fought field, and he never in any instance failed to respond
to the sound of the enemy's musketry. I therefore move
to suspend the rules to nominate General Logan by accla-
mation. [Loud applause.] Mr. Chairman, I insist upon my
motion, which has been seconded by several delegations, to
suspend the rules and nominate General Logan by acclama-
tion.

MR. CHAIRMAN It is moved that the rules be sus-
pended, and that General Logan be nominated by acclama-
tion. All in favor of that motion will say aye.

The motion was carried almost unanimously, and General
Logan was declared the nominee of the convention for Vice-
president.

MR. LAMPSON, of Ohio Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of
the convention : The Nineteenth District of Ohio, the banner
district of the Union, which was so long and so ably repre-
sented in the National Congress by that grand statesman and
civilian whom the last Republican National Convention de-
lighted to honor with the highest position in the gift of the
Republican party [loud applause], promises 20,000 Republi-

122

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

can majority for the bosom friend of our martyred Garfield,
James G. Elaine, of Maine, and the grand old soldier, John
A. Logan, of Illinois. [Loud applause.]

MR. DAVIS, of Illinois Mr. Chairman, on behalf of the
State of Illinois, I ask that the roll shall be called, at the
request of our delegates, in the nomination. [Applause and
a voice : " Amen !"]

THE CHAIRMAN The Secretary will call the roll.

The Secretary then called the roll of States, with the
following result :

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

3
p

1
f

20
14
16
6
12
6
8
24
44
30
26
18
26
16
12
16
28
26
14
18
32
10
6
8
18

f
a

Gresham....

Foraker

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

5-5

<
o
a

Gresham

Foraker

Alabama,
Arkansas

20
14
16
6
5
6
8
24
44
30
26
18
26
16
12
16
12
26
14
18
30
10
6
8
18

New York

72
22
46
6
60
8
18
24
26
8
24
12
22
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

00
22
46
6
59
8
18
24
26
8
24
12
19
2

2
2

2
2
2
2
2
2

779

North Carolina, . . .
Ohio

California

Colorado

Oregon

Connecticut, ....
Delaware

Pennsylvania, .
Rhode Island, .
South Carolina,
Tennessee, .
Texas, . -
Vermont

Florida

Georgia,

Illinois,

Indiana

Iowa,
Kansas

West Virginia, . . .

Kentucky ....

Louisiana,

Maine, '
Maryland,

Dakota,
District of Columbia, .
Idaho,
Montana

Massachusetts, . . .
Michigan,
Minnesota, ....
Mississippi, ....
Missouri,

New Mexico,

Utah

Nebraska,

Wyoming,
Total

New Hampshire, .
New Jersey, ....

820

(

J 1

When the Chairman of the Massachusetts delegation
(Senator Hoar) announced the vote of that delegation to be

REP UBLICAN NOMINA TIONS. 123

nine for Logan and three for Fairchild, of Wisconsin, it was
greeted with hisses. After the vote of Mississippi was an-
nounced, Mr. Cra<po ? of the Massachusetts delegation, said :
" Mr. President, I desire to announce again the vote of Massa-
chusetts. [Cries of " No objection," " Unanimous," " Go
ahead."] Those of the delelates that are here vote twelve
for Logan, being the entire number that are present." [Ap-
plause.]

When New York was reached in the call of States, Mr.
Curtis said :

" Mr. Chairman, I desire that New York may be allowed a
little time to complete her tally. [Cries of " Go on !"] New
York is not quite ready to report her vote; I ask that a
little time be given me to complete the count." [" Time !"
"Time!"]

MR. HUSTED, of New York Mr. Chairman, I ask that the
rule may be suspended so that the other States may be
called and New York called afterwards. I ask unanimous
consent.

THE CHAIRMAN It will be so ordered without objection.

When the District of Columbia was reached Mr. Conger
sprang to his feet and in clarion tones yelled :

" Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman, I cast my vote for John
A. Logan." [Laughter and great applause.]

Mr. CARSON Mr. Chairman, this is the first time the
gentleman has agreed with me. [Renewed laughter.] I
cast my vote for John A. Logan.

At the end of the roll-call New York was again called
upon to cast her vote. Mr. Curtis announced the vote as
follows :

124 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

" One vote for Foraker, six votes for Gresham, sixty
votes for John A. Logan."

The crowd then broke forth into loud and prolonged up-
roar, the band playing the " Star Spangled Banner," while
the Chairman sought to restore order. When order had
been partially restored, Mr. Winston, of North Carolina, ad-
dressed the Chair as follows :

" Mr. Chairman, I move that the nomination of Mr.
Logan be made unanimous."

THE CHAIRMAN The question now is, Shall the nomina-
tion be made unanimous ?

It was carried.

MR. HUSTED, of New York Mr. Chairman, I move that
the thanks of this convention be tendered to the temporary
and permanent officers of the convention for the faithful per-
formance of the duties which have been placed upon them.

Which was carried, and amid the most hearty enthusiasm,
at 9.45 P. M., the great convention stood adjourned sine die.

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 125

CHAPTER VIII

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. VOX POPULI.
"The noblest motive is the public good." VERGIL.

T7MORY A. STORKS: We have at the head of the
I J ticket a man who is the spirit of independent and gen-
uine Republicanism made manifest in the flesh. We have a
man who believes in the dignity of our existence and in the
necessity of preserving and maintaining it. We have a man
who believes in giving no insults to any individual or
Power, and will tamely submit to no Power under God's
heavens. [Applause.] We have a man who believes that
this continent belongs to us, and all of it. [Applause.]
We have a man who believes in the protection of our
large and multiplied industries ; a man who believes, and
believes it in his soul, that the producer is more worthy
than the product, and that the policy of our govern-
ment is not the cheap shoe, but the prosperous and
happy shoemaker. We have a man who believes that
the Nation, when it makes any promise, must keep it,
and if that promise be a protection to the citizen, it must
protect that citizen wherever he may be, even at the cost
of war. [Applause.] We have a man at the head of our
ticket who believes that a national engagement means some-
thing solid and solemn, and that underneath the stars no
man resting under the flag on any foot of ground shall

126 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

have his right to vote challenged and the counting of that
vote as cast questioned. We have a man who believes
supported by another man who believes that the spirit of
our institutions stands proudly enthroned among the stars,
and that, when the poorest and humblest citizen is insulted
and outraged in his rights, that spirit will come down with
sword and shield, take the quivering and trembling black
man by the hand, lead him safely through the files of the
enemy until he can vote, and speak, and think as he
pleases. [Applause.] This is our platform. These are
our candidates. Your second choice, selected with a unanim-
ity almost marvelous in great conventions of this charac-
ter, had every trace of Democratic blood fired out of him
when the first shot exploded upon the walls of Sumter.
From that time to this, undeviating, unwavering, and unfal-
tering, there has never been a Republican idea of which
John A. Logan has not been a vigorous and aggressive, an
eloquent, and a courageous champion. [Applause.] We
have the real spirit of the fiber of the party embodied and
illustrated by this great ticket. We have a platform broad
enough for every citizen to stand upon.

NEW YORK Tribune: James G. Elaine has been nomi-
nated by the people, and will be elected by the people. For
a quarter of a century no other candidate has been more
clearly preferred by the voters. Patronage had no part in
his nomination. Even in the hour of their defeat his
opponents did not attribute his success to any unworthy
influence. By them it was admitted, as it must be admitted
by all, that the people desired the nomination of Mr.
Elaine. Mr. Elaine is the strongest candidate the Repub-

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 127

lican party could have nominated, because he best repre-
sents its convictions. The name of Mr. Elaine had been so
identified with tjie economic policy which the Republican
party holds most dear that the popular preference for him,
at a time when that policy was threatened by a Democratic
majority in Congress, was exceedingly natural. The nomi-
nation of General Logan for Vice-president was also espe-
cially fortunate. He has great strength at the West, and
with the soldiers everywhere, and his name will kindle the
enthusiasm of Republicans at the South. The ticket can
not be beaten.

CHICAGO Tribune: No living American statesman ever
filled the hearts of the people more completely than Blaine
does. The martyrdom of Lincoln and Garfield has won for
them a peculiar veneration which no man in life can hope
to attain, but Blaine has reached the highest place in pub-
lic esteem. He is admired as the most brilliant statesman
of his day ; he is loved for his warm nature ; his American-
ism is so broad, bold, and spirited that it has won the ap-
plause of his political opponents. The elevation of such a
man to the Chief Magistracy will be a matter of pride to
every patriotic American citizen. The same universal admi-
ration which pushed him into nomination will achieve
his election.

If a plebiscite of the Republican party could have been
ordered on the nomination, Blaine would have received
four million out of the five million Republican votes against
all other candidates. The opposition to him came from the
shoulder-straps ; the rank and file were nearly all for him, and
it is the rank and file which furnish the votes on election-

128 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

day. The same popular sentiment which has nominated him
will elect him. Any resentment among the politicians born
of chagrin just at this moment will vanish into thin air be-
fore the steady march of popular feeling. No man who is
at heart with the Republican party can hold out against
the masses of the party. Those who have worked against
Elaine will be influenced b*y the prompt and cordial tender
of hearty support made by President Arthur the very mo-
ment it became evident that Elaine would be nominated.
This example will be imitated with a contagion which will
sweep through all factions and extend from Maine to Cali-
fornia. Maine will start the ball in September, Ohio will keep
it moving in October, and it will grow into an avalanche in
November, to which every Northern State, and at least
West Virginia and Delaware among the Southern States,
will contribute its strength.

Elaine, in addition to all his personal claims, is the legit-
imate successor to the popular confidence which Garfield's
brief administration inspired. Elaine and Garfield were
closely united in personal and political sympathy. Elaine,
as Garfield's Premier, was almost as conspicuous a figure as
Garfield himself, and he was the originator of a continental
American policy which was the most striking and brilliant
conception of Garfield's administration. Had Garfield lived,
neither Elaine nor his friends would have disputed his right
to a renomination under the precedents which reward a suc-
cessful and popular President with a second term; but Gar-
fild's death left Elaine his natural heir to the glory of his
administration. It is no reflection upon President Arthur
that he was not able under the circumstances to capture the

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 129

people from Elaine; it would have been strange if he could
have done so. The people have chosen their leader and
raised their banner. They will march on to victory under
the Plumed Knight as surely and steadily as the Blaine
army in the convention proceeded to the nomination, gather-
ing new strength at every step. No Presidential candidate
ever had a better assurance of election than Blaine has to-
day, unless it was General Jackson or Thomas Jefferson.

CINCINNATI Commercial Gazette : James Gr. Blaine is the
Henry Clay of his age and generation, with the personal
fascination and charm of Clay, with all his fine audacity
and more than his political prudence. It was an unwise
letter that defeated Clay forty years ago, and not the power
or the malice of his enemies,_or the mistakes of his friends.
We are sure of a glorious candidate in Blaine. The more
we hear from him the better, and we are likely to hear very
much. The magnetic storm which has raged in Chicago for
a week, and broke "forth there in an illumination that like
the northern lights, shone over the skies, will overspread
the country *from the lakes to the gulf and sea to sea. It
will quicken the whole people of the United States and
brighten their public life to elect Blaine President, and the
safety and splendor of his administration will solidify Re-
publicanism at home, and lift the great Republic still higher
among the Nations of the earth. . . . Not only has the ma-
jority of the party clearly declared for Blaine, but the enthu-
siasts, in urging the nomination, have everywhere been the
brightest and the foremost in the party service.

MURAT HALSTEAD: There is potentiality in the names of
Blaine and Logan, and those who think the Republican party,

130 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

embattled under its chosen leader, can be overthrown with the
aid of personalities, in cartoons and squibs, that the Demo-
cratic party may be enabled to make, with its head shaken by
paralysis, and its hands stained with murder, are mistaken.
The Republican party was never so strong as now, and the
Democratic party never had less to show the people in the way
of reasons for trusting it with our weightiest public affairs.

If there is a possibility of beating Elaine, it is because
New York is European rather than American, and I do not
concede that there is enough of that to overpower the man
who represents the height and the breadth of American
policy and politics. If the Democrats gather strength so as
to seriously threaten the defeat of Elaine and Logan, there
will be such a campaign as never yet has shaken this country.
If it were not for the votes of the Solid South, there would
be no more chance for the defeat of Elaine and Logan than
there would have been to beat Elaine in either of the three
latest National Republican Conventions, if the delegation
had been made up in the several States according to the
Republican strength. $

PHILADELPIA Times : He will be the master spirit, the lea-
der of leaders, in his own campaign. The party will follow
him with the devotion and enthusiasm of the army that bore
the eagle of France when Napoleon marched for Moscow, and
even in defeat he would be worshiped by the rank and file
as was the man of destiny after Russia and Elba. He will
start the contest of 1884 with spontaneous energy in every
section of the country. He will carry Ohio in October,
even with German prejudices strongly against him. He will
disturb Democratic confidence in West Virginia, the other

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 131

important October State, and he will be likely to recall
California and Nevada from their Democratic diversion of
1880 to join Oregon in a solid Republican electoral vote on
the golden slope of the Pacific.

BOSTON Journal: It is sufficient for us, as members of
the Republican party, to know that Mr. Elaine is to lead the
party in the coming campaign. He is to stand upon a plat-
form which was adopted by the Republican delegates, and
to give him, therefore, as the accepted leader, cordial sup-
port, is a duty which every Republican owes to the party.
Of the election of Mr. Elaine there in very little question.
The campaign thus far has shown his wonderful strength
with the people. We confess that the spontaneous move-
ment for Mr. Elaine at the West is something unprecedented.
No effort on his part was made to secure delegates. They
flocked to his banner as soon as it was raised at Chicago.
And his supporters are not political adventurers of the
noisy element which is found in every party. They repre-
sent the best type of Americans and the strongest Republi-
canism. In this State there is a feeling of opposition to Mr.
Elaine, which makes it more difficult for many Republicans
to admit that his supporters ^are among the ablest and most
conscientious men in their respective communities. This we
shall come to understand and appreciate as the contest pro-
ceeds. We do not underrate the disadvantages incident to
a campaign under ; his leadership, but we must not lose sight
of the assurance given at Chicago, that he possesses a follow-
ing greater than that of any other man in the party. He is
the choice of the Republican convention honestly and fairly
nominated, and as such will receive the cordial support of

132 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

the men who have voted for Lincoln, Grant, Hayes and
Garfield.

PHILADELPHIA Ledger : As a student of American political
history under the Constitution of the United States, there
is probably no man better versed and very few so well.
This knowledge has not been wholly acquired through his
contact with public affairs in the House of Representatives,
the Senate, and the State Department, but has been supple-
mented by extensive reading. In these respects, of large
experience in our public affairs and acquired knowledge of
our political history, it is quite probable that he is more
amply equipped for the Presidential office than any nominee
heretofore presented to the people by his party. What his
supreme ability in debate is, and of what high character is
his intellectual force, are matters within the common knowl-
edge of all who know anything of the affairs of the Federal
Government ; and so, too, of his party courage and devotion,
and his intense patriotism as an American. His party, con-
sidering it as the lineal successor of the old Whig organiza-
tion, has had no such brilliant, forcible, and popular champion
since the days of Henry Clay. His nomination must be
accepted everywhere, abroad as well as at home, as that of
one of the foremost among living American statesmen ; and
if he should be elected, no one can reproach the people of
the United States as having gone to the subordinate ranks
of their public men for the Chief Executive of their country.
PHILADELPHIA Press: Any other nomination would have
caused a disappointment to the Republican masses so deep
as to be closely akin to resentment. There never was any
doubt about Mr. Elaine's nomination except that which arose

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 133

from the fear that the representatives of the Republican
voters in convention might disregard the will of the people.
The number of those who carried their opposition to Mr.
Elaine to such length constituted but a small fraction of the
convention, and represented an altogether insignificant frac-
tion of the Republican party. The nominee of the conven-
tion will have the support of the whole party ; and now,
with such a candidate claiming their suffrages, it will be im-
possible for any portion of the people to be indifferent.
Those on whom the party ties sit lightly, and those who
ordinarily neglect the privileges of suffrage, will be drawn
to the support of Elaine by the irresistible attraction of his
strong personality and by the conviction which none can
escape, that of all our public men he is pre-eminently fit for
the office of President of the United States. The conven-
tion could not have made a nomination which would have
been as acceptable to the Republican masses or which would
have made its success in November nearly as certain or as
easy as it will now be. The nomination of John A. Logan
for Vice-president rounds out to grand proportions the ticket
so grandly led by Elaine. Patriot, Congressman, soldier,
senator, and always bold, brave, and aggressive, John A.
Logan's name is inseparably associated with the history of
the heroic period of the Republican party, and his appear-
ance at the front of the campaign of 1884 will be a bugle
call to the impulses which found their fruitage in a recon-
structed Union and an emancipated Republic. It is a happy
circumstance and one full of good omen that the two States
which put forth the ticket which lifted the Republican party
to favor in 1860 are again to the front in 1884, with the

134 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

order of honors reversed, it is true, but a combination worthy
in all true senses of the succession of Lincoln and Hamlin.
PHILADELPIA Inquirer: The contest was one which was
distinctly drawn between the people on one side and the
federal office-holders upon the other. The people won, the
office-holders lost, and the entire host of the postmasters,
tide-waiters, and gaugers were sent to the rear. The victory
was a double one inasmuch as it not only placed in nomination
the most popular leader of the rank and file of the Repub-
lican party, but that it did not place in nomination one whose
nomination would have been synonymous with irretrievable
disaster. The country, and especially the Republican party,
has reason to congratulate itself not only upon the success
of Mr. Elaine, but as well upon the defeat of Mr. Arthur,
whose candidacy represented all that was repellent to sin-
cere, patriotic Republicans. His supporters were chiefly
federal office-holders, the major part of them representing
those "rotten boroughs" of the South without a single elec-
toral vote, which claimed like representation with the great
Republican States of the North from which are to come all
the electoral votes for the Republican ticket. Can Mr. Elaine
be elected ? Yes, if any Republican can. The popular enthu-
siasm which his name evokes proves that he can carry New
York and Ohio, the crucial States, and he is probably the
one Republican leader who, being nominated, could be elected
without the vote of New York. There were enough doubt-
ful States before the convention without New York. They
are so few now as to make the vote of New York no longer
necessary. The status of the States of the Pacific Slope
and of the South-west, which were all doubtful, are now fill

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 135

certain for Elaine and victory. His is a name to win with.
The campaign will be a crusade ; the election a triumphal
march of the first choice of the people to the Presidency of
the great Republic.

PROVIDENCE Star: The announcement of the nomination
of James G. Elaine on the fourth ballot at Chicago, yester-
day afternoon, was received with more enthusiastic demon-
stration of joy than would have been manifested upon the
success of either of the other candidates, and to-day the
country enters upon a presidential campaign which will be
memorable in the political history of the Nation for the
aggressive vigor with which it will be prosecuted by the Re-
publicans. The ticket nominated at Chicago yesterday must
be elected. We have thought that it would be easy to nomi-
nate some other candidate on a conviction that some one
else, against whom less animosity has been aroused, might
more easily secure the electoral vote of certain doubtful
States ; but the National Convention, representing the Re-
publican voters of the whole country, has decided differently,
and we hold it now to be the duty of every man who believes
that the great principles of the Republican party ought to
triumph to fall into line and give the ticket the most hearty
and effective support in his power.

ST. Louis Call: Our candidate is " the tattooed man."
So his calumniators call him ; so will his opponents in this
campaign call him; so will we call him. When, in the
sixteenth century, the people of Holland, oppressed by
Spanish tyranny, sought of the Princess Margaret an ame-
lioration of their condition, they were called by the premier
at the Palace, Geux (Beggars). Stung by the reproach, but

136 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

glorying in their cause, the people took up the name. " Long
live the Guex!" they cried. Almost ere the sun had set
the name became the password of liberty, the battle-cry of
freedom, the terror of the oppressors, and the " Guex "
threw off and trampled on the Spanish yoke. They have
called him " the tattooed man." So let it be ; the word of
reproach shall be a word of honor. The word of envy
shall be a title of glory. He is a tattooed man. The
wounds of the fore front of every battle for the people's
rights during the last quarter of our century have left their
marks upon him. He is tattooed with every thing that is
highest and noblest and dearest in our history. The pres-
ervation of the union of the States, the redemption of na-
tional credit, the defeat of the rebels in war, and the more
dangerous traitors in peace with all these is this leader
tattooed. Tattooed with this, and more, tattooed with a
genius that is marvelous; tattooed with a magnificence as
a leader, with generosity as an opponent, with wisdom as a
statesman ; tattooed with a list of deeds in public life that
in spite of calumny mark him a great, true, noble man.

ST. Louis Globe-Democrat: Yesterday Mr. Elaine was
simply an individual to be passed upon for a certain use arid
object; to-day he .stands not for himself any longer, but for
the heroic and potent organization that has declared him to
be its leader of leaders and its brightest champion. His
personality has ceased to be a question for Republicans to
dispute about or to deal with otherwise than as the verdict
in his favor requires. He passed the sort of scrutiny that
is decisive and complete, and he is the embodiment now of
those beliefs and hopes, those doctrines and purposes, by

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 137

virtue of which the party has achieved all its glories in the
past, and upon which depend all its chances of prolonged
existence and usefulness. There can be no difference and no
ground of controversy about Republican principles nor about
the desirability of vindicating and maintaining them. The
fate of those principles is bound up with the fortune which
shall come to the man who has been selected to specify them
and to hold the position of foremost honor in the great im-
pending struggle for their continued application to the affairs
of the government and the interests of the people. There
is no room, therefore, for any thing but loyalty and good
faith, and no time to be wasted in regrets, or grumbling, or
lukewarmness. There seemed to us to be reasons why some
other man would have proved stronger, partially in doubtful
and vital localities, but we must have judged mistakenly.
It is certain, at least, that the sober, average, conclusive
opinion of the Republican party is not only that he is the
most fit and deserving man, all things considered, who could
be put into the field, but that he can be and will be elected.
He owes his nomination to a convention representing the
best thought and feeling, aspiration and conscience, of the
American people, and the verdict of such a body, rendered
in tones so emphatic and so enthusiastic, is not to be criti-
cised or sulked over or appealed from. The obligation of
all Republicans, whatever may have been their views in the
contest just closed, is plain and definite, and that is to ac-
cept the action of the convention in a cheerful spirit and
with a hearty and determined purpose to carry the old flag
again to victory over the obstinate and pestilent influences
of the party that lies eagerly in wait for a chance to change,

138 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

undo, and dishonor, as far as possible, the wonderful story
of the last twenty-five years of national progress. There is
no room to claim that Mr. Elaine's selection was the result
of a sudden impulse, or a mere stroke of good luck.

WASHINGTON Republican : " As you are the nominee of
the Republican party you will have my earnest and cordial
support." Chester A. Arthur. These magnanimous and no-
ble words, uttered by President Arthur to James G. Elaine
by telegram to Augusta immediately after the news had ar-
rived that the latter had defeated the former for the presi-
dential nomination, express the sentiments which should
inspire every Republican from this day to the election in
November. The question is not one of men, but of measures,
not a personal issue, but one of policy. Shall the Republican
party, with its principles of free speech, individual sovereignty,
protection of home and industry, and the laboring man, gov-
ern the nation from 1885 to 1889, or shall the Bourbon De-
mocracy dominate the country, suppressing freedom and free
utterances, trampling upon individuals, submitting to the rule
of a few arrogant and antiquated negro-haters, and sacrificing
the diversified occupations and the comfort and prosperity of
the American workmen to give profits to the English, French,
and German manufacturers who employ only pauper workmen
and pay them only starvation wages ? Before this issue men
are nothing, principles are every thing. President Arthur,
known to be wise, considerate, patriotic, sure of the electoral
vote of New York, would have been the best candidate. No
doubt would for a moment have been felt concerning his elec-
tion. But James G. Elaine has been fairly nominated. The
supreme duty of every patriot is to labor for his election.

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 139

Magnetism and enthusiasm will not do the work. But such
loyalty to the party as President Arthur has manifested,
followed by earnest and cordial labor, will give success.
There is no excuse for bolting. The Independents who
voted for Edmunds could have nominated Arthur instead of
Elaine. They preferred the latter, and nominated him by
their persistency. If any men are bound to support Mr.
Elaine, George William Curtis, Andrew D. White, Theodore
D. Roosevelt are thus committed, for to them he owes his
nomination in a fair convention. Let them now rally
grandly and nobly to his support, and give him the victory.
President Arthur has shown his self-sacrifice and devotion
to the party of freedom and progress. Let these pure and
heroic idealists, proud of their defeat of Clayton and their
nomination of Elaine, throw their souls into the great con-
test before the people and give victory in November to the
ticket of Elaine and Logan.

PORTLAND Oregonian: When great men find themselves
in the midst of their greatest responsibilities they always
develop their greatest wisdom. This is axiomatically true,
and this is what will take Mr. Elaine out of and above the
faults we have found in him. This is the hope ; at least, our
belief. The men who look for an overturning jingo policy, as
some of Mr. Elaine's acts in the past would seem to indicate,
will find themselves most sadly disappointed. Elaine is the
choice of the convention and of the people. Let us look at
his strength as it appears after this grand display at Chicago.
He is the prime representative of what is possible to a man
in this country who has the greatness to harbor great ambi-
tions and brains to sustain himself at every step upwards.

140 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Two previous conventions have said to him his time had not
come, and he has by his persistent will said to the country,
" My time will come." It has come, and he will be elected.
The average voter, Republican or Democrat, regards him as
already made President, waiting only the formalities of No-
vember. Oregon is delighted at the selection.

SAN FRANCISCO Chronicle : Elaine is the man who as Pres-
ident will do more to make this country and its citizens re-
spected than has ever been done since the foundation of the
government. Unless we much mistake his mettle, with this
man at the helm we shall have no slipshod, shilly-shally,
back-do wn-and-s wallow-insult foreign policy. We count upon
his election as an event as sure as any thing in the future
can be. As for this coast, every Pacific State will cast its
vote, for Elaine and Logan.

SAN FRANCISCO Bulletin : The whole atmosphere of Chi-
cago has been Elaine. The platform that was adopted be-
fore the nomination was made was Elaine all over. It
would have been perfectly ridiculous to have placed any
other candidate upon it. We want a strong government.
Mr. Elaine will give it to us. Continued prosperity can not
be secured without protection. Mr. Elaine is one of the
oldest exponents of the system. A new and insidious form
of slavery in the form of coolie contract labor threatens us.
Mr. Elaine understands the question in all its details. We
believe that Elaine will be elected. We can assume before-
hand that his administration will be brilliant and success-
ful. His nomination will excite the greatest joy all over
the country.

OHIO State Journal : The selection of Mr. Elaine at Chi-

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 141

cago as the standard-bearer of his party was born in enthu-
siasm and consummated in a grand climax of popular de-
mand. This sentiment among the people was very strong
months ago. It never abated, but kept on growing till it
was able to overcome the field in the National Convention.
There was at no time a stampede for Blaine. He led on
the first ballot, and continued to climb up until he had two-
thirds of the whole number of votes on the fourth ballot.
He never lost the votes that once came to him, but by a
steady pull attained the nomination in the midst of the great-
est demonstration ever held on the continent. The vast
assemblage of ten thousand people went wild when it knew
that he was the winner in a race that had been so fair and
creditable. The end reached is not only satisfactory, but
what is better, it has been reached in a most satisfactory
way. There was no accident about the selection, nor was it
that of a man with a "record of obscurity," as George
William Curtis called it.

General Logan's career has been a brilliant one alike in
military and in civil life. Commanding a division under
Grant in the siege of Vicksburg, and later the Fifteenth
Army Corps, and, on the death of McPherson, the Army of
the Tennessee, he distinguished himself on many a battle-
field by his dash and military skill. The surviving soldiers
of the war know General Logan, and his name will revive
the glorious memories of many a well-fought field. It will
also kindle the enthusiasm of the veterans wherever they are
found, and be a watchword of victory around the Republi-
can camp-fires in the political conflict now impending.
Probably no two men could have been associated together

142 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

who combine in themselves such varied and powerful ele-
ments of personal popularity as James G. Elaine and John
A. Logan. But they are not only popular men they are
men of brains, men of public experience, men whom the
Democratic party may be challenged to match. The ticket
and the platform are invincible.

HARTFORD Courant : Mr. Elaine has been a conspicuous
party leader for twenty years ; he has taken part in all the
great civil struggles of the period; he has won his way to
the front rank of leadership by native ability and splendid
acquirements ; he has made hosts of devoted friends, resem-
bling Henry Clay in the respect of an idolizing personal fol-
lowing, and he has made bitter personal enemies; but that
he is the choice of a majority of the Republican party there
is no room for doubt, and the enthusiasm for him carried
him to his triumph. With his great capacities, Mr. Elaine
has faults plain to see, but the arguments against Mr.
Elaine's candidacy are answered by the tremendous enthu-
siasm that has borne him to his position. We have not to
deal with an unknown man of an unknown cause.

COLUMBUS Dispatch : The platform of the National Re-
publican Convention is an avowal of Republican doctrine
which can not fail to please the party. It is frank and per-
spicuous on every point that it touches. When there is
anything to be said it is put clearly and forcibly, without
circumlocution or any apparent desire to hide intentions be-
hind a specious verbiage. There is no hedging in the tariff
plank. It denounces the theory of tariff " for revenue only,"
and demands the imposition of such duties on foreign im-
ports as shall afford security to our diversified industries

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 143

and protection to the rights and wages of the laborers, and
pledges the party to correct the inequalities of the tariff
and to reduce the surplus by such methods as shall relieve
the taxpayer without injury to the laborer. The wool in-
dustry receives its proper recognition and a promise of a
readjustment of duties that will give it full and adequate
protection. This is comprehensive and satisfactory. It
accurately represents the position of the Republican party
on the important tariff question. It recognizes the neces-
sity of caution in the adjustment of duties, and repudiates
the idea that the party, when it has made a false step, is
self-willed and headstrong to such an extent as to deny its
error and refuse to correct it. The wool-tariff clause is all
that the men engaged in the industry could have expected.
The clauses against the importation of foreign contract
labor, in favor of national aid to education, and against .the
acquisition of large tracts of land by non-resident aliens are
all in the interest of the citizens in poor or moderate cir-
cumstances; nor are they hypocritical bids for votes, but
honest declarations of party purpose. It is for the people
to say whether these purposes shall be given the oppor-
tunity of fruition.

TOLEDO Telegram : In James Gr. Elaine we have a candi-
date against whom every kind of political warfare has been
exhausted. He has been assaulted in the party and out of
it. His record has been examined with the microscope and
the telescope. The worst and meanest possible to say of
him has been said. There is nothing new which the most
malignant jackal of the opposition can resurrect from the
relics of the past. If James G. Elaine is not the next

144 LIFE AND SERVICES OF BLA1NE AND LOGAN.

President of the United States it will be because the Great
Commoner is not wanted. This time we have neither a
giraffe ticket nor a dark-horse ticket. We have at both
ends the strongest and best men of the party stronger
than any other combination of men that could have been
made James G. Elaine and John A. Logan. We are con-
tent beyond words. The Republican party has never gone
into a contest better equipped for victory. It has the
strongest platform ever written and the strongest men of the
party to stand up for it. The air is magnetic with the
thrill of triumph.

OMAHA Republican : The people have triumphed. Elaine
has triumphed, and in the victory of such a man is to be
found the gratification of a Nation's tribute to the great
heart, the noble intellect, and the pure, devoted life of a
thorough statesman. Republicanism is born again, under
the leadership of the best exponent of our national progress,
and the first American of his time ; the people are rallying
to a new victory. Our platform is as bold and as aggres-
sive as our candidate. No prominent man in the United
State save Elaine could stand upon that platform with per-
fect consistency.

WHEELING Intelligencer : After years of hopeless combat
with an opponent physically our superior, West Virginia
stands at the masthead of a new era. The nomination of
James G. Elaine for President will complete the work so
happily begun within our own borders, and the mountain
State will be wrested from our Bourbon domination and
again placed where she belongs in the ranks of the Repub-
lican States. The State needs the moral influence of that

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 145

position more than the Republican party needs her support.
She must shake off the shackles and move on to the march
of progress politically and industrially. Her mines, her fac-
tories, her flocks, and her workshops need the fostering care
of Republican protection. Her children need the enlighten-
ment of Republican education, the State needs Elaine.
The Democrats affect to ridicule the idea of Republican
victory in West Virginia. So did they affect to ridicule
the idea of the election of Goff to Congress, but he was
elected, and just as easily, just as surely, can we redeem
the whole State with the prestige Elaine and Logan will
give us.

CLEVELAND Herald: The voice of the Republican people
has been heard and heeded. That voice has been ringing
out Elaine, of Maine. The convention's roar was but a faint
echo of the people's voice. Not the convention, but the
people made Elaine the nominee. For the convention to
have rejected him would have been a defiance of the clearly
expressed wish of the Republican voters. It would have
been at once a blunder and a crime. Wild as was the en-
thusiasm which swept that great assemblage off its feet at
the announcement of the people's favorite, it was but a pub-
lic indication of the tremendous wave of enthusiastic energy
whose resistless tide will carry all before it this Fall and
bear Elaine in triumph into the White House next March.
His history as a public man is that of the Republican party
and the Nation. He is a typical American. It would have
been impossible to make a nomination that would be better
received in Ohio, or that would exercise a stronger influence

for good on the fortunes of the Republican party in this

146 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

State at the coming elections. In Northern Ohio, especially,
Elaine is the popular idol. His intimate association with
Garfield, and the part he bore in the tfagic events of the
closing months of the martyred President's life completely
won their hearts. He became the natural heir to the affec-
tion* they bore the deeply-loved and cruelly-lost Garfield.
No man could so stir the hearts of the people of Ohio, par-
ticularly in the Republican strongholds, and bring out the
Republican vote to the last man, as James G. Elaine, the
personal friend, the devoted adherent, the political other self
of the martyred President, James A. Garfield. His nomina-
tion insures a sweeping victory in October and a crowning
triumph in November.

TOPEKA Capital: No man in America will inspire more
zeal and a greater degree of enthusiasm in the Republican
party than he who yesterday received the nomination for
the Presidency. There is something so American about the
man. The masses love him. He has grown up among the
people a conspicuous specimen of healthy, vigorous man-
hood. In all the details of public affairs he is as well
equipped as any man now living. Mr. Elaine is a model
American. He believes that the people of the United States
form a Nation ; that the people are more interested in their
own affairs than in those of other nations ; that we are capa-
ble of adopting our own policies and protecting our own in-
terest. Springing from the common people, he knows the
wants of humble homes. He is a man of the Garfield type.
He is friendly, social, generous, big-hearted, manly, and
frank. With such a man and with such a platform the Re-
publican party will achieve success.

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 147

PITTSBURGH Commercial Gazette : In thus honoring Elaine
the convention has done an act which will meet the hearty
approval of the .great body of Republicans all over the
country. It has made success certain beyond the possibility
of a doubt, and will infuse a vigor and spirit into the cam-
paign which will be irresistible. He is the popular leader in
the country to-day, and will arouse greater enthusiasm, in-
spire a higher degree of confidence, and command a larger
support in those States which must be depended on for Re-
publican Electors, than any other man who could have been
named. Ohio, Connecticut, and California have been taken
at once out of the list of doubtful States. New York and
Indiana will rally to the standard of Elaine and Logan with
an alacrity and enthusiasm which will take the sting from
any latent opposition within the party. The prestige of his
name will give the party a fighting chance in Virginia, West
Virginia, and Florida, and if proper efforts are made in the
South, two or three States rated as " solid " may be cap-
tured. The nomination of General Logan for second place is
one which will commend itself to general approval. It is a
recognition of the soldier element, which will be fully ap-
proved and balance the geographical claims of the two great
sections with satisfactory precision.

PITTSBURGH Dispatch : Viewing the matter solely with re-
lation to the November verdict, it is scarcely to be ques-
tioned that Elaine's nomination will draw all of force and
fire there is in the Republican party. It has been charged
that he must assume the defensive on account of past mis-
takes ; but while he has, like all other public men, some of
these to his account, it will be well to bear in mind that

148 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

those who have attacked Mr. Elaine have generally caught
a Tartar. There is positively nothing in the intimation that
the business interests of the country fear him. On the con-
trary, in so far as he is more progressive and active than
his contemporaries, the business interests may fairly expect
that under his administration the development of the great
natural resources of the country would go on with quickened
energy. The American people will all the time prefer a live
man working within fair and honest limitation to an aristo-
cratic figure-head or an intellectual mummy.

INDIANAPOLIS Times : In the nominees of the Chicago Con-
vention the country can repose confidence. Their records
are well known. In Congress, James G. Elaine has given
his high talents and his great eloquence in the support and
defense of the principles of the party. He has been fore-
most in every encounter. His talents, his genius, and his
powers have so impressed themselves upon the party, that
notwithstanding two defeats that would have crushed a man
of smaller caliber, he has again entered the field and wrested
the victory even from a President whose course has been so
universally commended. He was the choice of a majority
of the Republicans of Indiana, and the action of its dele-
gates in casting its united vote for him will be ratified in
November.

MINNEAPOLIS Journal: The prophecy of the early morn-
ing was fulfilled ere the afternoon had grown old. James
G. Elaine, of Maine, was nominated on the fourth ballot.
The nomination creates unbounded enthusiasm. Elaine will
make a roaring, hip-hip-hurrah campaign, and will doubtless
be elected over any man the Democrats can put up. There

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 149

is one advantage this time we don't have to explain who
our candidate is. Everybody knows him. His record is
familiar to all, and upon it he must stand or fall. That he
will stand by a large majority and be our next President are
the indications of the hour.

HARRISBURG Telegraph : A united North will greet the
people's choice. Elaine, of Maine, will be our next Presi-
dent. Defeated and dismayed, his detractors will spit their
venom, but the people will properly answer the scandal by
their enthusiastic indorsement. The Plumed Knight will
lead his hosts to assured victory. The cheer that greeted
his nomination will be continued until the 4th of March,
1885.

BALTIMORE American : Elaine is the choice of the people.
His nomination is a victory of the people over the politicians.
A great enthusiasm formed itself spontaneously in the hearts
of Republicans, and burst like a huge wave over the petty
dykes that hostile factions and official discipline had built
up against it. Elaine has been the object of the keen attacks
of enemies without and within the party. He has had for years
to meet calumny and detraction, and to see his good work
evil spoken of. Base motives have been ascribed by malice
to his noblest actions. His genius has been underrated, his
popularity underestimated, and yet there is something about
the man that makes the people love him. Twice had the
popular voice called him to the nomination, and twice had
the politicians thwarted its will. But now the voters rose
with a power not to be withstood, and made him their can-
didate. His nomination unites the party as none other could.
The third-term party, defeated four years ago, now disappears.

150 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Its leaders are now Elaine men. Not since Grant's first term
has the Republican party been so united as now. Not since
Lincoln's second term has any leader been so beloved. The
value of this personal popularity can hardly be overrated, in
the close States. New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New
Jersey have sometimes suffered themselves to go Democratic,
but by default. This has always happened at periods of dis-
content with the Republican party management. But on a full
vote these States are Republican. Elaine's popularity will
bring out a fuller party vote than could have been brought out
by any other leader. It has been given to only a few Ameri-
cans to excite affection of this sort. Andrew Jackson, Henry
Clay, and Abraham Lincoln are among the few who have en-
joyed public esteem and love as James G. Elaine does. The
campaign of calumny and abuse has already begun. The ashes
of old accusations will be raked over in the hope of kindling
anew the fires of persecution and slander. But this will avail
nothing. Envenomed slander did its worst against Garfield,
but it did not hurt him. It can not hurt Elaine.

ALBANY Evening Journal: As we write the electric wires
are pulsating with tidings which thrill the hearts of Repub-
licans throughout the land. The Republican party, invincible
as the exponent of progressive ideas and courageous actions,
will be worthily led by the man whom it has honored with
its approval this day. All citizens who desire that this
country shall stand before the world as a Nation, great and
benignant in its might, as the robust type of successful
government by and for the people, will heartily approve the
nomination of the illustrious statesman from Maine. If the
Republican party has yet a mission to fulfill, it has shown

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 151

wisdom in the selection of a candidate who has been un-
swerving in obedience to its decisions and powerful in cham-
pionship of its settled policies. If there is need of honesty,
vigor, leadership, and capacity in the chief executive, those
qualities will be supplied in the triumphal election of that
candidate to the office of President.

ILLINOIS State Journal: James G. Elaine will be the next
President of the United States. This is the will of the Re-
public, and this foregone conclusion rests in the fact that no
other man lies so near the hearts of the American people as
the Maine statesman. His devotion to the whole body of
Republican doctrines is as unimpeachable as was that of
either of our immortal martyr Presidents, and to this fealty
he adds unequaled courage, discretion, penetration, and de-
cision. What other men require weeks or months to under-
stand he comprehends at a glance. If now the Democrats
nominate Tilden, it will simply be a contest between a pigmy
and a giant athlete, and nature decides all such contests.

MILWAUKEE Sentinel: The Republican Convention nomi-
nated James Gr. Elaine yesterday as its candidate for Presi-
dent of the United States. On the fourth ballot he received
a clear majority over all, and his nomination was made unani-
mous. It is known the Sentinel did not favor the nomination
of Mr. Elaine, for the reason that it believed there were sev-
eral other gentlemen urged as candidates equally well qualified
and more available, but in the selection of candidates the ma-
jority has the right to command, and party organization is un-
practicable when that right is denied. It is an undoubted fact
that the news of Mr. Elaine's nomination will give greater
satisfaction to a majority of the party than would that of any

152 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

other man who was proposed as a candidate, and that there
are a large number of Republicans who opposed him in the
recent contest solely because they questioned his availability,
who would be as sincerely gratified by his election to the
office of President as the most earnest advocates of his nomi-
nation.

DEsMoiNES Register: The convention has nobly answered
the popular demand of a strong, magnetic candidate, and the
enthusiasm of this campaign will exceed that of 1880, with
an equally glorious result.

EX-GOVERNOR CHAS. FOSTER: For once has a great con-
vention registered with fidelity the will of the great mass
of the people. While doubt may have existed in the minds
of some as to the propriety of Mr. Elaine's nomination, it is
apparent he is the choice of four-fifths of the people of the
land. Out of office, with no patronage at his command, and
without perhaps his own consent, he was nominated by a
spontaneity almost unparalleled in the history of the country.

SENATOR HARRISON : I am highly pleased with the nomi-
nations. Elaine has great elements of strength; he is strong
with the Irish, and will carry the Pacific Slope, New York,
and Indiana. The scandalous stories against him are not
believed. His own State approved of him, and Garfield gave
him his confidence in the most conspicuous manner possible.
His foreign policy is approved by every one, conceding that
we ought to come in closer relations with the States of South
America, and have some of that immense trade which Eng-
land now enjoys. It was nonsense to think he would involve
us in war, and the business of the country has nothing to
fear from him. He is sound on all great economic questions.

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 153

Of similar literature, the compiler of this chapter has
enough in his possession to make a book of probably 3,000
pages. The preceding excerpts are presented to indicate the
dominant sentiment from Maine to California, and additions
of the same tenor can not strengthen the exhibit. One of the
most pathetic expressions is embodied in the following tele-
gram :

CLEVELAND, June 8th.
Hon. JAS. G. ELAINE, Augusta:

Our household joins in one great thanksgiving. From the
quiet of our home we send the most earnest wish that through the
turbulent months to follow, and in the day of victory, you may be
guarded and kept. LUCRETIA R. GARFIELD.

How suggestive are these simple words, few in number,
but deep in their significance. They take us back to the
second of July, 1881, when President Garfield was murder-
ously assaulted at the National Capital, and they go with
us through that whole pitiful detail of watching and waiting
for the grim messenger till he came for the good President,
the devoted husband, the loving father, the full embodiment
of the noblest work of God, on the twentieth of September
following. And although the faithful wife was the chief
watcher through all the weary days and nights of this op-
pressive sadness, there was another whose faithfulness was
excelled by only her whose heart bled for the wounds and
the peril of her husband. That other watcher was the man
of Maine. His sympathy for, and devotion to, Garfield en-
deared him to the people, and it is not to be wondered at
that the widow of the man by whose death the government
was bereaved as sorely as was her gentle heart, should be
among the first to offer thanks that her husband's intimate

154 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

friend and trusted confidant is so soon to succeed him in the
highest seat of the Nation.

The expression of the press, of public men and private
citizens of his own party, is as cordial for Elaine as it was
for Garfield in 1880, with this addition the enthusiasm of
the masses is infinitely more hearty. Those who were hope-
lessly disappointed at Chicago are few, and they go off upon
the inexpediency of the nomination simply because they fear
the fearlessness of Elaine in a great national campaign.
Fearlessness in political life and action will be at a premium
after this year, especially in the United States. It will be
found valuable to its possessors. The Republican party, as
a whole or as a combination of various parts, has never b.een
for a moment superior to the man they recognized as their
leader on the sixth of June, at Chicago. It is true that his
brilliancy, his prominence, his success, have excited the envy
of some individuals in the Republican ranks, and this is per-
haps natural; that is to say, the cause is so great that prob-
ably these individuals can not control the promptings of
jealousy ; but however this may be, it is very certain that
they are not strong enough to harm its object. The paper
pellets showered upon him by a little junta of " independ-
ents," in New York, fall as harmless as snow-flakes upon a
hundred-ton pile-driver; and it is predicted that for every
vote he loses in New York, from the beauocracy, he will
gain ten from the bone and sinew. It will be found out
that in a great political contest, a vote scented with lavender
counts no more than one with the flavor of toil upon it, and
the intelligent toiler knows his friend in James G. Elaine.
He knows that the friend of the people must, perforce, be

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 155

the people's friend, and that the overwhelming influence
which bore upon the Chicago Convention, and smashed every
anti-Elaine movement even the kid-glove and white necktie
cohorts was the imperative demand of the people for the
recognized leadership of the Plumed Knight.

It is unquestionable that the convention nominated the
man who is strongest with the people, and that in reality
the action of the convention was simply the ratification of
the people's will. It is unquestionable that, as a well-known
writer graphically states it, the convention " escaped the
colossal foolishness of being stampeded, like a head of wild
asses of the desert, into a nomination which would surprise
the country, and would dissolve party allegiance." It es-
caped the demoralization of the nomination of an obscure
candidate, and brought forward a nominee whose position,
talent, and requirements indicate that ability, distinction, and
leadership in the party combine in a formidable recommenda-
tion for the place at the head of the party.

Weeks before the Chicago Convention it was in the or-
dinary conversation of intelligent men in all parts of the
country, that Elaine would be the nominee. Other candi-
dates had their friends, who were faithful in claiming high
qualities and distinguished statesmanship for those preferred,
but they were not self-confident, as were the friends of
Elaine ; and the consciousness that the statesman of the
Lumber State was by a large majority the preference of the
country soon took possession of the public mind. That in
a large degree the wish was father to this consciousness,
there is no question, but the public press was not backward
in coming to its assistance and furnishing an intelligent echo

156 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

of the general sentiment. And in the extracts which make
up a goodly portion of this chapter, the press echo is simply
continued.

A point worthy of more than passing note was proved
at the Chicago Convention, and with an emphasis which de-"
mands some patient afterthought. Had the nomination of
Elaine depended alone upon the votes of delegates from the
Republican States, there would have been no contest. The
prize would have been his by an overwhelming majority on
the first ballot. His support from these constituencies
would have been as spontaneous as the electric flash from
the surcharged elements, and as effective in shivering all op-
posing forces. The strength of President Arthur's candi-
dacy was with the Southern delegates and in the vast pa-
tronage of the administration ; not to any extent in the
National Republican party. Senator Sherman had some
strength in his own State; General Logan carried his State
delegation, and so did that pure Republican, Hon. Joseph
R. Hawley. Senator Edmunds had the warm support of
a goodly part of New England and a very pretty slice of
New York and all of these were upon a better basis of
support than the following of President Arthur. Yet Presi-
dent Arthur was Elaine's principal rival, and he was readily
beaten by the man who had nothing to promise, nothing to
give, and who has from the first despised every thing like
finesse and strategy as the price of preferment.

It is no part of the object of this work to criticise Re-
publicans in any section of the country, but we have desired
to show in a few words how completely the course of
Elaine's friends in the convention was and is justified by the

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 157

voice of Republican voters ; and how much nobler their
action proved than any dark-horse strategy that could have
been desired, or any action that would have thrust upon the
people a candidate they did not want. There was genuine
bravery at Chicago, and it was shown in the confident and
open tactics of Mr. Elaine's supporters after a style which
gives the nomination great distinction. Says Mr. Samuel
R. Reed : " Not only does the action of the convention make
the leading Republican the leader of this campaign and the
official head of the party, but it will have a lasting moral
effect on future conventions by killing the base doctrine
that the national convention is a slaughter-house for the
leaders of the party, and that he who is most popular is the
most unlikely to be nominated. It lays out for good the
mean assumption that the convention is the place for jockey-
ing tactics to defeat the will of the people by the ( field ' of
weaklings combining to beat the popular leader. The great
principal of natural selection and the survival of the fittest
has ruled the event. The strongest leader is put in the
lead. The party is marshaled in the natural order for the
campaign. Future conventions will be braced up by this
precedent in the rule that the leader is not to be sacrificed,
but to be nominated."

People and press are enjoying comparisons between Mr.
Elaine and Henry Clay. This is in the nature of a compli-
ment to the living great man and to the distinguished dead
alike, and at the same time it is suggestive in a political
sense. The life and character of Henry Clay should be
carefully studied by the youth of America. To those of
advanced age they are well known, but our young men can

158 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

find nothing more instructive in the way of American
biography. His humble childhood and early struggles, his
subsequent, long, and brilliant career, his great public ser-
vices and eminently noble qualities, are all rife with in-
structive lessons.

From his birth in a Virginia farm-house, amid the con-
flict of the Revolution, and his entrance, an unfriended
youth, into the hardships of a professional life in the West,
up to his last exit from the chief council of the Nation;
whether uttering the words of eloquence at the bar or in
the senate-chamber; whether raising a determined voice for
the birth of other republics in the new world, and against
the oppression of long-struggling, famished, and down-trod-
den Greece, or presenting an equally determined front to
the encroachments of executive power at home; whether
representing the dignity and worth of the American name
in a foreign country, or, in our own midst, forming, defend-
ing, establishing the great American system of finance ; or,
by the efforts of an almost despairing eloquence, seeking to
save the Republic from dishonor, disunion, and ruin ; no one
of these, or the many other high stations occupied by him
before the public in a long and busy life, did Mr. Clay ever
leave with the suspicion of stain upon his character, or
without an addition to his honorable fame.

In some things he was greater, because more advanced,
than his party ; and in this respect Mr. Elaine was like
him ten years ago. The party has now overtaken the
leader. Mr. Clay was the most brilliant and versatile
statesman of his time. His dash, his daring, his clear-
sighted comprehension of affairs, and hence, his successes,

THE PRESS AND THE PEOPLE. 159

excited the jealousy of his compatriots and the intense
hatred of his opponents. Herein the comparison holds good
again. Mr. Clay was a national man. This statement re-
quires no proof. Neither would a similar statement of Mr.
Elaine's position. Mr. Clay was in the best sense an honor-
able, high-minded man, whom his friends were always ready
to trust in his measures, because they were fully convinced
of the soundness and elevation of his principles. The con-
fidence Mr. Elaine's friends repose in him could not be more
fully described in a sentence. But it is possible that Mr.
Elaine has a larger grasp of the public " situation " than
was ever enjoyed by Clay, and a more alert prescience of
the course of events. However, there is so much to ad-
mire in both, and so little to condemn in either, we may
rest content with the points of likeness already established.

160 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

CHAPTER IX.

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE.

" Who makes by force his merit known,

And lives to clutch the golden keys,

To mould a mighty state's decrees,
And shape the whisper of the throne :
And moving up from high to higher,

Becomes on fortune's crowning slope,

The pillar of a people's hope,
The center of a world's desire." TENNYSON.

IN THE HOUSE.

IN the past twenty-five years the atmosphere of politics
has been cleansed, and a vigilant supervision over all de-
partments of the public service encouraged, by the election
to Congress of more able and fair-minded men than had im-
mediately, previous to the period named, distinguished that
representative body. For the better part, we think, these
men have been practical, matter-of-fact individuals, whose
rights and duties were not theories, but crystalized facts ;
whose heroism in their defense sprang from clear concep-
tions of truth and justice; whose consistency has been treas-
ured as a jewel indeed. Many of them have enjoyed sin-
gular felicity in expression and emphasis of truth. This
does not mean rhetorical self-elation, nor forensic fisticuffs,
nor any trick of words, but that spontaneous welling up of
fact and principle which comes in spite of opposition, and

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 161

sometimes thrives upon its opposing forces. It rests upon a
substratum of that degree of integrity which was tested by
one of the Romaa emperors. Wishing to place the most
worthy of his courtiers in the important offices, he resolved
upon an ingenious expedient to ascertain their merits. He
pretended that he would banish all those from his presence
and court who did not renounce Christianity. A considerable
number, in whom the love of place was stronger than religious
integrity, renounced Christianity with remarkable promptness.
The prince then promoted those who kept firm to their faith
and banished the others from his court, saying : " They who
are untrue to their God will not be faithful to their prince."
Those public servants who are not governed by integrity
will be untrue to their trusts, whenever the occasion prom-
ises to gratify their ambition or result in their pecuniary
profit. We need not go back to remote ages for examples.
It is unnecessary to cite Warren Hastings, or Arthur Gor-
gey, or Benedict Arnold, in proof of the depravity charged.
Modern instances are quite too plentiful to need a support
from precedent, and, although we can not insist that a pub-
lic man shall be in advance of his age in the exercise of the
higher virtues, we certainly have a right to expect that our
law-makers will furnish living examples of obedience to law
and order. We have a right to expect from them better
examples than were furnished in that era of passion when
Charles Sumner was stricken down by a blow from a bludg-
eon in the hands of a fellow-member of our national Legis-
lature ; and, thank God ! our government is now in a position
to enforce the realization of this expectation, if force ever

becomes necessary for such purposes.

162 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

Its strength in twenty-five years has increased five thou-
sand fold, divided as follows :

Moral strength, 1,000

Intellectual strength, 1,000

Physical strength 1,000

Self-respect, . . 1,000

Respect of the World, ... . . . . 1,000

How has this result been reached ? By growth ; by the
assertion of power long dormant; by a general awakening
to the fact that we are a Nation. Thirty years ago we
were more strange to ourselves than to the world. We had
come into the belief that our institutions were permanently
established ; that nothing could disturb them ; that exertion
on our part to ward off dangers which apparently threatened
was mere waste of energy; in fact, that we were invulner-
able ; in effect, that republican institutions were a palladium
to protect us against dangers from without and within. Our
people had no idea that there were citizens of the Union
base enough to defile the ark of republican covenant and
break the tables of the organic law however poisonous the
scummy threat that often rose to the surface of debate.
Most of these threats were mere vaporings for the occasion,
and probably none were more surprised than their utterers
when they were partially realized in events. Those who
threatened civil war with the greatest show of passion
were among th'e last to believe in the possibility of such a
result.

When Mr. Elaine entered the National House, the country
was being torn by internecine conflict between two sections
without natural geographical division, and having no disagree-

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 163

ment except upon one point of Republican doctrine, that the
majority should make the laws and direct the government.
A considerable faction denied this right upon the question
of slavery in the Territories, and upon permitting slavery in
new States as they were admitted, and therefore they declared
and waged war against the majority, who believed that re-
publican institutions should not be subordinated to any ques-
tion of expediency, nor, in fact, to any question. In the
language of Mr. Seward, this minority represented " the per-
version of a temporary and partisan excitement, and an incon-
siderate purpose of unjustifiable and unconstitional aggres-
sion upon the rights and the authority vested in the Federal
Government." This was a corre3t view of the insurgents at
the beginning of active hostilities, but neighborhood sym-
pathy and coercion all combined to enlarge the forces of the
rebel element, and make them more formidable in the field
than they had shown themselves in the arena of debate.

Mr. Elaine entered Congress in 1863, at a time when
conflicts between the forces of the Union and the Confed-
eracy " were frequent, and in which the palm of victory was
about equally divided ; or, if there was any difference, it
favored the side of disunion. It was just after Gettysburg
and Chickamauga. The North was enveloped in gloom as
with a pall. Volunteer additions to the army had almost
ceased, and an order for heavy conscriptions had been made.
The President and the Congress were evidently involved in
the perplexities of an obscure problem, for which there was
no rule, and no way to a solution except through a miracle.
This is the picture the situation presented to people of obser-
vation in the autumn and winter of 1863-4, and they looked

164 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

to Congress and the President to improve the status. The
fact is, neither our army nor our people had, until this epoch,
been aggressive enough for the purposes of real warfare. We
had been afraid of hurting the people of the South, either in
their persons or their sensibilities, and some of our generals
had preferred the plan of frightening them into submission
by digging entrenchments remote from their positions to ball
cartridge at short range, and steel to steel in a charge of
cavalry. There had been some desperate fighting, but much
of it was like the sham engagements of the old citizen militia
on muster days, when perspiration, not blood, was shed in
lavish abundance.

So it will be seen that Mr. Elaine entered Congress at a
time when aggressive men were in demand men quick and
firm in action, with strong determination, without desultori-
ness or ambiguity men who, like Burke, regarded difficulty
as " a severe instructor, set over us by the supreme ordi-
nance of a parental guardian and legislator, who knows us
better than we know ourselves. He that wrestles with us,
strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill," says Burke.
" Our antagonist is our helper. This conflict with difficulty
obliges us to an intimate acquaintance with our object, and
compels us to consider it in all its relations." The truth of
these words was proved by the great leaders of the Thirty-
eighth Congress, among whom were Ramsey, Morgan, Trum-
bull, Harlan, Morrill, Garfield, Davis, Sumner, Chandler,
Hale, Wade, Sherman, Wilmot, Anthony, Foot, Farnsworth,
Ingersoll, Washburne, Colfax, Julian, Orth, Allison, Bout-
well, Dawes, Windom, Fenton, Ashley, Schenck, Kelley,
Baxter, Wallace, and fifty others scarcely less distinguished.

BLAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 165

Mr. Elaine did not essay any of the functions of leadership
in this Congress. He was but thirty-three years of age,
and, as he expressed it, "felt more like studying his duty
first, and then he could perform it with more satisfaction to
himself and the country." He proved a good student.
The first session of this Congress was largely devoted to the
consideration of the abolition of slavery. For the further-
ance of this object, it was proposed to submit to the States
a Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The public
mind was ready for it, and anxious to bring to a test the
vexed question which had occasioned so much anxiety and
bloodshed in the past three years.

Congress and the President had recognized, in the inevi-
table course of events, that the abolition of American slav-
ery was a foregone conclusion, and on January 1, 1863, the
Proclamation of Emancipation had been promulgated. Al-
though it was a surprise to the people, it was greeted at
the North by thousands upon thousands as a war measure
of most excellent device; whereas, as a measure of peace,
these same thousands would have denounced it as an expe-
dient of the most wicked robbery. The President resorted
to it with reluctance, and only as a military necessity. He
was anxious to compensate the border States for all pecun-
iary loss it might occasion them, and they, with several
designated localities in other slave States, were excepted
from the operation of the Proclamation. Mr. Lincoln was
one of the most conservative men of his party, and depre-
cated precipitation in the change of any established order.
The first proposition in Congress so to amend the Constitu-
tion as to prohibit American slavery, was made by Hon.

166 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

James M. Ashley, of Ohio, and zealously advocated by him
from the beginning to the date of its final accomplishment.
Mr. Elaine earnestly seconded him in speech and vote
through the entire contest, and assisted in defeating an op-
position at once intelligent and unscrupulous ; but the young
Congressman was modest, and did*not come to the front as a
leader for several years. So slight an impression did his
appearance make upon Speaker Colfax, at first, that he was
placed near the tail of the Military Committee, which was
otherwise composed of six generals, fresh from the field,
and two Democrats, fresh from their constituents. What an
opportunity was that for a civilian who had never smelled
gunpowder ? The clerk of that committee, now a journalist,
relates that the young Congressman from Maine captured his
heart without ceremony by his terse, interesting, paragraphy
way of talking, and his perfect remembrance of all impor-
tant political facts in our national history. He told this
clerk, in a confidential chat one day, that he meant to get
upon the Appropriations Committee in the next Congress,
and in the Congress following he hoped to get a chair-
manship. Then, he said, he would look forward to the
speaker's chair. Observe this evidence of his prescience ;
for it all came about as he had planned, except that he be-
came Speaker two years sooner than he had thought would
be possible. His plans were always made in advance the
full line of his future marked out and faithfully worked up
to ; hence his systematic performance and distinguished suc-
cess. In less than two years from the time he thus spoke
of the objects of his ambition, he was chairman of the Ap-
propriations Committee, and in four years was speaker of the

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 167

House, by the unanimous nomination of the Republican
members in caucus.

A brief sketch^of Mr. Elaine's position upon the ques-
tions which agitated the country immediately succeeding
the civil war, and previous to his elevation to the speaker-
ship, will furnish the reader with all necessary information
regarding the' subject of this memoir during the period
named. It is scarcely necessary to premise that his posi-
tions upon all questions of general interest are positive, and
often pronounced, even to the point of aggressiveness. No-
body can charge him with dodging an issue or seeking to
evade any responsibility that seemed proper for him to as-
sume. We make the following extracts from his remarks in
reply to reflections cast upon the State of Maine by Hon.
S. S. Cox, delivered in the House, June 2, 1864 :

" If there be a State in this Union that can say with
truth that her federal connection confers no special benefit
of a material character, that State is Maine. And yet, sir,
no State is more attached to the Federal Union than Maine.
Her affection and her pride are centered in the Union, and
God knows that she has contributed of her best blood and
treasure without stint in supporting the war for the Union ;
and she will do so to the end. But she resents, and I,
speaking for her, resent the insinuation that she derives
any undue advantage from federal legislation, or that she

gets a single dollar she does not pay back I

have spoken in vindication of a State that is as inde-
pendent and as proud as any within the limits of the
Union. I have spoken for a people as high-toned and
as honorable as can be found in the wide world many

168 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

of them my constituents who are as manly and as brave
as ever faced the ocean's storms. So long, sir, as I have
a seat on this floor, the State of Maine shall not be slan-
dered by the gentleman from Ohio, or by gentlemen from
any other State.

"A great deal has been said recently in the other end
of the Capitol in regard to the fishing bounties, a portion
of which is paid to Maine. I have a word to say on that
matter, and I may as well say it here. According to the
records of the Navy Department, the State of Maine has
sent into the naval service since the beginning of this war
six thousand skilled seamen, to say nothing of the trained
and invaluable officers she has contributed to the same
sphere of patriotic duty. For these men the State has
received no credit whatever on her quotas for the Army.
If you will calculate the amount of bounty that would have
been paid to that number of men had they enlisted in the
army, instead of entering the navy, as they did without
bounty, you will find it will foot up a larger sum than
Maine has received in fishing bounties for the past twenty
years. Thus, sir, the original proposition on which fishing
bounties were granted that they would build up a hardy
and skillful class of mariners for the public defense in time
of public danger has been made good a hundred and a
thousand-fold by the experience and the developments of
this war."

On the 21st June he added this further testimony upon
the same subject : " The sentiment of Maine is loyal to the
core, and she has shown her loyalty by complying with
patriotic readiness to all demands thus far made upon her

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 169

for soldiers to recruit the army or for sailors to man the
navy."

On the same .day, June 21, 1864, he spoke upon the
Conscription bill, and the following extract will afford a fair
idea of the spirit of his remarks :

"A conscription is a hard thing at best, Mr. Speaker,
but the people of this country are patriotically willing to
submit to one in this great crisis, for the great cause at
stake. There is no necessity, however, for making it abso-
lutely merciless and sweeping. I say, in my judgment there
is no necessity for making it so, even if there were no ante-
cedent question as to the expediency and practicability of
the measure. I believe the law, as it stands, allowing com-
mutation and substitution, is sufficiently effective, if judi-
ciously enforced. It will raise a large number of men by its
direct operation, and it will secure a very large amount of
money with which to pay bounties to volunteers.

" I can not refrain from asking gentlemen around me,
whether in their judgment the pending measure, if submitted
to the popular vote, would receive the support of even a
respectable minority in any district in the loyal States?
Just let it be understood that whoever the lot falls on must
go, regardless of all business considerations, all private in-
terests, all personal engagements, all family obligations ; that
the draft is to be sharp, decisive, final, and inexorable, with-
out commutation and without substitution, and my word for
it, you will create consternation in all the loyal States. Such
a conscription was never resorted to but once, even in the
French Empire under the absolutism of the first Napoleon;
and for the Congress of the United States to attempt its en-

170 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

forcement upon their constituents is to ignore the first prin-
ciples of republican and representative government."

When the Enrollment bill was under consideration in the
House, February 21, 1865, Mr. Elaine moved to amend the
second section by adding the following :

" Provided, That in any call for troops, no county, town,
township, ward, precinct, or election district, shall have
credit except for men actually furnished on said call, or
preceding call, by said county, town, township, ward, pre-
cinct, or election district, and mustered into the military or
naval service on the quota thereof."

In favor of this amendment, among other things, Mr.
Elaine said : " Throughout the whole country we hear of
substitute brokers selling these credits, obtained in some
mysterious way, as one would sell town scrip in the market ;
and from this source has risen a large number of those con-
structive ' paper credits ' against which my amendment is
leveled, and which, for the future, it will prevent. It may
not be in our power to remedy the wrong practices of the
past, but from this time forward we can guard against the
repetition of these practices. We can deal with equal and
exact justice to all men and to all sections; and above all,
we can deal justly by the government in its struggle for
existence. In its hour of peril it calls for men living,
active, resolute men, and it is worse than madness to answer
this call with any thing else than men.

" Let me say in conclusion, Mr. Speaker, that nothing so
discourages and disheartens the brave men at the front as
the belief that proper measures are not adopted at home for
re-enforcing and sustaining them. Even a lukewarmness or

ELAINE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 171

a backwardness in that respect is enough ; but when you
add to that the suspicion that unfair devices have been re-
sorted to by those -charged with filling quotas, you naturally
influence the prejudices and passions of our veterans in the
field in a manner calculated to lessen their personal zeal and
generally to weaken the discipline of the army. After four
years of such patriotic and heroic effort for national unity as
the world has never witnessed before, we can not now afford
to have the great cause injured or its fair fame darkened by
a single unworthy incident connected with it. The improper
practices of individuals can not disgrace or degrade the
Nation ; but after these practices are brought to the attention
of Congress, we shall assuredly be disgraced and degraded
if we fail to apply the requisite remedy when that remedy
is in our power. Let us then, in this hour of triumph to
the national arms, do our duty here, our duty to the troops
in the field, our duty to our constituents at home, and our
duty, above all, to our country, whose existence has been in
such peril in the past, but whose future of greatness and
glory seems now so assured and so radiant."

During the whole period of reconstruction, Elaine was
one of the most active, energetic, and useful members of the
House. He was vigorous, but calm; determined, but not
acrimonious ; urgent in the presentation of fact and argu-
ment, but willing to hear and weigh all his opponent had to
present. In shaping some of the more important features
of the Fourteenth Amendment, particularly that relating to
the basis of representation, his efforts were unceasing till
they were crowned by success. There are few things more
valuable and interesting in the history of Congress than the

172 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

deliberations which led to practical reconstruction, and in
every phase of these, by word and deed, Mr. Elaine bore a
prominent part.

December 10, 1866, he spoke upon, " What the Govern-
ment Owes Its Subjects." We quote briefly as follows:

" Among the solemn duties of a sovereign government is
the protection of those citizens who, under great temptations
and amid great perils, maintain their faith and their loyalty.
The obligation on the Federal Government to protect the
loyalists of the South is supreme, and they must take all
needful means to secure that protection. Among the most
needful is the gift of free suffrage, and that must be guaran-
teed. There is no protection you can extend to a man so
effective and conclusive as the power to protect himself.
And in assuring protection to the loyal citizens, you assure
permanency to the government ; so that the bestowal of suf-
frage is not merely the discharge of a personal obligation
toward those who are enfranchised, but it is the most far-
sighted provision against social disorder, the surest guaranty
of peace, prosperity, and public justice."

While Mr. Elaine was absent in Europe, in 1867, there
was quite an excitement in various parts of the country over
the specious theory of paying the debt of the government
in greenbacks or in other words, taking up one form of obli-
gation by substituting another. Mr. Pendleton in Ohio, and
General Butler in Massachusetts, had set this paper ball in
motion, and it seemed to be making some headway. Shortly
after his return, in the autumn of 1867, at a special adjourned
session of Congress, Mr. Elaine attacked the Pendleton-
Butler heresy in a speech which showed up the absurdity

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 173

of the theory upon which it was based, and the utter folly
of calling the means it proposed by the commercial name of
payment. This speech is reproduced in another part of the
present work, but herewith we submit a shorter effort on
the same subject which will be found interesting. It was
delivered by Mr. Elaine in the House, March 7, 1868, and
is as follows :

" The questions involved in paying off the five-twenty
bonds, Mr. Chairman, are surrounded to a considerable ex-
tent with gratuitous misrepresentations of heated partisans,
and to no small degree, I fear, with honest misapprehensions
on the part of those who desire the maintenance of the
public credit untarnished and inviolate. Having addressed
the House at some length on this subject at the opening of
the session, I desire now to add a few words by way of appen-
dix, and possibly of explanation of some errors which are
industriously disseminated through the country.

" First. Many persons seem to imagine, and many Demo-
cratic papers have deliberately stated, that a proposition has
been made in Congress to pay off the five-twenty bonds in
coin at this time, while gold commands a heavy premium over
greenbacks. And on this groundless premise many honest-
minded men wax exceeding worth, and cry out with proper
indignation against the bondholder having gold when the
pensioner, the soldier, and the day-laborer have to take green-
backs for what is due to them. Now, to all persons afflicted
with this error, let me say that no man in Congress has been
fool enough or knave enough to propose that the five-twenties
be paid in gold a single day before the greenbacks shall be paid
in gold likewise. The man who holds a greenback holds the

174 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

government obligation to pay in gold just as much as a man
who holds a five-twenty bond, and it would be just cause
of complaint if the government should anticipate the pay-
ment of the five-twenties in gold before it is ready to pay
the greenback in gold also. The first series of the five-
twenties will not fall due until May, 1882, more than four-
teen years from this time. Long before that date is reached
we shall be on specie-paying basis, and every holder of a
greenback will be able to secure gold for it at his option,
and then there will no longer be any objection to paying the
bondholder in gold also. Nor, indeed, on the other hand,
will the bondholder then object to being paid in greenbacks,
as the two kinds of currency will then be convertible and
co-equal.

"Second. Those who clamor for paying off the five-
twenties in greenbacks at this time, on the ground that
money which is good enough for the pensioner, the soldier,
and the day-laborer, is good enough for the bondholder like-
wise, seem to forget that the process by which they would
so easily get rid of the bondholder involves most destructive
consequences to the pensioner, the soldier, the day-laborer,
and every other person who owns, handles, or uses green-
backs. It is palpable and admitted that the five-twenties can
not be paid off in greenbacks without a very large inflation
of the currency, and to inflate the currency is to render
each particular dollar worth so much less, to rob each par-
ticular dollar of its purchasing power, to the precise extent
that the inflation is carried. And if this inflation be carried
to the $300,000,000 of new and additional issue advocated
by the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Butler), in his

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 175

elaborate speech a few weeks since, the result must be
ruinous and distressing in the extreme to pensioners, soldiers,
day-laborers, and ajl other classes whose means are limited.
Indeed, with the amount of inflation named, I confidently
believe that the classes of citizens to whom I have referred
and all others similarly situated would be deprived in effect
of nearly one-half of what they now receive. To my mind
no more ingenious and certain way of robbing the class who
have small fixed incomes or who work for daily wages could
possibly be devised than to pay off the five-twenty bonds in
greenbacks procured by an additional and inflated issue. On
the other hand, if no mischievous delusion of this kind be
resorted to, we shall without any farther contraction of the
currency, and without any financial convulsion, gravitate
steadily and safely toward specie payment. We shall thus,
without diminishing the present volume of greenbacks, be
continually enhancing their purchasing power, making the
money of pensioners, soldiers, and day-laborers far more
valuable to them, month by month and year by year, and in
the end render a paper dollar the full equivalent of a gold
dollar. Then, when the government shall be paying its green-
back creditor in gold, there will certainly be no objection to
paying the bondholder in gold also; and no one proposes to
do it a day earlier I

" Third. Does any sane man doubt that the inflation of
the currency would speedily result in its depreciation? If
so, he shuts his eyes to the prominent facts of history, to our
own experience as a Nation, and to the plainest deductions of
common sense. An excess of irredeemable money at once
raises the price of all commodities necessary for daily con-

176 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

sumption. Clothing becomes higher and food becomes higher
without a corresponding increase on the part of those of
limited means to purchase these articles. The rich can
stand it, but what would become of the poor? The man
who lives by his daily toil would find the necessaries of life
run up in price far beyond any increase he could hope to
secure for his labor; and it would soon become a struggle
for existence with him and his family. I do not think any
imagination can picture or foretell the misery that would be
inflicted on this country if the currency should be inflated
to the extent necessary tp pay the five-twenties in green-
backs, as advocated by the gentleman from Massachusetts
[Mr. Butler], and the gentleman from Ohio, not now a mem-
ber of this House [Mr. Pendleton]. And in this connec-
nection I desire further to say that it is an immense delu-
sion to attribute any of the dullness now prevalent in busi-
ness circles to a scarcity of money. We have over seven
hundred million of dollars of paper money now in circulation
nearly three times as much as the entire bank circulation of
the United States prior to 1861, while it is quite notori-
ous that the money markets in our chief business centers
were rarely known to be easier, or more abundantly sup-
plied than during the whole of this winter. Moreover busi-
ness of all kinds in France and England at this time is far
duller than with us ; and yet, in both these countries the ple-
thora of money is in excess of what was ever known before.
The Bank of France alone holds a surplus of $200,000,000,
and a corresponding amount is held in the Bank of England
and by the large banking houses at Frankfort-on-the-Main.
In view of these facts it seems to me that no delusion is so

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 177

absurd as to suppose that any relief could come from an in-
flation of the currency. Misery, wide-spread and hopeless,
would be its onlyjand inevitable result.

"Fourth. Nor do I see how any gentleman can consist-
ently propose an inflation of the currency in the face of
an express and solemn pledge to the contrary by Congress.
When the government was very hard pressed for money, and
when the great fear was that our whole financial fabric, like
the continental system of our Revolutionary ancestors might
be utterly and hopelessly ruined by a deluge of paper money,
Congress, by deliberate enactment of June 30, 1864, pledged
to all the public creditors that " the total amount of treas-
ury notes issued or to be issued should never exceed $400,-
000,000." We are now within $40,000,000 of that amount,
and if we were ever so eager to pay off our five-twenties in
greenbacks we are absolutely estopped by the $400,000,000
pledge. If we disregard that pledge we might just as well
trample on others and take a short cut at once to repudia-
tion and national bankruptcy. A government that will dis-
regard one solemn pledge can not expect to be trusted on
other pledges.

"Fifth. Being thus estopped from procuring greenbacks
by an additional issue, where else can we secure them for
the purpose of paying off our five-twenty bonds at this
time? We have no surplus in the treasury available for
this purpose, and there remains but one resource, and that
is to secure them by taxation. But do the people desire at
this time to be taxed for the purpose of anticipating the
payment of a debt which does not fall due for more than

fourteen years to come? The general, I may say universal,

178 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

demand from the people is for a reduction of taxes to the
lowest point consistent with a rigidly economical administra-
tion of the general government; and, for one, I am in favor
of the repeal and removal of every tax that can possibly be
dispensed with especially those taxes that hinder and em-
barrass the manufacturing and productive industry of the
country. With the taxes thus reduced we can certainly
hope for no surplus to apply to the redemption of the five-
twenties, and it would seem to me an intolerable burden and
an inexcusable folly to lay taxes on the people at this time
for the purpose of anticipating the payment of a large por-
tion of the entire national debt. It is enough, in all con-
science, to pay the interest; and it seems little short of
madness to propose levying taxes for the purpose of taking
from the pockets of the people a sufficient amount of green-
backs to anticipate the payment of a large share of the
principal !

" Sixth. There is in the United States to-day an amount
of gold and silver coin variously estimated at from two hun-
dred and fifty to four hundred and fifty million dollars,
every cent of which is as useless for purposes of a circu-
lating medium as though it were all buried in the depths
of the ocean. To inflate the currency is to increase the
premium on gold and remove it still further from sight.
But if we do not destroy our currency by a wild inflation,
we shall, within a brief period, reach a point where paper
will be the equivalent of gold, and then the vast amount of
specie will at once spring into circulation. There is no
danger of inflation from an excess of gold and silver, because
the laws of export and of supply and demand resulting

BLAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 179

from our commercial intercourse with other nations will
always maintain a just equilibrium in the matter of a specie
currency. The danger of inflation, with its manifold and
multiplying evils, arises only when we have an irredeemable
paper currency, which can not be used to pay a single dol-
lar that we owe abroad, and whose permanent existence is
an anomaly at war with all the interests of commerce and
trade. As soon as we reach the point where the govern-
ernment is able to pay gold for its greenbacks we shall
thereby and at once call the whole mass of gold, now so se-
curely hoarded, into the channels of circulation, to quicken
industry and give stability to our financial system. Is not
that a far better and wiser course than to inflate our cur-
rency by a forced attempt to anticipate the payment of our
five-twenties, and thus launch our whole country on a wild
career of paper money, in which speculators will make enor-
mous fortunes, and in which rich men will uniformly grow
richer, but in which the poor will be ground down to abso-
lute beggary, the men of moderate means deprived of their
resources, and the day laborer be utterly unable to subsist
on the fruit of his toil? This era of speculation, with all
of its evils, would be the direct result of that policy which
clamors to-day for the payment of the five-twenties in
greenbacks the greenbacks to take care of themselves
when they have done their work of financial ruin leaving
us a bankrupt people with a dishonored debt and a debased,
unredeemed, and irredeemable currency. The other policy,
which I have done my utmost to support and uphold, is to
pay both bond and greenback in gold not now, but in our
own good time and not to pay the bond in gold until after

180 LIFE AND SERVICES OF BLAINE AND LOGAN.

the greenback shall be paid in gold likewise. In other
words, the policy which I advocate is to bring our entire
currency in due season, without haste, without rashness,
without contraction, without financial convulsion, up to the
specie standard : calling into circulation the vast amount of
gold and silver which now lies hidden and buried having
all our business conducted on a safe and secure basis, when
labor shall meet with its full reward, when every man will
know what he is dealing in and how much he is worth, and
when the entire country will rejoice in an abundant circula-
tion of both gold and paper, in which paper will be as good
as gold, and gold no better than paper."

Mr. Blame's position upon the currency question and upon
the finances of the country has been sound and conservative
from his first entrance into public life. He always labored to
bring the greenback up to par with gold, and fought the plan,
when introduced into Congress, of retiring the greenback
while its value was depreciated. He favored the contraction
of the greenback issue as soon as it could be safely and
honestly effected ; opposed inflation in all forms ; and coun-
seled economy in every department of the government.
While chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, it was
his practice to scrutinize every item introduced into a bill,
and his policy to reduce as many as would bear reduction.
He had several forensic tilts with General Logan on his
attempts to cut down the cost of maintaining the army.

Mr. Elaine's anticipations regarding the then impending
administration of General Grant were thus expressed in the
House on December 10, 1868 :

" General Grant's administration will have high vantage

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 181

ground from the day of its inauguration. Its responsibili-
ties will indeed be great ; its power will be large ; its oppor-
tunities will be splendid ; and to meet them all we have a
tried and true man, who adds to his other great elements of
strength that of perfect trust and confidence on the part of
the people. And to reassure ourselves of his executive
character, if reassurance were necessary, let us remember
that great military leaders have uniformly proved the wisest,
firmest, and best of civil rulers. William III, Charles XII,
Frederick of Prussia, are not more conspicuous instances in
monarchial governments than Washington, Jackson, and Tay-
lor have proved in our own. Whatever, therefore, may lie
before us in the untrodden and often beclouded path of the
future whether it be financial embarrassment, or domestic
trouble of another and more serious type, or misunderstand-
ings with foreign nations, or the extension of our flag and
our sovereignty over insular or continental possessions,
north or south, that fate or fortune may peacefully offer to
our ambition let us believe with all confidence that Gen-
eral Grant's administration will meet every exigency, with
the courage, the ability, and the conscience which American
nationality and Christian civilization demand."

March 4, 1869, Mr. Elaine was elected Speaker of the
House, being then in his thirty-ninth year. The vote
stood : For James G. Elaine, of Maine, 135 votes ; for
Michael C. Kerr, of Indiana, 57 votes.

Upon taking the chair, he addressed the House as
follows :

" Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : I thank you
profoundly for the great honor which you have just con-

182 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

ferred upon me. The gratification which this signal mark of
your confidence brings to me finds its only drawback in the
diffidence with which I assume the weighty duties devolved
upon me. Succeeding to a chair made illustrious by the
services of such eminent statesmen and skilled parliamen-
tarians as Clay, and Stevenson, and Polk, and Winthrop,
and Banks, and Grow, and Colfax, I may well distrust my
ability to meet the just expectations of those who have
shown me such marked partiality. But relying, gentlemen,
on my honest purpose to perform all my duties faithfully
and fearlessly, and trusting in a large measure to the indul-
gence which I am sure you will always extend to me, I
shall hope to retain, as I have secured, your confidence, your
kindly regard, and your generous support.

"The Forty-first Congress assembles at an auspicious
period in the history of our government. The splendid and
impressive ceremonial which we have just witnessed in
another part of the Capitol appropriately symbolizes the
triumphs of the past and the hopes of the future. A great
chieftain, whose sword at the head of gallant and victorious
armies has saved the Republic from dismemberment and
ruin, has been fitly called to the highest civic honor which
a grateful people can bestow. Sustained by a Congress that
so ably represents the loyalty, the patriotism, and the per-
sonal worth of the Nation, the President this day inaugu-
rated will assure to the country an administration of purity,
fidelity, and prosperity ; an era of liberty regulated by law,
and of law thoroughly inspired with liberty.

"Congratulating you, gentlemen, upon the happy aug-
uries of the day, and invoking the gracious blessing of Al-

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 183

mighty God on the arduous and responsible labors before
you, I am now ready to take the oath of office and enter
upon the discharge, of the duties to which you have called
me." [Applause.]

The oath of office was then administered to the Speaker-
elect by Hon. Elihu B. Washburne, of Illinois, the senior
member of the body.

On the 3d of March, 1871, the Forty-first Congress ex-
pired. On that day Mr. S. S. Cox, of New York, offered the
following resolution :

" Resolved, in view of the difficulties involved in the per-
formance of the duties of the presiding officer of this House,
and of the able, courteous, dignified, and impartial discharge
of those duties by the Hon. J. G. Elaine during the present
Congress, it is eminently becoming that our thanks be and
they are hereby tendered to the Speaker thereof."

The resolution was agreed to. Speaker Elaine, in ad-
journing the House at noon of that day, said:

" Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : Our labors
are at an end; but I delay the final adjournment long
enough to return my most profound and respectful thanks '
for the commendation which you have been pleased to be-
stow upon my official course and conduct.

" In a deliberative body of this character a presiding
officer is fortunate if he retains the confidence and steady
support of his political associates. Beyond that you give
me the assurance that I have earned the respect and good-
will of those from whom I am separated by party lines.
Your expressions are most grateful to me, and are most
gratefully acknowledged.

184 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

" The Congress whose existence closes with this hour en-
joys a memorable distinction. It is the first in which all
the States have been represented on this floor since the
baleful winter that preceded our late bloody war. Ten
years have passed since then years of trial and of triumph ;
years of wild destruction and years of careful rebuilding;
and after all, and as the result of all, the national govern-
ment is here to-day, united, strong, proud, defiant, and just,
with a territorial area vastly expanded, and with three ad-
ditional States represented on the folds of its flag. For
these prosperous fruits of our great struggle let us humbly
give thanks to the God of battles and to the Prince of
peace.

"And now, gentlemen, with one more expression of the
obligation I feel for the considerate kindness with which
you have always sustained me, I perform the only remain-
ing duty of my office, in declaring, as I now do, that the
House of Representatives of the Forty-first Congress is ad-
journed without day." [Great Applause.]

When the Forty-second Congress convened on the 4th
of March, 1871, Mr. Blaine was re-elected Speaker of the
House of Representatives, the vote standing as follows :

James G. Blaine, of Maine, received 126 votes. Geo.
W. Morgan, of Ohio, received 92 votes.

After Mr. Blaine had been conducted to the chair he ad-
dressed the House as follows :

" Gentlemen : The speakership of the American House of
Representatives has always been esteemed as an enviable
honor. A re-election to the position carries with it peculiar
gratification, in that it implies an approval of past official

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 185

bearing. For this great mark of your confidence I can but
return to you my sincerest thanks, with the assurance of
my utmost devotion to the duties which you call upon me
to discharge.

" Chosen by the party representing the political majority
in this House, the Speaker owes a faithful allegiance to the
principles and the policy of that party. But he will fall far
below the honorable requirements of his station if he fails to
give to the minority their full rights under the rules which
he is called upon to administer. The successful working of
our grand system of government depends largely upon the
vigilance of party organizations, and the wholesome legisla-
tion which this House produces and perfects is that which
results from opposing forces mutually eager and watchful
and well-nigh balanced in numbers.

" The Forty-second Congress assembles at a period of
general content, happiness, and prosperity throughout the
land. Under the wise administration of the national gov-
ernment peace reigns in all our borders, and the only serious
misunderstanding with any foreign power is, we may hope,
at this moment in process of honorable, cordial, and lasting
adjustment. We are fortunate in meeting at such a time,
in representing such constituencies, in legislating for such a
country.

" Trusting, gentlemen, that our official intercourse may
be free from all personal asperity, believing that all our la-
bors will eventuate for the public good, and craving the
blessing of Him without whose aid we labor in vain, I am
now ready to proceed with the further organization of the
House ; and, as the first step thereto, I will myself take the

186 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

oath prescribed by the Constitution and laws." [Loud Ap-
plause.]

The oath of office was then administered by Hon. H. L.
Dawes, of Massachusetts, who had served longest continu-
ously as a member of the House.

From the first the success of Mr. Elaine as a Speaker was
conspicuous. Well versed in parliamentary law, his rulings
were succicnt and impartial. Within twelve days after tak-
ing his seat occurred the memorable contest on the floor of
the House between the Speaker and Benjamin F. Butler, of
Massachusetts. The subject under consideration was a reso-
lution for a committee of inquiry on alleged outrages in the
Southern States. An amendment to the resolution had been
added in the committee at the suggestion of Mr. Blaine, and
this fact coming to the knowledge of Mr. Butler, the latter
gentleman made it a basis of one of his violent and rather
unscrupulous attacks. Hereupon the Speaker called William
A. Wheeler, of New York, to the chair, and entered the
arena against his wily and able antagonist. The member
from Massachusetts began the onset by saying :

" What would the gentlman have thought of me and ten
of my associates if we had come into the House after the
caucus had made their nomination for Speaker, and had voted
to throw the speakership into the hands of the minority of
this House as might have been done? It is a caucus called
merely for the purpose of nominating a candidate for Speaker."

MR. PETERS I should have supposed you had some
devilish design underneath. [Laughter.]

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts That is exactly what I
think about this; you and I agree exactly.

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 187

MR. ELAINE, the Speaker (Mr. Wheeler, in the chair) I
I desire to ask the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
Butler), whether he. denies to me the right to have drawn
that resolution ?

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts I have made no asser-
tion on that subject, one way or the other.

MR. BLAINE Did not the gentleman distinctly know that
I drew it?

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts No, sir.

MR. BLAINE Did I not take it to the gentleman and read
it to him ?

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Yes, sir.

MR. BLAINE Did I not show him tjie manuscript ?

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Yes, sir.

MR. BLAINE In my own hand-writing ?

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts No, sir.

MR. BLAINE And at his suggestion I added these words :
" and the expenses of said committee shall be paid from the
contingent fund of the House of Representatives" [applause],
and the fact that ways and means were wanted to pay the
expenses was the only objection he made to it.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts What was the answer
the gentleman made ? I suppose I may ask that, now that
the Speaker has come upon the floor.

MR. BLAIXE The answer was that I immediately wrote
the amendment providing for the payment of the expenses
of the committee.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts What was my answer ?
Was it not, that under no circumstances would I have any-
thing to do with it, being bound by the action of the caucus?

188 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

MR. ELAINE No, sir ; the answer was that under no cir-
cumstances would you serve as chairman.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Or have anything to do
with the resolution.

MR. ELAINE There are two hundred and twenty-four
members of the House of Representatives. A committee of
thirteen can be found without the gentleman from Massachu-
setts being on it. His service is not essential to the con-
stitution of the committee.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Why did you not find
such a committee, then ?

MR. ELAINE Because I knew very well, that if I omitted
the appointment of. the gentleman, it would be heralded
throughout the length and breadth of the country by the
claquers who have so industriously disturbed this letter this
morning, that the speaker had packed the committee, as the
gentleman said he would, with " weak-kneed Republicans,"
who would not go into an investigation vigorously, as he
would. That was the reason [applause]. So that the chair
laid the responsibility upon the gentleman of declining the
appointment.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts I knew that was the trick
of the chair.

MR. ELAINE Ah, the "trick"! we know what the gentle-
man meant by the word "trick". I am very glad to know
that the " trick " was successful.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts No doubt.

MR. ELAINE It is this "trick" which places the gentle-
man from Massachusetts on his responsibility before the
country.

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 189

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Exactly.

MR. ELAINE Wholly.

MR. BUTLER, of .Massachusetts Wholly.

MR. BLAINE Now, sir; the gentleman from Massachu-
setts talks about the coercion to vote for the resolution. I
do not know what any one of them may have to say; but
if there be here to-day a single gentleman who has given to
the gentleman from Massachusetts the intimation that he felt
coerced, that he was in any way restrained from free action, let
him get up now and speak, or " forever after hold his peace."

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Oh, yes.

MR. BLAINE The gentleman from Massachusetts says in
his letter :

"Having been appointed against my wishes, expressed both
publicly and privately, by the speaker, as chairman of a committee
to investigate the state of affairs in the South, ordered to-day
by Democratic votes, against the most earnest protest of more than
two-thirds of the majority of the Republicans of the House."

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Yes, sir.

MR. BLAINE This statement is so bald and groundless
that I do not know what reply to make to it. It is made
in the face of the fact that on the roll-call fifty-eight Repub-
licans voted for the resolution, and forty-nine besides the
gentleman from Massachusetts against it. I deny that the
gentleman has the right to speak for any member who voted
for it, unless it may be the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr.
Maynard), who voted for it for the purpose, probably, of
moving a reconsideration, a very common, a very justifiable,
and proper course whenever any gentleman chooses to adopt
it. I am not criticising it at all, but if there be any one of

190 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

the fifty-eight gentlemen who voted for the resolution under
coercion I would like the gentleman from Massachusetts to
designate him.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts I am not here to retail
private conversations.

MR. ELAINE Oh, no; but you will distribute throughout
the entire country unfounded calumnies, purporting to rest
upon assertions made in private conversation, which, when
called for, can not be verified.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Pardon me, sir, I said
there was a caucus.

MR. BLAINE I hope God will pardon you ; but you
ought not to ask me to do it! [Laughter.]

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts I will ask God, and not
you.

MR. BLAINE I am glad the gentleman will.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts I have no favors to ask
of the devil, and let me say that the caucus agreed upon a
definite mode of action.

MR. BLAINE The caucus? Now, let me say here and
now that the chairman of that caucus, sitting on my right,
" a chevalier " in legislation, " sans peur et sans reproche" the
gentleman from Michigan [Mr. Blair] stated, as a man of
honor, as he is, that he was bound to say officially from
the chair, that it was not considered and could not be con-
sidered binding upon gentlemen ; and more than that, talk
about tricks, why, the very infamy of political trickery
never compassed a design so foolish and so wicked as to
bring together a caucus and attempt to pledge them to the
support of measures which might violate not only the politi-

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 191

cal principles but the religious faith of men, to the support
of a bill drawn by the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr.
Butler], which might violate the conscientious scruples of
men, and yet, forsooth, he comes in here and declares that
whatever a caucus may determine upon, however hastily,
however crudely, however wrongfully, you must support it !
Why, even in the worst days of the Democracy, when the
gentleman himself was in the front rank of the worst wing
of it, when was it ever attempted to say that a majority of
a party caucus could bind men upon measures that involved
questions of constitutional law, of personal honor, of religious
scruple ?

The gentleman asked what would have been done ? He
asked my colleague [Mr. Peters] 'what would have been
done in the case of members of a party voting against the
caucus nominee for Speaker. I understood that was intended
a thrust at myself. Caucus nominations of officers have al-
ways been held as binding. But just here let me say that if
a minority did not vote against the decision of the caucus that
nominated me for Speaker, in my judgment, it was not the
fault of the gentleman from Massachusetts. [Applause.]
If the requisite number could have been found to have gone
over to the despised Nazarenes on the opposite side, that
gentleman would have led them as gallantly as he did the
forces in the Charleston Convention. [Renewed applause
and laughter.]

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Mr. Speaker

MR. BLAINE I have the floor ; I do not very often ask it.

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts Let not your conscience
accuse you.

192 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

MR. ELAINE Mr. Speaker, in old times it was the or-
dinary habit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives
to take part in debate. The custom has fallen into disuse.
For one, I am very glad that it has ; for one, I approve of
the conclusion that forbids it. The speaker should, with
consistent fidelity to his own party, be the impartial admin-
istrator of the rules of the House, and a constant participa-
tion in the discussion of members would take from him that
appearance of impartiality which it is so important to main-
tain in rulings of the chair. But at the same time I despise
and denounce the insolence of the gentleman from Massachu-
setts when he attempts to say that the representative from
the third district of the State of Maine has no right to frame
a resolution, has no right to seek that under the rules that
resolution shall be adopted; has no right to ask the judg-
ment of the House upon that resolution. Why, even the
insolence of that gentleman himself never reached that sub-
lime height before. [Applause.]

And that is the whole extent of my offending. That I
wrote a resolution, that I took it to various gentlemen on
this side of the House, that I said to gentlemen on the other
side of the House, " This is a resolution on which you ought
not to fillibuster ; it is a resolution demanding a fair, impar-
tial investigation, and under the rules I desire that this reso-
lution may be offered, and my colleague (Mr. Peters) will
offer it." And then the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr.
Butler) telegraphs, he knows to how many papers through
the whole United States, for doubtless his letters will be
found in extenso wherever he could get it inserted in this
morning's journals, that this was a "legislative trick."

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 193

MR. BUTLER, of Massachusetts And I repeat it now.

MR. ELAINE There are certain repetitions which do not
amount to slander 4 and the gentleman may repeat every
thing in that connection, as his colleague [Mr. Davis], very
well says, " Except the truth."

MR. BUTLER I did not hear my colleague say that.

MR. BLAINE The gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr.
Butler], in his remarkable letter, uses this language:

"Because, the very resolution which authorized the committee
was so framed, and in my belief, purposely, in the interests of the
Democratic party, that such committee can not report, under the
rules of the House, in the face of the Democratic opposition, and
by their permission, in more than a year from this time, the usual
power not being inserted in it l to report at any time.' "

The gentleman from Massachusetts is a very astute law-
yer, but it has fallen under my observation that he is ex-
tremely ignorant of the rules of this House. Had the res-
olution contained those words it would have been tantamount
to suspending the rules, and one objection would have pre-
vented its coming in. What does the resolution say ? That
the committee shall be appointed with power to report in
December. A report from the meeting of Congress during
the entire month of December shall be in order at any time
the committee may wish to make report.

Eight and a half months intervene between now and De-
cember for the committee's labors, and they have one full
month with the privilege to report at any time, and yet the
gentleman says the resolution was purposely so framed as
to exclude the committee from the power to report at all.
It was purposely framed and carried over the gentleman's

194 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

point of order. It was to avoid that point of order I omit-
ted those words, presuming that if the committee got
through their labors at the end of nine months, one whole
month at the beginning of the session would be ample in
which to make their report.

I am admonished by the gentlemen around me of a fact,
with which I am myself familiar, that the power to report at
any time does not always carry with it the exercise of that
power. The gentleman himself has been chairman during
the entire Congress of a committee empowered to report at
any time on this very identical subject, and on other sub-
jects committed to it, and the members of that committee
will say whether the gentleman always exercised his full
power under the rules, and whether, if the power to report
at any time had been given to that gentleman, as a chair-
man to this committee, and had he accepted the appointment
he might not have construed it as he has construed it for
nearly two years on the reconstruction committee, to be the
power to report at no time ?

Now, Mr. Speaker, nobody regrets more sincerely than
I do any occurrence which calls me to take the floor. On
questions of propriety I appeal to members on both sides
of the House, and they will bear me witness that the circu-
lation of this letter in the morning prints, its distribution
throughout the land by telegraph, the laying it upon the
desks of members, was intended to be by the gentleman
from Massachusetts, not openly and boldly, but covertly I
will not use a stronger phase an insult to the Speaker of
this House. As such I resent it. I denounce the letter in
all its essential statements, and in all its misstatements, and

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 195

in all its mean inferences and meaner inuendoes. I de-
nounce the letter as groundless, without justification, and
the gentleman himself, I trust, will live to see the day when
he will be ashamed of having written it.

When the second session of the Forty-second Congress
adjourned, June 8, 1872, Mr. Niblack, of Indiana, took the
chair temporarily, when Mr. Samuel J. Randall, of Penn-
sylvania, submitted the following resolution :

" Resolved, That the thanks of this House are due, and hereby
tendered to James G. Blaine, Speaker of the House, for the able,
prompt, and impartial manner in which he has discharged the
duties of his office during the present session."

The resolution was unanimously adopted.

On the 3d of March, 1873, Mr. Voorhees, of Indiana,
spoke as follows, Hon. Wm. A. Wheeler, of New York, in
the Chair : " I rise to present a matter to the House in
which I am sure every member will concur. In doing so I
perform the most pleasant duty of my entire service on this
floor. I offer the following resolution. It has the sincere
sanction of my head and of my heart. I moVe its adoption :"

The clerk read as follows :

" Resolved, That the thanks of this House are due, and are
hereby tendered to Hon. James G. Blaine, for the distinguished
ability, and impartiality with which he has discharged the duty of
Speaker ot the House of Representatives of the Forty-second
Congress."

The resolution was adopted unanimously.

On the same day, in adjourning the House sine die, Mr.
Blaine spoke as follows:

" Gentlemen : For the forty-second time, since the Federal
Government was organized, its great representative body

196 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

stands on the eve of dissolution. The final word which
separates us is suspended for a moment that I may return
my sincere thanks for the kind expressions respecting my
official conduct, which, without division of party, you have
caused to be entered on your journal.

"At the close of four years' service in this responsible
and often trying position, it is a source of honorable pride
that I have so administered my trust as to secure the confi-
dence and approbation of both sides of the House. It would
not be strange if, in the necessarily rapid discharge of the
daily business, I should have erred in some of the decisions
made on points, and often without precedent to guide me.
It has been my good fortune, however, to be always sus-
tained by the House, and in no single instance to have had
a ruling reversed. I advert to this gratifying fact, to quote
the language of the most eloquent of my predecessors, 'In
no vain spirit of exhalation, but as furnishing a powerful
motive for undissembled gratitude.

" And now, gentlemen, with a hearty God bless you all,
I discharge my only remaining duty in declaring that the
House of Representatives for the Forty-second Congress is
adjourned without day." [Applause.]

On the second day of December, 1873, Mr. Blaine was
chosen Speaker of the House for the third time, receiving
189 votes to 80 votes cast for all others. After being con-
ducted to the chair by Mr. Maynard, of Tennessee, and Mr.
Wood, of New York, he addressed the House as follows :

" Gentlemen of the House of Representatives : The vote
this moment announced by the clerk, is such an expression
of your confidence as calls for my sincerest thanks. To be

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 197

chosen Speaker of the American House of Representatives
is always an honorable distinction; to be chosen a third
time enhances the -honor more than three-fold; to be chosen
by the largest body that ever assembled in the Capitol im-
poses a burden of responsibility which only your indulgent
kindness could embolden me to assume.

" The first occupant of this Chair presided over a House
of sixty-five members, representing a population far below
the present aggregate of the State of New York. At that
time in the whole United States there were not fifty thous-
and civilized inhabitants to be found one hundred miles dis-
tant from the flow of the Atlantic tide. To-day, gentle-
men, a large body of you come from beyond that limit, and
represent districts then peopled only by the Indian and ad-
venturous frontiersman. The National Government is not
yet as old as many of its citizens ; but in this brief span
of time, less than one lengthened life, it has, under God's
providence, extended its power until a continent is the field
of its empire and attests the majesty of its law.

"With the growth of new States and the resulting
changes in the centers of population, new interests are de-
veloped, rival to the old, but by no means hostile; diverse,
but not antagonistic. Nay, rather are all these interests in
harmony; and the true science of just government is to
give to each its full and fair play, oppressing none by undue
exaction, favoring none by undue privilege. It is this great
lesson which our daily experience is teaching us, binding us
together more closely, making our mutual dependence more
manifest, and causing us to feel, whether we live in the
North or in the South, in the East or in the West, that

198 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

we have indeed but ' one country, one Constitution, one
destiny.'"

At the expiration of the Forty-third Congress on the
third day of March, 1875, Mr. Potter submitted the follow-
ing resolution :

" Resolved, That the thanks of this House are due, and are here-
by tendered, to Hon. James G. Elaine, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, for the impartiality, efficiency, and distinguished
ability with which he has discharged the trying and arduous duties
of his office during the Forty-third Congress."

The resolution was unanimously agreed to.

On the same day, when the clock indicated that the
hour for the dissolution of the Forty-third Congress had
arrived, Speaker Blaine delivered the following valedictory
address :

" Gentlemen : I close with this hour a six years' service
as Speaker of the House of Representatives a period sur-
passed in length by but two of my predecessors, and equaled
by only two others. The rapid mutations of personal and
political fortunes in this country have limited the great ma-
jority of those who have occupied this Chair to shorter
terms of office.

" It would be the gravest insensibility to the honors and
responsibilities of life, not to be deeply touched by so signal
a mark of public esteem as that which I have thrice re-
ceived at the hands of my political associates. I desire in
this last moment to renew to them, one and all, my thanks
and my gratitude.

"To those from whom I differ in my party relations
the minority of this House I tender my acknowledgements

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 199

for the generous courtesy with which they have treated me.
By one of those sudden and decisive changes which distin-
guish populaf institutions, and which conspicuously mark a
free people, that minority is transformed in the ensuing
Congress to the governing power of the House. How-
ever it might possibly have been under other circumstances,
that event renders these words my farewell to the Chair.

"The speakership of the American House of Represen-
tatives is a post of honor, of dignity, of power, of respon-
sibility. Its duties are at once complex and continuous ;
they are both onerous and delicate ; they are performed in
the broad light of day, under the eye of the whole people,
subject at all times to the closest observation, and always
attended with the sharpest criticism. I think no other offi-
cial is held to such instant and such rigid accountability.
Parliamentary rulings, in their very nature, are peremptory :
almost absolute in authority and instantaneous in effect.
They can not always be enforced in such a way as to win
applause or secure popularity; but I am sure that no man
of any party who is worthy to fill this chair will ever see
a dividing line between duty and policy.

" Thanking you once more, and thanking you most cor-
dially for the honorable testimonial you have placed on rec-
ord to my credit, I perform my only remaining duty in
declaring that the Forty-third Congress has reached its con-
stitutional limit, and that the House of Representatives
stands adjourned without day." [Applause.]

The Forty-fourth Congress differed in hue from several
of its illustrious predecessors. The Democracy had revived
spasmodically and achieved a majority in the National

200 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

House. At the date of convening, December 6, 1875,
Michael C. Kerr, of Indiana, was elected Speaker, and Mr.
Elaine took his position upon the floor as a recognized
leader of the Republican minority.

It was natural that the civil war should entail an infinity
of bitter memories. It still remains to be seen how lontr

the passions enkindled by that strife will continue to burn.
Certain it is that the close of the first decade after the end
of the strife and the collapse of the rebellion still found the
American heart almost as inflammable as ever to the recol-
lections of the conflict. The fact that the opening of the
Forty-third Congress witnessed the advent of a great num-
ber of the leaders of the Confederacy into the Congress of
the United States, did not tend to allay the feelings of re-
sentment which had long burned in the loyal heart of the
North against those who had tried to destroy the Union.
About sixty brigadier-generals of the late Confederate army
came into that Congress, nor was their conduct in that body
marked with such modesty of demeanor as was likely to
elicit favor from the Republicans. They asserted themselves
with not a little of their old-time audacity. They ex-
pressed regret for nothing that they had done. They
seemed rather to glory in the fact that they had been the
adherents of the Lost Cause. When ever a debate was
sprung touching upon the issues which had been involved in
the war they came to the front with as much arrogance as
in the ante-bellum epoch. Finally, when the amnesty bill,
presented by Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania, was under con-
sideration, the clause appended in the way of an amendment,
exempting Jefferson Davis from the operations of the bill,

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 201

gave to the brigadiers a full opportunity to show their tem-
per and resubscribe to the heresies, not to say atrocities, of
the Rebellion. Foremost among the debaters in the House
at this time was Benjamin Hill, of Georgia, who, with more
logic than wisdom, undertook to show that he himself and
many others were well-nigh as guilty as the chieftain of the
ex-Confederacy. It was at this juncture that Mr. Elaine again
walked into the arena as the champion of the North. Per-
haps he never appeared to a better advantage in a Congres-
sional debate than in that which occurred on the 10th of
January, 1876. He took advantage of the occasion, and it
can not be doubted that his speech was one of the most
effective and powerful ever delivered in Congress. The re-
port of it resounded through the country like a bugle call,
and the impending presidential contest took its tone and
character in a large measure from the passionate, patriotic
appeal of Mr. Elaine. The measure was entitled " a bill to
remove the disabilities imposed by the third section of the
fourteenth article of the amendments of the Constitution of
the United States." Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania, moved to
suspend the rules and take the pending bill from .the
Speaker's table. At this juncture Mr. Elaine arose and
said:

" Mr. Speaker, I rise to a privileged question. I move
to reconsider the vote which has just been declared. I pro-
pose to debate that motion, and now give notice, that if the
motion to reconsider is agreed to, it is my intention to offer
the amendment which has been read several times. I will
not delay the House to have it read again.

"Every time the question of amnesty has been brought

202 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

before the House by a gentleman on that side for the last
two Congresses, it has been done with a certain flourish of
magnanimity, which is an imputation on this side of the
House, as though the Republican party which has been in
charge of the government for the last twelve or fourteen
years had been bigoted, narrow, and illiberal, and as though
certain very worthy and deserving gentlemen in the Southern
States were ground down to-day under a great tyranny and
oppression from which the hard-heartedness of this side of
the House can not possibly be prevailed upon to relieve
them.

" If I may anticipate as much wisdom as ought to char-
acterize that side of the House, this may be the last time
that amnesty will be discussed in the American Congress.
I therefore, desire, and under the rules of the House, with
no thanks to that side for the privilege, to place on record
just what the Republican party has done in this matter. I
wish to place it there as an imperishable record of liberality,
and large-mindedness, and magnanimity, and mercy, far be-
yond any that has ever been shown before in the world's
history by conqueror to conquered.

"With the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Randall],
I entered this Congress in the midst of the hot flame of
war, when the Union was rocking to its foundations, and no
man knew whether we were to have a country or not. I
think the gentleman from Pennsylvania would have been
surprised when he and I were novices in the Thirty-eighth
Congress, if he could have foreseen, before our joint service
ended, we should have seen sixty-one gentlemen, then in arms
against us, admitted to equal privileges with ourselves, and

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. . 203

all by the grace and magnanimity of the Republican party.
When the war ended, according to the universal usage of
nations, the government, then under the exclusive control of
the Republican party, had the right to determine what should
be the political status of the people who had been defeated in
war. Did we inaugurate any measure of persecution ? Did
we set forth on a career of bloodshed and vengeance ? Did we
take property ? Did we prohibit any man all his civil rights ?
Did we take from him the right he enjoys to-day, to vote ?

" Not at all. But, instead of a general and sweeping con-
demnation, the Republican party placed in the fourteenth
amendment to the Constitution only this exclusion; after
considering the whole subject, it ended in simply coming
down to this :

" 'That no person shall be a Senator or Representative in Con-
gress, or elector of President and Vice-president, or hold any office,
civil or military, under the United States, or under any State,
who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress,
or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State
Legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to
support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged
in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or com-
fort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by vote of two-
thirds of each House, remove such disability.'

" It has been variously estimated, that this section at
the time of its original insertion in the Constitution included
somewhere from fourteen to thirty thousand persons ; as
nearly as I can gather together the facts of the case, it in-
cluded about eighteen thousand men in the South. It let
go every man of the hundreds of thousands or millions, if
you please who had been engaged in the attempt to destroy

204 LIFE AND SEE VICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

this government, and only held those under disability who,
in addition to revolting, had violated a special, and peculiar,
and personal oath to support the Constitution of the United
States. It was limited to that.

. " Well, the disability was hardly placed upon the South
until we began in this hall, and in the other wing of the
capital, when there were more than two-thirds Republicans
in both branches, to remit it, and the very first bill took
that disability off from 1,578 citizens of the South ; and the
next bill took it off from 3,526 gentlemen by wholesale.
Many of the gentlemen on this floor came in for grace and
amnesty in those two bills. After these bills specifying
individuals had passed, and others of smaller numbers, which
I will not recount, the Congress of the United States in 1872,
by two-thirds of both branches, still being two-thirds Repub-
lican, passed this general law :

" ' That all political disabilities imposed by the third section of
the fourteenth article of amendments of the Constitution of the
United States, are hereby removed from all persons whomsoever,
except Senators and Representatives of the Thirty-sixth and Thirty-
seventh Congresses, officers in the judicial, military, and naval
service of the United States, heads of departments, and foreign
ministers of the United States. 7

"Since that act passed a very considerable number of
the gentlemen whom it still left under disability have been
relieved specially, by name, in separate acts, but I believe,
Mr. Speaker, in no single instance since the act of May 22,
1872, have the disabilities been taken from any man ex-
cept from his respectful petition to the Congress of the
United States that they should be removed; and I believe,

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 205

in no instance, except one, have they been refused, upon the
petition being presented. I believe in no instance, except
one, has there been any other than a unanimous vote.

"Now I find there are widely varying opinions in regard
to the number that are still under disabilities in the South.
I have had occasion, by conference with the Department of
War and of the Navy, and with the assistance of some
records which I have caused to be searched, to be able to
state to the House, I believe, with more accuracy than it
has been stated hitherto, just the number of gentlemen in
the South still under disabilities. Those who were officers
of the United States Army, educated at its own expense at
West Point, and who joined the rebellion, and are still in-
cluded under this act, number, as nearly as the War Depart-
ment can figure it up, three hundred and twenty-five ; those
in the Navy, about two hundred and ninety-five : those
under the other head Senators and Representatives of the
Thirty-sixth and Thirty-seventh Congresses, officers in the
judicial service of the United States, heads of departments,
and foreign ministers of the United States make up a
number somewhat more difficult to state accurately, but
smaller in the aggregate. The whole sum of the entire list
(it is probably impossible to state it with entire accuracy, and
I do not attempt to do that) is about seven hundred and
fifty persons now under disabilities.

"I am very frank to say, then, in regard to all these
gentlemen, save one, I do not know of any reason why am-
nesty should not be granted to them as it has been to many
others of the same class. I am not here to argue against
it. The gentleman from Iowa [Mr. Kasson] suggests, 'on

206 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

their application.' I am coming to that. But as I have
said, seeing in this list, as I have examined it with some
care, no gentleman to whom I think there could be any ob-
jection, since amnesty has already become so general and
I am not going back of that question to argue it I am in
favor of granting it to them. But in the absence of this
respectful form of application which, since May 22, 1872,
has become a sort of common law, as preliminary to am-
nesty, I simply wish to put it that they shall go before a
United States court, and in open court, with uplifted hand,
swear that they mean to conduct themselves as good citi-
zens of the United States ; that is all.

"Now, gentlemen may say that- this is a foolish exaction.
Possibly it is ; but somehow or other I have a prejudice in
favor of it, and there are some petty points in it that ap-
peal as well to prejudice as to conviction. For one, I do
not want to impose citizenship upon any gentleman.

"In my amendment, Mr. Speaker, I have excepted Jef-
ferson Davis from its operation. Now, I do not place it on
the ground that Mr. Davis was, as he has been commonly
called, the head and front of the rebellion, because on that
ground I do not think the exception would be tenable. Mr.
Davis was just as guilty, no more so, no less so, than thou-
sands of others, who have already received the benefit and
grace of amnesty. Probably he was far less efficient as an
enemy of the United States ; probably he was far more use-
ful as a disturber of the councils of the Confederacy than
many who have already received amnesty. It is not be-
cause of any particular and special damage that he above
others did to the Union, or because he was personally or

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 207

especially of consequence, that I except him; but I except
him on this ground: That he. was the author, knowingly,
deliberately, guiltily ^ and willfully, of the gigantic murders
and crimes at Andersonville."

A MEMBER "And Libby."

MR. BLAINE " Libby pales into insignificance before An-
dersonville. I place it on that ground, and I believe to-day
that so rapidly does one event follow on the heels of an-
other, in the rapid age in which we live, that even those of
us who were contemporaneous with what was transpiring
there, and still less those who have grown up since, fail to
remember the gigantic crime then committed.

"Sir, since the gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. Ran-
dall] introduced this bill, last month, I have taken occasion
to re-read some of the historic cruelties of the world. I
have read over the details of those atrocious murders of the
Duke of Alva, in the Low Countries, which are always men-
tioned with a thrill of horror throughout Christendom; I
have read the details of the massacre of Saint Bartholomew,
that stands out in history as one of those atrocities beyond
imagination ; I have read anew the horrors untold and un-
imaginable of the Spanish Inquisition, and I here, before
God, measuring my. words, knowing their full extent and im-
port, declare, that neither the deeds of the Duke of Alva, in
the Low Countries, nor the massacre of Saint Bartholomew,
nor the thumb-screws and engines of torture of the Spanish
Inquisition begin to compare in atrocity with the hideous
crime of Andersonville.

" Now, I do not .arraign the Southern people for this ;
God forbid that I should charge any people with sympa-

208 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

thizing with such things ! There were many evidences of
great uneasiness among the Southern people about it; and
one of the great crimes of Jeiferson Davis was that, besides
conniving at and producing that condition of things, he con-
cealed it from the Southern people. He labored not only to
conceal it, but to make false statements about it. We have
obtained, and have now in the Congressional Library, a com-
plete series of Mr. Davis's messages the official imprint
from Richmond. I have looked over them, and I have here
an extract from his message of November 7, 1864, at the very
time that these horrors were at their acme ; mark you, when
those horrors, of which I have read specimens, were at their
extremest verge of desperation, Mr. Davis sends a message
to the Confederate Congress at Richmond, in which he says :

" ' The solicitude of the government for the relief of our cap-
tive fellow-citizens has known no abatement, has, on the contrary,
been still more deeply evoked by the additional sufferings to which
they have been wantonly subjected by deprivation of adequate
food, clothing, and fuel, which they were not even permitted to
purchase from the prison sutler/

And he adds that the

" ' Enemy attempted to excuse their barbarous treatment by
the unfounded allegation that it was retaliatory for like conduct
on our part.'

"Now, I undertake here to say that there is not a Con-
federate soldier now living, who has any credit as a man in
his community, and who ever was a prisoner in the hands
of the Union forces, who will say that he ever was cruelly
treated ; that he ever was deprived of the same rations that
the Union soldiers had the same food, and the same clothing."

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 209

MR. COOK, of Georgia, said " Thousands of them say it
thousands of them ; men of as high character as any in this
House."

MR. ELAINE " I take issue upon that, there is not one
who can substantiate it, not one. As for measures of retali-
ation although goaded by this terrific treatment of our
friends by Mr. Davis, the Senate of the United States specif-
ically refused to pass a resolution of retaliation, as contrary
to modern civilization and the first precepts of Christianity.
And there was no retaliation attempted or justified. It was
refused ; and Mr. Davis knew it was refused just as well as
I knew it, or any other man, because what took place in
Washington, or what took place in Richmond, was known
on either side of the lii\e within a day or two thereafter.

" Mr. Speaker, this is not a proposition to punish Jeffer-
son Davis; there is nobody attempting that. I will very
frankly say, I myself thought the indictment of Mr. Davis,
at Richmond, under the administration of Mr. Johnson, was
a weak attempt, for he was indicted only for that of which
he was guilty in common with all others who went into the
Confederate movement. Therefore, there was no particular
reason for it. But I will undertake to say this, and, as it
may be considered an extreme speech, I want to say it with
great deliberation, that there is not a government, a civ-
ilized government on the face of the globe I am sure there
is not a European government, that would not have arrested
Mr. Davis, and, when they had him in their power, would
not have tried him for maltreatment of the prisoners of war,
and shot him within thirty days. France, Russia, England,
Germany, Austria, any one of them would have done it.

210 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

The poor victim, Wirz, deserved his death for brutal treat-
ment and murder of many victims, but I always thought it
was a weak movement on the part of our government to al-
low Jefferson Davis to go at large, and hang Wirz. I con-
fess I do. Wirz was nothing in the world but a mere sub-
ordinate, a tool, and there was no special reason for singling
him out for death. I do not say he did not deserve it he
did, richly, amply, fully. He deserved no mercy, but at the
same time, as I have often said, it seemed like skipping
over the president, superintendent, and board of directors
in the case of a great railroad accident, and hanging the
brakeman of the rear car.

" There is no proposition here to punish Jefferson Davis,
nobody is seeking to do it. That time has gone by. The
statute of limitations, common feelings of humanity, will su-
pervene for his benefit. But what you ask us to do is to
declare, by a vote of two-thirds of both branches of Congress,
that we consider Mr. Davis worthy to fill the highest offices
in the United States, if he can get a constituency to indorse
him. He is a voter; he can buy and he can sell; he can go
and he can come. He is as free as any man in the United
States. There is a large list of subordinate offices to which
he is eligible. This bill proposes, in view of that record,
that Mr. Davis, by a two-thirds vote of the Senate and a
two-thirds vote of the House, be declared eligible and worthy
to fill any office up to the Presidency of the United States.
For one, upon full deliberation, I will not do it.

" One word more, Mr. Speaker, in the way of detail,
which I omitted. It has often been said in mitigation of
Jefferson Davis, in the Andersonville matter, that the men

EL A INE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 211

who died there in such large numbers (I think the victims
were about 15,000), fell prey to an epidemic, and died of a
disease which would not be averted. The record shows that
out of 35,000 men about 33 per cent died, that is, one in
three, while of the soldiers encamped near by to take care
and guard them, only one man in 400 died; that is, within
a half-mile only, one in 400 died.

" As to the general question of amnesty, Mr. Speaker, as
I have already said, it is too late to debate it; it has gone
by. Whether it has in all respects been wise, or whether
it has been unwise, I would not detain the House here to
discuss. Even if I had a strong conviction upon that ques-
tion, I do not know that it would be productive of any great
good to enunciate it, but at the same time it is a very singu-
lar spectacle that the Republican party, in possession of the
entire government, have deliberately called back into public
power the leading men of the South, every one of whom
turns up its bitter and relentless and malignant foe ; and to-
day, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande, the very men who
have received this amnesty are as busy as they can be in
consolidating into one compact political organization the old
slave States, just as they were before the war. We see the
banner held out blazoned again with the inscription that,
with the united South and a very few votes from the North,
this country can be governed. I want the people to under-
stand that is precisely the movement; that that is the ani-
mus and the intent. I do not think offering amnesty to the
seven hundred and fifty men who are now without it, will
hasten or retard that movement. I do not think the grant-
ing of amnesty to Mr. Davis will hasten or retard it.

212 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

" I heard it said, ' We will lift Mr. Davis again into great
consequence by refusing amnesty.' That is not for me to
consider. I only see before me, when his name is presented,
a man who by a wink of his eye, by a wave of his hand,
by a nod of his head, could have stopped the atrocity of
Andersonville. Some of us had kinsmen there, most of us
had friends there, all of us had countrymen there, and in
the name of those kinsmen, friends, and countrymen, I here
protest, and shall with my vote protest against their calling
back and crowning the man who organized that murder."

On the great question of a sound currency based on
specie, Mr. Elaine has never given forth an uncertain sound.
He has shown himself opposed to all heresies relating to the
over-issue and unstable basis of paper money. During the
Forty-fourth Congress he had occasion in several debates to
express his views with an emphasis not to be mistaken. He
showed himself to be an ardent supporter of the national
credit, and spoke with fearless freedom against the doctrines
of inflation and an irredeemable paper. On the 10th of
February, 1876, he spoke for an hour on this subject, hold-
ing the closest attention of the House, and eliciting praise
even from his adversaries. The following paragraph will
give a general notion of the logic and eloquence of his speech :

MR. ELAINE " Mr. Chairman, the honor of the national
government and of the prosperity of the American people,
are alike menaced by those who demand the perpetuation
of an irredeemable paper currency. For more than two years
the country has been suffering from prostration in business;
confidence returns but slowly; trade revives only partially;
and to-day, with capital unproductive and labor unemployed,

ELAINE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 213

we find ourselves in the midst of an agitation respecting the
medium with which business transactions shall be carried
on. Until this question is definitely adjusted, it is idle to
expect that full measure of prosperity to which the energies
of our people and the resources of the land entitle us. In
the way of that adjustment one great section of the Demo-
cratic party possibly its controlling power stubbornly
stands to-day. The Republicans, always true to the primal
duty of supporting the nation's credit, have now cast behind
them all minor difference and dissensions on the financial ques-
tion, and have gradually consolidated their strength against
inflation. The currency, therefore, becomes of necessity a
prominent political issue, and those Democrats who are in
favor of honest dealing by the government and honest money
for the people, may be compelled to act as they did in that
still graver exigency when the existence of the govern-
ment itself was at stake.

" To this uniform adherence to the specie standard the
crisis of the rebellion forced an exception. In January, 1862,
with more than a half million of men in arms, with a daily
expenditure of nearly two millions of dollars, the govern-
ment suddenly found itself without money. Customs yielded
but little, internal taxes had not yet been levied, public
credit was feeble if not paralyzed, our armies had met with
one signal reverse, and nowhere with marked success, and all
minds were filled with gloom and apprehension. The one
supreme need of the hour was money, and money the gov-
ernment did not have. What, then, should be done rather
what could be done ? The ordinary note had been tried and
failed, and those already issued were discredited and below

214 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

the value of the bills of country banks. The government in
this great and perilous need promptly called to its aid a
power never before exercised it authorized the issue of one
hundred and fifty millions of notes, and declared them to
be a legal tender for all debts, public and private, with two
exceptions.

"The necessities of the government were so great, and
expenditures so enormous, that another hundred and fifty
millions of legal tender notes were speedily called for and
granted by Congress, the Democrats again voting under Mr.
Pendleton's lead against the measure. With varying fortunes
the last year of the war was reached, with three hundred mill-
ions of legal tenders in circulation. With the strain of our
public credit, and the doubts and vicissitudes of the struggle,
these notes had fallen far below par in gold, and it became
apparent to every clear-headed observer, that the continued
issue of legal tenders, with no provision for their redemp-
tion, and no limit to their amount, would utterly destroy the
credit of the government, and involve the Union cause in
irretrievable disaster. But at that moment the military sit-
uation, with its perils and its prospects, was such that the
government must have money more rapidly than the sale of
bonds could furnish it, and the danger was that the sale of
bonds would be stopped altogether, unless some definite limit
could be assigned to the issue of legal tender notes. Accord-
ingly, Congress sought, and successfully sought, to accomplish
both ends at the same time, and they passed a bill granting
one hundred millions additional legal tender circulation
making four hundred millions in all and then incorporated
in the same law a solemn assurance, and pledge that 'the

ELAINE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 215

total amount of United States notes, issued and to be issued,
shall never exceed four hundred millions of dollars,' and to
this pledge every Pemocratic Senator and Representative
assented, either actively or silently, as the journals of both
Houses will show. The subsequent readiness of many of
those gentlemen to trample on it must be upon the broad
principle of ethics that the government should keep those
pledges which are profitable and disregard those which it
will pay to violate.

" When the war was over and the Union saved, one of
the first duties of the government was to improve its credit
and restore a sound currency to the people ; and here we might
have reasonably expected the aid of the Democratic party.
But we did not receive it. Irreconcilably hostile to the
issue of legal tenders when that form of credit was needed for
the salvation of the country, the Democracy, as soon as the
country was saved, conceived a violent love for these notes,
and demanded an almost illimitable issue of them.

" As I said at the outset of my remarks, Mr. Chairman,
the country is suffering under one of those periodical revul-
sions in trade common to all commercial nations, and which,
thus far, no wisdom of legislation has been able to avert.
The natural restlessness of a people so alive and alert as
ours, looks for an instant remedy, and the danger in such a
condition of the public mind is that something may be
adopted that will ultimately deepen the disease rather than
lay the ground-work for an effectual cure. Naturally enough,
in such a time the theories for relief are numerous, and we
have marvelous recipes offered whereby the people shall be
enabled to pay the dollar they owe with less than a hun-

216 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

dred cents; while those who are caught with such a delu-
sion seemingly forget that, even if this be so, they must
likewise receive less than a hundred cents for the dollar that
is due them. Whether the dollar that they owe to-day or the
dollar that is due them to-morrow will have the greater or
less number of cents depends on the shifting of causes which
they can neither control nor foresee; and, therefore, all cer-
tain calculation in trade is set at defiance, and those branches
of business which take on the form of gambling are by finan-
cial paradox the most secure and most promising. ...
"The national bank system, Mr. Chairman, was one of
the results of the war, and the credit of its origin belongs
to the late Salmon P. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury,
and it may not be unprofitable just here to recall to the
House the circumstances which at the time made the na-
tional banks a necessity to the government. At the outbreak
of the war there were considerably over a thousand State
banks, of various degrees of responsibility or irresponsibility,
scattered throughout the country. Their charters demanded
the redemption of their bills in specie, and under the pressure
of this requirement their aggregate circulation was kept within
the decent limits, but the amount of it was, in most instan-
ces, left to the discretion of the directors, and not a few of
these banks issued ten dollars of bills for one of specie in
their vaults. With the passage of the legal tender act,
however, followed an enormous issue of government notes;
the State banks would no longer be required to redeem in
specie, and would, therefore, at once flood the country with
their own bills, and take from the government its resources
in that direction. To restrict and limit their circulation, and

ELAINE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 217

to make the banks as helpful as possible in the great work
of sustaining the government finances the national bank act
was passed.

It is greatly to be deplored, Mr. Chairman, that many-
candid men have conceived the notion that it would be a
saving to the people if all banks could be dispensed with,
and the circulating medium be furnished by the government
issuing legal tenders. I do not stop here to argue that this
would be in violation of the government's pledge not to issue
more than four hundred millions of its own notes. I merely
remark that that pledge is binding in honor until legal ten-
ders are redeemable in coin on presentation, and when that
point is reached there will be no desire, as there will cer-
tainly be no necessity, for government issuing additional
notes. . . .

" It is a singular circumstance, Mr. Chairman one of
those odd happenings sometimes brought about by political
mutations that those who urge this scheme upon the gov-
ernment are Democrats, every one of whom would doubtless
claim to be a true disciple of Andrew Jackson, and yet all
the evils of which Jackson warned the country in his famous
controversy with the United States Bank are a thousand
fold magnified, and a thousand fold aggravated, in this plan
of making the treasury department itself the bank, with
Congress for the govering board of directors. I commend
to gentlemen of Democratic antecedents a careful perusal
of Jackson's great message of July 10, 1832, and I wish
them to frankly tell this House how they think Jackson
would have regarded the establishment of a great national
paper-money machine, to be located for all time in the treas-

218 LIFE AND SERVICES OF BLAINE AND LOGAN.

ury department, the bills of which shall have no provision
for their redemption, and the amount of those bills to be de-
termined by a majority vote in a party caucus. . . .

" It is urged by the opponents of the banking system that
the three hundred and twenty millions of bank circulation
can be supplied by legal tenders and the interests on that
amount of bonds stopped ! How ? Does any gentleman sup-
pose that the bonds owned by the banks, and on deposit in
the treasury, will be exchanged for legal tenders of a new
and inflated issue? Those bonds are payable, principal and
interest, in gold; and, with the present amount of legal ten-
der notes, they are worth in the market $1.16 to $1.25.
What will they be worth in paper money when you double
the amount of legal tenders and postpone the day of specie
resumption far beyond the vision of prophet or seer? And
this enormous issue of legal tenders to take the place of
bank notes is only the beginning of the policy to be inau-
gurated. The 'wants of trade' would speedily demand an-
other issue, for the essential nature of an irredeemable cur-
rency is that it has no limit till a reaction is born of crushing
disaster. A lesson might be learned (by those willing to be
taught by fact and experience) from the course of events
during the war. When we had one hundred and fifty mill-
ions of legal tender in circulation, it stood for a long while
nearly at par with gold. As the issue increased in amount
the depreciation was very rapid, and at the time we fixed
the four hundred million limit, that whole vast sum had less
purchasing power in exchange for lands, or houses, or mer-
chandize than the hundred and fifty millions had two years
before. In the spring of 1862, $150,000,000 of legal ten-

ELAINE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 219

der would buy in the market $147,000,000 in gold coin. In
June, 1864, $400,000,000 of legal tender would buy only
$140,000,000 in gold coin. , . .

"Among the anomalies presented in the currency dis-
cussion, Mr. Chairman, is that the West and the South shall
have so large an element clamorous for inflation. Of all sec-
tions interested in the specie standard, the West and the
South stand first. The great staples produced in those vast
and fertile regions, wheat, corn, flour, beef, pork, hides,
tobacco, hemp, cotton, rice, and sugar, are inevitably and
peremptorily subjected to the gold standard when sold. The
price of cotton sent to Lowell is just as much determined
by the gold standard as that which is exported to Man-
chester, and the breadstuffs sold in New York are daily
equaled with the prices of Liverpool Corn Exchange. And
so of all the other commodities ; and yet we hear representa-
tives of the great interests that are thus compelled to sell
at gold prices, resolute and determined in their demands
that they shall be allowed to purchase all their supplies on
the paper basis. When it is remembered that the whole of
the annual crop in this country, reckoning all products,
reaches the enormous amount of three thousand millions on
the gold basis, and that the surplus not consumed by the
producers is many hundreds of millions of dollars, and thnt
the value of the whole is estimated by the gold standard, the
farmers of the country may find profitable food for reflec-
tion in calculating what the agricultural interest loses every
year by an irredeemable paper currency. . . .

" There is not a cotton plantation in the South, not a
grain or grazing farm in the West, not a coal-pit or iron

220 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

furnace in Pennsylvania or Ohio, not a manufactory in New
England, not a ship-yard on the Atlantic coast, not a lum-
ber-camp from the Penobscot to the Columbia, not a mile
of railway between the two oceans, that would not feel the
quickening, gainful influence of a final and general acquies-
cence in measures looking to specie payment. The Repub-
licans meditate no harsh, or hasty, or destructive policy on
this question, but one that shall be firm, considerate, and
conclusive. The Democracy, by refusing to co-operate in
the good work, can keep the matter in agitation and pro-
long the era of dullness and inactivity in the country.
Having stubbornly refused to vote for legal-tenders when
the salvation of the Union demanded them, that party
can now fittingly complete its financial record by resisting
all honest efforts to restore the specie standard to the
people. . .

" To-day, the total debts of the American people, na-
tional, State, and municipal, are not so large in proportion to
already acquired property as was the national debt alone in
1790, and when we take into the account the relative pro-
ductive power of the two periods, our present burdens are
absolutely inconsiderable. When we reflect what the rail-
way, the telegraph, the cotton-gin, and our endless mechani-
cal inventions and agencies have done for us in the way of
increasing our capacity for producing wealth, we should be
ashamed to pretend that we can not bear larger burdens
than our ancestors ; and remember, Mr. Chairman, that our
wealth from 1790 to 1870 increased more than five times as
rapidly as our population, and the same development is even
now progressing with a continually accelerating ratio. Re-

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 221

member, also, that the annual income and earnings of our
people are larger than those of any European country,
larger than those of England or France, or Russia or the
German Empire. The English people stand next to us, but
we are largely in advance of them. The annual income of
our entire people exceeds six thousand millions in gold, and de-
spite financial reverses and revulsions is steadily increasing.

" In view of these facts, it would be an unpardonable
moral weakness in our people always heroic when heroism
is demanded to doubt their own capacity to maintain
specie payment. I am not willing myself to acknowledge
that as a people we are less competent than were our ances-
tors in 1790 ; still less honorable, less courageous, or less
competent than were our ancestors in 1790; still less am I
ready to own that the people of the entire Union have not
the pluck and the capacity of our friends and kinsmen in
California; and last of all would I confess that the United
States of America, with forty -four millions of inhabitants,
with a territory surpassing all Europe in area, and I might
almost say all the world in fertility of resources, are not
able to do what a handful of British subjects, scattered
from Cape Grace to Vancouver Island, can do so easily, so
steadily, and so successfully. . . ij .

" The act providing for resumption in 1879 requires, in
the judgment of the Secretary of the Treasury, some addi-
tional legislation to make it practical and effective. As it
stands it fixes a date, but gives no adequate process; and
the paramount duty of Congress is to provide a process.
And in all legislation looking to that end it must be borne in
mind that, unless we move in harmony with the great busi-

222 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

ness interests of the country, we shall assuredly fail.
Specie payment can only be brought about by wise and
well considered legislation, based on the experience of other
nations, embodying the matured wisdom of the country,
healthfully promoting all legitimate business, and carefully
avoiding every thing that may tend to create fear and dis-
trust among the people. In other words, what we most
need as the outgrowth of legislation is confidence, public
and private, general and individual. To-day we are suffer-
ing from the timidity of capital, and so long as the era of
doubt and uncertainty prevails that timidity will continue
and increase. Steps toward inflation will make it chronic;
unwise steps toward resumption will not remove it. We
shall have discharged our full duty in Congress if we can
mature a measure which will steadily advance our currency
to the specie standard, and at the same time work in har-
mony with the reviving industries and great commercial
wants of the country.

"In any event, Mr. Chairman, whatever we may do, or
whatever we may leave undone, on this whole financial ques-
tion, let us not delude ourselves with the belief that we can
escape the specie standard. It rules us to-day, and has
ruled us throughout the whole legal tender period, just as
absolutely as though we were paying and receiving coin
daily. Our work, our fabrics, our commodities, are all
measured by it, and so long as we cling to irredeemable
paper money we have all the burdens and disadvantages of
the gold standard, with none of its aids and gains and prof-
its. 'The thing which hath been is that which shall
be.' The great law-giver of antiquity records in the very

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 223

opening chapters of Genesis that 'the gold of the land of
Havilah is good/ and, with another precious metal, it has
maintained its rank to this day. No nation has ever suc-
ceeded in establishing any other standard of value; no
nation has ever made the experiment except at great cost
and sorrow, and the advocates of irredeemable money to-
day are but asking us to travel the worn and weary road,
traveled so many times before a road that has always
ended in disaster, and often in disgrace."

224 LIFE AND SERVICES OF BLAINE AND LOG AN.

CHAPTKR X.

BLAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. Continued.

" The great high road of human welfare lies along the old highway
of steadfast well-doing ; and they who are the most persistent, and work
in the truest spirits, will invariably be the most successful ; success treads
on the heels of every right effort." SMILES.

IN THE SENATE.

JULY 3, 1876, Governor Connor, of Maine, appointed Mr.
Elaine to the high and important position of Senator of
the United States, to succeed Hon. Lot M. Morrill. Mr.
Morrill had resigned to accept the post of Secretary of the
Treasury, just vacated by the retirement of Hon. Benjamin
F. Bristow. At the succeeding session of the Maine Legis-
lature, Mr. Blaine was elected to the Senate.

An exciting presidential campaign was just getting warm,
with Hayes as the nominee of one party and Tilden of the
other. The result seemed to indicate that if either was
elected, both were, so evenly balanced were the returns.
The complication thus occasioned was grave indeed, and
some leading men of the country professed to fear all sorts
of untoward things, even civil war. At the meeting of Con-
gress in December, a plan was agreed upon for settlement of
the dispute. A bill providing for an Electoral Commission,
to consist of five Senators, five Representatives, and five
Judges of the Supreme Court, was agreed upon by a coin-

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 225

mittee composed of members of both Houses, and promptly
reported. After a heated debate, it became a law in January,
1877, and provided .that all disputed election returns should
be referred for adjudication to the commission thus created.
The count was not concluded till the 2d of March, when
it was decided that 185 electoral votes were cast for Hayes
and Wheeler, and 184 for Tilden and Hendricks. Mr. Elaine
opposed the Electoral Commission bill, and while it was
pending in the Senate spoke upon it as follows :

" Mr. President, I have, I trust, as profound an apprecia-
tion as any Senator on this floor of the gravity of the situa-
tion. I would not, if I could, underrate it, and no public
good can result from overstating it. I have felt anxious
from the first day of the session to join in any wise measure
that would tend to allay public uneasiness and to restore,
or at least maintain, public confidence. In this spirit I
followed the lead of the honorable chairman of the J.udiciary
Committee [Mr. Edmunds], in December, in an effort to se-
cure a Constitutional Amendment, which would empower the
Supreme Court of the United States to peacefully and
promptly settle all the troubles growing out of the disputed
electoral votes. I knew there were weighty objections to
any measure connecting the judiciary with the political
affairs of the country ; but I nevertheless thought, and I
still think, that under the impressive sanction of a Constitu-
tional Amendment, the angry difficulties growing out of a
presidential contest might with safety and satisfaction be
adjusted by that supreme tribunal which, combining dignity,
honor, learning, and presumed impartiality, would be regarded
by men of all parties as a trustworthy repository.

226 LIFE AND SER VICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

" It was in that spirit and with these views that I voted
for the Constitutional Amendment, which I regret to say
failed to commend itself to the Senate. It was defeated,
and I refer to it now only to show that I have not been
reluctant to make any proper and constitutional adjustment
of pending difficulties. I am not wedded to any particular
plan except that of the Constitution, nor have I any pet
theories outside of the Constitution; and, unlike a good many
gentlemen on both sides of the chamber with whom I am
newly associated here, I have no embarrassing record on this
question of ' counting the votes.'

" But Mr. President, looking at the measure under con-
sideration, and looking at it with every desire to co-operate
with those who are so warmly advocating it, I am compelled
to withhold the support of my vote. I am not prepared to
vest any body of men with the tremendous power which
this bill gives to fourteen gentlemen, four of whom are to
complete their number by selecting a fifteenth, and selecting
a fifteenth under such circumstances as throughout the length
and breadth of the land impart a peculiar interest, I might
say an absorbing interest, to what Mr. Benton termed in the
Texas Indemnity bill, 'that coy and bashful blank.' I do
not believe that Congress itself has the power which it pro-
poses to confer on these fifteen gentlemen. I do not profess
to be what is termed, in the current phrase of the day, a
' constitutional lawyer,' but every Senator voting under the
obligations of his oath and his conscience must ultimately
be his own constitutional lawyer. And I deliberately say
that I do not believe that Congress possesses the power itself,
and still less the power to transfer to any body of fourteen,

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 227

or fifteen, or fifty gentlemen, that with which it is now pro-
posed to invest five Senators, five Representatives, and five
Judges of the Supreme Court. I did not at this late hour
of the night rise to make an argument, but merely to state
the ground, the constitutional and conscientious ground, on
which I feel compelled to vote against the pending bill. I
have had a great desire to co-operate with my political friends
who are advocating it, but every possible inclination of that
kind has been removed and dispelled by the very arguments
brought in support of the bill, able and exhaustive as they
have been on that side of the question.

" I beg to make one additional remark through you, Mr.
President, to the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, that
while this subject is now in the public mind as it never has
been before from the foundation of the government, when
the leading jurists of the country have been investigating it
as never before, that they will not allow this session of Con-
gress to close without carefully maturing and submitting to
the States a Constitutional Amendment which will remove so
far as possible all embarrassments in the future. The people
of this country, without regard to party, desire in our govern-
ment due and orderly procedure under the sanction of law,
and that I am sure is what is desired by every Senator on
this floor, and by none more ardently than by myself. Let us
then, if possible, guard against all trouble in the future by
some wise and timely measure that will be just to all parties
and all sections, and, above all, just to our obligations under
the Constitution."

Senator Elaine opposed President Hayes's Southern policy,
and took a decided stand against the President's action in

228 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

recognizing the Democratic State Governments in South
Carolina and Louisiana in the Spring of 1877.

When the Senate considered the bill authorizing the free
coinage of the standard silver dollar, and to restore its legal
tender character, Mr. Blaine offered a substitute for the bill,
containing three propositions, as he states in these words :

" 1. That the dollar shall contain four hundred and twenty-
five grains of standard silver, shall have unlimited coinage,
and be an unlimited legal tender.

"2. That all profits of coinage shall go to the govern-
ment, and not to the operator in silver bullion.

"3. That silver dollars or silver bullion, assayed and
mint-stamped, may be deposited with the assistant treasurer
of New York, for which coin certificates may be issued, the
same in denomination as United States notes, not below ten
dollars, and that these shall be redeemable on demand in
coin or bullion, thus furnishing a paper circulation based on
an actual deposit of precious metal, giving us notes as valu-
able as those of the Bank of England, and doing away at
once with the dreaded inconvenience of silver on account of
bulk and weight."

Mr. Blaine presented his views on the Silver Question
in a rather lengthy and very able speech, on the day he of-
fered his substitute, which was February 7, 1878. The
concluding portion of his speech read thus :

" The effect of paying the labor of this country in silver
coin of full value, as compared with the irredeemable paper,
or as compared even with silver of inferior value, will make
itself felt in a single generation to the extent of tens of mill-
ions, perhaps hundreds of millions, in the aggregate savings

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 229

which represent consolidated capital. It is the instinct of
man, from the savage to the scholar developed in child-
hood and remaining with age to value the metals which in
all tongues are called precious. Excessive paper money
leads to extravagance, to waste, and to want, as we pain-
fully witness on all sides to-day. And in the midst of the
proof of its demoralizing and destructive effect, we hear it
proclaimed in the halls of Congress that 'the people de-
mand cheap money.' I deny it. I declare such a phrase to
be a total misapprehension a total misinterpretation of the
popular wish. The people do not demand cheap money.
They demand an abundance of good money, which is an en-
tirely d'fferent thing. They do not want a single gold
standard, that will exclude silver and benefit those already
rich. They do not want an inferior silver standard, that
will drive out gold and not help those already poor. They
want both metals, in full value, in equal honor, in whatever
abundance the bountiful earth will yield them to the search-
ing eye of science and to the hard hand of labor.

" The two metals have existed, side by side, in har-
monious, honorable companionship as money, ever since in-
telligent trade was known among men. It is well-nigh forty
centuries since ' Abraham weighed to Ephron four hundred
shekels of silver current money with the merchant.' Since
that time nations have risen and fallen, races have disap-
peared, dialects and languages have been forgotten, arts
have been lost, treasures have perished, continents have been
discovered, islands have been sunk in the sea, and through
all these ages, and through all these changes silver and gold
have reigned supreme as the representation of value, as the

230 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

media of exchange. The dethronement of each has been at-
tempted in turn, and sometimes the dethronement of both;
but always in vain! And we are here to-day, deliberating
anew over the problem which comes down to us from Abra-
ham's time the weight of the silver that shall be 'current
money with the merchant.' '

It has been a prominent part of the policy of Mr. Elaine,
in public life, to stand armed against the undue domination
of foreign states in the affairs of America. He has consist-
ently and persistently denied the right of any foreign state
to exercise a control over questions purely American. When-
ever a measure has been sprung, touching the strict inde-
pendence of the country, Elaine has been found with drawn
sword ready to repel the assault. This policy has led him,
not infrequently, to take the arena in opposition to measures
which he deemed likely to aifect unfairly the high, rank of
the American Republic. It was this principle of action
which brought him into prominence during the debate in the
Senate on the Halifax Fishery Award, in 1878. He was
one of the most indignant of all at what he deemed the
treachery and overreaching of Great Britain in that matter.
Finally consenting to accept the report of the Committee on
Foreign Relations, he nevertheless left on record a ringing
protest against some of the principles and facts involved in
the controversy. On the first of June he delivered an ad-
dress in the Senate, the spirit of which may be inferred
from the following extract :

" Mr. President, I shall support the report made by the
Committee on Foreign Relations, although I wish that some
amendments could be made to it. But I do not concur in

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 231

what was implied in the remarks of the Senator from Ohio,
on this subject, that Great Britain had discharged her duties
under this treaty with exemplary fidelity, and that we were
in danger of not following a good example. I maintain that
from the first, throughout the whole of the treaty and I
know I am taking what has not been heretofore a popular
side, or the generally accepted version it has been a treaty
of a singularly one-sided character, in which, as I shall show,
the entire advantage was gained by Great Britain, and in
the parts that she has not esteemed it to be her interest to
fulfill it, she has declined to fulfill it. Up to this day one
of the most important parts of the treaty has been evaded,
and its fulfillment refused by Great Britain. Let me explain.
When the Joint High Commission came to consider what
were known as the Alabama Claims, they agreed upon three
rules which Great Britain diplomatically disavowed through
her commissioners to have been accepted rules of inter-
national law at the time, but said that they would agree to
them as the basis of a settlement, and they might go before
the tribunal as if they had been in force as principles of in-
ternational law at the time of their alleged infraction. Then
Great Britain and the United States, in binding themselves
to the observance of these rules in future, assumed another
mutual obligation in this clause of the treaty :

" 'And the high contracting parties agree to observe these rules
between themselves in future, and to bring them to the knowledge
of the other maritime powers and to invite them to accede to
them.'

" Unless I am entirely misinformed, and I think I am
correctly informed, Great Britain has refused up to' this

232 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

time, and it has been seven years this month since the treaty
was perfected, to join with the United States in asking the
other maritime powers to agree to those rules. I have
ground for believing this statement to be substantially, if not
literally, true, and if the Senate will support me in a reso-
lution which I shall offer, we shall find out, authentically,
that Mr. Fish, lately Secretary of State, advised Great
Britain that, refusing to join with the United States in pro-
posing these rules for other maritime powers, the United
States would be justified in treating them as a nullity. I
do not pretend at all to be inside of the secrets and aims
and purposes of British diplomacy, but I do know that hav-
ing got those three rules which bind us very tightly, which
makes us keep a very sharp police on fifteen thousand miles
of ocean front that encircle our own dominions, and hold us
accountable for any privateers or depredators or * Alabamas,'
or any sort of cruisers that may get out in case Great Bri-
tain goes to war with Russia, as is now possible if not prob-
able (I hope not even probable), and makes us accountable
in damages afterward for any losses thus resulting to her
subjects that while she holds us thus closely under the
three rules, she has not asked another nation in all Europe
to be bound by those rules; she has refused to join the
United States in asking the maritime powers to accept them
and be bound by them. I do not believe in having one
part of the treaty quoted on us to the letter i which killeth,'
and then to have the part which does not exactly comport
with the interest of Great Britain, absolutely slurred over
and denied.

"I repeat, I do not pretend to see any further through

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 233

secret and hidden motives than any body else, and I do
not pretend to know, much less do I pretend to state, what
the motive of Great Britain is, although I have heard it,
and I have he*ard it was because the government of the
German Empire objected to those rules being made general
in Europe. At all events it is known, and we ought to
know here authentically and it would be some advantage
to know it before we pass on the measure we ought to
know authentically what has transpired between this gov-
ernment and the government of Great Britain with regard
to these three rules, which were so finely chiseled and so
closely drawn and so narrowly constructed that when we
got into the tribunal, at Geneva, we were practically pow-
erless. When confessedly the aid and support of Great
Britain to the rebellion had been hundreds of millions of
dollars of damage to this country; when they swept our
mercantile marine, two-thirds of it, out of existence ; when
their aid and countenance to the Confederacy had destroyed
one of the great leading interests of the United States, we
consented to such a narrow construction of these three rules
as absolutely cut us down to fifteen and a half million dol-
lars for damages, and Great Britain at once gets seven and
a half millions of that back two millions on the Washing-
ton Claims Commission, of 1871-72, and now five and a
half millions more on this fishery award.

"So, when the Senator from Ohio holds up the example
of Great Britain to us to imitate in this matter, I beg him
to observe what Great Britain's course has been in regard to
this part of the treaty. It was Great Britain's highest in-
terest to pay the Geneva award. She never paid fifteen

234 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

million dollars in her life that was so good an investment as
that was, under the circumstances. Whether we can find
any body, under the narrow rules that were laid down, that
is a lawful claimant for the money awarded us at Geneva,
is quite another thing; that is for us to determine; but
Great Britain herself gained the incalculable advantage of
making us a practical ally to her, willing or unwilling, in
all her contests with European powers. The Russians are
watched by every form of observation if they land on the
coast of Maine, or if they buy a vessel in New York or Phil-
adelphia; and the moment there is a declaration of war,
instead of Great Britain doing the watching, we shall be
compelled, under the three rules, to do it ourselves. We
shall be forced on the anxious-seat, and if a Russian vessel
should escape from our coast, and Great Britain could show
that we have not used due diligence, we are to be responsi-
ble in the amounts of money that may result from her dep-
redations on British commerce. Great Britain gets all these
vast advantages out of us, and then refuses, as I say, for
some reason, and continues to refuse, up to this time, to
agree that other maratime nations, in whose adoption of
these three rules we might have very great interests, shall
act on them refuses even to submit them, as the treaty
bound her to do and she has permitted seven years to go
by without so much as uniting with us in asking a single
European power to accept them.

"Now, let us go back a little, inasmuch as we are dis-
cussing this subject generally, as the Senator from Ohio has
introduced it. When the war broke out, in 1861, Mr. Sew-
ard, through our minister at the Court of St. James, Mr.

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 235

Adams, immediately proposed that the United States should
become a party to the treaty of Paris, to which there had
been forty-six or forty-seven nations of the earth already
parties, to suppress privateering. Lord John Russell, re-
cently deceased, apparently received the proposition with
the utmost complaisance, and agreed to it; and after the
agreement was made, and we thought the treaty was about
to become a regular convention between the two govern-
ments, he put in a condition that it should not at all affect
the existing relations between Great Britain and the Con-
federate States, or that the question should not in the least
degree be affected by the relations of any internal dissen-
sions in the United States ; in other words, that if we lived
to survive the Rebellion in the United States, the very time
when we should not need the advantage of this treaty, we
might enjoy it; but that, pending that, we should not have
any advantage from it at all. And the British Government
would not agree, on the other hand, that if any disturbance
should take place in any part of the British Empire, we
should not be similarly bound as England was then. Let
me read just what Mr. Seward said on that point :

" ' The proposed declaration is inadmissable, among other reasons,
because it is not mutual. It proposes a special rule by which her
majesty's obligations shall be meliorated in their bearing upon in-
ternal difficulties now prevailing in the United States, while
the obligations to be assumed by the United States shall not be
similarly meliorated, or at all affected in their bearing on inter-
nal differences that may now be prevailing or may hereafter arise
and prevail in Great Britain. 1 "

" The whole of it was one-sided. And now I will give
the honorable Senator from Ohio a very substantial reason

236 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

why the government of the United States ought to proceed
to the payment of the fishery award in a different manner
from that which the government of Great Britain adopted
with reference to the Geneva award. The struggles between
the Dominion of Canada, or that which now constitutes the
Dominion of Canada, the British-American provinces, and
the United States, for reciprocal relations of trade and com-
merce, have been troublesome questions for eighty years,
and every time we have attempted to adjust them, the fish-
eries have been put forward as the stumbling-block in the
way of a fair agreement; and the payment of the five and
a half millions settles the question for only twelve, years,
and then it is all open again. But, on the other hand, the
fifteen and a half millions, paid in pursuance of the Geneva
award, closed that account for all time ; or, if it left it open
at all, it left it open with the three rules operating in Great
Britain's favor. But let us pay this five and a half millions,
as the honorable Senator from Ohio invites us to do ; let us walk
up without saying one word, and pay this five and a half mill-
ion of dollars to Great Britain, and what is the result? It
is inevitably accepted by the government of Great Britain
as a concession on the part of the government of the United
States, as a just measure of value of those fishery privileges,
and any subsequent notice that we might give, six or eight
years hence, would be treated as an afterthought. If we do
not make that point at this time, we lose all the advantage
of making it at all ; and if we now pay that money without
in some form emphatically entering our dissent from it as a
just measure of the value of the fisheries, we are estopped
from ever pleading it hereafter, and we shall have committed

ELAINE IN P UBL1C LIFE. 237

ourselves to the conclusion that those fisheries, in reciprocal
arrangements for trade between the Dominion of Canada and
the United States, are to be reckoned as of the value of a
half million dollars per annum bonus from the United States,
in addition to the admission of Canadian fish free of duty
to our markets.

" This question, Mr. President, has some sectional and
local relation, I know. We are much more aifected by it
where I come from than are the people where the' Senator
from Ohio comes from. It is a matter of daily, very press-
ing interest with us, and we know very well that if we sit
still here and consent to this award being accepted publicly
as a just measure of value, we can never have the trade
between the Dominion of Canada and the United States
regulated thereafter upon any fair, equitable, amicable basis."

On no subject have the views of Mr. Elaine been more
pronounced and unequivocal than on that relating to the
freedom and purity of elections. On this subject he has
never given forth an uncertain sound. During the third
session of the Forty-fifth Congress he distinguished himself
in the Senate by his tremendous outcry against the fraudu-
lent methods by which the electors of the Southern States,
both black and white, had been terrorized to the level of a
degraded servitude. One of his best speeches was delivered
during that session on the exercise of the elective franchise.

The resolutions which brought on the debate were pre-
sented by himself, as follows :

"Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be instructed
to inquire and report to the Senate whether at the recent elections
the constitutional rights of American citizens were violated in any

238 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

of the States of the Union ; whether the right of suffrage of citi-
zens of the United States, or of any class of such citizens, was de-
nied or abridged by the action of the election officers of any State
in refusing to receive their votes, in failing to count them, or in re-
ceiving and counting fraudulent ballots in pursuance of a conspi-
racy to make the lawful votes of such citizens of none effect ; and
whether such citizens were prevented from exercising the elective
franchise ; or forced to use it against their wishes, by violence or
threats, or hostile demonstrations of armed men or other organiza-
tions, or by any other unlawful means or practices.

" Resolved, That the Committee on the Judiciary be further in-
structed to inquire and report whether it is within the competency
of Congress to provide by additional legislation for the more per-
fect security of the right of suffrage to citizens of the United
States in all the States of the Union.

" Resolved, That in prosecuting these inquiries the judiciary
committee shall have the right to send for persons and papers."

On these resolutions Mr. Elaine addressed the Senate as
follows :

" Mr. President, the pending resolutions were offered by
me, with a two-fold purpose in view :

" First, to place on record, in a definite and authentic
form, the frauds and outrages by which some recent elections
were carried by the Democratic party in the Southern States.

" Second, to find if there be any method by which a
repetition of these crimes against a free ballot may be
prevented.

"The newspaper is the channel through which the
people of the United States are informed of current events,
and the accounts given in the press represent the elections
in some of the Southern States to have been accompanied by
violence ; in not a few cases reaching the destruction of life ;

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE, 239

to have been controlled by threats that awed and intimated
a large class of voters, to have been manipulated by fraud
of the most shameless and shameful description. Indeed, in
South Carolina" there seems to have been no election at all
in any proper sense of the term. There was instead a series
of skirmishes over the State in which the polling-places
were regarded as forts to be captured by one party and
held against the other, and where this could not be done
with convenience, frauds in the count and tissue-ballot
devices were resorted to in order to effectually destroy the
voice of the majority. These, in brief, are the accounts
given in the non-partisan press of the disgraceful outrages
that attended the recent elections, and so far as I have seen
these statements are without serious contradiction. It is
but just and fair to all parties, however, that an impartial
investigation of the facts shall be made by a committee of
the Senate, proceeding under the authority of law, and repre-
senting the power of the nation. Hence my resolutions.

" But we do not need investigation to establish certain
facts already of official record. We know that one hundred
and six representatives in Congress were recently chosen in
the States formerly slave-holding, and that the Democrats
elected one hundred and one, or possibly one hundred and
two, and the Republicans four, or possibly five. We know
that thirty-five of these representatives were assigned to
the Southern States by reason of the colored population,
and that the entire political power thus founded on the
numbers of the colored people has been seized and appro-
priated to the aggrandizement of its own strength by the
Democratic party of the South.

240 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

"The issue thus raised before the country, Mr. Presi-
dent, is not one of mere sentiment for the rights of the
negro, though far distant be the day when the rights of any
American citizen, however black or however poor, shall
form the mere dust of the balance in any controversy ; nor
is the issue one that involves the waving of the " bloody
shirt," to quote the elegant vernacular of Democratic vitu-
peration ; nor still further is the issue as now presented only
a question of the equality of the black voter of the South
with the white voter of the South. The issue, Mr. Presi-
dent, has taken a far wider range, one of portentous magni-
tude ; and that is, whether the white voter of the North
shall be equal to the white voter of the South in shaping
the policy and fixing the destiny of this country ; or
whether, to put it still more baldly, the white man who
fought in the ranks of the Union army shall have as weighty
and influential a vote in the government of the republic as
the white man who fought in the ranks of the rebel army.
The one fought to uphold, the other to destroy, the union of
the States, and to-day he who fought to destroy is a far
more important factor in the government of the Nation than
he who fought to uphold it.

"Let me illustrate my meaning by comparing groups of
States of the same representative strength North and South.
Take the States of South Carolina, Mississippi, and Louisi-
ana, they send seventeen representatives to Congress. Their
aggregate population is composed of ten hundred and thirty-
five thousand whites and twelve hundred and twenty-four
thousand colored, the colored being nearly two hundred
thousand in excess of the whites. Of the seventeen repre-

SLA INE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 241

sentatives, then, it is evident that nine were apportioned to
these States by reason of their colored population, and only-
eight by reason of their white population; and yet, in
choice of the entire seventeen representatives the colored
voters had no more voice or power than their remote kin-
dred on the shores of Senegambia or on the gold coast.
The ten hundred and thirty-five thousand white people had
the sole and absolute choice of the entire seventeen repre-
sentatives. In contrast, take two States in the North, Iowa
and Wisconsin, with seventeen representatives. They have
a white population of two million two hundred and forty-
seven thousand considerably more than double the entire
white population of the three Southern States I have named.
In Iowa and Wisconsin, therefore, it takes one hundred and
thirty-two thousand white population to send a representa-
tive to Congress, but in South Carolina, Mississippi, and
Louisiana every sixty thousand white send a represen-
tative ; in other words, sixty thousand white people in those
Southern States have precisely the same political power
in the government of the country that one hundred and
thirty-two thousand white people have in Iowa and Wis-
consin.

"Take another group of seventeen representatives from
the South and from the North. Georgia, and Alabama have
a white population of eleven hundred and fifty-eight thou-
sand, and a colored population of ten hundred and twenty
thousand. They send seventeen representatives to Congress,
of whom nine were apportioned on account of the white
population and eight on account of the colored population.
But the colored voters were not able to choose a single rep-

242 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

resentative, the white Democrats choosing the whole seven-
teen. The four Northern States, Michigan, Minnesota, Ne-
braska, and California have seventeen representatives, based
on a white population of two and a quarter millions, or
almost double the white population of Georgia and Alabama,
so that in these relative groups of States we find the white
man South exercises by his vote double the political power
of the white man North.

" Let us carry the comparison to a more comprehensive
generalization. The eleven States that formed the Confed-
erate Government had by the last census a population of
nine and a half millions, of which in round numbers five
and a half millions were white and four millions colored.
On this aggregate population seventy-three representatives
in Congress were appointed to those States forty-two or
three of whom were by reason of the white population, and
thirty or thirty-one by reason of the colored population. At
the recent election the white Democracy of the South seized
seventy of the seventy-three districts, and thus secured a
Democratic majority in the next House of Representatives.
Thus it appears that throughout the States that formed the
late Confederate Government, sixty-five thousand whites
the very people that rebelled against the Union are enabled
to elect a representative in Congress, while in the loyal
States it requires one hundred and thirty-two thousand of
the white people that fought for the Union to elect a rep-
resentative. In levying every tax, therefore, in making
every appropriation of money, in fixing every line of pub-
lic policy, in decreeing what shall be the fate and fortune
of the Republic, the Confederate soldier South is enabled

BLAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 243

to cast a vote that is twice as powerful and twice as influ-
ential as the vote of the Union soldier North.

" But the white men of the South did not acquire, and
do not hold this superior power by reason of law or justice,
but in disregard and defiance of both. The Fourteenth
Amendment to the Constitution was expected to be and was
designed to be a preventive and corrective of all such possi-
ble abuses. The reading of the clause applicable to the
case is instructive and suggestive ; hear it :

" ' Representatives shall be apportioned among the sev-
eral States according to their respective numbers, counting
the whole number of persons in each State, excluding In-
dians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any elec-
tion for choice of electors for President and Vice-president
of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the exec-
utive and judicial officers of a State, or the members of the
Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants
of such State being twenty-one years of age, and citi-
zens of the United States, or in any way abridged, ex-
cept for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the
basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the pro-
portion which" the number of such male citizens shall bear
to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of
age in such State.'

" The patent, undeniable intent of this provision was
that if any class of voters were denied or in any way
abridged in their right of suffrage, then the class so denied
or abridged should not be counted in the basis of the rep-
resentation, or, in other words, that no State or States
should gain a large increase of representation in Congress

244 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

by reason of counting any class of population not permitted
to take part in electing such representatives. But the con-
struction given to this provision i-s that before any forfeiture
of representation can be enforced the denial or abridgment of
suffrage must be the result of a law specifically enacted by
the State. Under this construction every negro voter may
have his suffrage absolutely denied, or fatally abridged by
the violence, actual or threatened, of irresponsible mobs,
or by frauds and deceptions of State officers from the gov-
ernor down to the last election clerk, and then, unless some
State law can be shown that authorizes the denial or abridg-
ment, the State escapes all penalty or peril of reduced rep-
resentation. This construction may be upheld by the courts
ruling on the letter of the law, ' which killeth,' but the
spirit of justice cries aloud against the evasive and atrocious
conclusion that deals out oppression to the innocent, and
shields the guilty from the legitimate consequences of will-
ful transgression.

"The colored citizen is thus most unhappily situated;
his right of suffrage is but a hollow mockery ; it holds to
his ear the word of promise, but breaks it always to his
hope, and he ends only in being made the unwilling instru-
ment of increasing the political strength of that party from
which he received ever-tightening fetters when he was a
slave, and contemptuous refusal of civil rights since he was
made free. He resembles, indeed, those unhappy captives
in the East who, deprived of their birthright, are compelled
to yield their strength to the upbuilding of the monarch
from whose tyrannies they have most to fear, and to fight
against the power from which alone deliverance might be

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 245

expected. The franchise, intended for the shield and de-
fense of the negro, has been turned against him and against
his friends, and has vastly increased the power of those
from whom he has nothing to hope and every thing to dread.
" The political power thus appropriated by Southern
Democrats, by reason of the negro population, amounts to
thirty-five Representatives in Congress. It is massed almost
solidly, and offsets the great State of New York ; or Pennsyl-
vania and New Jersey together ; or the whole of New Eng-
land ; or Ohio and Indiana united ; or the combined strength
of Illinois, Minnesota, Kansas, California, Nevada, Nebraska,
Colorado, and Oregon. The seizure of this power is wanton
usurpation ; it is flagrant outrage ; it is violent perversion of
the whole theory of republican government. It inures solely
to the present advantage, and yet, I believe, to the perma-
nent dishonor of the Democratic party. It is by reason of
this trampling down of human rights, this ruthless seizure of
unlawful power that the Democratic party holds the popular
branch of Congress to-day, and will, in less than ninety days,
have control of this body also, thus grasping the entire legis-
lative department of the government, through the unlawful
capture of the Southern States. If the proscribed vote of
the South were cast as its lawful owners desire, the Demo-
cratic party could not gain power. Nay, if it were not
counted on the other side, against the instincts and the inter-
ests, against the principles and prejudices of its lawful own-
ers, Democratic success would be hopeless. It is not enough,
then, for modern Democratic tactics that the negro vote shall
be silenced ; the demand goes farther, and insists that it
shall be counted on their side, that all the Representatives

246 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

in Congress, and all the presidential electors apportioned by
reason of the negro vote, shall be so cast and so governed as
to insure Democratic success regardless of justice, in defi-
ance of law.

"And this injustice is wholly unprovoked. I doubt if it
be in the power of the most searching investigation to show
that in any Southern State, during the period of Republican
control, any legal voter was ever debarred from the freest
exercise of his suffrage. Even the revenges which would
have leaped into life with many who despised the negro were
buried out of sight with a magnanimity which the " Superior
Race" fail to follow and seem reluctantly to recognize. I
know it is said in retort of such charges against the Southern
elections as I am now reviewing, that unfairness of equal
gravity prevails in Northern elections. I hear it in many
quarters and read it in the papers, that in the late exciting
election in Massachusetts, intimidation and bulldozing, if
not so rough and rancorous as in the South, were yet as
widespread and effective.

" I have read, and yet I refuse to believe, that the distin-
guished gentleman who made an energetic but unsuccessful
canvass for the governorship of that State, has indorsed and
approved these charges, and I have accordingly made my
resolutions broad enough to include their thorough investi-
gation. I am not demanding fair elections in the South
without demanding fair elections in the North also ; but ven-
turing to speak for the New England States, of whose laws
and customs I know something, I dare assert that in the
late election in Massachusetts, or any of her neighboring
commonwealths, it will be impossible to find even one case

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 247

where a voter was driven from the polls, where a voter did
not have the fullest, fairest, freest opportunity to cast the
ballot of his choice and have it honestly and faithfully
counted in the "returns. Suffrage on this continent was first
made universal in New England, and in the administration
of their affairs her people have found no other appeal neces-
sary than that which is addressed to their honesty of con-
viction and to their intelligent self-interest. If there be
anything different to disclose, I pray you show it to us that
we may amend our ways.

" But whenever a feeble protest is made against such in-
justice as I have described in the South, the response we get
comes to us in the form of a taunt, ' What are you going to
do about it ?' and ' How do you propose to help yourselves ?'
This is the stereotyped answer of defiance which intrenched
wrong always gives to inquiring justice ; and those who im-
agine it to be conclusive do not know the temper of the
American people. For, let me assure you, that against the
complicated outrage upon the right of representation lately
triumphant in the South, there will be arrayed many phases
of public opinion in the North, not often hitherto in harmony.
Men who have cared little, and affected to care less, for the
rights or the wrongs of the negro, suddenly find that vast
monetary and commercial interests, great questions of reve-
nue, adjustments of tariff, vast investments in manufactures,
in railways, and in mines, are under the control of a Demo-
cratic Congress, whose majority was obtained by depriving
the negro of his rights under a common law Constitution and
common laws. Men who have expressed disgust with the
waving of bloody shirts, and who have been offended with

248 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

talk about negro equality, are beginning to perceive that the
pending question of to-day relates more pressingly to the
equality of white men under this government, and that, how-
ever careless they may be about the rights of their own race
and the dignity of their own firesides and their own kindred.
"I know something of public opinion in the North. I
know a great deal about the views, wishes, and purposes of
the Republican party of the Nation. Within that entire
great organization there is not one man whose opinion is en-
titled to be quoted that does not desire peace and harmony and
friendship, and a patriotic and fraternal union between the
North and South. This wish is spontaneous, instinctive, uni-
versal throughout the Northern States ; and yet, among men
of character and sense, there is surely no need of attempting
to deceive ourselves as to the precise truth. First pure,
then peaceable. Gush will not remove a grievance, and no
disguise of State's rights will close the eyes of our people
to the necessity of correcting a great National wrong. Nor
should the South make the fatal mistake of concluding that
injustice to the negro is not also injustice to the white man;
nor should it ever be forgotten that for the wrongs of both
a remedy will assuredly be found. The war, with all its
costly sacrifices, was fought in vain unless equal rights for
all classes be established in all the States in the Union.
And now, in words which are those of friendship, however
differently they may be accepted, I tell the men of the
South, here on this floor, and beyond this chamber, that
even if they could strip the negro of his constitutional
rights, they can never permanently maintain the inequality
of white men in this Nation ; they can never make a white

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 249

man's vote in the South doubly as powerful in the administra-
tion of the government as a white man's vote in the North.

" In a memorable debate in the House of Commons, Mr.
Macaulay reminded Daniel O'Connell when he was moving
for repeal, that the English Whigs had endured calumny,
abuse, popular fury, loss of position, exclusion from Parlia-
ment, rather than the great agitator himself should be less
than a British subject, and Mr. Macaulay warned him that
they would neyer suffer him to be more. Let me now re-
mind you that the government, under whose protecting flag
we sit to-day, sacrificed myriads of lives and expended
thousands of millions of treasure that our countrymen of the
South should remain citizens of the United States, having
equal personal rights and equal political privileges with all
other citizens, and I venture now and here to warn the men
of the South, in the exact words of Macaulay, that we will
never suffer them to be more !" [Applause in the galleries,
which the Vice-president checked by rapping with his
gavel.]

April 22, 1879, Mr. Blaine offered the following resolu-
tions for the consideration of the Senate :

" Resolved, That any radical change in our present tariff
laws would, in the judgment of the Senate, be inopportune,
would needlessly derange the business interests of the
country, and would seriously retard that return to prosperity
for which all should earnestly co-operate.

"Resolved, That, in the judgment of the Senate, it should
be the fixed policy of this government to so maintain our
tariff for revenue as to afford adequate protection to Ameri-
can labor."

250 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

On the first of May, 1878, Mr. Elaine called up his reso-
lutions and urged their passage. He objected to the ap-
pointment of a tariff commission, in regard to which he
said:

"I think one of the most mischievous measures in its
effects, not of course so designed by the gentleman who may
move it, would be to have a roving commission on the idea
that, when they get through running hither and thither over
the country, and examining this way and that way about
the tariff, certain recommendations are to be made and cer-
tain changes are to take place. Nothing would more ef-
fectually unsettle the business of the country than that.
That is only having the agitation of the subject which is
now disturbing the country by its appearance in Congress
transferred to a Commission. You only elongate the evil,
you only increase it, you only keep drawing it out over a
long time. There is no form, in my judgment, which the
tariff discussion or tariff legislation could take that would be
fraught with more mischief to the country than to have a
commission sitting upon it. After they had made their re-
port, it could not effect legislation here or influence the
opinion of any person in either branch of Congress one way
or the other. We have had many of these commissions
upon divers and sundry subjects, and I have never known
them to do a particle of good, so far as producing a result
in practical legislation."

After which Senator Beck, of Kentucky, launched out on
a tirade against our tariff laws, in response to which Mr.
Blaine said :

"Mr. President: The honorable Senator from Kentucky

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 251

[Mr. Beck] quite prematurely, and without my expectation,
launched forth into an argument on the subject of the tariff;
and very naturally, taking the side he does, he quarrels
with the civilization of the nineteenth century. He says it
is the machinery that is to blame. We have got machinery
in this country, he says, that will do the work of one hun-
dred and seventy-five million men, and there is where all
the trouble is. Of course, the logical result of the Senator's
argument is to abolish the locomotive, the steam-engine, and
all modern appliances of transportation and manufacture,
and go back to the hand-loom and the wagon."

MR. BECK " Oh, no ; I beg pardon."

MR. BLAINE " I did not interrupt the Senator, and I
hope he will allow me to get through my argument."

MR. BECK "You surely will not say that I intended
any such thing as that."

MR. BLAINE "I do not see any other result. The Sen-
ator says the whole trouble grows out of the fact that we
have labor-saving machinery."

MR. BECK "Allow me to put the Senator right there.
My argument was that we need no protection because we
have machinery equal to any other machinery, and that
machinery can compete in the markets of the world. I
wish we had more."

MR. BLAINE " The Senator said he may correct his
argument now that we had the machinery here, which was
the slave of the owners of it, that they could command it to
stand still or to turn when they chose, that the laborer was
their servant, and that he had no independence outside of
the machinery. I do not understand any logical result, or

252 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

see how the Senator can free the laborer from the position
he puts him in, but by abolishing the machinery; I do not
understand it otherwise. And I think among the anomalies
that American politics turn up and we meet many of them
in this chamber among the strange contradictions that his-
tory develops, is that the seat of Henry Clay, in the Senate
of the United States, should be the place from which a free-
trade argument to overthrow the American system and take
the side of the free-trader should be made. It is one of
the anomalies of American politics ; and the argument of
the Senator of Kentucky goes right back to what was said
before the war by a distinguished Southern man that he
hoped to see the day when the old barter between the En-
glish ship that was anchored in the Savannah or the Poto-
mac, or the Cooper or the Ashley, should be resumed with
the planter who shipped directly to England ; and it is that
spirit to-day which holds in manacles and paralyzes the de-
velopment of the Southern country.

" The Senator recalled to us the great tariff of Robert
J. Walker, and cited to us the vast achievement of political
philosophy and economy that man presented to us in his
three reports of 1845, 1846, and 1847. Well, the tariff of
Robert J. Walker had abundant opportunity to ' run and be
glorified ' in this country, and it ran us into bankruptcy, and
want, and ruin. It was modified in 1857, going still further
in the same direction. The years 1857-60 were years of
financial ruin, and wide-spread disaster and want, in which
the laborer was not employed. Those four years were much
more severe in many portions of this country than even the
four past years which we have just gone through.

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 253

" So, when the Senator presents to us the fact that
Robert J. Walker established the tariff of 1846, he presents
it as a beacon of warning to every man who remembers its
effects throughout the length and breadth of the manufac-
turing industries of this country.

"There we see developed a little collison between our
friends on the other side. When the Senator from Ken-
tucky [Mr. Beck] was laying down the Simon Pure Demo-
cratic doctrine as it was announced at the last national san-
hedrim of that party, the Senator from Pennsylvania [Mr.
Wallace] put in an exception, and the Senator from Penn-
sylvania said that it was fully understood that the free-
trade side of the tariff question was not to be a Demo-
cratic doctrine, but that all the congressional districts were
to be left to determine that matter for themselves. Every-
body knows that was a contrivance got up for the benefit
of gentlemen placed exactly in the delicate attitude of the
Senator from Pennsylvania, who have protective-tariff con-
stituents behind, allied with the free-trade party in the coun-
try at large; and the guise which was made for the benefit
of Mr. Greeley in his campaign, was boldly thrown off at St.
Louis when Mr. Tilden became the standard-bearer.

" The Senator from Kentucky warned us that the
trouble is radical, and he called up the fact of an American
ship being launched a few days since on the Delaware; and
he said you may build that ship at the same rate that an
English ship is, load her with goods manufactured in this
country as cheaply as in England, and send her to her port,
and the trouble is, she has nothing to bring back. I wish
the Senator would give me his attention this moment.

254 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

" The Senator mentioned the City of Para and the port
to which a vessel was destined to run. The City of Para
was launched for a Brazilian line, and all the parade of Con-
gress and the President that went over there was to inaugu-
rate that line. Is not that the fact? You may mention
any other South American port, but you do not change the
argument a particle. We take a great deal more from all
these countries than we send to them, and yet the Senator
says the trouble is we can get no return cargo. His argu-
ment does not stand at all. Mr. President, there is no
more hurtful agitation to-day in this country than the agi-
tation of the tariff. The Senator talks of a lobby being
here. That is always the cry when any thing comes up,
* there is a lobby!' Has the Senator seen a tariff lobby
here?

" There is one very remarkable exception of raw material,
and that is hemp, which is produced by the State of Ken-
tucky. While the tariff-makers took good care to make almost
all other raw materials cheap, I think the honorable Senator
from Kentucky wisely looked out for his own State, and got
a very large duty put on hemp, jute, and all kindred grasses.

"All I know on the point is that the Senator from Ken-
tucky was a member of the Committee of Ways and Means,
and that in the tariff bill reported there was a very large
protection, which I believe still exists, on hemp. It was
exceptionally large, as contrasted with the other raw ma-
terials needed for the manufactures of this country, and I
always gave credit to the Senator from Kentucky, who is a
watchful and able and zealous representative of his con-
stituents, for getting that protection put in. He took good

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 255

care to have his own door-step swept very clean, but seems
to have cared very little about what became of his neigh-
bor's.

"If the Senator can show that there has not been, from
the time he was a member of the Committe of Ways and
Means, an exceptionally heavy duty on hemp, then he can
show that I am mistaken, and I will very gracefully, or as
gracefully as I can, acknowledge it; but I think the Senator
from Kentucky will not be quite able to show the fact. I
do not wish to trench upon the time given to other measures
before the Senate, but this matter I hope will come up when
we can have a freer discussion."

Here the debate closed.

On the bill making appropriations for arrears of pensions,
March 1, 1879, Senator Elaine spoke as follows :

" Mr. President: The Senator from Ohio [Mr. Thurman]
indulged himself in a line of remark which I hardly think
was justifiable. He was arraigning this entire side of the
chamber for running at the name of Jefferson Davis. I wish
to say to the honorable Senator from Ohio, and to all the
Senators on that side, that neither in this chamber nor in the
other in which I have served, did I ever hear what he would
call an attack made on Jefferson Davis, until he was borne
into the chamber for some favor to be asked and some vote
to be exacted. Who brought him here to-night? Who has
brought him into Congress at different times? No Re-
publican. No Republican Senator or Representative has
ever asked censure or comment, or reference to him ; but you
bring here and ask us either to vote or keep silent ; and if
we do n't keep silent, then the honorable Senator is aston-

256 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

ished and indignant, and the honorable Senator from Missis-
sippi [Mr. Lamar] thinks that a wanton insult is intended.
I want the country to understand that it is that side of the
chamber and not this side that brings Jefferson Davis to the
front." . . .

MR. THURMAN " I wish to ask the Senator to explain
what he means by bringing Jefferson Davis here ? Does he
mean introducing the proposition to pension soldiers who
served in Mexico?"

MR. ELAINE " Yes, the measure you are agitating brings
him here."

MR. THURMAN " Then it is a crime ?"

MR. ELAINE " Not a crime at all. I am not charging
the Senator with a crime, but I resent with some feeling
that the Senator should look over to this side of the chamber
and complain that we are taking some extraordinary course
with the name of Jefferson Davis. We do not bring him
here. You bear his mangled remains before us, and then if
we do not happen to view them with the same admiration
that seems to inspire the Senator from Ohio, we are doing
something derogatory to our own dignity and to the honor
of the country, and when the honorable Senator from Mis-
sissippi comes to his defense, the first word he had to speak
for Mr. Davis was that he never counseled insurrection
against the government. I took the words down."

MR. OGLESBY " Since when ?"

MR. ELAINE "Since the close of the war. He has
never counseled insurrection ! Let us be thankful. Why
should we not pension a man who has shown such loyalty
that he has never counseled insurrection ? That is from the

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 257

Representative of his own State. I took the words down
when he spoke them. I was amazed ; I did not exactly con-
sider the words of the honorable Senator from Mississippi a
wanton insult to apply to me or anybody else, but I con-
sider them to be most extraordinary words, that when plead-
ing the cause of Jefferson Davis at the bar of the' American
Senate to be pensioned on its roll of honor, his personal
representative, his associate, his friend, his follower, com-
mends him to the American people, because he has been so
loyal that he has never counseled insurrection since the war
was over.

" This is the man brought in here who, according to the
Senator from Mississippi, is to go down to history the peer
of Washington and Hampden, fighting in the same cause,
entitled to the same niche in history, inspired by the same
patriotic motives, to be admired for the same self-conse-
cration.

" Let me tell the honorable Senator from Mississippi,
that in all the years that I have served in Congress I have
never voluntarily brought the name of Jefferson Davis before
either branch, but I tell him that he is asking humanity to
forget its instincts and patriotism to be changed to crime
before he will find impartial history place Mr. Jefferson Davis
anywhere in the roll that has for its brightest and greatest
names George Washington and John Hampden."

After Mr. Lamar had replied to this speech, Mr. Elaine
resumed as follows :

" Why, Mr. President, does the honorable Senator from
Mississippi declare that the policy of the government of the
United States, administered as it has been through the R-e-

258 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

publican party, has been one of intolerance toward those
who were prominent in the war if I may use the euphemism,
and leave out rebellion which is offensive to his ears? Do
I understand the honorable Senator to maintain here on this
floor that the government of the United States has been in-
tolerant ? Certainly the Senator does not mean that."

After a colloquy with Mr. Lamar, Mr. Elaine resumed
thus :

"The government of the United States never disfran-
chised or put under political disabilities more than fourteen
thousand men in the entire South. Out of two millions who
were in the war it never disfranchised over fourteen thou-
sand men. There are not two hundred left to-day with polit-
ical disabilities upon them. There is not one that ever
respectfully or any other way petitioned to be relieved and
was refused. I know very well what the honorable Sena-
tor from Ohio meant, when he said that Hon. Jefferson
Davis should be commended because he was not an office-
seeker and had not asked to be relieved of disabilities.
Why, if the newspapers are to be credited, especially those
in the Southern Democratic interest, Mr. Davis is a candi-
date for office ; he is pledged to sit on the other side of this
chamber two years hence, and the honorable Senator from
Ohio will in the next Congress with his eloquence I am
predicting now urge that these disabilities be removed from
him. I predict further, that he will urge it without Jeffer-
son Davis paying the respect to the great government against
which he rebelled, simply asking in respectful language that
disabilities be taken from him. He has never asked it ; I
am very sure that another great leader in the South, Mr.

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 259

Toombs, of Georgia, has boasted that he would never do it,
and in the House of Representatives three years ago, when
the general amnesty bill was pending and it was proposed
that the amnesty should be granted merely on the condition
that it should be asked for by each person desiring it, that
it was resisted to the bitter end this great government was
to go to them and ask them if they would take it. The
action of the Democratic House of Representatives I am
speaking of the past now, which is quite within parliamen-
tary limits the action of the Democratic House of Repre-
sentatives was not that Jefferson Davis might have his dis-
abilities removed upon respectful petition, but that we should
go to him and petition him to allow us to remove them."

When the bill to restrict Chinese emigration was under
consideration in the spring of 1879, Mr. Elaine took a de-
cided stand in its favor.

The following speech by Mr. Elaine, was delivered in the
Senate, April 14, 1879 :

[The Senate having under consideration the bill (H. R.
No. 1), making appropriations for the support of the army
for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1880, and for other pur-
poses.]

"Mr. President: The existing section of the Revised
Statutes numbered 2002, reads thus :

" ' No military or naval officer, or other person engaged in the
civil, military, or naval service of the United States, shall order,
bring, keep, or have under his authority or control, any troops or
armed men at the place where any general or special election is
held in any State, unless it be necessary to repel the armed enemies
of the United States, or to keep the peace at the polls.'

260 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

"The object of the proposed section, which has just been
read at the clerk's desk, is to get rid of the eight closing
words, namely, 'or to keep the peace at the polls,' and
therefore the mode of legislation proposed in the Army Bill
now before the Senate is an unusual mode; it is an extra-
ordinary mode. If you want to take off a single sentence
at the end of a section in the Revised Statutes the ordinary
way is to strike off those words, but the mode chosen in this
bill is to repeat and re-enact the whole section, leaving those
few words out. While I do not wish to be needlessly suspi-
cious on a small point, I am quite persuaded that this did
not happen by accident, but that it came by design. If I
may so speak, it came of cunning, the intent being to create
the impression that, whereas the Republicans in the admin-
istration of the general government had been using troops
right and left, hither and thither, in every direction, as soon
as the Democrats got power they enacted this section. I
can imagine Democratic candidates for Congress all over the
country reading this section to gaping and listening audiences
as one of the first offsprings of Democratic reform, whereas
every word of it, every syllable of it, from its first to its
last, is the the enactment of a Republican Congress.

"I repeat that this unusual form presents a dishonest
issue, whether so intended or not. It presents the issue
that as soon as the Democrats got possession of the Federal
Government they proceeded to enact the clause which is
thus expressed. The law was passed by a Republican Con-
gress in 1865. There were forty-six Senators sitting in this
Chamber at the time, of whom only ten, or at most eleven,
were Democrats. The House of Representatives was over-

ELAINE IN P TJBLIC LIFE. 261

whelmingly Republican. We were in the midst of a war.
The Republican administration had a million, or possibly
twelve hundred thousand, bayonets at it command. Thus
circumstanced and thus surrounded, with the amplest possi-
ble power to interfere with elections had they so designed,
with soldiers in every hamlet and county of the United
States, the Republican party themselves placed that pro-
vision on the statute-book, and Abraham Lincoln, their
President, signed it.

"I beg you to observe, Mr. President, that this is the
first instance in the legislation of the United States in
which any restrictive clause whatever was put upon the
statute-book in regard to the use of troops at the polls.
The Republican party did it with the Senate and the House
in their control. Abraham Lincoln signed it when he was
commander-in-chief of an army larger than ever Napoleon
Bonaparte had at his command. So much by way of cor-
recting an ingenious and studied attempt at misrepre-
sentation.

" The alleged object is to strike out the few words that
authorize the use of troops to keep peace at the polls.
This country has been alarmed I rather think, indeed,
amused at the great effort made to create a wide-spred im-
pression that the Republican party relies for its popular
strength upon the use of the bayonet. This Democratic
Congress has attempted to give a bad name to this country
throughout the civilized world, and to give it on a false
issue. They have raised an issue that has no foundation in
fact that is false in whole and detail, false in the charge,
false in all the specifications. That impression sought to be

262 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

created, as I say, not only throughout the North American
continent, but in Europe to-day, is that elections are at-
tempted in this country to be controlled by the bayonet.

" I denounce it here as a false issue. I am not at lib-
erty to say that any gentleman making the issue knows it
to be false; I hope he does not; but I am going to prove to
him that it is false, and that there is not a solitary inch of
solid earth on which to rest the foot of any man that makes
that issue. I have in my hand an official transcript of the
location and the number of all the troops of the United
States east of Omaha. By ' east of Omaha,' I mean all
the United States east of the Mississippi River and that belt
of States that border the Mississippi River on the west, in-
cluding forty-one million at least out of the forty-five mill-
ion of people that this country is supposed to contain to-
day. In that magnificent area I will not pretend to state
its extent but with forty-one million people, how many
troops of the United States are there to-day? Would any
Senator on the opposite side like to guess, or would he like
to state how many men with muskets in their hands there
are in the vast area I have named? There are two
thousand seven hundred and ninety-seven ! And not one
more.

"From the headwaters of the Mississippi River to the
lakes, and down the great chain of lakes, and down the
Saint Lawrence, and down the valley of the Saint John,
and down the Saint Croix, striking the Atlantic Ocean, and
following it down to Key West, around the gulf, up to the
mouth of the Mississippi again, a frontier of eight thousand
miles, either bordering on the ocean or upon foreign terri-

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 263

tory is guarded by these troops. Within this domain forty-
five fortifications are manned and eleven arsenals protected.
There are sixty troops to every million of people. In the
South I have the entire number in each State and will
give it.

" I believe the Senator from Delaware is alarmed, greatly
alarmed about the over-riding of the popular ballot by the
troops of the United States ! In Delaware there is not a
single armed man, not one. The United States has not even
one soldier in the State.

" The honorable Senator from West Virginia [Mr. Here-
ford], on Friday last, lashed himself into a passion, or at
least into a perspiration, over the wrongs of his State,
trodden down by the iron heel of military despotism.
There is not a solitary man of the United States, uni-
formed, on the soil of West Virginia, and there has not been
for years.

" In Maryland ? I do not know whether my esteemed
friend from Maryland [Mr. Whyte] has been greatly
alarmed or not ; but at Fort McHenry, guarding the entrance
to the beautiful harbor of his beautiful city, there are one
hundred and ninety-two artillerymen located.

" In Virginia, there is a school of practice at Fortress
Monroe. My honorable friend [Mr. Withers], who has
charge of this bill, knows very well, and if he does not I
will tell him, that outside of that school of practice at For-
tress Monroe, which has two hundred and eighty-two men
in it, there is not a federal soldier on the soil of Virginia
not one.

" North Carolina. Are the Senators from that State

264 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

alarmed at the immediate and terrible prospect of being
over-run by the army of the United States ? On the
whole soil of North Carolina there are but thirty soldiers
guarding a fort at the mouth of Cape Fear River -just
thirty.

" South Carolina. I do not see a Senator on the floor
from that State. There are one hundred and twenty artil-
lerymen guarding the approaches to Charleston Harbor, and
not another soldier on her soil.

"Georgia. Does my gallant friend from Georgia [Mr.
Gordon], who knows better than I the force and strength of
military organization the senior Senator, and the junior
also are both or either of those Senators alarmed at the
presence of twenty -nine soldiers in Georgia ? [Laughter.]
There are just twenty-nine there.

" Florida has one hundred and eighty-two at three sepa-
rate posts, principally guarding the navy yard, near which
my friend on the opposite side [Mr. Jones] lives.

"Tennessee. Is the honorable Senator from Tennessee
[Mr. Bailey] alarmed at the progress of military despotism
in his State? There is not a single federal soldier on the
soil of Tennessee not .one.

"Kentucky. I see both the honorable Senators from
Kentucky here. They have equal cause with Tennessee to
be alarmed, for there is not a federal soldier in Kentucky
not one !

" Missouri. Not one.

"Arkansas. Fifty-seven in Arkansas.

"Alabama. I think my friend from Alabama [Mr.
Morgan] is greatly excited over this question, and in his

ELAINE IN P US LIC LIFE. 265

State there are thirty-two federal soldiers located at an
arsenal of the United States.

" Mississippi. The great State of Mississippi, that is in
danger of being trodden under the iron hoof of military
power, has not a federal soldier on. its soil.

" Louisiana has two hundred and thirty-nine.

" Texas, apart from the regiments that guard the
frontier on the Rio Grande and the Indian frontier, has
not one.

"And 4;he entire South has eleven hundred and fifty-five
soldiers to intimidate, over-run, oppress, and destroy the
liberties of fifteen million people ! In the Southern States
there are twelve hundred and three counties. If you dis-
tribute the soldiers there is not quite one for each county ;
and when I give the counties I give them from the census
of 1870. If you distribute them territorially there is one
for every seven hundred square miles of territory, so that
if you make a territorial distribution, I would remind the
honorable Senator from Delaware, if I saw him in his seat,
that the quota for his State would be three " one ragged
sergeant and two abreast," as the old song has it. [Laugh-
ter.] That is the force ready to destroy the liberties of
Delaware !

" There are thirteen thousand polling places in the South,
and there are eleven hundred and fifty-five soldiers down
there, and this great intimidation is to be carried on by one
soldier distributing himself around to twelve polling places.
That is the intimidation that threatens the South just now;
and I am just reminded by the honorable Senator from Wis-
consin [Mr. Carpenter] that the Supreme Court decided

266 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

a fact I did not recall at the moment that the war did not
close till April, 1866; a state of peace had not come, and
therefore the honorable Senator from Kentucky does not
bring himself within the line of evidence. He only saw
troops there in 1865, during the war. Has he seen them
since April, 1866, in time of peace?"

MR. WILLIAMS "No."

MR. BLAINE "He has not. [Laughter.] Then I should
like some other Senator, if there is any one who has testi-
mony to give; I should like to see some other Senator that
has seen troops around the polls, bulldozing, and brow-beat-
ing, and intimidating, and controlling the popular wish, to
rise, if he has any testimony to give on the subject."

MR. LOGAN "If the Senator will allow me, perhaps I
can make a statement about soldiers in Kentucky in 1865
myself. I happened to be in Louisville in 1865, at the time
of an election for Congress, when General Rosseau was a
candidate for Representative in Congress. I was stationed
at Louisville and had sixty-five thousand soldiers under my
command. I was there on the day of election, and I made
a speech there the night before the election. Those sixty-
five thousand soldiers were stationed all around Louisville,
and I never saw a more quiet, peaceable election in my life,
and under orders, the soldiers were kept from the polls and
out of the city during the day of the election, under my
own orders."

MR. BLAINE "All we get, then, in the testimony is,
that the Senator from Kentucky says he saw troops in his
State during the war, and the Senator from West Virginia
says he saw them in his State once since the war ten

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 267

years ago. That is the amount of actual testimony we get
on the subject. Now, Mr. President, I say this bill connects
itself directly with the provisions which are inserted by
the Democratic caucus in the Legislative, Executive, and
Judicial bill. The two stand together ; they cannot be sep-
arated ; because if to-day we enact that no civil officer what-
ever shall appear under any circumstances with armed men
at the polls I am not speaking of federal troops, or mili-
tary, or naval officers I should like to know how, if you
strike that out to-day in the military bill that is pending,
you are going to enforce any provisions of the election
laws, even if we leave them standing. . . .

" There, too, is the Congressional library that has be-
come the pride of the whole American people for its mag-
nificent growth and extent. You say it shall not have one
dollar to take care of it, much less add a new book, unless
the President signs these bills. There is the Department
of State that we think throughout the history of the gov-
ernment has been a great pride to this country for the abil-
ity with which it has conducted our foreign affairs; it is
also to be starved. You say we shall not have any inter-
course with foreign nations, not a dollar shall be appropri-
ated therefor, unless the President signs these bills. There
is the light-house board, that provides for the beacons
and the warnings on seventeen thousand miles of sea and
gulf and lake coast. You say those lights shall all go out,
and not a dollar shall be appropriated for the board, if the
President does not sign these bills. There are the mints
of the United States at Philadelphia, New Orleans, Denver,
San Francisco, coining silver and coining gold not a dollar

268 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

shall be appropriated for them if the President does not
sign these bills. There is the Patent Office, the patents is-
sued which embody the inventions of the country not a
dollar for them. The Pension Bureau shall cease its oper-
ations unless these bills are signed, and patriotic soldiers
may starve. The Agricultural Bureau, the Post-office De-
partment, every one of the great executive functions of the
government, is threatened, taken by the throat, highway-
man-style, collared on the highway, commanded to stand and
deliver in the name of the Democratic Congressional caucus.
That is what it is ; simply that. No committee of this Con-
gress, in either branch, has ever recommended that legisla-
tion not one. Simply a Democratic caucus has done it.

" Of course this is new. We are learning something
every day. I think you may search the records of the
Federal Government in vain ; it will take some one much
more industrious in that search than I have ever been, and
much more observing than I have ever been, to find any
possible parallel or any sensible suggestion in our past his-
tory of any such thing. Most of the Senators who sit in
this chamber can remember some vetoes by Presidents that
shook this country to its center with excitement. The veto
of the National-Bank bill by Jackson in 1832, remembered
by the oldest in this chamber ; the veto of the National-
Bank bill in 1841 by Tyler, remembered by those not the
oldest, shook this country with a political excitement which
up to that time had scarcely a parallel ; and it was believed
whether rightfully or wrongfully is no matter it was be-
lieved by those who advocated those financial measures at
the time, that they were of the very last importance to the

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 269

well-being and prosperity of the people of the Union.
That was believed by the great and shining lights of
that day. It_ was believed by that man of imperial
character and imperious will, the great Senator from Ken-
tucky. It was believed by Mr. Webster, the greatest
of New England Senators. When Jackson vetoed the one
or Tyler vetoed the other, did you ever hear a suggestion
that those bank charters should be put on appropriation bills,
or that there should not be a dollar to run the government
until they were signed? So far from it that, in 1841, when
temper was at its height ; when the Whig party, in addition
to losing their great measure, lost it under the sting and
the irritation of what they believed was a desertion by the
President whom they had chosen; and when Mr. Clay,
goaded by all these considerations, rose to debate the ques-
tion in the Senate, he repelled the suggestion of William C.
Rives, of Virginia, who attempted to make upon him the
point that he had indulged in some threat involving the in-
dependence of the Executive. Mr. Clay rose to his full
height, and thus responded :

" I said nothing whatever of any obligation on the part of the
President to conform his judgment to the opinions of the Senate
and House of Representatives, although the Senator argued as
if I had, and persevered in so arguing after repeated correc-
tion. I said no such thing. I know and I respect the perfect in-
dependence of each department, acting within its proper sphere,
of the other departments."

"A leading Democrat, an eloquent man, a man who has
courage and frankness and many good qualities, has boasted
publicly that the Democracy are in power for the first time

270 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

in eighteen years, and they do not intend to stop until they
have wiped out every vestige of every war measure. Well,
' forewarned is forearmed,' and you begin appropriately on
a measure that has the signature of Abraham Lincoln. I
think the picture is a striking one, when you hear these
words from a man who was then in arms against the gov-
ernment of the United States, doing his best to destroy it,
exerting every power given him in a bloody and terrible re-
bellion against the authority of the United States, and when
Abraham Lincoln was marching at the same time to his
martyrdom in its defense ! Strange times have fallen upon
us, that those of us who had the great honor to be asso-
ciated in higher or lower degree with Mr. Lincoln, in the ad-
ministration of the government, should live to hear men in
public life, and on the floors of Congress, fresh from the
battle-fields of the rebellion, threatening the people of the
United States that the Democratic party, in power for the
first time in eighteen years, proposes not to stay its hand
until every vestige of the war measures has been wiped out !
" The late Vice-president of the Confederacy boasted
perhaps I had better say stated that for sixty out of the
seventy-two years preceding the outbreak of the rebellion,
from the foundation of the government, the South, though
in a minority, had, by combining with what he termed the
anti-centralists in the North, ruled the country ; and in 1866
the same gentleman indicated in a speech, I think before the
Legislature of Georgia, that by a return to Congress the
South might repeat the experiment with the same successful
result. I read that speech at the time ; but I little thought
I should live to see so near a fulfillment of its prediction. I

ELAINE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 271

see here to-day two great measures emanating, as I have
said, not from a committee of either House, but from a
Democratic caucus in which the South has an overwhelming
majority, two-tKirds in the House, and out of the forty-two
Senators on the other side of this chamber professing the
Democratic faith, thirty are from the South twenty-three,
a positive and pronounced majority, having themselves been
participants in the war against the Union, either in military
or civil station. So that it is a matter of fact, plainly dedu-
cible from counting your fingers, that the legislation of this
country to-day, shaped and fashioned in a Democratic caucus
where the Confederates of the South hold the majority, is
the realization of Mr. Stephens's prophecy. And, very ap-
propriately, the House under that control and the Senate un-
der that control, embodying thus the entire legislative powers
of the government, deriving its political strength from the
South, elected from the South, say to the President of the
United States, at the head of the executive department of
the government, elected as he was from the North elected
by the whole people, but elected as a Northern man ; elected
on Republican principles, elected in opposition to the party
that controls both branches of Congress to-day they natu-
rally say, 'You shall not exercise your constitutional power
to veto a bill.'

"All the war measures of Abraham Lincoln are to be
wiped out, say leading Democrats ! The Bourbons, of
France, busied themselves, I believe, after the Restoration,
in removing every trace of Napoleon's power and grandeur,
even chiseling the ' N ' from public monuments raised to per-
petuate his glory; but the dead man's hand from Saint.

272 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Helena, reached out and destroyed them in their pride and
in their folly. And I tell the Senators on the other side of
this chamber I tell the Democratic party North and
South South in the lead and North following that the
slow, unmoving finger of scorn, from the tomb of the
martyred President on the prairies of Illinois, will wither
and destroy them. ' Though dead he speaketh.' " [Great
applause in the galleries.]

The PRESIDING OFFICER (MR. ANTHONY, in the chair)
" The sergeant-at-arms will preserve order in the galleries,
and arrest persons manifesting approbation or disappro-
bation."

MR. BLALNE "When you present these bills with these
threats to the living President, who bore the commission of
Abraham Lincoln, and served with honor in the army of the
Union, which Lincoln restored and preserved, I can think
of only one appropriate response from his lips or pen. He
should say to you, with all the scorn befitting his station :
' Is thy servant a dog that he should do this thing ?' "

Mr. Elaine's services in the Senate proved conclusively
that " the chiefest action for a man of spirit is, never to be
out of action." His industry was great, his performance
prodigious. His speeches and a fair history of his public
acts would fill several volumes. The speeches already pre-
sented, in whole or in part, sufficiently indicate his position
upon the leading questions of the day. On the death of
Senator Chandler he delivered a memorial address which
was the fitting forerunner of his eulogy on the martyred
Garfield.

In the Republican Convention of 1880, Mr. Elaine was

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 273

one of the most prominent candidates for the presidential
nomination, and was supported through thirty-five ballots
with all that enthusiasm and energy for which his friends
have been pre-eminent in three successive conventions of the
party. On the thirty-sixth ballot his principal strength, to-
gether with that of Messrs Sherman and Washburne, went
over to General Garfield, securing his nomination.

March 4, 1881, Mr. Elaine entered President Garfield's
Cabinet as Secretary of State. No happier selection could
have been made. These two leading minds were in full
sympathy upon the questions of policy then before the
country, and in perfect accord as to what constitutes a
State and what a Nation. They had learned to distinguish
between nationality and confederacy in* an expensive school,
and were not likely to disregard the moral force of the les-
son. There was a measure of agreeableness between them
which seemed to promptly assure the country, that good
work would be done, and unquestionably this assurance
would have been justified had President Garfield lived.
After the cruel assassination of our last hero-statesman who
occupied the chair of the Nation, Mr. Elaine was virtually
President for eighty days till death came and relieved the
real Executive. The country understood this fact and
rested easily upon it, for the people had confidence in the
man who was recognized as the President's confidential ad-
viser and faithful friend. And they had confidence in him
for his own great qualities.

All the world remembers and will not soon forget the
place which Mr. Elaine held in public sympathy, on account
of his manly and noble bearing toward the family of the

274

LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

dying President. Every day, during the time when the
wounded Garfield lay waiting the final summons, the news-
papers bore to the American public the continued story of

BLAINE READING MESSAGES OF SYMPATHY TO MRS. GARFIELD.

the attentions and considerate conduct of the Secretary of
State towards the wife and children of his chief. It thus
happened that from one end of the land to the other, where-
ever the news was read, the praise of Elaine was mingled

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 275

with the sorrow of the people for the fallen President and
his household. Each day the Secretary was wont to visit
Mrs. Garfield in person, and to read to her, as a brother to
his sister in sorrow, the words of condolence and sympathy
which came to her from every quarter of the civilized
world.

Mr. Elaine remained in the Cabinet several months after
President Arthur's inauguration. Some disagreement upon
details of state-craft was reported ; some want of accord upon
the foreign relations of the government; some anticipated
demand in the contemplation of Mr. Elaine, it was said,
upon Great Britain, for a modification of the Clayton-Bulwer
treaty ; his opposition to the course of Chili in her victorious
struggle with Peru; his project of a Congress of all the
American republics to settle international disputes these,
in part or in whole, we were told, were at the bottom of
Mr. Elaine's retirement from the Cabinet, because his views
and those of the President were irreconcilable. Perhaps the
reasons were wholly different from any thing that has yet
reached the public ear, but that whatever they were, they
were thought sufficient by the parties concerned, is un-
doubted.

276 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

CHAPTER XI.

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE Continued.

' ' With grave

Aspect he rose, and in his rising seemed
A pillar of state ; deep on his front engraven,
Deliberation sat, and public care ;
And princely counsel in his face yet shone
Majestic." MILTON.

IN THE GREAT WORLD.

AT Brownsville, Pennsylvania, on the Monongahela River,
a good many reminiscences of Elaine's boyhood and
early youth are now revived, and they go pretty well to
prove, if such proof were needed, that the child is indeed
father to the man. Instances of his industry, honesty,
versatility, and activity of both body and mind are recalled
and related, with many shrewd comments and cheerful pre-
dictions of great renown.

"He was a master boy," says one old lady of Browns-
ville, " to lead off. He would get together a lot of young-
sters and propose a frolic in the hills, a game of ball, or a
fishing jaunt, and all agreed to his suggestion and joined in
whatever he proposed. It was enough to insure the sport
of the boys that Jimmy Blaine had charge of the game or the
frolic, for it was understood he would not fail to do his part
for the general entertainment. He protected the younger

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 277

boys against the older, but taught them all to rely upon
themselves as much as possible. He was cheerful, generous,
and truthful, and always ready to do a good turn for friend
or neighbor. He came to our house to borrow a net one
morning, and father that's what I called my husband
didn't want to let it go. 'I'll bring it back to-morrow,'
said Jimmy. ' It is n't bringing it back that I 'm talking
about, but letting it go,' said father. Jimmy thought a min-
ute ; then he replied, ' You 'd better lend it to me than to
somebody that'll never bring it back.' Father laughed, and
then I knew he would give in. Jimmy got the net, and, of
course, returned it according to agreement.

" Once I got him to stand still long enough to answer a
few questions. He was so full of life and fun that it was
hard work to keep him quiet for any length of time. I
asked him some questions in history, geography, and the
catechism, and he answered all correctly that is, if I knew
the correct answers and then I asked him what he expected
to follow when he grew up. ' Maybe I'll be a preacher or
a steamboat captain,' he replied, 'but I'd rather be a mem-
ber of Congress.' He hadn't forgotten this reply when he
was here a few years ago, and acknowledged that he had
had his preference."

Another aged dame remembered him as the most chari-
table boy she ever knew. " Why, he would give away his
dinner rather than have any one else go hungry. He gave
his pennies and his fruit and his candy to the children of
poor parents, and did this so often that it was talked about
in the town. He played jokes upon some of his mates, but
only upon his equals in strength and opportunity. He

278 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

seemed to despise every thing in the way of a mean advan-
tage. I can't remember the particulars of any of these
jokes, but some of them were very cute."

We had better luck with a bright-eyed old gentleman of
clear memory. " When we were boys," said he, " down on
Indian Hill farm, Jim Elaine was a lively chap. He kept
the whole township in arms. Once I got even with him. I
was down in the meadow pitching hay. He knew that I
was going to do that job, and he went down there a day or
two before and fixed one of the haycocks so it could not be
lifted. He ran a long wire through it in such a way as to
hold it together, and then fastened it under the middle of
the stack to a post which he had driven in the ground.
Some of the other boys knew about the game, and they
stood around looking kind of sneaking and smiling a little. I
tackled the doctored stack early in the day. I drove my fork
into the top, and, spitting on my hands, bore down upon it.
It didn't budge. I tried it once more, with a little extra
strength, and broke the fork clean off at the handle. A
boy sitting on a rail fence snickered, and I knew something
was up. A moment's examination convinced me that the
stack was tied down, and just then the boy who had laughed
pointed in the direction of another stack not far away. I
felt in my bones that Jim Elaine was hiding there. So I
crawled up kind of easy, and finding him watching the per-
formance on his hands and knees, with some of the grass
thrown over him, I got behind him and raised him one with
my boot. I was mad, and I put a good deal of heft into
that kick, for he shot out of the stack head first, as if he
had been fired from a cannon. It humped him for a while, I

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 279

tell you, and there was a lively scattering among the rest
of the boys.

"He was always great in learning some good piece for
speaking in school. It was nothing for him to get it by
heart, as the boys called it. He generally told the boys
what he was going to speak, so that none of them would get
the same ; but once a fellow, whose name was Ames or Amos,
pitched upon the same piece Jim had, just for a joke, and
as his ,name was called first, he took all the wind out of
Jim's sails by pretty good speaking. Jim did n't appear to
mind it much, but the teacher remarked that they had bet-
ter have an understanding in future, and avoid repetition.
The time came pretty soon when they had a school exhibi-
tion, and each one who took part had to write his own
piece. Elaine was given his choice between the first and
last speeches, and he chose the first. It was grand. I
do n't think he has made a better one since. When Ames's
name was called he was n't there, although a few minutes
before he was seen in his seat. 'Gone home, sick,' said
one of the boys. It finally leaked out that Ames lacked
either the ability or the disposition to write a piece for him-
self and had gone to Elaine for help, and that Jim, not
caring to keep all the good things, and remembering Ames's
favor on a former occasion, had copied and given him most
of his own speech, and had only followed Ames's example
in using it first. Ames left the school and this part of the
country shortly afterward."

Men who have been in Congress for a long series of
years are disposed to look upon new members in about the
same light as that through which senior collegians view

280 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

freshmen. It is not favorable to the new members. Said
one of the old stagers to Elaine, upon his first appearance
as a member of the House : " Well, you are here fresh from
the people, and probably with their instructions in your
pocket ; now what do you propose to do ?" " Nothing that
my constituents will be ashamed of, or ever have reason to re-
gret" was the reply. That old member is still in Congress,
and he feels that he was not only properly answered, but
that the purpose expressed in the answer has been grandly
realized.

These incidents are brought forward now to illustrate
the foundation of Mr. Elaine's character and greatness. No-
body in childhood and youth poses before the community
for mere effect. Whatever acts are performed in tender
years must be regarded as the spontaneous outpouring of
nature, prompted by the untaught and unsophisticated heart
and brain. No parent expects his ten, or twelve, or fifteen-
year-old boy to do any thing for mere effect, and most cer-
tainly not in a country town where all affectation is absurd,
where every body knows every body, and where the least
pretense of moral or mental superiority would be very jeal-
ously scanned. The boy's life supplied the true horoscope
of the future legislator and statesman, and the American
people are disposed to put the predictions of that young
life strongly to the proof in a further trial.

From a distinguished correspondent who has known Mr.
Elaine intimately for many years, we gather the following
interesting details of his daily life and habits :

" At first he lived in Washington in a nomadic way in
hotels or boarding-houses, as do most Congressman but

ELAINE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 281

when he was elected Speaker he bought a house on Fifteenth
Street, in the best quarter of the town. Opposite lived
Hamilton Fish, then Secretary of State ; next door lived
Fernando Wood ; General Sherman's house was only a few
doors distant, and General Butler could be found just around
the corner. Elaine's house was thought a handsome one at
that time, but it was only a plain brick structure in a row,
and it cuts no sort of a figure in these days when big man-
sions in the Queen Anne, Elizabethan, Norman, and I know
not how many other styles abound at the capital. There
were two big parlors on the first floor, and back of them a
sitting-room and dining-room, and all four rooms connected
by folding doors, so that the crowds that used to surge in
at the Speaker's official receptions were measurably well ac-
commodated. In the belongings of this, his first Washing-
ton home, Elaine showed a fondness for engravings, for sub-
stantial furniture, and for books. He was much given to
hospitality, and never appeared so happy as when entertain-
ing a congenial dinner party at his big round table. For
his dinner-table talks he had an inexhaustible fund of anec-
dotes and witticisms. I never heard him tell the same story
twice. He did not resemble in the least the hand-organ
type of man who has only one little set of tunes. Indeed,
I think he might dispute with Henry Ward Beecher for the
honor of being the most original man in America. No mat-
ter what the topic may be, he is sure to contribute to the
conversation something particularly bright and entertaining.
"When not entertaining friends at his own house he
usually dined out. I remember to have warned him once of
the perils of the diner-out how an eminent man had come

282 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

to an untimely end by eating big dinners. He said he ob-
served a strict rule at dinner parties he took soup and roast
beef, but no prepared dishes. No dessert, except a little ice-
cream, and no wine save dry champagne. By sticking closely
to this dietary programme, he could dine out every day in the
week without injuring his digestion. In those days Elaine was
not a great letter-writter, either with his own hand or vicar-
iously through that of his secretary. He did not, like Gar-
field, reply to all the letters he received. He was a great
newspaper-reader, and always knew the attitude of every
really important journal in the country on the dominant
issues of the day. He knew the history of these journals,
too, and something of the men who made them, and if there
was any power behind the chairs of their editors he was
pretty sure to be informed about it. He was not accessible
at all times and to all the world, as many men who cherish
great political ambition think it necessary to be. The im-
passable black guardian of the hall door was never quite
sure that Mr. Elaine was in, but he would see. If the visi-
tor was not welcome he would manage to make him believe
that the Speaker had just gone out a few minutes before.
This colored person had a fine instinct for discerning the
men whom his master would probably wish to receive. They
were shown into the front parlor; others waited in the hall.
" In the Fifteenth Street house Elaine lived while in
Washington until after the death of Garfield. He had pre-
viously begun to build a huge, expensive red-brick pile out
on the P Street Circle, deeming himself comfortably rich at
the time, and thinking the position of Secretary of State
carried with it duties of enlarged hospitality. The house

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 283

was a mistake, as he soon found. He lived in it only about
a year. As a private citizen it was much too large for his
needs ; besides, -a considerable share of his fortune melted
away in the great shrinkage in stocks, and he did not feel
able to support the expensive establishment which the house
demanded. He considered himself very fortunate to be able
to lease it for a sum which amounted to 6 per cent, on its
cost. Then he condensed his household into a dwelling of
moderate capacity, facing on Lafayette Square. From his
front window he could see the White House through the
trees in the pretty park. Not many of his own belongings
came with this house save his books and a few pictures. In
it he did most of the work on his ' Twenty Years of Con-
gress,' living as retired as his friends would let him, and
getting his exercise mainly from a daily morning walk to
the Capitol, whither he went to consult the books in the Con-
gressional Library.

" All this time his real home, if the attachments of him-
self and the members of his family were considered, was
the large, old-fashioned, broad-fronted white house, with its
green blinds, its maples, and its grassy yard, which stands
on a quiet, shady street near the State Capitol, in Augusta,
Me. This house typifies the well-to-do phase of village life
in New England, as it expressed itself in architecture before
the recent mania for colors, angles, balconies, and fanciful
forms came in. It represents the plainness, solidity, and
conservatism of the last generation. Mr. Elaine has modi-
fied it very little, and not at all at the expense of its sober,
old-time appearance. He has added two or three rooms in
the rear one large library, which is his work-room, and

284 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

which during the many hard fights he waged with the Demo-
crats when he was chairman of the State Republican Com-
mittee used to be a rendezvous for his lieutenants from all
parts of the State. In the course of two Maine campaigns
I saw a good deal of Mr. Elaine. He was the busiest man
in the State, hurrying from county to county to address
mass-meetings, writing telegrams on the trains, getting a
pocketful of dispatches at every town, dictating letters at
night to his secretary, yet always cheerful and campanion-
able, and with a good joke or anecdote ready to enliven
every occasion. He knew the whole State as well as his
own dooryard, and was acquainted with the leading men in
every town. He brought the canvass down to the school
districts. The hurrah work of processions, banners, and big
meetings he estimated at its proper value, but he never de-
pended on it to produce results. The real business of a
campaign was to perfect local organization, ascertain who
were the doubtful voters, and bring argument and personal
influence to hear upon them through the efforts of their
Republican neighbors.

" Saturdays we special correspondents used to manage to
get back to Augusta if we could, to spend a quiet Sunday
afternoon with Elaine at his house. In the evening some
musical friends of the family would usually corne in, and we
had a good time singing old-fashioned Church tunes, for which
Elaine had a fondness, and in which he would join with his
children and with all the members of the company who
could make any show of a voice."

As it respects politicial scandals, it is well known that,
in 1870, a story was started that Mr. Elaine had done some-

ELAINE IN P UBLIC LIFE. 285

thing wrong while Speaker of the House in assisting to
renew the land grant of the Little Rock & Fort Smith Rail-
road, of Arkansas. It was a false and malicious charge, in-
stigated by those who were jealous of Mr. Elaine's success and
rapid progress in the public regard. Nobody who knew him
believed it for a moment, and those who took the trouble to
investigate, found it to be utterly without foundation. In
proof of this we append what Harpers Weekly, of May 13,
1876, had to say about it. For several reasons, it will be
found quite interesting just at this juncture :

"In speaking of the railroad-bond scandal about Mr.
Elaine we said that at least it would be admitted that he
had always shown himself acute enough to escape the traps
into which the honest but dull often fall. If high principle
should be denied to him, and if, as is sometimes asserted,
he is merely a politician, yet surely he is a politician of
sagacity enough to know that, in public life, honesty, if
nothing more, is certainly good policy. The substance of
the charge against Mr. Elaine was that when he was the
Speaker of the House, and when Mr. Thomas Scott was
president of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, he caused
the company to buy bonds to the amount of $75,000, which
were almost worthless, for $64,000, and the insinuation was
that this was a bribe to secure the favor of Mr. Elaine for
Mr. Scott's railway projects before Congress. Plainly stated,
this was the charge. Of course, if believed, it was fatal to
Mr. Elaine ; and at this time, when the public mind is very
suspicious, the mere accusation was not unlikely to be of
great injury to him. The story had been privately whis-
pered, and there had been a conference of Republican editors

286 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

at Cincinnati, which ended by acquainting him with the
rumor. Suddenly it was made public in a Democratic paper
at Indianapolis, and in other journals in other parts of the
country. Then, of course, it was echoed and re-echoed
through the whole press. Mr. Blaine instantly published an
absolute and complete denial, and having collected evidence
that is apparently conclusive, he made a brief, clear, simple
statement in the House, which was as thorough a refutation
as was ever made, and in the absence of other evidence, leaves
him unspotted."

The Chicago Tribune, date of June 14, 1884, under the
head of "Mr. Elaine's Vindication," refers to the old false-
hood, and thus disposes of it :

" The charge is :

" That in the spring of 1869 Mr. Blaine being at that
time Speaker of the House of Representatives a bill re-
newing the land grant of the Little Rock and Fort Smith
Railroad in the State of Arkansas was before the House,
and that in his capacity of Speaker he promoted its pass-
age because he had a pecuniary interest in the road.

" The truth is :

"1. That Mr. Blaine at the time of the passage of the
bill had no pecuniary interest whatsoever in the railroad or
its land grant, and expected to have none.

" 2. That he had no acquaintance with any persons who
did have any pecuniary interest in the railroad or its
land grant.

" 3. That he did not < promote ' the passage of the bill,
and that it did not need his influence, inasmuch as it had
already passed the Senate by a unanimous vote, and was

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 287

not objected to by any body in the House. In fact, it
passed the House by a unanimous vote, as soon as it was
before that body, on its merits.

"4. That Mr. Elaine's sole connection with the bill was
to rule out an amendment tacking to it the very odious and
objectionable land-grant of the Texas and Pacific Railroad,
a measure which ought not to pass, and which, if it had
been fastened on the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad
measure, would probably have dragged it down to an un-
merited defeat. When this highly offensive amendment was
proposed, Mr. Root, one of the Arkansas members, called the
Speaker's attention thereto, and at Mr. Elaine's suggestion
Mr. John A. Logan, then a member of the House, raised the
point of order that the amendment was not germane, and it
was ruled out of order forthwith. The bill then passed by
a unanimous vote.

"Nearly three months after these events Mr. Elaine for
the first time obtained an interest in the railroad, pur-
chasing the stock and bonds as any other buyer might do, and
then for the first time formed the acquaintance of those who
had been instrumental in pushing the enterprise in the State
of Arkansas. He bought a block of securities belonging to
the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railroad, including stock
and first and second mortgage bonds, in June, 1869, after
the adjournment of Congress, and placed the first mortgage
bonds during the three months following with a number of
his friends in Massachusetts and Maine. The entire series
of bonds at his disposal was closed out during the months
of July, August, and September of 1869, so the transaction
was ended when, in his letter of October 4, 1869, Mr. Elaine

288 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

wrote to Fisher, and merely in the way of a curious remin-
iscence called attention to the fact of his unsolicited and ac-
cidental services to the road the April previous, when he
was in no way interested in its affairs, and had no reason to
suppose that he ever would be. The truth is, that his
attention was first directed to the railroad by its application
to Congress for a renewal of its land grant, and it first
seemed to him a favorable investment after its land grant
had been renewed by a unanimous vote of both houses of
Congress.

"Mr. Elaine sold his securities of the road to his friends
with a personal promise that if any loss should ensue he
would take back the stock and bonds at the price for which
he sold them. Shrinkage did ensue, and the stock and
bonds were thrown back upon his hands, and, though he had
given no written guarantee of redemption, he paid for them
at a great personal sacrifice out of his own pocket. The
New York Evening Post has since alleged that he unloaded
his disastrous investment upon the Union Pacific Railroad,
but it has produced no proof of any such transaction,
whereas Mr. Elaine has exhibited the sworn statements of
the officers of the railroad that no such transfer was ever
made ; and his statement has been accepted as conclusive by
those who are familiar with the circumstances of the case.
Indeed, it was this part of the controversy that George
William Curtis considered in Harpers Weekly when he
wrote in May, 1876, that Mr. Elaine's statement was 'as
thorough a refutation as was ever made.' "

It would seem strange indeed to find it necessary to de-
fend Mr. Elaine, were we not able to remember that the

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 289

purest and best men the country ever possessed were to
some extent the victims of vile calumniation. It was true
of Washington, of Clay, of Lincoln, of Grant, of Garfield.
In the case of each, the scandals were promptly disproved,
but they were repeated again and again, to the utmost limit
of "damnable iteration," even after disproval. There are
very good people who yet believe that Garfield wrote the
Morey letter, although it was proved a black forgery.
None who were acquainted with the man, whether they
were his political friends or not, believed it for a moment
after his disclaimer. " I wonder if Garfield thinks deny-
ing that letter will do him any good ? " queried a gentleman
of Hon. John G. Carlisle, now Speaker of the House. "If
he denies it, you may rely that he did not write it," re-
sponded Carlisle. "I have known Garfield intimately for
many years, and I know he would lose every thing he has
in the world, and the prospect of ever having any thing
again, before he would be guilty of untruthfulness." This
was the manly expression of a great mind, who, although a
political opponent, is above the ordinary prejudice of party.
It was said during the presidential campaign of 1880.

Mr. Elaine's reputation is of the same order, with those
who know him. His integrity is above suspicion among his
associates, no matter what their politics may be. Therefore
he thought it necessary to disprove some of the* lies that
have been uttered to smirch his fair name. But they are re-
iterated by unscrupulous foes, who are well aware that, al-
though " a lie has no legs, and can not stand, it has wings,
and can fly far and wide." Nobody pretends that he is per-
fect, for that is not in humanity ; but that he is a great,

290 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

generous, whole-souled, honest man, full of vim and intelli-
gence, is enough for a personal platform ; and the man is
lucky who can stand upon such a platform deservedly.
Jealousy will attack him, as it has the great hearts who
have lived before and worn themselves out in the service of
the people. But truth crushed to earth rises very rapidly
upon our free soil. Mr. Elaine has shown too much inde-
pendence to suit the truckling politicians of the day, and for
this they seek to wound him. He spoke and voted against
the Electoral Commission bill, as did Morton, and there
are some mousing partisans who seek to knife him, politi-
cally, for this alone. Some wonderful statesmen have con-
ceived the idea that nothing should be done but at the behest
of the party, and every thing else is treason. Mr. Elaine
has never hesitated to declare his independence of party
whenever it claimed his allegiance in a course he could not
approve ; and this should certainly testify to his political
honesty, if nothing further. In all this he is a thorough
Republican, however, for if Republicanism is not political
freedom, what in the world is it ? We have read of his
Republican views in Congress and perused his speeches there ;
now, let us see how the views he expressed outside, in the
great world, agree with his Congressional platform. For this
purpose we make an extract from his speech on the currency,
at Biddeford, Maine, August 21, 1878 :

" By common consent, the currency question is the great
question before the people. This I regret ; because, if there
is one thing people can not afford, it is a political currency
question. Let us settle it, and settle it right. Let us re-
view the circumstances that brought us where we are now.

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 291

In 1861 an extra session of Congress was called, and it au-
thorized the treasurer to borrow $400,000,000, as there was
no money in the treasury. Fifty millions of demand notes
were also authorized, and when Congress assembled after the
Christmas holidays they assembled with an empty treasury.
In this particular strait, the government provided for an is-
suance of $150,000,000 of legal-tender notes. That was a
measure of absolute necessity. It was useless to stand upon
a very fine-drawn point at such a time. It was a question
of life. We declared the notes legal tender. Before another
year had expired we were called upon to issue another
$150,000,000, and when Congress assembled in December,
1863, the report of the Secretary of the Treasury brought
before us a very embarrassing condition. The government
was without currency again. We were at that time appeal-
ing to every civilized nation of the world for money. Forty
or fifty million dollars were due the army, and ready cash
was demanded. Out of this state of affairs came the Loan
Act, which really supplied funds which were necessary for
the salvation of the Nation. The 'Loan Act had not only
authority of law, but in a peculiar and strong sense it is
binding upon us. In this act was a proviso as follows :
1 That the total amount of those notes issued, and to be is-
sued, shall never exceed $400,000,000.' It was the limit
which, in extreme urgency, we pledged ourselves to, and if
there is any honor in the American people they would as
soon sign away their birthright as violate this pledge. The
most fearful thing that could happen to this country would
be the issuance of an unlimited amount of currency. How
are you going to contract the currency?

292 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

"Whatever else the American people do with currency,
let me say to you that there is no body of men so little
competent to determine the question of money as Congress-
men. I voted in Congress for the Greenback bill. I voted
that greenbacks should not be contracted.

" Greenback people say that we should not have any
banks. For seven hundred years we have had banks, and
we could not conduct the business of the country for a min-
ute without banks. Why are banks a necessity? A bank is
a place where the borrower of money meets the lender ; where
surplus money is deposited. Suppose a man wants to bor-
row $10,000 to go into business. Greenbackers would send
him all over the country, borrowing $50 here and $50 there.
There are at the present time three bills in Congress for
'resurrecting' the State banks. New England enjoyed, un-
der the old system, the best banks in the country ; but they
owed their reputation to the personal integrity of the men
who stood behind the counter." The speaker aptly illustrated
the weakness of the system by referring to the Lumberman's
Bank, which might be said to have been owned by the pres-
ent Greenback candidate for governor. This bank had a
capital of $50,000, but at one time had on hand unsigned
bills to the amount of $165,000, which would be signed as
fast as any body wanted them. " In fact, the old system of
banking was based upon the personal notes of the stockhold-
ers. If you will have banks, then what kind will you have :
responsible or irresponsible ? National banks are perfectly
free for every man to engage in, with just one little condi-
tion that the government insists upon that you shall not
issue any bills until you have put into the United States

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 293

treasury an amount equal to ten per cent additional to pro-
tect the bill-holders.

" If you hold a national bank bill, you do n't care whether
the bank is burst or not. In regard to taxing bonds, Green-
backers say 'here is an exempted class.' The only man in
the United States who pays absolutely full tax on his prop-
erty is the holder of government bonds ; for instance : A
invests $10,000 in government 4 per cents. ; B invests
an equal amount in Maine State 6s; and C invests a like
amount in Maine Central 7 per cents. In the first case the
investor in government bonds pays his taxes in advance, but
in the case of the other bonds, is it within your experience
that holders thereof flock to the assessor's office asking to
be taxed ? Facts show that but a very small portion of the
bonds are taxed. It is the easiest thing in the world for
your brother in California to own them, or your uncle in some
other part of the country. Then why delude yourselves
with the idea that if you tax governnent bonds they would
be any more likely to turn up for taxation than these State or
railroad bonds. If you succeed in taxing bonds you merely
place upon your shoulders an additional burden of $40,000,-
000. Government bonds never could nor never should be
taxed. There are five kinds of money that the United
States stands sponsor for : gold and silver and gold is better
than silver. Moses, in the second chapter of Genesis, tells
us 'that gold is good;" and it makes no difference whether
it is stamped by the United States or Venezuela. Then there
is the old-fashioned, war-honored, patriotic greenback, that
did such great work, that says the United States will pay

), or as it may be, reserving to the United States when

294 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

they would pay. In 1875 it did say when they would pay,
viz : January 1, 1879. The advance school of Greenbackers,
represented by General Butler, do n't want this kind of green-
back at all. They want another kind. They don't want
anything stamped with ' promise to pay.' They want this
greenback to say, ' this is $10,' or any sum. Such talk is
merely nonsense. Why not say, 'this is a horse?' Why not
make it $1,000? It takes no more paper or time to print it,
but it is not so with gold. The next government money
is National bank bills, and lastly the silver certificates.

" We fancied during the greenback craze that we were
all getting rich. In 1873 we found out we had been buying
$800,000,000 more than we were selling. There is nothing
so mysterious about national finances. The same principles
are involved in private finances. If a farmer is buying more
than he is selling from his farm, he is growing poorer, but
if he- is selling more than he is buying, he is getting richer.
This idea holds good with the trade of the country. Now
things are changed. We are buying less abroad and have a
balance in our favor of $630,000,000. No people in the
world are so able to maintain a specie basis as the United
States, if they say they will. We are just in the sight of the
day of redemptiom. We can look right into the promised land;
but Greenbackers say, ' Do n't go in. Come, now, and wan-
der with us for years more.' You depreciate your currency,
and you might as well by one shock of mighty power paralyze
capital from one end of the country to the other. You reduce
the country from that of a great commercial people to a
beggarly small retail affair. The things which this day frighten
men are wild schemes of finance. What the United States

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 295

needs in this matter is a large amount of l let-alone-ative-
ness.' You can not keep this currency as a political foot-ball.
You can not settle this question until you settle it right."

Some time in the fall of 1879 he delivered a speech at
Cooper Institute, New York City, which has heen more
widely discussed, probably, than any other of his public
efforts. We can not give the address, but the country was
thrilled with the echo.

The official notification to Mr. Elaine of the action of
the Chicago Convention was quietly performed at his home
in Augusta, Maine, on Saturday, June 21, 1884. The com-
mittee was one of the largest that ever waited upon the
nominee of a National Convention, and considering the dis-
tance some of the members had come, was quite a remarkable
gathering.

The reading of the letter of notification took place on
the lawn in the front of Mr. Elaine's residence, and was a
scene long to be remembered by those in attendance. Be-
neath a stately butternut-tree, and in front of some low
clumps of cedars and hemlocks, at the east of the house, and
near Capitol Street, the committee took a position in the
form of a semi-circle. In front was Mr. Elaine with folded
arms. Just to the rear were stationed Mr. Walker Elaine,
and J. G. Elaine. Jr. On the right of Mr. Elaine and a few
feet distant was Chairman Henderson. Standing by the
fence which separates the lawn and Capitol Street was a
bevy of ladies, among whom were Mrs. Elaine and Mrs.
Elkins. Mr. Elkins and several Augusta gentlemen were
near at hand.

Chairman Henderson read the letter in a clear, powerful

296 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOG AN.

tone of voice which was distinctly audible to all. After
Mr. Elaine had finished reading his response, Chairman Hen-
derson took a step forward and said : " To one and all of
you I introduce the next President of the United States."
This was greeted with cheers, Mr. Elaine responding with a
bow. Hardly had the applause subsided when General
Henderson moved to the side of Mrs. Elaine, who was stand-
ing near, exclaiming at the same time : " With equal pleas-
ure I take the liberty to introduce the coming lady of the
White House." Three cheers for Mrs. Elaine were given
with much power.

Mr. Elaine listened to General Henderson's address with
his arms folded on his chest, and his eyes usually cast down
but at times wandering about and scanning the faces of the
audience. When General Henderson had concluded speak-
ing, Mr. Walker Elaine, the candidate's son, stepped for-
ward and handed his father the manuscript of the address
in reply to that of the committee. Mr. Elaine then read
as follows :

" Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen of the National Committee :
I receive, not without deep sensibility, your official notice
of the action of the National Convention already brought
to my knowledge through the public press. I appreciate,
more profoundly than I can express, the honor which is im-
plied in the nomination for the Presidency by the Republi-
can party of the Nation, speaking through the authoritative
voice of its duly accredited delegates. To be selected as a
candidate by such an assemblage from the list of eminent
statesmen whose names were presented, fills me with embar-
rassment. I can only express my gratitude for so signal an

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 297

honor and my desire to prove the worth of the great trust
reposed in me.

" In accepting the nomination, as I now do, I am im-
pressed and I am also oppressed with a sense of the labor
and responsibility which attaches to my position. The bur-
den is lightened, however, by the host of earnest men who
support my candidacy, many of whom add, as does your
honorable committee, the cheer of personal friendship to the
pledge of political fealty. A more formal acceptance will
naturally be expected, and will, in due season, be communi-
cated. It may, however, not be inappropriate at this time
to say that I have already made a careful study of the
principles announced by the National Convention, and in
whole and in detail they have my heartiest sympathy and
meet my unqualified approval.

" Apart from your official errand, gentlemen, I am ex-
tremely happy to welcome you all to my house. With many
of you I have already shared the duties of public service,
and have enjoyed most cordial friendship. I trust your
journey from all parts of the great Republic has been agree-
able, and during your stay in Maine you will feel that you
are not among strangers, but among friends. Invoking the
blessing of God upon the great cause which we jointly rep-
resent, let us turn to the future without fear and with
manly hearts."

Mr. Elaine's reply is a model of dignity and manliness.
It reflects throughout his appreciation of the importance of
his position, the labors and responsibilities which attach to
it, the burden of its duties, and the high honor of the prize
for which he is contending.

298 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Now let us turn for a moment to Washington City, the
head-quarters for political information, and learn what the
great party leaders, some of whom were candidates for the
presidential nomination at Chicago, have to say of the Re-
publican standard-bearer. On the evening of June 19th an
immense Elaine and Logan ratification meeting was held in
front of the City Hall, and during its continuance was ad-
dressed by a large number of prominent speakers, among
whom were Senators John Sherman, Hawley, Harrison, and
Mahone, and William Walter Phelps.

More than fifty thousand perhaps more than one hun-
dred thousand Elaine speeches were made at ratification
meetings within thirty days after his nomination. All
breathe the same sentiment of unbounded confidence in the
chosen standard-bearer of the Republican forces the same
high trust that four years ago was testified for him by the
State of Maine, when Hon. William P. Frye made the fol-
lowing little speech in the National Republican Convention
of 1880. It has lost none of its interest since the date of
delivery :

"I saw once a storm at sea in the night-time, and our
staunch old ship battling for its life with the fury of the
tempest 5 darkness everywhere; the wind shrieking and
howling through the rigging; the huge waves beating upon
the sides of that ship, and making her shiver from stem to
stern. The lightnings were flashing; the thunders were
rolling. There was danger everywhere. I saw at the helm
a calm, bold, courageous, immovable, commanding man. In
the tempest, calm ; in the commotion, quiet ; in the dismay,
hopeful. I saw him take that old ship and bring her

ELAINE IN PUBLIC LIFE. 299

into the harbor ; into still waters ; into safety. That man
was a hero.

" I saw the - good old ship, the State of Maine, within
the last year, fighting her way through the same darkness,
through the same perils, against the same waves, against
the same dangers. She was freighted with all that is
precious to the principles of our Republic with the rights
of American citizenship; with all that is guaranteed to the
American citizen by our Constitution. The eyes of the
whole Nation were upon her; an intense anxiety filled
every American heart, lest the grand old ship, the State of
Maine, might go down beneath the waves forever, carrying
her precious freight with her. But, sir, there was a man at
the helm. Calm, deliberate, commanding, sagacious, he made
even the foolish men wise. Courageous, he inspired the
timid with courage ; hopeful, he gave heart to the dismayed;
and he brought that good old ship proudly into the harbor;
into safety; and there she floats to-day, brighter, purer,
stronger, from her baptism of danger. That man, too, was
a hero, and his name was JAMES G. ELAINE. Maine sends
greetings to this magnificent convention. With the memory
of her own salvation from impending peril fresh upon her,
she says to you, representatives of fifty millions of Ameri-
can people, who have met here to counsel how the Repub-
lic shall be saved, she says to you, representatives of the
people, ' Take a man, a true man, a staunch man, for your
leader, who has just saved her, and who will bear you to
safety and certain victory.' "

How do the vilifiers of this great statesman like that
testimony from the Pine Tree State? How did they enjoy

300 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Mr. Elaine's election to the Senate by the Legislature of his
State, immediately following the publication of their scan-
dalous traducings ? How can they tolerate a man who, rele-
gated to private life through no fault of his own, but through
the calamity of Garfield's death, has shown such fortitude,
such determination, in subduing the hopelessness that would
have overwhelmed an ordinary man, that he proves indeed,

' ' True courage is not the brutal force
Of vulgar heroes, but the firm resolve
Of virtue and of reason ?"

GENERAL JOHN A. LOGAN.

CHAPTER XII.

OUTLINE.

*' A valiant and brave soldier seeks rather to preserve one citizen
than to destroy a thousand enemies, as Scipio the Roman said ; there-
fore, an upright soldier begins not a war lightly or without urgent cause.
True soldiers and captains make not many words; but when they speak
the deed is done." LUTHER.

BIOGRAPHIES of great men are valuable mainly as the
development of ideas which were the leading inspiration
of their subjects. Whoever has transcended in thought, and
then in action, the beaten path of ordinary opinion and en-
deavor, has become a legitimate object of general inquiry
and interest. Whoever has not thus transcended has no
claim upon our personal interest or study, though nations
bow to his scepter, and monarchs tremble at his frown. " All
the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine
years, and he died" such are the comprehensive and sig-
nificant terms in which the father of Sacred History wisely
chronicles a life blameless indeed, but signalized by no ex-
tension of the boundaries of human thought, no decided con-
tribution to the well-being of the race. Terence says, "My
advice is to consult the lives of other men as you would a
looking-glass, and from thence fetch examples for your own

imitation."

301

302 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

The people of the United States know a good deal about
General John A. Logan, but they regard him as a man
about whom they can not know too much. Many of the
best points in his life are known to only a few chosen
friends, and as they concern his social and domestic relations
alone, it is scarcely possible to obtain his consent to their
publication. As a faithful and loving husband, a generous
neighbor, and a true, self-sacrificing friend, General Logan's
reputation is beyond encomium, and he enjoys, as he de-
serves, one of the happiest homes in all the broad expanse
of this sunny Republic. This sketch is intended to furnish
but the mere outline of his career, touching none but the
prominent features of his life, to be followed in succeeding
chapters with all details of interest in his public experience.

John A. Logan was born in Jackson County, Illinois,
February 9, 1826. His father, Dr. John Logan, emigrated
to this country from Ireland in 1823, and selected Illinois
as his abiding-place. His mother, whose maiden name was
Elizabeth Jenkins, was a native of Tennessee.

The early life of John A. Logan was spent in Jackson
County, and the rudiments of his education were obtained
from such schools as were then in existence there, supple-
mented by occasional instruction at home. At the outbreak
of the Mexican War, young Logan volunteered, and was
chosen a lieutenant in a company of the First Illinois Infantry.
As a soldier he did good service, and was for some time
adjutant of his regiment. In the fall of 1848, upon his re-
turn to his home, he commenced the study of law in the
office of his uncle, Alexander M. Jenkins, formerly lieuten-
ant-governor of Illinois.

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 303

In November, 1849, he was elected clerk of Jackson
County. In 1850 he attended a course of law lectures at
Louisville, Ky.,- receiving his diploma in 1851, when he en-
tered into practice with his uncle. The following year he
was elected prosecuting attorney of the Third Judicial Dis-
trict, and in the fall of the same year he was chosen to
the State Legislature, to which position he was three times
re-elected. In 1856 he was a presidential elector on the
Democratic ticket for the Ninth Congressional District, and
voted for James Buchanan for President. Two years later
he was elected a member of Congress from the same district,
receiving a large Democratic majority, and at the expiration
of his term he was re-elected. In the campaign of 1860 he
gave his ardent support to Stephen A. Douglas.

He was among the first to enlist for the war of the Union.
He attended the called session of Congress in July, 1861,
and immediately joined the troops going to the front. He
was in the first battle of Bull Run, and among the last to
leave the field. Returning to his home September 1st, he as-
sisted in raising troops, and September 13th the Thirty-first
Regiment of Illinois Infantry was organized, with Logan
commissioned as colonel.

The first engagement in which he and his command par-
ticipated was the battle of Belmont, in November of the
same year, when his ability as a commander, and his dash
and intrepidity, foreshadowed the fact that he was to play
a conspicuous part in the operations of the army. He par-
ticipated in the movements at Fort Henry, and was present
at the battle of Fort Donelson, where he received a severe
wound, and did not rejoin his command until some weeks

304 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

afterward, on the evening of the last day of the battle of
Shiloh. On March 3, 1862, he was made brigadier-general,
and participated in the siege of Corinth, as commander of
the First Brigade in General Judah's division of the right
wing of the army, and for his valiant services was publicly
thanked by General Sherman in his official report. When
the attempt to take Vicksburg began in the fall of 1862,
General Logan was in command of the First Division of
the right wing of the Thirteenth Corps.

On the arrival of the command at Memphis, December
31, 1862, the Seventeenth Army Corps was organized, and
on January 11, 1863, General. Logan was assigned to the
Third Division, in which position he remained until the fall
of Vicksburg, when he was assigned to the command of the
Fifteenth Army Corps. In the movements about Vicks-
burg from February, 1863, until July 4th, when General Pem-
berton surrendered, General Logan with his command was
actively engaged, and it was through a number of brilliant
movements by him that important advantages over the
enemy were gained, and the final result hastened. He was
selected by General Grant for consultation during the inter-
views with General Pemberton, looking to the terms of the
surrender ; and in consideration of his admirable services,
General Logan's command was ordered to take the lead in
the march into Vicksburg, July 4h, after which he was given
the command of that post, which he retained until placed
in command of the Fifteenth Corps, November 14, 1863.

During the latter part of December and January he
organized an expedition into Northern Alabama, where he
dispersed the rebel conscript officers, for which he was

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 305

officially complimented. In the Atlanta campaign General
Logan's corps was a part of McPherson's command, which,
as General Sherman said, was the snapper to the whip with
which he proposed to punish the enemy. During the move-
ment Logan was conspicuously at the front, and the forces
under his immediate command bore an important part in all
the actions and maneuvers that resulted finally in the taking
possession of Atlanta and the surrounding strongholds of
the Confederate forces. At Dallas, as at Resaca, General
Logan's command was in the front, and the desperation
with which the men under him fought showed their implicit
confidence in their commander to lead them to victory even
under the most perilous circumstances.

On July 22, 1864, Logan, as commander of the Fifteenth
Army Corps, was ordered in pursuit of the enemy south of
Atlanta. In the hard-fought cattle that followed, General
M^Pherson was killed, and General Logan succeeded him
in command of the Army of the Tennessee. The success
of the battle was accorded to Logan by General Sherman's
official report. The battle of July 28th, which followed, was
another hotly contested fight, in which Logan's command
was equally as conspicuous and successful. At Jonesboro,
August 29th, he was again in advance, and, seeing the neces-
sity of prompt action, without waiting for orders he pushed
forward and saved the bridge across Flint River, went into
a fortified position within a mile and a half of Jonesboro,
fought a sharp battle, and won a decided victory.

On January 20, 1865, the campaign of the Carolinas was
commenced, the movements being for the purpose of en-
countering Johnston's Army of the Potomac. This march

306 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

was full of peril and privations, in all of which General
Logan was with his men day and night, wading swamps and
streams, and doing all that the men of his corps were called
on to suffer. The command moved on, driving the enemy
at every point, passing through Columbia, Goldsboro and
Fayetteville, until it reached Raleigh, near which the sur-
render of Johnston took place, and the campaign was closed.

After the close of the war, General Logan was offered
the position 'of minister to Mexico, but declined. In 1866
he was elected to Congress from the State at large in Illinois
by a majority of 55,987, and in the Fortieth Congress was
one of the managers of the impeachment of President John-
son. In the next, the Forty-first Congress, Logan began to
make his mark. He was then chairman of the Military
Committee, and was charged with the duty of investigating
the sale of cadetships to the naval and military academies.
A number of Southern carpet-bag Republicans, it was
thought, had swelled their exchequer in this wise. Pursuing
the investigation with assiduity, Logan caught a South
Carolina carpet-bagger named Whittemore, and exposed
him in a speech in the House. 'To save expulsion, Whitte-
more resigned and resumed his profession of lay preacher.

In 1870, Logan was elected by the Illinois Legislature to
the United States Senate to succeed Richard Yates. After
serving his term he was defeated by the Independents, who
united upon Hon. David Davis as his successor, but he was
again elected to succeed Oglesby in 1879. He has always
taken an active part in all the legislation of the Senate,
and has introduced many useful bills. His efforts for the
soldiers have been as tireless as patriotic.

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 3Q7

CHAPTER XIII.

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN.

"Ten struck battles

I sucked these honored scars from, and all Roman;
Four years of bitter nights and heavy marches,
When many a frozen storm sang through my cuirass,
And made it doubtful whether that or I
Were the most stubborn metal, have I wrought through,
And all to try these Romans. Ten times a night
I have swam the rivers, when the stars of Rome
Shot at me as I floated, and the billows
Tumbled their watery ruins on my shoulders,
Charging my battered sides with troops of agues ;
And still to try these Romans." TALFOUKD.

"ARM A VIRUMQUE CANO."

DECEMBER 20, 1860, Mr. Clarke, of New Hampshire,
offered a resolution in the Senate of the United States,
to inquire into the condition of the forts in Charleston Harbor.
Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, arose in his place and
opposed the resolution in the following extraordinary lan-
guage :

" I propose to show that it is improper we should make
this inquiry. We know that it must inflame the public
mind to agitate this question. Whatever the garrison may
be, the fact is that the President has not the power to in-
crease it; that he could not send a company there without
the fact being known before the company arrived. This

308 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

would certainly precipitate action, and it would convey a
threat, attended by preparation to execute it, and naturally
result in bringing about the very collision which every man
who loves the peace of his country is now endeavoring to
avert.

"In every view of the case, it is in my view utterly
improper that we should institute such an inquiry as this.
Senators here this morning spoke as if the garrison at Fort
Moultrie were in hostile attitude against the city of Charles-
ton. If so, the garrison should be removed. The site
was given, as the army is maintained, for defense. Who
will or can reverse the purpose ?

" I trust there will be no collision. I trust these troops
are but to perform the ordinary, and, so far as our country
is involved, the peaceful, function of holding that fort until
transferred to other duty. But if there be danger, permit
me here to say, it is because there are troops in it, not be-
cause the garrison is too weak. Who hears of any danger
of the seizure of forts where there is no garrison ? There
stand Forts Pulaski and Jackson, at the mouth of the Savan-
nah River. Who hears of any apprehension lest Georgia
should seize them? There are Castle Pinckney and Fort
Sumter, in Charleston Harbor. Who hears of any danger
of seizure there ? The whole danger arises from the
presence of United States troops."

Thus the modern Catiline. Within six days from the
date of this utterance, the little garrison in Fort Moultrie,
alarmed at the preparations making in Charleston for their
capture, evacuated the fort at night and took refuge in Fort
Sumter. Next morning the rebels in Charleston robbed the

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 309

arsenal, where the treacherous Floyd had stored, for their use,
ten years' ordinary supplies ; and armed bands from the city,
thus supplied with stolen weapons and munitions of war,
immediately seized Forts Moultrie and Pinckney, and com-
menced throwing up batteries for the bombardment of Sum-
ter. All this they called a peaceful operation, which our
government had no right to resist. Much more than this.
They went so far as clamorously to assert that the action
of the United States in removing a feeble garrison from one
of its own forts, where it was menaced by an assault which
it could not resist, to another fort where it would be more
secure, was an insult to the State of South Carolina, and a
declaration of war.

On the day that Mr. Davis was opposing, in the United
States Senate, the strengthening of garrisons at forts in the
harbor of Charleston, a convention of a few score of the " domi-
nant race " in South Carolina, assumed to break up the govern-
ment of the American Union, and demolish the United States
as one of the nations of the earth, by adopting the following
resolution : We, the people of the State of South Caro-
lina, in convention assembled, do declare and ordain, and it
is hereby declared and ordained, that the ordinance adopted
by us in convention, on the 23d of May, in the year of our
Lord 1788, whereby the Constitution of the United States
of America was ratified, and also all acts and parts of acts
of the General Assembly of this State, ratifying the amend-
ments of said Constitution, are hereby repealed, and that the
union now subsisting between South Carolina and other
States, under the name of the United States of America, is
hereby dissolved" Therefore, according to the action of

310 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

South Carolina, dissolution of the Union was a determined
fact on the 20th of December, 1860.

As this is not a history of the rebellion, but the preface
of a memoir of one of the distinguished generals who re-
pelled the onslaughts of secession, we are not particularly
concerned in the details of the Confederate Government insti-
tuted at Montgomery, February 4, 1861, by the action of
forty-two individuals, who adopted a constitution and by-
laws, and chose Jeiferson Davis President and Alexander
H. Stephens Vice-president of the Southern Confederacy ;
an are not particularly concerned in the fact that it was
we organization in which the people had no voice, and that
its audacious usurpation had no parallel in history. Its
arrogant assumptions were entirely overshadowed by the
crimes it afterwards committed in the name of law, and its
annals, if truthfully rendered, would condemn it to eternal
execration.

In the preceding chapter it was found convenient to give
a sketch in outline of the career of General Logan. It is
proposed in the present chapter to supplement what was said
in the former by adding the details of the more interesting
parts of the general's public life. It is well known that he
has chiefly drawn to himself the admiration of his country-
men by his exploits in the civil war, and it is to that part
of his career that we now turn with pride. His military
heroism is a legacy to the patriotic annals of our country,
and the part which he bore in the day of our great trial
must ever give him an honorable place among our great
captains. As already said, General Logan's first military
experience was as a soldier in the Mexican war. He was

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 311

at the time of his enlistment in that conflict but nineteen
years of age, but his bearing in arms was such as to win for
him from the first the esteem of his comrades and the ad-
miration of his commanding officers.

July 21, 1861, was fought the first battle of Bull Run.
Among the soldiers who bore arms in the ranks of the
Union was a young Democratic Congressman from Illinois.
He had experienced some of the toils and privations of a
military campaign in the Mexican War, where, at the age of
nineteen, he earned a reputation for soldierly courage and a
lieutenancy; and when his country again called, he shoul-
dered a musket and marched to the front in defense of the
stars and stripes. He saw his country's cause wounded and
distressed on that fateful Sunday at Manassas, and, under
the impulse of a noble patriotism, resolved to devote himself
to her relief.

The soldier Congressman was John A. Logan. In Sep-
tember, 1861, he returned to his home, and immediately
busied himself in raising men for the army. When the
Thirty-first Illinois Regiment was organized, he was com-
missioned as its colonel, and almost immediately took the
field. On the seventh of the succeeding November this
young regiment engaged in its first battle at Belmont, Mis-
souri. The camp of the enemy was situated on a slight
eminence, which rose a little back from the Mississippi, and
thus the foe were enabled to witness the debarkation of the
three thousand troops brought there to dislodge them.
They were not only prepared to give the Union boys a
warm reception on their own account, but, owing to the
timely intimation they had of the attack, had secured a re-

312 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

enforcement of four regiments from Columbus, " on the old
Kentucky shore."

A march of a mile and a half brought the national troops
within range of the enemy's guns. The rebel camp was not
protected by earthworks worth consideration, but in lieu
thereof some twenty acres of timber had been felled imme-
diately in front of their position. Concealed behind this
very formidable abatis, over which it was almost impossible
for our troops to force their way, the rebels fought with
desperation, hurling a storm of bullets into the bosoms of
the patriots who were struggling through the entangling
branches ; but after a struggle of more than two hours,
the Union boys succeeded in surmounting the obstructions,
and gained the clear space in front of the camps. The com-
mand was then given for a charge, and it was made with re-
sistless impetuosity by the right, the left, and the center.
The rebels numbered seven to eight thousand men. Three
thousand, in a semi-circle, under the flag of the Union, were
rushing upon them with a battle-cry which rose above the
roar of artillery and the incessant volleys of musketry.
Soon all these thousands were mingled in inextricable con-
fusion, grappling hand to hand in the death struggle. A
conflict like this must be, necessarily, brief. There rose,
suddenly, a shout, louder, longer, more continuous than had
been heard before, and which resounded far above the thun-
der of war's tempest. No one could mistake it. It was not
the frenzied cry of onset, but the exultant peal of victory.
The rebel flag was in the dust and the stars and stripes
waved proudly, announcing that the field was redemed from
the degradation of secession. The Twenty-seventh and

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 313

Thirty-first Illinois the latter Colonel Logan's regiment
and the Seventh Iowa, were the first who gained the camp-
ing ground of the enemy; but they were almost instantly
followed by their equally eager comrades. The rebel troops
retreated in great disorder, and their camp, stores, fixtures,
and all belongings were utterly destroyed. Colonel Logan's
soldierly qualities his good judgment, coupled with impet-
uous dash and boldness attracted the notice of General
Grant in this engagement, and it doubtless had due influ-
ence upon the promotion of the gallant Illinoisan.

Colonel Logan's regiment performed conspicuous service
at the taking of Forts Henry and Donelson, in February,
1862. At Donelson he was seriously wounded, and did not
rejoin his command till the evening of the last day of the
battle of Shiloh, the 7th of the succeeding April. In the fol-
lowing month he commanded a brigade at the siege of Cor-
inth, which was by no means a terrible siege, but was so
adroitly managed as to force the rebels from their position
without a general engagement. But General Logan took a
part in the operations so efficient and satisfactory that he
elicited the warmest praise from General Sherman in the
official dispatches. He had previously been promoted to the
rank of brigadier-general.

General Logan's division of General McPherson's corps
usually occupied the advance in the investment of Vicks-
burg, and on May 12, 1863, they came up with two brigades
of the enemy, three miles in front of the town of Raymond.
They were strongly posted in a piece of timber, from which
they were driven, after some hard fighting. Falling back a
little, they rallied at Fainden's Creek. The banks of this

314 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

stream are steep, and then contained but little water. In front
there was an open field. Crouching in this creek a natural
rifle-pit the rebels completely swept the field before them
with their fire. A charge was ordered. After a brief but
terrible struggle, the rebels were driven pell-mell from their
ditch, in a thoroughly demoralized condition, and away they
scampered in the utmost disorder, throwing away arms,
knapsacks, and blankets. The Union loss was sixty-nine
killed, three hundred and forty-one wounded, and thirty-two
missing. Apparently the rebels had no time to report their
loss, but it was more than double that of the patriots.

At the battle of Champion Hill, May 16th, the rebel gen-
eral, Pemberton, occupied a strong position. His army was
upon an eminence covered by a dense growth of timber.
The battle commenced about nine in the morning. Know-
ing that several divisions of the Union army were hurrying
forward to take part in the conflict, the rebels decided not
to await their arrival, but to promptly assume the offensive.
Massing their troops, they hurled them upon the center of
General Hovey's line. Hovey held his position with great
firmness for a time, but was at length compelled to fall
back. About this time word came that General Logan had
gained a position on the rebel left, and was threatening
their rear. The patriots now charged with a huzza; the
rebels were driven in confusion into the woods, and being
vigorously pursued, they were pressed onward in full re-
treat. This battle decided the fate of Vicksburg. It was
thenceforth impossible for Generals Pemberton and Johnston
to effect a junction. Over one thousand prisoners, and two
batteries, fell into the hands of the victors.

w
z

h 1

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 315

July 4, 1863, after a campaign of nearly six months, the
city of Vicksburg, with its entire garrison, surrendered to the
Union army. This event found General Logan in command
of the Fifteenth Corps, and his personal merits, as well as
those of his men, were signalized by the assignment to them
of the post of honor in marching to occupy the city.

The well-known historian, John S. C. Abbott, in his ac-
count of the " March to Atlanta," says : " It seems invidi-
ous to select any one commander as entitled to special men-
tion, when nearly all alike were patriotic and heroic in the
highest possible degree. Thomas, McPherson, Logan, Sco-
field, Rosseau, Butterfield, and a host of others, merit a
whole volume to do justice to their achievements. There
was scarcely a day during this momentous campaign in
which there were not engagements that, in the early his-
tory of the war, would not have been considered important
battles."

Details of the many attacks against the rebels when
they were intrenched upon Kenesaw Mountain, prove the
military wisdom of General Logan in advising against them.
With General McPherson, he was at General Sherman's
head-quarters, when it was decided to make the first attack
upon Kenesaw. At once he protested, although he could
scarcely believe the intention to make the assault was ear-
nest. Upon discovering that it was really contemplated, he
emphasized his protest, coupling it with the opinion that to
send troops against that mountain would only result in use-
less slaughter. Finding his opinion likely to be disregarded, he
went still further, and declared it to be a movement which,
in his judgment, would be nothing less than the murder

316 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

of brave men. In all of this he was warmly seconded by
General McPherson. They did not succeed in averting the
slaughter.

After many previous unsuccessful attempts to dislodge
the foe, two attacks were made upon his strongholds on the
29th of June, 1864. General Sherman says: "Both failed,
costing us many valuable lives ; among them those of Generals
Harker and McCook. Colonel Rice and others were badly
wounded. Our aggregate loss was near eight thousand,
while we inflicted comparative little loss upon the enemy,
who lay behind his well-formed breastworks." General Sher-
man resolved upon a flank movement. On July 2d, General
McPherson moved his whole army down to Turner's Ferry,
across the Chattahoochie. Much of the march was after
sunset. It was a night of fearful storm and darkness. Gen-
eral Sherman hoped, under cover of night and the storm, to
gain his position without exciting the suspicion of the foe.
But rebel scouts detected the movements, and General John-
ston fearing the inevitable result of such a position gained
in his rear, abandoned Kenesaw, and all his important earth-
works there, and retreated to the Chattahoochie. Next
morning the banner of beauty was unfurled from the sum-
mit of Kenesaw, and the army of freedom, led by General
Sherman, triumphantly entered the streets of Marietta.
Johnston entrenched himself strongly on the Chattahoochie,
but was soon "driven out by another splendid flank move-
ment, and onward marched the victorious legions of the
Union to Atlanta, where they at once commenced vigor-
ously forming their lines of siege.

July 20th, the first engagement occurred, begun by a

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 317

sortie from the rebels. Their repulse was complete. At
every point they were driven back. When the sun went
down and darkness covered the bloody field, the ground was
covered with the abandoned rebel dead and wounded. The
loss of both sides was heavy. The patriot killed and
wounded was fifteen hundred. Our troops buried near seven
hundred of the rebel dead. Their total loss, according to
General Sherman, could not have been less than five thou-
sand. Abbott says, "General Logan was conspicuous in
this battle. His achievements merit more minute detail
than it is possible to give in a general history."

Morning of July 21st, about two o'clock, the army was
roused by sounds of movements within the rebel lines. Their
whole army was concentrating for a general attack, but dis-
covery thwarted the design of surprise. A terrible battle was
fought, but with signal disaster to the foe. On the morning
of the 22d, General McPherson, with the right of the army,
was on both sides of the railroad from Decatur. General
Logan was on the right, near the railroad.

The troops were all busy strengthening their fortifica-
tions. Immediately after the change of position previously
indicated, the rebels emerged from their ramparts, heavily
massed, and plunged in fiercest onset upon the troops com-
manded by Generals Leggett and G. A. Smith. They came
in such overpowering numbers that our men, though valiantly
returning the fire, were driven back, and were in imminent
peril of utter rout. Their defeat would enable the foe to
outflank the Army of the Tennessee, and to. menace it with
destruction. Intelligent patriot soldiers perceived all this,
and fought with desperation. For three hours the unequal

318 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

contest continued. At length the Sixteenth Corps, which
which was on the move to re-enforce General Logan, arrived,
and, uniting with the heroes of the day, rushed into the
open field, and met the enemy face to face. The ground
was broken and rocky and covered with thorny shrubs. The
whole Army of the Tennessee was engaged, and, though
greatly outnumbered, held its own. General McPherson was
at all points, encouraging, directing, and inspiring his men.
About twelve o'clock, as with his staff he was riding along
the embattled lines, a fatal impulse led him into a gap be-
tween the Sixteenth and the Seventeenth Corps. Being in
advance of his staff, he rode to the top of a ridge near by.
A party of rebels sprang from ambush, and fired a volley
of bullets upon him. The brave commander fell, mortally
wounded.

General McPherson was among the noblest of that band
of martyrs, who fell victims of the infamous rebellion of the
South. " He was," writes General Sherman, " a noble youth,
of striking personal appearance, of the highest professional
capacity, and with a heart abounding in kindness, that drew
to him the affections of all men." By the death of General
McPherson, the command of the Army of the Tennessee
devolved upon General Logan, "a man," says Sherman,
" rivaling his predecessor in bravery, patriotism, and military
ability." General Logan, as the news was transmitted to
him on the field that the command now rested with him,
brandished his sword, and cried out, " Come on, boys ; let
McPherson be the rallying cry." For two hours more the fight
raged. Says Abbott: "Hood was a mere reckless, desperate
' fire-eater.' In a frenzy like that which reigns in a drunken

THE SOLDIER STA TESMAN. 319

row, he hurled his masses, infuriated with whisky, upon the
patriot lines. He seemed reckless of slaughter, apparently-
resolved to carry his point or lose the last man. General
Logan was by no means his inferior in impetuous daring,
and far his superior in all those intellectual qualities of cir-
cumspection, coolness, and judgment requisite to constitute
a great general." At three o'clock in the afternoon the
rebels, defeated at every point, retreated from the field.
Their loss was enormous. " I entertain no doubt," writes
General Sherman, "that the enemy sustained an aggregate
loss of eight thousand men." Our loss was three thousand
seven hundred and twenty-two.

On the 24th of July General Sherman ordered two
forces of cavalry to move south from Atlanta to tear up
railways and cut off Hood's sources of supply. One, of five
thousand men, under General Stoneman, took the route to
McDonough. The other, of four thousand, under General
McCook, took the road which led through Fayetteville.
Hood observed these movements and comprehended the
threatened danger to his army. He therefore determined,
at every risk, to break Sherman's line. On the 28th he
massed his forces for the desperate endeavor. About noon
of that day an immense force was hurled against the Fif-
teenth Corps, General Logan, but the charge was so sternly
received, and such volleys of death poured into their ranks,
that the insurgent officers could no longer control their men,
and they broke and fled. Again and again were the routed
rebels rallied by their desperate leaders. Six times between
noon and four o'clock they were driven toward the frail in-
trenchment, behind which the patriots awaited them, and six

320 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

times they were scattered with terrific slaughter. Hood
fought with the brute energy of a madman. Says one of
the foremost historians of the rebellion, "On that bloody
day General Logan's corps won great renown. Almost
alone they met the assault of these vastly superior numbers,
thus desperately hurled upon them."

McCook, Kilpatrick, Howard, and other efficient men
had been south of Atlanta several weeks, and had accom-
plished good work in the destruction of railroads and other
means of communication. Before Atlanta heavy engage-
ments of arms had been of daily occurrence, without per-
ceptibly weakening its defenses. But now a movement was
made by General Sherman to cut off communication of
every sort, and so occupy all the avenues by the Union
army as to send starvation into the streets of Atlanta and
seal its doom. The rebels made one last desperate endeavor
to prevent this movement, which, being successfully accom-
plished, would drive them fugitives from the " Gate City of
the South." General Sherman had marched more than a
hundred miles over the hills and through the beautiful val-
leys of Northern Georgia. He had, day after day, in unin-
terrupted victory, driven the whole rebel army before him.
And now the capture of Atlanta, with its arsenals, its mag-
azines, its manufactories, its military stores, would open up
to him an unobstructed path through the very heart of the
State to the sea. He had fought his way through dense
forests and mountain gorges. He was now to enter upon a
level country, where no serious impediment could block his
path. The rebels understood this perfectly, and stiffened
their sinews for the greatest effort of their lives.

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 321

When General Howard arrived within half a mile of
Jonesboro', about noon of the 31st of July, the rebels
plunged upon him, inspired by all the energies of fury and
despair. General Logan received the first onset. "He was
just the man for the place and the hour," says Abbott. Gen-
eral Kilpatrick had gained an important eminence, from
which his guns dealt destruction to the foe. In accumu-
lated masses the surging rebels rolled up the hill. In a mo-
ment there was a portentous silence, until the serried hosts
were within a few feet of the guns. Then came flash and
roar, peal upon peal, volley after volley. The range was
perfect. There was no need for deliberation or aim. The
gunners worked with superhuman rapidity; shell, grape,
canister, swept through the ranks of the foe like the hail
of hell. Fifteen minutes passed. A puff of wind swept
away the billowy smoke. The rebel column had vanished.
The ground was red with blood and covered with the man-
gled, ghastly victims of war some still in death, many
writhing in mortal agony.

It was now life or death with the rebel " cause." De-
feat was remediless ruin. A second column was forced up
the hill. A second burst of war's terrific tempest swept
them to destruction. And thus the battle raged till night.
Hardee, the rebel leader at that point, had no regard for the
lives of his men. Those most wretched of all the victims
of the rebellion, the "poor whites," who by merciless con-
scription had been forced into the war, were driven to cer-
tain slaughter with that disregard of life which always char-
acterizes venomous fanaticism. Next morning the battle

was renewed. Nearly the whole of General Thomas's Di-

322 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

vision was now at hand to aid the Army of the Tennessee.
After standing upon the defensive for a few hours and blood-
ily repelling several charges, the Union boys, in their turn,
began making assaults. General Davis made one of the
most gallant of these charges. Union and disunion struggled
hand to hand over the barricade. The star-spangled-banner
and treason's flag intertwined their folds. After a fight of
four hours the whole rebel line was carried, find their bat-
tery of twenty-four guns captured. The foe retreated in
confusion. The gloom of the night, the unknown, pathless
forest, and the ragged nature of the ground forbade pursuit.

The disastrous intelligence was conveyed to Hood at At-
lanta. At two o'clock in the morning heavy explosions were
heard in the city, nearly twenty miles distant. Hood was
blowing up his magazines, in preparation for flight. Next
morning, August 2d, General Slocum, who was watching the
movements of the rebels at Atlanta, discovered their retreat.
They were escaping by roads which lead eastward towards
Augusta. Slocum immediately entered the city in triumph.
The colored population received him as their deliverer.
Tongue can not tell the enthusiasm of their greeting.
There were a few loyal citizens in the place, " faithful
among the faithless." For their persistent patriotism they
had suffered untold outrages. With tears which could not
be restrained, and heartfelt thanksgiving, they welcomed
the return of the flag of the free.

The foregoing group of some of the main incidents in
General Logan's military career will guide the reader to
those portions of our country's history which relate them
in detail. There still remains an event of great im-

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 323

portance, which raised him very high in the estimation
of the friends of General Thomas. He had been cut
off from joining his command for the march to the sea,
and subsequently reported to City Point for orders. He
reached there just after the first order for General Thomas's
removal before Nashville had been telegraphed to Washing-
ton, and its promulgation delayed. For the second time
General Grant had become exceedingly impatient, and de-
cided to remove Thomas. Upon the appearance of Logan,
Grant ordered him to proceed at once to Nashville and await
orders. His instructions contemplated his relieving General
Thomas, if, on his arrival, no attack had been made upon
Hood. Here was a most brilliant position offered that of
commander of the Army of the Cumberland, just as it had
been reorganized and put in order for battle, and stood
in its trenches ready for the word to advance. Had ambi-
tion alone actuated him, here was the opportunity of a life-
time of active service. But instead of obeying the spirit
of his instructions, he proceeded with such deliberation as
to prove beyond room for cavil that self-seeking was not the
motive which controlled Logan in the war.

He moved to his new post without undue haste. He
seemed to appreciate the situation far better than Grant
himself. His leisurely journey to Nashville gave time for
the battle to open under Thomas. And, when it opened,
Logan telegraphed announcing the beginning of Thomas's
success, and asking to be ordered to his old command.
There is nothing in Logan's military history more creditable
than this. Veterans of the Army of the Cumberland will
neither forget nor fail to appreciate its true nobility.

324 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Peace came shortly after the last of the foregoing
events, and was hailed by the country with unbounded de-
light. It had been conquered in the interest of the Consti-
tution and the Union, and was therefore heartily welcome
to all good citizens. It was especially grateful to the dis-
tinguished leaders who had brought this success through
much disaster, and whose business had been war, to the ex-
clusion of every thing else, during four calamitous years.
Under date of September 12, 1864, General Sherman thus
expressed himself to the citizens of Atlanta : " The use of
Atlanta for warlike purposes is inconsistent with its charac-
ter as a home for families. War is cruelty, and you can not
refine it ; and those who brought war on our country deserve
all the curses and maledictions a people can pour out. I
know that I had no hand in making this war, and I know
that I will make more sacrifices than any of you to-day to
secure peace. But you can not have peace and a division
of our country. If the United States submit to a division
now, it will not stop, but will go on till we meet the fate of
Mexico, which is eternal war. You might as well appeal
against the thunder-storm as against the terrible hardships
of war. They are inevitable, and the only way the people
of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and quiet at
home is to stop this war, which can alone be done by admit-
ting that it began in error and is perpetuated in pride. We
don't want your negroes, or your horses, or your houses, or
your land, or any thing you have. But we do want, and we
will have, a just obedience to the laws of the United States."

It is wholly a false notion that those whose vocation is
war enjoy it for its carnage and destruction. When Caesar

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 325

was engaging all the world in war, he wrote to Tully,
" There is nothing worthier of an honest man than to have
contention with" nobody." It was the highest aggravation
that the prophet could find in the description of the
greatest wickedness, that " the way of peace they knew
not ;" and the greatest punishment of all their crookedness
and perverseness was, that " they should not know peace."
A greater curse can not befall the most wicked nation than
to be deprived of peace. There is nothing of real and sub-
stantial comfort in the world that is not the product of
peace ; and whatsoever we may lawfully and innocently take
delight in is the fruit and effect of peace. All this was
fully understood by the great generals of the Union, and
they were willing to sacrifice their own peace and comfort
for a time, and even their lives, if necessary, to the end that
peace might be restored to the country. Most of the vol-
unteers in the army of the Union offered the same great
sacrifice to secure peace. The loyal men of our country
were compelled to conquer a peaceful condition, or live in
anarchy. Their patriotism and strong desire for the restora-
tion of law and order sent them to the front.

There are many noticeable things in the military record
of General Logan. He took excellent care of his men, and
never endangered their lives or sacrificed their comfort when
it was avoidable. A battle was never lost or made doubtful
through any action or lack of action on his part ; but many
were gained through his promptness, intrepidity, and address.
General Schofield is credited with the assertion that " Logan's
care of his division, and his personal presence and example,
made it equal to two of the ordinary divisions of the army."

326 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Herein he was like the Chevalier Bayard, who inspired his
men with indomitable courage. His device was a porcupine,
with the motto: "Vires agminis unus habet" one man pos-
sesses the power of a whole troop. It is said that this was
given him in consequence of his having singly defended a
bridge against two hundred Spaniards. His example was
constantly before his men to excite them to deeds of the
greatest valor, and at the same time all his acts were con-
trolled by justice and tempered with mercy. Logan was
invariably as cool as was General Perer at the battle of
Minden. His corps of grenadiers were exposed to a battery
that carried off whole files at once. Perer, wishing them
not to fall back, rode slowly in front of the line with his
snuff-box in hand, and said : " Well, my boys, what's the
matter ? Eh, cannon ? Well, it kills you, it kills you ; that's
all, my boys. March on, and never mind it."

No man in the army ever made headway more rapidly
than did Logan. He made his way through oppositions as
readily as some men tread the flowery paths of ease, and
forced recognition of his merits through the high imperialism
of genius. His displacement from a position which he had
earned as the legitimate successor of General McPherson,
and the promotion of Howard, was a blow from which Logan
will never recover. He considered it a cruel and uncalled-
for humiliation, as it undoubtedly was, and but for the en-
treaties of friends he would have resigned. Succeeding the
evacuation of Atlanta, he went to Illinois to stump the State
for Lincoln. After the election he returned to camp and
led his corps in the remarkable campaign through the Caro-
linas. At the close of actual fighting, he marched his men

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 327

to Alexandria, and rode at their head in the grand review
at Washington. Upon retiring from the military service he
issued the following

FAREWELL ADDRESS.

" HEADQUARTERS ARMY OP THE TENNESSEE, "

"LOUISVILLE, KY., July 13, 1865. /

"Officers and Soldiers of the Army of the Tennessee:

" The profound gratification I feel in being authorized to
release you from the onerous obligations of the camp, and
return you laden with laurels to the homes where warm
hearts wait to welcome you, is somewhat embittered by the
painful reflection that I am sundering the ties that trials
have made true, time made tender, suffering made sacred,
perils made proud, heroism made honorable, and fame made
forever fearless of the future. It is no common occasion
that demands the disbandonment of a military organization,
before the resistless power of which mountains bristling with
bayonets have bowed, cities have surrendered, and millions
of bravt* men been conquered. Although I have been but a
short time your commander, we are not strangers ; affections
have sprung up between us during the long years of doubts,
gloom and carnage which we have passed through together,
nurtured by common perils, sufferings, and sacrifices, and
riveted by the memories of gallant comrades, whose bones
repose beneath the sod of an hundred battle-fields, which nor
time nor distance will weaken or efface. The many marches
you have made, the dangers you have despised, the haughti-
ness you have humbled, the duties you have discharged, the
glory you have gained, the destiny you have discovered for
the country in whose cause you have conquered, all recur at

328 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

this moment in all the vividness that marked the scenes
through which we have just passed. From the pens of the
ablest historians of the land daily are drifting out upon the
current of time, page upon page, volume upon volume of
your heroic deeds, and, floating down to future generations,
will inspire the student of history with admiration, the
patriot American with veneration for his ancestors and the
love of republican liberty, with gratitude for those who in a
fresh baptism of blood reconsecrated the powers and ener-
gies of the Republic to the cause of constitutional freedom.
Long may it be the happy fortune of each and every one of
you to live in the full fruition of the boundless blessings
you have secured to the human race. Only he whose heart
has been thrilled with admiration for your impetuous and
unyielding valor in the thickest of the fight can appreciate
with what pride I recount the brilliant achievements which
immortalize you and enrich the pages of our National his-
tory. Passing by the earlier, but not less signal triumphs
of the war, in which most of you participated and inscribed
upon your banners such victories as Donelson and Shiloh,
I recur to campaigns, sieges, and victories that challenge the
admiration of the world and elicit the unwilling applause of
all Europe. Turning your backs upon the blood-bathed
heights of Vicksburg, you launched into a region swarming
with enemies, fighting your way and marching without ade-
quate supplies, to answer the cry for succor that came to
you from the noble but beleagured army at Chattanooga.
Your steel next flashed among the mountains of the Tennes-
see, and your weary limbs found rest before the embattled
heights of Missionary Ridge, and there with dauntless cour-

THE SOLDIER STA TESMAN. 329

age you breasted again the enemy's destructive fire, and
shared with your comrades of the Army of the Cumberland
the glories of a" victory than which no soldiery can boast a
prouder.

" In that unexampled campaign of vigilant and vigorous
warfare from Chattanooga to Atlanta, you freshened your
laurels at Resaca, grappling with the enemy behind his
works, hurling him back dismayed and broken. Pursuing
him from thence, marking your path with the graves of
fallen comrades, you again triumphed over superior numbers
at Dallas, fighting your way from there to the Kenesaw
Mountain, and under the murderous artillery that frowned
from its rugged heights, with a tenacity and constancy that
find few parallels, you labored, fought, and suffered through
the broiling rays of a Southern midsummer sun, until at
last you planted your colors upon its topmost heights.
Again on the twenty-second of July, 1864, rendered mem-
orable through all time for the terrible struggle you so
heroically maintained under discouraging disasters, and that
saddest of all reflections, the loss of that exemplary soldier
and popular leader, the lamented McPherson, your match-
less courage turned defeat into glorious victory. Ezra
Chapel and Jonesboro, added new luster to a radiant record,
the latter unbarring to you the proud Gate City of the
South. The daring of a desperate foe in thrusting his
legions northward exposed the country in your front, and
though rivers, swamps, and enemies opposed, you boldly sur-
mounted every obstacle, beat down all opposition, and
marched onward to the sea. Without any act to dim the
brightness of your historic page, the world rang plaudits

330 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

when your labors and struggles culminated at Savannah,
and the old 'Starry Banner' waved once more over the
walls of one of our proudest cities of the seaboard. Scarce
a breathing spell had passed when your colors faded from
the coast, and your columns plunged into the swamps of the
Carolinas. The sufferings you endured, the labors you per-
formed, and the success you achieved in those morasses,
deemed impassable, form a creditable episode in the history
of the war. Pocotaligo, Salkahatchie, Edisto, Branchville,
Orangeburg, Columbia, Bentonville, Charleston, and Raleigh
are names that will ever be suggestive of the resistless
sweep of your columns through the territory that cradled
and nurtured, and from whence was sent forth on its mis-
sion of crime, misery, and blood the disturbing and disorgan-
izing spirit of secession and rebellion.

" The work for which you pledged your brave hearts
and brawny arms to the government of your fathers, you
have nobly performed. You are seen in the past gathering
through the gloom that enveloped the land, rallying as the
guardians of man's proudest heritage, forgetting the thread
unwoven in the loom, quitting the anvil, and abandoning the
workshops to vindicate the supremacy of the laws, and the
authority of the Constitution. Four years have you struggled
in the bloodiest and most destructive war that ever drenched
the earth with human gore; step by step you have borne
our standard, until to-day over every fortress and arsenal
that rebellion wrenched from us, and over city, town, and
hamlet from the lakes of the gulf, and from ocean to ocean,
proudly floats the ' Starry Emblem' of our national unity
and strength.

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 331

"Your rewards, my comrades, are the welcoming plau-
dits of a grateful people, the consciousness that in saving
the republic you have won for your country renewed re-
spect and power at home and abroad, that in the unex-
ampled era of growth and prosperity that dawns with
peace there attaches mightier wealth of pride and glory
than ever before to that loved boast, ' I am an American
citizen.'

"In relinquishing the implements of war for those of
peace, let your conduct ever be that of warriors in time of
war and peaceful citizens in time of peace. Let not the
luster of that bright name that you have won as soldiers be
dimmed by any improper act as citizens, but as time rolls
on let your record grow brighter and brighter still.

"JOHN A. LOGAN, Major-general."

'* Victorious the hero

Returns from the wars;
His brow bound with laurels

That never will fade,
While streams the free standard

Of stripes and of stars,
Whose field in the battle

The foemen dismayed.
When the Secession hosts

In their madness came on,
Like a tower of strength

In his might he arose,
Where danger most threatened

His banner was borne,
Waving hope to his friends

And despair to his foes."

332 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOO AN.

XIV.

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. Continued.

" Strange are the destinies of men and States!

And oft, within the little round of life,

Where effort and effect, so stern in strife,
Wage battle 'neath the banner of the fates,
The strong will works a noble purpose out,

By giving scope to energies sublime,

By putting age-old evils to the rout
Making mankind its debtor for all time.

The soldier-statesman history re-cast,

And sent his spirit through its regions vast." ANON.

IN THE COUNCIL.

SOME of Logan's old political associates in Illinois ex-
pressed surprise that he could come back from the army
a Republican, but this was only for talk. They knew his
Republicanism dated from his first encounter with Democ-
racy armed, at Bull Run, and that he stumped his State for
the Republican ticket during the second Lincoln campaign.
They were aware, too, of his ability to defend Republican
principles, for he had proved it by deeds of valor whose
fame is imperishable. If they were to judge the soundness
of his conversion by the clearness and unanswerable force
of its declaration, or by deeds, which are a still better test,
then there was no lack of testimony; and in confirmation
of it all, General Logan went back to Congress in 1866,

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 333

elected by the State at large, by a majority of 55,987. He
made his mark in the House by that persistent activity
which had characterized his military life during a cam-
paign of four busy years, and was promptly recognized by
his associates and the country as one of the great lead-
ers of the Republican party. He has been a genuine
worker in the national councils. A fair record of what he
has said and done there would fill a score of ponderous
volumes, and prove of striking interest to every student of
political history.

Early in this new era of his legislative life he made a
speech in the House, on "Democratic Principles," which was
everywhere regarded as a remarkable effort; and for a clean
and thorough dissection of the subject, it has never been
excelled. The joints were severed "at the clavicle, elbow,
hip, ankle, and knee," and then the members articulated to
properly show the skeleton of an organization which had
nothing to recommend it but dead men's bones. He was
found to be quite as skilled in the use of the mental scalpel
as in the Toledo blade of the man of wrath, and exhibited
the " equivocation of the fiend that lies like truth " in all its
native hideousness. During ten years or more the Demo-
cratic party had been a subject for dissection, in general
and in detail, and although, under the battery of events, it
made an occasional spasmodic movement, it possessed neither
pulse nor brain, and long previous to the date referred to
its heart had been sealed hermetically in a bottle of high-
wines.

This speech was delivered July 16, 1868, after the nom-
ination of Grant, by the Republicans, and Seymour, by the

334 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Democrats. We would be glad to reproduce it in full, but
have space for only a few paragraphs. Referring to the
platform of the New York (Seymour) Convention, he says:

"The Democratic platform is a monument which is in-
tended to hide decay and conceal corruption. Like many
other monuments, it attracts attention by its vast propor-
tions and excites disgust by the falsity of its inscriptions.
The casual observer, knowing nothing of the previous life
of the deceased, who reads this eulogy upon the tomb, might
imagine that all the virtues, the intellect, and the genius of
the age were buried there. But to him who knows that
the life had been a living lie, an incessant pursuit of base
ends, the stone is a mockery, and the panegyric a fable.

" It is my purpose to show, sir, that this Democratic
platform is mockery of the past, and that its promises for
the future are hollow, evasive, and fabulous; that it disre-
gards the sanctities of truth, and deals only in the language
of the juggler. It is like the words of the weird witches,
who wrought a noble nature to crime and ruin, and then in
the hour of dire extremity

" ' Kept the word of promise to the ear,
And broke it to the hope.'

"If we find that its proclamations of principles are only
a bait for votes ; if we find that its resolutions are incon-
sistent, the one with the other, and all contradictory of the
resolutions of previous years ; if we find that instead of
being a party promoting the prosperity of the country it is
the party who attempted the life of the country ; if we find
that it is a party whose policy was suicidal in peace and

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 335

fratricidal in war; if we find that it is a party which has
adhered to no principle in times past except the principle
of perpetuity ; if we find that the men who now lift their
voices as its leaders are unworthy men who bared their
blades in rebellion; if we find there a gathering of all who
are wildly ambitious, thoroughly unscrupulous, and danger-
ously discontented, then we may safely say their pledges
are all false, and we may warn not only the soldiers and
sailors, but all good men, and particularly all young men, to
avoid their snares and flee from their delusions. It requires
an unusual condition of public affairs to produce such an
unusual platform, and we require to know what that condi-
tion is before we can judge of it. Let us see what is the
condition, and what produced it. A very few years ago the
Democratic party were in power. They had been in power
for many, many years before. Whatever of good there was
in their policy they had time to develop it. Whatever of
evil there was they had had opportunity to correct. They
did neither the one thing nor the other. There were no hos-
tile armies then. The people imagined that there was peace.
A few only believed that there could be war. But war was
imminent. Under the surface of peace that party were pre-
paring for war. In the council-chambers of the Nation
they howled for war. In the different departments of the
government where they were trusted and uncontrolled they
were preparing for war. In the minds of the young and
unsuspecting they sowed the seeds of war. In their news-
papers they threatened war. In the lecture-room, in tKe
college, from the pulpit and the rostrum, they invoked war,
and finally, when they judged the time had come when the

336 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

Nation was most helpless, and the weapons of defense most
useless, they made war, and war of what kind ? Actual
war, treasonable war, war against those who had loved and
fostered them, upon co-dwellers under the same roof and
brothers by birth and blood. How did war find us ? It found
us as the ship is found when pirates scuttle her, open to the
mercy of the waves and ready to be ingulfed. . . .

"I have shown how we wrestled with our adversity,
and finally how we overcame our enemies. We bore the
brunt of arms for the sake of our country, and to uphold
its constitution, its laws, and its liberties. We had but one
desire, and that was, ' Peace to our country.' We had but
one anxiety, and that was to preserve intact this chosen
land. Well, sir, as I said, the war was over and the victory
was ours. There was no longer a rebel in arms. They had
dispersed, as we supposed, never to meet again.

" But, sir, we were mistaken ; they have met again.
Where ? Why, this time upon Northern soil and in a North-
ern city, in the city of New York, the great metropolis of
this country, in Democratic convention. I do not say that
every man who met there had been a rebel; but I do say
that all the rebels met there who are now leading in public
life, and who hope for public position. It was the same old
story over again. The same old faces to see. The men who
had held this government for years and plotted to destroy
it while they held it were there. The men who fought to
destroy this government when they could no longer hold it
were there. The men who, though they had never plotted
to destroy it or fought against it, yet quietly acquiesced in
the designs of those who did, were there. The men who

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 337

have always given blind allegiance to the behest of party
regardless of the good of the country, were there. The
men who have always been the praters and croakers and
false prophets of the country, were there; and a few men
who had once served their country, but were lured off by
fatal ambition and the hope of spoils, were there. Good
men may have been there; but bad men were most certainly
there; and just as certainly the bad outnumbered the good;
and these are the men, sir, who complain of us. These are
the men who say we have violated the law and usurped the
Constitution. We have told them to the contrary many and
many a time. In these very halls, before they deserted
their places, we assured them that we desired nothing but
the law and the Constitution. After they had erected their
first batteries, and before they fired on Fort Suiater, they
were again assured that the law and the Constitution should
be kept inviolate. Even after they had waged their fiercest
war upon us, the President of the United States once more
proclaimed that we fought only to protect the Constitution
and the laws.

" Again and again, by the camp-fire, under the flag of
truce, and in the hospitals, and in exchange of prisoners and
in parleys and communications they were made acquainted
with the fact that we had but one object, and that was to
enforce the Constitution and the laws. And yet again, sir,
when the battle was at a white heat, and strong arms and
strong hearts wrought wounds and death, when the air
was filled with lamentations and pierced by cries of agony,
when the greedy earth drank up the gushing blood of our
bravest and our best, we still advanced but the one standard.

338 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

which was the old starry banner, emblematic of the Consti-
tution, the laws, our unity and strength. Ah, sir, it must
have been a humiliating scene at that convention. Were the
loyal soldiers and citizens of this country looking on when
the rebel General Preston nominated the former Union Gen-
eral Blair? Did the loyal sailors and soldiers hear the rebel
Wade Hampton second the nomination ? Did the rank and
file of the loyal men listen to the butcher of Fort Pillow
Forrest ? Where were then the memories of former treach-
eries, of a nation undone and a Constitution usurped, of laws
violated and civil slaughter instituted?

"I have no desire to keep alive old animosities, or to
recall the past with a view to let it rankle. I am willing
that the lessons of the war should be their own monitor to
those who learned them. But when I hear those who risked
their lives to save our country charged with betraying our
country ; when I hear those whose shorn limbs and maimed
trunks are witnesses of their devotion to the laws charged
with breaking the laws ; when I hear those who are now ly-
ing in their premature graves for the cause of the Constitution
charged with usurping that Constitution, I can not help it if
my indignant heart beats fast and my utterance grows thick,
while I demand to know, ' Who are ye that denounce us ?'

"It is for this reason, Mr. Chairman, that I say the
present issue is one which concerns our young men greatly,
because it contains the question whether in any future war
it is worth while for our young men to embark in it. Here-
tofore, it has always been held in all ages, ancient and mod-
ern, that he who defended his country was entitled to the
gratitude of his country. But if it shall be decided by this

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 339

election that he who defends his country is to be aspersed
by his country, .then the sooner it is understood the better
it will be for those who would have otherwise periled their
existence at the call of their people ! That issue is involved
in this campaign, and no artifice or chicanery should be per-
mitted to bury it out of sight. But what right have those
to complain who were in the Democratic convention but yet
were not in the rebel ranks? Did they aid us to suppress
the rebellion? Were they prompt with men and money in
our need ? Were they hopeful in our dark days and joyful
in our bright days? Did they cheer our soldiers and give
them the strength of their blessings and a God-speed ? Did
they nurse them when sick and succor them when wounded ?
No, sir ; they did not, or else they would not be found to-
day in such company. The civilian who supported the
military in the day of the war has never yet complained
that we have done great wrong, or never yet desired to take
the reigns of government from the Republican party.

" This is no schism in our own ranks. This is no falling
off of those who once were with us because of our misdeeds.
This is no branch of the Union party saying that we are
tyrants and usurpers and robbers and destroyers, and that
therefore they can support us no longer. Not at all. It is
simply our old enemies who have fought us in the halls of
Congress and on the battle-field and in campaigns for years,
never winning, ever failing, but always fierce and hateful.
It affords me sincere pleasure that I may look again upon
those who met so lately in convention at the city of Chicago.
What a sight was there ! Mr. Chairman, there were gath-
ered together the men who had served their country in

340 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

every capacity to which duty called them ; the men whose
devotion had been as unswerving as their fidelity was un-
questioned ; men whose sole thoughts and whose constant
thoughts were for their country's good, and how best and
soonest to make it manifest and permanent ; men from the
closet, men from the camp, men from the public station, men
from private life, men of distinction, men unknown but
men, all of them, whithersoever they came and whatsoever
they were, all of them men who came on the one thought
of how yet to aid their country."

The Republicanism of the man who uttered these words
will scarcely be doubted.

Among other incidental characteristics of General Logan
may be mentioned his consistent and devoted loyalty to
General Ulysses S. Grant, late commander-in-chief of the
Union army and President of the United States. It will
have been noted that on General Grant's retiracy from the
Presidency he was still in the hale vigor of mature man-
hood. It became a curious question what should be done
with so illustrious a citizen. Among other plans was one
proposed by the Senate bill No. 1992, to place that distin-
guished personage on the retired list of the army. The
measure came up for consideration on the 24th of January,
1881. During the session of that day the bill was called by
General Logan, who said : " I desire to call up for consider-
ation the bill to place Ulysses S. Grant, late general and late
President of the United States, upon the retired list of the
army. I did not intend to detain the Senate a moment;
but inasmuch as the remarks of the Senator from Delaware
have been to a certain extent directed to me, appealing to

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 341

me to allow this matter to go over on account of some im-
portant bill in a similar direction, I shall be excused for
saying a word. It is a matter entirely with the Senate to
say what disposition it shall make of this bill. I will not
discuss the bill as providing for an exceptional case. I
will not discuss the propriety of retiring ex-Presidents of
the United States in connection with this bill; but I will
merely say, that in a great republic like this, where there
have been so many bills passed in the Senate for cases of an
exceptional character in connection with the military service,
the opposition to such a bill as this looks to me as being
rather of a personal character than on account of the features
of the biU.

" When this great country was seething and writhing in
pain, and a man led the victorious armies of this Union to
preserve it for the benefit of you on that side of the chamber
as well as of us on this side, shall we be less magnanimous
than monarchs have been in past ages ? When we read the
history of England and see what was done for Wellington,
their great general, and for Nelson, at the head of the En-
glish navy, I ask, is it wise for us, when a similar act
shall be asked for one of the greatest leaders who ever led
the army for the preservation of the peace and prosperity of
this great land, to higgle about the question as to whether
a man should be retired as an ex-President or as an army
officer ?

"The office of major-general was made in the Senate
but one week ago for an officer of the army, that he might
be retired upon that rank, he never having held that posi-
tion ; and that bill was passed by unanimous consent, not a

342 LIFE AND SERVICES OF BLAINE AND LOGAN.

vote against it. When a man was placed on the retired list
one of the colonels of the army as a brigadier-general but
a little over a year ago, there was no voice raised against
it. When a man residing in Oregon, who resigned his colo-
nelcy in the army at the beginning of the war for reasons
that I will not now mention, was made a colonel in the army
by the action of the Senate and the House, and by almost a
unanimous vote, that he might go on the retired list, not
one objection, though in fact no great military service had
been rendered in the cause of this great government, but
merely because the persons benefited were favorites with a
few, I will not say in this chamber, but in this country. All
this has been done without objection ; but when the name
of the great captain and leader of all the mighty host of
this Nation is presented by those who are friendly to him,
that he may be placed on the retired list merely with the
rank that he held before (a position which he was much
disinclined to part from and give up I know this of my
own knowledge) when he through his friends to-day asks
that the same thing may be done for him that has been done
for others I will not say some that are unworthy, but for
men certainly not deserving as much at the hands of this
great Republic of ours as is Ulysses S. Grant opposition is
made to it.

" I intend to insist while this session of Congress* exists
that this bill shall be voted on in the Senate. Look at the
banner that hangs upon the walls of this house in which we
are to-day, typical of the banner upon the walls of this
mighty Nation ; it reminds me that the people of this country
owe one debt of gratitude that they never can pay, and that

THE SOLDIER STA TESMAN. 343

is the debt they owe to the defenders of this mighty Re-
public. I now desire to know if that has been wiped out from
the memories and hearts of the American people.

" But recently we were told and asked to believe that the
hand that presented a shadow on the wall of this mighty
Nation of ours, calculated at least to arouse fears in the
minds of the people as to the future happiness and peace
of this great Republic, would soon be withdrawn, and the
shadow disappear. I hoped that that might be true ; but
when the name of the man of all others to whom this
country is indebted, yea, sir, indebted more than all the mill-
ions of gold now within the vaults of the treasury could pay,
is presented to the American Congress, there are substitutes
offered ; there are various and divers ways of maneuvering
and dodging around it, that something else may be done which
will not make this an exceptional case.- To retire this man
as an ex-President, along with others, does not make it an
exceptional case. I desire that it shall be exceptional, and
that it shall be a recognition of Grant, not as President of
the United States, but as the great captain of the loyal
legions of this mighty Republic. It is for that reason that
I desire this bill passed, and for no other reason.

" But a few days have gone by since, by one united vote
and eifort on the part of the other side of this chamber, a
person was retired, at least as far as the Senate could do it,
with the highest rank he had ever held in the regular army
of the United States. Let me ask, Senators, why retire that
man? For his great services? For his great loyalty to this
country ? I will not say he was disloyal ; but certainly he
was condemned by his peers in the army and dismissed from

344 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

the service for improper conduct. Day after day Senators
on that side of the chamber stood up and pressed his claim,
and against all the protests from this side that bill was
passed. Then when there is presented the name of a man
against whom no word can be uttered as to his loyalty, as
to his courtesy, as to his great ability as a soldier in the
war of this mighty Nation for its preservation, objections
are made.

" Sir, all I have to say is, let the future history of this
mighty Nation of ours, if it refuses to do this act for this
man, stand out so that all the Nations of the earth may read
it and judge as to the generosity of the United States."

One of the principal episodes in the Senatorial career of
General Logan has been his determined antagonism to the bill
for the relief of General Fitz John Porter. The nature of the
question involved in this measure is well understood by the
public. It will be remembered that in the second battle of
Bull Run General Porter was charged with purposely with-
holding his division of the army from the field until Pope was
ruinously defeated. A military trial ensued, and Porter was
condemned on this charge, dismissed from the service and
reduced to infamy. In the course of time, however, some
new light was thrown upon his conduct at the battle, and
his friends exerted themselves to procure a reversal of the
sentence. To this end a bill was introduced into Congress.
The measure for his restoration was for the most part ap-
proved by the Democrats and opposed by the Republicans.
General Logan was among the number who believed Porter
to have been guilty, and, so believing, he made a vehement
opposition to the bill before Congress. His great address

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 345

on the subject was begun in the Senate on the 29th of De-
cember, 1882. -General Logan said :

" Mr. President : I know that it is very difficult for Sen-
ators to be required at each session of Congress to listen to
a protracted discussion of this question, but I deem it my
duty as long as I hold a place in the Senate, having very
strong convictions in reference to this question, to oppose
the consummation proposed by the Senator from New Jersey
[Mr. Sewell], and if Senators will give me their attention I
shall try to discuss this proposition upon the law and the
facts. I think there would be no difficulty in arriving at a
correct conclusion in reference to the guilt or innocence of
this person, who was charged before a court-martial, if we
could divest ourselves of much of what I might term extra-
neous matter that is constantly thrust into the case.

"This seems to be the court of last resort in this case.
In other words, the Congress of the United States is asked
by- this bill to take up and review the proceedings of a
court-martial, to examine the evidence given before a Board
of Inquiry subsequent to the court-martial, and to decide
whether or not that court-martial made a proper decision
according to the law and the facts.

" If the court-martial decided correctly, according to the
law and the facts before it, then Congress ought certainly
not to place this man in the army again. If that court-
martial decided against the law and the facts, I do not deny
that the power exists in Congress to authorize his nomina-
tion to a place in the army. I deny the power of Congress
to review the court-martial ; but that they have the right to
authorize him to be put in the army I do not deny. When

346 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

this case was formerly before the Congress of the United
States there was then a continuing sentence of the court-
martial which prohibited him from holding any office of trust
or profit under the United States. The main question dis-
cussed before the Senate at that time, or the one that en-
grossed the mind of the Senate, was whether or not Congress
had the power to review the action of a court-martial, and
set aside its sentence. I took the ground then and main-
tained it, I believe, by decisions of the courts from the time
decisions were made in this country in reference to ques-
tions of that kind, that Congress did not have the power.
Since that time an application has been made to the Presi-
dent of the United States to remit so much of the judgment
of the court-martial as prohibited him from holding any office
of trust or profit. That has been done. Now the question
is whether or not the record of the court-martial shall be
examined by Congress, and Congress decide that that court-
martial went beyond its jurisdiction, beyond the law and
the facts, in finding a verdict of guilty. If Congress comes to
the conclusion that it did, then Congress may by an act
give the President of the United States authority to nom-
inate him again to a position in the army. Now, what is
the point ? There are but two questions : First, What is
the law. Second, What is the evidence applicable to that
law for this tribunal to examine. As I said, if much extra-
neous matter was laid aside there would be but little diffi-
culty in arriving at a correct conclusion in this case.

" The Senator from New Jersey yesterday, in making his
remarks, might have been saved a great deal of trouble if he
had asked for the first volume of the proceedings of this

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 347

board of officers. If the latter part of it had been read to
the Senate, it would have saved him from making his speech.
If any one will examine the arguments which have been
made in his behalf from the time this case was first pre-
sented to Congress down to the present time, he will find it
is a repetition of the argument made and filed before that
board by Fitz John Porter himself, and all the letters,
orders, documents, and every thing that was presented here
yesterday are found in connection with his argument before
that board.

"I was criticised yesterday by the Senator from New
Jersey because of a report which I made. But before pro-
ceeding to that, if the Senate will excuse me, I desire to
state the propositions I am going to discuss.

"It has been attempted in all the arguments made in
defense of Fitz John Porter to impress upon the minds of
the Senate and the country maxims that would apply to this
case. As read, re-read, reiterated everywhere, it has been
said that in these maxims it is found that a commanding
officer's order is not necessarily to be obeyed, unless he is
present and observing the situation. That is not the law,
and I will show it.

" One of the great leading maxims in Napoleon's military
experience you will find it in all his campaigns, and it was
a standing order to all his corps commanders was that
when the general of the army was not present to give
orders, each corps commander should march to the sound of
the enemy's guns. That was a general order in all his cam-
paigns. We were told yesterday, and were told by the
board which is considered immaculate by Senators and by

348 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

some gentlemen in this country, that Pope was mistaken first
as to the road. Second, he was mistaken as to what was
in Porter's front at the time. Pope mistaken. Why, Mr.
President, all the argument that has been made in defense
of this man has been an attempt to try General John Pope
and not to try the facts in the case of Fitz John Porter. I
desire to reply now, before I go any further, first to the
Senator's remarks of yesterday in reference to my report,
and then I will come back and confine myself to the law
and the facts in this case.

"The Senator from New Jersey criticised my report
because I had charged that this was an illegal board, with-
out responsibility, without the power to try or to decide or
to swear witnesses, and he undertook to argue that I had
attacked the board because I stated these facts in my report.
Did I state any thing that was not true ?

"But, sir, before proceeding further, I want to say that
during all the time I shall discuss this question from now
until I conclude I am willing to be interrupted, and asked
any question on any law proposition or any of the facts,
in order that we may all understand it and have it
made plain.

" Did that board have authority to try this case ? I say
no. Why? Where did the President get authority to
authorize any person to administer oaths, who was not a
competent officer to administer oaths? Will some one tell
me ? Where does the President get authority to appoint a
board to re-examine court-martial proceedings that have
been approved ? I should like some lawyer to show me the
law. Sir, this was attempted when we discussed this ques-

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 349

tion here before. A Senator got up and read law to the Senate,
and called my attention to the fact that the law authorized a
court of inquiry. That only proved to any one who had
any knowledge of military law that that Senator did not
understand military law. The board of inquiry authorized
by the statute is a board to inquire into an officer's conduct
then in the army, to see whether his conduct is such that
charges should be preferred against him before a court-mar-
tial. That is a court of inquiry. This was not a court of
inquiry. It was a board of three officers appointed by the
President of the United States, without any law, without
any authority, without any justification or excuse in law.

"As I said before, I say again, if the President wanted
to authorize three officers, or a dozen officers, to examine
into a question and report to him, to say what the facts
were, so that he might form an opinion as to his right to
pardon a man, that is one thing; but when a board exam-
ines a case and makes a recommendation that a man should
be restored to the army and paid over $70,000, which was
their recommendation (that is, it would have been that
amount to have put him back as they recommended him to
be put back), that is beyond their authority; it is beyond
the scope of the authority of any power that exists in law,
and I defy contradiction from any man lawyer, judge, or
Senator.

"Mr. President, any man who will examine this case
carefully, and I may say that I have examined it carefully,
without prejudice, will come to the conclusion that this
board paid little attention whatever to the evidence; they
perverted and distorted it in every possible way. Sir, curi-

350 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

ous things may strike a board as well as other people. I
should not have said a word about this board in this debate
if it had not been that it has been brought forward again
as the judgment of a court that we could not gainsay. I
ask any man to read it fully and see if it is not a trial of
McDowell, too. Strange to say, McDowell was then of an
age, or would have been in a few months, to be retired
from the major-generalcy, and Pope was the next ranking
officer. Two of the gentlemen on this board were applicants,
one for McDowell's place, and one for the brigadiership. If
one could succeed, both could ; if one failed, both must fail.
That should not affect their judgment, however, and perhaps
did not; but, strange to say, in every thing, up to the time
that John Pope was appointed and confirmed, there has been
in this case a war upon Pope to destroy him. Of course
that board had no such idea in view, because neither of the
two gentlemen who were on the board expecting place would
do such a thing. They are honorable gentlemen, and we ex-
onerate them from every thing of that kind ; but it is curious
that the attack has always been on Pope. I presume that
will stop now, inasmuch as he has been appointed, and there
will be no further necessity for making war upon him. Let
us go a little into the unwritten history of this matter. Sir,
it was very generally believed that Fitz John Porter and
George B. McClellan, and others that might be named,
formed a little coterie in the Army of the East. One was
to be President; what the others were to be, God only knows.
McClellan had been relieved from the command of the Army
of the Potomac, and Pope had been put in his place. It
was said, too, all through the campaign, that in every pos-

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 351

sible way he sneered at Pope, ridiculed him and his
movements.

"Mr. President, the Senator who votes that Fitz John
Porter was not convicted properly and legally votes that he
obeyed that order, or that it was impossible to obey it ; any
one who votes to relieve this man from the sentence of that
court-martial votes in the face of all the testimony that was
given, even by his own friends, and votes that the court-
martial found him guilty when he ought to have been found
not guilty, when, in fact, the evidence shows that he never
attempted to obey the order. The law says that he must
obey it; that he subjects himself to the death to obey it.
He violated the law, and violated the order; and yet, for-
sooth, you say he is not guilty ! Well, if gentlemen can do
that, it is for them to say, and not for me ; but that is the
fact, and there is the law. Under the law and the evidence,
the judgment of that court-martial was as righteous a judg-
ment as ever was given. It was just, it was right, because
it was in accordance with the law, and in accordance with
the evidence.

"If commanders of divisions and corps are to be per-
mitted to be judges for themselves, as to whether they will
obey an order or not, then I would not give a straw for all
the armies of the United States. If a corps commander or
division commander say the same, why can not their colo-
nels and their captains say the same? What kind of an
army would you have if you' gentlemen were all division
commanders or corps commanders, and were off some miles,
the enemy was approaching, and the commanding general
should send orders to each one of you to concentrate at day-

352 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

light to-morrow morning, for the reason that he expected either
to make an attack or to be attacked, and each man should
say, "Well, it is too dark; I will not go until to-morrow
morning," and no one of you started? If one of you may
disobey an order, all may. Suppose no one starts, and the
general is left there with a small force to fight, the next
morning, nobody to come to his rescue, nobody to obey his
orders; what kind of an army would you have?

" The truth is, he was determined not to fight. He was
determined not to obey that order. He was determined
that John Pope should be whipped that day, which he was,
or at least on the next day he was whipped, but that day
was the cause of it. His troops were so broken up and de-
moralized that day that when the fresh troops came in he
was not sufficiently strong to withstand the force that was
brought against him.

"Will it do for any one to argue here that because a
man thinks he has not force enough to whip an army that
therefore he must not assault that army, if a fight is going
on anywhere in connection with that and another army ?
Will any man say that it is good military discipline, that it
is good soldierly quality, that it is the proper way for an
officer to perform his duty ? Would any one say so ? What
difference would it have made to him as a soldier? Sup-
pose he had gone in there feeling that he would be whipped.
He says in his own dispatch that he thinks Pope's army
was being driven to the rear, that it was retiring. Was it
any worse for him to be retiring than it was for some of
the others to be retiring, or to be driven back than another ?
It is the fate of war that men shall be whipped. It is the

THE SOLDIER STA TESMAN. 353

fate of war that men shall be driven back and pushed for-
ward. If I had- a mind to stop here and quote the history
of the different battles that we all know and are conversant
with, so far as historical accounts are concerned, I could
show where small detachments of troops have saved a great
army. Without quoting it, read the battle of Marengo,
where a small force, late, when the day was apparently lost,
came in and won the battle.

"When the Senator from New Jersey was quoting one
of the maxims of Napoleon I answered it by quoting an-
other, that troops should always march to the sound of the
enemy's guns. It was because that maxim of Napoleon was
not followed out that Napoleon fell. It was because at the
battle of Waterloo one of his general's did not march to
the sound of the enemy's guns that lost Napoleon that bat-
tle and lost him his power. If the maxim of Napoleon had
been followed out, in all probability he would have been suc-
cessful on that battle-field as well as he was on others.

"During the whole day, as Senators will understand
from reading this evidence, the only order he gave that he
executed was in reference to hiding his men in the woods
when two little pieces of artillery at Hampton Cole's
house fired a couple of pieces of railroad iron, as some
of the witnesses state; others say that there were four
shots fired ; others say more, some say two, but it is imma-
terial. Suppose there were twenty shots fired, what was
the order from General Porter ? One battery, under Mor-
rell, replied to it. The evidence shows that the rebel bat-
tery was silenced. What was Porter's order? It was to
hide his men in the woods and deceive the enemy, to play

354 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

the same game on them that they would play on him.
Morrell reports back, ' I put my troops all in the woods,' ex-
cept what? ' Except Hazlett's battery.' He was told to put
that in too, but he testifies that he did not do that for he
wanted to reserve one battery for defense. That is the
character of the orders that Fitz John Porter gave on the
twenty-ninth.

"Mr. President, if this man had been a volunteer sol-
dier he would not have been permitted to stay in this coun-
try. There is no man who was in the volunteer service, a
mere volunteer, who would ever have had e cheek ' enough
to come before Congress or any other body and ask that
this evidence be spread out before the world and on it a
reversal of his sentence. Sir, this only shows one of the
dangers to the future of this country. Class, sir, once on
the bounty of the government always on the bounty of the
government, no matter what wrongs they may perpetrate.
See them swarm now at Washington, plying their influence
in this unholy cause.

" Last night when I made the statement that Longstreet's
forces were engaged on the twenty-ninth, the Senator from
New Jersey denied it. He said they were not engaged, and
that if I could prove it I would put the chief commander in
a very bad position. As I said then, I was not discussing
the chief commander but discussing the conduct of Fitz
John Porter. The truth is, the evidence when taken all to-
gether shows that the Confederate testimony, at least as to
the time of arrrival of Longstreet on the battle-ground, is
doubtful ; it disagrees very materially with the evidence on
the other side showing the position the troops occupied near

. THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 355

Groveton and by Lewis's Lane and by the Leachman House.
At the time Fifcz John Porter made his first defense, as the
Senator well knows, he claimed that there were only ten or
fifteen thousand troops on his line that he would have to en-
gage. Now he claims that there were 25,000. It was im-
material whether there were 25,000 or 50,000.

" Gentlemen try to excuse this man Porter, with 12,500
men, according to the reports, from attacking not the same
number or near the same number as his own when the flank
was exposed and it was not a front attack. This is the
most astounding thing to me I have ever known, that one
minute they will insist that Porter thought there were 10,-
000 or 15,000 troops in his front and he was afraid to
attack those, and then a great chief will come up and put
the lines square in front and tell you there were 25,000
men there ready to drive Porter right in the front. Then
you read the report of Lee, of Longstreet, of Stuart, of
Rosser, of Hood, of every one of the Confederates and I
have their reports right here they every one show that the
corps of Porter was on Longstreet's flank, and they show
that Longstreet had in the battle of Groveton from 4 o'clock
that evening until 12 o'clock that night, when they were
brought back on the road toward Haymarket, over twelve
thousand troops engaged with Pope's command at Groveton
which were drawn from his corps ; and yet they insist that
Porter would have had to attack twenty-five thousand men
after he got the 4.30 order.

" Sir, you may take this case from one end to the other,
and it has the most singular history of any case that ever oc-
curred during any war. It shows that this man intended

356 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE ANJ) LOGAN.

from the first that Pope should never succeed. He went just
far enough to make a pretense of obeying orders without
obeying them; just far enough only to have it understood
that he tried in some degree to obey orders, but in this in-
stance he tried in no degree. He refused to obey the orders,
refused to move forward. Suppose it had been twelve
o'clock at night. I remember a little incident that occurred
once during the war, showing what a man may do after
night. At Resaca there was a line of troops probably the
Senator from Georgia knows the situation of Resaca oppo-
site fortifications in the direction of a bridge that ran across
the river. I suppose the Senator from Georgia remembers
the bridge ? "

MR. BROWN "Yes, sir."

MR. LOGAN "This line ran down to protect the fortifi-
cations, throwing a wing down in the direction of the river.
They were occupied by a few troops I do not know how
many. A brigade under General Charles Woods, a brother
of Judge Woods, of the Supreme Bench, who was in my
command at the time, was ordered to assault those works at
nine o'clock at night. He moved his. brigade in the dark
and got under cover of a little stream, and assaulted them
at nine o'clock at night and took the works. Will a man
tell me, when a small brigade can assault breastworks at nine
o'clock at night, when no moon was shining for it was a
darker night than the one in question that it is an excuse
for an officer who receives an order to attack at once that it
is too late for him to attack? Why was it not too late for
Longstreet's forces to attack Pope's forces near Groveton?
Was it too late for McDowell's troops to be moving that

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 357

night at eleven o'clock and twelve o'clock, when these two
commanders, GTeneral Wilcox and General Hood, both report
that they moved between eleven and twelve o'clock back on
that road in the direction of Haymarket on the night of the
29th ? Then you tell me it was too dark for this man to
attack ! Was it any worse for him to attack than it was for
the other side? This reminds me of one peculiar feature
that is always the case in war : a soldier who commands an
army or part of an army, who has full opportunity to man-
age his troops, the next morning after a battle, if you ask
him as to the condition of his troops, will tell you, ' They
are cut all to pieces.' I have heard it a hundred times:
4 My troops have been cut all to pieces.' You will hear that
from commanding officers of regiments, of brigades, and of
divisions. But suppose you ask the question, ' What do you
think is the condition of the troops on the other side?' and
the reply will be, * Cut all . to pieces.' But he does not
think of that ; tyg only thinks of his own troops ; he does
not think of the condition of the other side.

" In conclusion, I want to ask Senators on both sides of
this chamber, and I want some one to tell, why it is that
when this case comes up it seems to be decided on political
grounds. What is there in this case of politics? It is a
mere question as to whether this man was properly convicted
or improperly convicted. It is not a question that politics
should enter into at all. It is the case of a man who was
convicted during the war, while a great many of you gen-
tlemen were down South organizing your court-martials and
trying your own officers if they misbehaved. You tried
them according to the laws which you considered ruled and

358 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

governed your army at that time. We tried ours on our
side according to the rules which governed our army at that
time and govern it now.

"Is it possible that history is going to record the fact
that with this man as guilty as he was of violating the or-
ders sent to him, each and every one, upon which he was
convicted, that our friends, because they differ with us . in
politics, because this man is of the politics they are, are go-
ing to decide, without reference to the facts and without ref-
erence to the law, the judgment of this court-martial should
be reconsidered, set aside, and this man be put back in
the army? There is no other ground on which you can do
it. It is a prejudice against the court, against the parties at
the time, and nothing else. I hope that does not exist ; I
hope that will not exist any longer. It should not.

" I do not think it comes with the best grace for men
who tried their own disobedient officers in their own way to
use their power and influence to restore officers whom we
dismissed from our service in the army in order to disgrace
the courts which convicted them and the President who
signed the warrants. I do not think it is policy for men to
come here and undertake to reverse that which was done ac-
cording to fact and according to law. Let those men who
were derelict in duty on our side, whom we dealt with, go.
They are of no service to you and none to us. They are of
no more service to the country. They may serve them-
selves, but no one else.

"With the views I entertain concerning this case believ-
ing as I do, that this man disobeyed lawful orders ; that he
disobeyed those orders without reference to the effect it would

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 359

have upon the people of the United States ; that he did it
for the purpose. of having Pope relieved and some one else
put in his place who would be more congenial to him
[Porter] believing as I do, that this man out of his preju-
dice against McDowell urged Patterson not to fight Johnston,
which lost the first battle of Bull Run ; that he refused to
obey the first order he received from Pope to move to the
field, refused to obey both orders that he received to rush
forward and attack believing all these facts to be com-
pletely proven by the evidence, and knowing the law to be
what it is, authorizing the court to inflict the penalty of
death, and when they inflicted the milder penalty believing
that they let this man off with a much less penalty than
would have been adjudged had he been tried by a court-
martial in any foreign country with all these facts before
me, with the knowledge I had of the generosity of President
Lincoln, with the knowledge I had of the big-heartedness
of General Garfield, with the knowledge I had of General
Hunter, with the knowledge I had of the other officers
who sat upon the court-martial, before I would give a vote
to restore this man to the army and let him live the balance
of his days on the bounty of the tax-payers of this country,
I would go across the Potomac River and kneel down by
that tomb on which is inscribed : ' Here sleep the unknown
dead;' I would go among those little white head-stones that
mark the place where those boys sleep who fell on the
battle-field of Groveton on the 29th of August, and I would
there in the presence of those whitening bones on my knees
pray to Almighty God to forgive me for the wrong that I
am about to do to the dead who have gone, and the wrong

360 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

I am about to inflict on this country, on the law, and on the
facts by the restoration of this man to his place as an officer
of the army. Sir, I would stand in the rays of the majestic
king of day and appeal to the sainted spirit of Abraham
Lincoln, who has gone before us, and say : ' Inasmuch as
in examining this case you thought this man was guilty and
signed the order, and when he appealed to you again on the
re-examination of this case you declined to take any action
in it, before giving this vote for his restoration to the army
I appeal to you to take my hand and help me through this
trouble and forgive me for perpetrating the wrong against
your good name.'

"Sir, I would turn again and recount the wrongs that
have been tried to be perpetrated on the life and character
of Garfield in reference to his views on this question. I
would turn to him in his silent tomb, and say : { While you
were in life and health and sound in judgment, you gave
this verdict, and by a re-examination of the whole record
you prepared yourself again to defend that which you had
done, but, I, on account of the pressure, on account of what
has been said by certain military men, am going out to do
this great wrong for their sake. They are living, you are
dead. kind and generous spirit, forgive me that in my
weakness I do your judgment, your conscience, and fair
name a great wrong.'"

Under date of February 12, 1861, the leading news-
papers of South Carolina, the Charleston Courier, premised
as follows : " The South might, after uniting with the new
Confederacy, treat the disorganized and demoralized Northern

THE SOLDIER STA TESMAN. 361

States as insurgents, and deny them recognition. But if
peaceful division ensues, the South, after taking the Federal
Capital and being recognized by all foreign powers as the
government de facto, can, if they see proper, recognize the
Northern Confederacy, or confederacies, and enter into treaty
stipulations with them. Were this not done, it would be
difficult for the Northern States to take a place among the
nations, and their flag would not be respected or recognized."
This was not only a fair echo of Southern sentiment, but
substantially the expression of a very considerable faction at
the North. It was the out-growth of such expression that
cost our government $3,000,000,000 of treasure and a mill-
ion precious lives to suppress. It was the menace thus
thrown out and practically acted upon that aroused the pa-
triotic fervor of the North, and incited her millions to go
forth and conquer the rebellion. Previous to the war, it
was genuine belief that such threat could be easily realized
which struck down a Senator at his post of duty by the
murderous bludgeon of slavery. During the war, it was the
same belief which burned at the stake and hung innocent
men, women and children ; that bayonetted helpless boys,
fainting and dying upon the battle-field ; that shot unarmed
prisoners ; that called to the aid of " the cause " the rifle,
club, and scalping-knife of the savage ; that made trinkets
of the bones and drinking cups of the skulls of patriots ;
that burned and froze and starved to death sixty thousand of
our noble young men who were helpless in the hands of trai-
tors. And it was the same spirit which at the close of the
war assassinated the good President, who had toiled through
four years of calamity to restore the integrity of the Union !

362 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

It is not strange that a man of Logan's perception dis-
covered the nature of this hydra at the beginning, nor that
he fought it with all his might to the end. His patriotic
impulse was well sustained by a lion heart and a knowledge
of war gained through experience, and it is conceded that the
services he performed in the field were never excelled by a
general with corresponding opportunities. Upon this point
the evidence is overwhelming. Incidents are plentiful. He
was always anxious to lead his men in person, and did so at
every opportunity. At the siege of Vicksburg his division
were ready to follow wherever he led, and their spirit and
dash became a proverb. On one occasion he charged forward
and back through a greatly superior force of the enemy
several times, and finally drove them helter-skelter into
their entrenchments with great loss, while his command suf-
fered but few casualties. It was in one of the engage-
ments before Atlanta where his intrepidity and address were
most grandly distinguished. Chivalric courage, great skill
and wonderful coolness had carried him through a variety
of emergencies and attracted the attention of rebel officers
on many occasions, and it was resolved by Hood to put him
to the extreme test at the .first opportunity. Special prep-
arations were made to overwhelm him, and the rebel com-
mander at a seasonable time hurled upon his division an
immense body of both infantry and cavalry. Logan was over-
matched, at least three to one, and, like a prudent man, im-
mediately called for help; but he stood upon the defensive
only long enough to extend his lines and make ready for
real work. Then he ordered a charge, which is described
as one of the most remarkable movements.

THE SOLDIER STATESMAN. 363

The patriots assailed the foe with the greatest impetu-
osity, and gained "a slight advantage. Then a hand-to-hand
conflict ensued, the rebels fiercely contesting every foot of
ground, but they very gradually retired toward their en-
trenchments. This mode of fighting lasted more than an
hour, and during its entire continuance the tall form of Lo-
gan, mounted upon his strong and trusty steed, towered
above all other moving objects, in the thickest of the fray,
directing and encouraging his men and furnishing an exam-
ple of the greatest endurance. Just as the desired re-en-
forcements appeared in sight, Hood's squadrons were disap-
pearing behind their shot-proof earth-works, and the Union
general emerged from the smoke and dust of conflict covered
with blood and powder stains just in time to dismount before
his faithful horse fell in death, from twenty horrible wounds.
A few minutes afterward the rebels sent up a great huzza,
which was first thought to be the signal for an another
sortie ; but, as was afterwards learned from prisoners, it
was in hearty recognition of the Union leader's bravery !

A performance like this reminds one of Marshal Murat
on Mount Tabor. With a force of only five thousand he
found himself hemmed in by thirty thousand Turks. Fif-
teen thousand cavalry came thundering down upon this
brigade, which was drawn up in form of a square. For
hours they maintained the unequal combat, when Napoleon
arrived with succor on a neighboring hill. The shot of a
solitary twelve-pounder announced to his exhausted coun-
trymen that relief was at hand. Then they assumed the
offensive and immediately charged bayonet. Nothing was
visible but a mass of turbaned heads and flashing cimeters,

364 LIFE AND SERVICES OF ELAINE AND LOGAN.

except in the center, where was seen a single white plume
tossing like a rent banner over the throng. For awhile the
battle thickened where it stooped and rose as Murat's war
steed reared and plunged amid the saber-strokes that fell
like lightning on every side, and then the multitude surged
back as a single rider burst through, covered with his own
blood and that of his foes, the arm that grasped his drip-
ping sword red to the shoulder. Murat's eye seemed to
burn with four-fold luster, and with a shout which those who
surrounded him never forgot to their latest day, he wheeled
his exhausted stallion on the foe, and at the head of a body
of his own cavalry, trampled every thing down that opposed
his progress. In view of this feat a cheer ascended from
the entire field, from friend and foe alike, which seemed to
resound from the empyreal heights, "and the red field was
won." Bravery is recognized and honored by every nation-
ality and under every sun, no matter by whom exercised or
under what circumstances proved.

Logan's self-composure in battle was the wonder and ad-
miration of his men. Surrounded by the most appalling
dangers, under the fire of terrific batteries, while balls were
whistling in an incessant shower around his head, he sat
upon his steed and eyed every discharge with a coolness
wholly indescribable. A lofty feeling in the hour of peril
bore him above all fear, and through clouds of smoke and
the roar of a hundred cannons he would detect at a glance
the weak point of the enemy. These are the qualities
necessary for successful warfare in the field, and in civil
life they have proved of no little value to Logan, the brave
Representative and irreproachable Senator.

PART II.

HISTORY' OF POLITICAL PARTIES

IN THE

UNITED STATES.

BY HON. LEONARD BARNEY.

Southey tells us how the political equilibrium is preserved : "In age
we dislike all change, as naturally as in youth we desire it. The
youthful generation, in their ardor for improvement, and their love of nov-
elty, strive to demolish what ought religiously to be preserved. The
elders, in their caution and fear, endeavor to uphold what has become
useless and even injurious. Thus, in the order of providence, we have
both the necessary impulse and the needful check."

IN "Thoughts on Various Subjects," by Pope and Swift,
party is called " the madness of many for the gain of a few/'
This sentiment is true in England, where it originated, and
true at times in all countries where parties divide the voting
population into antagonistic sections. In our country, two
parties are necessary, that one may hold in check the ex-
travagances and encroaching tendencies of the other. Great
differences of opinion actually existed among both public
and private individuals at and immediately succeeding the
formation of our government. They had no regard to the
principles of freedom and legal equality, for these were rec- .
ognized by all, but to the offices and powers of the Federal
Government, the duration of terms of office, and the con-
stitution and functions of the judiciary and the legislature.
A free government was then an untried experiment,

365

366 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

adopted with anxious hope and confided in with trembling.
Its wisest framers did not fully comprehend its capacities ;
its whole mode of action was not yet fully determined, and
cherished theories were for the first time to be reduced to
practice. It was natural that in such a state of affairs dif-
ferent views of things should arise, even among the wise
and patriotic. Nearly every man in and about the govern-
ment had undergone the perils of war for freedom, and all
were anxious to protect the great and dearly purchased boon
for the benefit of those who should come after them. In a
warmly contested law-suit, it is seldom that an intelligent
jury of twelve honest men can agree upon a result, even
after an undoubted basis of facts has been established by
evidence. Much less could it be expected that uniformity
of opinion would be attained in so serious a matter as that
of the formation of a government for a vast country, em-
bracing a multitude of details and providing for the exigency
of a thousand unknown circumstances.

At first these differences divided the people widely, and,
with, some modifications for many years, into two distinct
parties. They were so far parallel to the parties of the
present day as to be, the one for, the other against, those
elements of a general government which experience has
shown are best suited to the condition and permanent inter-
ests of the people of our land. The party which at this
'day is called "Democratic," was even at that early date
represented mostly by negatives. The leaders were in-
variably obstructionists, whom the modern Democracy are
slow to acknowledge as their originals; yet they can not
disown their ancestry. It is true, they are able to discover

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 367

quite a distinction between the managers of the old party and
of the new, but* it is not thought to be of a kind to which
they attach value. It is this : the leaders of the troublesome
minority in the early day were persistent in a certain line of
policy. But now, after so many years of reasonable growth
and prosperity, with the government as at first constituted
practically unchanged, if professed statesmen are yet found
supporting opinions that involve a practical opposition to some
of its most important principles, what remains but to con-
sider them incapable as they are vacillating.

The earliest division of the people was occasioned by
the primitive attempts to form a confederacy of the States,
and subsequently upon the question of adopting the Consti-
tution, so anxiously and wisely framed. Discussions in the
several States were protracted and earnest. The friends of
the Constitution, with Washington at their head, were called
Federalists; the enemies of the Constitution, anti-Federal-
ists. The "Anti's" were the shouters for State rights. But
the Constitution once adopted and acquiesced in, the ques-
tions which had arisen were rapidly lost sight of; and the
latter designation becoming odious, it was readily exchanged
for the more popular name of Republicans.

With the election of Jefferson, in 1800, power passed
away from the hands of the Federalists ; the old controverted
points were forgotten for the time; new and exciting ques-
tions, as the impressment of seamen, the embargo, and vari-
ous foreign relations, followed, engrossing the public mind
and essentially changing the character and position of par-
ties. Finally the war of 1812 ensued, which, however it
may have been regarded in its origin, eventually created, for

368 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

the most part, a community of sentiment throughout the
country; and at the close of Madison's administration, all
previous party distinctions were effectually obliterated. We
state only the results and facts which are fully established by
contemporaneous history.

Mr. Monroe entered upon his office by a nearly unani-
mous choice of the people. The Republican party of the
preceding period, known as such, had placed itself upon the
important practical questions of the day rather than upon
any exclusive claims to democracy certainly none such as
are now put forth. Sometimes, it is true, an alarm was
even then occasionally sounded by the demagogue about
" aristocratic tendencies " with which opponents were charged ;
but they had not made, as now, a popular title the battle-cry
of the party their first, their last, their only argument.
Great measures of foreign policy, almost wholly absorbing
men's minds, had not permitted this game to be played.
In consequence, moreover, of the termination of these ques-
tions, and the defeat of the Federalists with reference to
them, that party ceased to exist as an opposition. During
the whole of Mr. Monroe's administration they gave a cor-
dial support to the government and became merged with
their former antagonists into a united people, wearied with
political strife and disposed to take a calm review of former
contests.

It was, in truth, the " Era of Good Feeling." Here and
there were some of those small men who feel that at such
times they have no chance to emerge from that obscurity for
which nature designed them, who were endeavoring to main-
tain the old distinctions of names in local and State elections ;

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 369

but their efforts received little countenance from the mass
of the people. "The nation desired repose and a concen-
trated attention to those matters of internal improvement
we use the term in its largest and best sense which had
before to give way to the all-absorbing questions arising
from our foreign relations ; and upon those questions of
national improvement there was at that time but little dif-
ference of opinion at the North or the South. Southern
men had no doubt of the constitutionality and expediency
of protecting our home industries. The North concurred in
this sentiment, although at that time its ostensible interests
were no more connected with the question than those of
other sections of the Union. All felt the importance of a
national currency, and there was scarcely a shadow of dif-
ference as to the means by which alone it could be secured.
Neither was the election of 1824 conducted upon party
grounds. Local interests and personal predilections predom-
inated. Adams, Clay, Crawford, and Jackson were the promi-
nent candidates for the Presidency. They were all recog-
nized as Republicans, and supported as such. Failing of an
election by the people, the House of Representatives, under
the provisions of the Constitution, elected Mr. Adams to the
Chief Magistracy. In the contest between these several
candidates, the members of the old Federal party were about
equally divided. The Democratic party of to-day had not
become organic at that period. All pretended affinities of
a more ancient date are unsupported by fact, for it is cer-
tain that the old Republicans held few opinions which are
entertained now by the modern Democracy. Most opinions
of the old Republicans were entitled to respect.

370 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

While the country was enjoying this fortunate period of
political amity an incident occurred which is worthy of more
than ordinary notice. It illustrates how the most violent
spirits had felt the composing influences to which we have
alluded, and yielded to the general spirit of peace, of Unity
and Nationality which pervaded the land. Some other con-
clusions may also be legitimately drawn. Gen. Jackson
wrote a letter to President Monroe principally devoted to a
celebration of the harmony between the two parties, and its
delightful effects upon the returning prosperity of the coun-
try. He prayed for a continuance of this happy condition,
and therefore advised the Chief Magistrate, as from his high
standing in the regard of the Nation he had a perfect right
to do, that then was the time, to destroy forever the " mon-
ster party spirit" that he, the President, should take all
pains to promote so high and laudable an object, and that
in furtherance of it he could not do better than compose his
cabinet equally from the two great parties into which the
country had been divided !

General Jackson thus took an attitude as a non-partisan,
as a peace-maker, as an adviser of the appointment of Feder-
alists to office. Although it is matter of solemn history, not
many Democrats will believe it in this age. Better impeach
the record than admit any thing so horrifying to and subver-
sive of pure Democratic principles. But let us look a little
ahead of the date of this letter, and carry our minds along the
course of events some seven or eight years. Mr. Monroe's
administration had been conducted on the noble, liberal, and
most truly national principles embodied in General Jackson's
advice, and it had passed away. His successor, Mr. Adams,

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 371

had maintained the same high ground, although tempted to
depart from it by the most unprincipled attacks. His suc-
cessor was General Jackson, and what did he when he found
himself in a position where he might have readily and
properly carried out the spirit of his advice to others ? What
did he?

Surprising as the fact may be, the warmest friend
and the most determined foe of modern Democracy will
agree alike, that since the establishment of the Consti-
tution there has not been witnessed an administration in
which so bitter a party proscription was carried on as in
the reign of Andrew Jackson ; no period in which the poli-
ticians plea was so unblushingly avowed, that to the victor
belong the spoils. At no time have the waters of political
strife been let out in such an overflowing torrent. A bitter-
ness and savage fierceness unknown to former conflicts
marked all the administration of this most willful man;
and a more prescriptive party never ruled any age or
time than that which had been studiously, designedly, and
with the utmost care brought into being and fostered during
that period which, according to the noble sentiment of Jack-
son's letter to Monroe, ought to have been the golden age
of peace, of harmony, of freedom from party spirit, and
united the public feeling in the promotion of every benefi-
cent national work.

The great Jackson proved himself to be a time-server ;
a peddler of advice so superior to his practice that it might
remind one of the old saying about the chief of the Pluto-
nian realm quoting Scripture. Doubtless the general had
been honest in his advice to Monroe. Men are always

372 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

so in the declaration of their abstract sentiments. The
events which followed were not primarily his. There had
been a strange genius working in another part of the
Union, who, combining subtlety and talent, playing upon
the ungovernable passions of the military chieftain, had so
transformed the scene, and dissipated the fair prospect which
the letter had given reason to anticipate. The general burnt
his fingers while clawing the chestnuts out of the fire for
some one else. A charge like this against Old Hickory has
a strange look on paper, but it embodies one of the facts of
history, and therefore, of course, is not set down in malice.
This genius in question was Martin Van Buren, who, dur-
ing the close of Mr. Monroe's administration and the continu-
ance of Mr. Adams's, had been acting the role of " the mousing
politician" in the State of New York. As the saying is, " he
was in a hole." The circumstances surrounding him were
peculiar. A very great man then had possession of the
gubernatorial chair of the Empire State. No one will deny
this meed of praise to DeWitt Clinton. He felt the spirit of
the times, and this, combined with the workings of his noble
and clear-sighted intellect, led him to seek honorable fame
in promoting the best interests of the country. Ambitious
he was, but in the noblest sense, to take advantage of return-
ing peace with a foreign nation, and renewed unity at home,
in projecting and accomplishing that great scheme of internal
improvement the New York and Erie Canal from which
the country has since enjoyed such incalculable benefit. He
completely overshadowed Van Buren. It was a shade from
which he could find no way to emerge into the distinction
he so ardently coveted, and which he felt himself unable to

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 373

obtain by any means requiring the qualifications of a lofty
statesmanship.

But he resolved that Mr. Clinton must be supplanted.
He was an obstacle bidding defiance to any competition to
be waged upon high and honorable grounds. There were,
too, at that time other great men intimately connected with
great national interests, and most honorably known in their
country's records. Not only Clinton and Adams, but that
noble presence at the mention of which, even then, every
heart in the nation warmed the noble and disinterested
statesman of Kentucky once the Mill Boy of the Slashes,
now Harry of the West. All stood uncovered before him.
The remotest comparison between his high qualities and the
mental patch-work of Van Buren would have been resented
with indignation.

Clinton, however, was the special object of Van Buren's
jealous rage, because the nearest, and therefore the most un-
comfortable, impediment. The others were assailable in their
order. Clinton must be supplanted. How ? His antagonist
had no resources in the field of exalted statesmanship. His
name was connected with no services in the war which had
just been brought to a conclusion. He had no plans of in-
ternal improvement for the benefit of generations yet unborn.
He had no reputation in the world of letters and philosophy,
like his accomplished rival. What then were his resources ?
They were of a kind corresponding with the dimensions of
the man ; and the humiliating recollection that they were suc-
cessful is almost lost when we consider the tremendous con-
sequences for evil with which the power that filched that
success was invested.

374 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

Van Buren set himself to a task for which his abilities
were nicely calculated. He found here and there some who,
amid the general harmony, were unreconciled to civil service
reform, and were mourning in obscure places over that ob-
literation of party names through which their own small
hopes of distinction would be forever blotted out. He laid
his schemes secretly with these congenial spirits, and soon
they set themselves at the noble work noble from the
Democratic outlook of stirring once more the dying embers
of party strife. In the absence of all meritorious deeds,
they hoped to rise into prominence by the revival of those
old titles which Jackson had desired to consign to eternal
oblivion. Unprincipled men were tempted by the hope of
office, and weak men were found in sufficient numbers to
form the material for the demagogue. Year after year the
object was pursued with that pertinacity which is so often
a trait of the smallest souls. These cullings from the polit-
ical slums appropriated to themselves the title of Democrats,
and it was under these exact conditions that the present
Democratic party was formed. Their opponents, in contempt
of the trick, silently permitted their success in the larceny
of a name. As in all organizations, before and since this
date, there were unprincipled men in the old Federal party,
and they attached themselves to this new phoenix of Democ-
racy which had so little likeness to its alleged sire and,
as might be expected, became "Democrats" of the most
rampant sort. In a word, the elements of party conflict
were again revived with more than their ancient rancor.

Federalist was the name by which Mr. Clinton and his
friends were designated, but for what reason no one could

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 375

tell. Among them were several of the most eminent mem-
bers of the old Republican party. While Clinton, Clay, and
Adams were projecting great schemes of general improve-
ment, recommending national universities, national observa-
tories, and various works of internal improvement ; devising
plans for a sound national currency ; encouraging the efforts
of the then dawning republics in South America; rendering
secure the national credit; and in the use of all honorable
means striving to give our government a national character,
which, but for the subsequent dark days of Democratic re-
pudiation, might have made us the envy of the world ; while
these true statesmen were thus employed, Mr. Van Buren
and his co-conspirators were engaged in the sublime vocation
of " rousing the Democracy," of exhuming the long-buried
remains of old Federalism, and holding them up as a scare-
crow for those of their clique who had too little intelligence
to discern the miserable cheat. Then they were all national-
bank men, all tariff men, all internal-improvement men, be-
cause a sound and wholesome popular sentiment upon these
subjects pervaded the country, instead of that spurious vox
populi which afterwards resulted from their own clamor and
false pretenses, and which is the only species of domestic
manufacture to which they were ever at heart favorable.
But all these matters were held in reserve as subordinate to
the other great matters in which they were so zealously em-
ployed the getting up in some way the old party names;
smirching, if possible, all who were opposed to them ; adroitly
taking to themselves the name of Democrat, and sticking
to it through thick and thin as their organic declaration.
Such was their policy then, and such it has continued

376 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

to be under the "Democratic" management of their suc-
cessors.

The word "Democracy," in the insignificant application
of the term we have described, elevated General Jackson to
the executive chair. We state this as a fact of history, and
with no desire to under-rate the successor of John Quincy
Adams. Jackson possessed undoubted executive ability
by which we mean those great qualities which give to one
an indisputable command over the many. Born upon
American soil while this continent yet owned the sway of
the House of Hanover, he enlisted as a soldier of liberty
before the flush of manhood had deepened in his cheek.
His growth was in a sparsely settled country, hardly to be
distinguished from a wilderness, where the force of law, the
restraints of society, or the rules of civilized life had but
little weight. In such a situation self-preservation and self-
protection are paramount to all other considerations. Self-
instructed and with no one to render him assistance or
make the opening pathway of life smooth to his steps
without fortune, friends, or adventitious aids he acquired
an independence of thought and action, a disdain of danger,
and a contempt of opposition which followed him through
all the vicissitudes of his career. Vigorous in action, ener-
getic in the execution of his plans, ignorant of or despising
alike the arts of the courtier and the nice distinctions of
the casuist, he in early life acquired an influence in the
border State of Tennessee which never deserted him while
he had an ambitious wish to gratify or a personal desire to
be fulfilled.

It was not because he was deemed a statesman that he

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 377

was nominated for the Presidency, in exclusion of other
great men of the Republic. It was not because he was
supposed to be possessed of any peculiar insight into the
nature of our government, or of any intuitive appreciation
of the duties of its chief executive, that the American peo-
ple bestowed upon him their suffrages almost by acclama-
tion. In accurate knowledge of the science of government
and the details of legislation, Webster and Clay, Calhoun
and Crawford, were immeasurably his superiors. His im-
mediate predecessor was the most accomplished statesman
of the day ; profoundly learned in all branches of knowl-
edge; versed in the history of his country; understanding
practically all its varied and multiform interests. Thus en-
dowed, however, for profound and wide-seeing statesman-
ship, and fitted to remain at the head of a great and grow-
ing Republic, with all its complicated interests and foreign
relations ; matured among the heroes of the era of Independ-
ence, and himself the son of a Revolutionary statesman,
John Quincy Adams was, notwithstanding, put down by a
whirlwind of clamor and abuse, of falsehood and detraction,
such as had never before been witnessed in the political his-
tory of the nation ; but which was afterwards matched in
the moral assassination of Clay, and will be, if possible, out-
done at any time the Democracy find the smallest pretense
to malign a candidate who has been consistent in the sup-
port of a well-defined and aggressive policy.

General Jackson had other claims to popular homage.
It was the glory of his military career which gave him this
commanding prominence and secured the enthusiastic sup-
port of the people. He had performed signal service for

378 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

the country in its struggle with Great Britain ; he had con-
ducted our Indian wars with signal success ; he had " assumed
the responsibility" and invaded the territories of another
nation without the sanction of his own government, captured
its capital, imprisoned its governor, and dictated terms of
peace with the assumed authority of a sovereign. How does
that look for an aggressive foreign policy ?

Right or wrong, he never hesitated in his movements ;
and as success invariably" attended his undertakings, he
gained credit for sagacity and wisdom. The shrewdness of
a few politicians discovered in his character a combination of
qualities that seemed requisite in a party leader. The new
cry of " Democracy " was raised ; and the self-commissioned
invader of a foreign territory suddenly found himself the idol
of an organization that was not over-scrupulous in its means
of warfare or its choice of weapons. The event justified
the accuracy of their calculations. The brilliancy of his
deeds in the field ; the sternness of his character ; the ob-
duracy of his will ; the craftiness of his methods ; and, it
may not be out of place to add, his political obtuseness all
were reflected from his person through the long line of his
partisans, and conspired to fill even the humblest with an
ardor they were incapable of analyzing, but which they well
understood presaged a party triumph.

As a citizen, the conduct of General Jackson had been
equally distinguished by stirring events. Rough and tum-
ble street fights, rencounters, duels, and all those customs
which make border life exciting, in which rapidity of move-
ment and personal courage are decisive, were the means
chosen by him to settle private controversies ; and these

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 379

were sufficiently frequent to claim a good deal of attention.
As a legislator he had not distinguished himself, unless it
may be in the characteristic threats to cut off the ears of
an unlucky member of Congress who had ventured to
inquire into the legality of his acts. He made no preten-
sion to learning or scholarship of any kind. His education
was wholly superficial, and barely enough to conduct him
decently through life. Such are the outlines of the charac-
ter and history of the man who was chosen to preside over
a government of seventeen millions of people, as enlightened
as any portion of the world.

The history of his administration forms a counterpart to
his military career and his private life. He entered upon
the discharge of the duties of his high office with an honest
desire to serve his country faithfully and with the intention
of observing strict justice and equity in regard to men and
measures. But the affairs of a great nation and the diver-
sified interests of a widely extended country could not be
managed without many differences of opinion arising be-
tween the two great parties, nor, indeed, without creating
serious dissensions in the dominant party itself. The plans
and policy of the President did not by any means meet
with universal favor, and at the first serious opposition his
wrath was kindled. He could never forget nor forgive any
one who placed an obstacle in his path from the conception
to the accomplishment of a design. Regarding his own
opinion as the law of the land, he looked upon every man
who withstood his will as a villain. Bold measures, hastily
conceived and entered upon with little apparent delibera-
tion, were pertinaciously adhered to and crammed down the

380 THE VOTERS 1 HANDBOOK.

throats of his partisans; not, however, without some grim-
aces and contortions of countenance. Obedience to the com-
mands of the party had become a settled law ; and as the party
derived its vitality and strength from the character and energy
of its chief, his simple word was in all controverted cases held
paramount to the Constitution. In the matter of infallability
he was allowed precedence of all rulers, both temporal and
spiritual. The voice of the people expressed through their
chosen representatives was to him and his adherents as an
idle mind. The behests of sovereign States conveyed through
their senatorial guardians were equally ineffectual. At one
time the Constitution was not broad enough to meet his pur-
poses. He gave to. its provisions an interpretation of such
latitudinarian scope as to astonish a section even of his
allies, and their anathemas, neither few nor indistinctly ut-
tered, were hurled against him. At another time he was
found to be so strict a constructionist as to refuse the ex-
ercise of those discretionary powers which, for great ends,
have been wisely deposited in the executive.

It was expected, of course, that he would fill all the
chief posts of trust with those friendly to his interests and
holding similarity of views. Harmony in the government
would require this, to say nothing of the policy and pro-
priety of the course on other grounds. But the supreme
dictator went far beyond this point. Acting upon the prin-
ciple that the honors and emoluments of office were spoils
to be awarded to the victors in the political arena, and
treating all who were of another party as enemies to their
country, he thrust out thousands of incumbents from the
petty posts scattered from Maine to Georgia and from the

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 381

Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains. This was done irrespec-
tive of character, services, and situation, till there was
scarcely a postmaster or petty tide-waiter in office who had
not blown his penny trumpet in honor of the victorious
chief, or lisped with becoming reverence and precision the
shibboleth of " the party." Patriotism and love .of place do
not go hand in hand. If office be the sure reward of party
fealty and devotion, hypocrisy and a contempt of the well-
being of society will most surely follow. For this innova-
tion in our political system, the country must render due
thanks to General Jackson. That he was besieged by a
host of applicants clamorous for benefactions, and often
violated his own views of propriety to favor a friend, is no
doubt true ; but this does not lessen the evil nor diminish
the responsibility of his acts. He was President of the
Nation, and it is a sorrowful reflection indeed that he had
not virtue enough to forget that he was chief of a party.
It is vain to imagine what civil service reform might have
done for such a man, in whose administration there was
really so much room for improvement, for spoils became his
prime end and aim before the first twelve months of his
term had expired.

Some of his methods are worth studying for the lesson
they inculcate. An enemy was at the head of one of the
branches of the United States Bank. The President failed
to influence his removal and procure the appointment of a
friend. The managers of the bank did not consult him in
regard to the provisions of the new charter applied for, and
he had not succeeded in bringing that institution under his
control. Impetuous in all things, defying all things, whether

382 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

of gods or men, this was an opposition to his imperial will
by no means to be endured. He commenced, forthwith, a
war of words and measures against that ill-starred corpora-
tion, in which he was backed by all the powers of the gov-
ernment, and aided by all the art of his shrewd advisers.
They first - destroyed the business of the bank, and threw
discredit and suspicion upon its solvency, never before
suspected. Then, by crippling the resources and business
interests of the country, they weakened its securities and
impeded the collection of its vast and extended claims, till,
by a series of calamities and governmental hostilities beat-
ing upon it, the great fiscal institution of the country fell,
and great was the fall thereof. In its ruins were crushed
the fortunes of hundreds of innocent men, women, and chil-
dren, of widows and orphans, whose entire means of sub-
sistence were embarked in its immense capital. It had been
chartered by President Madison, a good man and pure
patriot; and it had been sustained by nearly all the Repub-
licans of the day. It should be remembered that General
Jackson himself did not then profess to be opposed in prin-
ciple to a bank, but to the bank ; for he expressly declared
that if application had been made to him, he could have given
Congress a plan for a National Bank which would have ac-
complished the desired end ; and it would probably have
contained a clause empowering the President to appoint all
the managers and their subordinates. It was reserved to
the "Democracy" of a later day to reach that sublimation
of political wisdom which perceived certain ruin in a fiscal
charter, Federalism in a paper dollar, and rank treason in an
innocent bill of exchange. General Jackson was thought to

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 383

be something of a Democrat in his day, but he had not at-
tained this degre'e of acute discrimination. He was strongly
in favor of the State banks ; fostered them by all the ap-
pliances in his power ; induced the creation of scores, in
place of one ; and left the currency of the country in a con-
dition of hopeless depreciation.

The destruction of the United States bank was really
the principal measure of the Jackson administration. We
may look in vain for any important principle settled by it,
or any new theory brought forward, except in regard to the
currency. In the management of our foreign interests, the
honor of the country was protected, and our relations were
generally maintained with dignity and caution. There was
one notable instance of impropriety. We refer to the un-
warrantable and uncalled-for introduction of our internal po-
litical divisions into his official correspondence with Great
Britain by Mr. Van Buren, the Secretary of State. This
was a proceeding without precedent, in every point of view
indefensible, and a disgrace to its author. Whatever may be
our internal dissensions, towards all other nations the Amer-
ican people should present an undivided front. National
dignity and self-respect require the strict observance of this
rule ; the honor of the people demands it. With all his ob-
stinacy and independence, General Jackson was easily con-
trolled by a few designing men who had their own sinister
ends in view. Van Buren, with his usual fallacy, had gained
a commanding influence over the President, whose ungov-
ernable passions were played upon in such a way that, while
he thought himself the noblest Roman of them all, he
became the mere tool of one of the subtlest of dema-

384 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

gogues ; and it was soon apparent that a suggestion from
that plausible gentleman was sufficient to gain for any new
design a ready adoption by the supreme dictator. How
skillfully that influence was exerted has now become matter
of history. The little magician called spirits from the vasty
deep that under better influences would have never seen the
light. In the ranks of his own party, Van Buren had many
enemies of no mean character and standing. They were all
driven from executive favor with as much seeming zeal and
alacrity as would have been exercised had they been open
enemies of the republic. As no situation in life, no high
degree of ability and attainment, is absolute proof against
intrigue and cunning machination, Van Buren was soon left
without a rival, either in the cabinet or in the ranks of the
party. Calhoun was distanced in the race, and finally
driven over to the opposition with great show of indignation
and obloquy. One cabinet was dismissed without ceremony
and on the most frivolous pretexts, and another was over-
awed and forced into submission. It may have been purely
accidental, but it was a singular circumstance that in all
these commotions and difficulties, while other gentlemen were
discarded, outcast, overwhelmed, Van Buren was strengthen-
ing his position and gathering force to reach the station al-
ready long occupied in mind by his anticipative ambition.

It would seem that the last three years of General Jack-
son's term was almost wholly employed in preparing the
way for the succession of the favorite. The President had
time, however, to make fierce war upon the State banks
so long his favorites which had sprung up virtually under
his supervision. But he never made any pretension to con-

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 385

sistency. An exclusively metallic currency and a quick re-
turn to the age of iron had now become the desire of his
heart, and with this measure bequeathed to his successor,
his administration closed. He had come into power upon a
wave of popularity whose reflux had buried many of his
truest friends. The country had begun to groan under the
weight of his measures ; but the power of his name and his
unscrupulous use of executive appliances w,ere still sufficient
to elevate Martin Van Buren to the Presidency.

The Whig party at that time confined its exertions
principally to preserve the balance of power between the
different branches of the government, as the Constitution
had wisely left it. The concentration of all the powers of
the government in the hands of one man was an innovation
too dangerous to the safety of our institutions to be sanc-
tioned or permitted. They also endeavored to protect the
business interests of the country from the ruin which it was
too truthfully predicted would follow the sudden and violent
changes recommended by the executive. They desired to
see the resources of the country developed, and to place the
agricultural, mechanical, and manufacturing interests on
such a basis as to defy the competition of foreign pauper
labor and the hostility of foreign legislation.

We may dismiss General Jackson and his administration,,
with the remark that when the President was left to his
own better judgment he acted honestly and uprightly. But
passion and deep prejudices intervened ; he was ill-advised
and moved by insidious arts and practices ; and we believe
it not unjust to say that no chief magistrate ever left so
bad an example to posterity. The country owes him a debt

386 THE VOTERS 1 HAND-BOOK.

of gratitude for his services in the field ; and for these he
will be remembered by the American people so long as the
broad savannahs of the South expose their surface to the
sun, or the waters of the Mississippi roll down to the gulf.
We would not detract in the smallest degree from his just
claims to respect, but ther"e are points in his civil career
which can not be passed without condemnation.

The advent of Mr. Van Buren did not at first materially
change the situation of parties. He commenced with a
formal declaration of principles at his inauguration. It was
sufficiently void of meaning to be wholly unattractive except
as to one point, and in regard to that he was peculiarly un-
fortunate. He undertook in advance to veto any law the
National Legislature in*" its wisdom might enact upon a par-
ticular subject. The design of this was obvious, and its im-
propriety equally so. We speak of this without the least
reference to the merits of that question, in itself considered,
and merely as to the threat of the President in advance of
legislative action. It conciliated no interest, and displeased
if it did not disgust all right thinking men. That one so
cautious in his general policy, and so uniformly careful to
avoid all probable causes of discontent as Mr. Van Buren
had been through his whole life, should have been guilty of
a positive impropriety in the first step of his executive
career, was matter of no little surprise. But his subse-
quent acts threw this circumstance so completely into the
shade that it was soon forgotten by the general public. His
whole administration exhibited a series of measures unfor-
tunate beyond the examples ; and they fell upon the people
with crushing weight. These measures centered upon one

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 387

point the currency in regard to which he followed out
the intentions "of his "Illustrious Predecessor." But the
name of that I. P. had lost its charm. The time had gone
by when a bad measure, although sealed with the imperial
assent, could be forced into popularity. It was discovered,
at last, that even his opinion was not infallible ; that his arbi-
trary dictum was not sufficient to regulate the laws of trade
and the whole domestic policy of the country. The dis-
orders of the time opened the eyes of intelligent men. They
beheld in the vista, not that golden age which the prophets
and seers of the spick new Democracy had predicted, nor
that ineffable state which should betoken the advent of a
social and political millenium ; but, instead, the confusion of
ruin the very " blackness of darkness " and all pervading
distress.

The previous action of the government had called into
being a multitude of local banks, and these institutions had
been made the depositaries of the government treasure.
Stimulated by this impulse, with a superabundant capital, no
power in existence to keep them in check, and relying upon
the continuance of government favor, these banks extended
their business beyond all bounds of prudence. Speculation
in every description of property had become universal ;
villages and even cities had sprung up in every nook of the
remote West, which needed only buildings, business, and
people to render them discoverable by the unfortunate pur-
chaser of lots ; and " intrinsic value " had become an obso-
lete term. This state of things had its origin partly in
other causes, but mainly in the action of the government ;
and by a more sudden action it was checked. The bubble

388 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK

burst and carried with it not only the illusory hopes of
the rash speculation, but the more solid basis of the
prudent and circumspect. Commercial houses that had stood
firm through all changes for half a century were crushed ;
the activity of business throughout the land was suspended;
confidence and credit were destroyed ; the banks, which had
been fostered and then attacked by the government, suspended
payment ; State obligations were neglected, in some instances
repudiated ; and even the Federal Government could not
always meet its engagements. It was at this juncture when
Van Buren disclosed his great measure and made it the
law of the land. The panacea which he recommenced in
this disordered state of the body politic was the sub-treasury
system; and this was the principal measure of his adminis-
tration.

The introduction of such a scheme in the most healthy
and prosperous times would have produced, of necessity a
disastrous revulsion ; and it then added immeasurably to the
public distress. The sole pretext for the measure was to
protect the government from losses through the banks; the
real design was to destroy every moneyed corporation in the
land. It is a sufficient commentary to state that the govern-
ment lost four times as much, in the space of three years,
by the faithlessness and rascality of its sub-treasurers, as it
had ever lost by all the banks since the adoption of the
Constitution. The fallacy of the system was promptly
shown. Peculation and corruption became at once the order
of the day; nor was it long before the officer who had only
abstracted his hundred thousand was looked upon as a toler-
able pattern of sub-treasury trustworthiness. It is fitting to

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 389

remark that, in 1834, this same sub-treasury scheme was de-
nounced by the" whole Van Buren party as a measure unquali-
fiedly infamous; in 1837 he was equally denounced who was
not in its favor so much had the fresh Democracy become
"enlightened" in the interval.

Mr. Van Buren very justly regarded himself as the
founder of "the party," and, in a large measure, its owner.
It was certainly his by right of discovery; and now the
time has rolled around when he regards his re-election of
greater moment than the welfare of the States. This, how-
ever, was not to be. Public dissatisfaction was expressed in
all forms, in every section of the country, and even "the
party" was divided and rent. Partisan trammels could no
longer prevent an honest expression, and thousands left the
ranks of the " Democracy " and denounced the measures
which had brought down destruction upon their heads. But
the President still believed in the efficacy of party discip-
line. Possibly he thought, that as General Jackson in
whose footsteps he declared it was his highest ambition to
follow had succeeded in bold measures and radical innova-
tions, he, too, might gain some laurels by a similar course.
But events were otherwise ordered. The policy he had
pursued left him no power except that which was inherent
in the office he held. When the day of trial came, his ap-
peal to the " sober second thought of the people " was an-
swered by shouts of triumph and songs of rejoicing at the
election of General Harrison.

We have presented the few prominent points which dis-
tinguished the administrations of Jackson and Van Buren,
for the purpose of showing when and in what the Demo-

390 THE VOTERS 1 HAND-BOOK.

cratic party, so-called, had its origin, and the great prece-
dents which authorize it to believe in one line of policy
to-day, in another to-morrow, and, if it feels so disposed, in
nothing but "the party" next day. Every thing has a
character of some sort, but it is not always easy to discover.
The trouble with the Democracy is, that a mere name, and
falsely assumed, has been made a convenient, external, uni-
versal habit for " the party," covering all sorts of form aud
feature, or their total lack, as may be most acceptable for
the occasion. There is no general character belonging to
the organization throughout the country, expressed in a dec-
laration of principles. It is everywhere traversed and
broken asunder by sectional doctrines, or questions of policy
wholly discordant. But all the members are "Democrats,"
and their explanation of the happy term if they are able
to give any explanation is ever according to the locality
in which they happen to be at the time.

It is scarcely necessary to mention the administration
of John Tyler, unless to give a record of folly in all its
phases; of treachery, perfidy, and imbecility unparalleled in
history; of the dishonorable use of the highest power, and
the wanton waste of the greatest opportunities. He had no
party, no support, -no principles, and none of the popular
respect which the incumbent of the most eminent elective
office in the world should elicit; and he was indeed very
much like that man without a country who roamed aimless
through the earth as a just penance for treason to his gov-
ernment. All there was of the Tyler faction is summed up
in the most insignificant numeral, and was composed of
the most insignificant figure that ever appeared in politics.

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 391

In 1844 the Whig party declared for a well-regulated
currency ; a tariff for revenue to defray the necessary ex-
penses of the government, and discriminating with special
reference to the protection of the domestic labor of the
country ; distribution of the proceeds of the sales of public
lands among the States ; reform of executive usurpations ;
and generally such an administration of the affairs of the
country as should impart to every branch of the public ser-
vice the greatest practicable efficiency, controlled by a well-
regulated and nice economy. In the same year the Democ-
racy favored State rights ; opposed internal improvements ;
opposed a protective tariff; opposed a national bank; fa-
vored slavery, and denounced all abolitionists ; favored the Van
Buren sub-treasury system ; favored taking by force, if need
be, the whole of Oregon, and the re-annexation of Texas.
In 1848 the Whigs declared against any extension of slave
territory ; against acquisition of foreign territory by con-
quest ; in favor of protection to home industry, and the cir-
cumscription of executive power. In the same year the
Democrats re-affirmed previous platforms (1840-44) and
adopted fresh resolutions condemning "federalism" which
is not defined a national bank, and the agitation of the
slavery question ; favoring " economy," the war with
Mexico, and the administration of President Polk. There
was little change in either the Whig or Democratic plat-
form at the conventions of 1852, but in 1856 the Whigs
made a strong protest against the agitation of the slavery
question, and passed a special resolution condemning the Re-
publican party ; and the Democrats adopted what has ever
since been known as "the Cincinnati Platform."

392 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

The Republican National Convention in 1856 resolved
against the repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the ex-
tension of slavery into free territory ; in favor of admitting
Kansas as a free State, and of restoring the action of the
Federal Government to the principles of Washington and Jef-
ferson. They also favored the Pacific railway, and the im-
provement of rivers and harbors. It was an admirable plat-
form; but it was left for the Republican resolutions of 1860
to make a clean sweep of the Whig and "American" parties,
and either attach their members to the Republican organi-
zation, or drive them into the ranks of the Democracy.
They protest against the admission of any but free States
into the Union; against the dogma that the Constitution, of
its own force, carries slavery into any or all the territories;
against re-opening the African slave trade; in favor of pro-
tection to American industry, and internal improvement
upon a liberal scale. The Democratic party held its
national convention for 1860 in series the first at Charles-
ton, South Carolina, on 23d April; the second at Richmond,
Virginia, llth June; the third at Baltimore, Maryland, 18th
June. The second, which was made up of Southern seceders
from the first, anxiously awaited the action of the third,
arid upon the nomination of Douglas, at Baltimore, nominated
Breckenridge and Lane, adopted a strong pro-slavery plat-
form, and adjourned. The first plank in the platform was
the re-affirmation of the Cincinnati resolutions.

James Buchanan, an intimidated old man, had been
placed in the Presidential chair at the election of 1856, to
do the bidding of the slave oligarchy, and was only Presi-
dent in name, while Toombs, Davis, Wigfall, Mason, Floyd,

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 393

Benjamin, etc., performed all the functions of the Presi-
dential office which they deemed important, and conspired
against the government at the same time. Buchanan's ad-
ministration was only an intense illustration of the subser-
viency of Northern doughfaces to the slave power, whose in-
cursions upon our political life had from year to year grown
more exacting, until the demand had now come to legalize
the African slave traffic by the laws of the United States,
or accept the alternative of disunion! Senators of the
United States, heads of departments, Representatives in
Congress, officers of the army, and other agents of the gov-
ernment were in this conspiracy. D. L. Yulee, Senator
from Florida, wrote to a traitorous convention at Talla-
hassee, under date of Washington, January 7, 1861, as
follows :

. . . "It seemed to be the opinion, if we left here,
force, loan, and volunteer bills might be passed, which would
put Mr. Lincoln in immediate condition for hostilities ;
whereas, by remaining in our places till 4th of March, it is
thought we can keep Mr. Buchanans hands tied, and disable
the Republicans from effecting any legislation which will
strengthen the hands of the incoming administration."

So it seems that in January, 1861, through the com-
plaisance of a Democratic administration, the government
was already controlled by the Secessionists. It was no part
of their original plan to divide the country into two separate
nationalities, but to change the government over the whole
of it; a revolution, not a secession, although "disunion"
was the convenient threat. Viewed in this light, it was a
cunning and well-devised plot; and it came very near a

394 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

temporary success. Viewed in any other light, the attempt
was little short of insanity. Leaders in the rebellion were
well aware that the Constitution could not be changed as
they desired by peaceable means. They therefore deter-
mined to accomplish it by revolution. The commissioner
from Mississippi to Maryland, when urging that State to
join the rebellion, stated, in a speech to citizens of Balti-
more, 19th December, 1860 : " Secession is not intended to
break up the present government, but to perpetuate it. We
do not propose to go out by way of breaking up or destroy-
ing the Union, as our fathers gave it to us, but we go out
for the purpose of getting further guaranties and security
for our rights. Our plan is for the Southern States to
withdraw from the Union at present, to allow amendments
to the Constitution to be made, guaranteeing our just rights.
This question of slavery must be settled, now or never.
The country has been agitated seriously by it for the past
twenty or thirty years. It has been a festering sore upon
the body politic. Many remedies have failed, and we must
try amputation to bring it to a healthy state." Amputation
was certainly found effective, but it was not the sort con-
templated by the gentleman.

It is no part of our intention or desire to excite sectional
animosity by any thing contained in this chapter; but it
seems to us that the logical result of the administrations of
Jackson and Van Buren by and through which the so-
called Democratic party was founded came to the surface
in Buchanan's subserviency to the South and the following
rebellion by the slave power. The cardinal principles of
the Jackson- Van Buren party were indeed but two iron-

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 395

clad support of " the regular nominations," and " to the vic-
tors belong the spoils of office." All measures of a positive
kind, having in view the substantial interests of the country,
were studiously avoided ; because, upon such grounds, it was
seen that the harmony of the heterogeneous elements of " the
party " would be constantly endangered. There is something
in positive measures which requires discussion ; discussion
produces thought; thought leads to inquiry. Hence, the
Democracy must not think. Hence, the conduct of this
faction, while it boasts so much of principle, and censures
its opponents because, like independent men, they sometimes
differ among themselves, has been ever negative and de-
structive. It opposes protection to home industry ; but,
lacking the courage of its convictions, dares not declare for
free trade. In the days of Jackson it destroyed the national
currency, and put " wild-cat " paper in its place ; and in the
early days of the war it attempted to discredit the green-
back, without any thing to offer in its place, unless it
was contemplated to substitute the plentiful " promises "
of the Southern Confederacy. It denies to the central gov-
ernment all legitimate and healthy powers ; but whenever it
had the authority, it enormously increased the corrupt pa-
tronage of the government, thus tending ever to make it
strong for evil and impotent for good. It has always looked
with an evil eye upon the national judiciary, because its
leaders have instinct enough, if not intelligence, to discern
that there can be no friendship between itself and the spirit
of constitutional law. At the same time, it professes that
reverence for the Constitution is the prime article of its
creed. It seeks to set the farmer against the manufacturer,

396 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

and the merchant against both. By its stupid cry of
"aristocracy" it has sought to engender the most unnatural
war between those natural allies, the rich and the poor. It
pretends to be progressive, but opposes wholesome schemes
of internal improvement ; and, while professing a quality and
degree of patriotism superior to that entertained by any
other party, in either ancient or modern history, it forms an
intimate coalition with those recently in arms against the
government, and stakes all its hopes for success upon " a
solid South."

This wonderful modern Democracy ought to be able to
display itself in the light of truth. It is not a form of
Democracy that Jefferson knew any thing about; with
which the Clintons, the Madisons, the Crawfords, the Mon-
roes, of former days, could have held communion. It is the
Democracy of prostration, of repudiation, of nullification, of
State bankruptcies, of squatter sovereignty, of anti-nation-
ality, of secession, of draft riots, of hard money, f an irre-
deemable paper currency, of complicated and circumbendibus
negatives. It delights in the dregs of all that was really
objectionable in old Federalism, and execrates the memory of
Alexander Hamilton, because he was educated beyond the
ordinary rudiments of knowledge. When Frances Wright
came upon her self-appointed mission to this country, " the
party " discovered something in the ideas she advocated
which it could heartily support, and therefore it hoisted the
bespattered banner of free love, and found itself with one
positive plank to offset a hundred negatives. Then the
wildest notions respecting community of property and mar-
riage, hostility to religion and to the bloated monopolies of

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 397

academies and colleges, took possession of the young Democ-
racy and incited it to run riot over the ruins of churches,
schools, and the established institutions of society. And in
all this time, what had become of Mr. Van Buren ?

By gradual progression, he had gone through all the
several metamorphoses of Democrat to " barnburner," " barn-
burner" to free-soiler, free-soiler to abolitionist; and, in the
very irony of fate, had thus finally become that thing which
his party was born specially to extinguish ! His ambition
was still unquenched ; but as he had always followed those
schemes which seemed to promise a realization of his hopes,
without regard to even an appearance of consistency, he evi-
dently thought he saw in abolitionism a sentiment which would
grow rapidly and eventually reseat him in the curule chair.
After his defeat in 1840, which he doubtless thought would
be followed by the utter disruption of his party, he was at
a loss where to fix himself in order to regain his departed
prestige. This was most likely the only reason why he left
the young Democracy. He felt within him the small re-
mains of that once happy state induced by a satisfied ambi-
tion, and longed heartily for a return of state and station.
For his delinquency he forfeited his just fame, and now the
foundation of " the party " is invariably ascribed to Jefferson
by those who do not know better and by many that do.

Beyond the certainty that evil will follow, it is impossi-
ble to predict what the American people have to anticipate
if modern Democracy shall again succeed to the government.
If the country passes to the guidance of such an organiza-
tion, it will at last be divided into factions, each pursuing
its downward course with fatal celerity, seeking to crush in '

398 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

its way all those institutions and laws which have given to
the American Union its strength, freedom, and respectability.

At the beginning of the war, Senator Bayard was one
of the Democratic leaders, and he is still recognized as
such. He then spoke for his party in 1861 :

"Shall we make war upon and subjugate this new con-
federacy, or shall we peacefully treat with them and con-
sent to their self-government, trusting to time, which is the
great healer of all wrongs and passions, to bring them
again voluntarily into a common government with us ? "

After drawing a picture of the horrors of civil war he asked :

" Is such a war necessary for the peace and happiness
of the United States ? Why may not two American con-
federacies exist side by side without conflict, each emulat-
ing the other in the progress of civilization? With such a
sickening alternative as civil war, why should not the ex-
periment at least be made ? "

Then Mr. Bayard proceeded to answer the questions
which he had asked :

" I believe with the late Senator Douglas that a ' war is
disunion, certain, final, inevitable,' and, so believing, I oppose
it. I believe solemnly that the war inaugurated by Abra-
ham Lincoln and his cabinet is worse than fruitless that it
will prove more disastrous to the North than to the South,
and never will accomplish its professed object."

A little later he said :

" Human governments were ordained for the happiness
and protection of society. If peace will restore and secure
these blessings to the people of the United States, even
though a number of their former associates have gone off

HISTORY OF POLITICAL PARTIES. 399

under a new and independent organization, in the name of
Heaven let us raise our voice for it !" And, in conclusion :

"Let us, fellow-men, follow peace as our bright north
star, whose radiance may be mild, but never delusive or un-
certain, while in the calamities of war, and that worst of
wars, a civil war, we shall only reach by sheer exhaustion
the peace we can now command in ten days by treaty."

Mr. Bayard should have quoted Senator Douglas's idea
of the right of secession. " President Buchanan," said he,
"has recommended that we purchase Cuba. According to
this doctrine of secession, we might pay $300,000,000 for
Cuba, and then the next day Cuba might secede and re-annex
herself to Spain!" We paid immense sums for a portion
of the territory the secessionists proposed to take, and Mr.
Douglas's illustrations came home to our people with
peculiar force.

The history of the Republican party since 1860 is
worthy of generous contemplation. Every work it has un-
dertaken in twenty -four years has been performed; every
promise made the people fully redeemed. It has given its
best work, its best blood, and plenteously of its treasure to
preserve the integrity of the Union. What further recom-
mendation does it need? Is there in the world a nation
that has so prospered in all the elements of wealth and
greatness as has the United States under Republican ad-
ministrations ? And under what conditions did a Repub-
lican President take his seat in 1860? Modern Democracy,
under Pierce and Buchanan, had then ruled the land for
eight weary years. Schism and disorder were rampant, the
principal departments of the government were in the hands

400 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

of its enemies, and war was imminent. Who, then, was
responsible for these conditions? Upon whom does the
odium of the war, the great debt, and the attempted dis-
memberment of the Union fall ? It is no time to disguise
facts, when the party that gave aid and comfort to those
who were aiming a deadly blow at our institutions, again
seeks to control the destinies of the government its cowar-
dice and imbecility almost destroyed. Is there an American
who does not appreciate the benefits and blessings of the
Union ? If so, he should be a member of " the party " to-
ward which the principal criticism of this sketch is aimed ;
but let him cast his eyes across the sea and behold men
fighting with their fellows for very crusts ; let him review
their unpaid labor in contrast with luxurious indolence;
excesses of wealth and the direst poverty; pauperism in all
its disgusting forms ; taxes upon every thing, from the light
of heaven to the furniture of the grave; and then let him
return to his own country and reflect that within a century
and under the Constitution formed by his fathers, it has
grown great and prosperous ; its population increased from
three millions to fifty-five millions, and all well fed, and well
paid, and equally protected by the laws. He will then no
longer undervalue protection to home labor, or the import-
ance of domestic peace and unity, but will nerve himself
for every contest in which he can do service for the Con-
stitution and the Union. We believe that the altar upon
which the fire of Republican enthusiasm is kindled, is the
altar of principle ; that its flames are fed with the pure oil
of patriotism, and the vestal guardians, liberty and law,
keep holy watch over its embers. They shall never die !

THE TARIFF.

Shall it be a Protective Tariff, or a Tariff for Revenue Only ?

A QUESTION ANSWERED BY HISTORY IN A TONE SO POSITIVE
THAT IT ADMITS BUT ONE INTERPRETATION.

"Let Labor have its due! my cot shall be
From chilling want and guilty murmurs free.
Let Labor have its due ! then peace is mine,
And never, never shall my heart repine." BLOOMFIELD.

UPON the subject of the Tariff, facts are in better demand
than theories, and reason is of more worth than asser-
tion. So long as we have history to refer to, that is most
desirable. Facts from the record can not be impeached. The
history of Tariff legislation in the United States is an over-
whelming vindication of what may be called the policy of
Protection, while the reverse of this record, the history of
free trade, presents some of the darkest and most deplor-
able chapters in the experience of the Nation.

The first assertion of the policy of Protection in the
United States occurred in 1789. In March of that year,
the first petition presented to the First Congress, before
Washington's inauguration, came from the mechanics and
other citizens of what was then the town of Baltimore,
asking that Congress by imposing protective duties upon
foreign manufactures, would make the country "indepen-

26 401

402 THE VOTERS 1 HAND-BOOK.

dent in fact as well as in name." The citizens of New
York, Boston, Philadelphia, Charleston, and other cities pre-
sented petitions of like character, A bill introduced in the
House of Representatives by James Madison embodied the
views and wishes of the petitioners. It was passed, and on
the fourth day of July, 1789, it received the signature of
Washington, and became a law. It was our first Protective
Tariff, and " it was the first act of general legislation passed
under the new Constitution of the United States." This
act settled the right as well as the expediency of im-
port duties.

A few people at this date denounced the law as retalia-
tory. Perhaps it was, and with great justice if it was.
Let us see what the facts were. While this country re-
mained in a relation of colonial dependence upon Great
Britain, it was a leading and openly avowed object of
British policy to confine our people, so far as possible, to
the production of what were called colonial staples to the
cutting of timber, mining ores, raising grain, curing pork,
beef, etc., for the markets of the mother country, and forc-
ing them to procure thence their supplies of all descriptions
of manufacture. Even Lord Chatham, our friend in the
great struggle against arbitrary power, declared that Ameri-
cans should not be permitted to manufacture even a hob-nail !

Accordingly acts of Parliament were passed from time
to time, from the moment a disposition to minister to their
own wants was manifested by our people, to discourage
and thwart that disposition. So early as 1699, only
seventy-nine years after the landing of the Pilgrims years
in great part devoted to desperate conflicts with savage

THE TARIFF. 403

nature, more savage men, and the wily and powerful civil-
ized foeman on our northern frontier the jealousy of
England had been awakened by the progress of our house-
hold manufactures, and Parliament enacted that "no wool,
yarn, or woolen manufactures of their American plantations
shall be shipped thence, or even laden in order to be trans-
ported, upon any pretense whatever." Not a great deal of
British free trade in that enactment !

But they sought to draw the line still tighter. In 1719
the House of Commons declared that " the erecting of manu-
factories in the colonies tends to lessen their dependence upon
Great Britain." Complaints continued to be made to Parlia-
ment of the setting up of new trades and manufactures in the
colonies, to the detriment of the trade of the mother coun-
try. Thereupon the House of Commons, in 1721, directed
the board of trade to inquire and report "with respect to
laws made, manufactures set up, or trade carried on, detri-
mental to the trade, navigation, or manufactures of Great
Britain." The board reported in February, 1722, and their
report gives the best account now extant of the condition
of our infant manufactures at that time. It informs Par-
liament that the government of Massachusetts Bay had
lately passed an act to encourage the manufacture of paper,
" which law interferes with the profit made by the British
merchant on foreign paper sent thither."

The board also reported that in all the colonies north of
Delaware, and in Somerset County, Maryland, the people
had acquired the habit of making coarse woolen and linen
fabrics in their several families, for family use. This, it
was suggested, could not well be prohibited, as the people

404 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

devoted to this manufacture that portion of time in winter
when they could do nothing else. It was further stated
that the higher price of labor in the colonies made the cost
of producing cloths fifty per cent greater than in England,
and would prevent any serious rivalry with the manufac-
tures of the mother country. Still, the board urged that
something should be done to divert the attention and enter-
prise of the colonists from manufactures; otherwise they
might in time become formidable. To this end, they urged
that new encouragement be held out to the production of
naval stores. "However," say the board, "we find that
certain trades are carried on, and manufactures set up, which
are detrimental to the trade, navigation, and manufactures
of Great Britain."

Answers from the royal governors of the several colo-
nies to queries propounded to them by the board were next
requested. They generally reported that few or no manu-
factures were carried on in their several jurisdictions, and
these few were of a rude, coarse kind. In New England,
leather was made, a little poor iron, and a considerable ag-
gregate of cloths for domestic use; but the great part of
the clothing of the people was imported from Great Britain.
The hatters of London complained that a good many hats
were made in America, especially in New York. The board
summed up the report as follows :

" From the foregoing statement it is observable that
there are more trades carried on and manufactures set up in
the provinces on the continent oT America, to the north-
ward of Virginia, prejudicial to the trade and manufactures
of Great Britain, particularly in New England, than in any

THE TARIFF. 405

other of the British colonies; which is not to be wondered
at, for their soil, climate, and produce being pretty nearly
the same with ours, they have no staple commodities of
their own growth to exchange for our manufactures, which
puts them under great necessity, as well as under great
temptation, for providing for themselves at home; to which
may be added, in the charter governments the little depend-
ence they have on the mother country, and consequently
the small restraint they are under in any matters detri-
mental to her interests." The report closes by repeating
the recommendation that measures be taken to turn the in-
dustry of the colonies into new channels serviceable to
Great Britain.

Parliament proceeded to act upon these suggestions.
That year (1732) an act was passed "to prevent the expor-
tation of hats out of any of his majesty's colonies or plan-
tations in America, and to restrain the number of apprentices
taken by the hat makers in the said colonies, and for the
better encouraging the making of hats in Great Britain."
By this act, not only was the exportation of colonial hats
to a foreign port prohibited, but their transportation from
one British plantation to another was prohibited, under
severe penalties; and no person was allowed to make hats
who had not served an apprenticeship for seven years; nor
could any hatter in the colonies have more than two ap-
prentices at any one time; and no black or negro was per-
mitted to work at the business of making hats.

The interdiction of hats proved only the prologue of the
great drama. The manufacture of iron soon came in for a
share of the paternal regard of Parliament. In 1750 that

406 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

maternal authority permitted pig-iron and bar-iron to be
exported to England duty free, but prohibited the erec-
tion of any mill or other engine for slitting, or rolling iron,
or any plating forge to work with a tilt-harnmer, or any fur-
nace for making steel in the colonies, under the penalty of
two hundred pounds. And any such mill, engine, forge, or
furnace was declared a common nuisance, and the governor
of the colony, upon the information of two witnesses on
oath, was ordered to cause the same to be abated within
thirty days, or to forfeit the sum of five hundred pounds.
Such was the spirit, such were the exactions, of British leg-
islation while our patriot fathers remained subject to the
mother country.

The consequences of this state of enforced and abject
dependence upon Great Britain for the great mass of our
fabrics were such as have been many times realized in the
history of commerce. Although allowed a nearer approach
to fair trade with the mother country than she has ever
vouchsafed us since our independence, the colonies were
never able to sell enough raw produce to England to pay
for the manufactures with which she was constantly flooding
them. Our people had cleared much land, built houses, and
provided every thing essential to physical comfort, but the
course of buying more than their exports would pay for
could not be evaded. In the midst of outward prosperity,
the colonies groaned under an increasing load of debts,
which were constantly effecting the transfer of American
property to owners in Great Britain. It was the persistent
charge of the English that our revolutionary fathers flew to
arms to evade the payment of their mercantile debts and

THE TARIFF. 407

the importunities of their creditors. The Congress which
assembled in 1765 to remonstrate against the Stamp Act,
drew a graphic though sad picture of the calamities which
had befallen the people ; the multiplication of debts, the dis-
appearance of money, the impossibility of payment, the
stagnation of industry and business, all through the exces-
sive influx of foreign fabrics.

The war of the Revolution corrected this tendency by
cutting off importations and largely increasing our own
household manufactures. But peace, in the absence of all
protective legislation by this country, revived the mischief
which had been trampled beneath the heel of war. The
struggle for independence had left all the States embar-
rassed, trade completely disordered, and the whole country
overwhelmed with worthless paper money. The unchecked
importation of foreign fabrics still further multiplied and
magnified debts, deprived us of our specie, broke down the
prices of our products, and created a general stagnation and
distress. From the state of desperation thus engendered,
arose the disgraceful outbreak of insurrection in Massa-
chusetts, known as " Shay's Rebellion." This was but one
symptom of a general disease.

Attempts were repeatedly made to put an end to this
condition of things by imposing duties upon imports. But
the Congress of the old Confederation had no power to do
this, except with the concurrence of each of the State gov-
ernments. This could not be obtained. Rhode Island, then
almost wholly a commercial State, objected, although the
duty imposed was but five per cent, and the object the pay-
ment of debts incurred in the Revolution. Here was pre-

408 THE VOTERRS 1 HAND BOOK.

sented that stringent necessity which alone could have
overcome the prevailing jealousies of, and aversion to, a
stronger and more National Government. A convention was
called, a Constitution framed and adopted, and the second
act of the new Congress stands upon the records entitled,
"An act to make provision for the necessities of govern-
ment, the payment of the national debt, and the protection
of American manufactures" It passed both Houses of Con-
gress by substantially a unanimous vote.

Great Britain now became alarmed for the stability of
her market in America. Our people had been among her
most profitable customers. Her board of trade made a report
on the subject, in 1794, urging the negotiation of a com-
mercial treaty with the United States, based upon two prop-
ositions, the first being that " the duties on British manufac-
tures imported into the United States shall not be raised
above what they are at present." The second proposed
that the productions of other nations should be admitted
into our ports in British vessels the same as if imported in
our own. But the English government did not venture to
press these propositions.

It was plainly discerned by the British economists of
that day that, while our Congress had explicitly asserted
the principle of protection, and had intended to act consist-
ently with that principle, yet from inexperience and a
natural hesitation to change abruptly the direction which
circumstances had given to our national industry, they had
fallen far short of this. The few articles of manufacture
already produced in this country, .to a considerable extent,
were in general efficiently protected ; but the greater por-

THE TARIFF. 409

tion of the manufactures essential to our complete emanci-
pation from colonial dependence, were left unprotected to the
extent of five to fifteen per cent. Years of hard experience
and of frequent- suffering were required to teach the mass
of our statesmen the advantage and benefit of extending
protection also to these articles which had not been but
might easily and profitably be produced in our own country,
if the producers were properly shielded from the destruct-
ive rivalry always brought to bear upon- a new branch of
industry by the jealous and powerful foreign interests which
it threatens to deprive of a lucrative market. Our people
had scarcely begun to learn the truths which form the basis
of a wise and beneficent national economy, when the break-
ing out of the great wars in Europe opened up to them large
and lucrative foreign markets for raw staples, and the heads
of many of the most sedate thinkers in America were nearly
turned by the tempting prizes proffered to mercantile enter-
prise by the convulsions of the Old World. It seemed as
though we had but to produce what was easiest and most
natural to us, and Europe would take it at our own price,
and pay us bountifully for carrying it where she directed.

This was a pleasant dream while it lasted, but it was
very brief. Our people were awakened from it by seizures,
confiscations, embargoes, and, at last, war, which imposed
upon us the necessity of commencing nearly every branch
of manufacture under the most unfavorable auspices, and of
course at a ruinous cost. The war with Great Britain was
in this respect a substantial benefit to the country. Eng-
land had continued to send us, up to the beginning of this
war, large supplies of manufactured goods, which were

410 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

thrown upon the American market at prices less than the
same articles were sold for at London or Liverpool, all the
profit sacrificed to the object of repressing and breaking down
our rising industries. With the doubling of duties at the be-
ginning of the war of 1812, and the extraordinary exigen-
cies of the country, our home interests were greatly stimu-
lated, and in the succeeding three years grew vigorously,
many new industries springing up. " The arrival of peace
found the country," says Mr. Greeley, in his Political
Economy, " dotted with furnaces and manufactories, which
had suddenly grown up, during the few last preceding years,
under the precarious shelter of embargo and war. These,
not yet fairly established in a country whose commerce was
almost entirely external, or confined to the seaboard, steam
navigation being yet in its infancy, and canals and railroads
unknown among us, found themselves suddenly exposed to
a determined and resistless competition from abroad." To
meet this condition, the tariff act of 1816, chiefly the work
of John C. Calhoun, then a protectionist, and William
Loundes, was devised. But it proved wholly inadequate,
except as to two or three comparatively unimportant indus-
tries.

Great Britain continued to flood the American markets
with the products of her manufactories, at prices with which
our home manufacturers found it impossible to compete, and
one by one, in rapid succession, American manufacturing
establishments were closed, and products of American skill
disappeared from the markets. All the devastations of the
war had been as nothing compared with the devastation and
losses of manufacturing capital under the tariff of 1816.

THE TARIFF. 411

Our manufacturers went down like grass before the mower;
our agriculture and the wages of labor speedily followed.
In New England it is judged that fully one-fourth the prop-
erty went through the sheriff's mill, and the prostration was
scarcely less general in any part of the country. More
American families were reduced from comfort to want in the
years 1817-20, than in the succeeding half century. These
facts illustrate with great force the disastrous effects of that
sort of tariff legislation which is now demanded by a con-
siderable faction under the specious title of "a tariff for
revenue only." Under such a tariff from 1816 to 1823, a
few unimportant industries barely escaped the assaults of
foreign competition, but these trifling exceptions were not
sufficient to relieve that period of its memorable character
as the most disastrous in the early history of the country,
a period referred to in 1832 by Henry Clay as without a
parallel since the formation of the government in its exhibi-
tion of " wide-spread dismay and desolation." But the germ
of industrial independence had been planted in a soil fertil-
ized by blood, and the plant was destined to live and flourish,
though exposed to rude blasts and chilling frosts in its
spring-time.

The tariffs of 1824-28 marked a period of seven years
in striking contrast with the term of the same length which
had just preceded. Never were the comparative merits of
two antagonistic policies more fully and decisively illus-
trated. The energies of the country were re-vitalized, the
spirit of enterprise again walked abroad in the land, capital
sought labor and labor responded to the appeal, and in their
union and mutual efforts each won honorable and just re-

412 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

ward. The Nation grew in wealth, and everywhere the
people were prosperous, tranquil, and happy. At the very
height of this grand fruition and splendid promise came the
compromise tariff of 1833, with its provisions for a gradual
reduction of duties on manufactures to a revenue standard.
Business revulsion and the financial disaster of 1837 fol-
lowed. Our manufacturers were driven to the wall and
many of them hopelessly bankrupted. There are hundreds
living to-day and in active business, who still vividly remem-
ber the unhappy era from 1835 to 1842, with that desolat-
ing year of 1837 standing like a great, black, appalling
chasm in a wilderness of wreck and ruin. This compromise
measure, this tariff for revenue only, bore its legitimate fruit
in the final collapse alike of industry and revenue, and the
despoiled and suffering country again turned to protection
for the restoration of its crushed and shattered industries.
It would seem that experience and observation are of
little use if we fail to regulate our conduct by them. The
spirit of the same policy which the British government pur-
sued toward this country while in its dependent colonial
state, still enters into the favorite measures of that govern-
ment toward the United States. It would be no difficult
matter to show that upon every agitation of the question of
protection in Congress, the British Parliament or its Board
of Trade has taken some action in order to distract, if pos-
sible, the attention of our statesmen, and to induce among
our people an opposition to any measure which would
establish protection to industry as the settled policy of the
Nation. The Parliament even carried this sort of intermed-
dling so far, that in May, 1840 a time when the whole

THE TARIFF. 413

people of this country were thoroughly waking up to the
importance of the home system they raised a select com-
mittee in the House of Commons to inquire whether the du-
ties levied by the British tariff " are for protection to simi-
lar articles " manufactured in that country, or " for the pur-
poses of revenue only." This select committee, in their re-
port of August 6, 1840, appear to have lost sight of the
principal object apparent upon the face of the resolution au-
thorizing their examination and report, and content them-
selves by observing that the English tariff " often aims at
incompatible ends;" the duties are sometimes meant to be
both productive of revenue and for protective objects. But
they stated that they had discovered " a growng conviction
that the protective system is not, on the whole, beneficial to
the protected manufactures themselves" Upon the same
hypothesis which enabled them to arrive at this conclusion,
they might find that, upon the whole, health could not be
made beneficial to a sick man !

After such a discovery and its solemn announcement by
the select committee aforesaid, it might reasonably be
imagined that some steps would be taken towards rectifying
that " incompatibility " in the British policy, and in aban-
doning that system which they represent as having been
found not to be beneficial to their protected manufactures.
But if we expect any such thing from that quarter, we
reckon without our host. Mr. Bull is sly sly as Joey
Bagstock. That report was grown and ripened for the
American market, and was not designed for any real effect .
upon the proceedings of the House of Commons. It was
intended to convince the American Congress and the Ameri-

414 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

can people that Great Britain was almost ruined by her pro-
tective system a system of ruin which she adhered to with
astonishing pertinacity; that our protective tariff would in
like manner prove ruinous to us ; and that our only salva-
tion was in adopting free trade at" once ; opening our ports
to all British manufactures, and becoming, in fact, merely a
market for British labor.

Finding that their recommendations had no effect upon
the measures of our government, they ceased to be careful
of the principles they put forth to the world, and seeing no
longer any good reason for disguise, leading men in both
houses of Parliament soon afforded us a fine commentary
upon the text of that report of the select committee. Among
others, the Duke of Wellington, with the frankness of his
known character, stated in the House of Peers the true
policy of Great Britain, that " when free trade was talked
of as existing in England, it was an absurdity. There was
no such thing, and there could be no such thing as free trade
in that country. We proceed," said he, "on the system of
protecting our own manufactures and our own commerce
the produce of our labor and our soil ; of protecting them
for exportation and protecting them for home consumption;
and on that universal system of protection it is absurd to
talk of free trade."

Under the tariff of 1842, business experienced a revival
which continued during four years, and the country was
comparatively prosperous ; but scarcely had the wounds of
. preceding disaster healed over, when the act of 1846, re-
ducing duties enacted through the treachery of Pres-
ident Polk and his Secretary of the Treasury, Robert J.

THE TARIFF. 415

Walker stepped in to reverse the wheels and start the in-
dustries of the country upon another retrograde march. In
1857, under the administration of President Buchanan, Con-
gress again legislated in the further interest of foreign man-
ufacturers, and the prompt response to this aggravation of
folly was the financial crash of that year, predicted by the
advocates of protection as an inevitable consequence of the
abandonment by Congress of the industrial interests it is
their duty to nourish. Four years prolific of evil to the
material interests of our people were 1857, 1858, 1859,
1860. Never before was the investment of capital in busi-
ness less profitable, nor the wages of toil more meager.
For near fourteen years we have tested a tariff for revenue
only, and most expensive and bitter was the price the coun-
try paid for the experiment. Utter and universal bank-
ruptcy, both public and private, would have been our doom
had we not returned to the policy of protection. In 1861
the Morrill tariff became a law, and it was the beginning of
a series of protective enactments which are still in force.
The Morrill bill was reported to the House in March, 1860,
and passed that body in the following May. The work of
improvement began in anticipation of its assured final adop-
tion by Congress ; so that when it passed the Senate in Feb-
ruary, 1861, and received the approval of the President the
current of the new industrial life had already been set in
motion. No man at this day will assert that without this
^policy the country could have sustained its energies during
the four years' desperate struggle, 1861 to 1865, or so,
speedily repaired the desolating effects of that contest after
its close.

416 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

We may rest here with the reflection upon the preceding
array of facts that it ought to be sufficient to convince any
reasonable man of the inestimable value of a protective
tariff to see the enormous progress of all our productive in-
terests under its operation, and their rapid decline the mo-
ment it ceases to operate. Free trade advocates always
seek to evade this argument by attributing our prosperity
to other causes, but they only use the subterfuges of the
pettifogger. They suppose we forget that the protective
system was in operation in England for more than three hun-
dred years, and it was mainly to the success of that system
that British industries were indebted for the gigantic
strength which finally enabled them to endure the order of
comparative free trade. The same system is now building
up the vast internal resources of Russia, and rendering the
French Republic impregnably strong by reliance upon her
own internal development. What protection has thus done
for the industries of Europe, it is now doing for the indus-
tries of our own country. The question, therefore, is,
whether we shall have a tariff so governed and regulated as
to foster, encourage, and stimulate American production of
all kinds, or a tariff so adjusted as to protect foreign manu-
facturers against the competition of American capital, labor,
skill, and enterprise?

'"*"- JllL&i

jf^"%

; >T, ' "' "^

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

GEORGE \VASHINGTON.

GEORGE WASHINGTON, first President of the United
States, was born in Westmoreland Co., Va., Feb. 22>
1732. He was the eldest of six children of Augustine and
Mary Washington, wealthy people for the time, who traced
the Washingtons from the early days of the Plantagenets,
when the De Wessyngtons did manorial service in the battle
and the chase for the military bishop of Durham. George
enjoyed slight educational advantages. When he lost his
father, in 1743, the good woman whose name will always
be associated with that of her distinguished son as " Mary,
the mother of Washington," took charge of his mental train-
ing, and laid the solid foundation of his future usefulness.
All the school instruction he received was complete before
he arrived at the age of sixteen.

But he learned surveying, military tactics, and other
useful branches of knowledge of whatever he essayed in a
masterly way. He served for a short period as a midship-
man in the British navy, and soon thereafter entered the
military service of the Colonies.

In 1750 rumors of imminent French and Indian aggres-
sions on the frontier began to engage attention, and prepara-
tions were made to resist the threatened attack. In 1751,

27 417

418

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

when he was but nineteen, Washington was placed in charge
of a military district, with the rank of major. In 1753,
affairs on the frontier having become pressing, Governor
Dinwiddie selected him to bear a message to the French
commander, on the Ohio, remonstrating against the advanc-
ing occupation
of the territory.
This service
was full of dan-
ger, but it was
performed with
intrepidity and
address. There-
ply he brought
from the
Frenchman
confirmed the
growing im-
pressions of the
design of the
enemy, and mil-
itary prepara-
tions were made

with spirit. A Virginia regiment of three hundred men was
raised for frontier service, and Washington appointed its
lieutenant-colonel. Advancing with a portion of the com-
mand, he found that the French were in the field, and that
hostilities had actually begun. Watchful of their move-
ments, he fell in with a detachment under Jumonville, which
he put to flight, with the death of their leader. His supe-

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 419

rior officer having died on the march, the entire command
now fell upon Washington, who was soon joined by addi-
tional troops from South Carolina and New York. With
these he was on his way to attack Fort Du Quesne, when word
was brought of a very superior force of French and Indians
coming against him. This led him, in his unprepared con-
dition, to retrace his steps to Fort Necessity, at the Great
Meadows, where he received the attack. The fort was gal-
lantly defended, both within and without, Washington com-
manding in front, and it was not until serious loss had been
inflicted upon the assailants that it surrendered to superior
numbers. In the capitulation, the garrison was allowed to
return home with the honors of war.

We next find him upon the staff of General Braddock,
who, in 1755, marched from Virginia against Fort Du Quesne
with a force of royal troops and provincials. This army ad-
vanced without regard to the danger to be apprehended
from the savages, and although Washington warned the gen-
eral of the necessity for watchfulness, it did no good.
When they were within ten miles of the fort, on the 9th of
July, they were ambushed by the French and Indians, and
routed with terrible slaughter. Braddock was mortally
wounded, and died a few days later. In 1758 another ex-
pedition was planned to capture Fort Du Quesne, and this
time it was successful. Washington with his Virginians
traversed the ground whitened by the bones of his former
comrades in Braddock's disastrous march, and with his entry
of the fort closed the French dominion on the Ohio.

In January, 1759, Washington married Mrs. Martha
Custis, of the White House, county of New Kent. This

420 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

lady, born in the same year with himself, and in the full
bloom of youthful womanhood at twenty-seven, was the
widow of a wealthy landed proprietor, whose death had oc-
curred three years before. Her maiden name was Dandridge ;
she was of Welsh descent ; % and the prudence and gravity
of her disposition eminently fitted her to be the wife of
Washington. She was her husband's executrix, and man-
aged the estates he left, involving the raising of crops and
their sale in Europe, with ability. Her personal charms
are greatly praised. The well-known portrait, by Woolaston,
painted at this period, presents a neat, animated figure, with
regular features, dark, chestnut hair, and hazel eyes, in a
dress, which, the style having changed frequently in the in-
terval, the whirligig of fashion restored a few years ago,
and it is even now, 1884, considerably worn. The wedding
was attended with great eclat, at the bride's estate at (he
White House, and the honeymoon was the inauguration of a
new and pacific era of Washington's hitherto troubled mili-
tary life.

But his state of repose proved the introduction to new
public duties. He was elected a member of the House of
Burgesses, and took his seat shortly after his marriage.
Upon this occasion an incident occurred which has been fre-
quently narrated. The Speaker, having been directed by a
vote of the House to return thanks to him for his eminent
military services, at once performed the duty with warmth
and eloquence. Washington rose to reply, but became too
embarrassed to utter a syllable. " Sit down, Mr. Wash-
ington," was the courteous expression of the gentleman
who had addressed him; "your modesty equals your

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 421

valor, and that surpasses the power of any language I
possess."

He continued a member of this House, diligently attend-
ing to its business till he was called to the work of the
Revolution, in this way adding familiarity with the practi-
cal duties of a legislator and statesman to his experiences in
war. He was constantly present at the debates, it having
been a maxim with him through life, as his biographer, Mr.
Sparks, observes, "to execute punctually and thoroughly
every charge which he undertook."

Incidentally, some of the seeds of the Revolution were
sown in the contest with France. There and then America
became acquainted with her own powers, and learned to esti-
mate the strength and weakness of British soldiers and
placemen. To no one had the lesson been more thoroughly
taught than to Washington. By no one was it studied
with more attention. There was no faction in his opposition.
The traditions of his family, his friends, the provinces, were
all in favor of allegiance to the British Government. He
had nothing in his composition of a disorganizing character,
nothing in common with the mere political agitator, the
breeder of discontent. The interests of his large landed es-
tates, and a revenue dependent upon exports, bound him to
the British nation. But there was one principle in his
nature stronger in its influence than all these material ties
love of justice ; and when Patrick Henry rose in the House
of Burgesses with his eloquent assertion of the rights of the
colony in the matter of taxation, Washington was there, and
heartily responded to the sentiment.

To this memorable occasion, May 29, 1765, has been

422 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

referred the birth of that patriotic fervor in the mind of
Washington, welcoming as it was developed a new order of
things, which never rested till the liberties of the country
were established upon the firm foundations of independence
and civil order. From the beginning, he was an earnest
supporter of the constitutional liberties of the country, and
met every fresh aggression of Parliament as it arose in the
most resolute manner. He took part in the local Virginia
resolutions, and on the meeting of the first Congress in Phila-
delphia went up to that honored body with Patrick Henry
and Edmund Pendleton.

The second Continental Congress, of which Washington
was also a member, met at Philadelphia in May, 1775, its
members gathering to deliberate with the musketry at Lex-
ington ringing in their ears. The overtures of war by the
British troops in Massachusetts had gathered a little provin-
cial army about Boston. National organization was a measure
no longer of choice, but of necessity. A commander-in-
chief was to be appointed ; and though the selection was not
altogether free from local jealousies, the superior merit of
Washington was seconded by the patriotism of Congress, and
on June 15th he was unanimously elected to the high position.
His modesty in accepting the office was as noticeable as his
fitness for it. He was not the man to flinch from any duty
because of the hazard; but it is worth knowing, that we
may form a due estimate of his character, that he felt to
the quick the full force of the sacrifices of ease and happi-
ness he was making, and the new difficulties he was inevitably
to encounter. He was so impressed with the probabilities
of failure, and so little disposed to vaunt his own powers,

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 423

that he begged gentlemen of the House to remember, " lest
some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to his repu-
tation," that he thought himself, with the utmost sincerity,
unequal to the command he was honored with. He declared
his intention, with a manly spirit of patriotic independence
worthy the highest eulogy, to keep an exact account of his
public expenses, accept nothing more for his services a
resolution which was faithfully kept.

He took command of the army at Cambridge on the
third of July. Bunker Hill had been fought, establishing
the valor of the native militia, and the- investment of Boston
was already begun, though with inadequate forces. There
was excellent individual material in the men, but every thing
was yet to be done for their organization and equipment.
Above all, there was absolute want of gunpowder. It was
impossible to make any serious attempt upon the British,
but the utmost heroism was shown in cutting oif their resour-
ces and hemming them in. Humble as were these inefficient
means in the present, the prospect of the future was darkened
by the short enlistments of the army, which were made for
only the year, Congress expecting in that time a favorable
answer to their second petition to the king. The new
recruits came in slowly, and means were feebly supplied, but
Washington determined upon an attack. For this purpose
he fortified Dorchester Height. The British made an attempt
to dislodge him, which was interrupted by a storm ; and
General Howe, having already resolved to evacuate the city,
a few days after ingloriously sailed away with his troops to
Halifax. The next day, March 18, 1776, Washington entered
the town in triumph. Thus ended the chapter of his Revo-

424 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

lutionary campaign. There had been little opportunity for
brilliant action, but great difficulties had been overcome and
substantial benefits gained.

New York was evidently to be the next point of attack
by the British, and thither Washington gathered his forces
and adopted every available means of defense on land. By
the beginning of July, when the Declaration of Independence
was received in camp, General Howe had made his appear-
ance in the lower bay of New York, from Halifax, where
he was speedily joined by his brother, Lord Howe, the ad-
miral, who came with propositions for reconciliation. The
substance of his overtures was incorporated in a letter ad-
dressed, " George Washington, Esq.," and sent by a mes-
senger ; but Washington, divining the nature of the communi-
cation, and knowing it ought to be addressed to him in his
official capacity, if at all, declined to receive it. Another
messenger was sent with the letter addressed to General
Washington, but even the "General" would not have it.
The British adjutant, however, verbally reported the contents
of the epistle, to which Washington replied, that it related
wholly to pardons, and the Americans, who had committed
no offense, but stood only upon their rights, were in no need
of clemency from the mother country. Thus terminated the
interview.

Re-enforcements to the royal troops on Staten Island
soon arrived from England. They made a landing on Long
Island, and a battle was imminent. It occurred on the 27th
of August, and was disastrous to the American arms.
The slaughter was great. Still the main works occupied
by the American troops at Brooklyn remained as they were,

LIVES OF THE f> RESIDENTS.. 425

though no longer tenable, exposed to the enemy's fleet.
But the day after the battle, and the next, were passed
without any decisive movements on the part of the
British, who weje about bringing up their ships, and who
doubtless, as they had good reason, considered their prey
secure. On the twenty-ninth, Washington took his meas-
ures for retreat, and so perfectly were they arranged that
the whole force of nine thousand, with artillery, horses, and
the entire equipage of war, were borne off that night, under
cover of the fog, to the opposite shore in triumph. It was
a most masterly maneuver, planned and superintended by
Washington from the beginning. He did not sleep or rest
after the battle till it was executed, and was among the last
to cross.

After this followed in rapid succession, though with no
undue haste, the abandonment of New York, the withdrawal
of troops into Westchester, the affair at White Plains, the
more serious loss of Fort Washington, and the retreat
through the Jerseys. It was the darkest period of the
war the days of which Paine wrote in the opening num-
ber of his " Crisis : " " These are the times that try men's
souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will,
in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country ; but he
that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man
and woman."

After the battle of Long Island, there had been little
but weariness and disaster in the movements of Washington
to the end of the year, when, as the forces of Howe were
apparently closing in upon him to open the route to Phila-
delphia, he turned in very despair, and by the brilliant affair

426 THE VOTERS 1 HAND-BOOK.

at Trenton retarded the motions of the enemy and checked
the growing despondency of his countrymen. It was well-
planned and courageously undertaken. Christmas night, of
a most inclement season, when the river was blocked with
ice, was chosen to cross the Delaware, and attack the British
and Hessians on the opposite side. The expedition was led
by Washington in person, who anxiously watched the slow
process of transportation on the river, which lasted from
sunset till near dawn too long for the contemplated sur-
prise by night. A storm of hail and snow now set in, as
the general advanced with his men, reaching the outposts
about 8 o'clock. A 1 gallant onset was made, in which Lieu-
tenant James Monroe, afterward President, was wounded.
Sullivan and the other officers, according to a previously ar-
ranged plan, seconded the movement from another part of
the town ; the Hessians were disconcerted, and their gen-
eral, Rahl, slain, when a surrender was made, nearly a thou-
sand prisoners laying down their arms. General Howe,
astounded at the event, sent out Cornwallis in pursuit, and
he had his game seemingly secure when Washington, in
front of him at Trenton, on the same side of the Delaware,
made a bold diversion in an attack upon the forces left be-
hind at Princeton. It was conducted at night, and, like the
other, attended by success, though it cost the life of the
gallant Mercer. After these brilliant actions the little army
went into winter quarters at Morristown.

The next spring and summer were marked by no strik-
ing events except the withdrawal of the British troops
from the Delaware ; the advance of Burgoyne from Canada ;
the embarkation of General Howe for the purpose of mak-

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 427

ing his way up the Chesapeake to gain access to Philadel-
phia from Maryland ; the arrival of Marquis de Lafayette as
a volunteer in the cause of liberty ; and the battle of Chad's
Ford, on the east side of the Brandywine. A stand was
made at this point, to which Knyphausen was opposed on
the opposite bank, while Cornwallis, with a large division,
took the upper course of the river and turned the flank of
the position. A rout ensued, but the utter defeat of the
Americans was saved by General Greene, who was placed at
an advantageous point. Lafayette was severly wounded.
Washington was not dismayed ; on the contrary, he kept the
field, marshaling and maneuvering through a hostile coun-
try one thousand of his troops, as he informed Congress,
actually barefoot. He would have offered battle, but was
without the means to resist effectively the occupation of
Philadelphia.

Thus closed the campaign of 1777 in Pennsylvania,
while Burgoyne was laying down his arms to the northern
army at Saratoga. The encampment at Valley Forge suc-
ceeded the scenes we have described. It is a name synony-
mous with suffering. Half clad, wanting frequently the
simplest clothing, without shoes or blankets, the army was
hutted in the snows and ice of the inclement winter. With
the return of summer came the evacuation of Philadelphia
by the British, who pursued their route across New Jersey
to embark upon the waters of New York. On the 28th of
June, 1778, they were attacked by Washington's forces at
Monmouth Court House, and defeated with some loss. The
remainder of the season was passed by the American army
on the eastern borders of the Hudson, in readiness to co-

428 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

operate with the French, who had now arrived under D'Es-
taing, and in watching the British in New York.

The event of the next year in the little army of Wash-
ington, was the gallant storming of Stony Point by General
Wayne. This was one of the defenses of the Highlands, on
the Hudson, which had just before been captured and
manned by Sir Henry Clinton. General Henry Lee's
spirited attack on Paulus Hook, within sight of New York,
followed, to cheer the encampment of Washington, who now
busied himself in fortifying West Point. Winter found
our army again quartered in New Jersey, this time at Mor-
ristown, where the hardships and severities of Valley Forge
were even exceeded in the distressed condition of the troops
in that rigorous season.

The most prominent event of the year 1780, in the per-
sonal career of Washington, was the defection of Arnold,
with its attendant execution of Andre. We may not pause
over the subsequent events of the war, the renewed exer-
tions of Congress, the severe contests in the South, the
meditated movement upon New York in the following year,
but hasten to the sequel at Yorktown. The movement of
the army of Washington to Virginia was determined by the
expected arrival of the French fleet in that quarter from the
West Indies. Cornwallis had arrived from the South, and
was entrenching himself on York River. Washington, who
had been planning an attack upon New York with Rocham-
beau, now suddenly and secretly directed his forces by a
rapid march southward. Extraordinary exertions were
made to expedite the troops. The timely arrival of Colonel
Lawrens, from France, with an installment of the French

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. ^ 429

loan in specie, came to the aid of the liberal efforts of the
financier of the Revolution, Robert Morris. Lafayette, with
the Virginians, was hedging in the fated Cornwallis. Wash-
ington had just left Philadelphia, when he heard the joyous
news of the arrival of DeGrasse in the Chesapeake. The
combined French and American forces closed in upon York-
town, which was fortified by redoubts and batteries, and on
the first of October the place was completely invested. The
first parallel was opened on the sixth. On the ninth Wash-
ington lighted the first gun. The storming of two annoying
redoubts by French and American parties was set down for
the night of the fourteenth. Hamilton, at the head of the
latter, gallantly carried one of the works at the point of the
bayonet without firing a gun. The redoubts gained were
fortified and turned against the town. The second parallel
was ready to open its fire. Cornwallis vainly attempted to
escape with his forces across the river. He received no re-
lief from Sir Henry Clinton, at New York, and on the 17th
he propbsed a surrender. On the 19th, the terms having
been dictated by Washington, the whole British force laid
down their arms. It was the virtual termination of the war;
the crowning act of a vast series of military operations
planned and perfected by the genius of Washington.

During the remainder of the war his efforts and vigilance
were not relaxed. The news of peace arrived in the early
summer of 1783, and the army prepared to separate. In
memory of their fraternity the Society of the Cincinnati
was founded, consisting of officers of the Revolution and
their descendants, with Washington at their head. In the
beginning of November he took leave of the army in an ad-

430 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

dress from head-quarters, with his accustomed warmth and
emotion, and on the 25th entered New York at the head of
a military and civic procession, as the British evacuated the
city. On the 4th December he was escorted to the harbor,
on his way to Congress to resign his command, after a touch-
, ing scene of farewell with his officers, when the great heart
did not disdain the sensibility of a tear and the kiss of his
friends. On the 23d of the month he restored his commis-
sion to Congress, with a few remarks of great felicity, in
which he commended "the interests of our dearest country
to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the
superintendence of them to his holy keeping."

In 1787 he was placed at the head of the convention
which gave a government to the scattered States and made
this country a Nation; and soon thereafter he was again
called to listen to the highest demands of his country in his
unanimous election to the Presidency. With what emotions,
with what humble resignation to the voice of duty, with
how little fluttering of vainglory, let the modest entry in
his diary of April 16, 1789, cited by Washington Irving, tes-
tify : "About ten o'clock," he writes, "I bade adieu to
Mount Vernon, to private life and to domestic felicity; and
with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sen-
sations than I have words to express, set out for New York
with the best disposition to render service to my country in
obedience to its call, but with less hope of answering its ex-
pectations." His inauguration took place on the 30th of
April. His administration is noted for the perfection of
plans for a republican government. In September an act
was passed by Congress, providing for a department of

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 431

foreign affairs, a treasury department, and a department of
war. Jefferson was made secretary of the first, Knox of
the second, Hamilton of the third. A supreme court was
also organized, John Jay receiving the appointment of first
chief-justice. Edmund Randolph was chosen attorney-gen-
eral. On 29th September, 1789, Congress adjourned till
the following January, and Washington- availed himself of
the interval to make a tour of the Eastern States. He was
everywhere greeted with the most enthusiastic receptions,
and returned to New York greatly improved in health.

The indebtedness of the United States at this time was
eighty millions ; and for a while raised some threatening
questions. The genius of Hamilton, however, triumphed
over every difficulty. Through his advice a duty was laid on
the tonnage of merchant ships, with discrimination in favor
of American vessels ; and imports were levied upon all goods
from abroad. These schemes were violently opposed by
quite an array or doctrinaires, but Hamilton's policy was
happily sustained and the credit of the government soon
firmly established. In 1791, Vermont came into the Union
as the fourteenth State, and in 1792 Kentucky was admitted.
At the presidential election held in the autumn of 1792
Washington was again unanimously elected, and John Adams
was elected Vice-president.

Our relations with foreign governments were considerably
excited during Washington's second administration. The
French Revolution of 1789 was still running its riotous
course. The king had been murdered. Citizen Genet was
sent as minister to the United States by the new republic.
On his arrival at Charleston, and on his way to Philadelphia

432 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

he was greeted enthusiastically, and taking advantage of
these evidences of popularity, he soon began to abuse his
authority, fitted out privateers to prey upon the commerce
of Great Britain, planned expeditions against Louisiana, and,
although the President had already issued a proclamation
of neutrality, demanded an alliance with the government.
Washington and his cabinet firmly refused, and the audacious
minister threatened to appeal to the people. In this out-
rageous conduct he was sustained and encouraged by the
anti-Federal party. But Washington was unmoved, declared
the conduct of the French minister an insult to the United
States, and demanded his recall. The authorities of France
heeded the demand, and Genet was superseded by Citizen
Fouchet.

At about this time there was trouble in the cabinet.
Hamilton's financial measures were attacked with vehement
animosity by Jefferson ; and the policy of Jefferson, in his
relations and duties as secretary of foreign affairs, furnished
the occasion for much bitter criticism from Hamilton's
glittering pen. Both these officers were patriots, and both
had insisted upon Washington's re-election to the Presidency.
But in 1794, Jefferson resigned his office and retired to the
privacy of Monticello. A year later Hamilton also retired
from the cabinet, and was succeeded by Oliver Wolcott, of
Connecticut. In 1793 a series of dastardly outrages were
committed upon the commerce of the United States by
Great Britain. George III had issued secret instructions
to British privateers to seize all neutral vessels that might
be found trading in the French West Indies. Our govern-
ment received no notice of this measure ; and American

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 433

commerce to the value of many millions was swept from the
sea by a process equal to highway robbery. War seemed
imminent, but prudence prevailed over passion, and in May,
1794, Chief-justice Jay was sent as envoy extraordinary
to demand redress of the British Government. Contrary to
expectation, his mission was successful, and in the follow-
ing November an honorable treaty was concluded. It was
specified in this treaty that Great Britain should make ample
reparation for the injuries done by her privateers, and sur-
render to the United States certain Western posts which
until now had been held by English garrisons.

The boundary between the United States and Louisiana
was settled by a treaty with Spain in 1795. Tennessee, the
third new State, was organized and admitted into the Union
in 1796. These were among the last acts of Washington's
administration. The time had arrived when his views were
not cordially supported by Congress, and he longed for the
retirement to private life ; but so long as he occupied the
presidential chair he proved to be stronger than Congress.
So strong were the President's views in determining the action
of the people, that Jefferson, writing to Monroe, at Paris,
said : " Congress has adjourned. You will see by their pro-
ceedings the truth of what I always told you, namely, that
one man outweighs them all in influence over the people,
who support his judgment against their own and that of
their representatives. Republicanism resigns the vessel to
the pilot."

He was solicited to accept the presidential office for a
third term, but firmly declined. Yet he parted fondly with
the Nation, and like a parent, desired to leave some legacy of

434 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

counsel to the offspring of liberty. Accordingly he published
in September, 1796, in the Daily Advertiser at Philadelphia,
the paper known as his Farewell Address to the People of
the United States. It had long engaged his attention. He
planned it himself, and, careful of what he felt might be
used as a political landmark for ages, consulted Jay, Madison,
and Hamilton in its composition. The spirit and sentiment,
the political wisdom and patriotic fervor, are every whit his
own, and the production will always remain a valuable legacy
to the American freeman.

After Washington's retirement to Mount Vernon, new
complications with France were threatened. Active hostili-
ties were anticipated. The President looked to Washington
to organize the army and take command, should it be brought
into action, and he busied himself with the necessary prepa-
rations. He thought it best to be prepared for the emer-
gency. Fresh negotiations for settlement of the dispute
were opened, but he did not live to witness their pacific re-
sults. On the 12th of December, 1799, he was prostrated
by exposure to a heavy storm, and died on the 14th. His
remains were buried at Mount Vernon, and there the remains
of his beloved wife, who died 22d May, 1802, are also de-
posited. Those who imitate his virtues and heed his coun-
sels will conceive for the Union of these States " a cordial,
habitual, and immovable attachment," and entitle themselves
to the confidence and approval of good men everywhere.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

435

JOHN ADAMS.

JOHN ADAMS, second President of the United States,
was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, October 19, 1735.
He graduated from Harvard College at the age of twenty,
and immediately occupied the position of Latin master in the
grammar school
at Worcester.
While teaching
school he found
time to read law
with an attorney
at Worcester, and
in 1758 he was
formally ad-
mitted to the bar
as attorney-at-
law in his maj-
esty's courts of
the province. In
1764 he married
Abigail, daughter
of Rev. William
Smith, of Wey-
mouth, and granddaughter of Colonel John Quincy, of Mt.
Wollaston, of colonial fame.

Adams began his political career by offering public reso-
lutions at Braintree, and maintaining an argument in behalf
of the town of Boston, addressed to the Colonial Govern-

JOHN ADAMS.

436 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

ment in opposition to the Stamp Act. He published, at
about the same date, several papers in the Boston Gazette,
which were reprinted in London by Thomas Hollis, who
gave them the unfortunate title, "A Dissertation on the
Canon and the Feudal Law," which has probably prevented
many persons looking at the tract who would be interested
in its review of the principles of the New England settle-
ments and its vigorous appeal to the people in the then ex-
isting struggle. Shortly thereafter he was elected to the
General Court, as the legislative body was then called in
Massachusetts.

In 1774 he was appointed by the General Court one of
the representatives to the Congress at Philadelphia, his as-
sociates being Thomas Gushing, Samuel Adams, and Robert
Treat Paine. The business of Congress at once engaged his
attention, and a session full of work was experienced, if not
enjoyed. Returning to Massachusetts after the performance
of these duties, he was chosen to the Provincial Congress,
already quite busy with revolt. Three weeks after the bat-
tle of Lexington he was at Philadelphia, in attendance upon
the Second Congress. Early upon the assembling of that
body he proposed Washington for commander-in-chief ; "the
modest, the virtuous, the amiable, generous, and brave," as
he called him in a letter to his wife.

During the session, Adams was diligently employed in
the preparatory measures which led to the Declaration of
Independence. July 3, 1776, on the passage of Lee's reso-
lution of independence, he wrote to his wife as follows :
"Yesterday the greatest question was decided which ever
was debated in America, and a greater, perhaps, never was

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 437

nor will be decided among men. The second day of July,
1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of
America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by
succeeding generations as the 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 the other, from this time forward,
for ever more."

Adams was on the committee to prepare the declaration,
and was active in the debate. In the absence of the pres-
ent system of executive duties of government, the old Con-
gress was compelled to resort to the awkward expedient of
boards, in which the honor and efficiency, rather than the
toil, were diminished by the division of labor. Adams was
made chairman of the Board of War, and was much em-
ployed in military affairs till his departure from Congress at
the close of the next year.

Having become dissatisfied with the management of
Silas Dean in France, Congress, in 1777, appointed Adams
in his place. He remained abroad only eighteen months,
and was recalled at his own request. He arrived at Boston
on the second of August, 1779, and within a week from that
date was elected by his fellow-citizens of Braintree their
delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts.
Before this duty was complete, he was again sent abroad to
negotiate treaties of peace and alliance with foreign nations,
at which he was employed for several years, and in 1785 he
was appointed the first American minister to England.

438 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

In the spring of 1788 he returned to America. It was
the period of the adoption of the Federal Constitution, and
when that instrument went fully into effect it was found
that Adams had been chosen Vice-president, he having re-
ceived the greatest number of votes of the electors, next to
Washington. He held this office during both terms of
Washington's administration, and gave active and often im-
portant assistance and support to the President.

In 1797 he succeeded to the Presidency, by a vote of
seventy-one over sixty-eight for Jefferson. He found the
country in imminent danger of a conflict with France, but
the difficulty was peacefully settled. His administration is
noted by the fact that under it the celebrated alien and se-
dition laws were enacted. His Presidency closed with a
single term and the obstinate struggle which resulted in the
election of Jefferson. In his retirement at Quincy he was
full of activity, writing for the press and reviving for pos-
terity past scenes of the history in which he was a part in
an autobiographical memoir.

In 1818, when he was in his eighty-third year, his wife,
one of the mothers of America, full of the sweetest and
grandest memories of the past, was taken from him. His
last public service was an occasional attendance at the con-
vention for the formation of a new Constitution for Massa-
chusetts, he then being eighty-five. Returning to thoughts
of early friendship, he corresponded with Jefferson. The
two venerable fathers of the Republic, Jefferson at the age
of eighty-three, John Adams at ninety, died simultaneously
upon the fiftieth anniversary of the Nation's birth, July 4,
1826. A few days before his death, the orator of his native

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 439

town called upon Adams for a toast to be presented at the
ensuing anniversary. " Independence forever !" was the re-
ply. As the sentiment was delivered at the banquet amid
ringing plaudits," the soul of the dying patriot was passing
from earth to eternity. -

THOMAS JEKKERSOK.

1 ^HOMAS JEFFERSON, third President of the United
States, was born at Shadwell, Virginia, April 2, 1743.
He had good private tutors during childhood and youth, and
in 1760 entered William and Mary College. Here he re-
mained but two years, but his education was happily con-
tinued in his immediate entrance upon the study of the law
with George Wythe, the eminent chancellor of Virginia in
after days.

In 1767 he was introduced to the bar of the General
Court of Virginia, and immediately entered upon a success-
ful career of practice, interrupted only by the Revolution.
He was a well-trained, skilful lawyer, an adept in the cas-
uisty of legal questions. He was more distinguished, how-
ever, for ability in argument than for power as an orator.

His first entrance upon political life was in 1769, when
he was sent from the county of Albemarle to the House of
Burgesses. It was at the entrance upon a troublous time
in the consideration of national grievances, and we find him
engaged at once in preparing the resolutions and address to
the governor's message. The House, in reply to recent
declarations of Parliament, reasserted the American princi-

440

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

pies of taxation and petition, and other questions in jeop-
ardy, and in consequence was promptly dissolved by Lord
Botetourt. Next day the members, George Washington
among them, met at the Raleigh tavern and pledged them-
selves to a non-importation agreement.

Next year, after the conflagration of the house at Shad-
well, he took up his residence at the adjacent " Monticello,"

also upon his pa-
ternal grounds, in
a portion of the
edifice so famous
afterwards as the
dwelling-place of
his maturer years.
In 1772, on New-
Year's Day, he
assumed the re-
sponsibilities of
domestic life in
marriage with
Mrs. Martha Skel-
ton, a widow of
twenty-three, of
THOMAS JEFFFRSON. much beauty, ex-

tensive general culture, and many winning accomplishments.
Political affairs were soon calling for additional legisla-
tive attention. The renewed claim of the British to send
persons for State offenses to England, brought forward in
Rhode Island, awakened a strong feeling of resistance among
the Virginia delegates. A portion of them, including Jef-

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 441

ferson, met at the Raleigh tavern and drew up resolutions
' creating a committee of correspondence to watch the pro-
ceedings of Parliament and keep up communication with the
colonies. These resolutions passed the Burgesses, and a
committee, all notable men of the Revolution, was appointed.
It included Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, Patrick
Henry, and others, ending with Jefferson. Then the Earl
of Dunmore, following the example of his predecessor, dis-
solved the House.

Next year the new Legislature met, and roused by the
passage of the Boston Port Bill, a few members, says Jef-
ferson, including Henry and himself, resolved to place the
Assembly "in line with Massachusetts."

The expedient they hit upon was a fast day, which, by
the help of some Puritan precedents they "cooked up" and
placed in the hands of a grave member to lay before the
House. It was passed, and the governor, as usual, dissolved
the assembly. The fast was appointed for the first of June,
the day on which the obnoxious bill was to take effect, and
there was certainly one man in Virginia who kept it. We
may read in the diary of George Washington of that date,
"Went to Church and fasted all day."

The dissolved assembly again met at the Raleigh and
decided upon a convention, to be elected by the people of
the several counties, and held at Williamsburg, so that two
bodies had to be chosen, one to assemble in the new House
of Burgesses, the other beyond reach of government con-
trol. The same members, those of the previous House,
were sent for both. Jefferson again represented the free-
holders of Albemarle. The instructions which the county

442 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

gave, supposed from his pen, assert the independence of
the Colonial Legislature as the sole fount of authority in
new laws.

The Williamsburg convention met and appointed dele-
gates to the first general Congress. Jefferson was detained
from the assembly by illness, but he forwarded a draft
of instructions for the delegates, which was not adopted,
but ordered printed by the members. It bore the title, "A
Summary View of the Rights of British America." It
reached England, was taken up by the opposition, and, with
some interpolations from Burke, passed through several edi-
tions. Though in advance of the judgment of the people,
who were slow in coming up to the true principles of the
great reform, the "view" undoubtedly assisted that judg-
ment. But so slow was the progress of opinion at the out-
set that, at the moment when this paper was written, only
a few leaders, such as Samuel Adams and Patrick Henry,
were capable of appreciating it. The country was not yet
ready to receive its virtual declaration of independence.

The Congress of 1774 met, but adopted milder forms of
petition, better adapted to the moderation of their senti-
ments. Meanwhile committees of safety were organized in
Virginia, and Jefferson headed the list in his county. He
also attended the second Virginia convention at Richmond,
and listened to Patrick Henry's impassioned appeal to the
God of battles, " I repeat it, sir, we must fight !" The as-
sembly adopted the view, and set about preparing means of
defense. Delegates to the first Congress were elected to
the second, and it was understood that in case Peyton Ran-
dolph should be called to preside over the House of Bur-

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 443

gesses, Thomas Jefferson was to be his successor at Phila-
delphia. The House met. Randolph was elected and Jeffer-
son departed to fill his place, bearing with him to Congress
the spirited resolutions of the assembly, which he had
written and driven through in reply to the conciliatory
propositions of Lord North. It was a characteristic intro-
duction, immediately followed by his appointment on the
committee charged to prepare a declaration of the causes of
taking up arms, Congress' having just chosen Washington
commander-in-chief of a national army.

June 11, 1776, a committee was appointed in Congress
to prepare a Declaration of Independence. Jefferson took
the place of Richard Henry Lee on the committee, with
John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and
Robert R. Livingston. The preparation of the instrument
was intrusted to Jefferson. "The committee desired me to
do it; it was accordingly done," says his autobiography.
The dr*aft thus prepared, with a few verbal corrections from
Franklin and Adams, was submitted to the House June
28th. On July 2d it was taken up in debate, and earnestly
battled for three days, when, on the afternoon of the ever-
memorable Fourth, it was finally reported, agreed to, and
signed. The paper stands substantially as first reported by
Jefferson. It is intimately related to his previous resolu-
tions and reports in Virginia and the Congress, and what-
ever merit may attach to the composition belongs to him.

He was elected to the next Congress, but pleading the
state of his family affairs, and desirous to take part in the
formative measures of government then arising in Virginia,
he was permitted to resign. He declined also, immediately

444 THE VOTERS' HANDBOOK.

after, an appointment by Congress, as fellow-minister to
France with Dr. Franklin. In the following October he
took his seat in the Virginia House of Delegates, and com-
menced those efforts of reform with which his name will
always be identified, and which did not end till the social
condition of his State was thoroughly revolutionized. His
first great blow was a bill abolishing entails, which, with
one subsequently brought in, cutting off the right of primo-
geniture, leveled the great landed aristocracy which had
therebefore governed in the country. He was also, at about
the time of the passing of these acts, created one of the
committee for the general revision of the laws, his active
associates being Edmund Pendleton and George Wythe.
This vast work was not completed till June, 1779 an in-
terval of more than two years. Among the one hundred
and sixteen new bills reported, was one by Jefferson estab-
lishing religious freedom which abolished tithes, and left
all men free "to profess, and by argument to maintain their
opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in
nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." A
concurrent act provided for the preservation of the glebe
lands to Church members.

He proposed a system of free common school education,
a method of re-organization for William and Mary College,
and provision for a free State library.

In 1779 Mr. Jefferson succeeded Patrick Henry as gov-
ernor of Virginia, falling upon a period of administration re-
quiring military defense of the State less suited to his
talents than the reforming legislation in which he had been
recently engaged. His wife died in September, 1782. Her

LIVES OF TEE PRESIDENTS. 445

illness had prevented his acceptance of an appointment in
Europe, to negotiate terms of peace. A similar office was
now tendered him the third proffer of the kind by Con-
gress and, looking upon it as a relief to his distracted
mind, as well as a duty to the State, he accepted. Before
preparations for his departure were completed, intelligence
was received of the progress of peace negotiations, and the
voyage was abandoned.

November, 1783, he was returned to Congress, where
one of his first duties the following month was as chairman
of the committee of arrangements for the reception of Wash-
ington on his resignation of command. In 1784 we find him
making his mark in the debates upon the ratification of the
treaty of peace. In his suggestions upon the establishment
of a money unit and a national coinage, which were subse-
quently adopted, he gave us the decimal system and the
denomination of a cent ; the cession of the Northwestern
Territory by Virginia, with his report for its government,
proposing names for its new States, and the exclusion of
slavery after the year 1800 ; and taking an active part in
the arrangement of commercial treaties with foreign nations.
In the latter he was destined to be an actor as well as de-
signer, for Congress, on 7th May, appointed him to act in
Europe with Adams and Franklin in the accomplishment of
these negotiations.

In the summer of 1785 Dr. Franklin resigned from the
French embassy, and Jefferson remained in Paris as his suc-
cessor. Returning to the United States in 1789, President
Washington appointed him Secretary of State, which posi-
tion he filled with honor till 1793, performing noble work.

446 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

Four years he remained in retirement at Monticello, and in
1797, upon the election of John Adams, reappeared upon
the political stage as Vice-president. The storm of party
began under Adams, and one of its results was the election
of Jefferson to the Presidency in 1800.

Among the earlier of his measures, and the most im-
portant during his eight years as Chief Magistrate, was the
acquisition of Louisiana by purchase from France. From
the first moment of learning that this territory was passing
from Spain to France, he dropped all political sympathy
with the latter, and saw in her possession of the region only
a pregnant source of war and hostility. An active European
nation of the first class in possession of the mouth of the
Mississippi was utterly inadmissible to his sagacious mind.
He saw and felt the fact in all its consequences. At the
succeeding presidential contest, Jefferson was borne into of-
fice, spite of a vigorous opposition, by a voe of one hundred
and sixty-two in the electoral college to fourteen for Charles
C. Pinckney.

The main events of his second administration were the
trial of Burr for his alleged Western conspiracy and the
measures adopted against the naval aggressions of England,
which culminated in the famous " Embargo," by which the
foreign trade of the country was annihilated at a blow that
Great Britain might be reached in her commercial interests.
His second term expired in 1809, and he retired from office
while the country was in an agitated state in reference to
its foreign policy, but with many elements at home of en-
during prosperity and grandeur.

He had been too much of a reformer not to suffer more

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 447

than most men the obloquy of party ; but he lived in retire-
ment during the remaining seventeen years of his life under
the popular designation, " the Sage of Monticello." If in
his latter days ainy subject was dearer to his heart than an-
other it was the course of education in the organization and
government of his favorite University of Virginia. Its cur-
riculum reflected his tastes ; its government was of his con-
trivance ; he looked abroad for its first professors ; and its
architectural plans, in which he took great interest, were
mainly arranged by him. He was chosen by the board of
visitors and appointed by the governor its rector, and died
holding the office. An inscription for his monument, which
was found among his papers after death, reads : " Here lies
buried Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of
American Independence, of the Statute of Virginia for Re-
ligious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia."
On the 4th July, 1826, his spirit passed to the other shore.

MADISON.

JAMES MADISON, fourth President of the United
States, was born in Orange county, Virginia, March 16,
1751. He received his early education at a boarding-school,
presided over by Donald Robertson, with whom he was
placed at the age of twelve. He was prepared for college
by the clergyman of his parish, Rev. Thomas Martin, and
entered Princeton in 1768. In three years thereafter he
graduated with honor.

448

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

In the first General Convention of the State of Virginia,
which organized its independence in 1776, at Williams burg,
Madison was a delegate from his district. He was one of
a committee appointed to frame a constitution, and rendered
valuable services. He sat with Jefferson in the first Legis-
lative Assembly under the Constitution at Williamsburg, but

lost his election
to the next ses-
sion by his re-
sistance to the
popular custom,
inherited from
the Anglican co-
lonial times, of
"treating" the
electors.

He was sent
to the National
Congress, at Phil-
adelphia, in 1780,
where he served
till the conclusion
of peace. The
services rendered by him during this period were rather
those of a counselor and committee-man than those of a de-
bater. But if we hear little of the oratory of Madison,
there is much to be said of his services to the old Congress.
They were those of the statesman, continually employed in
eking out the resources, sustaining the credit, and adjusting
the irregular machinery of an imperfect system of govern-

JAMES MADISON.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 449

ment. After the first glow of patriotism, in the early
scenes of the Revolution, there was more of toil than of
glory in the labors of Congress. But they had one com-
pensation. They were well calculated to discipline the
statesmen who engaged in them, and enlighten the public
upon the necessities and claims of a just government. Out
of the troubled strife and confusion came forth, with others,
Jay, Hamilton, and Madison, and the Nation, after long
pains, brought forth the Constitution.

We find him, at one time, discharging with consummate
ability, duties which in these days would fall to a Secretary
of State ; among other things the preparation of a paper to
be sent to the minister in Spain, enforcing the claim to the
free navigation of the Mississippi. Upon his return to Mont-
pelier, he gave special attention to the study of the law,
but rather with a view to statesmanship than with any
intention to engage in the ordinary conflicts of the pro-
fession.

From 1784 to 1786 he was a member of the Virginia
Legislature, and in the latter year was re-appointed a mem-
ber of the old Congress. In 1794 he was married with
Mrs. Todd, a young widow of Philadelphia, better known
by her maiden name, Dolly Payne. The marriage was most
happy. Upon the 'election of Jefferson to the Presidency,
in 1801, Madison became Secretary of State, and discharged
the duties of the office till he was in 1809 called to succeed
his friend at the head of the government.

The conflict with England was the chief event of Madi-
son's administrations. He was a man of peace, not of the
sword, and needed not the terror and indecorum of the flight

450 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

from Washington, and the burning of the Capitol, to impress
upon him the unsatisfactory necessities of war. Public
opinion was divided as to the wisdom of the contest, and it
is to the credit of Madison that, although he entered upon
the apparently inevitable hostilities with reluctance, he
maintained the struggle firmly and brought it to an early
close.

He retired to his seat at Montpelier in 1817, and with
the exception of his participation as a member of the con-
vention at Richmond, in 1829, for the revision of the Con-
stitution of Virginia, he is said never to have left his district
for the remainder of his life. He died June 28, 1836, the
last of the signers of the Constitution to join " the silent
majority."

"Purity, modesty, decorum a moderation, temperance
and virtue in every thing," said the late Senator Benton,
" were the characteristics of Mr. Madison's life and manners."

JAMES MONROK.

THE fifth President of the United States, James Monroe,
was born in April, 1758, in Westmoreland County, Vir-
ginia, on the Potomac a region remarkable in the history
of the country as the birthplace of Washington, Madison,
and of the distinguished family of the tees.

He was educated at the College of William and Mary,
which he left to take part in the early struggles of the army
of Washington a cause which in the breast of Virginians
superseded all ordinary duties and occupations. He joined

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

451

the American forces at New York in time to participate in
the courageous retreat after the battle of Long Island.

He was in the action at Harlem Heights and the subse-
quent battle of White Plains, and in the retreat through the
Jerseys. His company was in the van of the,, battle of
Trenton, where he
was severely
wounded. He was
with Lord Stirling,
acting as his aid in
the campaigns of
1777-78, and dis-
tinguished himself
at Brandy wine,
Germantown, and
Monmouth. In
1780 he was spe-
cially employed by
Governor Jefferson
to visit the South-
ern army as a mili-
tary commissioner,
to make a report
upon its condition.

In 1782 he was elected a member of the Virginia Legis-
lature, and shortly promoted by that body to a seat in its
executive council. In June, 1783, he' was chosen member
of Congress, and sat at its meeting at Annapolis when Wash-
ington resigned his military commission at the close of the
war.

JAMES MONROE.

452 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

The three years' service of Mr. Monroe in Congress closed
in 1786. During that term he married Miss Kortright, a
lady of New York, of an old and respectable family of the
State, of whose personal merits John Quincy Adams said :
" It were impossible to speak in terms of exaggeration. She
was, for a period little short of half a century, the cher-
ished and affectionate partner of her husband's life and
fortune. . . . The companion of his youth was the solace
of his declining years, and to the close of life enjoyed the
testimonial of his affection, that with the external beauty and
elegance of deportment, conspicuous to all who were honored
with her acquaintance, she united the more precious and
endearing qualities which mark the fulfillment of all social
duties, and adorn with grace and fill with enjoyment the
tender relations of domestic life."

In 1787 he was returned to the Assembly of Virginia.
In the year following he was a member of the convention
of his State, called to decide upon the acceptance of the
Constitution. In 1789 he was elected to the Senate of the
United States to fill the vacancy caused by the death of
William Grayson, one of the first members chosen. He con-
tinued in the Senate until 1794, when he was appointed by
Washington minister to France, contemporaneously with
Chief-justice Jay to the court of Great Britain.

He was recalled in 1797, and succeeded by General C.
C. Pinckney. He was immediately returned to the Virginia
Legislature, and soon elected governor of the State, holding
the office for the constitutional term of three years. Early
in 1803 he was again called upon by the President to pro-
ceed to France as minister extraordinary to take part in

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 453

the negotiations already commenced by the resident minister,
Robert R. Livingston, for the purchase or cession of Loui-
siana. Within a month after Monroe's arrival in Paris, the
treaty was concluded, ceding Louisiana to the United States.
A more advantageous purchase has seldom been made by any
nation, and the successful event of the negotiation was the
glory of Jefferson's administration.

Mr. Monroe went from Paris to London, the successor
of Rufus King as minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain.
He immediately entered upon his duties, and was busy with
the open maritime questions between the two nations, when
he was called by President Jefferson to proceed to Spain
and assist Charles Pinckney, the minister to that court, in
the negotiations respecting claims for damages and the settle-
ment of the disputed Louisiana boundary question. Though
little resulted at the time from the discussions, the diplo-
matic papers of Monroe remain, in the language of John
Quincy Adams, " Solid monuments of intellectual power ap-
plied to national claims of right, deserving the close and
scrutinizing attention of every American statesman."

In 1805 he resumed his duties in London, and in the
question of England's aggressions upon our commerce, was
enabled to conclude a treaty in 1807, which, although not
satisfactory, was the best obtainable under the complicated
difficulties of the times, when England had her war interests
to maintain, and the United States had not the means of
enforcing her positions.

Monroe's next public office was governor of Virginia for
the second time, in 1810 ; and toward the close of the fol-
lowing year he was called by Madison to the Secretaryship

454 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

of State. He continued in this relation during the remain-
der of Madison's Presidency. Monroe was called to the
Presidency in 1819 by a large majority of the electoral vote.
His inaugural, which was well received by the public, intro-
duced the topics of a new era. He urged measures for the
national defense, and favored the elements of national pros-
perity in internal improvements and home manufactures.
His conciliatory policy looking to the welfare of the country
was evident.

The chief events of Mr. Monroe's first term were the ad-
mission of Mississippi, Illinois, and Alabama as new States,
and the important cession of Florida by Spain, in 1819,
completing the work of annexation commenced in the pur-
cha'se of Louisiana. When the time for re-election came
around, President Monroe was again chosen, with but one dis-
senting vote, that of New Hampshire, which was given to
John Quincy Adams.

He continued to pursue a liberal policy of internal im-
provements within the limits of the Constitution, to forward
the military defenses on land, and the growth and employ-
ment of the navy at sea. At the close of his administra-
tion, he thus took leave of the. public : " I can not con-
clude this communication," ends his eighth annual message,
"the last of the kind which I shall have to make, without
recollecting, with great sensibility and heart-felt gratitude,
the many instances of public confidence, and the generous
support which I have received from my fellow-citizens in
the various trusts with which I have been honored. Hav-
ing commenced my service in early youth, and continued it
since, with few and short intervals, I have witnessed the

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 455

great difficulties to which our Union has been exposed, and
admired the virtue and courage with which they were sur-
mounted."

He retired from Washington to a temporary residence in
Loudon County, where, true to a policy of usefulness which
had governed him through life, he discharged the duties of
justice of the peace. He was chosen president of the con-
vention which sat to revise the Constitution of Virginia, in
the winter of 182930, but ill health and the infirmities of
advanced life, compelled him to resign his seat before the
adjournment of that body. He died July 4, 1831, " the
flickering lamp of life holding its lingering flame as if to
await the day of the Nation's birth and glory."

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, sixth President of the United
States, was born at Braintree, Massachusetts, in that part
of the town which was afterwards set off and incorporated
by the name of Quincy, llth of July, 1767.

Mr. Adams was favored in the period which his life cov-
ered, as well as in the influences under which it commenced.
His history runs back to the beginning of the Revolution,
embraces its trying and stimulating experiences, and in-
cludes the entire range of wonderful events which were ac-
cumulated in the action of near seventy busy years.

At the age of eleven he accompanied his father to
France, and during the period of their stay about eighteen

456

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

months he was kept in a French school, studying the
native language, with the usual classical exercises, which
were nowhere better taught at that time than in the insti-
tutions of Paris. He returned in 1779, but in three months
Congress again dispatched his father to Europe, and John
Quincy accompanied him.

Upon this trip the frigate in which they sailed sprang a
leak, in a gale of wind, and was forced to vary from her

port of destination,
which was Brest,
and to put into the
port of Ferrol, in
Spain. From there
they traveled to
Paris ; from Paris
to Holland. The lad
was put to school in
Paris, afterwards, in
Amsterdam, and fi-
nally, in the Uni-
versity of Leyden.
In July, 1781,
Francis Dana, who
had been secretary
to the embassy of
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS John Adams, was

commissioned plenipotentiary to Russia, and he took with
him John Quincy Adams, then at the age of fourteen, as
his private secretary.

His letters from St. Petersburg to friends in America

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. . 457

betray a marked intelligence and power of observation early
awakened. He remained in Russia with Mr. Dana till Oc-
tober, 1782, when he left St. Petersburg and returned alone,
through Sweden", Denmark, Hamburg, and Bremen, to Hol-
land, spending the winter in the route, and stopping some
time in Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Hamburg. In Holland
he remained several months, till his father took him from
The Hague to Paris, where he was present at the signing of
the treaty of peace, in September, 1783, and from that time
to May, 1785, he was with his father in England and Holland,
as well as in France. At London he had rare opportunities
for the early formation of the future statesman, enjoying
the advantage of introductions by distinguished members of
Parliament, upon the floor of the House, and listening many
times to the eloquence of Burke, Pitt, Fox, Sheridan, and
other eminent orators, whose great talents at that time
adorned the British nation.

In his eighteenth year his father yielded to his solicita-
tions and permitted him to return to his native land. He
entered Harvard University at an advanced standing, and was
graduated Bachelor of Arts in 1787 with distinguished honor.
He then entered the office, at Newburyport, of the cele-
brated Theophilus Parsons, afterwards chief-justice of Mas-
sachusetts. Upon completing the study of the law, he en-
tered the profession, and established himself in Boston. He
remained there four years, extending his acquaintance with
the first principles of law, and taking part in the important
questions which then engrossed the attention of the people.

In April, 1793, before Washington had published his
proclamation of neutrality, and before it was known he con-

458 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

templated doing it, Mr. Adams published three articles
signed "Marcellus," strongly arguing that the United States
ought to assume such a position in the war then begun be-
tween England and France. In these papers he laid down
his creed, as a statesman, in two great central principles, to
which he ever afterwands steadfastly adhered, namely:
Union among ourselves, and independence of all entangling
alliance, or implication, with the policy or condition of for-
eign states. In the winter of 1793-94 he published
another series of papers, indicating the course of President
Washington in reference to the French minister, Genet.

These writings, in connection with Mr. Adams's previous
career, attracted the marked regard of Washington, and in
1794 he was appointed, without any intimation of such a
design to him or his father, minister of the United States to
the Netherlands. It appears that Mr. Jefferson recommended
him for this appointment. For a period of seven years
1794 to 1801 he was in Europe on diplomatic missions to
Holland, England, and Prussia.

Just before Washington retired from office, he appointed
him minister plenipotentiary to Portugal. On his way to
Lisbon he received a new commission, changing his destina-
tion to Berlin. He continued there from November, 1797,
to April, 1801, and completed an important treaty of com-
merce with Prussia. At the close of his father's adminis-
tration he returned home, arriving at Philadelphia in Sep-
tember, 1801.

In 1802 he was elected from Boston a member of the
Massachusetts Senate, and soon after, by the Legislature, a
Senator in Congress from the 4th of March, 1803. While

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 459

Senator he was appointed professor of rhetoric and oratory
at Harvard University, and his lectures, delivered in the re-
cesses of Congress, attracted great attention, and gathered
crowded and admiring audiences in addition to academical
hearers. They were subsequently published in two octavo
volumes. His powers of elocution were pre-eminent. He
resigned his seat in the Senate in 1808. In 1809 Madison
sent him as plenipotentiary to Russia.

While in Russia his services were of vast importance,
and produced effects upon our foreign relations yet felt
most beneficently. By his instrumentality the emperor of
Russia was induced to mediate for peace between Great
Britain and the United States, and President Madison named
Adams at the head of the commissioners sent to negotiate
the treaty which brought the war of 1812 to a close. This
transaction was at Ghent, in December, 1814. Henry Clay
and Albert Gallatin were upon the same commission. After
its conclusion, Adams proceeded, accompanied by them, to
London, and negotiated a convention of commerce with
Great Britain. He was then appointed minister at the court
of St. James.

There is a coincidence here worthy of note. As the
father, John Adams took the leading part in negotiating the
treaty with England, at the close of the Revolutionary war,
and was the first American embassador in London after that
event, so the son was at the head of the negotiators who
brought the second war with Great Britain to a close, and
presented his credentials as the first American embassador
at that court after the restoration of peace. In 1817 he
was called home by President Monroe, to what is really

460 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

the second office in the government, the Secretaryship of
State.

This was the close of Mr. Adams' career as a foreign
minister. It was perhaps the most brilliant, as it certainly
was the most varied and interesting, portion of his life. His
first appointment as minister was conferred upon him by
Washington, in accordance with the strong recommendation
of Jefferson. Madison, during his whole administration,
committed to him the most important trusts ; appointed him
to represent the United States at the two most powerful
courts in the world, St. Petersburg and St. James, and as-
signed him as the chief of that distinguished embassy which
arranged the treaty of Ghent. The encomium which Wash-
ington pronounced upon him, when as early as 1797 he de-
clared him "the most valuable public character we have
abroad, and the ablest of all our diplomatic corps," is but
the judgment that belongs to the whole long period of his
public service in Europe.

The act of Mr. Monroe in placing him at the head of
his cabinet met with the fullest approval of the country.
General Jackson gave utterance to his sense of approbation
when he pronounced Adams "the fittest person for the
office ; a man who would stand by his country in the hour
of danger." The portfolio of State was held by Mr. Adams
during the whole of Monroe's administration, a period of
eight years ; and the duties were discharged with such
ability and success as greatly increased the public confi-
dencein him as a statesman and patriot. The adjustment
of the claims of Spain, the acquisition of Florida, the recog-
nition of the South American Republics, with many other

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.. 461

important issues effected by his talent or under his potent
influence, and the vast amount of labor, generally, which he
expended in the service of the country, are matters of his-
tory, and we would gladly enlarge upon them did space
permit.

In the presidential election of 1824 Mr. Adams was one
of four candidates. As no one of them received a majority
of the electoral vote, the election was thrown into the House
of Representatives. On the 9th February, 1825, the two
branches of Congress convened together in the hall of the
House, to open, count, and declare the electoral vote. An-
drew Jackson was found to have 99, John Quincy Adams
84, William H. Crawford 41, and Henry Clay 37 votes. In
accordance with the Constitution, the Senate then withdrew,
and the House remained to cast ballots till a choice should
be made. It was required to vote by States. The Consti-
tution limited the election to the three candidates who had
the highest electoral vote ; and the balloting was to continue
till a majority of the States had declared for one of the
three. Mr. Adams having received as many popular votes
as General Jackson, the fact that the latter had received a
larger electoral vote did not have so much influence as
'would otherwise have belonged to it; so that at the moment
of balloting it was entirely uncertain which would be suc-
cessful. Thirteen States were necessary to a choice, the
whole number then being twenty-four. The ballots were
cast, and it was found that the six New England States,
with New York, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Mis-
souri, and Louisiana (thirteen) had declared for John Quincy
Adams ; and he was therefore duly elected President of the

462 * THE VOTERS 1 HAND-BOOK.

United States for four years, from the 4th March, 1825.
Henry Clay was instrumental in throwing the vote of
Kentucky in his favor, and perhaps the votes of other
States.

" His administration," says Edward Everett, " was, in its
principles and policy, a continuation of Mr. Monroe's. The
special object which he proposed to himself was to bind the
distant parts of the country together, and promote their
mutual prosperity by increased facilities of communication."
He was the most scholarly and best-informed President the
American people had ever elected, and his administration
was eminently dignified, moderate, conciliatory toward for-
eign powers, and wisely regardful of the future welfare of
the country. There were many elements of opposition at
work against a re-election, and in the complicated struggles
of the times there was no chance for a modest, retiring man,
no matter what his abilities might be. Adams encountered
a full measure of unpopularity, not for what he had either
done or omitted, but in response to the clamor of those who
were hungry for his place, and who were not scrupulous as
to the means employed to satisfy their ambition. He retired
to Quincy, to the home recently desolated by the decease of
his honored father.

But there was still something for him to do in the serv-
ice of his country. He was elected in November, 1830,
by his district to the House of Representatives, and served
in this capacity for more than sixteen years. He was the
most punctual man in the House, always on the alert, cool,
resolute, even pugnacious. The number and excellence of
speeches he made, and the amount of really good, valuable,

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 463

conscientious work he performed in these later years would
be a sufficient monument to his fame were it not that his
previous services were so distinguished and so infinitely su-
perior to those of most of his contemporaries.

He was approaching eighty, but still in the exercise of
his extraordinary faculties, when, in a recess of Congress,
walking in the streets of Boston in November, 1846, he was
stricken by paralysis, from which, nevertheless, he recovered
in time to take his seat in Congress early in the session.
The House rose to greet him, and he was conducted to
his chair with marked honors. He continued in the House
another year, when the final messenger came, on Monday
morning, February 21, 1848. After passing Sunday in har-
mony with his elevated, religious life, he was observed to
ascend the steps of the Capitol with his accustomed alacrity.
As he rose to address the Speaker he was seized by a re-
turn of paralysis and fell, uttering, " This is the last of
earth; I am content." He was taken, as the House ad-
journed, to an adjacent room, where he lingered over
Washington's birthday to the 23d, when he died in the
Speaker's apartment, under the roof of the Capitol. His re-
mains were taken to Boston, reposed in state in Faneuil
Hall, and were quietly laid by the side of his parents in a
grove at Quincy. Thus lived and toiled and died "the Old
Man Eloquent."

464

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

ANDREW JACKSON.

A NDREW JACKSON, seventh President of the United
jL\. States, was born hi the territory now known as Union
County, North Carolina, March 15, 1767. His father died
a few days previous to his birth, and having left no means

of support for the
family, the mother
found a home for
herself and chil-
dren with a bro-
ther-in-law living
just over the line
in South Carolina.
Young Jackson
had fair advan-
tages of education,
for at quite an
early age we find
him at an academy
at Charlotte.

It is said to
have been his mo-
ther's design to
prepare him for the calling of a Presbyterian clergyman.
Such, indeed, might well have been his prospects, for he had
a nature capable of the service, had not the war of the Revo-
lution carried him in quite .a different direction. In 1779
came the invasion of South Carolina, the ruthless expedition

ANDREW JACKSON.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 465

of Prevost along the seaboard preceding the arrival of
Clinton and the fall of Charleston. The latter event oc-
curred in May of the following year, and Cornwallis felt
free to carry out his plan for the subjugation of the country.
Sending Tarleton before him, the very month of the surren-
der of the city, the war of devastation was carried to the
border of the State, to the very home of Jackson. The en-
gagement at the Waxhaws was one of the bloodiest in a se-
ries of bloody actions, which ended only with the final
termination of hostilities. It was a massacre rather than a
battle, and American blood was poured forth like water.
The mangled bodies of the wounded were brought into the
church of the settlement, where the mother of young Jack-
son, then a boy of thirteen, with himself and a brother, at-
tended the sick and wounded. That gory bed of war, con-
secrated by the spot where his father had worshiped, and
near where he reposed in lasting sleep, summoned the boy to
his baptism of blood.

He really began his military career at the age of four-
teen, and was soon after taken prisoner, together with an elder
brother. During his captivity he was ordered by a British
officer to perform some menial service, which he promptly
refused, and for this he was severely wounded with the
sword which the Englishman disgraced. He was educated
for the bar, and began practice in Nashville, Tennessee, but
soon relinquished his legal pursuits to gain a name in arms.

In the early part of the war of 1812, Congress having
voted to accept fifty thousand volunteers, Jackson appealed
to the militia of Tennessee, when twenty-five hundred en-
rolled their names and presented themselves ready for duty.

466 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

Jackson was their leader by nature as well as by choice.
They were accepted, and ordered to Natchez to watch the
operations of the British on the lower Mississippi.

Not long after, the commander received orders to disband
his men, as their services were no longer needed. To obey,
he foresaw, would be an act of great injustice to his follow-
ers, besides reflecting dishonor upon the country, and he re-
solved to disobey. He accordingly broke up his camp and
returned to Nashville, bringing all his sick with him whose
wants on the way he relieved with his private means and
there disbanded his troops in the midst of their homes.

After a short interval he was called to the field again,
and the course of his duty was marked out in the wild con-
tests of Indian warfare. Here for years he labored and
fought and diplomatized, with the most consummate wisdom
and undaunted courage. His treaty with the Creek Indians
on the " Hickory Ground " gave him the familiar sobriquet
of Old Hickory, but he was quite as much entitled to it on
account of his strength and endurance. The crowning glory
of his whole military career was gained at the battle of New
Orleans ; and it will ever illumine one of the brighest pages
of American history. On the 10th of December, 1814, the
British army under Sir Edward Packenham entered the out-
let of Lake Borgne, sixty miles north-east of New Orleans.
Four days afterward a flotilla of gun-boats which had been
placed to guard the lake was captured tyy the British, but
not till a severe loss had been inflicted upon the captors.

On 22d of December Packenham's advance reached the
Mississippi, nine miles below New Orleans. On the night
of the 23d, General Jackson sent a schooner down the river

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 467

to bombard the British camp, while at the same time he and
General Coffee advanced with two thousand Tennessee rifle-
men to attack Packenham's camp in front. After a bloody
assault Jackson was compelled to retire, the enemy losing
most in the engagement. On the following day Jackson fell
back and took a strong position along the canal, four miles
below the city. Packenham advanced, and on the 28th can-
nonaded the American position, with but little effect. On
New Year's day the attack was renewed. The heavy guns
of the British had been brought into position; but the
Americans easily held their ground, and the enemy was
again driven back. Packenham now made arrangements to
lead his whole army in a grand assault upon the American
lines.

Jackson was prepared for him. Earthworks had been
constructed and a long line of cotton bales and sand bags
thrown up for protection. On the morning of the memorable
8th of January, the British advanced. The battle began by
the light of early dawn and was ended before nine o'clock.
Packenham hurled column after column against the Ameri-
can position, and every column was hurled back in death
and dismay. The Americans, behind their breastworks,
were almost entirely secure from the enemy's fire, while
every discharge of the Tennessee and Kentucky rifles told
with awful effect upon the exposed veterans of England.
Packenham, trying to rally his men, was killed ; General
Gibbs, second in command, was mortally wounded; General
Keene fell disabled ; only General Lambert was left to call
the shattered fragments of the army from the field. Of the
British, quite seven hundred were killed ; fourteen hundred,

468 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

wounded ; five hundred, prisoners. The American loss was
eight killed and thirteen wounded. So far as operations by
land were concerned, this was the close of the war. Jackson
marched into New Orleans with his victorious army, and was
received with unbounded enthusiasm.

He returned to his home in Nashville; but in 1818 he
was again called upon to render military service in the ex-
pulsion of the Seminoles. Eager for the service, he sprang
to the work and conducted it in his own fashion, " taking
the responsibility " throughout, summoning volunteers to
accompany him from Tennessee without the formality of the
civil authority, advancing rapidly into Florida after his arri-
val at the frontier, capturing the Spanish fort of St. Marks,
and pushing thence to the Suwanee. General Mclntosh, the
half-breed who accompanied his march, performed feats of
valor in the destruction of the Seminoles. At the former
of these places, a trader from New Providence, a Scotchman
named Arbuthnot, a superior member of his class, and a pa-
cific man, fell into his hands ; and at the latter, a vagrant
English military adventurer, one Ambrister. Both of these
men were held under arrest, charged with complicity in the
Indian aggressions, and though entirely irresponsible to the
American commander, were summarily tried under his order
by court-martial on Spanish territory, at St. Marks, found
guilty, and executed on the spot. He refused to receive the
reconsideration by the court of its sentence, of Ambrister,
substituting stripes and imprisonment for death. He was
shot, and Arbuthnot was hung from the yard-arm of his own
vessel in the harbor. The remaining event of the campaign
was the capture of Pensacola, in which a garrison was left.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 469

General Jackson was the first governor of Florida, ap-
pointed by President Monroe after its acquisition by the Uni-
ted States. Previous to his nomination for the Presidency,
he had been judge, major-general, governor, and United States
Senator, and in every position had performed acts which
were famous enough to be talked about in all parts of the
Union. He was nominated to the high office in 1824, but
there were four candidates, none of whom had a majority
of the electoral vote; consequently the election was thrown
into the House, and John Quincy Adams was chosen. In
1828 Jackson was again nominated, and was triumphant.
In 1832 he was re-elected by a very large majority.

The record of these eight years of his presidential ser-
vice is the real beginning of a new history of the Demo-
cratic party; of the exertions of its most distinguished
representatives; of the establishment of its most cherished
principles its anti-bank creed in the overthrow of the
United States Bank, and the origination of the sub-treasury
system, which went into operation with his successor; the
reduction of the tariff; the opposition to internal improve-
ments ; the payment of the national debt. In addition to
the settlement of these long-agitated questions, his admin-
istrations were signalized by the removal of the Cherokees
from Georgia and the Creeks from Florida; while their for-
eign policy was candid and vigorous, bringing to a satisfactory
adjustment the outstanding claims upon France and other
nations, and maintaining friendly relations with England.
In all these measures the energetic hand of Jackson was
felt, but particularly was his character manifested in the
general conduct of the bank question, the collection of the

470 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

French indemnity, and the enforcement of the national au-
thority in South Carolina.

General Jackson's love of the Union was a deep and
abiding passion. He had no toleration for those who sought
to weaken this great instinct of nationality. No sophism
could divert his understanding from the plainest obligation
of duty to the whole country. He saw as clearly as , the
subtlest logician in the Senate the inevitable tendency of
any argument which would impair the allegiance of the
people to the central authority. " The Union must and shall
be preserved " was a prime article of his creed, but he little
anticipated at what cost it would be finally sustained.

He has passed away, but his record is enduring. On
the 8th of June, 1845, this child of the Revolution, this
conqueror of the implacable savage, this savior of New Or-
leans, this idol of his party an old man of seventy-eight,
but still young in spirit, closed his eyes in lasting repose.

MARTIN VAN BUREN.

MARTIN VAN BUREN, eighth President of the United
States, was born at Kinderhook, New York, Septem-
ber 5, 1782, and in his early years received the best edu-
cation that could then be obtained in the schools of his im-
mediate vicinity. Having sufficiently prepared himself for
the study of the law, he entered the office of Francis Syl-
vester, where he remained six years. He adopted the legal
profession to acquire the craft of statesmanship, rather than
as an occupation.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

471

In 1808 he was appointed surrogate of Columbia County.
In 1812, and also in 1816, he was elected a member of the
New York Senate. In 1821 he was elected a Senator of
the United States. In 1828 he was elected governor of
New York, but served in that capacity only a few weeks.
In March, 1829,
General Jackson
tendered him the
State portfolio in
his cabinet, which
he accepted and
held for two years,
when he resigned
to accept the ap-
pointment of min-
ister to England.
When his nomina-
tion to this latter
office was submit-
ted to the Senate
June 25, 1831 it
was rejected by the
casting vote of the
Vice-president, Mr.
Calhoun, and Mr. Van Buren was recalled. In May, 1832,
he was placed in nomination for the Vice-presidency and
elected by a large vote.

In 1836 he was nominated and elected to the chief
magistracy. The principal measure of his administration
was the establishment of the independent sub-treasury, by

MARTIN VAN BUREN.

472 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

which the business of the government was entirely separ-
ated from the affairs of the people. The panic of 1837 had
followed immediately upon the close of Jackson's adminis-
tration, and the people were anxious for some measure of
relief. The sub-treasury failed to help them.

General Harrison was elected to succeed Mr. Van Buren
in 1840, when he visited Europe. Upon his return, in 1848,
he was nominated for the Presidency by the Free-Soil party,
but did not receive any part of the electoral vote. In July
24, 1862, he died, at the ripe age of eighty years.

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, ninth President of
the United States, was born at Berkeley, Charles City
County, Virginia, February 9, 1773, and was educated at
Hampden-Sydney College. He was designed for the medical
profession, and, indeed, had made some progress in acquiring
a knowledge of its mysteries, when the death of his father
changed all his plans. He resolved to go into the army, and
was granted by Washington an ensign's commission in the
First Regiment U. S. Infantry, which was stationed at Fort
Washington, the present site of Cincinnati. The battle on
the Miamis was fought August 20, 1794, and a year after
brought forth its peaceful fruits in Wayne's treaty of Green-
ville, which closed the war.

Harrison was then tw,enty-three. He had won the rank
of captain, and was placed in command of Fort Washington,
where he at about the same time married with the daughter

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

473

of John Cleves Symmes, whose name is so honorably dis-
tinguished as the founder of Cincinnati. Shortly thereafter
President Adams appointed him secretary of the North-west
Territory, then under the government of St. Glair. After
the Territory was organized and entitled to a delegate in
Congress, in 1799, Harrison was chosen its representative.
Upon the division
of the Territory he
was withdrawn
from Congress to
discharge the du-

Territory of Indi-
ana, which includ-
ed the present
States of Indiana,
Illinois, Michigan,
and Wisconsin.

At the battle of
Tippecanoe, fought
November 7, 1811,
Harrison gained
great renown as a WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON.

successful commander against the savages. The intelligence
of his victory was received throughout the country with a
great outburst of enthusiasm. During the war of 1812 he
was made commander of the North-western Army of the
United States, and he bore a conspicuous part in the leading
events of the campaigns of 181213.

474 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

In 1814 he was appointed, in conjunction with his com-
panions in arms, Governor Shelby and General Cass, to
treat with the Indians of the North-west, at Greenville ; and
in the following year he was placed at the head of a com-
mission to treat generally with the Indians. In 1816 he
was elected to Congress from Ohio, and in 1818 was elected
to the United States Senate. In 1828 he was appointed
minister plenipotentiary to Colombia, but was recalled upon
the accession to the Presidency of General Jackson.

The National Whig Convention of 1836 nominated him
for the Presidency, but he was defeated by Van Buren. In
1840 he returned the compliment with interest, receiving
two hundred and thirty-four electoral votes against sixty for
Van Buren. He was inaugurated on 4th March, 1841, and
on the 4th of the following month the American people were
bereaved in his death. His last words, heard by his phy-
sician, but spoken as if addressed to his successor, are
worthy of repetition : " Sir, I wish you to understand the
true principles of the government. I wish them carried out.
I ask nothing more."

JOHN TYLKR.

JOHN TYLER, tenth President of the United States as
the constitutional successor of President Harrison, was
born at William sburg, Virginia, March 29, 1790. At the
age of twelve he entered the College of William and Mary,
whence he graduated in five years. Then he read law, was
admitted to the bar at nineteen ; elected to the Virginia

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

475

Legislature at twenty-two; sent to Congress at twenty-six;
governor of Virginia at thirty-five ; United States Senator
at thirty-seven. In the latter office he firmly supported the
administration of- Jackson, voting against the tariff bill of
1828, and against chartering the United States Bank.

President Harrison had called a special session of Con-
gress just previous to his decease, and after Tyler's succes-
sion a bill for the
establishment o f
"The Fiscal Bank
of the United
States " passed both
houses and was
sent to the Presi-
dent for signature.
He promptly vetoed
it. To meet his ob-
jections some modi-
fi cat ions were
made, but he again
vetoed the bill.
His administration
was stormy, and
quite unsatisfac-
tory to those to
whom he was indebted for his election to the Presidency.

In February, 1861, he was President of the memorable
Peace Convention, at Washington. Subsequently he was
chosen a Senator from Virginia, in the Confederate Congress.
He died on the 18th of January, 1862, at Richmond.

JOHN TYLER.

476

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

JAMES KNOX POLK.

TAMES K. POLK, eleventh President of the United
States, was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina,
November 2, 1795. He did not enjoy the best advantages
of elementary instruction, and, therefore, had arrived at the
age of twenty before he was fully prepared to enter the

University of North
Carolina, at Chapel
Hill. Here he was
very studious, and
graduated in 1818
with the first hon-
ors of his class.

He read law with
the celebrated Felix
Grundy, at Nash-
ville, Tenn., and
was admitted to
practice in 1820. In
1825 he was elected
to Congress from
Tennessee, and was
a member of the
JAMES KNOX POLK. House during four-

teen successive years. He was one of the strictest of the
strict constructionists, opposed to the re-charter of the Bank
of the United States; to a protective tariff; to internal
improvements ; to all enlarged ideas of nationality. He was

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 477

chairman of the committee of Ways and Means in Jackson's
administration, and at the sessions of 1835-37 was elected
Speaker of the House.

In 1839 he was elected governor of Tennessee, and while
in this office he recommended to his State a "well-regulated
system of internal improvements." At the National Demo-
cratic Convention held at Baltimore in 1844, he was nomi-
nated for the Presidency, and received the vote of fifteen
States to eleven for Clay, giving him a majority of the elec-
toral college of sixty-five.

The leading events of his administration were, the ad-
justment of the Oregon question with England, and the
war with Mexico. One of the results of the war, quite un-
anticipated, was the development of a candidate for the
Presidency as a successor for Mr. Polk, and another, equally
unlocked for, was the settlement and wonderful develop-
ment of California.

Little more than three months after his retirement from
the Presidency, June 15, 1849, Mr. Polk died, in the fifty-
fourth year of his age.

TAYLOR.

ZACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth President, was born in
Orange County, Virginia, November 24, 1784. His early
education was limited. In 1808 Jefferson appointed him a
lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry. In 1812 he was with
General Harrison in the West, and gained credit for his vig-
orous defense of Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, for which
President Madison conferred upon him the rank of major.

478

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

He was employed in the various Indian wars. In the
Black Hawk War of 1832 he appeared in the field and took
an active part as colonel in the concluding battle of Bad
Axe River. For distinguished services in the Florida war,
in 1836, he was rewarded with the brevet rank of brigadier

general, a nd
shortly after
with the chief
command in the
State. He re-
mained in Florida
tilll840,whenhe
was assigned to
the command of
the South-west-
ern division of
the army, with
head-quarters at
Fort J e s s u p ,
Louisiana. He
was ordered to
Texas in 1845,
and in March of
the fo How ing
year was directed to advance to the Mexican boundary, the
Rio Grande.

On the bank opposite Matamoras he built Fort Brown
and established a camp. The commander of the Mexican
forces summoned him to retire, which, of course, he refused.
A few days thereafter occurred the battle of Palo Alto, fol-

ZACHARY TAYLOR.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 479

lowed immediately by that of Resaca de la Palma ; and in
due course the storming of Monterey and the terrible strug-
gle at Buena Vista added fresh laurels to the victorious
wreaths of General Taylor.

The war closed in 1847, settling all points in dispute
between this country and Mexico. In the following year
the National Whig Convention nominated General Taylor
for the Presidency, and the vote of the electoral college
was cast for him to the number of one hundred and sixty-
three against one hundred and twenty-seven for General
Cass. His short administration was moderate in tone, char-
acterized by deliberation and sound judgment, and his death,
after he had held the office but fifteen months, was univer-
sally lamented. He died at the executive mansion in Wash-
ington, July 9, 1850.

MILLARD FILLMORE, thirteenth President, as the
constitutional successor of President Taylor, deceased,
was born in Cayuga County, New York, January 7, 1800.
The limited means of his parents denied him the facilities
for education, beyond the most ordinary rudiments, and from
the age of fifteen to nineteen he was compelled to earn his
own subsistence. He then formed the acquaintance of Judge
Wood, at Niles, New York, who very generously became his
patron, took him into his office, gave him the use of a fine
library, and furnished him money to meet necessary expenses
while he pursued the study of the law.

At the age of twenty-one he removed to Erie County,

480

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

and entered a law-office in Buffalo, and in 1823 he was ad-
mitted to the bar and began practice at Aurora. In 1828
he was elected a member of the New York Legislature ; in
1833 he was elected to Congress, and also in 1836, 1838
and 1841. Although re-nominated by the Whigs of his dis-
trict, he declined further re-election. In 1847 he was chosen

comptroller of New
York, and com-
menced his new du-
ties at Albany at
the beginning of
1848, but before
the year closed he
was nominated and
elected Vice-presi-
dent.

He entered upon
the Presidency of
the Senate in
March, 1849. It
was an office whose
duties he was well
fitted to discharge,
MILLARD FJLLMORE. and he left behind

him, when he was called to the higher station, a happy im-
pression of his moderation and urbanity. On 9th July, 1850,
while Congress was in session, the sudden death of General
Taylor devolved upon him the cares and responsibilities of
the Presidency. On the 10th. attended by a committee of
the two Houses and the members of the late President's

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 481

cabinet, the oath of office was administered to him in the
hall of Representatives.

Under President Fillmore's administration the boundary
between Texas and New Mexico was adjusted, California
was admitted, Utah Territory was organized, and the Fugi-
tive Slave Law was enacted. His term closed in March,
1853. The following year he made a tour of the South, and
in 1855 visited Europe. In 1856 he was nominated for the
Presidency by the "American" party, but received the vote
of only the single State of Maryland. He died in 1874.

T^RANKLIN PIERCE, fourteenth President, was born at
A Hillsboro, New Hampshire, November 23, 1804, and at
an. early age received the advantages of a liberal education.
After taking the collegiate course at Bowdoin, which he en-
tered at the age of sixteen, he was admitted as a student to
the office of Judge Woodbury, at Portsmouth, whence he
was transferred, at the expiration of a year, to the law
school at Northampton, where he remained two years, and
then finished his studies with Judge Parker, at Amherst.
Although his rise at the bar was not rapid, by degrees he
attained the highest rank as a lawyer and advocate.

In 1829 he was elected to represent his native town in
the State Legislature, where he served four years, and during
the last two was Speaker. From 1833 to 1837 he was a
Representative in Congress, and was then elected to the
United States Senate, having barely reached the legal age

482

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

to qualify him for a seat in that body. At the expiration
of his senatorial term he was re-elected, but resigned the
following year to devote all his time to his legal practice,
which had become very extensive.

In 1846 he declined the office of Attorney-general, ten-
dered by President Polk ; but when war with Mexico broke

out he was active
in raising the New
England regiment,
and afterwards ac-
cepted the commis-
sion of brigadier-
general, and at once
repaired to the
scene of conflict,
where he was dis-
tingished in sev-
eral battles. The
Democratic Con-
vention at Balti-
more, in 1852,
unexpectedly nom-
inated him for the

FRANKLIN PIERCE. P T Q S 1 d 6 n C y , to

which office he was elected by a large majority.

His administration was marked by no extraordinary
events of foreign or domestic policy, except the revival of
the slavery agitation in the passage of the Kansas and Ne-
braska Territorial bill in 1854, setting aside the geograph-
cal limit imposed by the compromise of 1850. At the

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 483

expiration of his term, March 4, 1857, he returned to New
Hampshire and remained in private life to the end of his
days, October 8 ; 1869, when he died greatly lamented.

JAN1KS BUCHANAN.

JAMES BUCHANAN, fifteenth Presidenf of the United
States, was born at Stony Buttes, Franklin County,
Pennsylvania, April 23, 1791. He was well educated from
early youth till his entrance upon public life. At the age
of fourteen he entered Dickinson College, at Carlisle. He
received his degree in 1809, and three years thereafter was
admitted to the bar. Applying himself diligently to his
profession, at Lancaster, he early acquired a lucrative
practice.

In 1814 he began political life as a member of the Legis-
lature of Pennsylvania. In 1820 he was sent as a Representa-
tive to Congress, where he remained ten years, at the expira-
tion of which period he declined a re-election. In 1831 he was
appointed minister to Russia, by President Jackson, of whom
he was always the consistent friend and supporter, and with
that power he negotiated a commercial treaty which proved
of great advantage to American commerce.

In December, 1834, he took his seat in the Senate of
the United States, and continued a member of that body till
1845, when he accepted the State portfolio in the cabinet
of President Polk. He held this responsible position till
the expiration of President Polk's term, when he returned
to Lancaster. But he did not, by any means, become an

484

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

idle spectator of passing events. His letters and speeches
prove that he was no less vigilant as a private citizen than
as a counselor in the cabinet or a Representative and Sen-
ator in Congress.

Upon the accession of Mr. Pierce to the Presidency, in
1853, Mr. Buchanan was appointed minister to England.

With that country
questions were then
pending which re-
quired great pru-
dence and discrimi-
nation for satisfac-
tory adjustment. In
his intercourse with
the British diplo-
matists he was not
only discreet, but
displayed sound
sense, courtly for-
bearance, a just as-
sertion of our
rights, and the true
dignity of the
JAMES BUCHANAN. American character.

So entirely unexceptional was his whole course while
abroad, that, on his return to this country, he was received
with an almost universal enthusiasm seldom accorded to
political men.

In June, 1856, Mr. Buchanan was nominated for the
Presidency by the National Democratic Convention at Cin-

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 485

cinnati, and although there were powerful elements arrayed
against him, he was triumphantly elected. His administra-
tion was eventful. It comprised the settlement of the
Kansas difficulties, and the advent of secession. Its last
year was devoted to preparation for the impending civil war
on the part of the South. In December, 1860, occurred the
secession of the first of the Southern States. Others soon fol-
lowed in the same course; and while payment of customs
was refused, the national flag dishonored, government prop-
erty seized, and the crisis fast approaching, Mr. Buchanan
held that he had no power to coerce a State, even if it were
in rebellion. His embarrassment was extreme. His last
months in office were distracted with such troubles as had
never before fallen to the lot of a chief magistrate. He had
neither the force of character nor the political principle
requisite for such an emergency. His timid conservatism
was blown about like a feather in the premonitory gusts of
the coming tempest. He was seemingly as helpless as a
child in the midst of the tremendous complications which
were breaking around him. He stood trembling while the
last days of his public life were ebbing into the receding
gulf of the American Middle Ages. Of the courage of Jack-
son he had as little as of the prescience and heroic patriot-
ism of his great successor.

At the close of his administration, Mr. Buchanan retired
to his home at Wheatland, near Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
where his remaining years were spent in the quiet of pri-
vate life. He died June 1, 1868.

486

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

LINCOLN.

A BRAHAM LINCOLN was born in Larue County ^
JT\. Kentucky, February 12, 1809. He was probably de-
scended from the Lincolns of Massachusetts, though his
parents were of
Quaker stock, and
emigrated from
Pennsylvania to
RockinghamCoun-
ty, Virginia, from
which his grand-
father, Abraham,
removed to Ken-
tucky in 1781.

In 1816 his pa-
rents removed to
what is now Spen-
cer County, Indi-
ana, and here
young Abraham
enjoyed a few ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

months' schooling. It was the only duly organized school
he ever attended. Whatever he afterward learned from
books was without the aid of the school-master, through
his own energy and perseverance. Poverty, hardship, and
destitution of modern social advantages, contributed to
strengthen the essential elements of greatness within him.
The frame-work of his mental and moral being was honesty.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 487

In 1830, just as he had completed his twenty-first year,
the family removed to Illinois, and opened and fenced a farm,
ten miles west of Decatur, in the county of Macon. Abra-
ham had maste'red the science of rail-splitting previous to
this time, and here his accomplishment was more practically
applied than ever before. He performed a full quota of
labor in clearing up and fencing the new place. His life
was that of an ordinary youth of the frontier till 1832,
when the Black Hawk War broke out. He immediately
joined a volunteer company, composed principally of the
young men of his neighborhod, and was chosen captain by
acclamation. He had about him the elements of popularity
and those traits of character which mark the leader, and
even at this early age the germ of a superior mind was dis-
covered and appreciated. He served to the end of the cam-
paign, and to the day of his death retained ownership of
the land upon which his warrants for this service were
located.

Immediately upon his return from the Black Hawk cam-
paign he was nominated for membership in the State Leg-
islature, but was defeated. His own precinct, however, cast
277 votes for to 7 against him, and this, too, when he was an
avowed and enthusiastic supporter of Mr. Clay, and the
same precinct at the election one year thereafter returned a
majority of 115 for General Jackson over Mr. Clay. This
is the only time that Lincoln ever suffered defeat by a di-
rect vote of the people.

He read law with such diligence that in 1837 he was
enabled to form a co-partnership with Major John F. Stuart,
of Springfield, who, at that date, was one of the leading

488 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

advocates of Illinois. In 1834 Lincoln was elected to the
Legislature, and re-elected in 1838 and 1840. He soon became
a prominent leader of the Whig party, and was upon the
electoral ticket in several presidential campaigns. In 1844
he canvassed the entire State of Illinois in the interest of
Mr. Clay, and made every exertion in his power for the dis-
tinguished favorite of his party. In 1846 Mr. Lincoln was
elected to Congress, and took his seat in December, 1847,
the only Whig representative in the National House from
his State.

His votes and speeches from this time were invariably
liberal for freedom and opposed to oppression of every
kind ; in favor of internal improvements ; opposed to a dec-
laration of war against Mexico, but in favor of troops and
money to carry on the contest after it was begun ; in favor
of protection to American industry, and all cognate measures.

In June, 1858, a Republican State Convention at Spring-
field placed Mr. Lincoln in nomination for the United States
Senate. Stephen A. Douglas was the Democratic nominee,
and a man of more than ordinary ability was wanted to meet
him on the stump. The nomination of Lincoln under these
circumstances was something more than a compliment. It
was not the voice of his constituents merely saying, " We
believe you a man of sterling talent, unquestioned integrity,
and brilliant legislative ability, and, therefore, we place you
in nomination for this great office." It declared with em-
phasis to this effect : " You are the best man our party has
among all the distinguished men of the State to meet a po-
litical casuist who has no superior in the world; who is
justly entitled the Rienzi of the American foruin. We put

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 489

you forward as the champion of our principles against a
master of political strategy, an intellectual giant, and heart-
ily pray for your victory."

We need no't make lengthy reference to the contest
which ensued. Its fame is wider than the country. It
was a series of the most wonderful engagements of mind
with mind ; of the most versatile and interesting debates of
a vexed question it was ever the fortune of the American
people to hear; comprising the most daring achievements of
logical reasoning and forensic pyrotechnics that ever charac-
terized a similar campaign. The result was a senatorship
for Mr. Douglas, and, substantially, the Presidency for Mr.
Lincoln.

At the National Republican Convention, in 1860, he was
nominated a candidate for the Presidential office, and tri-
umphantly elected over three rivel candidates, Breckenridge,
Douglas, and Bell. The platform of the convention by
which Mr. Lincoln was nominated was explicit upon the
principles and objects of the party. The highest devotion
was expressed for the Union, but there seemed to be an
underlying fear that the Union was in danger of attack from
the opposing party. The most noteworthy part of the decla-
ration was contained in these words :

"To the Union of the States, this Nation owes its un-
precedented increase in population; its surprising develop-
ment of material resources ; its rapid augmentation of wealth ;
its happiness at home and its honor abroad ; and we hold in
abhorrence all schemes for "disunion, come from whatever
source they may; and we congratulate the country that no
Republican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced

490 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

a threat of disunion, so often made by Democratic members
of Congress without rebuke, and with applause, from their po-
litical associates ; and we denounce those threats of disunion
in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendency, as deny-
ing the vital principles of a free government, and as an avowal
of contemplated treason, which it is the imperative duty of an
indignant people strongly to rebuke and forever silence"

Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated on 4th March, 1861. His
inaugural address recommended him to the favorable con-
sideration of all reasonable men, as well as to the highest
regard of his party. He counseled conciliation between the
sections, but so far as the effect upon the South was con-
cerned, he might as well have counseled war. Substantially
the South had declared war already. Their leaders had
threatened that if Lincoln was inaugurated the slave States
would leave the Union not that they meant this, but they
imagined that a terrible threat from them would as usual
prove effective. They had ruled Northern doughfaces so long
by the power of words that nothing stronger was deemed nec-
essary ; but Mr. Lincoln had been inaugurated notwithstand-
ing, and now the South would leave us to fight the battle of
government alone. Not quite. There was power and deter-
mination and intelligent foresight in the new administration,
where weakness, timidity and misdirection had been hoped
for by Disunionists and their sympathizers.

But we could not part company with the Sunny South.
It was in direct opposition to the genius of our republican
institutions to nurture children so long and then permit them
to break away from wholesome restraint and go incontinent
to the dogs. Four years of bloody war was waged against the

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 491

government by the Disunionists, and then they were brought
back repentant and forlorn. They were years of great anx-
iety and immense toil to the great and good President, who,
although fully conversant with the forms and practices of
peaceful government when he came to the office, was com-
pelled to learn the art of war; the means for raising great
armies and placing over them effective and trustworthy offi-
cers; the appliances for paying this immense force, and the
conduct of civil affairs in a way which would best adapt them
to the new and strange conditions. Through it all President
Lincoln toiled with an eye single to the best good of the whole
country, and went wearily forward to his fate. " With malice
toward none, with charity for all," were the memorable words
of his address at the second inauguration, on 4th March,
1865, "with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the
right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind
up the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne
the battle, and for his widow and orphans ; to do all which
may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among our-
selves and with all nations."

The peace that seemed so desirable to him when these
words were uttered was near at hand, but he, alas ! was
destined to enjoy none of its fruits. General Lee surren-
dered the principal rebel army to Grant on the 9th of
April, and on the 14th President Lincoln was assassinated
by John Wilkes Booth, a natural son of the Slavocratic
rebellion. That so good a life should go out into the
night of the Unknown by the hand of a vulgar desperado
who was simply the agent of a plot only partially ex-
plored is grief indeed ; and at a time when the country

492 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

and the world were ready to say, " Well done, good and
faithful servant; enter thou into the peace and joys of the
kingdom ! "

Hon. James G. Elaine, in his " Twenty Years of Con-
gress," thus refers to the subject of our sketch :

"Mr. Lincoln was calm and philosophic. He loved the
truth for the truth's sake. He would not argue from a false
premise, or be deceived himself or deceive others by a .false
conclusion. He had pondered deeply on the issues which
aroused him to action. He had given anxious thought to
the problems of free government and to the destiny of the
Republic. He had for himself marked out a path of duty,
and he walked in it fearlessly. His mental processes were
slower, but more profound, than those of Douglas. He did
not seek to say merely the thing that was best for that
day's debate, but the thing which would stand the test of
time and square itself with eternal justice. He wished
nothing to appear white unless it was white. His logic was
severe and faultness. He did not resort to fallacy, and
could detect it in his opponent, and expose it with merciless
directness. He had an abounding sense of humor, and
always employed it in illustration of his argument never
for the mere sake of provoking merriment. In this respect
he had the wonderful aptness of Franklin. He often
taught a great truth with the felicitous brevity of an ^Esop
fable. His words did not flow in an impetuous torrent as
did those of Douglas, but they were always well chosen,
deliberate, and conclusive."

Again, he says :

" Mr. Lincoln united firmness and gentleness in a singu-

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 493

lar degree. He rarely spoke a harsh word. Ready to hear
argument and always open to conviction, he adhered tena-
ciously to the conclusions which he had finally reached. Al-
together modest," he had confidence in himself, trusted to
the reasoning of his own mind, believed in the correctness
of his own judgment. Many of the popular conceptions
concerning him are erroneous. No man was farther than he
from the easy, familiar, jocose character in which he is so often
painted. While he paid little attention to form or cere-
mony, he was not a man with whom liberties could be
taken. There was but one person in Illinois, outside of his
own household, who ventured to address him by his first
name. There was no one in Washington who ever at-
tempted it. Appreciating wit and humor, he relished a good
story, especially if it illustrated a truth or strengthened an
argument, and he had a vast fund of illustrative anecdote,
which he used with the happiest effect. But the long list
of vulgar, salacious stories attributed to him were retailed
only by those who never enjoyed the privilege or exchang-
ing a word with him. His life was, altogether, a serious
one, inspired by the noblest spirit, devoted to the highest
aims. Humor was but an incident with him, a partial re-
lief to the melancholy which tinged all his years. He pre-
sented an extraordinary combination of mental and moral
qualities. As a statesman, he had the loftiest ideal, and it
fell to his lot to inaugurate measures which changed the
fate of millions of living men, of tens of millions yet to be
born. As a manager of political issues and master of the
art of presenting them, he has had no rival in this country,
unless one be found in Jefferson."

494 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

He speaks in the highest terms of his executive talent,
his superb self-reliance, the wonderful breadth of his relig-
ious toleration, combined with his reverence and his painful
sense of responsibility.

' ' He had a most silver flow
Of subtle-poised counsel in distress

Eight to the heart and brain, though undescried,
Winning its way with extreme gentleness

Through all the outworks of suspicious pride."

A recent writer furnishes the following interesting and
discriminating estimate of the great man :

" Whoever shall write a faithful biography of Abraham
Lincoln, up to the time when he entered upon his duties as
Chief Magistrate, will make an invaluable contribution to
American history. Besides showing the healthy unfolding
from youth to mature manhood of one of the richest types
of American character which this Western world has produced
since its evolvement from barbarism, such a work must
necessarily set forth the growth and development of what
may be called the constitutional side or phase of the anti-
slavery agitation, dating from the time nearly fifty years
ago, when Abraham Lincoln and Dan. Stone placed upon the
legislative records of Illinois their protest against pro-slavery
legislation. He who shall tell this story of Lincoln's life
will be a chronicler worthy of a crown of laurel.

"When that story is told, the ignorant, coarse, bare-
footed rail-splitter, bearing the stamp of ignoble birth, the
keen backwoods pettifogger, the joke monger of the cross-
roads coterie, the ' Uncle Abe ' who had a mythical popu-
larity with the groundlings, will disappear; and in place

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 495

thereof will emerge the respectably born and well-bred
youth, proud and self-containing in the midst of poverty, as
dignified in every respect as the young Washington, never
descending in all the years of youth or manhood to an am-
biguous action or an ambiguous policy ; thoughtful, stu-
dious, ambitious, energetic, persistent; availing himself
of every opportunity (not at all rare in Illinois in his day)
of associating with the gifted in mind and the accom-
plished in manners ; manifesting at the very entrance
upon his majority qualities of statesmanship in no way
unworthy to be compared to those of the younger Pitt;
early trusted by the people with their confidence, repaying
that confidence with never-failing faithfulness to their in-
terests ; and through nearly thirty years of mingling in pub-
lic life, ten years of which were in a legislative capacity,
addressing himself with clearness, cogency, and unsurpassed
eloquence to the discussion and elucidation of important is-
sues of civil polity.

"Abraham Lincoln was one statesman in a thousand in
respect of never having changed his position upon the politi-
cal questions of his day. When he changed from the Whig
into the Republican party or rather, when he bridged over
the chasm from a moribund to a formative party, by carry-
ing over the discussion of the same issues he had for years
elucidated by his statesmanlike analysis and his elevated
eloquence he kept his record intact. The slavery question
was no new one to him; and the issue raised by the Kansas-
Nebraska question, therefore, found him ready to meet it at
every point. In 1854, after Mr. Douglas had introduced
his celebrated bill for the repeal of the Missouri Compromise,

496 THE VOTERS 1 HAND-BOOK.

Mr. Lincoln headed the movement in Illinois against the
great Democratic senator and leader, and by a discussion
equally as masterful as that of four years later, laid strong
the foundations of the Republican party.

"Then came the senatorial canvass of 1858, in which,
according to the popular notion, Mr. Lincoln first manifested
those qualities which stamped him with a national character.
In the estimation of those who had heard him during the
score of years preceding that canvass, there were many of
his previous efforts that surpassed those of this world-re-
nowned debate. As one evidence in support of this asser-
tion, reference may be had to one of the members of the
present Supreme Bench of Illinois, an old Whig colleague
of Mr. Lincoln's, who declared as his deliberate judgment,
that Mr. Lincoln's speeches during this canvass were inferior
to those he had delivered during any political season in his
career. While Mr. Lincoln's efforts that day were but con-
sistent with and a logical sequence of all he had ever
uttered on the slavery question, yet they were unsatisfac-
tory to the extremists of Northern Illinois, many of whom
had come out of the Democratic party and had defended or
apologized for slavery while Mr. Lincoln had been bearing
testimony against it.

" It was the very fact that Mr. Douglas was not able, at
Freeport, a radical stronghold, to induce Mr. Lincoln to vary
one hair's breadth from the position he had maintained in
the more conservative central and southern portions of Illi-
nois that Mr. Lincoln's logical triumph lay at Freeport (to-
gether of course, with the fact that he drew out the damag-
ing i unfriendly legislation' admission from Douglas), rather

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 497

than in any extra-masterful dialectics of Lincoln on that oc-
casion. It was because he was true to his intellectual
greatness, and had that moral consistency which, united
with and over topping pilitical consistency, made him equal
to the supreme occasion, that gave him the advantage over
Douglas. It was the old Lincoln and the old Douglas pitted
against each other as they had often been pitted before,
but with Douglas off his guard and with new and untried
weapons, or at least in a new armor. This is the secret of
Freeport.

" The Cooper Institute speech in New York of the win-
ter immediately preceding his nomination was, although one
of the grandest efforts of American oratory, but the cap-
stone of the edifice that Lincoln had for a generation been
slowly, deliberately, studiously, earnestly, building an edi-
fice of character and genius upon which the fame of that
great man should eventually rest, rather than upon the acts
of a period during which he was hampered by annoying and
prejudical circumstances, which tended to repress or deflect
his mighty genius."

Following is the anti-slavery protest referred to in the
first paragraph of the foregoing essay:

MARCH 3, 1837.

"Resolutions upon the subject of domestic slavery having
passed both branches of the general assembly, the undersigned
hereby protest against the passage of the same.

"They believe that the institution of slavery is founded on
both injustice and bad policy ; but that the promulgation of aboli-
tion doctrines tends rather to increase than abate its evils.

" They believe that the Congress of the United States has no

498 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

power, under the Constitution, to interfere with the institution of
slavery in the different States.

" They believe that the Congress of the United States has the
power, under the Constitution, to abolish slavery in the District
of Columbia ; but that the power ought not to be exercised unless
at the request of the people of said District.

" The difference between these opinions and those contained in
the said resolutions, is their reason for entering this protest.

" DAN. STONE,
" A. LINCOLN,
11 Representatives from the County of Sangamon."

ANDRETW JOHNSON.

\ NDREW JOHNSON, seventeenth President, was born
IX at Raleigh, North Carolina, December 29, 1808. At
the age of ten he was apprenticed to a tailor, and worked
at that business in South Carolina till his seventeenth year.
He never attended school, but acquired a good common edu-
cation by studying without a teacher.

Having removed to Greenville, Tennessee, he was chosen
mayor of that city in 1830. In 1835 he was elected to the
State Legislature, and to the State Senate in 1841. In
1843 he was elected to Congress, and served ten years in
the House. In 1853 he was elected governor of Tennessee,
and re-elected in 1855. In 1857 he was elected to the
United States Senate for the term ending with 1863. In
politics he was a Democrat, and supported Breckenridge and
Lane in the presidential election of 1860. At the outbreak
of the rebellion he declared for the Union and supported the

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

499

measures of the administration. In 1862 President Lincoln
appointed him military governor of Tennessee. In 1864 he
was nominated by
the National Re-
publican Conven-
tion for the Vice-
presidency and
duly elected.

Upon his acces-
sion to the Presi-
dency, consequent
upon the assassina-
tion of President
Lincoln, the war
was substantially
closed, and the work
of reconstruction,
restoration, and the
reduction of the
great military and
naval force then
employed, were the problems of his administration. His
views did not coincide with those of the majority in Con-
gress, and his administration was therefore agitated and
stormy. In February, 1868, articles impeaching the Presi-
dent passed the House, and the Senate, after due delibera-
tion, resolved itself in a court, and tried him upon these ar-
ticles. In the following May the vote was taken upon
three of the articles there were eleven in all and resulted
in an affirmative vote by thirty-five Senators and a negative

ANDREW JOHNSON.

500 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

of nineteen. As two-thirds was required to convict, he was
acquitted upon these, and the vote upon the remainder was
indefinitely postponed.

At the close of his term he returned to his home in
Tennessee, to again mingle in the political contests of the
State. He died July 31, 1875.

ULYSSES SIMPSON QRANT.

TTLYSSES SIMPSON GRANT, eighteenth President, was
\J born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, April
27, 1822. His early youth was spent at his native place,
and he acquired 'the rudiments of an English education
near Georgetown, in Brown County. In 1839 he was ad-
mitted to the military academy at West Point, whence he
graduated June 30, 1843. It is said he exhibited no pecu-
liar aptness for the studies at West Point, but that what he
acquired was through indefatigable industry and hard work.
July 1, 1843, he entered the army as brevet second-
lieutenant, and was attached to the Fourth Infantry. He
served under General Taylor, and afterwards under General
Scott, in the Mexican war. For gallant and meritorious
conduct at the battle of Chapultepec, Lieutenant Grant re-
ceived a brevet of captain in the regular army, to date from
September 13, 1847, and a full commission of captain, dat-
ing from August, 1853. July 31, 1854, Captain Grant re-
signed his commission in the army, settled in St. Louis, and
engaged in commercial pursuits till 1859, when he removed
to Galena, Illinois.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

501

Upon the breaking out of rebellion in the spring of
1861, Grant offered his services to the country through
Governor Yates,
of Illinois. He '
was appointed on
the governor's
staff as muster-
ing officer of vol-
unteers. June
15, 1861, the
governor a p-
pointed him to
the colonelcy of
the Twenty-first
Illinois Regi-
ment, and on the
23d of the fol-

lowing August
he was detailed
from the com-
mand of this regiment and appointed a brigadier-general of
United States volunteers, with rank and commission from
May 17, 1861.

As a reward for his skill and gallantry during the cam-
paigns in Kentucky and Tennessee, he was promoted to the
rank of major-general of volunteers, to date from the sur-
render of Fort Donelson, February 16, 1862 ; and, after the
capture of Vicksburg, he was made a brigadier-general, and
subsequently a major-general, in the regular army. The
Thirty-eighth Congress revived the rank of lieutenant-gen-

ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT.

502 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

eral, and the President, after the passage of the bill, nomi-
nated General Grant for the position. This nomination was
unanimously confirmed by the Senate March 2, 1864, and
on the 8th of the same month the general arrived in Wash-
ington, received his commission from the hand of President
Lincoln on the 9th, and on the 10th assumed command of
the armies, with "head-quarters in the field." April 9,
1865, he received the surrender of General Lee and the
main body of the army of secession.

His successes in the field in terminating the rebellion,
with the good sense and ability, mingled firmness and mod-
eration, which he had uniformly displayed as a leader of
events, marked him as the inevitable candidate for the
Presidency of the party to whom had fallen the conduct of
the war ; and when the National Republican Convention
met at Chicago in May, 1868, he was unanimously nomi-
nated for the highest office in the gift of freemen. He was
elected by the vote of twenty-six States, and by a popular
majority exceeding three hundred thousand.

His administration was very generally in accord with
the action of Congress and the prevailing sentiment of the
people. Among the leading features of its domestic policy
was the gradual restoration to the South of its privileges
forfeited by the necessities of war, and the reduction of the
public debt ; while its foreign policy secured the negotiation
of the treaty of arbitration with England for the settlement
of claims arising from the negligence or wrong-doing of that
country in relation to certain questions of international law
during the rebellion.

In 1872 he was again chosen by the Republican party

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 503

as their canditate for the Presidency, and this time received
the vote of thirty-one States, giving him a popular majority
of more than seven hundred and fifty thousand. His second
administration Was conservative and conciliatory, and almost
invariably in accord with Congress and the people, and in
1877 he retired with the general commendation, "Well done,
good and faithful servant." Shortly thereafter he made his
great trip around the world, and was everywhere received
with distinguished honor. Recently he has been engaged
in business in New York, where several years ago he took
his residence.

RUTHKRKORD BIRCHARD HAYES.

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, nineteenth President, was
born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4, 1822. He received
many advantages of instruction in youth, and at the age of
sixteen was admitted to Kenyon College, at Gambier, Ohio,
whence he graduated in 1842, at the head of his class. He
chose the law as a profession, and immediately began its study
in the office of Thomas Sparrow, at Columbus. Subse-
quently he took a course in the Harvard Law School, at
Cambridge, Massachusetts. During a session of the courts
at Marietta, in 1845, he was admitted to the bar, smd pur-
sued the practice of law at Fremont, Ohio, for about four
years.

In 1849. he removed to Cincinnati, where he enjoyed a
large practice. In 1858 he was appointed city solicitor by
council, to fill a vacancy. He accepted this position with

504

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

much reluctance, but so well did he perform its duties that
at the next election he was chosen by the people to con-
tinue the exercise of its functions by an unprecedented
majority.

In 1861 he entered the army as major of the Twenty-
third Regiment Ohio Volunteers, with which he reached

Clarksburg, West
Virginia, July 27,
1861, where the
regiment was as-
signed to the duty
of protecting the
Baltimore & Ohio
Railroad, and de-
fending the border
from raids. This
duty and occas-
sional scouting in
the neighborhood
occupied the entire
season and the fol-
lowing summer.
Meanwhile Hayes
RUTHERFORD B HAYES. had been promoted

to a lieutenant-colonelcy, and in August, 1862, his regiment
was added to General J. D. Cox's division in the Army of
the Potomac.

The battle of South Mountain was fought September 14,
1862, and during the engagement Colonel Hayes's arm was
shattered by a grape-shot. This wound kept him in the

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS. 505

hospital several weeks. Late in the season he, as acting
brigadier-general, was placed in command of the Kanawha
division of the army, to which the Twenty-third Ohio was
attached. A raiH was made by a portion of his force in the
vicinity of Saltville, and many miles of railway destroyed.
He also took a hand in the interception of John Morgan,
as he was attempting to leave Ohio by crossing the river
above Pomeroy.

Early in 1864 the battle of Cloyd Mountain was fought;
in July Lynchburg was attacked, followed by the battles
of Berryville, Winchester, and North Mountain in all of
which General Hayes took conspicuous part. In fact, he
participated in all the subsequent engagements of the Shen-
andoah campaign, and was brevetted major-general "for
gallant and distinguished services during the campaigns of
1864 in West Virginia, and particularly in the battles of
Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek."

In 1864, while yet in the army, he was elected to rep-
resent the Second Congressional District of Ohio, in the
National House. He refused to serve till all the fighting
was done necessary to suppress the rebellion, and abided by
this resolution ; but took his seat at the opening of the ses-
sion of 1865-66. He was re-elected in 1866. In 1867 he
was nominated and elected governor of Ohio, and again in
1869. In 1875 his party called upon him once more to
make the State campaign, and for the third time he was
elected to the gubernatorial office.

June 14, 1876, he was nominated by the National Re-
publican Convention, at Cincinnati, for the Presidency, and
in the succeeding election the vote was so close that an

506 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

electoral commission was instituted to ascertain the rights
of opposing candidates. After careful investigation of all
matters in dispute, General Hayes was declared elected, and
he was duly inaugurated on March 4, 1877.

His administration was distinguished for its conciliatory
tone, its ready recognition of the rights of those recently
in arms against the government, and a determined move-
ment for reform in the civil service. At the expiration of
his term he retired to his home at Fremont, and has not
since entered public life.

JAMES ABRAM GARKIELD.

JAMES A. GARFIELD, twentieth president, was born
November 19, 1831. Before he had attained his sec-
ond year his father died, leaving the mother with four
children the eldest but ten years impaired health, and a
mortgaged homestead. Nevertheless, she resolved to suc-
ceed, and history proves the heroism of her exertions.

Severe toil was the birthright of all the children, and
nobly did they improve it. But they found time and op-
portunity to acquire the rudiments of an English education,
and James was especially fond of books. His spare hours
few enough they were invariably found him at study.
He grew up, through the clearing, the corn-field, the tow-
path, and the log school-house, to enter college in 1854.
Here he remained but two years, but they were well
employed.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

507

In 1859 he was elected to the Ohio Senate. In 1861
he entered the army as lieutenant-colonel of the Forty-sec-
ond Ohio. In January, 1862, a force under his command
drove Humphrey Marshall and several thousand Confed-
erates out of Kentucky. For this service he was made a

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD.

brigadier-general. Through his entire army life his success
was proverbial, and when he finally became General Rose-
cran's chief of staff, his judgment and advice were valued
as highly as the counsel of any officer in the regular army.

508 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

In 1862 he was elected to represent his district in Con-
gress, and at the solicitation of many friends, President
Lincoln among them, he consented to leave the army and
take his seat in the House. This he did in December,
1863, and he remained a member of Congress for sixteen
years. In January, 1880, he was unanimously elected by
the Ohio Legislature a Senator of the United States, but
the National Republican Convention of 1880 nominated
him for the Presidency, and therefore he did not fill the
Senatorship.

He received 214 of the electoral votes, against 155 for
his opponent. His inaugural address, on March 4, 1881,
gave promise of an administration of great vigor, which
would bring about some needed reforms and greatly im-
prove the civil service. His cabinet was selected with rare
judgment, and his appointments, so far as they were made,
gave satisfaction to the country. He had the affairs of the
Nation well in hand, and as he was about to indulge in a
short vacation for needed rest, on July 2, 1881, he was shot
down by a vulgar assassin, and died from his wound on the
19th of the following September. No death was ever more
heartily mourned.

CHESTKR ALLAN ARTHUR,

/^HESTER A. ARTHUR, twenty-first President, as the
V_y constitutional successor of President Grarfield, was born
in Franklin County, Vermont, October 5, 1830. He was
educated at Union College, and graduated in the class of.

LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS.

509

'49. In 1851 he entered the office of Judge E. D. Culver, in
New York, as a student of the law. After admission to the bar,
he met with great success in the practice of his profession.

CHESTER ALLAN ARTHUR.

Previous to the outbreak of the rebellion, he was judge-
advocate of the Second Brigade New York State Militia,
and Governor Morgan, soon after his inauguration, selected
him as engineer-in-chief of his staff. In 1861 he held the
post of inspector-general, and soon after was advanced to
that of quartermaster-general.

510 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

It was through General Arthur's efforts and influence
that Hon. Thomas Murphy was made State Senator in New
York. Upon the resignation, by the latter, of the collector-
ship of the port of New York, November 20, 1871, Presi-
dent Grant nominated General Arthur to the position, and
four years later, when his term expired, renominated him
an honor that had never been shown to any previous col-
lector in the history of the port. He was removed by Presi-
dent Hayes, July 12, 1878, despite the fact that two
special committees made searching investigations of his ad-
ministration, and both reported their inability to find any
thing upon which to base a charge against him.

Immediately upon his removal, President Hayes offered
him the consul-generalship at Paris. In a letter acknowl-
edging a tender of the office, General Arthur expressed his
appreciation of the compliment, and his regret that his pri-
vate interests were in such a condition that he could not ac-
cept it. At the National Republican Convention, at Chicago,
in June, 1880, he was nominated for the Vice-presidency
on the first ballot, by the vote of 475 delegates to 276 for
eight opposing candidates. His letter of acceptance, written
on the fifteenth of the following month, was a well-consid-
ered document, and attracted attention for the large grasp
of ideas and their clear expression. Immediately following
the death of President Garfield, General Arthur was invested
with the presidential office, and assumed his new duties at
once. His administration has been vigorous without offense,
and thorough without radicalism. Its record will occupy a
desirable page in the annals of the country.

REPUBLICAN PLATFORM.

Unanimously adopted by the Convention at Chicago, June 5, 1884

THE Republicans of the United States in National Con-
vention assembled renew their allegiance to the principles
upon which they have triumphed in six successive presiden-
tial elections, and congratulate the American people on the
attainment of so many results in legislation and administra-
tion by which the Republican party has, after saving the
Union, done so much to render its institutions just, equal,
and beneficent, the safeguard of liberty, and the embodi-
ment of the best thought and highest purposes of our
citizens.

The Republican party has gained its strength by quick
and faithful response to the demands of the people for the
freedom and equality of all men ; for a united Nation, assur-
ing the rights of all citizens ; for the elevation of labor ; for
an honest currency ; for purity in legislation ; and for integ-
rity and accountability in all departments of the govern-
ment. And it accepts anew the duty of leading in the work
of progress and reform.

We lament the death of President Garfield, whose sound
statesmanship, long conspicuous in Congress, gave promise
of a strong and' successful Administration, a promise fully
realized during the short period of his office as President of
the United States. His distinguished services in war and
peace have endeared him to. the hearts of the American

511

512 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

people. In the Administration of President Arthur we rec-
ognize a wise, conservative, and patriotic policy, under
which the country has been blessed with remarkable pros-
perity ; and we believe his eminent services are entitled to
and will receive the hearty approval of every citizen.

It is the first duty of a good government to protect the
rights and promote the interests of its own people. The
largest diversity of industry is the most productive of gen-
eral prosperity, and of the comfort and independence of the
people. We therefore demand that the imposition of duties
on foreign imports shall be made, not for revenue only, but
that in raising the requisite revenues for the government
such duty shall be so levied as to afford security to our di-
versified industries and protection to the rights and wages
of the laborer to the end that active and intelligent labor, as
well as capital, may have its just reward, and the laboring
man his full share in the national prosperity. Against the
so-called economic system of the Democratic party, which
would degrade our labor to the foreign standard, we enter
our most earnest protest. The Democratic party has failed
completely to relieve the people of the burden of unneces-
sary taxation by a wise reduction of the surplus. The Re-
publican party pledges itself to correct the irregularities of
the tariff and to reduce the surplus, not by the vicious and
indiscriminating process of horizontal reduction, but by such
methods as will relieve the tax-payer without injuring the
laborer or the great productive interests of the country.

We recognize the importance of sheep-husbandry in the
United States, the serious depression which it is now expe-
riencing, and the danger threatening its future prosperity;
and we, therefore, respect the demands of the representa-
tives of this important agricultural interest for a re-adjust-

THE REP UBLICAN PL A TFORM. 513

ment of duties upon foreign wool in order that such indus-
try shall have full and adequate protection.

We have always recommended the best money to the
civilized world, and we urge that efforts should be made to
unite all commercial nations in the establishment of an in-
ternational standard which shall fix for all the relative value
of gold and silver coinage.

The regulation of commerce with foreign nations and be-
tween the States is one of the most important prerogatives
of the General Government, and the Republican party dis-
tinctly announces its purpose to support such legislation as
will fully and efficiently carry out the constitutional power
of Congress over inter-State commerce.

The principle of the public regulation of railway corpo-
rations is a wise and salutary one for the protection of all
classes of the people, and we favor legislation that shall pre-
vent unjust discrimination and excessive charges for trans-
portation, and that shall secure to the people and the rail-
ways alike the fair and equal protection of the laws.

We favor the establishment of a National Bureau of
Labor ; the enforcement of the eight-hour law ; a wise and
judicious system of general education by adequate appro-
priation from the national revenues wherever the same is
needed. We believe that everywhere the protection of a
citizen of American birth must be secured to citizens by
American adoption, and we favor the settlement of national
differences by international arbitration.

The Republican party, having its birth in a hatred of-
slave labor and a desire that all men may be truly free and
equal, is unalterably opposed to placing our workingmen in
competition with any form of servile labor, whether at home
or abroad. In this spirit we denounce the importation of

514 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

contract labor, whether at home or abroad, as an offense
against the spirit of American institutions, and we pledge
ourselves to sustain the present law, restricting Chinese im-
migration, and to provide such further legislation as is neces-
sary to carry out its purpose.

Reform of the civil service, auspiciously begun under
Republican administration, should be completed by the fur-
ther extension of the reform system already established by
law to all the grades of the service to which it is applica-
ble. The spirit and purpose of the reform should be ob-
served in all executive appointments, and all laws at variance
with the object of existing reform legislation should be re-
peajed, to the end that the dangers of free institutions
which lurk in the power of official patronage may be wisely
and effectively avoided..

The public lands are a heritage of the people of the
United States, and should be reserved, as far as possible,
for small holdings of actual settlers. We are opposed to the
acquisition of large tracts of these lands by corporations or
individuals, especially where such holdings are in the hands
of non-resident aliens, and we will endeavor to obtain such
legislation as will tend to correct this evil.

We demand of Congress the speedy forfeiture of all
land-grants which have lapsed by reason of non-compliance
with acts of incorporation in all cases where there has been
no attempt in good faith to perform the conditions of such
grants.

The grateful thanks of the American people are due to
the Union soldiers and sailors of the late war, and the Re-
publican party stands pledged to suitable pensions for all
who were disabled and for the widows and orphans of those
who died in the war. The Republican party also pledges

THE REP UBLIGAN PL A TFORM. 515

itself to the repeal of the limitation contained in the Arrears
Act of 1879, so that all invalid soldiers shall share alike
and their pensions begin with the date of disability and not
with the date of application.

The Republican party favors a policy which shall keep
us from entangling alliances with foreign nations, and which
gives us the right to expect that foreign nations shall refrain
from meddling in American affairs a policy which seeks
peace and trade with all powers, and especially with those
of the Western Hemisphere.

We demand the restoration of our navy to its old-time
strength and efficiency, that it may in any high sea protect
the rights of American citizens and the interests of Ameri-
can commerce. We call upon Congress to remove the bur-
dens under which American shipping has been depressed, so
that it may again be true that we have a commerce which
leaves no sea unexplored and a navy which takes no law
from superior force.

Resolved, That the appointment by the President to of-
fices in the Territories should be made from the bona fide
citizens and residents of the Territories wherein they are to
serve.

Resolved, That it is the duty of Congress to enact such
laws as shall promptly and effectually suppress the system
of polygamy within our Territories, and divorce the political
from the ecclesiastical power of the so-called Mormon Church,
and that the law so enacted should be rigidly enforced by
the civil authorities, if possible, and by the military, if-
need be.

The people of the United States, in their organized cap-
acity, constitute a Nation, and not a mere confederation of
States. The National Government is supreme within the

516 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

sphere of national duties, but the States have reserved rights
which should be faithfully maintained, and which should be
guarded with jealous care, so that the harmony of our sys-
tem of government may be preserved, and the Union kept
inviolate.

The perpetuity of our institutions rests upon the main-
tenance of a free ballot, an honest count, and correct re-
turns. We denounce the fraud and violence practiced by
the Democracy in Southern States, by which the will of the
voter is defeated, as dangerous to the preservation of free
institutions; and we solemnly arraign the Democratic party
as being the guilty recipient of the fruits of such fraud and
violence.

We extend to the Republicans of the South, regardless
of their former party affiliations, our cordial sympathy, and
pledge to them our most earnest efforts to promote the pass-
age of such legislation as will secure to every citizen, of
whatever race and color, the full and complete recognition,
possession, and exercise of all civil and political rights.

NOMINATING SPEECHES.

I^HE formal nomination of James Gr. Elaine for the

Presidency of the United States was made by Judge

West, of Ohio, at Chicago, June 5, 1884. The nominating
address is as follows :

"Gentlemen of the Convention : As a delegate in the Chicago
Convention of 1860, the proudest service of my life was
performed by voting for the nomination of that inspired
emancipator, the first Republican President of the United
States. Four and twenty years of the grandest history in
the annals of recorded time have distinguished the ascend-
ency of the Republican party. The skies have lowered ; re-
verses have threatened ; our flag is still there, waving above
the mansion of the Presidency ; not a stain on its folds, not
a cloud on its glory. Whether it shall maintain that grand
ascendency depends on the action of this great council.
With bated breath the Nation awaits the result. On it are
fixed the eyes of twenty millions of Republican freemen in
the North.' On it, or to it, are stretched forth the imploring
hands of ten millions of political bondmen in the South
while above, from the portals of light, is looking down the
immortal spirit of the immortal martyr who first bore it to
victory and bade it God speed. Six times in six campaigns
has that banner triumphed. That symbol of union, of free-
dom, of humanity, and of progress, some time borne by that
silent man of destiny, the Wellington of American arms,

517

518 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

Ulysses the Great and last by him whose untimely taking-
off the Nation bewailed and wept above great Garfield's
grave: shall that banner triumph again? Commit it to the
bearing of that chief, the inspiration of whose illustrious
character and great name will fire the hearts of our young
men and stir the blood of our manhood and fervid veterans.
The close of the seventh campaign will see that holy ensign
spanning the sky like a bow of promise. Political condi-
tions are changed since the accession of the Republican
party to power. The mighty issues of struggling free-
dom and bleeding humanity, which convulsed the continent
and racked the Republic, united, inspired the forces, the pa-
triotism, and the force of humanity in one consolidated pha-
lanx. These great issues have ceased their contention; the
subordinate issues resulting therefrom are settled and buried
away with the dead issues of the past. The odds of a Solid
South are against us. Not an electoral gun can be expected
from that section. If triumph come, the North the Repub-
lican States of the North must furnish the conquering bat-
talion; from the farm, the anvil, and the loom; from the
mine, the workshop, and the desk ; from the huts of the
trapper on snowy Sierra, from the hut of the fisherman on
the banks of the Hudson. As the Republican States must
furnish this conquering battalion, if triumphant, does not sound
political wisdom dictate and demand that a leader shall be
given to them whom our people will follow, not as conscripts
advancing by funeral marches to certain defeat, but a grand
civic hero, whom the souls of the people desire to serve swell-
ing the lines with the enthusiasm of volunteers as they sweep
on and onward to certain victory ? In this contention of forces,

NOMINATING SPEECHES. 519

to whom as a candidate shall be intrusted our battle-flag?
Citizens, I am not here to and may my tongue cleave to
the roof of my .mouth if I abate one tittle from the just
fame, integrity, and public honor of Chester A. Arthur, our
President. I abate not one tittle from the just fame and
Republican integrity of George F. Edmunds ; of Joseph R.
Hawley, of John Sherman, of that grand old Black Eagle of
Illinois ; and I am proud to know that these distinguished
Senators whom I have named have borne like testimony to
the public life, the public character, and the public integrity
of him for whose confirmation they voted to the high office,
second in dignity to the office of the President himself
the first premiership in the administration of James A. Gar-
field. The man for whom these Senators and rivals will vote
for Secretary of State of the United States is good enough
fort he plain flesh-and-blood God's people to vote for for
President. Who shall be our candidate ?

" Not the representative of a particular interest, or a par-
ticular class, send the great apostle to the country. Name
the doctors' candidate, the lawyers' candidate, the bankers'
candidate, the Wall Street candidate, and the hand of res-
surrection would not fathom his November grave. Sir, he
must be a representative o f American manhood a repre-
sentative of that leading Republicanism that demands the
amplest industrial protection and opportunity whereby labor
shall be enabled to earn and eat the bread of independent
enjoyment, relieved of mendicant competition with pauper
Europe or Pagan Chinese. He must be a representative of
that Republicanism that demands the absolute political, as
well as personal, emancipation and disenthrallment of man-

520 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

kind; a representative of that Republicanism which recog-
nizes the stamp of American citizenship as the passport to
every right, privilege, and consideration at home or abroad,
whether under the sky of Bismarck, under the palmetto, un-
der the pelican, or on the banks of the Mohawk that Re-
publicanism that regards with detestation a despotism which
under the "sic semper tyrannis" of the Old Dominion anni-
hilates by slaughter in the name of Democracy; a Repub-
licanism that is embodied and stated in the platform of
principles this .day adopted by your convention. Gentle-
men, such a Republican is James G. Elaine, of Maine."

[The immense concourse then broke out into great and
continued applause, continuing nearly half an hour.]

" Gentlemen of the convention, it has been urged that in
making this nomination every other consideration should
merge every other interest be sacrificed, in order and with a
view exclusively to securing the Republican vote and carrying
the State of New York. Gentlemen^ the Republican party
demands of this convention a nominee who has inspiration,
a glorious prestige which shall gain the Presidency with or
without New York ; who will carry the Legislatures of the
several States and avert the sacrifice of the United States
Senate ; who shall sweep into the tide Congressional dis-
tricts sufficient to recover the House of Representatives and
restore it to the Republican party. Three millions of Re-
publicans believe that that man who, from the baptism of
blood on the plains of Kansas to the fall of the immortal
Garfield, in all that struggle of manhood and progress
wherever humanity desired succor, wherever freedom called
for protection, wherever the country called for a defender,

NOMINATING SPEECHES. 521

or wherever blows fell thickest and fastest, there in the fore-
front of the battle was seen to wave the white plume of
James G. Elaine, our Henry of Navarre.

"Nominate him, and results of a September victory in
Maine will be re-echoed back by the thunders of the Octo-
ber victory in Ohio. Nominate him, and the camp-fires and
beacon lights will illuminate' the Continent from the Golden
Gate to Cleopatra's Needle. Nominate* him, and the mill-
ions who are now in waiting, will rally to swell the column
of victory that is sweeping on.

" In the name of the majority of the delagates from the
Republican States, and their glorious constituencies who
must fight this battle, I nominate James G. Elaine, of
Maine." [Great and long-continued applause.]

General John A. Logan was named for the presidential
office, at Chicago, June 5, 1884, by Senator Shelby M.
Cullom, of Illinois. The Senator's speech is herewith re-
produced :

" Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention : Twenty-
four years ago the Second National Convention of the Re-
publican party met in this city and nominated its first suc-
cessful candidate for President of the United States, Abra-
ham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln led the Republican party
to its first great victory, and stands to-day in the estimation
of the world as the grandest figure and most majestic figure
in all modern time. Again, in 1868, another Republican
convention came together in this city, and nominated as its
candidate for President of the United States, another emi-
nent citizen of Illinois, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, and the Re-

522 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

publican party was again victorious. Still again, in 1880,
the Republican party turned its face toward this political
mecca, where two successful campaigns had been organized,
and the martyred Garfield led the Republican hosts to
another glorious victory. Mr. President and fellow-citizens,
it is good for us to be here. There are omens of victory
in the air. History repeats itself. There are promises
of triumph to the Republican party in holding its national
nominating conventions in this great emporium of the
North-west.

" The Commonwealth of Illinois, which has never wavered
in its devotion to Republican principles since it gave to the
Nation aye, to the world the illustrious Lincoln, has com-
missioned me, through its Republican voters, to present to
this convention, for its consideration, as the standard-bearer
of the Republican party, another son of Illinois, one whose
name will be recognized from one end of this land to the
other as an able statesman, a brilliant soldier, and an honest
man, Gen. John A. Logan, of Illinois.

" He is a native of the State which he now represents in
the councils of the Nation. Reared among the youth of a
section where every element of manhood is early brought
into play, he is eminently a man of the people, identified
with them in interest, in taste, and in feeling, and enjoying
their sympathy, respect, and confidence. The safety, the
permanency, and the prosperity of the Nation depend upon
the courage, the integrity, the intelligence, and the loyalty
of its citizens. When yonder starry flag was assailed by
enemies in arms, when the integrity of the Union was im-
periled by organized treason, when the storm of war threat-

NOMINATING SPEECHES. 523

ened the very life of this Nation, this gallant son of the
Prairie State resigned his seat in the Congress of the United
States, returned. to his home, and was among the first of
our citizens to raise a regiment, and to march to the front
in defense of his country. Like Douglas, he believed that
in time of war, men must be either patriots or traitors, and
he threw his mighty influence on the side of the Union, and
Illinois made a record second to none in the history of
States, in the struggle to preserve this government.

" Among the large number of the brave soldiers of the late
war, whose names are proudly written on the scroll of fame,
none appear more grandly than the name of Logan. His
history is a part of the history of the battles of Belmont, of
Donelson, of Shiloh, of Vicksburg, of Lookout Mountain,
of Atlanta, and of the famous March to the Sea. He never
lost a battle. I repeat again, Mr. President and fellow-citi-
zens, he never lost a battle in all the struggles of the war.
When there was fighting to be done he did not wait for
orders, neither did he fail to obey orders when received.
His plume, like the white plume of Henry of Navarre, was
always to be seen at the point where the battle raged the hot-
test. During the long struggle of four years, he commanded,
by authority of the government, first a regiment, then a bri-
gade, then a division, then an army corps, and finally an army.
He remained in the service until the war closed, when, at
the head of his army, with the scars of battle upon him, he
marched into the capital of the Nation, and, with the brave
men whom he had led on a hundred hard-fought fields, was
mustered out of service under the very shadow of the Capi-
tol building which he had left four years before as a

524 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

member of Congress, to go out and fight the battles of his
country.

" Then, when the war was over, and gentle peace, which
'hath her victories,' returned, he was again called by his
fellow-citizens to take his place in the councils of the Na-
tions. In a service of twenty years in both Houses of Con-
gress he has shown himself to be no less able and distin-
guished as a statesman than he was renowned as a soldier.
Cautious, prudent, conservative in the advocacy of measures
involving the public welfare, ready and eloquent in debate,
fearless yes, I repeat again, fearless in defense of the
rights of the weak against the oppressions of the strong, he
stands to-day and I say it without disposition to pluck one
laurel from the brow of any man whose name may be pre-
sented to this convention I say he stands to-day in my
judgment closer to the great mass of the people of this
country than almost any other man now engaging public
attention. No man has done more in defense of those prin-
ciples which have given life, and spirit, and victory to the
Republican party than has John A. Logan, of Illinois. In
all that goes to make up a brilliant military and civil career
and to commend a man to the favor of the people, he, whose
name we have presented here to-night has shown himself
to be the peer of the best.

" We ask, you, therefore, to give him this nomination be-
cause he would not be assailed and he is not assailable.
We ask you to nominate him because his public record is so
clean that even political calumny dare not attack it. We
ask you to nominate him in behalf of the hundreds of thou-
sands of brave veteran volunteer soldiers who are to-night,

NOMINATING SPEECHES. 525

all over this broad land, standing around the telegraph
offices waiting to know whether that gallant leader of the
volunteer soldiers of this country is to receive the nomination
at your hands. We ask you to nominate him in behalf of
the white and black Republicans of the South who are here
by the hundreds appealing to this convention, as the repre-
sentative of our grand old party, to give your protection
and to vindicate them in their rights in the South.

" Now, my friends, standing in the midst of this vast
assembly of representative citizens of this grand Republic
aye, in the sublime presence of the people themselves, rep-
resented here to-night in all their majesty we offer you
the name of a tried hero and patriot, the sagacious and in-
corruptible statesman, the man who, as we all know, never
sulked in his tent; we offer you General John A. Logan,
of Illinois, and ask you to make him your nominee. If
you will give him the nomination he will give you a glori-
ous victory in November next; and when he shall have
taken his position as President of this great Republic you
may be assured you will have an administration in the in-
terest of labor, in the interest of education, in the interest
of commerce, in the interest of finance, in the interest of
peace at home and peace abroad, and in the interest of the
prosperity of this great people."

No speech of the same length in the English language
ever occasioned such a furore as that of Hon. Robert G.
Ingersoll in presenting the name of James G. Elaine for the
presidential nomination, at the Cincinnati convention in

526 THE VOTERS 1 HAND-BOOK.

June, 1876. It is in persistent demand everywhere, and is
herewith reproduced for permanent preservation :

"Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: The Republicans
of the United States demand as their leader in the great
contest of 1876 a man of intelligence, a man of well-known
and approved political opinions. They demand a statesman ;
they demand a reformer after as well as before the elec-
tion. They demand a politician in the highest, broadest,
and best sense a man of superb moral courage. They
demand a man acquainted with public affairs, with the
wants of the people ; with not only the requirements of the
hour, but with the demands of the future.

" They demand a man broad enough to comprehend the
relations of the government to the other nations of the
earth. They demand a man well versed in the powers,
duties and prerogatives of each and every department of
this government. They demand a man who will sacredly
preserve the financial honor of the United States ; one who
knows enough to know that the National debt must be paid
through the prosperity of this people ; one who knows
enough to know that all the financial theories in the world
can not redeem a single dollar ; one who knows enough to
know that all the money must be made, not by law, but by
labor; one who knows enough to know that the people of
the United States have the industry to make the money,
and the honor to pay it over just as fast as they make it.

"The Republicans of the United States demand a man
who knows that prosperity and resumption, when they
come, must come together ; that when they come they will

NOMINATING SPEECHES. 527

come hand in hand through the golden harvest fields ; hand
in hand by the whirling spindles and the turning wheels ;
hand in hand past the open furnace doors ; hand in hand by
the chimneys filled with eager fire, greeted and grasped by
the countless sons of toil.

" This money has to be dug out of the earth. You can
not make it by passing resolutions in a political convention.

"The Republicans of the United States want a man
who knows that this government should protect every citi-
zen, at home and abroad ; who knows that any government
that will not defend its defenders and protect its protectors
is a disgrace to the map of the world. They demand a man
who believes in the eternal separation and divorcement of
Church and school. They demand a man whose political
reputation is as spotless as a star ; but they do not demand
that their candidate shall have a certificate of moral char-
acter signed by a Confederate Congress. The man who has
in full-heaped and rounded measure all these splendid
qualifications is the present grand and gallant leader of the
Republican party James G. Elaine.

" Our country, crowned with the vast and marvelous
achievements of its first century, asks for a man worthy of
the past and prophetic of her future ; asks for a man who
has the audacity of genius ; asks for a man who is the
grandest combination of heart, conscience, and brain beneath
her flag such a man is James G. Elaine. For the Repub-
lican host, led by this intrepid man, there can be no defeat.

" This is a grand year a year filled with recollections
of the Revolution ; filled with the proud and tender memo-
ries of the past ; with the sacred legends of liberty a year

528 THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

in which the sons of freedom will drink from the fountains
of enthusiasm; a year in which the people call for a man
who has preserved in Congress what our soldiers won upon
the field; a year in which they call for the man who has
torn from the throat of treason the tongue of slander for
the man who has snatched the mask of Democracy from the
hideous face of rebellion ; for this man, who, like an intel-
lectual athlete, has stood in the arena of debate and chal-
lenged all comers, and who is still a total stranger to defeat.

" Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James
G. Elaine marched down the halls of the American Congress
and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen
foreheads of the defamers of his country and the maligners
of his honor. For the Republican party to desert this gal-
lant leader now is as though an army should desert their
general upon the field of battle.

" James G. Elaine is now, and has been for years, the
bearer of the sacred standard of the Republican party. I
call it sacred because no human being can stand beneath its
folds without becoming and without remaining free.

" Gentlemen of the convention, in the name of the great
Republic, the only republic that ever existed upon this earth ;
in the name of all her defenders and of all her supporters;
in the name of all her soldiers living ; in the name of all her
soldiers dead upon the field of battle, and in the name of
those who perished in the skeleton-clutch of famine at An-
dersonville and Libby, whose sufferings he so vividly remem-
bers, Illinois Illinois nominates for the next President of
this country that prince of parliamentarians that leader of
leaders James G. Elaine."

THE VOTER'S HAND-BOOK.

529

SUMMARY OF POPULAR AND ELECTORAL VOTES

For President and Vice-president of the United States, 1789 188O.

Year of Election..

POLITICAL
PARTY.

* PRESIDENTS.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

CANDIDATES.

VOTE.

CANDIDATES.

Blec'ral Vote.

3
o

States

Popular.

Electoral.

1789

1792
1796

1800

tio

15
16

133
138

138

Geoi'ge Washington....

(fl

John Adams

6
6
4
3
2
2
1
1
1
4

John Jay

R. H. Harrison
John Rutledge

John Hancock

Geoi'ge Clinton

Samuel Huntingdon..

Jolni Milton

James Armstrong

Bi'ijjaniiu Lincoln

Edward Telfair

Federalist....
Federalist.....
Republican-

Vacancies'.

George Washington....

1<?>

John Adams

77
50
4
1
3

George Clinton
Thomas Jefferson

Aaron Burr

Federalist,...
Republican-
Federalist....
Republican..

Vacancies

John Adams

Thomas Jefferson

68
59
30
15
11
7
5
3
2
2
2
1

Thomas Piuckney

Aaron Burr

Samuel Adams

Oliver Ellsworth

George Clinton

John J;iy

James Iredell

George Washington...

John Henry

S. Johnson

Charles C. Pinckney..

Republican..
Republican-
Federalist....
Federalist....

Thomas Jefferson

ITS

Aaron Burr

{73
65

John Adams

Charles C. Pinckney...

John Jay

* Previous to the election of 1804 each elector voted for two candidates for President ;
the one receiving the highest number of votes, if a majority, was declared elected Presi-
dent; and the next highest, Vice-president.

t Three States out of thirteen did not vote, viz.: New York, which had not passed an
electoral law ; and North Carolina, and Rhode Island, which had not adopted the Con-
stitution.

t There having been a tie vote, the choice devolved upon the House of Representa-
tives. A choice was made on the 36th ballot, which was as follows: Jefferson Georgia,
Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee,
Vermont, and Virginia 10 States; Burr Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire
and Rhode Island 4 States ; Blank Delaware and South Carolina 2 States.

530

THE VOTERS HAND-BOOK.

Summary of Popular and Electoral Votes Continued.

Year of Election...

| No. of States

Total Elec'l Vote.

POLITICAL
PAETY.

PRESIDENTS.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

CANDIDATES.

VOTE.

CANDIDATES.

Elec'ral Vote.

States

Popular.

Electoral.

1804
1808

1812
1816

1820
1824

1828
1832

1836

17
17

18
19

24
24

176
17(i

218
221

2.'55
2lil

261

288

294

Republican..
Federalist....

rhoiiias Jefferson

IT)

102
14

122
17

Ueorge Clinton

162
14

113
47
9
3
3
1

131

86
1

183
22
5
4
3
4

218
8
4

1
1
3

182
30
24
13
9
2
1

171
83
7

189
49
11
7
30
2

147
77
47
23

Charles C. Pinckney...

Rufus King

James Madison

George Clinton

Charles C. Pinckney....

Kut'ns Kiiui

George Clinton

John Liingdon

James M:idison
James Monroe

Republican..
Federalist....

Vacancy..

James Madison

128
81)
1

Klbi'idge Gerry

De Witt Clinton...

Jared lngersoll

Vacancy

Republican..
Federalist....

James Monroe.

18:;

3-1

D. D. Tompkins
John E. Howaid
James Ross

Kufus King

John Marshall

Robert G. Harper

Republican..
Opposition...

James Monroe

2,31
1

D. D Tompkins
Richard Stockton....
Diuiiel Rodney

John Q, Adams...

Robert G. Harper
Richard Rush

Republican..
Coalition
Republican..
Republican..

Vacancies .

Andrew Jackson
John Q. Adams

8
8
8

155,872
105,321
44.282
4,587

*9!l
84
-11
37

John C. Calhoun
Nathan Santord.
Nathaniel Macon
Andrew Jackson
M. Van Bureii

Win. H Crawford
Henry Clay

Henry Clay

Democratic..
Nat. Repub..

Vacancy. .. .

Andrew Jackson

15
9

647,231
509,097

178
83

John C, Calhoun
Richard Rush

John Q,. Adams ...

William Smith

Democratic..
Nat. Repub.

15
7
1
1

687,502
530,189

33,108

219
49
11
7

M Van Buren

Henry Clay

John Sergeant

John Floyd i

Henry Lee

Anti-Mason

William Wirt )

Amos Ellmaker
William Wilkins

Democratic..
Wliig.

Vacancies..

Martin VimBuren
Win. H. Harrison 1

7
2
1
1

761,549
736,656

17(1
21

n
11

R. M. Johnson f
Francis Granger
lohn Tyler

Whig

Hugh L. While 1
Daniel Webster [
W. P. Manguiu )

Whig

William Smith

Whig

THE VOTER'S HAND-BOOK.

531

Summary of Popular and Electoral Votes Continued.

Year of Election...

No. of States

:;_
H

^"
f

POLITICAL
PARTY.

PKEMDENIS.

VICK-PRESIDENIS.

CANDIDATES.

TOTE.

CANDIDATES.

Elec'ral Vote.

StntPH

Popular.

?
?_

284
00

1840

1844
1848
1852
1856
1860

1864
1868
1872

1876
1880

28
aa

31
88

:J6

t-;7
n

88
88

..".U

275
J'HI
JOG
-m
90S

:i!4
517

:JC6

:;>;:
.<(

Whig-

Wm. H. Harrison
Martin Van Buren
James G. Birney

1,275,017
1,128.702
7,059

John Tyltr

234

Democratic .
Liberty

R. M. Johnson

L. W. Tazewell.

11
1

170
105

Democratic..
Whig

James K. Polk

lo
11

1,337,243
1,299,06S
62,300

1,360,101
1,220,544
291,263

17H
105

James K. Polk
Geo. M. Dallas

Henry Clay

T. Frelinghuysen

Liberty

Whig'.
Democratic..
Free Soil

Democratic..
Wiiig

James G. Birney

Zachary Taylor
Lewis Cass
Martin Van Buren

15
15

!(>>
127

Millard Fillmore
Wm. O. Butler.

168
127

C'has. F. Adams ...

Franklin Pierce

27
4

19
11

17
11
8

>2
3
11

1,601,474
1.SW.578
106,149

1,838,169
1,341,264
874,534

1 ,806,352
845,7(
589,581
1,375,157

2,216,067
1,808,725

L'54
4'.'

174
114

INI
72
80
12

212
21

Wm. R. King

254
42

Winfield Scott.

Win. A. Graham
Geo. W. Julian

Free Dem....

Democratic..
Republican.

American....

Republican-
Democratic..
Cons. Union
Ind. Dein....

Republican..
Democratic-
Republican..
Democratic-
Republican.
Dem. & Lib..
Democratic..
Temperance

John P. Hale
James Buchanan

J. C. Breckinridge....
Wm Ij. Dayton

174
114
8

180
72
39
12

212
21
81

214
80
23

286
47
5
5
3
3
1
1
1
14

185
184

John C. Fremont

Millard Fillmore

Abraham Lincoln
J. C. Breckiuridse
John Bell

A. J. Donelsou

Hannibal Hamlin...
Joseph Lsine

Edward Everett
H. V. Johnson

S. A. Douglas

Abraham Lincoln
Geo. B McClellan
Vacancies.

Andrew Johnson
G. H. Pendletou

Ulysses S. Grant

8
1

3,015,071
2,709,613

214
Bb

2;>

Schuyler Colfax

Horatio Seymour.

F. P. Blair, Jr

Vacancies

Ulysses S. Grant
Horace Greely

31
6

3,597,070
2,834,079
29,408

2.>i

Henry Wilson

B. Gratz Brown

Charles U'Conor .

Geo. W. Julian

James Black

5,608

'4.:

1?5
1
I

A. H. Colquitt
John M. Palmer
T. E. Bramlette
W. S. Groesbeck
Willis B. Maclien
N. P Banks

flios. A. Hendricks....
B. Gratz Brown

Charles J. Jenkins

Davil Davis

Republican..
Democratic..
Greenback...
Prohibition.

I Not Counted.

Rutherford B. Hayes..
Samuel J. Tilden
Peter Cooper

L'l

4,033,950

4,284,88.5
81,740

ls.5
1S4

Wm. A. Wheeler....
T. A. Hendricks

Green Clay Smith.

9,522
2,636

Scattering

Republican.
Democralic..
Greenback....

James A. Garfleld
Winfleld S. Hancock-
James B. Weaver

19
1!)

4,449,053
4,442,035
307,306
12,576

J14

155

Chester A. Arthur. ...
Wm. H. English
B. J. Chambers

214
155

Scattering

* Eleven States did not vote, viz. : Alabama. Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Missis-
sippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia.

' Three States did not vote, viz: : Mississippi, Texas, iind Virginia.

I Three electoral votes of Georgia ca*t lor Hor-ice Greely, a id the votes of Arkansas, 6, and
Louisiana, 8. cast for U. S. (Jrant, were i ejected. If all had been included in the count, the elec-
toral vote would have been 300 for U. S. Grant, and 66 for opposing candidates.

532

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

POPULAR VOTE AT THE ELECTION OF 1880 AND 1876.

STATES.

188O.

1876.

Hancock.
Dem.

Garfleld.
Rep.

Tilden.
Dem.

Hayes.
.Rep.

90,687
60,489
80,426
24,647
64,417
15,183
27,964
102,522
277,321
225,528
105,845
59,789
147,999
65,310
65,171
93,706
111,900
131,300
53,315
75,7-50
208,609
28,523
9,611
40,794
122,565
534,511
124,204
340,821
19,948
407,428
10,779
112,312
128,191
156,228
18,181
127,976
57,391
114,634

56,178
41,661
80,348
27,450
67,073
14,150
23,654
52,648
318,037
232,164
183,904
121,520
104,550
37,994
74,039
78,515
165,205
185,190
93,903
34,854
153,567
54,979
8,732
44,852
120,555
555,544
115,878
375,048
20,619
444,704
18,195
58,071
107,677
57,845
45,090
84,020
46,243
144,397

102,002
58,071
76,465
By Legis
61,934
13,381
22,923
130,088
258,601
213,526
112,099
37,902
159,690
70,508
49,823
91,780
108,777
141,095
48,799
112,173
203,077
17,554
9,308
38,509
115,962
521,949
125,427
323,182
14,149
366,158
10,712
90,906
133,166
104,755
20,254
139,670
56,455
123,927

68,230
38,669
79,269
lature.
59,034
10,752
23,849
50,446
278,232
208,011
171,327
78,322
97,156
75,135
66,300
71,981
150,063
166,534
72,962
52,605
145,029
31,916
10,383
41,539
103,517
489,207
108,417
330,698
15,206
384,122
15,787
91,870
89,566
44,800
44,092
95,558
42,698
130,668

Florida

Maine

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi.

Missouri

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North. Carolina

Ohio

Oregon,

Pennsylvania ...

South Carolina,

Tennessee ....

Texas,

Virginia

Wisconsin ........

Total,

4,442,035

4,449,053
7,018
,882
,970

4,284,757
250,807
93
8,412

4,033,950

,298
,605

Plurality

All others .......

319

9,210

Total vote

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

533

POPULAR AND ELECTORAL VOTE FOR PRESIDENT, 1880.

STATES.

Garfield.
Rep.

Hancock.
Dem.

Weaver.
Gr.

Scat-
tering.

Total
Popular
Vote.

Electoral vote.

Gar-
field.

Han-
cock.

To-
tal.

Alabama, ....
Arkansas, - . .
California, . . .
Colorado, . . .
Connecticut, . .
Delaware, . . .
Florida, ....
Georgia, ....
Illinois, ....
Indiana, ....
Iowa

90,687
60,489
80,426
24,647
64,417
15,183
27,964
102,522
277,321
225,528
105,845
59,789
147,999
65,310
65,171
93,706
111,960
131,300
53,315
75,750
208,609
28,523
9,611
40,794
122,565
534,511
124,204
340,821
19,948
407,428
10,779
112,312
128,191
156,228
18,181
127,976
57,391
114,634

4,642
4,079
3,392
1,435
868

412

151,507
106,229
164,166
53,532
132,770
29,333
51,618
155,651
622,312
470,678
322,706
201,019
264,304
97,201
143,853
173,039
282,512
352,441
150,771
117,078
397,221
87,355
18,343
86,363
245,928
1,104,605
241,218
724,967
40,816
874,783
29,235
170,956
241,827
241,478
64,593
212,135
112,713
267,172

1
3
6

15
11
5

13
11
5

3
5
35

22
3
29
4

5
' 10

H)
6
5

4
11

' 12
8

8
15

3
9

' 10

7
12

' 11
5

10
6
6
3
6
3
4
11
21
15
11
5
12
8
7
8
13
11
5
8
15
3
3
5
9
35
10
22
3
29
4
7
12
8
5
11
5
10

481
26,358
12,986
32,327
19,710
11,498
439
4,408
818
4,548
34,795
3,267
5,797
35,045
3,853

596
630
257
235

799
1,156
286
677

Kansas, ....
Kentucky, . . .
Louisiana,*. . .
Maine,t ....
Maryland, . . .
Massachusetts, .
Michigan, . . .
Minnesota, . . .
Mississippi, . .
Missouri, . . .
Nebraska, . . .
Nevada, ....
New Hampshire,
New Jersey, . .
New York, . . .
North Carolina,
Ohio

528
2,617
12,373
1,136
6,456
249
20,668
236
566
5,916
27,405
1,212
139
9,079
7,980

189
191
2,177

'2,642

1,983
25

43
110

161

Oregon, ....
Pennsylvania, .
Rhode Island, .
South Carolina,
Tennessee, . . .
Texas

Vermont, . . .
Virginia, ....
West Virginia,
Wisconsin, . . .

Total,. . . .
Plurality, .
Per cent, ....

4,449,053
7,018
48.26

4,442,035

307,306

12,570

9,204,428

214
59
5800

155

42.00

369

48.25

3.33

.13

*ln Louisiana, two Republican Electoral tickets were voted for: the regular Re-
publican, and the Beattie or Grant Republican. The latter received about 9,740 votes,
not returned in the first table published.

fin Maine the Hancock Electoral ticket was styled " Fusion," containing 3 Demo-
cratic and 4 Greenback Electors Besirl.-s this a " Straight " Greenback Electoral ticket
Was voted for, with Weaver's name at the head.

534

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

PRESIDENTS AND THEIR CABINETS.

PRESIDENTS.

VICE-PRESIDENTS.

NAME.

QUALIFIED.

NAME.

QUALIFIED.

George Washington
George Washington
John Adams ....

April 30, 1789
March 4, 179; >
March 4, 1797

John Adams . . .
John Adams . . .
Thomas Jefferson .

June 3, 1789
Dec. 2, 1793
March 4, 1797

Thomas Jefferson .

March 4, 1801

Aaron Burr ....

March 4, 1801

Thomas Jefferson .

March 4, 1805

George Clinton . .

March 4, 1805

James Madison . .

March 4, 1809

George Clinton* .

March 4, 1809

Wm. H. Crawfordt

April 10, 1812

James Madison . .

March 4, 1813

El bridge Gerry* . .

Marcli 4, 1813

John GaillardT

Nov. 25, 1814

James Monroe . . .

March 4, 1817

Daniel D. Tompkins

March 4, 1817

James Monroe . . .

March 5, 1821

Daniel D. Tornpkins

March 5, 1821

John Quincy Adams

March 4, 1825

John C. Calhoun .

March 4, 1825

Andrew Jackson . .

March 4, 1829

John C. CalhounJ .

March 4, 1829

Hugh L. Whitet .

Dec. 28, 1832

Andrew Jackson . .

March 4, 1833

Martin Van Buren

March 4, 1833

Martin Van Buren .

March 4, 1837

Richard M. Johnson

March 4, 1837

William H.Harrison*

March 4, 1841

John Tyler ....

March 4, 1841

John Tyler ....

April 6, 1841

Samuel L. Southardt

April 6, 1841

Willie P. Mangumt

May 31, 1842

James K. Polk . . .

March 4, 1845

George M. Dallas .

March 4, 1845

Zachary Taylor* . .

March 5, 1849

Millard Fillmore .

March 5, 1849

Millard Fillmore . .

July 9, 1850

William R. Kingt ,

July 11, 1850

Franklin Pierce . .

March 4, 1853

William R. King* .

March 4, 1853

David R. Atchisont

April 18, 1853

Jesse D. Brightt. .

Dec. 5, 1854

James Buchanan . .

March 4, 1857

John C.Breckinridge

March 4, 1857

Abraham Lincoln .

March 4, 1861

Hannibal Hamlin .

March 4, 1861

Abraham Lincoln* .

March 4, 1865

Andrew Johnson .

March 4, 1865

Andrew Johnson . .

April 15, 1865

Lafayette S. Foster!

April 15, 1865

Benjamin F. Wadet

March 2, 1867

Ulysses S. Grant . .

March 4, 1869

Schuyler Colfax . .

March 4, 1869

Ulysses S. Grant . .

March 4, 1873

Henry Wilson* . .

March 4, 1873

Thomas W. Ferryt

Nov. 22, 1875

Rutherford B. Hayes

March 5, 1877

William A. Wheeler

March 5, 1877

James A. Garfield .

March 4, 1881

Chester A. Arthur

March 4, 1881

Chester A. Arthur .

Sept. 20, 1881

David Davis . . .

Oct. 13, 1881

On the 6th of April, 1841, John Tyler succeeded to the presidency, on the
death of William Henry Harrison. Millard Fillmore was the second Vice-
president to occupy the presidential office. On the 9th of July, 1850, he was
summoned, by the death of Zachary Taylor, to assume the duties of Presi-
dent. By the assassination of President Lincoln, on the 14th of April, 1865,
Vice-president Andrew Johnson was, on the following day, raised to the chief
magistracy. In like manner Chester A. Arthur was, on the 20th of Septem-
ber, 1881, called to the presidency by the death of James A. Garfield.

* Died In office. t Acting Vice-president and President pro tern, of the Senate
t Resigned the Vice-presidency December 28, 18*2.

THE VOTERS' HAND BOOK.

535

Secretaries of State.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

Thomas Jefferson .

Sept. 26, 1789

Daniel Webster . .

April 6, 1841

Thomas Jefferson .

March 4, 1793

Hugh S. Legare . .

May 9, 1843

Edmund Randolph "

Jan. 2, 1794

Abel P. Upshur . .

July 24, 1843

Timothy Pickering .

Dec. 10, 1795

John C. Calhoun .

March 6, 1844

Timothy Pickering .

March 4, 1797

James Buchanan .

March 6, 1845

John Marshall . . .

May 13, 1800

John M. Clayton .

March 7, 1849

James Madison . .

March 5, 1801

Daniel Webster . .

July 22, 1850

James Madison . .

March 4, 1805

Edward Everett. .

Nov. 6, 1852

Robert Smith . . .

March 6, 1809

William L. Marcy .

March 7, 1853

James Monroe . . .

April 2, 1811

Lewis Cass ....

March 6, 1857

James Monroe , . .

March 4, 1813

Jeremiah S. Black .

Dec. 17, 1860

John Quincy Adams

March 5, 1817

William H. Seward

March 5, 1861

John Quincy Adams

March 5, 1821

William H. Seward

March 4, 1865

Henry Clay ....

March 7, 1825

William H. Seward

April 15, 1865

Martin Van Buren .

March 6, 1829

Elihu B.Washburne

March 5, 1869

Edward Livingston .

May 24, 1831

Hamilton Fish . .

M'rchll, 1869

Louis McLane . . .

May 29, 1833

Hamilton Fish . .

March 4, 1873

John Forsyth . . .

June 27, 1834

William M. Evarts

M'rchl2, 1877

John Forsyth . . .

March 4, 1837

James G. Elaine . .

March 5, 1881

Daniel Webster . .

March 5, 1841

F. T. Frelinghuysen

Dec. 12, 1881

Secretaries of the Treasury.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

Alexander Hamilton

Sept. 11, 1789

Walter Forward .

Sept. 13, 1841

March 4, 1793

John C. Spencer .

March 3, 1843

Oliver Wolcott . . .

Feb. 2, 1795

George M. Bibb .

June 15, 1844

March 4, 1797

Robert J. Walker .

March 6, 1845

Samuel Dexter . . .

Jan. 1, 1801

Wm. M. Meredith

March 8, 1849

Albert Gallatin . . .

May 14, 1801

Thomas Corwin . .

July 23, 1850

it it

March 4, 1809

James Guthrie . .

March 7, 1853

( t

March 4, 1813

Howell Cobb . . .

March 6, 1857

George W. Campbell

Feb. 9, 1814

Philip F. Thomas .

Dec. 12, 1860

Alexander J. Dallas

Oct. 6, 1814

John A. Dix . . .

Jan. 11, 1861

William H. Crawford

Oct. 22, 1816

Salmon P. Chase .

March 7, 1861

March 5, 1817

Wm. Pitt Fessenden

July 1, 1864

March 5, 1821

Hugh McCulloch .

March 7, 1865

Richard Rush- . . .

March 7, 1825

<> tt

April 15, 1865

Samuel D. Ingham .

March 6, 1829

George S. Boutwell

March 11, 1869

Louis McLane . . .

August 2, 1831

Wm. A. Richardson

March 17, 1873

William J. Duane .

May 29, 1833

Benj. H. Bristow .

June 4, 1874

Roger B. Taney . .

Sept. 23, 1833

Lot M. Merrill . .

July 7, 1876

Levi Woodbury .

June 27, 1834

John Sherman . .

March 8, 1877

ft it

March 4, 1837

William Windom .

March 5, 1881

Thomas Ewing . . .

March 5, 1841

Charles J. Folger

Oct. 27, 1881

it it

April 6, 1841

536

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

Sercetaries of War.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

Henry Knox ....

Sept. 12, 1789

John C. Spencer . .

Oct. 12, 1841

March 4, 1793

James M. Porter . .

March 8, 1843

Timothy Pickering .

Jan. 2, 1795

William Wilkins . .

Feb. 15, 1844

James McHenry . .

Jan. 27, 1796

William L. Marcy .

March 6, 1845

March 4, 1797

George W. Crawford

March 8, 1849

Samuel Dexter . . .

May 13, 1800

Charles M. Conrad .

Aug. 15, 1850

Roger Griswold . .

Feb. 3, 1801

Jefferson Davis . .

March 5, 1853

Henry Dearborn . .

March 5, 1801

John B. Floyd . . .

March 6, 1857

(< < C

March 4 1805

Joseph Holt

Tan 18 1861

William Eustis. . .

March 1\ 180'J

Simon Cameron . .

March 5, 1861

John Armstrong . .

Jan. 13, 1813

Edwin M. Stan ton .

Jan. 15, 1862

tt K

March 4, 1813

tt i>

March 4, 1865

James Monroe - . .

Sept. 27, 1814

< <

April 15, 1865

William H. Crawford

Aug. 1, 1815

U. S. Grant, ad int.

Aug. 12, 1867

George Graham . .

ad interim

Lorenzo Thomas . .

Feb. 21, 1868

John C. Calhoun . .

Oct. 8, 1817

John M. Schofield .

May 28, 1868

March 5, 1821

John A. Rawlins . .

March 11, 1869

James Barbour. . .

March 7, 1825

William W. Belknap

Oct. 25, 1869

Peter B. Porter . .

May 26, 1828

" <<

March 4, 1873

John H. Eaton . .

March 9, 1829

Alphonso Taft . . .

March 8, 1876

Lewis Cass ....

Aug. 1, 1831

James D. Cameron .

Mav 22, 1876

March 4, 1833

George W. McCrary

March 12, 1877

Joel R. Poinsett . .

March 7, 1837

Alexander Ramsey .

Dec. 10, 1879

John Bell

March 5 1841

Robert T. Lincoln .

March 5, 1881

It li

April 6, 1841

Secretaries of the Navy.

Benjamin Stoddert .

May 21, 1798

Abel P. Upshur . .

Sept. 13, 1841

March 4, 1801

David Henshaw

July 24, 1843

Robert Smith . . .

July 15, 1801

Thomas W. Gilmer

Feb. 15, 1844

J. Crowninshield . .

March 3, 1805

John Y. Mason . .

M'rch 14, 1844

Paul Hamilton . . .

March 7, 1809

George Bancroft . .

M'rch 10, 1845

William Jones . . .

Ian. 12, 1813

John Y. Mason . .

Sept. 9, 1846

i. it

Mar Sh 4, 1813

William B. Preston

March 8, 1849

B. W. Crowninshield

Dec. 19, 1814

William A. Graham

July 22, 1850

tt a

March 4, 1817

John P. Kennedy .

Julv 22, 1852

Smith Thompson . .

Nov. 9, 1818

James C. Dobbin .

March 7, 1853

<! tt

March 5, 1821

Isaac Touc.ey . . .

March 6, 1857

Samuel L. Southard .

Sept. 16, 1823

Gideon Welles . . .

March 5, 18(51

tt tt

March 4, 1825

March 4, 1865

John Branch . . .

March 9, 1829

U ((

April 15, 1865

Levi Woodbury . .

May 23, 1831

Adolph E. Borie . .

March 5, 1869

<* it

March 4, 1833

George M. Robeson

June 25, 1869

Mahlon Dickerson .

June 30, 1834

tt .

March 4, 1873

a ti

March 4, 1837

Rich'd W. Thompson

M'rch 12, 1877

James K. Spaulding

June 25, 1838

Nathan Goff, Jr. . .

Jan. 6, 1881

George E. Badger .

March 5, 1841

William H. Hunt .

March 5, 1881

April 6, 1841

William E. Chandler

April 1, 1882

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

537

Secretaries of the Interior.

NAMR.

APPOINTED.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

Thomas Ewing. . rf

March 8, 1849

Orville H. Browning

July 27, 1866

Alex. H. H. Stuart .

Sept. 12, 1850

Jacob D. Cox . . .

March 5, 1869

Robert McClelland .

March 7, 1853

Columbus Delano .

Nov. 1, 1870

Jacob Thompson

March 6, 1857

<* <

March 4, 1873

Caleb B. Smith . .

March 5, 1861

Zachariuh Chandler

Oct. 19, 1875

John P. Usher . . .

Jan. 8, 1863

Carl Schurz ....

March 12 1877

March 4, 1865

Samuel J. Kirkwood

March 5, 1881

April 15, 1865

Henry M. Teller . .

April 6, 1882

James Harlan . . .

May 15, 1865

Postmasters-General.

Samuel Osgood . .

Sept. 26, 1789

Cave Johnson . . .

March 6, 1845

Timothy Pickering .

Aug. 12, 1791

Jacob Collamer . .

March 8, 1849

March 4, 1793

Nathan K. Hall . .

July 23, 1850

Joseph Habersham

Feb. 25, 1795

Samuel D. Hubbard

Aug. 31, 1852

c< <

March 4, 1797

James Campbell . .

March 5, 1853

March 4, 1801

Aaron V. Brown . .

March 6, 1857

Gideon Granger . .

Nov. 28, 1801

Joseph Holt ....

March 14, 1859

March 4, 1805

Horatio King . . .

Feb. 12, 1861

March 4, 1809

Montgomery Blair .

March 5, 1861

Return J. Meigs, Jr.

March 17, 1814

William Dennison .

Sept 24, 1864

March 4, 1817

March 4, 1865

March 5, 1821

April 15, 1865

John McLane . . .

June 26, 1823

Alex. W. Randall '

July 25, 1866

March 4, 1825

John A. J. Creswell

March 5, 1869

William T. Barry . .

March 9, 1829

March 4, 1873

it n

March 4, 1833

Marshall Jewell . .

Aug. 24, 1874

Amos Kendall

May 1, 1835

James N. Tyner . .

July 12, 1876

March 4, 1837

David McK. Key . .

March 12, 1877

John M. Niles . . .

Mav 25, 1840

Horace Maynard . .

June 2, 1880

Francis Granger . .

March 6, 1841

Thomas L. James .

March 5, 1881

April 6, 1841

Timothy O- Howe .

Dec. 20, 1881

Charles A. Wickliffe

Sept. 13, 1841

Attorneys- General.

Edmund Randolph .

Sept. 26, 1789

Caesar A. Rodney .

March 4, 1809

March 4, 1793

William Pinckney .

Dec. 11, 1811

William Bradford .

Jan. 27, 1794

March 4, 1813

Charles Lee ....

Dec. 10, 1795

Richard Rush . . .

Feb. 10, 1814

" "

March 4, 1797

March 4, 1817

Theophilus Parsons

Feb. 20, 1801

William Wirt . . .

Nov. 13, 1817

Levi Lincoln ....

March 5, 1801

March 5, 1821

Robert Smith . . .

March 3, 1805

March 4, 1825

John Breck in ridge .

Aug. 7, 1805

John M. Berrien . .

March 9, 1829

Caesar A. Rodney .

Jan. 27, 1807

Roger B. Taney . .

July 20, 1831

538

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

Attorneys-GeneralContinued.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

NAME.

APPOINTED.

Roger B. Taney . .

March 4, 1833

Edward Bates . . .

March 5, 1861

Benjamin F. Butler

Nov. 15, 1833

T. J. Coffey, ad int.

June 22, 1863

March 4, 1837

James Speed ....

Dec. 2, 1864

Felix Grundy . . .

July 5, 1838

<( U

March 4, 1865

Henry D. Gilpin . .
John J. Crittenden .

Jan. 11, 1840
March 5, 1841

Henrv Stanberry . .

April 15, 1865
July 23, 1866

a n

April 6, 1841

William M. Evarts .

July 15, 1868

Hugh S. Legare . .
John Nelson ....

Sept. 13, 1841
July 1, 1843

E. Rockwood Hoar .
Amos T. Ackerman

March 5, 1869
June 23, 1870

John Y. Mason . .

March 6, 1845

George H. Williams

Dec. 14, 1871

Nathan Clifford . .

Oct. 17, 1846

March 4, 1873

Isaac Toucey

June 21, 1848

Edwards Pierrepont

April 26, 1875

Reverdy Johnson .

March 8, 1849

Alphonso Taft . . .

May 22, 1876

John J. Crittenden .

July 22, 1850

Charles Devens . .

March 12, 1877

Caleb Gushing . . .

March 7, 1853

Wayne McVeagh .

March 5, 1881

Jeremiah S. Black .

March 6, 1857

Benj. H. Brewster .

Dec. 19, 1881

Edwin M. Stanton .

Dec. 20, 1860

PUBLIC DEBT OF THE UNITED STATES.

To January ist of each year to 1842. To July 1st, from 1843-1883.

1791 .

. $75,463,476 52

1815 .

. $99,833,660 15

1839 .

. $3,573,343 82

1792 .

. 77,227,924 66

1816 .

. 127,334,933 74

1840 .

. 5,250,875 54

1793 .

. 80,352,634 04

1817 .

. 123,491,965 16

1841 .

. 13,594,480 73

1794 .

. 78,427,404 77

1818 .

. 103,166,633 83

1842 .

. 20,601,226 28

1795 .

. 80,747,587 39

1819 .

. 95,529,648 28

1843 .

. 32,742,922 00

1796 .

. 83,762,172 07

1820 .

. 91,015,566 15

1844 .

. 23,461,652 50

1797 .

. 82,064,479 33

1821 .

. 89,987,427 66

1845 .

. 15,925,303 01

1798 .

. 79,228,529 12

1822 .

. 93,546,676 98

1846 .

. 15,550,202 97

1799 .

. 78,408,669 77

1823 .

. 90,875.877 28

1847 .

. 38,826,534 77

1800 .

. 82,976,294 35

1824 .

. 90,269,777 77

1848 .

. 47,044,862 23

1801 .

. 83,038,050 80

1825 .

. 83,788,432 71

1849 .

. 63,061,858 69

1802 .

. 86,712,632 25

1826 .

. 81,054,059 99

1850 .

. 63,452,773 55

1803 .

. 77,054,686 30

1827 .

. 73,987,357 20

1851 .

. 68,304,796 02

1804 -

. 86,427,120 88

1828 .

. 67,475,043 87

1852 .

. 66,199,341 71

1805 .

. 82,312,150 50

1829 .

. 58,421,413 67

1853 .

. 59,803,117 70

1806 .

. 75,723,270 66

1830 .

. 48,565,406 50

1854 .

. 42,242,222 42

1807 .

. 69,218,398 64

1831 .

. 39,123,191 68

1855 .

. 35,586,858 56

1808

. 65,196,317 97

1832 .

. 24,322,235 18

1856 .

. 31,972,537 90

1809 -

. 57,023,192 09

1833 .

. 7,001,698 83

1857 .

. 28,699,831 85

1810 .

. 53,173,217 52

1834 .

. 4,760,082 08

1858 .

. 44,911,881 03

1811 .

. 48,005,587 76

1835 .

37,513 05

1859 .

. 58,496,837 88

1812 .

. 45,209,737 90

1836 .

336,957 83

1860 -

. 64,842,287 88

1813 .

. 55,962,827 57

1837 .

. 3,308,124 07

1861 -

. 90,580,873 72

1814 .

. 81,487,846 24

1838 .

. 10,434,221 14

1862 .

. 524,176,412 13

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

539

Public Debt of the United States Continued.

1863 . $1,119,772,138 63
1864 . 1,815,784,370 57
1865 . 2,680,647,869 74
1866 . 2,773,236,173 69
1867 . 2,678,126,103- 87
1868 . 2,611,687,851 19
1869 . 2,588,452,213 94

1870 . $2,480,672,427 81
1871 . 2,353,211,332 32
1872 . 2,253 251,328 78
1873 . 2,234,482,993 20
1874. 2,251,690,46843
1875 . 2,232,284,531 95
1876 . 2,180,395,067 15

1877 . $2,205,301,392 10
1878 . 2,256,205,892 53
1879 . 2,245.495,072 04
1880 . 2,120,415,370 63
1881 . 2,069,013,569 58
1882 . 1,918,312,994 03
1883 . 1,884,171,728 07

THOSE WHO ARE ENTITLED TO VOTE.

STATES.

>
?

REQUIREMENT AS TO
CITIZENSHIP.

-,.1

Residence
in
County..

REGISTRATION.

Alabama, . . .
Arkansas . . .
California . . .
Colorado . . .
Connecticut . .
Delaware . . .
Florida ....
Georgia ....
Illinois ....
Indiana ....

21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21
21

Citizens or declared intention .
Citizens or declared intention.
Actual citizens

I yr.
l yr.
1 yr.
6 mo
1 yr.
1 yr.
1 yr.
1 yr.
1 yr.
6 mo
6 mo
6 mo
2yrs
1 yr.

3 mo
1 yr.
1 vr

3 mo
6 mo
90 ds

6 mo
1 mo
6 mo
6 mo
90 ds
60 ds
60 ds

1 yr.

6 mo

No law.
Prohibited.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Not required.
Required.
No law.
Required.
No law.
Required.
Req'd in cities.
Not required.
No law.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Req'd in cities.
Required.
Required.
Required.
Req'd in cities.
Req'd in cities.
Required.
Not required.

Required.
Required.
Required,
Not required.
Prohibited.
Required.
Required.
Prohibited.
Required.

Citizens or declared intention.
Actual citizens

Actual county taxpayers. . .
U. &. citizens or decl'd intent'ns
Actual citizens

Actual citizens

Citizens or declared intention .
Actual citizens

Kansas ....
Kentucky . . .
Louisiana . . .
Maine
Maryland . . .
Massachusetts .
Michigan . . .
Minnesota . . .
Mississippi. . .
Missouri . . .
Nebraska . . .
Nevada ....
NewHampshire
New Jersey . .
New York . . .
North Carolina.
Ohio

Citizens or declared intention .
Actual citizens

Citizens or declared intention .
Actual citizens ........

Actual citizens

Citizens

Citizens or declared intention .
Citizens or declared intention .
Actual citizens

- 1 /*

3 mo
4 mo
6 mo
1 yr.
6 mo
6 mo

1 yr.

1 yr.
1 vr.

1 mo
60 ds

3o'ds
5 mo
4 mo
90 ds

Citizens or declared intention .
Citizens or declared intention .
Citizens or declared intention .
Actual citizens

Actual citizens

Actual citizens
Citizens or declared intention .
Actual citizens
Actual tax-paying citizens . . .
Actual citizens

1 yr.
6 mo
1 yr.
1 yr.
1 yr.
i yr.
1 yr.
1 yr.
1 yr.
1 yr.

1 yr.

60 ds
6 mo
6 mo

60 ds

Oregon ....
Pennsylvania .
Rhode Island .
South Carolina
Tennessee. . .
Texas
Vermont . . .
Virginia ....
West Virginia.
Wisconsin . . .

Actual citizens

Citizens or declared intention .
Actual citizens
Actual citizens

Actual citizens

Citizens or declared intention

540

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

APPORTIONMENT OF REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS,

And Ratio of Representation by the Constitution and at each Census.

STATES.

Admitted to the
Dnlou

REPRESENTATIVES TO WHICH EACH STATE WAS ENTITLED BY

K 2

" r

~ e

5 1

a s

K 2
3 ?

5 3

3 8

? 1

? 2

K -3

-*3o

~B-

**!?"

.j?o

--So

* 1

w *

s I

. c

" m

P i

Ratio of Repre-
sentation

30,000

33,000

35,000

40,000

47,700

70,680

93,423

127,381

6
3
3

131,425

154,325

1819

7
1

7
2
2

8
4
4

1
4
1
2
9
19
13
9
3
10
6
5
6
11
9
3
6
13
1
1
3
7
33
8
20
1
27
2
5
10
6
3
9
3
8

8
5
6
1
4
1
2
10
20
13
11
7
11
6
4
6
12
11
5
7
14
3
1
2
7
34
9
21
1
28
2
7
10
11
2
10
4
9

1836

/*!< ^ V

1850
1876

Connecticut

5
1

7
1

7
2

6
1

4
1
1
8
9
11
2

4
1
1
7
14
11
6
1
9
5
5
5
10
6
2
5
9
*1

3
5

31
7
19
1
24
2
4
8
4
3
11

Florida

1845

1
3

9
3

8
7
10

Illinois

1818

ISIIi

1846

1861

1792

12
3

7
9
13

13
3
8
8
12

10
4
7
6
10
3

10
4
6
6
11
4

5
7

I8'>0

6
8

8
14

9
17

9
20

Massachusetts ..

1837

lK=i8

1817

1
1

2
2

4
5

1821

1867

1864

New Hamps'e..

3
4
6
5

4
5
10
10

5
6
17
12

6
6
27
13
6

6
6
34
13
14

5
6
40
13
19

4
5
34
9

3
5
33
8
21

2
6
10
2
3
13

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina
Ohio

isif?

Pennsylvania...
Rhod Island...
Mouth Carolina.
Tennessee

1796
1845

8
1
5

13
2
6

18
2
8
3

23
2
9
6

26
2
9
9

28
2
9
13

24
2
7
11

Vermont.
Virginia

1791

....

2
19

6
23

5
21

4
15

West Virginia.

1863
1848

Whole number

105

141

181

213

240

223

237

243

293

325

AGGREGATE ISSUES OF PAPER MONEY IN WAR TIMES.

POPULATION.

AMOUNT ISSUED.

Amount
per btad.

Continental money

3,000,000 In 1780.

$359,546,825

$119 84

French assignats....

26,500 000 (France in 1790 )

9,115,600,000

343 98

Confederate currency

9,103 332 (11 Confederate

654,465,963

71 89

Greenbacks and national
bank-notes

States, 1860.)
31 443 321 (United States in

Highest amount in
circulation. Jan. '66.

I860.)

5750,820,228

23 87

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

541

POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES, BY RACES, IN 1880.

From the Official Returns of the Tenth Census.

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

Total
Population.
1880.

White.
1880.

Colored.
1880.

Chinese.
1880.

Indians civ.
or taxed.
1880.

Alabama, . . .

1,262,505

662,185

600,103

213

Arizona, ....

40,440

35,160

155

1,632

3,493

Arkansas, . .

802,525

591,531

210,666

133

195

California, . . .

864,694

767,181

6,018

75,218

16,277

Colorado, . . .

194,327

191,126

2,435

612

154

Connecticut, . .

622,700

610,769

11,547

129

255

Dakota, ....

135,177

133,147

401

238

1,391

Delaware, . . .

146,608

120,160

26,442

Dist. Columbia, .

177,624

118,006

59,596

Florida, ....

269,493

142,605

126,690

180

Georgia, ....

1,542,180

816,906

725,133

124

Idaho,

32,610

29,013

3,379

165

[llinois, ....

3,077,871

3,031,151

46,368

212

140

Indiana, ....

1,978,301

1,938,798

39,228

246

[owa

1,624,615

1,614,600

9,516

466

Kansas, . . . .

996,096

952,155

43,107

815

Kentucky, . . .

1,648,690

1,377,179

271,451

Louisiana, . . .

939,946

454,954

483,655

489

848

Maine,

648,936

646,852

1,451

625

Maryland, . . .

934,943

724,693

210,230

Massachusetts, .

1,783,085

1,763,782

18,697

237

369

Michigan,. . . .

1,636,937

1,614,560

15,100

7,249

Minnesota, . . .

780,773

776,884

1,564

2,300

Mississippi, . . .

1,131,597

479,398

650,291

1,857

Missouri, ....

2,168,380

2,022,82(5

145,350

113

Montana, . . .

39,159

35,385

346

1,765

1,663

Nebraska, . . .

452,402

449,764

2,385

235

Nevada, ....

62,266

53,556

488

5,419

2,803

New Hampshire,

346,991

346,229

685

New Jersey, . .

1,131,116

1,092,017

38,853

172

New Mexico, . .

119,565

108,721

1,015

9,772

New York, . . .

5,082,871

5,016,022

65,104

926

819

North Carolina, .

1,399,750

867,242

531,277

1,230

Ohio

3,198,062

3,117,920

79,900

112

130

Oregon, ....

1174,768

163,075

487

9,512

1,694

Pennsylvania, .

4,282,891

4,197,016

85,535

156

184

Rhode Island, .

276,531

269,939

6,488

.South Carolina,

995,577

391,105

604,332

131

Tennessee, . . .

1,542,359

1,138,831

403,151

352

Texas ....

1,591,749

1,197,237

393,384

136

992

Utah, ....

143,963

142,423

232

501

807

Vermont ....

332,286

331,218

1,057

Virginia, ....

1,512,565

880,858

631,616

Washington, . .

75,116

67,199

325

3,187

4,405

West Virginia, .

618,457

592,537

25,886

Wisconsin, . . .

1,315,497

1,309,618

2,702

3,161

Wyoming, . . .

20,789

19,437

298

914

140

Total U. States

50,155,783

43,402.970

6,580,793

105,613

66,407,

542

THE VOTERS' HAND-BOOK.

CITIZENSHIP, WITH THE TOTAL MALE POPULATION, 1880.

From the Official Returns of the Tenth Census.

STATES AND TERRITORIES.

POPULATION.

VOTING POPULATION.

Males of 21 years and over.

Total.

White.

Colored.

White.

Colored.

1,262,505
40,440
802,525
864,694
194,327
622,700
135,177
146,608
177,624
269,493
1,542,180
32,610
3,077,871
1,978,301
1,624,615
996,096
1,648,690
939,946
648,936
934,943
1,783,085
1,636,937
780,773
1,131,597
2,168,380
39,159
452,402
62,266
346,991
1,131,116
119,565
5,082,871
1,399,750
3,198,062
174,768
4,282,891
276,531
995,577
1,542,359
1,591,749
143,963
332,286
1,512,565
75,116
618,457
1,315,497
20,789

662,185
35,160
591,531
767,181
191,126
610,769
133,147
120,160
118,006
142,605
816,906
29,013
3,031,151
1,938,798
1,614,600
952,155
1,337,179
454,954
646,852
724,693
1,763 782
1,614,560
776,884
479,398
2,022,826
35,385
449,764
53,556
346,229
1,092,017
108,721
5,016,022
867,242
3,117,920
163,075
4,197,016
269,939
391,105
1,138,831
1,197,237
142,423
331,218
880,858
67,199
592,537
1,309,618
19,437

600,320
5,280
210,994
97,513
3,201
11,931
2,030
26,448
59,618
126,888
725,274
3,597
46,720
39,503
10,015
43,941
271,511
484,992
2,084
210,250
19,303
22,377
3,889
652,199
145,554
3,774
2,638
8,710
762
39,099
10,844
66,849
532,508
80,142
11,693
85,875
6,592
604,472
403,528
394,512
1,540
1,068
631,707
7,917
25,920
5,879
1,352

141,461
18,046
136,150
262,583
92,088
173,759
50,962
31,902
31,955
34,210
177,967
11,669
783,161
487,698
413,633
254,949
317,579
108,810
186,659
183,522
496,692
461,557
212,399
108,254
508,165
19,636
128,198
25,633
104,901
289,965
30,981
1,388,692
189,732
804,871
51,636
1,070,392
75,012
86,900
250,055
301,737
32,078
95,307
206,248
24,251
132,777
338,932
9,241

118,423
2,352
46,827
266,809
1,520
3,532
641
6,396
13,918
27,489
143,471
3,126
13,686
10,739
3,025
10,765
58,642
107,977
664
48,584
5,956
6,130
1,086
130,278
33,042
1,908
844
5,622
237
10,670
3,095
20,059
105,018
21,706
7,993
23,892
1,886
118,889
80,250
78,639
695
314
128,257
3,419
6,384
1,550
939

Arkansas, . .
California,
Colorado

Connecticut, . . .
Dakota

Delaware

District Columbia .
Florida

Idaho

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky, ....
Louisiana,
Maine

Maryland,
Massachusetts, . . .
Michigan

Minnesota, ....
Mississippi, ....
Missouri,

Nevada,

New Hampshire, .
New Jersey, ....
New Mexico, . . .
New York, ....
North Carolina, . .
Ohio ....

Oregon,

Pennsylvania, . . .
Rhode Island, . . .
South Carolina, . .
Tennessee ....
Texas,

Utah,

Vermont,

Virginia . . .

Washington, . . .
West Virginia, . .
Wisconsin, ....
Wyoming

Total,

50,155,783

43,402,970

6,580,793

11,343,005

1,487,344

LIFE AND CHARACTER

JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD

A MEMORIAL ADDRESS,

DELIVERED BEFORE THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES, FEBRUARY 27, 188&

BY JAMES G. ELAINE,

EX-SECRETARY OF STATE.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. After the first sorrow for President Garfield's death was somewhat
modified by time, what may be called the formal sorrow of the people began to seek a more
elaborate expression. It was felt to be fitting that the nation, as such, by her highest repre-
sentative body, should, by some suitable memorial services, commemorate the life and death
of the late honored Chief Magistrate. Very soon after the opening of Congress, in December
of 1881, various resolutions were introduced, looking to a formal observance in memory of
the dead. After considerable discussion, the 27th of February, 1882, was fixed upon as the
memorial day, and ex-Secretary Elaine was chosen as speaker to pronounce a suitable eulogy
on the life and character of Garfield. The occasion was one of the utmost state and solem-
nity. There were present, besides the two Houses of Congress, the President and his Cabinet,
the ministers resident of foreign powers, the generals of the army and commanders of the
navy, and hundreds of the most distinguished men and women in America. The orator and
the eulogy itself were in keeping with the occasion, and it has been deemed appropriate by
the publishers to append to this work the full text of Mr. Blame's oration, which here
follows. J C. R.

MR. PRESIDENT : For the second time in this generation the great depart-
ments of the Government of the United States are assembled in the Hall of
Representatives to do honor to the memory of a murdered President. Lin-
coln fell at the close of a mighty struggle, in which the passions of men had
been deeply stirred. The tragical termination of his great life added but
another to the lengthened succession of horrors which had marked so many
lintels with the blood of the first born. Garfield was slain in a day of peace,
when brother had been reconciled to brother, and when anger and hate had
been banished from the land. " Whosoever shall hereafter draw the portrait
of murder, if he will show it as it has been exhibited where such example
was last to have been looked for, let him not give it the grim visage of

Moloch, the brow knitted by revenge, the face black with settled hate. Let

543

544 LIFE OF JAMES A. GAKFIELD.

him draw, rather, a decorous, smooth-faced, bloodless demon; not so much an
example of human nature in its depravity and in its paroxysms of crime, as
an infernal being, a fiend in the ordinary display and development of his
character."

From the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth till the uprising against
Charles I., about twenty thousand emigrants came from old England to New
England. As they came in pursuit of intellectual freedom and ecclesiastical
independence rather than for worldly honor and profit, the emigration nat-
urally ceased when the contest for religious liberty began in earnest at home.
The man who struck his most effective blow for freedom of conscience by
sailing for the colonies in 1620 would have been accounted a deserter to leave
after 1640. The opportunity had then come on the soil of England for that
great contest which established the authority of Parliament, gave religious
freedom to the people, sent Charles to the block, and committed to the hands
of Oliver Cromwell the supreme executive authority of England. The En-
glish emigration was never renewed, and from these twenty thousand men,
with a small emigration from Scotland and from France, are descended the
vast numbers who have New England blood in their veins.

In 1685 the revocation of the edict of Nantes, by Louis XIV., scattered to
other countries four hundred thousand Protestants, who were among the
most intelligent and enterprising of French subjects merchants of capital,
skilled manufacturers, and handicraftsmen, superior at the time to all others
in Europe. A considerable number of these Huguenot French came to Amer-
ica; a few landed in New England and became honorably prominent in its
history. Their names have, in large part, become Anglicized, or have disap-
peared, but their blood is traceable in many of the most reputable families,
and their fame is perpetuated in honorable memorials and useful insti-
tutions.

From these two sources, the English-Puritan and the French-Huguenot,
came the late President; his father, Abraham Garfield, being descended from
the one, and his mother, Eliza Ballou, from the other.

It was good stock on both sides none better, none braver, none truer.
There was in it an inheritance of courage, of manliness, of imperishable love
of liberty, of undying adherence to principle. Garfield was proud of his
blood ; and, with as much satisfaction as if he were a British nobleman read-
ing his stately ancestral record in Burke's Peerage, he spoke of himself as
ninth in descent from those who would not endure the oppression of the Stu-
arts, and seventh in descent from the brave French Protestants who refused to
submit to tyranny even from the Grand Monarque.

General Garfield delighted to dwell on these traits; and during his only visit
to England he busied himself in discovering every trace of his forefathers in
parish registries and on ancient army rolls. Sitting with a friend, in the gal-

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 545

lery of the House of Commons, one night, after a long day's labor in this field
of research, he said, with evident elation, that in every war in which, for three
centuries, patriots of English blood had struck sturdy blows for constitutional
government and human liberty, his family had been represented. They were
at Marston Moor, at Naseby, and at Preston ; they were at Bunker Hill, at
Saratoga, and at Monmouth, and in his own person had battled for the same
great cause in the war which preserved the Union of the States.

Losing his father before he was two years old, the early life of Garfield was
one of privation, but its poverty has been made indelicately and unjustly
prominent. Thousands of readers have imagined him as the ragged, starving
child, whose reality too often greets the eye in the squalid sections of our
large cities. General Gartield's infancy and youth had none of their destitu-
tion, none of their pitiful features appealing to the tender heart and to the
open hand of charity. He was a poor boy in the same sense in which Henry
Clay was a poor boy ; in which Andrew Jackson was a poor boy ; in which
Daniel Webster was a poor boy ; in the sense in which a large majority of the
eminent men of America, in all generations, have been poor boys. Before a
great multitude of men, in a public speech, Mr. Webster bore this testimony:

" It did not happen to me to be born in a log-cabin, but my elder brothers
and sisters were born in a log-cabin raised amid the snow drifts of New
Hampshire, at a period so early that when the smoke rose first from its rude
chimney, and curled over the frozen hills, there was no similar evidence of a
white man's habitation between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada.
Its remains still exist. I make to it an annual visit. I carry my children to
it to teach them the hardships endured by the generations which have gone
before them. I love to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the
early affections, and the touching narratives and incidents which mingle with
all I know of this primitive family abode."

With the requisite change of scene the same words would aptly portray
the early days of Garfield. The poverty of the frontier, where all are engaged
in a common struggle and where a common sympathy and hearty co-operation
lighten the burdens of each, is a very different poverty different in kind,
different in influence and effect from that conscious and humiliating indi-
gence which is every day forced to contrast itself with neighboring wealth
on which it feels a sense of grinding dependence. The poverty of the frontier
is indeed no poverty. It is but the beginning of wealth, and has the bound-
less possibilities of the future always opening before it. No man ever grew
up in the agricultural regions of the West where a house-raising, or even a
corn-husking, is matter of common interest and helpfulness, with any other
feeling than that of broad-minded, generous independence. This honorable
independence marked the youth of Garfield as it marks the youth of millions
of the best blood and brain now training for the future citizenship and future
government of the republic. Garfield was born heir to land, to the title of

546 LIFE OF JAMES A. GAKFIELD.

freeholder which has been the patent and passport of self-respect with the
Anglo-Saxon race ever since Hengist and Horsa landed on the shores of Eng-
land. His adventure on the canal an alternative between that and the
deck of a Lake Erie schooner was a farmer boy's device for earning money,
just as the New England lad begins a possibly great career by sailing before
the mast on a coasting- vessel or on a merchantman bound to the Farther India
or to the China Seas.

No manly man feels any thing of shame in looking back to early struggles
with adverse circumstances, and no man feels a worthier pride than when he
has conquered the obstacles to his progress. But no one of noble mould
desires to be looked upon as having occupied a menial position, as having
been repressed by a feeling of inferiority, or as having suffered the evils of
poverty until relief was found at the hand of charity. General Garfield's
youth presented no hardships which family love and family energy did not
overcome; subjected him to no privations which he did not cheerfully accept ;
and left no memories save those which were recalled with delight and were
transmitted with profit and with pride.

Garfield's early opportunities for securing an education were extremely
limited, and yet were sufficient to develop in him an intense desire to learn.
He could read at three years of age, and each winter he had the advantage
of the district school. He read all the books to be found within the circle
of his acquaintance : some of them he got by heart. While yet in childhood
he was a constant student of the Bible, and became familiar with its litera-
ture. The dignity and earnestness of his speech in his maturer life gave evi-
dence of this early training. At eighteen years of age he was able to teach
school, and thenceforward his ambition was to obtain a college education. To
this end he bent all his efforts, working in the harvest field, at the carpenter's
bench, and, in the winter season, teaching the common schools of the neigh-
borhood. While thus laboriously occupied he found time to prosecute his
studies, and was so successful, that at twenty-two years of age he was able to
enter the junior class at Williams College, then under the Presidency of the
venerable and honored Mark Hopkins, who, in the fullness of his powers, sur-
vives the eminent pupil to whom he was of inestimable service.

The history of Garfield's life to this period presents no novel features. He
had undoubtedly shown perseverence, self-reliance, self-sacrifice, and ambition
qualities which, be it said for the honor of our country, are everywhere to
be found among the young men of America. But from his graduation at
Williams onward to the hour of his tragical death, Garfield's career was emi-
nent and exceptional. Slowly working through his educational period, re-
ceiving his diploma when twenty-four years of age, he seemed at one bound
to spring into conspicuous and brilliant success. Within six years he was
successively President of a college, State Senator of Ohio, Major-General of
the Army of the United States, and ^Representative elect to the National

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GAKFIELD. 547

Congress. A combination of honors so varied, so elevated, within a period so
brief, and to a man so youug, is without precedent or parallel in the history
of the country.

Garfield's army life was begun with no other military knowledge than such
as he had hastily gained from books in the few months preceding his march
to the field. Stepping from civil life to the head of a regiment, the first order
he received when ready to cross the Ohio was to assume command of a bri-
gade, and to operate as an independent force in Eastern Kentucky. His
immediate duty was to check the advance of Humphrey Marshall, who was
marching down the Big Sandy with the intention of occupying, in connection
with other Confederate forces, the entire territory of Kentucky, and of pre-
cipitating the State into secession. This was at the close of the year 1861.
Seldom, if ever, has a young college professor been thrown into a more em-
barrassing and discouraging position. He knew just enough of military
science, as he expressed it himself, to measure the extent of his ignorance,
and with a handful of men he was marching, in rough winter weather, into a
strange country, among a hostile population, to confront a largely superior
force, under the command of a distinguished graduate of West Point, who had
seen active and important service in two preceding wars.

The result of the campaign is matter of history. The skill, the endurance,
the extraordinary energy shown by Garfield, the courage he imparted to his
men, raw and untried as himself, the measures he adopted to increase his
force, and to create in the enemy's mind exaggerated estimates of his num-
bers, bore perfect fruit in the routing of Marshall, the capture of his camp,
the dispersion of his force, and the emancipation of an important territory
from the control of the rebellion. Coming at the close of a long series of dis-
asters to the Union army, Garfield's victory had an unusual and extraneous
importance, and in the popular judgment elevated the young commander to
the rank of a military hero. With less than 2,000 men in his entire com-
mand, with a mobilized force of only 1,100, without cannon, he had met an
army of 5,000 and defeated them driving Marshall's forces successively from
two strongholds of their own selection, fortified with abundant artillery.
Major-General Buell, commanding the Department of the Ohio, an ex-
perienced and able soldier of the regular army, published an order of thanks
and congratulation on the brilliant result of the Big Sandy campaign, which
would have turned the head of a less cool and sensible man than Garfield.
Buell declared that his services had called into action the highest qualities of
a soldier ; and President Lincoln supplemented these words of praise by the
more substantial reward of a brigadier-general's commission, to bear date
from the day of his decisive victory over Marshall.

The subsequent military career of Garfield fully sustained its brilliant be-
ginning. With his new commission, he was assigned to the command of a
brigade in the Army of the Ohio, and took part in the second and decisive

548 LIFE OF JAMES A. GAKFIELD.

day's fight in the great battle of Shiloh. The remainder of the year 1862 was
not especially eventful to Garfield, as it was not to the armies with which he
was serving. His practical sense was called into exercise in completing the
task, assigned him by General Buell, of reconstructing bridges and re-establish-
ing lines of railway communication for the army. His occupation in this
useful but not brilliant field was varied by service on court-martials of im-
portance, in which department of duty he won a valuable reputation, attracting
the notice and securing the approval of the able and eminent Judge Advocate-
General of the Army. That of itself was warrant to honorable fame; for
among the great men who in those trying days gave themselves, with entire
devotion, to the service of their country, one who brought to that service the
ripest learning, the most fervid eloquence, the most varied attainments, who
labored with modesty and shunned applause, who in the day of triumph sat
reserved and silent and grateful as Francis Deak in the hour of Hungary's
deliverance was Joseph Holt, of Kentucky, who in his honorable retirement
enjoys the respect and veneration of all who love the Union of the States.

Early in 1863 Garfield was assigned to the highly important and responsible
post of chief-of-staff to General Rosecrans, then at the head of the Army of
the Cumberland. Perhaps in a great military campaign no subordinate officer
requires sounder judgment and quicker knowledge of men than the cfyief-of-
staff to the commanding general. An indiscreet man in such a position can
sow more discord, breed more jealousy, and disseminate more strife, than any
other officer in the entire organization. When General Garfield assumed his
new duties he found various troubles already well developed and seriously
affecting the value and efficiency of the Army of the Cumberland. The
energy, the impartiality, and the tact with which he sought to allay these dis-
sensions and to discharge the duties of his new and trying position will always
remain one of the most striking proofs of his great versatility. His military
duties closed on the memorable field of Chickamauga, a field which, however
disastrous to the Union arms, gave to him the occasion of winning imperish-
able laurels. The very rare distinction was accorded him of a great promotion
for his bravery on a field that was lost. President Lincoln appointed him a
major-general in the Army of the United States for gallant and meritorious
conduct in the battle of Chickamauga.

The Army of the Cumberland was reorganized, under the command of
General Thomas, who promptly offered Garfield one of its divisions. He was
extremely desirous to accept the position, but was embarrassed by the fact
that he had, a year before, been elected to Congress, and the time when he
must take his seat was drawing near. He preferred to remain in the military
service, and had within his own breast the largest confidence of success in the
wider field which his new rank opened to him. Balancing the arguments on
the one side and the other, anxious to determine what was for the best, de-
sirous above all things to do his patriotic duty, he was decisively influenced

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GAEFIELD. 549

by the advice of President Lincoln and Secretary Stanton, both of whom as-
sured him that he could, at that time, be of especial value in the House of
Representatives. He resigned his commission of major-general on the 5th day
of December, 1863, and took his seat in the House of Representatives on the
7th. He had served two years and four months in the army, and had just
completed his thirty-second year.

The Thirty-eighth Congress is pre-eminently entitled in history to the desig-
nation of the War Congress. It was elected while the war was flagrant, and
every member was chosen upon the issues involved in the continuance of the
struggle. The Thirty-seventh Congress had, indeed, legislated to a large extent
on war measures but it was chosen before any one believed thai secession of
the States would be actually attempted. The magnitude of the work which
fell upon its successor was unprecedented, both in respect to the vast sums of
money raised for the support of the army and navy, and of the new and ex-
traordinary powers of legislation which it was forced to exercise. Only
twenty-four States were represented, and 182 members were upon its roll.
Among these were many distinguished party leaders on both sides, veterans in
the public service, with established reputations for ability, and with that skill
which comes only from parliamentary experience. Into this assemblage of
men Garfield entered without special preparation, and it might almost be said
unexpectedly. The question of taking command of a division of troops under
General Thomas, or taking his seat in Congress, was kept open till the last mo-
ment so late, indeed, that the resignation of his military commission and his
appearance in the House were almost contemporaneous. He wore the uniform
of a major-general of the United States army on Saturday, and on Monday,
in civilian's dress, he answered to the roll-call as a Representative in Congress
from the State of Ohio.

He was especially fortunate in the constituency which elected him. Des-
cended almost entirely from New England stock, the men of the Ashtabula
district were intensely radical on all questions relating to human rights. Well
educated, thrifty, thoroughly intelligent in affairs, acutely discerning of
character, not quick to bestow confidence, and slow to withdraw it, they were
at once the most helpful and most exacting of supporters. Their tenacious
trust in men in whom they have once confided is illustrated by the unparal-
leled fact that Elisha Whittlesey, Joshua R. Giddings, and James A. Garfield
represented the district for fifty-four years.

There is no test of a man's ability in any department of public life more
severe than service in the House of Representatives ; there is no place where
so little deference is paid to reputation previously acquired, or to eminence
won outside ; no place where so little consideration is shown for the feelings
or the failures of beginners. What a man gains in the House he gains by
sheer force of his own character ; and if he loses and falls back he must expect
no mercy, and will receive no sympathy. It is a field in which the survival

550 LIFE OF JAMES A. GABFIELD.

of the strongest is the recognized rule, and where no pretense can deceive and
no glamour can mislead. The real man is discovered, his worth is impartially
weighed, his rank is irreversibly decreed.

With possibly a single exception, Garfield was the youngest member in
the House when he entered, and was but seven years from his college gradua-
tion. But he had not been in his seat sixty days before his ability was re-
cognized and his place conceded. He stepped to the front with the confidence
of one who belonged there. The House was crowded with strong men of both
parties; nineteen of them have since been transferred to the Senate, and
many of them ' have served with distinction in the gubernatorial chairs of
their respective States, and on foreign missions of great consequence ; but
among them all none grew so rapidly, none so firmly as Garfield. As is said
by Trevelyan of his parliamentary hero, Garfield succeeded " because all the
world in concert could not have kept him in the background ; and because,
when once in the front, he played his part with a prompt intrepidity and a
commanding ease that were but the outward symptoms of the immense re-
serves of energy, on which it was in his power to draw." Indeed the appar-
ently reserved force which Garfield possessed was one of his great character-
istics. He never did so well but that it seemed he could easily have done
better. He never expended so much strength but that he seemed to be hold-
ing additional power at call. This is one of the happiest and rarest distinc-
tions of an effective debater, and often counts for as much in persuading an
assembly as the eloquent and elaborate argument.

The great measure of Garfield's fame was filled by his service in the House
of Representatives. His military life, illustrated by honorable performance,
and rich in promise, was, as he himself felt, prematurely terminated, and
necessarily incomplete. Speculation as to what he might have done in a field
where the great prizes are so few can not be profitable. It is sufficient to say
that, as a soldier, he did his duty bravely ; he did it intelligently ; he won an
enviable (ame, and he retired from the service without blot or breath against
him.

As a lawyer, though admirably equipped for the profession, he can
scarcely be said to have entered on its practice. The few efforts he made at
the bar were distinguished by the same high order of talent which he exhib-
ited on every field where he was put to the test ; and if a man may be ac-
cepted as a competent judge of his own capacities and adaptations, the law
was the profession to which Garfield should have devoted himself, But fate
ordained otherwise, and his reputation in history will rest largely upon his
service in the House of Representatives. That service was exceptionally long.
He was nine times consecutively chosen to the House, an honor enjoyed by
not more than six other Representatives of the more than 5,000 who have
been elected from the organization of the government to this hour.

As a parliamentary orator, as a debater on an issue squarely joined, where

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 551

the position has been chosen and the ground laid out, Garfield must be
assigned a very high rank. More, perhaps, than any man with whom he was
associated in public life, he gave careful and systematic study to public
questions, and he came to every discussion in which he took part with elabo-
rate and complete preparation. He was a steady and indefatigable worker.
Those who imagine that talent or genius can supply the place or achieve the
results of labor will find no encouragement in Garfield's life. In preliminary
work he was apt, rapid, and skillful. He possessed, in a high degree, the
power of readily absorbing ideas and facts, and, like Dr. Johnson, had the art
of getting from a book all that was of value in it by a reading apparantly so
quick and cursory that it seemed like a mere glance at the table of contents.
He was a pre-eminently fair and candid man in debate, took no petty advan-
tage, stooped to no unworthy methods, avoided personal allusions, rarely ap-
pealed to prejudice, did not seek to influence passion. He had a quicker eye
for the strong point of his adversary than for his weak point, and on his own
side he so marshaled his weighty arguments as to make his hearers forget any
possible lack in the complete strength of his position. He had a habit of
stating his opponent's side with such amplitude of fairness and such liberality
of concession that his followers often complained that he was giving his case
' away. But never in his prolonged participation in the proceedings of the
House did he give his case away, or fail in the judgment of competent and
impartial listeners to gain the mastery.

These characteristics, which marked Garfield as a great debater, did not,
however, make him a great parliamentary leader. A parliamentary leader, sa
that term is understood wherever free representative government exists, la
necessarily and very strictly the organ of his party. An ardent American
defined the instinctive warmth of patriotism when he oflered the toast: "Our
country always right ; but right or wrong, our country." The parliamentary
leader who has a body of followers that will do and dare and die for the cause,
is one who believes his party always right ; but right or wrong, is for his party.
No more important or exacting duty devolves upon him than the selection
of the field and the time for contest. He must know not merely how to
strike, but where to strike, and when to strike. He often skillfully avoids the
strength of his opponent's position and scatters confusion in his ranks, by at-
tacking an exposed point when really the righteousness of the cause and the
strength of logical intrenchment are against him. He conquers often both
against the right and the heavy battalions; as when young Charles Fox, in
the days of his Toryism, carried the House of Commons against justice,
against its immemoral rights, against his own convictions, and in the interest
of a corrupt administration, in obedience to a tyrannical sovereign, drove
Wilkes from the seat to which the electors of Middlesex had chosen him and
installed Luttrell in defiance, not merely of law, but of public decency. For
an achievement of that kind Garfield was disqualified disqualified by the

552 LIFE OF JAMES A. GABFIELD.

texture of his mind, by the honesty of his heart, by his conscience, and by
every instinct and aspiration of his nature.

The three most distinguished parliamentary leaders hitherto developed in
this country are Mr. Clay, Mr. Douglas, and Mr. Thaddeus Stevens. Each
was a man of consummate ability, of great earnestness, of intense personality,
differing widely, each from the others, and yet with a signal trait in common
the power to command. In the give and take of daily discussion, in the art
of controlling and consolidating reluctant and refractory followers ; in the
skill to overcome all forms of opposition, and to meet with competency and
courage the varying phases of unlooked-for assault or unsuspected defection,
it would be difficult to rank with these a fourth name in all our Congressional
history. But of these Mr. Clay was the greatest. It would, perhaps, be im-
possible to find in the parliamentary annals of the world a parallel to Mr.
Clay iu 1841, when at sixty-four years of age he took the control of the
Whig party from the President who had received their suffrages, against the
power of Webster in the Cabinet, against the eloquence of Choate in the
Senate, against the herculean efforts of Caleb Gushing and Henry A. Wise
in the House. In unshared leadership, in the pride and plenitude of power,
he hurled against John Tyler, with deepest scorn, the mass of that con-
quering column which had swept over the land in 1840 and drove his ad-
ministration to seek shelter behind the lines of his political foes. Mr. Doug-
las achieved a victory scarcely less wonderful, when, in 1854, against the se-
cret desires of a strong administration, against the wise counsel of the older
chiefs, against the conservative instinct, and even the moral sense of the
country, he forced a reluctant Congress into a repeal of the Missouri compro j
mise. Mr. Thaddeus Stevens, in his contests from 1865 to 1868, actually ad-
vanced his parliamentary leadership until Congress tied the hands of the Presi-
dent, and governed the country by its own will, leaving only perfunctory duties
to be discharged by the Executive. With $200,000,000 of patronage in his hands
at the opening of the contest, aided by the active force of Seward in the Cabinet
and the moral power of Chase on the bench, Andrew Johnson could not com-
mand the support of one-third in either House against the parliamentary upris-
ing of which Thaddeus Stevens was the animating spirit and the unquestioned
leader.

From these three great men Garfield differed radically, differed in the
quality of his mind, in temperament, in the form and phase of ambition. He
could not do what they did, but he could do what they could not, and in the
breadth of his Congressional work he left that which will longer exert a
potential influence among men, and which, measured by the severe test of
posthumous criticism, will secure a more enduring and more enviable fame.

Those unfamiliar with Garfield's industry, and ignorant of the details of
his work, may, in some degree, measure them by the annals of Congress. No
one of the generation of public men to which he belonged has contributed so

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GAEFIELD. 553

much that will be valuable for future reference. His speeches are numerous,
many of them brilliant, all of them well studied, carefully phrased, and ex-
haustive of the subject under consideration. Collected from the scattered
pages of ninety royal octavo volumes of Congressional Eecord, they would
present an invaluable compendium of the political history of the most im-
portant era through which the national government has ever passed. When
the history of this period shall be impartially written, when war legislation,
measures of reconstruction, protection of human rights, amendments to the
Constitution, maintenance of public credit, steps toward specie resumption,
true theories of revenue may be reviewed, unsurrounded by prejudice and dis-
connected from partisanism, the speeches of Garfield will be estimated at their
true value, and will be found to comprise a vast magazine of fact and argu-
ment, of clear analysis, and sound conclusion. Indeed, if no other authority
were accessible, his speeches in the House of Representatives, from December,
1863, to June, 1880, would give a well-connected history and complete defense
of the important legislation of the seventeen eventful years that constitute
his parliamentary life. Far beyond that, his speeches would be found to
forecast many great measures yet to be completed measures which he knew
were beyond the public opinion of the hour, but which he confidently believed
would secure popular approval within the period of his own lifetime, and by
the aid of his own efforts.

Differing, as Garfield does, from the brilliant parliamentary leaders, it is
not easy to find his counterpart anywhere in the records of public life. He
perhaps more nearly resembles Mr. Seward in his supreme faith in the all-
conquering power of a principle. He had the love of learning and the patient
industry of investigation, to which John Quincy Adams owes his prominence
and his Presidency. He had some of those ponderous elements of mind
which distinguished Mr. Webster, and which, indeed, in all our public life
have left the great Massachusetts Senator without an intellectual peer.

In English parliamentary history, as in our own, the leaders in the House
of Commons present points of essential difference from Garfield. But some
of his methods recall the best features in the strong, independent course of
Sir Robert Peel, and striking resemblances are discernible in that most prom-
ising of modern conservatives, who died too early for his country and his
fame, the Lord George Bentinck. He had all of Burke's love for the sublime
and the beautiful, with, possibly, something of his superabundance; and in
his faith and his magnanimity, in his power of statement, in his subtle
analvsis, in his faultless logic, in his love of literature, in his wealth and
world of illustration, one is reminded of that English statesman of to-day,
who confronted with obstacles that would daunt any but the dauntless, re-
viled by those whom he would relieve as bitterly as by those whose supposed
rights he is forced to invade, still labors with serene courage for the ameliora-
tion of Ireland, and for the honor of the English name.

554 LIFE OF JAMES A. GAEFIELD.

Garfield's nomination to the Presidency, while not predicted or anticipated,
was not a surprise to the country. His prominence in Congress, his solid
qualities, his wide reputation, strengthened by his then recent election as
Senator from Ohio, kept him in the public eye as a man occupying the very
highest rank among those entitled to be called statesmen. It was not mere
chance that brought him this high honor. " We must," says Mr. Emerson,
" reckon success a constitutional trait. If Eric is in robust health and has
slept well, and is at the top of his condition, and thirty years old at his de-
parture from Greenland, he will steer west, and his ships will reach New-
foundland. But take Eric out and put in a stronger and bolder man, and
the ships will sail 600, 1,000, 1,500 miles further and reach Labrador and New
England. There is no chance in results."

As a candidate, Garfield steadily grew in popular favor. He was met with a
storm of detraction at the very hour of his nomination, and it continued with in-
creasing volume and momentum until the close of his victorious campaign :

No might nor greatness in mortality
Can censure 'scape ; backwounding calumny
The whitest virtue strikes. What king so strong
Can tie the gall up in the slanderous tongue ?

Under it all he was calm and strong, and confident; never lost his self-
possession, did no unwise act, spoke no hasty or ill-considered word. Indeed,
nothing in his whole life is more remarkable or more creditable than his bear-
ing through those five full months of vituperation a prolonged agony of trial
to a sensitive man, a constant and cruel draft upon the powers of moral en-
durance. The great mass of these unjust imputations passed unnoticed, and
with the general d&bris of the campaign fell into oblivion. But in a few in-
stances the iron entered his soul, and he died with the injury unforgotten, if
not unforgiven.

One aspect of Garfield's candidacy was unprecedented. Never before in
the history of partisan contests in this country had a successful Presidential
candidate spoken freely on passing events and current issues. To attempt any
thing of the kind seemed novel, rash, and even desperate. The older class
of voters recalled the unfortunate Alabama letter, in which Mr. Clay was sup-
posed to have signed his political death-warrant. They remembered also the
hot-tempered effusion by which General Scott lost a large share of his popu-
larity before his nomination, and the unfortunate speeches which rapidly con-
sumed the remainder. The younger voters had seen Mr. Greeley in a series
of vigorous and original addresses, preparing the pathway for his own defeat.
Unmindful of these warnings, unheeding the advice of friends, Garfield spoke
to large crowds as he journeyed to and from New York in August, to a great
multitude in that city, to delegations and deputations of every kind that
called at Mentor during the summer and autumn. With innumerable critics,
watchful and eager to catch a phrase that might be turned into odium or

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GAKFIELD. 555

ridicule, or a sentence that might be distorted to his own or his party's injury,
Garfield did not trip or halt in any one of his seventy speeches. This seems
all the more remarkable when it is remembered that he did not write what he
said, and yet spoke with such logical consecutiveness of thought and such ad-
mirable precision of phrase as to defy the accident of misreport and the
malignity of misrepresentation.

In the beginning of his Presidential life Garfield's experience did not yield
him pleasure or satisfaction. The duties that engross so large a portion of
the President's time were distasteful to him, and were unfavorably contrasted
with his legislative work. " I have been dealing all these years with ideas,"
he impatiently exclaimed one day, "and here I am dealing only with persons.
I have been heretofore treating of the fundamental principles of government,
and here I am considering all day whether A or B shall be appointed to this
or that office." He was earnestly seeking some practicable way of correcting
the evils arising from the distribution of overgrown and unwieldly patronage
evils always appreciated and often discussed by him, but whose magnitude
had been more deeply impressed upon his mind since his accession to the
Presidency. Had he lived, a comprehensive improvement in the mode of
appointment and in the tenure of office would have been proposed by him,
and, with the aid of Congress, no doubt perfected.

But while many of the executive duties were not grateful to him, he was
assiduous and conscientious in their discharge. From the very outset he ex-
hibited administrative talent of a high order. He grasped the helm of office
with the hand of a master. In this respect, indeed, he constantly surprised
many who were most intimately associated with him in the government, and
especially those who had feared that he might be lacking in the executive
faculty. His disposition of business was orderly and rapid. His power of
analysis, and his skill in classification, enabled him to dispatch a vast mass
of detail with singular promptness and ease. His cabinet meetings were ad-
mirably conducted. His clear presentation of official subjects, his well con-
sidered suggestion of topics on which discussion was invited, his quick decision
when all had been heard, combined to. show a thoroughness of mental training
as rare as his natural ability and his facile adaptation to a new and enlarged
field of labor.

With perfect comprehension of all the inheritances of the war, with a cool
calculation of the obstacles in his way, impelled always by a generous en-
thusiasm, Garfield conceived that much might be done by his administration
toward restoring harmony between the different sections of the Union. He
was anxious to go South and speak to the people. As early as April he had
ineffectually endeavored to arrange for a trip to Nashville, whither he had
been cordially invited, and he was again disappointed a few weeks later to-
find that he could not go to South Carolina to attend the centennial celebra-
tion of the victory of the Cowpens. But for the autumn he definitely counted

556 LIFE OF JAMES A. GAEFIELD.

on being present at three memorable assemblies in the South the celebration
at Yorktown, the opening of the Cotton Exposition at Atlanta, and the meet-
ing of the Army of the Cumberland at Chattanooga. He was already turning
over in his mind his address for each occasion, and the three taken together,
he said to a friend, gave him the exact scope and verge which he needed. At
Yorktown he would have before him the associations of a hundred years that
bound the South and North in the sacred memory of a common danger and a
common victory. At Atlanta he would present the material interests and the
industrial development which appealed to the thrift and independence of
every household, and which should unite the two sections by the instinct
of self-interest and self-defense. At Chattanooga he would revive mem-
ories of the war only to show that after all its disaster and all its suffering,
the country was stronger and greater, the Union rendered indissoluble, and
the future, through the agony and blood of one generation; made brighter
and better for all.

Garfield's ambition for the success of his administration was high. With
strong caution and conservatism in his nature, he was in no danger of attempt-
ing rash experiments or of resorting to the empiricism of statesmanship. But
he believed that renewed and closer attention should be given to questions
affecting the material interests and commercial prospects of 50,000,000 of peo-
ple. He believed that our continental relations, extensive and undeveloped
as they are, involved responsibility, and could be cultivated into profitable
friendship or be abandoned to harmful indifference or lasting enmity. He be-
lieved with equal confidence that an essential forerunner to a new era of na-
tional progress must he a feeling of contentment in every section of the
Union, and a generous belief that the benefits and burdens of government
would be common to all. Himself a conspicuous illustration of what ability
and ambition may do under republican institutions, he loved his country with
a passion of patriotic devotion, and every waking thought was given to her
advancement. He was an American in all his aspirations, and he looked to
the destiny and influence of the United States with the philosophic composure
of Jefferson and the demonstrative confidence of John Adams.

The political events which disturbed the President's serenity for many
weeks before that fateful day in July form an important chapter in his career,
and, in his own judgment, involved questions of principle and of right
which are vitally essential to the constitutional administration of the Fed-
eral Government. It would be out of place here and now to speak the lan-
guage of controversy, but the events referred to, however they may continue
to be a source of contention with others, have become, so far as Garfield is
concerned, as much a matter of history as his heroism at Chickamauga or his
illustrious service in the House. Detail is not needful, and personal antago-
nism shall not be rekindled by any word uttered to-day. The motives of
those opposing him are not to be here adversely interpreted, nor their course

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GAEFIELD. 557

harshly characterized. But of the dead President this is to be said, and said
because his own speech is forever silenced, and he can be no more heard ex-
cept through the fidelity and love of surviving friends: From the beginning
to the end of the controversy he so much deplored, the President was never for
one moment actuated by any motive of gain to himself or of loss to others.
Least of all men dfd he harbor revenge, rarely did he ever show resentment,
and malice was not in his nature. He was congenially employed only in the
exchange of good offices and the doing of kindly deeds.

There was not an hour, from the beginning of the trouble till the fatal shot
entered his body, when the President would not gladly, for the sake of restor-
ing harmony, have retraced any step he had taken if such retracing had
merely involved consequences personal to himself. The pride of consistency,
or any sense of supposed humiliation that might result from surrendering his
position, had not a feather's weight with him. No man was ever less subject
to such influences from within or from without. But after most anxious de-
liberation, and the coolest survey of all the circumstances, he solemnly believed
that the true prerogatives of the Executive were involved in the issue which
had been raised, and that he would be unfaithful to his supreme obligation if
he failed to maintain in all their vigor the constitutional rights and dignities
of his great office. He believed this in all the convictions of conscience when
in sound and vigorous health, and he believed it in his suffering and prostra-
tion in the last conscious thought which his wearied mind bestowed on the
transitory struggles of life.

More than this need not be said. Less than this could not be said. Jus-
tice to the dead, the highest obligation that devolves upon the living, demands
the declaration that, in all the bearings of the subject, actual or possible, the
President was content in his mind, justified in his conscience, immovable in
his conclusions.

The religious element in Garfield's character was deep and earnest. In
his early youth he espoused the faith of the Disciples, a sect of that great
Baptist communion which, in different ecclesiastical establishments, is
so numerous and so influential throughout all parts of the United States.
But the broadening tendency of his mind and his active spirit of inquiry were
early apparent, and carried him beyond the dogmas of sect and the restraints
of association. In selecting a college in which to continue his education, he
rejected Bethany, though presided over by Alexander Campbell, the greatest
preacher of his Church. His reasons were characteristic : first, that Bethany
leaned too heavily toward slavery ; and, second, that being himself a Disciple,
and the son of Disciple parents, he had but little acquaintance with people of
other beliefs, and he thought it would make him more liberal, quoting his own
words, both in his religious and general views, to go into a new circle and be
under new influences.

The liberal tendency which he anticipated as the result of wider cult-

558 LIFE OF JAMES A. GAKFIELD.

ure was fully realized. He was emancipated from mere sectarian belief,
and with eager interest pushed his investigations in the direction of modern
progressive thought. He followed with quickening step in the paths of ex-
ploration and speculation so fearlessly trodden by Darwin, by Huxley, by
Tyndall, and by other living scientists of the radical and advanced type.
His own Church, binding its disciples by no formulated creed, but accepting
the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God with unbiased liberality of
private interpretation, favored, if it did not stimulate, the spirit of investiga-
tion. Its members profess with sincerity, and profess only, to be of one mind
and one faith with those who immediately followed the Master, and who
were first called Christians at Antioch.

But however high Garfield reasoned of "fixed fate, free will, foreknowl-
edge absolute," he was never separated from the Church of the Disciples in
his . affections and in his associations. For him it held the ark of the cov-
enant. To him it was the gate of heaven. The world of religious belief is
full of solecisms and contradictions. A philosophic observer declares that
men by the thousand will die in defense of a creed whose doctrines they do
not comprehend, and whose tenets they habitually violate. It is equally
true that men, by the thousand, will cling to church organizations with in-
stinctive and undying fidelity when their belief, in maturer years, is radically
different from that which inspired them as neophytes.

But after this range of speculation, and this latitude of doubt, Garfield
came back always with freshness and delight to the simpler instincts of re-
ligious faith, which, earliest implanted, longest survive. Not many weeks
before his assassination, walking on the banks of the Potomac with a friend,
and conversing on those topics of personal religion, concerning which noble
natures have an unconquerable reserve, he said that he found the Lord's
Prayer, and the simple petitions learned in infancy, infinitely restful to him,
not merely in their stated repetition, but in their casual and frequent recall as
he went about the daily duties of life. Certain texts of Scripture had a very
strong hold on his memory and his heart. He heard, while in Edinburgh,
some years ago, an eminent Scotch preacher who prefaced his sermon with
reading the eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, which book had been
the subject of careful study with Garfield during all his religious life. He
was greatly impressed by the elocution of the preacher, and declared that it
had imparted a new and deeper meaning to the majestic utterances of St.
Paul. He referred often, in after years, to that memorable service, and dwelt
with exaltation of feeling upon the radiant promise and the assured hope with
which the great apostle of the Gentiles was " persuaded that neither death,
nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The crowning characteristics of General Garfield's religious opinions, as,

ELAINE'S EULOGY ON GAEFIELD. 559

indeed, of all his opinions, was his liberality. In all things he had charity.
Tolerance was of his nature. He respected in others the qualities which he
possessed himself sincerity of conviction and frankness of expression. With
him the inquiry was not so much what a man believes, but does he believe it?
The lines of his friendship and his confidence encircled men of every creed,
and men of no creed ; and to the end of his life, on his ever-lengthening list
of friends, were to be found the names of a pious Catholic priest and of an
honest-minded and generous-hearted freethinker

On the morning of Saturday, July 2, the President was a contented and
happy man not in an ordinary degree, bu-t joyfully, almost boyishly happy.
On his way to the railroad station, to which he drove slowly, in conscious
enjoyment of the beautiful morning, with an unwonted sense of leisure and a
keen anticipation of pleasure, his talk was all in the grateful and gratulatory
vein. He felt that after four months of trial his administration was strong in
its grasp of affairs, strong in popular favor, and destined to grow stronger ;
that grave difficulties confronting him at his inauguration had been safely
passed; that trouble lay behind him and not before him ; that he was soon to
meet the wife whom he loved, now recovering from an illness which had but
lately disquieted and at times almost unnerved him ; that he was going to his
Alma Mater to renew the most cherished associations of his young manhood,
and to exchange greetings with those whose deepening interest had followed
every step of his upward progress from the day he entered upon his college
course until he had attained the loftiest elevation in the gift of his country-
men.

Surely if happiness can ever come from the honors or triumphs of this
world, on that quiet July morning, James A. Garfield may well have been a
happy man. No foreboding of evil haunted him ; no slightest premonition
of danger clouded his sky. His terrible fate was upon him in an instant
One moment he stood erect, strong, confident, in the years stretching peace-
fully out before him. The next he lay wounded, bleeding, helpless, doomed
to weary weeks of torture, to silence, and the grave.

Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. For no cause, in the
very frenzy of wantonness and wickedness, by the red hand of murder, he
was thrust from the full tide of this world's interest, from its hopes, its aspi-
rations, its victories, into the visible presence of death and he did not quail.
Not alone for the one short moment in which, stunned and dazed, he could
give up life, hardly aware of its relinquishment, but through days of deadly
languor, through weeks of agony, that was not less agony because silently
borne, with clear sight and calm courage, he looked into his open grave.
What blight and ruin met his anguished eyes, whose lips may tell ! What
brilliant broken plans ! what baffled, high ambitions! what sundering of strong,
warm, manhood's friendships ! what bitter rending of sweet household ties !
Behind him a proud, expectant nation, a great host of sustaining friends, a

560 LIFE OF JAMES A. GAEFIELD.

cherished and happy mother, wearing the full, rich honors of her early toil
and tears ; the wife of his youth, whose whole life lay in his ; the little boys
not yet emerged from childhood's day of frolic; the fair, young daughter;
the sturdy sons just springing into closest companionship, claiming every day
and every day rewarding a father's love and care ; and in his heart the eager,
rejoicing power to meet all demand. Before him desolation and great dark-
ness! And his soul was not shaken. His countrymen were thrilled with
instant, profound, and universal sympathy. Masterful in his mortal weak-
ness, he became the center of a nation's love, enshrined in the prayers of a
world. But all the love and all the sympathy could not share with him his
suffering. He trod the winepress alone. With unfaltering front he faced
death. With unfailing tenderness he took leave of life. Above the demoniac
hiss of the assassin's bullet he heard the voice of God. With simple resigna-
tion he bowed to the divine decree.

As the end drew near, his early craving for the sea returned. The stately
mansion of power had been to him the wearisome hospital of pain, and he
begged to be taken from its prison walls, from its oppressive, stifling air, from
its homelessness and its hopelessness. Gently, silently, the love of a great
people bore the pale sufferer to the longed-for healing of the sea, to live or to
die, as God should will, within sight of its heaving billows, within sound of
its manifold voices, with wan, fevered face tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze,
he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders, on its far sails,
whitening in the morning light ; on its restless waves, rolling shoreward to
break and die beneath the noonday sun ; on the red clouds of evening, arch-
ing low to the horizon ; on the serene and shining pathway of the stars. Let
us think that his dying eyes read a mystic meaning which only the rapt
and parting soul may know. Let us believe that in the silence of the reced-
ing world he heard the great waves breaking on a farther shore, and felt
already upon his wasted brow the breath of the eternal morning.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

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