s _• >. o Z 3 o .^ ;=; - ■"<£ BATTLE "fBRANDYWlNE VU.ITE «7"p«icc 1778. It was a period of great discouragement and suffering. The army was in a state of destitution, which Washington did not dare to proclaim abroad, l^sJr the foe should rush upon him in his helplessness. In this dark hour France came forward to our aid ; recognizing our inde pendence, entering into a friendly alliance with us, and sending both a fleet and an army to our support. The British army in New York and Philadelphia amounted to thirty thousand men. The whole American army did not Qy.ze.ed fifteen thousand. But the British, apprehensive that a French fleet might soon appear, and thus endanger the troops in Philadelphia, evacuated the city, and the troops commenced their march through New Jersey. The cold of wint^' had given place to the heat of summer. LEE'S TREACHERY. 47 Washington followed close in the rear of the foe, watching for a chance to strike. The 28th of June, 1778, was a day of intense heat. Not a breath of air was stirring, while an unclouded sun poured down its blistering rays upon pursuers and pursued. The British troops were at Monmouth. The march of one more day would so unite them with the army in New York that % they would be safe W \SHINr,TON RFPROMNG LEE AT MONMOUTH. to his sible from attack. General Lee, with five thousand men, \\as in the advance. Washington sent orders to him immediately to ^ — 1 commence the onset, with the assurance that he would hasten support. As Washington was pressing eagerly forward, to his inexpres^ chagrin he met General Lee at the head of his troops, in full retreat. It 48 GEORGE WASHINGTON. is said that Washineton, with oreat vehemence of manner and utterance, cried out, "General Lee, what means this ill-timed prudence?" The retreating General threw back an angry retort. But it was no time for altercation. Washington turned to the men. They greeted him with cheers. At his com- mand they wheeled about and charged the enemy. A sanguinary battle ensued, and the English were driven from the field. The colonists slept upon their arms, prepared to renew the battle in the morning. When the morning dawned, no foe was to be seen. The British had retreated in the night, leaving three hundred of their dead behind them. The Americans lost but sixty-nine. DARK DAYS OF THE WAR. Another cold and cheerless winter came. The British remained within their lines at New York. They sent agents, however, to the Six Nations of Indians, to arm them against our defenseless frontier. These fierce savages, accompanied by Tory bands, perpetrated horrors too dreadful for recital. The massacres of Cherry Valley and of Wyoming were among the most awful trage- dies ever witnessed on this globe. The narrative of these fiendish deeds sent a thrill of horror through Engfland as well as America. Four thousand men were sent by Washington into the wilderness, to arrest, if possible, these massacres. The savages and their allies were driven to Niagara, where they were received into an English fortress. General Clinton commenced a vigorous prosecution of a system of violence and plunder upon defenseless towns and farm-houses. The sky was reddened with wanton conflagration. Women and children were driven houseless into the fields. The flourishing towns of Fairfield and Norwalk, in Connecticut, were reduced to ashes. While the enemy was thus ravaging that defenseless State, Washington planned an expedition against Stony Point, on the Hudson, which was held by the British. General Wayne conducted the enterprise, on the night of the 15th of luly, with great gallantry and success. Sixty-three of the British were killed, tiVG hundred and forty-three were taken prisoners, and all the military stores of the fortress captured. During this summer campaign the American army was never sufficiently strong to take the offensive. It was, however, incessantly employed striking blows upon the English wherever the eagle eye of Washington could discern an exposed spot. The winter of 1779 set in early, and with unusual severity. The American irmy was in such a starving condition that Washington was compelled to make the utmost exertions to save his wastinof band from annihilation These lono years of war and woe filled many even of the most sanguine hearts with despair. Not a few patriots deemed it madness for the colonies, impoverished as they were, any longer to contend against the richest and most powerful nation upon ihe orlobe. General Arnold, who was at this time in command at West Point, THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 49 saw no hope for his country. Believing the ship to be sinking, he turned traitor, and offered to sell his fortress to the English. The treason was detected, but the traitor escaped ; and the lamented Andre, who had been lured into the position of a spy, became the necessary victim of Arnold's crime. Lord Cornwallis was now, with a well-provided army and an assisting navy, overrunning the two Carolinas. General Greene was sent, with all the force which Washington could spare, to watch and harass the invaders, and to furnish the inhabitants with all the protection in his power. Lafayette was in the vicinity of New York, with his eagle eye fixed upon the foe, ready to pounce upon any detachment which presented the slightest exposure. Washington was everywhere, with patriotism which never flagged, with hope which never failed, cheering the army, animating the inhabitants, rousing Congress, and guiding with his well-balanced mind both military and civil legislation. Thus the dreary year of 1780 lingered away. As the spring of 1781 opened, the war was renewed. The British directed their chief attention to the South, which was far weaker than the North. Rich- mond, in Virginia, was laid in ashes ; and a general system of devastation and plunder prevailed. The enemy ascended the Chesapeake and the Potomac with armed vessels. They landed at Mount Vernon. The manager of the estate, to save the mansion from pillage and flames, furnished them with abun* dant supplies. Washington was much displeased. He wrote to his agent : — "It would have been a less painful circumstance to me to have heard that, in consequence of your non-compliance with their request, they had burned my house and laid the plantation in ruins. You ought to have considered yourself as my representative, and should have reflected on the bad example of commu- nicating with the enemy, and making a voluntary offer of refreshments to them, with a view to prevent a conflagration." Lord Cornwallis was now at Yorktown, in Virginia, but a few miles from Chesapeake Bay. There was no force in his vicinity seriously to annoy him. Washington resolved, in conjunction with our allies from France, to make a bold movement for his capture. An army of six thousand men, under Count Rochambeau, had been sent by France to aid the American cause. This army with the French fleet, were most important aids to Washington. He succeeded in deceiving the English into the belief that he was making great preparations ^or the siege of New York. Thus they were prevented from rendering any aid !:o Yorktown. By rapid marches from the neighborhood of New York Washington has- tened to Virginia. Early in September Lord Cornwallis, as he arose one mora ing, was amazed to find himself surrounded by the bayonets and batteries of the Americans. At about the same hour the French fleet appeared. In invincible strength, before the harbor. Cornwalh ' was caught. There was no escape: 4 MEETING OF WASHINGTON AND KOCHAV.3EAU. THE TRIUMPH AT YORKTOWN. 51 there was no retreat. Neither by land nor by sea could he obtain any supplies. Shot and shell soon began to fall thickly into his lines. Famine stared him ia the face. After a few days of hopeless conflict, on the 19th of October, 1781, he was compelled to surrender. Seven thousand British veterans laid dowa their arms. One hundred and sixty pieces of cannon, with corresponding mili- tary stores, graced the triumph. When the British soldiers were marching from their intrenchments to lay down their arms, Washington thus addressed his troops : " My brave fellows, let no sensation of satisfaction for the triumphs you have gained induce you to insult your fallen enemy. Let no shouting, no clamorous huzzaing, increase their mortification. Posterity will huzza for us." This glorious capture roused renewed hope and vigor all over the country. The joyful tidings reached Philadelphia at midnight. A watchman traversed the streets, shoutine at intervals, "Past twelve o'clock, and Cornwallis is taken'" Candles were lighted ; windows thrown up ; figures in night-robes and night-caps bent eagerly out to catch the thrilling sound : shouts were raised ; citizens rushed into the streets, half clad, — they wept; they laughed. The news flew upon the wings of the wind, nobody can tell how , and the shout of an enfranchised people rose, like a roar of thunder, from our whole land. With such a victory, repub- lican America would never again yield to the aristocratic government of England, Early in May, 1782, the British Cabinet opened negotiations for peace. Hostilities were, by each party, tacitly laid aside. Negotiations were protracted in Paris during the summer and the ensuing winter. Early in the following spring the joyful tidings arrived that a treaty of peace had been signed at Paris. The intelligence was communicated to the American army on the 19th of April. 1783, — just eight years from the day when the conflict was commenced on the Common at Lexington. Late in November the British evacuated New York, entered their ships, and sailed for their distant island. Washington, marching from West Point, entered the city as our vanquished foes departed. America was free and inde- pendent. Washington was the savior of his country. After an affecting farewell to the officers of the army, Washington set out for his Virginia home. At every town and village he was received with love and gratitude. At Annapolis he met the Continental Congress, where he was to resign his commission. It was the 23d of December, 1783. All the members of Congress, and a large concourse of spectators, were present. His address closed with the following words : — " Havino; now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the o-reat theatre of action, and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life." 52 GEORGE WASHINGTON. The next day he returned to Mount Vernon, where he expected to spend the remainder of his days as a private citizen. This, however, could nor be. The wisdom and abiHty of which he had given such abundant proof was soon required once more in his country's service. The great problem which now engrossed all minds was the consolidation of the thirteen States into a nation. To this subject Washington, who had suffered so intensely from the inefficiency of the -Continental Congress, devoted his most anxious attention. A convention was called in the year 1787. Washington was a delegate from Virginia, and was unanimously chosen to preside over its deliberations. The result was the present Constitution of the United States ; which created a nation from the people of all the States, with supreme powers for all the purposes of a general government, and leaving with the States those questions of local law in which the integrity of the nation was not involved. The Constitution of the United States is, in the judgment of the millions of the American people, the most sagacious document which has ever emanated from uninspired minds. It has created the strongest government upon this globe. It has made the United States of America what they now are. The world must look at the fruit, and wonder and admire. FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE NEW NATION. Upon the adoption of the. Constitution all eyes were turned to Washington as chief magistrate. By the unanimous voice of the Electors he was chosen the first President of the United States. There was probably scarcely a dissentient voice in the nation. New York was then the seat of Qrovernment. As Wash- ington left Mount Vernon for the metropolis to assume these new duties of toil and care, we find recorded in his journal : — "About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life, and to domestic felicity ; and, with a mind oppressed with more anxious and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for New^ York, with the best disposition to render service to my country in obedience to its call, but with less hopes of answering its expectations," On his journey to New York Washington was met and escorted by crowds of people, who made his progress a march of triumph. At Trenton a beautiful arch, decorated with flowers, spanned the road, commemorating his victory over the Hessians in 1776. His path was strewn with flowers, and troops of children sang songs of welcome. Washington was inaugurated President of the United States on the 30th of April, 1789. He remained in the presidential chair two terms of four years each. At the close of his administration, in the year 1796, he again retired to the peaceful shades of Mount Vernon. Soon after his return he wrote a letter to a friend, in which he described the manner in which he passed his time. He rose with the sun, and first made preparations for the business of the day. PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 53 •' By the time I have accomplished these matters," he adds, " breakfast is ready. This being over, I mount my horse, and ride round my farms, which employs me until it is time to dress for dinner, at which I rarely miss to see strange faces, come, as they say, out of respect to me. And how different is this from having a few friends at the social board ! The usual time of sitting at table, a walk, and tea, bring me within the dawn of candle-light ; previous to which, if not prevented by company, I resolve that, as soon as the glimmering taper supplies the place of the great luminary, I will retire to my writing-table, and acknowledge the letters I have received. Having given you this history of a day, it will serve for a year." The following anecdotes have been related, illustrative of President Wash- ington's habits of punctuality. Whenever he assigned to meet Congress at noon, he seldom failed of passing the door of the hall when the clock struck twelve. His dining-hour was at four o'clock, when he always sat down to his table, whether his guests were assembled or not, merely allowing five minutes for the variation of time-pieces. To those who came late, he remarked, "Gen- tlemen, we are punctual here : my cook never asks whether the company has arrived, but whether the hour has." Captain Pease had a beautiful span of horses, which he wished to sell to the President. The President appointed five o'clock in the morning to examine them at his stable. The Captain arrived with his span at quarter past five. He was told by the groom that the President was there at five o'clock, but was then gone to attend to other engagements. The President's time was wholly occu- pied for several days, so that Captain Pease had to remain a whole week in Philadelphia before he could get another opportunity to exhibit his span. Washington, having inherited a large landed estate in Virginia, was, as a matter of course, a slaveholder. The whole number which he held at the time of his death was one hundred and twenty-four. The system met his strong disapproval. In 1786 he wrote to Robert Morris, saying, "There is no man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the aboli- tion of slavery." Long before this he had recorded his resolve : "I never mean, unless some particular circumstances should compel me to it, to possess another slave by purchase ; it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted by which slavery in this country may be abolished by law." Mrs. Washington, immediately after her husband's death, learning from his will that the only obstacle to the immediate emancipation of the slaves was her right of dower, immediately relinquished that right, and the slaves were at once emancipated. The 1 2th of December, 1799, was chill and damp. Washington, however, took his usual round on horseback to his farms, and returned late in the after* 54 GEORGE WASHINGTON. noon, wet with sleet, and shivering with cold. Though the snow was clinging to his hair behind when he came in, he sat down to dinner without changing his dress. The next day three inches of snow whitened the ground, and the sky was clouded. Washington, feeling that he had taken cold, remained by the fire- side during the morning. As it cleared up in the afternoon, he went out to THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON AT MOUNT VERNON. 'superintend some work upon the lawn. He was then hoarse, and the hoarse ness increased as night came on. He, however, took no remedy for it, saying. ♦' I never take anything to carry off a cold. Let it go as it came." He passed the evening as usual, reading the papers, answering letters, and conversing with his family. About two o'clock the next morning, Saturday, the LAST HOURS. 55 f4th, he awoke in an ague-chill, and was seriously unwell. At sunrise his physician, Dr. Craig, who resided at Alexandria, was sent for. In the mean- time he was bled by one of his overseers, but with no relief, as he rapidly grew worse. Dr. Craig reached Mount Vernon at eleven o'clock, and immediately bled his patient again, but without effect. Two consulting physicians arrived during the day ; and, as the difficulty in breathing and swallowing rapidly increased, venesection was again attempted. It is evident that Washington then considered his case doubtful. He examined his will, and destroyed some papers which he did not wish to have preserved. His sufferinQTs from inflammation of the throat and struofQ^linof for breath, as the afternoon wore away, became quite severe. Still, he retained his mental faculties unimpaired, and spoke briefly of his approaching death and burial. About four o'clock in the afternoon he said to Dr. Craig", " I die hard ; but I am not afraid to go. I believed, from my first attack, that I should not survive it : my breath cannot last long." About six o'clock, his physician asked him if he would sit up in his bed. He held out his hands, and was raised up on his pillow, when he said. " I feel that I am going. I thank you for your attentions. You had better not take any more trouble about me, but let me go off quietly. I cannot last lonof." He then sank back upon his pillow, and made several unavailing attempts to speak intelligibly. About ten o'clock he said, "I am just going. Have me decently buried, and do not let my body be put into the vault until three days after I am dead. Do you understand me?" To the reply, "Yes, sir," he remarked, "It is well." These were the last words he uttered. Soon after thi^ he gently expired, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. At the moment of his death Mrs. Washingfton sat in silent orrief at the fooi of his bed. "Is he gone?" she asked, in a firm and collected voice. The physician, unable to speak, gave a silent signal of assent. " 'Tis well," she added, in the same untremulous utterance. "All is now over. I shall soon follow him. I have no more trials to pass through." On the 1 8th his remains were deposited in the tomb at Mount Vernon, where they still repose ; and his name and memory live on immortal, A^revet enshrined in the hearts of a grateful people. " How sleep the brave who sink to rest By all their country's wishes blest ! By fairy hands their knell is rung ; By forms unseen their dirge is sung ; There Honor conies, a pilgrim gray, To bless the turf that wraps their clay j And Freedom shall awhile repair To dwell, a weeping hermit, there." BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, THE INVENTOR, PHILOSOPHER, AND STATESIVIAN. -P O ONE," says a well-known writer, "ever started trom a lower point than the poor apprentice of Boston ; no one ever raised himself higher by his own un- aided forces than the inventor of the lightnino-rod. Better than the biographies of Plutarch, this life, so long and so well filled, is a source of perpetual instruction to all men. Every one can there find counsel and example." Franklin's autobiography is one of the most fascinating books in the language. It has the charm of style common to all of his writings ; and no one who has opportunity should miss reading this unrivaled book. It was undertaken at first for the edification of the members of his own family, and afterward continued at the pressing request of friends in London and Paris. His autobiography, however, covers only the first fifty years of his life. For three hundred years at least Franklin's family lived in the village of Ecton, in Northamptonshire, England, the eldest son, who inherited the propert)', being always brought up to the trade of a smith. Franklin himself "was the youngest son of the youngest son for five generations back." Franklin's father, Josiah, took his wife and three children to New England in 1682, where he practiced the trade of a tallow-chandler and soap-boiler. Franklin was born in 1706, and was the youngest of seventeen children. Benjamin being the youngest of ten sons, his father intended him for the Church, and sent him to school when eight years of age. Although he made very rapid progress in the school, his father concluded he could not afford a college education. At the age often young Benjamin was taken home to assist in cuttinor the wicks of candles, and otherwise to make himself useful. Until twelve years of age Benjamin continued in his father's business, but as he manifested a great dislike for it, his parents set about finding some trade more congenial to his tastes. With this view his father took him to see various artificers at their work, that he might observe the tastes of the boy. This 59 6o BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. experience was very valuable to him, as it taught him to do many little jobs fol himself. During this time Benjamin spent most of his pocket-money in purchas- ing books, some of which he sold when he had read them, in order to buy others. He read through most of the books in his father's very limited library. At lenoth Franklin's fondness for books caused his father to decide to make him a printer. His brother James had already entered that business, and had set up in Boston. He signed his indentures when only twelve years old, apprenticing himself to his brother until the age of twenty-one. Meeting with a book on vegetarianism, Franklin determined to give the system a trial. This led to some inconvenience in his brother's housekeeping, so Franklin proposed to board himself if his brother would give him half the sum he paid for his board. Out of this he was able to save a considerable amount for the purpose of buying books. Moreover, the time required for his meals was now so short that the dinner-hour afforded considerable leisure for reading. In 1720 or 1 72 1 James Franklin began to print the New Englmid Courant. To this paper, which he helped to compose and print, Benjamin became an anonymous contributor. The members of the staff spoke highly of his contribu- tions, but when the authorship became known, James conceived a jealousy of his younger brother, which led to their separation. An article in the paper having offended the Assembly, James was imprisoned for a month, and forbidden to print the paper. He then secretly freed Benjamin from his indentures, in order that the paper might be published in his name. At length, a disagreement arising, Benjamin took advantage of the canceling of his indentures to quit his brother's service. As he could get no employment in Boston, he obtained a passage to New York, whence he was recommended to go to Philadelphia, which he reached after a very troublesome journey. His whole stock of cash then consisted of 9^ Dutch dollar and about a shilling's worth of coppers. His first appearance in Philadelphia, about eight o'clock on a Sunday morning, was certainly striking, A youth between seventeen and eighteen years of age, dressed in his working clothes, which were dirty through his journey, with his pockets stuffed out with stockings and shirts, his aspect was not calculated to command respect. "I walked up the street," he writes, "gazing about, till near the market- house I met a boy with bread. I had made many a meal on bread, and, inquir- ing where he got it, I went immediately to the baker's he directed me to, on Second street, and ask'd for bisket, intending such as we had in Boston ; but they, it seems, were not made in Philadelphia. Then I asked for a threepenny loaf, and was told they had none such. So, not considering or knowing the dif ference of money, and the greater cheapness, nor the name of his bread, I bade him give me three-penny-worth of any sort. He gave me, accordingly, three great puffy rolls. I was surpriz'd at the quantity, but took it, and having no FRANKLIN IN PHILADELPHIA. 6i room In my pockets, walk'd off with a roll under each arm, and eatmg the other. Thus I went up Market street as far as Fourth street, passing by the door of Mr. Read, my future wife's father ; when she, standing at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I certainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appear- ance. Then I turned and went down Chestnut street and part of Walnut street, eating my roll all the way, and, coming round, found myself again at Market itreet wharf, near the boat I came in, to which I went for a draug^ht of the river water ; and, being filled out with one of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman and her child that came down the river in the boat with us, and were waiting to ^o further." FRANKLIN IN PHILADELPHIA. In Philadelphia Franklin obtained an introduction to a printer, named Kei- mer, who had set up business with an old press which he appeared not to know how to use, and one pair of cases of English type. Here Franklin obtained em- ployment when the business on hand would permit, and he put the press in order and worked it. Keimer obtained lodging for him at the house of Mr. Read, and, by industry and economical living, Franklin soon found himself in easy -circumstances. Sir William Keith, the Governor of Pennsylvania, hearing of Franklin, called upon him, and promised to obtain for him the Government print- ing if he would set up for himself, Josiah Franklin thought his son too young to take the responsibility of a business, whereon the Governor, stating that he was determined to have a good printer there, promised to find the means of equip- ping the printing-office himself, and suggested Franklin's making a journey to England to purchase the plant. He promised letters of introduction to various persons in England, as well as a letter of credit. These were to be sent on board the ship, and Franklin, having gone on board, awaited the letters. When the Governor's despatches came, they were all put into a bag together, and the captain promised to let Franklin have his letters before landing. On opening the bag off Plymouth, there were no letters of the kind promised, and Franklin was left, without introductions and almost without money, to make his own way in the world. In London he learned that Governor Keith was well known as a man in whom no dependence could be placed, and as to his giving a letter of credit, " he had no credit to give," A friend of Franklin's, named Ralph, accompanied him from America, and the two took lodgings together. Franklin immediately obtained employment at a printing-office, but Ralph, who knew no trade but aimed at literature, was unable to get any work. He could not obtain employment, even as a copying clerk so for some time the wages which Franklin earned had to support the two. Among Franklin's fellow-passengers from Philadelphia to England was an American merchant, a Mr, Denham. This gentleman always remained a firm friend to Franklin, who, during his stay in London, sought his advice when any ^2 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. important questions arose. When Mr. Denham returned to Philadelphia, he offered Franklin an appointment as clerk, which was afterward to develop into a commission agency. The offer was accepted, and the two returned to Phila- delphia in October, 1726. Here he found that Miss Read, to whom he had become engaged before leaving for England, and to whom he had written only wee during his absence, had married. Shortly after starting in business, Mr. Oenham died, and thus left Franklin to commence life again for himself. Kei- .fner had by this time obtained a fairly extensive establishment, and employed a PENN'S RESIDENCE IN SECOND STREET, BELOW CHESTNUT STREET. number of hands, but none of them of much value ; and he made overtures to- Franklin to take the management of his printing-office. Franklin set the print- ing-house in order, started type-founding, made the ink, and, when necessary, executed engravings. While working for Keimer, Franklin formed a club, called the Junto, which- was destined to exert considerable influence on American politics. It was essen- tially a debating society, the subject for each evening's discussion being proposed at the preceding meeting. The Club lasted for about forty years, and became ''POOR RICHARD'S ALMANACKr 6^ the nucleus of the American Philosophical Society, of which Franklin was the iirst president. On leaving Keimer's, Franklin went into partnership with one of his fellow- workmen, Hugh Meredith, whose father found the necessary capital, and a print- ing-office was started which soon excelled its two rivals in Philadelphia. Frank- lin's industry attracted the attention of the townsfolk, and inspired the merchants with confidence in the prospects of the new concern. " In order to secure my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but to avoid all appearances to the contrary. I drest plainly ; I was seen at no places of idle diversion. I never went out a-fishing or shooting ; a book, indeed, sometimes debauch'd me from my work, but that was seldom, snug, and gave no scandal ; and, to show that I ■was not above my business, I sometimes brought home the paper I purchas'd at the stores thro' the streets on a wheelbarrow. Thus being esteem' d an indus- trious, thriving young man, and paying duly for what I bought, the merchants who imported stationery solicited my custom ; others proposed supplying me with books, and I went on swimmingly. In the meantime, Keimer's credit declin- ing daily, he was at last forc'd to sell his printing-house to satisfy his creditors." On September i, 1730, Franklin married his ionw^Y Jiancee, whose previous husband had left her and was reported to have died in the West Indies. The marriage was a very happy one. Industry and frugality reigned in the house- hold of the young printer, Mrs, Franklin not only managed the house, but assisted in the business, folding and stitching pamphlets, and in other ways making herself useful. PUBLIC SERVICE AND RESPONSIBILITY. In 1732 appeared the first copy of '' Poor Richard's Almanack." This was published by Franklin for about twenty-five years in succession, and attained a world-wide fame. Besides the usual astronomical information, it contained a collection of entertaining anecdotes, verses, jests, etc., while the "little spaces that occurred between the remarkable events in the calendar" were filled with proverbial sayings, inculcating industry and frugality as helps to virtue. These sayings were collected and prefixed to the almanack of 1757, whence they were copied into the American newspapers, and afterward reprinted as a broad-sheet tn England and in France. In 1736 Franklin was chosen Clerk to the General Assembly, an office to which he was annually re-elected until he became a member of the Assembly about 1750. There was one member who, on the second occasion of his election, made a long speech against him. Franklin determined to secure the friendship of this member. Accordingly, he wrote to him to request the loan of a very scarce and curious book which was in his library. The book was lent 64 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. and returned in about a week, with a note of thanks. The member ever after manifested a readiness to serve Franklin, and they became great friends— *' Another instance of the truth of an old maxim I had learned, which says, 'He that has once done you a kindness ivill he more 7'eady to do you another than lie whom you yourself have obliged! And it shows how much more profitable it is to prudently remove, than to resent, return, and continue inimical proceedings." Spain, having been for some years at war with England, was joined at length by France. This threatened danger to the American colonies. Franklin pub- lished a pamphlet entitled " Plain Truth," setting forth the unarmed condition of the colonies, and recommending the formation of a volunteer force for defensive purposes. The pamphlet excited much attention. The provision of war material was a difficulty with the Assembly, which consisted largely of Quakers, who, though privately willing that the country should be put in a state of defense, hesitated to vote in opposition to their peace principles. Hence, when the Government of New England asked a grant of gunpowder from Penn- sylvania, the Assembly voted ^3000 "for the purchasing of bread, flour, wheat, or other grain!' When it was proposed to devote ^60 toward the erection of a battery below the town, Franklin suggested that it should be proposed that a hre-engine be purchased with the money, and that the committee should "buy a great gun, which is certainly 2, jire-engine!' The "Pennsylvania fireplace" was invented in 1742. A patent was offered to Franklin by the Governor of Pennsylvania, but he declined it on the principle ''that, as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportimity to serve others by any invention of ours ; and this we should do freely and generously!' Having practically retired from business, Franklin intended to devote him- self to philosophical studies, having commenced his electrical researches some time before in conjunction with the other members of the Library Company. Public business, however, crowded upon him. He was elected a member of the Assembly, a councillor, and afterward an alderman of the city, and by the Governor was made a justice of the peace. As a member of the Assembly, he was largely concerned in providing the means for the erection of a hospital, and in arranging for the paving and cleansing of the streets of the city. In 1753 he was appointed, in conjunction with Mr. Hunter, Postmaster-General of America. The post-office of the colonies had previously been conducted at a loss. In a few years, under Franklin's management, it not only paid the stipends of himself and Mr. Hunter, but yielded a considerable revenue to the Crown. In 1754 war with France appeared to be again imminent, and a Congress of Commissioners from the several colonies was arranged for. Of course, Franklin was one of the representatives of Pennsvlvania, and was also one of the members who independently drew up a plan for the union of all the colonies JOURNEY TO ENGLAND. 65 under one government, for defensive and other general purposes, and his was the plan finally approved by Congress for the union, though it was not accepted by the Assemblies or by the English Government, being regarded by the former as having too much of ^ki^ prerogative in it, by the latter as being too democratic, Franklin wrote respecting this scheme : " The different and contrary reasons of dislike to my plan makes me suspect that it was really the true medium ; and 1 am still of opinion that it would have been happy for both sides the water if \\ had been adopted. The colonies, so united, would have been sufficiently strong to have defended themselves ; there would then have been no need of troops from England ; of course, the subsequent pretense for taxing America, and the bloody contest it occasioned, would have been avoided." In the following year General Braddock started on his famous expedition- against Fort Duquesne. Franklin's services were called for in providing horses and wagons from the Pennsylvania farmers ; and in the disastrous defeat which Braddock suffered, and in the long years of the French and Indian war v^hich followed, Franklin took a prominent part in devising means of protection for the Colonies. When at last the war was ended by the victory and death of Wolfe on the heights of Quebec, Franklin's attention was turned to the relations of the Colonies to the mother country, which were becoming daily more strained by the oppressions of the British Parliament. FRANKLIN SENT TO ENGLAND. In 1757 Franklin was sent by the Assembly of Pennsylvania to London, to present a remonstrance against the conduct of the Governor, who refused to- assent to bills for raising revenue for the king unless the proprietary estates were exempted from taxation. When Franklin reached London he took up his abode with Mrs. Margaret Stevenson. For Mrs. Stevenson and her daughter Mary, then a young lady of eighteen, he acquired a sincere affection, which con- tinued throughout their lives. Miss Stevenson spent much of her time with aa aunt in the country, and some of Franklin's letters to her respecting the con- duct of her "higher education " are among the most interesting of his writings. In cominor to England, Franklin brought with him his son William, who entered on the study of law. To his wife and daughter Franklin frequently sent pres- ents, and his letters to Mrs. Franklin give a pretty full account of all his doings while in England. During his visit he received the honorary degrees of D.C.L from the University of Oxford, and LL.D. from that of Edinburgh. In August, 1762, he started again for America, and reached Philadelphia on November I, after an absence of five years. His son William had shortly before been appointed Governor of New Jersey. From this time William Franklin became very much the servant of the proprietaries and of the English government, bu^ 00 offer of patronage produced any effect on the father. FOLLY OF THE STAMP ACT. 6j Franklin's stay in America was of short duration. While there he was mainly instrumental in quelling- an insurrection in Pennsylvania, and was en- gaged in long and tedious eFforts to compose the incessant disputes between the Assembly and the proprietary governors. As soon as the Assembly was convened, it determined to send Franklin to England, to take charge of a peti- tion for a change of government. The merchants subscribed ^"iioo toward bis expenses in a few hours, and in twelve days he was on his journey, being accompanied to the ship by a cavalcade of three hundred of his friends. Arrived in London, he at once took up his old lodgings with Mrs, Stevenson. He was a master of satire, equaled only by Swift, and during the quarrels which preceded the War of Independence, as well as during the war, he made good use of his powers. One of Franklin's chief objects in coming to England was to prevent the passing of the Stamp Act. The colonists urged that they had always been liberal in their votes, whenever money was required by the Crown, and that Parliament had no right to tax America so long as the colonists were unrepre- sented in Parliament. " Had Mr. Grenville, instead of that act, applied to the King in Council for requisitional letters, I am sure he would have obtained more money from the colonies by their voluntary grants than he himself expected from the sale of stamps. But he chose compulsion rather than persuasion, and would not receive from their good-will what he thought he could obtain without it." The Stamp Act was passed, stamps were printed, distributors were ap- pointed, but the colonists would have nothing to do with the stamps. The distributors were compelled to resign their commissions, and the captains of vessels were forbidden to land the stamped paper. The cost of printing and distributing amounted to ^12,000; the whole return was about £1^00, and that mainly from Canada and the West Indies. In 1767 Franklin visited Paris. Though Parliament had repealed the Stamp Act, it nevertheless insisted on its right to tax the colonies. The Duty Act was scarcely less objectionable than its predecessors. On Franklin's return from the continent, he heard of the retaliatory measures of the Boston people, who had assembled in town-mertings, formally resolved to encourage home manu- factures, to abandon superfluities, and, after a certain time, to give up the use of some articles of foreign manufacture. A quantity of tea sent by the East India Company to Boston was destroyed oy the people. The British Government then blockaded the port. This soon led to open hostilities, Franklin worked hard to effect a reconciliation. He drew up a scheme, setting forth the conditions under which he conceived a reconcilia- tion might be brought about, and discussed it fully with Mr. Daniel Barclay and Dr. Fothergill. This scheme was shown to Lord Howe, and afterward brought before the Ministry, but was rejected. AH his negotiations were fruitless, At 68 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. last he addressed a memorial to the Earl of Dartmouth, Secretary of State, complaining of the blockade of Boston, which had then continued for nine months, and had " during every week of its continuance done damage to that town equal to what was suffered there by the India Company ;" and claiming reparation for such injury beyond the value of the tea which had been destroyed. This memorial was returned to Franklin by Mr. Walpole, and Franklin shortl^f afterward returned to Philadelphia. THE REVOLUTIONARY W^AR. Before Franklin reached America, the War of Independence, though not formally declared, had fairly begun. He was appointed a member of the second Continental Cong-ress, and one of a committee to confer with General Washing-- ton respecting the Continental Army. On October 3, 1775, he wrote to Priestley : — "Tell our dear eood friend, Dr. Price, who sometimes has his doubts and despondencies about our firmness, that America is determined and unanimous ; a very few Tories and placemen excepted, who will probably soon export themselves. Britain, at the expense of three millions, has killed a hundred and fifty Yankees this campaign, which is ^^20,000 a head ; and at Bunker's Hill she gained a mile of ground, half of which she lost again by our taking the post on Ploughed Hill. During the same time sixty thousand children have been born in America. From these data his mathematical head will easily calculate the time and expense necessary to kill us all and conquer our whole territory." On the 4th of July Franklin took part in the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When the document was about to be signed, Mr. Hancock remarked, " We must be unanimous ; there must be no pulling different ways : we must all hang together." Franklin replied, " Yes, we must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately." In the autumn of 1776 Franklin was unanimously chosen a Special Com- missioner to the French Court. He took with him his two grandsons, William Temple Franklin and Benjamin Franklin Bache, and leaving Marcus Hook on October 28th, crossed the Atlantic in a sloop of sixteen guns. In Paris he met with an enthusiastic reception. M. de Chaumont placed at his disposal his house at Passy, about a mile from Paris. Here he resided for nine years, being a con- stant visitor at the French Court, and certainly one of the most conspicuous figures in Paris. He was obliged to serve in many capacities, and was very much burdened with work. Not only were there his duties as Commissioner at the French Court, but he was also made Admiralty Judge and Financial Agent, so that all financial negotiations, either with the French Government or con- tractors, had. to pass through his hands. Perhaps the most unpleasant part of his work was his continued applications to the French Court for monetar}*" AID FROM FRANCE. 69 advances. The French Government warmly espoused the cause of the Ameri- cans, and to the utmost of its abihty assisted them with money, material, and men. 1 .^ RLAR \ir.\V OF INDEPLNDRNCE HALL, PHILADELrHIA. At first the British Government, regarding the Americans as rebels, did not treat their prisoners as prisoners of war, but threatened to try them for high treason. Their sufferings in the English prisons were very great. Mr. David Hartley did much to relieve them, and Franklin transmitted money for the pur^ 70 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. pose. When a treaty had been formed between France and the United States, and fortune began to turn in favor of the united armies, the American prisoners received better treatment from the EngHsh Government, and exchanges took place freely. In a letter to Mr. Hartley, Franklin showed something of the feelings of the Americans with respect to the English at that time: — " You may haVe heard that accounts upon oath have been taken in Americs.; by order of Congress, of the British barbarities committed there. It is expected of me to make a school-book of them, and to have thirty-five prints desig-ned here by good artists, and engraved, each expressing one or more of the horrid facts, in order to impress the minds of children and posterity with a deep sense of your bloody and insatiable malice and wickedness. Every kindness I hear of done by an Englishman to an American prisoner makes me resolve not to proceed in the work." Franklin always advocated freedom of commerce, even in time of war. He was of opinion that the merchant, the agriculturist, and the fisherman were bene- factors to mankind. He condemned privateering- in every form, and endeav- ored to bring about an agreement between all the civilized powers against the fitting out of privateers. He held that no merchantman should be interfered with unless carrying war material. He greatly lamented the horrors of the war, but preferred anything to a dishonorable peace. To Priestley he wrote : — " Perhaps as you grow older you may . . . repent of having" murdered in mephitic air so many honest, harmless mice, and wish that, to prevent mischief, you had used boys and girls instead of them. In what light we are viewed by superior beings may be gathered from a piece of late West India news, which possibly has not yet reached you. A young angel of distinction, being sent down to this world on some business for the first time, had an old courier-spirit assigned him as a guide. They arrived over the seas of Martinico, in the middle of the long day of obstinate fight between the fleets of Rodney and De Grasse. When, throueh the clouds of smoke, he saw the fire of the o-uns, the decks covered with mangled limbs and bodies dead or dying ; the ships sinking, burning, or blown into the air ; and the quantity of pain, misery, and destruction the crews yet alive were thus with so much eagerness dealing round to one another, — he turned angrily to his guide, and said, 'You blundering blockhead, you are igno rant of your business ; you undertook to conduct me to the earth, and you have brought me into hell !' ' No, sir,' says the guide, ' I have made no mistake ; this is really the earth, and these are men. Devils never treat one another in this cruel manner; they have more sense and more of what men (vainly) call humanity.' " Franklin maintained that it would be far cheaper for a nation to extend its possessions by purchase from other nations than to pay the cost of war for the sake of conquest. VIEWS ON RELIGION. 71 At last, after two years' negotiations, a definitive treaty of peace was signed between Great Britain and the United States, Franklin being one of the Commissioners for the latter, and Mr. Hartley for the former, and therewith terminated the seven years' War of Independence. Franklin celebrated the surrender of the armies of Burgoyne and Cornwallis by a medal, on which the .nfant Hercules appears strangling two serpents. RETURN TO AMERICA. On May 2, 1785, Franklin received from Congress permission to return to \merica. He was then in his eightieth year. On July 12th he left Passy for Havre, whence he crossed to Southampton, and there saw for the last time his old friend, the Bishop of St. Asaph, and his family. He reached his home in Philadelphia early in September, and the day after his arrival he received a congratulatory address from the Assembly of Pennsylvania. In the following month he was elected President of the State, and was twice re-elected to the same office, it being contrary to the Constitution for any President to be elected for more than three years in succession. The following extract from a letter, written most probably to Thomas Paine, is worthy of the attention of some writers : — "I have read your manuscript with some attention. By the argument it contains against a particular Providence, though you allow a general Providence, you strike at the foundations of all religion. For without the belief of a Provi- dence that takes cognizance of, guards and guides, and may favor particular persons, there is no motive to worship a Deity, to fear His displeasure, or to pray for His protection. I will not enter into any discussion of your principles, though you seem to desire it. But were you to succeed, do you imagine any good would be done by it? You yourself may find it easy to live a virtuous life without the assistance afforded by religion ; you having a clear perception of the advantages of virtue and the disadvantages of vice, and possessing strength of resolution sufficient to enable you to resist common temptations. But think how great a portion of mankind consists of weak and ignorant men and women, and of inexperienced, inconsiderate youth of both sexes, who have need of the motives of religion to restrain them from vice, to support their virtue, and retain. tnem in the practice of It till it becomes JiabituaL which is the great point for its security. And perhaps you are indebted to her originally, that is, to your religious education, for the habits of virtue upon which yon now justly value yourself. You might easily display your excellent talents of reasoning upon a less hazardous subject, and thereby obtain a rank with our most distinguished authors. For among us it Is not necessary, as among the Hottentots, that a youth, to be raised into the company of men, should prove his manhood by beating his mother. 72 BENJAMIN FRANKLIN. " I would advise you, therefore, not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but to Durn this piece before it is seen by any other person ; whereby you will save yourself a great deal of mortification by the enemies it may raise against you, and perhaps a good deal of regret and repentance. If men are so wicked wi^t) religion, what would the)' be 'if zvithoul it? I intend this letter itself as a pfooj of my friendship, and therefore add no pi'ofessions to it ; but subscribe simply yours." During the last few years of his life Franklin suffered from a painful disease, w^hich confined him to his bed and seri- ously interfered with his literary work, preventing him from completing his bio- graphy. During this time he was cared for by his daughter, Mrs. Bache, who resided In the same house with him. He died on April 1 7, 1 790, the immediate cause of death being an affection of the lungs. He was burled beside his wife in the cemetery of Christ Church, Philadelphia, the marble slab upon the grave bearing no other inscription than the name and date of death. In his early days (1728) he had written the fol- lowing epitaph for himself: — The Body franklin's grave. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, Printer (like the cover of an old book, ITS contents torn out AND STRIPT of ITS LETTERING AND GILDING), LIES HERE, FOOD FOR WORMS. BUT THE WORK 6HALL NOT BE LOST, FOR IT Wn.L (as HE BE .IEVED) APPEAR ONCE MOBS IN A NEW AND MO ?E ELEGANT EDITION, REVISED AN CORRECTED 1 V THE Al THOR. JOHN ADAMS. JOHN ADAMS, THE REVOLUTIONARY PATRIOT AND STATESMAN. N SEPTEMBER, 1774, there assembled In Philadelphia one of the greatest bodies of men which the world has ever seen. " For solidity of reason, force of sagacity, and wis- dom of conclusion," said the oreat Earl of Chatham, "?/ sion to add, that although I have sometimes before been intrusted by my coun- try, it was never, in my whole life, in a manner so agreeable to myself." The king listened to this address in evident emotion. He seemed not a lJ:tle agitated; for to him it was an hour of deep humiliation. With a voice even more tremulous than that with which Mr. Adams had spoken, he replied : — "Sir, the circumstances of this audience are so extraordinary, the language you have now held is so extremely proper, and the feelings you have discovered so justly adapted to the occasion, that I must say that I not only receive with pleasure the assurance of the friendly disposition of the people of the United States, but that I am very glad that the choice has fallen upon you as their INTERVIEW WITH THE KING. 8S minister. But I wish you, sir, to believe, and that it may be understood in America, that I have done nothing in the late contest "»t- but what I thought myself / - indispensably bound to do '': "^#''.»f«^^^ *' \ by the duty which I owed to ' " my people. I will be frank ■ with you, 1 was the last to ^, "^"'' conform to the separation ; but the separation havin-j- been made, and hav- ing- become inevita- ble, I have always said, as I say now, that I would be the first to meet the friendship of the United States as an independ- ent power. The moment I see such sentiments and lan- guage as yours prevail, and a disposition to give this country the preference, that moment I shall say. Let the circum- stances of lano-uag-e, relio-ion, and blood have their full effect." A.3 Great Britain did not condescend to appoint a minister to the United btates, and as Mr. Adams felt that he was accomplishing but little, he solicited fHF AllAiK ON RIOTERS AT SPRINGFIELD, M*,SS., IN 1786. 86 JOHN ADAMS. permission to return to his own country, and readied his rural home in Brain tree, from which he had so long been absent, in June of 1788. When some persons accused Mr, Adams of being covertly in favor of monarchical institutions, Mr. Jefferson replied: "Gentlemen, you do not know that man. There is not upon this earth a more perfectly honest man than John Adams. It is not in his nature to meditate anything which he would not publish to the world. I know him well ; and I repeat, that a more honest man never Issued from the hands of his Creator." In 1787 delegates were appointed by the various States of the Confederacy to form a Constitution for the United States of America. They met in Inde pendence Hall, in Philadelphia, where the great Declaration had been signed. The Constitution which they drew up was accepted by the States, and we became a nation. George Washington was unanimously chosen President for four years, and John Adams Vice-President. THE FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT. During the first Presidency, Congress was tossed by angry passions and stormy debates. Both Washington and Adams were assailed with intensest bitterness. Both were accused of monarchical tendencies, and of fondness for the pomp and pageantry of royalty. The democratic party was now rapidly rising into controlling power. Still both W^ashington and Adams were reelected, and again, on the 4th of March, 1793. took the oaths of office. Just about this time the French Revolution shook the continent of Europe. Mr. Adams felt no sympathy with the French people in this struggle ; for he had no confidence in their power of self-government, and utterly abhorred the athe- istic character of those philosophers, who, in his judgment, inaugurated the movement. On the other hand, Jefferson's sympathies were strongly enlisted in behalf of the French people, struggling to throw off the yoke of intolerable despotism. Hence originated the alienation between these two distinguished men. Washington at first hailed the French Revolution with hope ; but as its disorders became more developed he leaned more strongly to the views of Mr. Adams. Two very powerful parties were thus soon organized. Adams was at the head of the one whose sympathies were with England. Jefferson led the other, in sympathy with France. England proclaimed war against the French republicans ; played the tyrant over weaker nadons upon the ocean ; and, despising our feeble navy, insulted and harassed our commerce. This conduct swept the current of popular feeling increasingly toward Mr. Jefferson and his party. Upon the redrement of Washington, at the close of his second Presidential term, there was a very hotly contested election ; and Mr. Adams, by a slender majority, was chosen President, and Thomas Jefferson, Vice-President. RETURN TO PRIVATE LIFE. 87 Those were stormy clays, and it required great wisdom safely to navigate the ship of state. The excitement which the French Revo ution created in this •country, as the community ranged themselves on the side of England or of France, was intense. For four years Mr. Adams struggled through almost a constant tempest of assaults. He was never a popular man. The party arrayed against him, with the Vice-President at its head, was powerful in numbers, and still more powerful in ability. He was not a man of conciliatory manners or ot winning speech. After four years of harassment, which must have been the tour least happy years of his life, he was mortified by losing a reelection Jefferson was chosen President ; and Aaron Burr, Vice-President ; and John Adams was left to return to his farm at Quincy. His chagrin was so great as to lead him to the lamentable mistake of refusing to remain in Philadelphia to witness the inauguration of his successful rival. There ensued a breach in the friendship of these illustrious men which was not closed for thirteen years. About the time of Mr. Adams' retirement, his eldest son, who was mar- ried and settled in New York, suddenly died, leaving to his father's care a wife and two infant children. He then spoke of this event as the deepest affliction of his life. He was then sixty-six years of age. A quarter of a century still remained to him before he died. He generally avoided all public gatherings, and took little part in political questions, devoting his time mainly to the culti- vation of his farm. When England, looking contemptuously upon our feeble navy, persisted in the outrage of searching American ships, both John Adams and his son, John Quincy, nobly supported the policy of Mr. Jefferson in resenting these outrages. It seems strange that a man could be found in America willing to submit to such insolence. But for this Mr. Adams was bitterly accused of being recreant to his principles, and of joining the party who were charged with seeking an excuse for dragging our country into a war against England, that we might thus aid France. On this occasion John Adams, for the first time since his retirement, broke silence, and drew up a very able paper, exposing the atrocity of the British pretensions. Mr. Adams had been associated with a party hostile to France, and in favor of submission to the Bridsh pretensions. In advocating resistance, he was regarded as abandoning his old friends, anc^ with bitter animosity was he assailed. MR. ADAMs' HOME LIFE. In 1 81 8, when Mr. Adams was eighty-two years of age, his noble wife, who had shared with him the joys and griefs of more than half a century, died, at the age of seventy-four. The event threw over him a shade of sadness which never disappeared. A gentleman who visited Quincy a year or two before her death gave a description of the interview. Mr, Adams was, in body, very infirm, tot- tering and shaking with age ; but his mind seemed as vio-orous. and his heart a:f 8S JOHN ADAMS. young, as ever. There was a boy's joyousness and elasticity in his hearty laugh, lie joked, was full of fun, and talked about everybody and everything with the utmost freedom and abandon. His knowledge seemed to his visitor bound- less ; for he was equally at home upon whatever subject might be introduced. Nothing could be more entertaining than his conversation, it was so replete with .'.necdote and lively sallies of wit. While thus conversing, Mrs. Adams came in, — a tall and stately lady of rather formal address. " A cap of exquisite lace surrounded features still ex- hibiting intellect and energy. Her dress was snowy white, and there was that immaculate neatness in her appear- ance which o-ives to agre almost the sweetness of youth. With less warmth of manner and sociableness than Mr. Adams, she was sufficiently gracious, and her occasional remarks betrayed intellectual vigor and strong sense. The guest went away, feeling that he should never again behold such living specimens of the 'great old.' " While his drooping frame and feeble step and dimmed eye showed the ravages of years, Mr. Adams' mind retained its wonted vigfor. He read until his vision failed, and was then read to, many hours every day. He loved, in conversation with his friends, to recall the scenes of his younger years, and to fight his battles over again. His son, John Quincy, rose to distinction, and occupied high posts of honor at home and abroad. In 1825 his parental pride was gratified by the elevation of his son to the chair which the father had honored as President of the United States. When John Quincy Adams received a note from Rufus King, informing him of his election, he inclosed it to his father, with the following lines from his own pen, under date of February 9, 1825 : — My dear and honored Father : — The inclosed note from Mr. King will inform you of the event of this day ; upon which I can only offer you my con gratulations, and ask your blessing and prayers. Your affectionate and dutiful son, foHN Quincy Adams. OLD SOUTH CHURCH, BOSTON. DEATH OF ADAMS AND JEFFERSON. 89 John Adams was now ninety years of age. His enfeebled powers indicated that his end was drawing nigh. The 4th of July, 1826, came. The nation had made arrangements for a more than usually brilliant celebration of that anni- versary. Adams and Jefferson still lived. It was hoped that they might be brought together, at some favored spot, as the nation's guests. But, as the rime drew near, it was evident that neither of them could beai a journey. On Friday morning, the 30th of June, a gentleman called upon Mr. Adams to obtain a toast to be presented on the 4th of July at the celebration at Ouincy. " I give you," said he, '' hidependence forever y He was now rapidly declining. On the morning of the 4th his physician judged that he would scarcely survive the day. There was the ringing of bells, the exultant music of martial bands, the thunders of artillery from ships and forts. from hills and valleys, echoing all over our land, as rejoicing millions welcomed the natal day of the nation. Mr. Adams, upon his dying couch, listened to these sounds of joy with silent emotion. " Do you know what day it is ?" some one mquired. "Oh, yes!" he replied: "it is the glorious 4th of July. God bless it ! God bless you all ! It is a great and glorious day." "Thomas Jefferson," he murmured at a later hour to himself, "still survives." These were his last: words. But he was mistaken. An hour or two before, the spirit of Jefferson had taken its flight. The sands of his own long and memorable life were now- run out, and gently he passed away into that sleep from which there is nQ> earthly waking. VIEW OF THE CAPITOL, WAStllNc; TON TOHN TAY. JOHN JAY, FIRST CHIKK JUSTICE OK THE: UNITED STATERS SUPRENIE COURT. I^b jf^f^'-'"^^^^' ^" ^^^5' ^^^^^ XIV. of France revoked the ^^^"*''>' •"," .»^. Edict of Nantes, that famous act of toleration \^^ '^ ^ under which French Protestants had for so long \^J"^ lived and flourished, his bigotry set in motion forces whose efforts reached every nation of the earth, and turned the current of history for centuries after. Among the multitudes of indus- trious and ingenious men who were then driven from France to other lands was one Pierre Jay, a merchant of La Rochelle, who fled to England to escape persecution. His son, a West India merchant, came to New York, and married the daughter of one of the early Dutch settlers ; and thus their distinguished son, John Jay, one of the founders of our government, and its first chief justice, was remarkable among early American statesmen as having not a drop of English blood in his veins. There is little in the history of Jay that is picturesque or striking ; but there are few among the worthies of the Revolution to whom posterity owes a greater debt. "Life," says the poet Lowell, — "may be given in many ways. And loyalty to truth be sealed As bravely in the closet as the field." That Jay had the true heroic spirit is shown by an episode of his life in college A number of his fellow-students, in some rough play in the college hall, which he saw but had no part in, broke a table. The noise reached the ears of the president, who suddenly appeared, biit not in time to discover them in the act. All those present, except Jay and one other student, flatly denied that they broke the table, or knew who did. Jay and his comrade admitted that they knew who did it, but refused to tell their names, Jay maintaining that there was nothing 9S 94 ■ JOHN JAY. In the laws of the college requiring him to play the part of an informer. This manly conduct, however, was deemed by the authorities a grave oflense, and Jay and his companion were suspended. Upon his graduation from college Jay entered on the study of the law, and v/as admitted to the New York bar in 1768. He is said to have " combined in a remarkable degree the dignity and gravity of manhood with the ardor of youth." He soon acquired a large practice, and great influence in political affairs. As a member of the Continental Congress, in 1774, he drew up the famous Address to the People of Great Britain, which at once gave him the reputation of being one of the ablest and most eloquent writers in America '•Are not the proprietors of the soil of Great Britain," he says, "lords of their own property ? Can it be taken from them without their own consent ? . . . Why, then, are the proprietors of the soil of America less lords of their prop- erty than you are of yours ? or why should they submit it to the disposal of your Parliament, or any other parliament or council in the world not of their own election ? . . . Such declarations we consider as heresies in English poli- tics, and can no more operate to deprive us of our property than the interdicts ot the Pope can divest kings of scepters which the laws of the land and the voice ot the people have placed in their hands." Referring to the ability and character of the men who formed the famous Continental Congress, Lord Chatham said: "When your lordships look at the papers transmitted to us from America, w^hen you consider their decency, firm- ness, and wisdom, you cannot but respect their cause, and wish to make it your own. For myself, I must declare and avow that, ... for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion. ... no nation or body of men can stand in preference to the General Congress at Philadelphia." jay's trials in SPAIN. In 1778 Jay was chosen President of Congress, and fulfilled the difficult duties of that station for nearly two years, when he was sent as minister to Spain to negotiate for a loan of $5,000,000, and for the free navigation of the Mississippi. "While I am sensible," wrote another delegate to Jay, " of the advantages we shall reap from your eminent services there, I have my fears that they will be missed importantly where you now are." The trials and vexations of his new posidon were very great. "The Spaniards will not easil} give their dollars," truly wrote Lafayette to Washington ; and, far from giving up to America the navigation of the Mississippi, they wished to obtain sole con- trol of it themselves. "Poor as we are," wrote Franklin to Jay, "as I know we shall be rich, I w^ould rather agree wnth them to buy, at a great price, the whole of their right on the Mississippi than to sell a drop of its waters. A neighbor might as well ask me to sell my street door." TREATY OF PEACE WITH ENGLAND. 95 Jay wasted many months of fruitless and vexatious labor in Spain, Con- gress in the meantime not only failing to provide him with any means of sup- port, but expecting him to beg or borrow from Spain hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay bills of exchange which they drew upon him. When in the greatest extremity, Franklin, whose influence at the French court was very great, sent Jay $25,000 to aid in meeting these bills. " If you find any inclina tion to hug me for the good news of this letter," wrote Franklin, 'I constitute BANKS OF THE MISSISSIPPI TO-DAY, FOR WHOSE FREE NAVIGATION JAY NEGOTIATED. and appoint Mrs. Jay my attorney, to receive in my behalf your embraces.' Soon afterward Jay left Spain, and took a most important part in negotiating a treaty of peace with England, at Paris, in 1783,— a treaty so advantageous to America that the French Prime Minister remarked that "England had bought a peace, rather than made one." On his return to America Jay was made Secre- tary of State for Foreign Affairs, and filled that office until 1789. In 1787 met that renowned body of statesmen, the Constitutional Convea 96 JOHN JAY. tion of 1787, which, "in order to form a more perfect union," drafted the pres ent Constitution of the United States. In the labors of this convention probably no member bore a more important part than Jay. When the work of the convention was at last complete, and submitted to the people, there was violent opposition to it, especially in Jay's own State — New York. In this state of the public mind that trio of great men, Madison, Jay, and Hamilton, undertook to explain and vindicate the proposed instrument in TJie Fedei^alist, 3. series ol articles, originally published in the New York papers. "No constitution," says Chancellor Kent, " ever received a more masterly and successful vindica- tion." The opposition to its adoption was finally removed ; it was ratified by the States, and went into effect with the election of Washington as first Presi- dent, in 1789. Washington manifested his opinion of Jay's character and abilities by giving him a choice of the offices under the new government. He preferred the chief-justiceship, as being most suited to his turn of mind and his training. In an address at one of the first sessions he said : " Nothing but a strong govern- ment of laws. Irresistibly bearing down arbitrary power and licentiousness, can defend it against those two formidable enemies. Let it be remembered that civil liberty consists, not In a right to every man to do just as he pleases, but in an equal right to all citizens to have, enjoy, and do, In peace, security, and with- out molestation, whatever the equal and constitutional laws of the country admit to be consistent with the public good." STRONG LANGUAGE ABOUT SLAVERY. Of all the statesmen of the Revolution, Jay was one of the most pro- nounced and uncompromising opponents of slavery. The Inconsistency of demanding freedom for ourselves, while holdlno- others in bondao^e, was one which his strong, logical mind could not tolerate, and which he did not attempt to reconcile. In 1780, writing from Spain to a friend in America, he says : "An excellent law might be made out of the Pennsylvania one for the gradual abo- lition of slavery. Till America comes Into this measure, her prayers to Heaven for liberty will be impious. ... I believe God governs the world, and 1 believe It to be a maxim In his, as in our court, that those who ask for equity, ought to do It." Again he says : " It Is much to be wished that slavery may be abolished. . . . To contend for our own liberty, and to deny that blessing to others, involves an Inconsistency not to be excused." Jay continued on the bench of the Supreme Court until 1794, when his services were required as special minister to England, to adjust the differences between the two countries, which were so great as to threaten war. His abili- ties as a diplomatist were shown by the treaty which he negotiated, under which England paid over ten millions of dollars for illegal captures of American pro GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK. 97 pcrty in the war for independence, and of which Lord Sheffield afterward said, at the breaking out of the war of 1812, "We have now an opportunity of getting rid of that most impohtic treaty of 1794, when Lord Grenville was so ' V \ \ ST. PAUL'S, NEW YORK, AN OLD CHURCH OF JAY'S TIME. perfectly duped by Jay." While Jay was yet in England he was elected Governor of New York, and was twice re-elected. He, however, declined serving a third term ; and also declined a second term as chief justice, to which 9i> JOHN JAY. he had been nominated and confirmed in 1801. At the end of his second term as Governor of New York he retired from piibhc life, and spent the remainder of his days on his estate in Westchester county, New York, where he died in 1829. The character of jay is clearly shown forth in the' record of his life. la devotion to his country, in clear judyrment, in spodess integrity, he is not sur passed even among the great men of his own time. He was modest, claimed no merit, and seldom alluded to the great events in which he took part. He was generous and charitable, while at the same time exact and careful. It has been beautifully said thirty years of age. Washington was unanimously called to the chair. Into particulars of the discussions it is not intended to enter here, but the part which Hamilton took in them was of an importance impossible to rate too highly. He stood in the midst of the jarring elements like a beneficent genius, ready to evoke order out of chaos ; and the proportion in which his views were adopted or rejected may be almost regarded as the measure of the strength and the weakness of the Constitution. The document which embodied the scheme of the present Constitution was^ signed by a majority of the delegates, and by one or more representatives of each of the twelve States present in the Convention. The first name on the list is that of George Washington, who is said to have paused a moment, with the pen in his hand, as he pronounced these words : " Should the States reject this excellent Constitution, the probability, is. that an opportunity will never again offer to cancel another in peace. The next will be drawn in blood." And in the speech which Franklin delivered in the assembly, he thus expressed him- self: " I consent, sir, to this Constitution, because I expect no better, and because I am not sure that this Is not the best. The opinions I have had of its errors I sacrifice to the public good. I hope, therefore, for our own sakes, as a part of the people, and for the sake of posterity, we shall act heartily and unanimously in recommending this Constitution wherever our influence may extend, and turn our future thouQrhts and endeavors to the means of havinof it well adminis- tered." Then, while the members were signing, he turned toward the image of a sun painted at the back of the President's chair, and said : " Often and often, in the course of the session, I have looked at it without being able to tell whether It was rising or setting ; but now, at length, I have the happiness to know that It is a rising, and not a setting sun." The Convention being dissolved, the plan of the Constitution was laid before the country, and at once excited the most fervid feelings of approbation and dissent. In general It was supported by moderate men, who looked with appre- hension at the actual state of affairs, and desired, by any reasonable compro- mise, to establish a practicable government On the other hand, it was violently lo8 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. opposed by that class who viewed with jealousy the rise of any central power, and whose theory of freedom precluded the notion of authority. Two great parties joined issue on the question of its acceptance or rejection. They took the names of Federalists and Anti-Federalists. A few years later, after the Constitution had been adopted, the same two parties, with some modifications, contmued to divide the people of America, but they were then called Federal ists and Republicans. One of the most efficient means employed in making- the new Constitution familiar and acceptable to the people was the publication of a series of essays under the name of the Feder alisl which Americans still re- gard as the greatest and most complete exposition of the prin- ciples of their constitutional law. It was the work of Hamilton, Madison, and Jay ; but of the eighty-five essays of which it is composed, upward of fifty were written by Hamilton. "It was from him." says Mr. Curtis, "that the Federalist derived the weight and the power which commanded the careful attention of the coun- try and carried conviction to the great body of intelligent men in all parts of the Union." All the ability displayed in the Federalist, and all the exer- tions of Hamilton and his friends, were required to secure the ac- ceptance of the Constitution. Hamilton threw his whole strength into the contest, and left no honest means untried to accomplish the end. During the months that elapsed between the dissolution of the Convention and the ratification of the Constitution, his viofi lance never slumbered, and his exertions were not relaxed for a moment. Manx able men were engaged in that struggle, but none rendered such service as he did to the Federalist cause. The first State to ratify the Constitution was little Delaware, on the yth of December, 1787. Pennsylvania, influenced by the name of Franklin, was the next to follow. Then came New jersey, Georgia, and Connecticut. But it was felt that the hardest of the battle must be fought in Virginia and New York. In TAMES MADISON, HAMILTON'S CHIEF AID IN WRITING " THE FEDERALIST." FIRST SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY. 109 Virginia the opposition was led by Patrick Henry, whose fiery eloquence had done so much in exciting his countrymen to resistance in the commencement of the struggle with Great Britain. In New York the whole interest of Gover- nor Clinton and his friends, and many local and personal prejudices, were arrayed against the adoption of the Constitution. The State convention to decide the matter was held at Poughkeepsie, and the whole State was agitated by the discussion. *' HAMILTON IS SPEAKING ! " On the 24th of June Hamilton received intelligence that, by the ratification of New Hampshire, the Constitution had been adopted by nine States, the num ber requisite for its establishment. The question was then at once raised whether New York was to remain in the Confederacy, or to stand alone as an independ- ent power. There was a party favoring the latter alternative ; but Hamilton felt that to leave out New York would be to abandon the heart and centre of the Union, and resolved to combat the project by all the means at his disposal. During the last days of the Convention, the streets of New York were filled with an excited crowd, waiting for news from Poughkeepsie, and, as each mes- senger arrived, it was repeated from mouth to mouth : " Hamilton is speaking! Hamilton is speaking yet !" as though the destinies of the country hung sus- pended on his words. And when at length the tidings of the ratification reached the city, the bells pealed from the church towers, the cannon resounded from the forts, and a loud and exulting shout proclaimed that the popular voice had sanc- tioned the victory of the Constitution. The first election under the new Constitution was held in the autumn of 1788. There was no question as to who should be the first President. Wash- ington was elected without opposition, and on April 30, 1789, took the oath of office in New York. In choosing his Cabinet he at once offered the treasury to Hamilton. He is said to have consulted Robert Morris, the former superin- tendent of finance, as to the second of these appointments, asking, with a sigh : "What is to be done with this heavy debt? " "There is but one man in the United States," answered Morris, "who can tell you, and that is Alexander Hamilton." The President, who well remembered the invaluable services of his aide-de- camp, could fully subscribe to this flattering estimate of his talents. He had lately been in frequent communication with Hamilton, and had consulted him on several grave and delicate questions. He had always cherished a pleasant recollection of their intimacy, and now the old feelings of friendship had strongly revived between them. In his elevated position Washington needed more than ever a friend he could entirely trust. On every ground, therefore, private as well as public, he was glad to offer this important post to Hamilton ; and the latte»- did not hesitate to accept it, although he well knew its difficulties. no ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Hamilton now devoted all his thoughts to the national finances, and was busy in devising schemes to meet the pressing exigencies of the time. The office required the vigorous exercise of all his powers ; and his reports of plans for the restoration of public credit, on the protection and encouragement of manufactures, on the necessity and the constitutionality of a national bank, and on the establishment of a mint, would alone have given him the reputation of being one of the most consummate statesmen who have ever lived. The plans 'A'hich he proposed were adopted by Congress almost without alteration. When he entered upon the duties of his office the government had neither credit nor money, and the resources of the country were unknown ; when he retired, at the end of five years, the fiscal condition of no people was better or mere clearly understood. Mr. Gallatin has said that secretaries of the treas- ury have since enjoyed a sinecure, the genius and labors of Hamilton having created and arranged everything that was necessary for the perfect and easy discharge of their duties. *' He smote the rock of the national resources," says Daniel Webster, "and abundant streams of revenue gushed forth. He touched the dead corpse of the Public Credit, and it sprang upon its feet. The fabled birth of Minerva from the brain of Jove was hardly more sudden or more perfect than the finan- cial system of the United States, as it burst forth from the brain of Alexander Hamilton." When, after years of immense labor, the financial system of the govern- ment was established, Hamilton resolved to retire from office. Doubtless he was weary of constant struggle ; for the politics of the time were charged with such bitterness that even Washington did not escape the most venomous abuse. Hamilton's enemies made ceaseless attacks upon him ; but there were other reasons which made him wish to retire, and which, if anything could have done so, might have called a blush to the cheeks of his persecutors. This man, who had held the revenues of an empire at his disposal, and whom his adversaries had not scrupled to charge with enriching himself at the public expense, was in reality very poor. His official salary did not suffice for the wants of his family, and his official duties had obliged him to abandon his practice at the bar. He was anxious, before it was too late, to repair his fortunes, and provide for his wife and children. Hamilton now set to work at his profession, and was once more the leading spirit of the bar. Talleyrand, passing his office long after midnight, saw him still there at his desk. "I have beheld," said he, "one of the wonders of the world I have seen a man, who has made the fortune of a nation, laboring all night to support his family." And yet, while thus working at his ordinary calling, Hamilton never withdrew his attention from public affairs. He was still rhf leader of his party, and the unsalaried adviser ot the President; and as a HA MIL TON A T HOME. 1 1 1 necessary consequence, he was still the mark for the poisoned arrows of his enemies. From 1795 to 1797 Washington often had recourse to Hamilton for counsel. He had resolved to retire from office at the expiration of his second term ; and, as the time approached, he determined to issue a Farewell Address to the American people. On this subject also he consulted Hamilton. There has been much controversy as to the exact authorship of this celebrated paper, but the fact seems to be that, while the original groundwork was Washington's own, the superstructure was in great part Hamilton's. While he retained wherever he could the thoughts and language of Washington, he added much valuable matter, and brought the whole into its present form. Calm, wise, and noble, it is a monument worthy of the great man whose name it bears ; and, had the American people always remembered its lessons, it would have been well for their own peace, and conducive to the happiness of the world. In the neighborhood of New York, but still in the midst of rural scenery, Hamilton, after resigning his position in the government, purchased a small estate. The ground was adorned with fine old trees, a pleasant lawn spread in front of the house, and the balcony commanded a magnificent prospect. Har- lem River, Long Island Sound, and many a scene endeared by its own beauty, or made interesting by associations, were visible from this lovely spot. Hamil- ton called it "The Grange," after the name of his grandfather's house in Scotland ; and thither he came from the labors of his profession, to enjoy the society of his family and the refreshment of a country life. He was once more a busy man at the bar, and, although he could never keep quite clear of politics, they no longer occupied all his thoughts. He busied himself with his garden, — "a very useful refuge," he says, "for a disappointed politician," — sent to Carolina for melon-seeds and paroquets for his daughter, played at soldiers with his boys, and spent summer evenings with his friends on the green slopes of his domain. A great sorrow came to darken this cheerful picture. His eldest son, a promising youth of twenty, was killed in a duel arising from a dispute at the theatre. It was a bitter grief to the father and all the family ; but it only foreshadowed the worse calamity that was to follow. Hamilton met his death at the hands of Aaron Burr, In a duel, on July 11, 1804. At that time public sentiment on the subject of dueling was such as to make it very difficult for Hamilton to refuse Burr's challenge. They had long been political opponents, and Hamilton had more than once denounced Burr's public acts. Burr addressed a letter to Hamilton, repeating a newspaper report that Hamilton had " expressed a despicable opinion" of Burr, and " looked upon him as a dangerous man," and demanding a wholesale denial or retractation. This It was obviously impossible to give. The correspondence which followed left Hamilton no choice but to either accept or decline Burr's challenge. A papei 112 ALEXANDER HAMILTON. written belore the duel explains his reasons for not decHning to meet Burr, which were in effect that in the state of pubHc opinion on dueHne. a refusal to accept his challenge would destroy his public usefulness afterward The duel took place at Weehawken, in New Jersey, nearly opposite New York. When the word was given, Hamilton did not fire immediately; but Burr, taking deliberate aim, fired, the ball entering Hamilton's right side. He was taken across the Hudson to his home, where he died the following day, Hamilton was not faultless ; but his errors were greatly exaggerated by DUEL BETWEEN BURR AND HAMILTON. his enemies ; and there were few among his distinguished political adversaries whose private character approached his in purity. His public life was without a stain. In ability he stands in the front rank. " He must be classed," says the great French historian Guizot, "among the men who have best known the vital principles and fundamental conditions of government. There is not in the Constitution of the United States an element of order, strength, or durabil- ity which he did not powerfully contribute to introduce into it." The judgment of histor}' will undoubtedly be that Alexander Hamilton was the greatest con- structive statesman of the eighteenth century. THOMAS JEFFERSON. THOMAS JEFFERSON, THE PIONEER OR DEM:0CR.A0Y IN ANIERICA- AT the becrinning- of the ninC' teenth century the people of the United States may be said to have been di- vided into two classes, — those who thouorht Thomas Jefferson the greatest and wisest of living men, and those who believed him the worst and most dangerous. The French Revolution, that great uprising of the masses against the oppres- sions of despotic power, had then divided public opinion throughout the whole civilized world. Jef- ferson was at the head of the party which sympa- thized with the common people, and advocated their cause. The opposite party, shocked and horrified at THE LIBERTY BELL, AS EXHIBITED AT THE NEW ORLEANS EXPOSITION. ^\iq eXCeSSeS Committed by the revolutionists in France, looked upon everything democratic with indescribable fear and aversion. These extremes of opinion make it difficult, even at this day, to get a fair and moderate opinion of Jefferson. He is either a fiend incarnate or an angel of light. But whether the principles for which he stood be approved or con- .demned, their success at least cannot be denied. Jefferson was the pioneer of democracy, the apostle of the sovereignty of the common people, which ii6 THOMAS JEFFERSON. from his time to the present has become every year more firmly rooted in American politics ; and whether it be for good or ill, it is for this that he will be remembered in the centuries yet to come. Thomas Jefferson w-as born in 1 743, near the site of the present town of Charlottesville, Virginia. His father, Peter Jefferson, owned a plantation of fourteen hundred acres called Shadwell, from the name of the parish in London where his wife was born. His home was literally hewn out of the wilderness. There were but few white settlers within many miles of the mansion, w^hich con- sisted of a spacious story and a half cottage-house. A wide hall and tour large rooms occupied the lower floor. Above these there were good chambers and a spacious garret. Two huge outside chimneys contributed to the picturesque aspect of the mansion. It was delightfully situated upon a gentle swell of land on the slopes of the Blue Ridge, and commanded a sublime prospect of far reaching mountains and forests. Thomas was naturally of a serious, pensive, reflective turn of mind. From the time he was five years of age he was kept diligently at school under the best teachers. He was a general favorite with both teachers and scholars. In the year 1760 he entered William and Mary College. Williamsburg was then the seat of the colonial court, and the abode of fashion and splendor. Young Jefferson lived In college somewhat expensively, keeping fine horses, and much caressed by gay society. Still, he was earnestly devoted to his studies and Irreproachable In his morals. In 1767 he entered upon the practice of the law. His thoroughly disci- plined mind, ample stores of knowledge, and polished address, were rapidly raising him to distinction, when the outbreak of the Revolution introduced him to loftier spheres of responsibility. He had been but a short time admitted to the bar ere he. was chosen by his fellow-citizens to a seat in the Legislature of Virginia. This was in 1769. Jefferson was then the largest slaveholder In the house. It Is a remarkable evidence of his foresight, his moral courage, and the love of liberty which Inspired him, that he introduced a bill empowering slave- holders to manumit their slaves If they wished to do so. Slavery caught the alarm. The proposition was rejected by an overwhelming vote. In 1772 he married Mrs. Martha Skelton, a very beautiful, wealthy, and highly accomplished young widow. She brought to him, as her munificent dowry, forty diousand acres of land, and one hundred and thirty-five slaves. He thus became one of the largest slaveholders In Virginia : and yet he labored with all his energies for the abolition of slavery ; declaring the Institution to be a curse to the master, a curse to the slave, and an offense In the sight of God. In 1775 Jefferson was chosen a member of the Continental Congress, and in June of that year he left Williamsburg to take his seat In the Congress at Philadelphia. He was the youngest member in the body but one. His THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 117 reputation as a writer had preceded him, and he immediately took a conspicu- ous stand, though he seldom spoke. The native suavity of Jefferson, his mod- esty, and the frankness and force with which he expressed his views, captivated even his opponents. It is said that he had not an enemy in Congress. WRITING THE GREAT DECLARATION. When the time came for drafting the "Declaration of Independence," that great task was committed to Jefferson. Franklin and Adams suggested a few changes before it was submitted to Congress. The Declaration passed a fiery ordeal of criticism. For three days the debate continued, Mr. Jefferson opened not his lips. John Adams was the great champion of the Declaration on the floor. One may search all the ages to find a more solemn, momentous event than the signing of the Declaration of Independence. It was accompanied with prayer to Almighty God. Silence pervaded the room as one after another affixed his name to that document, which brought down upon him the implacable hate of the mightiest power upon the globe, and which doomed him inevitably to the scaffold, should the feeble colonies fail in the unequal struggle. In 1779 Mr. Jefferson was chosen governor of Virginia. He was then thirty-six years of age. The British were now preparing to strike their heaviest blows upon the South. Georgia had fallen helpless into the hands of the foe ; South Carolina was Invaded, and Charleston threatened. At one time the British officer, Tarleton, sent a secret expedition to Monticello to capture the governor. Scarcely fivc^ minutes elapsed after the hurried escape of Mr. Jeffer- son and his family ere his mansion was in the possession of the British troops. A detachment of the army of Cornwallis, in their march north from the Carolinas, seized also another plantation which he owned on the James river. The foe destroyed all his crops, burnt his barns and fences, drove off the cattle, seized the serviceable horses, cut the throats of the colts, and left the whole plantation a smouldering, blackened waste. Twenty-seven slaves were also carried off. "Had he carried off the slaves," says Jefterson with characteristic magnanimity, "to give them freedom, he would have done right." The English ministry were now getting tired of the war. The opposition in Parliament had succeeded in carrying a resolution on the 4th of March, 1782, "That all those who should advise, or by any means attempt, the further prose- cution of offensive war in America, should be considered as enemies to their king and country." This popular decision overcame the obstinacy of the king, and he was compelled to make overtures for peace, Mr. Jefferson had wonderful power of winning men to his opinions, while he scrupulously avoided all controversy. The following extract from a letter to his grandson brings clearly to light this trait in his character : — 'Tn stating prudential rules for our government in society, I must not omit ,ii8 THOMAS JEFFERSON. the important one of never entering- into dispute or argument with another. I never yet saw an instance of one of two disputants convincmg the other by aro-ument • I have seen many, of their getting warm, becommg rude, and shoot- ing one another. Conviction is the effect of our own dispassionate reasonhig. INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA. either in solitude or weighing within ourselves dispassionately what we hear from others, standing uncommitted in argument ourselves. It was one of the rules, which, above all others, made Dr.^ Franklin the most amiable of men in society. ' never to contradict anybody.' " RETURN FROM FRANCE. 119 In May, 1784, Congress appointed Mr. Jefferson to act as minister with Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin in negotiating- treaties of commerce with foreign nations. Leaving two daughters with their aunt, he took his eldest daughtei Martha with him and sailed for Europe. After a delightful voyage he reached Paris on the 6th of August. Here he placed his daughter at school, and. meet- ing his colleagues at Passy, engaged vigorously with them in accomplishing the object of his mision. Dr. Franklin, now aged and infirm, obtained permission to return home from his embassy to France. His genial character, combined with his illustrious merit, had won the love of the French people ; and he was unboundedly popular with both peasant and prince. Such attentions were lavished upon him in his journey from Paris to the coast, that it was almost an ovation. It was, indeed, a delicate matter to step into the position which had been occupied by one so enthusiastically admired. Few men could have done this so gracefully as did Jefferson. "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear," said the celebrated French minister, the Count de Vergennes. "I succeed him," was the prompt reply: "no man can replace him." SECRETARY OF STATE. In September, 1 789, Jefferson returned with his daughter to America. Immediately upon his return from France, Washington wrote to him in the most flattering terms, urging upon him a seat in his cabinet as Secretary of State. After some conference he accepted the appointment. His eldest daughter, Martha, was married on the 23d of February, 1790, to Colonel Thomas M. Randolph. A few days after the wedding, on the ist of March, Mr. Jefferson set out for New York, which was then the seat of government. He went by way of Richmond and Alexandria. The roads were horrible. At the latter place he took a stage, sending his carriage round by water, and leading his horses. Through snow and mud, their speed seldom exceeded three or four miles an hour by day, and one mile an hour by night. A fortnight, of great fatigue, was consumed in the journey. Occasionally Jefferson relieved the monotony of the dreary ride by mounting his led saddle-horse. At Philadel- phia he called upon his friend Benjamin Franklin, then in his last illness. The American Revolution did not originate in hostility to a monarchical form of government, but in resisting the oppressions which that government was inflicting upon the American people. Consequently, many persons, who were most active in the Revolution, would have been very willing to see an independent monarchy established here. But Mr. Jefferson had seen so much of the pernicious Influence of kings and courts in Europe that he had become an intense republican. Upon his arrival In New York he was much surprised at the freedom with which many persons advocated a monarchical government He writes, — ■120 THOMAS JEFFERSON. " I cannot describe the wonder and mortification with which the table con- versation filled me. Politics were the chief topic ; and a preference of a kingl)/ over a republican government was evidently the favorite sentiment. An apos- tate I could not be, nor yet a hypocrite ; and I found myself, for the most part, the only advocate on the republican side of the question, unless among the quests there chanced to be some member of that party from the legislative houses." President Washington watched with great anxiety the rising storm, and did all he could to quell its fury. His cabinet was divided. General Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury, was leader of the so-called Federal party. Mr. STAGK-COACH OF JEFFERSON S TIME. Jefferson, Secretary of State, was leader of the Republican party. On the 30th of September, 1792, as he was going from Monticello to the seat of govern- ment, he stopped, as usual, at Mount Vernon, and spent a night with President Washington. Mr. Jefferson makes the following record in his note-book of this interview, which shows conclusively that President Washington did not agree with Mr. Jefferson in his belief that there was a strong monarchical party in this country : — "The President," he writes, "expressed his concern at the difference which he found to subsist between the Secretary of the Treasury and myself, of which, he said, he had not been aware. He knew, indeed, that there was a marked difference in our political sentiments ; but he had never suspected it had gone DISPUTES WITH HAMILTON. 12 r so far in producing a personal difference, and he wished he could be the mediator to put an end to it ; that he thought it important to preserve the check of my opinions in the administration, in order to keep things in their proper channel, and prevent them from going too far ; that, as to the idea of t7^aiisfori)iing this govej'ument into a monarchy, he did not believe there were ten men in the United States, whose opinions were worth attention, who entertained such a thought.'' Some important financial measures which were proposed by Mr. Hamiltoa, Mr. Jefferson violently opposed. They w-ere, however, sustained by the cabinet, adopted by both houses of the legislature, and approved by the President. The enemies of Mr. Jefferson now pressed him with the charge of indelicacy in hold- ing office under a government whose leading measures he opposed. Bitter was the warfare waeecl between the two hostile secretaries. Hamilton accused Jefferson of lauding the constitution in public, while in private he had admitted that it contained those imperfections of want of pozver which Hamilton laid to its charge. The President seems to have been in accord with Mr. Jefferson in his views of the importance of maintaining cordial relations with France. Both England and Spain were then making encroachments upon us, very menacing in their aspect. The President, in a conversation with Mr. Jefferson, on the 27th of December, 1792, urged the necessity of making sure of the alliance with France in the event of a rupture with either of these powers. " There is no nation," said he, "on whom we can rely at all times, but France." This had long been one of the fundamental principles of Mr. Jefferson's policy. Upon the election of President Washington to his second term of office, Mr. Jefferson wished to retire from the Cabinet. Dissatisfaction with the measures of the government was doubtless a leading cause. At the earnest solicitation, however, of the President, he consented to remain in his position, which was daily becoming more uncomfortable, until the last of July, when he again sent in his resignation. But still again President Washington so earnestly entreated him to remain, that, very reluctantly, he consented to continue in office until the close of the year. Every day the political horizon was growing more stormy. All Europe was in the blaze of war. England, the most powerful monarchy on the globe, was straining every nerve to crush the French Revolution. The haughty course which the British government pursued toward the United States had exasper ated even the placid Washington. He wTote to General Hamilton on the 31st of August, 1 794 : — " By these high-handed measures of that government, and the outrageous and insulting conduct of its officers, it would seem next to impossible to keep peace between the United States and Great Britain." Even John Adams became aroused. Two years after, he wrote, in refer- ence to the cool treatment which his son, John Quincy Adams, had received in 122 THOMAS JEFFERSON. England : "1 am glad of it ; for I would not have my son go as far as Mr. Jay, and affirm the friendly disposition of that country to this. I know better. I know their jealousy, envy, hatred, and revenge, covered under pretended contempt." Jefferson's slumbering energies were electrified ; he wrote fiery letters, and by his conversational eloquence moved all who approached him. A new presidential election came on. John Adams was the Federal can- diate ; Thomas Jefferson the Republican. It does not appear that Mr. Jefferson was at all solicitous of being elected. Indeed, he wrote to Mr. Madison, "There is nothing I so anxiously hope as that my name may come out either second or third ; as the last would leave me at home the whole of the year, and the other two-thirds of it." Alluding to the possibility that "the representatives maybe divided," he makes the remarkable declaration, of the sincerity of which no one who knows the man can doubt, "This is a difficulty from which the Constitution has provided no issue. It is both my duty and inclination, therefore, to relieve the embarrassment, should it happen ; and, in that case I pray you, and autho- rize you fully, to solicit on my behalf that Mr. Adams may be preferred. He has always been my senior from the commencement of our public life ; and, the expression of the public will being equal, this circumstance ought to give him the preference." As the result of the election, Mr, Adams became President, and Mr. Jef- ferson, Vice-President. This rendered it necessary for him to leave Monticello for a few months each year to attend the sessions of Congress. His numerous letters to his children show how weary he had become of party strife, with what reluctance he left his home, with what joy he returned to it. In June, 1800, Congress moved from Philadelphia to Washington. The new seat of government, literally hewn out of the wilderness, was a dreary place. Though for twelve years workmen had been employed in that lonely, uninhab- ited, out-of-the-way spot, in putting up the public buildings, there was nothing as yet finished ; and vast piles of stone and brick and mortar were scattered at great distances from each other, with swamps or sand-banks intervening. Mrs. John Adams, who had seen the residences of royalty in Europe, — Buckingham Palace, Versailles, and the Tuileries, — gives an amusing account of their entrance upon the splendors of the " White House." In trying to find Washington from Baltimore, they got lost in the woods. After driving for some time, bewildered in forest paths, they chanced to come upon a black man, whom they hired to guide them through the forest. "The house." she writes, "is upon a grand and superb scale, requiring about thirty serv^ants to attend, and keep the apartments in proper order. The fires we are obliged to keep, to secure us from daily agues, are another very cheering comfort ; but, surrounded with forests, can you believe that wood is not to be had, because people cannot be found to cut and cart it?" SIGNING THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDF PENDENCE. 124 THOMAS JEFFERSON. The four years of Mr. Jefferson's Vice-Presidency passed joylessly away, while the storm of partisan strife between Federalist and Republican was evef growing hotter. General Hamilton, who was a great power in those days, became as much alienated from Mr. Adams as from Jefferson. There was a split in the Federal party. A new presidential election came on. Mr. Jeffer- son was chosen President ; and Aaron Burr, Vice-President. THE people's president. The news of the election of Jefferson was received in most parts of the Union with the liveliest demonstrations of joy. He was the leader of the suc- cessful and rapidly increasing party. His friends were found in every city and village in our land. They had been taught to believe that the triumph of the opposite party would be the triumph of aristocratic privilege and of civil and religious despotism. On the other hand, many of the Federalists turned pale when the tidings reached them that Thomas Jefferson was President of the United States. Both the pulpit and the press had taught them that he was the incarnation of all evil, — an infidel, an atheist, a scoffer at all things sacred ; a leveler, a revolutionist, an advocate of mob government. Jefferson was exceedingly simple in his tastes, having a morbid dislike of all that court etiquette which had disgusted him so much in Europe. Washing- ton rode to the halls of Congress in state, drawn by six cream-colored horses. Jefferson, on the morning of his inauguration, rode on horseback to the Capitol in a dress of plain cloth, without guard or servant, dismounted without assist- ance, and fastened the bridle of his horse to the fence. It may be that Mn Jefferson had allowed his mind to become so thoroughly imbued with the con- viction that our government was drifting towards monarchy and aristocracy, that he felt bound to set the example of extreme democratic simplicity. The political principles of the Jeffersonian party now swept the country, and Mr. Jefferson swayed an influence which was never exceeded by Washing- ton himself Louisiana, under which name was then included the whole territory west of the Mississippi to the Pacific, was purchased of France, under his admin- istration, in the year 1803, for fifteen millions of dollars. He was now smitten by another domestic grief In the year 1804 his beau- tiful daughter M'^ria, whom he so tenderly loved, sank into the grave, leaving her babe behind her. His eldest daughter, Martha, speaking of her father's suffering under this terrible grief, says, — *T found him with the Bible in his hands. He who has been so often and so harshly accused of unbelief, — he, in his hour of intense affliction, sought and found consolation in the sacred volume. The comforter was there for his true heart and devout spirit, even though his faith might not be what the world calls orthodoxc" SECOND TERM AS PRESIDENT. ^25 Another presidential election came in 1804. Mr. Jefferson was reelected President with wonderful unanimity ; and George Clinton, Vice-President. Jef- ferson was sixty-two years of age, when, on the 4th of March, 1805, he entered upon his second term of office. Our relations with England were daily becom- ing more complicated, from the British demand of the right to stop any of our ships, whether belonging to either the commercial or naval marine, and to take from them any sailors whom they felt disposed to claim as British subjects. The course England pursued rendered it certain that war could not be avoided. Mr, Jefferson humanely did everything in his power to prevent the Indians from FAIRFAX COURT HOUSE — A TYPICAL VIRGINIA COURT HOUSE. taking any part in it whatever. The British, on the contrary, were endeavoring to rouse them to deluge the frontiers in blood. Strange as it may now seem, the measures of government to redress these wrongs were virulently opposed. But notwithstanding the strength and influence of the opposition to Mr. Jeffer- son's administration, he was sustained by the general voice of the nation. In the year 1808 Mr. Jefferson closed his second term of office, and James Madison succeeded him as President of the United States. In the following terms the retiring President evnresses to a friend his feelings upon surrendering the cares of office : — 126 1 HO MAS JEFFERSON. " Within a few days I retire to my family, my books, and farms ; and, having gained the harbor myself, I shall look on my friends, still buffeting the storm, with anxiety indeed, but not with envy. Never did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science by rendering them my supreme delight ; but the enormities of the times in which I have lived have forced me to take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the bolster ous ocean of political passions. I thank God for the opportunity of retiring from them without censure, and carrying with me the most consoling proofs of public approbation." HOME LIFE AND HOSPITALITY. Jefferson's subsequent life at Monticello was very similar to that of Wash- ington at Mount Vernon. His mornings he devoted to his numerous corre- spondence ; from breakfast to dinner he was in the shops and over the farms ; from dinner to dark he devoted to recreation and friends ; from dark to early bedtime he read. He was particularly interested in young men, advising them as to their course of reading. Several came and took up their resi- dence in- the neighboring town of Charlottesville, that they might avail them- selves of his library, which was ever open for their use. Toward the latter part of his life, from a series of misfortunes, Mr. Jef- ferson became deeply involved in debt, so that it was necessary for him to sell a large pordon of his estate. He was always profuse in his hospitality. Whole families came in their coaches with their horses, — fathers and mothers, boys and girls, babies and nurses, — and remained three or even six months. One family of six persons came from Europe, and m.ade a visit of ten months. After a short tour they returned, and remained six months longer. Every day brought its contingent of guests. Such hospitality would speedily con- sume a larger fortune than Mr. Jefferson possessed. His daughter, Mrs. Randolph, was the presiding lady of this immense establishment. The domes- tic service required thirty-seven house servants. Mrs. Randolph, upon being asked what was the greatest number of guests she had ever entertained any one night, replied, '' she believed fifty." In the winter Mr. Jefferson had some little repose from the crowd of visitors. He then enjoyed, in the highest possible degree, all that is endearing in domes tic life. It is impossible to describe the love with which he was cherished b) his grandchildren. One of them writes, in a letter overflowing with the gush ing of a loving heart, " My Bible came from him, my Shakespeare, my first writing-table, my first handsome writing-desk, my first Leghorn hat, my first silk dress : what, in short, of all my treasures did not come from him ? My sisters, according to their wants and tastes, were equally thought of, equally provided for. Our grandfather seemed to read our hearts, to see our individual LIFE AT MO NT I CELLO. 127 wishes, to be our good genius, to wave the fairy wand to brighten our young lives by his goodness and his gifts." Another writes: "I cannot describe the feelings of veneration, admiration, and love that existed in my heart toward him. I looked on him as being too great and good for my comprehension ; and yet I felt no fear to approach him^ and be taught by him some of the childish sports I delighted in. Not one of us, in our wildest moods, ever placed a foot on one of the garden-beds, for that would violate one of his rules ; and yet I never heard him utter a harsh word to one of us, or speak in a raised tone of voice, or use a threat." In 1 81 2 a perfect reconciliation took place between Mr. Adams and Mr. Jefferson ; the latter very handsomely and magnanimously making the first advances. This friendship, which was kept up by a constant interchange of letters, continued unabated until their death, — on the same day, and almost at the same hour. N'/^«/Y their first war with Great Britain our forefathers asserted and maintained their right to independent national existence; by their second war with Great Britain, they claimed and obtained equal consideration in international affairs. The War of 1812 was not based on a single cause ; it was rather undertaken from mixed motives, — partly political, partly commercial, partly pa- triotic. It was always unpopular with a great number of the American people ; it was far from logical in some of its posi- tions ; it was perhaps precipitated by party clamor. But, despite all these facts, it remains true that this war established once for all the position of the United States as an equal power among the powers. Above all — clearing away the petty political and partisan aspects of the struggle — we find that in it the United States stood for a strong, sound, and universally beneficial principle — that of the rights of neutral nations in time of war. "Free ships make free goods" is a maxim of international law now universally recognized, but at the opening of the century it was a theory, supported, indeed, by good reasoning, but practically disregarded by the most powerful nations. It was almost solely to the stand taken by the United States in 18 12 that the final settlement of the disputed principle was due. The cause of the War of 18 12 which appealed most strongly to the patriotic feelings of the common people, though, perhaps, not in itself so intrinsically im- portant as that just referred to, was unquestionably the impressment by Great Britain of sailors from American ships. No doubt great numbers of English sailors did desert from their naval vessels and take refuse in the easier service and better treatment of the American merchant ships. Great Britain was strain- ing every nerve to strengthen her already powerful navy, and the press-gang was constantly at work in English sea-ports. Once on board a British man-of- war, the impressed sailor was subject to overwork, bad rations, and the lash. That British sailors fought as gallantly as they did under this regime will always remain a wonder. But it is certain that they deserted in considerable numbers, 144 THE ''CHESAPEAKE'' OUTRAGE. 145 and that they found in the rapidly-growing- commercial prosperity of our carry- ing trade a tempting chance of employment. Now, Great Britain, with a large contempt for the naval weakness of the United States, assumed, rather thail claimed, the right to stop our merchant vessels on the high seas, to examine the crews, and to claim as her own any British sailors among them. This was bad enough in itself, but the way in which the search was carried out was worse. Every form of insolence and overbearing was exhibited. The pretense of claim- ing British deserters covered what was sometimes barefaced and outrageous kidnaping of Americans. The British officers ivent so far as to lay the burden of proof of nationality in each case upon the sailor himself; if he were without papers proving his identity he was at once assumed to be a British subject. To such an extent was this insult to our flag carried that our Government had the record of about forty-five hundred cases of impressment from our ships between the years of 1803 and 18 10; and when the War of 181 2 broke out the number of American sailors serving against their will in British war vessels was variously computed to be from six to fourteen thousand. It is even recorded that in some cases American ships were obliged to return home in the middle of their voyages because their crews had been so diminished in number by the seizures made by British officers that they were too short-handed to proceed. In not a few cases these depredations led to bloodshed. The greatest outrage of all, and one which stirred the blood of Americans to the fighting point, was the capture of an Ameri- can war vessel, the "Chesapeake," by the British man-of-war, the "Leopard." The latter was by far the more powerful vessel, and the " Chesapeake " was quite unprepared for action ; nevertheless, her commander refused to accede to a demand that his crew be overhauled in search for British deserters. Thereupon the "Leopard" poured broadside after broadside into her until the flag was struck. Three Americans were killed and eighteen wounded ; four were taken away as alleged deserters ; of these, three were afterwards returned, while in one case the charge was satisfactorily proved and the man was hanged. The whole affair was without the slightest justification under the law of nations and was in itself ample ground for war. Great Britain, however, in a quite ungrace- ful and tardy way, apologized and offered reparation. This incident took place six years before the actual declaration of war. But the outrage rankled all that time, and nothing did more to fan the anti-British feeling which was already so strong in the rank and file, especially in the Democratic (or, as it was often called then, Republican) party. It was such deeds as this that led Henry Clay to exclaim, " Not content with seizing upon all our property which falls within her rapacious grasp, the personal rights of our countrymen — rights which must forever be sacred — are trampled on and violated by the impressment of our seamen. What are we to gain by war ? What are we not to lose by peace ? Commerce, character, a nation's best treasure, honor ! " 146 STORY OF THE WAR OF 18 12. The attack on American commerce was also a serious danger to peace. In the early years of the century Great Britain was at war not only with France, but with other European countries. Both Great Britain and France adopted in practice the most extreme theories of non-intercourse between neutral and hostile nations. It was the era of "paper blockades." In 1806 England, for instance, declared that eight hundred miles of the European coast were to be Considered blockaded, whereupon Napoleon, not to be outdone, declared the entire Islands of Great Britain to be under blockade. Up to a certain point the interruption of the neutral trade relations between the countries of Europe was to the commercial advantage of America. Our carrying trade grew and pros- pered wonderfully. Much of this trade consisted in taking goods from the colo- nies of European nations, bringing them to the United States, then trans-ship- ping them and conveying them to the parent nation. This was allowable under DESTRUCTION OF COMMERCE. 147 the international law of the time, although the direct carrying of goods by the neutral ship from the colony to the parent nation (the latter, of course, being at war) was forbidden. But by her famous "Orders in Council " Great Britain ab- solutely forbade this system of trans-shipment as to nations with whom she was at war. American vessels engaged in this form of trade were seized and con- demned by English prize courts. Naturally, France followed Great Britain's example and even went further. Our merchants, who had actually been earning double freights under the old system, now found that their commerce was wofully restricted. At first it was thought that the unfair restriction might be punished by retaliatory measures, and a quite illogical analogy was drawn from the effect produced on Great Britain before the Revolution by the refusal of the colonies to receive goods on which a tax had been imposed. So President Jefferson's Administration resorted to the most unwise measure that could be thought of — an absolute embargo on our own ships. This measure was passed in 1807, and its immediate result was to reduce the exports of the country from nearly fifty million dollars' worth to nine million dollars' worth in a single year. This was evidently anything but profitable, and the act was changed so as to forbid only commercial intercourse with Great Britain and France and their colonies, with a proviso that the law should be abandoned as regards either of these countries which should repeal its objectionable decrees. The French Government moved in the matter first, but only conditionally. Our non-intercourse act, however, was after 18 10 in force only against Great Britain. That our claims of wrong were equally or nearly equally as great against France in this matter cannot be doubted. But the popular feeling was stronger against Great Britain ; a war with England was popular with the mass of the Democrats ; and it was the refusal of England to finally accept our conditions which led to the declaration of war. By a curious chain of circumstances it happened, however, that between the time when Congress declared war (June 18, 181 2) and the date when the news of this declaration was received in England, the latter country had already revoked her famous "orders in council." In point of fact, President Madison was very reluctant to declare war, though the Federalists always took great pleasure in speaking of this as " Mr. Madison's war." The Federalists through- out considered the war unnecessary and the result of partisan feeling and un- reasonable prejudice. It is peculiarly grateful to American pride that this war, undertaken in defense of our maritime interests and to uphold the honor of our flag upon the high seas, resulted in a series of naval victories brilliant in the extreme. It was not, indeed, at first thought that this would be chiefly a naval war. Presi- dent Madison was at one time greatly inclined to keep stricdy in port our war vessels ; but, happily, other counsels prevailed. The disparity between the Amer- ican and British navies was certainly disheartening. The United States had. 148 STORY OF THE WAR OF 1812. seven or eight frigates and a few sloops, brigs, and gunboats, while the sails of England's navy whitened every sea, and her ships certainly outnumbered ours by fifty to one. On the other hand, her hands were tied to a great extent by the European wars of magnitude in which she was involved. She had to defend her commerce from formidable enemies in many seas, and could give but a small part of her naval strength to the new foe. That this new foe was despised by LOADING A COTTON STEAMER. the great power which claimed, not without reason, to be the mistress of the seas was not unnatural. But soon we find a lament raised in Parliament about the reverses, " which English officers and English sailors had not before been used to, and that from such a contemptible navy as that of America had always been held." The fact is that the restriction of our commerce had made it possible for our navy officers to take their pick of a remarkably fine body of native American seamen, naturally brave and intelligent, and thoroughly well trained in all sea- WAR ON THE CANADA FRONTIER. 149 manlike experiences. These men were in many instances filled with a spirit of resentment at British insolence, having either themselves been the victims of the aggressions which we have described, or having seen their friends compelled to submit to these insolent acts. The very smallness of our navy, too, was in a measure its strength ; the competition for active service among those bearing commissions was great, and there was never any trouble in finding officers of proved sagacity and courage. At the outset, however, the policy determined on by the Administration was not one of naval aesression. It was decided to attack England from her Canadian colonies. This plan of campaign, however reasonable it might seem to a strategist, failed wretchedly in execution. The first year of the war, so far as regards the land campaigns, showed nothing but reverses and fiascoes. There was a long and thinly settled border country, in which our slender forces struggled to hold their own against the barbarous Indian onslaughts, making futile expeditions across the border into Canada and resisting with some success the similar expeditions by the Canadian troops. It was one of the complaints which led to the war that the Indian tribes had been incited ao^ainst our settlers by the Canadian authorities and had been promised aid from Canada. It is certain that after war was declared English officers not only employed Indians as their allies, but in some instances, at least, paid bounties for the scalps of American settlers. The Indian war planned by Tecumseh had just been put down by General, afterward President, Harrison. No doubt Tecumseh was a man of more elevated ambition and more humane instincts than one often finds in an Indian chief. His hope to unite the tribes and to drive the whites out of his country has a certain nobility of purpose and breadth of view. But this scheme had failed, and the Indian warriors, still inflamed for war, were only too eager to assist the Canadian forces in a desultory but bloody border war. The strength of our campaign against Canada was dissipated in an attempt to hold Fort Wayne, Fort Harrison, and other garrisons against Indian attacks. Still more disappointing was the complete failure of the attempt, under the command of General Hull, to advance from Detroit as an outpost, into Canada. He was easily driven back to Detroit, and when the nation was confidently waiting to hear of a bold defense of that place it was startled by the news of Hull's surrender without firing a gun, and under circumstances which seemed to indicate either cowardice or treachery. Hull was, In fact, court-martialed, condemned to death, and only pardoned on account of his services in the war of 1776. The mortification that followed the land campaign of 181 2 was forgotten in joy at the splendid naval victories of that year. Pre-eminent among these was the famous sea-duel between the frigates 'Constitution" and "Guerriere." Every one knows of the glory of " Old Ironsides," and this, though the greatest, was only one of many victories by which the name of the '* Constitution " ISO STORY OF THE WAR OF 1812. became the most famed and beloved of all that have been associated with Amer- ican ships. She was a fine frigate, carrying forty-four guns, and though English journals had ridiculed her as " a bunch of pine boards under a bit of striped bunting," it was not long before they were busily engaged in trying to prove ^ that she was too large a vessel to be prop- erly called a frigate, and that she gready owt-classed her opponent in metal and i BURMiNG OF WAbiilNGTON. men. It is true that the *' Constitution " carried six more guns and a few more men than the " Guerriere," but, all allowances being made, her victory was yet a naval triumph of the first magnitude. Captain Isaac Hull, who commanded her, had just before the engage- ment proved his superior seamanship by escaping from a whole squadron of British vessels, out-sailing and out-manoeuvring them at every point. It was on August 19 when he w- OUR VICTORIES AT SEA. 151 descried the "Guerriere." Both vessels at once cleared for action and came together with the greatest eagerness on both sides for the engagement. Though the battle lasted but half an hour, it was one of the hottest in naval annals. At one time the " Constitution " was on fire, and both ships were soon seriously crippled by injury to their spars. Attempts to board each other were thwarted on both sides by the close fire of small arms. Here, as in later sea- fights of this war, the accuracy and skill of the American gunners were some- thing marvelous. At the end of half an hour the " Guerriere " had lost both mainmast and foremast and floated helplessly in the open sea. Her surrender was no discredit to hier officers, as she was almost in a sinking condition. It was hopeless to attempt to tow her into port, and Captain Hull transferred his prisoners to his own vessel and set fire to his prize. In the fight the American frigate had only seven men killed and an equal number wounded, while the British vessel had as many as seventy-nine men killed or wounded. The con- duct of the American seamen was throughout gallant in the highest degree. Captain Hull put it on record that " From the smallest boy in the ship to the oldest seaman not a look of fear was seen. They all went into action giving three cheers and requesting to be laid close alongside the enemy." The effect of this victory in both America and England was extraordinary. English papers long refused to believe in the possibility of the well-proved facts, while in America the whole country joined in a triumphal shout of joy, and loaded well-deserved honors on vessel, captain, officers, and men. The chagrin of the English public at the unexpected result of this sea batde was changed to amazement when one after another there followed no less than six combats of the same duel-like character, in which the American vessels were invariably victorious. The first was between our sloop, the "Wasp," and the English brig, the "Frolic," which was convoying a fleet of merchantmen. The fight was one of the most desperate in the war; the two ships were brought so close together that their gunners could touch the sides of the opposing vessels with their rammers. Broadside after broadside was poured into the " Frolic " by the "Wasp," which obtained the superior position, but her sailors, unable to await the victory which was sure to come from the continued raking of the enemy's vessel, rushed upon her decks without orders and soon overpowered her. Again the British loss in killed and wounded was large ; that of the Ameri- cans very small. It in no wise detracted from the glory of this victory that both victor and prize were soon captured by a British man-of-war of immensely supe- rior strength. Following this action, Commodore Stephen Decatur, in our frigate, the " United States," attacked the " Macedonian," a British vessel of the same kind, and easily defeated her, bringing her into New York harbor on New Year's Day, 1 813, where he received an ovation equal to that offered Captain Hull. The same result followed the attack of the " Constitution," now under the command 152 STORY OF THE WAR OF 1812. of Commodore Bain- "Java;" the latter had her about one hundred wound- that it was decided to blow tion" suffered so little that Ironsides," a name now been in every school-boy's resulted, in the great ma- jority of cases in the same way — in all unstinted praise was awarded by the .tSSfe' s* bridge, upon the English captain and fifty men killed and ed, and was left such a wreck her up, while the " Constitu- she was in sport dubbed " Old ennobled by a poem which has mouth. Other naval combat > STATUE OF COMMODORE PERRY. whole world, even Including England herself, to the admira- ble seamanship, the wonderful gunnery, and the constant per- sonal intrepitude of our naval forces. When the second year of the war closed our little navy EXPLOITS OF PRIVATEERS. 153 had captured twenty-six war-ships, armed with 560 guns, while it had lost only seven ships, carrying 119 guns. But, if the highest honors of the war were thus won by our navy, the most serious injury materially to Great Britain was in the devastation of her commerce by American privateers. No less than two hundred and fifty of these sea guerrillas were afloat, and in the first year of the war they captured over three hundred merchant vessels, sometimes even attacking and overcoming the smaller class of war-ships. The privateers were usually schooners armed with a few small guns, but carrying one long cannon mounted on a swivel so that it could be turned to any point of the horizon, and familiarly known as Long Tom. Of course, the crews were influenced by greed as well as by patriotism. Privateering is a somewhat doubtful mode of warfare at the best ; but international law permits it ; and though it is hard to dissociate from it a certain odor, as of legalized piracy, it is legitimate to this day. And surely if it were ever justifiable it was at that time. As Jefferson said, there were then tens of thousands of seamen forced by war from their natural means of support and useless to their country in any other way, while by " licensing private armed vessels the whole naval force of the nation was truly brought to bear on the foe." The havoc wrought on British trade was widespread indeed ; altogether between fifteen hundred and two thousand prizes were taken by the privateers. To compute the value of these prizes is impossible, but some idea may be gained from the single fact that one privateer, the "Yankee," in a cruise of less than two months captured five brigs and four schooners with cargoes valued at over half a million dollars. The men engaged In this form of warfare were bold to recklessness, and their exploits have furnished many a tale to Ameri- can writers of romance. The naval combats thus far mentioned were almost always of single vessels. For battles of fleets we must turn from the salt water to the fresh, from the ocean to the great lakes. The control of the waters of Lake Erie, Lake Onta- rio, and Lake Champlain was obviously of vast importance, in view of the con- tinued land-fighting in the West and of the attempted invasion of Canada and the threatened counter-invasions. The British had the great advantage of being able to reach the lakes by the St. Lawrence, while our lake navies had to be con- structed after the war began. One such litde navy had been built at Presque Isle, now Erie, on Lake Erie. It comprised two brigs of twenty guns and sev- eral schooners and gunboats. It must be remembered that everything but the lumber needed for the vessels had to be brought through the forests by land from the eastern seaports, and the mere problem of transportadon was a serious one. When finished, the fleet was put in command of Oliver Hazard Perry. Watching his time (and, it is said, taking advantage of the carelessness of the 154 STORY OF THE WAR OF j8i2. British commander in going on shore to dinner one Sunday, when he should have been watching Perry's movements), the American commander drew his fleet over the bar which had protected it while in harbor from the onslaughts of the British fleet. To get the brigs over this bar was a work of time and great difficulty; an attack at that hour by the British would certainly have ended in the total destruction of the fleet. Once accomplished, Perry, in his flagship, the •' Lawrence," headed a fleet often vessels, fifty-five guns, and four hundred men^' Opposed to him was Captain Barclay with six ships, sixty-five guns, and also VIEW ON LAKE ONTARIO. about four hundred men. The British for several weeks avoided the conflict, but in the end were cornered and forced to fight. It was at the beginning of this battle that Perry displayed the flag bearing Lawrence's famous dying words, " Don't give up the ship ! " No less famous is his dispatch announcing the result in the words, " We have met the enemy and they are ours." The victory was indeed a complete and decisive one ; all six of the enemy's ships were captured, and their loss was nearly double that of Perry's forces. The complete control of Lake Erie was assured ; that of Lake Ontario had already been gained by Commodore Chauncey. BATTLE OF THE THAMES. • i55 Perry's memorable victory opened the way for important land operations by General Harrison, who now marched from Detroit with the design of invading Canada. He engaged with Proctor's mingled body of British troops and Indians, and by the Battle of the Thames drove back the British from that part of Canada and restored matters to the position in which they stood before Hull's deplorable surrender of Detroit — and, indeed, of all Michigan — to the British. In this battle of the Thames the Indian chief, Tecumseh, fell, and about three hundred of the British and Indians were killed on the field. The hold of our enemies on the Indian tribes was greatly broken by this defeat. Previous to this the land cam- paigns had been marked by a succession of minor victories and defeats. In the West a force of Americans under General Winchester had been captured at the River Raisin ; and there took place an atrocious massacre of large numbers of prisoners by the Indians, who were quite beyond restraint from their white allies. On the other hand, the Americans had captured the city of York, now Toronto, though at the cost of their leader, General Pike, who, with two hundred of his men, was destroyed by the explosion of a magazine. Fort George had also been captured by the Americans and an attack on Sackett's Harbor had been gal- lantly repulsed. Following the battle of the Thames, extensive operations of an aggressive kind had been planned looking toward the capture of Montreal and the invasion of Canada by way of Lakes Ontario and Champlain. Un- happily, jealousy between the American Generals Wilkinson and Hampton resulted in a lack of concert in their military operations, and the expedition was a complete fiasco. One turns for consolation from the mortifying record of Wilkinson's ex- pedition to the story of the continuous successes which had accompanied the naval operations of 1813. Captain Lawrence, in the " Hornet," won a complete victory over the English brig " Peacock ;" our brig, the " Enterprise," captured the " Boxer," and other equally welcome victories were reported. One distinct defeat had marred the record — that of our fine brig, the " Chesapeake," com- manded by Captain Lawrence, which had been captured after one of the most hard-fought contests of the war by the British brig, the " Shannon." Lawrence himself fell mortally wounded, exclaiming as he was carried away, "Tell the men not to give up the ship but fight her till she sinks." It was a paraphrase of this exclamation which Perry used as a rallying signal in the battle on Lake Erie, Despite his one defeat. Captain Lawrence's fame as a gallant seaman and high- minded patriot was untarnished, and his death was more deplored throughout the country than was the loss of his ship. In the latter part of the war England was enabled to send large reinforce- ments both to her army and navy engaged in the American campaigns. Events in Europe seemed in 18 14 to insure peace for at least a time. Napoleon's powef was broken ; the Emperor himself was exiled at Elba ; and Great Britain at last 156 " . STORY OF THE WAR OF 1812. had her hands free. But before the reinforcements reached this country, our army had won greater credit and had shown more miUtary skill by far than were evinced in its earlier operations. Along the line of the Niagara River active WEATHERSFORD AND GENERAL JACKSON. fighting had been going on. In the battle of Chippewa, the capture of Fort Erie, the engagement at Lundy's Lane, and the defense of Fort Erie the troops, under the command of Winfield Scott and General Brown, had held their own, and more, against superior forces, and had won from British officers the admission that they THE BURNING OF WASHINGTON, 157 fought as well under fire as regular troops. More encouraging still was the total defeat of the plan of invasion from Canada undertaken by the now greatly strengthened British forces. These numbered twelve thousand men and were supported by a fleet on Lake Champlain. Their operations were directed against Plattsburg, and in the battle on the lake, usually called by the name of that town, the American flotilla under the command of Commodore Macdonough completely routed the British fleet. As a result the English army also beat a rapid and undignified retreat to Canada. This was the last important engagement to take place in the North. Meanwhile expeditions of considerable size were directed by the British against our principal Southern cities. One of these brought General Ross with five thousand men, chiefly the pick of the Duke of Wellington's army, into the Bay of Chesapeake. Nothing was more discreditable in the military strategy of our Administration than the fact that at this time Washington was left unprotected, though in evident danger. General Ross marched straight upon the Capital, easily defeated at Bladensburg an inferior force of raw militia — who yet fought with intrepidity for the most part — seized the city, and carried out his intention of destroying the public buildings and a great part of the town. Most of the public archives had been removed. Ross' conduct in the burning of Washington was probably within the limits of legitimate warfare but has been condemned as semi- barbarous by many writers. The achievement gave great joy to the English papers, but was really of less importance than was supposed. Washington at that time was a straggling town of only eight thousand inhabitants ; its public buildings were not at all adequate to the demands of the future ; and an optimist might even consider the destruction of the old city as a public benefit, for it enabled Congress to adopt the plans which have since led to the making of perhaps the most beautiful city of the country. A similar attempt upon Baltimore was less successful. The people of that city made a brave defense and hastily threw up extensive fortifications. In the end the British fleet, after a severe bombardment of Fort McHenry, were driven off. The British Admiral had boasted that Fort McHenry would yield in a few hours ; and two days after, when its flag was still flying, Francis S. Key was in- spired by its sight to compose the "Star Spangled Banner." A still larger expedition of British troops landed on the Louisiana coast and marched to the attack of New Orleans. Here General Andrew Jackson was in command. He had already distinguished himself in this war by putting down with a strong hand the hostile Creek Indians of the then Spanish territory of Florida, who had been incited by English envoys to warfare against our Southern settlers; and in April, 18 14, William Weathersford, the half-breed chief, had surrendered in person to Jackson (see illustration). General Packenham, who commanded the five thousand British soldiers sent against 10 158 STORY OF THE WAR OF 1812. New Orleans, expected as easy a victory as that of General Ross at Washington. But Jackson had summoned to his aid the stalwart frontiersmen of Kentucky and Tennessee — men used from boyhood to the rifle, and who made up what was In effect a splendid force of sharp-shooters. Both armies threw up rough fortifications ; General Jackson made great use for that purpose of cotton bales, Packenham employing the still less solid material of sugar barrels. Oddly enough, the final battle, and really the most Important of the war, took place after the treaty of peace between the two countries had already been signed. The British were repulsed again and again in persistent and gallant attacks on our fortifications. General Packenham himself was killed, together with many officers and seven hundred of his men. One British officer pushed to the top of our earthworks and demanded their surrender, whereupon he was smilingly asked to look behind him, and turning saw, as he afterward said, that the men he supposed to be supporting him " had vanished as If the earth had swallowed them up." The American losses were Inconsiderable. The treaty of peace, signed at Ghent, December 24, 18 14, has been ridiculed because It contained no positive agreement as to many of the questions In dis- pute. Not a word did it say about the Impressment of American sailors or the rights of neutral ships. Its chief stipulations were the mutual restoration of ter- ritory and the appointing of a commission to determine our northern boundary line. The truth Is that both nations were tired of the war; the circumstances that had led to England's aofcrressions no lono^er existed ; both countries were suffering enormous commercial loss to no avail ; and, above all, the United States had emphatically justified by Its deeds its claim to an equal place In the council of nations. Politically and materially, further warfare was Illogical. If the two nations had understood each other better In the first place ; If Great Britain had treated our demands with courtesy and justice instead of Insolence ; If, In short, international comity had taken the place of International Ill-temper, the war might have been avoided altogether. Its undoubted benefits to us were incidental rather than direct. But though not formally recognized by treaty, the rights of American seamen and of American ships were in fact no longer Infringed upon by Great Britain. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, THE ACCOMPIvISHED PRESIDENT, AND GREAT DEFENDER OE THE RIGHT OK PETITION. 'MERICA is the land of self-made men! Many of the greatest statesmen of this republic have been men who, from the deepest poverty and obscurity, rose step by step to the highest eminence. To such lives the career of John Ouincy Adams forms a curious contrast. He was the son of a g-reat statesman, and trained in politics and diplomacy from earliest youth. He was educated in the best schools of America and Europe. So early were his abilities developed, that when he was a mere boy they attracted the attention of Washington; and from that time until the day when, half a century later, death found him at his post, he was equal to every duty, prepared for every station. He went steadily on, up to the highest office in the nation's gift ; but his unique fame was won, not in his presidency, but in the humbler post which he afterward took in the House of Representatives. There, for seventeen years, through evil and good report. he stood, always at his post, maintaining the sacred right of petition, and plead- ing the cause of the poor and oppressed. Almost the whole life of John Quincy Adams was passed amid the "storms i6i l62 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. of state." When but eight years of age he stood with his mother upon an eminence, listening to the booming of the great battle on Bunker's Hill, and gazing upon the smoke and flame billowing up from the conflagration of Charles- town. Often, during the siege of Boston, he watched the shells thrown day and night by the combatants. When but eleven years old he took a tearful adieu •of his mother and was rowed out in a small boat to a ship anchored in the bay, tc sail with his father for Europe through a fleet of hostile British cruisers. His. father, John Adams, was associated with Franklin and Lee as minister plenipo- tentiary at Paris. The boy's intelligence attracted the notice of these distin- gTiished men, and he received from them flattering marks of attention. John Adams had scarcely returned to this country in 1779 ere he was again sent abroad, empowered to negotiate a treaty of peace with England whenever England should be disposed to end the war. Again John Ouincy Adams accom- panied his father. On this voyage he commenced a diary, noting down the remarkable events of each day ; which practice he continued, with but few inter- ruptions, until his death. At Paris he applied himself with great diligence, for six months, to study ; then accompanied his father to Holland, where he entered, first a school in Amsterdam, and then the University of Leyden. In 1 78 1, when but fourteen years of age, he was selected by Mr. Dana, our minis- ter to the Russian court, as his private secretary. In this school of incessant labor and culture he spent fourteen months, and then returned to Holland throuorh Sweden, Denmark, Hamburof, and Bremen. This long journey he took alone, in the winter, when in his sixteenth year. Again he resumed his studies, under a private tutor, at the Hague. Thence, in the spring of 1782, he accompanied his father to Paris, traveling leisurely, and forming acquaintances with the most distinguished men on the continent. At Paris he again became the associate of the most illustrious men of all lands. After a short visit to England, he returned to Paris, and consecrated all his energies to study until May, 1785, when he returned to America, leav'ng his father our ambassador at the court of St. James. The advancement which he had already made in education was such that in 1786 he entered the junior class in Harvard University. His character, attainments, and devotion to study secured'alike the respect of his classmates and the faculty, and he graduated with the second honor of his class. Upon, leaving college, at the age of twenty, he studied law, and in 1790 opened ar office in Boston. When Great Britain commenced war against France, in 1793, to arrest the progress of the French Revolution, Mr. Adams wrote some articles urging entire neutrality on the part of the United States. The view was not a popular one. Many felt that as France had helped us, we were bound to help France. But President Washington coincided with Mr. Adams, and issued a proclamation MISSION TO EUROPE, 163 of neutrality. His writings at this time in the Boston journals attracted national attention, and gave him so high a reputation for talent and familiarity with our diplomatic relations, that in June, 1794, he, being then but twenty-seven years of age, was appointed by Washington resident minister at the Netherlands. In the agitated state of Europe, swept by great armies struggling for and against "equal rights for all men," there was but little that a peaceful ambassa- dor could then accomplish ; but being one of the most methodical and laborious of men, he devoted himself to official duties, the claims of society, reading the ancient classics, and familiarizing himself with the languages of modern Europe. Every hour had its assigned duty. Every night he reviewed what he had done for the day ; and at the close of every month and every year he subjected his conduct to rigorous retrospection. In July, 1797, he left the Hague to go to Portugal as minister plenipoten- tiary. Washington at this time wrote to his father, John Adams : — "Without intending to compliment the father or the mother, or to censure any others, I give it as my decided opinion, that Mr. Adams is the most valuable character which we have abroad ; and there remains no doubt in my mind that he will prove himself the ablest of all our diplomatic corps." On his way to Portugal, upon his arrival in London, he met with despatches directing him to the court of Berlin, but requesting him to remain in London until he should receive his instructions. While waiting he was married to an American lady to whom he had been previously engaged, — Miss Louisa Catha- rine Johnson, daughter of the American consul in London ; a lady endowed with beauty and accomplishments which made her a worthy companion. He reached Berlin with his wife in November, 1797, where he remained until July, 1799, when, having fulfilled all the purposes of his mission, he solicited his recall. As soon as permission came for his return, he embarked, and reached the United States in September, 1801. SENATOR AND PROFESSOR. Soon after his return, in 1802, he was chosen to the Senate of Massachu- setts from Boston, and then was elected senator of the United States for six years from the 4th of March, 1804. His reputation, ability, and experience placed him immediately among the most prominent and influential members of thai body. In every measure which his judgment approved, he cordially supported Mr. Jefferson's administration. Especially did he sustain the government in its measures of resistance to the encroachments of England, destroying our commerce and insulting our flag. There was no man in America more familiar with the arrogance of the British court upon these points, and no one niore resolved to present a firm resistance. In 1805 he was chosen professor of rhetoric in Harvard College; and '.his i64 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. indefatigable man, in addition to his senatorial duties, entered vigorously upon a course of preparatory studies, reviewing his classics, and searching the litera- ture of Europe for materials for his lectures. The lectures he thus prepared were subsequently published, and constitute enduring memorials of his geniu? and his industry. In 1809 Madison succeeded Jefferson in the presidential chair; and he immediately nominated John Ouincy Adams minister to St. Petersburg. Resigning his professorship, he embarked at Boston with Mrs. Adams and theii youngest son in August, 1 809, and, after a stormy passage, reached St. Peters burg on the 23d of October. Twice their ship, which was a merchantman, was stopped and searched by British cruisers ; and, but for Mr. Adams' firmness and thorough acquaintance with the laws of nations, the ship would not have been permitted to continue to its port of destination. He was received by the Emperor Alexander alone in his cabinet, and a warm attachment immediately sprang up between those illustrious men ; and thus was laid the foundations of that friendship which binds the two nations together to the present day. The foreign ministers at the Russian court were generally living in the greatest magnificence ; but Mr. Adams received so small a salary that he was compelled to practice the most rigid economy. He was expected to attend the splendid entertainments of others, but could give none in return. One morning, as he was out walking, he met the emperor, who came cordially up to him, and. clasping his hand, said : — " Why, Mr. Adams, it is a hundred years since I have seen you ! " Aftet some common observations, he inquired, " Do you intend to take a house in the country this summer? " " No," Mr. Adams replied : " I had that intention for some time, but have given it up." " And why ? " inquired the emperor. Then, observing a little hesitation in Mr. Adams' manner, he relieved him from his embarrassment by saying in perfect good humor, and with a smile, " Perhaps it is from considerations of finance." " Those considerations are often very important," Mr. Adams replied. ''You are right," rejoined the emperor: "it is always necessary to pro- portion one's expenses to one's receipts." While in Russia Mr. Adams was an intense student. He devoted his attention to the language and history of Russia ; to the Chinese trade ; to the European system of weights, measures, and coins ; to the climate, and astro nomical observations ; while he kept up a familiar acquaintance with the Greek and Latin classics. In all the universities of Europe a more accomplished scholar could scarcely be found. All through life the Bible constituted an THE TREATY OF GHENT. 165 important part of his studies. It was his rule every day to read five chapters, He also read with great attention the works of the most eminent theologianSc With this eagerness in the pursuit of knowledge, it is not surprising that he should write to a friend : — " I feel nothing like the tediousness of time. I suffer nothing like en?tui. rime is too short for me rather than too long. If the day was forty-eight hours, instead of twenty-four, I could employ them all, if I had but eyes and hands to read and write." As England had consented to treat for peace, Mr. Adams was appointed, with Mr. Gallatin and Mr. Bayard, to conduct the negotiations. The commis- ^'S^^^^'';^0!. THE WHITE HOUSE AT VVAbHINGTON. sioners met at Ghent, in 181 5. Mr. Adams took the leading part. The Marquis of Wellesley, in commenting upon the treaty which was then entered mto, said in the British House of Lords, — " In my opinion, the American commissioners have shown the most aston ishing superiority over the English during the whole of the correspondence." From Ghent Mr. Adams went to Paris, where he chanced to be when the Emperor Napoleon returned from Elba. Mrs. Adams joined him here ; and they proceeded together to London, he having been appointed minister to the British court. On the 4th of March, 181 7. Mr. Monroe took the presidential chair, and I66 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. immediately appointed Mr. Adams Secretary of State. Taking leave of his numerous friends in public and private life in Europe, he sailed, in June, 1817, for the United States. After a short visit' home, he repaired to Washington, and entered upon his new duties, as thoroughly prepared for them, in ability, education, and experience, as one could be. During the eight years of Mn Monroe's administration, Mr. Adams continued Secretary of State. Few will now contradict the assertion, that the duties of that office were never more ably discharged. Probably the most important measure which Mr. Adams conducted was the purchase of Florida from Spain, for five million dollars. Some time before the close of Mr. Monroe's second term of office, new candidates began to be presented for the presidency. The friends of Mr. Adams brought forward his name. It was an exciting campaign. Party spirit was never more bitter. Two hundred and sixty-one electoral votes were cast. Andrew Jackson received ninety-nine ; John Ouincy Adams, eighty-four ; Wil- Ham H. Crawford, forty-one ; Henry Clay, thirty-seven. As there was no choice by the people, the question went to the House of Representatives. Mr. Clay gave the vote of Kentucky to Mr. Adams, and he was elected. The friends of the disappointed candidates now combined in a venomous and persistent assault upon Mr. Adams. There are few things more disgrace- ful in the history of our country than the abuse which was poured upon this high-minded, upright, patriotic man. There never was an administration more pure in principles, more conscientiously devoted to the best interests of the country, than that of John Ouincy Adams ; and never, perhaps, was there an administration more unscrupulously and outrageously assailed. It may, how- ever, help us to understand what would otherwise be unaccountable, if we remember what an immense influence is exerted by personal manners, and how deficient Adams was in this respect. ADAMS AND JACKSON IN CONTRAST. Mr. Adams, in his public manners, was cold and repulsive ; though it is said that with his personal friends he was at times very genial. In his public receptions and official intercourse he often appeared " with a formal coldness, that froze like the approach to an iceberg." The evening after the election Mr. Monroe held a presidential levee. All Washington crowded to the White House, eager to pay homage to the rising sun. Mr. S. G. Goodrich (" Peter Parley") happened to be present, and has described the scene: — 'T shall pass over," he writes, "other individuals present, only noting ar> incident which respects the two persons in the assembly who, most of all others, engrossed the thoughts of the visitors, — Mr. Adams the elect. Genera) Jackson the defeated. It chanced in the course of the evening that these two persons, involved in the throng, approached each other from opposite directions, MEETING WITH GENERAL JACKSON. 167 yet without knowing- it. Suddenly, as they were almost together, the persons around, seeing what was to happen, by a sort of instinct stepped aside, and left OPENING OF THE ERIE CANAL, IN 1825. them face to face. Mr. Adams was by himself : General Jack- son had a large, handsome lady on his arm. They looked at each other for a moment ; and then General Jack- son moved forward, and, reaching out his long arm, said, ' How do you do, Mr \^ severed, discordant, belligerent ; on aland rent with civil feuds, or drenched, it maybe, in fraternal blood ! Let their last feeble and lingering glance behold rather the glorious ensign of the republic, now known and honored throughout the earth, still full high advanced, its arms and trophies streaming in their original lustre, not a stripe erased or polluted, not a single star obscured ; bearing for its motto no such miserable interrogatory as, ll^iat is all this worth ? or those other words of delusion and folly, Liberty first, and Union afterwards ; but everywhere, spread all over in characters of living light, blazing on all its ample folds, as they float over the sea and over the land, that other sentiment, dear to every true American heart, — Liberty and Union, NOW AND FOREVER, ONE AND INSEPAR- ABLE ! " As the last words died away into silence, those who had lis- tened looked wonderingly at each other, dimly conscious that they had heard one of the grand speeches which are landmarks in the history of eloquence ; and the men of the North and of New England went forth full of the pride of victory, for their champion had triumphed, and no assurance was needed to prove to the world that this time no answer could be made. During all the years of Jackson's and Van Buren's administrations, Mr. Webster continued in the United States Senate. He opposed the innovations and usurpations of Jackson's reign ; he was dignified, prudent, conservative^ •' Amid the flighty politics of the time," says Parton, "there seemed one solid thing in America as long as he sat in the arm-chair of the Senate Chamber." Upon Harrison's inauguration in 1841, Mr. Webster became Secretary of State, which office he held under President Tyler until 1843. During this time JOHN TYLER. THE SEVENTH OF MARCH SPEECH. 2oi he negotiated the famous treaty with Lord Ashburton, which setded a dispute of long standing with England over the Maine boundary. In 1843 he resigned this position. He supported Clay for the Presidency in 1844, opposing the annexation of Texas, because it would involve the extension of slavery. In 1845 1"*^ was again elected to the Senate, and opposed the prosecution of the Mexican war, the real purpose of which was the increase of slave territory. THE CRISIS OF 185O. In 1850 the contest over slavery had become so fierce that it threatened to break up the Union. The advocates of slavery were bent upon its extension, while its opponents wished to restrict it to the States where it already existed. Webster was always opposed to slavery ; but in the crisis of 1850, he thought that all other measures should be subordinate to the preservation of the Union. No one had done more than he to strengthen and perpetuate the Union ; but it was his conviction that it would be destroyed if the struggle over slavery came to an issue at that time. Every year the attachment of the people to the Union was growing stronger. Every year the free States were gaining upon the slave States in strength, population, and power. If the contest over slavery could be averted, or even postponed, slavery would decline and ultimately die out, and the Union be preserved ; while if the conflict were precipitated, the Union would be destroyed, and slavery perpetuated. Accordingly, he gave his support to the Compromise measures ; and on the 7th of March, 1850, he made in advocacy of them the most famous speech of his life, before a great audience, hushed to death-like stillness, in the Senate chamber. " Mr. President," Mr. Webster began, " I wish to speak to-day, not as a Massachusetts man, nor as a Northern man, but as an American, and a member of the Senate of the United States, — a body to which the country looks, with confidence, for wise, moderate, patriotic, and heaHng counsels. It is not to be denied that we live in the midst of strong agitations, and are surrounded by very considerable dangers to our institutions of government. The imprisoned winds are let loose. The East, the West, the North, and the stormy South, all combine to throw the whole ocean into commotion, to toss its billows to the skies, and disclose its profoundest depths. ... I have a part to act, not for my own security or safety, for I am looking out for no fragment upon which to float away from the wreck, if wreck there must be, but for the good of the whole, and the preservation of the whole ; and there is that which will keep me to my duty during this struggle, whether the sun and the stars shall appear, or shall not appear, for many days. I speak to-day for the preservation of the Union. * Hear me for my cause.' I speak to-day out of a solicitous and anxious heart, for the restoration to the country of that quiet and that harmony which make the blessings of this Union so rich and so dear to us all." The Compromise measures before the Senate included two provisions which were particularly odious to the North, — one for the extension of slavery to the territory purchased from Mexico ; the other for a more stringent law for the capture and return of fugitive slaves. Webster In his speech advocated the 202 DANIEL WEBSTER. acceptance of these provisions as part of the Compromise, and in doing so gave great offence to many supporters in the North, who had looked upon him as a steady opponent of slavery, who would never yield an inch to its exactions. In his speech Webster maintained that the constitution recognized the right of the master to the return of his escaped slave, and that its obligations could not be evaded without a violation of good faith. As to the territories, he argued that slavery was already by nature excluded from New Mexico, which was not adapted to the products of slave labor, and that to "re-enact a law of God,' by formally excluding it, was a needless irritation to the South. Although he supported his position with great force, his speech was nevertheless regarded by anti-slavery men in the North as a surrender to the slave power, made Vv^ith a view to securing support in the South as a candidate for the Presidency. He was denounced as recreant to the cause of freedom, and ac- cused of having sold himself to the South. These charo^es did much to embitter the last years of his life ; but he firmly adhered to his course, supported the Com- promise measure in Congress, and made a number of speeches in its favor throughout the North. After his death there was a grad- ual reaction, and many who had condemned him came to admit that his course, whether wise or not, was at least guided by pure and patriotic motives. Tn July, 1850, while the grtat Compromise was still before Congress, Webster was appointed by President Fillmore Secretary of State, which office he held until his death. His summer home was an immense farm at Marshfield, near Plymouth, Massachusetts, and for many years he had taken the keenest in- terest in all the operations of the farm. A friend who was often with him tells aow he enjoyed his cattle, and how, on one occasion, after each animal was secured in his place, Mr. Webster amused himself by feeding them with ears of corn from an unhusked pile lying on the barn floor. As his son was trying to keep warm by playing with the dog, he said : — MILI.ARD FILLMORE. HIS LAST HOURS. 205 ■'You do not seem, my son, to take much interest in this ; but, for my part" (and here he broke an ear and fed the pieces to the oxen on his right and left, and watched them as they crunched it), "I Hke it. I would rather be here than in the Senate," adding, with a smile which showed all his white teeth, "I think it better company." In May, 1852, while driving near his Marshfield home, Mr. Webster was thrown from the carriage and seriously injured. Although he recovered sufh ciently to visit Washington afterward, he never regained his health, and a few months later, in the autumn of 1852, he died at Marshfield. His death and burial were scenes of sublime pathos. In his last hours he manifested a strong desire to be conscious of the actual approach of death, and his last words were, '■'■ I still live!'' An immense concourse gathered at his funeral. It was a clear, beautiful autumn day, and his body was brought from the house and placed on the lawn, under the blue sky, where for several hours a stream of people of every class moved past, to gaze for the last time upon his majestic features. One, a plain farmer, was heard to say in a low voice, as he turned away, "Daniel Webster, without you the world will seem lonesome." The spot where Webster reposes is upon elevated land, and overlooks the sea, his mammoth farm, the First Parish Church, and most of the town of Marshfield, wide spreading marshes, forests remote and near, the tranquil river, and glistening brooks. On a pleasant day the sands of Cape Cod can be descried from it, thirty miles directly to the east, where the Pilgrims first moored their ship. The spot is perfectly retired and quiet, nothing being usually heard but the solemn dirge of the ocean and the answering sighs of the winds. It is the spot of all others for his resting-place. All in a temperate air, a golden light, Rich with October, sad with afternoon, Fitly his frame was laid, with rustic rite, To rest amid the ripened harvest boon. He loved the .ocean's mighty murmur deep, And this shall lull him through his dreamless sleep. I JOHN C. CALHOUN. OLD GATES AT ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA. JOHN C. CALHOUN, THE) QREAX ADVOCATE OR STATES RIQHTS. FEW years ago an elderly man, who had fought in the Union army through the great civil war of 1861, was listen- ing to some schoolboys rehearsing their history lesson. "When was the first blow struck at the Union?" asked one. " On April 13th. 1861, when Fort Sumter was fired upon by batteries in Charleston harbor," was the answer. " No !" thundered the old soldier, breaking in ; " the ^/■^ first blow at the Union was struck in 1832, by John C. Cal- houn; and if Andrew Jackson had been President in i860, instead of James Buchanan, there would have been no gun fired on Fort Sumter, I can tell you ! Don't forget that bit of history, boys !" John Caldwell Calhoun is an absolutely unique figure in American history. His political life was devoted to the establishment and perpetuation of slavery. He believed that institution beneficial alike to white and black, to North and South, — in a word, that sTavery was morally and politically idgJit, and that the welfare of the country was bound up with its continuance. That he was sincere in this conviction cannot be doubted. He was one of the most honest and up- right of men ; there was no concealment or pretence in him. As a consequence of his purity and ability, his influence was immense. His own State accepted 207 20S JOHN C. CALHOUN. his doctrines and followed his lead with unquestioning faith ; and it is not too much to say that the great conflict over slavery and disunion was in great measure due to the doctrines which for a quarter of a century he unceasingly advocated. Calhoun was born in Abbeville, South Carolina, in 1782, — the same year as his great adversary, Daniel Webster. It was just at the close of the Revo- lution. The South, which had borne the brunt of the war in its last years, was worn out and impoverished. Calhoun's father, Patrick Calhoun, who had immi- grated from the north of Ireland, died when his son was thirteen. Neverthe- less, Calhoun managed to work his way through Yale College, where he won distinofuished hon- ors. He used to relate that in his senior year, when he was one of the very few in his class who maintained democratic opinions, President Dwiorht asked him, " What is the legitimate source of power?" "The people," an- swered Calhoun. Dr. Dwieht combated this opinion ; Calhoun replied ; and the whole hour of recitation was consumed in the debate. Dr. Dwight was so much struck with the ability dis- played by the student that he remarked to a friend that Cal- houn had talent enough to be a President of the United States. He did not foresee that Cal- houn would imbibe ideas which, logically carried out, would leave no United States in existence to require a President. After two years in the South Carolina Legislature, Calhoun was elected to Congress in 18 10, where he served until 181 7, when he became Secretary of War under President Monroe. In 1824 he was elected Vice-President, under John Quincy Adams, and again in 1828, when Andrew Jackson was elected President. In 1832 he resigned the Vice-Presidency to become Senator from South Carolina, and remained in the Senate during nearly all the remainder of his life. In 1828 Congress passed a tariff bill by which the protective duties were JAMES MONROE. THE NULLIFICATION DEBATE. 209 considerably increased. This bill was bitterly opposed in the South, where it was styled the " Tariff of Abominations ; " and on its passage Calhoun prepared a most remarkable paper, called the "South Carolina Exposition," in which he maintained that the Constitution authorized Congress to levy tariff taxes only for revenue ; that protective taxes were therefore unconstitutional ; and that a State had the right and power to declare an unconstitutional law null and void and to forbid its execution in that State. It was the purpose of the people of South Carolina to agitate for the repeal of the obnoxious law ; and, in case their efforts should fail, to resort to the remedy of " nullification." "This Ex- position," says Parton, "was the beginning of our woe, — the baleful &gg from which were hatched nullification, treason, civil war, and the desolation of thini of adjourning si?ic die. On May 9, 1840, he married his second wife, Miss Margaret M. Lea, of Alabama, a most f " ~ " " "^ worthy woman, whc ; ^ J had a great influence ^ " ■' a for good over hei 3 husband. He often a said that to her he 8 owed his chief honor ^ and happiness. He ^ was deeply attached a to her, and, when a a Senator at Washingr- - ton, invariably spent '- his Sunday after- i noons in writinof to g her and his family. One of the ques- tions presented by our Presidential elec- tion of 1844 was the annexation of Texas, •which took place in 1845 ; and ex- Presi- dent Houston and his fast friend and com patriot, General Thomas J. Rusk, were made her first Senators, taking their seats in January, 1846. These men of commanding mien produced something of a sensation, com- ing to sit in the na tion's council-house as the representatives of a people who had, of their own free will, given up their national existence to become merely an integral part of our Union. Houston's course in the Senate was conscrv^ative. He voted for the A BUCKING BRONCHO. GOVERNOR OF TEXAS. 225 Oregon boundary compromise, and, if he could, would have averted the war with Mexico. After the passage of the compromise measures of 1850, there was no more popular man in the South than General Houston, and, in 1852, he was a prominent candidate for the Presidency before the Democratic convention. He had placed himself in strong opposition to the secession spirit shown in 1850, thus losing some of his most influential Southern supporters. In 1859 he was made the Union candidate for governor. With patriotic zeal he declared, "'The Constitution and the Union' is my only platform," and made but one speech, which was the best of his life. He was elected by more than 2000 majority. Almost the first act of the new governor was to send in a sterling message in reply to the proposition made by South Carolina in i860 for a convention of slaveholding States, with a view to secession. Houston's every effort and sentiment were for the preservation of the Union ; and his conduct as gover- nor, in standing almost alone against the tide of secession, was not less glorious than when, a quarter of a century before, he had led his little army against the forces of Santa Anna at San Jacinto. He made a speech at Galveston, in which, with prophetic power, he warned the people of the disastrous conse- quences of secession. While he was speaking, one horse of a team standing near became restive, and attempted to kick out of the harness. Houston paused in his speech : " He is trying a little practical secession," he remarked, to the amusement of his audience. The horse finally choked himself down, and the teamster began beating him. " You see how it works," said Houston. After his beating, the horse was got upon his feet, and the teamster fastened the broken harness. " See in what a fix he is brought back into the Union !" said the ready S7 prevented any permanent success, but a season of defeat, with a term out of office, brought its members again to see the necessity of harmony, and the impossibiHty of succe!5s while its prominent men were wilHng to sacrifice not only the hopes of their fellow-partisans, but the principles of their party, for their own personal and temporary triumph. So the Whigs elected Harrison in 1840, were defeated with Clay in 1844, victorious with Taylor in 1848, and were ready to disappear with Scott m 1852, leaving all that was vital in their organization or principles to rally to the support of the new party which nominated Fremont in 1856 and elected Lincoln in i860. SEAL CATCHING IN ALASKA. ELECTION TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE. The success of the Whigs in 1848 made possible the election of Mr. Seward to the Senate, which body he entered two years before Sumner, with whom and Chase and Hale he was to oppose the forces of slavery. Senator Seward is described as a slender, hook-nosed, gray-eyed, homely man, having red hair, a voice harsh and unpleasant, and a manner decidedly awkward, but his speeches were graceful and smooth as well as strong, their style was pure and clear, and it was early noticed that when the Senator from New York arose to speak, the Senate was ready to listen. His speeches are said to have done more than any other one thing to oudine a declaration of faitli- upon which the various groups of anti-slavery men the country over could agree. 258 WILLIAM H. SEWARD. If this be true, it has been too much overlooked in recounting Mr. Seward's claims to greatness. His services as Lincoln's Secretary of State and his suc- cess in steering the country through the stormy times when a mistake would have brought on foreign war, or a wrongly phrased dispatch precipitated a recognition of the Southern Confederacy, have overshadowed what certainly was no less great, the bringing together into a single party, disciplined and united, the widely-differing factions, largely composed of hot-headed fanatics, which in 1850 could hardly be said to be united in anything, so far asunder were they, even in their opposition to slavery. Seward used quotations with great felicity, for his memory was exact and capacious, and his reading had been wide. He never descended to coarse jokes or mere buffoonery, but his speeches as well as his autobiography abound in a keen, dry, delightful humor, which added much to their force, and which makes them still agreeable reading. His invitation to the Southern Senators to come and argue their case openly before the people of the North, and the contrast which he made evident between the freedom with which they might do so, and the rancor and persecution which followed even the mildest expression of anti-slavery sentiments at the South, demonstrated Sumner's proposition that ''freedom was national and slavery sec- tional ; " and the way in which the New York Senator laid bare the vicious nature of a cause which thus stifled free speech and hunted an opponent to death could not be more effective. Two phrases of his used in the debates of this period have become historic, his declaration that there was " a Jiigher law than the Con- stitution which regulated the authority of Congress over the national domain, — • the law of God and the interests of humanity," and his reference to the "irre- pressible conflict" which could only end in the country becoming all free or en- tirely a slaveholding nation. In all the heated political warfare between 1850 and i860, Mr. Seward bore a prominent part, and so evidently was he the leader of the Republican forces that it was thought that he must necessarily be the party candidate for the presidency. When the convention assembled at Chicago this seemed to the party managers a foregone conclusion, but a variety of causes, personal hostility, local prejudices, and that peculiar qualification, "availability," gave the nomination to Lincoln. Mr. Seward must have been profoundly disappointed, but he made no sign. 'He cheerfully set to work to promote the success of his party, and made, in the campaign which followed, a series of speeches, which, together with those delivered four years before, form, a complete presentation of the anti-slavery case. The South was crying out that the election of Lincoln meant the destruc- tion of the rights and property of that section ; but Seward's speeches proved, if proof were necessary, that this was merely an excuse, put forward by those in favor of secession. GREATNESS AS A DIPLOMATIST. 259 Between Lincoln's election and inauguration, Seward was largely instru- mental in checking treason in Buchanan's cabinet, and in securing the country against its dangers. He considered the battle against slavery won by Lincoln's election, and felt convinced that the Republican policy of forbidding its exten- sion would end in its final death ; and in that belief he was willing to wait, to turn his back, for a time, to the all-absorbing question, and to devote all his present energies to conciliation, and to the work of saving the Union. Lincoln's secretary of state. Mr. Seward had early formed a resolution never to accept an office by appointment unless it should seem to him that such a course was absolutely demanded by the welfare of the country. It is easy to believe that it was this reason which induced him to become Lincoln's Secretary of State. He proba- bly came to the office with something of contempt for the awkward, uncultured President, and with the idea that he was to be the real force of the administra- tion, — a sort of " power behind the throne," in whose hands the inexperienced, would-be statesman from the West would be easily controlled and prevented from doing harm. He early found himself mistaken, however, and gladly took the real position to which he had been chosen, that of a faithful counsellor to the great President. Wisely allowed a large liberty in the conduct of his department, the secretary brought to his gigantic task resources as unexpected as was the demand for them. It may be too m.uch to say, as has been said, that during the four years of strife "his brain was pitted against all Europe, and always won," but the questions with which he had to deal had no precedent in their magnitude or their urgency, and frequently none as to the circumstances with which they dealt. Three instances may be mentioned : the Trent afiair, the demand for com- pensation on account of damages by privateers fitted out in England, and the French occupation of Mexico. The weeks succeeding the seizure of the Con- federate commissioners who had embarked from the West Indies for England upon an English passenger steamer, the Trent, have been referred to as the darkest period of the war. The country was aflame with patriotic exultation at the intrepidity of Captain Wilkes, and to refuse to surrender the captives at the demand of England seemed certain to involve the distracted country in a war with Great Britain. The clear-headed wisdom of Lincoln, the acuteness of Seward, and the wide knowledge and great influence of Sumner, all were needed to wring victory from the jaws of this apparently certain defeat. The country submitted unwillingly at first, but gradually came to recognize the strength and wisdom of a policy which acknowledged the error that had been made, and in acknowledging it shrewdly called the attention of the British ministry to the fact that it was out of just such violations of international law 26o WILL I A M H. SEW 'ARD. that the War of 1812 arose, and that England had never acknowledged herself in the wrong. Our government could not afford to commit, in 1861, the crimes ag^ainst which it had protested a half cen- tury before, and Eng- land was left in the attitude of threaten- ing a war to resent the acts of which she had herself been guilty. Mr. Seward lived in Washington in the house occupied in later years by Secre- tary Blaine, and in which the latter died. He surrounded him- self with the degree of luxury which his moderate wealth jus- tified, and filled the place in society which belonged to his posi- tion in the govern- ment and to his com- mandinof abilities and great intellectual re- sources. When Lin- coln was assassin- ated, the plot included the murder of the Secretary of State. Mr. Seward was ill and confined to his bed, and the assassin seems to have had no difficulty in gain- ing access to his chamber. He was stabbed in several places, particularly in the face, but the bravery of his male nurse prevented his being killed. For days it was questionable whether he would recover, and his face was so injured IDOLS TOTKM, OK ALASKA. THE FREEMAN CASE. 261 that it was difficult to feed him. It was thought best to keep him in ignorance of the fate of Lincoln, but when, with his first returning strength, he saw through his window the White House flag at half-mast, he instantly divined the truth, and, with tears coursing down his scarred cheeks, exclaimed, ''The President is dead ! " THE PURCHASE OF ALASKA. Mr. Seward continued to occupy the office of Secretary of State during the presidency of Andrew Johnson, rather leaning to the side of the President in his heated controversy with Congress. The most notable event of this time, aside from the reconstruction of the Southern States, was the purchase from Russia of the territory of Alaska. Secretary Seward was quick to see the value to us of this vast and still little-known territory, and it was almost altogether through his efforts that it became a part of the United States. The great leader had now completed his public service. He spent a year in a journey around the world, being everywhere received with the honor due to his eminence as a man and a statesman. Returning to Auburn, he began to write his autobiography, which he had completed as far as the year 1834, when his death occurred in October, 1872. Opinion will always differ as to the comparative standing and services of great men, but it can never deny to William H. Seward a place among the fore- most. He possessed in a high degree that peculiar faculty of grasping the thought of the average man, which enabled him to organize men into parties and to lead the parties so formed. He was great as a diplomatist, as a states- man, a politician, a lawyer, but he possessed some qualities which constrain us to tender to him our greatest admiration as a man in his relations to his fellows. His love of right, his hatred of injustice in any form, made him the willing servant of the poor and helpless, and his legal learning and skill as an advocate were heartily given in behalf of the suffering poor, from whom he could hope for no reward, and could not be bought at any price for the furtherance of oppres- sion or wrong. In 1846 Mr. Seward had interested himself to secure a fair trial for a negro convict who had murdered a fellow-prisoner. While the case was pending, a whole family was murdered near Auburn, and the murderer, another negro, narrowly escaped lynching. Mr. Seward's course in defending the first guilty man became at once very unpopular, and excitement rose to the highest pitch when, in the absence of any other counsel, he volunteered to serve the second. The accounts of the trial would seem to demonstrate that the man was not responsible for his deeds ; but the mob spirit was aroused, and the demand for his conviction and execution was so universal as to make the part of his volun- teer attorney not only unpleasant in the • extreme, but positively dangerous. Mr. Seward felt that he was, in all probability, sacrificing his popularity and 262 U/IJJAM H. SEWARD. his influence by the course he was taking, and these were, justly, very deal to him, but he did not hesitate. It is related that Mr. Gladstone, speaking to Charles Sumner of this trial, said that " Mr. Sew- ard's artjument in the Free- man case is the greatest forensic effort in the English language." "The greatest?" exclaimed an- other gentleman ; " Mr. Glad- stone, you forget Erskine." " No," was the reply, " I do not forget Erskine ; Mr. Seward's aro-ument is the ei'eatest forensic effort in the lanpfuaoe." In the preliminary trial he had referred to the feeling against him, saying tha.t it might very possibly con- tinue throughout his life and make his grave " unhonored, neglected, spurned," but expres- sing a hope that even then some one might be found who would erect over his remains an humble stone, and thereon this epitaph, ''He was faithfid!' The wave of madness quickly passed, and Governor Seward found that he had been only at the beginning of his fame, his popularity, and his useful ness, but the simple epitaph for which he that day expressed a desire is fitly inscribfxl upon his monument in the cemetery at Auburn. WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE. CHARLES SUMNER. 2b4 CHARLES SUMNER, THK QRE;AX ADVOCATE OK KREE^DOrvI. -^ fc*^' < #" t. AY, in lofty madness, that you own the sun, the stars, the moon ; but do not say that you own a man, en dowed with soul to live immortal, when sun and moon and stars have passed away." Such words are now only remarkable for their beauty ; the truth they convey has come to be axiom- atic ; slavery has ceased to be a debatable question ; but when they were uttered they were almost treason, and were sufficient to bring- down upon the speaker the concentrated hatred of a whole section of our country, and the expression of such sentiments cut him off from sympathy with those who regarded themselves as the best people of his native city, and closed to him social circles of which he had been a proud and honored member. We Americans hold in especial honor those of our great men who, like Lincoln, Grant, Garfield, and a host of others, have attained their eminence with- out the assistance of inherited wealth or culture, and by their own unaided exer- tions. We almost come to think that in our country such " self-made men " possess a monopoly of greatness. To this idea there are many contradictions, but none more complete or more striking than is to be found in the life and works of Charles Sumner. His ancestors, indeed, were farmers, and his mother was a tailoress ; but the Sumners had for generations taken a more or less promi- nent part in public affairs, holding a high place in the esteem of the community. They shared the New England respect for culture, father and son for at least three generations pursuing their studies at Harvard ; and this typical represen- tative of Massachusetts grew to manhood, and took his place among the famous men of his time, without that pinch of poverty which we are rather prone to think a necessary spur. He was the eldest of nine children, received his preliminary education at the famous Boston Latin School, and entered Harvard at the age of fifteen, and '6 265 266 CHARLES SUMNER. his mother could well boast that " Charles, when a boy, was a good scholar and always diligent in his studies." At college, his habits were quiet, and his time almost entirely devoted to study, though the range of his interest was so wide as to interfere to some extent with the required work, and he never took very high rank in his class. He had few intimate friends, though he enjoyed social life ; and it is typical of the man that in college discussions and literary work he always took the serious, the earnest point of view. The boy was father to the man ; and impurity of speech or conduct was Impossible to him then as always. After leaving college he spent a year in further reading and study, slowly making up his mind to enter the profession of law. In his professional studies Sumner distinguished himself by the thoroughness of his reading and the accuracy and wide range of the knowledge thus acquired, though his devotion was rather to the principles and philosophy of the law than to the knowledge necessary for its practice. His association with the famous Judge Story at this period did much to develop this tendency, and he planned for himself a career much like that of his beloved friend and instructor, which, as is so frequently true of youthful programs, the force of circumstances compelled him to abandon for a course which led, by other paths, to honors even higher than those he coveted. He began the practice of law in Boston, and devoted himself earnestly to it. Many of its phases were not congenial to him, but he accepted any honor- able work in the line of his profession, drawing up papers, taking testimony as commissioner, assisting as junior counsel in some important cases, and, as he once laughingly told a friend, even found it within the line of his professional duty to write a love letter for an illiterate client, — a letter so tenderly expressed as to draw tears from the eyes of the lovelorn swain, though we are not informed of its effect upon the fair object of his affections. He early began to draw around him a circle of closely-attached friends,^ — those who already filled places of large usefulness, and many of whose names have since become household words. He was intimately associated with judge Story and Professor Greenleaf, reporting the judicial decisions of the former, assisting both in the preparation of their books, and taking their places in the conduct of the Harvard Law School. He was one of the editors of the Jurist, to which he contributed many articles on legal topics of importance, and articles by him were occasionally found in the pages of the N'orth Ameri- can Revieiu and other leading periodicals. He greatly enjoyed social inter- course, and for many years " The Five of Clubs," an informal organization composed of Sumner, his partner, Hillard, Longfellow, Felton, afterward president of Harvard, and Henry R. Cleveland, used to meet almost weekly for discussion and the enjoyment of their close and unusual fellowship. He HIS VISIT TO EUROPE. 267 counted among his friends Francis Lieber, Chancellor Kent, Chief justice Marshall, Choate, Clay, Calhoun, Webster; every one acknowledged his learning, his ability, every one prophesied great things of him and for him ; but his law practice was not large and the occasion seemed lacking which should arouse hjs enthusiasm and call forth his energies. DISTINGUISHED RECEPTION IN EUROPE. He had long desired to visit Europe, and in December, 1837, he sailed fof Havre. He spent three years in France, Germany, Italy, and Great Britain, borrowing the five thousand dollars which he expended in this time. In France, Italy, and Germany he applied himself with enthusiasm, first, to the study of the language and literature, and then of society, and especially of the law and its administration. In England he was accorded a reception the like of which no other American, previously unknown abroad, has probably enjoyed. Letters from Judge Story and other distinguished Americans opened the way. and his great and extensive learning, personal dignity, and high character, with his intense interest in all the phases of English life, and particularly in the adminis- tration of English law, attracted first the notice, and then the friendship of the most eminent men, who vied with each other in showino- him attention and in opening to him opportunities for seeing and knowing everybody and everything worth seeing and knowing. The ten months that he spent in England were filled with calls and visits, receptions, breakfasts, dinners, and balls. He visited at their country seats Brougham, Sydney Smith, Jeffrey ; saw Wordsworth and Carlyle at their own residences ; constantly met Macaulay, Hallam, Harriet Martineau, Lockhart, "Barry Cornwall;" spent a day at Windsor Castle, the guest of the household, and partook of the Lord Mayor's banquet at Guildhall, owing his invitation to Lord Denman, and being conveyed thither by Sir Frederick Pollock in his carriage. He writes, December 5, 1838: "To-night my invitations were to dinner at Brougham's, Sir Robert Inglis's, Mr. Justice Littledale's, and Mr. Kenyon's ; at the latter place to meet Rogers and Southey. I dined with Brougham, as his invitation came first. To-morrow I dine with the Political Economy Club, where I shall meet Senior, John Mill, McCulloch, Spring Rice, Lord Lansdowne, etc. On the next day I commence my pilgrim- age to Oxford, where I pass four days, and those four days are engaged : first, to Sir Charles Vaughan, at All Souls ; second, to my friend Ingham, M. P., at. Oriel ; third, to Dr. Hampden, at Christ Church ; fourth, to Wordey, at Merton. I then go to Cambridge, where my first day is engaged to Whewell, etc." He heard the Queen's speech at the opening of Parliament, having " perhaps the best place occupied by a person not in court dress," and standing immediately in front of Prince Louis Bonaparte ; and in the evening, in the House of Lords, where Lord Holland had placed him on the steps of the throne, he listened 268 CHARLES SUMNER. while the Lord Chancellor read die speech to the House, and for two hours and a half to Brougham's masterly and eloquent speech, " the brimful house inter- rupdng- him with vociferous applause, and old Wellington nodding his head and adding his cheer." He wrote to Judge Story sketches based upon personal acquaintance of all the leading barristers in England, and of the judges of the different courts, having known them intimately not only in London, but upon the different circuits. He was frequently invited to sit with the judges, usually preferring to be in the front row of barristers ; and one reason for this remarkable courtesy may be traced in the wonderful knowledge he displayed of English as well as American jurisprudence. This may be illustrated by an incident : On one occa- sion, in Westminster Hall, during the progress of a trial, a point arose for which no precedent occurred to the Lord Chief Justice, who asked Sumner whether it was covered by any American decisions. " No, your lordship," he replied, "but this point has been decided in your lordship's own court," men- tioning the case. Sumner returned to America in 1840, not yet thirty years of age, but possessed of an acquaintance with leading men in England, France, Germany, and Italy, with an intimate knowledge of the social life and political condition of those countries, which has probably never been acquired by any other American in the same length of time or at his time of life, and which was no small part of his preparation for the work he was to do. During the next five years he devoted himself to the law, without succeeding in building up an extensive practice, but taking a leading part in every public movement in behalf of educa- tion, prison reform, etc., occasionally writing for the North American Review and frequently for professional journals, and becoming more and more deeply interested in the great warfare against slavery. ORATIONS AGAINST WAR AND SLAVERY. Early in 1845 ^^ ^^'^^ invited to deliver the annual Fourth of July oration in Boston. This was the first occasion on which he spoke to a large popular audience, and he prepared for it his address upon " The True Grandeur of Nations." It marked him at once as a public man, and is more widely known than any of his other writings. Its denunciation of the war spirit was exceed- ingly offensive to a large portion of his audience, and to most men in official life ; but its publication brought him a shower of admiring and congratulatory letters from many parts of the country and from England. Although all cannot agree entirely with its conclusions, many thousands of copies have been sold, and it still holds its place as an American classic. , During the following five years he became more deeply absorbed in the slavery, question, and in 1850 addressed the meeting in Faneuil Hall, called to ELECTION TO THE SENATE. 269 protest against the Fugitive Slave Law, introducing in his speech an allusion to a painting, by a famous Venetian artist, of "Saint Mark descending from the skies in headlong fury " and breaking " the manacles of a slave in the very pres- ence of the judge who decreed his fate." " Should Massachusetts," exclaimed the orator, "hereafter in an evil hour be desecrated by any such decree, may the good Evangelist once more descend with valiant arm to break the manacles of the slave." A copy of the painting used afterward to hang in Mr. Sumner's dining-room, and he was accustomed to say, "That picture made me senator." Just at this juncture it became possible for the anti-slavery men of Massachu- setts to form a coalition which sent Sumner to the United States Senate, a result due in part to the felicity of this address, but in far greater measure to the untir- ing energy, political foresight, and diplomatic skill of Henry Wilson. Sumner had never taken an active part in political matters, and had never filled a public office ; and he entered the Senate at a time when many leaders of thought would have agreed with Senator Benton, who said to him, "You come upon the stage too late, sir ; the great issues are all settled." Three other senators, Seward, Chase, and Hale, were united in purpose with Sumner, and were destined to take a large part in proving that the "great issue " of slavery had not been " settled " by the dishonest compromises of tlie previous decades, Sumner's attitude is well indicated by Theodore Parker's remark in congratulating him upon his election : " You once told me you were not in politics, but in morals; now I hope you will show morals in politics." His impatient constituents were disappointed and dissatisfied that he did not find an early opportunity to make in the Senate a great speech on the slavery question. The session was almost closing when he finally secured the opportunity, and then he spoke for nearly four hours in support of the doctrine, entirely new in Congress, that freedom was national, and slavery " in every FRANKLIN PIERCE. 2/0 CHARLES SUMNER. respect sectional." "This is the first time in the course of my life," was the remark of a prominent senator, "that I have listened to the whole of an aboli- tion speech. I did not know it was possible that I could endure a speech for over three hours upon the subject of the abolition of slavery. But this oration of the senator from Massachusetts has been so handsomely embellished with poetry, both Latin and English, so full of classical allusions and rhetorical flourishes, as to make it much more palatable than I supposed it could have been made." At the next session of Congress began the great parliamentary struggle over the Kansas-Nebraska question, which was to end only by merging into the war of the rebellion. The turmoil in Congress and throughout the country was of a character almost inconceivable in these quieter times. The enforcement of the Fugitive Slave law was exasperating the North, and resistance to it drove the pro-slavery men fairly mad. "THE CRIME AGAINST KANSAS." For a considerable time Sumner held no place on any committee of the Senate, that body having taWew the extraordinary course of voting that he "was outside any healthy political organization," and was not, therefore, entitled to share in its councils. This was due to his fearless attitude, his persistence, and the unassailable logic of his many speeches upon the great topic of the day. He was probably the first great Northerner who could successfully oppose the hot, abusive speech of the Southern advocates of slavery. His coolness, his great learning, his sense of superiority, and his knowledge of his own high purpose, enabled him to throw into his words and into his manner an overwhelming con- tempt and scorn which heated the furnace of Southern hatred seven times hotter even than it was wont to be heated. In this sort of excited discussion the time went on. bringing the crisis in 1856. In May of that year Sumner spoke for two days upon "The Crime against Kansas." The speech has been called "the most Signal combination of oratorical splendor that has ever been wit- nessed in that hall." while an opponent declared it "the most un-American and unpatriotic that ever grated on the ears of the Senate." The speech was in large part devoted to a castigation of Senator Buder of South Carolina, whose argu- ments it refuted, and whom the speaker scornfully alluded to in many offensive figures and illustrations. The Southerners were driven to desperation. They had put Sumner outside the pale of gentlemen, and therefore could not chal- iencre him. and it was left for Preston Brooks, a relative of Senator Buder anc a member of the House of Representadves. to devise a plan for chastising him. Accompanied by a number of friends, he entered the Senate chamber, approached Sumner, who was writing at his desk, and, with a gutta-percha cane, struck him blow after blow upon the head. His position at his desk prevented resistance or escape, and Brooks was able to safely walk away, leav RETURN AFTER THE BROOKS ASSAULT 271 ing his victim lying senseless and bloody upon the floor. The deed aroused universal horror in the North, and it is one of the astonishinor facts of the time that it seemed to excite universal commendation in the South. Brooks became a social lion, and his praise filled the Southern newspapers. His injuries necessitated Sumner's absence from the Senate for four years, during- which time the Massachusetts Legislature allowed his seat in the Senate to remain unfilled. He visited Europe twice, gradually recovering his strength after heroic treatment at the hands of Dr. Brown-Sequard. During the second of these European journeys he began the collection of bric-a-brac, which became a passion with him, and which converted his Washington residence into a veri- table museum of the fine arts. Mr. Sumner's return to the Senate was marked by a great speech upon the same general subject as that which resulted in his prolonged ab- sence, the admission of Kansas, though the proposition now was to admit her as a free State. He took an ac- tive part in the Lincoln and Hamlin campaign, but was greatly disap- pointed that the new administration did not assume a more radical position upon the sub- ject of slavery, though he took a larore share in perfecting every great measure not only then, but throughout the war. *Tt was his part to discover constitutional authority and legal or political precedent, and his mission to keep the popular heart fired with such enthusiasm as would fur- nish a strong support to the government." He was made chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, a position for which his knowledge of European matters and his extraordinary familiarity with constitutional history peculiarly fitted him, and in which he rendered distinguished service, being in constant consultation with Lincoln and Seward, and frequently making use of his per sonal friendship with English and French statesmen. Throughout the war Lincoln was too slow and Seward too cautious for the enthusiastic senator, who could not see any expediency or propriety in any course except that outlined by what he believed absolute right. He was con THE VACANT SEAT IN THE SENATE, DRAPED IN BLACK. 272 CHARLES SUMNER. tinually opposed to the measures adopted concerning the negro and reconstruc- tion, and frequently to the foreign poHcy ; but, fortunately for the nation, the President and his great minister knew how to deal with the no less great chairman, and they constantly succeeded in making use of his vast resources without antagonizing him, — in fact, allowing him to believe, in many cases, that they were adopting his policy and were governed by his advice. He was, indeed, consulted at every step, but he was so sensitive of temper, and so impatient of opposition, or even of a difference of opinion, that it required the greatest tact for those who were responsible in the conduct of affairs to keep him loyally working with them. " Don't I get along well with Sumner? " asked Lincoln ; " he thinks he manages me." So poor an opinion did Sumner have of the or-reat man whom he so thoroucrhlv misunderstood that he ioined in the intrigue to make Chase the Republican candidate for President in 1864, and is even said to have wished that the ticket, Lincoln and Johnson, might have been reversed, and Johnson made President. How grievous was his mistake he was to learn. Lincoln and Sumner differed very radically as to proper measures for the reconstruction of the Southern States. So wide was this difference, that Sumner was willing to defeat in the last days of the session, by the objectionable method of resolutely talking on until it was withdrawn, a bill for re-organizing the Louisiana orovernment in which Lincoln was much interested. It was generally reported that this action had caused a breach of friendly relations between them, something which Sumner's touchy nature would have rendered unavoidable had he been dealinof with one less wiHIncr to sink all considerations of self in labor for the general good. The stories of the estrangement were definitely contradicted by their appearing together at the inaugural ball, Sumner going at the personal invitation of the President. aftp:r the war. After the assassination of the President, Sumner's confidence in Johnson soon gave way to suspicion and distrust, and so fully was this feeling recipro- cated that the President described Davis, Toombs, Slidell, Thaddeus Stevens, Wendell Phillips, and Sumner as equally their country's enemies. The quarrel between Congress and the Executive hastened to its culmination. Secretary Stanton was suspended by the President and reinstated by the Senate, again ordered to vacate, and refused to obey. Sumner's attitude in this matter, as well as the terse style of his informal correspondence, is well illustrated by his note : — My Dear Stanton, — Stick ! Ever sincerely yours, C. S. HIS COURSE IN OPPOSITION. £J7 He actively favored the impeachment of Johnson, and in the Senate, sitting as a high court of judgment, labored earnestly for a verdict of "guilty," and hotly resented the action of those Republicans who prevented, by a sino-le vote, such a conclusion. But his relations with Grant were hardly more satisfactory than with Johnson. Few men have, as Lincoln had, the power of understanding and sympathizing with a very wide range of differing characters, and Grant and Sumner utterly failed to comprehend each other's singleness of mind and rio-ht ness of purpose. So complete did this misunderstanding become that, by the time our relations with England were adjusted and the High Joint Commission began its sittings in Washington, there was no longer any inter- course between the President or Secretary Fish and Mr. Sumner, and the deposing of the latter from his position as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs seemed, at the opening of the next Congress, a necessity. In perfecting the measures concerning reconstruction and the altered position of the negro Mr. Sumner took a leading part. He was strongly opposed to the thirteenth and fourteenth amend- ments to the Constitution, upon the ground that they were un- necessary, though he finally changed his position sufficiently to give them a lukewarm sup- port. The fifteenth amendment, guaranteeing equal rights to all men without distinction, might seem to be the consummation of his life's work, but he opposed it upon the same ground as the others, and finally voted against it. After the close of the war, Mr. Sumner turned his attention to the securing of civil rights to the freed and recently enfranchised negroes. Measures for this purpose he advocated on all occasions, keeping the subject in mind until the very last, when almost his dying speech was addressed to Judge Hoar : " Do not let the Civil Rights Bill fail." Upon the opening of the Forty-second Con- gress, he offered a resolution directing "that the names of battles with fellow citizens shall not be continued in the Army Register or placed on the regimental- James buchanan. 274 CHARLES SUMNER. colors of the United States." This proposition greatly oHended a large number of his friends, and called forth the formal censure of the Massachusetts Legis- lature, much to his mortification. The resolution was doubtless insticjated, as was suggested in the preamble, mainly by a desire to efface the memory of past differences and to remove every occasion for harsh feeling. The action of the Legislature was, two years later, "rescinded and annulled," and information of 'this fact reached Mr. Sumner just in time to soothe the last days of his life. He died in Washington, of heart disease, March 1 1, 1874. It remains to add a few words as to some personal facts. Charles Sumner united to those qualities of mind and heart which made him so intensely loved by his friends and so conspicuously useful as a public servant, a personal appear- ance and carriage which added materially to his attractiveness and gave additional force to his public appearances. He was over six feet in height, and of commanding presence, dignified, grandly courteous, uniformly kind in his address. With this he combined a transparent and simple-minded vanity and a peculiar lack of humor, described by Dana In saying: "Poor Sumner, he can't take a joke of any kind ; he is as literal as a Scotch guideboard." There was also in his constitution a peculiar inability to recognize some of his own failings. He always regarded himself as the most forgiving and the most moderate of men, and used in later years to ask what there was in his speech of 1856 to excite the hostility of Senator Butler's friends, — a speech whose bitter sarcasm and excoriating language could not but cut to the quick, however it might be justified by the facts. No man was ever better loved, and it was those who knew him most intimately who were most closely attached ; but his married life, which began only in 1866, when he was rapidly approaching threescore years, endured less than a year, though a formal divorce was not obtained until six years later. But matters purely personal concern us little, Sumner will live in the public mind as the great American who astounded a pro-slavery Congress by the declaration that freedom was national, slavery sectional ; as one who, not so much counting the cost as absolutely oblivious to it, threw into his advocacy of the cause of the oppressed an erudition which laid under tribute the litera- tures of all ages and all civilized peoples, a knowledge of history, and an acquaintance with men unequaled among his contemporaries, and a personal force and commanding presence which made him " the finest specimen of a man seen in Cono-ress since Daniel Webster." His remains were escorted to Boston by the customary Congressional committee, and laid in the beaudful cemetery of Mount Auburn. " His undy ing fame the Muse of History had already taken into her keeping." ULYSSES S. GRANT. MAIN BUILDING OK THE CENTENNIAL EXfOSITION, OPENED HY PRESIDENT GRANT IN 1876 ULYSSES S. GRANT, THE HERO OK THE CIVIIv WAR. - — \ HE history of the War for the Union ought to forever set at -^-^'ifSS^ rest the idea that the day of heroes is past — that there are no longer great men to be found in occasions of su- preme need. Never was a great nation seemingly more helpless than the United States when Lincoln was inaugu- rated. Without army or navy, a government honeycombed with treason and apparently falling to pieces, a weak and nerveless administration giving place to one made up of new and untried men, a people without unity of mind or pur- pose, and not knowing whom to trust, — this was the situa- tion which loyal men faced with sinking hearts. Yet only ten days later, when the boom of guns in Charleston harbor echoed over the North, all was changed as in the twinkling of an eye. At the call of the new President for aid, it seemed as though armed men sprang from the ground. And among them were not only soldiers, but commanders, — the men who wert needed to organize and drill these hosts, to convert them into a great army, aod fead them on to victory. When the war broke out, Ulysses S. Grant was working for his father anc brother, who carried on a leather and saddlery business in Galena, Illinois. His life had been, up to that time, a failure. Educated at West Point, he had gradu ated with a record not quite up to the average of his class, and was distiD guished only as a fine horseman. He had, indeed, won credit and promotion i« :// 278 ULYSSES S. GRANT. the Mexican War; but in 1854 he resigned from the army, with a record not entirely blameless, and went with his wife and two children to her former home at St. Louis. He was absolutely penniless, and without trade or profession. His wife had received from her father a farm of seventy acres and three slaves. To this farm Grant went with his little family. He worked hard. He raised wheat and potatoes, and cut up trees into cordwood, and tried to make a living selling the produce of the farm in St. Louis. In this he was not success- fuL He then tried auctioneering and collecting bills, and made an effort in the real estate business. Finally he went to Galena, where he entered his father's store, his record up to that time being one of vain struggle, failure, and poverty. Such was the man who was suddenly to become the greatest of the Union corH' manders, and to be regarded by the American people as one of the chief instru- ments in savinof the life of the nation. But occasion does not form a man's character anew ; it simply calls out the qualities which are in him, perhaps unknown or unperceived. It is not hard now to see in the acts of Grant's youth how the boy was " father of the man." When only twelve years old he was one day sent with a team into the woods for a load of logs, which were to be loaded on the trucks by the lumbermen. No men were to be found ; nevertheless, by using the strength of the horses, he succeeded in loadinor the logfs himself When he returned, his father asked where the men were. "I don't know, and I don't care," said the plucky boy; " I eot the load without them." In such acts we get a glimpse of the boldness, the readiness of resource, and especially the dogged determination, which afterward made him such a power in the war. "Wherever Grant is, I have noticed that things move'' said President Lincoln. When, before leaving Missouri for the Mexican frontier, Grant rode to the home of Miss Julia Dent, four miles from where he was stationed, to ask her hand in marriage, he had to cross a swollen stream, in which his uniform was thoroughly soaked. Bound on such an errand, most men would have turned back ; but Grant rode on, borrowed a dry suit from his future brother-in-law, and accomplished the business in hand. Well might his wife say, in her quaint fashion, " Mr. Grant is a very obstinate man." BREAKING OUT OF THE WAR. On April 1 5, i860, the telegraph flashed over the country President Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand volunteers. That evening the court-house in Galena was packed with an excited crowd, women as well as men. Grant, being known as a West Pointer, was called upon to preside. This was not the kind of duty for which he was prepared, but, he says, " With much embarrass^ ment and some prompting, I made out to announce the object of the meeting." Volunteers were called for, a company was raised upon the spot, and the CAPTURE OF FORT DO NELSON. 279 officers voted for. Before the balloting began Grant declined the captaincy, but promised to help all he could, and to be found in the service, in some position. In August, 1 86 1, Grant was made a brigadier-general, and put in command of the district of Southeast Missouri, including Western Kentucky and Cairo, Illinois, a point of great importance at the junction of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. His first battle was at Belmont, Missouri, about twenty miles below Cairo, which he won after four hours' hard fighting. After the battle the Con- federates received reinforcements, and there was danger that Grant's troops would be cut off from the boats by which they had come. The men perceived the situation, and exclaimed, " We are surrounded ! " "Well," was Grant's characteristic reply, " we must cut our way out, then, as we cut our way in." And they did. The autumn and winter of 1861-62 was a time of weary waiting, which severely tried the spirit of the nation, impatient for action. Attention was chiefly concentrated upon the Potomac, where McClellan was organizing and drilling that splendid army which another and a greater commander was to lead to final victory. While the only response to the people's urgent call, " On to Rich- mond ! " was the daily report, "All quiet on the Potomac," Grant, an obscure and almost unknown soldier, was pushing forward against Forts Henry and Donelson, eleven miles apart, on the Tennessee and the Cumberland, near where these rivers cross the line dividing Kentucky and Tennessee. He had obtained from his commander, Halleck, a reluctant consent to his plan for attacking these important posts by a land force, co-operating at the same time with a fleet of eunboats under Commodore Foote. It was bitter cold. Amid sleet and snow the men pushed along the muddy roads, arriving at Fort Henry just as it was captured, after a severe bombardment, by the gunboats. Grant immediately turned his attention to Fort Donelson, which had been reinforced by a large part of the garrison which had escaped from Fort Henry. It was held by Generals Buckner, Floyd, and Pillow, with 20,000 men. For three days a fierce attack was kept up ; and Buckner, who, having been at West Point with Grant, doubtless knew that he was "a very obstinate man," sent on the morning of the fourth day, under a flag of truce, to ask what terms of sur- render would be granted. In reply Grant sent that brief, stern message which thrilled throughout the North, stirring the blood in every loyal heart : — *' No TERMS BUT UNCONDITIONAL AND IMMEDIATE SURRENDER CAN BE ACCEPTED. I PROPOSE TO MOVE IMMEDIATELY UPON YOUR WORKS." Buckner protested against the terms ; but he wisely accepted them, and surrendered unconditionally. With Fort Donelson were surrendered 15,000 men, 3000 horses, sixty-five cannon, and a great quantity of small arms and DECORATION IMY. DARK DAYS OF iS62-6j. 281 military stores. It was the first great victory for the North, and the whole country was electrified. Grant's reply to Buckner became a household word, and the people of the North delighted to call him "Unconditional Surrender Grant." He was made a major-general, his commission bearing date of Feb- ruary 16, 1862, the day of the surrender of Fort Donelson. THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. The next great battle fought by Grant was that of Shiloh, in Mississippi,- -. *•' the Waterloo of the Western campaign," as it has been called. In this battle Sherman was Grant's chief lieutenant, and the two men tested each other's qualities in the greatest trial to which either had been exposed. The battle was one of the turning-points of the war. The Confederates, under Albert Sidney Johnston, one of their best generals, attacked the Union forces at Shiloh Church. All day Sunday the batde raged. The brave Johnston was killed ; but the Union forces were driven back, and at night their lines were a mile in the rear of their position in the morning. Grant came into his headquarters tent that evening, when, to any but the bravest and most sanguine, the battle seemed lost, and said : "Well, it was tough work to-day, but we will beat them out of their boots to-morrow." " When his staff and the generals present heard this," writes one of his officers, " they were as fully persuaded of the result of the morrow's battle as when the victory had actually been achieved." The next day, after dreadful fighting, the tide turned in favor of the Union forces. In the afternoon. Grant himself led a charge against the Confederate lines, under which they broke and were driven back. Night found the Union army in possession of the field, after one of the severest battles of the war. "The path to glory," says a wise Frenchman, " is not a way of flowers." After the battle of Shiloh, Grant was bitterly assailed as a "butcher," as "incom petent," and as being a " drunkard," — a charge which was utterly false. When President Lincoln was told that Grant "drank too much whiskey," he replied, with characteristic humor, that he wished he knew what brand General Grant used, as he would like to send some to the other Union generals. The abuse of which he was the object did not seem to trouble Grant. The more other people's tongues wagged about him, the more he held his own. The winter of 1862-63, the second year of the war, was full of gloom for the North. The Confederate cause was farther advanced than at the beginning of the war. Many loyal people despaired of ever saving the Union. Although President Lincoln himself never lost faith in the final triumph of the national cause, the cabinet and Congress were uneasy and anxious. The fall elections went against the party which advocated the carrying on of the war. Voluntary enlistments had ceased, and it became necessary to resort to the draft. Unless a great success came to restore the spirit of the North, it seemed probable that 282 ULYSSES S. GRANT. the draft would be resisted, that men would begin to desert, and that the power to capture and punish deserters would be lost. In a word, it seemed that a great success was absolutely necessary to prevent the Union army and the Union cause from going to pieces. It was Grant's conviction that the army must at all hazards '' go foi^zuard to a decisive victojy." THE VICKSBURG CAMPAIGN. On a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi river, which pursues a winding course through its fertile valley, stood the town of Vicksburg. From this point a railroad ran to the eastward, and from the opposite shore another ran westward through the rich, level country of Louisiana. The town was strongly fortified, and from its elevation it commanded the river in both directions. So long as it was held by the Confederate armies, the Mississippi could not be opened to navigation ; and the line of railroad running east and west kept com- munication open between the western and eastern parts of the Confederacy. How to capture Vicksburg was a great problem ; but it was one which General Grant determined should be solved. For eight months Grant worked at this problem. He formed plan after plan, only to be forced to give them up. vSherman made a direct attack at the only place where it was practicable to make a landing, and failed. Weeks were spent in cutting a canal across the neck of a peninsula formed by a great bend in the river opposite Vicksburg, so as to bring the gunboats through without undergoing the fire of the batteries ; but a flood destroyed the work. Mean- while great numbers of the troops were ill with malaria or other diseases, and many died. There was much clamor at Washington to have Grant removed, but the President refused. He had faith in Grant, and determined to give him time to work out the great problem, — how to get below and in the rear of Vicks- burg, on the Mississippi river. This was at last accomplished. On a dark night the gunboats were suc- cessfully run past the batteries, although every one of them was more or less damaged by the guns. The troops were marched across the peninsula, and then taken over the river ; and on April 30th his whole force was landed on the Mississippi side, on high ground, and at a point where he could reach the enemy. The railroad running east from Vicksburg connected it with Jackson, the State capital, which was an important railway centre, and from which Vicksburg was supplied. Grant made his movements with great rapidity. He fought in quick succession a series of battles by which Jackson and several other towns were captured ; then, turning westward, he attacked the forces of Pemberton, drove him back into Vicksburg, cut off his supplies, and laid siege to the place. The eyes of the whole nation were now centred on Vicksburg. Over two hundred guns were brought to bear upon the place, besides the batteries of the SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 283 gunboats. In default of mortars, guns were improvised by boring out tough logs, strongly bound with iron bands, which did good service. The people of Vicksburg lived in cellars and caves to escape the shot and shell. Food of all kinds became very scarce ; flour was sold at five dollars a pound, molasses at twelve dollars a eallon- The endurance and devotion of the inhabitants were wonderful. But the siege was so rigidly and relentlessly maintained that there could be but one end. On July 3d, at ten o'clock, flags of truce were displayed on the works, and General Pemberton sent a message to Grant asking for an armistice, and proposing that commissioners be appointed to arrange terms ot capitulation. On the afternoon of the same day. Grant and Pemberton met under an oak between the lines of the two armies and arranged the terms of surrender. It took three hours for the Confederate army to march out and stack their arms. There were surrendered 31,000 men, 250 cannon, and a great quantity of arms and munitions of war. But the moral advantage to the Union cause was far beyond any material gain. The fall of Vicksburg carried with it Port Hudson, a few miles below, which surrendered to Banks a few days later, and at last the great river was open from St. Louis to the sea. The news of this great victory came to the North on the same day with that of Gettysburg, July 4, 1863. The rejoicing over the great triumph is indescri- bable. A heavy load was lifted from the minds of the President and cabinet. The North took heart, and resolved again to prosecute the war with energy. The name of Grant wa^ on every tongue. It was everywhere felt that he was the foremost man of the campaign. He was at once made a m.ajor-general in the regular army, and a gold medal was awarded him by Congress. Early in September, 1863, General Grant paid a visit to General Banks, in New Orleans, and while there had a narrow escape from death. Riding one day in the suburbs, his horse took frigrht at a locomotive, and came in collision with a carriage, throwing himself down and falling on his rider. From this severe fall Grant was confined to his bed for several weeks. On his return to Vicksburg, he was allowed but a brief period to rest and recover from his accident. He was invested with the command of the consolidated Departments of the South and West, as the Military Division oi the Mississippi, and at once moved to Eastern Tennessee. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN AND MISSIONARY RIDGE. The town of Chattanooga, an important railway centre, lies in the beauti ful valley of the Tennessee river, near where it crosses the line into Alabama Directly south the front of Lookout Mountain rises abruptly to a height of two thousand feet above the sea level, affordino- a magfnificent view which extends into six different States, and of the Tennessee river for thirty miles of its wind- ing course. Two miles to the east, running from north to south, is the crest oi 17 284 ULYSSES S. GRANT. Missionary Ridge, five hundred feet high, — the site of schools and churches estabhshed long ago by Catholic missionaries among the Cherokee Indians, Both Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge were occupied by the army of General Bragg, and his commanding position, strengthened by fortifications, was considered impregnable. The disastrous battle of Chickamauga, in September, 1863, had left the Union armies in East Tennessee in a perilous situation. General Thomas, in! Chattanooga, was hemmed in by the Confederate forces, and his men and horses were almost starving. The army was on quarter rations. Ammunition was almost exhausted, and the troops were short of clothing. Thousands of army mules, worn out and starved, lay dead along the miry roads. Chattanooga, ^^■^j-hMlp^- UNITED STATliS MINT, NKW ORLEANS. occupied by the Union army, was too strongly fortified for Bragg to take it by storm, but every day shells from his batteries upon the heights were thrown into the town. This was the situation when Grant, stiff and sore from his accident, arrived at Nashville, on his way to direct the campaign in East Ten nessee. " Hold Chattanooga at all hazards. I will be there as soon as possible," he telegraphed from Nashville to General Thomas. " We will hold the town until we starve," was the brave reply. Grant's movements were rapid and decisive. He ordered the troops con- centrated at Chattanooga ; he fought a battle at Wauhatchie, in Lookout Valley, COMMANDER OF ALL THE ARMIES. 285 which broke Bragg's hold on the river below Chattanooga and shortened the Union hne of supplies ; and by his prompt and vigorous preparation for effec- tive action he soon had his troops lifted out of the demoralized condition in which they had sunk after the defeat of Chickamauga. One month after his arrival were fought the memorable battles of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, by which the Confederate troops were driven out of Tennessee, their hold on the country broken up, and a large number of prisoners and guns captured. Nothing in the history of war is more inspiring than the impetuous bravery with which the Union troops fought their way up the steep mountain sides, bristling with cannon, and drove the Confederate troops out of their works at the point of the bayonet. An officer of General Bragg's staff afterward declared that they considered their position perfectly impregnable, and that when they saw the Union troops, after capturing their rifle-pits at the base, coming up the craggy mountain toward their headquarters, they could scarcely credit their eyes, and thought that every man of them must be drunk. History has no parallel for sublimity and picturesqueness of effect, while the conse- quences, which were the division of the Confederacy in the East, were inesti- mable. After Grant's success in Tennessee, the popular demand that he should be put at the head of all the armies became irresistible. In Virginia the magnifi- cent Army of the Potomac, after two years of fighting, had been barely able to turn back from the North the tide of Confederate invasion, and was apparently as far as ever from capturing Richmond. In the West, on the other hand. Grant's campaigns had won victory after victory, had driven the opposing forces out of Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee, had taken Vicksburg, opened up the Mississippi, and divided the Confederacy in both the West and the East. In response to the call for Grant, Congress revived the grade of lieutenant-general, which had been held by only one commander, Scott, since the time of Washington ; and the hero of Fort Donelson, Vicksburg, and Chatta- nooga was nominated by the President, confirmed by the Senate, and placed in command of all the armies of the nation. The relief of President Lincoln at having such a man In command was very great. "Grant is the first general I've had," he remarked to a friend. " You know how it has been with all the rest. As soon as I put a man in command of the army, he would come to me with a plan, and about as much as say * rJow, I don't believe I can do it, but If you say so I'll try it on,' and so put thr responsibility of success or failure upon me. They all wanted me to be the general. Now, it isn't so with Grant. He hasn't told me what his plans are. I don't know, and I don't want to know. I am elad to find a man who can o-q ahead without me. "When any of the rest set out on a campaign," added the President, "they 286 ULYSSES S. GRANT. would look over matters and pick out some one thing they were short of, and which they knew I couldn't give them, and tell me they couldn't hope to win unless they had it ; and it was most generally cavalry. Now, when Grant tools hold, I was waiting to see what his pet impossibility would be, and I reckoned it would be cavalry, of course, for we hadn't enouo-h horses to mount what .men we had. There were fifteen thousand men up near Harp er's Ferry, and no horses to put them on. Well, the other day Grant sends to me about those very men, just as I ex- pected ; but what he wanted to know was whether he could make infantry of them or disband them. He doesn't ask impossibilities of me, and he's the first general I've had that didn't." With the army thoroughly reorganized. Grant crossed the Rapidan on the 4th of May ; on the 5th and 6th crippled the prin cipal Confederate army, com manded by Lee, in the terrible battles of the Wilderness ; flanked him on the left ; fought at Spott sylvania Court House on the 7th, again on the loth, and still again on the i2tK on which last occasion he captured a whole division of the Confederate army. Thus during the summer of 1864 he kept up an unceasmg warfare, ever pursu ing the offensive, and daily drawing nearer to the rebel capital, until at last he drove the enemy within the defenses of Richmond. MOIST WEATHER AT THE FRONT. THE VIRGINIA CAMPAIGN. 287 Never was the persistent courage, the determined purpose which was the foundation of Grant's character, more clearly brought out than in the Virginia campaign of 1864 ; and never was it more needed. Well did he know that no single triumph, however brilliant, would win. He sav/ plainly that nothing but "hammering away" would avail. The stone wall of the Confederacy had too broad and firm a base to be suddenly overturned ; it had to be slowly reduced to pov/der. During the anxious days which followed the batde of the Wilderness, Frank B. Carpenter, the artist, relates that he asked President Lincoln, " How does Grant impress you as compared with other generals ? " "The great thing about him," said the President, "is cool persistency of purpose. He is not easily excited, and he has the grip of a bull-dog. When he once gets his tectJi in, nothiiig can shake him off.'' His great opponent, Lee, saw and felt that same quality. When, after days of indecisive battle, the fighting in the Wilderness came to a pause, it was believed in the Confederate lines that the Union troops were falling back- General Gordon said to Lee,— •' I think there is no doubt that Grant is retreating." The Confederate chief knew better. He shook his head. " You are mistaken," he replied, earnestly, — " quite mistaken. Grant is not retreating ; he is not a retreating man!' Spottsylvania followed, then North Anna, Cold Harbor, and Chickahominy. Then Grant changed his base to the James river, and attacked Petersburg. Slowly but surely the Union lines closed in. " Falling back " on the Union side had gone out of fashion. South or North, all could see that now a steady, re- sistless force was back of the Union armies, pushing them ever on toward Rich- mond. Grant's losses in the final campaign were heavy, but Lee's slender resources were wrecked in a much more serious proportion ; and for the Confederates no recruiting was possible. Their dead, who lay so thickly beneath the fields, were the children of the soil, and there were none to replace them. Sometimes whole families had been destroyed ; but the survivors still fought on. In the Confede- rate lines around Petersburg there was often absolute destitution. An officer who was there testified, shordy after the end of the struggle, that every cat and dog for miles around had been caught and eaten. Grant was pressing onward ; Sherman's march through Georgia and the Carolinas had proved that the Con- federacy was an egg-shell ; Sheridan's splendid cavalry was ever hovering round the last defenders of the bars and stripes. Grant saw that all was over, arfd on April 7, 1865, he wrote that memorable letter calling upon Lee to surrender, ind bring the war to an end. The Virginia hamlet dignified by the name of Appomattox Court House LEE'S SURRENDER. 289 comprised, in the spring of 1865, five houses, the largest of which, a brick dwell- ing, was the home of Wilmer McLean, In front was a pleasant yard, smiling with the sweet flowers of early spring. In this house, in the afternoon of the 9th of April, General Lee and General Grant met to arrange for the surrender of Lee's army, which was in effect the end of the Southern Confederacy. **When I had left camp that morning," writes Grant, "I had not expected so soon the result that was then taking place, and consequently was in rough garb. I was without a sword, as I usually was when on horseback in the field, and wore a soldier's blouse for a coat, with shoulder-straps of my rank to indicate to the army who I was. When I went into the house I found General Lee. We greeted each other, and after shaking hands took our seats. " General Lee was dressed in a full uniform which was entirely new, and was wearing a sword of considerable value, very likely the sword which had been presented by the State of Virginia ; at all events, it was an entirely differ- ent one from the sword that would ordinarily be worn in the field. In my rough traveling-suit, the uniform of a private with the straps of a lieutenant-general, I must have contrasted very strangely with a man so handsomely dressed, six feet high, and of faultless form ; but this is not a matter that I thought of until afterward." The terms of surrender allowed by Grant were most generous. Officers and men were to be paroled. The officers were allowed to retain their side- arms, their baggage, and their horses ; and, with humane, consideration for the men who had lost everything, the men were allowed to keep t. eir horses. " I took it," says Grant, " that most of the men were small farmer.-. The whole country had been so raided by the two armies that it was doubtful whether they would be able to put in a crop to carry themselves and their families through the next winter without the aid of the horses they were then riding. The United States did not want them ; and I would therefore instruct the officers ... to let every man . . . who claimed to own a horse or mule take the animal to his home. Lee remarked again that this would have a happy effect." Grant also supplied rations from his own stores to Lee's starving army. For some days they had been living on parched corn. He gave them forage for their horses ; and when the Union soldiers began firing a salute of one hun- dred guns to celebrate the surrender, Grant ordered the firing stopped. "The Confederates," he wrote, " were now our prisoners, and we did not want to exult over their downfall." Reading of such actions toward a conquered foe, it is not hard to understand why, twenty years later, the South and the North together read with tears the bulletins from Grant's bedside, and why the soldiers who fought against him joined at his grave in the last tribute of love and honor. The rejoicing throughout the North over the surrender of Lee's army and the restoration of the Union was checked by the sudden blow of the assassin 290 ULYSSES S. GRANT. of the President, which changed that rejoicing to mourning. The death of Lincoln left Grant the foremost American in the hearts of the people. In the political turmoiLwhich followed the accession of Johnson to the Presidency, and in the period of " reconstruction," while much of the South was under martial law. Grant, as head of the army, necessarily held a prominent place. His popularity increased, and his nomination for the presidency in 1868 was a for© gone conclusion. In 1872 he was re-elected, this time over Horace Greeley His popularity was so general that the opposition to him was insignificant GENERAL GRANT AND LI HUNG CHANG, VICEROY OF CHINA. At the close of his second term he was succeeded by Rutherford B. Hayes, who was declared elected by the famous Electoral Commission, after the disputed election of 1876. Grant was by nature and training a soldier, not a civil administrator; and while there was much to admire in his career as President, there is also much that has been severely criticised. Accustomed to repose absolute confidence m his friends, he was deceived and made use of by adroit and unscrupulous mcft HONORS FROM ALL NATIONS. 291 against whom he was powerless to defend himself. The unsettled state of the country after the civil war, the political and race prejudices which disturbed the South, the ignorance and helplessness of the freedmen, and the denial of their rights, all combined to make the task of government a most difficult and delicate one. But whether Grant's civil career be considered successful or not, it soon became evident that he had not lost his hold on the affectionate admiration of the people, and that his fame abroad was as great as at home. After the clos(^ of his second term, in May, 1877, he sailed from Philadelphia for a tour around the world, which for over two years was made one long-continued ovation, more like the triumphal progress of a great monarch than the journey of a private c»vJ- zen. By all the great nations of Europe and Asia he was received with every mark of the highest honor. He was the guest of emperors, kings, and municipal- ities, and welcomed with tokens of good-will equally by the proudest and the humblest of the people. Throughout Europe, Turkey, Persia, India, China, and Japan he journeyed, and when at last he landed at San Francisco, the demon- stration in his honor surpassed anything before seen on the Pacific coast. It is perhaps not too much to say that until their eyes were opened by his reception abroad, the American people did not themselves appreciate Grant's real great- ness and the extent of his fame, grant's troubles and how he met them. But nothing in all his career did so much to fix Grant in the affection of the country as the events of the last year of his life. After his return from abroad he had, at the solicitation of his son, joined the firm of Ward & Fish, in New York, and put all his savings into it. The business seemed to go on prosper- ously, — so prosperously that Grant believed himself worth a million dollars. He himself gave no attention to the business, confiding entirely in the active part- ners, A sudden and appalling exposure followed in May, 1884, One morning Grant went down to the office in Wall Street and found that Ward had absconded, and that he and his children were utterly ruined. Only a few days before, Ward had Induced him to borrow one hundred thousand dollars, under the pretence that this sum would enable him to discharge some pressing claims upon a bank in which the firm had large deposits. Grant went to W. H. Van- derbilt and asked for the money as a loan. Vanderbilt sat down and drew a check for it, and handed It to his visitor. Grant had no Idea that the firm with which his name had been Identified existed upon sheer roguery. But all the papers were soon full of the shameful story. The famous soldier saw but too clearly that he had been used as a decoy by an abominable swindler. House, money, books, furniture, his swords, and other presents — the money of his chil- dren and many of his friends — everything was gone, including, as he thought, his honor. It was afterward clearly seen that he had no complicity whatever up FINISHING HIS "MEMOIRS." 293 the frauds committed by his partners, — that he was the chief of the sufferers, not in any way a culprit. The sympathy of the people went out to him ; once more he rallied from enfeebled health and a wounded spirit, and he began to believe that In time he might recover from this disastrous blow. But another great calamity was hanging over him. A few months after the failure of the firm, he began to complain of a pain in his throat. Gradually it ^rew worse ; and at last the dread fact could no longer be concealed that his disease was cancer. He had already begun to write his " Memoirs," urged on by the one hope which now remained to him — the hope of making some provi- sion for his family in place of that which they had lost. But the torment which now visited him, day and night, obliged him to stop. He could not lie down without bringing on fits of choking ; he would sit for hours, as General Badeau has said, " propped up in his chair, with his hands clasped, looking at the blank wall before him, silent, contemplating the future ; not alarmed, but solemn at the prospect of pain and disease, and only death at the end." Then there came a change for the better. The kindly messages which were sent to him from all classes of his own countrymen. North and South, and which flowed in upon him from England — from the Queen herself — greatly cheered and consoled him. Again he set to work upon his book, determined to finish it before he died. He was further encouraged by the news that Congress had at last passed a bill placing him on the retired list of the army. His good name, he felt, was once more established. In June, 1885, he seemed to be a little better ; but the great heat of the city distressed him, and a villa on Mount Mac- gregor, near Saratoga, was offered to him by a friend. He knew that he could not live. But three families were dependent upon him. If he could complete his "Memoirs," half a million dollars would be earned for them. Aofain and a^ain he took up pencil and paper — for he could no longer dictate — and wrote, slowly and laboriously, as much as he could. No murmur escaped him. Great physi- cal prostration, accompanied by inevitable mental depression, often assailed him, but he summoned all his energies, and came back from the very portals of the grave. That his children and grandchildren should not be left to the tender mercies of the world, — this was the solitary boon he craved. And it was granted. He had just time to write the last page, and then, on the 23d of July, the end came gently to him. With his wife and family still around him, he passed away as an over-wearied child might fall asleep. The body of the great soldier was laid at rest in Riverside Park, New York city, beside the Hudson river, after a funeral pageant such as had never been witnessed in America. The army, the navy, the militia, the soldiers of the Southern army, and hundreds of thousands of citizens, from the richest to the poorest, joined in the solemn procession, and bowed their heads around the tomb where his dust was laid. For weeks the whole country had eagerly 294 ULYSSES S. GRANT. watched for the news from his bedside. Only four days before his death, when the darkness was closinof in around him, he had finished his " Memoirs," under- taken that his debts might be paid and his loved ones provided for. Now, when all was over, and the memory of all the nation owed him came back, a united people gathered to render at his grave their tributes of love and gratitude. When, in 1866, the bill to revive the grade of " General of the Army of the United States" was before the House of Representatives, Grant's friend^ Henry C. Deming spoke these true and fitting words : — " Time, it is said, devours the proudest human memorial. The impress we have made as a nation may be obliterated ; our grandest achievements, even those which we now fondly deem eternal, those which embellish the walls of that historic rotunda, may all drop from the memory of man Yet we shall not all perish. You may rest assured that ^/i?^ee A7ue7^icaji nmnes will survive oblivion, and soar together immortal : the name of him who founded, the name of him who disenthralled, with the name of him who saved the republic." AN OLD INDIAN FARM-HOUSE. THE STORY OK THE CIVIL WAR. IT would be a mistake to suppose that secession sentiments originated and were exclusively maintained in the Southern States. Ideas of State sovereignty and of the consequent riorht of a State to withdraw from the Union, or at least to resist the acts and laws of Congress on adequate occasion, were held by many states- men in the North as well as in the South. Thus the "Essex Junto," which had openly advocated a dis- solution of the Union and the for- mation of an Eastern Confederacy, were foremost in assembling a con- vention of the Federalists on De- cember 15, 1 8 14, at Hartford, Con- necticut, at which resolutions v/ere passed recommending the State Legislatures to resist Congress in conscripting soldiers for carrying on the war then being waged against England. Threats of disunion were again heard in 1 821, but this time from the South, in case Missouri should be denied admission to the Union on account of her unwillingness to surrender the institution of slavery. Once more, in 1832, a South Carolina convention proceeded to declare the tariff of the United States null and void within her own borders ; but, owing to the decisive action of President Jackson, the State authorities did not venture into an actual collision with Congress. But the agitation in favor of disunion reached culmination under the aggressive efforts by the South to extend slavery into new Territories, and the determination by the North to confine it strictly within the States where it already existed. With the formation of anti-slavery societies in the North, the 295 A SKIRMISHER. 296 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. nomination of anti-slavery candidates for the Presidency from 1840 onward, the passage of the "Wilmot Proviso" in 1846, the repeal of the Missouri compromise in 1854, the Dred-Scott decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1857, the adoption of the Lecompton Constitution in Kansas in 1859, and the raid by John Brown at Harper's Ferry in 1859, it became painfully evident that Mr. Seward's- prediction of an "irrepressible conflict" between the North and South on the subject of slavery was becoming, had already become, a reality. As to John Brown's raid we have only to recount that on the i6th of Octo- ber, 1859, he took an armed force to Harper's Ferry, capturing the arsenal and armory and killing the men on guard. He was then endeavoring to secure arms for operating against the South. He was, however, captured and executed December 2, 1859. The expedition, it is unnecessary to say, was foolhardy and wholly without justification, and Brown paid for his misguided zeal with his life. But it must be said of him that he was conscientious, and that by his reckless daring he helped to crystallize sentiment on both sides of the slavery question. The election in i860 of Abraham Lincoln as President, on the platform of resistance to all further extension of slavery, was the signal for the previous disunion oratory and menaces to crystallize themselves into action. Seven States, in the following order, viz. : South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas, seceded, and by a Congress held at Montgomery, Ala., February 4, 1861, formed a Confederacy with Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, as President, and Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, as Vice- President. The reasons avowed for this perilous course were, " the refusal of fifteen of the States for years past to fulfill their constitutional obligations, and the election of a man to the high office of President of the United States whose opinions and purposes are hostile to slavery." After Mr. Lincoln's inauguration on March 4, 1861, the Confederacy was increased by the addition of Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee ; Kentucky and Missouri, being divided in opinion, had representatives and armies in both sections. The eleven "Confederate States of America" took from the Union nearly one-half of its inhabited area, and a population of between five and six millions of whites and about four millions of slaves. Their entire force capable of active service numbered 600,000 men. The twenty-four States remaining loyal ^o the Union had a population of 20,000,000, and the army at the close of the war numbered 1,050,000 ; but as the majority of these were scattered on guard duty over a vast region, only 262,000 were in fighting activity. Whilst the North was more rich and powerful, it was, nevertheless, more inclined to peace. The South was of a military spirit, accustomed to weapons, and altogether eager for ADVANTAGES OF THE SOUTH. 297 the fray. The soldiers of both sides were equally brave, resolute, heroic, and devoted to what they respectively deemed a patriotic cause. The Confederates had the advantage in the outset, because Mr. Floyd, the Secretary of War under President Buchanan, had dispersed the regular army, com- prising 16,402 officers and men, to distant parts of the country where they were not available, and had sent off the vessels of the navy to foreign stations. Many of the old army offi cers had passed over to the ate service, and vast quantities pons and ammunition had been ed from Northern to -v- . arsenals now in pos- -f^'^ the seceded States, the army at Indian- been surrendered on THE ARTS OF PEACE AND THE ART OF WAR. Confeder- of wea- transferr- Southern session of A part of ola had February 18, 1861,. by General Twiggs,, to the Confederates, and other soldiers, guardmg our Mexi- can and Indian fron- tiers were captured,, besides several na- tional vessels and fortresses. The South was, in short, much better prepared for the great conflict, and during the first year the preponderance of success was in its favor. The Confederates opened the war on April 1 2, 1 86 1, by bombarding Fort Sumter, which had been occupied by Major Robert Anderson and a company of eighty men. This for^ 298 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. although fiercely pounded by cannon balls and shells and set on fire several times, was gallantly held for two days, when it was obliged to surrender ; but its brave defenders were allowed to march out saluting the old flag, and to depart for the North without being regarded as prisoners of war. The attack on Sumter created the wildest excitement throughout the entire land, and it opened the eyes of the North to the amazing fact of a civil war» A wave of patriotism, as mighty as it was sudden, swept over the United States. President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 volunteers for three months, and soon after another call for 64,000 men for the army and 18,000 for the navy, to serve during the war. The need for these calls was urgent enough. On April 20th the Confederates easily captured the great Norfolk Navy Yard, with three or four national vessels, including the frigate " Merri^ mac," which subsequently wrought such fearful havoc at Hampton Roads, 2000 cannon, besides small arms, munitions, and stores of immense value, all of which were given up without a shot in defense. The arsenal at Harper's Ferry, with millions of dollars' worth of arms and ammunition, was also in their possession ; and before the end of April 35,000 of their soldiers were already in the field, whilst 10,000 of these were rapidly marching northward. General R. E. Lee had been appointed Commander-in-chief of the army and navy of Virginia, and the 6th Regiment of Massachusetts militia had been savagely mobbed in the streets of Baltimore whilst going to the protection of Washington. A Unionist attack on the Confederates at Big Bethel, Va., was repulsed, but the Confederates were driven out of Western Virginia by General G. B. McClellan. Then came, on July 21, the engagement at Bull Run, known also as that of Manassas Junction, one of the most significant battles of the war. General Irwin McDowell, acting under instructions of General Scott, marched against the Confederate army under General Beauregard, and in the outset met with encouraging success ; but just as the Unionists imagined the victory theirs they were vigorously pressed by reinforcements that had come hurriedly up from Winchester under the leadership of General Johnston ; and being ex- hausted from twelve hours of marching and fighting under a sultry sun, they began a retreat which was soon turned into a panic, attended with wild disorder and demoralization. Had the Confederates, amonof whom at the close of the day was President Davis himself, only known the extent of their triumph, they might have followed it and possibly have seized Washington. About 30,000 men fought on each side. The Confederate loss was 378 killed, 1489 wounded, and 2)^ missing. The Unionists lost 481 killed, loii wounded, and 1460 missing, with 20 cannon and large quantities of small arms. From this moment it was understood that the struggle would be terrible, and that it might be long, not to say doubtful. Congress, then in extra session, authorized the enlistment of 500,000 men and the raising of ^500,000,000. McCLELLAN AS ORGANIZER. 299 Many of the States displayed intense patriotism, New York and Pennsylvania, for example, appropriating each $3,000,000, whilst Massachusetts and other New England States sent regiments fully equipped into the field. General McClellan was summoned to reorganize and discipline the multitudes of raw recruits that were thrown suddenly on his hands. His ability and thoroughness were of immense value in preparing them for their subsequent effective service, and he was soon after made Commander-in-chief in place of General Scott, retired. The South was also laboring with tremendous zeal and energy in the endeavor to enlist 400,000 men. FORT MOULTRIE, CHARLESTON, WITH FORT SUMTER IN THE DISTANCE. Early in August the death of General Nathaniel Lyon whilst attacking the Confederate General Ben. McCulloch at Wilson's Creek, and the retreat of his army, threw all Southern Missouri into the hands of the enemy. A few days after, General Buder took Forts Hatteras and Clark, with 700 prisoners, 1000 muskets, and other stores. But victories alternated, for now General Sterling Price surrounded and captured the Unionist Colonel Mulligan and his Irish brigade of 2780, at Lexington, Mo. Worse, however, than this was the near annihilation, October 21st. of a Unionist force of 1700 under General C. P. Stone and Colonel E. D. Baker at Ball's Bluff. The noble Baker and 300 of the men 18 300 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. were slain and over 500 taken prisoners. Ten days later Commodore S. F. Dupont, aided by General T. W. Sherman with 10,000 men, reduced the Confederate forts on Hilton Head and Phillips' Island and seized the adjacent Sea Islands. General Fremont, unable to find and engage the Confederate General Price in the West, was relieved of his command of 30,000 men ; but General U. S. Grant, by capturing the Confederate camp at Belmont, Mo., checked the advance of General Jeff. Thompson. On the next day, November 8th, occurred a memorable event which imperiled the peaceful relations between BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. the United States and Great Britain. Captain Wilkes of the United States frigate, "San Jacinto," compelled the British mail steamer, "Trent," to give up two of her passengers, the Confederate Commissioners, Mason and Slidell, who were on their way respectively to England and France in the interest of the Souths A foreign war might have resulted had not Mr. William H. Seward, the astute Secretary of State, promptly disavowed the act and returned the Commissioners to English keeping. General E. O. C. Ord, commanding the Third Pennsylvania Brigade, gained a victory on December 20th at Dranesville over the Confederate FALL OF FORT DO NELSON. 301 brigade of General J. E. B. Stuart, who lost 230 soldiers, and during the same month General Pope reported the capture of 2500 prisoners in Central Missouri, with the loss of only 100 men ; but 1000 of these were taken by Colonel Jeff, C. Davis by surprising the Confederate camp at Milford. The year 1862 was marked by a series of bloody encounters. It opened with a Union army of 450,000 against a Confederate army of 350,000. The fighting began at Mill Spring, in Southern Kentucky, on January 19th, with an assault by the Confederates led by General F. K. Zollicoffer, acting under General G. B. Crittenden. They were routed by General George H. Thomas, Zollicoffer being killed and Crittenden flying across the Cumberland River, leaving ten guns and 1500 horses. This victory stirred the heart of the nation, and brought at once into brilliant prominence the great soldier and noble character whose greatnes blazed out like a sun at the close of the war. Another blow was soon struck. Brigadier General Grant, with 15,000 troops, supported by Commodore A. H. Foote with seven gunboats, reduced Fort Henry on the Tennessee River and took its commander. General L. Tilghman, prisoner, but could not prevent the greater portion of the garrison from escaping to Fort Donelson, twelve miles to the east. This stronghold, com- manding the navigation of the Cumberland River and containing 15,000 defenders under General J. B. Floyd, was regarded as impregnable. It fell, however, on February i6th, under a combined attack of Grant and Foote, surrendering 12,000 men and 40 cannon. Generals Floyd and Buckner, with a few of their command, managed to escape across the river by night, and General N. B. Forrest, with 800 cavalry, also got away. This splendid achievement threw Nashville and all Northern Tennessee into possession of the Unionists, and caused the immediate evacuation of the Confederate camp at Bowling Green, Kentucky. In the East, about the same time. General Burnside and Commodore Goldsborough, with 11,500 men on 31 steamboats, captured, with a loss of 300, Roanoke Island, N. C, and 2500 Confederates. On March 14th they carried New Bern by assault, losing 600 but taking 2 steamboats, 69 cannon, and 500 prisoners ; and next they seized Fort Macon, with its garrison of 500 and stores. But the Unionist Generals Reno and Foster were repulsed, respectively, at South Mills and Goldsborough. One of the most notable of naval engagements took place on March 8th and 9th, when the Confederate ironclad, " Virginia," known better by her original name, the " Merrimac^" steamed out from Norfolk attended by two gunboats. She plunged her iron ram into the Union frigate, "Cumberland," causing her to sink and to carry down part of her crew; she blew up the " Congress," another Union frigate, destroying more than half of her crew of 434, drove the frigate "Lawrence" under the guns of Fortress Monroe, and bombarded until dusk with terrific energy, aided also by her gunboats, the 302 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. Union steam frigate " Minnesota," which had got aground. She seemed destined on the next day to work immeasurable and unimpeded havoc. But, providentially, during the night the Union "Monitor," looking like "a cheese box on a raft," which had been built by Captain Ericsson and was commanded with consummate skill by Lieutenant J. L. Worden, steamed into the roadstead on her trial trip from New York. When, therefore, the " Merrimac " approached for new conquests the following morning her surprise was tremendous upon such a strange craft. An unwonted and dramatic naval duel now meetmg ANTIETAM BRIDGE. occurred, from which the Confederate ram retired badly crippled and was soon afterward blown up to prevent her being captured. The "Monitor" was, unfortunately, lost some months afterward, in a storm off Hatteras. The smoke had not vanished from Hampton Roads before news came of an assault at Pea Ridge by from 16,000 to 18,000 Confederates, including 5000 Indians, under General E. Van Dorn, on 10,500 Unionists under General S. R. Curtis, supported by Generals Asboth and Sigel. After three days of severe fighting, in which 1351 Unionists fell, the Confederates fled with precipitation. THE BATTLE OF SHILOH. 303 leaving Generals B. McCulloch and Mcintosh dead and having Generals Price and Slack among their wounded. General McClellan having raised his 200,000 or more men to a high degree of efficiency, transferred considerably more than half of them to Fortress Monroe for the purpose of advancing on Richmond by way of the peninsula between the York and James Rivers. He left General Banks with 7000 soldiers to guard the Virginia Valley. This force, at that time under the command of General James, Shields, because Banks had gone temporarily to Washington, was fiercely assailed at Kernstown by "Stonewall" Jackson at the head of 4000 men. Jackson was repulsed with a loss of 1000, whilst Shields lost 600. McClellan's advance was checked for a month by Confederate batteries at Warwick Creek and again at Williamsburg by General Magruder's works. Here General Hooker's division fought well for nine hours with heavy losses. Magruder, flanked by Hancock, whose two brigades fought bravely, was obliged to retreat, leaving 700 of his wounded. The Unionists lost altogether 2228, whilst the Confederates lost not quite so many. In the meantime, on April 6th, General Grant, with an army of 40,000, was surprised at Pittsburg Landing by 50,000 Confederates under General A. S. Johnson. General Grant, instead of being with his troops, was on a boat near Savannah, seven miles below. The Union forces were completely surprised. No intrenchments or earthworks of any kind had been erected — there were no abattis. The Union forces, surprised, were rapidly driven back with heavy loss in guns, killed, wounded, and prisoners, from Shiloh Church to the blufis of the Tennessee, under which thousands of demoralized men took refuge. General Albert S. Johnson had been killed in the midst of the battle and General Beauregard succeeded to the command. Had General Johnson been alive the result might have been different ; but Beauregard was in command, and he missed the one opportunity of his life in resting on his arms when he should have pressed the enemy to the river and forced a surrender. But relief was at hand, and under a leader who was a master general on the field. Sunday night General Don Carlos Buell arrived on the scene with a part of the Army of the Ohio. Moving General Nelson's division across the Tennessee in boats, he had them in position by seven o'clock in the evening, ready for the onset in the morning. Two more divisions were crossed early in the morning. At seven o'clock the attack was begun. General Buell leading his troops in person and General Grant advancing with his troops, yesterday overwhelmed by defeat, to-day hopeful and confident. The result is well known. Buell's fresh troops, handled in a masterly manner, were irresistible. By four o'clock the enemy lost all they had gained and were in full retreat, and the day was won. General Buell receiving unstinted praise for his victory. The Union loss was 1735 killed, 7882 wounded, and 3956 missing; total, 13,573. 304 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. The Confederates' loss was 172S killed, 8012 wounded, 957 missing; total, 10,699. About the same date General Pope and Commodore Foote captured Island No. 10, with 6700 Confederates under Brigadier General Makall ; and soon after Memphis surrendered to the Unionists, and on April nth Fort Pulaski fell before a bombardment by General Q. A. Gilmore. This same month was notable for naval victories. Admiral Farragut with a fleet of forty-seven armed vessels and 310 guns stormed the Confederate Forts St. Philip and Jackson, destroyed various fire-rafts and gunboats, and after a series of brilliant actions compelled the Confederate General Lovell with 3000 defenders to withdraw from New Orleans, leaving it to be occupied by 15,000 Unionists under General Butler. In the words of another, this "was a contest between iron hearts in wooden vessels, and iron clads with iron beaks, and the iron hearts prevailed." McClellan's army — a part of which had been thrown across the Chicka- hominy — was savagely attacked on May 28th, at Fair Oaks, by General Joseph E. Johnston, now Commander-in-chief of the Confederate forces. Although Johnston was badly wounded and his troops after a day of hard fighting were obliged to retire, yet the Union loss was 5739, including five colonels killed and seven generals wounded. McClellan was now reinforced until he had altogether 156,828 men, of whom 1 15,162 were in good condition for effective service. Noth- ing, however, was accomplished until General Lee, who had succeeded the dis- abled Johnston, forced the fighting on June 26th that led to six horrible battles on as many successive days, known as those of Oak Grove, Mechanicsville, Gaines's Mills, Savage Station, White Oak Swamp, and Malvern Hill. In the last one the Confederates were signally defeated by McClellan with a loss of 10,000, while the Union loss was about 5000. During those six battles the Union loss was 1582 killed, 7709 wounded, and 5958 missing, making a total of 15,249. The Confederate loss was perhaps double ; General Griffith and three colonels killed. Nevertheless, McClellan's campaign was unsuccessful ; Richmond was not taken ; and by order of the President he retreated to the Potomac. General Halleck now became Commander-in-chief, and a vigorous campaign was opened by the Unionist General Pope. He was met in several stubbornly fought actions by the Confederates under Generals Lee, Jackson, and Long- street, and was badly routed. * In this bloody affair, known as the second battle of Bull Run, the Unionists lost 25,000, including 9000 prisoners; the Con- * In accounting for his defeat General Pope attempted to fix the blame upon General Fitz John Porter, a very able and successful commander, charging that he failed to support him, and a court- martial convened in the heat of the discussion cashiered the General. But later, in deference to public opinion, the case was reopened, the previous unjust verdict was set aside, and General Porter's good name was cleared, his conduct being fully justified — an acquittal in entire accord with the ripei second thought of public opinion. LEE. 305 federates lost 15,000. General Lee, on September 8th, Invaded Maryland, where at South Mountain he was worsted by McClellan, who lost heavily of his own men, but took 1500 prisoners. A few days later Harper's Ferry, with 11,583 Unionists, "j-^^ guns, and immense quantities of war munitions, was surrendered to Stonewall Jackson. McClellan, with 80,000 men at- tacked Lee, posted with 70,006 on a ridge facing Antie- tam Creek. This determined battle ended in Lee's de- feat and retreat. McClellan lost 2010 men killed, 9416 wounded, and 1043 missing ; a total of 12,469. Lee lost 1842 killed, 9399 wounded, and 2292 missing; to- tal, 13.533- This is regarded as the bloodiest day in the history of America. There is little doubt that had Mc- Clellan followed up his magnificent victory he could have entered Rich- mond. Here was his mistake ; but this did not justify the Government in retiring him as it did. Surely McClellan's great victory entitled him to the further command ; but the opposition, especially that of Secretary Stanton, was too powerful, and he was retired. General Burnside, having succeeded McClellan, assailed Lee at Fredericks- burg, December 13th, but was disastrously beaten. His loss was 1152 killed, GENERAL ROBERT EDMUND LEE. 5o6 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. 9101 wounded, 3234 missing ; total, 13,771. The Confederate loss was about 5000. General Burnside was relieved in favor of General Hooker in January, 1863, who — having received reinforcements until his army amounted to 100,000 infantry, 13,000 cavalry, and 10,000 artillery — assumed the offensive against Lee on May 2d, 1863, at Chancellorsville, but was terribly defeated. He lost 17,197 men. His defeat was due to a brilliant rear and flank movement executed by Stonewall Jackson, who thus demolished the Eleventh Corps but was himself slain. Jackson's death might well be regarded as an irreparable disaster to the Confederate cause. Lee, with nearly 100,000 men, again marched northward, taking 4000 prisoners at Winchester. He was overtaken, July ist, by the Union army, numbering 100,000, now under the command of General George G. Meade, at Gettysburg ; where a gallant and bloody battle was fought, lasting three days and ending in a great victory for the Unionists. One of the features of the battle was a gallant charge of Pickett's Confederate Brigade, when they faced a battery of 100 guns and were nearly annihilated. But it was all American bravery. They lost 2834 killed, 13,709 wounded, 6643 missing; total, 23,186. The total Confederate loss was 36,000. Had Meade known the extent of his triumph he might have followed and destroyed the retreating Lee, whose army in this campaign dwindled from 100,000 to 40,000. On the same memorable day, July 3d, Vicksburg, after having resisted many and determined assaults, and after finding its defenders on the south surprised and beaten in detail by Grant's army aided by Commodore Porter's naval operations, surrendered, closing a campaign in which Grant had taken 37,000 prisoners, with arms and munitions for 60,000 men. His own loss was 943 killed, 7095 wounded, and 537 missing; a total of 8515. These two notable victories were the turning points in the war. Meantime, in the West the war had been pursued during the year with varying fortunes. The Confederate General Forrest had captured 1500 men at Murfreesboro, Tenn.; Kirby Smith had captured 5000 Unionists at Richmond, Ky. ; General Bragg had captured 4000 prisoners at Mumfordsville, Tenn. ; Generals McCook and Rousseau, having attacked the enemy without the orders of General Buell, and thinking, as General Buell said, to win a victory without his assistance, were defeated by General Bragg at Perryville, whose loss was 2300: our loss was 4340. General Rosecrans, with a loss of 782, whipped the Confederate General Price, at luka. Miss., whose loss was 1000 men. Rose- crans repulsed again the Confederates on September 17th at Corinth, inflicting a loss of 1423 killed and taking 2248 prisoners. His own loss was 2359 men. A brigade of 2000 Unionists was captured by John Morgan. A campaign of 46,910 men under Rosecrans culminated in the batde of Stone River, January 2d, 1863, against Bragg, who was beaten and forced to retreat. The Unionist CHICKAMAUGA AND LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN. 307 losses were 1533 killed, 7245 wounded, 2800 missing; a total of 11,578. Bragg's loss was 9000 killed and wounded and over 1000 missing. The Con- federate Van Dorn surprised and took prisoners 2000 men at Holly Springs, and at the same time took ^4,ooo,cxdo worth of stores. General Sherman was repulsed at Chickasaw Bayou with a loss of 2000 men ; but General J. A. Mc- Clernand reduced Fort Hindman, capturing 5000 prisoner!" and 17 guns, while his loss was only 977. Colonel Grierson made a famous raid with 1700 cavalry to Baton Rouge, cutting Confederate communications and taking 500 prisoners. At Milliken's Bend the Unionist General Dennis, having 1400, repelled an attack of the Confederate General H. McCuUoch, the loss on either side being 500, At Helena, Arkansas, the Unionist General B. M. Prentiss, with 4000, also repulsed General Holmes with 3646, of whom 1636 were lost. The Con- federate raider, Morgan, with a mounted force of 4000 men, invaded Ohio, July 7th, but was caught by gunboats and obliged to surrender. General Burnside, early in September, at Cumberland Gap, captured General Frazier with fourteen guns and 2000 men. Then came, on September 19th, the great battle of Chickamauga, between Rosecrans and Thomas with 55,000 men on one side, and Bragg and Longstreet with about the same number on the other side. Longstreet annihilated Rosecrans' right wing ; but Thomas by his firmness and skill saved the day. The Confederates lost 18,000, while the Union loss was 1644 killed, 9262 wounded, 4945 missing ; total, 15,581. Our army fell back on Chattanooga. Longstreet's attempt, Nov. 28th, to dislodge Burnside from Knox- ville resulted in his own loss of 800 and retreat. The Unionists lost 100 men. On September 2 2d to 24th the forces of General George H. Thomas, rein- forced by General Sherman, under the command of Grant, assaulted Bragg's army on Mission Ridge, facing Chattanooga. General Sherman crossed the Tennessee to attempt a flank movement but was repulsed. General Hooker moved up Lookout Mountain and drove the Confederates before him, capturing men and guns. Then General G. H. Thomas, in accordance with his original plan of battle, moved his army by the front directly up the heights of Mission Ridge, assailing the enemy in the very teeth of his batteries. The fight was desperate, but Thomas's forces won, driving the enemy, making many prisoners and capturing many guns. The Union losses were 757 killed, 4529 wounded, 330 missing ; total, 5616. There were 6142 prisoners captured from the enemy. During this time Charleston, which had inaugurated the Rebellion, pluckily resisted all attempts to take it. For example, her defenders beat back 6000 Unionists with a loss of 574 men at Secessionville June i6th. Again, they dis- abled two of the blockading gunboats on January ist, 1863 ; again, they forced nine bombarding iron-clads under Commodore Dupont to retire ; again, they repulsed from Fort Wagner a storming party under General Gilmore, inflicting a loss of 1500, while their loss was but 100 men ; again, while obliged to evacuate 3o8 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. Fort Wagner, leaving i8 guns there, and seven guns in Battery Gregg, they re- pulsed the Unionists' attempt to scale Fort Sumter and slew 200 men. Nor did the Unionists fare better in Florida. They lost under General T. Seymour 2000 of his 6000 troops at Olustee, where the Confederates lost but y^^o men. The Unionists again lost 1600 out of 2000 men under Gen. —"' , Wessels at Plymouth, North Caro- lina, when the Confed- erate General Hoke's loss was but 300 men. In the Southwest, however, the Unionists* cause had gained con- siderable advantages un- der General Banks, having a command of 30,000 men. Aided by Commodore Farragut, at Alexandria, La., he drove General R. Taylor and captured 2000 prisoners, several steam- boats, and 22 guns. His assault, however, on Port Hudson, in June, was re- pelled with a loss of 200a GRANT MADE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. 300 men, while the Confederates lost but 300 men. But Port Hudson, as it was about to be cannonaded by the gunboats set free by the fall of Vicksburg, was surren- dered, July 6th, by the Confederate General Gardener, with his garrison of 6408 men. Banks' effective force had been reduced to 10,000. His total captures during the campaign were 10,584 men, ']'^ guns, and 6000 small arms. But Brashear City had some days before been surprised and captured by General R. Fayloi (Confederate) with a Union loss of 1000 men and 10 guns. The Unionist General Dudley lost near Donaldsonville 300 prisoners, and again, the Unionist General Franklin with a fleet and 4000 men was repelled with a loss of two gun- boats, 15 guns, and 250 men, by less than that number within the fort at Sabine Pass, and at Teche Bayou the 67th Indiana Regiment was captured entire. The Red River expeditions in March and April, 1864, toward Shreveport under General Banks, from New Orleans, with a force of 40,000, and under General Steel, from Little Rock, with 12,000, were disastrous failures. The former had to retreat with a loss of about 5000, and the latter was also beaten back with a loss of 2200; but at Jenkins Ferry he repulsed the Confederate attack led by General Kirby Smith, with a loss of 2300. In August of this year (1864) Commodore Farragut executed one of the fiercest and most heroic naval combats on record. Having lashed himself to the mast of the Hartford, he advanced with a fleet of 14 wooden steamers and gunboats and four iron-clad monitors against Forts Morgan and Gaines, at the entrance of Mobile Bay. He ran the bows of his wooden vessels full speed against the rebel iron-clad Tennessee, gaining a notable victory, which ended in the fall of the forts and the city of Mobile. General Grant was appointed Commander-in-chief of all the Union armies on March i, 1864. Having sent Sherman to conduct a campaign in the West, he himself, on May 4 and 5, crossed the Rapidan for a direct southerly advance to Richmond. A campaign of 43 days followed, in which more than 100,000 men, frequently reinforced, were engaged on either side. He was met by Lee in the Wilderness, where, after two days of terrible slaughter, the battle ended without decided advantage to either side. Among the Unionists, General J. S. Wads- worth was killed and seven generals were wounded, the entire loss amount- ing to 20,000 men. The Confederates lost 8000 men, with Longstreet badly wounded. Finding Lee's position impregnable, Grant advanced by a flank movement to Spottsylvania Court House. Here, on May nth, Hancock, by a desperate assault, captured Generals Johnson and E. H. Stewart, with 3000 men and 30 guns, while Lee himself barely escaped. But no fighting, however desperate, could carry Lee's works. Sheridan with his cavalry now made a dashing raid toward Richmond. He fought the Confederate cavalry, killed their General, J. E. B. Stuart, and returned, having suffered little damage, to Grant. General 3IO STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. Butler with 30,000 men steamed up the James River and seized City Point, with the view of seizing- Petersburg-. He was, however, too slow, and in a fight with Beauregard, near Proctor's Creek, lost 4000 men, while the Confederates lost but 3000. General Grant reached. May 17th, the North Anna, where he gained some advantage, but as Lee was strongly intrenched, he moved on again to Cold Harbor. Here an assault on Lee ended with a Union loss of 1705 killed, 9072 wounded and 2406 missing. Sheridan again raided Lee's rear, tore up rail- roads, and burnt stores, and after having lost 735 men he returned to Grant with 370 prisoners. Grant now pressed on toward the James River ; assaults were ENTRANCE TO GETTYSBURG CEMETERY. made on Petersburg with a loss of many killed and 5000 prisoners. The Unionist General Wilson, with 8000 cavalry, while tearing up the Danville railroad, lost 1000 prisoners. Another attempt to take Petersburg by a mine explosion resulted in a Unionist loss of 4400 and Confederate loss of 1000. A series of gallant attacks by the Unionists were as gallantly repulsed. Thus Hancock assailed Lee's left wing below Richmond, losing 5000 men. Warren seized the Weldon Railroad, at the expense of 4450, while the Confederates lost but 1200. Han- cock's attempt to seize Ream's Station ended in his being driven back and WINCHESTER AND ATLANTA. 311 losing 2400 men. Warren grasped the Squirrel Level Road at a cost of 2500 men. Butler, however, took Port Harrison, with 115 guns, but failed to take Fort Gilmore after a loss of 300. The Confederates, attempting to retake Fort Harrison, were beaten back with a heavy loss. The Union cavalry under Gen- eral Kautz advanced within five miles of Richmond, but were driven back with a loss of 9 guns and 500 men. Hancock tried to turn the Confederate flank and took 1000 prisoners, but had to retire with a loss of 1500. Thus this campaign of 1864 closed with a loss in the aggregate of 87,387 men from the Army of the Potomac. In West Virginia Sigel was routed at New Market by J. C. Breckinridge with a loss of six guns and 700 men. Hunter, succeeding Sigel, beat the Con- federates, June 8th, at Piedmont, killing General Jones and taking 1500 men, but was himself, with 20,000 men, soon after beaten at Lynchburg, and forced to a disastrous retreat over the Alleghanies to the Potomac. This opened the way for the Confederate, Early, with 20,000 veterans, to march northward. With a loss of but 600 he defeated General Lew Wallace near Frederick, killing and capturing 2000 men. After threatening Baltimore and Washington he retreated South with 2500 captured horses and 5000 cattle. He also defeated at Winchester General Crook, whose loss was 1200. Shortly after the Unionist General Averill defeated B. F. Johnson's cavalry and took 500 prisoners. Not long after, on September 19, 1864, Early, after a brilliant attack by Sheridan at Winchester, was routed, losing 6000 men, while the Unionists lost 1000 less. At Fisher's Hill Sheridan again routed him, taking 16 guns and 1 1 00 prisoners; at Cedar Creek, while Sheridan was absent at Washington, Early made a sudden and determined assault, throwing the Unionists into a panic- stricken mob, capturing 24 guns and 1 200 prisoners. Sheridan, by his famous ride of twenty miles, met his beaten army. He reorganized it, inspired it to make a general and magnificent attack, and won a great victory, recapturing his 24 guns, taking 23 more, and 1500 prisoners. The loss on either side was about 3000. In the Southwest General Sturgis (Union) with 12,000 men routed General Forrest at Guntown, Miss., killing and capturing 4000. In East Tennessee the Confederate raider Morgan captured 1600 Unionists at Licking River, but was himself soon after chased away with a loss of half his force. During these operations General Sherman advanced (May 18, 1864) with 100,000 men from Chattanooga. He was stubbornly resisted by General J. E. Johnston with an army of 54,000. At Kenesaw Mountain Sherman lost 3000 men while the Confederates lost 442. He, however, kept flanking and fighting the Confed- erates until he reached Atlanta, during whicti two months the enemy had lost 14,, 200 men; but reinforcements kept their numbers up to 51,000. During 312 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. these movements the Confederate General Polk, who on accepting his commis- sion in the army had not resigned his position as a Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church, was killed by a cannon ball while reconnoitring on Pine Mountain, a few miles north of Marietta. Hood succeeded Johnston, and aimed a heavy blow at Thomas, on Sherman's right, losing 4000 and inflicting LONGSTREET REPORTING AT BRAGG'S HEADQUARTERS. a loss of but 1500. On the 2 2d occurred another great battle in which McPherson, a very superior Union general, was killed, and 4000 Unionists were lost. The Confederate loss was, however, not less than 8000. General Stoneman whilst raiding Hood's rear was captured, with 1000 of his cavalry. Hood, after suffering a heavy repulse by Logan, and another at Jonesboro by Howard, in the latter of which he lost 2000, and still another by J. C. SHERAIAN'S FAMOUS MARCH. 313 Davis, when Jonesboro and many guns and prisoners were taken from him, retreated eastward, leaving Atlanta, September ist, to the Union victors. Being reinforced, however, so as to have about 55,000 troops, he returned for an invasion of Tennessee. At Franklin, November 30th, he made a desperate onset against Schofield, and was baffled, at an expense of 4500 men to himself and of 2320 to the Union. At Nashville, to which he laid siege, he was struck by Thomas, December 15th, with great skill and determination during a two days' battle, and broken to pieces, having lost more than 13,000, besides seventy- two pieces of artillery. The Union loss was 10,000 during the campaign. In November and December Sherman at the head of 65,500, including the cavalry protection of Kilpatrick, executed his famous march to the sea, i.e., from Atlanta to Savannah. His reward was 167 guns and 1328 prisoners and a demoralized South. The Confederate General Hardee, who had already evacuated Savan- nah, was obliged by a new advance of Sherman northward, February, 1865, to evacuate Charleston also, with 12,000 men. A cavalry engagement took place near the north line of South Carolina, between Kilpatrick and Wade Hampton, in which the former was surprised, but the latter finally beat him. Near Fayetteville, North Carolina, March 15th, he was attacked without success by Hardee, now acting under Joseph Johnston, having 40,000 men under his command ; and three days after at Bentonville by Johnston himself. Sherman lost 1643, t>ut forced Johnston to retire, leaving 267 dead and 1625 prisoners and wounded. Fort Fisher, that protected the blockade runners at Wilmington, N. C, was bombarded by Commodore Porter and carried by assault by General A. H. Terry, January 16, 1865. This victory, purchased at a cost of 410 killed and 536 wounded, threw into the Union hands 169 guns and 2083 prisoners. And Wilmington itself fell about one month later, under, an attack by Schofield. General James H. Wilson, with 15,000 cavalry from the armies of Grant and Thomas, routed General Forrest at Selma, Ala., April 2d, capturing 22 guns and 2700 prisoners and burning 125,000 bales of cotton. Soon after, he captured at Columbus, Ga., 52 guns and 1200 prisoners, besides burning a gunboat, 250 cars, and 115,000 cotton bales. He took Fort Tyler by assault, but ceased operations at Macon, Ga., because by that time the rebellion was crushed. General Grant resumed operations February 6, 1865, when he repulsed at Hatcher's Run, at a cost of 2000 troops, the Confederates, who lost 1000. General Sheridan with 10,000 cavalry routed Early, on March 2d, from Waynes- boro, taking 11 guns and 1600 prisoners, and joined Grant at Petersburg after having passed entirely around Lee's army. An attack by Lee against Fort Stedman was repelled with a loss of 2500 to the Unionists and 4500 to the Confederates. 314 STORY OF THE CIVIL WAR. Grant, fearing that Lee might attempt to evacuate Richmond, threw Warren's corps and Sheridan's cavalry to the southwest of Petersburg. Warren, after having his divisions broken by Lee but re-formed by the aid of Griffin, united with Sheridan, who had been foiled the day before, April ist, at Five Forks. Warren and Sheridan now charged the Confederates' works, which were taken, along with 5000 prisoners. A general assault was made by the Union army at daylight, April 2d, when Ord's Corps (Union) carried Forts Gregg and Alexander by storm. A. P. Hill, a brilliant Confederate general, was shot dead. That nio^ht Lee evacuated Richmond, burninp; his warehouses filled with stores. General Weitzel, at 6 a.m. April 3d, entered the city with his men and was soon followed by President Lincoln. Petersburg was at the same time abandoned. Lee halted his army, now dwindled to 35,000 men, at Amelia Court House. Grant rapidly pursued. Ewell was severed from Lee's rear and became one among 6000 prisoners. Lee heroically pushed on to Appomattox Court House, where his flight was intercepted by Sherman marching from the South. Lee was inclined to renew the fiorhtina- ao-ainst Sherman, but his weary and famished army stood no chance against the fearful odds around them. And Lee, to prevent further useless bloodshed, surrendered his army to Grant on April 9, 1865, within three days of four years after the rebellion had been opened by the bombardment of Fort Sumter. Bell ringing, triumphant salutes, and boundless joy throughout the United States hailed this event as the close of the war. Johnston surrendered his army to Sherman at Raleigh, N. C, April 26th, and Dick Taylor his, to Canby at Citron ville, Ala., May 4th. The terms of the surrender were magnanimous : " Each officer and man was allowed to return to his home, not to be disturbed by the United States authority so long as they observed their paroles and the laws in force where they may reside." Jefferson Davis, the president of the now destroyed Confederacy, fled from Richmond at the time of its evacuation. Attended at first with a cavalry escort of 2000, which soon dwindled mostly away, he was making his way toward the coast, with his family and "a few faithful followers " when he was captured near Irwinsville, Georgia. After an imprisonment of two years in Fortress Monroe, he was released, and allowed to live without molestation, mourning the lost cause, until he died, December 6, 1889. / WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, THK HKRO OK THK " NIARCH TO XHE^ SKA." F ALL the events of the four long years between 1861 and 1865, none is more memorable than the famous march of the Union army through Georgia, in the autumn of 1864. Although a generation has passed away since then, black children who never knew slavery and white children who never knew war still join in singing the familiar lines of the old chorus : — ** Hurrah ! hurrah ! we bring the jubilee ! Hurrah ! hurrah ! the flag that makes you free ! " ' -^i '" So we sang the chorus from Atlanta to the sea. When we were marching thro' Georgia." And next to the great captain to whom Lee surrendered at Appomattox, the nation holds in erateful remembrance the name and deeds of William Tecumseh Sherman. Sherman came of a New England family. His father, Charles R. ShermarL moved from Connecticut to Ohio early in this century, and was appointed judge of the Supreme Court of the latter State. In 1829 Judge Sherman died, leaving his widow with eleven children and an income of two hundred and fifty dollars. It was clearly impossible for her to maintain them all. Judge Sherman had many warm friends, among whom was Thomas Ewing, United States Senator, who offered to adopt one of the boys into his own family. " Which one shall I take? " he asked, when the time came to decide ; 'T want the best of the lot, of course." "Take Cump, Mr. Ewing," said an elder sister, promptly; "take* Cump, — he's the smartest." So the Senator took " Cump," who from that tim<2 had his place in Mr. Ewing' s home, among his own sons and daughters. As the boy grew into manhood, a warm and romantic attachment sprang up be- tween him and Senator Ewing's daughter Ellen, and his lively and graphic letters to her while absent at school and in the army show most delightfully the development of his character. When Sherman was sixteen, Senator Ewing secured for him an appoint- ment to West Point Military Academy. He had then no wish to be a soldier, 317 3i8 WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. but he did have an intense desire for a good education, and this was an oppor- tunity not to be lost. He was a close and diligent student, and made good pro- gress In his studies ; but he took no particular Interest In military matters, and gave no promise of his future brilliant achievements In war, other than Is found in general Intelligence, ability, and sound judgment. He graduated In 1840, and was commissioned second lieutenant of artillery. He was sent first to Florida, whence the remnants of the Seminole Indians were being removed west to the Indian Territory, a policy which the independent young officer thought a mistake, and said so In his letters. Then he was transferred to Fort Moultrie, In Charleston harbor, where he passed four dull years, drilling and parading, fishing and hunting, and studying Southern character In the society of Charleston, where he was always welcome. After the Mexican war, he was sent to California, and In 1850 he returned East and married the sweetheart of his boyhood, Ellen Boyle Ewing, at her father's house In Washington. The wedding was a brilliant occasion. President Taylor and his cabinet were pres- ent, with Senators Clay, Webster, Benton, and other distinguished persons. It was a time of great excitement over the slavery question. Many expected to see then the war which came eleven years later, but which was deferred by Clay's famous compromise of 1850. From his marriage until the civil war Sherman had a varied experience. His career during that time Is quite similar to that of his friend Grant, espe- cially In the fact that it was not successful. He was stationed for a time In St. Louis, and then at New Orleans. In 1853 he resigned his commission In the army, and In company with a friend went to California, where, with money furnished by a St. Louis capitalist, they started a bank. For five years this business furnished a living and an Interesting experience In a new country, then "booming " after the discovery of gold ; but after the financial troubles of 1857 the St. Louis capitalist decided to close up the bank, and Sherman returned to Ohio, without occupation. For a time he was in Kansas, where two brothers- in-law were settled, and where he made an unsuccessful effort to get into prac- tice as a lawyer. Then he turned his face again to the South. At this time the State of Louisiana was establishing at New Orleans a " Seminary of Learning and Military Academy," for the purpose of educating young men in military tactics. Sherman was well and favorably known there, and so It came about that he was chosen superintendent of the Institution. He accepted the position and filled it until January, 1861. He might have remained longer, but war wa? impending, the Southern States were seceding, and he must at once choose under which flag he would serve. Every effort was made to win him for the South. But there was not a moment's hesitation on his part. " If Louisiana withdraws from the Federal Union," he wrote to the governor, " I prefer to maintain my allegiance to the old Constitution as long as a fragment of it sur SHILOH AND VICKSBURG. 319 vives. I beg you to take immediate steps to relieve me as superintendent the moment the State determines to secede ; for on no earthly account will I do any act or think any thought hostile to or in defiance of the old government of the United States." So he left New Orleans and went to St. Louis, where he became president of a street railroad company. OUTBREAK OF THE WAR. At the inauguration of President Lincoln, Sherman visited the White House with his brother John, who was then just taking his seat in the Senate. The soldier was strongly impressed with the gravity of the situation, and urged his views on the President, who replied, lightly, " Oh ! I guess we shall get along without you fellows," meaning that he was still hopeful that there would be no war. Sherman went back to St, Louis in great disgust, which he expressed in a wrathful letter to his brother. But when Sumter was fired upon, soldiers sud- denly came to be in great demand, and Sherman was recalled to Washington. When the President's call for seventy-five thousand men for three months was issued, Sherman declared the number utterly inadequate. He refused to go to Ohio to enlist troops for three months. " You might as well try to put out the flames of a burning house with a squirt-gun," he said. In June, 1861, he was commissioned as colonel in the regular army, and put in command of a fort. He commanded a brigade at the battle of Bull Run, and did all that one man could to save the day on that disastrous field. Soon afterward he was assigned to duty in the Southwest, and thenceforward was Grant's most trusted lieutenant. At the dreadful battle of Shiloh he saved the army from destruction. Grant said : "To his individual efforts I am indebted for the success of this battle;" and Halleck in his despatch bore this testimony: "It is the unanimous opinion here that Brigadier General W. T. Sherman saved the fortunes of the day on the 6th of April." The next day, when Buell's fresh battalions took the field, Sherman again led his battered regiments into the fight, and enacted over again the heroic deeds of the day before. Rousseau said, " He fights by the week.'* Untiring to the last, he pushed out after the victory and beat the enemy's cav- alry, capturing a large supply of ammunition. During the long campaign in the Southwest, Sherman was one of the brilliant group of commanders who. under Grant, captured Vicksburg, opened the Mississippi, and " drove a wedge through the Confederacy " eastward t<» Chattanooga. Then Grant was made general-in-chief of all the armies, an«i called away to direct the movements of the forces around Richmond, and Shei- man was promoted to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, which included all the armies from the ereat river to the Alleofhanies. From Chattanooga he fought his way, inch by inch, into Northern Georgia, and in August, 1864, laid siege to Atlanta. "^O WILLIAM 7. SHERMAN. The summer and early autumn of 1864 were days of despondency and g-loom. The awful battles in Virginia, where Grant was keeping up steadily that dreadful "hammering" which alone could reduce the Confederacy, had brought grief to the whole country ; ^_ and the declaration of the Chicago Convention that ■"the war 's a failure" found re- sponse even among those who had hith- erto stood firm. Greater exer- tions and greater sacrifices than ever had been made, and so far /^BP» ■ / w^m ^ apparently without result. ^^Vv ^B ^ * ^S*^ ^^S^ ^^^ ^^^^ gleam of light ift the gloom was Sherman's capture of Atlanta, on September ist, which was accomplished after a difficult and danger- ous campaign. His army had entered Georgia at the Tennessee boundary, and every mile of his progress took him farther from his base of supplies. He was met at every step by the veterans BATTLE OF KENESAW MOUNTAIN — DEATH OF GENERAL POLK. THE GEORGIA CAMPAIGN. 321 of Johnston's army, whose commander was one of the ablest generals in the Confederate service. It was a hazardous game ; but at a critical point Jeffer- son Davis gave him most important aid. Just on the eve of the battle of Atlanta Davis relieved Johnston, and in his place put the more dashing and reckless Hood. "It isn't a good plan," President Lincoln used to say, "to swap horses in the middle of a creek ;" and Davis's action proved the truth of Lincoln's saying. Hood strove to carry out Johnston's plans, but without success. Fiofhtino- and flankino-, Sherman drove Hood into Atlanta, and cut 000' ' off all his sources of supply. There was nothing left but to abandon the city, which he did, burning great quantities of cotton and stores, and on Septembei' I St Sherman entered and took possession. Aorain the North was wild with delisfht. A salute of one hundred g-uns was fired in Sherman's honor at all the chief military posts. He was the hero of the hour. He had won the first great success of 1864. That success turned the tide of public feeling, and assured the re-election of Lincoln and the prosecution of the war. But greater things were still to come. Georgia was the great centre and source of supply of the Confederacy, — " the workshop and corn-crib of the South." If Sherman could make his way through Georgia to the sea, it would undermine and honeycomb the rebellion in the seat of its strength. He determined to march from Atlanta straight upon Savannah, nearly three hundred miles distant. Leaving- Thomas with a strong force in Atlanta, he abandoned his base of supplies, cut his connections with the North, and started on his march to the sea. " MARCHING THROUGH GEORGIA." The great leader knew what he was about ; but no one else did. Friends and foes. North and South, alike were ignorant of his plans. Had the Confed- erate generals known whither he was marching, they could have concentrated against him ; not knowing, they scattered their forces at different points, thus putting no formidable obstacle in his way. Hood started for Nashville, hoping to draw Sherman after him into the mountains of Tennessee. This suited Sher- man exactly. " If Hood will go to Tennessee," he said, with a chuckle, " I will furnish him with rations for the trip." The idea of Sherman actually cutting loose from his base of supplies, and marching hundreds of miles through the heart of an enemy's country, was so bold that it did not occur to the Confeder- ate generals as possible ; and so, instead of meeting their armies, Sherman left- all serious opposition behind him. For a month Sherman and his army disappeared from view, like a swimmer who dives under the surface of the water. No one knew where he would re- appear. When President Lincoln was appealed to, he said, " I know which hole he went in at, but I don't know which hole he will come out at." He felt the 322 WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. utmost confidence in Sherman ; but there was intense anxiety in the North about his fate. It was feared that he had walked into a trap, and that his army had been annihilated. In the meantime Sherman was "marching through Georgia." His army, stretched out in a great line thirty miles from wing to wing, swept an ,, /^ ^ ^ ^ immense path through the heart of '"'^^. the State. There was almost no re- sistance ; his troops had left behind the armies •; THE "SWAMP angel" BATTERY BOMBARDING CHARLESTON. that had opposed them before Atlanta, and their march was like a holiday parade rather than serious war. Their source of supplies was the country through which they passed ; and it was the business of the hour to make it incapable of furnishing further supplies for the Confederate armies. To the slaves the approach of the soldiers was the " day of jubilee ;" and thousands TRIUMPH AT SA VANNAH. 323 of them followed the army on its progress. Railroads were destroyed and bridges burned as the army moved forward. At Macon, the capital of the State, the soldiers took possession of the deserted halls of legislature, and General Sherman slept on the floor of the Governor's mansion. At last, a month after leaving Atlanta, the army reached Fort McAllister, at the mouth of the Ogeechee river, a few miles below Savannah. After a desperate assault by Hazen's division, the fort was captured ; and the arrival of the army was signaled to one of the vessels of the Union fleet, lying outside, and thus the first news of Sherman's whereabouts was communicated to the orovernment at Washington. A few days afterward Savannah surrendered, and on December 23d Sher- man sent to the President that famous despatch, which sent such gladness to the hearts of loyal men throughout the Union : — " I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty guns and plenty of ammunition, and about twenty-five thou- sand bales of cotton." It is hardly possible for a generation born since the war to imagine the feeling with which the news of Sherman's great march was received in the North. For four long years the cause of the Union had been in suspense. Victories had been followed by new disasters, until the hearts of Union men almost died within them. Sherman's march was the first indication of final triumph, the first gleam of dawn which seemed to give sure promise of return- ing day. Never were such glad and thankful hearts as in the breasts of those who read in Sherman's Christmas message the prophecy of the end of the long struggle. After reaching Savannah, the army rested for awhile, and Sherman did all that he could to re-organize civil affairs in that city and provide for its proper government. Then, on January 16, 1865, he turned his face northward, and set out on his final march through South and North Carolina, to meet Grant's army and bring the war to an end, A letter from General Sherman to his daughter Minnie, then a little girl, dated at Goldsboro, North Carolina, March 24, 1865, gives a graphic account of the northward march : — My Dear Minnie : — I got here from the battlefield at Bentonville, twenty miles northwest of this place, yesterday, but all the army did not get in until to-day. We have been marching for two months in a low, swampy country, with very bad roads, and had to bridge many large rivers, so that we had a hard time besides the fighting, which seemed the easiest part. Take your geography and look at South Carolina. We started from Savannah, crossed the river, and occupied the country from Roberts- ville to Pocotaligo. We then marched up toward Barnwell, crossed the Salkehatchie, and got on the railroad from Midway to Aiken. Then we marched to Columbia, crossing the Edisto, then Saluda and Broad Rivers, then Winnsboro, and turned east to Cheraw, crossing the Catawba. Al 324 WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. Cheraw we crossed the Pedee and marched through Lancaster to Fayetteville, North Carolina, Then we crossed Cape Fear River and marched up about twenty miles near Averysboro', where we had a pretty smart battle; then toward Goldsboro', and at Bentonville we had a real battle, which we won, of course. Here we have two railroads, one going down to Wilmington and one to New- berne. Ships come to these places, and have in them clothing, food, and horse feed. It \yill take us some days to get the railroad fixed up so as to bring us what we need, so that we may be here some time. No doubt the newspapers will publish many letters, which you will read, telling you all about our adventures. You may not understand how we took Charleston and Wilmington without going near them; but these cities are on the seashore, where the country is poor, and all the people had to eat came from the interior by railroad. Now, when my army was in the interior, we broke up the railroads and ate the provisions, so the rebel army had to leave or starve. I knew this be- forehand, and had small armies on ships ready to take possession when they left. Our soldiers have been fighting for Charleston nearly four years, but they didn't go about it right ; so you see what power is knowledge. I took Charleston, fortified with over four hundred guns, without fighting at all. I get a great many letters, some of which I answer, and some of which Majors Dayton and Hitchcock answer for me. It is now nearly midnight, and I have written nearly thirty long letters, but have a great many more to write. . . . You and Lizzie must write more frequently now, for I suppose, hereafter, I will be near the sea, and will not again be so far from our ships, so that I will be able to write and receive letters more frequently. I am in good health ; so is Uncle Char- ley. I sent Lizzie a pretty piece of poetry from Fayetteville, and now send you a picture which some man from New York sent me. It is a good picture ; you can tell better than I if it be a good likeness. . . , My best love to all. At Raleigh Sherman heard the glad tidings of Lee's surrender, and, a few days later, the news of the President's assassination. On April 26th Johnston's army was surrendered, and the long war was brought to an end. THE GRAND REVIEW. On the 22d and 23d of May, 1865, the city of Washington saw one of the grandest sights of history. This was the final review of the Union armies, before tiie disbandment. During those two days the long ranks of soldiers, with the easy swing and perfect drill of veterans, moved up the grand avenue leading from the Capitol to the White House, in what seemed an endless procession. On the reviewing stand, with the chief officers of the government and the gen- erals of the army, stood the hero of the " march through Georgia ; " and there passed before him the men who had faced with him the deadly hail at Shiloh, who at his word swept up the heights of Kenesaw Mountain, who shared his triumph at Savannah and Adanta. What thoughts must have stirred the great commander's heart as he received the salutes of the devoted men whom he had so often led to victory ! What memories must have risen of the brave ones missing from those ranks, who, with the Great President, had given their lives for that of the nation ! Sherman's last campaign, through South and North Carolina, excited great interest and admiration in military circles in Europe. A public meeting of the Horse Guards, one of the " crack " regiments of the English army, was held, REVIEW OF UNION ARMIES AT WASHINGTON, AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR. 326 WILLIAM T. SHERMAN. at which the Duke of Cambridge, the commander-in-chief, presided, to study the campaign, and hear its mihtary movements explained. In spite of the affinity of the EngHsh " upper classes " for the cause of the South, Sherman's latest achievements suddenly made him the hero of the war. In 1866, when Grant was promoted, Sherman was made lieutenant-general ; and when Grant became President, Sherman took the place of "General" and rommander-in-chief of the army, which Grant vacated. This position he held for several years, when he retired, and was succeeded by General Sheridan. General Sherman was one of the most interesting and picturesque characters of his time. He was the last survivor of the great " war heroes," and his popularity grew steadily greater until the end of his life. His pen was as mighty as his sword, and in his " Memoirs," which he wrote in the years after the war, he achieved a literary reputation as unique as his military fame. In his later years he was in great request at army reunions and military and civil occa- sions of every sort, and he became a most interesting and impressive speaker. His utterances were so generally striking and important that Chauncey M. Depew declared that he " never ought to be permitted to go anywhere without being accompanied by a stenographer." He did not, however, love notoriety, and attained great skill in evading the reporters, who were constantly seeking to "interview " him. " No, no," he would say ; "you're a good fellow, and I like your paper ; but you mustn't print anything about me. I haven't anything to say for publication, — nothing at all, I have had too much publicity already." In politics and religion General Sherman was not a strong partisan. When in one of the presidential campaigns an effort was made to learn which of the candidates he favored, he wrote a humorously non-committal reply, saying, "So far as I have been able to learn, General Sherman can hardly be said to belong to either of the great political parties," and added that he had no doubt that either of the candidates would fill the position with credit to himself and the country. In religion he was born a Presbyterian and educated a Roman Catholic. On one occasion, in the Georgia campaign, some members of the Christian Commission applied to him for permission to pass within the lines. It was a time when It was especially necessary that knowledge of his movements should not get abroad, and he replied, in brief fashion : — " Certainly not. Crackers and oats are more necessary for the army than any moral or religious agency ; and every regiment has its chaplain." His real religious belief was probably never better expressed than when he said, " If men will only act half as well as they know how, God will forgive the balance." General Sherman died at his residence in New York, on February 14, 1 89 1, universally beloved and lamented. GEORGE B. McCI.ELLAN. GEORGE B. McCLELLAN, f^iRST com:m:ande:;r ok the arm:y ok the f»oxom:ao. HE first commander of the army of the Potomac has been the occasion of more controversy than any other man in y the recent history of the RepubHc. He has had most able defenders, — for probably no general who ever lived had such a power of inspiring those around him with love and admiration ; and even if the verdict of history be that he lacked some of the qualities essential to the highest success, it must still be admitted that one of the greatest commanders of the civil war was George B. McClellan. General McClellan was a thoroughly trained and equipped soldier. He was born in Philadelphia in 1826. He was the son of a distinguished physician, and had every advantage of edu- cation. He spent two years in the University of Pennsylvania, where he shared the honors of his class. In 1846 he graduated from West Point as second lieu- tenant of engineers, and served in the Mexican War, securing promotion for orallant conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, Between this time and the breaking out of the civil war Captain McClellan was sent to Europe as a member of the military commission to inspect and study the organization of European armies. He resigned from the army in 1857, and when Fort Sumter fell was President of the Eastern Division of the Ohio and Mississippi Railroad. In April, 1861, McClellan offered his services to the Government, and was ap- pointed major general of Ohio volunteers. His operations in West Virginia were so brilliantly successful that after the first battle of Bull Run he was placed in command of the Army of the Potomac, and then of all the armies of the United States, to the great satisfaction of the whole country, which looked upon him as the greatest military genius within its borders. McClellan's transcendent power to organize great armies, and inspire them with confidence and enthusiasm, were splendidly proved on two occasion*;, — • first, after the disastrous battle of Bull Run. in July, 1861, when out of the chaos of defeat and disorder he created, equipped, and disciplined the great Army of the Potomac ; and again, after the second and worse Bull Run disaster, in 329 330 GEORGE B. McCLELLAN. August, 1862, when, at the President's urgent request, he nobly resumed the command of which he had been deprived, reorganized his beaten and demoral- ized army with marvelous skill and celerity, and defeated Lee at the memorable battle of Antietam. Unfortunately, from the beginning there was discord between him and the War Department, which increased the enormous difficulty of his task. The forces at Washington were dispirited, raw, and frightened. McClellan had to bring order out of chaos, to create an army, and to defend the capital. His enforced delay was looked on with suspicion by the Govern- ment, and Secretary Stanton greatly embarrassed him by constantly urgmg a forward movement. " Give McClellan a million men," said Stanton, contemp tuously, ''and he will swear the enemy has two million, and sit down in the mud and yell for three million ! " The plans of the campaign, too, were the cause of differences between the general and the Secretary of War. Then came the Peninsula campaign, with the advance on Richmond, the battles of Fair Oaks and Gaines's Mill, and the great conflict at Malvern Hill, where Lee- was defeated, and the confusion and disorder in the Confederate ranks were so great that Richmond could have been captured had the Union forces been in condition to advance. In the meantime, General McClellan had lost the confidence of the admin- istration. His requests for continued reinforcements were disregarded ; he was ordered to evacuate the Peninsula, and was relieved of command until after the Second Bull Run. In that terrible emergency, when Pope resigned the com- mand of the Army of Virginia, the Government turned to McClellan as the only man who could inspire confidence and restore order. When the soldiers knew that " Litde Mac" was again in command, their joy and renewed hope were unbounded. Flushed with his recent victories, Lee was marching into Maryland, and McClellan had to cover Washington and at the same time stop the invasion. Antietam was the great battle-ground of this movement. While it is often called a drawn battle, the forcing back of the Confederate line, and the retreat of Lee across the Potomac stamp Antietam as really a great victory. It was asserted that if General McClellan had attacked the Confederate forces with all the power at his disposal after the battle of Antietam, and pur- sued Lee into Virginia, the Confederate army could have been crushed. Still, General McClellan needed supplies of all kinds, his army was used up, and he did what was best in his judgment. Moreover, it is now known that the only order given to McClellan was one which gave him command only of " the forces for the defense of the capital," and which could not by any stretch of construction be taken to authorize an offensive movement into Virginia. McClellan himself declared that he fought the batde of Antietam " with a rope around his neck," and with the certainty that if he had lost the battle he would have been hanged for exceeding his orders. As soon as he received orders HIS VINDICATION-. 331 and supplies he marched against Lee, and was on the eve of battle, in a most favorable position, when he was suddenly relieved of his command, which was conferred on Burnside. General McClellan, though set aside by the Government, never lost his hold upon the people. The army idolized him, and his popularity followed him. The most substantial proof of his popularity was his nomination at Chicago as the Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 1864. Although the time was ill chosen, and McClellan himself never sought the nomination, he received a popular vote of 1,800,000 against 2,200,000 for Lin- coln. For a decade after the war Gen- eral McClellan was severely criti- cised and vigor- ously assailed for over cautiousness, alleged hesitancy, and failure to grasp the oppor- tunities which his enemy placed in his way. With later years his reputation has been to a large extent cleared oi ^ blame for results which were often beyond his con- trol, and he is now given his deserved place among the great leaders of the war. The opinions of the Confederate commanders as to McClellan's abilities as a general are naturally of especial weight. It is related that after the second battle of Bull Run, when the Confederate armies, elated by their victories, were pouring across the Potomac for the invasion of the North, Lee one day received a dispatch which seemed to be of great importance. One of his sub- ordinates, seeing him read it, was anxious to know its contents, "What is the news?" he inquired of Lee. STATUE OF MCCI.EI.I.AN IN CITY HALL SQUARE, PHILADELPHU. 332 GEORGE B. McCLELLAN. "The worst news possible," replied the Confederate commander, gravely; **McCk/lan is in command again y Until his death at Orange, N. J., in 1885, General McClellan lived an active life. He was Engineer-in-Chief of the Department of Docks in New York in 1872, was elected Governor of New Jersey in 1877, and in 1881 was appointed by Congress a member of the Board of Managers of the National Home for Disabled Soldiers. He declined many tempting business offers and invitations from colleges to accept their presidency. General McClellan was about five feet eight inches in height, finely built, ivith broad shoulders. He was very solid and muscular, and an excellent horse- Tian. Modest and retiring, he had withal a great self-respect, a gracious dignity. His personal magnetism was unparalleled in military history, except by that of the first Napoleon : he was literally the idol of his officers and men. They would obey him when all other control failed. As a student of military history he had no superior in his systematic knowledge of war, battles, and tactics. He was a man of irreproachable character, — a model Christian gendeman in every situation of life. BIB> |l 'l !a' i ifflH I B II I !l 8'.i! i |MI III IIJJIIIflWMIIWi i ni1 lll lll1 li ri" ' liJLIII ^ PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. 334 UNITED STATES 12-INCH BREECH-LOADING MORTAR, OR HOWITZER. PHILIP H. SHERIDAN, THE HERO OR THE "VALLEY CANIPAIGN. .4-^ ^^]k ^ O victory of the Union armies in the civil war was more "^ ' inspiring than that won by General Sheridan at Win- chester, in October, 1864, — and inspiring victories were at that time very much needed. An account of that battle is also a picture of Sheridan's character, for it was the simple force of his presence and per- sonality which transformed demoralized fugitives into determined fighters, each feeling as though 'twere he On whose sole arm hung victory. Sheridan was a poor Irish lad, born in Somerset, Ohio, in 1^31. He managed to get from the Congressman of his district an appointment to West Point, where his hot temper was perpetually introducing premature war. He barely succeeded in graduating in 1853. I" the early part of the civil war he was in Missouri, and he distinguished himself at the battles of Murfreesboro and Chickamauga. But it was in the latter part of the war that he won his highest fame. One of the most glorious victories of the war was won by Grant's armies * 335 336 PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. at the battle of Chattanooga, when the Union troops stormed the heights of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. Sheridan was in command of one of the four divisions. Emerging from the timber in which the lines were formed, the troops charged at double-quick across an open plain, against the first line of rifle-pits, at the foot of the ridge. The Confederates were driven out of the works, some killed, and many captured. The Union troops did not stop for further orders, but rushed on up the ascent, against the second line, half-way to the summit. At this moment a messenger came from Grant with word that only the first line of works was to be attacked. But it was too late ; already the men were pressing on up the hill in the face of a storm of bullets. To order them back was out of the question. They rushed on with a cheer, carried the second line of rifle-pits, and met the enemy in a desperate hand-to-hand fight on the summit. The Confederates were driven from their guns and sent flying down the oppo- site slope, pursued by a shower of stones from the Union forces, who had not time to reload. Before all of Sheridan's men had reached the crest, the demor- alized troops of Bragg were seen, with a large train of wagons, flying along the valley, half a mile below. It was Sheridan's conduct in this brilliant assault which gave Grant the implicit confidence in him which he always afterward felt ; and when, a few months afterward. Grant was made general-in-chief, he at once desired to have Sheridan's assistance in Virginia. Thus it was that the great cavalry leader came to win his brilliant victories in the Shenandoah Valley and before Rich- mond. In 1864. the Confederate general Early made his famous movement through the Shenandoah Valley and into Maryland, threatening Washington and Baltimore, and even Philadelphia. Disaster seemed imminent. A part of the army before Richmond was detached and sent north to protect Washington ; and then Grant dispatched Sheridan with his cavalry to the Valley. Some weeks passed in waiting and maneuvering, Sheridan being determined not to attack until he could get the enemy at a disadvantage. Meantime the country was impatient. Grant visited Sheridan, expecting to suggest a plan of opera- tions ; but he found Sheridan ready for battle, and only waiting the proper moment to strike, so he wisely decided to leave him to his own judgment. At last Early unwisely divided his command, and his watchful antagonist attacked him, flanked him right and left, and broke his lines in every direction, and sent his defeated troops, as Sheridan said in his famous despatch, " whirling through Winchester," with a loss of 4500 men. "The results," said Grant, with his quiet humor, " were such that I have never since deemed it necessary to visit General Sheridan before mvinof him orders." Sheridan was not content with a partial victory — he never was. He pur- BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK. 337 sued Early for nearly thirty miles, and just when he thought himself safe and beyond reach, attacked him at once in front and on the flank, routed him completely, and captured 11 00 prisoners and sixteen guns. Again he pursued his antagonist, and drove him completely out of the Valley and into the gaps of the Blue Ridge. " Keep on," said Grant, "and your work will cause the fall of Richmond." This double victory had a startling effect both at the North and South. The Northern people were jubilant ; the troops of Early were thor- oughly beaten and disheartened. The mob in Richmond, disgusted at Early's repeated defeats, sarcastically labeled the fresh cannon destined for his use, To General Sheridan, Care of General Early. Sheridan, however, had so devastated the Valley that it would not furnish him support, and he retired to Cedar Creek. From this point he was called to Washington for consultation ; and while absent, the enemy attacked his forces in camp, drove them back in disorder, and captured eighteen guns and nearly a thousand prisoners. Sheridan, returning from Washington, stopped over night at Winchester. At nine o'clock in the morning, while riding forward to join his army, he heard the sound of heavy firing, and knew at once that a battle was in progress. Soon he began to meet fugitives from the scene of battle. He took in the situation at a glance, and rode forward at a gallop, swinging his hat, and shouting, " Face the other way, boys, face the other way. We're going back to lick them out of their boots ! " His presence and words were electrical. The scattered soldiers faced about, and took up the getieral's cry, "Face the other way ! " They followed him to the front, met tfie enenly's forces, and quickly brought them to a stand. As soon as it was known that Sheridan was again in command, it became impossible to rally the Confederate forces. A terror of the Union general had seized them. The captured guns were all retaken, and twenty-four pieces besides. Of the Confederates 1800 were killed and wounded and 1600 taken prisoners. Early himself escaped with difficulty. This famous battle, celebrated in song and story, was one of the most important successes in the campaign of 1 864. During the winter Sheridan remained near Winchester, and early in 1865 joined the forces in front of Richmond. On the way he met Early at Waynes- boro ; and there he fought his final battle with the Confederate commander His attack was impetuous and irresistible. The troops charged over the breast w^orks and forced their way straight through Early's lines to the rear, where they turned and held the approach to the Shenandoah, with the Confederates sur- rounded front and rear. Early's entire force laid down their arms and surren- dered. Sheridan had destroyed both Early's army and his reputation. Lee relieved him of all command, and he retired in disgrace. 338 PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. Proceeding- on his way to Richmond, Sheridan destroyed forty-six cana\ locks, forty bridges, twenty-three railroad bridges, and forty-one miles of railroad, besides mills, warehouses, and stores, which would afford support to the enemy. On the 25th of March he joined Grant's forces on the James river, and took a most important part in the final campaign which ended in Lee's surrender. GENERAL SHERIDAN TURNING DEFEAT INTO VICTORY AT CEUAR CREEK. Lee evacuated Richmond, and was proceeding to the southwest, intending to join the army of Johnston in North Carolina. That this intention was frustrated is largely due to the skill and activity of Sheridan, who with his cavalry inter- cepted Lee's forces at Five Forks, cut off his supplies of food, and made it impossible to longer maintain the contest. On April 9th the great Confederate CUSTER'S ENTHUSIASM. 339 commander surrendered, and the Important part which Sheridan took in the campaign passed into history. Sheridan was one of the most original and striking characters developed by the war. He was a tireless soldier, always on the alert, always eager for battle, and determined to win it. His enthusiasm and daring were infectious, and he was idolized by the men who served under him. "^After one of his victories, when the enemy was retreating, General Custer, then a young and romantic soldier, was so filled with admiration for his chief that he threw his UNITED STATES MILITARY TELEGRAPH WAGON. arms around him and kissed him. Sheridan understood and appreciated the tribute ; but he was anxious to start in pursuit of the enemy, "and Custer lost time, you know," he said, — "he lost timey Courage and dash always won Sheridan's heart. After a bold movement the words of praise came like a hot torrent from his lips, causing the cheek of their recipient to flush and glow. The influence of his personal presence was extraordinary. It was a grand sight to see him ride swiftly along the lines just before a charge, and raise the enthusiasm of the troops to fever heat. At the battle of Winchester, when the "old Sixth Corps " rode across the field in 340 PHILIP H. SHERIDAN. splendid array to attack Early's centre, Sheridan rode along their flanks and cried out, — " Men of the Sixth, our victory to-day depends upon you !" These electric words passed from lip to lip, and, animated by the confidence of their commander, the veteran troops carried their tattered colors forward and clean through the Confederate centre. Then the forces of Early were com- pletely routed, and sent "whirling through Winchester," as Sheridan expressed it in his famous dispatch. After the war and during the " reconstruction period " Sheridan was placed in command in Louisiana. In the conflict of President Johnson with Congress he supported the latter, for which he was removed by the President. Grant protested against this injustice, and when he was elected President, Sheridan was made lie-u tenant-general. Upon Sherman's retirement from the chief com- mand of the regular army, Sheridan took his place, and remained until his death. He died at Nonquitt, Massachusetts, August 5, 1888. GKORGE G. MEADE. GEORGE G. MEADE, THK VICTORIOUS CONINIANDER A.T OKXTYSBURQ. O day in the history of the United States is more memor- able than July 4, 1863. That anniversary of the birth ^ of the nation marked the turning" of the tide in the great civil war. The army of Lee, pouring into Pennsylvania for the invasion of the North, was met by the Union forces on the field of Gettysburg, and after a three-days battle was defeated and driven back into Virginia, never again to cross the Potomac. For ^'^ those three days the fate of the nation hung in the balance ; and only those who remember that fearful time can fully appreciate what is due to the brave commander of the Union armies. General George G. Meade. The battle culminated on the third day, beginning with one of the most terrific cannonades of the war. It was Lee's supreme effort. After two days of dreadful but indecisive battle, he sent forth the flower of his army, under General Pickett, to make that attack on Cemetery Hill which has passed into history as one of the greatest charges on record. Five thousand veterans of the Confederate army, tried in the fire of many a desperate battle, formed on Seminary Ridge, and moved with the precision of a machine across the valley which lay between the two armies. As the terrible cannonade from the Union guns made gaps in their ranks, they were quickly closed up, and the column moved forward with swifter steps, but still in perfect order, toward the Union centre on Cemetery Hill. The infantry defending the hill reserved their fire until the charo-inof column was within short rangre ; and then burst forth an awful storm of bullets, before which the advance line of the Confederates withered The second line, undismayed, rushed forward over the bodies of their comrades, and were close upon the Union gunners at their pieces. For a time the force of the charge seemed irresistible ; but now the attacking column became the centre of a converging fire from front and both flanks, which was rapidly anni- hilating them. The divisions of Wilcox and Pettigrew, which were supporting Pickett, had fallen back, and his column was left to meet the deadly. storm alone, 343 344 GEORGE G. MEADE. It was clearly impossible to hold their position, and the order was given to with- draw. Of the five thousand men who had advanced in such perfect order, thirty-five hundred were killed, wounded, or prisoners in the hands of the Union army. The remainder of the division fell back, shattered and broken, to the Confederate lines. The tide was turned. Meade had successfully defeated Lee's attack, and the Confederate army, after terrible losses, commenced its retreat through Maryland and across the Potomac, never again to invade the North. " They fell, who lifted up a hand And bade the sun in heaven to stand ; They smote and fell, who set the bars Against the progress of the stars, And stayed the march of Motherland. *' They stood, who saw the future come On through the fight's delirium ; They smote and stood, who held the hope Of nations on that slippery slope, Amid the cheers of Christendom. "God lives; he forged the iron will That clutched and held that trembling hill. God lives and reigns ; he built and lent The heights for Freedom's battlement. Where floats her flag in triumph still." In the campaigns before Richmond in 1864, Meade continued in command of the Army of the Potomac, and Grant testified that he always found him " the right man in the right place." In 1866 he received the thanks of Congress for the skill and heroic valor with which, at Gettysburg, he repulsed, defeated, and drove back, dispirited, the veteran army of the rebellion." "The country," says Colonel A. K. McClure, writing of " Our Unrewarded Heroes," "has never done justice to General Meade as a military commander. . . . The man who fought and won the batde of Gettysburg should have been the commander-in-chief of the armies of the Union, and held that position during life. It was the ereat battle of the war ; it was the Waterloo of the Confeder- acy, and the victory then achieved was won by the skill of the commanding general and the heroism of his army. . . . That army was the single hope of the nation, for had it been defeated in a great battle, Washington and the wealth of our Eastern cities would have been at the mercy of the insurgents. It was an occasion for the most skillful and prudent generalship, united with the great courage essential to command successfully in such an emergency. All these high requirements General Meade fully met, and the most critical examination of the record he made in the Gettysburg campaign develops nothing but 346 GEORGE G. MEADE. what heightens his qualities for the pecuHarly grave emergency that confronted him." General Meade did not receive the promotion to which many thought that his great services at the battle of Gettysburg entitled him ; " and he went down to his grave," says Colonel McClure, "one of the sorrowing and unrewarded heroes of the war." He died in Philadelphia in November, 1872, in a house which had been presented to his wife by his countrymen. A fund of one hun« dred thousand dollars was, after his death, subscribed for his family. LATEST MODEL OF CATLING FIELD GUN. GEORGE H. THOMAS. GEORGE H. THOMAS. THE OREAX UNION GHNERA.L. AME," says Horace Greeley, " Is a vapor ; popularity an accident." No one of the great commanders whose skill and courage won victory for the nation In the great civil war better exemplifies the truth of Greeley's saying than General Thomas. His abilities were of the very highest order. " He was," says a most competent critic, " one of the very few commanders who never committed a serious military error, who never sacrificed a command, and who never lost a battle." His private character was without a stain. He was the Ideal of a soldier and a gentleman. Yet, as he was too modest to seek promotion or conspicuous position, his fame is small Indeed in comparison with the value of the services he rendered to the country. George Henry Thomas was born In Southampton county, Virginia, on July 31, 18 1 6. He was graduated from West Point In 1840, and won promo- tion for bravery In the Mexican war. At the outbreak of the civil war he was in Texas, but reported at once for duty, and was placed In command of a brigade in Northern Virginia. General Thomas especially distinguished himself during the war In three great battles, — the first In Kentucky, where, In January, 1862, he defeated the Confederate general, ZoUikoffer, at Mill Spring, on the Cumberland river. This was the first real victory of the war ; and for It General Thomas received the thanks of the Legislature, but no promotion. The chivalrous generosity with which he refused promotion when It was offered at the expense of others, stood in his way throughout the whole war, and he at no time held the rank to which he was justly entitled. The second of Thomas's great battles was that of Chlckamauga, In Septem- ber, 1863. In this battle it was Thomas alone who saved the Union army from utter ruin. The scene of the conflict was In the mountains of East Tennessee, when Bragg attempted to capture Chattanooga and the roads leading to It, Again and again the Confederate troops assaulted Thomas's position, behind a rude 349 350 GEORGE H. THOMAS. breastwork of logs and rails ; but their most desperate attacks failed to dla- lodo-e him, and his firmness saved the army from disastrous defeat. This battle gave him the name of "The Rock of Chickamauga." The third of his great campaigns was that of Nashville, which was the only one where he was in full command ; and this has been pronounced the most completely successful battle of the war. Hood marched north from Atlanta into Tennessee, leaving Sherman behind him to make the great " march to the sea," and moved against Thomas, who fortified himself in Nashville. His superiors, Sherman, Grant, and Stanton, were impatient for him to attack Hood ; but A RAILROAD BATTERY. Thomas said he was not yet ready, and refused. Grant called him "slow;* Sherman, writing to Grant, complained of his " provoking, obstinate delay ;' Stanton wrote to Grant that "This looks like the McClellan and Rosecrans policy of do nothing, and let the enemy raid the country." But Thomas would not be hurried Into action before he was ready, insisting that he ought to know when it was best to fight. An order was actually issued for his removal, but, for- tunately, was revoked. When at last he was ready to attack Hood, a storm of rain and sleet covered the ground with a coating of ice, which made It impos- sible to move. But finally, in January, 1865, he made the attack, and in a tw LEE AND THE UNION SOLUIKR. SCENE AFTER GETTYSBURG. 365 were always mentioned as "Federals," or " the enemy." He regretted and condemned the harsh and bitter language which characterized the Southern newspapers. " Is it any wonder," he said, " that Northern journals should retort as they do, when those in the South employ such language against them? " LEE AND THE UNION SOLDIER. A touching story, illustrating this noble trait of General Lee's character, was told years after the war by a Union veteran who was viewing the great panorama, "The Battle of Gettysburg." He said, "I was at the battle of Gettysburg myself. I had been a most bitter anti-South man, and fought and cursed the Confederates desperately. I could see nothing good in any of them. The last day of the fight I was badly wounded. A ball shattered my left leg. I lay on the ground not far from Cemetery Ridge, and as General Lee ordered his retreat, he and his officers rode near me. As they came along I recognized him, and, though faint from exposure and loss of blood, I raised up my hands, looked Lee in the face, and shouted as loud as I could, ' Hurrah for the Union ! ' The general heard me, looked, stopped his horse, dismounted, and ^ame toward me. I confess that I at first thought he meant to kill me. But as he came up he looked down at me with such a sad expression upon his face that all fear left me, and I wondered what he was about. He extended his hand to me, and grasping mine firmly and looking right into my eyes, said, * My son, I hope you will soon be well.' "If I live a thousand years I shall never forget the expression on General Lee's face. There he was, defeated, retiring from a field that had cost him and his cause almost their last hope, and yet he stopped to saywords like those to a wounded soldier of the opposition who had taunted him as he passed by ! As soon as the general had left me I cried myself to sleep there upon the bloody ground." The value of General Lee's example In restoring good feeling between the North and South can hardly be overestimated. He was so universally looked up to by the Southern people that his opinions and example could not fail to have the greatest effect. It is no small part of his title to fame that his great influence should have been used as it was toward reuniting the country after the war, rather than in perpetuating strife and hatred. General Lee's domestic life was an almost ideal one. During his last years, his wife was an invalid, suffering from rheumatic gout, and his devotion to hei was unfailing. Her health rendered it necessary for her to travel to the medi cinal springs in different parts of Virginia, and he used often to precede her on the journey, in order to have everything in readiness on her arrival. He con- trived an apparatus whereby she could be lowered into the baths in her chair in order to avoid ascending and descending the steps. His love for his children 365 ROBERT E. LEE. manifested itself in a tender and delicate courtesy which was beautiful to see^ and which was repaid on their part by the strongest attachment. General Lee died at Lexington, Virginia, October 12, 1870. After his death the name of the college over which he had presided was changed, in his honor, to "Washington and Lee University," and stands a worthy monument of the great soldier, whose noble qualities were shown as conspicuously in peace as in war. The issues which divided our country into hostile sections have happily passed away ; and North and South can join in cherishing his memory and doing honor to his spotless fame. MONUMENT TO GENERAL LEE, AT RICHMOND. VIRGINIA. THOMAS J. ("stonewall") JACKSON, THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON, THE ORJEAT CONKEOKRAXti at:NKRAI^ /: ANY remarkable characters were developed on both sides in the great civil war of 1861. The war brought out in men qualities and powers which had never before been known or suspected. One of the most striking of such characters was the brave and able but eccentric man known as Stonewall Jackson, who fell in the battle of Chancellorsville, in May> 1863. Thomas Jonathan Jackson was born in Clarks- burg, Virginia, January 21, 1824. At the age of eighteen he was appointed to the West Point Mili- tary Academy. Owing to the fact that he was poorly prepared to enter that institution, he never took a hieh standing in his classes. He was orraduated in 1847 and ordered to Mexico. He took part in Scott's campaign from Vera Cruz to the city of Mexico, and was twice brevetted for gallant conduct, at Churubusco and Chapultepec, finally attaining the rank of first lieutenant of artillery. After the Mexican war he was on duty at Fort Hamilton, New York harbor, and subsequendy at Fort Meade, Fla., but in 1851 ill health caused him to resign his commission in the army and return to his native State, where he was elected professor of natural sciences and artillery tactics in the Virginia Military Institute. Of Jackson's life at the Institute many stories are told, illustrating the pecu liarities of his character. He was commonly called " Old Jack," and sometimes "Fool Tom Jackson," by the students, who were better able to perceive his eccentricities than his merits. His extreme conscientiousness is illustrated by his walkine a lono- distance throug^h snow and sleet one winter niijht to apologize to a cadet whom he had sent to his seat in class for a mistake in reci- tation. It proved that there was an error in the text-book, and that the student was correct. Most men would have thought it sufficient to rectify the error on the following day. Not so Jackson. As soon as he discovered that he was 22 0(^Q 370 THOMAS JON A THAN J A CKSON. wrong, his conscience would not permit him to rest a moment until he had sought the student's room and set himself right. Jackson was above all things a religious man. At all times and places, in every act of his life, religion was his first thought. A friend was once convers- ing with him about the difficulty of the Scripture injunction, " Pray without ceasing," and Jackson insisted that we could so accustom ourselves to it that it could be easHy obeyed. "When we take our meals, there is grace. When 1 take a drink of water I always pause, as my palate receives the refreshment, to lift up my heart in thanks to God for the water of life. Whenever I drop a letter in the box at the post-office, I send a petition along with it for God's blessing upon its mission and upon the person to whom it is sent. When I break the seal of a letter just received, I stop to pray to God that he may pre- pare me for its contents and make it a messenger of good. When I go to my class-room and await the arrangement of the cadets in their places, that is my time to intercede with God for them. And so with every other familiar act of the day." " But," said his friend, " do you not often forget these seasons, coming so frequently ? " •* No," said he ; "I have made the practice habitual, and I can no more for- get it than forget to drink when I am thirsty." Upon the secession of Virginia Jackson was among the first to answer the call to arms, and wrote to Governor Letcher, offering to serve in any position to which he might be assigned. The Governor immediately commissioned him a colonel of Virginia volunteers. He was placed in command of the troops at Harper's Ferry, and upon the formation of the Army of the Shenandoah he was placed in charge of the famous " Stonewall Brigade," with which his name was thenceforth identified. That singular appellation of a body of troops origin- ated in this wise : — In the early part of the battle of Bull Run the Confederates had decidedly the worst of it. Bartow's and Bee's brigades were terribly cut up and driven from the field for a time, and all seemed lost, when Jackson suddenly appeared upon the scene with his splendid brigade. With magical rapidity he took in the situation, and formed his lines to resist the advance of the enemy. Bee and Bartow had succeeded in rallying fragments of their brigades. To re-assure his soldiers, Bee addressed them briefly, and, pointing to Jackson's men as a worthy example of courage and coolness, he exclaimed, " Look at those Virginians ! They stand like a stone wall." The next day Bee's compliment was repeated all over the camp, and the name stuck to the brigade and Its commander ever after. One of Jackson's peculiarities was a passion for exact justice. He would aot permit his rank to give him the smallest advantage over the common sol- WAITING FOR "HIS TURN." 371 diers of his command. When at Bull Run he made the celebrated charge which turned the fortunes of the day, he raised his left hand above his head to encour- age the troops, and while in this position a ball struck a finger, broke it, and carried off a piece of the bone. He remained upon the field, wounded as he was, till the fight was over, and then wanted to take part in the pursuit, but was peremptorily ordered back to the hospital by the general commanding. The chief surgeon was busily engaged with the wounded, but left them and asked Jackson if he was seriously hurt. " No," he answered, " not half as badly harper's ferry, as many here, and I will wait." And he forthwith sat down on the bank of a little stream near by, and positively declined any assistance until "his turn came." In October, 1861, Jackson was commissioned a major-general, and sent to take command in the Shenandoah Valley. In the course of the winter he drove the Federal troops from the district, and early in the following March was there when Banks was sent against him. He fell back before Banks some forty miles, then suddenly turned, and with only thirty-five hundred men attacked him so fiercely that he retreated with all his troops. His campaign in April, 1862, BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. JACKSON S ATTACK ON THE RIGHT WINU HIS BE A TH AT CHAN CELL ORS VHLE. 373 when he whipped Milroy, Banks, Shields, and Fremont, one after another, and then suddenly descended upon McClellan at Gaines's Mill, when the Union generals thought he was still in the Valley, constitutes one of the most brilliant chapters in modern warfare. He took part in the operations against McClellan, and in July he was again detached and sent to Gordonsville to look after his old enemies in the Valley, who were gathering under Pope, On August 9th he crossed the Rapidan and struck Banks another crushing blow at Cedar Run. On August 25th he passed around Pope's right flank and forced him to let go his hold upon the Rappahannock. By stubborn fighting he kept him on the ground until Longstreet could get up, and routed Pope at the second battle of Bull Run, in August, 1862. Two weeks later, in the beginning of the Maryland campaign, Jackson in- vested and captured Harper's Ferry with eleven thousand prisoners, many stands of arms, and seventy-two guns, and by a terrible night march reached Sharpsburg on September i6th. The next morning he commanded the left wing of the Confederate army, repulsing with his thin line the corps of Hooker, Mansfield, and Sumner, which were in succession hurled against him. At Fred- ericksburg, December 13, 1862, Jackson commanded the Confederate right wing, and in May, 1863, made his Chancellorsville movement, which resulted in his death. On May 3d he received a severe wound in the arm, which rendered am- putation necessary. Pneumonia supervened, and he died on the loth of May. In person Jackson is described by an intimate friend as "a tall man, six feet high, angular, strong, with rather large feet and hands." He rather strode along than walked. There was something firm and decided even in his gait. His eyes were dark blue, large, and piercing. He looked straight at you, and fhroiigh you almost, as he talked. He spoke in terse, short sentences, always to the point. There was never any circumlocution about what he had to say. His hair was inclined to auburn. His beard was brown. He was as g-entle and kind as a woman to those he loved. There was sometimes a softness and ten- derness about him that was very striking. Jackson was exceedingly fond of children, and seldom failed to win their love in return. A story is told of him that illustrates both his love of children and his distaste for pomp and show. When encamped at Fredericksburg, he received a gift of a fine new cap, resplendent in a band of dazzling gold braid. This was one day greatly admired by a child of whom he was fond, whereupon Jackson took her on his knee, ripped the gold band off of his cap, bound it around the little one's curls, and sent her away delighted. Jackson was carefully temperate in his habits. On one occasion, when he was wet and fatigued, his physician gave him some whiskey. He made a wry face in swallowing it, and the doctor inquired if it was not good whiskey. " Oh, yes," he replied, "it's good. I like liquor ; that's luhy Idont drink it'' 374 THOMa ^ JON A THAN J A CKSON. One of the most curious peculiarities of Jackson was a fashion he had of raising his right hand aloft, and then letting it fall suddenly to his side. He often held his hand, sometimes both hands, thus aloft in battle, and his lips A^ere seen to move, evidently in prayer. Not once, but many times, has the singular spectacle been presented of a commander sitting^ on his horse silently as his column moved before him, his hands raised to heaven, his eyes closed, his lips movmg m prayer. At Chancellorsville, as he recognized the corpse of any of his veterans, he would check his horse, raise his hands to heaven, and utter ? prayer over the dead body. HOUSE IN WHICH STONEWALL JACKSON PIED, CHANCKLLORSVII.LE, VA. Jackson was a great hero and favorite throughout the South among both soldiers and people. They had the most implicit faith in his abilities, and thf^ greatest love and reverence for his character. Their sentiments were welJ expressed in the prayer of old "Father Hubert," of Hays' Louisiana Brigade, who, in his prayer at the unveiling of the Jackson monument in New Orleans, said as his climax : "And Thou knowest, O Lord! that when Thou didst decide that the Confederacy should not succeed, Thou hadst first to remove Thy ser vant. Stonewall Jackson." JOHN ERICSSON. JOHN PAUL JONES, AND THE QIANXS OK THE ANIERICAN NAVY. HE origin of the American navy dates from the commencement of the struggle for national independence. Up to that time the colonies had looked to the mother country for protection on the seas. So the outbreak of the Revolution found them entirely without a navy. Their maritime interests were great, and their fishingf craft and merchant vessels were numerous and were manned by singularly able and daring mariners. But fighting ships they had none, while their opponent was not only the greatest naval power of the world, but was doubtless, at sea, stronger than all others put together. England was therefore able not only to command the American coasts with her fleet, but also largely to thwart whatever feeble efforts toward the construction of a navy were made by the haggling and incompetent Continental Congress. Nevertheless the American navy did then come into existence, and wrought at least one deed as immortal in the history of the sea, as Bunker Hill in that of the war upon the land. In the fall of 1775, the building of thirteen war-cruisers was begun ; but only six of them ever got to sea. Only one ship-of-the-line was built, the "America," and she was given to France before she was launched. During the whole war, a total of twenty small frigates and twenty-one sloops flew the American flag- • and fifteen of the former and ten of the latter were either captured or destroyed. What cockle-shells they were, and how slight in armament, compared with the floating fortresses of to-day, may be reckoned from the fact that twelve-pounders were their heaviest guns. Beside these, of course^ there were many privateers, sent out to prey upon the enemy's commerce. These swift fishing craft ventured even to cruise along the very coast of England, and down to the time of the French alliance captured more than six hundred English vessels. In the annals of the regular navy, there are but three great captains' names : Wickes, Conyngham, and Jones. It was Lambert Wickes who, on his little sixteen gun " Reprisal," first bore the American war-flag to the shores of Europe 3/8 GIANTS OF THE NA VY. and made it a terror to the great power that claimed to "rule the waves." After a brilliant cruise the " Reprisal " went down, with all hands, in the summer of 1777, on the treacherous banks of Newfoundland. Then Gustavus Conyngham took up the work, with his "Surprise" and "Revenge," and that very summer so scoureed the mio-ht of Engrland in the North Sea and in the British Channel itself, that the ports were crowded with ships that dared not venture out, and die rates of marine insurance rose to fabulous figures. But the one splendid name of that era was that of a canny young Scotch- man, John Paul Jones. Eighteenth he stood on the list of captains commissioned by the Congress, but on the scroll of fame, for those times, first — and there is no second. Coming to Virginia in boyhood, he entered the mercantile marine. When the war broke out he offered his services to the Congress, and was made a captain. And in 1778 he was sent with the "Ranger," of eighteen guns, to follow where Wickes and Conyngham had led. He swept with his tiny craft up and down the Irish Channel, entered Whitehaven and burned the shipping at the docks ; captured off Carrickfergus the British war-sloop " Drake," larger than his own ship, and then made his way to Brest with all his prizes in tow. Next year he set out on his immortal cruise, with a squadron of five ships. His flagship was an old merchantman, the "Duras," fitted up for fighting and renamed the " Bon Homme Richard," in honor of Franklin and his " Poor Richard's Almanac." She was a clumsy affair, armed with thirty-two twelve- pounders and six old elghteen-pounders not fit for use, and manned by 380 men of every race, from New Englanders to Malays. The "Pallas" was also a merchantman transformed into a thirty-two gun frigate. The " Vengeance " and the "Cerf" were much smaller; quite insignificant. The "Alliance" was a new ship, built in Massachusetts for the navy, but unhappily commanded by a Frenchman named Landais, half fool, half knave. Indeed, all the vessels save the flagship were commanded by Frenchmen, who were openly insubordinate, refusing half the time to recognize the commodore's authority, and often leaving him to cruise and fight alone. Yet the motley squadron did much execution along the shores of Britain. It all but captured the city of Leith, and entered Humber and destroyed much shipping. But the crowning glory came on September 23, 1779. On that immortal date Jones espied, off Flamborough Head, a fleet of forty British merchantmen, guarded by two frigates, bound for the Baltic. At once he gave chase. He had, besides his own ship, only the " Pallas " and the " Alliance," but they would be sufficient to capture the w^hole fleet. But the miserable Landais refused to obey the signal, and kept out of the action. So the fight began, two and two, Jones, with the " Bon Homme Richard," attacked the "Serapis," Captain Pear- son, and the " Pallas" engaged the " Countess of Scarborough." The "Sera- pis " had fifty guns and was much faster and stronger dian Jones's ship. The JOHN PAUL JONES AND HIS FAMOUS VICTORY. 379 •'Countess of Scarborough," on the other hand, was much inferior to the "Pallas " and proved an early victim. It was growing dark, on a cloudy evening, and the sea was smooth as a mill-pond, when the " Bon Homme Richard " and the " Serapis " began their awful duel. Both fired full broadsides at the same instant. Two of Jones's old eighteen-pounders burst, killing twelve men, and the others were at once aban- doned. So all through the fight, after that first volley, he had only his thirty-twc twelve-pounders against the fifty guns — twenty of them eighteen-pounders, twenty nine-pounders, and ten six- pounders — of the " Serapis." For an hour they fought and manoeuvred, then came to- gether with a crash. An instant, the firing ceased, " Have you struck your colors?" demanded Pearson. " I have not yet begun to fight ! " replied Jones. Then with his own hands Jones lashed the two ships together, and inseparably joined, their sides actually touching, they battled on. Solid shot and canister swept through both ships like hail, while musket- men on the decks and in the rigging exchanged storms of bullets. For an hour and a half the conflict raged. Then Landais came up with the "Alliance" and began firing equally on both. Jones ordered him to go to the other side of the " Serapis'' and board, and his answer was to turn helm and go out of the fight altogether. Now the fighting ships were both afire, and both leaking and sinking. Most of the guns were disabled, and three-fourths of the men were killed or wounded. The gallant Pearson stood almost alone on the deck of the doomed "Serapis," not one of his men able to fight longer. Jones was as solitary on the "Bon Homme Richard," all his men still able-bodied being at the pumps, striving to keep the ship afloat. With his own hands he trained a gun upon PAUL JONES. 38o GIANTS OF THE NA VY. the mainmast of the "Serapis," and cut it down; and then Pearson surren- dered. The "Pallas" and "Alliance" came up and took off the men, and in a few hours the two ships sank, still bound together in the clasp of death. This was not only one of the most desperate and deadly naval battles in history. Its moral effect was epoch-making. John Paul Jones was the hero of the day, and Europe showered honors upon him. The American flag was hailed as a rival to that of England on the seas, and all Europe was encouraged to unite against England and force her to abate her arrogant pre- tensions, and to accede to a more just and liberal code of international maritime law than had before prevailed. In view of this latter fact, this battle must be ranked among the three or four most important in the naval history of the world. It was this battle that inspired Catharine of Russia to enunciate the doctrine of the rights of neutrals in maritime affairs ; and the tardy acquiescence of England, eighty years later, in that now universal principle, was brought about by the blow struck by John Paul Jones off Flamborough Head. There were no other naval operations of importance during the Revolution, save those of the French fleet at Yorktown. But soon after the declaration of peace, new complications arose, threatening a war at sea. England and France were fighting each other, and commerce was therefore diverted to the shipping of other nations. A very large share of Europe's carrying trade was done by American vessels. But these were between two fires. England insisted that she had a right to stop and search American ships and take from them all sailors of English birth ; actually taking whom she pleased ; and France made free to seize any American ships she pleased, under the pretext that there were English goods aboard ; and when she captured an English ship and found on board an American seaman who had been impressed, instead of treating him as a prisoner of war, like the others, she hanged him as a pirate. Naturally indignation rose high, and preparations were made for war with France. In July, 1 798, the three famous frigates, the "Constellation," the "United States," and the "Constitution," best known as "Old Ironsides," were sent to sea, and Congress authorized the navy to be increased to include six frigates, twelve sloops, and six smaller craft. Among the officers commissioned, were the illus- trious Bainbridge, Hull, Decatur, Rodgers, and Stewart. Actual hostilities soon began. French piratical cruisers were captured, and an American squadron sailed for the West Indies to deal with the French privateers that abounded there, in which work it was generally successful. In January, 1 799, Congress voted a million dollars, for building six ships of the line and six sloops. Soon after, on February 9, occurred the first engagement between vessels of the American and French navies. The " Constellation," Captain Truxton, over- hauled " L'Insurgente," at St. Kitts, in the West Indies, and after a fight of an hour and a quarter forced her to surrender The " Constellation " had thre# SUPPRESSING THE BARBARY PIRATES. 381 men killed and one wounded; " L'Insurgente " twenty killed and forty-six wounded. Again, on February i, 1800, Truxton with the " Constellation " came up, at Guadeloupe, with the French Frigate " La Vengeance." After chasing her two days he brought on an action. The two ships fought all night. In the morning, "La Vengeance," completely silenced and shattered, drew away and escaped to Curacoa, where she was condemned as unfit for further service. The " Constellation " was little injured save in her rigging. For his gallantry, Truxton received a gold medal from Congress. Later in that year there were some minor engagements, in which Americans were successful. By the spring of 1801, friendly relations with France were restored. The President was accordingly authorized to dispose of all the navy, save thirteen ships, six of which were to be kept constantly in commission, and to dismiss from the service all officers save nine captains, thirty-six lieutenants, and one hundred and fifty midshipmen. At about this time ground was purchased and navy-yards established at Portsmouth, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Wash- ington and Norfolk, and half a million dollars was appropriated for the completion of six seventy-four gun ships. Now came on real war. For many years the pirate ships of the Barbary States, Algeria and Tripoli, had been the scourge of the Mediterranean. The commerce of every land had suffered. European powers did not venture to suppress the evil, but some of them basely purchased immunity by paying tribute to the pirates. America, too, at first followed this humiliating course, actually thus paying millions of dollars. In September, 1 800, Captain Bainbridge went with the frigate " George Washington " to bear to the Dey of Algeria the annual tribute. The Dey took the money, and then impressed Bainbridge and his ship into his own service for a time, to go on an errand to Constantinople. Bainbridge reported this to Congress, adding, " I hope I shall never again be sent with tribute, unless to deliver it from the mouth of our cannon." However, Bainbridge was received courteously at Constantinople, and his ship was the first to display the American flag there. Captain Dale was sent with a squadron to the Mediterranean in 1801, to repress the pirates of Tripoli. One of his ships, the schooner " Experiment," captured a Tripolitan cruiser, and this checked for a time the ardor of the pirates But open war was soon declared between the two countries, and Congress authorized the sending of a larger fieet to the Mediterranean. The gallant Truxton was offered the command of it, but declined because the cheese-paring Administration was too parsimonious to allow him a proper staff of subordinates. Thereupon he was dismissed from the service, and Captain Morris sent in his place. But false economy had so enfeebled the navy that the fleet was able to do little. One Tripolitan ship was captured, however, and another destroyed 382 GIANTS OF THE NA VY. Then the Government woke up, and began building new ships, and sent another squadron over, led by Preble with the *' Constitution." He went first to Morocco, whose Sultan at once sued for peace ; and then proceeded to Tripoli. Here he found that the frigate "Philadelphia," with Bainbridge and three hundred men aboard, had been captured and was being refitted by the Tripolitans for their own use. Decatur, commanding the " Enterprise," under Preble, determined upon a bold counter-stroke. Taking a small vessel, the "Intrepid," which he had captured from Tripoli, he sailed boldly into the harbor, flying the Tripolitan flag and pretending to be a merchant of that country. Running alongside the " Philadelphia," he boarded her, set her afire, and sailed away in safety, though amid a storm of shot and shell. The " Phila- delphia" was burned to the water's edge. Nothing more was done at the time, however, save to keep up a blockade, and Bainbridge and his men remained in captivity. In August, 1804, Preble and Decatur made a vigorous attack upon the harbor, and destroyed two and captured three vessels, A few days later other attacks were made. Then a new squadron under Commodore Barron came to the scene, and Preble was superseded. No other naval operations of importance occurred, and peace was finally concluded in 1805. Troubles with England now grew more serious. That country persisted in searching American ships and taking from them all whom she chose to call deserters from the British service. And so the two powers drifted into the war of 181 2. In that struggle, the Americans were badly worsted on land, but won victories of the first magnitude on the lakes and ocean, America had only nine frigates and a score of smaller craft, while England had a hundred ships of the line. Yet the honors of the war on the sea rested with the former. Her triumphs startled the world. The destruction of the "Guerriere" by the "Constitution," Captain Hull, marked an epoch in naval history. Then the "United States," Captain Decatur, vanquished the "Macedonian;" the "Wasp," Captain Jones, the "Frolic;" the "Constitution," Captain Bainbridge, the "Java;" and the " Hornet" the "Peacock." On Lake Erie, Commodore Perry won a great victory, which he announced in the famous message, "We have met the enemy, and they are ours." Equally brilliant was the victory of MacDonough on Lake Champlain. The most deplorable reverse was the destruction of the "Chesapeake" by the British ship " Shannon," the "Chesa- peake's " commander, Lawrence, losing his life, but winning fame through his dying words, " Don't give up the ship !" The conflicts of this war are more fully detailed elsewhere in this volume. It is needful here only to mention them briefly, as we have done. The cause of *he surprising successes of the Americans may well be explained, however It was due to that very inventive ingenuity that has made the history of the 3S4 GIANTS OF THE NAVY. world's industrial progress so largely a mere chronicle of " Yankee notions/' The Americans had invented and were using sights on their cannon. That was all. But the result was that their aim was far more accurate and their fire far more effective than that of their opponents. This advantage, added to courage and skill in seamanship equal to any the world had known, gave them their victory. This war was ended in February, 181 5, and a month later another was begun. This was against the Dey of Algeria, who had broken the peace and seized an American ship, despite the fact that America had continued down to this time to pay tribute to him. It was now determined to make an end of the business ; so Bainbridge was sent, as he had requested, to deliver the final tribute from his cannons' mouths. Before he got there, however, Decatur, did the work. He captured an Algerine vessel ; sailed into port and dictated an honorable peace ; and then imposed like terms on Tripoli and Tunis, thus ending the tyranny of the Barbary States over the commerce of the world. Thereafter for many years the navy had not much to do. Some vessels were used for purposes of exploration and research, and much was thereby added to the scientific knowledge of the world. During the Mexican war, naval opera tions were unimportant. But in 1846 complications with Japan were begun. In that year two ships were sent to the Island empire, on an errand of peaceful negotiation, which proved fruitless. Three years later another went, on a sterner errand, and rescued at the cannon's mouth a number of shipwrecked American sailors who had been thrown into captivity. Finally the task of "opening Japan" to intercourse with the rest of the world, a task no other power had ventured to assume, was undertaken by America. On November 24, 1852, Commodore Perry set sail thither, with a powerful fleet. His commission was to "open Japan"; by peaceful diplomacy if he could, by force of arms if he must. The simple show of force waft sufficient, and in 1854, he returned in triumph, bearing a treaty with Japan. The most extended and important services of the United States navy were performed during the War of the Rebellion At the outbreak of that conflict. in 1 86 1, the whole navy comprised only forty-two vessels in commission Nearly all of these were scattered in distant parts of the world, where they had been purposely sent by the conspirators at Washington. Most of those tha^ remained were destroyed in port, so that there was actually for a time only on(; serviceable war-ship on the North Atlantic coast. But building and purchase soon increased the navy, so that before the end of the year it numbered two hundred and sixty-four, and was able to blockade all the ports of the Southern Confederacy. They were a motley set, vessels of every imaginable type, ferry boats and freight steamers, even, being pressed into use ; but they served. The first important naval action was that at Hatteras Inlet, in August, 1861 PASSING THE FORTS 385 There Commodore Stringham, with a fleet of steam and saiHng craft, bombarded a series of powerful forts and forced them to surrender, without the loss of a single man aboard the ships. Next came the storming of Port Royal. At the end of October Commodore Dupont and Commander Rodgers went thither with a strong squadron. They entered the harbor, and formed with their ships an ellipse, which kept constantly revolving, opposite the forts, and constantly pouring in a murderous fire. It was earthworks on land against old-fashioned wooden ships on the water ; but the ships won, and the forts surrendered. A small flotilla of rebel gunboats came to the assistance of the forts, but were quickly repulsed by the heavy fire from the ships. The next year saw much naval activity in many quarters.. The blockade of all Southern ports was rigorously maintained, and there were some exciting eno-ao-ements between the national ships and blockade runners. On the Cumberland, Ohio, Tennessee and Mississippi Rivers the gunboats of Foote and Porter greatly aided the land forces, in the campaigns against Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, at Island No. 10, and Vicksburg. Roanoke Island and New Berne, on the Carolina coast, were taken by a combined naval and military expedition. One of the most striking events of the war was the entrance of the Mississippi and capture of New Orleans by Admiral Farragut. He had a fleet of forty vessels, all told. Opposed to him were two great and strong land forts, Jackson and St. Philip, one on each side of the river, mounting two hundred and twenty- five guns. From one to the other stretched a ponderous iron chain, completely barring the passage, and beyond this was a fleet of iron-clad gun-boats, fire- ships, etc. Military and naval authorities scouted the idea that Farragut's wooden ships could ever fight their way through. But Farragut quietly scouted the authorities. Making his way up to within range of the forts he began a bombardment. On the first day his guns threw 2000 shells at the enemy. A huge fire-raft was sent against him, but his ships avoided it and it passed harmlessly by. Another was sent down that night, a floating mountain of flame. But one of Farragut's captains deliberately ran his ship into it, turned a hose upon it, and towed it out of the way ! For a week the tremendous bombardment was kept up, 16,800 shells being thrown at the forts. Then Farragut cut the chain, and started to run the fiery gauntlet of the forts with his fleet. Before daylight one morning the mortar- boats opened a furious fire, under cover of which the ships steamed straight up the river. The forts opened on them with every gun, a perfect storm of shot and shell, and the ships replied with full broadsides. Five hundred cannon were thundering. One ship was disabled and dropped back. The rest swept on in a cloud of flame. Before they were past the forts, fire-ships came down upon them, and iron-clad gunboats attacked them. The "Varuna," Captain 23 386 GIANTS OF THE NA VY. Boggs, was surrounded by five rebel gunboats, and sank them all. As the last of them sank, a sixth, a huge iron-clad ram, came rushing upon the " Varuna." Boggs saw he could not escape it, so he turned the " Varuna " so as to receive the blow squarely amidships. The ram crushed her like an egg-shell, and in a few minutes she sank. But her fearful broadsides, at such close range, riddled the ram, and the two went down together. In an hour and a half, eleven rebel gunboats were sent to the bottom, and the fleet was past the forts. Next SINKING OF THE ALABAMA. morning Farragut raised the national flag above the captured city of New Orleans. This tremendous conflict was not, however, the most significant of that year. There was another which, in a single hour, revolutionized the art of naval warfare. When, at the outbreak of the war, the Norfolk Navy-yard had been destroyed to keep it from falling into rebel hands, one ship partially escaped the flames. This was the great frigate " Merrimac," probably the finest ship in THE ''MONITOR'' AND "MERRIMACr 3S7 the whole navy. The Confederates took her hull, which remained uninjured, and covered it completely with a sloping roof of iron plates four inches thick, backed with heavy timbers, put a great iron ram at her bow, and fitted her with large guns and powerful engines. Then, to protect her further, she was coated thickly with tallow and plumbago. She was regarded as entirely invulnerable to cannon-shot, and her builders believed she would easily destroy all ships sent against her and place New York and all Northern seaports at the mercy of her guns. At the same time a curious little craft was built, hurriedly enough, in New York. It was designed by John Ericsson, and was called the " Monitor." It consisted of a hull nearly all submerged, its flat iron deck only a few inches above the water, and upon this a circular iron tower, which was turned round and round by machinery and which carried two large guns. Naval experts laughed at the "cheese-box on a plank," as they called it, and thought it unworthy of serious consideration. A REVOLUTION IN NAVAL WARFARE. At noon of Saturday, March 8, the mighty " Merrimac," a floating fortress of iron, came down the Elizabeth River to where the National fleet lay in Hampton Roads. The frigate *' Congress " fired upon her, but she paid no attention to it, but moved on to the sloop-of-war " Cumberland," crushed her side in with a blow of her ram, riddled her with cannon-balls, and sent her to the bottom. The solid shot from the "Cumberland's" ten-inch guns glanced from the " Merrimac's " armor, harmless as so many peas. Then the monster turned back to the " Congress " and destroyed her. Next she attacked the frigate " Minnesota " and drove her aground, and then retired for the night, intending the next day to return, destroy the entire fleet, and proceed northward to bombard New York. That night the "Monitor" arrived. She had been hurriedly completed. She had come down from New York in a storm, and was leaking and her machinery was out of order. She was not in condition for service. But she was all that lay between the " Merrimac " and the boundless destruction at which she aimed. So she anchored at the side of the " Minnesota " and waited for daylight. It came, a beautiful Sunday morning ; and down came the huge "Merrimac" to continue her deadly work. Out steamed the tiny "Monitor" to meet her. The " Merrimac " sought to ignore her, and attacked the " Minne- sota." But the " Monitor " would not be ignored. Captain Worden ran her alongside the "Merrimac," so that they almost touched, and hurled his i6o-lb. shot at the iron monster as rapidly as the two guns could be worked. Those shots, at that range, told, as all the broadsides of the frigates had not. The "Merrimac's" armor began to yield, while her own firing had no effect upon the " Monitor." It was seldom she could hit the little craft at all, and when she did the shots glanced off without harm. Five times she tried to 388 GIANTS OF THE NA VY. ram the "Monitor," but the latter eluded her. A sixth time she tried it, and the "Monitor" stood still and let her come on. The great iron beak that had crushed in the side of the "Cumberland " merely glanced on the "Moni- tor's " armor and glided upon her deck. The " Merrimac " was so lifted and tilted as to expose the unarmored part of her hull to the " Monitor's " deadly fire, while the "Monitor" quickly slid out from under her, uninjured. Then the " Merrimac " retreated up the river, and her career was ended. She was a mere wreck. But the " Monitor," though struck by twenty-two heavy shots, was practically uninjured. The only man hurt on the "Monitor" was the gallant Captain Worden. He was looking through the peep-hole when one of the " Merrimac's" last shots struck squarely just outside. He was stunned by the shock and half-blinded by splinters ; but his first words on regaining consciousness were, " Have we saved the ' Minnesota ' ? " The "Monitor" had saved the "Minnesota," and all the rest of the fleet, and probably many Northern cities. But, more than that, she had, in that grim duel, revolutionized naval warfare. In that hour England saw her great ships of the line condemned. The splendid frigates, with their tiers of guns, were thenceforth out of date and worthless. The "cheese-box on a plank" in a single day had vanquished all the navies of the world. The success of Farragut in passing the Mississippi forts led Dupont, in April, 1863, to attempt in like manner to enter Charleston harbor ; but in vain. The fire from the forts was too fierce, and his fleet was forced to fall back with heavy losses. But in August, 1864, Farragut repeated his former exploit at Mobile. Forming his ships in line of battle, he stood in the rigging of the " Hartford," glass in hand, and directed their movements. As Dupont had done at Port Royal, he swept round and round in a fiery ellipse. At a critical point in the battle the lookout reported, " Torpedoes ahead !" A cry arose to stop the ship. "Go ahead! Damn the torpedoes!" roared the great Admiral, and the ship went on. Then the huge iron ram "Tennessee" came forward, to crush them as the "Merrimac" had crushed the "Cumberland." But Farragut, with sublime audacity, turned the bow of his wooden ship upon her and ran her down. Thus the Mobile forts were silenced and the harbor cleared. Nor must the storming of Fort Fisher be forgotten. The first attack was made in December, 1864. Admiral Porter bombarded the place furiously, and then General Butler attempted to take it with land forces. He failed, and returned to Fortress Monroe, saying the place could not be taken. But Porter thought otherwise, and remained at his post with his fleet. General Terry then went down with an army, Porter renewed the bombardment, the fort was captured, and the last port of the Confederacy was closed. While the National navy was thus carrying all before it along the coast, the Confederates were active elsewhere. Their swift, armed cruisers, fitted out SINKING OF THE ALABAMA. 389 in English ports, scoured the seas and preyed upon American commerce eveiy- where, until the American merchant Eag was almost banished from the ocean. The most famous of all these cruisers was the "Alabama," commanded by Raphael Semmes. During her career she destroyed more than ten million dollars' worth of American shipping. For a long time her speed and the skill and daring of her commander kept her out of the hands of the American navy, Butiit last, in June, 1864, Captain Winslow, with the ship " Kearsarge," came up with her in the neutral harbor of Cherbourg, France. Determined to make an end of her, he waited, just outside the harbor, for her to come out. Semmes soon accepted the challenge, and the duel occurred on Sunday, June 19. The shore was crowded with spectators, and many yachts and other craft came out, bearing hundreds anxious to see the battle. The vessels were not far from equal in strength. But the " Kearsarge " had two huge eleven-inch pivot guns, that made awful havoc on the "Alabama." The "Alabama," on the other hand, had more guns than the " Kearsarge.'*' But the famous cruiser's time had come. As the two ships slowly circled round and round, keeping up a constant fire, every shot from the " Kearsarge " seemed to find its mark, while those of the "Alabama" went wide. And soon the "Alabama" sank, leaving the "Kearsarge " scarcely injured. A volume might be filled with accounts of notable exploits of the navy which there is not room even to mention here. But one more must be named, so daring and so novel was it. In April, 1864, the great iron-clad ram, "Albe- marle," was completed by the Confederates and sent forth to drive the National vessels from the sounds and harbors of the North Carolina coast. She came down the Roanoke River and boldly attacked the fleet, destroying one ship at the first onset and damaging others, while showing herself almost invulnerable. It was feared that she would actually succeed in raising the blockade, and extraordinary efforts were made to destroy her, but without avail. At last the job was undertaken by a young officer, Lieutenant Cushing, who had already distinguished himself by his daring. He took a small steam launch, manned by himself and fifteen others, armed with a howitzer, and carrying a large torpedo. The "Albemarle" was at her dock at Plymouth, some miles up the river, and both banks of the narrow stream were closely lined with pickets and batteries. On a dark, stormy night the launch steamed boldly up the river and got within a short distance of the " Albemarle " before it was seen by the pickets. Instantly the alarm was given, and a hail of bullets fell upon the launch, doing, however, little harm. Cushing headed straight for the huge iron-clad, shouting at the top of his voice, in bravado, " Get off the ram ! We're going to blow you up ! " Running the launch up till its bow touched the side of the "Albemarle," he thrust the torpedo, at the end of a pole, under the latter and fired it. The explosion wrecked the "Albemarle** 390 GIANTS OF THE NAVY. and sank her. The launch was also wrecked, and the sixteen men took to the water and sought to escape by swimming. All were, however, captured by the Confederates, save four. Of these, two were drowned, and the other two — one of them being Gushing himself — reached the other shore and got safely back to the fleet. We have said that in the spring of 1861 there were only 42 vessels in com mission in the navy. There were also 27 serviceable ships not in commission, and 2 1 unserviceable, or 90 in all. During the four years of the war there were built and added to the navy 125 unarmored and 68 armored vessels, most of the latter being of the " Monitor" type. A few figures regarding some of the en- ;gagements will give a vivid idea of the manner in which the ships fought. In the futile attack of the iron-clads on the forts in Charleston harbor, April 7, 1863, mine vessels took part, using 23 gunfand firing 139 times, at from 500 to 2100 yards range. They hit Fort Wagner twice, Fort Moultrie 12 times, and Fort Sumter 55 times, doing little damage. Against them the forts used jj guns, firing 2229 times, and hitting the vessels 520 times, but doing little damage except to one monitor, which was sunk. In the second bombardment of Fort Fisher 21,716 projectiles, solid shot atid shell, were thrown by the fleet. But the most important thing achieved was the entire transformation effected in naval science. Hitherto the war-ship had been simply an armed merchant- ship, propelled by sails or, latterly, by steam, carrying a large number of small guns, American inventiveness made it, after the duel of the "Monitor" and " Merrimac," a floating fortress of iron or steel, carrying a few enormously heavy guns. The glory of the old line-of-battle ship, with three or four tiers of guns on each side and a big cloud of canvas overhead, firing rattling broadsides, and manoeuvring to get and hold the weather-gauge of the enemy — all that was relegated to the past forever. In its place came the engine of war, with little pomp and circumstance, but with all the resources of science shut within its ugly, black iron hull. John Paul Jones, with his " Bon Homme Richard," struck the blow that made universal the law of neutrals' rights. Hull, with the " Constitution," send- ing a British frigate to the bottom, showed what Yankee ingenuity in sighting guns could do. Ericsson and Worden, with the " Monitor," sent wooden navies fto the hulk-yard and ushered in the era of iron and steel fighting-engines. These are the three great naval events of a century. One of the most thrilling events in naval history occurred in a time of peace. It was in the harbor of Apia, Samoa, in March, 1889. A great storm struck the shipping and destroyed nearly every vessel there. Three German war-ships were wrecked. One English war-ship, by herculean efforts, was saved. Two American war-ships were wrecked, and one was saved after being run on the beach. This was the " Nipsic." The wrecked vessels were the THE STORM IN APIA HARBOR. 39V "Trenton" and the " Vandalia." The combined strength of their engines and anchors was not enough to keep them from being driven upon the fateful reefs. The "VandaHa" was already stranded and pounding to pieces, and the "Trenton" was drifting down upon her. "Suddenly," says a witness of the scene, "the Stars and Stripes were seen flying from the gaff of the 'Trenton.* Previous to this no vessel in the harbor had raised a flag, as the storm was raging so furiously at sunrise that that ceremony was neglected. It seemed nov» •as if the gallant ship knew she was doomed, and had determined to go down with the flag of her country floating above the storm. Presently the last faint ray of daylight faded away, and night came down upon the awful scene. The storm was still raging with as much fury as at any time during the day. The poor creatures who had been clinging for hours to the rigging of the ' Vandalia * were bruised and bleeding, but they held on with the desperation of men who hang by a thread between life and death. The ropes had cut the flesh of their arms and legs, and their eyes were blinded by the salt spray which swept over them. Weak and exhausted as they were, they would be unable to stand the terrible strain much longer. They looked down upon the angry water below them, and knew that they had no strength left to battle with the waves. Their final hour seemed to be upon them. The great black hull of the ' Trenton * could be seen through the darkness, almost ready to crush into the stranded * Vandalia ' and grind her to atoms. Suddenly a shout was borne across the waters. The 'Trenton' was cheering the 'Vandalia.' The sound of 450 voices broke upon the air and was heard above the roar of the tempest. ' Three cheers for the "Vandalia ! " ' was the cry that warmed the hearts of the dying men in the rigging. The shout died away upon the storm, and there arose from the quivering masts of the sunken ship a response so feeble that it was scarcely heard on shore. The men who felt that they were looking death in the face aroused themselves to the effort and united in a faint cheer to the flagship. Those who were standing on shore listened in silence, for that feeble cry was the saddest they had ever heard. Every heart was melted to pity. ' God help them ! ' was passed from one man to another. The sound of music next came across the water. The * Trenton's ' band was playing ' The Star Spangled Banner.' The thousand men on sea and shore had never before heard strains of music at such a time as this." And so the good ships went to wreck, ;RDd many a life was lost ; but a standard of endurance and of valor was there set up that shall command the reverence and wonder of the world as long as time shali endure. During fifteen years of peace, following the War of the Rebellion, the navy was much neglected. No new ships were built, and the old ones fell into decay. In 1 88 1, however, William H. Hunt, Secretary of the Navy appointed an Advisory Board to plan the building of a new navy adequate to the needs of the THE NEW NA VY. 393 nation. From the deliberations of this Board and its successor, appointed by Secretary Chandler, sprang- the splendid new fleet. The Board recom- mended the construction of four steel vessels: the "Chicago," of 4500 tons displacement; the "Boston" and "Atlanta," of 3189 tons displacement each, and the "Dolphin," of 1485 tons displacement. The dates of the acts author- izing these vessels were August 5, 1882, and March 3, 1883, and the contract^ were taken for all four vessels by John Roach & Sons in July, 1883. ^ The pioneer of the new steel navy was the " Dolphin." Although classed' as a " dispatch boat " in the Navy Register, she has well earned the tide of a first-class cruiser, and would be so classed if she had the tonnage displacement, since she made a most successful cruise around the world, traversing 52,000 miles of sea without a single mishap. The " Dolphin " was launched April 21, and she was finished in November, 1884, and although no material changes were made in her she was kept in continuous service for nearly six years. A-fter her trip around Cape Horn, and after ten months hard cruising, she was thoroughly surveyed, and there was not a plate displaced, nor a rivet loosened, nor a timber strained, nor a spar out of gear. At the end of her cruise around the world she was pronounced " the stanchest dispatch-boat in any navy of the world." The " Dolphin " is a single-screw vessel of the following dimensions : Length over all, 2653^ i^Qt] breadth of beam, 32 feet; mean draught, 141^ feet; displacement, 1485 tons. Her armament consists of two four-inch rapid- firing guns ; two six-pounder rapid-firing guns ; four forty-seven-millimeter Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and two Catling guns. She is also fitted with torpedo tubes. Her cost, exclusive of her guns, was $315,000. Her comple- ment of crew consists of 10 ofificers and 98 enlisted men. The first four vessels were called the "A, B, C, and D of the New Navy,'* because of the first letters of their names — the " Atlanta," " Boston," " Chicago," and "Dolphin." The "Atlanta" and "Boston" are sister ships — that is, they were built from the same designs and their plates, etc., were moulded from the same patterns and they carry the same armament — hence a description of one is a description of the other. They followed the " Dolphin " in service, the "Atlanta " being launched on October 9, 1884, and the " Boston " on December 4, 1884. The "Atlanta" cost $619,000 and the "Boston" $617,000. The ofiicial description of these vessels is that they "are central superstructure, single-deck, steel cruisers." Their dimensions are : Length over all, 283 feet ; breadth of beam, 42 feet; mean draught, 17 feet; displacement, 3189 tons; sail area, 10,400 square feet. The armament of each consists of two eight-inch and six six-inch breech-loading rifles ; two six-pounder, two two-pounder, and two one-pounder rapid-firing guns ; two 47-millimeter and two 37-millimeter Hotch* kiss revolving cannon, two Catling guns, and a &et of torpedo-firing tubes. 394 GIANTS OF THE NAVY. Larger and finer still Is the " Chicago," the flagship of the fleet, which was launched on December 5, 1885. She was the first vessel of the navy to have heavy guns mounted in half turrets, her four eight-inch cannon being carried on the spar-deck in half turrets built out from the ship's side, the guns being twenty-four and a-half feet above the water and together commanding the entire horizon. There are six six-inch guns in the broadside ports of the gun-deck and a six-inch gun on each bow. There are also two five-inch guns aft in the after portion of the cabin. Her secondary battery is two Catlings, two six- pounders, two one-pounders, two 47-millimeter revolving cannon, and two 37-millimeter revolving cannon. This auspicious start being made, the work of building the new navy went steadily on. Next came the protected cruisers " Baltimore," " Charleston," "Newark," "San Francisco," and "Philadelphia," big steel ships, costing from a million to nearly a million and a half dollars each. Much smaller cruisers, or gunboats, were the "Yorktown," "Concord," and "Bennington," and, smallest of all, the " Petrel." All these ships, though varying in size, are of the same general tyoe. They are not heavily armored, and are not regarded as regular battle-ships, yet could doubdess give a good account of themselves in any conflict. They are chiefly intended, however, as auxiliaries to the real fighters, and as cruisers, commerce destroyers, etc. The "Vesuvius," launched in April, 1888, Is a "dynamite cruiser," a small, swift vessel, carrying three huge guns, each of fifteen inches bore, poindng directly forward and upward. From these, charges of dynamite are to be fired by compressed air. The " Cushing " is a swift torpedo boat, with three tubes for discharging the deadly missiles. It was launched in 1890, and named after the Intrepid destroyer of the "Albemarle," whose feat has already been described. The "Stiletto" Is a very small, wooden torpedo boat, of very great speed. The new navy also contains a number of vessels Intended for coast-defense, heavily armored for hard fighting. The " Monterey " Is a vessel of the "Monitor" type invented by Ericsson. It has two turrets, or barbettes, each carrying two twelve-inch guns, and protected by from eleven to thirteen inches of armor. The bow Is provided with a ram. The " Puritan " is a vessel of similar design, with fourteen inches of armor. Besides the four big guns there is a secondary battery of twelve rapid-firing guns, four Hotchkiss revolving cannon, and four Gading guns. The " Miantonomah " is another double- turreted monitor. Her four ten-Inch rifles have an effective range of thirteen miles, and she has a powerful secondary battery. Her big guns can send a five hundred-pound bolt of metal through twenty inches of armor, and she is herself heavily armored. This is a singularly powerful batde-ship, and would probably THE STORY OF AMERICA. 395 prove a match for any war ship in the world. In 1897 the Navy Department officials decided to paint these and every cruiser and battle-ship olive green in case of war. The illfated " Maine," lost in Havana harbor February, 1898, was a heavily- armored cruiser, and, while intended for seagoing, was really a battle-ship. She had eleven inches of armor and carried four ten-inch rifles, besides numerous smaller guns. The " Texas " is a similar ship. The " Detroit," " Montgomery," and " Marblehead" are small, partially armored cruisers. The " New York" is a mighty armored cruiser, of 8,150 tons displacement, and is built on the most "CHICAGO," U. S. N., ONE OF THE "WHITE SQUADRON" WAR SHIPS. approved pattern for offensive and defensive power, endurance and speed. She is 380 feet 6^ inches long; steams 20 knots per hour; can go 13,000 miles without coaling ; has from six to eight inches of armor, and carries six eight-inch and twelve four-inch rifles, and numerous smaller guns. The " Brooklyn," like the " Now York," has 16,500 indicated horse power, is armored and designed on the same lines, with 1,000 tons more displacement. The "Raleigh" and "Cincinnati" are protecfed cruisers of 3,183 tons dis- placement, and 10,000 horse power; while the "Olympia," of similar construction, has 5,500 tons displacement and 13,500 horse power. 396 THE ADVANCE OF NAVAL SCIENCE. The " Iowa " is an armored battle-ship of 1 1 ,296 tons displacement and 1 1 ,000 indicated horse-power, and of the same class are the "Oregon," " Massachusetts '* and "Indiana," each of 10,200 tons displacement and 9,000 horse-power. RECENT GROWTH OF OUR NAVY. To our fleet of nineteen torpedo boats and destroyingr crafts were added, in 1897, three torpedo boats with a speed of thirty knots an hour, and six of lesser speed. Among the coast-defense vessels the ram " Katahdin," with a particularly ugly beak at the bow, deserves to be noted. Beyond a small secondary battery, she depends for offensive force upon her ability to ram a foe; to accomplish this purpose she can be submerged until only her turtle-back, funnel and ventilatinor shafts, all of which are armored, remain above water. In 1898 the growth of our navy v/as greatly enhanced by the war with Spain. Early in April at Newport News the "Kearsarge " and the "Kentucky,'* the largest batde-ships in our navy, each of 11,525 tons displacement, were launched, and in May the "Alabama," a sister ship of the two just mentioned, was launched at Cramps' ship-yard. Two other battle-ships of the same size and pattern — namely, the "Illinois" and "Wisconsin " — are in course of construction at Newport News and San Francisco respectively. Our Government purchased in April from Brazil the two excellent cruisers, the "Amazonas " and "Abrouill,'* which names were changed to " New Orleans" and "Albany." The "Amazonas" was delivered to the United States Battle-ship "San Fran- cisco" on March 18, 1898, but the "Abrouill," which is a duplicate of the "Ama- zonas," was not completed until several months later. These foreign sisters are armed with guns in all respects of the best modern type. Their lengtli is 330 feet; 43 feet 9 inches beam ; draft 16 feet 10 inches, with a displacement of 3.450 tons ; and a speed of about nineteen knots per hour. They are both built of steel, sheathed with teak and coppered, and enjoy the distinction of being the first sheathed ships in our navy. The cost to our Government for the two ships was $2,500,000. Numerous other ships of lesser importance were added, including the armored mercantile cruisers into which the magnificent ocean greyhounds "St. Paul," "St. Louis," "Paris" and others were transformed. Many private yachts were tendered by wealthy citizens and accepted. Congress also made appropriations for the building of several new batde-ships, torpedo boats and torpedo-boat destroyers, on which work was promptly begun. All the ereat nations of the earth are increasincr their navies as never before, and it is safe to say the United States is rapidly awakening to the importance of placing itself among the great naval powers of the earth. In truth, the war with Spain has already placed us among the first. The battles of Manila and Santiago- stand as marvels of naval warfare ; they endde American seamen to the highest rank for marksmanship, intelligence and bravery. OLIVER H. PERRY, THE HERO OR THE BATTLE OE LAKE ERIE. 'MONG the "Giants of the American Navy" there are few more remarkable than the commander who fought the sin- gular but glorious battle of Lake Erie, in September, 1813. Oliver Hazard Perry was a Rhode Island boy, born in 1785. His mother, Sarah Alexander, was noted for her strength of character and intellect, and her children were trained with rare ability. She taught him how and what to read, told him stories of the deeds of her military ances- tors, and "fitted him to command others by teaching him early to obey." After the battle on Lake Erie, when the country was ringing with Perry's praises, some Rhode Island farmers, who knew his mother well, insisted that it was " Mrs. Perry's victory." Perry entered the navy as a midshipman when only fourteen. He gave the details of his profession the most thorough study, and by incessant training of his crews, and practicing his ships in the various evolutions, he brought them up to a wonderful degree of efficiency. In the years preceding the War of 181 2 he was in command of the Newport flotilla of gunboats ; and he practiced sham fights by dividing his fleet into tvvo squadrons, manoeuvering them as if in battle, and thus acquired the ability to take advantage of critical moments and situations. When war against England was at last declared, Perry applied repeatedly for a sea command, but, being disappointed, finally offered his services to Com- modore Chauncey, on the lakes. There he had to begin by building his ships. The shores of Lake Erie were a wilderness. The squadron was to be built from the trees standing in the forest. Traveling to Lake Erie in sleighs, he met there a party of ship carpenters from Philadelphia, and after months of the most incessant toil, they constructed the little fleet of nine vessels with which Perry was to meet the enemy. He had to create not only his ships but the force to man them. While the vessels were being built he was drilling his men, a collection of some five hundred, many of whom had never seen salt water, 397 398 OLIVER H. PERRY. Five months of his excellent training converted them into thoroughly drilled artillerists. While Perry was building his ships, the English commander, Commodore Barclay, was likewise building the fleet which was to encounter them. By August both were ready, and after some manoeuvering they met in battle on September loth, near the western end of the lake. The fight was hardly begun when Perry's ship, the Lawrence, became separated from the rest, and was so furiously attacked by Barclay's flag-ship, the Detj'oit, that in a short time she was in a sinking condition. Leaving her in charge of a lieutenant, Perry embarked in a small boat, and passing under his enemy's guns, boarded the Niagara, where he hoisted his flag, and renewed the attack with such vigor that by four o'clock in the afternoon every one of the British vessels had surrendered. Few naval victories in history are more notable than that of Lake Erie, won by the genius and heroism of a young man of only twenty-seven. The letter which he sent to General Harrison, commander of the army, from the deck of his triumphant ship, has become immortal : — We have met the enemy, and they are ours, — two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop. Yours with very great respect and esteem, O. H. Perry. Perry won great honors by his victory, Congress voting him thanks, a medal, and the rank of captain. He afterward took an important part in military operations at Detroit, in the battle of the Thames, Canada, and in defense of Baltimore. While in command of a squadron in the West Indies, he was attacked by yellow fever, and died suddenly at Trinidad, in August, 1819. 400 EIGHT-INCH GU.%" AND CARRIAGE OF THE " BALTIMORE." {Built at the IVashington Navy-Yard, of American Steel.) DAVID G. FARRAGUT, THE QREAT UNION NAVAL COIvlMANDER. ONE of the naval heroes of the great civil war Is bettej remembered than David G. Farrao-ut. The fioure of the brave admiral, in the fight in Mobile Bay, stand- - ing in the rigging of the Hartford, with his glass in ■ his hand, directing the movements of the fleet, is one of the most familiar pictures of the war ; and no braver man or better sador than Farragut ever took the deck of a vessel. The naval career of Farragut becran in the War of 1812, when he was a boy only eleven years old. He I ^> -,,««.I«r i. was in that famous battle in the harbor of Valparaiso between the Essex and the British war-vessels Phebe and Cherub, when the two British vessels attacked the Essex while disabled by a sudden squall, and after she had taken refuge in neutral waters. The Essex, her sails blown away and crippled by the storm, was unable to change het position, and lay helpless at the mercy of her enemies' guns. After a bloody battle of two hours and a half, under such fearful odds, the flaof was lowered In such desperate battles as this, which gave to the American navy lasting renown, the naval career of Farragut began. In January, 1862, the government fitted out an expedition for the capture of New Orleans, and put It under Farragut's command. His fleet comprised forty-eight vessels, large and small, and all of wood, as the iron-clad vessels of iater date were not yet developed. The river was defended by Forts Jackson 24 ^ 4or 402 . DAVID G. FARRAGUT. and St. Philip, lying on opposite sides of the Mississippi, about seventy miles below the city ; and many gunboats and rams lay near the forts. Before attempting to pass the forts, Farragut determined to bombard them from his fleet ; and careful preparations were made on all the vessels. It was a grand spectacle when, on the i6th of March, this formidable fleet at last opened fire. The low banks of the river on both sides seemed lined with flame. All day long the earth trembled under the heavy explosions, and by night two thousand shells had been hurled agfainst the forts. The rebels had not been idle during the delays of the previous weeks, but had contrived and constructed every possible instrument of destruction and defense. On the first morning of the bombardment they set adrift a fire-ship made of a huge flatboat piled with lighted pitch-pine cordwood. The blazing mass, however, kept in the middle of the stream, and so passed the fleet with- out inflicting any damage. At night another was sent adrift. Small boats were sent to meet it, and, in spite of the intense heat, grappling Irons were fastened in it, and the mass was towed to the shore and left to burn harmlessly away. Having at last made all the preparations that he could with the means allowed him, and the mortar-boats having accomplished all that was in their power to do for the present, the 26th day of April was fixed for the passage of the forts. The chain across the channel had been cut a few nights before. It was determined to start at two o'clock in the morning, and the evening before Farragut visited his ships for a last interview with the commanders. THE PASSAGE OF THE FORTS. At length, at two o'clock, two lanterns were seen to rise slowly to the mizzen peak of the Hartford. The boatswain's shrill call rung over the water, and the drums beat to quarters. The enemy was on the lookout, and the vessels had scarcely got under way when signal-lights flashed along the batteries. Then a belt of fire gleamed through the darkness, and the next moment the heavy shot came shrieking over the bosom of the stream. All eyes were now turned on the Hartford, as she silently steamed on, — the signal "close action" blazing from her rigging. In the meantime the mortar-boats below opened fire, and the hissing shells, rising in graceful curves over the advancing fleet, dropped with a thunderous sound into the forts above. In a few minutes the advanced vessels opened, firing at the flashes from the forts. The fleet, with full steam on, was soon abreast of the forts, and its rapid broadsides, mingling with the deafening explosions on shore, turned night Into fiery day. While the bombardment was in progress, a fire-raft, pushed by the ram Manassas, loomed through the smoke, and bore straight down on the Hartford. Farragut sheered off to avoid the collision, and in doing so ran aground, when the fire-ship came full against him. In a moment the flames leaped up the rig< THE ATTACK ON THE FORTS. 403 ging and along the sides. There was no panic ; every man was In his place, and soon the hose was manned and a stream of water turned on the flames. The fire was at length got under, and Farragut again moved forward at the head of his column. And now came down the rebel fleet of thirteen gunboats and two iron -clad rams to mingle in the combat. Broadside to broadside, hull crashing against hull, it quickly became at once a gladiatorial combat of ships. The Varima, Captain Boggs, sent five of the Confederate vessels to the bottom one after another, and finally was herself sunk. When the sun rose through the morning bailey's dam ox the red RH'ER. mist, he looked down on a scene never to be forgotten while naval deeds are honored by the nation. There lay the forts, with the Confederate flags still fry- ing. But their doom was sealed. And there, too, driven ashore, wrecked, or captured, were thirteen of the enemy's gunboats, out of the seventeen brought down to assist the forts in resisting the Union fleet. New Orleans was now at Farragut's mercy. Lovell, commanding the Confederate troops in the city, evacuated the place and left it under the control of the mayor. Monroe. Farragut took possession of the city, and raised the national flag on the City Hall, Mint, and Custom House, which were the 404 DAVID G. FARRAGUT. property of the United States. He then turned it over to General Butler, and proceeded with his fleet up the river. THE BATTLE IN MOBILE BAY. In January, 1864, Farragut sailed for Mobile Bay. Morgan and Gaines were the chief forts barring it. Fort Morgan mounted some thirty guns, and Fort Gaines twenty-one. There were three steamers and four rams inside., 'waiting to receive any vessels that might succeed in passing the forts. Batteries lined the shore, and torpedoes paved the bed of the channel. On the ist of March, also, before his preparations for the attack were complete, he saw the Confederate iron-clad \'3.m.Tcnnessce steam up the channel and anchor near the forts. This complicated the situation very much. The contest between wooden vessels on one side, and an iron-clad and strong forts on the other, was so unequal that it was almost foolhardy to enter it. After weeks of waiting, however, the Union iron -clad TeciunseJi at last arrived, and on August 5, 1864, Farragut proceeded to attack the forts. The vessels were arranged two by two, and lashed strongly to- gether. The fleet, with the Brook- lyn ahead, steamed slowly on. and at a quarter to seven the Teciwiseh fired the first gun. Twenty minutes later the forts opened fire, when the Brooklyn replied with two loo-pounder Parrott rifles, and the battle fairly Commenced. Farragut had lashed himself near the maintop of the Hartford, so as to be able to overlook the whole scene. While watching with absorbing anxiety the progress of the fleet through the tremendous fire now concentrated upon it, sud- denly, to his utter amazement, he saw the Brooklyn stop and begin to back. The order to reverse engines passed down through the whole fleet, bringing it to a sudden halt just as it was entering the fiery vorte.x. "What does this mean ? " had hardly passed the lips of Farragut, when he heard the cry, "Tor- pedoes ! The Tecumseh is going down ! " Glancing toward the spot where she lay, he saw only the top of her turrets, which were rapidly sinking beneath the water. Right ahead were the buoys which had turned the Brooklyn back, indi- ADMIRAL DAVID D. PORTER. THE FIGHT IN MOBILE BA Y. 405 eating where torpedoes were supposed to be sunk, ready to lift his ship into the air as they had the Teciimseh. But now Farragut's sailor blood was up. "D the torpedoes!" he shouted ; " go ahead ! " Pointing between the threatening buoys, the order was given to move on, and with the foam dashing from the bows of his vessel, he swept forward, "determined," he said, "to take the chances." Wheeling to the northwest as he kept the channel, he brought his whole broadside to bear on the fort, with tremendous effect. The other vessels following in the wake of the flag-ship one after another swept past the batteries, the crews loudly cheering, and were signaled by Far- ragut to come to anchor. But the officers had scarcely commenced clearing decks, when the Tennessee was seen boldly standing out into the bay, and steer- ing straight for the fleet, with the purpose of attacking it. RAMMING AN IRONCLAD RAM. It was a thrilling moment. There was a fleet of frail wooden vessels, at- tacked by a ram clad in armor impervious to their guns. The moment Farra- gut discovered it, he signaled the vessels to run her down, and, hoisting his own anchor, ordered the pilot to drive the Hartford full on the iron-clad. The Monongahela, under the command of the intrepid Strong, being near the rear of the line, was still moving up the bay when he saw the ram heading for the line. He instantly sheered out, and, ordering on a full head of steam, drove his vessel with tremendous force straight on the iron-clad structure. Wheeling, he again struck her, though he had carried away his own iron prow and cutwater. The Lackawanna came next, and, striking the ram while under full headway, rolled her over on her side. The next moment, down came Farragfut in the Hartford, but just before the vessel struck, the ram sheered, so that the blow was a glancing one, and the former rasped along her iron-plated hull and fell alongside. Recoiling for some ten or twelve feet, the Hartford poured in at that short distance a whole broadside of nine-inch solid shot, hurled with charges of thirteen pounds of powder. The heavy metal, though sent with such awful force, and in such close proximity, made no impression, but broke into fragments on the mailed sides or dropped back into the water. The shot and shell from the Tennessee, on the other hand, went crashing through the wooden sides of the Hartford, strewing her deck with the dead. Farragut now stood off, and began to make a circuit in order to come down again, when the Lackazuanna, which was driving the second time on the mon- ster, by accident struck the Hartford 2i little forward of the mizzen-rhast, and cut her down to within two feet of the water. She was at first thought to be sink- ing, and "The Admiral! the Admiral! Save the Admiral!" rang over the •shattered deck. But Farragut, seeing that the vessel would still float, shouted 4o6 DAVID G. FARRAGUT. out to put on steam, determined to send her, crushed and broken as she was, full on the ram. By this time the monitors had crawled up and were pouring in their heavy shot. The Cliickasaio got under the stern and knocked away the smokestack, while the Ma7ihattan sent one shot clean through the vessel and disabled her stern port shutter with a shell, so that the gun could not be used, while a third carried away the steering gear. Thus, with her steering-chains gone, her smoke- stack shot away, many of her port shutters jammed, the Tennessee stood amid the crowding gunboats like a stag at bay among the hounds. The Ossipee was driving toward her under full headway ; and a little farther off, bearing down on the same errand, were coming the Hartford, Mononoahela, and Lackazvanna. ONE OK THE " MIAM ONOMAH'b " FOUR TEN-INCH I3REECH-L0ADING RIFLES. The fate of the iron-clad was sealed, and her commander hoisted the white flag, but i-.ot until the Ossipee was so near that her commander could not prevent a collision, and his vessel rasped heavily along the iron sides of the ram. He re- ceived her surrender from Commander Johnson — the admiral, Buchanan, having been previously wounded in the leg. This ended the morning's work, and ai ten minutei past ten Farragut brought his fleet to anchor within four miles of Fort Morgan. The loss of the Union iron-clad Tecumseh, with her commander and crew» tempered the exultation over this splendid victory. A torpedo was exploded direcdy under the vessel, almost lifting her out of the water, and blowing a hole in her bottom so large that she sank before her crew could reach the deck. Farragut's impetuous bravery, however, and the picturesque novelty of wooden HIS WELCOME IN NEW YORK. 407 vessels ramming an iron-clad, made this one of the most famous naval battles of the war, and gave to the brave admiral a wide and lasting renown. Officers and men, too, seemed to catch the spirit of the commander, and fouo-ht with the most splendid bravery. Several of the wounded refused to leave the deck, but continued to fight their guns ; others retired and had their wounds dressed, and then returned to their posts. A few days later, after a severe bombardment from the Union fleet both 1 MONUMENT TO ADMIRAL FARRAGUT, AT WASHINGTON. the Confederate forts were surrendered. This completed the Union victory and put the harbor and city of Mobile again under the control of the govern ment. Soon after this, his health demanding some relaxation, Farragut ob- tained leave of absence, and sailed for New York in his flagship, the novi famous Hartfoi^d. At New York he was welcomed with impressive ceremonies, and received the highest testimonials of appreciation of his services to the nation, a number of wealthy men of New York presenting a gift of ^50,000 as a token of their esteem. The rank of vice-admiral was created for him by 4o8 DAVID G. FARRAGUT. Cono-ress. His services were not again required during the war, and he returned to his home at Hastings, on the Hudson. Farragut had just the quahties for a popular hero. Brave almost to the point of recklessness, he was simple and unassuming in appearance and deportment, and kind and genial in manner. A story is told of him that once when traveling in the White Mountains, a man brought his little daughter, at her own urgent request, some fifteen miles to see him, for she would not be content till she had looked on the great admiral. Farragut took the child in his arms, kissed her, and talked playfully with her. He was dressed in citizen's costume, and looked in her eyes very much like any other man, and totally unlike the hero whose praises had been so long ringing over the land. In her innocent surprise, she said, "Why, you do not look like a great general. 1 saw one the other day, and he was covered all over with gold." The admiral laughed, and, to please her, actually took her to his room, and put on his uni- form, when she went away satisfied. •y^^ODEL OP U.S. /^ AN Of' War —-==-- •BuiLT- fOR- E;(hiBIJ • AT- WORLDsFAia JAMKS A. GARFIELD. JAMES A. GARFIELD, cixizEx, sxaxesm:an, president. URING the long, sultry days of the summer of 1881, at almost every newspaper and telegraph office stood a group of people, which sometimes swelled into a great crowd, watching eagerly for the slips of paper which from time to time were posted in a conspicuous place on the front of the building. In the intervals they would gather in little knots and talk together in low tones. To one who did not know what had happened on July 2d, it would have been hard to guess what gathered these waiting crowds, day after day, throughout the land. With intense, foreboding suspense fifty millions of people were watching for the news from the bedside of the President of the United States, who had been stricken down by the bullet of an assassin. Who that lived through that long summer can forget those anxious days and nights ? And when at last the brave struo^o-le for life was ended, and the silent form was borne from the seaside to rest on the shores of Lake Erie, who can forg-et the solemn hush which seemed to prevail everywhere as the tomb opened to receive all that was mortal of the beloved President, James A. Garfield ? To some not well acquainted with Garfield's history, it may seem that the tragic and pathetic circumstances of his illness and death were the chief cause of the universal love and grief which were manifested for him ; but a study of his life will correct this impression. Few public men of our time have had a career which was so gradual and steady a growth ; and few indeed attain to the full, ripe, well-rounded completeness which made him a really great statesman. Steadily, inch by inch, he had worked his way up, never falling back, until the topmost round of the ladder was reached ; and never was success more fully deserved or more bravely won. James Abram Garfield was born in Cuyahoga county, Ohio, on November 19, 1 83 1. He was but two years old when his father died suddenly, leaving his mother with four children, and her only source of support a small farm, encumbered by debt, in the half-cleared forests of northern Ohio. She worked 411 412 JAMES A. GARFIELL. early and late, the children helping her. James had " not a lazy bone in his body." When hardly more than a baby, he picked cherries, planted corn, gathered vegetables, and helped in a hundred ways. He early developed a great aptitude for the use of tools, and as he grew up made an excellent car- penter. There was hardly a barn, shed, or building of any kind put up in the neighborhood but bore the marks of his skill. The money earned by the use of his tools in summer helped to pay for his schooling in the winter. James early developed a great love for books. Stories of battle, tales of adventure, the lives of great men, all such were irresistibly fascinating to him. Two books, Weems's " Life of Marion " and Grimshaw's " Napoleon," stirred -w^"- ^ i>» jf-:^ SdlL^^i TIM lldMl ()| ( \K1 H I D 1 C HII Ull )i O in him a great desire for the military career on which he entered with so much promise in later life ; and stories of the sea at last aroused an irresistible long- ing for a sailor's life. He went to Cleveland and tried to secure employment on one of the lake vessels, but was unsuccessful. The only opening in the line of maritime commerce was on the Ohio and Pennsylvania canal, and James accepted the position of driver, at twelve dollars a month. Such was his capacity and attention to duty that in the first round trip he had learned all there was to be learned on the tow-path. He was promptly promoted from driver to bowsman, and accorded the proud privilege of steering the boat instead of steerinQ- the mules. LIFE ON THE CANAL, 413 During his first trip he fell overboard fourteen times, by actual count. In diis way he contracted malaria, which long remained with him. He could not swim a stroke. One dark, rainy night he again fell into the canal, when no help was at hand, and was saved as by a miracle, the rope at which he caught " kink- ingf " and holding fast while he drew himself on deck. Believino- that he was providentially saved for something better than steering a canal-boat, he returned home, resolved to obtain an education and make a man of himself. EARNING AN EDUCATION. In the winter of 1 849 he attended Geauga Seminary, where he and three other young men " boarded themselves," living on about fifty cents a week each. GARFIELD ON THE TOW-PATH. Here he met a quiet, studious girl, Lucretia Rudolph, the daughter of a Mary- land farmer, who afterward became his wife. He was an intense student. He had an insatiable appetite for knowledge, and would make any sacrifice to obtain it. At the close of the session he worked through the vacation, and also taught a country school, to earn money for the following winter. He was a capital teacher. He stirred a new life and ambition in his scholars, and roused in them an enthusiasm almost equal to his own. In August, 1 85 1, Garfield entered a new school established at Hiram, Portage county, by the religious society to which he belonged, the Disciples of Christ, or " Campbellites." Here he resolved to prepare himself for college. He lived in a room with four other pupils, a.nd studied harder than ever. Wheo 414 JAMES A. GARFIELD. he went to Hiram he had studied Latin only six weeks, and just begun Greek; and was, therefore, Justin a condition to fairly begin the four years' preparatory course ordinarily taken by students to enter college in the freshman class. Yet in three years' time he fitted himself to enter the jjinior class, and at the same time earned his own living, thus crowding six years' study into three, and teaching for support at the same time. After some debate he resolved to go to Williams College, in Berkshire, Massachusetts, and entered there in 1854. Study at Williams was easy for Garfield. He had been used to much harder work at Hiram. His lessons were always perfectly learned. One of the professors called him " the boy who never flunked," and he did much extra reading and studying. In the summer of 1856, after only two years of study, Garfield o^raduated at Williams Collegfe, and returned to his Ohio home. In the autumn he entered Hiram College as a teacher of ancient languages and literature. The next year, at the age of twenty-six, he was made president of the institution. This ofiice he held for five years. Under his management the attendance was doubled ; he raised the standard of scholarship, strengthened its faculty, and inspired everybody connected with it with something of his own zeal and enthusiasm. In 1858 he married his old schoolmate, Miss Rudolph, and they began life in a litde cottage fronting on the grounds of the college. Garfield's political career maybe said to have fairly begun in the campaign of 1857-58, when he made a number of political speeches. In 1859 he was elected to the State Senate of Ohio, and became a noted member of that body. When the war broke out in 1861, and President Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 men. Garfield moved in the Ohio Senate to make 20,000 troops and $3,000,000 the quota of the State. In August Governor Dennison, the famous "war governor" of Ohio, offered him the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 42d Ohio Regiment, which was then being organized. Most of the regiment were old students of Hiram College, so that he would be surrounded in the field by the same faces among whom he had taught. He soon decided to accept the GARFIF.LD AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN. THE KENTUCKY CAMPAIGN. 415 commission. His way of proceeding- to drill his company was characteristic of the teacher as well as the soldier. He made soldiers of wooden blocks, fash- ioned in different forms to represent the officers, and with these blocks he car- ried on with his subordinates games of military tactics, until, when the regiment was ready to go into service, it was pronounced one of the most thoroughly drilled in the whole army. FIGHTING IN KENTUCKY. In December of 1861 Garfield's regiment was ordered Into service in Kentucky and West Virginia. At that time the destiny of Kentucky was still •n doubt. Though much attached to the Union, it was a slave State, and strong HIRAM COLLEGE. Influences were at work to draw it within the vortex of secession. Two Confed- erate armies were marching northward through the State, one under ZoUi- koffer and the other under Humphrey Marshall. Garfield was dispatched aeainst Marshall's forces. He met them on the banks of Middle Creek, a narrow and rapid stream, flowing into the Big Sandy, through the sharp spurs of the Cumberland Mountains. His force amounted to only 1100 men; they met at least 5000, and defeated them. Marshall's force was driven from Kentucky, and made no further attempt to occupy the Sandy Valley. This campaign was conducted under the greatest possible difficulties, and it has received the highest praise from military critics. A.fter his success in Kentucky, Garfield was sent with his regiment to join 4i6 JAMES A. GARFIELD. Grant In Mississippi. He arrived, with the other forces under Buell, just in time to help in the second day's battle at Shiloh, and to turn the tide in favor of the Union army. After this battle he was for some time employed in rebuilding railroads and bridges. In midsummer, however, he was obliged to return home on sick-leave. As soon as he recovered, he was ordered to join General Rose- crans, then in command of the Army of the Cumberland. He was made the commander's chief-of-staff, and acted in this position during the following year. On September 19, 1863, was fought the great battle of Chickamauga, which but for the bravery and steadiness of General Thomas would probably have resulted in the destruction of the Union army. Rosecrans, accompanied by his chief-of-staff, had left the battle-field, and gone hastily to Chattanooga, to provide for the retreat which he then thought inevitable. On reaching Chattanooga, Garfield, at his urgent request, was permitted to return to the battle-field, where he found Thomas still enofaeed in resisting the attack of the Confederate forces. Immediately after his arrival a fresh assault was made, lasting half an hour, when the Confederates finally broke, and abandoned the attack. Garfield remained on the field with General Thomas until night, and accompanied him in his retreat to Chattanooga. Soon after the battle of Chickamauga Garfield was nominated for Congress from the Northern District of Ohio. Almost at the same time he received his promotion to the grade of major-general for his gallant services in the Chatta- nooga campaign. His salary as major-general would be more than double that which he would receive as Congressman ; but he was convinced that he could do the country more service in the latter position, and accordingly took his place in Congress, where he remained until, sixteen years later, he was nominated for President. Garfield's career in Congress was one of steady advancement. At its beginning he was noted as an efficient and original public man. He was exceedingly industrious and attentive to legislative business, and the measures which he originated and advocated in Congress gave him a wide and lasting reputation. In his second term, during the latter part of the war, his financial ability had become so apparent that the Secretary of the Treasury requested the Speaker to make him a member of the Ways and Means Committee, that the country might have the benefit of his ability and experience. Throughout his whole term of service, his influence steadily increased, and when in 1877 Mr. Blaine was transferred from the House to the Senate, Garfield was by common consent made the leader of the Republican party in the House. In 1880 Garfield was nominated and elected United States Senator by the Ohio Legislature, and on June loth of the same year he was nominated at Chicago for the Presidency. The meeting of the Republican National Convention in Chicago, in June^ THE CHICAGO CONVENTION. 417 1880, was one of the most memorable in the history of the party. The popu- larity of General Grant had been immensely increased by the honors showered upon him by all nations in his trip around the world, from which he had recently returned ; and his powerful supporters, Conkling of New York, Cameron of Pennsylvania, and Logan of Illinois, were bent upon nominating him for a third term. His great rival was James G. Blaine, whose popularity was almost a? great as that of Grant ; and Senators Sherman and Edmunds were also strongly supported, especially by those who disliked the "third term" idea. Garfield was himself a delegate from Ohio. Sherman was the man of his choice, and he worked with all his might to secure his nomination. For a full week the convention continued in session. Thirty-five ballots were cast without a majority for any one of the candidates. On the morning of the last day the thirtieth ballot resulted in 306 votes for Grant; 279 for Blaine ; 120 for Sherman ; ^iZ f^'' Washburne ; 11 for Edmunds ; 4 for Windom ; and 2 for Garfield. Nothing could chano-e the vote o o of Grant's famous " '^06 ; " but neither could the best efforts of his friends in- crease the ranks of that faithful band ; and 378 was the number required for a nomi- nation. It became evident also that Blaine could not be nominated, although his sup- porters were almost as steady as those of Grant. His vote, which on the first ballot was 284, remained nearly the same until the last day. Evidently the vote of those opposed to Grant must be massed upon some other candidate. Who that candidate was did not appear until the thirty-fourth ballot, when 1 7 votes were cast for Garfield. As soon as this result was announced, the end of the long struggle was foreseen. On the next ballot his vote Increased to 50, and on the thirty-sixth and last, nearly all the delegates except Grant's Immovable 306 came over to Garfield with a rush. He received 399 votes, which made him the choice of the convention for President. Garfield's opponent in the canvass was General Winfield S. Hancock, one' of the bravest soldiers of the civil war, who had been wounded at the great battle of Gettysburg. The tariff question was the chief Issue of the campaign ; and on this and similar questions of national policy Garfield was admirably equipped and perfectly at nome ; while to General Hancock, whose training HON. JOHN SHERMAN. 4i8 JAMES A. GARFIELD. was altogether that of a soldier, they were new and unfamiliar. After an active and ably-fought contest, Garfield was elected by a vote of 214, to 155 for his competitor. Gariield's administration began with war, — political war, — war with the elements in his own party which had supported Grant at the Chicago conven- tion, and which now transferred the contest to the Senate. So peculiar was this well remembered struggle, and so far-reaching in its effects, that the story de- serves to be briefly told. The very first question that met Garfield on his accession was that of appointments. Mr. Conkling, the senior senator from New York, had been the chief and most determined advocate of Grant's nomination. By the practice known as the "courtesy of the Senate," it was customary for that body to decline to confirm lominations made by the Presi- lent to offices in any State vhich were distasteful to the A-nators from that State. In iiaking nominations for New \'ork offices the President had in nost cases named men unobjec-. ionable to Senator Conkling' uut following these was one of William H. Robertson to be col- lector of customs at New York, which was especially obnoxious to him. Judge Robertson had been one of the New York dele- gates to the Chicago convention, and had led in organizing the final ''bolt" to Garfield. An effort was made to get the President to withdraw this nomina- tion ; but he declined. Mr. Conkling then brought about an arrangement with the Democratic senators by which all nominations opposed by a senator from the nominee's State should "lie over" without action, but others should be confirmed. The effect of this was to force Mr. Robertson's nomination to go over until the following December. With this result Mr. Conkling was highly pleased, for he had succeeded in driving the senators into a support of him without making an open rupture between them and the President. Mr. Conk iing, it seemed that nig-ht, had the best of it. CHESTER kTHUR, GARFIELD'S SUCCESSOR. THE ASSASSINATION. 41^ The President, however, was not yet beaten. With magnificent pluck, that was hailed by the people everywhere with applause, he dealt Mr. Conkling a fatal blow. The next morning. May 5th, all the nominations that were pleasing to Mr. Conkhng were withdrawn ; that of Judge Robertson was not. This defined the issue sharply, and obliged senators to choose between the President and the New York senator. They declined to follow Mr. Conkling, and Rob- ertson's nomination was confirmed. Then Mr. Conklinof and his colleague. Mr. Piatt, in the most sensational manner resigned their seats in the Senate, evidently believing that they would be promptly re-elected, and thus secure a "vindication " of their course from their own State. But they reckoned without their host. The fight was now transferred to Albany ; but Mr. Conkling's power over the New York Legislature was gone. Public opinion sustained the President. The two senators resorted to every expedient known to politics to secure their re-election, but their efibrts were in vain ; Messrs. Miller and Lapham were chosen to fill the vacant seats, and the two ex-senators were allowed to remain in private life. But before this result was reached, and while the io^noble strufjcrle was still oroinof on in the New York Legislature, the great tragedy occurred which plunged the whole country into deep sorrow. THE TRAGEDY OF 1 88 1. Saturday, July 2, 1881, was a fair, hot midsummer day. The inmates of the White House were astir early. The President was going to Massachusetts to attend the commencement exercises at his old college at Williamstown, and afterward to take a holiday jaunt through New England, accompanied by several members of the Cabinet and other friends. His wife, who was at Long Branch, New Jersey, just recovering from a severe attack of malarial fever, was to join him at New York. He had looked forward with almost boyish delight to his trip, and was in high spirits as he and Secretary Blaine drove off to the railway station. There was no crowd about. Most of those who were to take the train had already gone on board. Among the few persons in the waiting-room was a slender, middle-aged man, who walked up and down rather nervously, occasion- ally looking out of the door as if expecting some one. There was nothing about him to attract special notice, and no o.ne paid much attention to him. When President Garfield and Mr. Blaine entered, he drew back, took a heavy revolver from his pocket, and, taking deliberate aim, fired. The ball struck the President on the shoulder. He turned, surprised, to see who had shot him. The assassin recocked his revolver and fired aeain, and then turned to flee. The President fell to the floor, the blood gushing from a wound in his side. In a moment all was confusion and horror. Secretary Blaine sprang after the assassin, but, seeing that he was caught, turned again to the President. 25 420 JAMES A. GARFIELD. The shock had been great, and he was very pale. A mattress was brought, his tall form was lifted tenderly into an ambulance, and he was swiftly borne to the Executive Mansion. His first thought was for his wife — the beloved wife of his youth, just recovering from sickness, expecting in a few hours to meet him. How would she bear the tidings of this blow ? "Rockwell," he said, faintly, to a friend, "I want you to send a message to * Crete ' " (the pet name for his wife, Lucretia). " Tell her I am seriously hurt — how seriously I cannot yet say. I am myself, and hope she will come to me soon. I send my love to her." During the dictation of the dispatch, Dr. Bliss and several other physi- cians arrived. A hasty in- spection de- monstrated that the Presi- dent was ter- ribly wounded. A s w i f t train brought Mrs. Garfield to her hus- band's side that evening. The persons present in the sick-room re- tired to allow Mrs. Garfield to meet her husbandalone, as he had requested They remained together only five minutes ; but the effect of this brief interview was soon seen in the rallying of the almost dying man. At the end of that time the doctors were again admitted, and theri began the long struggle for life, with its fluctuations between hope and dread, which lasted for almost three months. Just after Mrs. Garfield's arrival there was a sudden collapse which seemed to be the end, and the family of the President were hastily summoned to his bedside; but, to the surprise of every- one, the crisis passed, and for three weeks he seemed to improve. Then came a turn for the worse, and from that time the President lost ground. The hot summer days, hard to bear even for those in full health, wasted and weakened GARFIELD'S ASSASSINATION. TFJE FUNERAL TRAIN. 421 him terribly. He sank steadily ; and it was seen that unless relief from the intense heat could be had, he would inevitably die within a few days. It was decided to remove him to Elberon, on the ocean shore, near Long Branch, New Jersey ; and on September 7th, accompanied by his family and the members of the cabinet, he was borne by a swift special train northward to the seaside. A summer cottage had been offered for his use, and there for two anxious weeks lay the man who, it may be truly said, had become The pillar of a people's hope, The centre of a world's desire. The cooling breezes of the seaside brought some relief, and the change no doubt prolonged his life ; but it could not be saved. In the night of September 19th, almost without warning, the end came ; the feeble flame of life, so anxiously watched and cherished, flickered a moment, and then went out in the darkness. The President's body was borne back to Washington, where it lay in state, viewed by great throngs of mourning people ; then it was taken westward to Cleveland, and laid in the tomb by the shores of Lake Erie, almost in sight of his old home. The journey was one long funeral pageant. For almost the entire distance the railway tracks were lined with crowds of people, who, with uncovered heads, stood in reverent silence as the train passed. Not since the day when that other dead President, the great Lincoln, was borne to his last resting-place, had such an assembly been gathered ; and the love and grief which followed Garfield to his o-rave are the best tribute to the worth of his character. Five months later, in the hall of the House of Representatives at Washing- ton, amid such a throng as that chamber has seldom seen. Secretary Blaine delivered his eulogy of the dead President ; and from that splendid and pathetic address we take the concluding words, which will fitly close this brief sketch : — Great in life, he was surpassingly great in death. . . Through days of deadly languor, through weeks of agony that was not less agony because silently borne, with clear sight and calm courage, he looked into his open grave. What blight and ruin met his anguished eyes, whose lips may tell! — what brilliant broken plans, what baffled high ambitions, wnat sundering of strong, warm manhood's friendships, what bitter rending of sweet household ties ! Behind him a proud, expect- ant nation, a great host of sustaining friends, a cherished and happy mother, wearing the full, rich honors of her early toils and tears; the wife of his youth, whose whole life lay in his; the little boys, not yet emerged from childhood's day of frolic ; the fair young daughter ; the sturdy sons just springing into closest companionship, claiming every day and every day rewarding a father's love and care ; and in his heart the eager, rejoicing power to meet all demand. Before him, desolation and great darkness ! And his soul was not shaken. His countrymen were thrilled with instant, profound, and universal sympathy. Masterful in his mortal weakness, he became the centre of a nation's love, enshrined in the prayers of a world. But all the love and all the sympathy could not share with him his suffering. He trod the wine-press alone. With unfaltering front he faced deatiu 422 JAMES A. GARFIELD. With unfailing tenderness he took leave of life. Above the demoniac hiss of the assassin's bullet he heard the voice of God. With simple resignation he bowed to the Divine decree. As the end drew near, his early craving for the sea returned. The stately mansion of power had been to him the Avearisome hospital of pain, and he begged to be taken from its prison walls, from its oppressive, stifling air, from its homelessness and hopelessness. Gently, silently, the love of a great people bore the pale sufferer to the longed for healing of the sea, to live or to die, as God should will, within sight of its heaving billows, within sound of its manifold voices. With wan^ fevered face tenderly lifted to the cooling breeze, he looked out wistfully upon the ocean's changing wonders ; on its fair sails, \f hitening in the morning light ; on its restless waves, rolling shoreward to break and die beneath the noonday sun; on the red clouds of evening, arching low to the hori- zon ; on the serene and shining pathway of the stars. Let us think that his dying eyes read a mystic meaning which only the rapt and parting soul may know. Let us believe that in the snence of the receding world he heard the great waves breaking on a further shore, and felt already upon hi* wa^ited brow the breath of the eternal morning. TABLET IN THE WAITING-ROOM OF THE RAILWAY STATION WHERE GARFIELD WAS SHOT. SAMUEL J. TILDEN. SAMUEL J. TILDEN, THE GREAT REKORNl GOVERNOR. N 1876, the great Centennial Year of the RepubHc, occurred an event unprecedented in our history, and so portentous and alarminof that for a time it threatened civil war and the destruction of our government. This was the disputed presidential contest of Hayes against Tilden, which was finally settled by the Electoral Commission, which decided the election in favor of Mr. Hayes. Mr. Tilden had received a large majority of the popular vote, and he and his supporters sincerely believed that he was duly and legally elected ; and it is not too much to say that his self- command and his patriotic efforts to quiet public excitement and promote acquiescence in the decision of the commis- sion went far to save the country from anarchy and possible war. Samuel Jones Tilden was born February 9, 18 14. in Columbia county, New York, — one of the counties lying between the Hudson and the western border of Massachusetts. He was a born politician. From boyhood he took a keen interest in political and economic questions, studied them thor- oughly, and discussed them eagerly. Near the home of his boyhood lived Martin Van Buren, — the " Sao-e of Kinderhook," as he was called, — the sue- cessor of Jackson, and one of the ablest political leaders of his time. For Van Buren young Tilden conceived a profound admiration, and throughout his whole career that shrewd statesman was his model. When only eighteen, he was so stirred by the political discussions of his elders, in the hot campaign of 1832, that he wrote an "Address to the People," a shrewd and forcible appeal on the pending issues, which so struck Mr. Van Buren that he advised that it should be published in the newspapers. This was done, and its ability was so marked' that it was attributed to Van Buren himself, and he was at last obliged to deny being its author. Tilden, also, when only twenty-three, appeared suddenly one day on the platform to answer a speech of Senator Tallmadge, an old and prac- ticed politician ; and so effective was his impromptu reply that it was greeted with wild applause by friends and foes alike. His interest in politics, and his 425 426 SAMUEL J. TILDEN. ability both as a statesman and a practical campaign manager, continued and increased to the end of his life. After completing- his college course, Tilden studied law. and was admitted to the bar in 1841, beginning a long career of uninterrupted success and grow- ing fame. He was a " born lawyer," no less than a born politician. He had a genius for analysis, an insight into motives, an ability to untangle and make clear what was intricate or perplexed, which is possessed by very few. These qualities he exhibited in a high degree in the Flagg contested election case, in 1856. Flagg, the Democratic candidate for Comptroller of New York city, had 20,313 votes, and Giles, his opponent, had 20,134. Giles contested the election, and brought witnesses who swore that in one ward, which gave Flagg 316 votes and Giles 186, the numbers had been transposed on the return-sheet, and that the vote was really 186 for Flagg and 316 for Giles. The tally-sheet of "straight" votes had disappeared — conveniently for the prosecution ; and the tally-sheets of split votes corroborated the testimony of their witnesses. There was no evidence to be had but that offered by the prosecution. The defence seemed to be absolutely helpless. But Tilden took the remaining tally-sheets, and spent the night in working over them ; and by a process of reasoning from them and the " straight" ballots cast, he was able to actually reconstruct the missing tallies, with absolutely certain proof that the transposition claimed was impossi- ble. In his opening speech he gave his astounded opponents the first notion of the evidence which he had built up, seemingly from nothing, to destroy their case : — If, by a violent blow (he said), I should break out the corner of this table, and split a piece off, the fractured and abraded fibers of the wood would be left in forms so peculiar that, though all human ingenuity might be employed to fashion a piece that would fit in the place from which the fragment had been broken, it could not be done. Those things that are the work of God are so much superior m texture to anything we can do. that when they are broken up our ingenuity can- not restore them. He then placed in the hands of the court and jury printed copies of his reconstructed tallies, and of all the regular tickets, and went over them step by step, by which process they were enabled to perceive and demonstrate, each for himself, the impossibility of the alleged transposition. Within fifteen minutes after the case was submitted to the jury, they returned with a verdict in his favor. Mr. Tilden' s wonderful powers of perception and analysis gave him great success in the management of legal business of great corporations, where intri- cate accounts and statistics, and the conflict of many diffei-ent interests, hid and confused the real questions. So able was he in rescuing them from ruinous litio^ation, reoreanizine their administration, and re-arranoinor their affairs, that it is said that more than half the great railway companies between the Hudson THE ''TWEED RINGr 42; and Missouri rivers have at some time been his clients. In this practice he acquired both extensive fame and a large fortune. But it was as a reformer in politics that Mr. Tilden acquired his greatest THE STATUE OF LIBERTY IN NEW YORK HARBOR. and most lasting fame. In 1869 the " Tweed ring " of thieves and adventurers had secured the absolute control of New York city. To illustrate their power over the city finances, it may be mentioned that at one meeting of the Board of Special Audit, three men ordered the payment of over six million dollars, hardly 428 SAMUEL J. TILDEN. ten per cent, of which In value was reahzed by the city. Nearly fifteen millions of dollars in fraudulent bills against the city were paid in a single day ! The thieves had so securely intrenched themselves that they defied any one to dis- lodq-e them. " What are you going to do about it? " was Tweed's famous reply to criticism. But there was one man who knew what to do about it. A combination of citizens was formed to attack the ring, and to this work Mr. Tilden gave his best powers. By obtaining from banks the checks which had been paid, and comparing them with accounts in the Comptroller's office, he was able to lay bare die details of the conspiracy. He proved that two-thirds of the whole amount GENERAL VIEW OF THE NEW YORK CITY HALL. of bills audited had been divided among public officers and their accomplices, and was able to show what amount of public plunder was in the hands of each. With the proofs thus furnished the ring was at length broken up, its power destroyed, and the most prominent of the thieves brought to justice. Tweed fled to Europe, was brought back, and died miserably In prison. In consequence largely of Tiiden's good work In the overthrow of the Tweed ring, he was elected, in 1874, Governor of New York. In this position he soon found work ready to his hand In the exposure and overthrow of the •♦ Canal ring," a body of corrupt men who had secured control of the Erie and Champlain canals, and by a system of immense expenditures and false accounts THE DISPUTED ELECTION. 429 had robbed die State of large sums. Tilden's vigorous efforts resulted in over- throwing the ring, recovering large amounts of stolen money, and completely reformine the whole svstem of canal administration and manao^ement. Tilden had now gained a most enviable position. By his great reforms he had overthrown two powerful "rings," had reduced State taxation nearly one- half, and as Governor of the ereatest State of the Union he stood at the head of the Democratic party, with a national fame as a reformer and a statesman. It was natural that, in 1876, all eyes should have turned to him as the man to head the Democratic ticket in the coming election. He was nominated by the Democratic Nadonal Convention at St. Louis in June, 1876, amid great enthu- siasm. The campaign of 1876 was most ably conducted. Mr. Tilden brought into> the contest his unsurpassed sagacity and shrewdness as a political manager, and the result was astounding to his opponents. For some days after the elec- tion there seemed no doubt of his complete triumph. But soon it appeared that in the States of Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida, where the colored vote was a principal factor, the result was disputed. If the Republican candi- date secured all of these three States it would give him 185 electoral votes, or just one more than Mr. Tilden would have. It soon became evident that there would be two sets of returns from these States, and then the question would be, Which set shall be received and counted? The Senate was Republican, the House Democratic. Either House could, by objecting to a return, put a stop to the count before Congress, and thus the country would drift on into anarchy. The excitement was intense. Finally, it was proposed to establish an Electoral Commission of fifteen members, — three Republican and two Democratic sena- tors, three Democratic and two Republican representatives, and five justices of the Supreme Court, two of whom should be Republican and two Democratic \ and these fourteen members were to choose the fifteenth, who, it was expected, would be Judge David Davis, of Illinois, who was classed as an independent. Thus the commission would be evenly divided politically, and yet there could be no tie. To this commission was to be submitted the returns from any dis- puted State, and their- decision was to be final. In spite of opposition, the bill creating the commission was passed ; and' then occurred one of the triflinof accidents which sometimes decide the fate of nations. Judge Davis was elected to the Senate, and resigned from the Supreme, bench. He was thus disqualified to sit on the commission, and Justice Bradley, a Republican, was chosen the fifteenth member. In every case of dispute, the commission decided by a party vote — eight to seven — to count the Republican returns. The three doubtful States were thus all given to the Republican can- didate. The count was completed only two days before March 4th ; and thus, by the narrowest possible majority, Mr. Hayes was seated in the executive chair. 430 SAMUEL J. TJLDEN. Never did Mr. Tilden appear to better advantage than during this exciting contest He was entirely convinced of his election ; he had millions of sup- oorters ; a word from him would have precipitated anarchy. It is to his lasting honor that, at that critical mo- ment, his every word and act was such as to preserve peace and order, even at the expense of the Presidency. After the contest of 1876, Mr. Tilden retired from public life. In both 1880 and 1884 the greatest pressure was brought upon him to again accept the nomination for the Presidency ; but this he firmly resisted, main- taining that by long and arduous service he had earned the right to retirement. The last work of his life was a plan for a great public library, to found which he left by his will the bulk of his laroe fortune. His beneficent design was frustrated, howevei by legal flaws in his will, whicb his relations successfully con tested, thus depriving him of the monument which his noble purpose ana use- ful life deserved. He died in New York on August 4 ib56. RUTHERFORO BURCHARD HAYES. TAMES G. BLAINB. JAMES G. BLAINE, i*HE: BRILLIANT AND SUCCKSSKUL STATESMAN. HE close of the great civil war of 1861 marked a new era "■■^ in American politics. The nation which was then restored ^ to the people was a new nation. Freed from the blight ; of slavery, the country began to grow and expand with a \ rapidity which was absolutely startling. The South and West especially moved forward with giant strides. The permanence of the government being assured, the ques- ^ ^^ ^j tions of the hour became those of reconstrucdon and paci- f'T ' -'^"j ficadon, of the rights of the freedmen, of internal peace 1 -^^ -..-_.:>^ and security, of foreign and domestic commerce, of tariffs and finance. Of the many able men who won their fame in the period since the war, there is none more prominent nor more widely admired and beloved than James G. Blaine. Two States of the Union claim Blaine as a son. During most of his man- diood and later life he lived in Maine ; but he was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, and the latter State always cherished for him the warmest affec tion, giving him in the presidential election of 1884 a popular majority unprece- dented in the history of the State. He was, however, familiarly known as " The Man from Maine," and by that name will live in the memory of the people with that other great leader, Henry Clay, with whom he has often been <:ompared. His life began on January 31, 1830. His father, Ephraim Blaine, was a. farmer and justice of the peace, v/hose fortunes had become impaired by too generous living and lack of thrift. James was a healthy, happy, intelligent boy, showing, even in early childhood, some of the traits which afterward dis tingulshed him as a man. His courage and pugnacity are illustrated by a story told of him at that time. A well was being dug near the house, and little James, then three or four years old, was led by curiosity to lean over and peer down into the "big hole." One of the workmen, fearing that he would fall in, tried to frighten him away by making faces and glaring at him, and making threatening gestures with a shovel. But little Jim was not so easily scared. To him it was a case for fighting, not for running. Picking up clods from 433 434 JAMES G. BLAINE. the heap of dirt by the well, he began to heave them in upon the enemy. This vigorous bombardment was more than the workman had bargained for ; he feared that stones would follow next, and called for help. The boy's mother heard him, and came and led the pugnacious little fellow away. When Blaine was about eleven, he lived for a time at Lancaster, Ohio, with his uncle, Thomas Ewing, then Secretary of the Treasury, — the same large- hearted statesman who a few years before had taken into his family young William T. Sherman, the boy who was to become one of the ereat o-enerals of the civil war. Mr. Ewing's home was a resort of statesmen and politicians, MR. BLAINE'S BIRTHPLACE, WEST BROWNSVILLE, PA. and in that atmosphere no doubt the mind of young Blaine received a strong impulse toward a political career. In 1843 he returned to his father's home, and entered Washington College, at Washington, Pennsylvania. He was an ardent student, and made rapid progress. Logic and mathematics were his favorite studies, but he also delighted in history and literature. He was always a leader among the boys, especially in debate. It is related that on one occasion, when he was ambitious to be elected president of the literary society, he committed " Cushing's Manual" to memory in one evening, in order to qualify himself on parliamentary practice He had also a strong love for history, and it is said that he could recite from- memory many of the chapters in " Plutarch's Lives." REMOVAL TO MAINE. 435 From Washington College Mr. Blaine went to Blue Lick Springs, Ken- tucky, where he became a teacher in the Western Military Institute, in which there were about 450 boys. A retired army officer, who was a student there, relates that Mr. Blaine was a thin, handsome, earnest young man, with the same fascinating^ manners that were characteristic of him throus^hout his whole career. He was popular with the boys, who trusted him and made friends with him from the first. He knew the full name of every one, and discerned his shortcomings and his strong points. While teaching here, Mr. Blaine met Miss Harriet Stanwood, who belonged to an excellent Maine family, and a few months afterward they were married. In 1 85 1 Mr. Blaine returned to Pennsylvania, bringing with him an intense hatred of slavery, which greatly influenced his future career. Going to Phila- delphia, he became a teacher in the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind. There he had charge of the higher classes in literature and science. An interesting memorial of his work in Philadelphia is still to be seen, in the shape of the journal of the institution, which bears the inscription : — JOURNAL OF THE PENNSYLVANIA INSTITUTION FOR THE INSTRUCTION OF THE BLIND, FROM ITS FOUNDATION. Compiled from Official Records BY JAMES G. BLAINE, 1854. After two years work in teaching the blind, Mr. Blaine yielded to his wife's desire that he should make Maine his home. The young couple moved, in 1853, to Augusta. In the following year Mr. Blaine entered into partnership with Joseph Baker, a prominent lawyer of Augusta, and together they purchased The Kennebec Joiunial, of which Mr. Blaine at once became the editor, his ready intelligence and trenchant style being peculiarly adapted to this field. The Journal was a weekly paper, one of the organs of the Whig party, and exer- cised considerable political influence. Mr. Blaine speedily made his impress, and within three years he was a master spirit in the politics of the State. When the old Whig party went to pieces, Mr. Blaine joined hands with Governor Anson P. Morrill in organizing the Republican party in the Pine Tree State. He entered into this work with all his energy, and his earnest and incisive discussion in. The Journal, of the rising conflict between freedom and ^36 JAMES G. BLAINE. slavery attracted wide attention. In 1856 he was a delegate to the first Repub- lican National Convention, held in Philadelphia, which nominated General Fre- mont for President. On his return home he made a report at a public meeting. His speech on this occasion, begun with hesitation and embarrassment, but advancing to confident and fervid utterance, first illustrated his capacity on the platform, and gave him standing as a public speaker. In 1858 Blaine was elected to the Maine House of Representatives, and re-elected in 1859 and i860. During the last two years he was chosen Speaker ilursE, KROWNSVtT.I.E. PA., WHF.RE MR. BI,.-\TNE REGAN HIS EIiUCATION. of the House, and there began his training for the higher post in Congress which the future held for him. He distinoruished himself both on the floor and in the chair. He was a hard worker, a fine speaker, and a dignified and im- partial presiding officer. He became very popular in his State, and was seen to be a " rising man." In i860 Mr. Blaine was a delegate to the memorable convention at Chicago which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the presidency ; and when he returned, he took an active part in the campaign. He was in great demand in his own State as a political speaker. Whenever a call was made upon the State HIS CONGRESSIONAL CAREER. 437 Committee for help in a local contest, the demand was almost sure to be, "Send us Blaine !" In 1862 Blaine was elected a member of the famous Thirty-eighth Con- gress ; and then began that long career in the national legislature which made him one of the best known and most popular public men of the United States. He took his seat in 1863, in the midst of the civil war. He was a strong admirer and earnest supporter of the great President, who depended upon him for confidential information and aid reofardinof his own State. In the Presidential election of 1864, which for a time was very doubtful, Lincoln sent Blaine on a special mission to Maine, to ascertain if there was any adverse movement there. As far back as 1858, at the time of the Douglas debates, Blaine had prophesied in his paper that Douglas would beat Lincoln in that contest, but that Lincoln would defeat Douglas for the Presidency in i860. This prophecy, copied in Illinois papers, was noticed by Lincoln, who cut it out and kept it in his mem- orandum book until long after. It naturally led to a confidential friendship between the two men. The election of 1864 resulted in the re-election of Blaine to Congress, and he took a prominent part in the difficult legislation of the " reconstruction era," and the stormy times which followed the war. In 1869, Schuyler Colfax, who had been elected Vice-President, was thus transferred to the Senate chamber, and Blaine was chosen to succeed him as Speaker of the House, and was re-elected in 187 1 and 1873. He was one of the most popular officers who ever filled that exacting position, being elected for each of his three terms without opposition. He was always courteous and fair, and especially quick in the discharge of his functions. It was one of the siorhts of the time for visitors to watch Mr. Blaine facing a standinof House to count the ayes and noes. With the head of his gavel clasped In his right hand, using the handle as a pointer, he swept it from right to left so rapidly that it was hardly possible to believe that he had counted the throng correctly ; but if his announcement of the vote was disputed, the count of the tellers always verified his declaration. By the election in 1874 the Democrats secured a majority in the House of Representatives, and of course Mr. Blaine's term as Speaker came to an end. This election really marked a new period in political history. During the civil war and the years following it,- the Republican party had held almost undis- puted supremacy. It had re-established the power of the national government had freed the negro, and had secured the adoption of the amendments to the Constitution. But its long lease of power had brought about the inevitable result. Base men had attached themselves to the party for corrupt purposes, and tried to shield themselves under the cloak of patriotism and loyalty to the Union. When threatened with exposure and punishment, such men of course sought to make the party responsible for their deeds, and to involve it in the 438 JAMES G. BLAINE. consequences. The result was the " era of scandal " of Grant's second adminis- tration, when the "Credit Mobilier," the "Whiskey Ring" frauds, and the Belknap episode were brought to light. A passion for "investigation" fol- lowed. Every prominent public man who manifested any unwillingness to have his private affairs made public fell under suspicion. Mr. Blaine was too shining a mark to be missed. He was accused of having been bribed with a gift of Little Rock and Fort Smith railroad bonds, by the Union Pacific Railroad Com- pany, when Speaker of the House, to give a decision favoring that company. He was accused of stealine letters — his own letters — which would have incrim- inated him ; and for years he was pursued with charges of various sorts of cor- if' '> \V\bjHINGTON AND JEFFERSON COLLEGE, WASHINGTON, PA. ruption. These charges he completely disproved on the floor of the House, showing that he had bought the bonds, and had lost over $20,000 by their purchase. After meeting and disproving the slanders against him, he said :— " Having now noticed the two charges'that have been so extensively circu lated, I shall refrain from calling the attention of the House to any others thai may be invented. To quote the language of another, ' I do not propose to make my public life a perpetual and uncomfortable flea-hunt, in the vain efforts to run down stories which have no basis in truth, which are usually anonymous, and whose total refutation brings no punishment to those who have been guilty of originating them.' " INGERSOLLS SPEECH. 439 The first charge against him, however, served its purpose. It was made a short time before the Republican convention of 1876, when Blaine was the most prominent candidate for the Presidential nomination. For several weeks Mr. Blaine was kept busy, under the pressure of excitement, repelling the attacks upon him, and at the same time attending to his public duties. One intensely hot Sunday in June, three days before the meeting of the convention, while on his way to church, he suffered a sunstroke, and for some days was greatly prostrated. This and the various char^res which had been brougrht were made use of aofainst o o o him before the convention. Nevertheless, his vote grew steadily larger until the very end, and he was only defeated by a combination of all the other delegates upon Hayes, on the final ballot, which stood, Hayes 384, Blaine 351, and Bristow 21. One of the episodes which made the con- vention of 1876 memorable was the speech of Robert G. Ingersoll, made in presenting Blaine's name as a candidate. The vast audi- ence was stirred to the highest pitch of enthu- siasm by Ingersoll's vindication ol the great leader. Referring to Blaine's dramatic defense and his sudden attack on his accusers, on the floor of Congress, Ingersoll said : — " Like an armed warrior, like a plumed knight, James G. Blaine marched down the halls of the American Con- gress and threw his shining lance full and fair against the brazen forehead of the defamers of his country and the maligners of his honor. For the Republican party to desert this gallant leader now is as though an army should desert their general upon the field of battle." GEORGE F. EDMUNDS. This speech gave to Blaine the title of the " Plumed Knight," — a name which clung to him to the end of his life. The winter of 1876-77 was the time of the great struggle over the dis- puted election, which was fip lly settled by the creation of the Electoral Commission. Mr. Blaine was not in favor of the commission, believing that the regular machinery of government was adequate to meet the situation ; but he did not strongly oppose it, and rejoiced at the peaceful settlement of the contest. During the winter Blaine was elected to the United States Senate by the Legislature of Maine, by a unanimous vote. This unprecedented honor, in which his political opponents in the Legislature all joined, showed what had been the effect of the slanders against him upon those who knew him best. He took his seat in the Senate at the special session called in October, 1877. 26 440 JAMES G. BLAINE. As the close of Hayes' administration approached, it became evident that Blaine would again be a leading candidate for the Presidential nomination. It was in this year that the famous effort was made by the supporters of General Grant to nominate him for a third term. Mr. Blaine was the most prominent candidate in opposition to Grant ; but beside him there were Sherman, Edmunds, and Washburne, who had considerable strength. The proceedings of that memorable convention, resulting in the nomination of Garfield, are more fully told elsewhere. (See James A. Garfield.) Blaine became Garfield's Secre- tary of State, upon his inauguration in March, 1881. Almost immediately upon the accession of the new admin- istration the famous contest over the government patronage in New York began, and did not end until after that fatal day of July 2, 1 88 1, when the bullet of the assassin laid Garfield low. During the long, hot days of that weary summer, Blaine's bur- den was heavy and hard to bear. The President's disability threw much extra work upon the Sec- retary of State, and when at last the drama closed at the tomb of Garfield in Cleveland, Blaine was much worn down. He continued in office for a time, however, at President Arthur's request, and in order to accomplish a great measure on which he had set his heart. This was the inviting of ?11 the American Republics to join in a Peace Congress at Washington, for the purpose of strengthening amicable relations, and especially to establish a tribunal of arbitration for the settlement of disputes without war. Differences )f opinion, however, separated him from the administration, and in December, (881, Mr. Blaine resigned his portfolio and retired to private life. On February 27, 1882, Blaine delivered in the hall of the House of Rep- resentatives his great eulogy upon President Garfield, one of the finest and most pathetic orations ever heard within that Chamber. The audience assem- bled comprised the members of both Houses of Congress, the President and his Cabinet, the Supreme Court, the representatives of foreign govern- GROVER CLEVELAND. HIS EULOGY ON GARFIELD. 441 ments, and great numbers of distinguished men and women. It was a beautiful winter day ; business houses everywhere were closed, and all through the morning hours throngs of people traversed the avenues converging on the Capitol. The touching words in which he bore tribute to his dead friend were listened to with breathless attention by the great throng which filled the house, and when he pronounced that passage of sublime beauty with which the oratioQ closed, the solemn hush which fell upon the great assembly deepened the impression felt by every one present, that he had listened to one of the greatest oratorical efforts of history. THE BLAINE RESIDENCE AT AtTGITSTA, MAINE. When the Republican National Convention of 1884 met, Blaine's nomina tion was almost a foregone conclusion. The only prominent candidate beside Blaine was President Arthur, whose administration had been so acceptable to the: country as to produce a considerable movement in his favor. On the fourth ballot, however, .Blaine was triumphantly nominated. General John A. Logan was nominated for Vice-President, and the convention adjourned. Into the campaign of 1884 Blaine threw himself with intense enthusiasnv Strong efforts were made to defeat him upon personal grounds. These que«> 442 JAMES G. BLAINE. tions he refused to discuss, throwing his whole strength into the issues of the campaign. He took strong ground in favor of protection, and made that ques- tion the chief basis of his argument. It is nearly certain that he would have been triumphantly elected but for an accident occurring at the eleventh hour, which no care could possibly have foreseen or provided against. This is what has passed into history as the " Burchard incident." In the last week of the campaign, Mr. Blaine was visited at his hotel by a large gathering of clergymen of different denominations, who assembled for the purpose of making a formal address to him. After adopting resolutions stating their reasons for supporting Mr. Blaine, a committee was appointed to introduce him to the meeting. The entire body of clergymen went out into the main corridor of the hotel, and presently Mr. Blaine came down the stairway on the arm of Dr. Kinof, with his wife and dauorh- ters. He stopped a few steps from the foot of the stairway, and the Rev. Dr. Burchard ap- proached, addressing him as fol- lows : — ' ' We arc very happy to welcome you to this city. You see here a repre- sentation of all denominations of this city. You see the large number that are represented. We are your friends, Mr. Blaine, and, notwithstanding all the cal- umnies that have been urged in the papers against you, we stand by your side. (Shouts of 'Amen.') We expect to vote for you next Tuesday. We have higher expectations, which are that you will be the President of the United States, and that you will do honor to your name, to the United States, and to the high office you will occupy. We are Republicans, and don't propose to leave our party and identify ourselves with the party whose ante- cedents have been Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion. We are loyal to our flag. We are loyal to you.' Mr. Burchard's alliterative phrase of "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion" accomplished Mr. Blaine's defeat. His words were immediately taken up by the Democrats, who saw in them the opportunity to defeat Mr. Blaine. They were industriously circulated among members of the Catholic Church every- where, as indicating the hatred of Mr. Blaine to members of that communion. The result was to give Mr. Cleveland the State of New York by only looo BENIAMIN HARRISON THE HARRISON-CLEVELAND CAMPAIGN. 443, majority. Mr. Blaine received 182 electoral votes, and Mr. Cleveland 219. If the vote of New York alone had been reversed, the result would have been to elect Mr. Blaine by 218 votes to 183 for Mr. Cleveland. During Mr. Cleveland's administration Mr. Blaine remained in private life. Some of his time was spent in literary work and some in European travel. He took a keen interest in political affairs, and frequently expressed his views on the issues of the day through the public press ; but he had now made up his mind that he would never again be a candidate for the Presidency, and he made this intention clear to the succeeding conventions of the Republican party, where a strong desire for his candidacy still existed. One of his most remarkable utterances was made in reply to President Cleveland's message to Congress, in December, 1887. In this message Mr. Cleveland took strong ground in favor of tariff reform and freer trade. All other interests were entirely ignored, and the message confined to this one point. Its effect was tremendous. It was regarded as the platform on which Mr. Cleveland would appeal for re-election in the following year. The Republicans received the message with great satis- faction, for the tariff was the very issue on which they were most anxious to fight the next campaign. Mr. Blaine was at the time in Paris. An abstract of the President's message was published in the European newspapers the morn- ing after its delivery, and in the form of an interview Mr. Blaine made, in Paris, a full reply to President Cleveland's message, in which he supported the pro- tection view as opposed to that of free trade. These two documents were, in reality, the platform upon which the contest of 1888 was fought. Mr. Blaine declined a nomination so positively as to leave no doubt of his intention, and gave Mr. Harrison substantial aid in the campaign. The result was Mr. Harri- son's triumphant election ; and on his accession to office, Mr. Blaine a second time took the post of Secretary of State, and proceeded to carry out the policy which had been interrupted eight years before by the death of President Garfield. Mr. Blaine took an active part during President Harrison's administration in many important measures, among which were the Reciprocity amendment to the McKinley Tariff Bill, the settlement of the dispute with England over the seal fisheries in Bering Sea, the securing of indemnity from Chili for the killing of American sailors, and the adjustment of a diplomatic difficulty with ftaly in consequence of the lynching of a number of Italians in New Orleans. Fhe event which he considered most important, however, was the assembling of the Pan-American Conference, in 1889. This was a conference of represen- tatives of the different American governments, to consider measures for pro- moting peace and international good feeling, and the fostering of trade and ocean commerce ; and while it had no powers of legislation, great good was accomplished by its sessions. 444 JAMES G. BLAINE. In the last two years of Mr. Blaine's life, troubles fell upon him, "not singly, but in battalions." In January, 1890, Walker Blaine, his eldest son and trusted assistant, died suddenly, of pneumonia. Within a month afterward his daughter Alice died. A few weeks later he was himself prostrated by an attack of what proved to be paralysis, and from this time forward his health declined. He resigned his office in the soring of 1892, and returned to his home in Maine Then another sorrow came to him in the death of his son Emmons. In Decern ber he became suddenly worse, and died on January 27, 1893. There are few public men whose death caused so wide a sense of personal loss as that of Blaine. Few people are able to win the feeling of fami- liar attachment and affectionate loyalty which was so generally felt for him. "He had the rare fac- ulty," says Chauncey M. Depew, " of never forgrettino^ a face or a name. It is said that Henry Clay possessed it ; but beyond Mr. Blaine, Mr. Thurlow Weed, and the Prince of Wales, I have never known any man in public or private life who had it Mr. Blaine would be introduced at some mass-meet- ing, or a reception in Washington, or at the railway station, to a farmer or a mechanic or a lawyer, and to hundreds of them. Subsequently one of these men would be in his presence at some place distant from the town where the introduction occurred. Mr. Blaine would take him by the hand, call him by name, recall the circumstances of the introduction, and with a cordial grasp and a peculiar look state some incident of their brief conversation ; and that man was ready for the rest of his life to be burned at the stake for James G. Blaine. . . . "He will stand in our history as the ablest parliamentarian and most skillful debater of our Congressional history. . . . He had an unusual com- bination of boundless audacity with infinite tact. No man during his active career has disputed with him his hold upon the popular imagination and his leadership of his party. He has left no successor who possesses, in any degree such a.s he possessed it, the affection and the confidence of his followers." - ^#"^^ ^^s^f^^ " CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW. ROBEKl' ULION, ROBERT FULTON, THE^ PIONEER OE SXEANl NAVIQATION. T is a curious and remarkable fact in the history of invention that between conception and achievement Hes a gulf which many men of the greatest genius fail to bridge. The difficulty commonly lies not in making the invention, but in adapting it to the conditions, — in a word, in making it practical. Robert Fulton is distineuished as an inventor who has this great title to fame. He was not the inventor of steam navigation ; he was not even the first man to build a steamboat ; but he was the man who brought steamboats mto practical tise, doing successfully the work which needed to be done. Fulton was the son of a farmer of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where he was born in 1765. He was a dull boy at study, but very expert at drawing, and always fond of machinery, for which he often neg- lected his lessons. His teacher once remonstrated with him upon his course, and, failing to convince him by argument, rapped him sharply over the knuckles with a ruler, telling him he would make him do something. Looking his tutor sternly in the face, he replied, " Sir, I came here to have something beat into my brains, not into my knuckles." Having determined to be an artist, Fulton went to Philadelphia, where he formed a friendship with Franklin. His success was rapid, and when only twenty-one he went to England to study. There he met Watt, who had just produced his steam engine, which Fulton studied enthusiastically ; and he was persuaded to give up the profession of art and become an engineer. Con- vinced that the steam engine could be applied to navigation, he plunged into Experiments, in which he was joined by Robert R. Livingston, then minister to France, whose daughter Harriet afterward became Fulton's wife. Several models made by Fulton convinced Mr. Livingston that he had overcome the cause of the failure of other inventors, and it was finally agreed between them to build a large boat for trial on the Seine. This experimental steamer was furnished with paddle-wheels, and was completed early in 1803. On the very 447 ^8 ROBER T FUL TON. morning appointed for the trial, Fulton was aroused from his sleep by a mes- senger, who rushed into his chamber, pale and breathless, exclaiming, "Oh, sir, the boat has broken in pieces and gone to the bottom!" Hurrying to the spot, he found that the weight of the machinery had broken the boat in half and carried the whole structure to the bottom of the river. He at once set to work to raise the machinery, devoting twenty-four hours, without resting or eatings to the undertaking, and succeeded in doing so, but inflicted upon his constitu tion a strain from which he never entirely recovered. The machinery was very slightly damaged, but it was necessary to rebuild the boat entirely. This was accomplished by July of the same year, and the boat was tried in August with ' riumphant success, in the presence of the French National Institute and a rast crowd of the citizens of Paris. This steamer was very defective, but still so great an improvement upon all that had preceded it, that Messrs. Fulton and Livingston determined to build one on a larger scale, in the waters of New York. HavinQ;- resolved to return home, Fulton set out as soon as possible, stopping in England on his return, to order an engine for his boat from Watt and Boulton. Scientific men and amateurs all agreed in pronouncing Fulton's scheme impracticable ; but Fulton went on with his work, his boat attracting great attention and exciting no less ridicule. The steam engine ordered from Watt and Boulton was received in the latter part of 1806; and in the following spring the boat was launched from the ship-yard of Charles Brown, on the East river. Fulton named her the "Clermont," after the country seat of his friend and partner^ Chancellor Livingston. She was one hundred and thirty feet long, eighteen feet wide, and seven feet deep. The boat was completed about the last of August, and she was moved by her machinery from the East river into the Hudson, and over to the Jersey shore. This trial, brief as it was, satisfied Ful- ton of its success, and he announced that in a few days the steamer would sail from New York for Albany. THE TRIAL TRIP. Monday, September 11, 1807, the time set for sailing, came, and expecta- tion was at its highest. The friends of the inventor were in a state of feverish inxiety lest the enterprise should come to grief, and the scoffers on the wharf were all ready to give vent to shouts of derision. Precisely as the hour of one struck, the moorings were thrown off, and the " Clermont " moved slowly out into the stream. Volumes of smoke rushed forth from her chimney, and her wheels, which were uncovered, scattered the spray far behind her. The spec- tacle was certainly novel to the people of those days, and the crowd on the wharf broke into shouts of ridicule. Soon, however, the jeers grew silent, for it was seen that the steamer was increasing her speed. In a little while she was fiairly under way, and making a steady progress up the stream at the rate of SUCCESS OF THE FIRST TRIP. 449 five miles per hour. The increduHty of the spectators had been succeeded by astonishment, and now this feehng gave way to undisguised delight, and cheer after cheer went up from the vast throng. In a little while, however, the boat was observed to stop, and the enthusiasm at once subsided. The scoffers were again in their glory, and unhesitatingly pronounced the boat a failure. Their chagrin may be imagined when, after a short delay, the steamer once more proceeded on her way, and this time even more rapidly than before. Fulton had discovered that the paddles were too long, and took too deep a hold on the water, and had stopped the boat for the purpose of shortening them. Having remedied this defect, the " Clermont " continued her voyage during the rest of the day and all night, without stopping, and at one o'clock the next day ran alongside the landing at Clermont, the seat of Chancellor Livingston. She lay there until nine the next morning, when she continued her voyage toward Albany, reaching that city at five in the afternoon. On her return trip, she reached New York in thirty hours running time — exactly five miles per hour. The river was at this time navigated entirely with sailing vessels. The sur- prise and dismay excited among the crews of these vessels by the appearance of the steamer was extreme. ^ These simple people beheld what they supposed to be a huge monster, vomiting fire and smoke from its throat, lashing the water with its fins, and shaking the river with its roar, approaching rapidly in the face of both wind and tide. Some threw themselves flat on the decks of their ves- sels, where they remained in an agony of terror until the monster had passed, while others took to their boats and made for the shore in dismay, leaving their vessels to drift helplessly down the stream. The introduction of the steamboat gave a powerful impetus to the internal commerce of the Union. It opened to navigation many important rivers whose swift currents had closed them to sailing craft, and made rapid and easy com- munication between the most distant parts of the country practicable. The public soon began to appreciate this, and orders came in rapidly for steamboats for various parts of the country. Fulton executed these as fast as possible, and among the number several for boats for the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fulton followed up the "Clermont" in 1807 with a larger boat, called the " Car of Neptune," which was placed on the Albany route as soon as completed. The Legislature of New York had enacted a law, Immediately upon his first success, giving to Livingston and himself the exclusive right to navigate the waters of the State by steam, for five years for every additional boat they should build in the State, provided the whole term should not exceed thirty years. In 1809 Fulton obtained his first patent from the United States, and in 181 1 he took out a second patent. His patents were limited to the simple means of adapting paddle-wheels to the axle of the crank of Watt's engine. Meanwhile the power of the Legislature to grant the steamboat monopoly 450 ROBERT FULTON. was denied, and a company was formed at Albany to establish another line of steam passage boats on the Hudson, between that city and New York. Fulton and his partner asked an injunction, which was refused, whereupon the State Legislature passed a special act confirming their monopoly. Years of litigation followed, continuing until after Fulton's death ; and, finally, the eloquence of Daniel Webster prevailed against the monopoly, the Supreme Court of the United States deciding, in the famous "steamboat case," that all navigable waters are under the sole jurisdiction of the United States, and free alike to all citizens. In January, 1815, Fulton was summoned to Trenton, New Jersey, as a wit MISSISSIPPI STEAMBOATS OF TO-DAY. ness in one of the numerous suits which grew out of the efforts to break dowr his monopoly. During his examination he was very much exposed, as the hall of the Legislature was uncommonly cold. In returning home, he crossed the Hudson in an open boat, and was detained on the river several hours. This severe exposure brought on an attack of sickness, which for a short time con- fined him to his bed. The steam frigate, then almost ready for her engines, occasioned him great anxiety at the time, and before he had fairly recovered his strength he went to the shipyard to give some directions to the workmen employed on her, and thus exposed himself again to the inclemency of the weather. In a few days his indisposition prostrated him again, and, growing rapidly worse, he died on the 24th of February, 18 15, at the age of fifty years SAMUEL F. B. MORSE, THK INVENTOR OK THK TEIvKGRARH. PROBABLY no other invention of modern times has done more to change the face of the world than the electric telegraph. The fact that one man in New York can speak to another in Texas or Brazil is charged with stupendous meaning. Through the telegraph the newspaper brings the whole earth before us at the breakfast table. The electric wire is like a nerve in the body, bringing all nations into sympathetic com- munication, dispelling ignorance and prejudice, and helping to make all men brothers. To the inventor of this great system is due a debt of gratitude that can- not be reckoned. Samuel Finley Breese Morse was born at Charlestown, Massa chusetts, on the 27th of April, 1 79 1. He exhibited an early > mdness for art, as well as studies of a scientific character, and while a student at Yale College displayed an especial aptness for chemistry and iiatural philosophy. Upon leaving college he decided to adopt the profes- sion of an artist, and was sent abroad to study under the tuition of West and Copley and Allston. He was obliged by lack of means to return in aboul four years. His youth was spent in a struggle for success as an artist, in 1829 he again went abroad for the purpose of completing his art studies. During his absence he was elected " Professor of the Literature of the Finf 453 SAMUKL r MORSE. 454 SAMUEL F. B. MOKSE. Arts " in the University of the City of New York. He set out on his return home to accept this professorship in the autumn of 1832, sailing from Havre on board the packet ship " Sully." Among his fellow-passengers on the " Sully " were a number of persons of intelligence and cultivation, one of whom had recently witnessed in Paris some interesting experiments with the electro-magnet, the object of which was to prove how readily the electric spark could be obtained from the magnet, and the rapidity with which it could be disseminated. To Mr. Morse the develop- ment of this newly-discovered property of electricity was more than interesting. It showed him his true mission in life. He thought long and earnestly upon the subject, pacing the deck under the silent stars. He had long been con- vinced that electricity was to furnish the means of rapid communication between distant points, of which the world was so much in need ; and he at once set to work to discover how this could be done. He succeeded so well that before the " Sully " reached New York he had conceived " not merely the idea of an electric telegraph, but of an electro-magnetic and recording tele- graph, substantially and essentially as it now exists," and had invented an alphabet of signs, the same in all important respects as that now in use. But though invented in 1832, it was not until 1835 ^^^^ he was enabled to complete his first poor, rude instrument. By its aid he was able to send signals from a given point to the end of a wire half a mile in length, but as yet there was no means of receiving them back again from the other extremity. He con- tinued to experiment on his invention, and made several improvements in it. It was plain from the first that he needed a duplicate of his instrument at the other end of his wire, but for a long time he was unable to have one made. At length he acquired the necessary funds, and in July, 1837, had a duplicate instrument con- structed, and thus perfected his plan. His telegraph now worked to his entire sadsfaction, and he could easily send signals to the remote end of his line and receive replies in return. Having brought it to a successful completion, he ex- hibited it to large audiences at the University of New York, in September, 1837. DARK DAYS. He now entered upon that period of the inventor's life which has proved to many so wearying and disheartening — the effort to bring his invention into general use. He applied to Congress in vain for aid. Considerable interest in the subject was aroused in Congress and throughout the country, but he derived no benefit from it. If men spoke of his telegraph, it was only to ridicule it, or to express their doubts of its success. He was very poor, and, as one of his friends has since declared, had literally "to coin his mind for bread." His sturdy independence of character would not allow him to accept assistance from any one, although there were friends ready and even anxious to help him. AID FROM CONGRESS. 455 Alone and manfully he fought his way through these dark days, still hopeful of success for his invention, and patiently seeking to improve it wherever oppor- tunity presented itself. At length, in 1840, he received his long-delayed patent from the general government, and, encouraged by this, presented a second petition to Congress, asking its aid in the construction of an experimental line between Baltimore and Washington. He had to encounter a great degree of skepticism and ridicule, with many other obstacles ; but finally, on the very last day of the session, when he had given up all hope, a bill was passed appropriating thirty thousand dollars to construct the line. His dearest wish was at last realized, and the hour of his triumph was at hand. Work on the telegraph line was im- mediately begun, and carried on actively. At first, an insulated wire was buried under ground in a lead SHOP IN WHICH THE FIRST MORSE INSTRUMENT WAS CONSTRUCTED FOR EXHIBITION BEFORE CONGRESS. pipe, but this failing to give satisfaction, the wire was elevated upon poles. On the 27th of May, 1844, the line was completed, and the first trial of it made in the presence of the government officials and many other distinguished men. Professor Morse was confident of success ; but this occasion was a period of the most intense anxiety to him, for he knew that his entire future was staked upon the result of this hour. Among the company present to witness the trial was the Secretary of the Treasury, John C. Spencer. Although very much interested in the undertaking, he was entirely ignorant of the principles involved in it, and he asked one of Professor Morse's assistants how large a bundle could be 456 SAMUEL F. B. MORSE. sent over the wires, and if the United States mail could not be sent in the same way. When all was in readiness, Professor Morse seated himself at the instru- ment, and sent his first message to Baltimore. An answer was promptly returned, and messages were sent and replies received with a rapidity and accu racy which placed the triumph of the inventio.n beyond the possibility of doubt. Congratulations were showered upon the inventor, who received them as calmly jis he had previously borne the scoffs of many of these same men. Yet his heart throbbed all the while with a brilliant triumph. Fame and fortune both rose proudly before him. He had won a great victory and conferred a lasting benefit upon his race. The success of the experimental line brought Professor Morse numerous off"ers for the use of his invention. Telegraph companies were organized all over the country, and the stock issued by them was taken up as fast as offered. At the present day, not only the United States, but the whole world, is covered with telegraph lines. The Morse system is adopted on the principal lines of the United States, on all the lines of the Eastern continent, and exclusively on all the continental lines of Europe, from the extreme Russian north to the Italian and Spanish south, eastward through the Turkish Empire, south into Egypt and northern Africa, and through India, Australia, and parts of China. The rapid growth of the telegraph interest of the United States placed Professor Morse in the possession of a large fortune, which was greatly increased by the adoption of his invention in Europe. Honors, too, were showered upon him from all parts of the world. In 1848, his alma mater, Yale College, con- ferred on him the complimentary degree of LL.D., and since then he has been made a member of nearly all the American scientific and art academies. From European governments and scientific and art associations he has received more honors than have ever fallen to the share of any other American. Almost every sovereign in the world has conferred upon Professor Morse some honor or title. In February, 1854, Mr. Cyrus W. Field, of New York, ignorant of Pro- fessor Morse's views upon this subject, wrote to him to ask if he considered the working of a cable across the Atlantic practicable. The Professor at once sought an interview with Mr. Field, and assured him of his entire confidence in the undertaking. He entered heartily into Mr. Field's scheme, and rendered great aid in the noble enterprise, which has been described elsewhere in these pages. He was present at each attempt to lay the cable, and participated in the final triumph by which his prediction, made twenty-three years previous^ was verified. Professor Morse died in New York in April, 1872. THOMAS A. h.Di3uM. THOMAS A. EDISON, AND OTHER GREAT INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS s«^'^fail|!^ ROB ABLY no man in the United States is better known or more universally interesting than " The Wizard of Menlo Park," the inventor of the electric lamp, the dynamo, the phonograph, the "stock ticker," the elec trie pen, and the mimeograph, and the discoverer and improver of innumerable things in the field of electricity And yet, high as is the position that Edison has even now reached, he began at the very bottom. He was the son of a poor man, a village jack-of-all-trades, whose home ,. f--^ , «vas at Milan, Ohio, where the boy was born in 1847. While % he was a child the family moved to Port Huron, Michigan In his whole life Thomas had but two months of regular schooling ; the rest of his education was given him by his mother. But he had a restless, inquiring mind, an insatiable appetite for knowledge. When only ten years old he read Gibbon and Hume, and was fascinated by books of chem istry, which he pored over long before he could pronounce the names of the substances which he read about. When Edison was twelve years of age, he became a newsboy on the Grand Trunk Railway. With the business of selling papers and candies on the trains, however, he still kept going his old hobby of chemistry, and established an amateur laboratory in one corner of the baggage-car, where he amused himself at leisure moments. One day, while he was absent from the car, a bottle of phosphorus was upset, and the car set on fire. This put an end to his chemi cal experiments for a time. The baggage master kicked his chemical apparatus out of the car, and Edison was obliged to set up his business in some othcis place. On one of his trips to Chicago, the publisher of one of the Chicago dailie;? made him a present of a lot of worn-out type, with which Edison improvised a printing-office, and began to publish a paper of his own. entitled The Grand Trunk Herald, which gave such items of news as the removal of a brakemar '' 459 46o THOMAS A. EDISON. ot baggage-master to New York, or told how a train hand fell and hurt his leg. One day, during the war, he persuaded a telegraph operator at Chicago to send to the principal stations on the road a bulletin of the great battle of Shiloh, in consequence of which, when the train arrived, great crowds of people were at the stations hankering after papers, which Edison sold them at an immense profit. This turned his attention to telegraphing, to which he soon became devoted. About this time a stroke of luck came to him in savings the child of a tele- graph operator from being killed by a train. The grateful father rewarded the boy by teaching him telegraphing. Thomas rigged up wires and batteries in his old home at Port Huron, and devoted all his spare hours to practice. When he was eighteen, he secured a position at Indianapolis, and while there he worked out his first invention, an automatic register for receiving messages and transferring them to another wire. In this rude machine w^as contained the germ of the phonograph, which he perfected years after. By dint of incessant practice, Edison became an extremely expert and swift operator ; but his usefulness was always limited by his tendency to contrive schemes for saving labor. On one occasion, when he was night operator, he was required every half hour to telegraph the word "six" to the superinten- dent, to show that he was awake and attending to business. The ingenious young man contrived a machine which did the work for him, and spent the time poring over his beloved chemistry. This little artifice being discovered, he lost his situation by his cleverness. The beeinninpf of Edison's career as an inventor was not more successful than is usual. He was undoubtedly ingenious, but his ingenuity actually prevented him from being a good telegraph operator. After a time, however, he found his niche. He drifted to New York, where, after vainly endeavoring to interest the telegraph companies in his inventions, he established himself as an expert in odd jobs pertaining to telegraphing. One day the Western Union wire to Albany would not work. The company's regular electricians experimented for days, but without success, and finally, as a forlorn hope, Edison was sent for. He seated himself at the Instrument and got connection with Albany by way of Pittsburgh. Then he called for the best operator at the other end of the line, and with him experimented for two hours with currents of different intensities. At the end of this time he told the officers that the trouble was at a certain point on the line, and what it was. They telegraphed the office nearest that point, giving the necessary directions, and In an hour the wire was working properly. This established his reputation as an expert, and he soon began to rise in this line of business. Edison's first large profits came to him from the "stock ticker," an inven- tion for reporting in brokers' offices the prices of stocks on the exchange, which WORK AT MENLO PARK. 461 is now in universal use. He settled himself in Newark, N. J., where he rented a shop and began to manufacture his machines. His connection with capitalists led to his making- a propo sition to an association o( wealthy men to experiment with electric lighting, the)^ to supply the capital. He re- moved his shop to Menlo Park, a quiet and secluded place, where he carried on his experiments, which soon re- sulted in success. This placed THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE him in an independent position, and from that time to the present his success has been only a question of degree. Edison is a man of infinite pertinacity and great endurance. When he becomes Interested in solving an important question, he is entirely oblivious of 462 THOMAS A. EDISON. the passage of time and of physical needs. At one time, when his prmting telegraph for some reason gave out and ceased to work, he worked for sixty hours without intermission, taking no sleep or rest, having for his only food crackers and cheese, at which he nibbled from time to time as he worked. At another time all of the electric lamps burning in Menlo Park suddenly gave out The Inventor was almost stunned. For five days he worked at the problem giving neither himself nor his assistants any rest. At the end of that time the difficulty was still unsolved, and Edison went to bed sick with disappointment and anxiety. Ordinarily he Is one of the most considerate of men, but on this occasion he was much surprised when, at the end of fifteen hours' incessani work, it was suggested that rest and refreshments were in order. Time proved the trouble to be in the imperfect exhaustion of the air from the globes In which the filament burned, and long and persevering application was required to devise means for more completely exhausting It. Finally this was accomplished and the incandescent light became a practical success. Edison's mind is that of the typical Inventor. He says of himself that his first thought on looking at any machine or contrivance whatever Is to imagine how It could be Improved. With him It Is a maxim that " whatever is. Is wrong," or at least that it might and ought to be better. This peculiarity has made him one of the most fertile Inventors of history, but It also results in his being entirely wrapped up In the one absorbing pursuit. His Ideal of luxury, when riches came to him, was not fast horses, or social enjoyment, or even distinction but a perfect workshop, which had hitherto cost so much as to be unattainable to him. In his laboratory he has gathered every substance known to science- solid, fluid, and gas. Every effort Is made to have at his command all the known resources of scientific research. Forty-five scientific journals, In different languages, are received In his library, and systematically Indexed as fast as received, so that every item of information which they contain is right at his hand at any moment. In such respects Edison's workshop at Menlo Park is unique. It is hard to conceive of a chemical or mechanical experiment for which he is not perfectly equipped. Edison says of himself that he Is a poor business man. He hates routine Going over and over again the regular round of a business system is Intoler able to him. Most men are creatures of habit, and need to have their daily task laid out for them. They want to work without thinking. Edison cannot. His thought runs away with him. This tendency of his mind Is well Illustrated b^ his experience in manufacturing. When he had perfected his " stock ticker,' he took a contract to manufacture some hundreds of them at a shop at Newark N. J. 'T was a poor manufacturer," he declares, "because I could not letweli enough alone. My first Impulse, upon taking In my hand any machine, from an egg-beater to an electric motor, is to seek a way of improvinej it Therefore. OTHER GREAT INVENTORS. 463 IS soon as I have finished a machine I am anxious to take it apart again in ordei to make an experiment. That is a costly mania for a manufacturer." The visitor to Edison's laboratory finds the master a rather tall, compactly built man, with a somewhat boyish, clean-shaven face, which seems made prema turely old by intense thought and application. Over his clothes he wears a blouse, which is stained with acids. "Good clothes are thrown away on me," he says. " I feel it is wrong to wear any, and I never put on a new suit when I can help it." His hands are discolored with chemicals and oil, and his hair has also received some touches, for he has a habit of wiping his fingers upon it H*" is somewhat deaf, and watches his visitor's lips closely to catch what he is saying He is kind and genial, and patient In explanation to those of inquiring minds, Edison is one of the busiest men in the world. Each invention or improve ment seems only to widen the field. "These are only tools," he says, "with which we may accomplish still greater wonders. The very fact that this cen- tury has accomplished so much in the way of invention makes it more than probable that the next century will do far greater things." OTHER GREAT INVENTORS AND THEIR INVENTIONS. Great inventions are not necessarily large or costly. The scythe is a simple tool, and inexpensive ; yet the practical perfecting of it by Joseph Jenks, almost at the outset of farm-life in New England, is an epoch-mark in agriculture. It was the beo-inninof of a new order of thinofs. Puttlne curved fingers to the improved scythe-blade and snath furnished the American grain cradle, a farm-tool perfect of its kind, and likely to hold its place as long as grain is grown on uneven ground. The plow supplied to the Colonial farm- ers was as venerable as the reaping-hook. It had been substantially unimproved for four thousand years. The moment our peo- ple were free to manufacture for themselves, they set about its improvement in form and material ; the very first patent granted by the Patent Office being for an improved plow of cast-iron. The best plow then in use was a rude affair, clumsily made, hard tc guide, and harder to draw. Its improvement engaged the attention of many A COLONIAL SPINNING-WHEEJ.. 464 OTHER GREAT INVENTORY. %M'^S ' ^.^'^ COLONIAL PLOW WITH WOODEN MOLD-BOARD. inventors, notably President Jefferson, who experimented with various forms, md made a mathematical investigation of the shape of the mould-board, to determine the form best suited for the work. He was the first to discover the importance of straight lines from the sole to the top of the share and mould board. Colonel Randolph, Jefferson's son-in-law, "the best farmer in Virginia, ' invented a side-hill plow. Smith was the first to hitch two plows together ; and Allen, by combining a number of small plow-points in one implement, led the way to the production of the infinite variety of horse-hoes, cultivators, and the like. But Jethro Wood, of New York, probably did more than any other man to perfect the cast-iron plow, and to secure its general use in place of the cumbrous plows of the earlier days. His skill as an inventor, and his pluck as a fighter against stolid ignorance and prejudice, for the advancement of sensible plowing, cost him— what they ought to have gained for him — a fortune. The use of cast-iro)i plows had become general by 1825. ELI WHITNEY AND THE COTTON-GIN. Whitney was a New England genius, who graduated at Yale in 1792, andi went to Georgia to teach school, living In the family of General Greene's widow- Having heard much of the slow and (tedious work of separating the cotton from the seed, Whitney undertook to make a machine for doing the work, which he did in the same year, 1792. When it was introduced, the entire cot- ton crop of the country could have been grown on a single field of two hundred acres. A good day's work for a man was cleaning four or five pounds of lint, or a bale of cotton in three months. Whitney's gin enabled a man to do the same work in six days. As a conse- quence of the cheaper and more rapid means of preparing it with the Whitney gin, the cotton crop of the South rose to sudden prominence. In 1800 it was eighteen million pounds ; the next year, forty million. Ten years later it was eighty million pounds, which product was more than doubled in the next teo A NEW ENGLAND WEAVER WINDING THE SPOOLS. Mccormick and evans. 465 years. In 1830 it was a million bales; two millions in 1840; three in 1851 ; and four in 1S60. Without it modern cotton crops of eight or nine million bales would be impossible ; simply to pick the seeds out of the crop of 1891 in the old way would have kept the entire working population of the United States busy for a solid month. It is sad to have to add that Whitney's invention was so extensively pirated that he derived but little benefit from an invention which has added almost untold wealth to the country and the world. CYRUS H. Mccormick and the reaping-machine. The circumstance that reaping by machinery was as old as the Christian era, and a multitude of comparatively modern attempts had been made, particularly in England, to apply horse-power to the cutting of grass and grain, only added to the merit of inventors like Hussey and McCormick, who practically solved the problems involved by means so simple and efficient that they have not been and are likely never to be entirely displaced. Hussey's mowing-machine of 1833 h^^ reciprocating knives working through slotted fingers, a feature essen tial to all practical grass and grain cutters. McCormick patented a comblnatior reaper and mower in 1834, which he subsequently so improved as to make \^. the necessary basis of all reapers. In competitive trials at home and abroad the American mowers and reapers have never failed to demonstrate their superi orlty over all others. Their first great victory, which gave them the world-wide fame they have so successfully maintained, was won in London in 185 1. In the competitive trial near Paris, In 1855, the American machine cut an acre of oats in twenty-two minutes ; the English in sixty-six minutes ; the French In seventy-two. In the later competition, local and International, their superior efficiency has been not less signally manifested. OLIVER EVANS AND THE STEAM ENGINE. One of the most fertile inventors of the eighteenth century was Oliver Evans, who deserves Immortal fame as the developer of the modern "high-pres sure " or non-condensing engine, and the pioneer in improved milling machinery As early as 1 768 he was experimenting with steam, and was able to drive a small boat by means of steam and paddle-wheels. In 1786 he applied to the State of Pennsylvania for a patent on the application of his engine to driving mills, and to a steam carriage, but his petition was denied. There was then no national patent office for the encouragement of men of original Ideas ; if there had been, the practical development of the steamboat and the steam-carriage might have been materially hastened, for Evans was diverted from this line of work for a dozen years or more. In 1800 he returned to it, and built a novel noD 466 OTHER GREAT INVENTORS. condensing engine, designed for application to a steam-carriage, but for financial reasons set to working a plaster mill. A year or two after he built an engine of i 50 horse-power for parties in New Orleans, who set it up in the boat for which t was intended. But a long season of low water prevented a trial of the boat, ind wasted capital compelled the owners to take the engine out and set it to work in a lumber mill, where it did such good service that the steamboat project was abandoned. It was thus no fault of Evans that the pioneer engine, of the type afterward adopted for western river navigation, did not win for him the fame subsequently achieved by Fulton. In 1804 Evans built for Philadelphia a PRIMITIVE MODES OF GRINDING CORN. Steam-dredger, which, set on wheels, propelled itself along the streets to the river, where it was launched and the engine applied to its stern-wheel, when as a steamboat it was navigated about the Schuylkill. JACOB PERKINS AND THE NAIL MACHINE. The first single machine of American production to become widely famous «ras the nail machine of Jacob Perkins. Perkins was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1766, and patented his great machine in 1795. At that time nails were mostly imported, and cost twenty-five cents a pound. They were all hand-wrought, chiefly at chimney-corner forges, where, in New England, farmers PERKINS AND HIS NAIL MACHINE. 46; and lumbermen, fishermen and laborers, employed their evemngs and odier odd times in hammering nails. In Europe, more especially in the manufacturing districts of England, it was a common domestic industry, often employing whole families, but chiedy women and children, ill-paid, over-worked, and toiling under social conditions of the most appalling character. The American nail machine promptly displaced this domesdc industry here, and more slowly that of Europe, by makmg it possible to use power in nail- making, while enabling a workman to do in a mmute the pre\ious task of an hour. The price of nails was speedily reduced two-thirds, subsequendy much more, w^th an assured supply equal to any demand. Ihe early cut nails were not so tough as the ^ hand-made nails, but for \ most purposes they were '. neater and better, wdiile any desired toughness was uld- mately secured by annealing, and by the use of steel, particularly steel wire. Every style of nail, from the smallest tack to the railroad spike, is now made by machinery, at a cost but little above that of the raw^ metal, the forms being as various as their manifold uses. The manufacture of cut nails has become one of the most important of the great iron industries of the country. 4. GREAT MODERN FLOUR MILL. 468 HOWE AND JEROME. •ELIAS IIOWE AND THE SEWING MACHINE. Howe was born at Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1819. While employed as a machinist he made many experiments and efforts to invent a sewing machine, and after great discouragements completed one, for which he secured a patent in 1846. Though the practical parent of the modern sewing machine, it was not in itself a successful machine, nor was Howe at first successful in enlisting capital to aid him in developing from it a good machine. In the course of four or five years the defective details were corrected or displaced by the work of other inventors in great numbers, who attacked the problems of the sewing machine as soon as their importance became generally appreciated. The Singer machine, which closely resembled Howe's, came Into the field in 1850, and took the lead in sales until 1854. The Grover & Baker machine became most popu- lar for four or five years ; then the Wheeler & Wilson for ten years. In the meantime, all the companies were infringing on the rights of Howe, who, after expensive litigation, won his case, and entered into an agreement with the great manufacturing companies, receiving five dollars for each machine made until i860; after that, one dollar a machine. Between 1856 and 1877, over six mil- lion machines were sold in the United States. Though the great bulk of these machines are held for family use, the factory machines were estimated to give {the world over) employment to 20,000,000 persons, mostly women. In social, not less than in industrial effects the sewing machine has been simply revolu- tionary. CHAUNCEY JEROME AND AMERICAN CLOCKS. The pioneer in American clock-making was Eli Terry, of Plymouth, Con- necticut, who was also the first clock peddler in the beginning of the present century. As the means and methods of cutting the wooden wheels were improved, the clocks were greatly cheapened. Chauncey Jerome, an apprentice of Terry, was especially successful in reducing the cost and improving the quality of these primitive time-keepers. In 1837, Mr, Jerome brought out the machine- made brass clock, which revolutionized the business of clock-making and sent a timepiece into every house. In 1841 he sent a cargo of Connecticut clocks to England, billed at so Iowa figure that the customs officers seized them for under- valuation, paying him his price plus ten per cent., as the law directed. The second cargo, much to his delight, met with the same reception. With the third, the tardily-enlightened Government allowed him to seek a less convenient cus- tomer. The metal movements w^ere stamped from sheet-brass so rapidly that three men with one machine could cut out the works of five hundred clocks a day, reducing the cost of a clock-movement to fifty cents. At this rate the sale was enormous. The metal clocks, unlike the wooden clocks, could stand any climate, and this, with their astonishing cheapness, gave them world-wide acceptance. JOHN JACOB ASTOR. JOHN JACOB ASTOR, OUR PIONEKR BUSINKSS NIAN AND KIRST VLIIvLIONAIRK. T NEVER were greater extremes of poverty and wealth connected in the life of one person than were touched by John Jacob Astor, the founder of one of the first and greatest of the enormous fortunes that have been amassed in America The life of a poor German peasant in the lattei part of the eighteenth century reached a deptl of poverty which can now hardly be conceived John Jacob Astor was born in Waldorf, a little village of Baden, in 1763, — the year of the treaty which secured to England all the fur bearing country of North America, from which Astor was destined to make such a splendid fortune. His father was a butcher, a shiftless, stupid, quarrelsome good-for-nothing ; and the son, bent upon making something of himself^ resolved, when about nineteen, to seek his fortune in the "new land" of America, then brought into prominence by the Revolution. In March, 1784, he landed at Baltimore On the voyage he met a German, older thar himself, who, beginning with almost nothing had become a fur trader, and made largr profits. He advised Astor to embark in the same business, which he proceeded to do. He had a brother living in New York, whither he went, and succeeded in getting a position io the fur store of Robert Bowne, a Quaker where he set himself to learn the business m the most thorough manner. He bent all th«^ powers of his remarkable mind to acquiring an intimate knowledge of furs, aiwj 471 A MODERN NEW YORK STORE. 672 JOHN JACOB ASTOR. of fur-bearing animals, and their haunts and habits. His opportunities for doing so were very good, as many of the skins were sold over Bowne's counters by the hunters who had taken them. These men he questioned with n minuteness that astonished them, and the result was that in a few years he was as thor- oughly familiar with the animals, their habits, their country, and the mode of taking them, as many of the trappers themselves. He is said to have been in his prime the best judge of furs in America. As soon as Astor felt himself master of his business, he left the employ of Mr. Bowne, and began life on his own account. The field upon which he pur- posed entering was extensive, but it was one of which he had made a careful sur v^ey. The fur trade was at this time almost wholly in the hands of three English companies — the Hudson's Bay Company in the north, the Northwest Company in the Canadas, the Mackinaw Company in the territories of the United States —and the few American traders in the field had to rely on their individual resources, with no aid from a eovernment too feeble to do more than establish a few Indian agencies, and without constitutional power to confer charter privileges. The voyage of Captain Cook had brought to the notice of the fur dealers of the world the sea otter of the northern Pacific, and the announcement made upon the return of the expedidon drew large numbers of adventurers to the west coast of America, in search of the valuable skins of these animals. It was into this field, already occupied by powerful and hostile corporations, that the young German entered. He began business in 1786, in a small store m Water street, which he furnished with a few toys and notions suited to the tastes of the Indians who had skins to sell. His endre capital consisted of only a few hundred dollars, a portion of which was loaned him by his brother He had no assistants. He did all his own work. He bought his skins, cured beat, and sold them himself Several times during the year he made journeys on foot through western New York, buying skins from the settlers, farmers, trappers, savages, wherever he could find them. He tramped over nearly the endre State In this way, and is said to have had a better knowledge of its geography and topography than dny man living. He used to boast, late in life, when the Erie Canal had called into being a line of thrivine towns through the centre of the State, that he had himself, in his numberless tramps, designated the sites of those towns, and predicted that one day they would be the centres of business and populadon. Particularly he noted the spots where Rochester and Buffalo now stand, one having a harbor on Lake Erie and the other upon Lake Ontario. He predicted that those places would one day be large and prosperous cities ; and that prediction he made when there was scarcely a settlement at Buffalo, and only wigwams on the site of Rochester. EXTENDING HIS OPERATIONS. 473 Slowly, and by unremitting industry, Mr. Astor succeeded in building up a certain business. His personal journeys made him acquainted with the trappers, and enabled him to win their good will. The savages sold their skins to him readily, and he found a steady market and a growing demand for his commodities in the Old World. It was about this time that he married Miss Sarah Todd, of New York She entered heartily into his business, doing much of the buying and beating of the furs herself. Lono- after he was a millionaire he used to boast of hei skill in judging furs and conducting business operations. In 1794, Jay's treaty placed the frontier forts in the hands of the Amer leans, and thus increased the opportunities of our own traders to extend their CHAMPLAIN'S fortified camp in QUEBEC. business. It was of the greatest service to Mr. Astor. It enabled him to enlarge the field of his operations, and, at the same time, to send his agents on the long journeys which he formerly made, while he himself remained in New York to direct his business, which by this time had grown to considerable proportions. He was now on the road to wealth. He had scores of trappers and hunters working for him in the great wilderness, and his agents were kept busy buying and shipping the skins to New York. As soon as he was able to do so he purchased a ship, in which he sent his furs to London, occasionally making a voyage thither himself. Under his skillful management his business grew rapidly ; but he avoided speculation and confined himself to legitimate commerce. He was plain and 474 JOHN JACOB ASTOR. simple in his habits, carrying this trait to an extreme long after economy had ceased to be necessary to him. He worked hard, indulged in no pleasures except horseback exercise and the theatre, of both which he was very fond. It was only after he had amassed a large fortune that he ever left his business before the close of the day. Then he would leave his counting-room at two in the afternoon, and, partaking of an early dinner, would pass the rest of the day in riding about the island. So plain was his style of living that, before he became generally known as a wealthy man, a bank clerk once superciliously informed him that his endorsement of a note would not be sufficient, as it was not likely he would be able to pay it in case the bank should be forced to call upon him. " Indeed ! " said Mr. Astor ; " how much do you suppose I am worth ? " The clerk named a very moderate amount, at which the merchant smiled quietly. "Would the indorsement of Mr. , or Mr. , be sufficient?" asked Mr. Astor, naming several well-known merchants who lived in great style. "Entirely sufficient," was the reply. "Each one of them is known to be wealthy." " How much do you think each is worth ? " The clerk named large sums in connection with each of the gentlemen. "Well, my friend," said the merchant, "I am worth more than any of them. I will not tell you how much I am worth, but it is more than any sum you have named." The clerk looked at him in surprise, and then said, bluntly: "Then you are a greater fool than I took you for, to work as hard as you do." Mr. Astor was very fond of telling this story, which he regarded as one of the best jokes of the day. All this time Mr. Astor had lived over his store, but in 1 800, after he had been in business fifteen years, he moved his dwelling to 223 Broadway, on the site of the Astor House of to-day. He lived here, with one removal, for up- ward of twenty-five years. The house was plain and simple, but he was satisfied with it. He was now worth a quarter of a million dollars, and his business was growing rapidly. The fur trade was exceedingly profitable. A beaver skin could be bought from the trappers in western New York for one dollar and sold in London for six dollars and a quarter. By investing this amount in English manufactures, the six dollars and a quarter received for the skin could be made to produce ten dollars paid for the English goods in New York. The Chinese trade was also very profitable. China was an excellent market for furs. They brought high prices, and the proceeds could always be invested in teas and silks which sold well in New York. His profit on a 4/6 JOHN JACOB ASTOR. voyage would sometimes reach seventy thousand dollars, and the average gain on a lucky venture of this kind was thirty thousand dollars. The high prices produced by the war of i8i2-'i5 were also in Mr. Astor's favor. His shipi. were all remarkably lucky in escaping capture by the enemy, and he was almost the only merchant who had a cargo of tea in the market. Tea having reached double its usual price, he was enabled to reap immense profits from his ventures. The most important of all of Mr. Astor's undertakings was his effort at founding the settle- ment of Astoria, on the coast of Oregon. " His design," says a writer, " was to orcranize and control the fur trade from the lakes to the Pacific, by establish- ing trading posts along the Mis souri and Columbia to its mouth He desisfned establishincr a cen iral depot and post at the mouth of the Columbia river. He pro jjosed sending regular suppl) ohips to the Pacific posts around Cape Horn. It was part of his plan, if possible, to obtain pos- :>ession of one of the Sandwich Islands as a station, for from the Pacific coast- he knew that the Chinese market for his peltries could be most conveniently reached, and thus the necessity for a long and circuitous voyage be avoided. Instead of bringing the furs intended for China to New York, they could be sent from the Pacific. By the supply ships, too, the stock of goods suitable for the Indian trade would be kept up there, and the cargoes purchased with the pro- ceeds of the furs sold in China brought back to New York. The line of posts across the continent would become a line of towns ; emigration would follow, and civilization would belt the continent." A company was formed, at the head of which stood Mr. Astor, and an elaborate and carefully arranged plan of operations prepared. Two expeditions ANCIENT BLOCK HOUSE, ALASKA. FAILURE OF THE ASTORIA SCHEME. 477 were dispatched to the mouth of the Cohimbia, one by land, the other by sea. Many hardships were encountered, but the foundation of a settlement was sue cessfully made on the Columbia. In spite of the war with England (i8i2-'i5), the enterprise would have been successful had Mr. Astor's positive instruc- tions been obeyed. They were utterly disregarded, however, and his partners and agents not only betrayed him in every instance, but sold his property to a rival British company for a mere trifle. His pecuniary loss was over a million dollars, and his disappointment bitter beyond expression. When the news of the final betrayal reached him, he wrote : " Had our place and property been fairly captured, I should have preferred it ; I should not feel as if I were dis- graced." Mr. Astor remained in active business for fifty years. During that entire period he scarcely committed an error of judgment which led to a loss in busi- ness. He was thorough master of everything pertaining to his affairs, and his strength and accuracy of judgment were remarkable. The particulars of his transactions were indelibly impressed upon his mind. His intellect was vigor- ous and quick, and he grasped a subject with a readiness which seemed like intuition. He was always careful of the present, but he loved to undertake enterprises which extended far into the future. He was a man of the utmost punctuality In all his habits. He rose early, and, until he was fifty-five years old, was always in his office before seven o'clock. His capacity for work was very great, so that, in spite of his heavy labors, he was always able to leave his office by two o'clock, while many of his associates, who really did less than he, were compelled to remain in their counting-rooms until four or five. One chief source of Mr. Astor's o-reat wealth was his shrewd investments in real estate, and the great rise in values of New York property which have resulted from the steady growth of the greatest city of the American continent. In the early part of his career New York was little more than a town occupymg part of the lower end of Manhattan Island ; the upper end was occupied chiefly by farms and country residences. Mr. Astor, with shrewd foresight, systemati- cally invested his spare capital in suburban land, which before the time of his death had by Its increase In value added many millions to the great estate which he left to his children. During the last twenty years of his life Mr. Astor lived in the retirement of his family, leaving even the greater part of the management of his estate t^ the hands of others. He was exceedingly fond of literary men. Irving was his friend, and Halleck his business manager. He died at the age of eighty-four years and eight months, literally from old age. He was buried in St. Thomas's Church, on Broadway. His immense estate was left to his children, the bulk of it being bequeathed to his eldest son. All of his relatives were made comfortable. The village of 28 478 JOHN JACOB ASTOR. Waldorf, his native place, received a legacy of fifty thousand dollars for the benefit of its poor, and an amount in land and funds equal to four hundred thousand dollars was left to certain trustees to establish the Astor Library in the city of New York. Besides these, several charitable and benevolent asso- ciations received handsome donations from him. His career has been related in these pages as an example to those who are seeking to rise In legitimate commerce. It is the best instance on record of the facility with which success may be won by patient and intelligent Industry. In his capacity for grasping and carrying out an enterprise, in his prudent and economical management of his business, in his tact, courage, sagacity, Mr. .\stor's example is one which will lead many to success, and none to injury. GEORGE PEABODY. 480 GEORGE PEABODY, OUR KIRST IVIIIvIvIONAIRE PHIIvANXHROF'ISX. 'MONG the distinctive products of the nineteenth century 19 the modern miUionaire ; and Hke other products, this one has been greatly developed and improved from the crude form in which it first appeared. One would hardly recognize, m contemplating the works of George W. Chllds or vC^^ Leland Stanford, that they belonged to the same species as / Stephen Girard and John Jacob Astor. The first million- aires could only get ; they could not give. They could leave — since indeed they could not help leaving ; but as to volun- tarily giving what they had got, that faculty was not yet devel- oped. The two qualities were, in fact, quite naturally supposed to be incompatible. A rich man who scattered his riches seemed an ab- surdity — a contradiction in terms. But presently arose a man who showed how such a thing could be, by being it. He invented, and in himself developed, a new and most beneficent function ; and to him, as to other great inventors and pioneers, mankind loves to pay tribute of well-deserved love and honor. His name is George Peabody. Mr. Peabody was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, on February 18, 1795^ His parents were poor, and hard work was the lot to which he was born. His education was limited, for he was taken from school at the age of eleven, and set to earning his living. Upon leaving school he was apprenticed to a Mr. Sylvester Proctor, who kept a "country store" in Danvers. Here he worked hard and faithfully for four or five years, devoting himself with energy and determination to business. His mind matured more rapidly than his body, and he was a man in intellect long before he was out of his teens. At the age of sixteen, in the year 181 1, he went to Newburyport, and became a clerk in the store of his elder brother, David Peabody, who was engaged In the dry goods business at that place. He exhibited unusual capa city and promise in his calling, and soon drew upon himself the favorable atten- tion of the merchants of the place. He was prompt, reliable, and energetic, and from the first established an enviable reputation for personal and profes* 481 482 GEORGE PEABODY. sional integrity. He did not stay long in Newburyport, as a great fire, which burned up a considerable part of the town, destroyed his brother's store, and obliged him to seek employment elsewhere. From New England, George Peabody turned his face southward, and entered the employment of his uncle, Mr. John Peabody, who was engaged in the dry goods business in Georgetown, in the District of Columbia. His uncle was a poor man and a bad manager, and for two years the business was con- ducted by George Peabody, and in his own name ; but at the end of that time, seeing the business threatened with ruin by his uncle's incapacity, he resigned his situation, and entered the service of Mr. Elisha Riggs, who had just estab •lished a wholesale dry goods house in Georgetown. Mr. Riggs furnished the capital for the concern, and Mr. Peabody was given the management of it. Soon after this, the latter became a partner in the house. It is said that when Mr. Riggs invited Mr. Peabody to become his partner, the latter informed him that he could not legally assume the responsibilities of business, as he was onl) nineteen years old. This was no objection in the mind of the merchant, as he wanted a young and active assistant, and had discerned in his boy-managej the qualities which never fail to win success. The new business in which he was engaged consisted chiefly In the impor tation and sale of European goods, and consignments of dry goods from the northern cities. It extended over a wide field, and gave Mr. Peabody a fine opportunity for the display of his abilities. Mr. Riggs's friends blamed him very much for leaving his business so entirely in the hands of a boy of nine teen ; but he had better proof than they that his affairs were not only In good but in the best hands, and he answered them all by telling them that time would justify his course. Mr. Peabody traveled extensively In establishing his business, often journeying into the wild and unsettled regions of the bordei States on horseback. He worked with energy and intelligence, and In 1815 the business was found to be so extensive that a removal to Baltimore became necessary. About this time a banking business was added to the operations of the house. This was chiefly the suggestion of Mr. Peabody, and proved a source of great profit. Mr. Peabody quickly took a prominent rank among the merchants of Baltimore. His manner was frank and engaging, and won him many friends. He was noted for "a judgment quick and cautious, clear and sound, a decided purpose, a firm will, energetic and persevering industry, punctuality and fidelity in every engagement, justice and honor controlling every transaction, ano courtesy — that true courtesy which springs from genuine kindness — presiding over the Intercourse of life." His business continued to Increase, and In 1822 it became necessary to establish branches in Philadelphia and New York, over which Mr. Peabody exercised a careful supervision. He was thoroughly REMOVAL TO ENGLAND. 483 familiar with every detail of his business, and never suffered his vigilance to relax, however competent might be the subordinates in the immediate charge of those details. In 1827 he went to England on business for his firm, and dur ing the next ten years made frequent voyages between New York and London In 1829 Mr. Riggs withdrew from the firm, and Mr. Peabody became the actual head of the house, the style of the firm, which had "" "" """ '"°^""* previously been '* Riggs & Peabody," being changed to *' Peabody, Riggs & Co." The firm had for some time been the financial agents of the State of Maryland, and had managed the negotia- tions confided to them with great skill and success ; and every year their banking de- partment became more im- portant and more profitable. In 1836 Mr. Peabody determined to extend his business, which was already very large, to England, and to open a branch house in London. In 1837 he re- moved to that city for the purpose of taking charge of his house there, and from that time London became his home. The summer of this year was marked by one of the most terrible commercial crises the United States has ever known. A large num- ber of the banks suspended specie payment, and the majority of the mercantile houses were either ruined or in the greatest distress. Thousands of merchants, until then prosperous, were hopelessly ruined. " That great sympathetic nerve of the commercial world, credit," said Edward Everett, "as far as the United States was con cerned, was for the time paralyzed. At that moment Mr. Peabody not only MulJl,R.\ bluKi:.i IN BOSTON. 484 GEORGE PEABODY. stood firm himself, but was the cause of firmness in others. There were not at that time, probably, half a dozen other men in Europe who, upon the subject of American securities, would have been listened to for a moment in the parlor of the Bank of England. But his judgment commanded respect ; his integrity won back the reliance which men had been accustomed to place on American securities. The reproach in which they were all involved was gradually wiped away from those of a substantial character ; and if, on this solid basis of unsuspected good faith, he reared his own prosperity^ let it be remembered that at the same time he retrieved the credit of the State of Mary- land, of which he was agent — performing that miracle by which the word of an honest man turns paper into gold." The conduct of Mr. Peabody, as well as the evidences which he gave of his remarkable capacity for business, in this crisis, placed him among the foremost merchants of London. He carried on his business upon a large scale from his base of operations in that city. He bought British manufactures in all parts of England and shipped them to the United States, His vessels brought back in return all kinds of American produce which would command a ready sale in England. Profitable as these ventures were, there was another branch of his business much more remunerative to him. The merchants and manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic who consigned their goods to him, frequently pro- cured from him advances upon the goods long before they were sold. At other times they would leave large sums in his hands long after the goods were dis- posed of, knowing that they could draw whenever they needed, and that in the meanwhile their money was being so profitably invested that they were certain of a proper interest for their loans. Thus Mr. Peabody gradually became a banker, in which pursuit he was as successful as he had been as a merchant. In 1843 ^^ withdrew from the house of Peabody, Riggs & Co., and established the house of " George Peabody & Company, of Warnford Court, City." His dealings were chiefly with America and in American securities, and he was always regarded as one of the best specimens of the American merchant ever seen in London. He was very proud of his country ; and though he passed so many years of his life abroad, he never forgot that he was an Amer- ican. In speaking of the manner in which he organized his business establish- ment, he once said : *T have endeavored, in the constitution of its members and the character of its business, to make it an American house, and to give It an American atmosphere ; to furnish it with American journals ; to make it a cen- tre of American news, and an agreeable place for my American friends visiting London." It was his custom, from his first settlement in England, to celebrate the anniversary of the independence of his country by an entertainment at one of the public houses in the city, to which the most distinguished Americans va AID TO AMERICAN EXHIBITORS IN 1851. 485 London were always invited, as were also many of the prominent men of Great Britain ; and this dinner was only discontinued in deference to the general cele- brati6n of the day which was afterward instituted by the whole body of Ameri- cans resident in the British metropolis. In the year 1851, when it was thought that there would be no representation of the achievements of American skill and industry in the great exhibition of that year, from a lack of funds, Mr. Peabody generously supplied the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, which enabled the commissioners to make a suitable display of the American contributions. Said the Hon. Edward Everett, alluding to this act : — " In most, perhaps in all other countries, this exhibition had been a govern- ment afifair. Commissioners were appointed by authority to protect the interests of the exhibitors ; and, what was more important, appropriations of money had been made to defray their expenses. No appropriations were made by Con- gress. Our exhibitors arrived friendless, some of them penniless, in the great commercial Babel of the world. They found the portion of the Crystal Palace assigned to our country unprepared for the specimens of art and industry which they had brought with them ; naked and unadorned by the side of the neighbor- ing arcades and galleries fitted up with elegance and splendor by the richest governments in Europe. The English press began to launch its too ready sar- casms at the sorry appearance which Brother Jonathan seemed likely to make ; and all the exhibitors from this country, as well as those who felt an interest in their success, were disheartened. At this critical moment, our friend stepped forward. . He did what Congress should have done. By liberal advances on his part, the American department was fitted up ; and day after day, as some new product of American ingenuity and taste was added to the list, — McCor. mick's reaper, Colt's revolver, Powers's Greek Slave, Hobbs's unpickable lock. Hoe's wonderful printing presses, and Bond's more wonderful spring governor, — It began to be suspected that Brother Jonathan was not quite so much of a simpleton as had been thought. He had contributed his full share, if not to the splendor, at least to the utilities of ihe exhibition. In fact, the leading journal at London, with a magnanimity which did it honor, admitted that England had derived more real benefit from the contributions of the United States than from those of any other country." HIS BUSINESS HABITS. As has been said, Mr. Peabody made the bulk of his colossal fortune in the banking business. He had a firm faith in American securities, and dealt in them largely, and with confidence. His business Instinct was remarkable, his judgment In mercantile and financial matters almost Infallible, and he made fe\* mistakes. His course was now onward and upward, and each year markeo an Increase of his wealth. His business operations were conducted In pursu Ance of a rigid system which was never relaxed. To the very close of his life 486 GEORGE PEABODY. he never abandoned the exact or business-like manner in which he soug-ht to make money. He gave away millions with a generosity never excelled, yet he could be exacting to a penny in the fulfillment of a contract. PRODUCE EXCHANGE BUILDING, NEW YORK. The conductor on an English railway once overcharged him a shilling for fare. He promptly complained to the directors, and had the man discharged. "Not," said he, "that I could not afford to pay the shilling, but the man was cheating many travelers to whom the swindle would be oppressive." PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS. 487 In his youth he contracted habits of economy, and these he retained to tht last. Being unmarried, he did not subject himself to the expense of a complete domestic establishment, but lived in chambers, and entertained his friends at his club or at a coffee-house. His habits were simple in every respect, and he was often seen making his dinner on a mutton-chop at a table laden (at his cost) with the most sumptuous and tempting viands. His personal expenses for ten years did not average three thousand dollars per annum. In his dress Mr. Peabody was simple and unostentatious. He was scrupu lously neat and tasteful, but there was nothing about him to indicate his vasi wealth. He seldom wore any jewelry, using merely a black band for his watch guard. Display of all kinds he abominated. He made several visits to his native country during his last residence in London, and commemorated each one of them by acts of princely munificence He gave large sums to the cause of education, and to religious and charitable objects, and made each one of his near kindred wealthy. None of his relatives received less than one hundred thousand dollars, and some were given as much as three times that sum. He gave immense sums to the poor of London, and became their benefactor to such an extent that Queen Victoria sent him her portrait, which she had caused to be executed for him at a cost of over forty thousand dollars, in token of her appreciation of his services in behalf of the poor of her realm. Mr. Peabody made another visit to the United States in 1866, and upon this occasion added large sums to many of the donations he had already made in this country. He remained here until May, 1867, when he returned to England. He came back in June, 1869, but soon sailed again for England. His health had become very feeble, and it was his belief that it would be better in the atmosphere of London, to which he had been so long accustomed. His hope of recovery was vain. He failed to rally upon reaching London, and died in that city on the 4th of November, 1869. The news of his death created a profound sadness on both sides of the Atlantic, for his native and his adopted country alike revered him as a benefac- tor. The Queen caused his body to be placed in a vault in Westminster Abbey, amidst the greatest and noblest of her kingdom, until aH was in readiness for its transportation to the United States in a royal man-of-war. The Congress of the United States authorized the President to make such arrangements for the reception of the body as he should deem necessary. Sovereigns, statesmen, and warriors united to do homage to the mortal remains of this plain, simple man, who, beginning life a poor boy, and never departing from the character of an unassuming citizen, had made humanity his debtor by his- generosity and goodness. He was borne across the ocean with kingly honors, two great nations acting as chief mourners, and then, when the pomp and the splendor of the 488 GEORGE PEABODY. occasion were ended, they laid him down in his native earth by the side of the mother from whom he had imbibed those principles of integrity and goodness which were the foundation of his fame and fortune. It is impossible to obtain an accurate statement of the donations made by Mr. Peabody to the objects which enlisted his sympathy. In addition to those mentioned in the list below, he gave away for various public purposes sums ranging from two hundred and fifty to one thousand dollars, and extending back as far as the year 1835. He divided among his relatives the sum of about three millions of dollars, giving them a portion during his last visit to this ►;ountry, and leaving them the remainder at his death.- The following is a statement of his more important donations during his life, including the bequests contained in his last will and testament : — To the State of Maryland, for negotiating the loan of $8,000,000, . . . $60,000 To the Peabody Institute, Baltimore, Md., including accrued interest, . 1,500,000 To the Southern Education Fund, 3,000,000 To Yale College, 150,000 To Harvard College, 150,000 To Peabody Academy, Massachusetts, 140,000 To Phillips Academy, Massachusetts, 25,000 To Peabody Institute, etc., at Peabody, Massachusetts, 250,000 To Kenyon College, Ohio, 25,000 To Memorial Church, in Georgetown, Massachusetts, 100,000 To Homes for the Poor in London, 3,000,000 To Libraries in Georgetown, Massachusetts, and Thetford, Vermont, . 10,000 To Kane's Arctic Expedition, 10,000 To different Sanitary Fairs, 10,000 To unpaid moneys advanced to uphold the credit of States, 40,000 Total, $8,470,000 The good gifts of Mr, Peabody are every day building for him new and enduring monuments. The poor in London bless his memory, supposing him to be an Englishman ; while the people of Baltimore and the South, who are •aided in their education by the great fund which he established, or the institute which bears his name, join with the thousands beyond the sea in keeping his aanie enshrined in grateful hearts. ^:?sapf i^' CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. FIRST TRAIN OF CARS IN AMERICA. CORNELIUS VANDERBILT, AND THE STORY OR AM:ERICAN RAILROADS. TATEN ISLAND lies in the beautiful bay of New York, seven miles distant from the great city. Its lofty heights shut in the snug anchorage of the inner bay, and protect it from storms. It lies full in sight of the city, and is one of the most beautiful and attractive of its suburbs. The commandinof helgrhts and embow ered shores are covered with villas and cottages, and it contains a large and flourishing population. A century ago, Staten Island was a mere country settlement, and its communications with the city were maintained by means of a few sail-boats, which made one trip each way per day. One of these boats was owned and navigated by Cornelius Vanderbilt, a thriving farmer, who owned a small but well cultivated estate on Staten Island, lear the present Quarantine grounds. He was generally regarded as one of the most prudent and reliable men on the island. Having a considerable imount of produce to sell in the city, he purchased a boat of his own for the purpose of transporting it thither. Frequently, residents of the island would secure passage in this boat to the city in the morning, and return with it in the ^^vening. This was the beginning of the New York and Staten Island ferry His wife was a woman of more than usual character, and aided him nobly ir making his way in the world. This admirable couple were blessed with nine children. The oldest ol these, Cornelius, was born at the old farmhouse on Staten Island, on the 27th of May, 1794. He was a healthy, active boy, fond of all manner of out-door sports, and manifesting an unusual repugnance to the confinement and labors '>f the school-room. He was passionately fond of the water, and was never so awell pleased as when his father allowed him to assist in sailing his boat. 491 492 CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. When he was only twelve years old, his father contracted to remove the caro-o from a ship which had gone ashore near Sandy Hook, and to convey it to New York. The lighters which were to carry the goods to the city could not reach the ship, and it was necessary to haul the cargo, transported in wagons, across the sands from the vessel to them. In spite of his tender age, litde Cornelius was placed by his father in charge of the undertaking, which he accomplished promptly and successfully. He loaded his lighters, sent them up to New York, and then started for home with his wagons. Upon reaching South Amboy, where he was to cross over to Staten Island, he found himself, with his wagons, horses, and men, without any money to pay his ferriage across to the island. The ferriage would amount to six dollars, and how he was to raise this sum he was, for a time, at a loss to determine. Finally, he went to the keeper of the tavern, to whom he was a stranger, and asked for the loan of six dollars, offering to leave one of his horses as a pledge for the money, which he promised to return within two days. The tavern-keeper was so well pleased with the boy's energy that he loaned him the money, and the party crossed over to Staten Island. The pawned horse was promptly redeemed. Young Vanderbilt was always anxious to become a sailor, and, as he approached his seventeenth year, he determined to begin life as a boatman in the harbor of New York. On the ist of May, 1810, he informed his mother of his determination, and asked her to lend him one hundred dollars to buy a boat. The good lady had always opposed her son's wish to go to sea, and reo-arded this new scheme as equally hare-brained. As a means of discour- ao-ino- him, she told him if he would plow, harrow, and plant with corn a certain ten-acre lot belonging to the farm, by the twenty-seventh of that month, on which day he would be seventeen years old, she would lend him the money The field was the worst in the whole farm ; it was rough, hard, and stony ; but by the appointed time the work was done, and well done, and the boy claimed and received his money. He hurried off to a neighboring village, and bought his boat, in which he set out for home. He had not gone far, however, when the boat struck a sunken wreck, and filled so rapidly that the boy had barely time to get into shoal water before it sank. "Undismayed at this mishap," says Parton, "he began his new career. His success, as we have intimated, was speedy and great. He made a thou- sand dollars during each of the next three summers. Often he worked all night ; but he was never absent from his post by day, and he soon had the cream of the boating business of the port." During the War of 181 2, young Vanderbilt was kept very busy. All the harbor defenses were fully manned, and a number of war vessels were in port all the time. The travel between these and the city was very great, and boat men were in demand. HIS MARRIAGE. 493 He was now so prosperous in his calling that he determined to marry. He had wooed and won the heart of Sophia Johnson, the daughter of a neighbor. and he now asked his parents' consent to his marriage, and also requested them "JOHNNY BULL," OR NO. 1. {The First Locomotive Used.) to allow him to retain his own earnings, in order that he might be able to sup- port a wife. Both of his petitions received the approval of his parents, and in the winter of 1813 he was married. His wife was a woman of unusual personal beauty and strength of character, and proved the best of partners. He often 494 CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. declared that he owed his success in life as much to her counsel and assistance as to his own efforts. In 1815, in connection with his brother-in-law, Captain De Forrest, he built a fine schooner, called the *' Charlotte," for the coasting service. She was cele- brated for the beauty of her model and her great speed. He continued to ply his boat in the harbor during the summer, but in the fall and winter made voyages along the coast, often as far south as Charleston. During the three years succeeding the termination of the war he saved nine thousand dollars in cash, and built two or three small vessels. This was his condition in 18 18. By this time it had become demonstrated to his satisfaction that the new system of steamboats was a success, and was destined to come into general use at no very distant day. He therefore determined to identify himself with it at once, and thereby secure the benefits which he felt sure would result from a prompt connection with it. Accordingly, in 181 8, to the surprise and dismay of his friends, he gave up his fiourishing business, in order to accept the cap talncy of a steamboat which was offered him by Mr, Thomas Gibbons. The salary attached to this position was one thousand dollars, and Captain Vander bilt's friends frankly told him that he was very foolish in abandoning a lucrative business for so insiofnificant a sum. Tuminof a deaf ear to their remonstrances however, he entered promptly upon the duties of his new career, and was given command of a steamboat plying between New York and New Brunswick. For seven years he was harassed and hampered by the hostility of the State of New York, which had granted to Fulton and Livingston the sole right to navigate New York waters by steam. Thomas Gibbons believed this law to be unconstitutional, and ran his boats In defiance of it. The authorities of the State resented his disregard of their monopoly, and a long and vexatious war- fare sprang up between them, which was ended only in 1824 by the famous decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in the "Steamboat Case," as it is usually called, in which Daniel Webster made the argument for Mr. Gibbons. As a means of crippling Gibbons, the New York authorities at one time determined to arrest Vanderbllt and his crew ; but the wary captain was too cunning for them. He would land his crew in Jersey City, and take charge ol the engine himself, while a lady managed the helm. In this way he approached the wharf at New York, landed his passengers, and took on more. As soon as he had made his boat fast, he concealed himself In the hold until the moment of his departure. As soon as he appeared on deck, the Sheriff's officer (who was changed every day to avoid recognition) would approach him with a warrant for his arrest. His reply was an order to let go the line. The officer, unwilling to be carried off to New Jersey, where he was threatened with imprisonment in the penitentiary for interfering with the steamer, would at once jump ashore, or beg SETTING UP FOR HIMSELF. 495 to be landed. This was kept up for two months, but the captain successfully baffled his enemies during the whole of that period. In 1829 he determined to leave the service of Mr. Gibbons, with whom he had been connected for eleven years. He was thirty-five years old, and had saved thirty thousand dollars. He resolved to build a steamer of his own, and command her himself, and accordingly made known his intention to his em- ployer. Mr. Gibbons at once declared that he could not carry on the line with- out his assistance, and told him he might make his own terms if he would stay with him. Captain Vanderbilt had formed his decision after much thought, and being satisfied that he was doing right, he persisted in his determination to set LOADING A TRAIN OF TANK CARS up for himself Mr. Gibbons then oifered to sell him the line on the spot, and to take his pay as the money should be earned. It was a splendid offer, but it was firmly and gratefully refused. The captain knew the men among whom he would be thrown, and that they could never act together harmoniously. He believed his own ideas to be the best, and wished to be free to carry them out. From that time he made his way gradually in his business, until he rose to the head of the steamboat interest of the United States. He owned or was interested in one hundred steam vessels, and was instrumental in a greater degree than any other man in bringing down the rate of steamboat fares. He never built a vessel without giving his personal superintendence to every detail, so that all his various craft were models of their kind. From this period he began by degrees withdrawing his interest from ship- ping, to some extent, and investing in railroads ; ten years later he was director in several ; and when the war broke out in 1 860 his investments were already 39 496 CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. in great measure transferred from the water to the land, so that his prosperity suffered no special shock by the practical destruction of our foreign carrying trade. Having gained considerable experience In the manipulation of stocks, he invested largely, more especially in ''Harlem," '* Hudson River," and " Cen- tral," then separate roads. One of his most successful operations was in con nection with Harlem. He had bought heavily of this stock when it was in a most depressed condition, advancing to the company a large sum of money, and consequently was placed upon the directors' board, and in 1863 became president of the road. Under his judicious management, and perhaps the magic of his name, the stock which in January had been at 30, rose in July to 92, and by a skillful manoeuvre was made to take a sudden jump in August up to 179. The next year occurred the famous " corner in Harlem," which sent this stock up to the astounding figure of 285 ! After this grand "bulling" exploit the directors of the Central road, covet- ing his influence, offered him the presidency. He bought the Hudson River Railroad outright, and had then in New York State but one rival in the field worthy of his metal ; this was the Erie road, then identified with the names of the famous trio, Daniel Drew, Jay Gould, and James Fisk. Vanderbilt wished to procure the consolidation of the "Harlem" and "Hudson River," and for this purpose caused a bill to be presented to the legislature at Albany. Whether it was under the suggestion of his ever-watchful antagonist, Mr. Drew, or arose from the speculating minds of members, or of the lobby, a coalition was formed to defeat the bill, its deserting friends evidently believing that they could make more in that way than by passing it. Many privately " gave away the point" to their friends, that Harlem stock could soon be bought for a song. But this conspiracy was not so secretly managed but that it reached the ears of Harlem's president. He made no protest to his defaulting friends \\\ the as- sembly, but quietly went into the market and bought up every scrap of Harlem stock to be found. In the meanwhile the derelict assemblymen and their friends had been selling Harlem "short" for future delivery. The bill for the consoli- dation was defeated, and the conspirators looked to see Harlem fall. To their astonishment it stood firm, and when they went into the market to buy the stock for delivery, there was none to be had ; they were consequently obliged to pay on " call " the value of the stock, which they had sold at a high price. Many of the speculators were ruined, while Vanderbilt's gains began to roll up in fabulous '.,sums. ' From this time onward it has been Impossible to exactly estimate the wealth of the railroad emperor. At the time of the consolidation of the Harlem and Hudson River the property was estimated at $35,000,000 ; he very soon increased the capital to $90,000,000, and on this enormous sum paid annual dividends of HIS GREAT WEALTH. 497 eight per cent. His will did not disclose the amount he left, but it was prob- ably near $100,000,000. Some of his uses of money may be considered as public benefits, and in these are included his improvements in railroad accom- modations. In 1862, during the most depressed period of the Union forces during the war, he made the magnificent gift of his splendid steamer, the " Van- derbilt," to the Government. Its cost was United States was greatly in need of timely and valuable. Congress passed a ordered a orold medal, commemorative of and presented to him. It was one of the pleasant traits ot character that he never forgot his origin, nor the old homestead ; in fact, thouofh he lived for many years,- during the latter part about $800,000. The vessels, and the gift was resolution of thanks, and the event, to be struck Commodore Yanderbilt's THE VANDERBILT FAMILY DRIVING IN CENTRAL PARK, NEW YORK. of his life, in New York city, No. 10 Washington Place, his first grand house was in Staten Island, and built upon a corner of his father's farm, which he had bought when quite a young man, and which, before he built upon it, was recognized by the neighbors as " Corneel's lot." Its site, when bought, was on the northeast corner of the farm, and very near the water's edge, but later improvements in filling In carried out the shore-line nearly an eighth of a mile 498 CORNELIUS VANDERBILT. beyond the house, which is situated upon a rise of land overlooking the bay, the approach being handsomely terraced, and separated from the road by a substantial stone coping and high iron fence. Mr. Vanderbilt's death occurred on the morning of the 4th of January, 1877, after an illness of six months, the result of a complication of diseases. The great bulk of his gigantic fortune descended to his son William H. Commodore Vanderbilt was the father of thirteen children by his first -wife • —four sons and nine daughters. His second wife, whom he married late in life, was a Miss Crawford, of Mobile, Ala. To this lady is attributed the influence which caused the endowment of the " Vanderbilt University," located at Nash= ville, Tenn., and the gift to Dr. Deems, of the Church of the Strangers, with those other beneficent acts which marked the last vears of the veteran finan- cier's life. SUSPENSION BRIDGE, NIAGARA FALLS. THE ROYAL GORGE, COLORADO OUR ArvlERlCAN RAILROADS. N view of the important part performed by railways in the evolution of American prosperity and power, there was some- thing specially significant in the name of the first American locomotive built for the first railway constructed for the carriage of passengers and freight by steam power exclusively. It was the " Best Friend," made at the West Point Works, New York City^ in the summer of 1830, for the pioneer steam railway between Charleston and Hambure, South Carolina, opened for service in the fall of that year. There had been railroads at an earlier date, but they were not steam roads. The historic three-mile (horse- power) railroad of the Quincy Granite Company, built in 1827, to facilitate the transportation of stone for the Bunker Hill Monument, is a notable example. The Delaware and Hud- son Canal Company's gravity coal road between Carbondale and Hawley, Pa., was another ; and a later one was the tram-road for horses between Baltimore and Ellicott's Mills, now part of the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- road. And there had been numerous experimental locomotives, by several inventors, following the lead of Oliver Evans at the beginning of the century, and coming nearest to success, perhaps, in Peter Cooper's little "Tom Thumb." This, the first American locomotive to run on rails, was a toy affair, with a three and a-half inch cylinder, an upright tubular boiler made with old gun-barrels, and a fan-blower for increasingr the fire-draft. It was about as hicr as a flour-barrel on a hand-car, and weighed two and a-half tons. In August, 1830, it made the run from Baltimore to Ellicott's, twenty-seven miles, in an hour ; but when raced against a fast team on the return trip it failed, through the slipping of the belt which moved the fan. A year earlier an English engine had been imported by SOI 502 OUR AMERICAN RAILROADS. ihe Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, for hauling coal ; and, though sue- ceessful in a short run, it proved to be too heavy for the tracks and too tall to pass under highway bridges, and was never used. The " Best Friend" was more fortunate at first, and it was practically the pioneer American locomotive, and the South Carolina road was our pioneer steam railway — the first to carry passengers and the United States mail, and, withal, the longest railroad in the world when completed. It was not con- temptible, either, in the matter of speed. On trial trips (in the latter part of 1830), the " Best Friend " was able to run at the rate of twenty miles an hour, with four or five coaches and forty to fifty passengers ; and from thirty to thirty-five miles an hour without cars. Its own weight was five tons. On the stockholders' first anniversary, January 15, 1831, an excursion party of two hundred and more were carried over the road, in two trips, with a band of music and a detachment of United States soldiers with a field piece. This was only four months after the formal opening of the Manchester and Liverpool road, when Stephenson demonstrated for England the superiority of steam railways for passenger travel. Stephenson's locomotive, "The Rocket," had two features of the modern locomotive which the Best Friend lacked — a tubular boiler and steam draft ; and, In June, 1831, the West Point Works sent to the South Carolina road a better engine of the "Rocket" type. Soon after the Best Friend' s career was ended by the excessive zeal of a negro fireman who sat upon the safety valve to stop the escape of steam. The fireman's career was ended at the same time. Closely pressing the South Carolina road In its claim for priority was the Mohawk and Hudson road, from Albany to Schenectady, N. Y., now part of the New York Central road. By many It is regarded as furnishing the first fully equipped passenger train drawn by a steam-engine to run In regular service In America. Trial trips were made In August, 1831, regular service beginning In October. The engine was the " De Witt Clinton," the third locomotive built at the West Point Works. It weighed three and a half tons, and, hauling half a dozen coaches, was able to run from Albany to Schenectady, seventeen miles, In less than an hour. An excursion trip made August 9, 1831, described by one of the party, gives a good idea of primitive railway travel. "The train was made up of the De Witt Clinton, Its tender, and five or six coaches — old stage bodies placed on trucks, coupled together by chain links, leaving from two to three feet slack. When the locomotive started it took up the slack by jerks, with suflficlent force to jerk the passsengers, who sat on seats across the tops, out from under their hats, and in stopping the cars came together with such force is to send the excursionists flying from their seats. •' Pitch pine was used for fuel, and there being no spark-catcher to the smoke-stack, a volume of black smoke, strongly charged with sparks, coal, and CRUDE EQUIPMENT. 503 cinders, came pouring back the whole length of the train. Each of the outside, passengers who had an umbrella, raised it as a protection against the smoke and fire. The umbrellas were found to be but a momentary protection, and in the first mile the last one went overboard, all havinof their covers burned ofll from the frames. At the first station a plan was hit upon to stop the jerking. A piece of fence rail was placed between each pair of cars, stretching the link-coupling, and fastened by means of packing yarn from the cylinders, an improvement not fully worked out practically for many years. A more formal exhibition of the possibilities of the road was made a month NEW TERMINAL STATION AND MARKET HOUSE OF READING RAILROAD. later, when a large number of State and city officials took part. A " powerful Stephenson locomotive " had been imported for the occasion, but it did not work well, and the DeWitt Clinton was brought into service to haul a train of three coaches, while seven other coaches followed, drawn by horses. The steam train made the trip in forty-six minutes ; the horse-drawn train in an houf and a quarter. Among the toasts offered at the subsequent dinner was this : "The Bufialo Railroad — may we soon breakfast in Utica, dine in Rochester, and sup with our friends on Lake Erie." Now we breakfast in New York, dine on the road while speeding through Central New York, and sup as the train flies past. Crude as were these early beginnings, they sufficed to convince a v/ide« 504 OUR AMERICAN RAILROADS. awake and enterprising people that the steam railroad was to be the Future highway, and railway projects were started in all parts of the country, a num- ber of them to be carried out speedily. There were nearly a hundred miles of railways in operation at the end of 1831, and the first thousand miles were passed in 1835. In the meantime improvements were introduced in the con- struction of tracks, locomotives, and cars, and the characteristics which have since distinguished American railroads, rolling stock, and methods of operation began to be developed. In Europe the railways were primarily to meet existing needs, social, commercial, and military. They connected strategic points, or established centres of population, and sought mainly to supply the demonstrated wants of ancient trade routes. In America the longer roads were planned chiefly to meet future needs. They were pioneers in national development. They pene- trated the wilderness to hasten its conquest, to make accessible natural resources not otherwise attainable. They created trade routes. Population followed the lines they laid down, and their points of intersection became centres of production and traffic. Built largely in advance of trade and travel by a people too young to have accumulated an excess of capital, in their con- struction and equipment the early American roads showed less of solidity and elegance than of originality, one might almost say audacity, in design and execution. Curves of startling abruptness were common, and timber viaducts of spider-web lightness led over chasms that European engineers would have crossed only at a cost which would have thrown a new enterprise into bank- ruptcy, as indeed the cheapest construction too often did. The unsubstantial nature of the roadway, with wooden viaducts and bridges, compelled the use of rolling stock of home production. Almost invariably the imported engines proved too heavy and rigid for American service. They were built for level grades and wide curves, the axles being held rigidly parallel by the engine frames. The second engine of the South Carolina road had its run- ning-gear of eight wheels arranged in two trucks, turning on king bolts, so as to easily follow sharp curves. This was improved upon in the first Mohawk and Hudson engine, in which the driving wheels were separated from the swiveled "bearing" truck, a plan which still better enabled the engine to follow readily sharp curves and adapt itself to sudden inequalities of the track. In 1836 two pairs of driving-wheels coupled together were adopted in connection with a swiveling bearing-truck ; and thereafter what has since been known the world over as the American type of locomotive became the rule here, to be accepted ultimately by other countries, — latterly even by the stubbornly conser- vative English locomotive builders. Closely following the Mohawk and Hudson road, in the same year, came the thirteen-mile railway between Richmond and Chesterfield, Va., and a five- RAPID RAILROAD EXTENSION. 50s mile road from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain. The next year Pennsyl vania had a State-built railroad, using horses at first, fi-om Philadelphia to Columbia, eighty-two miles, and the Portage road, for canal boats, over the mountains from Hollidaysburgh to Johnstown, using stationary engines. These roads, with their canal connections, gave Philadelphia a route through to the West, reducing the freight charge to Pittsburgh from ^100 to $30 per ton. New York and Philadelphia were connected by the Camden and Amboy Rail- road, finished in 1834. Boston and Worcester were iron-linked in 1835. ON THE BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAILWAY. Something of a railway mania ensued, culminating in 1842, in which yea> over seven hundred miles of new roads were built, bringing the aggregate mile age up to four thousand. By this time Boston and Albany had been connected by railway, and wheat threshed and milled in Rochester on Monday had been delivered in Boston, converted into bread, and solemnly eaten at a public dinner on Wednesday. From New York one could go by rail all the way to Wash ington ; and from Fredericksburg, Va., to Wilmington, N. C. In 1850 there was no direct rail connection between New York and Boston, nor between New York and Albany. The Hudson River Road was opened in the Fall of 1851 5o6 OUR AMERICAN RAILROADS. By the consolidation of a dozen previously independent roads, the New York Central was created in 1853. With the completion of the Hudson River road, the westward traveler could go by rail to Buffalo ; thence by boat through Lake Erie to Detroit ; across the State of Michigan by rail ; thence across Lake Michigan by boat to Chicago, then almost as far from New York as San Fran- cisco now is. Chicago's only railway connection was with Elgin, forty miles west. The Michigan Central reached Chicago, giving it direct Eastern connec- tion, in 1852. Meantime Western Ohio had reached Chicagoward from Toledo, passing through Northern Indiana. Two or three years later Chicago had be- come a great railway centre, with lines to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and St. Louis, and had entered upon an era of civic development previously unknown even in America. During that decade — 1850 to i860 — the development of the region between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River was somethingf marvelous, and the rapid extension of its railways must be considered as much a cause as an effect. Coincident with the extension of railway facilities were improvements in methods and appliances. The original coaches could carry from four to six passengers inside and two at each end outside. The next step was to low and narrow cars, with four or five coach-like compartments, into which perhaps twenty passengers could be crowded, in groups of four. Then the partitions were omitted, making a long box-car with doors at the ends. These cars were dimly lighted by tallow candles or whale-oil lamps, which smoked the tops of the cars and spattered the sides with grease. The more luxurious of the stiff, uncomfortable seats were covered with hair cloth. In winter some of the cars were heated by small sheet-iron stoves. There was no ventilation except by open windows, into which poured clouds of dust from the unballasted roadbed, and denser clouds of smoke and cinders from the locomotive, burning fat pinf for fuel and belching forth a torrent of sparks that usually enveloped the entire train. The cars were without springs. The first rails were merely straps of iron nailed to longitudinal sleepers of wood. The continuous hammering of the wheels on one side of these bars caused them to curl ; the loosened ends would sometimes be struck by the wheels and thrust upward through the car, — causing "snake heads," which never failed to frighten, and not unfrequently to kill, passengers and derail the train. The modern rail, invented by Colonel Stevens, of New Jersey, removed this source of danger and commended itself to railway builders the world over. The strap rail was not entirely displaced, however, for many years. The early railroad stations were mere sheds with few conveniences (or pas- sengers or baggage. There was no baggage checking, and every passenger had to keep track of his own luggage ; a serious bother and constant anxiety. as "through" cars were unknown and frequent changes of cars were made MODERN FACILITIES. 507 necessary by the short length and independent management of connecting roads At every terminus the passenger had to get out, buy a new ticket, and see tha> his baggage was properly transferred. At night and in foul weather this was no pleasure. Coupon tickets, continuous trains, sleeping cars, baggage check- ing over con- necting routes, and other con- veniences came in with the later fifties. By this time the elec- tric telegraph had become an important fac- tor in railroad management, a factor of safety as well as conveni- ence ; and that other American idea, the ex- press service, had demonstra- ted its advan- taofes to travel- ers as well as to shippers of goods. In 1850 the railways of the country were almost entirely confined to the Atlantic slope north of Vir- ginia. Ten years later the Southern States were crossed in various directions from Rich mond to Savannah and Memphis, from New Orleans to the mouth of the Ohio i and a network of iron roads furnished transportation to the coast for the cotton of the Carolinas, Georgia, and Alabama. Still greater progress had 5o8 OUR AMERICAN RAILROADS. been made north of the Ohio. The great Central States were crossed and recrossed many times, and their fertile plains were tapped by the four or five o-reat chains of connectingr lines, furnishiniTf throucrh routes from New York to beyond the Mississippi River, and down the Mississippi to New Orleans; and Chicago had become a great railway centre. During the years of civil war railroad building was largely suspended, tx> begin again with increased vigor with the return of peace. The gigantic task of building an iron way across the continent had been accomplished before the decade was ended, and the aggregate mileage of the country had been increased to about sixty thousand. The example set by the New York Central, and the manifest convenience and economy of grouping related roads into united sys- tems under common management, had led to the formation of great corporations like the Pennsylvania Railway Company and the Baltimore and Ohio, thus bringing a confusion of independent roads into orderly and economical action, with lower tariff rates for freight and passengers, speedier service, and greater efficiency in every department. The great advantages of the rapid and uninter- rupted transmission of packages by the express companies led to the extension of such service to general freight carrying, and fast freight lines in charge of special companies were the beneficent result. While these improvements in railway management were developing, not less Important Improvements were making in the construction and equipment of the roads. The track was better laid, heavier rails employed, with larger cars, and more powerful engines. The Hodge hand-brake, and the Stevens brake, introduced about 1850, materially increased the economy and safety of handling trains. The Miller coupler and buffer was a more radical Improve- ment, practically ending the jerking and jolting in starting and stopping trains, and lessening the risk of "telescoping " in case of collisions. The extension of railway lines and the Increase of night travel gave rise to the need of better sleeping accommodations, and several roads experimented with sleeping-cars about the time of their introduction by Woodruff In 1856. Wagner cars were placed on the New York Central In 1858, and soon after the Chicago and Alton Road tried a number of day cars altered to sleepers by Pullman. Great improvements were developed by Pullman In 1865, the first car of the new type — costing the then extravagant sum of $18,000 — was first t^sed in the funeral train of President Lincoln. Parlor or drawing-room cars were next Introduced for day service, adding greatly to the comfort of travel- ing. The first hotel car was introduced by the Pullman Company In 1857, and the first dining-car. In which all the passengers of a train could take their meals as In a well-equipped restaurant, followed In 1868. Each decade since 1870 has seen a greater extension of railway lines and more numerous improvements In railway material and methods than in all the WIDESPREAD RAILWAY EXTENSION, 509 years preceding", marvelous as their result had been. In 1870 the great rail- way States were Pennsylvania and Illinois, with nearly five thousand miles of iron roads each, while New York, Ohio, and Indiana had a mileage of over three thou- sand each. In 1880 Illinois' mileage ap- proached eight thousand, Penn- sylvania's over six thousand ; New York, Ohio, and Iowa had nearly as many ; and sev- en other States exceeded three thousand miles each. Of these, Texas had in- creased her mileage over fourfold. Dur- ing that year the railway mileage of the whole country reached and passed a hun- dred thousand miles ; and over seventy thou- sand miles of new road have since been add- ed. Illinois re- mained in 1890 the greatest railroad State, with ten thousand miles ; Kansas had nine thousand ; Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Texas nearly as many. After these come Ohio with eight thousand miles; New York with seven thousand seven hundred and sixty miles ; and Michigan 5IO OUR AMERICAN RAILROADS. wkh seven thousand three hundred and forty-two miles. Thirteen or fourteen States have more than five thousand miles each; and all except Rhode Island, Delaware, Vermont and Nevada have passed the first thousand. During the last two decades there have been three great periods of railway extension, culminating in 1871, in 1882, and in 1887, the advance in the last year named being nearly thirteen thousand miles, or as much as the whole country had in 1852. The present mileage of the United States — not counting town and city roads operated by horses, stationary engines, electric motors, and small steam engines, like those of our elevated roads — is more than half the railway mileage of the entire world, and more than six times that of any other country. At a low estimate something like one-fifth of the entire wealth of the United States is represented by these newly created highways of traffic and travel, or much more than the sum of the whole world's stock of money, of every kind — gold, silver, and paper. Their motive power is furnished by upward of 30,000 locomotives, valued at half a billion dollars, whose flying trains comprise about twelve hundred thousand cars, worth more than a billion and a half. They would make a train extending half way around the globe ! Their annual traffic earnings exceed a thousand million dollars. They give direct employment to an army of 800,000 railway men, and four times as many men are employed in subsidiary occupations, in building and equipping them, the railway interests supporting fully a twentieth of our entire population. To haul on common roads the freight carried by American railroads would require not less than sixty million horses, with all the able-bodied men in the country to drive them, and the annual freight bill would be increased twenty- fold or more by such a return to primitive methods, were such a thing possible. Facts and figures Hke these serve not merely to indicate the magnitude and importance of our railway service, but to show how fundamentally necessary it is to a civilization like ours. Without such means of cheap and rapid move- ment of men and materials the greater part of our populous and wealth-pro- ducing territory would have remained a savage wilderness. Before the days of railways it cost a hundred dollars to haul a ton of freight from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh ; on the easier grades through Central New York to Buffalo the charge was twenty-five cents a mile. Only costly commod- ities could stand such expensive carriage. The value of a load of wheat would ihave been absorbed in half the distance ; indeed, a distance of a hundred miles 'is generally regarded as the limit of grain transport on common roads. By railway it can stand a carriage of two or three thousand miles, the average freight charge on all the railroads of the country being about a cent a mile ; on many roads it as low as three-fourths of a cent. It was over three cents a mile in 1853 and over two cents in i860. Since 1870 the average cost of bringing a bushel of wheat from Chicago to New York has fallen from about thirty-five THE NEW YORK CENTRAL SYSTEM. 511 cents to less than fifteen cents, with corresponding benefit to Eastern and European consumers. To attempt to trace the causes of this cheapening- of transportation for freight and passengers would carry us far beyond the limits of space prescribed. Some of the chief contributing factors, however, may be briefly noticed — compe* tition, due to the multiplication of roads ; more economical management, through the development of great systems under united and judicious control ; and, above all, improvement in the tracks, engines, cars, stations, and all related means» methods, and appliances. As an example, when the New York Central System comprised the consolidation of the Hudson River and Harlem Roads, in 1864, it included 281 miles of MOSSBRiB. lailway, with double tracks, sidings, and spurs, making a total mileage of 463. In 1 89 1 the system included sixteen roads, with over 5000 miles of track. Its valuation had increased sixfold, its operating expenses fivefold, and its gross earnings more than fivefold. In 1866 it used 125 locomotives, 251 passenger cars, and 1421 freight cars of all sorts and sizes. The average freight car was then twenty-eight feet long and carried ten tons; the average passenger car was forty feet long and would seat forty passengers. Now the average freight car is thirty-four feet long, with a capacity of twenty. 30 512 OUR AMERICAN RAILROADS. tAvo tons ; the passenger coach is fifty-four feet long and carries sixty-four, with a comfort undreamed of at the earHer day. The fast express of 1866 attained a speed of thirty-four miles an hour. The Empire State Express of 1892 regularly maintains a speed of fifty-one miles from the sea to the lakes ; sometimes it exceeds a mile a minute. In 1866 the average passenger train, including the engine, weighed one hundred and thirty tons ; the average freight train perhaps twice as much. In 1891 some of the freight engines alone weighed one hundred tons, and a freight train of thirty-five cars, over five hundred tons. A limited passenger train would weigh nearly four-fifths as much. In 1891 the system, using over eleven hundred locomotives and forty times as many cars, carried over twenty million passengers more than six hundred million miles, at a cost to passengers of less than two cents a mile, and twenty million tons of freight over three thousand million miles. The chairman of the Board of Directors of the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Com- pany is Mr. Cornelius Vanderbilt, who devotes his time to furthering the interests of this great company. Mr. Chauncey M. Depew is the active president of the road, with Mr. Theodore Voor- hies as superintendent, maintaining a vigilant oversight of its business, and Mr. George H. Daniels is the efficient General Passenger Agent. The task of operating this vast enterprise, with its five hundred and eighty-six trains daily, devolves upon Mr. John M. Toucey, as General Manager, w^hose record may well serve as a stimulus to others — for Mr. Toucey rose from the ranks. John M. Toucey, General Manager of the New York Central & Hudson River R. R., was born at Newtown, Conn., July 30th, 1828. After preparing for Trinity College, Mr. Toucey, finding that his tastes did not lead him in the direction of the minis- try, turned his attention to school teaching, continuing in that profession for two years. At the age of nineteen he applied for and obtained a position on the Naugatuck R. R., then in course of construction, and was appointed station agent at Plymouth (nowThomaston), beginning business there before the station was erected. About a year after his appointment the station was robbed, and no clue obtained until about fifteen hours had elapsed. Mr. Toucey followed the thief to Goshen, near Litchfield, where he grappled with him alone, secured the money, and turned the man over to the authorities to serve a seven years' sentence in the State Prison. While running as conductor between Bridgeport and Winstead the road was badly damaged by freshets. Mr. Toucey was given JOHN M. TOUCEY. General Manager Neiv York Central Railroad System). THE PENNS YL VAN I A S YSTEM. 5 1 3 charge of the reconstruction of the road between Waterbury and Winstead, completing the work in a short time to the entire satisfaction of the Company. After serving at IndianapoHs as agent of the Madison & IndianapoHs R. R., and later as freight agent on the Morris & Essex R. R., Mr. Toucey entered the service of the Hudson River R. R., and in 1855 was appointed passenger con- ductor between New York and Troy, subsequently filling the position of agent at East Albany. In 1862 President Samuel Sloan, of the Hudson River R. R., appointed Mr. Toucey Train Master, from which position he was soon promoted to be Assistant Superintendent. In 1867 Mr. Toucey resigned from the service of the Hudson River Road and accepted the position of General Superintendent of the D. L. & W, R. R., under Mr. Sloan, the former President of the Hudson River Road, but after two months' service he was recalled to the Hudson River Railroad by Commo- dore Vanderbilt, and appointed General Superintendent, with full charge of the line then extending from New York to Albany. Some years after the consoli- dation of the New York Central Railroad and the Hudson River Railroad Mr. Toucey's jurisdiction was extended to Buffalo, and in February, 1890, he was appointed General Manager. Mr. Toucey's long experience in railway man- agement and his habits of close observation, combined with untiring energy and native sagacity, have brought him to the front rank among railway managers, and he is deservedly popular with the army of men employed on the great "New York Central System," where his ability is recognized and his tall form is so well known. THE PENNSYLVANIA SYSTEM covers between seven and eigrht thousand miles of track, with a freio-ht traffic of one hundred and thirty million tons (over twelve thousand million tons one mile) and a passenger traffic of eighty-seven million passengers (over sixteen hun- dred thousand one mile), and carries seventy-four thousand names on its pay- rolls. The Union Pacific system covers over six thousand miles of connecting roads ; the Southern Pacific nearly as many ; the Richmond Terminal system something like seven thousand miles ; and in scope of territory and magnitude of business these are rivaled, if not surpassed, by several systems reaching westward from Chicago into regions that were an almost unbroken wilderness twenty-five years ago, now a chain of mighty States, reaching from Mexico to Manitoba, and from the Mississippi to the Pacific. The unprecedented progress in the social, Industrial, and political development of that wilderness of yester- day is primarily due to the people who have converted it to the uses of civiliza- tion ; but their presence there was made possible by railways, and the railway has everywhere been their great engine of conquest and development — the bringer of population and carrier of the wealth they discovered or created. To trace adequately the conflicts of systems and the effects of competition in decreasing^ tariff rates, and in improving the means and methods of railway 514 OUR AMERICAN RAILROADS. service since 1880, would require a volume. Much less is it possible to describe the notable feats of engineering which have carried railways over rivers and chasms, over mountains impassable other than by sure-footed mules, across deserts too hot and dry even for mule trains. " No heights seem too great to-day, no valleys too deep, no canons too forbidding, no streams too wide ; if commerce demands it the engineer will respond and the railways will be built." The railway bridges of the country would make a continuous struc- ture from New York to San Francisco, and include many of the boldest and most original, as well as the longest and highest bridges in the world. The pioneer railway suspension bridge at Niagara Falls was as remarkable in its day for boldness and originality as for its size and its success. A single span of 821 feet, supported by four cables, carried the track 245 feet above the river that rushed beneath. The cables were supported by masonry towers, whose slow disintegration gave occasion for an engineering feat even more notable than the original construction of the bridge. The first railroad bridge across the Ohio was at Steubenville, completed in 1 866 ; the first iron bridge over the Upper Mississippi was the Burlington bridge of 1869. The first great bridge across the Mississippi was Eads' magnificent structure at St. Louis, whose beautiful steel arches of over 500 feet span each give no hint of the difficult problems that had to be solved before a permanent bridge was possible at that point. It was completed in 1874. Since then the great river has been fre- quently bridged for railways, the latest at Memphis, while its great arm, the Missouri, has been crossed a dozen times. The Memphis bridge involves the cantilever construction, so boldly applied for the first time by the Cincinnati Southern Road to its crossing of the deep gorge of the Kentucky River, a canon 1200 feet wide and 275 feet deep, with a stream subject to rises of water of 55 feet. But to return to the subject of railways and their development : the latest and most promising phase of this development — the electric railroads — must have a paragraph. Though in 1887, in the United States, there were but thirteen small electric railroads, in 1895 there were 900 with 11,000 miles of track and 5^750,000,000 capital. In all Europe there were in 1895 less than 100 electric roads. The complete displacement of steam is regarded as a question of a comparatively short time. Assurance is given that electric locomotives will soon displace steam engines from the elevated roads of New York City. The largest electric locomotive in use in 1897 was the 100 ton engine in operation in the belt line tunnel of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Baltimore. Similar heavy and powerful electric locomotives have been adopted for hauling trains at the Northern Pacific terminals at Chicago. There is also a certainity of greatly increasing the uses to which electricity may be put. CYRUS W. FIELD. CYRUS W. FIELD, THE SUCCESSKUIv PROJECTOR OK THE ATLANTIC CABLE. OW necessary it is to succeed! '' sadly remarked Kossuth, the Hungarian patriot, as he stood at the tomb of Wash- ington. Many a noble and brave man beside Kossuth has illustrated the truth that the world bestows honor only for success ; but few have so nobly displayed the qualities necessary to win success as the projector of the great Atlantic cable. Cyrus West Field was born at Stockbridge, Massa- chusetts, November 30, 1819. He was the son of Rev. David Dudley Field, a distinguished clergyman. He was carefully educated, and at the age of fifteen went to New York to seek his fortune. He had no difficulty in obtaining a clerkship in an enterprising mercantile house, and, from the first, gfave evidence of unusual business capacity. His employers advanced him rapidly, and in a few years he became a partner. His success was so marked that in 1853, when only thirty-four years old, he was able to partially retire from business with a large fortune. Mr. Field had devoted himself so closely to his business that, at his retire- ment, he resolved to seek recreation and change of scene in foreign travel, and accordingly he left New York, and passed the next six months in journeying through the mountains of South America. Upon his return home, at the close of the year 1853, he declared his intention to withdraw entirely from active par- ticipation in business, and to engage in no new schemes. Scarcely had Mr. Field returned when he was solicited by his brother Mat thew to accord an interview to a Mr. Frederick Gisborne, of Newfoundland, who had conceived a plan to establish telegraphic communication between New York and St. Johns, Newfoundland, and from the latter point to despatch swift steamers to London or Liverpool, which were expected to make the voy- age in five or six days. Mr. Field listened to his enthusiastic visitor with close attention, but without committing himself to the project But, after the latter S17 5i8 CYRUS IV. FIELD, had left, he took out his maps and charts, and began to mentally estimate the cost and difficulties of the plan, when suddenly the idea came to him : " Instead of steamers, why not run an electric wire through the ocean itself? " This thought, he says, thrilled him like a veritable shock of electricity, and he could hardly contain himself until he had sought the opinion of persons more practi- cally acquainted with the science of electricity, and with the conformation of the ocean-bed, than he was at that time. Being assured by the best authorities of the feasibility of the plan, he became thoroughly interested in the project, and resolved at once to try and interest a sufficient number of capitalists to enable the company to make a practical beginning. A company was soon found, consisting of a few wealthy men of New York. Mr. Peter Cooper was president. Mr. Field was the man who undertook the immense labor of pushing the enterprise. He visited England, where he obtained large subscriptions to the capital stock of the company. He secured the cordial aid of the British government, both in money and in the use of ves- sels for laying the cable. He attended to the manufacture of the cable itself, and the construction of the machinery for " paying-out " from the vessels. Then he returned to America, and with difficulty secured the co-operation of the United States government. The bill passed Congress by very small majorities, and was signed by President Buchanan in March, 1857. THE FIRST ATTEMPT. On August 6th the " Niagara" and "Agamemnon," with the precious cable aboard, started from Valentia, a small town on the western coast of Ireland. Mr. Field was on board of the "Niagara ;" Professor Morse and other electri- cians accompanied Mr. Field to watch the execution of the enterprise. As fathom after fathom of the great cable passed over the side of the " Niagara " and slipped into the silent sea, every one on board began to feel a sort of human interest in the cable itself, as if it were a thing of life. An eye-witness on the "Niagara" has eloquently described the feeling of subdued solemnity which gradually took possession of the whole ship's company. Suddenly a great calamity came. By the too sudden application of a brake on the " paying-out machine," the cable snapped, parted, and wholly disappeared beneath the waves. The shock was almost too great for the firmest nerves. All felt as if a cherished comrade had just slipped the cable of life, and gone to his grave in the depths of the ocean. The lateness of the season precluded the idea of repairing the accident, so as to continue the work that year. The fleet returned to England, and Mr. Field immediately gave orders for the construction of seven hundred additional miles of cable to replace what was lost. During all this time his activity appeared almost to exceed the bounds of human endurance. Many were the THE FIRST SUCCESS. 519 successive twenty-four hours in which he had no sleep, except such naps as he would catch in a railway car. But faith in the final success bore him up. On the loth of June in the following year the work of relaying the cable com^ nienced; but another disappointment was in store for him. About two hundred miles of cable had been laid, when it broke as did the former one, and once more the labor of months was swallowed up by the sea. The defect this time appeared to be in the construction of the cable itself, as it was repaired several times, and finally abandoned. Of course, it required all of Mr. Field's eloquence to Induce the directors to make another essay; he himself was greatly chagrined at the failure ; but he still saw that the difficulties to be overcome were not insurmountable, and that perseverance would finally win. Again the fleet left Queenstown, on July 17th, making their rendezvous in mid-ocean on the 28th ; the next day the cables on the ''Agamemnon" and the "Niagara" were spliced, and the steamers once more parted company, the "Agamemnon " trailing her share of the cable toward Ireland, the "Niagara" hers toward Newfoundland. Each vessel reached Its destination on the 5th of August. Signals were passed and repassed over the whole length, and the enterprise seemed to be finally rewarded with success. Messages were exchanged between the Queen and President Bucha- nan ; a public reception was given to Mr. Field, and the event was celebrated in New York and other cities. For nearly four weeks the cable worked perfectly ; then came a sudden stop. On the ist of September the cable refused to respond. The general disappointment was as great as the elation had been, and many thought no further effort would ever be made. At a meetlno- of the Chamber of Commerce In New York, a gentleman present presumed to assert his belief that the cable had never really worked. Mr. Cunard, of the British steamship line, who also happened to be there. Immediately arose and vehemently denounced the statement as false, adding, "I have myself sent messages and received replies." Only one or two others besides Mr. Field retained any con fidence that the difficulties of ocean telegraphy could ever be overcome. But Cyrus W. Field knew no such word as " fail." Perceiving, however, that he could not under the circumstances hope to obtain additional private sub- scriptions, he appealed once more to the British government to come to the rescue of the great work of the century. This was liberally extended ; but In the meantime the civil war In the United States Interfered with further progress there. Little was done until 1863, when the manufacture of a new cable was begun. It was completed during the year 1864-5, ^^^ ^^^ sum of ^600,000 was raised for the company, mainly through the Instrumentality of Mr. Field. On this occasion but one vessel was employed to bear the cable — but that was tl-je " Great Eastern." 520 CYRUS IV. FIELD. On the 23d of July, 1865, the land connection was made, and the great ship commenced her momentous voyage. Day by day the great wheel turned, and fathom after fathom of the new cable, heavier and more carefully insulated thar> its predecessors, slipped overboard into the sea. The work went bravely on for 1200 miles ; but when approaching Newfoundland the old misfortune recurred; in spite of all the care and watchfulness, the cable broke and disappeared under the waves. Attempts were made to recover the cable by grappling ; but though it was ARRIVAL OF THE GREAT EASTERN. several times caught and lifted nearly to the surface, the strain was too great for the grapnels ; they broke, and again the cable sank. It was evident that more efficient appliances would be required. The spot was carefully marked by buoys, and the great vessel returned to England. The strain of repeated disappointment was terrible ; but it had at least been demonstrated that a cable could be laid and a message sent over it. Public confidence in the ultimate success of the enterprise was greater. Before the next year Mr. Field succeeded in obtaining large new subscriptions. Anothel able was made and all the appliances for laying it perfected : and on Friday, THE FINAL TRIUMPH. 521 July 13th, the " Great Eastern " again sailed from Ireland, with the cable sinking into the ocean as she moved westward. LANDING OF THE CABLE. Public interest in the enterprise had now become intense. It was known thai the cable would be landed at Heart's Content, in Newfoundland, and many had gone there from various parts of the country to witness the arrival of the " Great Eastern." The shore was fringed with visitors, opera- or spy-glass in hand, watching the eastern horizon. Fourteen days pass away ; it is Friday morning, the 27th day of July, 1866. Here at last she comes ! As she draws nearer the people see that her colors are all set, which at least indicates that they have met with no disaster. With every mile's advance of the steamer the excitement grows. Too impatient to wait the arrival, scores of boats put off to row toward her. A delay of nearly two hours occurs while the latter connects the heavy shore end with the main cable, and at last the two continents are united ! Unfortunately the cable across the Gulf of St. Lawrence was disabled, and it was not until Sunday, the 29th, that this was repaired, and the heart-cheering intellieence announced to the nation. This was the messao^e : — " Heart's Content, July 27th. We arrived here at nine o'clock this morn ing. All well. Thank God, the cable is laid, and is in perfect working order. Cyrus W. Field." Almost immediately the " Great Eastern " again put to sea, and, proceed- ing to where the cable of 1865 had been lost, succeeded without much trouble in grappling it and bringing it to the surface. It was tested by sending a mes- sage to Valentia ; and being found perfect, was spliced to an additional section., which was brought to Newfoundland, and both of these cables have been i» constant use to the present time. Many persons had contributed to this great success, but to Cyrus W. Field it is chiefly due. His energy and perseverance kept the subject constantly before the public. His courage inspired others, and his faith in its ultimate suc- cess alone kept its best friends from abandoning it in its darkest hours. In Its behalf he spent twelve years of constant toil, and made over fifty voyages, more than thirty of which were across the Atlantic. He devoted his entire fortune to the undertaking, and cheerfully incurred the risk of poverty rather than abandon it. It is but just that he, who was the chief instrument in obtaining for th*» world this great benefit, should receive the largest measure of praise. At a banquet given in his honor by the New York Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Field said : — '• It has been a long, hard struggle — nearly thirteen years of anxious watch ing and ceaseless toil. Often my heart has been ready to sink. Many timess when wandering in the forests of Newfoundland in the pelting rain, or on the 522 CYRUS IV. FIELD. decks of ships on dark, stormy nights, alone, far from home, I have almost accused myself of madness and folly to sacrifice the peace of my family and all the hopes of life for what might prove, after all, a dream. I have seen my companions, one and another, falling by my side, and feared that I might not live to see the end And yet one hope has led me on, and I have prayed that I might not taste of death till this work was accomplished. That prayer is answered ; and now, beyond all acknowledgments to men, is the feeling of gratitude to Almighty God." In 1869, Mr. Field was present at the opening of the great Suez Canal, as ELEVATED RAILROAD IN NEW YORK. representative of the Chamber of Commerce of New York. In 1880 he made a tour around the world, and secured from the government of the Sandwich Islands concessions for a Pacific cable, to be laid from San Francisco. He became deeply interested in the elevated railway system of New York city, and devoted much time and money to its development. The latter part of his life was spent in New York, of which he was one of the most conspicuous and honored citizens Domestic troubles and financial losses clouded the few years just before his death, which occurred on July 12th, 1S92. LELAND STANFORD. LELAND STANFORD, AND THE STORY OK CALIKOR.NIA. f * """"^ ^^ opening up of the great West was more than the mere ^^BNBf^y> development of a country ; it was the development oi men, the evolution of a new race. Not only did the struggle result in the building of an empire, but it also brought forth the abilities of the men who made that empire great. One of the foremost of these men is Leland Stanford. In him were developed not only the powers which make a man capable of great deeds, but the sympa- thies which lead him to desire the equal development of all of his race. He will be remembered not merely as the builder of the great Pacific Railroad, not merely as the successful business man, but as the man whose desire for the advancement of others grew out of the experiences of his own struggle. His greatest monu ment is the Leland Stanford, Jr., University, that noble institution whose object is to develop men and women. California was a foreign country to the people of the United States when it became a part of the national territory at the close of the Mexican War. Its immense wealth, its glorious climate, its unlimited possibilities of development, were all unknov*^n. Peopled by an effeminate and unprogressive race, it lacked all of the features of civilization which characterized the East. Shortly after its acquisition by the \ Inited States, the discovery of gold in •ts mountain ranges brought the country into sudden prominence. The dis- covery was made by James Wilson Marshal, in January, 1 848. Marshal had been employed to construct a mill on the estate of a hundred square miles which General John A. Sutter had received as a grant from the Spanish government Sutter's demesne had been the center of the American colonies in California. General Sutter himself, a Swiss by birth, was a generous-minded visionary, who had shown himself so hospitable to all American immigrants that he had attained to a certain pre-eminence in the affairs of the Territory, and was looked upon by many as a great and heroic figure. The discovery of gold took place on the afternoon of the 24th of January, 525 526 LELAND STANFORD, 1848, just after Sutter's mill had been completed, and Marshal and his men had for two weeks made a perilous fight to keep the dam from being destroyed by the heavy rains which had set in. In this contest with the water Marshal had exhibited a courage which made him half deserve the accidental fame that came through the finding of the gold. When his men were exhibiting to some amazed Indians the workings of their new saw-mill, Marshal was in- specting the lower end of the mill- race. He came back with the quiet remark, " Boys, I believe I have found a orold mine." He moved off to his cabin, went back to the race, and then again returned to his men, directing^ them early in the morning to shut down the head- gate and see what would come of It, The next morning the men did as they were told, and presently Marshal came back looklnof won- derfully pleased, carrying In his arms his old white hat, in the top of whose crown, sure enough, lay flakes and grains of the precious metal. Comparing these pieces with a gold coin one of the men happened to have in his pocket, they saw that the coin was a little lighter in color, and righdy attributed this to the presence of the alloy. Then all the men hurried down the race, and were soon engrossed in picking gold from the 'finding gold in the mill-race. THE GOLD EXCITEMENT. 527 seams and crevices laid bare by the shutting down of the head-gate. In the midst of their excitement doubts would sometimes arise, and some of the metal was thrown into vinegar and some boiled in the soap-kettle, to see if it stood these tests. Then Marshal went off to General Sutter, and, feverish with excitement, told him of what had come to light. When he returned to the men he said, "Oh, boys, it's the pure stuff! I and the old Cap went into a room and locked ourselves up, and we were half a day trying it, and the regulars there wondered what the devil was up. They thought perhaps I had found quicksilver, as the woman did down toward Monterey. Well, we compared it with the encyclopedia, and it agreed with It ; we tried aqua fortis, but it would have nothing to do with it. Then we weighed it in water ; we took scales with silver coins in one side, balanced with the dust in the other, and gently let them down into a basin of water ; and the gold went down, and the silver came up. That told the story, what it was." That did tell the story — and though Sutter tried to keep the story a secret until all the work in connection with the mills had been finished, the story would not keep. A Swiss teamster learned it from a woman who did some of the cooking about the mill, received a little of the gold, spent it for liquor at the nearest store, and then the fame of the discovery swiftly flew to the ends of the earth. General Sutter had been right in his endeavor to keep the discovery secret as long as was within his power, for no sooner did the gold hunters' invasion set in than it became impossible for him to get men to work his mill. The invaders carried things with a high hand, and ended by setting aside his title to his land and establishing the claims which they had made upon it. Never was money made with anything like such rapidity. Nearly every ravine contained gold. Nobody waited to get machinery to begin work. Knives, picks, shovels, sticks, tin pans, wooden bowls, wicker baskets, were the only implements needed for scraping the rocky beds, sifting the sand, or washing the dirt for the gold. A letter in the New York Journal of Commerce, toward the end of August, said of the hunt for gold : " At present the people are running over the country and picking it out of the earth here and there, just as dogs and hogs let loose in the forest would root up ground-nuts. Some get even ten ounces a day, and the least active one or two. They make most who employ the wild Indians to hunt it for them. There is one man who has sixty Indians under his employ. His profits are a dollar a minute. The wild Indians know nothing of its value, and wonder what the pale-faces want to do with it, and they will give an ounce of it for the same weight of coin silver or a thimbleful of glass beads or a glass of grog, and white men themselves often give an ounce of it, which is worth in our mint $18 or more, for a bottle of brandy, a bottle of soda powders, or a plug of tobacco." California in those days was another part of the world. The journey to it overland took weeks, and even months, and was full of perils of starvation in case 528 LELAND STANFORD. of storm and drought, and perils of slaughter if hostile Indians were encountered. When things went well the life was pleasant enough, and is most picturesque to look back upon. The buffalo hunts, the meetings with Indians, the kindling of the camp-fires at the centre of the great circle of wagons drawn up to form a GOLD WASHING IN CALIFORNIA. bulwark against attack and a corral for the cattle, the story-telling in the light of these camp-fires, — all present a picture which men will love to dwell upon so long as the memory of the "Argonauts of Forty-nine" survives. But there were many times when the scenes were those of heart-sickening desolation. The CALIFORNIA WAGES. 529 attacks of the Indians were less horrible than attacks of hunger and disease which set in when the emigrant train reached a territory where the grass had been consumed, or lost their cattle in the terrible snow storms of the Sierras. The journey by sea was hardly safer and was far less glorious. Every ship for California was loaded clown with emigrants packed together as closely as so much baggage. Ships with a capacity for five hundred would crowd in fifteen hundred. The passage money was from $300 to 5^600. The companies that were able to get their ships back again simply coined money ; but it p"" was no easy matter in those days ■ to get a ship out of San Francisco harbor. The crews would desert for the mines, and the wharves were lined with rottino- vessels. Vessels which did make the return voyage were compelled to pay the California rate of wages. One ship in which the commander, engaged at New York, received $250 a month, had to pay on return $500 a month to the neofro cook. San Francisco In those days was the strangest place in the world. In February, 184S, it had hardly more than fifty houses ; in August it contained five hundred, and had a large population that was not housed. A pamphlet writ- ten in the fall of that year says : " From eight to ten thousand in- habitants may be afloat in the streets of San Francisco ; many live in shanties, many in tents, and many the best way they can." The best building in the town was the Parker House, an ordinary frame structure, a part of which was rented to gamblers for $60,000 a year. Even higher sums than this were said to have been paid. The accommodation was fearful. The worst that can be said of bad hotels may here be imagined. The pasteboard houses, hastily put up, were rented at far more than the cost of their construction, for every one figured that the land was as valuable as if It had been solid gold. The greater part of this city was five times destroyed by fire In the first OLD MISSION INDIAN OK SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA. 530 LELAND STANFORD. three years of its existence ; but the people, with a hopefulness and energy which nothing could put down or burn up, would set to work and rebuild it almost as quickly as the flames had swept it away. Everybody worked. The poorest man received unheard-of wages, and the richest man was obliged to do most things for himself When business of every sort was speculative to a degree so close akin to gambling, it is not strange that gambling itself took possession of the people and half frenzied them with its excitements. Physical insanity was a frequent result of the moral insanity of the community. There were few women in California, and most of these were of the worst sort. As a consequence, the men with no homes to go to in the evenings went into the gambling saloons, where they stayed till late at night. According to some descriptions, everybody gambled, but, as Royce points out in his admirable " History of California," the same men who talk half-boastfully of the recklessness and universality of the gambling, in the next breath speak with great fervor of the strength and genuineness of the religious life which soon showed itself in the community. There is no doubt that the forces for good as well as for evil were strong from the outset, and as the community grew older the forces for good kept growing stronger. More and more wives from the East had joined their husbands, and the young women who came from the East among the emigrants were married almost immediately on their arrival. Many a hotel keeper who engaged a servant girl at $200 a month was disgusted to find that she married and left him before the month was over. With the introduction of family life came a return to saner moral conditions, and by 1853 the old distempered social order began to be spoken of as a thing of the past. Never were so many men from so many different places suddenly thrown together, as in California in '48 and '49. What came afterward in Nevada, and later still in Colorado, was like it in kind but not in degree The Californian settlers of the early days were without law, and thousands of miles away from established tribunals. Every man was a law unto himself, ^^^ ^^^ house of WHOLESALE STORE OF MARSHALL FIELD & CO. Marshall Field & Company passed through it unscathed. It was hard to ruin a house which owed nothing, and whose customers had paid all bills up to within two months. The long-credit concerns, almost without exception, went down in the crash, but Mr. Field's house stood more firm than ever. In the years that followed, the business grew steadily. The wholesale department especially expanded, until in 1885 it was necessary to build once more. In that year was begun a building of granite and sandstone which is to-day one of the finest wholesale dry-goods establishments in the world. To the retail store, building after building has been added on the State street side, and later a magnificent annex at Wabash avenue and Washington street. In 558 MARSHALL FLELD. 1865 Mr. Field's firm did a business aggregating $8,000,000 ; in 1892 the figures had risen to $70,000,000. In 1 88 1 Mr. Leiter withdrew from the firm, and the name became Marshall Field & Company. It consists of Mr. Field and eight junior partners. All of these have grown up in the house. The store is a great school, which has furnished from its graduates not only the heads of the business itself, but also heads for many other businesses throughout the country. " Glancino; over the hundreds of men in the wholesale department yester- THE AUDITORIUM BUILDING, CHICAGO. day," says a Chicago reporter, "the writer saw a splendid display of brighit young faces. Scarcely an employee in the building could boast of forty years of life, and gray hairs were not in line at all. With scarcely an exception, every man in a responsible position has grown up with the house, and won his spurs by merit ; and in a number of cases the spurs carry from $10,000 to $30,000 per year salary with them. It is in a great measure true of Marshall Field & Company's employees that they are 'raised in the house,' and among them the great merchant has found his most loyal friends and ablest counsellors." JUHN WANAMAKER. JOHN WANAMAKER, XHE^ QREAX BUSINESS ORGANIZER. HE time-honored saying that " What man has done, man may do," has cheered and encouraged multitudes of patient workers, toihng upward along the steep road to success. But among the mass are a few whose motto might well read, "I will do what others have never yet done." Something of originality, of special and unique power, marks the individuality of a few. Among these is John Wanamaker. He has not only achieved success, but in achieving it he has wrought changes in the business world which will long remain as marks and monuments of the peculiar powers which distinguish his character. John Wanamaker was born in Philadelphia in 1837. Like many other Americans who have risen to the top, he began at the bottom. His father was a brickmaker, and the boy's first business experience was in " turning bricks" and doing odd jobs around the yard. When he was a few years older, school had to be given up for steady work. He found a place as errand boy in a book- store, where he earned a salary of ^1.25 a week. Every morning and evening he trudged over the four miles which lay between his home and the store, eating at noon the simple lunch which he brought with him from home, put up for him by a loving mother's hands. Soon he left the bookstore, and secured employment in a clothing store at ^1.50 a week, — a large advance to him then. He quickly began to rise. He was prompt, obliging, civil to customers, and attentive to business. He was one of the kind of boys that are always In demand. His salary began to rise also, and kept on rising. John's poverty had obliged him to leave school with a very limited educa- tion ; but he was always anxious to get more. He read and studied in the •evenings, and improved every opportunity to add to his stock of knowledge. In later years, when he was asked how he got his education, he answered, "I iook it in as I went along, as a locomotive takes up water from a track tank." It is said that he received a special impulse toward study by hearing a sermon in 561 562 JOHN WANAMAKER. which the speaker used a number of words die meaning- of which John did not know. Having a good memory, he carried these words in his head until the next morning, when he liad a chance to look them up in the dictionary. He concluded that, as the preacher would not be likely to use words which were not understood by most of the congregation, the trouble must be that John Wana- maker was uncommonly ignorant ; and this condition of affairs he resolved to remedy. When the civil war broke out in 1861, John Wanamsvker was twenty-three years old. He had saved a little money, had acquired a thorough Isuowledge of the clothing business, and married a wife. In April of that year he formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, Nathan Brown, and embarked in the clothing business at Sixth and Market streets. From the beginning the business pros- pered. Both the partners were practical men. No unnecessary help was employed. They were not ashamed to take down the shutters, to sweep the store, or to deliver packages themselves, if necessary. But the business soon reached dimensions which orave them other work to do. It was perpetually outgrowing its facilities in every direction ; and to meet and pro- vide for this expansion called into exer- cise just those powers which Mr, Wana- maker possesses in 'such wonderful meas- ure, — the powers of organization. In 1868 Mr. Brown died. By 1871 the business had absorbed all the space from Market to the next street, — a space which, w^hen the firm began business, had been occupied by forty-five tenants. Still it condnued to grow, and in 1875 the large block occupied by the old Pennsyl- vania freight depot, at Thirteenth and Market streets, was bought, and a store built for a business of a new kind. The old, rambling freight stadon was remodeled, and turned into a great mart of trade, where dry goods, clothing, furniture, books, and nearly everything in the shape of supplies for the person and the home were sold, a separate department being devoted to each. Upon the establishment of this great "department store," Mr, Wanamaker concen- trated all his energies, and the experience of his previous career in his extensive lines of business. It is not too much to say that Mr, Wanamaker's innovations upon previous methods have revolutionized the manner of conducting retail businesses in gen- eral. Up to the time when his clothing store began to make its mark, the atti' JOHN WANAMAKER AS A YOUNG MAN. NEW BUSINESS METHODS. 563 tude of merchants toward customers was commonly rather that of a party doino- a favor. The modern spirit of doing everything possible to conciliate and accommodate the customer was almost unknown. The characteristics of retail stores were negligent, indifferent, and sometimes surly salesmen ; slowness, con- fusion, and lack of method in delivering goods, and general absence of the spirit of seeking and cultivating business, which is now the rule instead of the excep-;. tion. Moreover, a sale once made was made forever. A merchant who in that day was asked to take back unsatisfactory goods and return the money would have met the request with contemptuous astonishment. Wanamaker changed all this. He not only sought trade, but made it evident that he was seeking trade. A customer coming into his store was met as a courteous host would meet a guest. His wants were quickly ascertained ; he was put in the hands of a polite and accommodating salesman, who did everything in his power to supply him with the article that suited him ; and if for any reason, or even without reason, the goods which he had bought did not please him, they might be returned, and the money was repaid. When this last feature was inaugurated, it was looked upon with in- credulous contempt by competitors. ''That won't last long," they said with confidence ; but not only did it last, but they were themselves obliged to conform to the prac- tice, and it is now the uniform custom among the best stores. From the time when he first began business, John Wanamaker had a rare appreciation of the value of advertising, and his persistence and originality In this field have always distinguished his business. In this respect also he was a pioneer. Before his time the capabilities of advertising were little known or believed in. It was done fitfully and carelessly at best. The idea of advertising a retail business regularly, week in and week out, rain or shine, good business or bad business, was one which was almost as novel as Wanamaker's plan of returning the money for unsatisfactory goods. For some time after these in- novations were begun, he had the field to himself. His competitors had no faith that such new-fangled notions would last, and waited with contemptuous confi- dence for his business to wind Itself up. But they waited in vain. Instead of ruining his business under these methods, it grew at such a rate that it was almost impossible to provide accommodations for it which did not in a few years become too small. As It grew, Wanamaker grew. Every year developed his GEORGE H. STUART, ONE OF MR. WANAMAKER'S PROMINENT CO-LABORERS. 564 JOHN WANAMAKER. wonderful organizing powers, and when the time came for the purchase of the great building at Thirteenth and Market streets, he was better prepared than ever before to build upon it a store in which should be carried on a business that would embody the results of all his previous experience. The secret of Mr. Wanamaker's great success in business maybe summed up in one word, — Organization. It has been his uniform practice to secure for the heads of departments the best men to be had, regardless of cost. Many men in his employ receive salaries larger than those of cabinet ministers. They are given full latitude for exercising all their best powers, and full reward for success. Each head of a department is treated as though he were himself the owner and master of the department. He is charged with all the ex- penses of the department, including his share of rent and advertising, the sala- ries of clerks, bookkeepers, etc. On the other hand, he is credited with all of the profits made in his department, and if he is able to show good results and increased sales, his position becomes bet- ter and better. He is allowed to manage his department in his own way, limited only by certain fixed rules of policy com- mon to the entire store. This system of management gives the responsible heads of the business every incentive to do their best, and results in an organization which is well-nigh perfect. In addition to the other motives fur- nished by Mr. Wanamaker for those in his employ to do the best of which they are capable, it has been for some years his practice to share profits to a certain extent with his employees. At the end of the first year after this practice was begun, ^100,000 of profits were received by the employees of the Thirteenth street store. Considering the great load which Mr. Wanamaker has carried for many years, and considering also the fact that he has not followed the beaten paths of trade, but has been a great innovator, and constantly Introducing novel methods of business, it is not surprising to learn that he has more than once been on the edge of failure ; but, like the greatest generals, he is a man who does not know when he is beaten. He refuses to recognize defeat, and the result has been that even the greatest emergencies have been met, and victory secured. He has not only learned how to do business himself, but he has taught thousands of others. Department stores, conducted on the same plan as that of the great emporium at Thirteenth and Market streets, have sprung up all over the United States ; and for the ease with which buyers of all sorts of goods at retail can now make their purchases, and for the general tone of reliability, accommoda- BETHANY SUNDAY-SCHOOL TENT, 1859. BETHANY SUNDA Y-SCHOOL. 565 tion, promptness, and cheapness which pervade retail business, the buyers of to-day have chiefly to thank John Wanamaker. HIS WORK FOR OTHERS. No one who knows the abounding and restless energy which characterizes Mr. Wanamaker, and his humane desire for the welfare of others, would expect to find his time employed exclusively for his own benefit. His public work has long been a most important part of his life. Before he went into the clothing BETHANY CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL BUILDING. business in 1861 he filled the position of Secretary of the Young Men's Chris- tian Association of Philadelphia, an organization in which his interest has never ceased. In later years, when he was carrying on a very large business, he became the President of this Association. His genius for organization has wrought results in that body no less important than those which he had already brought about in his own business. He helped to point out and develop the possibilities of the organization, which had hitherto been litde known. During his presidency the splendid new building of the Association at Fifteenth and Chestnut streets was built, and this, like his store, was an object lesson to 566 JOHN WANAMAKER. others who were carrying- on the same Hne of work. Since that time handsome buildings for homes of the local associations have sprung up in nearly all the larore cities of the United States, and in these homes are found facilities for instruction, for social work, and for the help and betterment of young men gen- erally, which have made the Young Men's Christian Association such a power for good. One of the most characteristic of Mr. Wanamaker's enterprises outside of his own business is the Sunday-school of Bethany Presbyterian Church, of which he has long been superintendent. His connection with this now famous school goes back to the days when he was a poor and struggling young man. In the early days of his business life, and while still embarrassed by narrow means, Mr. Wanamaker went into one of the roughest districts of Philadelphia, where low groggeries abounded, and opened a Sunday-school in a shop occupied during the week by shoemakers. The district was one of the lowest and most disorderly in the city. It was even looked upon as dangerous to attempt such work in such a neio^hborhood. But to Mr. Wanamaker the obvious reflection was that the worse the neighborhood the greater the need of improvement. He succeeded in interesting the children, and the children interested their parents. After a few months the school had so increased that it outgrew the accommodations, and a large tent was rented in which it was carried on during the summer. From this beginning grew up the famous Bethany Sunday- school, which is now one of the largest in the country. Out of the school grew a church, whose membership is made up largely of the parents of the Sabbath- school children, and of the Sabbath-school children themselves, who have erown to manhood and womanhood in the years since this work was begun. Sunday- school and church together have wrought a great change in the character of that district, and now the person who should suggest that there was danger in attempting to do such work in that neighborhood would be met with surprise indeed. It is characteristic of Mr. Wanamaker that for rest from business he turns, not to idleness, but to work of a different sort. His Sundays are spent in religious work of various kinds. He is interested in movements for the spread of practical Christianity in almost every direction. He was one of the pioneers in the Moody and Sankey revival movement, and before the freight station was remodeled as a store in 1875, it was for some months used for the meetings, where frequently twenty thousand persons were gathered at one time. He was one of the original organizers of the Christian Commission, and of the Citizens' Relief Committee, a Philadelphia organization which gives aid in cases of sudden disaster, pestilence, or other trouble anywhere, which appeals to the sympathies of the citizens of Philadelphia. He is one of the managers of the Williamson Trade School. At the time of the Centennial Exposition he was POSTMASTER- GENERAL. 567 Chairman of the Bureau of Revenue, and raised the first million dollars for that great enterprise. He was also Chairman of the Press Committee, and in many ways aided to make the work successful. When Mr. Harrison was elected to the Presidency in 1888, Mr. Wanamaker entered his cabinet as Postmaster General, — a position for which his talents and experience in business organiza tion especially fitted him. His administration of the Post-Office Department was marked by a number of reforms, and a great improvement in its methods. At the end of his term of office he took a well-earned vacation, making with his family an extensive tour through the United States and Mexico. On this journey he received many tokens of high esteem and wide popularity. Mr. Wana- maker has given to the various charities and benevolent en- terprises what is of more value than money, namely, himself and his abilities. Even when the duties of Post- master-General of the United States were added to his al- ready enormous unuertaRmgS, ne "lindenhurst," mr. wanamaker's country residence near jenkintown, pa. came regularly every week from Washington to Philadelphia to superintend his Sunday-school at Bethany. But few have been more generous givers of money as well. He has given over ^100,000 to Bethany Church and Sunday-school ; he has given 5^100,000 to the Young Men's Christian Association. The Children's Wing of the Presbyterian Hospital, practically a complete hospital in itself, was paid for by Mrs. Wanamaker. He has established on Broad street a home for those of his female employees who have no regular home in the city ; and in many other ways Mr. Wanamaker has given proof of the spirit of practical good work which is the moving force of his whole life. ij POLITICAL GIANTS OF THE PRESENT DAY. BY EDWARD S. ELLIS, A. M., Author of " Standard History of the United States.^* BENJAMIN HARRISON. SOLDIER, ORATOR AND STATESMAN. When General William Henry Harrison, the hero of Tippecanoe and of more than one important battle of the war of 1812, succumbed to the torments which beset every President of the United States, and suddenly died one month after his inauguration, he left a grandson named Benjamin, not quite eight years old, who was the third son of John Scott Harrison, and was born at North Bend, Ohio, August 20, 1833. His father was the owner of a large farm, where the son toiled while a boy, and laid the foundation of the ruo-oed health and strengfth which stood him so well in after years. The first school w^hich Benjamin Harrison attended was kept in a log building, where, so far as is known, he was neither a dull nor an unusually bright pupil. It may have been too early in life for him to display the ability which afterward 569 BENJAMIN HARRISON. 570 BENJAMIN HARRISON. carried him to the highest office in the gift of his countrymen. He was for- tunate in having a sensible parent, who, knowing the value of education, sent him at the age of fifteen to Farmers' (now Belmont) College, near Cincinnati. He remained two years and then became a student at Miami University, Oxford, where he attracted attention by his skill as a debater and orator. While a law student, he made the acquaintance of Miss Caroline L. Scott, a most estimable young woman, and daughter of the president of the University. The two formed a strong, mutual attachment, and were married in 1853, before Harrison had attained his majority. He was graduated in 1852, fourth in his class. He entered the law office of Storer & Gwynne. and shortly after was admitted to the bar. Moving to Indianapolis in the following year, he began to practice, and has made that city his home ever since. Clients were not numerous nor were fees large, but those who employed young Harrison found him conscientious, devoted to their interests, and possessed of sterling integrity and marked ability. He was prompt and kept his promises. A lawyer of that kind is sure to succeed. In 1855, he entered into partnership with William Wallace, but six years later that gentleman was elected countv clerk and Harrison associated himself with W. P. Fishback. When fairly started upon what was a most promising career, his patriotism led him into the military service of his country, where he made a fine record. He was mustered in as Second Lieutenant, July 14, 1862, as Captain eight days later, and then, August 7th, as Colonel of the 70th regiment of infantry, the term of enlistment being for three years. He commanded his regiment until the 20th of August, 1863 ; the second brigade of the third division, reserve corps, until September 20, 1863 ; his regiment again to January 9, 1864, and the first brigade, third division, 20th army corps, to September 23, 1864, on which date he was detailed for special duty in Indiana. Returning to duty in the field, he was ordered in November, 1864, to report in person to the general commanding at Nashville, Tenn. He afterward commanded the ist brigade, provisional division. Army of the Cumberland, to January 16, 1865, when upon his own request, he was relieved and directed to rejoin his command, which was then at Savannah, Georgia, under General Sherman. On his way thither, he was stricken with what threatened to be a fatal illness, but, rallying, he pressed on. He was not yet fully recovered and was placed in command of the camp for convalescents and recruits at Blair's Landing, South Carolina, He soon after joined General Sherman at Raleigh, where he resumed command of the ist brigade, 3d division, 20th army corps. April 21. 1865. and was '-elieved therefrom June 8th, because of the mustering out of the troops composing it. On the same day he was mustered out and honorably discharged. BENJAMIN HARRISON. 571 As we have said, General Harrison made a most creditable record in the field. "Litde Ben" quickly won the reputation of being a brave man and a skilful leader. He was very popular with his own men and with the general officers. His regiment had no superior in effectiveness and discipline. He was in action at Russelville, Kentucky, and in the numerous severe engage- ments of the Atlanta campaign, and was present at the surrender of General Jo Johnston, at Durham's Station, North Carolina, April 26, 1865. Fighting Jo Hooker considered Harrison without a superior as a regimental and brigade commander, and it was at his request that, January 23, 1865, he was breveted brigadier general of volunteers, "for ability and manifest energy and gallantry in command of a brigade." He had already won a fine reputation as a lawyer in Indianapolis. He was elected in i860, reporter of the Supreme Court, but the office was vacated by his enlistment. He was overwhelmingly re-elected in 1864, while absent in the field. At the close of the term, he had a lucradve pracdce, and was retained in nearly all the important cases in his State. In 1876, Godlove S. Orth, Republican candidate for Governor, withdrew during the canvass and Harrison's name was substituted without consultation with him and while he was absent from the State. He made a plucky fight, but Governor Hendricks' popularity was too great to be overcome. In 1880, Harrison was chairman of the Indiana delegation in the convention which nominated James A. Garfield for the presidency. A strong pressure was brought to bear upon him to permit his name to be presented but he refused. His splendid work and his great ability led Garfield to offer him a place in his Cabinet, which he declined. He was chosen United States Senator in 1881 and served for six years, during which he took rank among the foremost debaters and leaders. In the Chicago presidential convendon in 1888, Harrison was nominated on the eighth ballot. During that memorable campaign, he made ninety-four speeches, all of which were forceful, effective and beyond criticism even by his enemies. His most extraordinary achievement, however, was after his election to the presidency. Leaving Washington, April 1 5th, he made a journey of 10,000 miles to and from the Pacific coast, returning exactly one month later. On that journey, he made one hundred and forty addresses, some of them on five minutes' nodce. His audiences at dmes included old Confederates, colored men and representatives of nearly every grade of society. He was taken with- out warning to institutions of learning, before the blind, the educated, and was brought face to face with those who had seldom seen the inside of insdtutions of learning. In none of his numerous addresses did President Harrison repeat himself. Each speech was in exquisite taste, often rising to heights of genuine eloquence. The most prominent newspaper which opposed his election de- 572 G ROVER CLEVELAND. clared that President Harrison has never had a superior, if indeed an equal, as an effective off-hand speaker. His administration was worthy and dignified, and though his Cabinet con- tained the brilliant Blaine, yet Harrison was President at all times and his influence was felt in every department. Above all things, he was a patriot and an A.merican under all circumstances. His renomination at Minneapolis was to be expected, but the desire for a change throughout the country, rather than any distrust of the President or disfavor with his work, led to his defeat by Grover Cleveland. A few days before election Mrs. Harrison died, after a long and painful illness. The lives of the two had been an ideal one. and no couple ever were more tenderly attached to each other. After his retirement from the presidency, General Harrison was engaged by the late Senator Leland Stanford of California to deliver a course of lectures before the University he had founded, upon constitutional law. His practice expanded and he easily took rank among the ablest and most successful coun- sellors in the country. He was prominently mentioned as a presidential candi- date, as President Cleveland's term drew to a close, the conviction being general among the Republicans that, with his past record and his great ability, he was certain of success in the struggle of 1896. "The nomination, however, seemed to be a matter of indifference to General Harrison and in February, 1896, he made public his decision not to be a candidate. In January, 1896, he announced his engao^ement to Mrs. Dimmick, a niece of the late Mrs. Harrison. GROVER CLEVELAND. SUCCESSFUL LAWYER, GOVERNOR AND PRESIDENT. Grover Cleveland, twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States, was born in the village of Caldwell, Essex County, New Jersey, March 18, 1837. He was the son of Richard Falley Cleveland, a Presbyterian minister, who was graduated at Yale in 1824, and five years later married Annie Neal, daughter of a Baltimore merchant. When the son was four years old his father accepted a call to Fayetteville near Syracuse, New York, where the boy attended the academy, and afterward served as clerk in a country store. Some time later the family removed to Clinton, in Oneida County, and Grover was a student at the academy there. G ROVER CLEVELAND. 573 At the age of sixteen he became a clerk and assistant teacher in the New York Institution for the BHnd, in New York city. In the same institution his elder brother, William, now a preacher, was also a teacher. Grover was an excellent teacher, but yielding to ambition, he decided to go West, where he believed greater opportunities for mental growth and success awaited him. He stopped at Black Rock, now a part of the city of Buffalo, and called upon his uncle, Lewis F. Allen, who persuaded him to stay and help in the compilation ofa volume of the "American Herd Book." He assisted in the preparation of several more volumes, and in Au- gust, 1855, became a clerk and copyist for the law firm of Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, in Buffalo. He took up the study of law and was admit- ted to the bar in 1859. Meanwhile his father died, and, that he might be able to support his mother, Grover remained three years longer with the firm at a moderate salary. His worth and ability had attracted favorable no- tice, and he was appointed assistant district attorney of Erie County, January 1, 1863, holding the office for three years. He was defeated in 1865, ^s the Democratic candidate for district attor- ney, and became a law partner of Isaac V. Vanderpool, uniting, in 1869, with the firm of Lanning & Folsom. By this time he had attained marked success, and in 1870 was elected sherifi' of Erie County. At the end of his three years' term, he formed a law partnership with his intimate friend, Lyman K. Bass, who had defeated him for the district attorneyship, the firm being Bass, Cleveland & Bissell. Ill health compelled the retirement of Mr. Bass, when the firm became Cleveland & Bissell. It was very successful, and Mr. Cleveland's reputation increased. GROVER CLEVELAND. 574 G ROVER CLEVELAND. One of the marked features of Mr. Cleveland's early public career was his great popularity when he appeared as a candidate for the suffrages of the people. Being nominated by the Democrats for mayor of Buffalo, in the autumn of 1881, he received the largest majority (3,530) ever given to a candidate in that city, although the Republican ticket was successful in other directions. He was supported not only by his own party but by the inde- pendent and the "reform" movements. He fulfilled the expectations of his supporters, vetoing extravagant measures, and conducting his office in so prudent and economical a manner that he saved fully ^1,000,000 to Buffalo during the first six months of his term. His course gave him ^uch a popularity that in September, 1882, he was nominated for governor of the State. His opponent was Charles J. Folger, then Secretary of the United States Treasury. Both men had a record that could not be assailed, and the result was astound- ing. In a vote of 918,894, Cleveland received a plurality of 192,854, giving him a majority over his opponent, the greenback, prohibition, and scattering vote, of 151,742, the like of which was never before known in the Empire State. The vote was so tremendous that it attracted national attention, and convinced the Democratic party that if the new governor made no blunder during his administration, he would be the most available candidate for the presidency. Governor Cleveland made no blunders that could mar his prospects. He was able, honest, and wholly devoted to the interests of the State. At the Democratic national convention, held in Chicago, in July, 1884, after several days devoted to organization and the presenting of the names of the candidates, he received the nomination, which he formally accepted by letter on the 18th of August. Four candidates were before the country in November, 1884: Cleveland of New York, the regular Democratic nominee ; James G. Blaine ol Maine, Republican ; Benjamin F. Butler of Massachusetts, labor and greenL..ck ; and John P. St. John of Kansas, prohibition. One of those little incidents which can never be foreseen, aiid which often overturn the best laid plans, led to the defeat of Blaine. At a public reception, Reverend Dr. Burchard, in addressing Mr. Blaine, referred to the Democratic party as that of "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion." Mr. Blaine did not catch the expression, or, as he afterward declared, he would have reproved it, but the mischief was done so far as he was concerned. The charge against him was used so skilfully that the Republican candidate lost the vote of New York by a trifling majority. This gave Cleve- land 219 electoral votes to 182 for Blaine, while the popular vote stood: Cleveland, 4,874,986; Blaine, 4,851,081. President Cleveland was inaugurated on the 4th of March following, and called around him an able Cabinet. He proved himself sincere when he declared he would do his utmost to carry out the policy of civil service reform. GROVER CLEVELAND. 575 This course alienated some of his supporters who beheved in the doctrine that "to the victors belong the spoils," and who considered all ante-election pledges to the contrary as intended simply to catch votes, but President Cleveland adhered to the policy to the end, earning the respect of both parties by his courage and sincerity. He used the veto power with the same severity as when Mayor and Governor. He favored a reduction of the tariff, with the ultimate establishment of freer trade. A pleasing incident of President Cleveland's first administration was his marriage, at the White House, June 2, 1886, to Miss Frances Folsom, daughter of Oscar Folsom. the President's intimate friend. The whole country felt an interest in the happy event, and Mrs. Cleveland, as the leading lady of the land, has commanded the admiring respect of the nation and of all with whom she has come in contact. No more graceful or accomplished lady has ever presided at the White House. In the autumn of 1888, President Cleveland found himself pitted against General Benjamin Harrison, with the result that has already been stated. Of the popular vote, Cleveland received 5,540,329 and Harrison 5,439,853, while of the electoral votes, 168 went to Cleveland and 233 to Harrison. In 1892, the same gentlemen were the leading candidates and the verdict was reversed; Cleveland received 5,553,142 and Harrison 5,186,931 on the popular vote, while in the electoral college 276 votes went to Cleveland and 145 to Harrison. It was the first time in our history that a President was re- elected after being out of office for one term. It is not the province of this sketch to give a history of the leading features of President Cleveland's administrations. A monetary stringency and a great depression of business were accompanied by a formidable railway strike which necessitated the calling out of the United States troops in several parts of the country. The time when President Cleveland "struck fire," however, was in his message to Congress, on December 17, 1895. England, whose " earth hunger " is insatiable, and who has appropriated land in all parts of the world, often without regard to right and justice, had disputed for years with Venezuela over the boundary between that country and British Guiana, obtained by England from The Netherlands in 18 14. Learning that the interior of Venezuela con- tains valuable gold mines, England set up a claim, which if allowed would have split Venezuela almost in half That weak country protested, but was power- less. England refused to arbitrate, but meant to win by the bullying course which she is so fond of adopting with feeble nations. The United States could not view with indifference this dismemberment of a sister republic on the American continent, for it would be a flagrant violation of the Monroe Doctrine enunciated in 1823, which declared in language not tc 2^6 JOHN SHERMAN. be mistaken that no part of North or South America from that time forward should be open for colonization by any foreign power. Lord Salisbury, the British prime minister, was slow in replying to the communications of our government. When his reply came, however, the President submitted it to Congress with the statement that the action Great Britain contemplated was a violation of the Monroe Doctrine, which it was the duty of the American Government to resist, and proposed the appointment of a commission by the President to determine the correct boundary. This declaration, as we have stated, *' struck fire." It was instantly responded to by an outburst of patriotic fervor from one end of the country to the other. The President was endorsed everywhere. In the North and South the veterans were as eager as their sons to be led against their old hereditary enemy. President Cleveland was declared to be an American in the highest sense of the word, and an exalted patriot who had sounded the bugle to which hundreds of thousands of loyal spirits would respond. Evidently England had not reckoned on raising such a storm as this. She found herself confronted by a nation that could not be bullied, a nation that was ready to fight at "the dropping of a handkerchief" for principle. Great as would be the calamity of a war between the two nations, it would be less a calamity than dishonor. The result is known. England was forced to make a virtue of necessity, and, with the best grace she could command, yielded to the inevitable, admitting that if the Monroe Doctrine is not international law, it is the abiding law of America and must be respected by all nations. And with this happy ending, it is to be hoped that England having learned more of us than she ever knew, the two great nations will hereafter remain friends. JOHN SHERMAN. GREAT FINANCIER AND STATESMAN. John Sherman Is admittedly one of the ablest financiers and foremost statesmen of America. He was born May lo, 1823, at Lancaster, Ohio, and was the eighth of eleven children. He was the son of Charles Robert Sherman, who settled in Lancaster and took a leading part in the measures for defence in the war of 181 2. He was a prominent and respected citizen, who after serving for six years on the bench of the Supreme Court of the State, died suddenly io the forty-first year of his age. JOHN SHERMAN. 577 During his childhood, John Sherman attended a private school at Lancaster, but in 1 83 1, his father's cousin, a prosperous merchant at Mount Vernon, invited him to his home and offered to take charge of his education until he was fitted for Kenyon College. The youth studied faithfully for four years, but, instead of entering college, returned to his mother's home and attended the academy there. The family were in such straitened circumstances that John decided that it was his duty to give up the plan of going to college and to support himself instead. His elder brother gave him employment as junior rodman under the engineer engaged in im- proving the Muskingum River. He improved his leisure by study, but at the end of two years lost his place through the sweeping political changes in the State. Returning to Lancaster with nothing to do, he fell for a time into bad habits, but touched by the grief of his mother over his lapse, and by a sense of manliness, he quickly rallied, and thence- forth was his own "master." Ever since that lapse, Sena- tor Sherman has been a tem- perate man, and no one is more opposed to the drink- ing habit than he. In the autumn of 1839, it was arranged that young Sherman should study law at Mansfield with his elder brother Charles and with Judge Parker, who had married his mother's only sister. His industry enabled him to support himself while thus employed, and he had been a practicing lawyer for more than a year before his admission to the bar, which took place on the day that he attained his twenty-first year. On December 31, 1848, John Sherman was married to Miss Margaret Cecilia Stewart, only child of Judge Stewart. After their wedding tour, the couple returned to Mansfield and the husband applied himself arduously to his JOHN SHERMAN. 578 JOHN SHERMAN. profession. His industry, ability and integrity brought him success, and in 1854 he was elected a member of the House of Representatives. It was in that year that the Missouri Compromise was repealed, stirring up such a vehement revolt and uprising in the North, that the Republican party of to-day was born and brought into vigorous existence. Recently, when asked if he remembered his first speech, the distinguished Senator said : — " Yes ; I remember it well. It was in the midst of the exciting Kansas- Nebraska times and there had been numerous changes in the personnel of the House. There were many young men among the new members. Matt Day, one of the founders of the Cincinnati Commercial, was a member. He wrote a great deal, but did not speak much and was slightly deaf. He had scant regard for the sophomoric efforts of the young Congressman. On the day that I spoke I sat behind him. Day would listen with his hand at his ear, and the moment one had concluded, would say with a grunt of satisfaction : " 'Another dead cock in the pit,' " At last I saw a place where I thought I could make a good point. I jumped to my feet, got the Speaker's eye and said my say. When I was through and had sat down I said : ' Here is another dead cock in the pit, Mr. Day.' But Day replied : ' No, my young friend, I don't think it is quite so bad as that with you yet,' and he gave me to understand that I had another chance or so for my life." Mr. Sherman spoke frequently, and, despite his youth, speedily assumed a leading position among his associates. He was renominated in October, 1856, and triumphantly elected. He was one of the most active and vigorous workers in the presidential campaign of that year, and insists to-day that the Republicans would have been successful, had they placed Seward or Chase in nomination instead of Fremont. The career of John Sherman is another proof that it is brains and ability which bring success in this country. Chosen again in 1858, a member of the House, he had already become so prominent that he was placed in nomination for Speaker. On the twenty-fifth ballot he came within three votes of election, but he eventually withdrew and Pennington was chosen Speaker by a majority of one. Sherman was appointed chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means, of which he had not previously been a member. Mr. Sherman had been elected a fourth time when Abraham Lincoln was placed in nomination for the presidency. He had no more ardent and power- ful supporter than Sherman. In a speech at Philadelphia, September 12, i860, he made a number of remarkable prophecies, every one of which was fulfilled in the momentous events that speedily followed. It was February 23, 1861, that Lincoln arrived in Washington, and Sherman met him at Willard's Hotel in the eveninor, for the first time. " When intro- JOHN SHERMAN. 579 duced to him," says Mr. Sherman, "he took my hands in both of his, drew himself up to his full height, and looking at me steadily, said : ' You are John Sherman ! Well, I am taller than you; let's measure.' Thereupon we stood back to back, and some one present announced that he was two inches taller than I. This was correct, for he was six feet three and a half inches tall when he stood erect." Salmon P. Chase, having accepted the place of Secretary of the Treasury n Lincoln's Cabinet, his seat in the Senate was taken by Sherman, who would nave preferred to remain in the House, to which he had just been elected for the fourth time and of which he was certain to be chosen Speaker. But having entered the Senate, Sherman steadily rose to his present exalted place in the regard of his countrymen. In that august body, he has towered for years, head and shoulders above his distinguished associates, most of whom are of national reputaftion. It seems to be the law of this country that the greatest men in a political party fail to receive its highest rewards. The peerless Henry Clay was nomi- nated three times for the presidency but never attained it. Daniel Webster, longing with an unspeakable longing for the high office, died a disappointed man. If any Republican of the last quarter of a century was entitled to the presidential nomination at the hands of that party, John Sherman is pre-emi- nently the man. More than once it was almost within his reach, but never quite grasped. It was his humiliation to be forced aside, and see the honor bestowed upon men who were in the ranks when he was a leader, and whose ability was no more to be compared to his than is a bauble to a diamond. But his place in the honor and trrateful recollection of the nation is secure. Senator Sherman was foremost in financial and all other measures for the support of the Government, throughout the agony of the civil war. He personally recruited an Ohio brigade. He was chairman of the important Finance Com- mittee for several years, and in 1877 left the Senate to enter the Cabinet of President Hayes, It was during his administration of the Treasury Depart- ment that the resumption of specie payments took place, January i, 1879. With a foresight and skill that could not be surpassed. Secretary Sherman had made such careful preparations for this important step that when it took place, there was not the slightest jar or friction. It was in the natural order of things, effect following cause with perfect smoothness. John Sherman re-entered the Senate in 1881, where he remained a leader respected alike by political friends and foes, until 1897, when he resigned his seat in that body to become Secretary of State in President McKinley's Cabinet. This position he ably occupied until April 25, 1898 — the day on which war was declared with Spain — when he resigned, fifteen days before his seventy-sixth birthday, because he considered the duties of the office, in time of war, too oner- ous for his feeble health and advanced ag-e. THOMAS BRACKETT REED. THE GREAT "SPEAKER" AND DEBATER. "How do you mix youf paints ? " timidly asked an amateur of a distinguished artist. "With brains, sir!" thundered the master of the brush. And, as we stated in our sketch of Senator John Sherman, tliis is preemi- nently the truth in American affairs. Social advantages, wealth and the aid of friends are not without their effect, but if the element of ability is lacking, the highest suc- cess is unattainable. Water finds its level, and the man who is thrown into the bust- ling arena of the House of Representatives can never attain the place of leader, unless nature has furnished him with ability, or in other words, with brains. No stronger proof can be given of this statement than is found in the career of lliomas Brackett Reed, who was born in Portland, Maine, October 1 8, 1839. He attended the common schools of the city, and was graduated at Bowdoin College in i860, being among the first in his class and taking the highest honors possible — the prize for excellence in English composition. He possesses rare gifts in this respect, his writings showing a clear, vigorous, but limpid style, which have brought him a national reputation, while his speeches 580 THOMAS BRACKETT REED. THOMAS BRACKETT REED. 581 are eloquent, sparkling, logical, and corruscating with humor, sarcasm, and wit. No man surpasses him in readiness of repartee. No more enjoyable treat can be imagined than that of a debate in the House, where he is beset with all sorts of questions from political opponents. His instant replies are inimitable, and the man that can unhorse him in debate has not yet made his appearance, and is not likely to do so for an indefinite time to come. It was only the other day that a newspaper reporter, while looking for President Cleveland, stepped to the door of the House restaurant, and believ- ing he saw that distinguished personage, requested an attendant to bring him to him at the President's convenience. When the gentleman came forward it proved to be Speaker Reed. "I beg your pardon," said the correspondent; "I am looking for the President and mistook you for him." " For heaven's sake don't let the President learn of this," said the Speaker, with owl-like gravity; "he is already vain enough of his personal appearance." After his graduation, Mr. Reed taught in a Portland high school, studying law at the same time. He went to California in 1863, expecting to make his home in that State. He taught school there and began the practice of law, but at the end of the year, for family reasons, returned to Maine. In April, 1864, he was appointed acting assistant paymaster in the United States navy and assigned to duty on the gunboat Sibyl, which patrolled the Tennessee, Cum- berland and Mississippi rivers until the close of the war. He was discharged from the service in August, 1865, and returned to Portland, where he was admitted to the bar. His advance was rapid. He was interested from the first in politics, and his power and popularity were so marked, that, without his knowledge, he was nominated by his party in 1868, for the State House of Representatives. His election followed as a matter of course, and his reputation as a brilliant lawyer going with him, he was placed on the Judiciary Committee. Maine was quick to see that she had secured the right man and re-elected him in 1869, promot- ing him to the Senate in 1870, but he resigned the senatorship to assume the duties of Attorney General, to which office he had been elected. Mr. Reed is the youngest Attorney General that Maine ever had. He held the office for three years, and added to his fame, during which he displayed courage, con- scientiousness and ability of a high order. He retired from office in 1873, and was appointed City Solicitor of Port- land, where his course was marked by the same devotion to duty that had dis- tinguished him when Attorney General. His name was well-known throughout the State, and it was in the natural order of events, that, in 1876, he was nominated for Congress in the district composed of Cumberland and York 582 THOMAS BRACKETT REED. counties. There was the bitterest fight conceivable against him, but by his indomitable energy and ability, he swept everything before him. It is a remarkable fact, that during this whole stirring campaign, the sum total of his traveling expenses, hotel parlors for delegates and cost for everything, was exactly ^42.00. It may be doubted whether his subsequent nominations involved as much as that insignificant sum, for every year since, without a single vote against him in any convention, he has been enthusiastically renom inated by his constituents. The leading Republican paper in Maine said : " Mr. Reed can represent his district in Congress for the rest of his natural life if he wants to ; there's no question about that." His popularity made Mr. Reed the candidate before all others of New England for the Presidency in 1896, beside which, as has been shown, he had myriads of supporters in all parts of the Union. Mr. Reed took his seat in Congress, October 15, 1877, the House having been summoned in extra session to pass the army appropriations, which had failed at the closing session of the Forty-fourth Congress. It was a Democratic House and remained in session until the following June. Mr. Reed made his first speech April 12, 1878, and drew the attention of the House by his keen, convincing logic. At the begrinnino- of his second term, Mr. Reed's abilities were recognized by his appointment as a member of the Judiciary Committee, His strength as a debater caused a number to vote for him as Speaker in the caucus of Decem- ber, 1881, and he was made chairman of the judiciary Committee of the House. By that time, he was the recognized leader on the Republican side. He pre- pared and introduced a bill for the proper distribution of the Geneva award against Great Britain for the Alabama claims, and his accompanying report con- vinced the House that the bill was right and led to its passage. His great ability was recognized by political opponents as well as friends. Without soliciting a single vote, he was unanimously chosen in caucus, in 1887, as the Republican candidate for Speaker. The House being Democratic, how- ever, John G. Carlisle received the honor in the Forty-eighth and Fiftieth Con- gresses. Reed's turn came in 1889, when the Republicans had a bare majority, and, on the second ballot placed him in the Speaker's chair, he receiving t66 votes to 154 cast for John G. Carlisle. There are few who are not acquainted wi.th Speaker Reed's career as pre^ siding officer of the House of Representatives. For a time indeed he was the "central figure in the eyes of the country. There were many contested election cases and the Democrats used every means to obstruct legislation. It was im- possible to have every Republican in his seat at all times, to meet the constitu- ional requirement that there should be a majority present to do business. The Democrats refused to answer to their names at roll call, and the custom had THOMAS BRACKETT REED. 583 always been for the Speaker, under such circumstances, to declare no quorum present. On January 29, 1890, when the Democrats had sat mute while their names were being called by the clerk, Speaker Reed coolly counted sufficient numbers " present but not voting," to constitute a quorum. It was like a thunder clap from the clear sky. Pandemonium was let loose, and the Democrats, in a white heat of rage, protested and declared the proceeding unconstitutional and revolutionary. The Speaker, however, reso lutely held to his decision and the business of the session which had been blocked so lone moved forward, thouoh it cannot be said without friction. The rule was finally adopted, February 14, 1890. It was sustained by the Supreme Court, and four years later, when a Democratic House was caught in precisely the same dilemma, it adopte-d precisely the snme rule. Mr. Reed was chosen speaker again of Congress, in December, 1895, and again in March, 1897. Mr. Reed lives in a comfortable home at Portland, with his wife, the daughter of the Rev, Mr. Merrill, formerly pastor of a Congregational Church of that city. He has one daughter, who, at this writing Is not yet out of her teens. He is popular with his neighbors, for he Is genial, pleasant and charit- able, manly and courageous, and whenever he runs for office, is certain to receive a great many Democratic votes, for what American can help feeling proud of him? In the words of Henry Hall, he is "in many respects the greatest all- around man in the United States to-day, of stainless record and unimpeachable integrity, bold but safe, brilliant but wise, masterful but heeding counsel, and a fighter without fear," At the National Republican Convention, which met in St, Louis In 1896, Mr. Reed's name was prominently spoken of for President ; but William McKInley, of Ohio, was nominated, and the "Courtly Knight" from Maine sup- ported him in some of the most able speeches delivered during the campaign. On the question of annexing the Hawaiian Islands in 1898 the Speaker was at marked variance with his party. Only three Republicans voted against the measure. Prior to announcing the vote, Mr. Dalzell, who, in the absence of Mr. Reed, was presiding, said: "The Speaker of the House is absent on account of illness. I am requested by him to say that, were he present, on this proposition he would vote ' no.' " This incident serves to emphasize Mr. Reed's fidelity to principle. He be- lieved it was wrong to annex the Islands without allowing the Hawaiian people to decide the question by a popular vote themselves ; but, most of all, he objected to the policy of Inaugurating this first step in the acquirement of foreign terri- tory. To him it was a portentous movement, fraught with the grave dangers which threatened to undermine and destroy some of the time-honored doctrines of Americanism and lead us into foreign complications that would be a continual menace to the peace of our nation. THE DISTINGUISHED SENATOR AND ABLE FINANCIER. WILLIAM B. ALLISON. It is said that Senator Allison is distantly related to President McKinley on his mother's side, her maiden name being Nancy Allison. It was not on this account, however, but for the sterling worth of the man, that President McKinley when making up his Cabinet offered Senator Allison the first place in his Cab- inet, that of Secretary of State. But Mr. Allison, as on former occasions when Cabinet places have been offered to him, preferred to keep his desk in the Sen- ate, where his duties were so thoroughly congenial, and his able services so highly appreciated, that he could not get his consent to relinquish them. It was perhaps well for the country that Mr. Allison remained in the Senate, for at the head of the Finance Committee of that body during the war with Spain he was in position to render his country most valuable service. Senator Allison, though for over forty years a resident of the State of Iowa, Is a native of Ohio, the commonwealth which of late years has furnished so many statesmen to the Union. Some time ago, in a chat with the late General Sherman, he remarked to the writer : " There's something singular about Ohio ; she has always a number of leading men at the front. Here at West Point, she has the largest number of members in the graduating class, and it has been so for years. The infusion of New England blood into that State seems to have produced the best sort of stock. General Grant was a native of the State, and," added the grim soldier with a smile, "if I wer'n't such a modct man, I might add that I also was born there." Mr. Allison was born in 1829, and was graduated from the Western Re- serve College. His first entrance into public politics, as he states, was in i860, when he was appointed one of the tally secretaries at the convention which nominated Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency. He was then practicing law in the little town of Ashland, near the centre of the State, some fifteen miles from where that other famous son of Ohio, John Sherman, was engaged in the same profession. Allison had removed to Iowa in 1857, where he found himself among many people from Ohio. It was as a delegate from Iowa that he attended the memorable convention which placed one of the greatest Americans that ever lived in nomination for the Presidency. " I sat right In front of George Ashmun, of Massachusetts," said Senator Allison. " He was president of the convention, and I believe that I gave him the first news of Lincoln's nomination. I kept footing up the figures as they came 584 WILLIAM B. ALLISON. 585 in, and some time before the members of the convention were aware of the fact, I saw that Lincoln would be successful, and I turned about and told Mr. Ashmun of the fact. A few minutes later the convention realized it, and then ensued one of the most wonderful scenes in our history. The convention was held in the old wigwam in Chicago, and there were about ten thousand people present. When the vote was announced a scream went up from thousands of throats and fully one thousand hats were thrown into the air. It rained hats for several minutes after the an- nouncement, and I can still see the hats rising and fall- ing. The people lost control of themselves, and I have often wondered what became of those hats, for there was not much possibility of re- covering your hat in a mob like that." Although Mr. Allison was deeply interested in poli- tics from the first, and always inclined to the principles of the Republican party, he felt no special ambition to be- come a politician. Never- theless, his neighbors appre- ciated his ability, and he was nominated for Congress in 1862. Samuel J. Kirkwood was then governor of Iowa and Allison was on his staff. Being directed to raise troops for the armies in the field, he orpfanized three regiments in North Iowa in 1861, but was attacked by a serious illness which laid him up for a year. As soon as he recovered, he set to work again and raised three more regiments. He was then nominated for Congress by the conservative element of the Republican party. His opponent was a Demo- cratic editor of so pronounced secession proclivities that he was in jail by orders of the aggressive Secretary Stanton. Thus the issue was a straight one between the friends and enemies of the Union. Had all of Iowa's citizens been at home, Mr. Allison would not have felt WILLIAM P.. ALLISON. 586 WILLIAM B. ALLISON. the slightest misgiving as to the residt, but the majority of the Iowa soldiers in the field were Republicans, In this dilemma, Allison persuaded Governor Kirkwood to call an extra session of the Legislature, which passed a law allow- ing the soldiers at the front to vote. Three commissioners were sent thither, the result being that Allison was triumphantly elected. The same system of soldier voting was afterward adopted by other States in the North. Mr, Allison remained in Congress until 1871, and two years later was elected to the Senate, where he has remained ever since, being re-elected, as already stated, in 1896. From his first entrance into politics. Senator Allison has been profoundly interested in financial matters, and there is no higher authority on that question than he. He was early appointed a member of the Appropriation Committee. His seat was near that of Congressman Garfield and he became the intimate and trusted friend of him and of Blaine. Despite his friendship for Mr. Blaine, he was also the valued associate of the most bitter opponents of the Maine states- man. This was a tribute indeed to the worth and ability of Allison. President Garfield was so impressed by Allison's attainments and complete mastery of financial questions, that, in the face of the strongest pressure from other quarters, he urged him to accept the portfolio of the Treasury. Allison would have done so, for the post would have been a congenial one to him, had it not been for the delicate state of his wife's health. She was a brilliant and accomplished woman, but was an invalid whose existence depended upon her liv- ing a quiet, restful life. Because of this, the affectionate husband declined the offer. The nervous malady of his wife became intensified, and some time later, when she had become a victim to melancholia, sad to say, she took her own life. Mr. Allison enjoys splendid health, and is in the prime of his mental powers. His eys is bright, his complexion ruddy, and the iron-gray hair abundant. He is a handsome man, genial and fond of a good story, and he can tell one and join in the rino-ine lauorhter which greets a witticism. He is fond of books, art and travel, and is almost as familiar with the politics of Europe as with those of his own country. He is dignified and kindly without a trace of egotism or vanity. Senator Gear of Iowa, said of him: "There is nothing of a coward about Allison. He is cautious, but not cowardly. He has a stiff back-bone in him, and when the occasion demands, he always shows that he has convictions and the courage to support them. He has been in public life for a generation, and although he is sixty-seven years old, he looks and really is ten years younger, and in the prime of physical condition." When he had been in public life for a generation, and when an old man, he bore himself with the vigor and alertness of youth, doing his work with marked ability and dispatch. BUSINESS ORGANIZER AND CHAMPION OF SILVER COINAGE. HENRY MOORE TELLER. Henry Moore Teller is of Dutch descent and was born at Grangrer. Allegany County, N. Y., May 23, 1830. He received a good academic educa- tion, and while in attendance at the academy taught school at intervals in order to help pay the expenses of his education. Having completed his course at the academy, he took up the study of law under the instruction of Judge Martin Grover, and was admitted to the bar, January 5, 1858, at Binghamton in his native State. Like many other young men, Mr. Teller formed the idea that the West offered a wider field for success, although his first move was not very far in that direction. He located at Mor- rison, Whitesides County, Illinois, and began the practice of his profession. He had been a hard student and was well-grounded in his profession. He met with excellent success, but became convinced that he had not orone as far West as was best for him. Accordingly, in April, 1861, he emigrated to Colorado, which is still his home. Senator Teller has long been a prominent Free Mason and Knight Tem- plar. He was Grand Master of Colorado for seven years, and was also Grand Commander of the Knights Templar of the same State. His career shows his popularity with the people. His integrity has never been questioned. He is genial, with an attractive manner, laborious in his profession, and with a chari- table nature. More persons than would be suspected have received valuable aid at his hands, and the toiler, no matter how humble, knows that he has one of the best and truest friends in him. As a representative of the sentiments of Colorado, Senator Teller, it need hardly be said, is a pronounced " silver man," as he has. proved times without number in the warm debates and strue^les which have taken place during the last few years in Washington. His ability, forceful logic, and commanding courage have given him a national reputation and a popularity which places him at the head of the champions of his financial ideas, and with scarcely a rival in the great West. But in the State of Colorado, Senator Teller has been a leader of the people in almost every line of progress and enterprise as well as in politics. For nearly forty years he was an influential resident of the territory and the State which he helped to bring into the Union, and he has witnessed and aided its greatest developments with little less than a paternal pride. 587 588 HENRY MOORE TELLER. In that Territory, he found a congenial field for his ability and energy, not only in law but in business enterprises. The legal firm which he formed was H. M. & W. Teller. Fully alive to the vast possibilities of the new country, Mr. Teller became interested in its development. He originated and pushed to a successful issue the Colorado Central Railroad. He drew the charter and presented it to the Territorial legislature in 1865, and for five years he was presi dent of the company. He infused his own energy and spirit in the manage- ment of the line, and gave new proof of his exceptional ability as an organizer and thorough railway manager. The finances could not have been conducted with better judgment and he quickly made the railroad the lead- ing one in the Territory. During the Indian troubles of 1863, Mr. Teller was appointed brigadier- general of the militia, serv- ing with much acceptability for two years, when he re- signed. Although originally a Democrat, Mr. Teller joined the Republican party in 1855, when it was in its infancy. He became a power in poli- tics, commanding the respect and confidence of all classes. He never sought office and did not seem to care for political honors, but in 1876. upon the admission of Colorado as a State, he was placed in nomination as one of the first United States Senators, and without any effort on his part, was elected. In drawing for the long and short terms, he secured the short one and took his seat, December 4, 1876. He was re-elected the same month, and served until April, 1882, when he was appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Arthur, serv ing until March 3, 1885, when he was again elected to the United States Senate to succeed Nathaniel P. Hill, Republican. Senator Teller took his seat, March 4, 1885, to be elected again in 1890, and once more in 1896. ' % ^ *.**„ '*¥ . ^- -■ in- &» ■ ■"X 1 * ^ifl^^toi^ u HENRY MOORF, TKLLER. THE DISTINGUISHED TARIFF REFORM LEADER AND WAR PRESIDENT. WILLIAM McKINLEY. When William McKinley was inaugurated the twenty-fifth President of the United States of America, March 4, 1S97, he took his seat amid troublous times. Cuba's cry of oppression and starvation for three years had been wafted on every breeze from the South, pleading- to our country for succor. Congress and the Senate were wrought up almost if not quite to the point of recognizing the Cuban insurgents. On the other hand, the Monroe Doctrine and the admonitions of Washington bade us refrain from interfering in foreign difficulties. McKinley respected these injunctions and adhered to them even to the point of rendering himself unpopular with his party and with the country, wisely fighting against all rash acts on the part of the Government and using every efifort in his power to bring about a peaceful settlement between Spain and Cuba, remitting not until Spain herself, arrogantly refusing all overtures, forced the United States into the conflict. The story of this conflict and the admiration and love which McKinley inspired in the hearts of his countrymen by his patriotic and wise administration durinof the same are too fresh in the minds of all readers to need repeating here. It is with McKinley the man that this short sketch must deal. William McKinley, Jr., was born in Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, Jan- 29, 1843. His father was a German by birth and lived to his 85th year, his mother, of Scotch descent, being still alive at this writing. William was the third son. The eldest, David, is a resident of San Francisco, where, until 1894, he was the Hawaiian Consul General to the United States. The second son, James, died a few years ago, and Abner, younger than William, is engaged in business in the city of New York. When five years old, William attended the village school at Niles, continu- ing his studies at a more advanced school at Poland, whither his parents removed in order to obtain better educational advantages for their children. When not quite sixteen. William was sent to the Allegheny College at Meadville, Pa., but fell ill and had to return home. When he recovered, he began teaching school, receiving ^25 a month and "boarding around." He was thus engaged, when the country was thrilled by the news that Fort Sumter had been fired upon. Instantly the pale-faced, gray-eyed student, flung aside his books and enlisted a? 589 59° WILLIAM McKINLEY, JR. a private in the war for the Union. It was patriotism of the loftiest nature which inspired the young teacher. He was mustered in at Columbus in June, by General John C. Fremont, who thumped the young man's chest, looked in his clear eye, and surveying him from head to foot said : " You'll do ! " Young McKinley was attached to the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer [nfantry, and remained with it to the close of the war. During that period, he served on the staff of Brigadier General Rutherford B. Hayes, afterwards President of ihe United States, on the staff of the famous Indian fighter, General Crook, and sub- sequently on that of Briga- dier General Hazen. He was in all the engagements in which his regiment took part, and was made a second lieutenant directly after the battle of Antietam, upon che urgent recommendation of General Hayes. He became I first lieutenant, February 7, 1863, captain, July 25, 1864, and was breveted major by President Lincoln for gallant conduct on the fields of Opequan, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, being mus- tered out with his rer'-iment, in July, 1865. Thus at the age of twenty-two. Major McKinley was a fire-tried veteran of the war for the Union, with a L-ecord to which he can always refer with patriotic pride. But the war was over, the Union restored, and the modest young man, without pausing to boast of his deeds, entered upon the study of law. He was graduated from the Albany (N. Y.) Law School, and settling in the little town of Canton, Ohio, waited for his clients to come to him. They straggled thither, and fortunate were all who secured the services of the brilliant, conscientious, and learned lawyer. His ability attracted the attention of Judge Belden, who invited him to a partnership with him, and the connection lasted until the death WILLIAM MCKINLEY, JR. WILLIAM Mc KIN LEY, JR. ^^r of the Judge in 1870. His townsmen showed their appreciation of the young man by electing him, in 1869, prosecuting attorney of Stark county, an office which he held for a number of yours. He had already established his reputa- tion as a powerful jury lawyer and one of the best speakers in the State. At the age of thirty-three, the people of his district elected him their repre- sentative in Congress, his re-election following until 1890, when, through the gerrymandering of his district, he was defeated by a small majority. From January, 1892 to January, 1894, and again until January, 1896, he was Governor of Ohio, his election being among the most notable triumphs of his career. While in Congress, McKinley was a member of the Committee on Revision of Laws, the Judiciary Committee, the Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department, and the Committee on Rules. Upon the nomination of General Garfield for the Presidency, McKinley took his place on the Committee on Ways and Means, serving with the committee for the rest of his time in Congress. It was while he was chairman that he framed the " McKinley Bill," which still bears his name. This tariff act became law, October i, 1890, and provided for a high rate of duty on an immense number of articles imported from foreign countries, but made sugar free. Its purpose was to reduce the national revenue and to increase protection. The work involved in the preparation of this bill is almost inconceivable. It contained thousands of items and covered every interest in the country. For four weeks, while the House was in session, he was almost constantly upon his feet, answering numberless questions, meeting objections and giving informa- tion. With the exception of two minor amendments, it passed exactly as it came from the hands of the committee. A correspondent of the New York Press thus describes the man : "Quiet, dignified, modest, considerate of others, ever mindful of the long service of the veterans of his party, true as steel to his friends, unhesitating at the call of duty, no matter what the personal sacrifice ; unwavering in his integrity, full of tact in overcoming opposition, yet unyielding on vital party principles, with a heart full of sympathy for those who toil, a disposition unspoiled by success and a private life as spotless as self sacrificing, he stands before the American people to-day as one of the finest types of courageous, persevering, vigorous, and developing manhood that the Republic has ever produced." A peculiar proof of Major McKinley's exalted sense of honor was given at the dead-lock in the presidential convention of 1888. A movement on the fourth ballot suddenly set in in his favor, which could have been readily turned into a stampede. But he was there as the pledged friend of Senator John Sherman, and nothing could swerve him from his allegiance. He checked the movement at its beginning, and those who would have tempted him turned back at sight of that earnest countenance and at the ringing tones of that 593 CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW. eloquent voice. Almost precisely the same thing was repeated four years later at Minneapolis, when the nomination would have assuredly gone to him, had he not peremptorily checked it, and ordered the delegates from his own State to vote as they had been instructed. The history of recent years shows that not many placed in the situation of Major McKinley were able to come out of it unscathed and without the smell of fire upon their garments. A man like Major McKinley could not fail to make an ideal husband, when blessed as he is with an ideal wife. Both of their children died in infancy, and the wife is an invalid, but though their silver wedding was celebrated in January, 1896, no lovers were ever more chivalrously devoted to each other than are they, now that they have reached the meridian of life. Mrs. McKinley is as staunch a protectionist as her husband, and is firmly persuaded that no man quite so good and great has ever been born. When he is expected at home, she is at the window watching for him. His last act is to kiss her on the thresh- old, followed by a turn and salute when about to pass out of sight. No sweeter picture can be imagined than this couple, whose whole life is the most emphatic contradiction of the sneer that " Marriage is a failure." Major McKinley was nominated for the Presidency by the National Republican Con- vention held at St. Louis in June, 1896, and the following November was elected President of the United States by a magnificent majority. The chief issues of the campaign were the maintenance of the Gold Standard and the protection of American industries. CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW. THE APOSTLE OF SUNSHINE AND CHEERFULNESS. Chauncey Mitchell Depew was born at Peekskill, N. Y., April 23, 1834. His remote ancestors were French Huguenots, who founded New Rochelle, in West-chester county. His father, Isaac Depew, was a prominent and highly esteemed citizen of Peekskill, and his mother, Martha Mitchell, was a representative of the distinguished New England family, one of whose members, Roger Sherman, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Chauncey spent his boyhood in Peekskill, where he prepared for college. He was a bright student, and at the age of eighteen entered Yale College, from which he was graduated in 1856, with one of the first honors of his class. In June, 1887, Yale conferred upon him the degree of LL. D. It will be noted that Mr. Depew reached his majority at about the time of the formation of the Republican party. Although of Democratic antecedents, he had been a close CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW. 593 student of politics and his sympathies were with the aims of the new political organization, to which he speedily gave his allegiance. Mr. Depew studied law in his native village, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. In the same year, he was elected as a delegate to the Republican State convention, this being an acknowledgment of the interest he had taken in the party, and the skill and energy he had shown in advocating its policy. He began the practice of law in 1859, and was highly successful from the first. Few men of the present day are so gifted with eloquence, wit, and the power of giving an instant and happy turn to the most unexpected inter- ruptions or occurrences. In his early manhood, his strik- ing power as a stump speaker, his readiness at re- partee, and his never failing good humor, made him a giant in politics, to which he was literally forced to give attention. But with all these extraordinary gifts, he could launch the thunderbolts of invective ao^ainst wronof and stir the profoundest depths of 'emotion by his appeals. He loved liberty and hated oppression, and has always believed that the United States of America is the happiest and greatest coun- try upon which the sun ever shone. His patriotic speeches are models of eloquence and power. In i860, he took the stump for Abraham Lincoln and added greatly to hlj5 reputation as a ready, forceful and brilliant pleader for that which he believed to be right. No speaker was so welcome as he to his audience, whether composed of scholars, of business men, or of the uneducated masses. He was sure to say something entertaining, something instructive and something worth remember- ing. He was never dull; he was logical and luminous, and no matter how lengthy his addresses, he was sure to be greeted with cries of " Go on ! go on ! " CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW. 594 CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW. at their conclusion. It cannot be denied that he contributed much to the suc- cess of that memorable election. In 1 86 1, Mr. Depew was nominated for the Assembly in the Third West- chester County District, and although the constituency was largely Democratic, . he was elected by a handsome majority. He fully met all the high expectations formed, and was re-elected in 1862, By his geniality, wit, integrity and courtesy he became as popular among his political opponents as among his friends. He was made his party's candidate for Secretary of State, directly after the Demo- crats had won a notable triumph by the election of Horatio Seymour as gov- ernor ; but by his dash and brilliancy and his prodigious endurance (he spoke twice a day for six weeks), he secured a majority of 30,000. So admirably did he perform the duties of the office that he was offered a renomination, but declined. During the administration of President Johnson, Secretary of State Seward appointed Mr. Depew Minister to Japan, but after consideration, the offer was declined. He seemed to have decided to withdraw from politics and to devote his time and energies to his profession. That shrewd railway man and financier, Commodore Vanderbilt, had watched the career of Depew, and had formed a strong admiration for him, while the eldest son, William H. Vanderbilt, became his firm friend. In 1866, Mr. Depew was appointed the attorney of the New York and Harlem Railroad Company, and three years later, when that road was consolidated with the New York Central, he was made the attorney of the new organization, being afterward elected a member of the Board of Directors. As other and extensive roads were added to the system, Mr. Depew in 1875, was promoted to be general counsel for them all, and elected to a direc- torship in each of the numerous organizations. The year previous, the legisla- ture had made him Regent of the State University, and one of the Commission- ers to build the Capitol at Albany. In 1884, the United States senatorship was tendered to Mr. Depew, but he was committed to so many business and professional trusts that he felt compelled to decline the honor. Two years before, William H. Vanderbilt had retired from the presidency of the New York Central, and in the reorganization Mr. Depew was made second Vice-President. The President, Mr. Rutter, died in 1885, and Mr. Depew was elected to the presidency, which office he still holds. His previous experience had made him thoroughly familiar with all the in- tricacies and minutiae of the immense business, its policy, its relations with other corporations, its rights, responsibilities and limitations, and none was so well equipped for the responsible post as he. "The basilar fact in Mr. Depew's character is a profound and accurate judgment, and this asserts itself in all his manifold relations with men and affairs, and in every effort he puts forth in any direction. Practical common sense, tact, an exquisite sense of the proprieties, a CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW. 595 singular aptitude for business, and an intuitive appreciation of the value of means with reference to their ends, are manifestations of this judgment ; and if we add a strong will, great executive ability, untiring industry, and instinctive love of order, and a readiness to adopt the best method, an intellect of astonish- ino- range and remarkable promptness in the solution of intricate problems, we have a correct estimate of the qualities which place him in the first rank of rail- way managers." At the National Republican convention of 1888, New York voted solidly for Mr. Depew as its candidate for the Presidency, but he withdrew his name. At the convention at Minneapolis in 1892, he was selected to present the name of President Harrison, and made one of the best speeches of his life. When Mr. Blaine resigned as Secretary of State, President Harrison urged Mr. Depew to accept the place, but after a week's deliberation, he felt obliged to decline the honor. It is impossible in a sketch like this to do justice to the remarkable versa- tility of Mr. Depew. His admirable addresses would fill several bulky volumes. As an after dinner speaker, he is without a peer, and his wit, logic and eloquence never fail him. What could be more apt than his words, when, upon entering a public hall where a number of leading men were straining themselves to prove the Christian religion a delusion and a sham, and there were instant and clamorous calls for him, he said : " Gendemen, my mother's Bible is good enough for me ; have you anything better to offer? " And then with touching pathos and impassioned words he made an appeal for the religion which they reviled, which must have pierced the shell of more than one agnostic heart WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN, THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT IN 1896. William Jennings Bryan, of Lincoln, Neb., who is sometimes known as " the Boy Orator of the Platte," is a native of Illinois. He was born in Salem, Marion County, in that State, March 19, i860. His father, Silas L. Bryan, a native of Culpepper County, Virginia, was a prominent and respected lawyer, who represented his district for eight years in the State Senate, and later was a Circuit Court Judge for twelve years. The son entered the Illinois College at Jacksonville in 1877, and completed the classical course, eraduatine with honors in 188 1. He later attended a law school in Chicago, working in the late Lyman Trumbull's law office in order to pay his way through college. He began the practice of his profession at Jack- sonville, 111., but in 1887 he removed to Lincoln, Neb., establishing a law partner- ship with one of his college classmates. From his earliest years he had a fancy 59^5 WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. for public speaking, which developed his oratorical powers. In 1880 he won second prize as the representative of Illinois College in the State collegiate ora- torical contest. He was valedictorian of his college class, and came within one vote of being elected to the same position in the Law School. From 1880 on he spoke in political campaigns. Bryan supported J. Sterling Morton for Congress in 1888, but the man who was later to be Mr. Cleve- land's Secretary of Agricul- ture was defeated at the polls by 3,500 votes. Next time, in 1890, Bryan took the nomi- nation and ran ag^ainst the same Republican who had so badly defeated Mr. Mor- ton. Bryan had much better luck. He challenged his adversary to a series of joint debates, and made so bril- liant a showing that he car- ried the district, which had given the Republicans 3,500 majority two years before, by a majority of 6,700 votes. The fame he o-ained in the joint debates, of which the tariff was the theme, induced Speaker Crisp to appoint Bryan on the Ways and Means Committee, an honor which few Conoressmen have ever won during their first term in the House. On March 12, 1892, he scored his first great oratorical success with a speech on free wool. This deliverance led Mr. Kilgore to declare it the best speech made on the floor of the House for ten years, and Mr. Culberson to remark that it was one of the ablest addresses he had ever listened to. In 1894 Bryan was nominated for United States Senator by the Democratic Convention of Nebraska. He made a vigorous canvass of his State, but the Re- publicans secured the legislature, and Mr. Thurston was elected. During the two years between this time and the Chicago Convention of 1896, Mr. Bryan devoted his time to lecturing on financial topics, advocating the free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to i. * .;.i.iAM JENNINGS BRYAN. WILLIAM J. BRYAN. 597 During the famous Democratic Convention at Chicago in July, 1896, Mr. Bryan was given the opportunity to close the debate on the platform. The brilliant speech which he made on this occasion electrified the Convention, and secured him the nomination for President of the United States. He was afterwards nominated by the National (Silver) Republican Party and also by the People's Party. The campaign which followed was remarkable beyond precedent. It is doubtful if during the days of slavery agitation there was ever so general and so intense interest taken in a presidential election. Mr. Bryan, departing from the usual custom of presidential candidates, made a personal canvass. The influential press of the country was against him on account of his views on the money question. He knew his hope of success lay in getting at the people and speaking to them personally. Within about ninety days he traveled over almost the entire country east of the Rocky Mountains, covering 18,831 miles, visiting 477 cities, in which he delivered by actual count 600 speeches. For the entire time — excepting Sundays, when he always rested — his daily average was about 275 miles traveled, five towns visited, and six speeches delivered. No public speaker ever approached such a feat of endurance, or spoke so often or to so many people in the same length of time. When it was determined that McKinley was elected — he receiving 7,104,779 and Bryan 6,502,925 of the popular vote — Mr. Bryan accepted his defeat without apparent discouragement, and with that admirable characteristic Americanism which does what it can when it can't do what it prefers to, the would-be president went back to his law practice in his same old quarters at Lincoln, Nebraska. Mr. Bryan also lectured in answer to many calls throughout the country on social, financial, and political topics; and in 1897 he made an extensive tour in Mexico to study the conditions of the people, and especially to investigate the financial progress of the government under free coinage of both gold and silver. Early in 1898 Mr. Bryan was several times interviewed regarding the war with Spain. He approved President McKinley's policy of prudence in entering upon hostilities, but when war had been declared he favored its prompt and rigorous prosecution as the most speedy and least expensive means of bringing it to a successful close. He was the first man to enlist as a private in the Third Regiment of Nebraska Volunteers on May 19, 1898. So contagious was his example that " Company A" was filled within five hours, and Bryan was made its captain. When the regiment was completed, Mr. Bryan was appointed Colonel by the Governor of the State, and promptly accepted the honor. ^.^'-y^it'^^-k HEROES OF SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, COMMANDER OF OUR NAVY FOR THE CONQUEST OF CUBA, WILLIAM T. SAMPSON. History is made rapidly during the days of war, and men whose names were before comparatively unknown to the world suddenly rise like rockets above the public horizon, and attract like shooting meteors the attention and admiration ot the multitude. America has never yet needed a man for any occasion which she could not furnish ; and the fact that he usually steps forth from some quiet, unexpected corner in the person of some modest, thoroughly equipped, but unobtrusive man, only emphasizes the enormous reserve forces at the command of our nation, as it also adds to the fame of him who comes as a successful surprise — a trained and long-waiting hero — upon the stage at the critical moment when his country needs him. Such a man is the now fomous Rear-Admiral Wm. T. Sampson, Commander of the North Atlantic Squadron. Many events have gone to show that oui- government acted wisely when it raised Captain Sampson, early in 1898, to the rank of acting Rear-Admiral and gave him supreme command of our naval forces in Cuban waters. In all the operations of his fleet Admiral Sampson has shown himself a brave, discreet, and thoroughly competent commander; and, after thorough trial under the most trying circumstances, with the eye of the naval experts of the world upon him, he has not been found wanting in any particular. Admiral Sampson does not come to his important position without long and thorough training for it. He was born in Palmyra, New York, February 9, 1840, consequendy was fifty-eight years old at the beginning of the Spanish-American War — three years younger than Admiral Dewey of Manila fame ; one year i M.M^^t HBgH^^'^ ^^^^^^^H^^^^^^^^^^I^^H E P --4 RKAR-ADMIRAL WILIJAM T. SAMPSON. RI'.AR-AnMIRAL GKORGE DF.WEY. '< ^- r i ^ 1 ^ ^ m^^^^^l ^^^^^ 1 Hi ^■^^^Lirip^:V*-^ ^1 Hp^l ^^' ^^^H ■KiiJI ^^- ^H COMMODORE JOHN CRITTENDEN WATSON. RKAK- ADMIRAL WINFIELD SCOTT SCHT.F.Y LEADING NAVAL COMMANDERS OF THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. WILLIAM T. SAMPSON. 599 younger than General Miles; four years younger than Wesley Merritt; and five years the junior of Fitzhugh Lee of the army. Like Franklin, Lincoln, and Grant, Admiral Sampson came of very humble parentage. His father was a day laborer, who did odd jobs and sawed wood from house to house, while his son, " Billy," followed him and split it up the proper size and laid it in piles or packed it away in the woodsheds. Every moment he could spare he was at his books and attended the public schools when he could. That he diligently improved every moment and that he was a popular boy is shown by the fact that, at the age of seventeen, he secured an appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, where he graduated just before the Civil War at the head of his class, and promptly entered the naval service, in which he continued to the close, rising to the rank of lieutenant. His career was uneventful, except in the ordinary lines of duty, affording him no opportunity for individual distinction, but he was always a very close student along the lines of his profession, to which he was thoroughly devoted ; and his mastery of naval science, tactics, and seamanship no doubt accounts for his present high and honorable position. During the Civil War he was on board the ironclad Patapsco as executive officer, when that vessel was blown up, at the bombardment of Charleston in January, 1865. An account of this disaster, related by Sampson himself, is interesting. "On the 15th of January," said he, "the monitor Patapsco and the Lehigh were sent up the Charleston harbor to drag for torpedoes, and if possible to learn the nature and position of any obstruction placed in the channel by the Confederates. I was on the top of the turret and the Patapsco was drifting slowly up the harbor when the explosion came. My first impression on hearing the report was that a shot had struck the overhang just below the water; but the column of smoke and water which immediately shot upward convinced me of the real nature of the explosion." At this juncture, in reporting the details to his superior, Lieutenant S. P. Quackenbosh, he said: "The order to start the pumps was immediately given by you through the turret. So impractical did the order appear the next instant that I did not repeat it. You immediately afterwards gave order to man the boats. Although these orders were given in rapid succession, only the officers of the deck, who stepped from the turret into the boat, had time to obey the last order before the boat was afloat at the davits. Owing to the wise provision of having the picket boats near at hand, all those who were on deck at the time were saved. None escaped from below except the engineer and fireman and one other man. I was picked up by one of the picket launches and immediately gave order to the officer in command to pull up the harbor in the hope of picking up others." In his report to the Secretary of the Navy the commanding officer gave due praise to young Sampson, saying : " The cool intrepidity displayed by Lieutenant .^5 6oo WILLIAM T. SAMPSON. Sampson, my executive officer, deserves the highest praise." The following year young Sampson was further honored by being made Lieutenant-Commander, "The after-career of Admiral Sampson has evinced," says a recent writer, "just such qualities as he displayed aboard the Patapsco. He is not an affable man ; but he is always the gentleman, and he is as unassuming as he is sagacious and brave. The chiefs of bureaus in the Navy Department are entitled by courtesy to the rank of Commodore, but Sampson never availed himself of the privilege. When he was at the head of the Bureau of Ordinance, strangers entering his office would frequently address him as * Commodore.' ' Captain, if you please,' was his invariable reply, spoken modestly and simply. He never cared for honors which he had not fairly won." Throughout the lono- interim of rest from warfare since the close of the Civil War, Admiral Sampson has held various naval appointments under the o^overnment; and, as suo"2:ested above, he has been a constant student of his profession. His specialty has been torpedo work, and his interest in it has amounted almost to the proportions of a hobby. The deeply marked face shows him to be a student, and it was his proficiency of knowledge in torpedo and submarine mining which suggested his appointment as President of the Maine Board of Inquiry early in 1898, in which his judicial qualities challenged the admiration of the entire country, and, coupled with his former record as a sailor and a prudent fighter, accentuated the propriety of commissioning him Rear- Admiral and placing him in command of the North Atlantic Fleet. 'In 1886 he was made Superintendent of the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and before his appointment to the Presidency of the Board of Inquiry he had commanded the cruiser San Francisco, and, later, the battleship Iowa. It fell to Admiral Sampson's fortune to open the war by firing the first shot from his gunboat Nashville, and capturing the first prize of the war, the merchant steamer Pedro^ which he sent to Key West with a prize crew on board, April, 1898. Several others were taken in short order during the next few days, and successively towed or carried under their own steam into Key West. On April 27th, Admiral Sampson steamed on an inspecting expedition into the harbor of Matanzas, and from his flagship, \}i\^ New York, opened fire on the newly erected sand forts, which he destroyed with about fifty shots. The Spaniards returned the fire, but did no damage to the American fleet. Having drawn the fire from the forts, and learned the location of the fortifications and the probable number and style of the Spanish guns, Admiral Sampson sailed away to await the proper time of positive and vigorous attack. This was the beginning of active hostilities in the war with Spain for Cuban independence ; the first great battle of which was fought and won so gloriously by Admiral Dewey a few days later. May ist, off Manila, Philippine Islands. To those who like to peep behind the curtain into the private lives of WILLIAM T. SAMPSON. 6oi public men, the following bit of information concerning the home-life of Admiral Sampson will be interesting. In one sense he is a farmer; that is, he owns a farm near Palmyra, New York, which his plain brother George manages for him, and it is interesting to note that this farm is situated on the very spot where the notorious Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, claims to have discovered the famous engraved gold plates, from which, with the aid of the revealino- alasses, Urim and Thummin, he wrote the Book of Mormon. But the family home of Admiral Sampson is not in New York. It is at Glen Ridge, N. J., presided over by a prudent and industrious wife, with several daughters and two stalwart, round-cheeked, growing boys, who delight to dress in sailor costumes. " Of course, we are anxious," said Miss Nannie, the oldest of Admiral Sampson's unmarried daughters, to a recent visitor, "but I don't think we are worried about papa. You see we all have perfect confidence in his ability to whip the Spaniards, and we have no doubt he will do it when the opportunity comes." When incidents or anecdotes illustrating his character were requested, Mrs. Sampson replied: "He is not exactly an easy person about whom to tell anecdotes. He is very dignified, you see, and anecdotes do not cluster about him." "Father never talks at home about his business," said the Admiral's daughter. "In WashinQ^ton when he used to come home from a meeting, and we would ask him for the news, he would tell us gravely that the Dutch had taken Holland, and with that we had to be content." " But in spite of his dignity," rejoined Mrs. Sampson, "he is always ready to enter into any fun, or, when there is none to enter into, to make it. He is fond of outdoor sports too." "Yes," his daughter declared, " he plays tennis to admiration. He has never played in a tournament, you know," she said, "but at Annapolis, when he was Superintendent of the Naval Academy, there was no one who could match him. He likes wheeling, too; but golf! I have tried to get him to play golf, and he viron't. He says," she continued, laughing, " ' that golf is an old man's game. The house in which the Sampsons live is a little frame cottage. The piazza is not pillared and porticoed enough to be called a suburban mansion, but quiet and subdued, in keeping with the character of the man who owns it, and nesding in a beautiful lawn of soft billowy grass, dotted with green trees. It is a simple, homelike, comfortable little house, just such as most of America's great men have lived in. THE HERO OF THE BATTLE OF MANILA, GEORGE DEWEY. The first command given to an American squadron to fight in nearly thirty years was contained in this eight-word cablegram to Commodore Dewey, April 25, 1898: "-Capture or destroy the Spanish squadron at Manila." "Never," says James Gordon Bennett, "were instructions more effectually carried out. Within seven hours after arrivinof on the scene of action nothinor remained to be done." At every great emergency in our history we have had men equal to the duties that faced us. The men of the Revolution were giants of their generation. Our Civil War brought forward the most striking personalities of the century. The great merit of democracy is that out of its multitudes, who have all had a chance for natural development, there arise, when occasion demands, stronger and wiser men than any class-governed societies have ever bred. As during a long period of the routine of domestic politics we have not lost our capacity for the largest statesmanship, so during our period of peace we did not forget our courage and efficiency in war. Sufficient proof was given us of' this in the magnificent and brilliant achievement of Commodore Dewey, who on May i, 1898, destroyed the Spanish fleet at Manila, Philippine Islands, without the loss of a ship or a man from liis squadron, making himself for the time the most famous living naval commander of the world, "It may surprise some Americans," says a foreign diplomat, "to know that Dewey's victory carries with it spoils of war, probably larger than were ever before decided by the issues of one battle. The future value and influence of this conquest are almost incalculable." George Dewey was born in Montpelier, Vermont, on December 26, 1837. His father was Dr. Julius Y. Dewey, a prominent life insurance authority, an estimable business man, and also a physician. The Dewey family belongs to New England's best stock, and dates its ancestry back to colonial times. After a preparatory course in the Northfield Military School of Massachusetts, George Dewey was appointed, at the age of seventeen, as a cadet to Annapolis, where he graduated in 1858 When the Civil War broke out, young Dewey was made a lieutenant and assigned to duty on the seventeen-gun steam-sloop Mississippi. His ship was in Farragut's squadron, which forced a passage up the Mississippi 602 GEORGE DEWEY. 603 River in 1862. This was Dewey's first experience in real war. In passing Fort Philip, Dewey's ship was subjected to severe fire from the Confederate artillery, at such close range, it is said, that the men on board the ships and those on the fortifications exchanged profane compliments which were clearly audible to each other. Later an incident occurred which is parallel to the daring feat performed in entering Manila Harbor, and, to a less courageous man, would perhaps have been sufficient warning against braving the dangers of the Spanish magazines. One of the crew in telling of the incident says: "In the middle of the night we attempted to pass Port Hudson on the Mississippi River. All lights were extinguished in our endeavor to slip by without being discovered. I distinctly remember Dewey giving orders to whitewash the decks of the ship so that the gunners would be able to see to do their work without lights ; but we were discovered when opposite Port Hudson, the Mississippi w-as riddled with shot and set on fire by the enemy's batteries. The officers and crew quickly abandoned the ship and made their way to the other shore, just as the flames reached the Mississippi s magazine and she exploded." Dewey was also on one of the gunboats at the engagement at Donaldsonville in 1863. In 1864 and 1865 he was an officer on the Agawam, which was engaged in battle at Fort Fisher. In March, 1865, he received his commission as Lieutenant-Commander, and for two years served in this capacity on board the Kearsarge and the Colorado. For the next two years he was attached to the Naval Academy, which position he retained until 1870, when he was transferred to the Narragansett, and it was during his five years' charge of her that he rose to be a Commander. In 1876 he was attached to the Lighthouse Board, and again in 1882 went on sea duty in the Asiatic squadron as Commander of the Juniata. When the coast dispatch boat, the Dolphin, the first vessel in our new navy, was completed, in 1884, Dewey was made Captain of this ship. The next year he was transferred to the flagship of the European squadron, the Pensacola, which he continued to command until 1888, when he was again transferred to shore duty, in which he served successively as Chief of the Bureau of Equipment, then on the Lighthouse Board, and, when, made Commodore in 1896, he was placed at the head of the Inspection Board. In January, 1898, he was given command of the Asiatic squadron, stationed then at Hong Kong, China. He had been but a few weeks in his new position when the declaration' of war with Spain gave him the chance of his life for distinction, which he so brilliantly improved by falling upon and annihilating the Spanish fleet and forts at Manila, Philippine Islands, May ist, just six days after the declaration of war. It is litde wonder Dewey has acquired among his naval associates the tide of "The Lucky," for had he not been transferred from the land service and placed in command of the fleet just when he was, or had the opportunity occurred a few months earlier, the honor and reputation which are his would 6o4 GEORGE DEWEY. have fallen to his predecessor. Agani, Admiral Dewey, at the time of his great victory at Manila, was sixty-one years of age. Had the war with Spain come a year later he would have been on the retired list. Was Dewey's fame, after all, a matter of "luck," or is it better to take the philosophic view and regard it as an illustration of the truth of the old adasfe that "honor and reward are sure to come to those who faithfully labor and patiently wait?" However this may be, it is a mark of Dewey's greatness that he so brilliantly and successfully embraced and used his opportunity when it did come. In the minds of the American people and of the world at large, it is seriously doubted whether any other Commander of our navy would have won this victory as Dewey did, destroying eleven Spanish vessels, killing and wounding about one thousand of the enemy, and that without serious damage to one ship of his squadron or the loss ot a single man. The parallel of this achievement is not to be found elsewhere in the pages of naval history. The Spanish officers attribute their defeat to the fact that they were outmatched in the efficiency and strength of the American fleet, and also to the fact that the American ships were painted a lead color, so that they could not be distinctly seen by the Spanish gunners. They also give due credit to the accuracy and rapidity of Dewey's fire. Admiral Montojo, in the face of his overwhelming defeat, on Monday after the battle on Sunday, sent Commodore Dewey his compliments on the American marksmanship, declaring he had never witnessed such rapid and accurate firing. Commodore Dewey generously complimented the Spaniards for their bravery in return, and attributed their .defeat to inferior ships and not to any lack of courage. When official reports of the battle were received. President McKinley said: " It is the triumph of a just cause by the grace of God ; " and he promptly nominated Commodore Dewey to be appointed a Rear-Admiral in the United States Navy. The Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination, and he was accordingly promoted to that position. The Battle of Manila must ever remain a monument to the daring and courage of Admiral Dewey. However unevenly matched the two fleets may have been, we must agree with the naval critic who declared: "This complete victory was the product of forethought, cool, well-balanced judgment, disci- pline, and bravery." Dewey entered with his squadron an unknown harbor, supposed to be strewn with deadly mines, and blew up the Spanish navy that was protected by the heavy guns of the shore batteries ; and not only did he sink the vessels, but he silenced those batteries. It was magnificent; and Dewey will go down in history ranking with Paul Jones and Lord Nelson as a naval hero. Truly do the hearts of his countrymen respond to the sentiment of the following ode to his fame, by Virginia Vaughan, in the "Ladies' Home Journal' of June, 1898 : GEORGE DEWEY, 605 Youngest descendant of a glorious line, Jones, Perry, Hull, Decatur — heroes bold, Who led this nation's brave sea-fights of old — And Farragut, whose great deeds on the brine, Through our wild civil strife, with fierce glow shine. Dewey, all hail ! with theirs is now enrolled Thy name — with theirs thy story will be told ! Thy country's praise and gratitude are thine. Thy daring sally in Manila Bay Has stirred the whole world's pulse, and well begun The war for human rights we wage to-day With consecrated sword. Hero, well done I Thy fleet was heaven-directed in that fray ; No grander battle ere yet fought and won. In 1867 Admiral Dewey married die daughter of Governor Goodwin, of New Hampshire. She died in 1875, since which time he has remained a widower. George Goodwin Dewey, his only son, is a business man in New York. COMMANDER OF THE UNITED STATES ARMY, NELSON APPLETON MILES. "If young- Miles lives he will be one of the most distinguished officers in the service," said Major-General Hancock when the subject of this sketch was little more than a boy. Such remarks have been made of thousands of youngsters in all the walks of life by their admiring friends, and yet these young hopefuls seldom fulfilled the friendly prophecies in the smallest degree; but that General Hancock was a true prophet, or a good guesser, the after-life of his young friend fully proved. Major-General Nelson A. Miles, Commander of the United States Army, was born in Westminster, Mass., August 8, 1839- Hence he was fifty-nine years of age when the Spanish-American War began in 189S. His distinguished services had at that time endeared him to the American people to sucli an extent that Con- gress had already seriously considered the matter of appointing him Lieutenant- General, an honor which had been conferred only upon six Americans — George Washington, Winfield Scott, Ulysses S. Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, and Schofield. Curiously enough, General Miles is the only soldier in the last half-century who has reached the position of chief in command of the American Army with- out havinor araduated at West Point. His success must be attributed to the fact that he is a born soldier — brave and wise — and that he is a man of the most extraordinary strength of character, combined with irresistibly winning personal characteristics. The story of General Miles' career is one filled with varied and interesting episodes. To begin with, he was born and grew up on a farm. He came from old American stock. His ancestors were among the earliest pioneers and explorers, having setded in Massachusetts Colony in 1643, and their descendants were among the patriots who struggled for freedom in the Revolutionary War, and others of them served in the War of 181 2. During his boyhood young Miles received an academic education, and in early manhood engaged in mer cantile pursuits, in which he was engaged in the city of Boston when the great Civil War broke out in 1861, Inheriting the spirit of patriotism, he generously devoted all of the little he possessed toward the expense of raising a company of volunteers and offered his services to his country. For the zeal and patriot- ism manifested he was given the commission of a Captain, but being considered 606 MAJOK GENERAL WhbLEY MEKKITT. MAJOR GENERAL WM. R. SHAFTER. LEADING COMMANDERS OF OUR ARMY IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. NELSON APPLETON MILES. 607 too young for the responsibility of that command, he did not assume it, but instead went into the Army of the Potomac as Lieutenant of the Twenty-second Massachusetts Volunteers. His capacity was soon made manifest, calhng forth the opening remark of this sketch by General Hancock, and in 1862 he was commissioned by Governor Morgan of New York Colonel of the Sixty-first New York Volunteers. In this capacity his services proved so efficient that Generals Meade and Ulysses S. Grant joined in a request that he be made Brigadier-Gen- eral of Volunteers, which commission was afterwards conferred upon him by President Lincoln. During his career General Miles was engaged in all the battles of the Army of the Potomac except one — and this his wounds at the time rendered him incapable of participating in. He commanded successively regiments, brigades, and divisions, and in 1865 was put in command of the Second Army Corps, numbering over 25.000 men, said to be the largest command ever held in America by an officer only twenty-five years of age. General Miles was particularly prominent in the closing scenes of the war. His immediate command was the First Division of the Second Army Corps, which was in such close proximity to the Confederate forces that all the correspondence between Generals Grant and Lee regarding the terms of surrender passed directly through General Miles' command, and it was to his line that General Lee first came when he surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Court House. The distinguished soldier wears upon his person the marks of his profession. Always in the thickest of the fight when opportunity afforded, it is perhaps remarkable that he escaped with the few scars which he carries. At the battles of Fair Oaks, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville he was wounded, and for gallant and distinguished services was four times brevetted. Another mark of the confidence reposed in him was his appointment to take charge of the person of the Confederate President, Jefferson Davis, when he was captured and sent to Fortress Monroe as a prisoner, and the fact that he manacled his distinguished prisoner made young Miles for a time exceedingly unpopular in the South, where the fallen leader had the full sympathy of his followers; but these were war times, and by the North Jefferson Davis was then regarded as an arch-conspirator, and as a military officer the young commander felt the supreme importance of keeping his prisoner so securely that there should be no possibility of escape. Hence the liberal-minded Southerner of the present must regard the action of General Miles in this incident as induced by a soldierly sense of duty to his country, in the discharge of which he could not afford for himself or for the nation to take the slightest chances of failure. Certainly those who know General Miles personally regard the great-hearted soldier as incapable of inflicting upon an old man, and especially so distinguished a 6o8 NELSON APPLETON MILES. personage as the President of the fallen Confederacy, unnecessary pain or humiliation. At the close of hostilities young Miles was further honored by being placed in command of the district of North Carolina during the work of reconstruction, and in that State he is still remembered as a wise administrator, and in the heat of sectional animosity, which then existed, his actions are now regarded by the best people of North Carolina as generous and sympathetic. Since the war General Miles has been perhaps the most prominent active soldier in the service of the government. When the army was first reorganized he was appointed Colonel ol Infantry. In 1880 he was made Brigadier-General, and in 1890 Major-General ol. the United States Army, and has since succeeded General O. Howard as chief-in-command of the land forces. During the past twenty-five years he has figured prominently in our frontier troubles, and successfully conducted an Indian campaign against the Kiowas, Comanches, and Cheyennes in the Indian Territory and the Southwest ; the Sioux, Cheyennes, Perces, and others in the Northwest; and the Apaches in Arizona and New Mexico. For his efficient services he received the public thanks of the States of Montana, Kansas, Arizona, and New Mexico, where he not only quelled outbreaks of the savages, but on several occasions prevented Indian wars by the judicious and humane settlement of difficulties without the use of military power. After General Miles' active life in the West, and prior to the opening of the Spanish- American War, he devoted a considerable portion of his time to literary work. His articles on various phases of military science, tactics, history, and achievements have contributed very materially to that branch of American literature, and added to his hieh distinction as a commander the honors of authoritative authorship along the lines of his professional calling. With this brilliant record behind him, and occupying the chief position in command of the regular army when war was declared, General Miles was the logical leader of our forces for the invasion of Cuba, as he was unquestionably the choice of an appreciative nation for that distinguished honor, which, if it ends as the world anticipates, will make him the prominent hero of the Spanish- American War, whom the nation will not forget to honor as his services deserve. THE BRAVE UNITED STATES CONSUL-GENERAL TO CUBA, FITZHUGH LEE. If there remains one lingering- question about the sincere abandoning of the "lost cause" of the South, and the final furlino- of the Confederate flae on the part of its noble defenders, that doubt has been forever settled by the Spanish- American War; and it is now recognized as never before that the magnanimity of the Northern conqueror has been fully matched by the generosity of the vanquished Southerner, who returned to the fold of the Union with a speediness and forgetfulness of the past and an ardor of patriotism whicli is at once the pride of our nation and the marvel of the world. If the war with Spain should have accomplished no other direct good for our country, it has at least proven beyond the shadow of a doubt to Americans themselves and the world at large that the spirit of disunion has now no place in the United States, and that our government stands to-day the most firmly cemented — as well as the most humane and the most progressive — nation upon the earth. What better testimony does anyone ask for the establishment of this fact than the unprecedented spectacle of two such Confederate Generals as Fitzhugh Lee, of Virginia, and Joseph Wheeler, of Alabama, marching with thousands of their old Southern comrades-in-arms to fight the battles of the Union ? A little more than three decades agfo these renowned Confederate Generals wore the gray, and under the stars and bars of secession led their cavaliers and the chivalrous sons of the South, in a cause which they believed to be just, against the stars and stripes and their equally brave brothers in blue from the North. Now beneath the old flag of a reunited country, the grizzled foes of thirty years ago — aye, even the liberated slave and his former masters — march shoulder to shoulder, united by a common bond of patriotic pride, actuated by the same spirit of liberty — " Forward, in the name of humanity and of freedom ! " The gray hairs of riper age and riper judgment and a ripe, exalted patriotism are now the only suggestions of the gray uniform on the old Southerner; for now — As the long line comes marching on It is all blue ! And the star-spangled banner waves over them all — They are all true I 609 6io FITZHUGH LEE. Major-General Fitzhugh Lee is not, as has been sometimes supposed, the son of the famous Commander-in-Chief, General Robert E. Lee. Robert E. Lee had a son by the name of WiUiam Henrj^ Fitzhugh Lee, who was born in 1837 at Arhngton, and was a distinguished commander in the Confederate service. This, perhaps, accounts for the popular error. Fitzhugh Lee, the subject of this sketch, was born on November 19, 1835, at Clermont, Fairfax County, Virginia, He is a nephew of General Robert E. Lee and a grandson of the famous " Liqht-horse Harry Lee " (Robert E.'s father) of Revolutionary fame. His well-deserved popularity is not merely incidental to his late office as Consul-General to Cuba, and as one of the commanding generals in the Spanish-American War, but is built upon a splendid career as a man, a soldier, and a patriot. In every relation of life he has proved himself a worthy descendant of a long line of illustrious ancestors, dating back for more than a century in Virginia, and of no small fame in England before their coming to America. Sydney Smith Lee, the father of Fitzhugh, was a naval officer, and was Fleet-Captain of Commodore Perry's Squadron when it opened Japan to the world. But the son did not desire to follow the sea. The daring brilliancy of his grandfather, Light-horse Harry, charmed him and he wanted to be a cavalryman. He loved horses, and it is said when he was fourteen "he could ride like a Comanche." Fitzhugh Lee entered West Point Military Academy in 1852 and graduated in 1856, as he humorously says, *' third in my class if you commence to count from the bottom." But Lee was when young, as he has been always since, a man of action rather than a man of books. It is also said he mieht have ranked a little higrher had not his strict uncle, Robert E. Lee, been Superintendent of the Military Academy while he was there. After graduation he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Second United States Cavalry, and sent to a frontier post, where in 1859 he was severely wounded in a fight with Indians, in consequence of which he had to give up active service temporarily, and in May, i860, was ordered to West Point, where he was made Instructor of Cavalry. This post he held until the beginning of the Civil War in 1861, when he resigned his commission and entered the Confederate service and served as Adjutant- General of Ewell's Brigade, until September, 1861, when he was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the First Virginia Cavalry, and was afterwards promoted to Colonel. During the war he participated in all of the campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia, On the 25th of July, 1862, Colonel Lee was made a Brigadier-General, and on the 3d of September the next year Wcts promoted to Major-General. In the Batde of Winchester, September 19, 1864, where General Sheridan made his famous ride, three horses were shot under Lee, and he was himself disabled by a severe wound, which kept him from duty for several months. FITZHUGH LEE. gj^ In March, 1865, Fitzhugh Lee was honored by being put in command of the whole cavalry corps of the Army of Northern Virginia, which position he held until a month later, when the fall came. Fitzhugh witnessed the memorable meeting between his uncle and General Grant, and he has frequently expressed his appreciation of the magnanimity displayed by the victorious commander on that occasion, when " General Grant not only refrained," says Fitzhugh Lee, *' from askino" for my uncle's sword, as was the custom, but actually apologized for not having his own sword on at the time." General Lee loves a good joke, even at his own expense, and he tells this amusing story on himself: After the surrender of the Confederate forces at Appomattox, he rode to his home in Stafford County on horseback. He stopped at an old farmer's house for dinner, and his host inquired the news from the front. "Very sad news," answered the visitor. "The war is over. General Lee has surrendered." His farmer host, not knowing who his soldier visitor was, rose up indignantly and said with great emphasis: "Never, sir, never. I don't believe a word of it. That little whipper-snapper Fitzhugh Lee might have surrendered, but Uncle Robert, never, sir, never! " After the war Fitzhugh Lee, like other Southern men of note, returned to his ordinary vocation, and lived in a quiet, retired way during the days of reconstruction. In 1 87 1 he was married to Miss Ellen Bernard Fowle, of Alexandria, Virginia. Mrs. Lee's ancestry is equally divided between Puritan and Cavalier. Her grandfather came from Salem, Massachusetts, where she is related to the Hoopers, Wentvvorths, Holmes, and other distinguished New England families. On her mother's side she has a long line of Virginia and Maryland ancestors, including- the Bernards and others. In 1874 Lee made a speech at Bunker Hill, which attracted wide attention throughout the country. In the winter and spring of 1882-3 he made a tour of the Southern States in the interest of the Southern Historical Society, during which time he gathered a vast amount of war history, relics, etc., which are preserved in the archives of the Society at Richmond, and become more valuable and interesting with each advancing year. In 1885 General Lee was elected Governor of Virginia, in which capacity he served his State for four years, with marked credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents. In 1886 the Washington celebration was held in New York City, and the Governors and the pick of the State troops of the various States were present and took part in the procession. General Lee, with a full flowing beard and a magnificent physique and soldierly bearing, riding at the head of the Virginia troops, was a conspicuous figure, and received an ovation second to that accorded to no public man present. After the expiration of his term as Governor, General Lee returned to pri- vate life until he was appointed Consul-General to Cuba by President Cleveland 6i2 FITZHUGH LEE. in 1897. In this capacity his services were so satisfactory and valuable tnat, though he tendered his resignation to the new administration in 1897, President McKinley requested him to retain his position, which he did until the breaking out of hostilities between this country and Spain in 1898. So eminently coura- geous and diplomatic were General Lee's services during the three years' des- perate struggle of the Cuban patriots, which reduced the fertile island to a land of mourning and desolation, that he possessed the confidence not only of the two administrations, but of the whole country as well. When hostilities were declared he returned to the United States and was appointed Major-General in the army of invasion, and placed in command of the Seventh Army Corps, comprising five regiments of troops at Tampa and the troops at Jacksonville, numbering at the beginning of June, 1898, about 10,000 men. One beautifully significant fact in connection with General Lee's command is that he chose Alo^ernon Sartoris, the orrandson of his old foe, General U. S. Grant, to serve with his own son, Fitzhugh junior, in the capacity of his First Lieutenant. It is said that young Sartoris has the most profound respect for the soldierly qualities of his chief, and that his admiration for him personally caused him to seek a place on his staff in preference to that of any other commander. General Lee is a typical American, chivalrous, patriotic, magnanimous, and as great in forbearance as he is valorous in defense of the principles of justice and humanity. We are indebted to " The Puritan "of May, 1898, for the following domestic picture of the General's household: "General and Mrs. Lee have five children, Fitzhugh junior, Ellen, George, Nannie, and Virginia. They were all born on the Lees' country estate in Staf- ford County, excepting the youngest, Virginia, who was born in the guberna- torial mansion at Richmond, during her father's term as Governor of the State for which she was named. "The home of the family at present is in Park Avenue, Richmond. For many years past they have resided in the seven-hilled historic capital of the Confederacy, though they removed temporarily to Lynchburg, a few years ago, when General Lee was appointed by President Cleveland as a collector of inter- nal revenue, with headquarters in that city. Mrs. Lee is a handsome, sweet- faced matron, with black hair now turning to silver, and hio-h-bred features. Miss Lee is a very pretty girl of twenty or twenty-one, rather slight in figure, with red-gold hair, dark eyes, and regular features, in which both her father's firmness and her mother's gentleness are mirrored. She speaks with just a suspicion of Southern accent — or, rather, with that softness peculiar to Virginia, where such names as, for instance, Carter of Cartersville, are not pronounced precisely as they are spelled. FITZHUGH LEE. 613 " When General Lee was first appointed to his post in Cuba, two years ago, he took his elder son with him, and left the rest of the family at home in Lynch- burg. His wife and daughter would gladly have accompanied him then; but it was at the beginning of summer, a very trying season on the island of Cuba, and neither a desirable nor a safe change from the temperate climate of Virginia. In the fall of the same year (1896), however, General Lee came home on a brief furlouorh ; and when he returned to Havana, he took Mrs. Lee and Miss Ellen along with him. ••The ladies spent the winter in the now beleaguered capital and base of op- erations of the Spanish army, and were delighted with the experience. Miss Lee took her bicycle along, though probably there is less cycling in Havana than in any other city of its size in the world, excepting Venice. The United States con- sulate was in the triangular building of the English Mercantile Insurance Com- pany, at the intersection of Cuba and Obispo Streets. General Lee's family, however, lived in a private house on the Prado, which is the principal residence section of the city. They were treated with uniform courtesy by Spaniards and Cubans generally." OUR FIRST MILITARY GOVERNOR OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, WESLEY MERRITT. This distinguished soldier, appointed by President McKinley in 18-98 as Governor-General of the Philippine Islands, although junior in rank to General Miles, is the senior of his brilliant chief by three years. Like General Miles, Wesley Merritt served with the famous Army of the Potomac during the Civil War. He commanded seventeen regiments of cavalry; and it was he who, under Sheridan at Winchester in 1864, made the celebrated charge which drove General Early like a whirlwind through the valley of Shenandoah. General Merritt is an extremely soldier-like type of man — tall, broad- shouldered, athletic — and looks every inch the fighter that his reputation claims him to be. His handsome face is surmounted by a thick crop of gray hair, he has the executive nose, his mouth is square-cut and firm, his chin is strong and bold, and his eyes, when he is at ease, are full of gentle kindness, counteracting the otherwise stern expression of his countenance. General Merritt is strict, but just and generous, and is greatly respected and beloved, not only by the men who serve under him, but by the whole United States Army. He is one of the few living regular officers of great rank who, by his presence alone, has elicited a burst of cheering from regular troops while they were on parade. It was against all precedent in time of peace, but on the occasion that General Merritt made his last trip to Fort Snelling, he reviewed the Third Reg- iment, and, to the astonishment of Colonel Page and his officers, the men threw discipline overboard and cheered wildly while lined up in battalion formation. The value of this as an evidence of sincere admiration lies in the fact that they were not cheering for one of their own officers, for Merritt was never attached to the Third or brought into close contact with the men. It was a spontaneous outburst of admiration for a soldier. Great latitude was given General Merritt respecting his important command. In absence of means of communication with his Government, the combined naval and military campaign was put under his absolute control. He, in fact, holds such position under this Government as that occupied by the Captain-General of Cuba under the Government of Spain. Wesley Merritt was born in the State of New York in 1836, but in early life emigrated to the State of Illinois. That he was a born commander became 614 WESLEY MERRITT. 615 clearly evident early in life. He was a great reader of military books, and when he was appointed, in 1855, as a cadet to West Point from Illinois, it was found that he was already fairly equipped as a soldier by his general reading. When young I lerritt graduated in i860 he was given the brevet rank of Second Lieu- tenant in Second Dragoons. A year later he was promoted to the regular rank and within three months thereafter was appointed First Lieutenant. General Merritt's military career really began when he was made Captain in the cavalry in April, 1862, where he promptly displayed such abilities as a leader of men as attracted the attention of his superiors. There was a su- perior dash to his work, and durinor the Civil War it was his general o-reat ca- pacity in handling men on all sorts of occasions which distinguished him, rather than any conspicuous individual act. He was one of the few officers who on their merits alone passed over the intervening ranks from Captain to Brigadier- General, which distinction he reached in June, 1863, when he was made Briga- dier-General of Volunteers and attached to the staff of General Sherman. This distinguished soldier soon became his close personal friend, and when the war closed honored his young aid by declaring "Wesley Merritt was the cleverest cavalry officer in the army," In 1864 he was brevetted Major-General of Volunteers, and a few months later was promoted to the honors of a full Major- General, on which occasion the whole army, volunteer and regular, indulged in vociferous applause. After the war was over General Merritt was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ninth Cavalry, and his frontier service began with a command in Texas, in which position he served against the Indians in the Southwest. In 1876 he was put in command of the Fifth Cavalry, and his original ideas did much to establish the present effectiveness of the cavalry arm. In the winter of 1879, General Merritt practically closed his work in the field by a campaign against the Uintah Indians, making a record that has stood ever since as the standard of speed for the movement of mounted troops. It was on this occasion that he by a dashing ride of his cavalry relieved Major Thornburg at Fort Rawlings, two hundred miles away, when surrounded by a band of hostile Indians. Wm. F. Cody, the world-famous " Buffalo Bill," was his scout and guide. In 1881 General Merritt v;as selected for the post of Commandant at West Point, where his executive ability was again demonstrated in the making of a new standard for the Academy. At the close of his services at West Point he was made a Brigadier-General, and in 1S91 was sent to St. Paul to take com- mand of the Department of the Dakotas, where he remained until 1895, when he was made a Major-General and transferred to the Department of the East, and he remained stationed at Governor's Island, N. Y., until his appointment as Com- mander of the expedidon against the Philippine Islands. As in the case of Admiral Dewey, the supreme honor which fell upon General 36 6i^ WESLEY MERRITT. Merritt was quite opportune (" lucky," many would say), coming as it did so short a while before he reached the age of retirement. General Merritt, how- ever, though in his sixty-second year when he was appointed to the command of the Philippines, is neither in looks nor in spirit an old man ; and if, during his military government, there is any more fighting to be done, he is the man to do it. A better military governor could not have been selected, for he has experi- ence as an oro-anizer such as has fallen to the lot of few men in the reo-ular army. It is also interesting to note that General Merritt, who has been so signally honored by a Republican President, has been himself a life-long Democrat, another evidence that patriotism, in America in times of emergency, always, when the fittest man for the service of his country is to be chosen, takes precedence over the spirit of partisanship. SECRETARY OF STATE DURING THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR, WILLIAM R. DAY. On April 25, 1898 — the day that war was formally declared against Spain — the venerable John Sherman, on account of the infirmities of asfe, which he feared would not permit him to bear the enormous burdens of the Secretary of State during the stormy period of war, resigned his important position in the Cabinet, and his acting first assistant, Judge William R. Day, was appointed his successor. There was a bit of pathos in the occasion for the friends of the retiring old statesman, as there was no doubt for Sherman himself. He was born in Ohio in 1823. He was largely a self-made man, and his public service had been continuous for a period of over forty years, dur- ing which time he had filled many prominent positions, such as Con- gressman, Senator, President of the Senate, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of State, and had also several times been close to the nomination for President, But he, with President McKinley and the nation, recognized that the weight ot seventy-five years, coupled with bodily infirmities, rendered his strenq-th inade- quate to the task required of the position he held, and with that deferential patriotism which should mark every servant of his country, he cheerfully sur- rendered the honor to one younger and physically better able to carry the burden. William R. Day was born at Ravenna. Ohio, April 17, 1849. After a grammar-school training he entered the Wisconsin University, from which he graduated in 1870. He subsequently studied law at the Universitv of Michigan, at the same time serving that institution as librarian. In 1872 Mr. Day began the practice of law at Canton, Ohio, where he met and formed a friendship with 617 WILLIAM R. DAY. 6iS WILLIAM R. DAY. William McKinley, then a rising young lawyer of that city, which friendship ripened with association in their professional duties, and the mutual esteem and admiration of the two men for each other increased with advancing years. Mr. Day's first prominent public position was assumed in 1886, when he •was elected Judge of the Court of Commom Pleas of the Ninth District of Ohio. He was afterwards appointed by President Harrison United States District Judge of the Northern District of Ohio, and, though his appointment was duly confirmed by the Senate, ill-health compelled him to decline. When the condition of the Cubans was absorbing the attention of the United States, prior to the war with Spain, President McKinley appointed Judge Day to visit the island, thoroughly investigate, and make a report upon the situation as he found it. He returned to the United States after his mission was accomplished and submitted his report, presenting the condition of the islands and the people with a fairness, a clearness, and so complete in its details, that he was at once setded upon as an important man for the State Department, and he was chosen Assistant Secretary of State to fill the vacancy caused by the appointment of Mr. Rockwell as Minister to Greece. His elevation to the chief place in the Cabinet as Secretary of State, as has already been cited above, took place on the day war was declared against Spain, on April 25, 1898. An old acquaintance writing of Secretary Day says : " He is a first-class man in every respect. He is eminently fair, clean in morals and conduct, genial in his connection with men, upright in bearing, and polished in address. It is a common statement by members of the Canton bar that Day's brain is a chamber whose four walls are lined from floor to ceiling with thousands of drawers. Each drawer is labeled, and, when he wishes its contents, he has only to grasp the knob and pull it out. It is pleasant to listen to him discuss the condition of crops in Ohio, the beauties and uses of drainage, the possibilides of engineering feats in his section." Mrs. Day is a helpful wife who attunes her life to that of her husband, and lives for him and her children. So intense has been this devotion that she has taken no leading part in the social circles of Canton, though by loveliness of character and every grace of mind and heart she is eminently fitted to do so. She is a tireless reader, devouring and assimilating with equal relish and certainty fiction, history, travel, biography, popular science, and sociological essays. She is also an accomplished musician, and possesses other qualifications calculated to make the home of her husband and children the best and happiest place in the world to them. The four children of the family are all boys.^ The two youngest are in the public schools. The oldest is studying law in the University at Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the second son is also preparing for the same profession. THE HERO OF THE NAVAL BATTLE OF SANTIAGO. WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY. When in April, 1898, Captain Winfielcl Scott Schley was promoted from the position of Chief of the Lighthouse Board of Inspection, made Commodore, and placed in charge of the '* Flying Squadron," one who knew him as a man and as an officer declared : " In selecting Schley as Commodore of the ' Flying Squadron ' America has opened the path to glory for a new naval hero." The prediction at that time was little heeded, but within less than ninety days, with the destruction of Cervera's fleet in the harbor of Santiago, by this fearless and dashing commander, the prophecy was fulfilled. The old adage, "The boy is father to the man," has been proven true in the case of Winfield Scott Schley. The same characteristics that marked the whole- souled, fun-loving yet strong-minded boy have always been uppermost in the man. He was born in Frederick County, Md., October 29, 1839. ^^'s parents were well-to-do and he belongs to an aristocratic Southern family. Young Schley was a warm-blooded and particularly bright lad, quick to memorize and fluent of tongue ; but he was very full of fun and vitality, and his record at the village school did not keep him, like the proverbial hero, at the head of his class. In fact, he put in so little time at study that he would have been little short of a mental marvel had he occupied any position save one near the " foot." He was one of the most mischievous boys in the neighborhood of Frederick, and was, in consequence, frequently blamed for pranks with which he had nothing to do; but he was always manly and brave. His loyalty and contempt for everything even remotely resembling sneaking was as marked then as now. On one occasion he was accused of being the instigator of a particularly audacious trick, and naturally denied it vigorously. The matter finally narrowed down to the con- viction that either Schley or one of his close associates was guilty ; and, when it came to the point of clearing himself by incriminating the other, the boy became as dumb as a clam, and after that would neither afifirm nor deny anything. His guilty chum was not manly enough to confess, and, though Schley bore the blame with him, his contempt for his old comrade was so great that they never again associated on terms of intimacy. When about sixteen years of age young Schley made up his mind that he must go to sea, and he gave his parents not a moment's rest until they arranged to have him appointed to Annapolis. He graduated at the Naval Academy in 619 620 WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY. i860, and when the Civil War began promptly went into the service, serving consecutively on the frigates Niagara and Pototnac to the end of 1862, when he was transferred to the Winona, on whicli boat and the sloops Monongahela and Richmond he took part in all the engagements that led to the capture of Port Hudson, and, for gallant service, he was promoted to be Lieutenant. From 1864 to 1866 he served on the Wateree in the Pacific, quelling an insurrection ot the Chinese coolies on the Middle Chincha Island in 1865; and, later in the same year, landed at La Union, San Salvador, to protect American interests during a revolution. After this he was recalled, and from 1866 to 1869 was instructor at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. From Annapolis he was transferred to active service on the Asiatic squadron, where he remained from 1869 to 1872, taking part in the capture of the Corean forts on the Salee River, in June, 1871, after two days' fighting. In 1874 he was again sent to the Naval Academy and promoted commander. In this position he remained for a year and a half, when he was transferred to the Brazilian station and sent on board the Essex in search of a missing sealer in the vicinity of Shetland Islands. Here with no small darino- and risk to his own life he assisted in rescuing a shipwrecked crew ; and it was, perhaps, in consequence of this efficient service that in 1884 he was appointed to command the relief expe- dition that rescued Lieutenant Adolphus W. Greely and six of his companions at Cape Sabine in Grinnel Land. During this most eventful and dangerous voyage, Schley took his ship through 1,400 miles of threatening ice. On his return in 1885 he was commissioned Chief of the Bureau of Equipment and Recruiting in the Navy Department, and was promoted to the rank of Captain. During the next year, 1886, he published, jointly with James Russell Soley, a book entitled "Tiie Rescue of Greely." It was in April, 1898, that Captain Schley was advanced from the position of Chief of the Lighthouse Board of Inspection to the rank of Commodore and assigned to the command of the " Flying Squadron," which assembled at Hamp- ton Roads, May 13th, and moved southward to join in the blockade of the Cuban ports. From this point forward the story of Commodore Schley is well knowm to those familiar with the history of the Spanish-American War. It was he who discovered the Spanish Admiral, Cervera, in the harbor of Santiago, and, placing his squadron at the mouth of the harbor, completely bottled the Spaniard up. On Tuesday, May 31st, he bombarded the forts at the entrance of the harbor and drove the two ships of the Spanish fleet, which were in sight, behind the hills and out of the range of his guns. On the next day Admiral Sampson arrived with his fleet and relieved Commodore Schley of the chief command. Two days later, from the bridge of the Brooklyn, in the early morning dawn. Commodore Schley watched with an eager and anxious eye the heroic departure of Hobson and his seven companions, as they took the collier Mei-iimac into WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY. 621 the harbor's mouth, past the Spanish forts, which rained a hail of shots after them, and sunk it in the narrow passage to prevent Cervera's coming out. This action. Commodore Schley, who is keenly appreciative of heroism, declared one of the most heroic events in the history of the world, and the next day as he stood on the after-deck of his flagship, the Brooklyn, pointing toward the gray walls of Morro Castle, where Hobson and his brave men were incarcerated, the Commo- dore said: " History does not record an act of finer heroism than that of the gallant men who are prisoners over there. Hobson's name will live as lono- as the heroes of the world are remembered." It was just one month from the day that Hobson accomplished this daring deed that Cervera made his bold and desperate dash to run the gantlet of Admiral Sampson's blockading fleet of warships. For about forty days this fleet, perhaps the most formidable that ever blockaded any port in the world, had lain like watch-dogs before the mouth of that harbor. It was Sunday morning; a dead calm rested upon the sea ; the men were gathered upon the decks of their ships for their regular Sunday inspection. Admiral Sampson, in answer to an urgent request from General Shafter, on board the flagship New York, had sailed away to a point far to the eastward, where he expected to land and meet General Shafter to consult over plans for a joint attack by land and water upon the city of Santiago. The officers and the men were dressed in their best Sun- day clothes. The Massachusetts was away at Guantanamo taking on coal. All of the dispatch-boats except the Gloucester and little Vixen were away. Not one of the big ships, with the exception of the Oregon, had on sufficient steam to speed more than five knots an hour. Suddenly the watch on the Texas announced a thin line of smoke coming out of the harbor. The Iowa flung out the signal, "The enemy is escaping to the westward," and simultaneously a six- pounder from her bridge boomed upon the still air, calling the attention of the other vessels. In the absence of Admiral Sampson, Commodore Schley was in command, and he immediatelv sienaled the standino- instructions of the Admiral, " Close into the mouth of the harbor and head the enemy off." In an instant on every ship there was a scene of commotion. Jackies and firemen tumbled over each other in rushing to their stations. Gunners leaped into their fighting-places and captains climbed into their conning towers rigged in their best Sunday clothes. There was no time to change. The men, whose work required stripping to the waist, flung their garments in all directions. Within one minute from the time her siornal-CTun rans: out the Iowa was moving toward the harbor. The Maria Teresa, to which Admiral Cervera had that morninor transferred his fla^ was rounding the point and coming out to sea. As she sighted the American vessels she fired upon them, and so did all of her companions as they came into view. The flagship was followed by the Almirante OqucJido, Vizcaya, and the Cristobal 622 WIN FIELD SCOTT SCHLEY. Colon — the last being the most splendid ship in the Spanish navy — and last came the two torpedo-boat destroyers, Phiton and Fiwor. The battle beean at a lone ranee of about three and one-half miles, callingr into action only the eight, ten, and thirteen-inch guns, but the American vessels gradually closed on the enemy, so that the entire batteries of both the Spanish and American ships were engaged. It was one of the most terrific conflicts ever witnessed upon the sea. Within a short while the two torpedo-boat destroyers, which in the beginning had dashed like mad colts at the Brookly^i, were punctured in dozens of places by all sizes of shells and completely destroyed, only two dozen of their 140 men being saved alive, and these were picked up by the dis- patch-boat Glo2icester. Leaving the torpedo-boats to the Gloucester, Commodore Schley directed all of the ships to centre their fire upon the Teresa and Oquendo — the former carrying the Admiral's flag — and within forty minutes from the time they ap- peared at the mouth of the harbor these two splendid vessels took fire, and were run ashore by their commanders. Having finished her work on the torpedo- boat destroyers, the little Gloucester came up in time to send several shots into the two big ships; and it was to her commander, Lieutenant Wainwright (who was executive officer on the unfortunate Maine, sunk in Havana harbor, Febru- ary 15th), that Admiral Cervera surrendered. Leaving the Gloucester and loiva in charge of the two sinking ships, Conmiodore Schley, on the Bi'ooklyn, dashed on after the fleeing Vizcaya and fleet-footed C?/w^, signaling the Texas 2.x\d, Vixen to follow, and directed them all to centre their fire upon the Vizcaya, which was the nearest vessel. Within twenty-four minutes after the two former vessels had struck it was discovered that this splendid ship, which made a gallant defen- sive fight, was on fire, and, running her ashore, her captain hauled down his colors and surrendered. Commodore Schley quickly signaled to Captain Evans of the Iowa and to the Gloucester, who were coming up in the distance, to stand by the Vizcaya and take care of her prisoners. Then he commanded the Oreo^on, Texas, and Vixen to follow him in pursuit of the fleeing Colo7i, which was now at least four and one- half miles away, and it appeared to be an impossibility to catch her. But the Brooklyn and Oregon by this time had steamed up almost to their best speed, and the signal was given to cease firing and bend every effort toward increasing the speed of the ships. All the fighting men were called on deck for recreation and an airing. Only the men in the fire-rooms worked as never before, and for nearly an hour it was on them alone that the victory depended. It was a batde of speed. Presendy it was discovered that the American ships were gaining. The distance was taken and found to be but a little over four miles. "It is possible we may wing that fellow yet," said Commodore Schley, and then he signaled Captain Clark of the 0reg07i to try a thirteen-inch shell. The latter WINFIELD SCOTT SCHLEY. 623 vessel was considerably behind the Brooklyn, and as the great thousand-pound missile of steel flew over the flacrship it made a strange and weird noise. Aoain and again the big guns of the Oregon alone boomed after the CoIo7l, but pres- ently the Bi^ooklyn was within range, and began to pelt the sides of the fugi- tive with her eight-inch shells, when, suddenly, to the surprise of everyone, the Spanish Captain headed his splendid vessel for the shore and hauled down his colors ; but, contrary to the rules of civilized war, he opened the sea-valves of his ship that she might sink rather than fall into the hands of the enemy. The victory was won. Commodore Schley called up the men from the fire- room, who for more than three hours had been working in a heat of from 125 to 150 degrees. They were black with smoke and dust and glistening with per- spiration. It is said that when the Commodore looked down upon these brave men tears came in his eyes, and, with a voice eloquently husky with emotion, he pointed at the cheering firemen and said : " Those are the men to whom we owe this victory." Then he signaled, " The enemy has surrendered" and to Admiral Sampson, ''A glorious victory has been achieved.'' Next he sent the signal to all the ships, " This is a great day for our country!' The Texas, which was five miles behind the Brooklyn, repeated the signals to Admiral Sampson and the other ships still further east. An old adage declares that " Opportunity makes the man," but this old saw, probably, like most old saws, has its defective teeth. As a matter of fact, oppor- tunities as often unmake as make men. It is the grasping of the opportunity and the successful use of the same which develops a great man who has been years, perhaps a lifetime, in the making. Schley saw and grasped his oppor- tunity, and he stands to-day among the heroes of the American navy. Prompt to recognize ef^cient services, President McKinley and the Ameri- can Congress, within less than sixty days from the destruction of Cervera's fleet, promoted Commodore Schley to the rank of Rear Admiral, much to the gratifi- cation of his applauding countrymen. And when the commission for the evacua- tion of the island of Porto Rico came to be appointed, he was further honored by being placed at its head, where his services in superintending the final re- moval of the Spanish forces and the formal turning over of that island to the United States added other laurels to his reputation by stamping Admiral Schley as a man of broad judicial mind and a diplomat of no mean ability. As a popular hero Admiral Schley ranks next to Admiral Dewey. To the latter Congress voted ^3,000 for a magnificent jeweled sword. In September, 1S98, it was proposed that the common people should confer a similar honor upon Admiral Schley. Responses promptly came in amounting to over ^4,000, and the hero of Santiago enjoys the distinction of having the finest sword ever presented to an American officer. THE VICTORIOUS COMMANDER OF OUR TROOPS AT SANTIAGO, WILLIAM RUFUS SHAFTER. Major-General William Rufus Shafter, to whom the Spanish army under General Toral at Santiago surrendered on July 14, 1898, like his commander, General Miles, did not reach military eminence by the well-known highroad that leads through the gates of West Point. The laurels which he wears, on the contrary, were won by his personal merits in the line of long service. William R. Shafter was born in Michigan, October 16, 1835, ^^^ spent his early life on a pioneer farm, wrestling with the forces of nature. His gigantic and well-knit frame, as well as rueeed health and herculean strength, attest how well this early training in the school of humble labor and pioneer hardships have fitted him for the duties of a soldier's life. When the Civil War broke out he entered the service as a volunteer, and on account of his personal standing in the community was made First Lieutenant of the Seventh Michigan Infantry. He soon gained the esteem oi his superiors in rank, as well as the affection and admiration of his men. On September 5, 1862, he was made Major of the Nineteenth Michigan Infantry, and on the fol- lowing June promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and on April 19, 1864, "for signal services rendered," he was made Colonel of the Seventeenth United States Infantry. His command chanced to be always in position to find plenty of active service. He took part in the siege of Yorktown, the battles of Fair Oaks, Savage Station, Glendale, and Malvern Hill. At Thompson's Station, Tenn., he was taken prisoner in March, 1863, and, after two months' experience as a captive in the hands of the enemy, he was exchanged and re-entered the service. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted Brigadier-General "for gallant and meritorious services during the war," General Shafter carries with him a medal of honor, given for distinguished gallantry in the batde of Fair Oaks, Va., May 31, 1862. The inscription on the medal states that it is given "for voluntarily taking an active part in the battle of Fair Oaks, and remainino- on the field, althouQfh wounded, until the close of the engagement." The facts are that young Shafter had been detailed to build bridges with a company of forty-five men ; he need not have gone into the fight after finishing his work, but he voluntarily rushed into the thickest of the battle with twenty-three of his men, and twenty of them were shot down. Shafter, 624 WILLIAM RUFUS SH AFTER. 625 himself, was later shot through the thigh by a minnie-ball, but fought on all nicrht and all the next day, refusing to go to the rear. When the army was disbanded at the close of the war Shafter was ap- pointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-first Infantry of Regulars, in which posi- tion he served until July 28, 1866. During the next two years he remained out of service and engaged in the pursuit of farming, but re-entered the army in March, 1869, and in 1879 was promoted to the rank of Colonel of the First United States Infantry. For eighteen years he was stationed in the West and saw continuous service in the Indian campaigns in Texas, New Mexico, and along the Rio Grande ; and, as a sobriquet of these old days in the Southwest, he is known by nine-tenths of the men in the regular army as "Pecos Bill" Shafter. His record as Colonel of the Infantry while he was engaged in watching and chasing the Indians shows that while he rode hard and marched his soldiers hard, he made the hardest sort of military life pleasant for everybody around him. The men under him declare that he is a real soldier, who "likes a scrim- mage with an enemy better than a military hop any time." At the same time they declare that in a moral and humane sense he is as rigid as a Puritan father and as gentle as a woman. Such is the man who when war was declared with Spain, in the early months of 1898, was appointed by the Secretary of War, with the approval of the Presi- dent, to the command of the First Army Corps for the invasion of the island of Cuba. He was chosen not on account of his rank so much as for his conceded ability and his good judgment. It was never his principle to sacrifice one man more than was necessary in the defeat of an enemy ; and his long waiting before the fortifications of Santiago, while it irritated the most of Americans, who were impatient for a bloody victory, stamped him as a man of sound judgment and military acumen, as well as a careful and judicious commander, who, like General Grant at Vicksburg, regarded the preservation of the life of his men as the first item of importance next to the achievement of a victory. The details of the battle of Santiago are fresh in the memory of the readers of recent history. On June i6th General Shafter sailed from Tampa, Florida, on thirty-five transports, with 16,000 troops, convoyed by the battleship Indiana and a number of gunboats. Six days later this great expedition was landed at Guanta- namo Bay, about sixteen miles from Santiago, with the loss of only two men, and they by accident. The fleets of Sampson and Schley lay before the harbor of the city. The squadron of Admiral Cervera, containing the flower of the Spanish navy, was penned up in that harbor. The advance upon the city was necessarily slow, and met with resistance from the beeinnine. Roads had to be made that artillery and provisions for the army might be carried over the country. The battle was well planned by General Shafter, and every assault which he made upon the Spanish outposts resulted in their being driven back, and within five 626 WILLIAM RUFUS SHAFTER. days after he landed upon Cuban soil a portion of his column was within three miles of the city of Santiago, and the two armies faced each other throughout a line of more than eight miles, and the battle was ready to begin. On July ist and 2d the famous assaults upon El Caney and San Juan were made, both of which strong fortifications capitulated before the dashing and impetuous advance of the American reg^ulars and volunteers. On July 3d, after the destruction of Cervera's fleet. General Shafter de- manded the surrender of the city, which was refused by General Toral, the Spanish Commander. Careful investigations showed that it would cost immense loss of life to carry it by assault. Information was gained from refugees and deserters that the Spaniards were in no condition to hold out, and Shafter con- cluded to grant a truce at Toral's request that the latter might consult his Gov- ernment about surrendering. This was wise policy, for after a spiritless engage- ment on the loth and i ith of July the Spanish General began negotiations which led to his final surrender on the 14th, and General Shafter entered Santiago at the head of his army on the 17th and raised the Stars and Stripes over the palace of the Spanish Governor-General. According to General Shafter's official report this important campaign was conducted and the victory won with a loss, in action, of only 1.593 men killed, wounded, and missing. Had the American General stormed the fortified city and carried it by assault, expert judges, who examined the Spanish defenses after the surrender, declare it would have cost him 5,000 lives. This testimony substan- tiated Shafter's judgment before the battle as he had telegraphed it to Washing- ton. Yet there were many severe criticisms ao^ainst him durine the sieo"e be- cause he did not make the perilous assault. The outcome proved his ability and wisdom. On the return of General Shafter to the United States, in September, 1898, he made a partial tour of the West, speaking to a number of audiences. His old comrades in the Civil War turned out eii masse to hear him, and everywhere greeted him with an ovation which bespoke his popularity among them. Physi- cally, General Shafter is one of the largest men in the service of the United States. He weighs over 300 pounds. One less soldierly by nature or less energetic would lonof since have resio^ned on that account. Accordinsf to the age limit, the year 1899 must see the end of his service in the army. GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. THE HERO OF TWO WARS. The first ex-Confederate officer to receive a commission in the United States Army was General Joseph Wheeler of Alabama. On May 6, 1898, he and General Fitzhugh Lee tendered their services to President McKinley in the war against Spain, and he recom- mended them as major-generals. On account of having fought against the Union in the Civil War, they both were required to take the oath of allegiance in the following words : " I do solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the United States of Ame- rica ; that I will serve them honestly and faithfully against all their enemies whomsoever; that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States, and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to the rules and articles of war." Thus were reinstated in the military service of the United States govern- ment two distinguished soldiers who had been potent factors in the Confederate Army a third of a century before. And the loyalty and patriotism with which they and their old Southern comrades conducted themselves in the defense of the Union, in our late war, left no doubt in the minds of all unprejudiced thinkers that the days of reconstruction are over, and that America, from the lakes to the gulf and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, is the most patriotic and firmly united country to be found in the world. The true story of the life of General Wheeler reads like a romance. For undaunted courage, military genius, thrilling experiences, and hair-breadth escapes, the record of no officer, North or South, perhaps, can surpass thnt of Joseph Wheeler of Alabama. GENKRAL JOSEPH WHEELER. 628 GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. " Fighting Joe," as he is popularly called, descends from a military family. When the Civil War broke out Joseph Wheeler was a young man of twenty- four, a graduate of West Point, and a second lieutenant in the regular army. Like the majority of Southerners, he resigned his commission to serve the Con- federacy, and he was promptly appointed colonel of an Alabama regiment, and served throughout the war with distinction and honor to himself and the South. At the batde of Shiloh, while leading a charge, two horses were shot under him, and during the course of the war he had sixteen horses killed and many others wounded, he himself being struck but three times, which perhaps is accounted for by the fact that General Wheeler weighs only about one hundred pounds. Had a man of General Shafter's dimensions occupied his saddle he would doubtless have received more than a dozen mortal wounds from shots that passed harmlessly by the diminutive little Confederate. General Wheeler, when present, was usually called upon to cover the retreat of the Confederate forces. One of the most thrilline incidents in his life was when he was thus engaged while the Confederate Army was crossing Duck River. Wheeler had repeatedly checked the advance of the Union forces, and, says his biographer, " He was about to make another charge when a Southern officer caught him and pointed to the rear, where the enemy had again sur- rounded him with another column. Wheeling quickly, he charged through it, and plunged headlong into the river,, then swollen to a mighty torrent, and amid a storm of bullets, making the water fairly foam, he climbed up the opposite bank. Of the sixty who formed this forlorn hope, only thirteen escaped, and three of them were badly wounded." Wheeler was always more or less delicate in health, and, when this is con- sidered, the courage and endurance which he manifested become the more re- markable. When he was carried to the front while racked with fever at San Juan, July, 1898, he was but repeating the fortitude manifested in his younger days. When Bragg retreated from Missionary Ridge during the Civil War Wheeler's cavalry, as usual, covered the retreat. On the third day furious fight- ing still continued. Wheeler's foot was struck by a fragment of a shell, inflict- ing a painful wound ; his hat was pierced by a bullet, and his uniform cut in more than one place. Still he kept his saddle, led the charges, and directed the manoeuvres which held the enemy in check. While operating with General Longstreet against Burnside in East Tennessee, his division was on one occasion entirely surrounded by the enemy, and, as usual, Wheeler, instead of surrender- ing, charged completely through the lines and escaped without a wound. Alto- gether, General Wheeler commanded in more than two hundred cavalry engage- ments, and everywhere was a dreaded menace to the Union forces ; and, by cutting off supplies and important communications, as well as by his courageous GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. 629 fighting, inflicted damages almost beyond estimate. It was his aim always to be in the thickest of the fight, and that he generally succeeded in getting there is attested by the fact that thirty-odd of his staff officers were killed and wounded while fighting at his side. At Nashville, Tenn., in 1862, his horse was torn to pieces by an exploding shell, which killed the aide at his side and inflicted a painful wound upon Wheeler himself; but, securing another horse and another aide, he re-entered the conflict and fought bravely until the battle closed. Throuo-hout the Civil War General Wheeler enjoyed the confidence and esteem not only of his commanders, but of the soldiers who fought under him, and of the whole South. Everyone relied upon his excellent judgment, not only in directing a cavalry fight, but in everything relating to campaign and army movements. When the fall of the Confederacy occurred, it was Wheeler who conducted the flight of President Jefferson Davis, as long as there was any hope of his escape, and for a time he was a fellow-prisoner with the rebel president, and suggested two daring plans for his escape, the risk of which, however, Mr. Davis was not willing to take. When, during the Spanish-American War, General Wheeler was given a command under General Shafter before Santiago, the interesting fact was also recalled that during the Civil W^ar the latter had at one time been taken prisoner by Wheeler, and the chivalrous treatment accorded him by the "rebel" leader won the friendship of the big Western general, and the rela- tions of the two men were ever after of a most cordial character. When the battle of San Juan occurred, as has already been suggested, General Wheeler was stricken in his tent with the fever, but he insisted on going out, and he went in an ambulance, but subsequently gave it up to wounded soldiers, and, mounting a horse, led his men in that terrific batde. James Lindsay Gordon thus describes the incident: " Into the thick of the fight he went, palhd and sick and wan, Borne in an ambulance to the front, a ghostly wisp of a man; But the fighting soul of a fighting man, approved in the long ago, Weut to the front in that ambulance, and the body of Fighting Joe. Out from the front they were coming back, smitten of Spanish shells — Wounded boys from the Vermont hills and the Alabama dells ; " Put them into this ambulance; I'll ride to the front," he said; And he climbed to the saddle and rode right on, that little old ex-Confed. From end to end of the long bltte ranks rose up the ringing cheers, And many a powder-blackened face was furrowed with sudden tears. As with flashing eyes and gleaming sword, and hair and beard of snow, Into the hell of shot and shell rode httle old Fighting Joe ! " When the heights of San Juan were gained, at a fearful cost of life, it was 630 GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. thought by the majority of the officers that they could not hold the position, and several of them proposed falling back to General Wheeler. The old veteran listened with his usual respectful manner, and when they had finished said : " Gentlemen, we cannot fall back, and would not if we could. If we cannot hold this place, we can hold nothing in the rear of it. We stay here, gentlemen." Certain of the soldiers who participated in the charge on San Juan tell this amusing anecdote on General Wheeler: "Just before we reached the summit, when the Spaniards broke and ran. General Wheeler, forgetting himself, shouted: 'Now, boys, we've got the Yankees on the run. Give 'em I beg your pardon — I mean the Spaniards.' " This story is not vouched for personally by the general, but it is not difiicult to under- stand how he might in the excitement of the moment have innocently made the mistake. At the close of the war among the returning heroes perhaps no one, with the exception of Dewey, Schley, and Hobson, received a more enthusiastic welcome than the old Confederate, Wheeler. The ovations he received at the Peace Jubilees of Chicago and Philadelphia, and on his subsequent tour of the South with President McKinley, attested the popular esteem in which he was held by the whole country. We have said that General Wheeler belonged to a family of military spirit. This is as prominent in his own children as in himself or any of his ancestors. His son, Joe Wheeler, Jr., is a graduate of West Point, and when the war broke out was instructor of mathematics at that institution. He ap- plied for and obtained a furlough until September, and served on his father's staff during the war. Another son, Thomas Wheeler, seventeen years old, and a student at Annapolis, likewise obtained a furlough, and was appointed by the Secretary of the Navy as a naval cadet on the cruiser Columbia. This son was greatly beloved by his father, and the general was prostrated with grief when he was accidentally drowned on September 7, 1898, at Camp Wyckoff, Long Island, of which General Wheeler at the time was in com- mand. But the military spirit did not stop with the sons. Miss Annie Wheeler told her father at the opening of the war that she desired to go to Cuba as a nurse. " If it is your wish, you shall go," said the general, and she promptly entered the service of the Red Cross Society. General Wheeler left his position as Congressman from Alabama, during his seventh term, to take part in the Spanish-American War. He was re- instated in the old place on his return, and in the fall of 1898 was triumph- antly re-elected for another term. Personally, the general is most social and popular. He is full of activity and fond of sports. Only a short time before he enlisted for the Spanish- GENERAL JOSEPH WHEELER. 631 American War, it is said " he ran a foot race with a bicycle across the Capitol plaza at Washington, and won." His good nature has made him the subject of a number of amusing anecdotes, of which the following, from the " Detroit Free Press," may be taken as a specimen : "One of the Michigan officers who was at the front durincr the brief war had with him a colored attendant who was as proud of his position as though he were commander-in-chief, and whose ideas of military discipline were as rigid as those of the veriest martinet. Owing especially to the thieving proclivities of some of the Cuban hangers-on, he was under strict command not to let anything go from the officer's tent without a personal order from him. " One evening as the officer and General Wheeler met some distance from the camp the general said, widi a smack of his lips: 'I hear, sir, that you received some very fine brandied peaches from home.' "'Yes, general, they're prime, and I'm going to send you some. Mean- time you had better stop at my tent on the way in and have my man give you a can.' " When the officer reached his quarters he was approached by his at- tendant with an elaborate salute and : ' Did you tell dat Gen'l Wheelah, sah, dat he could call heah, sah, and procu' a can ob dem brandied peaches^ sah?' "* Yes. Of course you gave them to him ? ' "' No, sah,' with another athletic salute ; ' no, sah. I knows my duties, sah. I done tole Gen'l Wheelah dat all men look alike to me, sah, an' if he didn' hab no ohdah he couldn' hab no peaches, sah, 'less he oba'come me by powah ob supeiah numbers, sah.' " ' Why, you black rascal, what did he say ? ' " * He jes' grin and bo' it, sah.' " THEODORE ROOSEVELT. GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK— LEADER OF THE FAMOUS ROUGH-RIDERS. "Theodore Roosevelt is Andrew Jackson educated," said a prominent historian to the writer, while the hero of the Rough-Riders was making the race for Governor of the State of New York in October, 1898. If we may trust the record already made, the historian's defi- nition is not far from the truth. In tem- perament the two characters are much the same. Strength of conviction, inflex- ibility of will, integrity of purpose, inten- sity and fearlessness of action were the distinguishing qualities of the " Hero of New Orleans." Add to these the polish of a college education, wide travel, and varied experience, with whatever modification of judgment and character these advantages make, and the result would very nearly characterize the sub- ject of this sketch. No man of his age in America has been a more uncompromising reformer or waged a more relentless warfare against corrupt and designing public officials. Both in public and private, he has been always the stanch, fearless champion of the right. Mr. Roosevelt is a native of New York City, where he was born October 27, 1858. On his mother's side he descends from the prominent old Southern family of Bulloch, to which the famous Governor Bulloch, of Georgia, and the builder of the renowned Confederate ship Alabama belonged. His father, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., was a prominent and wealthy citizen of New York. Like his illustrious son, he possessed great strength and nobility of character, marked purity of life, and benevolence. The family of the Roosevelts have lived in New York from the time of the old Dutch Governor, Peter Stuyvesant, and throughout every generation they have been represented by some upright and honorable man of their name in the public service. 632 THEODtiKh R()()bLVfc,Lr. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 633 Those who have seen and admired the robust, sturdy-shouldered, square- jawed man, who looks and is a born fighter, can hardly realize that he was so thin, pale, and delicate as a boy, and so very slow to learn that his parents dared not send him to the public schools, because he had neither the strength to study nor to join in play with the other boys. As he grew older, he tells us, he became seriously sensitive of his physical weakness, and " I was determined to make a man of myself, and began a system of outdoor exercise, continually making it more vigorous as I had the strength to bear it, and that is what did the work for me." At the age of eighteen young Roosevelt entered Harvard College, where he graduated in 1880, shortly before he was twenty-two years of age, after which he went abroad and continued his studies for a time in Dresden, traveled in Europe and in Asia, and at the age of twenty-three returned to New York and took up the study of law in the office of his uncle, Robert B. Roosevelt, but soon after abandoned it for politics. In 1882, when the members of the General Assembly met at Albany, Theo- dore Roosevelt went as the representative of his district. He was the youngest member of the Legislature, but he soon made himself what he has been ever since — a storm centre. Within two months he had studied his colleao-ues and divided them into two classes — the ijood and the bad — and, to the astonishment and dismay of the latter, opened an uncompromising war, with himself the undis- puted leader of the incorruptible minority. It was nothing to him that he had a bitter majority of corrupt politicians to fight, nor that the strong and powerful press lampooned him without mercy as "an egotistical popinjay." He knew it was right to fight and expose corruption, and his courage faltered not once. He was re-elected twice. The reforms which his aofaressive daring effected during his three terms in the New York Legislature saved the public hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, which had formerly gone into the " grab-bag " of the spoilsman in office. In 1884 Mr. Roosevelt was sent as an instructed delegate to the Repub- lican National Convention at Chicago, and two years later, 1886, at the age of twenty-eight, he made the race for Mayor of New York, and, though defeated, he polled the largest Republican vote ever given to any candidate for that office by his party up to that time. In 1889 President Harrison appointed the dauntless young reformer Pres- ident of the United States Civil Service Commission, which position he filled for six years, four of them under President Cleveland, who, recognizing his ability, courage, and sterling integrity, continued him in that office. When he accepted the office he saw there was an heroic work to be done in the correction of public abuses, and that he would have the bitterest and most 634 THEODORE ROOSEVELT. powerful opposition in Congress and out of it ; but it was a work that he liked, and with the conviction that the spoil-monger and the bribe-giver were equally bad, he assailed them both without iavor or mercy, grappling publicly and privately with every stripe of politician ; he "ousted rascals,"' and enforced the law as it had never been enforced before. In 1895, after the Parkhurst crusade against corrupt administration in New York City, which resulted in the overthrow of a municipal ring by the election of Mayor Strong, the question arose, "Who is brave enough, and wise enough, and stronor enough to head the Board of Police Commissioners and enforce the principles of reform?" Roosevelt was chosen. Within a month he was at once the most hated and the best-beloved man in New York City. His clear and rigid interpretation of the laws was a marvel even to his friends, and his prompt, uncompromising enforcement of them was an astonishment alike to policemen and offenders. The promptness and rapidity of his action was like a whirlwind, spreading consternation among all law-breakers. The politicians tried to entangle him, but he foiled and eluded them at every attempt by speaking the plain truth and sticking to the plain law, which he enforced with impartiality against rich and poor alike. Many of the laws had been dead-letters for years. Under him they became instantly alive and active. When prominent citizens and influential newspapers protested, he answered: " I am placed here to enforce the law as I find it. I shall enforce it. If you don't like the law, repeal it." The police at first learned to fear him, for he brooked no neglect of duty ; then, to respect him, for he worked more hours than he required of them, and demanded nothing but simple duty ; then to love him, for he quickly recognized and rewarded merit. When the Cuban war began to excite this country intensely in 1897, Mr. Roosevelt remarked to a friend, " We shall be compelled to fight Spain before a year passes." It was this belief that induced him to give up the position in the New York Police Department and accept the Assistant Secretaryship of the Navy when it was offered to him by President McKinley in 1S97. His first work was to ascertain the needs of the navy. " To be prepared for war is the most effectual means to promote peace," said Washington, and this became Roosevelt's motto in his new position. He suggested and put through a measure to get every American war-vessel in fighting trim, and to fill every foreign coaling station with an ample supply of fuel. It was this which enabled Dewey to move so promptly from Hong Kong to Manila, and it was Roose- velt who urged the sending of the dispatch instructing the now famous Admiral to capture or destroy the Spanish fleet at Manila immediately upon the declara- tion of war. Peace Commissioner Cushman K. Davis declared : " If it had not been for Roosevelt we should not have been able to strike the blow we did at THEODORE ROOSEVELT. 635 Manila. It was Roosevelt's forethought, energy, and promptness that made it possible." Six days after Dewey's victory Mr. Roosevelt resigned his portfolio in the Navy Department and organized the now famous Rough-Riders (Seventy- first New York Cavalry), composed of cow-boys, policemen, and rich young society men — all good horsemen, good shots, and full of courage. He had en- joyed four years' training as militiaman in the National Guards of the State of New York, in which he held the rank of captain, consequently he was compe- tent for the colonelcy of his regiment, which was offered him, but, with charac- teristic generosity, he declined the honor, suggesting his friend, Dr. Leonard Wood, a surgeon and trained Indian-fighter, as colonel, himself taking second in command. At Las Guasimas, the first engagement of his regiment in Cuba,