UNDER 
 THREE 
 FLAGS 
 
 0. W. PEPPE1 
 
SANTA CRUZ 
 
 Gilt ol 
 EVERETT B. ANDERSON 
 
 SANTA CRUZ 
 

 
 
 
cr 
 
 275 
 
GEORGE W. PEPPER. 
 
UNDER THREE FLAGS; 
 
 OR, 
 
 THE STORY OF MY LIFE 
 
 AS 
 
 PREACHER, CAPTAIN IN XHE ARMY, CHAPLAIN, CONSUL, 
 
 WITH 
 
 SPEECHES AND INTERVIEWS. 
 
 THE REVEREND GEORGE W. PEPPER, 
 
 / i// 
 
 AUTHOR OF " SHERMAN'S CAMPAIGNS IN GEORGIA AND THE CAROLINAS. 
 
 CINCINNATI : 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY CURTS & JENNINGS. 
 
 1899. 
 
 Tf o 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO GENERAL' JOHN BEATTY, 
 
 (Hitting ;atringa Bank, 
 (Eolumbua, 
 
 A born financier, industrious, careful ; 
 as a soldier in battle he was reliable, brave, and skillful ; 
 
 as a Congressman he won an honored name 
 for his loyalty to his friends and his fearless defense of 
 
 great principles ; 
 ever prompt and noble in his action as a refined 
 
 and scholarly gentleman ; 
 of soul sincere and in honor clear, 
 
 I DEDICATE THESE RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 CLEVELAND, OHIO, JANUARY, 1899. 
 
Preface. 
 
 T^HAT was a beautiful simile of Bacon's, in which he 
 * compared a book to a ship. If the inventon of a 
 ship, which carries riches and commerce from one part 
 of the world to another, and consociates the most remote 
 regions, is thought so noble, how much more should be 
 the book admired, which, like the ship, sails over vast 
 oceans of time and brings distant ages into contact as the 
 ship the most remote regions ! A fine critic observes that 
 the test of a genuine book is its love of humanity. It 
 must be addressed to all the powers and faculties of man- 
 kind. If it is addressed to the intellect, it must make men 
 think; if it is addressed to the heart, it must unlock the 
 fountains of sincere emotion ; if it is addressed to the imag- 
 ination, it must wrap the soul in visions of ideal loveliness 
 and excellence. 
 
 The author of this volume pretends to none of the 
 qualifications of authorship thus described; but he does 
 claim to have given in the words of distinguished men 
 their opinions and estimates upon a variety of subjects, 
 and to give his own reminiscences in words plain and 
 truthful. He has not colored his phrases with eloquent 
 and pompous language, believing that a noble cause is 
 grander than a kingly throne, and sincerity the true 
 scepter of success. 
 
 5 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 He acknowledges his obligations to the current litera- 
 ture of the times which embraced his early life. He takes 
 pleasure in recording his gratitude to the Dublin Nation, 
 the splendid republican journal. It was to Ireland what 
 the Marseillaise was to France its creed and its inspira- 
 tion. Some of its most brilliant writers became prime 
 ministers in Australia and generals in the American War 
 for the Union. If we have helped any one to a higher 
 and nobler life, we have our reward, as refreshing as the 
 fountains to captive Israel in the desert. 
 
 GEORGE W. PEPPER, 
 1021 EAST MADISON AVENUE, ) 
 
 , OHIO. J 
 
Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE. 
 MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH, 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FAMOUS ORATORS HEARD IN COLLEGE DAYS PUBLIC APPEAR- 
 ANCE IN THE CAUSE OF TEMPERANCE, 37 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 AN IRISH FAMINE DAYS IN BELFAST QUEEN VICTORIA'S 
 
 VISITS, 53 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MARRIAGE FIRST YEARS IN AMERICA ENTERING THE MIN- 
 ISTRY EXPERIENCE AS A CIRCUIT RIDER, 66 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FROM PULPIT TO CAMP CHAPLAIN AND CAPTAIN ROUGH 
 
 SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE, 83 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 RETURN TO WORK IN THE MINISTRY RECONSTRUCTION IN THE 
 SOUTH PASTORAL APPOINTMENTS FREDERICK DOUG- 
 LASS'S REMINISCENCES, 114 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 VOYAGE ABROAD IRELAND AND ITALY VISITED, 130 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 PASTORAL RELATIONS RESUMED APPOINTMENT AS CONSUL TO 
 
 MILAN, 137 
 
 7 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. PAGE. 
 
 INCIDENTS OF CONSULAR LIFE DISTINGUISHED VISITORS, . . . 150 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 DOMESTIC SORROWS A PERSONAL CHAPTER, 173 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF THE HOLY 
 
 LAND, 181 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED LONDON PARIS, . . . 203 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 A VISIT TO THE PASSION PLAY AT OBERAMMERGAU IN 1890, . .223 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES MEN KNOWN IN POLITICAL LIFE AND 
 
 OTHER BYWAYS, 233 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 METHODIST CAMP-MEETINGS IN THE PAST, 279 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1896, 285 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 MY COLLEAGUES IN THE MINISTRY, 294 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 STRAY LEAVES FROM CIVIL WAR PERIOD SECRETARY STANTON, 305 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 MEN WHO TOOK PART IN THE IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT 
 
 JOHNSON, -510 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 CHAPTER XX. PAGE. 
 
 GENERAI, ROBERT E. LEE AT THE CLOSE OF THE REBELLION, . 322 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 SALMON P. CHASE'S OPINIONS OF MEN AND EVENTS, 335 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 INTERVIEWS WITH EMINENT MEN WENDELL PHILLIPS SOME 
 
 CHARACTERISTIC VIEWS, 343 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH JAMES G. ELAINE, 354 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS FOUR TYPICAL ORATORS: CHARLES 
 SUMNER, BISHOP SIMPSON, FATHER AGOSTINO, WILLIAM 
 JENNINGS BRYAN, 363 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 MR. GLADSTONE AS AN ORATOR, STATESMAN, PHILANTHROPIST, 
 
 CHRISTIAN, 385 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT JOHN BRIGHT, CHARLES 
 
 STEWART PARNELL, JOSEPH CHAMBERLAIN, AND OTHERS, 392 
 
10 CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 THE NATIONAL CAUSE ITS SANCTITY AND GRANDEUR, .... 414 
 
 DEAD ON THE FIELD OF. HONOR, 428 
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF A NATION, 439 
 
 CAUSES FOR THANKSGIVING, 465 
 
 RESPONSE TO THE TOAST, GEORGE WASHINGTON AND ABRAHAM 
 
 LINCOLN, 479 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL SHERMAN, 494 
 
 IRELAND'S MARTYR, 518 
 
 CARDINAL MANNING AND OTHER CELEBRITIES, 530 
 
 A FEW LETTERS REGARDING MY WORK ON THE WAR, EN- 
 TITLED " SHERMAN'S MARCH To THE SEA," 536 
 
 LETTERS FROM MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF 
 
 THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGN OF 1896, 539 
 
Illustrations. 
 
 GEORGE w. PEPPER, frontispiece. 
 
 PAGE. 
 ROYAL ACADEMICAL INSTITUTION, BELFAST, 37 
 
 QUEEN'S COLLEGE, BELFAST, . 66 
 
 GENERAL NELSON A. MILES, . ." 112 
 
 SAVONAROLA, 132 
 
 CATHEDRAL AT MILAN, ... 142 
 
 HEAD OF CHRIST, BY I/EONARDO DA VINCI, 144 
 
 METHODIST CHURCH BUILDING, AT ROME, 146 
 
 DRIVE BETWEEN MILAN AND MONZA, . 161 
 
 ROYAL VILLA AT MILAN, 168 
 
 OFFICER OF THE ITALIAN SHARPSHOOTERS, 170 
 
 AN ORIENTAL WOMAN, EGYPT, 184 
 
 THE HOLY SEPULCHER, JERUSALEM, 190 
 
 FOUNTAIN OF SWEET WATERS, ASIA, 201 
 
 TOMB OF NAPOLEON, AT THE INVALIDES, 212 
 
 OBERAMMERGAU, 225 
 
 JOSEPH MEYER, AS CHRIST, 228 
 
 JAMES G. BLAINE, 354 
 
 WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE, 385 
 
 CHARLES STEWART PARNELL, 395 
 
 READY TO DESCEND INTO THE MINE 442 
 
 CONCLUDING ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 I 
 
UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Chapter I. 
 MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 
 
 I AM aware that the task I have undertaken is one of 
 moment and delicacy. I am about to speak of the 
 leading incidents of a life that looks back over sixty years 
 to the spot that sheltered me in infancy, to the schools 
 and scenes that witnessed my entrance upon public life, 
 as well as to the last thirty years, in which I have been 
 associated with the debates, the agitations, the war for 
 the Union, and in many of the struggles for the eman- 
 cipation of the slaves, and the unity and perpetuity of 
 this Republic. 
 
 I was born in Ballinagarrick, parish of -Tullylish, near 
 Gilford, County Down, Ireland. To the best of my 
 knowledge, the date of my birth was July n, 1833. My 
 parents, well-to-do people, ranked high, and were much 
 respected. My father, Nicholas Pepper, was a man of 
 sturdy constitution, of good education, and a stanch 
 Protestant, of the Episcopal Church. He was Master 
 of the Orange Lodge, which met in his house and in 
 his father's house for over fifty years. One of my boyish 
 amusements was, with the approval of my father, the 
 gathering of orange-lilies, and building an orange arch 
 opposite the house, to annoy and vex devout Catholics 
 upon their way to church. Frequently the good priest 
 would ride through, and, hat in hand, cheer for King 
 
 13 
 
14 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 William. This pleased the Orange boys greatly, and the 
 priest and my father became warm and enthusiastic 
 friends. My recollections of my father are very vague; 
 but I remember that his death was greatly lamented. 
 
 Laffan, a writer in a Boston paper, some years ago, 
 gave the history of the Peppers in Ireland. They are of 
 Norman stock, and can be traced back to the invasion 
 by John De Alton. In the ranks of Richard de Claire, 
 or Clare, Earl of Pembroke, nicknamed Strongbow, were 
 representatives of the Pippards, or Peppards, of Devon- 
 shire, England. Camden and, in our own time, Dean 
 Butler credit a William Peppard, or Peppers, with the 
 erection of the original castle of Trim, in County Meath. 
 It was rebuilt in the thirteenth century. Sir Richard Colt 
 Hoare, in his "Tour in Ireland," describes the decaying 
 structure as the only edifice in the country worthy the 
 name of castle. From an historical point of view, it is 
 one of the most important buildings in Ireland: several 
 of the Anglo-Irish Parliaments met there. During the 
 intestine wars of the seventeenth century it was repeat- 
 edly the scene of important actions. It was dismantled 
 soon after the year 1640, and it has ever since remained 
 in a state of progressive decay. 
 
 These Pippards, or Peppers, were somewhat famous 
 in Anglo-Irish annals as founders of castles, monasteries, 
 etc., in and about Ardee, County Louth, Ralph de Pippard 
 obtaining a grant soon after the invasion. Afterwards 
 he surrendered the manor to Edward I. The Pippards, 
 descendants of Roger, were for a long time lords of 
 Ardee. They participated in the famous Irish insurrec- 
 tion of 1641, for which they incurred the penalty of the 
 forfeiture of their estates. When James II granted, in 
 1689, a charter to Drogheda, Ignatius Pepper was mayor, 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 15 
 
 and two of his name were aldermen and three were bur- 
 gesses of the city. 
 
 George Pepper, one of the earliest editors of the Bos- 
 ton Pilot, who commenced, but did not live to finish, a 
 "History of Ireland," was a native of the County Louth. 
 While stripping himself of his own clothing to cover a 
 friendless countryman, he contracted a cokl that resulted 
 in fever, and died in the prime of life. 
 
 My mother was married twice, and after her second 
 marriage, to a Mr. Hargrove, I was placed at a seminary 
 in Money More, County Derry. Here I studied the clas- 
 sics, and was prepared for college. It was necessary to 
 walk three miles every morning through a most beautiful 
 grove. British scenery affords but few parallels to this 
 part of Ireland. Before me was the splendid castle and 
 domain of Lord Conyngham, and all around lay the cul- 
 tivated estates of the Drapers. I shall never forget the 
 thrilling recollections with which my heart was filled in 
 daily making this trip to the seminary. One of my fel- 
 low-students was a boy named Quinn, who afterwards 
 became a distinguished clergyman of the Roman Cath- 
 olic Church. Years afterward, when I was lecturing in 
 Paterson, New Jersey, the chairman was Dr. Quinn. I 
 told him of my former youthful friend. "Yes," said he, 
 "that was my youngest brother." Near Money More 
 was Tubbermore, at that time the scene of Dr. Alexander 
 Carson's preaching. He had left the Presbyterian 
 Church, a rich congregation, and taken charge of a small 
 Baptist Church. Drs. Barnett, Hewitt, and Mr. Morgan 
 were preaching at that time at Money More. 
 
 The scenes that surrounded the place of my birth 
 were very beautiful. I am proud of the spot, with its 
 verdure springing from strand to mountain-top. 
 
1 6 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Through magnificent forests, along delightful woods, and 
 over gentle hills, I used to walk to the old schoolhouse. 
 O, beautiful was the sky above me, sweet Isle, and fair 
 thy emerald bosom ! The country boasted of many an- 
 cient castles and delightful landscapes, and here were 
 gathered all the beauties which nature delights to spread 
 over every relic of the past ivy and lichen, and wall- 
 flowers of lovely colors. They are bedecked, .too, with 
 "clumps of woodbine, taking the soft wind upon their 
 summer thrones." 
 
 There are few villages in Ireland so lovely, and cer- 
 tainly none in the County of Down so attractive, as Gil- 
 ford, Ballinagarrick, and Moyallen. The latter has all 
 the elements of the picturesque about it and within it. 
 Situated in a charming valley, watered by a small river, 
 while scattered about through it are the most charming 
 homes, decorated by choice flowering plants, which show, 
 by their luxuriance of growth, that the little settlement is 
 sheltered from all the winds that blow, the remembrance 
 of so sweet a place comes over my soul like the whisper 
 of a loving friend, and suggests to the devout soul soft 
 pictures of the Eternal Home we pray for when all the tu- 
 mults and storms of this life are passed away. 
 
 It has been beautifully written that the recollections 
 of early scenes come to the exile like an enchantment; 
 that sunbeams break through the traditions and inter- 
 vening years. And here, where I have fixed my home; 
 here, where my future has taken root ; here, where many 
 of my sorrows have been made bright as the darkest wave 
 swells into luster whilst the moon looks out upon it; 
 here, where a republican Government has offered me 
 the privileges and emoluments of citizenship, even here 
 I can not but help think of the paths my childhood's 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 17 
 
 footsteps traveled in Ireland. Even here, amid the roar 
 of the Niagara downfall of a thousand lakes and rivers, 
 and the calm, cold sublimities of the Rockies; even here, 
 with all these scenes crowding around me, the mem- 
 ories of those quiet mornings of my childhood and youth 
 lure my fancy backward through the flight of years. 
 Those memories are to me life, light, music. Without 
 them, my life were dull, despondent, and voiceless ! With 
 them, even the wilderness becomes a garden, and the 
 solitude a chorus of glad voices. 
 
 There are the Mourne Mountains, those giants over- 
 looking Rostrevor, the delightful bathing resort, the ap- 
 proach to which, from Newry, lies like a verdant carpet. 
 Not far away is Carlingford Bay, over whose surface ships 
 proudly glide, with all sails set to woo the bashful breeze. 
 Upon those mountains nature erects her temples; the 
 breeze, with gentle wing, fans the face ; the silence is im- 
 pressive; no sounds reach the ear save the rush of the 
 bay and the hoarse croak of the raven. And, then, what 
 scenes the eye drinks in the billowy hills, the green, 
 wooded slopes, the cloud-shadow stealing over the hills! 
 Here, amid these solemn mountains, God speaks! His 
 hand piled them up. He it was who covered them with 
 grass. He it. is who flings over all this sublime scene 
 the robe of light, and has made all beautiful in His time ! 
 
 Grand as the south of Ireland is, the grandeur of 
 Donegal surpasses it. One passes successively from 
 splendor to splendor, from beauty to beauty. There is 
 a divine loveliness that bathes every spot of that en- 
 chanted region. Near my birthplace was the river Bann, 
 a sheet of water that flowed through a long and pleasant 
 valley, with the deep shadows of the overarching trees 
 falling upon it. I have always loved water ; it adds, to 
 
1 8 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the vitality of scenery. Without it, the most beautiful 
 pictures in nature are languid and weak; with it, the less 
 finished works of the Divine Artist, those which seem to 
 us to want a more radiant sky, a greener soil, or flowers 
 of a richer bloom, and trees of a statelier growth, even 
 these unfinished works, as we presume to call them, 
 blessed with this purifying element, possess a charm be- 
 yond description. I might speak of the rare old build- 
 ings which line this river; but 
 
 " Fare ye well, dear Highland mountains, 
 Valleys green, and flowing fountains; 
 Where the silver Bann is gliding, 
 Thither lies our way." 
 
 A most charming sheet of water is Lough Neagh. 
 It is thirty miles from the sea, and has a natural fall of 
 fifty fee*t for its surplus water. There is a legend that 
 this famous lake covers a submerged city, and that the 
 fishermen, endowed with vision more or less imaginative, 
 can see "the round towers of other days in the wave be- 
 neath them shining." There is now a movement started 
 to keep this delightful sheet of water within its natural 
 bounds. Before the era of railroads there was traffic be- 
 tween Lough Neagh and the sea, and therefore reason 
 for locks and checks to its natural flow. But now that 
 there are two railways, there can be no reason that many 
 thousands of acres should be withdrawn from cultivation, 
 in order that a few tons of groceries may be carried by 
 water. Home rule might accomplish much good by 
 drawing the attention of capitalists to this mine of wealth, 
 to be obtained by a system of irrigation. 
 
 My mother's name was Rachel Thornburg. She was 
 the daughter of a farmer and manufacturer. Her father 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 19 
 
 was a Presbyterian in religion, a Liberal in politics, and 
 a cultivated gentleman. His sons were not unknown. 
 One of them in particular, who went to England, became 
 an eminent business and professional man. My mother 
 had all the educational advantages of the time, and was 
 a woman of wide reading, of refined manners, and of 
 patriotic impulses. It was her great ambition to make 
 me a scholar, and for this purpose she early placed in 
 my hands good books, and sent me to school to the best 
 teachers. My earliest schoolmaster was a Mr. Stewart, 
 a Presbyterian minister, renowned all over the country 
 for his erudition. I was afterwards sent to Money More, 
 a charming town in the County of Derry, and studied the 
 classics Greek and Latin under Mr. Harkness, a very 
 accomplished and well-read man. Here I spent three 
 years, until I was prepared for college. 
 
 My mother was desirous that I should make a career 
 as a speaker, and hence every opportunity of hearing 
 the famous orators and Ireland had many of them 
 then was seized, so that I might have the best models. 
 She was also very patriotic, as the following incident will 
 show: I was on my way to school one morning, when I 
 saw an Irish jaunting-car, containing four distinguished- 
 looking gentlemen, strangers. "See here, boy, where is 
 Shane Hill?" one of them called out to me. This hill 
 was known all over the north of Ireland as a place of re- 
 sort for all the discontented and rebelliously-disposed 
 farmers, \vho complained of high rents. I replied, "Go to 
 Nicky Pepper's Cross-roads, and then take the left hand 
 road." I had scarcely finished when the one who had 
 spoken before, shouted, "And who is Nicky Pepper?" 
 In my youthful ignorance I had thought my father was 
 known to all the world. They picked me up, making a 
 
20 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 captive of me, and when we reached my home, they 
 stopped and let me off. I told my mother the circum- 
 stance, and she exclaimed, with delight: "They are the 
 Young Irelanders, going to the Hill. There is a great 
 meeting there to-day, and we must go !" 
 
 The gentlemen were entertained with a luncheon. 
 They afterwards proved to be men who became famous 
 in Irish and American politics Thomas Francis 
 Meagher, Mitchell, Doheny, and Richard O'Gorman. It 
 has been many years now since I listened to John 
 Mitchell, on Shane Hill, plead for the overthrow of the 
 Caliban abomination, that foulest blot on European civil- 
 ization, the heartless landlord aristocracy of Ireland; but 
 the memory of it is clear before me to-day. The audi- 
 ence, Protestants and Catholics, were touched by the 
 orator's arguments, as though smitten by the rod of an 
 enchanter. The famines came; thousands and tens of 
 thousands perished on a soil soft and rich as a mother's 
 smile. Mitchell's soul was devoured with wrath at the 
 sight of a nation dying, with plenty in the land, and he 
 fearlessly preached that the life of a poor man was as 
 precious as that of a lord ; that it was better for the Irish 
 farmer to fall, musket in hand, defending his wife and 
 babes, than to die by famine; that the only gospel which 
 the heavens and earth preached was, land for the land- 
 less and food for the starving. He invoked the God of 
 the oppressed, summoned the people to arms, and in a 
 few weeks the brave men, whom the hunger fiend had 
 not carried off, clasped their virgin swords, like virgin 
 brides, to their hearts. O'Connell's famous maxim, that 
 "No liberty was worth the shedding of a drop of blood," 
 was flung to the winds by this new brotherhood of Young 
 Irelanders. 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 21 
 
 Being the only son, and my father dying when I was 
 very young, my education and all the preparation for my 
 future devolved upon my mother. She devoted herself to 
 the cultivation of my mind, and to giving direction to 
 my literary tastes. She resolved, although the sacrifice 
 would be great I being her only child that I should 
 have the full benefit of a college education. 
 
 My mother was a great admirer of the United States. 
 During the famine year, we were visiting in Belfast, when 
 an American ship I believe it was the Macedonia filled 
 with provisions for the starving, dropped its anchor in the 
 harbor. It was a rare and beautiful sight to see that old 
 war-ship, freighted with Indian meal for the suffering. 
 My mother was deeply moved, and, taking my hand, she 
 raised it towards heaven, and made me register a vow 
 to God that, if any calamity should ever overtake the 
 generous American people, I would never forget the 
 Stars and Stripes, which that day I beheld for the first 
 time. Though years have passed since that thrilling hour, 
 I can feel at this moment the warm tears of a revered 
 woman falling upon my head. Yes, like all Irish women 
 of honor and of principle, she was a republican, and the 
 names of Washington and Jackson were always on her 
 lips, like a litany. 
 
 Whatever of Irish and American sympathies I have, 
 I owe to her. The United States was, in her estimation, 
 the ideal Government, and its flag the symbol of freedom, 
 of independence, of glory. I love to think of my mother, 
 of her goodness of heart, of her gentleness of disposition, 
 of her magnanimity, and of her tender and assiduous at- 
 tentions to the poor. The last time I ever saw her alive, 
 I was on my way to college. 
 
 As the hour drew near when I was to leave the haunts 
 
22 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of my childhood, what a sorrowful hour it was ! What a 
 struggle agitated the good heart of my dear mother, be- 
 tween her grief at the parting and her hopes for my 
 future ! Though over fifty years have passed, it seems but 
 yesterday, so swiftly does memory recall our early days. 
 She accompanied me a part of the way, and when the time 
 came for us to separate, she embraced me fervently, 
 saying: "Be a good boy, be a good student, be a good 
 Christian; and if we never meet again on earth, we shall 
 meet in heaven." I see her as she stood upon the hill, 
 waving a farewell adieu to me with a white handkerchief. 
 It was a farewell, indeed; for when I returned, in less 
 than a month, there was no one on the hill ; but, instead, 
 a little group of people waiting about the gate. My 
 mother was dead! 
 
 "My mother, when 1 learned that thou wert dead 
 Say, wert thou conscious of the tears I shed? 
 Hovered thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son, 
 Wretched even then life's journey just begun?" 
 
 " Where thou art gone, 
 
 Adieus and farewells are a sound unknown. 
 May I but meet thee on that peaceful shore, 
 The parting word shall pass my lips no more." 
 
 We laid her away to sleep in the beauty of eternal 
 peace in the Ballinagarrick Presbyterian Cemetery. May 
 the grass be ever green upon the sod that covers the re- 
 mains of the best of mothers! 
 
 North Ireland has never been credited with the bold 
 and picturesque scenery of the south, yet it has many 
 classic and historic spots. In wild and romantic Donegal, 
 where they say "the people eat the potatoes, skins and 
 all," is the old castle of Raphoe, where Richard Mont- 
 gomery drew the milk which gave him nerve to fight the 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOLTH. 23 
 
 battle of Quebec. Derry possesses attractions which have 
 few parallels. There, lying at one's feet, is the river 
 Foyle, and all around the walls so grandly defended by 
 the gallant Walker against the coward James. The coun- 
 trymen of Walker should build him a monument, and 
 carve thereon the proud sentence: In vita, ad castra; in 
 morte, ad astra. ("In life, fighting; in death, immortal.") 
 
 The memorable siege of the Prentice boys is one of 
 the bravest things in history. "I envy not," says John- 
 son, "those whose patriotis^m does not burn when stand- 
 ing on the plains of Marathon, and whose soul does not 
 grow warm when wandering round the ruins of lona." 
 All through these extreme northern counties are scenes 
 to be witnessed, such as neither the rugged splendors 
 of the Tyrol nor the sterile sublimities of the Scottish 
 Highlands have surpassed. Here is Tyrone, where, an 
 old ballad used to say, "an honest man never was known." 
 This is the country where Hugh O'Neil, the splendid 
 Earl of Tyrone, battled valiantly, though unavailingly, 
 against the brilliant armies of Elizabeth; where General 
 James Shields first saw the light, and whose blood after- 
 wards was poured out in the war for the Union. In the 
 neighboring section of the county are the majestic col- 
 umns and porticoes of the Giant's Causeway on the coast 
 of Antrim, against which the waves of the Atlantic break 
 in vain. Within sound of these thundering waves, Dr. 
 Adam Clarke, the renowned Methodist commentator, and 
 McClure, the explorer and discoverer of the Northwest 
 Passage, were born. 
 
 The three brothers, George, Henry, and John Law- 
 rence, were natives of this part of Ireland. These were 
 the conquerors of India, adding the costliest jewel to the 
 British crown. It is told among the old residents that 
 
24 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 when Henry was taking his farewell of his beloved 
 mother, she gave him this sound advice as to marriage: 
 "I know you do not like advice, so I will not give you 
 much; but, pray, recollect two things do not marry a 
 woman who had not a good mother, and do not be too 
 ready to speak your mind. It was the rock on which 
 your father wrecked his prospects." He acted on his 
 mother's advice, and married the beautiful and accom- 
 plished Honora Marshall, and she to him was 
 
 " Constant as the Northern star, 
 Of whose true, fixed and resting quality 
 There is no fellow in the firmament." 
 
 Dungannon, that historic and patriotic town, is in 
 Tyrone. The Stewarts Alexander T. and George H. 
 distinguished for their American enterprise and philan- 
 thropies, were natives of County Down; and so also was 
 Lord Dufferin. It is said that when George H. Stewart 
 arrived in New York, he had only his overcoat, which he 
 sold to a fellow-passenger for money to take him to Phila- 
 delphia. He made money rapidly, and he gave with a 
 generosity that was boundless. When he died and was 
 buried, forty ministers whom he had educated were his 
 pall-bearers, and more than that number of missionaries, 
 whom he had sent to foreign fields, would have been 
 present if possible. Andrew Jackson, and the ancestors 
 of William McKinley, the President of the United States, 
 came from this part of Ireland. 
 
 Religiously, America is under lasting obligations to 
 three Irishmen who were born and reared in this neigh- 
 borhood : Robert Strawbridge, the first preacher of Amer- 
 ican Methodism; Francis McKennie, the founder of 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 25 
 
 American Presbyterianism ; and Alexander Campbell, the 
 organizer of the Disciple Church. 
 
 The patriotic Irishman takes pride in remembering 
 the historical relations between Ireland and the United 
 States. In this northern part of Ireland there are a thou- 
 sand evidences which demonstrate the enthusiastic sym- 
 pathy of Ulstermen with the Americans. This was the 
 mother-home of the most famous of the Jacksons, the 
 Starks; and the Pennsylvania Legion, which rendered 
 such distinguished service, in the Colonies, were mostly 
 from this region. An entire ship, filled with republican 
 Irishmen, en route to Washington's help, was arrested 
 in Belfast Lough. Sparks, in his "Life and Letters of 
 Washington," gives the whole correspondence between 
 that illustrious man and the Yankee Clubs of Ulster. 
 There was scarcely a town where there was not one of 
 these clubs. Here is an extract from an address of one 
 of them to Washington : 
 
 "At an early period of the contest in which you are so 
 gloriously engaged, our sentiments were those of the 
 Americans, our warmest wishes are on the side of free- 
 dom. Upon this happy Revolution, we have embraced 
 the first opportunity to convince you of our unfeigned 
 esteem. Your exertions have not only vindicated the 
 freedom of your own country, but also have shed their 
 benign influence on this distressed kingdom of Ireland. 
 To you, sir, in the course of a gracious Providence which, 
 in a conspicuous manner, has protected your person and 
 presided in your councils, do we acknowledge ourselves 
 indebted for our late happy deliverance from as baneful 
 a system of policy as ever disgraced the rights of man- 
 kind. With the sincerest pleasure, therefore, we mention 
 our congratulations on an event which has crowned 
 America with sovereignty and independence." 
 
26 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 This was sent from Stewartstown, County of Tyrone, 
 June 7, 1789. I give one or two sentences from Wash- 
 ington's reply: 
 
 "It is with unfeigned satisfaction I accept your con- 
 gratulations on the late happy and glorious Revolution. 
 The generous indignation against the foes of the rights of 
 mankind with which you are animated, and the exalted 
 sentiments of liberty which you entertain, are too conso- 
 nant to the feelings and principles of the citizens of the 
 United States not to attract their veneration and esteem, 
 did not the affectionate and anxious concern with which 
 you regarded their struggle for freedom and independ- 
 ence entitle you to their most particular acknowledg- 
 ments. If in the course of our successful contest any 
 good consequences have resulted to the oppressed king- 
 dom of Ireland, it will afford a, new source of happiness 
 to all who respect the interests of humanity. 
 
 "GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 "Mt. Vernon, in Virginia, Jan. 20, 
 
 The share which Ireland had in liberating the Colonies 
 from the sway of England, and in the establishment of 
 the United States, is a matter of history. The names of 
 General Sullivan; the O'Briens, who fired the first shot 
 at Machias, in Maine; of Commodore Barry; Charles 
 Thompson, the secretary of the first Congress, and who 
 read the Declaration of Independence before the assem- 
 bled thousands in Philadelphia; the statement of Lord 
 Chatham in his great speech; and the exclamation of 
 Lord Mountjoy in the House of Commons, as he pointed 
 his index finger at Lord North, "You have lost America 
 by the Irish!" 
 
 The people of Cork raised, by private subscription, 
 money to purchase clothes for the shoeless and coatless 
 Revolutionary soldiers at Valley Forge. My young years 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 27 
 
 were spent among these Yankee sympathizers. My uncle, 
 John Pepper, and all my mother's relatives strong Pres- 
 byterians were republicans, and belonged to the United 
 Irishmen. The district in which I was born and reared 
 included the famous rendezvous for the discontented, for 
 every protest against the injustice of landlordism, and for 
 anti-anythingism ; the name of the resort for the rebellious 
 was Shane Hill. It was here that the notorious Tommy 
 Downshire men assembled. This was a kind of Prot- 
 estant Molly Maguireism. They were bold and desperate 
 fellows, who had no regard for English legislation. They 
 used the torch or the bullet against those who might dis- 
 obey their mandates. Here is a specimen of one of their 
 proclamations : 
 
 TOMMY DOWNSHIRE. 
 
 "BRETHREN, Oppression calls me once more among 
 you. Having heard of the dreadful high rates imposed 
 upon you, I warn you not to pay more than ten pence 
 on the pound. Any man giving more, I will order him 
 to be burned to the ground. Let them go to the land- 
 lords for the rest. Be firm and true, and I will mend what 
 the landlords are doing when I come. 
 
 "Yours truly, friend and brother, TOMMY. 
 
 "Dated at Shane Hill, October, 184?" 
 
 The combination of which Tommy was chief had been 
 at work for years in that locality; at one time resisting 
 high rents, and at another insisting upon higher wages. 
 They always succeeded, for their claims were just. This 
 is a specimen of their rough songs : 
 
 " It was on a summer morning 
 Bright Phoebus was adorning, 
 I heard the bugle horn 
 Just by the break of day. 
 
28 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 And I asked what made so much smoke and fire, 
 And they told me it was Tommy Downshire. 
 
 So with them I did go and fight that day, boys ! 
 
 Since there is so much blood to be shed, 
 Let every man fight for his bread ! 
 We are Tommy Downshire from the Shane Hill, 
 And always fight our way, boys ! " 
 
 They did not stop at proclamations. When the Eng- 
 lish Government was shipping grain and potatoes away 
 from Ireland, Tommy Downshire men met at Shane Hill, 
 and marched in thousands, singing this song, to Knock 
 Bridge, on the River Bawn, and destroyed all the boats. 
 
 The most numerous and the most enthusiastic of the 
 Yankee Clubs, previously referred to, was established in 
 the old Ulster town of Dungannon, where no less a Con- 
 vention than delegates representing one hundred thou- 
 sand of the Irish Volunteers met in 1782, in an old church, 
 to debate the fortunes of a nation. It is in this very town 
 that independence is to be declared and won! These 
 delegates represented the will of the people that su- 
 preme and unconquerable will, which, when aroused, is 
 above the will of kings, stronger than the might of armies, 
 keener than the subtleties of law ; the fountain of political 
 authority, the basis of social organization, the high ar- 
 biter of revolutionary change. That well-ordered and 
 courageous organization had driven Lord North from 
 the Cabinet ; it had caught the sacred contagion of Ameri- 
 can liberty, which had shuffled off a baleful tyranny, had 
 smitten down great armies, and scattered vast fleets. It 
 had stormed the administration of Charles James Fox. 
 
 The debate is opened but hark! what is that cry I 
 hear? It is the cheer that greets the entrance of Henry 
 Grattan. On him a thousand eyes and hopes are fixed. 
 Harry Flood, the noble and pure, and Hussey Burgh, the 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 29 
 
 brilliant Burgh, are with him. In person he is tall, erect, 
 and thin; in mien and gesture he is calm and command- 
 ing. He rises, and pronounces the most splendid oration 
 ever delivered. Listen to this one sentence: "I have no 
 ambition unless it be to break your chains and to con- 
 template your glory ! I will never be satisfied so long as 
 the meanest citizen in Ireland has a link of the British 
 chain clanking among his rags. He may be naked, he 
 shall not be in iron ! And I do see the time is at hand, 
 the spirit has gone forth, the declaration of right is 
 planted; and though great men should fall off, yet the 
 cause shall live; and though the patriotic speaker should 
 die, yet the immortal fire shall outlast the humble organ 
 who conveys it; and the breath of liberty, like the word 
 of the holy man, will not die with the prophet, but will 
 survive him." The orator had gathered his energies, 
 which a heavy illness had impaired, to the greatest effort 
 of his life. The victory was won, and Ireland's prosperity 
 continued to excite envy and admiration. It lasted eigh- 
 teen years, and it was during this brief period that all the 
 splendid public buildings of Dublin were built. One man 
 in every five was engaged in manufactures. The nobles 
 spent two million dollars annually in Dublin. Alas! In 
 1800 the legislative independence of Ireland was extin- 
 guished. Then her woes began. It was to this bright 
 spot in Irish history that Washington referred in his letter 
 to the Yankee Clubs. What Independence Hall was to 
 the Americans, the old church in Dungannon was to the 
 Irish people. 
 
 The religious movement of John Wesley had early 
 attracted converts in Ireland, and especially in Ulster, 
 and many flourishing societies were formed during Wes- 
 ley's visits. The life of this illustrious man was divided 
 
30 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 between study, preaching, and the organization of soci- 
 eties. He has told the world, in his incomparable Jour- 
 nals, of his frequent visits and of his cordial reception by 
 the Irish people. In grandeur of purpose, in a lofty and 
 evangelic consecration, and in success, he stands first 
 among the renowned revivalists. Yet this great man, 
 with his matchless genius, author of a hundred volumes 
 upon all subjects, with his encyclical cultivation, did not 
 hesitate to preach in barns, in private houses, at cross- 
 roads, and under the shade of great trees. Hither he 
 came, and preached in my great-great-uncle's field, where 
 a class was formed, and where it continued to meet for 
 three generations. There is one big tree, yet standing, 
 beneath whose shade he preached annually, and where his 
 followers meet every year. I have preached beneath the 
 selfsame tree within a few years. The correspondent of 
 the New York Witness was present, and gave a vivid 
 account of this field service, referring to the sermon I 
 preached in accordance with the time-honored custom. 
 In my uncle's house I have frequently heard venerable 
 men and saintly women speak of the father of Methodism. 
 They dwelt with rapture upon his words of counsel, that 
 cleared their souls from doubt ; words of mercy, that saved 
 them from despair ; words of comfort, that served as balm 
 to their wounded hearts. They would relate incidents of 
 his travels, and speak of his impressive delivery. Here 
 are a few of the stories I listened to in my childhood : 
 Wesley was one day overtaken by robbers, who took from 
 him his gold watch. He asked them to remain to the 
 services, and they would certainly repent some day. He 
 preached a sermon from the words, "The blood of Jesus 
 Christ cleanseth from all sin." An indescribable fear 
 came over the thieves. They returned the watch, bowed 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 31 
 
 upon their knees, and were converted. He was preaching 
 in a schoolhouse on a very hot day, and one of his hearers 
 dropped to sleep, and snored so loud that he destroyed 
 the solemnity of the worship. The preacher paused in the 
 flow of his oratory, and cried out, "Fire! Fire!" The 
 sleeper jumped to his feet, forgetting where he was, and 
 asked, "Where? where?" w r hen Wesley calmly replied, 
 "In hell, to burn people who sleep under the preaching of 
 the gospel." 
 
 When Whitefield died there had been some estrange- 
 ment between the two holy men a friend of Wesley's 
 said, "You will never see Whitefield in heaven." "No," 
 was Wesley's reply, "I never expect to see him. He will 
 be so near the throne, and I will be so far off, that I never 
 expect to see him." 
 
 In the north of Ireland there are various ways of 
 speaking the English language. Every county has its 
 peculiar, characteristics. In the center of Ulster, there 
 are the clear tones of Dublin! In the extreme counties 
 of Derry and Donegal vibrate the earnest gutturals of 
 Connaught. Here are two specimens of these peculiarities 
 of speech, of theology, and art. A minister, who was per- 
 haps not too careful, was induced to sign the teetotal 
 pledge. His health appeared to suffer, and his doctor 
 ordered him to take a glass of punch daily. "O, I dare 
 not. Peggy, my old housekeeper, would tell the whole 
 parish." "When do you shave?" the doctor asked. "In 
 the morning," was the answer. "Then," said the doctor, 
 "shave at night, before going to bed." The minister 
 seemed to improve. The doctor said to Peggy, "I am 
 glad your master is better." "Indeed, sir, he is better; 
 but his brain is affected. Something is wrong with his 
 mind." "How?" "Why, doctor, he used to shave at 
 
32 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 night, before going to bed; but now he shaves in the 
 morning; he shaves before dinner; he shaves before sup- 
 per; he gets up at night and shaves; he shaves all the 
 time!" 
 
 A young minister, who read his sermon an abomi- 
 nation in Ulster had preached. An elder was asked 
 what he thought of the sermon. "Well, he will have to 
 preach two hours longer to give the de'il (devil) a cold 
 swat, with that kind of preaching." 
 
 Let us take a description of Mister Alaac McCraub, a 
 Presbyterian farmer and fierce theologian, and the type 
 of a class of men to be found, no doubt, in other parts of 
 the country as well as Donegal. Riding out of Letter- 
 kenny on his way up the glen, the writer and his friend 
 encounter Mr. McCraub on the way, and the following 
 conversation ensues : 
 
 McCraub loquitur "Well, sir, what way are ye the 
 day?" 
 
 This is the common form of salutation the quid agis 
 of Glen S willy conventionalism; then, looking hard and 
 rather fiercely at me, astride as I was on a strong little 
 hack, he drew near to my friend, and said in a low voice : 
 
 "But who is thon boy on the wee pownie?" 
 
 This term thon is demonstrative; probably composed 
 of a union of the two words, that yonder. On being satis- 
 fied as to my respectability, he became familar, conde- 
 scendingly walking by the rein of our horses faisant 
 chemin, as the French say. 
 
 "But where did I see you going last Sunday, and on 
 horseback, too, Mr. McCraub?" said my friend. "I 
 thought your people were strict Sabbath-keepers, and did 
 not forget the Fourth Commandment?" 
 
 "So we are so we are, sir," said Alaac, becoming 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 33 
 
 greatly confused for a moment ; but, quickly recovering, 
 he drew himself up, and added : 
 
 "I was just going a mile or twa to the lower brae 
 not more than aboot a Sabbath-day's journey, you see 
 to visit my stock, lest there should be an ox or an ass 
 fallen into a pit. Ye ken, gentlemen, the Scripthur allows 
 us to pull it out." 
 
 On delivering this piece of triumphant self-justifica- 
 tion, Alaac grimly smiled, and becoming more talkative 
 than before, entertained us .with the account of a young 
 preacher who had been holding forth the previous Sab- 
 bath in the meeting-house, and concerning whose being 
 "all right" (they gutturalize the r most vigorously in the 
 word), Alaac had his ponderings. 
 
 "Did you like the sermon?" asked our friend. 
 
 "As a seermun, I answer, no, sir. It was only a wee 
 bit of gospel doctrine a sagmint in the great ceercle of 
 Chreestianity. It was na' what we ca' feeding. Man is 
 an inquisiteeve animal, sir; and I should have liked a 
 skemp of doctrine on the Five Points. Na seermun is a 
 seermun at a' that has not the Five Points in its head, tail, 
 text, body, soul, and backbone. I mislike thon preacher. 
 He 's just come from Raphoe, on tryal like, and is a varra 
 young man, and has na experience for the elder hearers. 
 I 'm doubting if he 's oorthodox, and if he has not a 
 touch of the harracy of the Armenians in him, which is 
 all as one, to my mind, as Papishy itself." 
 
 Alaac delivered this last sentence with singular acri- 
 mony for so good a man. * 
 
 "You are a great theologian," said my friend, "quite 
 a divine, Mr. McCraub." 
 
 "Just a wee, sir not overmuch. I have read a leetle 
 on the soobject whiles, and wrangled it over wi' the neigh- 
 
 3 
 
34 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 bors in the lang winter nights. I hold the Five Great 
 Points all reight, and I will always purtest, as long as I 
 have a tongue in my teeth, against Papishy, Armennian- 
 ism, Methodyism, and all other filthy harracies and hat- 
 teradoxies, to my life's end." 
 
 We now pushed on, wishing our polemical friend fare- 
 well, Alaac shouting after us that he would call on my 
 friend "for the fourth valume of Dr. John Ouwen's 
 [Owen's] work on the Haybrews a grand writer, and all 
 reight on the Five Points/' 
 
 A young gentleman, "fresh from college, and prepar- 
 ing for the ministry," thus describes to our author the 
 aforesaid Alaac McCraub, as he met him the preceding 
 Sunday on his way to the meeting-house : 
 
 "His hat was like the 'Prometheus Bound' of ^Eschy- 
 lus, not having enjoyed a nap for many years; and his 
 best blue coat, only donned on Sabbaths, like the blessed 
 sun, never seemed to wear out ; a long steel chain dangled 
 from his fob, supporting a pinchbeck seal, the size of a 
 pear. Stiffly and sturdily he strode along, ten yards in 
 advance of his womankind, his wife, Creusa-like, and his 
 pretty modest daughter, following behind; his nose, a 
 genuine aduncus, fiercely cocked at the horizon; his feet 
 turned out in a perpetual perpetration of the fifth position, 
 his cold, keen eye keeking and glinting on all sides, as if 
 searching for a mistake with somebody ; the very calves of 
 his wiry legs looking sharp and martial; and the whole 
 figure and gait of the man evidencing the most prepos- 
 terous self-satisfaction; so that," continued the young 
 man, "you might have applied to him Ben Jonson's in- 
 flated description of Sejanus, who 
 
 ' At each step feels his advanced head 
 Knock out a star in heaven. ' " 
 
MEMORIES OF CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH. 35 
 
 The Rev. Joseph M was rather a pompous clergy- 
 man, who thought more of himself than anybody else did. 
 It was his custom to preach special sermons, on a set 
 subject, every Sunday evening during the winter season, 
 which he termed, with no small show of pride, "My 
 weekly series." One day, meeting with an old tailor 
 named Tommy Anderson, a member of his congrega- 
 tion, whom the Rev. Joseph observed to be a regular 
 worshiper at church during the course of "my weekly 
 series," but at no other time, his reverence thought he 
 would sound Tommy as to the reason of his peculiar 
 attendance. 
 
 "Well, Tommy," began his reverence, "how is it that 
 you are not more regular in your attendance at church? 
 It is only when I preach 'my weekly series' that I observe 
 you there. Do you [here a self-satisfied smile illumined 
 the countenance of Joseph] think so highly of my series 
 that you are afraid of mixing up the thread of my subject 
 by listening to other sermons?" 
 
 "Aye, that 's it, your reverence," replied Tommy, 
 touching his forelock. "Jist it, or nearly it. Ye see, I 
 at times go to the Chapel o' Aise, whaur I hear a guid 
 soun' sarmon, an hay aye somethin' tay think aboot. 
 Then, whiles I go tay the Cathedral, whaur I like tay 
 hear the bishop, wha's sarmons taks ye awa' up intae the 
 cloods, then lays ye doon again beside a rinnin' strame on 
 a summer's day ; an' again whirls ye awa' amang the bon- 
 nie yalla coarn in the hervest, whaur yer like tay hear 
 the bizz o' the scythe at wark, an' see the men an' wemmin 
 in the feels gatherin' in the stooks, same as ye wur lukin' 
 at them ; then he lats ye hear the blythe song o' the lark 
 as it flees tayword the sky in the mornin', and the whirr o' 
 the corncrake as it skims ower the stibbles or amang the 
 
36 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 coarn in the gloamin' ; he brings ye tay think ye can see 
 the wee white flakes o' snaw fallin' in the weary winter 
 time, when a' is dark aroon ; an' then, as he Stan's in yon 
 poopit, wi' his gran' anld gray heed turned upward, an' 
 points awa' ower the heads o' his congregation, if ye fol- 
 low that finger ye will see there awa' on a dreich an' lonely 
 snaw-clad waste, sae plain dis he mak it, ye will see some 
 poor bit chap shiverin' an' shakin' as he plods alang tae 
 his journey's en', whaur his kin'ly auld feyther is waitin' 
 an' wearyin' for him tay come tay ^et the guid things he 
 has ready for him. But the semplicity, so tay spake," and 
 Tommy looked in the face of his reverence, "O, yer sar- 
 mins is gran' ; there 's nae depth nor argyment in them, 
 nor nae food for reflection ; they 're gran' for the quality, 
 an' they 're aye the wan thing." 
 
Chapter II. 
 
 FAMOUS ORATORS HEARD IN COLLEGE DAYS- 
 PUBLIC APPEARANCE IN THE CAUSE OF 
 TEMPERANCE. 
 
 IT was in 1851 that I became a student in the college 
 of Belfast, better known as the Royal Academical In- 
 stitution, where many of the most distinguished and fa- 
 mous Irish judges, lawyers, and preachers were educated. 
 I was overjoyed when, for the first time, I saw the north- 
 ern Athens, the Manchester of Ireland Belfast. The 
 morning of my arrival was one of the fairest of mornings. 
 There was a soft brightness in the sky, a delicious scent 
 upon the meadow-lands, and the bleach greens, which 
 cover the country for miles as you approach the city, were 
 sweet and fragrant. There was the old patriotic Cave 
 Hill, sacred to the memories of Tone and Russell and the 
 United Irishmen of 1798; the spacious streets every- 
 thing was charming. The country from Lurgan, through 
 Lisburn and thence to Belfast, was beautiful. There is 
 a vast difference between Belfast and Dublin. The former 
 is all business; while Dublin, like Venice in her faded 
 garments of beauty, has fallen asleep in the shadow of 
 her domes and columns, and dimly dreams of the days of 
 her revels, her old Parliament, the days when she sat, not 
 as a begging mendicant, but as a queen among the civic- 
 crowned sisterhood of Europe. 
 
 It has been well said by a Scotch writer that Belfast 
 is so like Scotland that the Scotchman can scarcely 
 realize that he has left the banks of the Clyde. He has 
 left a canny race, thrifty and industrious, with thriving 
 
 37 
 
38 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 manufactories and tall chimneys, in the midst of lovely 
 scenery, behind, and having run across the sea, finds him- 
 self in a somewhat warmer climate, amid more pleasing 
 scenery, and surrounded with the same thrifty people, the 
 same short and decisive speech, the same tall smoke- 
 stacks, and half a dozen large, prosperous, newly-built 
 towns, with their gorgeous outlying villas, and looking 
 as if they, too, had stepped over to visit their Irish neigh- 
 bors. Belfast, Lisburn, Antrim, Lurgan, Banbridge, Gil- 
 ford, are now busy centers of commercial life, engaging 
 men, women, and children in a race for wealth and 
 progress. 
 
 Belfast at that time was rich in the number and variety 
 of her gifted pulpit and forensic orators, and it was my 
 privilege to hear the finest and most cultivated preachers 
 of the day. I had always an admiration for good speak- 
 ing, and, when a child, my mother fostered this passion 
 by taking me long distances to hear famous speakers. 
 
 "The powers of. eloquence can charm the soul, 
 Inspire the virtuous, and the bad control ; 
 Can raise the passions, and the rage can still, 
 
 And mold a mob to one man's will." 
 
 i 
 
 Dr. Henry Cooke was the great preacher of the Pres- 
 byterians. In point of earnestness and powerful elo- 
 quence, he was superior to all others. Daniel McAfee 
 was at this time the idol of the Methodists, and was noted 
 for his originality and fearlessness. Isaac Nelson was 
 a strong man and a patriot. When bigotry smashed the 
 windows of his houses, he never repaired them, prefer- 
 ring to leave them as monuments of Orange intolerance. 
 John Scott Porter, a Unitarian, possessed a clear and 
 beautiful style. If Cooke was the Demosthenes of Irish 
 eloquence, Scott Porter was the Cicero. Drs. Edgar and 
 
FAMOUS ORATORS. 39 
 
 Morgan, William Johnston, and Hugh Hanna were all 
 attractive orators. 
 
 "Tommy Toye," the Presbyterian minister of York 
 Street, was widely known for his eccentricities. He was 
 a Southern man, and spoke with a most charming brogue. 
 He was known all over the city for his devotional habits, 
 for his pungent sermons, and for his quaint and humorous 
 sayings. In one of his sermons he said: "My brethren, 
 your piety is very pretty, it is beautiful to look at ; but it 
 is as cold and as wanting in fragrance as the artificial 
 flowers in Hardy's window in High Street." Another 
 time he illustrated his sermon with this incident: "My 
 wife and I were going through Bridge Street the other 
 day, and we saw a very pretty handkerchief in Kyle's 
 shop-window. Jane said, 'It is a very pretty handker- 
 chief, Tom.' 'It is/ said I; 'we will go in and buy it.' 
 'You are a fool/ said Jane; 'because it is silk weft and 
 cotton warp.' Brethren, there is a great deal of cotton 
 warp in your Christianity!" He called one day to see 
 one of his parishioners, and found her reading "Robinson 
 Crusoe." "You are going to hell," said the preacher, 
 "I '11 make you a subject of special prayer.'' "O no, Mr. 
 Toye; you will not do that; you will not take away my 
 character!" exclaimed the woman, bursting into tears. 
 "I '11 make you the subject of special prayer," repeated 
 Mr. Toye. "O, what is this that has come over me! 
 You will ruin me ! I 'm the mother of six children, and 
 the like of this never came across me afore." Finding 
 he could not quiet her, Mr. Toye left, and soon after her 
 husband came, and finding her wringing her hands in un- 
 controllable grief, asked the cause. "O, Mr. Toye will 
 ruin me ! He is going to take away my character ! He 
 says he will make me the subject of special prayer!" 
 
40 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 "Well," said the husband, striking the table with his fist, 
 "if he does that, I '11 indict him." 
 
 I remember hearing in my youth the following story 
 of a Church of England clergyman : The rector was an 
 aristocrat, and very haughty in his manners. One Sun- 
 day he referred to himself in a lordly way, telling of the 
 great men in his family. The poorer members were 
 offended. The curate, who was democratic and simple 
 in his life, was very indignant, and vented his indigna- 
 tion in words heard by many of the congregation : "Such 
 flunkeyism is intolerable, but I will administer an anti- 
 dote next Sunday! Like Herod's worms, the rector's 
 pride is eating him up." The following Sunday the curate 
 carried out his threat. He took for his text the third 
 chapter of Luke, part of the twenty-third, and the whole 
 of the verses between that and the thirty-ninth, in which 
 he found the following words : "Joseph, which was the son 
 of Heli," and ending with "which was the son of Enos, 
 which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, 
 which was the son of God." Every one is familiar with 
 the peculiar and strange effect produced by the repetition 
 of a single phrase, such as "Which was the son of." The 
 people were bewildered, and the rector looked confounded. 
 He thought the curate had gone mad; but there was 
 method in his madness. He ingeniously evolved from 
 these sixteen verses a discourse that might have served 
 as an essay on the French motto, Liberty, Equality, Fra- 
 ternity. "Here," said he, "we have a genealogical tree, 
 not traced by the flattery of sycophants, but by the evan- 
 gelist, whose inspiration enabled him to mount from 
 branch to branch a genealogy beginning with God, and 
 ending with a poor Galilean Carpenter. Here is a les- 
 son and a rebuke for the pride of descent. The poorest 
 
FAMOUS ORATORS. 41 
 
 carpenter in the poorest village in Ireland can trace his 
 line through the same unbroken succession; and the 
 proudest peer can do no more, unless, in his presumption, 
 he should be disposed to ignore his divine origin. But 
 it would be of no use. By whatever branch, they arrive 
 at the same root. Here," he continued, looking at the 
 rector, "here we all meet on equal terms. Disown them 
 as we like in other degrees, here we are brought face to 
 face with, and can not refuse to acknowledge, our poor 
 relations." 
 
 There were many other distinguished divines and 
 political orators. Hugh McNeil, of Liverpool, made an- 
 nual visits to his native city, preaching in St. Ann's 
 Church, where he shed the light and beauty of his imag- 
 inative eloquence upon his own land and that of his adop- 
 tion. As a reader he had no equal. There frequently, 
 also, was heard the fearless and brilliant Thomas Maguire, 
 a Catholic priest, who was, without exception, the best 
 debater his Church ever produced in Ireland. 
 
 There I heard Chalmers, Guthrie, and D'Aubigne, 
 the historian of the Reformation. There was Whiteside, 
 afterwards Lord Chancellor of England. I honored his 
 great qualities of mind, and was delighted by his eloquent 
 speeches, poured forth in language of thrilling beauty 
 and strength. He was among the brightest of the peer- 
 less list of Irish orators who have illumined the British 
 Senate. 
 
 Chalmers, despite his monotonous and hesitating 
 action, his husky voice, and slavery to a manuscript, when 
 fairly aroused, could touch with a wizard's skill the Pres- 
 byterian heart, and set its pulsations beating with a higher 
 and firmer throb. He never raised his eyes from the 
 paper; but his intensity of feeling, the grandeur of his 
 
42 UNDER THREE FLAGS, 
 
 thoughts, swept everything before him. How his splen- 
 did mind kindled the fires as he described the progress 
 and triumphs of his beloved Free Church ! Guthrie, an- 
 other Scotch minister, was the very opposite of Chalmers 
 in style and delivery. His sermons were pictorial, his 
 manners entirely free, his bold spirit was not curbed and 
 bound down by servile adherence to a written composi- 
 tion. The discourse was crowded with passages of bril- 
 liant and impressive beauty. 
 
 During the time I was at college, there were three 
 men visited Belfast whose burning words found a ready 
 entrance into the hearts and stirred the sympathies of 
 tens of thousands of the British public. These men were 
 Gavazzi, John B. Gough, and Kossuth. The swarthy 
 Italian, the American, and the eloquent Hungarian 
 swayed the masses at will. The first shook to its foun- 
 dations Ultramontanism; the second smote on the head 
 the Goliath of intemperance; while the third conducted 
 the lightning of public indignation to the heart of Con- 
 tinental despotism. Pio Nono had but little affection 
 for the first ; the second was at a discount with the saloons ; 
 and the Austrian emperor hated the third. Mr Gough, 
 in one of his Glasgow lectures, had spoken disparagingly 
 of the Maine Law. I replied to him, supporting my refu- 
 tations of his utterances by quotations from eminent men 
 in Maine and all over the United States. 
 
 Among the bright host of men who had shed luster 
 upon their day and contributed to the march and progress 
 of Ireland, no name shines brighter than Father Mathew, 
 who was then engaged in the noble struggle against in- 
 temperance. I was a boy when Father Mathew came 
 to Banbridge. Though he was then fifty years old, he 
 was the picture of health, straight and erect as a man 
 
FAMOUS ORATORS. 43 
 
 of twenty-five. His hair was black as the raven's wing; 
 his nose, Roman; his mouth, well chiseled. In his soft 
 though animated blue eyes there was a sweet, intelligent, 
 and benign expression. His dress was plain and scru- 
 pulously neat. Father Mathew was a speaker endowed 
 with that fervid eloquence which reaches the heart. He 
 raised a rampart of statistics in relation to the effects of 
 intemperance upon the nation, and then illustrated it 
 with his convincing and practical appeals. He 'gave a 
 powerful and graphic exposition of the effects of drunken- 
 ness upon the home, upon the wife, upon the children. 
 His tour through Ulster was triumphal. At his approach, 
 the habitual toper became sober and pledged to absti- 
 nence; the saloon-keepers relinquished their traffic. Hav- 
 ing conquered intemperance in Ireland, five million hav- 
 ing taken the teetotal pledge from his hands, like another 
 Alexander, he was not satisfied, but came to the United 
 States in search of new conquests. Had there been some 
 law to help these people to keep their pledge, the good 
 would have been incalculable. Father Mathew, in a let- 
 ter published in this volume, refers to this. 
 
 I was destined for the bar. Ireland had at that time 
 the most distinguished lawyers in the three kingdoms. 
 The bar possessed, in fact, all the learning and all the 
 scholarship arid all the eloquence of the country. I passed 
 honorably through my examinations at college, and was 
 soon elected a member of the debating society. I was 
 called upon for addresses, and early discovered a passion 
 for oratory. I was not hampered by the lack of money; 
 for my father had left me a freehold estate and other lands, 
 which yielded a handsome income, and, added to this, 
 a kind uncle was most generous in his gifts. I was there- 
 fore not disturbed or bewildered in my studies by those 
 
44 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 fears which often haunt the midnight vigils of students. 
 My sole ambition was to acquire an honorable livelihood 
 and a worthy fame by pleading the wrongs of the poor, 
 by vindicating the injured, by redressing the injustices 
 of society. I felt in so doing I would be walking in the 
 footsteps of the eminent philanthropists of the time. 
 
 To prepare myself for the profession chosen, I de- 
 voured every book that came within my grasp, studied 
 every department of knowledge, and, in feeble imitation 
 of Lord Bacon, took all learning within my province. 
 To acquire a graceful attitude in declamation, I took 
 lessons from James Sheridan Knowles, the professor of 
 elocution, known throughout the world as the author 
 of the "Hunchback" and "Virginius." He was a de- 
 lightful old man at that time, and students came from 
 all parts of the empire to study under him. In his old 
 age, he renounced all the honors and emoluments of his 
 profession, and became a humble Baptist minister in 
 England. 
 
 To have even a surface knowledge of metaphysics, 
 I read over the Scotch and German writers. Jonathan 
 Edwards was also a favorite with me. As public speak- 
 ing was to be my profession, I committed whole pages 
 of Demosthenes and Cicero, among the ancients, and 
 Pitt, Fox, Webster, Grattan, and Curran, among the 
 moderns. My habit, after memorizing a part of an ora- 
 tion, was to declaim it in my room, much to the amuse- 
 ment of my landlady and her family. Having never had 
 an opportunity, up to this time, of trying my oratorical 
 ability before a promiscuous audience, I longed for such 
 an occasion. I became a member of the Rechabite Order, 
 which was rigidly temperance. It had its origin among 
 a sect of the ancient Jews. They drank no wine, and 
 
FAMOUS ORATORS. 45 
 
 possessed neither vineyard nor field, but, like the Arabs, 
 dwelt in tents. I saw them in my travels in Palestine 
 a few years ago. They believe and obey the law of Moses, 
 by tradition; for they do not possess the written law. 
 John Scott, a venerable linen merchant, was the president, 
 and Alexander Riddle the secretary of the Rechabite 
 Order in Belfast. The president invited me to deliver 
 the address at one of the installation ceremonies, and I 
 gladly accepted, saying to myself, "Now, here is the op- 
 portunity to become famous." I spent weeks in the 
 preparation of the address. My first part was an exor- 
 dium, beginning: "This is a brilliant and beautiful scene, 
 Here are assembled, under the white banner of temper- 
 ance, brave men and fair women of Belfast !" With much 
 self-elation I repeated these sentences several times, 
 and then finally concluded they were too common. After 
 several more efforts, I resolved that the exordium should 
 commence : "An angel, in his flight over the globe, could 
 not behold a more beautiful and benevolent organiza- 
 tion than this which to-night meets within this splendid 
 temple an organization in sympathy with that Divine 
 Character who walked over earth with the grandeur of 
 God, and whose whole life is condensed in the brief sen- 
 tence, 'He went about doing good.' No higher honor 
 could be conferred upon me, and no prouder emotion 
 could swell my heart than," etc. The eventful hour came. 
 The house was full, and the galleries were crowded with 
 Belfast beauties, whose bright eyes rendered me very 
 uncomfortable, as their sparkling glances turned in my 
 direction. When the chairman introduced me, I was 
 greeted with an ovation. I trembled like a leaf. The 
 first sentence was all that I could recall, and when I came 
 to the words "No higher honor," I repeated them several 
 
46 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 times "No higher honor" everthing else was for- 
 gotten, and I felt the cold chills running down my back. If 
 the earth had only opened and swallowed me up, it would 
 have been a blessed relief. To add to my embarrassment, 
 several voices cried out, "Hear! hear!" But there was 
 nothing to hear. 
 
 The papers announced next day that "the young 
 orator, George W. Pepper, who, from nervous exhaus- 
 tion, was unable to finish what promised to be a grand ad- 
 dress last night, is, we are happy to say, recovering, and 
 it is to be hoped that many years of usefulness are before 
 him." 
 
 I was very much in the same position as the speaker 
 so aptly described by Lord Derby: "He gets up, without 
 the least notion of what he is going to say; he speaks, 
 without the least notion of what he is saying; and he sits 
 down, without the least notion of what he has said. Lan- 
 guage had command of him, and not he of language." 
 
 It was in Belfast that I united with the Wesleyan 
 Methodist Church, under the ministrations of the Rev. 
 Thomas Ballarcl and John Oliver, two excellent preach- 
 ers. The Maine Law was becoming a subject of popular 
 discussion, and I wrote to Neal Dow for an abstract of 
 the law. I then sent a series of letters to the Belfast news- 
 papers, in which the prohibition of the liquor-traffic was 
 defended and demanded for Ireland. The letters pro- 
 voked much controversy. The editor of the Northern 
 Whig, in an editorial, pronounced it absurd, and called 
 it the "morality of the stick." The excitement grew. 
 The first meeting was to be held in Manchester. I went 
 as a delegate, being then only nineteen years old, and 
 the youngest delegate there. It was a great meeting 
 
FAMOUS ORATORS. 47 
 
 great in numbers, great in enthusiasm, and great in de- 
 termination. 
 
 I met there many of the most celebrated of the English 
 reformers and philathropists. Among them was James 
 Silk Buckingham, a member of Parliament, a world-re- 
 nowned traveler, and a true gentleman. 
 
 There, also, was the scholarly and gifted writer upon 
 philosophy and ethics, Dr. Lees. This was my first intro- 
 duction to the English people. Their hospitality, their 
 refreshing candor, and their love of all that was best for 
 the interests of humanity, impressed me most favorably. 
 Buckingham's speech was the most effective. His style 
 was clear and thoughtful, his delivery pleasing, and the 
 modulation of his voice was well trained and agreeable. 
 Dr. Heywood, a clergyman of the city, acquitted himself 
 well, and showed a thorough knowledge of the subject. 
 Dr. Lee's speech was logical, and was distinguished by 
 the peculiar 'terseness of his language, and the strong 
 tone of common sense which was its leading character- 
 istic. Dr. Jabez Burns delivered a happy address. 
 
 Upon my return, after consulting with prominent 
 clergymen and others who were well known to be favor- 
 ably disposed, I appealed, through the press, for a public 
 meeting to be held in the interests of this new organiza- 
 tion, the United Kingdom Alliance. There was much 
 opposition. Some of the old temperance workers were 
 timid and fearful of any new movement, especially as it 
 came from the United States. However, after much de- 
 lay, a meeting was arranged. I corresponded with sev- 
 eral prominent philanthropists, asking them to be pres- 
 ent. The meeting took place in Music Hall, the largest 
 building in the city. The audience embraced nearly all 
 
48 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the pious and wealthy people of Belfast. It was a grand 
 display of the Bench, the Bar, the Church. Young and 
 Old Ireland, Catholics and Protestants, shook hands, and 
 looked hopeful for the prosperity of Ireland. The large 
 room was tastefully decorated with banners, bearing in- 
 scriptions applicable to the occasion. The speeches were 
 marked with great fervor, energy, and eloquence. The 
 most convincing speech was made by Dr. Lees. There 
 was scarcely an interruption, except when some cutting 
 sarcasm was uttered, with a seemingly careless but watch- 
 ful comment upon the newspapers of Belfast which were 
 sneering at the meeting, or some beautiful apostrophe 
 to the memory of Ireland's illustrious dead or her living 
 leaders. Then peals of spontaneous applause would greet 
 the utterance. Years after, Dr. Lees was my guest at 
 Wellington, Ohio, when he lectured in my church, and 
 when old memories were revived. 
 
 There w r ere present from Dublin two of its citizens, 
 James Haughton and Richard Allen, who were listened 
 to with great and evident satisfaction. Among those 
 who aided me in the organization of this great meeting 
 were John R. Neal, a Unitarian gentleman, and Gordon 
 Thompson, a Wesleyan magistrate. Belfast was the first 
 city in Ireland to celebrate the formation of the Alliance. 
 In a short time others followed. The following letter, 
 which Father Mathew had written to me, was read : 
 
 "CoRK, January 14, 1854. 
 
 "MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND, The question of prohi- 
 bition of the sale of ardent spirits, and the many other 
 intoxicating drinks which are to be found in our country, 
 is not new to me. The principle of prohibition seems to 
 be the only safe and certain remedy for the evils of intem- 
 perance. This opinion has been strengthened by the hard 
 
FAMOUS ORATORS. 49 
 
 labor of more than twenty years in the temperance cause. 
 I rejoice in the welcome intelligence of the formation of a 
 Maine Law Alliance, which I trust will be the means, 
 under God, of destroying the fruitful source of so much 
 crime. Allow me to thank you for your earnest and in- 
 defatigable labors in this present movement. 
 
 "Yours very truly, THEOBALD MATHEW." 
 
 The next year a controversy sprang up between the 
 Belfast News-Letter and the Rev. Jonathan Simpson, 
 moderator of the Presbyterian Church, as to the one 
 who recommended for Ireland the Maine Law. Dr. 
 Simpson claimed that he had been in the United States, 
 and that after his return he gave his experiences of the 
 workings of the law. This was sharply controverted by 
 the News-Letter, and it called for the evidences. It boldly 
 charged that he was a plagiarist; that he never wrote, 
 never spoke a word upon the subject until after I had 
 written for a whole year, and until after the Belfast meet- 
 ing. It is of no importance ; but let all classes go on with 
 their work, and they will achieve what no statutes of the 
 Legislature, no scheme of reform in the hands of poli- 
 ticians, could ever achieve. Let Ireland become temper- 
 ate, then she will be truly 
 
 " Great, glorious, and free : 
 First flower of the earth, 
 And first ' gem of the sea.' " 
 
 I remember the annual visits of the Ranters, a seces- 
 sion from the Wesleyans, to my neighborhood, when I 
 was a mere boy. Their first preachers were Hugh Bourne 
 and William Clowes, Wesleyan local preachers. Being 
 denied permission to preach in the church, they resorted 
 to the fields, where they soon attracted immense crowds. 
 Societies were organized, and in a few years the Prim- 
 itives became most powerful factors in the religious world. 
 
 4 
 
50 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 They extended their operations to Ireland, and preached 
 on Shane Hill, near Portadown, where I heard them. 
 They were plain, blunt-spoken men, and they preached 
 the gospel with apostolic fervor. The burden of their 
 sermons and songs was the three R's Redemption, Re- 
 pentance, and Regeneration. They were not learned 
 in the schools preparation for the ministry was to them 
 a sinful waste of time. They cared nothing for the purple 
 and fine linen, nor the flowing robes, nor the lawn sleeves. 
 They knew it was not the learning nor external attrac- 
 tions which converted the three thousand on the Day 
 of Pentecost; which made Felix tremble, and Agrippa 
 almost persuaded to be a Christian. Never, in all my 
 experience, have I met with more impressive examples 
 of pure and undefiled religion. In their class-meetings 
 and love-feasts, one would frequently hear such words 
 as these: "I would not exchange for ten thousand worlds 
 my hopes of immortality." And I see an old cripple, 
 bent down with age and suffering, rising to his feet, and 
 adding his testimony, "I can glorify God in my greatest 
 suffering; for my love of him triumphs over all my trials." 
 As to the preaching, it resembled very much that of the 
 Salvation Army of to-day. It must be remembered that 
 these rough-and-ready evangelists were miners, black- 
 smiths, farmers, and mechanics of all grades. Occasion- 
 ally a man of energetic and powerful eloquence would 
 make his appearance. There was one of this class who 
 made a widespread impression upon all who heard him. 
 His style may be judged from a paragraph like this: "I 
 pause on my wing in the gathering gloom of my subject ! 
 The Thunderer himself has commissioned us ! We be- 
 long to another world than this ! We are the loud trum- 
 
FAMOUS ORATORS. 51 
 
 peters of heaven, the heralds of God! Let the solemn 
 seal of our high commision burn into our souls and bod- 
 ies, until we shall fully bear the brand of the Lord, and 
 preach the tremendous preaching that is destined to shake 
 the universe." The world of woe trembles at the sound 
 of such a faithful preacher's voice: "Go, ye ministers; 
 or, as has been well said, ye brethren of the heart of Jesus, 
 the men of the bleeding mysteries ! Go, wet your lips 
 where love flows red from the Mount of Passion ! Go, 
 read your texts by the light of the angry fires of Sinai, 
 and study and preach your sermons in that loud spirit- 
 voice, so that hell may curse, heaven applaud, and earth 
 wail at your vehement outcries. Go, preach to loving ones 
 who shall soon be naked spirits in a blessed world, where 
 no tower nor tree shall shelter the uncovered soul from 
 the angry wrath of God !" 
 
 Their singing added much to the interest and excite- 
 ment of their meetings. I think frequently of one of their 
 hymns. I could repeat two verses ; but Mrs. Mary Doak, 
 a friend of my youth fifty years ago, has been recently 
 to see me, and, with her rare and accurate memory, has 
 been able to supply all the missing verses for me; not 
 only of this, but of other songs we used to hear in our 
 childhood days. The Ranters' hymn is crude, but 
 pointed : 
 
 " Come, saints and sinners, hear me tell 
 The wonders of Emmanuel, 
 Who saved me from a burning hell, 
 And brought my soul with him to dwell, 
 And gave me heavenly union. 
 
 My old companions, fare you well, 
 I will not go with you to hell ; 
 With Jesus Christ I mean to dwell, 
 And be in the heavenly union. 
 
UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 When Jesus saw me from on high, 
 He looked on me with pitying eye ; 
 And said to me as He passed by, 
 With God you have no union. 
 
 When I began to weep and cry, 
 I looked this way and that to fly; 
 I strode salvation swiitly.by, 
 But still I had no union. 
 
 But when I hated all my sin, 
 My dear Redeemer took me in, 
 And with His blood He washed me clean 
 And O what seasons have I seen, 
 E'er since I felt this union ! 
 
 O come, backsliders, come away, 
 And learn to watch as well as pray ; 
 And if you meet one by the way, 
 You '11 still find something good to say, 
 About this heavenly union." 
 
Chapter III. 
 
 AN IRISH FAMINE DAYS IN BELFAST QUEEN 
 VICTORIA'S VISITS. 
 
 A FAMINE is one of the most pitiful of spectacles. 
 To see thousands and tens of thousands pleading for 
 the necessaries of life ; to see children leading their par- 
 ents into the street to die of starvation; to see mothers 
 kneel on the wet ground, and holding their children up 
 to Heaven, beg for help ; to hear the cries of the bereaved 
 families, as one after another succumb to their suffer- 
 ings, these arexwhat one sees and hears when one is in 
 a famine-stricken land. The great poet of Italy has de- 
 picted the miseries of famine in the finest of all modern 
 poems. He takes his count, Ugolini, the noble man who 
 is the subject of his history, and plants him in a dungeon. 
 The keys are taken away, and he is left to perish with 
 hunger. Alone would be nothing; but the poet plants 
 around Ugolini the figures of his five children. One 
 infant is already dead, another is dying, a third is call- 
 ing frantically upon him for food, and another, with a 
 yet more agonizing appeal, says nothing, but fixes his 
 dying eyes upon the father, who sits in the midst of all, 
 a pillar of sorrow. The English artist has fixed the 
 scene by his pencil, and the "Ugolini" of Reynolds, one 
 of the most sublime productions of art, is a terrible tes- 
 timony to the miseries of famine. Multiply this one case 
 by five hundred thousand, and you will have some faint 
 idea of the Irish famine of 1847. Think of fifty thousand 
 Irish women closing their lips forever, buried without 
 
 53 
 
54 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 coffins, buried without shrouds! Did I say closed their 
 lips forever? No, indeed! they have opened up yonder, 
 white and fresh and beautiful with the life of God, and 
 they have brought against their oppressors the sacred 
 accusation, "When we were hungry, ye fed us not !" 
 
 "Unquestionably," said the London Times, "several 
 hundreds of thousands perished prematurely by famine, 
 by slow hunger, by nakedness. Health, wealth, strength, 
 and life itself, have fled from these ill-fated shores." 
 
 There is a current story among the Irish that Sir 
 Arthur Chichester, Queen Elizabeth's Secretary of State 
 for Ireland, once wrote to Her Majesty, "There is no 
 remedy for the destruction of the Irish but famine," and 
 the history of Ireland attests the treatment Ireland has 
 received. Hear what Dr. Talmage says on the subject: 
 "Famine in 1727, and many hundreds died! Famine in 
 1747, and forty thousand died! Famine in 1756, and 
 two-thirds of the population died! Famine in 1846 and 
 1847, a famine so awful that it sent to eternity and Amer- 
 ica over three millions!" What makes these famines 
 more deplorable is, that they were surrounded by beauti- 
 ful scenery. Hunger is more pitiful when crouching at 
 the feet of such hills and reflected in the mirrors of such 
 lakes. An island, over two hundred miles long, rhom- 
 boid in shape, its rocks showing more divine skill than 
 any other rocks; forty thousand columns in the Giant's 
 Causeway, some of them large enough upon which to 
 play the grand march of the last judgment; an island 
 indented with ninety harbors, among them beautiful Gal- 
 way; her coast illuminated at night by sixty-two light- 
 houses, think of the horrors of famine, set about with 
 such loveliness, a Gorgon among such scenes of enchant- 
 ment ! 
 
AN IRISH FAMINE. 55 
 
 I remember one famine well, that of 1847. I sa w 
 the peasants, writhing in death-throes and other horrors 
 that I have never forgotten ; the stalwart peasantry, sunk 
 unto the earth, where they fought like tigers for the 
 nettles and the withered cabbage-stalks; and even little 
 children, too, fighting for the nettles; childhood strug- 
 gling with childhood to exist a little longer in a living 
 death. 
 
 At the end of every day in the schools, a detail was 
 made by the teachers for boys to report at the places 
 where the American provisions were stored, and each 
 boy was to carry a portion to the , sufferers. In many 
 instances, where the family had been well-to-do, the corn 
 and meal were left outside the door, so as not to offend 
 their pride. I was frequently engaged in this blessed 
 work, trundling the provisions to their destination on 
 a wheelbarrow. It was a heavenly sight to see the road 
 lined with this boy army of philanthropists. Who knows 
 but that in the great day the Divine Judge will say, 
 "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my 
 disciples, ye did it unto me?" In all the vicissitudes of 
 life to which I may be exposed I will not be disconso- 
 late when I remember these benevolent labors for God's 
 poor. 
 
 Though starving, many of these poor people cher- 
 ished a pride that would not let them openly accept pub- 
 lic charity. They would wait until the shades of night 
 had fallen, and then steal around, in a stealthy, shame- 
 faced way, to the places where the distributions were 
 made, to get enough to keep them from starving the 
 next day. O, it was pitiful ! These people, who had been 
 thrifty and careful all their lives, to be obliged to slip 
 out at night and beg for a little charity ! 
 
56 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 A few years before, the population was nine millions, 
 the people were healthy, and the whole land full of rosy- 
 cheeked children. No pestilence ever rages over the 
 Emerald Isle, and yet the nine millions have been re- 
 duced to four millions. Here is a true story of one of 
 the fever-sheds, or dead-houses, which, in the famine 
 years, were so numerous in Ireland : One morning there 
 came, in its turn, a small cart, drawn by a donkey, to 
 the steps of the shed. The starved occupant, as he was 
 carried in, made a slight movement. The doctor inquired 
 his name, and he answered, "It is John Maloney." And 
 soon he was recognized, and exclamations burst from 
 the lips of the inmates, "Och, now, and is n't the world 
 quare, and that is Mr. Maloney asthore machree ! May 
 the blessed Virgin soften the pillow for your head !" And 
 there were his two brothers, with the tears falling like 
 rain down their faces. One old man muttered slowly, 
 "It is only a short distance from there to there," making 
 two motions with his trembling fingers : "first at the 
 hospital, and then at the dead-house." John Maloney 
 had been a respectable, thrifty young farmer, but he died 
 of starvation in the dead-house. The fault was none of 
 his own. Thousands of others gave up the spark of life 
 in these dead-houses, victims of hunger and want. 
 
 If this terrible famine had its horrors, it also had some 
 compensations. It demonstrated the brotherhood of 
 mankind. The Sultan of Turkey contributed one thou- 
 sand dollars, and the benevolent people of England gave 
 large sums; but it was reserved for this one greatest 
 country to excel all others. Cargoes were loaded and 
 sent to the starving. Captain Clark, of the war-ship 
 Victor, appeared in Dublin with his Indian meal. This 
 was my first glimpse of the American flag, floating over 
 
AN IRISH FAMINE. 57 
 
 the charitable gifts of the generous-hearted people. I 
 had followed the track of the glorious flag. I knew 
 every river that it had crossed, every mountain and val- 
 ley that it had captured from the Red-coats. I saw it 
 at Trenton and Brandywine ; and when it was triumphant 
 at Yorktown, my heart thanked God for the final victory. 
 
 " Hail brightest banner that floats on the gale ! 
 Flag of great Washington, hail ! 
 Kingdoms and thrones in thy glory grow pale. 
 Thou shalt live on, and thy people shall own 
 Loyalty 's sweet where the throne is the throne." 
 
 John Levering, a benevolent gentleman near Freder- 
 icktown, Ohio, sent over a sack of meal, and on it he 
 put a letter, requesting that if any Irishman got it he 
 would send him a few lines. It reached a poor man's 
 home, and he wrote a letter of thanks. Mr. Levering 
 sent him money to emigrate, which he did, and after- 
 wards the man sent for his whole family. 
 
 The Hutchinson singers touched all American hearts 
 by the singing of songs on this subject. I remember 
 never to have read a more touching poem, one that 
 stirred my sympathy more, than the one on the last 
 request of a dying Irish boy, dying from hunger, for 
 "just three grains of corn." The mother found them in 
 his ragged jacket, and gave them to him. It was the 
 last morsel of food the wretched family possessed. They 
 were all dying of starvation. The poem was composed 
 by an American lady, Mrs. Judge Edmunds, of Brooklyn. 
 She had read of the dying Irish boy's request, and being 
 deeply touched by it, composed the poem. The Hutchin- 
 son family sang this at all their concerts, and touched 
 all hearts. I have heard old citizens say that after hear- 
 ing the first verse they broke down, and knew no more 
 
58 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 until they went home and packed their barrels full of 
 food to send to Ireland. 
 
 " Give me three grains of corn, mother, 
 
 Only three grains of corn ; 
 It will keep the little life I have 
 
 Until the coming of the morn. 
 I am dying of hunger and cold', mother, 
 
 Dying of hunger and cold ; 
 And half the agony of such a death, 
 
 My lips have never told. 
 
 There is many a brave heart here, mother, 
 
 Dying of want and cold, 
 While only across the Channel, mother, 
 
 Are many that roll in gold. 
 There are rich and proud men there, mother, 
 
 With wondrous wealth to view ; 
 And the wealth they fling their dogs to-night, 
 
 Would give me life, and you." 
 
 What a tide of events has rolled through those years \ 
 I am not an old man, yet my recollection almost fails to 
 gather in the thousands of incidents which have hap- 
 pened under my eye, and passed into the pages of his- 
 tory. 
 
 I remember well that 2d of August, 1849, which wit- 
 nessed the advent of England's Queen to Belfast the 
 sovereign of a continent, a thousand lakes, ten thousand 
 rivers, and ten thousand islands; the Queen of five hun- 
 dred thousand warriors, of a hundred thousand sailors, 
 of one hundred and twenty millions of human beings ; the 
 supreme ruler of a country more wealthy than the old 
 Assyrian Empire, more extensive than the old Empire 
 of Persia, more dreaded than the Carthaginian Empire 
 in the height of its power. Victoria came to receive the 
 homage of her loyal subjects, the loud huzzahs of a suffer- 
 
QUEEN VICTORIA'S VISITS. 59 
 
 ing people. Every available spot was crowded, and bon- 
 fires lighted up the hills. As she departed she waved a 
 white handkerchief in recognition of the welcome she re- 
 ceived. A local poet burst into the most enthusiastic 
 poetry, as a couple of verses of his poem show : 
 
 " O come, Lady Queen, to our Isle of the Ocean, 
 
 The greenest, the fairest, the gayest on earth ; 
 We welcome thy coming with heartfelt emotion, 
 Thy presence will gladden our home and our hearth ! 
 We love, we revere thee, 
 In homage draw near thee, 
 
 With a ' Cead mile falte,' we give thee good cheer. 
 Victoria, we hail thee ; 
 Our harps shall regale thee ; 
 The harp is the music for royalty's ear. 
 
 Our shamrock is softer by far than the heather, 
 When sparkles the dew on its emerald breast ; 
 It will yield to thy tread like the down of the feather, 
 No Queen of the Isles has its triple-leaf prest ! 
 
 O come and entwine it, 
 
 With the thistle combine it, 
 And mingle its green with the blush of the rose : 
 
 From thy bosom forever 
 
 No rude hand shall sever 
 This bright pledge of Union and Erin's repose !" 
 
 The Queen made her first visit while I was a stu- 
 dent in the Royal Belfast Academy. Her anticipated 
 arrival was eagerly awaited by thousands of the loyalists 
 of Ulster. At length she arrived. Before her stretched 
 enthusiastic thousands. The streets were carpeted with 
 scarlet cloth; the roofs of the private houses, the public 
 edifices, and the steeples of the churches, were decorated 
 with brilliant flags and gay streamers, floating in every 
 direction. Every foot of ground was packed ; around her 
 was a fashionable assemblage of rank and beauty and 
 wealth. The streets swarmed with excited and shouting 
 
60 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 multitudes, craning their necks and straining their eyes 
 to get a glimpse of majesty. The harbor was crowded 
 with vessels, and its waters, sparkling in the sun, com- 
 pleted a beautiful and animated picture. I remember 
 the deafening cheers which rent the sky, coming from 
 half a million throats, as the Queen passed the college. 
 But there were some who did not bow the knee, who 
 thought of the chains still riveted upon the limbs of the 
 Irish victims of famine, and curses deep and heavy raged 
 in their bosoms. An incident, indicative of the feeling of 
 some of the students, was the appearance of a black flag 
 just as the Queen rode past the college. The Duke of 
 Wellington accompanied her, and I saw his robust figure, 
 his hooked nose, and his keen eye. His smiles seemed 
 to be assumed they gave a suggestion of affectation. 
 There were many gifted men connected with the lead- 
 ing reforms in Church and State then in Belfast. Mr. 
 James Alexander Henderson, editor and proprietor of 
 the News-Letter, a conservative journal, was courteous, 
 intelligent, and sympathetic, bold and courageous, in 
 the declaration of his sentiments. Thomas Toye, the 
 minister of York Street the clergyman previously re- 
 ferred to, who united theology with philanthropy, and 
 whose oddities were the talk and wonder of the people 
 one of his may eccentricities was that of preachng half 
 an hour, and then going out for a smoke, after which he 
 would quietly return to the pulpit and finish his sermon. 
 He was temperate in language, occasionally brusque in 
 his manners, and upright in heart. Dr. James Morgan, 
 the pastor of Fisherwick Presbyterian Church, was a 
 man without guile, w r hose Christian character was un- 
 impeachable. John Rea, the lawyer, a man of talent and 
 energy, who boldly and eloquently defended the prin- 
 
QUEEN VICTORIAS VISITS. 6 1 
 
 ciples of the Young Ireland ers, his father and sisters 
 belonged to the same Church. There was the Rev. William 
 O'Hanlon, a Congregational minister, who had visited 
 the homes, or rather the hovels, of the poor, and gave, in 
 a series of letters in the Northern Whig, an appalling de- 
 scription of the bitter, grinding, and increasing poverty 
 of the working classes. 
 
 There were annual visits, then, to the Wesleyan 
 churches by the most famous preachers of England. 
 Robert Newton was always Attractive. There was so much 
 of impressive energy in his thought, and such remark- 
 able beauty and felicity in the words he employed, that 
 no audience could fail to hang upon his eloquent sen- 
 tences with delight. The churches were crowded, there 
 not being even standing room. It was worth the crush 
 to hear him read the hymn commencing with the line, 
 "Would Jesus have the sinner die?" Yes, indeed, it was 
 worth the journey of a thousand miles to hear Charles 
 Wesley speak as this prince of preachers read his stirring 
 hymns. 
 
 Referring again to the Rev. Mr. O'Hanlon's graphic 
 pictures of Irish destitution, here is one of his strong 
 statements: "O, we may be told 'poverty shall never 
 cease out of the land!' True, most true! But the 
 poverty we most complain of is very likely to make the 
 land cease. The poverty we complain of is rapidly 
 bringing millions to the conviction that revolution would 
 be to them a blessed change. The poverty we refer to 
 is quickly paganizing large classes of the community. 
 It is a poverty which can not be left to neglect, to mere 
 relief, to the poor laws, or to political economy, with 
 safety. It is a poverty for which no prosperity, no his- 
 toric renown, no amount of national greatness, no extent 
 
62 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of external territorial development, can compensate. It is 
 a poverty which is making the people savage, is bring- 
 ing the monarchy into contempt, is destroying hope, 
 is promoting turbulence, and is fomenting a spirit of re- 
 bellion." 
 
 " Unkind, already, and estranged in part, 
 The wolf begins to share their wandering heart." 
 
 In the list of my acquaintances in Belfast, I can not 
 omit to mention the names of Charles Johnstone, the son 
 of a Wesleyan minister, and Waring Kennedy, the son 
 of an officer in the Irish constabulary. Charles John- 
 stone came to the United States, entered into commer- 
 cial life, and subsequently died as a brave soldier in the 
 Union army. He was of a kind and generous nature, 
 liberal to a fault. Waring Kennedy went to Canada, 
 where he won respect and honor as a successful merchant, 
 and is at this time mayor of Toronto. The three of us 
 were local preachers in the same Church, Old Donegal 
 Square. We often compared notes, and experimented 
 in private houses, and received, in a friendly manner, the 
 criticisms of each other. Kennedy was conservative in 
 politics, and preferred, naturally, the Canadian home. 
 J6hnstone and I were republicans, and gravitated to 
 the more congenial atmosphere of the United States. 
 
 Having given up the law, I was now contemplating 
 entering the ministry, and sought for a suitable theolog- 
 ical seminary. I was directed to Glasgow, where the 
 Rev. James Morrison, a very learned Doctor of Divinity, 
 was president of a theological college under the super- 
 vision of the Evangelical Union, a Presbyterian-Armin- 
 ian body. Dr. Morrison had preached in Belfast, and 
 was universally hailed as a second Wesley. Although 
 
QUEEN VICTORIA'S VISITS. 63 
 
 he was popular as a writer, he was not a man of the 
 people. His sphere was with the learned, whom alone, 
 he knew, could understand his dissertations and appre- 
 ciate his great learning. As a theologian, he was a giant, 
 and his book upon the ninth chapter of Romans will 
 remain an imperishable monument of his controversy 
 with Calvinism. When in Glasgow, I was a guest in 
 his house, studying Hebrew, Moral Philosophy, and the 
 art of sermonizing. It was under his training that my 
 views upon baptism underwent a change, and I was fully 
 confirmed in my earlier impressions. 
 
 Dr. Morrison was adored by the students. In per- 
 son he was of middle height, strongly built, and of grace- 
 ful appearance. His features were finely chiseled, but 
 what commanded immediate attention was the immense 
 power concentrated in his eyes. I have never before 
 or since seen eyes so piercing. They read through a 
 man's heart and soul. His personal activity was wonder- 
 ful, and proved his frame to be made of steel. 
 
 I had every opportunity of forming a correct opin- 
 ion of Scotchmen, and much that I saw and heard re- 
 flected honor upon the Scottish character. Their thrift, 
 their downright frankness, their bluff but hearty man- 
 ners, their deep religious sincerity, and their reverence 
 for the Sabbath; their patriotism, bringing up memories 
 of the banks and braes which the genius of Scott and 
 Burns have made immortal, deeply impressed me. It 
 was my privilege to hear the famous Scotch preachers, 
 political and forensic orators. 
 
 The Queen made a second visit to Ireland before 
 I left, and this time it was to visit the Dublin Exhibition. 
 The air was full of the praises of royalty. Every man 
 and woman that was met upon the streets was talking 
 
64 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 about Her Royal Majesty's reception. There was an- 
 other Queen arrived in Ireland about the same time, 
 The first was the crowned Queen of a mighty empire, 
 a woman rich in all the world's wealth, girt by a gor- 
 geous state, with an ancient crown dazzling upon her 
 brow. She was brought to the Green Isle in a royal 
 yacht, over the royal waves, across the royal Channel. 
 Her royal soul was prayed for daily by sixteen thousand 
 royally paid parsons, and she was royally received in 
 that part of Her Royal Majesty's dominions, the royal 
 province of Ireland. She was accompanied by her royal 
 consort, and by all the royal children and all the royal 
 cousins. She was cheered and told in royal Irish blarney 
 that one vision of her resplendent royalty would cure the 
 ills of centuries. For three days the royal party visited 
 the royal Exhibition, until the royal limbs and the royal 
 eyes ached, and then they slept in the royal bed-rooms 
 in the royal palaces. 
 
 The other Queen was the daughter of America, with 
 no imperial title, with no riches save those of the graces 
 of her good heart and the exalted genius of her splendid 
 intellect. She, too, was received with welcomes which 
 blazed up to the firmament. There was no sycophancy, 
 no cringing, no pretentiousness. But there was a gen- 
 uine enthusiasm. There was no doubting the truth and 
 intensity of the hearty reception. Victoria, decked with 
 the diadem of sovereignty, was followed by her slaves, her 
 lackeys, and her wretched dupes. The second was Harriet 
 Beecher Stowe, the wife of an American professor, the 
 daughter of a famous preacher, the sister of a distin- 
 guished brother whose glorious voice was ever lifted 
 up in the cause of humanity. What an illustrious family ! 
 The Queen of England's family never gave a distin- 
 
QUEEN VICTORIA'S VISITS. 65 
 
 guished name to history, never wrote a book worth read- 
 ing, never built a soldier's monument. What a differ- 
 ence between the receptions of these two Queens! For 
 the one, the sullen contempt of the oppressed; for the 
 other, cheers and benedictions, when she visited the Irish 
 cities and traveled throughout the beautiful Isle, with no 
 passport but the symbolic ring of Americanism. 
 
 One of the incidents which marked the Queen's visit 
 was her slapping one of her boys in the face. The young 
 prince paid no attention to .the cheering thousands. Her 
 Majesty was annoyed; she remonstrated with Alfred, and 
 finally gave him a slap on the face. It was done in a 
 moment, and the vast multitude cheered. 
 
 The Belfast press was ably edited. I have spoken of 
 the Newsletter; but the Northern Whig, the organ of the 
 Liberals, numbered many gifted writers. Lawrence God- 
 kin, now of the New York Post, commenced his journal- 
 istic career upon this paper. So did Bruce, the author of 
 "Classic Portraits." Dr. McKnight wrote the leaders for 
 the Banner, of Ulster. Poor, gifted, ever-to-be-lamented, 
 generous Dennis Holland was its most brilliant editor. 
 Then he was tall and handsome. The last time I saw him 
 he was a shattered wreck in New York. It is the old 
 story ! The blackest of eyes had lost their luster. "I am 
 going back to old Belfast. There a man is expected to get 
 drunk only in the daytime; but in New York people are 
 drunk both day and night." 
 5 
 
Chapter IV. 
 
 MARRIAGE FIRST YEARS IN AMERICA ENTER- 
 ING THE MINISTRY EXPERIENCE AS A 
 CIRCUIT RIDER. 
 
 PREVIOUS to my theological studies and to my in- 
 terest in the temperance cause, occurred the most 
 important event in my life. This was my marriage to the 
 peerless woman who, for nearly forty years, cheered 
 and comforted me through every ill and disappointment, 
 and aided and encouraged me in every high aim and am- 
 bition. Christine Lindsay, the daughter of Mr. Samuel 
 Lindsay, a reputable farmer in the neighborhood of my 
 childhood's home, became my wife in the Episcopal 
 Church of Tullylish, the ceremony being performed by 
 the Rev. Mr. Stewart, curate of the parish. My wife, 
 a descendant of the famous Scottish clan of Lindsay, 
 called, on account of the hue of their hair, "Light Lind- 
 says/' possessed a warm heart and a rare personal beauty 
 that remained through life, undimmed by time and sor- 
 row. Her parents were attached and devoted members 
 of the Established Church. 
 
 I was but eighteen years of age at the time of 
 my marriage, and my wife was sixteen. I remember 
 going to Banbridge to get the license and the ring. 
 It was a lovely day, and the scenery up the Bann 
 was beautiful, and in harmony with my feelings. We 
 settled in the old homestead that had sheltered gener- 
 ations of my forefathers before me. After remaining 
 here a year or two, we moved to Belfast, where I con- 
 tinued my college studies, and was engaged a part of the 
 
 66 
 
MARRIAGE FIRST YEARS IN AMERICA. 67 
 
 day in the wholesale dry-goods establishment of Robert 
 Lindsay. In this city our two eldest children were born, 
 George Wesley and Samuel Arthur. George was very 
 sick, and it was thought that he could not recover, and 
 we sent for the Rev. Mr. Knox, a Methodist preacher, 
 to baptize him. It was a very impressive baptism. We 
 were young, and this was our first-born, hovering on the 
 borders of eternity. The minister prayed with heartfelt 
 fervor that the child might be spared, and, as his name 
 was Wesley, that he might live to imitate that great and 
 good man's holy and useful life. And he has lived to be- 
 come, an honorable and upright man. 
 
 In all my efforts to acquire knowledge and become 
 useful, my wife was a constant aid. Her presence was 
 ever an inspiration. When I left for Manchester to' attend 
 the great Temperance Convention, it was with difficulty 
 that I could tear myself away; for then a journey to Eng- 
 land, across the Irish Sea, was a serious undertaking. 
 My wife sent for her brother John, now a retired officer 
 at Wrexham, Wales, to come and remain with her; and 
 here, too, her sister Esther, now living in South Africa, 
 often came to visit us. During our residence in Belfast, 
 my wife made many friends. She was an active member 
 of the Donegal Square Wesleyan Church. What changes 
 the years have wrought ! Some of those dear and loved 
 ones have passed away; some yet remain in the old land 
 and in the new. And she, too, the kind mother, the loving 
 and beloved wife, the tender-hearted woman, has left me 
 for the world beyond. 
 
 " The thoughts of other days are rushing o'er me ; 
 The loved, the lost, the distant and the dead 
 Are with me, and I mingle with them 
 Till my sense fails, and my raised heart is wrapt 
 In secret suspension of mortality." 
 
68 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 I resolved to make my home in the United States, and 
 become a full-fledged American citizen. From my earli- 
 est years this great country had attracted my attention 
 and admiration. The story of its discovery, the struggles 
 and triumphs of its pilgrims, the success and progress of 
 the Revolutionary War, and the marvelous growth of 
 the Republic, had captivated my imagination and won 
 the affections of my heart. So one bright morning, in 
 October, 1854, putting my long-cherished desire into 
 operation, I started upon a sailing-vessel, the Orient, for 
 the New World. It took much longer then to cross the 
 Atlantic than now, and after the usual sea-sickness and 
 other hardships attendant on a long sea voyage, I reached 
 New York. I can never forget the emotions that filled 
 my heart as, standing on the free soil of America, three 
 thousand miles from my native isle, the Atlantic rolled 
 its eternal flood afar. There I was, a stranger, not know- 
 ing a human being. It was Saturday, and the next day 
 I went to church, and heard an excellent sermon. One 
 of my letters of introduction took me to Pittsfield, Massa- 
 chusetts. There I became acquainted with the Rev. Mr. 
 Parvin, an Episcopal clergyman, one of the purest and 
 most lofty-souled men I ever met. He afterwards per- 
 ished in a steamboat disaster upon the Ohio River, dur- 
 ing the war, on his return home from distributing sanitary 
 stores. He took a warm interest in me, and recom- 
 mended me to go to Kenyon College, Ohio. After spend- 
 ing a short time in Albany, I followed his advice. I came 
 to Ohio, partly by steamboat and partly by rail. Cleve- 
 land was just beginning to put on civic airs. I had much 
 trouble with my money, as every State passed through 
 had a different currency, and a stranger experienced pro- 
 voking difficulties. 
 
FIRST YEARS IN AMERICA. 69 
 
 I arrived at Gambler, and proceeded immediately to 
 the house of the president, Loren Andrews, who was one 
 of nature's noblemen, and who afterwards served with 
 distinction as colonel in the army. I was introduced by 
 him to Dr. Smith, a son-in-law T of the celebrated Dr. 
 Woods, of Andover, Massachusetts. It was my inten- 
 tion to enter the theological seminary, Bexley Hall, and 
 study for the Episcopal ministry. Dr. Smith, after exam- 
 ining me in Latin and Greek, pronounced me competent, 
 and I was entered as a student. Dr. Smith and Dr. Wing 
 were my professors in Theology. They were gentlemen 
 of the old school, urbane, kind, well-read, and able in- 
 structors. I studied Hebrew under Professor Trimble, a 
 graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. He was a gifted 
 scholar, and gave me much assistance. The college at 
 that time was crowded probably there were four hun- 
 dred students. Most of the young men were from the 
 South, and strongly prejudiced in favor of their peculiar 
 institutions. I introduced a resolution before one of the 
 societies that the New York Independent should be added 
 to the reading-room. To my surprise a score of fiery 
 Southerners jumped up, and demanded my immediate ex- 
 pulsion. "He is an Abolitionist ! Out with him !" they 
 shouted. President Andrews quieted them by telling 
 them I was a stranger, ignorant of the customs of the 
 United States. 
 
 During my attendance at Kenyon, one of the pro- 
 fessors, who had charge of a country Church, once asked 
 me to accompany him when he went to deliver his weekly 
 sermon. I cheerfully complied. Starting in a hurry, he 
 rushed to his sermon drawer, and hastily snatched the 
 first manuscript. The next morning he opened it in the 
 pulpit. Judge of his surprise and consternation when he 
 
70 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 discovered it was a funeral sermon for a child, from the 
 touching words of David : "While the child was yet alive, 
 I prayed ; now that he is dead, wherefore shoul I fret and 
 weep?" The learned professor was in a dreadful dilemma. 
 He was a slave to his manuscript, and could not extem- 
 porize. However, he went on and did his best, with the 
 perspiration rolling down his face. When he concluded 
 with w r ords of consolation to the parents, people all over 
 the house were inquiring, "Whose child is dead?" They 
 finally came to the conclusion that it was Squire Brown's, 
 as it had had the measles for a long time. I confess I 
 laughed throughout the discourse. The professor him- 
 self was so chagrined that he never returned to the charge, 
 and the last I heard of him he had burned all his sermons, 
 and was a good extempore speaker. 
 
 It was at this college I became acquainted with the 
 distinguished Bishop Mcllvaine, a man profound in learn- 
 ing, saintly in his life, and renowned for his evangelical 
 views. I had as my fellow-students young men who sub- 
 sequently became effective and distinguished ministers of 
 the gospel. I think of Moses Hamilton; Charles Fearns, 
 who was killed at the battle of Knoxville; Currie, promi- 
 nent in Baltimore ; Noakes and Bowers, the two Fultons, 
 Hople}', Chittenden, Roberts, Strong. 
 
 It was while I was still at Gambier, one year after my 
 own arrival in America, that my wife and two young sons 
 joined me. She had remained behind to sign the docu- 
 ments relative to the sale of some property, which I could 
 not do before I left Ireland, being then under age. 
 In fact, it was not until I was twenty-one that I 
 could send her power of attorney to enable her to 
 do this. 
 
ENTERING THE MINISTRY. 7 1 
 
 ENTERING THE MINISTRY EXPERIENCES AS A CIRCUIT 
 
 RIDER. 
 
 I remained at Gambier a year; but finding that the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church offered a more immediate 
 field of usefulness, I applied for admission into the North 
 Ohio Conference. As a preliminary it was necessary to 
 be recommended by a Quarterly Conference, which was 
 done, at Amity. There was considerable opposition. The 
 Know-Nothing movement was sweeping over the country 
 like a tornado. One official member denounced me as 
 a foreigner, perhaps a Jesuit, and said it would be the 
 ruin of the Nation to admit me. The Rev. T. H. Wilson 
 was the presiding elder, and he was a good friend of mine. 
 But the speech which secured my recommendation was 
 that of the Rev. Mr. Harmount. He was on his feet in a 
 minute, and I can recall seeing the large veins in his 
 rugged face swelling with indignation, and his voice 
 trembling with excitement, as he denounced, in scathing 
 language, the attempt to prevent my recommendation. 
 However, there was another difficulty. A Rev. Mr. Pil- 
 cher, of Mt. Vernon, who was high up in the Know-Noth- 
 ing order, had made his boasts that no Irishman should 
 be allowed to preach in that Conference. He was a can- 
 didate for the General Conference, and anxious for votes. 
 Rev. Mr. Wilson and Mr. Harmount interviewed him, and 
 promised, if he did not oppose me, to cast their votes for 
 him. He agreed to this. Conference met that year, 1855, 
 at Sandusky, Bishop Ames presiding. The Rev. William 
 Arthur, an Irishman of great pulpit power, and author of 
 "The Tongue of Fire/' preached. His sermon produced 
 an immediate effect, the Conference adjourning in honor 
 of the event. When my name was proposed, the Rev. 
 
72 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Joseph Wolf rose up and seconded the motion in a speech 
 of singular force, saying, in closing, "There is no danger, 
 and Brother Pepper will become a second Arthur." All 
 over the house there were responses, that sounded like the 
 "murmuring of many waters," "Admit him ! admit him !" 
 It was my first experience of a Methodist Conference. 
 The members seemed to be earnest, devoted, and consci- 
 entious men. 
 
 I was appointed to East Union Circuit. At one of 
 the appointments was a Know-Nothing Lodge, and they 
 declared war against my appointment. One of them, a 
 local preacher, even went so far as to say "he would meet 
 me with a shotgun." Danger being apprehended, the 
 presiding elder thought it necessary to accompany me. 
 When nearing the dangerous section, the elder got out 
 of the buggy, and went forward to an orchard, and prayed 
 that the threatened cloud might pass away. The prayer 
 was answered. He afterwards filled his pockets with 
 apples, which struck me as a strange proceeding for a 
 minister of the gospel to do without the consent of the 
 owner. He satisfied my misgivings, however, by saying: 
 "It is all right. In this free country you can take all the 
 apples you want." 
 
 I never can understand why it is that such political 
 prejudices should be cherished against those who by acci- 
 dent were not born in the United States. The noble- 
 hearted patriots who pledged their fortunes, risked their 
 lives and all that was dear to them upon earth, not merely 
 for Americans, but for all; the foreign soldiers, brave 
 as Caesar, who fought side by side with Washington, with 
 Gates, with Greene, with Sumter, Marion, and Morgan, 
 endured hardships that this country might be an asylum 
 for the oppressed! These foreigners fought upon all 
 
EXPERIENCES AS A CIRCUIT RIDER. 73 
 
 Revolutionary fields. Go to the plains of the Carolinas, 
 to the battle-grounds of Bridgewater and Fort Erie, not 
 to speak of our recent war, there you will find that the 
 blood of foreigners was freely poured out in defense of 
 the American flag and American institutions. 
 
 In the first year of my ministry there were many 
 things which I had to learn; but the Church endured 
 kindly my lack of experience. I lived at a place called 
 Mohawk, in Coshocton County, where the society was 
 largely composed of Iris.h Methodists from Donegal. 
 There were the Moores, the Thompsons, the Givens, who 
 were devoted Christians and pronounced Republicans. 
 The Methams were English, one of whom, Pren Metham, 
 Ipecame a soldier, and was my colonel, and of whom I will 
 speak further as I proceed in my narrative. At East 
 Union there was an old gentleman, Nelson Edwards, 
 whose words of counsel gave me much help. And there 
 were the Marquands, a family of French Methodists. 
 Many a pleasant evening I have spent in their delightful 
 home. The local preacher who had threatened dire 
 things became a good friend ; indeed, he initiated me into 
 the Know-Nothing order one Sunday afternoon. I had 
 lectured upon America the evening before in his church, 
 and he was so delighted that the next day, when he was 
 going with me to an appointment, he asked if I would 
 like to become a Know-Nothing. I responded, "Yes, if 
 there is nothing in the order contrary to true American- 
 ism." He immediately proposed certain questions, and 
 administered an oath of fidelity to the Republic, which I 
 most cordially took. He then gave me the signs and 
 passwords of the order. A few days afterwards I was 
 at a to wn^ where there was a county meeting of the mem- 
 bers to nominate candidates for offices. I attended, walk- 
 
74 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ing up and down the hall giving the signs at a rapid rate. 
 There was great consternation. Here was a young Irish- 
 man, not much over a year from the old sod, not even a 
 citizen, and yet he was a Know-NothingJ I saw the pre- 
 dicament, and, apprehensive of danger, beat a hasty re- 
 treat. But for weeks and months it was the subject of 
 much conjecture. They had never seen me at any of 
 their Lodges, and they could not understand how I had 
 got in. 
 
 The local preacher was a character. He could neither 
 read nor write, but he was most fervent in prayer and 
 powerful in exhortation. He used to hold the hymn-book 
 wrong side up, and give out, "Come, Holy Spirit." Once, 
 when he was preaching, he said that Moses was three 
 days in the whale's belly; whereupon another brother ex- 
 claimed, "No, it was Jonah." But the preacher instantly 
 repeated his declaration, adding, "I will bet you a quarter 
 it was Moses !" He prayed so earnestly at a meeting one 
 Saturday night that the saying went about, "He is a 
 Bishop Simpson in prayer." The house was crowded 
 next day, and when I repeated what had been said to the 
 preacher, he replied, "I had better leave while my colors 
 are flying." 
 
 I have often thought it strange that the Methodist 
 Church should lend any help to prescriptive organiza- 
 tions, for she has suffered considerably from prejudices 
 herself. The very year I came to this country there were 
 lecturers passing all through the land denouncing the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church as the foe of the Republic; 
 that its bishops were great iron wheels ; that its presiding 
 elders were wheels next in size; and that the preachers 
 were lesser wheels, between which the Government was 
 to be crushed. A Baptist minister, the Rev. Mr. Graves, 
 
EXPERIENCES AS A CIRCUIT RIDER. 75 
 
 published a book, called "The Great Iron Wheel," in 
 which the people were warned against the Methodists. 
 To this a trenchant reply was published by the famous 
 Parson Brownlow, entitled "The Great Iron Wheel Ex- 
 amined, and a Few of its False Spokes Extracted." The 
 excitement ran high, and the bitterness against Meth- 
 odism became almost as intense and widespread as after- 
 wards it was against the Roman Catholics. 
 
 The experiences in some of the class-meetings and 
 love-feasts upon these circuits were odd enough. I re- 
 member one brother, in relating his experience, said he 
 had his fault. I asked the class-leader what was the man's 
 fault, and he replied: "He is the greatest liar in the 
 county; you can not believe a word that he says." 
 
 My next field of labor was at Roscoe, where I found 
 a zealous and kind-hearted people. There were eight ap- 
 pointments, and I was expected to preach two or three 
 times every Sunday. I had for my colleague the Rev. 
 William Spafford, a preacher of singular power, an excel- 
 lent reader, and, for those times, very liberal. At one 
 place he injured his usefulness by declining to pray for 
 an old man who was asleep, saying that "the sleep would 
 do the aged man more good than his prayer." The 
 Comptons, the Ratilleys, the Pews, the Chalfants, the 
 Smiths, and the Dickersons were prominent in Church 
 work. 
 
 There was living in this circuit an old Virginia family 
 by the name of Bell, ardent Methodists. Two of them 
 became preachers, Benjamin and Thomas. Benjamin had 
 a good voice, was a revivalist, and every year reported 
 large accessions to his Church. His son is a leading mer- 
 chant in Fort Wayne. I was afterwards appointed to 
 New Comerstown, a large circuit. It was here that I 
 
76 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 formed a life-long friendship for Mr. L. C. Davis. He 
 was not a member of any Church, but was a valued citi- 
 zen. So was George Dent, a man of benevolence and 
 patriotic impulses. 
 
 Keene, Coshocton County, my fourth appointment, 
 was a quiet and intelligent town. It was founded by 
 Yankees from New Hampshire. There were a large num- 
 ber of Irish the Boyds, the Moores, the Elliotts, the 
 Finleys, the Hays, the Johnstones. David Markley and 
 George Norman were leading Methodists. Here I built 
 a new church. It was dedicated in a sermon by the Rev. 
 Dr. Kingsley, editor of the Western Christian Advocate. 
 The text was, "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come." The 
 people were pleased, but somewhat surprised at the sim- 
 plicity of the sermon, preached by so eminent a scholar. 
 He afterwards became a bishop in the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church, and was universally esteemed for his sin- 
 cerity. 
 
 My first serious difficulty commenced here. I 
 preached the Thanksgiving sermon at Keene, and in con- 
 trasting the privileges of the United States with England, 
 gave offense to some of the Irish members who had more 
 admiration for England than America. A member called 
 upon me in the afternoon, and angrily denounced me for 
 daring to criticise the British Government "the best 
 Government in the world," he said. He apologized the 
 next day, saying in his youth he had suffered an injury 
 to his head, which at times made his temper get beyond 
 his control. He explained to me how the accident oc- 
 curred: He, with a number of other young men, went to 
 an Irish wake, and, in a spirit of mischief, attached a rope 
 to the neck of the corpse. When the house was full, and 
 at a fitting moment of solemnity, they pulled the rope, so 
 
 / 
 
EXPERIENCES AS A CIRCUIT RIDER. 77 
 
 that the body gradually rose to a sitting position-. Every 
 one was filled with terror, and a regular panic ensued. 
 When it was discovered who had perpetrated this miser- 
 able joke, they were pursued and soundly thrashed, while 
 my irate Irish Methodist received a fractured skull, which 
 he ever afterwards gave as a plausible excuse for his fierce 
 ebullitions of temper. He was a generous man withal, 
 and we afterwards became lasting friends. 
 
 I had a strong supporter in a young medical student, 
 William Carroll. He always took my part in disputed 
 questions. He afterwards rose to distinction as an army 
 surgeon, and became a successful practitioner in Phila- 
 delphia. 
 
 I was next assigned to Chesterville, Morrow County, 
 one of the best circuits in the Conference. It had many 
 appointments. I lived at Bloomfield, a New England 
 settlement, where the people were kind and friendly. 
 There were the Clarks, the Sears, the Jacksons, the Mar- 
 vins, the Throckmortons, the Lyons, the Conways, the 
 Reinharts, who were prominent in the Church. Chester- 
 ville was known all over the adjoining counties for its 
 fine seminary. James Connolly, an Irish boy, lived here 
 with his parents. He became a major in the army, and 
 was offered an important position by President Arthur. 
 He served several terms as a member of Congress from 
 Illinois. The Clarks, Roswells, and Sheldons were promi- 
 nent Methodists, and a son of the former, Rev. Wesley 
 Clark, became famous as a preacher. His widow lives in 
 Cleveland, with her son-in-law, Mr. Irwin, enjoying a tran- 
 quil old age, beloved by all. The Dunns, the Allisons, 
 the McVays, the Shurrs, the Kings, the Chases, the Kin- 
 sels, the Selbys, the Ketchums, the McMahons, all lived 
 in this place, and took a great interest in the young Irish 
 
78 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 preacher. An incident, which grew out of my residence 
 in Chesterville, was told by Dr. Betts, an Episcopal 
 clergyman at St. Louis, before an Irish audience. I had 
 lectured in the Mercantile Library Hall, and Dr. Betts 
 was upon the platform. The crowd called him to the 
 front, when, after a few preliminary remarks, he told the 
 following story: "Some years ago a young Irishman 
 canae to the United States, entered the Methodist Con- 
 ference, and was sent to a circuit, where he became popu- 
 lar. When, according to the laws of the Church, it be- 
 came necessary for him to move, the young ladies of the 
 parish made for him a beautiful quilt, as a memento of his 
 residence among them. One young lady took particular 
 pains with her 'block,' and placed her name upon it. She 
 became so much in love with the Irish character that she 
 resolved to find an Irish husband. The young Irish 
 preacher already had a wife and family, and she must 
 therefore look elsewhere. In the course of time her fam- 
 ily came West, and settled in a town where there was an- 
 other young Irishman, rector of a Church. The result 
 was the young woman became my wife !" 
 
 I inquired into the circumstance, and found that the 
 lady was a Miss Ketchum. The quilt is^still in my family. 
 
 When I was on Chesterville Circuit an amusing inci- 
 dent occurred, which showed the humor and thrift of the 
 old Irish peddler. The circuit embraced twenty miles, 
 and I was known to every family in the region. Two 
 Irish peddlers soon found out that the preacher was from 
 Ireland, and they resolved to make the most of it. They 
 went about showing their goods, and mentioning, inci- 
 dentally, that it was five years since they had seen "dear 
 Cousin George." On this supposed relationship they sold 
 many tablecloths. At every house at which they stopped 
 
EXPERIENCES AS A CIRCUIT RIDER. 79 
 
 they expressed such a desire to see "Cousin George," that 
 they could not remain long, and as soon as they had made 
 a sale, they hastily departed. At several places they ex- 
 hibited a very attractive table-cover, but did not wish to 
 sell it, as it was for their "Cousin George !" Such stories, 
 of course, at once created a desire in the hearts of the 
 good Methodist women to buy just that very table-cloth, 
 and, with murmuring protests, the peddlers would at last 
 yield to their entreaties. Another table-cloth, that was 
 exhibited with great caution and reserve, was one that 
 "had been made for the Queen's table, but was just two 
 inches too short!" A number of these, that had been 
 manufactured "for the Queen's table," were disposed of 
 in Chesterville Circuit. These Irish cousins failed to call 
 upon me ; but the alleged relationship was quite profitable 
 to them. 
 
 Rev. John A. Berry was my senior in years, but was 
 my true and good friend. I was upon this circuit three 
 different times. My colleagues were Mattison and Mof- 
 fat, both of them successful in their respective fields. The 
 former was an instructive preacher, the latter was a sweet 
 singer. Berry's forte was in revivals. 
 
 It was during my pastorate on this circuit that the 
 Prince of Wales visited the neighboring town of Dela- 
 ware. I lived not far from the college-town. The people 
 everywhere were wild with joy at the prospect of seeing 
 this young scion of royalty. To such an excess of fool- 
 ishness did this enthusiasm reach that a worrfan, a preach- 
 er's wife, rushed in front of the prince and kissed him, 
 and then almost expired in self-admiration. I shocked 
 some of my members by telling them I would rather see 
 a soldier of the Revolutionary War than all the princes 
 of the royal kingdom. 
 
80 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Rev. Frank W. Gunsaulus, the famous preacher of 
 Chicago, was among my young hearers. His mother and 
 father were active Methodists. 
 
 Senator John Sherman was commencing his political 
 career as a candidate for Congress at this time. It was 
 an eventful period in the history of the country. John 
 Sherman represented the younq- Republican party. He 
 was then, as he has ever since been, the most orthodox 
 in his principles. His history has become a part of the 
 country. While many of the legislative flowers have 
 withered in the bud, he has reached a serene old age, re- 
 spected by the entire Nation. In one of my charges he 
 dined with a widow lady, who requested him to say grace. 
 He pleasantly declined, saying, "My wife always does 
 that." 
 
 Another gentleman who has held a seat in Congress, 
 and who afterward won distinguished honor in the army, 
 and subsequently became a successful banker in Colum- 
 bus, was General John Beatty. When I first heard him 
 speak, he stood at the corner of a street, upon a barrel, 
 and delivered a telling address, appealing to the people 
 for votes. He was elected, and in Congress proved him- 
 self to be a fearless advocate of his party and most faith- 
 ful to his friends. 
 
 I had said something in my book of "Sherman's Cam- 
 paigns" reflecting upon General Belknap, who was Sec- 
 retary of War. When the army was reorganized, Bel- 
 knap had not forgotten the criticism, and ordered me to 
 be left out. General Beatty, at the hour of midnight, saw 
 the Secretary, and I was retained. 
 
 When I entered the ministry I was very young, and I 
 thought that my ordination parchment qualified me for 
 the performance of any civil or religious functions. In 
 
EXPERIENCES AS A CIRCUIT RIDER. 8 1 
 
 1856 I lived in the town of Roscoe, Coshocton County, 
 Ohio. I had scarcely settled down to my pastorate when 
 I was called upon to celebrate my first marriage cere- 
 mony. I did not hesitate a moment, but married the 
 couple, and they went away happy. A few days later 
 I met Judge Barnes, of the Probate Court, when I was re- 
 turning the certificate. He asked if I had obtained a 
 license from the court authorizing me to perform mar- 
 riages. 1 told him that was not necessary, as I was an 
 ordained minister. u This.is not enough. You must have 
 a license from the court, and you are now liable to a fine 
 of $500." To say I was frightened does not express my 
 feelings. "What had I better do?" The judge replied, 
 "Come over, and I will give you a license, and then you 
 must go and marry that couple again." The next day 
 I rode to the farm-house where the young farmer, with 
 his men, was harvesting. I explained the situation to his 
 wife, who was preparing dinner, and, as soon as the young 
 man came in, to him. He laughed immoderately, saying, 
 "I am perfectly satisfied as it is." I was not, however, as 
 that $500 fine loomed up before me. So the couple came 
 out into the hall, and I married them again. 
 
 The Church members of those early days of my min- 
 istry tell many jokes about my awkwardness in handling 
 a horse. But the most of them are merely the outcome 
 of a vivid imagination. For the truth of two, however, I 
 will frankly vouch. When I arrived in this country I had 
 never yet sat upon the back of a horse. Soon after my 
 appointment to my first circuit, it was necessary for me 
 to go a number of miles to visit a sick parishioner. A 
 neighbor kindly loaned me a horse, and aided me to 
 mount. All went well xintil I discovered that I had passed 
 the house. Then I endeavored to turn around; but un- 
 6 
 
82 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 fortunately did not know enough to stop pressing on the 
 rein at the proper time, and the horse kept turning around 
 and around until I was dizzy and frightened. Probably 
 in my fright I loosened my hold on the rein ; for suddenly 
 the horse started down the road at a rapid pace, and never 
 stopped until in front of his owner's door. 
 
 When I had become a little more accustomed to this 
 mode of traveling about the country, I was one day re- 
 turning to Mt. Vernon from a country church, where I 
 had been preaching. It was my custom in coming to a 
 small stream to pass under instead of over the bridge, in 
 order to water my horse. On this occasion I had been 
 reading ; but being cramped with the long ride, I put the 
 book in my pocket, and raised my arms to stretch myself. 
 The bridge being low, I grasped one of the rafters. At 
 this instant the horse, who had slaked his thirst, feeling 
 the movement of my body, concluded it was an indication 
 to move on, which he did. My surprise was great when 
 I found myself suspended above two feet of water. The 
 horse had stopped a short distance away, turned around, 
 and was gazing at me with mild-eyed wonder. I was 
 obliged to drop into the water and wade to my horse. 
 
Chapter V. 
 
 FROM PULPIT TO CAMP CHAPLAIN AND CAP- 
 TAINROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 
 
 THERE is a fascination about soldiering, all that por- 
 tion of the world knows that ever donned a uniform, 
 buckled on a sword, or marched to patriotic music, 
 whether the grand strains of "Hail Columbia" or any of 
 the soul-inspiring airs w r hich ring again to the echoes of 
 war amongst the nations of the earth. 
 
 The work of volunteering in this country in 1861 was 
 no holiday work, and the result of no fanciful sentiment. 
 We of the North had not been accustomed to military 
 maneuvering, and when it came it needed a stern per- 
 sonal spirit; not out of any unwillingness of the people 
 to drill, to train, and to enroll themselves, but simply 
 because they had been reared in peaceful pursuits. What 
 a contrast between that war and the Spanish- American ! 
 Then, the North was divided ; the millionaire Mugwumps 
 and Copperheads of New York were indifferent, if not 
 openly hostile. Now, all classes are united. It was not 
 long after the firing upon Fort Sumter that in every 
 free State of the North there was a soldier, and the 
 States marshaled their citizens with the sublime deter- 
 mination to win. 
 
 In the latter part of 1861 I was pastor of the Meth- 
 odist Church at Keene, Coshocton County, Ohio. I 
 had preached war sermons and delivered war speeches, 
 helping to recruit regiments from the beginning of the 
 contest. One Sunday in particular I preached from the 
 
 83 
 
84 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 text, "Out of the south cometh the whirlwind," and as 
 I told the incident of the first time I saw the flag in Ire- 
 land, when it floated over an old war-ship filled with pro- 
 visions for the starving people, the enthusiasm was over- 
 whelming. An old member, Joseph N. Wood, after the 
 sermon, rose up and immediately suggested that now 
 was the time and place to put that pledge into operation. 
 I answered that I had no paper and no pencil. "Never 
 mind," said Brother Wood, "take your hymn-book, and 
 here is my pencil." In a few moments, sixty had re- 
 sponded. In the afternoon I preached the same sermon 
 at another appointment, and several more were enrolled. 
 By the next day a hundred had signed their names, 
 
 The organization of a regiment was one of the most 
 important events of the Civil War, and among the earliest 
 to respond to the call of the President was the Eightieth 
 Ohio. It was recruited in the counties of Carroll, Tus- 
 carawas, and Coshocton, and also one company from 
 Columbiana. It was a stalwart body of men, receiving 
 applause and commendation from its various command- 
 ers. Many of its members, who went out in high spirits, 
 never returned. The historian of Ohio in the Civil War 
 gives the following list and dates of its battles and cam- 
 paigns, but it is far from being complete: 
 
 Corinth, Miss., Siege of, April 30 to May 30, 1862. 
 
 Farmington, Miss., May 9, 1862. 
 
 luka, Miss., . , September 19-20, 1862. 
 
 Corinth, Miss., October 4, 1862. 
 
 Raymond, Miss.; May 12, 1863. 
 
 Jackson, Miss., May 14, 1863. 
 
 Vicksburg, Miss., Siege of May 1 8 to July 4, 1863. 
 
 Mission Ridge, Tenn., November 25, 1863. 
 
 Salkahatchie, S. C., February 3-9, 1865. 
 
 Bentonville, N. C., March 19-21, 1865. 
 
 Sherman's march to the sea. 
 
FROM PULPIT TO CAMP CHAPLAIN AND CAPTAIN. 85 
 
 No mention is made here of the battles of Adair, 
 Resaca, and Big Shanty, in all of which the Eightieth 
 participated. 
 
 The officers of the regiment when mustered into 
 service were as follows : 
 
 Colonel, Ephraim R. Eckley. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel, Matthias H. Bartilson. 
 
 Major, Richard Lan'hing. 
 
 Surgeon, Ezekiel P. Buell. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon Samuel Lee. 
 
 Assistant Surgeon, ....-.. Charles W. Buvinger. 
 
 Quartermaster, Clark H. Robinson. 
 
 Adjutant, Thomas W. Collier. 
 
 COMPANY" OFFICERS. 
 
 COMPANY A. 
 
 Captain, Isaac Ullman. 
 
 First Lieutenant, . . Sylvester Wallace. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, Frederick Buell. 
 
 COMPANY B. 
 
 Captain, Charles H. Mathews. 
 
 First Lieutenant Oliver C. Powelson. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, George F. Robinson. 
 
 COMPANY C. 
 
 Captain, John J. Robinson, Sr. 
 
 First Lieutenant, Daniel Korns. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, Christian Deis. 
 
 COMPANY D. 
 
 Captain, David Skeeles. 
 
 First Lieutenant, Michael C. West. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, James M. Scott. 
 
 Afterwards, Robert Hill, James McBain, Freeman Davis, James Mc- 
 Laughlin, and Sylvester West, now a prosperous merchant of Cleve- 
 land, were, I believe, in this company as officers. 
 
 COMPANY E. 
 
 Captain, Emerson Goodrich. 
 
 First Lieutenant, Daniel G. Hildt. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, . John T. Bedwell. 
 
 John Orme, Henry W. Kirby, James M. Cochran, George B. Wilson, 
 Christian Deis, and Ebenezer McFall were afterwards appointed or 
 promoted officers. 
 
86 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 COMPANY F. 
 
 Captain, Pren. Metham. 
 
 First Lieutenant, Wm. Wagstaff. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, . Thomas W. Collier. 
 
 Peter Hack, James Carnes, Francis H. Farmer, Samuel H. Clark, 
 Wesley J. Welling, were subsequently appointed or promoted officers. 
 
 COMPANY G. 
 
 Captain, William Marshall. 
 
 First Lieutenant, James E. Graham. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, John D. Ross. 
 
 Milton B. Cutler, John W. Simmons, John Isenogle, and others, 
 afterwards were appointed or promoted officers. 
 
 COMPANY H. 
 
 Captain, George W. Pepper. 
 
 First Lieutenant, John Kinney. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, Jacob W. Doyle. 
 
 Of this Company, Wm. H. Anderson, Nicholas R. Tidball, Henry C. 
 Robinson, Sylvester M. Baldwin, Ezra D. Swan, and Charles D. Mc- 
 Clure, because of death or resignation, were promoted. 
 
 COMPANY I. 
 
 Captain, Joseph M. Anderson. 
 
 First Lieutenant, William P. Hay. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, Charles D. Espy. 
 
 William P. Hay, George Maw, Zaven Lanning, were afterwards 
 promoted. 
 
 COMPANY K. 
 
 Captain, John H. Gardner. 
 
 First Lieutenant, David Korns. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, James E. Graham. 
 
 Thomas C. Morris and Cyrus W. Borton were Captains in this 
 Company, as well as Francis M. Ross and Jesse H. Cateral. 
 
 Of my own company I give all the names : 
 ROSTER OF COMPANY H, BOTH REGIMENT, O. V., U. S. A. 
 
 Captain, George W. Pepper. 
 
 First Lieutenant, . John Kinney. 
 
 Second Lieutenant, J. W. Doyle. 
 
 First Sergeant, N. R. Tidball. 
 
 Second Sergeant, S. M. Baldwin. 
 
FROM PULPIT TO CAMP CHAPLAIN AND CAPTAIN. 87 
 
 Third Sergeant, . 
 Fourth Sergeant, . 
 Fifth Sergeant, . 
 First Corporal, . . 
 Second Corporal, 
 Third Corporal, . 
 Fourth Corporal, . 
 Fifth Corporal, . 
 Sixth Corporal, . 
 Seventh Corporal, 
 Eighth Corporal, . 
 
 MUSICIANS. 
 
 Fifer, . . 
 Drummer, 
 
 H. W. Brelsford. 
 
 Robert Dickey. 
 
 F. A. Norman. 
 
 A. Teas. 
 
 J. H. P. Dimmock. 
 
 E. D. Swan. 
 
 Wm. H. Anderson. 
 . J. T. Crawford. 
 . J. B. Wilson. 
 \ P. Moore. 
 , A. Spellman. 
 
 P. S. Campbell. 
 , J. A. McClure. 
 
 Bailey, J. 
 Bell, H. 
 Bechtol, J. 
 Boyd, G. B. 
 Brown, R. E. 
 Baker, Perry, 
 Baker, R. L. 
 Clark, J. D. 
 Cook, T. J. 
 Cross, J. B. 
 Cross, EH. 
 Cross, H. P. 
 Chub, John. 
 Carnahan, W. J. 
 Cullison, F. 
 Davis, J. P. 
 Dayton, J. 
 Donley, James. 
 Decker, H. H. 
 Derr, J. 
 
 Dobson, Thomas. 
 Duffee, James. 
 Derr, W. 
 Ellis, S. H. 
 Ellis, J. F. 
 Failing, M. 
 Finlay, J. J. 
 
 PRIVATES. 
 Geren, S. P. 
 Goodhue, G. W. 
 House, J. E. 
 Hull, R. E. 
 Huff, G.' W. 
 Hout, W. H. R. 
 Hoyle, J. 
 Infield, Perry. 
 Infield, Phanas. 
 Infield, Chas. 
 Johnson, W. A. 
 Kinney, L. 
 Lint, C. 
 Lochart, F. 
 Laughead, M. 
 Lawrence, W. 
 McKee, W. 
 Mills, J. 
 Masten, J. 
 Marks, J. 
 Madden, S. B. 
 Madden, W. 
 Morrow, E. W. 
 Mulford, S. 
 Mulford, D. 
 Murrill, J. F. 
 
 Magness, H. 
 Miller, G. W. 
 Oglen, John. 
 Ogle, Jacob. 
 Oakleaf, J. 
 Poland, B. 
 Robinson, W. H. 
 Richards, W. H. H. 
 Ross, J. 
 Ricketts, A. C. 
 Rutherford, A. 
 Ridenbach, D. 
 Shaerii, H. 
 Syphert, W. A. 
 Stewart, W. F. 
 Stewart, J. 
 Sickels, D. P. 
 Steele, A. 
 Vankirk,J.. 
 Wilson, T. 
 Warner, W. 
 Willis, W. 
 Willis, R. W. 
 Williams, J. R. 
 Watson, J. 
 Zook,J. B.' 
 
88 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Adjutant Collier was never absent in victorious 
 marches and battles. Deep and wise, stealthy and with- 
 out ostentation, he was the admiration of the whole regi- 
 ment. Like the fabled knights of old, he seemed to be 
 subject to some enchantment which carried him through 
 all danger safely. 
 
 The Eightieth went out into the field with E. R. 
 Eckley, it returned with Pren Methan as its colonel 
 a pure, gallant, chivalrous man. In the neutral days, 
 when politicians balanced for and against slavery, Met- 
 ham was a bold and uncompromising Abolitionist. He 
 became a soldier, not only to save the Union, but also 
 to emancipate the slave. He was the /'self-sacrificing 
 chevalier of an oppressed race." He was of English 
 origin. His whole breed was British to the core; but 
 he had no sympathy with English hatred of the North. 
 When a lad he used to set audiences on fire with his 
 recitation of Robert Emmet's immortal vindication. 
 He grew strong and patriotic on such food. Colonel 
 Metham did not know what fear was. His personal gal- 
 lantry at Vicksburg was hailed with most enthusiastic 
 cheers by his regiment. His memorable soldierly abil- 
 ities have endeared him to all his officers and men. The 
 war being over, he retired to his large farm in Coshoc- 
 ton County, Ohio, where he spends his closing years in 
 peace, in good will toward men, and in the entertainment 
 of his hosts of friends. He never sought office, but would 
 travel a thousand miles to benefit a poor veteran. The 
 American Civil War knew no braver man generous, 
 hearty, and true in all the relations of life, was and is 
 my comrade and colonel/ Pren Metham. 
 
 As soon as I had raised my company, I telegraphed 
 the news to Governor Dennison. In an hour the reply 
 
FROM PULPIT TO CAMP CHAPLAIN AND CAPTAIN. 89 
 
 came back: "God bless you! Report with your men at 
 Camp Meigs, and I will send your commission as captain." 
 I did as commanded; but being ignorant of military tac- 
 tics, I wished to decline the honor conferred upon me 
 by making me captain. This was not permitted; the 
 men insisting that I should remain at least a year, and 
 promising that some one would take charge of the drill- 
 ing. A competent man was soon found in Sergeant 
 N. Tidball, of Coshocton. The company was organized. 
 The first lieutenant was John Kinney; the second, J. W. 
 Doyle. 
 
 My command was Company H of the Eightieth Ohio 
 Volunteers. W. R. Eckley, of Carrollton, was the col- 
 onel, D. Lanning was the major, and M. H. Bartilson 
 the lieutenant-colonel. Eckley remained with us four 
 years, and resigned when he was elected to Congress. 
 He was a good lawyer, a kind-hearted man, and popular. 
 Bartilson was also a member of the bar, a thrilling 
 speaker, a thorough disciplinarian, and a brave soldier. 
 He was wounded at Corinth, from the effects of which 
 he never recovered. David Lanning was a gallant sol- 
 dier, and much beloved by the soldiers. He was killed 
 at the battle of Corinth while leading a charge against 
 the Rebels. 
 
 The morning we left our camp was a lovely one. The 
 sky was cloudless, the air bracing, and the streets of New 
 Philadelphia were crowded, with all the citizens cheering 
 and waving their handkerchiefs. Fathers, mothers, wives, 
 lovers, and children were among them, weeping as they 
 bade farewell to some, alas ! whom they would never see 
 again. Among the groups was my own little family, 
 waving me a farewell that might be forever. The next 
 town reached on our journey was Coshocton, where three 
 
90 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 or four companies were recruited. Here, also, were im- 
 mense crowds. Every house displayed flags and other 
 emblems of loyalty. The enthusiasm was unbounded. 
 As there are thorns among roses, thistles among the 
 green, and vipers among the lower creations, so there 
 were Copperheads here, who silently breathed out their 
 venom. One of these was heard to say, as I marched 
 at the head of my company, "There is that preacher 
 Pepper! I would like to shoot him!" 
 
 Arriving at the camp, the men were assigned to their 
 quarters; and when Sunday came, I preached from the 
 text, "Paul reasoned upon righteousness, temperance, 
 and judgment." During the sermon I had four inter- 
 ested listeners -James Campbell, his brother, and their 
 wives. They came from the same part of Ireland that 
 I did, and had known me as a child. At the conclusion 
 of the discourse, one of the wives rushed up, loosened 
 my collar, and examined my neck for a scar left by a 
 severe scalding I had received in childhood. As soon 
 as she saw the scar, she shouted, much to the surprise 
 of the crowd, "Yes, Jimmy, it is George Pepper ! Come I 
 come!" The Campbells are a noble family. After the 
 war I spent many a happy evening with them, talking 
 over old times. There I made the acquaintance of Simp- 
 son Harmount, a War Democrat, and a whole-souled man. 
 I was his guest frequently afterward, and he showed me 
 many personal kindnesses. I also met Judge Patrick, 
 a patriotic man, a good citizen, and an indefatigable 
 editor, as well as entertaining conversationalist. He was 
 the father-in-law of Joseph Meclill, the famous newspaper 
 man. 
 
 After remaining a day or two at Cincinnati, the regi- 
 ment moved south, stopping at Nashville, where I called 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 91 
 
 upon Mrs. Polk, the widow of the President. She was 
 a strong Union, woman. I complimented her appear- 
 ance for one so old, and she answered me, "I am but 
 a shadow of my former self." "Yes," I replied, "but a 
 beautiful shadow," whereupon she laughed most pleas- 
 antly. Then we took our departure for Mississippi, paus- 
 ing for awhile at Paducah. The battle of Shiloh had 
 just been fought, and the soldiers were moving forward. 
 What a scene Cairo presented ! There were regiments 
 there from every Western State soldiers everywhere. 
 Cairo was the dirtiest place I ever saw. 
 
 The regiment was now ordered to Corinth, Missis- 
 sippi. The first battle was that of Farmington. The 
 engagement was short and sharp. One of the officers of 
 the regiment was retreating at the first volley of the 
 enemy. I asked him, as he passed me, where he was 
 going. "I am going home, Captain. It is too much of a 
 risk for a man with a large family." He resigned, but 
 afterward re-entered, and did good service in the field. 
 
 The battle of Inka soon followed. General W. S. 
 Rosecrans was everywhere, cheering and encouraging 
 the troops. It was a superb spectacle to see the bronzed 
 and warrior figure leading the army with the words, 
 "Come on, boys ! We '11 I-uker them to-day !" General 
 Price was in command of the enemy. The Eightieth 
 Ohio behaved admirably in this fight, marching right up 
 to the muzzle of the guns. 
 
 The siege of Corinth succeeded, with its long days 
 and weeks of waiting, and the deafening sounds of its 
 heavy cannon. General Price was in command of the 
 Rebels. Pope was our general. There has been much 
 criticism of the general's management of this siege. The 
 battle afterwards was desperate and full of thrilling in- 
 
92 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 cidents. Some of the Eightieth fell here Bartilson, Lan- 
 ning, Robinson; and many were wounded. 
 
 I had in my company an odd individual, who fancied 
 that he would surely be killed in battle. The fact was, 
 he was a most arrant coward, and was always in the hos- 
 pital. Before one of the battles in Mississippi he wrote 
 to his wife: "Dear wife, there is to be a dreadful battle 
 to-morrow. I will be killed. This is the last letter you 
 will ever receive from your loving husband. Bring up 
 the children to honor their patriotic father, who died 
 for the Union. Farewell! farewell!" Then he added 
 a postscript, showing that the ruling passion was strong 
 in death : "Do n't forget to sell the wool to the highest 
 bidder." My friend is still living, and the last I heard 
 from him he was trying to get a pension. There were 
 few such cowards in the regiment. The Eightieth en- 
 gaged in all the principal battles in Mississippi, culmi- 
 nating in the capture of Vicksburg, which electrified the 
 Nation, and especially the ardent Union men and women./' 
 Never was there a more noble feat of arms than the cap- 
 ture of this city, and in that capture the dear old regi- 
 ment was foremost. The position of the Confederates 
 was most formidable. General Pemberton had forty 
 thousand to defend his position. They lost great num- 
 bers, and the conduct of our army was equal to anything 
 it had ever done. After Vicksburg came Mission Ridge, 
 where for three days the Confederates fought desper- 
 ately bayoneted at their guns rather than surrender. 
 The Blue Coats marched right into the forts, and planted 
 their flags, at the same time killing all they came across. 
 When the Confederate general saw our soldiers on the 
 top of the ridge, under the terrible fire of his artillery, 
 he threw up his hat, and cried out, "It is not with men 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE, 93 
 
 I have to contend, but with demons !" General Wiley 
 lost a leg. He rendered valuable service in this most 
 brilliant victory. He still lives, honored and beloved 
 by his fellow-citizens, in Wooster, Ohio. 
 
 After a furlough, on account of ill-health, I rejoined 
 the regiment at Huntsville, Alabama, as chaplain. This 
 office had been kept vacant for me during my illness, in 
 the hope that I might return. Before starting, I received 
 a courteous invitation from Governor Tod to join his 
 party at Gettysburg, where President Lincoln was to 
 deliver an address. I have always regretted my decli- 
 nation of this kind invitation. I went direct to Huntsville, 
 one of the most delightful spots in the South. On Sun- 
 day I went with a lieutenant to hear the celebrated Dr. 
 Ross, who ranked high as a pulpit orator. His sermon 
 was the very highest vindication of the Southern cause 
 that I had ever heard. In my volume, "Personal Recol- 
 lections of Sherman's Campaigns in Georgia and the 
 Carolinas," I have given a full outline of this remarkable 
 effort. The lieutenant who accompanied me was a mem- 
 ber of the Eightieth, and he was always doing something 
 ridiculous and laughable. As we were passing a large 
 mansion, some ladies were just entering, on their return 
 from church. Bob, as he was familiarly called in the regi- 
 ment, noticing them, suddenly stopped. "There are my 
 father's old friends," he said. "They were delegates to 
 the Presbyterian General Assembly, at Steubenville. Let 
 us ring the bell, and make ourselves known." I remon- 
 strated, but he was decided ; so in we went. The lieu- 
 tenant greeted the ladies courteously, told them who he 
 was, and referred to his religious training; praised Dr. 
 Ross's sermon, and then introduced me as his chaplain. 
 With true Southern hospitality, we were invited to dine. 
 
94 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 We sat down to a sumptuous repast, when Bob said, 
 "Chaplain, now ask a blessing!" 
 
 The great battle up to this time was fought at Kene- 
 saw, where there is one of the most magnificent views 
 ever seen anywhere. A valley on all sides in billowy sur- 
 prises, rolling higher and higher, on whose crests are 
 the white lines of the homes of Atlanta. Southward, 
 the blue dome rises, lifts its head above, and overlooks 
 the eminences of the country it is Stone Mountain, that 
 rises like a huge loaf, and twenty miles south of the crest 
 where Atlanta rests in her beauty. Eastward is the lovely 
 village of Marietta, gleaming out of luxuriant foliage 
 like an emerald in a cluster of diamonds. Of the battle 
 of Kenesaw the Confederate General French said, "We 
 sat there hours, looking down upon seventy thousand 
 troops arrayed in the strife of battle." It was a pageant 
 on a grand scale. One of our colonels who was captured 
 described it as "the most severe ordeal that my nervous 
 system has ever undergone." We were within two hun- 
 dred yards of the Rebel works, and not a shot was fired. 
 Another hundred yards, and still no explosion ! I now 
 began to feel a little strange. Another hundred yards, 
 and still no sign of life ! Another hundred yards, and we 
 were certainly within range of musketry; but there was 
 no sign of life in the intrenchments. Now, over me be- 
 gan to come a great feeling of dread. I would have 
 turned and fled, but for fear of disgrace, which was 
 stronger than the horror of death. I knew what was .com- 
 ing when we were within twenty yards of the intrench- 
 ments. From all along the line protruded scores and hun- 
 dreds of muskets. I knew that every holder of a musket 
 was picking out his man. This continued but for a few 
 moments, when above all the sounds, distinct and clear, 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 95 
 
 I heard the command given, "Now, men, fire!" In- 
 stantly, from along the entire line, there seemed, like a 
 lightning flash, to burst forth a sheet of flame. I was 
 struck, and fell senseless; but when I recovered, and 
 turned to look, there were just seven men in my regiment 
 standing." 
 
 The assault upon Atlanta lasted for several days. 
 General Johnston had been supplanted by General Hood, 
 who was a daring and reckless leader. On the morning 
 of the 22d of July a most violent cannonade raged for 
 hours. The enemy fought with desperation. The women 
 and children were hiding in holes dug in the earth, while 
 our shells fell in showers around them. General McPher- 
 son's death cast a temporary gloom over the troops; but 
 when fiery John A. Logan took command, despondency 
 was changed to victory, and our brave boys began to 
 storm the lines in every direction. They were received 
 by a shower of balls. The Confederates fought like mad- 
 men, but the struggle was of short duration. Finally 
 the whole city was surrendered, by Major Calhoun, after 
 a sharp correspondence between Generals Sherman and 
 Hood. The City Council agreed to unconditional sur- 
 render. Then the joyful telegram from General Sher- 
 man to Abraham Lincoln was sent : "Atlanta is ours, and 
 fairly won!" This telegram set the country wild with 
 rejoicing. It was a most critical and momentous victory. 
 Gold had gone up to 300, the earth burned like an oven, 
 France and England had arranged to interfere in favor 
 of the South, a Northern Convention had declared the 
 war a failure; but the capture of Atlanta changed all 
 these plans. To the air of "John Brown's soul is march- 
 ing," the troops took up their advance to points further 
 South nobody knew where, except General Sherman. 
 
96 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 The army was separated into two divisions, commanded 
 by Generals Slocum and Howard. The country was 
 pleasant. We traversed splendid hills and valleys, soon 
 to be laid waste, and bearing all the marks of war a 
 most eloquent plea for the Peace Society. We soon 
 reached Howell Cobb's plantation. The soldiers knew 
 him to be a daring and courageous leader of the Con- 
 federates, and they desired to burn his elegant mansion. 
 They asked General Sherman for permission. He re- 
 fused, but said, "I believe if I were in command, I would 
 take a nap !" General Ostarhouse took the hint, and 
 putting his blanket over his head, said, "I goes to sleep 
 for fifteen minutes." He woke up; the fire had not yet 
 done its work. "I sleeps ten minutes more." 
 
 At length Fort McAllister was reached, the key of 
 Savannah. Although it was December, the weather was 
 warm and calm as a summer's day at home. The order 
 was given to attack the fort. It was a most exciting and 
 splendid sight ; for we could see every movement. At 
 every discharge of the guns there was the exclamation, 
 "There goes another!" General Sherman was watching 
 the result. Soon hurrahs were heard, and the fort was 
 ours. General Sherman sent this dispatch to President 
 Lincoln: "I beg to present you a Christmas gift, the 
 city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and 
 twenty thousand bales of cotton." President Lincoln 
 sent back the reply: "Many thanks for your Christmas 
 gift. When you were about leaving, I was anxious; now, 
 that the undertaking has been a success, the honor is all 
 your own." 
 
 Savannah is the Queen City of the South. The streets, 
 with their waving, sparkling foliage; the magnificent 
 squares, which are the lungs of city life ; the Gothic aisles 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 97 
 
 and spacious avenues of Bona Ventura, are worth a visit 
 to see; the old cemetery, where the streams of life have 
 ceased to flow, and where General Oglethorpe and the 
 pioneers of Georgia sleep in peace; the Pulaski monu- 
 ment, reared upon the very spot where the patriotic Pole 
 fell fighting for American independence; the Orphanage 
 of Whitefield, a blessed fountain of charity ; the superbly- 
 poised and beautifully-dressed women; .the proverbial 
 Southern hospitality, extended even to Yankees! I was 
 fortunate in meeting a namesake, Thomas Pepper, whose 
 princely home was thrown open to myself and friends 
 by the generous owner and charming family. Every- 
 thing, from cellar to garret, was at our command. This 
 namesake was from Tipperary, and all his actions 
 showed it : 
 
 " Tall was his form, his heart was warm, 
 
 His spirit light as any fairy ; 
 His face as wrathful as the storm 
 1 Which shakes the hills of Tipperary." 
 
 These recollections have not faded away under a less 
 sunny sky, but, refreshed and fed by the currents of a 
 heart which is not yet hardened; shall bloom, like flowers 
 around the monument reared within the hidden regions 
 of my sympathies, to the memory of Jasper and the city 
 for which he died. 
 
 Broad River separated us from Columbia. How was 
 it to be crossed in the face of a withering fire? The 
 pontoniers soon solved that problem. The soldiers rep- 
 resented all professions the engineer, the carpenter, the 
 miner, the architect, and the bridge-builder were all there. 
 The Yankee soldier was a most practical man. He real- 
 ized more than Kipling ever dreamed of when he de- 
 scribed "Her Majesty's jolly soldier and sailor too." Our 
 7 
 
98 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 soldiers were the most adaptable of men. They could tear 
 up railroads at night, and relay the rails in the morning; 
 they could burn bridges, and rebuild them; they could 
 carry muskets, and command armies. A British critic 
 was surprised to find a private soldier reading in the At- 
 lantic Monthly a scientific article which he had written 
 in the trenches. There were brains in our bayonets. The 
 sun shone with a dazzling brilliancy upon the houses of 
 the doomed city. Its bright beams revealed all objects 
 plainly: the river, a shining flood, rolling on majestically; 
 the broad and beautiful street, shaded by magnificent old 
 trees, tall and splendid. Columbia sparkled brightly 
 in the sunlight. The pontoons being laid, we were soon 
 over, the sun shining out with additional brilliancy, flood- 
 ing with its sunlight the waving foliage and the green 
 fields of the surrounding landscape. As we marched 
 up the street, an old colored woman, more than eighty 
 years of age, with tears streaming down her furrowed 
 cheeks, exclaimed, "Thank God, our saviors have come 
 at last !" 
 
 We had just left Goldsboro, en route to Raleigh, and 
 were in the very disagreeable business of laying cordu- 
 roy bridges across a miserable swamp, when a rider was 
 seen in the dim distance waving a flag. General Logan 
 turned, and said to me, "What does that mean?" The 
 tired soldiers soon caught a glimpse of the man, and then 
 eager eyes turned in his direction. The thousands of 
 troops heaved like the ocean under the throb of a storm. 
 The rider came nearer a voice was heard, and every 
 soldier placed his hands behind his ears to catch the 
 distant words, which fell like music upon our ears like 
 blessed music "Lee and his whole army have surren- 
 dered to General Grant!" Cheers greeted the news 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 99 
 
 cheers such as the foreign monarch never heard; cheers 
 that shook the plains ; cheers such as the heavens seldom 
 hear. The army was formed into a hollow square, and 
 the chaplain gave out the doxology, "Praise God, from 
 whom all blessings flow!" O, how they did sing it! I 
 have heard camp-meetings sing, when thousands made 
 the welkin ring; I have heard scores of Englismen sing 
 "God save the Queen !" I have heard Grand Army re- 
 unions keep time to the air, "John Brown's soul is march- 
 ing on," but none were ever so sweet, so grand, so 
 overwhelming, as the doxology sung by the soldiers that 
 day in the swamps of North Carolina. The boys hugged 
 and kissed each other. The words, "Lee and his whole 
 army have surrendered," were as a fountain of sweet 
 waters in the desert. The soldier thought of home, of 
 wife, of babies, of the bright handsome faces of his boys 
 and girls, of the beloved parents whom he had not seen 
 for years. There were others in that joyous crowd whose 
 thoughts were sad when they remembered vacant chairs 
 and loved ones they would never see again. 
 
 " Poor girl, her name he dared not speak ; 
 But something on the soldier's cheek 
 Wiped out the stain of powder." 
 
 And there were those at home whose thoughts, too, 
 were sad. 
 
 " And Irish Norah's eyes were dim 
 For a soldier dead and gory ; 
 And English Mary wept for him 
 Who sang of Annie Laurie." 
 
 Of this event I will quote Judge Ricks's recollections: 
 "General Cox had received a sealed letter, and noticing 
 the genial face brighten, I knew that the letter from Gen- 
 eral Sherman contained good news. Before he read it 
 
100 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 to the troops, he ordered all hats to be taken off, and 
 the throats to be cleared for three rousing cheers. My 
 horse became frightened, and before I could gather my 
 bridle reins, the thought flashed upon me that that would 
 be glorious news to announce to the whole army. The 
 twenty-fifth army corps had heard the shouting I cried 
 out : k Lee and his whole army have surrendered ! Make 
 way for the bearer of the glorious news !' Onward I 
 pressed my way through the surging ranks. I can not 
 describe the effect some fainted, some shouted them- 
 selves hoarse. General Casement, as I came within hail- 
 ing distance, cried out, 'Ricks, what is it? for God's sake 
 what is it?' 'Lee has surrendered!' Quick as a flash, 
 he clapped his hands together, and, with a wild yell, 
 turned a complete somersault on the road, and hurried 
 to his command with the tidings. In one of the regi- 
 ments, as I was sweeping through the ranks, a soldier 
 cried, 'What is it?' 'Lee has surrendered!' Clear and 
 loud, above all the voices, was his reply, 'Great God, you 
 are the man I have been looking for for the last four 
 years !' ' What a world of meaning there was in that 
 prompt answer! The whole Nation was looking for it. 
 Every word ran through our hearts like a balsam. No 
 poet that has woven around that war the finest web of 
 words that imagination ever wedded to patriotic music, 
 could describe the emotions of the soldiers upon that 
 memorable day. After a few hours of rejoicing, the word 
 was given to advance with speed, and in a day or two 
 we were in the historic city of Raleigh. General Kil- 
 patrick was the first to enter. He exultingly waved the 
 Stars and Stripes. The soldiers crowded to the Capitol, 
 where there was a plentiful supply of liquors. I entered, 
 with Joseph McCullough, the famous war correspondent, 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. IOI 
 
 and Colonel Sowers, of Cleveland, a soldier for whom a 
 shower of bullets had no terrors. He served with honor 
 through the entire war, gallantly leading his men wher- 
 ever danger called. In reference to this entrance to Ra- 
 leigh, Colonel Sowers is very fond of telling of a chaplain 
 from Ohio who would not touch a drop of liquor when 
 every other soldier was drinking in honor of the victor. 
 He generally finishes the story with the words, "And he 
 was a chaplain at that !" 
 
 At Greensboro, speaking of General Sherman's 
 March, the Confederate chief, General Johnston, said he 
 "made up his mind that there had been no such an army 
 since the days of Julius Caesar." Yes, it was the great- 
 est march in all history ; nothing like it has ever occurred. 
 All the soldiers were happy. General Johnston met Gen- 
 eral Sherman at Durham, fifteen miles from Raleigh, on 
 a beutiful April day, when the atmosphere was filled with 
 the perfume of flowers. Our cup of joy was running 
 over. I preached on the campus of the Capitol to an 
 audience of Confederate and Federal soldiers. Many gen- 
 erals of both armies were present. It was a glorious day. 
 The text was: "Glory to God in the highest. Peace on 
 earth and good will toward men." Sympathy was ex- 
 pressed for the heroic and wounded hearts of the Con- 
 federates, and the victorious were admonished to be mod- 
 erate in their jubilation, and to remember Southerners as 
 unsurpassed in valor. But alas ! the transition from happi- 
 ness and cheers was brief' for a cloud had fallen upon the 
 brilliant scene Lincoln was dead ! It is due to the people 
 of Raleigh to say that they shared with us in our wild 
 grief. The leading citizens appeared on the streets with 
 emblems of mourning. Our generals gave positive orders 
 that there should be no violence. It was pitiable to see 
 
102 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the colored people. Their day was turned into darkened 
 night ; their sorrow was heart-rending. "They have killed 
 good Massa Lincoln ; but God be libing yet, God be libing 
 yet! They can't kill Him!" 
 
 The march of General Sherman's army closed with 
 the grand review at. Washington. It was a sight well 
 worthy of that illustrious army. The day was beautiful ; 
 the Army of the Potomac had been reviewed the day be- 
 fore; the atmosphere was pleasant; the sun shone in un- 
 clouded splendor; the inscription was everywhere seen, 
 "The only national debt the Nation can never pay is that 
 one which we owe our soldiers." All the avenues were 
 crowded; the great generals, Cabinet officers, and gov- 
 ernors were seated together; the diplomatic corps was 
 near them. I had a splendid seat, and could see the 
 sublime movements. The display was the most magnifi- 
 cent in modern times. At the head rode General Sher- 
 man, with his staff; he was greeted with cheers such a 
 shout was never heard. Every one welcomed the heroes. 
 The universal opinion was, that there never was such an 
 army. A wounded soldier handed a bouquet to General 
 Sherman. "Give it to General Howard," he said. The 
 last grand scene was closed. Every American who saw 
 it felt his pulses quicken. He will never see such another 
 military display. Not merely two hundred thousand men ; 
 but what soldiers! Who would not rather see the three 
 hundred of Thermopylae than the millions of Xerxes? 
 It is not because two hundred thousand are in uniform, 
 but because they are heroes. The grand pageant was 
 something more than material miles of gleaming bayo- 
 nets, and the long rolling thunder of parks of artillery, 
 which make a Republic. National pride finds a deeper 
 and loftier satisfaction in the belief that this great array 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 103 
 
 is the herald of a new era an era of peace ; that it is that 
 which gives to the spectacle its moral and sublime sig- 
 nificance, beyond all Greek and Roman fame. 
 
 I could fill many pages with memorable stories of the 
 soldiers' wit and humor in this famous compaign, but I 
 have only space for a few. 
 
 There was a chaplain who was always invited, and 
 who never failed to accompany officers in their tours of 
 observation. One day this chaplain was going the grand 
 rounds of the camps. In .the course of his travels he saw 
 a soldier who had placed his musket in a horizontal po- 
 sition, while his lips were applied to the barrel. "Stop! 
 stop ! For heaven's sake do n't shoot yourself !" shouted 
 the chaplain. The soldier laid down the musket quietly. 
 The officer walked up to the man, and smelled some- 
 thing stronger than water. "What were you going to do 
 with that musket? Did you mean to kill yourself?" asked 
 the chaplain. "No," said the soldier, "it was cleaning the 
 musket I was, and I put the least taste of whisky into 
 the barrel to get the powder out of it, your honor." "I 
 thought the musket was loaded," said the chaplain. 
 "No," said the officer, "it was the man who was loaded." 
 
 When General Howard was marching through with 
 us, General Whittlesey, who was formerly a clergyman, 
 but now was General Howard's adjutant-general, was with 
 him. One day, General Howard drove into a farmyard, 
 from which General Whittlesey was leaving. A woman 
 and her daughter were standing outside the door. "My 
 good woman, will you kindly give me a drink of water?" 
 "No, get out of my yard ! A lot of more impident Yan- 
 kees I never seed !" "But I have done nothing." "That 
 sojer insulted me," pointing to General Whittlesey. "He 
 axed me for a drink of water, and when I done give it to 
 
104 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 him, he sassed me." "But but that is General Whittle- 
 sey, of my staff I am sure not a rude man." "Maw," 
 said the girl, pulling Tier mother's dress, "I reckon he 
 moughten have meant anything misbeholden." "Hush! 
 Do n't I know low-down, blackguard talk when I hear 
 it? He axed me what was the State of my nativity?" 
 
 One of the stragglers came up to a rich and imposing 
 Southern residence. The lady was standing in the door, 
 and saluted him with the greeting, "Do you know, sir, 
 that you are in the presence of the Southern chivalry?" 
 "Yes, madame, and do n't you know I am one of the 
 shovelry of the North?" 
 
 The fighting of the gallant 8oth Regiment was no 
 mere holiday work, but real, hard, desperate war. Fre- 
 quently the contending armies would encamp in reach of 
 each other, and the red dawn of morning shone on a 
 redder field. The battles of the regiment in Mississippi 
 alone were a succession of victories. Vicksburg, where 
 they fought forty days, and where they verily embraced 
 death, was one of the most triumphant. Although at- 
 tacked by superior numbers, they, with their characteristic 
 enthusiasm, parried the enemy, until the banner of the 
 Stars and Stripes floated proudly in the breeze, and the 
 whole country hailed the surrender of the city with ex- 
 clamations of joy. But their greatest glory was at Mis- 
 sion Ridge, where they fought so desperately and bravely 
 that in only a few hours one hundred and fifty of their 
 men had fallen. Among them was my first lieutenant, 
 John Kinney, a Rebel bullet having pierced his noble 
 heart. His son also was killed. The battle of Mission 
 Ridge will be forever a bright spot in the escutcheon of 
 the Nation. After taking part in several other engage- 
 ments, the regiment followed Sherman, with a romantic 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 105 
 
 chivalry, in his March to the Sea. It did not participate 
 in the battle of the 22d of July, before Atlanta's grim 
 walls. Nevertheless, it was not idle. It helped to win the 
 victory of Altoona Pass, when the brave, patient Corse 
 was the victor. After the battle of Bentonville, the last 
 of the war, this regiment, with others, forced the Con- 
 federates to fly across the Neuse River. It witnessed the 
 surrender of Johnston, and then marched to Washington, 
 where it was reviewed with all the honors of war. 
 
 A word as to a few of -the officers, whom I knew per- 
 sonally, may be of interest to their friends. 
 
 The colonel of the regiment, E. R. Eckley, of Carroll, 
 was a lawyer. He had come from the farm, studied law, 
 opened an office in Carroll, and soon became famous as a 
 verdict getter. He sat for six years in the halls of Con- 
 gress, where he rendered valuable service to his country. 
 Such a man was worthy to be colonel of such a regiment. 
 
 Bartilson, the lieutenant-colonel, was a good fighter. 
 He died covered with wounds received at the battle of 
 Corinth. 
 
 Lanning, the major, was ever foremost, and was killed 
 in the battle of Corinth while gallantly leading his men. 
 
 Major David Skeeles was a Christian gentleman, and 
 proved that the highest courage was not incompatible 
 with a manly Christian character. He used to repeat the 
 words of Montgomery to his beautiful wife as he left for 
 Quebec, "You shall never be ashamed of your Mont- 
 gomery !" This was an inspiration to the gallant Skeeles. 
 
 Major Thomas C. Morris was of Quaker descent. His 
 soldiership, steadiness in battle, and coolness in danger, 
 were always conspicuous in these thrilling times. Frank 
 Farmer, H. M. Kirby, I. M. Ross, William Hay, George 
 Maw, and McCall, privates, rose from the ranks and 
 
106 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 became noted for their happy daring and indomitable 
 firmness. 
 
 Captain Cochran was a knightly soldier of freedom 
 and righteousness, calm, and yet, in danger, how prompt 
 and fearless! 
 
 Major Mathews, never boastful, but no soldier showed 
 a more supreme contempt for death, proudly facing the 
 rain of bullets, and bequeathing lasting memories of his 
 ability and capacity. 
 
 Captain O. B. Powelson, brave, gallant, and chival- 
 rous. His wounds bear noble testimony to his patriotism, 
 his valor, and his manhood. 
 
 Captain David Korns always delighted the boys, after 
 a day's march, with stories of adventure. He was gifted, 
 generous, and brave as a lion to fight; but showing the 
 courtesy of a woman to the weak and suffering. Captain 
 Korns was a grand specimen of a gallant and sterling 
 American. 
 
 James M. Scott was a good soldier, and a genial and 
 good-hearted man. 
 
 George F. Robinson never failed to make a gallant 
 fight. He always showed himself to be a man of broad 
 views, enlightened politics, and large toleration. 
 
 Captain William Marshall was the best student of mili- 
 tary tactics in the regiment. He was intelligent, critical,. 
 and a soldier brave to a fault. 
 
 Captain Deis, a solid and unostentatious boy, always 
 picked out his man, and then went for him. The tougher 
 the battle, the more merciless the fire; there Chris Deis 
 loved to be, and there he was in his glory. 
 
 Captain Daniel J. Hildt was a fine specimen of a sol- 
 dier, and his career was glorious. He was the very pink 
 and flower of a dashing cavalier. 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 107 
 
 Captain James Carnes was a character ! He had been 
 a soldier in the Mexican War, and came into the regiment 
 stamped with the seal of success. A generous, jolly, cour- 
 ageous fellow was Carnes. 
 
 Young Robinson, who was killed at Corinth, was a 
 real soldier. Everything associated with his memory is 
 hailed with a loving reverence. The quartermaster, 
 Clark Robinson, was also an admirable man. The poorest 
 soldier complaining of his rations never failed to find a 
 champion in him. 
 
 Dr. Buell was a model surgeon, intelligent, bold, and 
 capable. Though quiet and unostentatious in his actions, 
 his treatment was scientific and skillful. Dr. Lee was 
 wise, prompt, and sympathetic. Dr. Buvinger had a 
 mind to analyze and a hand to execute the most difficult 
 cases. Dr. Tope was equally efficient and successful. 
 
 I have spoken elsewhere of Colonel Metham; but a 
 word here will be in order. The whole regiment speaks 
 with great pleasure of his fearlessness, of his heroism, of 
 his absolute disregard of death. The regiment was fortu- 
 nate in its division and brigade commanders. General 
 Raum, the division commander, possessed iron hardihood 
 of body, a quick and sure vision, a well-stored mind, and 
 a courageous heart. He was, as a commander, unsur- 
 passed. He possessed that rare faculty of coming to 
 prompt and sure conclusions in the presence of great 
 emergencies. He is an able lawyer there is.no quackery 
 in his arguments. He has been in Congress, and was at 
 one time Commissioner of Pensions. General Raum is 
 a graceful speaker, and in private life a pleasant and com- 
 panionable gentleman. 
 
 Honorable mention might be made of the companion 
 regiments of the Both Ohio; namely the 56th Illinois, 
 
108 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Colonel Hall, and the I7th Iowa, Colonels Weaver, 
 Archer, and Roper.. 
 
 Captain Isaac Ulman, of Company A, was every inch 
 a soldier and a gentleman. When the opportunity oc- 
 curred, he fought with courage and gallantry. James 
 McBain, sober as a judge, cool and collected, but, when 
 danger was nigh, brave as Caesar. I regret that I have 
 not a list of the heroic enlisted men such men as Charles 
 G. McClure, Joseph Finley, Thomas J. Cook, A. C. Rick- 
 etts. Though no star or eagle decorated their shoulders, 
 they fought with a bravery worthy of the best traditions 
 of American heroism. 
 
 The Soth Ohio was mustered in between January i 
 and October 21, 1862, in Columbus and Cincinnati, and 
 was mustered out at Little Rock, Arkansas, August 13, 
 1865. I organized my company, and reported with it at 
 Camp Meigs, Ohio, November 15, 1861. I was appointed 
 captain of this company January 7, 1862. I resigned, on 
 account of ill-health, in June of the same year, and on 
 December 3, 1863, was appointed chaplain of the regi- 
 ment. I remained with it for three years, or until it was 
 mustered out in 1865. 
 
 I append here the letter requesting my appointment 
 as chaplain of the 8oth Ohio Volunteer Infantry : 
 
 PETITION OF MEMBERS OF THE EIGHTIETH O. V. I. FOR 
 MY APPOINTMENT AS CHAPLAIN OF THAT REGIMENT. 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS EIGHTIETH O. V. I., \ 
 DIXON STATION, ALA., Oct. 27, 1863. / 
 
 "HON. DAVID TOD, GOVERNOR OF OHIO: 
 
 "Sir, We, the undersigned, commissioned officers of 
 the 8oth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, respectfully ask that 
 you commission Rev. George W. Pepper chaplain of the 
 regiment. Reverend Pepper was elected captain of Com- 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 1 09 
 
 pany H, 8oth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, at the time of its 
 organization, and served in that capacity with distinction 
 to himself and great credit to the cause, until, from ill- 
 health, he was compelled to resign. By appointing him 
 chaplain of this regiment, you will but reward merit and 
 gratify all concerned. 
 
 FRANCIS H. FARMER, Capt. Co. D. 
 
 JAMES CARNES, Capt. Co. B. 
 
 H. M. KIRBY, ist Lieut. Co. E. 
 
 THOMAS C. MORRIS, Capt. Co. K. 
 
 OLIVER C. POWELSON, ist. Lieut. Co. A. 
 
 JOHN KINNEY, Capt. Co. H. 
 
 J. M. Ross, ist Lieut. Co. K. 
 
 WM. HAY, ist Lieut. Co. . 
 
 GEORGE F. ROBINSON, ist Lieut. Co. C. 
 
 GEORGE MAW, . 
 
 "Approved : PREN. METHAM, Lieut. Col. Soth O. V. I." 
 
 "HEADQUARTERS EIGHTIETH O. V. 1 
 
 GOLDSBORO, N. C., April 7, 1865 
 
 "REV. GEORGE w. PEPPER: 
 
 "Dear Sir, I can not take leave of my old regiment 
 without bearing willing testimony to your Christian char- 
 acter as a minister, to your devotion to the work of your 
 profession as a chaplain, to your courage and patriotism 
 as a soldier of the United States. I have seen you on the 
 march, in camp, and on the tented field, and have never 
 seen anything in your conduct inconsistent with your 
 profession of Christianity. Our intercourse in the dis- 
 charge of our mutual duties has been cordial and har- 
 monious, and my grief in parting from you and my noble 
 regiment is poignant. 
 
 "PREN. METHAM, Col. of the Soth Ohio." 
 
 GENERAL NELSON A. MILES. 
 
 "WHY wait until great men are under the sod to 
 render honor to their virtues and attainments?" wrote 
 the Italian, Bovio ; and "Why, indeed," I repeat to myself, 
 
110 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 "should words of praise and appreciation be held back 
 until the ears that should hear them are closed forever to 
 mortal sound? Why not speak them to ears vibrating 
 with life, that they may know the world honors, and ap- 
 preciates, and loves them for their services to mankind? 
 It is for this reason, this beautiful idea of honoring the 
 living, that I have spoken openly of men who are living 
 to-day. It is for this reason that I speak of a soldier 
 whose gallant conduct was signalized on every battle- 
 field of Virginia, General Nelson A. Miles, General 
 of the Army. He was my colonel in the regular army 
 nearly thirty years ago, when I learned to honor the 
 sturdy strength and nobility of his character; and I have 
 watched his rising career with interest all these years. 
 He belongs to that class of men who are made for an 
 era ; original in thought and courageous in the expression 
 of it; a hater of mere conventionalities, and superior to 
 the meaner cupidities that influence lesser minds 
 
 He is courageous, but not reckless in the execution of 
 his plans. Courage and recklessness are two very differ- 
 ent things; for the one is the virtue of the wise man, the 
 other the vice of the fool. Accordingly, when a wise man 
 or a fool encounters the same risk, there is a disparity be- 
 tween the stakes which they severally bring to the cost. 
 The one hazards an immense train of consequences, duly 
 weighed and estimated much cost, much pain, and many 
 obstacles, calmly contemplated and felt in anticipation; 
 the other, only some baseless conjectures, some idle 
 dreamings of what may possibly happen. It was there- 
 fore a sober truth, though only meant for a jest, when, 
 after a battle, a soldier claimed credit for more heroism 
 than his comrades, because, while they professed indiffer- 
 ence to danger, he had himself been horribly frightened, 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. Ill 
 
 and yet had not run away. It may be honestly said of 
 Miles that, although possessed of the most brilliant mili- 
 tary talents, he never rushed into battle with reckless 
 haste, but with all his plans of action prepared ; and it was 
 for this reason that, as a soldier and fighter and winner of 
 battles, he obtained great successes, and was everywhere 
 distinguished by some daring action. His bravery pro- 
 cured him the approval of his superior officers, and se- 
 cured promotion after promotion. His intense tenacity 
 of purpose was certainly heroic. In that quality he may 
 compare favorably with the most famous soldiers of an- 
 tiquity. The battle-fields of Virginia were the true thea- 
 ters of his glory, because it was there he displayed his 
 best quality most advantageously. But it is not only as 
 a soldier that General Miles excelled, for he was equally 
 successful in the administration of civil affairs in the re- 
 construction of the South. His judgment was correct, 
 and he always exercised a tender magnanimity to the con- 
 quered, calling, in chanty, that angel whose presence will 
 pass by even camps, to supplement the laws. In his bat- 
 tles with the Indians he united skill with experience, and 
 asserted before the world the supremacy of American mili- 
 tary genius by conquering these fierce and formidable 
 tribes. It is only necessary to mention such facts to ad- 
 minister a fitting rebuke to those foreign writers who 
 attempt to ignore the claims of America to a military 
 reputation unsurpassed by any other country in the world. 
 At the close of the Rebellion, General Miles was in- 
 trusted with the difficult and delicate management of 
 Fortress Monroe, where many of the Confederate pris- 
 oners were confined, among them being Jefferson Davis 
 and John Mitchell ; and he proved himself equally capable 
 in civil affairs as in the field. I once heard John Mitchell, 
 
112 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 a most pronounced Rebel and a determined abuser of the 
 Yankees, say that "Miles is the most decent Yankee I 
 ever knew." Miles has told me that he had friendly feel- 
 ings for the Irishman, because he was once a comrade of 
 General Meagher in the Irish revolution. But such was 
 Mitchell's unconquered and unconquerable nature that he 
 would receive no favor from the Federal Government. 
 His voice was still for war against the hated Yankees. 
 
 I was present at General Miles's marriage to one of 
 Ohio's most accomplished daughters, Miss Sherman. It 
 was a brilliant wedding. Generals Sherman and Sheridan, 
 and other distinguished men, were present. 
 
 General Miles has been ambitious (I speak of him 
 when I knew him twenty years ago) to be an orator. 
 Then he was remarkably shy, and I have seen him blush 
 to the roots of his hair like a school-girl. As a speaker, 
 he thinks carefully and earnestly, and when he speaks it 
 is natural and without any use of rhetorical flowers. His 
 Decoration-day address at Boston a year ago ranks with 
 the best efforts of the kind. The secrets of his distinc- 
 tion are to be found in his self-control, in his constant 
 study, in his tenacity, and in his love of labor. He has 
 much of the bulldog and the mastiff in his nature. For- 
 tune is not his mistress, but rather his servant; when he 
 commands, she obeys. In Raleigh, where his regiment 
 was stationed for three years, and where I was chaplain 
 of the same regiment, I had many opportunities of becom- 
 ing acquainted with General Miles, and I can indorse, 
 from what I saw of him in private and social life, that he 
 was at home what he was in public life respected as a 
 man, reverenced as a host, and loved as a friend. 
 
 General Miles's name will descend the deepening 
 stream of history as one of the most gallant, successful, 
 
 
GENERAL NELSON A. MILES. 
 
ROUGH SKETCHES OF ARMY LIFE. 113 
 
 and kind-hearted chiefs of the Civil War. He need not 
 care by what pen his life may be written. Through the 
 hard-fought fields of Virginia and Pennsylvania, in the 
 trying services of reconstruction, amidst the engagements 
 with the fierce tribes of the West, no record of oppression, 
 of injustice, of inhumanity to those whom he commanded, 
 or to those whom he vanquished, will sully one page of 
 the biography of as brave, as generous, as chivalrous a 
 soldier as ever led American troops to victory. The 
 wedded life of the General has been blissful and happy. 
 He is blessed with a wife who is not only gifted with high 
 intelligence and numberless graces, but her whole time 
 and affections are devoted to the comfort and happiness 
 of her distinguished husband, in whose achievements she 
 takes the greatest pride. Her soul, her good heart, her 
 attractions, are to him as eyes and hands. She is the 
 communicating spirit between her husband and his hosts 
 of friends. She anticipates his every want. If General 
 Miles is fortunate in his own military genius, he is more 
 fortunate in the genius of his wife, who makes his home 
 a dream of domestic happiness. 
 
Chapter VI. 
 
 RETURN TO WORK IN THE MINISTRY RECON- 
 STRUCTION IN THE SOUTH PASTORAL 
 APPOINTMENTS FREDERICK DOUG- 
 LASS'S REMINISCENCES. 
 
 T RE-ENTERED the North Ohio Conference, or rather 
 1 I was assigned to the old work of preaching, on my 
 return from the war; I had never been out of the Con- 
 ference. After filling several pulpits upon circuits, I was 
 appointed to Wellington, which now had become a sta- 
 tion. It was my first field among the Yankees of the 
 Western Reserve. Bishop Simpson appointed me to this 
 place, and when I expressed my surprise that so important 
 an appointment should be given to me, he said that a 
 patriotic speech which I had made a few years before at 
 the Conference session held there, had endeared me to 
 the people, and they requested it. 
 
 It was a good year. There was a great revival; but 
 the old church was in bad condition, the rain pouring in 
 through the ceiling. At the close of the meetings, I 
 preached a sermon from the text, "Is it right for you to 
 dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?" 
 The appeal brought forth a subscription of fifteen thou- 
 sand dollars not a bad beginning for one day's work. 
 
 Wellington was a flourishing little town, the head- 
 quarters of the cheese industry. Many of its prominent 
 citizens were members or attendants of my Church. The 
 Houghtons were a numerous and honored family. So 
 were the Horrs, the Walcotts, the Langs, the Woolleys, 
 
 114 
 
RETURN TO WORK IN THE MINISTRY. 115 
 
 the Richards, the Dicksons, the Howks, the Laundons, 
 the Stroups, and S. S. Warner, whose popularity made 
 him State treasurer three times in succession. Colonel 
 M. T. Herrick, the Cleveland banker, also came from 
 Wellington. He was but a boy in those days, a very 
 bright boy especially in arithmetical studies and was 
 known as the "calculating boy." 
 
 The Congregational Church was quite strong in Well- 
 ington, and numbered in its membership many of the 
 leading citizens. Mr. II,ane, a returned missionary, was 
 the respected pastor. The Disciples had a strong follow- 
 ing also in the little city. James A. Garfield, afterwards 
 President of the United States, had recently dedicated 
 their handsome new church, and frequently preached 
 there. 
 
 Near Wellington is Penfield, a typical New England 
 village. I was appointed pastor here, and was warmly 
 welcomed by these sons of New England. I never met a 
 more intelligent, a more benevolent, a more religious 
 class of people. A revival of great proportions followed. 
 There were two hundred additions made to the Church 
 there was scarcely a family that was not reached. My 
 family was residing in Wellington, and I usually returned 
 home every night after the services. I remember, one 
 day, a venerable Disciple preacher greeted me with the 
 salutation: "Well, Brother Pepper, I presume you feel 
 like Alexander when he wept for other worlds to con- 
 quer." As a result of this revival nine new classes were 
 formed. I think often of the good people of Penfield 
 the Starrs, the Nortons, the Smiths, the Hayses. 
 
 Huntington, another partly New England commu- 
 nity, was attached to the Penfield work. Here resided a 
 retired Congregational minister, Father Clarke, beloved 
 
Il6 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 by all. His good wife, many a night after I was ex- 
 hausted with my labors, would entertain me with a sub- 
 stantial second supper. I remember the Haskins, the 
 Spragues. Not long ago I was lecturing at Lorain, when 
 the principal of the schools, with a warm shake of the 
 hand, recalled the pleasant incident that he was converted 
 at the Hunting-ton revival. It was Professor Ward, of 
 Lorain. 
 
 It was while I was still preaching in this section of the 
 country that I was appointed chaplain in the regular 
 army. There were one hundred candidates; but General 
 John A. Logan's strong influence and Secretary Stanton's 
 remembrance of my having raised a company for the war 
 upon Sunday, quickly decided the contest in my favor. 
 The regiment was the 4Oth Infantry. Nelson A. Miles, 
 now the ranking general of the army, was colonel. The 
 regiment was stationed in Raleigh, North Carolina. My 
 duties were light, and Colonel Miles proved himself to be 
 a good friend. 
 
 The old hatreds and prejudices were fresh in the minds 
 of the people. One Sunday, when I went to Church with 
 my wife, I was assigned to a seat by the usher. In a few 
 minutes a woman came and unceremoniously ordered us 
 out. The rector, Dr. Mason, afterwards apologized. He 
 was a Union man throughout the war, and was a cour- 
 teous gentleman. 
 
 After some time I was made assistant superintendent 
 of the Freedmen's Bureau, which compelled me to visit 
 every county in the State, speaking and instructing the 
 colored people in the organization of schools. General 
 O. O. Howard's instructions were, that for every hun- 
 dred dollars the colored people raised, the Bureau would 
 advance another hundred. It was a dangerous experi- 
 
RECONSTRUCTION IN THE SOUTH. ll'J 
 
 ment. At Salisbury, while I was speaking and stating the 
 proposition of the Government, a burly ex-Rebel became 
 so enraged that he bounded on the platform with a huge 
 knife, aiming to plunge it into my throat. One of the 
 vice-presidents, a colored man, seized the fellow, and 
 hurled him from the platform. 
 
 I delivered an address the next evening at Charlotte 
 with more safety. And thus I passed from county to 
 county, sometimes riding five or fifty miles in a rickety 
 old wagon, driven always by a colored man, frequently 
 passing groups of ex-Confederate soldiers. I was heartily 
 glad when the labor was over, and I returned to the shel- 
 ter of the soldiers at Raleigh. 
 
 I participated in the reconstruction of the State, re- 
 porting the proceedings for the Cincinnati Commercial, the 
 New York Times, and the New York Tribune. I became 
 acquainted with a member of the Legislature, who after- 
 wards became famous as one of the heroes of the "Fool's 
 Errand," and who was murdered by the Ku-Klux. I knew 
 Judge Albion W. Tourgee, who was then living at Greens- 
 boro, where he had many opportunities to gather the 
 materials for his book, which is literally true. Mr. 
 Stevens, the murdered man, the member of the Legis- 
 lature decoyed from his home, with the kisses of his wife 
 and children fresh upon his lips, was taken to the court- 
 house, under the plea of urgent business, and there cruelly 
 murdered. Not one of the infamous scoundrels who per- 
 petrated this crime was punished. The blood of Stevens 
 rests upon their consciences, and it will remain forever. 
 When Mr. Holden was elected governor of the State, he 
 asked me to become editor of the Raleigh Standard, the 
 State's Republican organ, which position I accepted. 
 
 I delivered the oration upon the Fourth of July before 
 
Jl8 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 a large audience. This was the first Union meeting, 
 since the war, in any Southern State. The sentiments of 
 good will which pervaded the address touched the South- 
 ern heart, and especially the kind references to General 
 Robert E. Lee were gratefully appreciated. Many of the 
 Southern papers copied copious extracts, and expressed 
 admiration for the Federal chaplain who, when the North- 
 ern press was breathing out denunciation and demanding 
 the execution of the leaders and the confiscation of 
 Southern land, had the courage and the magnanimity to 
 say that no thorns should be planted where the olive had 
 taken root. This oration is published in this volume, and 
 although at the time it was severely criticised, the spirit 
 which it breathed of mercy to the conquered has become 
 the sentiment of the whole Nation. 
 
 While in Raleigh I met Chief- Justice Chase, Presi- 
 dent Andrew Johnson, Secretary Seward, and John W. 
 Forney, of Washington, then editor of the Philadelphia 
 Press. The President came to Raleigh to participate in 
 the services of the dedication of a monument to his father, 
 a humble man, who lost his life in rescuing a fellow- 
 laborer from drowning. I conversed with him, and found 
 him simple and occasionally brusque in his manners, but 
 always the true specimen of a patriotic American. He 
 was full of indignation at England, and, referring to the 
 Fenian invasion of Canada, said, in words not very relig- 
 ious, but very fierce : ". . . I gave them five days, after 
 I heard of their contemplated movement, and if they had 
 had a leader worth anything, they might have marched 
 on and captured Toronto." 
 
 En route to Chapel Hill, Commencement-day at the 
 university, Mr. Seward got out of his carriage and walked 
 a mile. He was very communicative, speaking of the 
 
RESIGNATION PRESENTED. 119 
 
 war and the reconstruction of the South. He was in 
 thorough accord with General W. T. Sherman, and 
 praised him for his liberal terms to General Joseph E. 
 Johnston, when he received the surrender of the Con- 
 federate general's army. I made reference to the assassi- 
 nation of Lincoln and his own narrow escape from death. 
 "Yes, that wound hurts me yet. What madmen and 
 fools those unfortunate wretches were to murder the good, 
 gentle, and kind-hearted Lincoln ! Why, I have seen 
 him rush away and hide, himself when his signature was 
 asked for an execution of a soldier, or for any heavy pun- 
 ishment upon the Rebels in arms, or upon their Northern 
 sympathizers. Yes, Chaplain, the good Lincoln shall al- 
 ways remain the chief glory of our country, distinguished 
 by benevolence of the highest order, and his treatment of 
 this unpatriotic people rose to a lofty magnanimity which 
 has never been approached." 
 
 I remained in this State until the regiment was or- 
 dered to Arizona. My family were living in Ohio, and, 
 although the temptations to remain in the regular army 
 were many a life position and a two-thirds salary for 
 life after being retired I determined to resign. Remon- 
 strances came from many, one from Bishop Janes, saying 
 that, as the Methodists had only a few chaplains in the 
 army, I ought to remain. So also thought Bishop Simp- 
 son; but I could not endure the monotony of army life. 
 I wanted to be more active, and longed for the great work 
 of preaching. I presented my resignation. General Sher- 
 man, who was never extravagant in his praise of army 
 chaplains, begged me to remain, to wait a few years, and 
 I could be retired; that my services to the Government 
 demanded recognition. But my mind was made up, and I 
 insisted upon an absolute resignation. The general was 
 
120 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 then acting Secretary of War, and he gave me a year's 
 leave; not a leave of absence proper, but an order to re- 
 turn home, and remain there upon waiting orders. This 
 gave me full pay. I was, notwithstanding all my pro- 
 tests, appointed chaplain of the loth Cavalry; but this, 
 too, I declined. I was allowed a full year's salary. 
 
 I was next appointed to Wooster, in 1870, one of the 
 largest Churches in the Conference. It was a difficult 
 Church, and required patience and practical knowledge. 
 The old members were very conservative, and opposed 
 to any innovations. They believed a two years' pastorate 
 was long enough. There were many able men at the 
 Wooster bar at this time, who frequently dropped into the 
 church, and whose presence stimulated the preacher to 
 study and activity. I often met John McSweeney, a law- 
 yer of wide reputation, and whose bar triumphs are known 
 throughout the length and breadth of the land. To secure 
 his services in any case was a sure evidence of winning 
 the case. As to his oratorical ability, he was compared 
 to such men as John Van Buren, Thomas Corwin, and 
 others. Wendell Phillips once said to me that he had 
 heard the best speakers in Boston, and for art, logic, and 
 effective appeals to a jury, McSweeney, whom he had 
 heard in Ohio, was their equal, and \vas surpassed by 
 none of them. His mantle fell upon his gifted son. There 
 were, also, Dowell, Jeffries, McClure, the Givens two 
 brothers who entered the army, and won renown as brave 
 soldiers. Critchfield was regarded as McSweeney's rival, 
 and if verdicts of juries are a proof of a lawyer's ability, 
 then he was among the most successful. Judge Martin 
 Welker was also a resident of. Wooster. He was a valued 
 and respected member of Congress. I might also refer 
 to Eshelman, the able editor; the Mullins, the Carrs, the 
 
FREDERICK DOUGLASS'S REMINISCENCES. 121 
 
 Kaukes, Judge Parsons, the Firestones, Pricks, Bissels, 
 and Smysers. 
 
 This reference to my Wooster friends would be in- 
 complete did it not refer with gratitude to the kindness 
 shown us throughout our residence there by the estimable 
 and accomplished family of Mr. J. B. Powers. 
 
 While I was here I renewed the old acquaint- 
 anceship of other years with my friend, D. Q. Liggett. 
 He was a successful business man, a liberal benefactor to 
 every good cause. He afterwards built a new church, 
 largely t his own expense. B. Barrett was another of 
 the same Church, who was also a good citizen, an enter- 
 prising business man, and an honor to the community. 
 Dr. M. K. Hard was for years a prominent physician, and 
 also a preacher of the gospel, filling many pulpits with 
 rare ability. Dr. Gann came there after my first pastorate, 
 and united with the new Church. It was not long until, 
 by constant application in his profession, he rose to be 
 among the first physicians in the city. He it was who 
 ministered to Mr. McSweeney in his last illness, and he 
 tells an anecdote that illustrates the lawyer's knowledge 
 of Methodist hymns. He used to tell me he grew fat 
 upon ten of these hymns. Dr. Gann was visiting him, 
 and, as there were many sick, he said, "My conscience 
 reproaches me, Mr. McSweeney, for visiting you so 
 often." The dying man quickly responded, "Let not con- 
 science bid you linger." 
 
 It was while I was pastor of the Wooster Methodist 
 Episcopal Church that the colored orator, Frederick 
 Douglass, lectured upon San Domingo. For an evening 
 he was my guest, and of the many incidents which he told 
 me of his history, I recall this thrilling one. He said: 
 "Mr. Pepper, you lecture upon Ireland. I have read the 
 
122 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 lecture entitled, 'Ireland Liberty Springs from her Mar- 
 tyrs' Blood.' In it you speak of my reception in Cork 
 and Dublin, and in Belfast; but here is something that 
 has never been published. When I was a slave, sixteen 
 years of age, I had never seen a ship, and I told my mis- 
 tress that I would like to go to Baltimore and see one. 
 She gave me permission, and I walked the sixteen miles, 
 and went down to the harbor, where I saw the object that 
 had always excited my curiosity. Two Irishmen were 
 unloading heavy timbers, and I helped them. When I 
 was leaving, one of them said to me, 'Are you a slave, sir?' 
 'Yes,' I replied. The other whispered to me, 'Why do 
 you not run away? God never made a man to be a slave/ 
 Every step I walked that night I could hear the words: 
 'Why do you not run away? God never made a man to 
 be a slave.' I dreamed them during the night. You know 
 the result. I did run away; and when I get to heaven I 
 will search for those two Irishmen, take them to my Sa- 
 vior, and say, 'Here are the men who first told me that 
 God never made a man to be a slave.' ' 
 
 After remaining in Wooster two years, I was assigned 
 to Galion in the fall of 1872. While at Wooster, the en- 
 tire family at home the two oldest boys were away 
 suffered from a severe attack of small-pox. The par- 
 sonage at Wooster was situated in a part of the town 
 called the "Five Points," on account of the character, or 
 non-character, of the residents, and in imitation of the 
 famous "Five Points" of New York. A traveling show- 
 man brought the disease into the neighborhood, and in 
 all that portion of the town not one house escaped the 
 pest. In my own family there were five sufferers. One 
 of my sons, who was sent away from the house, on the na- 
 ture of the disease which had attacked the other children 
 
PASTORAL MEMORIES. 123 
 
 becoming known, wandered the streets in the daytime, 
 and at night slept in the churchyard, so great was the 
 panic. At last a humane hotel-keeper opened his doors 
 to him ; but as his chanty lost him every other guest, my 
 son would not remain, and returned to the churchyard, 
 when a kindly Christian family already referred to that 
 of Mr. James B. Powers, took him in, and kept hirrt until 
 the danger was past, and it was safe for him to return 
 home. I myself and four children had the disease, and, 
 as it was impossible to procure nurses for several weeks, 
 my noble wife struggled along alone under a burden that 
 would have crushed a less brave and courageous nature. 
 But our lives were all spared. 
 
 When I went to Galion, I had barely recovered from 
 the terrible disease. The members of the new charge 
 received me with every ^demonstration of affection. Dur- 
 ing the year an extensive revival broke out in the Church, 
 and hundreds were added to the membership of the Meth- 
 odist Church. The revival continued for sixteen weeks. 
 All ages were reached, and the effect was marvelous. I 
 had preached for four weeks, without any marked sign 
 of a revival, when a Mr. Crim, a banker of f the city, rose 
 for prayers I think more out of sympathy with me than 
 any deep religious conviction. The following evening 
 there were fifty-seven came to the altar ; and this was the 
 beginning of a glorious work, which never was surpassed 
 in all my ministry. There were many remarkable cases 
 of conversion. One man, who was so degraded as to be 
 shunned by all classes, and who, because he never looked 
 in the Bible, had his week's wages hidden there by his 
 wife, this man came to the altar, was converted, and 
 became an honest and trustworthy man. A young hard- 
 ware merchant, named Frank Case, universally respected 
 
124 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 for his social qualities, was among the converts. He 
 startled an audience one Sunday afternoon in the hall by 
 declaring, "If anybody says I have n't got religion, I will 
 shoot him on the spot." This was an extraordinary utter- 
 ance, but it was simply his way of expressing his idea that 
 he was a changed man. His subsequent life proved it, 
 and he died joyfully. 
 
 During the progress of the meeting, the Rev. W. M. 
 Punshon, the famous Wesleyan orator, dropped in. I 
 recognized him ; so also did one of the members, and whis- 
 pered to me to invite him to preach. That was precisely 
 what I would not do. It was in the afternoon. There 
 were three daily meetings. I knew that Mr. Punshon was 
 not, perhaps, in the revival mood, as he was on a lecturing 
 tour. I preached, and according to custom, invited 
 mourners forward. A number came and professed con- 
 version. I turned the meeting into a general class, giving 
 all an opportunity to speak. Then I concluded it was the 
 proper time to call upon Mr. Punshon, which I did, say- 
 ing, "I perceive the Rev. Mr. Punshon is here, and the 
 Church would be glad to hear from him." He did not 
 know that any one had recognized him ; but got up, and, 
 in a stammering way at first, spoke. He gradually 
 warmed up, and spoke gratefully of the delight and satis- 
 faction he had experienced in the services. 
 
 There were many stirring incidents connected with 
 that revival, and there were many excellent people who 
 were moved to a more blessed experience. I recall a few : 
 The Spaldings, the Cronewelts, Ducks, Pagues, Stewarts, 
 Carharts, Camps, Crims, Wensells, Hackedorns, the Gills, 
 Davises, Camps, Hayeses, Jameses, Reeces, Pritchards. 
 John Whitworth was the presiding elder, a worthy gen- 
 tleman, who was always abounding in good work. Then 
 
PASTORAL MEMORIES. 125 
 
 there were the Smiths and others, who were always active 
 in Church work. Milford Lewis, a young steward, was a 
 stanch Methodist, a splendid w r orker, and always stood 
 by the pastor. 
 
 I had in this Church an eccentric but benevolent sort 
 of a man. He was emphatically a peculiar individual. 
 During the sermon he would write his opinions of the 
 preacher in the hymn-book, and show his disapprobation 
 
 in many ways. One day I said to him, "Brother , I 
 
 missed you from church yesterday." "Well, I did not 
 miss much," he replied, with unnecessary candor. Being 
 an Irishman by birth, I naturally referred occasionally 
 to Ireland, whereupon the eccentric brother confided with 
 his pencil to his hymn-book, "The preacher believes that 
 Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles were Irishmen." In 
 my absence, once, the Episcopal clergyman preached. 
 The sermon annoyed the erratic brother, and he preferred 
 charges against me for introducing a strange form of wor- 
 ship. In the Quarterly Conference he asked, "By what 
 authority have you introduced a foreign religious service 
 into our Church?" I replied, "By my own, the highest 
 Methodist authority in this city." He was, notwithstand- 
 ing his oddities, a good man, and a most liberal one to the 
 Church. A. M. Stewart took an advanced position during 
 the revival, and has ever since been loyal and useful. His 
 beautiful home is the resting-place of bishops. 
 
 Hon. J. C. Covert, of the city of Cleveland, and a well- 
 known newspaper man, was then in charge of the local 
 paper of the town. I remember he was present at my first 
 sermon there, and wrote a most favorable criticism. 
 
 After three years' service as pastor in Galion, my next 
 appointment, in 1875, was Mt. Vernon, where I had 
 preached my first sermons in the United States. Mt. 
 
126 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Vernon is a handsome old town, the streets pleasantly 
 shaded with grand old trees; the people are noted for 
 their intelligence and hospitality. 
 
 In Mt. Vernon I retain many sweet memories of dear 
 friends in the Methodist, as well as in all the Churches. 
 The Delanos and Morgans, of national reputation, were 
 frequent visitors to the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 Joseph C. Devin, a member of the Ohio Legislature, an 
 upright citizen, and an honored member of society, used 
 to drop in occasionally. I was present at his wedding, 
 which was a brilliant affair. Colonel W. C. Cooper, after- 
 wards a member of Congress, and one of the first lawyers 
 of the State, came in at times. The Curtises, the Harpers, 
 the Hamiltons, the Sproules, the Stauffers, the Coles, the 
 Johnstones, the Sandersons, the Sturgesses, the Mitchells, 
 lived here. Here lived, also, Samuel Lynch, a retired 
 preacher, whose daughter married the now famous Ad- 
 miral Miller. Reverend Thompson was the Episcopal 
 rector, a pure and lofty-minded man. Reverend Newton 
 preached in one of the Presbyterian Churches. His face 
 was a benediction. Rev. Mr. Thrapp was the Protestant 
 Methodist pastor, every inch a gentleman, and as a 
 preacher he ranked high ; a patriot who loved his country, 
 served her faithfully in the war, loved all mankind. To do 
 good is the business of his life ; it is also the first and last 
 joy of his heart, ever ready with his voice and pen to 
 vindicate the innocent. He has filled the leading pulpits 
 in his denomination. All efforts, when a young man, to 
 keep him in the rear were failures, and, like the sun, which 
 may be clouded for a time, but ultimately shines out in 
 glory, he could not be extinguished. 
 
 The last session of the North Ohio Conference I at- 
 tended was in Mount Vernon, one of my old charges, and 
 
 
PASTORAL MEMORIES. 127 
 
 my reception, after several years absence, was cordial in 
 the extreme. Bishop Hurst presided with dignity and 
 grace over the sittings. The name of Bishop Hurst is 
 identified with the most complete exposition of theology 
 since the days of Richard Watson. In his earliest youth 
 he was a close student of the German School; accurate 
 scholar; and, to crown all, he had a cultivated eloquence, 
 which frequently outshone the brilliancy of the masters of 
 speech. In all his published and spoken discourses there 
 is not a slovenly sentence, nor a broken metaphor. Whilst 
 the tutored ear listens to him with admiration, the ignobile 
 vulgus still find a something in his words, which showed 
 he is a man of the people. 
 
 I lectured before the Conference upon Sherman's 
 March to the Sea. The Rev. W. C. Endly, a clear, 
 nervous, and able preacher, was pastor. His atmosphere 
 is revivals and church-building. I met many old com- 
 panions: Kellam, Ball, Kneale, Badgely, Barnes, Close, 
 Farrah, Card, Graham, Hagerman, Hanawalt, Disney, 
 Dunbar, Barren, Barker, Baker, Edwards, Gallinmore, 
 Jewett, Keyes, Roberts, McCaskey, Jones, Martindale, 
 Van Camp, J. P. Mills and B. J. Mills, Painter, Palmer, 
 Mather, Ruff, Struggles, Thompson, Torbett, Upp, Wag- 
 goner, Kelser, Clark, Richards, Lawrence, Reece, Booth, 
 Smith, Pollock, Castle, McCullough, Russell, Long, 
 Chase, Patterson, Bush, Place, Wolfe, Knapp, Hastings, 
 Dawson, Wilson, Gay, Winter, Mead, Grosse. 
 
 My last charge in Cleveland was at Woodland Hills 
 Avenue. The congregation had been scattered by fac- 
 tions. There was nothing left but the church without a 
 door, and a few determined spirits, who had not joined 
 in chanting the requiescat in pace. I record their names as 
 among the most godly and enthusiastic Methodists I 
 
128 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 eyer met. They were all English and Gladstonian Lib- 
 erals, who hailed John Bright as their chief. They were 
 Wimper, Price, the venerable Mr. James and his devoted 
 wife, Orgell, Richards, Henderson, Horton; the Thomas 
 family, a host in themselves; Griffiths, Gage. I gave a 
 lecture to put the church in order. A revival followed, 
 and over seventy new members were added. I have a 
 warm place in my heart for these whole-souled Wesleyans. 
 Their class-meetings were like a prairie on fire. One of 
 the highest compliments I ever received was from one of 
 them. "Brother Pepper," at the close of my term said he, 
 "you do not put out all your sails sails at once," refer- 
 ring to the common practice of preachers giving their 
 best sermons at first. I shall ever remember with feelings 
 of deepest pleasure my connection with this Church. It 
 is now pacified, harmonious, and flourishing. It seems 
 that I was ordained to be a settler of Church difficulties. 
 Scovill Avenue was split almost in two. Many of the 
 best paying members thought there was no necessity for 
 the Church. Those who remained worked strenuously 
 with honor and fidelity. Instead of affairs being compli- 
 cated and unsatisfactory, the Church is prosperous. The 
 Brecksville Charge had only forty members; but every 
 one counted. They paid the largest salary, and, in pro- 
 portion to membership, paid the largest subscriptions to 
 the benevolent institutions of any Church in the Confer- 
 ence. They were all Yankees; intelligent and enterpris- 
 ing, a lecture-patronizing community. The place is so 
 healthy, it is said that nobody ever dies there except of 
 great old age. I used to visit Mrs. Boyd, almost a hun- 
 dred years old. She kissed the hand of Lafayette, and 
 was very proud of it. She told me that the great French- 
 man took back with him to France a barrel of American 
 
PASTORAL MEMORIES. 129 
 
 earth to be buried in. Rev. George Greene resided here. 
 So did Rev. Brush, both valuable helpers. There were 
 also Fathers Newland, Reinhardt, Garietty, Foster. 
 Brother Kuss and his amiable wife were always to the 
 front in every good work; but the chief financial worker 
 was a gifted woman, Mrs. Dillow ; and Mrs. Butler, presi- 
 dent of the Ladies' Society, was a valuable helper. 
 
 9 
 
Chapter VII. 
 VOYAGE ABROAD IRELAND AND ITALY VISITED. 
 
 FROM Mount Vernon I was sent, in 1878, to Bellevue, 
 a pleasant town, partly situated in two counties 
 Huron and Sandusky and one of the prettiest places in 
 Northern Ohio. The Church and community possessed 
 many men whose names were known all over the coun- 
 try the Higbees, the Boyers, the Harknesses, the 
 Bradys, the Woods, the Woodwards, the Places, the 
 Bakers, the Millers. Two of the official members of my 
 Church had been members of the Legislature. 
 
 Towards the close of my third year here, with my 
 wife, I revisited Ireland, neither of us having seen the dear 
 old land for over twenty-five years. We sailed from New 
 York on the 3Oth of May, 1881, and after a pleasant voy- 
 age of ten days arrived in Liverpool. Thence we immedi- 
 ately departed for Ireland. As we approached the scenes 
 of our youth and childhood, and recognized the spots 
 remembered so well, the quarter of a century of change 
 seemed blotted out, and we were once more care-free, 
 laughing children. We agreed that I should call first 
 upon my wife's mother, while she remained outside in the 
 jaunting-car. "Can you give me a glass of water?" I 
 asked, as the old lady appeared at the door in answer to 
 my knock. "O yes," she replied, "would you not rather 
 have a glass of milk?" I did not make myself known, but 
 asked her a number of questions. "Have you any rela- 
 tions in America?" "Yes, indeed, sir; I have a daughter 
 there." "What is her name? Perhaps I may have met 
 
 130 
 
VOYAGE ABROAD. 131 
 
 her." "Pepper is her name, and her husband is a Meth- 
 odist preacher." "I heard him preach two weeks ago, and 
 saw his wife, a beautiful fair-haired woman. They have 
 six children." "It is the very same, sir; and here are their 
 pictures." The conversation now became very exciting, 
 as she begged me for news of her daughter, whom I had 
 seen so recently. My wife could wait outside no longer, 
 and rushing in, embraced her mother, exclaiming, 
 "Mother, it is I, your daughter Christine!" After some 
 minutes of intense feeling, my aged mother-in-law turned 
 toward me, and said, "It is George ; I recognize him now." 
 
 I remained here for a week, and then, leaving Mrs. 
 Pepper with her mother, proceeded to the Continent, vis- 
 iting London, Paris, Milan, Rome, Florence, and Venice. 
 This was my first visit to Southern Europe. 
 
 In London I stopped long enough to hear Bright, 
 Gladstone, the Irish orators in Parliament, and some of 
 the great preachers. I was impressed with Spurgeon. 
 
 My first sight of the Alps is a memory that never can 
 be forgotten. I recalled the saying of Portia, in the play, 
 when Bassanio had chosen the right casket, and also the 
 fair maiden, "How all the other passions fleet to air." 
 There was no room for any other emotion but that of 
 wonder and awe. Never have I seen mountains so grand, 
 meadows so green, lakes so clear and beautiful, air so 
 genial and so soft ! And never did I hear music to equal 
 that which I heard in the silence and solitude music call- 
 ing us back, with tears in our clouded eyes, to flowers 
 that had faded, and the haunts of summer birds whose 
 songs are hushed forever ! Crossing the Alps is the event 
 of a lifetime ; it is a memory for all time ! 
 
 At last I was in Italy, and the apostrophe of Robert 
 Browning came to me, "O woman country!" I was in 
 
132 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Italy; the ambition of a lifetime was realized, Italy, 
 where minds of the loftiest nature have derived stimulants 
 to brave great enterprises, victorious actions, and from the 
 grandest heights have received inspiration that has car- 
 ried them over fields of flame! Italy, whose statesmen 
 have decided the fate of armies, scepters, and empires! 
 Italy, whose renowned martyrs, especially Savonarola, 
 rose in a dark and troubled night as the day-stars of Ital- 
 ian regeneration! Italy, whose patient industry clothes 
 the land with richness, fertility, and beauty ! 
 
 The scenery of Italy is unsurpassed. Her matchless 
 lakes, Como and Maggiore, which for a thousand years 
 have been celebrated in song and oratory, are probably 
 the most charming sheets of water ever seen by mortal 
 eye. 
 
 Pen can not paint nor heart conceive the splendor of 
 a summer in this favored land. Upon one side, masses of 
 rich crimson clouds recline upon beds of brilliant purple; 
 on the opposite side of the sky, a proscenium of colors, 
 gold and crimson, are moving to and fro, while splendid 
 arches, like heaven's own rainbow, seem to encircle earth 
 and sky. It is nature singing its hymn of praise to the 
 Creator. 
 
 There is not a spot in Italy that is not vital with pa- 
 triotic memories and desperate gallantry. It was said of 
 a patriot soldier of Greece that, after the battle of Mara- 
 thon, a fevered uneasiness appeared in his countenance. 
 He seldom slept and rarely spoke, and when asked why, 
 after such a glorious victory, he was not contented, he 
 replied, "The trophies of Miltiades will not let me sleep/' 
 And surely the trophies of Italy, which flash on us from 
 her thousand fields and encircle travelers with the light 
 of liberty trophies reared on the Alps, trophies reared 
 
SAVONAROLA. 
 
VOYAGE ABROAD. 133 
 
 at Rome, trophies reared on the banks of the Po, trophies 
 reared on the classic soil of Sicily surely these splendid 
 trophies will rise up from the depths of memory. Italy is 
 composed of a family of beautiful sister cities. Milan, the 
 city of industry, commerce, and music, crowns her head 
 with the wreath of victory of her "cinque giornati" her 
 five days' glorious war for liberty. Venice, fair and beauti- 
 ful as a dream in a maiden's breast, is called the ideal. 
 Genoa is the superb city of palaces. Florence is the city of 
 the beautiful, city of flowers, and the flower of cities, and 
 the city that contains the treasures of Italian art. Rome 
 is holy ground to two-thirds of the Christian world. Rome, 
 impressive, immortal Rome! What a tide of memories 
 rush upon the brain and heart as the traveler beholds 
 Rome for the first time! There is not only grandeur in 
 the sight, but in the thought of the great sight ! He feels 
 as if ennobled by the destiny which has brought him 
 hither to meditate amidst scenes so renowned and holy. 
 Rome, seated upon her seven hills as of yore, stretches 
 away before me! The city whose history involves the 
 annals of our race ! The great mother of heroes exalted 
 by the loftiest achievements of valor and piety ! No other 
 city has ever been the theater of such events. Who can 
 behold it for the first time without emotion? The states- 
 man, the philosopher, the Protestant, the Catholic, the 
 Jew, and the Gentile, all alike regard it with the deepest 
 interest. It is the devout Christian who says, with Byron, 
 "Rome, my country, city of the soul." 
 
 The eye is bewildered with the vast variety of objects 
 to be seen in Rome. The Coliseum is an enormous build- 
 ing, erected by Vespasian to commemorate the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, and to gratify the pride and cruelty 
 of the people. What vastness ! what strength ! what walls, 
 
134 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 that have resisted the fury of the elements and of time for 
 eighteen hundred years! The Triumphal Arch of Titus 
 has one long arch which is very beautiful. Two only of 
 its eight marble columns are perfect. On one side, Titus 
 is seated on his car of triumph; on the other are the 
 spoils of the Temple, copied from the originals, the seven- 
 branched candlestick, the table of the shewbread, which 
 were all transported to Rome. 
 
 To return to the Coliseum, the grandest of all ruins. 
 It is the glory of Rome. Great and beautiful even in de- 
 cay, it stands in lonely grandeur, speaking to the heart 
 in a voice so touching, awakening feelings so powerful, 
 so unutterable, so melancholy! In one small portion 
 the extensive elevation is preserved entire. It rises in 
 lofty grandeur, arch over arch, simple, noble, harmo- 
 nious! Within, the hand of violence and time is more 
 apparent and impressive; the marble seats are broken, 
 the sloping walls and arches that supported them are 
 shattered. The mind loses itself in contemplating the 
 great arena. The very galleries were so numbered that 
 every Roman citizen knew his seat. There were fre- 
 quently eighty-seven thousand persons present. The 
 maids and matrons came twice a day to see the gladiato- 
 rial games. So terrible was the butchery that an aqueduct 
 was built to supply the water necessary to cleanse the 
 arena after these bloody exhibitions. It is long before we 
 awaken from the solemn majesty, the painful associa- 
 tions arising, when we remember that here thousands 
 of Christians met a fearful death, and that thousands 
 looked on with admiration. Blessed forever be the pure 
 spirits of these martyrs, whose blood sanctifies this monu- 
 ment of imperial greatness, and invests it with a holier 
 grandeur than its other loftier pretensions! The victor 
 
VOYAGE ABROAD. 135 
 
 and the vanquished, the master and the slave, the tyrant 
 and his victim, are all forgotten ! But above shines the 
 same unclouded sky, the same gentle breezes whisper 
 through the great ruins, the same glamour lights up all 
 objects with its radiance ! 
 
 Then there is St. Peter's. How magnificent is the ap- 
 proach to it! That grandest of colonnades, the noble 
 piazza, the ancient obelisk, brought from Egypt two 
 thousand years ago, the sparkling fountains ! The fagade 
 of St. Peter's has been criticised, but I was disarmed. I 
 felt like approaching it upon my bended knees. The co- 
 lossal genius of Michael Angelo towers exultingly to the 
 skies in that majestic dome, which seems built for eter- 
 nity. There the spectator, whose mind has become ex- 
 panded while pacing those glorious aisles, has no diffi- 
 culty in comprehending that in St. Peter's the founders 
 designed the temple of the Christian world. This was 
 the ambition which laid its foundation-stone, and which 
 has actuated every succeeding pontiff in adorning it. 
 
 When returning from this first visit to Europe it was 
 during the time when President Garfield was nearing 
 death I was called upon to perform a funeral ceremony 
 at sea. A passenger died, and the captain called upon 
 me to take charge of the melancholy ceremony. He was 
 a very kind-hearted captain. The passenger had left a 
 large family in Ireland. The captain suggested that I 
 give a lecture for the benefit of the widow and children; 
 and he also suggested the subject of the lecture, "Amer- 
 ica," as so many were going there. I agreed, upon con- 
 dition that the English flag should be taken down and 
 the Stars and Stripes be placed at the masthead. He 
 was very willing, and the arrangements were made. Pa- 
 triotic songs were sung, and I began my lecture. When 
 
136 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 I was about half-way through, the pilot came on board, 
 announcing that "Garfield was still living." The lecture 
 was speedily brought to a close, and the audience cheered 
 and shouted. An incident occurred at the commence- 
 ment. Some British officers started "God save the 
 Queen." It was too much for a full-blooded Yankee 
 from Hartford, who went off, indignantly exclaiming, 
 "God d-mn the Queen! I have been in England for six 
 months, and I have heard nothing but 'God save the 
 Queen/ " 
 
Chapter VIII. 
 
 PASTORAL RELATIONS RESUMED APPOINT- 
 MENT AS CONSUL TO MILAN. 
 
 UPON my return to the United States in the fall of 
 1 88 1, I was appointed to Sandusky, a pleasant and 
 attractive city upon the historic shore of Lake Erie. The 
 Church here for years had worshiped in the basement; 
 but before the year was up, the large room was finished. 
 The first sermon I preached was upon the evening be- 
 fore the funeral of President Garfield. The hearts of the 
 people were with the dead man, and some of that com- 
 munity could not understand his death in such a cowardly 
 and cruel manner, and were disposed to question strongly 
 a belief in a wise Providence. 
 
 From Sandusky I was returned to Wooster in 1882, 
 and became pastor of Trinity Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, a very gem in architecture. This church was 
 largely built by Mr. D. Q. Liggett, of whom I have al- 
 ready spoken a generous merchant, whose heart was 
 ever touched by any worthy person's tale of woe. The 
 reception tendered me was enthusiastic and hearty. The 
 famous lawyer, Mr. John McSweeney, recited there, in 
 his own inimitable style, the "Burial of Moses." I spent 
 three years at this charge. It was here, from the Wooster 
 University, that three of my children graduated. The 
 youngest, Carrie, now with the angels, received one of the 
 honors, that of belles-lettres, and was, I believe, the first 
 girl student to be thus distinguished since the establish- 
 ment of the institution. She delivered her address in 
 
 137 
 
138 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 German, which was highly praised by many of the emi- 
 nent educators present. The day of her graduation was 
 a lovely one, and I can see her now, as she came bound- 
 ing over the campus, and, as she overtook me, asking: 
 "How did I do? Could you hear me? Did I speak loud 
 enough?" Ah yes! loud enough, clear enough to be for- 
 ever impressed upon my memory ! 
 
 While attending the university here my children 
 formed many warm attachments among the students. 
 Among others whose friendship they valued highly were 
 Mr. Alvin Findlay, now editor of the Iron Trade Review 
 in Cleveland, and the Messrs. Fred and Walter Mullins, 
 the one now a prominent attorney, and the other a suc- 
 cessful business man. 
 
 The Conference which met in Galion, after three years 
 in W r ooster, transferred me, in 1885, to Ashland. This 
 Church had a membership of three hundred, and in for- 
 mer years was among the strongest Churches in the Con- 
 ference. My family had decided to move to Cleveland, 
 my wife having become weary of the constant moving 
 which a ministry in the Methodist Episcopal Church ne- 
 cessitates, and was desirous of settling down in a perma- 
 nent home. I told this to the elder, that I could not 
 have my family with me; but nevertheless it was decided 
 that I should go to Ashland. The result proved the wis- 
 dom of the appointment. The first year a revival of great 
 magnitude was started, and hundreds .were induced to 
 begin a new life. After the revival, steps were taken to 
 erect a new church, and one was built that is probably 
 not excelled by any in the Conference. The official mem- 
 bers, out of respect for my services in the revival and for 
 building the edifice, presented me with a beautiful stained- 
 glass window, which bears this inscription : "This window 
 
PASTORAL RELATIONS RESUMED. 139 
 
 is dedicated by the pastor, Rev. G. W. Pepper, to Ire- 
 land's benefactors and martyrs Parnell, Emmet, Glad- 
 stone." 
 
 The reason I placed those distinguished names upon 
 that window were, first, I admired the men and I loved 
 their principles; then I knew it would be noticed in the 
 Wesleyan papers in England, which at that time were 
 very hostile to anything like justice to Ireland. Now 
 these same journals are its most ardent supporters, and 
 this inscription would show-them that in the United States 
 there were no such prejudices as existed in the old land. 
 I recall the names of Judge Jones, the Goods, the Stubbs, 
 the Jamesons, the Hoyts, the Blacks, the Krebs, Ames, 
 Kunkles, McNeeles, the Waggoners, Sprengles, the Cow- 
 ans, the Shinns, Deshongs, Browns, the Moores, the Fritz- 
 ingers, Whitings, Cralls, the Grosscups, the Fords, and 
 Christofels, the Brubakers and Shearers. 
 
 Among the good and patriotic women of Ash- 
 land stands the name of Mrs. Mary Freer. She has 
 always been a liberal and generous benefactor to all the 
 Churches and charities of the city. The beautiful sol- 
 dier's monument which adorns the town is her gift. Her 
 husband, Jonas Freer, a very industrious man, amassed 
 a large fortune. He was a devoted Union man during 
 the war, and his widow shared in his patriotic sentiments. 
 When President Hayes dedicated the monument, he was 
 her guest. When the new Methodist Episcopal church 
 was built, under my auspices, she gave largely. Mrs. Freer 
 is a Methodist, and very liberal. Her able lawyer, R. M. 
 Campbell, tells many good things of her her benevo- 
 lences to the poor and the orphan. The editors of the 
 Ashland papers, especially the Hon. George Hildebrand, 
 a member of the Church, rendered valuable help in the 
 
140 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 building of the magnificent new church. Mr. Ilger, as 
 president of the Social, rendered good service. 
 
 I remained in Ashland for four years years as pleas- 
 ant and delightful as I ever passed. Then, preferring to 
 live in Cleveland, I was favored by the Conference with 
 an appointment at Doylestown. Here, as in many other 
 charges, I found an old debt hanging over the church. 
 In company with Mr. Hoffman, I proceeded to raise this 
 amount, and the debt was soon liquidated. It was while 
 I was stationed at Doylestown, in the winter of 1889-90, 
 that I made a visit to Washington, to see a son and daugh- 
 ter Charles M., who was in charge of the Chicago 
 Tribune Bureau and Carrie, who was the correspondent 
 for a syndicate of papers, a very responsible position for 
 one so young and inexperienced. She said to me one 
 morning, "Father, let us go and see Mr. Elaine." I de- 
 clined, upon the ground that I did not want any office, 
 and a call upon him would naturally give a wrong im- 
 pression. But she insisted, saying that Mr. Blaine had 
 frequently asked why I did not come to see him, and, to 
 gratify her, I accompanied her. The room was full of 
 office-seekers, and I was ashamed to find myself there; 
 so I quickly retreated. The next morning my daughter 
 made another appeal to me, and I mustered up courage 
 enough to visit the State Department again. I knocked, 
 and the door was opened by a messenger, who inquired 
 if I was a diplomat, and what I wanted. I replied that 
 I was not a diplomat, and my object was merely to call 
 upon Mr. Blaine. He refused to permit me to enter, 
 saying that none but diplomats were received that day. 
 But Mr. Blaine had heard me give my name, and called 
 out to know if it was Dr. Pepper, of Ohio, and on re- 
 ceiving an answer in the affirmative, instantly begged 
 
APPOINTMENT AS CONSUL TO MILAN. 141 
 
 me to come right in. Then followed a deluge of ques- 
 tions : "Why have you not been to see me before? Where 
 do you want to go?" etc. I replied that I wanted nothing, 
 that I had simply called for the sake of past friendship, 
 and to gratify my daughter, who had told me that Mr. 
 Elaine had inquired kindly about me, saying that he was 
 under obligations to me. "That is true," he replied. 
 "Where do you want to go?" I told him that I did not 
 come as an office-seeker, and if I had, courtesy demanded 
 that I should first see Senator Sherman. "No! no!" he 
 said ; "I know you, the President knows you ; so to which 
 country do you prefer to go?" I was taken completely 
 by surprise; but having always had a longing for Italy, 
 I replied that I would like to go there. "Well," he re- 
 plied, "there are two or three fine appointments open 
 there yet. When are you going to leave the city?" "To- 
 morrow," I answered. "Wait until next Tuesday. I 
 am going to New York to-morrow to attend the Pan- 
 American banquet. Come back next Tuesday, and I will 
 have your appointment ready." 
 
 I was astonished; for I knew there had been a regi- 
 ment of ex-governors and ex-representatives, wearing 
 their sleeves off, and they could not even get a hearing 
 from the Secretary. I returned on the day specified, and 
 Mr. Elaine showed me the appointment list, indicating 
 with red ink, Milan, Florence, Naples any one of which 
 I could have. Mr. Elaine suggested Milan as being the 
 best, being the commercial and musical center of Italy; 
 that the district contained the beautiful lakes of Como 
 and Maggiore, where I could spend the summers, going 
 back and forth every morning and evening. 
 
 I accepted the offer of Milan, thanking the Secretary 
 most cordially. Soon afterwards the President confirmed 
 
142 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the nomination. It was announced in all the papers the 
 next day, and the old politicians were startled, not ex- 
 pecting it, and not knowing I was a candidate, any more 
 than I did myself when I went to Washington. My 
 daughter was overjoyed, as she was anxious to spend a 
 year or two in the poet's land, perfecting herself in Italian 
 literature. But alas! in three short months before any 
 definite arrangements had been completed for her jour- 
 ney, she had finished her studies on earth forever. 
 
 I left for my post of duty early in the spring of 
 1890, and never regretted, during my four years stay 
 there, that I had chosen this advanced, intellectual, 
 and progressive city for my residence abroad. Milan 
 is a large and ancient city. It has been twice de- 
 stroyed, once by Attila and once by Frederick Barba- 
 rossa. It was here that, in the fifth century, Constantine 
 issued the decree making Christianity the religion of the 
 Roman Empire. As early as the twelfth century it pos- 
 sessed a population of three hundred thousand, which 
 'has now become nearly half a million. It has always been 
 distinguished for its manufactures in silk and jewelry. 
 There is there at present a firm for the making of watches 
 that has been in existence for five hundred years. The 
 famous Bishop Ambrose had his seat in this city in the 
 fourth century. There is an ecclesiastical incident told 
 of him that shows his kindness of heart. It was said that 
 Monica, the mother of Augustine, came to him in tears, 
 weeping for her wayward son. The good Ambrose en- 
 couraged her, saying, "The child of so many tears can 
 never perish," and Augustine became one of the bright- 
 est saints in the Church. 
 
 Milan possesses many grand palaces and the, second 
 cathedral in the world. The Duomo, as it is called, in 
 
CONSUL AT MILAN. 143 
 
 its gorgeous exterior, is unsurpassed; in the richness of 
 its materials, in the profusion and beauty of its decora- 
 tions, it is superior to St Peter's. It is Gothic in archi- 
 tecture, built of white marble, which looks, from a dis- 
 tance, like a mountain of snow. Its nave and double 
 aisles are supported by fifty-two clustered columns 
 and fifty half-columns; and on the exterior, its roof 
 is encircled by a triple row of pinnacles or spires, 
 each about sixty feet in height, and crowned by 
 statues as large as life. . Its walls and buttresses 
 are crusted with a profusion of tracery. Upon 
 the outside there are three thousand four hundred statues, 
 which give the sacred edifice a most graceful and beauti- 
 ful appearance. The pinnacles are one hundred and 
 twenty in number. The interior contains four thousand 
 statues, representing prophets, angels, martyrs, and 
 saints. The cathedral is the wonder of wonders to tour- 
 ists from all parts of the world. The German Emperor, 
 when he first beheld it, exclaimed, "A mountain of gold 
 converted into a mountain of marble." An Italian peasant 
 being once asked his opinion of it, his quick reply was, 
 "It is worth a whole day in July," referring to good - 
 weather in the growth of his crops. It is very ancient, 
 having been begun in 1389 by Visconti, one of the old 
 nobles of Italy, who made his vast wealth by piracy. He 
 built it as an atonement for his sins. He had, in addition 
 to his crimes upon the seas, poisoned a host of his rela- 
 tives, and he supposed that by devoting his wealth to 
 religious purposes he might cancel his crimes. 
 
 A hundred years is a long time, but here is a church 
 six hundred years old. The inside is vast and rich, and 
 is mixed with a variety of styles, the Greek and the Gothic 
 predominating. This is very common among the cathe- 
 
144 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 drals in Italy, arising, doubtless, from the tastes of the 
 various architects who have been employed. 
 
 Milan possesses, like the other cities of Italy, many 
 schools of science and of painting, and galleries of art, 
 where collections of paintings by the great masters are 
 kept, and where an annual exhibition of paintings takes 
 place. In this city is perhaps the most famous picture 
 in the world, the celebrated fresco painting of Leonardo 
 da Vinci. He was a native of Milan, and the Milanese are 
 justly proud of him. The fresco of the Last Supper 
 is much damaged by time and the brutal treat- 
 ment it received from Napoleon's soldiers, who camped 
 in the refectory. The greater and more expressive part 
 of the faces may be well discerned; that of the Divine 
 Savior is such a personification of his magnetic charac- 
 ter that it is impossible to look at it without the most 
 profound reverence and emotion. Judas is easily recog- 
 nizable, but the most expressive face among all the apos- 
 tles is Thomas, as he lifts up his finger and asks, "Lord, 
 is it I?" 
 
 Milan has always been celebrated for its patriotism. 
 There is a fine monument recently dedicated to the mem- 
 ories of the dead heroes who, a few years ago, drove out 
 the Austrians when six hundred men and women drove 
 out of the city sixteen thousand Austrians. The gallant 
 and patriotic people realized that liberty was more to 
 them than the golden vision of the poet, more than the 
 dream of the visionary, more than the schemes of the 
 politician or the statesman. The very women fought like 
 heroines, and many of their names are inscribed upon this 
 monument. The love of liberty burns brightly in the 
 hearts of these people. It needs but the breath of inde- 
 pendence to shine forth in all its ancient luster. 
 
HEAD OF CHRIST, BY LEONARDO DA VINCI. 
 
CONSUL AT MILAN. 145 
 
 The stately theater, La Scala, is one of the attractions 
 of the city. It was here that Patti, Albani, Emma Abbott, 
 received their musical training. 
 
 The Lombard Capital is finely located. Guarded upon 
 one side by the Alps, and upon the other by the blue 
 mountains of the Apennines, here is the great plain of 
 Lombarcly, level as a floor, covered with luxuriant fields, 
 mulberry groves, and vineyards. It is the principal seat 
 of manufacture, five million dollars worth of silk passing 
 through the American consulate to New York. 
 
 The leading characteristics of the people are their 
 push, their activity, their industry, and their enterprise. 
 There are twelve or more daily papers, the Secolo, pub- 
 lished by Sonzogno, and L'ltalia del Popolo, published 
 by Dario Papa, being the leading republican newspapers 
 in Italy. The Milanese are tall and handsome ; the women 
 of the cultivated classes are strikingly beautiful, and as 
 they roll past daily in their gorgeous carriages, they 
 look as if they possessed the very gold of nature. And 
 the women of the peasant classes also have beautiful 
 faces, sweet and Madonna-like, especially when young. 
 
 There are several fine Protestant churches, among 
 the oldest being the Waldensian. What a throng of 
 recollections that name calls up ! The memories of the 
 brave thousands who perished rather than surrender their 
 dearest religious convictions, is one of the historical facts 
 that can never be forgotten. Milton, in his noble ode, 
 refers to these heroic confessors of the faith : 
 
 " Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered saints, whose bones 
 
 Lie scattered on the Alpine mountains cold ! 
 . . . Their martyred blood and ashes sow 
 
 O'er all the' Italian fields, where still doth sway 
 
 The triple Tyrant, that from these may grow 
 
 A hundred fold." 
 10 
 
146 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 The Methodists are growing in Italy. Everywhere 
 we see evidences of Methodist growth and Methodist 
 prosperity. The Epworth League is making itself felt 
 and appreciated; the old-fashioned Methodist revivals 
 are in full operation. At one of their services I witnessed 
 a touching incident. At the close of a revival sermon, 
 a child of seven or eight years, with tearful emotion, 
 left his father and mother in the pew, and stepping out 
 into the aisle the church was crowded knelt down 
 and said, "Preghiamo," ("Let us pray"), and uttered a 
 simple childish prayer. The effect was thrillingly im- 
 pressive, and the audience was profoundly moved. Bishop 
 Joyce came about this time, and his sermon made a deep 
 impression. He preached the old imperishable gospel, 
 and he communicated to the people the pentecostal flame 
 with which he himself was burning. One Italian Meth- 
 odist said to me the next day, "I felt as if I had wings." 
 Dr. Joyce is not, as a preacher, what one of his Irish 
 countrymen said of another, "Like green timber in a 
 stove, all smoke and no fire." 
 
 I observed, while there, that Italian Methodism needs 
 several changes. Bishop J. M. Walden, when in Italy, 
 made a thorough investigation. He is not an optimist 
 about the progress of the Methodist Church in any 
 European country. He is a wise and thoughtful observer, 
 taking time to make inquiries. He carries John Wesley's 
 sermons in his pocket, and reads them in his travels. He 
 visits the schools, and makes notes of all that particularly 
 attracts his attention. 
 
 One of the greatest needs of Methodism in Europe 
 is a native bishop who can speak the modern languages. 
 There is a commodious Methodist edifice, dedicated in 
 Rome a few years ago, near the War Department, and 
 
METHODIST CHURCH IN ROME. 
 
CONSUL AT MILAN. 147 
 
 in full view of the king's palace. It is one of the most 
 audacious enterprises of American Methodism. It is 
 grandly located on the road between old and new Rome. 
 It is to be the headquarters for all the Methodist work 
 in Italy. It will contain a college, a theological seminary, 
 a Deaconess Home, a printing-house. The Rev. Mr. 
 Reeder, a minister of the North Ohio Conference, a Chris- 
 tian gentleman well known for his missionary labors, gave 
 to this institution the generous sum of fifteen thousand 
 dollars. Already over one hundred thousand dollars have 
 been raised, and it will require much more to complete 
 the work. 
 
 One of the most gratifying results of the preaching 
 of these Italian Methodists is the utter absence of con- 
 troversial attacks upon the religion of the great mass of 
 the Italians. One would hear more from a roving secre- 
 tary before an Annual Conference in America in five min- 
 utes, about the Pope, than he would hear in Italy in ten 
 years from Methodist preachers. While such frothy 
 declamations may delight the groundlings, it never suc- 
 ceeds in reaching those who should be benefited by the 
 gospel of Christ. These foolish talkers, when denounc- 
 ing fancied dangers, are usually silent upon the great sins 
 which threaten our Protestant Churches. When I hear 
 these declamatory orations, I am always reminded of the 
 young English curate who asked Bishop Horsley's ad- 
 vice as to how to preach without notes. The bishop ad- 
 vised him to memorize his sermons. "But suppose I for- 
 get," replied the curate. "Then," said the bishop, "abuse 
 the 'Yankees,' and when your memory fails a second or 
 third time, abuse the Irish, the Pope, and the Jews." 
 
 I remember an old Californian who was desirous of 
 visiting the Italian Methodist church while I was in Milan. 
 
148 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 A portion of his family went to the cathedral to hear the 
 music, but he insisted upon going to his own Church. 
 The minister preached a sermon of rare power, the sing- 
 ing was full of the old Methodist fire, and the worship 
 was very fervent. The Californian was much interested. 
 He did not understand a word of Italian ; but the thor- 
 ough earnestness of the worshipers touched his heart, and 
 he became intensely excited. The collectors came with 
 their boxes. The custom w r as for the congregation to 
 sing when the collection was being taken up. So when 
 the collector presented the box to him, he put both his 
 hands into his pockets, and drew out several ten-franc 
 pieces. The singing still continued, and he also contin- 
 ued drawing out the ten-franc notes, much to the col- 
 lector's confusion. 
 
 The absolute need of a native bishop was forced upon 
 my attention in a rather unpleasant manner. The present 
 plan of American bishops visiting the foreign Confer- 
 ences is expensive, faulty, and useless. A native-born 
 bishop, speaking the language, and in thorough sympathy 
 with the people in their political and intellectual aspira- 
 tions, would be far more efficient. During my residence 
 in Milan, I saw an illustration of this, in the case of Bishop 
 J. H. Vincent, who was appointed by his colleagues to 
 preside over the Italian Conference at Rome. He was ad- 
 vertised to preach at Milan on a certain date, and was 
 represented as being known in two hemispheres as a 
 scholar, an author, and a speaker of rare eloquence. The 
 press had been notified of his engagement, and expecta- 
 tion was on the qui vive to hear this famous American ex- 
 plain the peculiarities of the Methodist Church, of which 
 most of the Italians know nothing. I, too, shared in this 
 public feeling, and was anxious to hear the gifted divine. 
 
CONSUL AT MILAN. 149 
 
 irrespective of the pride I felt in having a countryman, 
 chartered and commissioned by his Episcopal brethren, 
 placed in such a conspicuous position. Rooms had been 
 taken at the most prominent hotel, and two presiding 
 elders were in constant waiting for days to render honors 
 to the distinguished visitor. 
 
 A large crowd, including many eminent Italians, was 
 present that beautiful Sunday morning to hear the dis- 
 tinguished American. Unfortunately for the cause of 
 Methodism, Bishop Vincent failed to appear. No noti- 
 fication that he was not coming was sent, and no expla- 
 nation of his absence was received. It was afterwards 
 learned that he was sojourning placidly at Lake Lucerne, 
 the attractions of the place proving too great to be aban- 
 doned for so trivial a thing as this engagement to preach. 
 
 Among the Italian friends who were present were" Mr. 
 Dario Papa and his American wife, an accomplished 
 and kind-hearted lady. Dario Papa was the editor of 
 U Italia del Popolo, the leading republican paper of Italy. 
 He made it a tremendous power in the interests of the 
 operatives. In a few years he won an eminence, a fame, 
 and a name which few have succeeding in reaching. He 
 loved Italy, and the grand outbursts of indignation 
 against the oppressors of his native land, the fond anxiety 
 with which he portrayed her beauty and her heroism, the 
 sad and mournful murmurs with which he dwelt on her 
 misfortunes and her sufferings, are a part of the history 
 of Italy. Wherever the Italian heart shall weep or burn 
 at the thought of his country's wrongs, the writings of 
 Dario Papa will give new inspiration and power. He 
 died a few years ago. His devoted wife returned to the 
 United States, where she has enriched the North Amer- 
 ican Review, and other magazines, with her able articles. 
 
Chapter IX. 
 
 INCIDENTS OF CONSULAR LIFE DISTINGUISHED 
 
 VISITORS. 
 
 THERE is no department of the foreign service of the 
 United States so misunderstood and unappreciated 
 as the consular system. It has been criticised by every 
 tyro, and by every tourist who fancied himself overlooked 
 or slighted; by every member of Congress who is ambi- 
 tious to win a reputation for economy with his constit- 
 uents. Frequently some mugwump, suddenly seized with 
 a fit of civil service, overhauls all our consular establish- 
 ments, and substitutes literary foppery for practical sense. 
 He harps, like another Paganini, on one string, or, like 
 the cuckoo, sings but one refrain. 
 
 The United States consul has many trials to endure 
 and many sacrifices to incur. Out of his slender salary 
 he is expected to entertain lavishly and to contribute to 
 every Church and charitable institution. If a distin- 
 guished American, an Ex-President, or general, or states- 
 man, takes a journey around the world, as did General 
 Grant a few years ago, and happens to visit the city where 
 a consul is located, that consul is expected to give an 
 elaborate and costly banquet, where the leading social 
 aristocrats, merchants, and manufacturers are invited to 
 meet him. 
 
 It is not necessary here to give the history of consuls 
 to go back to Rome, or cite the illustrious example of 
 Napoleon, the first consul honored by the title. In the 
 United States the system of sending consuls abroad com- 
 
 150 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. 151 
 
 menced immediately after the Revolution, when they were 
 appointed without salaries. In 1856 a law was passed 
 grading consulships into seven classes. The class without 
 a fixed salary was allowed to engage in mercantile pur- 
 suits; consuls with salaries fixed by the Department of 
 State were to be exclusively employed in Government 
 business. The salaries range from one thousand to four 
 thousand dollars per year, being supplemented by what 
 is called notarial fees. In some cities, especially in Lon- 
 don, Paris, Milan, and BerHn, these fees increase the regu- 
 lar salary one-third, oftener more. If an American desires 
 to execute a deed, make a will, sign a contract, or any- 
 thing of that nature, it is called notarial, and the consul 
 is remunerated as a lawyer for his official services. 
 
 The duties of a consul are arduous, difficult, and 
 frequently complicated. The common idea that a consul 
 has nothing to do is very erroneous. It is his duty to see 
 that the treaties between his country and the one to which 
 he is appointed are faithfully carried out ; that Americans 
 arrested or defrauded are given a fair trial. In cities 
 where ships anchor, he is expected to watch the move- 
 ments of vessels, and to assist, with funds supplied by the 
 Government, distressed sailors. It is his duty to sign 
 the certificates of all invoices, and to testify that the 
 goods invoiced correspond to those manufactured. He 
 must sign three invoices one to be given to the shipper ; 
 one forwarded to the collector of the port of New York, 
 Boston, San Francisco, or wherever the goods are to be 
 delivered; one is retained in the office. Then he must 
 make reports every three months, every six months, every 
 year, to the State and Treasury Departments. He keeps 
 a record of all the invoices and notarials he receives, and 
 sends this record to the Treasury Department, which 
 
152 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 must be sworn to before a magistrate. He may be as 
 pure as Washington, as honest as Aristides, but his simple 
 word is not enough. He makes similar reports to the 
 consul-general. If there is a single error if a t is not 
 crossed, an envelope not properly sealed the report is 
 often returned for correction. To inexperienced consuls, 
 who have no clerks, but do all the work themselves, this 
 is very embarrassing. There are many other duties de- 
 volving upon the consul. He is frequently called upon 
 by the Department for reports upon banks, roads, streets, 
 methods of packing goods, commerce, railroads, beggars, 
 crimes, etc. If an American dies in his district, it is his 
 business to visit the hotel or house and get all the facts, 
 take an account of his effects, the nature of the disease, 
 the disposal of the body, and then send on name and date 
 to the Department. 
 
 The consul rents his office in a conspicuous part of 
 the city, and is solely responsible for the rent and all 
 the office expenses, although he is allowed a sum equal 
 to one-fifth of his salary for the rent by the Government, 
 nothing for servants and fuel, and only a small amount 
 for clerk hire. Unless a consul sweeps out and takes care 
 of his own office, a servant is a necessity. In many of the 
 consulates, where the salary is small, the consul can not 
 afford this, and so the servant hire is put down in the 
 expenses sent to the Government as ''stationery" or 
 "stamps." 
 
 The appointment of an American consul rests with 
 the President, and he is allowed thirty days and a month's 
 salary in advance. His appointment must be satisfactory 
 to the Government to which he is assigned, else there 
 is no exequatur given him. An exequatur is a permission 
 to exercise the functions of his office. If the new ap- 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. 153 
 
 pointee has ever said anything against the king, em- 
 peror, or queen, the fact is reported by the ambassador, 
 a copy of the speech is forwarded, and the consul might 
 as well remain at home ; for his services will not be needed 
 elsewhere. 
 
 The office hours in all the salaried consulates are from 
 ten to four. The consul has few privileges. If he is ab- 
 sent under sixty days, the vice-consul is entitled to half 
 the salary; and if over sixty days, he gets all of it. The 
 qualifications for a consul by European Governments are 
 thorough and extensive. In England, the applicant is 
 put through a searching examination. He must be able 
 to speak and write English and French, and have a prac- 
 tical knowledge of all the common branches; he must 
 serve an apprenticeship in the London office. It is the 
 same in France; he must commence undec twenty-five, 
 and must be a graduate of one of the numerous schools 
 and colleges of that country. In Italy, Germany, and 
 Belgium, similar laws prevail. Hitherto the qualifications 
 in the United States have not been so sweeping and ex- 
 acting as those of the nations mentioned. An appoint- 
 ment by the President, and confirmed by the Senate, has 
 been all that was required. There is a growing demand 
 for men whose attainments will compare favorably with 
 the consuls of other Governments. The consul should 
 have, if not a comprehensive knowledge of the laws which 
 govern nations the Jewish law, the Christian code, the 
 Roman law by all means a knowledge of the laws of 
 his own land. A knowledge of the language is absolutely 
 essential. An American appointed to a continental con- 
 sulate, and attempting to transact business without even 
 a smattering of the language, is like the Methodist 
 preacher who became an Episcopalian and desired ordi- 
 
154 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 nation. The bishop asked him, "Have you read any 
 books of ours upon the Church?" "No," was the reply, 
 "but I am going to write one." The candidate should 
 have a conversational knowledge of all the modern lan- 
 guages French, German, Spanish, and Italian. 
 
 Yet, despite all the poor salaries and lack of scientific 
 and classical attainments, our consuls rank high. An emi- 
 nent Frenchman, in an address delivered to his country- 
 men some time ago at Paris, said : "American consuls are 
 shrewd, well-educated men, placed where they can do the 
 most good, and they are required not only to look after 
 the interests of their compatriots, but also to make them- 
 selves masters of every detail respecting the commerce 
 of the countries in which they are placed, and to report 
 to headquarters as to what articles can with advantage 
 be imported to their country. Their reports are gener- 
 ally comprehensive and complete, and are read with avid- 
 ity by merchants, manufacturers, and workmen." 
 
 The duties prescribed by the consular regulations do 
 not embrace one-hundredth part of the unwritten things 
 devolving upon an American consul in any of the large 
 manufacturing cities of Europe. He is asked to arbitrate 
 in questions requiring the finesse of a finished politician 
 or a learned lawyer. He must possess the wisdom of a 
 Solomon and the wealth of a Rothschild to advise wisely 
 and aid all those who come to him for help and advice. 
 His visitors are not all of that worthy class of citizens that 
 makes one glad to acknowledge them as countrymen. 
 A Swiss, a Russian, a German, a Spaniard, if he has lived 
 a month or a day in America, as soon as he is in trouble, 
 seeks the American consulate, and demands assistance 
 on the score of being an American citizen. The consul 
 may be one of the most pacific and peace-loving of men. 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. 155 
 
 and yet his footsteps will be dogged in the daytime by 
 persistent beggars who threaten to shoot themselves in 
 his pathway if he does not give them money, and his 
 sleeping hours be haunted by the specter Remorse because 
 he did not give his last suit of clothes to the suave and 
 gentlemanly youth who asked for it. The postman brings 
 him mysterious billets-doux which, on being opened, are 
 found to contain a challenge to mortal combat from the 
 Spaniard to whom he refused to lend one hundred dollars 
 the day before ; and when he is not asked to take the part 
 of principal in a duel, he may be requested to act as second 
 to a young prince who has had a quarrel with one of his 
 countrymen. He receives letters from American women 
 requesting him to rent for them a Roman villa near Milan ; 
 or to buy, "for a lady in Kentucky," a donkey with a white 
 spot on its nose ; or for a gentleman in Boston a complete 
 suit of Roman armor breastplate, helmet, and sword. 
 Requests of this kind are always unaccompanied with 
 funds, and the consul is asked to make the purchases at 
 his own expense, and the money will be refunded if the 
 commission has been satisfactorily executed. I did this 
 once, but never a second time. Experience is a stern 
 teacher. 
 
 Those who attempt to obtain money from the consul 
 under false pretenses are many. There came to me one 
 morning a well-educated woman, of handsome presence, 
 finely dressed, and a brilliant conversationalist. She said 
 she had lately been married, and her husband was the 
 United States commercial agent at one of the East In- 
 dian ports. He was taking his vacation, had been taken 
 ill at the hotel, and, as the illness had greatly increased 
 their expenses, she would like me to cash a draft for her, 
 as it would take so long before they could get the money 
 
156 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 from home. I was obliged to refuse. The woman begged 
 and pleaded with tears, but it was no use. She then went 
 to a bank in the city, and succeeded in getting the money. 
 A few weeks later, the bank officials were anxiously inquir- 
 ing at the office if anything was known of the party. They 
 had sent the draft on to Washington for collection, and 
 found that the man was an all-around rascal, and had 
 long ago overdrawn his bank account. He had been the 
 
 United States agent at B y ; but wine, women, and 
 
 cards had proved his ruin. The woman with him was not 
 his wife. The bank was out just five hundred dollars. 
 
 For several successive days a genial gentleman 
 dropped into the office, and highly entertained the vice- 
 consul and myself with thrilling accounts of his travels. 
 At the end of a few days he desired just a small loan, 
 one hundred dollars, as he was suffering a little finan- 
 cial embarrassment, and it would be some time before 
 he could get his money from home. The loan was re- 
 fused, and as the gentleman took his departure he mur- 
 mured words the opposite of a religious character, and 
 the atmosphere about him was deeply tinged with a ceru- 
 lean hue. Before coming to Milan he had spent some 
 time at Monte Carlo, which probably accounted for his 
 financial difficulty. 
 
 One evening, about nine o'clock, two distracted young 
 women appeared at the consulate. The sights of the city 
 had proved too seductive, they had lingered longer than 
 they had intended, their money was all gone, and the 
 landlord had set their trunk in the hall. They had a 
 ticket to Paris; but that was a two days' journey no 
 money, cruel landlord, tears would the consul lend 
 them - ? The consul did, and a week later received 
 a post-office order from Paris for the amount loaned. 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. 157 
 
 My faith in human nature went up a point. Then came 
 a suave gentleman, who owned vast pine-forests in Maine. 
 His greeting was effusive. "Ah, my dear sir, I am so 
 happy to meet you ! I am a great traveler, and the first 
 thing I always do when I arrive- in a city is to hunt up 
 the consul. I know that a Government official can not 
 receive presents; but your wife is not under restrictions 
 of that kind, and I want to make her a present of a fine 
 broche shawl. O, you must not say no. I have a num- 
 ber of beautiful things I ana bringing home from India, 
 and I will feel really offended if you do not let me give 
 your wife a shawl. My things are not here, but they 
 will be in a few days, when I will bring it around. And, 
 by the way, can you not dine with me at my hotel to- 
 night you and your excellent vice-consul?" I declined; 
 but the vice-consul nibbled at the bait, and a week later 
 was presented by the hotel proprietor with a bill for board 
 for the gentleman from Maine, w r ho was traveling around 
 the country with broche shawls to give away as presents. 
 He had slipped away in the night-time, leaving nothing 
 behind but a trunk full of patent medicine, doubtless oil 
 from the pine-forests of Maine. The vice-consul was 
 obliged to settle the bill, as his acceptance of the dinner 
 invitation and publicly appearing in the man's company 
 made him responsible for his debts. Such is the law in 
 Italy. 
 
 An Italian sent in a request for an American wife, 
 saying that the American girls made better housekeepers 
 than the Italian girls. In cases of this kind a consul will 
 do well to steer clear of the filmy meshes of the little god 
 of love, or he may find a tearful American girl, after a 
 brief honeymoon, seeking to be sent back to her friends. 
 
 "Yes, I am the King of Strength, and I have called 
 
158 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 upon you to see if you will aid me in recovering twenty- 
 five dollars, of which the manager of the theater 
 
 has robbed me. You see, he paid me in paper money, and 
 I will have to have it changed into gold before I leave 
 the country, and will thereby lose twenty-five dollars." 
 
 The King of Strength could scarcely get through the 
 door, being about as broad as he was long. "I want you 
 to recommend me to a good smart lawyer, who can take 
 up the case and carry it through for me." 
 
 "Have you any signed contract to the effect that 
 you were to be paid in gold?" I asked. 
 
 "There is a contract, but it is not stated in what 
 medium the money is to be paid." 
 
 "Then I am afraid the smartest lawyer in the country 
 could not help you. Nothing goes here that is not down 
 in black and white." 
 
 "Well, I have learned a lesson then, and I will know 
 in future how to arrange a contract with a foreign 
 theatrical manager. Won't you come over to the theater 
 to-night? I can show you some feats of strength that 
 will certainly amaze you. I can bend a bar of iron double, 
 and straighten it out again. There is a complimentary 
 ticket; bring your family and come around." 
 
 One morning a woman presented herself at the office 
 who was evidently not in her right mind. She told a 
 rambling story about a visit to Genoa. She had met on 
 the steamer, coming over, an Italian family, with whom 
 she engaged to board for a while. But after arriving at 
 the house, she found there was only one sleeping-room 
 for the whole family and herself; so she decided to go 
 to a hotel. It was late at night, and every hotel refused 
 to take her, because she was alone, and she was obliged 
 to go to the depot and stay there all night. This part 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. 159 
 
 of her story was afterward corroborated. She desired 
 the consul to send a telegram for her to her brother 
 in New York. She said that her brother was dead, but 
 he would get the telegram anyway. She then dictated 
 a wild and incoherent message that would have taken a 
 month's salary to send, but I did not send it. A servant 
 was sent with her to a quiet boarding-place, and nothing 
 more was heard of her for several days. Then she came 
 in one morning, saying she had received an answer from 
 her brother, and she desired to pay for the telegram 
 that was . quietly resting in my waste-basket. I said it 
 did n't matter about the money, and for her not to worry 
 about it. But she insisted, and as she was becoming 
 nervous and hysterical, I said I guessed a franc would 
 cover the amount. She paid me this sum, and I sur- 
 prised the next beggar I met by dropping it into his 
 hand. This woman traveled all over France and Italy, 
 and why her relations or friends permitted it will always 
 remain a mystery. Five minutes' conversation with her 
 would reveal to the most obtuse that she was mentally 
 unbalanced. 
 
 These are a few of the different varieties of callers at a 
 consular office. There are some who, when their demands 
 for money are refused, threaten dire things to the consul. 
 They will write at once to the Department at Washing- 
 ton, and have him removed; or they will write to the 
 American papers, and have him exposed ; or they will pub- 
 lish his misdeeds to the ends of the earth. The mis- 
 deeds are supposed to be the misappropriation of munif- 
 icent funds confided by the Government to his keeping 
 for the benefit of his impecunious countrymen abroad. 
 
 Italians often come to him for assistance in recover- 
 ing lost relatives, lost either in America or elsewhere. 
 
160 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 One little dark-eyed woman sought my office, and begged 
 me to see if the United States would not indemnify her 
 for the loss of her husband. He had sailed for America 
 or Australia she did not know which and as he had 
 never returned, she thought the United States ought to 
 make good his loss. Another Italian woman had been 
 told that the United States Government would settle her 
 claim of one hundred and fifty dollars against a missing 
 boarder the son of a Philadelphia clergyman. Why 
 Philadelphia, and why clergyman, I can not say; but the 
 majority of missing boarders, leaving unpaid bills behind 
 them, are represented as sons of Philadelphia clergymen. 
 
 A man from Cincinnati posted a notice in one of the 
 principal hotels in Milan to the effect that a certain bar- 
 ber in that city had died, and left a fortune of a million 
 dollars. Immediately my office was besieged by an army 
 of relatives, all anxious to establish their relationship, and 
 secure a slice of the fortune. Communication was opened 
 with the authorities at Cincinnati, when it was learned that 
 the barber had died and left several children for the city 
 to support! 
 
 I wish to say here, though it has no relation to what 
 has preceded, that I never found more faithful and de- 
 voted servants than in Italy. When we decided to return 
 to America, we immediately told the servants, in order 
 that they might have an opportunity to find situations 
 elsewhere. One maid, Ernesta, was successful in find- 
 ing a place at once, and she was to go to it as soon as we 
 left. But the days and weeks passed, and still we were 
 detained. Her new employer became impatient, and told 
 her she must come at once, or she could not have the 
 situation. Ernesta then told us that if we were sure that 
 we would remain a month longer, she would give up the 
 
DRIVE BETWEEN MILAN AND MONZA. 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. l6l 
 
 situation and remain with us. But we did not know. As 
 the Government was delaying the appointment of a, new 
 consul, it might be a month, and it might be only a week. 
 We advised her to go at once to the new situation, much 
 as we would miss her, and with tears she left us. A week 
 later, at her usual hour, ten o'clock, she walked in, and 
 resumed her duties. On questioning her, she told us she 
 had worked faithfully for her new padrona a week, and 
 then had gone to her and said, "Well, are you satisfied 
 with me?" "Yes." "And with my work?" "Yes, en- 
 tirely satisfied." "Then let me go back to my padrone 
 Americane, and stay until they go to America, and then 
 I will come and stay with you as long as you want me to." 
 The Italian woman hesitated ; she did not like to lose the 
 new servant that gave such satisfaction. "You had bet- 
 ter let me go," said Ernesta, shrewdly, "and then I will 
 come back to you ; if you do not, I will go any way, and 
 I will not come back at all." So she came and stai'd with 
 us until our departure, some three or four months later, 
 when she still found the other situation open to her. Only 
 an Italian peasant woman, and yet the last we saw of her 
 little, old, wrinkled face, the tears were streaming down 
 it as she left the depot as our train was speeding away 
 from Milan. 
 
 There is one class of United States officials who have 
 never been appreciated according to their deserts ; I mean 
 the vice-consul. These unknown and unrewarded men 
 have rendered valuable services to their countrymen. 
 They speak all the modern languages of Europe, and have 
 a practical knowledge of the commercial and other affairs 
 which interest the countries they represent. Mr. Elaine 
 said to me, when I received my appointment to Milan, 
 "You will find there a tried, true, and faithful vice-consul 
 
362 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 in Mr. Anthony Richman." I found Mr. Elaine's words 
 true, and many an American can also testify to the same ; 
 for they have received from him helpful words and wise 
 counsel. Milan is the great musical city of the world. The 
 very air is charged with music, and hither come annually 
 hundreds of inexperienced American girls. These girls 
 .always found in Anthony Richman a true friend and bene- 
 factor when they needed help and comfort. It was said of 
 him that he "would walk his feet off for an American," 
 and I found this to be almost literally true. Somewhere 
 in one of our Western cities lives a clergyman. He was 
 .spending his honeymoon in Italy, when his beautiful bride 
 was seized with a fatal illness. He could not understand 
 .a word of the language, and the hotel people were seized 
 with a panic. The bride died, and could not be buried 
 without a permit from the Government at Rome. In his 
 trouble and despair, the clergyman came to the consulate, 
 and flung himself upon the floor. Mr. Richman procured 
 the necessary papers, and the wife of three months was 
 buried in the beautiful cemetery at Milan. I know not 
 if the memory of that clergyman sometimes travels back 
 to Italy, and visits a lonely grave ; but I do know that as 
 long as Anthony Richman lived, he and his wife went 
 annually and placed a bouquet of flowers on the grave 
 of the young American buried so far from home and 
 friends. 
 
 He died at the close of my term, and it became my 
 melancholy privilege to deliver his funeral oration. As 
 I recounted the lovable traits of his character his hon- 
 esty ; his charity, a hand open as the day to the appeal of 
 the suffering; his integrity, a more honorable man never 
 held position under our Government ; his patriotism, the 
 audience responded in the Italian fashion, "Bravo ! 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. , 163 
 
 bravo !" He stood by me in the two darkest hours of my 
 life, and his memory will be forever dear to me. 
 
 He had been in the office at Milan nearly twenty years, 
 and was thoroughly conversant with all the details con- 
 nected with the consular business, and his place was hard 
 to supply. 
 
 American consuls in the faithful discharge of their 
 duties often incur great risks to their positions, and occa- 
 sionally to their lives. If their reports criticise the action 
 of the exporters and manufacturers, complaint is made 
 to the Government, and their removal is demanded. 
 Again, if their reports refer adversely to the teachers and 
 professors of music, painting, or sculpture, they take their 
 chances of being stabbed or shot down in the streets. 
 There have been several cases where consuls, after their 
 removal from office, have been sued for damages, because 
 of their honest reports to the Department. I had seen, 
 during my residence in Milan, so many American girls 
 deceived and driven to the verge of despair by the high 
 expectations which they were led to entertain of immedi- 
 ate success in music, that I felt it my duty to write a state- 
 ment to the authorities at Washington, telling the facts 
 as to the expense of board, tuition, and of certain Italian 
 customs of which American girls, and of course their 
 parents, know nothing. The report was deemed of such 
 importance that the State Department gave it immedi- 
 ately to the press. It was widely circulated in the United 
 States, and copied into all the leading papers of Europe. 
 Labouchere, the brilliant and caustic editor of Truth, re- 
 ported it. I will append a synopsis of it here: "Rev. 
 G. W. Pepper, United States consul at Milan, has made 
 an interesting report upon the difficulties encountered by 
 American musical students. He says : 'The great majority 
 
1 64 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of young students who come to finish off their musical 
 education return to their homes disgusted. The selection 
 of a teacher is one of the most difficult problems which 
 confront the new arrival. Now that the two famous 
 teachers, San Giovanni and Lamperti, are dead, there 
 are about one hundred and fifty others, more or less culti- 
 vated. Young women who are wrongly allowed to come 
 alone to this country are met by another difficulty a 
 social etiquette which forbids them taking a lesson unless 
 a third party is present, and which condemns their ap- 
 pearing alone in public. This custom is gradually giving 
 way to more advanced and liberal ideas, but the violation 
 of it has recently placed several American women in most 
 annoying positions. 
 
 1 'The price of lessons is, on an average, twenty dol- 
 lars a month, the rent of a piano fifty cents per month, 
 board $30, lessons in the Italian language forty cents per 
 hour. 
 
 " 'But however well equipped and however strong the 
 energy of the young people, they are not prepared for the 
 difficulties which await them. After the year or two re- 
 garded as sufficient to prepare them for their profession, 
 they soon find that without a year's more study the time 
 and money spent are utterly lost. At this point a few, 
 being refused further help from home, or realizing that 
 their talents do not justify them in making any further 
 effort, abandon the profession, and return to their homes. 
 In three years, however, out of a hundred who have come 
 to Milan to have their voices tested, only one, to my 
 knowledge, received an honest verdict from the master to 
 the effect that her voice did not justify her in commenc- 
 ing lessons. Unfortunately the majority of them are led 
 to believe that they are destined to a brilliant and suc- 
 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. 165 
 
 cessful career. They remain from month to month, from 
 year to year, continuing their lessons and waiting for en- 
 gagements. There is not so much villainy and falseness 
 on the part of the impresarios and agents as we are led to 
 believe by disappointed singers. But many of them are 
 deceitful in their dealings. 
 
 ' 'There have been three cases brought to my atten- 
 tion where the cupidity of the master in wishing to keep 
 his pupils for a long time, in order to receive their money, 
 caused the unsettling of their reason. 
 
 " 'Wrong ideas with regard to the cheapness of living 
 in Italy is also another reason for their failure. No one 
 can live here for less than sixty dollars per month, includ- 
 ing lessons, and yet the majority come with an income 
 much less. Many hope to enter the Royal Conservatory, 
 where tuition is very low ; but very few are the Americans 
 who succeed in doing so, as the conditions for entering 
 are very severe. No one over twenty years of age is ac- 
 cepted, and she must have a thorough knowledge of 
 Italian. Out of a hundred American singers now resid- 
 ing in Milan, not one has succeeded in entering this year. 
 The majority of the American students are from New 
 York, Ohio, and California. The quality of their voices 
 in purity and range is said to surpass those of other na- 
 tions; but the fact is apparent that not more than five 
 per cent of them attain great success on the stage.' ' 
 
 It would be impossible to describe the consternation 
 that followed the republication of this report in the Mi- 
 lanese and Italian papers. The teachers, agents, and pub- 
 lishers of music-books, the hotel and boarding-house 
 keepers, all people dependent on travelers for sustenance, 
 at once joined in a shout of execration; the report of the 
 consul was a conspiracy against the good character of 
 
1 66 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Milan! It looked alarmingly threatening for me, and I 
 was warned to be prepared for some sudden attack upon 
 myself or the consulate. However, the Milanese news- 
 papers came to my help. The Secolo, the most widely- 
 read paper in Italy, said, "The consul may have exagger- 
 ated, but it is unfortunately too true what he has said." 
 The Carrier e della Sera, in a vigorous editorial said : "The 
 consul has not told half the facts; there ought to be a 
 public institution for the relief of American students." 
 The Italia del Popolo, "The consul has only told the brutal 
 truth." A few days afterwards, Professor Fontana, in a 
 lecture before a literary audience, read the report and 
 indorsed it most heartily, asking, "Where is the Italian 
 consul who would have the courage of this American con- 
 sul to look after and defend his poor country-women?" 
 Copies of the papers containing notices of and comments 
 on the report were sent to the Department of State and 
 filed. 
 
 While in Milan it was often my privilege to meet men 
 and women famous in the different arts and professions. 
 It was thus that I met Miss Ada Rehan, the foremost 
 actress in America to-day. She had just finished her 
 London engagements, and had come to Italy for a rest. 
 She has the witchery and winning truthfulness of Helen 
 Fawcett; her voice is rich, strong, and musical. I con- 
 versed with her there, and afterwards in Cleveland, and 
 in answer to my questions in regard to voices and elo- 
 cution, she did not hesitate to give her opinion. Speak- 
 ing of Beecher, she said he was the "most perfect elocu- 
 tionist she ever heard in the pulpit ; that there was not his 
 equal in his day; he was master of the art of oratory. 
 Tennyson's voice was so magnificent that to hear him 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. 1 67 
 
 read some of his own matchless poems was like listening 
 to Forrest and Macready read the masterpieces of Shakes- 
 peare ; there was so much beauty in the ever-varying ex- 
 pressions that his reading was like a memory that never 
 could be forgotten." She then referred to the pope's 
 marvelous voice. It was "so sweet, so full, so pure, so 
 sincere; its lowest tones could be distinctly heard, but 
 when he raised his voice thousands had no trouble in 
 hearing him." Gladstone's voice had a "soft and brilliant 
 power, which thrilled on the ear delightfully, endowed 
 with that rotundity and full body of melody that gave such 
 distinct and mellow grandeur to the voices of Chatham, 
 Chalmers, and Grattan." Miss Rehan was accompanied 
 by her manager, Mr. Augustin Daly, the successsful and 
 popular playwright of the United States, who is entitled 
 to the thanks ot the patrons of the drama for his efforts 
 to refine and elevate the stage. 
 
 When Lord Dufferin was the British Ambassador to 
 Italy, I had the pleasure of meeting him. He received me 
 promptly, saying, "I am always glad to see an American." 
 He gave me many reminiscences of his sojourns in India, 
 Constantinople, Canada, and Rome. In all of these coun- 
 tries he represented the English Government. Lord 
 Dufferin impressed me as a man of most magnificent 
 genius in all departments of diplomacy and of literature. 
 He was moved when I told him that the simple ballad of 
 his illustrious mother, "I am bidding you a long farewell, 
 my Mary kind and true," was read and treasured in the 
 backwoods of America. Lord Dufferin, with the blood 
 of the Sheridans in his veins, has upheld in the world's 
 proudest capitals the character of his ancestors for ability 
 and power. He has, within the last few years, become in- 
 
1 68 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 timately related to our country by the marriage of his son 
 to one of America's beautiful heiresses Miss Davis, of 
 New York. 
 
 I have celebrated our glorious Independence-day 
 under many varied circumstances; but perhaps the most 
 agreeable was the one I spent upon Lake Como, the 
 guest of Dr. Terry, an American, who had lived twenty 
 years in Italy, and who never failed to commemorate, in 
 the most approved fashion, all of the national holidays of 
 his native land. The scenery on both sides of the historic 
 lake was delightful; the thick foliage of the trees appeared 
 to expand its wings upon the perfumed Italian air, and the 
 lovely tints were bestowed by a bounteous Providence ; the 
 waters were a deep rich blue, and the sky was covered 
 with clouds of purest whiteness, that appeared like large 
 swans that had fallen asleep, and in their dreams were 
 floating above us. The Stars and Stripes were floating 
 over the waters, and under a flowering mulberry-tree the 
 dinner was eaten, the speeches were made, and the toasts 
 drank. 
 
 The memories of the day filled the heart with joy 
 and thanksgiving. I thought of the friends far away, 
 of the living and the dead. The bloom of youth has 
 passed away since first I celebrated this glorious day ; but 
 let me indulge the hope that even though many misfor- 
 tunes may come to the land I love, I have still a legacy 
 to leave, rich in its hope, sacred in its duties, and grand 
 in its Constitution love for the land of Washington and 
 Lincoln. 
 
 THE KING OF ITALY. 
 
 THE first time I saw the King of Italy was when visit- 
 ing Monza, one of his summer resorts, in company with 
 
CONSULAR LIFE. 169 
 
 my daughter. It was at the time of his visit there; for 
 he usually spends the most of his summers in this his- 
 toric and charming spot. At the palace gate I saw a 
 strikingly handsome man on horseback. I asked if the 
 palace was open to visitors that day, and if so, could we 
 enter? I thought, perhaps, I was addressing one of the 
 king's officers, dressed in citizen's clothes. He responded, 
 "Certainly; everything is free, perfectly free." It began 
 to dawn upon my mind that he bore a resemblance to 
 Humbert, and that, after all, this might be the king. And, 
 sure enough, it was the Italian sovereign upon whom I 
 was gazing with my republican eyes. I ventured to ask 
 if His Majesty was there and could be seen. The words 
 came calmly from his lips, "O yes; I am the king." It 
 seemed impossible. There 'were no immense crowds, no 
 Hveried servants, no soldiers with their glittering sabers. 
 I i Md him we were from America, where Italy had hosts 
 of aa^irers, and where there were many of his subjects, 
 now American citizens, and that they were industrious, 
 frugal, and in a few years acquired a competency. "O 
 yes; America is a grand country; you are a great people, 
 that have shown yourselves worthy of political rights. 
 You are intelligent, patriotic, and moral. You have 
 thrown the gates wide open, and the world beholds your 
 Republic as a self-governed Nation by a Congress which 
 is free, full, and fair representatives of the people's 
 wishes." Reference was made to Lincoln, and the mov- 
 ing interest taken by the Italians in his assassination. 
 Cavour's dying words were remembered. When the re- 
 port reached the ears of the expiring statesman, he faintly 
 gasped out these words, "O, these Americans; they were 
 my ideals, ,and now they have murdered their benefactor!" 
 
1 70 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 "Yes," said the king, "grande uomo, grande uomo" a 
 great man, a great man "such as no other country in 
 the world can show." The king, again referring to the 
 United States, called it "the land of exhaustless wealth 
 and prosperity, and that such a land, possessing the im- 
 mortal names of Washington and Lincoln and Grant, had 
 the purest and grandest destiny ever vouchsafed to man- 
 kind." 
 
 The personal appearance of Humbert is very attract- 
 ive. He was in his fiftieth year when I met him. His 
 tower-like forehead is furrowed with many cares and 
 anxieties, making him look much older than he really 
 is. His step, however, is elastic, and his voice sounds clear 
 and round as a bell. He is not tall, but of medium height, 
 with a broad chest and a robust, healthy frame. He pos- 
 sesses the eye of a hawk, and every lineament of his coun- 
 tenance shows calm determination. There is one of his 
 eyes which has a peculiar eccentricity. It never moves, 
 but seems immovably fixed. It was caused by the fright 
 which Passanante gave him when he attempted his assassi- 
 nation. He is a splendid horseman, and as a rider has no 
 equal. He keeps three hundred horses in his stables at 
 Rome. He is a soldier, having received his first baptism 
 of blood in the Crimean War. Many anecdotes are told 
 of him by the Italians. It is said that he was traveling 
 somewhere in Italy, where he was unknown as he sup- 
 posed. He bought some oranges from a peddler, who 
 charged him an enormous price. "Why," said Hum- 
 bert, "oranges must be scarce in this part of Italy." 
 "No," said the peddler, with a merry twinkle in his eye, 
 "but kings are scarce, your Majesty." 
 
 The Italians tell with pride of the liberality of their 
 
AN OFFICER OF THE ITALIAN SHARPSHOOTERS. 
 
THE KING OF ITALY. 1 71 
 
 king in sending five thousand francs to the Waldenses 
 when they commemorated their three-hundredth anniver- 
 sary. This was a brave act, when it is remembered that 
 the House of Savoy have reddened the valleys with their 
 blood. 
 
 His welcome to the Evangelical Alliance showed that 
 his religious belief knew no shore. When the queen tried 
 to dissuade him from going to the cholera-stricken city 
 of Naples, where hundreds died of the scourge, he an- 
 swered, "My life is my people's ; my place is by their side, 
 especially in times of danger." Again he testified his de- 
 votion to democracy when he proudly declared, in a speech 
 of great power : "As long as my country can be served by 
 my remaining its king, I remain on the throne; but the 
 moment when it will be better without me, I retire to 
 private life." These are grand words and grandly spoken ; 
 but it is nobler to he chief of a Republic, elected by the 
 ballots of a free people. Purple and tiara fade in the lus- 
 ter of that simple dignity. The man who wears it need 
 not envy czar nor king. He has a nobler mission than 
 any ruler of mankind on earth. It is true that he does 
 not sit in a chair of gold and crimson cloth ; but he is en- 
 throned in the hearts of millions. 
 
 I saw the Queen of Italy some fifteen years ago, as 
 she rode amid the thrilling acclamations of enthusiastic 
 thousands along the banks of that glorious river where 
 the noble Brutus struck Csesar down. I thought, then, 
 that she was the most beautiful sovereign in Europe. She 
 is fairly tall, her profile well proportioned, her hair a 
 chestnut brown, and her eyes a resplendent blue. She is 
 not only the most beautiful Queen, but she is the best edu- 
 cated. She converses in all the modern languages ; is well 
 
172 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 read in Shakespeare, in Ruskin, and in Schiller. But her 
 loving devotion to the King is the brightest jewel in her 
 crown. She thinks more of that symbol ring, by which 
 her royal husband endowed her with his love and made 
 her sacred, than all her royal dignities. 
 
Chapter X. 
 
 DOMESTIC SORROWS A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 
 
 ALTHOUGH death had, at times, hovered near me and 
 /i. mine, yet for more than thirty years it had spared 
 us. The last one dear to me to pass away into her eternal 
 rest had been my mother, in my young boyhood. But I 
 had not been a month in my new position in the Italian 
 consulate, whither I went first to pave the way for other 
 members of my family to join me, when the news was 
 flashed over that my youngest born was dead. Like a 
 flash of lightning from a clear sky the blow struck -and 
 felled me to the earth. 
 
 It would best comport with the wishes of my dear 
 Carrie to let her passage to the tomb be mourned by silent 
 tears and regrets. I had seen her happy school-days ex- 
 pand into the noble fullness of a graceful young woman 
 quick, genial, and accomplished by intercourse with the 
 good and pure, looked upon by all who knew her with 
 admiration. Her conversation charmed the intellect by 
 its freshness and wisdom. What a pity that a nature so 
 rich, and which, like some rare perfume, exhaled itself 
 with such lavish generosity, should exhaust itself so soon ! 
 Even now, years after she has left us, my lips tremble as 
 I speak her name, and my heart sinks within me as I 
 weave this garland for her memory. When mature age 
 wraps around itself the mantle of mortality, we look with 
 the same sensation as we behold a sunset succeeding the 
 hours of closing day ; the grain is fully ripe, and we won- 
 der not that reapers begin their task. But when death 
 
 173 
 
174 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 snaps the golden thread of life's young morning, we bow 
 our heads, and our souls are torn with anguish. Bright 
 was the dawn of my dear girl's life, and brilliant the open- 
 ing promise; but it may be just as well. The Power that 
 clothed it with celestial light decreed that it should have 
 its noonday in the skies. Better that the clouds of evening 
 should not succeed so beautiful a morning. 
 
 The summer bloom is coming, but the flowers will 
 not bud and blossom for her. The golden fields of au- 
 tumn will come too, but the golden fruit will not ripen 
 for her. The dews of spring will come and go, but she 
 never again will make joy and gladness in our home. 
 Though young in years, she had forged her way to the 
 foremost ranks in her profession, and was regarded with 
 the highest esteem by those with whom her work brought 
 her in contact, and those who read her brilliant letters. 
 The President, senators, and distinguished journalists 
 sent sincerest condolences, and Wallace Bruce, the poet, 
 wrote, "I read it with dimmed eyes." Sympathy is sweet 
 to those who mourn; but only One can bring peace to 
 the wounded heart. We, too, can sing the noble dirge of 
 Marmion : 
 
 " Now is the lovely column broke, 
 The beacon's light is quenched in smoke ; 
 The trumpet's silver sound is still, 
 The warder silent on the hill." 
 
 My second daughter joned me in Italy, and we trav- 
 eled for a few months, and sought by constant motion to 
 stifle the pain that was gnawing at our hearts. But each 
 new scene, each beautiful object, reminded us the more 
 of our sorrow; for we thought continually how Carrie 
 would have admired it all how she would have loved to 
 wander through the art galleries, to peer into the old 
 
A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 175 
 
 books in the libraries, to sail about upon the beautiful 
 waters, to see all the quaint and curious things we were 
 seeing! We returned to America in the fall of 1890, and 
 a few weeks later I again departed for Italy, accompanied 
 by my wife and oldest daughter. But death, which had 
 spared us so long, again, ere another year had passed, 
 paused at our hearthstone long enough to waft away, 
 with his cruel breath, another one from out the circle. 
 When first she came to dwell at my fireside, she was in 
 the first flush of her youthful beauty. I had seen her ex- 
 pand and grow from timid bud to the blooming flower. 
 I had seen her when the first joy of motherhood glori- 
 fied her countenance. P'or nearly forty years we had 
 walked together, and when she left me all seemed blank 
 and the world a void. One brief month of illness and 
 pain, and then she joined our youngest born in the skies. 
 Almost her last words were: "I see Carrie! I will soon 
 be with her." 
 
 It was during this time of trouble that we learned to 
 know the value of true, disinterested friendship. Mrs. 
 Dario Papa, an American girl who had married an Italian 
 editor, with unselfish devotion and the tenderest affection, 
 was with us during all the sad hours, giving material aid 
 and cheerful encouragement to the well and tenderest 
 sympathy to the sick. 
 
 The funeral services in Milan were conducted with 
 the utmost simplicity. The Americans visiting the city 
 were present. The singing was led by a Presbyterian 
 gentleman from Ohio, and the hymns were strikingly 
 appropriate "Nearer, my God, to thee," "Rock of 
 Ages," and "God be with you till we meet again," having 
 been favorites of my wife. The sermon was delivered by 
 Professor Braccioforti, author of the standard Italian die- 
 
176 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 tionary, from the text, "In my Father's house are many 
 mansions." The discourse was a picture of the blessed- 
 ness of the saints, and the language was beautiful. The 
 sermon was comforting and inspiring. 
 
 After repeated efforts, permission was granted by the 
 Italian Government, the German, the Swiss, and the Bel- 
 gian, to take the beloved dead through their territories. 
 We were met in New York by two sons, and the melan- 
 choly journey was resumed. 
 
 Dr. Dimmick delivered a touching and appropriate 
 address in Cleveland. He was assisted by an old clergy- 
 man, Rev. Oliver Burgess, who had kind words to say, 
 and who referred to a similar service in the same house 
 for the dear daughter. 
 
 In one month from the time she had died in Italy we 
 placed the mortal remains of my dear wife to rest in Lake- 
 view Cemetery, by the side of the daughter who had pre- 
 ceded her by only a year and two months. 
 * After a four years' stay in Europe with my two re- 
 maining daughters, I arrived in the United States, Janu- 
 ary i, 1894, and proceeded immediately to Cleveland. I 
 again took up my work in the ministry, and have served 
 within the last four years the Woodland Hills Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, and the Scovill Avenue Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, of this city, and the Brecksville Meth- 
 odist Episcopal Church, which I was obliged to give up 
 on account of continued ill-health. 
 
 My first serious sickness occurred in September, 1897, 
 after returning from Nashville, Tennessee, where I deliv- 
 ered one of the Centennial addresses. Dr. Durstine, a 
 kind and able physician of the Old School, being sum- 
 moned, helped me; but thinking I would be benefited by 
 the electrical baths of a sanitarium, and the constant medi- 
 
DR. H. F. BIG GAR. 177 
 
 cal attendance one can receive there, he advised me to go 
 to the sanitarium at Dansville, N. Y. I was there only 
 one week, when the senior physician, Dr. Jackson, kindly 
 but frankly told me my heart was seriously affected, and 
 that I should return home as soon as possible the treat- 
 ment of the sanitarium would not benefit my case any. 
 Dr. Durstine had been able to do more for me at home, 
 as had also Dr. Sawyer, a skillful and successful phy- 
 sician. I returned home immediately, accompanied by 
 my daughter, who had come in answer to a telegram. 
 The family in the meantime had resolved to try the New 
 School, and Dr. H. F. Biggar, being one of the most emi- 
 nent in his profession in the city, was asked to visit me. 
 He made an examination, but only said, "The heart is 
 weak, but it can be strengthened." 
 
 In a few weeks I was out on the streets ; but an indis- 
 creet compliance with lecture committees in the East 
 threw me back into a worse condition, and it was at this 
 point in my illness that Dr. Biggar advised me to try the 
 waters of Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania. I followed 
 this counsel, and spent several weeks there at the River- 
 side Hotel. I found it a delightful place, and the mineral 
 waters were very healthful and beneficial. It was here 
 that I first met the genial Colonel William Edwards, of 
 Cleveland, a great sportsman, and a patriotic and kind- 
 hearted gentleman. He and his amiable wife were the 
 charm of all the social gatherings there. His subsequent 
 death was a great loss to this community, of which he was 
 an honored citizen. 
 
 DR. H. F. BIGGAR. 
 
 I like not the indifference that fails to recognize and 
 acknowledge the benefits received from the unceasing de- 
 
 12 
 
1 78 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 votion and accomplished skill of a faithful and conscien- 
 tious physician. I shall always remember with delight the 
 good offices of Dr. Biggar. I have come to think of him 
 as the modern prototype of the beloved Physician de- 
 scribed by the evangelist. Many have been the delightful 
 hours of intellectual companionship passed in his society, 
 when the storehouses of<art and literature, and the trav- 
 eled experiences of a cultured observer, have been unre- 
 servedly opened up. In such companionship the recol- 
 lections of a sick-room cease to be a chronicle of pain and 
 distress. They become a bright leaf in the dark pages of 
 sorrow. 
 
 Dr. Biggar is of Scottish origin, his ancestors having 
 been inhabitants of Biggar, a quaint old Scotch town. 
 Nature has been no niggard to him. He possesses a 
 stalwart frame, clear broad temples, a massive head, and 
 an athletic figure. His manners are benevolent, reserved, 
 and dignified. As a surgeon he brings all the industry 
 and all the resources of a well-trained and vigorous intel- 
 lect to the discharge of his duties. In his operations he is 
 eminently successful. While stern as a bit of Mount Sinai 
 in the actual treatment, he is kind as a woman in his meth- 
 ods. The old lines must be familiar to him : 
 
 " Use men kindly, they rebel ; 
 
 But be rough as nutmeg-grater, 
 And the rogues obey you well." 
 
 Although born under the Queen of England's 
 flag, he is an American in its broadest and grandest 
 signification. It. is the beauty of republican character, 
 as of republican institutions, to be harmonious, well- 
 balanced, simple, just. He has traveled extensively, 
 and has mingled with the most eminent of his profes- 
 sion and of all professions. The luxury of the great 
 
A PERSONAL CHAPTER. 179 
 
 European capitals seems to have only confirmed the re- 
 publican simplicity of his habits and manners. They are 
 severe, almost to asceticism. Either from principle or the 
 natural inclination of his character, he is a total abstainer. 
 The doctor is a pleasant speaker. Recently I read one 
 of his addresses before a Medical Association. It was a 
 tender and beautiful speech, a poetic prose gem. Signal 
 must be his abilities to have gathered around him such a 
 constellation of honors in his profession. A really great 
 man, without pomposity,- upright and just. I remem- 
 ber to have seen, in a conspicuous place in Florence, 
 an elevated column surmounted by a figure of Justice 
 with the scales. I also remember a citizen passing by it, 
 and, seeing a stranger gazing at it, remarked to him that 
 "Justice was so high in Florence that no man could reach 
 it." Dr. Biggar is not only just, but he is generous, and 
 the poor man never appeals to him in vain. He 
 owes much of his brilliant success, not only to his knowl- 
 edge, but to his sympathies. Dr. Alexander discusses 
 the question whether sympathy and science can have any- 
 thing in common; whether the advance of science must 
 necessarily be the destruction of poetry, and that the 
 tender expression on the face of medical science is sym- 
 pathy. Medical science can point year after year to books, 
 not only bulkier, but better; to instruments infinitely 
 more subtle and delicate ; to operations which a quarter of 
 a century ago would have seemed incredible; to hospitals 
 improved beyond conception ; to fruits such as Bacon, the 
 Isaiah of science, never saw in his most inspired mo- 
 ments. But the ideal physician gains his accumulated 
 stores of knowledge by the beauty and tenderness of sym- 
 pathy. The best portion of that knowledge was never 
 gained by the hope of golden fees. It was won by sym- 
 
180 UNDE-R THREE FLAGS. 
 
 pathy with suffering, and the sympathy was created by the 
 mind of Christ. 
 
 To these personal chapters I append others in con- 
 nection with the incidents of my life, lectures, and ad- 
 dresses, prominent personages whom I have known, and 
 some leading events in national history. 
 
 I have five children living; one, dearest Carrie 
 to whom I have already referred passed to a better 
 world a few years ago a most gifted girl. George 
 Wesley, my oldest son, has been in the railway mail 
 service for twenty years, and is now the superintendent 
 of the Ninth Division of the Railway Mail Service, 
 extending from New York to Chicago. He has retained 
 this position through all changes of administration. Sam- 
 uel Arthur, my second son, has lived in Montana for years, 
 and has been by turns a mine-owner and rancher. He is 
 now in the Klondike. Charles Meagher, my third son, is 
 a newspaper man. During the recent Spanish-American 
 War he represented leading New York, Chicago, and 
 Washington papers, in Cuba. My daughters, Lena Lind- 
 say and Mary Sifton, have been devoted to literary pur- 
 suits. They have traveled extensively, and speak the 
 German, the French, and Italian languages. Lena has 
 for several years written descriptive letters for the press, 
 and is now the w^riter of the foreign article for a leading 
 Chicago newspaper, and has in preparation a novel on 
 Italian life. Mary has principally been engaged in the 
 work of translating; was one of the original translators 
 of the "Jesuit Relations," a colossal work, published in 
 sixty volumes. 
 
Chapter XI. 
 
 TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT FIRST IMPRESSIONS 
 OF THE HOLY LAND. 
 
 FOR many years I had contemplated a visit to the 
 Orient, and, in fulfillment of this design, I sailed 
 from Brindisi in December, 1893, for Cairo. A Medi- 
 terranean steamer at this season is the rendezvous of all 
 nationalities some traveling for pleasure, and some for 
 profit; some on wedding tours, and some in the grief of 
 widowhood; some bounding along upon the road of life 
 in all the freshness and hopefulness of youth, and some 
 walking with slower footsteps toward the brink of eter- 
 nity! The sedate Englishman, the lively Italian, the 
 pushing American, the witty Frenchman, all are rep- 
 resented upon these steamers. Lady Beresford, wife of 
 the famous English-Irish general who bombarded Alex- 
 andria, was one of our passengers, a woman of great 
 beauty and conversational power. I thought she was an 
 American, and told her so. "No, sir, I am Irish ; and that 
 is the next best thing to being an American." 
 
 The captain gave his solemn word that the Mediter- 
 ranean would be gentle and kind; but how soon all our 
 pleasant prospects were dispelled! The second day this 
 fascinating, lovely, historic sea became very rude, smash- 
 ing everything on the dining-table. Out of seventy pas- 
 sengers, I think only four were able to appear in the din- 
 ing-room the second day. I had had an old notion that 
 I would hail a sail upon the Mediterranean with transports 
 of enthusiasm; that I would look with rapture on its ever- 
 
 181 
 
1 82 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 lasting blue expanse, and listen with delight to its sub- 
 lime music. I was seven different times upon its waters, 
 and, like the unhappy husband's wife, every time it got 
 "worser and worser." 
 
 Alexandria is hailed in the distance, and every face is 
 brightened with joy and hope. The Egyptian sky is glow- 
 ing with all the beautiful transitions of color which lie 
 between pink and blue. The level shores of the city are 
 soon reached, and a thousand memories of Alexandria's 
 great past pass in review. 
 
 The city of to-day is insignificant, and there is little 
 in it to remind one of the time, two thousand years ago, 
 when it possessed the most magnificent library in the 
 world; that in the fifth century it was the center of liter- 
 ature, of science, of theological lore, and the home of cul- 
 tivated people, where Greek thought, Eastern mysticism, 
 and Western scholarship met and debated the same eter- 
 nal questions which are now vexing the Churches. It 
 was here that Aristotle, Euripides, Euclid, and other fa- 
 mous men lived; where Cleopatra died of love for An- 
 tony. It was also the city of the beautiful pagan, Hypatia, 
 who dedicated her lively fancy, her powerful brain, and 
 her warm heart to astronomy, to mathematics, and to the 
 better improvement of the poor. It was here, also, that 
 the Scriptures were translated into the Greek tongue. 
 
 From Alexandria to Cairo is only three hours' ride by 
 rail. The country is one of the most fertile in Egypt. 
 The houses are shabby, and the people look poverty- 
 stricken. Every little town and hamlet pours forth its 
 tribute of camels and donkeys loaded with cotton. We 
 pass through the cities of Tanta and Benha, the former 
 a place of considerable importance, with a palace for the 
 khedive and a fine mosque, where three festivals are cele- 
 
TRAVELS IN 7 HE ORIENT. 183 
 
 brated annually. Everywhere are veiled women, and it is 
 here that is seen the first evidence of woman's awful degra- 
 dation. What can be expected from a system that 
 teaches, as Mohammed does in the Koran, "Woman was 
 made out of the crooked rib of Adam, which would break 
 if you tried to bend it; and if left alone, it would always 
 remain crooked." And again he says, "I stood at the 
 gate of paradise. Most of the inhabitants were the poor. 
 And I stood at the gate of hell, and lo ! most of its inhab- 
 itants were women!" Everywhere, in Mohammedan 
 lands, the eye is pained by the degraded state of woman. 
 'She is only valued by the husband for her sex. At Con- 
 stantinople, as I looked at the sultan going to the mosque 
 alone in his carriage, I shocked a devout Mussulman by 
 .asking him, "Where is the sultan's wife, and why does she 
 not accompany him to his devotions?" A look of indigna- 
 tion was my answer, and I thought I could hear the words, 
 "Christian dog !" 
 
 Cairo is a city at once Oriental and modern. It is 
 large, covering almost four square miles, and the houses 
 in the new quarters are elegant and expensive. The 
 common observation is frequently quoted : 
 
 "He who hath not seen Cairo, 
 Hath not seen the world." 
 
 It is full of picturesque sights, the beauty and variety of 
 which must be seen to be appreciated. Here the majestic 
 Nile, with its wealth of profane and Biblical associations, 
 stretches in grandeur for hundreds of miles. The air is 
 so fresh even in December so sweet, so divinely agree- 
 able, as to produce an indescribable effect upon the feel- 
 ings. The most interesting view is from the citadel; a 
 magnificent panorama is unfolded. To the east we see 
 
1 84 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Heliopolis, where Joseph obtained his wife, and Moses 
 was trained, and Abraham sojourned, and near it the 
 tombs of the Mamelukes ; to the south, the ancient quar- 
 ries of Mokatten ; and in the north, the green fields of 
 the Delta. 
 
 From Cairo to the Pyramids is nine miles, through 
 the richest and most fertile soil of Egypt. We pass over 
 the rich plain of Goshen, the country which Joseph gave 
 to his father. Everywhere are to be seen the graces and 
 grandeurs of nature thrilling memories of Cleopatra's 
 going forth in all her splendor to her unhappy marriage ; 
 of Cambyses, the Persian tyrant, who slew the last of the 
 Pharaohs ; of Alexander the Great, rescuing the land from 
 the Persians; of Roman legions, Carthaginian phalanxes. 
 It was upon these sacred plains that the triumphant song 
 was sung: "I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath tri- 
 umphed gloriously; the horse and the rider hath he 
 thrown into the sea." 
 
 It was this sublime victory that inspired the muse of 
 Moore to write his splendid poem : 
 
 " Sound the loud timbrel o'er Egypt's dark sea 
 Jehovah has triumphed, his people are free ! 
 Sing, for the pride of the tyrant is broken ; 
 
 His chariots, his horsemen, all splendid and brave. 
 
 How vain was their boast ! The Lord hath but spoken, 
 
 And chariots arid horsemen are sunk in the wave." 
 
 Yonder, in the purple distance, stands, in unique gran- 
 deur, the great Pyramid, unchangeable in a world of 
 change. It was built by Cheops, the third king of the 
 fourth dynasty. Higher than St. Peter's, grander than 
 the Parthenon, the king employed one hundred thousand 
 men in making the road from the quarries, and four hun- 
 dred thousand men twenty years in building it. It calls 
 
'NVWCX&. 1VJ.NHIHO NV 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. 185 
 
 up emotions of wonder and awe. All other pyramids are 
 dwarfed in its colossal presence. I saw all of them clearly 
 -and distinctly; no mist or cloud overwreathed their lofty 
 summits, bathed in sunshine and suffused with light. My 
 expectations were more than realized. It was not so 
 much the lofty height nor the enormous sides of the great 
 Pyramid, as the exquisite symmetry which fascinated and 
 .absorbed my mind and heart. Now we see the ancient 
 gray of the rock, and then spots flecked with green. All 
 visitors are expected to climb up to the top or creep into 
 the interior. I looked at the Pyramid with strange feel- 
 ings of uncertainty ; and the Pyramid looked sympathetic- 
 ally at me, and I reached the conclusion that both of us 
 were too old for the exercise. The interior, however, is 
 equally hazardous. I tried to make the exploration. The 
 first passage was only three feet high, and after several 
 efforts at crawling and dodging, I succeeded in seeing 
 the chambers of the king and queen rooms five thou- 
 sand years old. The darkest night I ever saw was day- 
 light in comparison to the concentrated night of this 
 mighty tomb of the dead. 
 
 The sheik, or chief of the tribe, for a fee, furnishes 
 three guides. Their attentions are graduated according 
 to the expectation of their fees. They always speak hope- 
 fully, repeating the words frequently, "Big man satis- 
 fied big fee." "You are quite satisfied quite well 
 then all right." Afterwards they sing a rough chorus like 
 this, "Aby naby big man. Aby naby big pay." I was 
 glad to bid an eternal farewell to these guides and to the 
 royal chambers, and greet once more the light. 
 
 Cairo has all the liveliness of Paris, all the beauty of 
 Cleveland, and all the Orientalism of the East. The air is 
 soft and balmy ; there is no such thing as frost. Then the 
 
1 86 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Hotel Shepard, where every evening at dinner one sees 
 the reunion of all nations, from New York to Jerusalem ; 
 of all conditions, dukes, generals, statesmen ; British offi- 
 cers going to and returning from India. Here are the 
 sedate English, the vivacious French, the witty Italians,, 
 the thoughtful Germans, the solemn and stately Turks, 
 the keen Armenians, the accomplished Greeks, and the 
 earnest Americans. There are no places of honor at the 
 table. All are equal. 
 
 The poet Lamartine, writing of the Holy Land sixty 
 years ago, speaks of buying an arsenal of pistols, sabers, 
 and other weapons to defend himself against the Greek 
 pirates that infested the Archipelago Sea. In these peace- 
 ful days it seems hard to understand that such should be 
 the condition then; for in visiting Palestine now there 
 is no risk. 
 
 Lord Bacon has laid it down as one of his maxims 
 that the best thing for persons contemplating an exten- 
 sive journey to new or old countries is, "first, to read ; and 
 then to travel, to satisfy yourself of the truth of what you 
 have read." With the most profound respect for Bacon, 
 I believe he is mistaken, and that the very opposite course 
 is the wisest, most beneficial. And hence, in my recent 
 trip through Egypt, Palestine, Greece, and Turkey, I 
 read no books, took no guides, but trusted myself solely 
 to first-class guides and dragomans, who had an estab- 
 lished reputation for their general knowledge and expe- 
 rience in their profession. The Orient is full of drago- 
 mans. It is said that in England when a man fails in 
 everything else, he becomes a wine merchant; in the 
 United States, an insurance agent ; in Egypt, he becomes 
 a dragoman. 
 
 Out of the seventy millions of our American popula- 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. 187 
 
 tion, only about five thousand have ever visited Pales- 
 time; of all those who go to Europe, less than five per 
 cent get as far afway as Rome, less than two per cent to 
 Athens, and less than one-fourth of one per cent to Judea. 
 I do not know a more striking example of the power of 
 moral association to elevate and perpetuate the fame and 
 interest of a country, naturally insignificant, than that of 
 Palestine. How little interest is awakened in the souls of 
 moralists, scholars, by the name of Russia, whose do- 
 mains are boundless! politicians may speculate about 
 its future relations and predict its renown; but it has no 
 stirring memories, nothing in intellectual achievement, 
 nothing in moral grandeur. How different is Palestine, a 
 country scarcely noticed in the colossal empire of Russia, 
 and yet the very name fires the hearts of Christendom ! 
 
 I was accompanied thither by an English clergyman, 
 a rare and cultivated gentleman of very High Church per- 
 suasion. I was sorely perplexed by his efforts to carry 
 out the customs of his country; he must spend an hour 
 at meals, so much time in arranging his toilet; in every 
 church the same crossings, bowings, and genuflexions. 
 
 For the sight of Jerusalem and its holy places, great 
 multitudes make sacrifices, endure hardships, and spend 
 the hard earnings of years. As soon as they come to 
 understand the blessed mysteries of their religion, they 
 long for a pilgrimage, and their hearts burn with enthusi- 
 asm to tread in the footsteps of patriarchs; to see with 
 their own eyes the spots memorable, in Bible history, by 
 the words and deeds of the prophets of the Old and the 
 apostles of the New Testament. 
 
 There are others, again, who visit Palestine because 
 of its scenery. There is a nobility in its mountains, a 
 loveliness in its vallevs, a divine beautv in its lakes, a 
 
1 88 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 fragrance in its flowers, a grandeur in its rivers, and an 
 azure in its skies which even surpass those which bend 
 over the faded splendors of Italy. And the plain of 
 Sharon, fifteen miles long, bounded by the blue waters 
 of the Mediterranean on one side, and by the hill country 
 of Judea on the other ! And who can describe the emo- 
 tions of the devout Christian as he looks upon the rose 
 of Sharon? 
 
 There are many devout people who visit the Holy 
 Land because of its sacred associations. There is not a 
 breeze that blows which does not waft some words of 
 Christ; there is not a flower which blooms but seems to 
 be nurtured with his blood; and every spot is hallowed 
 with his presence. As the morning star appears in the 
 heavens, the Christian remembers that over Bethlehem 
 was fulfilled the prophecy, "There shall come a star out 
 of Judah." If he beholds the waters of a lake, in his im- 
 agination he sees the divine form of his Master walking 
 upon it. A clergyman of the English Church recently 
 died in Milan; before leaving home to visit Palestine, 
 he said, "I want to see Jerusalem below, before I see Jeru- 
 salem above." 
 
 The approach to Jerusalem produces emotions of the 
 profoundest reverence by its very antiquity. Modern 
 Jerusalem possesses but little of the ancient city, the 
 houses being new and modern in style. Still, the hoary 
 hills are there, and the natural landscapes. The waters 
 of the Jordan, over whose sacred waves a Divine Voice 
 was heard, still flow calmly on; the cedars of Lebanon 
 yet wave their branches to and fro ; the heights of Tabor 
 are still crested with beauty; the fountains, the brooks, 
 the olives and vines, are still there, haunted by memories 
 which are dear to Christendom. Bethlehem, Nazareth, 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. 189 
 
 Gethsemane, and Calvary gladden the eye, recalling other 
 times. 
 
 The departed glories of Jerusalem rise in one long 
 procession. What a variety of history ! At one time its 
 inhabitants were hunted and oppressed by persecution; 
 at another time they were placed upon the top of pros- 
 perity. In the midst of all the varied emotions which I 
 felt, I could not but remember the prophecy that all their 
 magnificence should be destroyed, and that their beautiful 
 house, where their fathers worshiped, should be deso- 
 lated. 
 
 Tasso, in his "Jerusalem Delivered," describes the 
 emotions, not only of the Crusaders, but of all true Chris- 
 tians, as they behold, in the distance, Jerusalem : 
 
 " With holy zeal their swelling hearts abound, 
 And their winged footsteps scarcely print the ground. 
 When new, the sun ascends the eternal way, 
 And strikes the dusty field with warmer ray. 
 Behold ! Jerusalem in prospect lies ! 
 Behold ! Jerusalem salutes their eyes ! 
 At once a thousand tongues repeat the name, 
 All hail Jerusalem with loud acclaim ! " 
 
 " At first, transported with the pleasing sight, 
 Bach Christian bosom glowed with full delight; 
 But deep contrition soon their joys opprest, 
 And holy sorrow saddened every breast. 
 Scarce dare their eyes the city walls survey, 
 Where, clothed in flesh, their dear Redeemer lay ; 
 Whose sacred earth did once their L,ord inclose, 
 And where triumphant from the grave he rose." 
 
 The Dome of the Rock is a building with eight sides, 
 twenty yards in length. The outside is richly ornamented 
 with colored marbles, and the inside has also been made 
 magnificent with mosaics. The rock, which occupies the 
 whole center of the building, is environed by a balustrade 
 
190 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of painted wood ; every one can see it, and the light which 
 streams through the stained-glass windows increases the 
 grandeur of the noble sanctuary. The rock, in its native 
 simplicity, makes a deeper impression than if it were deco- 
 rated with gold and silver lamps. It is fifty feet in diam- 
 eter, and over it is suspended a canopy of colored silks. 
 To this rock gorgeous edifices owe their existence ; to the 
 Mohammedan it is the second sacred place on earth, 
 Mecca being the first. It rises ten feet above the marble 
 floor, and is called the "stone of prophecy." When the 
 prophets were compelled to fly for their lives to foreign 
 lands, this rock tried to follow them ; but Gabriel seized it. 
 The Mohammedans have also a tradition that it was from 
 this stone that their prophet ascended to heaven on his 
 famous donkey, Alborak, after that patient beast had se- 
 cured a place in Paradise. They say that the print of the 
 prophet's feet are seen yet upon the rock, and that it at- 
 tempted to follow him, and would have succeeded but for 
 the timely interference of the archangel Gabriel. 
 
 The Jews have also a tradition that it was upon this 
 rock the ark rested, and consequently the holy symbols. 
 Explorers have endeavored to wrest more secrets from 
 the past by raising this stone. The Mohammedans are 
 opposed to it. The reason assigned is, that the rock 
 covered the well of the evil spirit; and if the bad spirit 
 should get out, disastrous results would follow. The 
 Dome of the Rock became the model for the Churches 
 known as those of the Order of Templars. 
 
 The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is the most promi- 
 nent sacred edifice in Jerusalem. The legend of the Em- 
 press Helena's vision in the fourth century, when she dis- 
 covered the site of the crucifixion, is well known. The 
 ground fronting the church is used as a market-place, 
 
THE HOLY SEPULCHER, JERUSALEM. 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. 191 
 
 where Christian Syrians, with their lower extremities in- 
 cased in a common garment, half-pantaloon and half-petti- 
 coat; Jews, with their heads shaven, and wild-looking 
 Bedouins, all ply their vocation. One would think that 
 to the Jews and the Christians there was too much solem- 
 nity in the surroundings to check the hot commercial 
 transactions which pain the eye to behold. Near here 
 rose the temple in its glory ; and if these money-changers 
 would only walk about this church, mark well her bul- 
 warks, consider her palaces, surely there would be enough 
 in the storied walls, in structures that once were effulgent 
 with Deity, to remind these traffickers that other thoughts 
 than those of merchandise should occupy their minds. 
 
 Bethlehem ! the house of bread. We think of Naomi, 
 and the modern wives and mothers stand upon the hill- 
 side in their plain white clothes. We think of Ruth, as 
 we see the cornfields, making the heart of Boaz soft with 
 her tender and thrilling story. We think, as we watch the 
 shepherds, of David, herding his flocks and making the 
 valleys ring with his songs. We travel over the same 
 fields where the shepherds were watching their flocks 
 when they heard the music of angels, saying, "Glory to 
 God in the highest;" and the wise men, as they saw the 
 new and brilliant star in the heavens, the precursor of the 
 Messiah's reign. 
 
 As Bethlehem was the commencement of our Lord's 
 life, so Bethany, a beautiful village nestled among the 
 hills behind Mount Olivet, undoubtedly witnessed his 
 closing days. It was here that Martha and Mary and 
 Lazarus lived. Recent explorers have discovered the spot 
 where the ascension took place. In our continued jour- 
 ney we pause, and take luncheon at the Inn of the Good 
 Samaritan. This whole region is adapted to be the ren- 
 
192 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 dezvous of robbers, and close to it is Cherith, where Elijah 
 was fed by the ravens. We have now a magnificent view 
 of the Jordan and the mountains of Moab; the Mount 
 of Temptation is visited ; Jericho is reached, but nothing 
 remains of its former grandeur but a few stones. 
 
 After a good night's rest, next morning, bright and 
 early, I started for the Jordan, passing Gilgal. The coun- 
 try is most delightful, and the scenery is beautiful. The 
 Dead Sea being the farthest away, it is the first visited. 
 I bathed in it, and marveled at the intense stillness ; there 
 was not a bird that hummed, not a living thing about. 
 The waters were salty and sticky, having twenty-four per 
 cent of salt alkali in their composition. I walked over 
 places supposed to be the sites of Sodom and Gomorrah. 
 Contrary to my expectation, I found the sea to be a deep 
 blue. The first view of the Jordan is disappointing, al- 
 though on coming nearer I saw that the river was well 
 wooded, banks alternating with rocks ; still, I think Naa- 
 man's view was correct. The water was like pea-soup, 
 deliciously warm and soft. An Englishman, who trav- 
 eled with me to the Jordan, and who suffered much from 
 the jolting over the rocky, stony way, said, "If our dear 
 Lord had known how much I would suffer in this trip, 
 he would have chosen another spot more convenient than 
 the Jordan in which to be baptized." 
 
 Among the most delightful of the countries I visited 
 was Greece. The civilized world will ever take an interest 
 in the land of heroism and song, and in the ancient gran- 
 deur and glory of Athens. I was there during the excite- 
 ment of the downfall of the Tricoupis ministry. 
 
 The Greeks are among the most patriotic people in 
 the East; their schools, their seminaries, and their uni- 
 versities are continually teaching the young the story of 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. 193 
 
 Marathon. Wealthy Greeks, in other countries, donate 
 immense sums to keep alive the old form of Greece. Mag- 
 nificent buildings are erected by their generosity. Rail- 
 roads are extending all over the land, the public roads 
 are improved, telegraphs are in constant operation, and 
 activity is prevalent all over the little archipelago. 
 
 Education is universal; not only are schools of every 
 grade numerous, but the parents and children are eager 
 to make the best of their opportunities. Travelers will 
 see, at the corner of every street, boys who are reciting 
 their "Iliad" and their "Odyssey" aloud, who have mas- 
 tered their mathematics and astronomy. The fact is, that 
 education is free to everybody; all schools, including the 
 universities, throw open their doors, and give a hearty 
 welcome to all who desire to enter. The University of 
 Athens has within its walls about three thousand stu- 
 dents, the most of them being as poor as a newspaper 
 correspondent. There are no fees required, and living 
 is cheap. My guide, a stalwart, strapping fellow, was a 
 graduate ; many of the waiters at the hotels and the labor- 
 ers are students. Every year the university graduates 
 six hundred doctors. There is a growing opinion among 
 Greek statesmen that education in this university is too 
 cheap, and when I was there, there was much discussion 
 in regard to the matter. 
 
 But what of modern Athens? It was a charming day. 
 The skies were cloudless and the air was sweet when I 
 caught my first glimpse of this city of Minerva. Its loca- 
 tion how grandly beautiful ! If an angel were sent out 
 to locate a city he could not light upon a more delightful 
 spot than that of this capital of Greece. It is everywhere 
 clothed with classic recollections; every inch of ground 
 is vital with beautiful and patriotic memories. I do not 
 13 
 
194 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 believe that so small a portion of God's earth is so rich 
 in art, scenery, and patriotic deeds as Athens. Arriving 
 at Piraeus from Palestine in the morning, I took the train 
 to the city, and all along the route it is only five miles 
 picturesque and historical places were pointed out. 
 
 The first things that arrest the eye are the names and 
 characters of the streets. In other cities the traveler can 
 make out the names by the similarity of the Italian or 
 French words to the English. Here it is different ; for the 
 names are Greek, printed in Greek characters. The 
 streets usually bear the names of some of the great heroes 
 of Greece; such as, Themistocles, Alcibiades, Hermes. 
 There is one street called after Lord Byron, the benefactor 
 and champion of Greece. Hermes Street probably has 
 the finest church, the Agra Triada. The street Consti- 
 tution is very fine. It possesses the two finest hotels 
 the Grande Bretagne and the Angleterre, fronting the 
 royal palace a palace only in name, having no elements 
 of grandeur. The handsomest street is the Rue des 
 Phillenes. Here the Greeks are daily and nightly prome- 
 nading. It is the street which constantly brings up the 
 recollections of the mighty past. Frequently the stranger, 
 as he walks about the streets, is presented, as an evidence 
 of Athenian hospitality, with a roasted chestnut. 
 
 The peculiar dress of the modern Athenian is very 
 attractive, and is called the Fuestenella, being a pictur- 
 esque resemblance to the kilt of the Scottish Highlanders. 
 It consists of a red cap with a purple tassel, a short jacket, 
 a sash around the waist, and a petticoat of white goods 
 coming down to the knees. This costume is pre-eminent 
 for its colors, all except green, and its gracefulness. 
 Everywhere through Athens there is a quietness which 
 contrasts strangely with the boisterousness and activity 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. 195 
 
 of European cities. No one is in a hurry. In London, 
 New York, Paris, Milan, and Brussels, one can scarcely 
 walk the streets, so crowded are they, policemen being 
 stationed at every corner to assist people in crossing. It 
 is not so in Athens. It is like a quiet college-town far 
 from railroads and busy commercial life. 
 
 The approach to Constantinople is the most interest- 
 ing and picturesque in the world. The Archipelago is 
 itself one of the most suggestive sheets of water ever 
 sailed over. There is Rhodes, distinguished for liberty, 
 learning, and patriotism. There is Patmos, where the 
 beloved disciple John spent his exile, and to whom the 
 heavens were so marvelously opened. There is Lesbos, 
 which surpassed Athens in culture. Then there are the 
 nine isles of which Byron has sung so nobly : 
 
 " The isles of Greece, the isles of Greece, 
 
 Where burning Sappho loved and sang; 
 Where grew the arts of war and peace, 
 Where Phoebus rose and Delos sprang." 
 
 I have said that the approach to this city was pic- 
 turesque and. enchanting, but the location of Constanti- 
 nople is the grandest in Europe. St. Petersburg, with its 
 noble river; Stockholm, on its many islands; Venice, the 
 bride of the sea can not rival the city of the ancient 
 Caesars. To see Rome and die is mere gratuitous advice, 
 when the other Rome, the charming city of Constantine, 
 remains to be visited. There is hardly a scene in the wide 
 world so replete with natural beauty, so rich in storied 
 recollections, as that inclosed betwixt the Bosphorus and 
 
 " The dark blue water, 
 That swiftly glides and gently swells 
 Between the winding Dardanelles." 
 
196 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Upon the Church of St. Sophia wealth and beauty 
 have been lavished, and even Solomon's Temple was not 
 superior to St. Sophia. There is no end to the stories 
 told of it. It is built on the lines of a square, from the 
 center of which rises the great dome, supported by four 
 great arches. Surrounding the interior of this stupen- 
 dous skeleton are seven half skeletons or domes. Over 
 all comes the sunlight in great shafts of varying color 
 through the gorgeous stained-glass windows. Into the 
 mortar of the bricks was thrown a vast quantity of musk, 
 and to-day, six hundred years after it was put there, there 
 lingers an odor of musk. There are no stairways to the 
 different stories, but broad inclines. One of the windows 
 is called that of "the cooling wind," as there is always a 
 pleasant breeze comes through it. A spot in the wall is 
 pointed out to the visitor, and the following legend told 
 him: The bishop was one day celebrating worship, when 
 the Turks burst in. He turned to flee, the solid wall 
 opened and inclosed him before the eyes of the maddened 
 Turks. In a fury at being thus deprived of their prey, 
 they dug into the wall, but could not find him. It is be- 
 lieved that, after the fall of the Turkish Empire, the bishop 
 will come forth. 
 
 St. Sophia is large enough to hold three thousand 
 people. It is recorded that, when the capital was taken, 
 one hundred thousand took refuge there, only to be mur- 
 dered. At the sight of the wealth and splendor, the mob 
 became wild, and then the carnage began. But the 
 church will yet overshadow the mosque. 
 
 As I made the tour of the walls, my guide told me the 
 following story of an old convent included in one of the 
 views: During the siege of 1453, a monk was frying fish 
 for his supper, when a brother monk rushed in, shouting 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. 197 
 
 that a breach had been made in the walls, and that the 
 Turks were already in the city. The monk declared that 
 it could not be true ; he would not believe it unless the fish 
 jumped out of the frying-pan; whereupon the fish jumped 
 to one side, assuming its original color. It is safe to 
 assume that the monk then believed this miraculous evi- 
 dence. 
 
 I found one of the greatest attractions of Constanti- 
 nople to be the bazaars. They are now, as they were in 
 the time of the Arabian Nights, a series of unpaved streets, 
 roofed in at the top. The wares are of every variety. 
 The shoemaker and the harnessmaker are there; so also 
 the sellers of cloth and silks, and of every article needed 
 under the sun. The most curious is the bazaar where 
 second-hand articles are sold by peripatetic salesmen. 
 The shops are little more than small cupboards, with room 
 enough for the merchant to sit in. The merchant begins 
 by asking a big price. When a customer appears, the 
 seller begins his opening speech. He covers his wares 
 with the golden embroidery of Oriental praises, and as he 
 talks he gracefully waves the object back and forth before 
 the supposed-to-be dazzled eyes of the desired purchaser. 
 He lifts his undulating periods, upholds and poises them 
 well till they have gathered their weight and their 
 strength, and then hurls them forward. The expectant 
 buyer listens to the speech with deep and serious atten- 
 tion ; but when it is over, his turn arrives. He elaborately 
 endeavors to show why he should not buy the goods at 
 twenty times their value. Bystanders, attracted to the 
 debate, take part in it as outsiders. The seller is heard in 
 reply, and coming down with his price, furnishes the ma- 
 terials for a new debate. 
 
 On seeing the Turks for the first time, the European is 
 
198 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 struck, but not astonished; for his imagination has been 
 prepared for contrasts. The Turk is ferocious, and con- 
 stantly animated with a religious hatred against every- 
 thing which is not Mohammedan, regarding the foreigner 
 always with contempt. He is inhospitable and proud, and 
 treats others with arrogance. He is base and cringing to- 
 wards those above him, and subtle towards those who do 
 not fear him; insolent when one regards him with awe. 
 He is obstinate, and his ignorance shuts his eyes against 
 the light. More credulous than can be supposed, he is at 
 the same time suspicious by instinct. He is fanatical in 
 his religion, and punishes a Greek with death if he lifts 
 his hand ; and the same penalty is dealt to a Christian who 
 attempts to convert a Mohammedan. If an Armenian 
 happens to be overtaken by a shower, he must return to 
 his home for shelter ; for no Turk will permit him to enter 
 his dwelling. It is the stupid ferocity of the Turk which 
 makes him courageous. He goes to the combat with 
 resolution, and defends himself to the last extremity, ex- 
 pecting to receive a crown for his apparent bravery. In 
 commercial transactions, he rarely breaks his word, and 
 is magnificent in his presents. Like the rest of the Asiat- 
 ics, he is unacquainted with that refined and delicate love 
 which constitutes the happiness of civilized life. He is 
 constantly under the influence of jealousy. Many only 
 look upon their wives as slaves to their caprices, and sel- 
 dom experience those endearments of conjugal love which 
 render the wife a comforter in distress. How, indeed, 
 can a woman conceive a profound attachment for her 
 husband when she knows there are others under the same 
 roof possessing the same title? 
 
 The character of the Jew is everywhere apparent ; but 
 in each country ^ a different variety is found, and the Jews 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. . 199 
 
 of Turkey are not the least interesting. The English 
 species we know well; the shabbily-dressed gentleman, 
 with rings and breastpin, with bushy black whiskers, and 
 a mouthful of glittering black teeth. Then there is the 
 flaxen-haired Jew, generally poor and shiftless, serving 
 over the cheap tables of a bazaar. The German Jew is 
 intellectually superior to the others. He is more of the 
 type which Rembrandt loved to paint small, with dark, 
 dry features. 
 
 The researches of the, Jew are often as laborious as 
 those of the professors of other nations, his logic as sound, 
 his critical eye as acute, his imagination as brilliant. As 
 a philosopher, he adds another system to the universe; 
 as a theologian, gives a deeper meaning to the teaching 
 of John and Paul. The Jew of Eastern Europe is physic- 
 ally the finest of his race. The bearded old Hebrew who 
 comes from Poland, with a wallet at his back, is often 
 chosen as a model by admiring artists, to pose as Abraham 
 or Eli or Moses. The Jews of Constantinople are mostly 
 relics of the tribe which fled from the fires of the Inquisition 
 in Western Europe, and their thick Semitic Spanish blood 
 is still herded in the close alleys where they exist outcasts 
 lower than the lowest, and beings on whom the meanest 
 Armenians may inflict the blows he has received from his 
 Turkish master. They are a quiet race, slender and 
 stooping, with something weak and idiotic in their coun- 
 tenances. Occasionally there is one whose features might 
 have been intelligent, if a brighter future had ever allowed 
 any noble or intelligent thoughts to awaken the dormant 
 mind, or the sun of hope had ever broken through the 
 close mist woven by the contempt and poverty which 
 must encircle the journey of his life. Though they are 
 what they are, one can still imagine that in the schools of 
 
200 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Cordova and Toledo their forefathers were great in phi- 
 losophy and medicine; that they were the physicians of 
 emperors, and even gave many a bishop to the Church 
 that persecuted them. However, the descendants are 
 poor and miserable, earning a scanty meal by selling their 
 petty wares. And there they stand, at the entrance of 
 Bosporus, whispering confidentially to each tourist, and 
 offering their services with that mysterious and secret air 
 which characterizes the race. Crowds of peddlers of all 
 kinds are to be seen everywhere. The cry of "Milko ! 
 milko! bono milko, Jonny!" is everywhere to be heard. 
 The milk is carried in bottles, and sold by glassfuls to the 
 thirsty travelers. I heard a boy, in reply to a soldier 
 asking, "Joe, have you got anything good in that bottle?" 
 "Nix bono, wateree," was the answer. This sort of talk 
 goes on all day. The Turks never drink. They are the 
 soberest of people, and kind to animals. The children and 
 male Turks are a handsome race; the women are not so. 
 Their beauties come from Circassia. These are seen to the 
 greatest advantage by making a visit to the Sweet Waters, 
 where are a profusion of beautiful faces, all like sisters. 
 The tourist is dazzled by the view of Constantinople, 
 with the sea covered with its caiques skimming over the 
 surface, its sun-illumined domes of mosques and sharp gilt 
 pillars of minarets, its burnished columns rising majestic- 
 ally ! As I was gazing on some of these objects of interest, 
 the Sultan passed on his way to his prayers. He was 
 followed by an immense retinue. His horses were 
 mounted with trappings of silver and gold, and the harness 
 was richly ornamented with diamonds and pearls. As he 
 sat in his carriage, I looked at him closely. His features 
 were pale and regular, and his large black eyes were busily 
 engaged in scanning the crowds of people as he passed 
 
TRAVELS IN THE ORIENT. 2OI 
 
 along. Shouts of joy announced his arrival at the mosque. 
 What figures on all the warmth and depravity breathe 
 around one as one watches the Sultan on his way to 
 prayers! the Persian in his coat of many colors, the 
 Arabian in his flowing robes, the African with his war- 
 club, and the swarthy Ethiopian in his purple buskins! 
 Who could forget this picturesque confusion? 
 
 The country around Constantinople is beautiful, but 
 with an air of desolation which arises from the negligence 
 of man, and not from the parsimony of nature. Wherever- 
 the valleys are watered by natural streams, they are beau- 
 tiful with the moist and vivid green of Ireland. There 
 is nothing of the gorgeous East, however, in this temper- 
 ate climate. One interesting spot I visited was called the 
 Sweet Waters of Asia. Formerly this spot was sacred to 
 women, who escaped weekly from the monotony of the 
 harem to eat sweetmeats, and envy each other their dia- 
 monds, afar from the profane gaze of men. They still 
 resort to it, as in former times, in gilded carriages; but 
 their privacy is invaded by a crowd of adventurous stran- 
 gers, who pass up and down, admiring the alabaster com- 
 plexions of the fair-skinned Circassians. The poor pris- 
 oners seem not at all indignant at the presence of the 
 intruders. They wear the thinnest veils, and appear to 
 detest their uncouth and sable guardians. However, all 
 intercourse, except that of looks, is impossible, and the 
 tourists return home with the new idea that there is 
 something lacking in Turkish civilization. 
 
 An amusing scene took place at Sweet Waters of Asia. 
 A gallant English gentleman was determined to address 
 a few words to some fair Mohammedan, and asked a 
 friend to write him down some complimentary phrases in 
 the Turkish tongue; such as, "You are pretty," "I love 
 
202 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 you," etc. Armed with this document, he visited the 
 grove waters, and selecting the prettiest face, leaned in at 
 the carriage window, and proceeded to favor the lady 
 with the contents of the paper. A shriek went up from 
 the eunuchs, as they rushed out and attempted to drag 
 him away. The officer drew his sword and fled in dismay. 
 The lady enjoyed the scene, and seemed much pleased at 
 the discomfiture of her guards. 
 
 Scutari, on Asiatic ground, finds the Turk more at 
 home. Here the race live almost untouched by Chris- 
 tianity. They are here ever ready to gaze on all foreigners 
 with curiosity. Men step to their doors and scowl, while 
 spiteful old women urge the little children to cry, "Giava" 
 a Turkish word of contempt. Scutari is directly opposite 
 Constantinople. Its beauties in ancient times were more 
 numerous than they are now. Then it was called Chys- 
 opolis, City of God. No one would think of calling it so 
 now ; for it is dirty and unsightly. Close by is Chalcedon ! 
 How degenerate from the days when Eutychus's heresy 
 was condemned ! Bishops must have been plentiful in 
 those days, when there was one for every city. Nature 
 has given it the advantages of a cloudless sky and mag- 
 nificent scenery. The clustering and sunlit islands of the 
 Sea of Marmora; the deep blue Bosporus, rippled- only 
 by the strong and never-ceasing current which rushes 
 down its center; the old seraglio, with its cypresses and 
 plane-trees ; the great city stretching away, with the seven 
 towers just visible ; St. Sophia, all form an indescribably 
 beautiful landscape. Some of the largest steamers in the 
 world have lately been drawn close under the tent- 
 crowned heights, and this gives some idea of the magnifi- 
 cent harbor. The steamers look like little smacks that 
 have taken shelter under the cliffs. 
 
 
Chapter XII. 
 
 OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED 
 LONDON PARIS. 
 
 ISHALvL never, forget my emotions when I saw the 
 vast city of London, the growth of centuries, where 
 men have been dying for generations, and where the 
 battle and the plague have striven to see which should 
 make the direst havoc of human life; where the great 
 dead have thronged and the mighty living were throng- 
 ing ; and there was I, not knowing a solitary human being 
 among four millions like myself. And even here, over the 
 dust of those slain by the plague and the mightier host 
 slain by time, the wild, reckless laugh is heard, commerce 
 is boisterously pushing its wealth; the beautiful lady and 
 the gallant beau are driving their steeds; the golden-em- 
 broidered livery of servants is flashing in the sunset ! O, 
 there is something painfully sad on entering such a city ! 
 Where are the men who figured so earnestly years ago 
 the kings, the orators, the poets? And where are such 
 men as Goldsmith, Burke, Sheridan, Johnson? What 
 confusion is here! What evolutions of streets! What 
 piles of bricks, mortar, and stone ! What a wilderness of 
 men ! What a hell of thoughts and actions, and I among 
 them all, only a four-millionth part! How utterly insig- 
 nificant we are! 
 
 Think of its size ! We are apt to talk loosely of this 
 immense city, and yet we are bewildered at the endless- 
 ness, and the startling contrasts of wealth and poverty. 
 It is the elephant among cities, covering one hundred and 
 
 203 
 
204 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 twenty square miles. On this space is concentrated a 
 population equaling that of the States of Illinois and 
 Wisconsin, or that of New York, Brooklyn, Boston, and 
 St. Louis. It is still growing! Between 1861-71, 150,000 
 new buildings were erected. "A city?" says a French 
 writer. "No ; it is a province, covered with houses." Five 
 times more populous than New York, four times more 
 populous than St. Petersburg, twice as populous as Con- 
 stantinople, two-thirds larger than Paris the mind fails 
 to understand, the brain recoils from the mighty sum. 
 The kings of Wurtemberg, of Saxony, and Hanover, do 
 not possess as many subjects as sleep in London. When 
 the sun flashed a light on a dark place, there were not so 
 many people in all England as in London. Every eight 
 minutes of every day a soul goes out to the eternal world ; 
 and this marvel of mystery and death is more than 
 neutralized by the greater mystery of life, for every five 
 minutes of every day a child is born. If it were possible 
 for the population of London to be stretched out in a 
 line, the line would be six hundred and seventy miles long ; 
 and at the space of three miles an hour, it would be nine 
 days before the last of the long procession swept by. 
 
 Think of its wealth ! London is to the modern world 
 what Rome was to the ancient in regard to wealth. But 
 Rome in its palmiest days was poor by comparison. 
 Take up your position in Regent Park, and you will see 
 more wealth in one day than all Paris. The four million 
 souls which compose the city need not do a day's more 
 work. They have capital enough invested in stocks to 
 support the whole population to purchase them food, 
 clothing, and to pay all their taxes. The leisure class are 
 numerous. London is the headquarters of the landed 
 aristocracy of the three kingdoms, that are receiving rents 
 
OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 205 
 
 aggregating one thousand million dollars. Here is con- 
 centrated the banking wealth of England ; here is held the 
 bonds representing the national debt; here is owned the 
 majority of bonds of Great Britain and the colonies ; here 
 is the grand depot of the tea; here is the focus of the 
 shipping trade. 
 
 Think of its historic spots ! There is the Tower. It 
 is located on the left bank of the Thames, near the im- 
 mense docks. Whether it was built by Caesar, by Con- 
 stantine, by William Rufus, is unknown. Kings fled to 
 it for safety. Wallace poured out his blood here. For 
 three hundred years kings, from Henry VIII to Richard 
 II, were crowned within these walls. It was the scene of 
 magnificence and splendor. Here languished and died 
 princes. Religion, in the person of Lord Cobham, suffered 
 when the fire was kindled beneath him. Jane Shore, the 
 famous, was a prisoner, and so was Sir Thomas More, 
 within these bastions. For a while there was rest ; but the 
 gates began to grate, and Ann Boleyn, on the iQth of 
 May, 1537, was executed; then followed another unhappy 
 wife, Catherine Howard. We might follow the gloomy 
 history of the Tower through the reigns of Mary and 
 Elizabeth; but the stories of the bloody cruelties are too 
 well known to need repetition here. 
 
 Westminster Hall stands diagonally across from the 
 Abbey, and forms the vestibule to both Houses of Par- 
 liament. It was built four hundred years ago, and has 
 been the scene of many brilliant festivities. What colors 
 have shone, what gold and silver have sparkled here! 
 What shouts have rung along the roof under Norman 
 and Tudor! Here Henry II served his son; here took 
 place the espousals of Henry III and Eleanor. But it is 
 as a place of justice especially that American memories 
 
206 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 cluster around it. Here was tried Stratford, in 1745 ; here, 
 above all others, was the memorable trial of Warren Hast- 
 ings, who, for eleven years, had been governor of India. 
 The trial commenced the I3th of February, 1788. Rank 
 and fashion crowded the seats. Burke spoke for four 
 days. Ladies fainted, and even Hastings said, "For four 
 days I thought I was guilty." Burke was followed by 
 Sheridan, in a speech of unsurpassed eloquence, attaining 
 the summit of oratory. Hastings was acquitted. 
 
 All nations have their characteristics, and so have the 
 English, which distinguish them from all others. The 
 English are a strong race strong physically, strong men- 
 tally, strong morally. The blood of six or eight races 
 was required to make them illustrious. Thomas Corwin 
 said that Webster had burst suddenly into such eloquence 
 in Congress that he became faint, and was obliged to lean 
 up against a pillar for support. The sentence which over- 
 came him was this: "The morning drum-beat, traveling 
 with the sun, and keeping time with the stars, circled the 
 earth with one continuous strain of the martial airs of 
 England." 
 
 The English are governed by the great law of duty. 
 Other nations are impelled by the love of glory, by a 
 renowned past, by pride of conquest ; but everywhere that 
 the Englishman goes it is at the call of duty. It is this 
 that has carried England's flag to the ends of the earth, 
 that has adorned English womanhood with grace and 
 beauty. Nelson, on the eve of the Battle of Trafalgar, 
 when he flung out the Union Jack with the inscription 
 upon it, "England to-morrow expects every man to do 
 his duty," touched the keynote of English character. 
 
 The English are a polite people, although I know 
 that the very opposite idea is entertained by Americans, 
 
OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 207 
 
 and also that they are surly and positively rude and re- 
 pellent in their manners. I have traveled extensively in 
 England, where I have asked thousands of questions, and 
 invariably I have received civil answers. I remember one 
 day, while visiting Dr. Parker's church, I asked an Eng- 
 lishman near me the address of Gladstone, whom I was 
 exceedingly anxious to see. Without a moment's hesita- 
 tion he accompanied me out of the church, and walked 
 with me for nearly two miles, until we came to Downing 
 Street, when he pointed out the house, and then left me. 
 
 Loyalty to the queen,' extravagant eulogies upon roy- 
 alty, are the tests of admission into what is called the 
 best society; hence, in all their churches, their theaters, 
 their public 'meetings, "God save the Queen" is the most 
 popular song sung. Sixteen thousand paid ministers of 
 the Established Church, all the Dissenting preachers, all 
 the Roman Catholic priests, all the Jewish rabbis through- 
 out England, and wherever the English flag floats, pray 
 for Her Majesty's royal soul. "God save the Queen" is a 
 very flexible and comprehensive prayer. It means not 
 only the present and eternal happiness of the queen, but 
 it includes the continuation and preservation of English 
 laws, customs, and government, for all time to come. 
 When the landlord says, "God save the Queen," it means, 
 "May my rents be paid promptly;" when the archbishop 
 of Canterbury says it, it means to him, "My $80,000 
 salary;" when all the members of the royal family repeat 
 it, it means that all the royal allowances, including the 
 queen's $2,000,000 annually, be cheerfully paid ; when the 
 eighteen brewers who were recently elected pray, "God 
 save the Queen," it means, "May our breweries always 
 be prosperous and profitable!" 
 
 The English are very thrifty and industrious. Noth- 
 
208 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ing goes to waste in England, in which respect they re- 
 semble the French. The working classes secure the 
 greatest results out of the most limited means, being very 
 frugal and saving. The mercantile community always 
 have an eye to business. They might be compared to 
 the French widow who had a flattering inscription en- 
 graved on her husband's monument, followed by the 
 announcement that "His disconsolate widow still keeps 
 the shop, No. 16 Rue St. Denis." 
 
 The English are a handsome race. The blood of sev- 
 eral generations shows in the robust, healthy bodies of the 
 men and the rosy complexions of the women, in the 
 healthy, outdoor exercise of all classes. The children are 
 very respectful to their parents, and it is seldom that a 
 child contradicts anything they say. The English girls 
 have beautiful faces, and it is not to be wondered that 
 Pope Gregory, a thousand years ago, said, when he beheld 
 a lot of English girls, "They are not Angles, they are 
 angels." 
 
 The English are reserved at first to strangers; but 
 when they are fully satisfied that the stranger who is 
 introduced is not an impostor, and is worthy their esteem, 
 there is nothing they leave undone to make him feel at 
 home. An Italian gentleman of my acquaintance told 
 me that he resolved to seek his fortune in France or 
 England. He took with him a large number of recom- 
 mendations. Stopping first at Paris, he called on a leading 
 merchant, and presented one of his letters. The French- 
 man was all courtesy, all smiles. "O yes; thank you for 
 your visit. We will do all we possibly can for you." More 
 smiles, more courtesy, more bows, and the Italian took 
 his departure, confident of an immediate position. Day 
 after day passed, and he called often, always to be met 
 
OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 209 
 
 with the same suave politeness and promises ; but no situ- 
 ation. He then went to London, and presented his letters 
 to a manufacturer. The Englishman read the communi- 
 cations carefully and slowly, and then said coldly : "Really, 
 sir, I do not think we can do anything for you, as our 
 establishment here is full; but if you will remain in the 
 city a few days, and then call again, perhaps we may be 
 able to help you." The Italian remained, and found, when 
 he visited the manufacturer, who greeted him warmly, 
 though not demonstratively, that he had made a place for 
 him in their establishment'at Manchester, a position which 
 he held for many years. I might say here, while referring 
 to French politeness, that a writer of old, while speaking 
 of the relations between the French and the Indians, said 
 that while a Frenchman was bowing and offering a chair 
 to a man, the Indians could finish three councils. 
 
 The English have always been noted for their courage. 
 The common impression that John Bull is a cold-blooded 
 animal, calculating, and a bragging coward, who can eat and 
 drink and bluster, and even fight occasionally, but that at 
 the critical moment his courage fails, and he is a poltroon, 
 is very far from the truth. Whatever may be the faults 
 of Englishmen, they are not cowards. They are brave 
 in battle. They have conquered, not only the hardy tribes 
 of the north, but the dusky multitudes of the south. Their 
 rule has not always been just or generous to the con- 
 quered, and in the presence of the magnificent victories 
 achieved by the English soldiers, it may be truthfully said, 
 in the words of the poet : 
 
 " No matter how blazoned in story 
 The fame of the victor may be, 
 Accursed is the march of that glory 
 That treads on the hearts of the free." 
 
210 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 I visited in company with General McAddras, a dis- 
 tinguished French general, who had married an American 
 lady Versailles, and walked through its galleries, salons, 
 and chambers, which appeared as if there were no end to 
 them filled with paintings, sculptures, mosaics, marble, 
 and gilding. I enjoyed a hasty visit to that most exquisite 
 spot, the Little Trianon, where Marie Antoinette and 
 Louis XVI used to play at farming, and convert the ladies 
 of the bedchamber and maids of honor into dairymaids, 
 before the Revolution swept all before it. I lingered with 
 admiration in its beautiful walks and gardens. I watched 
 for hours the grand display of the fountains. It is utterly 
 impossible to convey any idea of the effect of so many 
 magnificent and beautifuly-formed fountains, throwing 
 their waters high into the air in every direction. The 
 crowning sight was, however, at the grand basin of Nep- 
 tune, where at least 200,000 people had assembled to see 
 what certainly is a chef d* censure of fountains. The drive 
 from Paris to Versailles is exceedingly interesting and 
 lovely. Every spot of ground is vital with some historical 
 event. My good friend, the general, pointed out many rich 
 palaces. In Versailles, the day I visited it, there was an 
 anniversary celebration of one of the great French gen- 
 erals of the Revolution, Hoche a beautiful custom of 
 this people, who annually repair to the tombs of their 
 illustrious dead, and strew them with flowers. Many 
 speeches were made, and the United States was gracefully 
 remembered; and I was kindly requested to say a few 
 words upon Lincoln. Loud and continued acclamations 
 greeted the tribute to the martyr President. 
 
 The evening before, I had a strange and delightful 
 experience. It was the first night I had been in Paris, 
 and when I was walking along the crowded boulevard, 
 
OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 211 
 
 jostled by the throngs, without a friendly recognition, I 
 heard a voice calling, "Pepper, come and see your 
 friends!" My curiosity was excited, when I discovered 
 the speaker to be James Redpath, the early friend of 
 bleeding Kansas, the biographer of John Brown, and the 
 founder of the Lyceum that bears his name. He intro- 
 duced me to Mr. P. Egan, who was banished from his 
 country, and for whose capture the British Government 
 had offered a reward. Mr. Egan was very kind in showing 
 me the wonders of the city. I stopped with him at the 
 same hotel, and had many opportunities of witnessing his 
 daily movements; and a more disinterested gentleman 
 I never met. He afterwards represented our Government 
 in Chili, rendering brilliant services. I have heard Dr. 
 Drees, a Methodist missionary, speak highly of his liber- 
 ality and kindness to Protestant missionaries. 
 
 St. Cloud is chiefly remarkable for its grand woods, 
 commanding views of Paris, and for its artificial cascades, 
 a splendid piece of art in water. The palace always having 
 been a favorite, has been duly cared for. St. Germain pos- 
 sesses a far different interest. Its partially ruined and dis- 
 mantled palace is associated with French history for cen- 
 turies. Its noble and extensive forest is faced by a noble 
 and extensive greensward terrace, two miles in length, 
 and which overlooks the valley of the Seine. I had an 
 excellent dinner in the room where Louis XIV was born. 
 
 Nothing in all the world can surpass the beauty and 
 grandeur of the French Capital. It is the grandest embod- 
 iment of the French mind, and the most modern type of 
 the ancient cities, of which fancy dreams, in the past. To 
 speak of it is to speak of marvels of architecture, grand 
 churches, spacious and costly galleries of art, wide and 
 ornamental streets, attractive and splendid cafes. The 
 
212 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 River Seine, which runs through Paris, is one continual 
 line of beauty. This city has no rival. We may contrast, 
 but not compare it, with the cities of the Orient or of 
 Europe. London is grand, but not beautiful; Constanti- 
 nople is picturesque, but has little architectural splendor; 
 Paris has all these. I have seen Venice, unrivaled for 
 situation and immortalized by Byron; Florence, with its 
 broad and finished streets and its old palaces ; I have seen 
 London, distinguished for its vast industries, but Paris 
 surpasses them all. 
 
 The boulevards, commenced by King Louis XIV, 
 are grand. Two thousand vehicles, with their rush 
 of wheels, their whirl of life, pass over them every 
 day. Then there are the famous resorts St. Honore, 
 where Marie Antoinette won all hearts; the Palais 
 Royal, where wealth and fashion hold their revelry; 
 the Place de la Concorde; the tomb of Napoleon, 
 above the door of which one reads, "I desire 
 that my ashes may rest upon the banks of the 
 Seine, among the people that I have loved so well;'' 
 the Church of Notre Dame, which has in turn conse- 
 crated and deified so many sovereigns, baptized and con- 
 secrated so many revolutions ; which has opened its sacred 
 portals to so many usurpers; whose high altar has show- 
 ered so many blessings indiscriminately upon the heredi- 
 tary monarch and the democratic leveler, upon the heir 
 of kings and the elect of the people; a sanctuary famous 
 for its great preachers and great events. Perhaps the 
 most gorgeous event which has transpired there in recent 
 years was the marriage of the late Napoleon. Beneath 
 its vast dome, twenty thousand spectators beheld a pa- 
 geant never surpassed. The thoughtful observer thinks 
 of many brilliant ceremonies that have taken place of the 
 

OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 213 
 
 same nature ; of the beautiful Josephine, who stood before 
 Napoleon I, in robes of unrivaled splendor, sparkling with 
 jewels, wearing an ancient coronet, her lovely face radiant 
 with smiles, and her black eyes lustrous with tears of joy. 
 
 I thought, as I surveyed the church, of many a figlia 
 dolor osa who had knelt for a blessing at the foot of the 
 altar; of the beautiful Marie Antoinette, and her tragic 
 fate, recalling the eloquent eulogy of Burke; of the 
 Duchess of Orleans, flying from the maddened populace, 
 with the infant heir of the .French monarchy in her arms. 
 I thought of the bishops in their mitered robes, holdingthe 
 silver canopy over the head of the august bride of Napo- 
 leon III. Some future Burke, depicting the horrors of 
 another Revolution, may extort tears from the most cal- 
 lous in recording the agonies of that heart whose joyous 
 pulsations stirred the diamonds that glittered on the breast 
 of the Spanish beauty, the lovely Eugenie ! When I saw 
 her afterwards in Milan, the loveliness, which shone like 
 the hues of the morning on her bridal-day, had vanished 
 in the darkness and desolation that had broken her heart, 
 and thrown a pall of sorrow over her once handsome face. 
 
 It was in this cathedral that Bossuet and Massillon 
 preached those wonderful sermons which will live forever; 
 and that Pere Hyacinthe thrilled thousands by his fearless 
 utterance, "I will not enter Notre Dame in chains," when 
 the Church attempted to prevent the expression of his 
 advanced sentiments. I heard this famous divine. He is 
 unquestionably a great preacher ; but it is gross caricature 
 to elevate him to the position of the Saurins and the 
 Bourdaloues. He is bold, vigorous, dashing, discursive, 
 sometimes rising into animated declamation. His pero- 
 ration, the day I heard him, was decidedly beautiful. It 
 was studied with elaboration, worked into the memory, 
 
214 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 and delivered with thrilling effect. The French love 
 eloquence, and Pere Hyacinthe at that time was the most 
 accomplished master of speech in Paris. He has all the 
 physical gifts of the orator a massive chest of immense 
 breadth, a voice of great compass, and thrilling in its 
 tones; his gestures are perfect, his arms moving with the 
 incessant motion of the windmill, but as graceful and 
 harmonious as the sails of a ship. 
 
 Paris is full of such historic and memorable churches 
 and places. All Frenchmen are proud of their marvelous 
 capital. Voltaire, in a letter to the King of France, says : 
 "In ten years you might make Paris the marvel of the 
 world. Such an undertaking would confer glory on the 
 nation, and immortality on the council of the city. It 
 would encourage all arts, attract strangers from the ex- 
 tremities of Europe." It has been the darling ambition of 
 all French rulers to make Paris the most beautiful city in 
 the world. It is built on a level plain, twenty-one miles 
 in circumference, and contains a population of over two 
 millions. The splendid River Seine, flowing through the 
 center, is spanned by thirty-five bridges. The great Na- 
 tional Library, the Bibliotheque Imperiale, has more than 
 a million and a half of books. The pavements of the 
 streets are so smooth that the rattle of carriages is not 
 heard; this, however, is dangerous to pedestrians, an av- 
 erage of seven thousand persons being injured annually, 
 and five hundred killed. 
 
 French cooking is regarded as the best in the world. 
 A good dinner is easily obtained for twenty-five cents. 
 
 I quickly recognized the fact that the average French- 
 man is much shorter than the American. This is especially 
 noticeable in the French soldier; but it is almost impos- 
 sible to describe a Frenchman. His head is particularly 
 
OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 215 
 
 difficult the description of one is not applicable to all. 
 There are heads of various sizes, and beards of all shapes 
 and colors, mustaches of every possible quality and quan- 
 tity, and hair sometimes flowing like a mane or bristling 
 like the quills of a porcupine, or cut as close as scissors 
 can accomplish. French women are not so showily dressed 
 as is the general opinion. They are usually neatly and 
 prettily clothed. Whether seen in the theater, or in the 
 church, or upon the boulevards, they appear fascinating, 
 light-footed, and light-hearted. The French people are 
 always polite. Ask one of them the way from one direc- 
 tion to another, or any little act of courtesy, and he will 
 immediately forget himself in his efforts to render the 
 desired service. 
 
 I was everywhere struck in Paris with the great display 
 of artistic works. Besides the elegant buildings that have 
 been described, the statuary in the public gardens, and 
 the paintings which so profusely adorn the churches and 
 galleries, Paris is full of print-shops ; portraits of public 
 men and women are seen in all quarters. The French are, 
 emphatically, an artistic people. They have a strong love 
 of poetry, eloquence, architecture. 
 
 Like the generality of Americans, I \vas impressed with 
 the large number of soldiers in France ; every fourth man 
 I met was a soldier. The French soldier differs from the 
 German, English, or even American soldier, in the friendly 
 and social relations to the people. It is not uncommon to 
 see a soldier and a citizen walking arm in arm together, 
 discussing grave questions. Barracks are seen every- 
 where; soldiers are stationed at the end of every street. 
 France, with all its art, its love of the beautiful, its aspira- 
 tions after liberty, its high regard for man, has by far too 
 large a military element. But beneath that military tinsel 
 
2l6 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 exists an ardent faith in the power of ideas, and a pure and 
 unquenchable love of freedom. In this may be seen a 
 power that will carry France to prosperity and continued 
 greatness. 
 
 I have great admiration for the French people for 
 the eight million peasant proprietors who follow their 
 horses to the field, and plow up their own land. They are 
 sober, thrifty, and industrious. In all my travels in that 
 country, I never saw a drunkard. The benevolent wish of 
 a French King seems to be a realized condition. He 
 hoped the time would come when every French peasant 
 would have a chicken in his pot. 
 
 In some parts of the country a custom exists where 
 half a dozen or a dozen families they are not large 
 spend the evenings together. The papers are read, and 
 the leading events of the times are discussed. By this 
 practice sociability is cultivated and thrift is promoted. 
 The one fire serves a score of persons. 
 
 There is much in France that we dearly love. To 
 Americans the name of France stirs the proudest recollec- 
 tions of the patriotic heart. It is doubtful whether our 
 Revolutionary fathers could have succeeded had not La- 
 fayette helped them. There is much in common between 
 the French and American Revolutions ; they both fell like 
 thunder-peals upon the ears of tyrants. A new element 
 was called into operation, powerful and extensively dif- 
 fused as the electric fluids in the kingdoms of nature, and 
 destined to work and spread with restless activity. The 
 people of France had been ground to earth, and they 
 rose with a heroic grandeur and swept feudalism from 
 their country forever. The French people are gay, lively, 
 vivacious the predominating trait is glory. Hence one 
 reads on all their great monuments, "Dedicated to all the 
 
OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 217 
 
 glories of France." There is method in the Frenchman's 
 suicide madness ; he makes every preparation. I was told 
 of a man who, before killing himself, sent a card to his 
 friends: "Come and dine with me at four; I will blow my 
 brains out at six." If this volatile and brilliant people 
 have their vices, they have also their splendid virtues, 
 possessing many of the noblest traits which adorn hu- 
 manity. They are patriotic they love France. If they 
 had not been patriotic they would not have fought seven 
 bloody revolutions, and drenched their sunny soil in gore 
 to establish a republic the only fit form of government 
 under which an intelligent man ought to live. 
 
 There is nothing that strikes one with more surprise 
 than the air of self-satisfied vanity with which a Parisian 
 regards his shop. It is the first object of the whole family 
 whose property it is. All the resources of coquetry, all the 
 artistic taste they possess, are lavished upon its adorn- 
 ment. The wife looks upon it as her temple, where, as 
 presiding goddess, she sits enthroned; for behind every 
 counter is placed a luxurious couch, covered with choicest 
 stuffs in the most glowing colors. Here she is found with 
 all the unconstrained ease of a lady at home in her draw- 
 ing-room, chatting with a neighbor or working at her 
 embroidery frame, during the pauses in the busy day. The 
 children watch with envy lest a neighbor should eclipse 
 their shop in neatness, and the graceful propriety with 
 which the tempting wares are exposed for sale. From 
 remote streets the proprietors of the distant quartiers 
 crowd every evening to the boulevards to ascertain what 
 novelties are to be seen in the great stores, known all over 
 the world as the originators of fashion. Then, everything 
 new or remarkable is copied all over Paris within twenty- 
 four hours after it is exposed to view. The air of happy 
 
2l8 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 gayety which pervades these stores, the graceful polite- 
 ness, their obligingness, are remarkable ; and yet there is 
 no servility. Perhaps the most remarkable feature in their 
 demeanor is that entire self-respect which they will main- 
 tain at any cost. An amusing instance is told of an 
 Englishman. He entered a store or shop with his hat on, 
 approached the spot where the owner of the establishment 
 stood talking with his wife, who was comfortably seated at 
 her work. He asked, in that, careless, insolent tone, so 
 characteristic of English and American travelers, the di- 
 rect road to Rue de la Paix. "I shall tell monsieur when 
 he has the kindness to remove his hat ; he has not observed 
 that madame is present." Who could paint the amazed 
 look, the suppressed rage, as he retreated, muttering 
 curses. He was evidently new to Paris, and took as a 
 personal insult this expression of the general sentiment 
 of the nation ; nor the quiet contempt of the Frenchman, 
 as he turned to resume his conversation with his wife, 
 remarking, "Que ces Anglais sont betes" 
 
 There are not many fine stores in Paris; the Bon 
 Marche is the most attractive. It has the largest kitchen 
 in the world. It provides food for all its employees, of 
 which there are 400. The smallest kettle used holds 75 
 quarts; the largest, 375. There are 50 frying-pans, each 
 of which is capable of holding 306 cutlets at a time ; 8,000 
 eggs are used every morning, and 750 quarts of coffee 
 daily. There are 60 cooks, and 100 boys are employed 
 in the kitchen. 
 
 The first thing that engages the attention of vistors to 
 Paris is the many splendid public buildings with which it 
 abounds. The freedom and access to these, with all their 
 treasures of art, furnishes a most agreeable contrast to 
 the surly and avaricious spirit exhibited in England and 
 
OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 2IQ 
 
 Italy. Before the visitor can enter St. Paul's, in London, 
 he must pay a fee to the verger ; and before he is through, 
 the expense will be nearly a dollar. At the Pantheon, in 
 Paris, which occupies a similar position as St. Paul's in 
 London, one can ascend to the top of the dome, and have 
 a magnificent view of the whole city without paying a 
 cent. All the grand and historic churches are open daily. 
 They abound, as in all Roman Catholic countries, in side 
 chapels, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and to the saints; 
 and in each of them the shrines are decorated with various 
 paintings, and works of art in gold and silver. In many 
 of them the stained-glass windows are of the most gor- 
 geous description, especially in the Church of St. Ger- 
 main 1'Auxerrois, every window of which was completely 
 filled with the most beautiful colored glass. In addition 
 to the riches displayed in the chapels and the works of art, 
 pictorial and sculptured, they are adorned with a profusion 
 of polished marble of various colors. Nowhere is there 
 any evidence of the fee system. 
 
 The civic buildings are equally accessible. I passed 
 through the whole of the splendid suite of apartments in 
 the Hotel de Ville, the scene of many memorable events ; 
 the noble galleries and rooms in the palace of the Louvre, 
 which contain the largest and costliest pictures in the 
 world; the Jar din des Plantes, which contains immense 
 conservatories; and museums, in which the rarest treasures 
 of science are stored, including the whole of the works of 
 Cuvier, without any charge of admittance. The public 
 buildings of Paris far exceed in magnitude and in splendor 
 all those that I have ever seen in other countries. 
 
 Whether from policy or ostentation, the past rulers of 
 France have gratified the passion of the people for such 
 things, and taught them to identify themselves with the 
 
220 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 public monuments and institutions of the nation. Per- 
 haps much of this has arisen from the social and out-door 
 habits of the French. They are eminently a gregarious 
 race. Home, in the American sense, seems unknown to 
 them. They sleep in their dormitories, but no more. The 
 cafe and the restaurant supply them with all their meals. 
 Out of this again arises that universal politeness which is 
 so marked a feature of French national character. Accus- 
 tomed to associate so much in public, all classes insensibly 
 acquire the habit of making themselves agreeable, and 
 hence those easy, self-possessed manners which can only 
 be acquired by such intercourse. 
 
 Bohemia occupies a small space upon the map, and 
 must occupy a correspondingly small space within the 
 covers of this book; for, not being acquainted with the 
 Bohemian language, I could not gather as much infor- 
 mation about the customs and people, in my hasty trip 
 through the country, as I would have liked. The popula- 
 tion is mixed, consisting of Italians, Tyrolese, Illyrians, 
 Hungarians, and Poles. I lingered the longest about 
 Prague, remembering it was the home of John Huss, the 
 reformer. 
 
 Vienna, or Wien as the natives call it, delighted me. 
 It is one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, and con- 
 tains the finest architecture I have seen anywhere. The 
 streets are wide, smoothly paved, and cleanly kept. The 
 Ringstrasse was formerly occupied by the fortifications 
 of the inner town; but during Franz Josef's reign these 
 have been removed, and there now extends about the city 
 one of the most beautiful streets in the world. The Rath- 
 haus, Parliament buildings, two monstrous monumental 
 museums, picture-galleries, imperial palace, and many 
 
OTHER COUNTRIES AND CITIES VISITED. 221 
 
 other grand structures, face on this street. I was asked if 
 I did not wish to go through the Rath-haus. I thought 
 of all the marble stairs I had climbed, the wonderful curi- 
 osities marveled at, the old, old pictures admired, the 
 statues looked at, the palaces visited, and I said, u No !" 
 I looked at the immense building, covering acres and 
 acres of ground, and the thought of having to travel all 
 through it appalled me. One can have a surfeit, even of 
 grandeur, sometimes. 
 
 There are many hist9rical churches in Vienna. The 
 Augustinian contains the mortuary statuary for the tomb 
 of Maria Christina, by Canova. In the chapel adjoining 
 the church, the hearts of deceased members of the royal 
 family are preserved in silver urns. The Votive Church 
 was begun in 1856, in remembrance of Franz Josef's es- 
 cape from assassination in 1853. The chimes of this 
 church make indescribably sweet music. I was passing 
 one day as the funeral cortege of a young girl was passing 
 out, and I think I never listened to sweeter music than 
 that which came from the chimes, tender and sad, an em- 
 blem of the deep heart tragedy that had just been ended. 
 I lingered long in St. Stephen's, one day, watching the 
 worshipers as they came and went. There were some 
 half-burned candles on the table near a statue of the Vir- 
 gin and Child. One by one the people came in groups 
 of a dozen or more, making the sign of the cross, repeat- 
 ing prayers, or leaning over the railing to kiss the hands 
 of the Virgin, or reaching out a handkerchief or little 
 dress, or a tiny pair of shoes, with which to touch the 
 image. Their faith was great, and they went away with 
 a lighter step and brighter faces, feeling that the mere 
 touching of the garment of the carved image, or kissing 
 
222 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the marble hands, would put health into a weak body or 
 bring peace to a wounded heart. It was in this church 
 that thanks were rendered up to Heaven for the victory of 
 Sobieski over the Turks. His personal prowess was su- 
 perb, and he is the most commanding figure in Polish 
 history. He contributed the soldier's part to sustain the 
 grandeur and the glory of his noble Poland, a country 
 which in all ages had made many struggles for freedom. 
 
Chapter XIII. 
 
 A VISIT TO THE PASSION PI^AY AT OBERAM. 
 MERGAU IN 1890. 
 
 FOR years I had read of the Passion Play, and 
 had longed to visit the very spot, and witness 
 with my own eyes and hear with my own ears the ren- 
 dition of this most sacred of all the dramatic representa- 
 tions of Christ. 
 
 I had been interrogating tourists who stopped from 
 time to time at my hotel in Milan, and who had already 
 attended one of the bi-weekly representations of the play, 
 regarding their opinion of it. There was but one reply, 
 " Grand, inspiring, alone worth a trip across the Atlantic." 
 As my daughter and I were then contemplating a brief 
 visit to the United States, we decided to take a steamer 
 at Antwerp, going thither by way of Munich, whence we 
 could easily reach the scene of the play within a few hours. 
 We started from Milan, one day, about the middle of 
 August ; thence going to Venice, which we reached after 
 a five hours' ride. The route from Venice to Frankfort- 
 on-the-Main lay through the Tyrolese Alps, whose chalk- 
 like and rocky summits looked hot and repellent under 
 the burning August sun. There was only a short stop at 
 Frankfort, where there is one of the finest railway sta- 
 tions I saw in Europe. We descended from the cars at 
 Munich with a sigh of relief; for the blazing sun beating 
 down upon the low, sandy soil for hours before we had 
 reached the city had been reflected through the windows 
 
 223 
 
224 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of our little, crowded compartment, and had made us 
 long for the cool seclusion of a German gasthaus. 
 
 We started for Ammergau that evening, a pleasant 
 California lady, who, by some mischance, had failed to 
 meet her friends, asking to share our compartment with 
 us. Ammergau was reached about midnight. We had 
 thought we would be obliged to remain there until morn- 
 ing; but seeing a rickety stage-coach about to depart for 
 somewhere, we found upon inquiry that its destination 
 was Oberammergau, the little village nestled down among 
 the Bavarian Alps, and some three miles away. The coach 
 was dark, and we had not the least idea who our fellow- 
 travelers were. Occasional bits of conversation, however, 
 revealed to us that we had with us Herr High-priest 
 Ananias, one of the chief actors in the play; a Russian 
 lady, who spoke English with an enviable correctness; 
 several of the villagers, who had been to Munich laying 
 in a stock of supplies for the unlooked-for rush of visitors ; 
 one or two army officers, and a priest. There was an 
 old German householder, also, lying back in the farthest 
 corner. After jolting along for a while, the passengers 
 became drowsy, and the desultory conversation ceased 
 altogether. It was at this juncture that the German, po- 
 litely apologizing to the "Damen," struck a match to 
 light his pipe. The sight that this revealed aroused the 
 sleepy passengers to full consciousness. The old priest, 
 fat and well-preserved, was snoring rhythmically, with his 
 head resting gently on the California lady's shoulder. It 
 was a revelation to her, also, and she gave it a push to the 
 other side. The tired head rolled around aimlessly for 
 a while, and at last fell back contentedly into its first po- 
 sition. All laughed aloud at this point, the lady herself 
 
THE PASSION PLAY AT OBERAMMERGAU. 22$ 
 
 joining in; but it was not until she moved to the other 
 side of the coach that the priest awoke. 
 
 We reached Oberammergau about one o'clock in the 
 morning. As we were set down in the little square of 
 the village, a flood of moonlight broke out from among 
 the clouds, and lighted up the whole place with a silvery 
 sheen, showing the red-roofed houses, with their walls 
 painted over quaintly with Biblical representations, and 
 making it seem as if we had been dropped down suddenly 
 into some toy city. 
 
 The inhabitants of the place are wood-carvers, and 
 pass away their simple lives in this occupation from gener- 
 ation to generation. The Miracle Play is given by them 
 every ten years, in fulfillment of a vow made over two 
 centuries ago, in return for their deliverance from a plague 
 which was devastating the surrounding country. Seven 
 hundred of the fifteen hundred inhabitants pass nine 
 months of every tenth year in rehearsing their parts; for 
 although there are only five hundred actors, two hundred 
 more are drilled for substitutes. The performances are 
 given twice a week, for the three summer months, in an 
 immense amphitheater, capable of holding thousands of 
 people. For two centuries the play was given regularly, 
 without attracting the attention of travelers; but in the 
 year 1850, Dean Mil man, of London, and in 1860, Dean 
 Stanley, of the same city, visited the play, and wrote such 
 glowing accounts of this marvelous performance in the 
 Bavarian highlands that since then visitors from all parts 
 of the world flock there by thousands. In 1870 the Jewish 
 musical critic, Aronson, made a critical study of the play, 
 and pronounced the musical features of it to be unsur- 
 passed. In the same year it was visited by Edwin Booth, 
 15 
 
226 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 who said that he had never known what acting was until 
 he beheld it here in its perfection. The people show rare 
 artistic cultivation, combined with perfect simplicity. 
 They have a profound knowledge of the Scriptures, show- 
 ing a wonderful familiarity with every act of our Lord's 
 life. They have no master in the art of acting except the 
 parish priest. 
 
 We thought for a while that we might be obliged to 
 pass the rest of the night here on the village square, as I 
 had made no arrangements before leaving Milan for lodg- 
 ings and tickets, which are supposed to be arranged for 
 weeks in advance. However, the good Bavarian, Ana- 
 nias, took pity on us, found lodgings with a friend for my 
 daughter and the California lady, and took me to his own 
 home, where he was obliged to give me his bed, as the 
 house was crowded. 
 
 I was sleeping soundly when the great cannon boomed 
 at five o'clock the next morning, announcing the hour 
 of prayer for the villagers. I had scarcely dropped to 
 sleep again when a band passed through the town, calling 
 the people to some other act of devotion. I finally gave 
 it up altogether, arose, dressed, and went to seek my 
 daughter and her companion, and find some hospitable 
 board where we might get breakfast. As I had not seen 
 where my friend had taken them the night before, and 
 as there were thousands of strangers in the village, it was 
 no easy task to find two answering exactly to their de- 
 scription. Finally, after climbing to the top of an out- 
 side staircase, and pushing open the door which I found 
 there, I came upon the objects of my quest, sleeping 
 peacefully on the top of a high German bed, which they 
 had evidently had to reach by means of a chair ; for there 
 was one standing near by. It was then almost eight 
 
THE PASSION PLAY AT OBERAMMERGAU. 227 
 
 o'clock, the time for the play to begin, and we did not 
 even have our entrance tickets. I had been hearing 
 stories from complacent tourists, who had their tickets, 
 about people who had been obliged to remain over from 
 one representation to the other, a space of two or three 
 days, all because they had not procured tickets several 
 days in advance. It did not add to my peace of mind 
 to realize that the ladies had yet to make their toilets 
 before we could even go to seek the burgomeister, who 
 alone was said to have the power of disbursing tickets. 
 By a happy coincidence, the visit to this mighty poten- 
 tate of the village was dispensed with. My kind friend, 
 the High-priest Ananias, again came to my rescue. Some 
 of his expected guests, for whom he had reserved tickets, 
 had not come, and their tickets were at our disposal. 
 Thus armed, and after getting a cup of coffee and a roll 
 at the gasthaus, we made our way to the amphitheater, 
 whither crowds were already hastening in response to the 
 beating of a drum. The booming of a cannon announces 
 the beginning of the play. It continues from eight until 
 twelve, and recommences at one, continuing until four. 
 Our seats proved to be under cover, upon which we con- 
 gratulated ourselves a few hours later, when the rain 
 began to come down gently, and the people on the lower 
 seats, which occupy at least one-half the amphitheater, 
 were obliged to sit under dripping umbrellas, or leave the 
 place altogether, as many of them did. The immense 
 stage also is nearly all uncovered, and it was curious to 
 observe with what stolid indifference and apparent ab- 
 sorption in their parts the players continued the repre- 
 sentation, with the rain beating down in their faces and 
 dripping from their clothes. 
 . I shall ever bear in memory the magnificent panorama 
 
228 UNDER THREE FLAGS, 
 
 which spread out before our gaze, as we sat there listen- 
 ing to these simple peasants chanting the chorus which 
 precedes every act. Immediately in front of us a sea of 
 heads, people from all parts of the world; a little beyond, 
 the crude stage; and in the near background a succession 
 of rolling hills, whose green rivaled the emerald; cattle 
 grazing peacefully here and there, and a solitary peasant, 
 scythe in hand, mowing fresh grass for his herds, seem- 
 ingly oblivious of the absorbing drama that was taking 
 place down below. 
 
 I will not describe the play in detail; it has already 
 been done so often. The chief character was taken this 
 time, as in 1870 and 1880, by Joseph Meyer, a pale-faced, 
 spiritual-looking man, who copies, in so far as he is able, 
 in personal appearance and dress, the accepted por- 
 traits of our Lord. He went through his part with 
 an intense earnestness, which reconciled the observer, if 
 such a thing be possible, to the assumption of this sacred 
 character by any human creature. Each act is preceded 
 by a chant from the choir, who file in in green mantles 
 and golden crowns, and shadow forth in their sweet but 
 generally sad strains the tragic events which are about to 
 take place. There are also interspersed many tableaus, 
 representing prominent events recorded in the Old Testa- 
 ment. 
 
 The First Act is Christ's Entry into Jerusalem. He 
 weeps over Jerusalem's desolation, and bewails the fate 
 of her children : "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for 
 me, but for yourselves and your children." This is ren- 
 dered with exquisite pathos, and the refrain "Jerusalem" 
 rings in your ears, now rising in tones of anguished warn- 
 ing, now dying- in a wail of despair. There was a sacred 
 
JOSEPH MEYER, AS CHRIST. 
 
THE PASSION PLAY AT OBERAMMERGAU. 22$ 
 
 hush, fraught with profound reverence, through this, as 
 well as through nearly all the other acts. 
 
 Act II represents Christ at Bethany. After the tur- 
 moil and excitement of the city he retires to the peaceful 
 quiet of the homes of Mary and Martha. 
 
 Act V is a celebration of the Last Supper. This is an 
 exact representation of Leonardo da Vinci's famous paint- 
 ing, and is one of the most faithful and most impressive 
 ones of the play. 
 
 Act VII represents Christ in the Garden of Geth- 
 semane, where the majestic sufferer bows beneath the 
 great olives, and pours out his soul in agony. An angel 
 is sent with a golden censer to comfort him. 
 
 In Act IX, Christ is brought before Caiaphas. Here 
 he is found guilty. The disciples, so bold and confident, 
 now resort to cowardly flight. All forsook him and fled. 
 
 Act X shows the despair of Judas. The betrayer does 
 not seem the hardened criminal that the pictures repre- 
 sent him, but a man of the world. He appears now to be 
 full of remorse. When he looks into the innocent face 
 of Christ, he flings the bag upon the ground, exclaiming, 
 "He was such a good man !" 
 
 Act XI, Christ before Pilate, is a thrilling one. Pilate, 
 after a thorough examination, exclaims, "I find no fault 
 in this just man!" then sends him away to Herod, who 
 delivers him to the brutal soldiers. Never can the spec- 
 tator forget the lofty scorn and the deep loathing with 
 which Pilate looks upon the enemies of Christ. 
 
 Act XV was greeted by sobs and cries of absolute 
 pain from all over the amphitheater. It represented 
 Christ bearing his cross. Nothing can be more heart- 
 rending than the Holy Man taking up his cross, and bear- 
 
230 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ing it upon his shoulders, the blood streaming from every 
 part of his sacred body, until Simon appears and relieves 
 him of the terrible burden. 
 
 In Act XVI, the Crucifixion, the climax is reached] 
 All nature harmonizes with the dark deed. The heavens 
 assume a somber color ; soon the whole sky is black ! The 
 two thieves are placed on their crosses, and Christ in the 
 midst towers above all others, Jesus in the midst ! Has 
 he not always been there? there in eternity, before he 
 made the journey of a God from the splendors of a throne 
 to earth; and is he not now the Lamb slain in the midst 
 of the throne? O my soul, I can hear the heavy strokes 
 of the hammer as they drive the nails into those feet which 
 never wearied in errands of mercy, and those hands which 
 were stretched out over Jerusalem's lost opportunities! 
 I watched him there, and though I had read the great 
 French and Italian preachers' sermons upon the Passion, 
 nothing moved me like this ! Theirs was acting, but this 
 was the real scene. "O Lamb of God, was ever pain, was 
 ever love like this?" What a marvelous change in the 
 physical appearance of the Divine Victim ! The face that 
 was white and lifelike, now black ! The neck, which had 
 been white and smooth, now showed the veins swollen 
 and blue! Edmund Burke, in that most perfect of his 
 eloquent descriptions, describes Marie Antoinette as hav- 
 ing her whole being changed by suffering. She enters 
 the prison with hair like a raven; a single night makes 
 it white as snow. A more wonderful and heart-rending 
 change took place in this Christ figure upon the cross 
 before the very eyes of the spectators. Cries of horror 
 and pity broke from their lips, and so intense was the 
 emotion for a few seconds that it seemed almost as if a 
 panic would ensue. 
 
THE PASSION PLAY AT, OBERAMMERGAU. 231 
 
 The succeeding act, the Descent from the Gross, is an 
 exact copy of Rubens' s celebrated picture in Antwerp. 
 The executioners, with indecent haste, rush forward; but 
 Nicodemus shows an order from Pilate, giving him full 
 authority to take charge of the body. Two ladders are 
 placed, one in front, one in the rear of the cross. The 
 crown of thorns is removed and given to a servant. The 
 nails are then extracted, and the dead Christ is taken 
 down and laid upon the ground, where he is covered with 
 a clean white linen cloth, and the blood is washed from 
 the hands, from the temples, and from the feet. Now he 
 is buried amid the sweet budding foliage of spring. The 
 "funeral was unostentatious. Behold the place where they 
 laid him! Rich odors are shed there. Behold it in your 
 tears, ye who sorrow for loved ones ! The third day the 
 good women come to anoint the body, and their ears are 
 anointed with the most fragrant tidings that ever fell from 
 heaven to earth : "He is not here, he is risen !" The gloom 
 gives place to joy! The performers now put on white 
 garments, and as the limestone rocks of Judea crack and 
 explode with the glory of the risen Christ, all exclaim, 
 "The Lord is risen ! The Lord is risen!" There is not a 
 line of departure from the Gospel narrative. The clear 
 and thrilling tones of the Christus is heard, "I am the 
 Resurrection and the Life !" O Jesus, I have often gazed 
 on thee in admiration, but never so much as when thou 
 didst declare thyself by the sublime title, "I am the Resur- 
 rection and the Life!" demonstrating thy divinity over 
 death and the grave. I felt myself involuntarily repeating 
 the hymn of Watts : 
 
 " Say, Live forever, wondrous King, 
 
 Born to redeem and strong to save ! 
 Then ask the monster, Where 's thy sting! 
 And, Where 's thy victory, boasting Grave !" 
 
232 . UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 I have never heard anything to approach the dra- 
 matic power of these performers. Says the good priest, 
 Father Daiserberg, of Oberammergau : "It is not our aim 
 to shine in the art of acting; that would be ridiculous in 
 country folk. But it must be the earnest desire of each 
 one to represent worthily this Holy Mystery. As the 
 apostles taught men by their holy conversation, so must 
 we endeavor, if our work is to be blessed to the hearts of 
 men, to show by our Christlike conduct the salutary 
 effect produced upon our souls." 
 
 That is it ! It is more than acting ! It is devotion in 
 its most spiritualized and sublimated form! 
 
 The succeeding acts The Burial of Christ, The Res- 
 urrection and Christ's Ascension, making twenty in all 
 although grand in conception and almost perfect in exe- 
 cution, were received with strange apathy. The people 
 had spent their emotion in the supreme Act of the Cruci- 
 fixion. 
 
 Few words were exchanged that evening in the beau- 
 tiful drive back to Ammergau, with the enchanting green 
 of the mountains before our eyes, and the noise of the 
 waterfalls soft and soothing in our ears. The great trag- 
 edy which had just passed before us was a real one, and 
 it was long ere we could throw off the magic influence, 
 and think of the actors therein as simple Bavarian peas- 
 ants, who were giving this Miracle Play in fulfillment of 
 a pious vow. 
 
Chapter XIV. 
 
 CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES MEN KNOWN IN 
 POLITICAL LIFE AND OTHER BYWAYS. 
 
 A3 a minister of the gospel I have always claimed the 
 right to tell my sentiments upon the questions in 
 which the righteousness and the prosperity of the Re- 
 public are profoundly interested. Every four years I 
 have made campaign speeches to the electors, assuring 
 them that they would stand immeasurably higher as Chris- 
 tians if they took some interest in the political affairs of 
 this country. Their lips ought not to be padlocked wher- 
 ever and whenever bribery and corruption are to be ex- 
 posed, the great cause of Temperance to be vindicated, 
 and the stability and prosperity of the Republic are to be 
 promoted. 
 
 I spoke these sentiments in 1861, when our majestic 
 eagle wavered in his flight, and the stars upon our banner 
 began to lose their luster. I spoke them again when 
 Grant was triumphantly chosen as the Chief Magistrate 
 of the Nation. I spoke in all the subsequent Presidential 
 elections, except one during which I was absent from 
 the country. And I also believe that hereafter more min- 
 isters will take time from their pulpits to spend in this 
 way; not dragging partisan politics into their pulpits, 
 which I never did, but preaching upon the lines laid down 
 by the prophet, "Righteousness exalteth a nation." 
 Those words of Byron's are true and noble : 
 
 " Freedom's battle, once begun, 
 Bequeathed from bleeding sire to son, 
 Though baffled oft, is ever won." 
 233 
 
234 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Is it possible that when a patriotic government or a 
 municipality is doing its best to promote morality and 
 decent administration of affairs, that ministers of the 
 gospel can be silent? Are they too much absorbed in the 
 contemplation of the heavens, that they have no time to 
 take some interest in the welfare of the millions upon the 
 earth? A story is told of a scholar who, when the whole 
 Nation was startled by the fall of Fort Sumter, said to 
 his friends, "What do I care? I must finish my gram- 
 mar." I have heard the utterances of certain bishops, 
 boasting that they "never had voted." Such men should 
 never preach the gospel to me. They are not indoctri- 
 nated with the principles of the Bible upon their duties in 
 civil life. I maintain that we have not been doing our duty 
 in regard to politics and civil government. You may tell 
 me, indeed, that ministers of the gospel should not be 
 politicians. I have no politics aside from Christianity. 
 I can say with the Covenanters, "My politics is my Bible." 
 
 A national campaign is one of the trials of democ- 
 racy. It has been questioned whether seventy millions 
 could peacefully carry out their respective political creeds 
 without the Nation suffering serious disaster. But the 
 calmness, the decorum, and the readiness with which the 
 defeated parties accept the results, demonstrate the sagac- 
 ity of our system. There are many popular fallacies about 
 elections. Among them a common one is, that all the 
 speakers and managers are supplied with money to buy 
 votes. "Money!" cries the bankrupt, while he listens 
 to the harangue. "Help us to pay off our indebtedness." 
 "Money !" cries the beggar, who believes that a political 
 campaign is a pyramid of wealth. "Money!" demands 
 the idler, while he buries his hands in his empty pockets ; 
 and the mechanic out of work takes up the dismal chorus. 
 
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES. 235 
 
 When I was speaking at a town in Southern Illinois, 
 during the campaign of 1896, a Democratic wag reported 
 in advance that I had a valise full of silver, which Mr. 
 Hanna gave me to pay off all mortgages. When I ar- 
 rived at the depot, there were hundreds of colored people 
 waiting my arrival. One powerful fellow seized my 
 satchel, exclaiming : "It is true ! There is so much money 
 here that I can not lift it up/' For hours I was pestered 
 with appeals, and I was confidentially informed that the 
 applicants would never tell how much they got. 
 
 There is no fallacy more common than that all the 
 active campaigners are office-seekers. This may be true 
 of a few, but not of the great majority. The usual class 
 of office-seekers are not the men selected for their abil- 
 ities, or from the hard-working men who carry elections. 
 For the most part, they are party hacks, who help to elect 
 senators and congressmen, who form a company or a 
 clique. The life of a man of this class, as has been truth- 
 fully said, must be a life of drudgery. He dares not de- 
 clare his independent opinion on any question. He dares 
 not answer a plain question plainly, lest his answer should 
 be remembered. 
 
 Another very common fallacy, the constant reiter- 
 ation of speakers of all parties, is, that if the opposite 
 party succeeds the country is ruined; that all the pros- 
 perity and morality will disappear if the opposite candi- 
 date is elected ; that the platform of his party was made in 
 heaven; that America is on the brink of a deadly gulf. 
 The Republic, the foundations of which have been laid 
 on the heights that overlook the Bay of Charleston, laid 
 deep on the banks of the Potomac, laid firmly in the 
 -wooded hills of Vermont the Republic, these opposing 
 
236 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 orators tell us, if Free Trade or Protection succeeds, will 
 split from base to battlement. 
 
 The most noted clergyman in the United States tells 
 how, when he was a boy, he went to hear a famous polit- 
 ical orator, who, pointing his index finger at him, thun- 
 dered out, "If Mr. Harrison is elected, that boy will grow 
 no taller." He went home crying, and told his father not 
 to vote for Harrison. Twenty years after, the boy, 
 grown up, heard the same political orator declare the 
 same thing if Lincoln were elected. 
 
 These political campaigns are educational factors, and 
 leave a softening, humanizing influence behind them. 
 There is always a patient investigation and a desire to 
 ascertain the facts. Upon all such contests as those of 
 1844 and 1 86 1 the American looks back with pride. He 
 remembers the rush of noble words and the bright play 
 of Henry Clay's speech. Bryce, the Irish author of the 
 "American Commonwealth," the best book ever written 
 by a foreigner on American institutions, says: "The 
 American is keen and shrewd. His passion seldom ob- 
 scures his reason. He keeps his head during these ex- 
 citements, when a German or a Frenchman would lose 
 his." The political election, in which two men are pitted 
 against one another in a four months' campaign for the 
 great prize, stirs the blood like any other trial of strength 
 and speed. 
 
 The campaign every four years teaches the responsi- 
 bilities that are offered to the young men of the land. In 
 no other country is there such an opportunity. The 
 American people do not ask, "What was your father?" 
 but, "Who are you?" Thomas Jefferson's test is the 
 thing, after all, for a candidate: "Is he honest? Is he ca- 
 pable?" Let the young man, the intelligent, adventurous, 
 
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES. 237 
 
 and gallant, take heart ! Lord Morpeth, after visiting 
 our schools, was asked what he thought of them. His 
 answer was, "Every boy who spoke expects to be Presi- 
 dent of the United States." 
 
 The campaign inculcates the value of enthusiasm. 
 The incidents and picturesque surrounding of the crowds 
 form a copious theme to excite earnestness. The orators 
 become aroused when they quote extracts from other 
 candidates' speeches extracts that will supersede. De- 
 mosthenes against ^Eschines, Rienzi against the nobles, 
 Pitt retorting on Walpole, and Webster in reply to Hayne. 
 Charles James Fox declared that a man without enthusi- 
 asm never succeeds. The great transactions of history, 
 the fight at Marathon, the death of Caesar, the sublime 
 episodes of the Swiss crags, the storm which hurled the 
 thrones of the Bourbons into destruction, the eternal ring 
 of the bell at Philadelphia proclaiming the rights of man 
 throughout the world, were not accomplished without 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 The campaign inspires candidates with the necessity 
 of'having spotless records. As soon as a man is nomi- 
 nated, every obscure paper in the country begins the 
 everlasting search for his history. The challenge is sent 
 forth, the trumpet is sounded, and the bitter and humili- 
 ating events of the man's life are gone over. The candi- 
 date is the public property of the Nation. The day of his 
 nomination it might be written over his door, as over "the 
 churches in Paris, "La propriete nationale." ("The na- 
 tional property.") Everything is noted and exaggerated. 
 Should he take a trip, it is telegraphed. If a Hoosier 
 comes along and slaps him on the back, he must submit. 
 A skulking shadow everywhere pursues him. If his child 
 upbraid him or his wife abscond, the spies are ready to 
 
238 . UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 publish it to the world. Expostulate with these burglars 
 as they tear the roof off his house, and they answer: "It 
 is all right! He is a public man, and a candidate for 
 office, and the people want to hear all about him." This 
 was especially the case with James G. Elaine. He was 
 followed to Europe, his steps were dogged everywhere. 
 His dentist in Milan told me that when the great states- 
 man came to his office, a spy was just behind him, and even 
 the office was invaded and questions asked about Elaine's 
 health and teeth. 
 
 Again, a political campaign is a spectacle of grandeur. 
 It is really a great thing when seventy millions of people 
 are interested. As our admirer, Bryce, puts it: "The 
 scene of immensity, and the belief that the same thoughts 
 and purposes are animating millions of other people in 
 sympathy with himself, lifts a man out of himself, and 
 sends him into transports of eagerness and zeal." 
 
 The first campaign in which I took part was for the 
 election of Grant, in 1868. I was then a chaplain in the 
 regular army. The speech was delivered in the Public 
 Square, Cleveland, Ohio. I afterwards addressed the peo- 
 ple of North Carolina, visiting every county in the State. 
 
 The next campaign in which I took an active part 
 was a memorable one, the contest for the election of 
 James G. Elaine, in 1884. The reason for my interest in 
 Mr. Elaine arose from an incident which took place in 
 Ireland a few years before. I was visiting the home of 
 my childhood, and, in response to old friends, delivered 
 an address upon America and Americans at Pepper's 
 Cross-roads. During the delivery of the lecture, I com- 
 pared America's Presidents with the English Kings, 
 American Queens with those of England. 
 
 The next day two policemen came to my mother-in- 
 
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES. 239 
 
 law's house, asking if Rev. George W. Pepper was there. 
 My wife responded, "Yes," with a touch of indignation. 
 They requested that I should take a walk with them to the 
 nearest station, Gilford. I knew what that meant, eigh- 
 teen months' imprisonment, without a trial; for the Cur- 
 few Law was then in force. I remonstrated, but in vain, 
 until I pulled out my passport, which I flaunted in their 
 faces, saying, "If you arrest me, I will cable James G. 
 Elaine, the Secretary of State, whose name is there, and in 
 forty-eight hours he will. hold your British Ambassador 
 responsible!" Quickly they changed their actions, and 
 cravenly apologized. Elaine's name carried terror as 
 well as influence with it. I said then to my wife, "If 
 Elaine is ever a candidate for the Presidency I will take 
 the stump for him." 
 
 The next year I delivered the Fourth of July speech 
 in Mansfield. John Sherman presided. He had given 
 land enough to build a beautiful park for the city, and 
 this patriotic occasion was the dedication of the grounds. 
 I repeated the incident in my address; it got into the 
 papers, so that when Elaine was nominated I was invited 
 to deliver the first speech in New York. The audience 
 was very large, and I had some fears. At the Astor House 
 a reporter for one of the newspapers, whom I had known 
 in the army, Mr. Doyle, called to give advice. He was 
 anxious to know if I could sing an Irish song. I an- 
 swered, "No, nor a Methodist ! I do not even know one 
 tune from another." "Well, then, you will find it un- 
 popular to deliver your speech. A rousing Irish song 
 might quiet them for some time, and give you a chance. 
 But Republican speeches to Irish audiences never suc- 
 ceeded here. General Benjamin F. Butler tried it, and 
 failed." From the first sentence, "I am here to-night to 
 
240 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 bind with a shamrock wreath the brow of the grand old 
 party with which the proudest and grandest recollections 
 of the country have been associated for thirty years ; the 
 party of Abraham Lincoln, of Grant, and of its noblest 
 living representative, James G. Elaine, its standard-bearer 
 in this campaign," cheers began in all parts of the hall 
 and lasted for several minutes. Somebody I think it was 
 Hawley or Elkins came up and whispered in my ear, 
 "You have got them." 
 
 The next morning I was invited to visit the National 
 Headquarters, where I became acquainted with the man- 
 agers and several of the leading Republicans of the coun- 
 try. I met Mr. B. F. Jones, Mr. Elaine's chairman, a 
 prominent iron manufacturer of Pittsburg, an honest and 
 respected gentleman of the old school, conscientious and 
 sincere in his politics as in his business. I met also Mr. 
 J. S. Clarkson, whose unflagging zeal, untiring activity, 
 and enthusiastic application for twenty years of laborious 
 service were developed and matured in the service of his 
 party. It does not detract from the glory of others to say 
 that Clarkson's pluck and determination were always in 
 the lead. 
 
 I delivered my first speeches in Maine in Bangor, 
 Portland, L,ewiston, and Saco. Before commencing, it was 
 deemed advisable to have an interview with Mr. Blaine, 
 at Bar Harbor. I remember an incident which occurred 
 in a town of Maine. I had ridden forty miles from Calais, 
 and put up for the night at a quaint old town. Arriving 
 at the hotel, "Stranger," said the proprietor, "you are in 
 the best town in the world. Think of it ! There has never 
 been a saloon here, nor a jail, nor a Democrat, nor a trial, 
 nor a Catholic, nor a Methodist!" 
 
 After doing Maine, I was sent to Massachusetts, the 
 
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES. 241 
 
 land of Mugwumps, where I spent two weeks, speaking 
 in all the principal cities. It was in a carriage on the way 
 to Faneuil Hall that I met a man who has recently gained 
 much celebrity in the war with Spain as colonel of the 
 Rough Riders, Theodore Roosevelt, and Senator Henry 
 Cabot Lodge. The order of speeches was discussed. 
 Lodge was to give the history of the party ; Roosevelt ta 
 talk to the Mugwumps, and to show that civil service had 
 a better showing with Republicans ; and I to address my- 
 self to the veterans. Senator Lodge made a lucid and 
 unanswerable speech, showing himself to be a scholar and 
 a fine speaker. Roosevelt attained high distinction dur- 
 ing that campaign. 
 
 At Quincy I was billed to speak with Colonel Slack, 
 the collector of the port of Boston and editor of the Com- 
 monwealth. He spoke first, and notwithstanding that he 
 was frequently interrupted by the leading Prohibitionists 
 of the State, he made a telling and convincing speech. 
 I never heard his equal in answering questions. I fol- 
 lowed him. Some one cried out, "Three cheers for Elaine 
 and Logan!" which were given with enthusiasm. Then 
 some politician of the other party cried out, "Three cheers 
 
 for h 1 !" "That 's right !" quickly responded Colonel 
 
 Slack, "every one should cheer for his own country!" 
 After leaving Massachusetts, I spoke in Indiana, Michi- 
 gan, Illinois. 
 
 In the Harrison campaign of 1888 I was engaged for 
 many weeks, and here I met Senator M. S. Quay and the 
 indefatigable Clarkson. Quay was an adroit, skillful 
 leader, priming himself upon being more than a match 
 for Tammany. It was not omnipotent when it confronted 
 Quay. I spoke fourteen nights in the city to the most 
 disorderly crowds I ever saw. The Goths were refined. 
 
 16 
 
242 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 in comparison with these mobs. At one place, supposed 
 to be the wickedest and most dangerous of the city, a 
 meeting was arranged, the first Republican meeting ever 
 held there. The Democrats having failed to break up the 
 meeting, resorted to a new device ; at a given signal some 
 roughs in the outskirts would toss into the air bundles of 
 paper pellets, which fell upon the speaker like white flakes 
 of snow; the crowd would then send up a yell. General 
 Dennis Burke, the gallant commander of the Irish Bri- 
 gade, tried and had to give it up. 
 
 At last a West Virginian, whose name I have forgot- 
 ten, commenced. The same game was started. Finally 
 the West Virginian suddenly exclaimed, with an oath, 
 "My father was killed and my brother was wounded in 
 the war, and I, too, was a soldier. I fought for free 
 speech as well as for the Union!" and lifting up some- 
 thing that looked like a revolver, "and I swear that the 
 first ruffian who throws up one of those paper pellets, I 
 will give him the contents of this !" The rascals fled, and 
 he spoke for an hour without interruption, other than 
 cheers. It was a cigar-case, not a pistol, that he held in 
 his hand. It was a great success, 
 
 I next was sent to Indiana, where I met John C. New, 
 a stanch Republican, a cool and forecasting man, who 
 knew the politics of his State better than any other poli- 
 tician. 
 
 Once more was the McKinley campaign, in 1896. I 
 had known the Major by reputation ; but the first time I 
 ever saw him was in Augusta, Maine. He was making 
 speeches, and I think was on his way to see the Plumed 
 Knight. I was impressed with his evident sincerity and 
 his unselfishness. What a change position makes in the 
 number of a man's friends! I remember one of the last 
 
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES. 243 
 
 times I saw him, after the temporary reaction against his 
 tariff bill, he was on his way to Lorain to make a speech. 
 I was going further to deliver a lecture. There was not 
 a man in the depot to see him off, nor one who accom- 
 panied him. Now there would be thousands, with bands 
 of music and flying colors. The same McKinley, the same 
 quiet, Christian gentleman; but there is the Presidency, 
 with its offices. I delivered an address in behalf of the 
 soldiers when he was the candidate for this high office. 
 He was full of compliments. "It was beautiful ! It was 
 beautiful!" he said. 
 
 Receiving an earnest request from Colonel Hahn, the 
 chairman of the Speakers' Department, I accepted his 
 invitation, and departed immediately for Chicago. I 
 made my first speech in the stockyards to a thousand or 
 more men with mugs of beer in their hands it was the 
 noon hour cheering for Bryan and more money. It was 
 the oddest crowd I ever beheld. They raved like maniacs. 
 While I was trying to speak, a gentleman stood behind 
 me who was there purposely to protect me, in case the 
 mob should make an attack. He had previously advised 
 me to lay aside the silk hat I was wearing, as it would 
 probaby be a target for their missiles. 
 
 Hurrying into the carriage, we drove to another stock- 
 yard meeting, which was orderly, respectful, and appre- 
 ciative. The chairman was a Gold Democrat. The same 
 night I addressed an audience in the hotel in which Mr. 
 Hedges was stopping. It was full and enthusiastic. The 
 next day I made a speech at twelve o'clock to the busi- 
 ness men. It was a scene never to be forgotten, that im- 
 mense crowd of eager and hopeful men. 
 
 I was sent from there to Kansas, where I addressed 
 meetings at Topeka, Lawrence, and St. Mary's. At the 
 
244 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 latter place, among the Reception Committee, was the 
 Hon. James W. Fitzgerald, formerly of Cincinnati, a mem- 
 ber of the Ohio Legislature, and the best Police Court 
 judge that Cincinnati ever had. He was such a terror to 
 evil-doers that they shot at him. He was a Democrat in 
 Kansas, and was running for the Legislature ; but that did 
 not chill his interest in an old friend. He has since died. 
 A more stainless knight never drew a sword. A good 
 and true man. 
 
 I also met in Topeka my old friend, John Mulvane, 
 formerly of Ohio, a banker and an honored citizen. He 
 wields a powerful influence in Topeka. 
 
 Next, I was directed to spend several weeks in Illinois. 
 Mound City was my headquarters; from there I visited 
 all the neighboring towns, speaking frequently in halls, 
 old shops, churches, and in the open air, twice a day regu- 
 larly, and occasionally three times. After the night 
 speech, I would ride sixteen miles, accompanied by a band 
 of singers. At one place the hotel had just burned down. 
 A Republican of the town told me that he had no place 
 for me to sleep, but could give me my supper. I looked 
 into one of his rooms, it was full of old muskets. At night 
 he introduced me to a judge as a preacher, and asked for 
 lodging, as I was the speaker of the evening. The family 
 were eating supper. "All right, let me hear you ask a 
 blessing." I did so. He was satisfied that I was a 
 minister. 
 
 The last State was Missouri. It seems to me that 
 there is no richer State than this in the Union. The min- 
 eral and other resources are incalculable; all it wants is 
 enterprise. I see it overflowing with opulence and wealth, 
 noble cities arising where only a few years ago were scat- 
 tered villages, excelling in magnificence and beauty the 
 
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES. 245 
 
 oldest cities of Europe. I heard the clink of the shuttle 
 and the music of the anvil where, a few years ago only, 
 resounded the clash of the tomahawk. 
 
 The meeting in St. Louis was a grand assemblage; it 
 was the business men's daily gathering. Here, in the very 
 center of traffic, thousands gathered to hear Speaker 
 Thomas B. Reed, and to accredit and to sanctify the peo- 
 ple's choice, William McKinley. I would not follow 
 Reed, so I made the first speech. It was well received. 
 Reed proved himself, tnough his voice was hoarse, an 
 accomplished master, and won repeated applause. The 
 next night I spoke twice, Judge Noble, a prominent citi- 
 zen, preceding me at one of the meetings. The second 
 was composed of Union and Confederate soldiers. There 
 were over eleven hundred in the club. Four hundred 
 were ex-Confederates, but all were now for honest money 
 and Republicanism. 
 
 Among the good and worthy men whom I met in St. 
 Louis were Messrs. A. H. EiJers and Drosten, a rich 
 and partiotic jeweler. Mr. Eilers was my fellow voyager 
 across the sea in the Fuerst Bismarck! He has an inter- 
 esting history. Brought up a bigoted Lutheran in Wiscon- 
 sin, he was constantly warned never to attend a Methodist 
 church, as he would be sure to become a Republican! 
 As a boy he made his way to St. Louis in the early 
 sixties, when the war fever was at its height. He heard 
 Hiram Cox, of precious memory, sing Union songs upon 
 the streets. He was fascinated, and followed him to dear 
 old Union Church, covered with flags. He was at home, 
 and said, "Thy people shall be my people." In Ger- 
 many, the land of his fathers, where he was recently, he 
 found thousands of the people who believed Colonel Cody 
 and McKinley were brothers, from the similarity of their 
 
246 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 names "Buffalo Bill and McKinley Bill." At a German 
 fair he saw an immense hog in a fancy chariot, with two 
 large-sized portraits of McKinley and Cody, with the 
 flaming inscriptions conspicuous, "The two great broth- 
 ers, Buffalo Bill and McKinley Bill." It was the actual 
 belief of many that they belonged to the same family. 
 Colonel Cody got a cool reception in many quarters be- 
 cause of his alleged relationship to McKinley. The tariff 
 measure was very unpopular in Germany, and I was not 
 surprised at the reply of a German manufacturer from 
 Crefeldt, who lay groaning in the berth above me on a 
 steamship while crossing the ocean. I asked him what 
 was the matter, and he muttered, "It is either seasickness 
 or the McKinley Bill, I do n't know which." 
 
 The next morning we started through Missouri in Mr. 
 R. C. Kerens's private car. At all the principal towns, 
 "Reed! Reed!" was the cry; but as his voice was weak 
 he did not respond. I tried to supply his place. This 
 part of the State-^-its soft and verdant valleys, its fertile 
 and level plains, its magnificent rivers aroused the ad- 
 miration of all in the car. Mr. Hitchcock, our present 
 ambassador to Russia, was one of the party. 
 
 I reported, according to instructions, at Clinton, the 
 home of the Republican candidate for governor, Robert 
 E. Lewis. There I was met by Mr. Mitchell, the brave 
 and fearless editor, and by the genial Haynie, a lawyer of 
 ability. Lewis was very popular here. Amid a furious 
 storm of bigotry and opposition, he has stood unmoved 
 and undismayed. His intrepidity and courage are every- 
 where praised. 
 
 I spoke at Windsor, at Rich Hill, Warrensburg, and 
 other places. The counties visited were Henry, Cass, 
 Johnson, Bates, Cedar, and St. Clair. In all these cities 
 
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES. 247 
 
 and towns I met hundreds of Ohioans. At Warrensburg 
 there was Herrick, Logan; at Windsor, George W. 
 Schwer, the present postmaster, and the editor of the 
 Republican. At Rich Hill, I was delightfully entertained 
 by a stanch and respected merchant, Mr. Kellogg, now 
 collector of internal revenue at Kansas City, a splendid 
 gentleman; also others Martin, Judge Huckaby, Hon. 
 J. R. Hales. There were no interruptions, such as those 
 at Chicago. 
 
 But the greatest of all the meetings was held at Clin- 
 ton, two days before the election. Nobly did the spirited 
 Republicans turn out in their thousands to mark their high 
 sense of the great services of their candidate for governor. 
 I spoke, as one of the dispatches said, to twenty thousand 
 people, after which I left immediately, as I must reach 
 home in time to vote. While waiting at the depot here, 
 an Irishman, who had ridden thirty miles to hear me, came 
 up to me and said, "I do n't know McKinley ; but I do 
 know that he has a mighty smart woman for a wife 
 Hanna!" 
 
 I can not sufficiently express my admiration of Mr. 
 Richard C. Kerens's management of the work in his State. 
 His powerful help, his persuasive manners, and his tact, 
 drew applause from all. 
 
 The great Cooper Institute demonstration in 1884, 
 to which reference has been made in the preceding para- 
 graphs, calls for more than ordinary remark. The Insti- 
 tute was filled, as one three times its size would have been 
 filled, with an assemblage of New York's best citizens. 
 There were, side by side, thousands of patriotic mechanics 
 and merchants, the active business man, and the retired 
 capitalist. The platform was crowded with the best men 
 of all parties, who had come to do homage to the gallant 
 
248 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 standard-bearer of the Republicans. The walls were hung 
 with the portraits of the illustrious leaders of the Repub- 
 licans. There was Lincoln, his face indicating that his 
 whole soul was filled with the love of liberty, upon whose 
 ears the sounds of freedom fell with sweeter tones than the 
 song of birds in early spring; there were the pictures of 
 Grant, of Sherman, of Sumner, of Wilson, of Wade. 
 
 The opening remarks of the president, Patrick Ford, 
 were delivered with a fervor and a modesty worthy of his 
 name and fame. His nephew, Austin Ford, who was gen- 
 eral manager, received an ovation when he appeared to 
 introduce his uncle as chairman. 
 
 The first speech was delivered by a Methodist clergy- 
 man from Ohio, the author of these reminiscences. Hon. 
 Judge John Brennan, of Iowa, had a grand theme, and 
 he handled with masterly skill the Cobden Club and its 
 designs upon America. He nobly vindicated the doctrine 
 of protection. This speech was clear, strong, to the point, 
 and conclusive, and will stand all the artillery which the 
 Free-traders can discharge against it. He was afterwards 
 engaged in the campaign, speaking mostly in the city of 
 New York, where his trenchant, sledge-hammer argu- 
 ments and overflowing wit won thousands of votes for the 
 Republicans. 
 
 The next speaker was Hon. Thomas P. Barry, a mem- 
 ber of the Illinois Legislature. The speech was vivid as a 
 picture, bristling with facts, clear in its details, full of the 
 most direct and cogent arguments. Mr. Barry laid bare 
 with a bold and strong hand the disease of the labor de- 
 pression and its remedy. His address was timely and bold, 
 forcible and solid, and worthy of his reputation. His self- 
 possession, clearness of statement, his quickness in an- 
 
CAMPAIGN EXPERIENCES. 249 
 
 swering questions, make him a favorite speaker on all 
 occasions. 
 
 Henry Gary Baird, the grandson of 'Matthew Gary, 
 the champion of American protection fifty years ago, was 
 the next speaker. His speech was profoundly statistical. 
 In the higher elements of oratory he is deficient, prefer- 
 ring the more solid matter to the more graphic and at- 
 tractive elements of speech. 
 
 Captain O'Meagher Condon was introduced as an 
 Irish patriot, an American .soldier in the Civil War, a hero 
 who received the honor of a sentence of death in London 
 for his Irish sympathies, and who uttered the brave words 
 upon the verge of the scaffold, "God save Ireland !" The 
 feeling of the audience rose to an immense state of excite- 
 ment during the delivery of this able address. Captain 
 Condon, in whose features glowed the proud conscious- 
 ness that before the high trbunal which adjudged him to 
 death, he had done his duty, stood before that vast audi- 
 ence in a manly and respectful attitude, and gazed upon 
 the crowded multitude with calmness and composure. 
 Political opponents and friends admired the sincerity with 
 which he advocated the claims of his benefactor, James G. 
 Elaine. He spoke briefly, but clearly, ably, and with illus- 
 trations, telling as they were happy. 
 
 Such may be a slight characterization of the speeches 
 spoken at this mighty gathering. But how shall we de- 
 scribe its enthusiasm? For four hours did the people 
 listen without a sign of impatience ; and the heartiest of all 
 the applause was when the speakers uttered the name of 
 Elaine. The proceedings came to a close at twelve o'clock. 
 The thousands were on their way home, the streets were 
 hushed, the vast swell of human feeling had subsided, and 
 its echoes were heard no more. 
 
250 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 
 
 Mr. M. A. Hanna, who was the manager of McKin- 
 ley's campaign, is one of the foremost of that class of busi- 
 ness men whose character for substantial independence, 
 honor, uprightness, and industry is associated with the 
 prosperity of their city and country. No man contributed 
 more to the success of his party than this much-abused 
 gentleman. While on the stump, it was not so much 
 McKinley who had to be defended as his able and inde- 
 fatigable manager. His only crime was that he organized 
 the McKinley forces into an army, defeated his enemies, 
 and gave the United States a pride and a hope which will 
 always be proudly remembered as a white day in the calen- 
 dar of American political statesmanship. Mark Hanna 
 was always for the Republican party. He knew no de- 
 spondency, no despair ; these cowardly feelings are foreign 
 to him. He is liberal in his benefactions ; the poor of every 
 nationality, race, and creed always find his purse open. 
 
 As a speaker, Senator Hanna is not showy, but his 
 talks bristle with facts. They are clear in their details, full 
 of the most direct and cogent argument. As a public 
 man, many of his friends who know him think he will 
 never live his term out; that he will not be able to en- 
 dure the strain of the office-seekers. It is this eternal 
 office-seeking that has killed so many of our public men. 
 Jefferson tells that Washington brought down his hand 
 emphatically on the table, with the asseveration, "I have 
 never been sorry but once that I accepted the Presidency, 
 and that is ever since !" Senator Anthony said, "that he 
 never secured an office for any beggar that he did not 
 make half a dozen foes for every friend." Years ago, 
 Preston King accepted the office of collector of New 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 251 
 
 York, and greedy office-seekers worried the life out of 
 him. Hopeless of relief, he plunged into the river and 
 ended his days. So it was with William Henry Har- 
 rison. 
 
 Colonel Chas. F. Dick was Mr. Hanna's most con- 
 spicuous helper. There never was a more devoted, faith- 
 ful, unflinching adherent to McKinley. Nothing could 
 shake his confidence in the apostle of protection ; he was 
 the particular star upon which he looked with admiration. 
 He knew him well, and the more he knew, the more he 
 loved and honored him. There is little about him to pro- 
 voke astonishment or envy, but much to deserve esteem 
 and regard. The usefulness of his life, his indefatigable 
 industry, high sense of principle, devotion to his party, 
 should give him more eminence than rightfully belongs 
 to a whole throng of those showy men who have at- 
 tracted more attention or dazzled it by the unprofitable 
 splendor of their intellect. 
 
 Colonel Hahn, chief of the Speaker's Bureau, showed 
 great ability, courage, and knowledge in the assignment 
 of speakers to the various States. It is a most difficult 
 and complicated office to fill. There were obstacles, un- 
 surpassable obstacles, to overcome. He was ably assisted 
 by Mr. Fletcher. Colonel Haskell was very active and 
 effective ; sixty thousand persons were introduced by him 
 to Mr. Hanna. 
 
 H. C. Hedges is a man of unbending integrity. All 
 the speakers came into immediate contact with him. He 
 gave them letters of introduction to the committees of the 
 localities where they were assigned. He was their pay- 
 master. Mr. Hedges is an element of pure goodness. 
 He brought from his retirement, into the wild and excit- 
 ing agitation and collection of forces, a clear brain, and 
 
252 f UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 a heart in whose atmosphere no selfishness could dwell. 
 It is the beauty of our republican institutions to be har- 
 monious, well-balanced, and just. 
 
 Governor Albert G. Porter, who introduced me to 
 an assembly in Indianapolis, at a meeting for the relief 
 of Ireland, was an ideal American, neat in person, a 
 ripe and accurate scholar, an accomplished speaker, 
 and a model governor. He was our minister to Italy 
 when I was consul to Milan. He had recently prepared 
 a lecture upon Gladstone, and predicted with exulting 
 pride his subsequent political changes. Admirers of 
 oratory may talk of their Beechers, their Starr Kings, and 
 other celebrities ; but Governor Porter surpassed them all 
 in finished oratory. In structural arrangement his address 
 was perfect. 
 
 At the same meeting was Thomas A. Hendricks, Vice- 
 President of the United States. He had a large body, a 
 frank and smiling face, a good delivery, and above all a 
 warm heart. No one ever charged Thomas Hendricks 
 with being mercenary; for he was ever generous. Differ- 
 ing from him politically, and being prejudiced, I was 
 pleasantly disappointed. He was pure and honorable in 
 all the relations of private life. Slander never pointed to 
 a stain in his moral character. He knew nothing of the 
 luxury and splendor of foreign courts ; but he knew Indi- 
 ana, and the people of all parties respected him. He had 
 tremendous influence in determining elections. His 
 speech, after the regular lecture, was intelligent, sympa- 
 thetic, strong, and pathetic. 
 
 General Grosvenor is both a soldier and a statesman. 
 He makes most telling speeches. He is the best posted 
 man in the party. He closes his speeches amid thunders 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 253 
 
 of applause. The same may be said of General R. P. 
 Kennedy. 
 
 Henry C. Payne, of Wisconsin, I have frequently met 
 in the national campaigns. He is a medium-sized man, 
 with a mind filled to overflowing with ideas. He is a wise 
 counselor and a grand organizer. There is not a lazy bone 
 in his little and wiry frame. He is the only member of the 
 National Committee who accompanied me to the meet- 
 ings, where he watched the movements of the crowds. 
 He took a personal interest in the contest, and thousands 
 of his friends deeply regretted that he declined a Cabinet 
 appointment. He has been a very successful business 
 man; this ought not to be a bar to any good citizen's 
 promotion. When General Grant appointed A. T. Stew- 
 art to be Secretary of the Treasury, one of the reasons he 
 gave for his action was, that a man who built up such a 
 colossal establishment would carry the same genius into 
 National affairs. 
 
 In the same State lives Senator John C. Spooner, a 
 man of most excellent mind and heart, whose political 
 ideas are tempered by philosophy. In his State his 
 speeches operate upon the masses like magic. In his style 
 of speaking there is much of the flash, and in his elocution 
 much of the dash, that was the great specialty of Elaine. 
 When warmed with his theme and with a grand purpose, 
 a soaring soul, and a large audience, Senator Spooner 
 makes a great impression. When passing through Milan, 
 he called at the office, and introducing me to his friends, 
 said, "This is the man who makes more votes for the 
 Republican party than all of us." 
 
 R. C. Kerens is the leader of his party in Missouri, 
 and a foremost man in all public affairs. His life is full of 
 
254 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 picturesque incidents. The first time I met him was on 
 the steps of the White House. Elaine was coming out, 
 and I was calling upon the President. He was a great 
 favorite of Elaine's and of Harrison's. He had then, as 
 now, the distribution of the Missouri patronage. He is 
 never more delighted than when he is surrounded in his 
 princely home with a host of friends. The next time I saw 
 him was during the election of McKinley. I had been 
 five weeks assigned to the State Committee of Illinois, 
 and ordered to the southern part. I spoke frequently 
 three times a day, and after the night speech would ride 
 sixteen or twenty miles to a hotel. I remember eating 
 at one house, on one occasion, and then, as there was no 
 room, going to another to sleep. My strength was being 
 greatly overtaxed when I met Kerens, in Chicago, at the 
 National Headquarters. He looked at me with a surprised 
 air, saying, "You are just the man I want." I explained 
 to him that I was not through with Illinois. But he 
 procured my release from that State, and had me assigned 
 to Missouri instead. He offered me a seat in his private 
 palace car, and thus I traveled through Missouri, speaking 
 in St. Louis and several other towns, en route to Spring- 
 field with Thomas B. Reed. 
 
 Senator George F. Hoar is a statesman, endowed 
 with the highest qualities, the last of the great men of the 
 past who united scholarship, dignity, and wisdom in his 
 political addresses. He is the most conservative of the 
 Republican leaders, conservative of the rights and prog- 
 ress of his party. The senator is absolutely free from re- 
 ligious bigotry. He believes, with Thomas Jefferson, 
 that it matters not to him whether a man believes in one 
 God or a thousand, provided he does not steal his purse. 
 He does not believe in the promotion of one class at the 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 255 
 
 expense or the degradation of another. He is a disciple 
 of John Boyle O'Reilly: 
 
 " Races and sects were to him a profanity 
 
 Hindoo, Saxon, and Celt were as one ; 
 Large as mankind was his splendid humanity, 
 Large in its record as the work he has done." 
 
 He also did me the honor to call upon me. He was 
 on his way to Turin to see Kossuth. He talked of old 
 times of Elaine, of the campaign of that memorable year. 
 He spoke kindly of O'Reilly, and his successor, James 
 Jeffrey Roche. As he was on his way to see the illustrious 
 Hungarian, I told him the following incident, which 
 pleased him greatly: "The Turkish Pasha dined with 
 Kossuth, and gave the following toast: 'There was once 
 a gold vase of the most beautiful kind, but two stones fell 
 upon and cruslied it. It lost its form, but still remained 
 gold, whilst the shapeless rocks were still only rocks. 
 Kossuth is the golden vase which the rocks of Austria and 
 Russia have tried to crush, but could not, and which will 
 regain its pristine form and grace on the impressionable 
 page of history/ ' 
 
 President Hayes I had known for years; but never 
 could appreciate the man until I met him at the dedica- 
 tion of the soldiers' monument in Ashland, Ohio, the 
 gift of a noble lady, Mrs. Jonas Freer. Two companies 
 of his regiment were raised there, and it was easy to ac- 
 count for his popularity when he saluted each of the boys 
 by his Christan name "Milt," "Ott," "Arthur," etc. At 
 Kenyon College, where I had been a student a year or 
 two afterwards, he worked steadily at his studies. His 
 companions were ardent spirits, among whom were bril- 
 liant Harry Winter Davis, of Maryland, and Judge David 
 Davis, of Illinois. 
 
256 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Charles Foster, governor of Ohio, congressman, and 
 Secretary of the Treasury, all his speeches are models of 
 a high grade of political morality. Of medium stature, 
 a quick and lively imagination, and a warm heart, Charles 
 Foster is one of the talkers whom everybody wishes to 
 hear. He speaks the language of the common people; 
 they have not to carry dictionaries to make out his mean- 
 ing. I heard him upon the currency, and, speaking of the 
 greenback, he said "it was easy to carry," and, suiting the 
 action to the word, he quickly took off his necktie, 
 wrapped a lot of greenbacks in it neatly, folded it, and 
 replaced it upon his neck, adding, "I can carry that 
 through the world and nobody will know it." Cheer upon 
 cheer greeted the illustration. 
 
 President Benjamin Harrison needs no praise; his Ad- 
 ministration will forever remain a permanent monument 
 of the prosperity of this great Nation. His addresses to 
 the delegations which called upon him at Indianapolis are 
 a storehouse of political wisdom. His speeches contain 
 noble appeals to all that is grand and patriotic in the 
 heart. They can be quoted by the soldier, arming for 
 battle, as well as by the student in his seclusion. I vis- 
 ited him after I was through with campaign work in New 
 York. He was anxious to know what the prospects there 
 were. I gave him this instance: In Leroy, Conkling's 
 bailiwick, where Elaine lost nearly four hundred votes, 
 that little place would increase its vote four hundred for 
 Harrison. He was surprised and pleased. I told him also 
 the methods which were used by the stump orators the 
 State ticket was not to be criticised ; so the people would 
 cheer alternately for Harrison and Hill. 
 
 SENATOR M. S. QUAY. As a leader of men, Senator 
 Quay stands unequaled. He was the manager of the Har- 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 257 
 
 rison campaign. Of how he discharged the onerous and 
 most responsible duties which thereon devolved upon him 
 is well known to the country. But we should feel it a 
 deep dereliction of that just debt of gratitude which his 
 services to his party should command were we not to 
 express admiration for the skill and tremendous energy 
 displayed in the election of Harrison. His census of New 
 York itself was a miracle. He knew exactly by this 
 enumeration how many voting people were in the city, 
 and upon the day of election thousands of fraudulent 
 voters were challenged, and asked how long they had 
 lived in New York. When Quay, consulting the census, 
 would reply, "Your name is not here," the imported 
 frauds were not permitted to vote. Quay made it the 
 duty of the speakers in New York to report every morn- 
 ing. I spoke fourteen times, and complied with this 
 order. He was very reticent; like Bismarck, he knew 
 how to keep silent in fifteen different languages. 
 
 SENATOR FRYE. I met Senator W. P. Frye, of 
 Maine, frequently during the campaign of 1884, and spoke 
 with him at different places. The senator is lithe, active, 
 and as wary as a sportsman. As an off-hand speaker, I 
 think he is the most effective I have ever heard. He is 
 full of resources, full of figures, full of patriotism. His 
 mastery of popular speech is very remarkable, and in no 
 country of the world does popular oratory count for so 
 much as in the United States. 
 
 At Newark, Ohio, we were both billed to speak in 
 the Blaine campaign. I made an effort to deliver the 
 first speech, as I did not wish to follow so distinguished 
 a speaker. The audience was largely composed of wool- 
 growers. Frye took in the situation. The first words he 
 uttered caught and captured them. They were, "Sheep !" 
 17 
 
258 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 "sheep !" "sheep !" It was a spell-word. As he proceeded, 
 the enthusiasm became contagious, the' crowd cheered 
 time and again. Frye was in his happiest vein. His coun- 
 tenance was striking, and his words fairly leaped over one 
 another. Fit subject was he for the pencil of an artist. 
 
 The meeting adjourned, and the scene that followed 
 was one of triumph. Bright banners waved over his head, 
 and bright flowers were strewn along his way to the 
 hotel. Cheers for Elaine and Logan rent the air, and the 
 result was seen when, in that Democratic county, a ma- 
 jority of 1,500 was given to the Republican party. 
 
 SENATOR STEPHEN B. ELKINS. I became well ac- 
 quainted with Mr. Elkins during the Blaine campaign. 
 He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Maine states- 
 man, and put forth all his efforts to elect his favorite. 
 The day after I made the first speech in that campaign, 
 he sent for me to come to the national headquarters, and 
 requested earnestly that I should take the stump. 
 
 Elkins has become rich. He is a strong man strong 
 in will, strong in resources, and strong in determination. 
 His character is like his eloquence, rapid, spontaneous, 
 vigorous, realizing a poet's ideal man. "There are two 
 things which fashion their own channel the strong man 
 and the waterfall." He makes a good speech compact, 
 brief, dwelling upon statutes. He tells few anecdotes, and 
 relies principally for effect upon convincing logic, clear 
 statement, and evident sincerity. 
 
 JOHN WANAMAKER. I became acquainted with this 
 gentleman in the recommendation of an old soldier for 
 a post-office. The Postmaster-General immediately said 
 to his secretary, "Go to the letter-case, and get the rec- 
 ommendation for Mr. ." I told him he had no 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 259 
 
 recommendation, that the Congressman had given in the 
 names of four others. I told Mr. Wanamaker the history 
 of my candidate; that he was an old soldier, brevetted 
 for bravery at Antietam; that McKinley had him ap- 
 pointed postmaster some years before ; but in consequence 
 of a propensity for drink, he lost the place, and that I 
 could bear testimony to his character for four years, hav- 
 ing been reclaimed through a Methodist revival. I cited 
 several instances of his kindness to the old soldiers. Mr. 
 Wanamaker listened attentively, and requested me to see 
 the Congressman, and have him put "your friend's name 
 in the list." It was done; he was appointed, and served 
 honorably the whole term. I could see that Wanamaker's 
 heart was moved profoundly. He is one of the people. 
 Without birth, without fortune, without friends, by in- 
 dustry, by the use of his brains, and by the force of his 
 character, he made for himself a fortune which princes 
 might have envied. The circumstance which I have re- 
 corded is sufficient to show the goodness of his heart. 
 
 WHARTON BARKER. Wharton Barker is descended 
 from a long line of patriotic ancestors, Jacob Barker, one 
 of the financiers of the Revolutionary War, being a rela- 
 tive. I am proud to name such a man, because his name 
 stands for integrity, for political righteousness, for liber- 
 ality, and for generosity. A few years ago he was one of 
 the leading manufacturers of Philadelphia, employing 
 hundreds of men and women. I have seen him among 
 his employees, and surely there never was an employer of 
 labor more beloved. I have known him to give forty 
 thousand dollars to elect the President of his party the 
 money to be spent in literature and public speaking. I 
 have known him to. sacrifice the delights of home for the 
 
260 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 thorny path of politics. Why all these sacrifices? Were 
 they for nothing? Assuredly not. They were for the 
 prosperity of his country. 
 
 DR. WILLIAM CARROLL. Among the warmest friends 
 of Wharton Barker is Dr. William Carroll, the eminent 
 physician and patriot of the same city. I knew the doctor 
 when he was still in the bloom of youth, before he entered 
 the army, where he served with distinction. 
 
 Dr. Carroll is descended from a race which has made 
 itself illustrious in the annals of American history, and, 
 like his renowned relative, Charles Carroll of Carroll- 
 ton, he has no faith in the beauties and beatitudes of Eng- 
 lish rule here or anywhere. He is a man of sound dis- 
 cretion, although his life has many stirring events and 
 romantic passages. I was once a member of a -committee 
 with Dr. Carroll to call upon the Russian ambassador, to 
 make an offer of help in case of war with an old enemy. 
 John Devoy, a very gifted man, a fine linguist, an able 
 writer, carried on the conversation in French. 
 
 The doctor is an athlete, of fine physical appearance, 
 and as he passes along the streets, people stop and ask, 
 "Who is that?" He is boundless in his hospitality; his 
 latch-string is always out to his friends, and they are 
 legion. He has a splendid library of the best books pub- 
 lished. He has a large practice, and were it not for his 
 devotion to humanitarian causes, he might be counted as 
 one of the millionaires of the land. Dr. Carroll was the 
 friend and companion of John Mitchell, and tells many 
 stories of his old friend. The able and interesting jour- 
 nalist, Robert McWade, is one of the doctor's constant 
 companions. John O'Leary, the distinguished patriot, 
 when he visits this country, is his guest. 
 
 PROFESSOR ROBERT ELLIS THOMPSON. If I were 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 261 
 
 asked to name a modest, unobtrusive, and scholarly 
 man, it would be the Rev. Robert Ellis Thompson. 
 He belongs to the same quiet circle as Barker and 
 Carroll. He is the most industrious writer of the day. 
 He writes books upon the Tariff, biographies of George 
 H. Stuart; writes for the magazines, and the Sunday- 
 school journals. He also edits a column in his friend 
 Wharton Barker's newspaper, the American. He is the 
 first living authority upon Protection, and is the legiti- 
 mate successor of Matthew Carey. That he is a man of 
 exceptional ability is evident from his selection as one of 
 the lecturers before Yale College. As a writer upon this 
 subject he has made a reputation which adds laurels to 
 his crown, and they are so fresh that it looks as if he had 
 never worn them before. 
 
 I must mention also the names of Judge Wilhere, 
 Martin Griffin, Hugh McCaffrey, sterling men, who are 
 always upon the side of patriotism, temperance, and phi- 
 lanthropy. 
 
 JOHN W. MACKAY. When lecturing some years ago 
 in Virginia City, Nevada, it was my good fortune to meet 
 Mr. Mackay. He was very attentive and kind, giving me 
 a sketch of his marvelous life, and adding, pointing to the 
 Bonanza mine, "There, fifteen years ago, I worked as a 
 miner for five dollars a day, and those were my happiest 
 and best days !" He kindly offered his services, and con- 
 ducted me down into the mine and through it. In making 
 the descent of sixteen hundred feet, in the miner's cos- 
 tume, which he put on himself, he told several amusing 
 stories of the Emperor of Brazil, of Henry Ward Beecher, 
 and of others, of their Strange experiences as they de- 
 scended. A German was so overcome with the heat that 
 he exclaimed, "Hell ish not far from dish place!" Even 
 
262 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Beecher was converted to the old orthodox views in re- 
 gard to hell. Mr. Mackay had my picture taken in the 
 miner's garb I had been obliged to put on before descend- 
 ing. I saw five hundred men at work in the mines without 
 any clothes upon their backs. After we rode in the ele- 
 vator five hundred feet, my host said, "There, on that 
 rock, you can cook steak." 
 
 Mr. Mackay is princely in his benefactions, and is 
 very popular with the miners ; they admire and love him. 
 He introduced me to his partner, Mr. Fair. Years after- 
 ward, I wrote to the latter on behalf of a poor girl who 
 was studying music in Milan, and he generously sent her 
 five hundred francs. 
 
 P. DONAHOE, THE GRAND OLD MAN. I am under 
 many obligations to this rare old man. He published 
 my first work, which had a great circulation. It was 
 upon Ireland, and was delivered originally in Raleigh, 
 North Carolina, and published in the Standard, then 
 edited by W. W. Hoi den, afterwards governor of the 
 State, at the request of General Miles, who was my colonel 
 in the regulars. Some one sent it to Mr. Donahoe, who 
 published it in the Pilot. He afterwards wrote me that he 
 could not supply the demand, and asked the privilege of 
 publishing it in book or pamphlet form. 
 
 Mr. Donahoe is always young, though verging 
 towards ninety, his face is that of a man of fifty, while his 
 hair is that of a man of a hundred years. In every station 
 in which he has been placed he has shown himself honest, 
 capable, and faithful ; he is, emphatically, one of the peo- 
 ple. For all that he has he is indebted, under God, to 
 his own exertions. Born to an inheritance of compara- 
 tive poverty, coming to the United States when a mere 
 lad, he struggled with difficulties that would have ap- 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 263 
 
 palled and crushed a less resolute character. He has been 
 burned out, and his immense publishing business pros- 
 trated; but with an energy and devotion to the public 
 worthy of all admiration, Mr. Donahoe recovered, and 
 succeeded in his great work. He had to contend with 
 bigotry in its worst and most dangerous form bigotry 
 unworthy of a civilized Nation. He supported the Gov- 
 ernment in the War for the Union, and does to-day in the 
 War against Spain with surpassing fidelity. Modest 
 and unassuming, Mr. Donahoe is a Christian without 
 hypocrisy, he is always the thing that he seems. 
 
 MR. PATRICK FORD. Mr. Patrick Ford is one of the 
 foremost benefactors of the age. He has always been 
 heard in the defense of great reforms. His paper, the 
 Irish World, has never flinched in the championship of 
 mighty principles. I have frequently read in my pulpit his 
 stirring editorials, and they have seemed like trumpet 
 blasts. I remember, years ago, I was traveling in North- 
 ern Ireland among the Presbyterians, who were strongly 
 national. I asked one of the parties at a dinner, an elder 
 in the Presbyterian Church, where he got such views. 
 "From the Irish World" he replied. I learned that twelve 
 copies were sent to every post-office in Ireland. But it 
 was undermining landlordism, and the attention of the 
 Parliament was called to it, and the paper was prohibited ; 
 not, however, until it had accomplished its work. His 
 scathing exposure of the city, State, and national corrup- 
 tion in our own country have won him the respect and ad- 
 miration of all patriots. Augustin, his associate, is equally 
 distinguished as his illustrious brother in every good and 
 blessed work. So also is his gifted sister Ellen; and no 
 less useful was the lamented Austin, who died as an official 
 of Mayor Strong's administration of the city of New 
 
264 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 York. One of the ladies of the family was a writer of 
 spendid poetry, and her life, like the rose, was still fra- 
 grant and beautiful after death; for she yet lives in her 
 poems. 
 
 What can be more stirring and arousing than the one 
 on "Liberty?" 
 
 " O, Liberty, thou great and mighty angel, 
 
 Whom the nations seldotfi see, 
 View the lands in fetters pining, 
 Lifting up their helpless hands to thee ! 
 
 Let the rushing of thy pinions 
 
 Rouse the dreaming lands to life ; . . . 
 
 And if their manacles can only 
 By their sword be cut in twain, 
 
 Better hear the clash of sabers 
 Than the clanking of a chain." 
 
 Patrick Ford has long been my friend. His character 
 stands forth like one of Homer's heroic combats in the 
 field. As a reformer in the cause of temperance, in the 
 cause of labor, and in politics, no man has ever accom- 
 plished so much. Some men are reverenced, but not 
 loved; but here is a man who is loved and reverenced. 
 His whole character might be summed up in one word 
 benevolence. When a defaulting cashier robbed him of 
 thousands, he refused to prosecute him, stating as his 
 reason that years of imprisonment would take him from 
 his wife and children. He possesses a Napoleonic energy 
 in raising money for the champions of liberty, for the 
 famine-stricken, and the needy. "Give me that news- 
 paper of Ford's," said a distinguished New England ed- 
 itor to me a few years ago, "and in five years I will clear 
 a million." Mr. Ford has suffered by the perfidy of 
 others; but he renews his youth and starts afresh. It 
 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 265 
 
 might be said of him, as Talleyrand said after visiting 
 Alexander Hamilton, "I have been to see one of the won- 
 ders of the age a man who enriched a Nation, sitting up 
 all night to support his family." 
 
 The highest statesmanship, in the opinion of Patrick 
 Ford, is to do the right thing immediately, and calmly 
 await results. 
 
 Another celebrated Irishman of my acquaintance is 
 John Fitzgerald, of Lincoln, Neb. Coming to this country 
 without a dollar, he amassed millions. He was a mag- 
 nificent master of finance, a consummate contractor. He 
 was an excellent and accomplished man, always distin- 
 guished for the purity and philanthropy of his life. 
 He was manly and vigorous. He never discharged, even 
 during the hardest times, one of his thousands of 
 employees. All the best qualities of our nature benevo- 
 lence, patriotism, industry were matured in this Irish 
 Howard. The thousand dollars which he contributed to 
 the Logan Monument was only one of his numerous bene- 
 ' factions. Conspicuous in this State in every good work 
 is Neil Brennan. He is much attached to Ireland and to 
 the United States. There never was a more devoted, un- 
 flinching friend. Parnell was the bright particular star 
 of his devotion. Nothing could shake his faith in the 
 apostle of the new gospel. Long and bright be the 
 life of my beloved friend, Neil Brennan ! The same may 
 be said of his neighbor, Mr. McCaffrey. He is yet in 
 his prime, but he has done much already to build up the 
 growing West. I was met at the depot by a reception 
 procession of the Grand Army of the Republic, com- 
 manded by a brave veteran, General Slocurn. 
 
 HON. JOHN F. FINERTY. It is impossible to know 
 John Finerty without being struck with his magnificent 
 
266 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 appearance, his sonorous and thrilling voice, his mag- 
 netism, which always excites enthusiasm. 
 
 He is an American from the sole of his feet to the 
 crown of his head. Every argument, every burst of pas- 
 sion, every sarcastic shot, all are made subservient to 
 the advancement, power, greatness, and glory of America. 
 
 When in Congress, one of his pet hobbies was the 
 strengthening of our navy, building it up to the level of 
 our opportunities. He predicted, when grave senators 
 laughed at him, that the time would come when we would 
 need a great navy. 
 
 He is also in sympathy with Ireland, and believes in 
 the gospel of Wolfe Tone and Robert Emmet. He feels 
 this Irish cause even in every fiber of his being. He ut- 
 terly hates and abhors compromise, is fierce with those 
 who believe differently, and when he hits, he hits hard. 
 He hates remorselessly the English Tory member of his 
 Church, who would place on the British throne a ruler 
 as treacherous and persecuting the Irish as harshly as the 
 worst of the Stuarts, who would restore the splendors of 
 a foreign Church rather than do justice to the Irish peo- 
 ple. What a virile writer he is ! There is a dashing splen- 
 dor in his compositions as well as in his speech. I have 
 known an eminent Methodist dignitary, president of one 
 of our colleges, to spend a part of a Sunday afternoon 
 reading with delight one of his papers. 
 
 Among Mr. Finerty's friends at home is Alexander 
 Sullivan, who had the glory of perfecting the Land 
 League; a lawyer, skillful and shrewd; a man who exer- 
 cises influence by the force of his character and the au- 
 thority of his well-informed mind. His address to Presi- 
 dent Arthur is a model of statesmanship and of sound 
 logic. 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 267 
 
 His wife, Mrs. Margaret Sullivan, is probably the most 
 powerful woman newspaper-writer of the United States. 
 In her writings are contained all the elements of genius, 
 original thought, and inspiration. As an essayist and 
 reviewer, she has no equals. Her mission is to vindicate 
 the cause of justice, to teach oppressors righteousness, 
 to animate the suffering conscience, to inspire timidity 
 with courage, to arouse sympathy for oppressed lands. 
 
 Mrs. Sullivan is also a wit. She was present some 
 years ago when General Logan and I addressed a mon- 
 ster meeting at Ogden's Grove, in Chicago. After all 
 was over, she laughingly said to me, "Mr. Pepper, these 
 good Irish Catholics think you are too good a man to be 
 a Methodist." 
 
 Few Americans who read those brilliant articles on 
 political economy written by this gifted woman will with- 
 hold their sympathy from her now, broken down and seek- 
 ing health in foreign lands. 
 
 If she has not the piquancy of Madame de Stael; if 
 not so versatile and sensational as George Sand; if not 
 so pathetic as George Eliot; if not so persuasive as Mrs. 
 Humphry Ward, in logic, in eloquence of style, in pow- 
 erful delineation of character, she is superior to them all. 
 
 Mrs. Sullivan has had her trials and tribulations, and 
 has learned the lesson of Raleigh: "Death, which hateth 
 and destroyeth a man, is believed ! God, who hath made 
 and loved him, is always deferred." 
 
 Others among his devoted friends might be men- 
 tioned : W. J. Onahan, learned in history ; William Dillon, 
 the accomplished scholar, and an authority on all Church 
 law; J. T. Keating, a live man and a great organizer; 
 A. L. Morrison, the famous campaign orator; McCoy, 
 the genial entertainer and prince of good fellows; Brady, 
 
268 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the bright lawyer; M. V. Gannon, an old toiler in the 
 good work and a noted speaker; Father Dorney; W. J. 
 Hynes, the great criminal lawyer, these are a few of his 
 friends; they carry him upon their shields. 
 
 MAJOR WILLIAM GLEASON. Not to know him, in 
 Cleveland, is to know nobody ! There has been no public 
 measure for the benefit of the city in which he has not 
 been interested. He has consecrated to all such works 
 his time, his ability, his close inspection, and his deliberate 
 judgment. When the Soldiers' Monument was built, 
 General Leggett told me that Gleason was not only its 
 secretary, spending days and months and years getting 
 the names of the Cuyahoga boys who enlisted, so that the 
 names might be inscribed upon it, but he was the life and 
 soul of the whole movement. He went to every meeting, 
 met the enemies of the monument, refuted their objec- 
 tions, and almost invariably won their support. He would 
 go to the Legislature and plead for money, and if facts 
 did not convince the members, then the major would, with 
 a hearty, merry laugh, bring into requisition his sarcasm, 
 his tears, and his abundant wit. 
 
 Patriotism has its own reward, and it is well; for cer- 
 tainly it is not 'appreciated in some parts of our country. 
 Here is a man who has been a soldier, a political worker, 
 and a philanthropist, who has received no national recog- 
 nition. 
 
 Go into any meeting for bidding God-speed, or to 
 welcome the returning hero of the Civil or Cuban wars, 
 and there is the magnetic presence of my friend Gleason, 
 making suggestions with a smplicity and vigor which al- 
 ways carry his side. The word "fail" is not found in his 
 vocabulary. I believe he has held one office the gift of 
 a worthy man, Mayor Gardner that of auditor of the 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 269 
 
 city, or comptroller; an office which he filled with credit 
 to the city and great credit to himself. 
 
 He has many friends. Father Thorpe is among his 
 warmest. The late P. K. Walsh, an Irish patriot, was the 
 brother of his heart. The beautiful monument over 
 Walsh's grave was largely the result of Major Gleason's 
 efforts in raising the necessary funds. 
 
 He is a bold asserter of his opinions, and a dauntless 
 defender of them. I remember him in his youth, when he 
 was a rollicking boy, and retain a vivid recollection of his 
 kindness to myself and others in times that tried men's 
 souls. 
 
 Captain Patrick L. Smith, the well-known lake cap- 
 tain and ship-owner, is entitled to honorable mention in 
 these recollections ; for he was among my earliest Cleve- 
 land friends. He has by his industry, inflexible devotion 
 to business, and by his skill, acquired a handsome fortune. 
 He is ranked among the millionaires of the city. My old 
 friend has all the hospitality, the wit, the gallantry of the 
 race from which he sprung. He is probably the best 
 known Irish citizen of Cleveland, and is regarded as one 
 of the best fellows in the world. Meet him at the public 
 resorts or at his home, and one is charmed with him. He 
 has a fine, free, rollicking way with him that at once wins 
 him hosts of friends wherever he appears. He is a good 
 story-teller, and his cordiality is perfectly infectious. His 
 candor is eminently touching. You may have believed 
 that he was a bigoted religious or a violent partisan. A 
 few minutes disenchants you of these illusions, when he 
 tells you that politics is a humbug from beginning to 
 end, and as for religion, every man is responsible to God 
 for his faith. He gives liberally to every benevolent cause. 
 He glories in his patriotism. The names of Robert Em- 
 
270 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 met, Abraham Lincoln, Grant, arouse in him the greatest 
 enthusiasm. He adores America, and will repeat poetry 
 about its great men, its past, its flag, and its future, that 
 country of which Thomas Davis grandly says : 
 
 " There are lands where manly toil 
 Surely reaps the crops it sows ; 
 Glorious woods and teeming soil 
 Where the broad Missouri flows." 
 
 I look over the list of the old soldiers whom I know, 
 and I find Colonel Winship, a gallant hero in the war, 
 and a verdict winner at the bar; Judges Barber, Hutch- 
 ins, Hamilton, Stone, and Jones, who have won reputa- 
 tion, honor, and emoluments. Judge Jones's decisions 
 have never been reversed by the higher courts. Captain 
 Kaiser is calm, self-poised. He utters no pompous mouth- 
 ings, but thoughts beautiful in their simplicity. Colonel 
 Morgan is a respected member of the mercantile profes- 
 sion, and is always present at meetings where soldiers are 
 interested. He was kind to his men, and they honor him 
 to this day. General Barnett is a grand old veteran. 
 And much might be said of Colonel George H. Fos- 
 ter, lawyer and good citizen ; of Shields, Schofield, Hayne, 
 and of my lamented friend, Dr. Springstein, whose 
 death was universally regretted. John G. W. Cowles was 
 chaplain, and brightly lettered his name into the hearts 
 of the boys. Nesbitt wore no eagle, but was a high pri- 
 vate, and a brave one. Colonel Millas was always at 
 his post; and Stafford a soldier of whom his coun- 
 try may be proud. 
 
 COLONEL M. T. HERRICK. This well-known finan- 
 cier is the architect of his own fortune, without the advan- 
 tageous aids of wealth and rich friends. He has risen by 
 his own exertions. No obstacles were so great that he 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 271 
 
 did not surmount them. His perseverance, his business 
 skill, his sagacity, have all been rewarded in making him 
 one of the foremost and successful bankers in the United 
 States. His generosity is well known, and his recent gift 
 to the Salvation Army has ranked his name with the phi- 
 lanthropists of the age. He possesses the genius of Pea- 
 body, the benevolence of Samuel Bugett, the sagacity of 
 Sage without his eccentricities. He is a man of action, 
 not a mere vapid talker; but when he speaks, every word 
 weighs a pound. Colonel Herrick has flung the life of a 
 young heart, a pure genius, and a well-stored intellect 
 into his chosen life-work, and he has made a decided 
 success. 
 
 JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER. Cleveland has many such 
 men as the foregoing, but it was reserved for John D. 
 Rockefeller to throw all others into the shade by his 
 princely gifts. He has given force and form to philan- 
 thropy in its highest, noblest expression. He has proved 
 himself greater than a king. His benevolences are like a 
 freshet in its force, and like the sea in its abundance. 
 There is one thing more for him to do, and that is to 
 build a shelter and a Home for poor, superannuated 
 laboring men. A Jewish gentleman of Milan, worth 
 millions, who contemplated an act of this kind, once asked 
 me if in the United States there was such a building, so 
 that he could model from it. I was compelled to say there 
 was none, and he went on with his project without having 
 any help from the United States. Let Mr. Rockefeller, 
 the Christian Baptist, imitate and emulate the deed of this 
 Jewish philanthropist, and thousands will bless his name. 
 
 COLONEL WILLIAM EDWARDS. I have already made 
 allusion to my fortunate acquaintance with the above 
 accomplished and broad-minded man but, alas! the ink 
 
272 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 had scarcely dried, when the news flashed through the 
 country, Colonel William Edwards is dead ! Little did I 
 think, when I saw him last, the picture of health, of joy- 
 ousness, and of happiness, that those eyes, in which a true 
 soul shone forth, should now be closed; that the hand 
 so cordially extended in friendly greeting should be mo- 
 tionless, and that the face so mirthful and so expressive 
 should now be shrouded in death ! No more respected 
 and beloved citizen ever lived in Cleveland. Colonel Ed- 
 wards was descended from the renowned Jonathan, who 
 had such visions of splendor in the dark Northampton 
 woods. The hundreds who not only attended the burial, 
 but who flocked to Lakeview the next day, showed that 
 his memory found a place in the deepest affections, and 
 that his image was enthroned in the hearts of our people. 
 When Daniel Webster lay dead in Marshfield, a plain old 
 farmer said, "Daniel Webster, the world without you will 
 be lonesome!" So we may say of our lamented friend: 
 Cleveland without him will be lonesome. Sing his dirge 
 in the words of the Highland Scotch poet words that are 
 sung when a distinguished Scotchman is carried to the 
 grave : 
 
 " Neighbor, accept our parting song ; 
 The road is short, the rest is long; 
 The Lord brought here, the Lord takes hence; 
 This is no house of permanence. 
 
 On bread of mirth, and bread of tears, 
 The pilgrim fed these checkered years ; 
 Now, Landlord World, shut to the door : 
 The guest is gone for evermore. 
 
 Gone to the land of sweet repose, 
 His comrades watch him as he goes ; 
 Of toil and moil the day was full, 
 A good sleep now, the night is cool." 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 273 
 
 Then there is my long-life friend, Colonel R. C. Par- 
 sons, a successful and gifted speaker. Always self-pos- 
 sessed and eloquent. I have mentioned his kindness in 
 securing me a ticket to the impeachment trial of Andrew 
 Johnson, the Vice-President. Bluff Ben Wade wrote on 
 an old envelope, "For God's sake give the bearer, Chap- 
 lain Pepper, a ticket to the trial." Colonel Parsons does 
 not go to Demosthenes for his model in oratory, but he 
 studies the great Americans of the past. 
 
 Colonel Barnett is still with us calm, brave, wise, 
 and never absent from any meeting where the soldier is 
 to be honored, cheered, and welcomed. His sympathies 
 are always with the people who till the fields, build the 
 ships, and drain the swamps. 
 
 The same might be said of many old Cleveland soldiers, 
 Colonel Sullivan, who was a brave and gallant man ; and 
 Brinsmade, as true to his country as to the saddest client 
 that ever sought the shelter of his blazing shield; Will- 
 iam Monaghan, a soldier who never flinched in battle, and 
 came out of the service with flying colors ; Colonel Moses 
 Dickey, who commanded an Ohio regiment, was a great 
 favorite with his soldiers; Hutchins, a wise adviser, a 
 strength and honor to his profession. Colonel Kendall, 
 my old friend of the regular army, is a bright, companion- 
 able, and chivalrous gentleman, who has a habit of stirring 
 up things wherever he is placed. He has an indestruc- 
 tible and sublime faith in his country's future. General 
 Elwell's large and patriotic heart cherishes the precious 
 memories of his dead comrades. A very, the scholar, the 
 historian, the legislator in war, valiant; in private life, 
 gentle, tactful, and conversational is a writer of his- 
 tories and a patriotic gentleman. Stafford, commander 
 of Memorial Post, with a full heart and streaming eyes, 
 
 18 
 
274 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 tells of the past. The same might be said of Couch, of 
 Smith, of Patterson, of Winship, Dissette, Stone, Hamil- 
 ton, Garrettson, and Dawley. 
 
 Among the Cleveland ministers are Manchester; 
 Place (who entered the army in his sixteenth year, and 
 fought to the end, a boy in years, but a veteran in experi- 
 ence), Stewart, Mitchell, Reager, Bush, and the venerable 
 Father Brown, who dedicated the glory of their youth to 
 their country's cause. Martin Foran, now a leader of the 
 bar, was also a good soldier. He is a most able lawyer. 
 In him his client has a crafty advocate, quiet as Somnus, 
 vigilant as Argus, and cunning as Mercury. He is bold 
 and adventurous, striking away right and left with the 
 abandon of a gladiator. A. R. Brewer served throughout 
 the entire war. He, also, is a lawyer of wide reading, emi- 
 nent for the soundness of his views, the unlabored clear- 
 ness and compactness of his reasoning, and the calm but 
 earnest simplicity of his style. What he says once is well 
 said, and never weakened by repetition; not a word is 
 thrown away; he strikes out, and the object is attained. 
 I can not forget my worshiped friend, General Leggett. 
 I can not forget what I owe to his friendship, to his de- 
 voted attachment. I do not forget, when I was raising 
 volunteers, his voice thrilled through the lan.d in the same 
 noble cause. He loved his country, and while she treas- 
 ures to her fond heart the brave men who perished in the 
 contest, she will guard with loving care the hero of one 
 of the great battles before Atlanta. He was always at 
 home in the heart of the battle. Although brought up 
 a Quaker, like the sea-bird, he gloried in the storm the 
 louder it raged, the more intense his delight. General 
 Leggett was an extensive reader, an author of ability, a 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING, 275 
 
 trusted member of General Grant's Cabinet, and a finished 
 gentleman. Time would fail to mention all the soldiers, 
 such as Colonels Dewstoe, Morgan, and Groot, Smith- 
 night, Shields, and Judge Noble. The judge is an honor 
 to his profession. Clean in his language, believing that 
 decency in a lawyer is like drapery in a painting it covers 
 a multitude of defects. Where it is not, the higher quali- 
 ties are usually absent. He is no petrel; he loves not the 
 tempest. His mind is essentially calculated for repose. 
 His accomplished wife is a philanthropist, and for years 
 superintended three of the missions where thousands 
 were fed. 
 
 Since my return from Italy I have lectured in many 
 principal cities of the country, and I take pleasure in re- 
 cording my thanks to the various committees having the 
 lectures in charge, for their uniform courtesy and the 
 success of the engagements. At Taunton, Massachusetts, 
 Daniel J. Carey was a host, and he made a triumphal tour 
 for me. At Syracuse, I met my old friends, McGrath and 
 Tracey. They crowded the hall, although it was my third 
 lecture in that city. At Worcester, the committee 
 P. Skelton, t)r. Underwood, and Aldermen Mellen, 
 Rogers, and Manning were prompt and effective. At 
 Pawtucket, Judge Tillingsworth, Hon. Hugh Carroll, Vin- 
 cent McAlveney, Daniel Harold, William Burke, Daniel 
 J. Carey, and J. McAleavy did grandly. Fall River my 
 old-time friends, Monaghan, Britt, and Leonard, left noth- 
 ing unturned. Hugh Gaffney and H. M. Fox filled*the 
 house at Attleboro. At Nashville, the committee James 
 Killilea, Tracey, and Wrenne had great success. At 
 Hartford, Mr. P. F. Butler and Colonel Home did 
 their work well. At Ansonia, Judge Quinlan and Mr. 
 
276 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Flahavan did effective work. So it was at Lawrence and 
 Lowell, where P. J. O'Brien and P. H. Callaghan insured 
 success. Edmond Lynch and Squire Connolly the one 
 at Kansas City, the other at Springfield, Illinois did like- 
 wise. At San Francisco, Judge Cooney, Cummins, and 
 Foley were indefatigable, and made all the lectures a suc- 
 cess. And so it was at Toronto, where the fearless editor, 
 P. Boyle; at Quebec, where Hon. Mr. Carbery; at Hamil- 
 ton, where Dr. Burns, of the Wesleyan College ; at Mon- 
 treal, where Mr. Mclvor, full of zeal, all did great serv- 
 ice. At Augusta, Georgia, beautiful Augusta, there I met 
 that prince of good fellows, Senator Walsh, a splendid 
 specimen of the young blood and brain of the South. 
 Walsh is about sixty years of age, with a fine presence and 
 a frank, benevolent countenance. He is a Southerner, 
 brave, chivalric, hospitable, and is passionately fond of the 
 South. The reception committee was composed of ex- 
 Confederate soldiers, and surely there never was given 
 me a more magnificent welcome. I met at a banquet, 
 after the lecture, many distinguished Southerners men 
 of gracious gifts. My friend Armstrong is gone, and 
 others whom I met on that festive occasion. Again I say, 
 beautiful Augusta! Within a few years it will be the 
 health-center of the Southern States. 
 
 My lectures, and probably the last one I will ever de- 
 liver, closed in Montreal upon the 23d of November, 1898. 
 En route to that historic city we passed through Buffalo, 
 whe/e years ago I made the acquaintance of James 
 Mooney, one of its most enterprising and wealthy citizens 
 a rare and grand man he is, a benefactor of the city, a 
 patriotic gentleman; Doctor Cronin, the eminent jour- 
 nalist, who unites calmness with enthusiasm, valor with 
 coolness, brains with sense, a generous, broad-minded 
 
MEN WORTH REMEMBERING. 277 
 
 man; Mahoney, the youngest man who ever sat in Con- 
 gress, noted for his courage, ability, and fidelity. 
 
 Passing through Toronto, we met Waring Kennedy, 
 twice elected mayor of that city. Memory recalls our first 
 meetings in the old Donegal Square Wesleyan Church, 
 Belfast. Then I remember my old friend Boyle, fearless 
 and brave, an ardent and whole-souled Irishman. Arriv- 
 ing at Montreal, we were met by a Committee, Messrs. 
 McMorrow, Ivers, O'Neil, O'Brien, Lavelle, Berming- 
 ham, Feeney, Morgan^ and Reilley, We were immedi- 
 ately taken to the Windsor Hotel, said to be the finest in 
 the Dominion. During the day I was interviewed by the 
 newspapers, and in the evening lectured upon the Martyrs 
 in a splendid hall, to a packed audience. 
 
 There were thanks 'and cheers for the martyrs of all 
 nations thanks and cheers for Lovejoy, Brown, Garfield, 
 Haddock, and Lincoln, the martyrs of America; thanks 
 and cheers for Emrnet, Fitzgerald, Tone, Orr; and the 
 last thrice consecrated heroes, thanks and cheers for those 
 of Cuba. Maceo's death, the greatest Cuban soldier, the 
 most splendid in daring, in gallantry, did not check the 
 mighty love of freedom. It was a sad hour. Dead, with 
 tens of thousands of his comrades waiting his commands ; 
 dead, with American and European lovers of liberty look- 
 ing for the resurrection of beautiful Cuba ; dead, with the 
 speeches of our statesmen pleading in her behalf still 
 vibrating in our ears. O God! is freedom dead? Is tra- 
 dition dead, and is her finger no more uplifted? Not so, 
 friends. Freedom yet prophesies in the tabernacle of the 
 heart; tradition yet lives, and points to Thermopylae, to 
 Dungannon, and to Washington ; carries ever in the light 
 a luminous vision of liberty enthroned. Martyrs have 
 been the seeds of Christianity, but of freedom. They 
 
278 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 were the giants of their day and generation. The poet 
 saw them when he wrote these lines : 
 
 "Bring me men to match my mountains, 
 
 Bring me men to match my plains ; 
 Men with Empires in their purpose, 
 
 And new Bras in their brains ; 
 Pioneers to clear Thought's marshland, 
 
 And to cleanse old Brin's fens ; 
 Bring me men to match my mountains, 
 Bring me men !" 
 
Chapter XV. 
 
 METHODIST CAMP-MEETINGS IN THE PAST. 
 
 A FEATURE of Methodism that is rapidly disappear- 
 ing is the camp-meeting. When I first began to 
 preach in the United States, these meetings were a great 
 part of the services, occurring once a year in many of the 
 districts. I well remember the first one I attended. It 
 was warm-hearted, enthusiastic, and soul-stirring; but 
 there were many things which looked as if they were not 
 in exact accordance with the apostolic injunction, "Let 
 everything be done decently and in order." For some 
 weeks the most extensive preparations had been made; 
 the surrounding country was in a state of intense excite- 
 ment; all was bustle and stir. Merchants in the country 
 towns around closed their stores, and farmers abandoned 
 their avocations all to attend the camp-meeting. 
 Preachers, local and traveling, were there in abundance. 
 The morning of the day when the camp-meeting was to 
 open was beautifully calm and fine. More than one hun- 
 dred tents were pitched so as to form a hollow square, and 
 it was truly a noble sight to see the thousands of earnest 
 people assembled in the grand old woods, God's first tem- 
 ples, to worship God. 
 
 One of the great attractions on such occasions was 
 the preacher who was to do the principal preaching. The 
 one that I heard deliver the first sermon was a tower of 
 strength, bold and fiery in his speech, but not blessed with 
 any education. He attended to his farm during the week, 
 and looked after the circuits on Sunday. The announce- 
 
 279 
 
280 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ment of his name brought hundreds from all the surround- 
 ing towns and hamlets. In this sermon there was a union 
 of strength and beauty which showed much ability. He 
 commenced in low, drawling tones, which at first was very 
 disappointing ; but after a few moments one became inter- 
 ested and delighted with the simplicity of the uncultured 
 eloquence, a style that is seldom heard nowadays. After 
 the sermon the tents were crowded with persons of both 
 sexes, on their knees. The noise was so great that it was 
 impossible to tell who was praying. Several of the breth- 
 ren threw their coats off, and the women had cast aside 
 their bonnets (they wore bonnets in those days !) and they 
 were even more enthusiastic than the men, clapping their 
 hands and shouting at the top of their voices. I noticed 
 one woman lying flat on her face, screaming, "I have got 
 it!" and another, equally earnest, was repeating the re- 
 frain, "I '11 wait till Jesus comes, and then be carried 
 home!" Another threw her arms around a sister who 
 was praying, and embracing her eagerly they swayed 
 backwards and forwards in an ecstasy of delight. Others 
 caught the infection, and all in unison sang: 
 
 " O, that I could, with favored John, 
 Recline my weary head upon 
 
 The blest Redeemer's breast ! 
 From care and fear, and sorrow free, 
 Give me, O I/ord, to find in thee 
 
 My everlasting rest." 
 
 Then they sang as a chorus, "Glory! Hallelujah!" or 
 "We will wait till Jesus comes, and then be carried home." 
 The leader of the meeting for the hour then gave out the 
 military hymn, "Am I a soldier of the cross?" which was 
 sung with stirring melody, a melody equal to Luther's 
 immortal "Bin feste Burg." 
 
CAMP-MEETINGS IN THE PAST. 281 
 
 The speaking meetings were distinguished by a variety 
 of experiences and appeals ; one earnest brother cried out, 
 "Fire up, brothers ! fire up, sisters !" and then, "Down 
 upon your knees!" At this, a quiet Methodist hesitat- 
 ingly offered an opinion. that there was too much noise, 
 that he did not like the screaming. "I do n't like it ; you 
 are entirely too noisy," he said ; but was instantly an- 
 swered by a score of voices, "Better scream here than in 
 hell!" 
 
 One brother said that he had been trying to get for a 
 long time what Methodists call the "second blessing." 
 He prayed and fasted, but it did not come ; finally, driven 
 almost to despair, he asked the Lord, "What is it? Is 
 it my wife? take her. Is it my children? take them. 
 Is it my farm? take it." There was no relief; finally he 
 thought of an old shotgun that he was fond of, and he 
 asked, "Lord, is it the old shotgun? take it." Immedi- 
 ately a sweet peace came over him, and he knew he had 
 received the second blessing. He was happy, and re- 
 joiced with exceeding joy. ' I saw a young woman 
 stretched out upon the straw scattered over the ground. 
 She was evidently laboring under intense excitement. 
 She would throw her hands upward, and then let them 
 fall instantly as if struck by some power. She repeated 
 this many times, calling out, "Jesus, give me the bless- 
 ing now ; just now, Lord !" 
 
 In the midst of these exercises the horn blew for 
 preaching, and all hurried to the large tent used for the 
 general services. The sermon was scarcely begun when 
 a loud buzzing was heard in the distance, and a man 
 rushed upon the stand, screaming out, "I have got it! 
 yes, I have got it!" He proved to be a preacher, filling 
 an important city appointment. He made no apologies 
 
282 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 for interrupting the sermon ; but the preacher immediately 
 stopped, and the brother, who had suddenly become sanc- 
 tified, delivered himself of something like the following: 
 "I want you to know that I am the pastor of the largest, 
 richest, and most fashionable Church in my Conference ! 
 How will I go back and tell them I am sanctified? 
 O, brethren and sisters, pray for me." Here a thousand 
 voices murmured, "May the Lord give him courage and 
 bless him !" Then he went on to say : "I was always op- 
 posed to the doctrine of holiness, and I came to this camp- 
 meeting to take notes for the purpose of writing a book 
 against it ; but praise the Lord, bless his holy name, I am 
 now sanctified !" This brother was a very ignorant man ; 
 he could not put two sentences together, and his book, 
 if it had been published, would have been a sensation in 
 literature. When he preached, he would quote the name 
 of the famous French preacher, Pere Hyacinthe, "Perry 
 Hyacinkse." During one of the meetings the horn blew, 
 as usual, for the preaching, but the devotees were unwill- 
 ing to yield their meetings even to hear the gospel. Then 
 messengers were sent to all the tents to tell the people to 
 come to the main tent. "It is time to close this 'speaking'- 
 meeting," said the leader; "we must go to preaching." 
 A brother answered him: "No! stop your praying, stop 
 your preaching; let everybody sing. I am too full of 
 glory to hear preaching." Another brother replied to 
 this, "Brother Jackson, how can we stop these sisters and 
 brothers from praying to God?" "But we must have 
 silence, decency, and order," said Brother Jackson. 
 "Is n't it always in order to praise God?" asked some one. 
 "To be sure it is a good thing to praise God, but now it 
 is time for preaching." Another took up the argument, 
 "Well, there is nothing new under the sun; but this is 
 
CAMP-MEETINGS IN THE PAST. 283 
 
 certainly something new that it is not in order to praise 
 God at camp-meetings." At this moment a brother called 
 out, "Why, that young woman has found the Lord, and 
 do you suppose her mouth is to be stopped?" And so it 
 went on until finally more messengers came, and the 
 "speaking"-meeting yielded to the demands of the im- 
 patient preacher, who was awaiting their coming. After 
 the preaching, immense crowds of both sexes again 
 flocked to the tents for special services. One young wo- 
 man fell by the way, screaming for mercy; another com- 
 plained of a burden upon her heart, and tried to cry out, 
 but could not. Many of the penitents would remain up 
 all night. I remember aiding a brother to carry a young 
 woman from one of the tents to her room. She suddenly 
 aroused herself, and commenced a conversation with an 
 invisible being whom she called an angel. Tears began 
 to flow down her cheeks, her lips opened, and her face 
 brightened up with a holy fervor and with such evident 
 sincerity that every one was spell-bound. 
 
 Now and then a solemn stillness would interrupt the 
 boisterous expressions of joyfulness and prayer, and ex- 
 altations seemed to hang over all the people. One wild 
 young man became deeply impressed. An involuntary 
 sensation came over him, and he knelt down and cast his 
 eyes upward. His heart was moved, and tears flowed in 
 abundance; and as grace and peace took possession of his 
 soul, he rose quickly, exclaiming: "I am so happy! I 
 would swear it upon a thousand Bibles! I have got re- 
 ligion ! .Yes, glory to Jesus !" Those who knew the reck- 
 less life the young man had led were amazed, and sensa- 
 tions of awe and reverence pervaded the meeting. 
 
 As there were always such throngs of people attending 
 the camp-meetings, much crowding was necessary, that 
 
284 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 all might be accommodated. Impromptu beds and 
 couches of straw were improvised, and many were 
 crowded into each sleeping-room. One night, after my 
 wife and I had retired to rest upon a bed of straw, we were 
 startled to hear an ominous creaking above us. We had 
 scarcely time, however, to become alarmed, when the floor 
 above, which had been hastily put up for the occasion, 
 gave way, and some sleepers descended upon us. They 
 proved to be two very stout sisters, and this strange intro- 
 duction led to a friendship that lasted for many years ; but 
 my wife could never speak of the occurrence without 
 being convulsed with laughter. 
 
Chapter XVI. 
 GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1896. 
 
 IT was most appropriate that the beautiful city of Cleve- 
 land, with its wealth of spring, should be the seat of 
 the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church. To a city so blessed with natural and cultivated 
 advantages came the representatives of Methodism 
 throughout the world. They came from where the Rhine 
 gushes wildly over its barriers; from where the Tiber 
 creeps heavy with the shadows of ages to the sea; from 
 where the Shannon, more grand than our own Hudson, 
 kisses two provinces; from where the Ohio careers like 
 an arrow shot through the wilderness; from where the 
 St. Lawrence flows, deep, dark, and cold, into the bosom 
 of its majestic gulf. 
 
 I have heard it said that Methodism has no history, 
 that she has rendered no great services to humanity, that 
 she has left no splendors that endure. It is true, thank 
 God, that she has no such history as State Churches! 
 Where they obtained power witness the valleys of the 
 Piedmont, drenched in the blood of the Waldenses; and 
 the plains of France, wet with the gore of the Huguenots ! 
 Witness, also, Scotland, red with the blood of the Cove- 
 nanters; and England, during the reigns of Mary, Eliza- 
 beth, and Cromwell. O no ! Methodism has no such his- 
 tory. Its triumphs have been the triumphs of converted 
 souls, the triumphs of peace, and the triumphs of happi- 
 ness. In the illustrious roll of missionaries, many there 
 are who wear on their brows the red bar of martyrdom. 
 
 285 
 
286 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 The Methodist Church has no history? That was not the 
 opinion of Cardinal Manning, who, in his sermon upon 
 the re-establishment of the Roman hierarchy, declared, 
 with a generous outburst of enthusiasm, "There is no 
 telling to what a depth of degradation England would 
 have sunk had it not been for John Wesley and his 
 preaching of justification by faith." That Church at 
 this very hour, near the summits of the Aventine, is build- 
 ing a commodious edifice in which the lessons of John 
 Wesley will be taught; yea, in the very city of Rome, 
 where the laurel shall replace the ivy, beneath the shad- 
 ows of its ancient glories, Methodist preachers will preach 
 the gospel. It seems to me the Methodist Church never 
 looks so beautiful and so hopeful, and never speaks so 
 impressively, as when she is valiant for the truth, whether 
 it be shrouded in darkness, like the cross upon the noon 
 of crucifixion, or rises in its glory from the tomb in which 
 the guards have hemmed it in. 
 
 This General Conference marked and emphasized cer- 
 tain great reforms. It is only a few years ago that Dr. 
 Jabez Bunting, the pope of English Wesleyanism, spoke 
 the sentiments of his denomination when he said that 
 "Methodism abhorred democracy, just as it abhorred 
 sin." 
 
 What would the pious but despotic divine think if he 
 had seen laymen engaging in oratorical battle with the 
 clergy upon the floor of this General Conference, and 
 arrangements completed for the admission of women into 
 the great councils of the Church ! Methodism is nothing 
 if not patriotic. The flags of all the principal nations 
 decorated the magnificent Armory. There was the flag 
 of old England we can forgive her when we remember 
 she gave the world John Wesley ; the flag of Ireland was 
 
GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1 896. 287 
 
 there the immortal green, with the harp without the 
 crown ; the flag of beautiful Italy was there, worthily rep- 
 resented by William Burt, the Italian delegate. 
 
 Everybody knows the exalted enthusiasm of Meth- 
 odist preachers when their country is the theme. This 
 was conspicuously seen when the son of General Grant 
 and William McKinley were introduced. The reception 
 of the son of the great general who broke the chains of 
 slavery was unbounded, and the oration upon Grant by 
 Bishop Newman was a beautiful tribute to an illustrious 
 man. The oratory of the Conference recalled the grand 
 days of the past. Buckley, Kynett, Day, Neeley, Moore, 
 Grill, Harlan, Shaw, are all strong and brilliant speakers. 
 Buckley has much originality and fearlessness. Moore 
 utters no halting sentences; every word is full, and even 
 in his most impassioned moments, his articulation is dis- 
 tinct. His is no artificial eloquence, but a mountain 
 spring always fresh and perennial. The colored orators, 
 especially Bowen, of Atlanta, and Mason, of Savannah, 
 are not surpassed by the pulpit orators of any race. The 
 great mistake of the Conference was its failure to elect 
 one of these men as a bishop. The new bishops, Cran- 
 ston, McCabe, and Hartzell, were able and eloquent 
 speakers ; the two former served throughout the war with 
 a splendid heroism. Chaplain McCabe, whose name as 
 a money-getter admits no plural or parallel, blushed with 
 youthful chivalry when he was saluted as bishop. 
 Leonard is an effective speaker. Years ago I am told 
 that his piercing voice resembled the screams of a scalded 
 eagle. Now it is smooth. Hamilton's speeches are mas- 
 terpieces, strong almost to coarseness, vigorous, and 
 sinewy. 
 
 This General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 
288 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Church is one of the significant gatherings of the denom- 
 ination. She has had many such gatherings, but none 
 of greater importance than this one which took place in 
 the spring of 1896. Let us pray that its triumphs will 
 be splendid and its services to mankind numberless. 
 While there was no orator-king there like Simpson, no 
 statesmen like Chase and McLean, no soldier like Grant 
 all Methodists yet, though the genius of the leaders 
 may have been less conspicuous, the number and variety 
 of the members were incomparably greater. On the first 
 day of May every street leading to the magnificent Cen- 
 tral Armory of Cleveland was crowded with the yeo- 
 manry of Methodism. 
 
 The first day was auspicious. The sun shone in cloud- 
 less splendor. Yes, it was truly delightful enough to 
 charm sadness from the heart; the memory of it passes 
 over me like enchantment. There were all the various 
 elements of the Methodist Church gathered from every 
 part of the globe its merchants, its farmers, its mechan- 
 ics, its judges, its clergy, its captains of industry. Hark ! 
 what means that old familiar hymn, "And are we yet 
 alive?" followed by "My country, 't is of thee?" It was 
 a glorious sound. I have heard music in St. Peter's and 
 St. Paul's, at camp-meetings, and at grand army reunions ; 
 but nothing so sweet, so grand, so overwhelming! Two 
 figures ascend the platform: one young, handsome, and 
 with eyes as brilliant as his dress; the other, thin, ema- 
 ciated, his head white as snow, and drooping upon his 
 breast, the venerable Bishop Foster and Bishop Joyce. 
 The speeches were all to the point, they aimed to tell, 
 and did tell. No dandy coruscations, no rhetorical fan- 
 dangoes, no blank cartridges ; but hard facts, driven home 
 like bullets ! Who were the mighty leaders of this Meth- 
 
GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1 896. 289 
 
 odist host? There was the venerable Bishop Foster, smil- 
 ing like a carved saint on some old Gothic capital. I 
 used to think his style stilted; but the more I read his 
 thoughtful sermons, I realize that it is full of vitality and 
 controversial passion. At one of the Conferences I heard 
 him relate a story which illustrates the liberality and 
 breadth of his religious views. Like Dr. Adam Clarke, 
 one of the lights of his denomination, who, upon being 
 asked if he was a bigot, replied, "No, by the grace of 
 God, I am a Methodist," this incident, which I heard 
 from his own lips, fully corroborates Bishop Foster's 
 sentiments. In dedicating a church in Boston he referred 
 in glowing words to the self-sacrifice and devotion of 
 the Catholics in the building of churches; and, though 
 the elements be the most adverse, their attendance at 
 all the services of their denomination was uniform. He 
 asked the question, "Where can we find such devotion 
 paralleled in our Protestant Churches? But I will tell 
 you something more surprising," he continued. "The 
 last time I was in Havana, the captain of the ship said 
 to me, 'Bishop Foster, there is a Catholic bishop on 
 board; perhaps you would like to be introduced to him/ 
 I answered promptly, 'Yes.' I found the bishop to be 
 a highly-educated and social gentleman. In the course 
 of our conversation, I made the following statement: 
 'Now, my dear sir, I wish to give you the popular Protest- 
 ant opinion of your Church ; but remember, it is not mine, 
 nor that of intelligent Protestants.' 'All right,' responded 
 the Catholic dignitary; 'let us have it, and then I will 
 give you my opinion of the Protestants.' 'Well,' said I, 
 'the popular opinion of Catholics is, that all saloon-keep- 
 ers, that all deserters (it was during the war), that all 
 the bad people in the world, belong to the Catholic 
 
2 QO UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Church.' 'Yes,' replied the Catholic bishop, 'there is a 
 great deal of truth in what you say, and the Church must 
 bow her head before the disgraceful acts of her unworthy 
 children who have practically strayed from her fold; but 
 they are not true Catholics, they belong to the body, but 
 not to the heart of the Church.' Then he portrayed the 
 schools and hospitals and the thousand works of charity. 
 'Here.' he continued to say, 'you find the Catholic 
 Church,' I urged him for his opinion of the Methodists," 
 continued Bishop Foster. " ' I will frankly tell you. Years 
 ago, I was a missionary amid the wilds of Colorado, 
 where the voice of Christian praise was never heard. I 
 was riding along in a lonely, dangerous region, when I 
 saw a horse tied to a tree. I said to myself, "This is a 
 doctor's horse, and this poor miner is probably a Cath- 
 olic." I opened the rude door of the cabin, and heard 
 a man in prayer it was a Methodist missionary and as 
 my soul went up to God, I felt that, if there were any good 
 people in the world, they were the Methodists ! But they 
 do not belong to the true Church,' he added, laughingly." 
 There was the saintly Bowman. His purity of life, 
 his apostolic zeal and his heroic Christian character are 
 a part of the history of the Church. There was Walden, 
 the early advocate of abolition, a pioneer in Kansas when 
 it was death to be known as a friend of the Negro. He 
 is the brother and friend of every young preacher. He 
 is said to resemble Simpson in his manner, fastening his 
 eye upon some one in the audience, then upon another, 
 until all are reached. He is a fine talker, always instruct- 
 ive, always practical, and always evangelical. There 
 was Joyce look at him ! his head of a finer intellectual 
 development than any in the Conference ; an out-and-out 
 Methodist. He is like a race-horse, all nerve and all 
 
GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1896. 29 1 
 
 fire when in the pulpit. Heaven, send more such bishops ! 
 His eloquent sermons leave impressions that will never 
 be effaced. 
 
 There was Fowler, a singularly able man, possessing 
 a fine head, and eyes that go through you ; in his younger 
 days brilliant, but rather vain of his talents. He has 
 plenty of vivid fancy; but he labors by piece-work, and 
 lacks system in his sermons and lectures. There was 
 Mallalieu. He has a loving sympathy with all humanity, 
 and a brave, upward look for everything grand in God's 
 universe. There was Andrews, scholastic, benevolent, 
 and a man without a crotchet. He was regarded, because 
 of his studious habits, as haughty, cold, and self-restrained 
 he had none of that abandon which characterizes the 
 Methodists. There was Newman, who, when preaching 
 the gospel, leaving the thorny path of political preaching, 
 is a master in his art. All criticisms are impertinent, and I 
 would not willingly do injustice to any one. Many of his 
 sermons are marked by splendor and heart, and as you 
 listen you think of Demosthenes confronting the furious 
 multitude, where surging voices lashed the air like an 
 angry ocean, and leaving them peaceful and subdued. 
 
 There was Johnson, the Irish delegate. He felt his 
 subject deeply and spoke forcibly. Like most of the best 
 early Methodists, he was the pupil of no school but na- 
 ture's, yet by some stroke of inspiration he often reached 
 a prize beyond the reach of art. Like Plunket, his illus- 
 trious countryman, the hearer's attention is shivered by 
 the lightning before he hears the first mutterings of the 
 thunder. His address on Ireland was refreshing, differ- 
 ing from similar addresses delivered by his predecessors 
 on former occasions. I would have been glad if he had 
 shown that Ireland's first want was the land, that Ire- 
 
2Q2 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 land's second want was the land, that Ireland's third want 
 was the land, and that her last want was unity among 
 her people. As a speaker Dr. Johnson was a splendid 
 example of sacred eloquence; he did not strive after the 
 unutterable, and die, like the choked calves, with their 
 bleatings in their throats. 
 
 There was Watkinson, the English representative, 
 author of many excellent books, an editor of the Wes- 
 leyan Methodist Magazine, and a speaker of rare though 
 unusual eloquence. His address upon the relations of 
 English to American Methodism was worthy of the man, 
 worthy of the occasion, and did honor to the Church. He 
 is middle-sized, spare, and his face exhibits eagerness, 
 kindliness, and intellect. His was one of the most vigor- 
 ous and impressive countenances I ever saw, marked by 
 piercing gray eyes, a high forehead, and lips compressed 
 together as the shells of an oyster. The closing sentence 
 of his address was full of beauty. I was reminded of a 
 passage in Curran's plea for a client, in which he says 
 that he would make it clear as the glorious burst of sun- 
 shine, which just then streamed through the window and 
 supplied him with a splendid illustration. 
 
 But there were sad gaps in the ranks of the great men 
 of Methodism. Scott had long since passed away ; Peck's 
 tall form was moldering in the dust; Ames's princely pres- 
 ence would never again meet mortal eye; and the great- 
 est of them all, first in eloquence, first in fame, and first 
 in the hearts of his brethren, Simpson, also, was no 
 more. Never again would his thrilling words delight and 
 capture his audience. In speaking of Ames, he was not 
 only the statesman of his Church, but he was a man 
 of infinite humor. At one of our Conferences the lights 
 were suddenly extinguished. Some one cried out, "Turn 
 
GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1896. 293 
 
 on the gas !" "Never mind," said the bishop, in his 
 solemn manner, "there will be plenty of gas when the 
 brethren get to talking." He was always opposed to 
 importing preachers to fill important stations in this 
 
 country . I asked him how the Reverend Mr. , fresh 
 
 from the Wesleyan Conference by way of Africa, was 
 getting along. He was attracting great crowds. The 
 bishop lived in the same city. His reply was laconic yet 
 significant, "Dear-bought and far-fetched." 
 
 James W. Mendenhall was not there. He has on me 
 a nearer and dearer claim; it was my happiness to win 
 his confidence and trust. It was only a few years ago 
 that he was among the brightest of our writers and 
 preachers, now he-is among the honored dead. His body 
 was small, but he had a mind of gigantic mold. He had 
 qualities the rarest and noblest. Alas, that our libations 
 should sprinkle so green a grave as that where his strong 
 heart rests ! Alas, that Methodism should have of him but 
 his glorious example and splendid scholarship ! The soul 
 of Dr. Mendenhall is never absent from the councils of 
 his brethren; it will ever be his abiding testimonial, a 
 surviving halo, the rainbow of his fame, in which are 
 blended all the hues of his working thoughts, arched in 
 heaven and based upon time and eternity ! 
 
Chapter XVII. 
 MY COLLEAGUES IN THE MINISTRY. 
 
 IN the Methodist Church the custom was, years ago, 
 to send two preachers a man of experience and a 
 younger man, inexperienced upon the different circuits. 
 The senior had all the responsibility of revival-meetings, 
 of the benevolent collections, and of Church expenses. 
 It was his special care to see that these duties were car- 
 ried out, and that the junior preacher should do his part 
 in the enforcement of the laws of the Church. He could 
 not baptize, nor marry, nor perform any sacramental serv- 
 ice. Whatever emoluments these duties brought be- 
 longed to the elder preacher, who also had the privilege 
 of remaining two or three years on the circuit, an ad- 
 vantage seldom accorded to the younger divine. 
 
 The first colleague I had was a robust and shrewd 
 brother from the Western Reserve, full of thrift, business 
 tact, and zeal Allen S. Moffitt, a practical farmer; but 
 feeling a call to preach, he proved himself to be a man 
 of wide usefulness, of native ability, and of rare power 
 as a singer. He was always very popular with the people, 
 and knew every man, woman, and child in the com- 
 munity. 
 
 Another early colleague was John A. Berry, who had 
 been a successful physician. He abandoned a lucrative 
 practice and flung himself heart and soul into the min- 
 istry. Nature had endowed him with a ready command 
 of language, a retentive memory, and a determination 
 that never failed. He was a sweet singer (singing being 
 
 294 
 
MY COLLEAGUES IN THE MINISTRY. 295 
 
 an accomplishment almost indispensable to the Methodist 
 preachers of those days), a stirring speaker, and a re- 
 vivalist of the most pronounced usefulness. He died in 
 the very height of his success and usefulness, leaving an 
 accomplished and interesting family, who now occupy 
 prominent and honorable positions in the communities 
 in which they live. One of them is the wife of Hon. 
 John W. Buchwalter, of Springfield, Ohio. 
 
 William M. Spafford, another splendid type of the 
 old-fashioned preacher with whom I was associated, was 
 one of the best preachers I ever heard. He had read 
 everything in philosophy, in theology, and in politics. 
 His fine fanc}^ as well as his logical mind illuminated 
 everything he touched. As a preacher he stood in the 
 van of the Conference. 
 
 D. D. T. Mattison was a strong man, and preached 
 well. 
 
 Rev. Jacob Miensinger, another colleague, was a con- 
 scientious man, a professor of holiness, with the Ten Com- 
 mandments written upon his face. He was a valuable 
 pastor and a good preacher. 
 
 The Rev. John Mitchell was a noted character in his 
 day. He was my senior in Nashville Circuit. He was 
 emphatically a strong man strong in body, strong in 
 intellect, and strong in his convictions. He was in his 
 element at camp-meetings, where his powerful voice al- 
 ways led the singing. Wherever that voice was heard 
 there was no need of a choir. I have heard him say that he 
 could sit up all night to hate choir singing. 
 
 Many of these pioneer preachers were the victims of 
 a base and unholy prejudice because of their Abolitionism. 
 They had no friends among the great political par- 
 ties. Denounced by eloquent speakers in Congress, be- 
 
296 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 lied and slandered by the press, traduced abroad, suffer- 
 ing under a daily persecution, wearied out in the Border 
 States by jeering of mobs, waylaid in the South, their 
 houses unsafe, their minds worn out by rumors of venge- 
 ance, they appealed to Heaven, and were comforted, 
 sustained, arid upheld! They remained steadfast when 
 the curses of the pro-slavery mobs were rained like sparks 
 of fire upon their heads, and the fingers of a savage set 
 of politicians were pointed at them, ready to be dipped 
 in their blood. But their time soon came. 
 
 Providence was equally gracious in giving me supe- 
 rior and generous men for my presiding elders. Harvey 
 Wilson was the first of these precious servants of the 
 Church who introduced me to the active labors of the 
 ministry. He gave me wise advice on preaching and 
 pastoral visiting. I remember one of his counsels was 
 to preach my best sermon on rainy Sundays, when the 
 audiences were apt to be small. This would get noised 
 abroad, and the people would say: "What a splendid 
 sermon to a small audience ! If our preacher does so well 
 under such circumstances, what would he do if the usual 
 congregation had been here?" I had soon an opportu- 
 nity of testing this advice. The third or fourth Sunday 
 after I went to a circuit the weather turned out to be 
 appalling, the skies pouring, torrents, the roads impass- 
 able, and it looked as if a second deluge had come upon 
 the earth. I proceeded to the appointment in Holmes 
 County, Lakeville, and there found one man. He was 
 not a professed Christian. I preached one of my best 
 sermons to him. He afterwards became a Christian, and 
 an official member of the Church. The incident was pub- 
 lished everywhere, and the next Sunday the school-house 
 was filled to overflowing; and there is now a church 
 
MY COLLEAGUES IN THE MINISTRY. 297 
 
 there, and Brother D. Armon still lives to confirm the 
 story. 
 
 Henry Whiteman was my presiding elder during the 
 war. He was a thorough and conscientious Methodist, 
 a methodical preacher ; although very deliberate and slow, 
 at times he became so aroused as to cause the people 
 to cry out, "What must I do to be saved?" His words 
 were weighty and convincing. 
 
 Rev. G. A. Hughes was a college graduate, orig- 
 inal, instructive, and profpund, and was among the best 
 informed men of the Conference. His sermons were 
 well arranged; they were not slipshod, slovenly com- 
 positions, but well-written, and produced a wholesome 
 influence. He was always helped by his amiable and 
 gifted wife. Their combined labors at Ashland, when I 
 was pastor there, resulted in much good. 
 
 Rev. Alfred Wheeler was one of the most scholarly 
 members of the Conference. He had studied for a phy- 
 sician, and I think was actively engaged in the profession 
 when he entered the itinerancy. He was a member of 
 a debating society, where, because of his varied attain- 
 ments, he was called Lord Brougham. In Conference 
 he soon took front rank as a debater. As a cross-exam- 
 iner he was admirable; to have him on your side meant 
 victory. 
 
 Rev. George W. Breckinridge was a magnificent man, 
 physically and mentally. He was straight as an ash, with 
 voice clear and penetrating, a strictly evangelical preacher 
 and a true friend. Rev. Thomas Barkdull was a pleasant 
 gentleman, a popular preacher, and a wise administrator. 
 Rev. John Whitvvorth, an American all over, was born 
 by mistake in England; a sound preacher, and a most 
 patriotic citizen. When fairly warmed up with his subject, 
 
298 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Whitworth was like a man on tiptoe, burning to get 
 over the ground. 
 
 Rev. Elvero Persons, D. D., was one of those Meth- 
 odist preachers whom to know was to love; for in him 
 was combined intense evangelism with strong intel- 
 lectual qualities. He had grown up to be a man, active, 
 progressive, and professional, before he became a min- 
 ister. He was a member of the legal profession when I 
 first knew him, ever forward in active philanthropy and 
 patriotism. As a preacher, Dr. Persons preached Christ 
 in the glory of his pre-existence, Christ in the perfection 
 of his Divinity, Christ in the completeness of his atone- 
 ment, Christ in the triumph of his resurrection, Christ 
 in the glory of his ascension. What can be more tender, 
 more patriotic, than his tribute to N. S. Albright? He 
 has embalmed the memory of that sainted man with 
 beauty, truth, and eloquence. He was equally at home 
 in his devotional and patriotic work. He could not live 
 without this spiritual high-mindedness. He was not like 
 the Scotch woman's opinion of her pastor's prayers: 
 "See, Mr. Moncrief is away to heaven noo, and left us 
 all sitting here." Mr. Persons took his flock with him. 
 They are lifted up upon the wings of his devotion to 
 heaven, to God ! Dr. Persons was also a Union soldier 
 and Judge Advocate, brave and loyal. 
 
 Then there was Dr. Nelson, of precious memory, well- 
 read in literature, in science, and in theology. He was 
 of Scotch ancestry, and loved to hear a good Scotch 
 story. After my return from Europe, I told him the 
 following experience of a Scotch evangelist, Richard 
 Weaver, and when he came around to the Quarterly Con- 
 ference, I had to repeat it : In Glasgow there was a con- 
 verted butcher, the fruit of Moody's first revival, whose 
 
MY COLLEAGUES IN THE MINISTRY. 299 
 
 name was Richard Weaver, or, as he was familiarly called, 
 "Dick" Weaver. To his rough audience of thousands, 
 he would frequently ask, "Boys, did you ever make your 
 mothers weep? I did mine many a time, and she used to 
 come to the bars of that window, and wetting them with 
 her tears, she would cry out, 'Dick, give your heart to 
 Jesus!'" then, turning his streaming eyes to heaven, 
 "She is away yonder now ; but, bless God ! before she died 
 she heard her Dick preach on Glasgow Common." 
 
 Dr. A. J. Lyon, careful, considerate, and instructive; 
 a true friend, and a gentleman all over. 
 
 I might speak of James A. Kellam, a preacher of the 
 old-fashioned type, who took ho stock in stereotyped 
 phrases, but stuck valiantly to "the three R's, Repentance, 
 Redemption, and Regeneration;" of Hartupee, a man of 
 wealth, who has left his thousands to Delaware College, 
 and helped many a deserving student, a European trav- 
 eler, a man of accomplished scholarship, and a presiding 
 elder whose administration was always marked by wis- 
 dom and prudence ; and of Stroup, a preacher thoughtful 
 and suggestive, bold and earnest; of Mitchell, command- 
 ing in person, and who understands the art of touching 
 people's hearts, and, either as pastor or elder, succeeds 
 in reaching the masses; he so closely resembles his dis- 
 tinguished cousin, William McKinley, that he has fre-, 
 quently been taken for him. Dustin Kemble was modest 
 and unassuming, with the heavy learning of a scholar, and 
 a solemnity that might befit Massillon. Samuel Mower, 
 a great-hearted soul; gentle as a child, he was yet brave 
 as a lion, and as terrible, too, if his wrath were aroused; 
 his love of liberty was a passion: may the love and tears 
 of his friends rest like freshest flowers upon his grave 
 brave, good old man ! I might also speak of McConnell, 
 
300 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of Owens; of Godman, president of Baldwin University. 
 But time fails me to speak of these, and others of the 
 acutest and most accomplished minds of the North Ohio 
 Conference, powerful in logic and eloquent in decla- 
 mation, minds of lofty Goliath-like stature, "the staff of 
 whose spear was a weaver's beam," such men as John 
 H. Powers, originally a blacksmith; Adam Poe, related 
 to the great Indian fighter; W. L. Harris, afterwards a 
 bishop ; Edward Thomson, the president of the Ohio Wes- 
 leyan University, master of the purest English, present- 
 ing arguments for the gospel too invincible to be over- 
 thrown : he, too, became a bishop, and died in the service. 
 Then there was John Quigley, exhibiting, with force and 
 variety of illustration, the truths of Christianity. 
 
 There is much said against this hard-working order 
 of the Church which is neither generous nor just. A per- 
 plexed bishop once said to a minister of the Conference : 
 "I am very much bothered to know what to do with 
 some of these preachers. We have three classes: One 
 class, everybody wants; the second class, everybody will 
 accept; the third class, nobody wants, what to do with 
 this last class is what bewilders the bishops. We are in 
 constant trouble about them/' "I can tell you what to 
 do with them," said the minister to whom this remark 
 was made, "make them presiding elders." Eventually 
 the system will be abolished. In England, where Meth- 
 odism had its origin, and where it has become an enor- 
 mous power, there are no elders. Chairmen of districts 
 take their place. These are pastors of experience, who 
 visit the circuit or station once a year, meet the official 
 members, make note of their desires, and report the 
 facts to, the Conference, the Church merely paying their 
 railroad expenses. 
 
MY COLLEAGUES IN THE MINISTRY. 301 
 
 There is Oliver Burgess, a true-hearted old man, al- 
 ways and everywhere faithful. He has won, and justly, 
 the title of "Bishop of Cleveland," kind to the sick and 
 prompt with his help in sorrow. Palmer, Jewett, Bush, 
 old comrades, calmly waiting the angel death. Bush was 
 a chaplain, and a good one, of Gibson's 4Qth Ohio. 
 
 I might refer to Thompson, now a Californian. In 
 early life he took to teaching as a profession, as he was 
 passionately fond of books. He educated his mind, be- 
 came a scholar, devoured books, and afterwards became 
 a preacher. He was the most successful missionary col- 
 lector, with the exception of the lamented G. A. Reeder, 
 in the Conference. His sermons were Scriptural, expos- 
 itory, and instantaneous. He always left his Church in 
 good condition. 
 
 Mclntyre was also a special friend. He has preached 
 in Ohio, in Texas, and in the Golden ^State, where he 
 attracted large audiences by his vigorous and earnest 
 utterances. He had but one thought to give dignity to 
 his profession and to be a useful minister of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 There was William Kepler, the secretary of the Con- 
 ference for years. A more industrious man was never 
 known; no artisan in the workshop, no farmer in the 
 field, no mechanic, ever wrought so unremittingly 
 through life as William Kepler. He was known all over 
 the State and country as an investigator of nature; in 
 fact, he began his chemical and geological investiga- 
 tions as soon as he was breeched, and in a magnificent 
 fashion, that has known no parallel, has kept it up. He 
 was elected unanimously to the General Conference, with- 
 out even asking for a vote. He also was a soldier, was 
 with Sheridan in Virginia, and fought in seventeen battles, 
 
302 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 and was wounded several times. He is the most modest 
 man I ever knew; industrious from his cradle, his mind 
 well-stored with facts. 
 
 Younger men, like Brandt, who became renowned 
 in the anti-saloon work, a splendid organizer; Ward, a 
 scholar and a gifted preacher; Hoadley, learned in the 
 classics, and now professor in the Portland University; 
 Gould, one of the coming men; he is a scholar, a his- 
 torian, a sociologist, and an attractive preacher. 
 
 DR. D. H. MULLER. "He who will not reason is a 
 bigot ; he who can not is a fool ; and he who dares not is 
 a coward." If there be a preacher of the gospel in the 
 world to whom these words do not apply, it is Dr. D. H. 
 Muller, of Cleveland. He is one of the most liberal, 
 tolerant, upright, high-principled preachers that ever en- 
 tered a pulpit. Labor to him is light in the cause of 
 humanity. Dr. Muller brought into the pulpit a style of 
 preaching singularty simple and impressive, a pure-mind- 
 edness, activity, and punctuality, that could not but war- 
 rant the highest anticipations of his successful career. 
 
 For years, when in his prime, it was with difficulty 
 that one could procure standing room in his churches. 
 He preached frequently by illustration, thus walking in 
 the footsteps of the great divines of the East. The 
 teachers of the East, the most gorgeous and figurative 
 of artists, dwelt largely in illustrations. When the Divine 
 Preacher condescended to interest mankind in the divine 
 mysteries of religion, he used illustrations. 
 
 Dr. Muller is a splendid-looking man, a graduate of 
 Evanston College, and a fine scholar. At Evanston he 
 was a fellow-student of Bishop Fowler and other dis- 
 tinguished men. He has a tall and commanding pres- 
 ence, and a very radiant expression of countenance; a 
 
MY COLLEAGUES IN THE MINISTRY. 303 
 
 strong, clear voice, resonant as a bell. Dr. Muller has 
 preached in the largest cities of the country, always re- 
 maining the full Methodist term of years. As a presiding 
 elder he was noted for his strict enforcement of Meth- 
 odist law, as well as for church building. Commencing in 
 small stations, he climbed the loftiest and brightest emi- 
 nences to which any preacher ought to aspire. The great 
 feature of his pulpit oratory is its simple and earnest pre- 
 sentation of truth. The lips of the man catch the expres- 
 sion of the heart, and he attains that most difficult achieve- 
 ment ; he uniformly convinces his audience of his own 
 confidence in the merits of the subject he is discussing. 
 
 Dr. Muller is a believer in political righteousness, 
 and he is mightily interested in everything that benefits 
 the city or the country. He is a thoroughgoing Meth- 
 odist, loyal and true to its doctrines and traditions. A 
 many-sided man is Dr. Muller. In sickness, a healing 
 presence; in the pulpit, a convincing orator; in private 
 life, he carries with him a sacred charm. Dr. Muller, 
 Christian gentleman, patriotic citizen, and true friend, 
 may the day of your departure to a better world be far 
 distant ! 
 
 He was among the preachers whom I knew before 
 I went to Europe who gave me a warm and hearty wel- 
 come on my return. He was the presiding elder of the 
 Cleveland District, East Ohio Conference. I had not 
 intended immediately resuming ministerial duties; but 
 Dr. Muller called several times, and generously insisted 
 that I should commence preaching at once. He assigned 
 me to Woodland Hills Avenue Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, where I met a generous and liberal class of 
 people. In one year there were four or five new churches 
 built in Cleveland alone during his eldership, and it is 
 
304 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 safe to say that in every department of a minister's labors 
 he has seldom been surpassed. 
 
 Although not a colleague, the Rev. G. A. Reeder was 
 a beloved and valued brother in the ministry. He had 
 only one sphere that was the salvation of men and 
 women. He had only one ambition, and that was to see 
 Methodism prosperous and happy. As a speaker he was 
 calm, often eloquent. He was a thorough student, a 
 widely-read historian, an accomplished master of facts. 
 His magnificent gift of thousands to the Methodist col- 
 lege at Rome showed his princely benevolence. His 
 mantle has fallen upon his gifted son. Dr. F. S. Hoyt, 
 for twelve years editor of the Western Christian Advocate, 
 is rounding a life great, beautiful, and noble ; as a profes- 
 sor in our Wesleyan University, learned and instructive ; as 
 a preacher, profound, heard with admiration. Dr. W. C. 
 Pierce was for many years a presiding elder, wise and 
 prudent in his government of his district. His preaching 
 carries us back to the remotest ages of the Church. His 
 services, both in literature and in theology, have been 
 great. His sermons abounded in ideas, original, startling, 
 and frequently sublime. Dr. Warner, the president of the 
 university at Berea, and Professor Whitlock, at Dela- 
 ware, stand at the head of their departments. Their ser- 
 mons and addresses are full of eloquence and informa- 
 tion. I have known them long and well. 
 
Chapter XVIII. 
 
 STRAY LEAVES FROM CIVIL WAR PERIOD- 
 SECRETARY STANTON. 
 
 1MET my old friend, Judge Martin Welker, on Euclid 
 Avenue one day, and, it having been long since we had 
 met, we immediately began talking about old times. We 
 had both paid a visit to Edwin M. Stanton, President 
 Lincoln's great War Secretary, in 1868. I was appointed 
 a chaplain in the regular army <by Mr. Stanton, largely 
 because I preached a sermon in Coshocton County, Ohio, 
 on the text, "Out of the South cometh a whirlwind," and 
 raised a company of volunteers on the same Sunday. The 
 call upon Secretary Stanton was made at his residence 
 in Washington. I attended, during the same year, the 
 famous impeachment trial of President Johnson, having 
 gained access thereto by means of a pass provided by 
 the late Benjamin F. Wade, then president of the United 
 States Senate. 
 
 No patriot, excepting Lincoln and Grant, deserves 
 more praise and grateful remembrance. With the simplic- 
 ity of a child, Stanton combined the courage and strength 
 of a man. His absorbing passion was the salvation of 
 the Union. Through the tempestuous times of the war 
 he held steadfastly to the vision of a reunited country. 
 Stanton was a man who was free from sordidness. With 
 every opportunity to become a millionaire, he could say 
 proudly with Sydney: "I will live no longer than my 
 principles preserve me. I will not blot out my past by 
 providing for my future. I will live by just means or 
 20 305 
 
306 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 not at all." Stanton was a noble-looking man; the com- 
 mon photographs have done him great injustice. His 
 face is there represented as a man of great power, but 
 coarse. In reality Jiis face was marked by great beauty 
 and intellectual power. He was one of the stateliest, 
 noblest sons of Adam. His voice in conversation could 
 be alternately soft as a girl's or sonorous as a field cap- 
 tain's. In the conversations which we had he manifested 
 the greatest self-restraint, seemingly indifferent to the 
 impeachment trial so far as it concerned himself. 
 
 When Judge Welker and I visited him together, he 
 was reading a volume of Tennyson's poems when we 
 went in. He remarked that Tennyson possessed an eye 
 as true and loving as that of Homer and Dante for the 
 beautiful side of the little things of daily life. "But," he 
 said, "in all this terrible war he has not a word of 
 sympathy for the United States." Speaking of the Secre- 
 tary of the Treasury, Chase, he said : "That scribe, Chase, 
 is a great master of financial subjects. He brings to 
 them an extraordinary amount of experience, combined 
 with great fertility of resources and energy." When he 
 began to speak of Mr. Lincoln, the Secretary rose from 
 his chair in zealous admiration. "His eloquence," he 
 said, "had about it a logical strength and solidity and com- 
 mon sense which cast into the shade the figurative fas- 
 cinations of Everett. His speech at Gettysburg was un- 
 surpassed in comprehensiveness, boldness, and clearness. 
 It will take its place among the memorable orations of 
 the world." Referring to Grant and other successful 
 generals of the war, he said that they were successful, not 
 only because they possessed the elements of success, 
 but chiefly because they lived in a time which afforded 
 them opportunities for the exercise of their talents. Mr. 
 
SECRETARY ST ANTON. 307 
 
 Stanton became animated as he spoke of the success of 
 the Union cause. He said : "It is a glorious truth. De- 
 spite Southern secessionists and Northern sympathy 
 yes, with the world against us we triumphantly suc- 
 ceeded." Here Stanton slapped Mr. Welker on the knee, 
 and looked laughingly into his face. 
 
 "How different is the England of Palmerston," he 
 continued, "from the England of Lord Chatham, his pre- 
 decessor, who withdrew his eldest son from the army 
 lest he should be called 'upon to fight the American Col- 
 onies, who were in arms, not to maintain their British 
 connection, but to sever it !" 
 
 I told him a story about Ben Wade. He laughed 
 most heartily, saying that Wade was the most persistent 
 leader of the Abolitionists of the Senate. For years he 
 had stood alone. He and Sumner had been the original 
 anti-slavery senators. Speaking of Charles Sumner, the 
 leader of the impeachment trial, Mr. Stanton termed him 
 the most eminent example of cultivated eloquence in our 
 country. He said that Sumner's eloquence was not ex- 
 temporary volubility, which characterized American 
 speeches; that he made the most careful preparation, 
 acting on the maxim of Demosthenes, "I should be 
 ashamed to throw out what comes uppermost in an as- 
 sembly like this." Turning to the fact that America had 
 no sympathizing friends among foreign nations, he quoted 
 from Joseph II. When Joseph II was urged to help 
 Louis XVI, the husband of his unfortunate sister, he re- 
 plied, "Alas! the State has no sister." Speaking of the 
 men who helped the Union cause, he was profuse in their 
 praise. He said of Bishop Simpson that there was in 
 his preaching a magnetic power which bore down all 
 opposition. "The bishop," he said, "spoke with an in- 
 
308 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 spired majesty and strength." Mr. Stanton also praised 
 the efforts of Bishops Purcell and Hughes, of the Cath- 
 olic Church. Mr. Stanton referred to Mr. Welker as a 
 very useful friend to the Government. 
 
 I saw Mr. Stanton at the grand review, a scene of 
 unparalleled grandeur. I was within a few feet of him 
 when Sherman declined to shake his hand. The Secretary 
 felt the rebuke keenly, his face changed color, and he 
 was profoundly agitated. The cause of the refusal, I 
 believe, was Stanton's declination to confirm Sherman's 
 terms with General Johnson. He thought they were too 
 liberal, and so did most of the Union people at that 
 time. 
 
 When Mr. Stanton was visited by his warm friend, 
 Mr. Sumner, and was asked how he felt, the great War 
 Secretary raised his head and said, "I am waiting for my 
 furlough." It was only a short time thereafter that the 
 furlough came. 
 
 Stanton died too soon. He never sought rest. The 
 maxim, "If anything is worth doing at all, it is worth 
 doing well," was ever present in his mind. He died with 
 the harness on. Chatham fell fighting, Lincoln was as- 
 sassinated, Canning died suddenly while soaring in the 
 pride of his might. How many years of usefulness to 
 his country, how many splendid deeds, Stanton might 
 have achieved ! His memory is now a tradition ; but pos- 
 terity will do him the great justice of recognizing that it 
 was his tireless and magnificent genius which contrib- 
 uted largely to the country's security and grandeur. My 
 position as an officer in the army, as a superintendent of 
 the Freedmen's Bureau in the reconstruction period, as 
 chaplain of General Miles's regiment, gave me abundant 
 
SECRETARY ST ANTON. 309 
 
 opportunities to know them, and I frankly confess that 
 Stanton was the peer of them all, who, if not so brilliant 
 as Sumner, so eloquent as Everett, so magnetic as Chase, 
 yet in a passionate love of the Union and in a sublime 
 confidence of the result, was surpassed by none. 
 
Chapter XIX. 
 
 MEN WHO TOOK PART IN THE IMPEACHMENT 
 OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 
 
 Written by the author for the Ohio State Journal, from Wash- 
 ington, April 1 6, 1868. 
 
 IT would be utterly impossible to describe this bril- 
 liant and extraordinary trial. The scene, the purpose, 
 the feeling it expressed, the illustrious chief justice in 
 the robes of office, and the stately participants in their 
 places. It was a spectacle of beauty, patriotism, and 
 grandeur. I thought of the impeachment of Warren 
 Hastings, and the oratorical duels fought on both sides. 
 It was very difficult to procure a ticket. After all 
 efforts had been tried and failed, I appealed to my old 
 friend, Colonel R. C. Parsons, of Cleveland, a gentleman 
 of the old school and an orator of splendid gifts. He 
 came to my rescue, introduced me to the Vice-President, 
 who, upon the back of an old envelope, wrote this request : 
 
 " For God's sake give the bearer, Chaplain Pepper, a ticket to 
 the impeachment ! 
 
 "(SIGNED,) B. F. WADE." 
 
 Mr. Parsons never forgot his friends. His morality 
 and sincerity of purpose are conspicuous qualities, while 
 his society and conversation have a charm that draws 
 scores around him. 
 
 The Capitol this day presented an imposing and sol- 
 emn appearance. Every seat in the Senate under the 
 galleries was literally choked with a crowded mass of 
 humanity. There is always something partaking of the 
 
 310 
 
IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 311 
 
 sublime in the presence of a large assembly; and when 
 that assembly is convened for some important purpose, 
 the bosom of everybody composing it stirring and vibrat- 
 ing with intense emotion, then the sublimity becomes 
 of a yet more overpowering kind. How all that we have 
 been accustomed to conceive of grand assemblages 
 merges into insignificance when compared with the im- 
 pressiveness of this impeachment scene ! 
 
 Here is a spectacle which the present generation can 
 only witness once. The .wealth, fashion, chivalry of the Re- 
 public lend their fascinating influences to clothe this great 
 scene with grace and splendor. The galleries are daily 
 decked with the brightest beauties of the land, the most 
 prominent being Mrs. Sprague, Miss Chase, Mrs. Logan, 
 and Miss Sherman. In the brilliant throng of learned 
 senators and representatives, the most prominent and 
 imposing form is that of the noble Chase. His name is 
 dear to the friends of humanity throughout the world. 
 We may exclaim honestly, in the words of Junius: "Re- 
 corded honors shall gather round his fame, and thicken 
 over him. It is a solid fabric, and will support the honors 
 that adorn it." Not Richard of the Lion-heart exhibited 
 more of personal courage combined with chivalric devo- 
 tion to the right than has the Chief-Justice in the great 
 cause of the slave. A life so unselfish, so self-sacrificing, 
 so devoted to the high and sacred interests of humanity, 
 carries with it the charm of a divine inspiration. There 
 is a peculiarity about his delivery. Some consider it un- 
 graceful, others consider it rough, yet all confess that it 
 has a most powerful effect. He possesses all the qualities 
 which go to form the perfect statesman a gigantic in- 
 tellect, a rich imagination, a fine command over the in- 
 flexions of his voice, and, above all, a devoted and fearless 
 
312 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 attachment to truth. In common with his illustrious com- 
 peers, many of whom have gone to their reward, he stood 
 in the front and heat of the battle against slavery bore 
 the brunt of opposition, and endured the pelting of many 
 a pitiless storm. All honor to Salmon P. Chase ! 
 
 The senatorial jurors who participate in this great 
 event exhibit great variety of temperament and character, 
 but a oneness of purpose. Each has his medallion, but 
 they seem set in a common frame. 
 
 Henry Wilson you can not hear him for a moment 
 without being sure that he is in sympathy with everything 
 that is amiable and good. Wilson appears to be about 
 fifty years old. He is of robust frame, and his features 
 are expressive. His voice is clear and round, though 
 not powerful. Anthony, of Rhode Island, is slenderly 
 built, scholarly, and journalistic in appearance. He is a 
 cultivated orator. Conness is a stout, broad-shouldered, 
 slovenly-dressed character; but if he dresses badly, his 
 addresses are able and conclusive. Nye is the Momus 
 of the Senate, -a jolly, rollicking, devil-may-care sort of 
 fellow, on good terms with himself and the rest of man- 
 kind. 
 
 Sumner's magnificent head attracts the eyes of the 
 spectators. His fearless disregard of consequences in the 
 discharge of every duty was clearly manifested in his 
 speech to-day. As he uttered some of those rousing sen- 
 tences, the perspiration stood in beads upon his brow. 
 Sumner has the look of a student schooled in philology 
 and science. 
 
 Morton, judging from his haggard appearance, looks 
 like a man of seventy, though he is not yet fifty-four years 
 of age. He has been called to endure afflictions of no 
 ordinary severity. He is evidently a man of extensive 
 
IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 313 
 
 reading and discerning judgment. The share which Mr. 
 Morton had in the subjection of the Rebellion and the 
 splendid zeal he evinced for the soldiers of his State, will 
 hand down his name to posterity as one of the greatest 
 benefactors of the age. Senator Morton is an intellectual 
 speaker. His speeches are always composed of a consecu- 
 tive chain of reasoning; they are also distinguished by 
 good sense. He possesses a firm and masculine character 
 of mind, accompanied with a frank and fearless hon- 
 esty. 
 
 Fessenden, a quiet and unpretending-looking man, 
 sits beside Morton. Being naturally phlegmatic in tem- 
 perament, he has few or none of the qualities necessary 
 to constitute a popular orator. He has long been looked 
 up to by the moderate Republicans, who attach con- 
 siderable weight to his opinions. Johnson, of Maryland, 
 is considerably advanced in years, and in personal appear- 
 ance presents a hoary head and the venerable aspect of 
 age. He is a man of superior abilities and strong mental 
 endowments. Sprague, though possessing a slender 
 frame, is well proportioned, and remarkable for a native 
 gracefulness of manner. His complexion is fair, his fea- 
 tures regular, his eyes small and lively, of a dark blue 
 color. He makes few speeches. 
 
 Chandler, of Michigan, the inveterate foe of England, 
 is one of the most prominent characters in the Senate. 
 His figure is erect and tall ; but his manner would not im- 
 press a stranger with the idea of his possessing a peerless 
 intellect. His voice is good and often powerful, and he 
 occasionally gets off some flights singularly eloquent and 
 powerful. 
 
 Senator Sherman is one of the most gifted and states- 
 manlike members. He is of slender frame, and his fea- 
 
314 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 tures are spare, but very expressive. He wields a vast 
 power on all subjects. 
 
 THE MANAGERS. 
 
 Among the Congressional managers, Bingham is most 
 rhetorical. His voice excels both in melody and com- 
 pass, and its nice modulations are happily blended with 
 that grace of action which is said to be the chief requi- 
 sition of the finished orator. He never falters at a single 
 word, and his elocution is perfect. Logan, though he 
 is not above the medium height, yet his erect, symmet- 
 rical, and graceful form, his open, generous countenance 
 and splendid eye, mark him, even in a crowd, as an extraor- 
 dinary man. His voice is unrivaled in melody and flexi- 
 bility, and accommodates itself with perfect accuracy to 
 every sentiment which he utters. His address the other 
 day, which has been so outrageously misrepresented, was 
 a fine effort. There was a solemnity and earnestness in 
 his manner; there was the same in his eye and beaming 
 through his countenance; there was a grace and appro- 
 priateness of gesticulation and an incomparable majesty 
 pervading his whole manner, all of which, combined, 
 made the speech one of the best yet delivered. 
 
 Evarts, of the President's counsel, in personal looks, 
 is a vitalized ghost. He is slender, tall, thin, and awakens 
 emotion in the mind of the stranger by his physical feeble- 
 ness and infirmity. His voice, at first weak, increases in 
 strength, until all at once it loses its sepulchral qualities, 
 and bursts forth in a blaze of ardor, until every nook and 
 corner of the Senate Chamber and gallery are filled with 
 his animated and electric words. In emphasis, Mr. Evarts 
 is unsurpassed. A power is put into certain words which 
 is felt by the crowd. But who shall attempt to describe 
 
IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 315 
 
 either the pleader, his argument, or the effect produced 
 on the vast assembly? Who could portray the simple, 
 inartificial manner, the lightning glance of the eye, the 
 glorious climax, or the loud burst of feeling among the 
 President's friends like the roaring of the sea? Stanbery 
 is a profound advocate, and his voice possesses .volume 
 and a silvery sweetness. 
 
 The appearance of Mr. Boutwell is prepossessing, and 
 even commanding. His figure and address are dignified. 
 His voice, when under full inspiration, is powerful, melo- 
 dius, and well modulated. His action is chaste and ap- 
 propriate. His style is masculine and unaffected. His 
 enunciation is so distinct that no one need miss a word 
 he says. 
 
 Butler's appearance does not indicate talent or energy. 
 He is too fat, and has the look of the man who was fond 
 of English roast-beef. His voice is strong, but harsh, and 
 action energetic and graceful, with the exception of some 
 tremendous thumps on the table near which he stands. 
 The speech I heard him deliver was carefully prepared. 
 Before he speaks long, the hearers become deeply inter- 
 ested. I never heard a lawyer who could worry a witness 
 with tough, knotty law questions like Butler. Groesbeck 
 is faultless in style, possessing all the graces of elocution 
 and utterance. 
 
 Judge Curtiss is confessedly the ablest lawyer on the 
 President's side. The unusual breadth of his forehead, de- 
 noting great strength of mathematical calculation, and 
 above this the arch of imagination, spreading itself out in 
 as fine a style as in the .busts of our finest poets, all these 
 render it impossible to study his face without perceiving 
 the stamp of genius. The appearance of Judge Curtiss 
 rivets attention. The eye kindling into unusual bril- 
 
316 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 liancy, the countenance beaming with intelligence, the 
 whole man laboring to give utterance to some mighty 
 conception, all force the hearer to confess the orator's 
 power, and to feel that he is in the presence of a master 
 spirit of the age. Judge Curtiss is no dwarf, physically 
 or mentally. 
 
 Wilson, of Iowa, possesses a remarkably simple style 
 of delivery. His frame of mind evidently varies. Now, 
 he is solemn as eternity; then, his wit, of which the fund 
 seems inexhaustible, will escape and move the risible 
 muscles of his auditors. When he pleases, he can dabble 
 in mud; and when he pleases, he can cull a flower. 
 
 Honest old Ben Wade is undoubtedly the most noted 
 of American politicians. The name he has maintained 
 a score of years; and when it is considered that he is 
 neither a profound speaker, nor an acute logician, nor a 
 brilliant orator, nor, we may add, an enthusiastic vision- 
 ary, we can only account for his popularity on grounds 
 that are creditable to himself and his friends. His oratory 
 is not of the Edward Everett school; every sentence is 
 not rubbed down, polished, and varnished. His voice is 
 distinct; no well-bred whisper either opens or closes Mr. 
 Wade's speeches. He has great self-possession, and 
 without becoming too colloquial, he seems to be familiarly 
 addressing every individual. His speeches sound like the 
 proclamations of Sinai ; his appeals are often melting and 
 powerful; and he occasionally rises to the boldest and 
 most energetic strains of oratory. This proud old man is 
 in hearty sympathy with every good and glorious move- 
 ment. In an interview with him, among other things he 
 declared himself in favor of the immediate relief of the 
 Irish-Americans, who, for trifling causes, are dying in 
 British prisons. Honor to old honest Ben Wade ! 
 
IMPEACHMENT OF PRESIDENT JOHNSON. 317 
 
 Among the members of the other House who are 
 always on hand during the trial, I noticed Colfax, the wise 
 presiding officer, skillful politician, and gifted orator; 
 Garfield, one of nature's noblemen few have power to 
 make the strings of the human heart vibrate in an equal 
 degree; Judge Welker, the model and efficient member 
 for the Fourteenth District his voice is good, his man- 
 ner personal and pleasant. There is one thing noteworthy 
 in Welker besides his ability and patriotism, and that is 
 the beauty of his life. He is decidedly among the most 
 influential, the ablest, and most useful members of Con- 
 gress. He takes pride and special pleasure in accommo- 
 dating his constituents. Eckley, Beatty, the modest 
 soldier Schenck; Buckland, Delano, and the other Ohio 
 members, are ever at their posts. The noble Stevens, 
 having his soul's life in the great cause, the one medium 
 of his thoughts and feelings, the early friend of the Negro, 
 is seldom absent. The future historian, in writing the 
 history of these eventful times, will place the name of 
 Thaddeus Stevens where the historian of American in- 
 dependence has recently inscribed the name of Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 The Adjutant-General is a tall, cheerful, bright-eyed, 
 pleasant, courteous old man, who has been in the service 
 forty years. Remarkable, as he is, as the bold and re- 
 doubtable champion of the President, he is equally re- 
 markable for the gentleness of his manners. In conver- 
 sation he is delightfully pleasant. I called his attention 
 to the testimony of Karsner, of Delaware, the musical wit- 
 ness. He laughed heartily, and said: "I only met him 
 once before this difficulty, and that was forty years ago. 
 I had forgotten him until he referred to some incidents 
 in my life, which then took place. Karsner was a hostler, 
 
318 UNDER THREE. FLAGS. , 
 
 a coarse, rough, uncouth fellow, and had just married a 
 dear sweet girl, everybody wondering that she would 
 have so ungainly a creature." He then went on to say 
 that the testimony of Karsner was in some things far from 
 being true, acknowledging, however, that part which re- 
 ferred to "licking that feller out." Whatever may be the 
 result of this judicial proceeding, there is one thing cer- 
 tain, General Thomas will never again be caught in the 
 same business, even though a seat in the Cabinet is held 
 forth as the tempting reward. 
 
 JOHN SHERMAN. 
 
 In those days when I commenced my public life, there 
 was but one prominent man in Ohio, John Sherman ; and 
 now, after the lapse of more than thirty years, he is still 
 conspicuous for his great statesmanship. His first term 
 in Congress made him famous, and he has maintained his 
 reputation up to this day. What a noble spirit was yours, 
 John Sherman, what perseverance, what high qualities, 
 what rare characteristics! Your rightful place was the 
 White House, and often have your friends tried to place 
 their beloved leader there. As for high-mindedness, con- 
 sistency, and honor, there were none superior. There 
 was much in his early life to challenge applause and deep 
 sympathy. The eagle swoop with which he swept down 
 upon Kansas is a part of American history. John Sher- 
 man was one of the makers of the Republican party. I 
 know much has been said of his manner that is unjust. 
 He is no iceberg, of which two-thirds are under water 
 and only one-third visible. His speaking has been called 
 cold. He really makes a splendid speech, careful, mod- 
 erate, complete. I know he is severely logical, but the 
 links of his arguments are frequently set on fire. It is 
 
GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 319 
 
 true that he does not commence his speeches with an 
 oremus, yell through a dies irce, and end with a warwhoop, 
 V(E metis fashion ; but such oratory is not worthy of such 
 great statesmen. He is a man of fine presence, with a 
 keen eye and bold forehead, vigorous in his gestures, and 
 in his tone just suggesting a self-possessed combativeness 
 which commands attention. 
 
 GENERAL JAMES A. GARFIELD. 
 
 I was well acquainted with General James A. Garfield, 
 f and heard him speak niany times. Tall and well-built, 
 with a magnificent head, a clean and carrying voice, 
 sonorous and deep tones, neatly dressed, he always at- 
 tracted attention. His speeches breathed the loftiest 
 sentiments. 
 
 I heard him once at Monroeville, Ohio, deliver a great 
 speech upon the tariff. He used a stick, and by measur- 
 ing it, showed the various effects of the tariff. It was a 
 masterly effort. 
 
 President Garfield was a pure and upright man ; with- 
 out a spot or stain, he went bravely, proudly through all 
 his trials. English statesmen are proud of the courage 
 of Hampden and of the fortitude of Russell. Americans 
 are justly so of Garfield. 
 
 I was in Rome when I heard of the attempted assassi- 
 nation of President Garfield. There was sorrow in the 
 air. Excited multitudes would embrace each other on 
 the streets, and repeat, "Garfield is dead." The Italian 
 Parliament took action. The House was draped in black. 
 I tried to calm the Americans at my hotel, quoting Gar- 
 field's memorable words, "God reigns!" saying that the 
 sympathy of millions would be as soft rushes to the feet 
 of his family, and that the blessings of a thousand saints 
 would hang around them like shields. 
 
320 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 VICE-PRESIDENT HENRY WILSON. 
 
 One of the noblest, manliest, and most conscientious 
 men I ever met, and I met him often, was Henry Wilson, 
 Vice-President of the United States. The loftiest pre- 
 cepts of Christianity were in him illustrated, and con- 
 firmed by the most consistent example. Early in life he 
 espoused the anti-slavery cause, and through all its dis- 
 appointments and defeats was its fearless champion. 
 Never in this land, where the courage of Lovejoy and the 
 bold actions of John Brown have challenged the admira- 
 tion of the people, was there a greater hero than Henry 
 Wilson. Never was defeat borne with greater resignation. 
 I have listened to him by the hour as he related the his- 
 tory of his youth, of his learning to read when a boy, of 
 his apprenticeship to a shoemaker, and of his political 
 success. It was impossible to look at his frank counte- 
 nance and his soft, speaking eyes, without reading his 
 character in them. A purer, better American never 
 breathed. 
 
 GENERAL PHIL SHERIDAN. 
 
 I knew General Sheridan. My first ministerial ap- 
 pointment was not far from his home. His is the third 
 loftiest name in the beadroll of the leaders of the Civil 
 War. No one would have judged from his modest youth, 
 shy and retiring nature, that he would become so famous. 
 Insignificant in stature, with a head shaped like a cannon- 
 ball, he was not particularly attractive, yet he was the 
 delight of all the sunny-eyed girls in the county. Phil 
 Sheridan became distinguished through his inflexible pur- 
 pose and iron will. To a most enthusiastic love of coun- 
 try, he added, even when a child, a noble passion for arms. 
 The first time I met him after the war was at the wed- 
 
GENERAL PHIL SHERIDAN. 321 
 
 ding of General Miles, in Cleveland, Ohio, and afterwards 
 in Chicago, when, by special invitation, I spent some time 
 with him. 
 
 The name of General Phil Sheridan always recalls to 
 me a curious experience I had in London several years 
 ago. I went one evening to the Irish Literary Club, in 
 Bloomsbury Square, near which I was stopping, to hear 
 Mr. Justin McCarthy read a paper on the "Irish Peasant." 
 The club, as to politics and profession, was a mixed one; 
 but, as I found out afterwards, the Tories were in the 
 majority. Among the members there were distinguished 
 authors, generals, scholars, and members of Parliament. 
 I was called upon by the chairman, Mr. Graves, the son of 
 the Protestant Bishop of Limerick, to say a few words 
 about the Irish in America. In the course of my remarks, 
 which bore upon the important parts played by the Irish 
 peasants in American history, I referred in glowing terms 
 to General Sheridan as me son of an Irish peasant, who 
 had risen to distinction in the United States. I said that 
 there was nothing like it in England ; that Sheridan had al- 
 ways been proud of his Irish origin, and that he had often 
 said he would like to march an army through the streets of 
 London to avenge her wrongs! I felt immediately that 
 I was treading on dangerous ground. There was a com- 
 motion in the room, and as soon as I sat down the chair- 
 man arose and said, apologetically, that they always al- 
 lowed their friends from across the water the greatest 
 latitude. The London Methodist Times, referring to the 
 incident; said that American Methodist preachers were 
 never silent when the principles of righteousness were 
 concerned. 
 
 21 
 
Chapter XX. 
 
 GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE AT THE CLOSE OF 
 THE REBELLION. 
 
 ABOUT forty years ago a prize was offered by one of 
 the Italian universities for the best essay on the sub- 
 ject, "What individual, since the beginning of the world, 
 has most occupied the attention of mankind?" The prize 
 was bestowed upon the author of the essay who main- 
 tained the superior claims of Napoleon to this world-wide 
 description of fame. If, however, a prize were offered 
 now upon the analagous, but more limited question, 
 "What individual, from April, 1861, to July, 1865, most 
 occupied the pens and tongues of Southerners?" the an- 
 swer would be given by acclamation, "General Lee." 
 
 In no small degree he was hailed by his enthusiastic 
 admirers as the hope of the Confederacy. He was the 
 pillar and center of the Rebellion. A thousand tele- 
 graphic wires trembled at the impulse of his thoughts. 
 
 General Lee, of all the Confederate leaders, held and 
 deserved the foremost place, and commanded more en- 
 tirely the confidence and approbation of the Southern 
 people. Descended from a race of patriots and soldiers, 
 he always displayed, whenever the opportunity offered, 
 high professional ability. That a man of such brilliant 
 talents, of sagacity, of address, of honor, and of an illus- 
 trious Revolutionary ancestry, should find a conscientious 
 reason m th'e doctrine of State rights to engage in a des- 
 perate conspiracy against the Union evoked by the sword 
 
 322 
 
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. 323 
 
 of Washington, is one of the wonders and mysteries of 
 the age. 
 
 No evidence is so satisfactory as that which is ob- 
 tained from the lips of an opponent; and, therefore, we 
 attach importance to what Confederate General Lee said 
 of our most distinguished generals and statesmen. When 
 the army of General Sherman, with which I was con- 
 nected, was making its famous homeward march to Wash- 
 ington, it rested for a few days in Richmond. Accom- 
 panied by General Gear^, afterwards governor of Penn- 
 sylvania, and provided with a letter of introduction from 
 General Hazen, who knew Lee at West Point, I made up 
 my mind to call and interview the Rebel commander. 
 Ringing the bell with considerable anxiety, I awaited the 
 result of my rash attempt to get a glimpse of the most 
 gallant and most illustrious man of the South. Quickly 
 there appeared at the door a good-looking mulatto, who 
 awaited my demand. 
 
 "Can I see General Lee?" was the simple question I 
 put on this occasion. "This is not the regular day when 
 he receives company, and he has not yet entertained any 
 visitors, but " and he surveyed me with a hesitating air, 
 not knowing what to say next. I observed, "Perhaps he 
 would see a chaplain of Sherman's army in his private 
 parlor for a few moments." "Your name, sir?" he asked. 
 "Chaplain Pepper, of the Fifteenth Corps of the Army of 
 the Tennessee." Giving him General Hazen's letter, he 
 quickly disappeared, and in a few moments returned, saying 
 it was all right, and for me to walk into the parlor. I took 
 my seat upon a very plain sofa. The house was sii 
 itself. There were no rich carpets, soft c 
 furniture. There was not a wall decoratj^r$Sbthing to 
 attract attention, a few chairs, a table cftftfred with jpifrf pT 
 
324 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 tures of battle-fields; but absolutely nothing that be- 
 tokened that this was the home of the mightiest man in 
 the South. 
 
 My musings were soon interrupted by General Lee, 
 who, with an easy and beautiful simplicity of manner, 
 bade me welcome to his home. The events of this long 
 and disastrous war had left their traces on his face. If 
 there is anything in the science of physiognomy, there 
 was certainly a remarkable correspondence between the 
 person of General Lee and his mental and moral constitu- 
 tion. Both bespoke the worthy development of the entire 
 man ; no feature was found in excess, and none defective ; 
 dignified in carriage, with an elastic step, and easy and 
 graceful in all his movements. His features were regu- 
 larly handsome, his complexion fair. A full-orbed, beam- 
 ing, and ample forehead; a mouth that indicated great 
 sweetness and firmness; and diffused, over all, a radiant 
 and happy expression that bespoke the clear intelligence 
 of his mind and the benevolence of his heart. It was with 
 a thrilling interest that I now beheld this celebrated' man. 
 He seemed still to be in the prime of life; but his mag- 
 nificent hair was silvered, the fire in his brilliant eyes was 
 in some measure dimmed, and there were marks of age 
 upon his brow. There was dignity in his bearing, a 
 grandeur in the poise of his head, which a consciousness 
 of his position would impart. At the same time I thought 
 there was a slight expression of sadness piercing through 
 his smile. Perhaps he was beginning to see the hollow- 
 ness of all that he had adored, and to experience how 
 many thorns line the pillow of a hopeless and disastrous 
 revolution. 
 
 I conversed with him upon a variety of topics, upon 
 all of which he expressed opinions. He was very positive 
 
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. 325 
 
 in his convictions, and seemed to have weighed every 
 sentence with studied care. The telegraph wires hav- 
 ing recently announced the news of Lincoln's assassina- 
 tion, this naturally was the first subject of conversation. 
 In speaking of the martyred President, he said: "The 
 death of that eminent citizen has filled me with horror. 
 If there were blemishes in his character, his life exhibited 
 some splendid and rare virtues. He was one of the most 
 extraordinary men that ever lived in our country. His 
 heart was grand and large. He was constitutionally pen- 
 sive. Had he been spared, the South would have been 
 treated with honorable propriety and with gallant gener- 
 osity; his good-will and friendliness would have marked 
 his treatment of the Southern people." 
 
 He pronounced Booth "a cowardly ruffian," affirm- 
 ing that "the soldiers of the Southern army and the peo- 
 ple regard the murder of Lincoln, not only as a crime 
 against our Christian civilization and our common hu- 
 manity, but that his loss at this moment was a terrible loss 
 to the vanquished, who would have to bear the respon- 
 sibility of the cruel, cold-blooded assassination; that the 
 spirit of clemency, moderation, and of conciliation dis- 
 played by the President were virtues not to be found in 
 his successor. Let the avenger's arms," he continued to 
 say, his eyes moistened with tears, "fall upon the guilty. 
 Should this be the course adopted by the authorities at 
 Washington, their greatest victory is yet before them;" 
 that "a more shining page in their annals would be writ- 
 ten, and that the sublimest example of magnanimity and 
 self-government would be set." 
 
 To my question, "Do you think the Rebellion is 
 ended?" he replied, very emphatically, "Yes, sir; and had 
 it not been for the politicians it would never have been 
 
326 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 commenced." The politicians to whom he referred were 
 Davis, Yancey, Breckinridge, and Toombs, and others 
 whose names he mentioned. He went on to say : "I was 
 opposed to war at the outset. I wept when I heard 
 of the bombardment of Fort Sumter! I sought retire- 
 ment, so that I might not see or hear any of the political 
 leaders, the great end and aim of whose statesmanship 
 was to precipitate the havoc that subsequently swept their 
 fields and cities. But when Virginia, my native State, se- 
 ceded, there was only one course for me to pursue; 
 namely, to follow her fortunes." 
 
 General Lee now adverted to the character of General 
 Grant, of whom he spoke in the most friendly words and 
 terms. He ascribed to him the most noble attributes of 
 American manhood, saying that he possessed all the 
 requisites and talents for the organization of armies. At 
 the present hour, when not a few apprehensive gentlemen 
 and reckless partisans are charging the illustrious Ex- 
 President with Csesarism and with desperate ambitions to 
 overthrow the Government, it will be some satisfaction 
 to his many friends to learn the high estimate in which he 
 was held by the Southern chieftain. In the generous 
 terms accorded to the impoverished South, Grant won 
 for himself imperishable renown, and they furnish a shin- 
 ing example of how bravely he could fight his country's 
 battles, and of how nobly he could sympathize with the 
 vanquished. In no quarter of the world has there been 
 such magnanimity as that shown by Grant, and of all the 
 laurels won by the mighty captain in our immortal strug- 
 gle, the greenest and freshest of them all is his splendid 
 conduct to Lee and his soldiers. 
 
 "I wish," said General Lee, "to do simple justice to 
 General Grant, when I say that his treatment of the Army 
 
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. 327 
 
 of Southern Virginia is without a parallel in the history 
 of the civilized world. When my poor soldiers, with 
 famished faces, had neither food nor raiment, it was then 
 that General Grant immediately issued the humane order 
 that forty thousand rations should be immediately fur- 
 nished to the impoverished troops. And that was not all 
 of his magnanimity. I was giving directions to one of 
 my staff officers, when making out the list of things to be 
 surrendered, to include the horses. At that moment, 
 General Grant, who seemed to be paying no attention to 
 what was transpiring, quickly said : 'No, no, General ! not 
 a horse, not one keep them all ! Your people will need 
 them for the spring crops !' " 
 
 It was a scene never to be forgotten to watch Lee's 
 manner, when, with a spirit of chivalry equal to his skill 
 and gallantry, he told, with moistened eyes, this and many 
 other instances of the magnanimity so nobly displayed by 
 his illustrious rival. 
 
 The conversation turned to General Sherman. The 
 Southern papers were criticising very sharply Sherman's 
 march through Georgia and the Carolinas, and I asked 
 General Lee what his opinion was of the great flanker. 
 He said, in substance: "It has been observed that there 
 is no character so uniformly bright as not to possess some 
 dark stain; but while we assent to the truth of this ob- 
 servation, that charity which hopeth all things should 
 lead us to believe that there are no hearts so darkly vi- 
 cious as not to be illumined by some beams of the light of 
 virtue. To suppose Sherman an exception to this rule 
 would be illiberal. The unbounded license which he al- 
 lowed his soldiers in the States of Georgia and the Caro- 
 linas has greatly aggravated the horrors of war. As a 
 strategist and commander of men, Sherman has displayed 
 
328 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the highest order of military genius. Throughout his 
 recent campaign, when he had to pass through an un- 
 known country, cross rivers, support his troops, etc., he 
 certainly exhibited a singleness of purpose, a fertility of 
 resource, which wins him a high place among the soldiers 
 of history. He seems to be cool without apathy, cautious 
 without being dilatory, patient without being dispirited, 
 personally brave without being rash. Judged by Napo- 
 leon's test, 'Who did all that?' he is, in my opinion, the 
 most successful of the Federal officers who have played 
 a prominent part in the history of the war." 
 
 In the course of the conversation he spoke of Sheri- 
 dan as a most brilliant and magnetic commander. I asked 
 him who was the greatest of the Federal generals. 
 
 "Indeed, sir, I have no hesitation in saying General 
 Grant. Both as a gentleman and as an organizer of vic- 
 torious war, General Grant has excelled all your most 
 noted soldiers. He has exhibited more true courage, 
 more real greatness of mind, more consummate prudence 
 from the outset, and more heroic bravery, than any one 
 on your side." 
 
 To the question, "What was the cause of the failure 
 of the South?" the General smilingly said : "I am not a 
 very good extemporaneous speaker, nor am I a very good 
 extemporaneous answerer of questions. The most con- 
 spicuous reason was the superiority in men and in re- 
 sources of the North. The United States had all the 
 advantages a land of boundless wealth, cities secure 
 from the horrors of civil war, and a constant stream of 
 emigrants to fill up the depleted ranks of the armies. 
 With five to one against them, the Southerners performed 
 a mighty work, and made a gigantic step toward their in- 
 dependence. 
 
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. 329 
 
 "Another cause lay in the vanity of many of our peo- 
 ple. The first battles of the war being favorable to us, 
 the South was wild with confidence, and the whole coun- 
 try was thrown into a ferment of excitement. It was 
 doubtful, indeed, whether one in a thousand of our people 
 supposed for a moment that there was any doubt of an 
 immediate and successful termination to the struggle. 
 The public meetings were in every case too enthusiastic. 
 The people were carried away by acclamation. The cheer- 
 ing proved to our folly. This excess of confidence lost 
 us New Orleans and many other cities. 
 
 "A much more serious difficulty arose from the mis- 
 taken view of the Southern cause taken by the philan- 
 thropists of the Old World. They were led to believe 
 that we were fighting for the perpetuity of slavery, and 
 that the establishment of the Confederacy would lead to 
 the reopening of the African slave-trade. This opinion 
 shook the faith of great and good men in the humanity 
 and righteousness of the South. The conscript law was 
 another effective check to our success. Instead of being 
 a benefit, it was a curse, a badge of disgrace. The rich 
 were favored; falsehood and dissimulation were its natu- 
 ral results ; suspicion and mistrust arose where confidence 
 and reliance should have happily prevailed. The attitude 
 preserved by Mr. Davis and other leaders in opposition 
 to the arming of the Negroes, a policy which I always be- 
 lieved to be expedient, proved to be disastrous. The 
 widespread poverty of the country, accompanied by the 
 just conviction that all further efforts were hopeless, 
 these and other forces worked to one final result, the 
 failure of the Confederacy." 
 
 The conversation now took another direction. The 
 Confederate leader referred despondingly to the Nation's 
 
330 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 lack of great statesmen. I asked him his estimate of the 
 distinguished men he had heard and whose eloquence had 
 revived the grand days of oratory. Speaking of Webster 
 he had said: "I never saw a more striking object than 
 Webster in the Senate. The effect of his fine figure and 
 princely air when speaking, was like that of a vivid flash 
 in the midst of darkness. What Paganini was in music, 
 that Webster was in oratory the one charmed Europe 
 with one string, the other electrified multitudes with his 
 eloquence. He once complained to me of the wrongs 
 done him by the reporters. The world would read what- 
 ever bore his name, and the grubworms were ever ready 
 to gratify the desire by fragments, or rather caricatures 
 of his mighty eloquence. His speeches indicate the 
 powers of the great orator; they are lofty, but not im- 
 passioned; correct, but not fluent." 
 
 "Henry Clay was every inch a patriot and an orator. 
 I heard him on British aggression. Never certainly had 
 I ever beheld so powerful an exhibition of natural ora- 
 tory. The grace of the attitudes into which he threw his 
 flexible figure, the striking gestures of his arms, and, 
 above all, the fire which shot from his brilliant eyes, im- 
 parted an effect to the continually changing accents of 
 his voice, of which the most accomplished actor might be 
 proud. At one moment leaning forward, when stating 
 circumstantially the grievances of which the Nation com- 
 plained, and then standing bolt upright with clenched 
 hands and a countenance distorted with passion, he 
 poured out a tide of invectives. The effect on his audi- 
 ence was electric one and all they stood regarding him 
 with sparkling eyes and trembling limbs, as though they 
 were listening to the inspired voice of a prophet. Henry 
 Clay was the greatest actor off the stage. 
 
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. 331 
 
 "Calhoun was the favorite of the South. Morally he 
 is to be rated higher than either Webster or Clay. His 
 logic was compressed and hidden. The train of reasoning 
 he was pursuing seemed to be clear and continuous to 
 his own mind, all its facts being logically articulated from 
 end to end; but it was only indicated to the audience. 
 It was like a stream of water, making its way under 
 ground and showing itself now and then, apparently deep, 
 bright, and sparkling. He was distinguished for his 
 power of condensation. Metaphors, tropes, and figures 
 of all kinds were found in his speeches." 
 
 To the question, "Did you ever hear Bascom, the 
 famous Methodist divine?" he answered: "Yes, I heard 
 him once at a camp-meeting in this State. The people 
 came from all quarters to behold the glory of the new 
 sun which had burst forth on the evangelical horizon. 
 He was undoubtedly a Christian Demosthenes, a giant 
 of the pulpit. Bascom was handsome, and possessed in 
 his noble bearing and appearance that happy combina- 
 tion of mildness, elegance, and dignity which may per- 
 haps be expressed at once by the word gracefulness. I 
 have heard and seen many fine orators, but Bascom I 
 have never seen equaled, nor even imitated. It was not 
 learning, it was not wit, it was the untaught and un- 
 incumbered incantation of genius, the mightiest engine 
 of which the earth can boast." General Lee told an anec- 
 dote of the great Virginian, Patrick Henry, which may 
 be interesting to members of the bar. He was in the 
 habit of using tobacco, and when engaged in argument 
 would turn to some leading member of the jury, who was 
 a lover of the weed, and, in an offhand, familiar way, ask 
 him for a chew. The juryman, flattered at finding such 
 a similarity of tastes and habits between himself and the 
 
33 2 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 dignified counsel, would follow his example, and the good 
 impression made upon his mind was not infrequently 
 transferred from the counsel to his cause. 
 
 Our next topic of conversation was the foreign ele- 
 ment in the armies. Speaking of the Irish, he declared 
 with much feeling that the South could not reconcile with 
 their notions of consistency and honor how Northern 
 Irishmen, who were so desperately and violently opposed 
 to the thralldom of Britain the wrongs of Ireland being 
 mosquito-bites by the side of the enormous injuries which 
 had been inflicted by the North upon the South how 
 liberty-loving Irishmen could fight against the Southern- 
 ers contending for independence and equality of rights. 
 I suggested that the soldiers of Irish origin in our armies 
 were really bewildered to know how Irishmen who for 
 centuries had gallantly contended for the freedom of the 
 Celts, could be so inconsistent and recreant to every sense 
 of right as to be engaged in a war for a Government 
 whose corner-stone was slavery. Besides that, though 
 Irishmen were revolutionists at home, they were conserv- 
 atives in the United States, and that there was a great 
 difference between a war in the interest of a downtrodden 
 race and that in favor of the propagation of slavery. 
 
 Adverting to the character of the Irish soldiers, the 
 general was very enthusiastic, saying that they played a 
 prominent part in the wars of the world for the last three 
 centuries, now on one side, now on the other. "The 
 Irish soldier fights not so much for lucre as from a reck- 
 less love of adventure, and, moreover, with a chivalrous 
 devotion to the cause he espouses for the time being. 
 Cleburne, on our side, inherited the intrepidity of his 
 race. On a field of battle he shone like a meteor on a 
 clouded sky! As a dashing military man he was all vir- 
 
GENERAL ROBERT E. LEE. 333 
 
 tue; a single vice does not stain him as a warrior. His 
 generosity and benevolence had no limits. The care 
 which he took of the fortunes of his officers and soldiers, 
 from the greatest to the least, was incessant. His integ- 
 rity was proverbial, and his modesty was an equally con- 
 spicuous trait in his character." 
 
 "Meagher on your side, though not Cleburne's equal 
 in military genius, rivaled him in bravery and in the affec- 
 tions of his soldiers. The gallant stand which his bold 
 brigade made on the heights of Fredericksburg is well 
 known. Never were men so brave. They ennobled their 
 race by their splendid gallantry on that occasion. Though 
 totally routed, they reaped harvests of glory! Their 
 brilliant though hopeless assaults upon our lines excited 
 the hearty applause of my officers and soldiers, and Gen- 
 eral Hill exclaimed, 'There are those d green flags 
 
 again!"' 
 
 Referring to the great loss sustained by the Confed- 
 eracy in the death of Stonewall Jackson, General Lee 
 remarked: "In surprises, marches, and in the art of cre- 
 ating the resources of war, Jackson has surpassed the 
 level of his age, and risen to a comparison with Hannibal 
 and Napoleon, the two greatest commanders of ancient 
 and modern times. In every relation of private and pub- 
 lic life his character was perfect. The South has pro- 
 duced some abler soldiers, and a few in point of military 
 talent were his equals; but it can not and never could 
 boast of one more beloved ; not by personal friends alone, 
 but by every soldier and officer that served under him. 
 His dispatches, even when announcing the grandest suc- 
 cesses, were brief statements of fact, unvarnished. Many 
 such statements as this would occur: We are about to 
 open the campaign. I have prayed earnestly to God that 
 
334 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 he will enable me to pass through it in his fear, knowing 
 no greater earthly blessing than to have a conscience at 
 ease in the discharge of duty.' ' 
 
 I left the presence of this distinguished gentleman 
 with the consciousness that pride, hatred, revenge, had no 
 place in his noble nature, and that,. having lowered his 
 colors and sheathed his sword, he was fully entitled to the 
 consideration and respect of the gallant soldier to whom 
 he surrendered. It is needless for me to say that, in my 
 opinion, had he lived, he would fully have upheld in the 
 most distinguished manner the Union of the States, the 
 reconciliation of all classes, and the prosperity and happi- 
 ness of the whole country. Foremost amongst the Con- 
 federates, and first in peace, General Robert E. Lee was 
 not only a chivalrous gentleman, but he was eminently a 
 Christian. In all his acts he was gifted with so rare a 
 kindliness of demeanor that he never made a quarrel with 
 any one. His brief though brilliant experience as in- 
 structor of the young men of the South after the war 
 closed, gave the strongest evidence of his loyalty and 
 goodness of heart, and clearly presaged the glory which 
 would have crowned his career had his life been spared. 
 
Chapter XXI. 
 
 SALMON P. CHASE'S OPINIONS ON MEN 
 AND EVENTS. 
 
 THE name of Salmon P. Chase is well remembered as 
 one of the great leaders and financiers of the country. 
 Although many years have passed since his death, the 
 recollections of his services to the country are calculated 
 not only to promote admiration for and gratitude to the 
 great party of freedom, but also to confirm an attachment 
 to the principles of that party which first checked the 
 progress of slavery, and then abolished it. The men of 
 that stormy period were great spirits, fit to encounter 
 the contests and to endure its heart-stirring agitations. 
 Theirs was not a carpet warfare, in which they might 
 flourish and declaim without fear ; they entered the scenes 
 of the combat, and with the martyr's courage retained 
 a firm and unyielding grasp of their principles. 
 
 Among these illustrious champions and defenders, 
 many of whom suffered unto death, and all of whom pos- 
 sessed the spirit and deserve the appellation of martyrs, 
 Chase is entitled to our high and grateful admiration. I 
 met him in 1867, when I was chaplain of General Miles's 
 regiment and assistant superintendent of the Freedmen's 
 Bureau. He was then on a tour of the South in his ca- 
 pacity of Chief- Justice of the Supreme Court. Upon his 
 arrival in Raleigh he sent for me, and requested that I 
 conduct him the next day (Sunday) to as many colored 
 churches as possible, as he was anxious to see the prog- 
 ress of the people. The first church visited was that of 
 
 335 
 
336 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the Methodist, a building capable of holding two thou- 
 sand people. It was crowded. Governor Holden, Gen- 
 eral Miles, and many distinguished North Carolinians 
 were present. The minister was absent, and Governor 
 Holden suggested that I preach a sermon, and then, Meth- 
 odist fashion, have a general class-meeting. After the 
 sermon was over, a hundred spoke. There was a bust 
 of the Chief- Justice upon the pulpit. I referred to it, and 
 said that the distinguished man was then in the audience ; 
 that he .was one of the chief instruments of their eman- 
 cipation, and their lifelong friend. The enthusiasm was 
 great, and a shout arose for a few words from Mr. Chase. 
 He spoke briefly, expressing his delight at their progress. 
 I gave out the hymn : 
 
 "Blow ye the trumpet, blow, 
 The gladly solemn sound." 
 
 The music of this hymn, sung with the abandon of 
 happy-hearted colored people, as it rang and vibrated 
 through the great Church, was overwhelming. On the 
 way to the hotel, Mr. Chase stopped frequently to wipe 
 away the tears that were streaming down his face. We 
 visited other churches with the same result. The next 
 morning I accompanied him to the largest Freedmen's 
 school. As we entered the building, a man eighty years 
 of age was being taught to read the Bible by a little child. 
 Chase asked me what that reminded me of. I hesitated, 
 and he said, "It is a fulfillment of the prophecy, 'A little 
 child shall lead them.' " 
 
 In the course of our subsequent conversation he gave 
 his estimates of the distinguished men with whom he had 
 been associated or had known. "Thaddeus Stevens," he 
 said, "introduced a new style of speaking into Congress, 
 
SALMON P. CHASE ON MEN AND EVENTS. 337 
 
 which was suited to the age and to debates on slavery 
 a combination of the lecture, of the- bar, and of the stump. 
 He was thoroughly sincere in his convictions, broad in his 
 statements, and fearless of results. Burlingame was, for a 
 time, the most brilliant, pointed, and effective of all the 
 anti-slavery orators." He was afterwards appointed to 
 China, where he negotiated the treaty with that country. 
 
 Of Charles Sumner, Mr. Chase said : "The high intel- 
 lect reflected in his writings has for years stimulated 
 the anti-slavery sentiment, quickened the consciences, 
 and strengthened the hope of the Abolitionists. His 
 speeches will always remain as a triumphant vindication 
 of the Republican policy, as scathing denunciations of 
 slavery, and as glorious models of eloquence to his coun- 
 trymen." 
 
 I asked him if he did not think Sumner was something 
 of a plagiarist, at least in one of his orations, reading to 
 him a sentence in one of his speeches resembling a passage 
 of Demosthenes. The Greek said in his oration upon the 
 crown, "By the generous souls who were exposed at 
 Marathon, by those who stood arrayed at Platsea, by all 
 the illustrious sons of Athens," etc. Sumner said, "No, 
 by the generous souls who were exposed at Lexington, 
 by those who stood arrayed at Bunker Hill !" Chase hesi- 
 tated, and then confessed that there was a striking re- 
 semblance. 
 
 When asked his opinion of Corwin, he replied : "There 
 was no such political speaker in the country as Tom Cor- 
 win. I speak within bounds when I say he had no equal 
 as a stump speaker, and his services to the country were 
 inestimable." 
 
 He then related an anecdote of him. Corwin was once 
 speaking at Elyria, Ohio, when he was a Whig. That 
 
UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 part of the Western Reserve had always been noted for 
 its anti-slavery sentiments. Corwin was of very dark 
 complexion, and was frequently taken for a Negro, and, 
 like most of the Whig orators, did not relish any allusion 
 to the peculiar institution. In the middle of his speech 
 he was interrupted by a Yankee with the question, "Mr. 
 Corwin, what is your opinion of slavery?" Corwin 
 quickly answered: "I am surprised, sir, that you should 
 ask such a question as that from a gentleman of my color." 
 After a few seconds, when the crowd saw the point, some 
 one called out, "Three cheers for Mr. Corwin!" 
 
 One day the conversation turned to the history of 
 many eminent men of our country, whose early oppor- 
 tunities were limited. After speaking of his own early 
 hardships, Mr. Chase said: "The history of the country 
 shows that a majority of its most celebrated statesmen, 
 poets, and business men, whose careers adorned its 
 pages, Lincoln, Greeley, Stanton, both the Adams, 
 Grant, Sheridan, the Shermans, were all the sons of poor 
 men. It was related of Lord Buchan, the elder brother 
 of the famous Lord Erskine, that when some one spoke 
 to him of his brother's eminence, Lord Buchan said, 
 'Why, sir, the eminence of my brother is entirely due 
 to me.' The gentleman asked, 'How is that? I did not 
 know you had anything to do with it !' 'Q yes,' said Lord 
 Buchan, 'I was the making of him. When he was a young 
 man, he asked me for a small sum to enable him to live. 
 I absolutely refused to give him a single farthing, and 
 it is in consequence of that refusal that he has risen to 
 
 eminence/ ' 
 
 Mr. Chase spoke several times of Lincoln, and his 
 sweetness and tenderness of heart and yet firm and de- 
 termined character, which wanted only the opportunity 
 
SALMON P. CHASE ON MEN AND EVENTS. 339 
 
 to strike with memorable justice. No patriot, born or 
 unborn, would ever measure up to his greatness. 
 
 I told the Chief- Justice that the first political speeches 
 I ever heard in the United States were by him and Gen- 
 eral W. H. Gibson, and repeated one of his sentences in 
 refutation of the claims of Know-Nothingism, which de- 
 manded twenty-one years' residence before a foreigner 
 could become a citizen of the United States: "If a man 
 has not brains enough to understand the Constitution in 
 five years, he will not understand it in twenty-one years." 
 
 Speaking of the Know-Nothing party, he said: "It 
 was conceived in prejudice and bigotry, as such organ- 
 izations will occasionally arise, encouranged by dema- 
 gogues and disappointed politicians; but the growing 
 intelligence of America shakes off the serpent, as Paul 
 shook the viper from his hand." 
 
 General Gibson believed that Chase had been opposed 
 to his advancement and had used his influence against 
 him. Said he : "I wish you would say in one of your let- 
 ters to the Cleveland Leader that I have always been the 
 friend of General Gibson, and that my influence has al- 
 ways been used for him. I consider him a very striking 
 and effective stump orator. In one of his speeches, and 
 I have heard him often, he evinced an amount of dramatic 
 ability and power truly wonderful." 
 
 I requested Mr. Chase, on one occasion, to give me 
 the history of his reply to Daniel O'Connell, who had 
 written a powerful letter to the Irishmen of America to 
 come out of the Democratic party and vote with the 
 Abolitionists. Mr. Chase replied : "The letter written by 
 Mr. O'Connell was placed in my hands by the Abolition- 
 ists, with a request that I write a response to the indict- 
 ment of slavery, and the inconsistency of his countrymen 
 
340 UNDER THREE FLAGS, 
 
 in their wholesale support of the party with which the 
 barbarism of slavery had been maintained." He ex- 
 pressed his regret at never having seen O'Connell, and 
 asked if I had ever seen him. I told him I had seen him 
 only once, when, a mere lad, a stalwart Irishman had 
 held me upon his shoulder for a glimpse of the eman- 
 cipator while he was making a speech. He knew O'Con- 
 nell's writings well, and was conversant with many in- 
 cidents in his life. I related to him one which he had 
 never heard, and which seemed to please him. O'Con- 
 nell was defending a prisoner on trial for his life when 
 he violently abused the judge and jury. The prisoner 
 became frightened, and exclaimed: "O, Mr. O'Connell, 
 if you speak like that they will hang me !" "And never 
 you mind if they do or not," cried Mr. O'Connell ; "for if 
 they do, I will make them sorry for it !" 
 
 Of the great preachers of his time, Bishop Simpson 
 was Chase's ideal. He loved and admired him for his 
 patriotism and eloquence, and pronounced his oration 
 over Lincoln's grave the finest combination of patriotic 
 and funeral oratory. he had ever heard. "Yes," he said, 
 "Bishop Simpson is a man of genius? and his great power 
 as a pulpit orator remains undiminished. I always hear 
 him when it is in my power, and I always wish to see him." 
 I ventured to critcise the great bishop, on account of his 
 too frequent habit of giving way to his emotions while 
 in the pulpit. Mr. Chase replied, in vindication of his 
 favorite, and mine also: "The very same objection was 
 brought against Edmund Burke by Sir Philip Francis, 
 in his defense of Marie Antoinette, that there was too 
 much emotion in it for good taste. Burke replied, 'All 
 I can say is, I shed tears when I wrote those words and 
 thought of the scenes they recalled, and my eyes filled 
 
SALMON P. CHASE ON MEN AND EVENTS. 341 
 
 with tears as I read them over again/ And I. think," 
 continued Mr. Chase, "if the greatest of philanthropic 
 orators wept when he produced that memorable and beau- 
 tiful description, Bishop Simpson may be pardoned if 
 he occasionally indulges in emotion." 
 
 That Mr. Chase was a candidate for the Presidency 
 was evident from his actions. He dwelt frequently upon 
 the ingratitude of parties for their leaders. I asked him 
 his opinion upon a question that was then agitating the 
 country, showing him a- letter upon the same subject 
 which I had received from Sumner. He said : "You know 
 that I am a candidate for the nomination, and that my 
 friends are hopeful of my success, and any profession on 
 the eve of the Convention would be received with sus- 
 picion. The press would jump eagerly at any statement 
 I would make. The truth is, that jealousies, enmities, 
 and conspiracies pursue the public man to his grave. 
 His honor, his patriotism, his motives, are impeached! 
 History is searched for parallels to his shame. The most 
 disinterested act of my life was that letter to Daniel 
 O'Connell. At that time it was the most popular thing 
 that could be done, yet the leading papers wrote me 
 down as a demagogue." 
 
 He then quoted the well-known words of Washing- 
 ton : "It is a severe tax which all must pay who are called 
 to eminent stations of trust, not only to be held up as 
 conspicuous marks to the enmity of the public adver- 
 saries of their country, but to the malice of secret traitors 
 and the treachery of false friends." He added, with emo- 
 tion: "Ignorance and malice pour their calumnies upon 
 the best men that I have known, upon the men that have 
 made the greatest sacrifices for their country. It is, in- 
 deed, the vice of our age, and I fear particularly of our 
 
342 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 country. The pains and penalties of public life and its 
 enemies were illustrated in the treatment of Henry Clay 
 by his party. It is related of Clay that he asked some one 
 who was nominated for the Presidency, and when he 
 was told "Franklin Pierce," he exclaimed, "Who is he! 
 My God, we are beaten!" Chase repeated this with 
 dramatic effect. 
 
 These are a few of the utterances of Mr. Chase in 
 the several interviews I had with him. As I remember 
 him, he seemed a man noble and attractive in the qual- 
 ities of truth, justice, and courage. A man whom the 
 colored people of the South will always remember with 
 pride and love. He belonged to a grand race of orators 
 and statesmen a race that lifted the great party of free- 
 dom and the Union triumphantly before the world. 
 
Chapter XXII. 
 
 INTERVIEWS WITH EMINENT MEN WENDELL 
 PHILLIPS SOME CHARACTERISTIC VIEWS. 
 
 T NTER VIEWS with eminent men are the most enter- 
 1 taining, as they form the most interesting and instruct- 
 ive department of national history. All history, in truth, 
 is compounded of a series of biographies and conversa- 
 tions. It embraces an ampler scope of details. History 
 is boundless in its range, while interviews are limited and 
 individualized. But in essence they are one; for there 
 can be no great events without great actors. The won- 
 derful Iliad, heroic history in hexameters, is only a 
 series of interviews. The "Decline and Fall" is a gallery 
 of portraits emperors, conquerors, lawgivers, pontiffs, 
 prelates, poets, and patriots; men who have adorned hu- 
 manity by their virtues, or debased it by their vices. 
 Each of these interviews gives a faithful account of the 
 distinguished men's opinions whose names are mentioned. 
 American genius is a unity, and it is seen in the splendid 
 antitheses of Phillips, in the beautiful ideal philosophy of 
 DufTerin, in the piety and wisdom of Simpson, in the vast 
 intellectual power of Elaine, in the patriotic intrepidity 
 of Sheridan, the profound learning of Chase. 
 
 The distinguished agitator and orator, Wendell -Phil- 
 lips, has been dead for many years, but his memory is 
 still warmly cherished by thousands in this and Euro- 
 pean countries. Massachusetts has given many a great 
 citizen to the State; none, however, who have rendered 
 more valuable services to the cause of civil and religious 
 
 343 
 
344 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 liberty than the famous man of whom I speak. Few men 
 hold a more honored position in our roll of illustrious 
 characters. We claim for Wendell Phillips admiration 
 and honor. Personal reminiscences of such benefactors 
 are of incalculable advantage, as through this channel 
 a vast amount of information upon important subjects 
 is disseminated concerning those whose labors have left 
 their footprints in the history of the times. 
 
 Mr. Phillips said to me one day, "If you ever come 
 within twenty miles of Boston, let me know, and I will 
 hear you." The time came when I could grant his wish, 
 and he was asked to preside at the meeting. He could 
 not come, but wrote a letter the last one he ever wrote 
 expressing his regrets, and saying his wife was ill. He 
 invited me to visit him the next day. I found him in 
 his library. He was in a conversational mood, and gave 
 me his recollections of the eminent men whom he had 
 met in Europe and the United States. I had recently 
 returned from the Old World, where I had met and 
 conversed with some of the Russian exiles. The address 
 of Mr. Phillips before Harvard, in which he justified and 
 glorified the rough methods of the Nihilists, was trans- 
 lated into all the continental papers. These bold con- 
 spirators read the speech with tears in their eyes, and 
 they told me of their admiration and of their love for 
 its author. I told Mr. Phillips of the emotion of these 
 brave but mistaken advocates for liberty, when I informed 
 them of my personal acquaintance with him. He was 
 pleased to know that his words had traveled across the 
 Alps, giving comfort to the people. "Russia," he said, 
 "has been carrying on a war against humanity for centu- 
 ries. The barbarism of Russians was shown in burning off 
 the feet of the champions of liberty and shooting them 
 
INTERVIEWS WITH EMINENT MEN. 345 
 
 down like dogs. I trust that some mighty leader will start 
 up among them who will avenge the martyred Nihilists, 
 and lead the cause to success." I asked him his estimate 
 of Webster, and which of his efforts he considered his 
 masterpiece. He believed that the noblest specimen of 
 his eloquence and the most profound specimen of his 
 reasoning was contained in a lecture before the Mechan- 
 ics' Institute in Boston, quoting a whole paragraph, com- 
 mencing, "A history of mechanical philosophy, however, 
 would not begin with Greece." He said that nature was 
 lavish to Webster. His broad temples, his massive head, 
 and majestic body were all expressive of concentrated 
 force of will which marked the great Greeks, and which 
 Lavater admired. His self-possession, his splendid pres- 
 ence, his learning, his oratory, his dramatic manner of 
 stating a case, all added impressiveness and power to 
 his utterances. When he first commenced to speak he 
 was strained, and his first sentences resembled the effort 
 to get a heavily-laden vessel under way. His words were 
 not winged, but appeared as if rough hewn out of some 
 mental quarry. The two best known and popular of 
 his speeches were the two delivered at Plymouth Rock 
 and Bunker Hill. He questioned Webster's sincerity. 
 "To him," he said, "might aptly be applied the language 
 of Sallust in speaking of Catiline, 'He could with equal 
 skill pretend not to be what he was and to be what he 
 was not.' " 
 
 France was mentioned, and he was very enthusiastic 
 in describing the people of that country. "I was there 
 during all the enthusiasm, which, having been restrained, 
 broke forth in a torrent. Mourir pour la patrie, to die 
 for one's country, no matter who governs, is still the 
 sweetest death to a Frenchman. Neither materialism 
 
UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 nor Bourgeois prosperity have been able to erase this 
 beautiful blossom from the Frenchman's heart." He 
 quoted with rare power Verginaud's proud saying, "The 
 nobility what does that mean? The nobility that 
 means one class born to rule, another class born to be 
 ruled; one class born to be masters, another class born 
 to be slaves! The very term is an insult to the human 
 race and blasphemous against the living God." He spoke 
 with delight of the French character, and believed that 
 the Republic was an assured triumph. Of Beranger, the 
 republican poet, he was full of praise, and repeated his 
 bold words, 
 
 " Peuples, formez tme sainte alliance 
 Bt donnez-vous la main." 
 
 ("O, nations, form, a holy alliance, 
 
 And give to each other a friendly hand.") 
 
 In the presence of this greatest master of eloquence, 
 I was anxious to have his views upon this subject, and 
 inquired if the following anecdote of him was true: A 
 statement had gone the rounds of the press, some years 
 before, which represented Mr. Phillips as exclaiming, in 
 one of his superb rages, as he fixed his eyes upon the 
 motto of the State in Faneuil Hall, "God save the com- 
 monwealth of Massachusetts," "God d n the common- 
 wealth of Massachusetts !" He said it was true, and that 
 he received hundreds of letters from clergymen remon- 
 strating. He laughed like a boy at the memory called 
 up, and gave me the history of the circumstances which 
 called forth the denunciation. A slave girl had made 
 her escape from South Carolina under the most distress- 
 ing difficulties. Arriving in Boston, she was immediately 
 arrested and remanded back to slavery. An indignation 
 meeting was called. Fredrika Bremer was present, and 
 
INTERVIEWS WITH EMINENT MEN. 347 
 
 indignant that such an outrage should be committed on 
 the sacred soil of the Pilgrims. "I did utter that male- 
 diction," said Mr. Phillips. "You are a clergyman was 
 it profanity? Would you not have repeated it?" I re- 
 plied, "If I had not said it, I would have thought it." 
 Mr. Phillips laughed heartily, and rising, went to his 
 book-case and brought me a copy of his Harvard oration, 
 with his autograph on it, which he gave to me as a tes- 
 timonial of his regard. 
 
 He had nothing but contempt for Disraeli, and de- 
 scribed him as a charlatan, saying that the best portrait 
 of him was found in one of his own novels : "He became 
 habituated to the idea that everything could be achieved 
 by dexterity, and that there was no test of character ex- 
 cept success, to adopt any opinion and possess none." 
 He asked me if I heard John Bright, and what was 
 my opinion of his style. I replied in the affirmative, say- 
 ing that his style was very simple. "Yes," said Mr. 
 Phillips, "his style is simple, and perhaps he has spoken 
 the finest English in this age ; but he seems to have aban- 
 doned all his early progressive ideas, and gone back upon 
 his friends and upon liberalism. Now he sees in every 
 party a faction; in the enlightened progress toward jus- 
 tice in Ireland, a malignant insult; in all her efforts for 
 local self-government, a sectarian cry. The great place 
 he filled, the great reforms in which he participated, 
 all are to be remembered with gratitude; but his oppo- 
 sition to prohibition and woman suffrage and other re- 
 forms shows that he has become an antiquated imbecile. 
 He has undoubted talents; but if any of the sacred fire 
 of his earlier and purer days is left in him, he must feel 
 degraded and politically dead." 
 
 I called his attention to his own recent lecture upon 
 
348 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Charles Sumner, and inquired which of the senator's 
 speeches he considered the best. He answered: "It is 
 very difficult to decide. For strength of denunciation, 
 his speech upon the barbarism of slavery is the most 
 thoroughly prepared and most forceful, and the most 
 exciting of all his addresses in the Senate. But the first 
 address he ever delivered, upon the 'Grandeur of Nations/ 
 bears evidence of great study. It has the glow of genius, 
 and I believe history will place this effort as perhaps the 
 greatest of all, in literary preparation and excellence." 
 Here a suggestion was made that Mr. Phillips and other 
 agitators might have accomplished more effective work 
 by accepting public office. "O no," was the quick re- 
 sponse; "the best method for reformers, if they sincerely 
 desire the public good, is never to accept office. All 
 the great reforms of the last few years were achieved by 
 men who never took office. It was William Wilberforce 
 who abolished slavery; it was O'Connell who abolished 
 Catholic slavery; it was Cobden who abolished the taxes 
 upon food ; and never has Gladstone appeared in a nobler 
 attitude than when he pleaded the cause of the Bulga- 
 rians, friend and foe conceded the purity and splendor 
 of his aims. All these public benefactors were out of 
 office at the time." 
 
 In speaking of Gladstone, Mr. Phillips said: "Glad- 
 stone possesses all the elements of the most persuasive 
 eloquence logic unsurpassed, commanding personality, 
 vast and profound learning, and a free and fearless man- 
 ner." Referring to the Englishman's change of front on 
 the Irish question, .and that his enemies charged him 
 with demagogism: "No," continued the veteran agitator, 
 with considerable warmth, "that is the old slander. He 
 is no demagogue. A demagogue follows, but does not 
 
INTERVIEWS WITH EMINENT MEN. 349 
 
 lead the masses. He flatters their follies and prejudices, 
 while the reformer and statesman attacks both at the 
 mandates of his convictions. He transfers the benev- 
 olent spirit of Christianity from the pulpit to the plat- 
 form." 
 
 He rapidly sketched traits of several orators of his 
 own time. Of Clay, he said, "His rush at a subject had 
 all the rapidity of a mountain torrent." Calhoun was 
 "always cool. His voice low in tone and small in volume ; 
 but when he became excited his words fairly hissed." 
 Everett's eloquence was "like a stuffed doll." "The per- 
 fection of eloquence is fervid thought in direct language. 
 No orator can tell the thing within him it is a passion. 
 Rhetoric is a mummy; no great truth goes by art." 
 "Every orator has his faults and his own style. It was 
 the fashion of Addison and Burke to polish, alter, and 
 finish up the sentence, and adopt the last and best fin- 
 ished." 
 
 I spoke of his sympathy for Ireland, and that in Dub- 
 lin he was almost as well known as the Irish leaders them- 
 selves ; that his speeches were read all over the land. "Ire- 
 land," he answered, "has my support. It is nigh a hundred 
 years since the greatest political essayist that ever lived, 
 Junius, wrote in one short sentence the history of mis- 
 government in Ireland : 'The people of Ireland have been 
 universally plundered and oppressed.' This has been 
 the epitome of Irish history for hundreds of years." 
 
 Parnell was then in the fullness of his fame, and of 
 him Phillips said: "He is the truest and noblest type of 
 an Irish patriot. Since O'Connell stirred the hearts of 
 Ireland like an earthquake, and swayed her mind by his 
 eloquence as planets rule the sea, no Irish leader has 
 ever been a truer exponent of Ireland's aspirations than 
 
350 UNDER THREE FLAGS, 
 
 Parnell." He then referred to the labor problem, re- 
 peating with earnestness the observations of one of the 
 Fathers: "Government wealth is not to be expended in 
 personal enjoyment, but in promoting the glory of God 
 and the happiness of his creatures." 
 
 But it was for O'Connell that he reserved his highest 
 praise. He dwelt upon his generous and effective sym- 
 pathies with the Protestant Dissenters, securing for them 
 the laws that guarded their civil and religious rights ; his 
 noble advocacy of abolition and his broad, comprehen- 
 sive views, adding : "It is curious enough, in watching the 
 course of events, to mark how every strong passion which 
 takes hold of a nation embodies itself in a suitable leader, 
 who stands forth from his fellows as master of the sit- 
 uation. O'Connell was Ireland embodied." He then 
 related many anecdotes of him, his eloquence, wit, power, 
 and blarney. Referring to the latter, he heard O'Connell 
 in a meeting in Dublin say: "I was delighted at the 
 activity, and my heart grew warm admiring the beauty 
 of the dark-eyed maids and matrons of Kildare. O, there 
 is starlight sparkling from the eyes of a Kildare beauty! 
 And remember that you are the husbands of such women, 
 and a traitor or a coward could never be connected with 
 any of them." How he came to deliver his lecture upon 
 O'Connell was in this way : Dr. Blake, a physician, called 
 upon and asked him to speak a few words for a charity. 
 He protested that he had not studied the Irish question. 
 "Tell what you know of O'Connell," said the doctor. 
 He had a volume of the great Irishman's speeches, which 
 he took down, and read this sentence from one of them : 
 "We want no ascendency; we repudiate it. I had rather 
 die upon the scaffold I say it with all the solemnity of 
 truth than to consent to a Catholic ascendency for Ire- 
 
INTERVIEWS WITH EMINENT MEN. 351 
 
 land." He spoke long and earnestly upon O'Connell, 
 describing him as the father of agitators; that his was 
 a sublime close of a political career the most successful 
 and the most morally glorious. 
 
 For John Boyle O'Reilly, the editor of the Boston 
 Pilot, Mr. Phillips had the most hearty and expressed 
 admiration^ as well as for Mr. Patrick Donahoe, the vet- 
 eran publisher of that splendid journal. Referring to 
 Mr. Donahoe's long advocacy of his Church in the face 
 of the most bitter New .England bigotry fifty years ago, 
 he called him a martyr, saying that to his zeal and per- 
 sistent devotion the cause of Ireland was eternally in- 
 debted. Then he would refer to O'Reilly frequently in 
 words like these: "Earnest in his patriotism, profound 
 in his devotion, stanch in his principles," saying that 
 his eager Irish heartedness made him the friend of every 
 oppressed people. It was a question whether O'Reilly 
 was more American or Irish; that his sympathies were 
 boundless. He advocated the claims of Ireland in the 
 fashionable homes of Boston when it had not become 
 popular. In a remakable essay in one of these Beacon 
 Street mansions he showed that Ireland had resources 
 in art, in manufactures, in commerce, and mines, to make 
 her a nation. "I admired his genius," continued Phil- 
 lips, "integrity, and sturdy independence." He eagerly 
 asked if I knew him. I responded that I knew him in- 
 timately; that I read him, studied him; that I was proud 
 to call him my friend! Yes, O'Reilly was my friend. 
 He wielded a powerful and pungent pen, whether it 
 reasoned with the head or with the heart. 
 
 I was in Italy when the cable announced that Boyle 
 O'Reilly, the accomplished gentleman, the beloved friend, 
 the revered, warm-hearted lover of Erin, the inspired 
 
35 2 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 poet, was no more gone dead! In his death, Ireland 
 lost one of her brightest sons, and liberty one of her 
 most pure and high-souled champions! Perhaps there 
 never was a man in a shorter time, coming from a foreign 
 land, who won more respect and friendship than Boyle 
 O'Reilly. Thousands of the colored race, as well as 
 millions of Irishmen in all lands, shed tears of deep and 
 unaffected sorrow over his early death. But this gifted 
 son of Erin has left behind him a successor in James Jef- 
 frey Roche, endowed with faculties of the highest order, 
 a keen sense of all that is most holy in nature, most 
 beautiful in art, most benevolent in philanthropy, with 
 the heart of a patriot and the inspired genius of the poet. 
 Another great Irishman who was beloved by Phil- 
 lips was Mr. Patrick Ford, of New York. When I rose to 
 leave, Mr. Phillips exclaimed, "Stay longer! I wish to 
 speak to you about Mr. Ford. He is a hundred years 
 ahead of his times. I await each week with a keen inter- 
 est the arrival of the World. I read his temperance ar- 
 ticles, then the editorials upon the labor problem, and 
 his Irish utterances. I have laid away all the special num- 
 bers upon the American Revolution, and that great 
 issue upon Emmet, where he has collected the opinions 
 of the most eminent American statesmen, scholars, 
 preachers, and philanthropists upon the influences of 
 Emmet's life and death upon the civilization of the 
 United States. O yes, it is a great number. That power- 
 ful editorial has disentombed, renewed, and made fresh 
 again the martyrdom of that gifted man. Ford, I tell you, 
 Mr. Pepper, is a Briareus-minded man! He is not only 
 the fearless and unquailing champion of Ireland, but also 
 the bold, heroic, and self-sacrificing, friend of every op- 
 pressed people! He is a constant, sincere, and guile- 
 
INTERVIEWS WITH EMINENT MEN. 353 
 
 lessly honest laborer in every worthy cause, and in its serv- 
 ice he has lavished the profits of a newspaper that would 
 have made him a millionaire in a few years. Independ- 
 ence, sincerity, and honor are eminently his character- 
 istics." 
 2 3 
 
Chapter XXIII. 
 SOME CONVERSATIONS WITH JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
 WHO can remember James G. Elaine, without think- 
 ing of his rare and eventful career? The grandest 
 American of his time, he gathered around him every 
 other man whose patriotism or genius seemed likely to 
 advance the interests of the cause to which he was de- 
 voted. 
 
 In the life of Arnold of Rugby it is related by his ac- 
 complished biographer, Thomas Hughes, that the stu- 
 dents of the great master could never hear his name 
 mentioned without tears. There are thousands of the 
 admirers of Mr. Elaine, belonging to all parties, who 
 mourn his loss to his country. They will always remem- 
 ber him as the patriot, orator, and statesman. To deny 
 greatness to Elaine is to manifest the most partisan preju- 
 dice. If that be not greatness which grasped the exigen- 
 cies of the situation and courageously met them; if that 
 be not greatness which struck off the degrading doctrine 
 of Europeans coming to this land, "Once a subject, al- 
 ways a subject;" if that be not statesmanship which com- 
 pelled Berlin and Rome to recognize and respect Amer- 
 ican diplomacy, then we do not understand the mean- 
 ing of the word. 
 
 I was living abroad when the cable flashed the sad 
 intelligence that Elaine was dead. In visiting the hotels 
 to see and talk with our countrymen, I met them from 
 North and South, from East and West, Democrats as 
 well as the most enthusiastic Republicans, and all ac- 
 
 354 
 
JAMES G. ELAINE. 
 
CONVERSATIONS WITH JAMES G. ELAINE. 355 
 
 knowledged but one feeling of profound sorrow. When 
 I put out the flag from the consulate, as is customary 
 when an illustrious official dies, Italians in passing would 
 pause, look up, and say, "America has lost a great states- 
 man/' One of the leading men of Milan could find no 
 higher praise than to compare him to Cavour. Both 
 had died in the prime of life, both had been honored with 
 public trusts, both would be ennobled in history as bene- 
 factors of their countries. 
 
 The first time I ever met Mr. Elaine was at his pleas- 
 ant cottage in Bar Harbor in 1884. The hour was late, 
 the family had retired; but Mr. Blaine was still up, and 
 he welcomed me cordially. About his first question was : 
 "You are from Knox County, Ohio?" Kenyon College, 
 where I had been a student many years before, is in that 
 county. My reply was, "No, Mr. Blaine, I am from 
 Wayne County; in the same State, however." 
 
 This seemed to surprise him, and he responded : "From 
 Wayne County? I can not understand it. That is a 
 Democratic county, with six hundred Democratic ma- 
 jority. How is it that you, a Methodist preacher and a 
 strong Republican, have not changed that vote?" When 
 it was explained to him that Methodist preachers only 
 remained three years in a place, and that the time was 
 entirely too short to make a change in such a strong 
 Democratic district, he laughed heartily. 
 
 In speaking upon Irish subjects, I mentioned Cur- 
 ran's name, when Mr. Blaine related an anecdote of the 
 great Irishman. It seemed that an acquaintance had 
 told Curran of some lawyer who had given imitations 
 of his style and gesture. "Imitations," said Curran, "are 
 like a rat running over the keys of a piano and calling it 
 
356 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 At his request I called upon him again the next morn- 
 ing. In the meantime a letter from the National Com- 
 mittee with the list of appointments for Maine had ar- 
 rived. I showed them to Mr. Elaine. He read them 
 hurriedly, and then tore them up, saying : "Those places 
 are rock-ribbed Republican; they do not need mission- 
 aries and old soldiers." He then made out a new list of ap- 
 pointments, containing the largest manufacturing cities 
 and towns in the State. 
 
 As this was my first experience in politics, I asked 
 him for some data. Without referring to any book or 
 document whatever, he immediately answered : "Stick to 
 the effects of free trade upon India and Ireland. Tell 
 the Irish that in the year 1799 Ireland exported fifteen 
 million dollars worth of manufactured web linen to the 
 English market, and that fifty per cent of tariff was re- 
 tained by the Irish Parliament; that under it one million 
 five hundred thousand of the inhabitants lived by manu- 
 factures, one to every five persons of the country; that 
 after the destruction of Grattan's Parliament, with the 
 introduction of free trade, only thirty-seven thousand 
 were engaged in manufactures, one to every two hundred 
 and eighty of the people, showing a decrease of seventy- 
 eight per cent." These statistics and a series of others 
 he poured forth without a minute's pause, closing this 
 part of his conversation with the observation that there 
 was nothing sublimer in history than a nation achieving 
 such prosperity in eighteen years, and nothing more de- 
 plorable than Ireland's decline afterwards. 
 
 In company with Judge W. H. West, of Bellefontaine, 
 Ohio, I addressed a meeting at some cross-roads in Maine. 
 The enthusiasm was great, and there seemed to be a de- 
 termination to elect their favorite son to the Presidency. 
 
CONVERSATIONS WITH JAMES G. ELAINE. 357 
 
 Afterwards I met Mr. Blaine at Orrville, Ohio, a rail- 
 road town founded by Judge Orr, a classmate of Mr. 
 Blaine. I was en route to Newark, to make a speech with 
 Senator Frye, when the train stopped at Orrville. Blaine 
 was compelled to make a short speech. I explained to 
 him the situation in Ohio, and he whispered in my ear 
 "What majority will Ohio give?" I answered, "About 
 ten thousand." "O," he replied, "she must do better than 
 that." 
 
 The next morning I breakfasted with him in Colum- 
 bus. The first words with which he saluted me were: 
 "Well, now what do you think will be the majority of 
 your State?" I responded, "Twenty-five thousand." 
 "Why, how is that? What has occurred since yesterday 
 to change your opinion?" I reported the immense meet- 
 ing in Newark, largely composed of wool-growers; how 
 that Senator Frye's first sentence, "Sheep ! sheep ! sheep !" 
 captured and conquered hundreds of votes; how that 
 they flocked around Frye, following him to his hotel, 
 declaring their resolution to vote the Republican ticket. 
 Blaine enjoyed immensely the description of the senator's 
 speech. Every now and then he would break out laugh- 
 ing, with the words, "That is Frye just like him; he is 
 the best tariff speaker in our party for a crowd for a 
 crowd." 
 
 I embraced the hour or two which he gave me to get 
 his opinions and estimates of many public characters. 
 He spoke in a low, measured, mournful tone of Garfield; 
 spoke of him as a consummate politician; as one of the 
 noblest statesmen in our country; compared him to one 
 of the grand cathedrals of the past, where you pass from 
 one shrine to another until you reach the undermost 
 crypt, where are preserved the most precious relics. This 
 
358 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 tribute to his dead friend was warm, spontaneous, direct 
 from the heart. He inquired if I knew him. I held up 
 a handsome blackthorn stick, with the initial "G" upon 
 it, and related to him how it came into my possession. 
 I was returning from Europe a few months before, dur- 
 ing the exciting times of Garfield's assassination, when 
 his life was hanging in the balance. An Irish emigrant 
 had died on board, and the captain asked me to deliver 
 an address to raise some funds for the destitute family 
 in Ireland. I was about half way through, when the 
 pilot came on board with the joyful news that President 
 Garfield was still living. I announced it. The cheers were 
 so long and loud that my address was abruptly brought 
 to a close. A lady from New Rochelle was so pleased 
 with the news that she presented me with this cane. Mr. 
 Elaine took the stick in his hand, saying it was the finest 
 blackthorn he had ever seen, and remarking, "The cir- 
 cumstances under which you received it will always make 
 it a valuable relic." 
 
 During this conversation references were made to the 
 charges of corruption so vindictively made against pub- 
 lic men. Mr. Elaine quoted Burke with promptitude : 
 "He who accuses everybody of corruption, convicts but 
 one." He asked if I had ever heard McKinley, if I knew 
 him. On my replying in the negative, he spoke in the 
 most enthusiastic language of him. He said: "Mr. Mc- 
 Kinley is one, if not the greatest, of the leaders of the 
 party. He has matured slowly like an oak; but like the 
 oak his fame and usefulness will outlast generations; full 
 of facts and figures, he is the best informed man on a pro- 
 tective tariff in the country." 
 
 There was some doubt about Thomas B. Reed's sue- 
 
CONVERSATIONS WITH JAMES G. ELAINE. 359 
 
 cess for Congress expressed at that time. I asked Mr. 
 Elaine his opinion : "Mr. Reed is a man full of electricity, 
 full of courage, full of hope! He fail? Impossible! He 
 has always won, and will win this time." He spoke of 
 his distinguished opponent with judicious criticism. 
 
 He inquired about the generals under whom I had 
 served Sherman, Logan, Howard, Raum. He was an 
 intense admirer of General Sherman. He described the 
 results of the war as marvelous; said that "the recon- 
 struction of the Soutl] was a miracle, the boldest experi- 
 ment on the grandest scale that the world ever saw. No 
 other conquered people ever became reconciled so easily. 
 Greece did not amalgamate with Turkey, Poland with 
 Russia, Lombardy with Austria, Ireland with England." 
 He was anxious to know what would be the strength of 
 the Irish vote, and spoke of Mr. Ford's paper as able and 
 untiring in its advocacy of the Republican party. 
 
 When I saw Mr. Elaine again it was during the Ad- 
 ministration of President Harrison. In one of the visits 
 he spoke of his meeting the Duke of Abercorn in Donegal. 
 The cluke traced his (Elaine's) descent back to the blue 
 banner of the Covenant. He spoke of his conversation 
 with Gladstone ; how the "Grand Old Man" monopolized 
 all the time, not allowing him an opportunity to say a 
 word ; but the me'mory of his conversation was like music 
 that always lingers in the ear. 
 
 In an interview at this time a brief reference was 
 made to the cause of Elaine's defeat in 1884. He evi- 
 dently was averse to talking about it ; but as I mentioned 
 an incident in connection with the Harrison campaign 
 in a small town near Utica, New York, where, out of 
 a large Republican vote, he only received a small num- 
 
360 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 her, and Harrison three times as many, I suggested that 
 it was Roscoe Conkling's influence. After a moment's 
 hesitation, he said, "That and the bad weather." 
 
 When I was consul at Milan, Italy, I frequently met 
 Dr. Fornoni, Mr. Elaine's physician when he was there 
 several years ago. This gentleman was full of remem- 
 brances of his patient, and with Americans would talk 
 of nothing else. He would tell of his conversations with 
 him, of his despondent and melancholy hours, of the 
 times he would send for him when there was really noth- 
 ing the matter with him, of the annoyances of newspaper 
 men. One day I told Dr. P'ornoni that I would like to 
 have him repeat some of the utterances of Mr. Elaine 
 upon Italy. "What you request would be an arduous 
 task," was the reply; "for I took only a few notes. I 
 was so bewildered and charmed when I listened to him 
 that I could not remember one-half of his rare sayings. 
 As a conversationalist upon Italian subjects, he knew 
 more and he surpassed all the men I ever met. He would 
 ask my opinion, and before I would utter half a dozen 
 sentences he would pour such a flood of light upon the 
 subject that I became ashamed of my own ignorance. 
 He always exhibited more correct knowledge, more warm 
 sympathy with Italy than any Englishman or American 
 of my acquaintance. One time he said : "You have a 
 wonderful country. Its mountains are grand; its valleys 
 are beautiful, its streams and rivers are fit to turn the 
 machinery of Europe, its harbors to moor the commerce 
 of the world." Again he would show his knowledge of 
 our political history, quoting the familiar utterance of 
 Victor Emmanuel after the disastrous battle of Novara, 
 Per Dio, V Italia sard ('By the help of God, Italy shall be'), 
 and the Prime Minister's exclamation, 'Italy is made, but 
 
CONVERSATIONS WITH JAMES G. BLAINE. 361 
 
 who shall make the Italians?* He seemed to know all by 
 heart, and predicted Italy's brillliant future; that she 
 would never go back to the former times." 
 
 I then asked Dr. Fornoni to tell me something of 
 Mr. Elaine's criticisms on illustrious Italians. He an- 
 swered : "Mr. Elaine had always words of praise for Dante. 
 He did not like his gloomy grandeur, and had no sym- 
 pathy for his morose views of the hereafter, but admired 
 and extolled him as the maker of the Italian language. 
 He admired our great novelist, Alessandro Manzoni, and 
 believed his Tromessi Sposi' would live forever. He 
 considered the most resplendent name in Italian history 
 to be that of Cavour, and often repeated Cavour's words, 
 'Five and twenty centuries of accumulated glories have 
 destined Rome to become the capital of a united king- 
 dom.' ' Dr. Fornoni continued to say that Mr. Elaine 
 would frequently pause and gaze musingly at the Cavour 
 monument fronting the hotel, in which a symbolical fig- 
 ure of History is writing the name "Cavour." 
 
 The last time I saw Mr. Elaine was at his own home in 
 the city of Washington, where I called to pay my re- 
 spects and to ask what I should say to his Italian friends 
 regarding his health. "Tell them I am as well as ever," 
 was his quick reply, and his beaming countenance and 
 whole bearing seemed to bear witness to his words. In 
 an hour or two afterwards, as I was entering Mr. Harri- 
 son's room, Mr. Elaine was coming out. Richard Kerens, 
 the Republican leader, was also about to visit the Presi- 
 dent. Mr. Elaine grasped his hand joyously, with the 
 salutation, "Richard, how are you?" Then he turned 
 to me, and, speaking with deliberation, said: "Parnell 
 is dead. Although preceded by Burke in his procla- 
 mation of Ireland's wrongs ; by Grattan, who pleaded for 
 
362 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Irish independence; and by O'Connell, yet Parnell has 
 accomplished more than all of them." 
 
 This was my last interview with James G. Elaine. 
 He, too, is dead; but as the years roll on his name will 
 brighten with increasing splendor, and as the young men 
 of the future will ask their elders who was the most 
 illustrious American of the day, the answer will be, 
 "James G. Elaine." 
 
Chapter XXIV. 
 
 MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS FOUR TYPICAL ORA- 
 TORS: CHARLES SUMNER, BISHOP SIMP- 
 SON, FATHER AGOSTINO, WILLIAM 
 JENNINGS BRYAN. 
 
 THE inanity of oratory has been a prolific theme for 
 the pens of many powerful writers, and the mystic 
 might of silent work and speechless labor has had its 
 panegyrists. This is a reaction, and as such it is par- 
 tial, nor should it be wholly yielded to. All men are 
 wearied with the hollow phrase-mongering and maneu- 
 vers of platforming, and the paltry declarations of dema- 
 gogues. But not the less hollow and vain are the solemn 
 shams of the silent, who pass off as wise men because 
 they are wordless, and frown the talker into disrepute. 
 It is said that this is the age of action. Fools! Is not 
 the orator a man of action? Pericles ruled Athens by the 
 magic of his tongue, and Demosthenes preserved the 
 fainting liberties of Greece by his eloquence. 
 
 Let us not be led away by the crowd who denounce 
 the speaker and extol the worker; for talking is a neces- 
 sity of our nature. Like every duty, it is also a privilege. 
 It has been abused and perverted, as all good things are 
 when not in harmony with their relations. It has often 
 been severed from the uses of life and made the weapon 
 wherewith the indolent war against time; the weapon 
 of abuse, the apologist of crime ! And yet these are the 
 abuses of oratory, and not reasons for silence. There 
 lies a power and a blessing in speech the world but little 
 
 363 
 
364 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 dreams of. Our existence vibrates between speech and 
 silence. These are the day and night of thought. Speech 
 or oratory spreading its sunlight into the corners of the 
 mind, showing the minute and paltry, the great and the 
 beautiful; silence, with its star sheen and deep depth of 
 sky, revealing beauty and the ideal to the watching soul ; 
 silence preparing what speech propounds the one the 
 reality, the other the revelation, let neither be exalted 
 or despised above the other; they are twin gifts of God, 
 and both are holy. A world of silence would be a model 
 prison ; a world of talk, a Babel of parrots. 
 
 I have said that the popular outcry against oratory 
 is a reaction. Thomas Carlyle utters his vehement pro- 
 test against speech, deifies action, and his followers echo 
 him. Every disciple of the eccentric Scotch philosopher 
 exclaims that it is time to stop talking and to begin 
 to act. Every one wants some one else busy doing 
 something. They are in an uproar to create silence. 
 What is oratory but a means to realize the purpose of our 
 minds? What is it but a struggle to reach and release 
 the spirit which, imprisoned, aspires to the infinite, as 
 a caged eagle pants for a free flight seawards? 
 
 Wonderful is the power of speech ! It is godlike, it 
 is creative a holy office, a noble employ, which distin- 
 guishes life from mere existence. It reveals the attributes 
 of the spirit, the motions of the intellect, the holiness of 
 the affections. The idea which it incarnates alone is 
 intrinsic is the jewel set in words. It is sad to think 
 how this divine privilege has been abused by alleged ora- 
 tors; how trivial, feeble, fruitless it has become, until 
 it is deemed nobler to weave cloth and forge horse-shoes 
 than to cultivate the divine art of speech. True oratory 
 demands a purpose. When the blacksmith, having heated 
 
TYPICAL ORATORS. 365 
 
 his iron bar, swings his mighty hammer on to his anvil 
 till the sparks fall in showers around him, he hath a pur- 
 pose, a defined purpose, to make a horse-shoe. There 
 is evinced in all oratory either an absence of all purpose 
 or ignorance of the way to effect it. Any one of the 
 typical orators never speaks without a purpose; and then 
 oratory is divine. Sages become their disciples, and then 
 orators influence the after-fate of the race. No intellect 
 so poor, no mind so uneducated, as may not be useful 
 if they have a purpose.. Speech is man's mightiest gift. 
 It is like a mighty river, which, bearing weeds and rub- 
 bish in its waters, floats also the stately barks of thought, 
 and is the channel for the commerce of information. Why 
 should we worship silence? Oratory is the life of thought. 
 An unspoken idea remains a dream. The sculptor ex- 
 presses his thought in marble, the painter in colors, the 
 builder in houses, the musician in notes, the weaver in 
 cloth, the tailor in garments, and the speaker in words. 
 It is not the material which is valued in these; it is the 
 idea which informs and underlies them, which is the 
 beauty of art and the utility of the manufacturer. Al- 
 though the orator trusts his idea to the pliant air, the 
 subtle element surrounding the tympanum of the ear 
 discharges there its precious burden into the storehouse 
 of the brain. The exchange of ideas is as veritable a 
 storehouse of merchandise as our commerce in wheat or 
 cotton; its products are more precious, its agency more 
 powerful. Yea, in a happier age, towards which the hand 
 of the Almighty urges the world like a ball, the most 
 valued and delightful work of man will be the inter- 
 changing of ideas, the expression of emotion, the embodi- 
 ment of intellect in the perfected medium of speech. The 
 word is mightier than the book. The mother's voice, 
 
366 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 sweeter than the harps of angels, distills instruction on 
 her child's inquiring mind, gentle yet effective as the dew 
 upon the grass. The youth learns as he listens; for it is 
 the oral explanation of the teacher, not the rule of the 
 book, which he understands. The wife, sitting by her 
 husband's side, listens to his talk on the events of the day. 
 The friends, in conversing together, unfold the tangled 
 mysteries, and the darkness of doubt vanishes before the 
 ray of light. The true mission of speech is a holy one. 
 It has been abused; every medal has its reverse! 
 
 CHARLES SUMNER. 
 
 Among those who most adequately illustrate the quali- 
 ties of oratory as described in these lines, is Charles Sum- 
 ner. It is usual for the living to call the histories of the 
 dead riddles. Cromwell is a riddle, Lincoln is a riddle, 
 Gladstone is a riddle. Everything is a riddle to those 
 who have not the wish or patience to explore its latent 
 meaning; and Charles Sumner, born to wealth, leisure, 
 and luxury, becoming the champion of the downtrodden, 
 would also be a riddle if his motives had not been ex- 
 plained by his subsequent life. He was called at first a 
 demagogue. Never was a falser aspersion leveled at the 
 character of a true, fearless, and dignified champion of 
 human rights. The charge is so far removed from the 
 bright truth that sparkles in every incident of his life that 
 the ardent lover of liberty feels the incapacity of words 
 to give utterance to the deep indignation which stirs 
 within him at the aspersion. 
 
 "Who is the first orator of England?" a stupid person 
 once asked Lord Brougham. "Lord Derby is the sec- 
 ond." This was the self-conscious reply. The inquirer 
 had forgotten that Henry Brougham had been in his 
 
CHARLES SUMNER. 367 
 
 time the defender of Queen Caroline, the champion of 
 Reform, and as the advocate of Negro emnacipation had 
 made all England ring with his fame. If Charles Sumner 
 was not the first orator of this country, he was undoubt- 
 edly the second. He had all the grand attributes of the 
 orator. He was tall, and remarkable for his presence 
 his countenance a model of manly beauty, his face oval, 
 and the complexion clear and mantling, the forehead lofty 
 and white. But it was the eye that flashed with piercing 
 scrutiny when all the character of the man came forth. 
 
 One quality of his oratory was his thoroughness, his 
 learning, and his power of finishing, rubbing his sentences 
 so fine that nothing could be added. He took all nature 
 for his illustrations. It might be said of him as was said 
 of Brougham by an opposing lawyer at the English bar, 
 that "when Brougham got hold of any subject, he nailed 
 it, and nailed and nailed it, till no man could nail it any 
 faster." Brougham, in his reply, readily admitted that 
 he did endeavor to make the best of his case, and so did 
 his opponent; the only difference was that of method. 
 Granting himself to be a nailer, he did not know of any 
 term so appropriate to his opponent as that of a polisher ; 
 for when he got hold of a case he polished it, and polished 
 it, until he made it so superlatively bright that it was sure 
 in the end to dazzle his own imagination, and lay a trap 
 for his better judgment. Both illustrations are certainly 
 happy in their application to Mr. Sumner. 
 
 Charles Sumner was aided in his oratory by a faultless 
 elocution. His style was dignified and correct; and if it 
 smells somewhat of the lamp, this peculiarity ought to be 
 overlooked, since it was found even in the orations of 
 Demosthenes himself. 
 
 In Sumner's speeches against slavery we have the 
 
368 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 grave and gradual march of one whose heart is in his 
 theme, and who carries all things before him, like a land- 
 slide, which bears trees and rocks and flowers along with 
 it, and so covers the ground on which it settles as to hide 
 every trace of prior occupancy. 
 
 And yet, in the true signification of the word, Charles 
 Sumner was a demogogue. He kept company with the 
 sublimest poets, the most profound philosophers, and the 
 courageous reformers of all ages. Who were the bold 
 spirits who battled on the floors of Parliament and on the 
 popular rostrum for the great truths of freedom and 
 righteousness? Who the friends of humanity, whose elo- 
 quence and activity in the cause of the people have broken 
 one after another the bands that confined their energies 
 and kept them the feeble suppliants of a proud and opu- 
 lent aristocracy? Who the men whose burning invectives 
 made the great nobles of England tremble before the 
 majesty of the people? They were such demagogues as 
 O'Connell, Brougham, and Thompson! They revered 
 the people. Charles Sumner was a demagogue in the 
 highest and grandest sense. Throughout the glorious 
 battle of slave emancipation, his fearless eloquence was 
 a torrent of consuming power, poured into every rampart 
 of oppression. Under the terrible pressure of his fierce 
 invectives, the slaveholder paled with hate and appre- 
 hension. 
 
 W T e have always felt universal admiration for Sumner. 
 When he commenced public life, the anti-slavery cause 
 was a bundle of broken factions, which his genius and 
 eloquence led to triumph. We admired him when he 
 made that magnificent plea for peace as the true grandeur 
 of the Nation. It was a true, bold, and intrepid picture 
 of the storms of war. We admired him when he delivered 
 
CHARLES SUMNER. 369 
 
 that masterly speech against the extension of slavery to 
 Kansas. Strong and vigorous were the fearless attacks 
 upon the proud citadel of slavery. It broke the mental 
 lethargy of the Nation; it promised the splendid dawn 
 of emancipation ; it hastened the day-star of liberty. The 
 Northern mind burst its cerements, and issued forth like 
 a strong man after a sleep. We admired him when he 
 pronounced that memorable impeachment upon the "Bar- 
 barism of Slavery," when he demonstrated its terrible in- 
 fluence upon its brethren apologists, compelling them to 
 do its behests and to write "slave" upon their intelligent 
 faculties. It was unanswerable, and hence the resort to 
 the blows which were rained upon Sumner's head as he 
 sat at his desk. These blows killed Sumner. They also 
 killed slavery. Nothing gratifies the curiosity of sight- 
 seers more than to know the exact spot of historical 
 events. The first question of visitors' to the English 
 Parliament is to ask where Gladstone stood when he de- 
 livered his famous Home Rule speeches. So it is with 
 the friends of human freedom. When they visit Wash- 
 ington they ask where did Sumner sit when Brooks crept 
 up stealthily and struck the mighty orator. But never 
 did we admire Sumner so much as when, the war being 
 over, he took his stand by the defeated Confederates, and 
 in the spirit of Him whose birth was announced by the 
 songs of angels, pleaded with an eloquence sweet and 
 powerful that no thorns should be planted where the 
 olive had taken root. 
 
 These speeches are the most perfect of Sumner's ora- 
 tions. If you want to study oratory in books read Grat- 
 tan, Sheil, O'Connell. For amplitude of stride and rich 
 adornment of style, Burke is unrivaled. For rapidity, 
 epic grandeur, and epigrammatic point, Grattan has no 
 24 
 
37 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 equal. Webster is the splendid orator whose grand serv- 
 ices to his country have been of the highest order; who 
 dethroned from the belief of many Americans the delu- 
 sions of Hayne, and vindicated the supremacy of the 
 Union; "who had a voice like the sound of the sea, pure 
 as the naked heaven." 
 
 FATHER AGOSTINO. 
 
 It is with no ordinary feelings that I undertake the 
 task of sketching this famous preacher, the Savonarola 
 of modern Italy. He has many of the shining qualities 
 which are admired by all lovers of eloquence; and he is 
 exalted still higher in the enlightened estimation of Chris- 
 tians and moralists by commanding these qualities for the 
 good of mankind, ready to employ them for that purpose 
 whenever they are called for, and equally anxious when 
 they are not to employ his leisure in improving them for 
 future use. If true eloquence is good sense, delivered in 
 a natural and unaffected way, without the artificial orna- 
 ments of tropes and figures, then Father Agostino is 
 primus inter pares. Our common eloquence is usually 
 a cheat upon the understanding. It deceives us with 
 appearances instead of realities, and makes us think we 
 see reason, whilst it is only tickling our senses. 
 
 He is about medium size, well proportioned, and his 
 face exhibits the perfection of manly beauty mellowed 
 by the soft touches of age. The features are refined, and 
 the complexion clear and ruddy. The nose is on the 
 Roman model, and the chin slightly peaked. The mouth 
 bespeaks great archness; the eyes have a quick, pene- 
 trating expression. The clear metallic voice is faultless 
 in intonation, now ringing out like a trumpet, now soft 
 and tender like a child's. For an hour (his sermons never 
 
. FATHER AGOSTIJVO. 371 
 
 exceed that) he keeps his audience entranced now soar- 
 ing in ambitious flights and piling up a grand array of 
 words; now flashing forth with unexpected allusions and 
 similes ; now overwhelming with a torrent of ridicule ; now 
 piercing infidelity with the keen dagger of his sarcasm. 
 
 Much of his success is attributed to his fascinating 
 address, which forms the great charm of his oratory. 
 Even the pope is not proof against the potency of this 
 enchanted wand. The first element in Father Agostino's 
 preaching is his sincerity. He worships truth as if it were 
 God. He is Truth personified. He sees that lies abound 
 everywhere, and he arises, like another Peter the Hermit, 
 and preaches a bold and fearless crusade. He has no 
 concealments, everything is as open as the day. 
 
 Faith is another powerful factor in his sermons. He 
 believes, therefore he speaks. He looks out upon the 
 world and sees that faith is dead, strangled by the worldli- 
 ness of man. The age is material, it is an iron age. The 
 eye is fixed upon business and politics. Better far the 
 faith of the pagan, who bows to the stars, than to bow 
 the knee before the many gods of fashion, of money, and 
 of fame. In this moral wilderness he adopts the senti- 
 ment of Wesley, and cries out, 
 
 " Faith, mighty Faith, the promise sees, 
 
 And looks to that alone; 
 Laughs at impossibilities, 
 
 And cries, 'It shall be done!'" 
 
 He has another element in his ministrations. He is 
 courageous. He fears no man, and admires men of cour- 
 age. He gazes with admiration on Thor, wielding his 
 hammer and crushing rocks; on Xavier, inspired by a 
 heavenly zeal, and exclaiming in his dying moments, 
 "Farther, farther yet;" on Mirabeau, all seared and 
 
372 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 scarred with wounds, "a tiger with the small-pox," beard- 
 ing the infuriated mob ; on Savonarola, shaking Italy with 
 his thundering tones; on Napoleon, starting from the 
 little olive-complexioned lieutenant, sweeping thrones 
 and dynasties before him like chaff. 
 
 Here is a specimen of Agostino's eloquence, selected 
 at random from a volume of his sermons in Italian. It is 
 entitled, "The Purpose of Life:" "And now let us con- 
 template the most innocent, the purest, and the most 
 perfectly-regulated affection that could animate the heart 
 of man. Will it suffice to fill it, to satisfy it? No ! because 
 a secret sense of satiety brings with it a haunting fear, of 
 which the tears shed in moments of complete and apparent 
 happiness are irrefragable proof. And the greater the 
 affection becomes, the more does the heart long for the 
 Infinite. My God, my God, for what purpose didst thou 
 create the heart of man? He created it for himself. Then 
 let us follow the instinct of our heart, and if the heart is 
 oppressed with the weight of the earth and its cares, it 
 will carry us straight home, then, to God. Again, if not 
 content with interrogating the superior faculties of our 
 nature, we ask the same question of those faculties which 
 address themselves to material objects; they receive the 
 same answer. Interrogate our sensibilities. They are 
 never satisfied. Our energies will not sleep, like Hanni- 
 bal, upon the victories of yesterday. They must have 
 some new sphere for activity. Ask the artists, artists 
 of all ranks. What do you find? You will find a man 
 whose first word is a protest against his incapacity to reach 
 the ideal standard he has set before him. You will see 
 Virgil about to throw his ^Eneid into the flames ; Michael 
 Angelo in sad, silent contemplation of his statues because 
 his mind has conceived a Colossus not to be compassed 
 
FATHER AGOSTINO. 373 
 
 by his hand. You will see Leonardo da Vinci leave his 
 immortal Cenacolo incomplete. You will see Tasso bit- 
 terly regretting that he ever wrote the 'Gerusalemme 
 Liberata,' and Milton preferring some imperfect ode to 
 his Taradise Lost.' And last of all, the musician, to 
 prove this undeniable truth: the last echoes of his mel- 
 odies have died away, and he listens for them still, and 
 strains his ears to catch the harmonies which elude him, 
 and so prove to him his incapacity for reaching the per- 
 fection of his heart. Why is it? Why is it that the 
 nearer we approach to our ideal, the farther it seems to 
 depart from us? I ask the question here in the midst of 
 all the masterpieces of genius. I ask you, do you not 
 feel the love of the beautiful increasing, and not diminish- 
 ing, the farther we penetrate into it? My brethren, it is 
 the property of all the arts to take our souls to God. O 
 Raffaelo! I have gazed upon thy sublime frescoes, and 
 have remained in mute admiration hours before I have 
 turned away from that immortal page in the Vatican, 
 while my soul has flown up to God. Rossini! Bellini! 
 I have listened to your melodies, your symphonies, in a 
 transport of happiness, and while I have showered bless- 
 ings upon you for having given such an interpretation 
 to the feelings of the heart, I felt my own heart caught 
 up to the throne of God. Yet once again answer me. 
 How often, when from the summit of some hill you have 
 watched the sun sinking in the horizon, you have felt 
 your heart lifted up involuntarily tp heaven ! How often 
 in that solemn hour when some nameless feeling of melan- 
 choly has gained possession of you, have you not asked 
 your soul, Why art thou sad? Whence this melancholy? 
 What is it thou desirest? Dost thou follow the fleeting 
 cloud with thy longing gaze? But what dost thou want 
 
374 UNDER THREE FLAGb. 
 
 with that cloud? Dost thou watch the course of the flow- 
 ing water? But what dost thou want with that water? 
 And the soul will answer, I am athirst for God." 
 
 This splendid passage is quoted from one of his ser- 
 mons preached in Florence, where from eight to ten 
 thousand persons listened to him daily. Sermons 
 preached in the morning were published at noon, and 
 read by multitudes. 
 
 I heard this great preacher several times in Milan, 
 and noted with deep interest the effect his discourses had 
 upon his hearers. While the greater part of them were 
 workmen, there was also a large number of scholars, 
 army officers, and artists. When he told a pathetic story, 
 hundreds wept ; when he pronounced a fine climax, many 
 cheered; and all exclaimed, "Bene! bene!" ("Good, 
 good !") When the crowds were moved with excitement, 
 the preacher was calm. When he ascended the pulpit, and 
 the clerk drew aside the curtain, the sea of expectant 
 humanity hushed before the smile of his face. 
 
 There are many stories told of Father Agostino's early 
 sermons. He frequently brought his hearers to their 
 knees. He broke the chain of centuries of bondage to the 
 custom of having a prompter, called suggeritore, in the 
 pulpit. His preaching was all natural ; no pompous ges- 
 tures; no mouthing, no posturing. He preached for im- 
 mediate effect. Once upon a time, when his penitent 
 audience were showing signs of contrition, he cried out, 
 "Now all of you who sincerely repent of your sins, hold 
 up your hands." Every man in the vast audience 
 stretched out both his hands. "Holy archangel Michael," 
 exclaimed the preacher, "thou who with adamantine sword 
 standest at the judgment-seat of Christ, hew off every 
 
BISHOP SIMPSON. 375 
 
 hand which has been raised hypocritically." In an in- 
 stant every hand dropped, and Agostino poured forth a 
 fresh torrent of eloquent denunciation against their hy- 
 pocrisy. 
 
 Under such fervent preaching there are no empty 
 seats; no indifferent hearers; no complaints that the gos- 
 pel the old, eternal gospel has lost its thrilling and 
 converting power. 
 
 BISHOP SIMPSON. 
 
 Matthew Simpson, in my earlier days, as a Methodist 
 preacher stood in the van of living celebrities for purity 
 of style, range of thought, simplicity of elucidation, and 
 cogency of argument. I wish I could present him as when 
 I first heard him in one of his old-fashioned fiery ser- 
 mons. Let us recall a single instance. It was at the 
 Methodist Conference held in Mansfield in the early six- 
 ties. The church was too small, and the bishop preached 
 in the open air. The crowd was immense, but reverent. 
 Expectation was high. At length a stooped form made 
 its way to the improvised pulpit. He looked neither to 
 the right nor left, but slowly ascended the rostrum and 
 bowed in prayer. When he rose to give out the first 
 hymn, the face was illuminated with a heavenly beauty, 
 the whole body seemed to be transfigured. The lesson 
 was read, and the sermon came at last. The introduction 
 was brief; the divisions were annuonced in the old way, 
 firstly, secondly, etc. The voice, in the beginning husky, 
 soon became clear and musical. The logic of the sermon 
 was unanswerable. Genius began to kindle. The cli- 
 maxes were the admiration of the eager audience. The 
 power of the highest dwelt in his soul, and raised him 
 to the dignity of a prophet. Hundreds turned aside and 
 
376 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 wept. There was nothing local, nothing sectarian, noth- 
 ing earthly, nothing circumscribed, in his magnificent 
 utterances. He marched with a sublime movement, and 
 carried his enraptured hearers with him to heaven. Im- 
 agination can not linger on a finer picture than was pre- 
 sented that day. The first part of the sermon was hardly 
 over, when the people felt that a splendid model of a man 
 was before them. The very stones, the altar, the pulpit, 
 the seats, all seemed to move; and the only inactive 
 thing in the enchanted spot was the preacher's body. The 
 soul of the orator reigned ascendant over a captive audi- 
 ence. He never paused in his sacred declamation, he 
 never hesitated for a word. He spoke as one breathless 
 with haste, lest his grand thoughts should go unrecorded. 
 His eye, hand, and form were in perpetual speech. Noth- 
 ing was abrupt to those who could see him, except when 
 some flash would burst out with such sudden splendor as 
 to leave them suspended and dazzled too strongly to fol- 
 low the lusters that shot after it with restless illumina- 
 tions. 
 
 " Now one glance around, now upward turns his brow, 
 Hushed every breath he rises, mark him now! " 
 
 But on this occasion every breath was not hushed. 
 From that thronging multitude of heads and faces arose 
 a chorus of halleluiahs. As he gradually unfolded his 
 splendid theme, and showed the richer fields of investi- 
 gation which are disclosed to the angels from the Church, 
 the seed field of the glory of God; when he painted the 
 principalities and virtues, with their heads inclined down- 
 wards, bent on learning, if possible, the notes of the Al- 
 mighty's revealed purpose, and that from the death of 
 Christ the universe has been dated anew ; when he proved 
 that the Church was the mirror of mirrors for reflecting 
 
BISHOP SIMPSON. 377 
 
 the many-colored wisdom of the Divine nature, and that 
 the primitive inhabitants of heaven were attracted to 
 earth to learn new aspects of redemption, as these sub- 
 lime visions flashed across the mind of the orator, the 
 blood mounted, glistening in his face, and the homely 
 physiognomy was illuminated with a sort of oratorical 
 sunshine. The mantle of Whitefield had fallen from 
 heaven upon Bishop Simpson. 
 
 At one part of his sermon, I remember, by a gesture, 
 a glance from his eagle eye, the bishop awed the audience 
 into deathlike stillness. Then like a torrent his unpre- 
 meditated and convincing oratory rushed into the heart, 
 expelling rooted convictions. How daring were his 
 strange digressions! how apposite his illustrations! how 
 magnificent the form and structure of his thought! how 
 soul-stirring his high and stern appeals! To my dying 
 day I shall always recall that illuminated countenance, 
 the characteristic actions, the sublime self-forgetfulness of 
 that great Methodist bishop. There must surely have 
 been wonderful capability of argument, vast knowledge, 
 a faculty of persuasion irresistible in its winning grace, 
 .all combined in the preacher of whom Chief- Justice Chase 
 said to me, "He is the greatest pulpit orator in Christen- 
 dom." Fragments of Simpson's oratory only have 
 reached us. It was all so natural, so easy as spontaneous 
 as Nature's creation of the violets. He was never like 
 the ranter, blowing himself up; never like the fuming 
 speaker to whom it was shouted, "Your face is so red it 
 makes me hot !" 
 
 What type of oratory does Bishop Simpson repre- 
 sent? He was not argumentative, discursive, and meta- 
 physical, like Edwards and Foster, those Euclids of the- 
 ology; he was not an orator of memories and gorgeous 
 
378 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 rhetoric, like Guard and Punshon, those polished dia- 
 monds of Methodism; he was not an orator of calm and 
 ripe culture, like Dr. Payne ; he had not the varied scholar- 
 ship, the tender feeling, the simple pathos, and the splen- 
 did imagery of the Delaware president; he was not an 
 orator like Phillips Brooks, whose ear-piercing intona- 
 tions and clattering articulation produced a dissonance 
 so whimsically harsh that it can only be likened to the 
 squeal of a singed terrier tied to an old wagon, which 
 the horses are taking down a precipitous hill. To none 
 of these types does Bishop Simpson belong. To none 
 of them could he, with his great and superb genius and 
 soaring soul, belong. But in his own sphere he was 
 unique, unapproached, and unapproachable. 
 
 He was pious without hypocrisy, virtuous without 
 ostentation. He loved mankind. The pulpit was his 
 pride and his glory. He realized Quintilian's definition 
 of an orator, "A good man skilled in the art of speaking." 
 He surpassed all his contemporaries. There have been 
 preachers who have preached in a more solemn strain; 
 philosophers who understood more clearly the force of 
 everlasting truth; poets who uttered higher notes of en- 
 chantment, but in no age have intellectual power, moral 
 worth, social dignity, evangelical fervor, sound doctrine, 
 been so admirably blended as in the life and preaching of 
 Matthew Simpson. Yes, gifted and beloved man, happy 
 the Church of which you were the pastor and the bishop ! 
 Happy the country when patriotism was stirred to a lofty 
 aim by thy brilliant and touching eloquence ! Venerable 
 son of Wesley, the Nation did itself honor by thy selection 
 as orator over the dead body of the martyred and im- 
 mortal Lincoln. Thy life was glorious, and when it closed 
 it left the literature and eloquence of the country, which 
 
BISHOP SIMPSON. 379 
 
 it improved and adorned, as a lasting monument. But 
 there was a nobler monument, it was a reunited country 
 and a powerful Church, and the epitaph inscribed upon it 
 will be the eternal gratitude of the patriot and the saint. 
 To have paid this tribute to thy memory is the most hon- 
 orable office to which I could aspire, and to enjoy thy 
 companionship hereafter is the sublimest aspiration of 
 my heart. 
 
 "Eloquence is speaking out of the abundance of the 
 heart, the only source t from which truth can flow, in a 
 passionate, persuasive torrent." This definition of Julius 
 Hare is illustrated by a story told of Bishop Simpson. 
 He preached some years ago in the Memorial Hall, Lon- 
 don. It was one of the bishop's magnificent, massive 
 sermons. From the platform to the very door the hall 
 was crowded, the galleries were thronged, and the aisles 
 were a dense mass of people. 
 
 For half an hour he spoke quietly, without gesticulat- 
 ing or uplifting his voice. Then, describing the immacu- 
 late Son of God in the majestic beauty of his incarnation, 
 he pictured the journey of a God to Calvary, where he 
 bore the world's guilt. The bishop stooped as if over- 
 whelmed with an immense burden, and rising to his full 
 heieht, he exclaimed: "How far did he carry our sins? 
 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he re- 
 moved our transgressions from us." The great audience, 
 as if touched by an electric shock, jumped to their feet, 
 stood for two or three minutes, and then fell back into 
 their seats. The famous professor of Elocution, Brander 
 Matthews, who taught half the members of Parliament 
 the art of speech, was asked what he thought of the bish- 
 op's elocution. "Elocution?" said he, "he has got the 
 Holy Ghost!" 
 
3^0 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 This was the greatest triumph of American sacred 
 . eloquence ever heard in England, ever heard anywhere. 
 It was a great triumph when it is remembered that Eng- 
 lish audiences are cold and undemonstrative. It was a 
 great triumph over prejudice and bigotry, and to this 
 very day old English Methodists tremble with emotion 
 when they speak of that transcendent sermon of the 
 American preacher. It was a great triumph ; for it placed 
 American pulpit oratory as on a standard of gold, inlaid 
 with emeralds, before the world. 
 
 WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 
 
 It has been well and opportunely said that the dearth 
 at this moment of great orators of a sterling stamp is 
 beyond dispute. To that grand race of statesmen, ora- 
 tors, and patriots, who in the years that are past, in the 
 Congress of the United States and upon the stump, lifted 
 the American name triumphantly before Europe, a crowd 
 of dwarfs has succeeded, who have neither the heart to be 
 honest nor the genius to be great. Nor is it alone with 
 the splendid groups of which Hayne, Clay, Webster were 
 the central figures, that the orators of the present day 
 fail even decently to compare. Close to these celebrities 
 there were seated a score or more whose brilliant intel- 
 lects, prompt eloquence, headstrong purpose, humor, still 
 kept fresh the brighter memories of Henry, Otis, and 
 Adams. 
 
 Mr. Bryan suddenly and abruptly appeared before the 
 country at the Demoratic National Convention, in Chi- 
 cago, in 1896. Before that he was comparatively un- 
 known; but his remarkable speech there made him fa- 
 mous, and nominated him to the Presidency. Great in 
 the ordinary sense, Mr. Bryan can not be called. In poli- 
 
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 381 
 
 tics he has always been a Democrat. His early education, 
 his family, and local connections, were all of this political 
 creed. He has been an apt student of history, and knows 
 the history of his own magnificent country well. When 
 he entered Congress, he at once astonished his fellow- 
 members by the facility and boldness with which he stated 
 his views on public questions. He professes to be the 
 champion of the masses as against the classes. Alexander 
 Hamilton's profligate contempt for the understanding 
 and rights of the people finds little favor with him, and 
 he has no narrow and unrepublican jealousy of foreign 
 immigration. He is among the warmest friends of Cuba, 
 and organized a regiment for service there. 
 
 As an orator he must have read Lord Chesterfield's 
 advice to his son : "Take of common sense, quantum 
 sufficit; throw obnoxious thoughts in a new light; make 
 up the whole with a large quantity of correction and ele- 
 gance of style; take for granted that by far the greatest 
 part of mankind do neither analyze nor search to the 
 bottom, they are incapable of penetration further than 
 the surface ; all have senses to be gratified ; very few have 
 reason to argue with; graceful utterances please the eyes, 
 elegant diction tickles the ears, but strong reason would 
 be thrown away upon them." This receipt for speaking 
 is rather indefinite. How much common sense to take 
 to make a good speech might be difficult to determine. 
 Plenty of style is by no means essential on the stump. 
 The gorgeous orations of Burke would be but failures 
 there; the beauty and classic painting of Sumner would 
 not be appreciated. What the masses want is the strong, 
 robust, healthy sentiment spoken earnestly, courageously, 
 and believingly. 
 
 I heard Mr. Bryan in the Armory in Cleveland. When 
 
382 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 he rose to speak he was received with repeated bursts of 
 rapturous cheering, the vast audience rising to their feet, 
 and waving hats and handkerchiefs. He had only spoken 
 a few minutes when his style glowed with an earnestness 
 of admiration. His diction is copious and fluent; his 
 voice is sonorous and full, and capable of adapting into- 
 nations to every emotion; while he indulges in attitudes 
 and actions which indicate that he has been a careful stu- 
 dent of gesture. He warmed apace, and then an em- 
 bodied storm thundered and lightened upon the platform. 
 As he painted the sufferings of the poor, the majestic brow 
 grew black with scorn and defiance ; wrathful glances shot 
 from the eye ; the action became inconceivably vehement, 
 and the words rapid as a mountain stream, but without 
 losing aught of their singular distinctness and beauty. 
 At these times the orator poured forth a whole torrent of 
 denunciatory epithets, which, like a stream of fire, scathed 
 and burned up the ground over which it was rolled. 
 
 Compare him with Mr. McKinley. They are in many 
 respects the very opposite of each other, and yet they are 
 both honest in their opinions. Bryan has attitudes, is 
 statuesque, and all his speeches show that he has studied 
 how to capture the eye. McKinley cares nothing for 
 attitudes, addresses the ear, and is anxious to inform, to 
 convince the understanding. Bryan's mission is one of 
 reconstruction of the old, and upheaval; McKinley's 
 mission is to renovate and to restore the lost prosperity. 
 Bryan is the representative of a force that would sweep 
 away with a whirlwind's power customs and laws which 
 for twelve centuries have been the great factors in the 
 civilization of the world; McKinley is the representative 
 of a power which would put something good in the place 
 offered. Bryan stands for the present, and cries aloud for 
 
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 383 
 
 justice; McKinley has a more immediate respect for the 
 future, has faith in a silent and powerful influence which 
 must benefit mankind. Bryan is the harbinger of the 
 tempest; McKinley is the harbinger of calm, deep, and 
 enduring peace, which will open on the world when the 
 storm and darkness shall have passed away. 
 
 To return to Mr. Bryan as an orator. He combines 
 fare talents, a good voice of powerful compass, a clear 
 and distinct intonation. When he speaks you are sure to 
 catch every word, and even in his most impassioned mo- 
 ments his articulation is distinct. He never recalls a word, 
 nor seems at a loss, and when he warms up with his sub- 
 ject his eye kindles with fire. In sarcasm he is most cut- 
 ting, but never coarse or vulgar. I have heard most of 
 the recent public speakers of the country, but I question 
 much if any of them possess more of the essential qualities 
 of a stump orator than Mr. Bryan. Mr. Bourke Cockran 
 has more originality, Ingersoll a more pictorial style, 
 Schurz is more accomplished in facts and arguments, 
 Cannon more cutting in sarcasm, but where a bold and 
 independent execution is demanded for an out-door 
 crowd, Bryan surpasses them all. It has been charged 
 that he repeated the same speech. My son, Charles M. 
 Pepper, who, as representative of the New York Herald, 
 traveled with him for four months, and heard him three 
 and six times daily, says that there was no repetition of 
 his speeches. 
 
 Wherever he is best known, Mr. Bryan is held in high 
 esteem. I spoke at Ewing, a pleasant college town in 
 Southern Illinois, and a strongly Democratic place. It 
 was the home of Mr. Bryan. The hall was crowded, and 
 for fifteen minutes after I began to speak there was re- 
 spectful attention; then the interruption became so con- 
 
384 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 stant that I changed my position to the center of the 
 building. I referred to Mr. Bryan's oratory, and the audi- 
 ence cheered. It had the same effect as when Demos- 
 thenes pronounced "Marathon" to the noisy Greeks. 
 Then I referred to McKinley's history, his original pov- 
 erty, school-teaching, and how like their own favorite, he 
 surmounted difficulties. This reference was greeted with 
 cheers. The next morning I attended the college prayer- 
 meeting. The leader, in his prayer, referred to my pres- 
 ence, and prayed that God would bless the stranger who 
 came amongst them to preach righteousness to a sinful 
 and perverse generation. I addressed the students in the 
 college upon the "Pains and Penalties of Public Life," and 
 the terrorism of slander through which candidates for 
 office must pass, and the talk was rapturously received. 
 I thanked them, and only regretted they did not give some 
 of their cheers the preceding evening. In conversation 
 with many of them, I found that they confidently believed 
 that Mr. Bryan would be elected. I replied that no orator 
 had ever been selected for that high office; that Clay 
 the ash and hickory groves of old Kentucky are yet vocal 
 with his eloquence tried it, and failed. It is said that 
 Clay was sick when the news of the Democratic nomi- 
 nation reached him; but raising his head from his pillow 
 he asked, "Who is nominated?" "Frank Pierce," he was 
 told. "Who is he?" exclaimed the dying statesman. "My 
 God, we are beat !" So Webster, that powerful and mag- 
 nificent man, although worshiped by his party, could not 
 attain to the Presidency. 
 
WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. 
 
Chapter XXV. 
 
 MR. GLADSTONE AS AN ORATOR, STATESMAN, 
 PHILANTHROPIST, CHRISTIAN. 
 
 IF we were asked who is the greatest Englishman of 
 the century we would answer, William E. Gladstone. 
 While to the great soldiers and inventors of the time we 
 render all honor, and to the great scientists the respect 
 which their profound discoveries have demanded, we can 
 find no other man so largely possessed of those qualities 
 that to our minds constitute true greatness than Eng- 
 land's "Grand Old Man." If the students of true great- 
 ness be in search of one upon whom their calmest judg- 
 ment will teach them to dwell with pleasure, they will not 
 find a purer or more heroic personage than the great 
 Englishman, who has been identified with the great re- 
 forms of his country for the last half a century. The mem- 
 ories of such illustrious men are the true treasures of a 
 nation. The statesman deserves the hero's death and the 
 martyr's monument. They are the real tutors of gener- 
 ous youth, and in lands where such memories are not 
 found, there faith can never dwell. Rottenness hath eaten 
 into the core of those nations, and as sure as the rootless 
 tree perishes, they will fall, and as they fall, all reverence 
 and love fall forever! 
 
 There has not been a political movement in England, 
 I might say in the world, with which Mr. Gladstone's 
 name has not been identified. I know he has been 
 charged with changing his principles; but, to his honor 
 be it said, all his changes have been upward and universal. 
 25 385 
 
386 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 His advocacy of the cause of oppressed peoples is the most 
 glorious to be found in the annals of the world. His last 
 days were a sublime close to a rare and wonderful life ! 
 
 His enemies have doubted many things of Gladstone. 
 They have doubted whether he had any principle; they 
 have doubted whether he had any real party attachment; 
 they have doubted whether he had any drift beyond that 
 of the merest demagogue, but they have never doubted 
 that he had no real sympathy with the masses ; they have 
 never doubted that he did not know the state of the polit- 
 ical world, an eye or a nose for calculating political prob- 
 abilities and forming plans, so as to follow closely the 
 popular demands of the hour. He belongs to the list of 
 illustrious men to whose name panegyric would be ful- 
 some. No one thought of panegyrzing Alexander the 
 Great, Napoleon, Washington! Gladstone was emphat- 
 ically the greatest man of the century. He justly merited 
 his rival's (Disraeli's) definition of greatness : "The great 
 man is one who affects his generation, whether he be a 
 scholar in his cloister agitating reforms, or a monarch 
 crossing the Granicus and giving a new character to the 
 pagan world." A great orator is of no use unless he is 
 also a great man. Nay, the most eloquent orator can 
 never become great if deficient in moral power. This was 
 the secret of his power as a speaker he impressed all 
 who heard him with his absolute sincerity. He held his 
 integrity of character higher than the exigencies of party. 
 In a period of war excitement, he had the courage to say 
 that England's greatest interest was in peace. "Paint me 
 as I am," said a great Englishman to the artist, "or paint 
 me not at all." Gladstone was one of the few public men 
 who held that a politician's opinions should be founded 
 alone on principle. 
 
WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. 387 
 
 Gladstone's oratory was powerfully helped by his style, 
 which changed with the character of his subjects. His 
 Home Rule speeches were delivered with a musical ca- 
 dence and recitative, a style in which, Coleridge has said, 
 "every noble and beautiful thought seeks expression!" 
 One of his severest critics wrote of him : "It was not until 
 he had his victim in the deadly grip of his argument that 
 the stately and melodious swing of his elocution left him, 
 and then in bursts of vehement rhetoric his words sped 
 from him in the natural language of passion." 
 
 Gladstone's voice, with the exception of O'Connell's, 
 was the most magnificent ever heard in Parliament it 
 rang like a trumpet for an hour or two, and at the close 
 it was as musical as the song of birds! I thought as I 
 heard him several times of what the farmer said of him, 
 "He could talk a hen off her nest." His voice had an ex- 
 traordinary variety of intonations. Every line was made 
 instinct with life by a change of tone. The hearer was 
 first dazed, then charmed by a vast variety of solemn and 
 swelling sounds. The Grand Old Man was never more 
 brilliant or impassioned, and never held an audience in 
 greater admiration by his wonderful power, than during 
 the Home Rule debates. He reached the lofty level of 
 his own description in his book on Homer, where he de- 
 scribes oratory as being "the speaker's power to receive 
 from his audience in a vapor what he pours back upon 
 them in a flood." Whatever oratory needs to make it 
 pungent and attractive, Gladstone possessed the living 
 picture, the novelty of color, the graphic terseness, the 
 sting of irony, the power of climax. But his best orations 
 possess more than this the body and substance of all 
 natural power, the talent of giving back to your audience 
 their own thoughts and feelings and beliefs in a form that 
 
388 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 fixes them ever deeper in their own minds. He did not 
 indulge, like Disraeli, in "jewely hemorrhage of words," 
 never using such words as his rival puts in the mouth of 
 one of his characters: "I never smoke/' says one of his 
 heroes, to the father of the young lady he is wooing; 
 "tobacco is the tomb of love." 
 
 Gladstone is prodigal of his gestures. They are as 
 varied as his themes. When he commences, his table is 
 carefully arranged, his notes being usually placed in the 
 center. As he becomes animated he leans forward and 
 shakes his hand in the direction of his opponents. If any 
 one objects, he then puts both his hands behind his ears 
 to catch the words. If he hesitates for a word, he will 
 sweep his left hand through his hair. When he has spoken 
 an hour, he pauses, and takes some stimulant from a small 
 bottle which Mrs. Gladstone has carefully prepared a 
 yellowish fluid. His gestures frequently become violent. 
 Beaconsfield once said of him, that he was glad that a 
 table was between him and Mr. Gladstone during the 
 speech to which they had just listened with mingled ad- 
 miration and terror. 
 
 The great deficiency in Gladstone's oratory is a lack 
 of humor. But although he never tells a witty incident, 
 he enjoys one. While awaiting his arrival in Parliament, 
 I mentioned this defect to one of his enthusiastic followers. 
 "Yes, that is true," he replied; "but he laughs heartily 
 when one is told. For instance, an Irish physician, the 
 first of his profession in Dublin, and a Parnellite, upon 
 arriving in London recently, was asked the question, 
 'Would you like to live under a Home Rule Government?' 
 'I will answer your question,' said the eminent physician, 
 'by this story. Recently I was called to the bedside of a 
 dying patient. One of his friends said, "John, are you not 
 
WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. 389 
 
 afraid to die?" "No, I am not." "What, John," said 
 another, "are you aware that you are going to leave us, 
 and where you are going to?" "Yes, I am going to leave 
 you," said the sick man. "John, are you not afraid to face 
 the King of Terrors?" asked a third, his brother-in-law. 
 "No ; for I have lived thirty-five years with the Queen of 
 Terrors, your sister," replied John. 'Now/ said the Dub- 
 lin doctor, 'if I have lived under the English Government 
 for so many years, I am prepared to take my chances 
 under a Home Rule Government.' ' 
 
 One of Mr. Gladstone's friendly English critics says 
 there are three things to be considered in estimating his 
 character as a statesman: First, he is a Lancashire man. 
 It was in Lancashire he learned that profound appreci- 
 ation of the right and might of capital, without which no 
 creative financier can be made. It was the blood of the 
 Lancashire spinner in Sir Robert Peel, the first great 
 modern reformer of English finances. The same feeling 
 was strong in Gladstone he mused on the money market, 
 pondered on the low rate of interest, which might affect 
 the utility of the Government. He did his work in the- 
 Treasury, not as a matter of business, but as a matter of 
 love. As a novelist's mind swarms with expedients for 
 bringing out the points of his favorite characters, Mr. 
 Gladstone's mind swarmed with financial ideas, small and 
 great. 
 
 The next fundamental fact in estimating his character 
 is his Oxford training. It widened the scope of his genius. 
 In his "Church Principles, Considered in their Results," 
 perhaps the most difficult book in the English language,* 
 can be seen the traces of Gladstone's university life, the 
 Oxford before the movement of 1833; the Oxford which 
 made the Aristotelian dogma, that "virtue is the half-way 
 
390 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 house between two opposite vices," its ethical rule; the 
 Oxford which had not yet begun to dig after the roots of 
 principle, tended his mind to consequences rather than to 
 first principles. This habit, while it secured for him a 
 practical tone, denied him the highest triumphs of oratory. 
 Bright excelled him as a mere orator, because Bright re- 
 ceived his inspiration from the deepest fountains of human 
 passion; Gladstone did not sink his rhetoric wells deep. 
 
 The Peelite education of Mr. Gladstone was the third 
 fundamental fact in making him what he was. Sir Robert 
 Peel's influence tended to tame the wild craving in Glad- 
 stone's youth. It made him look at things with the eyes 
 of a prudent, cautious, country gentleman. Peel's influ- 
 ence again fostered the pacific and commercial side of 
 Mr. Gladstone's imagination. It strengthened the ad- 
 ministrative power of his mind, balanced it with whatever 
 of caution and judgment it had. His championship of 
 Italy has made that country his friend forever. An Eng- 
 lish gentleman was taken violently sick in a remote part 
 of Sicily. He asked his physician after his recovery, 
 "What is the fee and expenses?" "None," answered the 
 doctor, pulling out a photograph from his breast of the 
 Grand Old Man. "He paid it all." 
 
 Gladstone was the last of the great orators of England. 
 As an orator he has been surpassed, but as a debater 
 never. The Parliament, the bar, and the pulpit all shrank 
 from the eloquence and power of this extraordinary man. 
 His logic was always equal to his eloquence, and his elo- 
 quence equal to his logic. In him there was no affected 
 warmth ; none of that superfluous zeal which speaks from 
 the lips and never touches the heart; none of that stu- 
 pendous energy which argues only for effect. But its 
 chief charm was that it was at once enriched and invigo- 
 
WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE. 391 
 
 rated by the noblest imagination and decorations. It was 
 ornamented; but its force was no more sacrificed to its 
 ornament than the solid steel of the Greek helmet to its 
 plumage and sculptures. Mr. Gladstone's career will be 
 differently estimated by a variety of critics ; but none will 
 deny that he was the first great Englishman in a hundred 
 years who applied to the administration of civil govern- 
 ment the immortal principles of the New Testament. 
 
Chapter XXVI. 
 
 IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT JOHN BRIGHT, 
 
 CHARLES STEWART PARNELL, JOSEPH 
 
 CHAMBERLAIN, AND OTHERS. 
 
 THERE are many ways of securing admission to Parlia- 
 ment: By bribing a policeman; by having a vote 
 taken this requires about ten days, and Americans sel- 
 dom tarry long enough for this method ; and by the per- 
 sonal friendship of one of the members. The latter was 
 the plan by which I enjoyed the privilege for several 
 nights. 
 
 The Parliament buildings are built in an oblong form, 
 and they can entertain about five hundred members. The 
 number of members is six hundred, so the balance have to 
 find room in the galleries allotted to visitors. This House 
 of Parliament is not the old historic place where Chatham 
 thundered; where Pitt and Fox, the great rivals, fought 
 out their political duels; where Edmund Burke poured 
 forth his splendid speeches; where O'Connell pleaded for 
 the rights of Ireland; and where blushed the youthful 
 chivalry of Raleigh. There were no spells to awaken the 
 profound emotions of the heart, no mighty memories to 
 thrill the soul ; yet here was the seat of that great Empire, 
 vaster than the Roman legions covered, stretching from 
 the Bay of Bengal to the Himalaya Mountains, admin- 
 istering laws to a population of over three hundred mill- 
 ions, including some of the finest races of men in the 
 world. The House of Commons is now more of a repre- 
 sentative body than it was in the past. A few years ago 
 
 392 
 
IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 393 
 
 a stranger visiting it and asking, "Who is that man?" 
 would have been told he was a marquis, and that 
 there were several of them; of another he would be told 
 he was a viscount, and that there were several of them 
 also; of others he would be told that they were earls or 
 lords, and that there were many more of them in the 
 House; that there were, in fact, fifty lords and seventy 
 baronets, altogether, three hundred persons connected 
 with the peerage. The House of Commons, although 
 still largely dominated by the aristocracy, is now more a 
 reflex of the people. The vice of its constitution was like 
 the deformity of the poet Pope, who was constantly ex- 
 claiming, "God mend me!" and who was on one occa- 
 sion heard to say to himself, "God mend you, you little 
 deformity? It would be much easier to make a new one 
 altogether !" 
 
 Englishmen have looked to their Parliament for ages 
 with passionate reverence and affection. What an excit- 
 ing picture it presents to an American who views it for 
 the first time, though not the same where Burke took his 
 stand by the immortal rebel, George Washington, and 
 vindicated the American cause in words of eloquence 
 which will endure forever; not the historic place where 
 Lord Chatham stood before American independence was 
 proclaimed, and enunciated the grandest speech that ever 
 shook the walls of that edifice with its eloquence, in the 
 memorable words, "My Lords, America has revolted, 
 and I rejoice at it !" 
 
 Americans, and, indeed, all foreigners when they vis- 
 ited Parliament formerly, inquired at once for Gladstone. 
 There he sat, straight as an ash, with splendid brown eyes, 
 hands clasped, limbs stretched out before him, and having 
 the appearance of a man asleep ; but he was far from being 
 
394 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 asleep. Now and then the eyes opened widely, and he 
 rose to reply to one of his legion of encores. As he talked, 
 all the members began to take their seats, and there was 
 something grand as he proceeded, step by step, to over- 
 whelm his antagonist. There were no noisy, gorgeous 
 fireworks of a mere rhetorician ; but solid, thorough, wide 
 research and resistless logic. A voice soft and gentle or 
 overwhelming, now it was like the breathing of a flute, 
 now like the hurricane that shakes the pine-trees of a con- 
 tinent; an eye like Mars or Apollo, the finest ever set in 
 a human head; magnificent gestures, when every part of 
 his body was in motion, his eyes, his feet, his hands, each 
 a language in themselves. And as to the effects of his 
 speech he not only killed his enemies, but scalped them ! 
 Next to Gladstone was John Bright. He had a com- 
 manding figure, a massive presence, and a voice of mar- 
 velous compass. His voice had a wonderful musical 
 quality, and it was like listening to a song to hear him 
 speak. His slightest tones could be heard distinctly, and 
 when he raised his voice to its highest notes, it filled the 
 whole house. His gestures were few and simple. Of all 
 British reformers, he stood foremost; not because he was 
 the profoundest thinker, but because his sympathies were 
 ever with the masses. They not only were with the Eng- 
 lish and the Irish, but they traveled across the winds and 
 the waves of the Atlantic! During our Civil War he 
 uttered those brave and hopeful words: "I see one vast 
 confederation, stretching from the frozen North to the 
 glowing South in unbroken line to the Gulf, from the wild 
 billows of the Atlantic westward to the calmer waters of 
 the Pacific main, and I see one people and one language 
 and one faith, and all over that wide continent the home 
 of freedom and a refuge for the oppressed of every clime." 
 
CHARLES STEWART PARNELL. 
 
IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 395 
 
 But the man above all others who attracted Ameri- 
 cans, and,, indeed, all visitors, was Parnell, the leader of 
 the Irish Home Rule party. As a political agitator and 
 statesman, men of all nations have formed various esti- 
 mates; but none will deny that he was the first great 
 Irishman who compelled John Bull to pay heed to the 
 grievances of the Irish. Such judges of men as Glad- 
 stone, Morley, and Justin McCarthy have assigned him 
 a conspicuous place in British history. He had to con- 
 tend with more formidable difficulties than any previous 
 Irish leader. He was charged with all manner of crime, 
 that he was dismembering the British Empire. His life 
 was frequently so much in peril from the mob when he 
 left Parliament that he was compelled to reach his hotel 
 through lanes and alleys. A few years afterwards, so 
 great was his popularity, he had to take the same route 
 to escape the ovations of the multitudes. 
 
 In stature, Parnell was slender, and he looked, when I 
 first saw him, before his head was bowed, like a Calvinist 
 professor ; but his eye, when aroused, flashed like a spark- 
 ling diamond. He commenced his speech in a halting, 
 hesitating way, frequently using the English "hems and 
 haws," "ye know," etc. ; but in the very tempest of his 
 passion he was measured and self-possessed in his de- 
 livery, and, to outward appearance, cold and calm, yet his 
 speech was elaborately bitter and studiously hostile to the 
 English government of Ireland. It was delivered without 
 fire ; it betrayed no inward emotion ; it had all the external 
 coldness of snow ; but inwardly it had all the fire of a 
 smoldering volcano; it was everywhere inspired with a 
 vein of common sense and logic. It was no wonder that 
 Gladstone said of him, "Parnell is the only man who 
 knows what to say, and when he has said it, stops." 
 
396 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 The first time I met him was at Toledo, Ohio. For 
 years I had been endeavoring to set before the American 
 people the true nature of Ireland's complaints. Most of 
 them believed that all the Irish agitators and revolution- 
 ists were Catholics, and that Ireland's hostility to Eng- 
 land arose from that country being a Protestant nation. 
 This was the popular belief, but it was not true. The Irish 
 Revolution, like that of the Volunteers in 1782, when one 
 hundred thousand seized their guns and demanded inde- 
 pendence, was exclusively Protestant. The Roman Cath- 
 olics then could not own a gun. So it was in the rebel- 
 lion of 1798; the organizers and all the principal men 
 were Protestants. Parnell was a member of the Church 
 of England, an Oxford graduate, the grandson of Com- 
 modore Stewart, of the American navy, and the great- 
 grandson of Sir John Henry Parnell, the member of the 
 Irish Parliament who sent cheers to Washington. His 
 accession to the Irish cause was equal to a hundred thou- 
 sand men. 
 
 When Mr. Parnell closed his speech and retired to his 
 seat, the cheers of the immense crowd increased until the 
 roof rang with their acclaims, which Irishmen alone can 
 raise when their hearts are in their voices and every throat 
 pours out a soul in every sound. The speech at Toledo 
 was devoid of all rhetorical or oratorical ability; but the 
 evident sincerity, the practical good sense and honesty 
 captivated the Americans. The hall was packed. I was 
 late in arriving; but some of the ushers, recognizing me, 
 took me immediately to the platform. General Stead- 
 man, the old warrior of Chickamauga, presided. After 
 Mr. Parnell finished, I was called upon to speak, and find- 
 ing that it would be useless to refuse, made a short speech. 
 A Rev. Mr. O'Brien, a gifted and benevolent priest in 
 
IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 397 
 
 the audience, had been called upon, and putting down 
 $500 for the Irish fund, remarked, "I am glad to see here 
 the 'Uncrowned King of Ireland.' ' I opened my speech 
 by saying that the time when God anointed kings had 
 passed away forever; that the only king in this country 
 was the sweat that lay upon the blistered brow of labor. 
 At these words a cheer went up from the crowd. I then 
 told an incident that had happened in Ireland, and a 
 Presbyterian clergyman's remarks upon it. It was a case 
 of eviction, and when the Christian gentleman saw the 
 unroofed houses, the furhiture of the occupants thrown 
 out and smashed, the gables and walls standing like tomb- 
 stones in a graveyard, the poor people huddling together 
 in the distance, "Will God," said he, "hold guiltless the 
 men who, with worse than beast's cruelty, can thus traffic 
 in the body and souls of their fellow-men? Under the 
 spring of the tiger the struggle for life would be but 
 momentary ; but here is life prolonged that existence may 
 be embittered, and men, women, and children, under the 
 visitings of hunger and cold wooing death, but death 
 fleeing from them. The effect of a believed gospel is this, 
 'I was an-hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, 
 and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ye took 
 me in; naked, and ye clothed me.' The effect of Irish 
 landlordism is, 'I was an-hungered, and ye let me die; I 
 was a brother, and ye turned me out; clothed, and ye 
 stripped me; sick, and ye cast me into the ditches and 
 the miserable outhouses which were beneath the notice of 
 the demolishing Crown-bar Brigade.' ' I proceeded to 
 give a history of Parnell, saying that in his veins flowed 
 the blood of Irish and American heroes; that his grand- 
 father on his mother's side was the gallant sailor, Com- 
 modore Stewart, the heroic commander of old Ironsides; 
 
398 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 that his great-grandfather on the paternal side was the 
 incorruptible John Henry Parnell, whom British gold 
 could not buy to betray his country; and that Americans 
 ought to love the name of Parnell, for this gentle- 
 man, when Franklin appeared at the bar of the Irish 
 House of Commons with a message of sympathy, rose 
 and said, "This is Benjamin Franklin; let Ireland rise up 
 through her Parliament and give three cheers for Wash- 
 ington." The crowd became tumultuous in their ap- 
 plause when I told this incident. In closing, I turned 
 around and saluted Charles Stewart Parnell, not as the 
 Uncrowned King, but as the first citizen and President 
 of the Irish Republic. Amid the cheers that followed, 
 Parnell, the 'man of ice,' jumped up and threw his arms 
 around me, saying, "I wish to God you were in Ireland, 
 although I fear your strong republicanism would get us 
 all into prison!" 
 
 In the famous trial which took place in London, this 
 speech was read by Sir Richard Webster, the Attorney- 
 General of England, and quoted as evidence against Par- 
 nell. When he was asked if he had known me, his an- 
 swer was: "Yes; Mr. Pepper is an excellent Christian 
 gentleman." 
 
 The next day after the great meeting in Toledo, I trav- 
 eled for several hours with Mr. Parnell, and gave him 
 some copies of the Chicago Tribune, which was then a 
 most powerful and influential advocate of the Irish. Mr. 
 Joseph Medill told me afterwards that he was convinced, 
 after an hour's talk with the Irish leader, that he was the 
 most remarkable man he had ever met, and that his 
 method for the relief of the Irish tenants was the most 
 practical of any that had been presented to his knowledge. 
 The paper which Mr. Medill founded, and of which he is 
 
IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT. 399 
 
 still the proprietor, has never failed in the defense of the 
 Home Rule cause. Mr. Medill still lives, in the enjoyment 
 of a ripe and honored age. 
 
 Mr. Parnell's tour through the United States was an 
 ovation. Congress opened its doors for him to state the 
 cause of Ireland, an honor never before acceded to a for- 
 eigner except Lafayette. 
 
 A Toledo paper, in reporting the meeting, thus refers 
 to my address: "The Rev. G. W. Pepper, a very able 
 Methodist minister, of Bellevue, was called out and spoke 
 most eloquently. 'Before twenty years have passed/ he 
 said, 'the seed which is sown here to-night by Mr. Par- 
 nell will fructify into a golden harvest. Already I see 
 the faint flush of the morning lighting into glorious day. 
 The Irish people are more united than ever before.' He 
 was 'glad to be present at this meeting; but after all that 
 had been said, it would be an insult to longer detain the 
 magnificent audience.' There were cries of 'Go on ! go 
 on !' and the speaker continued a few minutes longer, and 
 was frequently interrupted . by rapturous applause. In 
 closing, he said that Mr. Parnell would not live to be an 
 Uncrowned King, but the first President of a republic/ ' 
 
 The Irish patriot is dead. His last days were clouded 
 and sad. Parnell was a patriot; he was no mere street 
 demagogue. He might have sold his country for place 
 and power; he might have flaunted proudly in the court 
 of Queen Victoria and died a wealthy baronet. He loved 
 Ireland as the Roman loved the City of the Seven Hills, 
 the Athenian the City of the Violet Crown. He lived a 
 patriot and died a martyr ! He had his failings who has 
 not? Calvin was a great theologian, but he listened with- 
 out protest to the cries of Servetus; Whitefield was the 
 seraph of preachers, and did the world good service, but 
 
400 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 he apologized for slavery; Washington was a saint, but 
 he swore a terrible oath once. 
 
 "Were David's songs less pure and sweet, 
 For his tempted heart and wandering feet ? 
 Were the stones of the temple less fair and good, 
 That Solomon bowed to gods of wood?" 
 
 JOHN DILLON AND OTHER HOME RULERS. 
 
 John Dillon, kindly, honest, intrepid, and true, the 
 first time I saw him was at Toledo before a brilliant assem- 
 bly, pleading the cause of old Ireland. The next time 
 was behind the bars of a British prison, smiling and hope- 
 ful. No chains could crush that unconquered spirit. The 
 last time was in the London Parliament. Then he did 
 not appear to have suffered much from his long incarcer- 
 ation, although his pale complexion and long straight 
 hair gave his face the appearance of care and anxiety. 
 He spoke in clear and measured tones. From the outset 
 he commanded attention by his evident sincerity and by 
 his devotion to his country. .He had spent several years 
 in the United States, and was thoroughly conversant with 
 our politics. 
 
 From my seat in the House of Commons I could hear 
 the thrilling tones of T. P. O'Connor, a well-known jour- 
 nalist. Bold without bluster, his eloquence exhibited the 
 highest qualities of the noble art. I lunched with Alfred 
 Webb, a man of the tenderest sympathy and most en- 
 lightened brotherly love. Also Diamond, a strong and 
 constant champion of temperance, a courteous gentle- 
 man, and a very industrious member of his party. Michael 
 Davitt, the whole-souled hero, was in grievous suffering 
 for his native land, that Ireland for which his gallant heart 
 so constantly palpitated, and his eloquence so forcibly 
 
JOHN DILLON AND OTHER HOME RULERS. 401 
 
 vindicated. With such advocates spending two-thirds 
 of their time in prison, Ireland can never be conquered. 
 A distinguished Methodist clergyman of Erin once told 
 me if all the Home Rulers had Davitt's broad and liberal 
 views, there would be no question as to the unity of Irish- 
 men. He is a fine speaker, and never fails to hold his 
 audiences. His is not a pompous and verbose eloquence ; 
 but he is a master of speech, and always carries his point. 
 I only heard a few of the speakers of this party. O'Brien, 
 Arthur O'Connor; Sexton, a clear and emphatic orator; 
 Esmond, Healey, Knox, -were all absent. 
 
 Dr. Tanner, a member of the British Parliament, to 
 whom I was introduced, is a generous and picturesque 
 character. He is a fine scholar, a successful physician, 
 but eccentric to an extreme degree. No visitor to Parlia- 
 ment leaves without seeing him. He has a sarcastic way 
 of saying things, which sting like an adder. For instance, 
 when the allowances to the royal family were being voted 
 upon, Tanner rose and made a brilliant but bitter assault 
 upon the Duke of Cambridge, grand uncle to the queen. 
 He was challenged to fight a duel by Major Jones. "In 
 reply," said the major, "to your despicable attack upon 
 the Duke of Cambridge, I designate you a coward. De- 
 lighted to give you satisfaction Pistols!" Tanner re- 
 plied: "Wire received, will meet you to-morrow in Con- 
 stantinople, under the Tower of Galata, midnight. Being 
 challenged, prefer torpedoes. Bring another ass." 
 
 About midway down the House of Commons sits a 
 courtly old gentleman, who was frequently mentioned as 
 Gladstone's successor Sir William Harcourt. He has 
 intellectual nerve, concentration of purpose, and a high 
 appreciation of the duties of a member of Parliament. 
 
 He was formerly the "Historicus" of the London Times* 
 26 
 
402 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 the author of articles which produced a wide sensation 
 at the time of their publication. To enter political life he 
 relinquished a salary of seventy-five thousand dollars a 
 year. In conversation with him he exhibited a great fond- 
 ness for the United States, pointing to his wife as an 
 American; she is the daughter of the historian Motley. 
 As. a speaker he is one of the best debaters in Parliament; 
 as pieces of legal reasoning his speeches are unanswerable. 
 His manner is not graceful, as he has the habit of pound- 
 ing one hand against the other when he makes a telling 
 point. 
 
 Joseph Chamberlain, the most conspicuous of the act- 
 ive Unionists, is a man of keen and penetrating aspect. 
 In his delivery he is calm, deliberate, and, ordinarily, cool 
 and motionless. Yet when excited he indulges in his 
 usual rhetorical gesture rising upon his toes and falling 
 with force upon his heels. This motion somewhat re- 
 sembles the action of a soldier when standing up and 
 keeping time with the men. He is a tall, well-built man. 
 His eye conceals not the intellect; for that glows within. 
 The poet might sing of him as of the old Scottish king: 
 
 " On his bold visage middle age 
 Has slightly pressed the signet sage." 
 
 The London World recently compared him to Bis- 
 marck. There is no comparison. The great German 
 never claimed to be an orator. His speech was always 
 noted for facts and bluntness. Chamberlain conceals the 
 stiletto beneath the velvet hand; Bismarck could not 
 brook contradiction. The fiercer the warfare on Cham- 
 berlain, the calmer and more bitter he grows. I was in- 
 formed by one of his townsmen that he practiced and 
 
JOHN DILLON AND OTHER HOME RULERS. 403 
 
 won his success as a ready speaker in the Birmingham 
 debating club. As a specimen of his best style, before 
 his desertion, as the Gladstonians term it, here is a sen- 
 tence delivered in Birmingham in 1885 : "I sometimes 
 think that great men are like great mountains, and that 
 we do not appreciate their magnitude while we are seated 
 close to them; you must go to a distance to see which 
 peak it is that towers above its fellows ; and it may be that 
 we will have to put between us and Mr. Gladstone a space 
 of time before we shall know how much greater he has 
 been than any of his corrfpetitors for fame and power. I 
 am certain that justice will be done him in the future, 
 and I am also certain that there will be a signal condem- 
 nation of those men who, moved by motives of spite in 
 their eagerness for office, have not hesitated to load with 
 indignities and insults the greatest statesman of our time." 
 It has become a habit of late years to sneer at Irish 
 eloquence; but there is not one of the scoffers can pro- 
 duce from among themselves the equal of a thousand 
 passages that live in the speeches of the fallen Parliament 
 of Ireland, or in the records of the present Home Rulers. 
 I regret that I only heard a few of them. They make no 
 pretenses to the oratory of the great immortals of the 
 past, but in directness of action, independence of thought, 
 and in readiness of debate, they were equal to their ene- 
 tnies the Unionists and Tories. The eloquence of these 
 men differs from all previous displays of speech in its 
 downright practicalness; there is no scope for poetic and 
 lofty flights of oratory ; the keynote of all their addresses 
 in public and in private, is the land for the people. Judged 
 by O'Connell's saying, "A splendid speech is a very fine 
 thing, but the verdict of the jury is the thing," they have 
 
404 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 achieved results unknown in the history of Ireland. These 
 Irishmen are the most logical and practical of speakers. 
 There is not the overwhelming rush of words falling over 
 each other which once prevailed. The magnificence of 
 the old oratory has given place to a more simple and 
 effective style. Sexton is a splendid speaker, having a 
 large command of words, a flowing utterance, and he is 
 very self-possessed in his delivery, and beyond all com- 
 parison stands far above meager and mouthing English 
 members. His speeches are a flat contradiction of Charles 
 James Fox's maxim, "Speeches are made to be spoken, 
 and not to be read." Sexton's pleas for Home Rule read 
 as well in the closet, and produce the same effect as when 
 delivered in public. Healey was absent when I visited 
 Parliament. I was anxious to hear the man who so hap- 
 pily followed Gladstone after his great speech, offering 
 Ireland the olive-branch. Healey said: "When I heard 
 the honorable gentleman's address, I could not help but 
 think of the royal prophet's words: 'How beautiful are 
 the feet of him who bringeth glad tidings and publisheth 
 peace!'" 
 
 John Redmond was also away. I heard him once in 
 the States, and in an hour he spoke the eloquence of 
 Giles, of Burke, of Everett. While his speech lacked the 
 brilliant rhetoric of Sheil, by its convincing arguments 
 it carried conviction to the thousands who heard him. 
 He held up no splendid phantom to the gaze of his coun- 
 trymen it was the life-and-death question of the posses- 
 sion of the land. 
 
 Justin McCarthy is as well known here as in Great 
 Britain. He has been successful in every department of 
 literature. I did not hear him in the House of Commons, 
 but it was my pleasure to hear him deliver a lecture upon 
 
 
JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM. 405 
 
 the Irish peasant in a London hall before the Irish Lit- 
 erary Society, an organization composed of Irish authors, 
 authoresses, editors, and many members of Parliament. 
 It was a masterly delineation of the Irish peasant, inter- 
 spersed all through with bits of Celtic wit and Celtic fire. 
 I was recognized and called upon for a few remarks. I 
 referred to the Irish peasants' sons in the United States, 
 their progress and advancement, citing the cases of Gen- 
 eral Sheridan, Charles O'Connor, and James T. Brady 
 of the New York bar. I spoke of the laurels they had 
 won, lifting them up from "obscurity to a dazzling height ; 
 but that in all their brilliant successes the blood which 
 flowed in their veins never proved false to the rich foun- 
 tain from which it sprung; that they were always proud 
 to own themselves the children of Irish peasants. This 
 part of my speech was received with cheers, but other 
 utterances, more radical to which I have already re- 
 ferred were less favored. 
 
 JAMES SILK BUCKINGHAM. 
 
 I met James Silk Buckingham, a member of the Brit- 
 ish Parliament, a famous traveler and explorer, and a 
 philanthropist of world-wide celebrity. He was among 
 the first advocates of universal peace, and into the legal 
 aspect of the temperance cause he entered with enthusi- 
 asm. He is a grand specimen of an English yeoman, 
 standing before his audience, dignified and erect, solid- 
 looking as a rock, with both hands firmly planted on 
 either side of the little table before him. I also saw at this 
 Manchester meeting the eminent chemist and writer, Dr. 
 Lees, of Leeds. He was a tall, slender, scholarly man, 
 and, as a speaker, among the best. He speaks simply, in 
 nervous, straightforward Saxon. His sarcasm, I remem- 
 
406 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ber, was most galling. He visited the United States a few 
 years afterward, and was my guest at Wellington, Ohio, 
 where he occupied my pulpit to the delight and admira- 
 tion of an immense audience. Dr. Lees was a capital 
 story-teller in conversation, but in his public addresses 
 seldom repeated an anecdote. 
 
 C. H. SPURGEON'. 
 
 I have spoken elsewhere of Spurgeon, and he certainly 
 ranked among the foremost pulpit orators of the world. 
 What raised him to this high rank? It was not his learn- 
 ing. He was no scholar, and his success has demonstrated 
 that a man can get along and be useful without it. Nor 
 was it his eloquence. He had great fluency of speech; 
 never seemed to hesitate for a word; but his style was 
 homely, plain, direct Saxon. Nor was it any novelty of 
 doctrine. His hearers were never startled by strange 
 fancies in theology. And yet twenty-four thousand eager 
 listeners heard him with delight every Sunday. George 
 Eliot could see nothing in his sermons but buffoonery. 
 "My impressions when I heard him," she writes, "fell be- 
 low the lowest judgment I had ever formed of him. His 
 method," she continues, "is utterly common, and empty 
 of guiding intelligence and emotion. I was shocked to 
 find how low the mental pitch of our society must be, 
 judged by the standard of this man's celebrity." But 
 there were others who were charmed by his oratory. 
 "When he mounted the pulpit," said Lord Houghton, 
 "you might have thought him a barber's apprentice; when 
 he left it, he was an inspired apostle." "There is not 
 thought enough in his sermons to fill a lady's thimble, 
 but devotion enough to float Elijah's chariot," exclaimed 
 the philosopher, John Tyndale. Many anecdotes are re- 
 lated of him. He raised a hornet's nest when he defended 
 
C. H. SPURGEON. 407 
 
 smoking. "There is a Pharasaic system which add.s to 
 the commands of God the precepts of men," he said. "I 
 smoke to the glory of God. When I have found intense 
 pain relieved, a weary brain soothed, and calm, refreshing 
 sleep obtained by a cigar, I have thanked God and blessed 
 his name." I heard of a certain Church that gave 
 the collection to its pastor for his support; the collection 
 after Mr. Spurgeon's sermon was unusually large. "Dear 
 me," said the pastor, "what a large collection !" "What is 
 your usual collection?" "Last Sunday it was two pence 
 and a half-penny." "What is it to-day?" "Eight pence 
 and a half-penny," was the reply. "Woe is me !" said Spur- 
 geon, "for I gave six pence of it myself." C. H. Spurgeon 
 belonged to the English world. He spoke their language 
 with a simple and massive force which has only been 
 equaled by John Bright. The power, simplicity, and sin- 
 cerity of the man, and the flavor of a reliant personality 
 which ran through every racy sentence, remind us that 
 there is only one Spurgeon. When I first heard him he 
 was of medium height, with a round, beardless face. His 
 forehead was not high. It was his voice which was the 
 only personal instrument by which he acquired such a 
 marvelous power over the minds and hearts of his hearers. 
 
Chapter XXVII. 
 
 PRESIDENT McKINLEY. 
 
 1 FIRST saw President McKinley in the summer of 
 1884, at Augusta, Maine, when he had made his open- 
 ing address for Blaine and Logan in that State. I was 
 returning from Bar Harbor, where I had spent the even- 
 ing with Blaine, receiving instructions as to the best meth- 
 ods of political campaigning. He spoke frequently of 
 Mr. McKinley, referring to his advent into the State, and 
 dwelt with enthusiasm upon his past services in Congress, 
 designating him as "brightest of the men of the country 
 who contributed to the political progress of the Nation;" 
 that "he was endowed with a high order of intellect, and 
 the destiny before him was grand and elevated." 
 
 President McKinley, from his tone of voice and from 
 his personal appearance, resembles the late Sir Robert 
 Peel ; his voice, like Peel's, has but the compass of a few 
 notes, within which he scrupulously keeps, maintaining 
 the tone of private conversation never rising above it, 
 never sinking below it. He is not as eloquent as Peel; 
 but in the weight of argument, the force and novelty of 
 ideas, the concentration of thought that rivets attention, 
 he has all the effects of eloquence, without being eloquent. 
 Measured and self-possessed in his delivery, and to out- 
 ward appearances cold and calm, yet his language is that 
 of a statesman who loves his country. He uses metaphors 
 sparingly, and his correct taste and sound judgment il- 
 luminate whatever subject he touches upon. What Ro- 
 land said of Louvet may be appropriately applied to 
 
 408 
 
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY. 409 
 
 -\ 
 
 President McKinley: "Courageous as a lion, simple as 
 a child, a good citizen, in the tribune he could make 
 Catiline tremble, and in the evening sup with the graces." 
 His army speeches teem with allusions to Lexington, 
 Concord, Fort Donelson, Gettysburg, Atlanta. He says 
 very little of Anglo-Saxonism, of the glory of the mother 
 country. Mr. McKinley has been censured and admon- 
 ished by some of his own political party as being too ex- 
 treme, going too far in the advocacy of a high protection 
 for his country. If these opponents search the past, they 
 will find that the American stands in illustrious company. 
 When Wilberforce was awakening the horror of the civil- 
 ized world, and shaking the walls of the British Senate 
 with his brave anathemas against West Indian slavery, 
 no doubt some candid friend was ready to say to him, 
 "Wilberforce, your motives are excellent, no doubt, but 
 do not be rash; you go too far." But Wilberforce per- 
 sisted in going "too far," and, in the burning words of 
 Lord Brougham, "The attention of the nation awoke, 
 then indignation kindled and descended in thunder, and 
 smote the traffic, and scattered its guilty profits to the 
 winds." When Henry Grattan stood up in the Irish Sen- 
 ate to plead the cause of Irish rights and Irish independ- 
 ence, no doubt a cautious friend said to him, "Grattan, 
 it is of no use; we are all delighted with your majestic 
 eloquence and your talents and earnestness ; you are quite 
 right in the abstract; but, really, in the present circum- 
 stances, you go too far." But Henry Grattan persisted 
 in going "too far," and Irish rights were won and Irish 
 independence achieved. When the early Abolitionists 
 commenced their agitation against slavery, their audi- 
 ences were small ; they were advised that their opinions 
 were too extreme. The wise men were scornful, but the 
 
410 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 obscure agitators pushed their cause before the public 
 gaze. Then, when there were crowded audiences, the 
 floodgates of slander were opened. But they persisted, 
 and the pestilent manacles which oppressed millions were 
 struck from the fettered limbs of slaves. And William 
 McKinley, believing his cause to be just, would follow 
 that bright star of protection to the American toilers, 
 beaming from the heavens, whithersoever it might lead. 
 
 When I was in Italy William McKinley was running 
 for governor of Ohio, and his name, so extensively men- 
 tioned in the American papers, was frequently copied into 
 the Italian journals. Many of the Italians who were not 
 versed in the intricacies of American politics, would say 
 to me : "Who is McKinley? Do you know him? Will he 
 be elected?" Everywhere in the great cities and the 
 quiet villages, Americans would be confronted with the 
 inquiry, "Who is McKinley?" I had sent my resignation 
 to Washington early in the spring, and was impatiently 
 awaiting a reply and the appointment of a new con- 
 sul, in order that I might return home during the 
 summer to visit the World's Fair in Chicago {my re- 
 turn did not actually take place until in December, so 
 great was the delay in the matter), and the Italians in the 
 household knew that I was anxiously awaiting news in 
 regard to a new consul. One morning the portinai, or 
 portress, of the building in which the consulate was situ- 
 ated, rushed into the office, and announced : "O Signore, 
 I know who the next consul is to be!" "Indeed," said I, 
 rather surprised that any one in Italy should know it 
 before I did myself, "and who is it?" "McKinley!" she 
 shouted triumphantly. 
 
 William McKinley is a progressive and far-seeing 
 statesman. Only five years ago he was known as a strong 
 
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY. 411 
 
 protectionist, and nothing more. At this time he stands 
 before the world commanding the applause of European 
 nations for his successful and magnificent leadership of 
 the Cuban War. He has shown himself a statesman equal 
 to every emergency. Festina lente, "Make haste slowly," 
 is his motto. A statesman without apprenticeship, and 
 fame without probation, are equally unsound. There 
 were decided exceptions taken by many leading men of 
 his party against his theory of intervention in behalf of a 
 long-suffering people. But the results of the war have 
 justified his actions. His career in this campaign has 
 been a succession of great successes. In this and all his 
 undertakings there was an inspired grandeur, very natural 
 in a man who awoke one morning and found the world 
 ringing with his praise. His remedies for industrial de- 
 pression, a judicious tariff; his relief for the Cubans was 
 the abandonment of the islands by the oppressors; his 
 medicine for a monetary crisis was a sound currency ; his 
 encouragement to commerce was the return of American 
 prosperity. He always watches the progress of events. 
 When Sir Robert Peel submitted to the House of Com- 
 mons that measure of emancipation, he heralded his 
 change from his former views by a brief but remarkable 
 confession, "I have watched the progress of events." 
 When the Duke of Wellington recommended to the 
 House of Lords silently to acquiesce in the Reform Bill, 
 which up to that time he had stubbornly resisted, he also 
 had "watched the progress of events." When, still later, 
 Sir Robert Peel had for a second time sacrificed power, 
 friendships, and the associations dearest to a public man, 
 in order to achieve what he believed to be for the general 
 good of England, he justified his act upon the ground 
 that he had "watched the progress of events." He who 
 
412 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 fails to watch the progress of events may enjoy a dignified 
 seclusion, but he will never feel the glow of pride and 
 satisfaction that accompanies the sense of public useful- 
 ness. He who lingers in the rear of his time, fondling his 
 the6ry like some poor lunatic in his cage, while the world 
 is marching on healthily active, may win the commiser- 
 ation, but will never have the confidence of his fellows. 
 To be abreast of the age is the first condition of the public 
 service. Who does not feel that President McKinley is 
 looked upon by his countrymen as the pilot into whose 
 hands the Ship of the Commonwealth was wisely confided 
 in this hour of storm and danger? And who is ignorant 
 that the universal confidence is founded on the simple 
 fact that throughout every plan of his life, through evil 
 and good report, in office and out of office, he has never 
 lost sight of the necessities of the Nation, or failed to 
 "watch the progress of events?" 
 
 To omit all mention of Mr. McKinley's religious char- 
 acter would be most unpardonable, and a ground for just 
 reproach. He is a devout Christian, an exemplary mem- 
 ber of the Methodist Church. His Christian home-life 
 appeals to the religious people of the country with an 
 unmatched freshness. He is seldom absent from church, 
 and is generally accompanied by his accomplished, high- 
 minded, and courageous wife. In the excitement of the 
 tremendous contest which he made for governor the last 
 time, when he spoke at the rate of three times every day, 
 an old comrade of the war, a minister of the gospel, met 
 him, and greeted him, saying, "Major, you look tired." 
 "Yes," replied the major, "I am tired; but there is not a 
 day that I do not ask the help of God." 
 
 There is not a taint of religious bigotry in his nature ; 
 he loathes religious prejudices. During the Harrison 
 
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY. 413 
 
 campaign a committee of Republicans asked a pious but 
 narrow-souled Methodist bishop if he was a Republican. 
 The answer was, "I am a Methodist, opposed to Roman- 
 ism, and therefore I am a Republican." I saw McKinley 
 a few days afterwards we were both engaged in the same 
 campaign and called his attention to this fresh exhi- 
 bition of Burchardism. He was indignant, and said, with 
 feeling: "I, too, am a Methodist; but such utterances 
 are abhorrent to my soul they are un-American, anti- 
 Republican, and opposed to the letter and spirit of the 
 Constitution, an insult to the intelligence and liberality 
 of the century. I am sick and tired of being held respon- 
 sible for such atrocious statements." 
 
Appendix. 
 
 THE NATIONAL CAUSE ITS SANCTITY AND 
 GRANDEUR. 
 
 A SERMON ON THE NATIONAL, FAST-DAY, DELIVERED IN THE METH- 
 ODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AT KEENE, COSHOCTON 
 COUNTY, OHIO, DECEMBER, 1861. 
 
 " If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pes- 
 tilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, 
 and cry unto Thee in our affliction, then Thou wilt hear and help us." 
 2 CHRON. xx, 9. 
 
 A NATIONAL fast is a greater thing than the grand- 
 est spectacle of a National Thanksgiving. The one 
 is spontaneous, requiring no effort ; the other is a conflict 
 with the selfishness of the human heart. An act of thanks- 
 giving mingles with the gratification of our bodily serv- 
 ices; but an act of humiliation is the subjection of the 
 body and the elevation of the soul. Hence we affirm with 
 truth that a Nation upon its knees in the act of humili- 
 ation is a far greater thing than the most dazzling and 
 magnificent human exhibition of any public act of thanks- 
 giving. A whole Nation, with the President at its head; 
 senators, generals, ministers, soldiers, and people, are 
 joining with one accord to keep a solemn fast for the dis- 
 tinct recognition of an Almighty but Invisible God, as- 
 sembling in all the churches of the land, and in the groves, 
 God's first temples, confessing and deploring their sins; 
 supplicating for mercy in the midst of the Divine judg- 
 ments, and bowing down with humble submission to the 
 will of the Omnipotent ! How much more sublime and 
 moving a spectacle is this, than the most gorgeous cele- 
 bration of any earthly feast in the season of prosperity! 
 
 414 
 
APPENDIX. 415 
 
 A Nation humbling itself is better than a Nation triumph- 
 ing; a people praying is, in reality, a more glorious sight 
 than a victorious army. O, how much brighter than the 
 most brilliant illumination for a victory! The duty of 
 fasting has been recognized in all ages. . . . 
 
 The skeptic, with a contemptuous sneer, asks why a 
 national fast has been proclaimed? Is it not time to pro- 
 claim a fast on account of the intense worldliness that 
 reigns in the land? Gold was becoming our supreme 
 national God. The creed of the masses was, that life is 
 the time to get rich; death is the time of speculation; 
 heaven is a mart with golden streets ; hell a debtor's prison 
 for unsuccessful men, the chief end of man is to glorify 
 gold, and enjoy it forever. Is it not time to proclaim a 
 fast when insubordination and rebellion at home have 
 raised their horrid crests? Is it not time to fast when 
 property and life are insecure? Is not a fast required of 
 us by God to bewail the sin of slavery, a sin which is 
 founded on diabolical wrong, and is maintained by an un- 
 relenting outrage of all the sacred rights of humanity and 
 a daring blasphemy against the laws of religion and of 
 God? Is it not time to proclaim a national fast when an 
 army of rebels, banded together by the most horrid oaths, 
 are threatening the ruin of the noblest superstructure of 
 civil government that Heaven ever vouchsafed its crea- 
 tures? Is not such a memorial due to the patriot dead? 
 The patriot martyrology is filling up its archives with no 
 mean names. The "seal of the living God" touches many 
 a brow, as noble victim after victim falls in this pro- 
 slavery rebellion. These dead heroes are patterns to be 
 studied. It is everything to point to their labors, great 
 and splendid. Rich triumphs of heroism have they won; 
 sweet and precious fruit have they yielded. We remember 
 them with delight, because vindicating that eternal love 
 of country, dear to every American heart. Who can 
 quote their names without feeling the swift blood passing 
 swifter through his veins? The youthful and heroic Ells- 
 worth; the quiet and beautiful Winthrop; the impetuous 
 Lyon; the illustrious Baker; the amiable Andrews, of 
 
416 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Kenyon, whom the soldiers loved when living, and wept 
 when dead; the manly Haggerty, among the earliest to 
 seal with his blood his unquenchable devotion to the land 
 of his adoption ; the intrepid Kearney, the one-armed hero 
 of a hundred fights ; the lion-hearted McCook, who, in the 
 agonies of assassination, preached to his murderers the 
 gosepl of Union; Mitchell, schooled in philosophy and 
 science, trampling on the prizes of lettered ambition, 
 coveting only to be a soldier of the Union ; Cantwell, who 
 defied the giant power of Rebellion at Manassas; Cass, 
 O'Neil, Hogan, Donohue, Coney, Joyce, and Emmet, 
 all of Meagher's famous brigade; Perry, Weirich, Hes- 
 kett, a noble trio, laying aside the noble vestment of the 
 priesthood, died for their country; the veteran Sumner, 
 having his soul's life in this great cause, the one medium 
 of his thought and feelings, whose dying prayer was, 
 "God save my country, the United States of America!" 
 the ardent and gallant Lanning; the manly Patton; the 
 brave Winlepeck ; the names of Bechtol, Emerson, Craw- 
 ford, Smith, Shannon, Cross, Mulford, Campbell, Den- 
 man, McMichael, all gone! The memories of these 
 noble men will be held by their friends. Long is the necro- 
 logical list sad, yet magnificent. These men felt it was 
 sweet and glorious to die for their native land. The hands 
 that grasped the flag are now stiff ; the eyes that beamed 
 with patriotic fire are now closed; the ears that caught 
 the first sound of the advancing foe are forever shut ; the 
 voices that marshaled the men to action are forever mute ; 
 but the lofty spirit of patriotism that impelled them to 
 deeds of noble daring can never expire; like the word of 
 the holy man, it shall endure forever. 
 
 Should not such models of heroism and patriotism 
 be so contemplated and copied that the country may 
 never want defenders? The trophied Pyrgos of Milti- 
 ades on the plain of Marathon suffered not Themistocles 
 to sleep. The monster statue erected by his countrymen 
 to O'Connell, revived the expiring hope of Irish nation- 
 ality. The monument in the capital of Belgium com- 
 memorates the virtues of the three hundred martyrs of 
 
APPENDIX. 417 
 
 the revolution. Amid the wild scenery in the valley of 
 the Tyrol, and by the soft blue waters of Lake Lucerne, 
 the glorious Swiss place the image of Andreas Hofer 
 and William Tell. On upland heath, in pleasant dale, on 
 polished Loch Katrine, the countrymen of Robert Burns 
 celebrate the heroism of William Wallace and Robert 
 Bruce. In Italy, in Poland, and in Hungary, the poets 
 of the people in immortal verse rejuvenate the patriotic 
 fires of these old nations, by pointing to the splendid 
 deeds of Savonarola, Kosciusko, and the illustrious Mag- 
 yar. Shall America be less grateful to her gallant sons? 
 Let shafts of granite in every country town, emblazoned 
 with imperishable sentences, picture the gallantry of the 
 soldiers of the second American Revolution. 
 
 This day's solemn proceedings teach us that the trials 
 we are now enduring are only a part of a great transitional 
 development. No nations, however prosperous, but have 
 had their adversities, sometimes resulting in their ruin. 
 We see this principle plainly dated in the pages of every 
 nation's history. 
 
 "Greece, lovely Greece, 
 The land of scholars and the nurse of arms," 
 
 where Liberty first built her mountain throne, first called 
 the waves her own, and shouted across them a proud de- 
 fiance to despotism's branded myriads; Greece, the land 
 of poets, sculptors, philosophers, and matchless orators, 
 where and what is she now? It was believed that Ichabod 
 could never be written over this powerful nation, then 
 considered the university of the age, the eye of the world, 
 and the emporium of eloquence and commerce; but her 
 ruined altars, the fragments of her temples of snowy 
 marble, her lost arts, and her dismantled fanes proclaim 
 with emphasis that for two thousand years the oppressor 
 has ground her to the earth. 
 
 As we descend the roll of centuries, we find an empire 
 
 which surely will be indestructible. Rome, manly and 
 
 majestic Rome, baptized herself the mistress of the world, 
 
 and her eagles glanced on the rising and setting sun. 
 
 27 
 
41 8 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 She boasted that she was the Ocean Queen, gave laws 
 to the world, and defied the mighty potentates of the 
 earth. But the classical Gibbon has sketched the rise 
 and fall of the Roman Empire. England, France, and 
 Spain have had their seasons, times when they arose, we 
 know how; when they seemed to gather strength from 
 every struggle, to rise superior to every competitor, to 
 wax brighter and brighter until they arose to meridian 
 glory; and times when they declined, we know why. 
 
 We, too, had our sunshine of prosperity. For years 
 our progress has been wonderful. Arts and sciences have 
 advanced beyond credence; the internal policy of our 
 Nation, its laws, organization, its justice, its liberty, its 
 commerce, its territory, its churches, and its schools. The 
 sun, I believe, has never shone upon a land for which the 
 Almighty has done so much as for Columbia her im- 
 mensity, her noble sea-line, her mountains, forests, prai- 
 ries; her valley-beds, whose fearful concaves seas must 
 once have filled ; her tremendous denudations, which seas 
 might fill again; her estuaries, which give navigation to 
 her inmost heart ; her sealike rivers, more glorious high- 
 ways than the proudest military or princely pass ; her out- 
 lets and embouchures, all exhibit nature on its grandest 
 scale. There the often tried experiment, over which free- 
 dom has sighed for ages, has suceeded. The most san- 
 guine anticipations of the men who signed the charter of 
 Independence is more than realized, when within the life- 
 time of the present generation of men their successors 
 are making laws for over thirty millions, covering an ex- 
 tent of territory stretching from the billows of the Atlan- 
 tic to the calmer waters of the Pacific main. The meta- 
 physical Berkeley sang: 
 
 " Westward the star of empire takes its way ; 
 
 The four first acts already passed, 
 A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; 
 Time's noblest offspring is the last." 
 
 During the lengthened period of peace, when the 
 aegis of Divine protection preserved us from the sleet of 
 
APPENDIX. 419 
 
 foreign war, our country was making majestic strides 
 in the onward path of national prosperity. The whole 
 world was crowning us as the proud Queen of Nations. 
 Nature was pouring all her treasures into the lap of Free- 
 dom, and nothing was wanting to proclaim the grandeur 
 of the crisis; but while we were thus prospering, beating 
 our swords into plowshares and our spears into pruning- 
 hooks, the Southern disunionists were planning this 
 frightful rebellion against the Constitution; and to the 
 amazement of the world, the aristocracy of the kingdom 
 of cotton had struck its first blow at American repub- 
 licanism. The head and^ front and backbone of this Re- 
 bellion is slavery. This is conceded by all the advocates 
 of the South. The Convention of South Carolina de- 
 clared that the blow aimed at the Union had been gather- 
 ing head for thirty years ; thus did they blaze their hypoc- 
 risy to the world. In addition to the guilty system of 
 slavery, the immediate cause of the Rebellion, is to be 
 found the pestilent heresy of State Sovereignty. This 
 theory of State Rights, upon which the revolted States 
 have planted themselves, is unconstitutional. After the 
 Revolutionary struggle was over our patriot fathers 
 formed a Union of the Colonies, under a compact known 
 as the "Articles of Confederation." As the Nation in- 
 creased, this compact was found to be wholly inadequate 
 to secure the efficient carrying out of the ends of govern- 
 ment. Experience taught that such a league was worth- 
 less. This led to the formation of our present Consti- 
 tution. 
 
 This instrument took effect in 1789, and never con- 
 templated the withdrawal of a State once entering. If a 
 State has the right to secede, so have the counties of 
 every State, and the towns of every county, and the citi- 
 zens of every town. We owe it to every citizen, to our 
 posterity forever, to the struggling nations of the earth, 
 to every friend of humanity, to every hater of monarchy, 
 to the precious memory of the slaughtered patriots, to 
 God and the world, to annihiliate the doctrine of State 
 Sovereignty forever. Mr. Stephens, the expounder of the 
 
420 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 new order of things, says that slavery is the corner-stone 
 of the Confederacy. The like was never known before. 
 Revolutions have had for their watchword and war-cry, 
 "Liberty or Death !" To save the liberties of Rome the 
 imperial purple fell. For this Hungary agonizes; Italy 
 organizes ; Poland strikes ; Ireland pants to crush the per- 
 fidious aristocrat; and for this Jefferson wrote the im- 
 mortal charter. A government based on slavery can not 
 succeed. The throne of God is against it, and the uni- 
 versal cry of despotism's captive millions, "Down with 
 slavery forever!" 
 
 Great and splendid names may indeed be numbered 
 among the votaries of the Slave Confederacy, names 
 which have acquired high renown in the annals of philos- 
 ophy and genius. 
 
 The slaveholding Confederacy derives no luster from 
 the rank or fame of its disciples. The disciples are but 
 sunk by the vileness of the political heresy they have em- 
 braced ; and O, it is mournful beyond expression to think 
 of men whose talents might have advanced the noblest 
 of objects, and whose memories might have been perpetu- 
 ated in pure and imperishable fame, but who, by becoming 
 the advocates of such a monstrous Rebellion have dark- 
 ened their own glory and poisoned their own happiness, 
 and committed themselves to the execrations of mankind 
 throughout the world ! The systems of slavery and seces- 
 sion wretched compounds of every crime known in the 
 catalogue of depravity are, under all possible aspects, to 
 be held up to unmingled and unmitigated scorn. The 
 Catilines of the Republic have been educated at its ex- 
 pense ; been laden with its honors ; been fed at its treasury. 
 We may say, with the poet, over the stricken eagle, 
 
 "Keen were his pangs, yet keener far to feel 
 He nursed the pinion which impelled the steel, 
 While the same plumage that had warmed his nest, 
 Drank the last life drop of his bleeding breast." 
 
 In the day of judgment the bloody deeds of Nero, 
 Caligula, and Brant will be venial in comparison with the 
 
APPENDIX. 42 1 
 
 perfidy, perjury, and savagery of the instigators of this 
 wicked insurrection. 
 
 " The common damned will pass them by, 
 And know themselves as fiends less foul." 
 
 Next to the South, the Union of these States has its 
 most formidable foes in the governing classes of England. 
 The able statesman and accomplished diplomatist, Will- 
 iam H. Seward, has said, had it not been for the sympathy 
 and national aid of the English aristocracy, this Rebellion 
 might have been subdued in three months. This incom- 
 parable Government has always been an eyesore to the 
 British Crown and Parliament. The steady and splendid 
 progress of the freest and most popular form of govern- 
 ment that ever was established in the world, struck the 
 most lively alarm into the hearts of all aristocrats, who 
 were anxious to have it established that the sovereign 
 people were not capable of self-government. .Before Eu- 
 rope and America I solemnly and deliberately charge 
 England with the tremendous crime of perpetuating this 
 Rebellion, and of widening the Constitutional Union of 
 these States. English intrigue, backed by English love 
 of gold, is trying to accomplish what English arms could 
 not accomplish in 1812, the destruction of the American 
 navy, to regain for herself her old maritime supremacy. 
 If the American Union is destroyed, England has a new 
 lease of power, she will have California and its golden 
 treasures. Our destruction is worth more to England 
 than twenty Waterloos. Well does the old hypocrite 
 know this; long has she labored, therefore, to effect the 
 ruin over which she now rejoices. The present England 
 does not remind me of the England of Clarkson, of Wil- 
 berforce, of Buxton, and of O'Connell, who proscribed 
 the foul traffic in human flesh, and threw down millions 
 as a ransom to extinguish slavery in her Colonies. But I 
 am reminded of the England whose deputies betrayed, 
 poisoned, stabbed, and assassinated Irish princes in the 
 good old days ; of the England whose generals slaughtered 
 Irish peasants by tens of thousands, or put them into 
 
422 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 scuttled ships to sink at sea, or sold them to West India 
 planters ; of the England whose Clive and Hastings mur- 
 dered Indian kings, plundered their revenues, decimated 
 their people, and exposed their wives and daughters to 
 insult in the public market-place; of the England whose 
 officials butchered the Chinese because they refused to 
 consume the deadly drug of opium; of the England 
 whose hired mercenaries executed the heroic Emmet 
 for the simple reason that he could not learn to 
 chant the litany of slaves; of the England whose 
 packed juries forever ostracized from a land they 
 adored, the gallant Meagher and brave Corcoran; of the 
 England whose oppressive laws produce periodical fam- 
 ines, and which to-day fill the houses of Ireland with lam- 
 entation, mourning, and woe. The cheap policy of ex- 
 terminating the Irish, which England has adopted for 
 years, is soon to end; for the news now is, that all over 
 Ireland there can be heard the tramp of thousands drilling. 
 
 A day of reckoning is coming. Already Ireland is 
 awakening from sleep, and a flash of electric fire is pass- 
 ing through her millions. The refusal of the students 
 of the Dublin University to illuminate their halls in honor 
 of the Prince of Wales's marriage, and the immense meet- 
 ings held in all parts of the country to sympathize with 
 America, demonstrate that Ireland is preparing to strike 
 the grandest, meanest, falsest tyranny that ever deformed 
 the world. 
 
 It only remains to suggest a few of the bright features 
 developed by the present war. 
 
 What sublime lessons of wisdom may we have been 
 learning from that rude instructress, war! In reviewing 
 the past two years there are many bright lights in an 
 otherwise dark picture. Behind the darkest material 
 cloud there is still the sunlight that has shone on from the 
 earliest moment through ages of undiminished brilliancy. 
 In like manner the present desolating war has its bright 
 lights. The high-minded and Christian reluctance of the 
 Government to embark in the actual horrors of the con- 
 test, and their earnest, judicious, and honorable though 
 
APPENDIX. 423 
 
 unsuccessful efforts to avert, by diplomatic negotiation, 
 an appeal to arms, is the first bright light in the conduct 
 of the Administration. If it be the rule of Christian duty 
 for an individual, it is equally so for a Christian Nation. 
 "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably 
 with all men." We could ill have spared the comfort of 
 that retrospective reflection amid the sad disasters that 
 have ensued. It was not until the eleven batteries manned 
 by eight thousand Confederates made the murderous as- 
 sault upon the gallant Anderson and his heroic crew that 
 the Government had recourse to the sword. The thunder 
 of cannon in Charleston Harbor aroused the Nation. Evil 
 as war is, it is still the less of two evils. Better the crash, 
 the fiery bolt ; better the wild torrent from the mountains, 
 sweeping away the corn and the vines, than the stagnant 
 pool, breeding deadly pestilence. 
 
 Another bright light is the patriotism of the people. 
 Patriotism is a virtue of the highest order. There is a 
 splendor about it which causes it to commend itself to 
 all men. It is a beautiful and glorious thing. The love 
 of country is a noble sentiment. It is this principle that 
 binds man to man; which associates with itself all the 
 sweet charities of home ; which speaks the same language, 
 recognizes a common interest, sits down under the pro- 
 tection of the same laws; which causes the Laplander to 
 prefer the eternal snows of his wintry life to all the splen- 
 dor and profusion of Asia, because it is his country. He 
 who would not dare and do for the land of his birth is 
 deficient in the elements of greatness, and deserves to be 
 a slave. More than seven hundred thousand patriotic 
 American citizens, faithful to the counsels and memory 
 of Washington, are under arms by land and sea, to de- 
 fend the Nation's integrity and life. In the records of the 
 world such a sight has never before been seen. Since 
 the day of Pentecost such a baptism has never fallen on 
 the world, the people are inspired. 
 
 The valor and splendid exploits of our gallant soldiers 
 is another bright light in the present war. How sublime 
 the lessons of heroism already given us by the noble 
 
424 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Ellsworth! Already a race of heroes springs from his 
 blood. There has been illustrated in gory lettering on 
 many an ensanguined field the hereditary courage of the 
 heroic past. The story of the Pilgrims, of the Revolu- 
 tionary Fathers, is no more a dead victory, but a living 
 power. It is easy to speak thrillingly and rapturously 
 of deeds of human enterprise, and every tongue is ready 
 to swell the praises of Columbus, who went forth on the 
 waste of waters, burning to snatch a New World from 
 the grave of centuries; and to echo the fame of William 
 Tell, who bade the splendid land of lake and cataract and 
 mountain spurn the base yoke of foreign despots. Every 
 one admires, every one extols these daring purposes of 
 master and fiery spirits; but think ye that the sublime pa- 
 tience of the army exhibited in the bitter night watches, 
 in the trenches, and their unyielding valor in the con- 
 tested field, are not as equally deserving the applause of 
 every lover of free institutions? The man who would 
 withhold the laurel from our brave defenders is in mind 
 a fool, or in heart a traitor. If the pulse beats not high 
 at the recital of the daring deeds displayed at Lexington, 
 Antietam, Stone River, a kind of polar spell must have 
 chained the life's blood. 
 
 The war has brought out one fine result, it has 
 shown that the weaker sex, though born to wealth and 
 luxury, are ready to renounce every comfort and brave 
 every hardship, that they may minister to the suffering, 
 tend the wounded in their agony, and soothe the last 
 struggles of the dying. God bless the Sisters of Charity 
 in their heroic mission I had almost said their heroic 
 martyrdom ! And I might have said it ; for I do think 
 that in walking through those long lines of sick-beds, 
 in giving themselves to all the ghastly duties of the hos- 
 pital, they are doing a harder thing than was allotted 
 to many who mounted the scaffold or dared the stake. 
 Where did the Roman youth get their amor pa-trice so 
 that they came forth with eagerness to fight the battles 
 of the State? Daughters caught it from their mothers, 
 when they heard them speak with exultation of the ex- 
 
APPENDIX. 425 
 
 ploits of their fathers in the field; sons caught it when 
 their fathers returned from the battle, as they doffed their 
 helmets and hung up their shields, and said that the first 
 duty of a citizen was to the State. 
 
 The matrons of America, baptizing their sons and 
 brothers with their tears, bade them grasp the gleaming 
 steel in defense of their 'imperiled institutions. These 
 heroic women are the inheritors of all the glory of Cor- 
 nelia, and they possess all the sublime self-sacrifice of 
 the Spartan who said : "Dear are these my children, dear 
 are the charities of home; but my country is dearer 
 than all." 
 
 The grand Union army is an impressive and beauti- 
 ful illustration of the profound affection entertained for 
 a republican Government by the foreign-born citizens of 
 the country. In the army of the Union are to be found 
 Italians, who fought under Garibaldi for the unification 
 of Italy; Hungarians, in whose ears linger the inspiring 
 tones of Kossuth's voice; Poles, who yet dream of an 
 independent Poland; Germans, whose love of liberty is 
 proverbial, the names of the gallant Sigel, the brave 
 Osterhaus, and the noble Stahls, are as familiar as house- 
 hold words. The Irish element in this war is significant, 
 and is suggestive of a few observations. Doubt was felt 
 in some quarters whether foreigners, especially Roman 
 Catholics, would respond to the Nation's call. This sus- 
 picion was groundless ; for they have furnished a splendid 
 percentage of the entire army. 
 
 In speaking so highly of the Irish regiments and their 
 leaders, I am not invidious; for the common glory be- 
 longs to all. All hail to the thousands composing the 
 Union army ! No matter under what sky they drew the 
 breath of life, they will receive, as they richly deserve, 
 the thanks of every republican throughout the world. 
 
 " From the vineland, from the Rhineland, from the Shannon, from the 
 
 Scheldt ; 
 
 From the ancient homes of genius, from the saintly home of Celt ; 
 From Italy, from Hungary, all as brothers join, and come, 
 To the sinew-bracing bugle and the foot-propelling drum ; 
 
426 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 And proud beneath the starry flag to keep and to secure 
 The liberty they dreamed of by the Danube, Elbe, and Suir. 
 Here Scots and Poles, Italians, Gauls, with native emblems fight, 
 Here Teuton corps, who fought before, Fur Freiheit und fur Llchh 
 While round the flag the Irish, like a human rampart go, 
 They found Cead Mille Faillhe here : they'll give it to the foe." 
 
 In this union of races and beliefs I see an omen of 
 success. These bright features of the war are cheering 
 things in our destinies tokens that we are neither for- 
 gotten nor forsaken by God. But nevertheless I can not 
 conceal from you my conviction that we have arrived at a 
 momentous crisis in the history of our country. The 
 ruthless hand of Rebellion is making a powerful effort to 
 tear down this beautiful fabric of Christian civilization, 
 to undermine the splendid columns of our free country, 
 and everything we hold valuable is at stake. It is, hu- 
 manly speaking, for you to say in what condition the 
 future generations of this country shall be born whether 
 the new immortals, as they spring into life, shall find 
 themselves surrounded by the bulwarks of freedom, or 
 the untamed ferocities of a slave empire. I conjure you 
 this day to ignore partisanship, and imitating Themis- 
 tocles and Aristides on the plains of Marathon, unite and 
 repel the enemies of your country. There were two great 
 parties in the Roman Commonwealth when Hannibal 
 came down like an avalanche from the Alps and was 
 marching to the Capital. The Senate was confounded; 
 the venerable Sempronius exclaimed : "Gods ! which of 
 the two shall we choose, slavery or death? I am for 
 war!" It was enough; the timid became heroic, and 
 united to carry the war into Africa with triumphant and 
 swift success. 
 
 Let us 'imitate and emulate their action. I summon 
 you, by your sentiments of patriotism; your quenchless 
 spirit of liberty; the welfare of the 'Nation; by your alle- 
 giance to the Government ; by the memory of the heroic 
 dead, whose bones are bleaching on the Southern plains ; 
 by the smoking blood of your brothers and kinsmen; 
 by a slaughtered army, to place this day upon the altar 
 
APPENDIX. 427 
 
 of your country such an offering of patriotism as will 
 prove to the world that this Union must and shall be 
 preserved. I bring, as it were, the banner of beauty and 
 glory, with magnificent emblazonry of stars, to the shrine 
 of this sacred place, and unfurl its radiant folds before 
 you. Lyook upon it as it waves in your midst. It has 
 floated in many a breeze; it has been borne in many a 
 battle ; many a fierce day has it waved ; over many a 
 battlement has it been made to float in triumph; many 
 a brave hand has grasped it; and many a warrior's eye 
 has kindled, and many a warrior's heart has throbbed, 
 as, looking upon it in all its bloodstained beauty, and 
 reading the motto, "By this, conquer!" he has followed 
 it into the scene of warfare and of death. When I have 
 seen this' flag in other lands and gazed upon its stainless 
 stars, my heart has melted within me, as I remembered 
 that under it Washington fought, Taylor planted it on 
 the heights of Monterey, and Scott over the halls of 
 Montezuma. That flag has been dishonored. The liv- 
 ing Jehovah; the brilliant group of patriots, reposing 
 in eternal peace; the spirits of departed worthies, bend- 
 ing down from their lofty dwellings; illustrious martyrs 
 of all countries; and Columbia, your country, address 
 you, and by a signal synonymous with triumph, conjure 
 you to lift up that banner, to advance that flag, until its 
 stars shall gleam from California's Gulf to Hudson's Bay, 
 and from the Queen of the Antilles to the domains of our 
 august friend, the Czar of Russia. 
 
 I have spoken of the first time I saw your splendid 
 banner. It was when the Green Isle was burdened with a 
 slaughter which excited a world's sympathies. As its 
 folds were waved over that ship with bread for the starv- 
 ing, I read your grand history. The past rose up before 
 me. A Nation's flag is a Nation's history. I saw Samuel 
 Adams, the prophet and the guide of the rebels, write the 
 immortal sentence, and fling it to the bending heavens and 
 to the listening earth, "Resistance to tyrants is obedience 
 to God." I saw that august body which Lord Chatham 
 declared the noblest assembly ever convened the Conti- 
 
428 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 nental Congress, and I saw the tall and princely form of 
 Charles Thompson, its secretary, read the Declaration of 
 Independence. I saw General Washington, clarum et 
 venerabile nomen, take command under the old elm-tree 
 at Cambridge. I saw the Revolutionary soldiers, bare- 
 footed and weary, track the frozen ground with their 
 blood as they marched to Valley Forge. I saw the patri- 
 otic women of New Jersey, when the cartridges gave out, 
 invade the churches, fill their arms with hymn-books, 
 saying to the soldiers, "Boys, give them Watts; boys, give 
 them Watts." I saw the Liberty Boys of New York take 
 down the brass statue of King George, and I saw their 
 wives and daughters melt it into forty thousand bullets, 
 and send it back to the king in the bodies of his red-coated 
 soldiers. I saw the English army after Yorktown dis- 
 appear. I saw the gaunt frame and heard the sublime 
 oath of Andrew Jackson, when he swore "that this Union 
 must and shall be preserved." I resolved then and there 
 to become an American, to cast my lot with this people, 
 and the services I have rendered that flag have been the 
 happiest recollections of my life. 
 
 DEAD ON THE FIELD OF HONOR. 
 
 Delivered on the 3oth of May, 1896, in New Philadelphia. 
 
 VETERANS of the Grand Army! You are the ora- 
 tors of the day. Your bronzed faces, your shrunken 
 and withered forms, your white hairs, your flowers, your 
 tears, your glorified wounds, all speak more thrillingly, 
 tenderly, and eloquently to the human heart than any 
 words of mine at this sacred and memorable hour. It 
 is indeed a holy and a solemnly-beautiful scene. Lovingly, 
 in the midst of green leaves and the opening splendors 
 of the summer, assemble the pride and beauty of the 
 country to crown with sweet flowers the sepulchers, and 
 to keep green and fragrant the heroic memories of the 
 dead heroes of the American Republic. Decorating the 
 graves with flowers, grown in nature's virgin purity, is 
 
APPENDIX. 429 
 
 a good old custom. In Virgil's splendid epic we read 
 that when the funeral pile of Marcellus was preparing, 
 the aged Anchises said to his son : 
 
 " Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring, 
 Let me with funeral flowers his body strew; 
 This gift which parents to their child do owe, 
 This unavailing gift, at least, I may bestow." 
 
 It was done for the Grecians slain at Marathon. But 
 neither in Greece nor in Rome was there ever such a 
 floral offering as takes place to-day throughout our broad 
 and magnificent land. Thirty millions reverently and 
 gracefully lay their tributes of pure flowers, sweet em- 
 blems of all that is beautiful and true, upon the dust of 
 three hundred thousand martyrs. O, sacred devotion to 
 duty! O glorious patriotism! Brilliant though this 
 scene be, it is only a small and insignificant part of that 
 mighty chorus which commemorates in speech and song 
 the gallantry and peerless courage of the patriot dead. 
 Throughout this vast Commonwealth there are songs 
 sung, fervent eulogies delivered, there are prayers offered 
 to the Throne, and there are tens of thousands of brave 
 hands and fair hands decorating every grave spot with 
 beautiful chaplets ! Upon the banks of great rivers, in 
 the valley of Sacramento, in the golden gorges of the 
 Yuba, on the red hills of Georgia, throughout the broad 
 plains of the Carolinas, and on the green hills of New 
 England, is this day hailed as the festival of the redemp- 
 tion of Liberty. The dead soldiers of the Union ! How 
 suggestive the text! They went to death with all the 
 radiance of true chivalry. In the honored graves in which 
 they sleep, they are far above the arguments of the living 
 crowd ; and though many of them have no grand mauso- 
 leum to enshrine their ashes, yet there memory is sweet 
 and their deeds, like the higher stars, shall shine forever. 
 That the land of Washington might be free, they laid 
 down their lives, and even with a patriotic rapture, im- 
 plored the stroke of martyrdom. 
 
 It may be justly said of them what an eloquent Euro- 
 
430 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 pean said of those who fell before the walls of Buda, the 
 consciousness of doing right impressed upon their dead 
 features proved them to be the nameless demigods of 
 Liberty. Since that fatal April morning, rich with roses, 
 when the first flash of the traitorous guns sent the blas- 
 phemous challenge to the Stars and Stripes, many noble 
 and gifted soldiers have gone to a better and brighter 
 world! With souls unflinching and with hearts as brave 
 as ever beat, they died for their country. When the 
 illustrious French soldier, Latour d'Auvergne, the first 
 grenadier of France, as he was simply and honorably 
 called, fell in the service of his country, his name was 
 still retained on the muster-roll of his regiment, and when 
 called out by the commanding officer upon service days, 
 as if he were still present, the oldest soldier would step 
 out of the ranks, and, amid the solemn silence of his 
 comrades, reply in these touching words: "Dead on the 
 field of honor/' And so when the muster-roll is read 
 out to future generations, to their names shall be added 
 as their best and most appropriate epitaph: "Dead on 
 the field of honor." Long is the list, sad, yet magnificent. 
 The youthful Ellsworth, the quiet Winthrop, the heroic 
 Lyon; Mitchell, with his genial face and kindly heart, 
 schooled in philosophy and science; McCook of the lion 
 heart, breathing out his life, and preaching in the agonies 
 of death, the gospel of the Union; McPherson, having 
 his soul's life in the great cause, sinking beneath the can- 
 nibal blows of assassins! Who can recall that name and 
 not be impressed with a sense of stainless chivalry? His 
 was a master mind, his was a consuming zeal. There was 
 in him an assemblage of qualities which raised him to a 
 parallelism with the noblest confessors of freedom. How 
 does the wave of the Chattahoochie seem to redden with 
 his name and murmur with his blood! He was raised 
 to a higher command that of the celestials. Surely the 
 gallant soldier is there, listening to the harpers harping 
 with their harps. Lytle, of the brave loth Ohio, wield- 
 ing a power to which all difficulties yielded; great as a 
 soldier, but gentle as the flower which he loved to train ! 
 
APPENDIX. 43 1 
 
 Smith, the stripling commander of the 43d, who defied 
 the giant power of the Rebellion in its strongest de- 
 fenses, planting the banner of the Union where no power 
 can ever again trail it in the dust! Then those master 
 spirits, Sedgwick, Wadsworth, Kearney, Sumner, Cor- 
 coran, Reno, Rawlins! 
 
 The spectacle of our martyrology grows upon us! 
 Pale, dreamless sleepers, their memories are pious, glo- 
 rious, and immortal. The victories of the war were those 
 of the privates. I would not take one laurel from the 
 brows of the great captains who led our hosts to vic- 
 tory the persistent Grant, the Crichton of our armies; 
 from the chivalrous and* fighting Rosecrans; from the 
 accomplished McClellan; from the brilliant Sherman; 
 from the intrepid Sheridan, whose cavalry charges rival 
 those of Murat ; from the high-spirited and dashing Han- 
 cock; from the heroic Meade; from the great host of 
 generals who gathered around the "banner of beauty and 
 glory," as Napoleon's marshals did around the imperial 
 eagle; but, nevertheless, our success must be ascribed, 
 under God, to the stout hearts and iron arms of the en- 
 listed men of the army. We are here to honor them by 
 strewing their graves with these rare flowers. Would 
 that they remained of perpetual beauty, bloom, and fra- 
 grance! Their sepulchers by day shall be watched over 
 by the sun, and by night by the constellated stars ! Wher- 
 ever Freedom plants her standard, these deeds of mag- 
 nificent heroism shall be mentioned with devotion. The 
 trophied tomb of Miltiades, on the plain of Marathon, 
 would not suffer Themistocles to sleep. On the scene 
 of the battle was erected a spotless shaft of marble to 
 the memory of the fallen Spartan heroes, who sent back 
 the glorious answer to Xerxes when he demanded their 
 arms, "Come and take them!" and on that monument 
 was written an inscription by Simonides: "O, stranger, 
 tell it at Lacedsemon that we died here in obedience to 
 her laws." Their statues, in Greece stir the heart. Fiery 
 young Greeks often exclaim, "The trophies of Miltiades 
 will not let me sleep." 
 
432 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Our honored dead, like the Spartans, felt it was sweet 
 and glorious to die for their country. Though the hands 
 which grasped the sword are now stiff, though the eyes 
 which once flashed with patriotic fervor are now closed, 
 though the ears which caught the first signal of the ad- 
 vancing foe are forever shut, their lofty spirit of patriot- 
 ism can never expire. Their fidelity, courage, brave en- 
 deavors, and self-sacrifice shall live forever. 
 
 " They shall resist the empire of decay, 
 When time is o'er and worlds have passed away; 
 Cold in the dust the perished heart may lie, 
 But that which warmed it once can never die." 
 
 This festival memory, of love, of truth, reminds us 
 of the undying devotion to Liberty which animated the 
 souls of the illustrious dead. It was the thrilling and mo- 
 mentous cry of Freedom endangered that caused every 
 light to burn with beacon fires. It was love of Liberty 
 which inspired your fathers, husbands, brothers, sons, to 
 face, with the composure of a summer's rain, the red hail 
 of death. For six thousand years tyrants have tried to 
 crush it out of the hearts of humanity. Their fagots, 
 their inquisitions, their star chambers have been in vain. 
 The half million of patriot soldiers who died during the 
 war splendidly vindicated the growth of Liberty against 
 dungeons, bayonets, starvation, and the battalions of 
 slavery. Our gallant brothers were driven to starvation 
 and death. But there was one blazing torch which could 
 not be driven away, which the prisons, the graves, and 
 oppressions of the Confederates could not extinguish. 
 It was lit when the sun darkened over Calvary. The 
 battle-fields of the South flowed with the blood of the 
 men in blue; but the immortal spirit of Liberty wafted 
 the red surge and foam, pointing the sinking spirit to 
 eternal rest. When the flag of Washington, the illumi- 
 nated scripture of the Nation, was assailed, a million men, 
 with the love of Liberty in their hearts, shouldered their 
 muskets. Noble and elect women, with tears in their 
 eyes, glowing with sacred enthusiasm, standing on their 
 
APPENDIX. 433 
 
 thresholds, imparted their farewell benedictions. In the 
 name, of the Lord of Hosts, a charge, a grand charge, 
 was made for Liberty, dear Liberty lovely and sacra- 
 mental as heaven's wide rainbow ! Liberty, God's best 
 and costliest blessing ! Liberty, the oppressed's last and 
 fondest hope ! Liberty, the world's crowning and eternal 
 triumph ! Liberty, for which -Emmet proudly mounted 
 the scaffold ! Liberty, for which Henry pleaded ! Lib- 
 erty, for which Warren, Montgomery, and Pulaski died ! 
 It was the last word stammered by the dying soldier as 
 the heavens opened to receive him. And so upon this 
 day of grace we go forth to celebrate with music, poetry, 
 eloquence, art, orations, and monuments the -sacred mem- 
 ories of heroes and martyrs to whose dazzling deaths in 
 the blaze of war a mighty nation owes its existence. 
 
 This beautiful festival also reminds us of the match- 
 less patriotism of the people ! Patriotism is a term sug- 
 gestive of the most charming memories. It is invested 
 with the rich and warm associations of that holy spot 
 that sheltered us in infancy, and where we imbibed and 
 exchanged some of the purest charities of the heart. Dy- 
 nasties may change, governments may be swept away; 
 but love of fatherland will be as tender in the world's 
 gray age as in its primeval morning. What can be sweeter 
 in its pathos than Virgil's tender sketch of Andromache 
 flying from the wrath of gods and men, and building up 
 in her new land a little image of her ancestral city of 
 Ilium? Lord Byron, the greatest poet of the English 
 tongue, in his splendid tragedy of the "Two Foscari," 
 illustrates this principle. How often has the American, 
 wandering over the earth, said with poor Jacopo : 
 
 " Ah ! you never yet 
 Were far away from Venice, never saw 
 Her beautiful towers in the receding distance, 
 Whilst every furrow of the vessel's track 
 Seemed plowing into your heart ; you never 
 Saw day go down upon your native spires, 
 So calmly in its old and crimson glory, 
 And after dreaming a disturbed vision 
 28 Of them and theirs, awoke and found it not." 
 
434 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 The Poles never forget their own beautiful land. 
 They cling to it with a rare and heroic devotion. 
 Through the broad streets of London they followed the 
 hearse of Thomas Campbell, and when he was entombed 
 they threw upon his grave some holy clay brought from 
 the fields of the Vistula. It is a tribute not less sacred 
 than the wedding ring to the genius which gave voice 
 to the dreams, the great conspiracies for Freedom which, 
 for centuries, had made Poland the worthiest of the 
 European nations. How grand the patriotism of our 
 own American citizens! Never on our soil was there a 
 prouder day. The march of the thousands to the seat 
 of war was a passage in our history never to be forgotten. 
 Glorious patriots, your bodies were the illustrious and 
 adamantine rock against which the overwhelming surges 
 of treason dashed in vain ! All classes responded with 
 lavish enthusiasm to the bugle call. Democrats and Re- 
 publicans, natives, adopted citizens, Catholics and Protest- 
 ants, fought with equal desperation. They stood together 
 in the same field of death; they scaled the same battle- 
 ments; they advanced in the same forlorn hope; and, to 
 use the fine expression of a gifted poet, they looked 
 proudly to heaven. 
 
 This fraternity of nationalities suggested to the poet 
 Scanlon the following spirited lines: 
 
 " Comrades ! around our campfires bright, 
 
 Here's to our starry banner, 
 That flies across the brow of night, 
 
 God's choicest blessings fan her ; 
 And while men worship Freedom's name, 
 
 They '11 man each deck and cannon, 
 And fight for Freedom all the same, 
 
 By Hudson, Rhine, and Shannon." 
 
 In the grand armies of the Union might be seen a 
 picture worthy of transference to the imperishable page 
 by Prescott's luminous pen ! There were the woodsmen 
 of Maine, the raftsmen of upper Mississippi, the farmer 
 boys of Vermont and Wisconsin, the factory hands of 
 
APPENDIX. 435 
 
 Massachusetts, the mechanics of New York, the miners 
 of Pennsylvania and Illinois, the flower and chivalry of 
 Ohio, and amidst this brilliant gathering were the laugh- 
 ing voices, the kindling eyes of Erin's sons, and the Ger- 
 mans. 
 
 They marched to the music of the Union, as it swelled 
 forth in the grand measure of "Hail Columbia." They 
 victoriously carried the ark of the American covenant 
 through the fire and tempest of war, expanding the dome 
 of the temple of Liberty, perfecting it, and leaving it erect, 
 stately, august, and adored. 
 
 We are reminded by this sacred festival of the splen- 
 did bravery of our dead comrades. Their courage is the 
 admiration of the world. Infinitely bright are the halos 
 of glory which encircle the brows of these triumphant 
 warriors of Freedom. They marched to every battle with 
 high-crested spirits, and everywhere came out of it 
 adorned with the superior wreath of valor and morality. 
 When the lightning of war gave place to the divine branch 
 of peace these merchants, farmers, lawyers, mechanics, 
 ministers, returned to their former pursuits. 
 
 I wish to pay a tribute to those noble women who 
 gave their husbands, brothers, and sons in defense of a 
 Nation's life. Cornelia, the Spartan mother of fifteen sons, 
 gave them to the cause of her country, saying, as she 
 placed her hands upon their heads, "Dear to me are these, 
 my children, dear to me are the fruits of my home; but 
 my country is dearer than they." So American mothers 
 laid their hands upon their sons' heads and said, "Though 
 they are dear to me, my country is dearer than all." God 
 bless the American women and mothers! All over the 
 Union to-day there are women giving their time and 
 flowers to deck the soldiers' graves. 
 
 While decorating the graves of the Boys in Blue, do 
 not forget to drop a tear of sympathy into the graves of 
 the Southern soldiers. They proved themselves the most 
 masterly revolutionists of the age! They were Amer- 
 icans and heroic, though mistaken, men. Sprung from 
 the same stock, trusting: in the same redemption, believ- 
 
436 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ing in the same God, and candidates for the same immor- 
 tality, they were our brothers. Now that the war is 
 over, let their errors and follies be buried out of sight 
 forever. Nature draws no distinction between the Gray 
 and Blue. The grass is as green and the sun shines as 
 brightly over their graves as over ours. 
 
 The spirit of democratic government is everywhere 
 in the ascendant. Nation is answering unto nation. The 
 elder world is enacting dramas more brilliant than any 
 ever produced by stage or canvas. The very Cossack 
 has caught the sacred contagion, and has become the 
 champion of the oppressed. Turkey, that lair of savages 
 and laboratory of assassins, is doomed. God-speed the 
 Czar ! I kiss the hem of his garment. I bid you hearken 
 to the funeral knell of the Turk, the tolling out of the 
 message that his destruction is near! The night of Mo- 
 hammedanism, which has blasted the fairest portions of 
 Europe, is far spent. Already the Russian cavalry are 
 watering their horses in the sacred waters of the Ganges ! 
 The tinge of gold on the mountains of a long-oppressed 
 world marks the coming of the Sun in his strength. I 
 hail as the dawning of truth, the awakening of the masses 
 from their long sleep, the coronation of liberty and the 
 glimpse of blue through the dark thick cloud. The spirit 
 has gone forth ! - It is the resolve of a great and outraged 
 people, uttering the accents of freedom in a strain of 
 majesty. Its echoes roll from hill to hill, catching the 
 response from every heart till in the swell of its mighty 
 volume it shall awaken the supine and arouse the dor- 
 mant energies of millions. Gladly would we see Liberty 
 crowned in every land. Gladly would we see it in Ger- 
 many. Gladly would we see it more prevalent in France 
 in France, made gay by nature and reflective by seven 
 heroic revolutions against despotism ! Gladly would we 
 see it combined with the pure and lofty enthusiasm of 
 Spain Spain, as it shall be when governed by her great 
 souled Castelar! Gladly would we see it in England, 
 when the men of England Bright, Dilke, Mill, and other 
 such shining advocates of humanity shall control the 
 
APPENDIX, 437 
 
 destiny of that once mighty empire ! Gladly would we see 
 it in Ireland; and on the ruins of her desecrated and dis- 
 mantled temple of 1782, a glorious edifice arising, a 
 temple of independence, of freedom, and of peace ! Then 
 the graves of her murdered patriots would become the 
 stepping-stones to immortality! Gladly would we see 
 the splendid combinations of nationality, freedom, jus- 
 tice, blending with the peculiar characteristics of every 
 nation on the earth, and the triumphs of republicanism 
 announced in more languages than have ever been enu- 
 merated by a Barring or a Barritt. 
 
 Though thirty-six years have rolled into eternity since 
 I was at old Camp Meigs, I am still the same as when, 
 in the morning of life, I left the spot that sheltered me 
 in infancy and bore me across the waves. Still the same 
 as I was when for the first time I looked with admiration 
 and wonder upon the handsome cities, the merchant 
 princes covering the Atlantic with their fleets; the stately 
 buildings and grand opportunities of this magnificent 
 Republic. Still the same as when, in the earlier years of 
 my ministry, I commenced my work of a Methodist 
 preacher in your section. I miss the kindly hand and 
 hearty welcome of many old friends Judge Patrick, 
 Simpson, Harmount, and others. Still the same as when 
 the bugle call to arms rang in my ears, and I preached 
 a war sermon and a hundred noble men responded. Still 
 the same as when, with the gallant Bartilson and Robin- 
 son, I invoked the young Democrats and the young Re- 
 publicans of the country, and when, amidst the thrilling 
 acclamations of hundreds, we marched through the streets 
 of New Philadelphia to the war for the Union. Still the 
 same as though no hopes had fallen like withered leaves ; 
 as though no star had fallen from the heavens to which 
 I looked; as though my home had not been a vacant 
 place, voiceless, lampless, and hung with mourning; the 
 same as when joining with the surging chorus I called 
 the patriotic young men of this and adjoining counties 
 to arms, and from arms to liberty. 
 
 I might say to you, in conclusion, what a great poet 
 
438 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 makes Antony say of Caesar when he pointed to the 
 wounds that had been inflicted on the Emperor's body, 
 "Show you sweet Caesar's wounds, poor dumb mouths." 
 So the dumb mouths of the dead conquerors of the Amer- 
 ican Republic have each a tongue, and plead with pierc- 
 ing and prevailing eloquence for the fine and magnificent 
 country in whose behalf they perished, and which they 
 loved so well. If I could call up to your view our glo- 
 rious dead; if I could crowd these sacred grounds with 
 the forms of those who in the somber years of war made 
 a rampart of their bodies against the encroachments of 
 slavery and secession, with what awe and veneration 
 would you gaze on the noble army of martyrs! How 
 would you gather fresh strength and patriotism from be- 
 holding Lincoln, McPherson, Mulligan, Ellsworth, in 
 withstanding every national sin which gave to death so 
 illustrious a group ! I know that their beautiful memo- 
 ries wake the pulse of a holy love of country, and that 
 the breathing of their names, like the trumpet peal of 
 a righteous war, sends the throb of a high resolve 
 throughout this brilliant assembly! Now, as you look 
 on this stirring spectacle, breathe forth a prayer as fervent 
 as any that ever passed from your heart for the land of 
 Washington, that the wrongs of the oppressed may be 
 redressed; that the soldiers' widows and orphans may 
 be cared for with no niggardly hand; that the ports may 
 open their gates; that the rusted machinery of toiling 
 millions, the steel armor of civilization, may once more 
 beat with the vitality of trade; that temples of industry 
 and religion may rise amidst the wastes of war; that the 
 lofty principles of equal and civil rights may continue in 
 every section of the Union as long as the sun endures; 
 that the deadly art of war may give place to the gentler 
 arts of peace; that American freedom may yet strike off 
 the world's chains; and that the future of the United 
 States, the country of our birth and adoption and love, 
 may be coeval with the advent grandeur of the Son of 
 God! 
 
APPENDIX. 439 
 
 THE TRUE GRANDEUR OF A NATION. 
 
 BY REV. GEORGE W. PEPPER, CHAPLAIN 40x11 U. S. I., DELIVERED 
 AT RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, ON JULY 4, 1867. 
 
 MY COUNTRYMEN, This is indeed a brilliant and 
 beautiful scene. This is a propitious and consecrated day. 
 The summer sun in its journey to the west looks on no 
 more impressive sight; on no grander spectacle. Why 
 have assembled here in the shadow of these stately oaks, 
 gallant men and fair wonien the hope and struggle, the 
 glory and the joy of life? Should a stranger viewing this 
 grand assemblage ask, "Why is all this enthusiasm? why 
 these splendid banners floating in the breeze?" we would 
 tell him that the loyal masses of North Carolina were met 
 to celebrate the most august event which ever constituted 
 an epoch in the political annals of mankind ; not to cele- 
 brate the birthday of a despot, but the birthday of a great 
 Nation. No thunder of cannon, no roll of drums, no 
 blare of trumpets, no empty pageant of regal grandeur, 
 summons us hither. How simple, how sacred, how sub- 
 lime is the occasion of our meeting! The impressive 
 prayer that the God of our fathers would be with us; 
 the public reading of the great charter, the Declaration of 
 Independence, which has given a radiant immortality to 
 the day; the enthusiasm of this vast multitude; the in- 
 spiring strains of patriotic music; the presence of gal- 
 lant men and women, all these delightful surroundings 
 combine to clothe this anniversary with grace and 
 splendor. 
 
 All over the earth to-day, over the North and South, 
 on mountains and on plains, among the poor and the rich, 
 the natives of Columbia and the friends of liberty hang 
 out their banners the Stars and Stripes hold high festi- 
 val, and renew their recollections of the land of Washing- 
 ton, now made doubly dear and sacred to them because it 
 is the resting-place of the great and good Abraham Lin- 
 coln. Good man, he now sleeps in the grandeur of eternal 
 
440 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 peace. Honor to his beautiful memory! Americans 
 everywhere at this hour are celebrating, amid the roar of 
 cannon and the pealing of cathedral bells, not only the 
 deeds of our Revolutionary fathers, but the greater glories 
 of the last few years. By the St. Lawrence, by the Hud- 
 son, by the Thames, by the Mississippi, by the Ganges, 
 by the Nile, by the golden shores of the Bosphorus as 
 well as on the banks of the Liffey, the Shannon, the Bar- 
 row, and the Suir there is good cheer to-day, a feast 
 of reason and a flow of soul ; one voice and one heart 
 animate the citizens of this bounteous land. This is the 
 holiday of the \vhole Nation. We find monumental struc- 
 tures raised to enliven the patriotic virtues of nations. 
 The patriarchal pillars of stone, and the Pythian, Nemean, 
 Isthmian, and Olympic games were institutions of this 
 character. The various feasts of the Jews were the evi- 
 dences of this principle. To those established by God 
 they added a feast of the dedication of the Temple and 
 also the Feast of Purim, to commemorate their wonderful 
 deliverances. Mark, too, the Heaven-ordained ordinances 
 of the Israelitish Passover and the Christian Eucharist ! 
 Like a blazing line of fire, they perpetuate through all 
 time the infinite condescension of God. And so it is in 
 regard to this festive, joyful, glorious day. The 4th of 
 July, 1861, beheld the hardy sons of the North and South 
 brightening their armor for the combat. Their battle- 
 ground was a continent, their audience was the world. 
 The 4th of July, 1862, found the North in mourning over 
 the slain of the Chickahominy, the South rejoicing in suc- 
 cess. The 4th of July, 1863, and the North had shattered 
 into atoms the legions of the South at Vicksburg and 
 Gettysburg. On the Nation's birthday, 1864, both sec- 
 tions were ready for the final struggle. Ere another 
 anniversary, the North is victorious, the South is van- 
 quished, democracy and freedom have triumphed, rebel- 
 lion and slavery have died. 
 
 I need not review the struggle which preceded and 
 succeeded the Declaration of Independence. Your own 
 minds are familiar with the terrible privations of the Revo- 
 
APPENDIX. 441 
 
 lutionary soldiers, who, amid the snows of Virginia win- 
 ters, amid the deadly malaria of the Carolina swamps, 
 amid the bleak winds that sweep our ocean shore, amid 
 the deadly heats of the Mississippi, confronted the merce- 
 nary men, butchers of Brunswick, and the ingenious mas- 
 ters of the scalping-knife and tomahawk from the banks 
 of the St. Lawrence. 
 
 See these undaunted patriots in their obscure caucus 
 gatherings, in their town meetings, in their provincial 
 assemblies, in their Continental Congress, breathing de- 
 fiance to the British Parliament and the British throne, 
 marching with their raw, militia to the conflict with the 
 trained veterans of the Seven Years' War. Witness there 
 a group of Colonies, extemporized into a Confederacy, 
 entering with a calm self-possession into alliance with the 
 oldest monarchy of Europe, occupying as they did a nar- 
 row belt of territory along the coast, thinly peopled, par- 
 tially cleared, hemmed in by the native savages, by the 
 Alleghanies, by the Ohio, and the Lakes behind them, 
 dilating with the grandeur of the position, radiant in the 
 prospective glories of their career. Contemplate this, as 
 Everett truly says, and you will acknowledge the men 
 of Seventy-six to have been the noblest men of progress 
 the world has ever seen. 
 
 We commemorate, in the first place, the greatness of 
 our physical and territorial advantages. In the perform- 
 ance of this sacred duty we have an illustrious model ; for 
 we find that Moses, when viewing the promised land, de- 
 scribed it as a good land; a land of brooks, of depths, % that 
 spring out of valleys and hills; a land of oil, olive, and 
 honey. Israel is compared to a valley full of fertility, and 
 watered by unfailing streams; to a garden by the side of 
 rivers, covered with beauty and luxuriance, and sustained 
 in perpetual fertility, a forest in which the trees are planted 
 by God; to the lion which, ever cunning, no hunter can 
 approach, but which terrifies the forest. All of which 
 images, though they may not affect us, yet to the Eastern 
 imagination unquestionably conveyed ideas of exquisite 
 loveliness, the most extraordinary power, and the most 
 
44 2 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 singular fertility. In like manner we American citizens 
 might speak of the peerless position, of the rich variety of 
 plain, hill, and dale; of our productions, so varied, so 
 abundant, so valuable; of our lakes, rivers, mountains, 
 prairies ; of our cities, in wealth, population, and in mag- 
 nificence rivaling the oldest in the world. Where 
 throughout the wide-extended globe is there a country 
 more blessed by all the gifts of nature than our own? 
 Columbia is a grand and beautiful country a land of 
 unexampled fertility traversed with wonder by the 
 stranger who sees tract after tract of cultivated ground, 
 like one vast garden, courting his gaze in every direction. 
 The immigrations to the United States are without paral- 
 lel in the history of the world. From every nation they 
 are flocking to the West. They come, 
 
 " As the winds come, when forests are rended ; 
 They come as the waves come, when navies are stranded." 
 
 If the ratios of our past increase can be relied on, 
 the population of the country will be, in 1930, more than 
 one hundred millions. A step further in the calculation 
 presents a prospect still more sublime and wonderful. In 
 1960 this mighty mass of commingled races will have 
 swollen to the stupendous aggregate of two hundred and 
 fifty millions, one-fourth the present population of all the 
 earth. Where is that prodigious increase of numbers, 
 this vast extension of emigration, to end? Where will its 
 mighty boundaries terminate? They will crowd each 
 hemisphere, they will spurn both tropics. Its watch- 
 towers will shine on every shore, and be reflected back 
 from every deep. Nature has set no bounds to the round 
 growth of this mighty Republic a new world, swelling 
 upwards, cradling all the arts of life, and inviting rapid 
 immigrations. Ours is, indeed, a wonderful country 
 vast in the immense extent of its territory, vast in the 
 magnificent scale and grandeur of its scenery, vast in the 
 unparalleled riches of mineral resources, vast in its ma- 
 jestic rivers and lofty mountains. We realize on an ex- 
 
READY TO DESCEND INTO THE MINE. 
 
APPENDIX. 443 
 
 traordinary scale the splendid description of the orna- 
 mental edging of the buckler of Achilles: 
 
 " Now the broad shield complete, the artist crowned 
 With his last hand, and poured the ocean round ; 
 In living silver seemed the waves to roll, 
 And beat the buckler's verge and bound the whole." 
 
 There may be other countries where more of physical 
 beauty and variety charms the eye than in America ; where 
 less of variableness and gloom marks the atmosphere; 
 where softer gales fan and sweeter flowers perfume ; where 
 more enameled meads display themselves, and more me- 
 lodious waterfalls murmur on the ear; where more of the 
 luxuriance of nature is blended with a greater triumph 
 of art; and where, more glorious skies and constant 
 weather bestow elasticity and health to the human frame. 
 And there may be lands where the stream of philosophy 
 has a wider sweep and deeper flow; where learning finds 
 more devoted adherents; and where liberty, at least in 
 theory, is more highly prized. But there is no other land, 
 in either hemisphere, which, on the whole, can vie with 
 Columbia. She stands, as she has long stood, the fairest 
 form of Government ever known on earth. 
 
 We commemorate also to-day the civil and religious 
 liberty so largely enjoyed by the American people. There 
 are two different and somewhat inconsistent notions of 
 liberty prevailing in the world, of which one is of Greek 
 and the other Teutonic origin. According to the first, 
 liberty consists in a share in the Government, while the 
 Government itself demands from the individual the most 
 implicit obedience to its laws; in fact, according to this 
 theory, the subject was absorbed in the State. The work- 
 ing out of this principle in its extreme results has been 
 seen in Sparta and in the ancient Greek and Italian Re- 
 publics. This notion was carried into Gaul by the Roman 
 Colonies, and enters largely into that French idea of lib- 
 erty which is connected with submission to an absolute 
 Emperor. The Teutonic idea of liberty, on the other 
 hand, was that of freedom in individual action. That is the 
 
444 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 best Government, according to this idea, which governs 
 the least. It was this idea of liberty which inspired our pa- 
 triotic fathers to raise the standard of revolt, and enabled 
 them successfully to defy the licentious legions of Eng- 
 land. Liberty is, then, the power of acting according to 
 our own will, and on our own convictions, in any manner 
 not inconsistent with the interests and well-being of the 
 community to which we belong, without hindrance and 
 without injury either from the public laws or from the 
 passions of individual men. The history of the race pre- 
 sents but one long record of efforts to secure this price- 
 less and splendid boon. It is the darling theme of every 
 freeborn man. To procure it, thousands have died on the 
 battle-field; to maintain and preserve it, thousands more 
 have bled upon the scaffold. 
 
 The watchword, Freedom endangered, inspires hero- 
 ism in every heart, nerves every patriot to gird himself 
 for the battle, and causes every height to flame with its 
 beacon-fires. The most brilliant epochs of nations are 
 the heroic struggles in behalf of civil and religious liberty. 
 The grandest efforts of mind, the noblest achievements of 
 arms, the most sublime ministrations of charity that have 
 adorned and illustrated the history of our race, have all 
 sprung from this principle. Liberty is the very fairest 
 flower that can grow upon the soil of nations. 
 
 Columbia's greatest glory does not consist in her po- 
 litical economy; in the number of her ships floating on 
 the ocean, her greatest glory is civil and religious lib- 
 erty. It is our inheritance to an extent and with a secur- 
 ity which we believe to be utterly unparalleled in the his- 
 tory of former times. The heresy of secession, which 
 sought to overturn this liberty, is the adversary of God 
 and of man, the murderer of all virtue, the parent and 
 nurse of impurity and vice, the progress of which can 
 only be traced in pollution and blood, and the triumph 
 of which can be celebrated only over the utter wreck and 
 ruin of all that is dear and dignified and holy, alike in the 
 life that now is, and also in the life that is to come. If the 
 legal right of secession had existed, it was a crime, 
 
APPENDIX. 445 
 
 morally, to have exerted it at such a time. Our national 
 prosperity exceeded that of any other people. What a 
 grand spectacle did we present to the nations! A great 
 people, governing themselves by their own laws ; increas- 
 ing in all the elements of national grandeur. How re- 
 markable was the character of our Government then, 
 when compared with the most enlightened countries of 
 Europe! Take, for example, England. This Govern- 
 ment is said to be the most advanced in civilization of any 
 of the monarchies. 
 
 Facts are more valuable than arguments: 
 United States, the supreme power in a Constitution 
 clearly defined by a written instrument; England, the 
 supreme power in a queen, lords, and Commons, defined 
 by the laws of Parliament. United States, the executive 
 power in a President, elected every four years, having a 
 salary of $25,000; England, the king or queen, hereditary, 
 with an annual salary of $3,500,000. United States, sena- 
 tors chosen every six years by the States from the masses 
 of the citizens; England, House of Lords, composed of 
 the hereditary nobility, appointed by the sovereign. 
 United States, representatives elected every two years, 
 directly by the people; England, House of Commons, 
 elected during the sovereign's pleasure by privileged bor- 
 oughs. United States, the Church distinct from the State, 
 and wholly dependent upon the voluntary support of the 
 people ; England, the Church incorporated with the State, 
 independent of the voluntary support of the people, and 
 the clergy enjoying revenues varying from $150 to 
 $150,000 each annually. United States, the municipal 
 laws of the country enacted by State Legislatures, entirely 
 distinct from the General Government, the members of 
 which are chosen by the people, according to State con- 
 stitutions; England, the municipal as well as other laws 
 are enacted by the Parliament, in which the people are 
 only partially represented. United States, all the people 
 on an equality, in regard to power, privileges, and dis- 
 tinction; England, the Executive and senators irrespon- 
 sible to the people, having interests adverse to them. 
 
44 6 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 United States, the Executive, senators, and representa- 
 tives responsible to the people, from whom they are taken, 
 and to whom they speedily return, and with whom they 
 have an identity of interest. United States, the income 
 of the people free from compulsory taxation for religion; 
 England, the income of the people taxed for the support 
 of that gigantic swindle, the Established Church. United 
 States, land and wealth generally equally distributed 
 amongst all classes, and no law to perpetuate them in the 
 hands of a few; England, land and wealth generally con- 
 fined to the aristocracy, and laws made to perpetuate them 
 in the hands of a few families. United States, a tendency 
 on the part of the Government to place every man on the 
 same level; England, a tendency of the Government to 
 make distinctions among the people, and to separate class 
 from class, and laws enacted to maintain such distinctions. 
 
 Taxation in England on every article is fourteen times 
 as heavy, and on many enormously higher than in the 
 United States. 
 
 It is no vain or arrogant boast which assigns to Co- 
 lumbia the first rank amidst States and Empires. I love 
 this Government. I love it in its origin. I love it in its 
 supremacy. I love it in its individuality. I love it in its 
 personal power. I love it in its determination and will. 
 It seems to me to have gathered the gems from all regions 
 to make this new, last crown of a great Republic. One 
 of the greatest difficulties in other nations is found in the 
 impediments to the general diffusion of knowledge. Edu- 
 cation here is free. In the United States there are over 
 two hundred colleges, from which issue 4,000 students 
 annually. The annual expense for instruction, including 
 board, is $150 yearly. In England there are few colleges, 
 in which the expenses average $800 per annum. The 
 people of this country voluntarily spend forty millions of 
 dollars to sustain education and religion. We publish 
 1,900 newspapers more than 150 daily. The number 
 of newspapers and periodicals published in this country 
 exceed the number published in all Europe, which, in pro- 
 portion to the population, gives the people of the United 
 
APPENDIX. 447 
 
 States an advantage of thirteen to one. Let the stranger 
 appear when he may in all this land, he will never get be- 
 yond the pale of rational information. 
 
 We commemorate, also, the grand patriotism of the 
 loyal people of the North and South. 
 
 The American heart goes out with the rapturous lan- 
 guage of the Scottish bard : 
 
 " Breathes there a man with soul so dead, 
 Who never to himself hath said, 
 This is my own, my native land?" 
 
 Columbia, the fairest and youngest member of the 
 great family of nations, seemed dying. The kings were 
 rejoicing over the prospective downfall of their only rival, 
 and the brilliant pen of Bulwer, deeply dipped in gall, was 
 recording the failure of the great democratic Nation. 
 But, blessed be God, the stalwart, young empire did not 
 die. The trumpet sounded, and a wild and unprecedented 
 feeling of patriotism dashed through the masses of the 
 people, which nothing could stop. The force of that sub- 
 lime enthusiasm nothing could measure. 
 
 Hark! what wild shriek pierces the fitful blast! It is 
 the mighty struggle of an outraged people, hastening to 
 avenge the shot aimed at the Nation's life. The blood of 
 Massachusetts soldiers on the streets of Baltimore sends 
 up the first wail of freedom's martyrs. From the old Bay 
 State, from ship-building Maine; from the Green Moun- 
 tains of Vermont; from Rhode Island, small but comely; 
 from New York, from Ohio, from Pennsylvania, brave 
 thousands rush to the defense of the starry flag of liber- 
 ation. The Nation rose up as one man. The husband left 
 his wife; delicate maidens, in their flushed and exulting 
 beauty, bade their brothers grasp the gleaming steel. Sol- 
 diers enlisted for the war, and parents consecrated their 
 children on the altars of liberty. 
 
 "Throughout the land there went a cry; 
 A sudden splendor fills the sky ; 
 From every hill the banners burst, 
 Like buds from April breezes nurst ; 
 
448 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 In every hamlet, home, and mart, 
 The fire-beat of a single heart 
 Keeps time to strains whose pulses mix 
 Our blood with that of Seventy-six." 
 
 This glorious patriotism of the people was the sub- 
 limest passage in our history. Sight unseen before, 
 more than a half-million men standing to arms for an 
 undivided nationality ! Those splendid battalions marched 
 to no impudent Dixie, but planted ^heir measured tread 
 to the music of the Union, as it swelled forth in the grand 
 measure of "Hail Columbia," or waved in the flowing 
 strain of the "Star-spangled Banner," or accelerated the 
 double quick with the nervous thrill of ancient and homely 
 "Yankee Doodle." 
 
 The fidelity to the flag of the loyal men of the South 
 is worthy of all praise and commendation. I never meet 
 these patriotic heroes but with a brother's heart. Promi- 
 nent leaders of the foul Rebellion tell us that those Union- 
 ists were the scum of the country, and that they were rec- 
 reant to the South. If recreant to the South, they were 
 true to the Union. What care these devoted men and 
 women for the flippant assaults of miserable ingrates, who 
 would wade through slaughter to a throne? The ele- 
 ments of the Union party of the South were industry, 
 patriotism, and heroism. This gallant party moved under 
 no alien or doubtful standard, but they followed the glori- 
 ous flag of the Union, with its four and thirty flashing 
 stars. These brave Unionists, in standing by the Union 
 of the States, risked more than the loss of goods or po- 
 litical honors; for, sooner than raise their hands against 
 the old Government, they would have thought it happi- 
 ness to die. Branded as confirmed traitors to the Con- 
 federacy, robbed and plundered of their property, and 
 punished by the hired agents of the Davis despotism, yet 
 they never blenched at danger ; but were as true as steel, as 
 constant as the sun, in the discharge of every duty to the 
 Republic. Driven from their quiet and peaceful homes, 
 they fled to the mountains and to the caves of the earth, 
 saying, "Welcome confiscation, robbery, plunder, even 
 
APPENDIX. 449 
 
 death itself; but we will stand by the Stars and Stripes 
 to the last drop of our blood, and to the last beat of our 
 hearts." All hail to the loyal men and women of the 
 South ! History, on her brightest page, will preserve and 
 perpetuate their honored names. 
 
 I remember, when passing through your noble State 
 with Sherman's army, that I met a Union woman who 
 was true to the flag. She was connected with one of the 
 leading families of the State. She did everything in her 
 power to prevent the secession of North Carolina, writ- 
 ing letters to prominent politicians, and using her per- 
 sonal influence to prevent the consummation of the 
 horrible deed. She had always preserved the Stars and 
 Stripes in her house, and when we reached her beautiful 
 mansion, there was flying to the breeze the banner of 
 beauty and glory. Howard's column halting, this de- 
 voted lady, going up to the flag of one of the regiments, 
 knelt down, exclaiming, "Flag of my fathers and of my 
 country, I bid you welcome ! welcome !" and she kissed 
 it, and bathed it with her tears. Among the most con- 
 spicuous and honored Union men of North Carolina, 
 stands the peerless name of W. W. Holden. Champion of 
 the poor, true patriot, gallant man, faithful friend, in the 
 name of the loyal millions, I greet you ! God bless these 
 full-souled Union men and women ! They had abiding 
 faith that the wicked Rebellion would be utterly subdued, 
 and that the Stars and Stripes would again wave in tri- 
 umph over the land of Washington and Franklin. The 
 valor and patriotism of the Greeks, whose message to their 
 enslaved country was, "Go tell the Spartans they are free, 
 for we died to deliver them," has made Thermopylae the 
 sanctified shrine of patriotism through all ages; the 
 patriotism of the brave old Carthaginian, who, hoary and 
 worn-out in the service of his country, took his child to 
 the temple, and on the altar made him swear eternal hos- 
 tility to the enemies of his country, these are beautiful 
 and thrilling evidences of heroism. If we look at the 
 battle-fields of the Union, we behold all the traits of an- 
 cient valor reproduced in the grand army of the Republic. 
 29 
 
450 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 What tongue can tell, what pen can record the hero- 
 ism that has been displayed by the loyal soldiers of the 
 North and of the South? A host of brave men, who left 
 home and all the treasures of affection, ended their days 
 by the sacrifice of their lives. Grandly and peacefully they 
 sleep in their holy graves. May their memories be glori- 
 ous, pious, and immortal ! 
 
 " They struggled, fell, and their life-blood stained 
 
 The cruel Southerner's hand, 
 They clasped their country's flag and cried, 
 
 1 God and our native land.' 
 Let Angels spread their wings above, 
 
 Let flowers forever bloom ; 
 Let bays, green bays, spring forth to mark 
 The martyrs' sacred totnb." 
 
 Dead heroes, may the flowers of the Sunny South 
 bloom over your graves ; may they be of perpetual bloom 
 and fragrance ! First, be spring there ; last, may summer 
 linger! May no factious word be ever spoken over 
 ground so holy! American, Teuton, and Celt, in the 
 honored graves in which they sleep in one red burial 
 blent they are far above the arguments of the living 
 crowd. 
 
 " On fame's eternal camping ground, 
 
 Their silent tents are spread, 
 And glory guards, with solemn round, 
 The bivouac of the dead." 
 
 There is another element of our greatness, which we 
 commemorate to-day; the number and variety of our 
 great and good men. In the original settlement of this 
 grand Commonwealth, God sifted three nations for seed 
 to sow on the virgin soil. There were such men as the 
 gallant Catholics of Maryland, the Quakers of Pennsyl- 
 vania, the steady and cautious Germans, and the fiery 
 spirits of the Emerald Isle, whose love of liberty was 
 kindled by the burning arguments of Grattan, of Curran, 
 and of Robert Emmet. The iron Saxon, the chivalric 
 Frenchman, the volatile Italian, the heroic Pole, and the 
 
APPENDIX. 45 1 
 
 impulsive-hearted Celt, were all combined in the build- 
 ing up of this magnificent Commonwealth. 
 
 Nowhere on the page of history do we find such an 
 assemblage of full-souled men as those who laid the broad 
 foundations of this temple' of freedom in the Western 
 World. The councils of infant America present a brilliant 
 array of talent, piety, and patriotism. There is Thomas 
 Jefferson, the prophet and the guide of the Colonies. 
 There is Franklin, the savant, who tamed the lightning 
 of heaven and made the thunder sweet music. There 
 were the Lafayettes, the Starkes, the Pulaskis, the Mont- 
 gomerys, the Pinckneys, tr;e Hancocks, the Carrolls, and 
 the Lees, illustrious statesmen and brilliant orators. 
 There was John Adams, a colossus in debate; and the 
 noble Virginian, Patrick Henry, whose eloquence could 
 even charm the serpents of despotism. Byron pronounced 
 him the forest-born Demosthenes of the New World. 
 There, too, was the noblest Roman of them all, the illus- 
 trious Washington, whose fame, like the higher stars, 
 shall shine forever. It has been beautifully said that these 
 were the men who graved the deep lines of the Revolu- 
 tion upon the tablet of the eighteenth century, and bade 
 the clock of eternity pause, until they notched the cen- 
 tury with the imperishable lines of a mighty destiny. 
 Around their brows the Jaurels cluster that belong to him 
 who hews an age into a shape of moral beauty, and fash- 
 ions a huge fragment of time after the great models of 
 eternity. To express the moral grandeur of these illus- 
 trious men a Phidias, a Praxiteles, and a Thorwaldsen 
 might carve, a Raphael, a David, and a West might 
 paint. But they only fashion block, and breathe beauty 
 into tableau, but the men of American independence were 
 the creators of an age. They rolled back the dial of the 
 dark years, and wound up destiny to a better course. 
 
 It was in 1848, when the brilliant constellation had 
 passed its meridian in England, that Sydney Smith, in 
 the pages of the Edinburgh Review, asked the question: 
 "Who reads an American book, or looks at an American 
 flag, or beholds an American statue? What does the 
 
45 2 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 world owe to American physicians or surgeons? What 
 new substances have their chemists discovered? Who 
 drinks in American glasses, or eats from American plates, 
 or wears American coats, or sleeps on American blank- 
 ets?" It is not forty years since these sneering questions 
 were flippantly propounded, and can we not now point 
 to a galaxy of names whose light is as clear, as large, as 
 bright, as strong, as any of those which shine in the firma- 
 ment of English literature? 
 
 In the field of illustrious lexicography, the fame of 
 Webster and Worcester more than rival that of Johnson, 
 Walker, and Sheridan. In history, Bancroft, Hildreth, 
 Prescott, Motley, and Godwin equal Hume, Lingard, and 
 Macaulay. By the side of her statesmen we may place 
 Madison, Hamilton, Calhoun, Hayne, Clay, Seward, Sum- 
 ner, Greeley, Stevens, Lincoln. As lawyers, our Marshall, 
 Jay, Kent, Chase, and Story will compare with Boyle, 
 Hooker, and Blackstone. In the sciences we have a Silli- 
 man, a Hare, a Morse, and a Mitchell, entitled to no ordi- 
 nary level in the niche of fame. In the sublime field of 
 oratory we can point to Webster, Prentiss, and Henry 
 Clay orators whose eloquence was like the tornado that 
 sweeps the pine-trees of a continent. During the last forty 
 years we have achieved wonders in the arts and sciences. 
 
 Confining ourselves to that period, we would ask our 
 transatlantic critics where are the Grimkes, Emmets, 
 Bascoms, Maffitts, Stocktons, Channings, Tyngs, Beech- 
 ers, Simpsons, Chapins? Where their authors, Bachs, 
 Liebers, Fields, Morses, Agassiz? Where their Whipples, 
 Gileses, Willises, Saxes, Reads, Carys, Longfeilows, 
 Holmeses, Bryants, Irvings, Coopers? Where their 
 Hugheses, Purcells, Choateses, Taylors, Everetts, Sum- 
 ners, Chases, Fessendens, Bankses, Trumbulls, Schencks,- 
 Wilsons, Binghams, Douglases, Langstons? Where their 
 Greenoughs, Hosmers? In the arts of war, where are 
 their Scotts, Grants, Shermans, Mowers, Coxes, Porters, 
 McPhersons, Kearneys, Corcorans, Mulligans, McClel- 
 lans, Howards, Rosecranses, Hazens, Hookers, Oster- 
 hauses, Farraguts, Logans, Butlers, Hallecks, Burnsides, 
 
APPENDIX. 453 
 
 Thomases, Meads, Sickleses, Kilpatricks, or the young 
 and brilliant Miles, than whom a more accomplished and 
 gallant officer the regular army does not possess, and of 
 whose services the most martial and imperial nation might 
 well feel proud? Where a Stanton the tireless, earnest, 
 hopeful, unconquerable organizer of victorious men, eager 
 in sympathy for the right, nobly indignant at wrong, and 
 full of inspiration? Where, during this forty years, is the 
 boundless learning of Luther Martin? Where the silver 
 voice and fervid genius of W r endell Phillips, pouring itself 
 along immense) ore? Where the ripe and beautiful culture 
 of George W. Curtis? Where a Clay, with his electric fire 
 and impassioned eloquence? Where a Webster, calm, 
 grand, majestic, sitting on the loftiest peaks of Oympus, 
 darting lightnings and rolling thunders? Where the 
 splendid rhetoric and sparkling oratory of Thomas Fran- 
 cis Meagher? Where the equal of the daring, bold, and 
 unflinching Sheridan, chivalrous as Bayard and of colos- 
 sal brain like Kleber the intrepid outspeaker of truth, 
 the eager, impetuous redresser of wrong, and the pas- 
 sionate lover of the Union would to God that this gal- 
 lant soldier were at the head of his fiery countrymen on 
 the hill of Tara, that he might confront the mercenaries 
 of Britain upon the curragh of Kildare, 
 
 "With a hundred yards, 
 And England's guards, 
 Drawn up to meet us there," 
 
 or their parallels to the hundred other names that have 
 spread themselves over the country and over the world, 
 blessing and delighting mankind by their works, inven- 
 tions, and examples ! In so far as we know, there is no 
 such parallel to be produced in the same time from the 
 annals of self-adulating England. The history of Britain 
 presents no parallel to the rapidity with which our present 
 distinguished Chief Magistrate has gradually advanced 
 from the humblest calling to the occupancy of the first 
 position in the world ! 
 
454 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 We commemorate to-day the abolition of the mon- 
 strous crime of American slavery. Thank God, the great 
 and guilty system of slavery has perished forever ! Let it 
 be buried with all its horrors and barbarities in the grave ! 
 Let it fade forever from the recollection of man! The 
 proclamation of liberty to four million captives has rolled 
 away a great reproach from us, and withdrawn a most 
 serious obstacle to our progress. Let the world call it 
 the extravagance of charity, or the romance of equity; 
 it was a magnificent spectacle. It was a glorious day; 
 a day in which years of shame and oppression were blotted 
 out; a day in which a long despised and trampled race 
 sprung into the grand proportions of free men ; a day in 
 which the armies of the Union halted on their march, 
 looked toward the White House, and blessed the beau- 
 tiful prediction of a splendid era. That page of history 
 can never make us blush. That lofty deed can never 
 shame us. It was the resurrection of the great Nation 
 founded by the fathers. It was the awful march of jus- 
 tice; it was the majestic front of philanthropy frowning 
 down oppression ; it was the sublime embodiment of right 
 treading down the plots and schemes of the lords of the 
 cotton-bales and rice swamps: it was Freedom, clothing 
 herself anew with the robes of '76, making her stately 
 march through the arms and banners of a gallant people 
 to open the prison doors of the enslaved, and to conse- 
 crate a free Republic. No more will an English poet re- 
 buke us. 
 
 " United States, your banner wears 
 
 Two emblems one of fame; 
 Alas ! the other that it bears 
 
 Reminds us of your shirne : 
 Your standard constellation types 
 
 White freedom, by its stars ; 
 But what the meaning of those stripes? 
 
 They mean your Negro's scars! " 
 
 A man may be a serf in Russia, a peon in Mexico, a 
 slave in Ireland; but here he is redeemed, disenthralled, 
 
APPENDIX. 455 
 
 and free ! Banded despots and kingly ruffians were taunt- 
 ing us that our power was laid low, that our voice was 
 to be heard no more in the hymn of nations. The old 
 empires were watching for the death, and had made ready 
 mourning weed and cypress wreath for the burial; they 
 said that our sun had set forever ! But Abraham Lincoln, 
 the brightest of the bright and the purest of the pure, 
 obeying the advice of the millions of the East and of the 
 great Northwest, lifting his head above the tempest, wrote 
 the immortal charter of universal emancipation. The 
 Bourses of Europe were lost in wonder when they heard 
 it. The crowned monarchs shook, and they talked no more 
 of Columbia's faded greatness and prostrate might. Land 
 of our fathers, land of benedictions, victorious hast thou 
 been in battle ; potential in negotiation ; fruitful in benevo- 
 lence ; distinguished in art ! But then was thy ascendant ! 
 Thy palm lifted itself to its tallest growth; thy glories 
 culminated in that godlike act. The edict of freedom has 
 resounded through all nations of the earth. Millions have 
 gazed upon it with devout joy and rapture. It has shaken 
 the thronedoms of tyranny, and has made the minions of 
 slavery tremble. It has reverberated from empire to em- 
 pire, from continent to continent, from hemisphere to 
 hemisphere. The Laplander has heard it amid the regions 
 of eternal snow ; the European has heard it amid the fields 
 and crowded cities of a refined and civilized population ; 
 the Arab and the Hindoo have heard it amid the gardens 
 and spicy plains of Arabia; the peasantry in Wales, in 
 England, in Scotland, in old Ireland, in Germany, and 
 even the uncultured dwellers in Asia, have kindled with 
 delight as they read the Anthem of the Free. It is re- 
 corded of Flaminius, the Roman general, that when he 
 proclaimed, at the Isthmian games, that Greece was no 
 longer tributary to the Roman Empire, but free and in- 
 dependent, the hearts of the plebeians were so over- 
 powered with joy that they could scarce believe their own 
 ears, for when the herald proclaimed their liberty they 
 desired that the sweet word Liberty might be. repeated. 
 
456 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 " O, catch its high import, ye winds as ye blow 
 
 O, bear it, ye waves, as ye roll 
 From regions that feel the sun's vertical glow 
 
 To the farthest extremes of the pole ; 
 And wherever the footsteps of man can be found, 
 May he bind the decree to his heart! " 
 
 What a splendid epoch does this grand deed consti- 
 tute in the annals of the Government ! The President was 
 called to a difficult and perilous position, his influence 
 extending over a broader land than the Roman eagle ever 
 swept in all the magnificence of his flight. By this crown- 
 ing act of moral duty the Springfield lawyer was silently 
 lifted up before the nations as God's greatest, noblest man. 
 His name hereafter will be emblazoned in the vast pan- 
 theon of Freedom's champions. How just and beautiful 
 the eulogy of Meagher in one of his splendid orations, 
 distinguished by a lofty eloquence, when he described the 
 assassinated President going to heaven, bearing in his 
 hand the broken shackles of four millions of slaves ! 
 
 In our changeful sky, where so many glories at sud- 
 den intervals succeed the eclipse and the storm; where 
 crimson clouds for years and years will float over a wilder- 
 ness of martyr graves ; where sunshine comes by fits and 
 starts, chasing those clouds away, and, for a season, warms 
 the shivering earth below into fruitfulness and joy, in 
 this, our changeful sky, we call that name our brightest 
 star. On his brow it may be said with much more truth 
 than of the Roman general, "Annexit Africa Lauros" 
 Though destitute during life of art and pomp, yet his was 
 a radiant life and a noble death, and as he took his place 
 among the immortals one might say: "Way, there, for 
 the brave child of the people, the grand hero of to-day! 
 Servant of the Republic, well done ; take your crown and 
 harp, and enter into the joy of your Lord." 
 
 I am hopeful of the Republic. Struck down in the 
 morning of its bright career in the bloom and promise 
 of its youth yet it shall live, purified and strengthened 
 by the afflictions through which it has passed. The prin- 
 ciples of Liberty shall never die; but, like the words of 
 
APPENDIX. 457 
 
 the prophets, they shall endure forever. It is not easy 
 to conquer a freedom-loving people ; it is not easy to tear 
 from a great Nation the honors which they have worn for 
 so many years. Our mission is not yet completed. The 
 dearest and most precious hopes of the race are inter- 
 woven with our ^existence. The predictions of prophecy 
 applied to us, demonstrate clearly and strongly that the 
 grand design of the Republic is to destroy all systems 
 of monarchical Government, and to propagate the prin- 
 ciples of liberty to the ends of the earth. The London 
 Times in 1861 gravely declared that the United States 
 was only suited for fair weather, and not for dark tem- 
 pests. The British Government was unmasked, driven 
 from her position of neutrality, and showed herself the 
 ferocious monster that she has always been. . The heart of 
 every aristocrat was glad. Since the days of Waterloo no 
 more welcome tidings reached them than when they heard 
 the mad secession of the Southern States. Rawdon de- 
 clared in the Commons, that the thunder-cloud had van- 
 ished that the bubble democracy had burst. Lord Rus- 
 sell stated at an agricultural banquet that the North was 
 fighting to enslave the South. 'fhe hoary-headed 
 Brougham averred that the object of the war was infa- 
 mous; and Palmerston, amidst the resounding cheers of 
 Parliament, denounced the slashing Butler the black 
 man's friend to be a monster. Have these aristocratic 
 ruffians forgot that republics are more vigorous in war 
 than in peace? It is prosperity and not adversity that is 
 most dangerous to them. It was not in peace that Hol- 
 land, from a community of clodhoppers, sprung up into 
 the robust proportions of a great nation, renowned in 
 art, in learning, in commerce, and in glory. The Roman 
 Republic endured for four hundred and sixty-six years, 
 during which time it ruled the world. Switzerland is now 
 five hundred and fifty years old, and still the Little Giant 
 of the Alps bears aloft above the haughtiest heads of Eu- 
 rope, amid the lightnings and the eagles of her moun- 
 tains, the excelsior banner of republicanism. 
 
 Already our success in the squelching of the slave- 
 
458 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 holder's rebellion is finding a response in the hearts of 
 millions, who wait impatiently for the universal triumph 
 of liberty. The Irish uprising has taken place as a result 
 of our triumph. The present is the brightest period 
 which the history of Ireland has exhibited for a hundred 
 years. And it seems as if the hopes of the patriots of 
 Ireland are soon to be realized. The work of Irish eman- 
 cipation is gradually and silently going forward, and the 
 peculiar advantages for successfully realizing such an end 
 as the powerful Fenian Brotherhood affords, will tend 
 to a consummation so long desired, so perseveringly 
 sought by Wolf Tone and his compatriots. 
 
 " The splendor of her Emmet's fame 
 Is Erin's glory and her shame ; 
 Her glory that he loved her well, 
 Her shame that unavenged he fell ; 
 But soon or late that shame must cease, 
 Or Erin ne'er ag'ain may hope for peace." 
 
 Distant and beloved Isle the land of Grattan, of 
 Moore, of Sheridan, of Curran, of Corcoran, of Meagher, 
 and of the great-hearted Burke we hope to see thee 
 again in commercial grandeur; thy magnificent rivers 
 again white with the sails of trade; thy great warehouses 
 s\varming with life; thy manufactories, the laboring 
 places of thousands; and thy Green Flag flying in the 
 breeze, giving indications that Ireland is free! 
 
 I take hope from the generous sympathies extended 
 to us by the masses of Europe. Among the nations that 
 surround us, there is not one virtuous bosom that does 
 not beat for us; the prayers of downtrodden millions 
 followed our banners into the field; and the arms of the 
 patriot soldier was blessed by voices that never reached 
 his ear. 
 
 A dear and valued friend of mine, who served with 
 distinction through the first three years of the war, fired 
 by a love of liberty, crossed the ocean and engaged in the 
 struggle for Ireland, that fine old nation, for whose inde- 
 pendence Grattan pleaded and Emmet died. He was cast 
 
APPENDIX. 459 
 
 into prison, and he assured me some time ago, that when 
 he heard the newsboys crying through the streets of 
 Dublin, "The North is victorious, Lee's army has sur- 
 rendered !" he felt the chains on his body grow a 
 little lighter. Thank God that generous voices in all 
 lands were with us ; from Ireland to Greece there was but 
 one national throb. It beat for us. Hungary, the land 
 of Kossuth, the beautiful and gifted Italy, noble Poland, 
 the emancipated serfs, they cheered us in the struggle. 
 Ireland, sitting like a widowed queen amidst the wreck 
 of former glories, fought our battle. The presence of her 
 Fenian men, drilling on^the hills by night, did more to 
 check the British. Lion than all the diplomacy of Seward 
 and Adams. I have said that the heart of every lord and 
 crowned ruffian wished our overthrow. Have their pre- 
 dictions been fulfilled? Is the Union gone? And has 
 that mighty Nation which the sword of Washington 
 evoked passed away? No, this splendid temple of free- 
 dom, having the Stars of the Union for its coronet, and the 
 Rock of Independence for its footstool, must stand until 
 the first growl of the gathering shall be heard announc- 
 ing the downfall of all thrones. The efforts of the rebels 
 at home and foes abroad fell short of their terrible aim. 
 They might as well strike against the heavens with their 
 arms as lift them against the American Union : 
 
 " As long as yonder cliffs shall stand, 
 Between the ocean and the land, 
 As long as yonder firs shall spread, 
 Their green arms round the mountain's head, 
 So long shall cliffs and mountains.be 
 The proud retreats for liberty." 
 
 And while inflexibly demanding that the Reconstruc- 
 tion measures of Congress shall be heartily and promptly 
 accepted by those recently in rebellion, let us also be mag- 
 nanimous towards a brave but mistaken people. They 
 have proved themselves foemen worthy of our steel ; they 
 stand before the world as the most masterly revolution- 
 ists of any age or history. Let us attach these erring 
 
460 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 brethren to the Union, not by fear, but by the golden 
 links of gratitude. Any other terms than those proposed 
 by Grant in the surrender of Lee will overshadow the 
 national cause with opprobium, and cast a cloud on the 
 brilliant fame of the grand army of the Republic. 
 
 General Lee, with the truthfulness and independence 
 of a great soldier, as he unquestionably is ; General John- 
 ston, whose sword was invoked at the last moments to 
 save the drowning banners of the South ; Generals Long- 
 street, Beauregard, and Thompson these, and others 
 equally distinguished in the South, have heartily acqui- 
 esced in the issues of the late struggle, and, with the good 
 faith and frankness of brave soldiers, are now earnestly 
 and sincerely engaged in co-operating with the Wash- 
 ington authorities to repair the breaches of the war. In 
 behalf of the brave men who fought and conquered, I 
 vehemently repudiate all ideas of confiscation, of making 
 an Ireland or a Poland of the South; but, on the other 
 hand, rapturously hail and welcome the South as one of 
 the wealthiest and noblest sections of the American 
 Union. The war being over, let there be no thorns 
 planted where the olive has taken root. In a divine sac- 
 rament of forgiveness, love, and patriotism, let us dedi- 
 cate this beautiful and superb domain to the growth of a 
 stalwart democracy, to the everlasting brotherhood of 
 those who had been foes upon the battle-field, to the tri- 
 umphant reign of industry, and to truthful and glorious 
 peace. Let us indulge the hope that the erring stars, now 
 dimmed and darkened, will one by one reappear, until the 
 old constellation, flashing out in all its ancient splendor 
 on the night, again shall blaze, the pride and glory of 
 the sky. 
 
 When I look abroad I am encouraged, and when I 
 look at home my spirits are exalted. The Reconstruction 
 measures of the Thirty-ninth Congress, and the grand en- 
 thusiasm of the people for equal rights and unversal suf- 
 frage these are omens that better and brighter times will 
 yet break on our land. To the immortal honor of the 
 great Union party of the country be it said, in spite of 
 
APPENDIX. 461 
 
 opposition from a thousand sources, it has conferred upon 
 the black man the inestimable and God-given right of 
 suffrage. You, my black friends, have voted in the past. 
 You voted in that golden era of the Republic ; during the 
 Revolution the illustrious Washington, John Adams, and 
 Thomas Jefferson walked up to the polls, and deposited 
 their votes in companionship with your fathers. 
 
 In five New England States and in New York your 
 race have been voting ever since. In such Southern 
 States as Maryland, Virginia, Tennessee, during the years 
 of 1832, 1835, and 1838, Negroes voted. 
 
 Your enemies say that you are too ignorant to use 
 the ballot. There is one thing you do know the differ- 
 ence between a gray and blue coat. Well, this charge of 
 ignorance comes with very poor grace, from a party of 
 politicians who have always been connected with the most 
 uncultivated voters of the country. In Ohio, my State, 
 there was a shining apostle of the Copperhead Democ- 
 racy who was very much aroused when the Freedmen's 
 Bureau Bill passed Congress. He exclaimed to a Repub- 
 lican neighbor, "Have you heard the news that the Black 
 Republicans have passed a bill giving to every Negro a 
 bureau, and I have been married twenty-five years and 
 have none yet." 
 
 All the black man asks is an open field and a fair fight. 
 There is a story which illustrates his present position. It 
 was in 1776, when the American army lay encamped at 
 Morristown, that a young foreigner presented himself to 
 General Washington with an introduction from Benjamin 
 Franklin. 
 
 "What do you seek here?" inquired the commander- 
 in-chief. "To fight for liberty!" replied the young man. 
 "What can you do?" "Try me!" was the answer. Wash- 
 ington took him at his word. He was tried, and rose to 
 the rank of general. Having fought for our independ- 
 ence, he recrossed the ocean and returned to his home. 
 Americans, you can never forget him, for among the hills 
 at West Point, overlooking the Hudson, a marble ceno- 
 taph still stands to commemorate the gratitude of the 
 
462 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 people he served so well. His name was Thaddeus Kos- 
 ciusko. 
 
 As he once stood before Washington, so now the 
 blacks stand before the United States and the nations 
 of Christendom, claiming recognition at their hands. To 
 the African race, recently emancipated, the same ques- 
 tions are put as to Kosciusko, and the same answers are 
 given. "What do you seek here?" "To vote, fight, and, 
 if need be, to die for Liberty." "What can you do?" 
 "Try me. By all my recent sorrows, by the wrongs I have 
 suffered, by the bloody agonies which I have endured, 
 by the fidelity with which I have preserved the immortal 
 hope of final deliverance, by my friendship for the Union 
 soldiers, by the fearful odds against which I have con- 
 tended, by what I have done and suffered, ye nations of 
 the earth, try me!" 
 
 This is what the black man claims. It is right that he 
 should enjoy equal rights before the law, as well as the 
 haughtiest slave-lord that walks the earth. 
 
 By their desperate fidelity to the fortunes of the Na- 
 tion in many a fierce tempest of the war, a fidelity all the 
 more heroic that they fought in chains, and with the devo- 
 tions of martyrs repaid with torrents of generous blood 
 the proscription and wicked bondage in which, under the 
 Stars and Stripes, they had been for generations held ; 
 by their desperate fidelity and splendid soldiership, such 
 as Fort Wagner and Port Hudson gave to their bayonets 
 an irresistible electricity, the black heroes of the Union 
 army are not only entitled to liberty, but to citizenship; 
 and the politician who would deny them the rights for 
 which their wounds and glorified colors so eloquently 
 plead, is unworthy to participate in the grandeur of the 
 Nation which these heroes did so much to vindicate. 
 
 Your rights and privileges as citizens, my friends, will 
 be most intelligently, vigilantly, and gallantly maintained 
 by the fearless commander of this district, General D. E. 
 Sickles ; who, on the field as well as in the legislative halls 
 of the country, has proved himself an accomplished sol- 
 dier and a wise statesman. 
 
APPENDIX. 463 
 
 The black heroes are entitled to all the emoluments of 
 citizenship. It is for us to recall the devotion, the cour- 
 age, and the sublime heroism this proscribed race has 
 displayed during the Rebellion. Have we not all one 
 Father? The same essential elements alike of physical, 
 intellectual, and moral being enter into the composition 
 of his nature ; the same heavens are spread over him ; the 
 same moon measures his monthly periods; and the same 
 revolutions of the globe bear him onward to his future 
 and eternal destiny. Is he not, then, my neighbor, my 
 equal in all the essentials of humanity? 
 
 A word, and I am done. I speak to you to-day, my 
 respected auditors, in the interest of, and in behalf of, 
 that organization with which the proudest recollections 
 of the last five years have been identified. 
 
 This magnificent National party, though young in 
 years, is old in precious memories, hallowed associations, 
 and unfading glories. Stand by it, for it has sent eighteen 
 hundred thousand brave men to the field to fight for the 
 Republic. 
 
 Stand by it, for it has expended four thousand million 
 dollars to save our country from dishonor and death. 
 Stand by the grand army of the Union, the pride and 
 beauty of which are imperishably blended with the sudden 
 blaze of victory that arose above Fort Donelson, and then 
 traveled in unwavering lines of glory through the storm 
 that shook the earth at Chattanooga, at Atlanta, and at 
 Richmond. Stand by the Union party, for its triumph is 
 the triumph of patriotism, the triumph of heroism, the 
 triumph of democracy, and the triumph of that nation- 
 ality which the Stars and Stripes so splendidly symbolize. 
 
 Arise, then, ye loyal men, arise! This is the hour 
 when individual manhood is worth all the arts and science 
 of diplomacy. By your love of this great land, by the 
 stern memory of your wrongs, come and rally round the 
 grand army of freedom, whose standard breasts the 
 northern air, led on by the great captains of undying 
 fame. 
 
 The people are the millions, and irresistible. The 
 
464 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 disloyal of the North and their accomplices in the South 
 are but the units to be scattered before us, like a single 
 hunter before the whole forest at bay. They can stand 
 before us no more than the grass before the lava, the 
 brushwood against the avalanche. There is no neutrality 
 in this crisis. You must choose your sides, and choose 
 quickly. If you love slavery, stripes, and dishonor if you 
 are prepared to abandon your liberty join the enemies 
 of the Republic. 
 
 If you love justice, if your heart warms at the mem- 
 ories of this dear land, if it swells with the hope of her 
 deliverance and her glory, God bless you! Your side is 
 with the country, your rank is beneath the Stars and 
 Stripes. We make our appeal in the name of your coun- 
 try, in the name of all heroic virtues, of all that makes 
 life illustrious and death divine, in the name of your dead 
 comrades, by your martyrs in prison-cells and felon- 
 chains, in the name of God and man, by the listening 
 earth and watching heavens, I call upon you to be 
 stanch, to be firm, to be united. As you listen to these 
 weak words of mine, and as your eyes grow dim with 
 tears as the memory of your wrongs rushes upon your 
 souls, even now lift up your right hand to Heaven, and 
 swear by your undying souls, by your hope of immor- 
 tality, that henceforth your services will be linked with 
 the party of universal liberty. Gather round the standard 
 of your chiefs ; one bold, one decisive move, one moment 
 to take breath, and then a rising, a rush, a charge from 
 the east, north, west, and south upon the enemies of 
 the Republic, and the country is ours. Do your eyes 
 flash? Do your hearts throb at the prospect? Be Union 
 men, and this fair land, which affrights the angels with its 
 misery, will be one grand temple, in which we shall kneel 
 as brothers children of one God heirs together of those 
 blessings purchased by the blood of gallant men a her- 
 itage of freedom, justice, independence, glory! 
 
APPENDIX. 465 
 
 CAUSES FOR THANKSGIVING. 
 
 THANKSGIVING SERMON, DELIVERED BY REV. G. W. PEPPER, IN THE 
 METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, WOOSTER, NOVEMBER 24, 1870. 
 
 TEXT Psalms xcviii, 6: "With trumpets and sound of cornets 
 make a joyful noise before the Lord." 
 
 AMONG the glittering gems of Thanksgiving utter- 
 ances, the one chosen to-day was the most univer- 
 sally admired for its beauty, comprehensiveness, and 
 significance. Wondrously beautiful are the Psalms! 
 They furnish sorrow w T ith words of sweetest melody, de- 
 spondency with expressions of hope, and gladness with 
 strains of triumph ! 
 
 Thanksgiving is as old as creation. There was a beau- 
 tiful tradition among the Jews, that when God had cre- 
 ated the world he asked the angels what they thought 
 of the work of his hands. One of them replied that it was 
 so vast and so perfect, that only one thing was wanting ; 
 namely, the creation of a clear, mighty, harmonious in- 
 strument, which should fill all quarters of the world with 
 its sweet sound, day and night, to offer thanksgiving to 
 its Maker for his incomprehensible blessings. The an- 
 cient Jews were distinguished for grand outbursts of 
 gratitude. Their religion was not one of gloom. The 
 Jewish people were a nation of thanksgivers. 
 
 Behold that triumphant host marching through the 
 holy lands to appear before God at the annual feast! 
 They come from purple vinelands; they come from in- 
 vaded borders; they come from resounding victories. 
 
 In that illustrious throng might be seen prophets, 
 warriors, young men in the morning of their beautiful 
 dreams and sacred labors; maids of Israel, with the sum- 
 mer dawning upon their brows; little children, who be- 
 held for the first time the grand and beautiful image of 
 their native land. 
 
 Thanksgiving, as now celebrated, is five gener- 
 ations old. 
 30 
 
466 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Hail to the stiff Puritans! See them standing upon 
 the ice-bound coast, and offering up their first thanks- 
 giving ! The grandest spectacle of a nation is its Thanks- 
 giving celebrations. Millions upon their knees render- 
 ing praise to God is a brilliant scene. A mighty Nation, 
 with its President, governors, senators, generals, admirals, 
 soldiery, and citizens, assembled in their churches, ac- 
 knowledging the Divine bountifulness, is a moving and 
 an august spectacle. Throughout this glorious land of 
 Washington bands of patriotic minstrels are singing the 
 joyous chant : 
 
 " Praise ye the Lord, 
 For His mercy endureth forever." 
 
 The service of this day is peculiarly one of gratitude, 
 and gratitude has been beautifully defined to be the mem- 
 ory of the heart. 
 
 It will do us good to forget the cares and businesses 
 of life to-day 
 
 " To leave dull earth behind us and take a flight towards heaven." 
 
 This Thanksgiving-day comes to us brighter and 
 greener than any preceding one. Our autumn is fuller of 
 sublimity; our mornings exhibit a boundless vista of 
 splendors ! 
 
 The mill-wheels upon a thousand streams are silent; 
 the church-bells ring out their joyous invitations; the 
 marts of trade are quiet ! 
 
 This day stands like some fair mount in the midst of 
 a rich and varied country, at the summit of which the 
 traveler pauses to look on the region he has left behind, 
 and forward to the prospect that lies before him. It is 
 Tabor without its dazzling brightness, and Sinai without 
 its terrors. 
 
 Can we ever forget New England? It is to the thank- 
 ful piety of her Puritans that we owe this delightful serv- 
 ice. Wherever throughout the wide world Americans 
 to-day are scattered, they will travel back in loving mem- 
 ory to the old homestead to the sacred spot that shel- 
 
APPENDIX. 467 
 
 tered them in infancy. In a million American homes 
 gray-headed men and venerable mothers will repeat to 
 their children and grandchildren, that girdle them with 
 beauty, the touching story -of their early day; the priva- 
 tions, conflicts, and success. That mind must be dark, 
 and that heart must be adamant, which, in reviewing the 
 past year, can not behold the signal mercies vouchsafed 
 to the Nation, to the family, and the Church. Put on 
 your imperial robes, ye Christian citizens, and accompany 
 me up to the mountain of thanksgiving, and there offer 
 your praises to Jehovah for the blessings of the year. 
 Come forward, children of the beneficent Father, look 
 upon the bright lining on" the clouds, tune your American 
 harps to the strains of the Hebrew bard, and sing the 
 praises of the Lord and his majestic glory! 
 
 THEMES OF THANKFULNESS. 
 
 We should thank God for the extent and variety of 
 our grand national domain. Ours is a goodly heritage. 
 God hath brought us into a large place. Let us look 
 around and behold ! We have a land more extensive than 
 that of Alexander, when he thought the world lay at his 
 feet ; than of imperial Rome, when in the moment of her 
 highest prowess Trajan swayed his scepter from the 
 Tweed to the Euphrates ; than of Russia in our day. Our 
 glorious flag floats undisputed over an area of more than 
 three thousand square miles, or one billion nine hundred 
 million broad acres, a territory ten times as large as that 
 of Great Britain and France combined. The food-pro- 
 ducing States west of the lakes raised in 1860 about 
 642,000,000 bushels of wheat, and only one-fifth of the 
 territory is under cultivation ! Multiply these figures by 
 five, and you have the astounding result of three billion 
 two hundred million bushels of grain, the production of 
 which is only a pleasure, as the farmer has only to tickle 
 the prairie with his steam-plow, and it laughs and sparkles 
 with a splendid harvest. An angel whose eye expatiated 
 over the geography of a hundred nations, beholds no 
 heritage so broad, no lands so fair. 
 
468 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 We can point with patriotic pride to a country where 
 the grand and the graceful, the awful and the lovely, the 
 rugged cataract and the smiling brook, mingle together. 
 Behold our splendid lakes, our fertile plains, our towering 
 mountains, our charming valleys, our sweeping prairies, 
 our entrancing landscapes, and our sky soft and blue at 
 times as that which bends over the faded splendors of 
 Italy. 
 
 That broad-thoughted French philosopher, De 
 Tocqueville, in his work on the United States, says that 
 "America is the most magnificent dwelling-place prepared 
 by God for man's abode." In fashioning this majestic 
 edifice of freedom for the oppressed races, the Creator 
 gave us not a barracks, but a palace ; not a desert, but an 
 Alhambra. 
 
 When Horace Greeley made his first visit to Europe, 
 he advised his countrymen to be sure, if they contem- 
 plated a trip to the Old World, to take a long, earnest 
 look at the sun, for the thing called sun in England only 
 shone occasionally, and bore little resemblance to its 
 American namesake. O that the crowned ruffians of Eu- 
 rope would come across the ocean, and behold the great- 
 ness of our national domain! America is the young ath- 
 lete in the world. The fruits and fleeces of our immense 
 valleys bid fair to rival the golden sands of our streams, 
 as well as the treasures of our enchanted rocks. 
 
 " Great God, we thank Thee for this home, 
 
 This bounteous birthland of the free, 
 Where wanderers from afar may come 
 
 And breathe the air of liberty. 
 Still may her flowers untrampled spring, 
 
 Her harvests wave, her cities rise, 
 And yet till Time shall fold his wing, 
 
 Remain earth's loveliest paradise! " 
 
 We should thank God for our system of representative 
 Government. To show the infinite superiority of a demo- 
 cratic Government, let us climb up the political standard 
 of the past, and compare the various forms of civil rule 
 which have existed from the beginning. The first form 
 
APPENDIX. 469 
 
 was monocratic, corresponding with the monarchies of 
 Europe; the second form was theocratic, the rulers of 
 which were called hierarchs ; the third form was the auto- 
 cratic, the few governing the many; the fourth and best 
 was the democratic, God's great gift to our fathers. The- 
 ocracies, autocracies, and monarchies are founded on the 
 comic notion of a superiority of blood! How grand the 
 words of Vergniaud : "Nobility! That is, one class cre- 
 ated to rule, another to be ruled ; that is, one class to live 
 in palaces, another to dwell in hovels. The nobility ! The 
 very term is an insult to the human race." ' 
 
 Right, eloquent Frenchman ! There have been two 
 widely dissimilar views of liberty in the world; one is of 
 Greek, and the other of Teutonic origin. According to 
 the first, liberty consists in a share in the Government, 
 while the Government demands the most implicit obedi- 
 ence to its laws; the subject w r as absorbed in the State. 
 The development of the principle is seen in the Spartan, 
 the Greek, and Italian Republics! This sentiment was 
 carried into Gaul by the Roman colonies, and enters 
 largely into that French idea of liberty which is connected 
 with submission to an absolute emperor. 
 
 That is the best Government which governs the 
 least. Dean Swift, the Irish publicist, has expressed 
 it in a brief sentence: "All government without the 
 consent of the governed is the very definition of slav- 
 ery." Democratic liberty, then, is the power of acting 
 according to our own will and upon our own conclusions 
 in any manner not inconsistent with the well-being of the 
 community to which we belong. It was under the in- 
 spiration of this great view of liberty that Jefrersqn wrote 
 his immortal charter : that Henry IV, born Demosthenes, 
 uttered his sublime challenge to the Lords and Commons 
 of England ; and which the artillery of Washington echoed 
 on every battle-field of the Union. It is this indestruc- 
 tible love of liberty which is inspiring the surging millions 
 of Old Europe to fling their naked breasts against the 
 murderous bayonets of villainous kings. 
 
 Columbia's greatest glory does not consist in the ex- 
 
470 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 tent of her virgin domain ; in the gorgeousness of her un- 
 shorn forests; in the soldiers who have returned with the 
 laurels of triumph from every field which their heroism 
 has made magnificently famous; in her navy, whose flag 
 has floated upon every shore; in her Congress, the elo- 
 quence of which rivals that of Europe; in the harmony 
 and beauty of her Constitution, which, when the proudest 
 elevations of society were overturned, rode triumphant 
 on the storm, preserving for the world liberty, humanity, 
 and justice! 
 
 Columbia's greatest glory consists in her civil and re- 
 ligious liberty. Here the Jew, the Catholic, the Prot- 
 estant, and even the poor Infidel can offer his orisons 
 according to the dictates of conscience. The nurse of 
 freedom, the school of virtue, the home of the oppressed ! 
 I love this Government. I love its origin, bought by the 
 blood of gallant men. I love it in its progress, the earliest 
 three, now forty millions. I love it in its personal power ; 
 thirty millions stand ready to guard its flag from insult 
 and danger. I love it in its supremacy; thirty-six States 
 and several Territories own the imperial sway of its 
 Congress. 
 
 I have met the representatives of this young and 
 splendid Nation abroad. I have raised my hat in homage, 
 and said: 
 
 Hail, brother of the West ! you have driven back the 
 savage, have swept away mighty forests, have built great 
 cities as if by magic, and built an empire in a few years. 
 
 Hail, brother of the North ! in the learned professions, 
 and in all the pursuits of agriculture, trade, and commerce 
 you have gained a proud pre-eminence. 
 
 Hail, brother of the South! you have preserved the 
 ancient hospitality, you have made your highlands bloom 
 with cotton, and your lowlands rich with waving fields 
 of rice and far-extending tracts of verdant, luscious cane. 
 
 Hail, brother of the East ! you have taught rulers how 
 to educate the many, and employers how to bless the 
 laboring poor. You have drawn wealth from snow- 
 capped mountains and naked rocks. Harvard, Yale, and 
 
APPENDIX. 471 
 
 Princeton are the classic founts of your greatness, and 
 those are your ships that sit so gracefully in yonder har- 
 bor. And when I thought of the Nation's charms of 
 beauty, its broad, geographical unity, its brotherhood of 
 kin and caste, I have said with a full heart, "Hail, country- 
 men of Washington, partners in blessed memories and 
 precious hopes!" and a prayer as fervent as any that ever 
 passed from my heart ascended to the Throne, that this 
 free land might be endowed with perpetual peace, and 
 that its glory might remain until the coming grandeur of 
 the Son of God ! Contrast the so-called Christian Govern- 
 ment of England with our own. 
 
 American Christians," thank God in his temple for 
 your common schools, for the freedom of your press, and 
 for the great and splendid names which already adorn 
 the history of the Republic. Compare the British sover- 
 eigns with the illustrious men who have been honored 
 with the Chief Magistracy of our Nation, and how con- 
 temptibly small they appear ! With the exception of King 
 William III and Cromwell, the rulers of England were 
 a degraded and stupid race. How few were the states- 
 men and economists among the kings! Where is there 
 one among them possessing the sagacity, the multifarious 
 endowments, and the moral grandeur of the godlike 
 Washington? Where the extraordinary abilities, the elo- 
 quent common sense, and the gigantic brain of Thomas 
 Jefferson? Where, in the long line of these brutal kings, 
 can you find statesmanship and generalship like that of 
 the lion-hearted Andrew Jackson? We crown the splen- 
 did catalogue by the surpassing name of Abraham Lin- 
 coln! A brave, manly soul. With Cato the Censor we 
 look upon kings as creatures who feed upon human flesh, 
 regular cannibals. Our Government has its faults; but, 
 comparing it with those of Europe, it is like a comparison 
 of heaven and hell. Jefferson said that there is not a 
 crowned head in Europe whose talents would entitle him 
 to be elected a vestryman in any parish in America. 
 
 We should thank God for the patriotism and sublime 
 valor displayed during and since the war. The roar of 
 
47 2 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 cannon in Charleston Harbor aroused the dormant pa- 
 triotism of the land ! All parties and nationalities entered 
 into a generous rivalry! Never, since the day of Pente- 
 cost, was there seen so grand a sight! Patriotism is a 
 beautiful and lofty principle; it binds man to man in an 
 august brotherhood; it recognizes a community of in- 
 terest; it makes the Laplander prefer the eternal snows 
 of his wintry land, because it is his country ! There is no 
 more noble answer on record than that which was given 
 by a famous chief of a savage tribe to some Europeans 
 who would have bribed him to give up his patrimony: 
 "We were born," said he, "upon the spot; our fathers are 
 buried here. Shall we say to their bones, Rise up and let 
 us go hence?" The sentiment of patriotism is universal 
 and indestructible. It matters not where we have been 
 born whether upon the sunny plain or upon the snow- 
 covered summit of the mountain cliff the feeling is the 
 same. The Scotchman is affected by the sight of a thistle 
 in a foreign land. It reminds him of the country of Bruce 
 and Wallace. The shamrock, the chosen leaf of bard and 
 chief, stirs the hearts of Ireland's children, suggesting 
 beautiful memories of a heroic past. The Frenchman is 
 aroused at a glimpse of the Heur de Us. It awakens pleas- 
 ant recollections of sunny France. This loyalty to one's 
 country is acknowledged and recognized by the fisher- 
 man as he sits by his cottage on the Atlantic or Pacific 
 beach, and by the wild hunter of the Western plains. It 
 is heralded in lands distant from each other, and different 
 in political institutions, in the praise of a William Tell, a 
 Washington, a Brutus, an Emmet, and a Mazzini. It 
 nerves the arm and fires the bosom in every scene and 
 vicissitude of life; and when the patriot's closing eye is 
 turned for the last time to the sun in the heavens, whether 
 amid the shock of steel, or from the victories of peace, 
 his last thought is his country, and his last prayer is for 
 its prosperity. 
 
 How grand the patriotism of our people ! More than 
 700,000 under arms to guard the flag from insult and 
 from danger! It is easy to speak thrillingly and raptur- 
 
APPENDIX. 473 
 
 ously on deeds of high enterprise; and every tongue is 
 ready to swell the praises of Columbus, who went forth 
 on the waste of waters burning to snatch a New World 
 from the grave of centuries, and to echo the fame of Will- 
 iam Tell, who bade the splendid land of lake, cataract, 
 and mountains, spurn the base yoke of foreign despots! 
 Every one admires, extols these daring and fiery spirits! 
 But think ye the noble patience, the unyielding courage, 
 the unconquered devotion, exhibited upon the battle- 
 fields of the Union, are not as equally worthy of the ap- 
 plause of freemen throughout the world? The man who 
 would withhold the laurel from our brave defenders is in 
 mind a fool, in heart a traitor. If the pulse beats not high 
 at the recital of the daring deeds displayed at Lexington, 
 Stone River, and Antietam, a kind of polar spell must 
 have chained the life's blood ! Lord Brougham once said, 
 "That the American army was composed of the scum of all 
 Europe !" No, my Lord Imbecile ! The soldiers of the 
 Union were the nobility, the flower, the chivalry of the 
 land ! They were its bravest soldiers, and many of them 
 proved to be its sublime martyrs. Wherever they went, 
 they carried in their bayonets order, liberty, humanity, 
 and the loftiest example of stainless patriotism. Glori- 
 ous in battle, illustrious in death, they stand higher 
 than the crested lords of Europe ! Glorious men ! it is 
 not for me to do justice to your triumphs. May the 
 gratitude of your country be eternal ! May you never 
 have to say, with the Roman patriot, "I would rather 
 have it asked why Cato had not a statue than why he 
 had one !" Then our illustrious dead ! Ye sceptered im- 
 mortals, enthroned above the Nation's constellation, your 
 memories will be glorious, pious, and immortal ! 
 
 All Europe is catching the inspiration of our success. 
 Freedom is everywhere advancing her dominions. She 
 is coming forth from the dungeons in all the gorgeousness 
 of a brilliant retinue, with the brightest diadem in all the 
 world glittering upon her unblemished forehead ! Before 
 she attains the meridian of that reign whose morning 
 looks so bright, she is hailed by the thrilling acclamations 
 
474 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of millions. Spain, the mother of Hebrew poets, looks up 
 to the immortal Father. She has signalized her progress 
 among the nations by taking 'down the statue of the de- 
 tested Isabella, and putting in its stead that of Washing- 
 ton. We hail her deliverance from the Bourbon dynasty. 
 Spain of Ferdinand has disappeared; the accursed In- 
 quisition that devoured the fair Andalusia, converting the 
 loveliest spot in Europe into a pandemonium, is abolished 
 forever. The pinnacles of monarchy have been shivered 
 into atoms by the lightnings of Castelar's grand elo- 
 quence ! Austria's surging millions are progressing I The 
 noble democracy of England are demanding, in tones of 
 thunder, greater freedom and additional rights. The 
 countrymen of Emmet are arming; they clasp their vir- 
 gin bayonets, like virgin brides, to their breasts; their 
 hearts beat with a holy palpitation; and when the great 
 day of Ireland's deliverance shall come, their gallant blood 
 will be poured out with a heroic prodigality. 
 
 In every region of the earth men are waking up as 
 from a nightmare. The Moslem of the old Mogul Em- 
 pire feels the scimiter stir in its scabbard, and he mur- 
 murs, "God is great." Japan opens her gates, and pagan 
 millions receive the gospel from American tongues. 
 China selects the gifted Burlingame as her messenger to 
 the nations. The spirit of Washington is marching on! 
 France, gallant, generous, polished nation ; the land of 
 quick thoughts, bright swords, and fair women; the 
 France of Lafayette honored name ! encompassed with 
 so much fame, has unfurled the banner of republicanism, 
 and has made her appeal to the God of Nations. The 
 hands of the splendid but detestable Bismarck are red 
 with Republican Frenchmen's blood. The French Re- 
 publicans are fighting for Liberty, Equality, Fraternity. 
 Against them are arrayed the Napoleons, the Bourbons, 
 the Orleanists, and all the remorseless, marble-hearted 
 tyrants of Europe. But despite of all opposition, despite 
 of perfidy, despite of fraud, despite of European hostility, 
 I believe that the Republic is unconquered and uncon- 
 querable. Be steady, Frenchmen ! Better that your 
 
APPENDIX. 475 
 
 splendid city be burned to cinders than that liberty should 
 be extinguished in Europe. When I remember the mag- 
 nificent heroism of Lafayette and his thirty thousand 
 French warriors ; when I remember that the friendship of 
 France was a beacon-light to our fathers, every drop of 
 blood that warms my heart is in sympathy with the brave, 
 noble Frenchmen righting for hearth and home. My 
 voice is but feeble, and could I add millions to my own, 
 I would pray God-speed the Republic of France; for its 
 triumphs are the triumphs of democracy, the triumphs 
 of liberty, and the triumphs of civilization. 
 
 We should thank God for the abundant harvests. The 
 glorious promise of seed-time and harvest has been ful- 
 filled. Farmers, a few months ago with long faces, pre- 
 dicted a prolonged famine. The beneficent Father 
 watched the seed during its silent entombment in the 
 bosom of the earth. He moistened it with warm summer 
 showers, and shielded it from every destructive influence. 
 He fostered, protected it, silently, invisibly, uninterrupt- 
 edly, until it passed through its allotted stages of existence, 
 as first the blade, then the ear, and then the full corn in 
 the ear, till at last Jehovah seems walking visibly over the 
 smiling fields, dropping fatness and scattering garlands 
 of rejoicing over every succeeding season. It is to the 
 bountifulness of God we owe these harvest blessings. The 
 fires of heaven might have destroyed our cities; the hail 
 might have beaten down our fields of corn, as in Egypt 
 of old; the frost might have cut the tender blade; the 
 vapors might have spread the infection of a withering 
 mildew ; but, in the midst of all, mercy descends in the form 
 of an angel, pouring from the rich horn of Providence 
 blessings unnumbered over the land. How truly may 
 it be said, "Thou waterest the ridges thereof;" that is, by 
 the gentle exhalations of the dews or by the soft showers 
 of the early or latter rain. "Thou settlest the furrows 
 thereof; Thou blessest the springing of it," and watchest 
 over it in its tenderest estate when just appearing above 
 the ground, defending it from excessive heat or from the 
 extremes of cold ; till finally he bursts forth into the highly 
 
476 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 figurative but still beautifully expressive climax, "Thou 
 crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drip 
 fatness." With the sweet singer of Israel, may we not 
 again say: "Behold He giveth food for cattle; the little 
 hills rejoice together on every side; the valleys stand so 
 thick with corn that they laugh and sing: The joy of the 
 reapers, rejoicing in the harvest, is heard; the yellow corn 
 falls beneath the sickle; the sheaves are piled in shocks; 
 the graining train beareth its golden treasures to the 
 homestead; the spacious barn is well stored, and the 
 cheerful sounds of harvest home are wafted in repeated 
 chorus, and echo among the hills and valleys of the land?" 
 
 A few years ago, when the Atlantic cable was success- 
 fully laid, Cyrus Field, full of gratitude to God for the 
 triumph of his labors, sent five hundred dollars for the 
 benefit of the poor of his native town in Massachusetts 
 Stockbridge. The gift was returned, with the explana- 
 tion that the money was not needed, as there were no poor 
 in the place ! 
 
 We should thank God for home and social blessings. 
 Home, thrice blessed w r ord ! For its pleasures it does not 
 depend upon the elegance which art creates, nor upon 
 the splendid pictures of the old masters which adorn 
 castle walls, nor upon the curtains of richest lace through 
 which the light streams by day, nor upon the golden 
 chandeliers suspended from embossed and gilded ceilings, 
 nor upon broad acres and magnificent apartments of crim- 
 son and gold. The best definition of home that I have ever 
 seen, was given by a child when asked, "What is home?" 
 Looking up at his mother, he answered, "Where she is. 1 ' 
 
 " Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home." 
 
 Where love is, there is home. Among the bright and 
 beautiful creations of our religion is the charming spec- 
 tacle of a happy family, connected by ties of blood, and 
 having the same hopes, the same fears, the same interests, 
 and the same joys. Look at such a delightful circle! 
 There are the calm and the secret joys of the domestic 
 hearth, that bright and sacred spot, where, in bonds of 
 
APPENDIX. 477 
 
 holy affection, husband and wife, parents and children, 
 brothers and sisters, mingle their purest thoughts and 
 their fondest hopes in unrestrained fellowship. 
 
 No chalice of earthly bliss is so sparkling as that which 
 passes from hand to hand in a million American homes 
 to-day. These homes are Eden's little inclosures, favor- 
 ite spots on earth's wide waste ! In such a home there sits 
 the father, the guide and protector of his household ; there 
 are the children climbing his knees, the envied kiss to 
 share ; and there in the circle sits the mother, radiant with 
 maternal pride. A home like this is only surpassed by 
 that Eternal Home, where the flowers never fade and the 
 crystal waters never cease tb send up their heavenly music. 
 
 " There is a land of every land the pride, 
 Beloved by Heaven o'er all the world beside, 
 Where brighter suns dispense serener light, 
 And milder beams emparadise the night : 
 The wandering mariner, whose eye explores 
 The wealthiest isles, the most enchanting shores, 
 Views not a realm so beautiful and fair, 
 Nor breathes the spirit of a purer air. 
 In every clime the magnet of his soul, 
 Touched by remembrance, trembles to that pole; 
 For in this land of Heaven's peculiar grace, 
 The heritage of Nature's noblest race, 
 There is a spot of earth supremely blest, 
 A dearer, sweeter spot than all the rest, 
 Where man, creation's tyrant, casts aside 
 His sword and scepter, pageantry and pride, 
 While in his softened look benignly blend 
 The sire, the son, the husband, brother, friend. 
 Here woman reigns ; the mother, daughter, wife, 
 Strews with fresh flowers the narrow way of life. 
 In the clear heaven of her delightful eye 
 An angel guard of loves and graces lie ; 
 Around her knees domestic duties meet, 
 And fireside pleasures gambol at her feet. 
 Where shall that land, that spot of earth be found? 
 Art thou a man ? a patriot ? look around ! 
 O ! thou shalt find, where'er thy footsteps roam, 
 That land thy Country, and that spot thy Home." 
 
47 8 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 THE PERORATION. 
 
 My Thanksgiving sermon would be incomplete and 
 graceless, did it make no grateful mention of the imperial 
 benefaction, the gift of Jesus Christ, who came from 
 heaven to be our Savior, and then crowned his mission 
 upon the cross! Jesus a balm for every wound, a shel- 
 ter in every tempest ! Give thanks to the Supreme God 
 for all the material, the rational, the physical, and the 
 spiritual blessings of the year ; for the extent and breadth 
 of the national domain, grander and broader than that 
 of Rome in its palmiest days; for the civil and religious 
 liberty so largely enjoyed by every class and color of the 
 Nation ; for the heroic patriotism and the triumphant dar- 
 ing of the gallant soldiers, whose grand deaths in the 
 blaze of battle shed immortal luster around the American 
 name; for the thousand battle-fields made magnificently 
 famous in our history, each one a Marathon or a Ther- 
 mopylae; for the gracious and abundant harvest which 
 waved and glittered like a golden banner; for the signal 
 prosperity of the Nation, the smoke of a million factories 
 glooms the air, and the glimmering of our unconquered 
 flag is gleaming upon every sea; for the iron band which 
 binds the Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, and belts a whole 
 continent with a golden girdle of strength and union : for 
 the joys of home, that magic and consecrated spot ; for a 
 free press, a free gospel, and a free land. The land of our 
 love and affection stands to-day majestic and unapproach- 
 able amidst the devotion of forty millions of fervid, daunt- 
 less, enthusiastic hearts. Every nation in the Old World 
 feels the fresh breezes coming from a country of freedom. 
 Bright as a sun-flash and glorious as the God of day 
 the radiant form of the Republic appears abroad. Think 
 of the shining paragons, the founders of our Government ! 
 What a grand array of brilliant names! George Wash- 
 ington, an angel in human form ; Franklin, who tamed the 
 lightning and made the thunder sweet music; then the 
 brightest jewel in our crown, the consummate flower of 
 the century, Abraham Lincoln ! Think also of our lit- 
 
APPENDIX. 479 
 
 erary glories ! We can point to such essayists as Emer- 
 son, Whipple, Holmes, Lowell ; to such historians as Ban- 
 croft, Irving, Prescott, and Motley; to such soldiers as 
 Sherman, Grant, Thomas, Meade, Rosecrans, and Mc- 
 Clellan ; to such statesmen as Trumbull, Sumner, Pendle- 
 ton, Seymour, Chase, and Colfax; to such sculptors as 
 Powers and Crawford; to such orators as the inspired 
 Simpson, and Phillips of the golden tongue. Shall not 
 the contemplation of these incomparable national bless- 
 ings cause to arise from our united hearts, as from a living 
 altar, the incense of adoring praise to the footstool of the 
 Majesty Divine? Sons and daughters of the Most High, 
 take down your harps from the willows, and break forth 
 into singing: "Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in 
 the firmament of his power; praise him for his majestic 
 acts; praise him and be exceedingly glad, men of the 
 South, for the poisonous snake of slavery has been chased 
 from your blooming plantations; praise him, ye Chris- 
 tians, for redemption, for a harp and crown in the eternal 
 mansions; praise the Lord, O my soul, and all that is 
 within me bless his holy name!" 
 
 RESPONSE TO THE TOAST, GEORGE WASHING- 
 TON AND ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 DELIVERED IN PARIS, JUI,Y 4, 1882. 
 
 WHILE in Paris I was called upon by General McAd- 
 dras, a Hiberno Frenchman, who married an Ameri- 
 can lady of great beauty and wealth. He lived in great 
 style. He offered to drive me out to Versailles, where there 
 was to be a celebration of the anniversary of the French 
 generals who helped Washington. I gladly accepted the 
 invitation. He pointed out many of the historic spots 
 so dear and yet so painful, many of them, to every French- 
 man's heart ! I looked with admiration at many of the 
 peaceful glories, such as paintings, temples, and observa- 
 tories, erected by the last Napoleon to hide his perjury, 
 
480 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 his treason, and his murder of its best people. He was a 
 perjurer in the deliberate violation of the solemn oath to 
 uphold the Constitution. He was a traitor, in debauching 
 the soldiers. He was a murderer, for he shot down three 
 thousand Parisians like wild beasts. Few, indeed, who 
 read his history w r ill envy the life of Dictator Bonaparte. 
 A poor Frenchman once stood over the coffin of a dead 
 despot, saying, "He is dead; let him remain dead." So 
 we say of the last of the Napoleons, "He is dead ! Let 
 him remain dead." 
 
 Having arrived at Versailles, the scene baffles all de- 
 scription. The woods, the flowers, the lakes, the ponds, 
 the fountains, bronzed by the sheen of summer, sparkled 
 as they never sparkled before. The beauty and quiet 
 splendor was to me a rapture; the aroma breathed from 
 golden blossoms, and the fragrance on which it was borne, 
 was a luxury. 
 
 But to return to our delightful trip. After riding 
 twelve miles through the most enchanting scenery, Ver- 
 sailles, with its magnificent fountains and statuary, bursts 
 upon us in all its glory. I was met by a committee, and 
 conducted to the statues, where a vast crowd had assem- 
 bled. Several Frenchmen spoke ; then my turn came, and 
 I delivered this address upon Washington and Lincoln. 
 The Paris correspondent of the New York Herald cabled 
 an account of the proceedings. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 Not in words beautifully colored with the lights of 
 this brilliant scene, this festival of memory, this festival 
 of patriotism* this festival of Union, do I wish to speak 
 of the illustrious man, whose name is immortally associ- 
 ated with the proudest recollections of the last thirty years 
 of American history. 
 
 In responding to the part of the toast which your 
 great goodness of heart has assigned me, I must confess 
 myself humbled and exalted. Abraham Lincoln, the in- 
 comparable patriot, whose name is blessed in every land 
 where civilization is understood, whose immortality is 
 
APPENDIX. 481 
 
 established and revered where heads decked with earthly 
 crowns are allowed to pass unheeded, his honored name 
 shall be a passport to every American journeying through- 
 out the world forever. The young generations of the 
 coming time shall rise up when his great achievements are 
 recalled, and the old shall be proud of his memory. Bless- 
 ings shall be eternally connected with his name. Flowers 
 shall pave the way of his children's children, and the dark- 
 browed race shall encircle his head as crowns of gold never 
 encircled the heads of emperors. 
 
 Greece had her days of glory; but her own Pericles 
 laid the foundation of that despotism around her, which 
 was consummated by Alexander. Rome mourned the 
 departure of her liberties, when her Caesar passed the 
 Rubicon. Carthage crumbled into nothingness from the 
 insatiable ambition of her chiefs. The Republics of Ven- 
 ice and Geneva sunk unpitied and forgotten into the 
 vilest servility before the blighting breath of a pampered 
 aristocracy. It is to the immortal credit of Lincoln that 
 he left the country stronger, freer, and grander than he 
 found it. He found it verging upon ruin ; he rescued it 
 from destruction. He found it full of perils; he left it 
 honored and respected. He found it cursed with slavery; 
 he left it free and glorious. He found it disunited ; he left 
 it united. He found it weak and crippled; he left it vic- 
 torious and triumphant. 
 
 Rise up, O Americans, and pay immortal homage to 
 the memory of Abraham Lincoln! 
 
 Let Germany, the land of gorgeous imagination and 
 of deep thought; France, the land of bright fancies and 
 of brilliant men ; Sweden, the land of the brave Gustavus 
 Adolphus; Denmark, England, and Switzerland, join in 
 the universal chorus ! Let not Ireland refuse to pluck 
 from her green bosom a rich shamrock, and place it upon 
 our martyr's grave. Let all nations eternally enthrone 
 the memory of Lincoln. 
 
 It is not necessary to speak of his acts; the grandest 
 was his Proclamation of Emancipation that New Testa- 
 ment of Freedom which shook the world to its center. 
 31 
 
482 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 It was everywhere hailed as a signal of hope and as an 
 emblem of redemption. The African heard it upon his 
 burning sands, and he felt his chains grow a little lighter. 
 The Circassians, keepers of the gates of Asia, heard it 
 on their mountains and proclaimed it through their val- 
 leys, telling them that though the Czar was great, Abra- 
 ham Lincoln was greater. The Poles, generous and chiv- 
 alrous, heard it, and they buckled on their swords once 
 more to fight. Italy, by her vineyards and cornfields 
 beneath her sapphire sky, heard it, and her sons from the 
 white summit of ^Etna waved boldly the torch of Eu- 
 ropean revolution. 
 
 It was the immortal gift of freedom to the bondmen 
 of the world ; the same freedom which is implanted in all 
 hearts by the good God; the same freedom which is en- 
 shrined by ten thousand glorious memories; the same 
 freedom which nerved Brutus to drive out the Gauls ; the 
 same freedom that shines with heaven-born radiance in 
 the darkest prison ; that descends with the martyr into the 
 fiery furnace, whispering words of divinest melody into 
 his ears, and transforming the hot coals into flowers of 
 rarest beauty and sweetest fragrance. 
 
 Where shall I begin to estimate the elements of 
 his greatness? If his character were before me as a 
 chart, where shall I put my finger? Among his many 
 shining qualities, his honesty and sincerity were pre-emi- 
 nent. He was honest to the core ! The universal verdict 
 of friend and foe was the famous saying, "Honest Old 
 Abe." 
 
 The cunning artists of Italy boasted that they could 
 make those Venetian drinking-glasses that shivered at 
 the touch of poison ! So the transparent crystal of Lin- 
 coln's soul recoiled from the insincere and the dishonor- 
 able! Did honesty stand alone? No! He was coura- 
 geous ! Never was there a braver heart ! He would have 
 died with the three hundred at Thermopylae; he would 
 have fought to the last with Washington ; he would have 
 mounted the scaffold with Emmet. He was a statesman ; 
 a statesman who saw that his country could not remain 
 
APPENDIX. 483 
 
 half free and half slave; a statesman whose memory will 
 be embalmed in the warm hearts of millions forever; a 
 statesman whose name will be a household word and 
 articulated in the first lispings of infancy; a statesman 
 whose image will be borne upon the brow of beauty; a 
 statesman whose life will be to the oppressed of Europe, 
 in their poverty, captivity, and chains, resurrection, lib- 
 erty, and glory. He was an orator of transcendent power; 
 his eloquence, while lacking the classic and imaginative 
 beauty of Sumner, the vigorous and commanding author- 
 ity of Webster, nevertheless charmed, subdued, and in- 
 structed multitudes. 
 
 Perhaps the finest displays of his oratory were those 
 debates with his illustrious rival, Stephen A. Douglas, an 
 American full of electricity, full of passion, and whose 
 dying message to his sons, "Stand by the Constitution 
 and the laws," has endeared his memory to every loyal 
 heart. He had much of the power foudroyante of 
 Mirabeau, the French orator, who exclaimed of his op- 
 ponents, "When right, I argue with them; when wrong, 
 I crush them." 
 
 Abraham Lincoln! I see him afar off, dwelling in 
 beautiful peace. He is where Miltiades, Tell, Hampden, 
 Bruce, Tone, Emmet, are before him. 
 
 Proud be the flight of America's eagle over his tomb ! 
 May no foeman to the Republic ever plant a standard 
 there! May the soft, warm earth that holds him never 
 lack as honest and as patriotic a President ! Sing his dirge 
 in the words of Mrs. Ford, a true poet : 
 
 " Toll the bells, and speak in whispers, 
 
 For a hero lieth low ! 
 Death has struck him down while hurling 
 
 Proud defiance at the foe! 
 But the life so steadfast, loyal 
 
 To its purpose, great and high, 
 In the land shall stay and triumph ; 
 
 For the faithful never die." 
 
 If it be asked who bound the United States and un- 
 bound the slave, the answer will be, Abraham Lincoln! 
 
484 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 If it be asked who saved the Union, one name will an- 
 swer, Abraham Lincoln ! If it be asked who raised the 
 credit of the Nation and the prosperity of the Nation to 
 an unexampled standard, one name suffices, Abraham 
 Lincoln ! If it be asked who, with the world against him, 
 England against him, the devil against him, rescued the 
 drowning banner of the Republic from destruction, and 
 placed it so high that, like Mount Tabor, it is crowned 
 with an eternal sun, the answer will be, Abraham Lin- 
 coln ! If asked what conqueror ever exercised such gener- 
 osity, such friendship, such magnanimity to a fallen foe, 
 the perpetual warmth and brightness of the memories 
 and the hopes of the chivalrous North, millions answer, 
 "None so munificent to the conquered as Abraham Lin- 
 coln !" His was the task, and his shall be the renown. It 
 was said of one of the ancient saints, who died a hundred 
 years ago, that a votive wreath of flowers was buried with 
 him. Recently, when the good man's tomb was opened, 
 the body had moldered into dust, but the flowers were 
 beautiful and fragrant. So it will be with our martyred 
 President. All hail, thou greater than Washington ! 
 Washington and Lincoln the one the founder, the other 
 the savior of the Republic. Immortal Lincoln ! Immor- 
 tal in the warm hearts of the oppressed millions, who felt 
 their chains grow a little lighter at the mention of his 
 name ! Immortal in the thanksgiving and cheers of the 
 emancipated Negroes, whose eyes moisten as they recall 
 his great Proclamation ! Immortal in the incorruptible 
 vitality of the Nation, the wealthiest and grandest, estab- 
 lished upon an imperishable foundation ! Immortal in 
 the disgust and anger of despots, who hated him because 
 the preservation of the Union meant their downfall ! Let 
 the oppressor die, let him be carried to the grave decked 
 with all the trappings of splendor ! I will visit the grave 
 of Lincoln, and repeat the spell-word of weak nations, 
 Resurgam! resurgam! Immortal in the glory of that flag 
 carried by our soldiers into battle, where the Eumenides 
 wave their torches and the trumpet of Alecto peals, nerved 
 and quickened by the faith that the sun, bursting from it 
 
APPENDIX. 485 
 
 in a flood of storm and glory, will maintain its light as did 
 the sun of victory over the mountains of the Almonte! 
 Immortal Lincoln, I salute thy memory with all the fervor 
 of my soul ! 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 Revolutions are the landmarks of history! As the 
 mountain springs from the dead level of the plain, so revo- 
 lutions are monumental records of the progress and pros- 
 perity of nations. Sometimes these upheavals are the 
 scourges and disasters of the race; but more frequently 
 they are the pioneers of those blessings of civil and relig- 
 ious liberty which follow the wars for right and justice, 
 when nations, crushed to the earth, rise with a heroic 
 grandeur, and fling off the superincumbent weight of 
 despotism. The Revolution commenced by that revered 
 man in whose honor we are assembled, was for the uplift- 
 ing and amelioration of mankind. Rising against a bril- 
 liant and powerful Government, Washington locked arms 
 with an enemy possessing boundless power. Rise up, O 
 Americans, and pay reverential homage to the fame of 
 Washington ! The birthday of such a man is a festival. 
 It is a festival of memory, a festival of love, a festival of 
 patriotism, a festival of truth. Brilliant and enthusiastic 
 though this assembly be, it is only a small and insignifi- 
 cant part of the mighty hosts who, at this same hour, com- 
 memorate in speech, sermon, and song the virtues and 
 deeds of the matchless and incomparable American. 
 Wherever the stars shine to-night, upon land and wave, 
 thousands and tens of thousands of liberty-loving hearts 
 will travel back to Old Virginia, where he first looked 
 out upon the grand and beautiful image of his native land ; 
 back to the banks of the Rappahannock, where he spent 
 his youth ; back to the wars against the French, where he 
 felt the buddings of military ambition; back to that his- 
 toric Congress in Philadelphia, where he was commis- 
 sioned as commander of the Revolutionary army; back 
 to Valley Forge, where his tears fell copiously as he 
 looked upon the sufferings of his brave soldiers; back to 
 
486 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 that sacramental scene, where he bowed and partook of 
 those emblems which signify redemption; back to York- 
 town, where the sword of Cornwallis was surrendered, 
 and the banners of England went down in defeat; back 
 to the Hudson, where some foolish and disreputable sym- 
 pathizers with monarchy offered him a crown, but he 
 proudly repelled the infamous proposal, anticipating by 
 a hundred years the noble sentiment of the illustrious 
 Hungarian, that any honest' man would scorn to wear 
 a crown ; back to the splendid morning of freedom, when 
 he stood upon the steps of the Capitol, and took the oath 
 as President of the United States ; back to Vernon's hal- 
 lowed grounds, where his sainted dust sleeps in the gran- 
 deur of eternal peace. This is not an American celebra- 
 tion ; it is the world's. Everywhere throughout the conti- 
 nents, the islands, and the cities of the earth, wherever 
 there is a prisoner of liberty and a friend to humanity, 
 his eye turns instinctively to these Western States, where 
 millions, driven from their native countries by the rods 
 and bayonets of their oppressors, have found a refuge 
 and a home. For as one has beautifully said (alas ! whose 
 voice we shall never hear again !), that Washington's 
 was a memory which can not be effaced a bright and 
 imperishable fact which perpetuates itself in every clime, 
 in every season, year after year, with the promise that its 
 vitality shall be enduring ! In the fragrant land of the pine 
 and the palm tree, where the bones of Columbus lie, there 
 are hearts which beat fondly in the remembrance of this 
 day. Beneath the dome which spans the coffin of the 
 great soldier of France, the countrymen of Lafayette men- 
 tion with French devotion the name of Washington. Far 
 down the ocean, in those cities of the South, whose foun- 
 dations were laid by the cavaliers of Isabella, Spain, the 
 land of illustrious memories, in Castelar's thrilling tones, 
 hears the echo of that voice which we, a century ago, 
 heard declare to the desponding patriots: "I will raise a 
 thousand men, equip them at my own expense, and 
 march to the help of the men of Boston." By the Aus- 
 tralian mountain lakes, where the waters mingle with the 
 
APPENDIX. 487 
 
 yellow sands, the flag of America floats from a miner's 
 home in that far-distant land. In Ireland there is not a 
 city nor a town, from Cork to the Giant's Causeway, 
 where the prayer does not bubble up in a million hearts, 
 that the Republic founded by Washington may be coeval 
 with the coming grandeur of the eternal Son of God. 
 
 Washington was born on the 22d of February, 1732, 
 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. The father died 
 when he was but ten years old. The care of the youth 
 devolved upon the mother, of whom he ever afterwards 
 spoke with loving tenderness. In his fourteenth year he 
 contemplated entering the royal navy, but God overruled 
 this arrangement. At seventeen he became a land sur- 
 veyor, making twenty dollars a day. At twenty-one he 
 was appointed aide to General Braddock in the war 
 against the French. At twenty-seven he married the 
 beautiful and accomplished Martha Custis, and settled 
 down to farming on the banks of the Potomac. In 1774 
 he was selected delegate to the Congress which met in 
 Philadelphia, when, at the nomination of John Adams, he 
 was made chief of the national forces. England had no 
 conception of the character of the men who inaugurated 
 the Revolution. Her own degraded and impoverished 
 subjects at home bowed the knee and bent the neck before 
 royalty, and received their kicks without a murmur. It 
 was expected that the Colonists would be as docile and 
 cringing. "They misunderstood us," said Washington. 
 Yes, indeed, it was a fatal misunderstanding. "We have 
 thrown a pebble at a sleeping mastiff," said Walpole. "It 
 can not injure him, but it may excite him to rend us in 
 pieces." The prediction proved a true one, for George 
 Washington snatched thirteen of the brightest jewels out 
 of the King of England's crown, and planted them in the 
 banner of American democracy forever. Americans 
 know, or ought to know, something of the causes which 
 produced the Revolution of our fathers. They know of 
 the Stamp Act, which imposed taxation without repre- 
 sentation, and that a man in Virginia said that the people 
 of the Colony would not obey any laws which were not 
 
488 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 made by itself. They know that certain Bostonians got 
 angry at the taxation of their tea, and upon one fine morn- 
 ing they threw the chests into the sea. They know that 
 when the news reached England, the king and his min- 
 isters were thrown into a royal fit. They know that war 
 meetings were held, in which independence was boldly 
 advocated. They know that the citizens of Carolina met 
 in churches, and resolved to boycott those traitorous 
 Yankees who were for the king. They know that the war 
 came, and the result. They know of the Liberty Bell in 
 Philadelphia, on which was inscribed the legend, "Pro- 
 claim liberty throughout the land to all the dwellers 
 thereof !" They know that the Liberty boys of New York 
 dashed down the equestrian statue of the King of Eng- 
 land, and that the gentle women melted it into forty thou- 
 sand bullets, and sent it back to the stupid monarch in 
 the bodies of his red : coated murderers. They know that 
 Edmund Burke, the great Irishman, whose name renders 
 our praise superfluous, the equal of Plato in the Academy 
 and the peer of Cicero in the Senate, took his stand by the 
 immortal American rebel, Washington, and vindicated in 
 words of imperishable eloquence the claims of the Revo- 
 lutionary States to virtue and liberty. It is the glory of 
 Burke's countrymen that the first voice ever raised in the 
 Old World to lift up the drowning banner of American 
 Independence was that of their great countryman. 
 
 Time does not permit to review the deeds of Wash- 
 ington. The first important event of his soldier-life was 
 the capture of Fort Duquesne from the French. Its im- 
 portance has never been duly considered. Had the 
 French been successful, they would have acquired a lord- 
 ship over the entire West. Their customs and morals 
 would probably have been stamped upon the people whom 
 they conquered. It was in this campaign that Washing- 
 ton was first taught his faculty as a soldier ; the advantages 
 of natives fighting in the forests over foreigners ; the help 
 rendered by the swamps, the rivers, and the thickets ; the 
 utter helplessness of the most disciplined soldiers before 
 the shrewdness of the hunter upon his own ground. In 
 
APPENDIX. 489 
 
 these skirmishes through the wilderness Washington 
 learned a lesson which he never forgot. 
 
 The second magnificent work of Washington was the 
 foundation of this stately Republic. There were repub- 
 lics, it is true, before his day ; but it was reserved for him 
 and his illustrious compeers to give form and sinew to 
 the new and better government of the people, by the 
 people, and for the people. Patrick Henry, with his great 
 Homeric eloquence, was a freshet in strength, a sea in 
 abundance. Thomas Jefferson, calm, collective, was the 
 brains of his age, and carved out of it the Declaration of 
 Independence. Washington, brave, wise, and reflective, 
 was the skillful master-builder. 
 
 The next and last labor of Washington was his Fare- 
 well Address, in which he laid down immortal truths for 
 our imitation and emulation. He warns us against sec- 
 tionalism, partyism, centralization, and military despo- 
 tism, as the great foes of our institutions; commends 
 morality, education, and religion as the safeguards of 
 republican liberty. It was the rare privilege of Washing- 
 ton, not only to lead the armies of his country to success, 
 but to give vitality to the idea of popular Government. 
 This fundamental truth had been the dream of the sage, 
 the song of the poet, and the theme of the orator. For 
 this Locke unveiled the mystery of philosophy. For this 
 Sir Thomas More reveled in bright visions. For this 
 Milton struck the harp. But never until the foundation 
 of our American Constitution was it made the basis of a 
 free Government. 
 
 Washington was the typical American. It has occa- 
 sionally occurred that a people has been incarnated in a 
 single individual. Pericles has been set down as the rep- 
 resentative Greek, Caesar as the representative Roman, 
 Hampclen as the representative Briton, O'Connell as the 
 representative Irishman ; and American, George Wash- 
 ington ! He is the foremost among the children of men. 
 Now, although our country, in the hundred years of its 
 existence, has many eminent names, yet before and be- 
 yond all others we rank the Father of his Country, and 
 
49 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 him we would present as the consummate fullness of 
 manifold perfections, immeasurably the largest and might- 
 iest of all. Had he been among the old Greeks, he would 
 have been worshiped as a god, and the name of Washing- 
 tion would, with the name of Hercules and Theseus, have 
 taken its place among the eternal stars. 
 
 Washington was American in his patriotism. He 
 loved his country as the Roman loved the City of the 
 Seven Hills, or the Athenian the City of the Violet Crown. 
 Her vast mountains, her picturesque lakes, her magnifi- 
 cent prairies, and her splendid landscapes were all dear 
 to his heart. If Cromwell once said of Ireland, as he 
 gazed upon the Lakes of Killarney, "Truly this is a land 
 worth fighting for," so every American may be justly 
 proud of his country, the land of Washington the coun- 
 try of which Thomas Davis finely sang : 
 
 " There are lands where manly toil 
 
 Surely reaps the crop it sows, 
 Glorious woods and teeming soil, 
 Where the broad Missouri flows ; " 
 
 of which Charles Phillips grandly said : "The oppressed of 
 all countries, the martyrs of every creed, find refuge, their 
 industry encouraged, their piety respected, their ambition 
 animated, with no restraint but those laws which are the 
 same to all, in which so many Irishmen's fortunes have 
 been so resplendently redeemed." 
 
 The greatest element in Washington's life was his 
 transparent sincerity. As a friend he was faithful, tender, 
 and helpful. His private life was stainlessly pure. There 
 were no skeletons in his closet. He hated shams, and his 
 lofty soul recoiled from the appearance of anything like 
 hypocrisy. The cunning artists believed that they could 
 fashion their Venetian drinking-glasses that shivered at 
 the touch of poison ; and so the clear crystal of Washing- 
 ton's soul shuddered at the contact of the base and false. 
 It is said that he spent $75,000 out of his private fortune 
 to carry on the war, and that during his official life as 
 President and general of the army he never accepted a 
 
APPENDIX. 49 1 
 
 dollar for his services. Compare the British sovereigns 
 with our Revolutionary fathers, and how insignificant 
 they appear ! Where among them all will you be able to 
 construct a character of such symmetrical proportions 
 and moral grandeur as that beheld in Washington? 
 Gather into one the mental strength shared by this long 
 line of contemptible creatures, and you could not con- 
 struct one brain of such gigantic proportions as that ex- 
 hibited by our imperial Jefferson. Glean from all along 
 the pitiable harvest of this long succession of crowned 
 heads all the statesmanship you can find, and there is 
 nothing to be compared with our two Adamses. We hear 
 much said by our dudes* toadies, third-rate preachers, 
 every callow student and boy statesman, rotten before 
 they are ripe, about the good Victoria. It might prove, 
 as a Methodist bishop Haven once said: "A more dif- 
 ficult question than that of the most abstruse mathemat- 
 ical problem to demand of those who are so laudatory 
 one solitary instance of real, positive goodness which has 
 emanated from that woman in her character as sovereign 
 during her whole reign." Negative goodness we may 
 allow her; just the kind of goodness we should look for 
 in a kitten. During her forty-five years' reign she has 
 stolen from the British people over one hundred and fifty 
 millions of dollars. With a salary of four millions annu- 
 ally, with fifteen hundred servants, with seventy chaplains 
 and sixteen thousand bribed parsons to pray for her royal 
 soul, she has never performed a noble and humane deed. 
 Where among all these female monarchs will you find 
 such a beautiful character as Martha Washington, or 
 Julia Ward Howe, or Mrs. Delia Parnell, the daughter of 
 our proudest naval hero, Commodore Stewart, and the 
 proud mother of Ireland's matchless and immortal Par- 
 nell. We hereby challenge proof of the first great nat- 
 urally beneficial act coming from any one of these royal 
 ciphers, who, in the words of Cato the Censor, are "crea- 
 tures who feed upon human flesh ;" that is to say, regu- 
 lar cannibals. There is more true refinement of feeling, 
 more resistless human tenderness, in any one of the moth- 
 
49 2 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ers, wives, daughters of soldiers and citizens, noble and 
 elect ladies, who served during the war as bridesmaids 
 at the marriage of Union and Liberty, and who own with 
 exulting pride that they are the daughters of such a land ! 
 
 I remember when in Columbia during the war a ven- 
 erable woman, the Mother Superioress of a convent. She 
 knew many of the Revolutionary leaders, and while she 
 was giving her remembrance of those great souls, Wash- 
 ington's name was not mentioned. She was asked- the 
 reason, and if she ever saw him. She said : " Yes, indeed. 
 I was speaking, however, of the men of the Revolution; 
 he was an angel." 
 
 And now, before I conclude, let us look at the lessons 
 of Washington's life. First, he was the champion of civil 
 and religious liberty for all men. Despots hate it. It has 
 been denied by kings and queens, and they were ruffians. 
 It has been sneered at by eminent officials, and they were 
 bought by gold. It has been denounced by State-paid 
 preachers, and they were deceivers. The Russian, the 
 Polander, the Irishman burns to realize the dream of lib- 
 erty, which was the inspiration of great Washington's life. 
 
 The second great lesson was that no people can ever 
 obtain their rights without fighting for them. O'Connell 
 once said that no liberty was worth the shedding of a drop 
 of blood; and his eloquent American compeer, Wendell 
 Phillips, whom we have recently buried in tears and glory, 
 says in his famous lecture upon O'Connell, that "muskets 
 are the weapons of animals, but agitation is the atmos- 
 phere of brains." These eminent philanthropists ought 
 to have known that tyrants never let go their remorseless 
 grasp upon the throat of their oppressed serfs without the 
 application of gunpowder. Holland won her liberty by 
 the revolution in which she threw off the yoke of Spain. 
 Greece gained freedom and prosperity by a war in which 
 she shook off the Turkish and Mohammedan authorities. 
 France achieved her liberty by several revolutions, dur- 
 ing which she sent her pretenders to royal blood to the 
 scaffold, where every ruffian of them ought to be sent. 
 
 There are those who are disposed to condemn Wash- 
 
APPENDIX. 493. 
 
 ington for his resort to the sword ; but there was no other 
 way to independence. This truth is finely expressed in 
 the words of an English poetess, the noblest poem upon 
 this subject in the English language: 
 
 " There 's a star in the West that shall never go down 
 
 Till the records of valor decay ; 
 We must worship its light, though it be not our own, 
 
 For liberty bursts in its ray. 
 Shall the name of a Washington ever be heard 
 
 By a freeman, and thrill not his breast ? 
 Is there one out of bondage that hails not the word 
 
 As the Bethlehem Star of the West? 
 
 
 He struck with firm courage the sword of the brave, 
 
 But sighed at the carnage that spread; 
 He indignantly trampled the yoke of the slave, 
 
 But wept for the thousands that bled. 
 Tho' he threw back the fetters and headed the strife, 
 
 Till man's charter was fairly restored, 
 Yet he prayed for the moment when freedom and life 
 
 Would no longer be pressed by the sword. 
 
 O, his laurels were pure! and his patriot name 
 
 On the page of the future shall dwell, 
 And be seen in all annals, the foremost in fame, 
 
 By the side of an Emmet and Tell. 
 Revile not my song, for the wise and the good 
 
 Among Britons have nobly confessed 
 That his was the glory, and ours was the blood 
 
 Of the deeply-stained fields of the West." 
 
 As the centuries roll on, his fame will brighten with 
 increasing splendor, shedding light upon the pathway 
 of the heroes, the martyrs, and redeemers of mankind. 
 As the old legend runs, St. Humbert died and was buried, 
 and a green branch was laid upon his breast. At the end 
 of a century the grave was opened, the saint's body had 
 dissolved into dust, but the fair branch, unwithered, re- 
 tained its perfect greenness. So with our Washington, 
 centuries hence, when his beloved America is crowned 
 like Tabor with an eternal light, his name shall abide im- 
 perishably green. 
 
494 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF GENERAL SHERMAN. 
 
 THE first time I met General Sherman was at Pa- 
 ducah, Kentucky, when my regiment was ordered to his 
 command. He intimated his desire to have the officers 
 visit him. He was in his happiest mood, and inquired 
 from what part of the State our companies were recruited 
 and the name of the colonel. He spoke proudly of Ohio 
 having done more than its duty in filling up her quota 
 so promptly. 
 
 One of the captains thought he would take advantage 
 of the general's cordiality, and began to ask questions. 
 "Where is Buckner, the Confederate commander, and 
 when do you expect to attack him? We are spoiling for 
 a fight." 
 
 At this question Sherman lost his Christian serenity 
 of temper, and abruptly answered: "A very improper 
 question for you to ask, sir. You will have enough of 
 fighting. The war is not yet commenced." 
 
 This pleasant and interesting incident, which took 
 place after the battle of Chattanooga, shows General Sher- 
 man's knowledge of his men, his profound and touching 
 allusions to the memory of those who had fallen in battle. 
 It was at Resaca. The general visited the Irish legion; 
 the soldiers uncovered their heads as they rushed in hun- 
 dreds to catch a glimpse of their heroic commander, and 
 hear what he had to say. General Sherman introduced 
 McPherson, his successor in command of the Army of 
 the Tennessee, and also General Barry ; then inquired after 
 the different officers of the legion. 
 
 General Sherman "So the poor colonel was killed?" 
 
 Major Flynn "Yes, general; and our lieutenant- 
 colonel has not yet been able to join us." 
 
 General Sherman "Why, was he wounded?" 
 
 Major Flynn "Yes, very seriously." 
 
 General Sherman "How is your chaplain? Is he still 
 with you?" 
 
 Major Flynn "No, general ; poor Father Kelly died 
 in Chicago." 
 
APPENDIX. 495 
 
 General Sherman "Have you many sick in the regi- 
 ment?" 
 
 Major Flynn "Not one." 
 
 General Sherman "That is very good; still the situ- 
 ation here does not appear healthful, although your camp 
 is very neat and clean. However, you will soon be leav- 
 ing here now. In what State is your transportation?" 
 
 Such questions as these show Sherman's knowledge 
 of and interest in his men. 
 
 In continuing the conversation, he said: "The road 
 from Nashville to Decatur is now open. I have just been 
 over it, and soon we will be ready to have another brush. 
 As quickly as I can establish some more depots and get 
 down enough supplies, we*will be at it again. By the way, 
 I had good news from Paducah this morning. The 'old 
 war horse,' Colonel Hicks, defeated Forrest, who has 
 about seven thousand cavalry up there with him ; but Gen- 
 eral Grierson is in his rear, and will be sure to bag him." 
 
 At this point the band struck up "Hail to the Chief." 
 The major made a neat little speech, congratulating the 
 general on his promotion, and added : "I have just been 
 reading in the Pilot that you are. all Irish." 
 
 "Yes, Irish blood courses in my veins," remarked Gen- 
 eral McPherson. 
 
 "And for me," said General Barry, "my parents came 
 from Cork." 
 
 "Well," said General Sherman, "I have never denied 
 being an Irishman ; and, besides, my wife is Irish. But we 
 want to see the paper." 
 
 I never saw such a sudden change come over the face 
 of any man as came over that of General Sherman 
 after the battle of Kenesaw Mountain. In that terrible 
 engagement several of the most brilliant officers had 
 fallen, among them Harker,who commanded the Sherman 
 Brigade, that had been raised by a brother of the general, 
 Senator Sherman. General Sherman was terribly 
 wrought up over this disaster. A Confederate prisoner 
 was brought into headquarters, a soldier of some Savan- 
 nah regiment. He was poorly clad, and looked wretched 
 
496 I UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 when he was brought before Sherman; and as he beheld 
 the stern countenance of the general he trembled with 
 fear. "Where are you from, sir?" asked Sherman. "Ire- 
 land, be jabers! Gineral; and I wish I wor there to-day ,1 
 sor," was the quick reply. Sherman laughed at the quick 
 wit of the fellow, and had him clothed and fed, and for 
 several days took a lively interest in him. 
 
 General Sherman possessed the true elements of great- 
 ness. He was ever true to his conceptions of duty. What 
 a contrast to Nelson, who, on the eve of the battle of 
 Trafalgar, is reported to have said, "To-morrow will give 
 me a peerage or a monument in Westminster Abbey." 
 General Sherman would have said, "To-morrow will find 
 me doing my duty to my country, or laying down my 
 body on the battle-field where I have fought." There 
 was about him another trait of character not often men- 
 tioned, his kindness and tenderness of heart. I have seen 
 him frequently dismount from his horse, and share with 
 a tired soldier the contents of his haversack. I saw him 
 at Fort McAllister, when the sun was going down behind 
 a magnificent grove of oaks, chastened by touches of 
 solemn sadness, his cheek wet with tears as he beheld 
 Hazen's brave division repulsed, and many a gallant soul 
 hurled into eternity by the bursting of the hundreds of 
 torpedoes which were buried in the earth. I have seen 
 him in his tent listening patiently to the complaints of the 
 private soldier, and never failing to have justice done. 
 
 The only time I ever saw him in one of his superb 
 rages was in the city of Savannah, at the princely mansion 
 of Charles Green. A British subject called and demanded 
 protection on the ground of the neutrality of his Govern- 
 ment. Sherman's face became white with wrath, as he 
 exclaimed : "Do n't talk to me, sir, of your Government's 
 neutrality ! My soldiers have seen your Queen's mark 
 upon every cannon and upon every gun of the rebels ; and 
 they can never forget it no, never!" 
 
 After the war I was a chaplain in the regular army. 
 My regiment was stationed in the Carolinas, where I had 
 much to do with the establishment of freedmen's schools, 
 
APPENDIX. 497 
 
 and with the measures of Reconstruction. The colonel 
 of the regiment was a relative of Sherman by marriage, 
 an accomplished and gifted man, who had won distin- 
 guished honors in the War for the Union. When I called 
 upon General Sherman in Washington he was then act- 
 ing Secretary of W T ar I found him in a communicative 
 mood, cordial, sociable, pleasant. His first question was, 
 "How is - ?" referring to the colonel. I told him that 
 many admirers were anxious for the colonel to enter poli- 
 tics; that "he could have a United States Senatorship." 
 Sherman said: "That is impossible. Politics would ruin 
 him. Besides, it would disgrace and blot out his fine 
 record as a soldier. He must know, as every one knows, 
 'carpet-baggism in Southern politics is the very genius 
 of humbuggery.' ' 
 
 I mentioned to him that when at Savannah General 
 Howard gave me a letter to a Methodist pastor, asking 
 the use of his church for me to preach in to the Union 
 soldiers. "Yes," said Sherman, "Howard is a Christian; 
 he possesses a combination of personal courage and purity 
 of character and Christian manhood seldom witnessed in 
 war. In the darkest and most trying hours I always found 
 him hopeful, cheerful, and ready." 
 
 Contrary to my expectations, he spoke in the highest 
 terms of Logan, remarking that General Logan's oratory 
 was not his only attractive quality. "I always liked him 
 for his patriotism, for his eloquence. That one sentence 
 of his at the breaking out of the war, 'The men of the 
 Northwest will hew their way to the Gulf with their 
 swords,' added thousands of soldiers to the ranks. He 
 was not formed of the stuff of which parasites are made." 
 
 But it was for Lincoln that he had words of warmest 
 praise. Lincoln was "the purest, the most generous, the 
 most magnanimous of men. He will hold a place in the 
 world's history loftier than that of any king or conqueror. 
 It is no wonder that the Parliaments of Europe, that the 
 people throughout the civilized world, should everywhere 
 speak of him with reverence ; for his work was one of the 
 greatest labors a human intellect ever sustained." 
 32 
 
49 8 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 I asked him his opinion of Lincoln's eloquence. His 
 answer was : "I have seen and heard many of the famous 
 orators of our country, but Lincoln's unstudied speeches 
 surpassed all that I ever heard. I have never seen them 
 equaled, or even imitated. It was not scholarship ; it was 
 not rhetoric; it was not elocution; it was the unaffected 
 and spontaneous eloquence of the heart. There was noth- 
 ing of the mountain torrent in his manner; it was rather 
 the calm flow of the river." 
 
 During this conversation Sherman was full of en- 
 thusiastic admiration for the old soldiers. He was proud 
 to be the commander of such men. He told with what 
 a thrill of admiration the friends at home would speak in 
 the years to come of their sieges, their battles, and their 
 victories, and quoted Sir John Moore's dying words after 
 Corunna, "I hope they will do me justice at home." 
 
 I told him that his soldiers were equally attached to 
 their old general, and I gave him the following incident 
 as one proof : At Raleigh, North Carolina, when his treaty 
 with Johnston had been rejected, some of the professed 
 religious journals of the North had written extremely 
 bitter and untruthful articles as to Sherman's motives in 
 accepting the surrender of Johnston, going so far as to 
 say that the terms were inspired by Roman Catholic influ- 
 ences. These religious Cassandras scattered these papers 
 all over the country ; all the venerable old women believed 
 that the country was ruined. Bundles of these news- 
 papers were sent to the army; the soldiers at Raleigh 
 were so enraged that they collected the obnoxious sheets 
 in a pile, and set fire to them to the song of 
 
 "John Brown's body lies a-moldering in the grave, 
 But his soul goes marching on." 
 
 This was the only opportunity I ever enjoyed of a 
 long conversation with General Sherman, and my remem- 
 brance of him is as vivid and as fresh at this hour as when 
 it took place. He was a soldier cast in the mold of Ro- 
 man firmness, the very ideal of such a warrior as might 
 have commanded the Tenth Legion. He combined with 
 
APPENDIX. 499 
 
 qualities renowned in war others not less heroic; for no 
 heart was more distinguished for kindly and generous 
 affections. Under that singular, wiry exterior, nature had 
 implanted a spirit of fire and an irresistible energy which 
 reminds one of the Italian exploits of Lannes or the vic- 
 torious intrepidity of Nelson. 
 
 " Free as he was in act and mind, 
 He leaves no braver heart behind." 
 
 A CULTIVATED MAN. 
 
 HE is DESCRIBED TO THE METHODIST MINISTERS AN INTEREST- 
 ING SUBJECT DISCUSSED BY REV. GEORGE W. PEPPER, AT 
 THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN CLEVELAND. 
 
 AT the Methodist Preachers' Meeting Monday morn- 
 ing there was a large attendance. The order of the day 
 was the discussion of "The Cost of a Cultivated Man," by 
 Rev. George W. Pepper. The subject was delightfully 
 handled by Mr. Pepper in his unique and inimitable way. 
 
 In his address to the ministers, Rev. Mr. Pepper said : 
 "There is in the palace of the Louvre a splendid picture, 
 of which the Siege of Troy, the living landscape of 
 Homer's song, is the scene. Paris is beheld in silken 
 dalliance with Helen, while his brother Hector is thor- 
 oughly prepared for the war. Contrast the disciplined, 
 the fully-exercised, the well-equipped Hector with the 
 softness, the self-indulgence, and the utter effeminacy of 
 Paris, and you have the difference between the cultivated 
 and the uncultivated man. He must pay a fearful price 
 if he would attain to eminence. The loss of health, the 
 self-denial of needful rest and comfort, isolation from so- 
 ciety, and the almost hopeless distance of success, these 
 and a thousand obstacles interfere ; but he may surmount 
 them all if he be as one of the Titan-souled storied giants 
 who, of old, heaped rocks upon rocks, and climbed upon 
 this strange ladder above the clouds. 
 
 "The cost of a cultivated man : in the estimation of 
 
500 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 his value we must refer to what the Supreme Being has 
 supplied, the love with all its splendid capabilities. Every- 
 thing had been created but man; the earth glowed in 
 beauty and the heavens rolled over it in grandeur. The 
 Almighty said, 'Let us make man.' Then there are the 
 educational, philanthropic, and a thousand other appli- 
 ances which must be considered. In the cost of a well- 
 furnished man there must be the outlay of thought, the 
 concentration of all his powers, patience. Nothing dur- 
 able was ever improvised. What produced that wondrous 
 host of Italian artists, which rise upon the sight like a 
 golden cloud of beautiful spirits? What made Venice, 
 Rome, England great? It was sublime patience, then the 
 exercise of will. A man may be a good memorizer and be 
 a fool, a great scholar and be a theorist; but will is the 
 efficient factor in the production of a cultivated man." 
 
 The speaker described the cost of books, of travel, of 
 observation, of the mind being well stored with facts. 
 He said that matter was more important than manner; 
 that in education, geography,- history, and biography 
 should come before grammar, logic, rhetoric, philosophy, 
 abstractions, discussions, entities, and quiddities. These 
 served but to disgust the pupil. The most serious evil of 
 modern education was based upon a fashion. Debating 
 societies were the nurseries of orators, the rehearsals of 
 illustrious men. The most cultivated man he ever met 
 was Gladstone; the most cultivated woman was Ada Re- 
 han. She possessed a soul which was full pf enthusiasm 
 in all that is beautiful and noble. As an illustration of the 
 triumphs of a cultured man and orator, the speaker quoted 
 from Gladstone's address to the London preachers, in 
 which he placed Richard Lalor Sheil the last of the 
 rhetoricians as the greatest orator of the English Par- 
 liament. If Shell's genius had the eagle's flight, it had 
 the eagle's courage, too ; if it could soar to the loftiest 
 crag, it could wheel in the sunlight and pounce upon the 
 stealthiest prey. He married a great beauty without for- 
 tune. The son of a wealthy father, he would not hang 
 upon him for support. He would bake his own bread. 
 
APPENDIX, 501 
 
 He had the honest daring to take the hand he loved, 
 though the white finger wore no jewels. The great evil 
 of modern culture is the cramming of memory. The 
 scholar, instead of finding the schoolroom a perpetual 
 feast of nectared sweets, finds rather an asinine feast of 
 thistles. Memories crammed, fatigue and weaken the 
 mind. As Humboldt says, "The finest fruit earth holds up 
 to its Maker is a cultivated man." 
 
 LECTURE ON IRELAND, DELIVERED IN ASH- 
 LAND, APRIL 25, 1888. 
 
 (From the Ashland Gazette.) 
 
 SUCCESSFUL in every detail and particular, was the 
 verdict rendered by the vast throng of people which 
 passed under the shadows and the many brilliant and 
 parti-colored lights of the new Methodist Episcopal 
 church on last Friday night, after the conclusion of the 
 lecture on "Ireland as It Is," by Rev. G. W. Pepper. 
 Never before in the history of our city was there such an 
 overwhelming ^outpouring of the people to listen to a 
 lecture, and never, perhaps, were our people better repaid 
 than on last Friday evening, by the admirable and elo- 
 quent orator and minister, Mr. Pepper. It was an event 
 of more than ordinary importance. The large window 
 which adorns the front of the beautiful edifice is sym- 
 bolical of the subject chosen by the pastor for his lecture. 
 Parnell, Emmet, Gladstone. Three names interwoven 
 with the struggles of Ireland for independence, right, and 
 justice, and representing truth, patriotism, and manhood. 
 These names will live in the memory of all Ashland Meth- 
 odists as long as the magnificent new structure stands 
 as a place of Divine worship. Long before the hour at 
 which the lecture was to commence, the seats of the audi- 
 torium were filled by Ashland's best people; it was an 
 audience typical of Ashland's society. The mellow lights 
 from the chandeliers reflected on the beauty of the fres- 
 
502 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 coed walls and ceilings, the vast audience, the spacious 
 church, and, above all, the three names Parnell, Emmet, 
 and Gladstone which met the observation of all in their 
 lofty altitude, lent to the scene and the occasion an im- 
 pressiveness and interest rarely experienced by our peo- 
 ple. On the rostrum, supported by an easel, hung the 
 Harp of Ireland, adorned with greens and flowers. Back 
 of it was a large bower of hothouse plants, all giving 
 forth an aromatic odor, which contrasted strangely with 
 the chill April weather without. The chairman of the 
 evening was Dr. J. P. Cowan, who announced as the first 
 thing on the program, a song by the choir. The choir 
 was composed of the Misses Ella Greenamyer, Mary Mc- 
 Kean, Mary Curtis, and Messrs. Theodore McNeely, Har- 
 mon Grindle, and Ed Miller, who sang one of the Church 
 hymns with more than ordinary effect. Miss Mattie 
 Sprengle, as organist, and Mr. Frank Greenamyer, as cor- 
 netist, added materially and effectually to the splendid 
 manner in which the choir acquitted themselves. Mr. 
 Ed Miller then sang his solo, "The Wearing of the 
 Green." To an Irishman's heart this national ode awak- 
 ened all the memories of his Fatherland. Mr. Miller, with 
 his known musical talent, fairly excelled himself. He sang 
 as if impressed with the words which he uttered ; his tones 
 were clear, harmonious, and musical, and perhaps there 
 was not one in that large audience that did not breathe 
 with quickened breath, as he closed the splendid rendition 
 of "Wearing of the Green." Mr. Pepper then came for- 
 ward, and was greeted by great applause as he stepped 
 for the first time on the rostrum of the new Methodist 
 Episcopal church, the construction of which is owing, in 
 a great measure, to his untiring energy. 
 
 It is needless to dwell upon his lecture, as it is given 
 in full below. Suffice it to say, by way of comment, that 
 his old-time vigor, enunciation, and the lofty flights of 
 rhetoric for which he is noted, were displayed in their 
 strongest light and to the best advantage. For two 
 hours Mr. Pepper held his large audience; for two hours 
 he alternately produced laughter and sighs ; and when his 
 
APPENDIX. 503 
 
 grand peroration was finished, we dare say that there were 
 none in the audience assembled, that did not pity the con- 
 dition of the Irish people, revere them for their love of 
 home and native land, and with the firm determination 
 to emulate their virtues and their patriotism in the future. 
 
 Mr. Dill Lamborn sang that grand old Irish ode, 
 "The Harp," as a finale to the night's proceedings. All 
 our citizens are familiar with Air. Lamborn's style and 
 eloquence, but upon this particular occasion he outdid 
 himself. His broad, fluctuating, and tremulous voice 
 lifted that grand old song from a few lines of words into 
 a living and moving being. He surpassed himself, which 
 can only be the verdict rendered by all. 
 
 The success of the Lecture and the credit of it is 
 largely due to the Methodist ladies of the Social Union, 
 the officers of which are : Miss Grace Hughes, President, 
 and Mrs. A. Jamison, Secretary. Miss Arbi Brown and 
 Mrs. Will Carter, both members of the Social Union, ma- 
 terially aided the success of the project, by their untiring 
 energy and application. 
 
 We can not close without mentioning one very essen- 
 tial and important feature of the night's entertainment 
 the charming lady ushers. But for them the immense 
 gathering would have jolted and jarred each other to 
 such an extent that all relish for the lecture would have 
 been lost. They were the Misses Jennie Waggoner, Net- 
 tie Krebs, Edna Brinton, Blanche Kunkle, May Mc- 
 Clain, and Annie Mason. After the audience was dis- 
 missed, Sheriff Flannery, of Mansfield, put seven dollars 
 in Mr. Pepper's hand, to aid Ireland's cause. 
 
 LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, It is the beautiful ordina- 
 tion of the Divine Creator that nations should each have 
 their characteristics. The Hebrew was mighty by the 
 power of faith; the Greek by knowledge and art; the 
 Roman by arms ; but the glory of the American is in his- 
 love of liberty. The pride of the Hebrew was in his re- 
 ligion; the pride of the Greek was in wisdom; the pride 
 
504 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of the Roman was in power. For the American, belief is 
 not enough ; ideas of liberty are not enough : nor is mere 
 work. The age is an age of freedom. Though the Amer- 
 ican covers the land with factories and puts a mill on every 
 stream; though he sifts the gold and silver of the hills, 
 these golden grains contain the seeds of empires. He 
 covers the ocean with ships, but every sail that shivers 
 in the breeze has the promise of freedom in the sound. 
 
 The lecturer dwelt at length upon the three Irelands 
 which he saw there five years ago, the southern Irish, 
 with red blood in their veins, who are unconquerably op- 
 posed to landlordism; the lords in Ireland, nine hundred 
 men, owning 15,000,000 acres, and taking from the land 
 annually $80,000,000. 
 
 The Scotch-Irish were eulogized for their republican- 
 ism, thirty of their best ministers dying upon the scaffold 
 for Ireland. Parnell was eulogized by the greatest living 
 statesman that he was raised up by heaven to dig up 
 the foundations of British despotism. The objections to 
 Ireland possessing a Parliament were reviewed and re- 
 futed. Here the speaker took occasion to denounce the 
 slanders of Ireland's enemies; that if the Irish Catholics 
 could, they would exterminate the Protestants. The lec- 
 turer declared that "Ireland did not want London rule 
 nor Rome rule, but home rule." This sentiment was 
 loudly and enthusisastically cheered. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Pepper rapidly sketched the traits of 
 various nationalities. The German was thoughtful; the 
 Scotchman intensely national, carrying with him over 
 land and sea fond memories of the banks and the braes 
 which the genius of Burns has made immortal ; a land hal- 
 lowed by the deeds of Bruce, whose helmet bears the 
 scars of freedom's battles, and whose brow is blazing with 
 the glory of one thousand years. The Englishman was 
 characterized by devotion to duty; it was this love of 
 duty that invested English womanhood the world over 
 with grace and beauty. The speaker paid a high compli- 
 ment to the democracy of England, and predicted the 
 time was coming when young England would rise re- 
 
APPENDIX. 505 
 
 splendent and glorious. He then spoke of the traits of 
 the Irish people as he saw them when he revisited Ire- 
 land. They were earnest, eloquent, patriotic, and brave, 
 .and a gallant race. After seven hundred years, Britain 
 is compelled to keep forty thousand sodiers there to pre- 
 vent the people from rising in rebellion. 
 
 History has written it as our proudest eulogy. Geo- 
 graphically considered, it is but a small island, with an 
 area of thirty-two thousand miles, and yet to most of her 
 sons, scattered over the earth's wide surface, there is an 
 indescribable charm and fascination in the very name. 
 There are so many delightful associations over which one 
 lingers in enthusiastic love, and which suggests to the 
 mind illustrious memories of a time when it produced 
 warriors, poets, saints, and orators. The climate is so 
 charming, the scenery is so full of noble beauties, the soil 
 is so fruitful, the men so brave, and the women so fair, 
 and the whole people so brimful of wit and of a generous 
 hospitality, that even the iron-hearted Cromwell ex- 
 claimed, while viewing the beautiful valley of the Nore 
 from the cupola of St. Canice, "Behold, here indeed is a 
 land worth fighting for." 
 
 Geographers tell us that the world may be divided 
 into hemispheres, one of water and the other of land. 
 Ireland is the center of the land hemisphere. A most 
 admired poet says "that her back is turned to Britain and 
 her face to the west," indicating that Ireland is favorably 
 situated to become the great entrepot of commerce be- 
 tween Europe and America. The Irish claim that the 
 glory of discovering this continent belongs to one of 
 their saints, St. Brenden, and that Ireland was the first, 
 as she is now, the most friendly and trusted ally of the 
 great Republic. That no other country visited by trav- 
 elers approaches Ireland in natural attractions, is the be- 
 lief of every Irishman. Where else do we behold so many 
 great and characteristic features? Where such moun- 
 tains as the magnificent chain of the Connemaras? 
 Where gardens so sylvan and lovely, with winding walks, 
 like those in forests, fountains, and springs? Where lakes 
 
506 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 like those of Killarney, where savage wildnes.s ceases to be 
 terrible, because it is inconceivably lovely? Where ca- 
 thedrals and churches of such grandeur and awe-inciting 
 vastness? Where such a soil, fruitful enough to support 
 fifteen millions of people? Where else can we feel in every 
 air which blows the spirit of health, the freedom from the 
 world, the communion with one's self? 
 
 Glorious old Ireland ; the temple of nature where man 
 casts off for a time all thoughts but of her, and drinks 
 deep of the purest and loftiest source of enjoyment; 
 mighty and grand in thy unrivaled beauties; wonderfully 
 beautiful in thy enchanting loveliness, and thy mountains 
 noble and magnificent images of eternal power and 
 grandeur. 
 
 "The Niobe of nations! there she stands, 
 
 Childless and crownless in her voiceless woe ; 
 An empty urn within her withered hands, 
 Whose holy dust was scattered long ago." 
 
 Ireland is a heroic nation. The records of liberty 
 are full of the praise of Irish valor. Satirical Voltaire, the 
 cynic of the human race, may ridicule their gallantry, say- 
 ing they fight everybody's battles but their own. Can 
 Greece, Rome, Switzerland, Holland, or even America, 
 present more glorious fields, or more gallant struggles 
 .for freedom? Their sieges are so many eulogisms, the 
 most heroic are those of Derry, where the brave Walker 
 held out against pestilence, famine, death, until God him- 
 self fought for him ; and that of Limerick, where the im- 
 mortal Sarsfield splendidly defied the bullets of the enemy. 
 "Show me the man," said the Queen of Navarre, "that 
 tells the nations that I am beautiful, that I may shower 
 honors upon him." We love Davis for singing of Ire- 
 land's charms: 
 
 "O, she is a rich and rare land! O, she is afresh and fair land! 
 She is a true and dear land, this native land of mine." 
 
 The patriot Irishman loves to refer to the glorious 
 period of the United Irishmen producing a host of bril- 
 
ATPENDIX. 507 
 
 Kant men, among them poor Emmet, the beau ideal of a 
 soldier, a patriot, and a man. Pity smiles through her 
 tears on the strange and checkered scenes of his life in 
 connection, not only with the scaffold, which he made 
 radiant and glorious as the cross, but also the tender and 
 touching separation from him of the young and beautiful 
 daughter of a well-known Irish barrister. 
 
 TRIBUTE TO EMMET. 
 
 It was the evening of a lovely day ; a young and beau- 
 tiful girl stood at the prison gate, and desired admittance 
 into the dungeon. She was closely veiled, and the keeper 
 could not imagine who she \vas, nor that any one of such 
 proud bearing should be a humble supplicant at the 
 prison door. However, he granted the boon, led her to 
 the dungeon, opened the massive door; then closed it 
 again, and the lovers were alone. He was leaning against 
 the prison wall, with downcast head, and his arms were 
 folded upon his breast. Gently she raised the veil from 
 her face, and Emmet turned to gaze upon all that earth 
 contained for him ; the girl whose sunny brow, in the days 
 of his boyhood, had been his polestar; the maiden who 
 made him think the world was all sunshine. The clank- 
 ing of his chains sounded like a death-knell to her ears, 
 and she wept like a child. Emmet said but little, yet he 
 pressed her to his heart. In a low voice he besought her 
 not to forget him when he was gone. He spoke of 
 bygone days, the happiness of childhood, when his hopes 
 were bright and glorious. 
 
 "Hark! the church-bell sounded, and he remembered 
 the hour of separation. The jailer entered, and, after 
 dashing the tears from his eyes, he separated them from 
 their long embrace, and led the lady from the dungeon. 
 At the entrance she turned; their eyes met; they could 
 not say farewell. The door swung upon its heavy hinges, 
 and they were parted forever. The next day, a pale girl, 
 with golden hair, lay upon the bed of death. O ! it was 
 hard for her to die in that beautiful Erin, where the flowers 
 
508 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 bloom, and the balmy air comes freshly to the pining soul ! 
 O ! no, her star was set, her heart was broken ! 
 
 "When ties have been formed upon earth, what is 
 more heartrending and agonizing to the spirit than to 
 find the beloved is snatched away, and all our love given 
 to a passing floweret? Enough, she died, the betrothed 
 of Robert Emmet." 
 
 The muse of Byron has immortalized the maid of 
 Saragossa; why should the amiable Sarah Curran, the 
 betrothed of Robert Emmet, be denied equal honor? 
 
 COMPLAINTS OF THE IRISH. 
 
 The eloquent Gladstone, in his recent speech, ascribes 
 Fenianism and all the troubles of Ireland to the misgov- 
 ernment and oppression of England. Ireland complains 
 that her land for hundreds of years has been deemed legiti- 
 mate plunder for the rapacious and needy servants of the 
 British crown. She complains that the most cruel tor- 
 tures and the most savage measures have been used to 
 force on her people a detested Church, where its members 
 only form one-twentieth part of the population; that 
 Henry II put the people to death because they did not 
 want to be Catholics; that Henry VIII did the same be- 
 cause they would not become Protestants ; that Cromwell, 
 the saint, "the mildest-mannered man that ever scuttled 
 ship or cut a throat," put them to the sword because they 
 were loyal to the king. * 
 
 She complains that Elizabeth fomented revolts, mur- 
 dering a million of the Irish, in order that there might be 
 estates enough for each importunate courtier. 
 
 She complains that William of Orange, he of glorious 
 memory, turned out four thousand families to die upon 
 the road, and then established a penal code worthy of 
 Herod. 
 
 She complains that the second George disfranchised 
 five-sixths of her population, and drove a hundred thou- 
 sand to the army of France. 
 
 She complains that her clergy were hunted and 
 massacred. 
 
APPENDIX. 509 
 
 She complains that seven millions of money, sup- 
 ported by a hundred thousand bayonets, united Ireland 
 to England. 
 
 She complains that, when the sword failed to extermi- 
 nate, England, the Christian nation, organized peri- 
 odical famines in the years 1817, 1831, 1837, 1847, re ~ 
 ducing Ireland from a population of eight millions to half 
 that aggregate. 
 
 She complains that the frightful wars of 1644, the re- 
 volt of 1798, and the insurrection of 1858, were created by 
 England for the extirpation of the Celtic race. 
 
 She complains that confiscation, banishment, and the 
 gibbet have been used by the Government of England for 
 the speedy and complete destruction of the Irish people. 
 
 She complains that for five hundred years the flower 
 of every generation of Irishmen have been killed on the 
 battle-fields, or murdered on the scaffold, or driven into 
 desolate exile for love of Ireland. 
 
 She complain that the sacred character of manhood, 
 without which our life is lower than the dogs, is trampled 
 under the feet of her foreign lords. 
 
 Ireland, in the face of Europe, in the face of America, 
 in the face of the great Creator, is amply justified in enter- 
 ing upon a war with England. The people can do so 
 with a free conscience, and a full assurance that it is 
 heaven's work. 
 
 It is Ireland's last resource, long evaded, long post- 
 poned. The rights which she sought in vain to purchase 
 with her tears, she springs up at last to purchase with her 
 heart's blood. In the coming onset the Irish people will 
 have the sympathies of the true and good. The earth is 
 weary of their groans. 
 
 They fight for liberty to live. Hundreds of thousands 
 of Irishmen would again die in the tortures of famine if 
 they continue to bow their necks to the Parliament of 
 England. They fight for the liberty to retain the rights 
 of manhood; that, in common with every nation in Eu- 
 rope, they may possess arms to defend themselves. They 
 fight to resist outrages more grievous and dishonoring 
 
UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 than those for which an English king was brought to the 
 block; outrages which, in this hour, would cause the 
 swords of France to spring from their scabbards to strike 
 dead the audacious author. They fight because they are 
 denied peace, except at the price of dishonor; because 
 their hero leaders are doomed to the prison and to the 
 gallows. They fight because the honor, the interest, the 
 happiness, the necessity, the very existence of that ancient 
 nation depends upon the valor of the present time. If the 
 Irish at home cower, flinch, or falter, then the hopes are 
 gone for which their fathers gave their life's blood gone 
 in the stench of dishonor and infamy, that will cling to it 
 forever. In God's name, let the struggle begin. O that 
 my words could burn like molten metal through your 
 veins, and light up the ancient heroic daring which would 
 make each Irishman a Leonidas, each battle-field a Mara- 
 thon, each pass a Thermopylae ! 
 
 American history is full of the Irishman's achieve- 
 ments. 
 
 Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, and Robert Morris, of 
 Philadelphia, were Irishmen. One-third of the Revolu- 
 tionary soldiers who defended New York, New Jersey, 
 .arid Massachusetts from the British hosts were Irishmen. 
 
 Chivalrous Montgomery was an Irishman. Thomas 
 Addis Emmet, the polished diamond of the New York 
 bar and attorney-general of the State, was an Irishman. 
 The Pennsylvania legion were Irishmen. Wellington, the 
 great military captain, was an Irishman. Curran was an 
 Irishman. The humorous, witty, and patriotic Dean 
 Swift was an Irishman. Edmund Burke was an Irishman. 
 Daniel O'Connell, mighty in eloquence, and whose com- 
 manding majesty of soul embraced within the circle of his 
 sympathies all religions and races, was an Irishman. John 
 A. Logan, the heroic commander of the Army of the 
 Tennessee, is a decidedly Irish name. 
 
 The Churches of the United States are under eternal 
 obligations to the Irish people. The innumerable Roman 
 Catholic cathedrals and churches are evidences of their 
 religious devotion. Philip Embury, the first preacher of 
 
APPENDIX. 511 
 
 Methodism in the country, was an Irishman. Rev. Fran- 
 cis McKennie, the first Presbyterian minister, was an 
 Irishman, born in the romantic county of Donegal. Alex- 
 ander Campbell, the founder of the Church to which the 
 lamented Garfield belonged, was an Irishman, born and 
 educated in the county of Armagh. Charles Thompson, 
 the founder of the Sons of Liberty, and the first secretary 
 of the Continental Congress, was from the county of 
 Derry. Let the names of defamers perish; but may the 
 memories of the illustrious Irishmen who stood by our 
 magnificent country be glorious and immortal ! 
 
 Mr. Pepper made an earnest appeal for American sym- 
 pathy. He showed that in every war for the Union Irish- 
 men were in the vanguard. In 1776 Franklin wrote a 
 letter to Thomas Gushing, of Boston, saying, "The Irish 
 are our friends." Lord Morentsjoy exclaimed in the 
 House of Lords, "You have lost America by the Irish." 
 Lord Chatham declared in his great speech, "Three mil- 
 lions of Irishmen are on the side of the Colonies." 
 
 In 1 86 1, when England was ready to go to war with 
 us about Mason and Slidell, when the entire press of 
 London was against us, Bishop Haven was then there. 
 He wrote a letter to the Methodist organ, the Watch- 
 man, defending our Government. The editor only pub- 
 lished a portion. He went to Ireland unattended, when 
 sixty thousand Irishmen "Resolved, If England goes to 
 war with the United States, Ireland stands by the Stars 
 and Stripes forever." 
 
 Goldwin Smith, in a letter to the London Times, has 
 asserted that Americans are against Ireland. I boldly 
 affirm that our great men in Church and State, of the 
 present and past, no matter to what party or to what 
 Church they belong, are with the Irish in this holy cause. 
 
 PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S WORDS. 
 
 Is not William McKinley, just elected President, an 
 American? Hear him: 
 
 "Get for Ireland what you can to-day; to-morrow get 
 what she ought to have. The United States was always 
 
512 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 on the side of liberty, and the Irish people are always on 
 the side of the United States." 
 
 Hear the eloquent champion of the Methodist Church, 
 Bishop Simpson : "I thank you for your address on Ire- 
 land. God hasten the time when the oppression in Ireland 
 and the world will cease !" 
 
 Listen to Bishop Htirst, of the University of Wash- 
 ington : "I believe there is no danger to Protestantism in 
 the adoption of Home Rule for Ireland ; on the contrary, 
 I believe Home Rule essential to the extension and propa- 
 gation of Protestantism in Ireland." 
 
 Hear Charles Sumner, the pride and glory of the 
 American Senate, a few years ago, in a letter I received 
 from him: "J ust i e to Ireland is a British necessity. In 
 every effort for Ireland there is but one side for my sym- 
 pathies." 
 
 EULOGY UPON GENERAL MEAGHER. 
 
 Here the speaker reviewed the achievements of the 
 great champion of Ireland's cause, dwelling at length 
 upon that illustrious patriot, Meagher. 
 
 Thomas Francis Meagher, in appearance, was a fine 
 specimen of a genuine Celt. He was of medium height, 
 a captivating personnel, a florid face, brilliant eyes, glow- 
 ing with the fires of patriotism. His countenance was 
 thoroughly Milesian, large, open, genial, plump, and 
 ruddy. His voice was the music of freedom. Meet him 
 in sociable moments, he was overflowing with wit and 
 humor of the rarest kind, caustic and cutting against in- 
 triguers, speculators, and political charlatans; but genial 
 and flowing towards his friends ; full of buoyant vivacity, 
 wit, and historical lore, he was a genial, instructive, and 
 delightful companion. He was as pleasant a friend as 
 Lover ever painted in any of his novels; his strongest 
 weakness was a devoted love of the social pleasures. This 
 was the head and front of his offending. In the light of 
 his heroic sacrifices, we may well forget the errors 
 from which no mortal is free, and rank his name high in 
 the list of those who have deserved well of their country, 
 and made their mark upon their day and generation. 
 
APPENDIX. 513 
 
 THE IRISH NATIONAL LEAGUE. 
 
 Its chief object is the resurrection of Irish nationality. 
 It advocates civil liberty, religious toleration, and edu- 
 cation, believing that a people to be free must be edu- 
 cated. Its grand principles are those of Swift and Jeffer- 
 son: "That all Governments, without the consent of the 
 governed, is the very definition of slavery." Its immedi- 
 ate mission in Ireland is the establishment of a Republic 
 based on that sublime truth, grand as the heavens 
 stretched over our heads, "That all men are created 
 equal." During the eight years of its existence it has 
 excited the sympathies of mankind everywhere for Ire- 
 land; it has spread its ramification all over the British 
 isle; has called forth the admiring applause of the Ameri- 
 can Congress; has shaken the wooden walls of old Eng- 
 land, and has created a sentiment in Great Britain and 
 throughout the world, which demands that justice be done 
 to Ireland. There is a grand battle impending in the old 
 land; but while Irishmen's sympathies are so contracted 
 and their hearts so full of prejudice, they will never 
 see it. 
 
 There may be a disposition to doubt the possibility 
 of accomplishing the freedom of Ireland. It may be con- 
 sidered as the promoting of a sanguine constitution, and 
 the day-dream of an ardent and vivacious fancy. That 
 there are immense difficulties to overcome, that to the 
 progress of liberty there is opposition such as no other 
 system can encounter, is instantly and candidly acknowl- 
 edged. There are religious divisions and long-continued 
 and deeply-rooted prejudices to be crushed. There are 
 thousands of foolish Orangemen who dance attendance 
 upon the landlords, who, for their own aggrandizement, 
 countenance the disgusting mummeries of Orangemen. 
 There are hundreds of English and Scotch peasants who 
 could wear the British crown. There is the aristocracy, 
 and an army of spies, detectives, and informers. In spite 
 of all these obstacles, I have a steady faith in the success 
 
 33 
 
5H UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 of our cause, and I affirm, without hesitancy, that the time 
 will come when, grandly as of yore, Ireland, released from 
 the grasp of remorseless Britain, will make her own laws, 
 and be governed by her own children. 
 
 This is an enterprise worthy of our most earnest and 
 indefatigable efforts. Strive to feel it, my countrymen, 
 in all its grandeur; let the aspiration breathe in every 
 scene ; be it in the buoyancy of health, and in the languor 
 of sickness, and in the closing agony of death, let your last 
 prayer be for the deliverance of the old land. 
 
 Ireland will yet triumph. She will rise again like a 
 young queen, proud and happy. Prosperity will run like 
 fresh blood through the veins of her people. The green 
 banner will be hailed in the port of Boston. Emmet's 
 epitaph will be written : 
 
 " O, the sight entrancing, 
 When the morning's beam is glancing, 
 On files arrayed with helm and blade, 
 In freedom's cause advancing." 
 
 THE IRELAND OF 1848. 
 
 The young Irish Revolution of 1848 gave birth to a 
 splendid crop of poets, orators, and patriots; was de- 
 scribed by -Thomas Francis Meagher, who was in point of 
 eloquence the most captivating orator of the period. He 
 was sentenced, like Emmet, to be hung, but made his 
 escape to the United States, where he rose to be the 
 brilliant commander of the famous Irish Brigade in our 
 late war. 
 
 Thomas Moore is universally regarded as the national 
 poet. Handel said he would rather have composed 
 "Aileen Aroon" than any of his great operas. Byron 
 wrote to Moore, saying, "I shall not suffer my daughter 
 to read your 'Lalla Rookh,' lest she discovers there is a 
 greater poet than her father." 
 
 Thomas Davis is more popular with the Irish than 
 Moore. He wrote the war songs of the people. How the 
 
APPENDIX. 515 
 
 Americans were thrilled in the War for the Union by 
 singing his poems, such as : 
 
 " What rights the brave ? 
 
 The sword. 
 What frees the slave ? 
 
 The sword. 
 
 What strikes the crown of tyrants down, 
 And answers with its flash their frown ? 
 The sword." 
 
 And 
 
 " Whether on the scaffold's height or in the battle's van, 
 The fittest place for man to die is where he dies for man." 
 
 What can be sweeter in its pathos than these tender 
 lines of Brennan's? He^was losing his sight in New Or- 
 leans, and thus addressed his wife in Ireland: 
 
 " Come to ine, dearest! I'm lonely without thee, 
 Day-time and night-time I'm thinking about thee ; 
 Night-time and day-time, in dreams I behold thee, 
 Unwelcome my waking which ceases to fold thee. 
 
 Come to me, darling, my sorrows to lighten, 
 Come in thy beauty to bless and to brighten ; 
 Come in thy womanhood, meekly and lowly, 
 Come in thy loveliness, queenly and holy, 
 Come to me, dear, ere I die of my sorrow; 
 Rise on my gloom, like the sun of to-morrow. 
 
 Strong, swift, and fond as the words which I speak, love, 
 With a song on your lips and a smile on your cheek, love, 
 Come! for my heart in your absence is weary ; 
 Haste, for my heart is sickened and dreary ; 
 Come to the arms which alone shall caress thee, 
 Come to the heart which is throbbing to press thee." 
 
 These are but samples in recent years of England's vic- 
 tims in Ireland, her transplanted felons, her banished 
 scoundrels ; but like the conscript fathers of the American 
 Revolution, of whom Lord Hillsborough sneeringly said, 
 "They deserve no terms, those Yankee rebels, but ropes 
 around their necks," I say these Irish patriots and exiles, 
 like your own sires, are God's true nobility. 
 
5'6 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 "The man dies, but his memory lives," exclaimed 
 Emmet, when, in the chains of a remorseless tyranny, he 
 pronounced that grand and thrilling vindication of his 
 conduct in trying to secure, as he says, for Ireland what 
 Washington obtained for America. Never was Demos- 
 thenes more eloquent; never was Paul more intrepid; 
 never was Sir Henry Vane, the pink of English chivalry, 
 more courageous ! Little did the lofty-minded patriot 
 think that in a Methodist church, nigh a hundred years 
 after his great soul had gone to God, his beautiful pre- 
 diction should be realized. "Let no man write my epitaph 
 until my country takes her place among the nations of the 
 earth," is among his last golden sentences; but as the 
 venerable Mrs. Welch, with ten generations of Presby- 
 terian Irish blood in her veins, said to me this morning, 
 "Emmet's epitaph is written in the hearts of the Irish 
 millions throughout the world." Her father was a mem- 
 ber of the United Irishmen ; took their oath, like every 
 Irishman of note at that time, near Derry, and escaped 
 to the United States. He, like the venerable Dr. Clokey, 
 a Presbyterian clergyman of this State, was engaged 
 in the same holy cause, and to this day "Remember 
 Clokey" is attested by the Irish. Yes, pure and chival- 
 rous soul, thy memory lives. As long as these sacred 
 walls shall resound with the divine truths of the Father- 
 hood of God and brotherhood of man; as long as this 
 pulpit shall be filled with the sons of Wesley; as long as 
 these magnificent windows shall be adorned with a splen- 
 dor reflected from the sun; as long as there shall be 
 a Methodist here, upon whose head I have poured the 
 crystal waters of baptism ; as long as the lawns surround- 
 ing this church shall wear the loveliest of green ; as long 
 as there is a heart to feel and a tongue to speak of patriot- 
 ism and chivalry, the eye will turn to yonder "Home Rule" 
 window, and lips will pronounce with emotion the name 
 of Ireland's martyred son, Emmet. American Democrats 
 will remember that Thomas Addis Emmet, the first attor- 
 ney-general of New York, and who died while pleading 
 the cause of a fugitive slave, was the friend of Jefferson. 
 
APPENDIX. 517 
 
 American Republicans will not forget that the President 
 of the first Republican Convention ever held was Judge 
 Robert Emmet. American soldiers of the late war will 
 think with patriotic pride of the two brave young Em- 
 mets, who, in the beautiful morning of life, in Meagher's 
 Irish Brigade, poured out their blood, that the stars 
 upon our banner might shine with a more triumphant 
 splendor. 
 
 And now my last word is to Ireland. There she lies 
 upon the western borders of Europe, rising from the 
 ocean fair and beautiful as a dream in a maiden's breast ; 
 where the Shannon flows more grandly than the Hudson ; 
 where the mountains faint away from her embrace like 
 a fearful, willing womaji; where all nature is grand and 
 exquisite; for nature is always grand to the unhappy! 
 I believe that the sorrows of seven hundred troubled 
 years are about to end ; that Parnell will dig up the foun- 
 dations of Irish landlordism ; that the accomplished states- 
 man, the devout Christian, Gladstone, will unite the de- 
 mocracies of both countries; that Erin will soon rise up, 
 clothed in radiant health, and sacred peace, and solem- 
 nized with liberty, an eternal union ; and may these ladies 
 of the Social Union, under whose fair auspices this bril- 
 liant assembly has convened, yea, may all these ladies 
 present, live to be the bridesmaids at that festival of liberty, 
 patriotism, independence! It is told in Church history 
 that the mother of Augustine was alarmed at the wild 
 conduct of her son, and in her agony she cried to one of 
 the fathers, "Is there any hope for my son?" The good 
 saint replied, "The child of so many tears can never 
 perish." So liberty lifts her tear-stained face to the heav- 
 ens, and asks, "Is there any hope for Ireland?" The 
 voice of Eternal Justice replies, "Ireland will not perish !" 
 She will yet lift up her scarred but stately brow among 
 the commonwealths of the world, redeemed and resplen- 
 dent with the brightest crown in all the world resting 
 upon her unblemished brow, the crown of freedom. Send 
 it in my time, O Lord ! 
 
51 8 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 IRELAND'S MARTYR. 
 
 THE BIRTHDAY OF ROBERT EMMET CELEBRATED IN PHILADELPHIA 
 
 ELOQUENT ADDRESS BY REV. GEORGE W. PEPPER 
 
 O'CoNNELL RECITES EMMET'S SPEECH. 
 
 THE one hundred and seventeenth anniversary of the 
 birth of Robert Emmet, Ireland's patriot martyr, was 
 celebrated by the Irish residents of Philadelphia, March 
 4, 1895, as it was in almost every city of the country. 
 The chief interest of the day's observance centered in the 
 monster meeting at night at the Academy of Music, 
 where Rev. George W. Pepper, of Cleveland, Ohio, the 
 brilliant ex-chaplain of the United States army, and late 
 consul to Milan, Italy, delivered an eloquent address on 
 "Ireland! Liberty Springs from Her Emmet's Blood," 
 to an immense audience. 
 
 A full orchestra played the national airs of Ireland, 
 and the songs of Erin were rendered by distinguished 
 soloists. Maurice F. Wilhere presided on the occasion. 
 
 It was the proud utterance of a great Greek that there 
 was a time in Athens when there was profound silence, 
 and the stranger entering within the gates asked the 
 reason, and he was told that Demosthenes was speaking 
 in the assemblies of the people. So to-night there comes 
 a voice to us across the waters of the Atlantic, speaking 
 more eloquently in death than it ever did in life the voice 
 of the patriot, the hero, and martyr the immortal Robert 
 Emmet. This is a consecrated and brilliant scene. Bril- 
 liant though it be, it is only a mere sprinkling of the Irish 
 millions who to-night upon earth's broad surface are 
 traveling back in living memories to the spot which shel- 
 tered the childhood and youth of our hero. 
 
 Let us travel back to the scenes forever sanctified by 
 the presence and patriotism of the man whose name to- 
 
APPENDIX. 519 
 
 night rises to every Irishman's lips; back to that stately 
 and imperial city where his dying legacy has left his name 
 without an epitaph; back to that hospitable and elegant 
 home in which his youthful patriotism was stimulated; 
 back to that college where he acquired the eloquence 
 which afterwards shook the British throne to its founda- 
 tions; back to the Historical Society, where he made his 
 first speech in behalf of free discussion; back to that old 
 Parliament House, in whose galleries, when listening to 
 the immortal oratory of Grattan, he pledged his life to 
 the land he loved so well ; back to Thomas Street, where 
 he offered up his life; back to that venerable Episcopal 
 churchyard, where his sainted dust sleeps in the grandeur 
 of eternal peace. 
 
 Rise up, O Ireland, from the majestic Shannon to the 
 beautiful Lee, and pay reverential homage to the memory 
 of Robert Emmet! Let Spain, the land of illustrious 
 memories, behold in her great-souled Castelar the incar- 
 nation of Ireland's patriotic son ! Italy saw in him the 
 spirit and the fire of her republican Rienzi ! Switzerland 
 associates his name and deeds with her own Winkelried; 
 Scotland, the land of Bruce and Wallace and of Burns, 
 will not refuse to lay a wreath upon the memory of one 
 who was as brave and tender as her most honored sons. 
 Americans, from the waters of Massachusetts Bay to the 
 yellow sands of California, will, in speech, in sermon, and 
 in song, forever unite his name with her immortal rebel, 
 George Washington ! 
 
 Let us, in the review of his brief but brilliant career, 
 contemplate the time, the cause, the martyrdom, the man, 
 and the lessons of his life ! Robert Emmet was born the 
 4th day of March, 1778, in Dublin, the noble capital of 
 Ireland. The old earth in those years was rocked by the 
 earth-throb of democracy. 
 
 It was the time of the American Revolution, when the 
 rebellious Colonists flung to the bending heavens and to 
 the listening earth the banners of revolt; when Sam 
 Adams preached the doctrine that resistance to tyrants 
 
520 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 is obedience to God; when Jefferson wrote the Charter 
 of Independence, teaching that gospel, grand as the 
 heavens stretched over our heads, that all men are cre- 
 ated free and equal. It was the time of the French Revo- 
 lution, when the people rose in heroic grandeur, and sent 
 every royal pretender, who blasphemously called himself 
 lord, to the scaffold. Thanks to the brave Frenchmen 
 who took advantage of our young American Republic 
 to strike for liberty ! 
 
 It was the time of the Irish Volunteers, when, in the 
 splendid dawn of her freedom, Ireland, without hesita- 
 tion, without comprehension, and without a thought of 
 reward, rushed to arms, and eighteen thousand of her 
 stalwart sons stood in line, with great and sublime defi- 
 ance echoed by Nappi Landy guns, demanding legisla- 
 tive independence. That act of the volunteers forms, 
 up to this day, the brightest jewel in her proud historic 
 diadem. 
 
 Emmet was only four years old when the battle for 
 Irish rights was fought and won. He must have heard 
 from his revered father about the story of the eloquent 
 war; how the majority of the inhabitants were disfran- 
 chised because of religious beliefs, which they deemed 
 essential to their eternal salvation ; how the prosperity of 
 the country was ruined by the acts of Parliament prohib- 
 iting the manufacture of woolens; how the felt hats 
 weighed heavier upon the Presbyterians of Ulster, exiling 
 forty thousand of them to these shores; how the French 
 appeared upon the Irish coast, and the British Govern- 
 ment could render no aid ; how the volunteers met in the 
 old Protestant Church of Dungannon, and proclaimed 
 that no power save the people of Ireland could make laws 
 for the ancient nation; that the ships of every nation 
 might enter the harbor of Ireland; that the infamous 
 Penal Law should be not overreached. But, speaking of 
 Dungannon, how many memories it suggests ! Whatever 
 may be the disgraceful condition of the Orange idols there 
 to-day, the past at least is secure. Never in the history 
 of poor Ireland was there a graver moment, and I indorse 
 
APPENDIX. 521 
 
 with all my Protestant heart the patriotic words of 
 Thomas Davis : 
 
 " More honored that church of Dungannon is now 
 Than when at its altars communicants bow; 
 More welcome to Heaven than anthem or prayer, 
 Were the rites and the thoughts of the warriors then there ; 
 In the name of high Heaven, the delegates swore, 
 We 've suffered too long, and we '11 suffer no more ! 
 Unconquered by force, we were vanquished by fraud, 
 And now, in God's temple, we vow unto God 
 That never again shall the Englishman bind 
 His chains on our limbs, or his laws on our mind." 
 
 THE IRISH PARLIAMENT. 
 
 Never in the history of Ireland was there a brighter 
 array of brilliant orators and statesmen than in the Irish 
 Parliament. There sat Henry Grattan, of whom Lord 
 Brougham said: "He was the first orator of his age, and 
 it was the age of orators." How grandly he advances to 
 the task of introducing his wonderful declaration of Irish 
 rights, and fifty thousand bayonets were brought to the 
 charge to enforce its passage ! 
 
 "I will never be satisfied so long as the meanest cot- 
 tage in Ireland has a link of the British chain clinging to 
 her rags. He may be naked, but he shall not be in irons ; 
 the declaration is planted, and, though great men should 
 fall off, the cause shall live; and, though he who utters 
 it should die, yet the immortal fire shall outlast the feeble 
 organ who conveys it, and the breath of liberty, like the 
 sword of the prophet, will not die, but survive him!" 
 
 When these words were uttered, it was a great day for 
 Ireland! There was a spectacle of grandeur rarely wit- 
 nessed. Hark ! listen to that sound, heavy and deep as the 
 rush of the springtide upon the ocean beach! It is but 
 the rising to their feet of the Irish Parliament! Then a 
 crash, causing those venerable colonnades to reel as if an 
 earthquake shook them ! Ireland had won her independ- 
 ence ! There sat Henry Grattan, his white hair encircling 
 
522 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 him with a crown of glory. When he rose to speak every 
 whisper was hushed, every ear was attention. When he 
 sketched the war in which the rights of the people had 
 been secured, tears sprang to every eye. 
 
 There was John Philpot Curran, the polished dia- 
 mond of the bar, whose eloquence was like the tempest 
 which shook the pine-trees of a continent. When he 
 asked in thrilling tones what shall be done in case our 
 liberties are again imperiled, the hearers bounded from 
 their seats, and in their hearts they felt like exclaiming, 
 like the ancient Hungarians, "We shall die for God and 
 our country." 
 
 There was Foster, the Speaker of the Parliament, the 
 faithful friend of his country, and proud of her prosperity. 
 There was Plunket, when all his words meant something, 
 who delighted all hearts by saying, "I will fling the con- 
 nection with England to the winds, and clasp the inde- 
 pendence of my country to my heart." 
 
 There was Harry Flood, whose defeat and triumphant 
 tribute to America is remembered : "A voice from Amer- 
 ica shouted liberty, and every hillside in Ireland answered 
 liberty. The echoes of Bunker Hill rolled over the At- 
 lantic, wakening Ireland from her disgraceful sleep of 
 centuries." 
 
 There was Goold, the Patrick Henry of the Irish Re- 
 publicans. He had held as with a scourge of fire the ene- 
 mies of his country. Listen to his defiant and lofty 
 periods as he denounced: "There are forty thousand sol- 
 diers in Ireland, and with forty thousand bayonets at my 
 heart England shall not plant another Sicily in the bosom 
 of the Atlantic! I want not the assistance of divine in- 
 spiration to tell me, for I am enabled by the unerring 
 demonstrations of nature to assert that our country was 
 destined to become free and independent. The patent 
 to be a State comes direct from heaven. The Almighty 
 in majestic characters has signed the great charter of our 
 independence. The God of nature never designed Ire- 
 land to be a province of Great Britain, and by the eternal 
 God she never shall." 
 
APPENDIX. 523 
 
 THE CAREER OF EMMET. 
 
 Robert Emmet entered the University of Dublin in the 
 year 1798, and while there he became a member of the 
 United Irishmen. Auspicious event ! Memorable era ! An 
 event which marked him as one of the redeemers of his 
 downtrodden country. History will give that historic year 
 a conspicuous place in its imperishable page, and in the 
 coming years Irishmen, enjoying the blessings of it, and 
 grateful to the heroes who sacrificed life and worldly pros- 
 perity for the freedom of Ireland, will do justice to the 
 memories of those who have been its instruments. It is 
 extravagance to anticipate that when a national emancipa- 
 tion has been achieved, honors shall be done to their mem- 
 ories, and that spotless shafts of marble in the cities and 
 villages of Ireland shall proclaim the names of the leaders 
 of the splendid Protestant rebellion of 1798. Never did 
 the revolutionary period of Ireland present such a glo- 
 rious assembly of patriots, soldiers, and martyrs as that 
 of 1798. 
 
 I might speak of Theodore Wolfe Tone, the founder 
 of that splendid organization. His masculine sense, his 
 loving, fresh heart and powerful pen were a tower of 
 strength to the cause. With his persevering appeals and 
 diplomatic skill he rendered his country invaluable serv- 
 ice. He taught the great lesson that union was strength; 
 that when Catholics and Protestants were united, the re- 
 sult would have shaken Britain like a moral earthquake. 
 Thousands of great men of every religious persuasion 
 joined in a common brotherhood. Glorious day when this 
 unity shall again be seen ! Then will the morning dawn ! 
 Then will appear the Irish Republic ! Then, I might speak 
 of the elegant and intrepid Lord Edward Fitzgerald. The 
 Almighty had raised him in the terrible hour of war, when 
 his influence was worth ten thousand men in strengthen- 
 ing and building a national republican spirit among the 
 class to which, by birth and ancestry, he belonged. Re- 
 markable both for his filial piety and courage, he was 
 a man of the most noble and disinterested heroism, whose 
 
524 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 abilities fitted him to shine in any position had he not 
 chosen to cast his lot with an impoverished, heartbroken 
 people! Such was the love and reciprocal respect that 
 this lofty-minded man had for his countrymen, that it 
 might be said of them, as it was once said of that famous 
 Emperor, Marcus Aurelius, that it was hard to judge 
 whether he delighted more in having such a people, or 
 they in having such a chivalrous leader. 
 
 I might speak of Thomas Addis Emmet, who, con- 
 sidered simply as a man, was a rare and perhaps an un- 
 paralleled specimen of human nature. He was capable 
 without a struggle of taking the first place in nearly all 
 the highest walks of human greatness. By nature he 
 was a logician, an actor, and a consummate lawyer; in 
 philosophy and medical law he was a master. He was 
 equally adapted to shine on the judgment-seat in the 
 Senate House and at the helm of State. In my new home 
 here this wondrous combination of prowess, of beauties, 
 gifts, and graces was exercised in the vindication of jus- 
 tice. Is it any wonder that such a marvelous man should 
 die pleading the cause of a slave, and that New York State 
 should erect that monument to his illustrious memory, 
 which attracts the eye of every stranger as he walks past 
 St. Paul's churchyard? 
 
 I might speak of William Orr, a man of the same 
 class as those mentioned in point of talents, tact, energy, 
 patriotism, stainless purity ; he was not a whit behind any 
 of the United Irishmen. We admire his fidelity to re- 
 publicanism, and his virtues; his liberal and enlightened 
 views; his pre-eminent services to Ireland, and his tran- 
 scendent charity, as he was about to die upon the scaffold. 
 Nearest to him and by his side stood a Roman Catholic 
 servant man, faithful and attached, manacled and pin- 
 ioned. Orr directed this man to take from his pocket 
 the \vatch that he had worn till now that time had ceased 
 for him, and hours and moments were now no longer 
 to be measures of his existence: "You, my friend, and I 
 must part. Our stations here on earth have been a little 
 different, and our modes of worshiping the Almighty 
 
APPENDIX. 525 
 
 Being, that we both adore. Before his presence we shall 
 stand equal ! Farewell ! Remember Orr !" 
 
 The death of William Orr is one of the noblest incidents 
 in history. Writers of all political parties agree in testify- 
 ing that his character turned into an unparalleled gran- 
 deur and solemnity upon the scaffold. He exhibited that 
 Roman fortitude which was the perfection of humanity, 
 and in addition to it the Christian fortitude which tran- 
 scends humanity. We will remember Orr! When we 
 think of the hallowed name of the United Irishmen, we 
 will remember Orr! When we think of the persecutions 
 which have deluged earth in the holy name of religion, 
 and which was the work of England, we will remember 
 Orr! When we think of the outrages perpetrated by a 
 brutal soldiery, we will remember Orr! When we think 
 of the howl of intolerance raised by the landlords to con- 
 tinue the foul demonstration of tyranny, we will remem- 
 ber Orr! When we think of the disgraceful bigotry and 
 virulence which would chill the warm hearts of the Irish 
 Presbyterians towards their Catholic countrymen, we will 
 remember Orr ! When we think that all popular modes of 
 coercion have been bred, the scaffold, the gaol, in famine 
 and exile; when we think of the horrible inhumanity in 
 the trial and execution of the gallant Manchester martyrs, 
 we will remember Orr ! 
 
 The speaker then described the insurrection in Dub- 
 lin the arrest of Emmet, and his trial. The speech was 
 pronounced to be the most magnificent effort ever de- 
 livered; magnificent, eloquent, thrilling. It was a noble 
 defense of Ireland, a burning rebuke to the inquisition 
 and tyranny of England. It was clear in argument, ele- 
 gant in diction, and contained some of the most masterly 
 appeals to a jury that ever were delivered. It drew 
 tears from the head lieutenant, who exclaimed, "Justice 
 is too severe, and the sufferer is to be pitied." Lord Corn- 
 wallis declared : "Emmet is a lofty soul ; he has drowned 
 the ignominy of his rebellion by the magnanimity of his 
 conduct." Mr. Pepper then described the scene of the 
 execution, and his visit to the spot one year ago. 
 
526 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 In closing his address, Rev. Mr. Pepper said : "When I 
 was in Westminster Abbey a year ago, there was a tomb 
 which greatly attracted my attention a masterpiece of 
 Italian genius. The doors of the sepulcher are partly 
 opened ; Death is represented as slowly but surely advanc- 
 ing to strike a female figure radiant in beauty and jeweled 
 robes, reposing upon a shaft of marble. I gazed and pon- 
 dered, and returned again to look at the significant monu- 
 ment. 
 
 "I was reminded that in every throne-room in Europe, 
 Death was concealed ; but the time was coming when out 
 of all of them the King of Terrors would free his way, 
 and that the old earth would shake like Sinai with the 
 resurrection of the nations to republicanism, to life and 
 health. The movement will be more stupendous and 
 more glorious than when the bones in the valley put on 
 radiant flesh. It shall come to Italy beautiful and his- 
 toric Italy locked in her sculptured sepulcher! It shall 
 come to Hungary, with the knife of Austria at her proud 
 and beauteous neck. It shall come to Poland, whose de- 
 votion to liberty is more sacred than the wedding ring! 
 It shall come to the African, whose greatest apostle, 
 Douglass, has been laid away in glory and in tears. 
 
 "Animated by this union of patriots in all regions, we 
 unite our aspirations in the spirit of one of the greatest 
 of those living Republican apostles, and say : God of Lib- 
 erty! Thou who didst lead the oppressed from Egypt 
 and didst entomb the proud in the waters of the Red Sea ; 
 O God! who didst proclaim the dogma of Equality on 
 the sublime night of the Last Supper, and anointed it with 
 Thy divine blood in the tempestuous Evening of Calvary ! 
 God that didst evoke from the depths of unknown seas 
 a New World, in order that its virgin sire might receive 
 the confederation of youthful and progressive democ- 
 racies; God who didst through the obscure deep guide 
 that miraculous ship, the Mayflower, in which the Pilgrims 
 journeyed, and also the Catholics of Maryland, exiled by 
 monarchical England, to found a Republic in America; 
 God who didst shine with so much glory in the rotunda 
 
APPENDIX. 527 
 
 of the Capitol in Washington when slavery was abolished 
 as on the peak of Sinai ; God of the Redemption, God of 
 the Washingtons, the Emmets, the Vanes, the Joans of 
 Arc we, too, place before Thee fettered Irish millions, 
 and implore Thee that Thou wilt not refuse them assist- 
 ance to this cause, which seeks to apply Thy eternal justice 
 to human society, and to realize Thy spiritual kingdom 
 on earth by means of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity." 
 
 PRESIDENT McKINLEY'S ANCESTORS. 
 
 After paying passing tribute to the memory of Lord 
 Edward Fitzgerald, Theobald Wolfe Tone, Thomas Addis 
 Emmet, William Orr, Henry Joy McCracken, and other 
 founders of the United Irjsh Society and moving spirits 
 in the stirring scenes of '89, who shed their blood will- 
 ingly in the cause of liberty and for the independence of 
 their country, Rev. Dr. Pepper continued: 
 
 "The same story may be told of Captain Francis Mc- 
 Kinley, who dedicated his youth and manhood to the 
 cause of Ireland. In his fresh and radiant youth he took 
 the oath, and was soon elected captain of one of the com- 
 panies. He plunged into the red sea of war, and fought 
 most gallantly for his country. He was tall and hand- 
 some, with so much frankness and vivacity in his nature 
 that everybody loved him. Two of his uncles, because of 
 their hatred of oppression, had emigrated to the United 
 States, and from one of these uncles the distinguished oc- 
 cupant of the Presidential chair has descended, and the 
 lofty deeds of his patriotic namesakes and relatives are 
 among the brightest glories treasured by the McKinleys 
 of Ireland the sweet remembrance that one of their num- 
 ber gave his life to make Ireland one of the common- 
 wealths of the world. Captain McKinley was arrested and 
 hanged, and his head was seen suspended from a public 
 building in Dervock. The patriot was buried" in Derry- 
 kigan churchyard, and for years pilgrimages were made 
 to his honored grave. During this centennial year hun- 
 dreds, if not thousands, of pilgrims from the United States 
 
528 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 will visit his grave and the graves of other United Irish- 
 men of Counties Antrim and Down. It is such men that 
 kings fear, make life illustrious, and death divine. 
 
 JUSTICE FOR IRELAND'S CAUSE. 
 
 "O Ireland, my country ! the land of my birth, the land 
 of my affections, the land of my fathers, when will thy 
 wrongs be redressed, thy sufferings be ended, and the 
 crown of thorns blossom into a crown of flowers? That 
 auspicious day will come when thy children are united! 
 It will require time and patience, education and charity. 
 Remember that the temper of a people is not to be 
 changed by a wish ! The disasters of seven centuries in- 
 struct us that a new method must be tried! All Ireland 
 wants is justice. The application laid down for all ages, 
 'Do unto others as you would have others do unto you/ 
 They would restore to her self-government. Many of the 
 English people have at length resolved to try it. Justice 
 to Ireland! This will give a power and a policy which- 
 England has never practiced, and it will carry Ireland into 
 the hearts of the English people a noble region where 
 England's conquerors have hitherto never trodden. 
 
 "There is the progressive and liberal England of the 
 democracy; this England we love and cherish. .And there 
 is the England of despotism ; this England we detest and 
 abhor. This is the England that has plundered Ireland, 
 robbed India, and fought against the United States. 
 Proud are we of the accession to our ranks of such men 
 as lead the Liberals to-day in England. What but the 
 justice of the Irish cause and a holy and irrepressible love 
 of righteousness could have induced these eminent men 
 not only to retire from the aristocratic association into 
 which they were born, honored, and beloved, and to 
 forego brilliant prospects, to link their futures with the 
 despised and persecuted Irish, representing a cause 'every- 
 where spoken against?' 
 
 ENGLISH BIGOTRY MUST DOWN. 
 
 "I hail their championship with unspeakable delight. 
 Down must come the frenzied bigotry of the English 
 
APPENDIX. 529 
 
 classes against the Irish masses! Down must come the 
 prejudices that have so long interposed their dark and 
 baleful atmosphere between the two countries ! Down 
 must come the House of Lords, that for centuries has 
 listened in vain to the trumpet appeal of starved millions ! 
 Let not the Irish cause, which in 1/98 and 1848, according 
 to Lecky, was largely Protestant, be sacrificed to the in- 
 terests of any religious denomination. No ! a thousand 
 times no ! No union between Church and State ! Let the 
 Irish remember England's old scheme to divide them on 
 religious questions. A hundred new universities, Catholic 
 or Protestant, will not reduce the rent of a single op- 
 pressed farmer, nor save the life of one beggar. 
 
 "Rather would I see the Irish race extinguished, and 
 I speak the sentiments of true Irish Nationalists, rather 
 would I see the ancient monuments leveled to the dust; 
 rather would I see Dublin a desert, the people outcasts, 
 and dear old Ireland a reproach, than that the land for 
 which Emmet died and Grattan pleaded, that her hopes 
 and expectations should be blasted by such treachery. 
 
 "Think of Charles Stewart Parnell being deceived by 
 such a trick ! O that he were living at this hour ! O for 
 his splendid leadership ! One blast upon his bugle-horn 
 were worth ten thousand men ! I love his memory ! 
 
 "The great Napoleon gave it as his opinion, when 
 chained to the rock of St. Helena, that in one hundred 
 years Europe would be either Cossack or republican ! 
 That imperial prophecy is being realized in our day. The 
 old earth shakes to and fro with the earthquake throbs, 
 of revolution. 
 
 "As one of the champions of European liberty once 
 said in a burst of eloquence, Tut it to a vote, and all Eu- 
 rope, by an overwhelming majority, would declare that 
 the only gospel preached by the heavens and the earth 
 is land for the landless, homes for the homeless, and the 
 fruits of the earth to the tiller thereof.' 
 
 "Ireland must rely on herself. She must watch the 
 hour, and strike, if necessary, for freedom! Her young 
 men must learn the use of arms ; they must drill, drill, drill ! 
 
 34 
 
53 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 An ounce of steel is worth a ton of eloquence! If all 
 Ireland were to go down upon her knees, and shake a 
 petition into the face of the House of Lords, it would be 
 absolutely useless. In union there is safety; in disunion 
 there is disaster! In union there is vigor; in disunion 
 there is imbecility ! In union there is victory ; in disunion 
 there is defeat and disaster." 
 
 CARDINAL MANNING AND OTHER CELEBRITIES. 
 
 THE death of Cardinal Manning called forth from the 
 London Times the comparison of Manning and Spurgeon 
 to the two bright planets which at the time appeared to 
 the eye of the observer to approach each other and almost 
 mingle their rays in the solemn evening sky. In like 
 manner two great Englishmen, whose religious orbits, 
 though acknowledging a common center, were as really 
 distinct and distant from each other as those of Jupiter 
 and Venus, the orbits of the two men, like those of the 
 two planets, were far apart, r^ut they derived their light 
 and heat from the same source. Both were true Chris- 
 tians ; both were philanthropists ; both had the confidence 
 of the poor. Spurgeon was the representative of a great 
 individual force; Manning was the representative of a 
 great and splendid hierarchy. Spurgeon was humorous, 
 shrewd, and practical, endowed with a fund of invincible 
 common sense. Manning's personality was equally re- 
 markable, and a man of high ecclesiastical ambition. He 
 was the flower of Rome after he became her champion. 
 He was, however, the heir, like Spurgeon, of several gen- 
 erations of men of plain lives and pious ways. Manning 
 was a ripe scholar, an accomplished writer, a fluent and 
 impressive orator, and a social power. In princely palaces 
 and poverty-stricken hovels his was a name to conjure 
 with. His habits were those of a hermit. Thousands of 
 the poor people, whose cause he pleaded, were better fed, 
 better clothed than he. The staple of his food was oat- 
 meal bread; his only drink, water. 
 
APPENDIX. 531 
 
 I had only one opportunity of hearing this famous 
 man. It was a lovely summer day; the church was a 
 very common one, and the audience was equally devoid 
 of attractions. They were nearly all toilers, and con- 
 trasted sharply with the splendid robes of the preacher 
 and his environments. The cardinal would attract atten- 
 tion in a crowd by his imposing appearance. He was as 
 straight as a poplar, thin as a herring, hair white as snow, 
 his voice low but penetrating, his manner calm and con- 
 versational. He stood in the pulpit like a statue. But his 
 voice was his great charm ; it retained all the richness and 
 melody for which it had been renowned sixty years before, 
 when he was the star preacher at Oxford University. 
 
 Lord Beaconsfield, in his "Lothair," gives a portrait 
 of him, which can not be improved: "Above the middle 
 height, his stature seemed modified by the attenuation of 
 his form. It seemed that the soul never had so frail a 
 tenement. His countenance was of an extreme pallor, 
 his cheeks were hollow, and his gray eyes seemed sunk 
 into the clear and noble brow, but they flashed with irre- 
 sistible penetration." 
 
 I have spoken of Cardinal Manning's lack of gesture. 
 There was not the slightest movement of the body. There 
 was not a single break in the placid action of his hands 
 and feet. I was reminded of the incident which happened 
 the year before in Edinburgh, when an over-zealous 
 deacon remonstrated with his pastor, Dr. Dods, for his 
 want of gestures in the pulpit. "What shall I do?" said 
 the divine. "Stretch both your hands out over the con- 
 gregation." He did so, holding them there for two hours. 
 At first the audience was surprised, then horrified. They 
 thought his hands were paralyzed. He was left to pursue 
 his own way. No one ever remonstrated with him again. 
 
 An American critic speaks of the distinguished prelate, 
 that he is the ideal of a man who has just enough earthly 
 substance about him to engross thought. The mouth and 
 the eyes, as they speak, do the work of expression ; yet the 
 face is classic enough to charm a Greek sculptor. The 
 eye it is that withers with contempt, and it sends light- 
 
532 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ning from an ever-cloudless brow. What color have those 
 eyes! tenderest blue, steel-iron. The voice has a fine 
 range, and has been thoroughly trained. If there be any 
 one who imagines that the grand effects of oratory are 
 produced by lottdness, he ought to have heard Manning, 
 and' learn that such effects are produced by lowness. He 
 would have learned, also, that it is easier to hear low 
 tones by reason of their greater distinctness, just as we 
 can hear a violincello farther than the trombone beside it. 
 
 The tone of his discourse was liberal and broad. He 
 called Protestants "his separated brethren." There is a 
 fine passage in one of Burke's speeches, to the effect that, 
 as upon the spot where volcanoes existed, but have burnt 
 out, every fruit of the earth may be grown; so when re- 
 ligious animosities have ceased, everything lovely and 
 divine may be cultivated. Of Cardinal Manning's tem- 
 perance views many stories may be told. The fact is, that 
 he was not a teetotaler for years. Taxed with inconsist- 
 ency in Exeter Hall, he explained that he was under the 
 advice of his doctor when he took a little wine. "Then 
 why not change your doctor?" a voice inquired from the 
 meeting. "I did not think of that," was his reply. 
 
 We may apply to Cardinal Manning the words of 
 Aquinas, a great authority in his Church: 
 
 " Si doctus est, doceat nos 
 Si sapiens est, gubernat nos ; 
 Si sanctus est, oret pro nobis." 
 
 From the cardinal to Hugh Price Hughes, the great 
 Methodist philanthropist, the transition is easy. I never 
 saw a man of such energy. Day and night, from January 
 to December, in the city and in the country, his sten- 
 torian voice is heard in behalf of temperance, in support 
 of political reform, in defense of the poverty-stricken mill- 
 ions. He is now president of the Wesleyan Conference, 
 an event a few years ago which would be icgarcled as im- 
 possible, for Hughes has always been a radical of the 
 radicals. His election last year will be alv r ays r en?em- 
 
APPENDIX. 533 
 
 bered as memorable. He has the sympathy and support 
 of the best men of England and Wales and of Ireland. 
 They love him for his bold and righteous protests against 
 wrong and injustice; they love him for his frank confi- 
 dence in his efforts to lift up the submerged classes; they 
 love him for the revival of the old Methodist chivalry, 
 which still lives in this intrepid preacher. 
 
 I heard him one afternoon in St. James Hall. The 
 rain poured in torrents; but the immense building was 
 packed. The occasion was the persecution of the Russian 
 Christians called Stunde the German word for hour. 
 These brave confessors met by the hour at stated places 
 to worship God. They were hunted, arrested, fined, and 
 imprisoned. It was a glorious manifestation, worthy of 
 the noble cause, and Hitghes was in the plenitude of his 
 glory. He first used his logic, and then his rhetoric; for 
 rhetoric without logic is like a tree with leaves and blos- 
 soms, but no root. That rhetoric is best which is most 
 seasonable and most catching. "Despots hate light," he 
 exclaimed. When the ruffians seized these Russian he- 
 roes at night there was a candle lighted. "Put it out," 
 said one of the officers, "for God's sake !" "He ought to 
 have said," continued the fiery speaker, "for the devil's 
 sake; for God had said at the beginning, 'Let there be 
 
 light/ ' 
 
 Hughes is a noble specimen of robust manhood. He 
 is not tall nor strikingly picturesque, but stout and rather 
 below the middle height. When on the platform he is 
 like a steam-tug of tremendous power. As editor of the 
 Methodist Times he did a brave and gallant act in the sup- 
 port of Gladstone's healing measures for the relief of the 
 sister isle. It was this fearless action, in the teeth of great 
 opposition, that first endeared him to Americans. He 
 was the first prominent religious editor to plant his British 
 colors and his British sympathies with the injured Celt. 
 He is a Welshman with all the fire of his race, and there 
 is no nobler heart than that which beats in the bosom of 
 Hugh Price Hughes. In the office of the Methodist Times 
 I met the assistant editor, Mr. Crook, the son of an Irish 
 
534 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Wesleyan minister, a stanch and gifted Liberal, who fol- 
 lowed his chief through all his battles, and as secretary 
 of the Reform Club executed all his orders. The Liberal 
 party is deeply indebted to Mr. Crook for his indefatigable 
 labors ; they have been equal to a thousand men. 
 
 I was surprised and pleased to find that many of the 
 sons of Wesleyan ministers had risen to distinction in 
 Parliament and at the bar, refuting the common belief 
 that ministers' children are not successful. We have an 
 illustrious example in the city of Cleveland, in the brilliant 
 career of Dr. H. F. Biggar, to whom reference has been 
 made. He is the son of a Canadian Wesleyan clergyman. 
 When a mere boy he resolved that he would be no shallow 
 Cavalier nor a dull dilettante pedant groping lazily in 
 the rich storehouse of libraries without fixed purpose. 
 Aspirations after a loftier destiny and a higher utility 
 thrilled every nerve and burned all his veins. It was a 
 favorite saying of the sages of antiquity, that the just 
 man struggling with difficulties in the sight of heaven 
 is a noble sight. We are told that in northern climes, 
 amid the eternal snows, when travelers are overwhelmed 
 with the terrible cold of the frozen air, they are seized with 
 an uncontrollable drowsiness, to sink down and die. Dr. 
 Biggar never succumbed to adversity, but through all the 
 tempests and trials of early manhood he practiced the 
 wise old proverb, "Help yourself, and Heaven will help 
 you." His success as a physician has been great ; but dis- 
 tinction in this department has been thrown into the 
 shade by his mighty achievements as a surgeon. 
 
 I may be pardoned for recalling, in this connection, 
 a forgotten celebrity of our own country. Any one who 
 has had occasion to look into the stirring scenes of early 
 American Methodism, may have come across the name 
 of the bluff and whole-souled Dr. Charles Elliott. He was 
 an Irishman from Donegal, a scholar, a ripe and accom- 
 plished linguist, speaking Greek, Latin, and Hebrew as 
 if they were his mother tongue. In personal appearance, 
 he was not an Adonis by any means ; in height, five feet ; 
 a head like a mountain, eyes gray, and his carriage awk- 
 ward and ungainly. When preaching he would occasion- 
 
APPENDIX. 535 
 
 ally, when tremendously in earnest, throw out one leg 
 over the pulpit, and the preachers sitting in the pulpit 
 where frequently in danger of being thumped by his 
 hands. He was an enthusiast for education, and he would 
 very often say at Conferences, when pleading for more 
 colleges and schools among the primitive Methodists, 
 "When the doors of Dublin University were shut in my 
 face because I was a Wesleyan, I vowed that I would labor 
 all my life to make Methodism have the best colleges in 
 the land." 
 
 He was editor, college president, historian, and author 
 of many standard volumes. He was a great student. 
 "Depend upon it," he used to say, "there is no such thing 
 as labor lost. Depend upon it, whatever branch of study 
 you pursue, and however recondite or remote its utility 
 may seem, a time may come, and when you least expect 
 it, that you will derive practical knowledge from it." 
 
 Dr. Elliott was once preaching to a country audience. 
 One of the officials said: "I think he is a smart man. 
 What a pity he has not received an education!" What 
 the prince of preachers, Robert Hall, said of John Foster 
 may be applied to Dr. Elliott, "He is a lumber-wagon 
 loaded with gold." He preached well, but scattered ter- 
 ribly. 
 
 Dr. Elliott could be humorous at times. He was once 
 asked if he were sanctified. "Yes," he replied, "in spots." 
 
 I have frequently heard Farrar, who preaches with 
 great simplicity and power. He feels in his own soul the 
 power of the truth which he preaches. Nobody ever looks 
 at his watch when he preaches. 
 
 But Stopford Brooke is the great orator of the London 
 pulpit, and many a delightful audience can bear splendid 
 testimony to his matchless eloquence. 
 
 I heard Stephenson, a Wesleyan; clear, evangelical, 
 and methodical. "What do you think of that preacher?" 
 "I did n't think of him at all, but of myself, and I thought 
 I was a most perfect rascal," was the reply of one clergy- 
 man to another. 
 
 Dr. Parker is the Beecher of England, and preaches, 
 even on week-days, to immense audiences. 
 
536 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 A. FEW LETTERS REGARDING MY WORK ON 
 
 THE WAR, ENTITLED "SHERMAN'S 
 
 MARCH TO THE SEA." 
 
 LIMITED space prevents the publication of letters from 
 Ex-Presidents Grant and Harrison, the latter thanking 
 me most cordially for my services in his election. 
 
 YOUNGSTOWN, OHIO, November 26, 1866. 
 
 CAPTAIN GEORGE W. PEPPER, 
 
 Wellington, Lorain County, Ohio : 
 
 My Dear Sir, I have read with great satisfaction your 
 book, entitled "Sherman's Campaigns," and find it to be, 
 so far as I am capable of judging, an impartial and reliable 
 history of the most prominent engagements and cam- 
 paigns under the leadership of General Sherman in 
 Georgia and the Carolinas. 
 
 If the merits of this work of yours are duly appreciated, 
 it can not fail to prove highly remunerative. 
 
 With my best wishes, I am 
 
 Very truly yours, DAVID TOD. 
 
 (Ex-Governor.) 
 
 ST. Louis, July 9, 1868. 
 CAPTAIN GEORGE W. PEPPER. 
 
 Chaplain of the 8oth U. S. Infantry, 
 Goldsboro, N. C. : 
 
 Dear Sir, I was unable to write you as I promised at 
 Cleveland, but I sent you a message that I would do so as 
 soon as I got to St. Louis. 
 
 Since my arrival I have cast my eyes over the volume 
 entitled, "Personal Recollections of Sherman's Campaign 
 in Georgia," etc., and am well pleased with it. 
 
 Personal recollections of events within the observation 
 of an author are very interesting, not only to the parties 
 themselves, but to the general reader, and I am sure hun- 
 
APPENDIX. 537 
 
 dreds of officers and soldiers will peruse your volume, be- 
 cause it groups these events in a shape easy of reference, 
 -and with sufficient explanation to make them intelligible. 
 With great respect, your friend, 
 
 W. T. SHERMAN, General. 
 
 COLUMBUS, November 19, 1866. 
 REV. GEORGE W. PEPPER: 
 
 Dear Sir, I have found pleasure in looking into your 
 volume of "Personal Recollections of Sherman's Cam- 
 paign," and recognize in it one of the valuable aides 
 menioires, which can not be overlooked when the final his- 
 tory of the Great Rebellion is written. 
 
 It has all the raciness that personal experience gives, 
 and its full details of army life, added to its reliability as a 
 historic record, ought to make it a popular and attractive 
 book. 
 
 Though written from your standpoint as an officer in 
 the Army of the Tennessee, you have succeeded in mak- 
 ing it more full than could be expected in its details of the 
 movements of the other parts of Sherman's grand army. 
 
 Very respectfully yours, etc., J. D. Cox, 
 
 Ex-Governor of Ohio and Major-General. 
 
 FORT HARKER, KANSAS, August 9, 1869. 
 To THE REV. BISHOP JANES, Norwalk, Ohio : 
 
 Reverend Sir, I take pleasure in informing you that 
 Rev. George W. Pepper, a member of the North Ohio 
 Conference, was chaplain of my regiment for two years, 
 and that I had an opportunity of judging of his qualities 
 as a minister of the gospel and a Christian gentleman. 
 I can certify that he performed his duties fully in accord- 
 ance with the requirements of his station, and to my entire 
 satisfaction. He held service every Sabbath, and attended 
 the sick in garrison ; and in saying this much, I may add 
 that I know of no position where a minister is required 
 to exercise more faith and perseverance than in the army, 
 where they receive little or no sympathy from those 
 
538 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 around them. I believe that Chaplain Pepper maintained 
 at all times and under all circumstances the respect of all, 
 and the dignity of his profession. 
 
 In addition to his official duties, he rendered great 
 assistance to the Government in North Carolina as editor 
 of the North Carolina Standard and as a public speaker. 
 The fruits of his labors in that State in the cause of edu- 
 cation will continue to develop long after our names are 
 forgotten. 
 
 As a man who possesses unusual powers of eloquence, 
 scholastic attainments of the highest order, and who is 
 zealously devoted to his profession, I earnestly recom- 
 mend him to your favorable notice. 
 
 I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
 
 NELSON A. MILES, 
 
 Colonel $th Infantry. 
 Brevet Major-General United States Army. 
 
 STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, 
 EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 
 RALEIGH, March 29, 1869. 
 
 To CAPTAIN GEORGE W. PEPPER : 
 
 My Dear Sir, I regret to learn that, under orders, it 
 will be your duty to leave this State. My best wishes will 
 go with you. One of the first of Sherman's noble army 
 to call upon me after you reached the city, and having 
 expressed your confidence and friendship, I shall always 
 cherish pleasant recollections of our intercourse, and the 
 hope that your future may be as fortunate as your past 
 life has been true to the cause of liberty and Union. Our 
 Republican friends of both races will not soon forget your 
 efforts in the cause of Reconstruction, and the ability and 
 zeal which you have displayed as one of the editors of the 
 Standard. I trust a generous and just Government will 
 properly appreciate and recognize your single-minded 
 devotion to its interests. 
 
 Wishing you many years of prosperity and happiness,. 
 I am truly your friend, 
 
 W. W. HOLDEN. 
 
APPENDIX. 539 
 
 UNITED STATES SENATE CHAMBER, 
 
 WASHINGTON, January 8, 1868. 
 
 Dear Sir, I have your note of the 7th, in reference to 
 the condition of Ireland and the rights of American citi- 
 zens abroad. The latter question has been, and still is, 
 the subject of discussion between this Government and 
 various foreign Powers, and it is to be hoped that a satis- 
 factory conclusion will soon be reached. It has already 
 been brought up in Congress, where I took occasion to 
 declare the absurdity of the claim made by England. I 
 regret the condition of affairs in Ireland, which is indeed 
 deplorable, and I am glad to see that the subject is begin- 
 ning to engage the attention of English statesmen. 
 
 Justice to Ireland is a.British necessity. In every effort 
 for human rights, there is but one side for my sympathy 
 and aspiration. 
 
 Believe me, sir, faithfully yours, 
 
 CHARLES SUMNER. 
 REV. GEORGE W. PEPPER, Goldsboro, N. C. 
 
 LETTERS FROM MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL 
 
 COMMITTEE OF THE POLITICAL 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1896. 
 
 CHICAGO, November 10, 1896. 
 REV. G. W. PEPPER, Cleveland, Ohio : 
 
 My Dear Sir, The Republicans of this State have 
 once more asserted themselves, and once again Illinois is 
 a State to be proud of. In the hard battle just over, we 
 feel that much of the credit of our success belongs to the 
 men who preached the gospel of sound money and sound 
 sense all over this State. 
 
 To you, as one of these speakers, the State Committee 
 tenders its sincere and profound thanks for services ren- 
 dered. 
 
 Congratulating you and all good citizens upon the 
 glorious victory, I am, sir, 
 
 Very respectfully, CHAS. S. RANNELS. 
 
540 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 ST. Louis, Mo., November 21, 1896. 
 DR. GEORGE W. PEPPER, Cleveland, Ohio : 
 
 My Dear Dr. Pepper, Your good letter of the i 
 received. I feel as you do, that by concerted action and 
 perseverance we will eventually triumph; in fact, we in- 
 tend to keep up our organization throughout the State, 
 to the end that we may be able to change the complexion 
 of our Congressional representation in 1898, as well as to 
 carry the State in 1900. 
 
 I received many evidences of your oratorical abilities, 
 as well as of the high character of your work in Missouri, 
 and assure you the same is duly appreciated. 
 
 With sincere regards, believe me, 
 
 Yours very truly, R. C. KERENS. 
 
 MANSFIELD, O., November 25, 1896. 
 CHAPLAIN GEORGE W. PEPPER, Cleveland, Ohio : 
 
 Dear Chaplain, What shall I say? How shall I tender 
 you in words my thanks for your able services in the cam- 
 paign of good Government, sound money, and protec- 
 tion? 
 
 It was a glorious victory, and I am glad that you found 
 time and opportunity to participate therein. 
 
 One thing we know, the old flag floats, and our friend, 
 William McKinley, God sparing his life, is to be the 
 Executive head of the great Republic. And to you, and 
 the many loyal men like you, is largely due this happy 
 condition which is to come March 4th next. May you 
 live many years yet, Chaplain ! And I will know that you 
 will look back to 1896 with great pleasure. Many, many 
 thanks again. Yours very truly, 
 
 HENRY C. HEDGES, 
 
 With Speakers' Bureau. 
 
APPENDIX. 541 
 
 EXECUTIVE OFFICE, 
 TERRITORY OF MONTANA, 
 VIRGINIA CITY, December 17, 1865. 
 
 My Dear Friend, I should have written to you some 
 time since indeed, shortly after my arrival here but I 
 forgot your address, and had to wait until Mrs. Meagher 
 sent it to me before I could write to you. 
 
 I write now a few lines only can't write more being 
 greatly pressed clown by official correspondence with 
 Washington, this being the busiest time of the year for 
 that kind of work. 
 
 I have n't time to do more, in fact, than cordially write 
 you to join me here as soon as you can. 
 
 It is a perfectly beautiful and delightful country 
 singularly rich and singularly grand. Americans who 
 cling to the Atlantic seaboard, or to the Mississippi Valley 
 even, have little conception of the wealth and grandeur of 
 the country they own. You can not realize it until you 
 traverse the plains or ascend the Missouri to its head- 
 waters, and look over it from the Rocky Mountains. 
 
 You, my dear friend, would exult in being here. It 
 is just the country for one of your temperament, your 
 intellect, your heart, and eloquence. . . . Come out 
 to Montana, take up and fence in your one hundred and 
 sixty acres, under the Homestead Act, in one of our won- 
 derfully fertile, abundantly-watered, and well-timbered 
 valleys and, my word for it, you will feel yourself a new 
 man, and an American citizen in full. 
 
 However, if you desire to follow your profession to 
 preach, attend the poor and sick, devote yourself to char- 
 itable, religious, and intellectual labors I promise you 
 that, so far from being disappointed and damaging your 
 condition, you would be most pleasantly surprised, and 
 your prospects brightened. 
 
 We want men of your stamp, your accomplishments, 
 your facility of writing, and attainments in oratory, out 
 here, and, with such solid capital as you possess in these 
 respects, you would soon find yourself a substantial man. 
 
54 2 UNDER THREE FLAGS. 
 
 Mrs. Meagher, in writing to me the other day, and 
 giving me your address, begged that I would entreat you 
 to join me in Montana, and that, as she proposes to leave 
 St. Louis by boat for Fort Benton early in the spring, to 
 take up her home with me in this glorious young Terri- 
 tory, it would delight her extremely to have you and your 
 family as her companions in the journey. Open a corre- 
 spondence with her right away, and settle the matter with 
 her. I have two or three things for you to do, for which 
 I shall furnish you with abundant material and cordial 
 assistance. Write immediately, and say you have deter- 
 mined to come, and believe me, as ever, most affection- 
 ately your friend, THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, 
 
 Governor. 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 PAGE 120. 
 
 In mentioning my first pastorate in Wooster, I see I 
 have unaccountably omitted the names of many kind 
 friends. Among them were the Blacks, Taylors, Logans, 
 McClarrans, McDonalds, Saybolts, Marchands, Timmer- 
 mans, Lees, Frosts, Amsdens, Van Nests, Coffeys. 
 
 During my residence there as pastor of Trinity Church, 
 one of my stanchest friends and helpers was Mr. Alfred 
 Coover, the Church treasurer. I shall always think of him 
 and his gifted wife with feelings of gratitude. 
 
 PAGE 267. 
 
 Mrs. Alexander Sullivan does not remember the witty 
 remark ascribed to her here, and thinks it must have been 
 said by some other person. 
 
 On this page I see I have omitted the name of a friend, 
 Hon. D. C. Feeley, a ripe and accomplished lawyer, now 
 of Rochester. 
 
 PAGE 275. 
 
 Instead of the first McAleavy mentioned, the name 
 should be McAloon. I would like to insert here also the 
 name of Dr. Corrigan. 
 
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 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ 
 
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