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(( 
 
 WARRINGTON" PEN-PORTRAITS 
 
 A COLLECTION OF 
 
 PERSONAL AND POLITICAL REMINISCENCES 
 
 FROM 1848 TO 18TG, 
 
 FROM THE WRITINGS OF 
 
 WILLIAM S. ''rOBINSON. 
 
 w 
 
 WITH MEMOIR, AND EXTRACTS FROM DIARY AND LETTERS 
 NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED. 
 
 ,w OF COhjQ S. 
 
 BOSTON; 
 
 EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY MRS. W. S. ROBINSON, 
 
 41-45 Franklin Street. 
 
 1877. 
 
F6^ 
 
 Copyright, 1877, 
 By MRS. W. S. ROBINSON. 
 
 Stereoiyfied and Printed by 
 
 Rand, Avery, and Company, 
 
 IJJ Franklin Street, 
 
 Boston. 
 
TO 
 
 THE PEOPLE, 
 
 IN WHOM " WAI4RINGT0N ' BELIEVED AND FOR WHOM HE LABORED, 
 AS WELL AS TO 
 
 THEIR LEADERS, 
 
 WHOM HE CENSURED AND CRITICISED. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 INTEODUCTION ix 
 
 MEMOIR. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. Parentage and Boyhood 1 
 
 n. Youth 15 
 
 III. Manhood 25 
 
 IV. Free-Soil Editor 35 
 
 V. Free-Soil Editor {Continued) 53 
 
 VI. " W^VRRINGTON " LETTERS 78 
 
 VTl. Clerk of the Massachusetts House of Kepresenta- 
 
 TIVES 102 
 
 VIII. Butler and Butlerism 130 
 
 IX. The Successful Man . 149 
 
 X. In Memoriam 167 
 
 PEN-PORTEAITS. 
 
 I. The Free-Soil Party 183 
 
 II. The FuGiTrvE-SL.4.VE L.vw 189 
 
 III. The AVhigs and the Coalition 198 
 
 IV. Workings of the Fugitive-Slave Act in Massachu- 
 
 setts 20G 
 
 V. The Know-Nothing and Straight-Eepublic^vn Parties, 214 
 
 VI. Antislavery Movement 227 
 
 VTI. John Brown and President Lincoln .... 237 
 
 Vni. In War Toie 253 
 
 IX. Jubilee Days 280 
 
 X. Results of President Lincoln's Death .... 304 
 XI. Action in Massachusetts from 1868 to 1871 . . . 322 
 XII. Political Situation in 1872-1873; and "Warrington" 
 
 abroad 354 
 
 Xni. The Situation in 1874-1875 380 
 
 XIV. Free-Soil Leaders 400 
 
 XV. Brief Biographies .... ... 406 
 
 XVI. Brief Biographies (Continued) 473 
 
 XVII. Brief Biographies (Continued) 517 
 
 XVIII. The Woman Question . 547 
 
 APPENDIX 565 
 
 INDEX 581 
 
 V 
 
INTKODUCTION. 
 
Il^TEODUOTIOI^. 
 
 BY F. B. SANBORN. 
 
 I HAVE complied willingly "with the request 'of Mrs. Rob- 
 inson for a few pages introductory to her full and interesting 
 Memoir of our dear friend, and the friend of every good 
 cause, William S. Robinson ; though it would have been 
 more appropriate for some older acquaintance, who had 
 known him from boyhood, to undertake this friendly task. 
 My own intimacy with him began in his native town of Con- 
 cord, soon after I went there to live, in 1855 ; and conse- 
 quently covered but about twent}' of his fifty active and 
 useful j-ears. He had been a journalist for sixteen of those 
 years when I first met him ; and he was in the full maturitj' 
 of his talents then, though neither so distinguished nor so 
 powerful as he afterwards became. Although I must have 
 seen him earlier, my first distinct recollection of him is at 
 the "melon-party" of which Mrs. Robinson speaks, given 
 by Mrs. Thoreau, the mother of Henry Thoreau, one evening 
 in September, 1855. It was the custom of the Thoreaus 
 then to raise fine melons in their garden, and once a year to 
 assemble their friends at a reception, where the melons that 
 Henry and his father had grown formed the principal feast. 
 On this occasion, I recall the small and slightly stooping 
 figure of \Yilliam Robinson among the guests. His jesting 
 manner and ready laugh were in sufficient contrast with the 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 grave, bearing of bis scboolmate, the poet-naturalist of the 
 Concord woods and waters. But tlie two men were alike in 
 their courageous support of unpopular opinions, their neg- 
 lect of the cheap prizes of life, and in the steadiness of their 
 friendship for those to whom they were allied. 
 
 " They were of a lineage 
 That each for each doth fast engage." 
 
 - I did not fairly come to know Robinson, however, until 
 we met frequently, from 1858 onward, at the Bird Club in 
 Boston, of which he was one of the earliest and most con- 
 stant members. He used to say that he meant to earn 
 enough b}' his'" Warrington " letters, which then began to 
 be famous, to pay for his weekly club dinners. But the}- did 
 more than this : thoy made him so much a power in Massa- 
 chusetts, that when the time came, in 1860, for his table- 
 companions of the Bird Club to take control of political 
 affiiirs in this Commonwealth, he was found to be among the 
 most important of their number. lie entered, with Sumner, 
 Andrew, Wilson, Bird, the Howes, Claflin, Wright, Stearns, 
 and the rest, into that council of friends, w^hich, until it was 
 broken by " time and chance which happeneth to all," gave 
 wise and brave direction to the polic}' of Massachusetts both 
 in state and national affairs. This unrecognized cabinet, 
 composed of both official and unofficial persons, came into 
 power with Gov. Andrew in 18G0-G1 ; and its last powerful 
 stroke was the defeat of Butler for governor in 1871. In 
 the ten intervening years, the pen of "Warrington" was 
 as potent as any single influence, except the great soul of 
 Sumner and the great heart of Andrew, in maintaining the 
 steady course of Massachusetts on all grave issues. 
 
 Something of this potency yet survives in the pages here 
 selected from the mass of Robinson's journalistic writings, 
 though much of the force then felt has disappeared with the 
 emergency that called it forth. The wit, the sagacity, the 
 broad humor, and ctrong sense, — above all, the dauntless 
 independence of the man, — these all shine forth, and may 
 
INTRODUCTION. xi 
 
 be read in future j-ears. But that which has passed away, 
 never to return, is the ardor of the generous contention for 
 freedom and a broader national life ; the common impulse, 
 thrilling from man to man as by an electric shock, when we 
 stood side b}' side in the ranks, giving and taking blows, 
 and more eager for the victory of truth than for the glory or 
 the spoils of conquest. This must be to others but a dim 
 tradition, growing fainter with time : to us it is a warm and 
 cherished memor}-, which the passing 5'ears will seek to 
 efface, but cannot obliterate. Mrs. Robinson has well pre- 
 served the spirit, and many of the incidents, of that long 
 warfare with evil ; and the invincible, unassuming courage 
 and resource of her husband during that whole period gleam 
 out in her narration as we saw them then, but with details of 
 self-denial and self-sacrifice that are now first made public. 
 
 It was in this period that the reminiscences of Gov. Bul- 
 lock begin ; and they may here be fitly introduced. He 
 says, — 
 
 "My relations with Mr. Robinson were intimate during 
 four years (while I Avas speaker of the House of Represen- 
 tatives, he being all that time its clerk) ; and his solid, 
 personal qualities made upon me an enduring impression. I 
 found the temper of his nature amiable, generous, and con- 
 fiding bej'ond any thing I had conceived from his writings. 
 He was far more capable of sustained friendship than many 
 persons whose manners are, on the surface, more attractive 
 than his. I never knew him to do an ungenerous thing, or 
 to approve a mean act. Acquaintance brought out a broad 
 and deep humor which his appearance did not indicate to a 
 stranger. He had the laugh of a large-souled man, which 
 came out of the heart, and carried magnetism into his con- 
 versation. He abounded in wit of a pleasant flavor. From 
 standard authors, and from the transient literature of the 
 day, with a quickness which has rarely been surpassed, he 
 extracted all the sweetest graces ; and, under his nicelj'- 
 shaded perception, they kindled into soft and mellow light. 
 
xii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A familiar friend could not fixil to observe the two sides of 
 his character ; for, while his life was apparentl}' rather a 
 stern and severe one, in social intercourse he was one of the 
 best interpreters I ever knew of the finer qualities of a 
 humorist. Though he was somewhat abrupt in manner, 
 delicac}- of feeling was his most striking characteristic. I 
 mention this particularl}', because he was thought by many 
 to be mood}-, or even cynical. He did like satire ; and an}' 
 man who deals much in that seldom gets credit for the better 
 parts of his disposition. Mr. Robinson's lot was not one 
 of ease, but, on the contrary, it was one of constant and 
 miscellaneous intellectual struggle for support ; and I take 
 pleasure in bearing m}' testimon}- to the serenit}' with which 
 he bore it, — without discontent, without env}' and suspicion, 
 always justl}' towards others more favorably situated. 
 
 " He had signally an honest mind. There was no sham 
 in his own make ; and he never practised sophistr}' or char- 
 latanry, or tolerated it in others. His was not the custom 
 of saying ' Yes ' for the sake of assenting ; nor of sa3'ing 
 ' No,' imless he thought and felt it. Without bias, he criti- 
 cised right and left the opinions and actions of his friends ; 
 and he yielded free approval to those of his opponents, if 
 his judgment so determined. He looked for the merits of 
 men and things ; and mere title, distinction, fame, weighed 
 with him verv little. I recall numerous instances of the 
 entire indei)endcnce and uprightness of his opinions at a 
 time in which most men surrendered their individuality with- 
 out reflection to the popular tidal wave. Although radically 
 attached to the admhiistration party, he criticised Sumner as 
 freely as he criticised Vallandigham ; and many a time 
 during the war he expressed to me his s^-mpath}' with those 
 whose personal rights and liberties he thought were undul}' 
 infringed under the shadow of the ' war power,' as it was 
 called. And his heart was as honest as his intellect. To 
 say that he was be3ond corruption is saying little for him. 
 He worked hard all his days, and never wanted for his labor 
 more than it was worth. I do not know anybody who has 
 
INTRODUCTION. xiii 
 
 done contentedly so much literary work for such moderate 
 pay. In the ■war-time, in which all salaries were raised 
 under the general inflation, when Ave came to that of the 
 clerk of the House, I fixed upon a sum which could easil}^ 
 have been carried ; but he insisted upon lower figures, which, 
 he said, were all the office was justl}^ entitled to ask. He 
 was a model man for public economy, and could not be 
 tempted from the simplicity and purity of living which 
 marked him to the end. 
 
 " Intellectually, Mr. Robinson was both broad and acute. 
 His mind went out after principles, passing by technical 
 methods. I never could induce hira to pay much reverence 
 to parliamentarj^ authorities. His Manual, published two 
 years ago, really contains all the essentials of parliamentary 
 law ; and it ought to come into general use. It is a book of 
 principles, and is sufficient to suggest all the necessary forms ; 
 but, because it deals in principles instead of forms, I doubt 
 if it is so popular as it ought to be. His wise discernment 
 and his retentive memory were conspicuous in his studies and 
 reading, and made him an authority within the range of his 
 knowledge, which was remarkable for his opportunities. 
 His reading was miscellaneous, covering wisely the best of 
 modern authors in the English language ; and he was 
 especiall}' eclectic in all that he preserved and treasured from 
 his reading. He was a natural and pure writer, — vigorous, 
 penetrating, and incisive. Considering that he was a born 
 critic, and that he indulged his ply with like freedom towards 
 those whom he favored and towards those whom he censured, 
 we must all of us acknowledge, that an aim for justice and 
 truth predominated in his writings to a degree uncommon in 
 the compositions of criticism. I do not think it was known, 
 save by a few of his friends, how well-read he was ; and 
 certainl}' very few readers could throw aside the chaff, and 
 appropriate the real grain, more rapidly than he did. 
 
 " Mr. Robinson has seemed to me one of the pioneers of 
 the INDEPENDENT PRESS. In high part}" times, he was one 
 of the earliest, most pronounced, and most fearless of all our 
 
sir INTRODUCTION. 
 
 independent newspaper-writers. The obligation of free ex- 
 pression of his thoughts he deemed superior to the fixncied 
 restraints of friendship ; and, though this rule may seem 
 unamiable to a limited number of interested persons, the 
 practice of it is essential to free and independent journalism. 
 Before Robinson's da}-, we had no well-known journalist in 
 this State who made the venture which he has so success- 
 fully made. He did not forbear to publish what he thought 
 of the acts and opinions of a public man from fear of meet- 
 ing him at a dinner-table the next week, nor from that other 
 and more abject fear of party discipline. An impending elec- 
 tion did not shut off from his vision justice, trath, or duty. 
 In his conversation and in his published writings, we had an 
 interpretation of ' reform within the party.' If he could have 
 lived a few years longer, I have no doubt that he would have 
 maintained in still higher style than before the position of 
 one of the advance-guard of the independent press, — that 
 term of so much reproach, and 3'et of so much honor. ' ' 
 
 An earlier and more intimate friend, Mr. Fuaxcis "W. 
 Bird, has communicated a few of those recollections which 
 throng to the chambers of memory when the name of Rob- 
 inson and the days of the antislavery conflict are men- 
 tioned. Mr. Bird writes, — 
 
 " Somewhat over forty j-ears ago, I first met William S. 
 Robinson in his brother's printing-office in Dedham, — he a 
 lad in his teens, I ten j^ears his senior. Ten jears at our 
 ages then seemed to separate us widely. But he soon after 
 engaged in pursuits which stimulated mental activit}- : I 
 drifted into a condition Avhich checked and dwarfed it. 
 And so it happened, that, when we were brought together 
 ten or fifteen years later, he had come up b}- m}' side ; and, 
 from that time to the du}' of his death, ' we clamb the hill 
 thegither.' It was hard climbing. Young men who joined 
 the antislavery' movement in its earliest days, and especially 
 those who left the Whig party and acted politically against 
 
INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 slavery, met a proscription commercial, political, and social, 
 of the bitterness and intensitj' of which few now can form 
 any conception. Robinson earl}- chose his lot with the 
 friends of freedom ; and from that da}' to his last, reckless 
 of personal conseqnences, he devoted himself to the righting 
 of the wrong, and to the most fearless discussions of public 
 men and measures. 
 
 " His life, like all lives whose record men do not willingl}' 
 let die, was one of steady toil and straggle. Unsparing 
 critic and iconoclast, wielding a pen devoted to the unmask- 
 ing of hypocris}' and shams and knaveiy, ' to razing out 
 rotten opinion which writes men down after their seeming,' 
 he aroused antagonisms where eas3'-going men would gloss 
 over prejudices and bigotries and knaveries. Men who knew 
 him slightly thought him malignant : we who knew him well 
 knew that ever}- utterance of his was the expression of the 
 sincerest and profoundest conviction of truth and duty ; 
 that, vigorous as was the bow, there was no venom in the 
 shaft ; that in all the ink which flowed from his fertile pen 
 there never mingled a drop of malice or unkindness. 
 
 " How my heart warms as I think of the brave and true 
 men who led the sacramental hosts through the long struggle 
 which placed Massachnsetts openly, actively, and perpetually 
 on the side of freedom, and won their final victory in placing 
 John A. Andrew in the chair of Winthrop and Hancock ! 
 There were giants on the earth in those days. Omitting the 
 living whom Massachusetts delights to honor still, — not, 
 perhaps, with the offices which have come too much to be 
 distributed by the ward-room politicians, but with the honor 
 and reverence which Massachusetts always awards to high 
 qualities and great services, — I may properly recall the names 
 of a few of that noble army of heroes who led in those battles 
 of freedom, and have gone to their reward, — Stephen C. 
 Phillips, Horace Mann, Theodore Parker, Erastus Hopkins, 
 Charles Allen, Edward L. Keyes, Seth Webb, jun., James 
 W. Stone, Burlingame, Andrew, Sumner, Howe, Wilson. 
 Of these and with these was Eobinson, consulted and trusted 
 
XVi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 as one of our wisest and best. Whether there was counsel 
 to be taken, or work to be clone, the circle was imperfect 
 without him. 
 
 " Robinson wielded no mercenary pen. During a portion 
 of his active life he held office, in which he did fiiithful work, 
 and received fair pa}'. For other work as a journalist he 
 received moderate compensation, never large ; but few know, 
 none so well as I, how vast the amount of work he did for 
 which he received and expected no reward but the conscious- 
 ness of dut}' done. I was associated with him for years in 
 these labors, and I know that his anon3-mous and unpaid work 
 often equalled his professional and public work. Ilis whole 
 life was almost literall}- a daily struggle for his dail}- bread ; 
 but no consideration of personal gain ever tempted liim to 
 any act not in accordance with liis sincerest convictions, 
 and no fear of personal sacrifice or of pecuniar}' loss cv€r 
 deterred him from doing brave battle for every good cause. 
 
 " ' The fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they 
 live forever?' One by one our honored leaders and loved 
 friends have gone, until more are with them than with us. 
 "We miss them all. Robinson's place, the last made vacant, 
 most freshly reminds us of our loss. We miss him from our 
 grave councils on public affairs ; from tlie cheerful gatherings 
 for good fellowship which he so mucli enjoyed and inspired ; 
 from the Club, where, for twent3'-five 3'ears, men of thought 
 and men of action met to take sweet counsel together, and 
 strengthen each other for the battle of life. Their memories 
 remain ; and, now that they are beyond the reach of mortal 
 sight, good omens cheer us, maul}' purposes inspire us, from 
 the bright track of tlieir faithful, fruitful lives." 
 
 It is needless for me to point out how well the writer of 
 this Memoir, the editor of this volume, has performed her 
 affectionate task. None had a better right to do it, or could 
 have done it better. To the picture she has given of lier 
 husband a few touches may be added ; but hardly a feature 
 that she has drawn need be shaded b}' criticism, so discern- 
 ing are the eyes of affection. 
 
INTRODUCTION. xvii 
 
 Our satirist and friend was not a commanding person ; nor 
 can lie be called great, though he had some of the least com- 
 mon elements of greatness. A little more reverence and 
 reserve would have graced his character, and softened the 
 asperit}' of his pen ; a little more enthusiasm would have 
 brought him nearer to the ideal standard. He had a strong 
 Saxon sense, not too much refined, such as Defoe and Frank- 
 lin showed ; and he belonged in their class, rather than 
 among moralists and idealists. He was of the sturdy, jest- 
 ing, Av arm-hearted, reliable people, who keep the middle way 
 of life, not much disturbed b}^ visions or ambitions. Of such 
 sturdy and level qualities were the plain people of New 
 England and of the mother-countr}- : thej' stood b}' their col- 
 ors ; the}' minded their own business ; and what was the 
 achievement of one was the profit and gloiy of all. Of this 
 sort was "William Robinson : he asked little of the world, 
 was content with his lot, expected to work hard, to " do citi- 
 zen's dut}'," speak his mind freelj', stand b}' his friends, 
 remind his enemies that the}' were vulnerable ; in short, to 
 make one in that bus}', free-born, progressi\e multitude 
 which the American people are. He neither sought nor 
 valued distinction ; nor did he avoid singularity or reproach 
 in the line of his duty. As Emerson said of Theodore 
 Parker, he was one "who does not in generous company say 
 generous things, and in mean company base things, but says 
 one thing, now cheerfully, now indignantly, and always 
 because he must." Alas that we shall hear his voice no 
 longer ! 
 
 COKOOBD, May 1, 1877. 
 
MEMOIR. 
 
** O friend ! my bosom said, 
 Through thee alone the sky is arched, 
 Through thee the rose is red ; 
 All things through thee take nobler form, 
 And look beyond the earth ; 
 The mill-round of our fate appears 
 A sun-path in thy worth. 
 Me too thy nobleness has taught 
 To master my despair ; 
 The fountains of my hidden life 
 Are through thy friendship fair." 
 
 Emekson. 
 
lEMOIR OF "WAEEIN6T0N." 
 
 BY MRS. W. S. EOBINSON. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAEENTAGE AJSTD BOYHOOD. 
 
 (1S18-1837.) 
 
 We can never do more than approximate to the truth about the life of any per- 
 son, big or little; and this limitation must be borne in mind, for no man or woman 
 ever yet lived who was known to anybody else, — perhaps nobody who was ever 
 known to himself or herself with any degree of accuracy; and, if Fronde and 
 Macaulay have made mistakes, there are plenty of bookmakers who will correct 
 their errors.— Waeeington. 
 
 Of the many distinguished writers who have from time to 
 time made Concord in Massachusetts their residence, it is a 
 curious fact that "Warrington" (William S. Robinson) is 
 the only one widely known, with one exception, who was 
 "native and to the manner born" of that rare old town. 
 The exception is Henry David Thoreau, "Warrington's" 
 contemporary and schoolmate. His ancestors had lived there 
 for two generations on the father's and mother's side ; both 
 families having moved there just in time to take their share 
 in the stirring incidents of the Revolution. Though Mr. 
 Robinson would have been one of the first to ' ' smile at the 
 claims of long descent," 3-et, for the sake of those who like to 
 know the ancestry of a man in whom they are interested, it 
 will be well to say that he could trace his origin through five 
 generations of honest tanners, shoemakers, and hatters, to a 
 forefather whose will is still in existence, and to an ances- 
 tress whose strong and noble character has been transmitted 
 
 1 
 
2 MEMOIR OF 
 
 to numberless descendants, and is easil}- seen in that of the 
 subject of this memoir, the most eminent of them all.^ 
 
 The Robinson famil}' were of "SVestford in Massachusetts : 
 the Cogswells (on the mother's side) were of Boston. The 
 families intermarried at the same time (in 1773) on both sides, 
 and continued to do so. Thus Mr. Robinson's parents had a 
 common ancestr}', were own cousins, and also what is called 
 " double cousins ; " and the record of one famil}- is substan- 
 tiall}- the record of botli. The Robinsons seem to have been 
 made up of conflicting elements ; for we find a non-resistant 
 and a brave fighter dividing the honors of the familv name 
 between them. In lGo9, one William Robinson, a Quaker, 
 was arrested with other Quakers, as he came from Salem to 
 Charlestown ferry, by a compan}' of people, and, after some 
 scoffing and mocking examinations, was sent to prison : 
 there he was searched, and his journal of places where he 
 had been was taken awa}'. Shortly after, he was hanged 
 on Boston Common, and all for opinion's sake. 
 
 Lieut. -Col. John Robinson,^ who came from Westford on the 
 19th of April, 1775, to serve in the regiment of minute-men 
 under Col. William Prescott, was without doubt the brother 
 of William S. Robinson's grandfather, and of one of his 
 grandmothers. "This brave colonel," as Dr. Riplc}' calls 
 him, when the command was given to " march into the 
 middle of the town to defend their homes, or die in the 
 attempt," was requested by Major Buttrick " to accompany 
 him, and lead the soldiers in double file to the scene of 
 action." History tolls us how well the "rank and file" 
 were led on that eventful da}-. The women of the lamily 
 were not idle; for while their husbands were away at "the 
 Bridge," fighting for the state and countr}-, one of them, Mr. 
 Robinson's grandmother, at home alone, preparing food for 
 the returning heroes, thought anxiously of the church near 
 by, and its sacred vessels. She therefore went and got the 
 silver communion-service from the adjoining meeting-house, 
 
 1 See Appendix A. 
 
 2 See Shattuck's History of Concord. 
 
''WARRINGTON." 3 
 
 and buried it in the soap-barrel in her cellar, in the arch 
 under a great chimnej' which is still standing ; and it staid 
 there safe all through the fight. This same brave woman 
 threatened to shoot two British soldiers, who, after the first 
 fight, had made their way, famished and footsore, over the 
 hill behind her house. They were so hungiy and tired, and 
 begged so piteousl}' for something to eat, that she fed them 
 instead. She would not let them in, being alone, but sup- 
 plied them from the window, making them eat on the stoop 
 outside the door. 
 
 Concerning the Cogswell side of the familj', I am able to 
 quote from a paper written by Mr. Eobinson in 1871 for the 
 use of the " Social Circle," a club of gentlemen in Concord, 
 of which his grandfather was the founder and the last sur- 
 vivor of the original twelve members : — 
 
 " Emerson Cogswell, of Welsh descent, was the son of Emerson 
 and Mary (Pecker) Cogswell. Emerson, senior, was a tanner, who 
 carried on business near the stone bridgte in Ipswich, Mary Pecker 
 was the daughter of James and Bridget Pecker. Pecker was a wharf- 
 inger in Boston. [There was a sister of Mary Pecker, named Susannah, 
 who kept a ' pastry scliool,' and lived to a great age. I have seen 
 some patriotic verses written by her against tlie use of tea in the pre- 
 Revolutionary days.] I do not know when Emerson Cogswell, senior, 
 died ; but Mary, his wife, lived in Concord many years a widow, with 
 her son Emerson, and kept school in the house, which her grand- 
 children attended. John Cogswell was the first principal inhabitant 
 of Ipswich. 'The History of Essex' (Chebacco) contains all that I 
 know of the Cogswell family, including a reference to the patent 
 granted to Lord Humphrey Cogswell in 1447. John Cogswell's son 
 William married Mary, daughter of Eev. John Emerson of Gloucester; 
 and this brought the name of Emerson into the family.^ 
 
 1 The Eev. John Emerson of Gloucester was born in 1C25 in 
 England, and was the son of Thomas Emerson of Ipswicli, from whom 
 :Mr. II. W. Emerson is also descended, through another son (or grand- 
 son), Eev. Joseph Emerson of Wells, Me., and Mendon, Mass. Eev. 
 John Emerson was settled in Gloucester in 1663, after graduating at 
 Harvard College in 1G56. His wife was Euth Symonds of Ipswich, 
 daughter of Samuel S.ymonds, a kinsman of John Winthrop, and him- 
 self deputy-governor of Massacliusets. Mary Emerson, born in 1605, 
 grand-daughter of Samuel Symonds and of Thomas Emerson, married 
 William Cogswell, son or grandson of John Cogswell, who was a 
 
4 MEMOIR OF 
 
 "Emerson Cogswell moved from Boston to Concord during the 
 Revolution. 'Shattuck's Ilistory,' p. 357, mentions liira as a lieu- 
 tenant in 1778, under Capt. Thomas Brown of Lexington. On p. 353 
 he is also mentioned as a second lieutenant of the Concord company, 
 under the organization made in February, 1776. In 1770, the com- 
 pany was employed at Cambridge, and in 1778, for six weeks, in Rhode 
 Island. So Cogswell had military employment very soon after he 
 moved to Concord ; and was a patriot, and no Tory. He was one of 
 the originators of the Club; i and he and the father of Judge Fay (the 
 
 wealthy London merchant settled in Ipswich. AVilliani S. Robinson 
 was descended, therefore, from Thomas Emerson and John Cogswell, 
 who were both ancestors of Mr. Ralph "Waldo Emerson. The latter 
 took his middle name, Waldo, from an ancestor, Cornelius "Waldo of 
 Chelmsford, whose daughter IJcbecca married Edward Emerson about 
 lf)'J5. Rebecca "Waldo was the grandHlaughtcr of John Cogswell; her 
 mother, the wife of Cornelius Waldo, being Hannah Cogswell, the 
 sister or aunt of "William Cogswell, who married Mary Emerson of 
 Gloucester. A sister of this Mary (Emerson) Cogswell married Sanmel 
 Phillips, and was the ancestress of inany persons of that distinguished 
 name. Thus, by the curious intertwining of pedigrees, " "Warrington " 
 was connected by descent, as he was by talent, with the families of 
 Emerson, riiillips, Cogswell, and others of the clerical or "Brahmin" 
 class in New England. I take the Emerson Cogswell who married 
 Mary Pecker to have been the grandson of IMary Emerson of Gloucester. 
 — F. B. S. 
 
 1 This club was originally a committee of public safety, and after- 
 wards became the "Social Circle." It has been kept alive to this 
 day. The lirst meetings of this club were held at the house of Mr. 
 Cogswell, with closed doors ; and no woman was admitted. The 
 women were allowed to make all the preparations for a sumptuous 
 supper; and, if any thing was wanted during the feast, it was handed 
 through the half-open door. Even when the original number had 
 dwindled down to only Mr. Cogswell and Mr. Fay, this rigid exclusion 
 of the prescribed sex was kept up at Mr. Cogswell's house at least; 
 " for mother" (says Mrs. Davis, to whom Mr. Robinson refers, and who 
 is my authority) " was sent off to bed, so as to be out of the way." It 
 has, however, leaked out that thej' did nothing more mysterious than to 
 eat, singsongs, and tell stories; ;Mr. Cogswell being the story-teller, and 
 Mr. Fay the singer. This club was revived before ^Ir. Cogswell's death, 
 Dr. Ripley being one of its leaders under the new re'ijime. "It now 
 numbers twenty-live members," says "W. S. R. in 1S71, "who meet at 
 each other's houses weekly, during the autumn, winter, and spring." 
 "Whether the custom of sending the wife of the " receiving " member to 
 bed, to "be out of the way," still holds, I have not thought it wise to 
 inquire. The oldest member at present is Dr. Josiah Bartlett, w'ho was 
 elected in 1822; and the second in seniority is Mr. R. "W. Emerson, 
 elected about forty years ago. — H. II. R. 
 
''WARRINGTON." 5 
 
 late S. P. P. Fay of Cambridge) were the two latest who survived, 
 and met regulai'ly, and had good and satisfactory times together. Mr. 
 Cogswell was the last survivor. 
 
 "He went to Canada, in what year I cannot say, but probably after 
 1790; for he took with him his son William, and my father, William 
 Eobinson, who was born in 1776. They went to Canada in order 
 to learn the art and mystery of making napped hats ; and Mr. Cogs- 
 well is said to have made the first napped hats in this region. (Hats 
 were made about 1830, on the ' Mill-Dam,' by Comfort Foster and 
 others. My father worked there ; and I used to go to ancTfro across 
 the Common with a dozen or fifteen hats strung over my shoulder, my 
 mother being one of the trimmers.) They went in the winter with a 
 sleigh and two horses. Once, in crossing a lake,i Mr. Cogswell, hear- 
 ing the ice crack behind him, whipped up his horses, and got clear; 
 but the team behind him went through, and was lost. He failed in 
 business on account of the failure of one Brown, for whom he was 
 'bound.' Brown fled to Western Virginia. Mr. Cogswell and Capt. 
 Safford of Beverly went in pursuit of him on horseback, and found 
 him in Wellsburg. They got some land of Brown ; but it never was 
 of any value to Mr. Cogswell or to his descendants. It remains a 
 part of my landed property de jure. I am willing to dispose of my 
 share on the tenns Henry Thoreau was going to take Fair Plaven 
 Cliffs for cultivation, — 'at the halves.' Mr. Cogswell was proba- 
 bly absent man jMuonths. Mrs. Davis (now livmg in Concord), the 
 widow of his son William, remembers when he and Safford came 
 back with a pair of horses, and a sleigh loaded with furs, one Sunday 
 in January, 1800. Meanwhile, an attachment had been put upon his 
 property, and the doors closed. ' Grandfather said,' I quote from a 
 letter to me, written by a daughter of Mrs. Davis, ' that he should 
 not run away, nor have his doors closed by man,' and threw them 
 open. On Monday, the officer, Major Hosmer,^ took him to jail, 
 where he remained until Capt. Safford took his property, and settled 
 the debts. The property remained in the Safford family until it went 
 into its present hands. I was born in the old building,^ and remem- 
 ber that my father paid the rent to John Safford of Beverly. The 
 elm-tree at the corner of this building was planted by Mr. Cogswell. 
 Mrs. Davis remembers seeing the buckets of specie with which the 
 debt was settled by Safford. 
 
 "Mrs. Davis says that Dr. Eipley boarded with him from the time 
 he (Kipley) came to Concord (1778) to his marriage. There is a 
 tradition that Cogswell fell out with Dr. Eipley, and finally refused 
 
 1 No doubt Lake Champlain. — F. B. S. 2 sheriff of Middlesex. 
 3 The "old block," as it is now called, which was a nice house in 
 those days, and built to accommodate his numerous growing family. 
 
6 MEMOm OF 
 
 any longer to hear him. Mrs. Davis remembers bearing him say that 
 he wont to hear the doctor preach as long as he got any information. 
 This, perhaps, implied that others went to hear him longer. I believe, 
 however, that he and the doctor were on good terras personally ; and 
 the doctor was a frequent visitor at the house. Mr. Cogswell read 
 his Bible diligenth", and perhaps ostentatiously, as the people went by 
 his house to meeting. He advised (probably coerced) his children, 
 and all the members of his family, to go to meeting, no doubt trusting 
 to their good sense to find out when the supply of information failed; 
 and he enfoined upon John Robinson, my uncle, to remember the 
 texts. ' If any of the children remained at home, it was his practice to 
 keep them very quiet during meeting-time. They must either sit on 
 their block and hear him read, or read their own books. But the 
 children had to go to meeting usually, whether they all had bonnets 
 to wear or not,' says Mrs. Davis. I have in my possession the Bible 
 which I suppose is the one Mr. Cogswell read while the people went 
 to meeting. It was given to me by my mother, and is a Dublin edi- 
 tion of 1714. The best used parts of it are the New Testament and the 
 Psalms. These parts bear the marks of a good deal of thumbing; 
 whether by Mr. Cogswell, I cannot say: but I am quite sure, that, 
 except for the purpose of this biography, I have not misused it. Mr. 
 Cogswell died of consumption, and was buried in the old hill burying- 
 ground. Dr. llipley attended the funeral ; and he said, if there ever 
 was a good man, he thought Mr. Cogswell was one, though they 
 differed in their religious views. 
 
 " In person, Mr. Cogswell was portly, not to say fat ; so that his 
 wife was obliged to buckle his shoes. He wore small-clothes, and 
 went by the title of ' leftenant.' I recollect hearing my piother tell 
 of people calling to inquire, 'Is Leftenant Cogsdill at home?' (Per- 
 haps I may as well say here that the name of Cogswell is spelled with 
 only one g, as in negro.) 
 
 " Emerson Cogswell had three wives and fourteen children. Ilis first 
 wife was Eunice llobinson; and Emerson Cogswell's sister Susanuah 
 married my paternal grandfather, Jeremiah Kobinson. I have not 
 the date of Mrs. Cogswell's (No. 1) death; but I suppose it was about 
 1788; for Mr. Cogswell was not a man to make unnecessary delays, 
 and his second marriage took place May 3, 1 789. The third wife — 
 be patient — was Elizabeth Buttrick, widow of Nathan Buttrick of 
 Concord,! ^^hose maiden name was Bateman. 
 
 " Since this sketch was completed. I have received a letter from 
 Mr. Heywood, the town-clerk of Concord, to whom I applied for 
 information, who says, ' I find by the record that Emerson Cogswell 
 died May 13, 1808, aged sixty-four; and the only office that I find 
 
 1 ^lother of ilrs. Davia. 
 
''WARRINGTON." 7 
 
 he held was that of hogreeve, probably on account of his second 
 marriage ; ^ and that was in 1794. At that time, that office was con- 
 sidered a good position.' The third marriage, Mr. Heywood should 
 have said. I am glad to find that hogreeves were so highly esteemed 
 in Concord. The uuinstructed intellect would have supposed the 
 office of town-clerk or of selectman to be superior in dignity, if not 
 usefulness. 
 
 " The only additional item I am at present able to supply is the 
 following, which I copy from the legislative resolves of 1789 : — 
 
 On the Petition of Emerson Cogswell. 
 
 Resolved, That Ephraim "Wood, Esq., administrator de bonis non on 
 the estate of Eobert Cuming, Esq. (late of Concord, deceased), be and 
 he hereby is authorized to give a deed of a small piece of land lying 
 near Concord meeting-house, that Avas sold by John Cuming, Esq., 
 former administrator on the estate of the said Robert Cuming, to the 
 said Emerson Cogswell, the said Cogswell paying for the same accord- 
 ing to agreement. 
 
 Sent down for concurrence. 
 
 SA3IUEL PniLLrPs, Jun., President. 
 
 In the House of Representatives, 
 Jan. 31, 1789. 
 Approved : Read and concurred : 
 
 John Hancock. Theodoke Sedgwick, Jun, Speaker." 
 
 Mr. Robinson's ancestors on both sides seem to have 
 esteemed truth and duty above the things of this world ; and, 
 though the}' were people of what was then called good con- 
 dition, I do not find a wealtlw person among them after 
 1734. At the time of his birth, in 1818, the wheel of the 
 family fortune had reached the lowest point in its descent ; 
 so that it might be said he was born of a family in reduced 
 fortunes, if it were b}' any means certain that the lack of 
 money, and what it supplies, does in our country reduce the 
 real fortunes of a family in those things which are, after all, 
 the most desirable. 
 
 Pilgrims to Concord, on their vfay to the homes of Emer- 
 son and Alcott, after leaving the Unitarian church, where 
 Dr. Ripley (grandfather by marriage of Mr. Emerson) 
 preached, will pass on the right a block of old wooden 
 
 1 It was considered a good joke in tliose old-fashioned times to put 
 the new married man of the village into this oflSce at election-time. 
 
8 MEMOIR OF 
 
 houses. In one of these houses, under the shadow of the 
 elm-tree planted b}' his grandfather, Emerson Cogswell, 
 "Warrington" — "William Stevens Kobinson — was born 
 Dec. 7, 1818. Uis father was William Robinson, named, 
 probably, for William Cogswell of Ipswich ; his mother, 
 Martha Cogswell Robinson. He was the sixth and last 
 child of his parents. "The first time I saw him," says a 
 friend of his mother, whose kind eyes still look out over the 
 sunny plains of Concord, " he was two years old, and came 
 into m}- house with his mother, holding fast b}- her dress ; 
 and he always went with her everywhere till he was a great 
 bo}', preferring her compan}- to the rude plays and games 
 of his schoolmates. For he was not like his brothers, or 
 like other boj's, and never pla3-ed with them, but was always 
 reading great books, or cutting little sticks of wood for his 
 mother, alone in the back-yard. A good and obedient boy 
 always, and looked as he did in after-life. He always kept 
 his looks. His health was not robust, though he was never 
 ill. His head was too large for his bod}- ; and no one 
 thought he would live to be a man." 
 
 He went to the town school in Concord, kept in the little 
 brick schoolhouse, now an engine-house (opposite the Town 
 Hall), — a "mixed school, where boys and girls studied 
 Latin, and parsed Pope's ' Essay on Man ' together." ^ At 
 this brick schoolhouse he acquired all the education that ever 
 came to him from the recitation-room. Whatever other 
 knowledge he gained was found in his reading and his con- 
 tact with life and men ; for he never went to college. There 
 was the " Catermy " (Concord Academy), as the boys of 
 the brick schoolhouse used to call it, established by some 
 of the parents who received better pa}- for their labor tlian 
 that given to hatters and shoemakers ; but Mr. Robinson 
 never went to it, his father being too poor to send him, even 
 if he had desired to do so. The Latin grammar was taught 
 in the town school in preference to the English, and " com- 
 
 1 W. S. E. in 18G8. 
 
''WARRINGTON." 9 
 
 position^ and the rule of three " were well drilled into the 
 minds of the 3'oung learners. The art of composition was 
 specially taught ; and in looking over the productions of Mr. 
 Robinson and his sister, at the ages of eleven and thirteen, 
 I am struck by the clearness of stjde and diction in the 
 attempts of these young children. If " reading and writing 
 come b}' nature," it is not much matter what methods are 
 used. If the}' can be taught successfull}', the old Concord 
 school of fortj'-five 3'ears ago had found out the secret. 
 
 The following composition, written at thirteen years of 
 age, is copied verbatim : — 
 
 A SHORT SKETCH OF MY LIFE. 
 
 I was born in Concord 7th of December 1818; and have resided in 
 this town ever since there-fore a history of my life cannot be long 
 or very interesting I went to Miss Hunts school 2 yrs and to Miss 
 Harriet Moore's 1 yr. When 5 yrs old I went to Mr. Dinsmore in this 
 school-house 1 year and -J- then to Mr. Forbush 1 year then to Mr. 
 Jarvis ^ 1 year then to Mr Wood ^ 1 year then to Mr Merrill 1 year to 
 Mr Graham* 1 yr to Mr Carter 3 months to Mr Clark 3 months to Mr 
 Jackson 3 months and then to Mr Brown the pi'esent master Mr 
 Dinsmore (now dead) had kept 1 year 6 months before I went to 
 him. I believe he was liked very much Mr Forbush was very liberal 
 with his ruler and was not liked very much by the Scholars. Mr Jar- 
 vis was liked very well Mr. Wood also he was the one who first 
 formed the Club ^ Mr Merrill was a good master Mr Graham was a 
 
 1 When I was a little boy — oh! such a long time ago! — I got a silver 
 medal, manufactured out of half a dollar, for the best "composition" 
 at school. It was on this topic, ai^pointed by the master, — " Learning 
 is better than house and land." It was an eloquent and convincing 
 dissertation, and established the trutli of the proposition so fully and 
 clearly, that I really believe, if the "composition" could be now 
 published, there would not hereafter be any dispute as to the truth of 
 it, "in the abstract." It was what they call a " cliucher." I only 
 remember, however, the beginning, which consisted of the personal 
 pronoun "I," and the verb "think." I have always held to the doc- 
 trine which I then so clearly demonstrated, and have acted upon it: 
 for, though I have little learning, I have less house; and my laud is 
 nothing.— W. S. R. in 1859. 
 
 2 Dr. Edward Jarvis. 3 Eev. Horatio Wood of Lowell. 
 * Eev. John Graham, afterwards a famous antislavery worker. 
 
 6 This club was founded in 1827 for the boy-members of Mr. Wood's 
 
10 MEMOIR OF 
 
 very good master and kept veiy good ordor. He was changed for a 
 worse one, Mr Carter who was very severe. He was changed for 
 a worse one Mr Clarke who kept no order at all. The ill effects of 
 were visible the New Master Mr Jackson had to keep liis eye on 
 them for some time. Mr J. being ill was succeeded by Mr Brown the 
 present master. I began to study Latin at Mr Jarvis and have 
 studied Grammar the Reader a little Virgil and Cicero I cannot say 
 that I have made much Progress I have studied Geography Arithmetic 
 Philosophy a little. I do not think that I can improve it any more or 
 add any to it except that I was 13 years old the 7th of December, 1831. 
 1832 Jan 4th. ,- ^,1 Wm. S. EobinSOX. 
 
 At the same age ne wrote a letter to his brother about 
 going to college, in which he says, "You ask whether I am 
 going to college ? I think not. A college-life appears to me 
 to be a great deal harder than any other. If I expected to 
 be Governor of Massachusetts, or a congressman, or a 
 'Daniel Webster,' I should go to college; but a person 
 may be President of the United States, and yet not go to 
 college. Henr}^ Clay never went to college, and Benjamin 
 Franklin, neither. I don't expect to be any of these great 
 characters. I think I shall learn a -trade, though I have not 
 determined what one." He was considered so promising a 
 scholar, that it was often urged upon his father to send him 
 to college at all hazards. One gentleman, a Dr. Small, 
 offered to help him enter Harvard ; saying that he could worlc 
 his wa^' through l)y doing some work, such as sweeping, 
 building fires, «fec. Said his father, "He shall never take a 
 broom there : if he can't get a living without ruhhincj cujainst 
 that college, he may beg." Perhaps the father had in his 
 mintl the case of a young man of the town who had been 
 sent to college at great expense and privation to the rest of 
 the family, and had returned to his father's farm ; and all 
 the good he received from his college-education was, that he 
 was sent year after j'ear to represent his native town in the 
 General Court. 
 
 Bchool. It was called " The Young Declaiming and Debating Society." 
 W. S. Robinson was secretary, in his turn (a new secretary was chosen 
 every third week), as early as 1830 (when he was twelve years old); and 
 the subject for debate was, " Ought Negroes to be allowed to vote?" 
 
''WAIiRINGTOX." 11 
 
 Mr. Robinson's opinion of a college-education for himself 
 ma}' have been based on the fact that the famil}^ means were 
 not sufficient to afford such an advantage to one of its mem- 
 bers without defrauding the rest ; and, as he expressed it 
 later in life, "It is not fair to sacrifice the women of the 
 family, that the boy or bo^'S may have a chance of education : 
 they have no right to such a lion's share." Perhaps he 
 thought of his sisters, one of whom, Lucy, a little older 
 than he, was his companion and helper in all things, and 
 w^ho, as bright and studious as himself, led him in all his 
 studies. He loved this sister, who resembled him, very 
 dearl}' ; and their terfder relations continued as long as she 
 lived: she died j-oung. Was it strange that this " mother- 
 bo}',." this companion of a sister as bright and promising as 
 himself, should be one of the first advocates of the political 
 equalit}' of the sexes ? 
 
 His schoolmates remember him as a good scholar, and 
 a boy who always knew his lessons, — a quiet, gentle boy, 
 studious, and fond of boolcs ; and one of his teachers. Dr. 
 Edward Jarvis, said of him, that "he always stood at 
 the head of his class, and he never gave me any trouble in 
 his life." Concord even then had a public library, though 
 not so complete as it now possesses through the munifi- 
 cence of Mr. Munroe ; and the 3'oung student read all the 
 books that came in his waj-. He has been described to 
 me as a little boy, small even for his age, sitting across the 
 door-sill of the old house all the summer afternoons, — while 
 the other boj-s were in the w^oods or on the water, — with 
 a book almost as large as himself, reading the hours away. 
 Not liking always to enjoy alone the good things he read, he 
 frequently took his book and went to a neighboring shoe- 
 maker's shop, and read long stories and novels to the work- 
 men at their lasts ; and they enjoyed it as much as he did. 
 He remembered reading Cooper's novel, "The Pioneers," 
 and Scott's " Pirate," in this way; and says in one of his 
 letters, "One of the hands was named Harry Hooper, a 
 curious character, not very bright, and said to be the illegiti- 
 
12 MEMOIR OF 
 
 mutes on of a British soldier or officer who was prisoner of 
 •war (hiring the KcvohUion. lie died in the poor-honsc in 
 Concord, a curious waif." This studious habit followed 
 him through his whole life. As Macaula^-'s biographer 
 says of that great author, " He could neither swim, nor 
 row, nor skate, and seldom crossed a saddle, and never will- 
 ingly." 
 
 Among his schoolmates were John and Henry D. Thoreau ; 
 " David Henry," as he was then called. Of the elder, John, 
 Mr. Robinson was very fond. He was a genial and pleasant 
 youth, and much more popular with his schoolmates than his 
 more celebrated brother. Mr. Robinsan had a high opinion 
 of his talents, and said that he was then quite as promising as 
 Henry D. He died young, in a very singular manner. From 
 a letter written at the time to Mr* Robinson, I am able to 
 quote the following account of his death : — 
 
 " Feb. 2, 1S42. 
 " I cannot close this hasty note without rcferrin,!? to the sudden 
 death of our friend Thoreau, whom you know and loved so well. 
 The cause seems very simple. lie was stropping his razor on Satur- 
 day afternoon, and cut off a little piece of the end of his finger next 
 to the little one, on his left hand. It was very slight, — just the skin 
 deep enough to draw hlood. He replaced the skin, and immediately 
 put on a rag, without letting it bleed. He paid no more attention to it 
 for two or three days, when he found it began to prow painful ; and on 
 the next Saturday he found that the skin had adhered to the finger 
 slightly on one end, but the other part had mortified. In the even- 
 ing he went to Dr. Bartlett, who dressed the finger; and, with no 
 apprehension of further difTiculty, he went home. On his way he had 
 strange sensations, acute pain in various parts of his body; and 
 he was hardly able to get home. The next morning (Sunday) he 
 complained of stiffness of the jaws; and at night he was seized with 
 violent spasms, and lockjaw sot in. On being told that he must die 
 a speedy and painful death, he was unmoved. * Is there no hope?' 
 he said. ' None,' i-eplied the doctor. Then, although his friends 
 were almost distracted around him, he was calm, saying, ' The cup 
 that my Father gives me, shall I not drink it? ' He bade his friends 
 all good-by ; and twice he mentioned your name. Xot long before he 
 died, in the intervals of his suffering, he thought he had written 
 something, and said, 'I will carry it down to Robinson: he will like 
 to read it.' He died Tuesday, at two o'clock, p.m., with as much 
 
"WARRmOTON." 13 
 
 cheerfulness and composure of mind as if only going a short jour- 
 ney." 1 
 
 The Concord Debating Society was formed in 1827 ; 
 and William Robinson soon became its secretar}-. He was 
 librarian of the Sunda}' school for several years, — quite an 
 office for a lad ; and his grave manner while distributing 
 the books is still remembered b}' his old Sunday-school com- 
 panions. He was a frequenter of Ijceums, and soon began 
 to read papers on temperance and antislavery ; for Concord 
 had even then begun to " breed men for a combat which 
 involves personal rights." So passed the j-ears of his boy- 
 hood in quiet, pleasant Concord, which he calls at this time 
 (in 1834, in a letter to his sister) the " king of towns," — read- 
 ing, stud^'ing, and thinking the thoughts of a bo}'. Here he 
 attended his first convention, and had a bird's-ej'e view of 
 the splendors of Masonr}-, which secret order he opposed all 
 through his life, though his father was a great Mason. - 
 
 1 It Avas to the pure spirit of this hrother that Plenry Thoreau dedi- 
 cated his booli, " A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Eivers: " — 
 
 " ^Vhere'er tlion goest wlio sailed with me, 
 Be thou ray Muse, my brother." 
 
 - The first convention I ever attended was one hekl by the anti- 
 Masonic party in Concord. As I stood in the doorway, hat in liand, 
 going to and from school, I heard a letter read from Edward Everett. 
 I forget the purjjort of it now: but I remember that its contents, as I 
 told them to the editor of the Whig uewspajier, created in him an im- 
 meuse sensation; and he immediately began, m his jiaper, to clamor 
 for its publication. But it was never published. There is a mystery 
 about that letter. Mr. Everett, perhaps, remembers what it was. B. 
 F. Hallett knew about it; but he carried the knowledge of it away with 
 him, and no doubt it altogether passed from his recollection before 
 •he died. I am sure it never was printed ; and equally sure, that, if 
 printed, it would be considered a curiosity. So much I remember: 
 the rest is gone. Mr. Everett was very ambitious, and very anxious 
 to get vcjtes, and considerably disposed to dabble in anti-Masonry. 
 Whether, at this particular moment, he was getting into it, or out 
 of it, I cannot remember. I have a history of the Corinthian Lodge, 
 Concord, from which it appears, that, during the thirteen years from 
 1832 to 1844 inclusive, only three members were initiated. From 1836 
 to 1844, there were only four regular meetings. I well remember the 
 change which came over the spirit and prospects of the lodge in 
 
14 MEMOIR OF 
 
 In 1835, at the age of seventeen, he began to think of 
 earning his living ; and, in a h'tlcr to his sister about learn- 
 ing a trade, he writes, " I should like the printer's trade as 
 well as any other. Mr. Bemis wants an apprentice." He 
 accordingly went into the office of "The Gazette," whicli 
 Mr. G. F. Bemis then published, to learn to set t3'pe. In 
 one paper, sent to his brother at Dedham soon after, is a 
 " stickful" set up by himself in place of an advertisement 
 removed for the purpose. It is probably some of his first 
 
 work at the " case." 
 
 Concord, May 2G, 1836. 
 
 Dear BROxnEn, — How do you do ? How are all the folks ? I 
 take my stick iu 1^^ to inform j-ou that we are all alive and well, 
 and hope you enjoy the same hlessing ! ! I write in great haste, and 
 hope you will excuse me if I do not write well. L. has not gone to 
 M. yet. Father has gone to Groton to work. Heard from J. a day 
 or two ago. S. was not well, Aunt C. has returned, — I have told 
 you all the news. Isn't this a good way to save postage? Give my 
 love to wife. L. and all, I suppose, do the same. Ilad a letter from 
 F. the other day — all well. How's business? Ihaveseta stickful. 
 So good-by. Yours, W. S. R. 
 
 that town. The Masonic hall was over the schoolhouse; and, before the 
 evil day came, we boys used to wonder, and be very much awestruck 
 when we looked through the keyhole, and saw the carpentry, supposed 
 to be coflins and scaffolds, and the regalias, supposed to typify all the 
 glory of the days of Solomon and Hiram. Occasionally, Elisha Col- 
 burn, the tyler, was seen at the entrance with his drawn sword. In 
 those days, John Keyes, father of the late United-States marshal, was 
 king; and "William AVhiting, father of the late Solicitor of the Treasury, 
 was priest; and Dr. Ivii^ley was a high dignitary of the order. —W. S. R. 
 in 1863. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 15 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 YOUTH. 
 
 [183T-1842.] 
 
 " A boy's will is the wind's will ; 
 
 And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 In 1837, Concord had not begun to be the centre of thought 
 that it is since supposed to have become. Mr. Emerson, fresh 
 from his abandoned pulpit in Boston, did not come to live 
 there till 1834, though he had made long visits previously at 
 the "old manse" of his grandfather. Dr. Ripley; and the 
 choice spirits who subsequentl}' gathered around him had not 
 yet found their master and teacher. Dr. Ripley was still 
 preaching in 1837 ; and 3'oung Robinson, who does not seem 
 to have inherited his grandfather's opinion of this clerg}^- 
 man's sermons, was, unlike some of the other youngsters,^ 
 an attentive listener. Perhaps, however, he had not 
 begun to reflect whether it "did him any good," or not. 
 About this time, Universalism began to be preached in 
 
 1 I remember that when the legislature of 1859 revised the statutes, 
 when the House came to the chapter relating to towns and town-offi- 
 cers, somebody moved to strike out the word "tithingman." There 
 ■was a laugh, and out went the word; and, wherever the tithingman 
 appeared elsewliere in the code, he was ousted without remonstrance. 
 Tliat was the official end of John Le Gross, the old fellow who used to 
 sit in the gallery of Concord meeting-house in the days of my boyhood, 
 and terrify the youngsters into an appearance of listening to Dr. 
 Ripley's sermons, — an end of him, his administrators and assigns. No 
 tithingman has exercised authority in Massachusetts since that fatal 
 innovation by the legislature of 1859. — W. S. R. in 1868. 
 
16 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Concord ; and he was taught to have great respect for John 
 Murra}' (the founder) and Walter Balfour. " I have heard 
 one of m}' relatives tell how the children in her family used 
 to get behind the door, and whisper among themselves, 
 ' Father has been over to hear Murray- preach ; ' the event 
 being one not to be talked about, except very privateh-." ^ 
 Universalism was thought to be as bad as atheism in those 
 days. His father's famil}- began to take "The Trumpet" 
 as soon as it appeared ; and, listening to its alarm, they very 
 soon went wholly over to Universalism. 
 
 In one of his early letters he writes to his sister, "TVe 
 had a little celebration here (Jul}- 4) of our own, in a quiet 
 wa}'. The people of the town assembled at the Monument ; 
 and we had two prayers, an address b^- Squire Hoar, and 
 an original hymn to the tune of ' Old Hundred,' sung by 
 the assembled multitude, the words by Rev. Mr. Emerson." 
 He also writes that he ' ' went to two funerals in one da}-, 
 having nothing else to do, and heard sermons bj- Dr. Ripley 
 and Rev. Mr. Emerson. Quite an interesting time, I assure 
 you." It would seem b}' this that Mr. Emerson had not then 
 escaped the " Rev." prefix to his name, though at that time 
 he must have been meditating that immortal address which he 
 delivered (Juh' 15, 18o-S) before the senior class in the Divin- 
 ity School at Cambridge. Mr. Robinson said of this address, 
 that it was "impossible to estimate the incalculable effect 
 it had had upon the minds of the young men of his time." 
 " The Dial " was set up in 1840. Mr. Robinson was a con- 
 stant reader of this magazine (which he carefull}- bound and 
 preserved) ; and through it he became acquainted with the 
 writings of Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Tlieodore Parker, and 
 the rest of that scliool of transcendentalists who did so much 
 to modif)' the austerity of New-England Puritanism. And 
 he agreed thus far with his friend Bishop Haven, who said 
 (in 1872) that it was "of no use to fight Rcuan and that 
 class of infidel writers ; for Emerson and his school were the 
 
 1 "W. S. B. in 1870. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 17 
 
 arcli-unbelievers who were silently undermining the churches 
 right in their midst, while people of his [Haren's] sort were 
 firing far away into the enemy's country." Emerson's first 
 book was printed in 1836 : and from that time the sermons 
 of Dr. Eiple}' and the discoveries of Universalism, founded 
 as the belief is on the meaning or ' ' mild no meaning ' ' of 
 one word {Aion), had less influence over the mind of the 
 thoughtful youth ; for ever after ' ' no dogmas nailed his 
 faith," and he became a reverent foUoAver of the new teacher, 
 who had said that "faith makes us, and not we it ; and faith 
 makes its own forms." 
 
 In September, 1837, having learned his trade, the young 
 printer went to Dedham to work at the case for two dollars 
 a week, for his brother, E. G. Robinson, in the office of 
 "The Norfolk Advertiser."^ This brother, Avhom he loved 
 so well, and whom he so much resembled mentally, had a 
 great influence over him, and guided him in his reading, and 
 in his first eff'orts towards editorial writing. He was an elder 
 brother, a rare humorist, and knew the value of a laugh, say- 
 ing that it was "worth a hundred groans in any market." 
 His witty sayings and stories are still remembered b}^ the 
 men over whom, through his paper, he exerted a wide influ- 
 ence. "The Advertiser" was a strong temperance paper, 
 and welcomed to its columns articles on that and other moral 
 questions, written by young people who have since tried 
 their wings (quills) over higher and broader fields. Among 
 them were C. C. Hazewell, George H. Monroe, F. W. Bird, 
 Seth "Webb, jun., and S. B. Noyes. The j'oung printer 
 soon began to find his pen ; and in June, 1838, his first long 
 article appeared, — a sketch called " The Miseries of a Near- 
 sighted Man." In November, he writes to his sister that 
 he is " brimful of politics ; had communications in last 
 week's paper. "We have beaten the Locofocos handsomely. 
 Go to singing-school, and think I shall be a tremendous 
 fellow on the bass." 
 
 1 Name changed in 1839 to Democrat. 
 
18 • MEMOIR OF 
 
 Mr. F. W. Bird was a friend of Mr. E. G. Robinson, and 
 frequently sent articles to the paper, which the 3'oung printer: 
 helped set up. It was considered b}- him "good training 
 in the hieroglyphic line." " My brother also brought in, 
 one day, Buckingham's ' New-England Magazine,' and gave 
 me Hawthorne's 'Rill from the Town Pump' for copy." 
 But the sh^^ j'outh of small stature, looking 3-ounger than 
 he reall}- was, did not attract the attention of the man, who, 
 ten jears later, was to become his friend and co-worker. 
 An old Dedham friend, who remembers Mr. Robinson at 
 this time, describes him as a "fresh, red-cheeked, prepos- 
 sessing j-outh, with a taste for books, and a capacity for the 
 debating-society;" and adds, " There was a debate in the 
 schoolhouse on the question, ' "Was Bonaparte a Benefit to 
 Mankind?' Young Robinson took the affirmative, and 
 argued it with a clearness that quite impressed my boyish 
 mind. He used to observe keenly in those daj^s, and gave 
 me once a graphic description of the impression made on 
 his mind b}' a Dedham town-meeting. He was shy and 
 studious, fond of fun when he did speak, but more fond of 
 poring over his books in the chimney-corner than of seeking 
 the company of the 3'oung people of the town." 
 
 He returned to Concord in January, 1839, and was urged 
 to take "The Yeoman's Gazette," a Whig paper devoted 
 to "anti-Masonry, ant i-Van-Buren, anti-Locofoco," and to 
 the " dissemination of Whig principles." In the paper of 
 Jan. 19 the following notice appears : — 
 
 " The connection of Mr. Scales with ' The Yeoman's Gazette ' hav- 
 hig ceased, it will in fiitnre be conducted by W. S. Robinson." 
 
 Edward Everett was governor at that time ; and in the 
 first number we find his annual address. The j'oung editor's 
 first article is on the election of Nathan Brooks (an abolition 
 Whig) to Congress, against William Parmenter, the Loco- 
 foco candidate ; and is as follows : — 
 
 '* To the Wliifj Abolitionists of District No. 4: — 
 
 "The real question which you are called upon to decide is this: 
 Will Mr. Brooks truly and faithfully represent your views on the 
 
"WARRINGTON." 19 
 
 subject of slavery ? Will he act and vote as you wish ? Do you in 
 all sincerity and fairness believe that he is the friend of justice, 
 liberty, and equal rights ; that he is an enemy to slavery, and in favor 
 of its immediate abolition? The times are critical. Bad men are in 
 office, and desperately struggling, by intrigue and corrui^t practices, 
 to retain misused powers. The rule adopted by the great and 
 venerable Thomas Jefferson, on placing none but ' honest and ca- 
 pable ' men in office, seems to be laid aside and disregarded; and the 
 consequence is, the people are i^illaged and wronged. Millions and 
 millions of dollars, wrung from the hwje'paw of industry, have been 
 embezzled and wasted, within a few years, by executive officers. 
 And who is responsible for these frauds upon the people? We 
 answer, ' The administration from whom they receive the appoint- 
 ment.' And will not the people, who have the remedy in their own 
 hands, redress their own wrongs, and right themselves through the 
 ballot-box? To the polls, then ! and, regardless of minor differences 
 and small sacrifices, strike for liberty, rebuke corruption, thrust all 
 unfaithful servants into outer darkness, and raise honest men to 
 places of honor and trust." 
 
 "The Gazette" gave due prominence to John Quincy 
 Adams's "letter to his constituents," warning them of the 
 encroachments of the slave-power in Congress. Middlesex 
 County, in 1840, was a stronghold of abolition principles ; 
 and Concord, then a more important town politically than 
 now, played a great part in the beginning of the political 
 abolition movement. 
 
 In answer to a call for tlie Baltimore Convention, Con- 
 cord responded by sending ten "Whig young men" as 
 delegates ; and William S. Robinson's name headed the 
 list. Massachusetts sent twelve hundred delegates to this 
 convention, a hundred and ninety -four of whom were from 
 Middlesex County. They were addressed b^' Cla}-, Webster, 
 and other great men of the day ; and the first Whig Presi- 
 dent, William H. Harrison, was nominated. Many of us 
 can remember the exciting events of this campaign, — the 
 torchlight processions (a new excitement then) , log-cabins 
 on wheels, barrels of hard cider, and songs of " Tippecanoe 
 and Tyler too." Even the Avomen took part: the}' named 
 their sun-bonnets "log-cabins," and set their tea-cups at 
 supper and breakfast in little glass plates with log-cabins 
 
20 MEMOIR OF 
 
 impressed on the bottom.^ In July, 1840, there was a 
 "Harrison barbecue" at Concord, at which sixt3'-throe' 
 hundred men were comfortabl}- seated in a tent at dinner. 
 Elihu Burritt was invited to participate in these festivities, 
 and sent his regrets to Hon. Samuel Iloar, saying in his 
 letter, " As Concord spoke Jirst in the cause of American 
 libert}', I hope her voice will be loudest in the cause of 
 REFORM on the morrow. The enemies of our country will 
 hear on that day, I think, a voice from New England that 
 will be a dreadful sound in their ears." " This campaign," 
 saj's Mr. William Schouler, a contemporar}', "inaugurated 
 in New England the Western custom of stump-speaking, 
 which, however, is only an old English custom ; and a 
 number of 3'oung men of ^Middlesex Count}' then emerged 
 from political obscurit}' into prominence. Among them, on 
 the Democratic side, were N. P. Banks, George S. Boutwell, 
 Josiah G. Abbott, and Benjamin F.Butler; and, on the 
 Whig side, Henry Wilson, E. 11. Hoar, Albert H. Nelson, 
 Charles R. Train, and William S. Robinson." 
 
 " The Yeom.an's Gazette" had been for years without an 
 editor, and was good for notliing when Mr. Robinson took it. 
 The advertising and job-work paid the expense of running 
 the office. In July, 1840, it was made over to the new editor 
 by some of the young Whigs, who were determined to have a 
 good organ. In a paper preserved b}' Mr. Robinson, dated 
 July 15, 1840, 1 lind that "all right to the property and 
 appurtenances of ' Tiie Yeoman's Gazette ' is hereb}- relin- 
 quished to William S. Robinson bj' Daniel Shattuck, Nathan 
 Brooks, and others." Its name was changed to " Repub- 
 lican ; " and its prospectus declared it to be "devoted, as 
 its name imports, to the support of sound republican j^rinci' 
 pies, to the diffusion of trutlis, to the exposure of abuses, to 
 the fair and candid discussion of public measures and public 
 men." It became at once one of the handsomest and most 
 spirited Whig papers in the State. 
 
 1 Human nature is the same now that it was in 1840, when wo 
 shouted ourselves hoarse for Harrison, and decorated log-cabins, aud 
 rolled big balls througli the streets. — W. S. R. in 1872. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 21 
 
 The young editor, though "brimful of politics," did not 
 forget the literar}^ part of the paper ; and we find in it some 
 of Emerson's early poems, and Hawthorne's stories as they 
 came out. Mr. Robinson was one of the first to discover 
 and appreciate Hawthorne's genius.^ Eliza Cook, author of 
 "The Old Arm-Chair, " and other writers not so widely 
 known, were also copied from. A notice of the first vol- 
 ume of Emerson's Essays (advertised in "The London 
 Examiner" as "Essays of R. W. Emerson of Concord, 
 Mass., with a Preface by Thomas Cavlyle ") appeared in 
 "The Republican" in 1841. 
 
 We find also in the paper, that, in the year 1839, John 
 Thoreau (brother of Henry) kept the Concord Academ}" ; 
 and he "was assisted by Henry D. Thoreau, the present 
 instructor." 
 
 In an article on the "Excitement of Composition" in a 
 countr}' newspaper, the editor relates his own experience in 
 that vocation : — 
 
 " The editor of the selfsame hebdomadal you are now perusing has 
 plenty of the ' excitement of composition,' as Amos Kendall calls it. 
 First there is the ' composition ' of paragraphs, which, when printed, 
 are to have the semblance of editorial; and then the 'composition' 
 of the type, which conveys to the distinguished though not numer- 
 ous readers of 'The Republican' the brilliant thoughts which the 
 joint labors of the scissors and pen have produced. This pleasurable 
 'excitement' is occasionally varied with intervals of labor at the 
 'devil's tail,' with now and then a delightful episode, such as trim- 
 ming the lamps, sweeping out the office, writing and reading dunning 
 letters, &c. Now, is it wonderful that a paper conducted in such 
 style should be less interesting, original, and spirited than those car- 
 ried on by men in more prosperous circumstances ? — Vide our neigh- 
 bor of 'The Freeman.' He keeps a cow, and has 'hay to give her,' 
 ay, and sugar-beets in plenty. lie keeps a horse also, and a hand- 
 some chaise (he will jiardon us for going thus into detail: we do it 
 merely to illustrate our subject), and a pig, we believe, a man-servant 
 and maid-servant, and an ox — But we won't be personal : we com- 
 
 1 In 1842 he writes in the Lowell Journal, "Concord is becoming 
 more literary every year. Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the most 
 delightful American writers, is about to take up his residence in the 
 mansion-house so long occupied by the late Dr. Eipley." 
 
22 MEMOIR OF 
 
 menced this article with a doteruiination to use no denunciatoiy epi- 
 thets towards our neighbor, and we will stick to it. But to proceed: i 
 there sits he all day in his arm-chair, before him a tabic covered with 
 the choicest Locofoco literature, in his right hand the scissors, and 
 in the inkstand a ' fresh-nibbed patent pen,' Ever and anon, as a 
 thought comes into his head, he commits it to paper in that language 
 of beauty and power which so delights the universal Locofoco party 
 of 3Iiddlesex County. lie knows little, and cares less, about the 
 'drudgery of the printing-oflSce.' He is, in fact, * monarch of all he 
 surveys.' The axe of the postmaster-general did not terrify him; 
 and if five hundred of his subscribers should cry, ' Stop my paper I ' 
 he would have an abundance left. 
 
 "Keader, you see our relative situations. He flourishes 'like a 
 green bay-tree.' We must leave off this scribbling, and go to sticking 
 type, or 'The Republican ' won't be out to-day." 
 
 " The Republican " did not receive that support which one 
 of the most spirited papers in the State had a riglit to expect 
 from the determined "Whig young men ; and the young editor 
 soon found (as his brother in Dedliam had said of a similar 
 experience) that " writing for glory, and printing for fun," 
 was not just the thing for a poor fellow ; and that "parties 
 all expected editors to work for nothing, and find them- 
 selves." As Mr. Robinson said later in life, it had turned 
 out that he had printed the paper principally for tlie benefit 
 of local politicians, certainly not for his own. In December, 
 1841, he sold "The Republican" to William Schouler of 
 West Cambridge for not half enough to pa^' its debts, losing 
 all his years of labor ; and wrote his 
 
 LAST WORDS. 
 
 " We came here with less than a dollar of ready money, and we leave 
 in a predicament astonishingly similar. We have no expressions of 
 gratitude for favors received, and we feel under no oljligations to any 
 man in Concord; for we have given them an equivalent for all the 
 money they have paid us. We will say one thing for old Concord : it 
 is the best town in the world. There is nothing like it in this coun- 
 try — or any other. For pretty girls and right good follows, for noblo 
 men and good women, for wits, wags, and wonders of every kind, it 
 is the first. Who says it is not never lived here. 
 
 " To our readers we wish every blessing. May thoy have full purse? 
 and contented hearts! — not so contented that they will not make an 
 
"WAItBINGTON." 23 
 
 effort to better their condition, and free themselves from the preju- 
 dices and bigotry of the age ; but so contented that they may not be 
 always grumbling with their lot, and finding fault with the Disposer 
 of it. To our neighbor over the way we say, ' Good luck to him in 
 every thing but his Locofocoism.' He is not half so bad a fellow as 
 we have represented him to be. To all our friends and enemies (if 
 we have any) we bid a cordial and affectionate farewell." 
 
 Among Mr. Robinson's 3'oung companions and correspond- 
 ents was George H. Derby (" Jolni Plioenix ") , wlio bad lived 
 in Concord. Wbetber tbej' were scboolmates or not I bave 
 been unable to discover. Tbe bandvvriting of Mr. Derby is 
 almost a facsimile of Mr. Robinson's at tbe same date. He is 
 remembered in Concord as a wild, barum-scarum lad, full of 
 fun and jokes ; and droll stories of bis pranks are still related. 
 He was clerk in a countr}' store, and, in tbe absence of bis 
 employer, would stretcb bis ' ' laz}- lengtb ' ' along tbe coun- 
 ter. If a customer came in, — perbaps a little girl for a pint 
 of molasses, — be would sa}', " Go awaj^ ! we don't keep it." 
 Tbe post-office was kept in tbe same store ; and once, wben a 
 boy came for letters, be was told, " No : tbere aren't any for 
 j-ou, and tbere never luill be. You needn't come again." 
 He would often draw on tbe letters a picture of a man witb 
 a trumpet, blowing tbe superscription out of bis moutb. 
 Mr. Derby was educated at West Point, and afterwards 
 stationed in tbe Soutb, wbere be married a'Soutbern lady 
 wbo beld slaves. He died in 1861.^ " He was one of tbe first, 
 if not tbe best, of tbe modern American bumorists." ^ Tbe 
 following is a cbaracteristic letter written by bim to Mr. 
 Robinson wbile at West Point : — 
 
 U. S. BIiLiTARY Academy, Feb: 17, 1844. 
 
 From Derby !!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ! 
 
 Last March, Lieut. Brunton brought me his album, with a request, 
 a very polite request, that I would draw a picture in it. I liked Lieut. 
 Brunton very much. I loved drawing excessively. I thanked him 
 for the compliment he paid my poor talent, and took the book with 
 pleasure. I was lazy. I delayed for three weeks drawing in Lieut. 
 Brunton' s album. He asked me one day how I was coming on. I 
 
 1 Captain U. S. Topographical Engineers. 2 \f^ s_ jj, i^ 1871. 
 
24 MEMOIR OF 
 
 replied, " Grandly," and went to my room and sketched an outline in 
 his book. But it had become a task. I drew every day, on scraps of 
 paper, tilings good enough to figure in the album : but I couldn't draw 
 in that; itwasatask. Lieut. Brunton left in June. He sent to me for 
 his book ; I sent it to liim : there was nothing in it ; for I rubbed out the 
 outline. And thus I lost as good a friend as I had in the corps. Now, 
 in my conduct, old fellow, don't you see yourself? The first two or 
 three letters were pleasant; you liked it: but it became troublesome, 
 — this writing once a month. My poor letter arrived ; it was a bore 
 to answer it; you put it off from day to day: and I am perfectly 
 confident, if I had answered your last, you would have done the 
 same thing again; for I believe you are something like myself in 
 many respects, and I can enter into your feelings sometimes. Now, 
 one letter a year is a different matter. I know you will answer this; 
 and I shall reply. I suppose then you will gradually procrastinate, 
 until, in two or three months, I will rush into your sanctum, and pull 
 your ears for not writing. Why, if I was not going to the old Bay 
 State in four months, do you think I should write now, to be again 
 neglected? Fiddle! Not I! I like you. Hob, much ; I think about 
 you a good deal: there's something nice, too, about having a friend 
 whom you love, and imagine all sorts of things about, without know- 
 ing exactly how he looks. I felt a — a kind of a twitch, a sort of a 
 pull, a kind of a "do write, Derby," tug from my heart, when your 
 letter by the " Plebe " arrived ; but I said to it, " Hold your tongue, you 
 fool!" and put the letter in the bottom of my trunk, where I couldn't 
 see it; and, whenever I thought of you, I would whistle some particu- 
 larly lively air in a peculiarly piercing style, and think, " It's best as it 
 is." So now you see. Every thing goes on so so: I've risen two files 
 since June in my class, and am fourth. I'm a corporal of the " color- 
 guard," and expect to be first oiderly-sergeant in June. Thus much 
 on my own trumpet. Your affectionate friend, 
 
 Geo. H. Derby. 
 
 P. S. — How is that sneak of a since I drubbed his soul's 
 
 lean cottage ? 
 
'WARRINGTON." 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 MANHOOD. 
 
 [1842-1818.] 
 
 " The wise man who lives a virtuous life, gentle and prudent, lowly and teach- 
 able, — such a one shall be exalted. If he be resolute and diligent, unshaken in 
 misfortune, persevering and wise, — such a one shall be exalted. Benevolent, 
 friendly, gi'atef ui, liberal, a guide, instructor and trainer of men, — such a one shall 
 attain honor." — Buddila. 
 
 In 1842, about the time Mr. Schoiiler bought "The Re- 
 publican, " he also bought "The Lowell Courier and Jour- 
 nal;" and the two papers were consolidated, or what is, 
 perhaps, nearer the truth, the Lowell paper swallowed up its 
 weaker contemporaiy ; and Mr. Robinson went with his 
 friend and employer to the new and bus}^ factoiy-town of 
 Lowell, there to make his obscure pen a power to be felt all 
 over the State. Middlesex County was in 1842 very unsound 
 in its politics, the anti-Masonic coalition having demoralized 
 it six or eight 3'ears before ; and the Lowell paper did much 
 to bring it round to the Whig side. Mr. Schouler began 
 with some ideas that he could not fully cany out, — a Wash- 
 ington correspondence, for instance ; but the paper was a 
 veiy effective one. The Washington correspondent was the 
 assistant editor, who writes from that cit}- to his sister, 
 Jan. 17, as follows: — 
 
 "I am now at Mrs. Van Coble's, on 4^ Street. I pay six dollars a 
 week: the price at the hotel was two dollars a day. There are five 
 congressmen at the same place. I am writing this in the hall of the 
 House of Representatives, where I have got a seat, for the present, by- 
 the ill luck of Charles T. Torrey, who has been clapped in jail in 
 
26 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Maryland for being an abolitionist. I believe he went to take notes 
 at a slavery convention, and was found with abolition papers, and 
 arrested. I am sorry he is arrested, but am glad I got his seat," 
 
 To " The Journal " he writes (Jan. 18 and 28): — 
 
 *' I do not know what idea is commonly entertained of the House of 
 Kepresentatives of the United States; but he who has a very exalted 
 one is destined to be disappointed, .should he, even for one day, witness 
 its proceedings. Here are two hundred and fifty men, chosen from 
 among their fellows for their superior wisdom and worth, and com- 
 missioned to make the laws of the nation. Look at them as you 
 enter the chamber. There is nothing remarkable in their ajipearance. 
 Some of them are longer, some shorter, than their neighbors. Some 
 have more ' breadth of back and sesquipedality of belly ' than the aver- 
 age, and others are more attenuated ; but they do not look like better 
 or abler men than you will find in the State Ilouse in Boston, or in a 
 village town-meeting. You may expect decorum and order here, a 
 grave and dignified debate, an anxious desire to do right. But, alas! 
 all is confusion and turmoil. The speeches are filled with abuse and 
 blackguardism. Members are scattered all about the floor, talking, 
 whispering, laughing, or quarrelling: decency is unknown, and disor- 
 der is in the ascendant. Members rise with professions of jiatriotism 
 and love of country, and revile their opponents by the hour together. 
 They will talk beautifully and eloquently about their duty to their 
 constituents, their love for truth, and their hatred of ail chicanery; 
 but truth, honor, and their country, may go to the bugs if they stand 
 in the way of their party. As for ability in debate, I liave heard 
 better speaking and better argument in a country lyceum in Massa- 
 chusetts than most that I have heard here. I mean not to say that 
 there are not some men of great talent and exalted virtue here : I know 
 there are, and I am proud to think that the Bay State sends her share 
 of these. But, generally speaking, the character of the House is as I 
 have described it. . . . 
 
 " I hoar that the Uev. Charles T. Torrey, lately the editor of ' The 
 Free American ' at Boston, who has been in this city acting" as 
 reporter for several weeks past, has been arrested at Annapolis, in 
 Maryland, upon the charge of being an incejuliary abolitionist. I 
 have not learned the particulars ; but this is the way that I heard the 
 story. What his incendiary niovonients have been, I do not know. 
 Not only is the man who burns buildings an incendiary in the esti- 
 mation of some Southern people, but also he who dares to express his 
 belief that one man has no right to hold another man as property, 
 that slavery ought not to exist in free America, and that the respect- 
 ful petitions of citizens of the North sliould have a respectful hearing 
 
"WARRINGTON." 27 
 
 by the representatives of the Union. If Mr. Torrey lias done nothing 
 more incendiary than to express these sentiments (and I do not know 
 but he has), it is a burning shame that he sliould be imprisoned for it. 
 We shall soon hear of the indictment and incarceration of the Inde- 
 pendence Bell at Philadelphia, which proclaims liberty to the world 
 and all its inhabitants. 
 
 " Some gentlemen from Pennsylvania had petitions upon the sub- 
 ject of the abolition of slavery. Some of these came under the rule of 
 the House, and some did not. Those that did, of course, were laid 
 upon the table instanter; and the others were promptly laid there by 
 vote of the House, upon motion of some one of the Southern mem- 
 bers, generally Mr. Wise, who evidently wishes to be thought the 
 champion of slavery upon the floor. Some of the abolitionists are 
 very adroit in wording these petitions so that they may escape the 
 working of the Twenty-first Rule. Citizens of Bucks County, Penn., 
 petitioned that Congress would look into and investigate the Isiws of 
 the States and Territories, and see if there was in them any thing 
 conflicting with the truths of the Declaration of Independence, or 
 the divine injunction that we should do to others as we would have 
 others do to us. (I have not the precise words of the petition; but 
 this is the substance. ) But Southern members and Northern Loco- 
 foco machines seemed to think that it was no business of Congi'ess if 
 some of the States did defy the law of God and the truths of the 
 Declaration ; and so they voted to lay the i^etition upon the table. 
 True State-rights men, these ! 
 
 "Last sabbath I went to the Capitol to hear the Rev. John New- 
 land Mafiit, the famous Methodist clergyman, who has been recently 
 elected chaplain of Congress. The large hall of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives was crowded. The text was in the following words : ' For 
 my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, 
 saith the Lord. For as the lieavens are higher than the earth, so 
 are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your 
 thoughts.' I am at a loss to account for the popularity of Mr. MafSt. 
 I was not pleased with his sermon. It consisted mostly of illustra- 
 tions of the fact that there were often little causes for great effects ; 
 
 that 
 
 ' God moves in a mj-sterious way 
 His vvouders to perform.' 
 
 His illustrations of this he drew from every thing in nature and his- 
 tory. He spoke of the discovery, settlement, and independence of the 
 nation, of the reformations, of the mission of Christ and his apostles, 
 of the invention of printing and the steam-engine, of the origin of 
 Bible societies and sabbath schools, of the great men in history, — 
 all illustrating his truth. He piled figure upon figure, and metaphor 
 
28 ilEMOIIi OF 
 
 upon metaphor, until I was sick of it. His oratory was extremely 
 flowery. He recited some parts of his sermon as j'ou have heaid 
 rantin^; actors spout Shakspeare. The spouting of the reverend pro- 
 fessor may have heen hetter; hut the speech was infinitely worse. 
 Mr. Maffit may be a very sincere man; hut his sermon gives no evi- 
 dence of it." 
 
 The "Washington correspondence was soon discontinued ; 
 and Mr. Robinson returned to Lowell to write for Clay and 
 the unit}' of the Whigs. At the Middlesex-County Conven- 
 tion, " AVhig principles " were indorsed in resolutions; but 
 nothing was said against slaver}-. At an antislavery con- 
 vention held in Lowell in April, 1843, Mr. Garrison called 
 upon the Northern Church to come out from its Southern 
 brethren, who upheld slaver}-, and " shake the dust from its 
 feet, and declare itself free from pollution." In a report of 
 this convention, Mr. Robinson dissented from Mr. Garrison, 
 and wrote one of his first antislavery political articles. 
 Then he thoroughly believed in the Whig party, and 
 thought it was able and willing to abolish slavery. " Re- 
 form within the party" was his creed; and when, in 18-43, 
 the Liberty party appeared, he warned the "Whigs against it 
 as a " man-trap political party." "The Whigs," he said, 
 " have gone uniformly for the slave ; and theirs is the only 
 party which goes to work constitutionally and practically to 
 bring about good results." 
 
 In 1843 William Schouler published "The Lowell Offer- 
 ing," a magazine written for and conducted by factovy-girls. 
 Mr. Robinson was much interested in this enterprise, and 
 was a frequenter of the Improvement Circle (a monthly 
 meeting of the contributors to "The Offering") during the 
 years of its publication. This magazine was first published 
 in 1840, and was continued at intervals until 1846. Har- 
 riet Farley and Harriot Curtis (the author of two novels) 
 were its editors ; and Lucy Larcom and her sisters, Mar- 
 garet Foley the sculptor, and others not so widely known, 
 were among its contributors. When Dickens visited this 
 country in 1842, he went tlu'ough the Lowell Mills, and a 
 
''WARRINGTON." 29 
 
 copy of " The Offering" was presented to him. He wrote 
 of it as follows : — 
 
 "They have got up among themselves a periodical called ' Tho 
 Lowell Offering,' whereof I brought away from Lowell four hun- 
 dred good solid pages, which I have read from beginning to end. 
 Of the merits of ' The Lowell Offering ' as a literary production I 
 will only observe, — putting out of sight the fact of the articles 
 having been written by these girls after the arduous hours of the day, 
 — that it will compare advantageously with a great many English 
 annuals." 
 
 Selections from " The Offering" were printed in England 
 under the auspices of Harriet Martineau, who was ■very 
 much interested iu its publication. Tlie volume was called 
 " Mind among the Spindles." 
 
 In 1845 came the annexation of Texas, called by anti- 
 slavery people ' ' the Texas iniquitj' ; ' ' and Mr. Robinson 
 came out with what he afterwards called a "slashing and 
 crushing editorial ' ' against this crowning wickedness of the 
 slave-power, and so committed his first act of insubordina- 
 tion to the "Whig part}'.^ An anti-Texas convention was 
 held in Concord, Sept. 22, 1845, at which Dr. Elisha Hun- 
 tington of Lowell presided. Stephen C. Phillips, Henry 
 Wilson, E. R. Hoar, "W". H. Channing, and William Llo3-d 
 Garrison, spoke ; and strong autislavery resolutions were 
 passed. The same month, Mr. Robinson went to Man- 
 chester, N.H., to edit "The American" (a Whig paper), 
 along with John H. Warland, and " to write for Jack Hale, 
 and rescue the State from the Locofocos." March 16, 
 1846, ?ie writes that the Locofocos are beaten handsomely; 
 and says further, that lie thinks the Whigs had better employ 
 
 1 In 1833, when South Carolina threatened to nulhfy on account 
 of the tariff, Mr. Nathan Appleton was the stiffest man we had at the 
 Nortli, except old John Quincy Adams; but when Texas annexation 
 came, in 1845, he, with Mr. Lawrence, caved in at the summons; and 
 cotton paralyzed a ver3^ i^romising auti-Texas movement, in which ]\Ir. 
 Webster himself sympathized. I believe my first act of msubordina- 
 tion against the "Whig leaders was an article in the Lowell Courier 
 against the manifesto of Appleton and Lawrence. — "W. S. R. in 18G8. 
 
30 MEMOIR OF 
 
 him to go about reforming the politics of Locofoco States. 
 John P. Halo was soon after elected to the United States 
 Senate. In April Mr. Kobinson returned to "The Lowell 
 Courier," where he is described bj- a friend as " sitting on a 
 damaged three-logged stool, pegging awa}- intensely at some 
 (no doubt) crusher, which he hadn't finished when we left." 
 
 As the result of the annexation of Texas, the war with 
 Mexico was declared in May, 184G ; ^ and this aroused at 
 once to action men of all political parties at the North, and 
 changed thoir minds as to their duties towards slaver^'. At 
 a Whig convention hold in Faneuil Ilall Sept. 23, 1846, 
 Stephen C. Phillips, Charles Allen, and Charles Sumner, 
 proclaimed the divorce between Conscience and Cotton. Mr. 
 Robinson was a secretar}- of this convention, and, in his 
 report for "The Courier," mentions Mr. Sumner's speech 
 as thoroughly antislavery, to the full doctrine of which he 
 desired the Whigs of Massachusetts to pledge themselves. 
 Mr. Phillips offered some minority resolutions. Daniel 
 Webster was brought in to talk them down ; and few people 
 who were present on that occasion will ever forget the scene. 
 After this, the breach in the Whig part}- grew wider and 
 wider, and finall}- led to the formation of the Free-Soil party 
 in 1848. 
 
 In October, 184G, Mr. Robinson, for the first time, ventures 
 to point out to Mr. Sumner his political duty, in an editorial 
 in " The Courier." 
 
 '"I am no politician.' So says Charles Sumner, Esq., in a letter 
 addressed to lion. Kobert C. Winthrop, and published in ' T^ie Bos- 
 ton Daily Whig.' This letter is upon the subject of the Mexican 
 war and Mr. Winthrop's vote for the War Bill. We are not going 
 to remark upon these subjects now, but mean to say a word or two 
 concerning the position of men who are * no politicians.' Mr. Sum- 
 
 1 In 1847 the American Peace Society offered a prize for the best 
 review of the war with Mexico. The New- York Gazette offered the 
 foUowing:- chapter I. 
 
 ON THE ORIGIN OF THE WAR — TEXAS. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 ON THE RESULT OF THK WAR — TAXES. 
 
"WAREIXGTON." 31 
 
 ner says he is one of this class : and we suppose lie is ; for we do not 
 remember to have known him in the political field until the present 
 year. Now, can he give any good reason for being 'no politician'? 
 Is he not violating his plainest duty in not taking a part, and an 
 active part, in the politics of the day ? He is a man of distinguished 
 ability, a good speaker, and a ready writer, capable of instructing 
 the people of the State upon matters of national policy. He appears 
 at a great crisis, as we all think, and seems to lament the decay of 
 public virtue, the lack of firmness and manliness in the public sen- 
 timent of the times; but what has he done to make that sentiment 
 what it ought to be ? Has he, year in and year out, through dark 
 and bright fortune, steadily fought the AVhig battle of the State and 
 Union against slavery and Locofocoism, which have just now plunged 
 the nation into an atrocious and wicked war ? Has his eloquent 
 voice been heard against the annexation of Texas, the grep,t wrong 
 at the beginning, without which we never would have had this war 
 on our hands and consciences ? If there was no necessity for effort 
 in ordinary years, did he in the dark days of 1839, when Locofocoism, 
 and its ally, liquor-selling, placed Marcus Morton in the chief execu- 
 tive seat, or in 1842, wlien Tyler's treason paralyzed the Whigs of 
 the Union, — did he in those perilous j'earo use his voice and pen 
 for the support of the Whig party? Not that we remember; and 
 we have a very distinct recollection of the events of those days, and 
 of the men who were true and active then. Mr. Sumner was true, 
 we dare say; but was he actii-e as he should have been? 
 
 "Now, we have a high respect for Mv. Sumner, particularly for his 
 efforts in the cause of peace and antislavery; and it was from no 
 lack of willingness, we are sure, that he has been backward in politi- 
 cal matters, but probably from habit, and an exclusive attention to 
 literature. But there are plenty of other men in the same condi- 
 tion, — 'no politicians,' — men who occasionally write for the hun- 
 dred, but never for the hundred thousand. This thing should be 
 remedied. Let not this class of men complain of the meanness of 
 politics, while they sit quietly in their offices, and do nothing to enno- 
 ble it; and let them not complain of bad measures until they have 
 done something besides vote against their adoption. For what, pray, 
 did they receive superior endowments, if not that they might give 
 the people the benefit of them ? We are glad that Mr. Sumner has 
 been brought into the field as a Whig speaker and writer, and hope 
 he will continue there in that capacity; and we wish him tlie higliest 
 success in arousing the people to a sense of the infamy of the present 
 war against Mexico." 
 
 In 1846 Mr. Schouler went to Europe, leaving Mr. Rob- 
 inson in full charge of " The Courier." He writes to his 
 
32 MEMOIR OF 
 
 sister at this time, deploring tliat Mr. Schouler does not 
 agree with liiin fully on the shiver}- question ; and that he 
 cannot say what he wants to, because he must not injure the 
 property while his employer is away. After Mr. Schouler 
 returned, he still had sole charge of the paper, and would 
 not leave the otBce for a daj-, for fear something would get 
 into it that he would not willingl}' be responsible for. 
 " The Courier," during Mr. Schouler's absence, had made 
 fame and capital for the proprietor ; and, as his name alone 
 appeared as editor, Mr. Schouler was supposed to be the 
 author of some strong articles on " Black and "White Slave- 
 r}'," "No More Slave Territor}-," &c., that caused him to 
 receive *an offer to go into "The Boston Atlas" in 1847. 
 "Writing to a friend about this matter, Mr. Robinson says, — 
 
 " Schouler tliinks he can take the world on liis shoulders. I should 
 not have thought that I could have taken it. He begins on ' The 
 Atlas' to-day; and I bear 'The Lowell Courier' on my shoulders. 
 (Sub rom) I (liink it was better than 'The Atlas' to-day. I don't 
 think that paper, for some years to come, will bear such strong anti- 
 slavery doses as I helped him put into * The Lowell Courier.' " 
 
 To the same friend, who remonstrated with him upon let- 
 ting others take the credit of what he did, he writes, — 
 
 " I lack the quality commonly and expressively called brass, assur- 
 ance, impudence, confidence, boldness, or — what you will. When- 
 ever I undertake to do a thing, I never fail to do it well ; but I lack 
 the confidence to think I am able to do it. How few people know, 
 for instance, that I am here writing for 'The Lowell Courier'! 
 Townspeople make me laugh almost every day or two (men I know 
 by sight) i)y coming in and asking me where the editor is. I tell 
 them I am editor pro tempore, I hoard of a man the other day, who 
 said, ' I thought the editors knew something; but they don't. I read 
 a first-rate piece about the war in "The Courier" the other day, and 
 supposed the editor wrote it; but, come to find out, John P. Robin- 
 son ^ wrote it.' Some one had told him that ' Robinson wrote it;' 
 and he knew of no other but John P. What is fame ? " 
 
 In recalling Mr. Robinson at this date, he is remembered 
 
 1 This was the celebrated 
 
 " John P. Robinson. He 
 Says they didn't know every thing down in Judee." 
 
"WARRINGTON." 33 
 
 as a modest, unassuming person, full of jokes and stories, 
 and of the most imperturbable good-nature. He was short 
 of stature, had a rosy complexion and blue eyes, aud was 
 a man most people would pass by unobserved. There are 
 people, who, by the mere arrogance of WxqSx personnel., their 
 bodily presence, delude yon into the fancy that 3'ou have 
 met a god. This sort of person is often disappointing : on 
 further acquaintance, the soul yow expected to find seems to 
 melt awa}', and your god turns out a thing of brass and clay. 
 There are others who do not impress you at first, but sur- 
 prise you continually with new developments of character. 
 They " open well : " they never disappoint you. Mr. Rob- 
 inson was of this sort. He did not impress strangers. His 
 unpretending manners deceived those who desired favors 
 from his pen. He listened deferentially and silently to all 
 that was said to him on such occasions, aud sometimes gave 
 the impression that he was convinced. The pen then became 
 his interpreter ; and the meaning of that was alwaj's under- 
 stood. He had a hatred of pretenders and shams. His w'as 
 a sunn}' philosoply^, that turned every thing over to find a 
 cheerful side. He was well satisfied with life as he found it. 
 Whatever sharp things he wrote, there w^as no sharpness in 
 him. Extracts from letters written in 1847 will illustrate 
 the sunny side of his nature. 
 
 " I have had little troubles, which I know would seem very great 
 ones to others (such as loss of years of labor) ; yet they never cost 
 me an hour of sleep, I laugh them off, and go on my way, growing 
 happier and happier every year, aud sneering more aud more at the 
 schoolboy-days the poets tell about. My motto is, — 
 
 ' Slerrily, merrily, jog along 
 The footpath and the stile-a. 
 A merry heart goes all the day : 
 A sad one tires in a mUe-a.' 
 
 Away with Goldsmith's nonsense about the ' loud laugh that speaks 
 the vacant mind 'I It is the truest wisdom to laugh. Who would 
 give up Hudibras, or Falstaff, or Dickens, or Tom Hood, for all the 
 wisdom of Lord Bacon, or the good bishops and philosophers innu- 
 merable who have vexed the world's ear with their religious and 
 scientific jargoning? Oh, give us those who make us laugh! — 
 * L' Allegro ' before ' II Peuseroso.' 
 
34 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ' Mirth, which ^vrinkled Care derides ; 
 Aiid Laughter, holding both his sides.' 
 
 1 pray you, do not let the ' blue-devils ' place their ugly claws upon 
 you. They will take the roses out of your cheeks, and place wrinkles 
 there instead. 
 
 " How many millions just such as we have suffered and lived and 
 died, and no one Icnows they ever more than lived! 'There lived a 
 man: ' this is the whole history. "Wliat will be your or my little sor- 
 rows a few years hence, when our fate will be to ' lie in cold obstruc- 
 tion, and to rot ' ? TVe shall be of no more consequence than the 
 generations which breed in the muck-heap, crawl for a moment, 
 and give place to new ones. We are ' such stuff as dreams are made 
 of.' What matters it what we do, or how we do it? 'Nightly we 
 pitch our moving tent;' and the grave is the end of all our toils. 
 Here we are in the world. We came into it naked, and go out with 
 only a suit of grave-clothes, for which we have quarrelled and lied 
 and stolen and murdered (it is possible), to see whether it shall be 
 finer or coarser. A last bed in the trench, as the soldier has, is just 
 as well as any other; or even the pauper's hasty burial. You speak 
 of having troubles in such a melancholy tone. ' Ever,' says Carlyle, 
 'ever there is a dark spot on our sunshine: it is the shadow of our- 
 selves.^ Who knows but your dark spot is the same, and not the 
 shadow of something else ? I cannot help thinking that you have 
 a tendency to melancholy and misanthropy, which must be a most 
 unhappy state of mind. Such a state of mind betokens more strength 
 than the opposite ; that is, those who are always suimy are so because 
 they are incapable of intense feeling. But still, if happiness is 'our 
 being's end and aim ' (which I don't, however, admit entirely), it 
 seems as if it was the highest ambition — to be as this man, in the 
 beautiful Arabic eulogy of Antar (quoted in one of Emerson's 
 lectures) : — 
 
 'Sunshine was he 
 Ii! the wintry d.iy; 
 And, in midsummer. 
 Coolness and shade.' " 
 
"WARRINGTON." 35 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 FEEE-SOIL EDITOR. 
 
 [184S-1852.] 
 
 "He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not 
 this to serve me ? saith the Lord." — Bible. 
 
 In 1848 the real antislavery figlit began. Zachaiy Taj^- 
 lor, a slaveholder, had been nominated by the Whig party 
 for President, with Millard Fillmore for Vice-President. 
 This action convinced the Conscience Whigs that they could 
 no longer trust its polic}' ; and they determined to break up 
 the party which had shown itself incompetent to deal with 
 the living question of the day. In June a convention of 
 Free-Soil Democrats was held in Utica, which nominated 
 Martin Van Buren as the presidential candidate of a new 
 party to represent the doctrine of undoing hostility to the 
 further extension of slaver}-. The movement spread ; and 
 Free-Soil meetings were held in diiferent States. J. R. 
 Giddiiigs came to New England from Oliio, and made 
 speeches wherever the people would listen to him. He spoke 
 in Lowell, in June, from the balcony of a house on John 
 Street, at an out-door meeting presided over by E. R. Hoar 
 and W. S. Robinson. At this time Mr. Robinson's pros- 
 pects were good. He was the editor of a leading paper ; 
 his debts were paid ; and he was expecting soon to be 
 married, and to make for himself a home in Lowell. But 
 for one thing, he would have gone forward in life without 
 meeting with those vicissitudes which it is the duty of his 
 biographer to record. 
 
86 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Says Socrates, ""WTierever a man's place is, — whether 
 the place which he has chosen, or that in which he has beeii 
 placed by a commander.^ — there he ought to remain in the 
 hour of danger." The freedom of the slave was as dear to 
 Mr. Robinson as to an}^ of those men and women who have 
 given their lives to that great cause. He believed, with manj' 
 others, that the true way to effect emancipation was by polit- 
 ical action, and that the time had come to organize a new 
 movement. He had refused to acquiesce in Taylor's nomina- 
 tion, and had written articles in " The Courier " to prove that 
 the Whig candidate was neither antislavery nor "Whig ; the 
 latter ground being tenable enough, but hardly sufficient of 
 itself, he said, to justify bolting. Lowell, at that time and 
 long after, was thoroughly- Whig, and devoted to the cotton 
 interest. All its manufactures depended on this product of 
 slave-labor, and its wealth was emplo3-ed in the support of 
 the "peculiar institution." Mr. Atkinson had bought Mr. 
 Schouler out in 1848, and Mr. Robinson still held the posi- 
 tion of editor of "The Courier." His editorials had been too 
 strong, and had gone too far, even for some of the Conscience 
 Whigs, one of whom wrote to him in May, 1848, — 
 
 " I read your leaders of Monday with great interest, but with some 
 degree of misgiving, and Wednesday with unqualified approbation. 
 The Webster article has a good deal in it that may be justified on the 
 ground that it is God^s truth ; but I was sorry you happened to say it 
 just now. The -truth is, we are trying to get up a Northern rally 
 against both Clay and Taylor, and, in their divided state, hope to 
 beat them, or have them beat each other." 
 
 Another Conscience AVhig wrote to tell him, that, if he 
 did not want to go in for the new candidate, he had better 
 keep dark till after election, for fear of losing his position. 
 His employers told him that he must write no more such 
 articles as he filled " The Courier " with, because the3' would 
 offend the Whig leaders. Two agents of the manufacturing 
 corporations called on him, and told him that he could keep 
 his position as editor of " The Courier," but that he must 
 saj' nothing against Taylor ; that ho could still work for the 
 Whig party, and let the " conscience " part of it alone. 
 
"warbijygton:" 37 
 
 Here is the key to Mr. Robinson's whole character, — never 
 to refrain from speaking "God's truth" at the right time, 
 and not to "keep dark till after election." This it was 
 which prcA^ented his life from calmly flowing 
 
 " Kound the cornfield and the hill of vines, 
 Honoring the holy bounds of property," — 
 
 thus keeping the dead level of undisturbed prosperity. 
 He left "The Lowell Courier" June 12, 1848, and en- 
 tered at once into the service and counsel of the wise lead- 
 ers and founders of the Free-Soil and Republican party. 
 He felt, as he expressed it, that he had done right, — his 
 duty ; that all would bo well ; and that he had earned an 
 additional title to the respect of all good men, Edward 
 L. Ke^-es of " The Roxbury Gazette," in speaking of this 
 matter, sa3's, — 
 
 " Mr, Kobinsou of ' The Lowell Courier ' is the first martyr to the 
 glorious cause of anti-Taylorism ; and in imitation of the heroic and 
 Christian virtues of his Puritan namesake, like Massachusetts, he 
 ' spurns the bribe.' He has turned himself adrift upon the world, 
 rather than renounce Whig principles, and give the lie to all his for- 
 mer professions, by descending to the Stygian depths of Taylorism. 
 The ability and energy of Mr. Robinson have given a high character 
 to 'The Lowell Courier,' the chief honor and profit of which have 
 been gathered by others. We thank him for the happiness we have 
 derived from his heroic and noble example. The people will do him 
 honor. We almost envy him the position he occupies. He can afford 
 to set against him a lifetime of penury." 
 
 John G. Whittier, who was an early Free-Soil editor and 
 leader, wrote in these words : — 
 
 Deab FeiEjND, — I heartily congratulate thee on thy emancipa- 
 tion from the Taylor party. Is it not time that a district-meeting 
 were called for the choice of delegates to the Buffalo Convention ? I 
 find Liberty men disposed to join heartily in the new movement, 
 provided they do not surrender thereby principles which Barnburners 
 and Conscience Whigs admit to be just and right. They will not 
 contend about men. The Buffalo Convention ought to take its ground 
 boldly and strongly ; the bolder, the better. Nothing is to be gained 
 now by compromise and evasions. The entire divorce of the gov- 
 ernment of the United States from slavery is the only consistent 
 platform of action. Cordially thy friend, 
 
 John G. Whittieb. 
 
38 MEMOIR OF 
 
 The Liberty partj- of Avhich Mr. Whittier speaks was an 
 abolition political part}-, that, unlike the Garrisoniaus, ; 
 believed in voting, as well as talking, against slavery. It 
 began, in 1839, b}- casting three hundred and seven votes, but 
 made a gradual increase, until it became merged in the Free- 
 Soil party and the Republican party ; its ideas finally getting 
 control of the countr}', and effecting emancipation in 1863. 
 At the Free-Soil Convention in Worcester, June 28, 1848, 
 of which Samuel Iloar of Concord was president, some of 
 the best men of Massachusetts assembled, and, in a remark- 
 able series of resolutions, committed themselves to the new 
 movement. One of these resolutions, beginning " Massachu- 
 setts spurns all bribes," is supposed to have been written 
 b}"^ Mr. Robinson, who was a secretai'y of the convention. 
 Mr. "Whittier, Mr. F. W. Bird, and others who have been 
 written to on the subject, have confirmed this supposition. 
 Mr. Robinson's first letter in " The Springfield Republican " 
 was also written from this convention ; but the ' ' "Warring- 
 ton " letters proper did not commence until 18oG, — eight years 
 later. At this same convention, Mr. Robinson and Mr. 
 Bowles (editor of "The Springfield Republican") met for 
 the first time, though not on the same political ground ; for, 
 in separating, Mr. Robinson regretted that they were to 
 part in politics just as the}' had met for the first time. 
 " But never mind," he added : "we shall get together again ; 
 clever fellows always do." And they did, seven j-ears after, 
 — in 1855. 
 
 "The Boston Daily "Whig" had been started by, or fell 
 into the hands of, the Conscience "Whigs, and was supported 
 hy tiiem at a great expense for a long period. Charles 
 Francis Adams was at one time its political editor, and, 
 during its whole existence, wrote very able articles for it. 
 Dr. J. G. Palfrey's remarkable series of articles on the 
 "Slave-Power" were printed in this paper. In Jul}-, 1848, 
 Mr. Robinson succeeded Mr. Adams as editor of "The 
 "Whig," and conducted it during the exciting Free-Soil 
 campaign of 1848. This was the heyday of party enthusi- 
 
"WARRINGTON." 39 
 
 asm, and subscribers poured in b}- tliousands. In August, 
 the paper was enlarged ; and its name was elianged to ' ' Re- 
 publican," because the name " Whig " had been appropriated 
 by the new Ta3'lor party, and it was found a serious injury 
 to a Free-Soil paper to retain a name which was claimed 
 by the supporters of Gen. Taylor. In " The Boston Repub- 
 lican," Mr. Robinson first developed his talent for writing 
 short spicy paragraphs and squibs. He turned this lance 
 against his opponents "The Post" (organ of Milk Street) 
 aud the " lying 'Atlas ' " (organ of State Street) . He beard- 
 ed these lions in their dens, and defied the cottonocracy, and 
 with untiring industry advocated the principles upon which his 
 party was founded. Henry Wilson and William S. Damrell 
 were the publishers of this paper at this time ; and the latter, 
 a little afraid of State and Milk Streets, on more than one 
 occasion altered Mr. Robinson's editorials after they were 
 sent to the printer. This coming to the notice of Mr. 
 Robinson, he threatened to have the type distributed if it 
 occurred again ; and he tells of this as an instance of his 
 firmness. No one in reading "The Republican" at that 
 date would suspect that publisher and editor were not in 
 sympathy, or that the editor was constantly annoyed 
 throughout the campaign b}' the efforts made to bridle his 
 pen, which expressed so honestly the convictions of the 
 part}' and of the men for whom he wrote. Thus the cam- 
 paign, as far as he was concerned, was fought, aud success- 
 fully won ; and, though none of the Free-Soil candidates 
 were elected, he felt that a stand had been made at once and 
 forever against the slave-power. 
 
 At the Buffalo Convention in August, composed of men 
 of all parties who believed in " free soil, free speech, and a 
 free world," Martin Van Buren was nominated for President, 
 and C. F. Adams for Vice-President. On the morning of 
 this convention, ten thousand people were assembled in the 
 park at Buffalo ; and at nine o'clock, the hour of the meet- 
 ing, the number present had swelled to fifteen or twenty 
 thousand. Prayer was off"ered by Samuel J. May of Syra- 
 
40 MEyiOIR OF 
 
 cuse. At the great Free-Soil ratification meeting held soon 
 after in Faneuil Hall, Charles Sumner reported an address 
 to the people of the State, embodying the ideas of the new 
 party. At this and other similar Free-Soil meetings, all 
 the great men of Massachusetts who were identified with 
 the Republican party at its inception appeared. There Mr. 
 Robinson first met many of these leaders who were to be his 
 intimate associates, and whose lifelong careers have made 
 the annals of that part}' illustrious. In looking over "The 
 Boston Daily Republican" at this time, it is not hard to 
 catch the spirit which moved those earnest men to take such 
 a bold stand for freedom ; and the heart burns, and the eye 
 fills, at reading their names. Most of them have gone to 
 their reward, after having accomplished the great object for 
 which thc}- so nobly wrought. We have no such names in 
 our politics to-daj- ; and a reform greater than that of 
 antislavcry, long waiting for just such leaders, looks in vain 
 to the "party of reform," because its counsels are ruled 
 b}' men, not principles, and its creed is personal government, 
 rather than a government of political ethics by and for the 
 whole people. 
 
 Mr. Robinson's marriage, which had been deferred for 
 some months b}'' the uncertainty of his position, took place 
 in Salem on Thanksgiving Daj-, Nov. 30, 1848. lie was 
 accused by a newspaper contemporary of having at once 
 "married a ladj'' and a farm." Nothing could be farther 
 from the truth than the latter part of this assertion ; for, 
 though of good New-England parentage, the wheel of her 
 family- fortune may be said, as in his case, to have reached 
 the lowest point in its descent. In speaking of this lady, 
 Mr. F. B. Sanborn, in his account of the silver wedding of 
 Mr. and Mrs. Robinson in 1873, saj's, — 
 
 " It was in Lowell that the young journalist met his chosen mate, 
 — one who, like himself, knew what it was to work and write. Miss 
 H. J. Hanson had been one of those Lowell factory-girls whom 
 Dickens saw and praised when he visited the city in 1842. She had 
 known Harriet Farley, and had contributed to her magazine, * The 
 Lowell Offering.' " 
 
"WARRINGTON." 41 
 
 Their acquaintance was begun in 1847, through the "per- 
 ishable cokimns of a dailj' paper ; " Miss Hanson having sent 
 to " The Courier" what in those daj^s was called " a piece 
 of poetry." This was followed by other pieces, accepted, as 
 the author was informed, "when good enough; for it will 
 not do to let the editor step aside to make way for the 
 friend." The acquaintance thus formed was followed by 
 a friendship which culminated in marriage. After his mar- 
 riage, Mr. Robinson continued on "The Boston Daily Repub- 
 lican" till February, 1849, when, the campaign-work of the 
 paper being over, he was informed in a letter from Mr. Wilson 
 that his salary would be cut down five dollars a week, and his 
 name as editor taken from ' ' The Republican." Mr. Wilson's 
 letter was in these words : — 
 
 W. S. RoBiNsoiir, Esq. 
 
 I>ear Sir, — Much complaint has been made to us about the paper 
 since the election, and a change would have been made early iu De- 
 cember; but I endeavored to keep you. But, two or three weeks ago, I 
 consented, on certain conditions, that a change should be made ; and 
 Mr. Smith, who edited "The Hartford Courant," was sent to and 
 engaged. He is here, and will go to work next Monday at twelve dol- 
 lars per week. I want to do the best I can for you, now the paper is 
 in my possession ; and I make you the following offer, which is the 
 best I can do : I will give you fifteen dollars per week-; and you can 
 change any time, if you think it not for your interest, by giving me a 
 few days' notice. You are to stand on an equality with Mr. Smith, — 
 neither to appear in the paper as editors, but both to do what you can 
 to make the paper what I want it to be. After a few days, I mean to 
 be in the office all or neai'ly all the time; and I intend to organize a 
 class of writers so as to make the paper what I want. I desire to 
 have the control of it, but do not intend at present to have the name 
 of any one as editor in it. I may engage Mr. J. G. Palfrey. Ko 
 announcement need be made about the change. Mr. Smith expected 
 to be the head in the office, but is satisfied with this arrangement. I 
 feel friendly to you, you may be assured ; but this is the best arrange- 
 ment I can make. Let me know what you can do about it. Our 
 expenses are many, and I don't know how we shall succeed: so I 
 must get the expenses as low as possible. Yours, 
 
 H. Wilson. 
 
 Chagrined at such unexpected treatment after his success- 
 
42 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ful campaign-work, and unwilling to be reduced in position 
 or to accede to Mr. Wilson's terms, he left "The Republi- 
 can ' ' at once, on the same day that he received the letter.^ 
 Many of the Free-Soil leaders (C. F. Adams and others) 
 regi'etted that he was dismissed so summarilj' ; and some 
 Lowell members of that part}', one of whom had said that 
 he had made " The Republican " one of the best newspapers 
 in the State, urged him to come to that city and start a 
 Free-Soil paper. J. G. Abbott, John W. Graves, and others, 
 at once raised a sinking-fund of five hundred dollars ; and 
 this sum, added to a few huudrcd dollars of his own, enabled 
 Mr. Robinson to complete his preparations for starting " The 
 Lowell American." During these preparations, the editor 
 of " The Republican," having found that reducing editorial 
 force does not raise the standard of a newspaper, made over- 
 tures for Mr. Robinson's return ; but, determined to say 
 what he thought to be right on the subject of slaver}-, he pre- 
 ferred to take his chance of a living in a paper of his own. 
 He was welcomed back to Lowell b}^ his old Taylor friends, 
 who thought him "such a good fellow," and who deplored 
 that he could not have gone for Taj'lor, and kept his good 
 position there in ' ' The Courier ; ' ' but the}^ confessed he had 
 a mind of his own. The first number of " The American " 
 came out May 28, 1849, with the following prospectus : — 
 
 " ' The American ' will be a political paper, advocating the princi- 
 ples, and supporting the organization, of the Fisee Democracy ^ of 
 the state and the nation. A paper is WltUi or Democratic when it 
 makes the principles and organization of the "VVliig or Democratic 
 party paramount to every other political situation. In this sense 
 'The American' will be a Fijee-Soil paper, inasmuch as it will make 
 
 1 In the early part of 1849, the Republican fell into Gen. Wilson's 
 hands, and the Emancipator became connected with it. Tlie general 
 became its editor. He can tinn liis hand to almost every thing, and, in 
 time, would liave become tolerably successful; but I do not think his 
 editorial career brought him mucli applause. Perhaps my opinion was 
 biassed by the fact that he did not retain mo as editor. — "NV. S. R. in 
 1873. 
 
 2 To please the dilTerent elements of the new Free-Soil movement, 
 the party was called the Free Democratic party. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 43 
 
 the question of freedom paramount in all political discussions and 
 action, — a question not to be postponed for four years, or one year, 
 but to be insisted upon at all times, and at every political hazard. 
 
 " The majority of the people, however, have not yet seen fit to 
 declare that the principles of freedom shall guide them in all their 
 political action. It will be a prominent object of ' The American ' to 
 persuade the people that they are not doing justice to three millions 
 of oppressed men in the Southern States, or to themselves as independ- 
 ent citizens of a free State, to allow the slave-power to continue its 
 rule, to perpetuate its foul system of oppression where it now exists, 
 to, extend that system into new Territories, to monopolize the honors 
 and offices of the country, and to wield its army and navy and diplo- 
 macy against the interests of freedom. We shall try to persuade the 
 people that it is high time the rule of the slave-i^ower was discon- 
 tinued, and that they had better take hold and do at once what has 
 got to be done sooner or later, so that they may have opportunity to 
 attend to other national affairs which cannot be satisfactorily settled 
 until slavery is disjiosed of." 
 
 There were in the State this year but twelve Free-Soil 
 Democratic papers; and "The American" was the last if 
 not the least of them.^ The name "American " was a favorite 
 one with Mr. Robinson, and was chosen (as he said in 1857) 
 ' ' long before it had been disgraced by connection with the 
 bad doctrines and disgusting practices of the Know-Nothings. 
 If it had lived to this da}^, instead of being taken from this 
 world of sin and sorrow in its youth, its name would have 
 been changed to avoid identification with the gang who soon 
 after called themselves 'Americans.' Alas! how little we 
 
 1 List of Free-Soil Democratic papers in Massachusetts in August, 
 1849, copied from the Lowell American: — 
 
 EDITOE. 
 
 Republican, Boston, Henry Wilson. 
 
 Spy, Worcester, J. M. Earle. 
 
 Sentinel, Springfield, George W. Myrick. 
 Republic, Greenfield, 
 
 Courier, Northampton. Henry S. Gear. 
 
 Freeman, Salem, G. L. Streeter. ' 
 
 Democrat, Taunton, . A. M. Ide. 
 
 Democrat, Dedham, E. G. Robinson. 
 
 Gazette, Roxbury, E. L. Keyes. 
 
 Reporter, North Bridgewater. George Phinney. 
 
 Messenger, Lawrence. G. L. Beckett. 
 
 American, Lowell, W. S. Robinson. 
 
44 MEMOIR OF 
 
 know, when we name newspapers or children, what occasion 
 there may be for making a change in their designation ! " 
 This paper lived (and died) three times a week ; and in it 
 Mr. Eobinson said exactly- what he believed and thought on 
 the gi-eat moral qnestions of the da^'. As he had no one 
 to please or defer to but himself, he was not deterred by the 
 " Stop m}- paper," and " Stop m}- advertisements," of timid 
 souls, who thought he sometimes went too far. The argu- 
 ments that " people must live," and " a man must not quar- 
 rel with his bread and butter," had no weight with him. To 
 do the thing he thought right, to say the words he knew 
 ought to be said, — this, for him, was to live; and, to such as 
 he, an}- other living " would be true dying." The selections 
 from "Tlie American" in the succeeding pages will show 
 the character of his writings during these j'ears. He treated 
 humorously the subjects of the da}-, and, in shaip and spicy 
 paragraphs, held up to ridicule old abuses and the men who 
 supported them. It was a model paper in beauty and purity. 
 The editor took high ground, and tried to bring the people 
 up to his standard. He published no advertisements demor- 
 alizing to the community or to the home. He would not 
 help men cr}- down their runaway wives, believing, that, in 
 nine cases out of ten, there was good reason for their flight. 
 He advocated the cause of woman's enfranchisement two 
 years before any legislative action whatever was taken upon 
 it in the country. Besides his antislavery teachings, he 
 advocated the secret-ballot law, so that the poor man could 
 vote unchallenged by his rich employer : he did not believe in 
 making voters of men, but in making men of voters. He 
 urged Charles Sumner's claim as a leader and representative 
 of the new party, and ventured then, as he did all through 
 his political connection with Mr. Sumner, to point out to 
 him what he thought to be the duty of a great leader of the 
 people. " The American " at once took rank as a leading 
 Free-Soil paper in Massachusetts, and helped, by its wise 
 management, to bring the rising party into power. 
 
 C. C. Hazcwell, speaking of "The American" in 1875, 
 
"WARRINGTON." 45 
 
 says, "Its literary character was high; for Mr. Robinson 
 was a wide reader, and had a power of selection rare in one 
 so young. Its columns contain what is equal to a volume of 
 matter, that can be read with pleasure, even at this time, 
 when a new age has come upon the world, — an assertion 
 that can be made concerning the contents of \Qvy few Ameri- 
 can journals." The English writers were quoted from ; and 
 the new poems of Emerson, Whittier, Longfellow, and Low- 
 ell, were printed successively as they came out. The thrice- 
 wonderful " Biglow Papers " (as Mr. Robinson called them 
 in 1875) first began to appear in "The Boston Courier" 
 in 1847, commencing with a poem from " Birdofreedom 
 Sawin " on the Mexican war. It is difficult, at this dis- 
 tance of time, to estimate the influence these papers exerted 
 on the politics of the da3\ Without doubt they did as much 
 towards the success of the antislavery movement as the 
 poems of Whittier, or "Uncle Tom's Cabin," or even the 
 Free-Soil party itself. Mr. Robinson relished the keen 
 humor and sarcasm of "The Biglow Papers," and was 
 never tired of quoting the sayings of Birdofreedom Sawin, 
 who, he said, reads better the fourth or fifth time than the 
 fii'st. It is a matter of regret that the author of this keen 
 analysis of the characters of his time did not try his hand 
 on "Warrington," who was one of the most appreciative of 
 his readers, and who did so much to bring before the public 
 the choice parts of his wonderfully humorous productions. 
 
 On the 7th of March, 1850, Daniel Webster apostatized 
 in his great speech of that date ; and, the next July, Presi- 
 dent Taylor died. His election to the presidenc^^ seems to 
 have done no great harm, and unconsciously to have been 
 the means of great good, since it led to the formation of the 
 Free-Soil party. He died just in time to defeat his destiu}', 
 and give his successor, Millard Fillmore, an opportunity to 
 sign the Fugitive-slave Bill, and to make his name forever 
 odious in the annals of his countr}'. The Fugitive-slave 
 Bill (Mason's), called the "Bloodhound Law," was signed 
 Sept. 18, 1850 ; and a great Free-Soil meeting was held 
 
46 MEMOIR OF 
 
 in Lowell, Oct. 4, to help re-enact God's law against man- 
 stealing. Mr. Robinson presided at this meeting ; and 
 Shubael P. Adams, Henrj' Wilson, E. A. Stansbury of 
 Vermont, and William N. Brewster, spoke. There was great 
 commotion in the communit}* ; and meetings were hold all 
 over the land to protest against the monstrous wrong, and 
 manifest the people's abhorrence of the law and its authors. 
 On the 14th of October a meeting was held in Faneuil Hall 
 for the denunciation of the law, and the expression of sjm- 
 path}- and co-operation with the fugitives. Charles Francis 
 Adams presided ; and Frederick Douglass, Theodore Parker, 
 Wendell Phillips, and others, spoke. The fugitives them- 
 selves held meetings to devise means for their own protec- 
 tion, and many of them fled to Canada for safety. Think- 
 ing it necessar}' that the people should be acquainted with 
 the kidnapping law, and not having room in his paper for 
 the whole of it, INIr. Robinson made a brief but correct s}'- 
 nopsis of it ; and headed by Daniel Webster's indorsement, 
 "To the fullest extent, to the fullest extent" (as the 
 great orator had said) , it occupied a conspicuous column in 
 " The American ;" and week after week it was commented 
 upon by the editor, and held up to scorn and derision. On 
 the passage of this infamous law, the slaveholders began at 
 once to take measures to reclaim their property. A man- 
 stealer appeared in Lowell, Oct. 2, 1850, for the purpose of 
 capturing a very respectable man named Booth, said to 
 have once been a slave in Virginia, who had lived in the city 
 for several years. He, however, happened to be in Montreal 
 at the time ; and his friends telegraphed to him to remain 
 there. The antislavery newspapers kept each other secretly 
 informed when a supposed uian-stealcr was about ; and by 
 this means many a poor fugitive escaped, who would other- 
 wise have been captured, and returned to slavery. 
 
 In the early part of 1851, three celebrated rescues of 
 fugitives occurred, — that of Jerr}' McHenrj- of S3-racuse 
 (called the "Jerry Rescue"), the rescue of Shadrach, and 
 the Simms case, both in Boston. These inoffensive men 
 
"WARRINGTON." 4tJ 
 
 were arrested, while pursuing their daily vocations, by men 
 who were, or who represented, their pretended owners ; 
 and though one of them, Simms, declared that he had been 
 free as long as he could remember, and that his father was a 
 Spaniard, it made no difference. His claimant was believed, 
 while his own testimony was counted as nothing. Wherever 
 the man-stealer appeared, he could procure the warrant of 
 any twopenny commissioner against anj' colored man ; and 
 the majesty of the Fugitive-slave Bill was enforced without 
 judge or jurj'. The people became incensed at these out- 
 rages ; and there was a general uprising of antislavery 
 sentiment. A convention was called in Tremont Temple, 
 April 8, 1851, of all citizens of Massachusetts, without 
 distinction of party, opposed to the "Fugitive-slave Law." 
 The call was signed by S. C. Phillips, Horace Mann, J. G. 
 Palfrey, C. F. Adams, S. G-. Howe, J. G. Whittier, and 
 others ; and resolutions were passed to the effect that it is 
 " impossible to aid by word or deed in remanding a fugitive 
 slave to bondage without aiding to rob him of an inalienable 
 right, and thus sinning against Christian light and against 
 God." At the November election of 1850, the Whigs were 
 beaten by a coalition of Democrats and Free-Soilers ; and 
 " The American " came out with a leader on the " Death of 
 the Whig Party." 1 
 
 1 This was premature, as it lived till 1854, when Know-Nothingism 
 came up, and swept it out of existence. — "W. S. E. in 1858. 
 
 There was an opportunity just before this time to give a little dig at 
 a Wliig postmaster, which was improved as follows : — 
 
 North Chelmsford, June 14, 1850. 
 William S. Kobinson, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir,— Why do j'oii persist in sending the American to Benj. "WUcox 
 after having been informed that there is no such man iu this place? 
 
 Youis truly, 
 
 Z. Gay, Jun., Postmaster. 
 [Answer.] 
 
 Lowell, June 14, 1830. 
 Z. Gay, Jun., Esq., Postmaster. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I am not aware that it is any part of your ofHcial business to become 
 informed of the reason why I " persist in sending the American to Benj. Wil- 
 cox: " therefore I very respectfully decline to answer your interrogatory. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 William S. Kobixsos. 
 
48 MEMOIR OF 
 
 During these great and stirring events, " The American" 
 came out boldly-, and spoke God's truth at the right time, 
 though subscribers fell off, and corporations trembled in the 
 balance. Lowell was still Whig to the backbone, and her 
 sinews were of cotton. Iler mills were owned b3' merchants 
 anxious to keep peace with the cotton-planters. Many 
 of the churches and the clergy were either proslavery, 
 or would not leave their proslavery parties to vote with 
 the party of free soil and free men. A Rev. Mr. T. in 
 Lowell said that he would " vote the "Whig ticket if it were 
 steeped up to the hub in slavery." It was a hard fight for 
 the poor editor to wage against this great wrong and all the 
 "cotton lords" who supported it. The expenses of the 
 ofDcc must be paid, and a little spared for home uses. To 
 read the bold utterance of this independent journalist during 
 these years, no one would suspect the struggle with poverty 
 that was going on behind the scenes, nor 3^et the sensitive 
 and delicate nature of the writer who -wielded this stinging 
 pen. " The American " was conducted in the most econom- 
 ical manner ; for its editor's axiom was, that economy is 
 honesty in people of small means. He felt that he was 
 responsible, in part, for money belonging to others, Avhich 
 ought to be judiciously handled. He himself " worked at 
 the case," and frequently put his articles in type without 
 writing them out beforehand. He wrote all the editorial 
 matter for " The American," and, with a little help at home, 
 read all the proof, and made the selections. 
 
 On commencing housekeeping in Lowell at the time " The 
 American" was started, Mr. Robinson had requested his 
 wife to keep an expense-book ; so that, if the paper did not 
 succeed, the friends who had subscribed might know what 
 had been done with their mone^-. In looking over this book, 
 I find that the whole expenditure for the famil}-, during the 
 three years and eight mouths that "The American" was 
 published, did not exceed the average of four hundred 
 dollars a j'car. This included, during those years, house- 
 rent, fuel, and food for a family of four or five persons. 
 
' ' WARRING TON." 49 
 
 Not much money was spent for clothing ; the editor's supply 
 being hardly equal to the demand, and the wife's allowance 
 being two calico dresses a year. She did her own work, and 
 took care of her babies. Books, the principal need, were 
 plenty; for they were sent to the editor for review. There 
 was no church-going, for there was literally "nothing to 
 wear; " and though " the bab^^'s milk was (never) watered 
 that your Helicon may flow," nor the chamber-doors taken 
 down and burned to keep the editor warm while he wrote, 
 he lived, as Thoreau said, " close to the bone," and, unhin- 
 dered by the impedimenta of life, fought his way up the 
 heights of journalism. 
 
 The steps b}' which we ascend or go forward are often 
 ignored. And here let me not forget to pay a tribute to 
 the mother (of the wife) , without Avhose constant care and 
 self-sacrifice this part of Mr. Robinson's life-work could not 
 have been accomplished. It was through her help and her 
 labor, at that time unrequited, that the famil}' expenses were 
 kept so low, and the paper saved an earl^- death before its 
 mission was accomplished. It is the fashion to decrj- 
 mothers-in-law ; but, to the last hours of his life, Mr. Robin- 
 son spoke of this one (still living, thank God ! to read these 
 lines) as being good enough to redeem the sins of a whole 
 generation of mothers-in law. In poverty, in sickness, in 
 prosperity, and in defeat, she was the same to him, — a 
 mother ; and her beloved face was one of the last upon which 
 his kind eyes looked in life. It is such women as these, 
 widowed or single, whom " God setteth solitary in families," 
 Avho cement the domestic fabric, aud whose influence is 
 unseen, and oftentimes unappreciated till it is taken awa}- 
 aud the walls of home begin to crumble. 
 
 It was in these years of self-denial that Mr. Robinson 
 first tried to teach his younger companion the real meaning 
 and duty of life, — that it was not to live for ourselves alone, 
 or for those we love, but to forget ourselves, to aim at a 
 higher life, aud to do some one thing to make the world 
 
50 MEMOIR OF 
 
 better, wiser, and happier for our having lived in it. This 
 was his creed then, and to tlie end of his life. The struggles 
 of an antislavcr^' editor of those early days can hardly be 
 appreciated at this distance of time ; and, if any apologj* is 
 necessar}' for these glimpses of the home-life of ]Mr. Robin- 
 son, the excuse must be, that, in so complete and many-sided 
 a life as his, the home-side can hardly be left out, or passed 
 over lightly. He looked at what might be called depriva- 
 tions philosophically, and the narrow economies of life did 
 not trouble him. His own tastes and habits were simple; 
 he knew uotliing of luxuries ; and to the appointments of 
 home and person be was iuditferent. During his whole life 
 he practised in all things " that temperance which is mod- 
 est}'." To be at home in the presence of his famil}', with 
 his books and his pen, — this was his idea of a feast and of 
 riches ; and to get his living honestly and squarely, as his 
 ancestors had done before him, — this Avas his desire. 
 
 As I have said, the cotton lords were against him ; and 
 although kind and appreciative friends in Lowell and other 
 places remembered him, sending monc}' and subscribers 
 (better than money), which gave relief to his trusting friends 
 the butcher and baker, the struggle grew daily harder and 
 harder. Among these friends was one old Concord sub- 
 scrilwr, who sent annual!}' a turkey (a rara avis at his table) 
 to his "political guide, philosopher, and friend." Some 
 friends of the New-England Protective Union sent him a 
 barrel of flour " as a slight evidence of tlieir desire to 
 encourage honest millers in physics, ethics, and politics." 
 Whatever other success such a newspaper as "The Ameri- 
 can" might attain, it could never be a pecuniar}' success ; 
 and, in spite of all sucli assistance, the struggle grew too 
 hard to bear. At last, worn out 1>\' work at the case and at 
 the desk, wearied in trying to collect bills and pay them, 
 and of skulking down back-streets to avoid a creditor, he 
 was stricken down by typhoid-fever, and did not leave his 
 room for eleven weeks. This sickness was, without doubt, 
 
"WARRINGTON." 51 
 
 caused ontirel}' hy business troubles. Business, so called, 
 Mr. Robinson did not understand ; and doing business 
 without means, for an honest man to whom a debt is a daily 
 horror, was enough to make him "sick and a-wearied." ^ 
 Gail Hamilton sa3-s that ' ' most authors are innocent of any 
 business capacit}', and entirel}' destitute of anj- practical 
 abilit}-." This applies very well to editors and newspaper- 
 writers of Mr. Robinson's stamp. Such a one is as depend- 
 ent on his dail}' task as the shoemaker or the carpenter : but 
 he is apt to forget his pecuniar}^ interest in the ardor of his 
 calling ; and, while he spins from his life and brain the 
 material for his existence, he often does not exact a price 
 from those who reap the reward of his labors. He sits in 
 his office, "on his three-legged stool, pegging away," and 
 is expected to be a fountain of information for ca' erj'bod}' — 
 read}- to answer all questions, and write on ever}' subject — 
 for nothing. Men of other professions and occupations come 
 to him (particularly about election-time) ; and, having im- 
 bibed what knowledge they require, they proceed to make 
 those powerful speeches or moves which cany the elections 
 of the da}'. "'There's a divinity ^ doth hedge" a lawyer's 
 or a doctor's office ; and whoever comes within its sacred 
 precinct to ask ever so small a question in law or physic 
 is expected to pay for the privilege, since these professions 
 have the people at their mercy. Do men of these or of other 
 professions offer the editor for his opinion any part of the fees 
 so easily earned ? Yet he has earned their fee by the infor- 
 mation given, as much as the carpenter who drives the nail, 
 
 1 At the most dangerous period of Mr. Robinson's illness, be called 
 his wife to him one day, and asked her to show Dr. Graves (one of the 
 gentlemen who had heljied him start the American) her expense-book, 
 that he uught see how little had been spent in the family since the 
 paper was started, and that the money he and other friends had sub- 
 scribed had not been paid for any thing outside the pajDcr. When the 
 doctor had examined the accounts, and had seen upon how little four 
 people had lived (less than four hundred dollars a year), he looked 
 very umch surprised, and did not say one word. 
 
 2 Mercury, perhaps, the god of conveying. 
 
52 MEMOIR OF 
 
 or the lawyer or doctor who imitates Bunsby in his opin- 
 ion. The poor editor must go on, however (or did in 
 "Lowell American" times), spinning, like the spider, 
 from his inner consciousness, the webs in which others 
 catch their prey. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 53 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 FEEE-SOIL EDITOR {Continued). 
 
 [1852-1856.] 
 
 " Say not the struggle nought availeth; 
 The labor and the wounds are vain : 
 The enemy faints not, nor faileth ; 
 And as things have been they remain. 
 
 If hopes were dupes, fears may be liars : 
 
 It may be, in yon smoke concealed, 
 Your comrades chase e'en now the fliers, 
 
 And, but for you, laossess the field." 
 
 ARTntJK Hugh Clough. 
 
 On Mr. Robinson's recover}', his brother, anxious for his 
 worldl}' success, wrote to him, advising him to commence 
 the study of law. He said, "Before 1856, j'ou will have 
 a profession that will take care of j^ou. Your present 
 profession will not be growing vmy better, while the law will 
 be more and more remunerative till yon are sixty 3'ears old. 
 If you look around you for the most comfortable people, j-ou 
 will find they are the law3-ers." Mr. Robinson's opinion 
 of what are called the three learned professions is well 
 known. He once said, that the three professions, so called, 
 were a curse to the community. The lawyer ruins 3-ou 
 pecuniaril}- ; the doctor kills 3'our body ; and the minister 
 tries to kill 3'our soul. The last-named is the least harmful, 
 however ; because the soul cannot be killed finall3-. " Great 
 is the science and practice of the law," said he with some 
 contempt ; and although it was said of him that he was 
 capable of conducting an argument with the ablest reason- 
 
54 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ers, and in applied logic was nc^■el• known to be worsted, he 
 yet preferred to follow his chosen vocation of jonrnalisni 
 (not yet a profession), because he loved it, and was suited 
 to it. Said he, " The editor's labor is next to the priest's 
 and the schoolmaster's, if not before the former. I wish I 
 were more worth}' of it. I have no doubt, not the least, 
 that ni}' influence is greater through ' The Lowell Ameri- 
 can ' than that of any five clergymen in Lowell through 
 their pulpits ; and I have no doubt that this influence is 
 quite as salutar}- as that of the minister. The good editor 
 is trul}- a great public benefactor ; though, like other bene- 
 factors, he is not thanked oftentimes." Journalism had not 
 then become the "third estate;" but he prophesied even 
 then gi'cat things of the profession, and thought it destined 
 to l)CCome the highest of all callings. lie never regretted 
 having continued in it ; and unlike man}' who go to their dail}' 
 writing reluctantl}^, as to a task, he resumed his pen each 
 day eagerly, and with pleasure. If he had chosen to be 
 "comfortable" in a nione^'-making profession, his countrj' 
 never would have known the pen of " Warrington." 
 
 Mr. Robinson was elected to the legislature of 18o2 on 
 the coalition ticket. In writing home from the legislature, 
 he says, — 
 
 "I am glad, on many accounts, that I am chosen; sorry on but 
 few. I love my home, and do not like to be away from it; but I 
 shall get a little money and much knowledge, and sball extend my 
 acquaintance, and by tbat means, I hope, my facilities for getting 
 along in the world. In case the newspaper should not afford me a 
 good living, an extensive acquaintance among leading men will (if I 
 behave well), perhaps, give mo other chances in the world. Coalition 
 works well. I voted for a Whig senator, knowing that the coalition 
 candidate was a bad man; six or seven others did the same; and 
 fourteen would not vote at all. I was amused at tlie leadiness of 
 some men to shrink from responsibility. The 'dicker' is not yet 
 concluded ; but it is pretty much arranged that the Democrats have 
 the governor and lieutenant-governor, and the Free-Soilers the 
 secretary of state and the sergcant-at-anns, and six out of the nine 
 councillors. If this arrangement is carried out, the Free-Soilers will 
 have a controlling power, and veto in all executive appointments. I 
 am a member of the confereace committee on the part of the Free- 
 Soil party." 
 
"wabbington:' 55 
 
 During the session of the legislature of 1852, Mr. Rob- 
 inson wrote letters from the State House for '•' The Ameri- 
 can," and made a long report on the ten-hour law, in which 
 he was much interested. Ma}' 4 he writes, " The vote was 
 taken on the Personal- liberty Bill. "We beat the Whigs and 
 fogy Democrats b^^ three majoritj- ; reconsidered, and beat 
 them again b}' five ; altogether unexpected, and took ever}'- 
 body b}' surprise." Mr. Robinson was a good speaker 
 at this time ; and his contemporaries remember to have been 
 struck with his readiness in debate, — a power which he 
 afterwards almost wholh' lost. Feb. 22 he made a speech 
 in the legislature upon the bill to amend the free-ballot 
 law. If he had continued in the line of speech-making, life 
 might have been made easier to him ; but he had a contempt 
 for "speechifying" and speech-makers, and, as he said, 
 preferred to write speeches, and have others deliver them. 
 He had the opportunity all through his life of hearing his let- 
 ters quoted (without quotation-marks), and his opinions and 
 witticisms given to the public, without due credit to their 
 rightful owner. He says of this matter (in 18G3), " One or 
 two of m}' own productions of 3'ears long past are in print 
 as speeches delivered b}- the Hon. Mr. So-and-So : and they 
 may, for aught I know, find their way into some future selec- 
 tion of American orator}^ ; and m}' boy may declaim his 
 father's rhetoric with a glow of enthusiasm, which would be 
 heightened if he knew to whom to credit it." 
 
 On Mr. Sumner's election, in 1851,^ there had been gi-eat 
 rejoicings among the antislaver}- people. He did not speak 
 in Congress quite so soon as some of the impatient ones 
 thought he should; and the editor of " The American," in 
 whose house Mother Goose had begun to furnish household 
 words, in a humorous article inquii'ed about " the little bo}' 
 that went after the sheep." Mr. Sumner's reason for this 
 seeming delay was, partly, ill-health and the recent death of 
 
 1 Mr. Sumner had just votes enough to elect him. Robert Eantoul, 
 Mr. Sumner's predecessor, also had just votes enough at the time of hi? 
 election. 
 
56 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Mr. "Webster. His first long speech was sent to ]Mr. Robin- 
 son with tlie following note : — : 
 
 Senate Chambeu, Jan. 28, 1852. 
 My deab Sir, — I have sent you a correct copy of my speech, 
 made yesterday, on the practical question of lands. My colleague ' 
 is now speaking on the agitating question of the compromises. On 
 this subject the time will come for me; but it is not now. 
 
 Faithfully yours, 
 
 CiiAKLES Sumner. 
 
 "The Lowell American" had great influence during its 
 life in the councils of the rising Republican party ; and man}- 
 aspiring politicians came to the little house where the editor 
 lived, to talk matters over, and get the voice of the paper 
 in their behoof. Hcnr}- Wilson, who had found himself a 
 more successful speaker than editor, came, a 3'oung aspirant 
 for congressional honors,- with Anson Burlingamc, to make 
 speeches and talk over the situation, and devise measures, 
 through party methods, for the abolition of slavery. In 
 the room which served as parlor, libraiy, and nurser}-, 
 several gentlemen met one night in the fall of 1852. 
 Burlingamc had been speaking in Lowell, and probably 
 Wilson ; and the}' began at once in conversation to dilate on 
 the wrongs of the slave, the indifference of the AVhig party 
 to the condition of things, and the need there was for imme- 
 diate action. The young wife sat there, minding the baby 
 in the cradle, and trying to make " auld claes look amaist 
 as weel's the new;" listening, with her soul on fire, to the 
 oft-repeated tale — with which all autislavery people were 
 then familiar — of the poor fugitives who had been returned 
 to their inhuman masters. At the close of this exciting 
 conference, which she had heard silently (for women in those 
 days were said not to be capable of politics), one of the 
 gentlemen, speaking to her for the first time during the visit, 
 remaiked — on the unpleasantness of the weather. Charles 
 Sumner, just elected, also came here, a young man, to advo- 
 
 1 John Davis. 
 
 2 Defeated by the late Tappan "Went worth of Lowell. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 57 
 
 cate the cause of freedom in Lowell. He was not then a 
 handsome man, but had a noble presence. His head had 
 the bold and upright poise of a 3'oung lion ; and he had a 
 fashion of tossing his hair from his forehead while speak- 
 ing, b}' a motion of his head, that was ver}' striking.-^ 
 
 Mr. Robinson's writings at this time did not evince the 
 reasoning powers and analj'sis of character shown in later 
 3'ears ; but they Avere extremel}- humorous. Mr. C. C. Haze- 
 well says of them, that if he had adopted the spelling after- 
 wards used by John Phoenix, Artemus Ward, Josh Billings, 
 and other American humorists, he would have been the most 
 famous of them all. B}' reference to articles written during 
 these 3'ears, it will be seen that he did practise a little of the 
 style of spelling used b}- those authors. In the Stebbins 
 Biographj- will be found a reference to Miser}- X Roads. 
 This ma}' have suggested Confederate X Roads to Petroleum 
 V. Nasb}', P. M. But, while Mr. Robinson delighted in 
 humorous writing, it was not his idea of true writing to 
 amuse the people only, but to instruct and to guide them. 
 He delighted in politics as " the science of government," 
 and could not illustrate his thought by humorous writing and 
 bad spelling. 1852 was the great Stebbins year, when this 
 famous imaginary character was put up as an independent 
 candidate for President in opposition to Scott and Pierce.^ 
 
 Mr. Robinson had been re-elected to the legislature of 
 
 1 An ambrotype taken in Lowell in 1852, and now in possession of 
 Mr. Robinson's family', gives an excellent idea of Mr. Sumner's looks 
 at that time. 
 
 2 In answer to a letter on the subject of the Carpet Bag and Ensign 
 Stebbins, Mr. B. P. Shillaber wi-ites, — 
 
 " With regard to ISIr. Robinson'? writings for the Carpet Bag, I know that he 
 was much interested in the Stebbins contest, and contributed several of the 
 best articles in favor of that puissant warrior's claims (that of the Saugus Nomi- 
 nating Convention, I particularly remember, was capital, satirizing as it did the 
 doings of meetings of that character); and I recall the heartiness with which ho 
 entered into the spirit of the thing, seeing in it a capital satire on the rage for 
 military candidates wliich prevailed at the time, two being opposeil to the ' Hero 
 of the Alamo' and of the 'Aroostic' The creator of Ensign Stebbins was 
 Benjamin Drew; and Jolui C. Moore, Mr. Robinson, and myself were the only 
 ones that I recall who helped on the myth." 
 
58 • MEMOIR OF 
 
 1853 on the same coalition ticket with B, F. Butler ; 
 and in March of that year he writes, " I intend to be 
 a candidate for clerk of the Constitutional Convention. 
 I think I shall be chosen. Perhaps this will be a step 
 towards the clerkship of the House next winter." Ma}' 4 
 he was elected, and Avrites, " I hope I shall do the work 
 well, and get honor as well as profit. Home seems pleas- 
 anter than ever after these long absences ; and the little 
 bab}' shows new beauties (to sa}' nothing of new stubborn- 
 esses) ever}' da}". I am glad she has got some temper, 
 hoping we shall be able to control it." Mr, Robinson wrote 
 letters to " The New- York Evening Post" from this conven- 
 tion. Of the Journal of the Convention, N. P. Banks (the 
 president) said at the time, that it " was made better than 
 any other ever made in the House ; not as to penmanship, 
 — there it is inferior to man}- others, — but as to style and 
 fulness." Mr. Robinson, as clerk, made two copies in his 
 own handwriting of the proceedings of this convention, — 
 one for the printer, and a duplicate, in case any accident 
 should happen to the one in the possession of the State. ^ 
 
 The year 1852 had been a very gloomy year for " The 
 American." In spite of Mr. Robinson's legislative and 
 other earnings, which had been used to pay its debts, the 
 paper was slowly running down. Other newspapers, more 
 suited to the tastes and politics of the people, were preferred 
 to it ; and the editor was at his wits' end to keep it alive. 
 He was loath to give it up, because he thought the people 
 needed its teachings, and their leaders its admonitions : so 
 he struggled on, while tlie family grew larger, and its 
 expenses increased to actually §401 a year. There was no 
 thought of repudiating debts, or failing to pay them at ten 
 cents on a dollar, until the pressure became very hard to 
 bear. But, in spite of all this, the editor bade adieu to the 
 closing year, and welcomed in a new one, in the following 
 cheerful editorial : — 
 
 1 This duplicate copy has been preserved, and lias been presented, 
 since Mr. Robinson's death, to the Town Library iu Concord, Mass. 
 
"WARRINGTON."- 59 
 
 "GOOD-BY AISTD GOOD-MOKXIXG. 
 
 " 'Goocl-by, 1852! You brought us all something good, — to some, 
 dear wives, dear children, dear friends, good books, choice compan- 
 ions, rare season of pleasure ; and, if to others you brought afflic- 
 tions, — as you muat to some, — it was not your fault ; and you 
 brought consolations and solaces, which did all that could be done to 
 heal the wound you made. 
 
 " 'Good-morning, 1853! You ai-e welcome. Hope you are well. 
 How are Mrs. 1853 and all the little 185.3's?' — 'All well; but don't 
 detain me. I've a great deal to do. I have got my budget of joys and 
 sorrows, cares and blessings, all ordered by the wise and good Father, 
 who is too kind to tell his children in advance whether he has joy or 
 grief in store for them. Let me pass on, or Susan and Walter will bo 
 impatient for the marriage-license which is peeping out of my bag. 
 Alas ! there is a sadder message for them ; but they must not know it. 
 Good-by, sir!' " 
 
 "The Lowell American" stopped just after the close of 
 the year 1853. It had fought a good fight for nearly' four 
 3'ears, and in it the editor had said his say to friend and foe. 
 He had offended eminent men, liberals like himself, with 
 whose methods he did not agree, and had lost their " patron- 
 age." No longer their "guide, philosopher, and friend" 
 (for the State had gone back into Whig hands), still he was 
 undaunted ; for he had done his work well. " And so dies," 
 said the editor in his farewell leader, " this living, independ- 
 ent, democratic, antislaver}' newspaper, and leaves not a 
 political paper in all Middlesex County for nearly- two hun- 
 dred thousand people to read — neither Whig nor Demo- 
 crat — which is not socially, morall}', and politically dead 
 in hunker trespasses and sins." An offended liberal stopped 
 his paper in November, 1853, just in time ; and Mr. Robin- 
 son answered the letter, giving a short account of his experi- 
 ence. The correspondence was as follows : — 
 
 W. S. EoBiNSON, Esq. 
 
 Dear Sir, — My only motives for receiving " The Lowell American" 
 at all were two : first, the hope that it would serve the antislavery 
 cause ; second, the good-will I entertained to its editor. Inasmuch 
 as for some time I have ceased to regard it as valuable in the first 
 light, and now I perceive the good-will not reciprocated, I trust you 
 
60 MEMOIR OF 
 
 will see the fitness of my asking to be excused from taking it. If 
 there is any thing clue on account of it, I will cheerfully pay it on 
 your informing me of the amount. 
 
 I am very respectfully yours, 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have never looked upon my subscril)ers as patrons 
 in any sense of the word, but have always recognized their perfect 
 right to come and go at plea^^ure, without apology. You might as 
 well have asked to be excused from again buying of your grocer or 
 butcher. As you have sought occasion, where none existed, for 
 disparaging my labors in the antislavery cause, I have this to say 
 in reply; viz., that, for the last four years and a half, I have given 
 ail my time, all I have received from my paper, and two thousand 
 dollars which I have received from other sources, to the work of 
 establishing an antislavery newspaper in Lowell. If you, sir, have 
 done more, of which I entertain considerable doubt, you have not, at 
 any rate, sacrificed more. If I have not served the antislavery cause 
 in any other way, I have preserved my own freedom of thought and 
 of speech towards all men, whether political friends or foes. I am in 
 holies to be able to do this in future; and, although I entertain no 
 fears whatever on that account, I prefer not to be under the slightest 
 temptation, and therefore enclose with this the sum of one dollar and 
 sixty-three cents, due to you on account, and remain 
 
 Very respectfully yours, &c., 
 
 W. S. RoBiNSOx. 
 
 In January, 1851, "The Commonwealth" (not Mr. 
 Slack's), a daily Free-Soil paper, was started. In it "The 
 Chronotype" (Elizur Wright's paper), "The Emancipator," 
 and "The Boston Republican," all were merged. J. B, Alle\-, 
 Samuel Downer, and others, had, at different times, the con- 
 trol of it ; and among its editors were Joseph Lyman, Charles 
 List, Robert Carter, and Dr. S. G. Ilowe. In 1854 it was 
 edited b}' J. D. Baldwin (now of " Tiic Worcester Spy") ; 
 and, on the death of " The American," Mr. Robinson was 
 engaged by him as assistant editor. From Mr. Robinson's 
 Diary and Letters I am able to quote an account of this 
 newspaper : — 
 
 "'The Commonwealth' exercised during its career more political 
 influence than any other Boston paper: indeed, the political power 
 of these antislavery papers has always been very great. The Whig 
 party of Massachusetts was broken down mainly by the party which 
 
''WARRINGTON." 61 
 
 they represented. ' The Commonwealth ' sustained the coalition 
 (against the Whigs), and did much towards making it successful. At 
 last came political sorrows, and in battalions. The Convention of 
 1853 was defeated, and the State passed into "Whig hands : these hands 
 were, however, too weak to hold the reins ; and Know-Jfothingisra came 
 ■up in 18.j4, and swept the party out of existence. ' The Common- 
 wealth ' did not countenance the new party. Its proprietors got tired 
 of the figlit, and sold out to certain persons who proposed to establish 
 a Maine-law newspaper. This they did, and called it ' The Tele- 
 graph.' Richard Hildreth became responsible editor; and among 
 those employed in writing were Eobert Carter and myself. ' The 
 Telegraph ' was the first paper to announce the names of the candi- 
 date nominated by the Know-Nothings in the secret senatorial and 
 congressional conventions. Mr. Hildreth left after a while, and I had 
 principal charge of it until after the election of 1855. In spite of 
 remonstrances and lamentations, the paper opposed Gardner and Gard- 
 nerism ; and, after the election (of Gardner) in 1855, it proposed to 
 continue the contest; but one of the proprietors, who had become 
 disgruntled by reason of the rejection of some of his Gardnerite lu- 
 cubrations, dissented from this policy, and I was deposed. ^ I think 
 it entirely safe to say that ' The Commonwealth ' and ' Telegraph ' 
 have rejiresented the popular opinion of the State on political affairs 
 more nearly than any other paper in Boston. There was continual 
 strife in the counsels of ' The Telegraph ' between its founders and 
 its writers ; ^ the latter having very positive opinions on the jury law, 
 which did not allow them to yield to the demand for its repeal. Two 
 or three of the stockholders were actually driven out of the concern 
 by its perversity on this question and on the subject of Know- 
 Nothingism." 
 
 1 In an article on the Kepublican party, Mr. Robinson says, "This 
 was written and published the day after Eockwell's defeat in 1853. It 
 was an atteiuiit to keep up the antislavery fight, for v.hich, by the influ- 
 ence of "William B. Spooner and others, I was afterwards deposed frcm 
 the editorship of the Telegraph, tliough retained as a wi'iter." 
 
 - The proprietor of the Telegraph said to I\Ir. Robinson in the early 
 part of June, 1855, " In giving out copy to-morrow, avoid any tiling 
 of a part^- character. Orders are strict from headquarters on this point: 
 your interest and mine are involved." As Mr. Robinson's idea of tlie 
 " headquarters " of an antislavery paper was a little different from that 
 of this timid jiroprietor, he paid no attention to what he called this 
 impudent request, but went on publishing article after article in pro- 
 test against Gardnerism. This frightened the owners of the paper more 
 and more; for they feared it would not sell, if opiiosed to the gov- 
 ernor ; and they thought the editor might be more conciliatory, and 
 only speak his mind so far as expediency would allow. 
 
62 MEMOIR OF 
 
 In June, 1854, Antony Burns was arrested on a false 
 pretext ; his pretended owner, Charles F. Suttle of Virginia, 
 having procured a warrant from Edward G. Loring, judge 
 of probate of Suffolk Count}', and United States slave com- 
 missioner. ''The Commonwealth," from which extracts 
 will be found at this date, was full of this kidnapping mat- 
 ter. There was intense excitement over it in the communit}', 
 and the antislavory people (or " agitators") were filled with 
 sadness and indignation. To prevent the rendition of Burns, 
 Theodore Parker preached; Sumner, Phillips, S. G. Howe, 
 F. W. Bird, and many others, spoke ; antislavcry editors 
 wrote ; and men and women worked and prayed ; but in vain. 
 Massachusetts was humiliated. Guarded bj' armed police and 
 military force, the disgraceful procession marched down State 
 Street — amid the hisses and contemptuous outcries of the 
 crowd, and in the face of the mourning flags ^ flung from 
 many windows — to the revenue-cutter "Morris," ordered 
 b}' Pres. Pierce to bear back into servitude this helpless 
 man.- A movement was at once started by Mr. Robinson 
 (by an article in "The Commonwealth"), which resulted in 
 the removal of Judge Loring four years after " for disobedi- 
 ence to the Personal-liberty Law in permitting the kidnap- 
 ping of Antony Burns." He could not be " conciliator}- " 
 when the " poor dumb bondsmen's cause," for which he had 
 labored all his life, was trembling in the balance, and a 
 part}- and a governor known to be hostile to all its needs 
 were coming into power ; and so he wrote on steadily for 
 the removal of the unjust judge, for the defeat of the 
 Know-Notliings, and for the cause of human rights. It was 
 said of him at this time, that there was hardly any news- 
 pai)or position to which he miglit not have aspired, if he had 
 been less rabid, and more willing to be on the popular side, 
 and (as the old song has it) "curchy, curchy, up and do«'n," 
 
 1 Six were flung from the oflice of tlie Commonwealth. 
 
 2 He was bought subsequently by some Northern people, and went 
 to Canada, ^vhe^e he beoanio pastor of a colored church in St. Catha- 
 rine's, and died of consumption in 18G2, 
 
"WAREIJSTGTOK" 
 
 63 
 
 to public opinion. Perhaps the fact of his working very 
 cheap — clieaper than a less scrupulous writer would have 
 done — helped him to retain his position as writer, and to 
 continue, as Mr. Hazewell said, to enliven "The Telegraph" 
 with "his rich humor and sparkling wit." 
 
 The Know-Nothing or American party (as Plenry Wilson 
 calls it in his "Rise and Fall of the Slave-Power") was 
 well described by llufus Choate in a letter to a friend. 
 Speaking of the "Hiss" legislature of 1855 (as the first 
 Know-Nothing legislature was called, on account of the in- 
 famous transactions of a member of that name) , Mr. Choate 
 says, — 
 
 " Your estate is gracious that keeps you out of hearing of our 
 pontics. Any tiling more low, obscene, feculent, the manifold heavings 
 of history have not cast up. We shall come to the worship of onions, 
 cats, and things vermlculate. Kenown and grace are dead. ' There's 
 nothing serious in mortality.' Bless your lot, which gives you volca- 
 noes, earthquakes, feather-cinctured chiefs, and dusky sights of the 
 tropics." 
 
 In addition to Mr. Choate's numerous adjectives, this 
 party might be called a paradoxical or seemingl}^ absurd 
 party. It was founded on prejudice of birth, and prejudice of 
 color ; and while it allowed none but native- American whites 
 to hold office, or sit in its councils, it refused the least ves- 
 tig'e of a right to all native- American blacks. Yet many 
 antislavery politicians, for various reasons, Avere willing to 
 join this secret organization, and be elected to office during 
 its administration. With all its faults, of which secrecy 
 was not the least, the Know-Nothing part}' " builded better 
 than it knew " in one respect ; for it helped to drive the last 
 nail in the coffin of the defimct Whig party. At a Republi- 
 can convention in Concord, October, 185G, a coalition was 
 proposed between that party and the Know-Nothings. IMr. 
 Robinson opposed this attempt, thinking that the Republican 
 party was strong enough even then to stand alone ; and he 
 was so vexed at the course pursued b}' Ilenr^' Wilson at the 
 State Convention (held in Worcester a little later), that, 
 
64 MEMOIR OF 
 
 when he returned home to Concord, he entered his house, 
 and, before speaking to a niciuber of his fiimily, went up to 
 an uiifrained picture of Mr. Wilson, pulled it down from 
 the wall, tore it straight in two, and threw it upon the floor. 
 This act created great consternation among the throe little 
 children playing together on the floor ; for they had never 
 before seen such an exhibition of anger from their mild- 
 mannored father. In a letter to Mr. Wilson, published in 
 "The Worcester Spy," Mr. Robinson gives his opinion of 
 this disgraceful coalition. He thought it was " formed by 
 men who threw awa}' the election of 1856 by dabbling in 
 the dirt}' pool of Know-Nothiugism ; or, if they did not do 
 this, they pursued a cautious, timid, and time-serving 
 policy." What was left of the Free-Soilers as a part}' seems 
 to have been swallowed up by this and other coalitions ; 
 but its elements, being indestructible, re-appeared again in 
 the " Straight Republicans," the nucleus of that great party 
 which was to follow a 3ear or two later, and find a name in 
 1859. Mr. Robinson never had the least aflilialion with the 
 Know-Nothings, whose secrets and whose tricks he hated 
 cordially. He attacked them at all points, from the gov- 
 ernor down to his lowest subordinates, and expressed his 
 opinions in "The Telegraph" and in "The Springfield 
 Republican," where the "Warrington" letters began to 
 appear in 1856. He was more than reconciled that his name 
 should not appear as the editor of " The Telegraph," since 
 he could not saj- in it all he desired, as he had done in " The 
 Lowell American." The part}' hated him cordially in return 
 for his hostilit}- ; and the fight was so bitter at times, that 
 Mr. Rolnnson was warned b}' friends that something malig- 
 nant would be done if he kept it up. He replied, that he 
 had "got the Know-Nothings almost killed off, and he 
 thought he could finish them." 
 
 When Fremont was defeated in November, 1856, b)- James 
 Buchanan,' the antislavery people were verj' much troubled 
 
 1 Buchanan's administration lias not a principle to its back; not even 
 the poor one of rewarding its friends, and pnuisliing its enemies.— 
 Warrington in New -York Tribune in 1858. 
 
"WABRINGTON." 65 
 
 and disheartened about the final issue of the slavery ques- 
 tion. Charles Sumner had been struck down (Ma}', 1856) 
 in his seat in Congress by Preston S. Brooks of South Caro- 
 lina, and "was thereby disabled from taking his noble part in 
 the contest. Mr. Eobinson was not so much discouraged 
 as many others ; for he saw the cause had gained a great 
 deal with the people during ten years ; and his axiom was 
 then, as ever after, that the people are alwaj's to be trusted 
 in all great movements. In 1856, besides writing constantly 
 for "The Telegraph," he wrote letters for "The Fitchburg 
 Reveille " during the session of the legislature, and went to 
 "Worcester for a few weeks to write for " The Sp}'." While 
 there, his articles attracted much attention, and were thought 
 to have been written by Judge Allen, on account of the 
 " gun-metal " in them. 
 
 In August, 1854, to be near his mother, now old and 
 feeble, Mr. Robinson had moved to Concord, Mass., into a 
 house belonging to John Thoreau, the father of John and 
 Henr}- Thoreau. He had always been very fond of his 
 native town, and had kept up his interest in it, saying that 
 it was a good place to be born in, and would be a good 
 place to return to some time. On one occasion he said 
 jocosel}', that any thing, however feeble and uninteresting, 
 that had the name of Concord upon it, would always be inter- 
 esting to him ; and it was indeed a delightful change for him 
 to remove from the bustling City of Spindles to the quiet and 
 repose of old Concord. He lived there during the j-ears 
 1854-56 and part of 1857, and was emplo^'ed at a stated 
 salar}' in the profession that he loved. His famil}^, includ- 
 ing his mother and his mother-in-law, were comfortably 
 provided for ; and the old ' ' Lowell American ' ' debts were 
 paid. Here the family' were reclothed : a new Sunday suit 
 was bought for himself (the first since his marriage) , and 
 leghorn hats for the two little girls, to their well-remembered 
 delight, since they never before had worn any thing but 
 sun-bonnets or "shakers." A part of a pew was hired in 
 the Unitarian church ; and all old enough (or not too old) 
 
66 MEMOIR OF 
 
 went to hear the preaching of Rev. INIr. Frost, the successor 
 of Dr. Riple}'. A short vacation was taken, the first for 
 five 3-ears ; and luxuries even began to creep into the house. 
 Thirty dollars' worth of new furniture was bought for the 
 parlor; and, when it was shown to this plain-living man, he 
 said, " What a pit}' it is for people to worlc so hard for a few 
 stuffed wooden things to set up in a room to be looked at ! 
 What does it all amount to? There is no happiness in it, 
 nor no good, either." 
 
 Concord had now become the centre of progressive thought 
 in New England ; Hawthorne, the Alcotts, Ellerj^ Chnn- 
 ning the poet, and husband of Margaret Fuller's sister, and 
 others, having made it their abode ; and pilgrims had already 
 begun to come from all parts of the country- to visit the 
 homes of these writers, and see Emerson, the wise master 
 and teacher. Hawthorne had lived in the " Old Manse ; " 
 but at tins time (1854) he was absent in Europe, having 
 been appointed consul to Liverpool under Pres. Pierce, his 
 personal friend. Extracts from a short biograph}- of Haw- 
 thorne (written b}' Mr. Robinson in 1861) will give some 
 account of his early Concord life : — 
 
 "In 1842 Nathaniel Ilawtliorne and his wife came to live at 
 Concord, in the Old Manse. Curiously enough, Emerson himself 
 had once been an inhabitant of the Old Manse. In its rear was a 
 delightful little nook of a study, in which ho wrote 'Nature;' and 
 he used to watch ' the Assyrian dawn, and the Paphiaii sunset and 
 moon-rising,' from the summit of the eastern hill near at hand. 
 The M'indows of the study peeped between willow-branches down 
 into the orchard, revealing glimpses of the River Assabet shining 
 through the trees. From one of the windows, facing northward, a 
 broader view of the river was gained, and at a spot where its hith- 
 erto obscure waters gleam forth into the light of history. It was at 
 this window that the clergyman who then dwelt in the manse stood, 
 watching the outbreak of a long and deadly struggle between two 
 nations. He saw the irregular array of his parisliioners on the far- 
 ther side of the river, and the glittering line of the British on the 
 hither bank ; and he waited in an agony of suspense the rattle of the 
 musketry. It came; and there needed but a gentle wind to sweep 
 the battle-smoke around this quiet liorae. Under the stone wall 
 which separates the battle-ground from the precincts of the par- 
 
''WARRINGTON." 67 
 
 sonage is still to be seen the grave of two British soldiers slain in 
 the skirmish, who have since slept peacefully there where they were 
 laid. 
 
 "While Hawthorne lived at the Old Manse, lie had many visitors of 
 mark ; for his name had now become known. There were Lowell the 
 poet, and Emerson, and Margaret Fuller, and EUery Channing, who 
 occasionally came to enjoy a day's fishing in the river. It was a kind 
 of poet's life which Hawthorne led, amidst the sound of bees, the 
 murmuring of streams, and the rustling of leaves. What was more, 
 the Old Manse was said to be ' haunted ; ' and occacionally there 
 came a rustling noise, as of a minister's silk gown, sweeping through 
 the very midst of the company, so closely as almost to brush against 
 the chairs ; yet there was nothing visible. Ilawthorne, in 1844, became 
 surveyor of the customs in Salem; and thither he removed accord- 
 ingly. He remained there three years, occasionally digging among 
 the old archives of the place, amongst which he professes to liave 
 discovered the record of the story which he has so skilfully woven 
 together in his 'Scarlet Letter.' Hawthorne went in as surveyor 
 with the Locofoco or Polk administration; and he also went out with 
 them. It is one of the evils of the popular system of governing in 
 America, that, at every change of power from party to party, there is 
 a clean sweep made of those in office, in favor of the adherents of 
 the new dynasty. As head surveyor, IIawtlioi-ne had it in his power, 
 on assuming office, to turn out the former officials, and supply their 
 places with those of his' own kidney in politics. But Hawthorne 
 never could find it in his heart to dismiss the old veterans : so they 
 vegetated on, each in his old place." 
 
 There were frequent opportunities of seeing Henr}- Tho- 
 reau, as he often came Avith his father to work on the land 
 belonging to the house in wliich Mr. Robinson lived, or, as 
 the children said, to "paint the handles of the trees." His 
 meditative figure Avas often seen walking across the sunn}' 
 meadows, with some live specimen of a " species " dangling 
 from his hand, while (to use his own expression) " the sun 
 on his back seemed like a gentle herdsman driviug him home 
 at evening." He sometimes called on Mr. Robinson. He 
 was a great talker, sitting with his head bent over, and 
 carrying on the "conversation" all b^' himself. On one 
 occasion we had a visitor who had written several town his- 
 tories, and was learned in Indian matters. Thoreau called 
 while he was there ; and, the conversation soon turning to 
 
68 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Indian affairs, Thoreau talked oui* friend dumb in a very 
 short time. His book (" Walden, a Life iu the Woods") 
 was published in 1854:, and drew manj-^ visitors to the little 
 hut by the shore of the pond where the philosopher had lived 
 on three cents a day, planted his beans, and written his 
 immortal pages. The fact of his living so cheapl}- was 
 much discussed in Concord, more even than the qualit}- of 
 his writings ; and it was suspected by his incredulous towns- 
 people that the "cupboard " of this disciple of Pj'thagoras 
 was often replenished from his mother's larder. Said Mr. 
 Robinson in his " Warrington " Letters, — 
 
 "It is fortunate for literature that Thoreau lived, and built his 
 house on the sliores of Walden Pond, when he did. If his birth had 
 been postponed twenty years, we should never have had his most 
 delightful book, and one of the most delightful of all American books. 
 * Walden ' is as good of its kind as any tiling in American or Eng- 
 hsh literature. It is, on the wliole, the best book ever Avritten in 
 Concord. He liated, or affected to hate, all crowds, and said the 
 pleasantest place iu Boston was the Fitchburg llailroad Depot, because 
 it was the road home. "NVliat would he say if he could see Walden 
 Pond as it is now, on whose banks he built his little house, and 
 lived, raising beans on his farm, and charming the fishes with liis 
 flute ? or, ratlier, what would he write and print, if i)en and ink and the 
 press were open to him? for I will not assume that he cannot see and 
 talk as well as ever. The pond, six months ago, was more solitary 
 than Sleepy-hollow Cemetery, where his body rests with Hawthorne, 
 and others not so famous. Now the cemetery has the advantage of 
 the pond ; for the railroad trains frequently stop at the pond, and land 
 their great iiicnic-parties, who, for the time being, make it the busiest 
 part of the town. Thoreau prof(!ssed to find liis most entertaining 
 company in tlie morning; for then nobody ever came to see liim: 
 and Mr. Emerson said of Walden Pond, that it was an excellent place 
 for parties, especially parties of one." 
 
 Mr. Robinson thought Thoreau' s poem "Sympathy'" an 
 evidence of true genius. Thoreau' s mother was one of the 
 most graphic talkers imaginable, and held her listeners dumb. 
 In describing scenes of her early life, she once told of the 
 shipwreck of a schooner upon which she was a passenger, on 
 a voyage to Maine. The dark night, the sound of the waves, 
 
"WARRINGTON." 69 
 
 the cries of the people, and all the tragic events, were related 
 with a vividness which photographed it at once, a startling 
 picture, upon the mind of tlie hearer. His father, on the 
 contrary', was the most silent of men, particularly in tlie 
 presence of his wife and gifted son. At the annual melon- 
 party at his house, ^ to which Mr. Robinson and his wife were 
 invited, Mr. Robinson was very mucli struck by this silence 
 among his guests, and nearly convulsed the friends with 
 whom he was talking by quoting from Emerson, sotto voce, — 
 
 " The silent organ loudest chants 
 The master's requiem." 
 
 The mother's famil}', from whom Thoreau seems to have 
 inherited his genius, were very eccentric ; and stories of their 
 sayings are still current in Concord. One of these is worth 
 telling. It relates to an uncle of Henry Thoreau, Charles 
 Dunbar. " In 1800," says histor}', " a revolution took place 
 in the administration of public affairs ; and the Republican 
 party, having become the majority, succeeded in elevating 
 their candidate, Tlaomas Jefferson, to the presidency, in oppo- 
 sition to Mr. Adams." - People were very much excited over 
 this election, and all the voting force was called out. For 
 the first time, old men were carried to the polls in arm-cliairs ; 
 and the children gathered round to see the curious sight. 
 Unfortunately, there was a propert}^ qualification in those 
 daj's ; no man being allowed to vote unless he owned a cer- 
 tain amount of property-. Charles Dunbar's mother had 
 married for her second husband a rich farmer named Minot, 
 who was very anxious that the young man should vote for 
 Jefferson ; and, in order to enable him to do so, deeded him a 
 small farm in a neighboring town. He voted ; and, after elec- 
 tion-da}', Mr. Minot wanted the property back ; but Dunbar, 
 
 1 The melons were of Henry Thoreau's own raising. 
 
 2 IJepnblieau really meant Democrat in 1801. W. S. K. says in 1875, 
 " In Jefferson's day, the government really started off on the Demo- 
 cratic basis." 
 
70 MEMOIR OF 
 
 following the advice of Mr. 'WilUara Cogswell,* bis friend, 
 refused to give it up. The case was brought before Squire: 
 Ilcywood of Concord, who said, "The property belongs to 
 Charles Dunbar ; for I made out the papers all right according 
 to law; and, if he gives it up, it will be of his own accord 
 and free will." He did not give it up, but lived on it alone 
 all his life ; and it finall}' came into the Thoreau famil}-. 
 Dunbar frequently' came to Concord, and, when there, always 
 called at Mr. Cogswell's house. On one of these visits, put- 
 ting his head abruptly into the window (as usual), he said, 
 " I could not have come to see you if one of ray oxen had 
 not died. I sold the hide and horns for raonc}- enough to 
 come with : so ' there's no great loss without some small 
 gain.' " Miss Sophia Thoreau, sister of Henry, and the last 
 survivor of the familj', died in 1876 ; and the Concord Tho- 
 reaus arc now extinct. Mr. Robinson had little acquaintance 
 ■with the other literary personages of Concord, except C. C. 
 Ilazewoll, with whom he was alwa3-s on terms of friendly 
 intimac}'. He was in the habit of dropping in at Mr. Haze- 
 well's sanctum at all hours, sure to find him writing, with 
 inky fingers, or reading, and "puffing the friendly cigar ; " 
 and many a brave article has been written on both sides of 
 a question, inspired by the witty encounters between them. 
 Mr. Ilobinson had a great admiration for the historical 
 knowledge of his friend, who, he said, talked more freel}" of 
 the family atfairs of the Czar of Russia, and knew more 
 about them, than he did of his nearest neighbor's. Mrs. 
 Hazewell's knowledge of history was almost as accurate as 
 tliat of her husband, and she sometimes was able to jog his 
 memory a little. When the Czar had his silver wedding in 
 18GG, there was a di^scussion between Mr. and Mrs. Hazewell 
 as to the nationality of the Czarina. Mrs. Hazewell said 
 that she was a Hesse-Darmstadt princess, and that Avas the 
 reason for their keeping the da}' in such fashion. This Mr. 
 Hazewell disputed ; but, on looking in a book of reference 
 brought for that purpose, his wife was proved to be right. 
 
 1 Brother of W. S. Ilobiuson's mother. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 71 
 
 Of Concord as an autislaveiy town, Mr. Robinson wrote 
 in 1874, — 
 
 "As I said, Concord was not an antislavery place; but some events 
 in antislavery history have occurred there : for example, the capture 
 and rescue of Mr. Sanborn (in the John Brown case) on a warrant 
 from the United-States Senate, and the rescue of Shadraeh. Old Dr. 
 EJpley was as slow as any of the Unitarian clergy to accept anti- 
 slavery doctrines, and his colleagues were ' conservative ' men. It 
 was more difficult to get the meeting-house for George Thompson 
 than for the ' Washingtonian ' Hawkins ; and there was much op- 
 position to both. Mr. Emerson, who never troubles himself about 
 organizations, was not, I think, an original abolitionist, any more 
 than Hon. Samuel Hoar (father of E. R. and G. F. Hoar), who had 
 the name of being a conservative on the subject when George Thomp- 
 son came up to disturb Dr. Ripley and the Concord pews. I may 
 seem to have underrated Mr. Emerson's antislavery position. His 
 first demonstration that way was his address on West-India emanci- 
 pation (1S43), which was pretty early; but before this, I think, his 
 early essays, and his philosophy generally, were thought to tend to 
 indiffei'entism on the subject." ^ 
 
 If not an antisla^-ery town, Concord was a famous anti- 
 slavery centre, and a depot of the ''underground railroad," 
 wliicli carried so many colored citizens on their way to 
 freedom. Shadi'ach had been consigned there after his 
 escape in Boston, and was refreshed at the house of Francis 
 E. Bigelow, the friendl}' blacksmith. Mrs. Bigelow's account 
 of this historic affair is as follows : — 
 
 " Shadrach was arrested by his pretended master, with carving- 
 knife in hand, while acting as waiter in a hotel on Court Street, and 
 hurried at once to the Court Ilovise to be tried. On the alarm being 
 given, the Court House was filled with a crowd of black and white 
 
 1 Some extracts from a letter written to Mr. Robinson (Jan. 14, 1844) 
 will show tlie state of feeling at that time on this sultject: "To-night 
 all our folks have gone to the Lyceum to hear Wendell Pliillips lecture 
 on slavery. We expect a small row; for it is understood INIr. Keyes, 
 (father of John S. Keyes, lately United-States marshal) will reply to 
 him. I hope he will; but he will get the worst of it, for Phillips has too 
 many guns for him. They have already had sonic fuss in the Lyceum 
 about his being invited to lecture on that subject. 
 
 " P. S. — Phillips's lecture is over, and uo reply. Mr. Keyes was there, 
 but said nothiu";." — H. M. 
 
72 MEMOIR OF 
 
 men, who moved forward in a body, and, surrounding Shadrach, 
 carried liim out, entangled in the mass. No one except Lewis Hay- 
 den knew liim from any of the other colored men. lie went out with 
 the rest, and was soon lost in the crowd. He and Hayden coolly 
 walked off toward East Cambridge, keeping in sight of each other ou 
 opposite sides of the street. Here they stopped at the house of Rev. 
 J. C. Lovejoy, and proceeded thence to Concord in a carriage drawn 
 by a black horse and a white one, and driven by a Mr. Smith. They 
 arrived at Concord at three o'clock Sunday morning, and drove into 
 Mr. Bigelow's yard. Mr. Bigelow, hearing the carriage, opened his 
 door, and let in the poor fugitive, though the penalty was a thousand 
 dollars, and six months' imprisonment, for 'aiding and abetting' a 
 slave to escape. The blinds of the house were at once shut, and the 
 windows darkened, to evade the notice of any passers-by ; and bi-eakfast 
 was prepared in the bedchamber (by Mrs. Bigelow), on an air-tight 
 stove, with the bureau for a table. Mrs. Brooks, an antislavery neigh- 
 bor, was sent for, and came, accompanied by her husband, lion Xathan 
 Brooks. Mr. Brooks, though an abolitionist, did not go so far as his 
 wife in advocating radical antislavery measures ; and he had warned 
 her that he should not countenance any such ' aiding and abetting.' 
 But when he saw the poor fugitive, so frightened and forlorn, his kind 
 heart made him forget the majesty of the law; and he did his part 
 by furnishing Shadrach with a hat of his own with which to disguise 
 himself, — the hat of a law-abiding citizen! As soon as Shadrach 
 was refreshed (lie was so fatigued with loss of sleep, and anxiety, that 
 he could hardly keep awake while eating), Mr. Bigelow, in a wagon 
 hired for the purpose, drove him to the house of Mr. Drake in 
 Leominster, another station ou the * underground railroad.' From 
 there he was carried to Fitcliburg, and thence by rail to Canada. 
 Meanwhile Mr. Ilayden and Mr. Smith drove leisurely to Sudbury, 
 stopped with friends there, went to church, and, after a good dinner, 
 returned unmolested to Boston. When the trial came on for the 
 rescuers of Shadrach, there was some difficulty in impanelling a jury. 
 Mr. Bigelow was drawn once, and rejected ; but afterwards, by some 
 quibble of law, he was again chosen, and sat in the case. The rescuers 
 were all cleared by the disagreement of the jury, Mr. Bigelow being 
 the one who stood out, not because, as has been said, he was biassed 
 by his feelings and action in the case, but because he conscientiously 
 believed that the men tried as the rescuers of Shadrach had no more 
 to do wltli it than all the rest of the crowd in the Court House; and 
 he thought that the witnesses in this case must have perjured them- 
 selves." 1 
 
 1 Persons indicted in 1851 as the rescuers of Sliadrach: .Tames Scott, 
 Lewis Ilaydcn, Elizur Wright, John P. Cobuin, Thomas P. Smith, 
 •Toseph K. Hayes. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 73 
 
 A woman's antislavery society had been formed in Con- 
 cord, in 1837, at the house of Mrs. Samuel Barrett.^ It had 
 seventy members at first ; but -when Mr. Garrison attacked 
 the Church, calling it " the bulwark of slaver}'," the society 
 was divided, and a new organization was formed of radical 
 abolitionists who sympathized with Mr. Garrison, and, like 
 Mm, were regardless of both Church and State. ^ This soci- 
 et}' was in active operation during Mr. Robinson's residence 
 in Concord ; and, though its membership was small, it met 
 regularly, kept busil}' at work ; and through it Concord was 
 represented at the annual subscription festivals and the anti- 
 slaver}' fairs. Mrs. Nathan Brooks, the president, was its 
 chief organizer and inspirer ; and it was through her efforts 
 that the society was so long maintained. It met at the 
 houses of the members, where a plain tea was provided, to 
 which the gentlemen were invited.* The members of this 
 societ}' in 1857 were Mrs. Nathan Brooks, Mrs. John Tho- 
 reau, Mrs. F. E. Bigelow, Mrs. John Brown, jun., Mrs. Sam- 
 uel Barrett, Mrs. Timothy Prescott, Mrs. Minott Pratt, Mrs. 
 R. W. Emerson, Mrs. Jerome Richardson, Mrs. E. R. 
 Hoar, Mrs. Simon Brown, Mrs. Lucy Brown, Mrs. A. B. 
 Alcott, ]\Irs. W^S. Robinson, Miss Mar}' Rice, Miss Harriet 
 Stowe, Miss Caroline Stowe, Miss Carrie Pratt, Miss Sophia 
 Thoreau, Miss Ann Whiting, Miss Jane Whiting, Miss Ellen 
 Emerson, Miss Martha Bartlett, and probably others whose 
 names I have been unable to obtain. 
 
 The president, Mrs. Brooks (though a woman of prop- 
 erty), desiring to earn herself the mone}' used in the sacred 
 cause, made cake b}- an unfailing recipe of her own, and 
 sold it to her neighbors and friends : it was named for her. 
 
 1 Her son, lately deceased, left four hundred dollars to the woman- 
 suffrage cause. 
 
 2 The churches were very angry with IMr. Garrison; and at one time 
 he ronid not lind a place in Boston to speak in, excepting a hall con- 
 ti'olled by the followers of Tliomas Paine. 
 
 8 It met at the house of W. S. Eobinson, Jan. 27, 1857, when ten 
 ladies were ijresent. 
 
74 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Brooks Cake. At every " tea-fight " in Concord this cake 
 was prott}' sure to be found; and the gentlemen, who, in 
 turn, entertained the Social Circle, were glad to avail them- 
 selves of this specialty- of a member of the proscribed sex. 
 This recipe played such an important part in the anlislavery 
 movement (bj' the mone}' it earned) , that I cannot foibear 
 giving it here. When woman's work is recognized and val- 
 ued as it should be, a new and good recipe will be as im- 
 portant a discovery as a '• new ligure of speech " or a new 
 l^oem. 
 
 Brooks Cake. — One pound flour, one pound sugar, half-pound 
 butter, four c^^^, one cup milk, one teaspoonful soJa, half-teusijoon- 
 ful cream of tartar, half-pound currants (in half of it). 
 
 This makes two loaves ; and, if such faithful hands and 
 careful eyes as hers attend to its making, it will be fit for 
 the banquet of the gods. This devoted woman lived to see 
 the cause for which she so earnest]}' labored as successful as 
 was always her recipe for "Brooks Cake." She died in 
 18G8. "Wendell Phillips paj's a fine tril)ute to her memory 
 in an article in ' ' The Antislavery Standard : " — 
 
 "When, more than thirty years ago, I joined the antislavery 
 movement, one of the first places I visited was Concord. Mrs. 
 Brooks welcomed me to the old town. She was one, and a chief 
 one, of half a dozen royal-minded women who represented the 
 antislavery movement of the place. The famous men Avho lived 
 there turned then only a tolerant eye on the cause, stamling them- 
 selves at a civil distance. In kindly deference to wife or friend, they 
 showed their faces, now and then, at antislavery meetings. Still it 
 is but justice to say that it was the 'continual coming' of those 
 untiring women that 'won or wearied' the noted names of Con- 
 cord into sympathy with this great uprising for justice. We call 
 others self-sacrificing and devoted; but she and her associates lived 
 for their reforni ideas. Faultless in domestic duties, making her 
 roof so truly a home, still no work was too hard, no duty too absorb- 
 ing, no gathering too distant, no cross too heavy, for her courage. 
 
 "How far her life sent its influence! I have been stirred by elo- 
 quence, and thrilled by many a brave act, behind which I saw clearly 
 that half-score of earnest women, the lieart of a famous circle, whoso 
 
"WARRINGTON." 75 
 
 brain has a wide realm. The debt which Stuart Mill is never weary 
 of acknowledging to his noble wife is the same that the mind of 
 Concord owes to Mrs. Brooks and her associates." 
 
 Her liusbaud, Hon. Nathan Brooks, whose claims as a 
 candidate for Congress Mr. Robinson had urged in his first 
 editorials in " The Yeoman's Gazette," was a lawyer in 
 Concord, and was verj- much beloved. He had a habit of 
 carr3'ing a lighted candle to and from his office in the even- 
 ing. After his death, Mr. F. B. Sanborn, in one of his 
 letters to " The Springfield Republican," speaks thus elo- 
 quentl}^ of his " modest but conspicuous worth : " — 
 
 " He chose, instead of public fame, the more quiet path of civil 
 and social duty within his own town and county. lie was the adju- 
 dicator of disputes, the administrator of estates, the depositary of 
 trusts, the guardian of ori)lians, the just man, who, as Plato says, 
 is a perpetual magistrate. When he walked the brief journey from 
 his house to his office. Justice and Benevolence seemed to be patrol- 
 ling the village street. The taper which lighted his stejjs in the even- 
 ing walk to and fro, and which even the wind respected, was as august 
 as the flambeau of a consul in the Via Sacra ; for in him all the dignity 
 of Law seemed embodied, with none of her austerity." 
 
 In 1854, when Missouri attempted to monopolize Kansas, 
 and force slavery into the newh'-acquired Territor}-, the anti- 
 slaverj' people of New England tried to stay its inroads by 
 encouraging emigration from the free States. A New- 
 England Emigrant Aid Society was formed, and under its 
 protection many families left their native States to find a 
 new home in that far country. On the 19th of Jul}', 1854, 
 a company of twenty-four persons — the advance-guard of 
 freedom — started from Massachusetts, and arrived in Kan- 
 sas the same month. This compan}' was followed b}' others 
 the same 3-ear ; and every Tuesday-, for several weeks in the 
 earl}' part of the summer of 1855, the '■ emigrnnt-train " 
 passed through Concord, on the Fitchburg Railroad, filled 
 with men and women inspired by as pure an incentive to 
 action as were the Pilgrim Fathers when the}' set sail for 
 New England. Tiiey went to plant freedom in the most 
 
76 MEMOIR OF 
 
 beautiful portion of the country, doomed In- King Cotton as 
 a new field in which to perpetuate the monster evil. Aban- 
 doned by the government which should have protected them, 
 these emigrants suffered untold hardships. Some of them 
 were killed hy border-ruffians ; and others died of starva- 
 tion, caused by the destruction of their crops. Of those 
 who returned, numbers were invalids for years from the 
 sufferings to which they had been exposed. "Bleeding 
 Kansas " was a name Avell chosen at that time to describe 
 this fair part of our land. Money and clothing were sent to 
 them b}' towns and individuals, and ever}' effort was made 
 to encourage and assist the emigrants. Concord alone sub- 
 scribed more than two thousand dollars, and the ladies of 
 that town met together to sew for Kansas ; for, in spite of 
 difference of opinion outside the Church and within it, there 
 was but one opinion with all true antislavery people as to 
 the enormity of this attempt to force slaver}* upon the Kan- 
 sas settlers. Among these ladies were the members of the 
 old Antislavery Societ}', who continued to work for this 
 and other progressive causes until the close of the war, 
 when the}' re-organized ; and the long-divided elements in 
 Church and State came together as the Freedman's Aid 
 Society. 
 
 Mr. Robinson's old schoolmates and friends speak of him 
 during these Concord years with much tenderness. He had 
 a cheerful word for everybod}' ; and his bright sayings and 
 repartees are still remembered, long after the events which 
 l)romf)(ed them are forgotten, lie was very fond of chil- 
 dren, and of talking and joking with them. One of his 
 jokes, made at the expense of a little son of Judge Hoar, is 
 often repeated. He asked the little boy how old he was ; 
 and, on being told that he was six and a quarter, he said, 
 " You must take care, and not get crossed; for, if you do, 
 3'ou will only pass for five." Tliough his personal popu- 
 larity was great, Mr. Robinson's political opinions did not 
 find favor with some of his townsmen ; and when a vacancy 
 occurred in the Social Circle, and his name was proposed as 
 
"WARRINGTON." 77 
 
 a member, he was tabooed in the dub which his grandfather 
 helped to found. He cared very little about the matter, 
 however, atti'ibuting the slight, not to personal ill-feeling, 
 but to opposition on political grounds. He might have 
 retorted, like the old philosopher, — 
 
 "They deride thee, O Diogenes!" Diogenes made 
 answer, "But I am not derided." 
 
78 MEMOIR OF 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 "WARRINGTOK" LETTERS. 
 
 [1856-18C2.] 
 
 " The State is like a great ami iioblo steed, who is tardy in his motions, and re- 
 quires to bo stirred into life. If I may use a ludicrous figure of sipeoeli, I am a 
 sort of gadlly, given to the Stiito by Crod ; and all day long, and in all places, am 
 always fa--tening upon you, arousing and persuading and reproaching you. ... If 
 I had been like other men, I should not have neglected my own concerns, or pa- 
 tiently seen the neglect of them, all these years, and have been doing yours, coming 
 to you indiviihi.illy like a father or an elder brother. Had I been paid, there would 
 Iiave been some sense in that; but not even the impudence of my accusers daies to 
 say that I have ever exacted or sought pay of any one. And 1 have a witness of the 
 truth of what I say: my poverty is a suflicient witness." — Plato's yiyx)/o//y o/" 
 Socrates. 
 
 The "Warrington" letters in " Tlie Springfield Repub- 
 lican " began in 1856. Into them Mr. Robinson carried on 
 his fight against the Knovv-Nothings, and accused that party 
 of theft (as will ])e seen b}- the first letter) openly and per- 
 sistentl}', — an accusation which was never succcssfull}' de- 
 nied. The first of these letters are little more than legislative 
 reports ; but the writer soon acquired the habit of scourging 
 corrupt members, and laughing at dull ones ; taking refuge, 
 perhaps, behind his own theorj', — that " dull men, and even 
 women, ma}' be attacked with impunity, but none other." 
 In these letters he found full and free expression for his 
 knowledge of politics and literature, and gave unrestrained 
 utterance to his thouglits .concerning politicians, reformers, 
 mankind in general, and public questions. Bishop Haven 
 says (in 187G) of tliem, — 
 
 "They were strong iu thought, curt in satire, and, though defi- 
 cient in the aroma that classic scholarship sends forth, were not 
 
"WARRINGTON." 79 
 
 without liigli claims as literary efforts. They were full of personali- 
 ties. Men were not hidden behind the arras of compliment or gen- 
 eral remark. Many of his personalities provoked bad blood ; or would 
 have done so, but for the seeming lack of all personality in the writer. 
 He sat a,s judge, and weighed these men in his golden balances as 
 iinperturbably as Rhadamanthus decided the fates of those who 
 appeared before his seat of judgment. Some of the victims impaled 
 on his pencil spear writhed fearfully. Many were of such littleness, 
 that such impaling alone has given them immortality, even as 
 Pope's ' Dunciad ' has kept many a dunce from oblivion. He struclv 
 the members of the very House he served,^ if, in his judgment, they 
 merited that fate. How timidly must they have opened ' The Repub- 
 lican ' to see in what guise the ' Warrington ' who sat before them, 
 so seemingly cold and indifferent, had set them forth ! Nor could 
 one smile over his fallen neighbor; for he knew not the day nor the 
 hour when he might not himself be slain. Said Mr. Sumner, ' He has 
 the best French gift of " touch and go," of which About is the mas- 
 ter.' He went out into all realms, — literary, political, reformatory, 
 theological. He was as equally self-assured in reviewing theology as 
 politics, literature as reform. He Avas, therefore, an unsafe, but never 
 an uninteresting, critic. That he was faithful in much-needed plain- 
 ness of speech is true. He irradiated the perishable columns of a 
 daily journal with the ceaseless flashes of liis poignant wit. He shot 
 through them the piercing shafts of many a lofty principle. He was 
 true to himself, and, as ' Warrington,' reproduced with startling ex- 
 actness the very perfection of that character of Thackeray's imagina- 
 tion whom Thackeray would have rejoiced to have seen thus animated 
 in flesh and blood, and doing his part in the columns of a Yankee 
 journal." 
 
 Thackeray "was one of Mr. Robinson's favorite authors. 
 He thought him as great as Scott or Dickens, and believed 
 that his works would be read more and more ever}' 3'ear, and 
 be standards long after more popular authors were forgotten. 
 When a name was talked of as a signature to " The Spring- 
 field Republican" letters he was fresh from the reading of 
 " Pendcnnis," and had enjoj-ed immensel}' the character of 
 Warrington, that mental tj-pe of all jovial, sharp newspaper 
 critics : the name was therefore selected at once as the ideal 
 nom de plume of a newspaper correspondent. Perhaps the 
 "stunning" qualities of Thackeray's Warrington (in which 
 
 1 While clerk of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. 
 
80 MEMOIR OF 
 
 he was the exact opposite) altracted Mr. Robinson towards 
 this character as much as '-the strong thoughts, the curt 
 periods, the sense, the satire, and the scholarship;" and 
 then, too, George Warrington "wrote for his bread." The 
 letters soon became widely read and quoted, and " AVarring- 
 ton's " opinion was cited on all the questions of the day. 
 Many Massachusetts people, particularly in the western coun- 
 ties, were in almost Cimmerian darkness on the question of 
 slavery ; and these letters, during the first years of their 
 publication, were said to have brought almost the only ray 
 of light on that subject into the Connecticut Vallc}'. 
 
 "The Springfield Republican " did not always agree with 
 its "own" correspondent; and not" infrequenth' a column 
 would be seen by the side of the " AVarrington" letter, ex- 
 plaining the divergences of opinion. This divergence was 
 alwa3-s frank and open, and conducted creditably to both 
 sides. If the readers of "The Republican" did not agree 
 with his views, the}' still read the letters, because the}' could 
 not help reading what " Warrington " had to sa}'. A story 
 told me by a friend who returned from Kansas in 1858 will 
 illustrate this. This gentleman had stopped at a little inn 
 in Lawrence, and found a fellow-traveller sitting in the bar- 
 room, reading " The Republican." He exclaimed, " Win', 
 do 3'ou take that paper?" — "Yes," replied the traveller. 
 " Confound him! I take the paper so as to know what that 
 fellow ' Warrington ' has to say. I don't believe what he 
 writes half the time ; but I can't get along without reading 
 it ; " and he showed m}' friend something which had specially 
 pleased him. The question had been once asked " Warring- 
 ton," "Would you interfere with slavery where it is?" — 
 "Why," said he, " j'ou would not interfere with slavery 
 where it is not^ would you?" His habit of writing was 
 most simple. He never shut himself apart to wait for 
 inspiration or the divine afflatus^ but laughed at all such 
 " nonsense." He almost always wrote his letters during 
 the evening, in the common sitting-room, in the presence of 
 his family, with the children playing about, or getting their 
 
''WARRINGTON." 81 
 
 lessons for the morrow. The letter, when done, was read 
 aloud, commented upon, and criticised. When a particu- 
 larl}' good thing was written, it was read at once, and the 
 humorous and satirical parts laughed over before the letter 
 was fmislicd. I have seen him Avriting as fast as possible, 
 shaking with laughter at the same time. He seldom erased 
 a line, or a word : for he had the power to assimilate, 
 and keep packed in regular order, all the material he re- 
 quired ; and, when he wanted it for use, he had only to 
 " draw the cork," as he expressed it. Plis theory of writ- 
 ing was, that an}- person who can think clearl}' can write or 
 speak without difficult}-, and that practice makes the writer. 
 He disclaimed the idea that an}- one needed an especial genius 
 for writing, and said, " What right have we to demand that 
 every man who writes a book shall be a man of genius? 
 Geniuses are scarce : though Emerson's definition of a poet 
 — ' a man without impediment ' — seems to imply that all 
 men except stutterers are poets; which I don't see." In 
 letters of advice to a young newspaper-writer (in 1873) he 
 says, — 
 
 " Write as you think. Begin at once on your subject, pack your 
 head well with reading and thoughts, and then writing will be easy 
 enough. No one can write well who is not a wide reader. Could you 
 have written those charming letters to me if you had not been famil- 
 iar with Carlyle, De Quincey, and Charles Lamb ? Blessed be good 
 books! They gradually and imperceptibly inform the taste. Reviews 
 and editorials, like conversation and newspapers, keep the world 
 moving, and so are of more practical use than books ; but they are not 
 books, and there's an end of it. Do you suppose you could write 
 such spleudid letters tq your correspondents if you had only read 
 cheap novels? Not a bit of it. By and by, after you are done 
 drudging at newspaper-work, you shall be an author. You have 
 escaped immortality, being switched off the celestial railroad on to a 
 side-track leading to an old coal-yard. You shall be paid for it some 
 day ; if not here, then hereafter. Luther jiromised his dog, that, in 
 the resurrection, he should have a golden tail. .You shall have a harp 
 for music, or a pencil for painting, or a chisel for sculpture ; and I will 
 be your delighted proof-reader and critic, and take the money for 
 your golden books. Seriously, writing, to bright people, is a mere 
 trick of the pen, and a knack which you will fall into. On all topics 
 
82 MEMOIR OF 
 
 you had better reflect pretty well. It is not always enough to discover 
 fallacies on the other side: one must be careful to avoid them on his 
 own, or, if he does not wholly avoid them, to speak with caution'. 
 The speaker who uses language for effect on the people before him, 
 may with safety, and even with credit, be fallacious where the writer 
 cannot. The newspaper quietly and surely indoctrinates the people; 
 and in a large daily nothing comes amiss. But, on the other hand, 
 nothing takes the place of tact, and capacity of imparting. Contro- 
 versial talent is useful, especially in politics; but it ought to be joined 
 with caution, and a knowledge of what can be said, and will be said, 
 in reply. I do not (for one) believe in the notion, that it is the sole 
 purpose of an editor, or writer for the press, to give the news of the 
 day, and nothing else, and to squib any thing and every thing. It 
 begets a habit of trifling and persiflage. It is sometimes hard to 
 know what the truth is; but there is generally a right and a wrong 
 side, and to write merely 'to fill up the time ' is as bad as 'praying 
 to fill up the time.' Doubtless you may feel called upon, or even 
 obliged, to stray somewhat from the ideal; but that you will ever write 
 what you don't believe I cannot suppose. I never do it; though I 
 frequently have occasion to change my mind, and see, in looking 
 backward, my mistakes, mostly as to estimates of character. He who 
 has a reform on his hands must not shrink from personalities." 
 
 In 18o7 Mr. Robinson commenced as correspondent of 
 " The Xew-York Tribune ; " and he wrote weelcl3- letters and 
 articles for that paper during that and tlie following years 
 until 18G1, and at intervals thereafter until 1SG9. There 
 are about two hundred and lift}' of these letters and articles, 
 containing a complete political history' of Massachusetts, 
 from which selections might be made that would be invalua- 
 ble for political reference. In them the prominent political 
 events of those years are recorded, and the name of no man 
 who took an important part is omitted. Thej' are full of 
 brief biographies of the men of the time, and contain some 
 of the best of "Warrington's" writings. Selections from 
 them will be found among the " Warrington " letters. 
 These "Tribune" letters were signed "Gilbert." The 
 editorials had no signature, and no doubt were thought to be 
 Mr. Greeley's ; for it used to be said that the subscribers 
 of that paper thought Mr. Greeley wrote every thing in it. 
 In 1857 Mr. Bowles of "The Springfield Republican" 
 
''WARRINGTON." 83 
 
 attempted what was called "The Traveller Consolidation" 
 by a union of the Boston "Traveller," "Telegraph," and 
 "Atlas" newspapers. "Warrington" was engaged as a 
 writer for "The Traveller" diu-ing the few weeks of its 
 marriage, and he celebrated its divorce in a letter to " The 
 Republican" of Sept. 9 : — 
 
 " 'I saw three clouds at morning 
 Tinged with the rising sun ; 
 And in the dawn they floated on, 
 And mingled into one.' 
 
 " I am sorry to say that the marriage has not been a happy one, 
 and that a divorce has got to ensue. The causes, which are luimer- 
 ous, will not all probably be made public; but they may be siunmed 
 up in one word, 'incompatibility.' I believe the verdict will be the 
 usual one in cases of railroad disasters; viz., 'Nobody to blame.' As 
 a newspaper, ' The Traveller ' has been good ; equal, at least, to the 
 most enterprising of its competitoi'S, ' The Journal.' Its editorial 
 articles have been numerous, generally well written and readable, :md 
 on subjects of popular interest; and its politics have been of the 
 average Massachusetts llepublican kind. Politically, however, it had 
 a hard public to satisfy. There were, first, the old readers of 'The 
 Traveller,' who were never schooled in antislavery politics or morals; 
 second, the subscribers of ' The Atlas,' who were mostly old Wbigs, 
 some of them glad to get into the Republican party, and others 
 driven in by stress of politics; third, the 'Telegraph' and ' Common- 
 wealth' men, who for half a score of years had been impressed by 
 such men as Wright, Carter, Bird, (what a conjunction of names!) 
 Baldwin, Hazcwell, Robinson, et id genus omne, with a righteous 
 horror of hunkerism, especially Democratic hunkerism, particularly 
 Whig hiinkerism, and most particularly and especially Know-Mothing 
 hunkerism, or Gardnerism; and. fourth, the new readers, the people 
 at large, who might be attracted by the freshness of news, and inde- 
 pendence of discussion, which the paper might furnisli. Such a public 
 who could satisfy? Mr. Bowles brought to his task great cxiicrience, 
 admirable editorial tact, good manners, and good judgment. But, on 
 the one hand, he hated the hunkers, and was suspected of having no 
 partiality for the great idol of hunkerism. Gov. Gardner: on the 
 other hand, he had too little faitlain the political ideas and machinery 
 of the radical Republicans to suit them. However free and easy 
 these men may be in their politics and ethics, they are most intoler- 
 ant partisans, and impatient of any thing that looks like leaping over 
 the bounds they have set up. The opposition of 'The Traveller' to 
 
84 MEMOIR OF 
 
 the Kansas appropriation was the first and early offence given to these 
 men. Old stagers in antislavery lot 'The Telegrapli ' die because it 
 was not so good a newspaper as ' Tlie Journal,' which last year they 
 were subscribing to very actively for the purpose of encourajinj it in 
 the antislavery course it seemed to be entering upon. Well, these 
 men were mad at 'The Traveller' because it opposed the Kansas 
 resolves, and impatient because it was not so strongly antislavery as 
 ' The Bee:' so they turned the cold shoulder; and, when money was 
 wanted to keep 'The Bee' from going headlong into the support of 
 Gardnerism, it was raised by two or three old Free-Soilers, who 
 thought, probably, they were doing a great thing for 'the cause.' ^ 
 The whole story is summed up in the assertion, which is capable of 
 proof, that an antislavery and independent daily newspajjer of a high 
 standard cannot be made to support itself in Boston. 
 
 '"The Traveller' experiment is still a subject of common talk 
 among politicians and newspaper-men. Some hard feeling exists 
 against Mr. Bowles, caused by his coming down from Springfield 
 ' like the wolf on the fold ' and destroying two daily newspapers, with 
 all the opportiuiitics which they afforded for employment. If a lively, 
 enterprising, and New-Yorkish newspaper had been the permanent 
 result, all would have been well enough ; but to have ' The Telegraph ' 
 and ' Atlas ' extinguished, and nothing but ' The Traveller' left, — 
 this is rather too bad, I confess. But I am not disposed to grunilile. 
 The whole affair, in all its aspects, is rather laughable. The rape of 
 the newspapers will go into history like 'The IJape of the Sal)ine 
 Women,' or of the ' Lock,' or that classical elopement sung by Mis- 
 tress Goose, when 
 
 " Tlie cat ran away with tho pudding-bag string." 
 
 Immediately after " The Traveller " returned to itself ("as 
 though a rose should shut, and be a bud again "), " Warring- 
 ton " was informed by -the proper authorities of that paper 
 that they had more writers than room ; " and we umst there- 
 fore ask 3'ou to close jour term of service with us from 
 to-da}"." There was now no consistent antislavery news- 
 paper in Boston, and, eonsequentl}', no place for his pen. 
 The politics of the State were not his politics ; and its lead- 
 ers, with the exception of Charles Sumner and a few others, 
 were ruled bj'the Know-Nothing (or American) part}-. His 
 
 ^ Credulous antislavery people thought the Bee was tho true 
 antislavery organ, though iliey could not depend upon it from one hour 
 to the next. — W. S. R. in 1S57. 
 
''WARRINGTON." 85 
 
 articles, he was told, would have killed aii}^ dail}' in Boston. 
 "Out of work" is a sad thing for the bread-winner to say 
 to his famil}' when he comes home at night ; and the carpenter 
 and the mason are not the onl}' useful people, who, when out 
 of work, must be continuall}' looking for jobs. Said Haw- 
 thorne, "In this dismal chamber fame was won;" and 
 in like manner can the biographer of "Warrington" show 
 out of what gloom}' surroundings his life-work and fame 
 were wrought. The domestic stages might be thus de- 
 scribed : "While in this place, we starved ; here we paid our 
 debts ; there we were comfortable," &c. It seems like repe- 
 tition to write of all these trials and privations, now that the 
 end is gained, and his work done, and so well done. But 
 I tell them to illustrate the character of the man, and to 
 show, if necessar}-, that self-interest and worldliness were 
 never in his mind, when the good of others, and "other- 
 worldliness,"were to be considered. His regret at being out 
 of work was less for the money he might earn, and the com- 
 forts it would bring to his famil}', than that he was obliged 
 to be silent when he felt that he ought to be writing. " The 
 public need it," he said: " they cannot afford that I should 
 be silent." The late William S. Tha^-er, then of "The 
 Tribune, "writing to Mr. Robinson in 1857, saj's, "We 
 should be glad to have you continue 3-our letters. I think it 
 not impossible something in the editorial line may turn up 
 for 3-our benefit in this vicinit}*, though I know of nothing at 
 present. It is a shame to Massachusetts people that the}' 
 do not do more to support the best editor they have." 
 During these years (1857-59), when no newspaper-office was 
 open to "Warrington," Mr. II. L. Pierce offered him a seat 
 at a desk in his office, where he could sit when not " look- 
 ing for jobs," read his papers, and do his writing. Both 
 he and Mr. Pierce enjoyed this freedom of intercourse thus 
 established. They were then and ever after fast and warm 
 friends, and were associated together in many a good politi- 
 cal work. Mr. Robinson often expressed his gratitude for 
 the kindness of Mr. Pierce, w-lio thought the favor all on 
 
86 MEMOIR OF 
 
 bis side in the satisfaction at the opportir.iit^- thus given 
 him for cullivtiting ''Warrington's" acquaintance; saying 
 that he was "more than repaid for any favor he might 
 have conferred, by the juice he expressed out of ' "Warring- 
 ton.' " 
 
 Not being able to use his pen in Boston so much as he 
 desired, Mr. Robinson tried other places. In answer to a 
 letter to a New-York paper, asking for work, he received this 
 reply from John Russell Young: "I don't think you can 
 write any thing that we will want to print." He, however, 
 got a chance to write for a California paper (for which 
 he did not receive his pay), and also (in 1S57) letters to 
 " The Worcester Transcript," signed "Boythorn;" and, in 
 the same and later years, he wrote short political articles for 
 " The Congregationalist " and '* Zion's Herald," which were 
 extensivelj' copied into other newspapers as "Opinions of 
 the Religious Press." He furnished articles for "Apple- 
 ton's Cyclopaedia" (then being published), and revised the 
 writings (usuall}' a labor of love) of book-makers whose 
 early education had not been acquired in the Concord school- 
 house. He selected the reading-matter for an almanac pub- 
 lished b}" one Ayer, who demurred at the price asked for the 
 work, and refused to pa}' it.' He also reported legislative 
 proceedings for " The Advertiser " in 1858 and 18 JD. For 
 all this writing the paj' was extremely small, as it was, 
 also, for the "Warrington" and "Tribune" letters, as I 
 shall explain in future pages. 
 
 "The Straight Republican," a campaign paper, was pub- 
 lished during the campaign of 1857 by Henry L. Pierce, 
 Estes Howe, F. W. Bird, and others. Sa3-s " Warrington," 
 "The Republicans who oppose Mr. Banks have issued a 
 small sheet called ' The Straight Repul)licau ; ' and they 
 will soon be able to ascertain — what I believe the}' do 
 
 1 He afterwards ran for Congress, and ""Warrinpfon" wrote a sketch 
 of him. This was one of the things he shook witli hvngliter over while 
 writing. "Wlien done, aiul ho had read it aloud, he said, "At lout I liave 
 got my pay of Jim Ayer." 
 
"WARRINGTON." 87 
 
 not yet pi'etend to know — the actual strength of their 
 movement. They profess merelj' to desu'e to make a pro- 
 test against the tendenc}' of Ilepnblicanism towards Know- 
 Nothingism." " The Straight Republican" was edited b}^ 
 "Warrington," and sent "free gratis for nothing" all over 
 the State. One Republican to whom the paper was sent 
 
 returned it, yellow wrapper and all, Avith "Too d d 
 
 straight" written upon it in bold letters. "The Fate of 
 the Straight Republican Part}'" will be found among the 
 selections. 
 
 Mr. Robinson had moved from Concord to Maiden in the 
 fall of 1857 ; and in 18o9 his fourth and last child was born, 
 — his namesake, Warrington. His first boy, named William, 
 also for his father, died this J'car, at the age of five ^-ears. 
 Mr. Robinson was very fond of his children, and ver}' indul- 
 gent to them ; and the loss of this child was keenly felt. He 
 had alwaj's joined in their games and plaA's, and been a 
 child with them ; but this loss made a great change in him, 
 for then he first knew grief, and felt its heaviness upon him. 
 He had not then come to believe in the immortality- of the 
 soul, but thought, as Emerson expressed it a few A'ears later, 
 that " the best proof of our immortality is the desire for it." 
 A better proof came to the bereaved father later in life, when 
 an inner growth revealed to him — what dogmas and creeds 
 had failed to do — the certainty of another chance, a better 
 life. But at this time the dead wall of uncertainty rose 
 blank before him, and there was no way out. "Where is 
 he? " he asked : " what has become of him ? " 
 
 " My truant wise and sweet, 
 Oh ! whither tend thy feet? " 
 
 Da3's were spent in vain speculation and questionings. 
 Friends came and went, and left their shreds of belief. Said 
 Catholic Annie, "He is safe: children do not sin till after 
 the}' are seven years old." "Just read}' for the kingdom," 
 said one. And the minister read, " I shall go to him ; but he 
 shall not return to me : ' ' but there was no comfort in it. 
 
88 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " '\\niore is the creed," said he, " that can assure mc where 
 the boy is that but j'csterday was here, and ours? In another 
 world ? What is that other world ? It seems to me as if I 
 had lived once before ; and I hope I shall again. Perhaps 
 people live on and on, in different shapes, in different ages. 
 I may ^^et be a prince, or a i)hilosophcr, or a starving Irish- 
 man. I have a firmer faith that I have lived than that I 
 shall live again ; but I do not know why not the latter. 
 Wordsworth expresses well the feeling of a previous life : 
 'Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting.' " And at 
 another time he said, " What right have we to complain that 
 we cannot keep the child to be ours, to be proud of, as other 
 parents are, and to grow up to do us honor? It would be 
 pure selfishness to wish it. Nothing can harm him : and 
 God, who brought him helpless into this world of sin and 
 strife, Avill surel}' take good care of such little innocent souls 
 when they leave it ; and we can trust him in God's hands. 
 For him there will be no disappointments nor sufferings as 
 we suffer now. Let the other children do as they mav, this 
 one will alwaj-s do well. We shall alwaj's have a good and 
 perfect child. He is the successful child. Happy little bo}' ! 
 — lost, 3'et saved." Mr. Robinson's philosoph}' and pa- 
 tience under this severe sorrow illustrated his own thought 
 expressed later in one of his writings : " What is called the 
 consolation of religion in time of sorrow is but another name 
 for insensibility. Infidels and philosophers put religionists 
 to shame at such times." 
 
 In April, 1859, " Warrington" was candidate for clerk of 
 the Commission on the Revision of the Statutes, and received 
 ever}' vote. A contemporar}' says, "The unanimous vote 
 for Mr. Robinson is both surprising and gratifying. His 
 uncompromising antislavery principles, making him the bit- 
 ter enemy of all shades of Know-Nothingism, and the inde- 
 pendent freedom with which, as a journalist, he has for manj' 
 years discussed and denounced most of the politicians and 
 political parties of the States, prove that the office and the 
 vote are not the thrift which follows fawning, but the tribute 
 
"WARRINGTON." 89 
 
 to capacity and llonest3^" In August, 1859, a situation 
 was ofFei-ed " Warrington " on the staff of " The New-York 
 Tribune," at twenty-five dollars a week. Mr. C. A. Dana 
 and Mr. Robert Carter (of "The Tribune") urged him to 
 accept this offer. The latter wrote, "The great merit of 
 ' The Tribune,' so far as connection with it is concerned, is 
 its permanence. It has not the Boston habit of bursting 
 up every six months." C. C. Hazewell and other Massa- 
 chusetts friends thought it was a great chance for him, and 
 urged him so persistently to accept it, that he accused them 
 of wanting to get rid of them. To his wife, who thought 
 she saw at last an opportunity for him to live at ease, and 
 follow his favorite vocation, he said, " Don't hanker after 
 the loaves and fishes." When it was urged that the name 
 of being connected with ' ' The New- York Tribune ' ' would 
 be of great service to him, he dissented, saj-ing that Massa- 
 chusetts was good enough for him. To Mr. Carter he wrote 
 (Aug. 5, 1850),— 
 
 "I fear that the expense of removal, and of living in New York, 
 tumult, breakage of connection, general change of condition, uncer- 
 tainty, moi-e or less, of suiting you and being suited, are such that I 
 should not find any advantage in moving. This year has been a very 
 good one for me, my employment by the legislative committee paying 
 very well. But this will soon be over ; and, in the uncertainty whether 
 any more good jobs will present themselves, I am not disposed sum- 
 marily to dismiss your kind and complimentary suggestion. If I 
 could have a few days for inquiry as to cost of living, &c., and for 
 some consultation with my wife and my friends, I should like it. It 
 is fair to say, however, that the probabilities are that I should decline 
 your proposal, though I acknowledge it to be liberal ; and I thank you 
 for it, not only because it has given me a lookout for work, but be- 
 cause it has flattered the self-conceit of one who supposes himself 
 equal at least to the common run of Boston newspaper-men, but is 
 kept out of his employment here, in his favorite vocation, because 
 he holds opinions somewhat fixed." 
 
 Thinking it best not to dismiss such an offer without due 
 consideration, Mr. Robinson went to New York to look 
 about and see how a poor man could live there. While 
 there, he went into one of those large brick institutions 
 
90 MEMOIR OF 
 
 (that have now become so common in Massachusetts) where 
 his children would be obliged to go to school, if he lived in 
 or near New York ; and he did not like the looks of it, nor 
 the idea of children being all herded together in such a 
 manner. "Not at all like the Concord sehoolhouse," said 
 he. He thought there could be no individuality among 
 such children, but that the}' would all be turned out after 
 one pattern ; and he much preferred a country schoolhouse. 
 Mr. Bowles of " The Republican " had written to him, urging 
 him to sta^' in Boston, as he would much rather have his 
 letters written from that city than from New York. Mr. 
 Robinson did not like to give up sa}ing his say in his 
 week]}' "Warrington" letters; and this, with the expressed 
 belief that Massachusetts was the best State in which to bring 
 up children, decided him to let well enough alone, and stay 
 in his native State. 
 
 The close of the year 1859 was a gloomy time for anti- 
 slaver}' people ; for John Brown had fought his battle at Har- 
 per's Ferry, with only God on his side, and lay condeunied to 
 death in a Southern prison. Thoreau said of him, '• lie was 
 not learned in grammar, but in the humanities. lie Avould 
 have left a Greek accent slanting the wrong way, and righted 
 up a falling man." Now that history has given the verdict 
 in this case, there can be no doubt that John Brown's was 
 the first gun fired to right a falling people, and that it drew 
 the fire of the sla\eholders in advance of the great battle of 
 18G0. Emancipation seemed farther off than ever to the im- 
 patient ones, and many grew disheartened. One friend said 
 to "Warrington," " What is the use for you to stand, with 
 a few others, so opposed to all the ruling powers, sacrificing 
 your worldly advancement, and ^'our chance for usefulness as 
 a writer? You are no surer of your cause than you were two 
 years ago." To which he roi)lied with his favorite expres- 
 sionj " The people are to be trusted. There is anotiicr da}' 
 after to-day. Have faitli, have faith!" In a letter to his 
 favorite nephew. Mr. Robinson gives some political advice, 
 and his first opinion of Mr. Lincoln : — 
 
"WARRINGTON." 91 
 
 " The truth is, I have so many letters to write for pelf, filthy lucre, 
 to ' The Tribune ' and ' Si)ringfiel(l Kepublican,' that I am j-ather in- 
 disposed towards correspondence in general. But I have a sort of 
 feeling that to you, as the son of the brother I loved so well, a little 
 more courtesy is due than to many others. I see you take some 
 interest in politics. I am glad of this ; for it is an intellectual pur- 
 suit (or may be made so), and everybody ought to take enough 
 interest in it to know liow to vote intelligently. Then there is a good 
 deal of fun and recreation in it, whicli we need. But, if I were in. 
 your place, I would try to read the newspapers -and speeches on all 
 sides, for the purjiose of enabling myself to form my own opinions, 
 rather than read them for the sake of taking their opinions at any 
 rate. Partisanship is a good thing, and necessary ; but let it be an 
 intelligent partisanship, and not a stupid and blind one. This is my 
 sermon. Now as to ' old Abe.' From what I know of him, I think 
 well of him. He is more of a man than he has the credit of being, i 
 and I think he is as honest as the average of men. Honesty is not so I 
 scarce as intelligence. I think he has enough of both to carry on the I 
 government well. I was very much grieved over the failure to nomi- 
 nate Mr. Seward, and lip.ve no doubt it was a political blunder, as well 
 as a grievous wrong to the mass of the party. But I was not much 
 disappointed in the result. The convention did the next best thing." 
 
 June 10, 1860, Mr. Sumner made liis great speech on the 
 Barbarism of Slaver3\ He was four hours in delivering 
 this speech ; and it was said of it, that it posted the books on 
 the slavery question up to this time. The whole South was 
 inflamed by it, and Mr. Sumner was threatened with violence. 
 "Warrington" wrote articles on the subject in "The Atlas 
 and Bee " (Boston), for which Mr. Sumner wrote his thanks 
 in the following letter : — 
 
 Sexate Chamber, June 10, 1S60. 
 
 Dear Mk. Bobinsox, — I was full of gratitude to "The Atlas," 
 and wondering to whose pen I was so much indebted, when I received 
 your letter. Thanks. 
 
 The cold-nJiOiilderlsm of the Reijublican pi'css shows how little heart 
 it has for one, who, after much suffering, was vindicating freedoiu of 
 debate struck down in his person, and also how little of true instinct 
 it has for the requirements of the time. Had I spoken tamely, I 
 should have spoken unworthily; nor should I have done justice to 
 the occasion, to the subject, or to myself. 
 
 A slave-master shows himself in Faneuil Hall, and, true to the 
 
92 MEMOIR OF 
 
 instincts of his class, falls into Billingsgate; and this is repeated by 
 hunkers. But Republicans, so called, are not much better. 
 
 Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 Charles Scmneu. 
 
 In 18G0 " The Boston Daily Bee " was supported by 
 radical Republicans as an antislaver\' newspaper. "The 
 Bee" was an old established newspaper, having been started 
 in 1842 b}' a company of joiuncyraon printers. It did not 
 meddle nr.icli witli politics until 1849, when it supported tlie 
 Whig nomination for mayor, John P. Bigelow ; and it became 
 a pretty steady Whig paper from that time. When Know- 
 Nothingism came about, it rung the changes on the Pope, 
 that Pagan full of pride, and the scarlet woman of Babylon, 
 the great red dragon, and so on; most ellcctively mingling 
 with its antislaver}' war-cries loud objurgations against old 
 fogyism and the re[)eal of the Missouri Compromise. After 
 the union was dissolved between " The Traveller," "Atlas," 
 and " Telegraph," the latter paper, like nian\' divorced 
 parties, went into nothingness; but ''The Atlas" formed a 
 sort of left-handed connection with " The Bee." This con- 
 tinued till the fall of 18G0, when some radical Repul)licans 
 took it, and the name of " Atlas ^' was abandoned, and that 
 of " Bee " only retained. 
 
 It was short-lived under its new name ; but, during that 
 time, "Warrington" wrote for it, and crowded all the anti- 
 slavery articles he could into its columns. Letters to Eli 
 Thayer on "Squatter Sovereignty," written by "Warring- 
 ton," appeared in the Maiden local paper. Mr. Thayer 
 was a candidate for Congress in the Worcester District 
 during the campaign of 18G0 ; and these letters, it was said, 
 defeated him and his theory of settling the Kansas question 
 b3' squatter sovereignty. 
 
 In August, 18G0, John A. Andrew was nominated; and 
 Mr. Robinson wrote of this event, "The 'Straights' had 
 it all their own wa}- ; not 'too damned straight' this time, 
 but a complete and glorious victor}' over Banks and the 
 Know-Nothings, old Boston conservatism, and every thing 
 
"WARRINGTON." 93 
 
 bad. I ahvaj-s had faith that we should come uppermost 
 finall}'." In November, Pres. Lincoln was elected, and 
 also John A. Andrew, our "war Governor." In December, 
 South Carolina voted to secede from the Union ; and very 
 soon other States followed her example. At this time, Henry 
 Wilson wrote as follows : — 
 
 Dec. IC, ISGO. 
 
 Deab Eobinson, — Some of our friends here are weak ; most of 
 tliem are firm. Lincoln's firmnes§ liel^^s our weak ones; but we have 
 signs of weakness here and at home. Out on all cowards ! We are 
 to have disunion : so all think here. The Northern doughfaces are 
 trying to so manage the matter as to jDUt down the Republicans by 
 making the issue of letting the traitors come back by concessions. 
 Our friends have a terrific contest before them. We need all the aid 
 that fidelity to principle, firmness, and good sense, can give us. I hope 
 more from the folly and rashness of the secessionists than I do from 
 the wisdom and courage of our friends. It may come in a few weeks 
 to blood. If so, let it come, be the consequences what they may. 
 Armed traitors are around and about us ; but I hope we shall do our 
 duty. 
 
 Let me hear often from you about matters at home. 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 II. Wilson. 
 
 In January, 1861, the Personal-liberty Act came before 
 a committee of the Massachusetts legislature. This com- 
 mittee met in a small room in the State House to discuss the 
 bill ; and an attempt was made to report against it, for it 
 had been the policy of some of the frightened "Union- 
 savers" in other States to repeal this bill. Mr. Robinson, 
 Wendell Phillips, and other antislaver}- people, on being 
 informed of this intention on the part of tlie committee, 
 crowded into the committee-room, and nearl}' filled it. Mr. 
 Phillips and others made speeches, and demanded a public 
 hearing, which was granted. "Warrington" wrote the 
 memorial to the legislature on this bill, and also the report 
 of the chairman of the committee. Feb. 1, 1861, the first 
 number of " The Tocsin," a campaign newspaper, appeared. 
 Elizur AVright, F. W. Bird, F. B. Sanborn, and JMr. Robin- 
 son, furnished articles for it. Its prospectus declared it to 
 
94 MEMOIR OF 
 
 be " published b^' an association of Republicans who are 
 in earnest, and who will be heard;" and its motto was, 
 "No more compromise with slavery." The six numbers 
 that were published contained articles against the repeal of 
 the Personal-liberty Bill, in favor of radical antislaver}' 
 measures, and denouncing the Virginia Peace Commission. 
 Virginia had called upon all States who wanted to adjust the 
 slavery question to send four commissioners to that State to 
 confer on the subject ; "■ which means," said " Warrington," 
 "to make slavery perpetual, and see what new degradation 
 can be devised for the North to swallow." There was a 
 meeting of merchants and brokers on State Street in Febru- 
 ar}' to choose a committee of four to instruct the legislature 
 to respond to this call. The legislature very properl}' took 
 no notice of this interference ; but finall}' an order passed 
 its branches, and seven commissioners were appointed, 
 Man}' of the leading Republicans were opposed to this com- 
 mission, among them F. AV. Bird, G. L. Stearns, and Mr. 
 Robinson, who said, "It is the dut}' of Massachusetts to 
 stand firm, and shake hands politically with no slave- 
 holders; " and they went to the State House, and tried to 
 talk a contrary spirit into the legislature. Gov. Andrew 
 was not in favor of the commission ; but (says Mr. -Robinson 
 in his diary) " he afterwards caved in, as he did on the 
 Personal - liberty Bill." Such campaign papers as "The 
 Straight Republican," "The Tocsin," and afterwards "The 
 Reveille." and other campaign documents, did a good work 
 in their time. They were printed, and sown broadcast among 
 the people, by a set of men who thought it important that 
 the sentiments the}- advocated should be read. There was 
 no political antislaver^- newspaper in Boston except " The 
 Bee;" and the administration of the new abolition Presi- 
 dent and Governor was not heartd}- supjiorted by the leading 
 editors, who almost universally advocated a timid policy. 
 The hunker and doughface clement was in the ascendant. 
 There was no pecuniary profit to an}' one in these i)ublica- 
 tions ; certainly not to the writers. The capital "Warring- 
 
"WAEIilNGTON." 95 
 
 ton" made out of the larger part of his political writing of 
 this kind was the same that he had made iu "The Lowell 
 American," — a name. Mr. Robinson wrote several pam- 
 phlets in 1861-62. The one best known and remembered, 
 perhaps, is, "A Conspiracy' to defame John A. Andrew," 
 of which the writer said (in 1875), — 
 
 ''This pamphlet was a savage attack on Mr. Saltonstall, in defence 
 of Gov. Andrew. Doubtless Mr. Saltonstall has forgotten it. He 
 has never thanked me for it ; nor did Andrew, for that matter. It was 
 one of my gratuitous works, though I believe the expense of printing 
 was borne by others." 
 
 Everybody' will remember how events crowded npon each 
 other in 1861. Mr. Lincoln had been obliged to go secretly 
 to Washington in February ; five States had seceded ; and 
 the Southern Confederacy had chosen Jefferson Davis for its 
 President. On the loth of April, Fort Sumter surrendered ; 
 and the countr}- was filled with excitement and consterna- 
 tion. Men enlisted at the call of the government, and 
 companies of soldiers began to be formed. Political differ- 
 ences were forgotten, and anti- and pro- slaverj^ volunteers 
 paraded the streets side b}- side to the tune of 
 
 " John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave: 
 His soul is marching on." ^ 
 
 Gov. Andrew sent to P^ngland for a thousand Enfield rifles, 
 and the soldiers soon went into camp. The Parrott gun 
 appeared, and people flocked to see this new engine of 
 destruction. One old man, on seeing it, remarked, " Them 
 missionaries have converted a heap of people." Cotton was 
 no longer king; and the North, that debatable land, vras 
 found at last. AVhatever their leaders might believe, there 
 was but one thought with the mass of the people, — to fight 
 
 1 This song was said to have originated at Fort "Warren, and was 
 sung universally by the Massachusetts soldiers. The last line of the 
 refrain was thus sung, — 
 
 " But Ilia soul's marching on." 
 
96 MEMOIR OF 
 
 for the old flag, and save the countiy from dismemberraent. 
 Emancipation ^\as an aftcrthonght, forced into the conflict 
 b}' the exigencies of the times. The rich and influential 
 classes (with few exceptions) were for peace on an}* terms. 
 To save the Union with or without slaver}- was the central 
 thought even of Massachusetts. As soon as oar troops 
 appeared at the South, the slaves began to escape, and come 
 into camp, where they were seized as contraband of war. 
 On the alarm being given that the Union soldiers were 
 advancing, the secessionists had told their slaves to go and 
 hide in the woods, else the Northern soldiers would kill 
 them. But they said, "We knew better. Wc thought we 
 could run to j'ou. "We have been praying for you since 
 March." Southern traders and merchants repudiated their 
 Northern debts, and there was no longer an}- interchange of 
 products. Cotton rose to an enormous price, and the mill- 
 owners of Lowell, Lawrence, and Manchester, began to sufler. 
 Northern merchants would send no more breadstuffs South. 
 A Charleston trader sent to Philadelphia for fifty barrels of 
 flour ; and this answer was telegraphed back : " Eat 3"our 
 cotton." 
 
 At a meeting of the Bird Club, June 7, 18G1, Mr. 
 Sumner said, "Gen. Scott has complete command of our 
 army of a hundred thousand men. He is a tyrant in his 
 methods of control. lie lies on his lounge in bis room (for 
 he suffers from gout) , and with a sticlc points out the desired 
 places on the maps with which his Avail is covered, and gives 
 his commands. Some one asked him how he should treat 
 Jeff Davis when he got him, and he answered by significantly 
 clinching his right hand." It was said that the rebellion 
 could be subdued in six weeks. Jul}- 21 the battle of Bull 
 Run was fought, and the country at last saw what the war 
 really meant. " Warrington " said, " There can be no peace 
 and no compromise until the rebels are beaten in a great and 
 decisive battle, or until they have beaten us in a great 
 and decisive battle. The North and the South, the United 
 States and the Cotton Confederacy, cannot live together, 
 
' ' WABEING ton:' 97 
 
 whether under one government or two, on equal terms. One 
 or the other must succumb ; and to every man who talks 
 of peace or compromise, or our ' misguided Southern breth- 
 ren,' we must say with Hotspur, — 
 
 * This is no world 
 To play with mammets, and to tilt with lips: 
 We must have bloody noses and cracked crowns, 
 And pass them current too.' " ^ 
 
 The doughface was ever^^where catering to the South ; 
 and as Henry Wilson said, while it was death for one of 
 our soldiers to steal a secession chicken, a Massachusetts 
 colouel was said to have sent a fugitive back to his owner, 
 and the papers did not condemn the act. But recruiting 
 went on in spite of doughface secessionists and a divided 
 North. The secession element in the machinery of govern- 
 ment is well illustrated by an extract from ""Warrington" 
 (in 18G3) on the " secesh joint : " — 
 
 "A curious instance of the way the Navy Department blunders has 
 been related to me. Perhaps you remember the ' secesh joint ' in the 
 machinery of the steamship 'Mississippi.' If you do not, let me 
 remind you that this steamer sailed one day from Charlestown Navy 
 Yard, and had got out a few miles, when she found herself crippled 
 by the breaking of a joint in the machinery. Upon examination, it 
 was found that the joint was made of India-rubber, carefully con- 
 cealed from observation. One Quiun was accused of doing the mis- 
 chief ; yet he was allowed to leave the yard, and is now in the rebel 
 navy, which, I venture to say, he does not furnish with India-rubber 
 joints. He was, in fact, guiltless of this offence to ' The Mississippi.' 
 There is now on file at the war department a letter from a most 
 respectable man, who declares that another engineer, an Englishman 
 named Green, confessed to him that lie made the * secesh joint.' He 
 pretended, to be sure, that it was an honest piece of work, and the 
 right thing to do. Now, where do you suppose this Green is ? Super- 
 intending the repairs on the steamship ' Niagara,' at the Charlestown 
 Navy Yard. It is all right, of course, but hard to understand." 
 
 It will be remembered that no attempt is made to give a 
 detailed account of the great events of this time ; but, in 
 
 1 New-York Tribune. 
 
98 MEMOIR OF 
 
 order to show Mr. Robinson's part in tliera, it is necessary 
 for his biographer to touch upon them ; and, if I seem too 
 minute in recalling all his writings during these eventful 
 3'ears, it is because of the desire to sliow where some of the 
 "gun-metal" came from that was used in these and other 
 stirring campaigns.^ It was not alone the soldier at the 
 front who fought the battle of emancipation. 
 
 In 18G1 there was not a newspaper in Boston, except " The 
 Bee" and "The Tocsin," that advocated the prosecution 
 of the war and the abolition of slaver^'. " "NYarrington " 
 tried in vain to get emancipation articles into several of the 
 leading Boston newspapers. He wrote on steadily, how- 
 ever, for " The Republican" and " The Tribune," and tried 
 to show the countr}- its duty. His leaders in " The Tribune " 
 advocated immediate emancipation long before it became 
 the polic}' of the administration, and urged that the slaves 
 should be called to fight in the war that was really waged for 
 them and their cause. lie said, ""We don't deserve to beat 
 while we ignore the black man, and the help that two hundred 
 thousand black soldiers can bring us." ^ "The Tribune," 
 though an emancipation paper, found many of his anti- 
 slavery and war articles too strong for its columns ; and they 
 were not printed. Jul^' 8, 1861, the last "Bee" appeared 
 with a rousing antislavcr}' article (written by " "Warrington" 
 that morning) , and a speech by AVendell Phillips ; and, to 
 use his favorite expression in such experiences, ]Mr. Robin- 
 son was " on his oars " again. For the first time in all his 
 newspaper life, he felt discouraged. There was again no 
 place for his pen in Boston ; and he was obliged to be silent 
 when he felt he could sa^- so much to the purpose. He had 
 been reading manuscript and doing other literary work for 
 "The Atlantic Monthly" in 18G0-G1 ; but about this time 
 he lost this occupation. 
 
 1 Appendix B. 
 
 2 Mr. llobinson, with other antislavery people, was afraid that the 
 South would emancipate first, before Pros. Lincoln saw it to be his 
 duty. Wlio can say wliat the difference in the result would have been, 
 if it had seen the issue first, and adopted this wise policy? 
 
"WARRINGTON." 99 
 
 The children were now old enough to meet their father at 
 night when he came home with, " Have you got any thing to 
 do yet, papa ? ' ' He was for the first time obliged to borrow 
 money to support his family. Some of the Boston merchants, 
 in the fall of 18G1, manufactured cloth army-mittens for the 
 soldiers, and furnished them, cut out and read}^ to sew, to 
 the Soldiers' Aid Societies and to individuals. Thinking 
 that, when such articles as her husband could write were not 
 wanted, it was high time some cheaper talent was called 
 upon to help support the familj', Mrs. Robinson secured 
 some of these mittens, and made them at seventy-five cents 
 a dozen. She stitched them on the sewing-machine, the 
 mother-in-law pressed them, and the children turned them. 
 Much of the army work was not done as it should have 
 been ; but the employer pronounced this work better done 
 than it need to be. It may seem strange to Mr. Robinson's 
 friends who know nothing of newspaper prices that his cir- 
 cumstances should have been so straitened when he was 
 writing weekly letters and articles in "The Republican" 
 and "Tribune," many of them two columns long. It is 
 the duty of his biographer to explain this matter ; and I do 
 it, not in a spirit of complaint, but as an excuse for his pov- 
 erty. I hope, also, that this explanation ma}- be of benefit to 
 any future "Warrington," so that he maybe better cared 
 for in this regard, spared such pecuniary struggles, and 
 saved to do his work a little longer ; for it is not easy to 
 find another like him. "The Tribune" letters were five 
 dollars apiece in 1861 ; the price being afterwards raised to 
 ten dollars a column. The price paid for "The Springfield 
 Republican " letters was two dollars apiece in 1856, and in 
 1861 four dollars a weekly- letter, long or short. In 1865 
 seven dollars, and in 1867 (after "The Tribune " raised its 
 price) ten dollars, a letter was paid. Finally (after 1870) 
 twelve dollars was reached, which was the highest price the 
 "Warrington" letters ever commanded. For much of his 
 writing, as I have shown, he was paid nothing, gladlj' giv- 
 ing it without price as his contribution towards the cause of 
 
100 MEMOIR OF 
 
 freedom. He had such an humble estimate of his own 
 labors, that he never complained of the compensation given^ 
 him. I say "given him;" for he was seldom known to 
 set a price on his writings, and took whatever was oflered 
 without demur. Let me say here, that he was always very 
 thankful for the opportuuit}' offered him in " The Republi- 
 can ' ' to say what he thought ; and this was worth more to 
 him than all else. It was considered somewhat wonderful 
 that this newspaper should print what he said, when he spoke 
 so plainl}- ; but in spite of his fierce radicalism, and the com- 
 plaints of subscribers, no attempt was made to mutilate or 
 alter his letters until 1862, when Mr. Bowles was absent in 
 Europe. The gentleman left in charge of " The Republi- 
 can " then attempted something of the sort, which resulted 
 in a spicy correspondence. From "Warrington's" answers 
 to this gentleman's letters I have selected the following 
 extracts : — 
 
 " If it be your object, as I presume it is, to drive me out of your 
 columns, you can achieve it very easily, and need not make so many 
 words aboiit it. I am mindful of my obligations to my absent friend 
 Mr. Bowles, and shall place the responsibility where it belongs. You 
 cannot place upon me any sucli alternative as you mention ; viz., that 
 I must be subordinate to you (in tlie sense of agreeing not to ' neu- 
 tralize,' or attempt to neutralize, the counsels of 'The Itepublican'), 
 or that you must be subordinate to me. As I liave never dreamed of 
 making you subordinate to me, the first horn of the dilemma is want- 
 ing; and I should not only feel personally disgraced, but should con- 
 sider myself a traitor to my country in her liour of need, if I coidd 
 consent to drag along in the tail of ' events,' floating like a dead lish 
 down the current, instead of trying, man-fashion, to create events, 
 and make that public opinion which shall by and by, if not too late, 
 drag Lincoln up to his duty. Events! — the protests of earnest men 
 against treason and twattle are events. You advise me to look over 
 my letters. I have no time to do so ; but I know, without looking, that 
 my opinions have been proved sound, and my predictions have been 
 verified by results. I venture to say, that not in one single particular 
 where I have differed from 'The Republican' have events failed to 
 justify me, and to prove it in the wrong. I, and such as I, lead the 
 people along; and you lag behind, and then take credit to yourself for 
 being in harmony with the people whom you have tardily followed. 
 I am obliged to you for expressing au interest iu my behalf; but it is 
 
"WAREINGTON." 101 
 
 not a matter of choice with me : I cannot keep silence, unless I am 
 compelled to. I will add, however, that your policy as to me is an 
 innovation ; for, during the six or seven years I have written for ' The 
 Republican,' I have quite as often run against, as in conformity with, 
 its doctrines. I have reason to believe, moreover, that this fact con- 
 stitutes the principal value of my letters to the paper in a pecuniaiy 
 point of view. If I write, I must write as I think and feel and ' know.' 
 In matters of taste and exj^ressiou I will try to improve : but I can- 
 not repress my conviction as to any party in vogue, or any man in 
 power ; for I am no man's man, — not even yours, my dear " — 
 
102 MEMOIR OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 CLERK OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF 
 KEPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 [1862-1870.] 
 
 " Scriptural autbority for my office. Palfrey's ' History of New England ' gives 
 an account of Cotton's draught of laws for Massachusetts in 1G36. He endeavored 
 to find biblical authority for most of its provisions. For instance, ' Everj' court 
 shall have ... a secretary to enroll all the .acts of the court;' for which the 
 authority is Jer. xxxvi. 10 : ' Then read Barucli in the book the words of Jeremiali 
 in the house of the Lord, in the chamber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan Uio 
 scribe, in the higher court.' " — Wabiungtox. 
 
 When the Republican party came into power, on the 
 election of Mr. Lincoln, a great man}- men expected to get 
 into office under the new administration ; and Mr. Robinson 
 was besieged by many of these office-seekers, who wislied to 
 obtain his signature to their petitions, and his indorsement 
 of their claims. He was told by his friends that now was 
 the time to look out for himself; that, for the asking, he 
 could have almost any office in the gift of the Republican 
 party. He, however, declined to ask for any thing ; main- 
 taining, now as always, that he " would hold no office to 
 which he was not elected by the votes of the people." On 
 this principle, he had, in several instances, refused proflfered 
 situations under government. Gov. Andrew had become 
 interested in him, and was desirous of presenting his name as 
 a candidate for clerk of the House of Representatives. In 
 a letter to Hon. P. W. Chandler, he said, — 
 
 " I want to interest you, so far as may be, in the matter of the 
 clerkship of the House of Representatives. I do hope we shall have 
 a good, faithful, honest, working session, nobody's private or public 
 
 f 
 
"WARRINGTON." 103 
 
 axes ground at the expense of the Commonwealth, and of just and 
 unimpeachable legislation. One great thing is to get a true man for 
 clerk. There is only one candidate who has yet, to my knowledge, 
 appeared : that is William S. Bobinson. He is a thoroughly honest 
 man, of large experience in such work, and every way capable. 
 Knowing last spring that Mr. Stowe was not to be a candidate 
 again, I brought the subject to his and Robinson's attention, in the 
 hope that we might, in the coming year, have Mr. Robinson in the 
 service, where I am sure there will be nothing done by him unsuita- 
 ble or wrong, and no effort unexerted to do right in his office." 
 
 Mr. Robinson had lived to see the party which he had 
 labored and sacrificed so much to establish, at last in power. 
 What did he ask of it in return for his services ? or what did 
 his friends ask for him? An office to which he must be 
 chosen annually to serve the representatives of the people, 
 and worth, at the most, sixteen hundred dollars a year, includ- 
 ing an assistant's pay. AVriting of this matter in 1872, he 
 said, — 
 
 " In the year 1862, which was the first of my clerkship, my actual 
 salary (i.e., exclusive of the pay of an assistant, paid by myself) was 
 only sixteen hundred dollars. Then for a year or two, and until the 
 work became insupportable, I did without an assistant, and received 
 two thousand dollars. Obliged to employ help, the legislature paid 
 for it. During the war, with a great number of others, we got 
 twenty-four hundred dollars, by means of a percentage ; and at last, 
 under a bill ' equalizing ' pay, they put us down, without remon- 
 strance, to twenty-two hundred dollars, but, before the session was 
 over, discovered the comparative injustice they had done, and set it 
 at twenty-five hundred dollars. Then, for two or three years, came 
 gratuities. One year, the Senate insisted, for a day or two, in voting 
 its own clerk five hundred dollars extra, and in defeating the same 
 amount which was moved for myself. The two salary bills in one 
 year (one reducing the pay), making a real increase from twenty-four 
 hundred dollars to twenty-five hundred dollars, were the ones Butler ^ 
 wenti'ound blathering about in 1871 or 1872." 
 
 AVhat would such eminent servants of the people as the 
 gentleman last named have thought of a mere bagatelle like 
 this? When remonstrated with for his modesty in being 
 satisfied with so small a return for such great services, he 
 
 1 Ex-Major-Gen. B. F. Butler. 
 
104 MEMOIR OF 
 
 replied, that he thought he could do more good in that posi- 
 tion than in an}- other. lie was elected clerk of the House 
 of licpresentatives in the legislature of 1862, as successor of 
 William Stowe of Springfield, receiving ever}- vote but two, 
 to the surprise of his friends, who expected some opposition 
 from the conservative members. He was full of gratitude to 
 those who had worked so faithfulh* for him. Among these 
 friends were Henr}' L. Pierce, Z. M. Crane (who rode two 
 hundred miles to help him) , Caleb Waitt (a Democrat from 
 his own town of Maiden), Thomas Drew, and numberless 
 others, including members of his " parish " from the western 
 part of the State.^ To his wife he said, " ' The Springfield 
 Republican ' letters have brought us a harvest at last," The 
 good fortune was talked over at home among the children. 
 Said one, "iVbzo I can go to Boston;" and another, "We 
 can go to the beach again ; " while the bab\- lisped out, 
 "Kirk of the House! — he ain't Kirk of the House: he's 
 papa." I never saw him so elated. The pressure of care 
 was at once removed : he assumed all his old buo^'anc}' of 
 spirits, and was almost the same as before his little boy died. 
 In this sudden accession of plent}' the parents saw education 
 for the children, and " a new way to pay old debts." Will 
 it be believed that the wife spent the " wee sma' hours " in 
 making the new clerk's old clothes look presentable for the 
 opening of the legislatui'e ? He had had good occasion for 
 some time past to practise his axiom, that " econom}- is hon- 
 est}-." He carried this axiom into the management of the 
 l^ecuniary affairs of his oflBce, \fhose expense^ it has been 
 said, were kept at a remarkabl}- low figure, considering the 
 "inflation of prices during his term. He resisted the attempts 
 made to increase his own salar}- or that of other State-house 
 officials on the ground that the people were taxed too much 
 to support the government, and that the salaries of such 
 officers were higher than they ought to be. In 1872, of this 
 matter he writes, — 
 
 1 Mr. Robinson Avas fond of calling liiti " 'Warrington " letters his ser- 
 mons, and their readers his " parish: " he was always glad to think ho\r 
 mnrli larrer it was than that of most nreachers. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 105 
 
 " I believe that Mr. GifEord and I may congratulate ourselves that 
 the salaries of the Senate and House clerks have been raised only 
 ninety-five per cent in a dozen years or more, while the increase in 
 other State-house salaries has been four hundred or five hundred per 
 cent: and the other expenses appertaining to the offices which we 
 filled, and which he now fills, are only twenty-five or thirty per cent 
 higher; in fact, a smaller increase than in any other department. 
 The stationery bills, I am quite sure, are no larger now than they 
 were a dozen years ago ; much less, indeed, than in 1855. Moses Kim- 
 ball cut off the House knives some years ago, and I found no great 
 difficulty in keeping the item out of the appropriation bill after- 
 ward." 
 
 Of Mr. Robinson as clerk, the speakers under whom he 
 served bear testimony to his " consummate official service." 
 In his valedictor}^ of 1865 Hon. A. H. Bullock (then 
 speaker) said, — 
 
 " I should be insensible to my own consciousness and recollection 
 if I were not especially to declare how uniformly he has aided me, to 
 an extent that has gone far to make my duties almost easy of perform- 
 ance. Whoever shall preside in this chamber, I can wish him no 
 better associate." 
 
 Writing of this matter, Mr. G. H. Monroe said, — 
 
 " Mr. Robinson soon acquitted himself of any obligation to any- 
 body by his course in this office. It was the State really that was 
 favored. No legislative body ever had a better clerk. He was author- 
 ity for years among the members ; and was decidedly the superior, in 
 knowledge of parliamentary law, to any speaker he ever served with, 
 with, perhaps, one exception." 
 
 His bright and cheerful wa}' of addressing the members 
 as they came towards his desk is well remembered. He 
 ahva3-s had a repartee ready ; was often seen joking with the 
 speaker between his rulings ; and it was suspected b}' some 
 that he made a farce out of the proceedings of the Great and 
 General Court. At the same time, he was always readj' ta 
 lend his assistance to any member, give of his knowledge, 
 and point out the best way to solve difficult questions on 
 legislative matters. It would be impossible to cite the 
 amount of clerical writing done b}' him during the eleven 
 3' ears of his clerkship. Besides the work belonging to his 
 
106 MEMOIR OF 
 
 office, there is no doubt that many bills and reports relating 
 to legislative action in the great events of those years were 
 drawn up and prepared by him. If his hand could be traced, 
 it might be found in even more important documents. 
 
 In 18G2 the weekly "Commonwealth" (now belonging 
 to Mr. Slack) was started by the late George L. Stearns, 
 who paid largely for its support during its first year, and 
 used it to advocate the re-election of Charles Sumner, the 
 adoption of the emancipation polic^vand the enlistment of 
 colored soldiers. M. D. Conway, F, B. Sanborn, and 
 other writers, had editorial charge of it ; and a radical anti- 
 slaverj- policy' was advocated, without regard to the supposed 
 interests of public men. In 1863 F. W. Bird and others 
 undertook to support the paper, and did so until it was given 
 to Mr. Slack. ""Warrington," though not employed upon 
 it as a writer, contributed to its columns from the time of its 
 starting, for very little if any compensation, — glad enough 
 to get a chance to sa}' his say again in a Boston newspaper. 
 When its managers were looking for a suitable person to 
 take this paper off their hands, here would seem to have 
 been a chance to provide for a radical antislaver}' editor 
 who had nothing to do at his favorite vocation. Mr. Robin- 
 son, however, never presented his claims ; neither the posi- 
 tion nor the paper was offered him : and ' ' The Common- 
 wealth " was finally given to Mr. Slack. "Warrington" 
 retained his place as writer, however, for merelj- a nominal 
 price. Among the articles marked in his scrap-book " Not 
 paid for," those from "The Commonwealth" figure prettj-- 
 largel}'. Many of his friends thought, at the time, that the 
 paper should have been placed under his control, if given to 
 anybod}' ; but, probably on account of his lack of the so-called 
 /'business faculty," it was passed into other hands. He 
 continued to furnish the fire^ for " The Commonwealth " for 
 a peiiod of ten or twelve years, during which time the 
 
 1 In 18(>5 tlie editor of the Coiniuonwoaltli liad an offer to go to 
 Cohuiibus, O., to edit a paper there, on tlie strength of some recon- 
 struction aiticles in this pai)er written by " "Warrington." 
 
"WARRINGTON." 107 
 
 "Warrington" letters were copied weeldy into that paper 
 from " Tlie Springfield Republican," or, as he said sen- 
 tentiously, " stolen without the permission of the author." 
 For the privilege of republishing these letters, Mr. Robinson 
 was never offered, and never received, a cent. He com- 
 plained less of this, however, than that his letters were 
 altered to suit the needs of an officeholder's organ. He 
 expressed this himself in 1872: " My letters have been 
 printed for several years in ' The Commonwealth,' but, for a 
 long time past, in such a garbled wa3' as to convey little or no 
 idea of their original contents." 
 
 In 1863 Mr. Robinson became secretary of the Republi- 
 can State Committee, and held that office until about 1868. 
 During these j-ears he wrote the addresses, memorials, and 
 (his part of) the resolutions which usually emanate from 
 that bod}'. This was then an important office ; for the times 
 demanded that the documents of the State Committee should 
 abl}^ set forth the principles and polic}^ of the Republican 
 leaders. The party in Massachusetts had become as pro- 
 gressive on the antislavery question as even " Warrington" 
 could desire ; and these documents expounded most forcibl}'' 
 the doctrines upon which the part}^ was established, and for 
 which it labored. He remained secretary of this committee 
 so long as the leaders of the party were in sympathy with his 
 opinions : when that was no longer the case, he resigned. 
 
 The forming of colored regiments Avas among the great 
 events of the year 1863. It was a pathetic sight to see 
 the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts (the first colored regiment) 
 march through the streets of Boston, bound for Newbern, 
 N.C. Three hundred of them, it was said, were fugitive 
 slaves, mostl}- from the West. The}' had a cowed look, as if 
 used to beseeching : they did not look among the crowd 
 with the eager, hungry gaze of the white soldier, as if in 
 search of a friendly face. Poor fellows ! many of them had 
 never known a friend. But here and there a colored woman, 
 with proud and joyful look, walked hy the side of her soldier. 
 The lieutenant-colonel of this regiment said he did not see 
 
108 ifEMOIR OF 
 
 that the black soldier differed raueh from the white one. 
 Tliey found fault with tlieir rations ; were inclined to sliirk ; 
 some were lazy ; and all wanted their pay, much after the 
 manner of white soldiers. History has kept the record of 
 how well they fought and died for their country. 
 
 It would seem that God was read}- for our armies to be 
 victorious, since the "iron-skin brigade" had hardl}* begun 
 to fight when victory was ours. Grant advanced ; ^Meadc 
 pursued Lee back into. Virginia ; and the cry, "On to Rich- 
 mond ! " uttered prematurely a year or two before, began to 
 sound in earnest. "One Meade," as he was called, had 
 commanded onl}' one week, and Gettysburg was fought and 
 won. "Was ever a reputation made so quickly !" said 
 " Warrington." Vicksburg and Port Hudson surrendered, 
 and all was no longer " quiet on the Potomac." The South 
 grew poorer as the North became richer and more prosperous. 
 Confederate scrip was given by the peck for a gold dollar, 
 while money was plenty at the North Avith gold at 2.25. 
 Fortunes were made everyday, and "shoddy" began to be a 
 significant word. The soldier sent home his pay ; and fami- 
 lies, that, before the war, had only the bare necessities of 
 life, now revelled in luxury. While at the South almost 
 every man and boy was a conscript, our quota was filled 
 without a second draft, as "Warrington" had said could 
 easily be done ; and 
 "We are coming, Father Abraham, three hundred thousand more," 
 
 was sung in ever}- town and city at the North. Many a 
 3-oung man, trained from his cradle in antislaver}- principles, 
 enlisted for the sole purpose of " getting one good lick at 
 slavery." The people were right at last, and led the domi- 
 nant part}' along the line of freedom. P^ven the conserva- 
 tive portion, who had so long objected to the needed 
 medicine, were now willing, as it was coarsely expressed, 
 to "swallow the negro." Pres. Lincoln's edict of emanci- 
 pation luid been put in force Jan. 1, l.SG;3;^ and the 
 
 1 The edict of emancipation had been promulgated in September, 
 
"WARRINGTON." 109 
 
 "peculiar institution" was becoming a thing of the past. 
 No fault was found now with "Warrington's" writings. 
 He had plenty of offers to write for newspapers ; and, as 
 events crowded upon each other, his opinion, said to be of 
 more value than fifty newspapers, was eagerly sought and 
 extensively quoted. 
 
 In Ma}', 18G4, Gen. Grant had made the declaration, 
 which will go far to save his name from oblivion, that he 
 would " fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer," and 
 was in hot pursuit of Gen. Lee. Atlanta was taken in Sep- 
 tember, and Sheridan was marching towards victory. Gold 
 went down, provisions cheapened ; and in December Savan- 
 nah surrendered, and the "back of the rebellion was 
 broken." Gen. McClollan had been nominated for President 
 (in 18G4) b}' the "Copperhead" part}-, in opposition to 
 Abraham Lincoln. There was great political excitement 
 over this election : frauds at the ballot-box {then a new 
 infamy) were anticipated ; and, to prevent illegal voting, the 
 polls were guarded by armed soldiers in New York, Chicago, 
 and other doubtful cities. The intense excitement at this 
 time cannot be appreciated or described except by those who 
 were witnesses. Women and children were as interested as 
 legal voters ; for it was felt by all that the fate of the coun- 
 try depended upon the continuation of Mr. Lincoln's admin- 
 istration, and the success of the policy of emancipation. 
 When Mr. Robinson returned from the polls on election-day, 
 he brought home a McClellau and a Lincoln presidential 
 ticket ; and, calling his children out into the garden, he 
 
 18G2. For the ratification-meeting at Fanenil Hall "Warrington" 
 wrote the resolutions. One of them was as follows : — 
 
 " Hesolved, That we rejoice with unspeakable joy that the cause of the country- 
 is now seen to be the cause of universal and impartial freedom ; that liberty and 
 union are henceforth and forever made one and inseparable by the glorious proc- 
 lamation of the 22d of September; that the edict wliicli gives freedom to three 
 millions of enslaved men strikes, at the same moment, a fatal blow at the most 
 wicked rebellion ever Icnown in historj'. We thank the President for this great act, 
 which is not less one of statesmanship and justice than of the most imperative 
 military necessity, God bless Abraham Lincoln 1 " 
 
110 MEMOIR OF 
 
 stuck the l\rcClollan ticket on a hook, and set fire to it. while 
 the cliikhen gave three qheers for " ohl Abe," — "to teach 
 them," he said, " tlieir political duty in their youtli." An 
 anecdote will illustrate how the uneducated voter is misled 
 by electioneering buncombe. A few days after election, an 
 adopted fellow-citizen remarked, " I don't see as things are 
 much higher since." — "Since what?" asked Mr. Robin- 
 son. " Why," said he, " they told me, that, if Lincoln was 
 elected again, things would be so high, that we couldn't get 
 any thing for our mone}' : but it ain't true ; for they ain't 
 quite so high as the}' tvas." Mr. Lincoln was re-elected by 
 a majority unexpectedly large, McClellan getting only twenty 
 out of the two hundred and fort}' electoral votes. Gov. 
 Andrew was also re-elected.^ 
 
 Jan. 6, 18G5, Charleston was evacuated, and the old flag 
 once more floated over Fort Sumter. Wilmington had been 
 captured, and Sherman was marching northward. March 
 20, 1SG5, the Rebel Congress adjourned sine die; and in Maj- 
 the Confederate President, Jeff Davis, was taken prisoner by 
 Lieut. -Col. Pritchard of the Fourth Michigan.'' The Con- 
 
 1 In his inaugural of 1865, Gov. Andrew made a memorable sugges- 
 tion with regard to a portion of the citizens of Massacliusetts. He said, 
 "I know of no more useful object to which the Commonwealth can 
 lend its aid than that of a movement adopted in a practical way to 
 open the door of emigration to young women, who are wanted for 
 teachers, and for every other appropriate as well as domestic employ- 
 ment, in the remote ^Yest, but who are leading anxious and aimless 
 lives in New England." By the " anxious and aimless" women, it was 
 supposed that the governor meant the widowed, single, or otherwise 
 unrepresented portion of the female citizens of the Commonwealtli. 
 This advice was kindly offered, no doubt; but it was received by tliose 
 for wliom it was intended as unasked advice is apt to be. Some mem- 
 bers of the legislature, liowever, thought more favorably of it; and it 
 was currently reported that a member of the Senate actually made the 
 following proposition : " That the ' anxious and aimless ' should assemble 
 on the Common on a certain day of the year, and that Western men 
 who wanted wives should be invited to come here and select them." 
 Legislators who make such propositions do not foresee the time when 
 those nearest and dearest to them may bo classed among the sujier- 
 fluous or " anxious and aimless " women. 
 
 2 Mr. Greeley, in his American Conflict, denies the story that Jef- 
 
''WARRINGTON." Ill 
 
 federates were about to arm their slaves ; but it was too late. 
 April 2, Richmond fell ; and on the. 9th Lee surrendered his 
 army, and Pres. Lincoln went to the front. On Feb. 4, 1865, 
 Abraham Lincoln had consummated the crowning act of his 
 great and noble life by signing the amendment to the Con- 
 stitution, prohibiting slavery forever. Gov. Andrew had 
 ordered, that, as soon as the telegraph should announce that 
 the President had affixed his signature, a hundred guns 
 should be fired on Boston Common, and the church-bells 
 should be rung. 
 
 The people of the North were filled with unspeakable joy 
 and thankfulness. Great illuminations were planned ; but 
 the lamps of victory were not to be lighted, and the people 
 used the "oil of jo}^ for mourning." The good President 
 was assassinated April 14 (1865), and by his tragic death 
 the joy was turned to sorrow. But for him — he had gone, 
 in the annals of his country, again and forever to the front. 
 The war was now over, and in September our troops began 
 to disband. vThe Fifty-fourth had proved itself as good a 
 fighting regiment as if its soldiers had not been colored^ It 
 came home without its brave, young, fair-haired colonel, who 
 was killed in the vanguard of liberty for the negro race.^ In 
 December the regiments paraded to the tune, "When 
 Johnny comes marching home again," and delivered up their 
 tattered colors, stained with the blood of many a fallen 
 comrade, and returned to their homes and their vocations. 
 In man}' cases, their old situations were open to them ; and 
 they took up the hammer, the trowel, the hoe, or the pen, 
 as if they had lain them down but j'csterda}-. Said Wendell 
 Phillips, "There never was such a thing known before in 
 the history of the world as so large an ami}' of soldiers 
 disbanding, and returning peacefully to the environments of 
 civil life." 
 
 The soldiers had done their part well ; and now came the 
 
 ferson Davis tried to evade pursuit by concealing his sex (and his 
 offences) in liis wife's garments. 
 1 Robert G. Shaw. 
 
112 MEMOIR OF 
 
 time for statesmen and politicians to do theirs. The radi- 
 cal portion of the Republican party had no faith in Pres. 
 Johnson, over whose conduct, both in pnblic and private, 
 they had good reason to mourn. Reconstruction must be 
 considered, and all its difficulties and dangers must be met. 
 At the Republican Convention at "Worcester, in September, 
 I8G0, Mr. Robinson offered this resolution, ^Yhich was the 
 keynote of the situation : — 
 
 "Resolved, That the entire pacification of the country, and the 
 restoration of order, is an object of the first importance, and one 
 whicli requires the exercise of the most deliberate and cautious wis- 
 dom in order tliat there may be no necessity of retracing our steps ; 
 and we agree with the Republicans of Pennsylvania, who, in their 
 recent State Convention, expressed the conviction that the people 
 lately in revolution cannot safely be intrusted with the political 
 rights which they forfeited by their treason, until tliey have proved 
 their acceptance of the results of the war by incorporating thom in 
 constitutional provisions, and securing to all men within their borders 
 the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; 
 and we call upon Congress, before whom must speedily come the 
 whole question of re-organizing the Southern communities, to see to 
 it that the loyal people, white and black, shall have the most perfect 
 guaranties for safety before any final steps are taken toward the 
 re-admission of the revolted people of the South to their forfeited 
 rights." 
 
 This was very extensivcl}' quoted and talked about ; one 
 gentleman saying before a Methodist Sunday school, that 
 " the best gospel he had seen for a long time was the resolu- 
 lution passed at the Worcester Convention." 
 
 Members of the legislature of 18G3, in appreciation of 
 his services as clerk, presented Mr. Robinson with a gold 
 watch and chain. In response to the presentation-speech, 
 he said, — 
 
 " Gkxtlemen of the House of Representatives, — I have 
 endeavored, but in vain, to collect my thoughts together, somewhat 
 jaded as they have been by the fatigues of the last two days of the 
 session, sufficiently to make a suitable response to tliis gift and the 
 kind expression which accompanies it. You will not expect me to 
 make a speech. I bad, indeed, applied to one or two young members 
 of the bar, some of whom made such eloquent speeches on the Navy 
 
''WARRINGTON." 113 
 
 Bill ; and tliey had partly promised to make a speech for me : but they 
 have failed to come. In this emergency, just as the speaker was con- 
 cluding his eloquent remai'ks, I luckily remembered the burden of a 
 German proverb, which I thought might serve as an excuse for my- 
 self on this occasion: 'Speech is silvern; but silence is golden.' I 
 thought that perha^DS it might have been made by the originator of 
 it for some similar occasion, and intended to indicate that he who 
 receives silver pitchers, goblets, and services, should make eloquent 
 speeches, and he who receives watches should keep mum. I cannot 
 fail, however, to add my testimony to that of the speaker as to the 
 promptness and admirable manner in which the business of the 
 session has been conducted, and to exjiress the belief that the Blue 
 Book, when it appears, consisting as it does of two sets, — public acts 
 and private axes, — will be honorable to the legislature. With these 
 remarks, sir, as complimentary as I am able to make them, and not 
 more complimentary than the members of the legislature deserve, — 
 to you, gentlemen, individually and collectively, and to you, sir, 
 for the kind manner in which you have expressed yourself, — I return 
 my sincere and heartfelt thanks." 
 
 The watch is inscribed as follows : — 
 
 " Presented to William S. Eobinson, Clerk of the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, by the members, Boston, 1863." 
 
 He was re-elected clerk in 1864, ever}- vote being cast for 
 him. Conscious of the ill feeling occasioned by his sharp 
 censures upon individual members, he was every ^-ear sur- 
 prised b}- the unanimity- of the House in his favor, and won- 
 dered that some movement was not started to prevent his 
 re-election. To show by how slender a tenure his bread and 
 butter was held, I ma}' sa}- that every year the members of 
 his famil}' went through the same phases of mind when he 
 said, as usual, " I maj- not be re-elected: I wonder I have 
 held the office so long." The children alwa3-s hoped that 
 he would keep it until the}- were old enough to go to work. 
 In May, 1864, by invitation of Gov. Gilmore, Mr. Robinson 
 went to Concord, N.II., to assist in starting a daily news- 
 paper, " The Concord Monitor." Gov. Gilmore wrote, that, 
 if he had wanted a man to be the mere tool of a faction, he 
 should never have applied to him. What he wished was to 
 make a thoroughly "live" and independent paper, which 
 
114 MEMOIR OF 
 
 would be an uncompromising advocate of the Union cause 
 and of the national administration. ]\Ir. Robinson staid in 
 Concord a month, until the paper was well launched, and 
 then returned home, satisfied that the field of usefulness was 
 not so large in New Hampshire as in Massachusetts. lie 
 said, " Massachusetts is the place for ideas, and the place to 
 which men look for ideas. The men of ideas ought to stay 
 here, I think ; and I, as one of the men who write, ought to 
 sta}' here also, and express their ideas." 
 
 In 1865 a movement was begun b}- Mr. Robinson's friends 
 to use his name as candidate for secretary of state. Several 
 newspapers urged his claims, and influential friends tried 
 to persuade him to consider the subject. One of them 
 wrote, — 
 
 " Give it your best consideration. It is a bettor place than yours. 
 It is a comfortable office, in which you could luake others do the 
 work, and yourself have more time for literary work." 
 
 Though assured that he could get the nomination without 
 an}' effort on his part, he refused to have his name used. 
 He was disposed, as usual, to "let well enough alone;" 
 and besides, he did not wish to do au}- thing to hurt Mr. 
 Warner, the incumbent, who was his personal friend. It 
 was jocosely remarked of this matter, that it would be safe 
 to offer a premium for another man in the State who would 
 let such an office as this go a-begging. In 18GG " The 
 New-York Tribune" made "Warrington" the offer of ten 
 dollars a column for weekl}' letters, and articles "to be 
 written as often as you please, and as sharp and pointed as 
 you please." He was receiving but seven dollars apiece 
 for his "Warrington" letters, many of them over two col- 
 umns long ; and being anxious to educate his children, and 
 pa}' for his home, he thought it his dut}- to accept tliis 
 proposition. He accordingl}' informed Mr. Bowles of this 
 determination ; wrote what he called his last letter in " The 
 Republican ; " and on Jan. 1, 18G7, began the "Warrington " 
 letters in " The Tribune." Onlv a few of these letters, 
 however, were published over this nom de plume, Mr. 
 
"WARRINGTON:' 115 
 
 Bowles having clenmrred to its use in the cokimns of " The 
 Tribune ; " and they were, therefore, continued without sig- 
 nature. Meanwhile, members of his flock Avere constantly 
 inquiring at "The Republican" office for " 'Warrington,' 
 that long-Tom down in Boston Harbor;" and its editor 
 expressed so many kind regrets at losing him, that he 
 wavered in his determination. Finally his warm affection 
 for his " parish," with whom he felt so much at home and 
 in sympathy, decided him ; and he returned to " The Repub- 
 lican," thinking, no doubt, as he afterwards expressed it, 
 that he was " like Andrew Fairservice in this, — that, if the 
 editor of ' The Republican ' did not know when he had a 
 good correspondent, I knew when I had a good ' medium ' 
 for communication with the public, and a tolerant, kind, and 
 gentlemanly friend." 
 
 "Warrington" has been criticised for opposing what he 
 called the narrow and impracticable policy of the prohibi- 
 tionists ; but, on the other hand, no one ever opposed " free 
 rum" more than he, both in his writings and in his public 
 and private life. In 1867, in opposition to the prohibitory 
 law and the State constabulary, a free (secret) rum organi- 
 zation was started, called the "P. L. L.'s ; " and this he was 
 never weary of opposing. Its members threatened him with 
 loss of office, if he continued the fight ; and a sachem in their 
 counsels called at his house one day to take him to task for 
 something he had written. Mr. Robinson sat quietly-, and 
 heard his visitor talk, for at least half an hour, answering 
 onl}-, " I suppose so," or "I don't know ; " the latter being 
 a favorite expression behind which he hid his opinions. 
 After the "sachem" left, the children, who were present 
 during the interview, asked, "Why didn't you say some- 
 thing, papa?" — "I don't know," said he, smiling know- 
 ingly. The next week's letter in "The Republican" 
 contained his answer. 
 
 At the election of clerk of the House in 18G8, this party, 
 as they had threatened, opposed Mr. Robinson. An old 
 Know-Nothing enem^' of his (a member of this secret order) 
 
116 MEMOIR OF 
 
 received eighty-one votes. " The Republican " said of the 
 result of this contest, that it "was a handsome success f6r 
 the indomitable 'Warrington,' who had not onl}' the bum- 
 mers of the P. L. L. faction down upon hira, but some 
 parties of high and low degree in official station who were 
 incensed at the freedom of his strictures." The loss of his 
 office, forever threatened, was again, for a time, prevented. 
 Free criticism of parties, individuals, and secret conclaves, 
 was not then considered by a majoritj- of the members of 
 the House of Representatives a sufficient offence to oflset the 
 good and regular standing of a member of the Republican 
 party. 
 
 The woman-suffrage question was first presented to the 
 legislature of Massachusetts at the Constitutional Conven- 
 tion of 1853 b}^ a petition of Mrs. Abby B. Alcott^ and other 
 women, "that they ma}' be allowed to vote on the amend- 
 ments to be made to the Constitution." This request was 
 a novel one, and, so far as known to the committee, was the 
 first ever presented to an}' government or other political 
 organization. The reasoning was able, and presented the 
 case in an unanswerable manner. It was voted inexpedient 
 to legislate upon the question, and the reasoning- was struck 
 out by a vote of 108 to 44. This was establishing an unfor- 
 tunate precedent with regard to this question ; for from that 
 time, whenever it has come before our legislative bodies, it 
 has met the same fate, — to have all just reasoning and argu- 
 ment stricken out, and to be decided by unreasoning yeas 
 and nays. Mr. Robinson's official connection with the 
 enfranchisement of woman began in 18G8, when, with the 
 assistance of Mr. F. W. Bird (a member of the legislature), 
 
 1 Sister of Samuel J. May, and wife of A. Bronsou Aleott of Con- 
 cord, !Mass. 
 
 2 The committee to wliom the petition was referred made a report 
 to the House, containinj? tlic i-easons set forth by the petitioners, and the 
 committee's reasons for refusiii;^ it. These reasons wore struck out by 
 a vote of 108 to 44, and "report that it is inexpedient for this con- 
 vention to take any action in relation thereto" was all there was left 
 of it. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 117 
 
 he caused a woman-suffrage measure to be introduced into 
 the House of Representatives, when it appeared for the first 
 time in the orders of the da}', and was defeated, one-third of 
 the House only voting in favor.^ 
 
 He continued all through his official life to draw the atten- 
 tion of legislators to this important subject, and to do all in 
 his power to further its interests. He wrote memorials to the 
 legislature, reports of committees, and helped secure commit- 
 tee-i'ooms for hearings. His position as clerk of the House 
 gave him great opportunities to help at the right time ; and, 
 hy wise management, he brought the subject out of the limbo 
 of contempt to which it had hitherto been doomed by the rep- 
 resentatives of the people.^ While " Warrington " remained 
 in office, the woman question always had a friend at court. 
 Gov. Claflin, in his inaugural of 1871, was the first person to 
 officiall}' present to the consideration of the people of the 
 Commonwealth the subject of woman's rights as a citizen. 
 "Warrington " firmly- believed in the political equality of the 
 sexes, and surprised his friends by the soundness of his argu- 
 ments, and the depth of his reasoning, on the subject. Many 
 
 1 This year (1877) the "Woman-suffrage Bill was defeated by a vote 
 of 122 to 83, or a two-fifths vote of the whole H(nise. This is a gain of 
 one-flfteeiith (or (>§%) in ten years; and, as a two-thirds vote is necessary 
 to get a bill through the House, according to tliis calculation the woman- 
 suffrage cause will be successful in about forty years. This can be seen 
 by the following proiiositiou : 61%: 26|%: :ten years — and forty years 
 will be found as the answer to what maybe called this "Stebbins" 
 problem. This would be disheartening, even if the premises were 
 correct, and we were sure that the votes cast in its favor in 18GS repre- 
 sented the real opinions and convictions of that legislature. Mr. Eol)- 
 inson, iu si^eaking of this matter, said, that probably not so many 
 members would have voted iu favor of the bill of 1808 if they had 
 .suijposed there was any danger of its being carried. The hopeful signs, 
 on the other hand, are, that the representatives of the people show more 
 and more decision of opinion on both sides of the question. Q''lie little 
 gain we have made in ten years encourages us to believe that we shall 
 go faster by and by; the law of momentum being, that any moving 
 body starting from a vacuum (the heavier the better) increases in speed 
 as it advances in its course. 
 
 2 It was moved by a member of the House of 18G9 that it be referred 
 to the Committee on Graveyards. 
 
118 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of them who did uot view the question from his stand-poiut 
 found it hard to appreciate his conviction as to its impor- 
 tance. In his early writings he had advocated the movement, 
 and his later writings are still stronger in its favor. The last 
 public action he took Avas in a committee meeting convened 
 to devise new methods for advancing the cause of woman- 
 suffrage. As he lost faith in the power of political parties 
 for good, and as his belief in their leaders became shaken, 
 he was more and more convinced of woman's capacit}' for 
 government and self-government, and of the need that existed 
 for her co-operation in public affairs. " No other cause," he 
 said, "could supersede the woman cajse in importance, any 
 more than anj' educational movement could supersede the 
 governmental question." A letter of political advice, written 
 by him in September, 1875, reads as follows : — 
 
 " I wish you would tell Foster and Garrison that I think switching 
 off upon the suffrage for tax-paying women a sacrifice of principle, 
 and a very had example to set to other States. Don't let us he led 
 away to such siinulcra of reform. It is all wrong. I would flatly 
 vote against any such proposition. Even if it could he carried, it 
 would not forward the general cause; for the tax-paying women 
 would rest there, or a majority of them turn up tlicir noses at their 
 weaker sisters, and do as the tax-paying men of Iihode Island (for 
 example) have heen doing ever since their constitution was passed, 
 — keep the non-tax paying men in the background. The true ground 
 of principle is eqiialitv of iiiguts with man. Uumanity is a unit: 
 one glory and one shame. Democracy means hi/, of, and for the peo- 
 ple ; and the people are men and women subject to rules, as to age and 
 residence, to be imposed only by general consent. This was the origin 
 of the exclusion of women from voting, — general consent, even of 
 women themselves, founded on the supposition that only an infinitesi- 
 mally small number, if any, would ever want it, and the idea that 
 they would always be in what was called a domestic sphere. Both 
 these reasons are now gone. Large numbers of them now demand 
 suffrage; and their sphere of operations and enterprise is widened, so 
 that they not only have the rUjht, which they always had, but an 
 increasing fitness, for civil life and government, of which the ballot is 
 but the sign and symbol. Don't let us abandon the fundamental 
 idea for any idea that parties will help us from fear or favor, or that 
 seeming gain to a part is any thing but a drawback to the rest. As 
 for parties, they don't fear you or love you yet. It is quite impossiblif 
 
"WARRINGTON:' 119 
 
 tliat either party should ever grant presidential suffrage alone. If it 
 passed an election, it would be overthrown by Congress or the courts. 
 It is just what the court at Washington would require for tipping 
 over the law. Don't vote for or aid rascals or quacks merely because 
 they pretend friendship. The cause has not got rooted deeply enough 
 in the minds of the voteks to make much liead-way or mind-way at 
 the iwlls; and there is so little experience in politics among the 
 women, and so much dishonesty among party leaders, that the dijffi- 
 culties are very great. Ton ask if you shall go for a prohibitory or 
 a labor candidate, provided he is for suffrage. By no means (if j^ou 
 take my advice), itnless he has other qualifications. I, for several 
 years, have scratched all unfit candidates; and I am too old, I hope, 
 to advise any one to vote blindly, or to give pledges. I hold to my 
 old opinion, that, if there is to be any meddling with politics at all, a 
 new party, even if it does not get a liuudred votes (and it would not 
 get more), would be the best. Following the Eepublican party is like 
 the sea-voyager who lashed himself to the anchor to escape." 
 
 In the Grant campaign of 18G8, Connecticut was consid- 
 ered a very doubtful State. Gen. Hawlcy of " The Hart- 
 ford Courant " was detailed b}^ the National Republican 
 Committee as a speaker for the campaign, and consented to 
 serve on condition that "• Warrington " should be secured to 
 take his place on " The Courant." Mr. Robinson, desiring 
 to increase his income for the purpose of sending his chil- 
 dren to a private school, after much urging from Gen. Haw- 
 ley and from a member of the National Committee, finally 
 consented to go. He began work on " The Courant" Sept. 
 10, 1868, with a leader and some squibs against the Copper- 
 heads. The loading Democratic paper in Hartford the next 
 da}'' accused " The Courant " of having imported " an editor 
 of the boiled-down, disunionist, old-stjde, brimstone, Garri- 
 son- and-Phillips school, from somewhere up in Massachu- 
 setts, named Robinson." He wrote home, "I am here for 
 the hard and earnest work of the campaign ; and if I feel 
 well, and like to sta}-, I shall try to give the Copperhead 
 papers enough to say." He staid in Hartford six weeks, 
 and wrote, on the average, a column and a half a day. For 
 this service he received two hundred dollars (including ex- 
 penses) ; and, when Connecticut was saved to the Republi- 
 cans, no doubt he thought himself well paid. 
 
120 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Mr. Eobinson -was not so much elated over the election of 
 Pres. Grant as some of his more sanguine political friends. 
 He thought it a matter of expedienc}- ; that, if the Kcpubli- 
 cans had not nominated him, the Democrats would have done 
 so ; that Grant would have accepted either nomination, and 
 been sure of election in either case. Charles Sumner's 
 election to the Senate for the tliird lime was secured in 
 1868 ; and on this occasion he wrote to Mr. Robinson as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 CooLiDGE House, Sunday, Nov. 8, 18C8. 
 My deae Correspondent, — I am happy in your personal sym- 
 pathy on the recent election. The contrast between that first election 
 to the Senate and the present promise is mighty. Few things like it 
 in the Hfe of a public man. 
 
 Ever sincerely yours, 
 
 CnARLES Sumner. 
 
 On Mr. Robinson's fiftieth birthday (Dec. 7, 1868), his 
 friends, wishiug to give him a substantial testimonial of their 
 appreciation of his services, held a reception, in honor of the 
 occasion, at tlie house of Mr. F. W. Bird, in Boston. Manj^ 
 friends who had been associated with him in public were 
 there to greet him ; and congratulator}' letters were received 
 from more than a hundred gentlemen. A few selections 
 will show their character. Mr. J. M. Earle of "Worcester 
 wrote, — 
 
 " I could not deny myself the opportunity, presented by the proposed 
 testimonial to W. S. Ilobinson, Esq., of throwing in my mite, as a 
 token of appreciation of the ability, and steady, luiwavering fidelity 
 and persistence, with which he has advocated and defended sound 
 political principles, from the time when he created a reputation for 
 Schouler, in " The Lowell Journal," down to the present day. There 
 have been times when it required no ordinary share of pluck, nerve, 
 and moral courage, to stand firm in defence of the right ; and he has 
 always proved true." 
 
 Lieut. -Gov. John Nesmith, an old "Lowell American" 
 friend, wrote, — 
 
 " Give him my thanks for his long and valuable services in the 
 cause of right and justice, ever guiding public opinion the way it 
 ought to go, rather than following it in the wrong, — a practice too 
 common wth writers for the press." 
 
"WARRINGTON." 121 
 
 William Stowe of Springfield wrote, — 
 
 "We cill love Bill, who know him. But, as Bowles observed, he 
 has never abused many of us up here, and, of course, cannot expect 
 a very liberal harvest." 
 
 Bishop Haven said, — 
 
 "He has declined offices that would have led to wealth, that he 
 might keep his pen clear for the duty laid upon it. His party has 
 grown rich and powerful ; and its ablest penman still occupies the 
 comparatively humble position of clerk of the Massachusetts House 
 of Eepresentatives." 
 
 Mr. F. B. Sanborn said of this birthdaj' affair, in " Tlie 
 Springfield Republican," — 
 
 " The general feeling was, that an act of justice had been done to 
 one of the men faithful to a good cause through evil and good report, 
 and who owed his position and influence to no accident, but to his own 
 talents, and force of character. The sting of his arrows was for- 
 gotten ; and the men whom he had laughed at, and those he would 
 laugh at hereafter, joined in commendation of the Middlesex Dioge- 
 nes, whose name in English is 'Warrington.' " 
 
 The address, written by Mr. F. W. Bird, was as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 William S. Eobinson. Dear Friend, — We are honored in being 
 selected to represent the friends who are gathered here, and many 
 others who are absent, on this fiftieth anniversary of your birth- 
 day. Believe us, no mere conventional observance prompts this 
 gathering. The close of half a century of your life presents a fit 
 occasion, for which we have impatiently waited, for bearing testimony 
 to our sense of public services, private virtues, and personal worth. 
 For twenty years, or upwards, many of us have known you well. 
 Ko twenty years in the history of JMassachusetts and the country 
 have been so full of great movements, — of movements esiDCcially 
 testing the courage, the sagacity, the fidelity, of men so largely and 
 intimately connected with public affairs as you have been. We are 
 inspired Avith new faith in the permanency and beneficence of repub- 
 lican institutions, when we remember that you derived no aid for the 
 duties you have done from academical studies or professional training. 
 Xone the less assiduously, — all the more vigorously, perhaps, — you 
 have drawn so deep from the wells of English undefiled, that you 
 may well congratulate yourself that you wasted no precious years in 
 the toilsome drudgery which precedes even the shallowest draught at 
 the ancient classic fountains. 
 
122 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Our children, who will enter the land of promise after these forty 
 years of painful wanderings through the wilderness, can never know 
 the price Iheir fathers paid for this freedom. You know how these 
 perilous times have tried men's souls. We remember, if you do not, 
 how bravely you have borne your part in this great contest. We 
 remember, — for most of us were with you " out in the '48;" though 
 some of us clung for a few years longer to the hope that salvation 
 might come to our political Israel out of the Nazareth of the old 
 parties, just as we were behind the farther-seeing pioneers of previ- 
 ous years, — we remember with Avhat enthusiam you joined the de- 
 voted band who led a forlorn hope in Massachusetts in protesting 
 against the subserviency of both the great political parties to slavery, 
 and what yeoman service you rendered in the three-years' battle 
 which rescued the old Bay State from her ignoble alliance with the 
 slave-power. You bearded the lion in his very den; for, if there was 
 one spot in Massachusetts where it was more dangerous than in any 
 other to follow independent convictions, that spot was Lowell. 
 Wealth, political preferment, social position, personal comfort, — all 
 that, speaking after the maimer of men, enters into the aspirations 
 of a young man, — were at the disposal of the controlling dynasties: 
 but you turned your back upon them all, though sorely needing them 
 all; choosing rather to suffer afflictions with the votaries of equal 
 rights, than to enjoy the pleasures of popular favor for a season. 
 
 We remember, when the tornado of 1854 swept over the State, 
 how bravely you breasted the storm, cheerfully accepting banishment 
 from public affairs, rather than to accede to the denial of equal rights 
 before the law on account of race or creed; and, during the six years 
 that succeeded that morbid paroxysm, — the sequelcc of the disease, 
 more obstinate, and often more fatal, than the disease itself, — you 
 kept the faith : and, when the re-action came ; when the people of 
 Massachusetts, with awakened traditions, convictions, and instincts, 
 placed Andrew in the chair of Winthrop and Hancock, — we remem- 
 ber how large the share you bore in shaping the policy which gave to 
 Massachusetts the five proiulest years of her history. 
 
 i/cec ol'uii meniinisse juvabit. These things, and more than these, 
 we shall always love to remember; and it is because we remember 
 them that we are here to-night, in imperfect token of our apprecia- 
 tion of your services to the rights of man. Few men in the country, 
 no man in Massachusetts, held so prominent a position as a journal- 
 ist as you have held for the last twenty years. During that time 
 you have discussed, freely and fearlessly, all the great public ques- 
 tions, more especially those of a political, social, and moral character, 
 which have agitated the community; and no man has written so 
 little which his friends would Avlsh to blot, or taken so few positions 
 from which he has been compelled to retreat. Your criticisms of 
 
"WARRINGTON-." 123 
 
 measures and men, though unsparing, have been so free from 
 prejudice or ill-will, — so manifestly prompted by honest convic- 
 tion, and so almost uniformly found, sooner or later, to be in 
 accordance with the soundest public policy, — that you have never 
 forfeited the confidence and esteem of any of the subjects of your 
 criticisms whose confidence and esteem are worth preserving. Per- 
 haps tlie rarest but most valuable quality of a public journalist is the 
 criticism of the public acts of our political friends. It is easy and 
 safe to attack our enemies : it is a brave but most salutary test of 
 fidelity and courage to rebuke our friends. To this, the highest duty 
 of i^ersonal and iDolitical friendship, you have ever been faithful ; and 
 yet there is no man who more fully possesses the confidence and 
 regard of the public men whom Massachusetts deliglits to honor. 
 Evei- just to the earnest and true, your fertile and caustic pen has 
 been the terror of pretenders, political, literary, or social, and of the 
 false-hearted, high or low, till you have earned the right to boast, — 
 
 " Yes, I am proud, I niiist be proud, to see 
 Men not afraid of God .afraid of me." 
 
 Without reflections of unmixed sadness, and without forebodings, 
 you enter the period of lengthening shadows. The struggles of 
 early years are followed by the comfortable rewards of industry and 
 frugality. Domestic life, so dear to your nature, offers to you all that 
 is expressed by that precious word " home." The acquisitions of 
 many years of varied studies, to be enriched through the njaturer life 
 upon which you are just entering, will ripen into a rich harvest for 
 memory and meditation in the tranquil evening which follows a tran- 
 quil life. And now, old and dear friend, in behalf of your friends 
 here, and of many others who have expressed regret that they are 
 unavoidably absent, we present to you these inadequate tokens of our 
 regard. I should be glad, if it were proper, to give the names of every 
 friend who is represented in these gifts. Gifts! — payments, rather, 
 of debts we all owe, which this testimonial feebly discharges. I shall 
 be pardoned, however, for saying that this fund was made up of 
 purely free-will offerings ; and every contribution was prompted by 
 sincere personal regards and cordial i^olitical sympathies. 
 
 Salte et vale! Hail and farewell ! Farewell to the past, for- 
 getting its rude experiences, and cherishing only its rich and blessed 
 memories. Hail to the great hereafter, with its duties and responsi- 
 bilities, its trials and triumphs. We have no misgivings as to your 
 future. The great cause to which your life has been devoted will 
 make ever new demands upon its votaries, and will continue to 
 reward faithful service with its choicest benedictions. We pray that 
 a kind Pi'ovidence may add, for you and yours, all the needed com- 
 forts of worldly life ; that as you draw nearer the shores of that broad 
 
124 MEMOIR OF 
 
 ocean we must sail so soon, with an unfaltering trust in the good 
 Father of all, you may commit the keeping of your souls in well- 
 duiug to him, as unto a faithful Creator; and 
 
 " When, soon or late, you reach that coast, 
 O'er life's rough ocean driven, 
 Oh ! may you meet, no wanderer lost, 
 A family in heaven." 
 
 Fkaxcis W. Bird. 
 
 RoBKRT K. Potter. 
 
 Edward W. Kinsley. 
 Boston, Dec. 7, 1868. 
 
 To these complimentary opinions Mr. Robinson responded, 
 expressing surprise at the exuberant generosit}' of his friends, 
 and protesting that the importance of his services, and his 
 merits as a journalist, had been exaggerated. lie said that 
 he himself could have written a more truthful account of 
 what he had done than the gentleman before him. As for 
 sacrifice, he was not conscious of having made any worth 
 mentioning. He was certain that in the task of critic, which 
 he had performed for some 3'ears, there were man}' compen- 
 sations ; and that he thought, on the whole, he had enjoyed 
 it at least as much as those he had criticised. He supposed, 
 however, that exaggeration was pardonable among radicals ; 
 and he was sincerely grateful for the friendship which would 
 permit sucli kind things to be said of him. He thanked his 
 friends, present and absent, Avho had shown their good-will 
 in the testimonial, which he was proud to receive.' lie loved 
 his friends, and, like the ancient philosopher, would rather 
 have a real friend than a horse or a dog, yea, than all tJie 
 gold of Darius. He wrote, " Beautiful is patriotism ; beau- 
 tiful is a cold-blooded sense of dut}" : but, on the whole, I 
 think that friendship — live, heart-to-heart loyalt}' — is quite 
 
 1 The gifts to "Warrington," liis wife, and family, were a marble 
 mantle-dock, three gold watclies, a silver watch, a thousand-dollar 
 bond, and two hundred dollars in greenbacks. He was very much 
 pleased at lliis demonstration on the part of liis friends; and, while the 
 substantial gifts were appreciated, the love and loyalty which prompted 
 them were more in his thought. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 125 
 
 as beautiful, and quite as useful in this world, hard enough 
 at the best." 
 
 These were " Warrington's " times of power. It is not 
 too much to sa}^ that, during the years of his clerkship, few 
 men could have held high public office in Massachusetts 
 without his advice or suggestion, such was the controlling 
 influence of his pen. He wrote men into place and position, 
 who, but for him, would never have been brought to public 
 notice. He was called the •' AVarwick " of Massachusetts, 
 His was the power behind the throne, — sometimes the veto- 
 power, — ever exercised unselfishly for the good of the peo- 
 ple. It is difficult to estimate his influence upon his time, 
 or the force he brought into the political aflTairs of the day. 
 
 Manomet is a small watering-place on the shore of Cape- 
 Cod Bay, near Pl^-mouth, where, during the clerkship 3'ears, 
 Mr. Robinson with his family spent his summer vacation. 
 He wrote of it as follows : — 
 
 " It is as good a place as can be found for a family refuge, where can 
 be enjoyed fishing, bathing, bowUng, clam-bakes, out-of-door sports 
 apd rambles, in-door music, cards, and charades, with an exceUent 
 chance to witness the old-fashioned but ever new-fashioned peren- 
 nial practice of courting and love-making ; where the whistle of the 
 railroad-train or the clink of the canakin is not heard, but where 
 the right to play whist is as unstained as the right to worship, 
 which the Pilgrims found and left in the old town of Avhich Manomet 
 forms a part. Daniel Webster used to sail thither from his bome in 
 Marsbfield, enjoy the fishing in the deep bay, and eat the famous 
 chowders made by Mr. Holmes, father of the present proprietor. If 
 it had not been for his hankering after the presidency^ he mlglit have 
 been living now, and fishing in peace and quiet along these shores; 
 his ambition for that empty oflice having not only cost him his life,' 
 but most of his early-earned honors. Research failed to gather any 
 reminiscences of this great man. The skipper of the place, however, 
 recalled that once Mrs. Webster came there with her famous husband, 
 and, while sailing on the bay, dropped her handkerchief into the water, 
 causing him (the skipper) much trouble in tacking and veering to re- 
 claim it." 
 
 Mr. F. W. Bird introduced " Warrington " at Manomet 
 in the summer of 1860 ; and he, with other political friends, 
 was in the habit of going there during the following years. 
 
126 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Here a great deal of political planning was done. Said 
 "Warrington " in 18G8,— 
 
 " One of our choicest reminiscences of politics is the planning of 
 the campaign at that place, with Adin Thayer, F. W. Bird, and one or 
 two other radicals, which resulted in the nomination of Mr. Sumner 
 for senator by the State Convention of 1802. This was a bold and 
 somewhat risky plot, for such a thing had never been ventured on 
 before, and, with Mr. Dana and the conservatives generally in well- 
 known opposition, required, as we thought and still think, no little 
 courage. J. Q. A. Griffin was thought a fit man for chairman of the 
 committee on resolutions ; and those who remember how successfully 
 he met Mr. Dana's careful tactics and shrewdly-put arguments know 
 liow well the result justified the selection. The success of the scheme 
 was due, however, of course, to the fact that the people, who were 
 represented, were for Mr. Sumner by a large majority. The merit of 
 the radicals was in knowing this fact, and determining that the popu- 
 lar will should not be frustrated by adverse management, and the 
 popular impulse defeated in the succeeding legislature. This suc- 
 cessful movement paralyzed the ' People's Movement,' which would 
 have become, under a diffei-ent policy, much more formidable. It put 
 a stop to the milk-and-water system of 18G1, which had already begun 
 to be mischievous ; and gave tone to the politics of the country in no 
 inconsiderable degree." 
 
 The first gun in the Butler campaign of 1871 was fired 
 from Manomet. 
 
 His practice of always si^eaking from his own identity, 
 and calling people and things b}' their right names, caused 
 "Warrington" to be called the most personal of writers. 
 Speaking of personal and impersonal writing (in 1859), he 
 said, — , 
 
 " I call this impersonality talk all * cant.' It is cant peculiar to 
 two or three New-York papers. I would like to know why the i^ress 
 should be impersonal any more than the pulpit. We should think it 
 odd, if, whenever we go to clun-ch, a voice should issue from behind 
 the pulpit, and give us doctrine and morals, without letting us know 
 from whose lips it came. We might be inveigled into listening to 
 Kalloch while fondly believing that it was Father Taylor or Dr. 
 Neale. He who has a reform on his hands must not shrink from 
 personalities." 
 
 Mr. Robinson never felt the least ill-will towards the per- 
 sons he criticised, or looked for any ill-will towards himself 
 
"WARRINGTON:' 127 
 
 in return. Of his man}' controversies with public men, that 
 with his friend Bishop Haven will best illustrate this phase 
 of his character. These two seldom agreed as to political 
 methods ; and the prohibitory question was alwa3-s a bone 
 of contention (in " Zion's Herald " and " The Republican ") 
 between them. But their hottest controversy was over the 
 unfortunate Richardson and MacFarland affair. Dr. Haven 
 took the ground that Mrs. MacFarland, however ill treated, 
 had no right to leave her husband, or marrj- another man. 
 He looked only at the common Bible-view of the question, — 
 namel}', "whom God hath joined;" forgetting the occasion 
 when Jesus said to the woman who had had five husbands, 
 " Thou sa3'est truly, the man thou livest with now is not thy 
 husband." " Warrington " defended Mrs. MacFarland on 
 the latter ground ; arguing from the patent fact, that man, 
 and not God, had joined MacFarland and his wife together. 
 Haven accused "Warrington" of being a "free-lover," and 
 of not keeping the seventh commandment ; to which he re- 
 torted by calling the bishop an "assassin." The public, 
 doubtless, supposed these two writers to be at swords'-points ; 
 but, instead, Dr. Haven, who lived in the same town, would 
 almost every evening show his sonc}' face at Mr. Robinson's 
 door ; and the two warm friends would fight their battles over 
 again, laugh at what they had written, and congratulate each 
 other on the tactics used in this pen warfare. One evening, 
 one of Mr. Robinson's children refused his proffered hand on 
 entering; saying, "You called m}' father a free-lover." — 
 "He called me an assassin," retorted Dr. Haven, bo}'- 
 fashion. " Well," was the repl}', " I had rather be called an 
 assassin than a free-lover." — " So had I," quoth the bishop. 
 Upon that they shook hands. Then said Dr. Haven to Mr. 
 and Mrs. Robinson, " I am glad to say that free-love (as a 
 practice) does not get into your house ; for you are almost 
 as completely one as if orthodox in all other respects." 
 
 "Warrington" had a humble opinion of his labors. He 
 would not allow that any thing he did was more than ' ' mid- 
 dling good." When asked why he did not publish a volume 
 
128 MEMOIR OF 
 
 of his letters, he replied, " The3- are not worth it: there are 
 too many books already." He did not take credit for muclji 
 of his ollicial writing, particulail^- that which he did as sec- 
 retary of the State Convention. Ycxy few knew by Avhose 
 hand those stirring addresses and appeals to the people 
 dnring war-time were written. Of his domestic life during 
 the years he held the clerkship, the annals are uneventful. 
 Happ3' in being free from pecuniary care, with the columns 
 of an influential paper open to him wherein to sa}- what he 
 chose, his opinions treated with that respect which position 
 and office give, and his countr}' at last on the right road 
 towards its high destiny, he was satisfied. He never men- 
 tioned his early trials, but to laugh at them as " part of the 
 discipline." His prosperity' never changed the simplicitj- 
 and modest}' of his surroundings. When advised to malie 
 some addition to his furniture, or some change in his house, 
 such as his neighbors thought indispensable, he said, '■'-We 
 should look well buying such things as those." He made a 
 similar answer to his children, when urged by them to keep 
 a horse for their use, and for his own health and recreation. 
 He would never bu}^ or own a dress-coat, even to attend the 
 governor's levees; saying, "It is beneath an American citi- 
 zen to take thought of dress-coats." He continued a free and 
 natural man in all respects. He ate sparing!}', and had no 
 choice as to dishes. He seldom drank wine or spirits of any 
 kind ; never used tobacco in an}" form ; and, as he pleasantl}' 
 said, had none of the small vices. He believed in luck, and 
 called himself a luck}' man. He was also fond of repeating 
 what a happy man he had always been ; differing in this from 
 most people, who are happy without knowing it, and who 
 " never are, but always to be, blessed." His friend Bishop 
 Haven thus described his personal appearance in 18G5-G7 : — 
 
 " A lymphatic, sliiit-iii man, smiling only round the mouth, which 
 is carefully covered with liair to hide the smile; short, thick-sot, with 
 his head not unlike that of Irving's great Dutch governor, wliich 
 Nature made so perfect, that she could find no neck to match, and so 
 set it directly on his shoulders; high forehead; sliglitly bald; thin 
 hair; ruddy of face; and the keenest political writer in America, and 
 Ihc best political writer since * Junius.' " 
 
"WARRINGTON." 129 
 
 His writings gave the impression that he was crabbed and 
 hard, and new acquaintances were often surprised to find 
 him so genial. Some one once called him a cynic ; and he 
 wrote, in repl}', — 
 
 " I belong to no philosophic sect, unless the enforced practice of 
 eating beans at the State House makes me a Pythagorean : so I i^ro- 
 test I am wronged when I am styled a cynic. I might as well be 
 called a hypothenuse, for any information or characterization the word 
 conveys." 
 
 In 1866 he had bought the house in Maiden in which he 
 had lived for several j^ears, and in which he died. He had 
 been averse to bu3ing a house, preferring to be unencum- 
 bered ; so that, when he wanted to move, he could do so, 
 without being, like the turtle, obliged to carry his shell on 
 his back. But his landlord, Mr. Henr}- Amerige, had so 
 urged him to buy, offering the house at a lower price than he 
 had been offered b}' other parties, that he finallj^ consented 
 to become a landholder ; and the price (thirt3'-six hundred 
 dollars) was paid in a year or two. In the last 3'ears of 
 his life, he often expressed his gratitude towards this kind 
 friend, who, although not one to whom he had ever done a 
 favor, had 3'et, with such solicitude, urged him to provide 
 a home for himself and famil3'. 
 
 Of the famil3' home bought b3' the earnings of such a man 
 as "Warrington" it can well be said, with Ruskin, "that 
 our sons, and our sons' sons for ages to come, might still 
 lead their children reverentl3' to the doors out of which ho 
 had been carried to the grave, saying, ' Look, this was his 
 house ; this was his chamber ! ' " 
 
130 MEMOIR OF 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BUTLER AND BUTLERISM. 
 
 [1870-1874.] 
 
 " For an oracle says, that, ■when a man of brass or iron guards the State, it will then 
 be destroyed." — Plato's Hepublic, Book UI. 
 
 ""Warrington" in 1870 liad attained to a position of 
 comparative pecuniary ease. lie had a home of his own ; 
 his children were being educated ; his writings were appreci- 
 ated ; and he was blessed according to his desire "with 
 honor, love, obedience, troops of friends." It was indeed 
 time for a reverse. In 1869 the Republican party was in a 
 good-bo3' condition : having learned its lessons, and recited 
 them well, it was enjoying its rewards of merit. Discipline 
 and order were maintained ; but a new element was soon to 
 appear, bringing confusion and demoralization into its ranks. 
 This new element in Massachusetts was Major-Gen. Benja- 
 min F. Butler. Pres. Grant had fulfilled his promise of a 
 political peace ; and there was no question in Massachusetts 
 politics of more moment than the division of towns, the 
 introduction of water, and the claims of candidates for office. 
 " Their tameness is shocking to me," said " "Warrington" 
 of the politics of 18C9. In 1870 the Butler fight really 
 began. "Wendell Phillips hi^d been nominated for governor 
 by both the Prohibitory and the Labor Reform parties. In 
 one of his first campaign lectures (at Music Hall, Boston, 
 Oct. 18) he made an unprovoked and bitter attack on the 
 Republican party, on " Warrington," F. AV. Bird, and other 
 leading men who were its representatives. " Warrington " 
 
" WARRING TON. " 131 
 
 sat in one of the front-seats of the lecture-room, listening to 
 this attack. Before the lecture closed, he left the hall, went 
 immediately home, did not sleep upon it, but took his pen to 
 free his mind. In the next daj-'s "Journal" appeared his 
 first paper on " Wendell Phillips at Music Hall, — a Re- 
 view," which was followed by four other papers on the same 
 subject. He opposed the movement to make Mr. Phillips 
 governor, because he thought it inimical to the interests of 
 the parties who had nominated him, as well as to those of 
 the Republican party. In his last speech before election, Mr. 
 Phillips said, " Do 3-our dutj^ to-morrow, and in another 
 year some of us will get out of the wa}', and give you an 
 opportunit}' to elect a real governor." 
 
 This " real governor," so confident!}' predicted to come in 
 1871, w^as Butler, for whom Mr. Phillips was only a breaker- 
 up of the ground. "The Atlantic Monthl}- " for Decem- 
 ber, 1871, contains an article by " "Warrington," on "■ Gen. 
 Butler's Campaign in Massachusetts," which gives an ex- 
 haustive account of that gentleman's raid upon the governor- 
 ship. The limits of this biography forbid a detailed history 
 of that contest, which can be better gathered from the above- 
 mentioned article, or from the selections in the succeeding 
 pages. I have been advised b}' well-meaning friends to 
 say as little as possible about the Butler campaign. This 
 campaign — a light against the one-man power that he 
 thought so dangerous to our sj'stem of government — was 
 the crowning glor}' of " \Yarrington's " political life. I 
 know full well what the "alarm, the struggle, the relief," 
 cost him and those he has left behind ; and it is m^^ duty to 
 say what I think to be right and just to him. I shall " noth- 
 ing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice." "It was a 
 fair fight," said he to the last day of his life. "Whether the 
 stab in the back, given after the fight ended, was fair play 
 or not, I shall leave those to decide who are more familiar 
 than I am with the tactics of political warfare. 
 
 In June, 1871, Mr. Robinson received the following letter 
 from Butler. The note at the bottom is just as it was 
 written by him on the original letter. 
 
132 MEMOIR OF 
 
 12, Pembertox Square. 
 My dear Robhtsox, — May I trouble you for a favor? I desire 
 to obtain all the reports, documents, immphlets, or other materials, 
 exhibiting the condition of the punitive and reformatory institutions 
 of the State for two years past. I also desire to get any reports of 
 reformatory societies on the same subject. I would also like all I can 
 have upon "compulsory education," including our truant system 
 (official or xinofficial). I am asking an immensity from you, but will 
 reciprocate with the whole document-rooms of Congress, if you 
 wish. May I trouble you so far as to send them? or, if you will 
 notify me when the package is to be had, I will send my messenger 
 for it. I am yours sincerely, 
 
 Bexj. F. Butleb. 
 William S. Koblssoj.', Esq. 
 
 He made a lying attack on me in his first speech. — W. S. R. 
 
 At great inconvenience he attended to the matter per- 
 sonall}', collected the desired documents from the various 
 State departments, and forwarded them to Butler's head- 
 quarters in Pemberton Square, Boston. Butler's first cam-, 
 paign speech, containing the " Ijing attack" above men- 
 tioned, was delivered while "Warrington" was at his 
 summer resting-place, Manomet, and was replied to from 
 that place. After his return, he wrote a series of letters 
 for " The Boston Journal," called " Gen. Butler Kcviewed." 
 Long articles on the same subject were also written b}- him 
 in other leading newspapers. The " AYarrington " letters 
 in "The Republican" took up the strain; and, as fast as 
 the "claimant" (as E. R. Hoar called him) spoke, " "War- 
 rington " replied. His pen galloped da}' and night, — some 
 nights he only allowed himself five hours' sleep, — Avorking 
 steadily to keep the State from tlie hands of a man who rep- 
 resented the most vicious i)rinciple in our affairs, — the ten- 
 dency towards personal government. His little son said, 
 " "What makes j'ou sit up so late, father? Why don't 3-ou go 
 to bed?" — "Oh! I'm writing a letter, my boy." — " For 
 the papers?" — "Yes." — "Well, who are you pitching 
 into now, father? " Bishop Haven, though on Butler's side, 
 refrained from his pleasant habit of dropping in during the 
 evenings, so as not to interrupt this work. One evening, as 
 
' ' WAERING TON. " 133 
 
 he passed the house with a friend, he said, "There in that 
 little house burns the onl}- light in this State that Ben Butler 
 is afraid of." A few leading Republicans joined in this 
 opposition to Butler's claims. Our senators, Sumner and 
 Wilson, issued a manifesto against him, to the effect that 
 "they deep 1}' regret and deplore the extraordinary canvass 
 which Gen. Butler has precipitated upon the Commonwealth, 
 and especiall}- the attacks which he has volunteered against 
 the existing State government and the Republican part}- of 
 Massachusetts ; and that, in their opinion, his name as 
 
 GOVERXOIl WOULD BE HOSTILE TO THE BEST INTERESTS OF 
 
 THE Commonwealth and the Republican party." 
 
 This course was urged upon them b}' "Warrington" and 
 some of the leading journalists. D. A. Goddard of "The 
 Advertiser," W. W. Clapp of "The Journal," and Samuel 
 Bowles of "The Republican," declared that their papers 
 would not support Butler as a candidate for governor. Mr. 
 Sumner wrote the manifesto, showed it to Mr. F. B. San- 
 born and to " AVarrington " before it was printed, and car- 
 ried it himself to the "Journal" office to be set up. As 
 soon as the card appeared, Butler hurried down to the Cool- 
 idge House to remonstrate with Mr. Sumner, but could get 
 no satisfaction. He went on with his campaign, making 
 speeches every night, and in every speech attacks upon 
 " Warrington," whom he with justice considered the leader 
 of the opposition. The onl}' ground he had to stand upon 
 for these attacks was Mr. Robinson's fat salary (three thou- 
 sand dollars a 3'ear), and the fact that he employed his 
 daughter as his assistant.^ All his researches into official 
 documents had failed to discover any little peculation or 
 other charge to bring against the writer who ever^' da}' came 
 out in the papers against him. By long acquaintance with 
 Butler, "Warrington" knew exactly how to rate him, and 
 where to attack him. When the prominent men of the party 
 
 1 This was, probably, the first instance in this country of a lady hold- 
 ing an oflicial position in a legislative body. 
 
134 MEMOIR OF 
 
 drew back, he stepped to the front, and drew upon his victim 
 ever}' arrow of his wit ; so that he fell an easy prey to thp 
 rank and file when the}- came up, led b}' E. R. Hoar, Senator 
 Dawes, and others. The opposition to Butler's raid (which 
 was kept up ever}' night until after the 20th of September) 
 met with very little opposition, except from the newspapers, 
 until within a short time before the Worcester Convention. 
 His mone}' ran like water, and found its wa}- into Maiden, 
 where it hired a band of music, and drummed up recruits to 
 the Butler Republican caucus to nominate delegates for the 
 convention. "Warrington," who heretofore had invariably 
 been delegated, was " forgotten to be remembered," On 
 learning of this omission, he smilingly said, — 
 
 " Thej' reckon ill who leave me out." 
 
 The Bird Club, that impromptu organization, rallied against 
 Butler. Said ' ' Warrington , " — 
 
 " This club is composed of conservatives as well as radicals. But 
 Butler knew that a great majority of the men who sat at its table 
 held him at arm's-length, distrusted him; some of them despised 
 and hated him. They can afford to be known as leading men in the 
 army of defence which has routed Butler, and saved the State from 
 a disgrace which would have lasted for a generation." 
 
 Butler was defeated in the convention by a hundred and 
 sevent3--nine votes. The feeling of relief in Eastern Massa- 
 chusetts was ver}' great ; and no happier set of men than the 
 Republicans had been seen for a long time : ten to one 
 were rejoicing. " Warrington " received congratulations on 
 all sides, and was profusely thanked by those who knew 
 " that he was the first to take hold of Ben, and the last to 
 let go." He had congratulatory letters, telling him tliat he 
 had never done such splendid work before, or written so 
 strongly, so avcU, and so effectivel}'. Ilis friend Gilbert 
 Haven told him that at last he had "struck twelve." The 
 newspaper folk were delighted at the defeat of this man who 
 had defied them and despised the voice of "the papers." 
 The faint-hearted ones, who had feared the influence of the 
 
''WARRINGTON." 135 
 
 candidate's glib tongue over the people, were obliged to own 
 that the pen was the mightier power. "Tools!" saj-s Car- 
 lyle, " tools ! Hast thou not a Brain, furnished, furnishable 
 with some glimmerings of Light ; and three fingers to hold a 
 pen withal? Never since Aaron's Rod went out of practice, 
 or even before it, was there such a wonder-working tool : 
 greater than all recorded miracles have been performed by 
 Pens." 
 
 In April, 1872, a new departure in politics was proposed ; 
 and a call was issued for a convention of liberals of all par- 
 ties to nominate a candidate for President. In spite of the 
 remonstrance of his friends, who told him that it would be 
 at the certain risk of loss of office, "Warrington" signed 
 the call for this convention. Mr. G. H. Monroe said of this 
 act of his friend, that he ' ' never knew of any one so abso- 
 lutely' fearless, and regardless of himself and his interests, 
 as to sign such a call at this time." Of his opinion of the 
 movement, he wrote, — 
 
 " I am satisfied that it is necessary, even at the risk of hazarding a 
 Democratic triumph, to call, ' Halt ! ' I know that great numbers of 
 Eepublicans think so. I know the young men ought to be led to 
 better things than this personal Grant party propose to give them. 
 . . . There should be a protest against this inevitable badness, and an 
 attempt to reform it. The question of a new party was. the same in 
 1848 and 1844. The war is over : we must get back to peace fashions ; 
 martial law must give way to civil government and the maxims of 
 peace ; and, if the full consummation is to be delayed till 1876, we 
 ought to make a beginning now, so that it may not be postponed till 
 1880 or indefinitely." 
 
 When the Cincinnati Convention nominated Horace Gree- 
 le}', "Warrington" was disappointed. He had no faith in 
 Mr. Greeley's powers to establish a party of reform, or 
 found one that would last a reasonable length of time ; and 
 said, — 
 
 " The nomination of Greeley throws the politics of the country into 
 confusion. I don' t believe the people of this country are ready to go 
 through a presidential election for the purpose of confusion. So far 
 as personal duty is concerned, every man can at once determine for 
 
136 MEMOIR OF 
 
 himself. I have all along thought Trumbull and Johu Q. Adams 
 •would have been the strongest ticket for Cincinnati. It seems to 
 me a mistake to suppose both candidates should be Kcpublicans. 
 When Frank Blair appeared on the Cincinnati platform and dictated 
 its nomination, or (take another theory, not contradictory, but col- 
 lateral) when Fenton dictated a presidential candidate for the pur- 
 pose of controlling the politics of New York against a senatorial 
 rival, the reform movement was raided upon and captured. No 
 blame to it. It was in its idea an honest and wholesome movement. 
 The shij') engaged in the honestest trade is as likely as any other to be 
 taken by a pirate. The Cincinnati Convention was so taken. It was 
 a sign that that way out of politics had, for that time, failed. It was 
 a sign that the personal system had been able, not only to control the 
 administration and all local and general politics, but to detail men 
 enough to break up, for the time being, the attempt at reform. The 
 movement was, for that time, at an end." 
 
 Pres. Grant was re-elected b}' a large majority. Man}' pro- 
 gressive Republicans who did not accept Mr. Greele^^'s nomi- 
 nation voted for Grant as the less of two evils, IMr. Robinson 
 among them ; though be afterwards expressed regret at liav- 
 ing done so. Horace Greeley died shortly after the November 
 election : " Gone in peace, after so man^- struggles ; in honor, 
 after so much obloquy." ^ "Warrington " was elected for the 
 eleventh time b}' the legislature of 1872 ; only twenty-four 
 dissenting votes being cast, — not so much opposition as he 
 had expected. He had taken very little rest after the severe 
 mental strain of the Butler fight ; and, during this session 
 (prolonged on account of the great Boston fire-), his health, 
 never robust, began to show symptoms of decline. After 
 the legislature adjourned, he made a short visit in Dubuque, 
 lo., whence the letter was written to Mr. Sumner on " The 
 Political Situation of 1872." Having signed the call for the 
 Cincinnati Convention, he felt himself a little out with his 
 party, though he had voted for the best of its candidates. 
 He expressed the thought that he did not expect to have 
 
 1 New- York Times. 
 
 2 There hud been an extra session on this account in November and 
 December of 1872. It was at this extra session that the resohitiou of 
 censure was passed upon Charles Sumner. 
 
"WAREINGTON." 137 
 
 much to do with politics this year, except in the way of criti- 
 cism and newspaper-writing. 
 
 Butler did not repeat his raid upon the governorship in 1872, 
 being busy with weightier matters, one of which was the defeat 
 of "Warrington" as clerk of the House of Representatives. 
 By his frank criticism of Butler's public career, "Warring- 
 ton" had incurred that person's hostility, who looked upon 
 him with justice as the head and front of the opposition to 
 his attempts upon the governorship in 1871. Being the only 
 leading man of his opposers who could be reached with im- 
 punity, he determined to make an example of him. Ru- 
 mors of secret machinations to accomplish his defeat reached 
 Mr. Robinson, and he was advised to take measures to rally 
 bis friends for his support. He refused, saying, " If Butler's 
 gang can defeat me, let them do so. I will not stoop to mix 
 in their dirty work for twenty clerkships."^ Few of his 
 friends were aware of this secret league formed against him ; 
 and, when warned, they could not believe that Butler had 
 the power to accomplish his designs.^ 
 
 The legislature of 1873 met ; and, when the balloting for 
 clerk was over, Mr. Robinson stood up at his desk, as usual, 
 to hear the result. The vote was announced b}' the speaker 
 (Gl: for Robinson, 171 for Taylor), and was received (said a 
 reporter) "by a loud clapping of hands on the part of the 
 House." It took his friends completely by surprise, and 
 threw some of the officers of the House off their guard. 
 The sergeant-at-arms. Major Morissc}', forgot his duty for 
 a moment ; and Mr. Robinson recalled him to himself, and 
 set him right. 
 
 This undeserved affront was keenly felt, coming as it did 
 when his health was impaired by years of hard service in 
 
 1 A day or two previous to the opening of the legislature, lie was 
 met by a pretended friend, who volunteered the assurance that there 
 was no movement against him. At the same time, this person was 
 secretly working to accomplish his defeat. 
 
 2 In the selection called Warrington on his Defeat -will be found 
 bis own view of the subject, and an account of the political reasons 
 and combinations which made this culmination possible. 
 
138 MEMOIR OF 
 
 building up and maintaining the vor}' party which so ill 
 treated him. lie had found out, to his cost, that what he had 
 said of the Republican party in 18G1 was just as true in 
 1873 : " As a part}', we are not famous for standing by our 
 friends. The moment an interested political opposition 
 raises a clamor against any of our leading men, we acquiesce 
 for the sake of peace and harmony." This legislature was 
 also the one that refused to rescind the resolutions i)asscd 
 at the extra session of 1872, censuring Charles Sumner. 
 Among the members who voted and worked against " War- 
 rington" were several who have since fallen under the 
 censure of the community ; in fact, broken the laws of the 
 Commonwealth.^ Speaking of his opposers in 1875, he said, 
 " I have no malice towards them ; but I do know that I kept 
 Butler from their throats, or helped to do it, in 1871-72 ; 
 while every one of the State-house men (except F. M. Stone) 
 sneaked out of the contest, or was at least verj' careful not 
 to go into it very openly ; and, when fight was made on me, 
 not a hand or voice did I get, so far as I know. Of course, 
 I do not include the under-clerks and subordinates, some of 
 whom were friendly' enough ; though I never asked an}- thing 
 of them." 
 
 Through an " under-clerk," a friend of Mr. Robinson, I 
 am able to corroborate what he himself told me. This 
 gentleman said, " After his defeat, man}' of his State-house 
 friends hardl}' dared take him by the hand, or be seen talking 
 with him, they were so afraid of having their own offices 
 taken awa}', as the ' clerk's ' had been. One of the clei'ks 
 who had defended him was threatened, that, if he were not 
 careful what he said, his head would be taken off as Robin- 
 
 1 In a letter written in 1875, Mr. Robinson said, "Bardwell of 
 Deerlield turns out to be a thief: be was one of my cliief opponents in 
 187;>. Edwards of Watcrtown, another, is under le;;islative censure for 
 grabViing trial-justice-fees, or something of that sort. Both distin- 
 guisheil tliemselves also by speeches against Snmncr. Best of Stone- 
 ham, another thief, was one of the military swashbucklers. Newton 
 Morse, a defaulter and gambler, and E. D. Winslow, were of this clique. 
 They are all tarred with the same stick." 
 
''WARRINGTON." 139 
 
 son's had been." ^ I need not ask the reader to consider 
 what it was to a man of Mr. Eobinson's sensitive and con- 
 fiding nature to go day after da}' to the State House, where 
 he hatl been an honored and welcome occupant, and be met 
 b}' sucli coohiess on the part of his old associates. The 
 " cold-shoulderism " of his part}', and the defection of this 
 portion of his friends, was filr worse to him than the loss 
 of office. His real friends were ver}' much gricA'ed at his 
 defeat, and expressed their sj-mpathy with him. Mr. Sumner 
 wrote at this time the following letter : — 
 
 WASHrxGTOX, March 8, 1873. 
 
 My dear " Wareington," — Others may have divined my feel- 
 ings; but I have never uttered a word, or hint even, on the action of 
 the legislature. I am sure that the time will come when that measure 
 now condemned will be hailed with honor. An acute politician has 
 recently congratulated me upon it as the strongest move possible. I 
 introduced it because it was right. Ever yours, 
 
 Charles Sumner. 
 
 P. S. — Let me convey, though tardily, my regret that you, too, 
 have fallen under legislative displeasure. 
 
 Henry Wilson wrote as follows : — 
 
 " I am surprised and grieved at your defeat. I had hoped and 
 expected you would hold the clerkship of the House as long as you 
 desired to do so. What do you intend to do ? How are you situated ? 
 Can I aid you ? If so, how ? Let me hear from you soon. If I can in 
 any way aid j^ou, I will do so with all my heart. You and I have not 
 thought alike always ; but I have the deepest regard for you. As old 
 friends are falling around me, those that remain grow nearer and 
 dearer. If you will write me how you are situated, and what plans 
 you have, it may be in my power to aid you ; and, if so, you can com- 
 mand me." 
 
 He did not " whine, put finger in the eye, and sob," but, 
 to all outward appearances, bore his defeat manfull}-. Only 
 a few knew how deepl}' he was hurt. At home he was like 
 one dazed and in a deep study : he could hardly be aroused to 
 
 1 He was pursued by insulting letters, some of them in Ku-Klux 
 Latin, after the style of those sent to Mr. Sumner from the South. 
 Thougli lie was not, as was Mr. Sumner, threatened with assassination, 
 his beheading was the principal theme of these epistles. 
 
140 MEMOIR OF 
 
 take an interest iu surrounding things. lie fell sick at last, 
 — not with any bodily- disease, but with a mental sickness, — 
 and went to bed, as he said, " to think it out ; for I have been 
 on a long cruise, and must la}' up for repairs." In a few 
 weeks he rallied, and, after eleven j'ears of freedom from 
 pecuniary anxiet}', resumed his long-unused occupation, — 
 looking for "jobs of work." * 
 
 He tliought of attempting something as a parliamentary 
 law3-cr, and issued cards announcing the fact. The result 
 was, that, though he answered man}' letters asking his 
 opinion on mooted questions of parliamentary proceedings, 
 he never asked a fee, nor, with a single exception, ever re- 
 ceived one. He had no connection with, nor monc^'-interest 
 in, an}' newspaper, apart from the " "Warrington " letters. 
 He was no longer in close affiliation with the party for which 
 he had sacrificed so much, since he had, as early as 1872, 
 expressed his firm belief in the coming disintegration of that 
 bod}' as a party organization. He was too old and worn out 
 in the service to take up common newspaper-work again. 
 He was not one to insist upon his claims to be provided 
 for, and no one thought of offering a sinecure to such a 
 fierce radical politician as " "Warrington." Perhaps it was 
 not possible to provide for him in this way, even if he had 
 desired it ; since Butler guarded the State, and, by his influ- 
 ence at "Washington, held the keys of office : senators were 
 elected, postmasters appointed, navy-yard and other offices 
 filled, at his beck. Mr. Robinson Avas very much depressed 
 during the winter from the lack of congenial employment : 
 he missed the busy routine to which he had been accustomed. 
 Coming down from the State House one day, he went into 
 "The Boston Journal" office, where sat his friend Mr. 
 Clapp, the editor. " He looked blue enough," said Mr. 
 Clapp : " but I cheered him up, and told him not to worry 
 about his bread and butter ; that he might have a seat at a 
 table in the oflflce, and Avrite as much or as little as he chose ; 
 and, though I would not agree to print every thing he wrote, 
 I would pay him thirty dollars a week. He brightened at 
 
"WARRINGTON:" 141 
 
 this, and said, ' On those terms I'll sit there.' " He wrote 
 for "The Journal" until "June, when his health failed so 
 fast, that he was obliged to go to Manomet for rest and 
 recuperation. He returned home in Jul}", and resumed his 
 pen for the purpose of writing a pamphlet on " The Salary 
 Grab." This proceeding on the part of members of Con- 
 gress to obtain back-pa}', and increase of salary, was con- 
 demned by " AVarrington " from the first; and he lost no 
 opportunity to denounce and bring to light the chief offend- 
 ers.^ Thinking that the people ought to know the facts con- 
 cerning this enormous swindle of the public money, he wrote 
 " The Salary Grab," and published it mostly at his own 
 expense.^ The Preface, which follows, will give some idea 
 of its contents : — 
 
 IMaldex, Mass, August, 1S70. 
 
 This book contains an accurate history of the great congressional 
 theft of a million dollars (more or less) from the treasury of the 
 United States and the pockets of the people, known as " The Salary 
 Grab." I mean its public history, as it is coiatainediu "The Con- 
 gressional Globe " and other oSScial documents, and not its private 
 history, which, being unknown or conjectural (except to the parties 
 concerned in the affair, or close observers of it upon the spot), I have 
 not deemed it worth while to inulertake to search out and relate. 
 This account is authentic, if "The Globe" is authentic; and a full 
 examination of its statements, a full analysis of its inferences, is 
 hereby invited from all persons implicated in the offence, their abet- 
 tors, or their apologists. 
 
 I have avoided as well as I could all doubtful or disputed ques- 
 
 1 At the Eepiiblican Convention of 187^ (or the Hamilton-hall meet- 
 ing), he tried in vain to get a certain portion of the leaders to pass a reso- 
 lution squarely condemning the whole grab. It was as follows: — 
 
 Ilesolvcd, That the recent Act of Congress, by which the members took from the 
 treasury over a million dollars, thereby increasing the public burdens and the tax- 
 ation of the business-men and the working-classes wantonly and unnecessarily, 
 for the purpose of increasing their own pay, while their exijenses liad not been 
 increased, — accompanied as it was by a clause putting into their own pockets ten 
 thousand dollars each for work already done under a law well understood when 
 they were elected, — is an act which merits the condemnation of the people through- 
 out the counti-j' ; and that we unite with the Ilepublicans of every State, who have, 
 hi their conventions, with unanimity expressed their disapprobation of the same. 
 
 2 Pnblished by Lee & Shepard, Boston. 
 
142 MEMOIR OF 
 
 tions oil which a possible defence coukl be raised ; because my pur- 
 pose has bceu to hold up to public condemnation the proved <,uUly 
 persons, and not to mix up with them persons whose guilt is a matter 
 of inference on account of the interest they had in the success of the 
 theft. In accordance with this plan, therefore, attention has been 
 paid, first of all, to B. F. ButUr, who, as the record shows, was the 
 leading spirit in the business from first to last; who reported the plan 
 from his own committee; who moved to attach it to the Appropria- 
 tion Bill ; who was foremost in rallying its friends to its support; wlio 
 was depended on in the delicate and difScult tactics of getting the 
 bill into the Conference Committee; and who, as a member of that 
 committee, i^ut it through there. Ills prominence is Icnown and 
 acknowledged by the name familiarly given to the grab in debate, — 
 " The Butler Amendment.^' Attention has next been called to his 
 accomplices, — Eandall, Banks, Carpenter, and others ; and, lastly 
 (through the complete record of the yeas and nays), to the members 
 who voted for it directly on every or on any occasion, and to the con- 
 siderable number who aided it by their votes on collateral questions; 
 such as suspensions of the rules, motions to adjourn at critical 
 periods when the I'ogues thought an adjournment necessary, and so 
 on. I have not analyzed the yeas and nays, preferring to leave that 
 work to the people of the respective states and districts, who, know- 
 ing the parties concerned, can best judge of motives and of possible 
 extenuating circumstances. 
 
 To expose Bullcr Avould be a sufficient reason for wi'iting and 
 printing this treatise. He seeks to become governor of Massacliu- 
 setts, — a State hitherto respectable, and, up to at least Ids appear- 
 ance in its politics, renowned in the history of the country. If the 
 people want him, they will have him; but, if tliey want him, I, for 
 one, am desirous that they should know what they are likely to get. 
 The question is not, whether even he might not, if sufficiently 
 tempted, do creditable things ; whether even he, the chief engineer 
 of a most discreditable public burglary, might not be provoked into 
 reforming here and there an abuse: but the question is, whether 
 there is any probabilily of this sort to compensate for the widespread 
 public scandal to be incurred by the Commonwealth in electing such 
 a man, and the risk of a permanent and incurable rottenness in all 
 departments of the State. In addition to this reason is a desire to do 
 something to aid the friends of good government in tlie other States, 
 who are now trying to rescue the politics of the country at large from 
 the demoralization, financial and governmental, which has followed 
 in the train of the civil war. To the good-will of those who are 
 engaged in this enterprise I respectfully commend this history, and 
 subscribe myself their co-operative friend, Waeri>'Gton. 
 
"WARRINGTON:" 143 
 
 Butler had renewed his attempt on the governorship in 
 1873 at least a month earlier than in 1871. The organiza- 
 tion against him in 1871 was delayed till a very late day 
 (being an informal one two or three weeks previous to the 
 convention) ; thus giving the public very little chance to 
 know what measures were to be taken. In 1873, on the 
 contrary, the opposition to him was as open as it was possi- 
 ble to make it. A meeting was held at Hamilton Hall in 
 Boston, July 26, attended by about a hundred and twenty 
 leading Republicans, who met together to protest against 
 the "claimant," and devise means for his defeat. "War- 
 rington" wrote the "Address to the People of the State," 
 issued from that meeting. He returned to Manomet to stay 
 during August and a part of September, but did not receive 
 the usual benefit from his summer vacation. At the solicita- 
 tion of a member of the Republican State Committee, who 
 came to see him and urged the exigencies of the campaign, 
 he came home, and Avcnt into harness again, to work for 
 the party which had defeated him. Again burned the " only 
 light in the State Ben Butler was afraid of ; " and the cease- 
 less pen was at work. Long articles were written in " The 
 Boston Journal" and other newspapers ; and the "Warring- 
 ton" letters did their work towards informing the western 
 part of the State jipon the subject. During the campaign he 
 was approached by one of Butler's flunkies, who intimated, 
 that if he Avould bury the hatchet, or refrain from writing 
 against the would-be governor, hostilities towards him would 
 cease, and that he would be provided for. In other words, 
 to use his own interpretation, "Could 3-ou not refrain from 
 fighting Butlerism, and let the state go to the dogs, as the 
 country is going?" The time had come again for him to 
 speak "God's truth" at the right time; and Butler found 
 him, as in 1871, one of his most cfi'ective opponents.^ Gen. 
 
 1 In Ins time of health and prosperity he had said, "Write your 
 heroism now, and then shut your doors, and tlnxnv away all materials 
 for making confession of your weakness. By and by, Avhen sickness 
 and old age come, and mind and body decay, tlie men who talk thus 
 
144 MEMOIR OF 
 
 Butler was defeated by about the same majority as in 1871. 
 His raid was much better organized than in that j-ear ; but 
 the work of defence against him was shared more widely 
 than ever before. Hamilton Hall was justified, and shown 
 to have been a necessit}'. Butler was bottled for the time 
 being, and "Warrington" was done with him. 
 
 After the severe work of this campaign, Mr. Robinson's 
 health seemed entirely wasted. He had no regular employ- 
 ment except his Aveekl}- letters, and no abiding-place in the 
 cit}-. Election was over ; the fight of the year was done. 
 The lawyer could return to his brief, the merchant to his 
 counting-room, the doctor to his patient ; but, for the politi- 
 cal writer, the time to la}' down arms had come. He lost 
 courage ; and his health became so much impaired, that his 
 friends were alarmed, and insisted upon his taking a long 
 rest from all writing and pecuniary auxietv. To enable him 
 to do so, the}' determined to give him a substantial testimo- 
 nial of their regard ; and, the silver wedding of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Robinson occurring about this time (Nov. 30, 1873), 
 that occasion was chosen as a fitting one for such a purpose. 
 Old friends, tried and true, companions of many a well-fought 
 field, brought or sent gifts, and messages of love and appre- 
 ciation. Mr. F. B. Sanborn's account of this gathering is 
 as follows : — 
 
 "Messrs. F. W. Bird and Edward W. Kinsley had undertaken to 
 collect and select these offerings of friendship; and the list of donors 
 was headed by Slayor Pierce with one thousand dollars. Others fol- 
 lowed with less and lesser sums; the number of givers araoiuiting to 
 nearly a hundred, and the sum presented being more than four thou- 
 sand dollars, given in such forms as thoughtful friendship and good 
 taste prompted. The occasion was the silver wedding; but the motive 
 for so handsome a testimonial was the knowledge of Mr. Robinson's 
 most intimate friends that this pleasant anniversary found him in 
 uncertain health, and unable to pursue with his accustomed vigor the 
 profession of journalism, for which nature and habit have so well 
 
 independently will send for the doctor and the minister, and die mum- 
 bling the catechism. The moral is, ' Write your heroism no\v.' " The 
 "by and by " of which he spoke had not come: it never came to him. 
 
''WARRINGTON." 145 
 
 fitted him. It seemed proper, therefore, that those who had main- 
 tained along witli hira for so many years, tlirougli good and evil 
 report, and with all the vicissitudes of fortune that attend political 
 warfare, the good old cause of freedom and progress, should remind 
 him that a balance sjood to his account on the books of friendship, 
 which might as well be transferred now as at some future time when 
 it might be less useful. It was felt that he had been our soldier all 
 these years, working in the trenches and fighting on the ramparts of 
 journalism, more for others than for himself; that when a movement 
 was to be made, or a blow struck, against some fortified post of op- 
 pression or some impudent pretender to leadership, or when some 
 ambush of the enemy was to be beaten up, Robinson had volunteered, 
 or had been assigned to the most conspicuous service, and liad drawn 
 on himself the fire of the other side, while many a more selfish man 
 would have kept in the ranks, and thought first of his own interest, 
 and next of his duty to tlie cause. They remembered that he was 
 turned out of his clerkship last winter, less for his own opinions than 
 for those of life-long friends wliom he was unwilling to desert and 
 decry. This was a mean and cruel act, coming as it did at a time 
 when Mr. Robinson's health was enfeebled by more than thirty years 
 of hard work; and it did not, of course, increase the vigor of his 
 body, or the buoyancy of his spirits. But, on the other hand, it did 
 not swerve liim from his course, nor make it any easier for the con- 
 triver of the salary grab to become governor of Massachusetts. Once 
 more, as so often before, the pen of ' Warrington ' became the most 
 effective defender of good order, and the most trenchant weapon to 
 defeat a troublesome demagogue. And, in all these labors of late 
 years, he has found in his own liome his best adviser and most appre- 
 ciative critic. Looking bacii farther, they called to mind that there 
 had scarcely been a noble enterprise, a wise and bold policy in national 
 affairs, or a humane and progressive measure of state legislation or 
 social agitation, which had not received timely, steady, and effective 
 support from him during the last thirty years. The friend of Sum- 
 ner and Wilson, of Banks and Burlingarae, of Andrew and Schouler, 
 Howe and Stearns and Bird, Bullock and Claflin and Washburn, and 
 the other conspicuous men who have directed affairs in Massachusetts 
 for twenty years past, he had never allowed friendship to blind his 
 eyes, or restrain his pen, if he saw occasion to oppose his own com- 
 rades for the good of the people. Scarcely a man among the public 
 characters who subscribed to liis testimonial but had at some time 
 smarted under his criticism, or, at least, encountered his reproof; 
 but they bore no malice any more than he did. ' Faithful are the 
 wounds of a friend;' and though, as one of the subscribers said, 
 'Warrington' is in the habit of falling, like the scriptural rain, 'on 
 the just and on the unjust,' it is only the unjust (for the most part) 
 
146 MEMOIR OF 
 
 that lay it up against him. Hence the hearty and to him quite un- 
 expected warmtli of response to tlie kindly appeal made in liis behalf 
 by Messrs. Bird and Kinsley. 
 
 '•This cordiality was expressed by none in more touching terras 
 than by Vice-Pres. Wilson, who, but for his being called to assume 
 his high office in the Senate for the first time to-day, would have 
 been with us at this festival. No longer separated from the comrades 
 of many an arduous struggle by the unhappy discords of a year ago, 
 Henry Wilson — re-united with Sumner, with Bird, with Robinson, 
 and other companions — wrote this to Mr, Bird from Xatick, just 
 before setting out for Wasliington : — 
 
 " ' Mv DEAR Sir, — I regret that it is not in my power to accept your invitation 
 to visit our very dear associate and friend of so many years on the anniversary of 
 his wedding. It would, I assure you, give me sincere pleasure to join with you and 
 other friends in paying him and his wife this tribute of affectionate regard. . . . 
 I send witli this sum my gratitude for the long services of one of the best pens 
 ever given to our sacred cause, and my respect, friendship, and love. May God 
 give to our dear friend Robinson, his wifa and cliildren, health, and years of happi- 
 ness, and the constant friendship of such friends as will be with them on this occa- 
 sion ! ' 
 
 " The house was crowded all the evening with friends who had 
 come to offer their congratulations, while messages were read from 
 others who could not be present." 
 
 More than a hundred letters were received, containing 
 friendl}' and congratulatoiy messages, from which the follow- 
 ing are selected. 
 
 From Charles Sumner : — 
 
 " I beg you not to measure my sympathy with your object, or my 
 regard for W. S, R., by this contribution. I wish it were a great deal 
 larger. I cannot think of his constant, unfailing, and vivid pen, 
 always for freedom and human rights, without admiration and grati- 
 tude. Such remarkable service deserves an honorable pension, placing 
 our friend above care, and making him easy for the rest of his lifo." 
 
 From John G. "Whittier : — 
 
 " I am glad of an opportunity to testify my high appreciation of 
 our friend William S. Robinson, on the occasion of his twenty-fifth 
 marriage anniversary. He has been a power in the State, and has 
 done noble sersice to freedom and humanity. That he and his excel- 
 lent lady may happily live to enjoy their fiftieth anniversary, is the 
 wish, I am sure, of all their friends." 
 
"WARRINGTON." 147 
 
 From Hon. Joliu II. Clifford : — 
 
 " I enclose a trifle — ' would it were worthier ! ' — toward the testi- 
 monial of their friends, with a feeling so well expressed in the admo- 
 nitions of an old but unknown English poet, which, if he has never 
 happened to see it, ' Warrington ' will value more highly than the 
 slight token of my regard that accompanies it. 
 
 ' Tliongh !<mall thy gift may seem to be, 
 ■WitliholJ it not ; for like the night, 
 By countless little stars made bright, 
 Thy offering, joined to thousands more, 
 May brighten dwellings dark before.' " 
 
 From Hon. G. F. Hoar : — 
 
 "I remember with great pleasure and gratitude Mr. Robinson's 
 early labors and sacrifices to the cause of humanity, freedom, and 
 purity, his pleasant wit, and lofty scorn for all charlatanism and 
 impostors, whatever their position or pretences." 
 
 And others, no less gratifying, from friends far and 
 near : — 
 
 " I make my little contribution to you as a part of the debt the 
 republic owes you." 
 
 " You are of that class of men who build up others, and not your- 
 self ; who furnish the ideas which make the capital in trade of many 
 politicians." 
 
 " * Warrington ' has become a household word in Massachusetts." 
 
 " Enclosed is my check ; and say to Mr. Robinson that this is only a 
 part of what is due from ail such as myself for his long writing and 
 unpaid labors in years gone by in the cause of right." 
 
 " If I could multiply my subscription an hundred-fold, it would 
 not worthily rei^rescnt the affectionate esteem in which I hold his 
 great services to many a struggling cause, and for that sturdy inde- 
 pendence which has made his voice not merely the echo of accepted 
 opinion, but a trumpet-call forward." 
 
 Poems on the occasion were written b}' F. B. Sanborn and 
 B. P. Shillabcr ("Mrs. Partington ") . An address was read 
 •b}- F. W. Bird, to which "Warrington " responded, sa3ing, — 
 
 "I can hardly find words in which to make reply to the many 
 compliments which have been extended to me this evcTiing, and 
 adequately to express my gratitude for the many kind acts and sub- 
 
148 MEMOIR OF 
 
 stantial gifts of which I have been the recipient. I .appreciate fully, 
 however, the kindness which has prompted them, and feel deeply, 
 also, your approval of my course. I do not think that I deserve all 
 that has been said in Mr. Bird's address. His words, however, 
 brought to mind more forcibly than ever the long feeling of fellow- 
 ship which has existed between us during so many yeai's ; and he 
 could indulge in a little congratulation. I desire to thank him, 
 and to convey to him personally, as the oldest and most intimate of 
 my political associates, and to convey to all my friends besides, my 
 deep and heartfelt thanks for this complimentary expression of their 
 friendship. I am rejoiced to see so many here to-night, — some, too, 
 with whom I have had variances ; and I can only, in conclusion, 
 assure them all of the deep obligation I, and my family also, feel 
 towards them." . 
 
 Mr. Robinson's spirits were much cheered bv this evidence 
 of the affection of his friends, and for a few weeks he was 
 quite himself again. But the blow had been struck too deep. 
 As he expressed it, he had weathered the storm of last 
 year's defeat; but he felt the shake of it in his timbers yet. 
 He was urged to become again a candidate for the office of 
 clerk of the House b}' some of his friends who were anxious 
 to reinstate him ; but, though assured that he had a fair show 
 for election, he peremptorily declined, not feeling able to 
 enter the contest, or go all over the ground again. It was 
 thought that a long sea-voj'age, and an entire change of 
 scene, would be the best thing to recuperate his health and 
 spirits. Accordingl}', he engaged passage for himself, his 
 wife, and his son, on board the steamship " Parthia," which 
 sailed for Liverpool Jan. 31, 1874. 
 
"WAEEINGTON." 149 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SUCCESSFUL MAN. 
 
 [18T4-1876.] 
 
 " The day is shout, and the work is great ; but the laborers are idle, though the 
 reward be great, and the Master of the work presses. It is not incumbent upon 
 thee to complete the work ; but thou must not, therefore, cease from it. If thou 
 hast worked much, great shall be thy reward; for the Master who employed thee 
 is faithful in his payment. But know that the true reward is not of this world." — 
 Talmud. 
 
 In " Warrington's " Letters from Abroad in 1874 will be 
 found his impressions of foreign life. He wrote very little 
 during his absence, complete rest from his pen having been 
 enjoined upon him b}' his friends. He carried letters of in- 
 troduction to diplomates and distinguished persons in England 
 and on the Continent, but (with one exception) did not 
 present them, preferring to see the people with his own ej^es, 
 and to follow his own idea of sight-seeing. In London 
 his part}' occupied lodgings on Craven Street, within walking- 
 distance of the Strand and Fleet Street, the Temple, and the 
 Inns of Court. When not driving to places of note in a 
 Hansom cab, — that "London institution," as Mr. Sumner 
 called it, Avhich, for a shilling and sixpence, carries the sight- 
 seer all over the vast cit}", — he delighted to follow in the foot- 
 steps of Dickens and Thackeraj^, and locate their imaginary 
 characters. With George Warrington he threaded the 
 Inner Temple : he found Dombe}' and Son on Cheapside ; 
 traced the footsteps of Samuel Johnson along the Strand, 
 and, in memory of the great lexicographer, lunched at the 
 chop-houses, and dined at the Bite Tavern. He was very 
 
150 MEMOIR OF 
 
 fond of Loudon, which seemed to him like an old home 
 again revisited. London is very homelike to an American : 
 in many respects it is better than home, particularly to an 
 invalid. Personal comfort, the fact that one must eat and 
 sleep, is everywhere recognized. " More servants wait on 
 man than he'll take notice of." Ich dien seems written in 
 ever}^ department which caters to the stranger ; and the neat- 
 handed English serving-maid, 'Elizabeth or Salh', is found 
 ever3'where. Mr. Robinson preferred London and the honest 
 stability of the English people — "whose yes," he said, 
 "means yes, and whose no means no" — to the Parisians 
 and their cit}', which, though wonderfully' attractive, seemed 
 showy and insincere. "London and Paris are enough," 
 wrote Mr. Sumner to him on his departure. But he went 
 farther, — down into Ital}-, whose repose and interest he 
 enjoyed to the full ; to Carlsbad in Bohemia, to drink its 
 waters in his vain search for health ; and back, b}- way of 
 Switzerland and the Rhine, to London again. AVhile in 
 Paris, in March, the news came to him of Mr. Sumner's 
 death. He was very much prostrated by this sad event, 
 and sorrowed deepl}' with the countr}- in the loss of this 
 great and good leader of the people. His solicitude at the 
 state of affairs at home was also increased thereb}', and he 
 found himself unable to keep from devising modes of politi- 
 cal action. He said at this date that it was no use for his 
 friends to send him out of the country to rest from political 
 labor ; for his head was full of politics all the time : he had 
 studied the situation, planned the coming campaign, and 
 might as well be at home, writing it out. For this reason he 
 did not receive the expected benefit from his foreign tour. 
 He was a student of men and politics ; but his country and 
 her needs were his first thought, abroad as well as at home.' 
 
 1 This is shown by his letters. There is no hiatus between the last 
 " \\'arrington " letter written before leaving home and the first one 
 written after his return. Tlie thread of iiolitical action is taken np 
 just whore it was left; and the letter of Oct. 27 (less than two weeks 
 after liis return) grasps the whole aspect of political affairs. 
 
"WARRINGTOK." 151 
 
 lie had studied and planned the whole fall campaign. 
 Parties and their movements were to him like chess-men 
 advancing upon the board. He knew when it was time to 
 call "Check," and did not hesitate (as of old) to lose a 
 pawn, and capture a castle. 
 
 Some friends were disappointed at the meagreness of his 
 letters concerning foreign countries. But he was one who 
 must Avrite about the thing which to him was of the most 
 importance ; and Europe was found wanting in the balance 
 when weighed against the aifairs of his own countr3\ Writ- 
 ing from Carlsbad to his friend G. H. Monroe, he said of his 
 health, — 
 
 "I suppose I am better physically, at any rate; though whether 
 the mineral waters have done me any good, I do not feel sure. Per- 
 haps it is the repose and regimen. But I have never been free of the 
 feeling that I ought to be at work, more or less. And yet I don't feel 
 up to a full day's work six times a week. Somebody ought to give me 
 an office : even a sinecure would be better than nothing. But, after 
 all, what can such a heretic and mischief-maker as I am expect? " 
 
 He was absent eight months, and returned b}' the Cunard 
 steamship "Atlas," which sailed Oct. 1. The passage 
 home was made very sad by an unfortunate accident which 
 happened to one of the passengers, — the Rev. George D. 
 Miles of St. John's Episcopal church of Taunton. Mr. 
 Miles occupied the state-room adjoining Mr. Robinson's. 
 In getting out of his berth (the upper one) , the brass rod b}' 
 which he was holding gave way ; and he fell heavil}' upon 
 the back of his head, inflicting a severe wound. He suf- 
 fered great pain, and was confined to his berth the remaining 
 ten daj-s of the vo3'age. On the arrival of the "Atlas" at 
 Boston, he was carried to the INIassachusetts General Hos- 
 pital, where he died. At the post-mortem examination, it was 
 discovered that his neck Avas broken at the time of the fall. 
 He had lived nineteen or twent}^ da3-s in that condition. 
 
 Mr. Robinson's personal appearance on his return was 
 ver}'^ disappointing to his friends, who had hoped to see 
 a marked improvement. His disease had steadily made 
 
152 
 
 MEMOIR OF 
 
 progress ; aud, though temporarily' benefited by the change 
 and rest, they sadly agreed that he was really no better: 
 At the Bird-Club reception, given to welcome him on 
 his return, he read sorrow and disappointment in the 
 faces of the friends gathered there hoping to find the 
 "Warrington" of old.^ Though gratified at their heart}' 
 greetings, he felt, as he expressed it, that the monc}- had 
 been thrown awaj- upon him, since he had not fulfilled 
 the just expectation of those who had sent him away to 
 recuperate and be read}' to fight their battles again. He 
 resumed his letters in "The Springfield Republican," and 
 wrote for "The Boston Daily News" weekly letters and 
 articles. This continual draining of brain-force was too 
 much for him. He wrote with all his old vigor, and it re- 
 acted upon his frail body. On the evening of Jan. 20, 1875, 
 after writing an article (for "The News") on Mr. Dawes,'' 
 he was taken sick, not with an}' new phase of his disease, or 
 paralysis, or any thing of the sort, but with an increased 
 weakness and pressure upon the brain caused by overwork. 
 
 1 The following gentlemen were present. Tbej- ai-e copied from the 
 list as he wrote it on his return home. 
 
 F. W. Bud. 
 
 W. S. Robinson. 
 
 Gov. Talbot. 
 
 35. F. Robinson. 
 
 Geo. H. Monroe. 
 
 A. "W. Beard. 
 
 E. L. Pierce. 
 
 Col. Henry Walker. 
 
 E. P. Robinson. 
 
 Heniy D. Hyde. 
 
 J. M. S. Williams (came in). 
 
 Robt. T. Davis. 
 
 Saml. Bowles. 
 
 Asa P. Potter. 
 
 Elizur Wright. 
 
 C. S. Wasson. 
 
 Wni. L. Burt. 
 
 J. M. W. Yeninton. 
 
 Chas. A. Phelps. 
 
 Prof. Bonamy Price of Oxford. 
 
 E. R. Hoar. 
 Edw. Atkinson. 
 Adin Thayer. 
 Dr. O. Martin. 
 Thos. Drew. 
 
 J. Boturae, Jr. 
 Dr. Geo. B. Loring. 
 M. F. Dickinson, Jr. 
 Chas. G. Davis. 
 Win. II. Fox. 
 
 F. B. Sanborn. 
 
 C. A. B. Shopard. 
 
 'Charley Field. 
 
 R. C. Dunham. 
 
 Robt. O. Fuller (Cambridge). 
 
 J. A. Lane. 
 
 Willard Phillips. 
 
 A. G. Brown. 
 
 Dr. Eates Howe. 
 
 2 See Brief Biograpliies. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 153 
 
 This illness was exaggerated. He was reported to be in a 
 dying condition, and obituaries were written for the news- 
 papers. When in a few days he Avas able to read again, he 
 had the rare satisfaction (he said) of reading his own obitua- 
 ries, and enjoying the good things said about himself. The 
 one which follows, written b}' James Redpath, his neighbor 
 and friend, touched him deeply ; and he sent a letter of 
 thanks, closing thus : "I am almost sorry I am not dead, if, 
 dj'ing, I might merit such words ; but I'll do as much for you 
 some time." . 
 
 "WARRINGTON." 
 
 "William S. Robinson is lying on his death-bed." This was the 
 sad news that greeted me last night. When his pulse shall be stilled, 
 one of the bravest and truest hearts of our generation shall have 
 ceased to beat. His death will be a public calamity. Always rare, 
 his type is daily becoming rarer, if not in our scientific and literary, 
 without doubt in our political life. For he had convictions, and he 
 had courage ; and without the breastwork of an assured social posi- 
 tion or of an independent fortune, and without a band of devoted 
 followers pledged and proud to fight his battles, he was as brave in 
 the advocacy of his views, and as independent'in his criticisms of 
 politicians, as Wendell Phillips, or Gerritt Smith, or Gen. Butler. lie 
 feared neither majorities nor ranlv. lie neitlier quailed before the 
 wild beasts of public life; nor, like the lion that he was, did he " ever 
 count the number of the sheep in the fold " when his conscience told 
 him to attack it. 
 
 I have always regarded him — his circumstances taken into account 
 — as the bravest public man in New England, without any exception, 
 and without disparaging tlie other noble gentlemen who have fought 
 for great principles and the outcast classes in tliis State. But it needs 
 simply a brave spirit, with earnest convictions, to steel one's self against 
 public opinion, when it is believed to be wrong, provided one's own 
 bread and butter is safe from its attack. But»when a man is poor, 
 and has a family depending upon his weekly earnings for support; 
 when' his position is constantly placed in jjeril by party action, and is 
 one of the influences which politicians strive to control, — it needs the 
 heart of a hero to criticise without fear and without concealment, 
 and without equivocation in sense or phrase, tlie errors of the party, 
 and the motives of its leaders. Not one man in ten thousand has 
 this sort of pluck. "Warrington's" 'public life is a long and un- 
 broken record of this spirit. He never was bribed to be silent; he 
 never feared to be fearless. He smote wherever he believed that a 
 
154 MEMOIR OF 
 
 punishment was due. I have nowhere found a similar career in the 
 
 biographies of public men; and I liave never yet loolced into the eyes 
 of any officeliolder wlio was worthy to be named with him. 
 
 In praising tliis lieroic trait, I do not intend to accord to him 
 either a spirit of judicial impartiality, or to extol his methods, or to 
 say Amen to his jud^jments. Like all born fighters, he sometimes 
 gave cruel blows, and hurt men as disinterested as himself. I knew 
 him for fifteen or twenty years, and we had both public and private 
 disputations without number: but I never found this man intolerant 
 to any one in whoso sincerity he had belief; nor, while always earnest 
 to the verge or beyond the limit of bluntness, did he ever impatiently 
 repel any candid presentation of opposing views. lie hated shams 
 with the fierceness of Carlyle. He detested hypocrisy with so intense 
 a bitterness, that it often led him to strike without mercy whoever 
 was found even near any one whom he believed to be insincere ; but 
 he never failed to honor both in public and private, and without 
 regard to their creed, the men of his own type of character. 
 
 I shall always recall with pleasure the lively conversations I have 
 heard and taken part in between Gilbert (now Bishop) Haven and 
 Mr. lloblnson. Whether theology or politics were the subjects, 
 there were usually not two, but three, sides to the debate. The inter- 
 views' were battles. If we happened to agree on a measure, we were 
 sure to disagree about men. Once only, the fiery bishop and the fiery 
 clerk overstepped the bounds of impersonal statements. I feared 
 that it would sever their long and pleasant friendship, and the provo- 
 cation on both sides was amply sufficient; but, to the credit of both 
 of these sincere and strong men, I found it an easy task to renew 
 their good feeling. I mention these talks to refute the opinion, so 
 generally held, that Mr. Robinson was an intolerant man; which was 
 as unjust as it would be to accuse a soldier of intolerance when firing 
 against the enemy. He believed in fighting, and he fought well; and 
 duriu'j the fight he was deaf to counsel, as a warrior oujlit to be. But 
 before it, and after it, he was always a sincere and open-minded man. 
 
 I recall with no little satisfaction the fact, that while, during the 
 first Butler campaign, we both wrote more than any other two writ- 
 ers on the press who \vere not professional journalists, and had many 
 private controversies as well, no word passed to mar for one moment 
 the long-continued kindliness of our personal friendship. More than 
 any one'man, he defeated Butler; and what was his reward? Xo one 
 ever sjMjke of him as governor; and, when Butler's friends rallied to 
 defeat him for clei'k, the governor-elect did not utter one word in his 
 behalf. He told me this incident, and said, that, as far as he knew, 
 I was the only person, who had any influence whatever, who had 
 gone out of his way to protect him. And I was on the opposite side. 
 Well, it is like aristocracies everywhere: they grasp the prize, and 
 
"WARRINGTON." 155 
 
 neglect the soldiers who fought their way to it, whenever they dare. 
 The Hoars get the credit ; the Washburns get the offices ; the Robin- 
 sons get — the blows. It will be different by and by, I hope, when 
 the people come to their own. Let me add one word about Mr. Rob- 
 inson in his family. He has been my neighbor for ten years or 
 more. His private life was as beautiful as his public life was brave. 
 As husband and as father, he was above reproach. No scandal ever 
 blighted his name, nor ever cast even a passing shadow over it. 
 
 Rougli, brave, and honest warrior, true and sincere and tender 
 friend, you have fought the good fight well ; the world is better for 
 your life and your sword ; and among your saddest survivors will be 
 many of us whom you smote with a valiant and terrible stroke in 
 your days of battle. Farewell ! James Redpath.^ 
 
 BosTOX, Jan. 23, 1875. 
 
 "'"Warrington's' Manual of Parliamentaiy Law " ^ was 
 issued earl}' in 1875. He had been engaged upon this work 
 for several years, and had rewritten it several times, each 
 time condensing it, until it was at least one-third smaller 
 than the original manuscript. He read the first proof of 
 this book to the members of his famil_y, re-reading those 
 portions which would seem obscure to persons not accustomed 
 to the technicalities of parliamentary law ; remarking at the 
 time, joeosel}-, that he wanted to adapt the book to people of 
 the meanest capacit}'. Mr. Sumner, speaking of it to the 
 author, said, "It contains the cube root of parliamentary 
 law." It was the aim of the author to give the principle, 
 and not the details of practice ; the "cube root," rather than 
 the " rule of three ; " and to place Ms readers on old Count 
 Gurowski's platform, who said, when a trivial matter was 
 explained to him, " 7, too^ know something." Had this book 
 been more minute and verbose, it probably would have sold 
 
 1 In a letter written by Mr. Piedpath after "Warrington's" death, 
 he said of tliis obituary, "I am glad he liked it. I had long wanted a 
 chanee to say what I then wrote; bat no opportunity appeared. I 
 wrote it with tears in my eyes. I was thoroughly moved. It was 
 kept in type several days, in the expectation that he would die soon. 
 At last, when the announcement was made that he would recover, the 
 editors insisted on publishing it anyhow, which they did, much to my 
 surprise." 
 
 2 Published by Lee & Shepard, Boston. 
 
156 MEMOIR OF 
 
 better ; but as it contains the principle of the law of 
 assemblies, and principles are un(l3ing, it ma}' sell bettei* 
 after ten years' time than at present. For the result of what 
 he did, "Warrington" looked, not to the present, but to 
 "another da}- after to-daj'." In answer to some criticism 
 on the lack of detail in the Manual, he wrote, — 
 
 " I will not make a book of padding, sell it never so well; though I 
 should be glad to improve this one, and probably could, in some 
 respects. Some people tbink nothing is wise tbat does not confirm 
 and strengthen their own ignorance. X'bnporle. George F. Iloar says 
 I once gave him the gist of parliamentary law: ' Never put an ass in 
 the cliair ; " and an ass is only a greater one for knowing the minutiae 
 of parliamentary law, as the pettifogger is the greatest nuisance in 
 the courts, and the quack in medicine and in the pulpit. I don't 
 think I shall do much more to the Manual than to attach a few forms. 
 If the book is of any use to the people, it is to teach thorn 2)rinciples, 
 and how to act for themselves ; not to perplex them with forms on 
 matters of little or no importance." 
 
 In the Preface he says, — ' 
 
 " The purpose of this Manual is to furnish to officers and members 
 of legislative and other deliberative assemblies, and to societies of all 
 kinds, a concise and practical guide in what is called ' Parliamentary 
 Law.' . . . But in a country and in states governed by written consti- 
 tutions, and where deliberative bodies are controlled by innumerable 
 statutes and I'ules, often to the last degree unnecessary and useless 
 for the end they profess to subsei-ve, this ' law ' is far less important. 
 It has been customary to say that 'rules' are for the protection 
 of minorities. A better definition is, that they are for the speedy, fair, 
 and orderly transaction of business according to the will of the ma- 
 jority. 
 
 "This work, at any rate, is written upon the assumption that 
 members of societies, orders, municipal bodies, and legislatures, are 
 on an equality. If, to use the language of the Massachusetts Consti- 
 tution (Article IX. of the Declaration of llights), 'all elections ought 
 to be free, and all the inhabitants of the Conmionwealth . . . have 
 an equal right to elect officers, and to be elected, for public employ- 
 ments,' it seems to follow that all members of legislative and delib- 
 erative bodies ought to be substantially upon an equality; at any rate, 
 that the minimum, and not the maximum, of power and influence 
 ought to be put into the hands of committees and presiding officers. 
 This Manual is prepared upon that theory. The House of llepre- 
 seatatives at Washington has tied itself up with rules, so that its 
 
"WARRINGTON." 157 
 
 speaker, who should be its servant, and of little if any more impor- 
 tance than any other member, is, in reality, the second or third officer 
 of the government itself. Probably in a few years, when Congress shall 
 have relinquished the attempt to make laws, not only for the National 
 Government, but for states, cities, towns, and private corporations, 
 or when it shall have put into hands of other bodies the duty of 
 taking evidence and collecting facts on which to proceed in tlie 
 making of statutes, the old practice will be resumed. 
 
 " I have deemed it unnecessary, and even a hinderance, to persons 
 having occasion to use a book like tliis, to make a large volume. It 
 has cost me a good deal of time and labor to make it small enough. 
 Cut, with the object I have already indicated, the plan on which it 
 has been prepared has seemed to me a tolerably good one. It is a 
 mixture of rule, advice, and 'parliamentary' principle, founded on the 
 experience and the obvious necessities of bodies governed by the ' par- 
 liamentary law.' As everybody knows, an assembly may, if it pleases, 
 make rules for itself diametrically opposed to this law or principle. 
 Those 'rules' are innumerable; and it is of no practical use to try to 
 classify, illustrate, or mention them. Such of them as are based on 
 correct principles will be found here. But, for the largest part, this 
 book seeks to give the reasons for the ordinary and the best practice 
 of the best ordered bodies. Given the reasons, and the practice ad- 
 justs itself; the assembly transacts its work speedily, and with proper 
 regard to the rights of all; and officers are prepared to meet objec- 
 tions, and to answer questions with little or no hesitation. Without 
 the reasons, members and officers have great difficulty in interpret- 
 ing the rules, and in coming to just results without troublesome 
 delays. 
 
 " I wish only to say, in concluding this Preface, what I have in the 
 work itself tried to make clear, that, wherever I have left it in doubt 
 whether the principle laid down may be considered authoritative, it 
 should, if approved, be provided for by rule. It is, of course, under- 
 stood that it is necessary to make a rule whenever the principle is 
 departed from. The rule governs ; but, if the rule be obscure or contra- 
 dictory, let it be tried by the principle.''^ 
 
 This little volume is the only book "Warrington" has 
 left Avhich is at all indicative of the scope of his mind. 
 During the last 3-ears of his life he had contemplated several 
 books, — among them one on the " Life and Times of Charles 
 Sumner," containing, also, his own reminiscences of political 
 life, — and had made notes, to some extent, preparatory 
 to a book on the Woman Question. He had thought of a 
 
158 MEMOIR OF 
 
 book of selections from his published writings, to be called 
 "Pen-Portraits," or something of that sort; and, while at 
 Northampton, wrote to his wife to look over his scrap-books, 
 and mark any thing she thought particularl}' good. Nothing 
 had been done b}' him, however, at the time of his death. 
 
 As soon as possible, " Warrington " resumed his pen, and 
 wrote for the press at intervals until June (187")), when a 
 few of his friends, becoming alarmed, insisted on his again 
 taking absolute rest from all work. It was thought best 
 that he* should leave the vicinity of Boston, since there 
 would be less inducement to write if awa}- from customary 
 scenes. Pursuing the advice of Mr. Bird and others, he 
 went in June to a Avatcr-cure at Northampton, kept b}- Dr. 
 Denniston. Tliere he staid over four months, a long and 
 lonel}' exile from his friends, his home and family, his 
 books and the pursuits congenial to him, hoping to be bene- 
 fited. Before leaving home, he had said, tliat, if he could 
 know he should be no better, he would not go awaj', but 
 would work so far as his strength would allow, and die in 
 harness. "Can it be," he said, looking around his library, 
 " that I am to leave all this work undone?" From North- 
 ampton he wrote, — 
 
 " I am about satisfied that it will not be profitable for me to stay 
 here much longer. There seems no special change in me, and I feel 
 mucli better contented at home. The doctor has some excellent ideas ; 
 but he don't know every thing, nor nuicli about my case. I cannot 
 stay a great while without signs of permanent improvement. This 
 loneliness is pretty trying to one who likes intelligent conversation 
 and intercourse so well as I do. What made me come here? I fear 
 I always do the wrong thing. What au ass is a sick man to leave 
 home! It is too bad to lose all this summer at home, and by the 
 sea-shore at Manomet, with the possibility, besides, of at least 
 earning my living, which I could easily do if I were at home, and 
 under whip and spur of coercion, or some other stimulus or induce- 
 ment. I almost wisli I could get into the legislature this winter. I 
 often think, that after I was knocked out of the procession in Janu- 
 ary, IS?:], I ought to have fought my way back, and that 1 shall have 
 to. Had I not better plunge into politics, and write again, and so 
 plunge out of myself? Politics bother me contimially. It is of no 
 use to say they must not. I am as much in the midst of them as If 
 
"WARRINGTON." 159 
 
 at home; and, deterred as I ain from writing on them, they seethe in 
 my brain continually," 
 
 In October he wrote, — 
 
 "I ought not to write so much; but I am chock-full of politics. 
 Sometimes, and not seldom, I wish the Democrats would elect me, or 
 nominate me for the Senate or House, so I could be useful again. 
 What is the use of dragging along in my present way, lazy, because I 
 I have no congenial occupation? I get low-spirited, because I know I 
 am a good politician and legislator, and am good for little else. They 
 knocked mo out of my ' sphere,' and I fear I made a mistake in not 
 immediately fighting to get back. Is it too late now? God* knows, 
 if there ever was a man of small ambition, and apt for usefuhiess, it 
 is your servant and friend. My brain is active enough : I fear it has 
 
 ' Fretted the pigmy body to decay, 
 And o'er-informed the tenement of clay.' 
 
 My body is the trouble, and is ' servile to all the skyey influences.' 
 The mind is the lord of the body, and, in turn, is enslaved by it; so 
 that it is tit for tat. . . . You say you have reached Nirva?ia. If you 
 have reached Nirvana, Jliave gone beyond." ^ 
 
 He came home from Northampton in October. Happy 
 in being among his friends again, for a time he seemed to 
 rally ; but again the old stor}-, told so man}^ times, was 
 repeated: "Out of work;" "No place for me." As he 
 said, he had stepped out of the procession : it had closed up, 
 and he was left behind. It is the common lot : let no man 
 think he will be exempt. So soon is a sick man forgotten. 
 Many will appreciate his feeling of being left, at his time of 
 life, without the accustomed task, with idle hands, an empty 
 purse, and fast- fading powers. At this date, I do not think, 
 he could have been saved ; though, under the spur of some 
 easy and congenial employment, his life might have been 
 prolonged. Surely there should have been found a place 
 for this servant of the people, this writer of other men's 
 ideas (as he modestly styled himself), this founder of a 
 
 1 " Tlie Rabat who hath reached Nirvajia says, ' I await the appointed 
 time for the cessation of existence. I have no wish to live; I have no 
 wish to die. Desue is extinct.' " — Max Mulleb: Chips from a German 
 Workshop, vol. i. p. 285. 
 
160 MEMOIR OF 
 
 party still powerful, — some place where he could have felt 
 at ease, pecuniarily at least, for the few cla3's that were j'et 
 left to him. But it is not for such men as " Warrington " 
 to grow old in the service, and retire forgotten upon 
 the pension-list: the}^ go "from the heat of battle, and in 
 peace ; " their labors cease at noontide. 
 
 He went to the State House a few times during the winter, 
 and was interested in legislative matters. He was solicited 
 to become a member of the " third house," and could have 
 named liis own price for such services ; but he was not in the 
 market for that sort of work. He read the newspapers, or 
 heard them read, up to the da}- of his death ; and took a keen 
 interest in the exposure of corruption at Washington, and 
 the woman-suffrage debates in the Massachusetts Senate. 
 He wrote at intervals for "The Republican;" and an un- 
 finished letter was published after his death. This was one 
 of his best, showing how clear his biain was when free from 
 the oppression of disease. He suffered no pain, but was 
 weighed down hy a continued sleepiness. He would drop 
 asleep in the iniddle of a word or sentence, and, waking 
 up, would continue without interrupting the context. He 
 conversed on philosophical and political questions to the 
 last. One of the last books he opened was a law-book, 
 in order to decide some question of judicial proceedings. 
 While reading, he fell asleep, and the heav}- volume dropped 
 from his lap : it was picked up, and held for him ; and he 
 continued his research. He did not of his own accord 
 consult doctors ; and, though he listened paticntl}' to the 
 many methods of cure prescribed b}' his friends, he tried 
 few of them.^ Heroic treatment was advocated ; but he 
 refused to be experimented upon, remembering the doubtful 
 result of such treatment upon both Mr. Sumner and Mr. 
 Wilson. His latest opinion of what the closing scenes of 
 a sick man's life should be is well expressed in Matthew 
 
 1 The look of pleased, far-seeing conteinplatiou with ^Yhich he re- 
 garded a sanguine friend who offered a new scheme of cure is one to 
 be remembered. It was as if he said, " What, cdiie me 1 " 
 
"WARBINGTON." IGl 
 
 Arnold's poem, " A Wish." This poem, with one otlier, he 
 carried in his pocket-book for many years, as here printed. 
 
 A WISH. 
 
 I ask not that my bed of death 
 
 From bands of greedy heirs be free ; 
 For these besiege the latest breath 
 
 Of Fortune's favored sons, not me. 
 
 I ask not each kind soul to keep 
 
 Tearless when of my death he hears : 
 Let those who will, if any, weep ; 
 
 There are worse plagues on earth than tears. 
 
 I ask but that my death may find 
 
 The freedom to my life denied ; 
 Ask but the folly of mankind 
 
 Then, then, at last, to quit my side. 
 
 Spare me the whispering, crowded room ; 
 
 The friends who come and gape and go ; 
 The ceremonious air of gloom, — 
 
 All that makes death a hideous show. 
 
 Nor bring, to see me cease to live, 
 
 Some doctor, full of phrase and fame, 
 To shake his sapient head, and give 
 
 The ill he cannot cure a name. 
 
 Nor fetch, to take the accustomed toll 
 
 Of the poor sinner bound for death, 
 His brother-doctor of the soul. 
 
 To canvass with official breath 
 
 The future and its viewless things, — 
 
 That undiscovered mystery 
 Which one who feels Death's winnowing wings 
 
 Must needs read clearer, sure, than he. 
 
 Bring none of these ; but let me be. 
 
 While all around in silence lies. 
 Moved to the window near, and see 
 
 Once more before my dying eyes, 
 
 Bathed in the sacred dews of mom, 
 The wide, aerial landscape spread, 
 
162 MEMOIR OF 
 
 The world wbicli was ere I was bom, 
 Tlie world which lasts when I am dead; 
 
 Which never was the friend of one. 
 
 Nor promised love it could not give, 
 But lit for all its generous sun, 
 
 And lived itself, and made us live. 
 
 There let me gaze, till I become 
 
 In soul with what I gaze on wed ; 
 To feel the universe my home; 
 
 To have before my'mind — instead 
 
 Of the sick-room, the mortal strife, 
 
 The turmoil for a little breath — 
 The pure, eternal course of life, 
 
 Not human combatings with death. 
 
 Thus feeling, gazing, let me grow 
 
 Composed, refreshed, ennobled, clear; 
 
 Then willing let my spirit go 
 
 To work or wait elsewhere or here. 
 
 As his disease advanced, he uiourucd that he had come to 
 the end of all his labors when there was so much work to be 
 done. lie loved life, and often said, " This life is so good, 
 that it seems impossible for it to be wholly interrupted by 
 death." He was not one who talked much of spiritual 
 things. He had small belief in creeds, in schemes of salva- 
 tion, or in modes of faith. He trusted much in a higher 
 Power, and sought to abide by the teachings of a pure con- 
 science. He had not cherished an active belief in the 
 immortalit}' of the soul ; being too busy, and too happy in 
 the things of this world, to feel an}' drawing towards another. 
 He could have said with John Sterling, " I tread the common 
 road into the great darkness, without any thought of fear, 
 and with very much of hope." He did not often discuss 
 the subject : it rested with him as it had been left when his 
 little boy died ; and his mind was seldom led to it by any 
 conversation. It was a heav}' sorrow to those about him to 
 think that he mi^ht be leaving forever all the acquirements 
 of life, and that his wisdom was to become as notliing. 
 
"WARRINGTON." 163 
 
 A few weeks before his death, he sat one day, as was his 
 wont, before his open fire, iu a meditative posture, witli his 
 hands at rest. His wife spoke to him ; and he looked up 
 with the bright smile so well remembered by all who knew 
 him, and said, "It is curious how the belief in the immor- 
 tality' of the soul grows upon 3'ou. As I have been sitting 
 here, day after day, it has come to me ; and I am sure of it, — 
 as sure of it, and of living again, as I am that I am here, — 
 more sure ; for I don't know half the time whether I am here 
 in the body or not. It is just like going into another room, 
 — into that room" (pointing to the open parlor-door near 
 him). " Wh}', this world and the next are joined as closelj' 
 as m3'two hands " (opening them, and placing them together, 
 one above the other, with palms reversed) . " There they are, 
 no break, no break between, no gulf to pass. I feel every 
 day like one who walks b}' a hedge, and is looking for a gate, 
 a gap to go through, to walk on the other side." After 
 that, the subject was one of common talk, and was spoken of 
 in the midst of ever^'-day affairs. Frequentl}', when he was 
 spoken to, he would look up, smile, and place his hands as I 
 have described, saj-ing only, '■'■ No break, no break.' ^ God 
 was ver}' good to him. He had tried to lead the people to 
 truth and right in this life : was it not given him, in some 
 part, to lead them still farther, — to a belief in the life beyond, 
 towards the great centre of Truth and Right itself? The 
 desire of his heart was to help his kind, and lead them to 
 better things. He is blessed indeed, who, in becoming him- 
 self assured through his 'own experience and insight of an 
 immortal life, can help to show the people whom he loves 
 that this world is but the anteroom to the life beyond. 
 
 The hope of immortality, of a continued indi-sidualit}-, 
 is so vital to the thinking soul as it progresses, and to so 
 few is it given to " grow into the belief" as "Warrington " 
 did, that for the sake of the " doabting Thomases," the con- 
 scientious souls who must see the heavens open before they 
 are convinced, I have waived whatever reluctance I have 
 felt, and now give to the public my honored husband's expe- 
 
.164 MEMOIR OF 
 
 rience. Before this inner growth, this revelation, came to 
 him, he was troubled at the thought of leaving life, and 
 those who had depended upon him ; but, in the near vision 
 of the future, he became reconciled. Like an overloaded 
 ship, he was trying to make port through a heavj' and trou- 
 bled sea. One b^-one, the burdens, tiie cares, the ambitions 
 of life were dropped overboard. The last heavy thought — 
 regret that the companion of his life, who had borne with 
 him the labor and heat of the struggle, and had enjoyed so 
 few of its triumphs, must now be left to begin it all over 
 again — at last followed the rest. The ship was lightened ; 
 and now with him 
 
 "The port, well worth the cruise, is near, 
 And every wave is charmed." 
 
 The pen that had been said to drop gall and wormwood 
 was now filled with the "oil of gladness," and spoke only 
 words of loving reminiscences of old friends. The wonder- 
 ful contrast between the gentleness and sweetness of his 
 nature and the acerbit}' of his pen was no longer visible. 
 He could not even bear to hear those who had injured him 
 criticised or spoken of unkindl}'. lie was like a little child, 
 at peace with all men. As the veil of flesh grew thin, he 
 became, as he said, a seer; for he saw visions, and dreamed 
 dreams. "I knew a man," said St. Paul (" whether in the 
 bod}', I cannot tell ; or whether out of the bod}', I cannot 
 tell : God knoweth) ; such a one caught up to the third 
 heaven." "Warrington's" chamber was full of imaginary 
 visitants : his chair was surrounded b}' children and people, 
 — fair visions unseen by those with whom he talked. They 
 were not dead friends, or an}- that he had ever known ; not 
 even his beloved sister, or his little son, "the divine boy in 
 the upper pastures." lie was alwa3-s awake when he belield 
 these visions, and could see them the same whether his eyes 
 were shut or open. They were so common, that they were 
 mentioned freely, as the advent of other guests would be. 
 Often he said to friends present only this: " They're thick 
 
''WARRINGTON." 165 
 
 to-daj' ; they're thick to-daj'." On going to bed he would 
 say, " I shall see ghosts to-night." But he was not afraid ; 
 for, like Coleridge, " he had seen too many of them." 
 
 One of his most singular visions was in the night, a few 
 weeks before he died, which impressed him so deepl}', that he 
 woke his wife to write it down before he forgot it. While 
 lying in his bed awake, the most beautiful colored drapery 
 began to form around his room, and to droop down from the 
 ceiling over his head, in the midst of which was a calm, grand 
 face. He got out of bed " to explore," and went all round 
 his room, past the three windows, and moved the drapery from 
 side to side as he passed. This phenomenon was frequently 
 repeated, always with the same appearance of reality. He 
 was not under the influence of medicine ; for he took none. 
 He did not accept the theor}- of so-called Spiritualism, and 
 was not deluded or deceived b}' the mystery of those singu- 
 lar visions, but philosophically analj'zed, and logically ex- 
 plained, the phenomenon. He said, that, as the veil of flesh 
 grew thin, the mental eye became accustomed to a nearer 
 vision of the future, and could see clearl}' those inhabitants 
 of the atmosphere invisible to a more earthly sight. To 
 those accepting the theory of heavenly visitants, it may 
 seem strange that no deceased member of his family, and no 
 old friend, should have come to him ; but to himself this was 
 no myster}'. "On the other side of the hedge, as here," 
 said he, " in the scenes of their progressive life, friends may 
 be widel}' scattered from one another and from us." Of 
 his condition he wrote to F. W. Bird, Feb. 20, 1876, as 
 follows : — 
 
 I don't Ijnow bow I am, except that I am in a very shadowy con- 
 dition of mind, especially o' niglits, as one who walks along a hedge 
 and sees through, or thinks he does. I feel a great indisposition to 
 worlv, — largely laziness, but also a fear that I may go too far. Am 
 very sleepy at times. Am seeing lots of apparitions and ghosts, but 
 none that I think I cannot account foi'. I doubt wliether I shall come 
 in this week. Am at home all the time, and shall be glad to see you, 
 or indeed any of my friends. Remember me to Monroe, Clapp, San- 
 born, ef ai. Does Bowles ever come down ? I should like to see him. 
 Write. W. S. R. 
 
166 MEMOIR OF 
 
 About Christmas time, "Warrington" dined with his 
 friends at tlie Bird Club, of which he was one of the original 
 members. Ilis last visit to Boston was to attend the funeral 
 of Dr. S. G. Howe, also an old-time member of this club. 
 His last published writings will be found among the selec- 
 tions. He died on the 11th of March, the anniversary 
 of Charles Sumner's death, — the man, above all others, 
 whom he most reverenced and believed in, and b}- whom he 
 was so much regarded in return. His death was not unex- 
 pected. It was felt by his family that the feeble light 
 might at qx\j moment go out. He had been dressed every 
 day, and had sat down stairs by his open fire. On the 
 evening before he died, he went up stairs to his chamber as 
 usual. He awoke several times, and drew up the curtain at 
 his bedside to look out into the night. He was awake, and 
 talking freely with his wife, not twenty- minutes before the 
 time when, holding the hands he loved best on earth, he 
 fell asleep, and " was not ; for God took him." 
 
 "As the last perfection of a work of art, may we not 
 discern symbolic meaning? In that divinely transfigured 
 sleep as of victory resting over the beloved face which now 
 knows thee no more, read (if thou canst for tears) the 
 confluence of time with eternity, and some gleam of the 
 latter peering through." 
 
"WARRINGTON." 167 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 " Even for the dead I will not bind 
 
 My soul to grief : death cannot long divide ; 
 For 'tis as if the rose that climbed 
 
 My garden wall had bloomed the other side." 
 
 Unknown. 
 
 "Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last 
 end be like his." It is the life that has been lived that alone 
 makes it possible to die such a death as I have tried to de- 
 scribe. After all the grasping, when the hands are empty, 
 — as all must be at last, — it is the good deeds that abide, 
 and hold fast, and fill all the space. We do not speak of 
 him as dead. His spirit still pervades the chamber, the 
 house where he dwelt. 
 
 "Warrington" had no public funeral. He was buried 
 without honors. No eulogy was given, no resolutions offered 
 from the House he had served, no long procession followed 
 him. In the quiet manner he would have preferred, as befit- 
 ting one of the people, all that was earthlj' of him was car- 
 ried to its rest. At his house in Maiden a few friends 
 gathered, brought their floral tributes, and discoursed ten- 
 derly of their departed townsman and friend. He lay in his 
 sunn}' librar}-, all open to the da}^, side by side with his books, 
 and the desk at which he had labored, and written so many 
 brave words. Dr. Bartol of the West Church, Boston, spoke 
 as follows : — 
 
 " My friends of this bereaved family, and of this company that is 
 not altogether sad, there is some joy, some hope, in that we have 
 been singing. I purposely sacrificed, this day, affairs of some public 
 
168 MEMOIR OF 
 
 concern, that I might, by my presence here, pay unaffected tribute to 
 that man in that coffin, so fittingly hiid in that place, by the desk 
 where he stood so wearilessly ; to pay tribute to a sense, long felt, 
 of courage, patience, modesty, humility, with which he served the 
 truth. Why should not the orator pay tribute to one who spoke so 
 well ? Why should not the preacher pay tribute to a journalist who 
 preached sermon after sermon which arrested the attention of hun- 
 dreds of thousands? and, if to a journalist, why not to one whom I 
 ought to call the ' prince of journalists ' ? lie has hardly left a peer, 
 and no equal, on topics which for years have occupied his pen. His 
 constant effort Avas ever to show these things — matters of public 
 interest — in the light of truth and morality : such was the habit of 
 the man whom we are here to respect, — to respect for his sincerity, an 
 acute conscience, a sense of right. He was the ' Junius ' of America; 
 and this is not said at random, or by report, or with mockery, as a 
 parrot, what other folks have said, but from conversance with the 
 man's contributions to the public prints, from the close following of 
 his literary productions, frotn communion with William S. Robinson. 
 The fault found with his writings may be ascribed to the fact that his 
 arrows of truth hit the mark. He drew his enemies' fire, because he 
 drew their blood. He was the sheriff of the moral sense, the execu- 
 tor of the law of righteousness. His pen was tempered by a holy 
 fire, and strengthened by conviction that antagonism to crimes and 
 errors of thought and judgment was its only, its proper use. His 
 creed was simple, and expressed in the words, ' God,' 'duty,' 'immor- 
 tality.' It is somewhat surprising, in making this review of Mr. 
 Robinson, how some of our best and greatest men are feeling the 
 narrowness of denominational terms." 
 
 Dr. Bartol spoke very beautifully of the long line of illus- 
 trious personages who have moved be3'oncl the ' ' hedges ' ' of 
 this world, and included with the names of Andrew, Lincoln, 
 Sumner, and Wilson, that of Robinson. '"It is not ihe 
 place or time to refer to his public career ; but I cannot help 
 remarking, that though Mr. Robinson had long and ably 
 filled the position of clerk of the Massachusetts House, yet, 
 in consequence of his unswerving fidelit}' to truth, he was 
 not allowed to retain the office." Dr. Bartol closed the 
 eulogy, which flowed from the depths of his heart, by a 
 reference to the personal character of Mr. Robinson. Had 
 his reward been equal to his talents, he would have been 
 wealthy ; but he left one of the greatest legacies to his family 
 
"WARRINGTON." 169 
 
 in his cliaracter and name.^ Hymns were sung ; and pra^-er 
 was offered by Rev. D. M. Wilson, Unitarian clergy-man of 
 Maiden. 
 
 The funeral-services were continued in Concord, in the old 
 parish-church, where "Warrington" had first heard Dr. 
 Ripky preach; and Dr. Ripley's successor, Rev. Grindall 
 Re3'nolds, addressed the assembled friends as follows : — 
 
 " You have brought what remains visible of your dear friend to 
 the old home, where, amid social, literary, and i)olitical influences in 
 his youth, I take it, very earnest and quickening, his character re- 
 ceived its first sliaping. You have brought him to that old church 
 where he formed not a little that religious faith which was behind his 
 intense moral and philanthropic activity and faithfulness, and which, 
 in his last hours of feebleness and failing powers, gave him serene 
 peace and trust. You have brouglit the dust precious to you, to bury 
 in that soil where sleeps the dust of his ancestors for two generations, 
 and that of his own child. It seems fitting so to do. Gladly, yet 
 with sadness too, we receive back all that remains mortal to the 
 place wliich has so many memories of his brave and strong spirit to 
 cherish. 
 
 " Your friend was not simply a private citizen: in the true sense, 
 lie was a public man. True, his personality was not often i>ut forth 
 prominently. He did not hold, and he did not seek, many offices 
 which brought him before the world ; but he was a public man, in 
 that, to the very core of his being, he was full of that public spirit 
 by which he took a perpetual and fervent interest in all things which 
 concerned the interests of the community, of humanity; and in 
 that, with that weapon which he wielded with such consummate 
 skill, — the pen, — he was perpetually laboring to advance what 
 seemed to him the welfare and true progress of man. By his sa- 
 gacious foresight, by his large knowledge, by his keen and pungent 
 wit, by his undoubting faith, he took his place among large public 
 influences. When you have excepted a few great names, it will be 
 admitted that not many have done more to carry our good Common- 
 
 1 In a discourse at his church on the following sabbath, Dr. Bartol 
 said, " W. S. Robinson -was the censor of our American sin and shame. 
 He was a Theodore Parker, addressing a larger audience from a higher 
 pulpit. Bitter was he, indeed, against corruption in any form. Doubt- 
 less he had faults; but his virtues were real. He was one, at least, 
 who wa^ not terrified by the tempers and the hate of the multitude. 
 He inflicted a wound on that leviathan of sin that swims in our muddy 
 pool of politics, and laughs at the shaking of a spear." 
 
170 MEMOIR OF 
 
 wealth forward in that glorious way of philanthropy and liberty in 
 which it has travelled than he did. 
 
 "The thing which can be said first of his character is, that it was 
 one of which we can afford to tell the whole truth. Like the great 
 Protector, he could say, ' Paint me as I am,' with all the virtues and 
 defects. One thing is clear: the objects which he set before him to 
 forward were objects becoming a high-minded man to accept. To 
 promote good measures ; to elevate to power good men ; to attack by 
 every weapon of argument, of ridicule, of appeal, which wi'ongod 
 and oppressed ; to unmask hypocrites, and to take away Iheir power 
 to injure, — these objects, according to the best of his discenmient 
 and power, he sought to attain. No one, however opposed, suspected 
 him of wilfully sustaining any thing base or mean or wrong. How- 
 ever he fought, he always fought with a good conscience, and unde- 
 terred by any obstacles, — whether failing health, or risk of personal 
 popularity, or opposition of friends; and, as it seems to me, he 
 fought the fight with remarkable unselfishness. lie did not ask much 
 portion for himself, or much reward of any sort. He was content to 
 live simply, and to loorlc while it was day. 
 
 " That he sometimes erred in judgment, that he sometimes made 
 attacks which were undeserved, that, possessing as few a trenchant 
 wit and pungent humor, he frequently used them with undue sever- 
 ity, his dearest friends no doubt Avould admit. But, admitting all, his 
 public influence was beyond peradventure great, wholesome, on the 
 side of public righteousness, and not against it, — for man's true 
 rights and progress. In personal relations he had great power of 
 attaching people to him deeply, even people whom he had criticised 
 and opposed. He was bright, cheerful, full of wit, full of knowledge, 
 warm-hearted, faithful, trustworthy; and so he had a great circle of 
 those who believed in him, enjoyed him, and clung to him in health, 
 and quite as deeply in sickness and decline. We cannot go far behind 
 the veil which properly secludes the private relations and home; but 
 we can say he was faithful and affectionate in all its relations, a true 
 husband, an indulgent and tender father. 
 
 " He was not faultless. No one would believe us if we said that. 
 He had the faults, and he had the great virtues, of a bold, warm- 
 hearted, sturdy nature, which had its own vigorous and conscientious 
 belief, and which with the Avhole heart hated wrong and hated false- 
 hood. And so it was not a life lived for nought. It accomplished 
 and was accomplishing a vast deal which was good and valuable; 
 which was for the increase of human welfare, and for the strengthen- 
 ing of things right and true. And now in its fulness, in its early 
 autumn days, when with the ripening of years and the chastening of 
 trial we might have expected a sweeter and richer fruitage than even 
 in youth, in manhood, that life for here is closed. Kegrets are 
 
"WARRINGTON." 171 
 
 human; and yet with the human regrets mingles the divine and 
 heavenly instinct, which tells that there is no testimony to immor- 
 tality so clear, so touching, so indisputable, as what we call death of 
 those who have in them intellect, affections, high faith, good pur- 
 poses, whose full work is not yet. The work drops here from our 
 nerveless hands, only that in the world seen by the eye of faith a 
 nobler work may be taken up." 
 
 Prayer was again offered by Rev. Mr. Wilson, and hymns 
 were sung. The beautiful hymn by Sir Henry Wotton, 
 sung both at Maiden and at Concord, is here given : — 
 
 How happy is he born or taught 
 
 Who serveth not another's will; 
 Wliose armor is his honest thought, 
 
 And simple truth his highest skill ; 
 
 Wliose passions not his masters are ; 
 
 Whose soul is still prepared for death, 
 Not tied unto the world with care 
 
 Of prince's ear or vulgar breath; 
 
 Who God doth late and early pray 
 More of his grace than goods to lend ; 
 
 And walks with man from day to day 
 As with a brother and a friend I 
 
 This man is freed from servile bands 
 
 Of hope to rise, or fear to fall ; 
 Lord of himself, though not of lands ; 
 
 And having nothing, yet hath all. 
 
 Upon the coffin plate was inscribed, — 
 WILLIAM S. ROBINSON", 
 
 " WAKKINGTOJf." 
 
 Bom in Concord, Mass., Dec. 7, 1818. 
 
 Died in Maiden, Mass., March 11, 1876. 
 
 RE SURG AM. 
 
 He had returned again to his birthplace. In the hollow 
 behind the hill, where sleep the generations of his ancestors, 
 and where he had played as a child, near the graves of his 
 old schoolmates John and Henry Thoreau, and close to 
 
172 MEMOIR OF 
 
 where Ilawtliorne lies, tender hands of old friends laid him 
 down by the side of his little bo}". Twice winter has de- 
 parted since he left us ; but his chained feet no spring can 
 loose, and to mortal ken his 
 
 " part in all the pomp that fills 
 The circuit of the summer hills 
 Is that his grave is green." 
 
 Many heartfelt tributes to his memory were published by 
 his brethren of the press. The following are selected from 
 among them : — 
 
 "One after another, the leaders of opinion in Massachusetts have 
 been passing away since the close of the civil war, in which, through 
 their steadfastness, and that of the people who stood behind them, 
 our ancient Commonwealth became itself the leader of the whole 
 countiy. John A. Andrew died first, in ISO" ; Charles Allen followed ; 
 then Charles Sumner; next Henry Wilson; and now we must record 
 the death of their friend and fellow-worker, from 1848 onward, 
 through the antislavery struggle, the war period, and the years of re- 
 construction, — William S. IiObixsox, the keen and honest journal- 
 ist, the man of wit and conscience, who has for so many years in- 
 structed and entertained the readers of ' The llepublican ' with his 
 inimitable letters. It was for them that his best words were written, 
 and to them he spoke long and wisely. If he did not always measure 
 the full force of his words, if his wit sometimes went too far for 
 justice to follow, he was yet, in the main, just, high-minded, and 
 discriminating ; and no man was more free from that cankered vice of 
 our times, — a self-seeking hypocrisy masked under professions of 
 public service. He never committed nor connived at those easy sins 
 of the politician by which the people are cheated and pillaged. He 
 was sharp against knaves and fools, and sometimes against good men 
 who had blundered over to •the wrong side; but he was never false to 
 the great principles of popular government. Friendship was with 
 him no excuse for public wrong or political errors. lie reproved the 
 men who stood with him as faithfully as he fought against the other 
 side. 
 
 " Of the many conspicuous services which ' Warrington ' rendered 
 to the cause of good government in Massachusetts, the greatest was, 
 perhaps, his unsparing castigation of Butler in the memorable raid 
 upon the governorship made by that person in 1871. 
 
 " It was then that our satirist won his highest glory, and had the 
 right to make his own that boast of the English poet so often quoted 
 concerning him : — 
 
"WARRINGTON." 173 
 
 ' Yes, I am proud, I must be proud, to see 
 ]\Ien not afraid of God afraid of me ; 
 Safe from the bar, the pulpit, aud the throne, 
 Yet touched and shamed by ridicule alone. 
 O sacred weapon left for truth's defence, 
 Sole dread of folly, vice, aiid insolence! 
 KeverentI touch thee, but with honest zeal. 
 To rouse the watchman of the pubUc weal.' 
 
 " His character was formed in an old-fashioned New-Enghmd com- 
 munity, and lacked some of the elements of culture; but he had 
 disciplined himself to the work of a journalist, and had a right to the 
 name of a literary man. He read many books, and read them well ; 
 but he was still more versed in the knowledge that comes without 
 books, from the study and companionship of men. He was an ency- 
 cloptedia of political knowledge, especially concerning Massachusetts, 
 in which he chiefly interested himself. He was a delightful compan- 
 ion, and a warm friend ; loved and respected even by those whom 
 he had publicly censured, if they happened to be persons who could 
 themselves discriminate between wit and malice, between severity 
 and slander." — F. B. Saxbokx, in Sprbvjfield Eejniblican. 
 
 "Those who knew William S. Kobinson intimately will mourn him 
 the most sincerely. He was a man who exemplified in a marked 
 degree the true spirit of personal loyalty. He was neither a flatterer 
 of a friend, nor an apologist for the errors of those he respected. He 
 was frank to a fault ; and spoke his mind on jDaper and in conversa- 
 tion with so much freedom, that he offended those who did not see 
 that his motive was pure. It was in his nature to say sharp things ; 
 but in his heart there was no bitterness. He was a critic without 
 selfish piu-poses. He detested sham ; and he was at times, perhaps, 
 misled by the shadow rather than the substance; and many of his 
 criticisms upon men and motives were often modified. He gave 
 severe political blpws; but he received the shots of his antagonists 
 with Eoman firmness. Xo one can attribute to him, through the 
 active years of a long political life, any base or unworthy intent. Had 
 he sought influence and wealth, he would have trimmed his sails to 
 catch more propitious gales ; but from boyhood to the grave he pre- 
 ferred ' his independent tongue and pen ' to aught else that the world 
 could bestow upon him. In his home, and amid that social life which 
 he sought before his recent illness, he was the kind husband, consid- 
 erate father, and genial friend. Many years will pass away before his 
 memory will fade from the recollection of those who knew him when 
 his mind was vigorous, and his shafts of wit were so potent and pier- 
 cing to those who wore the armor of pretence aud bigotry." — W. W. 
 Clapp, Boston Journal. 
 
174 MEMOIR OF 
 
 " The last time we saw W. S. Robinson in health was on the 15th 
 of November, 1872; and had any one then told us that we, his 
 senior by four years, should survive him, we should have considered 
 the assertion absurd; for, in the convei-sation we then had with him, 
 he was as animated and as racy, as vigorous and as richly humorous, 
 as we had found him in 1843, when we made his acquaintance. lie 
 carried his fifty-four years well too, and bade as fair to learn what 
 length of days means as any man whom we knew. There was, appar- 
 ently, an amount of vitality in his constitution that did not admit 
 of the thought that the calling of which he was so brilliant a mem- 
 ber was so soon to lose him ; and we were much surprised, when, in 
 1873, we heard of his illness. He had overworked himself ; he having 
 been steadily employed from his boyhood, and seldom having known 
 an interval of real rest. As a writer, we think there never was his 
 superior in American journalism; and his equals might be counted 
 on half the fingers. Many of his articles and letters are as good as 
 those of Albany Fonblanque ; and a collection made from them, and 
 properly edited, would be as good reading as can be found in Mr. 
 Fonbianque's 'England under Seven Administrations.' It would, 
 too, be a valuable contribution to the best materials for the history of 
 American politics for the last thirty years, — an important considera- 
 tion; for our political history perishes almost as fast as it is made, the 
 chief cause of which is the lumbering character of most of the matter 
 from which it should be written. But Mr. Ilobinson's contributions 
 to that matter lie under no such reproach; for he brought to his 
 work an amount and a variety of liumor such as it is very rare indeed 
 to find in any man, and a trencliant wit that is still more rare; and 
 his style was a combination of keenness and vigor that reminded 
 readers of the French of Paul Louis Courier. Had he been so situ- 
 ated as to be able to devote himself solely to the pursuit of letters, it 
 is our firm belief that he would have won a permanent jjlace among 
 the great humorists of Europe and America. He was a very rapid 
 thinker and a quick worker, of which qualities his conversation 
 afforded, from the necessity of the case, better evidence than could 
 be afforded by his writings; for they miglit, for aught that the reader 
 Imew, be painfully and laboriously elaborated : but such wl,s not the 
 fact, as he wrote with ease, and never was at loss for either ideas or 
 words. He could strike hard blows with both pen and tongue; but 
 he preferred the use of sharp weapons to that of heavy weapons, 
 skill to force. He v/as the Saiadin of his profession. Though not a 
 learned man, — few journalists are learned men, — he was an uncom- 
 monly well-read man; and his reading embraced those writo-s who 
 are by common consent admitted to be first-class humorists, — Rabe- 
 lais, Montaigne, Cervantes, Swift, Fielding, Sterne, Sydney Smith, and 
 others. Scott he held to be as great in humor as in all other respects ; 
 
" WARRINGTON." 175 
 
 and he placed him with Shakspeare. He was one of the early few 
 who appreciated the genius of Hawthorne, With the literature of 
 his own time he was very familiar ; and probably no other American 
 knew better the writings of Dickens and Thackeray, and the higher 
 order of those authoi's who may be said to be of the schools of those 
 great masters. He was fond of works of fiction, among which, he 
 would pleasantly say, he classed biographies, and books of travels. 
 His miscellaneous reading was both extensive and various ; and as 
 his mind was a wonderfully clear one, and his memory excellent, his 
 reading's results were always available. He had not the slightest 
 pedantry, being as free from that as he was from cant. In politics he 
 was ever a liberal, and of the ultra stamp; always sympathizing with 
 the oppressed, and aiding their cause to the extent of his powers and 
 his opportunities. He did his part in the world well and nobly ; and 
 now he has, like the good and faithful servant that he was, gone to 
 that rest which is the best reward of an honest, an honorable, an in- 
 dustrious, and a useful life." — C. C. Hazewell, Boston Traveller. 
 
 " For twenty years he was an almost constant contributor to the 
 columns of ' The Springfield Republican ; ' and his letters during the 
 antislavery struggle were widely read and highly prized : in fact, 
 they were the only fearless utterances in behalf of freedom found in 
 any journal in this part of the State." — H. L. Burt, Springfield Tele- 
 gram. 
 
 "We are called upon, at last, to face the intelligence of a long- 
 dreaded event. William S. Eobinson is dead. I saw him in his 
 coflSn; and he had more his old aspect than I had recognized in him 
 for two years. The unnatural marks that his disease had brought 
 appeared to have all faded away since life had departed. I was 
 impressed with a massive beauty in his brow which I had never 
 before appreciated. His brave heart has ceased to beat; his active 
 and acute mind has ended its earthly work. The labors of his life 
 are over. He is lost to that public whom he so faithfully and so 
 courageously served, and to those friends, who, knowing the kindli- 
 ness of character and the strongly sympathetic nature that underlaid 
 his keenly critical temperament, ardently loved the man. 
 
 " If ever a true man, in the broadest sense of the term, lived, it was 
 he. Nothing was able to shake the absolute fidelity to conviction 
 that was so distinguishing a trait of his character. In an age of 
 servility among politicians, he never faltered : he was never even 
 tempted. Few men needed money more. He began the world poor, 
 and a large portion of his experience in it was a struggle with pov- 
 erty. Money was open to him, not as a reward of dishonesty, — for no 
 man ever dreamed of offering to him a money-bribe, — but as the 
 
176 MEMOIR OF 
 
 fruit of conformity to the opinions of tlie hour. His pen was a power 
 that was wortli tlie purchase of any party : tlie rewards of office an(jl 
 of poj.ition that might have been claimed by him who wielded it, it 
 would be difficult to over-estimate. He had not to sacrifice any thing 
 that most men would have regarded as essential, either: he had 
 merely to accede to the prejudices of the hour among those with 
 whom, in most points, he was in agreement. His sturdy sense of 
 rectitude entertained not the thought for a moment. He continually 
 risked such favors of fortune as came to him by his faithfulness to 
 what he felt to be absolute truth. Ordinary politicians regarded his 
 temerity with amazement. It is to their credit, liowever, that they 
 respected an exhibition of manliness which they found it difficult to 
 comprehend. He held the position, for many years, of clerk of a 
 House of Kepresentatives which he constantly criticised with merci- 
 less severity; and he lost it, at last, after partisanship had so depre- 
 ciated the composition of that body as to elect to it men a majority 
 of whom were capable of censuring Charles Sumner, while they 
 refused to express disapprobation of the Credit Mobilier frauds in 
 Congress. 
 
 " While, perhaps, the fearless independence of Mr. Eobinson was 
 his most distinguishing quality, — a quality in which he was equalled 
 only by Charles Sumner among those of the same generation in 
 public life, — he possessed, also, a power as a writer that would have 
 attracted attention to him in any era of our annals. His knowledge 
 of the political history of the country was very thorough ; and he had 
 enjoyed the friendship and acquaintance of almost all the distin- 
 guished men of his own State with whom he was contemporary. He 
 was unsurpassed in shrewdness of observation ; he had a logical 
 strength that was proof against almost any possible flaw in arguments 
 in which he enlisted ; his pungency in statement was so conspicuous 
 as to pass into a proverb; and his wit was of the keenest character. 
 It was used unsparingly in some instances, and it scathed without 
 stint those who came within the sphere of his censure ; but we do 
 not believe even its victims ever doubted the honesty that impelled 
 either his sarcasm or his scorning. There was never personal ani- 
 mosity beneath it. lie saw farther beneath the surface of character 
 than do most men ; and he had a lordly hatred of wrong, and still 
 more strikingly an intolerant spirit towards humbug, that would not 
 bo repressed. He must find expression for what seemed to him in 
 need of rebuke. Friend as well as foe came under his condemnation, 
 if he felt their action deserved it. Those who best knew him will- 
 ingly submitted to his strictures. They learned to know it as only a 
 faithful frankness, that never spared the utterance of truth because 
 of personal sympathy. 
 
 " Were Mr. liobinson living, no man would more scorn indiscrimi- 
 
"WARRINGTON." 177 
 
 nating eulogy than himself; yet we use the language of only simple 
 justice when we say that few men of clearer brain, nobler heart, and 
 purer purjiose, have lived in this generation than him to whom this 
 most inadequate tribute of a fervent friendship is paid." — G. H. 
 Monroe, Boston Saturday Evening Gazette. 
 
 Bishop Gilbert Haven, his friend and townsman, wrote 
 in " The Independent," — 
 
 "The memory of many rich hours in 'Warrington's' society 
 stimulates this tribute. Shall not the spring flowers scattered on his 
 couch to-day in Sleepy Hollow by the liberal and loving hand of his 
 Creator be accompanied by a few equally natural, and not artificial, 
 though of little worth, yet vitalized by love ? In a great war, the sol- 
 diers that win fame are not always the fighters. The sharpshooter 
 that dropped many a gunner at his post, and by his steady and sure 
 shots picked off the officers, was often unnoticed in the gazette, and 
 even unknown to the commander. Yet, but for his perilous and per- 
 sistent aim, the day had gone to the enemy. So in life's great field of 
 battle, whether of the Church or of less reforms, the real fighter is 
 not always the most prominent. The man that wins the battle for 
 Christ and humanity may never wear the general's buttons; but he is 
 none the less the real general. 
 
 " It seems natural to think thus when the sharpest, steadiest, 
 truest journalist in all the mighty battle for freedom passes away 
 with a dozen or less sketches in the daily press, a page long, and a 
 score or two of minor notices, as his only requiem. Mr. Whipple finds 
 room for laudation of a journalist or two in his BiograpMa Literaria 
 of the century, but fails to remember this most swift and sure of them 
 all. Yet none the less for that omision will he be remembered. In 
 the chosen few who waged to the end the glorious strife, his name 
 will stand among the highest. His gifts were as peculiar as any of 
 his fellows. They were his own. He was not a philosophic thinker, 
 poet, politician, statesman, nor even editor; though many of the ele- 
 ments of the highest order of statesman, politician, poet, philosoi^her, 
 and editor, entered into his composition. He was pre-eminently the 
 political letter-writer. No such shaft fled from any other bow as those 
 his arm discharged. They were deadly, but never venomous. His 
 arrows were sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies. 
 
 " This work was not executed in malice, but, in his own conscience, 
 undoubtedly, with the highest sense of duty. He was only testing 
 every man's work of what sort it was. Like Soci-ates, he was trying 
 it, not to show himself, but itself. He never dwelt long on one he 
 blamed or praised. He flew from flower to flower, extracting poison 
 as delightedly as balm. His religious views were anti-orthodox, as 
 
178 MEMOIR OF 
 
 might have been expected from his birthplace. He drank at the same 
 fountain as his follow-townsinen, Emerson and Thorcau, of the 
 former of whom he was always a reverent admirer. Of course, such 
 a culture is far from Christian; and Christian truth never seized upon 
 his soul. His writings were never touched by that light supernal: 
 they were 'of the eartli, earthy;' though that earth was polished 
 marble and precious stones. He was bewrayed too, by this defect, into 
 too loose ideas of liberty, not in himself, — for a maiden purity was 
 his lifelong trait, — but in society. Like Gov. Andrew, he got so deep 
 in love with liberty, that he did not always discern its true metes and 
 bounds. Mill's wild liberty, which was license and lawlessness, 
 infatuated this seer and sayer. Yet even here were limitations ; and 
 the free-love abominations of the hour found no more stinging foe 
 tlian in his piercing pen. 
 
 "His life was faithful according to its early light. Few men have 
 ever lived who more completely verified the portrait of the poet's 
 
 poet, — 
 
 ' Dowered with the hate of hate, the sconi of scorn, 
 The love of love.' 
 
 His prejudices were sometimes his idols, which he worshipped as 
 gods. His career is a stimulus and a guide to truthful journalism. 
 He should be copied by the hundreds that control our press in hon- 
 esty and integrity. If they lack his capacity, they will, after their 
 measure, be lionored and successful. Other evils which his pen never 
 attacked yet remain. Let his conscientious zeal against what he 
 accounted wrong stimulate every seeker of life-fame to a like honora- 
 ble warfare: so will 'Warrington' be not a vanishing name, but a 
 growing power in all the myriads of those who wield the mighty force 
 of the press of to-day and to-morrow." 
 
 It is fitting that woman, in whom he believed, and for whose 
 elevation he labored, should be permitted to lay chaplets of 
 remembrance upon " Warrington's " grave. Mar}- Clcnimer 
 (in " The Independent ") wrote thus of him : — 
 
 " There are faces, just to think of which, shut away in the darkness 
 of the grave, from the glory of the world and the loving glances of 
 their kind, is enough to make one shudder. 
 
 "As I trace these lines in memory of one I love, I feel impelled to 
 lay a little leaf of praise on the new-made grave of one I never saw. 
 I want to pay my tribute to the memory of William S. Robinson, if 
 only from the fact that he belonged to that order of men, who, of all 
 men in our country, are intellectually the most unselfish, who give 
 the most lavishly, and receive, iu return, the most abuse and the least 
 
' ' WARRING TON. " 1 79 
 
 reward. There are irresponsible persons, who lilve to call them- 
 selves journalists, who make much undue mischief, no doubt; and 
 their words were worthy the moral calibre of the men who last week, 
 in the Senate, denounced all journalists as belonging to this class. 
 Nevertheless, the fact remains, that there are many men, and a few 
 women, who, turning from the allurements of letters as an art, pour 
 their rich gifts without ceasing into the bottomless abyss of the daily 
 press. Their rich vitality of brain and heart, consumed hour by hour 
 in the columns of a daily newspaper, leaves no enduring trace in 
 the world of art by which to build a monument to their name. 
 They rarely live to be old ; and, when suddenly struck down in what 
 should have been their prime, the mighty critic calmly records, 
 ' Only a journalist, — a mere newspaper-writer. He has written noth- 
 ing that can endure.' No niche, however obscure, is left for him in 
 'The History of American Literature.' No less the seed of his 
 thought is blown to the world : it blooms, and bears fruit, in the men- 
 tal life of his generation. He is the maker and master of opinion; 
 he is the kindler and quickener of ideas; he is the defender and 
 stronghold of principle ; he is the martyr of thought and of toil, cut 
 down at his post, and with the utmost alacrity forgotten. No thought- 
 ful person could have read the letters of ' Warrington ' in ' The 
 Springfield Republican' for the last decade without feeling that in 
 themselves they were an education. ' Junius ' never wrote more 
 absolutely 'to the point.' You might differ none the less that you 
 knew they were wise, prophetic, and illuminated with that calm, clear 
 intelligence, that breadth of mental outlook, that amounts to an 
 added sense, — a second sight. 
 
 "I am no haunter of graveyards: but I went to Mount Auburn, 
 where Charles Sumner rests, on the hilltop, facing the rising sun, 
 with a vision of Claude-like beauty at his feet, that must have given 
 joy to his living eyes; I went to Sleepy Hollow, where Thoreau 
 and Hawthorne lie ; and the thought of these three sleepers was fuller 
 companionship than can be often found amid the living. On a tree- 
 shaded hilltop overlooking the sunny meadows of Concord is Tho- 
 reau's grave: its discolored headstone seems to tell that this offspring 
 of Nature has been returned back into the elements again; that 
 ' earth that nourished him ' has claimed ' his growth, to be resolved 
 to earth again-.' On the opposite side of the path, a headstone a 
 few inches high has inscribed upon it 'Nathaniel Hawthorne,' — no 
 more; and a few steps farther on is the green plot that waits the form 
 of Emerson, when that serene spirit shall take on immortality. In 
 this high company, the comrades of his youth, in this place of peace, 
 they have laid down the body of the tired journalist. His name may 
 be ' writ in water ; ' but his essence survives in indestructible things. 
 Vale, vale I " 
 
180 MEMOIR OF "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 Many kind messages were received, all bearing the same 
 tribute of love and reverence for the dear dead friend. 
 
 " I wish I could recall the words of Dr. Bartol commemorative of 
 Mr. Robinson. They were too good and fresh to be forgotten. I 
 think you could not fail to have been made glad for that past true and 
 noble life, and comforted at the hour when your beloved was at rest 
 from his labors, lying in his pleasant, sunny library, among his 
 friends. I had never thought ' Warrington's ' pen too sharp, and 
 liave always rejoiced and confided in it." II. W. 
 
 "Every just and good cause has lost a fearless champion, and there 
 is one less good man on earth." M. F. W. 
 
 " When an earnest, whole-souled man is taken out of this world, I 
 have another argument that immortality is real. It cannot be that 
 all the zeal, the ripe thought, the earnest purpose, and the spirit that 
 worked only for good results, is suddenly stopped, to work and Hve 
 no more forever. Life would indeed be a farce if this were true." 
 
 E. S. 
 
 In reviewing or summing up the character of a man, there 
 is a side not often touched upon, — the side that women know. 
 It was the good fortune of " Warrington's " wife to be able 
 to read and listen to the estimates of his character, and make 
 no mental reservations. His life always illustrated those 
 principles of purity and steadfastness that his eloquent pen 
 advocated. If the suggestions of such a life teach even a 
 few of his countrymen, that to be a leader of parties and the 
 people means something besides office-liolding, worldly case, 
 and advancement, his biography will not have been written 
 in vain. 
 
''WARRINGTON" PEN-PORTRAITS. 
 
"A man is not to be reA'erenced before the truth; and 
 therefore I will speak out." 
 
 Socrates in Plato's " licpnbUc." 
 
" WAEEINGTON " -PEN-POETEAITS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE FREE-SOIL PAETY.i 
 
 [Worcester, Wednesday night, June 28, 1848.] 
 THE WORCESTER CONVENTION.^ 
 
 Mr. Giddings finished the speech he began in the after- 
 noon, and was followed b}- Rev. Mr. Lovejoy of Cambridge 
 (Libert}'"), who made a verj' effective speech. He spoke a 
 little against Van Buren, but coupled Hale and Giddings 
 together, and bi'ought out a great shouting. I am writing in 
 the hall, which is crowded. The enthusiasm, as 3-ou editors 
 say, is " tremendous." It beats the daytime out and out. 
 
 Charles F. Adams next spoke, and cut in sharp and keen, 
 but with more good-nature than usual. Just now he is 
 scorning those who voted for the War Bill, and has jerked out 
 two or three sentences quite in the style of his father. The 
 speakers say a good deal about " the late Whig party." 
 Query : Will it be too late for supper next November, or 
 not? 
 
 1 Tlie Free-Soil party -was, as its name denotes, the party of freedom 
 and antislavery, and contained the radical elements of the Whigs and 
 the Democrats, and absorbed the Liberty pai-ty. 
 
 2 This was "Warrington's" lirst letter to the Springfield Republican. 
 He wrote no other for that paper until 185(3, when he assumed the nom 
 deplume of " Warrington." 
 
 3 The Libcrttj partij were the Simon-pure antislavery men; not the 
 Garrisonians, for they did not believe in voting. 
 
 183 
 
184 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 Giddings made a good hit in his speech. He said he liked 
 a good Democrat rather better than he did a good "Whig 
 (cheers from the Loco' section) ; "for," he added slowl}', 
 " the vahie of an article is greatlj"- enhanced b}' its rarit}'." 
 It was the Whigs' turn to shout now ; and the}' didn't do 
 an}- thing else. Ver^' fair, wasn't it? C. F. Adams has 
 just said the Whig part}' is so corrupt, that it is in the condi- 
 tion of one who is not to be believed on oath. Said he, " I 
 am free of it. I am ready to go forward in this movement." 
 He closed with the old words, " Live, or die," &c. ; and the 
 cheering was the loudest you ever heard. 
 
 Sumner followed, and is now talking. His speech is a 
 thing of shreds, and happy ; pretty much as his speeches 
 commonly are. It has considerable effect. He compared 
 the slave power to the Bastille : whereupon James Buffum 
 of Lynn sang out, "The Bastille is a gentleman compared 
 to it." General laugh, of course; though where's the 
 wit? 
 
 Sumner is going into the heroics, Thermopylae, «S:c. 
 J. S. Eldrcdge is clapping; P^lizur Wright, ditto: but I 
 think it is rather deep for common folks. He read a letter 
 from E. L. Ilamlin of Cleveland, 0., who says that all was 
 union and enthusiasm at the Columbus Free-Soil Convention ; 
 that it was the largest since 1840 ; that the State Liberty 
 Convention met the next day, but did little besides ratify 
 the proceedings of the People's Convention ; and that the 
 Reserve will give twenty thousand majority for the Buffalo 
 nomination. 
 
 The enthusiasm of the meeting is rising under Sumner's 
 finely-turned and lamp-smelling periods. It is up to fever- 
 
 1 Locofoco. The Locofoco party, so called, was the radical portion of 
 the Democrats. At a meeting at Taiiinuiny Hall, the radical and the 
 conservative Democrats quarrelled; and, at a most important moment 
 in the debate, the conservative portion caused the gas to be turned off, 
 leaving the hall in darkness; but the radicals produced their locofoco, 
 or lucifer matches (as friction matches were then called), and relighted 
 the hall at once- In derision, they were called Loco/ocos; but they 
 proudly assumed the name. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 185 
 
 heat at least. He sa^'s the war debt is a hundred and eighty 
 million dollars. Isn't this setting it rather too high? 
 
 Elizur Wright has just burst out with an anti-tariff inter- 
 lude, agreeably diversifying the scene. 
 
 Suinner is apparentfy closing, and is piling it up on the 
 young men. He does up the transcendentalism of politics 
 ver^' well ; but would he make a good vote-distributer ? 
 He is done ; and calls resound for Edward L. Ke3'es, who 
 comes forward, after a personal explanation from Elizur 
 "Wright, receives three nice cheers, and speaks well. 
 
 E. R. Hoar followed in a fu'st-rate speech. He saj's he 
 knows that Mr. Webster gives his cordial sympathy and 
 respect to all who are in this movement, and that he has 
 never aided in the Taylor movement in any degree. 
 
 RESOLUTION PASSED AT WORCESTER JUNE 28, 1848. 
 
 ^'•Resolved, That Massachusetts wears no chains, and 
 spurns all bribes. Massachusetts goes now, and will ever go, 
 for free soil and free men, for free lips and a free press, for 
 a free land and a free loorld." ^ 
 
 [Boston Daily Eepublican, Oct. 5, 1848.] 
 RUFUS CHOATE ON TAYLOR. 
 
 The Taylor party will sacrifice the Wilmot Proviso in 
 Congress, just exactly as they did in the Convention at Phila- 
 delphia, if it is necessary to their success. 
 
 With Rufus Choate, politics, like law, constitutes an ex- 
 ercise of the faculties of reasoning and imagination solely. 
 To get a murderer acquitted upon a plea of somnambulism, 
 or to get a president made by a process which will betray 
 libert}^ with a kiss, is simply a trial of refined skill : it is 
 nothing else. The people might listen as a jury would 
 listen, all the while taking in an intoxicating draught, until 
 the moral perception had become so completely blunted, that 
 the individuals would be read}' to consider murder and arson 
 
 1 "Written by " Warrington," who was Secretary of tlie Convention. 
 
186 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 quite equivalent to Arcadian simplicity and virtue, and fraud 
 and trcacher}' no worse than truth and honest}- ; and all this 
 would be, doubtless, held to be fair, 2^^'ovided it succeeds : 
 but, unfortunately, there is a stern and calm tribunal remain- 
 ing behind, at which the tricks of magicians, whether legal 
 or political, do not avail, and where a single grain of truth, 
 however infinitesimally small, outweighs a whole universe of 
 error. 
 
 Mr. Choate's argument at Salem in behalf of Gen. Tay- 
 lor, like his argument in behalf of Tirrell, told well at the 
 time ; but who that knows right from wrong will ever be 
 able to look back upon eitlier, and praise the moral nature of 
 the malcer? 
 
 [Boston Daily Republican, October, 1848.] 
 GEN. TAYLOR AS TUE CANDIDATE OF THE LADORING-MAN. 
 
 It Avill be well for the lahoring-men to tiiink of these 
 things, — the tillers of the soil, the mechanics, the manufac- 
 turers. Is it altogether the best tliinrj they can do to give 
 their votes for a man, who, when he Avants an agriculturist, 
 buys him ; when he Avants a blacksmith, buys him, pays seve- 
 ral hundred dollars for him, uses him as long as he pleases, 
 and then sells him again? Is the laborer of the Northern 
 Free States likel}- to advance the cause of the laborer ever}'- 
 where, likely to increase the " dignity of labor," which they 
 talk so much about, by casting a vote for this Zachar^- Ta3dor? 
 
 Ilosea Biglow somewhere remarks, — 
 
 " Folks that make black slaves of iii<5;;ers 
 Want to make wliite slaves of you." 
 
 This is true. The man who buys Peter and Jack and Nelson, 
 
 — black men, — to work and die for him, Avould just as 
 readily buy Johnson and Thompson, and Smith and Jones, 
 
 — ichite men, — if hr. could do so. "What sort of a president 
 is this for a free republic of laboring-men ? 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 187 
 
 [Lowell American, December, 1849.] 
 THE PARTY OF FREEDOM. 
 
 There is one party, tliank Heaven, that has only one face ; 
 and that is the Free-Soil part}-. Their object is undisguised. 
 David Wilmot, Charles Allen, Joshua K. Giddings, and their 
 associates, are understood : their fellow-members know pre- 
 cisel}- where the}- are, and what the}' demand. They are for 
 freedom ; they avow it ; they pledge themselves to it at all 
 times ; they ask and expect no favor from men pledged to 
 the other side : if they vote for or against a man or a meas- 
 ure, it is that freedom may triumph, not party. 
 
 No man is allowed to represent their position as different 
 from what it is : there is no need of it ; for every man, 
 North and South, East and West, knows what they are, and 
 what they want. 
 
 [Lowell American, April 22, 1850.] 
 THE CLAY COMPROMISE.^ 
 
 Henry Clay is the man who is principally responsible for 
 this mischief. Foote might have blustered ; Webster might 
 have apostatized : but, without Clay's management, the thing 
 could not have succeeded. Something like half a million 
 of people, more or less, in these United States, think that 
 they were begotten by Henry Clay, and must implicitly obey 
 or reverently follow him. Every word he speaks, every act 
 he performs, is received by them with loud acclaim : Clay is 
 infallible ; Clay can do no wrong. His position as a quasi 
 friend of emancipation in Kentucky has helped him in his 
 diabolical scheme of compromise. He has taken advantage 
 of the sentiments of his followers to give the victory to the 
 
 1 Henry Clay was the " great compromiser." His three most impor- 
 tant compromises were, 1st, tlie Missouri, in 1S20; 2il, tlie Tariff, in 1833; 
 3d, the California or "Omnibus" Compromise, in 1850, so called because 
 it contained or held several others, the most conspicuous one being the 
 Fugitive-slave Law, which occupied a front seat. This was Mr. Clay's 
 last compromise, because, as C. C. Haze\\ ell said, " he died shortly 
 after; and there is no comiiromise with death." 
 
188 "WAItltlNGTOX:" 
 
 slaveholders. Professing in loud-sounding language that 
 he would never vote to extend slavery another inch, it is hi^ 
 action, more than that of all others, which will give slaverj' 
 a victor}' in this dcadl}' contest. We humbly suggest that it 
 is about time for the people of the North .to stop idolizing 
 this arch-devil of the whole conspiracy'. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 189 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE FUGITIVE-SLA^rE LAW. 
 
 [Lowell Auiericau, Oct. 23, 1850.] 
 WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? 
 
 The laio itself is infamous, and not the interpretation of it. 
 Those who made the law are responsible, and not those par- 
 ticularly who are willing to enforce it ; though these last are 
 bad enough. It is Webster, and Fillmore, and Eliot, and 
 Hibbard, and Peaslee, and other Whigs and Democrats who 
 sanctioned the law, that are to be held responsible for it. 
 Will anybody pretend that Fillmore is not properh' classed ? 
 Antislavcr}' Whigs, how does j'our president look, packed 
 (like the centre-mackerel in a close-packed barrel) between 
 Clay, Cass, Dickinson, Webster, Foote, and Houston? — 
 slaveholders or doughfaces, every one of them. 
 
 It is THE LAW which ouglit to be anathematized, — 
 Webster's law, which he agreed to support "to the fullest 
 extent ; " Fillmore's law, which he " approved ; " the law of 
 the AVhig and Democratic slaveholders and doughfaces who 
 passed it, or dodged so that it might be passed : it is " the 
 law" which must be repealed, and which must be resisted 
 until it is repealed. 
 
 [Lowell American, Nov. 8, 1850.] 
 THE MAN-STEALING LAW : HOW SHALL WE CONDEMN IT ? 
 
 One of the citizens of Lowell who went to Canada during 
 the panic which immediatel}' followed the passage of the 
 slave-catchino; law has returned. He is in doubt whether it 
 
190 "WA nnixG Tox .- • ' 
 
 is safe for liiin to remain here. If he cannot live here, he 
 Avill go to England. 
 
 Just think of it, if you have patience to think of any 
 thing. Here is a 3"oung man of good appearance, scarce!}' 
 a shade blacker than the arch-devil Webster, \\ho is at the 
 head of the man-stealing conspirac}' ; well-behaved, capable 
 of earning a good living, and in all respects as good a 
 citizen as the average of men in the community. lie has 
 committed no crime. Crime ! — he has shown himself to be 
 worthy of liberty and equal citizenship b}' taking himself 
 out of slavery into a land of freedom. lie took no man's 
 property when he fled. The legs upon which he walked were 
 his own, and not his master's; the tongue with which he 
 spoke, the eyes and ears with which he saw and heard, were 
 bis own, and not any other man's. He is guilty of no crime ; 
 3'et, by the law of the land, he is liable to be seized at any 
 moment, hurried before a commissioner, and, Avithout a trial, 
 sent back into the hell from which he escaped ! 
 
 Is not this monstrous? Will men endure it, — men with 
 hearts in their bosoms, men with Bibles in their dwellings, 
 men pretending to be believers in the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence and the Sermon on tlie Mount? We will not 
 believe it. 
 
 [Lowell American, Nov. 22, I80O.] 
 "CONQUERING PREJUDICES." 
 
 Daniel Webster advised the people to "conqner their 
 prejudices." The}' have been remarkabh* successful in 
 doing so. The Whig party held power in this State mainly 
 because people were prejudiced in its favor ; but, it having 
 become Websterized, the people conquered their prejudices 
 in its favor, and voted it out of power. 
 
 .There were prejudices of thirty years' standing in favor of 
 Daniel Webster ; but when he set the peoi)le the example of 
 conquering what were supposed to be his inveterate preju- 
 dices against slavery, and went in for the support of that 
 institution, the people conquered their pn^judices in his 
 
PEN-P OR TRAITS. .191 
 
 favor, and cast him out in disgrace. These are cheering 
 instances of success in conquering prejudices ; and we hope 
 Mr. Webster will be pleased with the docility and aptness of 
 his pupils. 
 
 [Lowell American, Feb. 21, 1851.] 
 EESCUE OF SHADRACH. 
 
 We rejoice with joy unspeakable that the black men of 
 Boston had the courage and humanit)^ to attempt and 
 successfully' carry through that rescue, in spite of the majesty 
 of law with which the United-States bloodhound commis- 
 sioner had clothed himself. It was a glorious event, — the 
 most glorious event that Boston has honored herself with 
 for many j-ears. The two hundred "niggers" who rushed 
 into the court-room on Saturday, and bore Shadrach into 
 libert}', have given an honorable name to Boston, which not 
 even the Toryism of Webster, Choate, Curtis, Hallett, and 
 Co., can make the people forget. That rescue will be cited 
 fifty years hence, yes, twenty 3-ears hence, as one of the chief 
 glories of Boston ; while the memoiy of the Tories who 
 clamor against it shall rot in oblivion. 
 
 Who are the " leading men " who are so indignant at the 
 violation of law? State-street brokers and Milk-street 
 jobbers who got up a ' ' ten-cent ' ' rebellion against the 
 sub-treasury law, and would have been glad to see the 
 post-offlce mobbed for requiring specie payments ; men who 
 hold mortgages on slave-propert}', and some of whom, quite 
 likely, are guilty of being concerned in slave-trading ; men 
 who mobbed Garrison in 1835, and Thompson in 1850, and 
 who have rejoiced at every proslavery outrage for the last 
 twenty years ; men who sanctioned the annexation of Texas 
 and the Mexican war, because new markets were thereby 
 opened ; men who, with the most submissive temper, have 
 seen their own seamen imprisoned in South Carolina, and 
 have rejoiced at the mob-law which sent IMr. Hoar home to 
 Massachusetts, because they dared not disturb the good 
 understanding between the planters and the manufacturers, 
 
192 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 — these are the men Avho are so struck with horror at the 
 proceedings of an "African mob," which, actuated b}' a 
 sentiment which docs honor to human nature, gallantly seized 
 a brother from the chitches of slaver3-, and sent him to a 
 land of freedom; 
 
 Even now thej- are rejoicing because the grog-shop gradu- 
 ates of Springfield have hung in cffig}' an English gentleman^ 
 whose onl}' offence is speaking against the darling institution 
 of slaver}', as he has spoken against slavery of ever^' form 
 at home. Is not the testimony of these men in favor of the 
 supremacy of the law a ver}- valuable testimony ? 
 
 [Lowell American, April 14, 1851.] 
 HUMILIATIOX OF MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 The unconstitutional and infam'ous enactment of a congress 
 of drunkards, swindlers, and doughfaces, has triumphed not 
 onl}' over the conscience and the opinion, but over the consti- 
 tution and laws, of INlassachusetts. The law of 1813, forbid- 
 ding State officers to aid in kidnapping, has been opeilh', boldl}', 
 and knowingly violated b}' Boston officers, under the orders of 
 the ma^'or and the State-street power behind the mayor ; and 
 even the criminal process of the State has been suspended by 
 the corrupt advice of the State and District attorneys. 
 
 For eight days, the criminal laws of Massachusetts were par- 
 alyzed and abrogated hy the claim of a Georgia slaveholder 
 to his " propert}'." Slavery is stronger to-da}' in Massa- 
 chusetts than it is in Georgia ; for in Georgia the claim of 
 the owner would have to give wa}' to the criminal process, 
 while in this State the criminal process yields to the [)roperty 
 claim. 
 
 A man found in Massachusetts,'^ and claiming to be one of 
 
 1 George Thompson. 
 
 2 George T. Curtis yesterday issuett a warrant against Alfred Sims, a 
 fugitive from Savannah, on tlie application of Seth J. Thomas, the 
 lej;al pimp of the slave-catchers. Poliie-Oflicer Asa O. Bufman was 
 considered the stanchest hound for tlie operation of runninj? down 
 the fugitive; and tlie business waa coniUled to him in connection with 
 
PElSr-POETRAITS. 193 
 
 its citizens, is seized hy an offlcei", who acts in violation of 
 law, upon a lying accusation of theft ; is hurried before a 
 tribunal unlvnown to the Constitution ; is refused a jury trial ; 
 and, upon the oaths of two or three men who are b}^ their 
 profession scoundrels, is carried off into slaver3^ All sorts 
 of tricks unauthorized b}' the law — volunteer acts of infamy 
 (such as the trumpery process issued by Ilallett to contravene 
 the criminal process of the State) — are resorted to, to carry 
 this inoffending man into perpetual bondage, to subject him 
 to a life of unrequited toil, diversiQed only with the exercise 
 of the whip and the branding-iron. 
 
 Who has done this? Not Massachusetts? No. The 
 humiliation belongs to Massachusetts ; but the infamy be- 
 longs to Boston alone. The chained court-house, the mili- 
 tarj' array, the extraordinary police-force by night and day, 
 — these things show that it was only with great difficulty 
 that even in Boston the law could be enforced : nowhere else 
 in the State would there have been the least prospect of suc- 
 cess. It is onl}' in the midst of a corrupt public sentiment 
 that such an infamous law can be enforced ; and the country 
 is sound to the core on this question. 
 
 Perhaps it is too sweeping to say that Boston is responsi- 
 ble for this. It is a combination of the money and the 
 
 augur-hole Byrnes, whose teeth it was feared might give out. Another 
 hound, named Sleeper, was also engaged. Butman and Sleeper about 
 six o'clock discovered Sims and another negro walking along Ann 
 Street. Butman and Sleeper fastened their fangs to him; and the 
 negroes showed fight. In the struggle, Butman was stabbed, — one 
 account says in the groin, another paper says in the leg, — but whether 
 in one of his hind-legs or fore-legs does not appear. 
 
 Having made the grab, the hounds forced their prisoner into a 
 carriage, and drove off to the coTirt-house. Another struggle took place 
 here; but the fugitive was safely secured. Thomas Sims, the alleged 
 fugitive, was brought up before Commissioner Curtis on Friday. Seth 
 J. Thomas appeared for the claimant; and It. Rantoul, jun., Charles 
 G. Loring, and S. E. Sewall, for the prisoner. Court Square presented 
 an exciting scene. There were many people in the neighborhood. 
 Chains were placed round the court-house; and Judge Shaw and Judge 
 Wells were obliged to craid under the chain in order to get into the 
 court-house. — W. S. R in Lowell American, April 3, 1831. 
 
194 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 Websterism of Boston which is responsible, — the corrupting 
 political influence of the most corrupt politician that ever 
 cursed the countr}- with his presence, combined with the base 
 love of gain, which would sacrifice all law, and all conscience, 
 and all liberty-, for the profits of slaA'cholding trade. It is the 
 fifteen hundred '■^respectable men," who, according to Tuke}-, 
 volunteered to aid in carrying Sims back into slavery, who have 
 done this. Their money corrupted the pulpit and the press ; 
 their political influence controlled the cit}' authorities, and 
 placed the laws of the State at defiance, that John B. Bacon 
 miglitcarr}- off his "nigger." Oh, what a triumph of Web- 
 ster- Whigger^- ! "What a victory of cotton over the conscience 
 of the people ! 
 
 [Lowell American, April 25, 1851.] 
 ELECTIOX OF CHARLES SUMXEK.^ 
 
 Glad, inspiring, invigorating news is that which we publish 
 to-da}-. Charles Sumxer is chosen senator for six j'cars 
 from Massachusetts. An able, eloquent, and, what is better, 
 a true, honest, and pure man, is chosen to represent the 
 people of the State. Is that all? No. The triumph of one 
 man, however able and honest, is next to nothing. The 
 great triumph is in this, that the principles of the old Com- 
 monwealth have been re-asserted and vindicated after a year 
 of darkness and doubt cast over them b}- the great treachery 
 of the 7th of INIarch, 1850. The honor of the State is 
 
 1 Mr. Snmner -was elected on the twenty-sixth ballot; and there 
 were twenty-six candidates, including Mr. Sumner. Their names 
 were, — 
 
 Charles Sumner, Boston; R. C. "Winthrop, Boston; H. H. Childs, 
 Pittsfield; Pliny Merrick, "Worcester; Isaac Davis, ^yorcester; R. Ilan- 
 toiil, jun., Beverly; G. S. Boutwell, Groton; S. C. Phillips, Salem; Ben- 
 jamin F. Hallett, Boston; G. N. Bripjgs, Pittsfield; John Mills, Spring- 
 field; Samuel Hoar, Concord; J. H. Briggs, Nantucket; Caleb Cusliiug, 
 Newbury; Fr. Coggswell, Bedford; 11. "W. Bishop, Lenox; Isaac O. 
 Barnes, Boston; D. Ilenshaw, Leicester; S. A. Eliot, Boston; S. D. 
 Bradford, Koxbury; A. Walker, North Brooklield; N. P. Banks, jun., 
 Waltham; G. P. Osgood, Andover; A. Nettleton, Chicopee; Charles 
 Allen, Worcester; Horace Mann, Newton. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 195 
 
 sustained : her banner is again borne aloft by a strong 
 hand. 
 
 This is one of the great retributive events whicli make an 
 era in a State, showing that the people are stronger than 
 any man, or clique of men ; showing that the people have 
 principles j-et, and are not to be led from them hy any man, 
 however great, or however much he has been trusted. It is 
 in this view that the election of Charles Sumner is a great 
 event, worth more than a score of presidential victories 
 carried by accident, by a popiilar hurrah, or by a conceal- 
 ment of party issues. 
 
 [Lowell American, Aug. 1, 1851.] 
 THE JUVENILE MOVEMENT FOR MK. WEBSTER. 
 
 "We have already mentioned the fact, that sixt}- of the boys 
 at Groton Academy' have signed a paper signifj'ing that they 
 believe Mr. Webster to be the great defender and expounder 
 of the Constitution and Union, and that thej^ desire that he 
 shall be our next President. Dear little fellows ! that is all 
 they can do for the expounder ; the law not allowing them to 
 vote for several years to come. We hear that this juvenile 
 movement is not confined to the schools. It is spontaneously 
 spreading into the nurseries. The cradles and cribs resound 
 with the praise of Webster ; and man}- an occupant of a 
 high-chair wields his rattle with vigor in enforcing his claims 
 to the presidency. We are permitted to publish the follow- 
 ing paper, which has been signed by a large number of spon- 
 taneous young babies in one of our most fasliionable neigh- 
 borhoods : — 
 
 " The sub-scrib-bers, itty babies, liv-ing in Low-ell, here-by sig-ni-fy 
 to onr faders and our muzzers, that we con-sid-cr Daii-il Webster, 
 who made the Spell-lng-book, the best man for the Pres-i-dent of the 
 U-ni-ty Tates. We un-ner-tand that he was a good itty boy, and is 
 now a great big man, hav-lng pre-served his con-sti-tu-tion by the 
 free use of cold water all his days, aid-ed by fre-qucnt and co-pi-ous 
 draughts from the pub-lie teat. This cx-am-ple we f ol-low ; cold wa-ter 
 
196 " WARIilNGTON: " 
 
 and titty being our chief siip-port. And we there-foie hope all itty 
 babies will be Wigs, and sup-port the Ex-pound-er of these priu-ci-ple!s. 
 We fling our di-a-pers to the breeze, and huz-za for Web-stei', the 
 baby's choice." 
 
 (Signed by) Jack IIorxer. Johxxt Bkowit. 
 
 Tot E. Wiggins. Kitty Peaslee. 
 
 Sis xVustix. Cally Sampson. 
 
 BuBB IIawley. Geokgy Brimmer, and 
 
 SuNY Perkixs. SLxty-five others. 
 
 [Lowell American, June 23, 1852.] 
 political death of daxiel wedster. 
 
 Daniel Webster — there is a political end to him, thank 
 God! In the language of the elder Mr. Weller, "He has 
 been took at last with that ere unawoidable fit of the staggers 
 as we must all come to, and has gone off his feed forever." 
 " I see him," continued Mr. Weller, " getting every journey 
 more and more groggy. I saj's to Samivcl, saj'S I, ' Sami- 
 vel, m}- boy, the Gray's a-going at the knees ; ' and now my 
 predilection is fatally werified. And him as I never could 
 do enough to serve, or to show m}- likin' for, is up the great 
 universal spout o' natur." In the same spirit. State Street 
 laments the political demise of Webster. 
 
 But there are hundreds of thousands of men who will 
 rejoice at his downfall as in that of an enem}' of the human 
 race. On the 7th of March, 1850, he sold himself, and sold 
 Massachusetts and the North, and has ever since been lead- 
 ing on what Rantoul calls a " national slave-hunt." All 
 his speeches, all his letters, all his conversations, have had 
 this one object, — the securing of slavehoUling support for 
 the presidenc}' by his zeal and alacrity in catching runaway 
 slaves. He made the Fugitive-slave Law, and he has exe- 
 cuted it. He has carried terror and dismay into thousands 
 of innocent families. He has entered upon a new war against 
 the hunted and peeled victims of Southern oppression, and 
 has urged on the blootUiouuds to seize, and carry back into 
 
PEN-PORTBAITS. 197 
 
 hopeless bondage, men born as free as himself,. and as worthy 
 to be free. 
 
 What has he got for his efforts ? Just what he deserved, — 
 scorn, neglect, and contempt. Look at the record : — 
 
 Fifty-third ballot. For Webster, 21} 
 
 Where is the Southern support for which the great apos- 
 tate sold out ? Not to be found. Not even as a compliment 
 would the slaveholders vote for him. May such ever be the 
 reward of treachery ! 
 
 [Lowell American, Sept. 20, 1852.] 
 FOOD FOR POLITICIANS. 
 
 '^May 3'ou eat dirt!" is a form of cursing in Turkey. 
 But the same phrase — when the dirt is scraped up below 
 Mason and Dixon's Line, and mixed with the sweat and 
 blood of three million bondmen — ma}^ be set down as a 
 form of blessing in America. Certainly this article of diet, 
 so prepared, is and always has been wholly indispensable in 
 the training of champions for our presidential scuffles. He 
 who could gobble down the most of it with the greatest 
 gusto would ever find the biggest crowd of backers among 
 our Southern managers of the ring. 
 
 Frank Pierce, who brags of having stuffed himself with 
 this unhallowed pudding ever since he could eat solid food, 
 calculates to win the Wliite House on that very ground. 
 And thus we behold a substance which affords a byword of 
 the bitterest scorn to Moslems, partaken of, as adding a 
 relish to their daily bread, b}^ ambitious politicians, and sanc- 
 timonious priests who pass for Christians; and it doesn't 
 appear to stick in their throats any more than would so 
 much treasury-pap or missionarj'-pie. 
 
 1 "Webster received six votes for President out of New England in 
 1852, not one across tlie Potomac; never got beyond tliirty-two votes. — 
 W. S. R. in 1B75. 
 
198 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE WHIGS A^^D THE COaVLITION. 
 
 [Lowell American, 18o3.] 
 
 LETTERS FROJI THE STATE HOUSE. 
 
 Popular ignorance as to the Great and General Court 
 is absolutely astonishing. As the procession to hear the 
 election-sermon was passing along "Washington Street, one 
 of the on-lookers put the question to another, " Who are 
 these? " He was told, " The members of the legislature ; " 
 and he then inquired, " AVhieli is Gen. Pierce?"-' Being 
 informed that he had passed, surrounded by his aides, he 
 hurried forward, caught a glimpse of Gov. BoutwuU, and 
 declared that "he looks jest like the pickters." 
 
 REPRESENTATIVE BUMSTEAD.'* 
 
 " Fish, lisb, arc you doing your duty? " — Arabian A'ights, 
 
 My friend Melchezidcck Herringbone, Esq., the represen- 
 tative from Pig-whistle Four Corners, who is monitor of the 
 Ninth Division, intends to offer an order to-morrow for an 
 inquiry into the expedicnc}' of furnishing furtlier protection 
 to peanuts, to the end that these interesting little wegetables 
 may be furnished with a thicker skin, to guard them against 
 the inclemcnc}' of the weather and the teeth of rowd}' school- 
 bo3's, against the peace of the Commonwealth, and of the 
 statute in such case made and provided. 
 
 1 ^leaninj; Pros. Pierce. 
 
 2 For Representative Bnmstead, continued, see Brief Biographies. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 199 
 
 And Sampson Deodatus Bumstead, Esq., the distinguished 
 and veteran legislator from Calf-IIollow Half- Acre, has ex- 
 hibited to me the rough draught of an order which he proposes 
 to introduce, looking to the repeal of the laws relative to 
 alewives in Taunton Great River, — laws which he considers 
 subversive of the rights of the finny tribe, tremendously 
 oppressive upon fishermen, unjust to haddock and herring, 
 against the spirit of our republican institutions, and incon- 
 sistent with the constitution and laws of the Isles of Shoals. 
 When tliese orders are offered, I shall say more about 
 them. 
 
 THE ADOLITIONISTS. 
 
 The abolitionists who met at the Melodeon have got 
 through, and adjourned. I dropped in again on Friday, and 
 heard an English gentleman, named Lowe, a few minutes. 
 In the course of his remarks, he came down upon Meagher, 
 the Irish orator, for what I could not very well understand. 
 He classed him with Kossuth and Father Mathew, each 
 having j'ielded to the influence of slavery. 
 
 Garrison, the sturdy, persistent follower of his glorious 
 idea ; Phillips, the eloquent orator, w^ho might be — oh ! 
 such a splendid politician ! Pillsbur}', the indefatigable 
 traveller and worker, the every-daj' sort of a man, who has 
 the most forcible way of talking of any in the whole lot, to 
 my liking ; Parker, who likes to go and make speeches, but 
 has too much common sense to follow all the vagaries of the 
 others ; . . . and Burleigh, who can prove b}- impregnable 
 logic that two and two are not four, — all these people meet 
 together jear after 3-ear. 
 
 I admire to hear them, and have no doubt whatever that 
 they have done more than any other equal number of men to- 
 wards hastening the abolition of slaver}', but don't accede to 
 their claim that they have done all, or that nobody else can 
 do any thing. 
 
200 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 THE BOSTON DAILY ADVERTISKR IN 1853. 
 
 " The Dail)' Advertiser ' ' ^ has published five or six columns 
 of words urging the legislature to repeal the Convention's 
 (Constitutional) law. Perhaps you will ask wh}', in a letter 
 from the State House, I allude to these "repeal" articles. 
 Because, I answer, ever3' member from the legislature was 
 furnished with a cop.y of "The Daily Advertiser " containing 
 them ; and the subject properl}- comes under my notice. I 
 saw the pile of " Advertisers," wet, soggj', dull. I saw rash 
 representatives, impelled by Yankee instinct for newspapers, 
 3'et not knowing what the}- did, seize upon them, and thrust 
 them into their pockets. I saw others in the House under- 
 taking to read the repeal articles. I watched the struggle 
 going on in the mind of each reader, as shown in his puzzled, 
 or amazed, or amused countenance. I saw the gleam of 
 intelligence which lighted up the face of one good man, who, 
 about halfway down the second column, fancied that he had 
 discovered something which he could understand, if allowed 
 time to investigate it ; and, again, I saw others giving up 
 the contest in despair, and asking what kind of a paper it 
 was, and what the editor was driving at. 
 
 It is one of the curiosities of journalism. Whj' is it called 
 a daily, I wonder. We are apt to think of a dail}- thing as 
 of something new and fresh, — a birth or bursting-forth, an 
 effulgence, a ga3'et3% Is " The Daily Advertiser" new or 
 fresh? Naj-, but ver}' old and veiy stale. Is it a birth? 
 Na}', unless it is in the sense of "Wordsworth's line, — 
 
 "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting." 
 
 Is it a bursting-forth ? Nay, but a bursting-up, rather. Is 
 it an effulgence ? Na}', but a fog. Is it a ga^'et}'? Na}', 
 but a ver}' specific gravity. 
 
 1 The Advertiser, iu 1853, and long after, was linnkerisli and bit- 
 terly proslavery, and, of course, opposed to all reforms in which Mr. 
 Ivobinson was interested. AVhen he could not convince, he ridiculed, 
 lus opponents. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 201 
 
 [Lowell American, March 10, 1853.] 
 LETTER TO THE WHIGS (cOALITION) . 
 
 Brethren, I would not aggravate j-our condition : I would 
 fain bring out of it profit to yourselves ; and, to do this, I 
 must not merel}' remind 3-ou of j'our defeats, and the appar- 
 ent and immediate cause, which is your lack of votes, but 
 also the remote cause, which is the lack of the confidence 
 and respect of the people. And even this information will 
 be of little practical use to 3'ou, unless you take measures to 
 get the respect and confidence of the people in the future. 
 
 To recur to Sancho Panza : "The reason, Sancho," said 
 his master, " wh}' thou feelest that pain all down thy back is, 
 that the stick which gave it thee was of a length to that ex- 
 tent." — "God's my life ! " exclaimed Sancho impatiently: 
 "as if I could not guess that of m}- own head ! The question 
 is, however, How am I to get rid of it? " 
 
 There is no way, O Sancho Whigger}-, to get rid of the 
 pain inflicted by this enormous coalition stick ; but there 
 is a way to avoid such another infliction. Behave 3'ourself 
 properl}'. Discard bad leaders, and refuse bad advice. Put 
 not 3'ourself in the way of the people ; deny not to them the 
 right of sovereignt}'. Claim not for j'our awkward squad in 
 the State House a power greater than the sixty-six thousand 
 people who voted for the Convention. Repeal not laws which 
 the people ask to have retained. Use not mob-law. Abolish 
 not the rules and orders. Legislate soberl}' and discreetly. 
 Set not your faces against ever}- thing that has an unwonted 
 appearance. Be modern men, and not antique fossils. And 
 with this advice I leave 30U. 
 
 [Lowell American, June 23, 1853.] 
 THE CONSOLATION OP ASSES. 
 
 It is said to be the onl}' consolation of a mule, that his 
 father was a horse. Now, although it is quite a waste of 
 ammunition to allude again to the last communication of 
 " C." in "The Lowell Courier," one expression of his is 
 
202 "WAIiRINGTON:" 
 
 "worthy of notice, showing as it docs his close resemblance 
 to that long-cared species of animal. Sa^-s "C," "The 
 Free-Soil party has not even the shadow of a name in the 
 records of the remote past;" intimating thereb}' that it is 
 lessened in importance, and cannot stand np b}' the side of 
 the old AVhig party, which ma}' have existed ever since the 
 days of — the 3'ear A.D. 1828. 
 
 There is an excellent reply to this remark of " C." to be 
 fonnd in the history- of ancient Greece. Iphicrates, one of 
 the ablest of the Athenian generals, was the son of a shoe- 
 maker. Being engaged in a cause before the judges, he was 
 taunted of his mean extraction b}' his opponent, who boasted 
 of being a descendant of Ilarmodius. "Yes," replied the 
 noble soldier with cutting sarcasm, the "nobility of my 
 family begins in me : that of yours ends in you." 
 
 " C." may find, that, although the Free-Soil party has no 
 name in the records of the remote past, the Whig party will 
 be wanting of a being in the remote future. The power of 
 the former begins with the present ; and with the present ends 
 the power of the latter. It is too late an age to find honor 
 in being of that class whose chief excellence, like the po- 
 tato, lies beneath the sod. 
 
 [Lowell American, Aug. IG, 1853.] 
 
 TUE CON-STI-TU-TION EX-PLAIN-ED FOR LIT-TLE C. C* 
 For Be-fjin-ners. 
 Now, lit-tle boy, let us tell you some-thing which you do 
 not know, be-cause j'ou are a very sil-l}" lit-tle bo}'. If the 
 Con-sti-tu-tion is a-dopt-ed by the peo-ple, it will make no 
 dif-fer-cnce as to the S3-s-tem of rep-re-scn-ta-tion, wheth-er 
 the pret-ty Whigs or the naugh-ty Free-Soil-ers and Lo-co- 
 fo-cos get the le-gis-la-ture. The peo-ple can say wheth-er 
 they will have the Con-sti-tu-tion, or not ; and if the}' say 
 the}' will have it, then the town sys-tem will go in-to ef-fect, 
 no mat-ter if the AVhigs should not like it, or if they should 
 get the ma-jor-i-ty in the le-gis-la-ture. 
 
 1 One of the editors of a Whig paper in Lowell. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 203 
 
 And in the year eigh-teen hun-dred and fifty-six, which is 
 three j'ears af-ter this j'ear (and ^'on can count the months 
 on j-our bless-ed lit-tle fin-gers and dar-ling lit-tle toes) , the 
 le-gis-la-ture will have to dis-trict the State, just as the 
 pret-ty Whigs wish ; and this will hap-pen just the same 
 un-der a Lo-co-fo-co Free-Soil le-gis-la-ture as it will un- 
 der a Whig le-gis-la-ture. For let us tell j-ou, lit-tle Char- 
 ley C, that the town and the dis-trict s3-s-tem in the new 
 Con-sti-tu-tion are both so join-ed to-geth-er, that e-ven if 
 3'ou were a great man, and al-low-ed to vote (and we hope 
 ^•ou will grow up and be large e-nough be-fore an-oth-er Con- 
 sti-tu-tion is made) , 3'ou would have to vote ei-ther for both or 
 a-gainst both ; for the wick-ed Free-Soil-ers and Lo-co-fo-cos 
 have fix-ed it so that 3-ou can-not do oth-er-wise. 
 
 Now, lit-tle Char-le3', if 3-ou will stud-3' hard all the week, 
 and tr3' to un-der-stand this, and ask 3'our mam-ma to spell 
 the long words for you, and 3-our broth-er to point out the 
 mean-ing of the hard words, then 3'ou can come a-gain, and 
 we will tell you how it is that a man can sup-port the new 
 Con-sti-tu-tion with-out aid-ing the e-lec-tion of a co-a-li-tion 
 le-gis-la-ture ; and, when 3-ou have got-ten this les-son 
 per-fect, 3'ou shall have a nice piece of plum-cake, and the 
 big bo3-s will not an3' lon-ger laugh at 30U for be-ing a sil-13", 
 ig-no-rant lit-tle boy. 
 
 [From the Evening Post, 1853.] 
 DEFEAT OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION. 
 
 One of m3' good friends requests me to " write something 
 funn3- ' ' to cheer up the spirits of the prostrate coalitionists 
 and constitutional I'eformers of this region under the over- 
 whelming defeat which the3' met with 3-esterda3'. I will be 
 " as funn3' as I can ; " but ghastliness forms a considerable 
 ingredient in our smiling, and bitterness in our wit, just now. 
 I had prepared some ver3' facetious remarks in partial anti- 
 cipation of a different result. In connection with that result, 
 these would make 30U and all men laugh ; but " much remains 
 
204 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 unsung," and must so remain. Abbott Lavrrence going 
 about the State drenching his pocket-handkerchief with 
 tears at the bare idea of being disfranchised was a subject 
 for mirth, to be sure ; but Abbott Lawrence dragging his 
 wallet and contents out to "feed" fort3'-one perambulating 
 Whig orators formed quite another picture. To hear John G. 
 Palfrc}' and Charles F. Adams hounding down a Constitution 
 they must have known was infuiiteh' preferable to the old 
 one was calculated to bring a satirical smile upon the fiices 
 of those who knew that their real object was to revenge 
 themselves upon Ilenrj* "Wilson ; but the spectacle of hun- 
 dreds of honest men gulled b}' their sophistry was not 
 agreeable in au}^ sense of the word. The man who has his 
 doubts about the intelligence of the masses — the laboring- 
 classes — might be excused, if he inwardly chuckled over the 
 sight of "The Boston Pilot" trying to lead Irishmen into 
 the jaws of a Boston aristocracy as remorseless as the one 
 they had left Ireland to get rid of; but the success of this 
 effort, as manifest in the vote of Boston, Lowell, Charles- 
 town, and other places, must have deprived the cynic of even 
 the poor satisfaction of a sneer. 
 
 It would take a dozen letters to give you an account of all 
 the causes of this disaster. I shall merely enumerate them ; 
 and here they are : — 
 
 1. The cit}' of Boston. 2. Abbott Lawrence's wallet. 
 3. The Roman-Catholic vote. 4. The entire part}' oppo- 
 sition of the Whigs. 5. The rum vote. G. The hunker 
 "Post" influence. 7. The temperance vote. 8. The 
 treachery of the Free-Soil leaders. 9. Caleb Cushing's inter- 
 ference. 10. The cry, " Free-Soil Constitution." 11. The 
 cry, "Wilson is to be Governor." 12. The conservatism 
 of the people. 13. The blunders of the Convention. 14. 
 The indilference of the voters. 15. The opposition of Har- 
 vard College and the Unitarians. IG. The opposition of 
 Andover and the Orthodox. 17. The opposition of "The 
 Pilot" and the Catholics. 18. The opposition of "The 
 Investigator" and the infidels. 19. The opposition of the 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 205 
 
 old-fogy Whigs. 20. The opposition of the liberal Whigs. 
 21. Hatred of niggers and Free-Soilers. 22. The opposi- 
 tion of the large cities. 23. The opposition of the small 
 towns. 
 
 Abbott Lawrence, the millionnaire, and ragged Simon, the 
 town pauper ; Father Brownson, the Catholic, and Nehe- 
 miah Twang, the Puritan ; John G-. Palfrej', the representa- 
 tive of Harvard College, and Peleg Jenkins, who is opposed 
 to common schools, and thinks Jackson is still President ; 
 the Hon. Alonzo Stiff from Beacon Street, and Sam the 
 bull}' from the Black Sea ; Narcissus Yardstick, the counter- 
 jumper, and Jonathan Harrowtooth, the farmer in the back 
 settlements ; Charles F. Adams, the abolitionist, and Caleb 
 Cushing, the crusher of abolitionists ; George S. Ilillard, 
 with his cologne bottle, and Moses Mudlark, skipper of the 
 scow " Betse}' ; " Hudson, who fastens all his audience to 
 their seats (asleep), and Lord, who drives them all away 
 (disgusted) ; Standstill, the conservative, and Venture, the 
 radical ; Blilil and Black George ; tag, rag, and bobtail, — 
 
 "Some in rags, 
 Some in tags, 
 And some in velvet gowns," — 
 
 all united to vote down the new Constitution. 
 
 The result appears to be this, — that the coalition is com- 
 pletel}- dead ; the secret ballot law and ten-hour law are 
 prostrate, the Free-Soil party disheartened, and the Demo- 
 cratic party good for nothing ; constitutional reform will not 
 be heard of again for many years ; the fogies will frown 
 down all attempts at agitation, whether by Democrats or 
 liberal Whigs ; ■ the Whig party remains in the complete 
 control of Boston, and the money-bags of Boston rule the 
 State. 
 
206 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WORKINGS OF THE FUGITI^T>-SLAVE ACT IN MASSA- 
 CHUSETTS. 
 
 [Boston Daily Commonwealth, June 3, 1854.] 
 RENDITION OF ANTONY BURNS. 
 
 Antony Burns was taken Wcclnescla_y night, Ma}' 24, 1854, 
 in Court Square, between six and seven o'clock, and kept in 
 durance all night in the Court Plouse. The next morning, 
 about nine o'clock, he was brought before Commissioner 
 Edward G. Loring for examination. S. D. Parker, Esq., 
 appears in behalf of the man-hunters, and used documents 
 purporting to be from the Circuit Court of the Count}' of 
 Alexandria in Virginia, which set forth that Charles Suttle 
 of Alexandria, in that State, is the owner of Anton}' Burns. 
 It was alleged, in substance, that the man under arrest is this 
 Burns ; that he ran away from his owner ; and that the hunt- 
 ers mean to take this man back to Virginia, there to be held 
 and treated as a chattel. 
 
 In the name of outraged liberty, we thank the men, who, 
 in Faneuil Hall last Friday night, gave expression to their 
 feelings on the subject of the slave-hunt. "We honor the 
 feelings which led to the ill-timed attempt to rescue Burns. 
 We call no man a criminal who spoke in the hall, or who 
 assailed the Court House. ^ Not until we can condemn the 
 
 1 On the night of this assault there was a meeting in Faneuil Hall, 
 called to order by Samuel E. Sewall, presided over by George R. Ilus- 
 sell, and addressed by "Wendell Pliillips, Theodore Parker, and John L. 
 Swiff. I quote from p. ;>o of a book called "Antony Burns; a Story:" 
 "John L. Swift, a young lawyer of fervid oratory, next addressed the 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 207 
 
 men who threw the tea into Boston Harbor, or who mobbed 
 the Austrian Haynau, or who drove Ward the murderer out 
 of Louisville, can we condemn as criminals the men who 
 have been visited with the denunciations of the proslaverj' 
 press, and who are now under arrest, or in danger of arrest ; 
 and, when we consider who are the men who reprove these 
 for violent language and action, we are still less disposed 
 to join with them. 
 
 Who is Suttle?- A Virginian slaveholdei*, who has never 
 known any other law than the l^'uch-law, by which his system 
 lives. Who is B. F. Hallett, his legal adviser? A man 
 who has got his living ever since we ever heard of him by 
 defending law-breakers ; a man whom we once heard compare 
 the keeper of a tippling-shop to the Revolutionary heroes of 
 1776, because the man had violated the fifteen-gallon- law. 
 Who composed the guard of poor Burns as he passed down 
 State Street? A gang of the most audacious, law-breaking 
 ruffians to be found in the whole city. 
 
 The deed of shame has been done. Boston is again dis- 
 graced. Massachusetts is prostrate to-day at the feet of the 
 
 assembly. 'Burns,' said he, 'is iu the Court House. Is there any law 
 to keep him there? If we allow Marshal Freeman to carry away that 
 man, tlien the word " cowards" should be stamped upon our foreheads. 
 When we go from this cradle of Liberty, let us go to the tomb of Liberty, 
 the Court House. To-morrow Burns will have remained incarcerated 
 more than three days, and I hope to-morrow to witness in his release 
 the resurrection of Liberty.' Phillips and Parker spoke afterwards ; 
 Phillip:* a second time, for the purpose of restraining the crowd, who 
 were greatly excited by Parker's words and by the turbulent spirit of 
 the night. The great orator had got his audience well in hand, when 
 sixddeuly a man at the entrance of the hall shouted, ' Mr. Chairman, I 
 am just informed that a mob of negroes is in Coiirt Square attempting to 
 rescue Burns. I move that we adjourn to Court Square.' A formal vote 
 was not waited for; and the next instant the whole mass was pouring 
 down the broad stairs, and along the streets towards the new theatre 
 of action." I take pleasure in making this contribution to the history 
 of a most picturesque event in the antislavery annals, — one of the 
 landmarks in the war of resistance to slave-driving tyranny, which 
 finally became a war of aggression and extermination against slave- 
 drivers themselves. Swift's part in it only makes more conspicuous 
 his after-defection. — "W. S. R. in 18G6. 
 
208 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 slaveholders ; yes, at the feet of one slaveholder. The 
 infamy of yesterda}' will leave a stain upon her history for-i 
 ever. Dear as are the memories of Bunker Hill and Faneuil 
 Ilall and Liberty Tree, honorable and cherished as are the 
 lives of Otis, Quincj', and the Adamses, let no man boast of 
 them now. "We are but serfs, pliant, supple menials of the 
 slaveholders, the "niggers" of the Union. Slaver}' sa3-s 
 to Massachusetts and Boston, " I command 3'ou to catch my 
 negro slave, and return him to me ; " and Boston obej'S her. 
 Our governor, our maj'or, and militar}- force, yield to the 
 demand. All business is suspended for a week, that we may 
 obe}' the bloody behest. Our courts are interrupted, our 
 anniversaries are forsaken, our trade suffers to a vast 
 amount, our laws are prostrate, — all that Col. Charles Suttle 
 ma}' have his twelve hundred dollars' worth of negro flesh. 
 We say our laws are prostrate. This is literall}- true. For 
 eight days there was no law of Massachusetts which could 
 be enforced in Boston, if it conflicted in any degree with the 
 X^'opertij -claim of Col. Suttle. A claim worth twelve hun- 
 dred dollars at the utmost, an issue no greater than man}' 
 which are tried dail}" in our courts, and not of half so much 
 consequence (to the claimant, we mean) as cases which occur 
 every montli or week, was of so sacred a nature, that the 
 laws of a sovereign State all had to give wa}" to it. 
 
 The people of Massachusetts are deep]}' moved by the 
 results of the past week. This feeling exhibits itself first in 
 the usual methods. The slave-hunter, Commissioner Loring, 
 has been symbolically hanged, burned, and buried in various 
 places. AVith a slight disregard of the " fitness of things,'* 
 in other places, Ilallett, who is worth}' only of tar, and 
 Thomas,^ and Parker, who would be sufficiently honored by a 
 Mck^ have been also suspended in efligy. The women of 
 Woburn have transmitted to Loring thirty pieces of silver, 
 of the smallest known denomination, indicating to him by 
 this act the views which they hold of the enormity of his 
 
 1 Seth J. Thomas, counsel for slaveholders. 
 
PEN-POETRAITS. 209 
 
 conduct in sending to a slavery worse tlian death an inno- 
 cent man. "We must be allowed, while admitting the appro- 
 priateness of Ihis gift, to protest against its being followed 
 to any great extent. We object even to the addition of 
 ninety cents to the legal fee of ten dollars which Loring has 
 received for his inhuman job. These demonstrations of feel- 
 ing are honorable to the people. There is a sense of burning 
 indignation at the disgrace into which Massachusetts has 
 fallen in these daj's, — fallen so low as to be the jeer and 
 laughing-stock of Virginian slave-drivers. Better than this, 
 there is a stern feeling, that, if we do not before long resist, 
 there will be no liberty left for any man among us ; a knowl- 
 edge forced upon men b}^ the events here and at Washington 
 within three months, that now must the trial come between 
 slaverj' and freedom ; that the great enemj'' of our peace has 
 obtained an advantage by the passage of the Nebraska Bill, 
 which, if followed up, will place the whole nation in absolute 
 submission to its will, and leave no alternative but serfdom, 
 or separation. 
 
 One word must, however, now be said. Edward G. L"or- 
 ING is the chief culprit. Not a single man who has been 
 engaged in the business of seizing negroes, from Grier to 
 Ingraham, from Kane to Curtis, has behaved worse than 
 Loring. With a question of identit}^, on which the evidence 
 was conflicting, he has allowed Burns to be returned to the 
 untold and half-imagined woes of slavery upon evidence 
 wrenched from him (if obtained at all) by his tyrannical 
 claimant. 
 
 This decision, while it illustrates that complete negation of 
 all laio which is the characteristic and animating principle 
 of the Fugitive-slave Bill, also illustrates, in an unmistaka- 
 ble manner, the character of Edward G. Loring. He needs 
 not to be called names, if names bad enough could be found 
 for him. He ought to be forever held infamous b}' the people 
 of Boston and of Massachusetts. He ought to be driven 
 out from the community' he has disgraced, as Matt Ward is 
 driven out of Louisville. Let him be a marked man for- 
 
210 "WABRINGTOX:" 
 
 ever. Let Harvard College be required to repudiate his 
 teachings, and the legislature compelled to fill his judicial 
 station with another and better man. Let the public senti- 
 ment uhich he has outraged follow him. Let it concentrate 
 itself upon him. 
 
 [Boston Daily Telegraph, May 24.] 
 
 ONE THING TO BE DOXE.^ 
 
 [Judge Lorinj.] 
 
 Massachusetts and Boston must no longer be disgi'aced by 
 
 a slave-catching, ten-dollar commissioner acting as judge 
 
 of probate. The process of removal is not with the gov- 
 
 1 This was the first article written in favor of Lorin^'s removal, and 
 the beginning of tlie movement which resulted, four years after, in his 
 removal. I sent this article to the Evening Telegraph. 
 
 [For the Telegraph.] 
 
 April it, 1855. 
 Messrs. Editors, — I observe that 3Ir. Huntington of Northampton is reported 
 as saving in the House, that "Theodore Parker was, at an e.xcited meeting, at the 
 bottom of all this movement " for the removal of Judge Loring. The fii-st petition 
 for the removal of Judge Loring was written by one of tlie editor of the Com- 
 monwealth, and was printed in the afternoon edition of that paper, on the day 
 Judge Loring sent Burns into slaveiy, and, within an hour of the time. Burns was 
 carried down State Street. A copy of the petition was also placed in the counting- 
 room of the paper, and received a number of signatures. Without wishing to 
 detract from the merit of ^li. Pai'ker in the matter, I think it is proper that tills 
 fact should be known. C 
 
 I also wrote the first articles after the legislature met, in favor of 
 Loring's removal; and I have reason to helieve that they determined 
 the question in the House. Before I wrote them, I conversed with 
 several antislavery members, who were themselves doubtful as to the 
 "expediency," and who thought the moveiiiont would fail if it was 
 tried. Mr. R. H. Dana said to Carter, "This is all the Telegraph's 
 work." The resolution to remove Loring passed the House on the 
 14th by ninety-live majority. 
 
 Robert Carter wrote some excellent articles on the subject. Seth 
 Webb, jun., wrote one. These, with my own, appeared, and did the 
 work, before the proprietors got frightened, and prohibited In some 
 degree, though not entirely, the advocacy of the measure. 
 
 Probably John L. Swift, C. W. Slack, and others who spoke in the 
 House, think that they exercised a powerful influence upon the result; 
 but men's minds were made up by aid of the Telegraph long before 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 211 
 
 ernor, but with the legislature. It may be done b}' address 
 of the two branches, or by impeachment. The first is the 
 practical method. "We have hastily prepared the following 
 form of petition. This, or something lilie it, must be signed 
 by all the people, and sent to the next legislature ; and men 
 must be chosen to that body who will act up to its request : — 
 
 To the Legislature of Massachusetts.! — 
 
 The undersigned, citizens of Massachusetts, request of 
 your honorable body to forthwith take measures for the 
 
 REMOVAL OF EdWARD GrEELEY LoRING FROM THE OFFICE 
 
 OF Judge of Probate for Suffolk County. 
 
 [Boston Daily Telegraph, May 2.] 
 southern literature. 
 The Rev. Dr. Nehemiah Adams went to the South, and 
 saw that the slaves were exceedingly well dressed, especially 
 on Sunda}'. They wore " broadcloth suits, well-fitting and 
 nicely ironed fine shirts, polished boots, gloves, umbrellas 
 for sun-shades, the best of hats, their 3'oung men with their 
 blue coats and bright buttons in the latest style, white Mar- 
 seilles vests, white pantaloons, with brooches in their shirt- 
 
 a speecli was made. At this time, two hundred and twenty-two copies 
 of the Daily Telegraph were taken by the members. — W. S. R. in 
 Diary of 1858. 
 
 The honor of having suggested the removal of Judge Loring from 
 the Probate Court is likely to be contended for; and therefore, with 
 your permission, I beg leave to embalm the facts in the columns of 
 the Evening Post. On the day that Mr. Burns was removed, Mr. 
 W. S. PLobinson, one oi the editors of the Boston Commonwealth 
 newspaper, drew up the first petition that ever existed for the judge's 
 removal, and published it in tliat day's paper, in less than an hour 
 after the fugitive had been carried down to the slaver in which he was 
 transported back to Virginia. The same gentleman placed a copy of 
 the petition in the counting-room of the paper, and it was signed on 
 that day by several persons. Mr. Robinson ought to have the credit 
 which attaches to the opening of the proceeding, which has all along, 
 and through its various stages, been opposed by those who form the 
 aristocratical branch of the Free-Soilers. — C. C. Hazewell's Letter to 
 New - York Eveninrj Post. 
 
212 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 bosoms, gold chains, elegant sticks, and some old men 
 leaning on their ivor}^ and silver-headed staffs." He saw 
 one man, a member of a band of musicians, who had even 
 attained to the dignit}^ of periscopic glasses. Some of the 
 young women wore turbans, and walked with a rhetorical 
 lifting of the arm and leg. On the whole, the reverend 
 doctor found the slaves a remarkably happy people. He 
 asked one of them if he wanted to be free ; and he replied, 
 that he only wanted to be free in the Lord ; and the doctor 
 believed him. It is not for us to discredit his statements : 
 onlj' we are puzzled to account for certain advertisements 
 which we find in the Southern newspapers. They are easy 
 to be found, — these advertisements to which we allude. The 
 portrait of a fugacious person, with a pack upon his back, 
 shows at a glance what is the subject of the notice. We 
 have several of these advertisements now before us. How 
 to account for their appearance — that is the question. If 
 the slaves are happy, why do they run away from happiness ? 
 Are the}' surfeited with delights? and do the}' run ofT on that 
 account? Do broadcloth suits, including Marseilles vests, 
 eventuall}' pall upon the appetite of the fashionable colored 
 man, brooches grow nauseating to his simple taste, and 
 even periscopic glasses become unsatisfactory ? 
 
 Passing over the large rewards offered for Mike, a black, 
 heavy set fellow, the end of one of whose thumbs is bit off, 
 a brickla3-er by trade ; for Andrew, a man of " rather light 
 complexion ; " and for Charles, who is very black, and has a 
 limp in his left leg, which we trust left him when he got on 
 the high road towards the north star, — we come to the 
 following " rare chance : " — 
 
 " A family of negroes, consisting of a woman forty years of age, 
 a splendid cook, washer and ironer, and her three children; viz., a 
 dark mulatto girl about sixteen years of age, a most excellent nurse, 
 and good seamstress, and accustomed to all kinds of housework; also 
 a girl about thirteen years of age, a good house-servant ; also a boy 
 about eleven years of age. The above family of negroes will be fully 
 guaranteed. They are slaves of excellent character, and are sold 
 only from necessity. A bargain will be given to any person who will 
 buy the family together. 
 
PEW-PORTRAITS. 213 
 
 " Also a very likely mulatto man, about twenty-four years of age, 
 a first-rate dining-room and general house servant, fully acclimated. 
 Such servants are seldom offered for sale. 
 
 ''Apply to . "H.T.Greenwood, 
 
 "47 Carondelet Street." 
 
 Mr. Greenwood, j'ou are mistaken. Such servants are 
 often offered for sale, if we may believe the advertisements 
 in the Southern papers. Sold only from necessit}-, indeed ! 
 Whose necessity ? AVho is this great lubberl}^ Greenwood ? 
 and b}' what title does he relieve his embarrassments in this 
 wa}' ? Who gave him the right to dispose of this splendid 
 cook, M'asher and ironer, this excellent nurse and good 
 seamstress, this good house-servant, and this j'oung lad? 
 Will Greenwood's neighbors give him any such recommen- 
 dation as he gives this family he is going to sell ? Is he a 
 "splendid" or " excellent" any thing? Is he not a thief, 
 who, after stealing the labor of this family for years, now 
 sells them to pay his debts withal ? 
 
214 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE KNOW-KOTHING AND STRAIGHT BEPUBLICAN 
 PARTIES. 
 
 ["Warrington's" Letters iu Siiriugfiekl Republican, i Jan. 24.] 
 THE KNOW-NOTUING ^ LEGISLATURE OF 185G. 
 
 " Steal, steal, steal." If this does not continue to be 
 the watchword of the Kuow-Nothing State Government, it 
 will be no fault of the leader of the dominant part}^ in 
 the House. Mr. Devereux occupied another hour or two 
 to-day in defending the extravagance of the Gardner 
 administration. Mr. Charles Ilale opened the debate in a 
 speecli of an hour, excellent in matter, and at times spirited 
 and effective in st^-le. Ilis examination of the Hnaucial 
 condition of the State was ver}' able, and his exposure of 
 Mr. Dcvereux's speech of j'esterday entirel}' conclusive to 
 all impartial men. 
 
 We have got a live slaveholder in the city, Mr. Robert 
 Toombs^ of Georgia; and, of course, the Boston aristocrac)' 
 are in ecstasies of delight. Mr. Appleton has the honor of 
 entertaining the distinguished guest. 
 
 We had a specimen of "the chloroform game" in the 
 House to-day upon a large scale. Mr. Storj- of Somerville, 
 taking his stand in front of the speaker's desk, began to 
 
 1 Unless otherwise designated. 
 
 2 The Native American or Know-Xothinrj party was a secret organiza- 
 tion, and to "know nothing" was its policy and password. It was 
 called the " K. N — s." 
 
 3 Robert Toombs threatened to call the roll of his slaves under the 
 shallow of Bunker Hill. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 215 
 
 speak upon the Jury Bill. It was curious to witness the 
 effect. Wide-awake people like the reporters, who recog- 
 nized the signs which precede the advent of a 6o?-e, packed 
 up their papers, and took themselves off. The lobbies were 
 soon filled with members congratulating themselves upon 
 their escape, and occasionally looking at the door, and trying 
 to penetrate, if possible, the pall which Story had spread in 
 a very few minutes over the whole House. I have it from one 
 who remained, and kept himself awake by thi'usting a piu 
 into a fleshy part of his bod}', that, about a quarter of an 
 hour after Story had fairl}' got under way, the scene before 
 him was a peculiar one. Some members had fallen forward, 
 and were asleep in the most curious and awkward positions, 
 having been overtaken without any time for preparation. 
 Others, who saw what was coming, but had found their legs 
 fail them when they tried to get clear, had carefully covered 
 their heads with their bandannas, and had gentl}^ and grace- 
 fully subsided. One man, who said he could stand ayiy thing ^ 
 having been a steady reader of " The Dail}^ Advertiser" for 
 a dozen 3'ears, undertook to defy his fate, and fortified him- 
 self with the third number of " Little Dorrit." He stood it 
 through the account of the "circumlocution-office," but 
 3ielded as soon as he had finished that chapter. Dickens 
 had found his match at last. One man in the gallery, who 
 happened to 3'awn at a quarter-past twelve, was paralj-zed 
 before he had finished ; and his mouth remained open more 
 than three-quarters of an hour. The benumbing influence 
 escaped at the doors, and penetrated into the senate-chamber. 
 Men in the lobbies were obliged to leave ; and the senate, 
 which had unflinchingly withstood eighteen speeches in one 
 da}' from George W. Warren, precipitately adjourned. The 
 clerks in the ofHce of the secretary of state and the treas- 
 urer were obliged to suspend their work ; and a chambermaid 
 on Mount Vernon Street, who had once nearly died of the 
 fumes of charcoal, roused the house in great alarm at the 
 familiar smell. The sergeant- at-arms was implored to inter- 
 fere, but he was too far gone to respond ; the speaker could 
 
216 *' WARRINGTON:" 
 
 not lift his gavel: and so Mr. Stoiy had his audience com- 
 pletel}' at his mere}'. At last, about one o'clock, he yielded 
 the floor. The enchanted jaw closed ; one b}^ one the sleepers 
 roused themselves ; ISIr. Lamb of Greenfield seized the floor, 
 and, by his vigorous and energetic method, dispelled the 
 charm ; and finallj' things went on about the same as ever. 
 Mr. Story still remains an object of curiosit}' to hundreds. 
 
 Of what consequence are legislative proceedings? Isn't 
 Banks elected? Isn't the north star in fall view? Are not 
 the doughfaces prostrated, the Administration and its Ne- 
 braska Bill rebuked, and the Republican policy and principle 
 gloriousl}' sustained at Washington ? Who cares for legisla- 
 tive news to-da)', or Coburn and Dalton trials, or snowdrifts 
 on all the railroads ? 
 
 [May 23.] 
 
 ASSAULT ON CHARLES SUMNER. 
 
 The members of the House were j-esterday afternoon 
 startled by the news that Senator Sumner had been assaulted 
 and beaten b}' Brooks of South Carolina. A great deal of 
 feeling exists throughout the community in relation to this 
 attempt to take the life of our senator for words spoken in 
 debate. Yet the deed alread}' has its apologists. " The 
 Boston Post " despatches the subject in six or seven lines, 
 and mentions that Mr. Brooks was " irritated ; " and I pre- 
 sume that the organs of border-ruffianism throughout the 
 country will find some similar excuse. Murder has become 
 a jyartij question in this country- ; and the part}' which seeks 
 and finds apologies for the outrages in Kansas — apologies 
 imbecile as well as apologies infamous — Avill not be unable 
 to apologize for this last and crowning act of ruffianism. It 
 is difficult to speak of this subject in tuny suitable terms. 
 Let the minds of all men be directed to the remedy for the 
 state of aff"airs which produces such outrages. Apathy and 
 division at present threaten to destroy Northern efficienc}-, 
 and so perpetuate the reign of misrule for an indefinite 
 period. Perliaps events of this sort, which have taken 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 217 
 
 place every day in Kansas, and the scene of which is now 
 transferred to "Washington, may 
 
 "Lend this dead air a breeze of health, 
 And smite with stars this cloud." 
 
 Every man feels and expresses the greatest alarm as to 
 Mr. Sumner. His death would indeed be a dreadful event, 
 and would create a sensation of more sincere sorrow than 
 the death of any man known in our historj'". 
 
 [June 2.] 
 RELIEF OF KANSAS. 
 
 I gave 5'ou on Saturday an account of the contest in the 
 House upon the resolve appropriating twenty thousand 
 dollars for the relief of the crushed-out Massachusetts men 
 now in Kansas. It would be difficult to give 3'ou an ade- 
 quate idea of the bitter and malignant hatred of the Kansas 
 cause, which was exhibited in the speeches against this patri- 
 otic and humane resolve. Of course, speakers had apologies 
 to make for their course : knavery and rufDanism never 
 lack apologists. Of all the drivelling, jabbering, idiotic 
 nonsense that ever got uttered in a legislative bod^', these 
 speeches were the worst. A hundred and ninety-one mem- 
 bers deliberately put themselves upon record as approving of 
 the resolve, word for word ; but, after these ruffian-s^-mpa- 
 thizers had spoken, a vote was obtained to lay the resolve 
 on the table. To-day an attempt was made to take it 
 from the table ; but it failed. It is understood that Gov. 
 Gardner is working against it with all his might ; and there 
 are at least a hundred members of the House who will vote 
 against any thing (except their own salaries) at his com- 
 mand. 
 
 In the afternoon, another attempt was made ; and, under 
 the yeas and uaj's, it was carried, 115 to 105. The resolve 
 was then postponed until to-day ; and at ten o'clock the 
 debate commenced. The border-ruffian argument was pre- 
 sented by Messrs. Lawrence of Cambridge, and Merwin and 
 
218 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 Codman of Boston (Whigs), and "Wilkinson of Dt'(lluira 
 (border- lullian Democrat). Replies were made b}' Mr. 
 Pike of Newton, and Mr. Charles Hale. At eleven o'clock, 
 Mr, Grossman of Springfield (border- ruffian) moved to la}' 
 the resolve on the table. Mr. Hall demanded the yeas and 
 nays ; and the}' were ordered. The vote was then taken, 
 with this result: yeas 138, nays 129. So the resolve was 
 laid upon the table. This is a distinct and unequivocal 
 triumph of the border-rufflan party. I have several times 
 reminded you that the House was substantiall}' in the hand.i 
 of this part}'. There are about a hundred members, belong- 
 ing to the Whig and Democratic parties, who are thoroughly 
 imbued with ruffian principles. Now, when you add to these 
 some thirty or forty Know-Nothings, who bring here no other 
 political ideas than their intense hatred of all antislavery 
 men and measures, and quite a large number of political 
 adventurers, dependent for political life and sustenance 
 upon the will of the cowardly conservative and corrupt 
 schemer who tills the gubernatorial office, 3'ou will see that 
 decent men and measures have not a lair chance. 
 
 So mean a set of men as this Know-Nothing furor has sent 
 into the Massacluisetts legislature were never seen together 
 before. Lazy, unprincipled, unscrupulous, mercenary, and 
 slavisli, the}' only seek to further their own private ends at 
 the expense of the State. 
 
 RASCALITIES OF SECRET SOCIETIES. 
 
 All the rascalities which I have had occasioh to notify you 
 of during this session, so far as I remember, have origi- 
 nated and been carried through by members oi- officers, with- 
 out the agency of outside induence, so far as appeared. It 
 is the shallow thought of many persons, that all or most of 
 the rascalities are perpetrated by the professed politicians. 
 The ex[)erience of the last and present year ought to have 
 dispelled this notion, which is a great and mischievous mis- 
 take. The innumorablc sins of the Know-Nothing admin- 
 istrations of 18oii and 1856 are, in a great degree, to be 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 219 
 
 attributed to the prevalence of this idea. The hundreds and 
 thousands of new men who rushed into politics in 1855, and 
 became prominent then, had the idea that success and dis- 
 tinction were to be reached through the road of intrigue ; 
 and having determined to succeed, or be distinguislied at 
 au}^ rate, they forthwith proceeded in wliat they considered 
 the shortest way. I have lately seen a letter written by a 
 member of the House to a newspaper published in the city 
 which he represents. This member says, '-Everybody 
 knows, that however much we may admire a bold, plain, 
 truthful course in a public man, such a course is hardly ever 
 successful in making a man influential and popular ; but 
 that, on the contrar}*, he who turns his sail to catch every 
 passing breeze is apt to triumph over his more honest and 
 conscientious opponent." Probably the writer of this ex- 
 tract wriggled into his present position of member of the 
 House by some discreditable intrigue or other ; and consid- 
 ering his election a great " triumph," and his position an 
 astonishing elevation over the candidate of the opposing 
 parties, he comes to the absurd conclusion which I have 
 quoted. 
 
 I am sorry to see that the crooked polic_y of seeking power 
 by means akin to those which brought the Know-Nothings so 
 prominentl}^ forward is to be persisted in by a class of 
 persons who think that the experiment can be twice tried 
 with even tempor^r}' success. The " People's Union " is the 
 name of a new secret order, which is designed to bring 
 together, if possible, the Americans and the Republicans. I 
 have seen the constitution of the new order. It has appar- 
 ently but few features attractive on account of secrecy. A 
 password is, however, required for admission to the meetings. 
 The preamble consists of a collection of words skilfully 
 mingled, bringing together anti-adrainistrationism and anti- 
 foreignism. I don't understand that it has had much suc- 
 cess ; and I don't think it deserves to have. If there is any 
 thing plainly to be seen in our politics, it is this : that the 
 Administration party must be defeated upon the single issue 
 
220 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 of opiX)sition to its slavcrj' policj', or not defeated at all. 
 Thorc arc thousands of voters who will not, because the}' 
 can not, fight the battle on any other issue ; and for my 
 own part, next to the slave-power embodied in the Demo- 
 cratic part}', I think that Nativism and secret political soci- 
 eties are deserving of the most decided hostility of all 
 American and democratic men. 
 
 [Jan. 13, 18o7.] 
 ELECTION OF MU. SUMNER. 
 
 It was good to be in the Senate to-day at twelve o'clock, 
 and see Charles Sumner elected to the United-States Senate 
 by a unanimous vote on tlie part of that branch. Some 
 little opposition was manifested b\' Mr. 13. C. Clark of Suf- 
 folk County (Republican) to the proposition offered b}' Mr. 
 Whitnc}' of Worcester, to elect by the viva voce method ; 
 but Mr. Clark was the only one who finally voted against it. 
 His arguments were replied to — trn easy job, by the wa}-, 
 — b}' Messrs. Brakenridge and Warner of Hampshire County, 
 Sabin of Berkshire, and Hoar, White, and Usher of AVor- 
 cestcr. The list of senators was called over, and every 
 one of the forty responded, " Charles Sumner of Boston ; " 
 and, when the announcement was made of the result, many 
 spectators were present, and the greatest satisfaction was 
 expressed. One man told me that he came from a distant 
 town to enjoy the scene. 
 
 [Oct. IG.] 
 
 TOE STRAIGHT RliPUliLICAN PARTY. 1 
 
 Chapman Hall proved sufficiently capacious for the ac- 
 commodation of the Straight Republicans, who held their 
 State Convention there j-estcrda}-. The room will comfort- 
 ably hold three or four hundred ; and it was pretty well 
 sprinkled over with people. Making allowance for Banks 
 
 1 This part}' was formed agaiast Gov. Dnjiks and the coalition with 
 the " Know-Nothings." 
 
PEJSr-PORTRAITS. 221 
 
 men, Gardner men, cnriosity-luintevs, and reporters, I think 
 there were from sevent3--five to a hundred men who attended to 
 take part in the business. A preliminary meeting was held 
 in the forenoon at the Revere House, which was attended by 
 some thirt}' persons. Most of the men engaged in the move- 
 ment being old politicians, all the machiner}' was well oiled 
 in the morning, and worked like clock-work. There was a 
 spontaneity about the motions, the nominations from the 
 chair, the appointments of committees, &c., which character- 
 izes all well-regulated parties ; and I could not observe, that, 
 in those respects, the Convention differed much from those 
 which are held by much larger parties. We had a president, a 
 respectable number of vice-presidents, a sufficient number of 
 secretaries, a committee on address, another on resolutions, 
 another on finance, another to appoint a State committee, 
 but none on credentials. Ever}' Republican who could not 
 go for Banks was welcome : all others were bogus. 
 
 Dr. Caleb Swan made a slight but ineffectual struggle to 
 avoid the nomination for governor ; but it was fastened upon 
 him. The Convention voted not to receive his declination, 
 and he did not sa}' any thing more. 
 
 Mr. Henry L. Pierce of Dorchester, who is nominated for 
 treasurer and receiver-general, was present ; and, as he is the 
 man of all others most responsible for the movement, there is 
 no probability that he will decline, unless he should be elected. 
 Dr. Swan, however, who was the most prominent figure, 
 is from Easton, in Bristol. His speech in the morning was 
 a hearty and genuine outpouring of good-humored indigna- 
 tion against slavery and Know-Nothingism, which was greatly 
 applauded. The doctor is an old ph3-sician of very exten- 
 sive practice. I understand he has lately abandoned allop- 
 athj', and now advocates and practises homoeopath}'. You, 
 who know how clannish doctors are, will acknowledge that 
 this is an indication of firmness and candor, if not of wis- 
 dom. The longest speech was made b}- Charles G. Davis of 
 Plymouth, lately a member of the Banks State Committee. 
 He spoke nearly an hour. F. W. Bird of Walpole made a 
 
222 " WAMRINGTON: " 
 
 briefer speech, which was sharp and pungent. A Mr. 
 Chamberlain of Westborough also spoke. These, I believe, 
 were the onl}' set speeches. W. S. Robinson reported a 
 State address. 
 
 [Oct. 30.] 
 
 The Straight Republicans have got out their last paper ; 
 and, though they sa}' something about its continuance, I 
 do not thinlv there will be sufficient "encouragement." 
 They have issued in all some thirtj'-five thousand copies of 
 the seven numbers, — five thousand per week. But few 
 of them have been returned ; and probably they have been 
 generally read. It is curious enough that the Straights 
 get no sympathy whatever from the old-line antislavery 
 men, who are represented by " The Liberator." That paper 
 has taken no notice of their movement, has given the 
 coldest of its shoulders to Dr. Swan, and this morning 
 very unequivocall}' intimates its preference for Mr. Banks. 
 Theodore Parker takes a great interest in Mr. Banks's 
 success, and has tried personally to dissuade some of the 
 Straights from opposing him. Isn't this funny? 
 
 [Nov. C] 
 THE FATE OF THE STRAIGHT REPUBLICANS. 
 
 As 3'ou have indicated yonv desire that I should write 
 something concerning " the fate of the Straight Republi- 
 cans," I suppose I must gratify you ; and I should have no 
 great objection, if you would assist my correspondence every 
 week by asking questions, — a business for which you have 
 such a happy faculty, that I think one of you must have been 
 like that relative of Dick SwivcUer who was marked with 
 an interrogation-point. Some of your questions, however, 
 I shall answer brieflj', and others, haplj", not at all. 
 
 You ask, "Where's the Bird of freedom?"^ I answer, 
 " Congratulating himself that Walpole is the banner-town, 
 
 1 F. W. Bird. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 223 
 
 Swan having received fourteen votes there, while he got only 
 fifteen in the big city of Worcester." He has been cruelly 
 paid for all the wrong he has done ; for, as he tells me, 
 some Banks boys seized unlawfully upon a barrel of tar 
 belonging to him, which, in the flood, was left upon the bank 
 of the "water-privilege," and set fire to it in honor of 
 the triumph of "the cause of freedom." They not only 
 stole and burned his tar, but frightened him with the fear 
 that his mill was on fire. 
 
 You ask, " Where's Swan? " Well, I swan I can't tell ; 
 but I suppose he is advertising his globules to the sick 
 people of Easton, — the most honest and useful business a 
 doctor can be engaged in. "Where's the money spent for 
 thirty-five thousand papers ? Wh}' was not this paper sold, 
 and the money given to the poor ? ' ' Are you such bad 
 political economists as to recommend the giving of money in 
 charit}', rather than the dispensing of it in the shape of 
 wages? " Why was it not distributed among conscientious 
 voters from the ' gem of the say,' and a few thousand votes 
 bought bjMt?" Because, probably, the object was to sell 
 voters, and not to buy. " Have the Democratic distributers 
 played false?" This, I suppose, is a vague hint that some 
 Democrats have been interesting themselves in the distribu- 
 tion of Straight Republican votes. This is not improba- 
 ble. Gardner men also took an interest in that enter- 
 prise. But I advise 3'ou not to Scrutinize too closely the 
 management of other parties, until you have ijiformed your 
 readers that j'our leading Boston organ published, and 
 you copied, a forged letter purporting to come from 
 Charles Sumner, for the purpose of influencing the elec- 
 tion. Has any party in Massachusetts ever done a baser 
 thing than that? 
 
 Your general inquiry as to the fate of the Straight Repub- 
 licans I can best answer by saying their condition reminds 
 me of a picture by John Leech, the illustrator cf "Punch." 
 A little bo}' is seen holding a big dog by the collar. Three 
 young ladies approach ; and this dialogue ensues : — 
 
224 "WAimiNGTON : " 
 
 Boy. — " If you please, m', was you a-looking for a little dog? " 
 
 Touwj Ladies. — " Yes ; oh, yes I " 
 
 BoT/. — " Was it a spannel, mum?" 
 
 Ladies. — " Oh, yes ! a most beautiful little spaniel, with very long 
 ears." 
 
 Boy. — " Ah, then, mum, it's the same as flew at master's big dog 
 here, wot's bin and swallered of it." 
 
 Or, if 30U prefer a more solemn description of our condi- 
 tion, let me quote for 3'ou the words of the sacred poet : — 
 
 " In vain we tune our formal songs ; 
 In vain we strive to rise.: 
 Hosannas languish on our tongues, 
 And our devotion dies." 
 
 And now, if you want an epitaph, let me quote a couplet 
 from an ancient poem, which is, however, quite popular with 
 the most modern of our inhabitants : — 
 
 " Seven, eight. 
 Lay 'on straight." ^ 
 
 I am glad that 5'ou have, since the election, plucked up 
 courage enough to resume the use of the word "Republican." 
 You remind me of the henpecked man, who, after being 
 driven under the bed by his wife, at last ventured to look 
 out, and, in reply to a threatening shake of the broomstick, 
 valiantly said, "As long as I have the spirit of a man, / 
 will peek! " This is a good sign. Before the election, the 
 unluck}' wight who had dared to intimate that the Banks 
 party was Republican would have had his hat knocked over 
 his eyes. 
 
 The reign of Know-Nothing terrorism, then, is over, is it? 
 Thank God for that! Get a name, and keep it. It don't 
 make much difference what it is, — whether Republican, 
 American, American-Republican, or Know-Nothing. One 
 of the chief advantages the Democratic part}- has had lies 
 in the fact that it has had a name which it has stuck to. 
 
 1 The liepublican, to whom this letter was written, was a Banks 
 paper, and had probably touched "Warrington" upon the failure of the 
 Swan movement; 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 225 
 
 Was it called a Pollc part}', or a Pierce party, or a Buchanan 
 partj^, or, in this State, a Morton or a Beach party? Never : 
 alwa3-s the Democratic party. The name, and the persist- 
 ence of the party in sticking to it, gave the people an idea 
 of permanence and power, which no opposition party ever 
 was able to impress them with. 
 
 The name of ' ' Republican ' ' has the great merit of mean- 
 ing very little ; being, in that respect, almost equal to 
 " Whig," which meant nothing at all. Under it, if j'ou will 
 adhere to it, and sufficiently ignore principles, j'ou may 
 achieve that success which it is the duty ^ of every true man 
 to obtain, at whatever hazard. Somebody is reported to 
 have said, "You must not be too perpendicular for the sake 
 of principle." The beautifully antithetical motto of our 
 time is, "You cannot be too horizontal for the salve of suc- 
 cess." Thus much from my Growlery. 
 
 [Nov. 4.] 
 END OF GOV. GARDNER. '^ 
 
 About five o'clock yesterday afternoon, there was a shout 
 in State Street, and a rush of people down toward the Mer- 
 chants' Exchange, on a building opposite to which men were 
 raising a sign inscribed with the words, — 
 
 " GARDNER, WOLCOTT, & CO., BANKERS." 
 
 One hour after the polls had closed in Boston, and even 
 before the returns had come in from the country. Gov. Gard- 
 ner had discovered that he was badly beaten, and politically 
 dead. It cannot be said that he "died, and made no sign ; " 
 for his sisn was the first genuine and official notification of 
 
 1 " Success is a duty." We supposed that this sentiment -was 
 properly attributed to Gen. Banks; but, in loolving over an old volume 
 of the "Whig Review for 1852, we found the following: " Shall we forget, 
 in view of the election just at hand, that, to that army or party entering 
 battle in a just cause, success is the first duty, defeat is the first 
 danger ? " — W. S. E. in 18o8. 
 
 2 New-York Tribune (letters in). 
 
226 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 his death. And there are very few mourners. Even the 
 men who dislike and distrust Mr. Banks have a certaili 
 amount of satisfaction in the defeat of Gardner ; while the 
 scientific \vtiy in which he has been " licked " is calculated 
 to excite the admiration of all artists in politics. 
 
 That grim humorist, Thomas De Quince}-, in one of his 
 papers on "Murder considered as one of the Fine Arts," 
 relates how old Toad-in-thc-IIole came forth from his retire- 
 ment on the morning after the great Williams murder in 
 RatclifTe Ilighwa}', and proceeded on his wa^- to the club. 
 "As soon as he arrived," sa3's the narrator, "he seized every 
 man's hand as he passed him, wrung it almost franticallj-, 
 and kept ejaculating, ' Whv, now here's something like a 
 murder ! This is the real thing : this is genuine. This is 
 what you can approve, can recommend to a friend. This, 
 says ever}^ man on reflection , — this is the thing that ought 
 to be.' Then, looking at particular friends, he said, ' 'Why, 
 Jack, how are you? Wh}-, Tom, how are you? Bless me, 
 you look ten j-ears younger then when I last saw 3-ou ! ' — 
 ' No, sir,' I replied : ' it is you who look ten 3'ears younger.' 
 — 'Do I? AYell, I shouldn't wonder if I did: such works 
 are enough to make us all j'oung.' " Some such feeling of 
 exultation is manifested b}' almost ever}' man of taste at the 
 exquisite way in which the breath has been beaten out of 
 Ilenr}- J. Gardner ; and 3'ct the creature fought almost as 
 pluckil}' as the Mannheim baker, whose twenty-seven rounds 
 ■with the English boxer are also described in the lively pages 
 of the " Opium-eater." 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 227 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 AIsTTISLAVERY MOVEMENT. 
 
 [" 'Warrington's " Letters in Springfield Republican,^ March 20, 1858.] 
 
 A SONG OF EXULTATION. 
 
 Well, Judge Loring's removal is, as the Frcncli sa}', un 
 fait accompli, or, as Caleb Cashing said of John Tyler in his 
 day, " a fixed fact." While I do not wish to detract from 
 the credit which the enemies of this measure are so fond of 
 ascribing to the Garrisonians for their share in bringing 
 about this auspicious event, I think I ma}' fairly claim that 
 no man has more steadily endeavored to bring it about than 
 in3'self. I claim that the very first petition for the removal, 
 and the very first words urging that petition upon the public 
 attention, were from my pen. Being, on the da}- of the 
 extradition of Anton}- Burns, one of the editors of "The 
 Boston Commonwealth," I saw the dismal and disgraceful 
 procession pass down State Street; and, before it could have 
 reached the wharf, I placed a petition for Loring's removal 
 upon the desk, and published it in an extra edition of tlie 
 newspaper. I am happy, also, to believe that I have written 
 more columns in favor of the removal than any other person. 
 
 Three times has the legislature responded to the popular 
 demand ; and at last the Executive has consented to the 
 removal. For one, I thank him and the Council for it ; for 
 I believe that the importance of this measure, as a step in 
 the progress of the emancipation of the free States from the 
 
 1 Unless otherwise designated. 
 
228 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 control of the slave-power, cannot well be over- rated. It 
 will take rank with the action of the Wisconsin judiciary', by 
 which the infamous Fugitive-slave Law has been killed dead 
 in that State. The ban of proscription and outlawr}- is put 
 upon ever}' man who shall take a willing part in the enforce- 
 ment of that inhuman statute. I know of no other way to 
 resist and destroy tlie force of such enactments, but to place 
 all such men under such a ban as this. 
 
 Is this treason ? Not at all ; nothing that resembles 
 treason. Is it nullification ? Ilardl}- ; nothing more than 
 that, at any rate : and nullification is a thing so common, that 
 it need not attract much attention. There are more laws 
 nullified to-da}' in Massachusetts than there are laws obeyed. 
 If this is nullification, it is very indirect. No law is 
 violated in the removal of Judge Loring. The measure is 
 a conservative one. In 1855, perhaps, it could not have 
 been called so with such strict propriety as it now can be. 
 Loring himself has made it conservative. He has placed 
 himself in the attitude of the law-breaker ; and the governor, 
 unless he would bear the sword in vain, must remove him as 
 soon as the legislature demanded his removal. Not onl}' 
 has Loring violated the law, but his conduct has tended, in 
 no inconsiderable degree, to diminish the attachment of the 
 people to the life-tenure of the judiciary- ; and, in my opinion, 
 his associates of the Probate Court owe much of their present 
 trouble to him. But it is as a strict antislaverj' measure, 
 not as a conservative triumph, for conservatism is not my 
 especial hobby, that I rejoice in this removal. As a declara- 
 tion of war against the Fugitive-slave Act, it has great value. 
 As a stroke in favor of State rights, it is inestimable. It will 
 help teach the people of the State a lesson which they need 
 more than the people of an}' otlier Northern State ; viz., that 
 it may j-et be necessary — it is becoming ever}'^ daj^ more 
 and more necessaiy — to stand up for the rights of the 
 States against Federal encroachments, congressional and 
 judicial. 
 
 Mr. Stone, senator from Essex, in his speech, took cxtraor- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 229 
 
 dinary pains to show that this removal was to be effected 
 because Loring sat in the Antony Burns case, and took 
 part in enforcing the Fugitive-slave Act ; and he said it was 
 a subterfuge to pretend the contrary. I do not think the 
 senator made out his case, though I do not care much if he 
 did. Judge Loring' s conduct in the Burns case — the fact 
 that he sat in the case at all — was sufficient reason for 
 his removal. But that alone is not the reason wh}^ he was 
 removed. He is removed for a persistent violation of a 
 law of the State. That law grew out of this particular case, 
 no doubt, and was a general declaration of State polic}', not 
 only for him, but for all other men in his condition. It is 
 competent for the legislature to create new offences, and 
 provide for their punishment. This is done ever}'- 3'ear. 
 
 Take the offence of Schuylerizing, as it has been called. 
 Suppose a railroad-ofucer should defraud his corporation in 
 a manner not punishable by law. Is it not competent for 
 the legislature to make a law defining and punishing his 
 offence? Then suppose he goes on in his fraudulent course, 
 and, when the corporation undertakes to turn him out, he 
 turns about, and says, " I have violated no law. When I 
 began to steal, there was no statute against stealing. Your 
 law was got up to meet my particular case ; and now you are 
 turning me out under pretext of violating this law, when, 
 in fact, you are proscribing me for an act which was not 
 contrary to law. You are committing an evasion, guilty of a 
 subterfuge." This would be talking no more nonsensically 
 than Senator Stone talks now. 
 
 " The Boston Daily Advertiser " admits with great frank- 
 ness, that " the Republican party, not onl}' leaders, but rank 
 and file, were willing and desirous to let the question lay 
 aside ; " and it attributes to " a fiery article ^ in ' The New- 
 York Tribune,' " published at a time of " universal silence of 
 the Republican press of Massachusetts upon the subject," 
 no small influence in changing the policy. This is but say- 
 
 1 Written by "Warrington." 
 
230 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 ing that " The Tribune," on this subject, better represented 
 the Republican party than the Republican press of the State. 
 And no doubt this is time ; for " The Advertiser ' ' speaks 
 more than the truth when it sa3's that the leaders and the 
 rank and file of the Republican party were willing to evade 
 this question. This is more than I, at least, have ever 
 charged. It was only a portion of the leaders who tried 
 to evade it; and as for the "rank and file," nothing but 
 their imperative demand, spoken in the House of Represen- 
 tatives b}' such men as John A. Andrew, Robert C. Pitman, 
 George D. Wells, Dexter F. Parker, and others, brought the 
 quietists up to the issue. Mr. Pitman's bold and successful 
 movement to postpone the Consolidation Bill, in order that 
 the address might be first considered, was the turning-point 
 in the struggle. 
 
 [April 2.] 
 SQUATTER SOVEREIGNTY. 
 
 Squatter sovereignty was a device to avoid the Wilmot 
 Proviso. Old Gen. Cass was at one time ready to vote for 
 the proviso ; at least, so it was currently reported. He 
 devised the squatter-sovereignty dodge, and developed it in 
 the Nicholson Letter. It was substantially accepted by 
 Congress in 1850, when they sneaked out of the dat}- of gov- 
 erning the Territories, and allowed the squatters and the 
 climate to settle what the people intended they should settle. 
 The repeal of the Missouri Compromise was, I have always 
 thought, a logical result of the compromise of 1850. Con- 
 gress had abdicated its government of New Mexico and 
 Utah : why not, also, of Kansas and Nebraslca? The scenes 
 in Kansas were also the legitimate and logical result of 
 squatter sovereignt}'. 
 
 All that happened in Kansas was to have been expected. 
 Open a field ten acres square in the neighborhood of Spring- 
 field, and advertise in " The Republican," that, on a certain 
 day, the man who got there first shall have the house-lots into 
 which it is divided, and see if you will not have Kansas on 
 
PEK-POBTRAITS. 231 
 
 a small scale. Squatter sovereignty is, in fact, the abne- 
 gation of all law, and the encouragement of anarchy. 
 
 Next comes the Dred Scott decision to repair the mischief. 
 The slaveholders — being in danger of having their property 
 voted out of their hands, and themselves voted out of the 
 territory they expected to control — procure old Mr. Taney 
 and his associates to announce to the countr}' as constitu- 
 tional law, that the slaveholder cannot be deprived of his 
 propertj', no matter what the majority, heretofore supposed to 
 be sovereign, may be. 
 
 Gen. Cass was defeated by the Whigs and Barnburners,^ 
 because, in compliance with the Southern demand, he had 
 yielded up the right of Congress to prohibit slaver}^ in the 
 Territories. Now, the struggle of the Republicans is to pre- 
 vent the passage of a law by Congress to enforce and sanc- 
 tion the right of the slaveholder to his slave, wherever he 
 may choose to carry him ; and at a day's journey behind 
 the Democratic party comes limping along the Republican 
 party, taking up each old issue as it is successively aban- 
 doned, and fondling it as something very beautiful and god- 
 like. There is one good thing about this new demand of the 
 slave-power : it acknowledges the power of Congress over 
 the Territories. It is the death-blow of squatter sovereignty, 
 the most contemptible of all cheats, and the most ridiculous 
 of all humbugs. The antagonist of the new doctrine is not 
 squatter sovereignty, but the old Free-Soil and Northern 
 Whig Websterian, JefTersonian, and Nathan Dane doctrine of 
 prohibition. One side believes in the power and duty of 
 Congress to sustain slavery in the Territories ; the other 
 side, in its power and duty to 2'>^'ohibit. There is an issue 
 worthy of a contest, and to this it must finally come. 
 
 The Republican part}' ma}' unwisely be induced to tag 
 round after its rival a few years more, occupying its old 
 
 1 TJie BaniburnersvreTe a New- York party of reformers, who believed 
 in burning the barn to destroy tlio rats infesting it, and so destroyed 
 their party to get rid of the bad elements. They evidently did not 
 believe in " reform within the party." 
 
232 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 tents, sleeping in its musty straw, and deeming tents and 
 straw fit habitation and bed for tlie gods ; but it will wake 
 from the delusion by and by. The people of this countrj- are 
 constitutionalists.. Acquiesce in the Dred Scott decision, let 
 them settle down in the belief that the Constitution gives the 
 slave-owner a right to take his property' to the Territories, 
 and you must admit his right to have it protected when it gets 
 there. The people will never submit, and they never ought 
 to submit, to have a constitutional right voted down by a 
 majority, though that majority be as a million to one. No : 
 the Republican party's title to support docs not consist in its 
 intention to see fair play between slaveholder and non-slave- 
 holder. It consists, in the language of Mr. Seward, in "that 
 ver}- characteristic, which, in the mouth of scotfers, constitutes 
 its great and lasting imbecility and reproach. It lies in the 
 fact that it is a part^- of but one idea ; but that idea is a 
 noble one, an idea that fills and" expands all generous souls, 
 — the idea of equalit}', the equalit}' of all men before human 
 tribunals and human laws, as they all are equal before the 
 divine tribunal and divine laws." I find no squatter sover- 
 eignty in this platform of Mr. Seward's. By this sign we 
 conquer. 
 
 [March 31, 1S50.] 
 PERSONAL-LIBERTr BILL : ITS DEFEAT. 
 
 All the papers rejoice, though some of them think it 
 prudent not to say much, over the defeat of the Personal- 
 freedom Bill ; but the laugh will probably be on " the other 
 side of the mouth" before a great while. I have seen a 
 number of such victories within the last ten or fifteen years. 
 Not to mention anj' others, there was the victor}' of Messrs. 
 Winthrop, Stevenson, Ilillard, and Compan}-, in 1845, 1846, 
 and 1847, over S. C. Phillips, Adams, Sumner, Wilson, and 
 Palfrc}'. Within half a dozen j'cars, the jubilant gentlemen 
 who won it, and were congratulated over it amidst huzzas and 
 bonfires, were laid on the ver}' topmost shelf of retirement, 
 where they still remain. There was the victory of Henry J. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 233 
 
 Gardner over the legislature on the Judge Loring question. 
 That gentleman received the congratulations of all the Boston 
 newspapers; but where is he now? Snugly reposing by the 
 side of Winthrop and Stevenson and Hillard. There is a 
 tomb of the Capulets for politicians who fail to respond to 
 the just demands of the people ; and it yawns for more than 
 one aspiring gentleman to-day. When the personal-freedom 
 question was first introduced, by means of petitions, into the 
 legislature, I did not suppose it stood any chance whatever 
 of success ; for I did not suppose the people cared a great 
 deal about it. But there is evidently a mistake in this view 
 of the subject. The experience in antislavery matters, 
 abroad and at home, which we have had for the last half a 
 dozen years, has prepared the people for almost any measure 
 ■which shall set the State in array against slavery. Kansas 
 and Charles Sumner are watchwords which are not soon for- 
 gotten by the mass of the people ; and the ease with which 
 Judge Loring was tumbled out of office, neck and heels, no 
 tornado, earthquake, or other convulsion ensuing, according 
 to the predictions, has taught them to despise all threats, and 
 disregard all croakings. The result of the agitation on this 
 new question will be just like the result on all the rest. 
 The solicitude which is felt, lest the prospects of the Ee- 
 publican part}^ in the Middle and Western States should be 
 damaged, is quite amusing. Who are those who are thus 
 severely exercised? Men, for the most part, who threw 
 away the election of 185G by dabbling in the dirty pool of 
 Know-Nothingism ; or, if i\xey did not do this, have pursued 
 a cautious and timid and time-serving policy in relation to it 
 ever since. 
 
 [Sept. 22.] 
 NAMING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. ^ 
 
 All over the United States, from Passamaquoddy to Key 
 West, from Galveston to Fraser River, the opposition to the 
 
 1 Republican was the old name of the Democrats. Jefferson was a 
 Eepiiblicau, and was elected by Republican votes. This was said to be 
 the reason why this name was selected for the new party in 1859. 
 
234 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 Democratic part}' is known as the " Republican party." 
 Perhaps it might as well bo called an}' thing else ; for the 
 name means nothing : but that will be the name, and nothing 
 can change it. American-Republican is too long for popular 
 use ; and there are plenty of other objections to it. But even 
 that would be better than none. Think of a baby going three 
 years without a name ! How 30U would feel, if a visitor 
 should enter your house, and sa}^ to j'our boy (who is, of 
 course, a fine bo}', like all other boys), "What is your name, 
 my little chap? Eh, eh? Can't j'ou tell? A little bashful, 
 I see. Afraid of strangers, perhaps" ! How would you feel, 
 I sa}', if such a circumstance should occur, and 3-ou should be 
 compelled, in order to justif}' your youngster's silence, to tell 
 your guest that 30U hadn't been able yet to make up your 
 mind what to call him? He runs alone ; he says his alpha- 
 bet ; he drives hoop ; he climbs the fence, and tumbles olf, and 
 tears his clothes ; he is known to all the boj's in the neighbor- 
 hood ; he is preparing to " lick " one of them next year : but 
 3'ou haven't yet provided him with a name. Perhaps you are 
 afraid of offending one of his uncles, if you don't call him 
 George ; and his grandfather, if 30U don't call him Ilezekiah ; 
 and his mother, if you combine the two, and call him George 
 Ilezekiah : so 3-ou dall3' and putter, and the poor boy grows 
 up, till the other bo3's, who must call him something, give 
 him a horrid nickname, and send him home cver3' night to 
 bur}' his face in his mother's sympathizing apron, and be 
 sent weeping to bed. You find out at last that ^-ou had better 
 have called him any thing, — Ned or Nebuchadnezzar, Eli or 
 Epaminondas, Zeno, Zero, Xerxes, Lycurgus, or any thing 
 else, — rather than have him go without a name. 
 
 What a bother it is, when 30U are accosted by some New- 
 Yorker or Illinoisian, and are asked if you are a Republican, 
 to be obliged to say, " I belong, sir, to the party which is 
 opposed to the present corrupt National Administration and 
 the aggressions of the slave-power, and is in favor of the gen- 
 eral policy of the present State Administration" ! — "When 
 is the Republican Convention to be held? " — "Don't know ; 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 235 
 
 but we ai'e to have a convention of all the legal voters of 
 Massachusetts who are opposed to the present corrupt National 
 Administration and the aggressions of the slave-power, and 
 who are in favor of the general policy of the present State 
 Administration, at Fitchburg, on the 20th." — "Whom do the 
 Republicans of your State prefer for President ? " — " Can't 
 say ; but the party which is opposed to the present corrupt 
 National Administration and the aggressions of the slave- 
 power, and in favor of the general policy of the present State 
 Administration, probably looks with some favor upon Gov. 
 Banks." — " Why, what do you mean by that gabble ? Isn't 
 that the Republican party ? If it is, why don't you say so?" 
 — "Well, I s'pose it is ; but the fact is, our State Committee 
 are a little afraid to say what they mean ; and, though the 
 word ' Republican ' is in common conversational use, we can't 
 use it in conventions and committees and official documents 
 just yet." — " Why not ? " — " Oh ! Mr. So-and-So says 
 we mustn't offend the Americans ; and ' The Daily Buzzer ' 
 thinks we'd better use the old formula for the present." — 
 "Well, if your committee can't give the baby a name, the 
 State Convention ought to do it the very fii'st opportunity." 
 And so I think. 
 
 There is not much to be said about the Republican State 
 Convention. It was held at a bad place. The State Com- 
 mittee has no right to go out of its way to accommodate any 
 local demand for a convention. Some portions even of 
 Worcester County were unrepresented, because the delegates 
 could not go to Fitchburg without being away from home 
 two nights. If it bad not been for the convenient attendance 
 of senators and representatives, there would have been a 
 hundred towns unrepresented. Let me here sa}' that I under- 
 stand that Mr. John B. Alley's opposition to the Lynn resolu- 
 tion was not because it demanded a name for the party, but 
 because he conceived that it contained a censure of the State 
 Committee. I understand him to sa}' that he is in favor of 
 adopting the name Republican, and took ground openly on 
 that side of the question. I am pleased to make this correc- 
 
236 " WAIiUINGTON: " 
 
 tion. I believe the resolutions satisfy the public demand that 
 the party shall be chvistened. "The Bee " still insists that it 
 will l)e perfectl}' in order for an}- man -n-ho dislikes the name 
 Republican to call himself American-Republican, or Oppo- 
 sition. I certainly agree with "The Bee." There is no law 
 against a man's doing absurd things, and making a fool of 
 himself ; and if, after the authoritative and unanimous adop- 
 tion of the Republican name by the Convention, an}- member 
 of the party insists that he is a Republican with a prefix, 
 there can be no controversy about his right so to do. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 237 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 JOHN BEOWN AND PRESIDENT LINCOLN. 
 
 [""Warrington's" Letters in Springfield Republican,! Nov. 3, 1859.] 
 
 JOHN BROWN OF OSSAWATTOMIE. 
 
 I AM loath to write a letter without saying a word about 
 John Brown ; but he is one of your every-daj^ topics : ever}'- 
 bod}^ is thinliing of him, and talking about him, and thinli- 
 ing and talking better than I can. I believe he has to-day 
 more of the popular respect and sj^mpathy than any other 
 man in the country. Thoreau said one good thing; viz., 
 " The government has no right to hang a man whose con- 
 science tells him he is right. Who can tell, in such a case, 
 that the government is right, and the man wrong ? "When 
 government takes the life of a man without the assent of his 
 own conscience, it is a step towards its own dissolution." 
 
 Whether Virginia has a right to hang Brown or not, she 
 cannot afford to do it. She may be compelled to do so by 
 an overpowering necessity, but must lose by it, and slavery 
 must lose hy it. I do not agree that this enterprise was a 
 failure. Nothing is a failure which compels the people, 
 North and South, to look at the slavery question. It is the 
 most amazing thing in the world, that, with four millions of 
 slaves, — who must, within the life of some of us, increase, at 
 the present ratio, to twenty, thirt}', or forty millions, unless 
 there is some check, — there should be any thing else thought 
 of or talked about. Do you suppose there were any Edward 
 
 1 Unless otherwise designated. 
 
238 " WA URINGTON: " 
 
 Everetts, or Dr. Blagdens, or Robert Winthrops, going about 
 the streets of Pompeii and Ilerculanenm, hushing up agitation 
 concerning the dreadful portents that hung around Mount 
 "Vesuvius? Brown is a portent that needs to be considered. 
 He is an indication of the onward progress of the abolition 
 feeling in this country. Every da}', more and more abolition- 
 ists are coming upon the stage of action, and more and more 
 conservatives and doughfaces are going off. Ever}' day 
 increases the danger of border wars, stampedes, and insur- 
 rections. The government is powerless to prevent them, 
 though it ma}' now and then hang a few of the actors therein. 
 The question is one that must be met. 
 
 John Brown is a genuine hero. Don't let us nickname 
 him. He is not very " old ; " and it is a pity if the emergen- 
 cies of the Republican party are such, that he must go to his 
 death with the label " Crazy" upon his forehead. He has 
 got to die : let not his reputation for heroism be taken from 
 him by calling him insane. I wish we could do something 
 for him ; for he is worthy of all the choice gifts, such as the 
 children symbolize when they sing, — 
 
 " Uncle John is very sick : 
 What shall wc send him? 
 Three gold wishes, 
 Three gold kisses. 
 
 What shall wc send them in? 
 
 In a golden saucer. 
 What shall we tie them with? 
 
 With a golden garter. 
 Wlio shall wo send them by? 
 
 By the governor's daughter," &c. 
 
 God bless Ossawattomie Brown ! 
 
 The sympathy for Brown, which so pervades the people of 
 the free States, is, in a great degree, owing to his personal 
 courage, piety, and conscientiousness, but also, in great 
 degree, due to the fact that he was engaged in one of the 
 most chivalric and noble enterprises ever undertaken by man. 
 He threw himself against the power of Virginia and the 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 239 
 
 United States; and for what? To steal land, like Lopez 
 and "Walker ? No ; but to free so man}'' as he could of a 
 long-suffering and trodden-down people. For this, and for 
 no selfish purpose, he risked and lost his own life. Purer 
 and nobler philanthrop}'' was never known in the historj' of 
 the world. The people have not only a profound respect 
 for Brown, but hundreds and thousands of them bless his 
 memory for the lesson he has taught them of self-sacrifice in 
 this a2;e of self-seekius; and cowardice. 
 
 [Jan. 5, 18G0.] 
 EXECUTION OF JOHN BROWN. 
 
 The execution of John Brown — now, I suppose, a fixed 
 fact, if an executioner can be found with courage enough to 
 place the rope round his neck — will tend to induce in members 
 of Congress of both parties a spirit averse to compromises. 
 This will be the case, at any rate, if the representatives par- 
 take of the spirit of the people in any degree. The people, 
 in their workshops and on tlicir farms, are thinking and talk- 
 ing of John Brown. Our great author, Irving, is unfortunate 
 in his death, in one respect ; for men get no time to write or 
 read the eulogies which he deserves. Within forty-eight 
 hours, the most genuine representative of the antislavery 
 idea is to be hanged for his efforts to carr}' that idea into 
 practical results. I do not say he is a truer man than thou- 
 sands of other men scattered all over the North : perhaps 
 he was not so wise as many of them. But this, at any rate, 
 is true of him : professing to be in favor of giving freedom 
 to the black race, he went to work in a straightforward way 
 to smite off their shackles with his own hand. He did not 
 wait for the slow movement of ideas : he did not mean, if 
 he could help it, to " die without the sight." He Avent right 
 at it, reasoning logicall}^, I suppose, in this way : " Here are 
 four millions of people to be freed : I am determined at least 
 to free one of them for my share. If every antislavery man 
 will do as much, the work will be well-nigh accomplished." 
 
240 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 And he did more than his share. He brought off out of 
 Missouri a considerable number : pass them to his credit. 
 His example will inspire heroism in hundreds of others to 
 make their escape : pass that, also, to the credit side. In 
 addition to all this, he did much towards the freedom of the 
 white race in Kansas. Possibl}' that State would not have 
 been free without him. Add to this the immense work which 
 is now being wrought in the hearts of the people by his recent 
 life and his death, and he is fairl}' entitled to be named the 
 great emancipator. 
 
 "We are surely the basest of ingrates, we antislaverj^ men 
 of the North, if we do not reverence his name and bless his 
 memor}'. A thoroughl}' honest and righteous man, a thor- 
 oughly sane man too, or, if insane, insane only as all honest 
 men are insane, only as ever}' man who stands up for princi- 
 ples against apparent interest is insane. Still less is he 
 criminal. He has broken the law, no doubt ; but to break 
 the law is not necessaril}- to commit a crime. The}' broke 
 the law who released Jerr}' at S3'racuse, and Shadrach at 
 Boston ; but nobodj' thinks them criminals. Men have even 
 shed blood contrary to law, who are not reckoned as crimi- 
 nals : nay, hundreds of them, in all ages of the world, have 
 been cherished and honored as martyr-heroes. Virginia 
 punishes John Brown as a murderer and traitor ; but he is 
 neither : he is a hero and a martyr. 
 
 " Woe for the hour when it is crime 
 
 To plead the poor dumb bondman's cause; 
 
 When all that makes the heart sublime, 
 
 The glorious throbs that conquer time, 
 Are traitors to our cruel laws ! 
 
 He strove among God's suffering poor 
 
 One gleam of brotherhood to send : 
 The dungeon oped its hungry door 
 To give the truth one martyr more, 
 
 Then shut : and here behold the end 1 " 
 
PEN-PORTEAITS. 241 
 
 [May 24.] 
 
 PRESIDENT Lincoln's NOinNATioN. 
 
 "The people of the United States are the rightful masters of both 
 Congress and courts." 
 
 Abraham Lincoln has announced the irrepressible con- 
 flict as distinctl}', if not as happilj*, as Seward. He has 
 fought a gallant campaign with the representative of all that 
 is bad, ruffianly, John Ileenanish, in American politics, — 
 Stephen A. Douglas ; and, so far as I can see, has not 
 lowered the standard of straight-out Republicanism one inch. 
 He has courage, and will never let go : — 
 
 " The mongrel's hold may slip; 
 But only crowbars loose the bull-dog's grip." 
 
 "We have got to defend all his radicalisms and ultraisms. 
 That one sentence I have quoted will be dinned into the ears 
 of a million of voters a million of times between now and 
 election-day ; and it will be an education worth having. 
 Here is the apostle of genuine popular sovereignty. He is 
 not one of 3'our sham sovereignty men ; no Douglas, who 
 don't care whether slavery is voted up or down ; no Eli 
 Thayer, who pledges himself to keep the negro out of Con- 
 gi'ess, and strilvcs hands with the border-ruffians to defeat 
 Grow's territorial bills, and tries to keep the Declaration of 
 Independence out of the Republican platform. He stands, 
 as I understand him, on the old Whig and Free-Soil ground 
 of prohibition, b}^ one means or another, or all means, or 
 at all hazards. I trust his letter of acceptance will not 
 diminish the confidence of the antislavery men in him. If 
 he "trims," he is lost. 
 
 Then hurrah for Lincoln and Hamlin ! " Abe Lincoln," 
 if 30U please. " Honest Abe Lincoln," if 3'ou please ; though 
 I don't lay much stress upon this appellation. If Lincoln is 
 not something more than honest, he is not fit for President. 
 The men who stroll into mock-auction shops, and are vic- 
 timized by the Peter Funks, are " honest : " the Vermonters 
 and New-Hampshire men who wandered off to Chicago, and 
 
242 "WAREINGTOX: " 
 
 believed Horace Greele}-, and Andrew Curlin, and Henry S. 
 Lane, when they said "William II. Seward could not be 
 chosen, were "honest," but, oh, how jolly green! "Abe," 
 I am confident, is something more than "honest." "Abe 
 Lincoln, the rail-splitter," if you please; for I suppose 
 human nature is the same now as it was in 1840, when we 
 shouted ourselves hoarse for Harrison, and decorated log- 
 cabins, and rolled "big balls" through the streets. Then 
 here it is : — 
 
 Hurrah for Lincoln and Hamlin! 
 
 Hurrah for the defeat of the Fogies ! 
 
 Hurrah for the downfall of Know-Nothingism I 
 
 Hurrah for a sound Ilepublican platform I 
 
 Hurrah for a party name ! 
 
 But 
 
 A wail for William H. Seward! 
 A wail for party cowardice and folly! 
 A wail for opportunities lost! 
 "Woe is me, Alhama!" 
 
 All these, however, awail nothing. Let the hurrahs predomi- 
 nate. By the way, I have seen Barry's picture of Lincoln ; 
 and I am satisfied that he is as ugly as his most enthusiastic 
 admirers claim. But he looks like a man of ability and 
 substantiality, as he is. His ugliness won't hurt him any. 
 If he gets the votes of all the ugly men, he will have an 
 immense majorit}' ; for the male human race, in its common 
 aspects, is by no means beautiful. Yet most boj's are hand- 
 some. Wh}^ don't thc}' grow up handsome? It is hard 
 work, and povert}', and rum and tobacco, and selfishness, 
 and pride and vanity, and all the other and foolish propensi- 
 ties and bad habits, which so play the dense with their good 
 looks. Lincoln looks like a man who had inherited rough 
 features, and had kept them rough by a hard scrimmage with 
 life ; but he is not half so ugl}- as some of the men who pass 
 for handsome, and who were born handsome, and lived 
 so till the}' were old enough to begin to smoke bad cigars, 
 and "chaw" nasty tobacco, and drink " rot-gut." "We 
 have had uglier presidential candidates than Lincoln. Do 
 
PEN-POETEAITS. 243 
 
 you remember "Old Zack's" lip? .Wasn't that horrid? 
 Yet he went in over the unctuous Cass and the smooth Van 
 Buren, and was a better man than either ; and I don't com- 
 pliment him any by saying this. 
 
 [Sept. 13.] 
 THE BELL-EVERETT^ PARTT. 
 
 As I was standing near Scollay's Building about two 
 o'clock 3'esterday afternoon, waiting for the horse-car, I 
 heard a great ding-donging. " What the d — I's that?" said 
 a man b}- my side. We dodged round the corner ; and there 
 we saw, coming up Court and turning into Tremont Street, 
 a vehicle drawn by several horses, and containing an im- 
 mense bell, the rope of which a stout man was vigorously 
 pulling, and from which the clapper-tviip was proceeding. 
 "Oh, Bell and Everett!" said I; "meeting at Roxbury 
 to-night." My neighbor doubled himself up as if he had 
 a severe pain in his bowels, such as one might have after 
 eating a hearty supper of milk, cucumbers and vinegar, 
 green currants and gooseberries, and lobster-salad ; roared 
 three times, "Haw, haw, haw!" and vanished into a car 
 bound to the South End. I looked over to Gi-ay's iron 
 building, and saw three men extended on the sidewalk in a 
 fit — of laughing. I know 'em: the}' were 3'oung lawj-ers, 
 Lincoln men, feigning to be pleased with the demonstration. 
 The bell passed on, the ringer pulling most vehementl3\ I 
 could not recognize him, and therefore cannot positively say 
 whether it was George Lunt, George Hillard, George Curtis, 
 Leverett Saltonstall, Daniel Warren, Augustus C. Carey, 
 Henry J. Gardner, B. Flint King, Amos A. Lawrence, 
 Samuel H. Wallc}*, or Van Duzeubury. There were two 
 men on board : I could not distinctly recognize what the 
 second man was doing ; but I think he was holding out his 
 
 1 Bell-Everett party. John Bell and Edward Everett were the hun- 
 ker, proslaverj', Democratic candidates for President, in oppcsition to 
 Abraham Lincoln, in 18G0. 
 
244 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 hat for contributions. People all along Tremont Row were 
 stopping to look : it did not take them long to catch the 
 joke; for "Bell and Everett" was painted on the wagon. 
 The^' wagged their heads, rolled their e^-es, shifted their 
 quids from one side to the other, chuckled or sneered, and 
 passed on. It was too bad to laugh at it. A more orderl}' 
 and respectful funeral procession I have never seen, though 
 the mourners were few. I would suggest a different kind 
 of carriage, something in the catafalque st^ie ; and here is 
 an inscription which would be suitable, from one of Dr. 
 Holmes's poems : — 
 
 "Ding-dong! ding-dong! 
 The world is in a simmer, like a sea 
 Over a pent volcano. Woe is me 
 All the day long!" 
 
 This last, "Woe is me all the day long!" concentrates 
 the whole phiJosoph}' of the Avhole Bell-Everett party, and is 
 the substance of their ten thousand speeches and letters and 
 editorial articles. But, though there is no jollity in these 
 fellows, they keep other people good-natured. Talk of 
 Hood! Well "Hood's Own," and "Up the Rhine," and 
 the "Ode to Rae Wilson," and the punning ballads, will 
 make you laugh, but not more than one of Lunt's editorials ; 
 and Charles Lamb and Sydney Smith never made better 
 jokes than George T. Curtis in his Roxbury speech. 
 
 In 1852 I was a good deal interested in the canvass for 
 President, going in strongly for Ensign Stebbiugs ; and I 
 made a calculation for "The Carpet-Bag," which was his 
 organ, showing that he would receive something more than 
 twenty thousand electoral votes, — not mere popular votes, of 
 which a man may receive half a million, and yet have no 
 good from them. He was going to receive the vote of Maine 
 on the strength of his letter to the Maj'or of Saccarap, declar- 
 ing himself to be in favor of the Maine Law, and against its 
 enforcement, and so on. I mention this here, partly to illus- 
 trate Curtis' s speech, and partly to show that the stand- 
 ing joke of Stebbiugs and the Maine Law, which is now used 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 245 
 
 pretty often in the newspapers, is " my thunder." "A poor 
 thing, but my own," as Touchstone says of Audry. Now, it 
 turned out that Stcbbings got no votes. What was a feeble 
 attempt at waggery in 1852 is deadly earnest with George T. 
 Curtis in 1860. His Stebbings is Edward Everett ; and he is 
 as grave as a judge, (and he is a judge : didn't he adjudi- 
 cate a man into slaver}^ ten years ago ?) — as grave as a 
 judge, in his attempt to prove, that, if Mr. Bell is not elected 
 President, Mr. Everett will be elected Vice-President by the 
 Senate, and so will become President. 
 
 The venerable Beli-Everetts came out on Monday before 
 election jubilant ; but on Tuesday how changed were they ! 
 Men of six feet two had sunk to five feet three ; men of 
 two hundred and twenty pounds were reduced to a hundred 
 and sixt}'. " \yh3', sir, j'ou look thin! " was the common 
 remark. "Ah, y%s\ I've Avorked too hard this summer; 
 didn't take m}' usual trip to Newport ; nothing permanent: 
 shall pick up in a few dajs." — " Well, j'ou'd better go home 
 and rest a while." So they went home as soon after two 
 o'clock as possible, drank catnip-tea, and cursed "The 
 Courier" till bedtime. Some of them took it still more 
 seriousl}^ to heart. Large numbers of them made their last 
 wills, in view of impending dissolution, remembering the 
 Southern Aid Society in their affliction ; that being the only 
 religious organisation ]Derfectly sound on the question of 
 slavery, and certain so to remain. The Tract Society and 
 
 the American Board may apostatize ; but the Eev. L 
 
 F will circulate his doughface gospel as long as he lives. 
 
 [Nov. 8.] 
 
 PRESIDENT Lincoln's election. 
 Well, Lincoln is elected ; the Democratic party is finally 
 split to pieces, and destroyed ; and the Bell-Everett party is 
 shovelled underground, — "dirt to dirt." The beauty of 
 the thing is, that this " Constitutional Union " part}", having 
 consorted with the only disunion party in the country, must 
 
246 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 stand by the character and reputation wliich it has won for 
 itself. Tiie Republican party is, from this moment at least, 
 the part}' upon which Constitutionalists and Unionists must 
 rely. I think the Republican party is now so well founded 
 here, that no paper b}' abandoning it can harm it much, and 
 no paper b}' joining it can add greatly to its vote. Different 
 schools of the part}' ma}^ be aided or impeded b}- particular 
 presses ; and the results of conventions ma^- be affected some- 
 times, but seldom the results of general elections. Massa- 
 chusetts is Republican, now and forever; and, though there 
 may be occasional re-actions, the Republicanism of the State 
 will rise higher and higher every j'ear, till it is universally 
 accepted as Christianit}* is, and there will be no controversy 
 as to its essential doctrines. B}- and by, George Lunt and 
 "The Boston Courier" will be conservative Republicans, 
 fighting for moderation in the ranks, and against the new 
 lights, who will gradually' encroach upon it, and beat it, as 
 usual. 
 
 The melanchol}' days have evidently come for Lunt, the 
 saddest of the year ; though all days are sad enough. 
 "Autumn's doing brown " for him, sure enough. Perhaps, 
 however, he may get into the House of Representatives from 
 Ward Four ; for I see he has got the nomination. If the 
 Bell-Everett coalitionists are going to elect anybody, I hope 
 it will be Lunt. Next to having an able and popular man 
 of your own part}' in the legislature, it is best to have an 
 unpopular man of the opposite side. Lunt wouUl be the 
 laughing-stock of the House in less than a week. If he has 
 not "the most winning way of making people hate him," 
 he has, at least, a great facility for exciting mirth and con- 
 tempt. Mr. Hillard's sarcastic compliment upon him is one 
 of the best things of the kind extant. He said that Mr. 
 Lunt must be loved before he could be full}' known. That 
 is so. And here, l)y the wa}', let me tell a stor}' of a dis- 
 tinguished literary lady who once sent an article to " Tho 
 Courier," which i)leased the editors so greatly, that they 
 asked her, through INIr. Hillard, what the}' should pay her 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 247 
 
 to insure from her regular contributions. "Bring me George 
 liunt's head in a chai'ger," said she. 
 
 [Dec. 5.] 
 
 TREMONT-TEMPLE MOB. THE RECENT RESPECTABLE RIOT.^ 
 
 I use the word " riot " in no offensive sense, but for conven- 
 ience. Tlie rioter of one da}' is a revohitionar}' patriot the 
 next 3'ear ; and, if these gentlemen succeed in permanently 
 putting down free speech in Boston, I shall, after the cus- 
 tomary usage, change the designation. But as the experi- 
 ment remains doubtful, with the chances at present against 
 them, I will stick to the Avord I have used. Certain men had 
 hired the hall, and were presumed to be able and willing to 
 pay for it, for the purpose of discussing the best means of 
 abolishing slaver}'. Certain other men made an irruption 
 into it, violently and riotously took possession of it, wrested 
 it from its purpose, in fact burglariously entered and stole 
 it ; and the police, instead of interrupting the process, pro- 
 ceeded with the utmost coolness to dispossess the original 
 and rightful owners. It is no wonder, that, when the maj'or 
 and the police have thus got their heads turned tops3'-turvy on 
 the subject of their dut}^ of preserving the peace of the city, 
 the insanit}' should also seize the juries, the district-attorneys, 
 and other officers of the courts, so that there should be, as 
 there has been for the last year, almost complete immunity 
 for rogues and rascals of all sorts. I do not mean to blame 
 the police. The}' were acting under orders, or sui)posed they 
 were ; though it was hard to find out what the Orders were. 
 
 Dr. S. G. Howe, finding himself excluded from the hall, 
 — at a time, too, when there was no greater disorder than is 
 frequent in political meetings, — demanded the reason ; and 
 was told by the police-officer at the door, that the chief had 
 given orders that no one should be admitted. The doctor 
 proceeded to the mayor's office, and there found the chief, 
 
 1 Now- York Tribune (letters in). 
 
248 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 who told him he had given no such orders. The fact is, 
 probabh', that he had forgotten all about it, or had given all 
 sorts of contradictory orders, or had given no orders ; and 
 the officer at the door -was doing his best on his own respon- 
 sibilit}'. An incapable officer is always the worst of rioters 
 in a disturbance of this kind ; and if somebody had read the 
 Riot Act to the chief, and dispersed him, he would have 
 done good service. His subordinates (plague on it ! I keep 
 speaking as if he was not himself the most ridiculous of 
 subordinates, servile to all the earthly influences) were one 
 moment hustling a man out, and the next moment returning 
 him, and apologizing for their roughness ; and Mr. F. B. 
 Sanborn, the lawful chairman, was actually rescued out of 
 the hands of one officer by two others, who returned him 
 safely into the hall from which he had been rudely ejected. 
 Most of them were good-natured and clever fellows, who 
 would have gladl}' done tlieir dut}' if they had been properly 
 guided. 
 
 But I am straying from m}^ purpose, which was to give 
 you the names of some of the solid and respectable men who 
 undertook to " set Boston right." The vindication of Boston 
 was, unfortunateh', left to such small fry as Oliver Stevens, 
 and Thomas Farmer, and Cherringtou, and young Choate, and 
 Jo. Bell, and Harry Ilorton, and Watson Freeman, jun., and 
 the mass of named and nameless rifT-raff that followed them. 
 It would have been a cheerful and pleasant sight if we 
 could have seen Mr. Everett himself raising his clarion 
 voice and his quivering finger in behalf of the countrj' at 
 this crisis of her fate ; or Mr. Hallett interposing his burly 
 form, like Mr. Webster's "broad shield of the Constitution," 
 between our united country and James Redpath ; or Mr. 
 Winthrop winding his cloak about him with one hand, and 
 with the other striking a heart}' blow from the shoulder for 
 the Union and for the laws ; or Mr. Whitney encouraging 
 his squad of gangers and inspectors ; or Mr. Lunt piously 
 lifting up his voice, and asking the blessing of the God he 
 ignorautly worships on the good work ; or Col. Greene 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 249 
 
 doing penance for his early errors in the cause of free 
 speech in Abner Kneeland's case, by helping to mob men 
 as unpopular as Kneeland ever was. But, alas ! these men 
 seem to have been satisfied with urging on the mob, or with 
 the still more ignominious part of rejoicing over what it 
 accomplished. 
 
 Mr. Richard S. Fay and Mr. J. Murray Howe were the 
 most conspicuous persons among the rioters. Mr. Fay was 
 de facto chairman for a time, and Mr. Howe thought he 
 occupied the same position afterward. Mr. Fay is a wealthy 
 man, resident in L3'nn. Though not a Boston man, he evi- 
 dentl}^ feels as great a responsibilit}' for the existence and 
 success of our experiment of government as the solidest 
 man we have, even Mr. G. T. Curtis himself. Col. Jonas 
 H. French, who was very active in the good work, was one 
 of Gov. Gardner's aides. Thomas H. Perkins, a broker, 
 was very lively, compromising his dignity so much, I am 
 informed, as to assault a negro. Mr. William D. Swan, 
 book-publisher, and two 3'oung Swans, were heart}' sj^mpa- 
 thizers. So was Mr. Arthur Gilman, architect — of his own 
 fortune as well as of sundry churches, and an excellent 
 stor3'-teller. William C. Fa}-, described sarcastically by 
 "The Traveller" as a gentleman of "great respectability 
 and considerable prominence," Charles A. Brewer and 
 Michael Scanlan, and Isaac P. Wainwright and Charles C. 
 Hobbs, are men of less note ; and I do them a service in 
 bringing them before the public in such respectable com- 
 pany. In addition to Choate, jun., and Jo. Bell, the bar 
 was represented by B. F. Russell and Oliver Stevens. Per- 
 haps these are not the highest names at the Boston bar ; but 
 the}' may be considered rising men after Monday's work. 
 Mr. Horton (before mentioned) is of the firm of F. Skinner 
 & Co., and is a worthy representative of dry-goods principles. 
 John C. Boyd, William C. Rogers (a Salem merchant), J. 
 H. and W. F. Loud, J. T. Coolidge, jun., Charles Larkin, 
 William J. Parsons (son of Prof. Parsons), Plunkett, 
 Moone}', and Marble (custom-house officers, very noisy and 
 
250 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 disagreeable), "William Aspinwall of the old "WTiig State 
 Committee, and others, are mentioned to me as having been 
 irritant in season and out of season. Then there were 
 Amorys, Heaths, Randalls, and so on, too numerous to 
 mention. 
 
 If 1 have omitted any names, I shall gladl}', on proper 
 application, suppl}- them ; and if any gentleman disclaims 
 the honor, or feels himself unworthy of the choice companion- 
 ship I have given him, I slinll take pains to make the neces- 
 sar3' correction, so that the future chronicler who searches 
 the files of "The Tribune," out of which history will be 
 written, ma}' not fall into any errors. You will see that all 
 professions and classes were represented. The shoulder- 
 hitters were ver}- strong. The chief of police remarked con- 
 cerning one of them, that he deserved to be arrested every 
 night of his life : he let him alone, however, on this occa- 
 sion. One gentleman, who is under indictment for an 
 attempt to kidnap, was observed to be active in the good 
 work. 
 
 The literary class was represented. One gentleman was 
 pointed out to me as the author of a work on " The Evasion 
 of Payments," " The Autobiograph}- of a Jeremy Diddler," 
 "Handbook for Swindlers," " Stealing without a Master," 
 " Bird's-eye View of Boston, with Particular Directions 
 how to Dodge a Policeman," and other elementaiy works 
 which I have never seen, and which I suspect are still 
 unpublished. 
 
 People generally treat the afTiiir as a mere outbreak of 
 riotous 30ung men. They are very much mistaken. It ivas 
 part of the Southern Rebellion. The Northern cities are full 
 of traitors and secessionists, who would be glad to see an 
 outbreak at Washington before the 4lh of ]\Iarcli, and the 
 capital seized and held bv a slaveholding cabal as a "pro- 
 visional government." If Caleb Cashing, and George B. 
 Loring, and Fernando AVood, and the custom-houses, arc not 
 in the conspiracy, their actions belie them. I believe there 
 will be such an outbreak, and that this riot in Boston is part 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 251 
 
 of the machinery designed to assure the men who will engage 
 in it that they will not be put down by the people of the 
 North. Northern people will have more than they can do to 
 take care of themselves. 
 
 [Dec. 20.] 
 PRESIDENT BUCHANAN, AND GENERAL PRATING. 
 
 Mr. Buchanan proposes to have a general prajing. When? 
 Not now, but on the 4th of Januaiy, — more than a fortnight 
 hence. If praying is going to do an}' good, why not pray 
 now ? The old gentleman should merely have sent out his 
 rescript, saying, " Pray immediatelj', eveiy mother's son of 
 you! " Suppose the captain or chaplain of a ship should 
 call the crew and passengers together, and sa}' to them, 
 " Gentlemen and ladies, we are on the rocks, and in danger 
 of breaking up every instant ; our boats have been washed 
 overboard, or stove to pieces ; there is no sail in sight ; and 
 there is no help for us but in the merc}^ of God : therefore 
 I suggest that on "Wednesday next we have a prayer-meet- 
 ing on the quarter-deck (or on the rocks, as the case may 
 be), to see if we cannot get some relief in that way." 
 
 The President's proclamation makes me think that the 
 danger is not imminent. He draws a vivid picture, to be sure, 
 of the perils of the country, — disunited States, starving 
 populations, and all that ; but I think he is more frightened 
 than he need to be. You perhaps remember the story of the 
 sensation orator in troublous times, who wrought upon his 
 hearers and himself so powerfull}', that, a slight crack being 
 heard amid the stillness, they and he fell to the ground in 
 awe and trembling, believing his prophecies had come to 
 pass, and that the final crash had come. But, after they 
 had " recovered from their swound," they ascertained, that, 
 instead of the crack of doom, it was onl}' the breaking of the 
 orator's suspenders wliich had alarmed tliem. Old Buck has 
 broken his suspenders, and thinks the world is coming to an 
 end. Or does he, like a good many others, mean to pray 
 for the sake of getting courage to do some new mean thing ? 
 
252 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 or, having determined upon the mean thing, reckon upon 
 deceiving the people into acquiescence by making them 
 believe that the}- acted in obedience to heavenly impulses, 
 and that the Lord has countenanced their treacher}- and cow- 
 ardice? Which is it? AVhen some people who believed in 
 the efficacy of prayer without work applied to Palmerston 
 to appoint a fast, in order to get rid of the cholera, or to 
 diminisli its ravages, the premier wrote a letter which 
 shocked some people, and pleased a good many others, tell- 
 ing them that they had better go home and attend to their 
 ventilation and drainage, and keep themselves cool and 
 clean ; and I have never heard that anybod}- supposes the 
 good God was otfended at this, or that the sickness was 
 ueedlessl}' prolonged. 
 
 Fonblanque, of " The London Examiner," wrote an arti- 
 cle on " General Mournings," which I should like to quote 
 from if I had it at hand. The drift of it was, that it was 
 cruel, in hard times, to ask the people to give up one whole 
 da3''s earnings for any such purpose as mourning for the 
 dead. And the advice is as good in relation to a general 
 fast. Fonblanque suggested, that, if we must lose a day in 
 this Avay, we might make it useful by following the old 
 fashion, in cases of grief, of rending the clothes. That, at 
 any rate, would help the tailors and cloth-makers. It would 
 be an edifying spectacle to see Mr. Buchanan himself, as the 
 representative man of the country-, who has done more than 
 all other men to l)ring it into disgrace and peril, indicating 
 his contrition and his need of foi'givcness b^- knocking a hole 
 in the crown of his hat, or tearing to pieces the " ampler 
 parts " of his ample satinet trousers. As we have got a 
 thaw upon us, there would be no great harm if he was liter- 
 ally (and not merely metaphorically, as was "Wolsey) left 
 " naked to his enemies." 
 
PEN-POBTRAITS. 253 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 IN WAR TIME. 
 
 [" "Wan-ington's " Letters in Springfield Republican,^ Jan. 17, 1861.] 
 
 THE STATE OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 Again the state of the countiy ! But there is excuse 
 enough for writing on this subject, and no excuse for writing 
 on an}' other. Ever}- man ought to write to ever}' other man 
 on it ; and the price of stationery ought to be increased a 
 hundred per cent by the overwhelming demand. I have 
 this advantage, through your kind permission, that I can 
 speak to your twenty thousand subscribers, and add my 
 voice to yours in favor of firmness and boldness and pru- 
 dence and courage and conciliation, and all the other virtues, 
 in this crisis. How many skulking, compromising creatures 
 there are ! For a truce, for a little ease, a chance to live 
 three or four years longer in peace, men are willing to entail 
 on their children a severer struggle than this, or, on their 
 remotest posterity, all the evils of a slaveholding despotism. 
 Men will "toil and moil, poor muck- worms ! " cheat in 
 trade, run hazards at the pole or in the tropics, insure their 
 feeble lives, for the benefit of their children ; but, for the sake 
 of peace for a day or two, they will submit to the most 
 infamous bargains with sin, and compromises with treason. 
 Shame on them! AYhat right have they thus to make' pos- 
 terity suffer for their cowardice ? 
 
 If the Southern Whigs had stood fu'm against the Nebraska 
 
 1 Unless otherwise designated. 
 
254 "WARKIXGTOy: " 
 
 Bill in 1854, vre should have been spared 18G1 ; if "Webster 
 had stood firm against the compromises of 1850, we should 
 have been spared the Nebraska Bill ; if the men of 1820 had 
 insisted on the slavery prohibition in Missouri's case, we 
 should have been spared the concessions of 1850 ; and, to 
 go farther back, if the framers of the Constitution had 
 carried out the purposes stipulated in the preamble, and 
 made such provisions as would insure the blessings of libert}' 
 to all men in the countr}', we should have had no trouble in 
 1820. And if we are true now, and refuse to j'ield to the 
 compromises which are showered upon Congress every day 
 by the Crittendens, Biglers, Hunters, Etheridges, we shall 
 save the men of 1870 a more grievous struggle than this. 
 " They enslave their children's children who make com- 
 promise witli sin." 
 
 " Oh for an hour of Webster ! " said Mr. Choate. " Oh 
 for an hour of Choate ! " saj's Lunt, hoping, I suppose, that, 
 ten 3'ears hence, some snivelling patriot will read "The 
 Courier's " files, and exclaim, " Oh for an hour of Lunt ! " 
 I sa}-, " Oh for an hour of government of some sort, no matter 
 what! " Gov. Banks told us in his valedictor}- address how 
 cheapl}' we got along. I think every man, woman, and 
 child pays nine dollars in taxes for national, state, and local 
 protection. I suppose a greater part of this goes to the 
 support of the General Government ; saj-, in round numbers, 
 two dollars for each person. An average family, like j'ours 
 or mine, pa3's about twelve dollars. And what do we get 
 for it? I suppose we should be glad to get off without any 
 real, tangible benefits in dollars and cents ; but we have at 
 least the right to ask that the government we help to sup- 
 port shall hold itself together, and not allow the rebellious 
 members to break it up. If it can do nothing else, it 
 ought to do this at least. But what' do we see? A govern- 
 ment absolutely powerless, the laughing-stock of the world, 
 a pauper government, an idiot government, ne'er-do-well, 
 feeble-minded, non compos, worth}' of guardianship by the 
 strongest mnn. Gen. Scott would be justified by the country 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 255 
 
 in taking care of it, and keeping it out of harm's way for 
 a season. Suppose crazy George III. had had nobod}^ to 
 take care of him, what would have become of England? 
 Oh for a man at the head to say to South Carolina what 
 Menenius Agrippa said to the turbulent citizens of Rome ! I 
 refer you to Coriolanus. Menenius Agrippa was haranguing 
 the people, telling them the stor^' of the rebellion of the mem- 
 bers against the bell}'. Said he, — 
 
 " The senators of Rome are this good belly, 
 And you the mutinous members : for examine 
 Their counsels and their cares ; digest things rightly 
 Touching the weal o' the common ; you shall find 
 No public benefit which you receive, 
 But it proceeds or comes from them to you, 
 And no way from yourselves. — What do you think? — 
 You, the great toe of this assembly." 
 
 The citizen thus addressed, whose name we may suppose 
 was Pickens, answers, — 
 
 " I the great toe ? Why the great toe ? " 
 
 And Menenius replies, — 
 
 " For that, heinrj one o' the lowest, basest, poorest 
 Of this most wise rebellion, thou go^st foremost: 
 Thou rascal, that art worst in blood to run, 
 Lead' St first to win some vantage. — 
 But make you ready your stiff bats and clubs : 
 Eome and her rats are at the point of battle ; 
 The one side must have bale." 
 
 That is, injury or damage. This is the wa}' to talk to this 
 twopenn}^ rebellion. Instead of this, Mr. Buchanan, with 
 gown and cap, knitting- work in hand, and spectacles on 
 nose, is singing to the country the old nursery-rhyme, — 
 
 " Little Bo-peep has lost his sheep. 
 
 And don't know where to find 'em: 
 Let 'em alone, and they'll come home, 
 Dragging their tails behind 'em." 
 
 This is a question of pluck and endurance. If the South 
 are determined to go out, they will go in spite of us : if 
 
256 "WABRINGTON:" 
 
 •they are not so determined, tbe}- will stay on our own terms. 
 Let our friends in Congress hold still, strengthening the 
 administration if it is disposed to do right. We shall in 
 this way win 
 
 " The victory of endurance born." 
 
 Our members of Congress who stand firm deserve the 
 highest commendation ; and the people should stand b}', and 
 encourage them. I will lift m}' hat to ever}' man of them 
 who comes home in March, having seen Abraham Lincoln 
 inaugurated on the Capitol steps, and the people not betrayed 
 by wicked compromises. 
 
 TJan. 24.] 
 THE DOUGHFACE ^ PETITION. 
 
 The great Doughface petition is about a hundred 3-ards 
 long, is a foot in diameter when rolled up, and contains 
 about fourteen thousand names. Here it is : — 
 
 " Wliile sharing, in common with their fellow-citizens, the general 
 solicitude at the dangers which are now threatening the peace and 
 unity of the country, they desire to give their urgent and emphatic 
 expression of the necessity which seems to exist for mutual concilia- 
 tion and compromise, and without discussion as to the merits of the 
 various questions at issue. 
 
 "Therefore your memorialists humbly pray ("umbly' would be 
 better) that such measures may be speedily adopted by Congress for 
 the pacific settlement of our present difficulties as will embrace, sub- 
 stantially, 
 
 " Such a plan of compromise as may be deemed expedient to 
 restore tranquillity and peace to our now distracted country." 
 
 " Mutual concession ! " I think I could devise a plan of 
 mutual concession which Avoiild leave us as well off as we 
 are now. I should demand from the South, first, the repeal 
 of tlie Fugitive-slave Law, inhuman, odioits, and abomina- 
 ble as it is ; second, the relinquishment of the dogma that 
 slavery is property b}' an}' thing but local law ; third, ample 
 
 1 The Doiir/hfaces were the "soft and yielding mass" of voters who 
 were willing to accede to all tho demands of the slaveholders. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 257 
 
 and perpetual guaranties for the perpetuity of government 
 against rebellion, ever}- time the elections do not go to suit 
 the slaveholders ; fourth, ample and perpetual guaranties for 
 freedom of speech and travel to Northern men in the South ; 
 fifth, the reconstruction, on a population basis, of the Supreme 
 Court ; and so on. Every one of these demands is just. But 
 do the men who have gone on with the big petition dream, 
 even, of demanding any one of them? No. They do not 
 mean to ask any thing. The}- go, not to take, but to give, 
 and to give all that the other side ask. You could not 
 devise a plan of adjustment which this committee would not 
 accept, no matter how degrading to the North. If this is 
 an honest movement, wh}' are not the Republicans repre- 
 sented in the petition ? Republican paws were found very 
 useful in pulling the chestnuts out of the fire, but are not 
 clean enough to take hold of the big petition. 
 
 You see they don't go for tranquillity and peace at any 
 rate : thej' must have it through a compromise of some 
 sort. If Congress can .contrive to preserve peace without 
 conceding any thing to the South, that would not do at all. 
 We must yield something, or it's no use. We won't have 
 our rights if we can get them. We love to be rolled in the 
 mud. We prefer to eat dirt. Parodying Macbeth, we have 
 in dough 
 
 " Stepped in so far, that, should we wade no more, 
 Eeturning were as tedious as go o'er." 
 
 So we prefer to go on. We are up to the armpits in dough : 
 let it cover us to the ej-es, and enclose us wholly. Let us be 
 " dough souls," as Webster called us when he was Webster. 
 
 Only to think of it ! — the great Boston petition has come 
 to nought. The mission of Everett has failed ; Lawrence 
 hasn't saved the Union ; Woodbury has made a Judy of him- 
 self; and Tobey is not to be considered any great shakes 
 hereafter. And why? Simply because their petition didn't 
 mean any thing. Just imagine Mr. Everett administering a 
 bread-pill to the invalid Union ; and Amos Lawrence carry- 
 
258 " WABRINGTON: " 
 
 ing a pint of cold water to extinguish the great conflagration, 
 which is already licking the pillars of the grand Temple of 
 Libert}- ! Speed homo, Mr. Lawrence ; cut, Mr. Tobc}- ; lift 
 j-our brogans, Mr. P^verctt ; mizzle, ]Mr. Woodbur}- ; return 
 to Boston, and see if you cannot do better next time. 
 
 " Mutual compromise," did you say? Perish the thought ! 
 Let us have no mutualism ! Isn't the beaten part}' to have 
 every thing, and the victorious party nothing, according to 
 the usual custom? Hereafter, when two men ride on one 
 horse, the one who rides behind shall alwa3-s ride before. 
 Hereafter the defeated party shall have all the fruits of vic- 
 tory, and the victors shall be bound hand and foot, and 
 exhibited for a show, like Bajazet in his cage. 
 
 [April 18.] 
 
 THE PURPOSE OF THE WAR. 
 
 Ever3'bod3' is gratified, and man}- are astonished, at the 
 superabundant loyalty of the people, and their alacrity to 
 enter upon the military service. With less than a day's, 
 and, in some cases, less than twelve hours' notice, the 
 companies hastened to Boston from considerable distances, 
 with full ranks. I suppose a good deal of this willingness 
 to serve is due to the fact that young men like novelty and 
 excitement, and that, at the present time, business is dull, 
 and lucrative employment hard to get ; but most of it is un- 
 questionably due to a deep feeling of the necessity of action 
 and sacrifice for the salvation of the country and its free 
 institutions. 
 
 The historian must say that this is a greater cause than 
 that of '76. The American Revolution was a natural and 
 regular progress and development from monarchical and 
 aristocratical to republican and democratic institutions : it 
 might have broken out ten years earlier, or ten years later, 
 with the same ultimate result. One pretext was about as 
 good as another for the outbreak ; and it was accident which 
 determined the men through whom, and the places where, it 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 259 
 
 should take place. But this war is to defeat a treasonable 
 conspirac}' (just now come to a head), which aims at the 
 destruction of republican and democratic ideas, not to re- 
 store us to the control of a constitutional monarch}', — that 
 we could endure tolerably well, — but to the authority of a 
 military, slaveholding, slavery-perpetuating despotism. 
 
 Failing, by the aid of President, Congress, and courts, 
 which they have had in almost uninterrupted succession for 
 the last twent}' 3'ears, to sway the government for this pur- 
 pose ; baffled at last, in 18G0, by the growth of the free 
 States, and the increasing intelligence and spirit of the 
 masses, native and foreign, — they have at last resolved to 
 break up the government, and reconstruct it, if possible, on 
 a despotic basis ; or, failing in that, to separate, and main- 
 tain a slaveholding confederacy of their own. It is sicken- 
 ing to remember the successive steps of this treason, and 
 of the imbecility in the late administration, by which it was 
 fostered, and made formidable and dangerous, up to the 
 point of absolute war. All descriptions of lying, from per- 
 jury to the most pett}' impostures and trickeries ; all kinds 
 of dishonest}', from open robbery and burglary to pett}' lar- 
 ceny and counterfeiting ; all kinds of meanness, from squat- 
 ting in congressional chairs which did not belong to them, 
 to writing anonymous letters, and slandering defenceless 
 women, — have been resorted to by the leaders and follow- 
 ers in this most wicked rebellion. 
 
 One good result of this rebellion is to unmask these 
 women-whipping "gentlemen," and show them for what 
 they are. How can a man claim a character for chivalry and 
 honor who lives salely by stealing? Slavery is one long- 
 continued theft. An emploj'er in New England who does 
 not pav his laborers is a bankrupt or a swindler, or both. 
 Yet the whole cotton, rice, sugar, and tobacco crop is raised, 
 and not a mill paid for it in wages. Force and fraud are the 
 foundation of the sj'stem, are the whole sj'stem, — force to 
 legalize the fraud. Not a man of the slaveholders who are 
 now engaged in breaking up the government ever ate an 
 
260 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 honest meal of victuals, or wore an honest pair of boots, or 
 rode a mile on the fruits of honestlj'-paiil labor. Of course, 
 there is difference in guilt. All slaveholders have not added 
 the wickedness of treason to the meanness of theft : man}^ 
 would gladly be rid of slaverj-, and have the privilege of 
 being honest, if their government and their social s^-stem 
 did not forbid them. But the whole framework of govern- 
 ment and society in the slave States is built and cemented 
 b}- fraud and injustice, and must, sooner or later, fall. 
 
 We have never held that it is our especial mission, how- 
 ever, to put it down, except as it is our duty to discourage all 
 sorts of evil, and promote the spread of civilization and free 
 institutions. In a legitimate wa}', and doing what we could 
 not fail to do, without being recreants' and dastards, we have 
 elected a President who is against the spread of barbarism ; 
 who prefers that it should be checked, rather than encour- 
 aged ; whose influence is to be given in favor of the rights 
 of man, and against the pretended rights of the slave-owner ; 
 in favor of honest dealing, and against theft, peculation, and 
 a wholesale s^'stem of swindling a people out of the wages 
 of their work. For this offence we are to have our govern- 
 ment broken to pieces ; for this crime we are to be punished 
 b}' dismemberment or subjugation. The slaveholders are not 
 onl}' the aggressors, but they have made war upon us for the 
 most outrageous purpose that the imagination can conceive, 
 — to make us as wicked, and as infamous in the world's e3-e 
 and in the pages of histor}', as themselves. 
 
 We can afford to lose fortresses and cities, and to suffer 
 a lifelong taxation, and groan forever under a national 
 debt, if we maintain our manhood and our free institutions. 
 Indeed, we deserve to suffer reverses and humiliations for 
 our i)ast sins. If we may expiate our national cruelties 
 towards the black race by the loss of Fort Sumter, we may 
 be grateful that Providence has dealt no worse with us. 
 But we must not lose every thing. Especiall}- we of New 
 England and IMassachusetts, and the States which sprung 
 from New England and Massachusetts, must remember our 
 history, and stand by our free constitutions. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 261 
 
 " We are a people yet, 
 Though all men else their nobler dreams forget, 
 Confused by brainless mobs and lawless powers : 
 Thank Him who placed us here, and roughly set 
 His Saxon in blown seas and storming showers, 
 "We have a voice with which to pay the debt 
 Of boundless love and reverence and regret 
 To those great men who fought, and kept it ours." 
 
 The poor, despised negro, who cannot even be admitted 
 into the militarj' service to fight for himself, finds sevent}'- 
 five thousand white men called out really to vindicate his 
 rights, and seventy-five thousand more will be called out if 
 need be. It matters not that the ostensible and real pur- 
 pose is to uphold government ; or that, possibly, the negro 
 will find himself no better off at the end of the war than he 
 is now : he is at the bottom of it, and for him it is in reality 
 waged. 
 
 [April 23.] 
 THE SPIRIT OP THE PEOPLE. 
 
 The city never looked so beautiful as it does to-day. 
 Ever}' street and nearl}^ every building has its flag. Wash- 
 ington, State, and Broad Streets are peculiarly rich in the 
 patriotic emblem. lunumei'able little flags arc seen in every 
 direction ; and scarcely a horse or a wagon, or an apple- 
 stand, or a lobster-barrow, is seen without its signal. And 
 this no more than indicates the enthusiasm for the countiy 
 and its cause, which is universal. If there are any dissent- 
 ers and growlers, the}' have sense enough to keep silent. 
 A few of them got caught, not reading propheticall}^ the 
 signs of the times,- like Mr. "VV. J. of Medford, who, having 
 compelled his workmen to take down a flag which the}' had 
 hoisted, was obliged by the people to hoist it again icith his 
 oion hands; but such instances are A'ery scarce, and com- 
 prise only the most inveterate malignants. There is a spirit 
 of toleration among the political friends of the administra- 
 tion, which matches well with the patriotic offers of men and 
 money from the other side. I dare say there are heart-burn- 
 
262 "WAREINGTON:" 
 
 ings enough in secret on both sides, but little, if any, outward 
 manifestations. Ever}' thing is swamped and submerged in 
 the tide of patriotic feeling. The common people — the 
 masses, the bone and sinew — are the first and foremost ; 
 and, if an}- distinction can be made among classes in a 
 country- where all men are workers, the merchants and capi- 
 talists deserve as high distinction as anybody else. The 
 politicians are probably behind the rest, it being harder for 
 them than for others to subordinate their party feelings. 
 The newspapers which appear da}' b}' da}' contain the proud- 
 est chapters ever written of the history of Massachusetts. 
 Now is the time for the historian and the annalist to gather 
 his materials for his account of the glorious part the Bay 
 State is taking in this second and most important war of 
 independence. Every two-line item is precious, and should 
 be gathered up and saved, as evidence that the old Puritan 
 and Revolutionary blood has not only not died out, but is as 
 fresh and vigorous and indomitable as ever. 
 
 It is a privilege to live in such times. The elevation of 
 feeling in the people is enough to compensate for all the 
 hardships and losses of the war, if it lasts as long as that of 
 the first Revolution. What if men do fail ! They won't 
 starve (there is no danger of that) ; and by and by good 
 times will come again: and, if hopes of leaving a large 
 property to children are dashed away, this is no more than 
 happens, to a considerable- degree, in ordinary times ; and 
 now this loss will be more than compensated by the satis- 
 faction of having borne some part in this glorious second 
 war for independence. " We live in deeds, not years," says 
 Festus. Ralph Farnham's hours on liinikcr Hill were worth 
 all the rest of his life, unless he was more fortunate in his 
 opportunity to do good than the majority of men. 
 
 I'his is the only chance wc have had to do any thing his- 
 torical and telling for the country ; and let us improve it. 
 We have all done our duty, as we understand it, to our 
 families, our neighbors, our party, civilization, education, 
 religion, humanity, the intemperate, the slave, the victim of 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 263 
 
 sin or of society's inequalities or injustice ; and perhaps, 
 in tlie serener judgment of ttie Almightj', ttiese services are 
 as worthy as vaiy other. But now seems a greater occasion, 
 because our very existence as a free people, the fate of civ- 
 ilization itself, for a timq at least, hangs upon the issue 
 of a campaign, longer or shorter, as it may be. "VVe have 
 bragged and blustered, and fired cannons and burned fire- 
 works for Bunker Hill, and Saratoga, and the Fourth of 
 Jul}'. The question now is, whether these places and days 
 shall be wiped out, and we go back, — not to British rule, not 
 to colonial and provincial times, but to the rule of tjTants 
 and oligarchs, who, instead of ruling us, ought to be subju- 
 gated at once and forever. If we succumb, or consent to 
 compromise, or yield again to them, we shall deserve the 
 contempt of the world, and shall have it ; for we shall only 
 postpone the contest, to be settled b}^ our children or grand- 
 children. We should not be content even with peace, unless 
 it is accompanied hy the establishment of a polic}^, which, to 
 saj^ the very least, shall discourage slaverj', and encourage 
 emancipation. "We must no longer submit to the equality 
 of slaver^' in our national councils. We must cage it, and 
 starve it out, if we do not kill it at once. Never let it rule 
 us again, or even presume to be on equal terms with liberty. 
 We shall have no freedom, no peace, no commerce, no 
 national life, which is exempt from panic and peril, so long 
 as slavery dominates over us. We have risen against it. 
 This is reall}' a rebellion of ours against slavery, rather than 
 a rebellion of slaveholders against freedom ; and it is evi- 
 dent enough that it is completely in our power, perhaps not 
 for extinction in a day or a year, but for speedj' and sure 
 extinction. 
 
 If ever there was a holy war, this is the one. Franklin 
 is reported to have said, that there never was a good war 
 or a bad peace. lie was mistaken. This is emphaticallv a 
 good war ; a war for libert}- against slaver}' ; for order 
 against anarch}' ; for civilization against barbarism ; for 
 national life against atrophy and national extinction. 
 
2G4 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 " Oh, a good cause stands firm, and will abide I 
 Legions of angels fight upon its side." 
 
 The nation is •whole. We have got to have a war for its 
 integrity ; but we shall not have IMexico, street-fights, con- 
 version of stocks into cash, and flight of capitalists, or the 
 man on horseback, as predicted bj- Caleb Gushing in his 
 Bangor letter, and by Shelley before him in his " Masque 
 of Anarchy : " — 
 
 " Last came Anarchy : he rode 
 On a white horse splashed with blood: 
 He was pale even to the lips, 
 Like Death in the Apocalj'pse ; 
 And he wore a kingly crown ; 
 In his hand a sceptre shone ; 
 On his brow this mark I saw, — 
 * I am God, and King, and Law I' 
 With a pace stately and fast 
 Over English land he passed, 
 Trampling to a mire of blood 
 The adoring multitude; 
 And a mighty troop around 
 With their trampling shook the ground, 
 Waving each a bloody sword 
 For the service of their Lord." 
 
 No, no, Mr. Caleb Cushing : we are not going to allow the 
 "man on horseback" to desolate New England, or any 
 other part of the lo3-al States.^ 
 
 ^ Everybody remembers the Hon. Caleb Cushing's famous Bangor 
 letter, written in January, 1800, in which the writer predicted, that if 
 the Republicans sliould elect a speaker of the National House of Repre- 
 sentatives, and if Connecticut and New Hampshire should, at the then 
 approaching elections, sustain the Republican policy, there would be 
 a general smash, — " social convulsions, hostile combats in the town 
 streets, jiredatory guerilla bands roving up and down the country, 
 shootings and lianginj^s," and, to wind up, " cruel war, — war at home, 
 and, in the perspective distance, a man on horseback, with a drawn 
 sword iu his hand, some Atlantic C;csar, or Cromwell, or Napoleon," 
 &c. We have always thdught, particularly since the present rebellion 
 broke out, that Mr. Cushing must have had a more intimate knowledge 
 of the purposes of the Southern traitors than he saw fit to divulge. 
 But let that pass: his prediction is much above the average of those 
 made by the professed wizards, astrologers, and spiritual mediums. — 
 Waiirlngtox, in New - York Tribune, 18G1. 
 
FEN-PORTRAITS. 265 
 
 [June 10.] 
 THE NEGRO READY TO FIGHT FOR FREEDOM. 
 
 Men talk as if the four million slaves of the South, con- 
 stituting the laboring population, the bone and sinew, the 
 working-men, the true wealth of that region, were worse 
 than cannibals. Where in histor}^ is there an instance of so 
 many people bearing so many protracted years of slavery so 
 quietly and patiently? " The most silent, the most eloquent 
 of men," saj's Carl3'le, " is the English laborer, falling down 
 upon the bosom of his old mother, and djing for want of 
 work and bread." But do not the "poor dumb mouths " of 
 four million patient bondmen plead as eloquentl}' for immu- 
 nity from abuse and scandal, as well as for justice and free- 
 dom? Is it not enough that we have, for 3'ears going on to 
 centuries, kept those men in chains, making the life of each 
 man, woman, and child, one long agonj^ from j'car to year, 
 but we must proceed to call them barbarians and savages, 
 and compare them with the wild Indian, or the Hottentot in 
 his native jungle? For shame! The horrors of a single 
 day's assault upon the white Northern-born inhabitants of 
 the South exceed those which have ever taken place in the 
 country. See the villains taking free colored men from the 
 " Star of the West," and selling them into eternal slavery ! 
 See them imprisoning scores of Maine lumbermen in Rich- 
 mond jails ! See them hanging and mobbing peaceable and 
 loj'al people of their own cities and towns because the}^ will 
 not be traitors like themselves ! 
 
 The white man says to the colored brother, " Stand aside ; 
 keep shady: if you appear in plain sight, j'ou'll frighten 
 somebody. Your skin is black ; your nose is flat ; your lips 
 are thick, your heels long. We are making excellent use of 
 a lot of old fog}' Whigs and old hunker Democrats just now, 
 putting down this rebellion hy the monc}- of the former, and 
 the stout right arms of the latter. These people never saw 
 you ; they don't know you ; they have a prejudice against 
 you : if you come out of the fence, you'll spoil every things 
 
26G " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 Keep quiet, and let the Democrats fight for you, and the Bell- 
 Everetts spend mone}- for j-ou, and b}- and hy you'll get all 
 j-ou want." Well, there Avas something in this, but not 
 much. I don't think the negro need to be discouraged at 
 any action the legislature has yet taken. By and by, Avhen 
 the fight becomes thick, this nonsense Avill be knocked out 
 of the Democrats and Bell-Everetts, and also out of the 
 Republicans, who yield to it rather than believe in it. After 
 the white man has fought till he has got tired of it, and 
 has made a peace of some sort or other, the negro will take 
 his turn. The slaveholder will be beaten and disgraced, 
 or victorious, and more insolent than ever : I am quite sure 
 the first thing is to happen. But, either wa}', then will come 
 the black man's opportunit}-. If his tyrant is humbled, he 
 will be an easy pre}' ; if triumphant, the hopeless bondman 
 will rise in his despair, and rush upon his oppressor. Then, 
 also, will come the time for leaders who shall mean some- 
 thing. Our generals and colonels evidently don't 3-et know 
 what they are fighting for : the}' are drifting along, the prey 
 of circumstance. 
 
 After the war is over, unless John Quincy Adams's advice 
 is followed by government, and slavery is declared abolished, 
 the John Brown men will make their appearance. The}' will 
 be readily recruited by energetic leaders, and speedily and 
 easily armed. We shall have guerilla leaders and followers 
 inspired by the si)irit of Cromwell, mixed, perhaps a little, 
 with that of the buccaneer. They will pray, however, 
 rather than prey. They Avill fight like the Ironsides at 
 Marston Moor. "We never charged, but we routed the 
 enemy," said Cromwell, describing this battle: "God made 
 them as stubble to our swords. We charged their regiments 
 of foot with our horse, and routed all we charged. Give 
 glory, all the glory, to God." Or at Dunbar, where, says one 
 annalist, " I heard Nol say in the words of the Psalmist, 
 ' Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered ; ' " and, when 
 the chase was suspended for a moment, the enemy sang the 
 117th Psalm at the foot of Doon Hill : — 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. -267 
 
 "Oh! give ye praise unto the Lord, 
 All nati-ons that be ; 
 Likewise ye people all, accord 
 His name to magnify." 
 
 This is only a new phase of war. Read the story of the 
 negroes fleeing from the town to the ships with their bundles 
 in hand. They were fleeing from the men who had made 
 immemorial war upon tlieir race, and seeking protection in 
 the rescuing force. What a tale of lifelong oppression does 
 this reveal to us ! No usage, no custom, no tradition, no 
 persecution for generations and centuries, no S3-stematic 
 imbrutement, no cordon or quarantine to keep out light and 
 air and liberty from this dense, thick, black, tangled slave- 
 desert, has been able to suppress, or apparently to make 
 dim, the divine instinct in the slave's soul, that he has a right 
 to be free, and that, as he has supported his white master, he 
 can equally well support himself. He has recognized a state 
 of war all along : subjugation and coercion have been familiar 
 ideas, if not words, to him. How eagerl}- he embraces the 
 first opportunit}' to emancipate himself! 
 
 [July 25.] 
 BULL RUN. 
 
 This war has been ver}" much simplified by the repulse at 
 Manassas. The "Countr}- Parson " has an essay on " Things 
 Slowly Learnt." I don't remember just now what these 
 particular things are ; but we are not obliged to resort to his 
 essay for examples. Let us take the law of gravitation. 
 Some men learn it' much sooner than others ; but I don't think 
 the aptest scholar among us mastered it under the age of ten. 
 My two-year-old takes lessons in it ever}- day, and, though 
 he improves very fast, has not got the hang of it completelj'. 
 Occasionally j^ou see a man who did not complete his educa- 
 tion in this branch until he broke his arm b}- a fall from an 
 apple-tree. Others took eas}' lessons in the shape of barked 
 shins and " black-and-blue spots." The United States 
 
268 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 barked its shins at Fort Sumter, and has now got an ugl}- fall 
 at Manassas. Its arm is in a sling, and will be for some 
 weeks. But it has at last mastered the law of gravitation. 
 This law does not tell us we must never climb apple-trees, or 
 proceed faster than a walk, but only that we must make proper 
 preparations for our exploits and expeditions, and use proper 
 means to carry them out. And the first thing to be done in 
 this war was to ascertain tlie character of the contest and of 
 our enemy, and our own resources. They used in Concord 
 to tell a storj' of " Johnnv Burr," who, having on hand a 
 foot-expedition to the town of Ashby (some thirt}' miles 
 distant), took a walk round the "five-mile square, just to 
 get his legs limbered." This seemed at one time very 
 ridiculous to me ; but it was certainly better for Johnn}' Burr 
 to give out, if he must give out, at the place where he began 
 his journey, — viz., on the village common, — rather than five 
 miles distant, on the road to Ashb}'. 
 
 All this is " writ" philosophical (so to speak) and illus- 
 trative. Let us now proceed to sc^y in plain terms, that, by 
 the Manassas defeat, we have learned that there is only one 
 plain and simple issue in this war ; and that is, Shall the 
 stockholders rule this country, or shall we rule it? It is not 
 even a question whether wc shall rule it jointly' ; whether we 
 shall make two, three, or a dozen confederacies, and so tr^- to 
 live in peace with each other ; or whether we shall patch up a 
 truce on exchange of prisoners and of places, and try to go on 
 peaceabl}'. All this nonsense has been cleared away by the 
 Manassas fight. We are in for it, as Paul Jones was when 
 he fought "The Serapis " with " The Good Man Richard ;" 
 and we must say as he did, when asked if he had surrendered, 
 — " Surrendered? We have just begun to fight ! " Slavery 
 must die in this contest, or freedom and free institutions 
 must die. Tlie two elements cannot live together, in union 
 or out of union, on the same continent. If there is a peace, 
 it is treacherous ; if there is a compromise, it is a trick to 
 gain time ; if thei'c is a division of territory, and two or 
 more governments, there will be endless civil wars, and 
 finally the great battle over again at last. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 269 
 
 Gen. Scott's answer to some one who spoke of defeat is 
 splendid, — "Who is defeated? The government is not 
 defeated: I am not defeated." True, noble old soldier; 
 and 3'ou and the government are not going to be defeated. 
 I hope we shall not pa}^ heed to frightened members of 
 Congress, or panic-struck volunteers, in the matter. 
 
 The secession organ in New York sa3-s that the exact 
 terms which the South would have dictated, if it had been 
 fortunate enough to get possession of the capital, would have 
 been these ; viz. , that ' ' no man holding the theories of Abe 
 Lincoln and his followers shall be permitted to hold office. 
 We cannot permit 3'ou and Seward and Chase to seize the 
 government created by slaveholders, and to wield it as an 
 instrument for degrading j'ourselves and your posterity by 
 impartial freedom with Sambo : and therefore, unless you 
 solemnly pledge yourselves to stand by the decision of the 
 Supreme Court, and, furthermore, incorporate that decision in 
 the Federal Constitution, and thus forever prohibit the exist- 
 ence of such a party as j'ours, we will turn you out of the 
 Union ; drive you into Canada ; at all events, get rid of 3'ou." 
 It continues by predicting that the dictation will finally over- 
 take us, and that some da}' "the Constitution will say in 
 distinct terms that this is a government of white men, and 
 no antislavery man sJiall be permitted to hold office under it." 
 As Carlyle said, when he read the account of the speaker of 
 the Arkansas senate descending from his seat, and stabbing 
 a member to the heart with his bowie-knife, "I like this, 
 it is so candid!" But the Manassas fight is more candid and 
 more impressive, and teaches in cannon-shot precisely the 
 same doctrine this secession whelp teaches with his pen. 
 
 [Sept. 5.] 
 
 Fremont's immortal proclamation. 
 The President's letter to Gen. Fremont makes much 
 comment. Popular opinion, as far as the proclamation is 
 concerned, is almost unanimously in favor of Fremont. 
 
270 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 Nothing that has occurred since Major Anderson returned 
 the fire directed against Fort Sumter, and so broke the dis- 
 graceful silence which the country had maintained for more 
 than four months while the rebellion was in active progress, 
 — nothing since that time had so stirred the pulses of all 
 true men, and made all loyal hearts leap with jo}- and gratu- 
 lation, as the proclamation of freedom to the slaves of the 
 Missouri rebels. 
 
 Fremont is dismissed.^ I do not believe that his dis- 
 missal meets with general approbation. I believe that he 
 has been pursued b}* the army -officers, by certain members of 
 the cabinet, and b}- the border-State men, in a manner wholly 
 unjustifiable, while his antislavev}' proclamation excited the 
 ire of all proslavery men throughout the country. The 
 Democratic part}' were, of course, prepared to l)elicve any 
 thing evil of him. These elements were enough to upset 
 him. That the abuses and corruptions of his administration 
 were greater than those which have characterized other 
 departments I do not believe. When the investigating 
 committees get through their work, they will make up a 
 record of swindling and extravagant expenditures ever}'- 
 where which will appall the countr}'. But it is of no use to 
 complain. Fremont and his friends must bide their time ; and 
 there is no danger of an}* man's getting injustice in the long- 
 
 1 The reasons for Gen. rr<?mont's disobeying the President's orders 
 as to the route across the mountains in pursuit of the rebel Gen. Jack- 
 son were, "When Gen. Fremont took the responsibility of disobeying 
 the President's orders as to the route by which he should oro.ss the 
 mountains in pursuit of Jackson, the President was displeased, as was 
 natural and proper; but, when Zagonyi explained tlie reasons, he was 
 satisfied on the main point. 'But,' said he to Zagonyi, 'Gen. Fremont 
 ought to have informed me of his plans, and of the reasons why he 
 could not obey my orders.' — 'Mr. President,' said Zagonyi, 'lam 
 instructed by Gen. Fremont to say that he could not spare any of his 
 officers, nor trust the telegraph; and, furthermore, to say that all the 
 intelligcnee of his movements which has been placed in the ciHice of 
 the Adjutant-General has reached the enemy soon afterwards.' " 
 Gov. Andrew tells this story. He had it from Mrs. Fr(5mont. I was 
 going to print it, but thought best not to do so. —Extract from Diary of 
 18(35. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 271 
 
 run. The judgment of the people is prett}' nearly infallible, 
 after a while. Fremont is the only man who has said the 
 words, " free men ; " and for this Fremont has been removed. 
 If Fremont has been guilty of mistakes, or even of crimes, 
 there are a million of men now living who will forgive him, 
 in consideration of his proclamation and his deed of manu- 
 mission, — documents which will be as immortal as the 
 Declaration of Independence. 
 
 [Nov. 14.] 
 
 LANDING AT BEAUFORT. — PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 
 
 I have discovered a coincidence ; viz., that the landing at 
 Beaufort was effected just exactly one 3'ear after South Caro- 
 lina broke out in rebellion against the government. Lincoln 
 was elected on the 6th of November, 18G0 ; and the very 
 next day, the 7th, Palmettodom began to make preparations 
 to secede. Now, on the 7th of November, 1861, two rebel 
 forts in Port Royal harbor are silenced and captured, a rebel 
 army is compelled to take to its heels, a rebel town or city 
 is depopulated, and the peculiar institution, in its density 
 and invincibility (so considered), is uprooted, turned topsy- 
 turvy and inside out, and demands total re-organization 
 in order to save Southern society itself from anarchy and 
 destruction. Verily, this has been an eventful and glorious 
 3'ear ; and I, who have been complaining and scolding at the 
 government for inactivity, should feel ashamed of m3self, 
 did I not think that complaint and uneasiness and criticism 
 on the part of the press and the people had been useful in 
 bringing the administration up to its present position. 
 Events, however, have done a thousand times more. Mr. 
 Cameron saicl, the other night, that he liked the phrase 
 "logic of events;" and press and people have hurried 
 events. 
 
 Now the people are happy. The war has actually begun. 
 Hurrah ! the ranks are closing ! Up to Nov. 7, we have 
 been on the defensive. The Army of the Potomac has 
 
272 " WAHRINGTON: " 
 
 been defending "Washington ; and, though it once moved 
 towards Richmond, it might plausibl}" maintain that Rich- 
 mond was the place to defend Washington. Rosecrans has 
 been defending the State of "West "Virginia, or Kanaw^ha, a 
 lo3"al branch of the Union. Maryland, Kentuck}-, and Mis- 
 souri have had to be protected against "Virginia, Tennessee, 
 Arkansas, and Texas ; and if the fleet had assailed Fort 
 Sumter, or tried to retake Pensacola nav3'-3*ard, its move- 
 ments would have been in conformity with the determination 
 announced in President Lincoln's inaugural, — that the gov- 
 ernment would repossess itself of its stolen forts. But 
 Beaufort has no stolen forts to repossess. Beaufort is new 
 ground. It is struck at because it is the most favorable 
 spot for offensive Southern operations. It is the heart of 
 Slavedom which is now assailed. Honor to the men who 
 planned and executed the movement ! "We begin the second 
 3-ear gloriousl}'. The tired feeling which has oppressed the 
 people for the long months since Bull Run is lifted off. 
 Ball's Bluff and Big Bethel and Belmont are atoned for and 
 forgotten, so far as they can be, in the general joy. The 
 bulletins and newspapers are cheerful ; and the eyes which 
 read them sparkle with gratulation : every letter is pictorial 
 and ornamental ; and the newsboys are full of music as they 
 cry out, " Victory, victory ! " 
 
 [Nov. 30.] 
 MASON AND SLIDELL AT FORT WARREN. 
 
 If anybody is to suffer hardship and indignity, it should be 
 such men as Slidell and Mason, two of the greatest scoundrels 
 in all Rebeldom. Mason was here some years ago, and, under 
 the patronage of Boston hunkers, gave us an exhibition of 
 plantation manners on Bunker Hill. People looked upon his 
 burly and laz}' person with awe. Here was a man who had 
 power over other men; who had snubbed his equals, kicked 
 his inferiors, and flogged his slaves, — a great man. He came 
 to remind us of our constitutional obligations ; to tell us 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 273 
 
 that we must let him snub, kick, and flog ad libitum., he and 
 his fellows of the F. F. V., he and his children and grand- 
 children, and so on to the remotest generations. He came 
 to tell us to mind our own business, and to be thankful that 
 his parental rule was not also extended over us ; that the 
 beneficent whip was not brandished on the New-England 
 hillsides (as it ought to be) over both blacks and whites. He 
 didn't say all this ; but he meant it. It spoke in his eye and 
 gesture, and in everj' movement of his burly, laz}' person. 
 People looked on with admiration. Boston conservatism 
 said, " It is good to be here. It reminds us of feudalism : 
 it is a touch of mediaevalism : it is a rebuke to the rampant 
 spirit of democracy and equal rights. All hail the great 
 Mason ! ' ' 
 
 Slidell is even a shabbier rogue than Mason. He is more 
 of the Flo3'd style. He plaj's a greater round of characters, 
 and is a thief and an election-swindler, as well as a ty- 
 rant and aristocrat (^cide the Houmas land-grant and the 
 Plaquemine frauds). But there is no reason to suppose that 
 Mason feels above Slidell. He ma}' not be, in practice, so 
 notorious a thief and swindler ; but he has the elements in 
 him. It is a matter of temperament and habit merely ; for 
 you. may be sure that the man who lives voluntarih' and 
 persistentl}', and without compunctions, on the unpaid earn- 
 ings of other men, has nothing in him which prevents him 
 from being a vulgar thief, should his necessities require him 
 to be. Mason, if not too laz}', may 3'et be compelled to 
 accept a situation as Peter Funk of a New-York auction- 
 shop in order to keep himself from starvation. Elizur 
 Wright suggests that he deserves a severer punishment than 
 Slidell, even hanging, on his grandfather's account. Con- 
 siderably shocked, I asked him what he meant by that ; and 
 he said, he meant that he deserved to be hanged for disgra- 
 cing the name of George Mason, the Virginia abolitionist of 
 the Revolutionary era. A good point. 
 
27-4 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 [May 20, 1802.] 
 COLORED RECRUITS AND CONDITIONAL PATRIOTISM. 
 
 Gov. Andrew's letter to the Secretary of War, giving the 
 government a hint that volunteering would be more speedy 
 and enthusiastic here in Massachusetts if the enemy's 
 " magazine," slavery, was not considered too sacred a thing 
 to be fired into, has also been the subject of a number X)f 
 sensation articles. The governor is accused of being a 
 "conditional" patriot. So it is " conditional patriotism " 
 to sa}- that the young men of Berkshire and Worcester and 
 Pl3'mouth would rather fight for freedom than for slavery, is 
 it? It is " conditional patriotism " to intimate to the Presi- 
 dent, that, if he will let Gen. Hunter's proclamation of 
 freedom stand, the people will rallv to the rescue of the 
 country with more alacrity than they will if he constantly 
 thwarts and baflles every etfort on the part of our generals 
 to strike down the arch-foe of the countrj-'s peace, is it? It 
 is "conditional patriotism" to hint that the fathers and 
 mothers and brothers and sisters of our brave Massachusetts 
 volunteers are quite as willing to see able-bodied, acclimated 
 black men enlisted to do the drudgery of the camp, and the 
 warlike work of the field, as to have their own sons and 
 brothers subjected to the unnecessary toil, and for the sake 
 of the stupidest of abstractions, or the vulgarest and wicked- 
 est of prejudices, made invalids or corpses in the divine 
 cause of human slavery, is it? It is " conditional patriot- 
 ism " to object to sending down Massachusetts white regi- 
 ments to be boiled, baked, and roasted under the sun of the 
 Yorktown Peninsula in guarding the premises of rebel 
 colonels, or on the coast of Florida in watching lest the fire 
 should catch the premises of a rebel guerilla chief absent 
 on duty, is it? " Conditional patriotism " to think that our 
 soldiers might be better employed in putting down slaver}' 
 than in bolstering it up, striking home at the heart of the 
 monster evil, rather tlian shielding and protecting it, is it? 
 "Conditional patriotism" to think that the Hampden and 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 275 
 
 Franklin and Middlesex bo3'S are as good, and as worthy of 
 protection against negro arms, as the barbarian herds of 
 Florida and Georgia, is it? For ever}^ man we send to the 
 South puts himself in peril from the bullets of negro soldier}''. 
 Negroes are good enough to kill the men Col. Horace C. Lee 
 has marched down to North Carolina ; but the men Col. Lee 
 is opposing and tr3'ing to subdue are — Heaven save the 
 mark ! — of too fine a qualit}- to be the mark for black 
 musketry. Nothing but a Massachusetts bullet, sped by a 
 white man, will do for them. 
 
 There is a very general feeling here, that if the govern- 
 ment would give up its theory of the possibilit}' of saving 
 slavery and the Union together, and accept the services of a 
 million able-bodied loyalists now waiting for an invitation 
 into our ranks, it would have no need of any more Northern 
 recruits. The Yankee is patriotic and enterprising ; but he 
 is not particularl}^ fond of doing the hard work of the world 
 when others are willing to do it under his guidance. And, 
 moreover, politically the}- are not so much' in love with 
 slavery as to think Mr. Sewai'd's theory of the war, as 
 developed in his letters to our foreign ministers, is the best 
 one possible to be devised. The}' do not mean wantonly to 
 violate constitutional guaranties, if there are any such ; but 
 inasmuch as slavery has outlawed itself, and rendered itself 
 liable to destruction at but little if any expense of constitu- 
 tional scruple, they do not see the sense of conducting the 
 war for the sole purpose of preserving it. 
 
 There is something inexpressibly ludicrous in the dilemmas 
 in which our government involves itself in its determination 
 to save slavery from destruction or suicide. A plain man 
 would suppose, that if an arch traitor or enemy of the country 
 should insist upon killing himself, we should not interfere, 
 except, perhaps, for the purpose of executing judgment upon 
 him in a public and exemplary way. Slavery, the arch 
 traitor and rebel, the only traitor and rebel, the universal 
 traitor and rebel, stands upon a precipice, just ready to throw 
 itself down ; and we are preparing to prevent the fatal plunge, 
 
276 "WABRINGTON:" 
 
 or, in case it is made, to break the fall, and nnrse the patient 
 into life and vigor again. " The condition of slavery in the 
 several States" (said Mr. Seward to Mr. Dayton in April, 
 18G1) " will remain just the same, whether the rebellion 
 succeed or fall. The rights of the States, and the condi- 
 tion of ever}- human being in them, will remain subject to 
 exactl}' the same laws, and forms of administration, whether 
 the revolution shall succeed, or whether it shall fail." That 
 is to say, " I will save slaver}', unless events and the people 
 are stronger than I am." 
 
 LJuly 10.] 
 
 GENERAL McCLELLAN. 
 
 I don't think this is a good time for recrimination and 
 abuse, or for careless words which seem like recrimination 
 and abuse. I am reminded that I have seemed to rejoice in 
 Gen. McClellan's mishap,^ or what I considered his mishap. 
 Nothing could be farther from my thought. I ask. When 
 have the antis'lavery men failed to do justice to ability and 
 success, without asking questions as to the politics of the 
 successful man? Did we ever ask what were Burnside's, or 
 Mitchell's, or Pope's, or Lyon's, or Foote's, or Dupont's, or 
 Davis's, or Farragut's politics? Did our knowledge of Ilal- 
 leck's hunkerism send us on his track, so long as he showed 
 energy, and achieved success? — except, indeed, when he illus- 
 trated his principles by his worse than foolish orders against 
 negroes, Avhich I imagine were one cause of his failure to 
 catch Beauregard, or to find out where he was gone. Have 
 we been factious or unreasonable over Fremont's disgrace, 
 brought upon him, not because he was actually defeated, but 
 because he failed to defeat and capture his flying foe ? The 
 fact is, we, the antislavery men, have been so devoted to our 
 purpose of putting through this war, that we have fanatically 
 worshipped success and ever}^ man Avho achieved it. Here 
 is the secret of our opposition to McClcUan : — 
 
 I Ilis repulse on the Peninsula, in one of his "changes of base." 
 Gen. McCcUan's numerous defeats and repulses were called "changes 
 of base." 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 277 
 
 ** Wliat boots it thy virtue, 
 What profits thy parts, 
 While one tiling thou lackest, — 
 The art of all arts?"i 
 
 Gen. McClellan has been in command of the Arm}- of the 
 Potomac nearly a j^ear. He has met the enemy at Williams- 
 burg, West Point, Fair Oaks, and in half a dozen places from 
 Mechanicsville to Turkey Landing. He has repulsed them 
 always, but has obtained not a single victor}' over them. 
 This is the naked truth, which no man can deny. It ma}- be 
 pleasant to patch up fig-leaves to cover it ; but it is not worth 
 while : it profits neither the general nor the country. I hope 
 he will win victories : indeed he must, or we are lost. But, if 
 Congress Avere to vote him a sword, it would be puzzled to 
 get beyond Rich Mountain in its inscriptions. It could hardly 
 say, as Napoleon said to Moreau on presenting him with a 
 pair of pistols, " I designed to have them engraved with the 
 names of all your victories ; but there was not room enough 
 to contain them." McClellan's military career reminds me 
 of the story of the dipping to which Charles Lamb w-as sub- 
 jected. Being a stutterer, Lamb got soused three times 
 before he could cry out articulately, "I was only to be dipped 
 once." This is the second time for the Potomac general : 
 the next and last must come before long. 
 
 [Aug. 10.] 
 
 IN WAR TIME. 
 
 The contest has developed itself far enough to satisfy 
 everybody, that, no. matter how long it continues, it must not 
 
 1 Gov. Andrew said yesterday (July 12), at dinner, that Count 
 Gurowski had written to hiiu that the French princes left the army 
 simply hecause of McClellan's total inefficiency. 
 
 Two or three days ago, I saw Col. E. W. Hincks of the Nineteenth at 
 Dr. ^Yillard's house in Oak Street. He told uie in so nzr.ny words, that 
 Heintzclman, Sumner, Hooker, Sedgwick, and all the lighting generals, 
 had a total lack of contideuce in ISIcClellan's military ability. He also 
 said that TMcClellan had not once been under fire since he had been on 
 the Peninsula. — From Diary of 18G2. 
 
278 ''WARRINGTON: " 
 
 stop till one side or the other is completel}' subjugated. A 
 peace on anj' other basis would be nothing more than a pause 
 between two battles, — simpl}' a cessation of the cannonade. 
 Better universal bankruptcy and repudiation, a tabula rasa, 
 a new date, — the ^^ear 1 of the country, instead of the year 
 87, — a new Declaration of Independence and Constitution, 
 and forgetfulness of the old ones and their authors, new flags, 
 new seals, ncAV emblems, new capitals, now forms of govern- 
 ment, new oaths and formulas, and an abolishment of all old 
 laws and traditions, rather than peace on any other terms 
 than subjugation of the rebels to our complete will, or subju- 
 gation of ourselves to their wills. Separation and recognition 
 would have been hazardous, as well as disgraceful, even if 
 we had consented to it before the hostilities commenced. But 
 then it was possible : now it is a clean impossibility. 
 
 A conviction of this fact it is which makes some of us so 
 impatient with Mr. Lincoln's talk about " saving the Union." 
 If he means the government, the people, the nation, very 
 well : but he means the union of States, — South Carolina 
 equal with Massachusetts, and Mississippi with Vermont, 
 and Virginia with New York ; rebels to be forgiven, and to 
 have equal rights with loyal men. Thank Heaven ! the rebel 
 leaders are too proud to come back to our hated companion- 
 ship ; and I hope and believe we are too manly to let them 
 enter our counsels as equals. This sort of a " Union " is a 
 dream, a delusion ; worse than that, a madness. And so all 
 question of what we shall do, or refrain from doing, — how 
 many or how few slaves we shall make free, or keep in 
 slavery, — in order to bring about this Union, seems more 
 childishness. The thing being impossible, questions of method 
 arc out of place. The President might as well issue proposals 
 for the best and cheapest plan of building a railway to Jupiter, 
 — to the infernal regions, rather, to make the comparison 
 more apt. To shriek out, " Save the old Union, the Union as 
 it was ! " is as wicked as it would be for a half-converted sin- 
 ner, instead of praying to be newlj' born into Christian life 
 and holiness, to cry out, "Give me back my old soul, my 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 279 
 
 soul as it was ! ' ' Are we not going to get something for all 
 this blood and mone}' we are spending? 
 
 Is Yankee toil and shrewdness, to sa}' nothing of Saxon 
 love of liberty, brought out of the German woods to Eng- 
 land, and thence sent forward to these shores in the veins of 
 Puritan and Revolutionar}' men, so deteriorated, that we are 
 willing to decimate our population, and load every corpo- 
 ration, nation, state, cit}', county, and town with incalculable 
 debt, in fighting a war with a beggarl}' bankrupt who has 
 nothing to lose, and finallj- leave off, not onlj^ without reliev- 
 ing ourselves of a nuisance, but even giving him clean clothes, 
 a respectable dwelling-house, and prestige and credit on 
 which he can live and flourish for years, to our worse dis- 
 credit and annoyance than ever? It is not possible. We 
 must tr}' conclusions with him. If slaver}^ has trained up a 
 race of men with superior and invincible genius for govern- 
 ment, wh}', let us acknowledge the fact, and quieth' submit 
 to the more lordly race. But it is not so. We have failed 
 because we have not yat emancipated numbers from slavery. 
 " The crack of the whip is over us still." Slavery inspires 
 one arm}', and beuumbs the other. If the French monarchy, 
 with its centuries of abuses, could not be abolished without 
 a convulsion which destroyed a king, a queen, a thi'one, a 
 bastille, and the lives of five millions of people, do we expect 
 a more hideous wrong, a more foul imposture, — American 
 slavery, with a rebellion founded on it, — to be put down 
 without the cashiering of an incompetent officer, the fracture 
 of a parchment, the rending of a judicial decision, or even a 
 shock to an old politician's prejudices? 
 
280 "WARRINGTON:' 
 
 *\ 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 JUBILEE DAYS. 
 
 [Sept. 25, 18G2.] 
 
 THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION. — ANTIETAM. 
 
 It is hardl}' necessary to sa}- that the President's procla- 
 mation is received in Massacliusetts with general congratnla- 
 tion and jo}'. Sixteen days ago, a convention of nearl}' a 
 thousand delegates, representing the party which includes 
 two-thirds of the people in its ranks, voted unanimously' that 
 slavery ought to be "exterminated." The constituents of 
 these men, 3-ou ma}- be sure, are in no degree behind them 
 in opinion. IMan}- of our people were getting a little impa- 
 tient with the President ; but most of them, inspired by Mr. 
 Sumner's hopeful confidence in his integrity', and openness 
 to the reception of ideas and facts, were disposed cheerfully 
 to wait till he should have fully made up his mind that the 
 measure was a wise and indispensable one. 
 
 AVhether the battle of Antietam (Phoebus, what a name !) 
 was a victory or not, we have had a victory in the Presi- 
 dent's edict of emancipation, about which there can be no 
 dispute. Brutum fulmen they call it. "Well, even if it is, 
 it follows the law of the war. Take that battle of "Wednes- 
 day, — cannonading from five o'clock in the morning until 
 seven o'clock at night, incessant discharges of musketry, 
 assault and repulse, tons of powder and ball and shell 
 blown away, and thousands of men killed and wcnindcd ; 
 and no result except next day u truce, a burial of the dead. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 281 
 
 and a retreat of the rebels into Virginia. Take tlie whole 
 campaign of the last three weeks, — an advance into Marj-- 
 land, havoc and the dogs of war let loose in peaceful and 
 prosperous neighborhoods, and an advance back again. 
 Na}-, go farther ; go back to the beginning of the great 
 Peninsular campaign, of which this is the end. We are just 
 where we were early in the spring. 
 
 Brutum fulmen indeed ! At least, a war of words, edicts, 
 and proclamations cost nothing in life and blood. It has 
 that advantage, at any rate, over this aimless warfare we 
 have been carrying on in the field, this " vain masquerade 
 of battle," as Mr. Sumner called it in his speech of last 
 year. I would not disparage nor depreciate the necessity 
 of force. No set of men has clamored so loudl}^ for great 
 armies as the abolitionists ; but the}' have asked that the 
 armies shall be re-enforced and accompanied by ideas which 
 cost nothing, only that conscience and common sense shall 
 have free play and scope in the American heart. " God is 
 alwa^-s on the side of the strong battalions ' ' is Napoleonism 
 and atheism. " The race is not to the swift, nor the battle 
 to the strong," is Scripture and truth. " Ever}' great and 
 commanding moment in the annals of the world," says 
 Emerson, "is the triumph of some enthusiasm." And he 
 cites the victories of the Arabs after Mahomet: "The 
 naked Derar horsed on an idea was found an overmatch for 
 a troop of Roman cavalry. The}- conquered Asia, and 
 Africa, and Spain, on barley. The caliph Omar's walking- 
 stick struck more terror into those who saw it than anothei 
 man's sword." The rebels are beneatli us in numbers and in 
 military preparations ; there can scarce!}' be a doubt of that • 
 but they fight for something. The surest way to overthrow 
 and destroy them would be by some crusading cry like 
 " Emancipation! " but we are so debauched by worship of 
 the filthy idol, slavery, that we cannot have that. Only as a 
 military and civil necessity can we have emancipation. The 
 sympathies of God, and all good men and nations, must be 
 enlisted on our side by this proclamation ; and, even although 
 
282 " WARRING TON : ' ' 
 
 we shall not be able to attain the divine enthusiasm which 
 would sweep every thing before it, we must now coniiuer. 
 We have made the cause of libert}' and civilization clearly 
 our own. ]S"o more slave-catching. No more repulses of 
 lo3'al, faithful black men. No more slaughter of escaping 
 Unionists, however dark-colored, in the streets of New 
 Orleans. No more submission to such awful and ineffaceable 
 ignominy as that we have suffered at Harper's FeiTy, where 
 the white Unionists were paroled, and the l)lack ones — inno- 
 cent men, non-combatants, wards and children of the United 
 States — were hurried off into slavery ; or as that we suffered 
 on the Potomac, where the black men who drove our ambu- 
 lances were seized by their rebel masters. 
 
 The i)rayer of twenty millions is answered. How many 
 slaves will be made free by the immortal document to which 
 Mr. Lincoln has placed his name, is uncertain ; nor is it of 
 the first importance. When we build a gunboat, we don't 
 know whether she will ever reach an enemy's fort ; Avhen we 
 make a cannon, we have no security that it will not be cap- 
 tured b}' the enemy before it has slain a rebel ; when we 
 send forward a regiment, we know not but it may be led to 
 slaughter at Ball's Bluff, or some other bluff, as the Eigh- 
 teenth was the other day, before it has fulfilled its mission of 
 war against treason. They say the rebels will laugh at the 
 proclamation. I think the}' will. They laugh at every thing 
 we do. They have learned so thoroughly to despise our 
 statesmanship and generalship, that the}' will in all probabil- 
 ity keep on deriding us. Well thej' may. This very habit 
 of derision may be their ruin. Of course, thev will not 
 return to their allegiance before Jan. 1 ; and it is too much 
 to lioi)o that we shall conquer, and re-establish our suprem- 
 acy over any great portion of the territory now dominated 
 b}' the Confedorac}'. We may roach IJichmond ; we may 
 redeem Kentucky and Tennessee : but it is hardly probable, 
 with the utmost efforts we can put forth. If we do not, on 
 the 1st of January the edict of emancipation must be 
 enforced. Three months' time will be sufficient to let the 
 
PEX-PORTRAITS. 283 
 
 negroes know what " Old Abe " said and meant on the 22d 
 instant ; and then they will either help themselves to free- 
 dom, to their rights under the law of the land, or the 
 rebel armies will melt away in the attempt to hold them 
 at home. We shall have emancipation or subjugation, and 
 probably both. No matter for results. It is sufficient to 
 know that nothing but good can follow from an act of justice 
 like this. 
 
 The battle of Antietam resembles the fight between 
 Heenan and Sayers more than anj^ other I can think of. 
 It was a series of knock-downs and bloody noses, with Lee 
 and McClellan and Fitz-John Porter, and fifteen thousand 
 reserves, looking on as umpires, until night threw up the 
 sponge, and declared it a drawn battle. It was sheer pound- 
 ing on both sides, with not a spark of generalship on either. 
 
 The losses in the Massachusetts regiments in the battle 
 are terrible. The Thirty-fifth Regiment, Col. Wilde, only a 
 month or five weeks from home, marched a hundred miles 
 just before the action, and then took a position which two 
 other regiments refused. The list of killed and wounded, 
 especially' in the Roxbury, Haverhill, and Newbur3'port com- 
 panies, is painfully long. How splendidl}' Massachusetts 
 has shone out during this whole war ! How magnificently her 
 regiments have been made up, officered, and equipped ! and 
 how gloriously the}' have behaved ! 
 
 [Sept. to Nov. 7.] 
 THE people's PARTT.^ JOEL PARKER AND OTHERS. 
 
 There is an element of the comic in this thing in its con- 
 nection with Massachusetts politics. Stimulated b}' ancient 
 hatred and prejudice against Charles Sumner, and by the 
 vain hope of obtaining some little Republican help in their 
 
 1 Tliis i>arty was composed of " hunker" proslavery men who were 
 opposed to the election of Charles Sumner. "The 'hunker' is a man 
 who hunks, or foists himself into a good position; probably a word of 
 Dutch origin." — C. C. Hazewell. 
 
284 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 opposition to him, half a dozen hunkers got together the 
 other da}', and said, "Let us prepare and load our biggest 
 petard, and give the senator a hoist." The work of loading 
 the gun was intrusted to Judge Joel Parker, who was known 
 to have a sufficiency of wadding, if his projectiles were not 
 of the most formidable kind. So the judge sat himself 
 down ; and said he to himself and his associates, perhaps 
 to his mathematical friend Benjamin Pierce, "Look here. 
 Given the problem to upset Charles Sumner, how shall we 
 do it?" And the brethren scratched their heads, and were 
 at a loss. At last some one who had read the newspapers 
 bethought him that he had seen it stated in " The Post" that 
 the Republican Convention had refused to indorse the Presi- 
 dent purposel}' using the Avord " government " instead. 
 " Ah, I have it ! " said he : " we must make support of the 
 President our platform, and denounce Mr. Sumner and his 
 friends as the President's enemies." No sooner said than 
 done. Thus was the platform agreed on. If anybody sug- 
 gested that Mr. Sumner was on intimate terms witli the 
 President, had been in the Senate the foremost supporter of 
 his measures and polic}', and had written urgent letters to 
 persuade his radical friends to hold on to the last in their 
 faith in " Old Abe," doubtless it was replied, that his radical 
 supporters would eventually pusli him into opposition. If 
 anybody intimated that the President might possibl}' become 
 himself the chief of emancipationists, doubtless the idea was 
 scouted by these political bats. The programme being agreed 
 on, the writing of the address was an easy matter ; and yet I 
 would not swear to that. 
 
 To one used to writing political addresses and resolutions 
 it wouhl have been eas}'. There is no great brilliancy of 
 imagination required to sa^', '••The country is in danger;" 
 and no great historical knowledge to bring a man to the con- 
 clusion that "a civil war has desolated the land for more 
 than sixteen months." "The world has never before seen" 
 is an expression which has been applied to armies and fleets 
 and battles so often during this war, that it would readily 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 2^6 
 
 occur, even to a dull man, in writing about the magnitude of 
 the rebellion. "Thundering at the gates of the capital" is 
 one of the most serviceable hack expressions ; but I aban- 
 doned it long ago to the most unskilful of newspaper men, 
 as trite and unworthy. The address was an eas}' matter 
 apparentl}' : j-ou had only to use a conglomeration of words 
 with especial care to conceal 30ur meaning ; to express opj)o- 
 sition to Sumner, and yQt say nothing about him ; and so 
 frame a document which should rope in the unsuspecting, and 
 humbug the innocent, while to those in the secret it should be 
 luminous with meaning. But, alas ! to Judge Joel Parker, a 
 controvers}', or something like one, a hit, a dig, an innuendo, 
 is as necessary as a breakfast to a hard-working laborer. 
 He doubtless looked over his job in its rough draught, and 
 said, " It will do : and 3'et it will not do ; for I have not hit 
 anyl)ody a dig. Go to : I will find a place, and I will insert 
 something, which, while it shall do no harm, shall jet satisfy 
 m}' combative sense." And doubtless he interlined the words, 
 " We loant no imiJotent 2')TOclamations noiu," and said to him- 
 self, "Now I have placed my imprimatur on it, and the world 
 will know it is Joel Parker's." And it went forth. "Go, 
 little book," said some poet while ushering his volume into 
 the world. "Go, little address," said the judge, — "go, 
 and astonish the universe. Go and gather together the 
 opponents of Mr. Sumner. Go and organize a hunker oppo- 
 sition to him. Go and make my name immortal as a politi- 
 cian, as it now is as a laAvyer, a professor, a reviewer, and a 
 reviser." 
 
 And while the judge was putting the finishing touch to it, 
 perhaps even interlining the words "impotent proclama- 
 tion," lo ! Abraham Lincoln was putting words together into 
 an " impotent proclamation " just such as Judge Parker hkd 
 solemnl}^ declared that he did not "want:" and, the verj'- 
 daj^ after the manifesto against "impotent proclamations" 
 appeared, out came the identical " impotent" one which the 
 judge had warned the people against ; and the judge, hav- 
 
286 "WARRINGTON : " 
 
 ing read the morning paper of the 22cl, and seen that the 
 period of gestation and delivery was safely passed, pro- 
 ceeded to headquarters, and issued a resolution congratula- 
 tory over that fact, and straightway went about his usual 
 avocations, leaving to Mr. Swan the duty of engineering the 
 nascent and crescent organization which was to be no organ- 
 ization, and parly which was to be no party, and to raise 
 mone}' for the printing of no-party documents, and for the 
 support of no-party newspapers like "The Boston Courier," 
 and for the support of no-part}* candidates for Congress and 
 the Senate and House, and general!}' for the advancement of 
 the interests of pure and unadulterated patriotism and no- 
 partyism, based on an unqualilled support of the President 
 against all radical attempts to make him issue " impotent 
 proclamations." And the next morning the judge opened 
 his morning paper, and looked to see further evidences of the 
 progress of the movement ; and, lo ! he beheld in startling big 
 letters (impotent) "Proclamation of Emancipation by Pres. 
 Lincoln." I draw the veil over the scene, but can onlj'hope 
 the judge had finished his coflfee and mullins before he came 
 to that dreadful heading. 
 
 Mr. Parker is understood to have retired to his professorial 
 chair. Tlie Law School was divided against itself. Prof. 
 Parsons, in half a column of stirring words, did more to elect 
 Sumner and Andrew, than Prof. Parker, b}' his hundred 
 columns of sophistry, to defeat them. The people of New 
 Jersey believe in Joel Parker,' for I see the}' have chosen 
 him governor ; and Joel evidently believes in himself: but 
 the people of Massachusetts don't believe in him, or the 
 ' ' others ' ' who followed him. Let him keep in the Law School, 
 to which he has returned. " Take him up tenderly, lift him 
 with care, fashioned so slenderly, young and so fair." Let 
 me inake a funeral procession for him as he proceeds toward 
 the classic shades : — 
 
 1 Another Joel Parker. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 287 
 
 "Others" 
 
 "Others" 
 
 " Others" 
 
 "Others" 
 
 Joel Parkek 
 
 "Others" 
 
 "Others" 
 
 "Others" 
 "Others." 
 "Oth- 
 ers" 
 "0 
 t 
 h 
 e 
 r 
 
 "Others" 
 
 But this is poor business, I am afraid, trying to create a 
 laugh under the ribs of death. 
 
 POLITICA.L HISTORY IN 18f)l AND 1862. 
 
 The Republican partj- is the only party in this State, or in 
 any of the States, which has ever acted on the sublime no- 
 party principles which are proclaimed in such platitudinous 
 language — as if they were new and profound truths — by 
 Judge Parker. If there is a State in the Union where the 
 Democratic party, since November, 1860, has failed to main- 
 tain its organization in all its strictness, I should like to 
 know which it is. At the very moment Parker was issuing 
 his address, there was in print in "The Boston Post " a 
 partisan call for a Democratic State Convention; and the 
 nearness of time of holding these two proslavery conven- 
 tions makes it certain that a " truck and dicker," like that 
 which used to characterize coalition and Know-Nothing par- 
 ties, must have been entered into by the high contracting 
 parties. Last year the Republicans nominated Judge Abbott, 
 a Democrat, for attorney-general, and Edward Dickinson, a 
 Bell-Everett, for lieuteiiant-governor ; thus giving to one- 
 third of the voters one-third of the ticket. They afso passed 
 a very moderate set of resolutions. Yet the organs of the 
 two parties which an attempt was thus made to conciliate 
 denounced the Republicans more bitterly than ever. Messrs. 
 
288 " WAUniXG TON: " 
 
 Abbott and Dickinson declined ; and the Republicans, finding 
 that all further efforts at conciliation were thrown awa}', 
 nominated men of their own part3' to fill the vacancies, and 
 went on to elect their own ticket. No-part3ism prevailed in 
 some of the senatorial and representative districts ; and some 
 of the Democrats acted in good f:iitli, and behaved them- 
 selves like gentlemen and patriots as the}' were ; but, as a 
 general thing, the}' stood on one side, taking all the}' could 
 get, and giving notliing in return. This is a brief yet true 
 history of our politics since the war broke out, up to the 
 meeting of the Republiciiu Convention on the lOtli of Septem- 
 ber, 18G2. 
 
 [Jan. 1, 18G3.] 
 <- JUBILEE DAT. 
 
 The war has thus far been conducted on the principles and 
 with the instruments furnished by the Democratic party, the 
 allies of Jeflferson Davis in many a well-fought political 
 battle-field. A large majorit}' of this part}', voters and 
 leaders, is to-day in actual rebellion against the government. 
 AVon't there be a black record against this party for the 
 future political annalist? 
 
 Take a " Tribune Almanac," or any other political man- 
 ual, and look at a list of the governing men — the senators, 
 representatives, and governors — of two years ago, and you 
 will find that a large majority, nearly all, of those Avhich were 
 marked down as Democrats, are now the sworn enemies of 
 the United States. To their allies of the Northern States 
 we have intrusted the "big job" of putting them down. 
 Congress, at the outset of the struggle, adopted the old 
 Cincinnati platform, or its equivalent, the Crittenden reso- 
 lutions ; and from that day to this, with occasional, and lat- 
 terly with frequent oscillations and divergences, the war has 
 been carried on according to the notions of Jeffs political 
 friends, and strictly on Democratic principles. Fremont and 
 Hunter tried to switch the government off the proslavcry 
 track, but did not succ-eed. Unmercifid disaster compelled 
 
PEN-POItTRAITS. 289 
 
 the removal of McClellan and Pope, and some other Demo- 
 cratic generals ; but Halleck, and Fitz-John Porter, and 
 Franklin, and a number of others, stick closer than brothers 
 to us 3'et. What a record of incompetency and half-hearted- 
 ness is furnished by the Washington courts of inquiry ! 
 Every officer whose testimon}' I have seen enlarges elo- 
 quently on the difficulties in his path and in the path of his 
 brother Fitz or Mac. The}* had dark nights invariably', as 
 well as bad roads, when required to move on the enemj'. 
 The inconstant moon refused to shine, and the cpnstant mud 
 refused to dry up. 
 
 Is this day to signalize the complete and final eman- 
 cipation of "Honest Abe" from Democratic principles 
 and men? If it is, we are safe enough; and January, 
 1864, will see a recovered nationalit}', a "noble and puis- 
 sant nation." Is it safe to say more? "Interpret for me' 
 the libretto," said Mr. Choate to his daughter at the opera, 
 "lest I dilate with the wrong emotion." Is it safe to 
 shout over this day of jubilee, or even to go to the concert 
 at Music Hall this afternoon, and hear the beautiful music 
 which Zerrahn and Dresel have promised? I think it is. I 
 don't see how this Declaration of Independence can fail 
 to bring forth good fruit. That old Declaration of Jul^- 4, 
 1776, remained a ridiculous hrutmn fulmen for seven years. 
 No doubt many a mad wag among the Tories of that day 
 had his jeer at it, comparing it to the Pope's bull against the 
 comet. The humorous papers and the humorous men of 
 New York and Boston no doubt had their laughs over it. 
 " Free and independent States, ai-e you? Are _you hot get- 
 ting out of j-our jurisdiction? Hasn't England something 
 to sa}' about that? Are 3'ou sure you have material force 
 enough to maintain jour Declaration? Poh, poh ! Brutum 
 fulmen^ hrutum fulmen! Pope's bull, Pope's bull! Ha, ha, 
 ha! " said the mad wags. But Yorktown and 1783 came at 
 last ; and it turned out that the Declaration was good from 
 the first day. 
 
 Jeff Davis knows better than the funny newspapers. He 
 
290 "WARniXGTOy: " 
 
 doesn't sneer at the Proclamation : he knows that words 
 are things. Wh}-, what is the Rebel Confederacy but a 
 parchment? Repeal the acts of secession, and it is gone in 
 a moment. Subdue the Confederacy by force of arms, and 
 j-ou onl}' abolish rebel parchment, and substitute the old 
 parchment now in the archives at "Washington. The Decla- 
 ration of Independence is a parchment just as worthless as 
 " Old Abe's " Proclamation unless it is made vital b}' a pop- 
 ular purpose and determination ; and the Proclamation may 
 be made as vital and animating as the Declaration, if the 
 President and the people say the word. "The flighty purpose 
 never is o'ertook unless the deed go with it," says Shak- 
 speare. Let " Old Abe " remember that. JeflT Davis remem- 
 bers it in connection with his parchment constitution and all 
 his other parchments. There was a " battle of the books " 
 'once, according to Swift : now let us see which will get the 
 best of the battle of the parchments. 
 
 The Jubilee Concert on the 1st was a grand success. I 
 see "The Courier" has been pitching into it. What will 
 become of the poor devils who S3'mpathize with that news- 
 paper? Literature, religion, and science, and sculpture, and 
 painting, and music, are now all against tliem. Cannot 
 somebody idealize the slave-driver in marble, and set it up 
 in one of their club-rooms for their special gratification, or 
 make a musical composition which shall alarm their ears 
 with the shrieks of poor women for stolen babies? Let 
 something be done at once. 
 
 [April 10.] 
 SWORD-PRESENTATIOX TO GEN. McCLELLAN. 
 
 What does Mac want of another sword ? Has he hacked 
 his old one on some rock b}' the roadside to make it appear 
 as if it had been used? The sword bears an inscription: 
 "Pro rege snepe, pro patria semper." George Lunt, who 
 made the presentation-speech, undertook to translate this 
 " for the benefit of the country members." Waving his hand 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 291 
 
 solemal}", and swelling his voice to a parenthetic chord, said 
 he, " For the administration when it behaves itself ; for the 
 country alwaj-s." The general, who is supposed to under- 
 stand Latin, and who is not such a fool as to be ignorant of 
 the animus of the whole proceeding, on his own part as well 
 as on the part of the flunkies and Tories, — the general, I 
 understand, rather resented this imputation upon his clas- 
 sical knowledge and his common sense, and intimated in his 
 reply, that he knew, as well as Lunt, what the words meant in 
 this case. I have these particulars from 3'our correspondent 
 Mr. Frye, who was present, but was too greatly overcome 
 with his emotions to send you a fnll account to-day. How 
 ¥v\Q happened to get into the parlor is more than I can 
 tell. But he informs me that two gentlemen from Hampden 
 County were with him ; and, as nearly as I can ascertain, 
 these three are the only pei'sons, known or suspected of being 
 in an}' wa}- connected with " The Republican," who have 
 been allowed to see the general. Fr3e informs me that one 
 of his companions casuallj^ remarked to one of the chief 
 flunkies, that he "had had a very good opportunit}^ to see 
 Gen. McClellan ; " and flunky replied, "Yes; but there 
 ain't many abolitionists that have had a chance." Right, 
 O flunky ! right ! And I rejoice to say that there ain't many 
 "abolitionists" who have wanted a chance. But enough 
 of this thing, which will soon be over. Sheetings and 
 shirtings will soon again absorb the attention and energies 
 of Beacon and Mount -Vernon Streets. Only twenty-four 
 hours more remain for bab3--kissing and pitcher-presenting, 
 unless the visit is protracted to allow North and Richmond 
 Streets to send up their babies (with their mugs) likewise. 
 And why not? North and Richmond Streets have more 
 votes, and, for that matter, more brains, than Beacon and 
 Mount -Vernon Streets. Ah, well ! good-by, general. Luck- 
 ily, you don't know enough to appreciate and laugh at the 
 sublime foil}' of the rich and ignorant classes of the Tri- 
 mountain Cit}'. 
 
292 ''WARRINGTON :'• 
 
 [May 21.] 
 COLORED TROOPS. — HOW A NEGRO REGIMENT LOOKS. 
 
 The scene at Readville camp last Monday was an exhila- 
 rating one for those Avho believe this rebellion can be put 
 down by the exercise of proper methods, and who are im- 
 patient to see such methods resorted to as soon and as fast 
 as possible. Here was a regiment of a thousand men, every 
 one of them with an Enfield musket (or Springfield, no 
 matter which), and apparently with rather an uncommon 
 amount of muscle and will to devote to the using of it. 
 They marched well ; the}' wheeled well ; the}- stood well ; 
 the}^ handled their guns well ; and there was about their 
 whole array an air of completeness and order and morale 
 such as I liave not seen surpassed in any white regiment. I 
 believe I am not biassed by negrophilism, or coerced by the 
 dark shadow of that bad time which the copperhead thinks 
 is coming, when white men shall have no rights which the 
 black man is bound to respect ; but, as I am unmililary, I 
 would not give an opinion of this regiment, if I did not find 
 it confirmed by everybody who has seen it. There was a 
 good sprinkling of abolitionists among the bystanders ; but 
 among those who looked on with approbation, if not admira- 
 tion, there must have been man}', who, within the last two 
 years, have declared that the}' would not fight for or with 
 the negro, and would not have the negro fight for them, and 
 did not believe he could fight, or would ; and that, if the 
 rebellion couldn't be put down by white soldiers, it ought 
 not to be put down at all. Monday they were round grunt- 
 ing out, " Who says these niggers won't fight? " leaving one 
 to suppose that they were original friends of the policy of 
 encouraging and employing them. I suppose we ought to 
 have charity for such people, — people who have " conquered 
 their prejudices." But the trouble is, they had no business 
 to entertain such prejudices. Nobody did entertain them 
 who was capable intellectually of making up a judgment of 
 his own. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 293 
 
 The presentation proceedings at Readville were somewhat 
 tedious, there .being too many flags by one. The Putnam 
 flag, as it may be called, with its illuminated cross and " In 
 hoc signo vinces," was very beautiful, and ought to be very 
 precious. The Governor said that he was identified with the 
 Fift3'-fourth, and his administration would stand or fall with 
 its success or failure. He has taken great pains with its 
 organization; and the "Brahmin caste," which Dr. Holmes 
 tells us about in " Elsie Venner," is supposed to be more 
 largel}' represented in its organization than even in the other 
 fifty-three, though it is not lacking anywhere. I suspect it 
 is no better blood or fighting material than that which exists 
 in the farmers', carpenters', and shoemakers' sons of Mas- 
 sachusetts. Education, however, goes a good ways ; and 
 though Harvard College breeds a fearful number of snobs, 
 3'et a knowledge of science and history does inevitablj^, 
 except in the hereditar}" fool, lift a man above prejudices of 
 color and race, and makes him more and more a genuine 
 democrat. Your true literar}^ man, till he grows seed}', is 
 likely to be democratic in his tastes and feelings. Col. 
 Shaw of the Fifty-fourth is a grandson of Robert G. Shaw, 
 son of Francis G. Shaw of Staten Island, and brother-in-law 
 of George "William Curtis. He is slight, but compact in 
 figure, with light hair and mustache, and without a beard. 
 He looks and speaks like a good soldier. The lieutenant- 
 colonel and major are Hallowells of Philadelphia, strong anti- 
 slaver}' men. And, indeed, the GoA'ernor would not be justi- 
 fied in appointing to command in this regiment men who have 
 not a firm and implicit faith in the negro's common human 
 nature, and a determination to see that he has a fair chance. 
 
 The death of Lieut. -Col. Rodman of New Bedford, at Port 
 Hudson, was a painful event to many who knew him as a 
 member of the legislature of 1862. He was a fine, stalwart 
 figure of a man, occupied a respectable position as a legislat- 
 or, and was generally popular. I believe he was a graduate 
 of Harvard College. We evidently have not 5'et got full 
 accounts of the slaughter of our troops at Port Hudson. 
 
294 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 One account of the killed and wounded in New-England 
 regiments, which professed to be complete, had the names of 
 onl}' four killed in the Fort^'-ninth ; but we know, from the 
 list printed in "The Republican," that there were seven- 
 teen. "The New-York World " has a curious story about 
 a Federal officer, who said the loss was three hundred killed 
 and fifteen hundred wounded. " But how about tlie colored 
 regiments? they lost five or six hundred." — "Oh, d — n 
 the niggers ! we don't count them any thing." Government 
 don't count them any thing. They were killed without quar- 
 ter, and even crucified in plain sight of our troops, accord- 
 ing to "The Boston Journal's" account; and not a rebel 
 has been made to suffer for it. At Millikcn's Bend, as we 
 read, the colored men fought well ; but their white officers 
 skulked. Who can blame them for skulking? The}' knew 
 of the slaughter at Port Hudson, and of the fate which 
 awaited them under similar circumstances ; they knew, too, 
 that their murder would be unavenged. Is it not monstrous 
 for this government to send such men as Col. Shaw ami 
 Col. Ilallowell and their brave soldiers into positions where 
 certain death awaits them, if captured? 
 
 [July 9.] 
 
 BA.TTLE OF GETTYSBURG. 
 
 I propose to go off in a burst of poetical quotation ; and 
 hpre you have it : — 
 
 " Oh ! who that shared them ever shall forget 
 
 The emotions of the spirit-rousing time, 
 
 When, breathless in the mart, the couriers met, 
 
 Early and late, at evening and at prime; 
 
 When the loud cannon and the merry chime 
 
 Hailed news on news, as field on field was won ; 
 
 "NVlieu Hope, long doubtful, soared at length sublime, 
 
 And our glad eyes, awake as day begun, 
 Watched Joy's broad banner rise to meet the rising Gun? 
 
 Ohl these were hours when thrilling joy repaid 
 A long, long course of darkness, doubts, and fears : 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 295 
 
 The heartsick f alntness of the hope delayed ; 
 The waste, the woe, the bloodshed, and the tears 
 That tracked with terror two long-rolling years, — 
 All was forgot in that blithe jubilee. 
 Her downcast eye even pale Affliction rears, 
 To sigh a thankful prayer, amid the glee 
 That hailed the despot's fall, and peace and liberty." 
 
 This is the only thing I can call to mind worthy of the 
 occasion. Prose is not worthy of it, unless something like 
 De Quincey's piece, entitled "Going down with Victory," 
 which is too long to quote, but which is grander than most 
 poetr}-. Those English dragoons at the battle of Talavera 
 who "rode their horses into the mists of death, and laid 
 down their lives for thee, O mother England ! as willingly, 
 poured out their noble blood as cheerfull}', as ever, after 
 a long da3''s sport, when infants, they had rested their 
 wearied heads upon their mothers' lyiees, or had sunk to 
 sleep in her arms," — those dragoons were not more worthj'' 
 of immortalit}' than some of the Massachusetts regiments 
 which fought at Gett3-sburg. Take the Nineteenth, or the 
 Twentieth, which lost, in killed, wounded, and missing, a 
 little more than one-half its number. Take the Second, 
 which was in Gen. Meade's old division, and has been pro- 
 nounced by him the finest regiment in the whole army : its 
 loss is like that of the Twentieth, and perhaps larger in 
 proportion to its numbers. The country ow^es an apology to 
 the Potomac Arm}' ; for one half of the people said it would 
 do no effective service unless its old Copperhead chieftain ^ 
 was restored, and large numbers of the other half believed 
 or feared the libel was a fact. Meade has shown them the 
 enemj-'s backs ;• and they must be so enamoured of the sight, 
 that they will not sigh for an}^ of their old commanders, 
 under whose lead they were so often compelled to " turn 
 tail," to use the President's graceful language. AVhat mat- 
 ters it if the language isn't graceful? 
 
 Mr. Lincoln might well feel jubilant enough to dispense 
 
 1 McClellan. 
 
296 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 with elegances ; and if the English reviewers, in their 
 anger over this news, laugh at the President's speech, be 
 ma}' reply (he replies to every thing nowadays) in the lan- 
 guage of Elijah Pogram to Martin Chuzzlcwit, "We are a 
 spry people, sir, and have no time to acquire forms." 
 Didn't they "turn tail"? Then why not sa}' so? It is 
 pleasant to see that the President remembers what the rebels 
 waged this war for, — to overthrow the Declaration of 
 Independence. It is this attempt to overthrow, nullify, 
 destro}', the great declaration of human equality, which has 
 been baffled at Gett^-sburg and Vicksburg ; and the Presi- 
 dent remembers with gratitude our escape from the great 
 re-action. Bull}' for him ! The generality glitters yet, and 
 is living as well as glittering. American democracy, born 
 and cradled in Boston, has not spread all over the Central 
 and "Western States to be strangled at this late hour by 
 the spawn of tyranny hatched in the Carolinas. Whatever 
 now comes of this war, that experiment has been tried, and 
 failed. The slaveholding power, aided as it has been by 
 party-spirit in the free States, has proved itself to be infe- 
 rior to the free power. Its courage is matched, and its 
 resources are overpowered. They had the hours and days 
 and months ; but the years are against them. They had the 
 battles, but we the campaigns. Something else must be 
 tried. I believe the big battles of this war are nearly over ; 
 for, after Gettysburg and Vicksburg, it will be true of the 
 rebel leaders as it was of their progenitors in Milton's 
 
 epic, — 
 
 " Such another field 
 They dreaded worse than hell, so much the fear 
 Of thunder and the swonl of Michael 
 Wrought still within them." 
 
 [Julyr.0.] 
 THE FIFTY-FOURTH AT FORT WAGNER. 
 
 The news from Charleston has a thrilling interest for 
 many here in Massachusetts who have been watching the 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 297 
 
 career of the first of the Massachusetts black regiments, 
 and of their brave colonel. There is not a shadow of doubt, 
 I understand, of the death of Col. Shaw. It seems but a 
 day or two since his slight and plucky figure was seen in our 
 streets at the head of his men. He was cvidenti}", from his 
 looks, a man of character; and, indeed, it took a man of 
 character at that time to be a suitable commander of a black 
 regiment. The Fifty-fourth have followed up the victory 
 which their compeers at Port Hudson won. Men might 
 possibl}' cavil at Montgomery's raids ; but fame won as 
 theirs has been, on the perilous edge of battle, is not to be 
 disputed about. Col. Higginson of the First South Carolina, 
 who is at home, suffering from a slight wound, and looking 
 rather thin and worn, says that there is no controversy on the 
 coast now about the colored soldier's position, and apparently 
 no feeling against him on the part of any white regiment or 
 white soldier. He has fought his way into recognition. 
 There was never any excuse for tlie scepticism as to the 
 negro's capacity for fighting. The slaveholder never showed 
 it, and never had it. 
 
 Years ago, Henry A. Wise said in a letter to South-side 
 Adams, ^ " With white officers, I would fight a regiment of 
 them against any foreign troops which could land on our 
 shores. They are faithful, and they are brave, and more 
 disinterested than the white man. They are joyous in tem- 
 perament, and patient, as their nerves are coarse and 
 strong." And he followed up this with the following elabo- 
 rate eulogy on the race as a whole : ' ' The descendants of 
 Africa now here in bondage in the United States are, en 
 masse, as a whole Avealth of people, in bodily comfort, 
 morality, enlightenment, Christianity, and actual personal 
 freedom, worth more than their mother-country entire, not 
 excepting the Europeans there combined with the natives." 
 What Africa is worth per foot or acre, it would be difficult to 
 saj' ; but Wise's estimate of the value of the negro race is a 
 
 1 llev. Neheiuiah Adams. 
 
298 "WAJiJtlNGTOy:" 
 
 high one. If he had said worth more than the whole Cop- 
 perhead party, he would have greatly' under-estimated their 
 worth. Read this extract from Wise, a proslavery Demo- 
 crat, in connection witLi the speech of ]\Iontgomory Blair at 
 Concord, N.H., and sa}- if "Wise is not the more decent and 
 liberal man of the two. The idea of expatriating men worth 
 more than the whole continent of Africa, population included, 
 is worthy only of a lunatic. 
 
 The theory- of a natural antagonism and insuperable preju- 
 dice on the part of the white man against the black is a pure 
 fiction. Ignorant men are always full of prejudices and 
 antagonisms ; and color has nothing to do with it. Men 
 who are themselves habituall}- kicked and snubbed like to 
 have the right and the opportunity to kick and snub some- 
 body below them. In the South, an intelligent negro looks 
 with mental and moral disgust upon the half-witted " crack- 
 er" who revenges himself by taking advantage of the first 
 chance he gets to buy his colored superior. Such events 
 as Port Hudson and Morris Island have lately witnessed 
 have abolished a great deal of artificial prejudice between the 
 two classes of soldiers. White men and black men, wounded 
 in the late fearful assault on Fort AVagner, were seen helping 
 each other away from the field, and attending upon each 
 other in the hospital afterwards. 
 
 [Dec. 10.] 
 
 JOHN M. FORBES AND THE COMMITTEE ON THE ENLISTMENT 
 OF COLORED TROOPS. 
 
 It is curious to see a meeting of the Committee on the 
 Enlistment of Colored Troops. John M. Forbes is its chair- 
 man, — a man of headlong and driving energv, long time an 
 abolitionist, and, more than any other man, the confidential 
 adviser and helper of Gov. Andrew. lie attends to ever3' 
 thing, — writes letters, raises money (liberally contributing 
 himself) , sends messages to Washington to direct and or- 
 ganize congressional opinion, makes or persuades editors to 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 299 
 
 write leading articles to enforce bis views, hunts up mem- 
 bers of Congress in vacation-time, dines them at the club, 
 and sends them back full of practical suggestions, which 
 re-appear in bills and resolves the month after. Amos A. 
 Lawrence is alwa}' s there, — not originally an abolitionist, but 
 a conservative, — fearful that something will be done con- 
 trary to law and constitution ; trying to train the cannon-ball 
 of war so that it will " come round the cornfield and the hill 
 of vines, honoring the holy bounds of property" (see Cole- 
 ridge's " Wallenstein," and pardon me if I have perverted 
 the exquisite illustration), but as zealous and liberal as 
 any other man in the great work of raising men, without 
 distinction of color, to fight the foes of American nationalit}'. 
 There is F. W. Bird, coming in from his paper-mill at Wal- 
 pole ; and Judge Russell, ubiquitous, who, they saj^, holds 
 courts, and gives able charges : but I can hardly believe it ; 
 for he does every thing else, and knows every thing going on 
 in the cit}'. Co-operating with these are Edward Atkinson 
 (one of the ablest men in the State, and particularlj* wise 
 on the whole subject of cotton and emancipation and free 
 labor), S. G. "Ward the banker, Alpheus Hardy, Dr. Beck 
 of Cambridge, Henry B. Rogers, George William Bond, 
 George L. Stearns, and so on. 
 
 [Dec. 31.] 
 
 TUIRD YEAR OF THE REBELLION. 
 
 "Well, so ends the third 3'ear of the Rebellion, if we reckon, 
 without precise reference to days, from the beginning. This 
 puts one in mind of a mot of one of our Supreme-Court 
 judges. On the da}- when we heard of the fall of Sumter 
 before Gillmore's batteries, some one told Judge H. of it, 
 and added the remark, that " this is the beginning of the 
 end." — "I think," said the judge, "it is the end of the 
 beginning." The actual beginning, I suppose, was the se- 
 cession of South Carolina ; perhaps the resignation of the 
 first United-States officer who threw up his office in Charles- 
 
300 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 ton ; and this, I believe, was the day after the telegraph 
 announced Lincoln's election. 
 
 If South Carolina gets into Congress again, she must be 
 treated as a free State, and compelled, by the main strength 
 of the country, to obey its laws as other States are com- 
 pelled to obey its laws. But, as a measure of practical 
 safety, neither South Carolina nor any other rebel State 
 ought to be allowed a representative in either house of 
 Congress until the practical extinguishment of slavery has 
 followed its legal and ollicial death. Theorizing aside, this 
 is the only path to safety ; for slaveholders are such a per- 
 fidious race by nature and habit, that they cannot be trusted. 
 We must raze the institution of slaverj' to its foundations. 
 As long as the fire is smouldering and smoking, the neigh- 
 boring buildings are in danger; and, as long as the chimneys 
 are left standing, our children cannot play in the neighbor- 
 hood. The nuisance is not wholly abated nntil the rubbish 
 is removed, and a new structure erected ; for even an unoc- 
 cupied lot in an eligible place is an offence to our utilitarian 
 ideas, if to no others. 
 
 It Avill be demonstrated, before this national struggle is 
 over, that New England is the home of order and lata, as 
 well as of liberty. Hers is the brain of the nation ; and the 
 nation cannot do without it. The thieving digits of Missis- 
 sippi and the hand of South Carolina, useful only to grasp 
 and Avicld tlie slave-whip, can be spared, at least until they 
 learn more useful and honest vocations. Palmer makes patent 
 legs, and, for aught I know, can contrive a patent digester 
 and bellj' for the country, to supply the absence of Ohio and 
 Indiana ; but New-England intellect cannot be spared. 
 
 Far distant be the day when Massachusetts shall be found 
 to have lost her voice on such an occasion as this ; when the 
 gazers, as they mournfully turn away their eyes from her, 
 shall say, — 
 
 " The watchman's trumpet-voice is still, 
 The warder silent on the hill." 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 301 
 
 [Xov. 10.] 
 PRES. LINCOLN RE-ELECTED. 
 
 Now that Pres. Lincoln's re-election has finally' squelched 
 out the Democratic part}", there is great reason to hope that 
 a very large number of the men who have voted with it will 
 cease to wage a factious opposition to the war and the prog- 
 ress of events, and join with the Republicans in a patriotic 
 effort to restore the Union, without, at the same time, attempt- 
 ing to save slavery from destruction. Many of the leaders 
 have loved and defended slaver}' merely because the alliance 
 with the slaveholders has been profitable to them ; but it 
 does seem as if the most obstinate doughface must at last 
 see that there is nothing more to be made by cringing and 
 subservienc}^, and that it is more profitable, as well as more 
 comfortable, to stand upright. The}' may expose the holes in 
 their clotlies, worn by the abrasion of their knees with the 
 muddy pavement ; but they can get a new suit on tick, if 
 necessary, at the first Republican tailors, and their appear- 
 ance on the platform will be welcomed with "tremendous 
 cheers." "Winthrop runs home on Tuesday night, scrapes 
 himself with a potsherd for twenty-four hours to get otf all 
 traces of contact with the party which went into the fight 
 declaring the war " a failure," and then goes to the Sailors' 
 Fair and shouts over the successes of Farragut, Worden, and 
 Dupont ; and the good-natured people shout with and for him. 
 I wonder at the Board of Trade, which refused to have 
 Halfmast Fay for one of its committee of arrangements to 
 receive Capt. Winslow. Some mistake there, which will be 
 rectified before long. Let him express a willingness to be 
 loyal, and there will be plenty of Republicans who will joy- 
 fully send him a letter, asking him to give his views on the 
 political questions of the day. No trouble about the leaders. 
 As for the people, emancipated from their leaders, they will 
 do well enough. Luckily the people, the great mass of the 
 people, are sound. 
 
 The Baltimore platform calls for the extirpation of slavery, 
 
302 "WA RRIXG T02f: " 
 
 and the President's nUimatinn is its abandonment. Common 
 sense will have to fight a good while, and with a good deal of 
 vigor, against gradualism, Louisiana theories, compensation, 
 and so on ; but it is read}* for all this. It is on the flood- 
 tide which leads to fortune. Every conservative theory is 
 proved false and falser daj' by da}'. The more immediate 
 abolition is, the more successful. The more the negroes are 
 let alone, the more they prove worthy of liberty. As soon 
 as people find out that they are men, and not minors and 
 wards subject to guardianship, the better for the countrj'. 
 The best part of the old conservative "Whig section is with 
 the Republican party now. Indeed, the party is getting 
 eminently "respectable," without losing, I think, its vigor 
 and progressiveness. " The Advertiser " classifies the ex- 
 governors, giving us Lincoln, Everett, Boutwell, Clifford, 
 Washburn, Banks, and Gardner. "Instinct is a great 
 matter:" so we find Brewster and Baker and Tenny and 
 Devereux, and Jonathan Pierce, and, indeed, about all the 
 Know-Nothings who distinguished themselves, following 
 Gardner into the ranks of the Copperhead Democracy.^ 
 Brewster spoke in Dorchester the other night ; and the 
 papers reported that his remarks were interrupted by the 
 music of a brass band. This must be a mistake. No brass 
 band ever 3'et organized could drown Brewster's voice. 
 Armstrong might try his six-hundrod-pound gun ; but I 
 would find men who would bet on Brewster even against 
 that. I am told that his Dorchester speech was heard by 
 the farmers, sitting at their doorsteps, as far off as Lancaster 
 in "Worcester County, and Sandwich on the Cape. 
 
 [Nov. 1.] 
 THE LAST OF GEN. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN. 
 
 So the little 'un is disposed of at last. lie has resigned, 
 and the people are resigned. Neither on the Chicago plat- 
 form, nor on his own, will the}' have an}' thing to do with 
 
 1 The name of a political party hostile to the governmeut. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. ^03 
 
 him. He was in bad company, — to wit, with Vallandigham ; 
 and Vallandigliam was also in bad compan}', — to wit, with 
 him. " Little Mac " — what a humbug he was ! and so ap- 
 parentl}' unconscious of it : — 
 
 " Great, nor knew how great lie was," 
 
 as Coleridge sa3-s of William Tell. How queer, that this 
 ridiculous militaiy and political eunuch should impose .upon 
 so many people for so many months ! The men who had 
 him in charge did not believe in him. Se3-raour knew he was 
 a humbug ; so did Belmont and Fernando Wood ; probably 
 Lunt and Hillard and Winthrop knew it also : but they 
 supposed the people did not know it. They reasoned some- 
 thing in this way : " The people have turned us out of office, 
 or kept us out ; ergo the people are fools ; ergo, again, it 
 is perfectly safe to conclude that they Avill not find McClellan 
 out ; ergo the third, we shall humbug them into electing 
 him." A slight mistake. The people clung to McClellan 
 because the administration clung to him ; and the administra- 
 tion, not having faith in the people's instincts and intelli- 
 gence, did not dare to tell the truth about him, and send him 
 packing, even after his incompetenc}' had been discovered. 
 Even so late as September, still lacking faith in the people, 
 it sent old Blair to New York to bu}' him off. What if the 
 silly creature had been suddenly inspired as idiots some- 
 times are, and had jumped at old Blair's oflTer? Fearful 
 thought ! Now, let us hope, we are well rid of him. What 
 Avill he do? He can " orate ; " but who wants to hear him? 
 lie has been in the railroad business : perhaps the care of 
 some small depot on an unfrequented branch might not over- 
 task his powers. He can write beautifully^ : would he do for 
 a reporter on a weekly newspaper? Alas! I fear nothing 
 suited to the grandeur of his aspirations can be found for 
 him here. Who knows but that, in the world j-onder, hesita- 
 tion will be a virtue, yawning a grace, and what we poor 
 mortals deem stupidity the highest work of genius ? 
 
304 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 RESULTS OF PEES. LINCOLN'S DEATH. 
 
 [Extract from Diary of 18G5.] 
 ASSASSINATION OF PRES. LINCOLN. 
 
 Apkil 2. — Fall of Riclimond. 
 
 April 9. — Surrender of Lee's army. 
 
 April 14. — Assassination of Pres. Lincoln, and attempt 
 to assassinate Secretary Seward. 
 
 Events enough for one fortnight. There has been but 
 little business, legislative or other, since the 1st inst. ; but 
 3'esterday was the day of days. Probably never in the 
 history of the country was there such a sensation throughout 
 all classes of the community. All men and women were 
 aghast with horror, and almost speechless. Men who always 
 gabble rushed up to the Trcmont Temple before noon, and 
 made speeches. As if there should be a public meeting half 
 an hour after an earthquake to celebrate such an event as 
 that ! The streets were crowded all da}- ; and in Washington 
 Street, in the neighborhood of the "Journal," ''Herald," 
 and "Transcript" offices, it was almost impossible to make 
 one's way along. There was no speech but "horrible!" 
 "dreadful!" "awful!" "cruel!" with occasional expres- 
 sions of a desire for more strong measures against the rebels. 
 
 In the afternoon, we had our usual dinner at Young's. 
 There were present the Governor,^ Mr. F. "W. Bird, Dr. S. G. 
 
 1 John A. Andrew, 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 305 
 
 Howe, Dr. Estes Howe, Elizur Wright, C. W. Slack, 
 Charles Field, Mr. Mack of Belmont, Tom Drew just from 
 Savannah, Mr. Haj-es of " The Savannah Republican," 
 Darrali, J. M. S. Williams, Oakes Ames, M.C., E. L. 
 Pierce, Major Burt, James M. Stone, Major George L. 
 Stearns, W. L. G. Greene, — a prett}' good representation of 
 the radical Republicans. A good deal of talk about Andrew 
 Johnson, and a general disposition to think well and hope 
 much of him. The strong tendency of events at Richmond, 
 since its occupation, towards reconstruction on simply a 
 Union basis, without an}^ regard whatever to security against 
 the future supremacy of proslavery influences throughout 
 the whole South, has disposed many to think that the country 
 may be better ofl^" under Johnson than under Lincoln. It 
 is known that Johnson is a terrible hater of the rebel leaders, 
 and wants them hung ; has always been against Lincoln's 
 amnesty schemes. 
 
 But, in spite of all this, the death of Lincoln looks to me 
 like an unmixed evil. In the first place, he had the confi- 
 dence of the country as no man since Washington has had 
 it. With him in the chair, the Democratic party was pre- 
 paring finall}^ to give up the ghost. Johnson has no such 
 mastery ; and I fear an immediate revival of that party, 
 ready to take advantage of all Republican divisions. 
 Second, I don't think we want a reign of blood and terror. 
 Some few of the rebel leaders ought to be tried and executed 
 with due formalities of law ; but there should be no persecu- 
 tion, or spirit of retaliation ; but we should have, instead, a 
 settled and firm polic}' of reconstruction on the basis of 
 justice to the negro: 
 
 Lincoln had no adequate idea of what ought to be done ; 
 but I fear Johnson has still less. Lincoln was, at least, 
 master of himself, and master of the situation : Johnson 
 may be the tool of anybody and everybody. Lincoln we 
 have summered and wintered for four jears, and knew 
 exactly what he was : Johnson is wholly untried ; and his 
 behavior on and before the 4th of March was not to his 
 credit. 
 
306 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 I don't believe, nowever, that there can be any serious 
 and i)crmanent drawback to the progress of right opinions. 
 If Lincoln had been killed in 18G2, anarch)* would or might 
 have followed, at least for a time. Now every State is in 
 lo3'al hands, the rebel armies are scattered, and peace must 
 speedily ensue. "We will hope for the best. 
 
 Booth the assassin is a ranting and bad actor. I expect 
 it will be found that the conspiracy-, if a conspiracy at all, 
 is confined to only a few persons, — desperate, rattle-brained, 
 half-craz}- copperheads and secessionists. But, in the popu- 
 lar estimation, Jeff Davis, ^ Lee, & Co., will be held responsi- 
 ble ; and it is true enough, that the murder is the legitimate 
 result of the teachings of the Richmond newspapers. After 
 all, it is not very strange that four years of such war as this 
 country has witnessed should have bred one or two assassins. 
 It would have been an exception to civil wars, if it had not. 
 
 The spirit of revenge is rising in the community : indeed, 
 the feeling occasione<l by the murder of the President has 
 continually deepened up to to-day. I think it far more 
 intense than on Saturda)-. As the newspapers are pored 
 over for each important or trivial detail, the sensation in 
 ever}' one's heart increases. The speeches, some of which 
 are very able and remarkable, tend to heighten the feeling 
 ver}- much. Gov. Andrew's message on Monda}' was 
 admirable. Charles G. Loring's, at Faneuil Hall, was very 
 remarkable in man}' of its features, and is worth preserving 
 for its thoughtful contemplation of the great issues now 
 before the country', as the Governor's is for its solemn, 
 funereal eloquence, and nice analj'sis of Lincoln's character. 
 Butler, D. S. Dickinson, and others in New York, have fitly 
 spoken. 
 
 Johnson's speeches to the Illinois delegation and others 
 tend to satisfy those who hope for revenge. He means to 
 hang traitors, and doubtless will do so. But no word yet of 
 
 1 Mr. Sumner told " Warrington " tliat ^Ir. Seward told him that 
 the government had positive evidence of the complicity of Jeff Davis 
 In the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 307 
 
 justice, or of the true basis of reconstruction and settlement. 
 It is needful that more or less of the traitors should suffer 
 on the gallows ; but it is indispensable that there should be 
 at once a beginning of a social reconstruction of the South 
 on the basis of the rights of man, on the Declaration of 
 Independence that "all men ai-e created equal." I do not 
 ask that Andrew Johnson should hastily announce this pur- 
 pose : it is sufficient, if he entertains it, if he will turn his 
 face and his thoughts in the right direction. 
 
 Yesterday I sawR. M. Field, manager of the Boston 
 Museum. Booth the murderer plaj^ed there five weeks not 
 man}' months ago. Field sa^-s he was "rather a rowdy," 
 though I did not understand that he was conspicuous for 
 rowdj'ism. He had a passion for eclat and notoriet}^ ; and 
 Field said it made no great difference to him what he did, so 
 he obtained these brilliant scenic effects. A great crime 
 would be as welcome to him as any other method of getting 
 fame. He has succeeded this time ; for the shot he fired 
 has been "heard round the world," or will be ; and its con- 
 sequences no man can conjecture. It may topple down 
 European thrones, and change the apparent destinies of 
 nations. It must make a great change in this countr}', and, 
 I still fear, a disastrous one. With four 3'ears of prudent 
 leadership under a man whose popularity was unbounded, 
 and who could have been, if it were necessary, re-elected in 
 1868, the countr}^ might have been consolidated. Western 
 jealousy of the East, as well as Southern hatred of the 
 North, would have been softened, and things brought round 
 again to their old relations. I doubt Johnson's power to 
 effect this. To be sure, the signs are favorable now : the 
 people are apparentl}' sensible and self-controlled, and are 
 giving that confidence and support to the new President 
 which are his due ; but there is a mental reservation to all 
 this. They do not implicitly trust. They ask one another, 
 " What do you think? " The}- are not sure of anj' thing. 
 
 However, I return to ni}' old formula : The people are to 
 be trusted ; and they will find a way to bring order out of 
 chaos. 
 
308 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 [Aug. IG, 186G.] ' 
 
 THE ARM-IX-AR5I CONVKKTION. THE PHILADELPHIA POW- 
 WOW. 
 
 They call the place of meeting a wigwam : so I suppose 
 this name is allowable. It must have been a funny sight 
 to see the Massachusetts and South-Carolina delegations 
 marching in arm-in-arm. (Were the}- handcuffed together?) 
 But the curious thing about it is, that the South-Carolina 
 men are, popularly, as weak as our own. Gov. Orr does 
 not represent South Carolina. Wade Hampton, at twenty- 
 four hours' notice, almost beat him for the ciiief magistracy ; 
 and nobody supposes that Orr will have any popularity or 
 power after the State gets fully reconstructed. "Who ever 
 heard of Gen. McGowan of South Carolina, who marched 
 with "Gen." Swift of Massachusetts? I'll venture to say 
 his political influence will prove to be as near nothing as 
 Swift's. To go further, take Gen. Dix, a thorough old 
 granny, superannuated and effete, about as much so as Tom 
 Ewing, who represents the smartest State in the Union, — 
 Ohio. The fact that the}- had to take Doolittle for president 
 speaks volumes for the weakness of the convention. It was 
 a wise choice ; for Doolittle, though a contemptible syco- 
 phant, is personall}' respectable, has a loyal record through 
 the war, and is a man of fair abilities ; but everybody recog- 
 nizes him as a tool of the Executive, as much so as Randall, 
 or even Simon Hanscom. Maine sends Weston (lobby agent), 
 and Crosby, an old Whig candidate for governor, supposed 
 to have been dead ten j-cars ago. New Hampshire sends 
 her old regular hard-shell Copperheads, and does wisely in 
 that ; for the}- represent somebody. Dixon of Connecticut 
 has to go, of course. Browning, an old Whig senator, and 
 now a claim-agent and pardon-broker, — stop ! he has lately 
 been put into the cabinet, I believe, — represents the Illinois 
 branch of the new part}-. Ex-senator Rice is dug up in 
 Minnesota ; and the sot McDougal stands or reels for Cali- 
 fornia. If you go South, where the part}' is to get its votes, 
 if anywhere, you find matters about the same. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 309 
 
 Where was Rousseau, the favorite son of Kentucky? 
 Was he squelched, like Vallandigham ? Garrett Davis, of 
 all men in the State, takes the lead. William A. Graham, 
 who ran for Vice-President with Scott fourteen j'ears ago 
 ("Tar and Feathers " Webster called the ticket, placing the 
 Vice-President first), represents North Carolina. He has 
 not had a particle of influence there for more than ten 3-ears. 
 Ben Perry divides with Orr the leadership of South Carolina. 
 And so on. Val. is probably, on the whole, the truest repre- 
 sentative of the principles of the party in the whole country ; 
 better even than Mayor Monroe of New Orleans, or Johnson 
 himself. Monroe allows his principles to carry him too far ; 
 that is to say, for the present. The time has not yet quite 
 arrived for wholesale massacre of Union men in the South. 
 Monroe is premature. Johnson, on the other hand, was 
 loj-al during the war, and, of course, cannot fully represeiit a 
 party whose principal support must come from rebels lately 
 in arms against the country. Vallandigham was not in arms 
 against the government, simply because he lived in Ohio, 
 and had not courage to leave it. He was a traitor, without 
 having committed the overt act. To insist that such a man 
 should decline to be a delegate was not only a gross wrong 
 to him, but a stupid blunder. 
 
 If Thurlow Weed got up that melodramatic spectacle of 
 "Gen." Swift and Gen. McGowan, and Gen. Couch and 
 Gov. Orr, marching along, he is duller than that ' ' fat weed 
 that rots on Lethe's wharf." R. S. Spofford is said to have 
 been the originator of the idea ; and it is, like him, sensa- 
 tional. But such things, in order to have any effect, must 
 be natural, and not spectacular. I would have walked to 
 Philadelphia, albeit not a great walker, to see that ridicu- 
 lous sight, — 
 
 " 'Twas worth ten years of peaceful life, 
 One glance at their array." 
 
 I should have missed the erudite Winthrop, and the expe- 
 rienced Ashmun, and Quincj' Adams, and Franklin Haven ; 
 but I should have seen the old war-horse of Worcester- 
 
310 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 county Democrac}', Isaac Davis, and Spofford himself, and 
 Josiah Dunham, and tlie hero of Big Bethel, Gen. Pierce of 
 Freetown, and Matthew Field, and Ide of Taunton, who has 
 turned his coat again for a post-oflBce, and "Gen." Swift, 
 and the immaculate Woodbury, and Robert B. Hall, ex- 
 humed for this particular occasion, and Albert Fearing and 
 William Bates, the residuary legatees of the old Whig party, 
 and Aspinwall and Prince, the old secretaries of the State 
 Committee, and the virtuous Colby of Newbur3-port, and the 
 candid Northend, and Bates and Avery, old wheel-horses of 
 the Democratic organization, and the oratorical Alger, and 
 De Witt, one of Worcester County's meanest sons, and, 
 lastly, my old friend, Lieut. -Gov. Wright of Hinsdale, per- 
 haps more widely known as " Mountaineer." Alas, alas ! 
 
 "A mountain stream that ends in mud 
 Methiulvs were melancholy." 
 
 I wonder who "Mountaineer" was paired off against in 
 that wondrous procession. Perhaps the gentleman who 
 served out rations to our imprisoned soldiers at Anderson- 
 ville. Oh, it would have been a sight for a lifetime ! I 
 suppose the}' had some sort of music ; perhaps a song after 
 some old cavalier tune, like Browning's : — 
 
 " Sumner to hell, and his obsequies knell ; 
 Serve Stevens and Boutwell and Greeley as well. 
 Rebels, good cheer! Office is near! 
 All ye good Copperheads, keep we not here. 
 Marching along, fifty-score strong, 
 Patriot gentlemen, singing this song." 
 
 I notice that the Southern talkers at Philadelphia unani- 
 mously and vehemently assert that their constitucnls " accept 
 the situation." No, the}' don't. They don't even know 
 what the " situation" is. As far as they do comprehend it, 
 the}' are very much indisposed to accept it, except the ollice- 
 seeking and office-holding branch, who will accept any thing. 
 The " situation " is what the people choose to make it. The 
 convicted murderer might as well hope to escape sentence 
 and execution by crying out, after the verdict is rendered. 
 
PEN-PORTEAITS. 311 
 
 "Don't go any farther, judge! I accept the situation. I 
 acknowledge you and the jury have got the best of it." 
 This won't do. Johnson may pardon and release the chief 
 murderer at Fortress Monroe, as he has pardoned and 
 released his subordinates all over the Southern country ; but 
 he cannot restore to them political power. Slavery is abol- 
 ished. The old robber-castle, from which issued the public 
 enemy to burn and slay, is dismantled ; but there are plenty 
 of caves and dens where he still lies in wait for the unsus- 
 pecting traveller. The whole Southern country has got to 
 be reformed. The " situation " means decency, civilization, 
 Christianity, genuine democracy. The armies of Grant and 
 Sherman were but pioneers. The}^ have broken up the 
 wilderness, destroj'ed the worst dens, purified some of the 
 foulest places ; but what is this foul stench from Memphis, 
 this smell of blood from New Orleans? Accept the situa- 
 tion indeed ! What say the Union men of Louisiana ? What 
 say Hamilton of Texas, and Stokes of Tennessee ? And what 
 think those dusk}' millions who cannot speak to us in conven- 
 tions and addresses, but whose pra3-ers to God go up hourly 
 for the complete realization of Abraham Lincoln's golden 
 promise ? 
 
 [June 28, 1867.] 
 
 ANDREW^ Johnson's grand presidential tour. 
 
 " There is fun to a Cornwallis," sa3-s Ilosea Biglow ; but 
 Hosea in his Cornwallis days never saw such fun as he will 
 see if he accompanies the President. It is Pratt and Mel- 
 len ^ on a gigantic scale ; the whole nation looking on while 
 its chief magistrate exhibits himself to the amusement of 
 the laughers, and the consternation of the sober men, of the 
 whole human race. If it were possible to imagine that the 
 Almighty Ruler of the universe had gone mad, had reversed 
 all his laws, and turned the world upside down and inside 
 out, the spectacle now on exhibition would consistently be 
 
 1 Bogus presidential candidates. 
 
312 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 explained ; not otherwise. "We nre passing the last and 
 crudest ordeal. We have withstood rebellion, and war, and 
 foreign hostility, and domestic discontent : can we withstand 
 inextinguishable laughter, and the derision of the civilized 
 world? To think of a great people, Avhicli has, within a year 
 and a half, established its position as second to none among 
 the great nations of the earth, allowing itself to be represented 
 in its greatest cities, and through all its newspapers, b^' a 
 man wlio is fitter for a cage in a mad-house than for the office 
 he holds ! There are only two classes of men Avho can look 
 on with patience, — those whose optimism is inextinguisha- 
 ble, or, if you please, whose faith never flinches ; and, sec- 
 ond, those who don't care a " continental " what does happen 
 to the countr}', the world, or themselves. 
 
 That grim old humorist, Thomas Carlyle, will have a jolly 
 time over this affair. Having long ago given up all hope 
 of the world, this Andy Johnson comes just in time to 
 confirm his predictions of the approaching and everlasting 
 smash. " Continents of empty vapor, of greedy self-con- 
 ceits, commonplace hearsaj's, and indistinct loomings of a 
 sordid chaos within him," — Carl3-le described Johnson's 
 speeches long ago, and drew the most dismal forebodings 
 from such oratory. I am by no means sure, however, that 
 Carlyle's undisguised admiration for first-class murderers 
 when clothed in official or regal robes may not reconcile him 
 even to Johnson, windy and chaotic as his talk is. He is 
 a "doer" as well as a "talker:" witness New Orleans. 
 The telegraph compels him to be brief. To the rebel attor- 
 ne3--general of Louisiana he says, " Usurpation will not be 
 tolerated." Ilerron reads the cipher correctly, "Murder 
 the convention ; ' ' and he goes to his work. To the rebel 
 lieutenant-governor he sa^-s, "The military will sustain 
 you." And Voorhees reads the cipher correctl}', " You 
 have full liberty to kill." If Jeff Davis is responsible for 
 Andersonville, much more is Andrew Johnson responsible 
 for the murder of Dostie and his fellow-Unionists. The 
 liand he waves to-day towards the negro-killers of the 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 313 
 
 Five Points is red with the blood of the black men of New 
 Orleans. Let Carl3'le be comforted. Here is a stump-orator, 
 one of the windiest and foolishest, who can, upon occasion, 
 do something besides talking. But no great harm will come 
 of his speeches in the North. The States he is to pass 
 through have loj-al governors ; and, though it is possible 
 that the policy men of New York may feel encouraged to 
 kill a few black men in honor of this back-handed Moses, 
 Gov. Fenton and Gov. Curtin and Gov. Cox and Gov. 
 Oglesb}' will, no doubt, be able to prevent any ver}' exten- 
 sive demonstrations of enthusiasm in that direction. 
 
 This tour is merely a show ; and Randall is the Van Am- 
 burgh. Some young men who were at Manomet ^ last week 
 had a caravan-song, one verse of which ran thus : — 
 
 " This is the roaring lion : 
 
 You'd better Iceep sliy of him, boys; 
 Fpr, when he gets into a fit of rage, 
 He malves the following noise." 
 
 And here went forth a vociferation unpresentable to human 
 eye by any or all of the letters of our alphabet, but which 
 might be exhibited in the " visible speech " of the English- 
 man who has lately discovered a new one, or pictorially 
 by a woodcut like that representing Ben Hardin's voice in 
 the Comic Almanac of thirty 3'ears ago, — a confused tan- 
 gle of sounds, intended to simulate the roar of the enraged 
 "king of beasts." This is Johnson's speech. It is "the 
 following noise;" and that is the only description you can 
 give of it. And j-ou will have the same noise telegraphed 
 from ever}' stopping-place on the route to Chicago, and back 
 again to Washington. The great representative of Ameri- 
 can scoundrelism is on exhibition for the next ten daj-s. 
 Price four cents a day ; or, if j'ou buy " The Herald," two. 
 "Who would go to the theatre or museum, and pay a quarter 
 or half a dollar, when such an entertainment can be so 
 cheap I3' got ? 
 
 1 ""Warrington's" summer-resort. 
 
314 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 You should have seen the President in Boston bowing and 
 scraping to the crowd. The grand master of ceremonies 
 must have had a dreadful time of it, holding an umbrella 
 over the august head of the distinguished guest. Instead of 
 sitting quietly in his scat, raising his hat to the ladies, and 
 occasionall}' bowing to the right and left, Johnson stood 
 up as well as he could, which was but poorl}', under the 
 umbrella, and sprawled about from one side to the other, 
 scooping his hat this wa}- and that. I thought of the old 
 nui'ser3'-liues : — 
 
 " He began to compliment, 
 And I began to grin : 
 How do you do ? and bow do you do ? 
 And bow do you again ? " 
 
 He got very little applause, however. Near the Custom 
 House, a man stationed himself with a huge bouquet of flowers 
 and a compliraentarj^ note, purporting to be from the clerks 
 in the sub-treasury, though I hear they had nothing to do 
 with it. The poor fellow stood as long as he could, and then 
 some one kindly handed him a chair ; and " he sot, and sot, 
 and sot," till the minutes became hours. Two mortal hours 
 did he wait, the observed of all observers ; but the great 
 man did not appear. 
 
 " The sun set, but set not his hope; 
 
 Stars rose; bis faith was eadier up: 
 
 Fixed on the enormous galaxy, 
 
 Deeper and older seemed bis eyes ; 
 
 And matcbed bis sufferance sublime 
 
 The taciturnity of time." 
 
 At last the tail end of the procession came, and the patient 
 old fellow secured " the victory of endurance born." The 
 dispenser of patronage was before him. He rushed up to the 
 carriage, handed to the President the bouquet and the com- 
 pliments of the clerks, and sweatily subsided with the smiles 
 of the great chief and the approbation of his own conscience 
 — lot us hope. If the President fails to remember this ser- 
 vice, he is harder than adamant. And, O ye senators I inter- 
 pose not, interfere not, I beseech ye, to keep the poor old 
 
PEN-POETEAITS. 315 
 
 office-seeker, whoever he was, from securing the reward of 
 his labors. 
 
 But what if Johnson is an ass, a mule, a nuisance, an incu- 
 bus, a succubus? The Hon. Mr. Wiseacre thinks he has not 
 committed a "misdemeanor; " and the Hon. Mr. Somebody- 
 Else thinks it won't do to have Ben Wade President a few 
 weeks ; and the Hon. Mr. Lord-Knows- AVho is afraid it will 
 have a bad effect on politics if we meddle with him ; and the 
 rich and ignorant classes of State and Wall Streets fear a 
 rise in gold. So he stays, and Congress continues to have a 
 good time. 
 
 [May 7, 1868.] 
 
 Having a little time, I took up the impeachment trial as 
 narrated by the official reporters and -the imaginative spe- 
 cial correspondents. The trial proper, that is to say, the 
 evidence and the interlocutory arguments, was good reading. 
 Our old friend of the Middlesex-county bar was at home. 
 He was the only law3^er of the dozen who was not rusty, 
 except, perhaps, Evarts. Curtis and Stanbery long ago left 
 off tr3-ing cases ; Boutwell never tried many ; Wilson and 
 Bingham are lawyers after a Western fashion ; Groesbeck is 
 a business-man with a legal education ; Nelson, a Tennessee 
 stump-orator ; Williams, an ex-judge who never tried a cause 
 as counsel in his life ; Logan was put on the list of managers 
 to make up the number, and give the West its due promi- 
 nence ; and Stevens, the ablest man of the lot, was too old 
 to tr}' the case. Butler alone was fresh as a daisy. Evarts 
 told somebody that he was going to show that he was " not 
 afraid of Ben Butler." — "But," said the man who heard 
 him, " he said it in a wa}' which convinced me that he was." 
 It is not to be denied that the general showed greater 
 resources as a trier of the case than an}' other man there. , 
 Indeed, I understand that he declares that the President's 
 counsel are quite unfit to try cases, and that, in Essex and 
 Middlesex and Suffolk, he has met with much more danger- 
 ous opponents. Of course he is depreciated, and cried out 
 
316 "WAIimXGTON:" 
 
 against as an " Old Bailey " practitioner ; and this cr}- would 
 do vcr}' well if he had not also shown great readiness and 
 power in the argumentative work which was assigned to him. 
 As for the long speeches, I have tried a few of them. 
 Groesbeck's was good, shrewd, good-tempered, and eloquent ; 
 Nelson's was b}- no means as bad as was ropresentad ; Bout- 
 well's was a model of concise argumentation ; Wilson inter- 
 jected one good speech ; but as for Evarts's and Bingham's, 
 thej' are quite too eloquent to be first-rate. Ben Wade is 
 reported to have said, after hearing speeches on both sides 
 about a hundred hours, that he considered Demosthenes and 
 Cicero two of the greatest pests and mischief-makers that 
 ever existed. Evarts made some very good fun of the hole 
 in the sky,^ which was a choice thing for Boutwell's enemies 
 to la}' hold of, and the onl}- thing to object to in his whole 
 argument ; but Bingham is quite too wordy and dogmatic to 
 be read with pleasure. The boys at the Latin School have 
 thus far looked in vain for " pieces to speak," and have been 
 obliged, I believe, to fall back on Spartacus, Ilienzi, Lord 
 Chatham, Col. Barre, Patrick Ilonry, Everett, Webster, and 
 the old " stand-bys," " Sink or swim" still reverberates in 
 the school-rooms of Boston ; and "Who is there to mourn 
 for Logan?" is plaintively asked in the country villages. 
 
 1 Travellers and astronomers inform us, that in the southern heavens, 
 near the Southern Cross, there is avast space which the uneducated call 
 the "liole in the sky," ^vhel•e the eye of man, with the aid of the powers of 
 the telescope, lias been unable to discover nebuhc, or asteroid, or comet, 
 or planet, or star, or sun. In that dreary, cold, dark region of space, 
 which is only kno\vn to be less than infinite by the evidences of crea- 
 tion elsewhere, the Great Author of celestial mechanism has left the 
 chaos which was in the beginning. If this earth were capable of the 
 sentiments and emotions of justice and virtue which in human mortal 
 beings are the evidences and the pledge of our divine origin ami im- 
 mortal destiny, it would heave and throe with the energy of the ele- 
 mental forces of nature, and project this enemy of two races of men 
 into that vast region, there forever to exist in a solitude eternal as life, 
 or as the absence of life, emblematical of, if not really, that outer dark- 
 ness of which the Saviour of man spoke in warning to those who are 
 the enemies of themselves, of their race, and of their God. — Extract 
 from G. H. Boutwell's Speech. 
 
PEN-P OR TRAITS. 317 
 
 As for "There stands Massachusetts," and "Give me 
 libert}', or give me death," and " Then, and not till then, let 
 my epitaph be written," — wh}^, of course, it is not to be 
 expected that these efforts will ever be superseded by the 
 Binghams and Evartses of the Washington trial. " Renown 
 and grace are dead ; " and, we may add, eloquence also. 
 
 [May 21.] 
 PRES. Johnson's impeachment. 
 The verdict last Saturday did not surprise an3^bod3^ After 
 Fessenden and Trumbull and Henderson made their speeches, 
 a week before, or nearl}^ so, there was about as much chance 
 for Johnson's acquittal as for the failure of Booth's pistol in 
 1865. And the cases are very nearl}' parallel ; the main dif- 
 ference between them being, that Booth was a stage-struck 
 madman, and the treacherous senators were bribed, partly 
 by mone}', and partly by the voluptuousness of revenge. I 
 admire the spirit of the expression of "The Cincinnati 
 Gazette," which says, " These senators need not shake their 
 trial oaths at us." If there is an}^ thing worse than the 
 treacher}^, it is the cant which pretends that it is the result 
 of conscientious conviction. Ross's and Fowler's open and 
 avouched corruptibility can be put up with ; but Fessenden's 
 and Trumbull's pretence of a conscience is quite unbearable. 
 If they had put in the plea old Mr. Weller desired to have 
 entered in the Pickwick case, — viz., an alibi, — they could 
 not have placed themselves in a more contemptible position. 
 There is no justice in making Ross and Fowler the scape- 
 goats. Fowler only followed his natural bent ; and the 
 Republicans who voted to admit Tennessee into the Senate 
 are well repaid by the votes of both its senators for acquittal. 
 State pride went for something ; for the snuff-eaters and 
 snuff-dippers of Tennessee are by no means deficient in State 
 pride ; and Andy Johnson, after all, is the best representa- 
 tive the border-element ever had in Washington. The model 
 man of the West is not always polite aud courtly : he drinks 
 
318 " WARRING TOX: " 
 
 whiskey, and "shouts the frequent damn." And even the 
 Yankee, when 
 
 " He whittles round St. Mary's Falls 
 Upon his loaded wain," — 
 
 even he, according to Whittier, 
 
 " Leaves upon the pictured rocks 
 His fresh tobacco-stain." 
 
 But neither the "Westerner nor the Yankee can vie with John- 
 son in those disgusting qualities which are peculiar to the 
 Tennessee breed. Fowler and Patterson could not shame 
 their ancient and most filthy Commonwealth b^- voting guilty. 
 Van Winkle's vote, too, rcpaj's that totally unjustifiable de- 
 parture from principle which made a State of West Virginia 
 in the early part of the war. 
 
 It will be safe to wager that half, at least, of the " radi- 
 cals " who have been or will be chosen to Congress from 
 the newly-constructed Southern States will be as purchasable 
 as Fowler or Ross. The Senate and House better not be in 
 a hurr}' to admit these new States. Let them look out for 
 the congressmen, and, moreover, look out for the electors. 
 One of the most serious aspects of the briber}^ business is 
 the certainty that hereafter presidential electors can be 
 bribed after they are chosen, and appear in Washington to 
 give their votes. Bribery has for some time been a recog- 
 nized political force in the legislatures of some States : it 
 has now controlled the impeachment question, and settled 
 the occupancy of the White House for nine months : it is 
 much more likelj' to be used to settle the presidential ques- 
 tion for the four years from 18G9 to 1873. 
 
 To return to the scapegoats: "Rise, honest Muse, and 
 sing the Man of Ross." Who is Ross? Perhaps he is 
 needy ; in debt, and out at the elbows : — 
 
 "So weary with disaster, tugged with fortune, 
 That he would set his life on any chance 
 To mend it, or be rid on't." 
 
 Doubtless he has his excuse ; and I'll wager that it is a 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 319 
 
 better one than Fessenden's dj-spepsia, or Trumbull's scru- 
 ples. As George Canning pra^-ed to be saved from a candid 
 friend, we shall by and by have to put up our supplications 
 to be saved from the direful effects of conscience. Com- 
 mend me to Ross and Fowler rather than to Fessendeu and 
 Trumbull. It is too contagious. Whether Fessenden caught 
 it of Trumbull, or Trumbull of Fessenden, is uncertain ; 
 possibly Grimes or Henderson was broken out with it first : 
 but it was a most dangerous complaint. Money might be 
 exhausted ; but, when a batch of old law3-ers had an eruption 
 of conscience, it was all up with impeachment. 
 
 It will not do to pass over Chief Justice Chase. He is 
 writing letters to some of his old friends in this region, say- 
 ing, that if the question had been, " Shall the President be 
 removed? " there would probably have been two-thirds in the 
 affirmative; but as it was, "Is the President guilty of this 
 article?" the article failed. This is onl}'' a new statement 
 of the conscience dodge. Is the chief justice such a fool as 
 to suppose that the people do not see through this ridiculous 
 plea ? The}' know that the question was precisely that, — 
 Shall Johnson be removed? — and his sophistrj- can no more 
 disguise the fact than his judicial robes can disguise the bitter 
 partisan malignity and disappointment which controlled his 
 action throughout the trial. The excuses which are possible 
 for Fessenden and Trumbull fail entirely where S. P. Chase 
 is concerned. He is intellectually strong enough, and the 
 tone of his mind is radical and utilitarian enough, to enable 
 him to discard precedents and the mould}' opinions of the 
 past. For instance, he was never, or at least he has not 
 been for the last twenty-five years, imposed upon, by the 
 traditions of the lawyers, judges, and statesmen, as to the 
 constitutionality of slavery. He was as radical as Lysander 
 Spooner, and in the same direction. He cares nothing for 
 the Madison Papers, or Bracton, or " The Year-Books." He 
 never, like Fessenden, had his sense squeezed out of him by 
 Marshall's and Webster's ponderous speeches and decisions, 
 as old Giles Corey was pressed to death by heavy weights in 
 
320 "WAIililNGTON: " 
 
 the days of Salem witchcraft. Mr. Chase knows enough to 
 discard precedents, and act on common-sense principles ; and 
 he can see a fallacy as clearly as Bentham or Sydne}- Smith 
 could see one. He has deliberately put on this legal cloak 
 for a dishonest purpose ; and his action in this case, with 
 the action of the great lawyers who have followed his exam- 
 ple, leads common men to the conclusion that it will not do 
 to trust law3-ers in great emergencies. " One thing I suppli- 
 cate 30ur Highness," said Vasco Nunez de Balboa in a 
 letter to the King of Spain (lol3), "for it is much to 3-our 
 service ; and that is, that 3-ou would give orders, under a 
 great penalty, that no bachelor of law, or of an3' thing else, 
 except medicine, shall be allowed to come to these parts of 
 the terra firma ; for no bachelor comes here who is not a 
 devil, and who does not lead the life of a devil. And not 
 onl3' are the3' bad themselves, but the3' also make and con- 
 trive a thousand lawsuits and iniquities." The "furred 
 homicides," as Dr. Parr called 'them, who sat in Westmin- 
 ster Hall, and administered the penal laws in the da3-s of 
 Romilly, had their admirers, and so Salmon P. Chase has 
 his ; but the3' will be respectabl3' considered b3' histor3' in 
 comparison with him. He has disgraced even the judicial 
 ermine. 
 
 I do not expect, with some people, that this will be the 
 last of And3'. He has the stuff in him for a hundred brawls 
 yet. His reputation as a bruiser is not at all damaged by 
 the denial, in his answer, that he ever made the naught3' 
 speeches at Cleveland and St. Louis ; for everybod3' knows 
 that he did. Let him stand on that record. He is not the 
 man to wrap his mantle, that is to say his overcoat, round 
 him, and undertake to console himself with talk about d3'ing 
 with dignity and honor. He is more likel3' to be of FalstafTs 
 opinion concerning that ethereal qualit3' : " Can honor set to 
 a leg ? uo : or an arm ? no : or take away the grief of a 
 wound? no. Honor hath no skill in surger3', then? No. 
 "What is honor? a word. What is in that word honor? air. 
 A trim reckoning ! Who hath it ? he that died o' Wednes- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 321 
 
 day. Doth he feel it? no. Doth he hear it? no. It is 
 insensible, then? yea, to the dead. But will it not live 
 with the living? no. Wh}'? detraction will not suffer it: 
 therefore, I'll none of it: honor is a mere scutcheon." 
 Depend upon it, we shall see And}^ on the stump again 
 before many weeks, and, on the first opportunit}', running 
 for governor or senator, or alderman at the very least. 
 
322 "WARRINGTON:' 
 
 chapti:r XI. 
 
 ACTION IN MASSACHUSETTS FROM 1868 TO 1871. 
 
 [""Warrington's " Letters in Springfield Republican, July 2, 18C8.] 
 
 THE NEW-YORK DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION. 
 
 People here had begun to settle down into the belief that 
 Hendricks ("Tom Hendricks") would be nominated at 
 New York ; but to-day there is a stor}' of a positive decli- 
 nation on his part. "Tom " is not a bad first name for a 
 candidate. It is much better than Salmon. " Our Salmon," 
 "Bull}' for Salmon ! " would not be euphonious and tripping 
 upon the tongue like "Tom Hendricks," "Our Tom," and 
 " Bull}' for Tom ! " Can anybod}' tell what Pendleton's first 
 name is? "Pendleton" is good: it has an aristocratic, 
 South-Carolinian, slave-driving sound ; and nothing suits 
 your genuine Democrat of the American sort like an easy 
 superiority of name and maimer. Chase's robes are \evy 
 well ; but he has worn them so unskilfull}-, that the}' have 
 not been specially becoming. If the reverend rector of St. 
 Barabbas should, after service in the forenoon, walk down 
 to the stable of the Metropolitan Railroad, or to an}' other 
 stable, take a dilapidated chair (such as stables have) , lean 
 back, pull out his pipe, take a smoke, and between the 
 whiffs swear an oath or two, and tell dirty stories with the 
 stable-boys, the Church of St. Barabbas would soon away 
 with him : not even his robes would save him. Chase has 
 not been careful to preserve his dignity. He put on con- 
 siderable, to serve his purpose of treachery during the im- 
 peachment trial ; but everybody knew what he was driving 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 323 
 
 at. Then there is Frank Blair. There is no cant about 
 him. He is a drunken rowch', and will not do. The Democ- 
 racy must have a gentleman. Its candidates have generally 
 been gentlemen : witness Van Buren, Buchanan, Pierce, — 
 rascals, perhaps, but well-mannered. Was not McClellan 
 a well-behaved person, and eke a pious one? I think we 
 shall have a gentlemanl}^ and well-mannered candidate to 
 represent the old rebel element : if not Pendleton, then 
 Hendricks, who alwa3's speaks in long, solemn, and measured 
 sentences ; or perhaps Sej'mour, for I have not 3'et given up 
 the idea that this most gentlemanly and adroit representa- 
 tive of the New- York school may yet tui'n up. Here is a 
 gentleman of high, the highest " tone." I doubt whether 
 even Eoss or Pitt Fessenden could more gracefully put on an 
 air of offended dignit}', when charged with a rascality, than 
 Seymour. Greeley, in his indignation, calls him a liar ; and 
 so unquestionably he is. But with what a grace he lies ! — a 
 very scamp-Chesterfield. Contrast him with Johnson, or 
 Frank Blair, or Nasby, — serviceable rank-and-file men, no 
 doubt, good men for the cross-roads and the corner-grocer)', 
 but not fit for the mahogany and the cabinet. Your most use- 
 ful Democrat, in the long-run, is the man like Seymour, who 
 not only utterly despises Democrac}-, but who believes, with 
 the New- York school, — the Van Burens, Sewards, and 
 Weeds, — that there is no virtue extant, and that the world is 
 in every thing governed by humbug. Pendleton is a more 
 honest man. Hendricks has a sort of faith in the people, 
 got b}^ residence among them for a long time. All these 
 men believe more or less in the capacity of men for govern- 
 ment ; but Sej'mour, like Seward, onl}"- in the capacit}* of 
 man to be governed, and to be humbugged. He is jowc 
 man, O Democratic delegates ! 
 
 There is a pretty little poem by Wordsworth, with the 
 title, "We are Seven," which everj'bod}' is familiar with ; 
 and, though it is a pity to make fun of it, the late funeral- 
 obsequies over Mr. Fessenden' s remains prompt me to give 
 some lines of quotation from it. The little maid, seen and 
 
324 ''WABBINOTON :" 
 
 talked with by the contenipU^tive poet, as you will remember, 
 insists that there are seven sistci's and brothers in all, 
 though the poet, from his enumeration, can only make out 
 five. She insists, — 
 
 *' Seven boys and girls are we : 
 Two of us in tlie cluircliyard lie, 
 Beneath the clmrcliyard-tree." 
 
 The poet still demurs ; but the maiden proceeds to demon- 
 strate, — 
 
 " Tlieir graves are green, they may be seen, 
 The little maid replied* " 
 
 and more minutel}^ she adds, — 
 
 " My stockings there I often knit, 
 My kerchief there I hem ; " 
 
 (you observe she is in the manufacturing and dr^'-goods 
 line : Naumkeag steam cotton-mills, Indian-orchard facto- 
 ries, and big commission-houses, grow from just such small 
 knitting and hemming operations,) — 
 
 " And there upon the ground I sit, 
 And sing a song to them." 
 
 A June idyl is here prefigured : — 
 
 " And often after sunset, sir, 
 Wlien it is light and fair, 
 I take my little porringer, 
 And eat my supper there." 
 
 Then the little creature goes on to tell how sister Jane 
 died lii-st, and then how brother John was forced to go ; and 
 finally she makes the poet, who is not half as dull as he pre- 
 tends to be, understand how the seven are made up. Fifty 
 or sixty Boston gentlemen proposed to take their little por- 
 ringers, and sit down and eat their little suppers by the 
 political grave of the Maine senator ; and he, humoring the 
 idea that he is still among the living, but knowing that 
 the delusion would be dispelled if he should accede to their 
 request, by some spiritual machinery or other (planchctte, 
 perhaps) replies that he has no stomach for a dinner, and 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 325 
 
 declines to come. Plancliette, however, is exceeding ill- 
 natured. She scolds ver}' bitterl}'. 
 
 Win', we have had no such talk for weeks and months. 
 The senator, or his shade, falls to cursing like a scullion. 
 Hear him: "The air was filled with lying rumors, which 
 found their wa}- to the public ear through the appropriate 
 channels. ' ' ' ^ The appropriate channels ' ' ! Do 3'ou hear that, 
 Greele}'? Do 3-ou hear that, " Cincinnati Gazette"? That 
 means 3'ou, though the senator is afraid to speak out very 
 plumpl}". " Denunciation, vituperation, calumnj', threats 
 of personal violence and of lifelong infam}', were profusely 
 hurled at all who might dare to disobey the public senti- 
 ment. The men who resorted to these appliances were 
 accustomed to the use of such weapons, and knew well how 
 to wield them. Unscrupulous, familiar with detraction, 
 believers neither in public nor private virtue, — or, if believ- 
 ers, considering both out of place in politics, —^ the}' could 
 not resist such an opportunit}'. Washington was filled with 
 men ready to jump into places to be made vacant (sotto 
 voce, by the removal of the score or two of mj- own relatives 
 now in snug and comfortable places) . Gamblers thronged 
 the saloons, and the character and reputation of senators 
 upon whose votes the result was supposed to depend rose and 
 fell, while the telegraph was at hand to carry over the wires 
 to the homes and friends of those senators every calumny 
 which disappointed ambition could imagine, or cupidity and 
 malignity could invent." 
 
 And so on, ad nauseam. "Well, Mr. Senator Fessenden, 
 who is to blame but yourself for this unpleasant state of 
 affairs? Nobod}' betted or gambled on Lot Morrill's vote. 
 Everybody knew that Maine had one honest senator, whose 
 vote was not doubtful, and could not be changed by money, 
 nor revenge, nor spite, nor dyspepsia, nor any thing else. 
 Nobod}' undertook to slander Wilson, or Sumner, or Patter- 
 son, or Cragin. They were known to be men of honor, and 
 not canting gwast-judges, putting on some skunk-sJcin robe 
 in lieu of ermine, and parading what they termed their judi- 
 
326 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 cial oaths as an excuse for their perjiny. It was only the 
 Fessendens and Rosses and Fowlers and Hendersons and 
 Grimeses and Trumbulls who were speculated on ; for only 
 they were in the market. It was only they who were talked 
 of and followed ; for they only were " on the street." 
 
 [July 4.] 
 
 THE MOST GLORIOUS FOURTH. 
 
 Unquestionabh' the most glorious Fourth we have had j'et. 
 "We shall not have a genuine and perfect one until 1869, 
 after Johnson has gone back to his snuff-eating constitu- 
 ents. Perhaps Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony will say 
 we shall not have one until 18 — , that distant year when 
 women shall have all their rights. But spite of the presi- 
 dential anachronism, and the limping and halting condition 
 of the female-suffrage question, we shall have a respectable 
 Fourth by comparison with those of previous years. I am 
 going to have a grand explosion of torpedoes. Huzza ! 
 that's for the Union ; that's for the Emancipation Proclama- 
 tion ; that's for the surrender of Lee ; that's for a patriotic 
 Congress ; that's a grand funeral-piece in memory of Lin- 
 coln ; that's for the Reconstruction Bill ; that's for the 
 radical leaders ; that's for the army and navy ; that's for 
 universal suffrage and universal education ; that's for the 
 ladies ; that's for peace and a regenerated country. In 
 addition to this, I have a grand pin-wheel for impeachment, 
 which I hope will not prove to be a fizzle ; but I am afraid it 
 will, pin-wheels are so apt to be failures. 
 
 TUNNEL INFLUENCE AND THE LOBBY. 
 
 For the lobb}-, with its corrupting influences, Massachu- 
 setts is indebted to the Iloosac Tunnel. Fifteen years ago, 
 it was unknown. Now it has become so powerful and bold, 
 that it is openly boasted that the " third house " is a necessary 
 and meritorious adjunct of the legislature. And so arranged 
 and systematized is the business, that, when the regular 
 
PEJSf-PORTRAITS. 327 
 
 hands can't do the work, Adams and Westfield, not to men- 
 tion other places, are prompt to send assistance ; and so 
 bold have these fellows become, that they do not confine 
 themselves to the legislative halls, but even invade the 
 executive chamber, and pi}' his Excellency with their arts 
 and arguments. The tunnel interest does not pa}' the lobby 
 much money directly ; but the lobby works with and for it, 
 and always has, for the influence it can obtain to push other 
 things with, and which will pay. As far as the tunnel itself 
 is concerned, it is put through on the " you-tickle-me-and- 
 I'll-tickle-3'ou " principle. What a power that is which can 
 
 " Force whole regions, in despite 
 O' geographj^ to change their site," 
 
 the people of the State will be apt to realize before they 
 have paid, in the shape of taxes, the nearly ten million 
 dollars appropriated by the 1868 legislature. It has got to 
 that now, that ever}' thing and every man that Avill not pay 
 tribute to the tunnel and the lobby are put down in short- 
 metre ; while all measures that will are put through with a 
 rush. 
 
 "He comes to shore who sails with me " 
 
 has been the boast of the tunnel and the lobby interest. 
 
 That iniquitous measure, the Maverick East-Boston Bridge 
 project, never would have gone through, especially over the 
 governor's veto, if its friends had not promised to vote for 
 the tunnel. Tlio appropriation for Provincetown Harbor 
 would have been voted down, if the South-shore folks had 
 not gone for the tunnel. The permission given to the towns 
 along the line of the Williamsburg and North Adams Rail- 
 road, to take stock in the enterprise, would have been with- 
 held, had not the advocates of that measure given in their 
 adherence to the tunnel. Mr. Plunkett of Pittsfield, an 
 old-line Democrat, went to Boston determined to oppose all 
 appropriations, especially the tunnel. If he had done so 
 actively, does any one suppose he would have been made 
 State director of the Western Railroad, and could have car- 
 
328 " WAJiniNGTOX : " 
 
 vied the bill for the removal of the Berkshire-county ])uihl- 
 ings to Pittsfiekl? He voted against the tunnel, indeed, if 
 he voted at all. But why didn't he make his promised speech 
 against it? and what did he do with the facts and figures 
 furnished him for that purpose? Are there any persons 
 green enough to suppose the appropriation of forty thousand 
 dollars for the Agricultural College at Amherst could have 
 been carried on " its merits," if ]\Ir. "Ward of that town had 
 not, in turn, supported the tunnel? If so, let me disabuse 
 their minds at once. Fussy little Mr. Mixter of Ilardwick, 
 an ardent opponent of the tunnel heretofore, who made a 
 speech against it in 1854, and who has been a-going to stop 
 this squandering of thi people's money all along, became a 
 sudden convert to the tunnel this year, and after getting all 
 his available means into government-bonds before the 1st 
 of May, and thus be^-ond the reach of taxation, voted five 
 millions of other people's mone}' for the tunnel without 
 flinching. 
 
 Mr. Crittenden of Otis may have supported the tunnel on 
 principle ; but it is more than supposed that he did it, and 
 his friends with him, more to get through the appropriation 
 for the Lee and New-Haven Railroad than any thing else. 
 The House virtuously voted, one day, not to buy a thousand 
 copies of Gen. Schouler's five-dollar historv of "Massachu- 
 setts in the Rebellion." The mistake was discovered, and the 
 vote promptly changed, the next day. It is needless to add, 
 that Senator Schouler has cordially supported the tunnel with 
 voice and vote. Last j'ear, the vote of three millions in aid of 
 the Hartford and Erie Railroad was put through by the tunnel 
 people, — for a consideration, of course; and, as a curious 
 illusi ration of how things go here, it may be added, that the 
 Hartford and Erie interest took np and carried the loan to 
 the North Adams and Williamsburg Railroad, along-with its 
 own bill, and without expense to the latter corporation, who 
 put in their request late, and had no particular claims or 
 hopes. 
 
 But why multiply instances? If I have not given enough 
 
PEN-PORTnAITS. 329 
 
 to show honest people how log-rolling and corruption pre- 
 vail at Boston, let them apply to their representative for 
 more. I will onl}' add, that it is a fact, that, at the last end, 
 sixteen members of the House were bought for the tunnel 
 by the promise that the per diem should be increased to six 
 dollars a da}' ; and this bargain was kept in the lower 
 branch. But to the credit of Senator Bowerman of Berk- 
 shire it should be said, that, though a friend of the tunnel, 
 he refused to perfect the swindle in the upper House. Be- 
 sides all this trading and bargaining, there are plenty of 
 rumors of the actual purchase of members with mone^' ; but, 
 as I cannot speak positively on this point, it is better to say 
 nothing. 
 
 It has come to be useless for anj' honest man to try to get 
 an}' honest measure through our legislature on its merits 
 alone. People have come to understand, that, if they have 
 any business at the State House, the}' must at least hire the 
 lobby to keep quiet. But I must pause here, though not for 
 want of material, I assure you. But I have already said 
 enough to call the attention of the people of Massachusetts 
 to the chicanery and corruption which prevail at the Capitol ; 
 and that is all that is necessary. It rests with them to say 
 whether our political and material interests shall be left any 
 longer to the control of men who are 
 
 " Resolved to ruin or to rule the State," 
 
 evidently not caring much which. Can the people, can the 
 Republican party, stand this thing any longer? 
 
 A fellow once sat in the pit of the Providence theatre 
 (Providence is as good a place as any to locate the story 
 in), and, observing on his play-bill that "an interval of 
 twenty years is supposed to elapse between the fourth and 
 fifth acts," rose and retired, saying, " Very few of the audi- 
 ence will live till the conclusion of the piece." I fear it is 
 the same with the tunnel, as far as such old stagers as you 
 and I arc concerned. JMr. Whiting of Pembroke, the most, 
 original and one of the ablest men in the House, said in one 
 
330 "WAnniXGTOX:" 
 
 of his unique speeches, that the people in his region, man}' 
 of them, believed the tunnel to have been brought over in 
 " The Ma3'flower." If, contrar}' to expectation, the contract 
 takes it out of the legislative halls, and relegates it to the 
 executive chatnber and the treasury department, does not the 
 Edward Crane and N. B. Shurtlert' Commission, with Edward 
 Hamilton for secretar}', loom up in the distance? I have put 
 into m}- index ^ "'Boston and Lake Ontario," My successor 
 will never see an end to that entry. 
 
 The tunnel and the railroad need no description, of 
 course, I think it is impossible, however, to see the hole 
 in the mountain, Avithout being, in the abstract at least, a 
 " friend of the tunnel." If the work is ever completed, — 
 and it seems evident that nothing but time and money are 
 wanted for its completion ; that is, that there is no insupera- 
 ble natural obstacle, — Massachusetts and its people will 
 always be proud of it. It will be, indeed, the thing best 
 worth seeing in the whole State. 
 
 MEDICAL AND OTHER JARGON. 
 
 The question between homoeopathy and allopathy is pretty 
 much like that between law and equity, — only a question 
 which is the bigger humbng of the two. The " allopaths" 
 have made a serious blunder in not getting their system 
 legalized, consolidated by common law, and copper-fastened 
 b}- ten or fifteen thousand authoritative decisions. Then the 
 case of Ear-ache vs. Thomas a Beckct, or Chesterfield vs. 
 Carbuncle, would have settled every thing. Homoeopathy 
 spreads, not because people, when you pin them down to it, 
 believe in it, but because it is a protest against calomel and 
 jalap and bleeding, as Methodism was a protest against 
 the " grand old ugliness" (as Rev. Mr. Ames called it) of 
 Calvinism, and as Spiritualism satisfies the craving desire 
 for a belief in another world, which the common run of 
 orthodox and liberal preachers have not brains enough to 
 deduce from nature or revelation, or which, perhaps, cannot 
 
 1 To the Journal of the House. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 331 
 
 be deduced from nature or revelation b}^ any amount of 
 brains. And homoeopath^', like Spiritualism, is peculiarly 
 open to the quack. It requires no great outfit of intelli- 
 gence to practise it in the average country-town or in the 
 city. If 3'ou can persuade the sick man that there is some 
 mj'sterious ■wa}- in which the spoonful of diluted nothing 
 works, that is all 50U want. You can find half a dozen 
 tumblers in every house ; the pump is handy ; and the 3-oung- 
 est child can watch the clock : and all the patient is required 
 to do is to take his spoonful ever}- half- hour or two hours, 
 and then pa}^ the bill, or let it be settled by his adminis- 
 trator. 
 
 Mr. Emerson said once, that the only difference between 
 having a doctor, and not having one, is this : If you don't 
 have one, yow die ; if 30U do have one, 3-ou die : but, in this 
 last case, your relations find out what 3'ou died of. Not 
 unless a learned man is called in to make an examination ; 
 for I take it the principal trouble with allopath and homoeo- 
 path is, that the big or the little dose is given generally 
 without the slightest idea, or with only a guess, more or 
 less shrewd, as to what ails the patient, and what the eflfect 
 of the medicine is to be. There seems to be something 
 exact in surgery ; but dosing is mostly guess-work. The 
 laugh being all against the old-liners, we ought not to in- 
 crease its volume. And really there is something so con- 
 temptible in the whole globule sj'stem, with its- similia 
 similibus (derived, way back of Hahnemann, from the man 
 of Thessaly who scratched his eyes out by jumping into one 
 brier-bush, and scratched 'em in again by jumping into 
 another), that we cannot afford to let the old society be 
 laughed at too much. It has more learning than the new 
 school ; and learning is, in the long-run, the foe to dogma 
 and superstition, and ought to be encouraged as against 
 empiricism. 
 
 The opinion seems to be general, that the homoeopathists 
 give less medicine than other doctors, and that this is a gain. 
 I doubt whether this is the fact. Homoeopath}^, it seems to 
 
332 " WARBINGTON: " 
 
 me, has proved itself attractive, probabh' on account of its 
 novelt}' and mysterj', to an inordinate and disproportional 
 number of ignorant asses, compared with the old-line prac- 
 tice ; and it makes ver}- little differonce whether an ass 
 practises homoeopathy, or allopath}', or Thompsonianism, or 
 eclecticism. In the first place, he is almost sure to mistake 
 the symptoms and the disease ; and, even if ho guesses right 
 here, he will mistake as to the remed}'. Ilalmcmann would 
 be as astounded at the sight of the mass of our present 
 homoeopathic doctors as Drs. Bigelow or Bowditcli are at 
 the sight of the quacks who practise under the old system ; 
 and as it makes but little difference, if any, Avhat system of 
 medicine a fool selects as his way of enriching himself at 
 the public expense, so the degree of faitli and wonder with 
 which an ignorant public or neighborhood looks upon its 
 homosopathic doctor, and the assiduity with which it watches 
 the tumblers and the clock to see tliat the remedies are ad- 
 ministered exactl}' ever}- fifteen seconds during the da}', is as 
 pitiable as the faith and wonder men used to have in and for 
 the old saddle-bags of the fiimily physician, who, generally 
 speaking, was a man of some education, to say the least. 
 The apothecaries ask for some legislation to keep ignorant 
 people out of the profession ; and their proposition is worth 
 considering, tliough the true way of making quacks power- 
 less is to instruct the people. 
 
 The apothecaries have been to the Committee on the 
 Judiciary to protest against making a law that prescrijjtions 
 shall be written in the Englisli language. Dr. Buckingham 
 sent a letter, in wliich he took the ground that tliis would be 
 a very dangerous proceeding. Mr. Ilovey (member of the 
 House), Dr. Lincoln, Prof. Markoe, and Dr. Arnold, stated 
 their views clearly ; the main point being that Latin was a 
 universal language, and that drugs were known by different 
 English names in various places. Indeed, it was admitted 
 that these names were arbitrarily fixed by conventions, and 
 some of them had no meaning whatever, except to the ini- 
 tiated, like a password to a Masonic lodge, or Tappertit's 
 
PEK-PORTRAITS. 333 
 
 secret society. So, if any of your readers get a prescrip- 
 tion, prefaced hy an R witli a stab through the middle of it, 
 reading, 
 
 "3iij9;s3 Hoppergollop ; s i j 9; s x o," 
 
 he need not think he can ascertain what it is by going even 
 to a pharmacopoeia. Tlie innocent drugs ma}^ safely be 
 labelled in English, and perhaps the sick man will save his 
 money at least ; and, if the poisons are properl}' labelled, 
 the patient maj' refuse to take them, and there will be a clear 
 gain all round. Whatever the doctors may think, this is 
 not a question between them and the apothecaries : on the 
 contrar}', the sick man has a good deal to do with it. 
 
 The apothecaries, if the}' are interested in it, ought to 
 allow a clause to be inserted, compelling doctors to write all 
 prescriptions in the English language. That relic of mj's- 
 tery and superstition, the Latin prescription, ought to be 
 abolished. No man with self-respect — and b}' this I mean 
 with respect for the safety of his own body — will take a pre- 
 scription from a doctor to an apothecary without getting the 
 Latin translated into English. How does it happen that the 
 three professions — physic, law, and theolog}' — find it neces- 
 sary', in order to get a living, to make use of jargon ? There 
 is jargon to make you believe j'our soul is in danger from 
 hell, and that onlj- the creed of the Church can save it ; jar- 
 gon to make you believe that only a law3'er and a suit can 
 save 3'our estate from 3'our eneni}' ; and, worst of all, this 
 medical jargon, to make 3'ou believe the ignorant experi- 
 menter upon 3'our bowels and brains knows more than 30U 
 do about them. When will jargon be done awa3^ with? By 
 all means, let the apothecaries commence this reform in their 
 department. 
 
 [July 8, 18()9.] 
 THE PROHIBITGUY LAW, AND LAWS GENERALLY. 
 
 The prohibitor3' law proper was passed in 1852, and 
 amended and perfected in 1855. In 1867 it bore the signa- 
 
334 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 ture of Henry J. Gardner, a Boston rum Democrat, The 
 constabulary law was enacted by a Republican legislature, 
 but was draughted b^' Gov. Andrew himself in 18G7, the 
 leading advocate of a license law ; and was voted for by any 
 number of Boston men, who afterward joined secret organiza- 
 tions to effect its repeal, among them Mr. A. O. Allen, who 
 figured as the leader of th«P. L. L.'s in the Republican Con- 
 vention. Gov. Andrew was again and again renominated and 
 re-elected by the Republicans when known to be against pro- 
 hibition, and after vetoing the favorite measure of the prohibi- 
 tionists, — the Jurj'Bill. Both the prominent candidates for 
 speaker in 1866, Mr. Stone and Mr. Jewell, were well-known 
 opponents of the prohibitory' law ; and they divided the whole 
 vote of the House. Mr. J. Q. Adams was chosen to the legis- 
 lature of 1866 as a Republican, and remained in good standing 
 until he ratted to the Copperheads, for reasons solely connect- 
 ed with national politics. It is simpl}- impossible for the 
 Republicans to declare themselves on one side or the other 
 of the liquor question. The reason why the law cannot be 
 enforced, and why it will, before long, either be upheld, or 
 become a dead-letter (as it was in 1864), is simply, that a 
 majurity of the people buy liquor, and use it as a beverage, 
 more or less of it ; and, as far as m}' observation goes, the 
 Republicans drink their share. 
 
 The people of Massachusetts, I am confident, would be 
 glad to settle the liquor question on a fair basis. It is im- 
 possible to settle it at present on an3' principle ; for neither 
 the license party nor the prohibitorj- part}- hold to a principle, 
 and one is just as far from holding to it as the other. The 
 legislature came very near carr3-ing out the desire of the 
 people, and framing a law with a fair prospect of perma- 
 nence. What prevented them? On the one hand, the political 
 interests of the handful of Democrats in the House, which 
 were, of course, adverse to any settlement on a decent founda- 
 tion ; and, on the other hand, the stupidity of the State Alli- 
 ance. Now, according to my observation, the only way for a 
 minority party to get power, or for a minority principle to get 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 335 
 
 itself enacted into a law, is either to j'ield and trim, or to set 
 up independently, and defy opposition. It is just as clear as 
 any thing can be in politics, that the prohibitory part}' and 
 principle are in a minority in Massachusetts. The only time 
 the issue has been tried since the first Maine Law was passed 
 (in 1852), the law was buried beneath an adverse majorit}^ 
 of thirty thousand or forty thousand. It may not be polite to 
 say so ; but he is a fool who denies or doubts this. William 
 B. Spooner don't doubt it ; neither does Judge Pitman. 
 
 Mr. Spooner and Mr. Pitman represent these two ways of 
 getting ahead in the prohibitory line, Mr. Spooner is will- 
 ing to j'ield and trim. He did his best to procure a modifica- 
 tion of the law, and, for a time, carried men enough with him 
 to control the issue. Mr. Pitman is not willing to 3'ield or 
 trim : if others do so, he will acquiesce (as in the exclusion 
 of cider from the law) , but with a sigh of regret over the 
 weakness of poor human nature ; and he probabl}' feels that 
 such a yielding only postpones the day of independent action. 
 The majority of the alliance are men who have not political 
 sagacit}' enough to win, like Mr. Spooner, nor political and 
 moral independence enough, like Judge Pitman, to set up, or 
 even contemplate setting up, a new part}- ; and the result of 
 their control is, or will be, the ultimate defeat of their law 
 and their cause, so far as they are intrusted with its care. 
 
 When the advocates of any principle or measure ascer- 
 tain with a good degree of certainty that one large part}' is 
 all hostile to them, and a still largei party is indifferent, if 
 not hostile, and that it has nothing to hope in the way of 
 active friendship from either, there are only two sensible waj-s 
 of proceeding : first, to accept the situation, keep as much of 
 the law as the people will tolerate, execute it as faithfulh* as 
 prudence will allow, and devote attention to moral and intel- 
 lectual and social methods of promoting their reform ; or, 
 second, organize independentl}', and try to get out of the 
 fears of parties what cannot be got out of their love. 
 
 In the House, a majority of the Republican members voted 
 for a modification of the old law. Almost enough of its 
 
336 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 friends broke away from the control of the alliance, and 
 followed Mr. Spooner, to effect their object in spite of the 
 votes of the fifteen or twenty Democrats which were steadily 
 given for the law in all its strictness. The law went to the 
 Senate ; and there the adherents of Mr. Spooner' s views were 
 still stronger, and they carried, on three or fonr occasions, a 
 modification of the law : whereupon, b}- a union of Blifil and 
 Black George, the law was killed. It was too prohibitive 
 for the license men, and too liberal for the prohibitive men. 
 Then the moderate men juelded, reconsidered tlieir votes, 
 re-inserted lager-beer, and passed the bill, cider onl}' ex- 
 cluded. I think this result unfortunate, especiall}' in its 
 probable effect on the general legislation of the State. B}' 
 political machiner}', aided b}' that inevitable stupidity 
 against which even the gods are powerless, the people (who 
 wanted a law to close grog-shops which could be enforced, 
 and was not liable to repeal every year) — the people are 
 baffled. Tliey have got to tr}' again. But tlie opportunity 
 for a fair trial is not likel}' to come just j-et. In 18G7 a 
 secret society, organized b}' the grog-shop interest, had the 
 management of the re-action against the extravagances of 
 the alliance and of Constable Jones, left without control as 
 ho was by executive discretion. 
 
 This State police has a queer history. It was in Gov. 
 Andrew's brain as long ago as December, 18G0, or Januar}-, 
 18G1, when he found himself unable to put down MaAor 
 Wightman's mob at the Tremont Temple, and was so taken 
 to task l>y "Wendell Phillips for not going behind or stretch- 
 ing his authority', and sending down a military force to the 
 Temple to preserve order. " Mr. Phillips," said the govern- 
 or, "you are a law3-er ; there are a hundred lawyers within 
 five minutes' walk of the State House : if you, or any one 
 of those hundred lawyers, will show me any authority' I 
 possess b}' the laws of the State to put down the riot, I will 
 exercise it at once." Born of this difficulty Avas, in due 
 time, the State constabular}-. The opportunity' came when 
 the temperance party was pressing the metropolitan plan ; 
 
PEN FOR TRAITS. 33 7 
 
 and the governor interposed, by Mr. Sawin of Natick, this 
 favorite scheme of his. 
 
 Sucli an organization as the P. L. L. could not, of course, 
 make a law which would stand. From the extreme of the 
 deep well and the moss-covered bucket to the other extreme 
 of the red-hot tumbler of rot-gut was too much. So, taking 
 advantage of a presidential election, and of the natural dis- 
 gust at excessive drinking, the legislature of 1868 came in, 
 with the result we now are likely to see. I don't predict 
 any such overthrow as that of 18G7. The history of the 
 P. L. L. ought to go for something ; but, if a re-action comes, 
 who will be to blame for it? Not 3"ou or I, dear Beptiblican. 
 We can, at least, have our " I told 3-ou so," can we not? 
 and, more than that, the satisfaction of fighting against both 
 these pestilent cliques. The legislation of the State suffers 
 incalculabl}' from the domination of secret political orders. 
 WQiat right has an American machinist, or shoemaker, or 
 laborer, to demean himself b}- imitating this feudal nonsense ? 
 It is bad enough for wealthy men and aspiring politicians to 
 get up such high-sounding organizations : an American self- 
 respecting democrat ought to keep out of them. Bat it 
 remains true that our recent legislatures, besides being 
 unnecessarily spun out, are too largely composed of men 
 who are nominated by secret cliques. The head-centre of 
 the rot-gut division of the P. L. L. gets here one 3'ear, and 
 is succeeded by the grand perpetual secretary of the inde- 
 pendent order of water-drinkers. What these gentlemen 
 think of railroad policy, insurance policy, suffrage, the har- 
 bors and flats, the judiciary, and other questions of general 
 interest, is of no consequence compared with their views of 
 what it is expedient for a man to eat and drink. 
 
 The worshipful grand faddj'-duddj's of both the temper- 
 ance and rum organizations are prett}' sure to be small men, 
 and unfit for public affairs. And here is the secret of the 
 crude legislation of recent years, which I would not b}- an}' 
 means exaggerate ; for I do not think so poorly of our laws 
 as man}' people profess to. If they are not the perfection 
 
338 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 of wisdom, the grand average of political intelligence in the 
 Commonwealth makes tlicm, on the whole, tolerabl}' wise, and 
 generally in accordance with a good state of public opinion. 
 
 Practicall}-, the people of the State stand precisely where 
 Ensign Stebbins stood in 1852 (and I use this iUustration 
 because it is my own thunder ; and, having become a standard 
 political joke, I am disposed to reclaim it). The ensign's 
 famous declaration occurred in a letter to the Mayor of .Sac- 
 carap : he avowed himself in favor of the Maine Law, but 
 opposed to its enforcement. So long as the sale of liquor 
 was practically unrestrained, the law was not unpopular 
 enough to excite an}'' special commotion ; the moment it 
 began to be enforced to the inconvenience of temperate men, 
 it had to go down. It never went upon all-fours, or had any 
 ver}' logical basis ; it did not even follow out closely in its 
 terms the prohibition theorj' ; and, so far as it did go, it could 
 not be impartiall}' executed. It is easj' enough to denounce 
 Major Jones, or whoever was responsible, for sparing the 
 tables at Parker's, and shutting up the bars ; for stopping 
 perpendicular drinking, and consenting to other kinds. There 
 are some things which no police force, or even military force, 
 can do. And it is a great mistake to suppose that all la\vs 
 ought to be executed, or are made to bo executed. You 
 might as well sa}' all guide-boards arc made to be obeyed, 
 and that Avhoever persists in taking the wrong road to Feed- 
 ing Hills or Mittineague ought to be mulcted in a heavy 
 fine. 
 
 More Liws are disobej'cd than obeyed. This is no reason 
 for not enacting them, but a good reason for caution in 
 enacting. As Coleridge was not afraid of ghosts, because 
 he had seen too many of them, so men who see the making 
 of a great man}- laws get to have small respect for them at 
 last, — for them as laws: I mean, when not backed up b}-, 
 and representative of, common sense and public opinion. 
 The law should be a "terror to evil-doers" undoubtedl}' ; 
 but it cannot always be a punisher of evil doers. It is 
 common enough to hear it said that the prohibitory law 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 339 
 
 ought to be impartiall}' enforced : it is a sufficient answer to 
 say that it cannot be. That "blockhead of a word," as 
 Napoleon called it, — the word " impossible," — is written on 
 the statute as it now stands, and in the present condition of 
 society. The question of regulating the sale of liquor is 
 clearly one of the great questions of the next era. Earnest 
 and sagacious men, whose convictions are definite on tiie 
 subject, are not to be blamed for making preparations for 
 the new issue, but are to be commended, rather. Such men, 
 at once speculative and practical (by "practical" I mean 
 familiar with public affairs, not "thinking as I do"), are 
 the most useful men in the communit3\ 
 
 GUBERNATOraAL VOTES FROM 1830 TO 1870. 
 
 The Republican party was organized here as earl}' as 1855, 
 though in that j^ear it failed to carry the State against the 
 Know-Nothings. In 1856 it carried the State b}' an over- 
 whelming majorit}' for Fremont ; but, perhaps on account 
 of the bargains and coalitions which were made with the 
 adherents of Gardner and with the Fremont American 
 part}', it cannot be said to have been " fairl}' " organized 
 even in that 3'ear. In 1857 Gardner still persisted in 
 running as the American candidate ; and the Republicans 
 made a fight against him under Banks, and gave the latter 
 a plurality of 23,000, — just about the same as it gave Gov. 
 Claflin in 18G9. Yet this veiy year it was in a minority of 
 8,700 votes; Beach, the Democratic candidate, receiving 
 31,000 votes. Not until 1859 was the Republican part}' in a 
 fixed and settled majority in this State. This year it gave 
 Banks 23,500 majority over the Democratic candidate, and 
 about 9,000 over him and Ex-Gov. Briggs, who ran on some 
 sort of an anti-board-of-education ticket, got up mainly in 
 Bristol County and thereabout. This brings us to 18G0 ; and 
 this year, again, there were three parties, — Douglas Demo- 
 crat (35,000 votes), Bell and Everett (24,000), and Breckin- 
 ridge Democrat (6,100). Gov. Andrew received 104,000, or 
 39,000 majority over them all, or about 63,000 over the two 
 
340 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 Democratic candidates. Next 3'ear we had onl}' tsvo parties ,' 
 and Gov. Andrew received Go, 000 votes, and a majority of 
 34,000. Tliis was the smallest Republican vote since the 
 part}' was " fairl}' " organized ; though, on account of" the de- 
 pressed condition of the Democrats, the majority' was large. 
 
 In l8G2we had the hitter contest with Joel Parker's party ; 
 and Gov. Andrew received 79,835 votes ; and Gen. Devens, 
 54,107 : majorit}-, 25,GG8. In 18G3 our majority went up to 
 41,276; Gov. Andrew receiving 70,483 (less than Gov. 
 Claflin in 1869), and the Democratic candidate 29,207. In 
 18G4 Andrew's vote went up from 70,000 to 125,000, the 
 other side having 49,000 : Republican majority, 76,000. In 
 1865, Gov. Bullock's first year as a candidate, our vote went 
 down from 125,000 to 70,000 again ; and still our majority 
 was over 49,000, the Democratic vote being only 21,000. 
 In 1866 we increased our vote to 92,000, and our majorit}- 
 to 65,341 ; the Democratic vote being only slightl}" increased 
 up to 26,000. Now comes 1867, when, under the liquor-law 
 excitement, and in spite of the "off 3'ear," our vote went 
 up from 92,000 to 98,000, and the Democratic vote jumped 
 from 26,000 to 70,000, leaving our majority only 28,000. 
 In 1868 Gov. Claflin received 132,121 votes; and Adams, 
 63,266: Republican majority, 68,855. And now (in 1869) 
 the Republican vote has gone down to about 73,000, and the 
 Democratic to about 50,000. (I have not the figures at 
 hand.) The Labor candidate receives 15,000 votes ; and if 
 we suppose, which is but fair, I think, that 9,000 of them 
 were cast b}' Republicans, we shall find the actual Republican 
 majority- to be about 25,000, — larger than that of 1858 or 
 1859, the same as 1862, and nearly as large as that of 
 1867. And, when we remember that the vote of 1867 was 
 45,000 larger than that of 1869, we shall see that our peril 
 and our loss were much greater in 1867 than in the present 
 year. 
 
 I do not disagree with " Templeton " ' as to the causes of 
 
 1 George H. Monroe. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 341 
 
 our comparative weakness within the last three 3'ears. The 
 liquor law is the great cause of the trouble ; and the reason 
 why our majorit}' is substantial!}' greater than it was in 1867 
 is because the Republican part}- is less entangled with the 
 question of prohibition than it was in that 3"ear, and, I may 
 add, because Gov. Claflin is less entangled with it than Gov. 
 Bullock was. It is of no use, however, to disguise the fact, 
 that, since the war ended, the Democratic party has strength- 
 ened itself without i^egard to the liquor question. There 
 has generally been, sa}' for the last twent}^ ^ears, a Demo- 
 cratic party of about 40,000 votes, which in an emergency, 
 and joining with disgruntled Republicans, could make its 
 footings about 50,000. It gave McClellan this number in 
 18G4, and the people's party mustered rather more in 18G2. 
 Then the Irish vote has largely' increased j-ear by year. 
 Johnson's defection in 18G6 gave the part}' hopes of success 
 in the coming presidential election ; and, though things were 
 not ripe then for a strong movement, it is no wonder that 
 the next year, under Mr. Adams, they brought their vote up 
 to 70,000, and our majority down to 28,000. 
 
 [July 20, 1870.] 
 REV. J. D. FULTON AND HIS ECUMENICAL COUNCIL. 
 
 Of course you have seen and relished the full report of 
 Fulton's speech at the meeting of Baptist ministers called 
 to settle the question whether Rev. Mr. Murray was acting 
 according to evangelical ideas in saying a good word for 
 Charles Dickens ; and, as a corollary, whether Fulton and 
 Dunn were justified in sending the novelist to hell, as they 
 did so recently, and with such self-sufficient unction. Inci- 
 dental to this question was the one, whether the novelist 
 aforesaid was really undergoing the punishment appointed 
 for all men who satirize the clergy and drink wine. The 
 meeting did not decide this last question ; Dr. Murdock's 
 suggestion, that it be left to the Almighty "with full pow- 
 ers," being considered a wise one by all except Fulton, who 
 
342 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 has no idea of leaving such matters to the Almighty ; at any 
 rate, without his aid in tlie shape of advice. 
 
 At first thought, it seems sad that Dickens cannot read 
 the proceedings of this meeting, cspecIaH}- Fulton's speech. 
 But, after all, the "wonderful humorist knew Fulton inti- 
 matel}'. As Shakspeare knew all the Dogberrys, all the Cades, 
 all the Touchstones, all the Pistols, all the Fluellens, all the 
 Gobbos, that had gone before or would come after him, so 
 did Dickens know Fulton. The primal ass involves, includes, 
 prophesies, all asses, from the creation of the world down- 
 ward or upward. Dr. Murdock, Dr. Neale, Dr. Eddy, and 
 the rest, though provoked, no doubt, at being put into such 
 a position, must have secretly enjo3-ed the meeting, and 
 especiall}' Fulton's speech. Who could help enjoying it? 
 Satire pales its ineffectual fires before such a sublime realit}'. 
 Do 30U know that I claim to have been the first discoverer 
 of Fulton? and I flatter myself that I have brought him 
 out. Nothiug in his discussions of the woman question has 
 at all equalled his scintillations since Dickens died. He 
 seems to be conscious tliat he has a genius for donkeyhood 
 which nobody else approaches. No newspaper can afford to 
 ignore Fulton. He is an institution which must hencefor- 
 ward be acknowledged. 
 
 Isn't it a little odd, by the way, thnt his domonstralion is 
 so coincident in point of time with the poor old Pope's 
 assumption of his infallibility? You are reminded a little 
 of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, though Fulton is not a fol- 
 lower of Pius the Ninth. Not he. He is an opposition pope. 
 He keeps the shop over the way. He shows up the Pope 
 every other week, alternating him with Dickens. He is not 
 so powerful, however, as the Roman Pope. The latter sets 
 all Europe at loggerheads : Fulton only sets all America 
 into fits of inextinguishable laughter. Everybody was on 
 the broad grin yesterday and the day before. " Ho, ho ! 
 Look here, old fellow: have you seen ' Tlie Advertiser'?" 
 — " What ? Oh, yes ! Fulton ! Haw, haw, haw ! ' ' One man 
 stumbles against another, nearly knocking him down, and. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 343 
 
 as he begs pardon, bursts out laughing, " Excuse me, sh* ; but 
 I was thuiking of Fulton: seen the report of his speech? " 
 — "Oh, j-es ! very funny! No consequence, sir. Good- 
 morning ! " — " Halloo ! Come in here ! Want to show 3'ou 
 something." — " What's that? Oh! I know — Fulton ! 
 Good gracious ! don't you suppose I've seen that ! Ho, ho, 
 ho ! " And so it went, up and down the streets. I doubt 
 whether " Pickwick " itself ever made people so good-natured. 
 As Dickens's death " eclipsed the gaj-ety of nations," so 
 Fulton's exploits eclipsed the sun itself. Heat was forgot- 
 ten, the soda-shops neglected, and men were as willing to 
 wear thick clothes as thin ones. It was "all along" of 
 Fulton and his ecumenical council that Boston was so good- 
 natured on Tuesday and Wednesda}'. But Fulton was voted 
 down. Pius Ninth is declared infallible ; but Dr. Murdock, 
 speaking the solid sense of the Baptist clerg}', says, " Let us 
 leave the question of Dickens and his soul to the Almighty, 
 with full powers." Fort}^ to one, the council saj's Amen to 
 Dr. Murdock, and Fulton goes home to write another shriek- 
 ing sermon for the Tremont-Temple conventicle. You don't 
 know Fulton if 3'ou suppose he is going to leave it to the 
 Almighty. Not he. Tremont Temple is a co-ordinate 
 branch of the divine government, in his opinion ; and Dick- 
 ens will not be saved with his consent. He hopes for better 
 things than that. Fulton himself is a fore-ordained and 
 predestined blackguard ; and, if he is ever redeemed, the 
 grace of God will have one of its greatest personal and 
 historical triumphs. 
 
 [Oct. 19.] 
 
 JOHN QUINCT ADAMS AND THE DEMOCRATS. 
 
 Mr. Adams's letter previous to the convention, Avritten 
 in grave style, — grave as his great-grandfather's " Novan- 
 glus " Essays before the Revolution; graver, according to 
 my imperfect recollection of those productions, — gave the 
 impression that he was anxious to withdraw from the field. 
 
344 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 It is doubtful if this is so. He informed Judge Abbott that 
 he should not be a candidate, and voUniteered to aid the 
 judge ; but afterward changed his mind (for good reasons, 
 no doubt) , and denied that he was out of the wa}'. Mr. 
 Adams is not a fit candidate for any party that makes pre- 
 tensions to contest the field. To be a political leader, a 
 man must at least put on a pretence of earnestness, if he be 
 not reall}' in earnest. He ma}' be an office-seeker, and a 
 corruptionist, read}^ to buy and sell, to be bought and sold ; 
 but he must at least believe in his part}', if in nothing else. 
 Mr. Adams believes in nothing. He has not even an out- 
 ward show of respect for the commonest public opinion. 
 The language of trifling is his natural tongue. He is a 
 humorist, I admit ; but the greatest humorists have been 
 earnest men, while he is earnest in nothing but mocker3% 
 No one cares less than he about the " heathen Chinee ; " 3'et 
 he takes up the cr}- against them as glibl}' as if he believed 
 in it. Nobody cares less than he about taxes (except those 
 paid by the Adams family), or the tariflT, or railroad grants, 
 or the prosperity of the ship^-ards, or long sessions of the 
 legislature, or any thing else talked about in his letter. 
 His bluster about the lobb}' and the railroad loans is posi- 
 tively funny ; and anybody' who recollects how valiantly he 
 opposed the grant of a hundred thousand dollars for repair- 
 ing Provincetown Harbor, and how suddenly he caved in 
 after having being taken down to the Cape on a junketing 
 excursion, will appreciate his talk about the veto-power. 
 He veto a railroad-grant ! Well, that is a good one ! What 
 if he should? Judging by " The Post," an}- " plan of plun- 
 der" would receive a two-thirds vote of the Democrats in 
 the legislature ; and a veto would be of no service in defend- 
 ing the public treasury without Republican aid. Sessions 
 dragged out till midsummer indeed ! How is Gov. Adams 
 to stop the extension ? Members of his party are invariably 
 the greatest obstructionists as well as the greatest corrup- 
 tionists, and Adams knows it ; and he is an arrant humbug 
 for pretending the contrar}'. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 345 
 
 Eeform in the ch'il service ! This is to be eflfected b}' a 
 Democratic restoration, it seems. Fancy, if 3011 can, Charles 
 G. Greene,. Charles Levi Wooclbmy, James S. Whitney, 
 Patrick A. Collins, J. M. Keith, A. 0. Brewster, and J. Q. 
 Adams, sitting down after the election of John T. Hoffman 
 to the presidenc}', and dranghting a civil-service bill ; or 
 writing a letter to J. T. II., requesting him to order com- 
 petitive examinations for the Boston Custom House. Does 
 not satire pale its ineffectual fires here ? What in the world 
 is Adams quarrelling with the Republicans for ? He sa3-s lie 
 knows that " most of the wise and conservative men of the 
 Republican party" are against the prohibitory law; but 
 they would not sa}' so in their resolutions : so he goes for a 
 part}' which makes a declaration for the purpose of catching 
 votes, and which never can have the power to affect the 
 question legislatively, one wa}^ or the other, O Jack, Jack ! 
 wh}' didn't you carry out your first sensible intention, and 
 wait ' ' two yeai's ' ' befoi'e j'ou fully made up 3'our mind on 
 which side 3-ou would exercise your powerful and " effectual 
 intervention in national affairs ' ' ? 
 
 Mr. Adams was one of the Jack-at-a-pinch nominations, 
 caught up in an emergenc3' in 1867 ; and, the liquor issue 
 having died out, he does not now^ represent an3' thing in the 
 part3\ Nothing justifies such a departure from the Demo- 
 cratic traditions, except success ; and Mr, Adams, thougli he 
 has run well, has not succeeded. He has a wholesome con- 
 tempt for ever3-bod3', — rather too much of it, in fact ; and 
 it is impossible to make a Democrat of him, though he is 
 anti-Republican enough. No wonder he wants to get rid 
 of the honor of a fourth campaign. Next comes T. H. 
 Sweetser,.who was the candidate before Mr. Adams. Mr. 
 Sweetser is a law3'er, and one of the best ; not speciall}- a 
 student of politics like Mr. Adams, but capable of stud3'ing 
 it. He has no more belief in human nature than Mr. 
 Adams (probabl3' not so much) , but is a good deal more in 
 earnest in an3' enterprise he engages in. He, too, is no 
 Democrat. He was in the Chicago Convention of 1860, led 
 
346 " WAItlilNGTON : " 
 
 there by his hatred of Gov. Banks, of whom there was then 
 some fear. He soon, this danger over, relapsed into hunk- 
 erism, Avhich is his native element. lie is aji able, con- 
 temptuous, independent, fearless man ; but would be a poor 
 governor on a good many accounts. 
 
 Then there is William AVirt Warren of Brighton. lie is 
 a smart young lawj-er, in good practice, and personally 
 clever, but is not known widely. And Charles Levi Wood- 
 bury, who is a man of the world, a reader and scholar, a 
 good speaker, wlio is invariably listened to Avith interest. 
 He is not, perhaps, a man of strong convictions as to 
 principles (though in this I think he has the advantage of 
 the other men I have named ; for he argued the Sunday 
 librar}' and tlie reading and writing questions like a man 
 who thoroughl}- believed what he said, and he argued them 
 also with skill and ability) ; but he has tlie advantage of 
 being a strict party man. He believes the Democratic 
 traditions. This is ver^' mucli bettor tlian to believe in 
 nothing. A party man generally has a sense of responsi- 
 bility to his organization ; and his party, if national, is 
 alwa3-s respectable, and represents widel}- a popular feeling 
 and impulse. He is kept b}' this sense of responsibilit}' at 
 his work, and makes a better executive or legislative officer 
 than if he were at loose ends and floating about. If a man 
 is not a great genius, and capable of constructing and lead- 
 ing a party, he had better quietly' follow it, and do the best 
 he can. Mr. Woodbur}' would make a respectable repre- 
 sentative candidate, and not, as C'hoate said of the harness, 
 a " good, sound, substantial second-hand one," either; for 
 he is fresh, never having held an elective office. 
 
 [Nov. 30.] 
 STATESMEN AND POLITICIANS. 
 
 Rev. James Freeman Clarke, in " Old and New," lays 
 down with great unction the distinction between the states- 
 man and politician, when, in fact, there is no such distinction. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 347 
 
 The words are synonymous. It suits the purposes of certain 
 dilettanti to attach a low meaning to politician, and a high 
 one to statesman : that is all. To show the absurdity of 
 Mr. Clarke's attempted distinction, it is onl}^ necessar}- to 
 look at his examples of statesmen. He says a politician 
 is a man who thinks of the next election, while the states- 
 man thinks of the next generation. Jefferson and Hamilton, 
 he thinks, were statesmen : so were Jay and John Adams. 
 Yet one half the people in their day thought Jefferson a 
 politician of the lowest order, and the other half thought 
 no better of Hamilton ; and both these men thought as much 
 of the next election as ever Stephen A. Douglas did. Nor 
 do I think it can be denied that Mr. Webster was a states- 
 man. No man ever took more thought than Mr. Webster 
 for the next election, or less for the next generation. Charles 
 Sumner was a statesman and a politician too. 
 
 Mr. Clarke might find a distinction between the statesman 
 or politician and the publicist ; but there is none, either in 
 theory or practice or in history, between the two classes he 
 tries to set against each other : and there is no end to the 
 mischief he, and such as he, does hy attempting to fix a 
 stigma upon the word "politics" and the business of man- 
 aging public affairs. I believe the politicians of Massachu- 
 setts are the most honest and useful men in the State, and 
 that a man who attains a position of usefulness among them 
 is sure to be a man of character and worth. Instead of turn- 
 ing up their noses at politicians, such men had better become 
 politicians tliemselves, and not leave the business of govern- 
 ment to the baser sort of politicians, who take up with it 
 because better men will not. Just now we are having one 
 of our periodical spasms of sniffing, snuffling virtue by 
 clergymen, college professors, half-naturalized English or 
 Irish editors, half-graduated fools from the colleges, about 
 the politicians. Now, if these new dictionary-makers, wiser 
 than Worcester or Webster, would define politician and 
 statesman according to their real idea, the}' would say some- 
 thing like this: "A politician, for example, is a man who 
 
348 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 reads ' The New- York Tribune ; ' a Btatesman, one who 
 reads 'The New- York Nation.' A politician is a man wiio 
 belongs to a party, holds office, seeks for it sometimes, does 
 as well as he can to carry on public affairs, guides when he 
 can, and drifts when he must : a statesman is a man who 
 talks loftily about the corruptions of politics, keeps away 
 from the elections, prophesies evil continually, reads books 
 on minorit}' representation, deplores the tendenc}- to democ- 
 racy, has a good deal to say about the unwashed, thinks 
 there ought to be some new restriction on voting, rather 
 regrets that we ever undertook an}' democratic experi- 
 ments;" and so on. 
 
 Mr. Clarke is not naturally with this sort of men ; but he 
 has fallen into their canting wa^'s in the article I have 
 referred to. Here is another of his brilliant definitions : 
 "The politician believes in the newspaper; the statesman, 
 in the people." Yet Hamilton and Ja}' and Webster 
 notoriousl}' did not believe in the people. Jefferson did, 
 and so was called a demagogue and a politician by the 
 Federalists. I should like to know how a man can believe 
 in the people, usefully, without reading the people's news- 
 paper, and believing in it to the extent of studying it to find 
 out what the people believe in and desire. A " statesman" 
 who should confine his political reading to Benton's "De- 
 bates" and "The Federalist," and Bentham and Mill and 
 Bastiat, and the congressional documents, and Niles's 
 "Register," and the files of "The Richmond Enquirer," 
 to the neglect of the New- York and Chicago and Boston and 
 Springfield newspapers, — well, he might as well confine 
 himself to "The New-York Nation " and the letters of the 
 Yale professors, and done with it. The i)olitician may be 
 " very near-sighted ; " but better that than altogether blind. 
 I have the misfortune to believe that the politicians are as 
 good as the people the}' represent ; and that when the 
 people rise (as the}' did in this State in 1855 and 18G7), and 
 throttle the politicians, the State is rather worse off than if 
 they had been let alone. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 349 
 
 [Dec. 7.] 
 MR. WILLIAM GRAY AND THE CITY ELECTION. 
 
 Mr. William Gra}^ went to his house and his bed on Mon- 
 day night evidently in a very self-satisfied condition of 
 mind. He had emerged, for this time onh', from his com- 
 fortable dwelling-house, in order to take a part in politics. 
 He had been complimented with the presidenc}' of a citizens' 
 caucus. He had met with these citizens ; and, " upon in- 
 quiry," these citizens had satisfied themselves that Mr. 
 Gaston was the man for their mone}'. Accordingly, the}' 
 had nominated him fur mayor ; and Mr. Gray had written 
 him a letter, clothed in Harvard-college English, to which 
 Mr. Gaston had replied in the same polite and unexceptiona- 
 ble tongue. The business of the caucus having been finished, 
 Mr. Gray had been thanked for the able, impartial, and dig- 
 nified manner in which he had presided ; and to this vote of 
 thanks he had replied in a speech characterized by the great- 
 est decorum, and sufficiently pointed to be interrupted once 
 or twice b}" " applause." Mr. Gray had declared to his 
 caucus, that, in his opinion, an importance«.had attached to 
 it " much bej'ond the present election, or any single election 
 which ever has been or ever can be held." Gracefully refer- 
 ring to the fame and character of "• the old cit}' of Boston," 
 Mr. Gray deprecated the approach of the day when it should 
 be necessary for the Commonwealth to govern it b}' com- 
 missions, as the State of New York governs the cit}' of New 
 York; but he feared that day would come, "if we" (the 
 caucus aforesaid) " are unfaithful to our duties." He deli- 
 catel}' referred to the charge which had been made, that per- 
 sons of independence and public spirit (like Mr. Gray) could 
 have no influence in our primary meetings : he would not 
 undertake to say whether this charge is true or not. Some 
 one here aided him a little to form a judgment on the matter 
 by crying out, " True, true, true ! " Self-poised, and by no 
 means allowing himself to be swa3-ed from his condition of 
 doubtfulness on this point, Mr. Gray proceeded, on firm 
 
350 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 ground, to say, or rather to " undertake to sa}*," that " this 
 convention, formed almost b}' an accident, in consequence 
 of the meeting of a few individuals of Ward P^leven at the 
 St. James Hotel," had become a bod\', " which, in point of 
 character and respectability, decorum, and kindliness of feel- 
 ing, cannot be surpassed an3'where," " I came here a 
 stranger to almost ever\' one of you," said Mr. Grav, " and 
 most of you were strangers to me as I was to you ; yet, with 
 different opinions, we came together with an honest purpose, — 
 to select honest, competent, and disinterested men for public 
 ofl3ce." And, warming up with a sense of the prodigious 
 magnitude of his great mission, Mr. Gra}^ went on to say, 
 that if wc could see, year after year, a convention as earnest 
 as this has been, " we should have taken a step irt advance 
 of an}' thing ever taken in a large city in the history of 
 republics." Mr. Gray could not say much after this; and, 
 after thanking the caucus for its kindness, he closed his 
 speech, and went home and to bed with emotions which are 
 easier conceived than described. 
 
 This is all laughable enough to those who know that the 
 Mercantile-hall movement is ciititled to no greater respect 
 than the sftore of Parker-house committees, Faneuil-hall 
 committees. Republican committees, and Democratic com- 
 mittees, which have got together, openly or secretly, to con- 
 trol city politics for the last ten 3'ears. How the Avire-pullers 
 of the caucus must have laughed in their sleeves when 
 Mr. Gra}^ alluded to the origin of the committee, — '* almost 
 b}^ accident"! Ah! Mr. Gra}-, look into j'our Pope, and 
 read, — 
 
 "All nature is but art, unknown to thee; 
 All chance, direction which thou canst not see." 
 
 The prospect of a reform in city politics is, notwithstand- 
 ing Mr. Gray's speech, very poor indeed. Mr. Gray will 
 not, probably, emerge from his library again, until he deems 
 his presence needful in the next tremendous crisis ; or, if he 
 does, the gentleman from AVard Two or Ward Seven, the 
 initial of whose surname is Mac, will have twice as much 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 351 
 
 influence as he with the Koxbury laAvyer who wrote him the 
 polite note accepting the nomination for mayor. 
 
 PUES. ELIOT AND HARVARD COLLEGE IN 1871. 
 
 Pres. Eliot is said to be a good deal of a reformer ; but 
 he has not yet reformed the style of printing the order of 
 exercises for Commencement Day. If he will abolish Prof. 
 Lane, or whoever is the author of the outlandish and sym- 
 bolical Latin which appears there, he will do good service, 
 even to the graduates of the college, not one in ten of whom 
 can tell what it means. And if a graduate trained in the 
 classics is puzzled, what must be the emotions of a "lay- 
 man " ! Fanc}' the feelings of the mother of Augustus Ja}^, 
 as she clasps to her bosom her successful first-born, and 
 finds, when he produces the programme, that he has been 
 transformed into " Avgvstvs Ja}- " ! " My dear boy, how u 
 have changed ! " she will sa}'. And Samuel Brearly's father 
 finds his son transmogrified into " Samvel," — a parod}' on 
 Mr. Weller, juii., and obliged to spell his name with a 
 " we " henceforth ! Arthur Rotch, probably* st^'led " Art " 
 bj-his little sisters, has become " Arthvrvs." "Art is long," 
 sure enough, under such a system. Here and there, a young 
 man escapes. Happj' Alexander Robertson, whose name 
 apparentl}' defies this barbarizing process ! The names, how- 
 ever, are coraparativel}^ easy to make out. The first page 
 is a complete rebus. Go to, " Carolvm Gvilielvm" ! reform 
 this with the rest of 3-our reformings ! 
 
 These young men at Cambridge doubtless thought them- 
 selves very great men ; I heard their young lady friends 
 murmur "Splendid!" once in a while: but I would not 
 trust one of them to carry a point in town-meeting, or 
 get a delegation elected in a town-caucus. Here and there, 
 a man of them will become a brilliant scholar or writer : 
 but most will subside into lawyers' oflSces, to be beaten 
 out of sight b}' some j'oung countryman who has studied 
 human nature all his life, and the Revised Statutes two 
 months ; or into pulpits, to be sneered at and criticised, 
 
352 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 and finall}' turned out to grass ; for talent goes to the 
 world, rather than to the church. Fortunate are those 
 who discover soon that the -world is the best pulpit and 
 rostrum, and betake themselves to active life, forgetting 
 their Greek and Latin, and, if necessar}-, swearing their 
 wa}- into usefulness. 
 
 The best education is life experience and work. Of 
 course, if a bo}' has decided genius for any thing which can 
 onl}- or best be indulged or forwarded b}' a college course, 
 he ought, if possible, to tr}- that. A business education — 
 not trade, as it is commonly called — is best for body and 
 mind. Cultivation of frankness is necessary : nothing is so 
 important as this, especially if any young person gets into 
 an}' sort of difficulty. Get habits of industry, and leave the 
 rest to the higher powers. 
 
 On the whole, I think it pays very well to take a ride over 
 to Cambridge on Commencement Day ; and though the col- 
 lege turns out many boobies, or rather leaves them boobies 
 as it finds them, it is a noble institution. We who have no 
 learning see a gi-eat man}' graduates who excite contempt, and 
 even pity ; many who would have been better off if their fond 
 and partial parents had not been so fond and partial, but 
 had sent them into a Lowell machine-shop, or into a flour- 
 store on Long Wharf, or put tlieni on a horse-car as driver, 
 or steam-car as brakeraan. But how much better off we 
 should be with the acquirements which Harvard College could 
 give ! How much better articles and letters we should write ! 
 Occasionally, I find it convenient to use a Latin phrase ; 
 and when I look into the back part of ray Webster or 
 Worcester (as the case may be ; for I use both, and so 
 am sure of " the best"), and see that I quote it correctl}' 
 and properly, I feel ashamed of myself, because I feel that 
 I am guilty of a false pretence, and am imposing on m}' 
 readers the idea that I know something of the classics. But 
 this is a world of false pretences ; and I half suspect that 
 three-quarters of the graduates who were at Cambridge yes- 
 terday would not venture to quote a common Latin maxim 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 353 
 
 of ten words without doing as I do. "We all remember how 
 the great Webster and the great Mann were at loggerheads 
 over captaiores verboruvi, and how Prof. Felton and Prof. 
 Beck mixed in the affray. 
 
854 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 POLITICAL SITUATION IN 1872-1873; AND "WAEKINGTON" 
 ACROAD. 
 
 LETTER TO CHARLES SUMNER.* 
 
 Dubuque, Io., June 24, 1872. 
 
 My dear Senator, — I have written to j'ou a couple of 
 letters, which I suppose you received. Tlie habit of obtrud- 
 ing advice, or rather opinions, is one whicli I dare say I 
 shall never recover from ; and I don't know when there was 
 ever greater occasion for a man to say a word in good faith 
 to his political and personal friend, or for a follower to give 
 such advice or opinion as he may have to his political leader. 
 I left Boston three weeks ago, just after your speech ap- 
 peared. Let me tell j-ou what I thought and think of it. 
 Its general arraignment of Grant and the administration 
 seemed to me just and needful. I have not changed my 
 opinion of Grant or his rule. You flattered me once by 
 saying that you wondered how I, who had not seen them at 
 Washington, or with any close view, had measured them so 
 accurately. They have never harmed me ; but I know that 
 the President is unfit, and that his rule is a bad one. I put 
 no faith in the theoiy, that, if Grant is re-elected, things will 
 be better. They are likely to.be worse, — intolerable for 
 such men as you who are in i^ublic life, dangerous for the 
 whole countiy. Yet there is public virtue enough to prevent 
 anarchy or despotism, either now or four jears hence. It 
 would not surprise me if the same reasons which compel men 
 to support Grant now should make him a candidate again in 
 
 1 Never before printed. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 355 
 
 1876, if he is now successful. He is so utterly destitute of 
 ajopreciation of his proper position, and of his own unfitness 
 for it, that it would be the easiest thing in tlie world to con- 
 tinue him in the field. How long the countrj- could stand 
 him is indeed a question ; but of the final result I have no 
 doubt. The public virtue will take care of that matter. 
 
 But to finish what I have to say of your speech. Some 
 parts of it seemed a little overdone; but these were not the 
 most important parts. I thought that probably you laid 
 stress and emphasis on certain things, which, if you had not 
 had a personal grievance, j'ou would have overlooked. I do 
 not think 3'our criticism on his letter to the colored people 
 was quite justifiable ; nor, on the whole, do I think that 
 the colored people have been, considering the difficulties of the 
 situation, and the struggles of opinion in Congress and in the 
 part}', neglected. Grant has — this ia what I mean — fairly 
 kept pace with Congress and his part}' in the reconstruction 
 policy. I believe in thoroughness, and don't think candor 
 the first of virtues in a partisan, and so don't specialh* object 
 to these parts of 3-our speech, except that I fancy»and believe 
 they have injured its effects. There is precious little logic 
 in individual men, but oceans of it in the aggregate ; and 
 they are quick to see any thing which looks like unfairness 
 towards a man or a part}* the}' have been in the habit of 
 thinking well of. Enough of this. 
 
 How is the public virtue to be brought to bear for a reform 
 in national politics ? I cannot think it is by supporting Gree- 
 ley. I have just been reading in "The Chicago Tribune" 
 a sketch, by Horace AVhite, of Carl Schurz's speech at the 
 Fifth-avenue Hotel conference. Of course, no man presents 
 the reasons for supporting Greeley any better ; at least, the 
 reasons which would be apt to affect a reluctant mind like 
 mine : for I know how contemptuous an opinion Schurz must 
 have of Greeley, and how strong must be his distrust of the 
 result of the experiment. To divide his reasons into three 
 branches, they are, First, The relief of the " governing 
 class ' ' of the South from the oppressions of the administra- 
 
356 " WARRING TON : " 
 
 tion. That oppression is the work of the Republican party, 
 and not of Grant. It is the work of Congress, your work as 
 a senator, the work of the Republican members, my work, 
 the work of the Republican voters ; and althougli I, agreeing 
 rather with Schurz than with you, have been against the two 
 last Ku-Klux bills (and so quarrel with the party rather than 
 with the President), yet, on the tvhole, I cannot say that 
 the rebels have an}' grounds of complaint. No : our policy 
 may have been unequal and imperfect, halting, inconsistent, 
 but not oppressive to these great criminals, not unduly pro- 
 tective to their old victims. If other things were right, we 
 should not find fault with this. 
 
 Second, We must seek, says Schurz, practical results ; and 
 it is now too late to defeat Grant, except with Greele}-. I 
 agree to this last, I fully assent to the proposition, that 
 all roads from Greeley lead to Grant : but so do all roads 
 from Grant lead to Greeley ; and the one proposition is as 
 inconsequential as the other. We are familiar with that 
 argument, and despised it long ago. I know we must seek 
 practical results. The critical habit has grown upon me, 
 and possibly I care less for "practical" politics (so called) 
 than five years ago : but I would do almost any thing 
 to bring about practical reform ; certainly would risk much 
 in men and in party connections. But I see in Greeley 
 a man, who, in a different direction from Grant, is just as 
 unfit as he. Look at him clearly. Read his paper every day 
 now, and think what he has been for thirty years, and you 
 cannot imagine a more unfit person. His quarrel with Grant 
 is not one of principle : there is no pretence that it is. It is 
 solely a personal and custom-house quarrel : it is the quar- 
 rel an insatiable office-seeker makes with one who has disap- 
 pointed him and his class. For this (look at " The Tribune 
 Daily ") — for this he has turned his back on every one of 
 his old professions, — every one ; so that, as far as I see, 
 there is no substantial difierence between his paper and any 
 one of the old-line Democratic organs. What is to be pre- 
 dicted of such a man? Schurz has tried to persuade himself 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 357 
 
 that he will make a good cabinet. It is impossible. He 
 will be the \}rQy of innumerable factions. Schnvz, when he 
 reflects, must know it. It is running for luck, with the im- 
 minent clanger that we shall be worse off than ever ; for 
 Greelc}', in a word, lacks character. He has got nothing 
 to build upon, — absolutely nothing. A coward in danger, 
 a sentimentalist, he loses his head whenever an exigency 
 arises. He was frightened after Bull Run ; frightened at 
 every crisis of the war ; never — I say it aiming at accuracy 
 — never leading or coming up abreast with radical opinion ; 
 turning about with every breeze, and not even waiting for a 
 wind or gust. Oh ! when I think of his record, I am ashamed 
 that an3-bod3' should dream of giving him a vote. Public 
 virtue can stand him as it can stand four yeai's more of 
 Grant ; but how shall this virtue best be utilized? By inde- 
 pendence of thought and action, it so seems to me. Per- 
 sonal government must be rebuked and overthrown by a 
 protest against hotJi these personal parties. "A plague o' 
 both your houses!" Presidential fitness must be restored 
 b}^ a protest against both the unfit candidates. 
 
 Wh}', see what Schurz has come to ! What was the key- 
 note of his great speech at Cincinnati? Governmental 
 reform; not "Anything to beat Grant." Now it is, "Any 
 thing to beat "Grant," because, without beating Grant, 
 we cannot have governmental reform. A very different 
 proposition. True, we cannot have reform without beating 
 Grant ; nor can we without beating Greelej'. One ques- 
 tion is. Which is the nearest road? and another individ- 
 ual question is, AVhat is individual duty? To defeat Grant 
 is a gain : to defeat Greeley is a gain. To defeat Grant is 
 to rebuke present and tried unfitness and corruption : to 
 defeat Greeley is to prevent untried, but equalbj certain, 
 unfitness and corruption. Both events release the countrj' 
 from the dominion of the present Republican regime sooner 
 or later. The defeat of Greeley quite as surely releases it as 
 the defeat of Grant. The defeat of Greelc}- releases the real 
 reformers from the responsibility of shouldering a party and 
 
358 "WAIililNGTON:" 
 
 an administration, which under such a leader, and with such 
 auspices, cannot last a month; at any rate, a year. I am per- 
 suaded that Greeley and Brown with their tails — Fenton, 
 Blair, and so on — cannot gain the confidence of the country. 
 The Republican masses, which, after all, are the best part of 
 the country, would return upon it, scatter it ; and all through 
 the next term we should be howling to each other, " Any 
 thing to beat Greeley ; " and so ad infinitum. 
 
 1 have treated Schurz's second and third reasons under one 
 head, and have written four sheets, instead of one or two. I 
 can onl}- hope that I have contributed towards the aggregate 
 of opinion among your friends, which I know 3'ou arc not 
 unmindful of. I shall leave here for home next week, and 
 perhaps you will be in Boston as soon as I am. I see " The 
 Advertiser," "Journal," and "Springfield Republican," 
 and know what is going on in Massachusetts. We are to 
 have very interesting times there, in various wa3's, for several 
 3'ears to come. This docs not diminish my anxiety that we 
 should all be able to justify ourselves as " practical " politi- 
 cians, as well as reformers, for the course we ma}- take. 
 
 Whj' will yon not take pains to save my letters, if it is 
 not too late as to the others, so I may at some time reclaim 
 them. I am sure I shall m^-self read them with pleasure, if 
 you do not. There's for you ! 
 
 Yours faithfullj', 
 
 W. S. Robinson. 
 
 SeXATOB SUJtKER. 
 
 P.S. — Looking this over, I find I have omitted one point 
 I intended to write on ; to wit, the way the Cincinnati Con- 
 vention was raided on and captured by the worst men in it, — 
 an omen of almost certain disaster and failure to the admin- 
 istration, should one be elected under such auspices. The 
 confessions of Carl Sohurz, Samuel Bowles, and others, 
 after Ma}^ 1, go further with me than their present wr}'- 
 faced attempts at optimism. W. S. R.^ 
 
 1 Tliis letter waa shown to Dr. S. G. Howe, who made the follow- 
 ing comment upon it: "Good medicine, but not pleasant to take," — 
 S. G. II. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 359 
 
 [Jan. 3, 1873.] 
 
 "WARRINGTON" ON HIS FATE. — THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO 
 HIS DEFEAT AS CLERK OF THE MASSACHUSETTS HOUSE OF 
 REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 The newspaper which I described as the representative 
 of "counting-room journalism" sa^'s that the clerk of the 
 House of Representatives was, on Wednesda}", "summarily 
 and disgracefully ejected." This is an admission v>hich 
 " The Traveller " did not intend to make, and which is due 
 to its inability to command the services, at a moment's warn- 
 ing, of a man who could express himself according to his 
 intentions. If I might venture to interpret the broken Eng- 
 lish of the erudite and pious Crooke, who edits that paper, I 
 should guess that he meant to intimate that the ejection was 
 disgraceful to the person ejected, and not to the ejecting par- 
 ties. Assuming, then, that there was " disgrace " somewhere, 
 suppose we seek to find out where it is. It surelj* does not 
 prima facie belong either to the one who seeks an ofHce, or 
 who desires to retain one. 
 
 Col. Taj-lor had surely a right to ask for the clerkship ; 
 and it is nonsense to sa}' that an3'body under the canopy ever 
 dreamed of censuring him for so doing, or of abusing him on 
 that or any other account. Nor, as the world goes, is there 
 any reason for scolding as to the means employed. I do not 
 at an}' rate mean to complain, but only to desci'ibe. And 
 let me sa}' in the outset, that, if what I write shall be classed 
 under the general title of " sore-headism," I shall not com- 
 plain or dispute. Your defeated office-holder or office-seeker 
 is, of course, a " sore-head ; " and you must make allowances 
 for that in considering his statements and comments. Bear 
 in mindj then, this general truth in estimating whether I 
 describe correctly or incorrectly the parties who organized 
 this movement, or were drawn into it. In itself, it is of but 
 slight consequence ; but within a few days it was made to 
 bear some relation to the pending question of the senator- 
 ship. So far as it bears on this matter, it probably enures, 
 
360 «' WAIiRINQ TON: " 
 
 for the time being, to the beneQt of the Boutwell-Butler com- 
 bination, or at least to Gov. Boutwell. Its iufluencc ou 
 Butler's fortunes, should the party of the first part be elected 
 to the Senate, is, however, a matter of guess-work. 
 
 The members of the House of Representatives who signed 
 the invitation to Gov. Boutwell to become a candidate for 
 the Senate were not all friends of Mr. Taylor, nor are they 
 all friends of Butler ; but the connection is still marked 
 enough to be noticed. Messrs. Iloj't, Blake, Winslow, and 
 Palmer, are, at any rate, active Butler men ; perhaps, on the 
 whole, the most active Butler men in the House ; though 
 Blake could not, I su[)pose, help or hinder anybod}' a great 
 deal. Middlesex County still maintains its swaj' in the 
 political machinery' of the Commonwealth. It is numerically 
 the strongest county ; and Sulfolk, Essex, and Worcester are 
 babes in intrigue in comparison with it. Wilson, Boutwell, 
 Banks, Claflin, Butler, Judge Hoar, George F. Hoar, 
 Williams, Gooch, the Lowell squads, the Charlestown squads, 
 — all attest the supremacy of Middlesex in our politics. 
 Wilson, it is now said, is committed to Boutwcll's support. 
 The}' were coalitionists twenty years ago. You can learn 
 something b}' studying the roll of the Constitutional Conven- 
 tion of 1853. Besides the names of all those mentioned 
 there, except Judge Hoar and his brother, Mr. Claflin and 
 Mr. Williams, 3'ou will find Dana, Burlingamo, Thomas 
 Talbot, Charles R. Train, Josiah G. Abbott, J. B. AVinn, 
 F. O. Prince, C. C. Hazewell, John Sargent, Isaac Liver- 
 more, Richard Frothingham, and (to drop into the obsolete) 
 Jool Parker. But Boutwell, Wilson, Butler, and Banks 
 were, on the whole, the most influential men in that bod}' ; 
 and to them, more than to any other four men, was due its 
 splendid and ignominious failure. I ought to except Banks, 
 who, as presiding ofljcer, was not responsible for its polic}'. 
 
 It is but natural to find Wilson, Butler, and Boutwell on 
 one side now, and Dawes on the other side ; for he was on 
 the other side then ; though, of course, this is no sure sign. 
 I suppose that G. F. Hoar, and perhaps the judge, would, on 
 
PEN-POliTRAITS. 361 
 
 local and other grounds, prefer Dawes to Boutwell : so 
 would Goocb, on the ground of old "Washington friendship ; 
 but Gooch is too timid to be reckoned as of much service to 
 one side or the other in such a contest as this. Wilson, in 
 addition to the claim of old political association in favor of 
 Boutwell, is afraid of Butler. lie is afraid of him for the 
 same reason a hen is afraid of the hawk. lie has no dread, 
 well defined, of harm to himself, or even of exposure ; but 
 he believes himself to bo a sort of guardian of the Republi- 
 can part}', and, through that, of the interests of the country ; 
 and he would put up with an}' insolence or injury Butler 
 might inflict or threaten, rather than protest against it, at 
 the risk of endangering the election of a town constable 
 regularl}' nominated b}' the Republican caucus of the pre- 
 cinct of Squashvillc. Boutwell and Bntler are reall}' the 
 only elements of the combination on one side. I stated their 
 case, I believe, correctly last week ; and though the late 
 fight for the clerkship had but a slight bearing on it, still it 
 had a little. The late clerk has had no reason to suppose 
 that the secretary of the treasury cares a farthing whether 
 he is in or out. There is no reason why he should ; but, now 
 that he has formed a coalition with Butler, he naturally 
 S3'mpathizes with all his hates. 
 
 The common stabber who represents the Essex District 
 made up his mind long ago to be revenged upon me for the 
 prominent part I took in keeping the State out of his hands 
 in 1870. Ah! let me indulge in pleasing recollections, as 
 Mr. AVebster once said on a great occasion. You remem- 
 ber, old fellow, how we slaughtered and cut up this beast in 
 August and September, 1871. It was dcfLl}' done, was it 
 not? But " under pain, pleasure, under pleasure, pain lies." 
 For the time being, he has got one of his rcveng?s, or thinks 
 he has, which is all the same to him ; being one of tliose phi- 
 losophers who confound phenomena with realities, and deem 
 the verdict of a pctt}' jur}' as final and important as a cycle 
 of civilization, and are not able to distinguish the one from 
 the other. The mischievous moukej'-tricks which would form 
 
362 "WAnniNGTON:" 
 
 the serious work of a council of charabcrraaids are just as 
 serious to Butler as any thing else. 
 
 He promised to support Mr. Dean for clerk, until he found 
 that Mr. Taylor was the man, and then left Mr. Dean in the 
 lurch, of course. What did he care for Dean, or, for that 
 mailer, for Taylor, either? So by private correspondence, 
 and b}' setting his flunkies secretl}' at work throughout the 
 State, he wrought as efficiently as he could. It is needless 
 to inquire how much he did toward the grand result. Nobody 
 knows, nobodj' cares, so far as I am aware. Other things 
 worked in harmon}' with him : for instance, thci'e was the 
 "sojer" clement. Butler — 'though no soldier himself, but 
 only a court-martial and proclamation general, having a hand 
 in the death of no rebel except Mumford of New Orleans 
 (who was paired off to the other world with Theodore Wiu- 
 throp, — one the victim of Butler's cowardice, and the other 
 of his blundering), and coming within smell of gunpowder 
 never, except when it was embarked upon the powder-boat — 
 S3'mpathizes iutenseljMvith the man who did light, particularh'' 
 if he had luck enough to get home, and keep settled long 
 enough to maintain a right to vote and to get chosen to 
 oUicc. I suppose he would contribute liberall}' to the comfort 
 of tlic poor soldier ; but it would be in the form of paying his 
 poll-tax, provided he would vote early and often for him in 
 the primar}' caucus. 
 
 Then, again, there was Masoniy. It is fortunate that ray 
 opinion of this institution is no after-thought, or after-expres- 
 sion of a thought. Neither this organization nor that of the 
 Grand Arm}' is political in an}- general way, or on a large 
 scale. It is only or mainly in cases where personal pri'ler- 
 ence is involved that the esprit comes in, as it doubtless 
 comes in, to a degree, in the professions and trade. There 
 is no help for this. I ascertained a year ago that the Masons 
 were expected to aid in what Crooke blunderingly calls this 
 "disgraceful" job. One gentleman blandly informed me 
 that he had been urged to become a candidate for the office 
 of clerk. I had heard of him as a ' • grand lecturer ; ' * possi- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 363 
 
 blj a great-grand, a great-great-grancl, a pseudo-great- 
 graud, or something of that sort. The alphabet, to one of 
 these "orders," is simply an ancient invention for the pur- 
 pose of lengthening out the titles of nobodies (or of some- 
 bodies who want to impose upon the nobodies), and for 
 whom the plain "Mister" is deemed insufBcient. Jeduthan 
 Scrubbs, who began life as a cook's mate on board a down- 
 East coaster, appears some day, a few years later, as " Sir 
 Knight Jeduthan Scrubbs " of the De Molay or Ivanhoe en- 
 campment; and "the bab3''s milk is watered," that Scrubbs 
 maj^ obtain a new sword ; and Scrubbs's wife goes without 
 decent clothing, that her husband ma}^ be able to wear an 
 embroidered shirt-tail outside of his otherwise respectable 
 habiliments. 
 
 As I was saying, our "lecturer" had been urged to 
 become a candidate for clerk. The suggestion could never 
 have occurred to any one except a Mason ; nor even then, 
 unless he was thinking as a Mason, and inside a lodge : so I 
 could not help concluding that Masonry was in the contest. 
 I do not suppose it had large influence upon the result. 
 There ! — if I get j'ou into difficult}' by this, I am onlj' pay- 
 ing you off ; for, as if I had not sins enough of my own to 
 answer for in your paper, I have also to bear some of the 
 offences of jonv other correspondents. One of them had 
 spoken of a member of the last House as a "bore," or 
 something of that sort (the member I refer to was not the 
 bore, whose name and residence I need not here or anywhere 
 specif}-). Now, I had carefully refrained from saving any 
 thing of this sort. " The " bore x)ar excellence I had let 
 alone ; and not bnl}' that, but all the smaller bores. O my 
 friend ! if you did but know how many times I have held in 
 in this wa}', you would wonder, not at my frankness, but at 
 my caution and reticence. Yet it was bruited all abroad 
 that I had thus abused this innocent and inoffensive person, 
 who, though a bore, to be sure, was not, in an}- sense, a bad 
 man, or, on the whole, a bad legislator. 
 
 Then tliere had been for months personal solicitation and 
 
3G4 "WARnrXGTON: " 
 
 button-holing, and finall}-, on the last day. a raid of a parcel 
 of seal}- politicians and Jeremy Diddlcrs from the town I 
 live in,^ ayIio invaded the State House in a way which would 
 have justified Detective Heath in putting himself into dis- 
 guise for the time, and compelled the sergeant-at-arms to 
 relieve Sergeant Plunkctt from duty at the door of the coat- 
 room in favor of some man with at least one arm at his dis- 
 posal. I had committed various offences against these men, 
 of which Icnowinrj them Avas a sufficient one. Whether I 
 bolted their nominations when the}' carried on too outra- 
 geously (which was a frequent occurrence) , or supported their 
 fraudulent or imbecile tickets, as I too frequently did, they 
 were cquall}" dissatisfied. Here I come to that superior 
 organization known as the Middlesex Club, of which the 
 Maiden and Somerville clique was, in this case, the "tail 
 and striking muscle," as old Josiah Quincy said of Preston 
 Brooks. Tliis is an organization which controls the offices 
 of that great county, — sheriff, deputies, county commission- 
 ers, district-attorno}', postmasters, custom-house officers, and, 
 what is more important, their heirs, executors, and assigns. 
 The members of Congress elect who live in that county con- 
 ciliate this power, and the secretary of the treasury occa- 
 sionally dines with them at Parker's. This is not the Banks 
 Club, which is of older date, and had its origin as far back 
 as the schism between the Know-Nothing and Anti-Know- 
 Nothing Republicans, — sa}- 185G or 18o7. It is more numer- 
 ous and influential than the Banks Club, which, indeed, has 
 for several j-ears past been social rather than political, hav- 
 ing a sprinkling of Democrats among its members. 
 
 I might here close the list of this complication of dis- 
 orders, which should, indeed, be summed up much more 
 briefly ; for, except in its political relations, — to the senator- 
 ship, for instance, — it is of but slight general interest. Yet 
 I see that ' ' The Daily Times ' ' thinks that my free speech 
 against Gen. Grant, and the nearness Avhich it is assumed that 
 
 1 Maiden, Mass. 
 
PEIT-PORTRAITS. 365 
 
 I got to the liberal movement, had something to do with 
 the election of Col. Taylor. Yevy little. I only said in print 
 what half onr members of Congress elect said at the dinner- 
 table ; saying it much better, however, I hope, than they 
 did. No. I don't believe anj' plain talk about Gen. Grant 
 had much to do with the matter. That a Republican organi- 
 zation which could ignorantly or willingl}' lend itself to carry 
 out the revenges of Butler, or unanimously elevate Dr. Lor- 
 ing to the presidency of the Senate, or boast of the Johnson- 
 ized, Hanscomized Buflinton as one of its members of 
 Congress elect, should find fault with me for speaking freely 
 of Gen. Grant, is simply incredible. It would indeed be a 
 spectacle to see Butler objecting to an3'body for depreciating 
 the President. 
 
 But I have already discussed this matter much more than 
 I have any right to : and, if I have not assigned reasons 
 enough for my failure to be rechosen, let me fall back on 
 the old one ; to wit, the lack of a sufficient number of votes. 
 I shall endeavor to make it apparent to the chief conspira- 
 tor, before he is gathered to his fathers, that he has not 
 made a great deal by the operation, and that the old proverb 
 I have more than once quoted in connection witli him will 
 still turn out to be true, — "' The Devil is always an ass." 
 
 [Marcli 7.] 
 ON RESCINDING THE RESOLUTION CENSURING MR, SUMNER. 
 
 The hearings on the question of rescinding the iloyt-But- 
 ler Grand Army General malice-resolutions in relation to 
 Mr, Sumner were very interesting, both of them. The 
 speeches in favor of rescinding have been prett}^ fully re- 
 ported ; Mr. James Freeman Clarke's in full. It Avas the 
 most effective speech of the first da}' ; and the closing quota- 
 lion from Burke, which I remember was once quoted hj Mr. 
 Palfre}' in an address to iiis constituents in the old da3's 
 v/hen ho was condemned for expressing his antishavery 
 opinions in defiance of the central clique, or, as Lowell called 
 them, — 
 
366 " WARRING TON : " 
 
 " The waiters on Providunce here in the city, 
 Who compose wat they call a State ceutrul committy," — 
 
 this quotation was specially effective. Ex-Gov. "Washburn 
 did himself great credit by his willingness to come out, 
 and his speech was an excellent one. Rev. Dr. James W. 
 Thompson of Jamaica Plain, once of Salem, and Stephen C. 
 Phillips's old pastor, came in to bear his lo3'al testimony 
 against opposition to Sumner on such trivial and contempti- 
 ble grounds as those which governed the movers in the 
 matter last December ; and Gov. Claflin, in a dignified and 
 manly way, took charge of the whole proceeding. 
 
 If these men had had the opportunit}' to appear at the 
 extra session, and had appreciated the danger that the legis- 
 lature would pass the resolutions, the}' might have acted then, 
 and saved the State the disgrace of adopting them ; but, 
 bus}' as the demagogue and the mischief-maker alwajs are, 
 they could not have reasonably supposed that he would have 
 made his appearance at the fire-session ^ for the purpose of 
 satisf3-ing his base propensities. "The people of Massa- 
 chusetts ' ' indeed ! This Revere and Athol rubbish pretend- 
 ing to be the people of Massachusetts! "We, the people 
 of England ! " resolved the tailors of Toole}' Street ; but the 
 illustration is somewhat musty. 
 
 On the second day, Mr. Garrison appeared, and — greatly 
 to the astonishment of those who had not witnessed the energy 
 with which he had taken notes on Wednesday, and heard his 
 expressions of dissent in conversation — made a speech in 
 opposition to rescinding the resolutions. I did not hear any 
 of it; but you will, no doubt, get a sufficient report of it. 
 Mr. Garrison's hostility to Mr. Sumner has been very intense 
 ever since the senator ventured to think that Gen. Grant was 
 unfit for the presidency ; and more than once — once at least 
 — it has taken the shape of a quasi-denial of Mr. Sumner's 
 claim to be considered by his friends as a grand historic 
 figure in the antislavery enterprise. It has always seemed 
 
 1 Extra session of the legislature on account of the great fire. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 367 
 
 to me stupid business, this apportioning out of the relative 
 measure of fame to the A-arious eminent abolitionists now 
 living. I suppose the countr}- and the cause would have got 
 along without any of them. If A had not sprung up, B 
 would have made his appearance ; and if not B, then C. 
 Read Gen. Wilson's book, and )'ou will see that there were 
 antislavery men before Garrison, or even Lundy, — as far 
 ahead of these men, in point of time, as Garrison was before 
 Phillips or Sumner ; and furthermore, though it may be a 
 sort of treason to Massachusetts to say so, it will appear 
 that New York had a great man intellectually and morally 
 on the antislaver}" side at a \Qxy early da}', as wx had. It 
 seems to me that the motive, conscious or unconscious, of 
 Mr. Garrison's hostility to Mr. Sumner, grows out of this 
 feeling of rivalry as to what shall be the verdict of history, 
 and what is the estimation of contemporaries. Then Mr. 
 Garrison, as it seems to me must be admitted, is so terribly 
 deficient in that imaginative element which sees the relations 
 of things to each other, and is able to " make allowances" 
 for other men's opinions and actions and for the circum- 
 stances of the times, that he is apt to be, if not unjust, at 
 least very uninterestingly just. He is like a teamster, who, 
 because his wheels are made to fit the axletree, and purposely 
 intended to revolve, should therefore insist on refusiug to 
 grease them, but whip up his oxen, " shout the frequent 
 damn " to them if necessary, and make them drag the wagon 
 over the mudd}' or frozen road, no matter whether they went 
 round, or were straightforward hauled at a quadruple expense 
 of force. " They were made to revolve, and revolve they 
 shall ! Grease! — good heavens ! talk not to me of grease ! 
 Suppose grease had never been invented ! " I reverence this 
 sort of blind logic, in a certain wa}^ ; but it furnishes oppor- 
 tunit}' for satire. In the present case, it does not seem to me 
 that Mr. Garrison had an opportunity which called at all for 
 the interposition of that logic and that conscientiousness 
 which he possesses in so strong a degree. If he is correctly 
 reported, he does not seem to have been at all strong in his 
 
368 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 convictions of the necessity or justice of a legislative con- 
 demnation of Mr. Sumner, and came up rather to protest 
 against indiscriminate eulogy upon the senator tlian for any 
 other purpose. 
 
 Well, what if Mr. Clarke and Dr. Thompson did overdo 
 that matter a little? as I don't think they did. Personal 
 loyalt}' is not so plentiful that we can afford to sneer at it. I 
 heard a part of Mr. Towne's speech, which, I suppose, was 
 merely stimulated b}- the fact that he felt that he was under 
 censure as one who had taken part in the sorr}- business of last 
 year. Iloyt also spoke : him I did not hear ; but I under- 
 stand he made the astute suggestion, that the clerk of the 
 House of 1872 entered the resolutions upon the Journal sur- 
 rcptitioush', for the purpose of having them rescinded. If 
 he had not entered them at all, you can imagine what ground 
 would have been taken, and the noisj' bellowings with which 
 tlie Athol representative would have denounced him for sup- 
 pressing them. I understand thej- do not appear upon the 
 Journal of the Senate. Let the warrior, on this last ground 
 of grievance, turn his guns upon the clerk of that bod}-. 
 For my own part, I should have been glad to have been 
 spared the necessity of entering upon the Journal the record 
 of the passage of these blundering exhibitions of malice, as 
 well as the language itself; and it is one of the compensa- 
 tions of loss of office, that one is not obliged at any time, or 
 under any circumstances, to speak or write with tlie appear- 
 ance of respect the names of men who deserve no respect. 
 This is one of the compensations of life for which I am pro- 
 foundl}' grateful. 
 
 WARRINGTON ABROAD.^ 
 
 London, March 5, 1874. 
 Tliis city is so big, that the newspapers are happily exempt 
 from the temptation and necessit}' of printing the innumera- 
 ble small items of news which form so large a part of the 
 
 1 In Boston Journal 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 369 
 
 contents of an American newspaper ; and, accordinglj', the 
 reader of " The Times," " News," " Telegraph," " Stand- 
 ard," and so on, finds himself limited to two or three princi- 
 pal topics, — just now, for example, to the Ashantee war, the 
 Bengal famine, the minor appointments nnder the new min- 
 istry-, the Tichborne trial, and law reform, the debate on 
 which subject has been revived by some extraordinary exhi- 
 bition of ' ' uppishness ' ' on the part of the inhabitants of the 
 Inns of Court. 
 
 The passengers by " The Parthia," which sailed from Bos- 
 ton on the 31st of January, heard of the result of the elec- 
 tions from a couple of young men, who, in some unaccountable 
 wa}-, got on board before the ship arrived at Liverpool. One 
 of them was cashier to some broker, I believe, and undertook 
 to enjoy a vacation of twenty-four or forty-eight hours at 
 sea ; but the storm, which was so violent that " The Parthia " 
 was unable to put in at Queenstown, led him and his friend 
 to avail themselves of the safety and shelter of the steamer, — 
 perhaps when the pilot came on board. I found him a " con- 
 servative," and able to give pretty good reasons for the 
 defeat of Mr. Gladstone, and disposed to rejoice over it, but 
 not inordinately. He spoke as if the ministry had blun- 
 dered, and tired out the people, and not as if he thought lib- 
 eralism a very bad thing. I should not have supposed him 
 to have any prejudice against working-men, or any feeling 
 that their rule or representation would prove injurious ; yet 
 he spoke of the election of two M. P.'s by this class as if he 
 desired to impress me with a sense that there was more or 
 less danger from even so slight an innovation on the British 
 Constitution as this. His theory as to the cause of the lib- 
 eral disaster was as good as any I have heard. Nobody, I 
 think, reall}' believes that England is any less liberal than 
 it was five years ago, or that the Tories have any better 
 chance of establishing a permanent re-action than X\xey had 
 then. Still the liberal leaders are a good deal discouraged 
 by the magnitude of the majority against them. Occasion- 
 ally some old connoisseur of hunlterism (like A. H. Stevens 
 
370 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 or Jerr}' Black) writes to the leading newspapers, and talks 
 about the " Tor}- " part}', and Church and State, as if he 
 supposed the good old da3-s before the "bearing rein" 
 was removed were to come back again ; but it is evident that 
 Mr. Disraeli encourages no such general delusion. Still the 
 distinction between "Whig and Tor}', liberal and conservative, 
 is marked enough to make the result of the election a subject 
 of regret to the progressive classes, wherever they are. 
 
 Our friends up in Tremont Place ^ will be glad to hear that 
 the friends of woman suffrage reckon up a probable gain in 
 the new parliament. Mr. Disraeli is a friend of their move- 
 ment ; though I guess it will not be safe to calculate that he 
 will make an issue on it. Their victory in Boston, however, 
 will console them for all other disasters. '^ 
 
 No American topic seems worth considering by the Eng- 
 lish papers, except Dr. Dio Lewis's crusade against the 
 liquor-dealers in Ohio and elsewhere. Tliis must seem very 
 comical to the English people, who, like most grave people, 
 are a race of humorists ; but they take it more seriously than 
 I should suppose they would. It is not likely that they 
 seriously fear any successful crusade of this sort within a 
 hundred years ; but the possibility of the path to the public- 
 house being obstructed by groups of praying women may 
 well appall them. A "permissive" bill seems all that the 
 temperance people here expect. This, if I understand it, is 
 about the same as " local option," which was abolished last 
 winter in Massachusetts because it was the most dangerous 
 enemy of the cause. The liquor-dealers, by the way, bore 
 their full share in the burden of the conservative movement ; 
 the Church and the gin-shops and beer-shops working har- 
 moniously together. 
 
 If you are at all acquainted with English literature, you 
 can hardly fail to be interested in driving down into the 
 queer lanes and alley-ways, the names of which at every 
 step almost remind you of Dickens, or Thackeray, or Scott, 
 
 1 Woman's Journal office in Boston. 
 
 2 In getting women on the School Committee. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 371 
 
 or Johnson, or Goldsmith, or something or other in English 
 histor}', the stage, or tradition. The shops are scarcelj' less 
 enticing. Cheapside, St. Panl's Churchyard, and so on. 
 Regent Street, the Burlington Arcade, — this is a "nation 
 of shopkeepers" indeed ; and although London is more than 
 twice as large, in point of population, as the State of Massa- 
 chusetts, it seems a standing m3'ster3^ how such a multitude 
 of tradesmen can get a living. The wealth stored in private 
 houses in the aristocratic parts of the city must be still more 
 incomputable.^ 
 
 Rome and Pabis, June 1. 
 Italy is as quiet as if it had never been the arena of con- 
 tending armies ; and France is rich and prosperous ; though, 
 of course, the taxes must be high in both nations. Coun- 
 tries recover so rapidl}' ! The battle-fields ^xe " healed and 
 reconciled b}' the sweet oblivion of flowers," to quote some 
 of Mr. De Quincey's rhetoric. If the peoples of Southern 
 Europe are ground down by government expenses and stand- 
 ing armies, they live upon little or nothing, compared with 
 the people of the United States. I will not bother yo\x or 
 myself about the superstition and ignorance on the one hand, 
 or the Church and art-magnificence on the other, of these 
 regions. No doubt, things are improving. Rome was rather 
 an exceptional place. About five p.m., everj^ day, I found 
 the wind intolerable. We were told to hurr}' awa}- from 
 London, and not to stop long in Paris, and to reach Rome at 
 least by Easter ; for it would be hot afterwards. This seemed 
 reasonable ; for I had attached a tropical significance to the 
 south of Europe. The upshot was, that I left mild weather 
 in London the first week in March, a little in doubt whether 
 I had not better put on clothes of the description sold in 
 Boston for dog-days ; and returned to Paris two weeks ago 
 and a little more, after encountering snow at the outlet of the 
 Mont Cenis Tunnel, and wearing the same thick overcoat and 
 gloves that I went out of London with. A week ago, they 
 
 1 How Butler's mouth would water at the sight! — W. S. E. 
 
372 "WARRLVGTO^:" 
 
 had heavy frosts and snow in Naples. I am more and more 
 impressed with the truth of Hawthorne's remark; the sub- 
 stance of which is, that trav'ellers had better go where winter 
 is a seasonable institution, and provided against b}- the 
 customs of the countr}'. "Winter is winter anywhere ; and a 
 fire improvised in a cold room after your return from a long 
 walk or ride is not a fire in any genuine sense of the word. 
 I must sa}-, however, that I found no place in Italy where 
 you could not get a fire ; although, to believe some people, 
 Rome had seen no fires since Nero's da}-, and friction-matches 
 were things as unknown as then. 
 
 The hotels are of various descriptions, of course, but gen- 
 erally good. I have not only seen good bread and good but- 
 ter, and good meat and good soups, in this part of the world, 
 but ver}' seldom an}- bad articles of these descriptions. The 
 bread from London to Naples is excellent. The beds are as 
 good ; bed and bread both being hard. I have heard of the 
 flea ; but I do not deem him a frequent nuisance : and I have 
 not heard of the bed-bug. Of course, you must put up, 
 unless you have a good deal of money, with less and poorer 
 air than in the best parts- of Boston and the neighborhood. 
 And this is a prett}' serious matter. Dress also, even to the 
 male species, has a significance that it does not have at home, 
 — a more serious matter yet. The remonstrance over 3-our 
 old glove and necktie, even if it be mute, is not inexpressive ; 
 and there is a temptation to buy here and there a thing 3-ou 
 do not Avant, or at least do not need, because it is only half 
 as expensive as the same thing in Boston. Unless you con- 
 fine the wristband of your shirt with a piece of twine, as 
 when you went to school, the chances are that you came 
 from home with some sort of an ornamental button or fas- 
 tener ; and so, when a prettier one, at half the home-price, 
 appears in a Florence or Paris window, what can you do? 
 You cannot, I guess, get so good-looking a suit of clothes in 
 London as in Boston, unless you employ a tailor of above the 
 average ability ; and as for the London bonnet, it is univer- 
 sally allowed to be hideous. I do not speak of female opin- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 373 
 
 ion alone on this latter point. Those who think English 
 women handsome must have seen them with their bonnets 
 off. The Paris women, on the other hand, dress well. The 
 head and foot are equall}^ well clothed, except, of course, in 
 the case of those who wear shoes with heels set in the middle, 
 and who come home " tired to death " in consequence. I 
 do not know how far the dress-reform ma}' have gone in the 
 United States ; but, if it was confined to the waist and corset, 
 it was far from reaching the whole difficulty. The heel, as 
 in Achilles' case, is a vulnerable point, at least in Paris. 
 
 The sensible Parisian woman, like the American, wears a 
 handsome boot. She also dresses the head with good taste, 
 if at all. Great numbers of them go about simply with 
 white and invariably clean caps on, and without bonnets ; 
 and great numbers more, for short distances, go bareheaded. 
 They have, up to middle life and beyond, a cheerful look, 
 due, I suppose, to the variety and responsibility of occupa- 
 tion which they have. I have not observed any intermit- 
 tenc}' in this respect ; and conclude that Dr. E. II. Clarke's 
 booli has not reached here, or has not been translated. I 
 hope not, at any rate. It would be a pity to see this beauti- 
 ful and now peaceful city barricaded by women apprehensive 
 of a serious attempt to deprive them of their living for any 
 considerable part of the time ; or compelling them to work 
 by relays, as they sometimes have to do in English facto- 
 ries under the short-hour sj-stem. Rumors of the book have 
 reached here ; and sueh of the women as seem alarmed, I have 
 assured, in broken French, that while it is a ver}' good medi- 
 cal book, no doubt, it is a good-for-nothing educational book, 
 and is about as much in the way as one b}' you or I, Mr. 
 Editor, on Journalism and Judaism, or one b}' Gen. Butler 
 on the Moieties and the Moralities, or one b}' anj'bod}' else 
 on an}' otlier two subjects not connected by any *udy or 
 knowledge in the mind of the author. 
 
 I can give you little or no information on the politics of 
 France, Italy, or England ; and yet I think, when I return 
 to America, I sliall not hesitate to attempt (if required) to 
 
3 74 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 wviie a leader on either. I have for mauy years regretted 
 that I had not studied European politics, so that I could 
 presume to give information to the Boston or even the New- 
 Yorlc public on all questions, not too minute, which habitu- 
 ally arise. Having read the London papers three weeks, and 
 "Galignani " and " The Swiss Times" as man}- months, I 
 now see that I might years ago, by a training of one season, 
 have become a valuable English editor for a first-class Ameri- 
 can dail}-. Nobody, of course, will ever penetrate Spanish 
 politics ; and there is a m3'ster3' about the Swiss Constitu- 
 tion : but ever}' thing else, how plain ! — at least, how plain 
 compared to our own affairs ! 
 
 The London papers of, say Monda}', give us long articles 
 on every French crisis or important debate of Saturday 
 night ; and their articles are of ver}- mucli the same descrip- 
 tion as those the}' give on English affairs. They are grave, 
 with good lop.g circumlocutory preambles, and sometliing 
 about former French ministries, changing Peel and Can- 
 ning and Palmerston for men of corresponding rank here. 
 The Frencli paper, for aught I see, discusses politics as 
 freely as the English paper. Perhaps, if there were danger 
 of turbulent times, this would be different. The policeman 
 seems to be doing nothing more oppressive than taking 
 statistics at tlie omnibus-stations, or preparing to "go for " 
 the fellow who draws out a friction-match and threatens to 
 smoke at the circus. 
 
 I seldom hear of large fires liere. The one in London in 
 February, which destroyed the Pantechnicon, would hardly 
 have been a week's wonder in any American city of large 
 size. There are plenty of books on all sides, new and 
 second-hand ; and I have seen here in Paris the strongest 
 indication I have anywhere seen, that our friends of New 
 York, Chicago, Louisville, Springfield, and Cincinnati, are 
 about to succeed in making journalism an estate of the 
 realm. They build little chapels or shrines at the corners 
 of the Parisian streets, and in the squares, — five-cornered 
 places, about as big as a confessional in church, — for the sale 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 375 
 
 of the sacred " Figaro " or "Temps." At the duval and 
 the fixed-price restaurants, where the people get excellent 
 dinners for 1 franc 75, or 2 francs 25, their delicious soups 
 are made frequently of macaroni or vermicelli, cut up into 
 the shape of letters of the alphabet, — A, B, C, &c. ; which 
 may, for aught I know, be a governmental plan of education ; 
 or, on the other hand, it ma}- be a device of the ultra-repub- 
 licans, requiring a ke}', perhaps, to unlock radical intent. 
 These eating-houses, by the way, are excellent in ever}' 
 respect. The cafes are not to be so well spoken of. When 
 here on our first visit, we had rooms and kept house in the 
 Latin Quarter, Rue Jacob, — Hotel de Saxe, if you will 
 know more particularly, — had our breakfast at home, and 
 our dinner (at six p.m.) at one of these duvals. The dinner 
 seldom cost us more than five francs (three of us) ; and 
 it was as nice and perfect as could be desired, and in- 
 cluded Macon wine, a very fair description, though I am no 
 judge of wines, I do not feel prepared to discuss the wine 
 and beer question as to the good or evil effects of either 
 beverage ; but I have an idea that there are questions of 
 climate, custom, stomach, brain, youth, age, vigor, debility, 
 political economy, personal obstinacy, philanthropy, and 
 non-interference, which must for a long time, by their fric- 
 tion, centripetal and centrifugal forces, and so on, prevent 
 any decisive settlement during your or my day. This is a 
 topic I feel not half so much like dogmatizing about as I did 
 twenty years ago. 
 
 There are great shows of pictures in Paris now ; among 
 others, a "Christ" by Bonnat, concerning which there is 
 much discussion, though not much is possible as to its great 
 power and merit as a work of art. It is as rationalistic a 
 Christ as Mr. Weiss or any other member of the Radical 
 Club could desire ; and I have an idea that some of the 
 "conservative " members of that society had better buy it, 
 and set it up in Mr. Sargent's or Dr. Bartol's parlor, to 
 counteract the worship of Buddha, Avhich is thought to be the 
 latest tendency of the " advanced thought" of Boston. 
 
376 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 Carlsbad, Austria, June 30, 
 Relativel}' to the rest of the world, I can hardly tell 3-ou 
 where this place is ; for the guide-books are deficient in large 
 maps. It is, however, in Bohemia, about latitude 49° or 50°, 
 and in a north-easterly direction from Nuremberg ; not far, 
 indeed, as to hours, from Dresden, Berlin, Prague, and the 
 rest of the great German places. Carlsbad is famous as a 
 watering-place. It is on both sides of the River Tcpl,^ 
 which is a rapid, rocky stream, about as wide as Washington 
 Street, Boston, where "The Journal " office is situated (in- 
 clusive of sidewalks), crossed b}- numerous bridges, onl}' a 
 few of which are for carriages. The streets are very narrow, 
 and fast driving out of the question : indeed, the streets on 
 the sides where the springs are situated are so crowded in 
 the morning with drinkers, from six o'clock till eight, that 
 caniages are then practically interdicted. The river has a 
 rock}' bed ; and out of its rocks, known as Sprudelschule, the 
 waters break out violentl}'. 
 
 The oldest of these springs is called the Sprudel ; and 
 this is the hottest, — 167° Fahrenheit. The others, nine or 
 ten in number, are of various degrees of temperature : the 
 diflTerence in them consists, they say, onl}* in this, the in- 
 gredients being the same, — sulphur, salt, and carl)onate of 
 soda. There are plent}- of ph3-sicians here, each one of 
 whom seems to have written a little treatise ; and I believe 
 the}' agree in these particulars. The chief value in a physi- 
 cian would seem to be in the sagacity and experience which 
 enable him to discover your malady, and whether or not 
 persons similarly troubled have been relieved or cured by 
 these waters, or by the regimen imposed as an accompani- 
 ment. You find the allopathic and homoeopathic distinctions 
 kept up ; though what they can mean, when the only medi- 
 cine is a cup, more or less, of Sj^rudel or Schlossbrunn or 
 Marktbrunn or Theresenbrunn, and more or less advice as 
 to whether you had better take beer and butter, or abstain 
 therefrom, I cannot tell. 
 
 1 A branch of the Eger. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 377 
 
 Carlsbad is an inexpensive place, compared with the large 
 cities and towns : of course it is so compared with the fash- 
 ionable watering-places of the United States, where j-ou have 
 to pay the absurd American hotel-prices. The paternal 
 government of Austria helps the town by sending down 
 Mr. Labitzky, who is said to be a rival of Strauss, — and he 
 is certainly no mean rival, — and his orchestra. They play 
 from six to eight a.m. at the Sprudel spring, and every 
 day at four or six p.m. at some one of the principal cafes. 
 There is, however, a "general tax" and a "music-tax," 
 which the government has imposed upon every traveller who 
 stays more than eight da3's. He ma}" be as health}' as " the 
 oldest Mason," — who died last week in Oregon, having ex- 
 hausted the pleasures of the other thirty five or six States, 
 — and as deaf as a post or an adder: still he must pay, — 
 " couchant or levant, he must pay." I beg pardon : physi- 
 cians and surgeons, with theu* families, are exempt from 
 "the general tax," and- also all "indigent persons;" and 
 the last-named class is exempt from the " music-tax " also. 
 
 The weather here is as capricious as in New England. It 
 was cold when we got here, ten days ago; but has been 
 generally warm and pleasant since. The weather which is 
 altogether lovely is always somewhere else. I find some 
 people think it is in Egypt and Syria ; and one gentleman 
 told me he only found it in Algeria. We have heard of the 
 cold and disagreeable April and May in Boston and vicinity ; 
 and so, on the whole, are not so much disposed to grumble 
 over the same traits in the European spring. I observe that 
 neither rain nor mud has much effect upon the water-drinker 
 here. He seems to believe in it more implicitly than the 
 average man who is under other descriptions of medical 
 treatment. You find him turning out early, hurrying along 
 to get a place which will bring him quickly to his medi- 
 cine, and then patiently returning, and, even on moist and 
 disagreeable mornings, taking his hour's exercise on his 
 way to "The Elephant," or " Pupp's," or the "Sans 
 Souci," — 
 
378 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 " Smiting the sturdy earth with many a pensive lick." 
 
 The weather is reall}-, however, the second topic of con- 
 versation in point of interest. "How do you find j'our- 
 self ? how do 30ur legs serve j'ou? is this your first? is 
 this 3'our second? (and so on up to your ' fourth,' making 
 the new-comer think he is helping to examine charades in 
 a 5'oung people's magazine,) has the doctor put you on the 
 baths 3"et? " are the commonest questions. Tliere are water- 
 baths and mud-baths here. A gentleman who has taken a 
 mud-bath, and is enthusiastic over it, sa3-s the substance is 
 about the consistenc}' of the liquid the waj'side " flag " grows 
 in. The patient resembles, while undergoing the operation, 
 an angle-worm of the saurian period. It is not any thing 
 which sticks, however, like a vote on the Salary Bill, or a 
 suspicion of connection with the Sanborn Contract, but is 
 easily- got rid of, and leaves an agreeable feeling. 
 
 EXTRACT FROM A LETTER TO MR. GEORGE B. MONROE, 
 ("TEMPLETON.") 
 
 Carlsb^vd, Austria, July 15, 1874. 
 
 My dear Monroe, — I have this week got hold of a file 
 of "Evening Gazettes" (six or more) in May and June; 
 and they have reminded me of a promise I made to send you 
 a letter. I have seen "The Journal," also, from about the 
 8th to the 26th of June. I have read the legislative pro- 
 ceedings. After three or four da3-s' reading of the Senate's 
 doings on the Tunnel Bill and the various liquor laws, I 
 felt as Douglas Jorrold did when he read Browning's " Sor- 
 dello." lie rushed into the street, smiting his forehead, and 
 shouting, " Am I mad? am I mad? " 
 
 Butler is apparentl3' dead : if so, it is a case of felo de se, 
 for no man ever had a better chance to be governor. A 
 man of Butler's real vigor of mind ought to be able to find 
 in Massachusetts politics enough to l)uild up a reform party 
 on, even though the people, as in his case, are averse and 
 hostile to him. Have seen onl3' one number of " The Com- 
 monwealth " since I left home; but the German, Italian, 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 379 
 
 and French porters and waiters have furnished me with 
 all the broken English I want, without reading Slack's 
 editorials. 
 
 The Supreme Court, it seems, is still governed by the 
 opinion in the case of AYheelgrease. As near as I can make 
 it out, their decision is, that analog)^ gives the School Com- 
 mittee of Boston power to determine the qualifications of its 
 members. The court, even if it declined to interfere, ought, 
 at least, to have inserted some dictum against such usurpa- 
 tion of power as the Boston School Committee has been 
 guilty of. It seems to me, however, that whoever has had 
 the management of these cases has made a continued mis- 
 take in appealing to the court. It is a popular question, 
 and, as such, must be settled in Massachusetts. It will do, 
 perhaps, to ask the opinion of a court which is (1st) able, 
 and (2d) which pays some due and proper regard to popu- 
 lar rights in the light and under the guidance of our own 
 Constitution. Our court is not "able," and apparently has 
 not looked at the Declaration of Rights, — not a member 
 of the court since he was appointed. Almost the only part 
 of the Constitution our court has an}' right to look at is the 
 part it has carefully avoided seeing. I except the clause 
 which relates to the judicial salaries and tenures. 
 
 To-morrow (Sunda}') we are off to Munich, and thence, 
 after a day or two, to Ragaz in Switzerland for about two 
 weeks, where people go to "complete their cure" after 
 drinking the waters here. It is a place for warm baths. 
 
 Now be sure and give my love to aU friends. 
 
380 "WARRINGTON- 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE SITUATION IN 1874-1875. 
 
 That is not a scntinicntall}' amiable mind wliicli feels any 
 great satisfaction — what 3011 may call a thrill of it — at the 
 iiTeparable misfortune or disease of any old friend, or any 
 old party organization "vvith which he ma}' have been con- 
 nected. I can understand what Jerr}' Black's or Brick 
 Pomeroy's emotions maj' be ; but a Republican's must be 
 rather different. There are so many good fellows and old 
 friends dead, or maimed for life, and left to be picked up by 
 the ambulances! Here is a hand with an old friend's ring 
 on one of its fingers ; (perhaps it was stolen ; but j'ou have 
 seen and admired it so man}- times !) a sleeve-button which 
 yon recognize as having belonged to j-our quondam fellow- 
 committee-man (it was a gift from Contractor Quartz ; but 
 it adorned irreproachable linen, and an arm often extended to 
 give 3'ou a hearty grasp). Forgive these tears. 
 
 JVIi*. Carpenter of Wisconsin, of the Republican senatorial 
 leaders, seems about the sole survivor. INIorton, an abler 
 and more dangerous man, Avent down a month ago. Let us 
 hope that the Indiana election taught him that the day for 
 framing constitutional amendments with the furtive and 
 dangerous clause, or claw, to the effect that "Congress is 
 hereb}- emijowerod to carr}- out this amendment by appropri- 
 ate legislation," is now past. That word "appropriate" in 
 such a place is an exceedingly bad one. Conkling — who, 
 with his mind on Webster, and his mind's e3-e on the tradi- 
 tional blue coat and brass buttons, got himself and his one 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 381 
 
 speech elaborately up at Utica, and went forth to Brookl^'ii 
 or New York to save the country and part}^ — is as badly 
 beaten as anybod}^ else. Chandler, probabl}', is onl}- fright- 
 ened ; but he, after all, is not so bad a senator or man as he 
 might be. Butler — but words are vain here! Boutwell is 
 as badly beaten as he. The household troops are more than 
 decimated, and the military- staff is broken in pieces. The 
 worst beaten man, however, does not know it. With the 
 salarj'-grab in his pocket, and the parasite at his elbow, what 
 does he care ? 
 
 One of the papers speaks of this and the other campaigns 
 as " war." There is a certain degree of appropriateness in 
 the word ; for a defeat, especially so sweeping a defeat, 
 brings about as much personal distress as oue on the field of 
 actual battle. The armies numbered their tens of thousands. 
 But is it not about time to stop this sort of nomenclature ? 
 An election ought to be mainly a change of policies, with 
 change enough of men to keep the forces together and in 
 good order, and no more. If this election means any thing, 
 it means a vote of total want of confidence in the wisdom 
 and capacity of the administration and the Republican party 
 as practical managers of the affairs of government. The 
 White House and the Capitol are both pronounced against. 
 Root and branch, the party is defeated. East and West, 
 North and South, it is smashed. 
 
 Now, if this were a defeat of the antislavery policy ; if it 
 indicated any purpose to disregard the constitutional amend- 
 ments, or to restore the government to the hands of unre- 
 generate rebels, — it would be proper to talk about renewing 
 the " war " in 1876. But it is mainly a declaration against 
 unfaithfulness and incompetency in the practical affairs of 
 government. If an}' tendenc}' or principle has been rebuked, 
 it is the tendency toward the predominance of that rule 
 which I heard Mr. Boutwell express not long ago : " If yoxx 
 want good government, you must pay for it;" by which he 
 meant simply (in the light of current events), "Trust those 
 who are ' on then* make ' to give you good administration, 
 
382 " WABRINGTON: " 
 
 and good in proportion to the pay, and don't ask too many 
 questions." As Hosea Biglow said, — 
 
 " Withered be the nose that pokes 
 Into the public printing!" 
 
 If any principle is pronounced against, it is that which 
 has ripened into the overthrow of State governments by 
 judicial decisions and cannon-shot, as in Louisiana; which 
 proposes, as in Morton's Constitutional Amendment, to let 
 Congress supervise the electoral votes, and, in emergencies, 
 make a score of statutory- sections to can-y out the funda- 
 mental law, and, if necessar}-, nullify' the popular verdict, 
 and change the actual result. And both these tendencies 
 or princii)les ought to be done away with. The people are 
 against both, by vast majorities. Wh}- not see it and 
 acknowledge it ? Wh}- allo\v the Democratic party to be the 
 champion of these reforms, and insist on tryiug to put that 
 part}' down b}' ba3-onets at the South, antl bad laws and 
 practices at the North? There can be but one result. If 
 the Republicans cany the country in 187G, it will be because 
 they hold the purse and sword. The people are against it. 
 The}' may be loath to trust the Democrats, and may refuse 
 to do so ; but it will bo the ver}' last time. The people are 
 in earnest, although they are as j^et unorganized, and grop- 
 ing about for leaders and methods. There is to be an end 
 to this semi-militarj' rerjime, this mixture of West Point and 
 Sing Sing, — thieverj' organized, and marching to drum and 
 fife. 
 
 Almost everybod}' sees what the situation is, — great 
 masses of honest men, and lovers of good government and 
 correct administration, differently dressed, in sight of each 
 other, and only held from fraternization and peace b}- party 
 drill. Republicans are admonished to keep their eyes opened, 
 because there arc lots of rebels on the other side ; and Dem- 
 ocrats are liclil in readiness for a fi.tilit, because, in the last 
 one, Butler was noticed to have an important command. 
 There need not be an entire disarmament at once ; but a 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 383 
 
 "peace footing " ought to be contemplated, at least. Why 
 not let Massachusetts lead in this re-organization, as in 1848? 
 
 The Republican party lias had the government nearly all 
 the time since 1860 ; and will have the Executive and Senate 
 two 3'ears longer, unless Grant "rats " to the other side, as 
 Johnson did. It has had a hard time of it. It had to save 
 the country from dismemberment, and, of course, to employ 
 all the " war-powers." The pioneer and woodsman expends 
 a good deal of tobacco-juice and swear' ng upon the trees he 
 has to cut down, and, when he gets home, is very apt to make 
 a spittoon in every corner of his house, and to damn his 
 wife and bo3's on prett}' small provocation. So the " war- 
 powers " became favorite reading, and sublime subjects of 
 contemplation, long after we ought to have resumed the 
 theory' laid down in the New-England constitutions, — that 
 the militar}' shall always be kept in an exact subordination 
 to the civil power. The ' ' colonel ' ' multiplied inordinately ; 
 and there were more concealed bullets in the adipose parts 
 than would ever have been discovered, or ever will be, if 
 post-mortem examinations are universal. Of course, this 
 dissipation has "told" upon the party. It is not as long- 
 lived as a part3' which has had less temptation to intemper- 
 ate living. The number of common drunkards who live to 
 the age of ninet}'- three, and then die because the quality of 
 new rum has depreciated, is small. 
 
 No wonder the Republican party is prematurel}' old. But \ 
 let the fact be recognized ; for it is a fact. Its legal and \ 
 proper expenditures have been enormous ; its necessary 
 attaches and holders of office largely increased in number. 
 Its unwounded and uniiarmed pensioners are counted b}' tens 
 of thousands ; and quack Butler, who insisted during the war 
 that the educated soldier must give way to the law3'er and 
 politician, was equally positive after the war that the civilian 
 should give Ava}' to the corporal, the sutler, and the army con- 
 tractor. The consequence of all this is, that the party has 
 impaired its constitution. It is in no condition, ph3-sically 
 or morally, to carry on public affairs. Why not put it, also, 
 
384 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 on the retired or pension list? A beginning has been made 
 this year, to be sure. Butler himself has found his own 
 Togus Springs at last. 
 
 Dissipation, decay, premature old age, waste (perhaps 
 inevitable waste) of vital powers, — these have left the party 
 unable to cope with its adversar3\ Of course, the quack 
 doctors, like Boutwell, Conkling, Morton, have had a good 
 deal to do with it ; and the thieves crowding the ante-rooms, 
 slyly fitting their false ke3-s into the locks, or carr^-ing off 
 the plate and pictures, have hastened the demise of the victim. 
 It made no difference that the successful party w^as more 
 than suspected of being led by as great rascals as the Repub- 
 lican. It was a strong-handed party, parti}' because it was 
 poor and desperate. I am a man, sa5's the hired murderer 
 of Banquo, 
 
 " So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune, 
 That I would set my life on any chance 
 To mend it, or be rid on't." 
 
 It seems impossible to determine, and, in the interest of 
 reform, unwise to tr}' to discover, anj* one cause for the prob- 
 able speedy termination of the life of the Republican party. 
 
 Why shall not the still vigorous-bodied and vigorous- 
 minded men co-operate with the vigorous-minded of their 
 old opponents, and take the affairs of State in their own 
 hands ? Shall the}' be prevented b}- the theory which still 
 supposes that the Republican party is going to exist and be 
 victorious for a number of years to come ? This is preposter- 
 ous. Gen. Wilson predicted that it would live " a thousand 
 years." It is as likely to live a thousand j'cars after 1873 
 as it is to live three years. I have a healthy vigilance of 
 feeling, I hope, against the danger of a Democratic re-action ; 
 but as between Republican interpretation and misrule at 
 Washington, and such a re-action, I cannot feel that there 
 is an}' occasion for the most radical of abolitionists to be 
 alarmed. 
 
 The Democrats do not care whether Grant, or any other 
 man of the other side, is in power. "For Banquo's issue 
 
FEN-PORTRAITS. 417 
 
 ideas, though he was not veiy prominentl}^ before the public 
 until after his entrance into Congress ; and in May, 1860, he 
 made a speech entitled "The Republican Party a Necessity'," 
 which had the old ring in it. 
 
 In January, 18G1, however, he turned up a compromiser. 
 Seward, about this time, was holding communication, through 
 James E. Harvey, with the traitors of South Carolina, advis- 
 ing with Jerry Black and James Buchanan, and proclaiming 
 that there was no power to coerce the rebels. It is not 
 important to know whether Mr. Adams fell under Mr. 
 Seward's influence, or Mr. Seward under Mr. Adams's ; but 
 they were in sympathy with each other. A theorizer and 
 doctrinaire when out of public life, when he got into Con- 
 gress he fell into the company of men, who, originally theo- 
 rizers and doctrinaires like himself, had also an idea, that, 
 when they become in any degree responsible for public 
 affairs, they must necessarily compromise in order to be 
 "practical." Sagacity, in their opinion, consists in being 
 the first to offer terms, instead of being the last to accept 
 them. 
 
 A writer in " Lippincott," in giving a biography' of Mr. 
 • Adams, made loud complaint that the leaders of the coalition 
 kept him out, although they provided places for Boutwell, 
 Sumner, Dana, Griswold, Hallett, and so on. The reason 
 why they did not provide a place for Mr. Adams was that 
 Quincy was a coalition town, and these other men resided 
 in Wliig towns. 
 
 The story that the Free-Soil party and the death of Whig- 
 ger}- grew out of a quarrel beginning as far back as 1841, 
 and that it culminated in a consultation between Conscience 
 Whigs like Mr. Adams, Mr. Sumner, Mr. Palfrey, Mr. Wil- 
 son, Mr. E. R. Hoar, Mr. S. C. Phillips, and others, with 
 J. G. Whittier, Wendell Phillips, Mr. Garrison, and John 
 Pierpont, could hardly have originated with Mr. Adams. 
 This must refer to what was called the "anti-Texas move- 
 ment," which was strictly non-political, or Mr. Garrison and 
 Mr. Phillips would never have had any thing to do with it, as 
 
418 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 they never had any thing to do with the Free-Soil movement. 
 This nnti - Texas movement was a movement for public 
 meetings and petitions, and nothing more ; and its editorial 
 wiiters were Elizur Wright and William Henr}' Channing 
 mainl}'. Jlr. Wright edited its newspaper, which was called 
 " The Chainbreaker." It lasted till Texas was annexed, and 
 had no further immediate influence on politics. " This was 
 the death of the Whig party," says "The Nation," igno- 
 rantly following this ignorant writer in " Lippincott." Why, 
 Mr. Webster was almost at the head of this " Conscience" 
 Whig movement, and wrote, with Judge Allen, its address, 
 which was adopted by a Faneuil-hall meeting ; and it was 
 not until after the Mexican war brolce out, and Mr. AVinthrop 
 went in for the " countr}' however bounded," and Gen. 
 Taylor began to be thought an available candidate for Presi- 
 dent, that tlie terms "Conscience Wliigs " and "Cotton 
 Whigs" began to be heard. Judge Iloar, who was in the 
 State Senate in 1846, first made use of these terms in debate 
 there. 
 
 The parallel this writer draws between Gen. Wilson and 
 Mr. Adams is true enougli on one side of it. The writer 
 says Mr. Adams had great faith in principles, and not so 
 much in expedients. The truth is, that, while Gen. Wilson 
 is an expedientist, Mr. Adams is no less so. I have heard 
 him suggest expedients by the hour together. He was 
 always of a diplomatic turn of mind, and of course fitted 
 for what goes by the name of statesmanship, after the old- 
 fashioned pattern ; but the difference between him and Mr. 
 Sumner, for instance, or Judge Allen, in the way of frank- 
 ness and directness, was world-wide. The Adamses are an 
 independent race of men, and that is a very great point in 
 their favor ; but none of them was ever 3-et hanged for his 
 frankness, or a disposition to do away with the arts of diplo- 
 macy, even in the minutice of local politics. Mr. C. F. 
 Adams, sen., got to Congress about the time the war broke 
 out ; and his career there strikingly illustrates liis diplo- 
 matic and expedientist turn of mind. He was with Seward 
 
PEW-PORTRAITS. 419 
 
 throughout. His principal speech was a disgraceful attempt 
 to bridge over the difficulty by a compromise ; and his name 
 is identified with an attempt to amend the Constitution 
 in the interest of strengthening slavery for the purpose of 
 preventing the war, which original thinliers and sound mor- 
 alists knew could not be prevented by anj^ process of this 
 sort. 
 
 In his 3'ounger days, Mr. Adams was a bold man. No 
 man, from 1840 to the downfall of the era of the Whig party 
 in Massachusetts, was more fearless or more able than he on 
 the antislavery side. No man, it seemed to me, had less 
 regard for the social and political environments of Boston and 
 Massachusetts Whiggism. His hates and contempts for the 
 cottonocracy and the doughfaces were salutar^^ and refresh- 
 ing. His speeches and reports and newspaper-articles were 
 of the most downright character. He was not conservative 
 enough, or practising law3-er enough, to be bound at all, 
 like some other Free-Soilers, by judicial decisions or old- 
 fashioned constitutional theories. He was never found among 
 those antislavery men who thought, that, if the Fugitive-slave 
 Law was not to be obeyed, it at least ought not to be re- 
 sisted. He gloried in the "Jerry rescue" at Syracuse, 
 and in all other rescues of fugitive slaves. The indomitable 
 spirit of his father was in him always. 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 John Quincy, Democrat as he is, seems to me the best 
 inheritor of the Adams qualities ; lacking some, because he 
 was young during the thick of the antislavery Avar, but 
 making up b}' being more a " man of the world " than most 
 of bis race. He is independent, like his ancestors, and as 
 honest, I dare sa}', as they were or are. There is, I am 
 Sony to sa}-, in this connection, nothing in the blood or 
 histor}- of the Adams famil}' to inspire confidence in their 
 superior honestj' over the rest of the human race. 
 
 The other sons, instead of being, as their father was at 
 theu" age, bold and downright, are politically timid ; and Mr. 
 
420 ''WARRINGTON':" 
 
 Heury has altogether too much of the English and diplomatic 
 and supercilious character Avhich belongs to "The New- 
 York Nation ' ' school to allow him to become a useful pub- 
 lic man. These men are independent students of political 
 affairs : they think for themselves. There is some of the 
 cant which goes b^' the name of "high tone" about them; 
 but this comes of too much reading of "The New-York 
 Nation," the organ of " tone." J. Q. has not much of this, 
 however ; and the younger brothers will get rid of it by and 
 by. I apprehend that John Quincy's experience in his office 
 of trial-justice, in the Quinc}' caucuses, and in the councils 
 of the Democratic party, has banished "high tone" pretty 
 nearl}' from his mind. 
 
 I presume the great-grandfather and the grandfather, in 
 their youth, had some of the demagogue element, but not 
 much. Charles Francis never, apparently, had any of it ; 
 but this great-grandson blooms out richly. He is a young 
 man of fair talents, but absolutely without convictions upon 
 an}' subject whatever. His first splurge, in the legislature 
 of 18GlJ, was an attack upon Judge Lord and District- 
 Attorney Abbott of Essex County, on account of their 
 supposed partisanship in prosecuting certain over-zealous 
 Republicans who had tarred and feathered a Swampscott 
 Copperhead. He brought in an order, instructing the 
 attorney-general to take charge of the cases ; and the result 
 ■was that they were quashed, or in some other wa}' discon- 
 tinued. This proceeding greatl}' shocked the conservatives, 
 especiall}' the conservative lawyers ; but Adams never af- 
 fected to have any thing but contempt for them and their 
 opinions on this subject. B3' and b}- he took a lurch to the 
 other side. Resolutions on national affairs came up ; and he 
 alternateh" fought and dodged these, appearing one time as 
 the zealous friend of Gen. "Wilson, who at that period was 
 occupying a "conservative" position. When fall came, he 
 went, with John L. Swift and the rest, into Johnsonism, 
 presided at one of the State conventions, ran for the legisla- 
 ture and got beaten, and was then quiet until he turned up 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 421 
 
 as the candidate of the P. L. L.i branch of the Copperhead 
 part3^ 
 
 His father and grandfather were deadly enemies of all 
 secret societies, and never specially advocated the interests 
 of the liquor-dealers. "Jack" went in all over, like the 
 man who blac ed himself from head to foot when he under- 
 took to play Othello. I dare sa}' he treats the whole affair 
 as a joke ; for he is considerable of a humorist. His letter 
 will not bear ver}' close analyzation. He hints that he 
 entertains some "strong opinions" upon questions which 
 the Democratic resolutions do not touch. He avows his 
 admiration for Jefferson's theories in terms which indicate 
 that he believes in them. No part}- can succeed which 
 adopts the contrary theory. 
 
 It was said at the Virginia election that some of the negro 
 voters in Virginia were turned away from the polls because 
 they had forgotten the names they were registered b}'. This 
 is not uncommon. A young man named John Quincy Adams, 
 living out here in Quincy, has forgotten Ids name, though it 
 is quite an illustrious one, and would seem to be difficult to 
 forget. These negroes have not forgotten their part}- name. 
 The}' are not apt at spelling, and would probably tell you that 
 " c-o-n-s-e-r-v-a-t-i-v-e " spells rebel, and " r-a-d-i-c-a-1 " 
 spells loyal; and they do not get far out of the way. It is 
 melanchol}', no doubt, that Jack and Peter have forgotten their 
 names ; but the blame parti}- rests on their former owners, 
 who never gave names to half of them. The mischief is not 
 irreparable : they will learn fast enough. Meanwhile, let 
 radicals, who are half disposed to vote for Copperhead can- 
 didates in Massachusetts for the sake of rebuking somebod}' 
 or other, consider whether their memorj- of their own names 
 is not getting a little defective. The capacity of the whole 
 people for being governed as well as for governing must 
 be acknowledged. Some whim prevents John Quincy from 
 seeing the truth of the woman question ; but he will by and 
 by be logical even on that. 
 
 1 A secret free-liquor party. 
 
422 " WAIiRIXG TON: » 
 
 JAMES C. AYER. 
 OX ni3 NOMIXATIOX, IN 1874, TO COXGRESS. 
 
 Dr. A^er has at last purchased a nomination in the Lowell 
 
 and Lawrence District. The onl}' redeeming feature in this 
 case is that Aver probably has no idea that he has done any 
 thing contrarj- to good morals or common decenc}'. If he 
 ever heard of Robert Walpole, the only thing he ever heard of 
 him was his celebrated saying, that " all those men have their 
 price." This nomination is so disgusting, that it seems 
 impossible that it should be followed by an election. Mr. 
 Tarbox, his opponent, is, on the stump, a strong partisan, 
 but a ver}- honest man, who in the legislature always acts 
 with less regard to part}' than men who appear less stiff in 
 their partisanship. It was said two jears ago, that a large 
 part of Aj'er's money, used for electioneering-purposes, 
 forgot to come out of the pockets of the disbursing agents. 
 It was " high jinks " for a long time by the lobb3-ists, who 
 probably thought they would '• save " the doctor for another 
 trial. They may conclude that they will " save him " again 
 for 1876. Such a man is by no means to be thrown away ; 
 and the}' know full well, that, if he is elected, there will be 
 no more monc}' for them. A cynic or a satirist might justify 
 this nomination on militar}- grounds. 
 
 When the Pemberton Mill fell, Mr. Frank Watson, of one 
 of the Lawrence papers, wrote an account of the event, 
 which, I am informed, Aj^er got reprinted on one of his 
 advertising sheets, in company with a proslaver}' speech or 
 address purporting to be by himself, and with which he 
 flooded the Southern country, sparing neither age, sex, nor 
 condition. He probably slew more rebels, real or incipient, 
 in this campaign, than Gen. Grant in all of his. When God 
 lets loose a pill-maker on this planet, then look out ! It is 
 really a very small thing to elect such a man to Congress. 
 The wonder is that he was not chosen before. If he had 
 been made a " colonel," he would have got there eight or 
 ten 3'ears ago. I suppose the real trouble has been the iudis- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 423 
 
 criminate character of his slaughterings. For every Southern 
 stomach disarranged, a Northern kidney has been '' devilled." 
 However, time has finally set all this aright. If Ayer is 
 successful, the quack epoch may be fairly said to be inaugu- 
 rated. If Grant is choked off from his third term, it Tvill be 
 hy an A3'er "-movement." We are, speaking geologically, in 
 the bottle strata of our history. Our chronology will hence- 
 forth contain such items as these: "In 1860, Ayer's ped- 
 dlers first entered Scandinavia ; in 1865, a deluge of cherry 
 pectoral flooded Japan ; 1866, Cathay captured ; 1867, the 
 study of Ayer's Almanac made compulsory in Australia." 
 Histor}^, geography, mathematics, Kosmos itself, is to be 
 rewritten in the new light thrown upon it by the Lowell 
 congressman, whose statue will, four hundred j'ears hence, 
 be found in cities buried volcanicall}', and whose autographs 
 and recipes on the obelisks of interior Africa 'will puzzle the 
 explorers of that era. 
 
 FRANCIS W. BIllD IN 1870. 
 
 Mr. Bird has qualities which make him, on the whole, 
 about as strong a politician as any man in the Common- 
 wealth ; and of his faithfulness it is unnecessary to speak. 
 He combines, better than an}^ other man, wise political fore- 
 sight and practical Avisdom of organization. His influence 
 upon politicians and public men has, I am confident, been 
 greater than that of an}' man among us. Mr. Bird is a 
 thorough believer in William Leggett's motto, that "the 
 world is governed too much." He is a free-trader and an 
 anti-restrictionist in most things, and one of the shrewdest 
 politicians in a party which is not famous for shrewd politi- 
 cians. Few men, if an}-, in Massachusetts, have so many 
 mental resources for a fight of any kind as Francis W. Bird. 
 
 SILVER-WEDDING ADDRESS TO HON. F. AV. BIRD. WRITTEN 
 
 BY "WARRINGTON" IN 1868. 
 
 Dear and honored Friend, — In congratulating 30U. and 
 Mrs. Bird upon the return of this anniversary of your mar- 
 
424 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 riage, — upon j'our silver wedding, — we cannot let the op- 
 poi'tunit}- pass of expressing to 3'ou personally', and bj' some 
 substantial token, our warm affection for you, and our pro- 
 found admiration for those qualities of heart and mind which 
 have made j'ou not only the delight of 3-our intimate friends, 
 but a most useful, and we might almost sa}' indispensable, 
 member of our social and political body. 
 
 Most of us have knoAvn 3'ou long ; all of us long enough 
 to appreciate those strong personal and public virtues which 
 have enabled j-ou to wield, socially and politicall}-, a power 
 in Massachusetts and national politics superior to that held 
 b}' an}' man among us who has not been in the exercise of 
 high public functions. You have illustrated the fact, that an 
 earnest, indefatigable, independent man, by the power of his 
 will, the vigor of his brain, and the magnetism of his friend- 
 ship, may influence to a verj' large degree the action of 
 men, who, being more ambitious of personal distinction, have 
 attained much higher public station. For twenty years past, 
 you have done more than anj' other man to hold together, to 
 concentrate, to inspire, the reformatory' public sentiment of 
 this Commonwealth, and to lead it on to victor}'. Your 
 counsel lias been sought by governors and senators, and sel- 
 dom disregarded except to their loss ; while to the humbler 
 members of the party of progress you have been an invalua- 
 ble guide, philosopher, and friend. AVe know perfectly well, 
 that, at least up to a very recent period, you have been one 
 of the best-abused men in the community. Your habit of 
 denying theories which were supposed to be well established, 
 of giving hospitality to unpopular doctrines, of exposing 
 prevailing fallacies, and of deriding the omnipresent and 
 innumerable humbugs of the day, have made your name a 
 bugbear to the ignorant. But you have outlived all this. 
 You have beaten down, by sheer force of character, all 
 opposition ; and now, hard upon sixty years of age as you 
 are, }ou are as young as the youngest, and more useful than 
 the most useful, man among us. 
 
 We honor j'ou for your public vii'tues, and for your private 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. '423 
 
 qualities we hold you. in the wannest affection. Yours has 
 not been " a fugitive and cloistered virtue," nor has radi- 
 calism made 3'ou an ascetic. Good-fellowship has been in 
 you most admirabl}^ joined to steadfastness of purpose, and 
 earnestness of principle ; and, although 3'ou have liberally 
 scattered, we rejoice to see ever}* where about us, in doors 
 and out, that you have as liberally increased. We rejoice in 
 3'our worldly prosperity ; we congratulate yon on all the 
 happy circumstances of your lot, — on the love of wife and 
 children, the loyalty of friends, the respect of all men who 
 know 3'ou, and whose respect is valuable ; and we ask you 
 to accept of this gift^ as a token of our love, to be kept as 
 a memorial of this occasion, and handed down to 3'our pos- 
 terity as an heir-loom, to tell your children and your chil- 
 dren's children of that high degree of appreciation and love 
 with which " Frank Bird " was held b}' all who knew him. 
 
 THE BIRD CLUB IN 1800. 
 
 You must know, now, that there are two sets of dinner- 
 eaters at Parker's every Saturday. The radicals attend 
 "Bird's dinners," and the auti-radicals the other dinners, 
 which have no distinguishing name. This line of distinction 
 is the best I can draw ; but it does not, after all, tell the 
 exact truth. The prevailing tone of the Bird dinner is anti- 
 Banks and pro-Seward ; 3'et I know some strong friends of 
 the governor ^ who attend them, and others who do not assent 
 to the expressions of hostility to the governor v,hich are 
 frequeutl3' heard there. On the other hand, several cordial 
 haters of his Excellenc3', and some radicals of an intense 
 character, frequent the other table. When I sa3' that a sub- 
 scription-paper in aid of an3- radical and ultra autislaveiy 
 movement would be prett3- certain to be carried to Mr. Bird's 
 party first, and would obtain a more cordial reception there, 
 if not more mone3', than at the other place, I perhaps best 
 express the ditference between the two parties. The gov- 
 
 1 A silver service. 2 ;isf, p_ Banks. 
 
426 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 ernor frequently attends the anti-radical dinner. Senator 
 Wilson, who is cosmopolitan in his tastes, visits both, but, I 
 think, prefei's the radical set. John A. Andrew is a regular 
 attendant upon Mr. Bird's party. 
 
 [From Diary of Feb. 27, 1865.] 
 
 Deae Sir, — Saturday next will be March 4, — luaguratlon Day. 
 We should be happy to see you, with such friends as you think would 
 enjoy the gathering, at Young's Hotel, at half-after two o'clock. 
 Yours truly, 
 
 F. W. BiBD. 
 
 Tickets, two dollars, paid to the servant on entering the hall. 
 
 About thirty of us were present, — Dr. Estes Howe at the 
 head of the table, Gov. Andrew on the right. Among 
 others present were F. W. Bird, Gen. Oliver (State Treas- 
 urer), two colonels, Adin Thayer, William Stowe, Charles 
 W. Story, Edward L. Pierce, Coffin ("Carleton" of "The 
 Journal"), William L. Burt, J. M. Day, Charles W. Slack, 
 S. R. Urbino, Elizur Wright, James M. Shute, &c. We con- 
 gratulated each other on Sumner's resistance to the Louisiana 
 Bill, and its success. Bird showed me a letter from Sumner, 
 in which he says it is whispered that the bill and the propo- 
 sition to make a bust of Taney maj* be hitched to the Appro- 
 priation Bill ; and he significantly adds, " If that is done, the 
 Appropriation Bill will not pass." He told the President, 
 "Mr. President, this bill ought not to pass, and it shall not 
 pass." 
 
 Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton dined at Young's with Mr. 
 Bird and his club once in 18G8. I don't know whether there 
 is any thing very extraordinar}' in this ; at any rate, there 
 ought not to be. Women are very interesting people for 
 men to dine or breakfast with. I do not attach any particu- 
 lar significance to Mrs. Stanton's presence at the dinner at 
 Young's, and am not sure even that it indicates any new 
 light on the question of woman's suffrage ; but I am sure 
 that the company' of intelligent ladies is the most pleasant 
 company intelligent men can have, and vice versa. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 427 
 
 I have never yet seen or heard of any Boston dub or 
 society so powerful hi its influence (taking its history for 
 twenty or twenty-five years together) as the Bird Club. 
 And this is not even a " club." It is not a secret order, or 
 an open order, or order of any sort. It never had an officer, 
 or a record, or a treasury, or a committee, or a member- 
 ship, more than custom, not very strict, gave it. 
 
 ANSON BURLING AME. 
 
 The first time I saw "Massa Ansongame " (as the colored 
 man called him, in his hurried ejaculations of joy over his 
 election at the time Mr. Appleton came so near defeating 
 him) was in 1848. He was in his office in the old State- 
 house building, — an office in which he pretended to practise 
 law, but in which the clients he met were mostly the young 
 and enthusiastic Free-Soilers of that day. It is just twenty 
 years since E. R. Hoar and others sent out that queer circu- 
 lar summoning the anti-Taylor men to Worcester to organ- 
 ize. I mention Judge Hoar's name because he was the 
 author of the circular. We got together under that call to 
 oppose Taylor, because he was "not a Whig." I wrote 
 many a column in " The Lowell Courier " before the nomi- 
 nation, and in "The Boston Whig" after it, to prove that 
 Taylor was no Whig, and therefore that it was no part of the 
 duty of a Whig to support him. After the nomination of 
 Van Buren, if I remember rightly, less emphasis was placed 
 upon that argument ; and it would have been much more 
 candid at the outset to acknowledge that our purpose was to 
 break up the party which had shown itself incompetent to 
 deal with the living questions of the day. Burlingame was 
 the favorite young orator of the party ; while S. C. Phillips, 
 Charles Allen, Henry Wilson, and C. F. Adams, did the 
 heavy work. Sumner was more sought after than all the 
 others, attaining to such popularity among the rank and file, 
 that they insisted on his nomination for the Senate. The 
 coalition only two or three years after defeated the Whigs, 
 and took the State out of their hands. 
 
428 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 Anson got into the Senate from Middlesex, and gave 
 offence to some of his Free-Soil constituents — indeed, to 
 nearl}' all of them — b}' opposing the prohibitoiy liquor law. 
 In 1853 he made liis appearance as a carpet-bagger from 
 Northborough in the Constitutional Convention. Ilallett 
 carried his bag to Gill, Boutwell to Berlin, Sumner to 
 Marshfield, Dana to Manchester, Griswold to Erving, Alvord 
 to Montague ; and so on. I cannot say that carpet-bagging 
 in this case was a success. If these men had all been kept 
 at home, we should probabl}' have had a better constitution, 
 or, at an}- rate, one less likely to meet with opposition. 
 
 Some of us used to laugh at his speeches ; but they were 
 wonderfully effective to the ear ; and no man was so popular 
 in Faneuil Hall or in the countr}' towns as he, except 
 Sumner, who was infinitely stronger, and verj' eloquent too, 
 twenty years ago. Burlingame made no great headwa}- in 
 the Senate or in the Constitutional Convention. When the 
 coalition went down, in 1853, Wilson, Banks, Burlingame, 
 and a lot of others who had no visible means of support 
 except by politics, were almost in despair. The temptation 
 to take up Know-Xotliingism Avas too strong for them ; and, 
 after providing for Gardner b}' making him governor. Banks 
 and Burlingame took a couple of the congressional seats, and 
 Wilson the senatorship, dividing the spoils with such rubbish 
 as I need not name. Wilson's activit}' saved him ; Banks's 
 imposing voice and manner persuaded the people that he was 
 indispensable ; and Burlingame went in on his luck. John 
 L. Swift used to sa}', "The dillcrence between Burlingame 
 and Wilson is that Burlingame never gets up, and Wilson 
 never goes to bed ; " and so our 3'oung orator went to Con- 
 gress from a tough and dillicult district, and kept there three 
 successive terms. 
 
 It seemed that luck failed him in 18G0 ; but he was de- 
 feated onl}' to become minister to China, and then ambas- 
 sador to the world : and so, instead of having Judge Russell 
 to deliver his eulogy, and a lot of his old political advocates 
 for his pall-bearers, he has Dr. Peabody and Dr. Briggs and 
 
FEN-POETRAITS. *29 
 
 Jlr. Wmthrop, two of whom never knew him, and the thM 
 of whom battel him with the utmost cordiality. Such is the 
 sad penalty of greatness. But we shall all remember Bur- 
 t~L tho'roughly good fellow, a man who did yeoman 
 enice in the good cause, and. after all, a man of - d^- 
 matic skill. Few men did so good service on the stunip , 
 C I know of no member of Congress from this State, who, 
 amidst temptations to swerve him from the antislavery path 
 « t uer than he, while many of them have fallen far shoi- 
 It him He was never found wanting when the vote came , 
 and though I think we have always had half a dozen 
 better speakers in this State than Buriingame, yet h. 
 speeches were always full of the right sp.nt. The old anti- 
 slavery men and Free-Soilers are fast dropping away John 
 E Manlcy, the fast friend, confidant, and stay of Theodore 
 Parker, has died ; Dr. Swan, candid.ate for gm-enior in 18o7 
 of tto e Eepiiblicans who were too "straight" for Banks, 
 t To .one ; and so is William Walker of Pittsfield the 
 Lesrand be^t man in Berkshire, without fear and without 
 
 reproa- . George s. bout well. 
 
 B G. Northrop, who was Boutwell's assistant in the office 
 of the Board of Education, has written an article in The 
 I Cendent," the first paragraph of which resemb es he 
 sonorous style of Johnson. "Among the sons of to 1, 
 a : Korthrop, " are many minds gifted by -'-;3-et^- 
 SDirited by their hard lot and meagre opportumties. With 
 he tendency to despondency, they need encomagement. 
 To u h mind's the story of those who have risen from hum- 
 We ifeto positions of influence and usefulness may give a 
 healthful stimulus, without awakening visionary aspirations 
 Such, in my judgment, is the history of George S. Bout- 
 
 "t doubt whether Mr. Ballon or Col. Wright could find 
 any thin, better than this, if they should turn bottom upwaus 
 a seoncf barrel of old editorials. I have seen nothing finer 
 since I read the opening chapter of " Kasselas : Listen 
 
430 " WAIiniXG TOX: " 
 
 to the story of Rasselas, Prince of Abyssinia." The 
 beaut}- of this is, that it is written for the " ^-outhful read- 
 ers " of " The Independent." " My duties," saj-s North- 
 rop, "are much with the young, as well as for the young. 
 For twent}' j-ears it has been my privilege to address, on an 
 average, over thirt}' thousand children annuall}-. I long ago 
 learned that ^outh need inspiration, even more than instruc- 
 tion ; " and so on. " My duties," on the other hand, are 
 much with the middle-aged ; and for the benefit of old birds, 
 who arc not caught with chaflT, let me reconstruct some por- 
 tions of this biographer's account of the secretary, with such 
 aid as my own memor}' and mj- own sources of information 
 — much better, b}' the waj-, than Mr. Northrop's — have 
 given me ; and, as I am confident (as I have been all 
 along) that the secretary of the treasury' will be Wilson's 
 successor, this -may help to make up the inevitable chapter 
 of biography which all enterprising newspapers now feel 
 bound to print when a distinguished man dies, or is elected 
 to oflSce. 
 
 Mr. Boutwell was born in the town of Brookline, Mass., 
 in Januar}-, 1818, His father was Mr. Sewell Boutwell, 
 who represented Lunenburg in the Constitutional Convention 
 in 1853 ; and George was in a store in Lunenburg from the 
 age of thirteen to that of seventeen. This brings him to 
 the 3'ear 1835, when he entered a store in Groton ; and, as 
 clerk and partner, he staid there many years. That he im- 
 proved his time and opportunities there we need not doubt. 
 His privations do not seem to have been any thing so great 
 as those of Henry "Wilson, driven by stress of absolute 
 poverty from Farmington to Xatick ; but otherwise the story 
 is not unlike that of Wilson, and it is that of hundreds of 
 thousands of other bo3-s and young men just as good as 
 either of them. In " schooling " he must have had superior 
 advantages to those enjoyed by Wilson ; for he studied Latin 
 " under Dr. A. B. Bancroft," whom he appointed pliysician 
 to the Chelsea Marine Hospital four or five 3-cars ago, thus 
 showing his gratitude, although increasing the bills of mor- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. ^Sl 
 
 talitv of that institution, which had been previously well 
 managed bv Dr. J. W. Graves of Lowell. I mean his gratx- 
 tude to bJth doctors; for, while Bancroft had taugh the 
 secretary Latin, Graves had been a most faithful friend and 
 supporter in politics. Probably, in a doubtful case of this 
 nature Boutwell felt under necessity of giving the place to 
 the one who was likely to carry out his economical system 
 by discouraging the introduction of new patients pro rata 
 ^•ith the increase of the death-rate before mentioned. 
 
 He was a politician early, being actively for Van Buren in 
 1840 I find, by referring to Butler' s ' ' History of Groton, 
 that that town gave a hundred and eighty-five Whig and a 
 hundred and seventy-three Democratic votes in that year. 
 The year before, however, it gave a hundred and ninety- 
 eiaht Democratic and only a hundred and twenty-two Whig 
 vo'tes • and as far back as 1835, when Boutwell made his 
 appearance in Groton, the vote was a hundred and thirty 
 Whin- and sixty-eight Democratic. This confirms the old 
 accounts I used to hear of Groton politics from such men as 
 Jack Graves (the butcher), John Boynton, Jokn C. Park, 
 and others, that Boutwell had gradually organized the Demo- 
 cratic party, which was, when he went there, scattered in 
 the outskirts, -those groggy Alsatias, of which at that 
 time Groton had its full share, -and had brought them 
 too-ether under his skilful leadership, and half the years, at 
 least, successfully contested the field with the aristocratic old 
 set who had ruled it so long. 
 
 In 1842-44, 1847-50, he was in the House of Representa- 
 tives Here he got that practice in debate which is his best 
 talent "He has trained himself to think on his legs." 
 There have been in our legislature but very few better de- 
 baters Rantoul must have been his superior; for, with 
 equal readiness "on his legs," he had a much finer mind, 
 and much greater fertility of illustration. Seven years in 
 the House of Representatives, in perpetual contest with 
 such men as the Whigs used to send there, was a better 
 school for a young politician than a man is often lucky 
 
432 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 enough to get ; and it is no gi-eat wonder, that, when 1850 
 came, he was, on the whole, the most promising candi- 
 date of his party for governor. This was the time of all 
 others, also, for a rising man. Boutwell had never been 
 aught but an old-line Democrat, — a thorough part}' hack, 
 flinching not at Texas annexation, nor at the denial of the 
 right of petition, but, of course, keeping his eyes open to the 
 advance of that part}', which, in 1839, cast 307 votes (de- 
 nominated scattering) ; in 1840, cast 1,081 for Mr. George 
 "VY. Johnson; in 1841, cast 3,488 for Mr. Lucius Boltwood ; 
 in 1842, cast 6,382 for Mr. Samuel E. Sewall ; and so on up 
 to 1849, when it had advanced Mr. Scwall's vote to 9,193, 
 and which, the next year, had nominated Stephen C. Phil- 
 lips, and given to him 36,000 votes. This last vote must 
 have admonished Boutwell that there was a force in politics 
 stronger than the old Mortonized-Sam.-C.-Allen-Whitmarsh- 
 and-Rantoul Democracy. It did not make him a Free- 
 Soiler ; but it made him willing to receive Free-Soil votes. 
 Indeed, he was never a bigot on such a question as this. 
 Xo close-communion theories, no strictness of ecclesiastical 
 organization, ever got mixed with that free, catholic open- 
 mindedness which characterized him as a political man. 
 Was there ever a candidate for office, indeed, who ever 
 scrutinized very closely the creed or other qualilications of 
 those who seemed inclined to support him ? In this respect, 
 Boutwell was like all other men. 
 
 He was not averse to "the coalition." The formula of 
 William Jackson (one of the best of men, though he an- 
 nounced this doctrine in oflcusive phrase), that "it will not 
 do to be too perpendicular for the sake of principle," found 
 ready assent in him, as in Wilson, Banks, and most of the 
 other Democratic and Free-Soil leaders. Of course, I can- 
 not tell the «tory of the coalition. It elected Boutwell gov- 
 ernor ; though he had only some 43,000 popular votes, to 
 60,000 or more for the Whigs, and 36,000 for the Free- 
 Soilers. My figures are from memory, and may more 
 nearly apply to his second year ; but they are not much out 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 433 
 
 of the way. His inaugural was sliort, timid, and feeble, 
 containing an old-fashioned protest against meddling with 
 slaver}^ or resisting the Fugitive-slave Law, and some plati- 
 tudes in favor of freedom generally, and the restriction of 
 slaverj^ to its old boundaries. Mr. Sumner was chosen 
 senator with great difficult}-, and on the twentj'-sixth ballot. 
 The next j-ear the game was successfullj- repeated, as far as 
 Boutwell was concerned. The great event of his second 
 year was the passage of the first Maine Liquor Law. The 
 governor vetoed it because it did not provide for the approval 
 or disapproval of the people at the polls by secret ballot. 
 The two houses then passed it without submitting the ques- 
 tion in any form ; and he signed it : at which there was a 
 great laugh, and a general expression of contempt. Other- 
 wise his administration was a prudent, successful, and cred- 
 itable one. 
 
 Among his appointments was that of Thomas Russell as 
 Judge of the Police Court of Boston, and Caleb Cnshing as 
 Justice of the Supreme Court. Being an ultra devotee of the 
 proslaverj- interest, Gushing' s nomination was verj" unac- 
 ceptable to the Free-Soilers ; and the Council, which had a 
 majority of Free-Soilers, determined to reject it. Five min- 
 utes before the vote was taken, one of the Free-Soil coun- 
 cillors, who was opposed to Gushing, was called into the 
 ante-room ; and when he got back the roll was called, and 
 Gushing was confirmed by one vote. 
 
 To maintain their power, and to reform the Constitu- 
 tion, the coalition resolved on a convention ; and the people 
 called it in the fall of 1852, though the}^ elected Clifford 
 governor at the same time. Boutwell was unexpected]}' 
 beaten in Groton by John C. Park, but got in afterward 
 from one of the rotten boroughs, — the town of Berlin. 
 Mr. Northrop saj's, " Mr. Choate was his leading opponent." 
 There were plent}' of Whigs there who had more influence 
 than Mr. Choate, and some coalitionists who were not less 
 influential than Boutwell. It is true that he spoke *vell, 
 took and maintained a leading position, and made an able 
 
434 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 answer to Choate's speech on the district-system. Nobody, 
 except, perhaps, Mr. Dana, showed a better talent for de- 
 bate. Butler appeared here to better advantage than ever 
 before or since. Sumner and old Gov. Morton also defended 
 an equal s^^stem of representation ; but Boutwell, Wilson, 
 Grisvvold, and the rotten -borough men, carried their point, 
 though the people rejected their work, and three or four 
 3-ears after, b}' general consent, decided that Sumner, 
 Morton, and Choate were right. Boutwell, who went for 
 abolishing tlie life-tenure of the judiciary (the best thing he 
 did there) , was strong for the secret ballot, and was useful 
 in matters of form and detail. When the Constitution was 
 rejected, his condition was not quite so wretched and abject 
 as that of Wilson. Pierce had been chosen President, and 
 Boutwell had never forfeited his position in the Democratic 
 party. He applied for the office of postmaster of Boston, 
 but did not get it. In 1854 he wrote a brief letter, objecting 
 to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise, and then waited 
 for events. 
 
 Northrop says he was " a leader in the organization of 
 the Republican party of Massachusetts." This is a mistake. 
 He was not heard of in that organization at all — certainl}* 
 not in an}' place of prominence — in 1854-57. These were 
 the 3'ears which witnessed the struggle for the formation of 
 the party. He appeared as a candidate for office again, 
 however, in 1858, three years after the Republicans had 
 passed through tlie Know-Nothing imbror/Uo, two years after 
 they had given Fremont the vote of the State by an immense 
 majority, and one j'car after Gardner himself had been sent 
 into retirement ; and b}' this time the party may be said to 
 have been tolerubl}' well upon its legs. He was beaten by 
 Mr. Train, and liad to wait a while longer. Mr Lincoln 
 then gave him the office of commissioner of revenue. He 
 got into Congress afterward, and, in 1866, was made secre- 
 tary of the treasury. 
 
 His biographer truly says that no other man living in the 
 State has held so many offices. This is a tribute to his ability 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 435 
 
 and usefulness as a public man ; for no man ever had fewer 
 personal friends. Cold, selfish, intellectual, he never did 
 an}' thing for an3'body upon an}- spasm of impulse, or freak 
 of generosity. As a treasurer, he has the same talent which 
 made him successful as a grocer, and since as a farmer. The 
 stor}- goes that Gen. Gi'ant appointed A. T. Stewart to the 
 treasur}' department because he had heard of his wonderful 
 success in organizing the biggest dry-goods house in Amer- 
 ica. This experiment failing, he tried Boutwell on the 
 strength of a conversation with him, in which Boutwell told 
 him that one 3-ear he sold thirty -five bushels of chestnuts off 
 his Groton farm. If he could not have the great organizer, 
 he would take the small economizer. The secretary is an 
 honest man pecuniarily, a just man in all the ordinary rela- 
 tions of life. In 1853 he was an ultra state-rights, city- 
 rights, town-rights man : now he represents the idea of 
 centralization and consolidation, and has no scruple as to 
 the constitutionality of measui'es, provided the}' seem neces- 
 sar}' to subserve what he deems the general welfare, and 
 tend to keep the treasur}' full and the debt from increasing, 
 no matter whether the people are crushed by unnecessary 
 and unequal taxation, or relieved from it. 
 
 N. p. BANKS. 
 
 N. P. Banks's earl}- life is lost in the dim mystery of 
 tradition ; for his history as a machinist and bobbin-boy is a 
 doubtful legend, for the most part manufactured for cam- 
 paign-purposes. I do not mean by this that he did not 
 work in the shop and factory ; but he did not hurt himself 
 with work. The story that he liked to travel to Cambridge 
 to borrow books is much more likely. He was early on the 
 Democratic side ; got into the Custom House early ; and, 
 before 1842, edited the Democratic paper in Lowell a while. 
 He was poor, and, I have been told, used to walk home from 
 Lowell to "Waltham on Saturday, and to Lowell again on 
 Monday. It is said that he also edited a paper in Woburn ; 
 but he had no talent for editorial work, nor for the bar, 
 
436 " WARRINGTON. •" 
 
 although he studied law, and appeared in one or two cases. 
 "Walthani was a "Whig place in those da3s, and did not favor 
 Banks's attempt to get into the legislature: it defeated him 
 once or twice ; bi^t at last he was chosen to the House, and 
 from that time he never failed to carr}- a majority of the 
 AYaltham voters. 
 
 I do not remember the precise circumstances of his first 
 election to Congress ; but it was, if not directly', ^ct substan- 
 tially, b}' a union of Free-Soilers and Democrats, and, I 
 believe, as some sort of a compensation for Democratic 
 support to Dr. Palfre}', then a Free-Soil candidate in a 
 neighboring district. The coalition found him read}' to co- 
 operate in overthrowing the "Whigs. "When John Quincy 
 Adams died, in 1848, as Banks marched on foot at the 
 funeral, while the old "Whig magnates rode in the carriages, 
 he said to his neighbor, — blaspheming, I fear, at the same 
 time, — " B}' and by j-ou and I will ride in those carriages, 
 and those fellows will go on foot as we do now." And so 
 it was. 
 
 "We come now to 1854. The Know-Nothing had a dread 
 of the politicians, especially of the Democratic politicians 
 who had received office by Irish support. The}' were over- 
 reached b}' the nomination of Gardner, a "Whig of no A-ery 
 high reputation. Wilson had made himself useful to them, 
 and thc}- were grateful and friendly to him. But Banks — 
 well, no ; on the whole, no. The Rev. L3'man "Whiting, an 
 Ortliodox clorgj'man of proved hostilit}- to the Pope, was 
 preferred in the secret conclave ; as, in other districts. Rev. 
 Mark Trafton, Rev. Robert B. Ilall, Damrell, Comins, 
 CliafToo, Davis, and other enemies of the scarlet woman, had 
 also been successful. DeWitt of "Worcester, and Anson 
 Burlingame, were the only politicians of any repute who 
 passed the ordeal, if I remember rightly. Banks was, the 
 morning after, in a desperate strait, — poor, and with the 
 certainty of losing his seat in Congress. But the Rev. Mr. 
 "Whiting was induced to witlidraw his claim. Banks, though 
 he probably never placed himself on record, gave the couu- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 437 
 
 oils in his distiict to understand that the Pope would have 
 no quarter from him ; and he was allowed to return to Wash- 
 ington. 
 
 I believe he supported Rockwell in 1855 ; and in 1856 he 
 and Wilson, for the sake of forming a sectional part}' on 
 Fremont and Da3'ton, crammed Gardner down for the third 
 3'ear, with additional blasphenw. The next year, Banks 
 swore himself through against Gardner ; served three years 
 as governor, exhibiting on an excellent field again his talents 
 as a histrion. He promptlj' acceded to the request of the 
 legislature to remove Judge Loring, and vetoed three bushel- 
 baskets full of parchment-rolls, containing the revision of 
 the statutes, because tlie word "white" had been struck 
 out of the militia chapter. At the end of the term, and all 
 through his term, he was praised for great " executive abili- 
 t}- ; " but carpers and doubters never saw wherein it consisted. 
 In the fall of 1860 he went to Illinois, recei\'ing an offer of 
 seven thousand dollars a year from Mr. Osborn of the Illi- 
 nois Central, who wanted him as a star actor before the 
 legislature of the State, and for other purposes. When the 
 war broke out, he offered himself to the government, served 
 patriotically and to the best of his abilit}' during the war, 
 and, at its close, found his old district trying to select a man 
 in place of Mr. Gooch, who had resigned to take a more lu- 
 crative place in the Custom House. The choice was between 
 J. Q. A. Griffin and James M. Stone. Banks appeared like 
 a spectre, and took awaj- the nomination from both. 
 
 Banks's talent is histrionic. His skill as a presiding- 
 officer exhibits this talent, which ma}-, j)erhaps, be st^ied a 
 genius for being looked at. His presence of mind seldom 
 fails him ; his voice is alwa^-s rich, and in good order ; and 
 his vocabulary easily arranges itself into sentences which 
 mean little or nothing, though I have known his words, by 
 accident, to fall into tlicir proper connections, and to conve}- 
 sense as well as information. He is not a warm-hearted 
 person, and was never known to go out of his way an inch 
 to confer a favor on a friend or supporter, unless another 
 
438 " WARBINGTOX: " 
 
 and a greater favor was expected at a future period. I have 
 spoken of his general success in whatever he undertakes ; 
 but I thinlv his essa^^s in the editorial and legal professions 
 are exceptions to the rule. For a short time he had charge 
 of " Tlie Lowell Advertiser, or Patriot," a Democratic 
 paper ; but I could never discover an}- remarkable abilit}' in 
 it at that time. He was born for a talker, not a writer. As 
 a stump-speaker on the Democratic side, he early had a high 
 rank ; and he has maintained it to this time. Few men 
 appear better on the political platform. I do not think he 
 is a great worker or a deep student. lie is a man of intui- 
 tions, rather than of study and contemplation. His decis- 
 ions as presiding-ofBcer never seemed to be the result of 
 research into precedents : he decided according to the exi- 
 gency, and trusted to find the reasons and precedents after- 
 ward, and always succeeded. It is common to speak of his 
 great and unrivalled success as a politician. It does not 
 seem to me to have been ver^- great. His merit as a presid- 
 ing-oflicer made him speaker of the House of Representatives 
 two years, and president of the Constitutional Convention of 
 1853. The same quality made him speaker of the United- 
 States House, at a time when his peculiar political position 
 — one-third Democrat, one-third American, and one-third 
 Republican — pointed him out as the available man. The 
 friendship of the Free-Soilers, won by his own tendency 
 toward liberal principles, gave him a seat in Congress. But 
 his Americanism, on the whole, has been the great blunder of 
 his life, although b}- it he was chosen governor. It was con- 
 trar}' to the principles of his j'outh, and the principles he 
 had alwa3-s professed ; and no man can disregard these with 
 impunit}". 
 
 Banks is a man of the people, and it cannot be denied 
 that he is a live man : he was a " bobbin-boy " in his youth, 
 and has been " bobbin' around" ever since. His good luck 
 is equal to Guj^'s, in Emerson's poem : — 
 
 "Early or late, the falling rain 
 Arrived iu time to swell his grain; 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 439 
 
 Stream could not so perversely ■wind, 
 But corn of Guy's was there to grind; 
 The siroc found it on its way 
 To speed his sails, to dry his hay; 
 And the world's sun seemed to rise 
 To drudge all day for Guy the Wise." 
 
 " EX-MAJOR-GEN. B. F. BUTLER IN 1871. 
 
 Gen. Butler represents as well as an}' man in the country 
 that worst — I might almost sa}' that only vicious — principle 
 of our present affairs, — the tendency toward personal gov- 
 ernment, instead of a government of politics. This teudenc}' 
 has grown up since the Rebellion was over. Eldest born of 
 Shodd}', b}' War, it will die, by and b}', no doubt ; but mean- 
 while it is lust}- and vigorous, and disgustingly healthy. For 
 a man of such immense intellectual ability and vitality, he 
 is the greatest piece of folly known to American politics. 
 He has lost within the. last four or five years about all he 
 gained during the five or six years before that. Hardl}' any 
 man has been so befriended by circumstances and the course 
 of events. His radical positions on antislavery questions 
 during the war, — i.e., after he got over the notion that it 
 was his dut}' to keep the peculiar institution alive in Mary- 
 land, — his hanging of Mumford, his vigorous administration 
 of affairs at New Orleans, his generally consistent course on 
 reconstruction, the hatred with which he was endowed by 
 the rebel leaders and the copperheads, all helped him in the 
 outset. This gave him an election to Congress without a 
 struggle, and in spite of some theories which shocked the 
 conservatives of Massachusetts. But in Congress he has 
 been a mere sensationalist and gladiator ; and, during the 
 vacations, he has done nothing but make speeches without 
 rhyme or reason. Butler lives for a day and a minute, for a 
 cit}", town, or ward, not for a people and for all time. In a 
 word, he has no sense, and I fear he never will have. This 
 is sure to be regretted, because he has at bottom a good 
 many good notions. He is a radical, and always was. He 
 is never blinded hy fallacies unless he chooses to be. He is 
 
440 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 never intellectuall}- cheated, however willing he mtxy be inlel- 
 lectuall}- to cheat other men. 
 
 If Butler were an honest-minded and unselfish man, and 
 with even a reasonable degree of sensationalism, he would 
 be immensely useful in this countr}'. "The Newljur\i)ort 
 Herald" tries to make him the leader of the new Republi- 
 can departure. No person is so unfit for such a leadership, 
 or for an}- leadership, " Press where j'ou see his white 
 plume shine," quotha? It is impossible to press after it. It 
 is in one part of the field this minute, and in another part 
 next ; one moment dashing against enemies, and the next 
 moment against friends, and the next hiding itself in some 
 intrigue about a corporalship, to the utter disregard of how 
 the battle goes, whether for or against them. What revenue 
 reformer could trust and ride after such a man? what labor 
 reformer? what temperance reformer? what radical of any 
 sort? As a governor, if you can imagine him elected, he 
 would propose two absurd things for every good one ; 
 compel the laughter of the people, and opposition of the 
 legislature ; multiply dead-locks and permanent quarrels ; 
 and finall}' retire at his year's end with unanimous consent, 
 or defeat which should be memorable as that of the Paris 
 commune itself- 
 
 "Warrington's" reply to butler. 
 The " personal collision," hand to hand, which Gen. But- 
 ler says he had with me some " twentj'-five 3-ears ago," was 
 just this. I think it was in 1842 that I had reported for 
 " The Lowell Courier " (of which I was the assistant editor) 
 a very scaly and disreputable trick by which Butler had got 
 a criminal released from the prisoner's dock in Concord court- 
 house.^ I had returned to my post, and was one day sitting 
 at my table, writing, when Butler entered, and asked who 
 wrote the report. I told him I wrote it. He asked me if I 
 would retract. I replied, that, if he would satisfy me that I 
 
 1 See Appendix C. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 441 
 
 had made any misstatement, I would correct it. That did 
 not content him ; and he again demanded to linow if I would 
 retract. " Certainl}^ not," said I. Whereupon, I being 
 still seated at my desk, and he standing beside me, he brought 
 down his hand, and, striking my spectacles, knocked them 
 upon the floor. Whereupon Col. Schouler, editor of " The 
 Courier," who had been standing by, an amazed listener, 
 turned Butler out of the office. To do him justice, he was 
 not reluctant to go : on the contrary, his evolutions toward 
 the door, and down the stairs into the street, were performed 
 with a celerity which gave rise to the impression that he 
 feared the colonel's boot would re-enforce the order to quit. 
 The city laughed about the account which we gave of the 
 " collision." Everybody said it was characteristic of Butler ; 
 and I never supposed it would be used to point a moral in 
 relation to "The Springfield Republican's " hostility to him. 
 I doubt, indeed, whether any one connected with that paper 
 ever heard of the "collision" before: so it could not have 
 contributed to the general's unpopularity in that office. 
 
 As for me, — why, I have suffered for years under the repu- 
 tation of being " a Butler man." Butler and I were elected 
 to the legislature, ten years after this occurrence, on the 
 same ticket. I remember it well ; for he was a dreadful load 
 for the party to carry. "The New- York Nation " twitted 
 me with supporting Butler when he was elected to Congress ; 
 and indeed it was on this very account that I came near 
 quarrelling with my friend Gen. Hawley, vrhose paper, " The 
 Hartford Courant," I partially had charge of in tlie fall of 
 18G8. r told Hawley he ought to let the Massachusetts 
 Republicans fight their own battles and manage their own 
 affairs. No : he insisted on pronouncing against Butler. 
 He said he was a demagogue. "Well, everybody knew 
 that." — "He was a blackguard." — "Of course he was." 
 — "He was a scamp and a disorganizer generall}-." I could 
 not deny it. But still I insisted, that, if Essex County wanted 
 him, it ought to be allowed to take him ; and on the whole, 
 if he could be confined there, so much the better for us gen- 
 erally throughout the State. 
 
442 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 This is not the onlj- time I have suffered on Butler's 
 account. One j^ear we asked him to preside at the Republi- 
 can State Convention. I was not guilty in this more than 
 others ; but, as I was secretary of the committee, I was blanied 
 for it. Meeting Gov. Andrew one da}- on Tremont Street, 
 he, after " passing the time o' day," asked rather gruffl}' why 
 the committee had invited " that scoundrel Butler" to pre- 
 side. I gave some excuse, and added, "You know, gov- 
 ernor, that we invited 30U ; but you declined." — " Well," 
 said he with an emphatic sort of grunt, " if I had supposed 
 3'ou would have been fools enough to ask Butler, I would 
 have accepted." I respected his honest, well-grounded, 
 intelligent opinion, and did not press mine upon him an}' 
 further. 
 
 So in the legislature, when an election for major-general 
 of the militia took place, and the " conservatives " were 
 tr3'ing to defeat Butler for his radicalism b}- running Gen. 
 Bartlett, I did what I could for the former ; and, whatever 
 ma}' be the opinion of military authorities in relation to Big 
 Bethel and Fort Fisher, nobody can deny, that, as was said 
 of one of our former governors, ''he did well at Concord." 
 I know of no man who carries on a fight where they fire only 
 powder better than Butler.^ So I have never regretted the 
 support I gave him for the major-generalship : and he was 
 apparently very grateful for it, and acknowledged the favor 
 by a neat letter and a present ; I can hardly call it a hand- 
 some one, it being merely his phot ogr a j^h. Butler can hardly 
 make out a connection between the *' collision " thirty years 
 ago or so and "The Republican's " hostility to him. He 
 succeeds, however, quite as well as in most of his attempts 
 at a logical solution of the mystery which surrounds the 
 opposition of the press to his nomination. Indeed, there is 
 no mystery in it to the " average " mind. Butler is simply a 
 political and social nuisance ; and that is all there is about 
 him. 
 
 1 He is tlie only one of our general3 who has been so lavisli of his 
 powder as to lue it by the shipload. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 443 
 
 BUTLER AS JUDGE AND EXECUTIONER OF THE REPUBLICAN 
 
 PARTY.^ 
 
 "Judge and executioner," — this is in accordance with 
 Butler's own notions as to tlie functions he expects to per- 
 form when he is elected governor of the Commonwealth. 
 Heretofore these functions have been kept distinct : the 
 legislature has made the laws, the judge has tried and 
 passed sentence, and the sheriff has hanged the culprit. But 
 what is the Constitution to Butler? If he is to be "judge 
 and executioner" of a party, why not of a State govern- 
 ment? and, if judge and executioner, wh}^ not legislator also? 
 This whole theory of Butler's fitness for the governorship is 
 built up on his supposed fitness for dealing with turbulent 
 communities. He did well at New Orleans : so he will do 
 well here. He executed Muraford : so he will have a drum- 
 head court-martial in the anteroom of the Council Chamber. 
 He helped frame the reconstruction acts for the government 
 of the Ku-Klux : so he will govern the million and a half 
 respectable people of Massachusetts quietly. Very well. 
 When the people of this Commonwealth are willing to 
 acknowledge that they are like the rebels of New Orleans 
 and the Ku-Klux of Georgia, they may be willing to ask for 
 Butler's great executive powers as a ruler over them ; but 
 not before. And let the laboring-men beware lest they get 
 more than they have bargained for in this man. He is not, 
 like one of the sans-calottes of Paris, read}' to lead a mob 
 of prostitutes and ruffians to the sacking of rich men's 
 houses,, but (as he says) the owner of a major part of the 
 stock in one corporation and of part of another, and an 
 enem}- of strikes, who (to come back to Phillips) sim^Dly 
 proposes to be "judge and executioner" of the Republican 
 party. 
 
 This is all ; and this is precisely what I have said here- 
 tofore when I have traced his connection with the conspiracy 
 
 1 "The Republican party knows that its judge and executioner has 
 come." — "We>t>ell PmuLirs at Salisbury Beach, Sept. 14. 
 
444 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 of 1870. Read Phillips's speech. It confirms everj' word 
 that I have said as to that event, and more. It has wider 
 bearings than last 3'ear. Mr. Richard Spofford introduced 
 the orator at Salisbiuy, styling him "Gov. Butler." Who 
 is Mr. Spofford? Always and now a Democrat. More than 
 half Butler's caucuses are made up of members of that party 
 and of Phillips men. Not trvcn a gathering of gentlemen 
 and ladies at a family part}- like the Salisbury-beach festival, 
 a party to which such men as Gov. Claflin, and Gov. Weston 
 of New Hampshire, and John Quincy Adams, were invited 
 (who, if the}- had been present, would have been grossly 
 insulted by the ruffianism of the speeches) , is free from this 
 raid of Butlerites. They are the crowd come to view the 
 hanging. The flower of Essex, the beauty and literary skill 
 of Newburyport and Beverly and Salem, gather at Salis- 
 bury Beach, while the clown, as in Shakspeare's play, says, 
 "Awake, Master Barnardine ! get up and be hanged." 
 " Behold, Master Republican Party, your judge and execu- 
 tioner!" 
 
 Well, we were summoned to be hanged last j-ear ; but, like 
 Barnardine, we said, " Go away, 3-ou rogue ! " and we got a 
 reprieve for a twelvemonth. The clown himself proposed 
 to hang us then ; and finally, when he concluded to let us off, 
 he notified us that there would be a more peremptor}- hang- 
 man in 1871. And the grim Butler appears. He says, that, 
 when elected governor, he will " execute the laws ; " and it 
 seems that he imagines his oath of office comprehends an 
 execution of all the men who make the laws, as well as the 
 laws themselves. For every rumseller who is jugged iu 
 Sheriff Clark's jail, a Republican officeholder is to be trussed 
 up. The whole party is to be made an example of; and a 
 hundred thousand voters, more or less, are to " llasli their 
 ivories in Surgeons' Hall" as soon as Jack Ketch has done 
 his perfect work on them. Phillips is to listen to the 
 last wail of the condemned ; and when he hears that the 
 Republican party is dead and buried, "and that the people 
 have strangled the press iu one hand and the moneyed corpo- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 445 
 
 rations in the other," he says he " shall say Amen, so be it ; 
 glory to God ! " and, after this pious ejaculation, he will go 
 home and revamp his lecture on "the Lost Arts," includ- 
 ing the art of printing among these old and discredited 
 humbugs. 
 
 Well, all this balderdash and Butlerdash of Wendell 
 Phillips is hj no means without a meaning. I have alreadj- 
 shown that the Butler movement of 1871 is but a second and 
 enlarged and larger-papered and more widely-margined edi- 
 tion of the Butler-Phillips movement of 1870. I have quoted 
 already what Phillips said before the election of 1871: "I 
 will step aside next year, and show you a real governor." I 
 have requoted the European maxim, changed to suit the 
 modern exigency, " Scratch Phillips, and you find Butler 
 beneath." They mean the same thing. Phillips is trying 
 to kill the Eepublican party from the outside ; Butler, from 
 the inside. Phillips adores Butler, and thinks him a greater 
 man than John A. Andrew, or, indeed, than any governor 
 since Samuel Adams, simply because he has found out that 
 Butler hates the Republican party quite as bitterly as he 
 hates it, and has even more power to injure it. Phillips has 
 hated the newspapers for thirty years ; yet he let them run 
 over him rough-shod in 1870 : but Butler means to strangle 
 them, and there an end. The voice is to be the only medium 
 of communication with the public. I know now why Frank 
 Bird is so odious. Hq is a paper-maker ! " Contrary to the 
 king, his crown and dignity, thou hast built a paper-mill," 
 
 Bird ! Let Alexander Rice beware ! And all these venal 
 thirtj'-dollar-a-month scribblers, like "Warrington," — why, 
 sentence is to be passed on them at once. " Away with him, 
 
 1 say ! hang him with his pen and ink-horn about his neck ! " 
 The great point, however, is the slaughter of the party. 
 Both of these men mean to destroy it. From the clay Butler 
 entered it, he has ivorkedfor its destruction. It is needless to 
 recapitulate or to do more than allude to his abuse of, 
 including personal insults toward. Gen. Grant ; his betrayal 
 of Dawes, the Massachusetts candidate for spealver; his 
 
446 "WAliRIXGTOX: " 
 
 attempted bargain in relation to the chainnansliip of the most 
 important committee ; his desire to supplant Senator Wilson, 
 — acts which are well known here, but are ten times better 
 known in Washington and in New York and the AVest, where 
 there is very much greater cause for the " strangling " of the 
 press than there is here. 
 
 The thi-ee men in this countr}- who have brought most 
 discredit on America in Europe (says a distinguished gentle- 
 man just returned from the other side) are Pendleton. Jim 
 Fisk, and Ben Butler ; and he might have added, that these 
 three men have brought more discredit upon America among 
 Americans themselves than any other three men. It is not 
 possible to exaggerate the mischief which Butler has brought 
 to the part}' which he now professes a desire to reform and 
 rehabilitate. What sent Missouri over to the Democracy? — 
 temporaril}- perhaps, but long enough to elect Blair to the 
 Senate. What has kept the great and enlightened State of 
 New York out of Republican hands for the last three years? 
 What has lost us the South ? That demoralization and corrup- 
 tion of politics, that irresistible gi-avitation (thus far) to per- 
 sonal government as against the government of law or political 
 ethics, of which Butler is the most complete representative, 
 take him all in all, in the Avhole country. If he should be 
 nominated for governor of "this Commonwealth, no honest 
 man could rejoice except those extreme optimists who think 
 with Emerson that government is a succession of felonies, 
 and magistrates a succession of felons, and whose hopes of 
 ultimate good rest in the streaming through of some irresisti- 
 ble tendency which is to make things all right by and by. 
 
 " "W.VRRINGTON's " LIFE OF BUTLER IN 1871. 
 
 NoNv I will tell 3-ou a secret. " Warrington" is collecting 
 materials for a life of Butler. Seventeen Hartford publish- 
 ing-houses are competing for the job, and thirty presses are 
 now in course of construction for the printing of it. It is to 
 begin at the beginning. Let me give you a choice specimen. 
 He has in bis historical researches unearthed an old history 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. Ail 
 
 of England (London, 1706), which gives the follomng sug- 
 gestive account of one Butler who flourished in the reign of 
 James I. It was written b}' Artliur Wilson, Esq., a native 
 of Suffolk, an Oxford man, a traveller in Spain, France, &c., 
 with Robert Devereux, the last earl of Essex of that name, 
 and said to have been " perfectly well informed in all the 
 material transactions of King James's reign." In addition 
 to this, let me add, he seems to have been endowed with the 
 gift of prophecy. The first marginal note is Mr. Wilson's ; 
 but the others I have supplied. 
 
 " There was one Butler, an Irishman (which vaunted him- 
 self to be of the house of Ormond), who was Butier a JMounte- 
 a kind of Mountebank, which the Duke and ^^"i^- 
 his Mother much confided in. This Butler was first an ap- 
 prentice to a Cutler in London, and before his time expired, 
 quitted his Master, having a running head, and went to the 
 Burmudaes, where he lived some time as a His speculation in 
 Servant in the Island ; and walking by the Ambergreece. 
 Seaside with another of his Companions, they found a great 
 Mass of Ambergreece that the Seas Bounty had cast up to 
 them, which the}' willingly concealed, meaning to make their 
 best markets of. Butler being a subtle Snap, Butier a Subtle 
 wrought so with bis Companion, with Prom- Snap, 
 ises of a Share, that he got Possession of it ; and in the next 
 Dutch ship that arrived at the Burmudaes, he shipped him- 
 self and his Commodities for Amsterdam, where, having sold 
 his Bargain at a good Rate and made his Credit with his 
 Fellow- Venturer cheap enough, engrossing it all to himself, 
 he came into England, lived in a gallant and noble Equipage, 
 kept a great and Free Table at his Lodgings in the Strand, 
 which were furnished suitable to his Mind, His Great state in 
 and had his Coach with six Horses with England. 
 many Footmen attending on him, with as much State and 
 Grandure as if his Greatness had been real. But tho' his 
 Means lasted not to support this long, j-et it brought him 
 into great Acquaintance ; and being prag- Becomes Partner 
 matical in Tongue, and having an active in a Distillery? 
 
448 ''WARniXGTOy: " 
 
 Pate, he fell to some Distillations, and other odd extracting 
 Ilia Extracting Practices, which kept him afloat ; and some 
 
 PracOces. ]\ien thought he had gotten the (long- 
 
 dream'd-after) Philosopher's Stone ; but the best Recipe 
 Is thought to have ""'l^ich he had to maintain his Greatness after 
 
 gotten tho Tiii- his Amber-moncj' fumed and vapour' d awaj-, 
 
 losopher's Stone. ^^^ guspected to come from his Friends at 
 "Whitehall ; and the Story of his Death (if it be true) is one 
 great Evidence of some secret Machination betwixt the 
 The Duke desires Dukc and him, that the Duke was willing to 
 
 to be rid of him. ije Yk\ of him. For Mischief being an En- 
 grosser, is insecure and unsatisf3''d, when their "Wares are to 
 be vented in man}' Shops. Therefore he was recommended 
 upon some plausible Occasion by the Duke's Means (as 
 Entertained by the Fame delivered it) to some Jesuites beyond 
 
 jesuites. the Seas, where he was entertained with a 
 
 great deal of specious Ceremony and Respect in one of their 
 Colleges or Cloysters ; and at night the}' attending him to 
 his Chamber with much Civility, the Chamber being hanged 
 with Tapistry, and Tapers burning in stretch'd-out Arms 
 "Over the left." upon the Walls; and when they gave him 
 the Good-night, they told him they would send one who 
 should direct him to his Lodging ; and they were no sooner 
 out of this Room of Death, but the Floor, that hung upon 
 great Hinges on one side, was let fall by Artificial f^ngines, 
 A Faiiin Vermin, and the poor "Vermin Butler dropp'd into 
 a Precipice where he was never more heard of. That there 
 are such secret Inquisition-Conveyances, of a horrid Nature, 
 is obvious ; and such close contrivances may fly up and 
 down upon the Wings of Rumour ; but it is impossible to find 
 The end of Butler out the Bottom of such black Pitfals, but 
 
 —Amen! ^jtij as much danger as those that find the 
 
 bitter Effects of them. And this was reputed to be the end 
 of Butler." 
 
 Looking further into this volume (which may be found 
 in the Athenaeum) , I find other traces of the Butlers. For 
 instance, it is related that in 15G9, during Elizabeth's reign, 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 449 
 
 Edward and Peter Boteler (spelt Butler in -the index) ^ 
 "after they had insulted their neighbors in Munster, and 
 grew too big to be restrained within the bounds of law," 
 they were imprisoned, but not brought to trial, "• as the}' 
 deserved," saith the historian. " That which went a great 
 wa3' to procure this grace," the historian goes on to saj', 
 " was the near relation between them and the queen." It is 
 to be hoped that the " near relation " between our modern 
 Butler and the Washington administration maj' not prevent 
 the former from being brought to trial "as his offences 
 deserve." 
 
 "Warrington" has also seized upon manj' curious illus- 
 trations of Butler's means of gaining his great wealth. 1 
 was amused at finding in his manuscript the following quota- 
 tion from the Book of Jeremiah, w-hich he evidentl}' intends 
 to make some use of as pointing a moral. I believe it is a 
 schedule of the spoil which the Chaldeans got at Jerusalem. 
 I had not supposed your correspondent so familiar with the 
 Hebrew Scriptures. 
 
 " Also the pillars of brass that were in the house of 
 the Lord, and the bases, and the brazen sea that was in the 
 house of the Lord, the Chaldeans brake, and carried all the 
 brass of them to Bab3lon. 
 
 " The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, 
 and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass 
 wherewith they ministered, took thej^ away. 
 
 " And the basins, and the fire-pans, and the bowls, and 
 the caldrons, and the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the 
 cups ; that which Was of gold in gold, and that which was of 
 silver in silver, took the captain of the guard away." 
 
 I interviewed ' ' Warrington " as to his feelings in relation 
 to Butler's frequent notices of him ; and he replied, that he 
 felt like saying to the great orator what Mr. Bumble said to 
 Mrs. Bumble concerning her tears: "It opens the lungs, 
 
 1 It is curious, that, while this ancieut Butler was known as a Boteler, 
 the inoderu and perhaps more notorious Butler was universally, after 
 certain events in Yii-ginia in 18C5, known as the '^Bottled." 
 
450 "WARRIXGTON':" 
 
 washes the countenance, exercises the ej'es, and softens 
 down the temper: so cry awa}-." 
 
 BUTLER IN 1873. 
 
 The whole histor}- of Bailor and Butlerism in the State 
 would be instructive reading. I have vcr}- full materials for 
 one ; but it is never likely to be called for. Butler has com- 
 plained, time and again, that he has been made an outlaw 
 from the beginning. He made himself so. I know a man 
 who lived in the same house with him when he was a school- 
 boy. He told me that he has hated him ever since, because 
 he licked Ben once, and the latter told the master, and got 
 him licked. Aliuays a coward, he grew up, through a career 
 of impudent pettifogging, into a position of some degree of 
 height in those verj- discreditable tribunals, the criminal 
 courts. His office was the educator of a pestilent brood of 
 law3-ers as base and impudent as himself. The judges al- 
 lowed him not only to insult the witnesses, but to browbeat 
 and insult them. Sharp-sighted and sharp-witted, he was 
 excellent at picking flaws in indictments, and noting excep- 
 tions to judicial rulings; so that in "the judicial system," 
 which is a system of hinderances, obstructions, and frauds, 
 he became an important figure. Ho had great capacit}' for 
 labor and for organization, and not onl}- moved his own ten 
 pickers and stealers, but after he got into a still wider field 
 of fraud, the civil war, he commanded all the thieving facul- 
 ties of other men. Of course, such a man became an out- 
 lay,-, lie got to Congress because he performed the part of 
 Jack Ketch on a poor devil of a rebel in New Orleans. 
 
 After that he used to say, " You fellows say you mean to 
 keep me localized down in Essex: we'll see about that." 
 So he wont for the State in 1871, with Essex all behind him, 
 except a few towns, and a few true men whose courage and 
 whose patience cannot sufficientl}- be applauded. He was 
 beaten then and in 1873 ; yet circumstances were very fa- 
 vorable to him, both years. Almost any other man of equal 
 pln'sical and intellectual vigor could have carried the con- 
 
PEN'-PORTRAITS. 451 
 
 vention either j-ear. He was ass enough to suppose that 
 his own personal ambition and auclacit}- could compel a 
 nomination against the deliberate will of a majorit}' of the 
 voters, — deliberated when aroused; and ^-ot, when beaten, 
 he left his friends in the lurch, and returned to Essex to 
 growl over his "localization," to emplo}' his clerks writing 
 notes stabbing below the arm all the men he could reach who 
 had opposed him, and lending himself to all the private 
 quarrels of every town to pa}' his hired assassins. The 
 roar with which Gloucester itself sprang upon the dead 
 carcass and dismembered it is his recompense. This base 
 man has been the trusted and influential adviser of Gen. 
 Grant in all the matters appertaining to the offices for ^-ears 
 past. 
 
 What a pitiable delusion the "labor-men," whether skilled. 
 or unskilled, day-laborers or mechanics, are in, if they sup- 
 pose thej' are to gain any thing but increased taxation 
 and new disabilities and wrongs if the Butler s^'stem is to 
 cany the da}- ! Originally, b}' the emergencies to which a 
 j-oung pettifogger, struggling for a living, is subjected, Butler 
 became a ten-hour man and a labor-reformer. He was as 
 honest in this as it was in his nature to be. He fought 
 the Lowell corporations, agents and overseers, brought suits 
 for the factorj'-girls, and made speeches in the Lowell City 
 Hall ; but, as he rose in position at the bar, his ability and 
 sharpness made him useful to the corporations, and the}' fre- 
 quently employed him. He fought hard for the Ten-hour 
 Law in the days of the coalition, and, as he says (though 
 this v,-as after Sumner was chosen senator, and Boutwell 
 governor, instead of before, as he puts it), Lowell was car- 
 ried for the coalition ticket in 1852 ; and the year after lie 
 was put on it, and also chosen. I do not remember that he 
 showed any zeal on the subject afterward. At any rate, 
 he was a member of the Senate in 1859, and never lifted his 
 finger or made a motion of any sort on the subject. From 
 being a liberal and progressive Democrat, he about this time 
 became an intense hunker. In the fall of 1859 he ran for 
 
452 ''WAIililXGTON:" 
 
 governor as the Democratic candidate, and received SS.OS'G 
 votes ; and this, instead of being the largest A-ote, as he 
 boasts, was less than Beach received in 1856 and 1858, less 
 than Boutwell received in 1850 and 1851, and Bishop in 
 1852, and 20,000 or 30,000 less than the Democratic party 
 has received since he left it. In 18G0 his hunker tendencies 
 led him to betray- Douglas, and sent him finally over to the 
 secession Democrac}', whose candidate for governor he 
 became, receiving 6,118 votes. All this was about the time 
 of the re-oi'ganization of the Middlesex woollen company in 
 Lowell, hy which he became a mill-owner. When the war 
 broke out, he went into that. 
 
 Nobody desires to disparage his patriotism or his military 
 services ; but it was not ver}' long before he was found 
 •appointing as his quartermaster the most notorious jobber 
 in New England, and contriving to throw contracts into the 
 hands of his brothers-in-law and a ring of relatives and 
 political associates. lias he ever since that time, until he 
 conceived the idea of making the international labor move- 
 ment subservient to his political ambition, shown any s} inpa- 
 th}' with tlie labor part}? Never. He is the representa- 
 tive, on the other hand, of the piratical and cut-throat 
 system of politics, which is death to the mechanic, because 
 it piles on him accumulating debts, and keeps him down, 
 forever a son of toil, for the benefit of just such base pluto- 
 crats. If he is for co-operation, he would start a co-opera- 
 tive theft societ}- ; and the protective union would, in his 
 hands, become the independent order of Dick Tur[)in. It is 
 nothing less than insanit}- for mechanics to put themselves 
 into his power. 
 
 I hear people saj' he bowed gracefull}' to the decision of 
 the Worcester Convention. Just as a condemned criminal 
 bows gracefully to the invitation of the hangman to have his 
 arms pinioned and be led out to execution. The ring of 
 necessity was round him. The iron shroud was collapsing, 
 as in the old Blackwood stor}' ; and at the stroke of the bell 
 he had only time to fold bis arras, utter his last words, and 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 453 
 
 make an attempt to die with decenc}'. He went out the 
 worst-beaten man that has been known in our political 
 history for years ; for the stake for which he pla3-ed was 
 nothing less than the presidenc}', and he ignominiously lost 
 it. I do not believe he will ever have half so favorable an 
 opportunitj' again. One worse, and apparently a final catas- 
 trophe, has been added to his long series of failures. The 
 people are against him, and he is against himself. A self- 
 willed egotist, he asks no advice, and takes none when 
 offered. Conscienceless and remorseless in all his public 
 acts, however kind and agreeable in the private relations of 
 life, he must continue to fail until the people of Massachu- 
 setts and the United States become as conscienceless and as 
 remorseless as himself. Whatever happens now, Butler is 
 certain, if he lives three or five j-ears longer, to be the best 
 hated and the most justly despised politician in the country. 
 As sure as fate, all this salar^'-grabbing gang have got to go 
 to the wall, even if another gang of thieves take their places : 
 and they have got to be pushed to the wall ; for Providence 
 has probably got enough to attend to in a general wa}', with- 
 out speciall}' taking care of Massachusetts politics. "We 
 liave good poetical authorit}' for believing that 
 
 " God hates your sneak in' creturs that believe 
 He'il settle things they run away and leave, — 
 The sneakin' kind, that sets and thinks for weeks 
 The bottom's out of the universe coz their own gill-pot leaks." 
 
 If So-and-So, and This, That, and the Other, are for Butler, 
 so much the worse for them., not for ws. 
 
 butler's epitaph. 
 I understand, that, although Butler has drawn his back 
 pay, he feels constrained by public opinion to devote it to 
 some public institution. One of the Lowell banks (being 
 the one he keeps his deposits in) is his present preference ; 
 thougli he thinks favorably of the Middlesex Mills, the Pen- 
 tuclcet Navigation Compau}', the Ballon Boot and Shoe Sew- 
 ing Machine Company-, the Cape Ann Granite Company (or 
 
454 "WARItlXGTON:" 
 
 whatever its name maj' be), and some others. If he seledtg 
 the Granite Compan}-, there will be a suitable inscription 
 placed on one of the stones to be used in the enlargomcnt of 
 the Post Office ; perhaps this : " I have builded a monument 
 more lasting than (my own) brass." 
 
 HENRY WAUU KEECHER IN 1864. 
 
 Beecher is the greatest stump-speaker we have, as Phillips 
 is the greatest orator. His language is as common and 
 forcible as Cobbett's ; his illustrations homely and humorous, 
 and exactly suited to the average abilities of the people. He 
 knows men and women, and always keeps his hearers on 
 good terms with him ; and, when he has any thing to say, 
 says it in a wa}' which takes hold of them and carries them 
 along. He sa3-s what the people have been saying to them- 
 selves, and so flatters them with the idea that they have been 
 thinking wisel}' all the time. So sometimes he confirms 
 good ideas, and sometimes bad ones. Beecher seems to me 
 to be exceedingl}' cautious, even cunning, in the use of lan- 
 guage. It would be difficult to catch him in the utterance 
 of an}' heres}', political or religious, even if his prominent 
 position and popularit}' did not deter the heres3'-hunters from 
 pouncing upon him as the}' did upon his brother Charles. 
 He is a thorough Yankee, loving money as well as the best. 
 He is a wonderful stump-orator. He tells stories and cracks 
 jokes, and oft-times touches the sympathies of his hearers 
 in a masterl}' Avay. Beecher is a humorist, and is full}' 
 conscious of the fact. Indeed, I doubt whether men often 
 say witty and humorous things by accident, or, at least, 
 witliuut being fully conscious of tlie wit and humor as soon 
 as the word is spoken. Speaking of Xapole(Mi in one of his 
 lectures, Beecher said he was superior to his rivals, the other 
 kings of Europe ; not so good, perhaps, as "an average good 
 man when he isn't temj^ted," l)ut, on the whole, a useful man. 
 AVhat a satire on the whole human family was contained in 
 this luunorous hit ! Speaking of the swiftness with which we 
 had raised an army of ludf a million men, he said, "Our 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 455 
 
 only military education heretofore had been once or twice a 
 3'ear to laugh at the militia." What an exquisite idea of a 
 military education ! 
 
 Beecher treats the question of emancipation with great 
 nonchalance ; intimating, that, if the blacks are forty years 
 longer in the wilderness, the}^ ma}- consider themselves well 
 oft' ; while their rebel masters and haters are hardly used if 
 thej' are kept tramping about forty weeks. Philadelphia (and 
 the great mass of the enlightened people of the country agree 
 with Philadelphia) answers, and says, "We prefer that the 
 white traitors, rather than the black Unionists, shall have 
 their term in the swamps and morasses, and the Tennessee 
 Moses ^ ma}' flounder round with them for aught the}- care." 
 If Beecher had not been destitute of any acute moral sense, if 
 he had not been a mere sensationalist and a quack, he never 
 could have given utterance to such a sentiment, or to his 
 quasi indorsement of the New-Orleans murders. He may 
 make as many jokes as he pleases : the people will never 
 forget such insensibility to the sufferings of the white and 
 black Unionists of the South. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVE BUMSTEAD IN 1873. 
 
 The office-holding class is as distinct a class as the shoe- 
 and-leather interest, or the railroad interest, or the banking 
 interest, and a great deal more expensive than either of them. 
 Trace the career of one of those mute, inglorious Simpkinses, 
 or, since the war was over, those Bumsteads, guiltless of their 
 foeman's blood. He is the progeny of Free-Soil parents : that 
 seems, in the light of antislavery events of the last twenty- 
 live or thirty years, to be needful, and necessary to be stated. 
 The number of those fathers who cast the first Free-Soil 
 vote in Podunk, or presided at the first antislavery meeting 
 in Snake-hollow Corners, is enormous. The boy grows up ; 
 he goes to the village school more or less every year, from 
 the time he is five till the time he is fifteen years old ; he 
 
 1 Prea. Johnson. 
 
456 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 enters an acadeni}' ; he works for his board ; he goes to the 
 singing-school, and home with the prettiest girl unless cut 
 out b}' a rival in her affections ; he is employed as a teacher ; 
 tries conclusions with an uin-uly boy, and flogs him into sub- 
 mission, thereby getting his first impressions in favor of 
 compulsory education and the Prussian 83'stem ; joins tlie 
 Good Templars, and becomes in time the grand cocked-hat 
 of the order ; gets him a farm, and raises the prize-cucurabor 
 for the annual show ; is appointed chairman of the committee 
 on milch steers ; studies political economy ; is converted to 
 the Stebbins theory of the prohibitory law ; believes in for- 
 bidding all drinks, except that produced from apple-trees, 
 he having an incipient orchard of that class ; is mentioned 
 by partial friends for constable of the town ; takes his first 
 oath of office with an emotion not to be described ; resolves to 
 become a public man ; is soon promoted to the office of school- 
 committee-man ; neglects no home duty meanwhile, but raises 
 sturdy boys, pays his taxes without protest or abatement, 
 and contributes an occasional item of news to the county 
 paper ; engages after a while as a regular correspondent ; 
 becomes interested in antiquarian matters ; writes to his 
 uncle in Maine to know if he has any genealogy of the Bum- 
 stead family ; helps start the public library, and contributes 
 a volume of patent-office rei)orts ; rapidly rising in town 
 ofilce all the while, through the various grades, — overseer 
 of the poor, assessor, selectman, and finally representa- 
 tive in the General Court ; takes his carpet-bag, makes 
 his way to the State House, seeks an introduction to the 
 sergeant-at-arms, and tells him his history ; goes to see the 
 speaker ; produces letters recommending him as a suitable 
 man for tliii railroad, the education, the public charitable, 
 the town, the roads, the judiciary, and the finance eonuuit- 
 tees, — all or any three of them ; gets ai)pointed on county 
 estimates ; posts up the Podunk statesman on all matters 
 of interest which occur ; votes to instruct Senator Wilson, 
 and censure Senator Sumner, and to increase ever3body's 
 pay ; and goes home, witli the approbation of an applauding 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 457 
 
 conscience, to his summer farming and his autumnal office- 
 seeking. This is the career of several hundred, if not 
 several thousand, fellows who " run " the Commonwealth of 
 Massachusetts, — God save it ! 
 
 RUFUS CHOATE. 
 
 Mr. Choate was certainly a man of genius ; one of the 
 few men of genius in political and professional life. This 
 was, after all, the great secret of the liking people had for 
 him. There were other lawyers as learned as he ; for instance, 
 Mr. B. R. Curtis, Mr. C. G. Loring, Mr. Sidney Bartlett : 
 there were also others as acute and skilful as he in tlie trial 
 of causes ; for instance, Mr. B. F. Butler and Mr. Otis P. 
 Lord. But these, though men of learning and shrewdness. 
 were not men of genius ; especially the first-named class had 
 not this qualit}'. The}' were not men of whom anecdotes 
 are told ; men who say things worth reporting and remem- 
 bering, poetical things. I have been told, that, when Mr. 
 Choate first came to Boston, the leading law3'ers were dis- 
 posed to prevent him from rising in the world ; but they 
 soon had to give way. He raked them all down, to use a 
 vulgarism. The man who came nearest rivalship to him in 
 the field of eloquence was Peleg Sprague, who, soon after 
 1840, was placed upon the bench of the District Court. 
 Richard Fletcher, one of the most persuasive of men, as 
 well as one of the ablest of jurists, must have been a very 
 formidable antagonist. Mr. Rantoul might have disputed 
 with Mr. Choate the palm of superiorit}' at the bar, — for he 
 was a far greater man in most respects, having the logical 
 facult}' and the debating power better developed than almost 
 an}' Massachusetts man of this century, — but he chose the 
 broader and nobler field of politics. Mr. Choate soon 
 reached the position of acknowledged leader of the bar, and 
 kept it till he died. Although he mingled to some extent 
 in politics and legislation, he never succeeded in these fields. 
 He was a great lawyer, rather a great trier of causes. I 
 am not awai-e that he ever did any thing toward simplify- 
 
458 " WARRIXG TON : " 
 
 iug or ameliorating the law, or getting rid of its old-world 
 rubbish. He was neither a Brougham nor a Roniill}'. In 
 his peculiar sphere he was unrivalled ; but that sphere was 
 not the greatest. 
 
 There are traditions as to the extraordinar}- sensation Mr. 
 Choate created in the House of Representatives at "Washing- 
 ton when he first made his appearance there as an orator ; 
 but in an old number of "The Salem Register" of 1833, 
 which I came across not long ago, I found, quoted from one 
 of Mr. James Brooks's letters to " The Portland Adver- 
 tiser," the following curious description of the promising 
 young member from Essex, which would seem to appl}- to 
 some such man as Mr. Charles Hudson, or Mr. John Davis, 
 rather than to a man of Mr. Choate's fervid temperament : — 
 
 . "3Ir. llufiis Choate is a most promising young man from Essex 
 District, who does not spealc often, but who speaks much to the 
 purpose. Few men in Congress command more attention. lie has 
 a well-disciplined, but j^erhaps not a brilliant, mind ; or, if brilliant, he 
 has not suffered himself to strike out many oratorical sparks in the 
 oratorical debates in which he has participated. He argues closely, 
 clearly, and, of course, forcibly. He came into Congress with a high 
 reputation preceding him, — not always the most fortunate recom- 
 mendation ; for it makes critics more critical, and the public more 
 greedy, — and has thus far sustained the expectations of the public, 
 and increased his own reputation. There is an apparent frankness, 
 a sincerity, and sober earnestness, in his manner, when he addresses 
 the House, which are admirably calculated to make an impression, 
 and which does always have an effect. Mr. Choate returns from the 
 House this session to pursue his profession of law at Boston, it is 
 said, where there is but little doubt that he must soon be in the front 
 rank at the bar. Massachusetts will lose much in losing him from 
 Congress; for, the longer he was there, the stronger he would be- 
 come." 
 
 Mr. Choate was a great speech-maker, and his death the 
 cause of great speech-making in others. " Lying Jack 
 Campbell has added a new terror to death ! " exclaimed Lord 
 Brougham when he heard that Lord Campbell was about to 
 write the lives of the chancellors. I think Choate would 
 have made a similar exclamation if he had been told in his 
 
PEN'-POETBAITS. 459 
 
 last illness that Ben Hallett would take the opportunit}'' of 
 his death to eulogize his religious character. Ought there 
 not to be a statute against such outrages ? 
 
 Choate was a man of the world and of common sense, 
 who, however disappointed for himself or his friends, did not 
 sulk and growl and grumble, and go about exhibiting his 
 wounds, and telling how badh' he had been used, and getting 
 onl}' laughter instead of sj-mpath}'. He pursued his regular 
 vocation with matchless ability- to the end ; and, though 
 occasionall}' turning aside to give the public the fruits of his 
 scholarship and reading in an oration or lecture, did not 
 make this his whole business, but did it onl}- at intervals, as 
 he could snatch moments here and there from the incessant 
 warfare he was waging for his life and the welfare of his 
 family. There is a world-wide difference between a man of 
 this sort, whatever his opinions ma}' be, and one of the nice 
 men of Boston. Choate was not one of the " Massachusetts 
 magi." He was alwa^-s at work. He was not seen except 
 when he was bus}'. If you wanted to look at him, you had 
 to go into the Court House ; and there he was, seated at his 
 table, and exercising his wonderful skill in winning a victor}', 
 rightfully or wrongfully, for his client. He was generally 
 wrapped up in half a dozen great-coats and tippets ; but, 
 when he came to his argument, he unrolled himself, and 
 went at the reluctant and suspicious jur}', with a confidence 
 in his cause, and a skill in its presentation, which were 
 wonderful to see and hear ; and, when intermission came, he 
 hastil}' wrapped himself up again, darted into Parker's for 
 dinner, and then back to finish his speech. It was work, 
 work, work, every-day work, necessary' work ; and, though 
 not the ver}- highest work for a man of great gifts, yet work 
 requiring great intellectual force. To be the greatest of 
 advocates, the acknowledged leader of the bar, the ablest 
 and shrewdest man to fight battles in the courts, the cuu- 
 ningest at tongue-fence, and equal to any at logic-chopping ; 
 to magnetize and electrif}" and bamboozle and somnambulize 
 the juries ; to fill the house with heai-ers, — big men and little 
 
460 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 men, the educated and the illiterate, — even svhen the con- 
 test was on a dry question of law, or involving a small sum 
 of money, — this was evidence of greatness which all men 
 can admire. For my part, I think one of the chief attrac- 
 tions of Boston is gone. It was almost a sufficient solace 
 for scantiness of employment that I could go to East Cam- 
 bridge and see Choate and Butler try the case of Kimball 
 and Devens, which lasted two or three weeks ; but he is 
 gone, and there is nobody left worth hearing at all times. 
 
 Choate was the greatest genius who has appeared in the 
 courts of late years, or perhaps ever appeared here. People 
 looked at hira with admiration, as at Webster, with a mix- 
 ture of wonder. There are single tones and phrases and 
 words of his which haunt the memory. Get some old habitue 
 of the court to imitate them, and to repeat to you how he 
 used to talk to the judge and jury. In the Phoenix-bank 
 trial, before Judge Wjxshburn, he had a point of preliminary 
 law to argue, and there was an adjournment till the morning 
 for preparation. He came in, and, for two or three hours, 
 talked as I thought no mortal ever talked before, or ever 
 would again. It was a point involving some legal principle ; 
 and his little phrases, — something about the time when our 
 ancestors brought the first rude law out of the woods of Ger- 
 many, or tracing it to the day "when the warm blood of 
 Seneca was let out in the Roman bath," the last two words 
 being uttered just as he turned touard his manuscript again, 
 or with that lift of the shoulders, and lowering of the voice, 
 which were so attractive, — all these knacks of expression 
 were as delightful evidently to Mr. Webster, who was i)res- 
 ent, as to any one else ; for he followed him with the most 
 expressive interest in his face through the whole speech. 
 
 Mr. Choate, in one of his moments of intellectual "free- 
 dom," but moral despondency, wrote to his friend Charles 
 Eames, then in Caraccas, in the year 18o5, a dismally hu- 
 morous account of the Hiss legislature,' and the " enormous 
 
 1 Joseph Hiss, a member, was expelled from the legislature of 1855 
 for misdemeanor. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 461 
 
 impossible inanity of American things." "Your estate is 
 gracious," said he, "that keeps yoxx out of hearing of our 
 politics. Anj' thing more low, obscene, feculent, the mani- 
 fold oceanic heavings of history have not cast up. "We sliall ' 
 come to the worshfp of onions, cats, and things vermiculate. 
 Renown and grace are dead. ' There's nothing serious in 
 mortalit}'.' Bless 3'onr lot," he continues, " which gives 
 3'ou volcanoes, earthquakes, feather-cinctured chiefs, and 
 dusky sights of the tropics." Such little felicities of expres- 
 sion occurred constantly during his pleadings and in his 
 orations. I remember his quoting from "Ivaulioe" some- 
 thing like this, — "Throw over our spices, and robe the 
 roaring ocean with our silks;" and Dr. J, W. Stone put it 
 phonographically down without quotation-marks, and "The 
 Boston Courier" spoke of it as a specimen of Choate's 
 genius. 
 
 [1870.] 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY CHANNING AND THE RADICALS. 
 
 Mr. Channing, in his discourse at the Radical Club in 
 Boston, gave an account of his wanderings, which was indeed 
 very interesting : I mean his spiritual wanderings. He told 
 how, upon leaving the Divinity School, he found himself a 
 deist ; how he preached as a candidate in Brattle Street, and 
 I believe somewhere else in Boston, and how he failed 
 because he was not at one with the societies to whom he 
 spoke ; how he went to Europe and studied ; how he became 
 a minister to the poor in New York ; went to Cincinnati, 
 and was settled regularly' as a Unitarian ; when Parker 
 arose, how he believed with him, and sincerely had to tell 
 his people so, and leave them ; how he became au associa- 
 tionist, then a mystic, abandoning Parker for Behmen and 
 Swedenborg ; went to Europe again ; returned when the war 
 broke out ; abandoned non-resistance when he saw the 
 soldiers march through "VYashington to the South, and wanted 
 to go with them (once before this he had abandoned the 
 peace doctrine when the slave-catchers invaded Boston) ; 
 
462 " WARIilXG TON: " 
 
 how he went to Europe again, and now has rctumecl, having 
 found peace and stabilit}", as I inferred, but in what I did not 
 fully understand ; and I mistrust that he has not j^et found 
 it, and perhaps that he will not, unless he seeks for it where 
 Brownson and Hecker sought for it, — in* the Holy Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 I used to hear Channing, about 184:9, in a hall in Broiu- 
 field Street, preach Fourierism. Earlier than that, I remem- 
 ber him speaking on the antislavery platform with Garrison, 
 Phillips, Pillsbmy, and John A. Collins, disagi'ceing with 
 them as to the wickedness of the Union, if I remember 
 rightly ; always saying a good word for the nation and 
 for unity, which was rather his hobb}'. Mr. Channing 
 remains a mystic, a religious man, a socialist, penetrated 
 with sentiment, brimful and running over with love for the 
 human race, and apparently not quite able, on this very 
 account, to pour out his love to advantage. His speech was 
 deeply interesting. On the topic which may be considered 
 the principal one at this club — to wit, " The Divine Char- 
 acter of Jesus " — he was mystical as on all others ; but he 
 said he was a Christian, and could not, like Francis E. 
 Abbott, give up the name ; and the bearing of his address 
 was on what I maj- call the conservative side. At this club, 
 Jesus (as the Son of God in an}" peculiar sense) is — I mean 
 to speak respectfully — on the defensive. Nobody defends 
 the Church ; and long ago, as the London wits said when the 
 case was decided in favor of the essayists and reviewers, 
 "Hell has been dismissed with costs" in all the polite 
 ecclesiastical courts of this neighborhood. As to the Scrip- 
 tures, nobod}' within the same circles pretends to believe 
 in their verbal inspiration. Rev. Dr. Bellows and Rev. Dr. 
 Clarke are holding a sort of ecumenical council in Mr. Hale's 
 monthly ("The Old and New") ; and they are showing, the 
 first, that, the less you believe in the verbal inspiration of 
 the Bible, the more of a believer you are ; and the second, 
 that miracles are to be believed, but they are not miraculous, 
 and that supernaturalism is the most natural thing in the 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 463 
 
 world. Thej' have both at last taken their stand on the 
 character of Jesus, placed their backs against the rock, 
 spoken of the resurrection and the divine Sonship as settled 
 and defensible articles of faith, and mean to stand a long 
 siege, if necessary-. • Mr. Channing, though he did not say he 
 had abandoned Mr. Parker's views, and indeed, as I thought, 
 seemed to indicate that he still held to them, talked about 
 the divine effluence, and so on, in a way to bring him in 
 sj'mpathy with Mr. Clarke. Wendell Phillips spoke briefl}' ; 
 and though he did not intimate that he believed Jesus was 
 God, or the Scriptures inspired, except as all good books 
 are inspired, he rested his defence of Christ and Christianity 
 on their results. He thought without them we should not 
 have had our modern freedom and progress. The " fifty 
 j'ears of Europe," which are better " than a cycle of Ca- 
 thay-," he thought attributable to the fact that Europe has 
 had Christianity', and Catha}* has had it not. 
 
 Mr. riigginson made the speech for the ultra-radical side, 
 and gave Mr. Phillips some ugly facts as to the authors and 
 promoters of the antislavery cause and the cause of woman's 
 rights. Lucy Stone spoke of her Oberlin experiences ; told 
 how Prof. Finney's metaphysical absurdities satisfied her 
 that Jesus was a man only ; and if he was a man, then all 
 men have the possibilit}' of becoming as good as he. Mr. 
 Clarke was called on, and spoke humorousl}' of those who were 
 so anxious to disown the Christian name, sa3'ing that he did 
 not think they could escape in this way a Christian character ; 
 citing the case of those who in the last day would say, 
 " Lord, when saw I thee an hungred," &c. ; and he gave the 
 ultras some other sharp shots. Mr. Weiss, Mr. Bartol, Mr. 
 Chadwick, and Mrs. Howe, also spoke ; but I heard them 
 imperfectly. I did not feel specially interested in the con- 
 flict, except to notice, that, as I said in the outset, Jesus 
 seemed to be on the defensive in this meeting of Boston 
 " liberal Christians," and that the assailants were in no wise 
 disposed to yield even to such stalwart and eloquent men as 
 Channing, Phillips, and Clarke. 
 
464 "WAIililXGTOX: " 
 
 [1808.] 
 RICHARD n. DAXA, JUX. 
 
 It is Mr. Dana's misfortune that he comes into politics so 
 late. He went to sea in early life, then studied and prac- 
 tised law, and, probably, has not been well able to afford 
 much of his time to legislative service. He was in the Con- 
 stitutional Convention of 1853, and was reckoned to have won 
 more laurels there than an}' of the younger members, except, 
 perhaps. Gov. Boutwell. He has been United-States district- 
 attornej', but resigned when Johnson went over to the enemy : 
 so, although he was an enem}' of impeachment, and, after its 
 failure, tried b}' legislative resolution, and b}- a dinner-invita- 
 tion to Mr. Fessenden, to exalt the seven recusant senators 
 at the expense of the thirty-five true ones, he is quite un- 
 tainted with suspicion of friendliness toward the President 
 or his theories and policy. Indeed, his policy had no more 
 able antagonist in Massachusetts than Mr. Dana. His 
 speech and his address to the people in 18G5, when Johnson, 
 bj' his North-Carolina proclamation, broached his re-action- 
 ar}' policy, are wonderfully able documents. In the legisla- 
 ture of 1867- G8, Mr. Dana represented Cambridge in the 
 House. He performed great service in the debate on the 
 Soldiers' -bounty Bill, and made an able speech on the usury 
 laws, which showed a familiarity' with the writings of Ben- 
 tham and Mill, and a willingness to accept their philosophic 
 teachings on this subject, and which was also remarkable as a 
 specimen of his admirable stj'le, and his skill in the arrange- 
 ment of his materials. Mr. Dana is an admirable narrator 
 and advocate. He is a field-marshal of words : I hardly 
 know a man so skilful as he in their use. 
 
 He also astonished his friends and enemies by appearing 
 as a radical opponent of the railroads, or rather of the rail- 
 road presidents and superintendents, who are considered by 
 a good man}' people to be crowding the legislatures and the 
 people a little too much in these late days ; and a contest 
 with whom is now deemed inevitable, sooner or later. These 
 
PEX-PORTRAITS. 465 
 
 free-trade and anti-corporation notions are, however, excep- 
 tions to Mr. Dana's general conservatism : this, in all 
 political directions, is extreme. He was a Free-Soiler in 
 1848, and stood by the part}', doing it good service ; 3'et 
 he opposed it when it tried to drive Judge Loring from the 
 bench : and his advocac}' of the Constitution of 1853 was 
 coupled with so many apologies and excuses for the radical 
 character of some of its provisions, that he did it much 
 more harm than good. About the year 1851 or 1852 (and 
 not just before the war, as one of the Boston papers sa^'s) 
 he addressed a letter to Lord Radstock, an English friend, 
 in which, while professing to give the result of the secret- 
 ballot experiment, he substantially declared against the 
 ballot itself.^ He opposed the nomination of Mr. Sumner 
 by the State Convention of 1862 ; made some xavy bad 
 speeches on national politics, the emancipation polic}', &c., 
 in that year, as well as in 1861 and 1863, and in the State 
 conventions of the Republican party, of which he has gen- 
 erally been a conspicuous member ; and he was always 
 counted on, and justified the count, for an earnest and per- 
 sistent opposition to ever}- step in the direction of a more 
 vigorous and robust antislaver}' polic}'. His conservatism 
 has been modified b}' his intense partisanship, his general 
 S3'mpathy with the antislavery and Republican cause, and 
 his hatred of Dcmoci'ac}-, which to his mind is sjuionj-mous 
 with insubordination and license ; but, for all that, he has 
 been generallj- reckoned as a block in the way of antislavery 
 political effort. In this, however, he has not differed from 
 most of the Cambridge antislavery men, even those who by 
 nature are radicals, as he is by nature the reverse of that. 
 The old Harvard set, ultra and vilel}' proslaver}', have been 
 
 1 We used to make a good deal of opposition to Dana on account of 
 it; but I think we sliall find it more nearly to conform to our ideas just 
 now (in ISKJ) than formerly. Tlie ballot is not so much a yea-and-nay 
 question as it was. "When this letter was written, the evil to be reme- 
 died was intimidation: now it is fraud; and the conditions, so to speak, 
 of friendship, or opposition to it, are diiferent from what they were in 
 IHo'd. — Letter to Mr. Bird, March 3, 1876, 
 
4G6 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 put out of sight. Instead of these, we have Lowell and 
 Xorton, and Pierce and Dana, with "The North- American 
 Review," and its week!}- tender, "The New- York Nation," 
 organs of a Republicanism whose only characteristics are 
 captiousness and namb^'-pambjism, and a high-stepping 
 affectation of contempt for men just as honest as themselves, 
 and a good deal better acquainted with American men and 
 American institutions. 
 
 STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS. 
 
 Douglas's visit to Boston in 18G0 excited a good deal of 
 interest. Douglas was a rebel and a bolter, and he de- 
 stroyed the heretofore invincible Democratic part}'. The 
 people wanted to see a man who had done this : so tliC}' fol- 
 lowed after him, and exhibited a curiosity to hear him speak. 
 Tliere was a great crowd in Bowdoin Square to hear him 
 speak. It was largely Irish ; but as the Irish had votes, and 
 were men and brethren, in spite of the two-years' amendment, 
 it ho.d a certain element of power. I did not hear his speech 
 on this occasion ; but, as printed in the papers, it was one 
 of the most clieelcy productions ever delivered. Douglas was 
 at Cambridge, and sat on the platform during a considera- 
 ble portion of the exercises in the church, and spoke at the 
 dinner in Harvard Hall, to whicli I liad admission as a mem- 
 ber of the class of 1806 ! When this class was called, it 
 being scantil}' represented, an honorable senator and m3-self, 
 neither of wliom graduated at an}' college, stepped in, and 
 passed muster ver}' well. I got a seat nearl}' in front of the 
 little giant. Being somewhat engaged during the first part 
 of the exercises, I did not have an opj)ortunity to see wliether 
 he lifted his food to his moutli upon his fork, — which, I 
 believe, is the test of gentilit}-, — but of course he did. 
 Popular sovereignty cannot mean that any man has a right 
 to scorn the dictates of fashion. He was called out b}' 
 Pres. Felton, and made a brief and pleasant speech, and 
 was exceedingly well received. 
 
 Douglas's friends are in the habit of telling what a splendid 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 4G7 
 
 head he had, how "Websterian he looked, and all that. He 
 looked well enough, but not at all like a great man, intellect- 
 ually, physically', or moralh'. His presence bore no resem- 
 blance whatever to that of Webster. He was a chunk}- man, 
 and looked like a prize-fighter ; though I am not sure as his 
 arms were long enough for that. He had excellent prize- 
 fighting qualities, — pluck, quickness, and strength; adroit- 
 ness in shifting his positions, avoiding his adversar3^'s blows, 
 and hitting him in unexpected places in return. His logical 
 power was not great, like Calhoun's ; nor his power of state- 
 ment, like "Webster's ; nor his range of acquirements, like 
 John Quincy Adams's ; nor his eloquence, like Choate's and 
 Phillips's : but he was a pluck}*, hard, unscrupulous, con- 
 scienceless fellow, who was a hard man to meet in debate, 
 and would, to the superficial observer, seem to win a victory, 
 or to hold his own well against superior men. He made the 
 common mistake of over-estimating the importance of his 
 specialit}-, — squatter sovereignt}-. This will not bear exam- 
 ination for a moment. Tlie onl}' way he contrived to defend 
 it against the interventionists for slaver}' and tlie intervention- 
 ists for freedom was by a series of dodges and contradictions, 
 which the unlearned had not shrewdness enough to detect, and 
 which the well-posted would not take the trouble to expose. 
 His strong point was his will to have his own way, and his 
 resistance to the demands of the three hundred and forty- 
 seven thousand slaveholders, more or less, who had deter- 
 mined that no man should politically live in this country 
 who would not do their bidding. He represented many bad 
 elements in our politics ; but, for this one service he has 
 rendered, he deserves to be gratefully remembered. 
 
 There is something very melancholy in the event of Sena- 
 tor Douglas's death. A year ago, the observer would say no 
 man in this country had greater vitality than Douglas ; more 
 dogged pertinacity and determination, like that of Rodin in 
 " The Wandering Jew," to live at all hazards. Yet he has 
 gone, and a brief newspaper biography is all that we see. 
 
4 G8 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 It seems a hard tiling to sa}' ; but Douglas's fault was a lack 
 of conscience, and of an appreciation of conscience in the 
 people. He had independence, hearty "Western qualities 
 which made him popular with the people, and ''genuine old 
 Teutonic pluck : " but he could not see (what a true Demo- 
 crat necessarily' sees) that the people of the free parts of 
 the United States believe in freedom and democracy ; and, 
 sooner or later, they will come up to the requirements of 
 freedom and democracy. His failure does not consist in not 
 being President ; for Buchanan made the most miserable 
 failure of an}' public man since Aaron Burr. He deserves, 
 indeed, grateful recollection for breaking up the Democratic 
 party, and precipitating the free States into the rebellion 
 against the slave-drivers, which they are now waging so suc- 
 cessfuUv. Among the instruments in the hands of God for 
 breaking down the intolerable t^Tann}' which ruled, some- 
 times through him, and at last over him, and all the rest of 
 us, he was one of the greatest. And let him be honored for 
 this, — that his last illness was caused by efforts in behalf of 
 the government of his countrj-. The lesson of his life is not 
 so sad as that of Webster. 
 
 [1843-18G0.] 
 FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 
 
 Frederick Douglass is a man of a high order. He was once 
 a slave, having escaped four or five years ago. "I am one 
 of the things of the South," said he ; and drawing himself 
 up to his full height, and spreading his arms wide, he ex- 
 claimed, ^'■Behold the thing!" Douglass is not merel}' a 
 story-teller : he can speak of the workings of the slave-sys- 
 tem from observation. But that is not all : he is a man of 
 strong mind, of quick thought, and, at times, eloquent. In 
 his speeches are occasionally passages of great power. 
 
 One evening he gave a sermon in imitation of those 
 preached to the slaves at the South, taking for a text the 
 words, " Servants, obey your masters." His sermon was 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 469 
 
 just such a one as we should suppose would be preached 
 where slavery exists, and where the master patronizes 
 religious teachers for his slaves, priucipall}- for the sake of 
 keeping those " things" in order. As some Southern man 
 said, " They must have religion enough to keep them from 
 cutting their masters' throats." 
 
 In Frederick Douglass and George Latimer the people of 
 the North have a specimen of the serfs of the South, — the 
 hewers of wood and drawers of water for the chivalry par 
 excellence of this republic. We fanc}^ people will soon 
 become divested of tlie idea that slaver}' is the natural and 
 proper position of such men as these ; and the}' will clamor 
 louder and louder for their release from bondage, and the 
 recognition of their rights. Douglass lost caste a little 
 among the Boston abolitionists because he refused to follow 
 Mr. Garrison in his crusade against the Constitution : and 
 his great speeches made here on the antislaver}' platform 
 were not as fully reported as they ought to have been ; at 
 any rate, I can find only a few of them. He delivered 
 one in New York, in 1853, before the American and For- 
 eign Antislavery Society, — an organization of which Arthur 
 Tappan was president, — which is full of the most stirring 
 eloquence. 
 
 " We plead for our rights," said he, " in the name of the 
 Constitution and the Declaration of Independence ; and we 
 are answered by our countrymen with imprecations and curses. 
 In the sacred name of Jesus we beg for mere}' ; and the slave- 
 whip, red with blood, cracks over us in mocker^'. We invoke 
 the aid of the ministers of Ilim who came to preach deliver- 
 ance to the captives, and to set at liberty them that are 
 bound ; and from the loftiest summits of this ministr}- comes 
 the inhuman and blasphemous response, that, if one i)rayer 
 would move the almight}- arm in mere}' to break our gall- 
 ing chains, that pra3er would be Avithheld. We cry for help 
 to huraanit}', — a common humanity ; and here, too, we are 
 repulsed. American humanity hates us, scorns us, disowns 
 and denies our personality. The outspread wing of Ameri- 
 
470 "WARIilNGTON:" 
 
 can Christianitj' — apparent!}' broad enough to give shelter 
 to a perishing world — refuses to cover us. To us its bones 
 are brass, and its feathers iron. In running thither for shel- 
 ter and succor, we have onl}' fled from a corrupt and selfish 
 world to a hollow and hyi)Ocritical church, and, maj- I not 
 add, from the agonies of earth to the flames of hell? " And 
 then he went on to sa}^ that even this bitter language was less 
 bitter than his experience. "I am alike familiar with the 
 whip and chain of slaver}', and the lash and sting of public 
 neglect an'l scorn : my back is marked with the one, antl my 
 soul fretted with the other. My neck is galled with both 
 yokes, — that imposed by one master, and that imposed by 
 many masters. I was born a slave. Even before I made part 
 of this breathing world, the scourge was plaited for my back, 
 and the fetters were forged for my limbs. . . . Even now, 
 while I speak, and you listen, the Mork of blood and sorrow 
 goes on. There is not a day, not an hour in any day, not a 
 minute in any hour of the day, that the blood of my people 
 does not gush forth at the call of the scourge ; that the ten- 
 derest ties in humanity are not sundered ; that parents are 
 not torn from children, and husbands from their wives, for 
 the convenience of those who gain fortunes by the blood of 
 their souls." And again: "Suppose it were possible to 
 put down this discussion, what would it avail the guilty 
 slaveholder? If every antislavery tongue in the nation 
 were silent, every antislavery organization dissolved, every 
 antislavery press demolished, every antislavery periodical, 
 paper, book, tract, pamphlet, were searched out, gathered 
 together, burnt to ashes, and these ashes given to the four 
 winds of heaven, still, still, the slaveholder could have no 
 peace. In every pulsation of his heart, in every throb of his 
 life, in the breeze that soothes, and the thunder that startles, 
 wouUl l)e waked up an accuser whose language is, ' Thou art 
 verily guilty concerning thy brother.' " 
 
 This is a good specimen of the kind of eloquence which 
 aroused the conscience of the people before the antislavery 
 question got into politics, and abolition became the principle 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 471 
 
 of hundreds of thousands of voting men. At the time this 
 speech was made, there were sixtj^-four political antislavery 
 newspapers in the country (twelve of which were in Massa- 
 chusetts) , and onl}^ five papers representing what was popu- 
 larly known as the " Garrisonian " party. So the move- 
 ment had even then got far bc^-ond this last-iaamed sect. 
 But the eloquence, which was " dog-cheap at the antislavery 
 meetings," mostl}' came in the daj-s of Garrison and Phillips, 
 and "Weld (Theodore) and Stanton, and George Thomp- 
 son, and Burleigh, and Alvan Stewart, and that class, political 
 and non-political. The most stirring and convincing call to 
 repentance I heard in those days was from George Thomp- 
 son, who spoke or preached in the old meeting-house in 
 Concord; the text and burden of his discourse being, "O 
 house of David, thus saith the Lord : Execute judgment in 
 the morning., and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand 
 of the oppressor, lest my fur^^ go out like fire, and burn that 
 none can quench it, because of the evil of j'our doings." 
 
 [1875.1 
 HENKY L. DAWES. 
 
 IMr. Dawes came to the legislature about twenty j'ears 
 ago or more, a fluent and smart young Berkshire Whig ; but 
 just about that time the Whig party was going out of power 
 here, on account of demoraliaation brought about b}' Mr. 
 Webster's proslavery course. He fought through, however, 
 with Col. Schouler, Ezra Lincoln, Ilenr}' P. Fairbanks, and 
 the others, and never got into such a frame of mind about 
 Mr. Webster as Albert H. Nelson and some others did ; 
 Judge Nelson allowing himself even to run for presidential 
 elector on the Webster ticket, after Mr: Webster died. 
 
 I do not remember particularl}- what Mr. Dawes did in 
 the House : no doubt he took a part in putting through the 
 antislaver}' resolutions (which had by that time, however, got 
 to be rather stale), and in opposing the ten-hoiu- project, 
 and other kindi'ed schemes, to trouble the Cotton Whigs. 
 
 € 
 
472 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 In the Constitutional Convention of 1853, he was in the 
 same compau}' ; fluent, active, and voting with the "Whigs all 
 the time. lie did not, however, fortunately for himself, get 
 so cross as to lose his balance, and persist, till too late, in 
 calling himself a "Whig ; and he was saved from joining the 
 Know-Nothings ; so that he was willing, in 1855 and 1856, 
 to join in tlie Republican movement. I speak more particu- 
 larly of 1856 (because I do not remember about his course 
 in 1855), when, under Julius Rockwell, the opponents of the 
 Know-Nothings tried to oust Gov. Gardner, and were kept 
 from doing so by the old Whig I'emnaut (who voted for 
 Mr. S. II. Walle}), and by Wilson and Banks, who were so 
 anxious to fix a treat}" on the Fremont matter, that they could 
 not reform the State. How he voted in the Know-Nothing 
 3'ear (1854) I do not know, but probably for Emor}' Wash- 
 burn (AVhig), and in 1855 for Rockwell. In 1856, when 
 cliosen to Congress, I do not know what he did on the gov- 
 ernorship ; but he did a good thing in rescuing one congres- 
 sional district, at any rate. 
 
 Since 1856 the Republicans have had pretty clear sailing; 
 and, although his district has often been close, the party drill, 
 the exigencies of the protective-tariif swindle and humbug, 
 and his own activity, have kept him in Congress, and in a 
 steadily-gaining position. The worst thing I remember 
 about him is a speech made in Berkshire during the days of 
 reconstruction ; but this was no worse than a good many 
 good Republicans made occasionalh'. I can call to mind the 
 days when Gov. Andrew used to say that we were laying 
 quite too much stress on political rights for the emancipated 
 slave, and that, for one, he should be well satisfied by getting 
 bis civil lights. I cannot remember what part Mr. Dawes 
 took in the abortive compromise measures of 1861 : proba- 
 bly he was not prominent. lie came to the eastern part of 
 the State but seldom ; and this has been one of the secrets 
 of his slow measure of success here. In Congress, it seems 
 to me, he has been very useful. I don't believe that he has 
 ever been bribed, or has bribed anybody else, except in that 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 473 
 
 loose and indefinite sense wliicli does not convey any idea of 
 personal dishonesty; viz., he has been a tariff man of the 
 ultra sort, a "duly licensed follower" of that illogical but 
 not necessaril3' dishonest band of robbers who believe in pro- 
 tective tariffs. He ought to know better than this ; but is 
 not Francis Bowen, a professor at Cambridge ? and was not 
 Greeley, the leading Republican editor of the country up to 
 1872? 
 
 Of Mr. Dawes's recent controversies it is not necessary 
 to speak. It is admitted, I believe, that he has been an 
 economist in Congress. He has desired a place in the 
 Senate, but has not tried for anybody's seat, — not Wilson's, 
 till he was made Vice-President ; nor Sumner's, so long as 
 Sumner lived. He was beaten by Boutwcll, and lately has 
 ti'ied conclusions with Judge Hoar, and now has won the 
 seat for six 3-ear3. The position of Mr. Dawes against 
 Butler in 1871 — the first and most dangerous — was most 
 creditable to him. He came from home promptly at the 
 request of the unorganized leaders, said he would do what 
 he could, and fulfilled his pledge by making the earliest 
 stand, — a stand which, although he was beaten on the im- 
 mediate question (as it was almost certain he would be), 
 gave notice to Butler, and to all concerned, that there was to 
 be a fight to the last against the Essex member of Congress. 
 His services were invaluable ; and I saw no reason to doubt 
 that they were inspired by a strong and sincere motive, not 
 only to save the party from Butler, but the State from dis- 
 grace. 
 
 It is not conclusive against him that he is not so great a 
 character as Sumner w'as. His weak points are, in practical 
 political politics, out of Congress, and not in it. His stump- 
 speeches are adroit ; and this is about all that can be said in 
 their praise. The}' are not often xery candid, and never in- 
 spired. He still believes in the party, — much more, indeed, 
 than he does in Grant. I wish he would stop believing in or 
 supporting either, and that he would begin his career on the 
 4th of March, 187C, by becoming as independent of partisan- 
 
474 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 ship, caucuses, and nominations, as he knows he ought to 
 be ; as independent as he generall}- is in legislative matters. 
 On several occasions, Mr. Dawes has been talked of for 
 governor; but except in 18G0, when the removal of Gov. 
 Banks to Illinois seemed to make room for him, no strong 
 effort was ever made in his behalf; and in that year the 
 splendid antislavery reputation of John A. Andrew gave 
 him tlie nomination, after a short and sharp struggle, l)y a 
 large majorit}' in convention. Gov. Andrew's influence at 
 "Wasliington on emancipation, and the emplo3'ment of colored 
 soldiers, gave to the Commonwealth her " war-governor," 
 and did a great deal towards changing the method and theory 
 on which the war was carried on. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 475 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES (Continued). 
 
 [1872.] 
 
 HORACE GREELEY AND OTHER NEW-TORKERS. 
 
 A MORE pitiful history was never told by pen of historian 
 or novelist or poet than this of the break-up and wreck of 
 the renowned editor. Not onl}- is hostility disarmed, but 
 criticism is put at nought, by the sorrowful event, — sorrow- 
 ful almost beyond precedent. I have heard stories of disaster 
 falling upon whole families, — the death of a father, the mad- 
 ness of a mother, and the iml)eeility, bankruptcy, criminality, 
 of half a dozen sons and daughters, all happening, as it 
 were, at once ; literally the whole catalogue of disasters 
 falling within a year or two : and nothing short of such a 
 household wreck as this seems comparable to this late event. 
 It is sad enough. 
 
 Poor Mr, Greeley ! Changing the point of view, is it any 
 wonder, after all, that so great a power in politics and jour- 
 nalism — in politics through journalism — for nearly fort^"" 
 years should deem himself not onl}^ justified in seeking for 
 the presidency, but should also deem himself the fittest man 
 for it ; and not only that, but should labor under the further 
 illusion, that the hundreds of thousands of voters who had 
 been led b}' "The Tribune" into Republican politics, and 
 had, under its inspiration, won Republican victories, state and 
 national, would be eager to reward its editor with the high- 
 est office in their gift? lie believed in these things. His old 
 letters and editorial writings show that he felt himself neg- 
 
476 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 lected and unappreciated. The letter to Seward, as we now 
 read it, is pathetic in its expression of sorrow and indigna- 
 tion at being obliged to go back to his "garret" and his 
 " crust," while inferior men — scoundrels or imbeciles — got 
 comfortable places to which he felt himself equal and enti- 
 tled. He had been alwa^-s unlucky in politics. A short 
 time in Congress, a seat in the Constitutional Convention, in 
 neither place getting much fame, or doing much useful work, 
 
 — this was about all. 
 
 Surrounded a good deal by scaly politicians, he had been, 
 in fact, subdued b}' New-York politics. That wretched sj'S- 
 tem of political ethics so peculiar to the Empire State, 
 ever since the daN-s of Aaron Burr, clear down through the 
 days of the Van Burens ; through the Bucktail, Clintonian, 
 Barnburner, Locofoco, Tamman}-, Regenc}' eras, or b}' what- 
 ever name each successive epoch of corrupt mcdiocrit}' has 
 been called; every state and city administration a •' succes- 
 sion of felonies ; " everj' court an engine of rascally routine ; 
 every convention a scene of bargain and sale ; ever}' legis- 
 lature a market, where senators and representatives were put 
 up at auction ; every delegation sent to either branch of Con- 
 gress full of weak or wicked men (one as bad as the other) , 
 
 — this SAstem was too much for a man naturally- disposed 
 to be a Paleyite and an expedientist. It is hard telling 
 whether New York has been made so politically contempti- 
 ble by its institutions, or b}' its men : both have acted upon 
 the other. Its constitution of 184G, its legal code, its general 
 system, were a departure from respectable principles of 
 legislation and construction such as prevailed in New Eng- 
 land, from the beginning, under the influence of men better 
 trained iu the principles of civil libert}* ; and her people, at 
 the same time, seem to have been ai)tl3' fitted by nature, tra- 
 dition, and education, to submit to Avhatever blunders her 
 jurists and constitution-makers fell into. 
 
 Palfrej' the historian long ago commented upon her only 
 great men, — Hamilton, " a waif from the "West Indies to her 
 Bpirit-barren strand;" and Rufus King, au emigrant from 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 477 
 
 Massachusetts ; and who besides ? Bryant and Leggett, 
 great journalists, the first of Hampshire-count}' parentage ; 
 Silas Wright, strong minded and bodied, but pretty much 
 like Marc}' and the rest in all political attributes ; Michael 
 Hoffman, a tradition ; Seward, Weed, Granger, Fillmore, 
 and so on down to Fenton and Conkling, — Seward the great- 
 est of the lot, and he a man of stratagem and machinery 
 from the beginning to the end. Is it an}' wonder that Mr. 
 Greeley was conquered b}' institutions and men like these ? 
 So, while " The Tribune," fighting antislaver}- battles, pre- 
 pared the country, more particularly the AVest, for the 
 irrepressible conflict, — the millions who read it being out 
 of reach of New- York influences, and open to all the vigor- 
 ous teachings, the iterations and reiterations, j^ear after 3'ear, 
 of its great editorial chief, — he was himself weakened and 
 shorn b}' contact with the rascals of the convention and the 
 committee-room ; and his paper, not re-enforced by a sturdy 
 example of individual independence, and contempt for oflSce, 
 such as Mr. Greeley might have set, furnished the curious 
 spectacle of a great intellectual organ without an}' immedi- 
 ate constituency ; New York City and State being for the 
 last decade, on the average, more hopelessly on the wrong 
 side than it was when the first number was issued. Clearly, 
 New York was too strong for Mr. Greeley. A man so 
 democratic b}' instinct and temperament, so open to sugges- 
 tions of reform in his youth and early manhood, so kindly 
 in his nature, so industrious, so incapable of fatigue, so 
 accessible, so much, in fact, like America itself, in his free- 
 dom from conventionality, his vigor, his enterprise, force, 
 directness, and general style, could not have alighted upon 
 so unpromising a place as New-York City. Elsewhere, to 
 be sure, he would not, perhaps, have established so great a 
 paper ; but almost anywhere else he would have been a hap- 
 pier, better, and more useful man. 
 
 It does not seem to me that he can properly be called a 
 philanthropist or a reformer ; though he had, at times, the 
 philanthi'opic and the reforming element. He neither loved 
 
478 "WA nniXG tox .- • ' 
 
 the individual man, nor man in the aggregate, to an^- ex- 
 traordinary- degree, lie was by no means a profound thinker 
 on political or social subjects. At most, he was only willing 
 to give such subjects a fair chance and fair play, and latterly 
 not always even this ; and he loved himself too well to be 
 Avilling to do much more for individuals than to turn them 
 off with good advice, or to get rid of their importunity b}* 
 gift or loan which he was too bus}' to den}- them. He had 
 not that two-o'clock-in-the-morning courage which Napoleon 
 said a great general must have, no real faith in ultimate 
 results : but then he was not to blame for this ; for it was 
 temperamental, in part. IIow could he help being disheart- 
 ened by Bull Run.' IIow could he help being in despair 
 when Harry Cla}' was defeated, as he thought, b}- frauds in 
 Pennsylvania and Louisiana? And withal, with ihiTt shrink- 
 ing from blood which has made liim and kept him (longer 
 than it has kept him in any otlier direction) an enemy of 
 the gallows, how could he help thinking to himself, after 
 every great disaster during the civil war, "IIow long shall 
 this last? — what can I do to stop it?" Did it not seem 
 to nearl}' every man, at times, during the second, tliird, and 
 fourtli 3ears of the war, that, as Mr. Greeley expressed it in 
 a private letter, the administration of Mr. Lincoln was like 
 that theological work of which the heading of one chapter 
 was "Hell," and of the next, "Hell continued"? IIow 
 man}' men, governors, senators, statesmen, were hurrying to 
 Washington, month after month, to give "old Abe" the 
 best advice, and then hurrying back to curse him for not 
 taking it? 
 
 Horace Greeley had a splendid funeral. The sad circum- 
 stances of his death have softened all his enemies, and buried 
 in afiliction all his friends ; so that there is a plausibility in 
 the remark, that he is fortunate to get rid of life after such a 
 sad ending to his political aspirations, such a tragedy in his 
 family relations. But it seems to me the saddest death we 
 ever had in the country-, a sheer and unmitigated disaster, 
 black and tragical from the beginning to the end, and a piti- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 479 
 
 ful, most pitiful story. If there is an}' thing more useful to 
 be said about it, I cannot imagine what it is. 
 
 Upon a man constituted like Mr. Greeley, abuse and 
 praise which were unmerited and extraA^agant had just about 
 the same effect, the one as the other ; and, now that he is 
 dead, no allowance seems to be made — perhaps none can 
 be made — for that common sense of the aggregate popula- 
 tion which sifts all such criticism, and comes to a result 
 pretty nearly correct. But " the pity of it, the pity of it ! " 
 this all can agree to. Whether Hamlet was sane or insane, 
 who can tell? but we all know that his life and his death 
 were tragical. 
 
 [1872.] 
 PRES. GRANT. 
 
 Pres. Grant is a dull creature, with apparently not the 
 slightest idea of the office which he fills, except to have a good 
 time while he keeps it, and, when he leaves it, to be comfort- 
 abh' " well off," — he and his friends. From the moment 
 when he nominated a New- York muck-rake for secretary of 
 the treasur}', and recommended a repeal of the law 'of 
 Washington's administration to allow him to be confirmed, 
 down to this da}', he seems to have had no thought except 
 to be "on his make." He is not bad, not dishonest per- 
 sonall}', not ambitious, but simply unfit. His administra- 
 tion will be illustrious in our annals for this unfitness, and 
 for nothing else. 
 
 It may be said that many of our Presidents have been 
 unfit, and that great numbers of people have insisted that 
 ever}' one of them, from Washington to Lincoln, has been 
 so. True enough. Perhaps Grant's unfitness is not worse 
 than the unfitness of others ; certainly it is not worse than 
 that of Buchanan or Johnson this will be readily enough ; 
 admitted. "The world spirit is a good swimmer; floods 
 cannot drown him : " so is the national spirit. But, if 
 we allow the unfit men to have eight years apiece, when 
 shall we have a chance to begin on the fit ones ? We who 
 
480 " WARRINQTOX: " 
 
 are fighting against Grant's renomination are, in fact, fight- 
 ing the battle of capacit}- against medioerit}- everywhere, 
 and the battle of thousands of Republicans who now go 
 against us, and look upon Cincinnati with horror. For it 
 needs no ghost from the grave to tell the average Republican, 
 that, if Grant is rechosen, his second administration is 
 likely to be, I will not sa^' worse than his first, l)ut one 
 which will be hardly Republican even in name. Whatever 
 happens in November, the part}' which attends the next 
 inauguration ceremony will be neither Republican nor Demo- 
 cratic, neither protective nor free-trade, neither reform nor 
 re-actionary, neither State-rights nor ultra national, neither 
 antislaver}' nor proslavery, neither radical nor conservative : 
 it will be largely personal ; for this personal tendency is not 
 to be got rid of by one struggle, an}- more than Tamman}-- 
 ism was got rid of b}' a Republican victor}' in New York. 
 We should be no better off with a new Republican candidate. 
 That depends upon who he is. The thing which ought to be 
 done is to discontinue personal government, and bring back 
 political government. 
 
 Grant has not the slightest comprehension of political 
 government. His administration is a personal one. It is 
 said that he has carried out Republican principles by sup- 
 pressing the Ku-Klux, and prosecuting the bigamists of 
 Utah. These are not Republican principles, nor an}- other 
 principles. The Ku-Klux are suppressed only for the time 
 being. So have been the suppressing measures of England 
 in Ireland for the last hundred years, perhaps. That is to 
 say, having begun by mismanagement and stupidity, and 
 these having brought tumult and outrage, the government is 
 compelled, for the sake of peace, to suppress the latter. 
 Sooner or later, however, the work of pacification must 
 begin. Martial law, throughout the two administrations of 
 Grant, only postpones, for the sake of a growling and uncer- 
 tain peace, the day of good-will eight years longer. In this 
 point of view, the recent proceedings in South Carolina, 
 though needful, are not statesmanship. The same may be 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 481 
 
 said of the prosecutions in Utali : tliey onl}^, for the sake of 
 airing our national virtue, postpone indefinitely the suppres- 
 sion of the evil aud the scandal at Salt Lake. If this is 
 Republican statesmanship, the less of it the better. 
 
 I know there is apparently no great governmental issue. 
 Tammanyism, a very indefinite term, is the most promis- 
 ing one. If any man represents Tammanyism here, it is 
 Butler. Pie organized cheating and corruption in his late 
 canvass as it never was organized before in this State. Is 
 the retention of Tom Murphy, by Boutwell's advice and 
 consent, a sign that the President intends to make war on 
 Tammanyism? Is there any indication of a purpose to re- 
 move the office-holders from the control of members of Con- 
 gress, and the members from the control of the office-holders? 
 — the onl}' important feature of the civil-service reform ; any 
 care taken, that when honest men die, or rogues run away 
 from the Washington offices, their places shall be well filled? 
 The trouble with Grant, in connection with our politics, 
 is, that he is a weak man, and, like all weak men, is the 
 prey of jealousies and intrigues, and cannot be trusted to do 
 right, or to carr}' out the wishes of the mass of the part}-, 
 without constant watching. Butler has nothing else to do 
 but to watch him : other men have more congenial, if not 
 more necessary, occupations. Who wants to send a senator, 
 a representative, or a deputation, to Washington every month 
 to keep the President from falling into the hands of Ben 
 Butler ? It does not pay ; for, sooner or later, you will be 
 caught napping. A President who has not instinct to see 
 and know what Butler is, and what he wants, is not fit for 
 his place. 
 
 Grant wins politically, as he won his battles, b}'- sheer pi'e- 
 ponderancy of the forces under him, and in spite of blun- 
 ders and incapacity on all hands. He wins because the 
 Democratic party has not 3'et been chastened b}' affliction to 
 know wisdom, and because it is still too near "by a 3-ear or 
 two to the close of the war for the people to forget its 
 career. 
 
482 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON AND THE " GARRISONIANS." 
 
 The influence of "the Garrisonians," so called, has 
 always been overrated both b}' abolitionists and hunkers. 
 Their strength la}- in their appeals to the conscience of the 
 people, and their trenchant and generall}' impartial modes of 
 dealing with religions and political bodies. But the}' were 
 always limited bj- the foolish dogma — into which the}- were 
 led by I\Ir. Garrison, but which Mr. Phillips was also re- 
 sponsible for — relative to the necessaril}' proslaver}- character 
 of the Constitution, and the duty of repudiating it, and of 
 acting outside of politics. Though their judgment as to par- 
 tics and churches was right, their whole method of dealing 
 ■with politics and religion was unphilosophical and absurd. 
 Not they, but the political antislavcr}' men, have done the 
 great work of reforming the opinion of the countr}' ; and the 
 man who, away back of 1840, first cast a vote against the pro- 
 slavcrv parties, came nearer to the root of the matter than 
 Garrison or Phillips. 
 
 The antislaver}' party of this State has exercised a great 
 influence upon our politics, though it never alone carried 
 elections. It never, indeed, cast a larger vote in any year 
 than it did in 1848, when it first became formidable. I be- 
 lieve Mr. Stephen C. Phillips received in that year some 
 38,000 votes for governor, and the next year something less. 
 Mr. Palfrey, who was the next candidate, fared no better. 
 In 1852 Horace Mann's vote w-cnt up to near 37,000, leav- 
 ing more than a hundred thousand against him. Gen. Wil- 
 son himself next tried his luck, and received 29,000 out 
 of 129,000 votes. Next 3-ear occurred the Know-Xolhing 
 stampede ; and Wilson received 6,483 votes, and Judge 
 Allen and scattering some 1,200 more. The next year 
 (1855) was the first year of recovery from Know-Nothingism, 
 and INIr. Rockwell received the old vote of 36,000. The 
 j-ear 185G may be styled the year of acquiescence ; but, 
 without organization, 5,G25 men voted for Josiah Quinc}', 
 while Gardner received 92,000. In 1857 Gardner received 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 483 
 
 37.000, and Banks 62,000. The Free-Soil party, though 
 onh^ 36,000 strong, broke down and dispersed tlie great 
 Whig part}' of Massacliusetts ; sent Mr. Webster into retire- 
 ment ; laid upon the shelf a great number of Wliig politi- 
 cians, — such as R. C. Winthrop, Mr. Hillard, and Otis P. 
 Lord, — whei'e they arc likely to remain; disorganized the 
 Democratic part}', and Vvithdrew from it the best men it had, 
 such as Banks, Boutwell, and Knowlton ; elected Charles 
 Sumner twice to the Senate, and Henry Wilson once ; and 
 did much toward reforming the Constitution and the legisla- 
 tion of the State. It did man}- things which were not justi- 
 fiable ; but, on the whole, its record is one which it ma}' well 
 be proud of 
 
 The a)itislavery party never made any headway so long as 
 it kept voting for Whigs and Democrats who answered 
 their questions by letter in unexceptionable terras, and, 
 after they were chosen to office, were obliged to "violate their 
 pledges. It was only when they began to organize, and vote 
 for men who did not need to give pledges, that the political 
 machines began to crack and give way. The Free-Soil 
 movement of 1848 was the most important one that over 
 this country witnessed in its results ; but the first man who 
 ever cast a Liberty-party vote was the wisest politician of 
 his time, because he was the first man to see the inevitable 
 future, and to do all in his power to prepare for and hasten 
 it. Then, again, a great deal of the rightful and useful 
 power of "the Garrisonians " was wasted. " Tlie Libera- 
 tor," for various reasons not discreditable to Mr. Garrison, 
 had but a small circulation; but "The Antislaveiy Stand- 
 ard," which was always well edited, — that is, was always 
 an interesting paper, — might have had a large circulation, 
 and been ten times as useful as it was, if the organization 
 had had any appreciation of the proper methods of agita- 
 tion. But setting out with the idea that only a very small 
 number of persons, at best, could have the right notions, 
 the managers Avere content, apparently, to send " The Stand- 
 ard " to abolitionists (and to public men, perhaps), without 
 letting the people have it. 
 
484 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 The Antislaver}' Society was not half so important a body 
 as it pretended to be. All its consequence was derived from 
 the personal character and power of individual members, 
 — Mr. Garrison's dogmatic and domineering energy, Mr. 
 Phillips's eloquence and unllinching truthfulness to the high- 
 est idea of antislavory, Mr. Pillsbury's prophetic and mina- 
 tory appeals to the wrath to come. It is doubtless true, tliat 
 the political antislavery movement had its germ in the moral 
 agitation of Garrison and his early followers ; but, without 
 the political organization, slavery would to-day have been 
 stronger than ever before. And it is especially mortifying 
 to antislaver}' politicians to find these early abolitionists, as 
 soon as the}' become politicians, taking the conservative side 
 of all questions, and not only repudiating their old constitu- 
 tional doctrines, but lowering the moral standard, by which 
 only can a health}- political organization be kept up. 
 
 Mr. Garrison is, by the antislavery politicians, reckoned, 
 on the whole, the most politic man of his sect. He is uni- 
 formly tolerant, sometimes more than just, towards the men 
 who are in political life ; and now that, to use his epigram- 
 matic but not quite satisfactory plea, "death and hell have 
 seceded," and non-resistance is in abeyance, I shall expect 
 to see him brought forward in his ward as a candidate for 
 representative to the General Court, to begin with, and aftor- 
 Tvards for something higher, if there is any thing higher, 
 which I feel myself bound to doubt. Once in the legisla- 
 ture, I should expect to see him one of the most conservative 
 of members, feeling his way cautiously along, and checking 
 the young, ardent, and radical men. After he gets a taste 
 of public life, he may like to get into Congress ; and I would 
 trust him to organize a ward as well as the best of the man- 
 agers. After a term or two at Washington, and the attain- 
 ment of a strong reputation as a safe man, he would do for a 
 cabinet or diplomatic situation, and would finally come home 
 to be the Nestor of his neighborhood, and die full of years 
 and honors, and be borne to the tomb by twelve " principal 
 citizens." 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 485 
 
 J. Q. A. GRIFFIN. 
 
 I knew Mr. Griffin before 18-18 ; I think, when he was in 
 George F. Farlc^-'s office at Groton. He used to write for 
 "The Lowell Journal" occasionally; having, even then, a 
 capital newspaper style, an admirable humor, and a penchant 
 for "pitching in," which came often in play upon the dul- 
 lards and fogies of the time. He left the Whigs in 1848, 
 with some others (Mr. Farley among the rest), and ever 
 afterwards was a radical of the radicals. He soon came 
 down to Cbarlestown, where he opened an office, and rapidly 
 sot into a arood business. He was chosen to the Know- 
 Nothing legislature of 1855 ; not, I am glad to say, out of 
 an}- love on his part for that school of politics, but because 
 the people of Charlestown had an annexation question on 
 their hands, which they urged him to attend to ; and because, 
 also, there was a growing apprehension, on the part of some 
 of the leaders, that their prejudices against lawyers were 
 carrj'ing them so far, that the}^ were likely to be poorly off 
 for legislative talent in the House. 
 
 I did not see much of the legislature of 1855, being 
 engaged in blackguarding it from the outside; but "the 
 brethren of the m3'stic tie" remember to this da}- how Mr. 
 Griffin drove Joe Hiss out of the House, and broke down all 
 the apologies for him and for his school. From that day, at 
 least, he gave the Know-Nothings no mercy, and he received 
 as little from them. I remember a scene at "Worcester, when 
 some of the worst of them tried to interrupt and put him down 
 while speaking to the Republicans in caucus or convention. 
 Of course, they only tried ; for I do not remember that any 
 man ever got the advantage of him in debate. His powers 
 of sarcasm were quite unequalled in this region. His pres- 
 ence of mind was unfailing ; his argumentative powers equal 
 to almost any emergency ; his reading extensive, and from 
 the best authors ; and his aptness in applying the results of 
 it was surprising to friends and enemies. He most conspicu- 
 ousl}' showed his skill in political debate in the contest with 
 
486 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 Mr. Dana at "Worcester in 18G2, and justified the sagacity 
 which selected him for chairman of the Committee on Resolu- 
 tions, with the knowledge that the contest over Mr. Sumner's 
 nomination would be a warm, and might be a doubtful one. 
 Mr. Dana never showed greater coolness and adroitness, not 
 even in that celebrated triumph of mind over matter, — his 
 contest with A. 0. Brewster in the convention of 1S5.3 ; but 
 Mr. Griilin showed himself to be fully his equal. To be 
 sure, the majority was with him ; but it needed just his skill 
 and courage to rally it, and make it victorious over the well- 
 planned attack of the district-attornc}'. The blunders of 
 1861 were then retrieved ; and the Republicans of Massa- 
 chusetts have been, perha])s, too strong ever since. 
 
 Mr. Griffin represented Maiden in 18.VJ and 1800; and in 
 1859 occurred the contest over his seat, which resulted so 
 uncxpcctedl}' in his being allowed to retain it against the 
 report of the Committee of Inquiry, and the opinion of all 
 or most of the law^'ers. In the interval between the regidar 
 and the extra session, he had taken the office of clerk of the 
 courts, but, becoming tired of it, resigned, and came back 
 to his seat at the extra session. The question was, whether 
 his seat had become vacant by his accepting the office. The 
 House permitted him to remain ; but with all my friendli- 
 ness towards him, and my natural contempt for precedents, 
 and, moreover, with due regard to the shrewd points which 
 he raised in his own defence, I have never been fully con- 
 vinced that the House was not somewhat m3'stified and led 
 astray by his superior skill in the debate over his antago- 
 nists. I presume no case like it will arise for a centur}' to 
 come : so no great harm was done, even if the decision was 
 wrong. 
 
 I did not often see Mr. Griffin in the courts. He had a 
 large practice, and worked immensely in ill-ventilated court- 
 rooms, to the ruin of his health, never very good and strong. 
 He was independent in his bearing towards the judges, and 
 was accustomed to sa}' that the Supreme Court never treated 
 him so well as they did after he defeated the bill to increase 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 487 
 
 their salaries. In his bearing with all men, indeed, he was 
 independent and self-sustaining. It used to be said of him, 
 that he loved intellectual fence and hard hitting so well, that 
 he would hit a friend, if a foe did not appear at the right 
 time ; and this reputation, whether well merited or not, 
 doubtless injured his prospects whenever he became a candi- 
 date for office. He had none of the arts of the demagogue ; 
 and, when the eight-hour men called on him (he being a 
 candidate for the nomination to Congress) to ask him as to 
 his views on that subject, he cooll}' and sarcasticall}- ex- 
 pressed his surprise. "Eight hours!" said he: " wh}^, I 
 never thought of being for more than seven." Neither had 
 he what are generally called popular manners. He did not go 
 much to dinners or to public places, except with his family, 
 to whom I ma}' say, as my crowning tribute to his worth, he 
 was fondly and devotedl}' attached. As a man and a citizen, 
 he was above reproach ; faithful in all the relations of life, 
 public and private. He died consciously, peacefully, and un- 
 regretfulh', testifying to the sufficienc}' of character, and the 
 public and private virtues, to bring a man safely and tri- 
 umphantly through the last ordeal. 
 
 [Feb 26, 1876.] 
 DR. SAMUEL G. HOWE. 
 
 I doubt whether a more useful man, outside of those who 
 filled high public station, ever lived in the State ; surely no 
 one in recent 3'ears. To group our public men a little diifer- 
 ently from usual, he belonged to tliat class of politician and 
 philanthropist combined which included Horace Mann, .John 
 A. Andrew, and Robert Rantoul, jun., and Mr. Sumner 
 himself in the earl}- part of his career. He was the best 
 combination I know of both characters. Ilis philanthropy 
 was tempered b}' a strong tendency and immense good sense 
 in the line of governing, albeit he was quite enough of a 
 filibuster and a liberator for a man over seventy 3'ears old. 
 
 Mr. Mann was om- great reformer in educational afi'airs ; 
 
488 "WARRINGTOy: " 
 
 and Dr. Howe, against a good deal of Boston opposition, 
 placed a statue of Mann in the j^ard of the State House, 
 •where he and Mr. "Webster {captatores verhorum) stand, as 
 it were, criticising one another.^ Mr. Rantoul was the 
 strongest man in opposition to capital punishment ; but his 
 politics would not, till just before he died, allow him to get 
 into Congress. Sumner took up the prison and peace ques- 
 tions. I do not here speak of Garrison and Phillips, who 
 were not in partisan politics ; or of the great Dr. Channing 
 and Theodore Parker, whose lives were mainl}- devoted to a 
 reform in theology. Howe was the friend of the liberal side 
 in all these questions. 
 
 The}' say ever}' man has his "conservative " side, meaning 
 not to quibble, l)ut b}- this word meaning sluggish and back- 
 ward. Dr. Howe was not so on any of these questions. 
 Equally well balanced was he upon all. He was not a poet, 
 like Whittier ; but would ver}' likeh' have been one of Dr. 
 Channing' s or Mr. Buckminster's first men, if he had not 
 been a liberator in Greece or Poland. I called him a useful 
 man ; but he was not, therefore, a dull man. The companion 
 of those men, and of Emerson, Holmes, Judge Hoar, Lowell, 
 Appleton, and George T. Davis, could hardly be that ; and, 
 in point of fact, he was livel}', and full of anecdote, seeing 
 the unfitness as well as the fitness of things (which I will 
 fling at you as a definition of wit and sense together) ; and I 
 count it no small compliment that he often left the club 
 styled the "Atlantic," and came back to the "Bh'd," in the 
 middle of the afternoon. He was always straightforward 
 and to the point, and never eloquent or eloquential. It must 
 have been in 1<S4G that he ran for Congress, saying in his 
 letter that he might as well " fill a ditch " as anybody. This 
 was in the patriotic days of the Mexican war. . 
 
 Dr. Howe was the famous benefactor of the blind, and in 
 his early life went to Greece, and fought bravely in the 
 
 1 " "SVarriugtou " called "Webster's statue, at the time it was put up, 
 " the statue of tlie defender of the Fugitive-slave Law." 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 489 
 
 revolution. I mention these things for the sake of intro- 
 ducing an exquisite but unconscious pun made hy the Hon. 
 Tom Motley of Boston. He was asked to vote for Dr. 
 Howe, when nominated as the Free-Soil candidate for Con- 
 gress against Mr. Winthrop. " Who is Dr. Howe? " asked 
 Motle}-. " The celebrated philanthropist," was the answer. 
 " Celebrated Phil-/<eW-enist ! " was the contemptuous repl}'. 
 Dr. Howe had got to what they call a good old age. He, if 
 an^'bod}', could afford to refrain from saying with Emerson, 
 in his "Letters and Social Aims," " Our passions, our en- 
 deavors, have something ridiculous and mocking. If not to 
 be, how like the bells of a fool is the trump of fame ! " He 
 had been complaining for a long time of decaying health. 
 He had studied medicine, but had little faith in it. I think 
 he very greatly lamented his decay, and had felt, though 
 perhaps not quoted, Scott's lines : — 
 
 "Alas ! the warped and broken board, 
 
 How can it bear the painter's dye? 
 The harp of strained and tuneless chord, 
 
 How to the minstrel's skill reply? 
 To aching eyes each landscape lowers; 
 
 To feverish pulse each gale blows chill; 
 And Araby's or Eden's bowers 
 
 Were barren as this moorland hill." 
 
 Dr. Howe was one of the editors of " The Daily Common- 
 wealth," which Mr. Bird, Mr. Alley, Mr. Downer, and 
 others, had at different times the control of. Mr. Joseph 
 Lj^man and Mr. Charles List were, at times, editing this 
 paper. Probabl}' Howe had not much time to write for this 
 paper, which was the mainstay of the coalition in Boston, 
 and a good deal under tlie management of Robert Carter. 
 This was long after the days of " The Boston Dail}- Repub- 
 lican," which, in its turn, was the successor of "The Daily 
 Whig" of 1848, which the writer of this edited. This 
 " Daih- Commonwealth " was a ver}' smart sheet while Howe, 
 Bird, AUo}-, Downer, and that set, had charge of it. But they 
 were all busy men in other lines. Dr. Howe always insisted 
 
490 "WAIiRINGTON:" 
 
 that there was no reply to the arguraeut for equal suffrage 
 without regard to sex, as well as without regard to race or 
 color: in fact, on all questions of equalit}', he "hewed to 
 the line," whether too busj- or not to take active hold or not. 
 He was a thorough democrat in the true sense, as well as a 
 genuine philanthropist, a hero, a gentleman, and an agreea- 
 ble companion. I suppose he was well off in respect of 
 property ; rich was he, at any rate, after Carlyle's definition : 
 '• The wealth of a man consists in the number of things he 
 loves and blesses, the number of tilings he is loved and 
 blessed by." 
 
 E. KOCKWOOD HOAR. 
 
 The trouble with Judge Hoar is, that he has contracted the 
 apparentl}' incurable habit of " putting himself upon his 
 dignity." We doubt if it was ever true, even in the da3-s of 
 Caleb Strong or George Cabot, that men were put into high 
 office who refused to say whether they would take it or not. 
 At any rate, the da}- is now past for any such pretensions 
 and affectations. No man can be governor, except by acci- 
 dent, who does not say to his friends, '• I will take the oflice, 
 and you maj* do what you can for me." And no mnn ought 
 to be. As a general thing, 3-our men who adopt the high tone 
 are no better than their neighbors, and no less desirous to 
 hold office. It is the new-departure men in the Repuljlican 
 party who are talking of Judge Hoar ; but there is really not 
 a more strict party man in New England than the judge. 
 And as for his attitude towards the administration which dis- 
 charged him, — why, he has done nothing but puff Gen. Grant 
 since he left the cabinet. He would make a strong governor, 
 but, in all probability, a very temporary one. Judge Hoar did 
 excellent service at Washington against that S3'stem of con- 
 gressional interference, under which it becomes necessary to 
 consult A, B, and C of the 1st, 2d, and 3d Districts, before 
 the collector can appoint a clerk, or the postmaster-general 
 a postmaster. But he got tired of the warfare, or the con- 
 gressmen were too strong for him. The best statement of 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 491 
 
 true doctrine that I remember from the bench may be found 
 in a charge delivered hy Judge Hoar to the grand jury, 
 where he brought to their attention the proceedings of the 
 military power soon after the rendition of Burns. Judge 
 Hoar said, — 
 
 " It has beeu said sometimes, and in some places, that there are 
 laws which it is the duty of citizens to disobey or resist. I have no 
 doubt, gentlemen, and I suppose none of you have any doubt, that a 
 law may be enacted by a republican government, as well as an order 
 passed by a despot, which may be in itself wicked ; and if any stat- 
 ute is passed which any citizen — examining his duty by the best light 
 God has given him, and acting conscientiously and uprightly — be- 
 lieves to be wicked, and which, acting by the law of God, he thinks 
 lie ought to disobey, unquesilonahbj he owjht to disobey that statute, 
 because he owjht to obey God rather than man. I suppose that any man 
 who would seriously deny that there is any thiny hir/her than human 
 law must ultimately deny even the existence of a Most High." 
 
 GEORGE F. HOAR. 
 
 George F. Hoar and his brother the judge are very differ- 
 ent men, though resembling each other in some particulars ; 
 principall}' in having been born in the same house, and edu- 
 cated at the same college. Judge Hoar is temperamentall}^ 
 opposed to all demagogism and partisanship : so is George 
 F. ; but the latter has a streak of radicalism, for instance, on 
 the subject of woman-suffrage. How happens it that even 
 the youngest of this conservative famil}' is so utterly lost to 
 a sense of what is due to proprietj^? The secret is soon 
 told. He was fitted for college hy a woman, Mrs. Iliple}^ of 
 Concord. Chief Justice Chapman, if he had had the train- 
 ing of him, might iiot have got him in such good condition 
 for the university ; but he would have taken better care of 
 his political morals. But there is no use, probably, in try- 
 ing to go back. 
 
 He also believes in labor-reform, which makes him re- 
 semble, in a sort, Butler himself, but which excites a 
 smile of contempt in the judge, or a shrug of disgust. Then 
 the jounger has not 3et outgrown the intense partisanship of 
 his 3-outh and the combativeness of the bar, and it is very 
 
492 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 likel}' never will. It is not probable that bis temperament, 
 his education, or his family history and traditions, will ever 
 allow him to reall}' like Butler : yet the resembling traits 
 between the two will keep them on good terras, as the}' were 
 in the State Convention of 1871, in spite of the opposite 
 impressions of such political greenhorns as that Harvard- 
 college professor who went to the New-England dinner in 
 1872, and claimed for the two brothers the credit of killing 
 Butler ; while only the elder, as we know, had any thing to 
 do with it, or any sympathy with the enterprise. 
 
 [Feb. 'IG, 1«7U.] 
 REV. GILBERT HAVEN. 
 
 I called to see Gilbert Haven about the day the echoes of 
 his speech began to get back here at his home.^ "There's 
 the What's-its-name," said he. pitching across the table at 
 me the Christian something which does duty as a sentinel 
 on some inner wall of the Methodist Zion. " Thcv say at the 
 office (i.e., in Bromfield Street) that my speech is making a 
 great row." I helped him find the criticism he had brought 
 with him ; but it was some time before I could remember 
 what he had said to occasion such a tumult. He and I have 
 been "Grant men" for two or three years, with this differ- 
 ence, — that, while I have been rather surer than he is that 
 Grant is " the strongest Republican," he has been a good 
 deal surer than 1 that it would be fit and decent to clioose 
 him. This Grant talk of his has been so common when he 
 has been at homo, that nobody paid much attention to it: 
 and I really believe that he derived mucli comfort from my 
 opinion that Grant means to get the nomination, will not be 
 put off, can not be put off; and that it is "Grant, or a Demo- 
 crat." The Methodist ministers, who meet him on Monday, 
 think Haven a great politician, because he is enthusiastic, 
 and gives them a sort of a reason for what they want to 
 
 1 A political speech, in which the bishop advocated a third term for 
 Pres. Grant. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 493 
 
 believe. Haven is " a Grant man" because the black man 
 is for Grant. He believes in tlie negro, not in Grant ; as 
 Gov. Andrew's antislaver}- character came out of his fond- 
 ness for exceptional!}' unlucky races. "I never despised 
 an}' man," said Andrew, with that high pitch on the word 
 "an}-," making it sound like anny, — " any man because 
 he was poor, or because he was ignorant, or because he was 
 black." 
 
 These Methodist meetings in Boston generally excite little 
 or no interest. They afford a chance for the clergy to come 
 in, just before and after election, and excuse themselves for 
 not reporting at the polls for duty on the Prohibitory Law. 
 "Why," said Haven, "I did not vote for Grant myself in 
 '72." — "Who did you vote for, for HeaA'cn's sake? " — "I? 
 I voted for Black and Russell!" — "And who were Black 
 and Russell?" — "Prohibition candidates." You see, he 
 could not quite make up his mind, as a temperance man, to go 
 for Grant, and so went for Black and Russell ; though I do 
 not remember that those eminent citizens had even an elec- 
 toral ticket in Massachusetts. And Grant was safe enough 
 here. When Haven went South as a bishop, he became 
 more and more, of course, a Grant man, and more and more 
 a Methodist organizer. He wants to protect the negro from 
 the white man, and he wants to build up the Methodist- 
 Episcopal Church against the Catholics ; though I do not 
 think he cares about the school-question very much, believing 
 in the Church quite as much as in the Bible ; feeling, proba- 
 bly, — as a man does who reads the magazines and news- 
 papers and modern books, and who hears everybody talk, 
 — that it is the spectacular and emotional which must make 
 Christianity a continued success, rather than a reliance upon 
 a book which Huxley and Spencer are nibbling the leaves 
 out of all the time. The negro, and especially the Methodist 
 negro, must be taken care of. He must be recognized. I 
 have a letter from him to Gov. Andrew, asking the governor 
 to help elect Rev. Mr. Grimes to a chaplaincy in the legisla- 
 ture. The governor indorsed it over to me with a request 
 
494 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 that I would help to get votes for Mr. Grimes.' I suppose 
 there is a time when it seems so necessary to strike a strong 
 blow at an absurd prejudice, that it may be a good thing to 
 infringe upon what would seem the true rule; viz., to vote 
 for the man who can best interpret to the Almighty the 
 devotional feelings of those who conceive themselves to be 
 praying wlien the Lord is addressed in their names. Doubt- 
 less Mr. Grimes, who was an excellent man, would have 
 made as good a chaplain as the man avIio was chosen, who- 
 ever he was. 
 
 I trust that Haven will not be harmed on account of those 
 speeches, and do not think he will be, lie must be liked 
 at the South, on the Avhole : I know he must be by those 
 who know liim ; and that is near]}' everybody. He knows 
 everybody, — Tilton and Beecher equall}' well. He is as 
 strict a marriage man as Greclej'was, but implicitly believes, 
 that, if the white man and black woman desire to intcrmany, 
 the State should not interfere. Mr. Nordhoff (of "The 
 Nation") is altogether wrong when he saj-s that Haven's 
 "most cherished possessions are prejudices." The bishop's 
 
 1 Boston, Jan. 2, 18C4. 
 Dr.Aii Sill, —Many friends of Rev. I^Ir. Grimes are anxious that he 
 should be apjiointed the cliaplain of the House of Representatives the 
 coming session. Judge Russell and other eminent friends of the cause 
 are interested in the matter. It is not only a right step in the right 
 direction, but it gives honor and aid to a most worthy ami faithful 
 friend of the war and the Union ; and, far from least, will greatly aid the 
 business of volunteering among our colored friends. I trust that j-on 
 can find it consistent with your othcial relations to that body to assist 
 in securing his election, as I am assured it will be agreeable to your 
 feelings and your judgment to have it successful. 
 Very respectfully yours, 
 
 G. IIA^-EN. 
 Gov. Andrew. 
 
 Commonwealth of ^Iassachusktts, ExECUTrvE Depahtment, 
 
 Boston, Jan. 5, 1804. 
 My dear Rorinson, — I should think Mr. Grimes might bo elected 
 senate chaplain with ease. Only few persons need to be spoken to. It 
 ought to be done, 1 think. Who can best start the movement? 
 Yours truly, 
 
 J. A. Andrew. 
 
PEN--PORTRAITS. 495 
 
 prejudices are very slight and very few, — fewer and slighter 
 than they ought to be ; for I suppose a prejudice, easily 
 overcome when real judgment approaches, and proves the 
 stronger, is a valuable quality. 1 got information or surmise 
 as to the Brooklyn scandal from him long before Mrs. Wood- 
 hull made her invincible statem^ent ; and now it is no wonder 
 that he tells Mr. Blackwell, that, if Mr. Beecher makes his 
 appeai'ance as a "suffragist" on the platform, he (Haven) 
 steps off. The bishop's head is level on one of the "miscege- 
 nation " questions, however it maybe on the others. The 
 bishop cannot stand every thing ; and he knows that even 
 now the joints of the Church Universal are beginning to 
 crack under the load Plj-mouth Church insists it shall take 
 on board. lie would prefer to have Grant a teetotaler, or a 
 prohibitionist, which is better yet in the estimation of all 
 sound temperance men ; but the negro must be protected, 
 especially the church-going, Methodist negro. JVot that 
 Haven is, when you get close to him, a strict dodrinare ; 
 for he mixes very judiciously worldliness with other worldli- 
 ness. 
 
 He relishes Emerson; saj's "Brahma" is one of the 
 greatest of poems, and that the first volume of Essaj's, 
 and the first volume of Poems, are the finest fruits of Ameri- 
 can genius ; and calls to see the Concord seer when he is in 
 the neighborhood. When ver^' pious, or very drows}-, or very 
 repentant, he might take up Pollok or Young or Bicker- 
 staff, but not till then. Ordinarily, he would read Green's 
 "History of the People of England," or "The Vicar of 
 Wakefield," or "Eothen," or Elia, or Hawthorne, before 
 an}- such "poetry-" as the other. No man within the last 
 twelve or fifteen j'ears, I think, has grown in ability and 
 power more than Gilbert Haven ; and, if he has good for- 
 tune, he will live and grow many, many years. His mother 
 is nov»- living in this town (Maiden), at the age of eighty- 
 eight. His father (Gilbert) was a leading Methodist of this 
 section till his death ; and 7ie was a brother of Franklin 
 Haven, financial friend of Webster, to whom the latter 
 
496 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 intrusted that great politico-economical maxim, that "no 
 man could hold a cabinet-office in Washington, unless he 
 were rich, or a bachelor : " whereupon the pockets of State 
 Street Avere opened to Mr. "Webster. The bishop is a 
 widower with two children ; his wife having been dead 
 eighteen years, more or less. He writes rapidly and care- 
 lessly, and incurs the hostility of the critics for occasional 
 clumsiness and inaccurac}', but is too " spr}^ " for forms. A 
 royal good fellow. May he live long, and prosper ! 
 
 [March 8, 1876.] 
 CHARLES C. HAZEWELL AND THE OLD EDITORS.^ 
 
 Charles C. Ilazewell's " Review of the Year," in "The 
 Travcllor," is an astonishing piece of work. The bits of au- 
 tobiography' which he puts into his reviews arc, to mc, their 
 most interesting features. He is almost as frank as Rous- 
 seau, but has no such unhandsome confessions to make. For 
 a man who relies almost entireh' on the newspapers for the 
 news, he is well informed- as to what is going on in Boston ; 
 while as to the past, and as to all which books tell, ho has 
 no equal hereabouts. I wish he would make an estimate of 
 the number of columns he has written, — more, 1 suspect, 
 than any other American editor. Mr. Hazewell is a Provi- 
 dence man, and came to Boston as a compositor, and worked 
 on Ilallet's old " Dail}' Advocate." He afterwards edited 
 "The Nantucket Islander" (or "I Slander," as Sara II. 
 Jenks, publisher of the rival "Inquirer," used to call it), 
 and then " The Concord Freeman," and then " The Boston 
 Times," for many years. In 1846 he Avent to Ohio, and 
 edited "The Ohio Statesman." While there, he and his 
 brother published one number of " The Western Review," 
 containing nine long articles on a variety of subjects, every 
 one of which was written by himself. 
 
 Isaac W. Frye, who died in Boston not long ago, was 
 
 1 This sketch contains the last of " Warringtou's" writings. A part 
 of it was published after his death. 
 
PEW-PORTBAITS. 497 
 
 about the oldest man connected with the press actively in the 
 State. There are left Col. Greene, Mr. Hazewell, Mr. Att- 
 will, Mr. Pnrd}' of the land commission, and perhaps others, 
 and some older than either of these. The religious papers, 
 possibly, have some; for example, Mr. Punchard of "The 
 Traveller." George Bradburn, an old journalist (and one 
 of the sharpest), was in the legislature with Winthrop, 
 Samuel C. xVllen, Rantoul, Frank Dexter, and that set, and 
 took a leading part in repealing the anti-amalgamation law. 
 He was thus obliged to come into contact with Franklin 
 Dexter, a leader of the Boston "Whigs, a handsome though 
 dark man, who suffered a good deal from " colliding " with 
 Bradburn. Possibly I ought to have mentioned Gen. Banks 
 as once an editor ; but I guess not. He once had a small 
 paper in Woburn. Gov. Bullock once edited " The -^gis." 
 C. W. Palfrey of " The Salem Register " is one of the oldest 
 and steadiest. And we had in the office of " The Lowell 
 Courier" a file of David Lee Child's "Massachusetts 
 Journal" of about 1822. Mr. Child died lately; but Mrs. 
 Child still writes for the press. It would have been inexcu- 
 sable to omit Mr. Foote of " The Salem Gazette ; " but his 
 youthful looks and courtly way rather exclude the idea that 
 he is one of the old editors. Dr. Palfrey is about eight}' ; 
 but, whether h'e had installation as editor when young, I do 
 not know. I am glad there are so many of the old fellows 
 left. Dr. Loring was once a reporter for " The Daily 
 Advertiser " at the legislature. And, lo ! here is refer- 
 ence made to Capt. Sleeper of " The Boston Journal." 
 Stockwell and Clapp of the same paper, and Delano God- 
 dard of "The Advertiser," are coming along fast. Dr. 
 Howe jointly edited the (old) " Dvaly Commonwealth " over 
 twenty j-ears ago ; and it is twenty -five years since Elizur 
 Wright, styled by Charles A. Dana "the best paragraph- 
 ist," started "The Chronotype," which Dana worked on. 
 Elizur is a successful man of business, and the same hard- 
 headed, and perfectl}' honest, non-mystical old radical as 
 ever. 
 
498 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 One might write all da}- about newspaper-men ; for It is a 
 universal rule for public men to write for the press. The 
 "Brutuses," and the " Phocions," and the " Ilonestuses," 
 of old times, no doubt used to crack their jokes, air their 
 rhetoric, and instruct the people. Charles Austin, a son of 
 "Honestus" (Benjamin Austin's newspaper name, I believe), 
 got shot b}- Selfridge. How could I forget Mr. Garrison, and 
 Mr. Wheildon of the old "Bunker-hill Aurora," still busj', 
 and living in Concord? Among the old editors, I forgot Wil- 
 liam ria3den and Thomas M. Brewer of " The Atlas." Mr. 
 Ilayden lives in Maiden, and is over eighty 3-ears old. He 
 was a reporter in "Washington for "The Intelligencer" as 
 long ago as 1822 ; returned to Boston ; and in 1841, he, with 
 Dr. Brewer, took "The Atlas." I believe he is in good 
 health. He is a Lincoln^ man. Another Lincoln man, 
 George F. Bemis, left journalis/n thirt}- 3-ears ago or so, has 
 got rich since, and is now well, and enjoying life. Dr. 
 Brewer was, as we all remember, aAVashington letter-writer. 
 I don't suppose any paper ever xi'o.s quite so enthusiastically 
 received as "The Atlas " by the partisan of the old school, 
 who was a yer3- good and useful man before the days of "per- 
 sonal government" and of caucus-packing. Houghton was 
 considered a wonder ; and there were dim hints about Richard 
 Hildreth, a writer for the press, who was indeed a most 
 remarkable turner-off of work, — writing a little finical 
 hand, but any quantit3' of it, and Avith great rapidit3-, — at 
 least when I knew him, in 1854. " Ornament his sword 
 had none, but the notches on the blade." Alfred Turner 
 also turned oflf work well on " The Atlas." 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 I suppose there is no doubt of the accuracy of the story 
 of Lincoln's early history. It is stranger than fiction. I 
 hardly know any narrative better told, or more curious in 
 itself, considering the after-life of the subject. There is a 
 
 1 Bom in Lincoln, Mass. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 499 
 
 little too much Ilernclon, perhaps ; but, after all. we arc inter- 
 ested a little in knowing a man who knew Lincoln so well, and 
 who thinks he guided Lincoln to his great destiu}- ; though it 
 seems probable, that, after a while, Lincoln might have hu- 
 mored his A'anit}' a little, rather than followed his leading. 
 Although (as C. C. Ilazewell once said) Wilkes Booth's 
 bullet has made it forever impossible to tell the whole truth 
 about Mr. Lincoln, it is clear enough that he was one of the 
 ablest and shrewdest men who ever held the presidenc}-. 
 Once get an idea into his head, and it stuck there forever. 
 He was a Jeffersonian, as all successful Americans must be. 
 Abraham Lincoln was a good talker, but not a mere talk- 
 er ; a good lawyer, but not a mere law3-er ; a man who had 
 a great respect for law and forms, but not an idolatry for 
 them. He was not a formalist. When the country was in 
 danger, he could «ut the knot of red tape as easilj' and as 
 willingly as an}' other man. I doubt whether there ever ex- 
 isted a man of note in the countr}' who had less the character 
 of a saint or an inspired person than Abraham Lincoln. 
 Every thing about him was intensely human. He was neither 
 poet nor prophet, but simply a man of common sense, and 
 b}' no mean's above tUe trickeries and expediencies which are 
 supposed to be characteristics of the class of " politicians." 
 And what is the use of trying to make him out a man of 
 supernatural merit? We are not likety, in these times of 
 "■reconstruction," to forget that our loss in Lincoln's death 
 is an irreparable one ; and there is no need of making him 
 out a god, or an unexampled instance of heroic virtue and 
 piety. 
 
 [lu 18G8.] 
 GEORGE B. LORING. 
 
 George B. Loring is the son of a Unitarian clerg3'man in 
 Andover (now deceased), a graduate of Harvard, medically 
 educated, of carl}' antislavery predilections ; at one time 
 physician, superintendent, steward, or what-not, of Chelsea 
 Marine Hospital ; good-looking ; an excellent speaker for 
 
500 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 l3*ceums and miscellaneous gatherings, though not strong in 
 debate ; the owner of a farm of five hundred acres close to 
 the cit}' of Salem ; admitted to be an excellent agricul- 
 turist, theorcticall}' and practicalh' ; ver}' well known by 
 sight and hearing to the people, especiall}' of the country 
 towns ; and of ver\' popular and agreeable manners. He 
 was at first an antisUuxMy man. How it happened that he 
 became, for the dozen years or so before 1863, one of the 
 most violent of the .Southern sort of Democrats, I have 
 never been able to make out ; but so it was. 
 
 The real objection to the doctor seems to be that he has 
 brought into the Republican party the peculiar tactics of the 
 Democratic party. I b}' no means intend to affirm that there 
 are not plenty of Republicans, who never were Democrats, 
 who have the same general idea as to what is a proper mode 
 of conducting a political canvass as the old Democratic 
 leaders ; but, to a very large proportion of Republicans, 
 this style of doing business is not quite the thing. The old- 
 fashioned, high-toned, Federal Whig gentleman of Massa- 
 chusetts was as tricky as anybod}^ else, if occasion required : 
 but the competition for places was not, in his da}-, verj' 
 great ; and he was seldom detected, and seldomer exposed. 
 That " cycle of Cathay," the seven-years' administration of 
 Gov. Briggs, if not as full of intricacies as the '• coalition " 
 which followed it, owes its better character, in this respect, 
 mainly to the absence of temptation, to the overwhelming 
 majorities of the Whig party, and to the sense of pride, if 
 not of honor, which compelled the leaders to keep silence as 
 to the secret doings of themselves and their party. 
 
 There is a superstition among old Whigs, that the bargain 
 which made Mr. Boutwell governor, and Mr. Sumner senator, 
 and placed Gen. Wilson and Gen. Banks in the chair of the 
 State Senate and House, brought death into our political 
 world, and all our woe ; and Judge B. R. Curtis declared 
 that bargain to be an indictable otTence at common law. 
 But there is no good reason to suppose that it was any more 
 corrupt than the bargains which were made inside of the 
 
PEN-POBTRAITS. 501 
 
 Whig party previous to 1848, especiall}- by the cotton manu- 
 facturers, headed by Mr. Abbott La^vrence, who did much to 
 demoralize the politics of the State. But the Republicans 
 here flatter themselves that they have the advantage in 
 respectability over the old Whigs, and the coalitionists, and 
 the Know-Nothings ; and that the administrations of Gov. 
 Andrew and Gov. Bullock have been cleaner than au}^ others 
 of recent times. Be this as it may, — and possibly self-right- 
 eousness alone would claim it, — there is an impression that 
 some of the Democratic converts, like Dr. Loring and Gen. 
 Butler, being exceedingly ambitious men, are not quite scru- 
 pulous enough as to means, when they have a purpose to 
 accomplish. I shall not finish what ought to be said about 
 Dr. Loring, without mentioning, that, while in the legislature, 
 he took ground in favor of the Prohibitory Law, stuck to it 
 at great risk during the excitement of 1867 (when most men 
 of ordinary sagacity saw that the law was "booked" for 
 defeat) , and shared its fate, at least temporarily ; being de- 
 feated by Gen. Sutton, a license-law Republican, in the 
 canvass for the State Senate. 
 
 HORACE MANN. 
 
 Horace Mann was an unluck}' man; and his Life^ is a 
 record of his struggles with ill-health, bigotr3', and hunker- 
 ism. How he hated "the Orthodox" from the day Dr. 
 Emmons preached that sermon at the funeral of his brother, 
 all through his contests with "that poor thing" Matthew 
 Hale Smith and "The Boston Recorder," and the jealous 
 and vindictive men who were afraid he was making the 
 common school of Massachusetts an engine of infidelity ! 
 Mann's letters to Samuel Downer, George Combe, and others, 
 and the extracts from his journal, are full of interest ; but 
 they give a faint idea of tlie smashing power with which he 
 fought the schoolmasters and the bigots. How he scourged 
 Barnum Field and his brethren ! Matthew Hale Smith was 
 
 1 Written by Mrs. Mann. 
 
502 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 SO chary of truth, he said, that he would not use it " even 
 as a condiment." Here is a judgment that will never wax 
 nor wane. 
 
 The fight with "Webster was terrible as long as it lasted ; 
 and Mann never gave it up till his great enemj- was laid 
 entirely low. The reading of the controversy now only 
 keeps alive the vividness of Webster's great treachery to the 
 cause of progress ; and the silence that broods over the 7th- 
 of-March speech is more expressive than open words of con- 
 demnation. Mr. Mann seems to have been a very sincere 
 admirer of Mr. Webster up to that day of " apostas}'." It 
 is customary to say that the judgment of posterity is the 
 safest upon public men and manners. Perliaps so ; but it 
 does not follow that the man of IS.jO or 1805 should sit 
 down and cogitate as to what some historian of 18G0 or 1875 
 will sa}' about his part in the controversy. The partlon- 
 mongcrs are fond of quoting Macaulay and Ilallam as to the 
 impolicy of executing Charles I. But I suspect Cromwell and 
 Compan}' knew wliat they were about : so did Mr. Mann 
 when he executed judgment upon Daniel Webster. 
 
 The reading of this Life lets one into the secret of some 
 weaknesses of Mr. Mann's, but very much deepens the im- 
 pression left b}' his great qualities and his noble and useful 
 career. As a controversialist and rhetorician, few men ever 
 lived in this State who were his equal. lie had a contro- 
 vers}' on the subject of voting with Wendell Phillips, which 
 was on both sides wonderfully readable. Mr. Mann having 
 the right of the question, and being quite as caustic as Mr. 
 Phillips, got the better of his antagonist, as he did of ever}-- 
 body else he ever encountered. It is very pleasant to have 
 these biographies of our great men ; and those who are now 
 living ought to write letters and journals, and do what they 
 can, as Horace Mann did, for tlie entertainment and instruc- 
 tion of poslerit}'. 
 
 WENDKLL PHILLIPS. 
 
 In Phillips you have naturalness and most perfect grace. 
 He makes a most beautiful speech, strictly- argumentative, 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS, 503 
 
 but with the keenest and finest illustration of his various 
 points. His rivulet-like efibrts charm rather than thrill you. 
 He certainlj' is our easiest, most persuasive, most eloquent, 
 and, on the Avhole, our best " platform" speaker. 
 
 "We all know that he does not believe the work of the anti- 
 slaver}- part}' accomplished, but that the exigency is almost 
 as great as ever. Every year he makes temperance speeches 
 at the State House and elsewhere, telling the people that 
 they must organize on that issue ; and now here he is telling 
 the working-men that the^' must get forty thousand votes. It 
 is very fortunate for him that he has a constitutional crotchet 
 which keeps him from voting ; though what he will do when 
 that is gone I cannot imagine. Mr. Phillips, though not a 
 voter, is essentially a politician. His tastes are in the direc- 
 tion of politics. He likes to consult and advise with poli- 
 ticians ; and, if not hampered b}' constitutional opinions, he 
 would be at the head of the radical politicians of the State, 
 wise, cautious, crafty even, in counsel, in caucus, and in 
 convention. 
 
 What if he were in the same ward with Major Mahan, 
 with whom he spoke on the platform? The major would 
 claim his vote for representative, saying, "Look here, Mr. 
 Phillips : I want 3-our help. Come down to the ward-room 
 and speak forme." — "But," sa3-s Mr. Phillips, " 3'ou are 
 against negro-suffrage." — "I know I am," says the major : 
 " but I am for eight hours a day ; and, under your advice, we 
 have organized a party." — "Ah ! but," replies Mr. Phillips, 
 "j-ou are counsel for the rumsellers." — "I know I am," 
 saj's the major ; " but what of that? Under your deliberate 
 advice, we made the labor-question an issue : now come and 
 help me put it thi'ough." The result of it all would bc', that 
 the major would have the go-by. So would any temperance 
 man who should be for eight hours, but against negro-suf- 
 frage ; for Mr. Phillips, no matter how many reformatory 
 machines he undertakes to run, makes the negro paramount, 
 as he ought. He has a taste for politics, but no conception 
 of the machmery and methods of carrying on parties. He 
 
504 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 ought to stay out, or go in, — one or the other. If he were in 
 a party, he would have to j'ield some of his views, and act 
 with the majority, or quit. As he is outside, he ought to 
 confine himself to the business of propagating doctrines, 
 without giving advice which it is impossible for men in a 
 part}' to obe}'. 
 
 Mr. Lyman complains, and perhaps justlj', of Mr. Phillips's 
 melodramatic wa}' of describing his father, the mayor, in 
 the days of the Garrison riot ; ^ and I thought there Avas the 
 same fault in one of his references to Gov. Andrew. After 
 all, why does Mr. Phillips take the Garrison riot, or tiie mob 
 of December, 1860, as the groundwork of his argument? 
 Because, in the old proshiver}- days, Mr. Garrison and Mr. 
 Thompson were mobbed, and Mr. Lovejo}' was killed, and 
 because, after the election of Lincoln, the well-intentioned but 
 stupid merchants of Boston thought war could be averted by 
 a peace conference and a repeal of the Personal-liberty Bill, 
 and therefore it was bad policy to hold an antishivery meet- 
 ing in the Tremont Temple, and proceeded to egg on the 
 mob and the maj'or to break it up, it does not quite follow 
 that our republican institutions and the cause of self-gov- 
 ernment are in an}' great danger, or were in danger then. 
 
 "We have had some antislavory mobs. Elizur Wright, and 
 Charles G. Davis, and Lewis Hayden, and Martin Stowell, 
 and T. AV. Iligginson, could tell stories about thom ; and so 
 could Mr. Phillips himself, who spoke in Faneuil Hall on the 
 night when one of them occurred. Those were good mobs, 
 and the others were bad ones, to be sure ; but cannot we 
 take a bad one once in a while, without giving up in despair? 
 A drunken ballot ! — to be sure, a drunken l)allot is bad ; to 
 be sure, you cannot found government on whiske}' : but the 
 vast majorit}' of ballots are sober, and they are growing 
 soberer every 3-ear. There is really no cause for alarm. 
 Even that great national spittoon, the city of New York, 
 will be cleaned out before man}' years, — soon as it is nasty 
 
 1 In one of Mr. Phillips's speeches. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 505 
 
 enough. Mr. Phillips spoke of the labor-question and the 
 woman-question effectively ; and his speech, like all his 
 speeches, had a high moral afflatus, which made it ver}' 
 agreeable to the ethical sense. 
 
 [Boston Daily Republican, November, 1848.] 
 STEPHEN C. PHILLIPS.^ 
 
 Stephen C. Phillips was a native of Salem, and graduated 
 with honor at Harvard College in 1819. After reading law 
 for a short period, he entered into mercantile pursuits. In 
 the year 1824 he was elected a representative to the legisla- 
 ture, being then but twenty-one j'ears of age. He continued 
 a member of the legislature, in one or the other branch, till 
 1833, distinguishing himself by his fidelity, eloquence, and 
 ability. In 1834 he was chosen to fill the vacancy occasioned 
 by the resignation of Hon. Rufus Choate in the Congress of 
 the United States, where he served his constituents and the 
 country with distinguished honor till his own resignation in 
 1838. Mr. Phillips was for years a thorough, persevering, 
 uncompromising antislavery man ; none more so in the 
 ranks of the Whig party. 
 
 In Congress he went all lengths with his associate and 
 personal friend, John Quincy Adams. He was always with 
 the small minority who were ready to take the extremest 
 ground within the Constitution on that subject. He was 
 foremost in every movement to bring the Whig party on to 
 antislavery ground. In all the efforts made to prevent the 
 annexation of Texas, — when George N. Briggs, and Abbott 
 Lawrence, and Nathan Appleton, were silent, or, if they spoke 
 at all, did so only to dissuade from exertion, — he stood 
 shoulder to shoulder with the good men and true who fought 
 it to the last ; resolved, that though others might be wanting 
 to the great cause of human freedom on this continent, 
 through timidity or short-sighted expediency, he would do 
 his whole duty, come what might. He never paused to ask 
 
 1 Free-Soil candidate for governor in 1848. 
 
506 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 how the movement might eflfect his personal iDopuUirit)', or 
 his relations with the eminent men of the country, but went 
 straiglit forward, animated by the principles of liberty, phi- 
 lanthrop)', and religion, to do the work which these demanded. 
 He ever stood the determined and uncompromising foe of the 
 slave-power, the whole-souled friend and all}' of the free 
 laborers, vindicating human rights against all who would 
 encroach upon them, and resting his fearless advocacy oi 
 " PROTECTION TO MAN " on the basis of his faith, — that all 
 men alilce arc children of God, and therefore brethren of one 
 anotlicr. 
 
 Such was the man whom the Free-Soil party of Massachu- 
 setts, in 1848, put in nomination for the chief magistrate. 
 
 THEODORE PARKER. 
 
 It seems to me that no man in the country, whether politi- 
 cian, or clergyman, or man of letters, has exercised so large, 
 and on the whole so good, an influence as Theodore Parker 
 for the last twent}' years. Such a man's work could not be 
 said to be finished while he lived and spoke and wrote ; but he 
 was of comparatively less importance during the latter 3-ears 
 of his life than he was from 1840 to 1850. To him, mon; than 
 to any other man, — I had almost said, more than to all other 
 men, — are we indebted for the privilege we have of thinking 
 and speaking pretty much what we please to think and speak. 
 The popes, Unitarian as well as Orthodox, tried to put him 
 down ; but the}' had to deal witli a man who did not come 
 into the world to be put down eillier by sneers, or neglect, 
 or open opposition. He triumplied over all these obstacles ; 
 and, when the little fellows who get up courses of lectures 
 every winter in Boston studiously declined to invite him, he 
 showed tlicin that tlie managers of country 13'ceums were 
 more courageous than they ; and even the bluest conserva- 
 tives and conformists had to invite him to speak, because the 
 people wanted to hear him, and would hear him. Finally 
 he determined to lecture in Boston, and did so, working him- 
 self to death for the purpose of surmounting all obstacles to 
 the free communication of his thoughts. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 507 
 
 As an example of indomitable courage and energ}^, his 
 life is a great legacy' to the people. He was not a poet, a 
 man of genius, lilce Mr. Emerson, but a man of the clearest 
 and most piercing insight ; of great strength of understand- 
 ing ; boldness, with a spirit for contradiction, controversy, 
 and criticism, which was invaluable to him in the circum- 
 stances in which he was placed ; a fine love of nature, which 
 softened and beautilled 'his stj'le and his manners ; great 
 faith in humanity and its destinies ; a love of order and 
 method, which wonderful!}- aided that indomitable working- 
 power which he possessed bej'ond most men. He had, in 
 fine, the very best qualities of an iconoclast, which was his 
 vocation. How he tore down the Boston temples ! — rever- 
 ence for Webster, respect for the Curtises, habit of implicit 
 reliance on the advice of the Appletons and other denizens 
 of Beacon Hill. How he confronted B. R. Curtis from the 
 gallery- of Faneuil Hall, when that eminent lawyer undertook 
 to misrepresent him ! How he scourged the commissioners, 
 Loring, and Curtis the less, likening them to the masters of 
 the Inquisition, and other renowned scoundrels of the olden 
 time ! How persistently he followed up Orville Dewc}', and 
 Dr. Adarns, and the Unitarian popes ! IMuch of this was 
 unkind, of course ; he probabl}^ acknowledged it to be so 
 afterwards : but it was necessary and indispensable work. 
 
 Boston has been emancipated from its idol-worship ; and 
 the idols are l^'ing round loose, with broken noses, bunged 
 eyes, and general shabbiness and seediness of appearance. 
 The great men of Boston find nobody to loolv up to them, 
 and plent}- of leisure for introspection and self-worship. All 
 this is Parker's work more than an}- other man's. He had 
 an audience when and where Wendell Phillips could not get 
 one. Even among the slaveholders, whose system he so 
 fiercely denounced, he had sympathizers, because he was 
 under the theological ban, and was stjded an infidel : for 
 uonconformit}- is not bounded b}' Mason's and Dixon's Line, 
 or any other line ; and every countrj- village in exary State 
 has alwaj-s had its men and women who have quietly pro- 
 
508 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 tested against creeds and catechisms, and who rejoiced when 
 
 a man came forward boldly, and, as Lowell profanely saj-s, — 
 
 " Cared not a d— n for their damning." 
 
 In making an estimate of 'Mr. Parker's character and use- 
 fulness, it is not necessary to contend that his views were 
 correct, or to take that matter into consideration at all. 
 Ever}' man who protests^ as Parker did, is a legitimate fol- 
 lower of Luther, no matter what his views are ; and the man 
 who boldly confronts popular inlidelity (when infidelity gets 
 to be popular) , or any superstition or fanaticism or folly, — 
 whether it be the extreme of orthodoxy or the extreme of 
 rationalism, the nonsense of antislaver}' or the nonsense of 
 slaver}', — does noble service to the race. 
 
 Mr. Parker was not a tolerant man, of course. He recog- 
 nized every man's right to his own opinions, and the right 
 of every other man to criticise and oppose them. Tolera- 
 tion, as commonly understood, is simply indifference and 
 laziness, or popularity-seeking. Some [)reachers think it a 
 great thing to exchange services with men of other denomi- 
 nations. Once in a while, you hear of a Baptist society 
 offering to a Unitarian society the use of its meeting-house 
 for months, omitting a part of its own services to accommo- 
 date its neighbors, and vice versa. Now, if it is a serious 
 matter, a matter of eternal life or eternal death, to the Ortho- 
 dox preacher and his hearers, what obligation is he under, 
 nay, what right has he, to give up half his sabbath to a man 
 who does not believe it makes the slightest difference to a 
 man whether lie professes one creed or another, or none at 
 all ; to a man who holds to Pope's doctrine, which is the gos- 
 pel of lazy toleration and indifference, — 
 
 "For modes of faith let cjracelos.s zealots fight; 
 Ilis can't be wrong whose life is in the right " ? 
 
 The truth was the secret of Mr. Parker's great popularity 
 and influence. He represented what was, to a very great 
 extent, the popular estimate of the Church with its clergy 
 and leading men. Men who were the last to believe in anti- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 509 
 
 slaveiT, in temperance, in reform movements generally, 
 would tolerate Parker's advocac}' of all these on account 
 of tlie " dressing-down " which he gave the ministers and 
 church-members. He was the creature, even more than he 
 was the creator, of those unbelieving times. He was a man 
 of a centur}', and, besides the work he did in modifying and 
 softening the theology of New England, has left compara- 
 tively little for anybody else to do. 
 
 Theodore Parker has done his work, and is gone. We 
 shall hear him no more. The best description of him, and 
 a piece of verj- just criticism too, may be found in Lowell's 
 " Fable for Critics." The concluding lines are all I have 
 time to copy ; but the whole is worth reprinting : — 
 
 " Every word that he speaks has been fierily furnaced 
 In the blast of a Ufe that has struggled in earnest. 
 There he stands, looking more like a ploughman than priest; 
 If not dreadfully awkward, not graceful at least; 
 His gestures all downright and same, if you will, 
 As of brown-fisted Hobnail in hoeing a drill. 
 But his periods fall on you, stroke after stroke, 
 Like the blows of a lumberer felling an oak: 
 You forget the man wholly; you're thankful to meet 
 With a preacher who smacks of the field and the street, 
 And to hear, you're not over-particular whence, 
 Almost Taylor's profusion, quite Latimer's sense." 
 
 JUDGE JULIUS ROCKWELL AND THE SUPREME JUDICIAL 
 COURT. 
 
 When a vacanc}' occurred on the bench of the Supreme 
 Court, occasioned by the resignation of Bigelow, chief jus- 
 tice, I had the honor to recommend Julius Rockwell for the 
 vacanc}^, on the strength of his decision, that, if a juror 
 wanted to see the General Statutes in order to ascertain what 
 was the law in the case he was called on to settle, he ought 
 to be gratified. This decision, you know, was overruled by 
 the Supreme Judicial Court : our theory as to the jury 
 being, that nobody but a fool must serve thereon ; and, in 
 case (as too frequently happens) a sensible man happens to 
 
510 "WARRINGTON." 
 
 he impanelled, he must be kept as ignorant as possible of 
 the particular case which he has to determine. If a little 
 of the court's must}' and stupid " law" had been swapped 
 for Judge Rockwell's common sense, the public would iiave 
 been the gainer. The court had better insist upon a jury of 
 blind men, and done with it ; for there is no security-, in 
 an}' case, that some one of the twelve arbiters may not, 
 at some time or other, have looked into the statutes, and 
 have remembered something he there read. Partially deaf 
 men, according to the old joke, will do for gi-and jurors, 
 because they are only obliged to hear one side ; but, if Rock- 
 well' was wrong, your juror ought to be, not only blind, but 
 wholly deaf. A dozen wooden men would be preferable, and 
 far cheaper : let them be a panel, in every sense of the 
 word. If the court needs any thing, it is not more legal 
 learning, but originality and strength enough to break away 
 from its musty and stupid traditions. 
 
 No otTices have been so eagerly sought for, of late years, 
 as the Supreme and Superior Court judgeships ; and the 
 legal footfall has been oftener heard on the steps leading to 
 the governor's room than any other. There is no harm in 
 this, but a good deal of cant in denying it, or making a 
 pretence to the contrary. The judicial ermine is out of 
 date ; the wig is a by -gone institution ; and with the ermine 
 and the wig has gone tlie idea that judges are any diirerent 
 from other mortals. Wiiy sliould we expect them to be? 
 Is not a man capable of giving an honest decision in a hun- 
 dred-dollar lawsuit unless we invest him in our minds with 
 godlike attributes? There is that story of Judge Grier, 
 which everybody delights in, and which redeems his pro- 
 slavery record from utter contempt, — how he set aside the 
 unjust verdict of a jury against an unpopular man, with this 
 remark, "Enter the verdict, Mr. Clerk: enter also, 'Set 
 aside by the court.' I want it to be understood that it 
 takes thirteen men to steal a man's farm in this court." 
 
 I hope we shall some time get rid of this delusion, that we 
 must have our greatest men in our supreme courts. I do 
 
PEN-P OR TRAITS. 511 
 
 not see but we get along full as well with our highest court 
 as we did when Shaw and "Wilde and Hubbard and Morton 
 were upon it. It does not seem to me that any enormous 
 degree of abilit}* is required to decide the great case of 
 Commonwealth versxis Michael Elwood, carried up on excep- 
 tions, in which the point was, w.hether the indictment describ- 
 ing the property stolen by Michael was properly described in 
 the indictment. "Four domestic fowls, otherwise called 
 barn-door fowls," said the indictment. Michael, by his 
 counsel, contended that this was not a sufficient description ; 
 and the attorney-general was compelled to cite the diction- 
 ai'ies, and Woods's "Natural Histor}-," and Macaulay's 
 " Essays," in order that the court above might be satisfied, 
 and Michael be punished for his larceny. For m}^ part, I 
 think some means ought to be devised for keeping such 
 questions as this out of the Supreme Court. What differ- 
 ence could it make to Michael Elwood whether the fowls 
 were minutely described or not? If the district-attorney 
 had followed Milton, and accused Michael of stealing four 
 " tame, villatic fowls," I cannot see that the prisoner would 
 have had an}' right to complain. It is too bad that lawyers 
 should be allowed to obstruct justice in this way, or that 
 courts should be compelled to hear such absurd questions 
 debated. 
 
 There was another case, not long ago, in which one of 
 the minor points was, whether a weapon used in a case of 
 manslaughter was sufflcientl}' described when described as a 
 " whipstock." I don't know how this tremendous point 
 was decided; but it seems to me, that, for the decision of 
 such a question, the less of a law^'cr yo\x have on the bencli, 
 the better. I suppose there is a necessity for a court of 
 appeals ; but it surely ought to be for some better purpose 
 than fussing over these questions. If Judge Brigham or 
 Judge Rockwell can sentence Michael Elwood to any punish- 
 ment which seems fair and just under the statute provisions, 
 surely they are capable of passing upon the question, whether 
 his offence was correctly and full}' described or not. And 
 
512 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 it seems as if a statute might be framed which would keep 
 such questions as this, uot only from going up, but from 
 being raised at all : but the small lawyers would fight 
 against it, I suppose, and declaim about Runnymede, and 
 fanc}' themselves Pyms and Sidneys and Ilampdens ; and we 
 should never hear the last of it. 
 
 The attempt to introduce into legislative proceedings the 
 rubbish known as the " rules of law and evidence," which 
 have overlaid tlie courts, darkened counsel, obscured common 
 sense, and hindered justice, for so many hundred 3ears, is 
 not very likely to succeed. It is much more probable that tlie 
 Ijractice in the courts will b}' and b}- be made more nearly 
 to conform to the rules of common sense which prevail in 
 legislative assemblies, town-meetings, and political and 
 social life. Hearsay ? — why should you not act upon hear- 
 say'? You buy and sell, marry and are given in marriage, 
 vote and govern, upon hearsay : why not tr}- causes on hear- 
 say, only scrutinizing and sifting your hearsay as you ought 
 to in all things? Wliy not let common sense get into the 
 court as well as into the pulpit and into the medical school? 
 You trust your body to a doctor's hearsa}', and your soul to 
 a minister's hearsay : let a witness's and a lawyer's and a 
 judge's be just as serviceable for the imprisoned juror, and 
 as innocent for the beleagured prisoner or plaintiff or de- 
 fendant. Tlie ermine (real or constructive), and the robe, 
 and the white cravat, and the oath, and the ridiculous fornui- 
 la of the indictment and complaint and pleading, — mak- 
 ing it a necessit}^ to tell a score of lies to get at one truth, — 
 are only a part of that mystery and humbug b}- whicli the 
 human mind is enslaved, as b}' the surplice of the clergyman, 
 and the Latin prescription of the doctor. 
 
 Ah ! when I think of Judge Rockwell and of Judge Colt, 
 admirable on and off the bench, I withdraw all offensive 
 sarcasm. 
 
 ROBEUT UANTOUL. 
 
 Mr. Rantoul was, beyond all question, the ablest man of 
 the Democratic party in New England, and, with the exccp- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 513 
 
 tion of Mr. "Webster, the ablest man of any party. As a 
 debater, he had few, if any, equals in the whole countr}- ; 
 while his addresses in court and before the people were 
 models of clear, concise, and lucid argumentation. Mr. 
 Rantoul was from his early manhood a Democrat. Although 
 of a Federal and Whig famil}', and possessing talents which 
 would have given him any station he should choose, had he 
 preferred to act with the Whig part}^, he fought for and with 
 the Democratic party of the State during man}- j-ears, in 
 which it struggled along in a hopeless and meagre minorit}'. 
 He defended its doctrines in the legislature. It is among 
 the choicest reminiscences of old Democrats how Mr. Ran- 
 toul used to meet the Whig debaters in the House, and 
 alwaj's vanquished them by superior argument or superior 
 skill. Before the people he was also indefatigable, and did 
 more than a score of any other men to give his part}- a strong 
 position. Better than all this, Mr. Rantoul was a Democrat 
 in something more than a party sense. He studied and 
 believed the doctrines of Thomas Jefferson ; and, for carr}'- 
 ing them out to their true results, he was driven out of his 
 party. 
 
 He was a leading temperance man ; and the opponents of 
 the gallows will always remember that their strongest and 
 sharpest weapons to hew down that institution were forged 
 in Mr. Rantoul's workshop. At a later da}', and up to the 
 da}' of his death, he was the determined enemj' of slavery. 
 It detracts not one iota from his sincerity in this respect that 
 he concluded not to oppose the election of Gen. Pierce. 
 
 We shall not forget hearing him proclaim at Salem in 
 1850-51, in his boldest and most emphatic manner, the great 
 truth, that " libert}' is national, and slaver}' is sectional," — 
 a truth which, full}- acted upon, will destroy slavery. For a 
 man Mho has broken away from a proslavery party, and 
 acted in other ranks, such a declaration would be as easy as 
 any other word : not so for a man who designed to remain in 
 a party until it was puriGed, or so long as he could see a 
 chance of effecting good results by remaining. The persecu- 
 
514 "WARRINGTON- :" 
 
 tion to whicli Mr. Rantoul was subjected in liis own partj', 
 and the steadiness with which he resisted it, are proofs of 
 his sincerity, which the antislavery men of this State will 
 always remember with gratitude. To his party, which he 
 had built up, and in which he was destined to take a still 
 more prominent position, and to the country*, which can ill 
 afford to lose so great a man, Mr. Rantoul' s death is an 
 irreparable loss. 
 
 ELBRIDGE GERRY ROBINSOX.^ 
 
 Mr. Robinson was born in Concord, Mass., on the 24th 
 of June, 1805. He was apprenticed to the trade of a 
 carriage-painter ; and, after serving his time at Concord, 
 went to Salem, where he worked at the same business. In 
 1831 he removed to Dedham, where, for a time, he followed 
 the same calling. Here he Avas in the habit of writing for 
 the newspapers, — both for "The Advertiser" and "The 
 Patriot," we believe. "The Advertiser" was then pub- 
 lished by Mr. Ebenezer Fish. Mr. Robinson contributed 
 many tales and sketches to its columns, and an endless 
 number of anecdotes and jokes, many of which were ex- 
 quisitely told, and some of which are even now standing 
 favorites of the newspapers, and re-appear ever}' year as 
 regularl}' almost as the counting-house almanac.- At this 
 time, being in high health and spirits, and possessed of an 
 admirable humoi:, and fine power of amusing his friends, 
 Mr. Robinson was the favorite of all who know him. Dis- 
 ease soon came to sadden, in some degree, his exuberant 
 cheerfulness ; but to the last, among his friends and rela- 
 tives, he was a cheerful and very humorous man. 
 
 After Mr. Fish died, Mr. Robinson purchased " The Ad- 
 vertiser," in August, 1837. He published it by that name 
 until February, 1839, when he made it a political paper, and 
 styled it " Tlie Democrat." He supported the Democratic 
 
 1 " AVarriugton's eldest brother." 
 
 2 Seo Apiiendix D. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 515 
 
 policy and nominations until 1848, when he and his paper 
 went with the Free-Soil partj^ for Mr. Van Buren. His 
 health soon began to fail, however, and his interest in 
 partisan politics diminished ; and more of his attention was 
 paid to literar}' matters and general miscellan3^ He Avas a 
 great reader of books, and a careful saver of them, 
 
 Mr. Robinson Avas strictl}' the friend of order, of temper- 
 ance, of freedom, of peace, of good neighborhood, to all 
 men. His weekly visit to his subscribers was a pleasant 
 and kindl}' one, and he brought no vicious counsel with him. 
 At last, when the end approached, he was ready and willing 
 to go ; his thoughts of family and friends being not anxious, 
 but cheerful and confident, and his reliance in the goodness of 
 God sustaining him through all his sickness to the last dread 
 end. He died peacefully and happil}' as he had always lived. 
 His outward circumstances were pleasant. Blessed with 
 an affectionate wife and two children, and a large circle of 
 friends, his lot might be called a happy one, except these 
 bonds of disease. The wise definition of wealth might 
 apply to him; and, tried bj' it, he was a rich man: "The 
 wealth of a man is the number of things he loves and 
 blesses, the number of things he is loved and blessed by'." 
 But he has left his house and his friends, and "the warm 
 precincts of the cheerful day," Peace to his memor}', which 
 shall be ever pleasant to all who knew him ! 
 
 "Blue be the sky, and soft the breeze; 
 Earth green beneath thy feet; 
 And be the damp mound gently pressed 
 Into thy narrow place of rest. 
 
 There, through the long, long summer-hours, 
 
 The golden light shall lie. 
 And thick young herbs, and groups of flowers, 
 
 Stand in their beauty by; 
 The oriole shall build, and tell 
 His love-tale close beside thy cell ; 
 
 The idle butterfly 
 Shall rest him there; and there be heard 
 The housewife-bee and humming-bird. 
 
516 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 And if, around his place of sleep, 
 
 The friends he loved should come and weep, 
 
 They might not haste to go: 
 Soft airs and song and light and hloom 
 Shall keep them lingering by his tomb ; 
 
 There to their softened hearts shall bear 
 The thoughts of what has been, 
 
 And speak of one who cannot share 
 The gladness of the scene ; 
 
 Whose part in all the pomp that fills 
 
 The circuit of the summer hills 
 Is, that his grave is green." 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 517 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES {Continued). 
 
 CHARLES SUMKER. 
 
 [In 1863.] 
 
 As an orator, Mr. Sumner is not so fascinating as he was 
 ten or twenty 3'ears ago ; and there is good reason for this. 
 His life has been " fieri!}' furnaced," for the last fifteen 
 3ears, in a heat such as few men in this country have ever 
 undergone. Eighteen or twenty years ago, — say in 184G 
 and 1847, — w^hen he first came into the Whig conventions 
 with Stephen C. Phillips, and Charles Francis Adams, and 
 John G. Palfre}", and Charles Allen, and AVilliam Dvvight, 
 and fought Webster and Ashmun and Winthrop on the 
 question of making vital the Whig antislavery resolutions 
 of the previous ten years by virtually pledging the Whig 
 party to resist an}' further slaveholding and doughface nomi- 
 nation for national office, — at this time he was not only an 
 earnest, strong, and argumentative orator, but a careful 
 student of the graces of style ; and he was listened to with 
 almost as attentive an ear, and looked at with almost as 
 admiring an ej'e, as Mr. Everett himself. Neither of them 
 could ever, for spontaneity and the natural oratorical gift, 
 compare with Wendell Phillips ; and his power of pleasing 
 seems never to grow old. 
 
 But Sumner, ever since 1856, has had other work to do 
 besides studying the graces and tricks which are the proper 
 exercises of the holiday orator, and which not even gi'eat 
 
518 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 and spontaneous orators are exempt from. He has become 
 a great statesman, an expert debater, a fier\- propagandist 
 of ideas ; a man to ride the whirlwind of civil controvers}*, 
 and direct the storm of opinion which is to determine for a 
 quarter or half a centur}', for good or evil, the destinies of 
 the countr}'. Mr. Sumner's words are " half-battles : " they 
 are as hard as cannon-balls, and well aimed from an Arm- 
 strong gun. No man in the civil service, — if we except Mr. 
 Lincoln himself, and perhaps one or two of his advisers, 
 ■who have had to do witli the executive part of the govern- 
 ment, and who could do things with or without, or even 
 against, popular or congressional approval, and def)' conse- 
 quences, — no man has had so great influence upon the des- 
 tinies of the country for the last four years. 
 
 One great secret of his power is his intense personality. 
 He is so thoroughly in earnest, and so conscious of his power, 
 that no obstacle seems to him too great to be overcome. 
 His capacity for business is ver}- great. His habits are 
 orderly and systematic. He is frank in his dealings with all 
 men who come to him for aid or advice. If he agrees to do 
 a thing, he goes to work and does it, or at least attempts it, 
 and is not satisfied with one repulse ; so that, with his won- 
 derful earnestness and industry, he is more than a match, as 
 a friend or an eneni}-, for half a dozen lukewarm or indif- 
 ferent men who ma}' be arra3'ed against him. In the Senate 
 he has many influential personal enemies, who do not like 
 his style of doing things, — peevish men, like Fessenden ; or 
 men who feel obliged to cater somewlint to Nortli-western 
 negro dislike, like Trumbull ; or toadcaters, like Doolittle. 
 But more flexibility in the Senate would be attained, proba- 
 bly, at the expense of those great and overmastering qualities 
 which make him one of the powers and estates of tlie countr}-. 
 Of course, the great secret, after all, is the fact that he is 
 right, and is with the people in the front rank of the pro- 
 cession ; no straggler, and never footsore. 
 
PEN-POBTRAITS. 519 
 
 [In 1874.] 
 
 Mr. Sumner would not be properly described as " a hu- 
 morist ; " 5"et he was b}' no means incapable of enjoying and 
 making a joke, and was an excellent companion at the table 
 where humor is relished. Bishop Haven sa3-s he was the 
 " chiefest of our statesmen." A philanthropist, I suppose, 
 is one who loves his fellow-?jia>i, and is, with more or less 
 constanc}', employed in devising plans and gathering money 
 for alleviating the condition of man^ especiall}' the criminal, 
 the pauper, and the physicall}' unfortunate. He is sometimes 
 a statesman besides ; i.e., if he gets time to be. Now, Mr. 
 Sumner was one who did not care for or deal with man^ 
 but with men; whose studies were in the direction of the 
 rights of races, not attracted toward the misfortunes of 
 individuals. This is manifest ever^'where in his life and 
 labor. I don't remember anj' exception to this since the 
 prison-discipline controversy forty years ago, even if this 
 was an exception. It was the barbarism of slavery ^ in the 
 sense of slaverj' being a denial of the right of man to him- 
 self, it was the crime against Kansas as a State, as a body 
 politic, which mainly excited his ire ; and it was because 
 he was a man of this great statesmanlike quality that he so 
 disappointed at last some even of his greatest friends, who 
 had misconceived his bent, and were afraid he was merely a 
 philanthropist like (for example) Mr. Gerritt Smith in his 
 3'ounger da3's, John Howard of England, and others. Mr. 
 Sumner seems to me to have been a man more like Sir Sam- 
 uel Romill}' in this statesmanlike bent ; and Sir Samuel was 
 one of the greatest and best of Englishmen, as the English 
 Whig party was the greatest and best part}^ that ever ex- 
 isted. 
 
 When Mr. Sumner (in 1861) was on a visit to Washing- 
 ton, a Boston contractor to whom the government owed 
 considerable raone}- went on to collect it. He took certain 
 
 1 It was "Warrington's" opinion, that Mr. Sumner's Introduction to 
 his Look ou White Slavery in the Barbary States was the best thing 
 he ever wrote. 
 
520 "WAnmxGToy:" 
 
 other claims with him ; among them one of forty thousand 
 cloUars, -which a Boston merchant of the most extreme and 
 ultra hiinkerism intrusted to him. AVhen the contractor 
 returned, he met the hunker merchant, and told him he had 
 succeeded in getting his money. Overflowing, not only with 
 gratitude and joy, but with surprise, hunker asked, " Wh}' ! 
 how did you get it? I had no idea you would be successful 
 in getting it." — " Oh ! " said the other, " I had nothing to 
 do with it. Sumner happened to be in "Washington ; and I 
 put the matter in his hands, and he fixed it." — "Well," 
 said hunker, " it does seem as if Sumner was growing more 
 and more practical every year." Under an administration 
 like Buchanan's or Pierce's, when it was an open question 
 whether Sumner should be on any committee, it does not 
 seem a matter of surprise that he did not obtain a i-eputation 
 as a practical man. But it would be ditEcult to name a 
 man, — and this is the universal testimony of those Mho 
 have been to AVashington on business, and have asked Mr. 
 Sumner's aid, — it would be diflicult, if not impossible, to 
 find a man so industrious, methodical, thorough, energetic, 
 and successful, in attending to pure matters of business. 
 This is the simple fact, and no exaggeration Avhatever. 
 His great practical talent excels that of almost every man 
 we have ever sent to Congress. 
 
 When the people I have mentioned found out, as they 
 did during Mr. Lincoln's administration, that the great 
 senator was as prompt a business-man as the State ever sent 
 to Washington ; and, later, when they relied on him always 
 for sound views of financial questions according to the best 
 traditions and experience, — they were invariably glad to see 
 him here, especially after the Greeley matter had a little 
 blown over, and it was found that " nepotism," tliough 
 carried a little too far in the line of thoroughness of illus- 
 tration, was not unjust to the presidential head of the 
 nation. Who that remembers the events of 18G1, 18G2, 
 and 18G3, and Mr. Sumner's struggles to get rid of the 
 conservative and Union-saving method of carrying on the 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 521 
 
 war by adopting Mr. Seward's and Mr. Adams's plan of 
 guaranteeing that slaver}- should no longer in the States live 
 a threatened life, but should be made secure by positive 
 constitutional provision, — who that remembers his speeches 
 at our State conventions, and their contrast with the 
 instructions given to Mr. Adams by the State Department, 
 can sa}' that he was something else more than he was a 
 " statesman " ? 
 
 In 1862 there was a contest of political ideas in Massa- 
 chusetts, which men of the antislavery school ought to 
 remember and appreciate. It was the year when hunkerism 
 here in Massachusetts organized itself to prevent the re- 
 election of John A. Andrew as governor, and Charles Sum- 
 ner as senator. It Avas the j-ear when was decided the 
 question, whether a more radical issue should or should not 
 be made with the rebellion ; whether Africa should be carried 
 into the war by the employment of black men as soldiers ; 
 and whether the government should stop maundering and 
 snivelling about the abstract question of the right to secede, 
 and fight out the war on the real and vital issue, — the 
 existence of slavery. I say, it was the year when this ques- 
 tion was decided ; because it cannot be doubted, that if 
 Massachusetts had fallen back in 1862, and had defeated 
 Andrew and Sumner, Mr. Lincoln would not have gone 
 forward, or, at least, not have gone forward so firml}', and 
 have raised the issue which fiuall}^ gave us victory by enlist- 
 ing on one side the moral power, which was stronger than 
 regiments. 
 
 I well remember the incident (in 1862) , when a few radical 
 Republicans, four or five at most, organized the plan of 
 compelling the Republican State Convention to nominate 
 Mr. Sumner, and of fighting the "People's" part}', as it 
 dared to call itself, on its own chosen "conservative" 
 ground ; and, if any one doubts the difficulties of the situa- 
 tion, I should like to have him look back, and read the 
 speeches and resolutions of Joel Parker and Leverett Salton- 
 stall, and the men who tried by that movement to make the 
 
522 "WARRIXGTOX." 
 
 war a war for "the flag" only, and not for freedom and 
 regeneration. Charles Sumner was the great central figure 
 of that contest ; and, from that time forward to the end of 
 reconstruction, he was the great civic hero of the crisis. 
 Den}- it who nia}', history will inevitably and with emphasis 
 declare this ; and there is no power which can obliterate 
 the record. 
 
 I have seen but little reference, in all the tributes made to 
 the character of our great senator, to his strong solicitude 
 for the spread and permanency of republican ideas in 
 Europe. I have man}' times been struck with the uniformity 
 of his opinion as to the fitness of all those peoples for the 
 freest and most flexible governments. The French, he 
 always insisted, were as fit for republicans as any bod}'. 
 An established republican and democrat himself, he never 
 dreamed of making exceptions ; and, even although he had 
 specialties and particular objects for his democratic fury, he 
 never, as far as I know, doubted the theory of democracy, 
 or dreamed that there were or could be any exceptions to it. 
 This seems to me one of the chief glories of his character. 
 
 GEORGE L. STKAUNS. 
 
 Few men are left in Boston to sustain so well as Mr. 
 Stearns the reputation its merchant philanthropists have 
 given it. lie was by no means one of her richest men, 
 though he was in very successful business, and in the receipt 
 of a lai-ge yearly income. He did not give money by the 
 million dollars at a time, — he could not afford that, — but 
 he gave very liberally for a great diversit}' of objects, and 
 always for good ones. And, besides, he gave Avhat was 
 much better than money, — time, more than he could well 
 spare from his extensive business ; energy, which, to a man 
 of his frail body and feeble health, was a part of life itself; 
 rare organizing faculty, which made every man feel that his 
 projects were feasible ; strong persuasive powers and un- 
 daunted perseverance, which converted the unwilling, and 
 conquered the stubborn ; faith, which removed mountains of 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 523 
 
 difficult}" ; and a cheerful optimism, ■which made eveiybody he 
 met satisfied that the battle, whatever it might be, was sure 
 to be won before long. So that, although manj- men have 
 given more mone}' for philanthropic objects, few, if aiy, 
 have contributed more greatly to their success : and the 
 hundred thousand dollars which we are assured he gave for 
 public purposes and in private charities within tlie last 
 dozen or fifteen j-ears really represented, probabl}', fivefold 
 that sum, even in money ; and the heart-work and brain-work 
 with which he accompanied it were be^'ond all price. 
 
 "We suppose no man not directly enlisted in the Kansas 
 controversy', eitlier in the field of actual conflict or in the 
 halls of legislation at "Washington, did so much as Major 
 Stearns for the freedom of that State. He was the intimate 
 friend of John Brown, that breaker of human, and builder 
 of di^■ine, laAv ; and furnished him with arms for that liberat- 
 ing enterprise into Virginia, which, rather than the siege 
 of Sumter, was the beginning of the great war. He offered 
 his services to the government in the enlistment of colored 
 troops, and carried into that work a facult}' for organization 
 such as few men in this communitj- possessed ; and to him, 
 in a large degree, is due the success of the movement. When 
 the war closed, he entered upon the work of agitation for 
 the complete enfranchisement of the race he had helped to 
 liberate, and sent forth his pamphlets, papers, and broad 
 sheets, gratuitoush', through the length and breadth of the 
 land, at one time issuing no less than sixty thousand weekly 
 of " The Right Way.'.' 
 
 Always disposed to look on the bright side of things, he 
 allowed himself to be mistaken in the character of Andrew 
 Johnson, with whom he had found it easy to co-operate in 
 Tennessee ; but no pride of opinion stood in the way of his 
 ready acquiescence in what was soon found to be the true 
 and the universal view, b}- all good men, of the President's 
 character. He was no politician ; never asked for nor held 
 an office : 3'et he was the trusted friend of the best of our 
 politicians; and no man's advice was oftener sought b}' our 
 
524 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 senators and representatives and governors. lie was of a 
 singularly transparent and sincere nature ; so that no man 
 ever dreamed of doubting or distrusting him in the slightest 
 degree. His yea was yea ; and his nay, na}- : j-et he was the 
 readiest man in the world to j-ield in matters of detail to his 
 friends, when he believed them to be better informed or 
 more sagacious than himself. But we need not sa}' more. 
 A great number of his friends and associates of all classes 
 of societ}", and of all creeds in religion, — mercantile friends, 
 political friends, philanthropic friends, literar}- friends, and 
 friendly neighbors and townsmen, — assembled at Medford, 
 where he lived, to pay the last honors to the deceased citizen ; 
 and then the assembled friends went away sorrowing. 
 
 He will live in the hearts of his friends so long as 
 memorj' endures. The world is poorer for his loss ; but 
 humanity' has been infinitely enriched b}- his life and ex- 
 ample. His name will attend that of America's chiefest 
 martyr, and posterity will know and honor him as the friend 
 of John Brown. 
 
 WILLIAM H. SEWARD. 
 
 Scarcely any man of note has been so well liked, and so 
 grievously disliked, by the same people, at various times 
 during the last twelve years, as Mr. Seward. He did great 
 service to the antislaver}' cause,. and in a general waj', before 
 he entered Mr. Lincoln's cabinet. He was bold enough to 
 be an anti-Mason, and never showed any tolerance toward 
 Know-Nothingism. I can call to mind only two other lead- 
 ing men of his rank — viz., Sumner and Henry A. Wise — who 
 fought the " American" movement boldh'. Wise's fight in 
 Virginia broke the back of that peculiarl}' odious and anti- 
 American part}- ; Sumner made grand speeches against it ; 
 and Seward was alway.s hostile to it. Let each be freshly- 
 remembered for this. Yet Seward and Sumner very likel}- 
 thought their diplomatic wisdom one of their chief claims to 
 recollection and gratitude. 
 
 The four or five big volumes of the secretary's correspond- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 525 
 
 ence with our ministers abroad and with the ministers of 
 foreign governments are about as valuable for principles as 
 so man}' pages of arguments before the Municipal Court in 
 Boston. Mr. Evarts was appointed to go to Geneva because 
 " The Alabama " case was a great lawsuit, and it was need- 
 ful to send a lawj'er who was in the habit of winning cases. 
 Mr. Evarts and the rest got fifteen million dollars ; or, say, 
 lift}' cents apiece for ever}' person in the United States. A 
 heav}^ lawsuit. Frankness, honest}', openness, and fair deal- 
 ing, by Mr. Seward on our part, and an equal amount of the 
 same qualtities on the part of England, in the outset, would 
 have saved all the gab, and the spoiling of white paper, and 
 the wear and tear of conscience, on the part of those who 
 were sent abroad, or staid at home, "to lie for their coun- 
 try." A great lawsuit indeed! Divided into its elements, 
 it would have been settled as easily as nine-tenths of the 
 claims are now settled. 
 
 WILLIAM STOWE. 
 
 Few private citizens could have died, whose death would 
 have occasioned more regret than that of AYilliam Stowe. 
 When he was at the State House last, he told me that he had 
 been to see the legislature every year for thirty years, except 
 the year 1870. In 1871 he was in Boston on the occasion of 
 the laying of the corner-stone of the post-offlce, and dined 
 with the Bird Club, the members of which were among his 
 best friends. He was always welcome at their table, and, for 
 that matter, in every place where good, witty, cheery conver- 
 sation was liked. On this last occasion, I found him, feeble 
 as he was, as fond of a joke, and almost as well able to 
 entertain his friends, as ever. 
 
 Mr. Stowe's humor was of a rare quality ; but his 
 thorough contempt for cant, shams, and humbugs, was one of 
 his most endearing and enduring qualities. I have many 
 letters from him, — mostly between 18G2 and 1865, during 
 the war, — which I wish I had time to look up. Tiic}' are 
 short, shai'p, pithy, and almost invai'iably contain some 
 
526 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 humorous "dig" at one or more of the most transparent 
 of the popular humbugs. McClellan in the height of his 
 popularit}', and Johnson from the moment he began to show 
 signs of apostatizing, were his special objects of contempt. 
 
 I saw much of him in 1858, and so on, until he left the 
 ofBce of clerk of the House of Representatives. He was an 
 excellent parliamentarian, — all the better for having a con- 
 tempt for the niceties and lore and i)recedents of his pro- 
 fession ; and thoroughlv imbued with the first and onh' 
 parliamentary principle, — how to get at the will of the 
 assembly in the quickest way. On one occasion he was told, 
 in the hearing of the House, by the speaker, "The clerk will 
 do so and so." — " The clerk will do as he thinks proper about 
 it," said Mr. Stowe, loudl}' enough to be heard not onl}' 
 by the speaker, but by members. Having promised to 
 perform the duties of Jiis oflSce to the best of his abilit}', he 
 could not do otherwise, as recording officer, than to make up 
 the record, or make his indorsement, according to the fact, 
 subject, of course, to express order of the House, and not 
 of the speaker. 1 imagine he must have got that odd habit 
 of suddenly shaking his head from side to side from a feel- 
 ing of discontent at hearing frivolous points of order raised 
 for the dela}' of business. 
 
 He was first chosen in 1854, succeeding Col. Schouler. 
 The Know-Nothiug slupidit}' overlook the State in the fall 
 of that year. He was not the man to yield to tliat, of course, 
 cither before or after the election ; and so had to give way to 
 the caucus candidate. Tiie House was glad to restore him 
 in 1857 ; and he held the office until 1802, when he declined 
 a re-election, and was appointed postmaster of Springfield.' 
 Nobody better deserved tlie place, either on account of fit- 
 ness or party fidelity ; and it was a real jo}' to his friends 
 that he was able to hold office during all the vicissitudes, 
 even of Republican rule, until his death. I infer from his 
 letters and talk, that, for the last four or five years at 
 
 1 " ■\Yuriinirton " was elected to succeed Lira. 
 
PEK-PORTRAITS. 527 
 
 least, he thought himself liable to die at a moment's warn- 
 ing, or without immediate warning. Mr. Stowe was born in 
 the same j-ear with Gov. Clafliu, Major Morrisse}', and 3-our 
 correspondent. 
 
 WILLIAM SCHOULER. 
 
 Gen. Schouler's funeral was attended by the kind of people 
 he liked and was associated with in life, old political friends, 
 newspaper men, militaiy men, and life-long (almost) per- 
 sonal friends, — Dr. Brewer, who was with him in "The 
 Atlas;" Col. Clapp of "The Journal," one of his most 
 intimate friends of the last twenty years ; "William Bogle, 
 who knew him, perhaps, as well as or better than anybody 
 outside of his own familj- ; Col. N. A. Thompson, George B. 
 Upton, Peter Harvey, and other old Boston Whigs, with men 
 who had been with him in the adjutant-general's office ; and I 
 met a Salem man, Mr. Barlow, who came because he knew 
 Schouler in his boyhood at Lynn, when his father as well as 
 himself worked for a Mr. Hall at calico-printing. The 
 services in the church were conducted b}' Dr. Edson of St. 
 Anne's Church, Lowell, who is about eightj' 3-ears old, I 
 suppose, and who has seen the entire growth of Lowell since 
 it became a seat of manufacturing industry ; and by Dr. 
 Hoppin, who was rector of the church at old Cambridge 
 when Schouler lived at West Cambridge, thirty -five years 
 ago. 
 
 When I knew the general first, in 1838 or 1839, he was a 
 dcA'out and regular Episcopalian ; and I presume he was 
 such till his death. A wooden, red-painted factory, stationed 
 just off the main road in West Cambridge, was the place of 
 business where he, with his father and brothers, carried on 
 calico-printing. At the age of twenty-five Schouler was 
 inclined to politics, to the military, to literature, and to pub- 
 lic affairs, — a public-spirited, energetic, and popular man, 
 well established in business and in life. He used to delight 
 in writing for a newspaper which I printed in Concord, prin- 
 cipally (as it turned out) for the benefit of the local politi- 
 
528 "WARIilNGTON:" 
 
 cians, certainl}' not for in}' own ; and he used to send up 
 "leaders" which instructed the voters of Middlesex as to 
 the intricacies of sub-treasur}^ problems, the abuses of the 
 Van Buren administration, &c., with squibs at the expense 
 of " The Concord Freeman," which I printed, and got the 
 credit of, repaj'ing him in kind afterward. He was an easy 
 and fluent writer, and a clear one ; a shrewd and an honest 
 politician, and an effective speaker, perhaps not for Faneuil 
 Hall, but for the average country audience of that da}-. 
 
 One of the most comical incidents in my early recollec- 
 tion of -politics occurred in 1840, in the town of Bolton, 
 whither Schouler, taking me up by the way, had gone to 
 spoak»on the great questions of the da}'. At the close of his 
 speech, the chairman of the town committee rose ; and, 
 saying that it had been suggested that three cheers should 
 be given for the "eloquent orator," he proceeded to put it 
 deliberately to vote w^hether the}' should be given. "All 
 those in favor of giving three cheers," &c., " will say A}'." 
 There was no objection ; and the chairman then led off with 
 the cheers, vrhich, after such an introduction, were, as 3'ou 
 ma}' suppose, scarcely more than " sighs of extra strength 
 with the chill on." For years this Worcester-county rural 
 enthusiasm was a recurring anecdote to Schouler wherever I 
 met him. He was full of stories. The traits of some of his 
 old Scotch fellow-workmen furnished him with opportunities 
 for rich conversation and good-hearted mimicry : he was 
 not capable of ill-natured mirthfulness, even under the temp- 
 tations which beset a natural-born humorist. 
 
 In 1842 ho bought "The Lowell Courier and Journal," 
 which, under various names, had enjoyed the ministrations of 
 J. S. C. Knowlton, E. C. Purdy, John S. Sleeper, H. Hast- 
 ings AYeld, Daniel S. Richardson, W. O. Bartlett, and 
 others. He set out with ideas Avhich he could not ful'.y 
 carry out, — a "Washington correspondent, for instance. But 
 the paper was a very effective one. JNIiddlesex County was 
 in 1842 very "unsound" in its politics, the anti-Masonic 
 coalition having demoralized it six or eight years before ; 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 529 
 
 aud the Lowell paper did much to bring it round to the 
 "Whig side. He staid in Lowell through the Texas crisis, 
 and till after Clay's defeat. This last event completely 
 unmanned him ; and I shall not soon forget his forlorn con- 
 dition when Ben Thurston arrived b}' horse express from 
 Boston at midnight, with a note from Isaac Livermore, 
 giving news that New York had " gone for Polk ; " the morn- 
 ing news having prepared ever3-bod3' for the opposite result. 
 At this election, the paper exhibited gi'eat zeal in opposing 
 the Liberty part}' ; and I remember some articles furnished 
 by Edmund Quincy, then of the Garrison organization, 
 showing up Birney and Joshua Leavitt in all their hideous- 
 ness. Abbott Lawrence's and Nathan Appleton's position on 
 the Texas question, and Mr. Winthrop's toast, " Our coun- 
 tr}', however bounded," did not suit Schouler ; and I remem- 
 ber that a "slashing" and "crushing" leader (as I sup- 
 posed), which I wrote on Abbott Lawrence, met with his 
 decided approval. Texas was annexed in spite of it, how- 
 ever. 
 
 Schouler was a "Conscience Whig" of 1846 and 1847, 
 within the limits of party allegiance ; but he stuck to the 
 party in 1848, having a real faith in Taylor, as well as in the 
 part}'. The 7th-of-March speech was too much for him, 
 and was a great trial of his attachment to Mr. Webster. 
 Failing to support Webster in "The Atlas," he was driven 
 off b}' the "Stop my paper," and "Slop my advertisement," 
 of the Webster men of Boston ; and, after a while, he went 
 to Ohio. It would be only repetition for me to sa}" what 
 ever3-body saj's of his genuine goodness, and of the many 
 high and noble qualities of his character. There is a pas- 
 sage b}' Ruskin which I call to mind when such men die ; and 
 let me quote it in concluding what I have to say of this old 
 friend and true man : ' ' Consider also whether we ought not 
 to be more in the habit of seeking honor from our descend- 
 ants than our ancestors, thinking it better to he nobly remem- 
 bered than nobly born. 
 
530 " WARRING TON : ' ' 
 
 B. P. SHILLABER ("MRS. PARTINGTON") AND THE CARPET- 
 BAGGERS (of "the carpet-bag"). 
 
 The death of "Miles O'Reilly" brings to miud Shillaber's 
 " Carpet-Bag," with which Ilalpine, who in 1852 and 1853 
 styled himself "Charles Broadbent," was connected as writer 
 and associate-editor. I knew him a little at that time, but 
 do not remember an}- thing of his in "The Carpet-Bag" 
 worth si)ecial mention : indeed, although he was a frequent 
 writer of verse, he was " no great of a poet." As a politi- 
 cian, however, he was lively and agreeable ; and I believe 
 he was a genuine good fellow. I know Gov. Andrew was 
 hugely tickled with " O'Reilly's " account of the dinner or 
 supper in New York, in which the governor was represented 
 as entertaining the company with a song. His political 
 humor was quite rich ; but political humor is very common, 
 and growing more common. Humorous writing is quite a 
 matter of habit. Once get the knack of it, and 3'ou can go 
 on with it forever. It i > not ever}' one, however, who can 
 get the knack. 
 
 Among the carpet-baggers of 1852, one of the best was 
 that law3-er, — too early lost, not less able than bright, — 
 J. Q. A. GrilTm. He wrote some caricatures of the Supreme- 
 court reports, — "Reports of Cases argued and decided in 
 the Old Fogy Court, during Hilary and Michaelmas Terms, 
 before the Rt. Hon. Be^^ee Dicques, Baron Cucumbre, C.J., 
 Hon. Danelle Needhame, B., and Hon. B. Roussiele, J." 
 The cases were reported by Azariah Bumpas, who, with true 
 reporter's dignity, insisted on styling his works " Bumpas's 
 Reports," instead of Grotou Reports, as, from their localit}-, 
 the}' should have been called. It Avas not difiicult for the 
 people of Upper Middlesex to fix upon the originals of the 
 three justices. And I suppose the cases were not very 
 grossl}' caricatured ; Mr. Justice Dix and Mr. Justice Russell, 
 at least, being not over-learned in the law. GrifTin's bur- 
 lesque on the Massachusetts Reports was exquisite. In one 
 case, Dicques is represented as deferring judgment, because 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 531 
 
 his " Indian Wars," which was the only book in his law 
 libraiy, had been misplaced. The counsel in their argu- 
 ments cite the Biglow Papers, Punch, Dr. Gannett, Trask's 
 Sermon on Tobacco, P. B. Brigham's Hard Cases, and so on ; 
 and the Latin and Norman-French lingo has a funny effect. 
 Occasionally there is a genuine quotation from Metcalf's 
 and other Massachusetts Reports thrown in very comicall}'. 
 The reports are not much more absurd, however, than those 
 in Allen and Gra}'. 
 
 Among other writers for "Tlie Bag" were Trowbridge 
 (then calling himself " Paul Creyton"), Florence Percy, C. 
 C. Hazewell, John C. Moore (now of " The Boston Journal," 
 
 — "Peter Snooks ") , George Canning Hill, W. D. O'Connor, 
 "Ethan Spike" (a brother of John G. Whittier), and J. H. 
 A. Bone, who is now editing "The Cleveland Herald," and 
 writing for the monthly' magazines.^ Shillaber wrote Par- 
 tingtonisms and Wideswarth sonnets ; and Benjamin Drew, 
 an old " Boston-Post" joker (who two or three j'ears after- 
 wards visited Canada, and wrote an interesting book about 
 the fugitive slaves there) , furnished some humorous articles, 
 
 — or so the}' seemed to me, — purporting to be by " Dr. E. 
 Goethe Digg." I recall his toast, given at a Fourth-of-July 
 celebration : — 
 
 *' The Anglo-Saxons : They are the Saxons who are destined to dig 
 the graves of all the other races. They will 
 
 ' Live through all life, extend to a great extent, 
 Spread undivided, and operate wlierevcr they can make a cent.' " 
 
 JUDGE SHARKEY THE UXJUST JUDGE, AND ELISHA BRAZEALLE. 
 
 Once upon a time there lived in the County of Jefferson, 
 State of Mississippi, a man named Elisha Brazealle. Being 
 afflicted with a very loathsome disease, Brazealle was assidu- 
 
 1 "Warrington" also contributed some papers to the Carpet-Bag; 
 one signed "Bailey Junior" (see Appendix E), and four or five on 
 "Ensign Stebbings," in wliom, as a candidate, he was very much inter- 
 ested. He wrote articles in his favor for his paper, the Lowell Ameri- 
 can, in 1852. 
 
532 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 ousl}' nursed from death's door back to life again by an 
 atfectionatc and faitliful female mulatto slave. I say 
 "female " advisedlj' ; and I won't hear or read anj' sarcasm 
 from an}- of 3'our critics on the use of the word. Slaves are 
 not women, or ladies : the}' are only females, as the sequel 
 of my little story will show. Brazealle, not altogether de- 
 praved, took the faithful slave to Ohio, and showed his 
 gratitude by educating her, and finally by marrying her. He 
 also executed a deed for her emancipation, and had it 
 recorded l)oth in Ohio and Mississippi ; to Avhich last-named 
 State the couple returned. In process of time, the female 
 whom Mr. Brazealle had married bore a son ; and, in process 
 of time, the planter himself sickened again, and died ; taking 
 care, however, to leave a will, in which, after reciting the 
 deed of emancipation, he declared his intention to ratify it, 
 and devised all his property to the boy, whom he acknowl- 
 edged to be his son. You see what a bad man Brazeallr 
 was. lie liad lived, in all probability, in a state of adultery ; 
 and he had attempted to circumvent the laws of Mississippi, 
 and the genius of the peculiar institution which has ruled us 
 so long and so beneficently. But his sin sought out his con- 
 cubine, and even his innocent son, and punished them for 
 his iniquity ; and Judge Sharkey was the instrument, under 
 Providence, of vindicating morality and the law. Thus it 
 was : — 
 
 In North Carolina lived some poor relations of Brazealle, 
 of whom he, heartless infidel, knew nothing, and for whom 
 he cared less. Their names are not given in the record 
 before me ; but I dare say tliey are among the leading Union 
 reconstructionists under Gov. Ilolden's regime. They heard 
 of the death of their rich Mississippi cousin, or what not, 
 and fortliwith, with a prudent, thrifty spirit Avhich does them 
 immortal honor, set out for the South-West. They brought a 
 suit. It is known and read of all men in Howard's Missis- 
 sii)pi Reports, vol. ii. p. 837. It was the fortune of Shar- 
 key the good to adjudicate upon the case. He declared 
 the act of emancipation by Brazealle to "have had its 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 533 
 
 origin in an offence against morality, pernicious and detesta- 
 ble as an example ; " that tlie law of the State could not thus 
 be evaded; and that "the negroes, John Monroe and his 
 mother, are still slaves, and a part of the estate of Elisha 
 Brazealle." "John Monroe," said Sharkey the benefi- 
 cent, " cannot take the property as devisee, and it cannot be 
 held in trust for him." Quite the contrary-. John, instead 
 of having property, is himself property-, he and his mother ; 
 and, so holding, Sharke}' delivered John and his mother over 
 to the poor North-Carolina relations ; and they were lugged 
 back to tliat State, unless they were sold in Mississii^pi to 
 pa}^ the expenses of the suit. So was Brazealle the lewd 
 circumvented by Sharke}' the pure ; so were the anarchical 
 contrivances of Brazealle the lawless brought to nought by 
 the legal wisdom and the stern morality of Sharkey the 
 faithful. 
 
 ENSIGN STEBBINGS, THE POLITICAL TRIMMER. 
 
 [Compiled from "The Lowell American," with facts and extracts from 
 "TheCarxjet-Bag."] 
 
 In the old Stebbings mansion, which still adorns the 
 village of Spunkville, and where once dwelt his grandfather, 
 Septimius Stebbings, shielded from obnoxious atmospheric 
 influence, the juvenile Jehiel Stebbings was born. Old 
 Moloch Stebbings, his father, was one of Nature's noble- 
 men ; and the Bumsteads, from whom the ensign is de- 
 scended maternally, were alwa^'s a glorious famity. The 
 Stebbings mansion has a gambrel roof; and there is no per- 
 ceptible underpinning, — as who should saj-, " What need has 
 the family of Stebbings of underpinning ? " The floors are of 
 clear pine, well sanded ; the kitchen (or living-i-oom) is large, 
 and well ventilated ; and the side over the big oak table is 
 nearly covered Avith receipts, of which the following may 
 serve as a specimen : — 
 
 " How TO 51AVKE YE GooDLiE DouGHXUTTES. — Tayke two egges 
 layed by ye heniie, a cuppe and a halfe of suggarre, niglie untoe two 
 bigge spoonfulies of butter, a halfe-teaspoonfulle of ye soda, one do. 
 creme of Tartars, half cuppe of ye miike of ye cowe, small lotte of 
 nutmegge, flour ad libitumme." 
 
634 " WARRING TON: " 
 
 The front-entry was adorned b3' a picture of the battle 
 of Blenheim, done b}' the village painter, and called a 
 "Gilchrist." Often did his wondering mother find Jehiel 
 standing in silent admiration before that work of art, con- 
 templating the fray with those emotions which are peculiar 
 to the embr^-o soldier. That picture did much to form the 
 character of our presidential nominee ; for, as he grew older, 
 he developed a great desire for militar}- glory, and at an 
 early age joined the Spunkville Light Infantry (called the 
 S. L. I.'s), and very soon became their ensign and com- 
 mander. The uniform of this company was unusual. Among 
 its new features and conveniences it had a hook projecting 
 from a rear portion of the pants, to which the soldier might 
 hang his dress-boots in mudd}' weather, tin dipper, or an}' 
 other light article of baggage. The hat, a helmet, sported 
 an American eagle of brass, almost as large as life, with 
 S. L. I. gushing from its beak.^ 
 
 In spite of his warlike character, our hero was kind to his 
 wife and to all others who were under or who belongetl to him. 
 In speaking of his wife, he said, " Mrs. Ensign btcbbings is 
 not one of the new-fangled fools who wear bloomers ; but 
 she wears thirt3--five yards of cloth, honest measure, pinned, 
 hooped, buttoned, or otherwise secured, about her waist. If 
 I am made President, I shall encourage domestic manufac- 
 tures b}- compelling the women to wear five yards more in 
 the shape of a red-and-white striped bunting shawl. Ba}- 
 States ! ^ — pooh ! I am for the United States." 
 
 This ma}' be considered a prophetic remark ; for shortly 
 after (in 1852), at the " Convention in Saugus," he received 
 the nomination for President in opposition to two other regu- 
 lar candidates.' This convention was packed, and the nom- 
 ination was b}' acclamation ; for his friends had followed 
 
 1 This uniform was designed by Capt. George H. Derby ("John 
 Phopiiix"), .and, on account of the many conveniences attached to it, 
 was called the Utilitarian Uniform. 
 
 - Name of a shawl of the time. 
 
 3 RexJorted by W. S. Robinson. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 535 
 
 his advice given in a letter written by liim to the convention, 
 and read by Brevet-Gen. Tompion, his voucher. The letter 
 reads, — 
 
 " I wish for the oflSce of President ; and, if I obtain it, I shall reward 
 my friends, and punish my enemies. Every member of the Saugus 
 Convention who votes for me shall receive either a post-office, or a 
 place in the collection of customs. I would advise that you refuse a 
 seat in the convention to every man who is not enrolled either in the 
 army or navy of the United States. 
 
 " Yours strategically, 
 
 " Ensign Stebbings." 
 
 This letter was received with enthusiastic cheers, and it 
 was 
 
 " Voted, That we agree to exclude all persons who are not enrolled 
 according to the advice in the above letter." 
 
 And 
 
 " Resolved, That we go it blind for Ensign Jehiel Stebbings." 
 
 The following platform was then adopted without a dis- 
 senting voice : — 
 
 Aktiole 1. The Constitution of the United States is that which 
 constitutes. 
 
 2. The army and navy constitute us a free people : therefore, — 
 
 3. The army and the navy are the Constitution. 
 
 4. The President swears to support the Constitution, — i.e., the 
 army and navy: therefore, to do so understandingly, the President 
 ought to be a military man. 
 
 5. Ensign Jehiel Stebbings is a military man : it follows that he 
 ought to be and must be President. 
 
 6. Executive patronage is a power to be used only for a wise pur- 
 pose : to do this requires a wise man. Ensign Stebbings is a wise 
 man, therefore ought to wield executive patronage ; in other words, 
 he must be President. In fact, from whatever point we start, we are 
 driven to the same conclusion irresistibly. 
 
 7. It is of no use to oppose the irresistible. All other candidates 
 should, of course, withdraw from the contest. 
 
 8. Governments are maintained by rewards and punishments; our 
 government ought to be maintained : therefore Ensign Stebbings will 
 reward his friends, and punish his enemies. 
 
 14. Ensign Stebbings — he must be elected. 
 
 The convention adjourned harmoniously, and the ensign 
 
536 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 went home to receive the congratulations of his fellow-towns- 
 men. At the ratification meeting held in Spunkville he 
 made a speech of acceptance, in which he said, " Here, 
 wrapped aljout m}' left arm, you see the flag which I bore, 
 and as I bore it from the Alamo, and as I flashed it in the 
 ej-es of the British soldiers at the Aroostook" (he had been 
 twitted with running from the enemy's wooden guns). "If 
 this is not enough to qualify a man to become President of a 
 great, free, warlike, and independent nation, I would like to 
 know what is." (Applause.) " I have heard of Ptchoula, 
 and I have heard of Russia leather, and law calf; but, gentle- 
 men, I am of opinion that the smell of gunpowder is the true 
 presidential perfume. Gentlemen, in your resolution on the 
 tariff", there should have been this proviso : Provided, how- 
 ever, that we are in favor of admitting free of duty all the 
 munitions, implements, pomps, and circumstances of glori- 
 ous war, such as tent-pins, haversacks, canteens, brandj-, 
 sjKides, blunderbusses, omnibuses, and other materials for 
 barricades, drag-ropes, pipe-clay, feathers, and over sixty 
 other similar munitions, ending with wooden legs and surgi- 
 cal instruments." (A voice in the crowd, " Go it, Stebbings ! 
 that stamps your availabilit}' with the American people.") 
 
 "Available or not, my opinion is that military glory is 
 the only ti-ue national glory. Every man," he then resumed, 
 " who is a member of any militar}' company, shall have a 
 free pass over all the railroads in the Union, whether in time 
 of peace or war ; and military stores and arm}' material shall 
 be trans[)orted gratuitously." (Applause from the soldiers.) 
 " I am in favor of high tariff" upon all articles except muni- 
 tions of war. I go for cheap postage, roast beef, and two 
 dollars a day. Where I put my foot, there I stand. I repre- 
 sent a principle ; and that principle is bound to triumph. 
 The india-rubbers of Civilization are always stained with 
 human gore ; for, from the earliest conflict until now, the 
 footsteps of her progress through the ages have been from 
 the battle-fields of one generation to the battle-fields of the 
 next. I oflfer myself, then, for the suffrages of the people." 
 
PEN-PORTBAITS. 537 
 
 During the campaign, newspapers like " The Lowell 
 American," "Clinton Courant " (Edwin Bj-nner, editor), 
 and "The Carpet-Bag," that were not the organs of the reg- 
 ular candidates, supported the ensign's claims to the presi- 
 dency ; and the3^ printed column after column of " Opinions 
 of the Press ' ' to show the feeling of the people in other 
 States. 
 
 "The Carpet-Bag" published an article, in which the 
 writer made a calculation, showing how many electoral votes 
 the ensign would receive. "We select the following extract. 
 It was called 
 
 THE GAME OF BRAG. 
 
 " The election of Scott or Pierce being demonstrated to be impos- 
 sible, it follows, of course, that Stebbings must be chosen. But we 
 shall not stop here. We have a calculation of our own, favorable to 
 Stebbings, which must satisfy the last remaining doubter in the land. 
 Perhaps it will be surprising to some, that, in this calculation, we 
 claim a large number of votes for Stebbings in Minnesota, Utah, 
 New Mexico, Nebraska, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Patagonia. But it is 
 time now to develop the plan of operations, which must come out 
 very soon. 
 
 "Ensign Stebbings is about to put himself at the head of an expedi- 
 tion, which will probably, before November, result in the annexation of 
 all these regions to the United States, in safety under the folds of the 
 star-spangled banner. Long may it wave ! 
 
 "The expedition to capture Buffalo Bay will not, probably, be 
 sufficiently matured before next spring. We speak with caution. We 
 say ' probably,' because it is not certain that these new States will be 
 entitled to vote in November. We have placed them xuider the head 
 of 'Doubtful for Stebbings.' We mean to be careful to avoid the 
 vaunting tone which our enemies use, and which fills us with great 
 disgust. 
 
 *' We shall now proceed to speak of a few States which some of the 
 other parties pretend to claim, and we shall show that Stebbings is 
 the only individual who has any change of carrying them. 
 
 " Massacuusetts. — As Stebbings gets the extreme South, so he 
 sweeps through the extreme North. It may be said of him, that he 
 knows no north, no south, no east, no west, no nothing. 
 
 "New Hampshike. — We candidly admit that Pierce will make a 
 good run in his own State ; but Peter Snooks, who, after leaving the 
 Massacliusetts legislature, was immediately chosen a member of the 
 New-Hampshire House of Kepresentatives, gives it as his opinion 
 that Stebbings has the best chance. 
 
538 " WARRINO TON: " 
 
 " South C.vrolixa is a State very hard to please ; but the well- 
 known sentiments of Stebbings on the Cuba question will make him 
 sure of the vote of that State. 
 
 "Wisconsin. — The German vote is sure for Stebbings. In his 
 letter to the 'Sonderbuiidholl-Verein,' the ensign states that he can 
 play on the German flute, and is very fond of Bologna sausages ; which 
 facts show that he is interested in foreign matters. 
 
 "Georgia always votes for the successful candidate; of course, 
 nhe is safe for Stebbings. Toombs are prepared for both the old cor- 
 rupt organizations. 
 
 " Maine. — The ensign's letter to the Mayor of Saccarap, on the 
 Liquor Law, has made him immensely popular in Maine. He says, 
 
 * I AM IN FAVOR OF THE LAW, AND OPPOSED TO ITS BEING PUT IN 
 
 FORCE.' 1 Of course, he gets the support of both sections; the era of 
 good feeling will return; the unhappy liquor-question will be compro- 
 mised; ami Maine will help elect a chief magistrate whose Aroostook 
 history will prevent any Blue-nose aggressions for half a century. 
 Enough, and more than enough. Votes are the loeapons which do 
 the business ; and Stebbings has the votes. We wait with serene con- 
 fidence the great result." 
 
 Besides being the great military candidate, it was claimed 
 for him that he was also the great agricultural candidate ; and 
 the farming interest was called upon to support him, because, 
 for the last ten ^ears, he had annuallj- received the premium 
 for the best fat ox in the county cattle-show, and that he 
 first introduced the Borneo waddlers to the poultry-breeders 
 of Spunkville. He had the earliest potatoes, the biggest 
 
 1 In 1852 I was a good deal interested in the canvass for President, 
 going in strongly for Ensign Stebbings; and I made a calriilation for 
 the Caipet-IJag, which was his organ, showing tliat he would receive 
 sonietliing more than twenty thousand electoral votes, — not mere poi^u- 
 lar votes, of which a man may receive half a million, and yet have no 
 good from them. He was going to receive the vote of Maine on the 
 strength of his letter to the Mayor of Saccarap, declaring himself to be 
 in favor of the Maine Law, and against its enforcement, and so on. I 
 mention this here, that the standing joke of Stebbings and the Maine 
 Law, which is now used pretty often in the newspapers, is "my thun- 
 der." "A poor thing, but my own," as Touchstone says of Audrey. 
 Now, it turned out that Stebbings got no votes. What was a feeble at- 
 tempt at waggery in 1852 was deadly earnest in 1800. His oft -quoted 
 remark, " that he was in favor of the Maine (Liquor) Law, but opposed 
 to its being put in force," perfectly illustrates the character of all 
 political trimmers. — W. S. R. in 18G9. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 539 
 
 turnips, the heaviest wheat, the j-ellowest carrots, and the 
 smallest mustard, of any man in New England ; and his 
 "deep phalanx of embattled corn" excited the admiration 
 of everybod}'. He was engaged at this time in the manu- 
 facture of tomato-ketchup : hence the fling of his opposers, 
 who called him The Tomato- Ketchup candidate. He was 
 great at cattle-shows, and made speeches at all the agricultu- 
 ral dinners, and paraded his militar}- and other achievements. 
 There was not a schoolhouse or a pig-pen built in the neigh- 
 borhood but he was at the " raising," and showed himself to 
 his constituents. 
 
 Stories were in circulation about this great statesman and 
 hero, — of how he helped a poor widow to win her case (she 
 had sons who could vote for /«"m), and gave hundreds of 
 cents to colored women (who had husbands, voters) for their 
 children, and so made himself popular with the people. His 
 picture was taken for circulation (in " The Carpet-Bag ") ; a 
 sword was presented to him (which beat the brand Excalibur 
 all to flitters), called the " Stebbings sword;" and a ship 
 was launched, and named b}- him " The Jehiel Stebbings." 
 Political clubs were organized. From "The Lowell Ameri- 
 can ' ' we copy an account of the 
 
 SHABBAKIN STEBBINGS CLUB. 
 
 " There is now a good degree of unanimity prevailing in the club. 
 Headquarters have been established, a flag thrown out; and 'The 
 Carpet-Bag ' and other publishers of papers have been written to, to 
 supply the club gratis with their valuable sheets. The last meeting 
 was very enthusiastic. The managing committee presented the. fol- 
 lowing names as honorary members, and they were unanimously 
 accepted : lion. Jethro Hitchcock of Squam ; Hon. Gad Bulger of 
 Squam; Hon. Abraham Lot of Hardscrabble ; Gabriel Pinchbeck, 
 Esq., Calf Hollow; Peter B. Funk, Esq., Beg Sodus Bay; James B. 
 X. L. Y. Smithers, Esq., Donnowhere; Hon. Peleg Percival Polk, 
 Punkinville; Hon. Eldad W. Mruppins, Poplar Hill; Cain Webster 
 Burke, Esq., Shabbakin; Alonzo George Milksop, Esq., Thunder- 
 borough; B. Franklin Muggins, Spunkville; Jehiel Stebbings, 
 Spunkville; Cornet Wiggin, Spunkville; Deacon Israel Mawworm, 
 Pulpitville ; Capt. Boanerges Bashaw, Misery X Roads ; Col. Asher 
 P. Flimflaw, Four Corners; Porpoise T, Walrus, Esq., Shabbakin; 
 
540 " WAIililXG TON: " 
 
 Beerbarrol Skid, Esq., Grocerville ; Card G. Stripper, Esq., Cotton- 
 town; Capt. Eli Herringbone, Oyster Bay; Richelieu O'Flannegan, 
 Bailybogusvllle; Diebitsch Von Kaunier Poniatowski, LL.D., Baden- 
 Baden ; Dr. Esculapius Pestle, Thoroughwort Corner. 
 
 "It will be seen that all classes are here represented, natives and 
 foreigners, lawyers, deacons, doctors, farmers, and mechanics., All 
 sections are also honored ; for, as ' The Carpet Bag ' patriotically 
 remarks, Stebbings ' knows no north, no south, no east, no west, no 
 nothing.' After this important, weighty, tremendous, ponderous, and 
 awful business was completed, several speeches were made, of which 
 a full report may be found in the daily organ of the Shabbakin Steb- 
 bingsonians. The cause is onward, and the cheering is tremendous ! 
 Skies bright! Nine million cheers for the nomernees! Whoorayl" 
 
 It was at this meeting that the celebrated toast or senti- 
 ment was offered b^- the Hon. Eldad W. Mnii)pins of Poplar 
 Hill, Dedham: "To that gorgeous ensign of our republic, 
 Ensign Stebbings ! " 
 
 Estimates of , his political strength were taken in various 
 towns and states, and sent to "The Carpet-Bag." One 
 from Owl Hollow, Ind., reads as follows : — 
 
 "Mb. Editou, — At a meeting of the citizens of this place at the 
 post-oflBce yesterday eve, a vote was taken for President, the result 
 of which is as follows : — 
 
 Stebbings . 2 
 
 Scott 1 
 
 Douglas 
 
 Majority for Stebbings 1 
 
 " G. Washington Gawkins, P.M." 
 
 But, in spite of the promises and efforts of his friends, there 
 was a great falling-off of voting-force as election drew near. 
 His teachings went against him ; and his doctrines, as in the 
 case of Socrates and other eminent men, killed him : for his 
 pretended supporters carried the princii)le advocated in his 
 famous saying about the Maine Liquor Law to the ballot-box ; 
 and, while believing in him as a candidate, they voted directly 
 for his opponent ; and tlie great Stebbings got absolutely no 
 votes. He, however, had found out in season how the thing 
 was turning, and, a few days before election, sent a despatch 
 
PEN-POETBAITS. 541 
 
 to his friends through "The Lowell American," defining 
 his position. We copy the despatch and the editor's com- 
 ments. 
 
 Spunkvtlle, Nov. 1, 11.10 p.m. 
 
 To MI Feends, — This ere is to giv notis that i am not a candy- 
 date for the ofl&ss of President. Tough are all advysed to vought for 
 Purse, hoo has promised to turn out old Scott and put me in Kom- 
 mander in Cheef. Jehiel Steebings, Enaign. 
 
 This despatch was forthwith sent upon the ver^' swiftest 
 streaks of lightning to all parts of this universal nation ; 
 and it is a remarkable triumph of the Spunkville, &c., Tele- 
 graph Compan}-, that not a Stebbings man in any State in 
 the Union, except a few in the comparativelj- thinly -peopled 
 States of Massachusetts, Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee, 
 failed to receive the intelligence. The knowledge that this 
 despatch was about to be sent will account for the confidence 
 which was felt by "Purse" and his intimate friends in the 
 result. " Jack Hail and his cru," remarked the ensign 
 subsequently, " thort they hild the ballunses of power ; but I 
 gess the ballunses was in stiddier hands than thairn," We 
 guess so too. 
 
 This statement of facts will account for the non-election 
 of Stebbings, and the triumphant election of Pierce, and will 
 put to shame those editors, pretending to be friends of the 
 illustrious and magnanimous old chief, who have reported 
 that he has resigned himself to "mute despair." No such 
 thing ! Jehiel Stebbings will be the back-bone, right-arm, 
 eye-tooth, sword, spurs, and Paixhan cannon of the new ad- 
 ministration. Let his enemies, and the enemies of Pierce, 
 beware ! 
 
 [Nov. 27, 1875.] 
 HENRY WILSON. 
 
 The estimates made of the late Vice-President's character 
 have been singularly accurate generall}', although there have 
 been occasional errors as to fact and date. Perhaps it is 
 fair to say, that the biographical sketches have been more 
 
542 ''WARRINGTON:" 
 
 truthful than accurate. For instance, when it is said that 
 "Wilson was the founder of the Republican part}", a queer mis- 
 take is made ; for he did not even vote with that part}' till 
 185G, — two years after it was founded : j'ct, for all that, he 
 was so linked with the measures, and so associated with the 
 men and ideas, that he ma}- be fairly called one of the princi- 
 pal founders. These foundations of parties are more apt to 
 be the work of the men who nominally serve in the ranks 
 than of the more prominent men. 
 
 They will show you in Jackson, Mich., a court-house or 
 town-house, where the}' say the first Republican meeting was 
 held, and the name first formally given. But these events 
 were nearly simultaneous. The State organization here was 
 in 1854 : but Wilson was in the Know-Nothing party, and, a 
 year later, was elected to the Senate of the United States 
 by that party ; his chief competitors being E. M. Wright 
 (in the Senate) and N. B. Bryant (in the House), — men of 
 the obscure sort, who in that party would be sure to be 
 talked of, but who would not have been mentioned at all in 
 a large party in this State, based in any degree on anti- 
 slavery principles. Wilson had 21 votes, just a majority of 
 the Senate, and about 230, I believe, in the House. He 
 further identified himself with the party by attending a 
 supper in honor of Gardner's election, and by a letter to 
 Robert B. Hall, written for the average Know-Xothing, to 
 show to his constituents as evidence that the new senator 
 was all right. In spite of all this, however, "Wilson had in 
 view the formation of a new national organization in 1856. 
 How it was to come he didn't probably know nor care. 
 
 In the fall of 1855 he supported Rockwell, and made a 
 speech at Brattleborough, Vt., denouncing the Know-Xoth- 
 ings in advance for any attempted defection from antislavery 
 principles. He told C. W. Dennison, and doubtless a hun- 
 dred others, that he would "blow their party to hell" if 
 they showed any sign of such defection. In fact, he was 
 more sensitive on this point than any others, where he, for 
 expediency's sake, deflected from correct action and prin- 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 543 
 
 ciple. And this indicates, wliat is most true, that these 
 deflections were extremely few. Mr. S. C. Phillips, Mr. 
 C. F. Adams, and J. G. Palfre}^ thought " the coalition," or 
 at least some of the movements attending it, indispensable ; 
 but it seems to me opinions might fairly differ on this point. 
 Defensible or not, it was inevitable. 
 
 In 1848 and 1849 the votes had shown that the Whigs 
 were in a minorit}'' in the State ; that the legislature could 
 be carried against them, and the offices thereafter divided. 
 The delegates to the county conventions saw this, and — 
 though not without difficulties, and with frequent going-out 
 and coming-in of conference committees — arranged the 
 details for electing a majority of the legislature. At this 
 time, it must be borne in mind that the Democrats had not 
 been in office in the State since Morton's day, and that 
 Morton was a liberal, and also that they were out of power 
 in national affairs. Boutwell, their candidate for governor, 
 was neither for nor against the abolitionists, but was a strict 
 part3'-man, as always, and held his party together very well. 
 Sumner was chosen senator ; and in this work Wilson took 
 a leading part ; Mr. S. C. Phillips, Mr. Adams, and J. G. 
 Palfre}', for various reasons, taking small part in it, though 
 not (as es-Gov. Morton did) breaking out in rebellion 
 during the contest. Wilson did not flinch from the coali- 
 tion, or from its consequences. He wrote a letter, which is 
 extant and in print, giving all the details as to the green- 
 room events, — who was to have all the councillors, and all 
 that sort of thing ; and, furthermore, it was easy at the State 
 House to make it appear that the two branches had, or could 
 persuade themselves that they had, certain views on legis- 
 lation in common, — such as, for example, Mr. Whitnej^'s 
 General Banking Law, the Secret Ballot Act, &c. Pierce 
 was chosen President in 1852 ; and it became then more diffi- 
 cult to keep the two parties together, although Pierce before 
 or after his election, or both, talked about antislavery. Mr. 
 Philander Ames, then of Charlestown, told me that he was 
 called in with other Democrats to see Pierce, who, before the 
 
544 "WARRIXGTOX :" 
 
 meeting broke up, laid his hand affect ionatel}- on Mr. Ames's 
 shoulder, and said, " If I am elected, Mr. Ames, the South 
 t\-ill find out that there is a North." 
 
 The Constitutional Convention of 1853 was harmonious as 
 between the two wings ; but its work, the amended Constitu- 
 tion, was defeated at the polls. On this question the detes- 
 table element of religious strife was lugged in, witliout an}' 
 better reasons than the Republican part}' has for lugging 
 it in (through Grant's speech at Des Moines, and in Ohio 
 for the defeat of Allen). The secret societies began to 
 spread. Wilson, a politician with nothing to do, and a 
 sincere desire to break and build, favored it ; Burlingame 
 helped him, with many of the 3'oung stump-orators ; Banks 
 was a little later ; Gardner was nominated without much 
 forethought, probabl}' ; and the result was a large Know- 
 Nothing majority in 1854 in the State, a disgusting legis- 
 lature, and, in 1855, an earl}' protest in the shape of 
 Rockwell's nomination. It Avill easily be seen how Wilson 
 got into this, and how he got out, and how glad he was to 
 get out. 
 
 Mr. Wilson's character and history and manners show 
 that he had as little sympathy with any religious opposition 
 to any class, or with opposition to any class on the ground 
 of birth or any other accident, as any man could have, — as 
 little as Andrew, who always seemed to me to be the ideal 
 democrat, and more than that ; for he seemed actually to 
 love the poor, the outcast, the black (especially), and all 
 men who, for whatever reason, were under society's ban. 
 Wilson had not this (possibly because it requires humor) ; 
 but he was in all respects a democrat. This led him, ever 
 after 1855, not only to renounce the Know-Nothings, but 
 every thing belonging to them. He opposed the ' ' Two-years' 
 Amendment," debating the question with Amasa Walker, 
 and going against the whole Boston press, or nearly all of it, 
 and (as it turned out) the popular vote. I dare say he was 
 stimulated to this by the protests of the Iowa Republicans 
 and others. At this time (1859) Carl Schurz made his first 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 545 
 
 visit here ; and there was a revival of Jeffersonian polities at 
 the Jefferson dinner, with Boutwell for presiding officer, to 
 which Abraham Lincoln wrote a famous letter, showing that 
 he, too, was a democrat in the primeval sense. ^ 
 
 Wilson had a respect for learning, a love of information, 
 a deference for the college degree, and the other evidence 
 (whether in sheepskin diploma, or in clerical or judicial 
 costume) of contact with the college gatewa3's ; but he could 
 be nothing but a democrat ; and his sneer at the snob, Amer- 
 ican or English, was something exquisite. Sumner's democ- 
 racy, more genuine in some respects than Wilson's, was 
 based on a love of justice and equalit}', and a determination 
 to have them, and, in this respect, was a more difficult ac- 
 quirement than Wilson's. Satisfy Sumner that justice and 
 equality were in one path, and all else political or legislative 
 in the other, aud he took the right side, and never seemed 
 to imagine there was any possibility of his taking the other. 
 He was apt to finish up one thing before he took the next. 
 But while Wilson (at some risk) was supporting the " Amer- 
 ican " party, Sumner was on the stump, denouncing it, and, 
 a j-ear or two before his death, had accepted the doctrine of 
 equality for woman in suffrage ; though, not being a man in 
 search of platforms, and averse to speech-making without 
 preparation, he felt no call to make proof of his belief by 
 stepping up and taking a seat, as so man}' do who never 
 intend to do aught but stand up once a year to" be counted. 
 
 Of Wilson's immense amount of labor in the great work 
 of his life, it is unnecessary to speak ; and whether it was a 
 little greater or a little less than that of other men seems 
 unimportant, and, at any rate, must be settled by every intel- 
 ligent antislaver}^ man for himself. 
 
 [Lowell American, Nov. 1, 1852.] 
 DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 The death of Mr. Webster made a gi'cat impression upon' 
 the countr3\ There were hundreds of thousands of better 
 
 1 See Appendix F. 
 
546 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 men in it, and manj- of our distinguished men have had 
 more attached and warmer friends ; but there was no man 
 who so attracted public admiration by his massive intellect 
 and commanding presence. We fear it must be said of him 
 what Carlyle says of Mirabeau, " Moralities not a few must 
 shriek condemnatory over this Mirabeau." Perhaps ''the 
 moralit}' by which he could be judged has not yet got uttered 
 in the speech of men." Yet men's admiration for his mas- 
 terly mind leads the whole countrj' to sorrow for his death 
 as the death of its greatest man. This is well. The last 
 three j-ears of Mr. "Webster's political life were filled with 
 events, which, unless the New-England conscience is wholly 
 corrupted by the lust of gain, must detract largely" from the 
 estimation in which he would otherwise be held. Criticism 
 will not be silenced, and histor}- will give him his true place. 
 But all men can afford to wait for the verdict. The great 
 statesman and the eloquent orator sleeps at Marshfield, near 
 the " sounding sea : " — 
 
 " Timon hath made his everlasting mansion 
 Upon the beached verge of the salt flood, 
 Which once a day with his embossed froth 
 The turbulent surge shall cover." 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 547 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 THE WOMAN QUESTIOK 
 
 [1851-1876.] 
 
 "The woman's hour is struck, or is striking. The woman-suffrage question 
 entirely supersedes in popular interest the old antislavery question. The negro 
 is no better than anybody else, at present: he has had his day. Enter woman." — 
 ■Wahrdigton. 
 
 woman's rights.^ 
 
 Everybody knows that women are shut, out from the col- 
 leges where the highest education is souglit ; and it makes 
 no difference whether they are debarred bj^ law or by custom, 
 so long as thej' are under the ban of exclusion. It is cer- 
 tainly a queer idea, that woman ought to be satisfied with 
 acquiring knowledge, without having an opportunity to put it 
 in practice, except in her own affairs. She can learn chem- 
 istry, and may be profoundl}' skilled in that art ; but her 
 knowledge must be used in household occupations, and not 
 made available in the arts and sciences, where man is 
 allowed to become eminent and acquire wealth. This very 
 fact, that woman cannot put her learning into practice, is 
 one of the grievances she has to complain of. 
 
 For our part, we suppose that the Almighty designed that 
 both man and woman should have the highest intellectual 
 and moral culture of which thej- are capable. Who set up 
 an}^ man as a judge of what is woman's sphere, or of what 
 the Almighty Maker designed her to be ? 
 
 1 Lowell American, in 1851. 
 
548 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 WOMAN-SUFFRAGE A RIGHT. 
 
 Mr. English of Hartford said that wives ought to talk 
 politics ; for, if they did not, their husbands would find 
 women who did. To talk politics at liomc was, not to make 
 home a scene of discord, but of interest and harmony. A 
 point well taken. I heard a woman say, that if tiie women 
 were not before long allowed, or in some wa}' induced, to 
 take an interest in public affairs, the}' would ruin their hus- 
 bands and the country b}- their fashionable extravagance, 
 thej' having nothing else to think of, and being obliged to 
 think of something (which is another point well taken) . On 
 the general ground, then, that the state will be the better 
 for the co-operation of woman, as the church, the l3-ceum, 
 the school, art, literature, religion, are better, this move- 
 ment is to be defended. "We have had enough of repl}' to 
 the Dr. Todds, and Dr. Hollands, and Rev. Fultons. The 
 Bible argument, if there is one, impresses nobody* now ; 
 for a large share of the people don't accept the Bible at all 
 as a guide in such matters, denying its authorit}', or its 
 inspiration, or its applicability to our own times, or, in some 
 other wa}', getting round it : and the whole batch of anti- 
 female-sutfrage fallacies has been knocked in the head so 
 man}- times, that even the D.D's, or most of them, are now 
 ashamed to reproduce them. St. Paul, it may be conceded, 
 was a great theologian and moralist, and Tenn3son a great 
 poet ; but it is of not much more use to quote either of them 
 against the rights of woman than the Pittsfield doctor of 
 divinity. To the argument for woman-sufl!\-age there is no 
 valiil reply by anybody. 
 
 What reason is there for believing that political meetings 
 would be any more detrimental to good morals, or a healthful 
 state of society, than an}' other gatherings — social, educa- 
 tional, religious — to which both sexes are invited? Why, 
 one would think, to hear some of the speeches and lectures 
 on this subject, that we shall be likely to have a repetition of 
 the Sabine-women affair, if a hundred or two hundred persons 
 
PE2T-P0RTRAITS. 549 
 
 of opposite sexes meet together to consult upon affairs of 
 state, cit}', or town. Instead of being the most orderl}' and 
 respectable, as well as altogether the most delightful, wa}' of 
 spending one's time, one would think that a social gathering 
 of men and women, if by any chance it is turned into a meet- 
 ing for a public purpose, would necessarily be a tumultuous 
 and obscene crowd, carefully to be watched by the police, 
 and possibly by the militar3\ Women are frequentl}^ asked 
 to vote at lectures : the}' choose presidents of lyceums b}' 
 hand- vote. Suppose the}' should vote by ballot : does au}'- 
 body suppose there would be a mob, with the fire-alarm, the 
 watchman's rattle, and the reading of the Riot Act? It is 
 really about time for these childish arguments against female 
 suffrage to be dismissed. If we don't choose to grant it, 
 very well ; but let us fall back on our reserved right not to 
 give any reason, and simply say, " You shall not, and 
 there's an end of it." 
 
 Shall not women decide the question? Yes, just as they 
 decide other questions. They shall decide the question as 
 to whether the}' will go to college, or to the counting-room, 
 or the farm, or anywhere else. Do we propose to ask the 
 majority of women in Danvers, for instance, whether Sally 
 Ann shall go to Vassar College or not? or take the vote 
 of the neighborhood as to whether Emily Jane shall go to 
 Milan to get a musical education? I guess not. These 
 things are to be left to the individual woman, not to the 
 mass. And so of voting. If the majority of women do not 
 desire to vote under the amended Constitution, let them stay 
 at home. There are elections, plenty of them, in which half 
 the men do not vote. Do the stay-at-homes feel aggricA'cd ? 
 They are ashamed of themselves, doubtless ; but they do not 
 complain, nor do they think it a hardship. Some one says 
 that woman's right to vote depends on her nature. If it is 
 her nature to vote, it is her right to vote. Well, I don't 
 know how we can determine this question, except by lea\ ing 
 the opportunity of choice. How is it to be fairly ascertained 
 whether it is a woman's nature to vote, if she is told, the 
 
550 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 moment she is old enough to speak the word "governor" 
 or the word "politics," that it is of no consequence to her 
 ■who the "governor" is, and that she can never have an^' 
 thing to do with "politics"? The voting nature never de- 
 veloped itself in the black people until within a jear or two ; 
 nor in the white men, ver^- largely", until the Revolution : it is 
 just developing itself in England, and has not yet begun to 
 develop itself in Austria. Nature is, in fact, as far as this 
 is concerned, a matter of education; and it is begging the 
 question to say women ought to be educated up to the desire 
 to vote. The way to educate them in public affairs is to set 
 them to voting as fast as they desire to vote ; for the woman- 
 intellect is as capable of talking and understanding politics 
 as the man-intellect. Education before the ballot is, in its 
 relation to government, putting the cart before the horse. 
 The ballot is education in government. 
 
 It is not at all necessary- for the friends of woman-suffrage 
 to take the ground that suffrage is a right. All the}' need 
 claim is, that, if it is a right, women have an equal right to 
 it ; or that, if it is a privilege, women have an equal privi- 
 lege. If it depends on religion, religious women must have 
 it ; if on education, educated women must have it ; if on 
 property, women of property must have it ; if on muscle, 
 muscular women must have it ; if on the family relation, the 
 female twin-head of the family must have it ; and bachelors, 
 and men without f:\milies, must give wa}' to the claims of 
 wives and mothers. If birthright, if American democratic 
 ideas, confer the right, or if capacity alone confers it, — 
 either way, the claim of W'Oman is irrefragable ; and all 
 there is left is the debate among the voters as to whether 
 the}' will, or how soon the}' will, yield that mere exercise of 
 forceful authority which is the only tenure of their superi- 
 ority in politics and government. 
 
 Loose-jointed arguers and foolish alarmists, who are 
 frighted at the idea that the twent}- thousand prostitutes 
 of New-York City are going to the ward-meetings en masse 
 to adil ih'Av numerical strength to that of the dangerous 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. , 551 
 
 classes who now rule there, may dismiss their fears as to any 
 evil likely to come from this reform either to religion or 
 politics. 
 
 I believe I am as firm as an}- man on the right side of this 
 question ; but, when the consummation is reached, I expect 
 to see, for a time at least, so many absurd things done by 
 the new voters, that the faith of all, except the securely- 
 grounded ones (to which class I belong), will be Avidely 
 shaken. In those days, Todd and Fulton and Bushncll, and 
 Carlos White, and the rest, will be round, bus}- as bees, with 
 their " I told j'ou so ! " and their " Don't you see what fools 
 those women out in Pumpkintown have made of themselves ? ' ' 
 and their " What do you think now? " and their " See what 
 3"ou come to when yon abandon the Bible, and disregard the 
 apostle Paul!" and (still worse) their "We must go back 
 to the good old times." We, who have summered and win- 
 tered this question from the abolitionist's point of view for 
 twent}' or thirty years, shall be able to answer such superficial 
 cries ; but I am afraid some of the sentimental converts will 
 be sadly shaken up b}' the re-action which maj- follow. 
 
 The men are making more or less progress in the true the- 
 or}' of government. We are getting toward free play., and 
 shall b}' and b}' be satisfied that the least quantity' of govern- 
 ment consistent with public safet}- and order and individual 
 freedom is best. But the new voters will have to tr^- their 
 hand, and see the foil}' of a thousand things which we now 
 see the folly of. We shall have organization where none is 
 needed, ten times as many committees as can be made use- 
 ful, enough vice-presidents and secretaries and trustees to 
 take up all, and more than all, the available material for such 
 purposes, ten thousand reports from ten thousand depart- 
 ments, and more points of order than were ever ch-eamed of 
 by the most hacknejed parliamentarian. 
 
 It is thought to be an overwhelmiug argument that women 
 ought not to vote, because it would be awkward to have a 
 wife in labor called away from her home to take a seat upon 
 the bench of the Supreme Court. This is the favorite point 
 
552 "WARRINGTON:" 
 
 in conversation on tlie subject. Can a woman in labor dig 
 potatoes? Can a woman in labor drive a horse to plough? 
 Of course not. I am going to write a treatise on this very 
 point, and shall annihilate Abb}- May, and all the visionaries 
 who talk about horticultural pursuits. I shall ask most 
 respectfully what warrant there is in the Scripture for set- 
 ting women to work raising asparagus. I shall follow the 
 Rev. James Reed, and, taking a text from Deuteronomy, 
 show that, because the Jews had a police regulation against 
 women wearing men's garments, therefore women should not 
 kill cauker-worms ; and then I shall triumphantly ask if 
 men have not raised the best potatoes and turnips hitherto, 
 and if this is not evidence that the}' are all-sufficient for this 
 purpose hereafter. Even tlie potatoes themselves have eyes 
 enough to see this. Incidentally, I shall overthrow all the 
 other claims that are made in favor of more diversified occu- 
 pations for women ; for they can all be annihilated by the 
 same reasoning which is so effective on the suffrage-question. 
 It is possible that we shall let the normal-school girls and 
 others continue to teach ; • that innovation seems to have 
 gone too far to be checked : and I am inclined to think that 
 the female teachers are rather more disposed to flog than the 
 males ; and, if this is so, the}' are fulfilling the Old-Testa- 
 ment idea, and an exception may be made in their case. 
 But, if we cannot resist the beginnings, we can at least put 
 a stop to further progress. The wonian-in-hibor argument, 
 which is, of course, the best one, will not apply in all cases ; 
 but we shall have the Bible and cartoon, and (what is better 
 than all the rest) the argument of "I won't!" and "You 
 sha'n't ! " and " I don't want my sister or daughter to go to 
 
 1 We talk about female school-teachers as if they were a modern 
 invention. Men at the ago of lifty and ^xty, at least, can remember 
 their old "school-ma'ams; " and, in some genealogical researches, I 
 found a reminiscence of a woman who kept a '' pastry-school " in Dos- 
 ton a hundred years ago, and wrote poetry for the newspapers about 
 the destruction of the tea in the harbor. The local histories are full of 
 evidence that there were no legal barriers against the employment of 
 women then. 
 
PEN-POBTRAITS. 553 
 
 a caucus ; " and these will last a good while. I have hopes, 
 that, if we all take hold with our mops, the Atlantic Ocean 
 may be kept back three or four years longer, to say the 
 least. 
 
 Here is a question of right, necessaril}" a question of con- 
 stitution and statute, w^hich must be settled, in the tirst 
 instance, by voting, and which, like the antislavery cause, 
 is a fairer matter for political action than any one of the ten 
 thousand questions of philanthrop}' — such as the licensing 
 of dram-shops, capital punishment, flogging of children in 
 schools, Sunda}' libraries, prison-discipline, divorce, labor, 
 and so on — which it is substantially impossible to make a 
 political party out of, or one which will last a great while. 
 Those who are opposed to the continued subjection of woman 
 would be justified in rallying as a party, because to deny one- 
 half the human race the exercise of an inalienable right is 
 a wrong justifying extreme measures. If the time is ripe 
 for a movement, not complicated with others, let it come. 
 The opposition to woman-suffrage is based on a prejudice 
 which is just as artificial^ and as little natural^ as the preju- 
 dice against negro-voting, w'hich ten 3'ears ago, even in such 
 States as Connecticut and New York, Avould have been 
 sworn to by the average voter as an ordinance of Divine 
 Providence, which must forever keep the two colors apart at 
 the polls. Do awa}' with the restriction, by main strength or 
 by " accident," of a judicial decision, and nobody will think 
 of it again, except as a reminiscence of superstition and injus- 
 tice. The argument which overbears the demand for woman- 
 suiTrage is, that woman is unfit for it. The apparent reason 
 for this is a total lack of experience and responsibilit3% Men 
 have kept women from government ever since the world 
 began, and now insist that the hands the}' haA^e cut off shall 
 work, the eyes the}- have put out shall see, the ears the}' have 
 stopped up shall hear. This is unreasonable ; but there is 
 so much the more reason why women should not rush into 
 amateur government, which will onl}' increase the volume of 
 the cry against their incapacit}'. The whole matter must be 
 
554 • ' WARRING TON : ' ' 
 
 argued years and j-ears longer in all its branches, before any 
 voting can be done : and the question has got to be settled 
 by the votes of the men, in the last resort ; and the appeal 
 must be made to them to grant, as well as to the women to 
 ask for, the right of suiTrage. 
 
 A good deal of time is wasted in the utterly irrelevant 
 discussion, whether suffrage is a natural right or not. "Who 
 cares whether it is or not? Suffrage is a modern invention ; 
 hardly, in its present scope, more than a hundred years old, 
 and not much more than twice as old as the right to ride in 
 railroad-cars. If voting is not a natural right, it is because 
 voting was never heard of in a state of nature. All that is 
 necessary to show is, that the right, whether natural or con- 
 ventional, or by whatever name it is called, is equal in 
 woman and man. The proper waj- to put it is, that the 
 woman has a natural right to equal it}- in the use of the 
 means and weapons of government, under whatever govern- 
 ment, and whatever processes are employed. A good deal 
 of time is also wasted in replying to the absurd pretext, that 
 men alone must vote, because men alone can defend the gov- 
 ernment in time of war. Where did this notion come from? 
 I don't believe it is possible to lind, in an}- constitution, law, 
 treatise on government, or an}' thing else, a paragraph from 
 any respectable source which connects the right of suffrage 
 with the cluty of bearing arms : if there is an}', I ha\ e never 
 seen it. In point of fact, during the late war, our soldiers 
 in camp, the men who bore the brunt of the war, were not 
 alloioed to vote, while the stay-at-homes were ; and the 
 people refused to alter the Constitution so that their votes 
 could be taken as the votes of soldiers of other States were 
 talvcn. 
 
 CAN WOMEN HOLD JUDICIAL OFFICES ? — JUDGE WHEEL- 
 GREASE'S OPINION IN 1871. 
 
 The opinion of the Supreme Court on the woman-question 
 has put a broad grin on everybody's face. Sonic of the 
 lawyers thought it a well-contrived ho:\x ; but there seems 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 555 
 
 to be no doubt of its genuineness : indeed, the decision is 
 quite in the line with most of the decisions of the present 
 court. You know it is quite a modern court, Judge Chap- 
 man's commission only dating as far bacli as 1860. Judge 
 Gray came in in 1864 ; Judge Wells, in 1866 ; Judge Colt, 
 in 1868; Judge Ames and Judge Morton, in 1869. Judges 
 Shaw, Bigelow, Hoar, Foster, Merrick, Metcalf, Dewey, 
 Thomas, have all left, in one way or another, witliin the last 
 dozen 3-ears ; and 3'ou see what a mess they have made of it. 
 However, there is no danger that the thing will ever be worse 
 than it is now. Of course, nobody will employ any of these 
 men as lawyers after this ; and, even if Judge Colt should 
 go back to railroad practice, there would be a rush of legal 
 noodles to the governor's room for his place, encouraged b}' 
 the late decision. If the governor should say to the appli- 
 cant, " Sir, give me some evidence of ^-our legal capacity," 
 the answer would be obvious: "Your Excellenc}', that 
 qualification was done away with when the court gave its 
 opinion on the question of female justices, and when 30U 
 followed it." I have been examining this decision in a his- 
 torical point of view, to ascertain, if possible, whether or 
 not there is an}^ similar case on record. I cannot find any 
 case exactl}' like it ; but there was a transaction in the town 
 of Pigsgusset, Bristol County, some time within the last 
 quarter of a centur}^ which seems to have some resemblance 
 to it. There was an article in the warrant relative to the fill- 
 ing of a vacanc}^ upon the school con^mittee. Rev. Arthur 
 Jenkins having been suddenl}' called away to a better world. 
 Somebod}' proposed the name of his widow, Jerusha (Bum- 
 stead) Jenkins, who, it was well knoAvn, had written all his 
 school-reports, and most of his sermons, for j'ears. This was 
 thouglit to be a joke at first ; but the people of Pigsgusset be- 
 gan to inquire, " Wh}' not? " and the thing seemed likelj' to 
 go, when old Dr. Gad Smith rose, and, to gain time, moved 
 that the subject be laid upon the table. Hcnr}' Sawin, a 
 bright young fellow just out of college, raised the " point of 
 order," that the town had no table; and Squire Hatliawa}-, 
 
656 ''WARJilNGTOX :" 
 
 the moderator, said the point was "well taken;" and Oli- 
 ver Greenloaf, the constable, was directed to procure one ; 
 but, finding some difficulty, the meeting was adjourned till 
 the next Monday. Of course, the town was in a hubbub. 
 Conservative and radical had it, " hip and thigh," all over 
 the village, from Tuesda}* morning to the da}' of the meet- 
 ing. The grocer3--storcs were crowded with disputants from 
 morning till night. " I tell you, you can't do it ! " — '' Wh^' 
 can't you?" — "Because j-ou can't!" This was the bur- 
 den of the discussion, as it always is between the two 
 classes of opinions, ending with the inevitable conclusion, 
 "Well, I don't see why;" or, "We'll see if we can't." 
 Town-meeting came, Ilathawa}^ still in the chair ; and the 
 struggle was close. Finally, just as they were going to put 
 it to vote, up jumped Adonijah Bourne, and moved that the 
 subject be referred to old Judge Whcelgrease for his opinion. 
 Wheelgrease had been judge of the Court of Sessions, and 
 justice of the peace, referee, and all sorts of things ; and 
 though never ver}^ bright, and then pretty much in his 
 dotage, was still reputed to be "learned in the law." The 
 motion took with all the conservatives, who know what the 
 old judge would say, and with the laz}- and timid ones, who 
 wanted to escape responsibilit}'. Even the man who first 
 proposed the name of the Widow Jenkins fell in with it, and 
 said, " Well, perhaps we'd better, if there's an}- doubt 
 about it." So the meeting was adjourned for another week. 
 Then there was another crowd. It had leaked out that old 
 Wheelgrease had been round, asking all the justices of the 
 peace in the county, whom he could find, what their opinion 
 was, and all the school-committee-men besides ; and, on 
 the opening of the meeting, the following document was 
 read : — 
 
 PiGSOCSSF.T, Miircll — , IS — . 
 
 Gentlemkx, — In reply to a vote of the town, conveyed to me in 
 a note from Jefferson Phelps, town-clerk, I have the honor to say, 
 By the laws of this Commonwealth, the office of school committee is 
 an executive office, and must be exercised by the officer in person ; and 
 a woman — whether married or unmarried, whether spinster, wife, or 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 557 
 
 widow — cannot be appointed to such an office. I have inquired of 
 the oldest inhabitants of Pigsgusset and of all the neighboring towns, 
 and have diligently searched the town-records, and, as far as possible, 
 all the old Indian and colonial titles, and find no account of a woman 
 being chosen to such an office. There is, in the record for 1808, a 
 statement that Polly Spurr was elected in the spring of that year ; 
 but upon inquiry of Eldad Spurr, now living at an advanced age, I 
 find that Polly Spurr was not a woman, but a man, being named for 
 his iincle, Pelatiah Polly, then of Scarborough. The whole frame 
 and purport of the law, and the universal understanding and un- 
 broken practical construction, for the greater part of a century, all 
 support this conclusion, and are inconsistent with any other. It fol- 
 lows, that, if the Widow Jenkins should be elected, she would have 
 no legal authority to exercise the functions appertaining to the 
 office. 
 
 I append a certificate, signed by several gentlemen learned in the 
 law whom I have consulted on this point. 
 
 Sheaujasiiub Wiieelgrease, LL.D., 
 
 Late Judr/e of the Court of Sessions. 
 
 The undei'sigued agree with the conclusions arrived at by Judge 
 Wheelgrease : — 
 
 Samuel Purinto:?^, LL.D., 
 Eliakim Parsons, A.M., 
 B. Brown Butterfield, M.D., 
 Thaddeus Slocum, 
 Justices of the Peace for all the Counties. 
 Ei.KANAH Moody, A.M., D.D., 
 Preacher of Election Sermon (1803). 
 
 Note. — Dr. Butterfield adds in a private letter, that the thing is settled by 
 philological considerations ; for a member of the school committee has always, to 
 the best of his knowledge and belief, been spoken of as a " school-committee- 
 man." This unbroken construction seems to me to be worth considering, though 
 I do not regard it as conclusive. — S. W. 
 
 There was a good deal of tumult when this letter was read ; 
 but it was supposed that it would be conclusive, and the 
 conservatives be ready for a vote. When the ballots were 
 produced, however, it was found that old Wheelgrease, Sara 
 Puritan, Parsons, Thad. Slocum, Dr. Butterfried, and Dr. 
 Mood)', were all candidates for the place, I transcribe from 
 the records the following: " Whole number of votes, 231 ; 
 necessary for a choice, 116. Jerusha Jenkins, Gl ; B. Brown 
 Butterfried, 39 ; Samuel Puritan, 36 ; Eliakim Parsons, 33 ; 
 
558 " WARRINGTON: " 
 
 Thaddeus Slocum, 29 ; Elkanah Mood}', 24 ; scattering, 2 ; 
 blank (counted for Dr. Butterfried) , 1." There seems to be 
 a discrepancy here between the " whole number," as stated, 
 and the aggregate vote ; but I suppose such errors frequently 
 happen in town-records. On the second ballot, Mrs. Jen- 
 kins had 121 ; and the opposition concentrated on Judge 
 "Whcelgrcasc, giving him nearly all the rest. On looking 
 at the record for the next 3'ear, I find that she w-as re- 
 elected by nearly a unanimous vote ; and somebody' has 
 written in red ink on the margin, " Quer}' : What's become 
 of Old Wheelgrease's opinion? " ^ 
 
 1 Attorney Wheelgrease's first appearance was in 1857. Mr. Justice 
 Hitchcock was a police justice, busily engaged in the trial of liquor- 
 cases, which the "friends of the cause " were "putting througli" with 
 great vigor. Suddenly, however, the trials were brought to a standstill 
 in this way, as the justice relates: — 
 
 " The ' friends of temperance,' last week, pounced upon thirteen Irishmen 
 suspected of being engaged in selling liquor; and on Friday they were duly hauled 
 up before me. I noticed a rather broad grin upon Lawyer Toddystick'.s face as the 
 witnesses were testifying. The case was perfectly plain ; and I was about to pass 
 sentence, when Toddystick rose, and inquired under what law I proposed to pun- 
 ish the men. ' Under the Liquor Law of U'52,* said I, ' of course. You are familiar 
 enough with the course of justice in this court, and ought not to ask such foolish 
 questions.' (I spoke with some severity.) ' May it please your Honor,' said Toddy- 
 stick, in a tone, which, I confess, softened mo somewhat, ' that law is repealed.' — 
 ' You are nustaken,' said Mr. Wheelgrease, the attorney for the Commonwealth, 
 with an air of triumph: 'the new liquor law has not yet passed; and, if it bad, I 
 rather think we could convict these men under it.* — ' I am aware, sir,' said Toddy- 
 stick, ' Uiat the new law has not passed : but, notwith-standing that fact, the law of 
 1^02 is repealed ; and if your Honor will have the goodness to examine the oUlcial 
 copy of the Act, entitled " An Act to make Pews Personal Property," you will 
 find it so. I will read it,' continued he, ' as I find it in the Daily Bee (of April 11), 
 which is the otllcial paper of the State.'— ' 1 have a copy,' said I, ' furnished to me 
 by the Secretary of State; but you are certainly mistaken in yoiu- assertion.' — ' If 
 your Honor will idlow me,' said lie, ' I will read the Act.' Wliereupon Toddystick 
 read as follows: ' Be it enacted, &c. (Sect. 1) Pews in all houses of public wor- 
 ship shall bo personal property. (Sect. 2) Nothing in this Act shall alTect any 
 e.xisting right of dower in any pew. (Sect. 3) All Acts consistent lierewith are 
 hereby rei)ealed.' — ' Now,' said Toddystick with most provoking coolness, ' if your 
 Honor will examine the Liquor Law of 1S52 wiUi care, you will lind that it is entirely 
 consistent with the making of pews personal property. There is not a section of 
 It, or a syllable, which, by the remotest Implication, can be deemed inconsistent 
 ■with thi.s new Act: therefore the law of 1852 is repealed, and my clients nmst be 
 discharged.' Y'ou will readily see what a predicament I w.ts in. AAHieelgrease 
 began to talk about typographical errors, and attempted to browbeat me, as well 
 as Toddystick ; but 1 promptly told him, ' This coiut, Miater Wheelgrease, can 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 559 
 
 [1872.] 
 
 HARVARD COLLEGE AGAINST WOMAN AND THE CO-EDUCATION 
 OF THE SEXES. 
 
 The Harvard-college report is a fair specimen of the stuff 
 able and (in most things) sensible men will write when 
 hard pressed. It is about on a par with the decision of the 
 Supreme Court. " It would require much time and labor to 
 arrive at an unprejudiced understanding of the practical 
 operation of the co-education of the sexes in the colleges 
 where it now exists." Suppose it would ? What are the over- 
 seers of a college for, but to take time, and undergo labor, 
 for the solution of all educational questions? If Judge 
 Hoar and Mr. Parker are too busj', and Dr. Walker too old, 
 to do the work, let them find men who will attend to it. 
 Would these three men venture to put in such an excuse for 
 neglecting to treat any other question of importance con- 
 nected with the management of the college ? Of course not. 
 Moreover, these men say they think, "if the information 
 asked for was obtained, it would not throw much light on the 
 expediency of adopting the principle at Harvard, where the 
 traditions and circumstances are so different." . Traditions 
 — "a}', there's the rub." This whole question of woman's 
 opportunit}' is one of tradition. But Harvard College even 
 has overcome traditions. What was Mr. Eliot put into the 
 presidenc}' for but to scatter traditions ? The object of the 
 gentlemen ought to be to get rid of absurd traditions. In 
 1875 the traditions will be three years older than they are 
 now, and in 1880 still older. They have got to go sooner 
 or later. If these tradrtionists are mean enough to deny a 
 Harvard-college education to their own daughters, or the 
 daughters of their contemporaries, the grand-daughters will 
 have it, and bless the memories of somebody. Then they 
 
 take no cognizance of typograpliical eirors. All it has to do is to execute the laws, 
 not to enact them.' — ' Precisely so, your Honor,' said Toddystick ; ' though, if your 
 Honor w;is more frequently constilted by the law-making power, we should unques- 
 tionably have more consistent statutes.' At this, Wheelgrease made some impu- 
 dent remark; and I committed him for contempt, and discharged the prisoners." 
 
560 "WARRINGTON: " 
 
 try to strengthen themselves by the old fugyism of " nearly 
 all the old and large colleges," and close by saying that 
 what has brought them to a conclusion is the conviction that 
 "the great body of the friends of Harvard College are dis- 
 inclined not only to the proposed change, but also to the 
 agitation of the question, at least at present." The first 
 part of the remark seems pertinent ; but what has the last 
 to do with the question? Congress used to be disiuclined to 
 meddle with slavery. It was also disinclined to the agita- 
 tion of the slavery-question. It refused to meddle with it ; 
 but luckil}- the " agitation" was a matter over which it had 
 no control. No more have the overseers of Harvard College 
 any control over the " agitation" of the question of admit- 
 ting women to the universit}-. If the legislature had not 
 foolishly let slip its hold upon the overscership of the college, 
 the tradition would have been in a fair way of yielding before 
 this time. 
 
 I am reminded here of the attempt lately made by Dr. E. II. 
 Clark, Pres. Eliot, and Dr. Holmes, to excuse the hunkerism 
 of Harvard College, by falling back, as their last intrench- 
 ment, upon ph3-siolog3', and the periodicit}' of the female 
 oi'ganizatioh. These people argue as if the proposition to 
 educate boys and girls together were a new one. In the 
 town of Concord, — and I don't suppose that town was, forty 
 years ago, different from other towns in this respect, — bo3-s 
 and girls studied Latin, and parsed Pope's " Essay on Man," 
 together ; and if Dr. Bartlett, or Dr. Ilurd, or Dr. Ripley, 
 had attempted to separate the sexes on an}- such pretence as 
 these Harvard -college Bourbons now promulgate, they would 
 have been laughed out of town. The whole theory is evi- 
 dently a "fetch," designed for the purpose of sustaining 
 the determination to which Dr. Walker and Judge Hoar 
 have arrived in their recent report. No : in a great many 
 respects, public opinion has not advanced one iota on this 
 question, — apparently advanced, I ought to say. I do not 
 doubt that it has really advanced, and that the bairiers will 
 b}' and by gi^•e way all at once. 
 
PEN-PORTRAITS. 561 
 
 [June 9, 1875.] 
 woman's independence in 1776 AND IN 1876. 
 
 The suflfrage-meeting at Trcmont Temple started up a 
 new subject of debate, in the protest against keeping the 
 Philadelphia or any other centennial celebration of the 
 events of Jul}-, 1776. And supposing it to be admitted 
 that the question of individual suffrage of 1876, and that of 
 national independence of 1776, are very different ones ; that 
 it is not true, in every individual case, that a man or a 
 woman who pays a tax, and is not allowed a vote, is neces- 
 sarily and thereby a victim of tyranu}^ : still there seems 
 enough in the two cases to justify pretty forcible language. 
 A hundred 5-ears ought to have brought with them to the 
 American mind a stronger sense of the gross injustice of 
 den^'ing the individual suffrage to woman, whether a tax- 
 payer on her property or not. What would Sam Adams 
 have said if Gen. Gage or Thomas Hutchinson had accosted 
 him with the remark, "Hold your tongue, Adams! 3'ou are 
 the head demagogue of Boston town-meetin' ; you control 
 the colony, get up committees of correspondence, throw over- 
 board from our ships such imports as 3'ou don't like, and 
 such as j-ou persuade the populace not to like ; 3'ou have 
 bedevilled Jo Warren to neglect his business, and take to 
 drink, and even got John Hancock to shell out his money in 
 aid of what you have agreed to call 3-our ' cause : ' and as 
 ^or voting, you are all the time voting ; so that we get one 
 of your infernal petitions or resolutions from Faneuil Hall or 
 the Old South every day of the week : haven't j'ou all the 
 rights you want? " Wouldn't this have been plausible? But 
 Adams was not deceived or turned aside. Representation 
 elsewhere than in the Old State House was what he wanted. 
 If the able and intelligent and (as far as nearly all the mat- 
 ters of law and government are concerned) just American 
 statesmen — like Judge Hoar or Gen. Hawley, for exam- 
 ple — could be made to see this question as thousands of 
 women see it, no matter whether tlie}' are tax-paj-ers or not, 
 
5G2 ''WARRINGTON :" 
 
 they would settle it very speedily. The fact is, they are the 
 sentimentalists ; and the}- insist that their sent! mental isiu 
 shall control not onl}- all other folks' sentimentalism, but the 
 question of right also. 
 
 There was never any pretence among the men who framed 
 the constitutions of 1780 and thereabout that the exclusion 
 of women from the right of suffrage was to be perpetual and 
 immovable. The great TheophilCis Parsons, in " The Essex 
 Kesult," written within a 3-ear or two of 1780, made no pre- 
 tence of natural inability or incapabilit}-, but onl}- that, at 
 that time, worpen's occupations were such that they were not 
 in public life, or in positions of public activit}', so as to make 
 the question one of practical consequence. Now woman 
 has been forced (quite as much as she has sought to force 
 herself) into active positions. Look at the census tables, and 
 3'ou will find that she is in hundreds of trades, and is even 
 knocking at the doors and looking in at the windows of the 
 lawyers' offices ; preaching even, in spite of Paul, and with- 
 out half as much expense (for pulpit spittoons) as there 
 used to be ; editing, nay, lobbying, — appearing before legis- 
 lative committees to suggest how to get women into the 
 State Prison, and at the same time protesting that she is 
 not in favor of letting them out of their political bonds. So 
 Judge Parsons's reasons are gone, as in 1820 the reasons for 
 property qualification for men went, and in 1833 religious 
 liberty was established by the abolition of the Third Article 
 of the Bill of Rights. 
 
 They say the cause makes no progress. Nonsense ! it 
 cannot help progress ; for it is a movement of civilization 
 itself. And it is no wonder that women say, " My dear sir, 
 3'Ou have exercised j-our pig-headeduess long enough : we 
 have answered jour reasons times enough; and now we 
 insist on immediate justice. You shall not, Avith any aid or 
 sympathy from us, go on with your eloquential talk, con- 
 demning us to the poor privilege of listening to you and 
 feeding you, without at least a protest. No fear but you 
 will (Ind enough women to aid you. They are easily 
 coaxed." 
 
PEN-POUTBAITS. 563 
 
 " Good my love, stay thou at home, 
 And read ' The Heh- of Clnidleighbumpkins,' — 
 TroUope's last novel: I will send it thee. 
 ' The club,' sayst thou? — the club at Tremont Place? 
 I like it not: 'tis growing radical. But, if you go. 
 Persuade them there are better things than balloting." 
 
 The number of women who believe themselves capable of 
 taking a more prominent part in the affairs of life — not 
 onl}^ governmental, but business, literary, religious, social — 
 is constantl}' increasing, and without much regard to the 
 suffrage-movement itself. Those who think this last move- 
 ment stationary, or losing ground, fail, I think, to see this 
 fact. There are " oceans " of women who have had no time 
 to think of the question of voting, and no ability to argue 
 it, and perhaps no disposition to vote, who are yet making 
 up their minds that their past condition of " subjection " (as 
 Mr. Mill vv'ith perfect truth calls it) is imjust as well as irk- 
 some, and who desire and are determined to be rid of it. 
 These women form the grand ami}- who really re-enfoice the 
 doctrinaires^ perhaps without knowing it. When the breach 
 is made, these will rush in fast enough. More and more of 
 them are appreciating the situation every day. 
 
APPEI^DIX. 
 
 APPENDIX A. 
 
 WILL OF CAPT. JAMES PECKER OF BOSTON, WHARFINGER, BORN 
 IN HAVERHILL (pROCABLY) IN 1686; DIED APRIL 2S, 1734. 
 
 In the name of God, Amen. 
 
 I, James Pecker of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and province 
 of Massachusetts Bay in New England, wharfinger, being at present 
 weak in body, yet of sound mind and memory (thanks be to God 
 therefor), considering the frailty and mortality of my body, and 
 that it is appointed for all men once to die, do make and ordain 
 this my last will and testament. . . . Touching any worldly estate 
 wherewith it hath pleased God to bless me in this world, I give 
 and dispose thereof in manner and form following ; viz. , after pay- 
 ment of my just debts and funeral charges, and the reservation 
 of a certain piece or parcell of land hereafter to be mentioned, I 
 give and bequeath unto my dearly beloved wife, Bridget Pecker, 
 one equal half of all my real estate during her natural life, and at 
 her decease to be disposed of as hereafter to be mentioned. Like- 
 wise I give unto my said wife, her heirs and assigns, my chaise, 
 and one horse. Also I give unto my said wife, her heirs and 
 assigns, one-half of my pew in the meeting-house, she or they 
 paying one-half of the dues arising therefrom unto the minister. 
 Furthermore, I give unto my said wife one equal third part of all 
 my movable and personal estate not yet disposed of (with reserva- 
 tions of some things hereafter to be mentioned), unto her, her 
 heirs and assigns forever. I give imto my daughter, Susannah 
 Clark, with reservations as aforesaid, the improvement of one 
 equal fourth part of my real estate during her natural life. . . . 
 Whereas I have purchased of my honored father, James Pecker of 
 
 565 
 
566 APPEXDIX. 
 
 Haverhill, a certain part or i^arccll of land lying and being in 
 Haverhill aforesaid, as by the deed fully executed to me may more 
 fully appear, I give and bequeath unto my daughter, Mary Pecker, 
 the said piece or parcell of land at and immediately after the 
 decease of my father, James Pecker (according to the tenure of 
 said deed), \Yitl^all the rights, privileges, and appurtenances there- 
 unto belonging unto her, her heirs and assigns forever. Further- 
 more, I give unto my said daughter, Maiy Pecker, ^ the remaining 
 equal fourth part of all my real estate, of what nature, kind, or 
 denomination, forever unto her, h(?r heirs and assigns forever. 
 I give unto my son-in-law, Ebenezer Papillion, his heirs and as- 
 signs, my regimental clothes, — viz., my scarlet coat and breeches, 
 and my laced hatt; and, if at home at the time of my decease, 
 I give unto the said Ebenezer Papillion a mourning suit of 
 apparel. . . . 
 
 I do hereby constitute, appoint, and ordain my dearly beloved 
 wife, Bridget Pecker, together with my two brothers, Jolin Pecker 
 of Haverhill, and Daniel Pecker of Boston, joint executors of this 
 my last will and testament ; and I do likewise hereby revoke, 
 annul, and utterly disallow of, all other wills and testaments. In 
 witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty- 
 second day of April, in the year of our Lord seventeen hundred and 
 thirty-four, anno regni Georgius Secundus, magna Britannia regis 
 septimo. JAMES PECKER AJio skal. 
 
 IN'VENTOIIY OF THE ESTATE OF CAPT. JAMES PECKER. 
 
 BosTOx, May 10, 1734. 
 In the small fore room ; viz. : — £ s d 
 
 1 Black walnut Scrutore 5 
 
 1 Black walnut Table 3 
 
 1 :\Iaple ditto 15 
 
 1 Looking glass ........ 
 
 1 Doz. Leather chairs, at 14/ 8 8 
 
 1 2 armed chair & cushing 10 
 
 1 Standing candlestick, brass, snuffers & dish . . 2 5 
 
 1 pr. Iron dogs, tongs & shovel . . . . . 17 
 
 3 Small pictures & hand brush C 
 
 Burkct on the New Testament ..... 3 
 
 Calvin's Sermons 10 
 
 1 W. S. ]Robiiisou'9 gieat-graudraother, wlio married Emerson Cogs- 
 well Ist. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 567 
 
 1 Large Bible . 
 1 Small ditto 
 1 Barnards Sermons 
 1 Mathers life . 
 1 Bundle of books 
 1 Ditto 
 1 Do. 
 
 1 China Bowl . 
 1 Burnt Ditto . 
 % Doz. blue & white china cups & saucers 
 1 Tea pott, 5 saucers, 4 cups of burnt do. 
 1 Slop dish and 1 saucer . 
 
 3 painted glass tea cups and saucers, 1 saucer 
 1 Eartliern dish .4, 2 ditto .5 . 
 
 4 scalloped plates, 2/6 
 28 plates, 1/6 . 
 
 5 small ditto .... 
 
 1 large bowl, & three small ditto 
 
 2 Milk pots and Sugar cup, & 3 tea cupps 
 1 Pr. Glass decanters 
 1 " Ditto 
 Allabaster toys . 
 
 3 Wine glasses . 
 1 Pr. large beakers . 
 
 13 Ditto . 
 1 Glass cannister, 1 pr. Salts, & 1 Cruet 
 1 two gallon jugg 
 
 1 Bleu & white ditto . 
 
 4 flowered stone juggs 
 4 stone muggs, 1 pickle pott 
 
 2 New England pitchers, 1 cupp 
 1 large ironing box & heater 
 1 Small ditto & ditto . 
 
 In the great Entry; vi. 
 
 7 Small pictures 
 1 Glass lanthorne 
 
 In the greate fore room; vi 
 
 1 looking glass 
 1 Maple table 
 
 £. a. 
 
 a. 
 
 2 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 1 5 
 
 
 1 5 
 
 
 1 2 
 
 
 1 5 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 2 2 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 13 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 13 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 7 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 
 4 16 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 1 5 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 1 10 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 2 
 
 
568 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1 Conch & padd 
 
 1 tea table & tankard sewer .... 
 
 2 pictures 
 
 Earthenware on hearth 
 
 Bow and Arrows ...... 
 
 Mantle tree ware, & 8 images & a flower pott 
 
 1 Silver hilted sword 
 
 1 brass hilted ditto, and 1 iron without sheath . 
 
 1 set brushes . . . . 
 
 1 case with 11 bottles 
 
 1 Pr. brass shoe buckles and kne ditto 
 
 2 gold rings, 1 pr. buttons, wt. 6 pt. & 22 grains 
 87 oz. 12 pt. silver, at 25 
 
 1 pr. silver shoe buckles 
 
 In the small fore chamber , viz. : — 
 
 1 old fashioned chest with drawers 
 1 small ovel table 
 1 dressing glass 
 
 6 chairs 
 
 4 pictures ..... 
 
 1 suit diaper curtains with head cloth and teaster 
 
 Counter pins .... 
 
 1 pr. Blankets .... 
 
 ^)4 yds. tickling burge, a 4/ 
 
 1 Quilt 
 
 1 pr. sheets & pillow cases 
 1 Bed, 2 pillows, 1 bolster 
 Bedstead, curtain rod, straw bed 
 1 suit green cloth, lined with silk 
 1 Grate coat .... 
 1 Close body'd coat . 
 1 Fustian jacket & breeches, & worked Holland 
 jacket .... 
 
 1 pr. leather breeches 
 
 2 flannel jackets 
 1 pr. black silk stockings . 
 4 pr. worsted stockings, a 15/ . 
 
 1 pr. white ditto, fine 
 
 2 pr. coarse ditto 
 
 £ 
 
 8. d. 
 
 7 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 3 9 
 
 109 
 
 10 
 
 
 15 
 
 3 
 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 7 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 14 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 11 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 20 
 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 15 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 15 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 569 
 
 5 pr. yarn ditto 
 
 2 pr. shoes ....... 
 
 1 Silk sash 
 
 1 Hatt 30/, 1 Wigg 40/, 1 pr. leather gloves 15/ 
 
 1 pr. spatterdashes, & riding belt 
 
 2 worked caps, Holland ..... 
 9 plain ditto ....... 
 
 1 double worsted ditto 
 
 3 silk handkerchiefs, a 5/ 
 
 2 almost new Holland shirts, a 60/ . 
 
 3 ditto not so good, 
 
 3 ditto, 
 
 4 ditto, 
 
 8 necks & 2 neckcloths 
 1 green velvet cap 
 1 pr. white cotton gloves 
 1 Trunk . 
 
 a 40/ 
 30/ 
 15/ 
 
 In the grate chamber; viz. 
 
 1 Damask table cloth, 12 napkins 
 1 Home spun ditto . 
 
 6 Cotton and linen napkins 
 
 7 table cloths, a 10/ . 
 3 Holland sheets 
 3 pr. ditto, 66/. 
 
 16 pr. cotton linen sheets . 
 3 pr. coarse linen ditto, a 22/ 
 3 ditto, a 11/ . 
 
 1 pr. Holland pillow cases 
 
 7 pr. linen Ditto, a 10/ . 
 3 small ditto, 3/ 
 
 8 pr. cotton and linen ditto, 5/ 
 
 2 coarse bolster cases, a 3/ 
 1 Twylight 
 
 1 pr. pillow cases on ye bed 
 1 pr. cotton linen sheets do. 
 1 pr. blankets . 
 1 Quilt .... 
 1 bed, boylster, & 2 pillows No 
 1 bedstead, rod, and straw bed 
 
 £. 
 
 s. 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 12 
 
 
 3 
 
 15 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 4 10 
 
 3 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 7 
 
 4 10 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 1 
 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 8 
 
 5 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 30 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 13 
 
 1 
 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 3 
 
 
 9 
 
 19 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
570 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 
 
 £. s. 
 
 1 Green Cheney Coach bed, &c. ... 
 
 . 30 
 
 1 Ditto Easy Chair 
 
 . 11 
 
 1 Pallet bedstead 
 
 1 10 
 
 1 Bed, 1 Boylster, 2 pillows No. 3 . , . 
 
 9 13 
 
 1 pr. Sheets ....... 
 
 1 10 
 
 1 pr. Blankets ....... 
 
 2 5 
 
 1 old Quilt 
 
 15 
 
 1 pr. Chest drawers, 1 Grate, & U small Turkey, < 
 
 
 work chairs, at 20/ and 10/ 
 
 5 18 
 
 1 Looking glass 
 
 7 10 
 
 1 Seil skin trunk 
 
 1 5 
 
 1 old trunk . . . . 
 
 18 
 
 1 pr. calico curtains and vallans . . 
 
 2 10 
 
 1 pr. red Cheney ditto 
 
 4 
 
 1 pr. bellows with brass nose .... 
 
 12 
 
 1 pr. Dogs with brass tops .... 
 
 1 
 
 1 Fire shovel and tongs, 1 L)rush, & Twilight table 
 
 18 
 
 In the Kitchen Chamber; viz. : — 
 
 
 1 Bed, 1 bolster No. 4 
 
 11 12 
 
 1 pr. Blankets ....... 
 
 2 5 
 
 1 llugg, 1 Bedstead, & Straw bed 
 
 4 
 
 Callico curtains and vallans .... 
 
 o 
 
 1 Head cloth & Teaster 
 
 15 
 
 1 Table 10/, 1 Close stool pan 20/, 1 small glass 
 
 1 10 
 
 In the Gairet ; viz. : — 
 
 
 1 Old bedstead & curtains .... 
 
 2 
 
 1 Pilloon & case ...... 
 
 1 
 
 1 Drugget coat 
 
 15 
 
 Negroes beds & bedding 
 
 1 10 
 
 In the Kitchen : — 
 
 
 1 Pr. brass candlesticks 
 
 1 10 
 
 2 pr. Ditto 
 
 
 1 10 
 
 1 pr. ditto broke .... 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 Br;iss coffee pot .... 
 
 
 15 
 
 2 Brass skillets 
 
 
 10 
 
 1 Bell mettle ditto .... 
 
 
 2 10 
 
 1 Co]pper tea kettle .... 
 
 
 1 10 
 
 d. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 571 
 
 1 Warming- pan 
 
 1 Jack 
 
 1 Doz. hard mettle plates . 
 
 1 Doz. ditto .... 
 6 Soup Ditto, a 4/7 . 
 
 2 water — .... 
 
 2 large, 1 smal pewter dish, 1 Large, 
 Old pewter .... 
 1 Brass sauce pan 
 1 Brass scimer .... 
 
 Tin Ware 
 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 1 
 
 Doz. patty pans 
 pr. Bellows . ... 
 pr. Leather fine meeting Buckets & bags 
 Y^v. Iron dogs .... 
 pr. tongs and fire shovel 
 Fender & Slice .... 
 
 2 Spitts 8/, 2 Gridirons 10/ . 
 
 3 tramills ..... 
 
 2 Chafing dishes 6/, }i skewer 2/ 
 
 3 Iron pots, 1 frying pan, 2 Iron kettles & 
 35 lbs. Candles, 1/6 . 
 
 3 brass kettles .... 
 
 1 Doz. Ivory hafted knives & forks 
 
 2 Iron candle sticks . 
 1 Pr. Boots .... 
 1 Small ovel Table . 
 1 Pine ditto .... 
 5 Old chairs .... 
 1 Lignumvite pestle & mortar . 
 Wooden Ware . . . 
 5 coarse table cloths & ten towels 
 
 In the Cellar 
 
 3 Barrells Soap . 
 
 2 Ceader set work tubbs 
 
 Lumbering Stuff 
 
 5 Empty cider barrels 
 
 5 doz. Cider in bottles & 2 doz. empty ones 
 
 small soup Do. 
 
 pot hooks . 
 
 s. 
 10 
 10 
 15 
 15 
 
 7 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 1 7 
 
 18 
 
 10 
 
 1 10 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 12 
 
 18 
 
 1 2 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 2 12 
 8 14 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 15 
 
 1 10 
 
 10 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 1 7 
 
 6 15 
 15 
 18 
 10 
 
 15 
 1 10 
 
572 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 In the Warehouse at the house: — 
 
 2 pots of Flog'gs fat, wt. 18 lbs. .... 
 
 1 Barrel pork ........ 
 
 Lumbering stuff, 1 old ladle [the rest is gone, }^ page] 
 
 £. s. 
 
 18 
 
 At Mr. Ilalsey tcharf; viz.: — 
 
 4 Cart Horses 60 
 
 1 Riding horse 17 
 
 2 Carts . 20 
 
 3 old cart wheels, 1 sled 2 
 
 3 pr. Hems and traces for horses . . . . 2 14 
 
 In tcare house, my wharf: — 
 1 Ilhd. Molasses, 100 Gal. @ 3/10 . 
 
 4 bbl. Turpentine 
 
 29 pails, 1 Sugar tub, & 2 Caggs 
 
 Old rigging, about 1 weight 
 
 x4 Spun yarn 
 
 1 Empty rum Hhd 
 
 2 empty barrels ..... 
 
 11 Saddle Trees 
 
 15 Chalk 
 
 Negro Tony, apprised .... 
 
 " Will, " .... 
 
 " Bristol, " .... 
 
 " BristolJim, " 
 Limekiln, wharf, and Warehouses 
 Dwelling house, barns, buildings, and land 
 
 Ai)proximate total £2973 
 
 Captain Pecker's wife was Bridget Papillion. She was a widow 
 with one sou, Ebenezer, when she married Mr. Pecker. Ilcr 
 husband was an English gentleman. 
 
 On a paper found with the will was written, — 
 
 "was my truly worthy and dearly beloved James Pecker, 
 
 who died April ye 8, 1734, in the 49th year of his age, in the 
 division of his things to me, his widdow Bridget Pecker. ' Open 
 thou my eyes that I may behold wondrous things of thy law.' 
 
 " Was married to my first husband, John Papillion, June ye 7, 
 1710, bereaved of him about 8 years after. lie died in London ; 
 left one only son, born April ye 9, 1712, named Ebenezer Papil- 
 
 19 
 
 3 4 
 
 7 
 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 o 
 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 40 
 
 
 80 
 
 
 90 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 400 
 
 
 1500 
 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 573 
 
 lion, who grew up a man, followed the sea, was lost at sea, I don't 
 know how, but 24 years of age. Very pleasant were these to me 
 while living : the loss of them will make me go mourning to my 
 grave." 
 
 APPENDIX B. 
 
 RECAPITULATION OF " WARRINGTON'S " WRITINGS. 
 
 As Editor. 
 
 Yeoman's Gazette and Concord Republican 
 Lowell Journal and Courier 
 Manchester (N.H.) American . 
 Boston Daily Whig and Republican 
 Lowell American 
 The Boston Daily Commonwealth 
 The Telegraph .... 
 Straight Republican (campaign paper) 
 Tocsin " " 
 
 Reveille " *' 
 
 Hartford Courant .... 
 Concord Monitor .... 
 
 As Correspondent and Contributor. 
 New-York Evening Post ("Middlesex") . 
 
 Worcester Spy, in 
 
 Springfield Republican ("Warrington") . 
 Daily Evening Traveller .... 
 
 Fitchburg ReveiUe 
 
 New-York Tribune (" Gilbert" and " Warrington") 
 
 Worcester Transcript (" Boythorn ") 
 
 Daily Atlas and Bee . 
 
 Zion's Herald . 
 
 Congregationalist 
 
 Hartford Press (" Kremlin ") 
 
 California Paper 
 
 Commonwealth (Mr. Slack's), supplied material for 
 
 Atlantic Monthly, December, 1871, Gen. Butler's 
 
 Campaign in Massachusetts 
 Boston Journal : Wendell Phillips; a Review 
 Gen. B. F. Butler reviewed 
 
 1839-1842 
 
 1842-1849 
 
 1845-1846 
 
 1848-1849 
 
 1849-1854 
 
 1854 
 
 1854-1857 
 
 1857 
 
 1861, 1862 
 
 1870 
 
 1868 
 
 1868 
 
 1853 
 1856, 1863 
 1856-1876 
 
 1857 
 1857-1858 
 1857-1869 
 1857-1860 
 1860-1861 
 
 1865 
 
 1864 
 
 1862-1876 
 
 1870' 
 1871-1872 
 
574 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Boston Journal : Gen. B. F. Butler reviewed again . 1873 
 
 Articles 1873 
 
 Butler 1874 
 
 Boston News ("Warrington"), Letters and Articles 1875-1876 
 
 Woman's Journal 
 
 Pamphlets. 
 
 Conspiracy to defame John A. Andrew . • . 1801 
 
 Legislative 18G1 
 
 Concord and Sudbury Meadows .... 18G1 
 
 Ex-Governor Boutwell and Judge Thomas . . 1802 
 
 Sustain the Government; Stand by the President . 1862 
 
 Miscellaneous 1800-1870 
 
 Salary Grab 187-4 
 
 Adflresftes, Memorials, Sfc. 
 
 Personal-liberty Bill, Memorial and Report . . 1801 
 
 Republican State Addresses 1801-1807 
 
 Republican State Resolutions 1801-1867 
 
 Free-ballot Memorials 
 
 Woman-suffrage ]\Iemorials and Reports 
 
 Ayer's Almanac (reading-matter) 
 
 Appleton's Cyclopaedia 
 
 Manual of Parliamentary Law 1875 
 
 OFFICIAL niSTORY. 
 
 Member of Massachusetts House of Representatives 
 Secretary of Constitutional Convention 
 Clerk of Committee on Revision of Statutes 
 Clerk of ^lassachusetts House of Representatives 
 Secretary of Republican State Committee . 
 Justice of the Peace and of the Quorum . 
 
 1852-1853 
 
 1853 
 
 1859 
 
 1862-1873 
 
 1803-1807 
 
 1865 
 
 APPENDIX C. 
 
 [July 7, 1842.] 
 COURT OF COMMOX rLE.\S. — BUTLER. 
 
 Elrridge G. Record of Lowell was charged with passing coun- 
 terfeit money. The examination of this man and his brother before 
 the Police Court was reported in " The Courier " a few days ago; 
 
APPENDIX. 575 
 
 and I need not state the circumstances of the case. But a rather 
 amusing and interesting scene (to use no other epithets) took place 
 at the trial of Elbridge, which T feel it to be my duty to chronicle. 
 The indictment charged the prisoner with defrauding Sarah Wil- 
 kins. Mrs. Wilkins testified that her name was Sarah Emma Wil- 
 kins, and that she had a husband living. She could, therefore, not 
 be defrauded. Mr. Butler of Lowell, the prisoner's counsel, called 
 the attention of the court to these flaws in the indictment, and 
 asked for an acquittal. Some conversation ensued between the 
 judge, district-attorney, and Mr. Butler; but the objections of Mr. 
 Huntington were overruled, and the jury were directed to bring in 
 a verdict of acquittal. They did so; and Mr. Butler immediately 
 moved that the prisoner be discharged. Mr. Huntington objected, 
 but evidently had no ground for doing so. Mr. Butler made some 
 remark about the objection being made for the purpose of getting 
 out another warrant. The judge said he believed he must order 
 the prisoner to be discharged. The words were hardly out of his 
 mouth, and the clerk had not repeated the order for his discharge, 
 when Mr. Butler opened the door of the prisoner's box, and hurried 
 Record, out of the house, saying, "Go along, and go as quick as 
 you can." The prisoner sloped immediately. 
 
 ]\Ir. Shed was observed to follow Record out of the court-house, 
 and it was shrewdly expected that the rogue would not go far off. 
 Mr. Butler, whose duties as coiinsel did not cease with the acquittal 
 of his client, rushed out of the house in a comfortable state of 
 excitement for the purpose of inquiring what was going on. 
 With the laudable desire of " jotting down " whatever of interest 
 might occur, I walked down staii's. I saw nothing of Record; and 
 the only part of -Mr. Butler which I noticed was his hat, which he 
 had lost in his " neck-or- nought " race, and which was lying on 
 the steps of the court-house. I looked toward the hotel, and 
 observed the learned counsel declaiming vigorously to the crowd 
 which had gathered around him, so absorbed in the interests of 
 his client, that he probably forgot his hatless condition. I after- 
 wards learned that Mr. Shed had arrested Record without author- 
 ity, and Mr. Butler obtained his release. 
 
 Record went his way; but it was a very little way, after all. A 
 warrant had been procured for his arrest, and he was recaptured 
 by Charley Adams and Deputy-Sheriff Lewis near Walden Pond, 
 about a mile from the village. Tlie district-attorney will probably 
 take care tliat no flaws shall be made in the next indictment 
 against the young man. I appreciate greatness wherever I see it 
 
.57G APPENDIX. 
 
 manifested; and Mr. Butler in this trial certainly showed himself 
 to be a great man. Perhaps his greatness is not of the highest 
 order; neither was Bonaparte's : but who will dispute the chiim of 
 the latter to be called great? The opening of the prison-doors by 
 Mr. Butler without permission might perhaps be called a some- 
 what outrageous proceeding; but it would be called so only by 
 those who would blame Cromwell for dissolving the Rump Parlia- 
 ment, or Governor Dorr for organizing the Foundry Legislature. 
 
 W. S. R. 
 
 APPENDIX D. 
 
 [1849.] 
 "A WEEK OX THE CON'COKD AND MERRIMACK RIVERS." 
 
 We have copied above the title of a book: for one reason, be- 
 cause it will make as good a cajition as any thing else to what we 
 have to say iu this place; and another, because we may say some- 
 thing upon a book which has been kindly lent us by a friend. We 
 mention the fact that the volume was loaned to us, because it is a 
 rare occurrence for us to borrow a book, and may be set down as 
 an epoch in our life — almost. When we saw the title with " Con- 
 cord River " upon it, our thoughts were carried back to the days 
 of our boyhood, when we used to go thither with our fishing- 
 tackle to catch whatever chose to nibble at our bait. We don't 
 know as we were enough of a fisherman to have the epithet be- 
 stowed u])on us which was somewhere given to the appendage of a 
 fishiug-pole; viz., " a string at one end, and a fool at the other: " 
 but we have caught some fish in our day; had some fflorious 
 nibbles; but never have we, like Simon in the New Testament, 
 "toiled all night, and taken nothing." In speaking of the fishing 
 which was formerly carried on in Concord River, we notice that 
 Mr. Thoreau has hinted at a circumstance of a militia-captain — we 
 believe his name was Miles — who neglected to appear to meet his 
 company, having gone a-fishing at the time they were "warned 
 to appear," and that thenceforth the said company always went by 
 the name of " The Shad ; " and so the name stuck like scales to all 
 the militia in the region. We are glad to see honorable mention 
 made of that corps. What Concord boy has not followed "The 
 Shad '' round town to listen to the drum and fife and other pieces 
 of nnisic, not heeding where he trod, till some careless barefooted 
 fellow Would hit his toe against a stone, and then, catching the 
 
APPENDIX. b~n 
 
 mangled toe in his hand, would hop along till the toe aforesaid 
 came to its senses ? Glad are we that the memory of " The Shad " 
 is perpetuated in so pleasant a book. 
 
 It may be said of this book as the author says of great poems, 
 " It is characteristic of great poems, that they will yield of their 
 sense in due proportion to the hasty and the deliberate reader. 
 To the practical they will be common sense; and to the wise, 
 wisdom: as either the traveller may wet his lips, or an army may 
 fill its water-casks, at a full stream." 
 
 GOOD-NATURE. 
 "By hook or by crook." 
 Dame Grundy was the most good-natured woman alive. Come 
 what would, everything was right, — nothing wrong. One day 
 Farmer Grundy (husband to the dame) told a neighbor that his 
 wife was the most even-tempered woman in the world; for he never 
 saw her cross in his life, and that, for once, he should like to see 
 her so. " Well," said his neighbor, " go into the woods, and bring 
 home a load of the crookedest wood you can find; and, if that does 
 not make her cross, nothing will." Accordingly, to try the expeii- 
 ment, he teamed home a load of wood every day calculated to 
 make a woman fret. For a week or more, she used the wood copi- 
 ously; but not a word of complaint escaped her lips. So, one day, 
 the husband ventured to inquire of her how she liked the wood. 
 " Oh, 'tis beautiful wood! " she said. " I wish you'd get another 
 load; for it fays round the pot complete." 
 
 BAKED BP:ANS. 
 
 The town of Beverly has had the reputation of cooking a good 
 many beans; so much so, that its inhabitants have been called 
 " beaners." Charlestown, also, has had similar honors. AV^e 
 recollect, some twenty years since, when we ventured within the 
 precincts of Boston from Charlestown, we were frequently beset by 
 Boston boys w'ith the appellation of "pig." We have an anec- 
 dote pat to the purpose; and here it is : — 
 
 Page, the driver of the Beverly stage, was one day taking in a 
 fleshy lady-passenger in Charlestown Square, when a truckman 
 came along and said, " Get out of the way with your old bean- 
 pot!" Page, who had hold of the lady's arm, turned round and 
 made answer, " Wait a minute till I get mv pork in." 
 
 E. G. R. 
 
578 APPENDIX. 
 
 APPENDIX E. 
 
 A VILLAGE POUTICIAX. 
 
 FroTu "The Carpet-Bag." 
 
 Deacox Jonas Jenkins is in the corner s^rocery-store, surround- 
 ed by loafers. Eldad Grimes, Elnathan Dodge, and others, are 
 there, sitting on " quintals of codfish," and chewing the quid. The 
 deacon is reading from the newspaper what Prof. M. said in his 
 speech on accepting the nomination for Congress. Said the dea- 
 con, " He was brouglit in, accepted the noniiuution, thanked the 
 delegates, and then went on to enlarge upon political topics." — 
 " Well," said Elnathan Dodge, " let's hear what he had to say. 
 How is he on the tariff ?" — "You'll see," said the deacon, 
 rather crusty at being interrupted. " Can't you wait a minute? " 
 He went on to read, " Rejoiced to meet his friends; glorious 
 A\'hig cause; cause of the country; star that never sets; factious 
 opposition; all they want is office." — "That's a fact," said 
 Dodge. " What d'ye spose they care about the niggers? " — "De- 
 pression of agricultural interest; tariff on wool; quacks; pre- 
 tenders driven from power." — "That's just what he said," said 
 Deacon Jenkins; "for I heerd him." — "Well, you, he's smart, 
 ain't he?" said the Scrabbleville baker, who had driven up, and 
 was now making one of the crowd. The deacon proceeded: 
 " Union of the States; palsied be the arm; traitors; (ien. Jack- 
 son; hemp; stars and stripes, &c. Oh, how he gave it to 'era 
 thenl" said the deacon. In this way he closed the speech, 
 and approached the conclusion of the article, which ran somehow 
 thus: " We are rejoiced to learn that Prof. M. has yielded to 
 the earnest solicitation of his friends, and will forthwitii take the 
 field in support of the good AV'iiig cause. He will address his 
 fellow'-citizens in the principal towns in the district previous to 
 the election. We call upon the committees to make active prepa- 
 rations for large meetings. Let the people far and near hear our 
 eloquent chanq)ion, and we have no fear of the result; for 
 
 " One blast tipon his bugle-horn 
 Is worth a thousand men." 
 
 " How's that, deacon? " broke out several of his auditors at the 
 
 close. "What does that mean? " — " Oh ! that's right, that's 
 
 right," said the deacon: " it's just so. I understand he's the best 
 
 bugle-player in the State of Vermont! " 
 
 Bailey Junior. 
 
APPENDIX. 579 
 
 APPENDIX F. 
 
 AUTOGRAPH-LETTER FROM ABRAHAM LINCOLN, IN POSSESSION 
 OF W. S. R. 
 
 SPKDfGFiELD ILL., April 6, 1859. 
 
 Messrs. Henry L. Pierce and Others. Gentlemen, — Your 
 kind note inviting me to attend a festival in Boston on the loth 
 iust., in honor of the birthday of Thomas Jefferson, was duly 
 received. My engagements are such, that I cannot attend. Bear- 
 ing in mind, that, about seventy years ago, two great political 
 parties were first formed in this country, that Thomas Jefferson 
 was the head of one of them, and Boston the headquarters of the 
 other, it is both curious and interesting that those supposed to 
 descend politically from the party opposed to Jeffei'son should now 
 be celebrating his birthday in their own original seat of empire, 
 while those claiming political descent from him have nearly ceased 
 to breathe his name everywhere. 
 
 Remembering, too, that the Jefferson party were formed upon 
 their supposed superior devotion to the personal rights of men, 
 holding the rights of property to be secondary only, and greatly 
 inferior, and then assuming that the so-called Democracy of to-day 
 are the Jeffei'son, and thek opponents the anti-Jefferson parties, 
 it will be equally interesting to note how completely the two have 
 changed hands as to the principle upon which they were originally 
 supposed to be divided. The Democracy of to-day holds the liberty 
 of our men to be absolutely nothing when in conflict with another 
 man's right of property. Republicans, on the contrary, are for 
 both the man and the dollar; but, in cases of conflict, the man 
 before the dollar. 
 
 I remember once being much amused at seeing two partially 
 intoxicated men engage in a fight with their great-coats on; which 
 fight, after a long and rather harmless contest, ended in each 
 having fought himself out of his own coat, and into that of the 
 other. If the two leading parties of this day are really identical 
 with the two in the days of Jefferson and Adams, they have per- 
 formed about the same feat as the two drunken men. 
 
 But, soberly, it is now no child's play to save the principles of 
 Jefferson from total overthrow in this nation. One would start 
 with great confidence that he could convince any sane child that 
 the simple propositions of Euclid are true; but, nevertheless, he 
 would fail utterly with one who should deny the definitions and 
 
580 APPENDIX. 
 
 axioms. The principles of Jefferson are the definitions and axioms 
 of free society; and yet they are denied and evaded witli no small 
 show of success. One dashingly calls them "glittering generali- 
 ties;" another bluntly calls them "self-evident lies;" and still 
 others insidiously argue that they apply only to " superior races." 
 
 These expressions, differing in form, are identical in object and 
 effect, — the supplanting tlie principles of free government, and 
 restoring those of classification, caste, and legitimacy. They \YOuld 
 delight a convocation of crowned heads plotting against the peo- 
 ple. They are the vanguard, the miners and sappers, of returning 
 despotism. "We must repulse them, or they will subjugate us. 
 
 This is a world of compensations, and he who would he no slave 
 must consent to have no slave. Those who deny freedom to others 
 deserve it not for themselves, and, under a just God, cannot long 
 retain it. All honor to Jefferson; to the man, who, in the concrete 
 pressure of a struggle for national independence by a single people, 
 had the coolness, forecast, and capacity to introduce into a merely 
 revolutionary document an abstract truth, applicable to all men and 
 all times, and so to embalm it there, that to-day, and in all coming 
 days, it shall be a rebuke and a stumbling-block to the very 
 harbingers of re-appearing tyranny and oppression ! 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 A. Lincoln. 
 
ll^DEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abbott, Joslab G., 20, 42, 360 (see Free- 
 Soil party). 
 
 Abolitionists, 27 ; meeting of (1853), 199 
 (see Garrison, William Lloyd). 
 
 Adams, Charles Francis, 3S, 39, 46, 47, 
 183, 184, 204, 205, 232, 543: biography 
 of, 415. 
 
 Adams, Henry, 419. 
 
 Adams, John Qviincy, 19, 29, 266; (the 
 younger), 136, 309, 334, 343; biogra- 
 phy of, 419. 
 
 Adams, Rev. Nehemiah, 211, 297. 
 
 Adams, Shubael P., 46. 
 
 Advertiser, Boston Daily, 133, 200, 229. 
 
 Alcott, A. Bronson, 66. 
 
 Alcott, Abbv B., 116, 403. 
 
 Allen, Charles, 30, 1»7, 194, 517; biog- 
 raphy of, 415. 
 
 Alley, John B., 60, 2.35. 
 
 American (xee Know-Nothing) party. 
 
 Amerige, Henry, 129. 
 
 Andrew, John A., election of, 93, 521; 
 position on the Virginia Peace Com- 
 mission, 94 ; conspiracy to defame, 
 95; re-election of, 110; speaks on 
 the removal of Judge Loring, 230; 
 accusation against him of being a 
 "conditional patriot,'' 274; number 
 of votes cast for, in different years, 
 339, 340; biography of, 406. 
 
 Antietam, battle of, '2)<0, 283. 
 
 Antislavery (political) movement, begin- 
 ning of, 28, 35, 46, 47; progress of, 
 183, 227-236. 483 (see Free-Soil party). 
 
 Antislavery society in Concord, 73. 
 
 Applcton, Nathan, 29, 529. 
 
 Arm-in-arm Convention (Philadelphia, 
 1S06), 308. 
 
 Aspiuvvall, William, 250, 310. 
 
 Atlas and Bee, The, early antislavery 
 newspaper, 84, 92, 98. 
 
 Ayer. Dr. James C, 86; biogi-aphy of, 
 422. 
 
 B. 
 
 Baldwin, John D. (editor of Worcester 
 
 Spy), 60, 83. 
 Baltimore Convention (1840), 19. 
 
 Banks, Nathaniel P., 20, 58, 194, 216, 220, 
 222, 225, 254, 360; biography of, 435. 
 
 Bartlett, Dr. Josiah, 4, 560. 
 
 Bartol, Rev. C. A., remarks of, at " War- 
 rington's " funeral, 167. 
 
 Bayard, T. F., 395, 396. 
 
 Beaufort, landing at, 271. 
 
 Beecher. Henry Ward, biography of (in 
 1864), 454. 
 
 Bell-Everett party, 243, 245. 
 
 Bemis, G. F., 14. 
 
 Bigelow, Mr. and Mrs. F. E. (see Sha- 
 drach, rescue of). 
 
 Biglow Papers, 45. 
 
 Bird Club, 96. 134, 425 (see Bird, F. W.). 
 
 Bu'd, Francis W., reminiscences of 
 " W.aiTington." xiv ; 17, 18, 38, 62, 83, 
 86, 106, 116, 121, 126, 130, 144, 221, 222, 
 299, 304; biography of, 423. 
 
 Blaine, James G., 395. 
 
 Blair, Frank, 1.36, 323. 
 
 Booth, J. WiUves, 307. 
 
 Boston city election of 1871, 349. 
 
 Boston school committee in 1874, 379. 
 
 Boutwell, George S., 20, 194, 198,315, 316, 
 360, 381, 384; biography of, 429. 
 
 Bowles, Samuel, 38, 82, 83, 90, 100, 115, 133 
 (see " Warrington " letters). 
 
 " Bovthoni " letters, 86 (see Appen- 
 dix B). 
 
 Brazealle, Elisha (see Sharkey, Judge). 
 
 Brewster, William N., 46. 
 
 Brooks Cake, recipe for, 74. 
 
 Brooks, Nathan and Mary M., 20, 72, 75. 
 
 Brooks, Preston S.. 65. 
 
 Brown, John, 71, 90. 237-240. 
 
 Buchanan, James, 64, 251, 255, 323, 385, 
 417. 
 
 BufCum, James N., 184. 
 
 Bullock, Alexander H., reminiscences of 
 "Warrington," xi; 105,409. 
 
 Bull Run, battle of, 96, 267. 
 
 Bumstead, Representative (the typical 
 office-seeker), 198; biogi-aphy of, 455. 
 
 Burling.ame, Anson, biographv of, 427. 
 
 Burns, Antony, rendition of, 62, 206, 211. 
 
 Bunitt, ElUui. 20. 
 
 Butler, Benjamin F., position in the 
 Harrison campaign, 20 ; ex-major- 
 general, 103; elected to the legisla- 
 ture of 1852, 54; his raid on the 
 governorship of Massachusetts, 130- 
 144; letter from, to " Wanuigton," 
 
 681 
 
582 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 131 ; pn-onnd for hla attack on " War- 
 rlngtou," 1U3, 1.13; dofeated in con- 
 vention, 134; ilcfi-ats '• Warrinptton " 
 88 clerk, 137, 3.VJ-3C5; the " salaiy- 
 grab " business, 142; second raid on 
 the governorship, 143; linal defeat, 
 144 ; weiiltli of London, 371 ; in the 
 Johnson inipeaehinent trial, 315; 
 position in 1873,450; status in 1874, 
 378,381, 383; prediction concerning, 
 399; political history of, 439-44(1; re- 
 ply of " WaiTington " to, 440 ; as 
 "judge and executioner" of the 
 Republican partv, 443; life of, 440; 
 his character, 302. 43!l, 441,450; his 
 epitaph, 4ri3 (.sec Appendix C). 
 
 Butler caniiiai;;n, (irst gun tired iji. 12G; 
 review of, 130-144 (see Butler, B. F.). 
 
 Butler and anli-Butlcr men in 1872, 360. 
 
 Butler, who killed? 131, 134, 138, 143, 144, 
 310. 
 
 c. 
 
 Carlsbad, Austria, Ijetter from, 376. 
 
 Carpet-bag (.see Stebbings, EInsign ; also 
 Shillaber, B. I'.), Appendix E. 
 
 Carter, Robert, GO, 61, 83, 89. 
 
 Clianning, William Ellery, 66. 
 
 Channing. 'William llenrv, 29, 461. 
 
 Chase, S;dmon P., 31 't, .•?22. 
 
 Choate, Uufus, 63, 185, 191, 254, 289; biog- 
 raphy of, 457. 
 
 Cincinnati Convention of 1872, 135, 136, 
 358. 
 
 Civil-service reform and a Democratic 
 restoration, 345. 
 
 Clapp, W. W. (cditorof Boston Journal), 
 13.!, 140, 173. 
 
 Clarke, Dr. E. H., 373, 560. 
 
 Clarke, Itev. James Freeman, 346, 365, 
 368, 462. 
 
 Clay, llenry. and hw compromises, 187. 
 
 Cleinmer, Mrs. Marj', obituai-y on '• War- 
 rington." 178, 
 
 Clifford, John H., 146. 
 
 Cobuni. John P., 72. 
 
 Co-ed u(!ation of the sexes (see Harvard 
 College). 
 
 Cogswell family, history of, 3-7. 
 
 Colored regiments, foniiation of, 0.'', 107, 
 2!)8; how they look, 292; "Negro 
 ready to light for freedom." 265; 
 colored recruits, and "conditional 
 patriotism." 274. 
 
 Commonwealth, Boston Daily, 60; selec- 
 tions from, 206. 
 
 Concord, Mass., 1, 15, 19, 29, 65, 66, 71, 75. 
 
 Congress in 1842, 26. 
 
 " Conquering prejudices," 190. 
 
 Conscience Whigs, 35, 36, 38 (see Whig 
 party). 
 
 "Consolation of Asses," 201. 
 
 Constitution explained to beginners, 202. 
 
 Constitution of l,s53, defeat of, 203. 
 
 Conway, M. D., 106. 
 
 Copperhead Democracy, 302 (see Demo- 
 cratic party). 
 
 Courant, Hartfonl. 119. 
 
 Crane, Zenas M., 104. 
 
 Ciu-tia, George T., 191, 192. 
 
 Curtis, Harriot (see Tx)well Offering). 
 Cashing, Caleb, 194, 205, 250, 264, 407, 
 413. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dana, Richard H., jun., 486; biography 
 of, 464. 
 
 Davis, Charles G., 221. 
 
 Davis, Jefferson, 96, 110, 288, 289, 306, 312. 
 
 Davis, John, ,06. 
 
 Davis, Mrs. Mary (of Concord), 4, 5. 
 
 Dawes, Heniy L.", 134, 360 ; biography of, 
 471. 
 
 Democratic party, 20; standing during 
 tlie war, 288; "civil-service refonn in, 
 (1871), 343; probable Democratic re- 
 action (1874). 3.><4; cliiuices for a 
 Democratic victorv in 1876, ;!;i2, 397; 
 record of, 393 (.sce'Rautoul, Robert; 
 alsiisee reform party). 
 
 Derbv. George II. (.see Phoenix, Jolui). 
 
 Dial, "the, 16. 
 
 Dickens. Charies. 29, 341. 
 
 Digg, K. Goethe, his toast, 531. 
 
 Disraeli, Benjamin, .■570. 
 
 '■ Doughfaces," 97, 256. 
 
 Douglas, Stephen A., 241; biography of, 
 
 4(;(>. 
 
 Douglass, Frederick, 46; biography of, 
 
 468. 
 Dowiu>r. Samuel, 60, 489, 501. 
 Dred Scott decision, 231, 232. 
 Drew, Thonuis, 104, 152, 305. 
 
 E. 
 
 Farle, .Tohn ^r.. 120. 
 
 Eliot, Charles W. {see Harvard College). 
 
 El wood, Michael (see Supreme Judicial 
 Court). 
 
 Emancipation, 96^98; Proclamation of, 
 lO.s, 109, 111, 280-290. 
 
 Emei-son, R. W., how related t-o " War- 
 rington," 3; moves to Concord, 15; 
 Divinity-School addie.ss, 16; firet 
 book printed, 17; essays lirst appear, 
 21 (.s-ee Concord). 
 
 Emigrant Aid Society (New England), 75. 
 
 Evarts, William IM.,".'>2i5. 
 
 Evening Post, New- York, 68; selections 
 from, 203. 
 
 Everett, Edward, 13, 245, 248, 257. 
 
 F. 
 
 Fai-lev, Harriet (see Lowell Offering). 
 
 Fay, Judge S. P. P., 4. 
 
 Fillmore, Millard, 35, 45, 189. 
 
 Ft)ley, M:ivg.aret (see Lowell OlTering). 
 
 " Foo<l for j>oliticians," 197. 
 
 Forbes. John INI., 298. 
 
 Fort Wagner, Fifty-Fourth Regiment 
 at. 296. 
 
 Free-Soil party, formation of, 30, 37, 18.3, 
 187; conventions and movements of , 
 35, 38, 39, 42, 4.'>-48, 64, *A; review of, 
 35-77; resolution written for in 1818 
 
INDEX. 
 
 583 
 
 by " Warrington," 38; list of Free- 
 Soil Democratic papers, 43 ; becomes 
 tlie " Straight -Republican" party, 
 64; contends against Fugitive-slave 
 Law, 1K9-213, 228; reminiscences of 
 its leaders, 400-405 ; its work, 410, 417, 
 427. 483. 
 
 Fr6niont, John C, 64, 269, 
 
 Frye, Isaac W., 496, 
 
 Fugitive-slave Law, signing of, 45; char- 
 acter and effect of, 189, 196; work- 
 ings of. 206-213, 228 (see Loriug, Ed- 
 ward G). 
 
 Fuller, Margaret, 16, 67. 
 
 Fulton, Rev. J. D.,341. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gardner and Gardnerism (1855), 61, S3, 
 214, 225. 232, 243, 334. 
 
 Garrison, William Ijloyd. and the Garri- 
 sonians, 28, 29, 38, 73, 118, 191, 199, 366, 
 367, 46!», 484 ; biography of, 482. 
 
 Gaston, William, 387, .393. 
 
 Gettvsburg, battle of, 294. 
 
 Gidiiings, Joshua R., 35, 183, 184, 187 
 (.see Free-.Soil partv). 
 
 Gifford, Stephen N., 105. 
 
 " Gilbei-t " letters (see Tribune, New- 
 York, Appendix B.). 
 
 Gilmore, Q. A. (of New Hampshire), 113. 
 
 Gladstone, Wilh.ani E., 369. 
 
 Goddardl). A. (.see Advertiser, Boston). 
 
 Graham. Rev. John, 9. 
 
 Grant, Ulysses S., 109; election to the 
 presidency, 120, 130; review of his 
 iirst term. 354; his re-election, 136, 
 354; comparison between him and 
 Greelev, 355; prospects of a third 
 term, 385, 392, 397; biography of, 
 479, 
 
 Graves, John W. {see Free-Soil party). 
 
 Grav, William, and the Boston city elec- 
 tion of 1S71, 349. 
 
 Greeley, Horace, liomination to the 
 presidency, 135, 136; comparison be- 
 tween him and Grant, 355; biogra- 
 phy of, 475. 
 
 Grier, Judge, 510. 
 
 Griffin, J. Q. A., 126, 437, 530; biography 
 of, 485. 
 
 Gubernatorial votes from 1860 to 1870, 
 summary of, 339. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hale. Charles, 214, 218. 
 
 Hal.', John P., 30. 
 
 Hallett, B. F., 191, 194, 207. 208, 248, 4.')9. 
 
 Haniilton-hall meeting (1873), 141, 143, 
 
 144. 
 Hamlin, E. L. (of Ohio), 184. 
 Harrison campaign, 19, 242. 
 Harrison, William Henrv, the first Whig 
 
 President, 19. 
 Harvartl College, style of printing their 
 
 order of e.xercise's (1871), 351 ; opposed 
 
 to woman-suffrage and co-education, 
 
 559. 
 
 Haven, Bishop Gilbert, 16; acquaint- 
 ance and controversies with " War- 
 ringtsn," 121, 127, 494; position in 
 Butler campaign, 132, 134; obituary 
 on "Warrington," 177; biography 
 of, 492. " ' ' *" ^ ' 
 
 Hawley, Joseph R., 119, 561. ' 
 
 Ilavvthome, Nathaniel, 21, 66, 
 
 Hayden, Lewis, 72. 406. 
 
 Hayes, J. K. {see Shadrach, rescue of). 
 
 Hazewell, Charles C, 17, 44, 57, 63, 70, 
 83, 89, 187, 211. 283, 496; obituary of 
 " Warrington," 173. 
 
 Hendricks, Thomas A,, 322, 323. 
 
 Heywood, George, 6, 
 
 Higginson, Col. T. W., 297. 
 
 Hildreth. Richard, 01. 
 
 Hillard, George S., 243. 246. 
 
 Hoar, Sanniel, 16, 38, 194. 
 
 Hoar, E. Rockwood, 20, 29, 35, 132, 134, 
 185, 427. 559, 561 ; biography of, 490. 
 
 Hoar. George F., 147, 155; biography of, 
 491. 
 
 Homneopathy and allopathy, 330. 
 
 Hoosac Tunnel and the lobby, 326. 
 
 Howe, Dr. Estes, 86, 152. 305. 
 
 Howe, Dr. Samuel G., 47,60, 62, 247, 304, 
 358 ; biography of, 487. 
 
 Humiliation of M.assacluisetts, 192. 
 
 "Hunker," definition of, 283 (see Peo- 
 ple's party). 
 
 J. 
 
 Jack.son. William, 432. 
 
 •Jarvis, Dr. Edward, 9, 11. 
 
 Jerry rescue, 46. 
 
 Johnson, Andrew, prospects of his ad- 
 ministration, 305, .306; his presiden- 
 tial tour, 311-315; impeachment of, 
 315, 317, 321. 
 
 Journalism, 54. 4 
 
 Jury Bill, debate on, 214. 
 
 K. 
 
 Kansas, relief of, 75, 84, 217. 
 
 Keyes, Edward L., 37, 185. 
 
 Kevcs, John, 14. 
 
 Kinsley, E. W., 124. 
 
 Know-Nothing party (1854), character 
 and action of. 63, 92, 214, 218, 226, 
 302, 526 (see Wilson, Henrj'). 
 
 Larcom, Lucy {see Lowell Offering). 
 
 Lawrence, Abbott, 204, 501, 529. 
 
 Lawrence, Amos A., 257. 
 
 Lawjers and doctoi-s, 51, 53, 3.30, 331. 
 
 Liberty party, 28, 38, l.'i3, 483. 
 
 Lincoln, Abraham, nomination of, 91, 95, 
 241; election of , 93, 245; his t.alk of 
 " saving the Union," 278; Emancipa- 
 tion Proclamation, 2t<0; re-election 
 of, 109, 301; assassination of. 111, 
 304 ; biography of, 498 {see Appendix 
 F), 
 
584 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 List, Charles (see Coinmon wealth). 
 
 Lobby indueuce and log-rolling in the 
 legislature, 320 {sve Hoosac Tunnel). 
 
 Locofoco party, 22, 2!), 184. 
 
 London, LeltcT from, 3GS. 
 
 Loring, Edward G., Judge, action iu the 
 ttu-ns cas«, C2, 206, 20!*, 209; re- 
 moval of, 210, 227, 2:53, 413. 
 
 Loring, George 1$.. 2.')0 ; biography of, 499. 
 
 Lovejoy, J. C, 72, 183. 
 
 Lowell American, 42. 52, 55, CO; selec- 
 tions from, 187-202, 547. 
 
 Lowell Courier and Journal (1842), 25, 
 31, 37, 
 
 Lowell Gft'ering, editors and writers of, 
 28, 29. 
 
 Lunt, George, 243, 246, 248, 254, 200, 
 
 Lyman, Joseph (see Commonwealth). 
 
 M. 
 
 Mafnt, Rev. John Newland, 27. 
 
 Manchester (N.H.) American (1845), 20. 
 
 Mann, Horace, 47, 194, 487; biography 
 of, 501, 
 
 Manomet (near Plymouth, Mass,), 125, 
 313, 
 
 Man-stealei-s, The,4G, 47, 62, 189, 
 
 Manual of Parliamentary Law, " War- 
 rington's," 155, 
 
 Mason and Slidell at Fort Wan-en, 272, 
 
 Masonry. " Warrington's" oijposiiion to, 
 13, 362. 
 
 May, Samuel J., 39, IIG. 
 
 McClollan, George B., 109, 276, 277, 290, 
 302. 
 
 Meade, Gen. George G., 295. 
 
 Medical and other jargon, 330. 
 
 Mexican war, 30. 
 
 Middlesex club, .'JM, 
 
 Middlesex-county convention (1842), 28, 
 
 Miles, Kev. George \)., 151, 
 
 Missiiuri Couiproniise, 92. 
 
 Monitor, Concord, N.ll. (1864), 113. 
 
 Monroe, George 11., 17, 135, 340, 078, 393; 
 obituary on " Warrinjjcon," 175. 
 
 Morrill, Lot M., .025, 
 
 Motley, Tlioiiiius, 4.'^9. 
 
 Munroe, William, 11. 
 
 Murray, John, and Walter Balfour, 16. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nasby, Petroleum V., 57. 
 Nesniith, John, 120, 
 Norfolk Advertiser (Dedham, 1837), 17. 
 Northami)ton water-cure, 158, 
 Noyes, Samuel B,, 17. 
 
 o. 
 
 Old editors, review of, 496. 
 Ohio electiou of 1875, 394. 
 
 P. 
 
 Palfrey, Dr. J. G.,38, 47, 204, 232, 416, 517, 
 643. 
 
 Paris, Letter from, 371. 
 
 Parlier, De.xter F., 230, 
 
 Parker. ,Ioel, 2.''3, 28G, 
 
 Parker, S, I), (see Burns, rendition of). 
 
 Parker, Theodore, 10. 40, 62. 199, 206, 207, 
 210, 222; biography of, 506. 
 
 Pecker, James (.sv-e "Cogswell family), 
 will of, Appendix A. 
 
 People's party, 2s4. 
 
 " People's Union," 219. 
 
 Personal-liberty Act, 55, 93; defeat of, 
 232. 
 
 Petigru, Justinian (see Political Situation 
 in 1875). 
 
 Philli|is, Stephen C, 29, 30, 47. 232, 482, 
 517, 543 ; biography of, 505 (see Free- 
 Soil party). 
 
 Phillips, Wendell. '16, 62. 71, 93, 98, 111, 
 130, 131. l;i9, 206, 207, 443, 444, 463, 
 481, .502, 517 ; biogi-aphv of, .502, 
 
 Phoenix, John (George IL' Derby), 23,57, 
 534, 
 
 Pierce, FrankUn (President), 197, 543. 
 
 Pierce, llenrv L., 85, 80, 104, 221, 
 
 I'illsburv. Parker, 199, 484. 
 
 Pitman, Robert C, 2.30, 3.35, 
 
 P, L. L. partv (a liquor org.anization), 
 115, :n:x,3ii, 421. 
 
 Police, State, history of, 330, 
 
 Political hi>torv in" 1801-62, 287-; from 
 ISOs to ls71,"322-.".30, 333, 3.i9, 343, 348; 
 situation in 1874, 3)<0-3S0; in 1875, 
 o^0-.'!90; predicted situation in 1876, 
 396 399, 
 
 Polter,'Uobert K,, 124. 
 
 Pritchard, Lieut,-Col. B. D. (Fourth 
 Michigan), 110. 
 
 Prohibitory Liquor Law, " Warring- 
 ton's " opposition to, 115; history or, 
 333. 
 
 R. 
 
 Radical Club, 461, 506, 
 
 liantoul, Uobert, 193, 194, 488; biogra- 
 phy of. 512, 
 
 Red pat li, .lames. 248 ; obituarj- on " War- 
 rington," 1.53, 
 
 Reform party, the coming (1876), ,396. 
 
 Republieaii, Boston Daily, 39. 42, 60; se- 
 lections from, 1S5, 180, 505, 
 
 Republican, Concord (.we Yeoman's Ga- 
 zette), 
 
 Republican party, 69; conventions of. 
 63; comes iiito power (1802), 102; 
 naming of, 2.'!.'!; predicted clfect of 
 (iraufs rc-olcetiou on, 357; status 
 in ls74, .'{so-iisc; predictions concprn- 
 iiig its coiiliniiaiiee in power, 384, 
 3.'*."i. .381! ; •• reform inside llie party" 
 (1875). 387, 'J'Xi (sn- reform parly)." 
 
 Republican, Springtield (sec " Waning- 
 ton " letters, and Bowles, Sanmel). 
 
 Reynolds, Rev. Griudall. remarks at 
 •' Warrington's" funeral, 169. 
 
 Ripley, Dr., 2, 7, 14, 15, 66, 560. 
 
 Ripley, JMi-s. Samuel, 4!tl, 
 
 Robinson family, history of, 2. 
 
 Robin.son, Elbridgo Gerry (brother of 
 " Wai-rington '), 17; biography of, 
 614 (see Appendix L>). 
 
INDEX. 
 
 585 
 
 Robinson, John P.. 32. 
 Robinson, William S. (see ' ' 'Warring- 
 ton"). 
 Rockwell, Judge Juliu.s, 509. 
 Rodman, Lieut.-Col., death of, 293. 
 Rome, letter from, 371. 
 Russell, George R., 206. 
 Russell, Thomas, 299, 428, 433. 
 
 s. 
 
 Salary Grab, pamphlet wiitten in 1873, 
 141 (see Butler. B. F:). 
 
 Saltonstall, Leverett, 95, 243. 
 
 Sanborn, F. B., reminiscences of "'War- 
 rington," ix; 71, 121, 144, 147, 248; 
 obituary of '• Warrington," 172. 
 
 Schouler, 'William, 22, 25, 28, 31, 32 ; biog- 
 raphy of, 527. 
 
 Schurz, Carl, reasons for supporting 
 Greelev, 355; inflation platform in 
 Ohio, .394 ; dinner given to, 395 ; first 
 visit to Boston, 544. 
 
 Scott, James (see Shadrach, rescue of). 
 
 Scott, Gen. Winfield, 9G, 2G9. 
 
 "Secesh joint " in the steamship Missis- 
 sippi, 97. 
 
 Secret societies, rascalities of, 218. 
 
 Sewall, Samuel E., 193, 200, 432. 
 
 Seymour, Horatio, 323 (see Democratic 
 party). 
 
 Seward, William H., 232, 242, 276, 417, 
 624. 
 
 Shadrach, rescue of, 46, 71, 191. 
 
 Sharkev, the unjust judge, 531. 
 
 Shaw, Col. Robert G., Ill, 293, 297. 
 
 Shillaber, B. P. (Mrs. Partington), 57, 
 147 ; biography of, 530. 
 
 Sims case (1.S51), 46, 192, 193. 
 
 Slack, Charles W., 106, 379. 
 
 Smith, Genitt, 404, 519. 
 
 Smith, Thomas P. (see Shadrach, rescue 
 of). 
 
 Social Circle (Concord), 3, 4, 74, 76. 
 
 Southern literature, 211. 
 
 Spolford, R. S.. 309, 444. 
 
 Spooner, William B., 61, 335. 
 
 Springfield Republican (see Republican) . 
 
 Squatter sovereignty, 92, 230. 
 
 Stansbury, E. A. (see Free-Soil party). 
 
 Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, 426. 
 
 State constabulary (l.s60), history of, 336. 
 
 Statesmen and politicians, distinction 
 between, 346. 
 
 Stearns, George L., 94, 106, 299; biograr 
 phy of, 522. 
 
 Stebbings, Ensign Jehiel (the typical 
 Ijolitical trimmer), 57; how he re- 
 ceived the vote of Maine, 244, 338, 
 538 ; biography of, 533-541 ; his plat- 
 fonn, 535; Shabbakin Stebbings 
 Club, 539. 
 
 Stebbings calculation on woman-suf- 
 frage, 117. 
 
 Stewart, A. T., 435. 
 
 Stone, F. M., 1.38. 
 
 Stone, Lucv,463. 
 
 Stowe, William, 104, 121 : biography of, 
 525. 
 
 Straight-Republican party, 64, 86, 87, W, 
 
 220; fate of, 222 (see Know-Nothing 
 party). 
 
 Stump-speaking inaugurated in New 
 England, 20. 
 
 Sumner, Charles, his position in the 
 antislavery cause, 30, 40, 91, 184, 232; 
 election to Congress. 55, 194, 220, 433; 
 acquaintance witli " Warrington," 
 56; speaks against rendition of 
 Bums, 62; assaulted in the Senate, 
 65, 216; his confidence in Lincoln, 
 280, 284, 306 ; opposition to him, 283 ; 
 elected for the third time, 120, 126; 
 letter to him from "Warrington" 
 (1872), 351; position in Butler cam- 
 
 reminiscences of, 400, 402; biogra- 
 phy of, 517. 
 
 Sumter, Fort. 05. 
 
 Supreme Judicial Court, 509 (see "Wheel- 
 grease, Judge). 
 
 Swan, Dr. Caleb, of Eaaton, 221, 223, 429. 
 
 Sweetser, T. II., 345. 
 
 Swift, John L., 206. 308, 420, 428. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tarbox, John K., 393, 422. 
 
 Tavlor, Charles H., 137, 359. 
 
 Taylor, Zachary, 35, 45, 186. 
 
 Telegraph, Boston, 61; selections from, 
 
 210-213. 
 Texas, annexation of, 29, 30. 
 Thayer, Adin, 126. 
 Thayer, Eli, 92. 
 Thayer, William S., 85. 
 Thomas, Seth J., 192, 193, 208. 
 Thompson, Charles P., 391. 
 Thoreau, Henry D, 1, 12, 21, 67. 
 Thoreau, John (father), 65, 68. 
 Thoreau, John (son), 12, 21. 
 Tilden, Samuel J., 394-306. 
 Tithingmen, when abolished, 15. 
 Tocsin (a campaign paper in 1861), 93, 
 
 94, 98. 
 Toombs, Robert, 214. 
 Torrey, Charles T., 25, 26. 
 Train, Charles R., 20. 
 Transcendentalists, The, 16. 
 Traveller consolidation, 83, 84. 
 Tremont-temple mob, 247. 
 Tribune, New- York, "Gilbert" letters 
 
 in, 82; "Warrington" letters in, 
 
 99, 114; selections from, 225, 247-252 
 
 (see Greeley, Horace) , 
 
 u. 
 
 "Union-saving," 96. 
 Universalism (see Murray, John). 
 
 V. 
 
 ■Van Buren, Martin, 35, 39. 
 ■Viiginia Peace Commission, 94. 
 
586 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 w. 
 
 Waitt, Caleb, 104. 
 
 Warland, John II. (see Manche!>ti'r 
 Anieripaii). 
 
 Warner, Oliver, 114. 
 
 War of tlio nhclliin), opening of, flr>; 
 battle of IJiill Klin, %, 2U7; review 
 of, 10.<;-11'2, 2.-.v:;0l; 8tate of the 
 country in l.s(il, 2j3; pur|)ose of, 2,")S; 
 spirit of the pcoiile dining, 201 ; 
 progress of, 271 ; landing at Beaufort. 
 271 ; " in war-time," 277 ; battle ol" 
 Antietam, 25-0. 2n3; Emancipation 
 Proclamation, 280-2.10; battle of Get- 
 tysburg, 2!)4 ; Fort Wagner and the 
 Fifty-foiu-ih, 290; end of tlie tbiid 
 year" of, 2'.ni; South Carolina's po-^i- 
 tion,.3i)n; end of the war, 304. 
 
 Warren, William Wirt, 340. 
 
 "Warrington," ancestry, 1-7; liow re- 
 lated to K. W. Emei-son, 3; connee- 
 tion with Phillips and Cogswell 
 families, 4; birth (1S18), 7; early 
 characteristics, 8; hoyliood, S-ll; 
 e.arly education, 8; a "composition, 
 9; opinion of a college cihication. 
 10, 11 ; school-life, 11 ; first antislave- 
 ry reading, 13; attends Ids ilrst 
 convention (anti-Masonic), l.'J; en- 
 ters a print ing-ofliee, U; youth. 15- 
 24; church-going, l.">; works '' at the 
 case" for his Inollier in Dedhain, 
 and writes his lirst .arliclo, 17 ; editor 
 of the Yeoman's Gazette in Con- 
 cord, 18; .abolition opinions.];); Whig 
 delegate to Baltimore Convention of 
 1840, 19; character of his news- 
 
 gaper, 21; sells it (1842), and writes 
 is " last words," 22; becoiivs assist- 
 ant editor of the Lowell Courier 
 and Journal, 25; .a Washington cor- 
 respondent, 25; opposition to the 
 " Tcxius iniquity," 2!); edits the Man- 
 chester (N.H.)" American. 29; takes 
 full charge of the Courier. 31; liLs 
 appearau<'0 and characteristics in 
 1840, 32; las prospects in ls4s, 3.">; 
 
 J)osition on the slavery question, 30; 
 eaves the Courier, and becomes 
 editor of the Boston Republican, 
 37; first acquaintance with Sanniel 
 Bowles, 38; marriage. 40; leaves the 
 Republican, and becomes editor of 
 tlie 1-owell American, 41, 42.44-52; 
 home-life, 48; sickness, 60; his opin- 
 ion of the law, 53; of journalism, hi ; 
 elected to the legislature of 1852, 
 64; connection with the CarpetrHag. 
 67; connection with the New-York 
 Evening Post, 58 ; pecuniary troubles, 
 68; death of Lowell American, 00; 
 becomes editor of Boston Cominon- 
 ■wealth and Telegraph. 00; his oppo- 
 sition to the Know-Nothings. 03; 
 writes for Fitchburg Ueveillo anil 
 Worcester Sjiy, 0.'>, 91 ; returns to 
 Concord, C5; "contliiion in life in 
 1854-57, 05; his life and ncquidnfc- 
 ances in Concord, 00-77; connnences 
 "Warrington" letters, 78; manner 
 of writing, bOj becomes correspond- 
 
 ent of Xew-York Tribinie (1^57), 
 82; "Traveller consolidation," 83; 
 "out of work," S."); writes " Boy- 
 thurn" letters, and for the Congro- 
 tioMMlist ;ni(l Zion's Herald. H\; edits 
 •■ Sliaighl Itepublican," s7; removes 
 to Maiden. 87; death of his son, 87; 
 clerk of counnission on revision of 
 statutes, 88; offcreil situation on 
 New-York Tribune, 89; writes for 
 the r.ee. 91; lettei-s on "Squatter 
 Sovereignty." 92; opposition to Vir- 
 ginia Comnnssion, 94; eilits cam- 
 paign papers, and writes pamphlets, 
 iC, 98; earlyopiinonson the war, i»6; 
 " out of work'" again (1801). 98; writes 
 for the Atl.inlic .Monthly, m, 131; 
 price received for letter, 99; declines 
 asking for an olliee. 102; elected 
 clerk of the Massachusetts House of 
 l!(>;>r<'sentalives, 102-lO.j; ins salary, 
 101! ; writes for Connnonwealth, loii; 
 secretaiT of l.'epuliliean .state Com- 
 nnttee from 1K03-I8i;8, 107, 112; pre- 
 sented with gold watch and chain, 
 112; re-elected clerk, 113; starts the 
 Concord cN.H.) Monitor, 113; urged 
 to become eandiilato for secretary 
 of state. 114; connection witli the 
 JSprinj^liehl Kepubliean, 114, ll,->; 
 opposition to prohibition, 115; posi- 
 ti(ui on woman-suffrage question, 
 110-119; edits the Hartford Courant 
 (180s), 119; o[)inion of (Ininfs elec- 
 tion. 120; reception on his liftieth 
 birth<lay, 120; his time of power, 
 V17)\ his sea-shore resort. 125; per- 
 sonality of his writings, 120; contro- 
 ve)-sies"with Bishop llaven, 127; his 
 opinion of his own labors, 127; do- 
 mestic life while clerk, 128, 130; per- 
 sonal appearance in l.'-C.'>-1807, 128; 
 writes lirst review of Wendell Phil- 
 lips in the Butler campaign, 131 ; his 
 light against Butler, 131-144 (.see 
 Butler, B. F.) ; signs call for Cincin- 
 nati Convention (1872), 135; letter to 
 Charles Sumner on i)olitieal situa- 
 tion in 1872, 354 ; opinicm of Greeley's 
 nomination, 135; his health (in 1872), 
 130; defeated as clerk of tlie House, 
 1.17-140; his .account of the causes 
 of his defeat, .T)9; employed on the 
 Boston Journal, 1 10; writes the " Sal- 
 ary Grab," 141 ; defeats Butler the 
 seeonil time, 143; his he.-ilth at the 
 end of the campaign, 144; his silver 
 wedding, 144; sails for Europe, 148; 
 life abroa<l, 149; his health on his 
 return, l.')! ; "out of work " again, 
 144; premature obituaries, l.')2; pub- 
 lishes his Mainial of I'iiriianientaiy 
 Law. 155; at the Northampton 
 water-cure, 157; progress and char- 
 acter of his dise.xsc, 1.5!1-100; a favor- 
 ite poem, 10:1 ; his belief in immor- 
 tality, 102; his strange visions. 104; 
 his own view of his health. 105; bis 
 death, 105; memorial tributes, 107- 
 180. 
 'Warrington" letters first appeared, 
 38; nom declaim, whence chosen, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 587 
 
 79; history and character of, 78-101 ; 
 price paiii* for, 90 ; attempt to alter 
 them, 100; coined into Boston Com- 
 monwealth, 107 ; selections from, 
 183, 2U-L'li5, 227-247, 251-304, 308- 
 354, 359-0G8, 380-405 (see Appendix 
 B). 
 
 Webb, Setli, jun., 17. 
 
 Webster, Daniel, position in the Free- 
 Soil movement, 30, 187, 189, 190, 191, 
 195, 257; political death and apos- 
 tasy, 45, 46, 196, 197, 502; juvenile 
 movement for, 195; as a politician, 
 ' 347; reminiscence of, 404; biography 
 of, 515. 
 
 Wells, George D,, 230. 
 
 Wheelgreaso, Judge, liis first appear- 
 ance, 55s ; his opinion on the woman 
 question, 554. 
 
 Whig, Boston Daily (see Republican, 
 Boston). 
 
 Whig party (in 1842). 28, 29, 30, 47; and 
 the coalition, 198-205, 432; letter to 
 the Whigs, 21)1. 
 
 Whiting, ReV. l.yman, 436. 
 
 Whiting, William, 14. 
 
 Whittier, John G., 37, 38, 47, 146, 531 (see 
 Free-Soil party). 
 
 Wilmot, David, 187 (.?ce Free-Soil party). 
 
 Wilson, Henry, position in the Free-Soil 
 movement, and among the Whigs, 
 20, 29, 41, 4r,, 50, G3, 93, 204, 232; in 
 the Butler campaign, 1.33 ; letters to 
 " Warrington," 41, 93. 139. 14G; rem- 
 iniscence's of, 400, 405; biography of, 
 541. 
 
 Winthiop, Robert C, 30, 194, 231, 232, 
 
 238, 248, 309, 415, 416, 429, 483, 489. 517, 
 529. 
 
 Wise, Henry A., 27, 298, 524. 
 
 Woman's antislavery society (Concord), 
 members of, 73. 
 
 Woman-sulfrage, 11; a reform, 40, 44; 
 petition fir.st presented to the logisla- 
 tureof Massachusetts (18.53), 110,403; 
 " Warrington's " position in regard 
 to, 116-119, 420; calculation concern- 
 ing, 117; Gov. Andrew's suggestion 
 concerning " anxious and aimless " 
 women, 110; gain in l^ngland, 370; 
 woman's sphere, .547 : suffrage ,1 
 right, 51S-554; v/omen Themselves to 
 decide the question, 549; free play, 
 551: argumcnt.s .against, refuted, 550, 
 551 ; can women hold judicial office? 
 Judge Wheclgrease's oiiinion on 
 (1871), 554; Harvard College against 
 suffrage and co-education, 5.59: 
 woman's independence in 1776 and 
 1870, 5G1 ; the cause gaining, 563. 
 
 Wood, Fernando, 250. 
 
 Wood, Rev. Horatio (of Lowell), 9. 
 
 Woodbury, Charles Levi, 346. 
 
 Worcester Convention (1848), 183. 
 
 Wright, Elizur, GO, 72, 83, 94, 184, 185, 273, 
 305, 418. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yeoman's Gazette (Concord, 1839), 14, 18, 
 
 20, 21, 25. 
 Young, John Russell, 86. 
 Young men of 1875, opinions of, 390. 
 
L 7'U 
 
 1- ■' ; 
 
014 012 923 9