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Life and [?cifoliQ gerviQ@s 
 
 OF 
 
 Gen. John Wolsott Phelps 
 
 A SKI n II HEAD BEFORE 
 
 The N. E. Historic Genealogical Society 
 
 CECll I I IMPDEN CUT ARD 
 
 DEC. I, 1886. 
 
 BRATTLEBORO, VT. : 
 1887. 
 
,1 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1887, BY FRANK E. HOUSH & CO. 
 
go John ]?fi@lps, 
 
 endant of the ! 
 little tri 
 
 Dedicated. 
 
 The only descendant of the subject of this 
 sketch, this little tribute is 
 
PREFAC E 
 
 It is customary to offer a brief apolog) to the 
 public, when presenting them a sketch of this kind. 
 In this case it is not necessary. Those who knew 
 the late General Phelps, will realize how difficult it 
 would he to present more of his life than is here 
 given, lie was reticent in regard to his private 
 life for fear of being misunderstood. 
 
 This sketch is simply a token of esteem from one 
 who knew him well. 
 
 The author has a keen realization of its imper- 
 fections, and has only been induced to put it in print 
 that there might he some tangible token of his life, 
 and that all might realize how much one man can 
 accomplish, with persistent, well directed endeavor. 
 
 lie can only trust that this may he hut the fore- 
 runner of a larger volume at some future time, 
 
IV " Preface. 
 
 when the history of the da) shall be better under- 
 stood. 
 
 The author's thanks are due to General J. YV. de 
 Peyster, for the use of valuable correspondence be- 
 tween himself and General Phelps, also to General 
 Rush C. Haw kins, John Britton, Clark and T. \Y. 
 [die for important suggestions. 
 
 Cecil Hampden Cutts Howard. 
 
 Brooklyn, X. V"., April. [887. 
 
INDEX 
 
 American Party, Tin- 36 
 
 American Politics 5^ 
 
 Bennington, Vt., Description of ... 47 j.8 
 Brattleboro, V 1., 1 1, [2, 15, 29, 30, 33, 34, 37, 
 
 I7< 5 1 - 
 Brownsville, Tex., Life at 12-13 
 
 Butler, Gen. B. F 25, 26, 28, 29, 31, 32 
 
 Camp Floyd, I". T 45~47> 55 
 
 Carrollton 17 
 
 ClIERUBUSCO IJ 
 
 contr eras \ 2 
 
 Davis, Mrs. Anna 15 37 
 
 Davis, Capt. R. S 26 
 
 De Peyster, General J. \V 4^,47, si 
 
 Dorchester, Mass io 
 
 Dreams, Signifk \m i of 35 
 
 Emerson 33 
 
 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas SS 
 
 F< irt Pa r a pet 17 
 
vi Index. 
 
 Franchise, Regulation of 57 
 
 "Good Behavior," its Character . . - ■ 34 
 
 Guilford Centre 10, 37/51-54 
 
 HADLEY, Mass 10 
 
 Hall, Gov. and Family 48 
 
 Hawkins, General Rush C. . . . 18,25,39-41 
 
 hodde, lucien de i. a 33 
 
 johnson, generai 1^ 
 
 Lincoln, President, 29—32; Administra- 
 tion of, 56, ^8. 
 
 locha hutchee ii 
 
 Marlborough, Vt 10 
 
 Masonic Lodge 36, 37, 56-58 
 
 Negro Soldiers, 26 28; Plan to Arm, 17; 
 
 A i; MI \(, OF, 2 5, 29 30. 
 
 X 1 u Hampshire Grants 11 
 
 Newport News . ... 40 
 
 Mew Orleans, Reduction of 14 
 
 Oqirrh Mountains }6 
 
 Phelps, Mrs. Almira Lincoln . . . . , . . 11 
 I'll 1:1. i's, Ch a i; LES id 
 
 Phelps, Charles, | k 11 
 
Index. vii 
 
 Phelps, John Wolco'tt, Ancestry of, io— n; 
 
 Education of, io; Military training- of, and 
 Cherokee Indians, 1 i ; European tour, 13; 
 First book of, 13; Extracts from, 14; .Ac- 
 count of the civil war by, 16 18; Emanci- 
 pation of, 19-24; Letter of, to Davis, 26 
 j8; Resignation accepted, 29; Return to 
 Brattleboro, 29; Estimation of character 
 of, 9, 39-41; "Cradle of Rebellions," 
 translation of, 33; Description of residence 
 of, 33-34; Second book of, extracts from, 
 34-35; Literary work of, 33-35 ; Presi- 
 dential nominee, 36; Marriage of, 37; Lec- 
 ture of, 37; Death of, 38; Letters, 45-5.4; 
 Extracts from, 55—58. 
 
 Phelps, John 11 
 
 Phelps, Solomon 10 
 
 Phelps, Timothy 10 
 
 Phelps, William io 
 
 Port Hudson 17 
 
 Red River 17 
 
 Rock 1 m.iiam 11 
 
 Sanborn, Mi; 11 
 
 Ship Island \c> 
 
viii Index. 
 
 Stanton, Secretary 28 
 
 Utah 15, 45-47 
 
 Vera Cruz 12 
 
 Vicksburg ,. . .17 
 
 West Point 11 
 
 West Townshend 11 
 
UK£ » pusue se^vie^s 
 
 OF 
 
 Gen. John Wolgott Phelps. 
 
 I T has been truly said, "the world knows noth 
 *■ ing of its greatest men." Of the late General J. 
 W. Phelps, who as a soldier and author, gained but 
 a partial recognition of his merits before his death, 
 it is the most appropriate sentiment that could be 
 uttered. Truly he was beloved h\ all who knew 
 him well ; esteemed throughout his circle of acquaint- 
 ance for as great a nobility of character, and firm- 
 ness of purpose, as the world has ever seen. "Set. 
 ever through his life he was destined, hy those self- 
 same friends to he misunderstood in so many things, 
 that his latter years were spent in seclusion, embit- 
 tered by disappointments and the failure of many 
 of his life projects. 
 
 Such characters are too great for all to define; we 
 
io Life ami Public Services of 
 
 feel their nobility, when we fail to grasp the reasons 
 for their deeds, which are almost beyond our power 
 of comprehension in the magnitude of their concep- 
 tion. 
 
 General John Wolcott Phelps was born in Guil- 
 ford Centre, Vermont, November 13, 1813. Charles 
 Phelps, his great grandfather, was a lineal descend- 
 ant of William Phelps, one of the earliest settlers of 
 Dorchester, Massachusetts, and who afterward re- 
 moved to Windsor, Connecticut, where he became a 
 prominent citizen of great influence, and Judge of 
 the first circuit court ever held in that state. 
 
 Charles Phelps was horn in Northampton, Mas- 
 sachusetts, and educated for the profession of law. 
 
 He was afterward one of the earliest settlers of 
 
 4 
 Hadley, Massachusetts. From there he removed 
 
 to Marlboro (then a part of Cumberland County, 
 
 New York, hut soon to become a part of Vermont ), 
 
 and was the first lawyer to reside in the latter state. 
 
 Solomon and Timothy, two of his sons, went with 
 
 him. The latter w as made sheriff of Cumberland 
 
 County, under the jurisdiction of New York, and 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. 11 
 
 upheld the authority of thai state in all the dispute 
 and turmoil which rose in connection with the 
 ••New Hampshire grants." He had two sons, [ohn 
 and Charles, both lawyers. The latter settled in 
 West Townshend, Vermont, the former in Guil- 
 ford Centre, where his son, General Phelps, was 
 born. General Phelps 1 mother was Miss Lucy 
 Lovell, of Rockingham, of whose eight children 
 General Phelps was the sole survivor. His step- 
 mother was Mrs. Almira Lincoln, (the celebrated 
 author and teacher), who had two children, both of 
 whom are now living in Baltimore. 
 
 General Phelps' early education, like that of most 
 New England hoys, was received at the district 
 schools. He was fitted for West Point, at a pri- 
 vate school, kept by a Mr. Sanborn, in Bfattleboi'o. 
 Entering West Point in [832, he graduated in [836 
 with rank of second lieutenant. 
 
 As early as [838, he distinguished himself for 
 gallanl conduct in the action at Locha Hutchee. 
 After the war he was put in charge of the emigra- 
 tion to the West of the Cherokee Indians. To 
 
12 Life ami Public Services of 
 
 quote his own words on the subject, he says, " I 
 had always believed the Indians were more sinned 
 against than sinning, and later in my life came to 
 take up my pen in their behalf." 
 
 Many skirmishes in the South and in Canada oc- 
 cupied his time until the outbreak of the Mexican 
 war. For two years he led a company, and was 
 prominent in the battles of Vera Cruz, Contreras, 
 and Cherubusco. 
 
 For gallant conduct he was brevetted Captain, 
 but declined to accept the nominal promotion until 
 [850, when he received a regular promotion. 
 
 For some years afterward, he was away from 
 civilization,, and had the hardest kind of border ex- 
 periences. In a diary written later, while living in 
 Brattleboro, Vermont, he says, " In the spring of 
 [852, I was obliged to leave Brownsville, Texas, 
 because the government would not sustain me in 
 my efforts to execute their orders for the suppres- 
 sion of fillibustering attacks from our territory upon 
 Mexico. It left me in the lurch among savages, 
 whose cunning was exhausted in quiet, yet constant 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. 13 
 
 efforts to destroy the government under which they 
 lived. I went then to Europe, simpl} because I 
 was not prepared to resign, having devoted im 
 whole life singhj to the service, and remained 
 abroad one year." 
 
 While in Europe he visited main places of note, 
 kept a diary of events, and on his return, he wrote 
 and published anonymousl} a volume entitled "Syb- 
 illine Leaves." From this we quote the following 
 poems, with which he opens and closes the volume, 
 as partial illustrations of its character, the re- 
 mainder of the volume being a gathering of brief, 
 original thoughts, upon the visitation of a heathen 
 temple. 
 
 DAY. 
 
 On such a day as this, so fair and bright, 
 
 All redolent with the breath of violets , 
 
 While the gay summer cloud swims in the deep 
 
 Serenitv above, and gleefully the wavelet 
 
 Laughs responsive from helow ; 
 
 While songs of birds and city murmurs. 
 
 Blend with music of playful fountains, 
 
,'4 Life and Public Services of 
 
 And bright sunbeams flash their threads of gold. 
 Amidst leaves and flowers, and throw o'er all 
 A magic gauze, through which nature glances. 
 Like Beauty through her veil. 
 On such a day. O, God ! 
 The gladdened soul, like the cloud in ether. 
 Swims in the joyous spirit of Thv work-. 
 And thanks Tine, that it lives. 
 
 NIGHT. 
 
 And now again, 'tis night ; and such a night. 
 With her -tars all bright, 
 
 Like jewelled princess, o'er whose dusky brow 
 The electric light doth catch and play, 
 As of emotions, deep and tremulous ; 
 Whilst the full lose sips at her dewy breath, 
 And opes the secret of a swelling heart ; 
 Whilst the moist earth doth teem with great ',o\ 
 With all the promise of a fruitful year — 
 Sweet with the perfumes of myriad flowers 
 Gay with the fairy lantern -tire-fly's light — 
 And plaintive with the song of whip-poor-will, 
 When loving hearts for the first time feel 
 The strange communion of this human life, 
 With the deep hid mysteries of the -tars. 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. \c 
 
 These pornis, written at thirty-nine years of age, 
 are undoubtedly the finest he ever composed, the 
 later productions of his pen being more in the Iin< 
 of essays and papers. 
 
 In [859, he resigned his commission, after having 
 served awhile under General Johnson in the Utah 
 Expedition, and returned to Brattleboro, having 
 completed nearly twenty-three years of militarj 
 service. Much of the intervening period, between 
 his leaving the army and the outbreak of the war 
 of the rebellion, was spent in writing articles againsl 
 the aggression of the slave power. 
 
 We find him, then, at the commencement of the 
 last war, possessed of the following requisite quali- 
 fications for success: 
 
 1st. An inheritance from five different ancestors 
 of the highest legal acuteness and talent, which, 
 combined with the personal study of law, gave him 
 an analytical mind for expedients. 
 
 2nd. A military training of twenty-three \ ear- 
 in active army life, with a knowledge and power of 
 controlling 1 men. 
 
1 6 Life and Public Services of 
 
 3d. A year devoted to personal observation in 
 Europe of existing customs and special study, with 
 a view to his own country's needs. 
 
 4th. Possessed of ;i character whose stern prin- 
 ciples knew hut one road by which to gain the end 
 in view. 
 
 These, with eccentricity, gave him sufficient orig- 
 inality to do wonderful deeds. There was just such 
 a man needed, and, as in other case--, the niche was 
 Idled in due time. 
 
 In a sketch of the war, written some years ago, 
 General Phelps 1 modestly pens the following brief 
 account of his services: 
 
 " At the outbreak of the civil war I volunteered 
 my services to lead the first company of Vermont 
 Volunteers, which, together with one regiment from 
 Massachusetts and one from Xew York, under my 
 command, took possession of the mouth of the 
 James, thus securing that strategic point for the 
 subsequent' reduction of the Rebel Capital. From 
 the mouth of the James I was ordered to the- South- 
 west, where I occupied Ship Island with a brigade 
 of New England volunteers, and subsequently took 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. ,7 
 
 part in the reduction of New Orleans. I garrisoned 
 the fort near the mouth of the Mississippi, and was 
 the first to enter the Custom House as the Citadel 
 of New Orleans. I then took possession of the 
 rebel works north of the city. The gun carriages 
 of these works were still burning, having been set 
 on fire previous to their falling into the hands of 
 the government troops. The guns had been spiked, 
 but New England ingenuity soon restored them to 
 fighting order. At Carrollton, named by me "Fori 
 Parapet," our camp was swarming with negroes, 
 which the government commander was ordering to 
 be returned to their masters. I began organizing 
 slaves as soldiers. The reasons for this movement 
 were these: First, men were wanted for holding 
 the strategic points which had fallen into possession 
 of the government at Vicksburg, Rvd River, Port 
 Hudson, et cetera. Second, every slave, when made 
 a soldier, not only could lire bullets at his old mas- 
 ters instead of supporting them in the Rebellion 
 with his labor, but could help hold a strategic point. 
 In short, there was every military reason in favor 
 of the measure, and none against it. I was ordered, 
 however, by the Government commander, to cease 
 organizing negroes as troops, and to set them at 
 work instead, cutting wood for market and other 
 
[8 Life and Public Services of 
 
 labor. In reply to this, I decidedly refused to be- 
 come a slave driver, and resigned my commission 
 and returned to Vermont." 
 
 These words from his own pen depict his charac- 
 ter forcibly. He could not do what his conscience 
 forbade. Honor, wealth, and position were noth- 
 ing, when compared with obeying the dictates of 
 conscience. lie was a man. He did what few men 
 would have done. 
 
 In a sketch of General Phelps' 1 life, written for 
 the Annual Reunion, in [885, of the West Point 
 Military Academy, General Rush C. Hawkins 
 writes as follows of the appearance of General 
 Phelps in May, 1861, when he came into New- 
 York, en route south with his regiment: 
 
 "lie was the living marching realization of one 
 of the best of Cromwell's great captains, eager to 
 crush out with his righteous wrath an institution 
 which he hated with his whole soiil; full of faith 
 in the success of a good cause, brave, sturdy, serious 
 
 and true A man for the times, but 
 
 ahead of them, and in advance of others in seeing 
 opportunities to accomplish great results, and with 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. 19 
 
 adequate courage for taking advantage of them. 
 His emancipation proclamation, which 
 
 he issued from Ship Island, was like a well-con- 
 sidered essay, on the relations of government and 
 slavery, and the influence of the latter on the for- 
 mer."' 
 
 That the links of his life-work may he made 
 more perfect, we will give thai wonderful docu- 
 ment, although doubtless well known to most of 
 our readers: 
 
 Headquarters Middlesex Brigade. 
 
 Ship Island, Miss.. Dec. 4, 1S61. 
 To the Loyal Citizens of the Southwest : 
 
 Without any desire of my own, hut contrary to 
 my private inclination. I again find myself among 
 you as a military officer of the government. A 
 proper respect for my fellow-countrymen lenders 
 it not out of place that I should make known to you 
 the motives and principles by which my command 
 w ill he governed. We believe that every state that 
 has been admitted as a slave state into the union, 
 since the adoption of the constitution, has hcen ad- 
 mitted in direct violation of that constitution. We 
 believe that the slave states, which existed as such 
 
_'o Life ami Public Services oj 
 
 at the adoption of our constitution, arc, by becoming 
 parties to thai compact, under the highest obliga- 
 tions of honor and morality to abolish slavery. It 
 is our conviction that monopolies are as destructive 
 as competition is conservative of principles and vi- 
 talities of Republican government; that slave labor 
 is a monopoly that excludes free labor and competi- 
 tion; the slaves are kept in comparative idleness and 
 case in the fertile half of our arable national terri- 
 tory, while free white laborers, constantly augment- 
 ing in numbers from Europe, are confined to the 
 other half, and are often distressed by want; that 
 the free labor of the North has more need of ex- 
 pansion into the Southern states, from which it is 
 virtually excluded, than slavery had into Texas in 
 [846; that free labor is essential to free institutions; 
 that these institutions are naturally better adapted 
 and more congenial to the Anglo Saxon race than 
 are despotic tendencies of slavery; and finally, that 
 the dominant political principles of this North 
 American Continent, so long as the Caucasian race 
 continues to flow in upon us from Kuropc, must 
 needs be those of free institutions and free govern- 
 ment. Any obstructions to the progress of that 
 form of government in the United States, must in- 
 evitably lie attended with discoid and war. 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phetys. 21 
 
 Slavery, from the condition of a universally 
 recognized social and moral evil, has become at 
 length a political institution, demanding political 
 recognition. It demands rights to the exclusion and 
 
 annihilation of those rights which arc insured to us 
 by the constitution, and we must choose between 
 them which we will have, for we cannot have both. 
 The constitution was made for free men. not for 
 slaves. Slavery, as a social evil, might for a time 
 be tolerated and endured, but as a political institu- 
 tion it becomes imperious and exacting, and con- 
 trolling, like a dread necessity, all whom circum- 
 stances have compelled to live under its sway, 
 hampering their action and thus impeding our na- 
 tional progress. As a political institution, it could 
 exi^t as a co-ordinate part only of two forms of 
 government, viz.: the despotic and the free; and it 
 could exist under a free government only where 
 public sentiment in the most unrestricted exercise of 
 a robust freedom, leading to extravagance and licen- 
 tiousness, had swayed the thoughts and habits of 
 the people beyond the bounds and limit of their 
 own constitutional provision. It could exist under 
 a free government Only where the people, in a pe- 
 riod of unreasoning extravagance, had permitted 
 popular clamor to overcome public reason, and had 
 
22 Lijc a in/ Public Services of 
 
 attempted the impossibility of setting up perma- 
 nently, as a political institution, a social evil which 
 is opposed to moral law. 
 
 It behooves us to consider as a self-governing 
 people, bred, reared, and practiced in the habits of 
 self-government, whether we cannot, whether we 
 ought not, to revolutionize slavery out of existence, 
 without the necessity of a conflict of arms, like that 
 of the French revolution. Indeed, we feel assured 
 that the moment slavery is abolished, from that mo- 
 ment our southern brethen, — every ten of whom 
 probably have some relation at the North, — would 
 begin to emerge from a hateful delirium. From 
 that moment, relieved from imaginary terrors, their 
 days become happy, and their nights peaceful and 
 free from alarm; the aggregate amount of labor un- 
 der the new stimulus of fair competition, becomes 
 greater da) by day; propert} rises in value, invigo- 
 rating influences succeeds to stagnation, degeneracy 
 and decay; and union, harmony and peace to 
 which we have so long been strangers become re- 
 stored, and bind us again in the bonds of amity, and 
 friendship, as when we first began our glorious na- 
 tional career under one government of 1 7N0. Why 
 do the leaders of the Rebellion seek to change the 
 form of our ancient government? [s il because 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. 23 
 
 the growth of the African element of your popula- 
 tion has come at length to render a change neces- 
 sary? Will you permit the free government under 
 which you have thus far lived, and which is so well 
 suited for the development of true manhood, to be 
 beaten to a narrow and belittling despotism, in or- 
 der to adapt it to the necessities of ignorant slaves, 
 the requirements of their proud and aristocratic 
 owners? Will the laboring men of the South bend 
 their neck to the same yoke that is fitted to the neck 
 of the slave? We think not. We may safely an- 
 swer that the time has not arrived when our 
 southern brethren, for the mere sake of keeping 
 Africans in slavery, will abandon their long cherished 
 institutions and enslave themselves. It is a convic- 
 tion of my command as a part of the National for- 
 ces of the United States, that labor,- manual labor 
 is inherent! v noble; that it cannot he systematic- 
 ally degraded by any nation, without mining its 
 peace, happiness, and power; that free labor is the 
 granite basis on which free institutions must rest; 
 that it is the right the capital, the inheritance, the 
 hope of the poorman everywhere; that it isespecially 
 the right of live millions of our fellow-countrymen, 
 in the slave states, as well as of four millions of 
 Africans there ; and all our efforts there, whether 
 
2A Life and Public Services of 
 
 small or great, whether directed against the inter- 
 ference of government^ abroad, or against rebellious 
 combinations at home, shall be for free labor. Our 
 motto and our standard shall be here and everywhere, 
 and on all occasions, " Free labor, and working 
 men's rights." It is on this basis, and on this basis 
 alone, that our munificent government — the asylum 
 of the nations — can be perpetuated and preserved. 
 
 J. W. Phelps. 
 Brigadier General Volunteers Commanding." 
 
 A document of this nature was sure to be misun- 
 derstood. We have in it the embodiment of his 
 life's experience as well as of his years' study and 
 thought while abroad ; an appeal to all classes of 
 citizens, which was answered in various ways. He 
 expended all his literary talent in the construction of 
 it, and to w hat purpose? The people ( many of them ) 
 thought him insane. Xow he gains daily credit for 
 a broad and expansive mind. ' llis works do live- 
 after him." That at that time it was unfavorabl} 
 commented upon, and severely criticized, we can 
 well imagine. The south offered rewards for the 
 head of the man who had written the offending pa- 
 
Gen. John Wolcott P helps. 
 per. To quote from General Hawkins 1 sketch, 
 " No one knew better than General Phelps, that 
 in his subordinate position he had no right to commit 
 the Government to the carrying out of his particular 
 -leas of what was right, or to the public adoption of 
 this or that policy in relation to dealing with slavery 
 or any other great question. 
 
 He did, however, believe that he had a right to 
 speak to 'the loyal citizens of the south-west,' to 
 whom his manifesto was addressed; and also to' in- 
 fluence and stimulate his command, to the putting 
 forth its best exertions in eliminating from the face 
 of the earth, an accursed institution which he knew 
 was a great blot upon our nationality. What he did 
 was only a little in advance of the Government 
 and as t turned out, he was only a proto martyr to 
 a great event , the arming of the slaves), i n the in- 
 terests of a few millions of God's creatures." 
 
 On May 23, [862, General Butler wrote General 
 Phelps as follows: "General, you will cause all un- 
 employed persons, black and white, to be excluded 
 from your lines. Y„u will not permit either black 
 or white persons to pass your lines." Parton, in his 
 life of General Butler, says that General Phelps 
 
i6 Life and Public Service* of 
 
 was struck with horror :•{ the command, but obeyed 
 it, and removed the fugitive-- to a shelter just above 
 his lines, where they lived upon the bounty of the 
 soldiers who generously shared their rations with 
 them. June 16, 1862, General Phelps addressed to 
 Captain R. S. Davis, General Butler's acting assistant 
 adjutant General, a communication of which General 
 Hawkins says, •' It has immortalized its author, 
 and has no peer in the whole range of the rebellion 
 literature. Neither Garrison, nor Phillips, nor 
 Whittier, ever made a more pathetic, eloquent, or 
 convincing appeal in the interests of the slave, than 
 this." 
 
 It will, no doubt, stand throughout ages to come, 
 as a monument to his unceasing labor for the down- 
 trodden race. As an illustration of the style ami 
 scope of the whole, we quote the following para- 
 gr 
 
 " There are of that, four millions of our colored 
 subjects, who have no king or chief, nor in fact any 
 government that can secure to them the simplest 
 natural rights. Thev cannot be even entered into 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. 
 
 treaty stipulations with, and deported to the East, as 
 <>ur Indian tribes have been to the West. They 
 have no right to the mediation of a justice of the 
 peace, or jury between them and chains and lashes. 
 They have no right to wages for their labor; no 
 right to the Sabbath; no right to the institution of 
 marriage; no right to letters, or to self-defense. A 
 small class of owners rendered unfeeling, and even 
 unconscious and unreflecting by habit, and a large 
 part of them ignorant and vicious, stand between 
 them and their government, destroying its sover- 
 eignty. This government has not the power even 
 to regulate the number of lashes that its subjects 
 may receive. It cannot say that they shall receive 
 thirty-nine instead of forty. To a large and grow- 
 ing class of its subjects, it can secure neither justice, 
 moderation, nor the advantages of Christian religion, 
 and if it cannot protect aft its subjects, it can protect 
 none, either black or white." 
 
 Speaking of how political education is shaped 
 almost entirely to the interests of slavery, and how 
 it must be corrected, he says; 
 
 " We are not without example and precedents in 
 the history of the past. The enfranchisement of 
 
2 8 Life and Public Services of 
 
 the people of Europe, has been and is still going on 
 through the instrumentality of military service; and 
 by this means our slaves might be raised in the scale 
 of civilization, and prepared for freedom. 
 Fiftv Regiments might he raised among them at once, 
 which could be employed in this climate to preserve 
 order and thus prevent the necessity of retrenching 
 our liberties as we should do by a large army com- 
 posed exclusively of whites. For it is evident that 
 a considerable army of whites would give stringency 
 to our government, while an army, partly of blacks, 
 would naturally operate in favor of freedom, and 
 against those influences which at present most en- 
 danger our liberties. At the end of five years they 
 could be sent to Africa, and their places filled with 
 new enlistments." 
 
 On June [8, General Butler forwarded a copy of 
 this letter to .Secretary Stanton, with one of his own, 
 in which he says: " General Phelps, I believe, in- 
 tends making this a test case ( referring to making 
 soldiers of slaves who had escaped) for the policy 
 of the government. I wish it might be so, for the 
 difference of our action upon this subject is a source 
 of trouble. I respect his honest sincerity of opinion, 
 but, 1 am a soldier, hound to carry out the wishes of 
 
Gen. Joint Wolcott Phelps. 29 
 
 liiv government so long as I hold its commission, 
 and I understand that policy to be one I am pursu- 
 ing. I do not feel ;it libert} to pursue any other. 
 If the policy of the government is nearlj that I 
 have sketched in my report upon this subject, that 
 which I have ordered in this department, then the 
 services of General Phelps are worse than useless 
 here. If the views set forth in his report are to ob- 
 tain, then, he is invaluable, for his whole soul is in 
 it, and he is a good soldier of large experience, and 
 no braver man lives." 
 
 June 30, General Phelps, having heard nothing 
 from the war department to the contrary, made a 
 formal requisition for arms, etc., for three negro Reg- 
 iments. On July 31, General Butler issued an or- 
 der authorizing General Phelps to employ negroes 
 instead in cutting trees to make abatis. 
 
 On September 8, he received notice that his res- 
 ignation, which he had previously sent in, was ac- 
 cepted, and he returned to Brattleboro. 
 
 President Lincoln, who had really a very high 
 estimation of the character and military skill of 
 General Phelps, shortly after, ordered made out and 
 
30 Life and Public Services of 
 
 tendered to him a Major General's commission, or 
 commander-in-chief of black troops, when a few- 
 months after the General's resignation, the plan at 
 first presented by him, of arming negroes was adopt- 
 ed. Although several prominent Vermont citizens 
 waited upon him to urge that he should accept it, 
 and went to Washington with General Phelps, he 
 declined, for President Lincoln would not accede to 
 somethings which he considered important. Gen- 
 eral Phelps wished the new commission to date 
 from the time of his resignation. This President 
 Lincoln did not do; hence the return of General 
 Phelps to Brattleboro. 
 
 General Phelps' love of army life, his long ser- 
 
 » 
 
 vice in the same, and every surrounding circum- 
 stance combined, made him resent President Lin- 
 coln's proposition. It gave him no credit for pre- 
 vious service, and he could not honorably consent 
 to losing any part of the credit due to him for the 
 long time spent in active army life. That, after his 
 long laborto bring about the organization of negro 
 troops, it should have come after his resignation, 
 
Gen. J oh ii Wolcott Phelps. 31 
 
 seemed to embitter him toward the whole world in 
 general, but especially towards President Lincoln. 
 His estimation of the latter was at times severe and 
 bitter. He felt that he had not had justice. Ili^ 
 faith, when once shaken, was nol easily restored. In 
 the second, and by far the most important period of 
 his life, that covered by his part in the rebellion, we 
 find he did nol disappoint those who knew how 
 much talent he had. He wanted to suppress war, 
 if possible, without resort to arms, and to that end 
 be wrote his emancipation proclamation and his fa- 
 mous letter to General Butler. These brought him 
 into an unpleasant attitude with all, for few then 
 understood his motives, or thought how far he was 
 in advance of his time. 
 
 When in this peculiar position of apparent disre- 
 gard of the officer in command, finding that the 
 government thought he had over-stepped the hounds 
 of his authority, he resigned. 
 
 When soon after, the realization of his views came 
 about, and President Lincoln offered him a new 
 commission, we find him still an adherent to his 
 
}2 Life and Public Services of 
 
 former principles, declining to return. It is difficult 
 without access to private diaries of his own, to form a 
 correct estimate of his views on the subject. We 
 know now, after a lapse of twenty-five years, that to 
 his influence in no small degree, through his efforts 
 to organize colored troops, we owe an earlier close 
 of the war. It is doubtful if the value of even that 
 one service to his country can be estimated. Both 
 he and Lincoln have passed to the land beyond, and 
 ours is not the task of condemning Lincoln's course 
 in the matter. 
 
 Undoubtedly he might have kept General Phelps 
 in the army, if he had chosen to see how much he- 
 had accomplished. No one who read his proclama- 
 tion and letter to which we have previously referred, 
 could doubt the value of the views therein expressed. 
 General Butler, in a letter to the executive depart- 
 ment, commends its " clear and business-like state- 
 ments;" only disallowing that any suggestion or 
 authorization of it came from him. There was a 
 general misunderstanding in regard to General 
 Phelps' motive in the matter, and no one could or 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. 33 
 
 would, clear it up. I lis return to Bi'attleboro, found 
 him at fifty years of age, thrown upon his pen for 
 companionship, for truly h;is Emerson said, 
 
 " To be great is to be misunderstood," 
 and lie feared further intimate companionship with 
 man mighl bring him more of life's bitterness. 
 Time and talent were his in abundance, and his 
 tastes for literary pursuits, soon brought forth main 
 efforts. The first of prominence to be published, 
 was a work which he translated from the French, 
 on Secret Societies, entitled "The Cradle of Rebell- 
 ions," by Lucien de la Hodde. That was published 
 in 1864, but few ever knew who was the translator. 
 1 lis study was his earthly paradise. For nearly twen- 
 ty years after his retirement from the army, he lived 
 in a quaint old house on Asylum Street, in Brattle- 
 boro, Vermont. Winding walks in front of the 
 house led some distance under shade trees before 
 the house was reached. The piazza skirted the front 
 and one side of the house, which on the further end 
 was finished by a bay-window. Entering, we find 
 a staircase on the left hand side of the hall, and two 
 
34 Life and Public Services of 
 
 doors on the right hand, leading respectively into 
 
 the drawing-room and parlor. In every room the 
 long windows opened out on the piazza beyond, and 
 the good taste of the owner had furnished them 
 very simply. Opening out from the parlor was his 
 study, lighted by the wide hay-window, over 
 which clustering vines hung all summer long. 
 Around him on every side were the books, over 
 the collection of which lie had spent so many 
 years. Beyond, through the window, Mt. Wan- 
 tastiquet and the village street were ever present. 
 
 In summer and fall it was his delight to treat the 
 children with the pears and apples which grew on 
 his garden trees. 
 
 It was before he left this home that he wrote his 
 volume entitled " Good Behavior." The work was 
 intended as a text book for schools, and was adopted 
 later in .St. Louis and other cities. The chief aim in 
 writing this, was his idea that children should be taught 
 politeness and good manners in school as well as at 
 home, thereby insuring to all a knowledge and prac- 
 tice of tlie rules of good breeding, which are often 
 
(7(7/. John Wolcott Phelps. 3c 
 
 unwittingly broken, and obviating many of the 
 difficulties which arise therefrom in the lives of so 
 main public school pupils. We quote from the 
 book the following sentences, as partial illustrations 
 
 of its character: 
 
 " Conversation is a reflex of character, let us there- 
 fore cultivate a tone of mind, and a habit of life, the 
 betrayal of which need not put us to shame in the 
 company of the pure and wise; and the rest will 
 be easy." 
 
 " True politeness has been defined to be benevo- 
 lence in little things. We are not to be polite be- 
 cause we wish to please, but, because we wish to 
 consider the feelings of others; because, in a word, 
 we desire to carry into every act of our daily life, 
 the spirit and practice of that religion which com- 
 mands us to ' do unto others as we would they 
 should do unto us.' The first lesson taught 
 young sovereigns should be the respect and kindly 
 regard which they owe each other. 11 
 
 For many years General Phelps was President of 
 the Vermont State Teachers 1 Association, and also 
 a leading officer of " The Vermont Historical Soci- 
 ety." 
 
$6 Life and Public Services of 
 
 Besides the three works mentioned of his pub- 
 lished in early life, he wrote a brief description of 
 the Island of Madagascar, which was published in 
 the Irving Library in [883, a year and a half before 
 his death. lie contributed largely to various literary 
 and scientific periodicals, among them The Cent- 
 ury, The Christian Union, and The Independ- 
 ent. 
 
 Believing that the Masonic Lodge was the cause 
 of mam' of the country's evils, he was always op- 
 posed to Secret Societies of every kind. Ilisprom- 
 nence in the matter, led to his becoming the nomi- 
 nee for President of " The American Party," in 
 the election of 1880. Probably newer before or 
 since has there been so much thought compressed 
 into little space, as when he wrote to the writer of 
 this paper upon that subject. From a letter dated 
 September 30, 1882, we quote the following: 
 
 " There is but one alternative in the relation 
 which the American people stand before the Ma- 
 sonic Lodge; their silence towards it shows either 
 contempt or fear. But as the lodge is altogether 
 
Gen. Jo//// Wolcott Phelps. 37 
 
 too powerful to be despised, there remains as the 
 only motive for silence that of fear. It is indeed 
 true, that our republican government is under du- 
 ress to this foreign institution. 1 ' 
 
 This tersely written sentence gives an exact idea 
 of his feelings on the subject. His, temperament 
 was such that he could not stand idly by when any- 
 thing arose to claim his attention, as being wrong or 
 unjust. lie never disguised his sentiments, hut was 
 always open and frank in regard to his convictions. 
 His friends honored especially that phase of his 
 character. 
 
 In 1883, he married Mrs. Anna B. Davis, and 
 soon after became a permanent resident of Guil- 
 ford. Previous to this he sold his home in 
 Brattleboro, and traveled a short time. He was 
 very active in the public affairs of Guilford, 
 and kept up his literary activity as well, lie was 
 an earnest advocate of the metric system, and the 
 week before his death, delivered a highly interest- 
 ing and instructive lecture upon that subject. 
 
 Not the least among his literary abilities, was 
 
38 Life and Public Services of 
 
 his art of letter writing. A reader of character 
 
 could discern a great deal of material for careful 
 study within each page. His love for poetry was 
 especially well and most often portrayed in them. 
 Also his ardent love of nature. 
 
 In person, General Phelps was of commanding 
 presence, about six feet in height, with a well de- 
 veloped, powerful frame, and dignified bearing. 
 He was a man of deep religious feeling, and strongly 
 attached to his church. 
 
 Fond of young people, his face framed in snowy 
 beard and hair, with the light of a genial counte- 
 nance radiating therefrom, will never be effaced from 
 the memory of his friends. 
 
 He passed away peacefully in his sleep, during 
 the night of Febuary 1. iSS^, leaving his wife and 
 an infant son to survive him. How apropos arc- 
 some lines of his own in connection with his life 
 and death : 
 
 " Let us reflect, though sorely tried 
 'Neath cold, intemp'rate skies. 
 Yet on drear winter's farther side 
 A pleasant summer lies." 
 
Gen. John Wolcott P helps. 39 
 
 His last acts the night before his death, were t\ p- 
 ical of the man. An unsealed letter to his absent 
 wife, and his Greek testament opened to where he 
 had read before retiring. No more truthful esti- 
 mate could he given of his character than that writ- 
 ten by General Rush C. Hawkins, to The A < ;. 
 York Times, on hearing of his death, which reads 
 as follows: 
 
 " General John W. Phelps of Vermont, whose 
 death was announced in your paper this morning. 
 was one of the most notable officers of the -army. 
 
 He was an accomplished soldier of the highest and 
 best type, a patriotic citizen with an unblemished 
 reputation, a scholar well versed in mathematics, 
 science, history, theology, several of the dead and 
 four or five of the living languages. 
 
 As a soldier, he was all that the best authorities 
 demand, and even more, for it might be said of him 
 that he possessed an inner sense of duty which no 
 written formula cotdd prescribe. It was his faith- 
 ful care, intelligence, and attention to his whole 
 duty as commanding officer, and above all his ex- 
 ample of indefatigable industry, which made his 
 command one of the best disciplined, best drilled, 
 
_|.o Life and Public Services of 
 
 and most efficient in the whole army. lie was not 
 much of a believer in the extra unofficial -off duty 
 — dress parade business, which to many officers 
 who were mere poseurs, seemed to he of so very 
 much importance. Neither was he a martinet, he 
 had the rare good sense to accept the volunteer 
 army for exactly what it was. He weighed its de- 
 fects, and measured its virtues, and governed 
 the performance of his duties accordingly. He 
 knew he could trust its patriotic sense of duty 
 and intelligence to imitate a good example, and its 
 willingness to follow where it could not he driven; 
 and there never was a commanding officer more 
 implicitly obeyed, or more confidingly trusted. 
 
 It was my good fortune to have been ordered to 
 his command at Newport News, Virginia, soon after 
 the breaking out of the rebellion in 1861. When I 
 reported to him with my regiment, I was given to 
 understand that we were engaged in a most serious 
 undertaking, involving as it did the national life, 
 and that we could only hope to overcome our foes 
 by taking advantage of all our resources ( he was 
 the first to uvj;v the organization of Negro troops ). 
 and mouldingour raw material into a well-disciplined 
 army; that the accomplishment of the latter was 
 the immediate work in hand; and work he made of 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. \\ 
 
 it, such as many of us had never dreamed of before; 
 but we saw the necessity for labor, and the good 
 sense involved in his orders and criticisms, and all 
 worked with ;i will, officers and men, to reward the 
 great industry of a commander who had won our 
 affection, admiration, and deep respect. 
 
 We went to him as children go to ;i school, and 
 left him after three month's tuition, a thoroughly 
 well-disciplined regiment, of whose after record he 
 was justly proud. 
 
 To that kind hearted, quaint, honest old man, 
 with his perfect sense of justice, the officers and 
 men of my regiment owe a debt of gratitude, which 
 can only he effaced from their memories, when the 
 last survivor of that command shall have passed 
 away. 
 
 This little statement, inadequate as it is, is the 
 tribute! bring to the grave of an honored friend of 
 a quarter of a century. 1 could not do less; I wish 
 1 could do more. Take him for all in all, I have 
 never known a man so free from the hypocrisies, sins 
 and vices, which make humanity so despicable, as 
 was John W. Phelps. 
 
 New York. Feb. ^. [885." 
 
 If his public and military career were strong, what 
 can we say of his private lifer It was certainly no 
 
42 Life and Public Services of 
 
 less characteristically so, and full of an earnest zeal 
 for his country's good. From the time he resigned, 
 and commenced translating that work "The Cradle 
 of Rehellions," to which his mind would naturally 
 revert at that period, until his death, his life was 
 expended for others. Pen and example were daily 
 wielded with power, in favor of the good, the true, 
 and the beautiful. His means? Ah, there is the 
 secret! His extreme love of children, his under- 
 current (at times very strong) of quaint humor, his 
 chivalric devotion and courtesy to woman, and his 
 deep religious principle, these were some of the 
 ways in which he wielded a power for good. His 
 life was made up of quiet working for others, self 
 ever last. 
 
 After a personal acquaintance with him from 
 childhood, the writer is glad to add this tribute to 
 the few already written; conscious only that his 
 life can never he fully estimated, in the length and 
 breadth of its greatness. It is only a sketch at best 
 of the life work of a wonderfully gifted man. His- 
 tory will accord him his place. Years must add 
 their weight of testimony ere he can be appreciated. 
 
K$$£,H&\)( 
 
LETTERS. 
 
 ["o General J. W. de Peyster.] 
 
 Camp Floyd, I'. T., July 30, 1859. 
 
 My Very Dear General: Salutation, health 
 and peace! Day awakes from the slumbers of the 
 night; puts forth her rosy fingers sparkling with 
 the morning star like the Turkish maiden with 
 diamond ring ; brushes away the crimson cloud 
 curtains from the orient, and looks out in beauty 
 
 upon the quiet world The sun is now 
 
 up, throwing a flood of light over the barren land; 
 and the rough scabrous mountain peaks respond 
 with a lorn desolate smile, as if an angel had alighted 
 there, and was looking down upon us in serious 
 yet benevolent contemplation. 
 
 The streaks of cloud that fleck the sky here and 
 there, are moving onward with their silent, noise- 
 less flow, onward ever from the south-west, like a 
 mighty stream bearing the vapors of the Pacific to 
 our eastern lands. 
 
 Having shed down their rain to fertilize your 
 fields- having emptied their buckets quite, the dry 
 
46 Life and Public Services of 
 
 stream moves onward out upon the Atlantic where 
 il again becomes filled with water, which it pours 
 out upon the lands of the old world. It returns as 
 a trade wind by the way of the tropics, is deflected 
 to the north and then to the north-east, and thus 
 keeps up its circulation like an immense irrigating 
 wheel, alternately filling its buckets in the oceans, 
 and emptying them upon the land — a machinery 
 that never falters, and never needs repair, — as eter- 
 nal as the globe itself. 
 
 Out of my door are seen the Oquirrh mountains, 
 lifting their majestic outlines against the sky, like a 
 beautiful picture of the earth delineated upon the 
 heavens. Amidst the dark green vegetation that 
 encircles their summit like a garland, is still per- 
 ceived one small spot of snow One 
 
 of the most frail and delicate flowers that I ever 
 saw, is so frail that it seeks protection from the grease- 
 wood, a small shrub from amidst which it grows, and 
 whose branches are so thorny that nothing can 
 touch them without being stung. It is one of the 
 funniest sights that I ever witnessed to see such a 
 beautiful flower, conscious of its attractions and its 
 frailty, seeking shelter and safety from such an ill- 
 natured shrub as the grease-wood. This shrub re- 
 ceives its name from the fact that when thrown up- 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. 47 
 
 on the fire, it flashes up like grease; but it is not so 
 
 much from any greasy quality, I think, as from an 
 irascible temper, acquired from its long struggle to 
 maintain a precarious foot-hold in the desert, and 
 which exhibits itself in thorn and flames. 
 
 The absorbing topic of interest with us at present 
 is the mule sale. Persons go to the auction as the 
 chief place of amusement. From this you can judge 
 to what a low pass we have been brought. 
 
 With sentiments of the highest esteem and affec- 
 tionate regard, I am very truly your humble and 
 obedient servant, J. \Y. Phelps. 
 
 [To General J. W. de Peyster.] 
 
 Brattledoro, Vt., Dec. 18, 18:59. 
 Dear General: — I passed the night in Troy; 
 had the pleasure of seeing my nieces at the Semi- 
 nary, and left next morning for Bennington. This 
 town is at the foot of the western slope of the 
 Green mountains. Black clouds were enveloping 
 the tops of these mountains when I arrived just 
 such as in July and August used to lie there growl- 
 ing down at my native place like a lion, of a hot af- 
 ternoon. How terrible they used to look before 
 
j.8 Life and Public Services oj 
 
 they leaped down on the valleys of the Connecticut! 
 -but how bright and beautiful with the bow of 
 promise, bird music, and glittering drops, as they 
 swept on and gradually retired from the view! My 
 heart throbbed as a child to its mother's on seeing 
 them again. Though they looked cold and dark, 
 Vet they were warm when compared with the cold- 
 ness of the man-world. And when the next morn- 
 ing dawned, cold and clear — what another spectacle 
 was there not presented! — a scene of brightness 
 more beautiful, if possible, than that of the retiring, 
 bow-spanned summer storm! The clouds had left 
 a hoar frost upon the woods with which the mount- 
 ains are covered, and under the rising sun they 
 were glittering like some huge fancy work, frosted 
 with pearls and diamonds. It seemed as if nature 
 had dropped her Christmas ring there. 
 
 I spent a good part of the day of arrival with 
 Governor Hall, an old acquaintance both of my fa- 
 ther and self. The Republican simplicity and neat- 
 ness of his household, and the bearing of his family, 
 fairly charmed me 
 
 Believe me, my friend, there is no state in this 
 world like Vermont. The beautiful theories of 
 sages, poets and philosophers, here meet with all 
 the fruition that it is possible for such dowers to at- 
 
Gen. John Wolcott J" /nips. ,,, 
 
 tain to in this world. One fears here neither the 
 frowns of the rich nor the curse of the poor, but* 
 sees always medium condition of independence and 
 ease. 
 
 The next day, in a two-horse sleigh, we set out 
 for the journey over the mountains. The ascent 
 was easy along the banks of a brawling brook, 
 choked and hoarse with anchor ice, and I walked 
 nearly to the top. We reached the summit level 
 [ 800 feet or so above the Hudson at about night- 
 fall, and then, the driver gi\ ing the whip to his lit- 
 tle Vermont horses, down we plunged at a gallop. 
 The sleighing was good and the road smooth, bor- 
 dered with fir trees and scattered along with houses. 
 The stars were burning like diamonds, and the cold 
 hill-tops above vis, tinged at their summit with the 
 last saffron of the dying day, seemed looking wist- 
 fully toward the departing sun as if fearful of being 
 left cold and uncovered through the keen, frost} 
 night. It was hitter cold, hut there was a freshness 
 and beauty in the scene that exhilarated one, as it 
 he had got up among the nectarine and ambrosial 
 drinks of the gods. The sombre firs waft their 
 censers to you as you pass in among the aisles of 
 this eternal temple of freedom, and the Deerfield 
 hails vou with his multitudinous roar. 
 
-,(> Life and Public Services of 
 
 Arriving at Wilmington about half past eight 
 •o'clock, P. M., we stopped for the night. We 
 found ourself amidst the same scenes that we had 
 often witnessed thirty years ago, viz.: a bar-room 
 tilled with villagers and a few travellers- only there 
 is no drinking now. The shrine is there the bar, 
 hut the spirit is Bed exorcised by the law! The 
 talk was, as it had been in the inns along the route 
 where we had stopped to warm, of John Brown; of 
 crowding in with free labor into Northern Virginia, 
 to take the place of the negroes who will he sent 
 off to the south ; of railroad accidents, etc. Bills 
 were being posted up, announcing Christmas festi- 
 vals, and there was a talk of several bears having 
 been killed in the vicinity of late years. The ap- 
 pearance of a bear there twenty years ago would 
 have been regarded as something extraordinary, but 
 1 suppose that the constant drain of the Vermont 
 population to the west has given the denizens of the 
 woods a respite and chance to grow. 
 
 The next morning at four o'clock we renewed 
 the journey, and arrived at this place about 8 o'clock, 
 A. M. It was exceedingly cold. 
 
 Devotedl) yours, 
 
 Wolcott Phelps. 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. si 
 
 [ To General J. \V. lie Pcysti r. 
 
 Bratti eb< ir( i. V r.. I )i i . 26, 1859, 
 My Dear General: 
 
 Yours of the tSth inst. came into my hand-- day 
 before yesterda} morning, at a time when I was 
 preparing to spend Christmas in my native place. 
 
 Towards the hour of sunset, I started to walk out 
 on foot, but one of the young men of the town, 
 a son of an old acquaintance, overtook me on the 
 way; and it seemed to be the greatest era of his life, 
 and the highesl pleasure that he had ever enjoyed, 
 to have me in his cutter with him. Ai.d as it turned 
 out, he was a proper exponent of the feelings of all, 
 old and young, from the oldest man down to the 
 youngest girl. At least so [judged from their ex- 
 pressions of kindness and welcome to me. 
 
 Even the hills, trees and other inanimate objects, 
 though buried in snow under a cold sky, seemed to 
 smile upon me, as they might on some disembodied 
 spirit that still lingered around them; for indeed 1 
 am disembodied of all that I once was. Hut it was 
 strange that 1 should have been so warmly received. 
 Newer before has the moral world thrown such a 
 warmth of expression over the physical world around 
 me, for e\ en thebeauties of nature scoff at a wounded 
 heart. 
 
>,j Life and Public Services of 
 
 All the energy and enterprise almost all the 
 young men, have flown away, like water from a 
 
 mountain pond, from my native town during the 
 la^i thirty years, leaving the old men and girls at 
 home. Of the latter, not a few have become old 
 maids, and the air of tranquility and repose that 
 pervades the once busy scene, is intense not to say 
 lorn. It was already dark on Christmas eve, when 
 I approached the church- Christ's church, where 
 my moral being was first nurtured, and which is one 
 of the mo>t picturesque edifices that I ever saw. 
 
 Upon an elevated site, amidst the noiseless quiel of 
 the peaceful village, beneath the calm and stillness 
 of a winter's* twilight, that church, was all lit up by 
 an illumination, and was throwing its light out up- 
 on the pure, cold snows, as if on some extraordinary 
 bridal feast thai of earth and heaven. It was as 
 bright and cheery as the effulgence of music that 
 announced peace and good will to men over the 
 hills of Bethlehem. It was a strange sight there 
 where all was so still and lorn, to see the vestal 
 light of religion- truth kept so brightly burning, for 
 ever since that little fane has keen erected there, 
 now near half a century, it lias thus glowed on every 
 Christmas eve, in celebration of the advent of our 
 Saviour. Yet it seemed a strangle sisrhl as 1 saw it 
 
Gru. yohn Wolcott Phelps. 53 
 
 then, and I realh wish that you might have seen it 
 too. But still it might not have interested \ ou much. 
 
 The hell was calling the villagers in, and I en- 
 tered and took a seat with an old soldier of the 
 war of [812 ( I think a Captain ), and his family, 
 old friends of my family as long as I can remember. 
 Though tlu' town has long been on the decline, the 
 church was nearly full on this occasion. It was 
 handsomely decorated with evergreen, with the stai 
 in the east, with appropriate mottoes, etc., and the 
 choir, made npof line looking young men and young 
 women, had arranged their part of the exercises 
 well. My father used to write a hymn for the 
 choir on this occasion in years past. The clergy- 
 man's name is Ethan Allen. What a crowd of rem- 
 iniscences thronged around my half melting- heart! 
 There were the walls, the windows, the tables of 
 law and love on the right and left of the altar, upon 
 which the eyes of so many of my friends had rested, 
 who are now slumbering in dust. The grave-yard, 
 where 1 saw the first corpse laid, is now full. Of 
 my own family, consisting of eleven persons, only 
 three remain, hut in their place were eyes and lips 
 as brighl as theirs 
 
 Afcr the service, came a half hour of mutual 
 greeting, and I must confess, General, that the ap- 
 
54 Life ami Public Services of 
 
 parent respect, esteem and confidence of the girls, 
 
 with their warm bright eyes, and throbbing hearts, 
 was the richest treat that I ever had in my life. I 
 spent tlie night with the old soldier. He, his wife 
 and a grown daughter and myself, sat down to a 
 ■-mall supper-table, and talked over old times till late 
 into night till that hour of Christmas eve, when, 
 according to the traditions received and believed in 
 our youth, the tattle kneeled in their mangers. 
 On Christmas day I again attended church, dined 
 with another old friend, who has looked out from a 
 position of primitive simplicity — from a pedestal of 
 granite, as it were, upon almost all the political 
 changes that have taken place with us, during the 
 period of our national existence, and when the sun 
 began to kiss the cold puritanical hills of the west, 
 1 commenced my return to my lodgings. 
 
 1 could not, and perhaps should not tell you of all 
 the deep emotions that have keen stirred by this 
 Christmas, for they might appear weak and foolish. 
 
 With renewed good wishes, enriched this time 
 with all the tender reminiscences of a happy Christ- 
 mas, 1 wish you main happy New Years, and am. 
 Brotherly yours, 
 
 Wolcott Phelps. 
 
•EXT^ASTS FROM LETTERS, 
 
 " Do not dreams at night sometimes foreshadow 
 the coming of letters, or the condition our friends 
 may be in, either good or had? It is strange that 
 two powerfully excited batteries may convey intel- 
 ligible influences along the wires; and it is not more 
 so, perhaps, that sympathetic hearts should commu- 
 nicate with each other along the rays of the sun, or 
 the stars. What angels may not stand by us as tel- 
 egraphists ! " 
 
 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, June, 18, 1857. 
 
 " It appears to me that there is a strong resem- 
 blance between our American politics and drugged 
 whiskey; the effect being first to make men foolish. 
 and then Mat, and finally delirious." 
 
 Camp Floyd, U. T. April jo, 1859. 
 
 " ruder no circumstances can 1 ever regrel 
 having left the service. If you can conceive ;m\ 
 process by which the leopard could change his 
 spots, or the Ethiopian his skin, you can inform me 
 
:(, Life and Public Services of 
 
 hov\ I could become reconciled to the service in its 
 present condition. It is in the hands of a feebh 
 section, and the weakness, passion, whim, and vio- 
 lence' arc felt like neuralgic pains." 
 West Chester, Pa. Nov. it, [859. 
 
 " Lincoln's administration was so completely un- 
 der the control of the Lodge, and the Lodge through 
 that administration has become so solidly established 
 in power, that it seem- at times almost impossible 
 to wrest the affairs of the country from its grasp, 
 and restore them to a sound American condition." 
 
 Dec. i s 77- 
 
 Masonry is a Pagan parody on the Christian re- 
 ligion, and that the American people, of all people 
 in the world, should drop the religion and take up 
 the parody, is one of the m >st humbling facts against 
 humanity that I know of." 
 
 Dec. 
 
 ■• When the poor man makes himself a link in a 
 secret organization, he forms a chain to land him- 
 self to servitude. lie must move and work as the 
 rich man directs." 
 
 •■ Under the rule of the Lodge, one finds himself 
 worse off than to he in ;i foreign country, for there 
 he would be allowed the consideration ofbeingfan 
 
Gen. John Wolcott Phelps. S7 
 
 American, while here in Vermont, a real American 
 not a Mason, is treated as the Chinese are in San 
 Francisco, as a foreigner. The Lodge is giving us 
 a government that is no more American, than Is- 
 lamism would be." 
 June 2~, 1878. 
 
 "I think that we Americans oughl to restore the 
 old Whig party. It has the odor of respectability 
 about it; is of historic value, and is the party of lib- 
 eral ideas in England. What we need is a party to 
 hold the balance between the Democrats and Repub- 
 licans, both of which are exceedingly depraved. It 
 is well known that the best element of the Repub- 
 lican party is the Whig element." 
 
 June 2~, [878. 
 
 " All evils link themselves together in an endless 
 chain, part of which rims in one direction, and 
 part in another, just as all good things link them- 
 selves together." 
 
 11 It was during- the war that the franchise should 
 have been regulated. When American patriots 
 were moving the wheels of government with their 
 bipod, then was the time for securing the benefits of 
 the Republic to Americans. 
 
 March. 1879. 
 
^8 Life and Public Services of 
 
 " If the ten commandments wei*e put into the 
 Constitution, it would give them no sanction, and 
 they would communicate no virtue to the Constitu- 
 tion. Religion is a personal matter, between the 
 individual and his maker, and his Constitution is the 
 Bible. If men are religious, the Constitution will 
 take care of itself. If they are not religions, con- 
 stitutions are of no account." 
 
 " Lincoln's administration neither hung rebels, 
 nor insisted on the abolition of slavery, both of 
 which are necessary to the life of the Constitution, 
 lie simple followed the Hood of the people, forget- 
 ting that the Constitution was as much the voice of 
 the people, as their vote of to-day." 
 
 " I met the average New Englander, yesterday, 
 
 and supposed from his general bearing that he was 
 a non Mason. The steel and flint immediatch 
 struck fire between ns, and he told me plainly that 
 as 1 had never entered the Lodge, I could not possi- 
 bly know anything about it. And when I an- 
 swered that I could never join an institution with- 
 out knowing something about it, his coat of mail 
 did not seem to be pierced by it." 
 May, 1S7S. 
 
 " We must have men in office who will not play 
 
 parts/' 
 
y, I