N KFCOltD LINCOLN ROOM UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY MEMORIAL the Class of 1901 7-5 President William McKinley Etching from a pen drawing made for MRS. MCKINLEY by HUGO VON HOFSTEN, and now banging in MRS. MCKINLEY'S room. McKirvley V Garfield Lincoln THEIR. LIVES THEIR. DEEDS THEIR. DEATHS With a Record of Notable Assassinations and A History of Anarchy 'By WILLIAM DIXON BANCROFT Memorial Ebition Magnificently Illustrated with Engravings from Original Photographs, Drawings, Paintings and Sketches Published by THE UNITED STATES NEWSPAPER. SYNDICATE Chicago a.nd New York COPYRIGHT, 1901 BY JOHN R. FOSTER TA*BLB OF COftTEJVTS. BOOK L "William McKinley, the Ideal CHAPTER I. Short Sketch of the Life of President McKinley His Rise From Obscurity to the Presidency Heroism on the Battlefield President Hayes' Praise McKinley a Devoted Soldier His Masterly Address at Buffalo His Tribute to Lincoln ...................................................... 19 CHAPTER II. Assassination of President McKinley Shot Down in the Music Hall at the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo by an Assassin Who Concealed His Revolver in the Folds of a Handkerchief Fellow-Conspirator Holds the President's Right Hand in Order to Give the Murderer an Opportunity to Accomplish His Purpose Capture of the Assassin and Escape of His Accomplice ......................................................... 34 CHAPTER III. President McKinley's Assassin Makes a Full, Free and Complete Confes- sion He Says He Was Alone in the Matter and Had No Accomplices Proud of His Dastardly Deed His Father Denounces Him ............. 50 CHAPTER IV. Simplicity of the Home Life of President and Mrs. McKinley Their Mar- riage an Interesting Event in Canton Loving Care of the President for His Wife Two Children Born to Them Habits of the President ........ 6l CHAPTER V. Death of President McKinley at the Milburn House at Fifteen Minutes Past Two O'Clock on the Morning of Saturday, September I4th, 1901 Gan- grene the Cause At One Time He Seemed to be on the Road to Re- covery "God's Will, Not Ours, Be Done," the Last Words .of the Martyr Chief Magistrate Those at the Bedside .......................... 69 CHAPTER VI. Poisoned Bullet the Cause of President McKinley's Death He Was Doomed to Die from the First Result of the Autopsy President Roosevelt Sworn In His Proclamation Funeral Ceremonies of the Lamented Chief Magistrate Body Lying in State in Capitol Interment at Canton ........ 85 CHAPTER VII. Czolgosz a Follower of Emma Goldman, the High Priestess of Anarchy in the United States She is Arrested With Others in Chicago on the ri TABLE OF CONTENTS. Charge of Conspiracy to Kill President McKinley Sneers at the Po- liceHer Heartless Words After the President's Death Charge That Conspiracy Was Hatched in Chicago Czolgosz Not Insane Nor a Degenerate 104 CHAPTER VIII. McKinley One of the Most Finished and Graceful Orators the United States Has Ever Produced His Eulogies on President James A. Garfield, the Volunteer Soldier of America and General U. S. Grant 124 CHAPTER IX. President McKinley as a Lawyer Early Fame as a Speaker President Hayes' Advice to the Young Politician McKinley's Career in Congress The Tariff Bill Elected Governor of Ohio McKinley at the Minneapolis Convention , 144 CHAPTER X. Similarity Between the Cases of Presidents McKinley and Garfield In Neither Instance Was the Bullet Which Proved a Source of Danger Located Physicians in Attendance Upon the Distinguished Patients 162 CHAPTER XI. Intense Horror Throughout the World When the Shooting of President McKinley Became Known Messages of Condolence and Sympathy Received From All Parts of the Earth Great Grief Shown 170 CHAPTER XII. Remarkable Journey of the Funeral Train From Buffalo to the National Capital Details of the Trip Scenes Never Before Witnessed Children Strew Flowers Along the Rails Grief of the Multitudes 187 CHAPTER XIII. Washington, the Capital of the Nation, Pays Its Homage to the Memory of the Departed President Solemn Scenes in the Rotunda of the Capitol Escorting the Body From the White House Somber Military Pageant A Notable Assemblage of Prominent Personages 202 CHAPTER XIV. Closing Scenes in the Sad Tragedy of the Martyrdom of President McKinley The Trip From Washington to Canton Mrs. McKinley Leaves the White House Forever Final Exercises at the President's Old Home, and Burial. . 227 CHAPTER XV. President McKinley and His Farm A Profitable Investment Making Apple Butter McKinley's Dexterity in Shaking Hands Receptions at the White House by Mrs. McKinley Her Four Thousand Pairs of Slippers Pro- tecting the Persons of Presidents 242 CHAPTER XVI. William J. Bryan's Tender and Graceful Tribute to the Memory of President McKinley The Heir to England's Throne Says Words of Praise Other Expressions of Admiration for the Character of the Dead Chief Magistrate , . ( 257 TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER XVII. Theodore Roosevelt a Knickerbocker of the Knickerbockers One of a Long and Distinguished Line of Patriots Forefathers Came From the Nether- lands "Teddy's" Advancement Due to His Own Energies and Efforts Record in Politics and War 271 BOOK n. Jamej Abrcirn Garfield, the Orator- Statesman. CHAPTER XVIII. Details of the Cruel Assassination of President Garfield Stricken Down by the Bullet Fired by the Insensate Assassin, Guiteau, in the Pennsylvania Depot at Washington His Sufferings and Death 301 CHAPTER XIX. Garfield, Like Lincoln, was Born in the Western Wilderness Left an Orphan at an Early Age Wonderful Self-Reliance of His Mother Goes to Sea on a Canal Boat Promoted to be Pilot 309 CHAPTER XX. Young Garfield Determined to Secure an Education Gives Up the Idea of Becoming a Sailor School at Chester Academy Joins the Church His Creed Enters Hiram College Is Graduated at Williams Presi- dent of Hiram His Marriage Goes to the Ohio State Senate 316 CHAPTER XXI. Garfield as a Soldier Chosen Lieutenant-Colonel and Then Colonel of a Regiment Drives the Confederates from Eastern Kentucky Created a Brigadier General Good Work at Shiloh Made Chief of Staff to Major General William S. Rosecrans 323 CHAPTER XXII. Garfield's Close Relations to His Chief, General Rosecrans The Movements Which Ended in the Assault at Chickamauga by General Bragg Gar- field Goes to General Thomas, "The Rock," and Remains Until the Union Troops Are Masters of the Bloody Field Close of Garfield's Military Career 328 CHAPTER XXIII. General Garfield Resigns from the Army to Accept an Election to Con- gress General Rosecrans' Advice Garfield Complimented by the Lat- ter for His Services at the Battle of Chickamauga Created a Major General of Volunteers An Example of Garfield's Sense of Justice and Right 336 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXIV. General Garfield in the House of Representatives of Congress Opposition to His Re-election Gradually Melts Away Election to the United States Senate Does Not Take His Seat There Because of His Nomination and Election to the Presidency 339 CHAPTER XXV. General Garfield in His Home Life at Mentor and Washington His Wife Shared His Intellectual Tastes Description of His Two Homes A Visit to the President-Elect His Children Library in the Washington House Where He Spent Most of His Time 342 CHAPTER XXVI. President Garfield as a Statesman, Philosopher, Politician and Political Economist An Active Participant in All the Debates in the Lower House of Congress "Garfield's Budget Speeches" His Article on "A Century in Congress" 347 CHAPTER XXVII. The Power and Influence Exerted by General Garfield Over the Minds and Passions of His Fellow-Citizens Stilling the Passions of the Great Throng in Wall Street the Day Succeeding President Lincoln's As- sassination 360 BOOK III. Abraham Lincoln, -the Great Emancipator, CHAPTER XXVIII. The Assassination of President Lincoln the First of a Series of Three How It Is That Chief Magistrates of the Republic Are Easy Prey for Mur- derers Lincoln Did Not Like to be Surrounded by Guards Lamon's Warning 373 CHAPTER XXIX The Story of Lincoln's Life as Written by Himself "The Short and Simple Annals of the Poor" Early Struggles and Disappointments His Achievements and Triumphs How He Overcame All Obstacles and Became the Most Eminent Among the Rulers of the Earth 379 CHAPTER XXX. Lincoln's Great "House Divided Against Itself" Speech, Which First Brought Him Into National Prominence Joint Debate With Douglas Election to the Presidency of the United States 389 TABLE OF CONTENTS. ix CHAPTER XXXI. Lincoln Inaugurated as President of the United States His Inaugural Ad- dress the Means of Calling All the Friends of the Union Cause to His Support War Begins in Earnest The Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1863, Frees the Slaves So Long Held in Bondage 399 CHAPTER XXXII. Lincoln's Boyhood and Young Manhood as Illustrated by the Stories Told Regarding Him How He Acquired the Sobriquet of "Honest Abe" The First Dollar He Ever Earned Experiences on the Mississippi on a Flatboat Paid Everything He Owed 415 CHAPTER XXXIII. Lincoln on the Circuit as a Lawyer Determined to Succeed in His Pro- fession His Kindness to His Stepmother His Sense of Justice in Con- ducting His Law Cases Gets the Worst of It in a Horse Trade One of His Disappointments How "Abe" was Nominated for Congress His Trust in God 431 CHAPTER XXXIV. Lincoln as the Chief Magistrate of the Nation His Enemies Brand Him as a Coward His Subsequent Career Shows Him the Bravest and Most Fearless Among All the Men Who Held the Destiny of the Republic in Their Hands Disdainful of the Threats of Assassination, He Pursues His Way in Calmness and Heroic Fortitude 441 CHAPTER XXXV. Lincoln During the War of the Rebellion A Man of Sentimentality and Deep Feeling Satisfied with the Way General Grant Did Things The Dutch Gap Canal The President's Belief in the Efficiency of the Moni- tor His Absence of Fear Regarding Assassination 451 CHAPTER XXXVI. Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address on Ma,rch 4th, 1865 The Last Speech Made by the Martyr President, in Response to a Serenade, Before His Assassination Text of His Immortal Address on the Battlefield of Gettysburg 45! CHAPTER XXXVII. John Wilkes Booth the Originator of the Plot to Assassinate the President- Flight, Capture and Death of the Murderer Burial of His Body in the Old Penitentiary at Washington 469 CHAPTER XXXVIII. Execution of Mrs. Surratt, Atzeroth, Harold and Payne in the Jail Yard at Washington Scenes and Incidents Thousands of Soldiers Guard the Prison and the Vicinity How the Culprits Died 490 TABLE OF CONTENTS. BOOK IV. OF The flowed Ajjcujrincrtionj of Modern Times. CHAPTER XXXIX. Notable Assassins and Assassinations of Recent Times Murder of Presidents of Republics, Crowned Heads and Prominent Men of Various Nations Characteristics of Regicides Their Methods of Procedure Most of Them of a Low Type of Intellectuality What Prompted Them to Their Ferocious and Desperate Deeds The Ghastly and Bloody Record of a Single Century Punishment Meted Out to the Criminals 505 CHAPTER XL. The History of Anarchy and Anarchists in Europe and the United States Since the Conception of the Movement Influence of the French Revolution Something About Nitro-Glycerine, Dynamite, Lyddite and Melinite Anarchists, However, Prefer Dynamite United States Gets the Terrorists in Force After the Passage of the German Socialistic Law 515 President William McKinley (From his latest photograph) BOOK I. icim McKinlcy, The Ideal American. CHRONOLOGY OF WILLIAM McKINLEY Born Niles, Trumbull County, O., January 29, 1843. Entered Allegheny College, Meadviile, Pa., 1860. Enlisted as private in Company E, 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, June 11, 1861. Participated in battles South Mountain and Antietam, September 14 and 17, 1862; promoted from Commissary Sergeant to Lieutenant. Promoted Captain, battle of Kernstown, July 24, 1864. Commissioned Major by brevet, March 14, 1865. Studied law, law school at Albany, N. Y.; admitted to bar at Warren, O., March, 1867. Elected Prosecuting Attorney, Stark County, O., 1869. Elected to Congress, 1876. Re-elected to Congress for seventh time, November, 1888. Inaugurated Governor of Ohio, January 11, 1892. Elected President of the United States, November, 1896. Re-nominated for President, June 21, 1900. Re-elected November 4, 1900. Shot September 6, 1901. Died at Buffalo, September 14, 1901 BOOK L William McJfJnley, C 'he Ideal American. CHAPTER I. SHORT SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT McKiNLEY His RISE FROM OBSCURITY TO THE PRESIDENCY HEROISM ON THE BATTLEFIELD PRESIDENT HAYES' PRAISE McKiNLEY A DEVOTED SOLDIER His MASTERLY ADDRESS AT BUFFALO His TRIBUTE TO LINCOLN. William McKinley, born of humble origin, lawyer, soldier, statesman and gentleman, had as varied a career as is often the lot of men. "The Master Manipulator of Men" a Cabinet member once styled him, and it was as characteristic of one side of his nature as "The Genial Gentleman" was of another. In all of the changes which his life showed it was remarked that there was a constant rise from one step in the ladder to the next until he reached the most prominent position it is possible for an American to reach, and attained the greatest honor it is in the power of the people to grant. He was born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January 29, 1843. He came of a sturdy ancestry. Some 150 years before his birth his fore- fathers emigrated from Scotland to Pennsylvania, and his grandfather, Daniel McKinley, in the battles of Brandywine, Germantown and Mon- mouth, had won for himself a distinguished place in the annals of the Revolution. It was of such stock that McKinley came. As a young lad he drew a little more than the ordinary lot in the matter of education, receiving beside the public school study a course in the Poland (Mahoney County, Ohio) Academy and attending for a short time the Methodist Episcopal College at Meadville, Pa. When the Civil War broke out McKinley, then only 18 years of age, was one of the first in his town to answer his country's call. He enlisted in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry as a private, but 19 ao WILLIAM McKINLEY. he did not long remain without his epaulets. On September 24, 1862, he was promoted to a Second Lieutenancy, and from this time on his rise in rank was steady. February 7, 1863, he received the rank of First Lieu- tenant, and on July 25, 1864, he won his epaulets as Captain. President Lincoln brevetted him Major for his bravery and gallant conduct in tEe battles of Fisher's Hill, Opequan and Cedar Creek. McKinley was with the famous Twenty-third in all of its battles and he served on the staffs of Major General Hancock and Samuel S. Carroll. He was mustered out with his regiment on July 26, 1865, and it is said that so great was his liking for the military service that he was nearly persuaded to attach himself to the regular army with General Carroll. His father was opposed to this, however, and so the young man returned to his Ohio home. After studying law and being admitted to the bar, McKinley opened an office in Canton, Stark County, in 1867. In 1869 he began his public career aside from his military record by being elected Prosecuting Attor- ney of Stark County. From then on he rose in public affairs by steady footsteps. He was elected to Congress from his district in 1876, and with the exception of a part of one term he served continuously for fourteen years in the lower House of Congress. In the latter part pf the fourth term he was unseated and his Democratic opponent, the late Jonathan Wallace, of East Liverpool, took his place. Mr. McKinley's first great and important step on the road to the Presidency came when as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee he reported the famous tariff bill of 1890. This measure has gone down in history as the "McKinley Tariff Law," and, heralded by this name throughout the length and breadth of the land, it brought his name into national prominence for the first time. In spite of this, however, he was defeated for his eighth term in Con- gress by a small majority, but as a compensation to his hurt pride he was elected Governor of Ohio in 1891. His plurality was 21,511, and his increasing popularity is shown by the difference between this and his next, which was 80,995 in his re-election as Governor in 1893. Besides these honors, McKinley's name was made prominent by many lesser distinctions. In 1884 he was a delegate at large to the National Convention, and as such he made several speeches in support of James G. Elaine as nominee for President. In this same year, also, he was a member of the Committee on Resolutions, and it was he who read the plat- form to the convention. His experience at this convention brought him WILLIAM McKINLEY. 21 into contact and into the notice of all the great Republican politicians of that time. He was again a delegate at large from Ohio in 1888. This year he supported John Sherman, and his experience at the previous convention gave him many of the same honors. He was again sent to the Committee on Resolutions, and the committee again chose him to read the platform to the convention. In 1892 McKinley was for the third time delegate at large from Ohio, and this time he himself was in the race for the nomination. It was with- out his consent, however, for he was an ardent supporter of President Benjamin Harrison and had persistently refused to have his own name mentioned as even a possible candidate. In spite of his protestations, however, 182 votes were cast for him in the early ballots. It was McKinley's increased plurality in his election to the Governor's chair in Ohio in 1893 that made him generally looked upon as a likely candidate for the Republican nomination in 1896. Both of his elections in Ohio had been hotly contested along tariff grounds, and as his name had been so closely linked with the policy of protective tariff through the "Mc- Kinley bill," it was taken as a favorable sign by the prominent politicians that he could become increasingly popular in so important a State as Ohio. According to these prognostications Mr. McKinley's name was one of the first and foremost before the nominating convention which met in St. Louis, June 18, 1896, and he was nominated on a platform in which the currency question for the first time in many years predominated the tariff issue. He received 661 out of a total of 905 votes. The excitement of the campaign which followed is recent enough to be fresh in the memory of most high school students. On July 27 the Democratic nominating convention was held in Chicago. In the big Coliseum, which has since burned, William Jennings Bryan, known as "The Silver-Tongued Orator of the Platte," made his famous speech, the issue of free silver under Bryan's impetus swept like a wave over the con- vention, and he was nominated almost by acclamation. From that time on the campaign waged about the single issue of the free coinage of silver, and politicians declared it to be one of the hottest fought battles in the history of the two great political parties. The end of it came in the ensuing November election, when McKinley was elected President, receiving 271 electoral votes against 176 for Bryan. In the history of Mr. McKinley's first term in the Presidential chair, his conservative handling of the affairs of state during the troublous time of the Spanish war stands out conspicuously. He showed wonderful cool- 22 WILLIAM McKINLEY. ness in judgment and a statesmanlike bearing toward the events and the problems which the war brought before him. From the blowing up of the United States battleship Maine in Ha- vana Harbor, February 15, 1898, to the signing of the protocol August 12, it was generally admitted that he showed a power and a dignity com- patible with his position at the head of a nation which in four months' time could win so decisive a victory. There is little doubt in the minds of the people that President Mc- Kinley's record during the Spanish war went a great way toward his renomination and re-election to his second term. He was admittedly the only logical candidate when the Republican Convention met in Philadel- phia a year ago last June. Again it was a battle between McKinley and Bryan, and again the issue was free silver. Again the campaign resulted in the election of McKinley, and he took his seat for his secood term in the inauguration of March 4, 1901. When President McKinley was married, on January 25, 1871, there was a pretty story told to the effect that he lost his first case and won his bride at the same time. The marriage, which ended a somewhat long courtship, was the beginning of one of the most ideal unions. He and his wife, in the midst of the cares of state and the strife of politics, main- tained for thirty years all the love and harmony which make the humblest home a happy one. MCKINLEY'S HEROISM ON THE BATTLEFIELD. President McKinley's personal courage was always typical of the very highest order of physical bravery. This was shown in each and every instance where he was brought to the test. He was possessed of what the great Napoleon called "two o'clock in the morning courage," which is a rare quality. ,He never lost his head, but at all times of danger was as cool and calm as though sitting by his fireside. Napoleon was distinguished by this sort of courage ; so were the Duke of Wellington and General Grant, the latter possessing it in perhaps a higher degree than the two others mentioned. The mighty Emperor of the French after exhibited depression of mind, or excessive elation, but General Grant's demeanor was forever calm and always the same. Even Wellington, the "Iron Duke," had fits of anger; Grant never betrayed passion. He was a sphinx ; a man whom none could fathom ; impenetrable and impassive. President McKinley, while differing from General Grant in many respects, was one whose face, when he chose, was never known to betray President McKinley Enro\ite to Grant's Tomb, on Board the Dolphin President McKinley at the Unveiling of Grant's Tomb land. There were two uncles living on Hosmer Street. The family were Polish and evidently poor. Czolgosz's father talked of his son's crime. He said his son should be hanged, and that there was no excuse for the crime.. At first he ap- peared not to realize the enormity of the crime, but when aroused he denounced his son, saying he must have been mad. The stepmother could not speak English, but gave out the following interview the day following the tragedy through the medium of an inter- preter. She said: "Leon left home sixty days ago. We heard from him a few weeks ago. He was then in Indiana and wrote to us that he was going away, stating that in all probability we would not see him again." The family had not heard from him since. The stepmother denies Leon was a disciple of Emma Goldman or in any way interested in her doctrine. She said he was not interested in such matters and scarcely intelligent enough to understand them. They had always considered the boy partly demented. Up to three years before shooting the President he had worked at the Cleveland rolling mill, but had to quit on account of poor health. Since that time he had been idle. While living on the 5 8 WILLIAM McKINLEY. farm near Warrensburg his father had not asked Leon to work, having always considered him too weak for manual labor. Regarding the shooting of the President, Mrs. Czolgosz said : "I can't believe Leon is the one. He was such a timid boy, so afraid of everything. Why, he was the biggest coward you ever saw in your life." Mrs. William McKinley The Shooting of President McKinley by the Anarchist Czolgosz The colored man on the right is JAMES D. PARKER, who first struck, then throttled the assassin, thus preventing a third shot being fired. Leon Czolgosz (From a photograph in the possession of his family) CHAPTER IV. SIMPLICITY OF THE HOME LIFE OF PRESIDENT AND MRS. McKiNLEY THEIR MARRIAGE AN INTERESTING EVENT IN CANTON LOVING CARE OF THE PRESIDENT FOR His WIFE Two CHILDREN BORN TO THEM * HABITS OF THE PRESIDENT. The hackneyed phrase of "jeffersoman. simplicity" might well be replaced by the more modern one of "McKinley modesty," which expresses a word epitome of the home life of the President. This simplicity was sincere, as evident to those associated with him all his life as to those members of his official family at Washington and those who observed him from the public point of view. A quiet smoke, a talk with Mrs. McKinley, a favorite newspaper on a shady piazza, appealed more to the President than did the whirl of the Chief Executiveship of what he firmly believed to be the greatest nation on earth. This sentiment was expressed on the afternoon of the national elec- tion of 1900. Speaking of the close of the exciting campaign, this victor of many a hard fought battle of the ballots remarked : "The fight is over and I believe we have won. Of course, for the sake of the party, representing, as I believe it does, the principles synony- mous with national prosperity and persisting futurity, I am glad. Per- sonally, I would be willing to retire from the White House today with a breath of great relief. The work and worries of the position none but the man who has filled it can imagine. This modest little home is more to me than all the honors won or to be won by a Chief Executive. The honor of the position has already been mine. What more is there for me to secure ?" Thus, while the alterations of his public positions were numerous, but little change was made in the domestic and personal life of Mr. and Mrs. McKinley after they took up their residence in the Executive Mansion at Washington. The home they occupied until Thursday is the same unas- suming cottage they entered as bride and groom a little over thirty years ago. The addition of five rooms and the erection of a porte-cochere alters the exterior appearance to a certain degree, but the interior is as simple as plain wood and immaculate papering and hangings can make it. 61 62 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. In Mrs. McKinley's boudoir the same simple marble mantle graces the apartment, some of the same durable furniture fills the home with sweet and sad memories of the past. No President except Washington and Jefferson retained their resi- dences in the same domicile following their elevation to the Presidency, yet it was the announced intention of Major McKinley to end his days in the simple, little, wooden cottage on North Market Street in Canton, Ohio. Many are the friends of the McKinleys in Washington who recall the humble beginning of the President in the practice of law in Canton. His moral uprightness, his affiliation with the First Methodist Church, his adherence to the principles of honor_ and fair dealing in his legal practice commended him immediately to the people of the little town, all too ready to recognize weakness in a new resident. So it was not long until William McKinley became recognized as a leader in affairs of his adopted town. Ida Saxton, the daughter of the leading banker of Canton, was impressed with the purity of the young man, and none could but be impressed with her sweetness and her reputation for good works. The courtship was not a short one, and was happily concluded. Can- tonians recall the hurry to have the new Presbyterian church in readiness for the ceremony, for the Saxtons were Presbyterians. When the even- ing for the ceremony arrived the auditorium was opened for the first time ; a bright new carpet covered the floor, but the furnishings had not arrived. Neighbors from the surrounding houses loaned their chairs for the occasion and joined with the young friends of the bride in decorating the otherwise bare walls with evergreens cut fresh from the front yard pines and tamaracks. The auditorium was crowded and the ceremony was beautiful. Dr. Buckingham, father of Lieutenant Buckingham of the navy, officiated. Among the guests most charmed with the ceremony were the members of Ida Saxton's infant class. On the evening of the ceremony Mrs. Harriet Whiting, a friend of both bride and groom, called Mr. McKinley aside and said : "Major, I want to impress one word of this marriage service upon you. It is the word 'cherish.' You are worthy of Ida, and she of you, so really cherish each other." A few months before the assassination, during the nearly fatal illness of Mrs. McKinley in San Francisco, Mrs. Whiting related the conversa- tion and said : "I told him to cherish her, and he has done it to the full." And, indeed, this sentence might also typify the home life of the Pres- WILLIAM McKINLEY. 63 ident, either in Canton or Washington. Immediately after the wedding ceremony the young couple took the cottage they ever afterward regarded as their home, and retained it practically ever since that time. Mr. Sax- ton, father of Mrs. McKinley, at first objected to his daughter leaving his home and proposed that the young people remain under the Saxton roof, but the mother, with a keen insight into the young woman's character, said: "Nothing so brings out the good in a girl as life alone with her hus- band. If there is strength in Ida, life under her own roof with her mate will bring it to the front." And so the early trials and triumphs were experienced in the little cottage; here the two little ones were born, and lingered only long enough to leave behind them the pale effulgence of infantile innocence, to bind into one the lives of wife and husband, and give to the world the proof of a lasting affection. The social tastes of Mr. and Mrs. McKinley were modest in the extreme, and as a rule have been limited at home to little musicales in which the young friends entertained their host and hostess with vocal and instrumental music. The last affair of the kind the President attended was in Canton during the last week. After taking up their residence at the White House little modification has been made in the mode of living of the McKinleys. The friends of their early married life were invariably received as freely as at Canton. Little evening musicales were arranged, and, no matter how busy the President might have been, he always managed to steal a few minutes from official duties to come and sit with Mrs. McKinley for a short time. His own greatest pleasure in life seemed to be in making her happy ; he never forgot to "cherish" her. Their guests for the most part were friends from Ohio usually nieces and nephews. One little duty which seemed to give all of the household pleasure was the sending of flowers to all the Washington hospitals at the holidays. The hospitals at Canton were never forgotten, either, and personal friends in Washington, Canton and Chicago were in frequent receipt of floral remembrances from the White House conservatories when bedridden with illness. The great dread of the President in entering the White House was the drafts which were reported to sweep through the wide corridors and apartments. The day before his first inauguration he read aloud to a party of friends an article, declaring that Mrs. McKinley could not survive a year in such a domicile. There was a marked vein of sarcasm in his 64 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. voice as he read the lines, but he evidently thought of the matter and instructed an architect to prepare plans by which the drafts might be obviated. This was successfully done, to the great relief of all who were cognizant of the real condition of his wife. Few social functions aside from those demanded officially have marked the years at the Executive Mansion. The great thought seemed to be the avoidance of ostentation and the preservation of the sweet domestic relation which has endeared the McKinleys to all thinking people. An incident is related to illustrate the simple faith the mother of the President reposed in her great son. It was on the evening of his first elec- tion to the Presidency. A party of friends were expressing their con- fidence in his selection, when one, to guard against the possible disappoint- ment of a defeat, said : "Of course, he may be beaten." Drawing herself to her full height, the grand mother of this great man said simply, yet authoritatively : "It makes little difference. He will still be my son." And she would have been satisfied to have him as her own, without the honor of Chief Magistrate. Two children blessed McKinley's early married life, but both of them died in infancy. Since that time he and his wife were even more closely united. Mrs. McKinley, when her health allowed, took an active interest in her husband's career, and he often fondly stated that he always won when he followed her advice. President McKinley was distinguished for his easy geniality, his democratic bearing and his cordiality in receiving friends and acquaint- ances. He smoked extensively, and, like General Grant, had a careful curb upon his tongue when dangerous topics were touched upon. He was, generally speaking, a politician as well as a statesman, and had as greaf tact in handling men as he had of bending them to his wishes. HEROIC FORTITUDE OF MRS. McKiNLEY. After being informed of the shooting of the President, Mrs. McKinley bore up with the most remarkable fortitude. She, in company with her husband, had made a trip to Niagara Falls the morning of the assassina- tion. The sight-seeing had tired her, and on returning to the Milburn residence she took leave of her nieces, the Misses Barber, and the Presi- dent's niece, Miss Duncan, as well as their hostess, Mrs. Milburn, and went to her room to rest. She was sleeping when W. I. Buchanan, Di- WILLIAM McKINLEY. 65 rector General of the Exposition, arrived at the Milburn residence to acquaint the family there with the awful tragedy. Mr. Buchanan informed the nieces as gently as possible and consulted Mrs. Milburn as to the best course to pursue in telling Mrs. McKinley of the accident. It was finally decided that on her awakening, or shortly after, Mr. Buchanan should see her, if in the meantime her physician, Dr. Rixey, had not arrived. Mrs. McKinley awoke about 5:30 o'clock. She was feeling splen- didly, she said, and at once took up her crocheting, which, as was well known, was one of her favorite diversions. While the light of day remained Mrs. McKinley continued with her crocheting, keeping to her room. When it became dusk and the President had not arrived she began to feel anxious concerning him. "I wonder why he does not come," she said to one of her nieces. There was no clock in Mrs. McKinley's room, and although it was 7 o'clock she had no idea it was so late, but felt anxious concerning her husband, for he was due to return to Mr. Milburn's house about 6 o'clock. At 7 o'clock Dr. Rixey arrived at the Milburn residence. He had been driven hurriedly down Delaware Avenue in an open carriage. At 7:20 o'clock Dr. Rixey came out of the house, accompanied by Colonel Webb Hayes, a son of former President Hayes, who was a friend of President McKinley. They entered a carriage and returned to the Expo- sition Hospital. After Dr. Rixey had gone Director General Buchanan said the doctor had informed Mrs. McKinley in a most gentle manner and she met the shock bravely, though considerably affected. If it was possible to bring him to her she wanted it done. Dr. Rixey assured her that the President could be brought with safety from the Exposition grounds, and when he left Mr. Milburn's it was to complete all arrangements for the removal of the President. Shortly after 9 o'clock the morning after the shooting the President asked for Mrs. McKinley, saying that he would like greatly to see her if the physicians thought no harm would result. Dr. Rixey, after a con- ference with the other physicians, went to Mrs. McKinley's room on the south side of the house and told her that her husband wished to see her. At 10 o'clock Mrs. McKinley, aided by Dr. Rixey and an attendant, entered the President's room. The President turned toward her as she entered and slightly raised his head from the pillow. Mrs. McKinley advanced to the bedside, and, resting beside it, she took the President's hand and for over two minutes they sat in silence looking at each other, their hands clasped. 66 WILLIAM McKINLEY. The President whispered reassuringly that he suffered little and had been comfortable throughout the night. Tears rose in Mrs. McKinley's eyes, and the President, gently stroking her hand, said quietly : "You know you must bear up well. That is the best for both of us." Mrs. McKinley nodded, and Dr. Rixey then escorted her back to her room. The President brightened visibly after seeing her. He became easier and his pulse fell and his respiration became slower. Solicitude over the condition of the President was almost equaled by solicitude for the welfare of Mrs. McKinley. Every caller who inquired about the progress of the President asked also how Mrs. McKinley was bearing the shock of the calamity. They learned that Mrs. McKinley, thanks to the skill of the physicians, did not suffer so much as if she were keenly alive to every detail of the President's suffering. She was, however, kept constantly informed of his condition. She remained in her room and was much rested. Throughout the afternoon it was said that she slept, and every precaution was taken to have all the neighborhood absolutely quiet. It was decided that even the two telegraph instruments in the barn west of the house were too noisy, and they were moved elsewhere. Director General Buchanan, with Charles R. Huntley, spent prac- tically all the morning hours at the house aiding in carrying out whatever arrangements were proposed for the better comfort of the two patients. The physicians decided that the room should be cooler, and additional fans were placed during the day by Mr. Huntley. Mr. Milburn received all callers who passed the police lines and the guards of sentry and reached the front veranda. Of the hundreds of callers comparatively few actually entered the house. Only Senator Mark Hanna and one or two others saw the President. ' Any sketch of President McKinley would be incomplete without some personal description of the man. One who knew him well and had written of him said a short time before the shooting : "He is in build inclined to stockiness, with, indeed, a tendency to corpulency ; but with all that he is of shapely stature and well proportioned. His head is well set on a stout neck and broad, well-defined shoulders. His chest is full, showing strong lung capacity. His legs are sturdy ; he is, in fact, muscular all through. He is possessed of great physical force, and it has been said of him that had he gone into training when a young man, he would have made a champion wrestler." WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. 67 PRESIDENT McKiNLEY's CONTROL OF HIMSELF. Just after the shooting of the President, an old and intimate friend gave an analysis of his general character his habits, disposition, self-con- trol, and other dominant traits. Said he : "The President is not an athlete; he is not a sportsman. He does not indulge nor engage in marked physical activity in any- direction. Mod- eration in exercise is characteristic of him. He manages to spend some time daily in the open air, either driving or walking, but his walks have not been long or wearying, and his drives have been taken with chief regard for Mrs. McKinley's comfort and strength, rather than for his own. The President has been very regular in his habits. He can not be called abstemious in his eating and drinking, perhaps; but, on the other hand, all who know him recognize that he is uniformly careful in such matters. Without pursuing any regimen or accustoming himself to particular arti- cles of diet, he has not been indulgent to appetite. Rational living is an expression which best suits the President's habits. As the result of it, he has maintained a degree of good health unusual among men in public life, subject to the strain of high official position. In over four years of the Presidency, Mr. McKinley has had only one really serious sick spell. That was last winter, when he narrowly escaped an attack of pneumonia. For three days it was known to his intimate friends, but not to the public, that it seemed probable he could not escape a long battle with this disease. The superb physical condition in which the President keeps himself as a rule enabled the physicians to ward off the threatened attack, and the patient came out with nothing worse than temporary weakness. "The President has shown in his own case that it is possible by regu- larity of habit and by moderation in eating and drinking and in exercise to maintain a physical system as nearly perfect as is possible in a human being. Probably not one man in twenty perhaps not one in fifty would have escaped pneumonia as the President did last winter. Probably four out of five men who had gone through what the President had in the way of work and strain would have succumbed to the disease. Thus, while the President is in nowise an athlete and does not train in any way to maintain his physical condition, he is nevertheless prepared at all times with strength and vitality to respond to any extraordinary call. Because of this general and continuously good physical condition, Mr. McKinley will now be able to supplement, so far as can be done physically, the efforts of the surgeons. "But this is not all that strengthens the possible chances in his favor. The newspapers tell of the calmness with which he withstood the shock C.S WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. in Music Hall at Buffalo. Those who know the President can readily appreciate the exact truthfulness of the description. It is said by those \vLo remember the President as he was twenty-five or thirty years ago, that he was at times impulsive and like other men of strong character, and that he did occasionally express himself vigorously in word and action. Those who know Mr. McKinley only as he is now can hardly realize that he was not born with the perfect self-control which is so characteristic of him. "It is an interesting and beautiful story which those who have been near to him for many years tell of the gradual development of this unusual power of self-command. As the story goes, Mr. McKinley took the first steps in this direction because of his devotion to his invalid wife. He early realized that her health depended greatly on protection from every-day care and worry. He saw how dependent she was on his moods. His first lessons in self-control were taken in his efforts to shield the gentle lady from annoyances and troubles. It became the habit with him to throw aside cares of office and position and work when he went into her presence and to appear before her smiling and cheerful always. No matter what the unusual strain of the day might have been, or what anxiety was upon his mind, he acquired the habit of keeping the knowledge of them from Mrs. McKinley. This mental culture grew and developed until William McKinley became a perfect master of himself. "Many people have misunderstood this characteristic of the President. They have misinterpreted the evenness of his temper and the absence of human mental weaknesses." CHAPTER V. DEATH OF PRESIDENT McKiNLEY AT THE MILBURN MANSION AT FIFTEEN MINUTES PAST Two O'CLOCK ON THE MORNING OF SATURDAY, SEP- TEMBER I4TH, 1901 GANGRENE THE CAUSE AT ONE TIME HE SEEMED TO BE ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY "Goo's WILL, NOT OURS, BE DONE," THE LAST WORDS OF THE MARTYR CHIEF MAGISTRATE THOSE AT THE BEDSIDE. President McKinley died at the Milburn residence at Buffalo at fifteen minutes past 2 o'clock on the morning of Saturday, September I4th, 1901, about seven days and ten hours after he was shot. He died painlessly, after a long period of unconsciousness, his last words being, "God's will, not ours, be done." Death resulted from gangrene. The bullets had been poisoned. The President had been for many years an incessant smoker and had what is known as a "tobacco heart," but heart exhaustion did not cause his death, as his doctors at first thought. The President's heart gave trouble from the beginning, but its erratic action was at first thought to be due to the shock of the wound, but when the wound had begun to progress favorably the heart gave more trouble and anxiety than ever. Its action became feeble and finally gave out altogether. Some of the physicians in attendance upon the stricken President did not believe there was organic heart trouble. The theory of at least one of the physicians was that the original shock of the first bullet over the heart had much to do with the trouble which caused death. After every resource was exhausted for over twenty-four hours, after the sinking spell early on Friday morning, September I3th, death came to the twenty-fifth President of the United States. His end was that of perfect peace. For many hours the President's hold on life was so slight that the work of the surgeons was confined to watching the flickering spark with- out attempting to fan it into life artificially. Practically all medicines and oxygen treatments were abandoned a considerable time before midnight. All hope was lost then, and the only thing left to do was to wait for the worn out machinery to run down. 70 WILLIAM McKINLEY. Mrs. McKinley had been with the President twice during the early part of the evening. Just before the President lost consciousness Mrs. McKinley knelt at his side. He knew her and said : "Good-bye, all ; good-bye. It is God's way ; not our will, but thine be done." And so ended the life of a man who was an example of the best type of American citizenship. The simplicity of his character was marked, a quality peculiar to all really great men. He was unselfish and genuinely patriotic, always devoted to the service of his country in whatever posi- tion his fellow-citizens placed him. His character was remarkable for tenderness of thought, nobility of action, purity of mind, and elevation of sentiment. He was a man fitted to take rank with any of his prede- cessors in office, in history, and in public estimation. The life of President McKinley,. which had been sustained with pow- erful drafts of oxygen, seemed to fade away soon after ten o'clock p. m., September I3th, and consciousness was lost permanently. Around what was supposed to be the actual deathbed, besides the surgeons in the case, were Abner McKinley, Miss Helen McKinley, and Mrs. Duncan, the brother and sisters of the President. They were hur- riedly called to witness the passing of a brother and a President. Yet an hour seemed to be delayed from one brief moment to another. Down-stairs and in the hall were the other members of the family, Mrs. Abner McKinley, a sister-in-law ; Miss Mary Barber, the President's favorite niece ; Mrs. Lafayette McWilliams, of Chicago, a cousin of Mrs. McKinley; Lieutenant James McKinley, a nephew; John Barber, a nephew ; Mrs. Baer, a niece, with Mr. Baer, and Secretaries Root, Wilson and Hitchcock, and Attorney-General Knox. The latter, with Secretary Long, had arrived only a few minutes before midnight, and Secretary Long left about 10 o'clock, so that he was not present when the end came. OFFICIALS AMONG THE WATCHERS. Next in official importance among the watchers were United States Senator Hanna of Ohio, Controller of the Currency C. G. Dawes, Sen- ator Fairbanks of Indiana, Governor Yates of Illinois, J. H. Milburn, president of the Pan-American Exposition, in whose house the President died; Colonel Myron T. Herrick, with his wife; and half a score of others who came and went. Included among these were Colonel W. C. Brown, Abner McKinley's law partner; Russell B. Harrison, son of former President Benjamin Harrison; Webb C. Hayes, son of former WILLIAM McKINLEY. 71 President Rutherford B. Hayes; and many others whose figures could scarcely be distinguished in the gloom. The President's turn for the worse came at 2 o'clock on Friday morn- ing, and it was almost exactly twenty-four hours later before the last flicker of life had died away. It was the heart which failed early in tho morning following upon the partial collapse on the Thursday night before, and all through the terrible day into the night the heart of the good President beat with irregular throbs which told of the inevitable end. Mrs. McKinley was warned that it was only a question of minutes before the end came, but as these minutes drifted into hours her strength failed completely and she was forced to retire, under the commands of the physicians, who alone could tell whether life was extinct or not. Secretary Cortelyou came out of the Milburn house about 2 :20 a. m., and in a voice that trembled with emotion announced : "The President died at 2:15." He then gave the names of the family and friends present at the bedside when the end came and returned to the house. Immediately thereafter the party that had been assembled in the house during the night broke up, coming down the walk singly and in pairs. Everybody was deeply affected. Several of the men were sobbing aloud as they passed on their way to their carriages A noticeable theme of comment was occasioned by the hour at which the dearh occurred. It partook somewhat of the providential that the event should have come in the dead of night instead of the early evening, when the thousands who gathered on the streets of the city were in no tender mood. Had the death come earlier it is possible that the authori- ties would have had to cope with more or less violence. RESULT WAS CERTAIN FOR MANY HOURS. From 2 130 o'clock in the morning of Friday there w.as no time when the result was greatly in doubt. The vigil was long and distressing for friends, officials, police, soldiers, correspondents, telegraphers, and all, but down to the humblest messenger boy there were constant and real prayers for the life of the beloved President. Ever since the shooting, one week previously, the vicinity of Ferry street and Delaware avenue had been carefully patrolled so that the Presi- dent might have all possible quiet. In front and beside the house soldiers of the Fourteenth United States 72 WILLIAM McKlNLEY. Infantry paced their regular beats, while police and officers of the secret service patrolled the neighborhood to guard it from the idle and the noisy. It was 2 130 o'clock on Friday morning that the first frantic messages were sent to the absent physicians, while a few minutes later the series of awful summonses was sent out for the old friends, relatives, officials, associates, and, more than all, for the young soldier who seemed about to be called to vast responsibility. Vice-President Roosevelt was harder to get at than any one else who was summoned. He went away from Buffalo two days before, con- fident that the President would live. Being entirely free from anxiety, as well as from personal longing, Colonel Roosevelt had gon to the Adiron- dacks, out of the reach of the telegraph. Senator Hanna, ex-Secretary of State Day, ^enator Fairbanks, and several members of the immediate family came from Cleveland on a special train at seventy miles an hour, but the Vice-President, whose heir apparency was so clear to all, could not be brought to the scene. It was only during the dark hours that word finally was received from Mr. Roosevelt, and it became necessary to notify him to be prepared to take the oath of office while on the road, in order that the great office of President might not be vacant even for an hour. The custom is for any officer, properly qualified, to administer the oath, which is then administered again in Washington, with more cere- mony, by the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. When President Lincoln died Vice-President Johnson was in Wash- ington; at the time of the death of President Garfield, Vice-President Arthur was in New York at his home in Lexington Avenue, where the oath was administered to him by Justice Brady, of the State Supreme Court cl New York. Later President Arthur took the oath again in the Vice-President's chamber in the Capitol at Washington, Supreme Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite administering it. PRESIDENT BREATHING FREELY AT MIDNIGHT. Apparently the President seemed to wait for all his own and his official family. At midnight he was still breathing ; life was a mere flutter of the heart, a feeble breath, more of the oxygen tank than of the lungs, but it was life none the less. When Secretary Long and Dr. Janeway, the New York expert, arrived they were greeted with the unexpected tidings that the minutes had lengthened into hours, and yet the light of a great man's life, though flickering, had failed to disappear entirely. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 73 At no time from sunrise to sunset, from noon to midnight, would the end have seemed at all strange, and it was deferred, strangely, from one brief period to another, long after every one had given up hope. For a week the guard with fixed bayonets had worn a patch on the turf about the Milburn house, a hospital residence now historical. The street was dark, and the neighboring houses showed few lights. The electric globes at the street corner, shining on the fixed bayonets of the regular troops, whose faces, bronzed in the Philippines, were seamed with anxious care. As the night wore on the guard, under Lieutenant Murphy, was changed over and over again. Meanwhile, doctors and statesmen stepped in and out. Every few minutes some duly accredited visitor, from the inner rooms of the house, appeared to announce that the President could not last more than a few brief moments. Mrs. McKinley was gently told hours before midnight that the Presi- dent, her husband, had only a few minutes to live, and yet midnight found the doctors counting fair vibrations of the pulse. The President had sunk into unconsciousness, and it seemed as if he were determined to stay, like a good soldier, until he could turn the command over to another. At 5 130 in the evening Colonel Brown, with tears running down his cheeks, announced that the end was at hand, and at 10 o'clock the last words of the slowly dying President were reverently handed about, and yet at midnight the beloved martyr still lingered. CROWDS SURROUND ASSASSIN'S JAIL. During the early part of the evening crowds began to gather about the station-house, where the assassin, Czolgosz, was confined, and the purpose of their gathering was at no time mysterious. People gathered rapidly, who openly declared they intended to lynch the assassin, if tha President died. The authorities were fully alive to the situation and agents of the secret service reported that the people were excited beyond measure. There were not only the people of Buffalo, indignant at the disgrace to their city, but strangers, who had no neighborly respect for the local authorities. Governor Odell acted promptly and gave orders to protect the jail. Thus the assassin was safe from penalty for the miserable death he had dealt out to the President. The police and the military roped the streets for blocks around the station-house, and the people, diverted from their prey by the strong show 74 WILLIAM McKINLEY. of force, crowded about the bulletin boards, learning that Dr. Janeway of New York, the specialist on the heart, was making an examination. It was the heart which had failed all through the day, and, in spite of the great odds against them, the doctors still hoped at 1 1 130 that some means might yet be found to save the President from death. The beginning of the end came in the same way the crisis of Thurs- day night began. There was a sudden development of weakness, and the heart action became faint and fluctuating. The first intimation of the danger to the outside watchers was when a negro servant came hurriedly out of the house and started away towards town at a swift pace. Then came a series of bulletins, some formal and some informal, hurried by Secretary Cortelyou. They all told one story. The President's condi- tion was grave ; he was low ; he was practically dying ; there was little or no hope. Then came State Senator Dodge from the Cleveland district, an old friend of the President. His face showed strong signs of emotion. He spoke hardly above a whisper to the dense throng of reporters who gath- ered about him. "The President is dying," he said. "He is uncon- scious. He recognizes none of those about him." Soon after this Dr. McBurney and a carriage came rushing up the line, the horses on a gallop. He said not a word, but hurried almost at a trot from the carriage to the house. Colonel W. C. Brown came next. He ran as fast as he could over the ground from the carriage and dashed up to the porch three steps at a time. The report now came out at 7:55 that the President had recovered consciousness ; that he fully realized that the end was at hand, and that he had asked for Mrs. McKinley. She was taken into the room and to her husband's bedside. BIDS FAREWELL TO His WIFE. All left the room then, save one nurse, the husband and wife were practically alone. The President was able to speak faintly as his wife bent over him. What he said only he and she knew. Those who knew how tenderly and constantly he had cared for her and how great his anxiety had been for her ever since he was stricken down by the anarchist's bullet could hardly speak of that pitiful scene without almost breaking down as the thought of it. Meantime the door of the sick-room was thrown open, and those nearest the President were quietly gathered about it. In the group were Mr. and Mrs. Abner McKinley, Mrs. Baer, the President's niece; Miss WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. 75 Barber, Mrs. McKinley's niece; Judge Day, Secretaries Root, Hitchcock and Wilson, Senator Hanna, and Mrs. McWilliams. NEWS SPREADS THROUGH THE CITY. Up to this time the crowd had been steadily gathering at the outer barriers of rope stretched across the streets two blocks away in all direc- tions. The news of the relapse seemed to have spread over the city like wildfire. It was first reported that the President was dying. Then the rumor spread that he was dead. Peopte began steadily gathering about the barriers, speaking in low tones scarce above a whisper, asking the policemen on guard for news. The officers, several of whom were visibly affected by the solemnity of it all, could only report such faint and uncertain echoes as now and then reached them from the sick-room. Scores of women, whose apparel and bearing showed them to be persons of refinement and comfortable means, were in the groups. They all wanted to know how Mrs. McKinley was. Next to the President himself the interest centered in her. Meantime for several moments nothing had come from the house. The last had been the announcement that Mrs. McKinley was at her husband's deathbed and that the rest of his family, personal as well as official, who were in the house were gathered about the open door of the room where the President was breathing his last. SENATOR SYMONDS BRINGS SAD MESSAGE. Then at 8:25 Senator Symonds came out of the house and walked slowly down the paved path to the sidewalk. It was evident he came with something to say and that it was something of sad import. At first it was thought that it was the final message that all was over. Yet it was believed that this event would be announced by Secretary Cortelyou. Next to the actual statement that the President was dead, that which Senator Symonds had to tell could not have been worse. The President was in extremis, he said. It was not believed that the President could live three minutes when he (Symonds) stepped out of doors. He might even be dead at that moment. As this report spread the hush that already was upon the hun- dred or more people within the ropes seemed to become even deeper. GREAT THRONG is SILENT. Scarce a word was spoken. It was like the solemn stillness of a church so far as those nearest the house were concerned. The only sound 76 WILLIAM McK IN LEY. was in the swift clicking of the telegraph instruments as the news was rushed away to all parts of the country. The only thing that jarred in all the scene was the glare of the Exposi- tion fireworks something like a mile and a half away. The dull report of exploding bombs could be heard, and the colored lights played directly upon one of the windows of the room in which the President lay dying. The Exposition managers evidently had not heard of the President's critical condition. At all events, they started up their pyrotechnics at the usual hour. The half- whispered comments of the groups within the ropes were words of indignation at the heedlessness of somebody. LIFE PROLONGED BY OXYGEN. James F. Chard brought out at 9 120 p. m. the only news that came from the house for some time. It practically amounted to the statement that the President was only being kept alive by oxygen. He had intervals of a sort of consciousness, which is made manifest only by a low moan now and then. He said nothing. It is doubtful if even dimly he recog- nized those about him. Up to 9 o'clock the only two persons who had been by the bedside save the doctors and nurses were Mrs. McKinley and Abner McKinley. Mrs. McKinley remained by her husband about ten minutes. It was thought then she was bearing up well. Abner McKinley only stood by the bedside and looked at his brother for a moment and then walked out. Mrs. Hanna and Dan R. Hanna came hurriedly up in an automobile at 9:20 and went into the house. Then came Attorney General Knox, who had hardly got inside the door before the message from Secretary Cortelyou came out the message that the end was at hand. Secretary Cortelyou's words were: "I wish to announce to the press and to the American people that the President is dying." DEATH CHILL is ANNOUNCED. Almost at the same time word came from Dr. Mynter that the death chill had set in. At" this time the fireworks at the Exposition were bang- ing away, and the dull exploding of the bombs came rapidly, one after the other. Nobody heeded it then. Attention was too concentrated on every movement about the door of the house to heed for a moment any- thing else. At 9 143 there came another formal statement from Secretary Cortelyou. It was that the President was unconscious, and that his last lucid moments were spent with Mrs. McKinley. "The pulse has left the Czolgosz Pinioned by Guards and Officers while Awaiting the Arrival of the Police N (0 o so "o N U WILLIAM McKINLEY. 81 President's extremities. Consciousness seems to have departed finally. He may live until midnight. In his last moments of consciousness the President spoke words of comfort to Mrs. McKinley." HE BOWED TO THE WILL OF GOD. At a few minutes after 10, Mr. Cortelyou gave for publication what in all human probability, as the outlook was then, would be William PJc- Kinley's last words on earth. They were: "God's will be done, not ours." They were addressed to Mrs. McKinley as she sat by his side taking her last farewell of him. Immediately after uttering them the President lapsed into unconsciousness. At various times the President's mind wandered during the night and in his delirium he spoke of his home in Canton. That he was suffering seemed evident from the pitiful way in which he talked about his longing for rest. It was in connection with his longing for rest that he wandered about his home. To get home and rest that was the one thing that ran through all his delirious moments. Nothing came from the house after the statement concerning the President's last words until 10:40, when Dr. Mann sent out in response to a request that the President was still breathing and might live an hour. "What will be the cause of death ?" was asked. "Apparently it is some affection of the heart," he replied, "but we do not know what it is exactly. Senator Hanna has given us to under- stand that there will be an autopsy, but we are in the dark. The Presi- dent's pulse had been rapid from the start. It had never behaved right. It had steadily and progressively grown weaker. "For the last twenty-four hours he had been having sinking spells off and on, each one worse and each one harder to bring him back from. "The President did not believe until late today that he would die. He told me this morning he had not lost heart. We were laughing and joking while I was dressing the wound. He said to me : 'I feel that I will get well.' "This evening he spoke to Dr. Rixey about dying. He said he felt it was almost over. He then asked for his wife. Mrs. McKinley was with him for an hour and a half. They conversed together, making their farewells. MRS. MCKINLEY BORE UP BRAVELY. "Mrs. McKinley bears up splendidly. While she was with her hus- 82 WILLIAM McKINLEY. band she sat with her hands clasped in his, and showed no signs of break- ing down. The President's last words to those about him were : " 'Good-bye, all ; good-bye ! It is God's way. His will be done ; not ours/ and then he said, speaking to no one, apparently : 'Nearer, my God, to thee, e'en though it be a cross, is my constant prayer.' "His mind wandered considerably at the last, and he lay scarcely breathing." When Dr. Mann was asked who was in the room, he said : "All of the President's friends went in and bade him good-bye. Most of them went away again, but some staid. "Senator Hanna was in the room from time to time, and the members of the Cabinet went in. Secretary Root went in several times. A front bedroom was devoted to their use. Attorney General Knox was the last of the members of the Cabinet to arrive." At three minutes after 1 1 there came another brief statement from Mr. Cortelyou indicating that the end was at hand. Mr. Cortelyou said the President's extremities were cold, and that they were then watching for the last signs of life. Thomas Scetchard and Colonel Brown left the house at 1 1 105. There was no change, they said. "Every one is simply waiting for the end," said Mr. Scetchard. "The President is conscious at times. He may go any minute or he may last an hour." Governor Yates of Illinois came out five minutes later. "Dr. Mc- Burney," he said, "has informed us that the President may live an hour or two, but probably not any longer." Dr. Roswell Park, who came out of the house at 1 1 145 o'clock, said : "The condition of the President is practically unchanged, but there is nothing by which to indicate how long the vital spark might last. The President may live five minutes, or he may live five hours." DR. JANEWAY HURRIES INTO THE HOUSE. Dr. Janeway arrived at n 145. He was brought from the station in a cab, which was driven at full speed. The horse stumbled from exhaus- tion when reaching the house. The doctor jumped out before the cab came to a stop and ran up the block to the house. Between half-past 10 and n o'clock the repeated assurances of each man who came from the house of death seemed to convince those who were not newspaper men that there was no use in staying any longer that the President could not possibly live until morning. At half-past 1 1 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 83 there were not half as many men about the corner as there had been an hour before. At the same time the crowds waiting in Delaware avenue and the other closed streets ceased pressing on the police lines. They realized that it was over and went home with their sorrow. The few who had staid left when Judge Day came from the house, half an hour before midnight, and said that Mrs. McKinley had been told that her husband had only a few minutes more to live. HEART COMPLICATION WAS UNEXPECTED. Judge Day added that the physicians, since the danger from peri- tonitis and blood poisoning had disappeared, were obliged to look else- where for an explanation of his sinking. They found that his heart was muscularly weak, and the weakness, in the light of what they had learned from those who have studied the President's physique for a long time, was probably due to theuse of tobacco. The announcement of the death to the members of the Cabinet was made by Webb Hayes, who said : "It is all over." Mrs. McKinley last saw her husband between n and 12. At that time she sat by the bedside holding his hand. The members of the Cabinet were admitted to the sick-room singly at that time. The actual death probably occurred about 2 o'clock, it being under- stood that Dr. Rixey delayed the announcement momentarily to assure himself. The announcement of the news to those waiting below was postponed until the members of the family had withdrawn. Through Secretary Cortelyou the waiting newspaper men received the notification. In a trice there was the keenest excitement on the broad avenue, but there was no semblance of disorder. When the news was imparted to those down-stairs a great sigh of sorrow went up from the strong men there assembled. The members of the Cabinet, Senators, and close friends remained only a few minutes. Then, with mournful tread and bowed heads, they came out into the darkness and went away. There was not one among them with dry eyes, and some moaned in their grief. Mrs. McKinley was sleeping when the end came. A few hours afterward she awoke and then, knowing the worst, was more resigned and calmer than had been hoped for. Her will was strong although her body was frail. 84 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S TRIP TO BUFFALO. Vice-President Roosevelt became President of the United States the moment President McKinley died, but he was not sworn in until he reached Buffalo from the hunting camp where he was when the news reached him that the President was dying. He was notified on Friday night that the end was near at hand, and at once left the camp for Buffalo, where he arrived about I o'clock the following day. He at once met the various members of the Cabinet who had been staying in Buffalo during the week, but no Cabinet session was held. Colonel Roosevelt was in Vermont on a hunting trip when the first news of the shooting reached him, and at once hurried to Buffalo, where he remained two days. At the end of that time, thinking the President out of danger, being so assured by the attending physicians, he departed for Northern New York to resume his outing there. He was much agi- tated all during the second trip to Buffalo, and persistently refused to see anyone. Tears came to his eyes when, on Friday night, he received a telegram saying the President could not live, and earnestly exclaimed, "I hope to God the sad news is not true." CHAPTER VI. POISONED BULLET THE CAUSE OF PRESIDENT MCKINLEY'S DEATH HE WAS DOOMED TO DIE FROM THE FIRST RESULT OF THE AUTOPSY PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT SWORN IN His PROCLAMATION FUNERAL CEREMONIES OF THE LAMENTED CHIEF MAGISTRATE BODY LYING IN STATE IN CAPITOL INTERMENT AT CANTON. President McKinley's death was the direct result of gangrene, set up by the bullet which entered his abdomen, and which had undoubtedly been poisoned by the assassin. An autopsy held upon the body in the afternoon demonstrated the fact that the President, at no time after he was shot, had the slightest chance of recovery. The following was the report of the physicians who conducted the post-mortem examination, the latter taking three hours : "The bullet which struck over the breast bone did not pass through the skin and did little harm. The other bullet passed through both walls of the stomach near its lower border. "Both holes were found to be perfectly closed by the stitches, but the tissue around each hole had become gangrenous. "After passing through the stomach the bullet passed into the back walls of the abdomen, hitting and tearing the upper end of the kidney. This portion of the bullet track also was gangrenous, the gangrene involv- ing the pancreas. The bullet has not yet been found. "There was no sign of peritonitis or disease of other organs. The heart walls were extremely thin. There was no evidence of any attempt at repair on the part of nature, and death resulted from the gangrene which affected the stomach around the bullet wounds, as well as the tissues around the further course of the bullet. 85 86 WILLIAM McKINLEY. "Death was unavoidable by any surgical or medical treatment and was the direct result of the bullet wound. "HARVEY D. GAYLORD, M. D. "HERMAN G. MATZINGER, M. D. "P. M. RIXEY, M. D. "MATTHEW D. MANN, M. D. "HERMAN MYNTER, M. D. "ROSWELL PARK, M. D. "EUGENE WASDIN, M. D. "CHARLES G. STOCKTON, M. D. "EDWARD G. JANEWAY, M. D. "W. W. JOHNSON, M. D. "W. P. KENDALL, "Surgeon United States Army. "CHARLES CARY, M. D. "EDWARD L. MUNSON, "Assistant Surgeon United States Army. "HERMANUS L. BAER, M. D." Aside from their officially signed statements, the doctors were averse to discussing the autopsy, but some general expressions were secured on the points involved. THE OPERATING SURGEON EXPLAINS THE CASE. Dr. Matthew D. Mann, the surgeon upon whom fell the responsibility of operating upon the President, immediately after he was shot, made the following explanation : "First of all, there was never any contention or unseemly discussion among the physicians as to the method of treatment of a case similar to the present one in importance. In no case was there ever a better under- standing as to what should be done. We worked together as one man. There were honest differences of opinion among us sometimes as to which was the better mode of procedure under certain conditions, but the minori- ty always were convinced. "About the criticisms that were made as to the insufficiency of the original examination and the failure to locate the bullet at the time of operation, were they justified?" "I think the report made today," Dr. Mann replied, "is a sufficient answer to your question. It shows plainly that the location of the bullet had nothing to do with the final outcome of the case. That resulted from gangrene, which appeared in the path of the bullet. Even our efforts to- \ WILLIAM McKINLEY. 87 day to locate it, as stated in the report, were unsuccessful. I believe it went into the muscle at the small of the back. "We followed the hole made by the bullet until it went into the muscle. We searched one and a half hours for the missile of death. The X-ray instrument was not used, as the appliances were not handy. This serious damage was done to the organs through which it passed not to the locali- ty where it now rests." "Your report says the first bullet, striking in the breast, did no harm." "Yes, that is correct. That bullet evidently struck a button and then shied off without doing any damage. Had it not met some obstruction it surely would have killed the President immediately. Below the locality where it struck the flesh was quite flabby and contused. "Today's investigation developed the fact that the first bullet struck the President on the right side of the breast bone near the edge and between the second and third ribs. In our original examination we said it was to the left of the breast bone. The mistake in the first announce- ment was due to the hasty examination we made at the time of the shoot- ing, when the question was not so much as to the exact location of the wounds as to that of getting to work to save the President's life. "The report speaks of a lack of evidence of repair work on the part of nature. Won't you explain just what bearing this had on the case at issue ?" SYSTEM BADLY RUN DOWN. "By that statement we mean that the general system of the patient failed to respond to the demand upon it for a revival from the shock suf- fered by the shooting. It was due probably to a low state of vitality; not to poor health, mind you, but to a system that was considerably run down and needed rest and recuperation." "The report says the heart walls were extremely thin. Was this condition peculiar to the President, or is it a common complaint? Did the use of smoking tobacco by the President have any important bearing on the case?" "A man whose heart walls are thin is usually one who leads a seden- tary life and whose heart gets no great amount of exercise. This organ, like any other, requires active exercise to keep it in proper condition. "No, I don't think the smoking habit affected the President's heart to the extent of making it figure in the result of his case.. He was not a great smoker, and at one time we even considered the propriety of per- mitting him to have a cigar." "It has been suggested, Dr. Mann, that the bullet which went into 88 WILLIAM McKINLEY. the President's abdomen was poisoned, and that this was what caused death. Do you think there is any basis for the reports ?" was asked. "The authorities and the physicians have received a number of tele- grams and letters alleging that the bullet was poisoned," Dr. Mann replied. "I don't know whether it was or not. A chemical or a bacteriological examination of the remaining bullets in the pistol will be necessary to determine that. "All the tissues through which the bullet passed were dead. This is remarkable, indeed. The area of the dead flesh in the stomach was per- haps so great as a silver dollar in circumference. .Dr. Wasdin, the Marine Hospital expert, was strongly inclined to the opinion that the bullet had been poisoned. "Just a word in conclusion," said Dr. Mann. "I think in justice to the other physicians and myself something should be said about the bul- letins issued every day. We aimed to make them as plain as possible and to state the facts simply. They were given as hour to hour talks of the President's condition, containing no opinions nor making any prog- nostications simply a narration of conditions made with a desire to keep the public informed from day to day of the actual state of affairs." Another one of the physicians said : "So far as the treatment of the case was concerned, both from a surgical and a medical standpoint, it was successful. The abdominal wound was fatal from the start. The physicians should feel relieved over the result of the autopsy, because it revealed the fact that the abdominal wound was necessarily fatal, and that nothing that was done or could be done would more than delay the inevitable result." DECLARED THE BULLETS WERE POISONED. Dr. Eugene Wasdin, one of the physicians, declared it his belief that the bullets fired by the assassin Czolgosz were poisoned and that the gan- grenous condition of the wounds resulted from this poison. Other sur- geons present at the autopsy did not concur, laughing at the theory of poi- soned bullets. Stories have been told of anarchists' bullets covered with poison, and the anarchist society was supposed to have the recipes for making these bullet poisons. It was possible that Czolgosz used a prepared bullet, but many be- lieved that he did not have enough chemical knowledge to do this, and the doctors who were present at the operation said the gangrene on the path of the bullet could have been produced by dirty, oily, leaden substances coming into contact with exposed animal tissue. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 89 The gangrene found in the path of the bullet was held to be strong evidence in support of this view by Dr. Wasdin. Dr. Wasdin is consid- ered an expert of high standing in the Marine Hospital service. Dr. Wasdin was an expert in yellow fever cases and familiar with the action of poisons in the human body. Dr. Wasdin's opinion during the progress of the case was much valued by the other physicians and his theory as to the poisonous matter upon the bullet are herewith given : "The breast bone wound showed a big impact. Still the area of infiltration of subcutaneous tissues was entirely too extensive to be account- ede for from contusion or the force of the bullet. The subcutaneous tis- sues were in a partly gangrenous condition. The bullet that went into the abdomen and penetrated the stomach also was followed by extensive necrosis of tissue or gangrene wherever it passed. "The skin wound on the point of entrance was livid gangrenous, and this process extended to the entire line of invasion made by the sur- geons through the abdominal wall. The point of entrance into the stomach was necrotic, or gangrenous. The sutures made by the surgeons were still intact at the autopsy, but the lines of sutures were surrounded by a necrotic area through the entire thickness of the stomach wall and extending on all sides about one and one-half to two inches. The same is true of the wounds of exit of the bullet on the posterior wall of the stomach, which was also still closed by sutures in the center of an exten- sive area of necrosis. "The further passage of the bullet through the soft tissues of the back, where it became imbedded, was also surrounded by necrotic tissue. "These different necrotic areas all had the same appearance as to time of duration that is, they were due to the same influence acting about the same time. All these conditions led me to believe that there has been an influence exerted by the passing bullet through the tissues entirely dissimilar to that exerted by an ordinary missile. In this case there was not the appearance of a single effort at natural repair at any point along the track of the ball. ORGANIC POISON ON BULLET. "The influence I speak of might be either bacterial the microbe being carried in on the bullet and giving rise to a growth of bacteria in the abdominal cavity, with resulting peritonitis and possible abscess, or, in the case of some rare germs, to necrosis of tissue. From bacteriological observations made thus far this does not seem to be the case. go WILLIAM McKINLEY. "There was no peritonitis or pus formation at any point within the abdominal cavity, only the gangrenous influence from the bullet, which, from these facts, I believe to have been due to some possible organic poison placed on the bullet. "Further bacteriological tests are in process, and possibly a germ capable of giving rise to this gangrenous condition of tissues may be found. But the presence of gangrene only at points of the passage of the bullet and the length of time seven days required for the necrotic or gangrenous changes rather convince me that it is not a bacterial influence, but must be due to some organic poison. "Tests were made of gangrenous material when the stitches in the President's wound were removed and the wound redressed. They did not show the presence of gangrene producing organisms, leading inferentially to the opinion that the bullet was coated with some poisonous substance." Dr. Roswell Park said : "I do not think that the bullet was poisoned. That hypothesis is not workable. I fail to subscribe to the theory that the bullet was poisoned for the simple reason that I have often seen bullet wounds similar to those sustained by the President, and I have seen condi- tions similar to those which resulted in the President's death in cases where no question of 'poisoned bullets' was raised." THEODORE ROOSEVELT SWORN IN. Theodore Roosevelt, Vice-President of the United States when Presi- dent McKinley was shot, was sworn in as President shortly after his arrival at Buffalo on Saturday afternoon. He first went to the Milburn residence, where the dead body of President McKinley was lying, and going direct to the room where Mrs. McKinley was, said a few words of sympathy and condolence. His eyes were filled with tears as he ex- pressed his sorrow at her great calamity, and with becoming tact disap- peared before the scene became more trying. As soon as Colonel Roose- velt had left Mrs. McKinley he hastened again to his carriage and, still accompanied by his police bodyguard, drove rapidly to the residence of Mr. Ansley Wilcox, where he was a guest. The carriage rolled through a long lane of people who were anxious to see the new President. Soon after arrived the carriages containing the members of the Cab- inet. Colonel Roosevelt had preceded them into the house, and as they stepped under the folds of the great American flag already draped with black he greeted each of them without ceremony and ushered them into the parlor. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 91 The official witnesses were the five members of the Cabinet who were in town Secretary Root, Secretary Long, Postmaster General Smith, Sec- retary Wilson, and Attorney General Knox. Besides them, however, were Senator Depew, John D. Milburn, George P. Keating, William Jefferson, R. C. Scatchard, Dr. C. E. Stock- ton, one of the physicians who attended President McKinley; Secretary Cortelyou, Dr. and Mrs. Mann, Dr. Park, George S. Metcalf, George Urban, Colonel Bingham, Mr. and Mrs. Carlton Sprague, Mrs. Milburn, Mr. Loeb, secretary to the Vice-President ; W. E. Roosevelt, his nephew, and, of course, Mr. and Mrs. Ansley Wilcox, with Miss Wilcox. The owner of the house announced that in accordance with the decision of the Cabinet the only other persons who would be admitted would be the representatives of three press associations. This restriction caught the ear of the Vice-President and he promptly announced that all the correspondents who were gathered on the porch and numbering no small total were to be admitted as welcomed guests. THE CEREMONY A SIMPLE AND IMPRESSIVE ONE. The ceremony of administering the oath, while extremely brief and simple, was undeniably impressive. After a preliminary consultation, Secretary Root, who was the ranking member of the Cabinet on account of the absence of Secretaries Hay and Gage, announced in a voice which betrayed the deep emotion he felt, that the members of the Cabinet believed it to be for the interest of the Government that he should take the oath of office before doing anything else. The explanation did not go into details at all, but it was quite well understood that it referred to the fact that if anything should happen to Mr. Roosevelt before he had been sworn in as President it might cast a cloud upon the title of Secretary Hay, who, in such an event, would become President under the Presidential succession law. There was no one in the whole assembly whose nerves were not strained to the breaking point by the tragical events of the preceding twenty-four hours, and the Secretary of War therefore played upon a tense chord when he said : "Mr. Vice-President, I am requested by all the members of the Cab- inet who are present in Buffalo, including all but two of the Cabinet, to request that for reasons of weight affecting the administration of the Gov- ernment you proceed without delay to take the oath of office of President of the United States." 92 WILLIAM McKINLEV. As the Secretary of War concluded there was a little rustle among the people present which showed the grave character of the occasion. Colonel Roosevelt, in a rather strained voice, but clearly and with grave decision of manner, said briefly : "Mr. Secretary, I shall take the oath in accordance with the request of the members of the Cabinet, and in this hour of deep distress and national bereavemenet I wish to state that it shall be my concern to con- tinue absolutely unbroken the policy of President McKinley for the peace, prosperity and the honor of our beloved country." He had scarcely concluded these words when he nodded to Judge Hazel of the United States District Court, who had been selected to admin- ister the oath and who stepped forward for that purpose. His words were simple, but were enunciated with a sharp distinctness which im- pressed every one of the spectators with the dramatic value of the whole proceedings. "Theodore Roosevelt, hold up your right hand." The hand was promptly raised to the shoulder of the Vice-President with the characteristic gesture of the man accustomed to the use of the rifle and the shotgun. Thereupon the Judge proceeded to administer the constitutional oath, and as he repeatetd the words they were solemnly echoed back by Colonel Rooseveelt, as follows : "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of Presi- dent of the Unitetd States, and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States." As the repetition of the oath was concluded Theodore Roosevelt became by this simple act vested with full power as President of the United States of America. There was a solemn moment of deep pause when each one seemed to feel that he had been made a spectator of the creation of a ruler of men. The pause, however, was extremely brief, and those present embraced the opportunity to extend their congratulations to their new President. President Roosevelt accepted them all with becoming dignity, but every now and then there was a delicious touch of the charm and cordial democracy which have made him so many friends. The day was too great a one, however, and the memory of the man who had passed away in the early hours of the same day but a mile or so up the avenue was much too distinct to permit of any waste of time in the mere matter of congratulations. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 93 So, then, President Roosevelt, speaking with a fluent and perfectly natural authority, as it seemed, said to the assembled company : "Ladies and Gentlemen : I desire the members of the Cabinet to remain. I have matters of importance to discuss with them." This was more than a hint it amounted to a kingly nod and so the roomful of deeply impressed spectators left the house without hesita- tion, and for the first time President Roosevelt was alone with his con- stitutional advisers. They were still members of the Cabinet, because they held until their successors were appointed, and so President Roosevelt found himself at the head of a body of distinguished men, sworn with him to protect and defend the constitution of the United States. The new President of the United States therefore held his first Cabinet meeting in the house of his old friend and associate, Ansley Wilcox PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S FIRST PROCLAMATION. The first act of the new President was to issue the following proclama- tion to the people of the United States : BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A PROCLAMATION. A terrible bereavement has befallen our people. The President of the United States has been struck down ; a crime committed not only against the Chief Magistrate, but against every law-abiding and liberty-loving citizen. President McKinley crowned a life of largest love for his fellow-men, of most earnest endeavor for their welfare, by a death of Christian forti- tude ; and both the way in which he lived his life and the way in which, in the supreme hour of trial, he met his death, will remain forever a precious heritage of our people. It is meet that we, as a nation, express our abiding love and reverence for his life, our deep sorrow for his untimely death. Now, therefore, I, Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do appoint Thursday next, Sept. 19, the day on which the body of the dead President will be laid in its last earthly resting place, as a day of mourning and prayer throughout the United States. I earnestly recommend all the people to assemble on that day in their respective places of divine worship, there to bow down in submission to the will of Almighty God, and to pay out of full hearts their homage of 94 WILLIAM McKINLEY. love and reverence to the great and good President whose death has smitten the nation with bitter grief. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, the I4th day of September, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and one, and of the independence of the United States the one hundred and twenty-sixth. [SEAL.] THEODORE ROOSEVELT. By the President: JOHN HAY, Secretary of State. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT REFUSES ESCORT. Befort starting for the Wilcox residence a squadron of cavalry had been drawn up as an escort. Colonel Roosevelt was plainly displeased, and he turned back quickly and spoke to Mr. Wilcox with a decided frown of authority. The reason of all this was apparent a few moments later when Mr. Wilcox hastened to the street and began a rapid explanation with the Captain of the escort. ^ "The Vice-President is not a soldier now," said Mr. Wilcox, "and he will not consent to be followed by a military escort. He did not ask for such an escort, and he directs you to take your men away." The Captain of the escort, who were soldiers of the signal corps, undertook to argue the matter, and declared that the new President was fully entitled to the protection of the military authorities, the catastrophe which had deprived the country of one President being cited as an ample reason for affording unusual protection to another. The Captain insisted on his duty in the matter and pleaded the orders he had received from his superior officer. Mr. Wilcox was a private citizen, and was getting the worst of the argument, when Colonel Roosevelt took a hand and settled the matter with characteristic abruptness. "The Vice-President needs no protection in the streets of an Ameri- can city from any military body," exclaimed Colonel Roosevelt. "Just say to your commanding officer that I have revoked your orders. I do not want your men behind me, and I positively decline your escort." The Vice-President had his way so far as military escort was con- cerned, but he could not shake off the police. A mounted man on each side accompanied the carriage up Delaware avenue, while in the open carriage which followed Colonel Roosevelt were three men who were recognized at intervals along the road as Buffalo detectives. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 95 FORMAL OBSEQUIES OF PRESIDENT McKiNLEY. On Sunday morning- the remains of the late President were laid in a magnificent casket, and at n o'clock services were held in the large parlor of the Milburn residence. These were extremely simple, consisting of a reading from the Scriptures and a fervent prayer by the Rev. Dr. Locke, the son of the former pastor of the President in Canton. At this time the family and those who formed the intimate personal associates of the dead President had their own opportunity to say their good-by, guarded from the eyes of the multitude. The casket, which contained the remains of the martyred President, was of red cedar, handsomely carved, and covered with the finest black broadcloth. The interior was first lined with copper, over which was a full tufted satin covering. A French bevel plate glass ran the length of the top of the. casket. The inscription on the casket was as follows : WILLIAM M'KINLEY, Born Jan. 29, 1843. Died Sept. 14, 1901. The outside case was made of red cedar finely finished. The corners were capped with polished copper, and the handles were of the same ma- terial. On the top of the case was a copper plate bearing a duplicate of the inscription on the casket. The military pall-bearers were sergeants of the army post at Buffalo, marines from the Pan-American Exposition, and under officers of the United States coast defense at Buffalo. A hour later, at noon, the casket was removed, under military escort, to the City Hall of Buffalo, where" it lay in state during the day, guarded by a detachment of New York National Guards. The public was admitted to the City Hall from noon until 5 p. m., a line being formed for the purpose of allowing the casket to be viewed. It remained at the City Hall until Monday morning, and was escorted thence to the train which con- veyed the funeral party to Washington. President Roosevelt was at the City Hall for a time, and was much affected. The funeral train left Buffalo on Monday morning at 8:30 o'clock and arrived in Washington at 8:45 o'clock that night. The removal of the casket from the City Hall to the railroad station at Buffalo was the occasion of a stately military demonstration, all available troops being in line. The funeral train was necessarily an official transport of the body of the late Chief Executive of the nation. The party, therefore, was chiefly 96 WILLIAM McKINLEY. official. Mrs. McKinley and the members of the family had, of course, a secluded place upon the train. President Roosevelt, the members of the Cabinet, Controller Dawes, and other officials were on board; Senators Hanna, Fairbanks, Burrows, and others who were particularly intimate with President McKinley; the official committees of Congress, nominated by the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate ; the military and other guards ; and a few intimate personal and political friends of the President in addition to a special committee representing the Buffalo Exposition, whose guest the Executive was when he was shot ; and a committee representing the City of Buffalo, where the President breathed his last. In spite of all pleadings, prayers and requests, the funeral train made no stops between Buffalo and Washington, but it was run slowly through all the principal towns along the route. The cars were simply and appro- priately draped, and the muffled bell of the engine was rung almost con- stantly throughout the journey. The trip throughout was a most solemn and impressive one. At every city, town, village and hamlet the people thronged the railroad tracks and stood uncovered while the train passed by. Emblems of mourning in the greatest profusion were to be seen everywhere. ARRIVAL OF THE REMAINS AT WASHINGTON. Upon the arrival of the funeral train at Washington the remains were met at the railroad station by an escort composed of troops and carried to the White House, where they remained all night in the East Room of that historic edifice. There was no particular attempt at display upon this occasion, but the presence of the military and mounted police, combined with the necessary illuminations along the route up Pennsylvania avenue to make the transport from the station to the White House something in the nature of a spectacular tribute. The great broad avenue was thronged with spectators, this adding to the solemnity of the scene. Mrs. McKinley was very anxious that the body lie in state at the White House, for she and the President both loved it as a place of resi- dence, but there being more room in the Capitol, thus affording greater opportunity for the people to pass in and out while the casket was open, she finally acceded to the wishes of those having the funeral arrangements in charge. Brief services were held in the East Room at the White House, these being under the care and supervision of the Rev. Dr. Frank M. Bristol, pastor of the Metropolitan Church at Washington. This was the church President and Mrs. McKinley always attended. The Birthplace of William McKinley at Niles. Ohio The Residence of John G. Milburn. Buffalo, N. Y. The House in whlcK President McKinley Died WILLIAM M c KIN LEY. 101 All the officials in Washington concurred in the belief that the only proper course to pursue was to have a state funeral. The decision of the members of the Cabinet at Buffalo, therefore, received the indorsement of every one at the National Capital. People from all sections of the country were in Washington to witness the ceremonies. It was natural that Mrs. McKinley should have desired a more simple form of ceremony than this, but as the late President was the head of the Nation, and not a private individual, she forebore her wishes and agreed to the arrange- ments officially made. She had her own way, however, in regard to the privacy of the funeral at Canton, it being as much of a simple ceremony as it was possible to make it. On Tuesday morning, at 9 o'clock, the remains of the martyr Presi- dent were removed from the White House to the great marble Capitol on the hill with every conceivable pomp and circumstance. The route selected for the passage of the funeral column was down that broad, historic and magnificent avenue, upon which so many events connected with the Nation's life have been enacted. The body lay in state in the Capitol until that evening at 7:30 o'clock. Then all that was mortal of William McKinley was tenderly borne to the railroad station by an escort which was made up of distinguished men from every walk in life, including statesmen, soldiers and sailors, and followed by sorrowing friends. Upon arriving at the station the funeral procession was dismissed and a distinguished escort, consisting of the highest officers of the Army and Navy, accompanied the body to its last resting place at the modest home of the departed President in the interior Ohio city. The day following the death of President McKinley at Buffalo orders were issued from the War Department for the assembling of troops at Washington to participate in the funeral procession. The regular military force thus gathered consisted of men representing all branches of the service coast artillery from Fortress Monroe, coast artillery from Fort Washington, engineers from Willet's Point, cavalry from Fort Meyer, and artillerymen from Washington Barracks. In addition to these there was a Navy column, consisting of officers, bluejackets and marines. Admiral Dewey and other distinguished officers of the United States Navy were also present. The regiments of the National Guard of the District of Columbia were in line with the regular contingents, and the entire military force was under command of Major General John R. Brooke, U. S. A. Lieu- tenant General Nelson A. Miles, commanding the United States Army, 102 WILLIAM McKINLEY. accompanied the remains to Canton, joining the funeral party at Harris- burg. The body of President McKinley was laid in state under the magnifi- cent dome of the Capitol, where the remains of Presidents Lincoln and Garfield were also placed. Under this dome, the finest in the world, the people came by unnumbered thousands to pay their last tribute of respect and affection, passing by the casket as it reposed upon a classic catafalque. A larger assemblage was never seen at the National Capital, and the cortege from the White House to the halls of legislation passed down Pennsylvania Avenue between two dense walls of living humanity. On Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock semi-private funeral services were held at the Capitol, only those having tickets of admission being admitted. Rev. Henry R. Naylor delivered the prayer, and Bishop Edward G. An- drews made the address. Ex-President Cleveland was among those present. At 7 130 o'clock the remains were taken from the Capitol to the rail- road station, escorted by troops and the Grand Army of the Republic and the Order of the Loyal Legion, the late President being a member of both orders. At 8 o'clock the funeral train left for Canton, arriving there the following day at noon. Members of the Cabinet, Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, members of the Diplomatic Corps and other distinguished persons took another special train for the Ohio city, arriving there about the same time as the funeral train. When the remains arrived at Canton they were conveyed to the cottage which had for so many years been the home of the late Chief Magistrate, the cortege consisting of nearly all the townspeople and friends from other parts of the State of Ohio. Funeral services were held at the house, and on Thursday the body of the beloved President was laid to rest in the beautiful cemetery where his two children were buried years before. A death mask was made at Washington by a Washington artist, Garet. All the President's relatives and friends agreed that it was desir- able that the features of the martyred President should be preserved for the sake of history. After the President's death telegrams and messages of condolence and sympathy from all over the world arrived by the thousand at Buffalo, Washington and Canton. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 103 ROOSEVELT RETAINS McKiNLEY CABINET. The people were prepared to be surprised when Theodore Roosevelt became President, but they were astonished, nevertheless, when he an- nounced his intention of retaining all the members of President McKin- ley's Cabinet. When on the day President McKinley died the new President invited them to hold their present posts it was "for a few months," and this invitation all the members of the Cabinet construed as meaning that their services were wanted only to carry the Government over till Mr. Roose- velt could find new men to his liking. This duty they were, of course, willing to perform, but save in the cases of two or three of them they had begun to count upon nothing else than a retirement to private life during the coming fortnight or month. The following Monday, however, President Roosevelt took pains to place the matter in a new light. He had apparently been reflecting upon the situation, and was not wholly satisfied with it. Somewhat to the surprise of the six members of the Cabinet who were on the funeral train, en route to Washington, President Roosevelt called them into his private compartment at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and said to them that he wanted every one of them to consider himself invited to become a member of the new Cabinet. "I not only want you to stay with me," said the President to them, "but I want you to consider that I am selecting you as my choice. You are asked not merely to fill out a term, but to be my chosen councilors. I wish to have the matter regarded in this light. There are vacancies in the Cabinet post, and I choose all you gentlemen to fill them. I will appoint you anew." As soon as they had recovered from their astonishment the six members of the Cabinet held a brief consultation, and at the end of it all of them accepted the invitation and pledged themselves to their new chief. Upon his arrival in Washington the President summoned Secretary of State Hay and Secretary of the Treasury Gage and secured their promises to remain with the new administration. CHAPTER VII. i . CZOLGOSZ A FOLLOWER OF EMMA GOLDMAN, THE HIGH PRIESTESS OF ANARCHY IN THE UNITED STATES SHE Is ARRESTED IN CHICAGO, WITH OTHERS, ON THE CHARGE OF CONSPIRING TO KILL PRESIDENT McKiNLEY SNEERS AT THE POLICE HER HEARTLESS WORDS AFTER THE PRESIDENT'S DEATH CHARGE THAT CONSPIRACY WAS HATCHED IN CHICAGO CZOLGOSZ NOT INSANE NOR A DEGENERATE. Czolgosz was a follower of Emma Goldman, the high priestess of anarchy in the United States, and it was in consequence of her fervid teachings that he shot the President. Czolgosz was not a man of any high order of intellectuality ; he was merely a brute, a boor and a mudsill. Down in a cellar on Henry street in New York a number of Russian refugees organized a free-thought Anarchistic society, and started a paper known as the Freie Arbeiter Stimme, or "Free Workman's Voice." Here, by the light of a lamp, speakers standing on a soap box addressed the motley gathering of foreigners from all lands. Among the orators were Johann Most, Justus Schwab, the Jew Gold- berg, who was a confrere of Michael Bakunin himself; Merlino, the Italian Anarchist, and others. Emma Goldman was a frequent speaker. Just after the shooting of the President Most said, "What good would it do to kill McKinley unless Roosevelt was killed, too? Both must be put out of the way to do any good." ARREST OF TWELVE AVOWED ANARCHISTS. It is known that Czolgosz drew inspiration from the Chicago "Reds," the police of that city having laid the fact bare. The claim was also made that when he went to Buffalo on his murderous mission he was the agent of a group of Chicago conspirators. Twelve avowed Anarchists were placed in cells in Chicago police stations the day following the shooting of President McKinley, and at least five of these acknowledged an acquaintance with Czolgosz. They declared, however, that he was no more than a rattle-brained follower of 104 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 105 their cult with whom they never conferred and of whose plans for shoot- ing the President they knew nothing. Czolgosz was in Chicago for a time until July I2th. Emma Goldman, high in Chicago's more "radical" anarchistic circles, was the chief inspiration for the assailant to commit his crime. It was in Chicago that Czolgosz met Emma Goldman only seven weeks before the shooting. One young girl of Chicago, professing Anarchy, was with Emma Goldman in Buffalo for three weeks late in July and early in August. They stood in the Temple of Music near the spot where, on Friday, President Mc- Kinley was struck down. Two men left Chicago's modern center of anarchy, the house at No. 515 Carroll Avenue where Abraham Isaak, Sr., published Free Society, the organ of anarchism, the Tuesday before the President was stricken down. These men, it was believed, may have been in some way connected with the crime of Czolgosz. The latter confessed, under pressure, that he had two accomplices, but said one was a woman. The foregoing points were established by the police of Chicago. The developments of Saturday, September yth, in Chicago, which linked Czolgosz with Chicago were brought out as a result of the twelve arrests. Nine of these prisoners, all taken from the house at No. 515 Carroll Avenue, stood charged with "conspiracy to kill and assassinate the President of the United States, William McKinley." The nine were : Abraham Isaak, Sr., publisher of the Free Society and former pub- lisher of the Firebrand, the organ of anarchy which was suppressed. Abraham Isaak, Jr. Clemence Pfuetzner. Alfred Schneider. Hippolyte Havel. Henry Travaglio. Julia Mechanic. Marie Isaak, mother. Marie Isaak, daughter. The warrants on which they were held made this charge: "Conspiracy to do an illegal act, paragraph 96, page 1250, Star & Curtis (statutes). Time, on or about Sept. 5, 1901. "Specific act: Conspiracy to kill and assassinate President of the United States, William McKinley; conspired with Leon Czolgosz, alias Fred C. Nieman." The three others arrested in Chicago, taken in a raid on the house at No. 100 Newberry Avenue, were: io6 WILLIAM McKINLEY. Martin Raznick, cloakmaker, who rented the premises at this number. Maurice Fox. Michael Raz. In this house the detectives from Maxwell Street Station found box after box heaped with literature of anarchy and socialism. There were pictures of Emma Goldman and other leaders. There were also many copies of the Firebrand, Isaak's old paper. Of those in custody Abraham Isaak, Sr., was the man looked on as the ringleader. That the Buffalo authorities held this view was evidenced by the telegram on which Chief O'Neill and Chief of Detectives Colleran acted. It was from Chief of Police Bull, arid read : "We have in custody Leon Czolgosz, alias Fred Nieman, the Presi- dent's assassin. Locate and arrest E. J. Isaak, who is editor of a Social- istic paper and a follower of Emma Goldman, from whom Nieman is said to have taken instructions. It looks as if there might be a plot, and that these people may be implicated." Isaak himself acknowledged that he knew Czolgosz, but said that he never took him in his confidence. He declared to the police that he knew him only a short time as Czolz and regarded him as a spy or an unsafe man. In substantiation of this Isaak produced a copy of his paper, Free Society, of date Sept. I, containing a warning that, he declares, referred to Czolgosz. It is held by the police, however, that this may have been merely a blind, understood by plotters in a well-laid conspiracy. The notice ran : "ATTENTION! "The attention of the comrades is called to another spy. He is well dressed, of medium height, rather narrow shoulders, blond, and about 25 years of age. Up to the present he has made his appearance in Chicago and Cleveland. In the former place he remained but a short time, while in Cleveland he disappeared when the comrades had confirmed them- selves of his identity and were on the point of exposing him. His de- meanor is of the usual sort, pretending to be greatly interested in the cause, asking for names or soliciting aid for acts of contemplated violence. If this same individual makes his appearance elsewhere the comrades are warned in advance and can act accordingly." Perhaps the most important light on the case was brought out during the police examination of Editor Isaak's daughter Marie, sixteen years old, but a thorough believer in anarchism. Czolgosz was in Chicago about July 1 2th, Marie admitted. Emma Goldman had been here during June WILLIAM McKINLEY. 107 and until the middle of July. She had met the tried and faithful in the house at No. 515 Carroll Avenue. She had met Czolgosz there. "He walked with Emma Goldman part of the way to the railroad station on July I2th," the girl admitted. Then she sought to correct this, saying hurriedly : "This man came to my father's office and to our house about seven weeks ago and attempted to get acquainted, but father thought that he was either a spy or a detective. So he was turned aside," she added quickly. It was this young girl, Marie Isaak, who visited the Buffalo Exposi- tion with Emma Goldman. EDITOR ISAAK A LOUD ANARCHIST. Isaak admitted at the outset that Emma Goldman had been a guest at his house during her stay in Chicago, and that Czolgosz, who was known among local anarchists as Czolsz, also had called there and been the recipient of his hospitality. Said he: "The man made a bad impression on me from the first, and when he called me aside and asked me about the secret meetings of Chicago Anarchists I was sure he was a spy. I despised the man as soon as I saw him and was positive he was a spy. I was suspicious of him all the time, so I wrote to E. Schilling, one of our comrades in Cleveland, Ohio, and asked him if he knew of such a man. "Schilling replied that a fellow answering his description had called on him and that he believed the man was a spy in the employ of the police. He said he wanted to 'search' the stranger, but was alone when he called and did not care to attempt the job. Schilling arranged a meeting for another night, but Czolgosz didn't show up, and all trace of him was lost. I wrote to Cleveland because Czolgosz had told me he once lived there. "After I received Schilling's letter I printed an article in my paper denouncing the fellow as a spy and warning my people against him." "Are you an anarchist ?" "Yes, sir, I am," Isaak answered with swelling pride. "What do you mean by anarchism ?" "I mean a country without government. We recognize neither law nor the right of one man to govern another. The trouble with the world is that it is struggling to abolish effect without seeking to get at the cause. Yes, I am an anarchist, and there are 10,000 people in Chicago who think and believe as I do. You don't hear about them because they are not organized. But we have groups. Whenever there is some propaganda io8 WILLiAM McKINLEY. to be promoted these groups meet, arrange the details, and provide the necessary money." "Do the anarchists of Chicago hold secret meetings ?" "No, sir, there are no secret meetings. Our societies assemble often, but the meetings are always open. At least I announce them in my paper." "How do your people in Chicago feel about the assassination of President McKinley?" "Assassination is nothing but a natural phenomenon. It always has existed and will exist as long as this tyrannical system of government prevails. However, we don't believe tyranny can be abolished by the kill- ing of one man. Yet there will be absolute anarchy. "In Russia I was a Nihilist. There are secret meetings there, and I wan to tell you that as soon as you attempt to suppress anarchy here there will be secret meetings in the United States. "I don't believe in killing rulers, but I do believe in self-defense. As long as you let anarchists talk their creed openly in this country the con- servatives will not be in favor of assassinating executives." Hippolyte Havel, the second one of the Chicago suspects to be exam- ined, was an excitable Bohemian, 35 years of age. In appearance he was the opposite of Isaak. Dwarfed of stature, narrow eyed, with jet black hair hanging in a confused mass over his low forehead, and a manner of talking that brings into play both hands, he looked the part when he boldly told Chief O'Neill that he was an anarchist and wouldn't have told the police even if he had known an assassin was going to Buffalo to kill President McKinley. As to Czolgosz he said : "I talked with the man about half an hour. He talked like a little child. No, I don't believe he was insane, but he asked such foolish questions. He was 28 or 30 years of age, about five feet ten or eleven inches tall, and I think was smooth shaven. I don't remember much that he said except that he wanted to know all about the 'comrades' in Chicago and about the secret meetings of local anarchists." ARREST OF Miss GOLDMAN AT CHICAGO. Miss Goldman was arrested in Chicago on Tuesday, September loth, at No. 303 Sheffield Street, where she had been stopping for several days. She was taken on a warrant served by Detective Herts, who served it upon the woman after gaining entrance to the house through a transom. The complaint upon which the warrant was issued is as follows : "The complaint and information of Luke P. Colleran of Chicago in WILLIAM McKINLEY. 109 said county made before J. K. Prindiville, one justice of the peace in aforesaid county on this loth day of September, 1901. "Said complainant being duly sworn upon his oath says that on to-wit the day and year and in the county aforesaid Emma Goldman, Abraham Isaak, Sr., Abraham Isaak, Jr., Marie Isaak, Sr., Marie Isaak, Jr., Clem- ence Pfuetzner, Julia Mechanic, Hippolyte Havel and Alfred Schneider did unlawfully conspire and agree together feloniously and willfully, with malice aforethought, to kill and murder William McKinley, contrary to the form of the statute in such case made and provided, and this complainant has just and reasonable grounds for believing that the aforesaid Emma Goldman, Abraham Isaak, Sr., Abraham Isaak, Jr., Marie Isaak, Sr., Marie Isaak, Jr., Clemence Pfuetzner, Julia Mechanic are guilty of the offense aforesaid, and therefore prays that the said Emma Goldman may be arrested and dealt with according to the law. "LUKE P. COLLERAN. "Subscribed and sworn to before me on this loth day of September, 1901. JOHN K. PRINDIVILLE, "Justice of the Peace." When arrested she was asked : "Do you believe, Miss Goldman, that anything you said incited that man to his deed ?" "If he said that he is not an anarchist. That address dwelt particu- larly on the mistake of people confounding Anarchy with violence. I am not psychologist enough to see what was going on in that man's mind and I am not responsible for what he did, but I know that what I said did not incite him to anything rash." Proceeding with her statement, Miss Goldman said: "McKinley was simply a tool in the hands of the wealthy. He was the most insig- nificant President the United States ever had. Still, I do not see what could come out of killing him. I know that there are people in desperate circumstances who may be driven to commit desperate acts." PRESIDENT'S DEATH DOES NOT AFFECT HER. "How do you feel regarding the President's death ?" "Why should it affect me ? I do not feel any more concerned over his death than over that of any other man." "What do you think of President McKinley's words, 'God's will, not ours, be done'?" "I don't think they signify anything. He believed in God and it is natural to suppose that he would think that way as he was about to die. no WILLIAM McKINLEY. I don't believe in God, and for that reason those words do not appeal to me in any way." "But don't you think the President's supreme faith in God gave evidence of a great nobility of character ?" she was asked. "Thousands of other men have had as great, if not greater, faith in God than he had, but you never hear of them. His dying words do not appeal to me in the least. Many scientists have given utterance to more important words than those and you never hear of them. President Mc- Kinley may have been a model husband, but there are thousands of others as good as he was. He had an opportunity to satisfy every wish of his wife, while there are many others who are just as anxious to but are unable." "Do you feel sorry that the President is dead ?" "I feel sorry for his wife," Miss Goldman replied. "Not because she is the wife of a President, but because she is a woman. She is simply obliged to bow to the inevitable. The position of a ruler in these days is a perilous one and when he is killed it is simply the result of his assum- ing the position." Miss Goldman's schedule of movements, as given by her, was as fol- lows : Left Chicago with Marie Isaak 8 130 p. m., July 12 ; arrived at Buf- falo with Miss Isaak July 13 ; left Buffalo for Rochester July 15. Stayed in Rochester a little more than five weeks, not having seen the Buffalo Ex- position up to that time ; between August 13 and 15 went to Buffalo, arriv- ing there Tuesday. August 13 fell on Tuesday; August 19 started for Pittsburg, to become traveling saleswoman for a New York house; left Pittsburg September I for St. Louis, still as saleswoman; arrived at St. Louis September 2, Labor Day, where she remained until she started for Chicago. THE LOUISE MICHEL OF AMERICA. Emma Goldman was denominated the Louise Michel of America. Like the notorious Frenchwoman, she believed in the destruction of all law, leaving humanity to get along under a form of voluntary association. Her writings, which Czolgosz said influenced him in his attempt to assas- sinate the President, have appeared in pamphlets and the cheap magazines devoted to the doctrines of the "Reds." The Chicago Firebrand at one time contained an attack by her on the institution of marriage. She would abolish both the marriage tie and divorce. "The consent of neither priest nor the law," according to this disciple of Bakunin, should not be asked in the selection of life partners. WILLIAM McKINLEY. m Her career was one unceasing warfare against modern society. In the streets and among the slums of New York and other American cities she carried on her crusade, which began about the time of the Chicago riots in 1886. An important link in proving that a conspiracy to kill the President existed developed in Buffalo Friday, September I3th, in warrants sworn out for the arrest of Dr. Isaac Saylin of Buffalo, who was arrested in Chicago on September I2th. The physician told the police that he was in Chicago to see a sick brother. Evidence was secured by the police showing that his brother was not sick at that time. The police regarded with sus- picion the fact that a meeting was held at the house of Miss Mattie Lang in Buffalo August 3ist, at which Emma Goldman, Dr. Saylin and several others were present. On Saturday, the day the President died, the hearing of a petition for habeas corpus on behalf of Editor Isaak, Miss Goldman and the other prisoners was to have been had in Chicago, but the feeling against those persons was so intense that it was postponed. In order to prevent an attack upon them by the incensed people of Chicago a very heavy guard was put over them and they were hurried from the courtroom to the jail without ceremony or delay. Fortunately the jail was in the same building. Had the prisoners gone into the street they would certainly have been mobbed. All of them looked extremely pale, frightened and apprehensive, and were glad when they were safe in their cells again. On September loth a violent anarchist named Antonio Maggio was arrested on order from Washington. He had been making bold speeches for some time previous, and distributed Socialistic literature. In them he repeated several times that President McKinley would be shot before October ist, 1901. The arrest was regarded as a most important one. THE MEN WHO ARRESTED THE ASSASSIN.' Credit for the arrest of President McKinley's assassin and for his rescue from the crowd was claimed by Captain John P. Wisser of the Artillery Corps, U. S. A., to belong to his men, whose names he gave in his report of the shooting to the Adjutant General of the United States Army at Washington. Captain Wisser said in his report that he made a detail at the request of Mr. Babcock of the reception committee to assist in regulating the advance of the people at the President's reception in the Temple of Music September 6th. H2 WILLIAM McKINLEY. Corporal Bertschey and ten men reported to Mr. Babcock at 3 p. m. The corporal was a soldier of twenty years' service. The corporal gave the men in his detail instructions to keep their eyes open and watch every man approaching the President. "When the assassin fired two shots," said Captain Wisser, "Private Brooks was standing immediately in the rear of John Milburn, who was on the left of the President; Private O'Brien was immediately on Mr. Milburn's left; Private Fennbough was directly opposite the President and Private Neff was opposite Private O'Brien. Corporal Bertschey was midway between Private O'Brien and the point where the President stood. When the shots were fired Private O'Brien was the first man on the assas- sin, with Private Neff. Corporal Bertschey and Private Brooks reached him at about the same time, Private Brooks colliding with Mr. Milburn in his effort to get at the assassin. "Private O'Brien got the assassin down. Private Neff jumped on him before he was down and held his arm while Private O'Brien wrenched away the revolver as he was falling. Corporal Bertschey then jumped on the assassin, kneeling on his chest and neck, and said : 'I claim this man as my prisoner.' Private Heiser followed Corporal Bertschey in falling on the prisoner, and while he was down on his right knee at the right side of the prisoner's head he saw that the President was still standing up looking down on the group of men on the prisoner. The President then walked with the help of two men to a chair and sat down." The report added that the secret service men came on the scene and grabbed Corporal Bertschey, sweeping away the corporal's detail, and tried to take the assassin's pistol from Private O'Brien, who frustrated their attempt. "The secret service men then took the prisoner to the Music Temple. One of them hit the assassin in the face. Then they took him to a room to the left of the stage in the Music Temple. "Four of the secret service men continued in their effort to take the pistol from O'Brien, who finally handed it to his corporal. The secret service men failed in their attempt to take the weapon from the corporal, who put it in his pocket." While Captain Wisser held back the crowd with his men the secret service men got the assassin in a carriage and took him off. Captain Wisser's men kept the crowd from capturing the prisoner by standing with fixed bayonets. The Captain sent a detail to clear the esplanade and keep up with the carriage. Two of Captain Wisser's men ordered two men from the wheels WILLIAM McKINLEY. 113 of the carriage, but the two men hung on until Captain Wisser's man, Sergeant Rothweiler, threatened to shoot. Captain Wisser put the revol- ver in a case, sealed it and turned it over to the Chief of Police of Buffalo, September 7th. In conclusion, Captain Wisser said in his report: "I respectfully recommend that my detail of men be mentioned in general orders for their conduct on this occasion, which was all that could be desired." A STUDY OF THE ASSASSIN CZOLGOSZ. Dr. Harold N. Moyer, one of the most eminent alienists in the United States, made a study of a photograph of the assassin Czolgosz, and pre- pared a statement as to the indications of insanity or degeneracy found in the features. "The photograph that is available for examination is a reproduction of a finished picture which has probably been retouched, and it is possible that the art of the photographer may have obliterated some of the im- portant features. "The face and head, taken as a whole, make a decidedly pleasing impression. At first glance they would not be taken as belonging to a degenerate, but it is to be borne in mind that any photograph taken full front may be devoid of some distinctive characteristics which would be found in the original. There are certain prominences of the jaw and irregularities in the profile which would not show in a full front view. Hence an opinion based on an examination such as is afforded by a study of this picture may be at best only tentative. "The forehead is of medium height, the hair line coming rather well down. The nose is straight. The eyes are moderately deep set, and a line running from the inner to the outer angle of each eyelid is exactly at right angles with the long axis of the face. The nose may possibly be deformed when seen upon profile. "The mouth is the best feature of the face. The lips are curved, both upper and lower, and the groove extending from the septum of the nose to the upper lip is well formed. "The chin is well formed, and is what would probably be called a 'weak chin.' "The projection of the jaws, which is of such great importance in estimating degeneracy, cannot be estimated because the picture is a full front view. "The ears are well formed and do not set out from the head, but the details of their formation cannot be described from the photograph. 114 WILLIAM McKINLEY. Their size corresponds with the general facial development. They are not over large or under sized. "The general outline of the head, the pose of the shoulders and neck, indicate, so far as the upper portion of the body is concerned, a well formed individual. It is, however, to be remembered that the photo- graph was taken while the individual was posing under the direction of a photographer, and hence may not represent a characteristic attitude. One of the characteristic signs of a degenerate is want of symmetry between the two sides of the head and face. "So far as one can judge from his photograph there is no want of symmetry. But the amplification is not great, and with minute measure- ments it is easy to be at fault in this particular. The left side of the face is in shadow, hence it appears smaller, but it may not really be so. "The individual would not be classed among degenerates from a study of his photograph alone, nor does he present any characteristic signs of an insane person. As a rule, the insane may be classed by a study of their pictures. The main types of insanity have a certain expression in common that would enable one to roughly group them. This would be true of a majority of cases, but there are many insane individuals who present nothing in their features characteristic of insanity. "Naturally a study of this individual's face recalls some of the great criminals that have gone before notably Prendergast, who assassinated Mayor Harrison of Chicago, and Guiteau, who assassinated President Garfield. "Both of these individuals are now regarded by those who make a close study of these subjects as insane. These propositions were denied at the time, and there was much expert testimony apparently conflicting in both of these cases. "Prendergast assassinated Mayor Harrison as a result of his failure to receive an appointment for which he was in no way fitted and for which he had not been considered. The mere receiving of his applica- tion was sufficient, in his distorted mind, to create an impression that he was in some way entitled to recognition. "The killing of President Garfield had the same basic elements, plus considerable general excitement growing out of party controversies at the time. "In each case those of Mayor Harrison and President Garfield there was a motive, but it was of a sort that could only have moved a mind incapable of reasoning correctly. We are not now saying that in each case the mental defect was of a sort that should absolve the indi- WILLIAM McKINLEY. 115 viduals of responsibility for their crimes, but we do say that to class them as normal persons, capable of reasoning correctly, means failure to recog- nize the most obvious of mental defects. "In this latest attempt at the assassination there is no personal motive, so far as is now known. The President bore no personal relation even in the slightest degree to this individual, and he reasoned as correctly as most of his class reason namely: that the taking of the life of the President was a furtherance of the Anarchistic propaganda. "Judging this man by his surroundings and the influences which have been brought to bear upon him, it was a sane act, though the attempt being ever so foolish from the standpoint of the ordinary law-abiding citizen. It was a crime the outgrowth of adequate causes, and not a distortion of an inadequate motive by an insane mind." The idea that the assassin of President McKinley was insane never entered the head of any person until after the commission of the awful deed, and then it was merely said that "he must have been crazy to do such a thing." However, to guard against the possibility of the insanity theory being a prime factor in the trial the District Attorney at Buffalo had Czolgosz, after his arrest, examined daily by prominent physicians, who found the murderer normal and fully capable of appreciating what he had done. Czolgosz was never called crazy by any of those who associated with him. He was a laborer most of his working life, with the expection of the time when he kept a saloon, but he always conducted himself in a rational manner. He persistently preached the doctrines of anarchy, and was often heard to say that he wanted to be "active," but this was no sign of insanity. Immediately succeeding the death of President McKinley the wrath of the Buffalo people became so great that it was necessary to hide the place of imprisonment of the assassin. The assassin was hastily escorted to the penitentiary at Trenton Avenue and Pennsylvania Street, in Buffalo, where he remained until removed to Danemora Prison, where he suffered the death penalty for his outrageous crime. At i o'clock in the afternoon of September I4th Czolgosz was taken away, and he went in the clothes he wore at the time he committed his crime and which he wore all the time he was in the dungeon in the base- ment of the police headquarters. Chief Cusack was the only man with him. A door of the cellroom in which was the dungeon that contained Czolgosz opened into a corridor that ran north and south. Near the north ii6 WILLIAM McKINLEY. end of the hall and opening from its left side was a door that led into a room that comprised the northwest corner of the cellar, and from the northwest corner of that room a door opened into Erie Street. It was the .most obscure door the building had. Ordinarily it was used only for the removal of barrels of ashes and garbage. It was through that corridor, that northwest room and that exit that Chief Cusack smuggled the pris- oner at an hour when the attention of newspaper men was centered in doings in the superintendent's office on the second floor. A few passers- by saw the two men emerge from the remote doorway. The two passed directly across the sidewalk to the curb and got into a carriage that had arrived only a second or two before. Czolgosz walked briskly as his custodian led him to the carriage. If Czolgosz was at all reluctant when the detective took him out of his cell the most cunning and resourceful of all Buffalo sleuths had convinced him that a hasty transfer was necessary. Perhaps the chief had brought him to believe he was in imminent danger of being mobbed and lynched if he remained at headquarters. Cusack took no chances of the prisoner's escape. Czolgosz was securely handcuffed to him. To make a break for liberty the murderer would have to lug Cusack with him. The handcuff was on the officer's left wrist, and his right hand was free to draw a revolver which he had. But the prisoner made no attempt to escape. The two had hardly seated themselves when the driver whipped up the team and drove at breakneck speed across Erie street to the Upper Terrace. BIOGRAPHY OF EMMA GOLDMAN. Emma Goldman, according to conditions, preached both for and against violence in carrying out the principles as she called them of anarchy. She was never a very consistent person, because, so some per- sons say, she had always had her speeches and the articles which appeared over her name written for her by some one else. What she lacked in education and thought she made up, however, by a crude eloquence, which stirred up many a gathering of anarchists in New York, Chicago and other cities. She gained for herself the title of "The Little Firebrand," a most appropriate title for a person of her lurid proclivities. She was about thirty-five years old when President McKinley was shot. She was a Russian, the daughter of a tailor, and she came to the United States in 1884. At that time she had no more notion of anarchy than she had of constitutional law. From the first her associations in The Old Home of President McKinley a.t Canton. Ohio The McKinley Home as it now appears after being re-modeled Soldiers on Gua.rd a.t the Mtlbxirn Home The Sister's Last Visit Where the President was Assassinated No. 1 marks the position of the President. No. 2 the position of Czolgosz. President and Mrs. McKinley and Mr. Milburn Driving over the Exposition Grounds The Sea-t (X) where President McKinley Awaited the Ambulance Eminent Surgeons a.nd Physicians who Attended President McKinley at Buffalo Eugene Wasdin John Pa.rmenter P. M. Rixey Hermann Mynter Roswell Park MsMthew D. Me^rvn WILLIAM McKINLEY. 121 New York City were anarchists, though, and she soon became the hottest headed of them all. She married a man named Grunbaum and lived with him in Roches- ter, N. Y. An anarchist named Louis Bernstein taught her its first principles, and pretty soon she had deserted her husband and was travel- ing around the country with Bernstein, spreading the red doctrines of anarchy. She came to New York City soon and joined the Pioneers of Liberty, founded by Johann Most. Her violent speeches sent chills up the backs of the Pioneers, and finally when in addressing a meeting of them she said : "By and by your wives, instead of cooking your dinners, will be cooking dynamite," they ran her out of the organization. Alexander Berkmann, whom Emma had met among the Pioneers, succeeded Bernstein as her teacher in anarchistic doctrines. Berkmann and Bernstein had several fights over the woman, who was then rather good-looking, but they finally both lost her to Johann Most. Most and Emma trained with the German group of anarchists. Soon Emma Goldman's name appeared appended to violent articles in Most's paper, "Die Freiheit." Most is said to have written all of these articles. But Emma finally quarrelled with Most, and one night in New York City she horsewhipped him while he was making a speech to some of his followers. Berkmann's shooting of H. C. Frick at the Carnegie Steel Works made him so much of a hero with the anti-Most anarchists, that Emma, who always loved the spectacular, went back to him. She lived near the jail in which he was confined, and she publicly applauded the Frick shooting. When she returned to New York City she took great delight in prais- ing it in public meetings. At that time she made one or two speeches of the hair-raising order. Nothing of so violent a nature had ever been heard publicly in that city before, and nothing like it certainly was heard afterward. In other cities she was arrested for such speeches, but she rather enjoyed the advertising she got out of arrest. In addition to preaching anarchy she preached free love and atheism. Several meetings wnich she was addressing broke up because people refused to listen to her ravings. Finally in a speech at New York City the woman went too far and was arrested. She was sent to the Island for a year. At that time she declared that she never preached violence and that she was opposed to disorderly means of bringing about the conversion of the people to 122 WILLIAM McKINLEY. anarchy. Yet here is an extract from a speech that she made just before she was arrested: "Go out into the social revolution. Prepare yourselves. The capital- ists have prepared themselves with police who are armed with clubs and pistols, but you can defend yourselves with clubs and stones if you are attacked. I tell you again, organize yourselves and go out and demand what you want. If you don't get it, take it by force. If you take bread alone you will do very little good. Go to the houses of the capitalists. Demand your rights. Prepare yourselves. Long live anarchy." After her release from prison even the anarchists wouldn't have much to do with her, and she went to Europe, saying that she was through with this country and the anarchists in it forever. They were a milk-and- water lot, she said, and she had nothing in common with them. She made a great many denials of things which had been said of her, in fact, whitewashed herself thoroughly and sailed away. It wasn't long before she was back in the United States again, and she continued to make her home in this country. INDICTMENT AND TRIAL OF THE ASSASSIN. The assassin Czolgosz was indicted for murder by the grand jury at Buffalo on September i6th, the day President McKinley's body was removed to Washington, and immediately afterward arraigned before Judge Edward K. Emery in the County Court. By a strange coincidence, the court was situated on the floor above and directly over the spot where President McKinley's body had lain in state a few hours before. Czolgosz came into court chained by the wrists to Detectives Solo- mon and Geary. His limbs were trembling so violently that he had to be almost pushed up before the court. Every eye was fixed upon the prisoner. He stood there, looking dumbly, hopelessly ahead with eyes that did not seem capable of flashing an angry look. Thick masses of curly chestnut hair were pushed roughly back from his forehead, a growth of beard was on his face. A murmur ran through the crowd in the court. The man before them was a com- plete surprise. The handcuff on his right wrist would not open, and a half a dozen detectives were giving it their attention. But Czolgosz was oblivious to it all. He was like a dead man to all going on around him. District Attorney Penney called him by name, but he did not answer nor move his eyes. "Have you a lawyer?" asked Mr. Penney. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 123 \ Not a move did Czolgosz make. Mr. Penney reiterated the question, thundering the words, but they did not seem to reach the prisoner's ears. Mr. Penney cleared his throat. He held the freshly written indict- ment half opened in his right hand. His left fore finger was pointed at the assassin. His voice shook as he spoke. "Leon Czolgosz, you have been indicted for murder in the first de- gree," he said. "Have you a lawyer?" As the word "murder" was framing on the attorney's lips Czolgosz turned his eyes on the speaker's face for one brief instant, and in their blue depths there was reflected horror and fear, terror too great for words. They seemed to say : "Save me, save me!" His square chin twitched, his lips trembled and parted, and he tried to speak, but there was no sound. Then his eyes wandered to the steel band glistening on his right wrist, still resisting every attempt to remove it. "Have you a lawyer?" repeated Mr. Penney. "He is trying to speak, your honor," said Assistant Police Chie^f Cusack. "Do you want a lawyer, Czolgosz ?" again asked Mr. Penney. "There is a charge of murder against you here. Do you want a lawyer ?" Czolgosz trembled like a leaf. His eyes dilated and his face twitched all over. His lips moved silently again. Judge Emery spoke, repeating Mr. Penney's query, but he was no more successful. He tried again with a like result, and then there was a pause, during which it seemed that no one in the room even breathed. Judge Emery rose from his chair. He said: "Leon Czolgosz, you are here charged with murder. Since it appears that you have no counsel it becomes the duty of this country to provide for you. I have a communication here from the Buffalo Bar Association suggesting for the service two eminent gentlemen, famous in their pro- fession. It is best for the good name of our State that you should have the benefit of the defense the law permits. I name as your counsel the Honorable Messrs. Lorin L. Lewis and Robert C. Titus." The counsel for Czolgosz were two retired members of the Supreme Court of New York, and they saw that their client had a fair, impartial trial. The latter was a speedy one, and resulted in the conviction of the assassin. On Thursday, September 27th, he was sentenced to expiate his crime by electrocution. CHAPTER VIII. McKiNLEY ONE OF THE MOST FINISHED AND GRACEFUL ORATORS THE UNITED STATES HAS EVER PRODUCED His EULOGIES ON PRESIDENT JAMES A. GARFIELD, THE VOLUNTEER SOLDIER OF AMERICA AND GENERAL U. S. GRANT. No citizen of the Republic should fail to avail himself of the oppor- tunity to read and study the speeches of President McKinley after his entrance into public life. They are models of sincerity, grace and feeling. Among the most celebrated of his efforts was his eulogy of President Garfield in accepting the statue of the Martyr President on behalf of the State of Ohio, delivered in the National House of Representatives, Jan- uary i Qth, 1886. It was a magnificent and striking eulogy in every way. "MR. SPEAKER: Complying with an act of Congress passed July, 1864, inviting each of the States of the Union to present to National Statuary Hall the statues of two of its deceased citizens illustrious for their heroic renown, or distinguished by civic or military services, worthy of national commemoration, Ohio brings her first contribution in the marble statue of James Abram Garfield. There were other citizens of Ohio earlier associated with the history and progress of the State and illustrious in the nation's annals who might have been fitly chosen for this exalted honor. "Governors, United States Senators, members of the supreme ju- diciary of the nation, closely identified with the growth and greatness of the State, who fill a large space in their country's history ; soldiers of high achievement in the earlier and later wars of the Republic ; Cabinet minis- ters, trusted associates of the martyred Lincoln, who had developed matchless qualities and accomplished masterly results in the nation's supreme crisis ; but from the roll of illustrious names the unanimous voice of Ohio called the youngest and latest of her historic dead, the scholar, the soldier, the national representative, the United States Senator-elect, the President of the people, the upright citizen, and the designation is every- where receive'd with approval and acclaim. 124 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 125 "By the action of the authorities of the State he loved so well and served so long, and now, by the action of the national Congress in which he was so long a conspicuous figure, he keeps company today with 'the immortal circle' in the old Hall of Representatives, which he was wont to call the 'Third House,' where his strong features and majestic form, represented in marble, will attract the homage of the present and succeed- ing generations, as in life his great character and commanding qualities earned the admiration of the citizens of his own State and the nation at large, while the lessons of his life and the teachings of his broad mind will be cherished and remembered when marble and statues have crumbled to decay. "James A. Garfield was born on the iQth day of November, 1831, in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, and died at Elberon, in the State of New Jersey, on the ipth day of September, 1881. His boyhood and youth differed little from others of his own time. His parents were very poor. He worked from an early age, like most boys of that period. He was neither ashamed nor afraid of manual labor, and engaged in it resolutely for the means to maintain and educate himself. He entered Williams College, in the State of Massachusetts, in 1854, and graduated with honor two years later, when he assumed charge of Hiram College in his own State. "In 1859, he was elected to the Senate of Ohio, being its youngest member. Strong men were his associates in that body, men who have since held high stations in the public service. Some of them were his col- leagues here. In this, his first political office, he displayed a high order of ability, and developed some of the great qualities which afterward distin- guished his illustrious career. "In August, 1861, he entered the Union Army, and in September following was commissioned Colonel of the Forty-second Ohio Infantry Volunteers. He was promoted successively Brigadier and Major-General of the United States Volunteers, and while yet in the army was elected to Congress, remaining in the field more than a year after his election, and resigning only in time to take his seat in the House, December 7, 1863. His military service secured him his first national prominence. He showed himself competent to command in the field, although without previous training. He could plan battles and fight them successfully. As an officer, he was exceptionally popular, beloved by his men, many of whom were his former students, respected and honored by his superiors in rank, and his martial qualities and gallant behavior were more than once i 2 6 WILLIAM McKINLEY. commended in general orders and rewarded by the Government with well- merited promotion. "He brought to this wide range of subjects vast learning and com- prehensive judgment. He enlightened and strengthened every cause he advocated. Great in dealing with them all, dull and commonplace in none, but to me he was the strongest, broadest, and bravest when he spoke for honest money, the fulfilment of the nation's promise, the resumption of specie payment^ and the maintenance of the public faith. He contrib- uted his share, in full measure, to secure national honesty and preserve inviolate our national honor. None did more, few, if any, so much, to bring the Government back to a sound, stable, and constitutional money. He was a very giant in those memorable struggles, and it required upon his part the exercise of the highest courage. A considerable element of his party was against him, notably in his own State and some parts of his Congressional district. The mad passion of inflation and irredeemable currency was sweeping through the West, with the greatest fury in his own State. He was assailed for his convictions, and was threatened with defeat. He was the special target for the hate and prejudice of those who stood against the honest fulfilment of national obligations. In a letter to a friend on New Year's eve, i867-'68, he wrote: " 'I have just returned from a tedious trip to Ashtabula, where I made a two hours' speech upon finance, and when I came home, came through a storm of paper-money denunciation in Cleveland, only to find on my ar- rival here a sixteen-page letter, full of alarm and prophecy of my political ruin for my opinions on the currency.' "To the same friend he wrote in 1878: " 'On the whole it is probable I will stand again for the House. I am not sure, however, but the Nineteenth District will go back upon me upon the silver question. If they do, I shall count it an honorable dis- charge.' "These and more of the same tenor, which I might produce from his correspondence, show the extreme peril attending his position upon the currency and silver questions, but he never flinched, he never wavered ; he faced all the dangers, assumed all the risks, voting and speaking for what he believed would secure the highest good. He stood at the forefront, with the waves of an adverse popular sentiment beating against him, threatening his political ruin, fearlessly contending for sound principles of finance against public clamor and a time-serving policy. To me his greatest effort was made on this floor in the Forty-fifth Congress, from his old seat yonder near the center aisle. He was at his best. He rose to the WILLIAM McKINLEY. 127 highest requirements of the subject and the occasion. His mind and soul were absorbed with his topic. He felt the full responsibility of his posi- tion and the necessity of averting a policy (the abandonment of specie resumption) which he believed would be disastrous to the highest interests of the country. Unfriendly criticism seemed only to give him breadth of contemplation and boldness and force of utterance. "In General Garfield, as in Lincoln and Grant, we find the best repre- sentation of the possibilities of American life. Boy and man, he typifies American youth and manhood, and illustrates the beneficence and glory of our free institutions. His early struggles for an education, his self- support, his 'lack of means,' his youthful yearnings, find a prototype in every city, village, and hamlet of the land. "His broad and benevolent nature made him the friend of all man- kind. He loved the young men of the country, and drew them to him by the thoughtful concern with which he regarded them. He was generous in his helpfulness to all, and to his encouragement and words of cheer many are indebted for much of their success in life. In personal char- acter he was clean and without reproach. As a citizen, he loved his coun- try and her institutions, and was proud of her progress and prosperity. As a scholar and a man of letters, he took high rank. As an orator, he was exceptionally strong and gifted. As a soldier, he stood abreast with the bravest and best of the citizen soldiery of the Republic. As a legis- lator, his most enduring testimonial will be found in the records of Con- gress and the statutes of his country. As President, he displayed modera- tion and wisdom, with executive ability which gave the highest assurances of a most successful and illustrious administration. "Mr. Speaker, another place of great honor we fill today. Nobly and worthily is it filled. Garfield, whose eloquent words I have just pro- nounced, has joined Winthrop and Adams, and the other illustrious ones, as one of 'the elect of the States,' peopling yonder venerable and beautiful hall. He receives his high credentials from the hands of the State which has withheld from him none of her honors, and history will ratify the choice. We add another to the immortal membership. Another enters 'the sacred circle.' In silent eloquence from the 'American Pantheon' another speaks, whose life-work, with its treasures of wisdom, its wealth of achievement, and its priceless memories, will remain to us and our descendants a precious legacy, forever and forever." 128 WILLIAM McKINLEY. McKlNLEY TO THE GRAND ARMY VETERANS. President Me-Kinley's tribute fb the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic, delivered in the Metropolitan Opera-house at New York on May 3Oth, 1889, is worthy of going on record for all time. It is beau- tiful in sentiment and expressive of high ideals : "The Grand Army of the Republic is on duty today. But not in the service of arms. The storm and siege and bivouac and battle line have given place to the ministrations of peace and the manifestations of affec- tionate regard for fallen comrades, in which the great body of the people cheerfully and reverently unite. The service of the day is more to us far more to us than to those in whose memory it is performed. It means nothing to the dead, everything to the living. It reminds us of what our stricken comrades did and sacrificed and won. It teaches us the awful cost of liberty and the price of national unity, and bids us guard with sacred and sleepless vigilance the great and immortal work which they wrought. "The annual tribute which this nation brings to its heroic dead is, in part at least, due to American thought and conception, creditable to the living and honorable to the dead. No nation in the world has so honored her heroic dead as ours. The soldiery of no country in the world have been crowned with such immortal meed or received at the hands of the people such substantial evidences of national regard. "Other nations have decorated their great captains and have knighted their illustrious commanders. Monuments have been erected to perpetu- ate their names. Permanent and triumphal arches have been raised to mark their graves. Nothing has been omitted to manifest and make im- mortal their valorous deeds. But to America is mankind indebted for the loving and touching tribute this day performed, which brings the offer- ings of affection and tokens of love to the graves of all our soldier dead. "We not only honor our great captains and illustrious commanders, the men who led the vast armies to battle, but we shower equal honors in equal measure upon, all, irrespective of rank in battle or condition at home. Our gratitude is of that grand patriotic character which recognizes no titles, permits no discrimination, subordinates all distinctions ; and the soldier, whether of the rank and file, the line or the staff, who fought and fell for Liberty and Union all who fought in the great cause and have since died, are warmly cherished in the hearts, and are sacred to the memory of the people. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 129 "Mr. President, from the very commencement of our Civil War we recognized the elevated patriotism of the rank and file of the army and their unselfish consecration to the country, while subsequent years have only served to increase our admiration for their splendid and heroic ser- vices. They enlisted in the army with no expectation of promotion ; not for the paltry pittance of pay ; not for fame or popular applause, for their services, however efficient, were not to be heralded abroad. "They entered the army moved by the highest and purest motives of patriotism, that no harm might befall the Republic. While detracting nothing from the fame of our matchless leaders, we know that, without that great army of volunteers, the citizen soldiery, the brilliant achieve- ments of the war would not have been possible. They, my fellow citizens, were the great power. They were the majestic and irresistible force. They stood behind the strategic commanders, whose intelligent and indi- vidual earnestness, guided by their genius, gained the imperishable vic- tories of the war. "I would not withhold the most generous eulogy from conspicuous soldiers, living or dead from the leaders, Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, Meade, Hancock, McClellan, Hooker, and Logan who flame out the very incarnation of soldierly valor and vigor before the eyes of the American people, and have an exalted rank in history, and fill a great place in the hearts of their countrymen. We need not fear, my fellow citizens, that the great captains will be forgotten. * * * "My fellow citizens, the rank and file of the old Regular Army was made of the same heroic mold as our Volunteer Army. It is a recorded fact in history, that when treason swept over this country in 1861 when distinguished officers, who had been educated at the public expense, who had taken the oath to support the Constitution of the United States and defend this Government against all its enemies when they proved recre- ant to trust and duty, and enlisted under the banner of the Confederacy, the rank and file of that old army stood steadfast to Federal authority, loyal to the Federal Government, and no private soldier followed his old commander into the ranks of the enemy. None were false to conscience or to country. None turned their backs on the old flag. "The most splendid exhibition of devotion to country, and to the Government, and the flag, was displayed also by our prisoners of war. We had 175,000 soldiers taken prisoners during the Civil War, and when death was stalking within the walls of their prisons, when starvation was almost overcoming their brave hearts, when mind was receding and reason 130 WILLIAM McKINLEY. was tottering, liberty was offered to those 175,000 men upon one condition that they would swear allegiance to the Confederate Government, and enlist in the cause of the Confederacy. "What was the answer of our brave but starving comrades? There could be but one answer. They preferred to suffer all and to bear all rather than prove false to the cause they had sworn to defend. "Now, so far removed from the great war, we are prone to forget its disasters and underestimate its sacrifices. Their magnitude is best appre- ciated when contrasted with the losses and sacrifices of other armies in other times. There were slain in the late war nearly 6,000 commanding officers and over 90,000 enlisted men, and 207,000 died of disease and from exposure, making a grand total of 303,000 men. In the War of the Revolution between the United States and Great Britain, excluding those captured at Yorktown and Saratoga, the whole number of men killed and wounded and captured of the combined British and American forces was less than 22,000. We witnessed that loss in a single battle in a single day in the great Civil War. From 1775 to 1861, including all the foreign wars in which we were engaged, and all our domestic disturbances, cover- ing a period of nearly twenty-four years, we lost but ten general officers, while in the four and a half years of the late war we lost one hundred and twenty-five. "And, my fellow citizens, we not only knew little of the scope and proportions of that great war, or the dreadful sacrifice to be incurred, but as little knew the great results which were to follow. We thought at the beginning, and we thought long after the commencement of the war, that the Union to be saved was the Union as it was. That was our under- standing when we enlisted, that it was the Constitution and the Union the Constitution as it was and the Union as it was for which we fought, little heeding the teachings of history, that wars and revolutions can not fix in advance the boundaries of their influence or determine the scope of their power. History enforces no sterner lesson. Our own Revolution of 1776 produced results unlocked for by its foremost leaders. Separation was no part of the original purpose. Political alienation was no part of the first plan. Disunion was neither thought of nor accepted. Why, in 1775, on the 5th day of July, in Philadelphia, when the Continental Con- gress was in session declaring its purposes toward Great Britain, what did it say ? After declaring that it would raise armies, it closed that declara- tion with this significant language : " 'Lest this declaration should disquiet the minds of some of our friends and fellow subjects in other parts of the Empire, we assure them WILLIAM McKINLEY. 131 that we do not mean to dissolve the union which has so long and happily subsisted between us.' "Our fathers said in that same declaration : " 'We have not raised armies with ambitious designs to separate from Great Britain and establish independent States.' "Those were the views of the fathers. Those were the views enter- tained by the soldiers and statesmen of colonial days. Why, even the Declaration of Independence, which has sounded the voice of liberty to all mankind, was a shock to some of the colonists. The cautious and con- servative, while believing in its eternal truth, doubted its wisdom and its policy. It was in advance of the thought of the great body of the people. Yet it stirred a feeling for independence, and an aspiration for self-gov- ernment, which made a republic that has now lived more than a century ; and only a few days ago you were permitted to celebrate the centennial inauguration in this city of its first great President. "Out of all that came a republic that stands for human rights and human destiny, which today represents more than any other government the glorious future of the human race. "Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, those were brave men whose graves we decorated today. No less brave were those whose chambers of repose are beneath the scarlet fields in distant States. We may say of all of them as was said of Knights of St. John in the Holy Wars : 'In the forefront of every battle was seen their burnished mail, and in the gloomy rear of every retreat was heard their voice of conscience and of courage.' " 'It is not,' said Mr. Lincoln, 'what we say of them, but what they did, which will live.' They have written their own histories, they have builded their own monuments. No poor words of mine can enhance the glory of their deeds, or add a laurel to their fame. "Liberty owes them a debt which centuries of tribute and mountains of granite adorned by the master hands of art can never repay. And so long as liberty lasts and the love of liberty has a place in the hearts of men, they will be safe against the tooth of time and the fate of oblivion. "The nation is full of the graves of the dead. You have but a small fraction of them here in New York, although you contributed one-tenth of all the dead, one-tenth of all the dying, one-tenth of all the prisoners, one-tenth of all the sacrifices in that great conflict. You have but a small number here ; the greater number sleep in distant States, thousands and tens of thousands of them of whom there is no record. We only know 132 WILLIAM McKINLEY. that fighting for freedom and union they fell, and that the place where they fell was their sepulcher. "The Omniscient One alone knows who they are and whence they came. But when their immortal names are called from their silent muster, when their names are spoken, the answer will come back, as it was the custom for many years in one of the French regiments when the name of De la Tour d'Auvergne was called, the answer came back, 'Died on the field of honor.' America has volumes of muster-rolls containing just such * record. "Mr. President and comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, our circle is narrowing with the passing years. Every annual roll-call discloses one and another not present, but accounted for. There is a muster-roll OTer yonder as well as a muster-roll here. The majority of that vast army are fast joining the old commanders who have preceded them on that other shore. " 'They are gone who seemed so great Gone ! but nothing can bereave them Of the force they made their own Being here ; and we believe them Something far advanced in state, And that they wear a truer crown Than any wreath that man can weave them. Speak no more of their renown, And in the vast cathedral leave them. God accept them ; Christ receive them.' " PRESIDENT McKiNLEv's EULOGY ON GRANT. On the 27th of April, 1893, President McKinley delivered a eulogy on General Grant at Galena, the occasion being the Old Commander's birthday. Said he: "We are not a nation of hero-worshipers. Our popular favorites are soon counted. With more than a hundred years of national life, crowded with great events and marked by mighty struggles, few of the great actors have more than survived the generation in which they lived. Nor has the nation or its people been ungenerous to its great leaders, whether as statesmen or soldiers. The Republic has dealt justly, and I believe liberally, with its public men. Yet less than a score of them are remem- bered by the multitude, and the student of history only can call many of the most distinguished but now forgotten names. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 133 "How few can recall the names of the Presidents of the United States in the order of their administrations; fewer still can name the Governors of Illinois, and the United States Senators who have repre- sented this State in that great legislative body. "This distinguished citizen, whose life we commemorate, and the an- niversary of whose birth we pause to celebrate today, was born at Point Pleasant, Clermont County, Ohio, on April 27, 1822. His early life was not eventful. It did not differ from that of most of the boys of his time, and gave no more promise than that of the multitude of youth of his age and station, either of the past or present. Of Scottish descent, he sprang from humble but industrious parents, and with faith and courage, with a will and mind for work, he confronted the problem of life. "At the age of 17 he was sent as a cadet to the West Point Military Academy; his predecessor having failed to pass the necessary examina- tion, the vacancy was filled by the appointment of young Grant. At the Academy he was marked as a painstaking, studious, plodding, persistent pupil, who neither graduated at the head nor the foot of his class, but stood number twenty-one in a class of thirty-nine. "His rank at graduation placed him in the infantry arm of the ser- vice, and in 1843 he was commissioned a brevet Second Lieutenant in the Fourth United States Regulars. No qualities of an exceptional nature showed themselves up to this point in the character of the young officer. "His first actual experience in war was in Mexico. Here he dis- tinguished himself, and was twice mentioned in general orders for his con- spicuous gallantry. He was twice brevetted by the President of the United States for heroic conduct at the battles of Monterey, Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Chapultepec and Molino del Rey. After the war with Mexico he was stationed with his regiment on the Northern frontier, and subsequently on the Pacific coast in Oregon and California, in which latter stations he saw much trying service with the Indians. "On July 31, 1854, he resigned his commission in the army, after eleven years' service therein a service creditable to him in every par- ticular, but in no sense so marked as to distinguish him from a score of others of equal rank and opportunity. "He was successful from the very beginning of his military com- mand. His earliest, like his later blows, were tellingly disastrous to the enemy. First at Paducah, then defeating Polk and Pillow at Belmont; again at Fort Henry, which he captured. Then he determined to destroy Fort Donels'on, and with rare coolness and deliberation he settled himself 134 WILLIAM McKINLEY. down to the task, which he successfully accomplished on February 16, 1862. "After two days of severe battle, 12,000 prisoners and their belong- ings fell into his hands, and the victory was sweeping and complete. He was immediately commissioned Major General of Volunteers, in recogni- tion of his brilliant triumph, and at once secured the confidence of the President and trusting faith of the loyal North, while the men at the front turned their eyes hopefully to their coming commander. "His famous dispatch to General Buckner, who had proposed com- missioners to negotiate for capitulation 'No terms except an uncondi- tional and immediate surrender can be accepted; I propose to move im- mediately upon your works' electrified the country, and sent cheer to every loyal heart at home and to the brave defenders in the field. It sounded the note of confidence and victory, and gave to the Union cause and lovers of the Union new and fervent hope. It breathed conscious strength, disclosed immeasurable reserve power, and quickened the whole North to grander efforts and loftier patriotism for the preservation of the Union. "On March 17, 1864, a little more than three years from his departure from Galena, where he was drilling your local company as a simple Cap- tain, Grant assumed the control of all the Federal forces, wherever located, and in less than fourteen months Lee's army, the pride and glory of the Confederate Government, surrendered to the victorious soldier. It was not a surrender without resistance skillful, dogged resistance. It was secured after many battles and fierce assaults, accompanied by indescrib- able toil and suffering, and the loss of thousands of precious lives. "The battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, North Anna and Cold Harbor, and the siege of Petersburg, witnessed the hardest fighting and the severest sacrifices of the war, while the loss of brave men in the trenches was simply appalling. The historian has wearied in detailing them, and the painter's hand has palsied with reproducing the scenes of blood and carnage there enacted. "General Grant not only directed the forces in front of Richmond, but the entire line of operation of all our armies was under his skillful hand, and was moved by his masterful mind. The entire field was the theater of his thought, and to his command all moved as a symmetrical whole, harmonious to one purpose, centering upon one grand design. "In obedience to his orders, Sherman was marching, fighting, and winning victories with his splendid army in Georgia, extending our vie- WILLIAM McKINLEY. I3S torious banners fartlier and deeper into the heart of the Confederacy ; and all the while the immortal Thomas was engaging the enemy in another part of the far-stretching field, diverting and defeating the only army which might successfully impede the triumphant march of Sherman to the sea. Sheridan, of whom General Grant said the only instruction he ever required was 'to go in/ was going into the Shenandoah Valley, that dis- puted field, the scene of Stonewall Jackson's fame. "Here his dashing army, driving by storm and strategy the de- termined forces of Early, sent them whirling back, stripped of laurels previously won, without either their artillery or battle-flags. Schofield had done grand work at Franklin, and later occupied Wilmington and Goldsboro, on the distant seacoast, with a view to final connection with Sherman. These movements, and more, absorbed the mind of the great commander. "The liberal terms given to Lee at Appomattox revealed in the breast of the hard fighter a soft and generous heart. He wanted no vengeance ; he had no bitterness in his soul ; he had no hates to avenge. He believed in war only as a means of peace. His large, brave, gentle nature made the surrender as easy to his illustrious foe as was possible. He said, with the broadest humanity : 'Take your horses and side-arms, all of your per- sonal property and belongings, and go home, not to be disturbed, not to be punished for treason, not to be outcasts ; but go, cultivate the fields whereon you fought and lost. Yield faithful allegiance to the old flag and the restored Union, and obey the laws of peace.' "Was ever such magnanimity before shown by victor to vanquished ? Here closed the great war, and with it the active military career of the great commander. "His civil administration covered eight years two full terms as President of the United States. This new exaltation was not of his own asking. He preferred to remain General of the Army with which he had been so long associated and in which he had acquired his great fame. "The country, however, was determined that the successful soldier should be its civil ruler. The loyal people felt that they owed him the highest honors which the nation could bestow, and they called him from the military to the civil head of the Government. His term commenced in March, 1869, and ended in March, 1877. It constituted one of the important periods of our national life. If the period of Washington's administration involved the formation of the Union, that of Grant's was confronted with its reconstruction, after the bitter, relentless internal struggle to destroy it. I 3 6 WILLIAM McKINLEY. "It was a most delicate era in which to rule. It would have been difficult, embarrassing and hazardous to any man, no matter how gifted, or what his previous preparation or equipment might have been. Could any one have done better than he? We will not pause to discuss. Dif- ferent opinions prevail, and on this occasion we do not enter the field of controversy, but, speaking for myself, I believe he was exactly the man for the place, and that he filled to its full measure the trust to which his fellow citizens called him. "He committed errors. Who could "have escaped them, at such a time and in such a place? He stood in his civil station battling for the legitimate fruits of the war, that they might be firmly secured to the living and to their posterity forever. His arm was never lifted against the right; his soul abhorred the wrong. His veto of the Inflation bill, his organization of the Geneva Arbitration Commission to settle the claims of the United States against England, his strong but conciliatory foreign policy, his constant care to have no policy against the will of the people, his enforcement of the Constitution and its Amendments in every part of the Republic, his maintenance of the credit of the Government and its good faith at home and abroad, marked his administration as strong, wise, and patriotic. "Great and wise as his civil administration was, however, the achieve- ments which make him 'one of the immortal few whose names will never die' are found in his military career. Carping critics have sought to mar it, strategists have found flaws in it, but in the presence of his successive, uninterrupted, and unrivaled victories, it is the idlest chatter which none should heed. "He was always ready to fight. If beaten today, he resumed the battle on the morrow, and his pathway was all along crowned with vic- tories and surrenders, which silence criticism, and place him side by side with the mighty soldiers of the world. "With no disparagement to others, two names rise above all the rest in American history since George Washington transcendently above them. They are Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant. Each will be remembered for what he did and accomplished for his race and for man- kind. Lincoln proclaimed 'liberty to four million slaves, and upon his act invited 'the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.' He has received the warm approval of the one, and I am sure he is enjoying the generous benediction of the other. His was the greatest, mightiest stroke of the war. Grand on its humanity side, The Latest Photograph of President McKinley Taken seventeen minutes before the President was shot. John G. Milburn sits beside the President, Private Secretary Coitelyou in the forward seat. They were en route to Music Hall. Tents for Military Guards a.nd Reporters opposite the Milburn Residence >* o e 2! W I LLI AM M cKI N LEY. 141 masterly in its military aspect, it has given to his name an imperishable place among men. "Grant gave irresistible power and efficacy to the Proclamation of Liberty. The iron shackles which Lincoln declared should be loosed from the limbs and souls of the black slaves, Grant with his matchless army melted and destroyed in the burning glories of the war; and the rebels read the inspired decree in the flashing guns of his artillery, and they knew what Lincoln had decreed Grant would execute. "He had now filled the full measure of human ambition, and drunk from every fountain of earthly glory. He had commanded mighty legions upon a hundred victorious fields. He had borne great responsibilities and exercised almost limitless power. He had executed every trust with fidelity, and, in the main, with consummate skill. He had controlled the s movement of a larger army than had been commanded by any other sol- dier, the world over, since the invention of firearms. "He was made General of the United States Army by Congress on July 25, 1866 a rank and title never given to an American soldier before. He had won the lasting gratitude of his fellow countrymen, and whenever or wherever he went among them they crowned him with fresh manifesta- tions of their love and veneration and no reverses of fortune, no errors of judgment, no vexatious and unfortunate business complications ever shook their trustful confidence. "When he sought rest in other lands, crowned heads stood uncov- ered in his presence and laid their trophies at his feet, while the struggling toiler, striving for a larger liberty, offered his earnest tribute to the great warrior who had made liberty universal in the Republic. Everywhere he went grateful honors greeted him, and he was welcomed as no American had been before. He girded the globe with his renown as he journeyed in the pathway of the sun. Nothing of human longing or aspiration re- mained unsatiated. "He had enjoyed all the honors which his lavish countrymen could bestow, and had received the respectful homage of foreign nations. "His private life was beautiful in its purity and simplicity. No irreverent oath passed his lips, and his conversation was as chaste and un- affected as that of simple childhood. His relations with his family were tender and affectionate. "Only a few years ago, in one of his journeys through the South, when he was receiving a great ovation, some colored men crowded his hotel to look into the face and to grasp the hand of their great deliverer. 142 WILLIAM McKINLEY. To this intrusion objection was made, and the colored men were about to be ejected, when the General appeared, and in his quiet way, full of earnest feeling, said : 'Where I am they shall come also.' He believed in the brotherhood of man in the political equality of all men he had se- cured that with his sword, and was prompt to recognize it in all places and everywhere. 'But, my friends, Death had marked him for a victim. He fought Death with his iron will and his old-time courage, but at last yielded, the first and only time the great soldier was ever vanquished. He had routed every other ice, he had triumphed over every other enemy, but this last one conquered him, as in the end he conquers all. "He, however, stayed his fatal hand long enough to permit Grant to finish the last great work of his life to write the history he had made. True, that history had been already written written in blood, in the agony of the dying and in the tears of the suffering Nation ; written in the hearts of her patriotic people. "The ready pens of others had told more than a thousand times the matchless story ; the artist had, a hundred times, placed upon canvas the soul-stirring scenes in which Grant was the central figure; the sculptor had cut its every phase in enduring marble, yet a kind Providence merci- fully spared him a few months longer, that he who had seen it and directed it should sum up the great work wrought by the Grand Army of the Re- public under his magic guidance. He was not an old man when he died ; but, after all, what a completed life was his! "Mighty events and mightier achievements were never crowded into a single life before, and he lived to place them in enduring form, to be read by the millions living and the millions yet unborn. Then laying down his pen, he bowed resignedly before the Angel of Death, saying : 'If it is God's providence that I shall go now, I am ready to obey His will without a murmur/ "Great in life, majestic in death! He needs no monument to per- petuate his fame; it will live and glow with increased luster so long as liberty lasts and the love of liberty has a place in the hearts of men. Every soldiers' monument throughout the North, now standing or here- after to be erected, will record his worth and work as well as those of the brave men who fought by his side. His most lasting memorial will be the work he did, his most enduring monument the Union which he and his heroic associates saved, and the priceless liberty they secured. "Surrounded by a devoted family, with a mind serene and a heart resigned, he passed over to join his fallen comrades beyond the river, on WILLIAM McKINLEY. 143 another field of glory. Above him in his chamber of sickness and death hung the portraits of Washington and Lincoln, whose disembodied spirits in the Eternal City were watching and waiting for him who was to com- plete the immortal trio of America's first and best loved ; and as the earthly scenes receded from his view, and the celestial appeared, I can imagine those were the first to greet his sight and bid him welcome. "We are not a nation of hero-worshipers. We are a nation of gen- erous freemen. We bow in affectionate reverence and with most grate- ful hearts to these immortal names, Washington, Lincoln, and Grant, and will guard with sleepless vigilance their mighty work and cherish their memories evermore." CHAPTER IX. PRESIDENT MCKINLEY AS A LAWYER EARLY FAME AS A SPEAKER PRESIDENT HAYES' ADVICE TO THE YOUNG POLITICIAN McKiN- LEY'S CAREER IN CONGRESS THE TARIFF BILL ELECTED GOVERNOR OF OHIO McKlNLEY AT THE MINNEAPOLIS CONVENTION ELECTED TO THE PRESIDENCY His ADMINISTRATION. Doubtless Major McKinley would have attained eminence in the law had not politics early attracted him. Yet he pursued the law with the same fidelity that had marked his every undertaking and he achieved not merely success but popularity at the bar. One of his cases long remem- bered was when he was pitted against John McSweeney, then considered one of the most brilliant lawyers of the Ohio bar. The case was a suit for damages for malpractice, the plaintiff charging that a surgeon had set his broken leg in such a way as to make him bow-legged on that side. McKinley defended the surgeon. McSweeney brought his client into court and had the injured limb exposed to the view of the jury. It was very crooked, and the case looked bad for the surgeon. McKinley had both his eyes wide open, however, and fixed them to good purpose on the man's other leg. As soon as the witness was turned over to him, he asked that the other leg should also be bared. The plaintiff and Mc- Sweeney vigorously objected, but the judge ordered it done. Then it appeared that this second leg was still more crooked than that which the surgeon had set. "My client seems to have done better by this man than nature itself did," said McKinley, "and I move that the suit be dismissed with a rec- ommendation to the plaintiff that he have the other leg broken and then set by the surgeon who set the first one." HE ENTERS POLITICS. As an advocate he was remarkably successful, and in the preparation of his cases he had few superiors, becoming noted for the thoroughness and care with which he did his work. He was noted also for the bril- liancy and effectiveness of his speaking and was already in much demand in his party. Even in the early days he was so eagerly sought that fre- 144 WILLIAM McKlNLEY. 145 quently he spoke oftener in his own district and county than the candi- dates on the ticket. Stark County, where he had opened his office, was one of the banner Democratic counties of the State, and when, in 1869, he was put forward by his party for District Attorney the nomination was regarded as an empty honor. Perhaps that was why it was given to so young and inex- perienced a man. But, however the convention and the public considered it, McKinley took it seriously. He made a vigorous canvass of the county, and to the amazement of everybody he was elected. At the end of his two years' term he was renominated, and though defeated, kept his oppo- nent's majority down to forty-five where it had usually been several hun- dred. But he had won much. He had attracted attention to his ability as a successful campaigner, and his law practice greatly improved. This was the beginning of McKinley's political career. But througn- out this period and until his election to Congress in 1876, he was devoted to the law, and built up a lucrative practice. As a persuasive advocate before a jury he had no superior in Canton, and his thorough preparation and eloquence won many important cases. The State campaign in 1875 was one that attracted national atten- tion, the nominees for Governor were Rutherford B. Hayes and William Allen. The greenback craze was at its height. McKinley entered the campaign with his usual energy and made many speeches for honest money and the resumption of specie payments. During the campaign Stewart L. Woodford, of New York, spoke at Canton. McKinley, much against his will, was called on for a speech at the close of the meeting. Animated by the eloquence of their distinguished visitor, the young man captured both his audience and the visiting orator. EARLY FAME AS SPEAKER. He made such an impression on Mr. Woodford that he urged the State Committee to put McKinley on the list of speakers. They had not heard of him in that capacity before, but they put him on the list and he was never off it till his death. The following year ( 1876) was not a promising one for a budding _-epublican politician. The party had suffered defeat, the greenback theory was ravaging everything and there was a general demoralized condition. Nevertheless, McKinley chose this time to seek election to Congress. He had stumped the States for Hayes for Governor the pre- ceding year, and had gained considerable reputation as a public speaker. Still the veteran politicians shook their heads doubtfully when he was announced as a candidate for the Republican nomination for Congress. I 4 6 WILLIAM McKINLEY. But he was nominated by the convention on the first ballot, and was elected by 3,300 majority. While the canvass was going on he visited the Centennial Exposition, at Philadelphia. He was introduced by James G. Elaine to the great audience which Elaine had been addressing at the Union League Club and he scored such a remarkable success that he was at once in demand throughout the country. He afterward spoke hundreds of times in almost every State and Territory and to more people than ever were addressed by any other public man in the history of the Republic. An unbiased review of his life leaves the impression that he never failed to meet expectations or to benefit the cause he advocated. McKinley was a protege of ex-President Hayes, and up to the time of the latter's death he recognized the ex-President as his adviser and counselor. He was in General Hayes' regiment during the Rebellion. General Hayes knew him and his father well. He needed a counselor, an adviser, a friend, and General Hayes watched over him with the love, devotion and pride of a father. PRESIDENT HAYES' ADVICE. He entered Congress on the day that his old friend, Colonel Hayes, became President. He was a frequent and welcome visitor at the White House. One day the President gave McKinley advice, which made him the foremost champion of a protective tariff. President Hayes thus spoke to him : "To achieve success and fame you must pursue a special line. You must not make a speech on every motion offered or bill introduced. You must confine yourself to one particular thing. Become a specialist. Take up some branch of legislation and make that your study. Why not take up the subject of tariff? Being a subject that will not be settled for years to come, it offers a great field for study and a chance for ultimate fame." With these words ringing in his ears McKinley began studying the tariff, and soon became the foremost authority of the time on the subject. April 15, 1878, he made a speech on what was known as the Wood tariff bill, the bill being brought in by Fernando Wood, of New York. Mc- Kinley opposed it so effectively that, although the House was Democratic, the measure was postponed and finally abandoned altogether. The speech was published and widely circulated by the Republican Congressional Committee. FIGHTING GERRYMANDERS. The Democrats recognized him as a man who would be dangerous to their party if he were allowed to keep on in politics. Having control of WILLIAM McKINLEY. 147 the Legislature in Ohio, they proceeded to gerrymander the State, so that when McKinley sought re-election, he found himself in a district normally Democratic by at least 1,800. Nothing daunted, he entered the campaign and was successful by a majority of 1,300. Then the former district lines were restored, and he was easily re- turned for his third and fourth terms. The Democratic fears concerning him were now realized. He was by this time one of the leading Repub- licans in the House, and one of those who were doing most for the lasting supremacy of that party and the lasting discomfiture of the Democrats. So, getting possession of the Ohio Legislature again in 1884, they gerry- mandered the State the second time with the express purpose of keeping McKinley at home. They put him, as they thought, in a district which would be surely Democratic by from 1,200 to 1,500. But the people of eastern Ohio re-elected him for his fifth term by over 2,000 majority. Sixth and seventh terms followed as a matter of course. Then the State was a third time gerrymandered. McKinley was put into a district which had the year before given a Democratic plurality of 2,900. He accepted the challenge, made a gallant fight, and was de- feated by only 302 votes. It is interesting to recall, in view of this one defeat, that McKinley had been some years before twitted in Congress by Mr. Springer, on having been returned at the nrevious election b" a somewhat diminished majority. Mr. Springer said : "Your constituents do not seem L o support you." McKinley replied : "My fidelity to my constituents is not measured by the support they give me. I have convictions which I would not surrender if 10,000 majority had been entered against me." McKiNLEv's CAREER IN CONGRESS. To tell the story of McKinley's seven terms in Congress would be to tell the history of that body and well-nigh of the nation for fourteen years. From the beginning he was active and conspicuous. His. speech against the repeal of the Federal election laws in April, 1879, was considered of such value that it was issued as a campaign document by the Republican National Committee the two following years. In 1880 he was chairman of the Republican State Convention of Ohio. He was recognized by Speaker Randall with a place on the Judiciary Committee in this year, and in 1880 succeeded President Garfield as a member of the Ways and Means Committee, an honor that came to him unsought and was repeatedly given to him until the termination of his congressional career in 1891. He was chosen by the Chicago convention as an Ohio member of the Re- publican National Committee and accompanied Garfield on his speaking i 4 8 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. tour through New York. He also spoke in this State and other States east and west. The Forty-seventh Congress, acting on the recommendation of Presi- dent Arthur, appointed a commission to revise the tariff. McKinley did not give unqualified approval to this commission, preferring that Con- gress should do the work, but he insisted that the protective policy should not be abandoned. In the elections of 1882, which occurred while the tariff commission was still holding its session, the Republicans were gen- erally defeated. McKinley was elected only by the narrow margin of eight votes over his Democratic competitor. At the short session which followed the report of the tariff commission was submitted, and on this the Ways and Means Committee introduced a bill reducing the duties about 20 per cent. McKinley supported this measure. It failed. In the following year he delivered one of the most effective addresses against the Morrison tariff bill. In the same year he presided over the Ohio Republican State Convention. He was a Elaine man, and did much to further his nomina- tion to the Presidency. He accompanied Elaine on his celebrated tour, speaking constantly with him from the same car or platform. In the State campaigns from x i88i to 1887 he was on the stump in all parts of Ohio. In the Forty-ninth Congress, in 1886, he made a notable speech on arbitration as the best means of settling labor disputes. In 1886, when the statue of Garfield was presented to Statuary Hall, at the Capitol, he delivered a memorial address. In 1887 he delivered a mem- orial address on General John A. Logan, much admired for its beauty and tenderness. He advocated the passage of the dependent pension bill over President Cleveland's veto. President Cleveland's third annual message, in December, 1887, made a strong assault on the tariff system. It was followed by the Mills bill in the House. On this there was remarkable debate. It proved to be the great opportunity of McKinley's congressional life. While the bill was under consideration he came from Washington to Canton and delivered an address before the Ohio State Grange on the subject raised by Presi- dent Cleveland's message and the Mills bill. Immediately thereafter he delivered a remarkable address before the Home Market Club, at Boston. April 2d he presented to the House the minority report of the Ways and Means Committee on the tariff bill. His speech at the close of the general debate was described at the time as the most effective and eloquent tariff speech ever heard in Congress. Many of his statements as to the effects of the legislation were so cogent and conclusive that the bill was amended in. many particulars that he suggested. Scene at the Death-Bed of President McKinley. TS < 3 o u I c U o x h o S a, o c 3 - a X gq WILLIAM McKINLEY. 149 THE McKiNLEY TARIFF BILL. At the Ohio convention in 1888 McKinley was elected a delegate-at- large to the Republican National Convention^ where he was chairman of the Committee on Resolutions. Here he made an effective stand against a sentiment that spoke of him for the Presidency, declaring his loyalty to Sherman. Many of his friends believed that the speech then cost him the Presidency. In the campaign of 1889 he was active as usual, and on the organization of ihe Fifty-first Congress resumed his place on the Ways and Means Committee, to the head of which he succeeded on the death of Judge Kelley. This brought him into the leadership of the House. December, 1889, he introduced the first important tariff measure of the session. It passed the House late in the session, and became a law in June, 1890. It is known as the customs administration bill. In April, 1890, he introduced the general tariff measure which has become known as the McKinley bill. For four months it had been under consideration by the Ways and Means Committee, during which time hearings had been given to manufacturers, laborers, merchants, farmers, agents and factors. McKinley's speech in support of the measure fully sustained his great reputation as an orator, and as a dispassionate advocate. The ovation, for such it was, that greeted him when he had concluded, has hardly been surpassed in the annals of Congress. Demanding an immediate vote, he declared : "With me this position is a deep conviction, not a theory. I believe in it and thus warmly advocate it because enveloped in it are my country's highest development and greatest prosperity. Out of it comes the great- est gain to the people, the greatest comfort to the masses, the widest encouragement of manly aspirations with the largest reward dignifying and elevating our citizenship, on which the safety, purity and permanency of our political system depend." The bill passed the House after some amendments, among them the reciprocity amendment proposed by the Senate and which Mr. McKinley had supported before the House Committee. Mr. William E. Curtis, who was then secretary of the Bureau of the American Republic, has given the following history of the reciprocity movement. "The Pan-American conference had the question under discussion while the House Committee on Ways and Means was framing the present tariff laws and adopted a report written by Mr. Romero, of Mexico, rec- ommending the adoption of reciprocity among American nations so far as could be done without impairing their necessary revenues. On Feb- ISO WILLIAM McKINLEY. ruary 10, 1880, Mr. Elaine met the House Committee in Mr. McKinley's rooms at the Ebbitt House. He explained the situation and asked the committee not to disturb the duties on merchandise from South America. "They did not follow his suggestion, but prepared their bill without regard to the conference. When Mr. Elaine found that it was proposed to remove the duty on sugar, he sent me to Mr. McKinley with a propo- sition which he wanted added to the bill as an amendment. It afterward became known as the Hale amendment. It provided that the President should be authorized to take off the duty on sugar whenever the sugar producing nations removed their duties on our farm products and certain other articles. "Mr. McKinley presented this amendment to the Committee on Ways and Means. It was not adopted. Mr. McKinley voted for it the first time it was presented. Then a second proposition containing some modi- fications was presented, and Mr. McKinley voted for that, as he voted for the Elaine reciprocity amendment every time it was submitted, in whatever form." The McKinley tariff bill received the approval of the President in October, 1890. When the general election occurred the following month the Republicans met with not unexpected defeat. McKinley's own dis- trict had this time been so gerrymandered that he had a majority of 3,000 to overcome. In the short time between the ending of the session of Congress and the election, he made one of the remarkable campaigns in the history of the country, attracting almost as much national attention as the noted Lincoln-Douglass debate in Illinois thirty-two years before. He was defeated, but still he ran at the head of his ticket, exceeding by 1,250 votes that of Harrison in the previous Presidential campaign, and came within 300 of being elected. Is ELECTED GOVERNOR OF OHIO. The short session of Congress that followed attracted little attention, but McKinley attracted great attention, and his nomination for Governor began to assume the shape of a popular movement. When it was known that he would accept, he was nominated by acclamation at the State Re- publican Convention in June, 1891. Meanwhile, his many speeches and addresses continually added to his reputation both as an orator and as a man of national dimensions. In Congress he spoke and voted for the eight-hour law ; he advocated the direct tax refunding law, anti-trust law, and presented and advised the adoption of the resolution declaring that the new tariff should not invalidate our treaty with Hawaii. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 151 In December he responded to the toast, "New England and the Fu- ture," at the New England dinner at Philadelphia. At the Lincoln ban- quet at Toledo in February, 1891, attacking President Cleveland's speech on American citizenship, he formulated the phrase that "cheap coats meant cheap men." He was popular with the old soldiers everywhere and spoke at na- tional encampments in this city, at San Francisco, at Pittsburg and at Washington. In his speech accepting his first nomination for Governor, he declared that the public credit and sound finances must be preserved even at the risk of defeat, which could only be temporary, advising this rather than a capitulation to the demagogue or a surrender of honesty. He opened his Ohio campaign in August and before the election he made one hundred and thirty-four speeches, visiting all of the eighty-eight counties of Ohio. His opponent, Governor Campbell, was an able man and they once met in joint debate. McKinley won the election by 21,500 votes ; Campbell had previously been elected by a plurality of 11,000. McKiNLEY AT MINNEAPOLIS. Soon after his inauguration as Governor a campaign for him as President began, but to every suggestion he replied that he believed Gen- eral Harrison was justly entitled to another term and that he was for him. He was again elected as a delegate-at-large for Ohio to the national con- vention, and by that body made permanent chairman. Some of his friends persisted in urging his name, but he steadfastly refused assent. When the ballot was taken, however, two votes in the Ohio delegation were cast for him. He at once challenged the vote from the chair and put himself on record for Harrison, who on the entire roll call received 535 votes, yet McKinley nevertheless received 182 votes, precisely the num- ber that Elaine received. Leaving the chair, McKinley moved to make the nomination unanimous. It was apparent in this convention that the affec- tions of the party were centered on him as a Presidential candidate. One delegate, with much frank effectiveness, in the course of his speech said: "Never you mind, William McKinley ; you're doing right now, but we are going to make you President next time," a sentiment that drew forth vast applause. He was chairman of the committee that notified the President of his renomination, June 2oth, and from that time until the campaign closed he was more busily engaged perhaps than any other national party leader. His principal addresses of the time were at Ann Arbor, before a national convention of college clubs; before the Nebraska Chautauqua on "The Triumph of Protection," and in Philadelphia on "The Issues of 1892." i 5 2 WILLIAM McKINLEY. With Harrison's defeat the people seemed to have repudiated to a degree the doctrine of protection, for which McKinley then stood pre-eminently. But he lost neither courage nor confidence. He declared that protection was never stronger. In 1893 at the Lincoln banquet at Columbus he declared that the defeat of 1892 "had not made Republican principles less true nor our faith in their ultimate triumph less firm." In this year his address at Galena, 111., on the seventy-first anniversary of the birth of Grant and his memorial address on President Hayes at Delaware were both much admired for their research and beauty. At the next Republican convention in 1893 he was unanimously re- nominated for Governor, and after an exhaustive canvass was re-elected by 80,995, the greatest plurality (with a single exception during the war) that had ever been given up to that time in the history of the State. The country reviewed this result as an indication of what would follow next in national politics, and he was everywhere looked on as the most promi- nent Republican candidate for the Presidency. His second annual message as Governor ranks high among such papers. In February, 1894, he delivered an address on the life and pub- lic service of Washington at Chicago, which attracted wide attention. Be- ginning in September of that year, at Bangor, Me., he was continually on the stump throughout the country for two months. The Wilson-Gor- man tariff law had just been enacted, and he made it the chief subject of his speeches. In that city, September 26th, he was introduced by General Harrison on the opening of the campaign, with these words: "Major McKinley has endeared himself to all by his record as a gallant soldier battling for the flag. He has honored himself, his State and the country by his conspicuous services in high legislative and executive places. No man more than he is familiar with the questions that now engage public thought ; no man is more able than he lucidly to set them before the people. I do not need to invoke your attention to what he shall say ; he will com- mand it." After opening the State campaign in Ohio he made a series of speeches throughout the West, again proving himself to be one of the most remark- able of campaigners. Traveling in special trains, he frequently spoke a half-dozen times a day and three or four times at night. In Wisconsin he spoke twenty-three times in sixteen hours. For over eight weeks he averaged seven speeches a day, ranging in length from ten minutes to an hour. He traveled more than 16,000 miles and addressed more than two million people. At every point he visited his party was successful, carrying the lower branch of Congress, largely on the impetus that he gave to the campaign, by more than a two-thirds majority. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 153 During the following winter his duties as Governor of Ohio were arduous. At one time seven thousand people were out of food in the Hocking Valley. By appeals to the people he succeeded in raising suf- ficient to meet the case by voluntary contributions. Several serious out- breaks occurred during this administration, at one time requiring the presence of three thousand of the National Guard, and entailing an ex- pense of $60,000. During this time he delivered notable addresses in various parts of the country, among them an oration on Grant at his tomb in Riverside Park on Memorial Day. In the ensuing political canvass he confined himself to Ohio, where his party for the first time in thirty years suc- ceeded in electing both United States Senators. Is ELECTED PRESIDENT. After his term as Governor he returned to Canton, where he remained for the next six months, excepting for a visit to Chicago, where he deliv- ered an address on Lincoln, in February of 1896. In this address, taking Lincoln's views on the tariff as the text, he stated what in his opinion should constitute the Republican platform in the coming campaign. About this time the movement for his nomination appeared in many places. State after State and district after district declared for him until the convention in St. Louis, when he was the choice of more than two-thirds of the delegates and was nominated on the first ballot. Early in the campaign he announced that he would do no speaking, his only contribution to be his letter of acceptance. But the people began to flock to Canton as they flocked here when Harrison was first nominated, and at his home he made more than 300 speeches from June to November of that year to more than 750,000 people. About thirty States sent dele- gates and more than thirty times as many political clubs and organizations were represented. Mr. McKinley was elected President in 1896, after a heated canvass, receiving 271 electoral votes to 171 for Mr. Bryan. He had a popular plurality over Bryan of 603,514. MR. MCKINLEY'S ADMINISTRATION. Mr. McKinley came to the White House with a reputation won chiefly by his shrewdness in politics and by his strenuous and persistent advocacy of protection. Many of those who voted for him had little confidence in him, except that his honesty and good intentions were not questioned. In his inaugural address he spoke somewhat conservatively on the great issue on which he had been elected, btit the feeling now is that he was perhaps 154 WILLIAM McKINLEY. wise not to fall in wholly with the plans of the more radical currency reformers. At any rate, he postponed currency reform to tariff reform, and shortly after his inauguration he called the Fifty-fifth Congress to- gether in extraordinary session on March I5th. In his message he called attention to the condition of the finances of the country, attributing the bad state of affairs to the insufficiency of the revenue raised by the tariff then in force. He said: "The necessity of the passage of a tariff law which shall provide ample revenue need not be further urged. The im- perative demand of the hour is the prompt enactment of such a measure, and to this object I earnestly recommend that Congress shall make every endeavor. Before other business is transacted, let us first provide suf- ficient revenue to faithfully administer the Government without the con- tracting of further debt or the continual disturbance of our finances." Both branches of Congress were controlled by the Republicans. As far back as December the leaders had been in conference on the subject, and so it was possible to report a bill promptly, the measure coming to the House from the Ways and Means Committee March igth. Twelve days were allowed for a discussion of the bill, the date for its passage being fixed as March 3ist. It passed the House on that date by a vote of 205 to 122. The discussion in the Senate was protracted, and 872 amendments were incorporated into the bill. It passed that body July 7th by a vote of 38 to 28. The House non-concurred in the Senate amend- ments, but the conference committee reported in favor of a great many of them, and the report was finally agreed to, the President affixing his signature to the bill July 24, 1897. There was other important legislation at the special session, but its sole purpose was accomplished when the tariff bill was passed, and it adjourned shortly afterward. Mr. McKinley's first Cabinet was as follows : Secretary of State, John Sherman ; Secretary of the Treasury, Lyman J. Gage ; Secretary of War, Russell A. Alger; Secretary of the Interior, Cornelius N. Bliss; Secre- tary of the Navy, John D. Long ; Secretary of Agriculture, James Wilson ; Postmaster-General, James A. Gary ; Attorney-General, Joseph McKenna. Mr. Sherman subsequently gave way to William R. Day, who was in turn succeeded by John Hay; Mr. Alger was succeeded by Elihu Root; Mr. Bliss by E. A. Hitchcock ; Mr. Gary by Charles Emory Smith ; Mr. McKenna by John W. Griggs, who later gave place to Philander Knox. THE TROUBLE WITH SPAIN. From the beginning of the McKinley administration the trouble with Spain became acute. The President dealt with it conservatively and pru- WILLIAM McKINLEY. 155 dently. There were other important foreign questions still unsettled when he died. Among these may be mentioned the Alaskan boundary question, the sealing question, the arbitration treaty with Great Britain and the inherited Venezuelan arbitration question, which, however, had been mostly disposed of by the Cleveland administration. When Con- gress met in regular session in December the Cuban troubles occupied the most prominent position. There was a strong war spirit manifest from the start. The apparent impossibility of Spain ever subduing the island, the sufferings of the reconcentrados, and indeed the general situation as depicted by Senator Proctor, in a calm, unsensational and almost passion- less speech, all combined to create the feeling that war was inevitable. Yet the President exerted all his influence in behalf of peace. Finally the blowing up of the United States battleship Maine in Havana harbor precipitated matters so that it was impossible to avert war. Yet it did not come for two months. In the meantime the question of the destruction of the Maine was carefully investigated by a commission and the con- clusion was reached that the explosion was from the outside of the ship, though no blame was placed on Spain by the commission. Finally war began April 22, 1898, when the American cruiser Nash- ville captured the Spanish ship Buena Ventura. The next day the Presi- dent issued a call for 125,000 volunteers. Spain declared war April 24, and the next day war was declared by Congress. The history of it is known to the world. Dewey destroyed the Spanish fleet at Manila May I. In June an army was sent to Cuba, and the fighting was continuous up to the time of the destruction off Santiago of the fleet of Cervera, on July 3. Shortly after this peace negotiations began, and at last the protocol was signed by the United States, and M. Cambon, the French ambassador, who acted for Spain. This was on August 12. Manila surrendered to the American army August 13. The treaty of peace, providing 1 for the abandonment of Spanish sov- ereignty over Cuba, the cession of Porto Rico and the Philippines to the United States, and the payment of $20,000,000 to Spain, was signed at Paris December loth. The treaty was ratified by the Senate February 6th, 1899. The result was to impose vast responsibilities on this Gov- ernment. SOME OF THE RESULTS OF THE WAR. Most of what has happened since has been the result of the war with Spain. The Philippine insurrection has been going on ever since the ratification of the treaty, though it has now been practically suppressed. President McKinley did everything in his power to learn the facts. He 156 WILLIAM McKINLEY. sent a commission to investigate the situation and was guided largely by its report. Congress left to the President a free hand in dealing with the problem. At the earliest possible moment he sent the commission, headed by William H. Taft, to establish civil government in the archipelago, and that work is being carried forward as rapidly as circumstances will permit. It is to be noted further that the President never committed himself defi- nitely to any policy for the final settlement of the difficulty. He insisted that we could not allow ourselves to be driven from the islands; that it would not be safe or wise to leave them, and that it was our duty, and a duty which was imposed on us, to restore peace and order. The greatest trouble came over the Porto Rican tariff question greatest in the political sense, for it came nearer dividing the Republican party. In his message of 1899 the President had said that it was "our plain duty" to give free trade to Porto Rico, and many of the Republican leaders agreed with this view. But gradually opposition developed to this plan, and finally the President himself yielded, and at last, on April 12, 1900, an act was passed for the government of the island which imposed duties on goods going into and coming out of Porto Rico amounting to 15 per cent of the Dingley duties all the proceeds of the tariff to go to Porto Rico. And this action raised the constitutional question as to the relation of the United States to its new possessions, which finally was answered by the Supreme Court during the year 1901. The Porto Rican tariff act was upheld. It provided that under certain conditions the President should proclaim free trade with Porto Rico, which has since been done. The island has improved rapidly under American adminis- tration. In Cuba a military government has been maintained with Leon- ard Wood as governor general, and here, too, great results have been achieved. And now it is thought that the Cubans having adopted a con- stitution of their own, will soon have an independent government, subject to a qualified protectorate of the United States. HAWAII AND SAMOA. May 17, 1898, in the heat of the Spanish war, and shortly after the destruction of the Spanish fleet in Manila harbor, a joint resolution was introduced by Mr. Hitt in the House, providing for the annexation of Hawaii. A substitute was introduced by the minority of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, which contemplated maintaining the independence of the islands, but this was rejected June 15 by a vote of 204 to 96, and the resolution proposed by the majority of the committee was adopted on the same day by a vote of 209 to 91. It went to the Senate June 17, and discussion began June 20, continuing till July 6, when it was adopted by The Remains of President McKinley Lying in Stsxte in the Rotunda of the Capitol SS WILLIAM McKINLEY. 157 a vote of 42 to 21. Other island possessions won were Guam, which was captured by an American vessel, and the island of Tutuila, of the Samoan group, which was set off to the United States when the islands were finally partitioned and the joint control of the United States, Ger- many and Great Britain was terminated. The Samoan convention was concluded November 14, 1899. The bankruptcy law now in force was passed during Mr. McKinley's first term. The bill was taken up by the House February 16, 1898. After a debate of three days it passed by a vote of 159 to 125. The Senate non- concurred, but finally an agreement was reached, and the bill was ap- proved by the President July i. THE MONEY QUESTION. In his first message Mr. McKinley briefly spoke of the money ques- tion, his recommendation being limited to a provision that when green- backs were once redeemed for gold they should not again be paid out except for gold. He renewed this recommendation in his message of December 5, 1898. In addition to this, he advised that a trust fund be created for the redemption of greenbacks. He was sympathetic toward the efforts of the currency reformers, and was no doubt influenced by those who met in convention in this city on two different occasions for the consideration of the money question. But the President was not ardent. His message of 1898 was not insistent, or, indeed, strenuous, on the subject in any particular. The bill prepared by the committee created by the Indianapolis conference did not meet with great favor among the Republican leaders in Congress. But finally, in his message of December, 1899, the President grew more emphatic. He urged that authority be granted to organize national banks with a capital of $25,000; that power be conferred on the Secretary of the Treasury to sell gold bonds to main- tain the gold reserve, and that steps be taken to maintain the gold standard. He pointed out that the inadequacy of the revenue had removed one source of embarrassment, and he insisted that we should "remove the only re- maining cause by conferring the full and necessary power on the Secre- tary of the Treasury, and impose upon him the duty to uphold the present gold standard and preserve the coins of the two metals on a parity with each other, which is the repeatedly declared policy of the United States." Mr. Overstreet's financial bill was introduced in the House Decem- ber 7, and it was passed December 18 by a vote of 190 to 150. In the Senate it was debated at considerable length, amended and passed Feb- ruary 15, 1900, by a vote of 46 to 29. The House, as usual, non-con- curred, and the inevitable conference committee followed, which reported 158 WILLIAM McKINLEY. a substitute, which was adopted March 13, and was signed by the Presi- dent the next day. It changed the national banking system somewhat, provided for the refunding of a large portion of the public debt, declared gold to be the standard and prescribed methods for maintaining that standard. With the financial question reasonably well settled, with the country prosperous, with an abundant revenue, and with the record made in the Spanish war, it was inevitable that President McKinley should be renominated. In fact, no one else was seriously thought of, and when the Republican convention met at Philadelphia, June 19, 1900, Mr. Mc- Kinley was nominated by acclamation, Theodore Roosevelt being nomi- nated as candidate for Vice-President. THE CANVASS OF 1900. Mr. Bryan was again Mr. McKinley's opponent, and again the old issue was fought over. It was found impossible to subordinate the finan- cial issue, with Mr. Bryan in command of the opposing force, and with a flat-footed declaration for free silver coinage in the Democratic platform. Imperialism was much discussed, and some prominent men that supported Mr. McKinley in 1896 deserted him in 1900, and either refused to vote or voted for Mr. Bryan. But the result was even more decisive than it had been in 1896. The McKinley plurality was 849,455, and his plurality in the electoral college was 137, he receiving 292 votes to 155 for Mr. Bryan. We have already noted the changes that took place in the Cabinet of Mr. McKinley. Congress met in December, 1900, and Mr. McKinley sent in a mes- sage in which he discussed our new responsibilities at great length. How- ever, the session was not of great importance, the greatest interest being shown in the ship subsidy bill, which never got to a vote, and in the river and harbor bill, which was talked to death. The session was the short one and Congress adjourned March 4. Mr. McKinley showed no elation, either in his message after his second election or in his second inaugural, over the triumph of himself and his party. He set himself to work to solve the grave problems with which the country was confronted and he gave the country his best efforts. He was able to accomplish little or nothing toward settling our differences with Canada, and the Alaskan boundary question is still unad- justed, the modus vivendi being still in operation. What must have been a serious disappointment to him was the rejection by the Senate of the treaty negotiated between this country and Great Britain dealing with the Nicaraguan canal question. The Senate amended it in important par- WILLIAM McKINLEY. 150 ticulars, and later the British government refused to agree to it. So that great question is still pending. President McKinley got along very comfortably with Congress. He made little use of the veto power, and generally his theory seemed to be that he was not so much a leader as a co-worker with Congress. He de- ferred greatly to Senators and Representatives, especially in the matter of patronage. And it must be said with regret that civil service reform suf- fered a severe setback during his administration. His exemption of many places irom the rules, and his failure to punish violations of the law on the part of his subordinates are responsible for the "backward step" that had been taken. DIFFICULT PROBLEMS. /. No President since Mr. Lincoln had so many and so difficult prob- lems to deal with. Many of them have already been spoken of. It is admitted by every one that Mr. McKinley bore himself with great dignity during the Spanish war, and that he and his administration served the country faithfully and intelligently. In the relations of this Government with foreign powers Mr. McKinley was a safe guide, and it had been many years since we had had a President who was more respected abroad than was Mr. McKinley. The people of Great Britain, having the Mc- Kinley tariff in mind, were convinced that he would prove to be a pro- nounced anglophobist. But he was criticised by the more extreme of our own people for his courtesy and manifest good will toward England. At a time when there was a strong demand that there should be some intervention peaceable or other in behalf of the Boers, and with^a cam- paign coming on, Mr. McKinley nevertheless held the balance true. It will not be forgotten how, in spite of the friction with Germany at Ma- nila, the American President exerted all his influence to cement the rela- tions between this country and Germany. Indeed, in one of his recent utterances he went so far as to make our English friends fearful that we were going to prefer Germany to Great Britain. The truth is that the President simply recognized that he was the head of a great nation that did not want any enemies, and whose great wish was to live on terms of peace and concord with all mankind. So Mr. McKinley was prompt to respond to the Czar's invitation to The Hague conference, and the United States was ably represented at that gathering. But the great test of Mr. McKinley's power came last year, with the assault on the foreign legations in Pekin. From the very begin- ning he and his Secretary of State saw things straight. They were not deceived by wild reports, or stampeded into a wild cry for vengeance. 160 WILLIAM McK IN LEY. They insisted all the while that the legations were safe, that the first duty was to rescue them, that there was no evidence to prove that the Chinese government was in any way responsible for the outbreak, and more im- portant than all, they had the sense to understand that the first thing to do was to discover some government in China with which they could deal. The situation was not unlike that which confronted Bismarck after the German army had captured Paris. He saw that there must be a French government if there were to be any settlement of the questions at issue. And his first concern was to discover one and then to uphold it. It was so at Pekin last year. The President maintained the most friendly relations with the Chinese minister in this country, and it was finally through him that communication with the besieged legationers was effected. And all the while Secretary Hay was negotiating with the European powers on the subject, and almost before they knew it he had them com- mitted to the American policy of maintaining the integrity of the Chinese Empire, and to a renunciation on the part of each power of any purpose to strive for any special advantage, or to deal separately with the Chinese government. American troops were sent to China, and they bore a gal- lant part in the relief of the legationers, entering Pekin August 14, 1900. When they were no longer needed they were promptly withdrawn. Plain- ly, Mr. McKinly was a greater man than he was supposed to be when he went into office. GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. Mr. McKinley did not always shine in his state papers. They were, as a rule, sober and prosaic, and often dully conventional rehearsals of facts and timid recommendations of policy. He was in no sense a showy man. But there was no doubt that he always strove to do his duty as he saw it. He was noted for his independence, yet he had great capacity for growth as he abundantly showed by his changed attitude on the tariff question. The nation was materially blessed under the McKinley admin- istration. With the laying of the free silver ghost, prosperity came with a bound. Our foreign trade was the greatest the country had ever known. Industry had been abundantly prosperous. Wages had been good and investments profitable. To such a pass had it come that foreign nations were dreading American competition. There was work for all that were willing and able to work. Our industrial conquests abroad startled the world. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 161 In general it may be said that during the administration of President McKinley the people were happy, contented and prosperous. From a material point of view, at least, it was our golden age. And all over the world the great republic is respected and honored. CHAPTER X. SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE CASES OF PRESIDENTS McKiNLEY AND GAR- FIELD I-N NEITHER INSTANCE WAS THE BULLET WHICH PROVED A SOURCE OF DANGER LOCATED PHYSICIANS IN ATTENDANCE UPON THE DISTINGUISHED PATIENTS. The shooting of President McKinley, and above all the failure of the surgeons to locate the second bullet, of course turned the thoughts of every one to the plight of President Garfield when he lay for eleven weeks and more suffering from the effects of Guiteau's bullet, the where- abouts of which the surgeons failed to discover until the knife laid bare its course at the autopsy. After President Garfield was shot he was taken first to a private room in the station and thence removed to the White House. He had been shot twice, first in the right arm, just below the shoulder, and the second and fatal time in the back, just above the right hip and near the kidney. The surgeons who were hastily summoned probed for the bullet without success, but announced that its course had been downward and forward into the groin, and that the wound was serious but not likely to be fatal. The wound in the arm did not amount to much, save for the pain it caused. The President retained consciousness, and when he reached the White House he dictated a telegram to Mrs. Garfield, who was at Elberon. When he was shot down he was on his way to meet her in Jersey City, whence with some members of his Cabinet he was to make a trip into New England. President Garfield's recovery from the shock of the wounds was very gradual. Later attempts to find the bullet failed, but there were no signs at once of serious internal hemorrhage and there was little external bleed- ing. A former physician of General Garfield's said that the President had very few chances. The President maintained his courage, kept a clear head and continued cheerful through Sunday, but he asked the doctors to tell him if he was going to die. Hopes of the medical men rose on 162 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. 163 Sunday, but on Sunday at midnight they had vanished. Serious inflam- mation had set in during the evening, and at 9 o'clock Vice-President Arthur was awaiting a summons to the White House to take the oath of office. By noon of Monday the doctors had relieved the pain, which till then had been constant and which the patient had complained of all the time as being in his legs and feet. It was due to the injury of the nerves supplying the extremities. One New York surgeon said after the President's death that these pains he complained of showed that there was trouble in the sciatic muscle region and that this indication should have led the surgeons to make an incision there which would have let out the pus which afterward caused so much trouble. At 2 o'clock on Sunday afternoon President Garfield said he felt better than at any time since he was shot. He had then a pulse of no, temperature 100 and respiration 24. The examinations up to that time, it was announced, had only demonstrated that the bullet was in the neigh- borhood of the liver. From then until the autopsy disclosed their error the surgeons spoke of the President's wound as having penetrated the liver, and statistics were evoked for an illustration of the chances of life with such a wound. It was found that of one hundred and sixty or one hundred and seventy cases of similar liver wounds in the Civil War, twenty-three were treated suc- cessfully. The great danger in President Garfield's case was acknowledged to be, as in the case of President McKinley, in peritonitis, which it was said then was almost always fatal. On the first evening brandy and cracked ice helped General Garfield to rally. But presently he could not retain that. On the second evening the champagne and cracked ice aided him. Then his diet fell to milk and lime water, with, later, some chicken broth and rum of old vintage. On the Tuesday following the shooting the patient had as comfort- able a day as could be expected, and on Wednesday there was the same waiting for developments, which it was hoped might be good, but feared would be bad. All that the doctors could do was to try to keep the patient's strength up. They feared blood poisoning all the time, but could do nothing to prevent it, as they did not know the course of the bullet. They were all ready for instant operation should it develop, as, if it did, there must be instant operation or death would be certain. The 164 WILLIAM McKINLEY. patient might appear to be getting well, but suddenly the blood might come into contact with the putrid matter slousfhiner from the wound and be turned to gall, and then the patient would die. The operating instru- ments were kept to hand and the surgeons stood guard. The newspapers were printing extra editions almost hourly and the physicians were issuing frequent bulletins, but it was well understood the doctors even saying so that the bulletins gave little real information. They merely recorded the pulse, temperature and respiration and left the public to make its own deductions. No diagnosis was made public. From the rise of the surgical fever on July 3d, the variations of the pulse to July 6th were from 98 to 126, of the temperature from 98.9 to 101.9, and of the respiration from 19 to 24. President Garfield was told that the bullet had perforated his diaphragm and on that account he mustn't talk. He liked to converse and the doctors wanted to keep him very quiet. They got him to the point where he would even ask mutely for water by putting his hand to his lips. Later he lost all desire to talk. Not until Friday was pus which the physicians said showed that the wound was healing seen. Ten days after the shooting the patient's temperature reached the highest point 102.8. The doctors all this time believed that the bullet had passed between the eleventh and twelfth ribs, through the liver, and to the abdominal cavity, where they said it had lodged in the anterior wall of the abdomen, from which they expected to be able to remove it readily, in due time, without danger. It was only learned by the public on July 13 that the President had "circumscribed peritonitis," and that he had had it since the second day of his illness. This circumscribed peritonitis was defined by a tender- ness in the abdomen and it was believed by the surgeons that this located the bullet. They thought that the tenderness due to the peritonitis marked where the bullet had found lodgment, but a little lump there which they thought was the bullet they concluded after the autopsy must have been hard pus at the end of a canal which it had bored for itself from a point near the beginning of the bullet wound. The pus worked forward, while the bullet had gone sidewise across the back ; but it was many weary weeks before this was learned, and the sufferer, from abundant health in midsummer, had passed through all the stages to the knife of the post-mortem examiner just before the autumnal equinox. 4 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 165 The surgeons had not relied solely upon the manifestations of the pus-workings, but had employed upon more than one occasion the "induc- tion balance." There had been at least two occasions of serious relapse in the latter part of July, and at length Dr. Agnew made an incision. Explorations were made along the pus canal, the supposed course of the bullet, where there was a channel several inches deep, but the results were not satisfactory; so experiments to locate the bullet were made by the induction balance, under the direction of Professor Graham Bell and an assistant. The report of one of them on August ist said : "Under the supervision of the attending surgeons, Professors Bell and Taintor this morning made another application of the electrical appa- ratus known as the induction balance, with a view to completing the tests of last week, which were not entirely conclusive, and ascertaining defi- nitely and certainly, if possible, the location of the ball. "They tried this improved apparatus on the President's body for the first time last week, and although it indicated faintly the location of the ball, it was afterward found to be slightly out of adjustment, and the experiment was not regarded as perfectly conclusive. The results of this morning's tests, however, are entirely satisfactory both to Professors Bell and Taintor and to the attending surgeons, and it is now unanimously agreed that the location of the ball has been ascertained with reasonable certainty, and that it lies, as heretofore stated, in the front wall of the abdomen, immediately over the groin, about five inches below and to the right of the navel." Improvement and relapse continued throughout August, and on September 6th the President was removed from the White House to Elberon, his case then being really hopeless. Three thousand five hun- dred feet of track were laid from the railroad station at Elberon to the Francklyn cottage, to which the President was taken, so that the train could run practically to the door. His condition fluctuated from that time until his death at 10:35 P- m. on September ipth. The autopsy was made the next day, the knife being used by Dr. D. S. Lamb, of the Medical Museum of Washington, in the presence of the other surgeons. The official announcements of its results said : "It was found that the ball, after fracturing the right eleventh rib, had passed through the spinal column in front of the spinal canal, frac- turing the body of the first lumbar vertebra, driving a number of small fragments of bone into the adjacent soft parts and lodging below the 166 V/ILLIAM McKINLEY. pancreas, about two inches and a half to the left of the spine and behind the peritoneum, where it had become completely encysted. "The immediate cause of death was secondary hemorrhage from one of the mesenteric arteries adjoining the track of the ball, the blood rup- turing the peritoneum and nearly a pint escaping into the abdominal cav- ity. An abscess cavity, six inches by four in dimensions, was found in the vicinity of the gall bladder, between the liver and the transverse colon, which were strongly adherent. It did not involve the substance of the liver, and no communication was found between it and the wound. "A long suppurating channel extended from the external wound, between the loin muscles and the right kidney, almost to the groin. This channel, now known to be due to the burrowing of pus from the wound, was supposed during life to be the track of the ball." The report of the autopsy was signed by Drs. D. W. Bliss, J. K. Barnes, J. J. Woodward, Robert Reyburn, Frank H. Hamilton, D. Hayes Agnew, Andrew D. Smith and D. S. Lamb. Dr. Reyburn has said that the injury to the spine would have caused death in any event. Dr. Bliss in a review of the case, mentioning the points revealed in the autopsy which required consideration by the profession, said : "Would the condition of the President immediately after his injury have justified a more thorough exploration of the wound, or would such a procedure have been safe at any time before primary reaction was estab- lished? Considering carefully the condition of the President during the entire period of his illness, and the facts revealed by the autopsy, would not any operation for the purposes before mentioned have placed the President's life in great jeopardy, and, at best, have hastened the time of his death without affording any signal relief? * * * I desire to make the inquiry whether more extensive explorations could have been safely made ? * * * I would ask if any known instrument or means of exploration has ever been presented to the profession capable of tracing before the death of said patient the course of this bullet ?" There was discussion both lay and professional after the result of the autopsy was made known, and, of course, opinions differed. The general conclusion was that the wound was mortal anyway, without reference to the mistaken diagnosis. One rather delicate point raised was as to the exact part taken by Drs. Hamilton and Agnew. They were called in consultation after the other surgeons had taken preliminary measures, and they approved what had already been done. It was said afterward that, instead of mak- WILLIAM McKINLEY. 167 ing explorations or examinations for themselves on their arrival at Wash- ington, they accepted the reports of the other attending surgeons and gave their approval of the course taken by them. On one hand it was said that they were bound to accept the reports of the other doctors who were first in charge. On the other, it was said that their profession and the people expected them to be their own judges wholly, and that the profession all over the world when informed that these two men had been summoned felt satisfaction that the President was to have the best medical and surgical skill and knowledge available, and that this implied initial examination on the part of these surgeons. The case, by reason of the remarkable mistake in the diagnosis, of course became a famous one in surgical annals. REMARKABLE OPERATION UPON PRESIDENT McKiNLEY. The operation performed upon President McKinley at the little emergency hospital within the Pan-American grounds at Buffalo just after he was shot was in many respects remarkable. Physicians said that if he recovered it would be in no small measure due to the fact that within a comparatively few minutes there was gathered together in the operat- ing room a corps of the most able surgeons in the world. Besides the President's own physician, Dr. Rixey, there were present three surgeons of international reputation and five accounted as among the best in their localities. At 4:07 o'clock the President was shot. At 4:18 he lay on the table ready for the operation. Dr. Lee, of St. Louis, and Dr. Mynter, of Buffalo, were on the grounds and at hand within ten minutes. Dr. Mann and Dr. Parmenter were away from their offices, but were at the hospital within an hour after the shooting. Dr. Roswell Park was at Niagara Falls. A special Michigan Central train bore him with marvelous speed to Buffalo, and within an hour and a half he, too, was at the operating table. Dr. Roswell Park was easily the foremost of the corps of physicians attending the President. He was a surgeon of world-wide fame and author of "Park's System of Surgery," a standard work. He was also an acknowledged expert in cancer. He was then about 48 years of age and enjoyed a good practice. He was graduated from the Rush Medical College, of Chicago, some twenty-five years ago, and for a time taught there what he had learned. Subsequently he spent much time in European study, and upon his return earned his reputation as a rapid, clean, and what is professionally 168 WILLIAM McKINLEY. termed a pretty operator, and was one of the few ambidextrous surgeons in practice. He was chief surgeon at the Buffalo General Hospital and professor of surgery at the University of Buffalo. Dr. Herman Mynter, an older man, perhaps 56, was a Dane by birth and famous in two continents as an expert abdominal surgeon and specialist on appendicitis, concerning which subject he had written a work which is indispensable to the profession. In 1900 he went to Den- mark and lectured on his chosen subject before the Danish Medical Con- gress at Copenhagen. He was formerly surgeon at the Sisters' Hospital and later operated at the German Deaconess Home at the new German Hospital in Buffalo. Dr. Matthew D. Mann, aged 56, professor of gynaecology at the Uni- versity of Buffalo, and gynaecologist at the Buffalo General Hospital, attained a world-wide reputation through his standard text book on Gynaecology. He was a Park Commissioner of the City of Buffalo. He had practiced from thirty to thirty-five years in Buffalo and was known as an eminent abdominal surgeon. He was once an instructor at the Har- vard University. Dr. John Parmenter, though not so well known abroad, was esteemed as one of the best and most careful operators in New York State. He was under 40 years old, and was professor of anatomy at the University of Buffalo. Dr. Eugene Wasdin, surgeon of the Marine Hospital, Department of the United States, stationed at Buffalo, will be remembered as one of the experts detailed to investigate yellow fever in Cuba during the Spanish war. He was about 40 years old and an expert surgeon of more than local reputation. Dr. T. W. Lee, of St. Louis, who assisted in the operation, was medi- cal director of the Omaha Exposition and a famous surgeon. Dr. Charles G. Stockton, of Buffalo, was called into consultation because of his store of medical knowledge. He was perhaps the best- known physician in Buffalo. Dr. N. W. Wilson, who was in charge of the emergency hospital at the time and who was in charge of the President until the surgeons arrived, won a reputation early in his career. He was and had been for three years post surgeon at Fort Porter, was connected with the staff of the Sisters' Hospital and was the sanitary officer of the Pan-American Exposition. Dr. Presley M. Rixey, the physician to the McKinley family, who was with the President in Buffalo, was a medical inspector in the United WILLIAM McKINLEY. 169 States Navy. He is a Virginian, born in Culpepper, in that State, and a brother of John Franklin Rixey, the Representative in Congress from the Eighth Virginia District. Dr. Rixey was appointed an assistant surgeon in the regular army on January 28, 1874. His first cruise was in the Congress, attached to the Eastern station, and when his service on her was completed in 1876, he was assigned to the Marine Hospital at Philadelphia, remaining there until the following year. His next service was at the Norfolk Navy Yard, and then in 1878 he was assigned to special service. Surgeon General Bates, of the Navy, who had been Mrs. McKinley's physician in Washington when the President was in Congress and who had resumed that duty when the McKinleys moved into the White House, died in October, 1897. General Leonard Wood, then an assistant surgeon in the army on duty in Washington, succeeded him as the White House physician, and when General Wood went away from Washington as Colonel of the Rough Riders early in 1898, the President made very careful inquiry as to the qualifications of certain physicians, before selecting General Wood's successor. As a result of this inquiry he decided on Dr. Rixey, and for three years that officer was constantly in attendance on the President and his wife. He always accompanied Mrs. McKinley on her railroad journeys with the President and was with her when she was taken so seriously ill in California in the spring previous to the shooting of the President. CHAPTER XL INTENSE HORROR THROUGHOUT THE WORLD WHEN THE NEWS OF THE SHOOTING OF PRESIDENT McKiNLEY BECAME KNOWN MESSAGES OF CONDOLENCE AND SYMPATHY RECEIVED FROM ALL PARTS OF THE EARTH GREAT GRIEF SHOWN. It would be impossible to give an adequate idea of the intense horror the assassination of President McKinley created in the United States and throughout the world. The people absolutely refused to believe it at first, but when the cruel rumor was confirmed there was gloom everywhere. Why a murderer should have selected the Chief Executive of the great North American Republic as his victim none could understand. It was well known that, after the killing of King Humbert of Italy, in 1900, by Bresci, the anarchist, the statement was made that the Reds had marked President McKinley, the Emperor of Germany and the Czar of Russia for death, but no one dreamed that this meant danger to the beloved head of the United States Government. The morning succeeding the shooting of the President at Buffalo the State Department at Washington was flooded with cablegrams and tele- graph messages, all expressing the gravest concern, and by noon the Department was prepared to make public some of the messages that had been received, abandoning the idea of holding them in hand until the list was complete. These messages came from crowned heads, from foreign Ministers, from resident Ministers of foreign countries in the United States, and from individuals of distinction. Some of them follow: From the German Emperor and Empress : "Koenigsberg The Empress and I horrified at the attempt planned against your husband. Express our deepest sympathy, hoping that God may restore to health Mr. McKinley. WILLIAM, I. R. "VICTORIA, I. R." From the President of the French Republic : "Rombouillet With keen affliction I learn the news of the heinous attempt of which your Excellency has just been a victim. I take it to 170 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 171 heart to join with the people of the United States in wishing the early recovery of your Excellency, and I earnestly desire in this sorrowful juncture to renew to you the assurance of my sentiments of constant and cordial friendship. EMILE LOUBET." The following telegram was received from King Edward, who was at Kiel: "Please send immediately to the American Embassy ana offer my deepest sympathy on the dastardly attempt on the life of the President. I have telegraphed direct to the President. Please keep me informed as to his condition." From the President of Guatemala : "Guatemala My government and I most heartfully lament the unhappy event. Be pleased to receive our profound sorrow. "M. ESTRADA C." From New South Wales : "Sydney The government and people of New South Wales join with me in expressing our deep sympathy with you in your sufferings and our sorrow at the crime which has been committed. We pray that the Almighty in His infinite goodness may spare you to your people. "FREDERICK M. DARLEY." From the Italian Ambassador: "Rome I am deeply grieved at the terrible crime. I trust the Presi- dent will be spared to his country and his friends. BARON FAVA." From the German Ambassador : "Bremen Please accept the expression of my most sincere and hearty regret on account of the dreadful accident the President has met with. Please convey this message, if possible, to the President and Mrs. McKin- ley. HOLLEBEN." From the Methodist Conference : "London Tn accordance with action taken on this 7th day of Sep- tember this Ecumenical Methodist Conference, assembled in Wesley Chapel, London, expresses to the American people its intense indignation at the dastardly attempt on the life of the President of the United States and its profound sympathy with the nation in its deep anxiety. "JOHN BOND, "JAMES M. KING, "Secretaries." 172 WILLIAM McKINLEY. From the French Foreign Minister: "Paris I beg your Excellency to accept the expression of profound horror inspired in the French nation and government, ever ready to share the sorrows as well as the joys of the people of the United States, by the attempt on President McKinley's life and our ardent wishes for the early recovery of the noble chief of the great American Republic. "DELCASSE." From the Canadian Premier: "Ottawa To Lord Pauncefote, British Embassy : I have the com- mand of his Excellency the Governor General to ask your Lordship to convey to Mr. Hay, the Secretary of State, the expression of the sense of horror with which the government and people of Canada have learned of the fiendish attempt upon the life of the President of the United States, and the deep sympathy which they feel in the distress of the American nation and Mr. McKinley's family. They fervently hope and pray that it may please Providence to foil the hand of the assassin and preserve a life held in such high reverence, not only by the people of the United States, but by all other nations, and particularly by the people of the Dominion of Canada. WILFRID LAURIER." From Minister of Foreign Affairs at Nicaragua : "Leon, Nicaragua, Sept. 7. The cable has just advised us of the attempted assassination made against President McKinley. The Govern- ment and people of Nicaragua, bound as it is to this great nation, with whose friendship it is honored, deplore the tragedy and trust that his Excellency Mr. McKinley recover from the wounds which treacherous villainy has caused him. With expressions of distinguished consideration, I remain your obedient servant, FERDINANDO SANCHEZ, "Minister of Foreign Affairs." From the Charge d' Affaires of the United States at Guatemala City : "Guatemala, Sept. 7. President Cabrera requests information regarding attempted assassination of President McKinley. "BAILEY." From the Prime Minister of Cape Town to the President : "Cape Town, Sept. 7. On behalf of Government and people of Colony I desire to express the deepest sympathy with you in your terrible affliction and the hope that your life may be spared for the good of the great country over whose destinies you preside. "PRIME MINISTER, Cape Town." WILLIAM McKINLEY. 177 From the London Commissioner of Victoria : "London, Sept. 7. On behalf of the State of Victoria I desire to express its profound sorrow and indignation at the outrage on the Presi- dent. ANDREW CLARKE." Municipalities in England and Scotland to the Secretary of State : From the Lord Provost of Glasgow : "Glasgow, Sept. 7. The Lord Provost of Glasgow desires to express in the name of the Corporation and of the entire community their pro- found grief and indignation at the attempt made on the life of the Presi- dent of the United States. They cherish the deepest sympathy with him in his present sufferings and with the people of the American Republic in the distress into which this act has plunged them, and they fondly hope that God will graciously grant the suffering President a complete and speedy recovery. SAMUEL CHISHOLM, Lord Provost." From the Lord Mayor of Leeds, England: "Leeds, Sept. 7. Lord Mayor and citizens of Leeds, England, have received intimation of attempted assassination of President McKinley with feelings of profound indignation and abhorrence. They offer to the citizens of the United States their deepest sympathy and fervently hope that the life of the President may be spared. "LAWSON, Lord Mayor." From the Lord Mayor of Liverpool: "Liverpool, Sept. 7. On behalf of the citizens of Liverpool I beg to offer the expression of their deepest sympathy with the Government and people of the United States and their deep abhorrence of the crime which has placed in jeopardy the life of a President who has done so much to maintain the cordial relations which they trust will ever continue between this country and the United States. I earnestly trust that by the help of Almighty God the life of the President may be spared. "ARTHUR CROSTHWAITE, Lord Mayor." From the Belgian Minister to Washington : "Ecaussines, Belgium, Sept. 7. Accept expressions my sentiments of indignation and grief for awful attempt. LICHTERVELDE." From the Danish Minister : "Bar Harbor, Me., Sept. 7. In the name of my Government and in my own I beg to express deepest sympathy on account of atrocious crime committed against the President and sincerest wishes for recovery. "BRUN." 178 WILLIAM McKINLEY. From the Minister of Sweden and Norway : "Bar Harbor, Me., Sept. 7. I beg to express to you my horror at the abominable attempt and my congratulations that the President's val- uable life was spared. I have wired my sympathy direct to Mr. Cor- telyou. A. GRIP." From the Minister of Haiti : "Deer Park, Md., Sept. 7. I heard of sad news of criminal attempt on President's life. I beg to convey the heartfelt sympathy of my Gov- ernment and people, of my own and our best wishes for the President's recovery. LEGER." From the Minister of Guatemala : "Deer Park, Md., Sept. 7. Deeply impressed by the awful crime, I wish to express to you my great regret and sincerely hope for the recovery of the illustrious President McKinley. A. LAZO ARRIAGA." From the Charge d' Affaires of Switzerland : "Manchester, Mass., Sept. 7. Deeply deploring odious attempt against President's life, I beg to express ray sincere hope that his precious life may be spared to his country. LARDY." From the Mexican Ambassador to the United States : "Buffalo, Sept. 6. The Mexican Ambassador expresses to the Gov- ernment of the United States his deep regrets for the atrocious attempt against the life of his Excellency President McKinley. The diplomatic representatives of Ecuador, Costa Rica, Spain, Japan, Peru, Colombia, Corea, Turkey, Russia, Venezuela, Brazil and China, at present in this city, have requested the Ambassador to express in their names the same sentiment. M. DE AZPIROZ." From the Charge d' Affaires of the Dominican Republic : "New York, Sept. 6. Heartily deplore the criminal attempt on the person of his Excellency President McKinley, and hope he may have a very speedy recovery. F. L. VASQUEZ." From the Minister of France in Switzerland and formerly Charge d' Affaires of France in Washington: "Berne, Sept. 7. Please convey to the President respectful sympa- thy and wishes for speedy recovery. THIEBAUL." From Bishop S. Barretti of Havana to the War Department : "Sincerest sympathy in nation's sorrow. I pray God for President's recovery. May God grant his recovery." WILLIAM McKINLEY. 179 From Emilio Nunez, Havana: "I regret the sad news of the President's accident and I hope for * speedy recovery." From the Charge d'Affaires of Great Britain in the United States to the Secretary of State: "Newport, R. L, Sept. 7. I am directed to express the King's deep- est sympathy at the dastardly attempt on the President. Lord Lans- downe and the members of the Cabinet beg me also to express their deep- est sympathy to the United States Government. "GERARD LOWTHER." The King of Portugal to Mrs. McKinley: "Cascaes, Sept. 7. Accept, Madame, the expression of my full sym- pathy on this, so grievous an occasion. KING OF PORTUGAL." From the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela : "Caracas, Sept. 7. Government of Venezuela execrates Buffalo at- tempt and makes wishes for the health of President." From the Under Secretary of State of Canada : "Quebec, Sept. 7. May I be permitted to add my personal tribute of sorrow at the sad news of yesterday. I pray that the dastardly attempt may fail, and that President McKinley's life may long be spared for the good of the American people. JOSEPH POPE." From the United States Minister at Berne, Switzerland : "Berne, Sept. 7. Federal Council sends deep sympathy and sincere wishes for prompt recovery. HARDY." From the Chancellor of the German Empire : "Berlin, Sept. 7. Accept the expression of my warmest sympathy with the deep sorrow which has fallen on the Government and people of the United States by an execrable crime. God save the life of the President so grievously endangered. COUNT VON BULOW." From the Charge d'Affaires of the Netherlands to the Secretary of State : "Pequot House, New London, Conn., Sept. 7. I am instructed to offer to the American Government assurance of keen and painful sympa- thy of my Government by reason of awful attempt on President's life and to express the best wishes for speedy recovery. "VAN ROIJER." i8o WILLIAM McKINLEY. From the Belgian Charge d' Affaires : "Newport, R. I., Sept. 7. I pray your Excellency to express to President McKinley my deepest sympathy and most sincere regrets on account of the shocking attempt on the President's life. "WAUTERS, Charge." From the United States Ambassador at the City of Mexico : "City of Mexico, Sept. 7. Attempted assassination produced pro- found sensation here of mingled horror and sympathy. President Maris- cal and other members of the Cabinet called at Embassy last night, expressing their deep sympathy, likewise their diplomatic and other prominent people of all nationalities. Greatly relieved to know that wounds are not necessarily fatal. CLAYTON." From the political Governor of Ensanada, Lower California : "Ensanada, Mexico, Sept. 6. May your Excellency be pleased to accept the expression of my sorrow at the misfortune of which President McKinley is the victim. M. SANGINEZ." The Argentine Minister to the United States to the Acting Secre- tary of State : "Long Branch, N. J., Sept. 7. Convey to you the feelings of sorrow and deprecation for savage attack upon life of President of the United States. With earnest hopes that his noble life may be spared for the happiness of his people. M. GARCIA MEROU." From the Ambassador of the United States at Paris : "Paris, Sept. 7. Government and all classes of people here deeply touched by appalling news of attempted assassination of President and warm in expression of condolence. I tender profoundest sympathy and most earnest hope for recovery from all members of Embassy. Your cable just received. Please advise me of any changes in condition. "PORTER." From the Consul-General of the United States at Guayaquil, Ecua- dor: "Guayaquil, Sept. 7. Horror intense. Grief universal. God save President. DE LEON." From, the Consular Agent of the United States on Prince Edward Island : WILLIAM McKINLEY. 181 "Summerside, Sept. 7. I am directed by the Mayor and Corporation of Summerside to convey through you to Mrs. McKinley and family the heartfelt sympathy of the people of this town and also to express their horror of the crime that has been so ruthlessly committed in that attempt- ed assassination of so noble a man as President McKinley. "RICHARD HUNT." From the Italian Charge d' Affaires : "Manchester, Mass., Sept. 7. Horrified, dastardly attempt against President. I beg you to accept the expression of my deepest sympathy and sincerely hope early recovery. CARIGNANI." From the Minister of Nicaragua to the United States : "Paris, Sept. 7. Please convey President McKinley and all the members of your Excellency's Government my sincere and deep sympa- thy. COREA." From the Governor of Louisiana : "Baton Rouge, La., Sept. 7. Have just heard with profound sor- row of the dastardly assassination of President McKinley. Am at a loss to understand how any one could have found it in his heart to take the life of so amiable a personality as was that of the President. It is a public calamity and I voice the general sentiment of the people of Lou- isiana in saying that the President's taking off is deeply deplored and mourned by all. W. H. HEARD, Governor." From President James D. Thurburn of the Liverpool Cotton Asso- ciation : "Liverpool, Sept. 7. The members of the Liverpool Cotton Associa- tion desire to express their sympathy with the American people in the dastardly attempt upon the life of their President and they earnestly hope that his valuable life may be spared. "JAMES D. THURBURN, President." From ex-Senator William V. Allen: "Madison, Neb., Sept. 6. The appalling news of the assassination of the President has just reached us. The people of Nebraska are pro- foundly shocked. May God deal gently with his wife and may swift justice be meted to his murderer." From the Cosmopolitan Club of Santiago, Cuba : "Americans, foreign colony, residents Santiago, greatly shocked, praying for recovery of the President." 182 WILLIAM McKINLEY. From the President of the Board of Trade, Chicago : "Chicago, Sept. 7. The Board of Trade of the City of Chicago at its meeting held today, desires in this hour of private and public affliction to express through you their profound sympathy with the President and his stricken family and with yourself and with other members of the Cabinet and hope for a speedy recovery. "WILLIAM S. WARREN, President." From A. B. Hamilton, Commander: "The Fourteenth Annual Encampment of the Southern California Veteran Encampment Association assembled at Coronado, Cal., express to their comrade, the President, and his family, their great sorrow in the affliction and their horror at the attempt upon his life. They hope for his garly recovery." From the Mayor of Goderich, Canada : "Goderich, Ont., Sept. 7. At a meeting of the Town Council held here last evening it was resolved that the sympathy of the people of Goderich be tendered Mrs. McKinley and the American nation on the blow inflicted on them by the hand of an assassin, and they hope that the Ruler of Nations will spare President McKinley to his people. "JAMES WILSON, Mayor." From the Free Baptists of America : "Harper's Ferry, W. Va., Sept. 7. For Mrs. McKinley : The Free Baptists of America assembled in triennial conference at Harper's Ferry, W. Va., rejoice that the beloved President lives, and pray that a kind Providence may restore him in health to his exalted office. "R. D. LARD, President." The Secretary of State received a telegram from Gustav M. Schwab, dated New York, saying that he had been instructed by the North German Lloyd Company of Bremen to express their heartfelt sympathy with their hope for a speedy recovery of President McKinley. The Secretary of State received a telegram signed by A. P. Graham, Lieutenant Colonel, and A. J. Turner, Adjutant, reading: "British Naval and Military Veterans' Association deplore the das- tardly attempt on life of President of United States. All lands in sym- pathy and horror. May God preserve the President." From the resident Americans of Nassau, N. P.: "Nassau, Sept. 7. We tender deepest regrets and sympathy to President on account of dastardly attempt at assassination." WILLIAM McKINLEY. 183 Methodists pass vote of sympathy: London, Sept. 7. When the International Methodist Ecumenical Conference met today, with Bishop Arnett acting as president, a vote of sympathy with President McKinley was passed and a prayer offered for his recovery. Among those who spoke on the resolution was the Rev. Dr. Bristol, who was formerly the President's pastor. He said that Mr. McKinley was the only President who had been a member of the Methodist Church. Bishop Gaines, of Georgia, also made an address on the President. From the Carter Harrison League : Chicago, Sept. 7. The Carter H. Harrison League adjourned its meeting last night out of respect to President McKinley, after unani- mously adopting this resolution: "We take this earliest opportunity of condemning the most cowardly attack on our highest Executive. We hope for his speedy recovery and pray that his good wife may bear this great calamity to her and the nation with fortitude." Inquiries from the people of Cuba: Havana, Sept. 7. Hundreds of telegrams were received at the Palace today inquiring after President McKinley's condition. They came from all parts of the island, from Mayors, Judges, foreign Consuls and the people generally, and all expressed most sincere sympathy. The Constitutional Convention adopted a resolution that on account of the shooting of President McKinley a committee should be sent to Governor General Wood to ask him to telegraph their sympathy in the name of the convention. As a further mark of respect the Constitutional Convention decided not to hold any session today. From President Lincoln's home: Springfield, 111., Sept. 7. Acting Governor Northcott spoke sympa- thetically when asked for an expression concerning the attempted assass- ination of President McKinley. He said: "I do not think that the attempted assassination of President Mc- Kinley is evidence of any insecurity of our form of government or of any evil in the social conditions of our country. The accident of assass- ination by insane persons may occur in any form of government and any civilization. "The sorrow of the American people at this tragedy is beyond ex- pression. No man since Lincoln has been more loved and respected than 184 WILLIAM McKINLEY. President McKinley. He was the most effective friend of the laboring man in American history." Governor Northcott last night telegraphed sympathy to Secretary Cortelyou. From ex-Vice-President Adlai Stevenson: Bloomington, 111., Sept. 7. Former Vice-President Adlai Stevenson was profoundly shocked by the intelligence of the shooting of President McKinley. "The report of the attempted assassination of President McKinley is indeed appalling," he said. "The tidings will bring unspeakable grief to the hearts of all his countrymen. He is a man of the kindliest feeling and could have no personal enemy." Messages from Manila: Washington, Sept. 7. Acting Secretary of War Gillespie and Acting Adjutant General Ward sent telegrams respectively last night to Gover- nor Taft and Major General Chaff ee at Manila, telling of the attempted assassination of the President. This morning the following responses were received: "Sympathy and solicitude for President from army in Philippines. "CHAFFEE." "Greatly shocked by report that President has been shot. Anxiously awaiting exact information. TAFT." Sympathy from Nashville: Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 7. The City Council met in special session today and adopted resolutions strongly condemning the attempted assass- ination of President McKinley and expressing sympathy for the Presi- dent. From the Amalgamated Association : Pittsburg, Pa., Sept. 7. The Executive Board of the Amalgamated Association was in session when the news of the attack on McKinley reached strike headquarters, and the telephone was kept busy until the board adjourned with inquiries directed to newspaper offices for bulletins. T. J. Shaffer, the head of the strike, said: "This is awful. I do not see how any man could do so atrocious a deed. Mr. McKinley is a kindly man and as President of the United States should be respected by all. There is no punishment which human WILLIAM McKINLEY. 185 hands can inflict that is severe enough for such a man. Is there no secure protection for our President in public places?" M. F. Tighe, the Amalgamated Assistant Secretary and next to Shaffer the most prominent man in the strike, said : "President McKinley was a friend to everybody, yet this man tries to kill him. It would be a great loss to the country if he should not recover. But why do the American people not do away with the sense- less custom of crowding up to shake hands with their President? It wears out a man and really means nothing to the people themselves." Secretary John Bishop of the Ohio State Board of Arbitration, and a former president of the Amalgamated, who came to Pittsburg yesterday in connection with the new efforts at strike settlement, said : "The strikers and every workman will warmly sympathize with Mr. McKinley, for he has always been known as a friend of the working- man. Not only has he always had the interests of the workingman at heart, but the President has been a close student of economic and indus- trial problems, and the legislation that has resulted from that study has proved a great blessing to labor. President McKinley by his efforts has placed work in the hands of tens of thousands who needed employment. He has been a great benefactor and always a friend of humanity. For that reason every heart is now going out toward him." Among the groups that watched the newspaper office for bulletins were many of the steel strikers, and they were foremost in expressions of regret over the deed and anger at the perpetrator. Day of prayer in Maryland : Baltimore, Sept. 7. Gov. John Walter Smith today issued a formal proclamation setting apart next Tuesday, Sept. loth, as a day of prayer for the recovery of President McKinley. All citizens of Maryland are requested to lay aside their customary duties and to close their places of business for at least a part of the day and to repair to their accustomed places of worship and petition the Almighty to avert such a national calamity as would be the death of the President at the hands of an assassin. When it is said that the proclamation is formal, it is meant that it was issued with all the form and requisites provided by law and by virtue of the official authority of the Chief Executive of the State. The Gover- nor spoke most feelingly today of President McKinley. He said; 186 WILLIAM McKINLEY. "It is not only my personal inclination, but I think it my duty as a representative of the people of Maryland to issue this proclamation. I had intended to leave town early this morning, but remained to attend to this matter. The date should, of course, be as early as possible, but I have fixed Tuesday as the earliest possible time to reach all the people of the State through the press." Endeavorers in sorrow: Boston, Sept. 7. President Francis E. Clark of the World's Chris- tian Endeavor this afternoon gave out the following: "President McKinley has always manifested the deepest interest in the Christian Endeavor Societies, sending a message every year to their annual convention and frequently remembering the Christian En- deavor birthday in February with a congratulatory message. It is nat- ural, then, that the members of this society in all parts of the world should feel with a peculiar sorrow the blow that has come to the Presi- dent and his household." A British Columbia Christian Endeavor convention, which was in session, sent the following telegram to Secretary Baer of the United So- ciety : "British Columbia Union of Christian Endeavor in session send heartfelt sympathy in your national sorrow and pray that God may spare the President's life. MARGARET MACFARLANE, Secretary." On receipt of this President Clark telegraphed to Mrs. McKinley : "British Columbia Christian Endeavorers in convention assembled today join in fervent prayer for President McKinley. Millions of En- deavorers in all parts of the world will follow this example. God spare our beloved President's life." General Cabell wants vengeance: New Orleans, La., Sept. 7. General W. L. Cabell, one of the few surviving Confederate Generals, came to New Orleans today from his home in Dallas, Tex. "I would gladly lead a detachment of my old men," he said, "and go to Buffalo for the purpose of attending to the assassin's case in person. It was an outrage on the good name of the people of the whole nation that the crime should be attempted. We must stop such outbreaks of anarchy and lawlessness, and the quicker the better for the entire country." CHAPTER XII. REMARKABLE JOURNEY OF THE FUNERAL TRAIN FROM BUFFALO TO THE NATIONAL CAPITAL DETAILS OF THE TRIP SCENES NEVER BEFORE WITNESSED CHILDREN STREW FLOWERS ALONG THE RAILS GRIEF OF THE MULTITUDES. Over a route of four hundred and twenty miles in length, amid the tolling of bells and through endless lanes of mourning people that at every town, village and hamlet lined the track far out into the fields, the funeral train that bore both a dead and a living President traveled from Buffalo to Washington September i6th in a journey that is destined to be recorded as a dramatic episode in one of the saddest tragedies in American history. It was a solemn pageant all the way from Buffalo up over the Alle- ghanies, down into the broad valley of the Susquehanna, and on to the marble city on the banks of the shining Potomac. It was the nation's murdered President's last journey to the seat of the Government over which he presided for four and one-half years. Fully half a million persons saw the train during its trip. FLOWERS STREWN OVER THE TRACK. At many cities and towns school children and young women had strewn flowers on the track, hiding the rails, and the engine wheels cut their way through the fragrant masses of blooms spread out to show the love felt for the dead President. The whole country seemed to have assembled its population at the sides of the track over which the funeral train passed. The thin lines through the mountains and the sparsely settled districts thickened at the little hamlets, covered acres in towns suddenly grown to the proportions of respectable cities, and were congested into vast multitudes in the larger cities. Work was suspended in field and mine and city. The schools were dismissed. And everywhere appeared the trappings and tokens of woe. A million flags at half-mast dotted hillside and valley and formed a thicket of color over the cities. And from almost every banner streamed a bit of crape. 187 :88 WILLIAM McKINLEY. At all the larger towns and cities after the train got into Pennsylvania militiamen drawn up at present arms kept back the enormous crowds. GAZED IN SILENCE ON CASKET. The silence with which the countless thousands viewed the remains of their hero was oppressive and profound. Only the rumbling of the train's wheels, the sobs from men and women with tear-stained faces, and the doleful tolling of the church bells broke on the ear. At several places Williamsport, Harrisburg and Bal- timore the chimes played Cardinal Newman's grand hymn. Taken altogether the journey was the most remarkable demonstra- tion of universal personal sorrow since Lincoln was borne to his grave. BIER EVER IN VIEW OF PEOPLE. Every one of those who came to pay their last tribute to the dead had an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the flag-covered bier elevated to view in the observation car at the rear of the train. There was no other bit of bright color to catch the eye on this train of death. The locomotive was shrouded in black, the curtains of the cars in which sat the widow, the relatives of the President, Cabinet officers, and others were drawn. The whole black train was like a shuttered house, save only for the last car, where the body lay guarded by a soldier of the army and a sailor of the navy. It was not solely in and near the towns and villages these mute mourn- ers stood as the train, with steady, even pace, swept by. In the depths of the country itself, far away from centers of population, were clusters of people whose travel-stained vehicles bore evidence of long journeys, begun perhaps with the early dawn, to the nearest point on the railroad where the train would pass. It was no mere morbid curiosity that brought them there. That was evidenced by the sad faces and the simple emblems of sorrow that they bore, touching little badges and draperies that told of the sympathetic work of women's hands in remote farmhouses, the symbols above all others that most would have stirred the heart of him for whose memory they were wrought. Even more impressive than these were the farm laborers in the dis- tant fields halting in their work and standing with bared heads as the train passed by* WOMEN AND CHILDREN MOURN. But above all was remarkable the vast outpouring of women and children. It was the story of Buffalo throngs repeated over again in this WILLIAM McKINLEY. 189 respect. By the freemasonry of their sex the women of America seemed to have exalted the late President as representative of all that was tender and most chivalrous in the relations of husband to wife. And then, con- stantly before their eyes was the picture of that gentle-faced sufferer who in the bewildered hopelessness of her grief was moving through all that funeral gloom as one in a dream, scarce grasping the utter obliteration of all there was in life that it meant to her. Sympathy for Mrs. McKinley drew thousands to the vicinity of the Milburn house in Buffalo when the President lay dying there. Sympathy for her again drew thousands to the railroad as the train that bore her passed by. MRS. McKiNLEY STANDS BY CASKET. Mrs. McKinley, an hour after leaving Buffalo, was escorted to the funeral car by Dr. Rixey and Secretary Cortelyou, and stood for a time looking down on the closed casket. Then she retired to her stateroom in the car Olympia and remained in seclusion with only her attendants and her niece by her during all the rest of the journey. All the way the train was preceded about fifteen minutes by a pilot engine sent ahead to test the bridges and switches and prevent the possi- bility of an accident to the precious burden it carried. The train had the right of way over everything. Not a wheel moved on the railroad system thirty minutes before the pilot engine was due, or for the same length of time after the train had passed. The train left Buffalo at 8 130 o'clock in the morning and arrived at Washington at 8:38 o'clock that night. In those twelve hours it was estimated that over half a million people saw the coffin which held all that was mortal of President McKinley. So far as the journey from Buffalo to Washington was concerned, it was, with the exception of one trifling incident, performed with clock- like precision. At Baltimore just after starting the coupling of one of the cars became loosened and caused a slight delay. Otherwise there was not a hitch from the moment of starting to the time of arrival in the station in Washington. SCHOOL CHILDREN SHOW GRIEF. At East Aurora, the first town through which the train passed after leaving Buffalo, the inhabitants had been augmented by thousands from the surrounding country. The country schools along the way let out and the children the President loved so well in life were there to see his IQO WILLIAM McKINLEY. body pass. The train slowed down at every station to allow the people lined up on either side to get a better view of the flag-covered casket. The population of the little towns along the way like Holland, Ar- cade, Machiau Junction, Franklinville, and Hinsdale had tripled and quad- rupled. The towns seemed suddenly grown into cities. As the train slowed up the mourners behind the curtained windows of the train could hear the tolling bells. Olean was reached at 10:29 o'clock. There were 3,000 persons at the railway station as the train came to a stop. Two ENGINES USED IN THE MOUNTAINS. Two engines were used to pull the heavy train up the mountains. After leaving Olean the train descended into the valley of the Susque- hanna. At Emporium Junction one of the engines was taken off. The route continued down the beautiful valley of the Susquehanna. At the town of Driftwood, which was reached at 12:30 o'clock, the entire population of the town was massed behind a little band of Grand Army veterans, who had planted a furled crape-trimmed flag in front of them. Mrs. McKinley was prevailed upon to lie down soon after the start from Buffalo was made. There were no flowers in the apartment set apart for her use, and nothing to recall to her mind the mournful mission on which the train was speeding. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AT WORK. President Roosevelt was quartered in a drawing-room in the car Hungary with Private Secretary Loeb. He busied himself with letters and telegrams and with the innumerable questions which required imme- diate answer. The members of the Cabinet individually cared for the more pressing business requiring their attention. Secretary Root was occupied for an hour dispatching orders in connection with the assembling of troops at Washington and other points for the ceremonies soon to take place. The Cabinet officers joined President Roosevelt from time to time, but there was nothing in the nature of a concerted meeting. Major General Brooke, in fatigue uniform, with a band of crape about his left sleeve, conferred occasionally with the Secretary of War, and with him determined upon the military requirements of the occasion. At Renovo ropes had been stretched to keep back the crowds which surged through the neighboring streets. A big flag with President Mc- Kinley's picture framed in crape was strung from corner to corner of the station, and in front of it were hundreds of school children, their hats WILLIAM McKINLEY. 191 in their hands und their faces grave. This was the terminus of one of the railroad divisions, and the train hands were all lined up with bared heads. After leaving Renovo the train passed through a more thickly popu- lated country and the crowds grew denser. Flags at half mast were on every schoolhouse and the bells of the churches tolled dolefully as the funeral train sped by. President Roosevelt had lunch in the dining car of the train with Secretary Root at 1 130 p. m. The members of the Cabinet and other dis- tinguished persons aboard the train had preceded him into the diner. Mrs. McKinley and her immediate party remained in the car Olympia, which was provided with its own special dining car service. At Williamsport, which was reached at 2:30 o'clock, there was a remarkable demonstration, the feature of which was the presentation of an immense floral offering by 5,000 school children of the city. It was received by Colonel T. C. Bingham, the President's aid. He stood on the platform of the observation car in which the catafalque lay exposed to view, and the scene was profoundly impressive. FRAGRANT BLOSSOMS ON THE RAILS. At Lock Haven the young women of the city lined up along the track and strewed the path of the dead President with flowers. Some had baskets brimming full of color and others held the fragrant blossoms in their arms. They poured their floral offering beneath the wheels. Each small town had conceived some distinct way of its own to show its respect for the dead. Others sought to obtain souvenirs of the sad occasion in unique ways. At one point beyond Lock Haven hundreds of boys placed silver coins on the track and when the train rushed by hurried to secure the flattened bits of silver for preservation as mementoes. The passage through Sunbury, which is midway between Williams- port and Harrisburg, was a sight long to be remembered. Third Street, through which the railroad runs, was covered with flags and bunting, all heavily draped with crepe. All business was suspended and the entire population gathered on either side of the street. No demonstration was made, dead silence prevailing. As the train passed slowly through the throng all hats were lifted and from wet eyes and bowed heads the funeral train was watched until its disappearance in the distance. Companies E and K, Twelfth Regiment, headed by Colonel C. M. Clement and staff, served as an escort for the train through the town. 192 WILLIAM McKINLEY. THE FARMERS LEAVE THEIR WORK. After leaving Williamsport the train ran through stretches of farming country, dotted here and there with small manufacturing towns. At Milton all work was suspended, and the town turned out at the station and lined the railroad track. Workmen lined up in their overalls, with serious faces and hats in hand. All ages and conditions of the people joined in the tribute the children, with tiny flags topped with knots of black, cripples on crutches, and babes held above the crowd for a sight they might never see again. In the fifty miles from Sunbury to Harrisburg the loute skirted the Susquehanna, and the vistas of green-clad slope and peak gave way to broad sweeps of rich farming country. The rivermen were aware of the coming of the train. A ponderous dredge halted in its operations and the men lined the deck of the unwieldy craft. At a little town across the river the populace had emptied upon the wharves and could be seen straining for a view of the speeding train. Farther on a farmhouse had its porch looped with black, and under- neath were gathered the old and young of the household with sorrowing faces. At one cross-road hundreds of vehicles were drawn up, with country people standing in them, and evidently some nearby town had thus sought a point of vantage near the track. FACTORY HANDS SHOW SORROW. Approaching Harrisburg factory hands again lined the track. The rooftops of buildings were alive with people. Flags were at half mast and emblems of mourning were at every hand. Hundreds of men and women crowded the tops of freight cars. Within the station the people were banked in thousands, surging through all the approaching streets as far as the eye could reach. From a viaduct spanning the track countless faces peered down into the car windows. The tolling of the church bells could be heard, and as the train entered the station the notes of a bugle sounded taps. Despite the vigilance of the guard, women pushed through the train and pleaded at the windows for any trifle the cars might yield as a memen- to of the trip. Just as the train stopped a great choir, ranged tier on tier on the station steps, began "Nearer, My God, to Thee," and then as the train pulled out the strains turned to "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Printed slips were handed to the car windows, giving the lines of the two hymns, bordered in black. The FunereJ of President McKinley Carrying the Body into the Capitol SM Washington o id u CO o S u O U o - o c o tlfl WILLIAM McKINLEY. 197 HYMNS ARE SUNG AT HARRISBURG. During the wait at the union station three hundred members of the Harrisburg Choral Society sang "Nearer, My God, to Thee" and "Amer- ica." Companies D and I, Eighth Regiment, National Guard of Pennsyl- vania, and the Governor's Troop were drawn up along the track and stood at present arms as the train passed through. The crush at the station was so great that the militia was called by the railroad authorities to drive the crowd back. It is estimated that there were 30,000 persons crowded in and about the station to see the train. Governor and Mrs. Stone were in the crowd, but they were unable to get near the train. The local Grand Army posts also turned out to do honor to the memory of the dead President. Business throughout the city was suspended from 4 130 until 5 o'clock, and the courthouse bell and numerous other bells tolled during the period. The train remained five minutes at Harrisburg, leaving at 4 150 p. m. THOUSANDS ALONG THE RIVER BANKS. A remarkable spectacle was presented as the train moved across the long bridge spanning the Susquehanna from Harrisburg. On either side of the stream, up and down for miles the banks teemed with countless people. From the brink of the stream they were in solid masses to the trees far in the background. On the bridge itself urchins had clambered into the tangle of steel at the sides and roof. On the surface of the river, in a flotilla of rowboats and yachts, hun- dreds more looked up at the train of death. On the far side of the bridge another dense crowd lined the tracks and, with bared heads, peered into the catafalque car. Again, at York, the train moved for half a mile between avenues of solid humanity, and windows and housetops alive with people. By this time the sun was getting low, and in the throngs were hundreds of work- men with their dinner pails. Everywhere the same scenes of sorrow and reverence that had gone before were re-enacted. NIGHT FALLS ON THE WAY TO BALTIMORE. Night came on as the train sped from York to Baltimore without a stop, and in the darkness only the flickering lights along the way and the tolling of bells at the stations bespoke that the manifestations of sorrow were still going on. 198 WILLIAM McKINLEY. As the train drew into Baltimore black masses of people could be seen ranged upon the huge viaducts which span the line of the road, and at every street crossing a living tide surged up to the train. Nearing the station, the locomotive plowed its way among flowers, for great masses of blossoms had been strewn along the pathway of the train. Inside the station the iron railing held back a surging multitude, while within the rail the entire force of the city postofnce was drawn up on one side of the tracks, with banners wound with crape, and the force of the custom house on the other side. In front of the crowd stood Mayor Hayes, with his sister, each bearing great clusters of roses and palms as a tribute of the city to be placed on the bier of the dead President. As the flowers were passed within the train the notes of "Nearer, My God, to Thee," arose. A mo- ment later the train was off for the final destination. At Baltimore the entire makeup of the train was reversed, the cata- falque car being placed at the front, while that of Mrs. McKinley and the relatives, President Roosevelt, the Cabinet and public officials followed in the order named. It was shortly before 8 130 o'clock that the distant lights of the Na- tional Capital came into view. Then the preparations for disembarking the casket began. The stalwart soldiers and sailors who were to bear it from the car were summoned to their posts. As the train ran through the suburbs the knots of people along the way gradually swelled to hun- dreds and then to thousands. At 8:38 o'clock the train swept into the station, around which thousands were waiting to receive their dead. COURTESY TO GRAND ARMY VETERANS. The presence of five veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic on the funeral train developed an interesting incident, showing the considerate attitude of President Roosevelt toward the old soldiers. The thirty-fifth national encampment, G. A. R., at Cleveland, Ohio, adjourned early at the Friday morning session, on September 13, after receipt of the dispatch reporting the condition of the President at Buffalo, placing all unfinished business in the hands of the Council of Administration, consisting of one comrade from each of the forty-five departments, with full power to act. At a meeting of the council, which remained in session until after midnight on Friday, a committee, to be appointed by Commander-in-Chief Ell Torrance, was directed, in the event of the President's death, to attend the funeral of their dead comrade at Canton, Ohio. At a meeting held at Buffalo on the Sunday after the death of the President, presided over by Department Commander Orr, it was agreed WILLIAM McKINLEY. 199 to offer the services of a committee of five to act as a part of the escort to the body on the funeral train to Washington. RECEIVES THE GRAND ARMY MEN. The committee called on President Roosevelt Sunday evening to request an acceptance so that the representatives of the G. A. R. might be assigned to this duty. The President's greeting to the Grand Army committee was most gracious. He said : "I am pleased, much pleased, to receive you, and while, for obvious reasons, I cannot make an assignment such as you propose, I will write a note to Secretary Cortelyou with the hope that he will be able to do so. I know it is what the dead President would have desired, and it is what I desire." The note written by the President was handed to Secretary Cortelyou, who said: "In making arrangements for the funeral I thought of the Grand Army officers. In the multitude of my duties I necessarily had to refer many matters, and that of the G. A. R. escort was sent to Colonel Bingham. Please see and tell him I sent you to him." Colonel Bingham at once made the necessary arrangements for the G. A. R. to follow the hearse to the depot, and an assignment of a com- mittee of five to accompany the remains. The body of William McKinley rested the night of September i6th for the last time in that mansion where for more than four years he lived as quietly as the circumstances of his office would permit. The coffin lay in the spacious East Room, the largest chamber of the White House, where he had time and again received the friendly homage of his fellow-citizens. It is guarded by white-haired comrades of the great civil conflict of forty years ago, and by beardless soldiers of the present day, some of whom served in that later battle for principle which made the United States a world power. COMES HOME IN SILENCE. On that warm September evening the people of Washington assem- bled by thousands to show their sympathy and their respect for this man among men, who to them exemplified the virtues of the devoted husband, the upright citizen, the stalwart leader, and the servant of his countrymen. It was a simple procession that they saw, but all the more impressive on that account. There was no blare of trumpets, no great array of glittering soldiery. Silently, save for the clang and clatter of horses' hoofs on the asphalted 200 WILLIAM McKINLEY. pavements, the escort that accompanied the body of William McKinley to the official residence of American Presidents moved along the great, broad avenue down which he had gone in his living self but six months before through a double line of cheering, enthusiastic people to take for a second time a solemn oath to defend the interests of his country and his fellow-citizens. THE PEOPLE MUTE WITH GRIEF. Tonight the people were mute. With bared heads they watched the funeral car go by, and then dispersed with heavy hearts and filled with the wonder and the anguish of it all. The overcast skies at the close of a bright, sunshiny day were in keeping with the occasion that brought the inhabitants of the National Capital to that wide thoroughfare along which the body of the late Presi- dent was to pass to the home that had been his by virtue of his office. The route of the funeral procession was short a dozen blocks between the railroad station and White House. For that distance the broad sidewalks were thronged with men, women and children, and every window and balcony commanding a view of the cortege was filled with reverent and interested spectators. Those in charge of the procession avoided all possible display, and there was no attempt to play upon the feelings of the people, who were already wrought up to a dangerous point. When the official train drew into the Pennsylvania depot the body was carried from there to the late President's old home at the White House, escorted by a troop or two of cavalry and by the members of the Cabinet and the distinguished officials who had acted as the escort of honor from Buffalo to Washington. No President had ever been more popular with the people of Wash- ington than Mr. McKinley. Neither Grant nor Lincoln was an exception to this, because both ruled during the trying times of and just after the War, and there was much partisan feeling aroused. Mr. McKinley, however, had the abiding love of all the citizens of Washington, and they were prepared to go into hysterics over his arrival. THE MARCH Is DEEPLY TOUCHING. It was well, therefore, that there were no illuminations, no bands, nor anything to inspire the multitude, for a night march of this character might have produced an unfortunate effect. As it was, the official procession from the station to the White House was exceedingly quiet, and, in spite of its extreme simplicity, deeply touch- WILLIAM McKINLEY. 201 ing. The most notable feature of it was the entire absence of noise. There was not a band nor a drum in the whole procession, and save for the bugle note of the cavalry martial music was abandoned entirely. All that element of display will be concentrated on the daylight performance tomorrow. The body of the late President was brought into the depot where President Garfield was shot, and thus was completed the parallel between the two Ohio Presidents, both of whom had been unexpected martyrs to their positions. The procession which conveyed the casket was reverently received by the living lanes of people and was only disturbed here and there by the flashlight snap of over-enterprising photographers. There was no display whatever at the White House. Mrs. McKin- ley's feelings were consulted in preference to anything else. The gates to the grounds adjoining the Executive Mansion were closed early in the afternoon and were only opened to admit Mrs. McKinley and the members of her official and personal family. The casket was placed in the great East Room, which has been the scene of so many notable receptions held by President McKinley and others of his predecessors. CASKET PLACED ON AN HISTORIC SPOT. It was in this room that the body of Lincoln was first placed, and the casket containing the late Secretary Gresham was also there over night as the result of a special mark of respect from President Cleveland. President Garfield's casket was not placed in the East Room. As he died at the seashore it was brought direct to the Capitol, and left there for his home in Mentor. The floral display in the East Room was, of course, extremely beauti- ful, but it was not intended for the sight of the general public, consisting merely of the emblems sent by personal friends, each of them containing a card with the name of the sender. Mrs. McKinley appeared to stand the terrible strain of the day's journey from Buffalo to Washington extremely well, although once or twice she was undoubtedly on the verge of collapse, and had to be given stimulants to keep her up. When she arrived at the White House she was at once taken to her familiar rooms and was surrounded by the tender and loving care of her immediate family. CHAPTER XIII. WASHINGTON, THE CAPITAL OF THE NATION, PAYS ITS HOMAGE TO THE MEMORY OF THE DEPARTED PRESIDENT SOLEMN SCENES IN THE ROTUNDA OF THE CAPITOL ESCORTING THE BODY FROM THE WHITE HOUSE SOMBER MILITARY PAGEANT A NOTABLE ASSEMBLAGE OF PROMINENT PERSONAGES. The Capital City of the great Republic paid its last honors to Presi- dent McKinley September I7th. The night previous the body of the dead Chief Magistrate lay in the beautiful East Room of the White House, a vigil being maintained by soldiers and sailors. Great crowds of people remained the entire night about the fence that enclosed the White House grounds ; they pressed their faces against the iron palings, but they could see nothing. Dawn had just begun to break when the silent day crowd began as- sembling. The sky was cloudy. For hours the throng grew, heedless of the threatening rain. At 8 o'clock in the morning the broad sidewalk on Pennsylvania Avenue was filled with people, who pressed far back beneath the trees of Lafayette Park. Some of them had prepared themselves against the weather, but the vast throng had hurried from their homes, and when about 8 o'clock the rain began to come down in torrents they stood there quiet and subdued, braving the wet. About the time the rain began the military escort made its appear- ance and the vicinity of the Executive Mansion was filled with bugle calls and sharp commands. Artillery came rumbling up. The cavalry came at a quick trot to Lafayette Place, where it took its position for wheeling into the funeral cortege. To the west of the White House were gathered the infantry and artillery troops, while at the State, War and Navy Building were the car- riages to carry the distinguished guests and the members of the diplo- matic corps to the capitol, where the state funeral was to be held. START FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. It had been arranged that the cortege should start from the White House to the Capitol promptly at 9 o'clock. It was only a few minutes 202 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 203 after the appointed hour that the doors of the White House were opened wide and these who had been admitted earlier began to take their places in the carriages. The hearse, drawn by six caparisoned horses, stood at the door. The same eight soldiers, two infantrymen, two marines, and four bluejackets lifted the casket from its support under the great glass chandelier which had shed its light down on the body of President Lin- coln thirty-six years before, and, raising it to their shoulders, carried it between the rows of bare-headed notables and placed it in the hearse. There was a loud blast from the bugler, the squadron of mounted police moved forward, the artillery band sounded the first notes of a funeral march and the last sad march to the Capitol was begun. After the police came General John R. Brooke in the full-dress uni- form of a major general of the United States army and the members of his staff. The cortege moved down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Executive Mansion to Fifteenth Street, past the Treasury Building, again to Pennsylvania Avenue and then straight down the broad thoroughfare up which William McKinley had twice ridden to the White House after taking the oath as President of the United States. The military led the way. There was first a squadron of cavalry. The horses were held back with tight reins to the slow time of the funeral march. Close behind the cavalry came a battery of artillery. Each of the six guns and caissons was drawn by six horses. As the cortege swung into Pennsylvania Avenue at the south end of the Treasury Building the rain settled down in a heavy drizzle, which made the craped standards of the troops cling to the flag staffs. There were two battalions of coast artillery. They were followed by the hos- pital corps and a battalion of United States seamen. The National Guard of the District of Columbia ended the first section of the procession. The military received plaudits from the assembled multitude. War heroes, whose appearance generally evokes applause, passed by almost unnoticed. Interest centered in the second section of the parade, where was the hearse in which was the coffin containing the body of the Presi- dent. It was not demonstrative grief that filled and held that long line of people. Four days of sorrow had softened their affliction. As the hearse, immediately behind the members of the Legion of Honor and the Grand Army of the Republic, came in view hats were lifted and the throng stood bareheaded. SILENT TRIBUTE OF GRIEF. It was the last mark of respect that the great majority of the people 204 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. could show to the man they loved so well. Here and there a hysterical member of the multitude would sob, but in the main absolute silence was the most evident manifestation of the popular grief. At the head of the hearse were details of fifty men each from the Old Veteran Associations, headed by General Henry V. Boynton, who was an old personal friend of the President. The funeral car was sur- rounded by the guard of honor. It was made up of all the army and navy officers in Washington. They were in full-dress uniforms and they walked in a double file on either side of the carriage with bowed heads. From the hilts of their swords hung the black sign of mourning of the military establishment of the government. COFFIN DRAPED WITH FLAG. The curtains of the hearse had been pulled back so that the public could see the rich black cloth covering of the coffin draped with the American flag. Immediately behind the coffin came the carriages con- taining the members of the family, the cabinet and other high officials. The tops were closed and in many instances the curtains drawn. Behind these, in single file, came the vehicles occupied by the mem- bers of the diplomatic corps. These were in full court dress, although the crowd could see little of the pageant. Following came the members of the Supreme Court, the members of Congress and the Governors of the various States who had come to Washington accompanied by the members of their respective staffs. Following were the members of the various commissions and the civic organizations that had been invited to participate in the funeral pageant. When the Capitol was reached the eight soldiers again lifted the coffin from the hearse and carried it to the catafalque which had been prepared beneath the great dome of the Capitol. ALTERATION IN PLANS. It had been intended that after the body had been placed beneath the dome of the Capitol the general public would be given an opportunity for an hour or so to take a last look at the face of President McKinley be- fore the funeral services. The altered arrangements made it necessary to close the White House at six o'clock, in order that the body could be taken to the train which was to carry it to Canton, so it was decided that the funeral should be held as soon as the distinguished guests who had been invited to attend could take their places about the casket. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 205 i This occasioned a great crush at the Capitol, as those who had watched the cortege go to the Capitol hastened to the east front, as di- rected by the officials in charge of the funeral. They were taken in hand by the police and soon two long lines were formed ready to move through the Capitol as soon as the services were over. CARRY OUT FLORAL PIECES. After the cortege had passed from the White Houss, a stream of ex- press wagons drove up to the front entrance. Servants of the Executive Mansion began carrying out the floral pieces that had been sent there. All of the embassies in the city had sent pieces in the name of the ruler of the country represented. Besides, there were hundreds of wreaths, bouquets and pieces from friends and organizations. These were placed in the wagons and sent to the depot, where the funeral train was waiting. The flowers filled an entire car. The street department of the District of Columbia made a special effort to sweep scrupulously the right of way of the cortege. When the force of sweepers showed up in their white clothes each one wore a broad stripe of crape about his left arm. The street sweepers showed this honor to the dead president without instructions from their superiors. CATHOLIC CLERGY IN THE LINE. The Catholic clergy of Washington marched in the funeral proces- sion. This was said to be the first time in the history of the Capital that the priests marched in a public demonstration in a body. The Arch- bishop of the diocese issued orders that the priests should turn out and they obeyed to a man. There were about eighty of them in the civic section of the parade. MRS. ROOSEVELT IN MOURNING. President Roosevelt was at the White House nearly half an hour before the funeral procession moved. He was accompanied by his wife and Commander and Mrs. Cowles, the latter the President's sister. The President was dressed in a black long coat. He wore a low turndown collar and a narrow black string tie. Mrs. Roosevelt was dressed in deep mourning. The President bowed silently to those who greeted him. He went immediately to the East Room, where he remained until he took his place in the procession. His carriage was in the last section of the procession. It was closed. As it came immediately after the carriage occupied by ex-President 206 WILLIAM McKINLEY. Cleveland and was guarded by a number of soldiers it was easily marked by the crowd. SOMBER DAY FOR THE FUNERAL. The state funeral day of President McKinley opened as somber as the occasion. The sky was overcast with dark slow-moving gray clouds, occasional showers of rain fell, giving way for momentary intervals to gleams of dull sunshine, and a soft wind barely stirred into relief the signs of mourning on building fronts that told as well as the subdued air of the public that it was a day of sorrow. It was the occasion when the nation was to pay its last tribute of respect and admiration at the bier of the dead President. All the country had sent here its representatives to testify that the dead held his place deep in the nation's heart. Other nations had ordered their diplomatic and military representatives to be present as a token that they mourned with America in its loss. Ex-President Cleveland, who took part in the ceremonies, like Presi- dent Roosevelt, paid his tribute first in private at the White House and later at the public services in the rotunda of the Capitol. FOREIGN NATIONS REPRESENTED. The King of Great Britain was represented in the person of Gerard Lowther, charge of the British Embassy, whom King Edward had specially commissioned to participate in the services. Captain Louis Bailey of the Royal Navy represented the Embassy. Other Embassies and Legations likewise had sent on their representatives. STATES SEND CHIEF EXECUTIVES. Many of the States had sent on their chief executives and part of their staffs. All branches of the National Government legislative, executive, ju- dicial and military were represented. Senator Frye, President Pro Tern, of the Senate, arrived from Maine in the morning. With him was Chief Justice Fuller of the United States Supreme Court. General David B. Henderson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives attended as the representative of the popular legislative branch, as well as the long- time personal friend and associate of the dead man. Many others were present also of the legislative and judicial depart- ments. WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 207 The army and navy had their highest officers within reach of the city in attendance and all officers within the limits of the National Capital took part under orders directing them to participate in the services of honor to their late commander-in-chief. The South sent General Long- street and other former leaders of the Confederacy. NLGHT VIGIL AT WHITE HOUSE. About the White House the patrol of soldiers and sailors guarding the entrance and grounds told the sad story. The night there had been a quiet one. A vigil over the dead had been maintained throughout the watches. Details of cavalrymen, artillerymen and infantrymen, sailors and marines were on guard around the grounds. A sentryman paced back and forth on the portico. Inside the house others did duty. In the East Room, somber with its drawn shades and dim-burning lights and its heavy black casket in the center of the room, the guard of honor watched over the dead. Members of the Loyal Legion and the G. A. R. performed this sad duty, silently giving way to others every two hours. At the head of the casket stood an artilleryman and a sailor. At the foot were a cavalry- man and a marine. All were at parade rest. These watchers were re- lieved every half hour. MRS. MCKINLEY'S CONDITION. Mrs. McKinley had retired by 10 o'clock and at that hour all the private apartments in the White House were locked for the night. There were no untoward development in Mrs. McKinley's condition, and the night gave way to day without incident having broken its sorrow. MANY FLORAL OFFERINGS. Adjutant General Corbin, then en route home from Manila; Major General Adna R. Chaffee, commander of the United States forces in the Philippines, and the commissioners of Porto Rico had floral offerings laid about the bier. A design of over six feet in diameter, composed of galax leaves and American beauty roses, about which was entwined the Amer- ican flag, came from the mayor and conucil of Richmond, Vt. Other tributes came from Mrs. James A. Garfield, widow of another martyred President; Mrs. Garret A. Hobart, widow of President Mc- Kinley's first Vice-President ; Secretaries Hay and Hitchcock, Lieutenant General and Mrs. Miles, Ambassador Porter at Paris, the Argentine, Guatemalan, Costa Rican and other legations and the municipality of Havana. 20 8 WILLIAM McKINLEY. While the men of note were arriving at the White House the funeral escort under command of Major General John R. Brooke, U. S. A., was forming immediately in front of the White House. Besides regular soldiers, sailors and marines, the escort was made up of a detachment of the National Guard, members of the G. A. R., Loyal Legion and kindred bodies and civic organizations and representatives of all branches of the National Government and the Governors of States and their staffs. The public had been astir early and the streets were crowded with people. Wire cables strung along the entire route of march from the White House to the Capitol kept it clear for the funeral procession. At precisely 9 o'clock a silent command was given and the body- bearers silently and reverently raised the casket containing all that was mortal of the illustrious dead. They walked with slow steps, and as they appeared at the main door of the White House the Marine Band stationed on the avenue opposite the mansion struck up the hymn the dead Presi- dent loved so well, "Nearer, My God, to Thee." There was perfect silence throughout the big mansion, and as the last strain of music died away the throng in the building lifted their heads, but their eyes were wet. MRS. MCKINLEY REMAINS IN HER ROOM. As the hearse moved away the mourners from the White House en- tered carriages and followed the body on its march to the capitol, where the funeral services were to be held. It was thought early in the morning that Mrs. McKinley might feel strong enough to attend the services there, but it was finally decided that it would be imprudent to tax her vitality more than was absolutely necessary, and so she concluded to re- main in her room under the immediate care of Dr. Rixey, Mrs. Barber, her sister, and her niece, Miss Barber. Slowly down the White House driveway through a fine drizzling rain the solemn cortege wound its way to the gate leading to the avenue and halted. Then with a grand, solemn swing the artillery band began the Dead March from "Saul," a blast from a bugle sounded "march," and the head of the procession was moving on its way to the Capitol. The casket, in a black carved hearse, and drawn by six coal-black horses, caparisoned in black net with trailing tassels and a stalwart groom at the head of each, moved down through the gateway and took its place in the line. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 209 ORDER OF THE FUNERAL LINE. The parade moved in 'the following order : FIRST SECTION. Funeral escort under command of Major-General John R. Brooke, U. S. A. Artillery Band. Squadron of Cavalry. Battery of Field Artillery. Company A. U. Engineers. Two Battalions Coast Artillery. Hospital Corps. Marine Band. Battalion of Marines. Battalion of U. S. Seamen. National Guard, District of Columbia. SECOND SECTION. Civic procession. Under command of Chief Marshal General Henry V. Boynton. Clergymen in attendance. Physicians who attended the late President. Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Grand Army of the Republic. Guard of honor, pallbearers and hearse. Officers of the army, navy and marine corps in the city who are not on duty with the troops forming the escort will form in full dress, right in front, on either side of the hearse, the army on the right and the navy and marine corps on the left and compose the guard of honor. Family of the late President. Relatives of the late President Ex-President of the United States. THIRD SECTION. The President. The Cabinet Ministers. The Diplomatic Corps. The Chief Justices and the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Senators of the United States. Members of the United States House of Representatives. Governors of States and Territories' and Commissioners of the District of Columbia. The Judges of the Court of Claims, the Judiciary of the District of Columbia and Judges of the United States Courts, the Assistant Secretaries of State, the Treasury, War, the Navy, the Interior and Agriculture, the Assistant Post- masters-General. The Solicitor-General and the Assistant Attorney- Generals. 210 WILLIAM McKINLEY. The Chilean Claims, Civil, Industrial, Interstate Commerce, Isthmian Canal, Joint High, Mexican Water Boundary, Fish and Fisheries, Special Tariff and Philippine Commissions and other Departments and Commissions of the Government in the order of their precedence. Official Representatives of the Insular Government. Organized Societies. Citizens. MAJOR GENERAL BROOKE LEADS THE LINE. Major General John R. Brooke was at the head of the line, mounted on a splendid charger. Behind him came his aides, the red-coated artil- lery band, a squadron of cavalry with red and white guidons, in a damp air, a battery of field artillery with the men sitting straight and stiff as statues, a company of engineers, two battalions of coast artillery and a detachment of the hospital corps. Then came the naval contingent of the first section, headed by the Marine Band, who were followed by a battalion of marines and one of sailors from the North Atlantic squadron, very picturesque and strong. As the National Guard of the District of Columbia brought up the rear of the first section of the parade the civic section of the procession marched into line. It was under command of General Henry V. Boynton as chief marshal and comprised detachments from the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, the Regular Army and Navy Union, the Union Vet- eran Legion, the Spanish war veterans and the G. A. R. As these veterans of the Civil War passed the waiting hearse wheeled slowly into line, the guards of honor from the army and the navy took up positions on either side of the hearse and the funeral cortege proper took its ap- pointed place behind a delegation of the Grand Army of the Republic. MR. CLEVELAND PRECEDES PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. Close behind the hearse came a carriage in which were seated ex- President Grover Cleveland, Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans and Gen- eral John M. Wilson. In a carriage drawn by four fine black horses coming next were President Roosevelt, Mrs. Roosevelt and Commander W. S. Cowles, the President's brother-in-law. Then folowed a line of carriages bearing all the members of the cabinet, a number of ex-members, and behind them the diplomatic corps. Curtains were drawn so it was difficult to distinguish their occu- pants. Solemnly the funeral party wound down past the Treasury Build- ing and into the broad sweep of Pennsylvania Avenue amid profound silence that was awful to those who only six months before had witnessed the enthusiastic plaudits which greeted the dead man as he made the WILLIAM McKINLEY. 211 same march to assume for a second time the honors and burdens of the Presidential office. The artillery band played a solemn dirge as it with slow steps led the sorrowful way down the avenue. All the military organizations car- ried their arms, but with colors draped and furled. The crowds were silent, all was sad, mournful and oppressive. The people stood with heads uncovered and many bowed in apparently silent prayer as the hearse passed along. A slow, drizzling rain was falling. After the carriages in which were diplomats followed a long line of others containing the Justices of the Supreme Court, the Senate and House Committees appointed to attend the funeral, the local judiciary, the assistant secretaries of the several executive departments, members of the various government commissions and official representatives of the insular governments. MANY BODIES REPRESENTED. Composing the remainder of the procession were representatives of local bodies of Knights Templars, over 1,000 members of the Grand Army of the Republic, the United Confederate Veterans of Washington and Alexandria, Va., various religious and patriotic societies, including the Sons of the American Revolution ; secret societies and labor organiza- tions of the city. Scattered here and there at intervals were representatives of out- of-town organizations, including the Ohio Republican Club, the Repub- lican Club of New York City, the New York Italian Chamber of Com- merce and the New York Board of Trade and Transportation, the New York Democratic Honest Money League and the Southern Manufac- turers' Club of Charlotte, N. C. The military order of the Loyal Legion, of which President Mc- Kinley was an honored member, with a representation from the New York and Pennsylvania Commanderies, formed a conspicuous part in this portion of the procession, as also did the Knights Templars of Wash- ington and of Alexandria, Va., and a battalion of the Uniform Rank Knights of Pythias. The full force of letter carriers of Washington, each man with a band of black crepe around his arm, walked to the sol- emn tread of the dirge. The banners of all organizations were folded and draped with black and all the marching civilians wore mourning badges and white gloves. Fife and Drum Corps Bands rendered at frequent intervals along the route the President's favorite hymn, "Nearer, My God, to Thee." The procession occupied one hour and a half in passing a given point. 212 WILLIAM McKINLEY. For hours before the arrival of the funeral cortege at the east front of the Capitol an impenetrable cordon of people had massed along the walk and areas fronting the plaza. Thousands upon thousands of sor- rowing people had gathered here to pay their last tribute of respect and love to the memory of the dead magistrate. CROWDS STAND IN THE RAIN. The entrances to the Senate and House wings of the Capitol and the great marble staircases ascending from the plaza to the respective en- trances of the house and senate were jammed with people. A good rain was falling, but despite this the vast crowds clung to their places. It was a silent throng. Scarcely even was the murmur of whispered conversa- tion audible. The police arrangements were perfected early in the day. Captains Cross and Pierson, by direction of the Superintendent of Police, Major Richard Sylvester, cleared the plaza and threw around it a cordon of officers. The main entrance to the rotunda of the Capitol, in which the religious exercises incident to the obsequies were to be held was reserved for distinguished guests and for the entrance of the funeral party. Shortly after 9 o'clock selected details from the Nineteenth, Thirty- ninth and One Hundred and Thirteenth Companies, Artillery Corps, un- der command of Captain W. E. Ellis, arrived and were stationed on the north side of the main steps, ascending from the plaza to the rotunda. A similar detachment of seamen from the United States battleship Illinois, under command of Lieutenant De Stirguer and Naval Cadets Williams and Bruff, together with a detail of marines from Washington barracks, under command of Captain J. H. Russell, was stationed on the south side of the steps. Shortly afterward prominent officers of the army and navy in full- dress uniform began to arrive in carriages. They did not enter the rotunda at once, but remained on the portico to form, in accordance with general orders, a part of the guard of honor of the President's remains. ADMIRAL DEWEY ARRIVES EARLY. Admiral Dewey was an early arrival. He was attired in the bril- liant uniform of the Admiral of the Navy, but wore the regulation service sword with its knot of crape at the hilt instead of the handsome sword presented to him by the American people. He was given a most cordial reception. At 10:12 o'clock the head of the procession arrived at the north end of the Capitol plaza, but instead of swinging directly into the plaza and passing in front of the Capitol, as usually is done on the occasion of Presi- The Last Ca.r of the McKinley FuneraJ Train WILLIAM McKINLEY. 217 dential inaugurations, the military contingent passed eastward on B Street, thence south on First Street east. Headed by Major General John R. Brooke and staff and the Fifth Artillery Corps Band, the troops swept around to the south end of the plaza and then marched to position fronting the main entrance to the Capitol. As soon as they had been formed at rest the artillery band on the left and the marine band on the right of the entrance, the funeral cortege with its guard of honor entered the plaza from the north. As the hearse halted in front of the main staircase the troops, responding to almost whispered commands, presented arms. The guard of honor ascended the steps, the naval officers on the right and the army officers on the left forming a cordon on each side, just within the ranks of the artillerymen, seamen and marines. IMPRESSIVE SERVICES IN THE ROTUNDA. Profound silence reigned in the rotunda of the Capitol when the flag- covered coffin containing the body of President McKinley was borne to its funeral catafalque. The strains of' "Nearer, My God, to Thee," floated into the great circular hall from the steps outside, where the Ma- rine Band was playing President McKinley's favorite hymn. Few of the illustrious personages gathered in attendance upon the services knew the former President's ashes were so near the arched en- trance, but the silence was so intense as to be painful. Suddenly the silken folds of the National Emblem, the latter being draped over the casket, became visible, and a moment later the eight lusty sailors who upheld the coffin stepped noiselessly in with their bur- den. The unbroken and absolute quiet continued until the heavy coffin reposed on its black resting-place, directly under the center of the great rounded dome. Then the shuffling of feet denoted the arrival of the family, the close friends and the officials who had followed the hearse in the funeral pro- cession from the White House. The army officials with their gorgeous gold of their full-dress uniforms, the naval officers similarly attired, the diplomats in the various costumes of the countries whose rulers they were representing at the funeral pageant, the dignified Justices of the Supreme Court in their flowing robes, the members of the cabinet, and United States Senators and Representatives. Many had arrived in ad- vance, but those who had ridden in the funeral procession did not come in until after the body had been placed in position for the services. Soon, above the movement of chairs on the marble floor and the muffled tread of the many feet, there softly arose the sound of several 2i8 WILLIAM McKINLEY. human voices. It was the choir of the Metropolitan M. E. Church, President McKinley's place of worship in Washington. Many times the same choir had chanted "Lead, Kindly Light," with the President for an attentive auditor. Now they were doing it softly over the body of him they loved. Gradually the soft, sobbing tones conquered the echoing roar of the movement of the throng. Hundreds of persons bearing tickets had not been seated, so the same degree of dramatic silence which pervaded ev- erything at the time the body arrived was not attained. Tones of a small melodeon guided the singers through the beautiful melody, the sound of which brought tears to the eyes of many who so intimately associated it with the President's affection for the words and music. The shuffling of chairs and feet did not cease even with the end of the hymn, as scores were not seated. Busy ushers directed the ticket- bearers to the vacant chairs even while the invocation was being pro- nounced and the funeral address delivered. PRESIDENT AND MRS. ROOSEVELT ARRIVE. President Roosevelt and Mrs. Roosevelt were among the latest of the official guests to arrive before the hymn was sung. Mrs. Roosevelt leaned on the stalwart arm of her husband and the black veil she wore failed to conceal the tears which rolled down her cheeks upon the sad occasion which marked Mr. Roosevelt's first visit to the National Capitol as President of the Nation. President Roosevelt's head was bowed as he passed by the coffin to the seats reserved for his party, almost at the right hand of the ministers. Impressive were the services, although the words spoken were scarcely heard by the few near the casket, owing to the overpowering echoes which caught up every sound and repeated it with confusing re- verberation. The spirit of all that was spoken was caught by all and understood, however. The invocation, pronounced slowly with deep emotion by the Rev. Henry R. Naylor, D. D., was followed by the funeral address, delivered by Bishop Edward G. Andrews, D. D. Dr. Naylor's prayer was as follows : "O Lord God, our Heavenly Father, a bereaved nation cometh to Thee in its deep sorrow. To whom can we go in such an hour as this but unto Thee ? Thou only art able to comfort and support the afflicted. "Death strikes down the best of men and consequent changes are continually occurring among nations and communities. But we have been taught that Thou are the same yesterday, today and forever; that "Leaid, Kindly Lijjht. President McKinley's Favorite Hymn. Leal kiadly light, amid the encircling gloom,- Lead thou me on) The sight is dark, and I am far from home; lead thou me ont Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant sceneone step's enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou Shouldst lead me on; t loved to choose and see my path, but now Lead thou me on i I loved the garish day, and. spite of fears, Pride rnled my will ,- remember not past years. So long thy power hath, blessed me, sure it still Will lead me on: O'er moor and fen. o'er crag and torrent (ill 219 220 WILLIAM McKINLEY. with Thee there is no variableness, nor the least shadow of turning. So in the midst of our grief we turn to Thee for help. "We thank Thee, O Lord, that years ago Thou didst give to this nation a man whose loss we mourn today. "We thank Thee for the pure and unselfish life he was enabled to live in the midst of so eventful an experience. "We thank Thee for the faithful and distinguished services which he was enabled to render Thee, to our country and to the world. "We bless Thee for such a citizen, for such a lawmaker, for such a governor, for such a President, for such a husband, for such a Chris- tian example and for a friend. PLEADS FOR THE WIDOW. "But, O Lord, we deplore our loss today. We sincerely implore Thy sanctifying benediction. We pray Thee for that dear one who has been walking by his side through the years, sharing his triumphs and partak- ing of his sorrows. Give to her all needed sustenance and the comfort her stricken heart so greatly craves. And under the shadow of this great calamity may she learn as never before the Fatherhood of God and the matchless character of His sustaining grace. "And, O Lord, we sincerely pray for him upon whom the mantle of Presidential authority has so suddenly and unexpectedly fallen. Help him to walk worthily the high vocation whereunto he has been called. He needs Thy guiding hand and Thine inspiring spirit continually. May he always present to the nation and to the world divinely illumined judg- ment, a brave heart and an unsullied character. "Hear our prayer, O Lord, for the official family of the administra- tion those men who are associated with Thy servant, the President, in the administration of the affairs of government. Guide them in all their deliberations to the nation's welfare and the glory of God. "And now, Lord, we humbly pray for Thy blessing and consolation to come to all the people of our land and nation. Forgive our past short- comings ; our sins of omission as well as our sins of commission. "Help us to make the Golden Rule the standard of our lives, that we may 'do unto others as we would have them do to unto us ' and thus be- come indeed a people whose God is the Lord. "These things we humbly ask in the name of Him who taught us when we pray to say: 'Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into WILLIAM McKINLEY. 221 temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Bishop Andrews' patriarchal and kindly appearance, added to the eloquent depth of feeling manifested in every word he spoke, made a profound impression. BISHOP ANDREWS' FUNERAL SERMON. Bishop Andrews' sermon was a beautiful tribute to the life and char- acter of the fallen chieftain. "Blessed be the God and Father of Our Lord, who of His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope of the resurrection from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for us who are now, by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. "The services for the dead are fitly and almost of necessity services of religion and of immortal hope. In the presence of the shroud and the coffin and the narrow home, questions concerning intellectual quality, concerning public station, concerning great achievements, sink into com- parative insignificance; and questions concerning character and man's relation to the Lord and Giver of life, even the life eternal, emerge to our view and impress themselves upon us. "Character abides. We bring nothing into this world ; we can carry nothing out. We ourselves depart with all the accumulations of ten- dency and habit and quality which the years have given to us. We ask, therefore, even at the grave of the illustrious, not altogether what great achievement they had performed and how they had commanded them- selves to the memory and affection or respect of the world, but chiefly of what sort they were ; what the interior nature of the man was ; what were his affinities ? Were they with the good, the truth, the noble ? What his relation to the infinite Lord of the Universe and to the compassionate Savior of mankind ; what his fitness for that great hereafter to which he had passed? "And such great questions come to us with moment, even in the hour when we gather around the bier of those whom we profoundly respect and eulogize and whom we tenderly love. In the years to come, the days and the months that lie immediately before us, will give full utterance as to the high statesmanship and great achievements of the illustrious man whom we mourn today. We shall not touch them today. The na- tion already has broken out in its grief and poured its tears, and is still pouring them, over the loss of a beloved man. It is well. But we ask this morning of what sort this man is, so that we may perhaps, knowing 222 WILLIAM MCKINLEY. the moral and spiritual life that is past, be able to shape the far-with- drawing future. I think we must all concede that nature and training and reverently be it said the inspiration of the Almighty conspired to conform a man admirable in his moral temper and aims. "We none of us can doubt, I think, that even by nature he was eminently gifted. The kindly, calm and equitable temperament, the kindly and generous heart, the love of justice and right and the tendency toward faith and loyalty to unseen powers and authorities these things must have been with him from his childhood, from his infancy but upon them supervened the training for which he was always tenderly thankful and of which even this great nation from sea to sea continually has taken note. "It was a humble home in which he was born. Narrow conditions were around him, but faith in God had lifted that lowly roof, according to the statement of some great writer, up to the very heavens and per- mitted its inmates to behold the thing eternal, immortal and divine ; and he came under that training. "It is a beautiful thing that to the end of his life he bent reverently before that mother whose example and teaching and prayer had so fash- ioned his mind and all his aims. "He was helpful in all of these beneficencies and activities ; and from the church to the close of his life he received inspiration that lifted him above much of the trouble and weakness incident to our human nature, and, blessings be to God, may we say in the last and final hour they en- abled him confidently, tenderly, to say : 'It is His will, not ours, that will be done.' "Such influences gave to us William McKinley. And what was he ? A man of incorruptible personal and political integrity. I suppose no one ever attempted to approach him in the way of a bribe ; and we remember with great felicitation at this time for such an example to ourselves, that when great financial difficulties and perils encompassed him he determined to deliver all he possessed to his creditors ; that there should be no chal- lenge of his perfect honesty in the matter. A man of immaculate purity, shall we say? "No stain was upon his escutcheon; no syllable of suspicion that I ever heard was whispered against his character. He walked in perfect and noble self-control. "Shall I speak a word next of that which I will hardly advert to? The tenderness of that domestic love which has so often been commented upon? I pass it with only that word. I take it that no words can set WILLIAM McKINLEY. 223 forth fully the unfaltering kindness and carefulness and upbearing love which belonged to this great man. "And now may I say further that it seemed to me that to whatever we may attribute all the illustriousness of this man, all the greatness of his achievements whatever of that we may attribute to his intellectual character and quality, whatever of it we may attribute to the patient and thorough study which he gave to the various questions thrust upon him for attention, for all his successes as a politician, as a statesman as a man of this great country, those successes were largely due to the moral qualities of which I have spoken. They drew to him the hearts of men everywhere and particularly of those who best knew him. "They believed in him, felt his kindness, confided in his honesty and in his honor. His qualities even associated with him in kindly rela- tions those who were his political opponents. They made it possible for him to enter that land with which he, as one of the soldiers of the union, had been in some sort at war and to draw closed the tie that was to bind all the parts in one firmer and indissoluble union. They commanded the confidence of the great body of congress, so that they listened to his plans and accepted kindly and hopefully and trustfully all his declarations. His qualities gave him reputation, not in this land alone, but throughout the world, and made it possible for him to minister in the style in which he has within the last two or three years ministered to the welfare and peace of humankind. "It was out of the profound depths of his moral and religious char- acter that came the possibilities of that usefulness which we are all glad to attribute to him. And will such a man die? Is it possible that He who created, redeemed, transformed, uplifted, illumined such a man will permit him to fall into oblivion? "The instincts of morality are in all good men. The Divine word of the scripture leaves us no room for doubt. 'I,' said one whom he trusted, 'am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.' "Lost to us, but not to his God. Lost from earth, but entered Heaven. Lost from these labors and toils and perils, but entered into the everlasting peace and everadvancing progress. Blessed be God who gives us this hope in the hour of our calamity, and enables us to triumph through Him who hath redeemed us. "If there is a personal immortality before him let us also rejoice that there is an immortality and memory in the hearts of a large and ever- 224 WILLIAM McKI N LEY. growing people, who, through the ages to come, the generations that are yet to be, will look back upon this life, upon its nobility and purity and service to humanity, and thank God for it. The years draw on when his name shall be counted among the illustrious of the earth. "William of Orange is not dead. Cromwell is not dead. Washing- ton lives in the hearts and lives of his countrymen. Lincoln, with his infinite sorrow, lives to teach us and lead us on. And McKinley shall summon all statesmen and all his countrymen to purer living, nobler aims, sweeter and immortal blessedness." THE PRESIDENT SHOWS EMOTION. President Roosevelt attentively regarded the venerable preacher for some time and then bowed and leaned his forehead upon his right hand. Whether tears flowed beneath the shadow of his hand may never be known by any but himself. Ex-President Cleveland, not nearly so heavy as when he lived in the White House, regarded the speaker attentively from a seat a few feet from President Roosevelt. The eyes of hundreds of men who had made and would make history were centered attentively and respectfully upon the speaker whose sad privilege it was to officiate at the funeral. Clear and bell-like the music of the old hymn, "Some Time We'll Understand," ascended to the high vault of the dome when the soprano of the Metropolitan Church sang its verses. The choir joined softly in the chorus and then the benediction was pronounced by the Rev. W. H. Chapman, D. D. A DRAMATIC INCIDENT OCCURS. Following the benediction came one of the most intensely dramatic happenings of the entire ceremony. The choir began to softly syllable the first lines of the hymn, "Nearer, My God, to Thee." For several lines the choir alone followed the melodion in the time. Then the vol- ume of the song was audibly increased. A few of the audience, unable to restrain themselves, had joined their voices with those of the chosen singers. Their example was followed timidly by others until the dome rang with the notes of the solemn and beloved song. Almost afraid of the sound of their own voices, so sacred was the occasion, but impelled by the intensity of their feeling, the hundreds as- sembled disregarded the fact that the programme as planned had not included any song by the audience. The spontaneity of the outburst was overwhelming and so contagious was the spirit of song that hardly a lip in the room was still. WILLIAM McKIN LEY. 225 HARDENED FIGHTERS JOIN IN. President Roosevelt murmured the words of the song along with the other auditors. The lines of his face, which had been hard with the rigidity of trial and grief, softened into an expression of the tenderest sympathy as his lips moved in singing the hymn. Ex-President Grover Cleveland, the very embodiment of stately dignity, seemed even more dignified as his lips parted with a barely perceptible motion in response to the rhythm of the hymn. Officers of the army and navy who had seen death in its worst form without a tremor and possibly who had not sung a church hymn for many years hummed the tune when they could not remember the words. To record that all eyes were misty with tears at the end of the hymn would be an exaggeration, but the undimmed eyes were the excep- tion, not the rule. Senator Hanna wiped his forehead and eyes, Abner McKinley held his handkerchief to his face and most of the women present shook with sobs. Senator Hanna's grief has seemed almost monumental in its intensity. The Senator was the first to leave the rotun- da after the song was over. He leaned heavily upon the arm of John C. Milburn as he hobbled away. His shoulders were more stooped than ever and his demeanor was one of absolute dejection. It was an affecting moment. In the midst of the singing Admiral Robley Evans, advancing with silent tread, placed a beautiful blue floral cross at the foot of the coffin. A respectful silence followed the end of the hymn which marked the conclusion of the funeral services. A few moments elapsed and then the rotunda was cleared for the body to lie in state to be viewed by the great multitude who were crowding the steps ready to pass through in double file on either side of the coffin. The flag was draped back from the head of the casket, the velvet-covered lid was removed and the President's face was exposed to the light, which poured in through the upper windows of the dome. The Senators and Representatives sat at the foot of the casket, the Justices of the Supreme Court, in their flowing black robes, sat at its right hand, near the President, the diplomats and the army and navy officers. The space on the left hand was reserved for invited friends of the family and unofficial guests of the funeral. The chairs for all the guests were arranged in circles around the center, where the body lay. It was up the east front of the capitol that the lines of people came for a view of the President's face. To most of those who passed his bier the face therein was familiar, not familiar in its look of suffering, but 226 WILLIAM McKINLEY. in the features, which usually wore a genial smile or an expression of thoughtful dignity. In two double lines the crowd passed quickly by. The military and naval guard at the head and foot of the coffin was ready to protect it from possible harm from awkwardness of any who might pass. Many colored folks were among those who had their last look at the dead President's features, and the emotion of their race was mani- fested by the tear stains on their dusky faces. Many of those in line were subordinate officials of the Government, who took the farewell look at the features of their late chief. There were nearly as many women as men in the crowd. Uniforms of private soldiers and the liveries of coachmen added variety to the appearance of the line, but there was one feature of the demonstration in which there was no variety. It was in the uniform and intense grief which was evident in the bearing of all. MANY HURT IN CAPITOL CRUSH. The opening of the doors of the rotunda of the Capitol, in order to permit an inspection of the body of President McKinley, caused a rush of the vast throng that had been congregated on the east side of the building since early morning. The result was that many women and children were badly hurt. The crowd brushed by the police cordon stationed at the foot of the steps as if it had been chaff. A terrible congestion on the Capitol steps and at the entrance door followed. At the latter point there was such extreme pressure that numbers of women fainted. Many who thus became helpless were lifted up bodily and carried out over the heads of the crowd, while others, less fortunate, were trampled under foot and seriously bruised. Of the latter twelve or fifteen were taken into the Capitol. The room immediately under the rotunda, where the President's body lay in calm and peaceful repose, was a temporary hospital filled with screaming women lying prone upon improvised couches. One of them had a broken arm and another had suffered internal injuries which caused excruciating pain. The office of the captain of police also was used to accommodate the injured, as were several other places about the building. No fewer than fifty women and children were injured to some extent, but most of them were able to go to their homes. A few were taken to the Emergncy Hospital. CHAPTER XIV. CLOSING SCENES IN THE SAD TRAGEDY OF THE MARTYRDOM OF PRESIDENT McKiNLEY TRIP FROM WASHINGTON TO CANTON MRS. McKiN- LEY LEAVES THE WHITE HOUSE FOREVER FINAL EXERCISES AT THE PRESIDENT'S OLD HOME, AND BURIAL. It was about 6 o'clock the evening of September I7th when the mili- tary and naval guard took charge of the President's body in the rotunda of the Capitol, the doors having been closed a few minutes previously. The military escort was re-formed at 7 o'clock, and the casket was removed from the Capitol to the Pennsylvania Railroad Station, whence it was taken at 8 120 o'clock on the road to Canton. There the people among whom William McKinley grew to manhood and to greatness participated in the consignment of his body to the tomb. A platoon of mounted police cleared the way from the Capitol to the depot, and two troops of cavalry preceded the hearse. No members of the Cabinet or representatives of the family were in line, but all officers of the army and navy in the city formed the escort. Soon after the remains of the beloved President were placed in the observation car members of the Cabinet and friends of the family com- menced to arrive. Mrs. McKinley did not leave the White House until 7 155 o'clock. Her carriage, surrounded by mounted police and followed by the immediate mourners, was driven to the lower end of the station to escape the crowd. The members of the Cabinet joined President Roosevelt in the car arranged for them, while Senator Hanna sat alone in the adjoining coach bowed in sorrow. Fifteen carriages were required to bring the mourners from the White House. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT SHOWS NO FEAR. President Roosevelt promised to give the secret service agents de- tailed to guard him a great deal of trouble. He was perfectly indifferent to his personal safety and disregarded all requests of friends, who were anxious that he should be more cautious. When his carriage reached the railroad station the cavalry officer detailed to accompany him, and who had 227 228 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. ridden upon the box beside the driver during the ceremonies, jumped hastily to the sidewalk, and quickly opened the door. Quick as a flash a half dozen or more secret service officers who had been waiting the arrival of the President hastened to his side and gave him such protection as they could afford. There was a large crowd near by, but, unconscious of any danger that might be threatening, the President stood upon the pavement talking unconcernedly with his military attache. A carriage containing a friend had driven up in the rear, and the President without warning walked quickly to it, opened the door and conversed with its occupants. As he impetuously moved down the curbstone into the middle of the crowd the secret service agents were horror stricken. They forced them- selves to his side as best they could, and his brother-in-law, Commander Cowles, showed signs of anxiety. The President rubbed elbows with the crowd in a most unconventional manner. With a short, snappy step he pushed his way into the entrance to the railroad station, raising his hat in response to the recognition of the throng. Down the crowded platform he rushed, with his friends and attendants vainly endeavoring to keep pace. He boarded the train and was safe with his Cabinet, greatly to the relief of his guardians. TRAIN IN THREE SECTIONS. The funeral train was made up in three sections. First was a train of eight cars bearing the following persons : S. J. Roberts, Mr. Doran, Mr. Schunk ; Cuban commissioners Tamayo, Latosco, Quesada ; John W. Yerkes, Henry M. Dawes, M. E. Ailes, Beman G. Dawes, W. W. Mills, W. G. Edens, Frank L. Campbell, A. Warfield Monroe, Charles A. Hanna, W. C. Beer, Francis C. Kilkenny, Colonel John J. McCook, Captain John F. Blake, Clark Tonner, A. W. Machen, Percy Montgomery, J. K. Rich- ards, John J. Kennedy, George Barber, T. W. Tallmadge, General T. H. Anderson, Mr. Phister and forty newspaper men. PRESIDENT ON SECOND SECTION. The second section, carrying the body, was the Presidential train proper, made up of practically the same seven cars which made the trip from Buffalo. The car Olympia was assigned to Mrs. McKinley, while the car Edgemere, which came next, was occupied by the President and his Cabinet. Behind in order came the sleepers Naples and Belgravia, the dining car Waldorf and a combination car. On this train were the following passengers: Mrs. McKinley, Mr. and Mrs. Abner McKinley, Mr. and Mrs. A. J. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 229 Duncan, Miss Helen McKinley, Mrs. M. C. Barber, Miss Barber, Mr. John Barber, Dr. and Mrs. H. L. Baer, Lieutenant James McKinley, Miss Sarah Duncan, Captain and Mrs. Lafayette Me Williams, Mr. William Duncan, Mr. Frank Osborne, Mrs. Seward Bowman, Mrs. E. A. Stafford, Dr. and Mrs. Rixey, Charles G. Dawes and Mrs. Dawes, Colonel G. F. Mock, Colonel W. C. Brown, Major Charles E. Miller, Mr. Burt Miller, Miss McKenzie and Miss Hunt (nurses), Mrs. Henry Mathews, Mr. P. C. Schell and wife, Mrs. Rand, Mrs. J. A. Porter, the President, Secre- tary Root, Attorney General Knox, Postmaster General and Mrs. Smith, Secretary Long, Secretary and Mrs. Hitchcock, Secretary and Miss Wilson, Secretary and Mrs. Cortelyou, Assistant Secretary Hill, Assistant Secretary Barnes, Colonel B. F. Montgomery, M. C. Latta, N. P. Webster, John G. Milburn, John Scatcherd, Conrad Diehl, Harry Hamlin, Carlton Sprague, Major Thomas W. Sy- mons, U. S. A. ; Senator Hanna and Secretary Dover, Senator Fairbanks, Senator Burrows, Senator Keene, Representative Alexander, General Michael V. Sheridan, Colonel T. Abingham, Captain J. T. Dean, Captain Henry Leon and General Harrison Gray Otis, Mr. A. N. H. Aaron, H. B. F. MacFarland, Ell Torrance, representing the G. A. R., and the body- guard, consisting of two officers and sixteen men. The third section was devoted entirely to the accommodation of the army and navy officers. There were Generals Brooke, Otis and Gillespie, Admiral Dewey and Rear Admirals Crowninshield, O'Neill, Bradford, Melville, Bowles and Farquhar, General Heywood, commandant of marines, and a number of junior officers of the army and navy. A train left Washington the following afternoon for the accommoda- tion of members of Congress and public officials who desired to be present at the interment. All the members of the Cabinet accompanied President Roosevelt, with the exception of Secretary Hay. As a measure of precaution one member of the Cabinet, probably Secretary Hay, Secretary Gage or Sec- retary Root, was always in Washington. If the funeral train arrives on schedule time it will reach Canton at II o'clock tomorrow morning. Only four stops will be made, and these only for the purpose of changing locomotives. George W. Boyd, assist- ant general passenger agent of the Pennsylvania Road, is in charge of the train. He left on the first section and District Passenger Agent Studds is on the second section. THE ARRIVAL AT BALTIMORE. Leaving Washington, the long winding train bearing the remains of 230 WILLIAM McKINLEY. the martyred President plunged out into the dark night and hurried like a black streak on its mournful journey. The curtains of the train were drawn as it pulled out of the station, save only for the observation car, in which the corpse lay guarded by a soldier and a sailor of the Republic. That car alone was flooded with light. The countless thousands extending from the station far out into the suburbs of the National Capital, waiting patiently in the drenching rain to pay their last farewell, thus had an opportunity to catch a last fleeting glimpse of the flag-covered casket as the train sped by. Several thousand people on the bridge over the eastern branch of the Potomac, straining for a last look, could be seen by the lights strung along the bridge as the train moved under it. As the little villages between Washington and Baltimore were passed the sound of tolling bells came faintly to the heavy-hearted mourners aboard. As the train came out of the long tunnel leading to Baltimore, before reaching the Union Station, thousands of silent forms could be seen, and the dismal tolling of the bells could be heard. A clear-drawn bugle call sounded a requiem. At the Union Station crowds packed the station. Hundreds of people had gained access to the train shed, and they gazed sorrowfully at the casket while the locomotives were being shifted. The train, which had arrived at 9:34 p. m., pulled out for the West a few minutes later. THE TRACK LINED WITH PEOPLE. Passing out of the station at Baltimore the track was lined with people. Laborers and handsomely dressed women stood side by side. Once or twice a quick flare from a photographer's flashlight exposed the whole train to view. At Parkton, just before the Maryland line was reached, a brief stop was made to attach an extra engine to help the heavy train up the grade at this point. Then for miles the train ran through the Dutch settlements of Pennsylvania. It was after 10 o'clock, but many Dunkards, the men uncovered, the women in their quaint bonnets, were at the track. Others of these simple folk could be seen in the open doorways of their lighted farm houses. The Dunkards usually go to bed early, but it was apparent that most of them had remained awake to get a last look at this mournful funeral train. The lighted death chamber in the rear car must have been an impressive spectacle ; the bier in full view, the soldier with bayoneted gun at salute and the jack tar with drawn cutlass guarding the body. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 231 The twinkling of the light from that car was probably seen for miles through the darkness. York was reached at 1 1 130 p. m. Ten thousand people were at the station and along the track leading to it. The bells tolled dolefully as the train passed. The train slowed up but did not stop at York, where the entire popu- lation seemed to have waited far into the night to see it pass. The dolorous tolling of the bells could be heard distinctly by those on board. Soon after leaving York all had retired aboard the train an< they sped along in darkness. It was raining steadily, but neither rain nor the lateness of the hour kept the mourning people from being at the track to pay their final tribute of honor and respect to their departed President. Harrisburg was not reached until the midnight hour, but the trowd was enormous and the scene impressive. The train stopped several min- utes while the crews and engines were changed and the multitude had an excellent opportunity to see the guarded casket, revealed as by a flood of day in the brilliantly lighted car. The train reached Altoona at 5 140 o'clock on Wednesday morning. Nearly 10,000 persons were assembled at the station to see the train go through. The Altoona city band rendered "Nearer, My God, to Thee" and "Onward, Christian Soldiers" while the train was in the station yard. Police and railroad officials kept the station clear of people. The train left after a change of engines and crews. The two engines which hauled the heavy train over the Alleghany mountains were draped in black. From early dawn, when the first rays of the sun came shimmering through the Alleghany mists, the country through which the McKinley funeral train passed seemed alive with waiting people. As the train was later than its schedule the probabilities were that many thousands lined up along the track had been waiting for almost an hour for the fleeting glimpse of the cars accompanying the murdered President's body to its last resting place. MEN WITH THEIR DINNER PAILS. Steel workers, with their dinner pails in their hands, ran the risk of being late at the mills in order to pay their last homage to the dead. It was at the steel towns, just east of Pittsburg, that the largest early crowds lined the tracks. Between and east of the mill towns was the open mountain country interspersed with an occasional cluster of houses near coal mines or oil 232 WILLIAM McKINLEY. wells. Even in the open country as early as 6 a. m. there were people gathered at the crossroads or leaning against farm fences. Faces were seen peering through, up and down windows of houses situated near the tracks. In railroad yards hundreds were crowded on top of cars so as to obtain a view as the sections of the Presidential train picked their way through the maze of tracks. Women and girls as well as men and boys were eager to see the cars go by. In the railroad cars in Pitcairn, a few miles east of Pittsburg, hun- dreds of factory girls were lined up. It was 8:35 a. m. when the train passed through Pitcairn, so most of the girls with lunch boxes under their arms must have been quite late to work, all for the sake of the few sec- onds' look at the train which brought so close to them the victim of the anarchist's bullet, and his successor, President Roosevelt. Young women who were not shop girls were there, too, evidently having come from the most exclusive residence districts of the little city, trudging through the rough tracks to obtain a brief look. Away from the crowds at the towns solitary watchers were passed. Engineers and firemen of passing trains leaned far out of their cab win- dows when the train approached. Boys and girls, perched high on rocky crags, remained in their points of vantage to see the train fly past. As the train neared Pittsburg it passed between a continuous line of men and women, boys and girls, miles long. Immense crowds lined the tracks for a long distance above and below the station at Johnstown, and stood in silence as the train proceeded slowly by. A detachment of company H, Fifth Regiment, N. G. P., fired minute guns and bells were tolled throughout the city. THE TRAIN ENTERS THE STATE OF OHIO. The funeral train entered Ohio shortly after 10 o'clock. The State line was also the border of the congressional district which Major Mc- Kinley represented in the national legislature for so many years. Men and women who had known the President personally, who had shaken his hand and gazed into his genial face, lined the tracks to do honor to all that remained on earth of their neighbor, friend and chief. From the State line to Canton, the President's home, the line of mourners was almost continuous. Although a stirring depth of feeling had been manifested as the train passed through other states of the Union with its burden, nowhere was poignant grief so evident as it was during the sad journey through the President's home State. It was the second time the State of Ohio had been called upon to pay xi s o 5 ** 53 rt > S X C i* CM Tj; fig 3 *# *j O V -*> I fc ><5 o < u 5 as o ft m 4) S " ^ Ii3 3S II WILLIAM McKINLEY. 237 homage to the ashes of one of its sons, elevated to the Presidency and then stricken by an assassin's bullet in the prime of his career. The mustering of popular sentiment was awe-inspiring, both because of the numerical strength of the mourners and the intensity of feeling shown. In every sense was the trip of the President's body to its last resting place memorable. Miles upon miles of humanity were passed, thousands upon thousands of heads were bared. Hundreds upon hun- dreds of crape-tied flags were displayed, while, in the distance, the emblem of the nation was seen at half-mast upon the schoolhouse or other public building. ARRIVAL OF THE BODY AT CANTON. The funeral train proper, bearing the body of President McKinley, arrived at 12 o'clock. It was met by Judge Day, at the head of the local reception committee, while assembled about the station was the entire militia of the State. Mrs. McKinley, weeping piteously, was helped from the train by Dr. Rixey and Abner McKinley and conducted to a carriage which was in waiting and was then driven rapidly to her home. The near relatives followed her. The body was then lifted from the catafalque car and carried on the shoulders of the bodybearers through a pathway formed by President Roosevelt and his Cabinet to the waiting hearse. The surrounding sol- diers were at present arms and bugles sounded taps. The President and Cabinet then entered carriages. They were fol- lowed by the guard of honor, headed by Admiral Dewey and Lieutenant General Miles in full uniform, and the sad procession then moved up Tenth Street in the direction of the courthouse, where the body was to lie in state. Soldiers at intervals all the way kept back the immense crowds which thronged the streets. The procession passed all the way beneath big arches draped with black. Fully two hours before the time scheduled for the arrival of the train the crowd began to gather at the Tenth Street station of the Penn- sylvania Road to await its coming. A large force of deputy marshals was sworn in last night to assist the Canton police in controlling the crowd and, although the people had no intention of creating trouble, the size of the crowd made its control a matter of some difficulty for the amateur guardians of the peace. Time and again the crowd by sheer weight of numbers pressed forward beyond the limit set for them by the police, only to be pnshed back as often as they pressed forward. It was not until the militia and Troop A of Cleveland came upon the 33 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. acene that the crowd was held back, and even then it was restrained entirely by the fact that is was physically impossible for a large detachment of cavalry and a larger crowd of civilians to crowd into one space too small for the latter alone. The crowd was finally compelled to spread backward and line itself along the route marked out for the march from the depot to the courthouse. In all the little city which the dead President loved there was hardly a structure that bore no badge of sorrow. In Tuscarawas Street, from one end to the other, business houses were hung heavy with crape and at intervals huge arches, draped and festooned in mourning colors, spanned the route of the procession from the train to the county court- house. PRESIDENT'S CHURCH IN MOURNING. One of the arches was in front of the Canton high school, half a block from McKinley Avenue. The school was draped and in every window was a black-bordered portrait of the late President. In this thoroughfare, too, were two large churches, one of which was regularly attended by Major McKinley, the First Methodist Episcopal, at Cleveland Avenue, a block from the courthouse. At each corner of the edifice and above the big cathedral windows were broad draperies deftly looped, each bearing a large white rosette. The other church, the First Presbyterian, was similarly adorned. The courthouse, the scene of the lying in state, was a mass of sable hue. At the entrance, between the two big doors, was a tablet wrought in crape and upon the cloth shield was emblazoned in white the utterance of the President when told that he must die. "It is God's way. His will, not ours, be done." In front of the courthouse was another massive arch. Canton was astir with break of day, such residents as had not dis- played badges and draperies of mourning performing that task that morning. At Nemicella Park the soldiers of Troop A of Cleveland and the militia of various parts of the state were busy preparing to escort the distinguished dead up Tuscarawas Street. COURTHOUSE READY FOR THE BODY. Before 8 o'clock the rotunda of the courthouse had been prepared for the reception of the body. With the exception of dainty white stream- ers from the chandeliers there was no trace of white in the large apart- ment wherein the public had a last look upon the face of the departed Executive. The walls and ceilings were covered with black cloth looped WILLIAM McKINLEY. *39 here and there from the ornamental pillars with streamers and rosettes of the same color. From each chandelier was suspended a small Ameri- can flag, a larger one fluttering just above the catafalque. Three hours before the funeral train was scheduled to arrive more than 5,000 men and women had gathered at Courthouse Square and hundreds of others had congregated in the vicinity of the railway depot, each anxious to be as near the casket as possible when it was taken from the car Pacific. At the McKinley home itself, almost the only resilience in Canton that bore no trace of mourning, was another throng and there was not a door or window that had not been peered at most assiduously by curious visitors and equally curious residents of the city. The body lay in state until evening, when it was transferred to the home on Market street, where it remained during the night. The next day it was removed to the First Methodist Church, where the final funeral services were performed. President Roosevelt, the members of his Cabinet and distinguished guests were in attendance upon the ceremonies, which were very brief, lasting less than an hour. The Rev. E. C. Manchester, pastor of the church, delivered a short sermon, and the Rev. Dr. Milligan, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, made a short prayer and read from the Scriptures. "Lead, Kindly Light," was then rendered by a quartette, the benedic- tion was pronounced and the remains were then conveyed to the Wood- lawn Cemetery, where they were temporarily placed in a vault. The President and his Cabinet accompanied the body to the cemetery. MRS. MCKINLEY LEAVES THE WHITE HOUSE FOREVER. On the evening of September i/th Mrs. McKinley left the White House for the last time. She said she would never set foot in it again. It was exactly seventy-three days before that, tenderly leaning on the arrp of her husband, she departed for her home in Canton, where it was hoped that the familiar associations and the happy memories con- nected with her home would aid in restoring her health. She had then just risen from a bed of almost mortal sickness. The afternoon of her last day in the Executive Mansion, just as the sun was setting, she knelt beside the couch where she spent so many hours of pain and in a broken voice cried to her devoted niece, Mary Barber, that she would to God she had never risen from that bed of pain. She wept silently for some time with her head buried, and then 240 WILLIAM McKINLEY, gently acquiesced in their remonstrances and took the nourishment pro- vided for her. She immediately surrendered herself to her nurses and remained quiet until it was time to depart upon the last stage of her hus- band's funeral journey. Mr. and Mrs. Abner McKinley, Dr. and Mrs. Hermanus Baer, Mrs. Duncan and the Misses Duncan, Miss Helen McKinley, Mr. and Mrs. Barber and Miss Mary and Miss Ida Barber, who had been in the White House since the night previous, assembled in the main lobby and entered the closed carriages prepared for the departure for the depot. With Mrs. McKinley was Dr. Rixey and also Miss Mary Barber, who had been her mainstay not only in that crisis, but in many other illnesses and troubles. This young girl was Mrs. McKinley's chief dependence, and during her aunt's bereavement had lived and slept by her side, an example of devotion and self-sacrifice rarely seen in one not yet 20 years of age. The President was very fond of Miss Barber, and after Mrs. McKinley's illness in the spring, when she had attended her aunt with such solicitude, he presented her with a handsome diamond ring and a locket containing miniatures of Mrs. McKinley and himself. Mrs. McKinley spent the entire day in her bedroom. It was decided early in the morning that it would be best for her not to be present at the state obsequies at the Capitol. The night before, as soon as the Presi- dent's bier was established in the East Room, she begged piteously for permission to tell her dear husband good night. Dr. Rixey immediately made arrangements that the East Room should be cleared even of the military and marine guard of honor. Mrs. McKinley was led to the casket, and spent a half-hour sitting quietly beside her martyred husband. She then went to her room and slept quietly until dawn was breaking, when she awakened Dr. Rixey and again asked to go to the East Room. This request was complied with in the same manner. After the remains of the President were taken in state to the rotunda of the Capitol she retired to her room, and spent the entire day with her sister and nieces, Mrs. Barber and her daughters. Several times throughout the day she alluded to her happy life in Washington and seemed to dwell with particular pathos on the first day of her arrival in the White House. Upon her arrival at Canton Mrs. McKinley was driven directly to her residence. She was present at the concluding ceremonies at the church, and bore up remarkably well. - At 2:30 o'clock the remains were carried from the church to the hearse which was in waiting to bear it to the cemetery, and at that WILLIAM McKINLEY. 241 moment, and during the ensuing five minutes, the heart of the United States ceased to beat. All work was stopped throughout the country, and every man stood with head uncovered. At that hour the funeral proces- sions which were moving in every city, town and village in the nation, stopped and remained motionless for five minutes. Never before, in the history of the world, was such a tribute paid to mortal man. CHAPTER XV. PRESIDENT McKiNLEY AND His FARM A PROFITABLE INVESTMENT MAKING APPLE BUTTER MCKINLEY'S DEXTERITY IN SHAKING HANDS RECEPTIONS AT THE WHITE HOUSE BY MRS. McKiNLEY HER FOUR THOUSAND PAIRS OF SLIPPERS PROTECTING THE PER- SONS OF PRESIDENTS. On of President McKinley's friends went down to see the Chief Magistrate's farm one day and wrote the following description. It was evident that the President knew something about farming as well as politics : "President McKinley owns a farm. A great deal has been written about Mr. Bryan's farm, but heretofore no description has been written of Mr. McKinley's broad expanse of corn fields, meadows, cow pastures and orchards, which comprise one hundred and sixty-two and one-quarter acres. !His well-kept barns, corn cribs and wagon sheds show care and thrift. The wool on the backs of two hundred sheep shines with cleanli- ness, for McKinley's farm is a model one and a modern one. Unlike the famous Nebraska farm of the Democratic candidate for President, the public knows little about it. Two miles from Minerva, one mile from Bayard, Ohio, it stands on a sloping parcel of ground surmounted by the orchards of Baldwin apples. The Cleveland & Pittsburg Railroad crosses a corner of the farm and the Big Sandy Canal courses through the field at one side of the main road. "Along a lane to a point two-thirds of the way up the slope brings the visitor into the midst of the farm buildings. To the right, the first one is the sheep bam. This two-story structure was originally the Union Church, attended by the folks of that rural vicinity who wor- shiped on the Sabbath. Twenty-five years ago, when it ceased to be used for church purposes, it was moved from the corner of the farm next the main road to its present site. When it stood on the corner it was just in front of the old cemetery known as the Plain's Cemetery, which is still there. "McKinley's farm is a profitable one. In any season when crops are good it yields richly. This year's potato crop will probably aggregate two thousand bushels. The corn fields have been known to produce as 242 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 343 high as 3,500 bushels in a single year. Last year the meadows produced one hundred tons of hay. The oats crop this year aggregates some seven hundred bushels. THE MAKING OP APPLE BUTTER. "This is apple butter making time in this section of the country. Many of the apples on McKinley's farm, just at the present time, are being made into apple butter. The large orchard is an important part of McKinley's farm. One good year 1,700 bushels of Baldwins were gath- ered and as many more of other kinds, making a total yield of nearly 3,500 bushels. Part of the produce of the farm has been shipped to Canton from time to time to the McKinley home, but none has ever been sent to Washington. Canton is about twenty miles from the farm. "Selling milk is one of the industries of the farm. There are twenty- five head of cattle. There are nine milch cows. Some of them are blooded stock. Raising calves is also an occupation. Ten fine horses are constantly employed. These are all draft horses. Two hundred sheep graze on the hillside. One season one hundred and seventy-five sheep were sold from this place. This shows what a good market there it for the wool and mutton which comes from the President's farm. While speaking of animals, the two dogs must not be forgotten. One known as 'Shep' has been on the place ever since the President came into pos- session of it. The other, which by the way is a yellow one, came there as a stray not long ago and has found a good home. The chickens number more than two hundred. The pea fowls became too noisy and were so inclined to pick a fuss with the chickens that it was thought best to dispose of them, so they were given away. "The man who has charge of Mr. McKinley's farm is W. J. Adams, formerly of Canton, but who was reared in Pennsylvania. He is a farmer who understands his business, and it is said, in the vicinity, that there is not a more prosperous farm in all that section. Mr. Adams' family consists of Mrs. Adams, two boys and two girls. One hired man is kept the year around, and two are employed during the busy season of the year. Mr. Adams works the farm on shares. He has a half interest in everything. The fences are all kept up, and there is an appear- ance of neatness which marks his work. Mr. Adams has lived on this place for the past twenty years, and Mr. McKinley is delighted with him. THE RESIDENCE ON THE FARM. "The residence is a two-story structure built sixty years ago by a man named Hostetter, who, by the way, was interested in the Big 244 WILLIAM McKINLEY. Sandy Canal, and had it succeeded he would have finished the house. But the railroad came through, and the first boat that was sent down the canal got caught in the tunnel, not very far distant, and it was impossible to get it out. This was the only boat which every made a trip on the Big Sandy Canal. Mr. Hostetter was never able to finish the house, so to this day a number of the rooms have not been plastered. This resi- dence is now getting quite old in appearance. It shelters eleven rooms. The porch is about the size of McKinley's famous front porch at Canton, and then on to the upright part there is a wing which is a story and a half in height. The lawn is well kept, and morning-glories grow upon the fences at one side. "Besides the house, there are six buildings on the farm. There is the main barn, the sheep barn, the two large wagon sheds, the scale house and the pig pen. One of the sheds shelters an immense wagon which one time made a notable trip. It was after the election of McKinley to the Presidency. Six teams of horses were hitched to the vehicle and the farmers round about gathered to the number of forty and drove to Mr. McKinley's Canton home, to join in congratulating him. The trip was made in about three hours." McKiNLEY A DEXTEROUS HANDSHAKER. The late President was a past master in the art of shaking hands. A man who stood and watched him for a time thus describes the manner in which the Chief Executive "shook" people and pleased them mightily in consequence : "There is something grimly humorous in watching a man shake hands with a multitude at the rate of fifty a minute. Up and down the arm and hand go, like a pump handle or the rhythmic beat of a piston. I watched the President at Memorial Hall last Tuesday afternoon when he greeted 5,000 citizens, and I confess I was amazed. My first feeling was one of amusement. To hear the President mumble constantly, 'Glad to see you.' 'Pleased to see you,' in the same monotone, to watch the shake, the mechanical motion of the arm, the sudden jerk with which he half pulled yanked it was, truly the person just greeted, and the astonished, semi-stupefied look on the shaked one's face all this and more was inimitably funny. "But soon the feeling of amusement gave way to one of wonder, and then of compassion that a Chief Executive should have to submit to such an ordeal, and finally to unbounded admiration and amazement at the extraordinary vitality shown by the President. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 245 "The McKinley grip deserves special description; it is unique in its line. It allures the caller, holds him an instant and then quietly and deliberately 'shakes' him. Mr. McKinley is not a tall man by any means ; indeed he is, if anything, considerably below what I should consider the medium height five feet ten. Consequently his 'shake' is considerably lower than a handshake you get from the average-sized man. The hand goes out straight for you, there is a good warm pressure of the palm, a quick drop, a jerk forward and the thing is over. There is something besides the extended outstretched palm to allure you, and that is Mr. McKinley's beaming countenance. NEVER CEASES TO SMILE. "When greeting the public he never ceases to smile. It is not a forced smile ; it invites you forward and compels your own smile in spite of yourself. It is so genuinely honest, too, that one can not but conclude that, onerous as these receptions must be to the President's physique, he nevertheless enjoys them thoroughly. Long before the reception was over the President showed unmistakable signs of fatigue, his jaw began to droop and blackish rings formed under his eyes, but the smile beaming, inviting remained, and it lasted as long as there was one citizen to greet. "Such occasions are the best in which to study the real traits of a man. If there is anything better qualified to produce irritability than a public reception with a lightning handshaking on the side, I do not think it has been discovered. I am frank to confess that Mr. McKinley showed traits during that ordeal that were both admirable and lovable. He was particularly kind to the veterans. His heart went with his hand to them. Several of them, dazed and bewildered, no doubt, would have passed him unheeded by in their excitement. "His arm halted them, his hand sought theirs, and he never failed to say 'comrade' to them. To the ladies he was gracious, especially so to the feeble, older ones, and to the tots, the toddlers and the growing young Americans he was like a father. I saw him dtetain a mother who was carrying a tiny mite on her arm. Mr. McKinley fussed with the muslins and the woolens of the mite until he found its chubby little hand, which he pressed tenderly. That mother did not say a word, but tears of joy glistened in her eyes as she passed beyond. "I'll venture that nobody went away from that reception feeling offended, and if there were any means of knowing I am equally certain that the President's handshake made more than one vote for him. Mc- Kinley's grip is a manly grip; it is a handshake given with genuine 246 WILLIAM McKINLEY. pleasure. It is the grip of a man of flesh and blood and of a sympathetic soul." MRS. McKiNLEy's 4,000 PAIRS OF SLIPPERS. During all of her last Western trip Mrs. McKinley was busy with her ever-present fancy work, her crocheted slippers, and even while she talked or turned to bow from her car to the assembled crowd she would occasionally toy with the wool or take a random stitch. When asked about her slippers and if she did not tire of the work she said: "Why, what am I to do ! I must be doing something. I can't bear to be idle, and this is pleasant work which I enjoy. Would you believe it? I have kept count, and I find that I have made no less than 4,000 pairs of slippers. At one time my bill for soles was very large, but they don't cost me anything, since the Vice President is in the shoe business ; he supplies me with soles for nothing. I keep him in bedroom slippers, and as he is now sick they come in nicely for him. I have no difficulty in disposing of all the slippers I can make. I give them to hospitals and other charities." ONE OF MRS. MCKINLEY'S RECEPTIONS. A guest at one of Mrs. McKinley's receptions at the White House had this to say of it: "It is a rare pleasure to meet the first lady of our land at one of her charming afternoon receptions for which engraved invitations are issued. To non-residents of the capital it is a good opportunity to see the private apartments in the White House. After passing through a door of the handsome stained glass screen which separates the main entrance from the private corridor one is ushered into the beautiful Blue Room to await their turn to be called into the Red Room where Mrs. McKinley receives her guests. There are often a great number seated in this room awaiting to be presented. This arrangement has been made for Mrs. McKinley's comfort, as she prefers to have a limited number in the room while receiving. "The Blue Room into which guests are first shown is one of the most attractive in the White House ; owing to the color of the furnish- ings, blue and gold, the effect is very delicate. The clock on the mantel is of historic interest, as it was a present from Napoleon I to Lafayette, who presented it to this country. It was in this lovely oval-shaped room that President Cleveland was married. "A visitor is still much interested in the surroundings when the 'master of ceremonies' or 'usher,' as he is called at the White House WILLIAM McKINLEY. 247 takes your cards and, preceding you, announces your name to Mrs. Mc- Kinley, who always receives seated; she has an appropriate remark for all her callers, and in conversation she becomes quite animated. Her Plicate beauty is fascinating ; in manner she is very gracious and charm- ig. On all occasions she is exquisitely gowned and especially when she s entertaining. Her fondness for jewels, flowers and children is well known, and in case a child is among the number at her receptions it is sure to receive especial attention and many caresses. Her hair, although short and curly, is always so becomingly arranged that it cannot possibly de'tract from her appearance. During the day her hair is usually parted and she wears handsome sidecombs and for an evening reception her hair is beautifully dressed and adorned with tips and jewels. HER YOUNG RELATIVES ASSIST. "At her afternoon receptions some of her young relatives assist in entertaining. On this particular afternoon little Dorothy Morse from California was much admired, owing to her cunning baby ways; she quickly showed her fancy for another little girl by giving her a bunch of roses from the flowers on the table ; this little child is a great favorite with the President and his wife, and with her mother spent a month at the White House. She participated in the 'egg rolling' at the 'White Lot' on Easter Monday, and her appearance was hailed with delight by the other children. "Usually the President and his wife may be seen driving together on a fine Sunday afternoon. One afternoon a group of little boys was sitting along the curb as their carriage passed. One of them recognized the occupants and shouted: 'Boys, there goes Mrs. McKinley!' She bowed and smiled to each of them, and the President did the same. "The White House carriages, v/hile very handsome, are not so elab- orate as to attract especial attention among the many elegant turnouts in Washington. "The young ladies of the Cabinet are often entertained by the President's wife with a box party. When Sousa's successful opera, 'Bride-Elect,' was first presented here at the handsome Lafayette Square Theater, she had in her box Mrs. Morse, of San Francisco; Mrs. For- aker and one of her charming nieces. On that occasion she wore a handsome white silk en traine with tiny theater bonnet. During most of the evening her handsome opera cape rested on her shoulders. "Those who have not recently seen Mrs. McKinley imagine her much more of an invalid than is now true. With such a responsible position more strength came to her command to enable her to fill her 248 WILLIAM McKINLEY. many social obligations so capably. In walking- she uses a cane to slightly assist her, but when accompanied by a gentleman she merely rests lightly on his arm. "At an evening reception at the Executive Mansion after all the guests have been presented, the receiving party form in line and pass through the great East Room and corridor to their private apartments upstairs, while the Marine Band in the conservatory plays an inspiring march. It is probably at this time that we realize most deeply what a charming woman is the present mistress of the White House as in passing she bows to her admiring guests." THE PRESIDENT BELIEVED IN INSURANCE. President McKinley was a firm believer in life insurance, having carried policies ever since his young manhood. He was known to have had at least $75,000 at the time of his death. His largest policy was one for $50,000 and was written in 1896. The agent was an old acquaintance of Mr. McKinley's, and took the matter up with him in October of the campaign year, a few weeks before the election. Major McKinley said he was carrying about $25,000 and knew he ought to have more, but did not want to take more than he could carry if the election should go wrong.' He finally fixed upon a $50,000 ordinary life policy, the annual premium being $2,795. After his election, his financial affairs being easier, he changed this to a fifteen -year endowment, maturing in 1911, when he would have been 68 years old. The annual premium on this policy was $4,125, so that the President had paid $16,500 on it. Another premium would have been due the month following his death. The policy will pay $50,000 with dividends added. President McKinley took out a tontine policy when he was first in Congress and matured it at the end of ten years. He then took another policy for a small amount. In addition to this Mr. McKinley had a $5,000 policy, taken out in 1873 through Joseph S. Saxton, a relative of his wife. About fifteen years later he took out another policy for the same amount in the same company. He also carried a $5,000 policy taken out over twenty years ago. A number of attempts were made to write the President after his election, but he declined all overtures, fearing that an advertisement would be made of it. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 249 PROTECTING THE PERSONS OF PRESIDENTS. In discussing the assassination of President McKinley, Congress- man George A. Pearre of Maryland said: "I will offer a bill in the next Congress of the United States amend- ing the constitution so as to make an unsuccessful attempt upon the life of a President of the Nation treason and the penalty death. The man who strikes at the Nation's head is a public enemy, and should be treated as such. "If the hope and prayer of the Nation is fulfilled and President Mc- Kinley lives, the question of adequate punishment of the villain who attempted his life arises. The would-be assassin only can be prosecuted for assault with intent to murder, with a penalty of about ten years in the penitentiary." Major Richard Sylvester, as President of the National Association of the Chiefs of Police of the United States and Canada, took a decisive step just after President McKinley 's death looking to the adoption of a uniform policy throughout the world in dealing with anarchists, by addressing a letter to the Board of Directors of the Association and requesting their co-operation in bringing the various heads of the police departments of the world together in convention. The communication reads as follows: "The National Association of Chiefs of Police of the United States and Canada, at the last annual meeting, adopted a resolution inviting the heads of foreign police departments to participate in our annual discussions. The distressing calamity which this country has recently experienced, through the assault by an unknown assassin, confirms the belief that the import of the resolution should be impressed on foreign officials, with a view of having such of their number present at our next annual meeting as may be able to attend; this with the hope that a closer relationship may be established officially and personally, and that there may be an interchange of opinion as to the best methods to be pursued to eliminate from society such organizations ad persons as may be evilly disposed toward institutions of government and those charged with their conduct. FROM A POLICE STANDPOINT. "This is a most vital question, and if the laws are inadequate to crush such organizations and punish such characters, there should be recommendations from a police standpoint which would forever prevent the like in this country and aid the authorities abroad. "I trust the members will give this matter close and careful consid- 250 WILLIAM McKINLEY. eration, and offer such suggestions as may aid in accomplishing the desired end, and that the Secretary will be authorized to adopt such measures as, will bring about a thorough understanding with our foreign friends, and to secure their presence and co-operation. "In the meantime, there should be active efforts made looking to the eradication of these evils and information gathered and disseminated through the National Bureau of Criminal Identification with a view of accomplishing such result." This proposition will be acted upon by the directors individually by mail. If the Board of Directors vote to adopt their executive's views the secretary of the Association will be authorized to address a letter to the officials having charge of the police affairs of the European nations requesting their attendance at the convention next year, when it is expected some definite steps will be taken to effectually stamp out or destroy the danger arising from anarchistic plots." LAWS MUST BE CHANGED. Colonel Myron T. Herrick, one of the martyr President's most inti- mate friends, in referring to the assassin and the anarchists, said : "In view of the general feeling aroused among the people of the country against anarchists as a result of the shooting of President Mc- Kinley it seems to me that the time is most opportune to demand a change in the laws so that any attempt on the life of the Chief Executive may be punished by death. There is a strong sentiment in favor of Congress taking action during the coming session in reference to the matter. "Once in four years the people of this country elect a President, and he immediately becomes a target for every cheap crank looking for notoriety in the country. "In my opinion, every anarchist in the United States should be hunted down like a mad dog and confined just as are lunatics or other dangerous persons." THREATENING LETTERS TO THE PRESIDENTS. For years previous to the murder of President McKinley threaten- ing letters had been coming at the White House under all administra- tions, the number varying with the state of public feeling and the issues before the country. It was said that fewer had come within the last year of President McKinley's life than ever before, so great had been the affection of the people for him. All these letters were promptly sent to the Secret Service Bureau where they were formally investigated. The records do not show that there was much in them, although the WILLIAM McKINLEY. 251 old files were run over to see if any evidence could be found among them of a plot These letters were written in red ink oftentimes; they were always fiery in their denunciation, and they warned the President that unless he changed his course in some particular the writer would come on to Washington to make an end of him. During the panicky years of the second Cleveland administration these letters were numerous and were usually based upon Mr. Cleveland's opposition to free silver and his alleged subserviency to the bondholders of Wall Street and of London. INITIAL SYSTEM RIDICULED. The universal demand, after President McKinley's death, that the President of the United States should hereafter be better protected against such murderous attacks as that upon President McKinley at Buffalo recalls the ridicule which was cast in certain quarters upon the attempts made during the last administration of President Cleveland to guard against such a contingency. Coxey's army, growing out of the panic of 1893, aroused extreme consternation in Washington. The accounts of. its size and desperate purposes were greatly exag- gerated so that private householders in Washington took measures of precaution. This alarm affected not only the banks and every Govern- ment department, but the officers of the Executive Mansion. The Treas- ury rooms, which formerly had been thrown open to the public, were closed and extra guards were employed. At the Executive Mansion a double force of guards was employed, it is said, without the knowledge or approval of the President. When the cold weather came, in sympathy for those who had to stay our during the night hours, a small frame structure was erected similar to that occupied by flagmen at railway crossings. This was inconspicu- ously placed under the trees on the White House grounds. THE ALARM OVER COXEY GROUNDLESS. The critical public eagerly seized this evidence of the growing alarm of the White House occupants and named the modest wooden structure Fort Thurber, after Henry T. Thurber of Detroit, the President's private secretary, who had assumed all the responsibility for these extra precau- tions, always alleging that the President knew nothing of them. Whether this was out of loyalty to his chief or was actually true can never be known, except that it is certain that few things took place about the Executive Mansion in those days of which Mr. Cleveland was not cognizant. 252 WILLIAM McKINLEY. The Coxey army turned out to be unworthy of alarm, resembling a collection of tramps more than anything else. It encamped a few miles out of the Capital city, where supplies were obtained from neighboring farmers and by contributions from some of the socialistic elements of that city. Many persons feared that a would-be assassin might be in the Coxey army, but such did not turn out to be the case. In fact, the secret service had come to recognize in crimes of this sort a great distinction between the self-announced enemy of society, who writes threatening letters, and the quiet wretch who makes few confidants but shoots to kill. GUARDS FOLLOWED PRESIDENT CLEVELAND. For a time two men in a buggy rode after President Cleveland's car- riage wherever it went, but this was so distasteful to him and its purpose was so obvious that it was either taken off or its occupants instructed in making their presence less conspicuous. When President Cleveland occupied his summer home on the Woodley Lane, in the suburbs of Washington, a secret service man in plain clothing always took up his abode there. He was seen about the yard leisurely talking with the nurse girls or playing with the children. From his manner many persons believed he was paying court to one of Mrs. Cleveland's maids, although forenoon visits for that purpose would have been quite unconventional. In the same way at Buzzard's Bay, on the Massachusetts coast, the secret service man made his way. And the system then established has practically been maintained ever since. It was relaxed somewhat during the McKinley administration on account of the President's confidence in the good will of the American people. OB C CHAPTER XVI. WILLIAM J. BRYAN'S TENDER AND GRACEFUL TRIBUTE TO THE MEMORY OF PRESIDENT McKiNLEY THE HEIR TO ENGLAND'S THRONE SAYS WORDS OF PRAISE OTHER EXPRESSIONS OF ADMIRATION FOR THE CHARACTER OF THE DEAD CHIEF MAGISTRATE. One of the most pathetic and tender tributes to the martyr President was that offered by William J. Bryan, twice defeated by President Mc- Kinley for the Chief Magistracy of the Nation. " 'God's will, not ours, be done.' These were the last words of Pres- ident McKinley as he bade farewell to the loving companion of his life, to whom his kindness and devotion have been so constant and conspicu- ous. It was with this beautiful spirit of resignation that he turned from the realities of earth to explore the mysteries of the world beyond. "The struggle was over the struggle of a week during which hope and fear alternately gained the mastery. The book of life is closed and his achievements are a part of history. After he became conscious that the end was drawing near, but before the shadows quite obscured the light, he was heard to murmur some of the words of 'Nearer, My God, to Thee.' This sacred hymn contains several lines inspired by Jacob's night at Bethel : " Though, like a wanderer, The sun gone down, Darkness be over me, My rest a stone.' "Thus do the lines immortalize the pillow which to Jacob must have seemed hard indeed the pillow which, when morning came, the patriarch would not have exchanged for the softest one on which a weary head was ever laid. "It is still true that one's sorest afflictions and most bitter experiences are sometimes stepping stones to higher rewards. "The terrible deed at Buffalo, rudely breaking the ties of family and friendship and horrifying every patriotic citizen, crowns a most extraordinary life with a halo that cannot but exalt its victim's place in history, while his bravery during the trying ordeal, his forgiving spirit 257 258 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. and his fortitude in the final hours give glimpses of his inner life which nothing less tragic could have revealed. "But, inexpressibly sad as is the death of McKinley, the illustrious citizen, it is the damnable murder of McKinley, the President, that melts seventy-five million hearts into one and brings a hush to the farm, the factory and the forum. "Death is the inevitable incident of every human career. It despises the sword and shield of the warrior, and laughs at the precautions sug- gested by science; wealth cannot build walls high enough or thick enough to shut it out, and no house is humble enough to escape its visitation. Even love, the most potent force known to man love, the characteristic which links the human to the divine even love is power- less in its presence. Its contingency is recognized in the marriage vow 'until death us do part' and is written upon friendship's signet ring. But the death, even when produced by natural causes, of a public servant charged with the tremendous responsibilities which press upon a Presi- dent, shocks the entire country and is infinitely multiplied when the cir- cumstances attending it constitute an attack upon the government itself. No one can estimate the far-reaching effect of such an act as that which now casts a gloom over our land. It shames America in the eyes of the world; it impairs her moral prestige and gives the enemies of fr^e government a chance to mock at her. And it excites an indignation which, while righteous in itself, may lead to acts which will partake of the spirit of lawlessness. "As the President's death overwhelms all in a common sorrow, so it imposes a common responsibility namely, to so avenge the wrong done to the President, his family and the country as to make the Exec- utive's life secure without bringing insecurity to freedom of speech or freedom of the press. "One of the many striking and touching incidents occuring at Buf- falo was the meeting between the President and Mrs. McKinley for the first time after the assault. The dispatches report that Mrs. McKinley took a seat at the bedside and held the President's hand. The distin- guished sufferer looked into the face of his good wife and said in a low tone : 'We must bear up ; it will be better for us both.' With tears streaming down her cheeks Mrs. McKinley nodded assent. "There is a depth of pathos in this little incident that must appeal forcefully to those who appreciate the strength of the ties that bind a good husband to a good wife. "There may be some people who have no idea of the thoughts that were passing through the minds of this couple at that moment. There WILLIAM McKINLEY. 259 are, however, many others who can imagine what these thoughts were. There, on the bed of pain, lay the strong, powerful man. By his side sat the frail woman, whose physical weakness has been for many years the subject of this husband's tender solicitude. In an humble way they began life together. Two little graves had for them a common interest. In prosperity and in adversity they had stood together, participating equally in the joys and sharing equally in the sorrows of life. The wife had shared in the great honors that had come to her husband, and now, when the very summit of political ambition had been reached and political honors had become so common that the conveniences of a quiet, domestic life were longed for by the woman, in order, as she often expressed it, that she might have her husband to herself, the bullet of an assassin had done the work that threatened to blast the highest ambition of this woman's life. " 'We must bear up/ said the President, 'it will be better for us both.' It matters not to what extent other men and women may have grieved ; it matters not how many tears other men and women may have shed and how much other hearts may have ached. All of this grief and woe could not have been so acute as was the grief and woe which this man and woman suppressed in compliance with the suggestion. 'It will be better for us both.' " HE SHOWED PATRIOTISM AND SINCERITY. Hope, Ark., September I4th. Two days ago all classes of people, without regard to party, were rejoicing over the assurance that the Presi- dent would live. Now sorrow fills all hearts, all differences are forgot- ten in the recollection of his private virtues and his splendid personal qualities, which won the admiration of all men. His tenacious adhesion to the principles of government in which he believed showed the honesty of his convictions and the patriotism of his purposes. While I dissented strongly from the policy of his administration on important questions, I never doubted that he meant all for the best interests of the country. Peace to his ashes! JAMES K. JONES, United States Senator. THE WEST HAD COME TO LOVE His MANLINESS. Denver, Col., September I4th. President McKinley, by his noble, courageous, self-sacrificing life endeared himself to all. We have lost a ruler whose gentle character and lovable disposition have long been proverbial among all classes of the nation. He had shown in his inter- course with the people and his devotion to his invalid wife the heart and 260 WILLIAM McKINLEY. mind of a man fully endowed with a Christian and charitable spirit. His trip to the West gave a better opportunity for knowing and appreciating the sterling qualities of the man and impressed upon the hearts of West- ern people the fairness, nobleness and gentleness of his great nature. JAMES B. ORMAN, Governor of Colorado. OPPONENTS LOVED His NOBLE CHARACTER. Jefferson City, Mo., September i4th. At this time it is not practi- cable for me to give a just estimate of the character of President Mc- Kinley. My personal relations with him for twenty years have been so cordial that I feel his loss most keenly. Differing with him upon many public questions, I have never failed to recognize his honesty, patriotism and marked ability. His private life was pure and stainless. The devotion to his invalid wife was so constant that it won the esteem of all. This beautiful trait was the occasion of much favorable comment at Washington, long before his name was mentioned in connection with the Presidency. A. M. DOCKERY, Ex-Governor of Missouri. MEMORY OF His SERVICES WILL LIVE LONG. Evanston, Wyo., September I4th. That the life of President Mc- Kinley should have been sought is a thing that passes understanding. Of the highest ideals, of exceptional purity of personal life, his public services were so exclusively devoted to the welfare of his countrymen, especially of the American workingmen, it is incredible that he should be stricken in the hour of his supreme usefulness. It will be long before the Nation sees his like again, but the benefits of his life and public services will remain. Immediate action should be had by Congress, specially called for that purpose, to minimize the possibility of future like tragedies. CLARENCE D. CLARK, United States Senator. WILL LIVE WITH WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN. Marion, Ky., September I4th. The death of President McKinley removes from earth one of America's greatest statesmen. He will live in history along beside of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Grant. This country has produced many able men who have honored every avo- cation of life, but it is doubtful if she ever had one who excelled William McKinley in all the qualities which go to make up noble and useful man- hood. I knew him intimately, and always found him kind and courteous. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 261 He lived a pure, Christian life. His noble traits of character, his great wisdom and ability as a statesman will ever be appreciated by a grateful Nation. WILLIAM J. DEBOE, United States Senator. LEFT NONE BUT HALLOWED MEMORIES. Helena, Mont., September I4th. The history will accord the late President a high niche in the gallery of statesmen. His message and public documents reflect a wide range of experience, affluence of learning and copiousness of thought. His broad, generous, hospitable nature invited confidence and suffered no official distance of age or station to intervene between himself and his countrymen, who profoundly respected him. He was as void of dogmatism and intolerance as he was of indo- lence and selfishness. He leaves in the hearts of all who knew him, and most with those who knew him best, profound regrets and dear, honored, hallowed memories. J. K. TOOLE, Governor of Montana. ONE OP THE PUREST AND ABLEST. Oxford, Miss., September I4th. The assassination of President McKinley is the most serious and appalling act that has ever been com- mitted. It is not only an actual calamity, but calls for a law that shall forever put down anarchists and exclude this class from our country. The President was one of the purest and ablest men our country has produced. He was a splendid type of the well-educated and loyal citizen of the United States, who possessed much influence in managing public sentiment and was a shining example of what push and energy and devotion to a single purpose can accomplish. W. V. SULLIVAN, United States Senator. PAIN UNIVERSALLY FELT. Salt Lake, Utah, September I4th. It was the will of the majority of the people last November that Mr. McKinley should be President another four years. Because he was President he was shot and the pain of that wound was universally felt. Personally no President has been more highly esteemed. It is a universal public bereavement. G. L. RAWLINS, United States Senator. A MODEL HUSBAND AND GREAT STATESMAN. Carrollton, Miss., September I4th. President McKinley's death is a shock to the civilized world. The manner of his taking off is an added horror. I was a member of Congress when he entered the House and soon knew him well. I never knew a more kindly natured and amiable gentleman. In domestic life he was a model son and husband, and made 262 WILLIAM McKINLEY. two good women happy by his devotion. He was clear and pure in his living, a consistent Christian and honest business man and an honorable gentleman. His daring enterprise in public policies made him the leader of his party. The sense of loss and grief is general and profound. H. D. MONEY, United States Senator. ONE OF THE GREATEST AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. Portland, Ore., September I4th. The cowardly assassination of President McKinley is a great calamity to the American people. Mc- Kinley was one of the greatest Presidents we ever had. His character was noble. History will write the record of his public career in glowing words. He was conservative, perhaps too much so, some who differed politically have said, but still, if that was true, it was no great fault. He stood at the helm of the Ship of State through trying times, and whether in war or peace he always maintained that dignified, consistent attitude that must demand the respect and love of the American people. JOSEPH SIMON, United States Senator. KENTUCKY IN MOURNING. Big hearted and broad minded, President McKinley never showed any of that bitterness and prejudice usually engendered by sectional warfare or political contests, and to-day, in the South as well as in the North, in the West as well as in the East, the heart of every good Amers can citizen is bowed deep in grief. J. C. W. BECKHAM, Governor of Kentucky. HE WAS A TRUE FRIEND OF THE SOUTH. Jackson, Miss., September I4th. In the death of President Mc- Kinley the people of Mississippi feel that they are bereft of a true friend, a patriot, one who had at heart the best interests of the whole country. His desire was to add to the prosperity and material advancement of the United States and a restoration of the good feeling and fellowship between the North and South. Our people deplore his sad end. They invoke the blessings of Him who rules all Nations and all people upon the bereaved family and rela- tives. JAMES T. HARRISON, Acting Governor. No GRIEF So PROFOUND. The town (Cape May) is draped in mourning. I am speechless with sorrow that another American President must lie with Lincoln and Gar- field in a martyr's grave. McKinley's vision of the glory of America in the near future by WILLIAM M cKI N LEY. 263 the completion of the public measures of his administration as outlined in his last public address at Buffalo nine days ago deepens the sorrow that will be universal because of his not being able to ever finish the great work in hand. I cannot think of any other event that could plunge the Nation in such grief or touch the liberty loving world so profoundly with regret as the sudden, uncalled-for sacrifice of our President. JOHN WANAMAKER, Ex-Postmaster General. THE SUPERIOR otf ALL MEN. He himself must be his best interpreter. His acts, his utterances with their indescribable charm, have made him known to the American people. Through these they understand and appreciate him. In their hearts can be found the love and the gratitude which his unselfish, untiring and affectionate devotion to his country justly inspires. If I speak of him, it must be simply and without exaggeration. In active life extending over a long period I have met many men of superior powers and manifold graces, but I had come to regard him in the combined qualities which make a man truly great as the superior of all the men I have ever known. LYMAN J. GAGE, Secretary of the Treasury. THE WHOLE WORLD HAS LOST ONE IT COULD ILLY SPARE. Santa Fe, N. M., September I4th. In the death of President Mc- Kinley the whole world has lost one it could illy spare. He was a great and noble example of manhood in its highest form, as a patriot, states- man, diplomat and Chief Executive of this Nation. He was equal to every situation and compelled respect and admiration at home and abroad. While in private life he was a model American citizen whose every action was an incentive to higher living and nobler thinking. His memory will be revered as that of Washington and Lincoln, and while we mourn we give thanks that he was spared to us so long. MIGUEL A. OTERO, Governor of New Mexico. THE SOUTH LOST A FRIEND AND THE COUNTRY A GREAT AND GOOD MAN. Baton Rouge, La., September i4th. It is with profound sorrow that I have learned of the death of the President. The South has lost a friend and the country a great and good man. No President since the Civil War has done more to destroy the feeling resulting from that strife and unite the two sections in cordial friendship. He had great faith and confidence in the masses of the people and it is dreadful to contemplate that he should lose his life while exhibiting that confidence 264 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. by mingling with the people. His home life was beautiful and his devo- tion to his invalid wife won for him the affectionate regards of all good people. W. W. HEARD, Governor of Louisiana. His MEMORY CLOSE TO HEART OF EVERY TRUE LOVER OF LIBERTY. "All men must praise President McKinley for the great example he gave in his wholesome private life. The bitterest political opponent could find no vulnerable point to attack him in as far as he was considered as a member of a social body. "Again, his example was most worthy in his public profession, at all times of his religious belief and in his intrusting the nation to the provi- dence of God. His public profession is doubly valuable, when so many who pretend to be leaders utterly ignore the claims of God. "Not exactly anarchy, as professed, prompted the assassin, but want of religious education. If we stamp out anarchy it will only be when men accept the teachings of Christ and learn that some must suffer severely and that suffering is the lot of man, and that the poor will always be the great majority, for Christ said that the poor would always be with the church. A religious poor will always be the strongest bulwark of the Republic. "However sudden his death has been, it will only serve to bind the memory of President McKinley more closely to the heart of every lover of liberty. "In the present moment of excitement we who love Hberty should be careful that our love for the dead President does not tempt us to acts or expressions that, in themselves, injure or lessen the effects of constitu- tional form. "No provocation on the part of disciples of anarchy will permit us to deprive them of any of their constitutional rights and privileges. It is sad to see, in these moments of excitement, that certain clergymen and public men go so far as to intimate that the people should take the law in their own hands, and not wait for the proper procedure in the line of pun- ishment. "Those in authority cannot be too insistent on the fact that all the government has within itself is the power of rectifying all injustices. We love McKinley less if we will express our love in the breaking of the slightest constitutional right, and we injure our country before the entire world if we give evidence that we desire to lose our good judgment in dealing with this awful crime. "No wrong, however dastardly, will allow a government to connive at another wrong against the culprit. The motto of the American people WILLIAM McKINLEY. 265 toward assassins should be that of the President : 'Let no one hurt him.' "McKinley's name and memory will be forever enshrined in the heart of the nation on account of his quiet, manly and Christian demeanor in times of public distress, and especially in those last trying hours." RT. REV. J. P. MULDOON, D. D., Auxiliary Bishop Archdiocese of Chicago. FORMER PRESIDENT CLEVELAND'S GRIEF. Former President Cleveland expressed great sorrow when informed of Mr. McKinley's death. "In the gloom surrounding this third Presidential murder within the memory of men not yet old, we can scarcely keep out of mind a feeling of stunning amazement that in free America, blessed with a government consecrated to popular welfare and content, the danger of assassination should ever encompass the faithful discharge of the highest official duty. It is hard at such a time as this to calmly and patiently await the unfolding of the purpose of God." A BRIGHT EXAMPLE FOR AMERICAN YOUTH. Warrensburg, Mo., September 14. The death of President McKinley is a great loss to our country, and is sincerely mourned by all our people. He was in the fullest sense the true Christian gentleman ; intensely Amer- ican, devoted to our country, its institutions and people. In social and official life he -was charmingly simple, unostentatious, cordial and attrac- tive, creating a most pleasing and favorable impression. Few, if any, of our Presidents have been so popular personally and so fondly admired and loved as President McKinley. His life, habits, character and attain- ments are a bright example for the guidance of our American youth. F. M. COCKRELL, United States Senator. DID WHAT HE THOUGHT BEST FOR THE COUNTRY. Madison, Neb., September I4th. The death of the President is a heavy blow to the American people and to all who believe in enlightened and justified government. Although when it was known that he had been wounded by a bullet thoughtful men must have been convinced that the chances were against the President's being able to survive the shock, his death has nevertheless fallen heavily upon all, regardless of whether they agreed or disagreed with him in his political policies and beliefs. I knew and frequently met him in an official way, and I have no occasion to doubt that he sincerely desired the welfare of his country. WILLIAM V. ALLEN, United States Senator. 266 W ILL I A M M c KIN LEY. NEVADA JOINS IN SORROW. Nevada joins with the people of the United States in their deep sorrow for the loss of a great and good man, exalted in public life, un- blemished in example before the world, actuated by unselfish sympathy for his fellow-man and, above all, reflecting the highest devotion and love in the sacred precincts of domestic and social life. REINHOLD SADLER, Governor of Nevada. SHERMAN'S SON DENOUNCES ASSASSIN. Denunciation of the assassin of President McKinley and of the doc- trines which advocate like deeds, coupled with a eulogy of the wounded President, was expressed in a lecture by the Rev. Thomas Sherman, S. J., son of General W. T. Sherman, at the Holy Family Church, Chicago, following the assassination. Father Sherman since his childhood had been an intimate friend of the McKinley family. He declared that President McKinley had at all times been his ideal of the broad-minded and patriotic citizen, soldier and statesman, while his domestic life had left its impress on every American home. "The American people must arouse themselves and crush out of existence the principles and the men who have contributed to this, our national calamity," he said. "While 70,000,000 people are mourning these irresponsible, useless and inhuman brutes boast of their belief and pride in the principles that caused this fanatic to commit the deed. "It is not the individual so much as the doctrines that should be remorselessly crushed out, and death is the fitting penalty for those who teach them or incite similar acts. Too much leniency has been shown the Chicago anarchists. When the great wave of anger following the Hay- market riot had died away they crept back to their former haunts, and the injudicious pardoning of the participants has once more made them bold and made the act of Czolgosz a possibility. "Their boasts that they will hold secret meetings if their public ones are suppressed should be met, and the power of the law which they threaten be shown to them. Everything they advocate is unalterably op- posed to the constitution of the United States. "In the near future the matter probably will be given more serious consideration, and the Catholics of the United States will have something to say about the foul doctrines of these people and the punishmeat that should be meted out to them." WILLIAM McKINLEY. 267 ENGLAND'S HEIR PRAISES MCKINLEY. The Duke and Duchess of York and Cornwall made a formal entry into the Dominion of Canada September i6th, at Quebec. They were escorted to the legislative Council Chamber and a formal address of wel- come was read to them in the presence of a distinguished company. A reference was made to President McKinley as follows in the wel- coming address : "May we be permitted to add that among the national emblems and decorations of all kinds which mark our welcome and brignten our streets in your honor your Royal Highness has no doubt observed that some of them are draped in mourning. These are the flags of the great, friendly nation on our border, with whom we are connected by so many ties of kinship and mutual interest,, and in whose grief for the untimely death of their beloved and widely respected President we most sincerely join." DUKE EXPRESSES GRIEF. "In replying the Duke said : "I take this, the first, opportunity to express in common with the whole civilized world my horror at the detestable crime which has plunged into mourning the great friendly nation on your border and has robbed the United States of the precious life of their Chief Magistrate in the midst of the fulfillment of the high and honorable duties of his proud position. "The Duchess and I share with you to the fullest extent the feelings of sympathy which you have manifested toward a people with whom we are connected by ties of kinship and of national esteem, and our hearts go out to the widow and bereaved family of the late distinguished and beloved President." SIAM'S CROWN PRINCE EXPRESSES SORROW. London, September i/th. Ambassador Choate has received the fol- lowing letter from Chowfa Maha Vajiravudh, the youthful Crown Prince of Siam, who is being educated in England, it being dated from the Siamese Legation : "Dear Mr. Choate : I only wish to write a line to express my deep sorrow for the sad event and to say how greatly I feel for the people of the United States, among whom I can count many good personal friends. "I feel that I have not language enough to express my sorrow for the dastardly act which has robbed the United States of its illustrious President and the world of so good a man. 268 WILLIAM McKINLEY. ~i "I cannot tell you how much I deplore the act. I beg you to convey to the proper quarter my heartfelt sympathy and condolences. Accept yourself my special expressions of friendship. MAH, VAJIRAVUDH. Mr. Choate made a warmly appreciative reply. CHINESE PRAISE FOR THE DEAD PRESIDENT. Pekin, September i6th. Li Hung Chang sent through Minister Con- ger condolences to the American Government on the death of President McKinley. He refers to the new departure and extension of influence accomplished under McKinley's administration, and expresses gratitude for the good offices of the Government in the Chinese trouble. He says that his personal sorrow is keen. A similar note has been received by Minister Conger from Prince Ching, Li Hung Chang's colleague, who memorialized the throne on the death of the President. Memorial services will be held at the American Legation on Thursday, the day of the President's funeral. CHAPTER XVII. THEODORE ROOSEVELT A KNICKERBOCKER OF THE KNICKERBOCKERS ONE OF A LONG AND DISTINGUISHED LINE OF PATRIOTS FOREFATHERS CAME FROM THE NETHERLANDS "TEDDY'S" ADVANCEMENT DUE TO His OWN ENERGY AND EFFORTS RECORD IN POLITICS AND WAR. Theodore Roosevelt, one of the most remarkable characters in the political history of the United States, is a Knickerbocker of the Knicker- bockers. He was born in New York City on October 27, 1858. He comes from a family which has made a name in American annals for disinterested public spirit, vigorous endeavor, and general usefulness. He is the sev- enth in descent from Klaas Martensen van Roosevelt, who, with his wife, Jannetje Samuels-Thomas, emigrated from the Netherlands to New Amsterdam in 1649. For two and one-half centuries the descendants of this burgher of old Manhattan have lived in and near New York City. Church records show that between 1652 and 1894 several Roosevelts were born on Manhattan Island. The name was properly spelled, however, in the Dutch marriage records published for the years 1682 and 1774. Since 1700 the Roosevelt family has been prominent in the municipal history of New York City. Nicholas Roosevelt, a bolter, was an Alderman that year; John Roosevelt, a merchant, was an assistant Alderman from 1748 to 1767; Cornelius Roosevelt served as Alderman from 1759 to 1764, and in the Assembly in 1803. James Roosevelt held these offices in 1809 and from 1796 to 1797, respectively. From 1828 to 1843 James J. Roose- velt advanced from assistant Alderman through the Supreme Court bench and the General Assembly to Congress. Isaac Roosevelt was a member of the New York Provincial Congress. Jacobus J. Roosevelt, great-grandfather of Theodore Roosevelt, was born in 1759, and gave his services without compensation during the War of Independence. A brother of this patriot, Nicholas Roosevelt, won fame as an inventor and was an associate of Robert H. Livingston, John Stevens and Robert Fulton in developing the steamboat and steam navigation. The grandfather of Theodore Roosevelt, Cornelius Van Schaick Roosevelt, was born in 1794. He was a dealer in hardware and plate 271 272 WILLIAM McKINLEY. glass and one of the founders of the Chemical Bank. One of his cousins, James Henry Roosevelt, was distinguished for his philanthropy, and left an estate of $1,000,000 to found the Roosevelt Hospital in New York City. The following are the Roosevelts who held public office in New York City prior to the advent of the present bearer of the name : Nicholas Roosevelt, Alderman 1700 John Roosevelt (merchant), assistant Alderman 1748 1767 Cornelius Roosevelt, Alderman 1759 1764 In the Assembly 1803 James Roosevelt, Alderman 1809 In the Assembly 1796 1797 James J. Roosevelt, Assistant Alderman 1828 1839 Supreme Court Justice 1854 1860 In the Assembly 1835 1 %4 In Congress 1841 1843 In old-time records the Roosevelts are mentioned as sugar refiners, merchants, bankers, trustees of charitable institutions and public officials. The Roosevelts figured patriotically during the Revolutionary War. Nich- olas Roosevelt was a First Lieutenant of the "Corsicans" of 1775. Another Roosevelt was officer of an up-country company. One of the family served in the War of 1812. The family also fur- nished large sums of money to the newly formed Continental Government and patriotically accepted the Government's paper money at the value of coin. Theodore Roosevelt, the father of the Vice-President, was bora in 1831, and married Martha Bulloch. Theodore was the second of the four children resulting from this union. He was born in his father's house at 28 East Twentieth Street. His people originally lived on the Battery, but as the town changed gradually moved away from the business center. His grandfather once owned a fine residence at one of the corners of what is now Fourteenth Street and Broadway. In blood Mr. Roosevelt is a quarter Hollandish and three-quarters Scotch, Irish and French-Huguenot. His mother was a Bonhill and had relatives of the name of Lukin and Craig. The Lamontaigne family is in his ancestry, and the Devoes of Georgia and South Carolina. His uncle, James D. Bulloch, built the noted privateer Alabama, and another of the Bullocks fired the last gun aboard her. But after all this is said of the ancestry chroniclers agree that Mr. Roosevelt owes a great deal to his father. The elder Theodore Roosevelt was one of the leading men of his day; WILLIAM McKINLEY. 273 in the metropolis the days of the Civil War. He was a merchant, philanthropist and a lover of outdoor life. He more than any one else founded the present newsboys' lodging-house system. He devised and carried out the plan of the War Time Allotment Commission. He could drive a four-in-hand team better than any other New Yorker of his day. He died in 1878, idolized by the son, who was to take up the lines of the ambitious part of his life and carry them on. Young Roosevelt was educated at home by private tutors for a time, and then entered Harvard, where he was graduated in 1880. Then he went to Europe. In Europe he climbed the Jungfrau and the Matterhorn, and that made him a member of the Alpine Club of London. Then he took to the Rockies, but not before he was Second Lieutenant of the Eighth Regiment of the New York National Guards, and later a Captain in the same regi- ment. In the West he was in the last big buffalo hunt (1883) at Pretty Buttes. He joined with the whites and the Sioux in the great killing. He hunted elk, sheep, deer, buffalo and antelope. He lived in a long log house which he helped to build himself. He kept books with him and wrote whenever the inclination prompted. He was without fear and with- out coarseness. He was neither the braggadocio nor the coward. But with all this kind of experience he managed to serve three terms in the Legislature of New York. He was elected to the Assembly from the Murray Hill District. He won for himself the name of being a fearless champion of the rights of the people. During these years he secured the abolition of fees in the office of the County Clerk, the setting aside of the joint power of the Board of Aldermen of especial benefit to New York City. He was foremost in securing the passage of the Civil Service Reform Law in 1884 and in bringing about an investigation of the Police Department and the municipal government of New York City in the same year. Prior to this the old Tweed charter had vested in the Aldermen the power of rejecting or accepting the Mayor's appointments. The Roose- velt bill took this power from the Aldermen. The Roosevelt investigation of the same year placed the County Clerk's office, which had been reaping $82,000 a year in fees, upon a salary, and various other reforms were effected. It was at this time that Mr. Roosevelt became involved in a conflict with the party organization and defeated it. He did it so thoroughly that 274 WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. his own delegates were sent to the County, State and National Conventions of 1884. That was the year James G. Elaine desired to be President. Mr. Roosevelt escaped the Elaine contagion and took the New York dele- gation away from that statesman. He formed a combination between the Arthur and Edmunds men and defeated the Elaine following. He was sent to the Chicago conven- tion with Andrew D. White, George William Curtis and a number of other famous men. Mr. Roosevelt never left the Republican party, but he has always felt that upon a question of principle he was bound to act upon his own judg- ment. He has held that city politics should be divorced from those of the State and the Nation ; that politics is not a grab game for spoils, but a dignified, honorable science to be unselfishly pursued ; and yet he recog- nizes the fact that, in order to do good work in politics, one must work with his party, which is to say, with the organization. As a legislator, he was a sore spot to "machine" partisans or men of corrupt inclinations. In 1886, though leading what was regarded as a "forlorn hope," he was nominated for Mayor of New York City, but was defeated by Abram S. Hewitt, the strongest man the Democrats could select. This brought him into the public eye of the Nation, and his political opponents then, as now, freely admitted that his life and public career had been irreproach- ably correct ; that he is a splendid statesman, masterful, God-fearing, far- sighted the true American citizen. He was appointed a member of the National Civil Service Commis- sion in May, 1889, by President Harrison. He served until 1895, using every effort to apply the merit system justly to all executive departments. His work and zeal here showed the country the first practical application of these rules to civil government. He stood unflinchingly at all times for civil service reform, honestly applied. He became President of the New York Board of Police Commission- ers in 1895, an d here his work brought him to the attention of the entire country. The investigation conducted by the State Assembly at his request had shown the corruption existing in the police circles of New York, and he at once set about to secure an uncompromising enforcement of the laws. He was criticised and slandered, but he persisted in his course. He carried the day, and honest methods in the Police Department were instituted for the first time in years. He traveled beats at night to secure evidence on which he based his demands for changes. There were fewer crimes than ever before, and Sunday closing of saloons became Theodore Roosevelt President of the United States WILLIAM Me KIN LEY. 279 a fact all this through the courage and aggressiveness of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1892 Mr. Roosevelt published his "History of the Naval War in 1812." This work showed how well equipped he was for the task of weighing documentary evidence, and it was this fact that Secretary Long of the Navy Department had in mind when Theodore Roosevelt was ten- dered the post of Assistant Secretary of the Navy. On May 6, 1898, he resigned this position and organized the "Rough Riders," for which his life in the Northwest had so splendidly fitted him. He had seen military service, too, in the New York National Guard in the '8os. He was made Lieutenant Colonel of the command, and on June 15 sailed to Cuba with General Shafter's army. His deeds at San Juan, where his horse was shot under him, are too well known to be reviewed. On July I ith he was commissioned Colonel of his regiment. Two months later he was nominated for Governor of New York and elected with a plurality of 18,000. As a State executive he carried his earnestness, courage and determination in his every act. Theodore Roosevelt, like President McKinley, is a "home man." He has been twice married. His first wife was Alice Lee of Boston, who left a daughter. In 1886 he married Miss Edith Kermit Carow of New York, and they have five children, three boys and two girls. At the Republican Convention in the spring of 1900 he was given the nomination of Vice-President by the Republican party. He declared for a long time that he did not want it, as the position would not give him an opportunity for the activity he wished. No other man could be found, however, who was satisfactory. He was nominated by a unanimous vote and accepted. He worked strenuously during the campaign. He was the only one of the Republican ticket who made a tour. He spoke all over the country, in the East and West, and won. CHRONOLOGY OF THEODORE ROOSEVELT. October 7, 18586001, New York City. June, 1880 Graduated from Harvard University. November, 1881 Elected State Assemblyman and served during the sessions of 1882, 1883 and 1884. 1886 Nominated for Mayor of New York City. May, 1889 Appointed to the United States Civil Service Commis- sion by President Harrison. 280 WILLIAM McKINLEY. 1895 President New York Police Commissioners. 1897 Appointed Assistant Secretary of the Navy by President Mc- Kinley. 1898 Resigned from the Navy Department and organized the "Rough Riders." Commissioned Lieutenant Colonel. July i, 1898 Led the "Rough Riders" in the charge up San Juan Hill. Advanced to the rank of Colonel. November, 1898 Elected Governor of New York. June 21, 1900 Nominated for Vice-President of the United States. November 6, 1900 Elected Vice-President of the United States. March 4, 1901 Inaugurated Vice-President of the United States. President McKinley's successor, at the time of his assuming the duties of the Presidency, figured in almost as many stories as Lincoln himself. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT IN THE PULPIT. The new President appeared on the political stump times without number, but only once or twice, so far as recorded, did he appear in the pulpit. This was in Chicago early in 1901. Mr. Roosevelt was a personal friend of the Rev. Mr. Moerdyke of the Trinity Reformed Church, 440 South Marshfield Avenue. "Come and preach to us some Sunday," wrote the preacher several months previous to Mr. Roosevelt. "I will fill your pulpit the next time I am in Chicago," was the reply. He arrived in Chicago on Saturday, and the next day, accompanied by Colonel J. H. Strong, he drove to Trinity to keep his promise. The Rev. Mr. Moerdyke was in the act of announcing a hymn when the then Vice-President and Colonel Strong entered the church. They took front seats. The reading of the hymn was postponed and the preacher stepped down from the pulpit to greet his guests. A minute later the minister returned to the pulpit and an- nounced that his regular sermon on "Christian Statesmen" would be postponed and that Vice-President Roosevelt would preach. "There is one thing I admire about Colonel Roosevelt more than all others," he continued; "he is a man of his word." The Vice-President did not preach doctrine, but he did deliver a lay sermon on "Be ye doers of the word, not hearers only," that was listened to with the closest atten- tion. The afternoon of the same day he addressed the Gideons at the First Methodist Church, and was elected an honorary member of the asso- ciation. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 281 "COME TO MY OFFICE TO-MORROW." While a Police Commissioner in New York City, Mr. Roosevelt did not depend on the reports of his subordinates to learn whether his orders were being obeyed and that the reforms he recommended were being carried out, but pursued the simple, effective method of personally visiting the patrolmen of the force on their beats at night. On one of these trips he found two policemen drinking in a saloon. "Is this the way you do your duty?" he asked, quietly. Neither of the officers had seen the Commissioner before and they took him for some prying stranger. "What's that to you ?" replied one of the men. "Get out of here or we will throw you out." Mr. Roosevelt did not get out. Nor did he lose his temper. He replied in the same quiet voice: "No, I will not go out. I am Police Commissioner Roosevelt, and I am looking for men like you who do not obey my orders. Come to my office tomorrow." The men apologized, but it was of no use. They called at the Com- missioner's office the next day and were reduced. On another of these incognito tours he saw one policeman capture a dangerous burglar and another risk his life to save a family from a burning building. The Commissioner did what he could to help in both cases, and when the work was over he thanked the men personally for their bravery and invited them to call at his office. When they called they were again praised and thanked and notified that they had been promoted. His IDEA OF AN HONEST COWBOY. Mr. Roosevelt's ideas of honesty were well illustrated in the follow- ing story. It was during the time he conducted a cattle ranch in Wyom- ing. Riding about his ranch one day he noticed a maverick from a neigh- bor's ranch. A maverick is a beast which has not been branded. One of his cowboys began to tumble the maverick over, preparatory to branding it, when the following colloquy occurred : Roosevelt What are you doing? Rustler Oh, I am just rustling. Roosevelt Are you going to put my brand on that maverick ? Rustler Yes. Roosevelt You go up to the ranchhouse and get your time tonight. I don't want to have anything to do with you. If you will steal for me you will steal from me. 282 WIL'LIAM McKINLEY. Too RIGOROUS FOR THE POLITICIANS. His methods as Police Commissioner, however, were entirely too rigorous to suit the politicians. He enlisted a regiment of enemies and his life was threatened. The sensational newspapers attacked him with bitter malice, a part even of his own board was against him, but he never wavered. He did his duty as he saw it, and refused to be influenced by any ulterior considerations. When the leading papers and influential citizens entered their pro- tests, the characteristic Roosevelt answer came: "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." Do THE BEST You CAN. Julian Ralph once asked Mr. Roosevelt : "What did you expect to be or dream of being when you were a boy ?" "I do not recollect that I dreamed at all or planned at all," he an- swered. "I simply obeyed the injunction, 'Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do that with all thy might,' so I took up what came along as it came. Since then I have gone on Lincoln's motto: 'Do the best; if not, then the best possible.' " HE TOOK THAT YOUNG MAN. When Colonel Roosevelt set out to raise a regiment of rough riders he decided that he would make sure that every man enlisted possessed not only nerve but staying qualities as well. His experience with one young Westerner is a type of several. The young man was strong and husky enough, but there was a look in his face that the Colonel took to be one lacking a continuity of purpose. He told the would-be recruit that the ranks were practically full and that he could not enlist him. The next day the young man returned to repeat his request to be enlisted. Again he was turned down. This proceeding was repeated for a week, the Western youth never missing a day at the recruiting headquarters. The pertinacity of the boy finally interested the Colonel. "What did you say your name was ?" asked Roosevelt on the eighth visit. "Henry Johnson." "Where do you come from ?" "Iowa." "You want to enlist as a rough rider?" "I do." WILLIAM McKINLEY. 283 "How did you get here?" "I walked some of the distance, stole rides part of the way, and paid my fare as far as possible." "Can you ride a horse?" "Yes." "And shoot?" "Yes." "Well, you are the kind of men we are looking for. I did not like your appearance at first, but any man who will show as much zeal trying to get into the army deserves to be enlisted." His OPINION OF TRUE AMERICANISM. Mr. Roosevelt was once asked for an opinion on what he termed true Americanism. The reply, which he incorporated in one of his books, is as follows : "I have no wish to excuse or hide our faults, for I hold that he is often the best American who strives hardest to correct American short- comings Nevertheless, I am just as little disposed to give way to undue pessimism as to undue and arrogant optimism. In speaking of my own countrymen, there is one point upon which I wish to lay special stress; that is the necessity for a feeling of broad, radical, intense Americanism if good work is to be done in any direction. Above all, the one essential for success in every political movement which is to do lasting good is that our citizens should act as Americans ; not as Americans with a prefix and qualification not as Irish-Americans, German-Americans, native Americans but as Americans pure and simple. TOOK A KEEN INTEREST IN YOUNG MEN. A young man himself, President Roosevelt took a keen interest in other young men and is always ready with words of advice or encourage- ment. This is what he once wrote to a New-Yorker : "First and foremost, be American, heart and soul, and go in with any person, heedless of anything but that person's qualifications. For my- self, I'd as quickly work beside Pat Dugan as with the last descendant of a patroon ; it literally makes no difference to me so long as the work is good and the man is in earnest. One other thing I'd like to teach the young man of wealth : That he who has not got wealth owes his first duty to his family, but he who has means owes his first duty to his State. It is ignoble to try to heap money on money. I would preach the doctrine of work to all, and to the men of wealth the doctrine or unremunerative work." 284 WILLIAM McKINLEY. NOT AFRAID TO SHAKE HANDS. As Colonel Roosevelt was walking up Delaware Avenue in Buffalo one day just after President McKinley was shot, he passed an ancient negro raking leaves out of the grass between the sidewalk and the curb. The negro took off his hat and bowed low. "Please, sir, Mr. Roosevelt," he said, "I'd like to shake hands with you, sir." As he grasped the Vice-President's outstretched hand he added: "Look out they don't get you, Mr. Vice-President." "Thank you," said Colonel Roosevelt and started on. Two men in overalls had stopped to watch his meeting with the negro, and as he turned to go on they stepped up to him, too, with their hands stretched out. The Colonel shook hands with them both and thanked them for their greetings. "Ain't you afraid when a fellow comes up to you in the street like this ?" asked one of them. "Not a bit of it, sir," replied Colonel Roosevelt, with all his usual energy of utterance, "and I hope the time will never come when an officer of this Government will be afraid to meet his fellow-citizens in the street. The people of this country, all the people, are the guardians of the men they have elected to public office. If anything, the lives of the officers of the Government are safer now than before that thing was done at the Exposition the other day. Tell me," he asked, with a smile which showed his confidence that he would get a negative answer, "did it ever occur to either of you that violence would do any of our people any good ?" GREW TO BE A BIG BOY. Mr. Roosevelt as a boy was quite frail and puny. He was well along in his teens before his family ceased to worry about him. Once in col- lege, however, he took to athletic sports as closely as he did to his books and was soon a strong, healthy young man. His ranch life, after leaving college, still further developed him until he became as rugged and endur- ing as a man born and raised on the plains. Mr. Roosevelt was specially fond of boxing during his college days the same as his boys were and always kept in practice. During his term as Governor he also took instructions in wrestling. William Carlin, one of the best known athletes in New York and at one time a famous oarsman, was his teacher. "He is a doughty little man," said Mr. Carlin one day after an hour in the gymnasium with the Governor, "and can give any man plenty of WILLIAM McKINLEY. 285 exercise. The Governor likes the catch-as-catch-can game and is as quick as a flash in getting his holds, but he still clings to the favorite Western style of wrestling cross buttocks and it is a hold that he uses most dexterously." WAS A FIGHTER BY NATURE. Roosevelt was by nature a fighter. He had all the stubborn tenacity that was inherited with his Dutch blood, coupled with almost a Celtic willingness to combat any one or anything, anyhow or anywhere he deemed proper and necessary. When he fought against two parties to push through the bills giving Controller Coler the right to pass upon prices paid by departments for goods purchased and supervision in the confession of judgments the leaders of his party came to him and said : "Governor, you are building up a powerful rival to you for next fall." "Maybe so," he replied, "but he is right and he's going to have those bills if I can get them through for him." And he got them through. FEW MUST GIVE WAY TO MANY. Again, two of his best friends in the Legislature, Speaker Nixon and Leader Allds, came to him and begged him not to force through the canal bill. "It is suicide to do it," they pleaded, "for it will lose votes for you among the farmers and in the districts that elected you. It is ungrateful and extremely bad politics." Roosevelt appreciated their argument and did not say they were wrong in presenting it. He simply shook his head and said : "You are right, but this is a case where the few must give way for the benefit of the many. I realize that it seems unjust to the farmers to be taxed for improvements that will bring produce from the West to compete with them, but the whole State must be considered, and this is in line with commercial progress. It must go through." And it went through. "BE MEN, AND I WANT YOUR ADVICE." While Roosevelt admired independence, he believed in organization, because he had the instincts of a soldier. But he was not a martinet, and had no faith in men who have not minds of their own/ It was to Assemblymen Price and Morgan of Brooklyn, two young legislators to whom he took a great fancy, that he said at the beginning of a session of the New York Legislature : "If you choose to be cattle I must consult your driver. Be men, and I want your advice." 286 WILLIAM McKINLEY. EXCITING EXPERIENCE IN THE WEST. One of the most exciting of President Roosevelt's many experiences in the West was at Victor, Colo., in 1900, during the Presidential cam- paign. Roosevelt was making a trip through the West and stopped at Victor to make a speech. As he was walking from his train to the meeting hall an attempt was made by a band of toughs to strike him down. One man hit him on the breast with a piece of scantling six feet long from which an insulting Democratic banner had been torn. Another rough aimed a blow at the Colonel's head and was ridden down by a miner named Holley. When the fighting was all over Roosevelt exclaimed enthusiastically : "This is bully, this is magnificent. Why, it's the best time I've had since I started. I wouldn't have missed it for anything." How HE SHOT THE LION. One of Roosevelt's most thrilling lion hunts took place while he was stopping at the Keystone Ranch in Colorado in April, 1901. Roosevelt and his guide held at bay a large lion in a crevice on the precipitous side of a rock ledge which extended from the point of the crevice sheer down sixty feet. Roosevelt shot at the lion, but it was dusk and the beast dis- appeared under the rim of a perpendicular wall of rocks. A large rock stood loosely on the rim of the ledge, and the men saw that if it were possible to hang head-first over this rock he would see the lion and might be able to shoot at it. "The question," said the guide afterwards, "which confronted us was, How is it to be done? Finally, Colonel Roosevelt stood still a minute, looked at me intently, and said: 'Goff, we must have that lion if he is there. I'll tell you what I'll do. I will take my gun and crawl over that rock ; you hold me by the feet and allow me to slide down far enough to see him. If I can see him I will get him.' This plan was carried out and he killed the lion hanging head downward while I held him by his feet." "Wfio WAS LINCOLN?" President Roosevelt was succeeded on the National Civil Service Commission by John B. Harlow of St. Louis. Mr. Harlow has in his office many mementos of Mr. Roosevelt's regime, one of the most inter- esting of which is a defense of the civil service examinations by Roose- velt, given before one of the State committees. PvOosevelt was answering the assertion that the examinations were not Mrs. Roosevelt A Corner of the Library of President Roosevelt's Home The Room in the Wilcox Residence where President Roosevelt Took the Oath of Office WILLIAM McKINLEY. 287 fair tests of a man's knowledge and intellectual attainments. To the com- mittee he said, with the directness and force which give him much of his fame, that the examinations did indicate the fund of information pos- sessed by applicants, -and he immediately cited examples of the answers made to the question, "Who was Lincoln?" in an examination conducted shortly before the time of the Senate committee's investigation. In the answers it appears that Lincoln was a revolutionary General ; he was assassinated by Thomas Jefferson and was the assassin of Aaron Burr ; he commanded a regiment in the French and Indian wars ; and was an arctic explorer in a period immediately after the Civil War. The de- fense of the examinations by Roosevelt is full of such specific examples, showing that he had an intimate acquaintance with the results of the work in his office. FITNESS FOR SPECIAL LINES OF WORK. . It was Roosevelt who first introduced the form of examinations now so generally used by the commission to discover the peculiar fitness or unfitness of applicants for special lines of work to which they are to be assigned. It came about in a series of examinations in which Texas and the Southwest were interested. It was proposed to place the mounted inspectors of the Government along the Rio Grande, in Texas, under the civil service rules. These inspectors are men of rare courage and must necessarily be skilled in handling cattle, familiar with the different kinds of cattle brands, and excellent horsemen. They have to deal with the cattle rustlers on the Mexican border. W r hen Roosevelt saw the questions which had been prepared for these men, bearing on history, rhetoric, and mathematics, he declared the pro- posed examinations would be farcical, and, calling to his aid his own familiarity with the cattle country and the plains, he drew up a set of questions for the inspectors. The only intellectual test was that which was made by requiring a man to answer the questions in his own words and handwriting. The questions were something of a shock to those who had been conducting the examinations in accordance with the old methods. One of the questions the men had to answer was this : "State the experience, if any, you have had as a marksman with a rifle or a pistol ; whether or not you have practiced shooting at a target with either weapon, or at game or other moving objects ; and also whether you have practiced shooting on horseback. State the make of the rifle and revolver you ordinarily use." Another of the questions read this way: 288 WILLIAM McKINLEY. "State fully what experience you have had in horsemanship ; whether or not you can ride unbroken horses ; if not, whether you would be able, unassisted, to rope, bridle, saddle, mount, and ride an ordinary cow pony after it had been turned loose for six months ; also whether you can ride an ordinary cow pony on the roundup, both in circle riding and in cutting- out work around the herd." Another question which Mr. Roosevelt framed was as to technical knowledge of the different brands of cattle in the cattle country, and it would be unintelligible to any but a cattle man or Roosevelt. When he submitted the question to his colleagues he declared that, to be a success- ful Government inspector and shoot lawless Mexicans and prevent the "running" of cattle over the border, it was not necessary for a man to discuss the nebular hypothesis nor to have an intimate knowledge of the name and number of inhabitants of the capital of Zanzibar. In all sincerity, he told his colleagues that he would like to make another requirement, and that was that each applicant be made to appear before those in charge of the examinations and lasso, throw, and tie a steer in twenty minutes, but as he himself did not have time to preside at such feature of the examination he had left that out. That was the begin- ning of the practical methods of examinations by the Civil Service Com- mission which have been followed up by Mr. Harlow and his colleagues on the commission until the scholastic element in the examinations has disappeared almost entirely, and they are now designed solely to establish the practical fitness that applicants have for the lines of work to which they are to be assigned. PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S FAMILY. President Roosevelt has (1901) a most interesting family. It con- sists of his wife and six children. The eldest of the Roosevelt children is Alice, aged 17, and the youngest is Quentin, aged 4. Between these are Theodore, Jr., aged 14; Kermit, aged 12; Ethel, aged 10, and Archi- bald, aged 7. Alice was the only child by Mr. Roosevelt's first wife, who died three years after her marriage. Men elected to the Presidency of the United States are generally past the meridian of life, and, as a natural consequence, their children are grown up. This has, as a rule, confined the occupants of the White House to adults, except where there have been grandchildren. There have been exceptions, however. The White House during President Lincoln's term of office was made cheerful by the presence of the President's youngest son, Tad. President WILLIAM McKINLEY. 289 Johnson's children two daughters were both married by the time he became head of the nation, but his three grandchildren, children of Mrs. Daniel Stover, lived with him throughout his occupancy of the Executive Mansion. During General Grant's term the only children in the family were those of General Fred Grant and Mrs. Sartoris, but they were only occa- sional visitors at the White House. During President Hayes' term the Executive Mansion was quiet, for his children were all grown. President Garfield had a large family, and during his occupancy of the Executive Mansion it was ever bright with the faces of happy children. President Arthur was a widower and not until President Cleveland's second term of office were children's voices again heard in the White House. "Baby" McKee, a grandson, made things lively during President Harrison's term, but the mansion was comparatively quiet during the five years Mr. and Mrs. McKinley occupied it. There were no little chil- dren in President McKinley's immediate family. The White House was not desolate during the McKinley occupancy, however, for the reason that some of the President's nieces were generally there. With the entry of the Roosevelt family the old mansion was more cheerful than at any time since the Garfields lived there. The Roosevelt children comprised as bright and interesting a sextette as were to be found in any home in America. They were all strong and rugged and, like their father, full of activity. The family life of President Roosevelt was, up to the time of his entering the White House, closed to the newspapers. The President him- self appeared to be as radically opposed as his wife to anything in the least like a parade of his domestic virtues or the juvenile charms of his children for the admiration of the world that reads and looks at pictures. During his term as Governor of New York President Roosevelt put him- self on record with an indignant and forcible protest against the indecency of a man with a camera who intruded upon the privacy of his home at Oyster Bay. This reticence might not be exactly what one would expect of a man whose life and standards of conduct are generally accepted as being of the West Western ; but President Roosevelt was only Western in affairs of broncos, lariats, and firearms; in his home he was always a Roose- velt, with the dignified and delicate domestic ethics of old Dutch New York. "I could not tell you much about the Roosevelt children, however 290 WILLIAM McKINLEY. much I might want to," said an intimate friend of the family recently, "because I see little of them, although I visit the home frequently. It's like this: Mr. Roosvelt always has something he wants to talk to you about, and he starts with it as soon as he catches you, and, while you are there he does not want to be bothered with the children. When he wants a romp with his children he does not want to be interrupted by his friends. That is the whole case in a nutshell." Evidently the new President's children were being brought up under a commendably old-fashioned regime, in accordance with the old English rule that "children should be seen and not heard." Mrs. Roosevelt on several occasions plainly expressed her disapprobation of anything which would have a tendency to make her children think themselves of any importance to the public. That they profited by this sensible view of their position was evident .to all who have come in contact with them, whether at Washington or at their country home on Long Island. These children, of whom the public would have liked to hear so much, and of whom, for reasons which the public was bound to respect, there was so little to tell, were all born in New York. There was a significance about their given names, which were not chosen for them at a venture or culled out of the pages of popular novels. Theodore explains itself the third Roosevelt of that name in direct succession, beginning with Theodore, the merchant and importer of glassware, father of the new President. Kermit one might suppose to be some ancient Dutch name, taken from the remote history of the Roosevelts ; remote its origin may be, but it is Manx, not Dutch-Celtic, nor Teutonic commemorating its bear- er's descent from an ancestor in that quaint isle, and starting him in life with one presumably unique possession. Of the rest, Archibald's first and second names both connect him with the Scottish ancestry, the Bulloch family, which settled in the Southern States and is still as well known in Dixie as it was in the days of the Confederacy, when one of its members fired the last gun on board Semmes' Alabama. The fiery Huguenot strain is duly honored in the baby, Quentin. Kermit received his name from the mother's side of the house, Mrs. Roosevelt having been born Edith Kermit Carow. Alice was named for her mother, the President's first wife, and Ethel for a relative. It was often remarked that President Roosevelt lacked much of being a typical phlegmatic Dutchman, and if one looks a little into his family history there is found reason in plenty why the Dutch phlegm should have long ago been countervailed by the successive admixtures of Celtic fire from French, British and Irish sources. WILLIAM McKINLEY. 291 CHANGE IN PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT. Theodore Roosevelt, who stepped from William McKinley's funeral train at Washington on the i6th of September, 1901, and followed the bier to the White House, was not the Roosevelt upon whom the people have been wont to feed so abundantly in the public prints. It was not the reckless cowboy of the plains ; it was not the dashing Rough Rider of the Spanish War, and it was not the mighty nimrod whose exploits with gun and knife were so well known. It was Theodore Roosevelt, President of the United States and sor- row-stricken friend of him who lay dead. Never was a man so metamorphosed, if outward indications count. Those who had seen and heard Colonel Roosevelt in those strenuous times in the not far distant past would scarcely have recognized this citi- zen in black who made his way unostentatiously up the station platform. He seemed to have changed to another man over night. The alteration was so apparent that, as he stood awaiting the word to start for the carriage, persons who saw him when last he was in Wash- ington remarked it. There was still that determination written on his brow that many have called "bulldog tenacity," but the suggestion of irresponsible aggressiveness that had ever been a Roosevelt characteristic was missing happily so, many thought. In its place was a dignity of expression that well fitted the head of eighty millions of people. There was not the slightest hint that he was not fully master of his feelings, but, for all that, it was plain to see that his grief was sincere and deep-seated. A grave picture he made as he waited on the station platform. He was surrounded by the members of the Cabinet and other notables, but to none did he vouchsafe a word. He was clad in black from head to foot high hat, turndown collar, a black tie, black cutaway coat, black trousers, and black shoes. His coat was buttoned tight across his breast. His hat he held in his hand. PRESIDENT STANDS WITH BARED HEAD. As the procession started towards the street President Roosevelt took the arm of his brother-in-law, Captain Cowles of the Navy. The latter was in full dress uniform and his magnificent display of gold con- trasted strikingly with the somber attire of his relative. Arriving at the Sixth Street entrance of the station, President Roose- velt stepped back a few steps and halted, facing towards Pennsylvania Avenue. Secretary Hay was the next in line. There the Chief Magis- 292 WILLIAM McKINLEY. trate stood like a sentry at his post, scarcely moving a muscle, while the bearers were bringing their burden to the hearse. The wait was fully five minutes, yet President Roosevelt moved not. His right arm was held close to his breast, and his hat, which he held in his right hand, was tilted at an angle. Just the moment before the bier appeared an incident occurred which gave a fleeting glimpse of old time Roosevelt. A photographer had taken his stand in a window immediately opposite the station. Of a sudden there was an explosion and a flash of flame from the window. The horses attached to the hearse and the carriages started, and the spectators, not knowing exactly what had happened, showed signs of excitement. President Roosevelt's lips curled and then his lower one dropped, showing his teeth. He glanced up at the window from which the smoke was curling, spoke to the man at his right as if annoyed, and then spoke in a low tone to Secretary Hay. He did not entirely recover his equanim- ity until the hearse appeared. As the bier passed him he bowed his head low. As soon as the cas- ket had been placed in the hearse the President moved towards his car- riage. With the President and Secretary Hay were Captain Cowles and Sec- retary of the Treasury Gage. The President and the Secretary of State sat with their backs to the driver, Mr. Roosevelt being on Mr. Hay's right. Mr. Roosevelt sat well back in the carriage, which was a closed one, and only at intervals did any one in the crowds that lined the sidewalk catch a glimpse of him. There was a fanfare of trumpets while the carriage awaited the order to start. It was the signal for the cavalry to escort the march. Mr. Roosevelt leaned forward in his seat at the front and closely scanned the lines of uniformed horses on either side of him. His eye ran over the array as if he were sizing up the quality of the horseflesh and the caliber of their riders. THE TRIP MADE IN SILENCE. For the most part the trip to the White House was made in silence by those in the President's carriage. Although Secretaries Hay and Gage were in plain view of the populace, the President sat back in his seat to avoid being recognized. Knowing his aversion to anything approaching a bodyguard, the men who had been detailed to look after his safety staid well in the rear of the carriage. Nevertheless, no man could have reached the vehicle and fired a shot at the occupants. He would have been killed before he had got within WILLIAM McKlNLEY. 293 six feet of the President. There were nine detectives who watched the carriage. They were made up of secret service men and local officers, One of them walked nearer than five feet of the rear of the vehicle. George Foster, the secret service man who was with President McKinley when he was shot, was right behind the wheel. He held his revolver in his right sleeve, the barrel resting in his hand. It required a practiced eye to see the weapon, but it was there. At least two other secret service men were equally prepared for an emergency, while Chief John E. Wilkie was in the carriage close behind the Presi- dent's. REMARKS SIGNS OF MOURNING. The first Government building the President's party passed was the Postoffice Department. Just across from it was a newspaper office, which was the most beautifully decorated structure in the city. From every one of its many windows hung the Stars and Stripes, with their border of mourning, while the front was draped in deepest black. The President looked at these decorations, which were brought into relief by the many electric lights within the building, and nodded his head in satisfaction. A moment later his eye rested on the Government building across the way. Not a sign of mourning for the dead chief of the nation was visible. The cold, gray, naked walls stood there in striking contrast to the mu- nificence of display by a private corporation. The President's brows knit, and he shook his head. He indicated the great, unsympathetic pile of stone to his companions, and they, too, shook their heads. The law, however, does not allow the draping of public buildings for an official, not even the President. Between Thirteenth and Fourteenth Streets the crowd gathered there was more solemn if anything than at any other point along the route. So quiet was it that the sobbing of women could be heard almost to the middle of the broad avenue. That was all until the White House was reached. There the Presi- dent left his carriage and went into the East Room, where President Mc- Kinley's body was deposited. He waited there long enough to see this office performed. He remained not more than ten minutes. OUTLINE OF THE NEW PRESIDENT'S POLICY. Before leaving Buffalo for Washington President Roosevelt outlined in some detail the policy he proposed to follow during his incumbency of office. The President gathered together some personal friends in 294 WILLIAM McKINLEY. Buffalo and those members of the Cabinet who were there and gave to them such ideas as he had already formulated for the conduct of public affairs and his own policy. In no sense were the new President's ideas divergent from what had been understood as Mr. McKinley's policy. This policy, as outlined to his friends at the conference, was for a more liberal and extensive reciprocity in the purchase and sale of commodities, so that the overproduction of this country could be disposed of satisfactorily by fair and equitable arrangements with foreign countries ; the abolition entirely of commercial war with other countries, and the adoption of reciprocity treaties. Other plans suggested were : The abolition of such tariffs on foreign goods as are no longer needed for revenue, if such abolition can be had without harm to home industries and labor. Direct commercial lines should be established between the eastern coast of the United States and the ports in South America and the Pacific coast ports of Mexico, Central America and South America. The encouraging of the merchant marine and the building of ships which shall carry the American flag and be owned and controlled by Americans and American capital. The building and completion as soon as possible of the Isthmian Canal, to give direct water communication with the coasts of Central America, South America, and Mexico. The construction of a cable, owned by the Government, connecting tKe mainland with foreign possessions, notably Hawaii and the Philippines. The use of conciliatory methods of arbitration in all disputes with foreign nations to avoid armed strife. The protection of the savings of the people in banks and in other forms of investments by the preservation of the commercial prosperity of the country, and the placing in positions of trust men of only the highest integrity. James Abra.m Garfield (From a photograph. Copyright by M. P. RICE) BOOK II. James Abram Garfield, The Oratar-Statesman. Born Orange, Cuyahoga County, O., November 19, 1831. On the tow-path of the canal, 1847. Enters Williams College, 1854. President of Hiram College, 1856. Married to L,ucretia Rudolph, 1858. Elected State Senator, 1859. Admitted to the bar, 1860. I/teutenaut-Colonel Forty-second Ohio Infantry, August 14, 1861. Promoted to Colonel, November 26, 1861. Commands Brigade in Big Sandy Canape ign, 1862. Made Brigadier-General, January 20, 1862. Off to aid General Grant, April 6, 1862. Chief of Staff to Rosecrans, January, 1863. Fought at Chickamauga, 1863. Takes seat in Congress, December, 1863. Elected United States Senator, 1880. Nominated for President, June 8, 1880. Elected President, November 2, 1880. Shot by Charles J. Guiteau, July 2, 1881. Died at Elberon, N. J., September 19, 1881. BOOK II, James ^/Ibram Gar field, 15 he OrcLfor-Sfctfejmctn. CHAPTER XVIII. DETAILS OF THE CRUEL ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT GARFIELD STRICKEN DOWN BY THE BULLET FIRED BY THE INSENSATE ASSASSIN GUITEAU IN THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPOT AT WASHINGTON HlS SUF- FERINGS AND DEATH. President James A. Garfield was the second of the Chief Magistrates of the United States to fall under the bullet of the assassin, his murder being the direct result of the factional war raging within the Republican party. The latter was divided into two camps, "Stalwarts" and "Half- breeds," the former representing the Grant element and the latter those who were opposed to the nomination of the leader of the armies of the Union for the third time for the Presidency. This opposition brought about the nomination and election of General Garfield, in spite of the protest of the latter. No sooner had General Gar- field been settled in the Presidential chair than he was compelled to recog- nize the fact that he would have to combat United States Senator Roscoe Conkling, the champion of Grant at the Chicago convention, or submit to the dictates of that autocrat of New York politics. The President had chosen for the chief of his Cabinet, for Secretary of State, James G. Elaine, Senator Conkling's life-long enemy, and as soon as the choice had been announced the senior Senator from New York virtually declared war. Senator Conkling desired to control all the New York appointments, the particular bone of contention being the selection of the chief officer at the port of New York. Senator Conkling averred that the President had agreed to appoint a man satisfactory to him, and it was a blow to him when William H. Rob- ertson was appointed and confirmed by the Senate. Robertson was pecu- liarly obnoxious to Conkling, being the man of all others the New York Senator did not wish to have the place. 801 302 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. Conkling attributed the selection of Robertson to the influence of Elaine, and was furious in consequence. He at once resigned from the Senate, his action being followed by his colleague, Thomas C. Platt, and appealed to the New York Assembly for re-election. Then ensued the tragedy. The entire country was interested in the controversy, and when the resignations of Conkling and Platt were handed in the excitement attendant upon them was something unpar- alleled. But no one anticipated the tragic outcome, this being something apart from and outside of all human calculations. Everything was forgotten in the struggle between the opposing powers. On the one hand was the National Administration ; on the other was the kingly, autocratic Senator from the Empire State. Conkling had been predominant during the reigns of Grant and Hayes ; why should he not be successful in the issue between himself and Garfield ? Nearly four months from the date of the accession of President Gar- field had passed. What was transpiring in the minds of the people at large was a mystery. Then came the fatal 2d of July. Nothing could have been more unexpected than the assassination of the head of the Republic. The heavens might have fallen and the people of the United States would not have been more surprised. President Garfield and Secretary of State Blaine drove from the Executive Mansion, about 9 o'clock in the morning of July 2d, to the depot of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad, where the President was to join other members of his Cabinet and proceed on a trip to New York and New England. As he was walking through the passenger rooms, arm in arm with Mr. Blaine, two pistol shots were fired in quick succession from behind, and the President sank to the floor, bleeding profusely. The assassin was instantly seized and proved to be Charles Jules Guiteau, a pettifogging lawyer of Chicago, who had been an unsuccessful applicant for office under the Government, and who had led a precarious existence in several of the large cities of the country. The wounded President was conveyed to the office of the railroad on the second floor of the depot building. Several physicians were soon in attendance, and after an hour had elapsed it was decided to remove him to the Executive Mansion, where he was made as comfortable as possible. His mind remained perfectly clear all day, notwithstanding the desperate nature of his injuries, and when his wife, who had been summoned from Long Branch, arrived at his bedside, he was able to converse with and encourage her. During the afternoon the physicians expressed little hope for the / AM ES ABRAM GARF I ELD. 303 President's recovery, but late in the evening their bulletins were more favorable. Before leaving the depot the President manifested some anxiety about the effect of the intelligence of his wound upon Mrs. Garfield, and, turning to Colonel Rockwell, dictated to him the following dispatch to be sent to Mrs. Garfield at Long Branch : "Mrs. Garfield, Elberon, N. J. "The President wishes me to say to you from him that he has been seriously hurt how seriously he cannot yet say. He is himself, and hopes you will come to him soon. He sends his love to you. "A. F. ROCKWELL." The following letter was taken from the prisoner's pocket at police headquarters, showing conclusively his intention to kill the President : July 2, 1891. "To the White House : "The President's tragic death was a sad necessity, but it will unite the Republican party and save the Republic. Life is a flimsy dream, and it matters little when one goes. A human life is of small value. During the war thousands of brave boys went down without a tear. I presume the President was a Christian and that he will be happier in Paradise than here. It will be no worse for Mrs. Garfield, dear soul, to part with her husband this way than by natural death. He is liable to go at any time, anyway. I have no ill will toward the President. His death was a politi- cal necessity. I am a lawyer, a theologian, and a politician. I am a stal- wart of the stalwarts. I was with General Grant and the rest of our men in New York during the canvass. I have some papers for the press, which I shall leave with Byron Andrews and his co- journalists at No. 1420 New York Avenue, where the reporters can see them. I am going to the jail. CHARLES GUITEAU." Mr. Andrews, to whom allusion is made in the foregoing letter, was the Washington correspondent of the Chicago Inter Ocean. Upon learn- ing of the shooting, and the allusion made to him in the prisoner's paper, Mr. Andrews repaired to police headquarters and made a sworn state- ment to the effect that he had never heard of nor met with Guiteau until he saw him under arrest. The prisoner's statement, addressed to Mr. Andrews, was retained by the police authorities. Among the papers was the following letter to General Sherman : "To General Sherman : "I have just shot the President. I shot him several times, as I 304 JAMES ABRAM GARF1ELD. wished him to go as easily as possible. His death was a political neces- sity. I am a lawyer, a theologian and politician. I am a stalwart of the stalwarts. I was with General Grant and the rest of our men in New York during the canvass. I am going to jail. Please order out your troops and take possession of the jail at once. "CHARLES GUITEAU." The following address was upon the letter: "Please address at once to General Sherman or his first assistant in charge of the War Depart- ment." The following announcement was made at 2 o'clock a. m., July 3d, by the President's physician : "The improvement in the President's con- dition, wh'ich began between 8 and 9 o'clock tonight, has steadily continued, and his respiration and temperature are now, at 2 o'clock, normal. His pulse has further fallen to 120." The President continued to improve and rest comfortably. The feel- ing at the White House had now changed from despondency to buoyant hope. Dr. Bliss stated that, while the patient's condition was yet very critical, he entertained some hope that he might pull through. The chances, however, were still against him. He relied upon the President's strong constitution to assist him materially. The President maintained the same composure and self-possession that characterized him all day. His demeanor was something remarkable. He was by far the lightest-hearted person in the White House. To Mr. Bliss, upon being informed that he had one chance of life, and only one, he laughingly replied: "We will take that one chance, Doctor, and make good use of it." Mrs. Garfield behaved admirably. She displayed a strength of character wholly unex- pected by everybody. She exercised a self-control that elicited the enco- miums of all by whom she was surrounded. After her private interview with her husband, she summoned Dr. Bliss to her private apartment, and there had a conference of half an hour with him. At the very start, she told him that she wished to hear nothing but the truth respecting her husband's condition; that she was prepared for the worst, and knowing that the inevitable must occur, she, like the President, was prepared in a Christian spirit to submit to the will of God, and bear whatever might occur with all the fortitude and resignation at her command. Dr. Bliss then detailed the President's symptoms, and entered into a full history of the case from the moment the President came under his treatment, which was within ten minutes of the shooting. Mrs. Garfield listened calmly. There was not a tear in her eye. In speaking of her conduct during the interview, Dr. Bliss enthusiastically said : JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 305 "If there ever was a true heroine, Mrs. Garfield has proved herself one of the noblest, in romance or reality." Secretary Elaine left the White House at a late hour, quite over- come after the terrible events of the day. He said if the nearest member of his family had been stricken down he could not have been more shocked. "I have known General Garfield for nineteen years. We have been as close and intimate in our social relations as any two men could have been. We drove down to the depot together. I never saw him more hilarious. Leaving all personal considerations out of the question, I believe that General Garfield's death at this juncture will be a public calamity. From what the doctors tell me, I now hope for the best." DETAILS OF THE CRIME. United States District Attorney Corkhill, of Washington, furnished the following statement for publication: "The interest felt by the public in the details of the assassination, and the many stories published, justify me in stating that the following is a correct and accurate statement concerning the points to which reference is made: "The assassin, Charles Guiteau, came to Washington City on Sun- day evening, March 6th, and stopped at the Ebbitt House, remaining only one day. He then secured a room in another part of the city, and has boarded and roomed at various places, the full details of which I have. On Wednesday, May 18, the assassin determined to murder the President. He had neither money nor pistol at the time. About the last of May he went into O'Meara's store, corner of Fifteenth and F Streets, in this city, and examined some pistols, asking for the largest caliber. He was shown two similar in caliber and only differing in the price. On Wednesday, June 8, he purchased the pistol which he used, for which he paid ten dollars, having in the meantime borrowed fifteen dollars of a gentleman in this city on the plea that he wanted * pay his board bill. On the same evening, about seven o'clock, he rook the pistol and went to the foot of Seventeenth Street and practiced firing at a board, firing ten shots. He then returned to his boarding-house and wiped the pistol dry and wrapped it in his coat and waited his opportunity. "On Sunday morning, June 12, he was sitting in Lafayette Park and saw the President leave for the Christian Church, on Vermont Avenue, and he at once returned to his room, obtained his pistol, put it in his hip pocket, and followed the President to church. He entered the church, but found that he could not kill him there without danger of killing 3 o6 JAMES A.B RAM GARFIELD. some one else. He noticed that the President sat near a window. After church he made an examination of the window and found he could reach it without any trouble, and that from this point he could shoot the Presi- dent through the head without killing any one else. "The following Wednesday he went to the church, examined the location and the window, and became satisfied he could accomplish hi& purpose, and he determined therefore to make the attempt at the church on the following Sunday. He learned from the papers that the President would leave the city on Saturday, June 18, with Mrs. Garfield, for Long Branch. He therefore determined to meet him at the depot. He left his boarding-place about five o'clock on Saturday morning, June 18, and went down to the river at the foot of Seventeenth Street and fired five shots to practice his aim and be certain his pistol was in good order. He then went to the depot, and was in the ladies' waiting room with the pistol ready when the President's party entered. He says Mrs. Garfield looked so weak and frail that he had not the heart to shoot the President in her presence, and as he knew he would have another opportunity he left the depot. He had previously engaged a carriage to take him to the jail. On Wednesday evening the President and his son, and, I think, United States Marshal Henry, went out for a ride. "The assassin took his pistol and followed them, and watched them for some time in hopes the carriage would stop ; but no opportunity was given. On Friday evening, July ist, he was sitting on the seat in the park opposite the White House, when he saw the President come out alone. He followed him down the avenue to Fifteenth -Street, and then kept on the opposite side of the street up Fifteenth Street until the Presi^ dent entered the residence of Secretary Elaine. "He watched at the corner of Mr. Morton's late residence on the corner of Fifteenth and H Streets, for some time, and then, afraid he would attract attention, he went into the alley in the rear of Mr. Morton's residence, examined his pistol and waited. The President and Secretary Elaine came out together, and he followed them over to the gate of the White House, but could get no opportunity to use his weapon. "On the morning of Saturday, July 2d, he breakfasted at the Riggs House about seven o'clock. He then walked up into the park and sat there for an hour. He then took a one-horse avenue car and rode to Sixth Street ; got out and went into the depot and loitered around there ; had his shoes blacked, engaged a hackman for two dollars to take him to the jail, went into the water closet and took his pistol out of his hip pocket and unwrapped the paper from around it, which he had put there for the JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 307 purpose of preventing the perspiration from the body dampening the powder; examined the pistol carefully, tried the trigger, and then re- turned and took a seat in the ladies' waiting-room, and as soon as the President entered advanced behind him and fired two shots." As soon as possible the wounded President was removed in an ambulance to the White House, where every attention was given him. On the way his expressions of pain and suffering were so evident that it was feared the spinal column had been injured, but investigation failed to prove the fact. That he was undergoing the most excruciating agony could not be concealed, but the surgeons in charge were ignorant as to the real state of affairs. Weeks passed, but the condition of the President did not improve^ Then it was decided to take him to the seashore, in hopes that the invig- orating breezes of the ocean might afford some solace. President Garfield was accordingly removed to Elberon, N. J., where, after undergoing unheard-of torture, he expired on the evening of the 1 9th of September, 1881. Immediately succeeding the announcement of his death Vice-President Arthur was sworn in and assumed the duties of the executive office. PRESIDENT GARFIELD'S FATALISM. Those who were most familiar with General Garfield say that for many years he cherished the belief that he could not live to be older than his father was, and that he would die in some sudden and violent manner. His friends, with all their persuasion, were not able to make him dismiss this thought. He would say, in answer to their claims that such a belief was fool- ish : "It seems to me as foolish as it does to you. I do not know why- it haunts me. Indeed, it is a thing that is wholly involuntary on my part, and when I try the hardest not to think of it it haunts me most. It comes to me sometimes in the night, when all is quiet. I think of my father and how he died in the strength of his manhood and left my mother to care for a large family of children, and how I have always been with- out his assistance and advice, and then I feel it so strong upon me that the vision is in the form of a warning that I cannot treat lightly." For many years he believed that he should some time fall between cars or be killed in some way while traveling. When he reached the age of his father at death, and passed that point safely, he seemed to forget the idea that had given him so much trouble. He was now 49, nearly five years older than his father when he died. It is said by those 308 JAMES ABRAM GAR FIELD. who knew the General best that he was ever to a greater or less degree a believer in fatalism. He was a man who invariably had the strongest impressions, and it is believed that it was an impression that prevailed with him for many years that he would be President some time. He never sought the office and never intended to do so. An intimate friend well remembered to have heard him. discuss the very matter at dinner. He said: "The American people are very much like one giant human being. The combined intellect generally acts like the intellect of a single man when it gets ready to act. When the giant wants any man whom he has chosen to work for him, he knows just how to let him know it. If a man offers his services, the giant very often rejects them. "It is like a maiden asking a man to marry her. No woman is so handsome and witty and accomplished that she can afford to do this. Ten chances in the dozen, the man will say, if not to the woman herself, at least to himself, 'I was about to ask you, but I think you are just a little too willing ; I believe I'd rather wait/ "The American people like to discover a man. Then they can claim him as their own by an old and established usage. They will discover him sooner or later, if there is anything in him worth discovering. I have more confidence in the judgment of the united intellect of the American people than in anything else in the world. Great men and orators may move and modify it and knaves and charlatans may pervert it, but, sooner or later, the true conclusions will be reached, and right and justice will triumph." CHAPTER XIX. GARFIELD, LIKE LINCOLN, WAS BORN IN THE WESTERN WILDERNESS LEFT AN ORPHAN AT AN EARLY AGE WONDERFUL SELF-RELIANCE . OF His MOTHER GOES TO SEA ON A CANAL BOAT PROMOTED TO BE PILOT AMBITIOUS AND ENERGETIC. James Abram Garfield, like Lincoln, was a man of the common people. He sprung from them. Without aid from any source he worked his way onward and upward. Perhaps it may be said he had more of the advantages that are of use in the struggle of life than Lincoln, but that is* not saying much. Like Lincoln, he was born in the wilderness of the West. While yet a blue-eyed baby his father died and left his wife to face the world alone with her four children. Baby Garfield was born in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Novem- ber 19, 1831, and as soon as he was old enough to know what work meant he went to work. His mother was an energetic woman, who did not know what failure meant. After her husband's death she proceeded to direct the small farm, which was her only means of livelihood, and although it was heavily encumbered, she did not lose heart. Putting aside the mistaken but kindly meant advice of friends, she said the house should not be broken up, the children should not be scat- tered. Advisers yielded to her will, and she had her way. She took up the mantle of head of the family, and with that brevet rank which widowhood never fails to confer upon deserving women, she made herself thoroughly respected by her sterling force of character and high resolve to dare and do for the weal of her children. Though small of stature, and 30 years of age, she had the ability and energy of a larger and older woman. The farm was to be kept up, the home continued as it had been since 1830, and "four saplings" cared for until they were ready to be transplanted. Then, and not till then, would she give up the farm. This was a resolve that boded no harvest in its fruition. For there was nothing strikingly beautiful in the country where she dwelt, there 309 3!0 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. was nothing remarkably attractive. The soil was not noticeably excellent. There were a thousand farms that surpassed it, and she had nothing to work with but energy and willingness. She rose early and retired late. Her work never sought her, she sought it. The homestead assumed a more homelike appearance each year, as new comforts were added by the thrifty woman who managed it. The young orchard which Abram Garfield, the father, had planted grew amazingly, and the trees fulfilled the promise of their planting. Cherries, apples and plums, and later currants, proved quite an addition to the frugal fare of the family, and the gathering of these was always a delight to the children. Often could young James be seen perched on the top of a tree, with a pail, picking cherries for his mother to preserve, or gathering apples for her to dry. Outdoor life to the boy, who had already toddled through infancy and was now a rousing youngster of 8, presented many an attraction that some children never seem to perceive. When 12 years of age young Garfield was well advanced in an educa- tional way; he went to school, and when he was not at his desk his mother taught him. Young Garfield's popularity with the citizens of Orange was great, and they often put themselves out to do a favor for the youth who was so firmly resolved to become a fully equipped man, and they gave him employment mornings, evenings and Saturdays. In this way he earned enough to clothe and maintain himself, and also help the family a little. The summer vacation afforded him more time to work and added largely to his earnings. He was sober and steady, a giant in labor, and never seemed to even give himself time to rest. The savings of his busy vacations, earned with a jack-plane and hammer, made a full purse to the lad whose previous supplies of money had been more than meager. From his earliest appreciable days, young Garfield had been fond of books. Before he could read he loved to listen to what others would tell him, treasuring every word his unpracticed memory could recall. When he was able to read, his appetite for it grew with every hour of his life. What he could obtain in the way of literature he devoured, not merely read, but re-read and re-read, until every word was more than a "twice-told tale." Books of adventure, tales of daring, lives of free- booters seemed to fascinate his mind the most. The air of wild freedom, the nonchalance and absence of care with which pirates lived, was a JAM US ABRAM GARFIELD. 3" great attraction to the boy's spirit, already equal in its boldness to the most daring freebooter the sea ever knew. "The Pirate's Own Book" was a treasure-house of stories in which Garfield took an extreme, ever vivified delight. No matter how many times he pored over the book; no matter how often he absorbed its wild life and seemed to breathe the very atmosphere in which his heroes lived and moved, it was ever a well-spring of pleasure to him. He shared in all the dangers of the pirates, he made the bivouac with them on the lonely beach among the shadows, he drank their coffee, he ate their biscuits' and fruit, he stole with them on stealthy foot over the difficult paths to where the gold was buried from the last great prize, a Spanish treasure galleon, he boarded the stranger ship, he carried a torch that set her on fire with the best of them, and he joined with all a boy's ardor in the lusty cheer as the prize went down. He lived their lives over again, he was every brave chief in turn, and he loved the salt waves with the most enthusiastic of them all. Young Garfield's great ambition was to be a sailor, but his sea-going was confined to the canal. He applied to Captain Amos Letcher, of the canalboat "Evening Star," and was taken in. Captain Letcher tells the following story as to how James A. Garfield, afterward President of the United States, came to be a sailor on a canal- boat: "There was nothing prepossessing about him at that time, any more than he had a free, open countenance. He had no bad habits, was truthful, and a boy that every one would trust on becoming acquainted with him. He came to me in the summer of 1847, when I was Captain of the 'Evening Star,' and half owner B. H. Fisher, now Judge Fisher of Wichita, Kansas, being my partner. "Early one morning, while discharging a cargo, Jim Garfield tapped me on the shoulder and said: 'Hello, Ame, what are you doing here?' 'You see what I'm doing. What are you doing here ?' 'Hunting work.' 'What kind of work do you want ?' 'Anything to make a living. I came here to ship on the lake, but they bluffed me off, and called me a country greenhorn.' 'You'd better try your hand on smaller waters first; you'd better get so you can drive a horse and tie a tow-line. I should like to have you work for me, but I've nothing better than a driver's berth, and suppose you would not like to work for twelve dollars a month ?' " 'I have got to do something, and, if that is the best you can do, I will take the team.' 312 JAMES ABRAM GARF1ELD. " 'All right, I will give you a better position as soon as a vacancy occurs.' I called my other driver and said, 'Ikey, go and show Jim his team.' Just as they were going to start, Jim asked, 'Is it a good team?' 'As good as is on the canal.' 'What are their names ?' 'Kit and Nance.' "Soon after we were in the 'eleven-mile lock,' and I thought I'd sound Jim on education in the rudiments of geography, arithmetic and grammar. For I was just green enough those days to imagine that I knew it all. I had been teaching school for three winters in the backwoods of Steuben County, Ind. So I asked him several questions, and he answered them all ; and then he asked me several that I could not answer. I told him he had too good a head to be a common canal hand. "As we were approaching the twenty-one locks of Akron, I sent my bowsman to make the first lock ready. Just as he got there the bows- man from a boat above made his appearance and said : 'Don't turn this lock; our boat is just round the bend, ready to enter.' My man objected and began turning the gate. "By this time both boats were near "the lock, and their headlights made it almost as bright as day. Every man from both boats was on hand ready for a field fight. I motioned my bowsman to come to me. Said I: 'Were we here first?' 'It's hard telling, but we'll have the lock anyhow/ 'All right, just as you say.' "Jim Garfield tapped me on the shoulder and asked: 'Does that lock belong to us?' 'I suppose, according to law, it does not. But we will have it anyhow/ 'No, we will not/ 'Why ?' said I. 'Why ?' with a look of indignation I shall never forget, 'why, because it don't belong to us/ Said I : 'Boys, let them have it/ "Next morning, one of the hands accused Jim of being a coward, because he would not fight for his rights. Said I : 'Boys, don't be hard on Jim. I was mad last night, but I have got over it. Jim may be a coward for aught I know, but if he is, he is the first one of the name that I ever knew that was. " 'His father was no coward. He helped dig this canal, and weighed over two hundred pounds, and could take a barrel of whisky by the chime and drink out of the bunghole and no man dared call him a coward. You'll alter your opinion about Jim before fall/ "The next trip Jim was bowsman. Before we got to Beaver we were bound for Pittsburg the boys all liked him first-rate. Before we got back to Cleveland Jim had the ague. He left my boat at the eleven- mile lock and struck across country to his home." \ President Ge^rfield's Cabinet SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD, Secretary of the Interior. WAYNE MCVEAGH, Attorney General. ROBERT T. LINCOLN, Secretary of War. JAMES G. ELAINE, Secretary of State. WILLIAM WINDOM, Secretary of the Treasury. WILLIAM M. HUNT, Secretary of the Navy. THOMAS L. JAMES, Postmaster General. The La.te President Ga.rfield's Home at Mentor, O. JAMESABRAMGARFIELD. 3U On this, his first trip, he had his first fight. He was holding his "setting pole" against his shoulder; Dave, a hand, was standing a short distance away, when the boat took a sudden lunge, the pole slipped from the young man's shoulder and flew with terrible force toward Dave. A loud call "Look out, Dave!" was not in time to warn him, and he was struck a painful blow in the ribs. Furiously enraged, he threatened to thrash the offender within an inch of his life, and with his head down, rushed like a mad bull at Garfield. The latter took in the situation at a glance, and, stepping aside, he waited Dave's approach with quiet confidence. When he was close, he dealt him a terrible blow under the ear that felled him to the deck of the boat. In an instant he was upon him with his clenched fists raised to strike. "Pound him, him !" called out Captain Letcher, " if I interfere. A man who'll git mad at an accident orto be thrashed." Jim didn't strike. He saw his antagonist was helpless and he let him up. Dave and he arose, shook hands and were ever after fast friends. This fight was, however, but preliminary to many others during his three months on the tow-path, as, the boys on the canal undertaking to bully him, it was constantly necessary to remind them that he wouldn't be bullied, which he always did most effectually by the virtue of his toughened muscles. Such was his disposition, capacity and attention to duty that in the completion of 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 ; he was accorded the proud privilege of steering the boat instead of steering the mules. By actual count during his first trip in his new position he fell over- board fourteen times. This was serious. The malaria of the canal region would in all probability have taken hold of his system in due time any- how, but these frequent baths greatly helped it. He could not swim a stroke, and aid to fish him out was not always forthcoming. One dark and rainy midnight as the "Evening Star" was leaving one of those long reaches of slack water which abounded in the Ohio and Pennsylvania Canal the boy was called out of his "berth to take his turn in tending the bow line. Bundling out of bed, his eyes only half opened, he took his place on the narrow platform below the bow deck and began uncoiling a rope to steady the boat through a lock it was approaching. Sleepily and slowly he unwound the coil till it knotted and caught in a narrow cleft in the edge of the deck. 3 i4 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. He gave it a sudden pull, but it held fast, then another and a stronger pull, and it gave way, but sent him over the bow of the "Evening Star" into the water. Down fie went into the dark night and still darker water and the "Evening Star" glided on to bury him among the fishes. No human help was near ; God only could save him, and He only by a miracle. So the boy thought as he went down saying the prayer his mother had taught him. Instinctively clutching the rope, he sank below the surface, but then it tightened in his grasp and held firmly. Seizing it, hand over hand he drew himself upon the deck and was again a live boy among the living. Another kink had caught in another crevice and proved his salva- tion. Was it the prayer or the love of his praying mother that saved him ? The boy did not know, but long after the boat had passed the lock he stood there in his dripping clothes pondering the question. Coiling the rope, he tried to throw it again into the crevice, but it had lost the knack of kinking. Many times he tried six hundred it is said and then set down and reflected: "I have thrown this rope six hundred times, I might throw it ten times as many without its catching. Ten times six hundred are six thousand, so there were six thousand chances against my life. Against such odds Providence alone could have saved it. Providence, therefore, thinks it worth saving, and if that's so I won't throw it away on a canal boat. I'll go home, get an education and become a man." Straightway he acted on the resolution, and not long after stood before his mother's log cottage in the Cuyahoga wilderness. It was late at night. The stars were out, and the moon was down, but by the firelight that came through the window he saw his mother kneeling before an open book, which lay on a chair in the corner. She was reading, but her eyes were off the page looking up to the Invisible : "Oh, turn unto me, and have mercy upon me! Give Thy strength unto Thy servant, and save the son of Thy handmaid !" Then she read what sounded like a prayer, but this is all the boy remembered, as he for the first time comprehended that his departure had crushed her. He opened the door, put his arm about her neck, and laid his head upon her bosom. What words he said we do not know, but there, by her side, he gave back to God the life which He had given. So the mother's prayer was answered. So sprang up the seed which in toil and tears she had planted. JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 315 For a short time he remained at home, comforting his mother and endeavoring to reconcile her to his hopes of a sea-faring life. This he more than accomplished, and was just about to take his second departure when the malaria took hold of him and he was seized in the vise-like grip of fever and ague. For six months his strong frame was shaken. He lay upon the bed, the "ague-cake" in his side. Tenderly, indefatigably, his mother nursed him during his days of suffering, which her care and his iron constitution at last permitted him to overcome. He was still determined, however, to return to the canal, and thence to the lake and ocean. Mrs. Garfield well knew that any opposition would be useless, so she argued that he had better attend school, for a time at least, until he was able to resume severe labor, and thus fit himself to teach during the winter months, when he could not sail. He reluctantly consented to his mother's wishes. So came about a great change a change that worked for Jim Garfield a wonderful, far-differing future than that which he had woven from his net of fancies. CHAPTER XX. YOUNG GARFIELD DETERMINED TO SECURE AN EDUCATION GIVES UP THE IDEA OF BECOMING A SAILOR SCHOOL AT CHESTER ACADEMY JOINS THE CHURCH His CREED ENTERS HIRAM COLLEGE Is GRADUATED AT WILLIAMS PRESIDENT OF HIRAM His MARRIAGE GOES TO THE OHIO STATE SENATE. When young Garfield was seventeen years of age he gave up the idea of becoming a sailor on the lakes and made up his mind to secure an educa- tion. He finally resolved to attend the High School one session, and it was this resolution made a Major General, a Senator, and a President of him, instead of a common sailor before the mast, on a Lake Erie schooner. Accordingly he joined two other young men, William Boynton (his cousin), and Orrin H. Judd, of Orange, and they reached Chester March 6th, 1849, an d rented a room in an unpainted frame house nearly west from the seminary and across the street from it. Garfield had seventeen dollars in his pocket, scraped together by his mother and his brother Thomas. They took provisions along and a cooking stove, and a poor widow prepared their meals and did their washing for an absurdly small sum. The Academy was a two-story building, and the school, with about a hundred pupils of both sexes, drawn from the farming country around Chester, was in a flourishing condition. It had a library of per- haps one hundred and fifty volumes more books than young Garfield had ever seen before. A venerable gentleman named Daniel Branch was principal of the school, and his wife was his chief assistant. Then there were Mr. and Mrs. Coffin, Mr. Bigelow and Miss Abigail Curtis. Mrs. Branch had introduced an iconoclastic grammar, which assailed all other systems as founded on a false basis, maintained that but was a verb in the imperative mood, and meant be out; that and was also a verb in the imperative mood, and meant add; and tried in other ways to upset the ac- cepted etymology. Garfield had been reared in "Kirkham" at the district school, and refused to accept the new system. The grammar classes that term were a continuous battle between him and the teacher. Here, though he did not know it at the time, he first saw his future wife. Lucretia Randolph, a quiet, studious girl in her seventeenth year, was among the 316 JAMESABRAMGARFIELD. 317 students. There was no association between the two, however, save in classes. James was awkward and bashful, and contemplated the girls at a distance as a superior order of beings. He bought, soon after arriving, the second algebra he had ever seen. He studied it as well as natural philosophy. At the close of the Spring term he made his first public speech. It was a six minutes' oration at the annual exhibition, delivered in connection with a literary society to whicfi he belonged, and he recorded in a diary that he kept at the time that he "was very much scared," and "very glad of a short curtain across the platform that hid my shaking legs from the audience." Among the books he read at this time was the autobiography of Henry C. Wright, and the determined lad was much impressed with the author's account of how he lived in Scotland on bread and milk and crackers, and how well he was all the time, and how hard he could study. Fired with the idea, he told his cousin that they had been too extravagant, and that another term they must board themselves and adopt Wright's diet. At the close of the session he returned to Orange, helped his brother build a barn for his mother, and then went at the hard work of earning money for from the time he left Chester until today he has always paid his way to continue his studies at Chester when the Fall term began. He worked at harvesting, and secured enough to guarantee his con- tinuance at the Geauga Seminary, and to pay off some of the doctor's bills incurred during his protracted illness of the winter before. On his return to the seminary the "boarding themselves" experiment was not repeated. An arrangement was entered into with Heman Woodworth, a carpenter of Chester, to live at his house and have lodging, board, washing, fuel and light for one dollar and six cents a week, and this sum he expected to earn by helping the carpenter on Saturdays and at odd hours on school days. The carpenter was building a two-story house on the East side of the road a little way South of the seminary grounds, and James' first work was to get out siding at two cents a board. The first Saturday he planed fifty-one boards and so earned one dollar and two cents, the most money he had ever got for a day's work. GARFIELD BEGINS THE STUDY OF GREEK. He began that fall the study of Greek. That term he paid his way, bought a few books, and returned home "with three dollars in his pocket. He now thought himself competent to teach a country school, but in two days' tramping through Cuyahoga County, failed to find employment. 318 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. Some schools had already engaged teachers, and where there was still a vacancy the trustees thought him too young. He returned to his mother completely discouraged, and greatly humiliated by the rebuffs he had met with. He made a resolution that he would never again ask for a position of any sort, and the resolution was kept, for every public place he afterwards occupied came to him un- sought. Young James returned to the seminary in the Spring of 1850 and resumed his studies. In March of that year, after having exercised his full freedom in reaching conclusions, he joined his uncle's church, the Church of the Disciples, or Campbellites, and was baptized in a little stream that flows into the Chagrin River. His conversion was brought about by a quiet, sweet-tempered man, who held a series of meetings in the schoolhouse near the Garfield homestead, and told in the plainest manner, and with the most straightforward earnestness, the story of the Gospel. The creed he then professed is as follows : 1. We call ourselves Christians or Disciples. 2. We believe in God the Father. 3. We believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and our only Savior. We regard the divinity of Christ as the fundamental truth in the Christian system. 4. We believe in the Holy Spirit, both as to its agency in conversion and as an indweller in the heart of the Christian. 5. We accept both the Old and New Testament Scriptures as the inspired word of God. 6. We believe in the future punishment of the wicked and the future reward of the righteous. 7. We believe that Deity is a prayer-hearing and prayer-answering God. 8. We observe the institution of the Lord's Supper on every Lord's Day. To this table it is our practice neither to invite nor debar. We say it is the Lord's Supper for all the Lord's children. 9. We plead for the union of all God's people on the Bible and the Bible alone. 10. The Bible is our only creed. 11. We maintain that all the ordinances of the Gospel should be observed as they were in the days of the Apostles. In the Summer he decided to go on with his education at a new school, established by the Disciples the year before at Hiram, Portage JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 3^9 County, a cross-roads village, twelve miles from any town or railroad. His religious feeling naturally called him to the young institution of his own denomination. In August, 1851, he arrived at Hiram, and found a plain brick building standing in the midst of a cornfield, with perhaps a dozen farm houses, near enough for boarding places for the students. It was a lonely, isolated place, on a high ridge dividing the waters flowing into Lake Erie from those running southward to the Ohio. The Rev. A. S. Hayden was the principal. During the ensuing summer (1852), he helped to build a house in the village, planing the sides and shingling the roof .himself. In the Fall he was made tutor in the department of English and ancient languages, and taught and studied at the same time. In 1854 he entered Williams College, and in the winter taught a writ- ing class at North Pownal, Vt., in the same schoolhouse where Vice-Pres- ident Chester Alan Arthur (who succeeded Garfield as President) was principal the year previous. . Is GRADUATED FROM WILLIAMS COLLEGE. Study at Williams was easy for young Garfield. He had been used to much harder work at Hiram, where he had crowded a six years' course into three, and taught at the same time. Now he had the stimulus of a large class, an advantage he had never enjoyed before. His lessons were always perfectly learned. Professor Chadbourne says he was "the boy who never flunked," and he found a good deal of time for courses of read- ing that involved as much brainwork as the college text-books. He was graduated in August, 1856, with a class honor established by President Hopkins and highly esteemed in the college that of Metaphysics read- ing an essay on "The Seen and the Unseen." It is singular how at different times in the course of his education he was thought to have a special aptitude for some single line of intel- lectual work, and how at a later period his talents seemed to lay just as strongly in some other line. At one time it was mathematics, at another the classics, at another rhetoric, and finally he excelled in metaphysics. The truth was that he had a remarkably vigorous and well-rounded brain, capable of doing effective work in any direction his will might dictate. The class of 1856 contained among its forty-two members a number of men who have since won distinction. Three became general officers in the volunteer army during the rebellion Garfield, Daviess and Thomp- son. Two, Bolter and Shattuck, were Captains, and were killed in battle ; Eldridge, who afterward lived in Chicago, was a Colonel; so was Ferris 320 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. Jacobs, of Delhi, N. Y. ; Rockwell became a Quartermaster in the regular army; Gilfillan was Treasurer of the United States. Hill was Assistant Attorney General and later a lawyer in Boston. Knox was a leading lawyer in New York. Newcombe was a professor in the New York Uni- versity, of New York. During his last term at Williams he made his first political speech, an address before a meeting gathered in one of the class-rooms to support the nomination of John C. Fremont. Although he had passed his ma- jority nearly four years before, he had never voted. The old parties did not interest him ; he believed them both corrupted with the sin of slavery ; but when a new party arose to combat the designs of the slave power it enlisted his earnest sympathies. His mind was free from all bias concerning the parties and statesmen of the past, and could equally admire Clay or Jackson, Webster or Benton. In the Fall of 1896 Garfield entered Hiram College as a teacher of ancient languages and literature. The next year he was made president of that institution, being 26 years of age, and remained in that office until he went into the army in 1861. Is ELECTED PRESIDENT OF HIRAM COLLEGE. The young president was ambitious for the success of the institu- tion under his charge. There probably never was a younger college pres- ident, but he carried his new position remarkably well, and brought to it energy, vigor and good sense, which are the mainsprings of his character. Under his supervision, the attendance on the school at Hiram soon doub- led, and he raised its standard of scholarship, strengthened its faculty, and inspired everybody connected with it with something of his own zeal and enthusiasm. At that time the leading Hiram men were called Philo- matheans, from the society to which they belonged. Henry James, an old Philomathean, mentioning recently the master-spirits of that time, thus referred to the president : "Then began to grow up in me an admiration and love for Garfield that has never abated, and the like of which I have never known. A bow of recognition, or a single word from him, was to me an inspiration." The young president taught, lectured and preached, and all the time studied as diligently as any acolyte in the temple of knowledge. His scholars all regarded him with respect, admiration and affection. His greatness as a teacher and administrator did not lie so much in his tech- nical scholarship, his drillmaster teaching, or his schoolmaster discipline. His power was in energizing young men and women. He stimulated JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 321 thought, aroused courage, stiffened the moral fibre, poured in inspiration, widened the field of mental vision, and created noble ideal of life and character. He was more than a teacher and administrator; the student found him a helper and friend. As president of an institute, it was natural that Garfield should ap- pear on the platform on every public occasion. The Church of the Dis- ciples, as before stated, like the Society of Friends, is accustomed to ac- cord large privileges of speaking to its laity; and so it came to be ex- pected that President Garfield should address his pupils on Sundays briefly even when ministers of the Gospel were to preach more at length when no one else was present to conduct the services. The remarks of the young president were always forcible, generally eloquent, and the community presently began to regard him as its foremost public speaker, to be put forward on every occasion, to be heard with attention on every subject. His pupils also helped to swell his reputation and the admira- tion for his talents. During his term as president at Hiram, he had continued the study of law, begun some time before, and he was admitted to the bar of Cuyahoga County, in 1860. He also paid some attention to Masonry, into which order he was initiated. In 1858 Garfield married sweet-faced Lucretia Rudolph, daughter of a Maryland farmer, Zebulon Rudolph, from the banks of the beautiful Shenandoah. A neat little cottage was bought, fronting the college campus, and the wedded life begun, poor in worldly goods, but wealthy in the affection of brave hearts. The match was a love-match and has turned out very happily. He attributed much of his success in life to his wise selection. His wife had grown with his growth, and was, during all his career, the ap- preciative companion of his studies, the loving mother of his children, the graceful, hospitable hostess of his friends and guests, and the wise and faithful helpmeet in the trials, vicissitudes and successes of his busy life. Garfield was elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1859, an d soon took a high rank in that body, although one of its youngest members. CHAPTER XXI. GARFIELD AS A SOLDIER CHOSEN LIEUTENANT COLONEL AND THEN COLONEL OF A REGIMENT DRIVES THE CONFEDERATES FROM EAST- ERN KENTUCKY CREATED A BRIGADIER GENERAL GOOD WORK AT SHILOH MADE CHIEF OF STAFF TO MAJOR GENERAL WILLIAM S. ROSECRANS. Garfield was an out-and-out Union man, and when it was seen that war with the South must come he assisted in raising several Ohio regi- ments and sending them to the front. On August I4th, 1861, he was made Lieutenant Colonel of the Forty-second Ohio Infantry, but when the organization was completed he was made its Colonel. Colonel Garfield at once set vigorously to work to master the art and mystery of war, and to give his men such a degree of discipline as would fit them for effective service in the field. He fashioned companies, offi- cers and non-commissioned officers out of his troops and thoroughly mas- tered the infantry tactics in his quarters. Then he organized a school for the officers of his regiment, requiring thorough recitation in the tactics, and illustrating the manoeuvres by the blocks he had prepared for his own instruction. This done, he insti- tuted regimental, company, squad, skirmish and bayonet drill, and kept his men at these exercises from six to eight hours a day, until it was universally admitted that no better drilled or disciplined regiment could be found in Ohio. The regiment was at Camp Chase, near Columbus, and on December I4th, he received orders to move to Catlettsburg, Ky., department head- quarters being at Louisville. He reported there to General Buell on the ipth, and was informed that he was to be sent against General Humphrey Marshall, who had driven the Union forces as far north as Prestonburg. Kentucky was the prize at stake. General Marshall had won laurels in the Mexican War, was a trained soldier and an able man. Should he unite with General Zollicoffer at Lexington it might mean the establishment of a Confederate State Pro- visional Government. He, it was also feared, might gather a formidable force and prevent General Buell's advance into Tennessee. 222 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 323 Colonel Garfield had his own regiment and was given two others, one half-formed, and another one hundred miles away in the mountains, con- stituting a provisional brigade of twenty-eight hundred men. With this command he was told by General Buell to drive General Marshall from Kentucky. General Buell showed his confidence in Colonel Garfield by putting him at the head of such a forlorn hope. Garfield's command was the organization known as the Eighteenth Brigade of the Army of the Ohio, and he arrived with it at Catlettsburg on the 22nd of December, and on the 24th was at Louisa, ready for the conduct of the Big Sandy campaign. Garfield's situation was a critical one. General Marshall had five thousand men and twelve pieces of artillery, but Garfield did not hesitate. He moved forward at once and found the enemy at Paintville, forcing him to retreat with the greatest precipitation. Then he followed General Marshall to Middle Creek, where he found him strongly entrenched. January loth, 1862, Garfield attacked the enemy, his men climbing the ridges upon which the Confederates had taken position, but as he had but fourteen hundred men the assault was not at first successful. Then, placing himself at the head of his column Garfield ordered a charge, in the face of which the Confederates broke and ran. The fight was a hot one as long as it lasted, but with the order to retreat, given by General Marshall himself, the day was won by the Union force. It was the sal- vation of Kentucky for the Union. It was, indeed, a wonderful battle. Edmund Kirke said of it : "In the history of the late war, there is not another like it. Measured by the forces engaged, the valor displayed and the results that followed, it throws into the shade the achievements of even that mighty host that saved the nation. Eleven hundred footsore and weary men, without cannon, charged up a rocky hill, over stumps, over stones, over fallen trees, over high intrenchments, right into the face of five thousand fresh troops with twelve pieces of artillery !" Speaking of the engagement, Garfield said, after he had gained a wider experience in war: "It was a very rash and imprudent affair on my part. If I had been an officer of more experience, I probably should not have made the attack. As it was, having gone into the army with the notion that fighting was our business, I didn't know any better." GARFIELD CONGRATULATES His SOLDIERS. On the day succeeding the battle he issued the following address to his army, which tells, in brief, the story of the campaign : 324 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. "SOLDIERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH BRIGADE: I am proud of you all! In four weeks you have marched, some eighty, and some a hundred miles, over almost impassable roads. One night in four you have slept, often in the storm, with only a wintry sky above your heads. You have marched in the face of a foe of more than double your number, led on by chiefs who have won a national renown under the old flag, entrenched in hills of his own choosing, and strengthened by all the appliances of military art. "With no experience but the consciousness of your own manhood, you have driven him from his strongholds, pursued his inglorious flight, and compelled him to meet you in battle. When forced to fight, he sought the shelter of rocks and hills. You drove him from his position, leaving scores of his bloody dead unburied. His artillery thundered against you, but you compelled him to flee by the light of his burning stores, and to leave even the banner of his rebellion behind him. I greet you as brave men. "Our common country will not forget you. She will not forget the sacred dead who fell beside you, nor those of your comrades who won scars of honor on the field. I have recalled you from the pursuit, that you may regain vigor for still greater exertions. Let no one tarnish his well-earned honor by any act unworthy an American soldier. Remem- ber your duties as American citizens, and sacredly respect the rights and property of those with whom you may come in contact. "Let it not be said that good men dread the approach of an Ameri- can army. Officers and soldiers, your duty has been nobly done. For this I thank you." General Marshall's flight spread consternation throughout Sandy Valley, and Garfield, to quiet the people, issued the following proclama- tion: "CITIZENS OF SANDY VALLEY: I have come among you to restore the honor of the Union, and to bring back the old banner which you once loved, but which, by the machinations of evil men, and by mutual misunderstanding, has been dishonored among you. To those who are in arms against the Federal Government I offer only the alter- nate of battle or unconditional surrender. "But to those who have taken no part in this war, who are in no way aiding or abetting the enemies of this Union even to those who hold sentiments averse to the Union, but will give no aid or comfort to its JAMES ABRAMGARFIELD. 325 enemies I offer the full protection of the Government, both in their persons and property. "Let those who have been seduced away from the love of their country to follow after and aid the destroyers of our peace lay down their arms, return to their homes, bear true allegiance to the Federal Government, and they shall also enjoy like protection. The Army of the Union wages no war of plunder, but comes to bring back the prosperity of peace. "Let all peace-loving citizens who have fled from their homes return and resume again the pursuits of peace and industry. If citizens have suffered any outrages by the soldiers under my command, I invite them to make known their complaints to me, and their wrongs shall be redressed and offenders punished. ';" "I expect the friends of the Union in this valley to banish from among them all private feuds, and let a liberal love of country direct their conduct toward those who have been so sadly estrayed and misguided, hoping that these days of turbulence may soon be ended and the days of the Republic soon return. J. A. GARFIELD, "Colonel Commanding Brigade." RECEIVES THE THANKS OF GENERAL BUELL. Keeping in close touch with the enemy, Colonel Garfield drove him out of the Big Sandy region and effectually rid Eastern Kentucky of the foe. When the campaign was ended General Buell issued the following congratulatory order: HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO, LOUISVILLE, KY., January 2Oth, 1862. General Orders, No. 40. The general commanding takes occasion to thank General Garfield and his troops for their successful campaign against the rebel force under General Marshall, on the Big Sandy, and their gallant conduct in battle. They have overcome formidable difficulties in the character of country, condition of the roads and the inclemency of the season; and, without artillery, have in several engagements, terminating in the battle of Mid- dle Creek, on the loth inst, driven the enemy from his intrenched posi- tion and forced him back into the mountains, with a loss of a large amount of baggage and stores, and many of his men killed or captured. These services have called into action the highest qualities of a sol- dier fortitude, perseverance and courage. By order, DON CARLOS BUELL, Major General Commanding. 326 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. The War Department, to show its appreciation, made Colonel Gar- field a Brigadier General, the commission bearing the date of the battle of Middle Creek, January 10, 1862. And the country, without under- standing very well the details of the campaign, fully appreciated the tan- gible result. The discomfiture of Humphrey Marshall was a source of special cha- grin to the rebel sympathizers in Kentucky, and of amusement and admiration throughout the loyal West. General Garfield at once took rank in the public estimation, as worthily among the most promising of the younger volunteer generals. General Garfield, whose ability as a soldier had been developed in battle, was then sent to report to General Buell, who assigned him to the command of the Twentieth Brigade, Army of the Ohio. The brigade was immediately hurried to the relief of General U. S. Grant, and arrived at Shiloh in time to form a part of the left wing of Grant's army on the second day of the fight. It was about I o'clock on the afternoon of April 7th that Garfield's brigade reached the front, and with a wild cheer his men dashed at the rebels, he leading through tHe storm of lead. The fresh onslaught, in which Garfield's brigade participated, changed the .fortunes of the day, and the rebels were soon flying from where they had fought so long and well. The Union troops were too much exhausted for pursuit, and halting in camps from which they had been driven the day before, were content with what they had done. That the War Department was also content was evident , from the complimentary order issued to General Grant. The next morning (the 8th), Garfield's brigade formed a part of Sherman's advance, and participated in a sharp encounter with the ene- my's rear guard, a few miles beyond the battle-field. The brigade formed a part of the Union advance upon Corinth, to which place Beauregard had retreated. This advance was slow, so slow that it took six weeks to march fifteen miles. It was not until the 21 st of May that the armies were fairly in line, three miles from Corinth, and everything ready for the expected battle. But all preparations for a battle were of no use, and when Halleck was ready to engage Beauregard, the latter was no longer in Corinth. He had retreated. Garfield's brigade had the empty honor of being among the earliest that entered the abandoned town. General Garfield, after being selected as one of the first members of the court-martial of General Fitz-John Porter, applied for service with JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 327 General Hunter in South Carolina. However, General William S. Rose- crans' Chief of Staff, General Garesche, having been killed at Stone River, General Garfield was named for the place and early in January joined his commander at the headquarters of the Army of the Cumberland. CHAPTER XXII. GARFIELD'S CLOSE RELATIONS TO His CHIEF, GENERAL ROSECRANS THE MOVEMENT WHICH ENDED IN THE ASSAULT AT CHICKAMAUGA BY GENERAL BRAGG GARFIELD GOES TO GENERAL THOMAS, "THE ROCK/" AND REMAINS UNTIL THE UNION TROOPS ARE MASTERS OF THE BLOODY FIELD CLOSE OF GARFIELD'S MILITARY CAREER. General Garfield entered upon his new duties with zeal, remaining with General Rosecrans until after the Chattanooga campaign and par- ticipating in the bloody battle of Chickamauga. He soon gained his General's confidence and was his trusted associate and confidential ad- viser. Had Rosecrans at all times chosen to take Garfield's advice it would no doubt have been better for him. General Rosecrans lay at Murfreesboro from January 4th to June 24th, meanwhile making demands upon the War Department for cavalry and revolving arms. As his demands were not always couched in courte- ous terms friction arose between the commander and Secretary of War Stanton. He regarded the organization of his army as vitally defective in many points, and refused to move. His generals were in accord with him, but his Chief-of-Staff was not. General Garfield urged an imme- diate forward movement, and carried the day, being in sympathy with Secretary Stanton in that regard. Had Rosecrans moved a week earlier he could have crushed Bragg, but unfortunately the rainy season inter- fered with quick action. On August 5th General Halleck telegraphed Rosecrans peremptory orders to move. Rosecrans quietly waited till the dispositions along his extended lines were completed, till stores were accumulated and the corn had ripened, so that his horses could be made to live off the country. On the 1 5th he was ready. The problem now before him was to cross the Tennessee River and gain possession of Chattanooga, the key to the entire mountain ranges, before Bragg had finished preparing to resist a crossing above. Rosecrans, handling with rare skill his various corps and divisions, had Gixrfield on the Canal Tow-Path Garf ield AddressingMultitude in WallStreet after Lincoln'sAssassination "GOD REIGNS, AND THE GOVERNMENT AT WASHINGTON STILI. LIVES.'' The Assassination of President Ga^rfield CO C u JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 333 securely planted his army south of the Tennessee ; and, cutting completely loose from his base of supplies, was already pushing southward his flank next the enemy being admirably protected by impassable mountains. After various manoeuvres, Bragg being in the meantime re-enforced, the Confederate commander made his attack upon Rosecrans at Chicka- mauga on the iQth of September. Bragg had not less than seventy-five thousand men, and Rosecrans but fifty-five thousand, and even the latter were not concentrated. But Rosecrans was not to be crushed. He gathered his army together, repelling all assault* sought to hinder con- centration, and fought like a lion. Long before General Thomas' needed re-enforcements had come, the battle was raging on his front and flank. Profoundly conscious of the danger, Rosecrans sought to render still further aid, and ordered over Van Cleve's division from the right, directing the several division com- manders and the corps general to close up the line on the left. In the heat of the battle, which by this time was broken out along the right also, one of these division commanders T. J. Wood, of Kentucky misunder- stood his orders, and though he has subsequently stated that he knew the consequences of his action must be fatal, he chose to consider himself bound by the order to break the line of battle and march to the rear of another division. Longstreet perceived the gap and hurled Hood into it. The battle on the right was lost. The whole wing crumbled; the enemy poured forward and all that was left of McCook's corps, a broken rabble, streamed back to Chattanooga. General Rosecrans himself was caught in this rout and borne along, vainly striving to stem its tide. Finally conceiving that if the wing least pressed was thus destroyed, Thomas, upon whom he knew the main efforts of the enemy were concentrated, could not hold out beyond night- fall, he hastened to Chattanooga to make dispositions for the retreat and defense which he already regarded as inevitable. Meanwhile, his chief of staff, General Garfield, was sent to Thomas to convey to him informa- tion of what had happened and of the plans for the future. GARFIELD JOINS THOMAS AT CHICKAMAUGA. As chief of staff, it was Garfield's duty to remain with General Rosecrans, and it happened that the latter established his headquarters for the day in the rear of the right wing and center, leaving to General George H. Thomas the duty of directing the fortunes of the left wing. McCook and Crittenden were commanders of the other two corps. 334 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. Shortly after the fog, which for the most of the morning enveloped the field, and made manoeuvring almost impossible, the rebels, under Long- street, who_had come from Lee's Virginia army to take part in the great contest, made a grand assault on the right and center. They were just in time to take advantage of Wood's fatal mistake, which left a gap in the Union line. The rebels penetrated far to the rear of the Federal line at this point, and turning, drove back the right of Thomas' forces and the left of the other two corps. The latter were eventually routed, driven across the ridge of hills to roads leading to Chattanooga, toward which they retreated in dreadful disorder and panic. In the tumult of defeat of the center and right, McCook, Crittenden and Rosecrans, with their staff officers, were driven beyond the ridge named, and, they, too, started for Chattanooga, not knowing whether Thomas had been annihilated or had escaped. General Garfield, obtaining permission from General Rosecrans to return and join General Thomas, reached "The Rock of Chickamauga" just after the repulse of the enemy in a formidable assault all along Thomas' line, which the rebels enveloped on both flanks. He found Thomas and his staff, General Gordon Granger, General J. B. Steedman, General Wood, and others, grouped in a hollow of the open field, a de- pression just sufficient to protect them from the direct rebel fire. Garfield at once gave Thomas a brief account of the disaster to the right and center. Thomas in return stated his own intention and his situation. The conversation, however, was not finished, it was cut short by a fresh rebel assault. It was made in great force and with great desperation, the rebels evidently foreseeing, that if repulsed, they could not get their troops in position for yet another assault before the sun went down and darkness came to the aid of the enemy. The fire lasted furiously for half an hour, when the rebels again broke and abandoned the assault. During this desperate melee Garfield quietly sat on the ground behind a dead tree, and coolly indicted a dispatch to General Rosecrans detailing the situation; and while he sat there, and during the heaviest of the firing, a white dove, after hovering around and above for several minutes, finally settled on the topmost perch of the tree above Garfield's head. Here it remained during the heat of the fight, and when the musketry ceased, it flew away to the north. The attention of Garfield and General Wood was called to the bird. Garfield said nothing, but went on writing. Wood remarked: "Good omen of peace/' Garfield finished his dispatch, sent it by an officer, and JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 335 himself remained on the field with General Thomas until the retreat was effected the same night to Chattanooga. At 7 o'clock that evening a shotted salute of six Napoleon guns fired into the woods, after the last of the retreating assailants, under the personal supervision of General Gor- don Granger and General Garfield, were the last shots fired in the battle of Chickamauga. What was left of the Union Army was master of the field. For the time the enemy evidently regarded himself as repulsed, and Garfield said that night, and has always since maintained, that there was no necessity for an immediate retreat on Rossvilla. This was Garfield's last military service of moment. CHAPTER XXIII. GENERAL GARFIELD RESIGNS FROM THE ARMY TO ACCEPT AN ELECTION TO CONGRESS GENERAL ROSECRANS' ADVICE GARFIELD COMPLI- MENTED BY THE LATTER FOR His SERVICES AT THE BATTLE OF CHICK- AMAUGA CREATED A MAJOR GENERAL OF VOLUNTEERS AN EXAM- PLE OF GARFIELD'S SENSE OF JUSTICE AND RIGHT. It was not long after the ferocious struggle at Chickamauga that General Garfield was offered the Republican nomination for Congress by the Republicans of the Western Reserve (Ashtabula district). He ad- vised with General Rosecrans regarding it, and Rosecrans thought it a good idea for him to accept, the best men being needed in Congress. Said Rosecrans : "I am glad for your sake that you have a new dis- tinction, and I certainly think you can accept with honor, and, what is more, I deem it your duty to do so. The war is not over yet, nor will it be for some time to come. There will be of necessity many questions arising in Congress which will require not alone statesmanlike treatment, but the advice of men having an acquaintance with military affairs. For this, and other reasons, I believe you will be able to do equally good service to your country in Congress or in the field." General Rosecrans, in his official report on the battle of Chicka- mauga, rendered this high praise to General Garfield: "To Brigadier General James A. Garfield, Chief-of-Staff, I am especially indebted for the clear and ready manner in which he seized the points of action and movement, and expressed in orders the ideas of the general commanding." General Wood, also, in his official report to the commanding general on the battle, said : "It affords me much pleasure to signalize the presence with my command, for a length of time during the afternoon (present during the period of hottest fighting), of another distinguished officer, Brigadier General James A. Garfield, Chief of the Staff. "After the disastrous rout on the right, General Garfield made his way back to the battle-field (showing clearly that the road was open to all JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 337 who might choose to follow it), and came to where my command was engaged. The brigade which made so determined a resistance on the crest of the narrow ridge during all the long September afternoon had been commanded by General Garfield when he belonged to my division. "The men remarked his presence with much satisfaction, and were delighted that he was a witness of the splendid fighting they were doing." Before his resignation from the army General Garfield was commis- sioned Major General of Volunteers, but upon the solicitation of Presi- dent Lincoln he resigned on the 5th of December, 1863, and entered Con- gress. He was a poor man, and the salary of a Major General was more than double that of a Congressman, but, upon reflection, he decided that the circumstances under which the people had elected him to Congress, bound him to an effort to obey their wishes. He was, furthermore, urged to enter Congress by the officers of the army, who looked to him for aid in procuring such military legislation as the country and the army required. GARFIELD OBEYS THE CALL OF DUTY. Under the belief that the path of usefulness to the country lay in the direction in which his constituents pointed, he sacrificed what seemed to be his personal interests. One story should be told of General Garfield before we pass from his military career to that of the future President in Congress. It tends more than anything else to demonstrate his keen sense of justice. One day, a fugitive slave came rushing into the camp, with a bloody head and apparently frightened almost to death. He had only passed the tent of General Sherman, when, in a moment, a regular bully of a fellow came riding up and, with a volley of oaths, began to ask after his "nigger." General Garfield was not present, and the fellow passed on to the division commander, who happened to be a sympathizer with the theory that fugitives should be returned to their masters, and that the Union soldiers should be made instruments for returning them. He accordingly wrote a mandatory order to General Garfield, in whose command the darkey was supposed to be hiding, telling him to hunt up and deliver over the property of the outraged citizen. The staff officer who brought the order stated the case fully to Gen- eral Garfield before handing him the order, well knowing the general's strong anti-slavery views. The general took the order and, after reading it carefully, deliberately wrote on it the following indorsement : 338 JAMES ABRAMGARFIELD. "I respectfully but positively decline to allow my command to search for, or deliver up, any fugitive slaves. I conceive that they are here for quite another purpose. The command is open and no obstacle will be placed in the way of the search." When the staff officer read the General's indorsement he was inclined to be frightened, and remonstrated against Garfield's determination. He said if he returned the order in that shape to the division commander he certainly would arrest and court-martial Garfield. To this the Ohio General simply replied: "The matter may as well be tested first as last. Right is right, and I do not propose to mince matters at all. My soldiers are here for far other purposes than hunting and returning fugitive slaves." That was the end of the episode, for nothing more was ever heard of it. Garfield had won the victory for the right. CHAPTER XXIV. GENERAL GARFIELD IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF CONGRESS OPPOSITION TO His RE-ELECTION GRADUALLY MELTS AWAY ELEC- TION TO THE UNITED STATES SENATE DOES NOT TAKE His SEAT THERE BECAUSE OF His NOMINATION AND ELECTION TO THE PRESI- DENCY. The Congressional District General Garfield represented in Con- gress was known as the Nineteenth Ohio, which was distinguished by the fact that it had but four representatives within the limits of half a century. No other Congressional district in the country had such a record as this. It was already famous because of the service Joshua R. Giddings, one of the most famous champions of anti-slavery. After Garfield had served his first term, and was a candidate for re- election, the rumor began to circulate that he had written the celebrated Wade-Davis manifesto against President Lincoln; if he had not he, at least, so it was said, was in full and active sympathy with it. Many of the delegates to the Congressional Convention which had the fate of General Garfield in its hands were ready to vote against him on this account, and he was called upon to make an explanation. This was repugnant to him, but he made up his mind that he would face the ordeal and face it bravely. Entering the convention hall, he walked up to the platform, planted himself firmly on it, and began a speech that he must have thought would dig his political grave. He spoke only for half an hour, and he told his hearers he had not written the Wade-Davis letter, but he had only one regret connected with it, and that was that there was a necessity for its appearance. He approved the letter, defended the motives of the authors, asserted his right to independence of thought and action, and told the delegates that if they did not want a free agent for their representative, they had better find another man, for he did not desire to serve them longer. As he warmed up to his subject he captivated the convention with his plain, hard reasoning and his glowing eloquence. When he had fin- ished speaking, he left the platform and strode out of the hall. As he 339 340 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. reached the front of the stairs, on his way out of the building, he heard a great noise, which he imagined was the signal of his unanimous rejec- tion. On the contrary, it was the applause that followed his nomination by acclamation. His very boldness had stunned the convention, expecting, as it did, something entirely different from the party leader. It was some seconds before anything was said, but finally an Ashtabula delegate got on his feet, and said: "By , the man who can face a convention like that, ought to be nominated by acclamation." It didn't take the convention long to find out that it entertained a similar admiration for his independence and pluck, and the result was as related, before his opponents in the convention had time to open their mouths. Governor Todd closed the meeting with the remark: "A district that will allow a young fellow like Garfield to tweak its nose and cuff its ears in that manner, deserves to have him saddled on it for life." Garfield was, in fact, "saddled" upon the district, but not for life only as long as it was absolutely necessary. Garfield was called to higher offices before the district became tired of him. He was chosen to the United States Senate ere the district became aware of the fact that he had outgrown its limits, and before the voters of that vicinity awoke to the situation he was nominated and elected to the Presidency of the United States. GARFIELD'S TRIUMPHANT RE-ELECTION TO CONGRESS. At the election for his second term General Garfield received a majority of twelve thousand, and the Speaker of the House made him a member of the Committee on Ways and Means. During this term he worked incessantly, and gained steadily in public estimation. He deliv- ered a most noteworthy address in the House on the Constitutional Amendment to abolish slavery, and from the Committee on Military Af- fairs, on which he had been appointed, made a report on the discharge of soldiers who enlisted to fill old regiments. He made noted speeches also on the "Freedman's Bureau" and the "Restoration of the Rebel States," on the "Public Debt and Specie Pay- ments," and on "The National Bureau of Education." On March 6th of this year ('66) he argued the L. P. Milligan conspiracy case against the Government, appealed to the Supreme Court from the courts of In- diana. General Benjamin Butler, Hon. James Speed, Hon. Henry Stan- berry appeared for the United States, and with Mr. Garfield for the JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 341 petitioners were the Hon. J. A. McDonald, Hon. J. S. Black and Hon. David Dudley Field. Mr. Garfield's argument was most elaborate and bristled with precedents and telling points. Its peroration was as follows : "It is in your power, O Judges ! to erect in this citadel of our liber- ties a monument more lasting than brass ; invisible indeed to the eye of flesh, but visible to the eye of the spirit, as the awful form and figure of justice, crowning and adorning the Republic; rising above the storms of political strife, above the din of battle, above the earthquake shock of rebellion ; seen from afar and hailed as protector by the oppressed of all nations; dispensing equal blessings, and covering with the protecting shield of law the weakest, the humblest, the meanest, and, until declared by solemn law unworthy of protection, the guiltiest of its citizens." Time after time was General Garfield re-elected, in spite of sporadic opposition to him. In 1878 his majority was nine thousand six hundred and thirteen, the opposition being reduced to nothing. Those who had, before that, been arrayed against him, were now the warmest friends he had. He had passed through numerous storms unscathed, and by many was deemed beyond the reach of defeat. When the Legislature of Ohio met to choose a United States Senator to succeed Senator Allen G. Thurman, whose term was to expire in 1 88 1, the Republicans of his State could see no man but Garfield. His name was on every lip. The entire State looked to him, and he was triumphantly elected to the Senate by a majority of both the Senate and House of the Ohio Assembly. In the caucus he was named by a rising vote a unanimous nomination a compliment never given to any man in that State before. He was not destined to take his seat in the United States Senate, for the simple reason that he was nominated and elected to the Presidency before he could have assumed his duties in the Upper House of Congress. Then came the apothesis and the tragedy. CHAPTER XXV. GENERAL GARFIELD IN His HOME LIFE AT MENTOR AND WASHINGTON His WIFE SHARED His INTELLECTUAL TASTES DESCRIPTION OF His Two HOMES A VISIT TO THE PRESIDENT-ELECT His CHILDREN LIBRARY IN THE WASHINGTON HOUSE WHERE HE SPENT MOST OF His TIME. General Garfield was peculiarly happy in his home life. He had two residences at Mentor in Ohio, and at Washington. The house at Men- tor could not be called a mansion in any sense of the word. It was merely a very pleasant, comfortable, cosy country home, but there he spent many of the happiest hours of his life. The house at Washington, which he exchanged for the White House, was furnished plainly but serviceably, and contained his large and valuable library, which was absolutely neces- sary to him for purposes of reference. The architecture of the Mentor home, as described by a visitor at the time of his election to the Presidency, is composite, the Gothic sentiment prevailing. There are two dormer windows one in front and one in the rear and a broad veranda extends across the front and part of the side toward Cleveland, affording opportunities to enjoy the breezes, out of the heat of the sun. Lattice work has been arranged for trailing vines. The dimensions are sixty feet front by fifty deep. The apartments are all roomy for a country house and the hallway is so wide that it attracts attention the moment you enter. The first floor contains a hall, with a large writing-table, a sitting-room, parlor, dining- room, kitchen, wash-room and pantry. This last on the plan bears the generous indorsement "plenty of shelves and drawers." Upstairs in the rear part of the second floor is a room that on the plan is entitled "snuggery for general." It is rather small, measuring only thirteen and a half by fourteen feet. It is filled up with book shelves, but it is not intended to usurp the place of the library, a separate building outside and to the northeast of the house. Two of the best apartments in the eastern and front part on this floor are especially fitted up for occu- pancy of the general's mother. The front room has a large old-fashioned 342 JAMES ABRAM GARP1ELD. 343 fire-place and the greatest pains have evidently been taken to make this room a Mecca of comfort. The rooms are finished in hard woods, and everything about the place, while plain and unpretentious, gives it an appearance of quiet comfort. There are very few of the timbers of the old house, over which the new has been constructed, visible at this time, and there will be none in sight when the carpets are laid down. The cost of the structure when finished was between three thousand five hundred and four thousand dollars. The barn, at the rear, furnishes accommodations for the two carriage-horses, the single carriage-horse, and the heavy working team. Of the one hundred and sixty acres comprising the farm, the yard, garden and orchard take up about twelve. Some seventy acres are under tillage, and the rest are in pasture and woodland. This same visitor, who called upon the General at his home, wrote : "I could easily appreciate, seated on his veranda, all I had heard about his fondness for the country ; being, as I saw him to be, essentially a home man, and, perhaps, he has never quite appreciated the possession of a home so much as he does now, in his days of rest, after the bustle and excitement of the past few weeks. "His habits, I am told, are regular and methodical. Rising early, he frequently mounts his horse and goes over the farm, directing the work- men and studying out what suggests itself as a needed improvement. Quite as often, instead of mounting his horse, he walks about the place and, if the fever seizes him, jerks off his coat to hold the plow in the furrow, or to rake hay. It reminds him of old times, and is, of itself, invigorating exercise. "He has a great taste for improvements, and has made something of a study of farming since his early experience as a practical yeoman. He farms, therefore, scientifically. He interests himself in the affairs of the village, and attends the Disciples' Church, where he sometimes speaks. The liberal people of Mentor on one occasion invited him to say something about the formation of a Murphy Temperance Society. "They were much pleased when, in his earnest, impressive way, he told them he was not a believer in total abstinence, while cautioning the young against the evil of immoderate drinking, and earnestly urging them to check and control their appetite." 344 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. GARFIELD'S PRIDE IN His COUNTRY HOME. Garfield was fond of showing visitors over the place, and especially fond of taking them down the lane back of the house to the top of the ridge, and explaining that the flat space below was once a portion of Lake Erie before the blue waters receded and left the sand and wave-washed pebbles on the top of the ridge. His love of literature was early manifested, received a great impulse while at Williams' College, and grew steadily while professor of languages and president of Hiram College. Even at the time of his election to the Presidency his most congenial recreation was the study of classical litera- ture, and it was related of him that during a busy session of Congress he was found behind a big barricade of books, which proved upon examina- tion to be different editions of Horace, and works relating to that poet. "I find I am overworked, and need recreation," he said. "Now, my theory is that the best way to rest the mind is not to let it lie idle, but to put it at something quite outside the ordinary line of employment. So, I am resting by learning all the Congressional Library can show about Horace, and the various editions and translations of his poems." An application of this theory to his every-day life made him a stu- dent, and ripened a scholarship rare among public men. The record of the Congressional Library showed that he used more books than any mem- ber of Congress. The number of volumes taken from the library in one year and read and examined by him, was never exceede4 by any man who ever used the library except Charles Sumner. He read everything his- tories, novels, newspapers, etc., and a wide range of miscellanous matter. Outside of the early classics, Shakespeare was his favorite poet, and Tennyson was oftener in his hand than any other song-writer of modern times. His novel reading was a peculiarly happy illustration of his char- acter, as it was, so to speak, confined to Thackeray, Scott, Dickens, Kings- ley, Jane Austen and Horace de Balzac. His books all bear his library motto : "Inter Folio Fructus," "Fruit Between Leaves." His house in Washington was at the corner of Thirteenth and I Streets, and with money borrowed from a friend, he built a substantial house. The money was repaid in time, and was probably saved in great part from what would otherwise have gone to landlords. The Washing- ton house was clear of incumbrances, and worth between ten and twelve thousand dollars. The Mentor farm was valued at about nine thousand dollars. The Washington house was square, with a wing on the east side com- JAMBS' ABRAM GARFIELD. 345 prising a dining-room and library. The parlor side windows looked out upon the pleasing prospect of the park. On entering on the south side the parlor was found on the left, comfortably but not lavishly furnished. Just over the piano was a portrait of General Garfield's mother. To the right was a cosy sitting-room furnished in tasteful modesty. In the rear of this, and occupying a portion of the wing was a some- what luxurious dining-room luxurious in color and decoration. The paper was a rich drab and brown, set off by a dado of Japanese pattern. Over the mantel there hung a relic of an idea, a half portrayed inspira- tion. The General one evening, in the company of some literary and artistic men, in the course of a discussion on Shakespeare, remarked that none of the illustrations by Falstaff satisfied his conception. An artist present begged him to describe his ideal, and from the description then given attempted the picture over the mantel. The artist dying before it was completed, the half-finished sketch was framed by the General and placed where it then hung. The finished portion embraced the figure of the rollicking knight leaning his right arm on the inn table, and balancing; in his left hand an empty glass. In the background the "drawer" was bringing in a fresh cup of "sack." The particular shrine in the Garfield home to which one willingly hastened his steps was the library, situated just over the dining-room. This was the man of energy's workshop. It was here the student and the scholar lived. The room was about twenty-five feet by fourteen feet, three of its windows opening on I Street and one on the eastern side. Occupying the centre was a double walnut office desk, 'with the addition of pigeon-holes, and boxes, and drawers on one end, while just above hung a heavy chandelier. It was very evident from the orderly disorder of the room that the owner cared far more for immediate convenience than general symmetry. Half a dozen book-cases occupied the available space around the walls, and three thousand volumes fill their shelves. No two of these cases were of the same height, width or make. It suggested to the visitor that from time to time, as the books overflowed their limits, another case was hastily procured in which to accommodate the surplus, and when that was full another was added, and so on. Undoubtedly the overflow was regular, as everywhere in the General's home one came face to face with books. Mrs. Garfield was a thoroughly domestic woman, while at the same time imbued with her husband's intellectual tastes. She bore the Presi- dent six children, the first, a daughter, dying in infancy. The others were 346 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. Harry Augustus, James R., Mary, or "Mollie," married to J. Stanley Brown, her father's secretary in the White House, Irvin McDowell, and Abram. CHAPTER XXVI. PRESIDENT GARFIELD AS A STATESMAN, PHILOSOPHER, POLITICIAN AND POLITICAL ECONOMIST AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN ALL THE DE- BATES IN THE LOWER HOUSE OF CONGRESS "GARFIELD'S BUDGET SPEECHES" His ARTICLE ON "A CENTURY IN CONGRESS." President Garfield's fame and name as a statesman are secure. He always had the best interests of his country at heart, and he only advo- cated those measures calculated to benefit the country. He entered Congress in 1863 and was a member of that body for seventeen years. During all that momentous period he was an active participant in the events transpiring there, and he left the imprint of his ability and patriotism as thoroughly upon the legislation of the country as any one man ever in public service. He certainly realized the mean- ing of the title, "a public benefactor." That term was well defined in his own words, from a speech made on December 10, 1878: "The man who wants to serve his country must put himself in the line of its leading thought, and that is the restoration of business, trade, commerce, industry, sound political economy, hard money and the pay- ment of all obligations, and the man who can add anything in the direc- tion of accomplishing any of these purposes is a public benefactor." No man with such an ideal could fail to at once take high rank. Nor did Garfield fail to do so. At the outset he was recognized as a leader, and his influence grew with his service. One of his early speeches in Congress gave him high oratorical rank. Alexander Long, of Ohio, delivered in 1864 an exceedingly ultra Peace- Democratic speech proposing that Congress should recognize the South- ern Confederacy. The speech attracted marked attention, and by com- mon consent it was left to the young member, so fresh from the battle- fields of his country, to reply. The moment Long took his seat, Garfield rose. His opening sentence thrilled his listeners. In a moment he was surrounded by a crowd of members from the remoter seats, and in the midst of great excitement and wild applause from his side he poured forth an invective rarely surpassed in that body for power and elegance: 347 348 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. "MR. CHAIRMAN : I am reminded by the occurrences of this after- noon of two characters in the War of the Revolution, as compared with two others in the war of today. "The first was Lord Fairfax, who dwelt near the Potomac, a few miles from us. When the great contest was opened between the mother country and the colonies, Lord Fairfax, after a protracted struggle with his own heart, decided that he must go with the mother country. He gathered his mantle about him and went over grandly and solemnly. "There was another man, who cast his lot with the struggling colo- nists and continued with them till the war was well-nigh ended. In an hour of darkness that just preceded the glory of morning, he hatched the treason to surrender forever all that had been gained by the enemies of his country. Benedict Arnold was that man. "Fairfax and Arnold find their parallel in the struggle of today. "When this war was begun many good men stood hesitating and doubting what they ought to do. Robert E. Lee sat in his house across the river here, doubting and delaying, and going off at last almost tear- fully to join the army of his State. He reminds one in some respects of Lord Fairfax, the stately royalist of the Revolution. "But now, when tens of thousands of brave souls have gone up to God under the shadow of the flag; when thousands more, maimed and shattered in the contest, are sadly awaiting the deliverance of death; now, when three years of terrific warfare have raged over us, when our armies have pushed the rebellion back over mountains and rivers, and crowded it into narrow limits until a wall of fire girds it; now, when the uplifted hand of a majestic people is about to hurl the bolts of its con- quering power upon the rebellion, now in the quiet of this hall, hatched in the lowest depths of a similar dark treason, there rises a Benedict Arnold and proposes to surrender all up, body and spirit, the nation and the flag, its genius and its honor, now and forever to the accursed traitors to our country. And that proposition comes God forgive and pity my beloved State it comes from a citizen of the time-honored and loyal commonwealth of Ohio. "I implore you, brethren, in this House, to believe that not many births ever gave pangs to my mother State, such as she suffered when that traitor was born ! I beg you not to believe that on the soil of that State such another growth has ever deformed the face of nature, and darkened the light of God's day !" Guiteaxi Behind the Bars The Temple of Music, BuffaJo Exposition (The building iu which the President was shot.) JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 353 The speech continued in the same strain, polished and powerful. Its delivery upon the spur of the moment, in immediate reply to an elaborate effort, which had taken him as well as the rest of the House by surprise, won him a crowning credit. BEGINS STUDY OF FINANCIAL AND POLITICAL ECONOMY. General Garfield, as soon as he had entered the Lower House of Congress, began a course of study of financial and political economy which afterward stood him in the very best stead. His financial views were always sound and based on the firm founda- tion of honest money and unsullied national honor. His record in the legislation concerning these subjects was without a flaw. No man in Congress made a more consistent and unwavering fight against the paper money delusions that flourished during the decade following the war, and in favor of specie payments and the strict fulfillment of the nation's obli- gations to its creditors. His speeches became the financial gospel of the Republican party. In the course of his fight against the repeal of the resumption act, General Garfield said: "The men of 1862 knew the dangers from sad experience in our history, and, like Ulysses, lashed themselves to the mast of public credit when they embarked upon the stormy and boisterous sea of inflated paper money, that they might not be beguiled by the siren song that would be sung to them when they were afloat on the wild waves. "But the times have changed ; new men are on deck, men who have forgotten the old pledges, and now only twelve years have passed ( for as late as 1865 this House, with but six dissenting votes, resolved again to stand by the old ways and bring the country back to sound money), only twelve years have passed, and what do we find ? "We find a group of theorists and doctrinaires who look upon the wisdom of the fathers as foolishness. We find some who advocate what they call 'absolute money,' who declare that a piece of paper stamped a 'dollar' is a dollar ; that gold and silver are a part of the barbarism of the past, which ought to be forever abandoned. We hear them declaring that resumption is a delusion and a snare. "We hear them declaring that the eras of prosperity are the eras of paper money. They point us to all times of inflation as periods of blessing to the people and prosperity to business; and they ask us no more to vex their ears with any allusion to the old standard the money of the Constitution. 354 , JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. "Let the wild swarm of financial literature that has sprung into life within the last twelve years, witness how widely and how far we hare drifted. We have lost our old moorings, and have thrown overboard our old compass; we sail by alien stars, looking not for the haven, but are afloat on a harborless sea. "Suppose you undo the work that Congress has attempted to resume specie payment what will result? You will depreciate the value of the greenback. Suppose it falls ten cents on the dollar? You will have destroyed ten per cent of the value of every deposit in the savings bank, ten per cent of every life insurance policy and fire insurance policy, and of every day's wages of every laborer in the nation. "The trouble with our greenback dollar is this: it has two distinct functions, one a purchasing power, and the other a debt-paying power. As a debt-paying power, it is equal to one hundred cents ; that is, to pay an old debt. "A greenback dollar will, by law, discharge our hundred cents of debt. But no law can give it purchasing power in the general market of the world, unless it represents a known standard of coin value. Now, what we want is, that these two qualities of our greenback dollar shall be made equal its debt-paying power and its general purchasing power. When these are equal, the problems of our currency are solved, and not till then. "Summing it all up in a word, the struggle now pending in this House is, on the one hand, to make the greenback better, and on the other, to make it worse. The resumption act is making it better every day. Repeal that act, and you make it indefinitely worse. In the name of every man who wants his own when he has earned it, I demand that we do not make the wages of the poor man to shrivel in his hands after he has earned them; but that his money shall be made better and better, until the plow-holder's money shall be as good as the bond-holder's money ; until our standard is one, and there is no longer one money for the rich and another for the poor." ALWAYS VOTED TO SUSTAIN THE CREDIT. He never wavered upon this issue. He voted to sustain the credit of the Government in all stages of the finance question. Many faltered, but he always stood firm. A mind so prone as his to look philosophically into his surroundings could not fail to have studied into the history and functions of the body of which he was such an illustrious member. In July, 1877, he contrib- JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 355 uted to the Atlantic Monthly an article entitled "A Century in Congress," in which he embodied his views ot the same: "Congress has always been and must always be the theater of con- tending opinions, tke forum where the opposing forces of political phil- osophy meet to measure their strength ; where the public good must meet the assaults of local and sectional interests, in a word, the appointed place where the nation seeks to utter its thoughts and register its will. "In the main, the balance of power so admirably adjusted and dis- tributed among the three great departments of the Government has been safely preserved. It was the purpose of our fathers to lodge absolute power nowhere; to leave each department independent within its own sphere; yet, in every case, responsible for the exercise of its discretion. But some dangerous innovations have been made. "And first, the appointing power of the President has been seriously encroached upon by Congress, or rather by the members of Congress. Curiously enough, this encroachment originated in the act of the Chief Executive himself. The fierce popular hatred of the Federal party, which resulted in the elevation of Jefferson to the Presidency, led that officer to set the first example of removing men from office on account of political opinions. For political causes alone he removed a coasiderable number of officers who had recently been appointed by President Adams, and thus set the pernicious example. "His immediate successors made only a few removals for political reasons. But Jackson made his political opponents, who were in office, feel the full weight of his executive hand. From that time forward the civil offices of the Government became the prizes for which political par- ties strove; and twenty-five years ago, the corrupting doctrine that 'to the victors belong the spoils' was shamelessly announced as an article of political faith and practice. It is hardly possible to state with adequate force the noxious influence of this doctrine. * * * "The present system invades the independence of the executive, and make him less responsible for the character of his appointments ; it impairs the efficiency of the legislator, by diverting him from his proper sphere of duty, and involving him in the intrigues of aspirants for office ; it degrades the" civil service itself, by destroying the personal independence of those who are appointed ; it repels from the service those high and manly quali- ties which are so necessary to a pure and efficient administration; and, finally, it debauches the public mind by holding up public office as the reward of mere party zeal. 356 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. "To reform this service is one of the highest and most imperative duties of statesmanship. This reform cannot be accomplished without a complete divorce between Congress and the Executive in the matter of appointments. It will be a proud day when an administrator, Senator or Representative, who is in good standing in his party, can say as Thomas Hughes said, during his recent visit to this country, that though he was on the 'most intimate terms with the members of his administration, yet it was not in his power to secure the removal of the humblest clerk in the civil service of his government.' "I have long believed that the official relations between the Executive and Congress should be more open and direct. They are now conducted by correspondence with the presiding officers of the two Houses, by con- sultation with committees, or by private interviews with individual mem- bers. This frequently leads to misunderstandings, and may lead to cor- rupt combinations. "It would be far better for both departments if the members of the Cabinet were permitted to sit in Congress and participate in the debates on measures relating to their several departments but, of course, without a vote. This would tend to secure the ablest men for the chief execu- tive offices, it would bring the policy of the administration into the fullest publicity by giving both parties ample opportunity for criticism and defense. "The most alarming feature of our situation is the fact that so many citizens of high character and solid judgment pay but little attention to the sources of political power, to the selection of those who shall make their laws. The clergy, the faculties of colleges, and many of the leading business men of the community never attend the township caucus, the city primaries or the county conventions ; but they allow the less intelli- gent and the more selfish and corrupt members of the community to make the slates and 'run the machine' of politics. "They wait until the machine has done its work, and then, in surprise and horror at the ignorance and corruption in public, sigh for the return of that mythical period called the 'better and purer days of the Republic.' It is precisely this neglect of the first steps in our political processes that has made possible the worst evils of our system. Corrupt and incompetent presidents, judges and legislators can be removed, but when the fountains of political power are corrupted, when voters themselves become venal and elections fraudulent, there is no remedy except by awakening the 357 public conscience and bringing to bear upon the subject the power of pub- lic opinion and the penalties of the law. "The practice of buying and selling votes at our popular elections has already gained a foothold, though it has not gone as far as in England. "In a word, our national safety demands that the fountains of political power shall be made pure by intelligence, and kept pure by vigilance; that the best citizen shall take heed to the selection and election of the worthiest and most intelligent among them to hold seats in the national legislature ; and that when the choice has been made, the continuance of their representatives shall depend upon his faithfulness, his ability and his willingness to work." General Garfield's first speech of any length, on January 28, 1864, in the House of Representatives, gave ample promise in the bud of the flowers of powerful oratory so soon to bloom. It was a reply to his Democratic colleague, Mr. Finck, and was in favor of the confiscation of rebel property. We quote from its brilliant passages : "The war was announced by proclamation, and it must end by proc- lamation. We can hold the insurgent States in military subjection half a century if need be, until they are purged of their poison and stand up clean before the country. "They must come back with clean hands, if they come at all. I hope to see in all those States the men who fought and suffered for the truth, tilling the fields on which they pitched their tents. I hope to see them, like old Kasper of Blenheim, on the summer evenings, with their children upon their knees, and pointing out the spot where brave men fell and marble commemorates it. ***** "I deprecate these apparently partisan remarks ; it hurts me to make them, but it hurts me more to know they are true. I conclude by return- ing once more to the resolution before me. Let no weak sentiments of misplaced sympathy deter us from inaugurating a measure which will cleanse our nation and make it the fit home of freedom and a glorious manhood. "Let us not despise the severe wisdom of our Revolutionary fathers, when they served their generation in a similar way. Let the republic drive from its soil the traitors that have conspired against its life, as God and His angels drove Satan and his host from Heaven. He was not too merciful to be just, and to hurl down in chains and everlasting darkness the 'traitor angel' who 'first broke peace in Heaven/ and rebelled against Him." 358 JAMBS ABRAM GARFIELD. FAVORS THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ENLISTMENTS. Soon after he spoke in favor of the payment of prompt and liberal bounties by the Federal Government to encourage enlistments, and rapidly earned Congressional reputation. This readiness at trenchant debating proved, in some respects, injurious to his rising fame. He spoke so readily that members were constantly asking his services in behalf of favorite measures. He thus came to be too frequent a speaker, and the House wearied a little of his polished periods, and began to think him too fond of talking. His superior knowledge, too, used to offend some of his less learned colleagues at first. They thought him bookish and pedantic, until they found how solid and useful was his store of knowledge, and how perti- nent to the business in hand were the drafts he made upon it. But this in time wore off. His genial personal ways soon made him many warm friends, and reaction set in. The men of brains in both houses, and in the departments, were. not long in discovering that here was a fresh, strong, intellectual force that was destined to make its mark upon the politics of the country. They sought his acquaintance, and before he had been long in Wash- ington he had the advantage of the best society in the National Capital. As a politician President Garfield took no rank with Presidents Lincoln and McKinley. He cared nothing for the details of party organi- zations, leaving that work to others. He never attempted to manage con- ventions, nor did he ever participate in the manipulations so necessary in perfecting the details of attack and defense. He was peculiarly a man of thought and study. He was plodding in a way, but not in the mastery of things which brought him political preferment. While in Congress he never won a nomination or election save by his services to his party in speeches during the campaigns and his work in the House. When General Garfield entered Congress he observed that no one devoted himself to an examination of the appropriations in detail, and in order to acquaint himself so as to vote intelligently upon them, he sub- mitted them to a careful analysis. This analysis he yearly delivered to the House, and it was from the start well received. It came in time to be called "Garfield's budget speech." Each year he examined the appropria- tions carefully being a member of the committee and then made his speech, which was always accepted as the exposition of the nation's con- dition. By its means and his committee work he largely reduced the JAMES ABRAMGARFIELD. 359 expenditures of the Government and thoroughly reformed the system of estimates and appropriations, providing for closer accountability on the part of those who spend the public money, and a clear knowledge on the part of those who vote it of what it is used for. Illustrating this he said on one occasion: "The necessary expenditures of the Government form the base line from which we measure the amount of our taxation required, and on which wa base our system of finance. We have frequently heard it re- marked since the session began, that we should make our expenditures' come within our revenues that we should 'cut our garment according to our cloth.' "This theory may be correct when applied to private affairs, but it is not applicable to the wants of nations. Our national expenditures should be measured by the real necessities and the proper needs of the Govern- ment. We should cut our garment so as to fit the person to be clothed. If he be a giant we must provide cloth sufficient for a fitting garment. "The Committee on Appropriations are seeking earnestly to reduce the expenditures of the Government, but they reject the doctrine that they should at all hazards reduce the expenditures to the level of the reve- nues, however small those revenues may be. They have attempted rather to ascertain what are the real and vital necessities of the Government ; to find what amount of money will suffice to meet all its honorable obligations, to carry on all its necessary and essential functions, and to keep alive those public enterprises which the country desires its Government to undertake and accomplish. "When the amount of expenses necessary to meet these objects is ascertained, that amount should be appropriated, and ways and means for procuring that amount should be provided. On some accounts, it is unfortunate that our work of appropriations is not connected directly with the work of taxation. If this were so, the necessity of taxation would be a constant check upon extravagance, and the practice of economy would promise, as its immediate result, the pleasure of reducing taxation." CHAPTER XXVII. THE POWER AND INFLUENCE EXERTED BY GENERAL GARFIELD OVER THE MINDS AND PASSIONS OF His FELLOW-CITIZENS STILLING THE PAS- SIONS OF THE GREAT THRONG IN WALL STREET THE DAY SUCCEEDING PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S ASSASSINATION. Being a natural leader of men, born to command and sway and in- fluence those around him by the magic o;f his voice, General Garfield never appeared in a more heroic light than on the day succeeding the assassina- tion of President Lincoln. General Garfield was in New York City at that time. It was a period of great peril. No one could know what the outcome was likely to be. The strongest and most frightful passions had been aroused, and the people were ripe for anything. At a word, at the bidding of some hot- headed enthusiast, they might, particularly in the great centers of popula- tion, have descended to tragic excesses. How General Garfield, in a few words, calmed the gigantic crowd gathered in Wall street is thus told by a prominent man who was on the spot at the time: "I shall never forget the first time I saw General Garfield. It was the morning after President Lincoln's assassination. The country was excited to its utmost tension, and New York City seemed ready for the scenes of the French revolution. "The intelligence of Lincoln's murder had been flashed by the wires over the whole land. The newspaper head-lines of the transaction were set up in the largest type, and the high crime was on every one's tongue. Fear took possession of men's minds as to the fate of the Government, for in a few hours the news came on that Seward's throat was cut, and that attempts had been made upon the lives of others of the Government officers. "Posters were stuck up everywhere, in great black letters, calling upon the loyal citizens of New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City and neighbor- ing places to meet around the Wall Street Exchange and give expression 360 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 361 to their sentiments. It was a dark and terrible hour. What might come next no one could tell, and men spoke with bated breath. "The wrath of the workingmen was simply uncontrollable, and revolv- ers and knives were in the hands of thousands of Lincoln's friends, ready, at the first opportunity, to take the law into their own hands, and avenge the death of their martyred President upon any and all who dared to utter a word against him. "Eleven o'clock a. m. was the hour set for the rendezvous. Fifty thousand people crowded around the Exchange building, cramming and jamming the streets, and wedged in tigKt as men could stand together. With a few to whom a special favor was extended, I went over from Brooklyn at 9 a. m., and, even then, with the utmost difficulty, found my way to the reception room for the speakers in the front of the Exchange building, and looking out on the high and massive balcony, whose front was protected by a heavy iron railing. "We sat in solemnity and silence, waiting for General Butler, who, it was announced, had started from Washington, and was either already in the city or expected every moment. Nearly a hundred generals, judges, statesmen, lawyers, editors, clergymen and others were in that room wait- ing Butler's arrival. We stepped out to the balcony to watch the fear- fully solemn and swaying mass of people. "Not a hurrah was heard, but for the most part a dead silence, or a deep, ominous muttering ran like a rising wave up the street toward Broadway, and again down toward the river on the right. At length the batons of the police were seen swinging in the air, far up on the left, part- ing the crowd and pressing it back to make way for a carriage that moved slowly and with difficult jogs, through the compact multitude. "Suddenly the silence was broken, and the cry of 'Butler !' 'Butler !' 'Butler !' rang out with tremendous and thrilling effect, and was taken up by the people. But not a hurrah ! Not once ! It was the cry of a great people, asking to know how their President died. The blood bounced in our veins, and the tears ran like streams down our faces. "How it was done I forget, but Butler was pulled through and pulled up, and entered the room, where we had just walked back to meet him. A broad crape, a yard long, hung from his left arm terrible contrast with the countless flags tEat were waving the nation's victory in the breeze. We first realized, then, the truth of the sad news that Lincoln was dead. "When Butler entered the room we shook hands. Some spoke, some could not ; all were in tears. The only word Butler had for us all, at the first break of silence, was, 'Gentlemen, he died in the fullness of his fame!' 362 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. and as he spoke it his lips quivered and the tears ran fast down his cheeks. "Then, after a few moments, came the speaking. And you can imagine the effect, as the crape fluttered in the wind, while his arm was uplifted. Dickinson, of New York State, was fairly wild. The old man leaped over the iron railing of the balcony and stood on the very edge, overhanging the crowd, gesticulating in the most vehement manner, and almost bidding the crowd 'burn up the rebel, seed, root and branch/ while a bystander held on to his coat-tails to keep him from falling over. "By this time the wave of popular indignation had swelled to its crest. Two men lay bleeding on one of the side streets, the one dead, the other next to dying; one on the pavement, the other in the gutter. They had- said a moment before that 'Lincoln ought to have been shot long ago !' They were not allowed to say it again. "Soon two long pieces of scantling stood out above the heads of the crowd, crossed at the top like the letter X, and a looped halter pendent from the junction, a dozen men following its slow motion through the masses, while 'Vengeance' was the cry. On the right, suddenly, the shout rose, The World!' 'the World!' 'the office of the World!' 'World!' 'World!' and a movement of perhaps eight thousand or ten thousand turning their faces in the direction of that building began to be executed. "It was a critical moment. What might come no one could tell, did that crowd get in front of that office. Police and military would have availed little or been too late. A telegram had just been read from Wash- ington, 'Seward is dying.' "Just then, at that juncture, a man stepped forward with a small flag in his hand, and beckoned to the crowd. 'Another telegram from Wash- ington !' And then, in the awful stillness of the crisis, taking advantage of tHe hesitation of the crowd, whose steps had been arrested for a moment, a right arm was lifted skyward, and a voice, clear and. steady ? loud and distinct, spoke out, 'Fellow-citizens! Clouds and darkness are round about Him! His pavilion is dark waters and thick clouds of the skies! Justice and judgment are the establishment of His throne! Mercy and truth shall go before His face ! Fellow-citizens ! God reigns, and the Gov- ernment at Washington still lives !' "The effect was tremendous. The crowd stood riveted to the ground with awe, gazing at the motionless orator, and thinking of God and the security of the Government in that hour. As the boiling wave subsides JAMES ABRAMGARFIELD. 363 and settles to the sea, when some strong wind beats it down, so the tumult of the people sank and became still. All took it as a divine omen. "It was a triumph of eloquence, inspired by the moment, such as falls to but one man's lot, and that but once in a century. The genius of Web- ster, Choate, Everett, Seward, never reached it. What might have hap- pened had the surging and maddened mob been let loose, none can tell. The man for the crisis was on the spot, more potent than Napoleon's guns at Paris. "I inquired what was his name. The answer came in a low whisper, 'It is General Garfield, of Ohio.' " At another meeting in the same city, he spoke upon the great event : "By this last act of madness, it seems as though the Rebellion had determined that the President of the soldiers should go with the soldiers who have laid down their lives on the battle-field. They slew the noblest and gentlest heart that ever put down a rebellion upon this earth. In taking that life they have left the iron hand of the people to fall upon them. "Love is on the front of the throne of God, but justice and judgment, with inexorable dread, follow behind; and when the law is slighted and mercy despised, when they have rejected those who would be their best friends, then comes justice with her hoodwinked eyes, and with the sword and scales. From every gaping wound of your dead chief, let the voice go up from the people to see to it that our house is swept and garnished. "I hasten to say one thing more, fellow-citizens. For mere vengeance I would do nothing. This nation is too great to look for mere revenge. But for security of the future I would do everything." SPEECH ON THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. General Garfield delivered the speech when the House took official action on the death of President Lincoln, and it was he, again, who (Feb- ruary 12, 1878), retouched with his eloquent powers the same theme on receiving F. B. Carpenter's painting of Lincoln and Emancipation, on behalf of the nation. It was eminently natural that he should have been chosen on such occasions, for every act of his life has been a testimony in defense of his country ; that country which he loves so well. Speaking on its future, he said, at Hudson College : "Our great dangers are not from without. We do not live by the consent of any other nation. We must look within to find elements of danger. The first and most obvious of these is territorial expansion, 364 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. overgrowth, and the danger that we shall break to pieces by our own weight. This has been the commonplace of historians and publicists for many centuries, and its truth has found many striking illustrations in the experience of mankind. "But we have fair ground for believing that new conditions and new forces have nearly, if not wholly, removed the ground of this danger. Distance, estrangement, isolation have been overcome by the recent amaz- ing growth in the means of intercommunication. For political and indus- trial purposes California and Massachusetts are nearer neighbors today than were Philadelphia and Boston in the days of the Revolution. It was distance, isolation, ignorance of separate parts, that broke the cohesive force of the great empires of antiquity. "Fortunately, our greatest line of extension is from east to west, and our pathway along the parallels of latitude are not too broad for safety for it lies within the zone of national development. The Gulf of Mexico is our special providence on the south. Perhaps it would be more fortunate for us if the northern shore of that gulf stretched westward to the Pacific. If our territory embraced the tropics, the sun would be our enemy. 'The stars in their courses' would fight against us. Now these celestial forces are our friends, and help to make us one. Let us. hope the Republic will be content to maintain this friendly alliance. "Our northern boundary is not yet wholly surveyed. Perhaps our neighbors across the lakes will some day take a hint from nature, and save themselves and us the dicomfort of an artificial boundary. Re- strained within our present southern limits with a population more homo- geneous than that of any other great nation, and with a wonderful power to absorb and assimilate to our own type the European races that come among us, we have but little reason to fear that we shall be broken up by divided interests and internal feuds, because of our great territorial extent. Finally, our great hope for the future our great safeguard against danger, is to be found in the general and thorough education of our people and in the virtue which accompanies such education. And all these elements depend, in a large measure, upon the intellectual and moral culture of the young men who go out from our higher institutions of learning. From the standpoint of this general culture we may trustfully encounter the perils that assail us. Secure against dangers from abroad, united at home by the strongest ties of common interest and patriotic pride, holding and unifying our vast territory by the most potent forces of civilization, relying upon the intelligent strength and responsibility of JAMES ABRAMGARFIELD. 365 each citizen, and, most of all, upon the power of truth, without undue arrogance, we may hope that in the centuries to come our Republic will continue to live and hold its high place among the nations as " 'The heir of all the ages in the foremost files of time.' " Abraham Lincoln (From an untouched negative in the possession of M. P. Rics. Copyrighted) BOOK III. Abraham Lincoln, The Great Emancipator. Born Hardin County, Ky., February 12, 1809. Family removed to Spencer County, Ind., 1816. Death of his mother, 1818. Family removed to Macon County, 111., 1830. Captain in the Black Hawk War, 1832. Fails in grocery business at New Salem, 1833. Lincoln's Love Romance, 1835. Elected to Legislature several times. Admitted to the bar, 1837. " Duel " with General James Shields, 1842. X Marriage to Mary Todd, November 4, 1842. Elected to Congress, 1846. Debates with Stephen A. Douglas, 1858. Nominated for President, 1860. Election to the Presidency, November 6, 1860. Emancipation Proclamation issued, January 1, 1863. Re-nomination and re-election, 1864. Shot by John Wilkes Booth, April 14, 1865. Died April 15, 1865. BOOK III Lincoln, The Great Emancipator. CHAPTER XXVIII. THE ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF THREE How IT Is THAT CHIEF MAGISTRATES OF THE REPUBLIC ARE EASY PREY FOR MURDERERS LINCOLN DID NOT LIKE TO BE SURROUNDED BY GUARDS LAMON'S WARNING. The first great shock sustained by the people of the United States, a shock which spread alarm and terror throughout the country because of its very unexpectedness, was the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, six- teenth President of the United States, and, in reality, the most repre- sentative man the man closest to the "common people" who had, up to 1 86 1, ever sat in the Executive chair. Until John Wilkes Booth, in his fierce and frightful frenzy, took the life of the Great Emancipator, the thought that any man would dare raise his hand against the chosen head of the Nation never entered the minds of the citizens of the Republic. Kings, Emperors, Queens and other monarchs had fallen beneath the blows dealt by murderers, but there was no justifiable reason why a man elected from and by the people of the United States to the Presidency should die as tyrants have died in the past. Lincoln was not an oppressor of the people ; on the contrary, he was a liberator. Lincoln was not a ruler who trod upon the rights of the people ; he deprived no man of his liberty ; he sought the maintenance of the Union, and was the controlling influence in crushing all attempts at disunion; he sought only the good of the country and its inhabitants and yet he was slain by a cowardly, treacherous assassin. Since the death of Lincoln two other Presidents of the United States 873 374 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. have suffered from the hatred of those who sought to do harm to the cause of liberal government by destroying the ruler of a nation of free- men. President Garfield yielded up his life after months of terrible suffer- ing, and President McKinley fell at the feet of a man he had never seen. It may with truth be said that these repeated blows fell quite as heavily upon the people of other nations as upon our own. If the heads of state of the mighty North American Republic were not safe, what, then, was the status of the sovereigns and rulers of other countries, in none of which was the voice of the people the guiding power ? President Lincoln, while he did not live in a state of apprehension he was too brave a man to entertain the slightest fear for his own per- sonal safety often expressed the opinion that he would not live out his second term in the Presidential chair. He was in the White House at a time when the country was rent in twain by fratricidal strife, when the fiercest passions of men were aroused, and he well knew that, at any time, some reckless spirit might strike him down from motives of revenge. He had seen the bloodiest civil war in all history, during which hundreds of thousands of men had given up their lives, and he was prepared for his own immolation upon the altar a vicarious sacrifice for the good of the nation he loved so well. It was different with Presidents Garfield and McKinley. One felt the murderous rage of the disappointed office-seeker ; the other the vin- dictive, revengeful wrath of the coldblooded anarchist who slew for the mere pleasure of slaying. There may have been a purpose in the assassi- nation of President Lincoln, for John Wilkes Booth warmly espoused the cause of the South; Guiteau and the deadly anarchistic Pole who shot Presidents Garfield and McKinley had no cause to espouse, and consequently their crimes were purposeless. In a country like the United States, where there is absolutely no es- pionage upon the movements of the people, it is the easiest thing in the world to kill the President, who comes in contact with the people every day of his life. Where the Emperor and King moves in imperial and royal state, the head of the Republic conducts himself like the simplest citizen. All have access to him ; he is not surrounded with a cordon of military guards ; he is merely one of the people, and he mingles with the people. Therefore, it is not a heroic act to kill a man who, unarmed and un- . mindful of danger, invites the attacks of the vicious and insensate. There is really no reason whatever why the wicked, lawless devil-minded could not kill off Presidents of the United States as fast as they were elected, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 375 unless laws were passed for the suppression, or, at least, control, of the elements which breed anarchists and other vipers of that stripe and character. President Lincoln did not take even the most ordinary precautions to ensure his personal safety. All during the years he occupied the White House he was constantly eluding the guards detailed to watch over him. It irritated him beyond measure to think that he was being protected, al- though he realized that his life was precious to his country and the cause of the Union. LAMON'S PREMONITION. Ward Lamon, Marshal of the District of Columbia, and the self- constituted bodyguard of the President, was the man who prevented the murder of Lincoln more than once. Being one of the latter's closest and most intimate friends, he had access to the White House day and night in fact, he lived there. He was at once time the President's law partner, and possessed his confidence in a greater degree than any other man in the United States. A day or two previous to the assassination Lamon went to Richmond, and before his departure implored the President not to expose himself. "Whatever you do, Mr. President," said he, "do not, by any means, go to the theater. You are more liable to attack there than any other place." "Lamon is a regular old woman," laughed the President, "and takes as much care of me as though I were a baby." However, Mr. Lincoln gave a sort of a promise that he would stay away from the theater, and Lamon departed for Richmond somewhat easy in his mind. He had hardly more than reached the fallen capital of the Confederacy when he received a telegram conveying the intelligence that President Lincoln had been shot by Booth in Ford's Theater, in Fourteenth Street. "Had I been in Washington such a thing would never have hap- pened," said the Marshal afterwards. The circumstances surrounding the shooting of President Lincoln indicated that there was carelessness somewhere. In opposition to the wishes of Marshal Lamon the President went to the theater, at the in- stance of Mrs. Lincoln, who was exceedingly anxious to witness the play, "Our American Cousin." The wife of the President, although desirous of shielding her husband from all possibility of harm, did not for a moment think Mr. Lincoln was running any risk. Guards had been posted near the Presidential box, and the ushers, also, had orders not to permit the 376 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. approach of any persons whose actions might be construed as suspicious in any way. The fact that Booth was an actor and had often played at the theater himself, and was well known to all the attaches of the house, made it easy for him to saunter to the vicinity of where the President was sitting with his wife, Major Rathbone, Miss Harris, and others. The ushers permitted Booth to pass, although they would have stopped anyone else, in all probability, and he found his way to the box without molestation or hindrance of any kind. The guards near the box, seeing the ushers had no objection to the presence of the assass-in, paid no attention to him. Having everything his own way, Booth prepared himself for the frightful deed ; he drew his revolver, and with this weapon in his right hand, he entered the box. PRESIDENT LINCOLN ASSASSINATED. President Lincoln was sitting in the front part of the^cx, his arm resting on the rail, intent upon what was transpiring on the stage, while those around him were also interested in the play, and did hot notice the entrance of the assassin. Placing his revolver at the back of the Presi- dent's head, Booth fired, the bullet entering the brain and causing instan- taneous insensibility. The President did not move, but, closing his eyes as soon as the shot was fired, appeared as if asleep. Major Rathbone was the first one of those near the President to gain his presence of mind, and, leaping forward, grasped Booth by the arm The latter, who had dropped his revolver, had drawn a dagger, and, wrenching his arm free, stabbed Rathbone in the hand. At the same time Mrs. Lincoln, who was stunned by the awful suddenness of the oc- currence, gave vent to a piercing shriek. She rushed to the President's side, but could not arouse him from his deadly lethargy. At first the audience, though startled by the shot and Mrs. Lincoln's screaming, did not understand what had happened, and thought it part of the performance ; but they were quickly undeceived by the assassin, who now rushed to the front of the box, and leaped on to the stage, ex- claiming: "Sic semper tyrannis!" (So be it always with tyrants!), fol- lowing this by brandishing the dagger, and adding : "The . South is avenged!" Then he dashed through the doors of the building, and escaped. No words can describe the scenes that ensued; for it was quickly made known that not only was the President unconscious from the mo- ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 377 ment he was struck down, but that there was no hope whatever of his recovery. To add to the thrilling excitement of the people, the audience who left the building, filled with grief and horror, had no sooner arrived in the street, than news was told them that Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, had also been assaulted. While lying helpless, owing to a serious injury he had received through being thrown from his carriage, one of the con- spirators Payne Powell had entered his room and stabbed him three times. The gladness which had just come upon the people because of the surrender of General Lee and the collapse of the Confederacy was now instantaneously turned into sorrow ; and the night of the I4th of April, 1865, was a night of bitterness and gloom in the city of Washington. The many rumors which were afloat before midnight as to a plot to destroy the whole Cabinet, a fresh outbreak of the rebellion, and many others all tended to intensify the general anxiety; and though these reports proved to be without foundation, yet the next day brought with it greater anguish still. On that morning, at twenty-two minutes past seven, the President passed away. The plan for the assassination of Mr. Lincoln had been laid with great care. Outside of the theater, where the deed was committed, a horse was in waiting for the murderer; and though on jumping from the box to the stage he had injured his leg, Booth contrived to jump into the saddle, and was soon out of sight. Away towards the South he fled, soldiers following in hot pursuit; but not until he had reached Lower Maryland, where, for a few days, he found shelter amongst friends, was he discovered. There, in a barn, Booth was found hidden, and, on refusing to surrender when called upon, the building was fired, and he was shot dead by Boston Corbett, one of the soldiers. Some of his fellow conspirators were soon afterwards arrested four being subsequently hanged ; and it was ere long made quite clear that a plot had been formed to take the lives of other members of the Cabinet as well as that of Mr. Lincoln. From a letter found in Booth's trunk, not only was this proved, but it was shown, too, that the murder had been planned to take place just before the time when General Lee was defeated, and had only failed then because Booth's accomplices refused to move further in the matter "until Richmond" the seat of the Confederate Government "could be heard from." The land was now filled with woe and lamentation ; and never, before .378 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. or since, were such scenes witnessed in it. All was gloom and mourning. Men walked in the public places and wept aloud as if they had been alone ; women sat with children on the steps of houses, wailing and sobbing. Strangers stopped to converse and cry. By common sympathy all began to dress their houses in mourning and to hang black stuff in all the public places. Before night the whole nation was shrouded in black. Lincoln's funeral pageant was one of the grandest, and at the same time the most touching display the world has ever seen. After the body had lain in state under the great dome of the Capitol, it was carried through the great cities of the North, where the people gathered by hundreds of thousands to greet it. After the sad journey through the country, the remains of the first Martyr President, the great Emancipator, were finally laid to rest in the cemetery at Springfield, Ills., where a magnificent monument has been erected to the memory of one of the greatest, kindliest, most magnani- mous men to whom the Republic has given birth. CHAPTER XXIX. THE STORY OF LINCOLN'S LIFE AS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF "THE SHORT AND SIMPLE ANNALS OF THE POOR" EARLY STRUGGLES AND DIS- APPOINTMENTS His ACHIEVEMENTS AND TRIUMPHS How HE OVER- CAME ALL OBSTACLES AND BECAME THE MOST EMINENT AMONG THE RULERS OF THE EARTH. In one single line Abraham Lincoln epitomized his entire life "The short and simple annals of the poor." These eight words constitute a history, an autobiography, in themselves. On the 20th of December, 1859, Mr. Lincoln, who was then preparing to enter the race for the Republican Presidential nomination, wrote the following letter to a friend at Bloomington, Mr. Jesse W. Fell : "I was born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams and others in Macon County, Illinois. My paternal grandfather, Abra- ham Lincoln, emigrated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Ken- tucky, about 1781 or 1782, where, a year or two later, he was killed by Indians, not in battle, but by stealth, when he was laboring to open a farm in the forest. "His ancestors, who were Quakers, went to Virginia from Beiks County, Pennsylvania. An effort to identify them with the New England family of the same name ended in nothing more than a similarity of Christian names in both families, such as Enoch, Levi, Mordecai, Solo- mon, Abraham, and the like. "My father, at the death of his father, was but six years of age, and he grew up literally without education. He removed from Kentucky to what is now Spencer County, Indiana, in my eighth year. We reached our new home about the time the State came into the Union (1816). It was a wild region, with many bears and other wild animals still in the woods. "There I grew up. There were some schools, so-called, but no quali- 379 380 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. fication was ever required of a teacher beyond 'readin', writin', and ci- pherin' ' to the Rule of Three. If a straggler, supposed to understand Latin, happened to sojourn in the neighborhood, he was looked upon as a wizard. There was absolutely nothing to excite ambition for educa- tion. "Of course, when I came of age, I did not know much. Still, some- how, I could read, write, and cipher to the Rule of Three, but that was all. I have not been to school since. The little advance I now have upon this store of education I have picked up from time to time under the pressure of necessity. "I was raised to farm-work, which I continued until I was twenty- two. At twenty-one I came to Illinois and passed the first year in Macon County. Then I got to New Salem, at that time in Sangamon, now in Menard County, where I remained a year as a sort of clerk in a store. "Then came the Black Hawk War, and I was elected a captain of volunteers a success which gave me more pleasure than any I have had since. I v/ent through the campaign, was elated, ran for the Legislature in the same year (1832), and was beaten the only time I have ever been beaten by the people. "The next, and three succeeding biennial elections, I was elected to the Legislature. I was not a candidate afterwards. During this legis- lative period, I had studied law and removed to Springfield to practice it. In 1846 I was once elected to the lower House of Congress, but was not a candidate for re-election. From 1849 to 1854, both inclusive, practiced law more assiduously than ever before. "Always a Whig in politics, and generally on the Whig electoral ticket making active canvasses. I was losing interest in politics when the repeal of the Missouri Compromise aroused me again. What I have done since then is pretty well known. "If any personal description of me is thought desirable, it may be said I am, in height, six feet four inches, nearly ; lean in flesh, weighing, on an average, one hundred and eighty pounds ; dark complexion, with coarse black hair, and graj eyes. No other marks or brands recollected. "Yours truly, "A. LINCOLN." Soon after his nomination for the Presidency in 1860, Mr. Lincoln wrote out a somewhat more elaborate sketch of his life for the use of his friends in preparing a campaign biography for the canvass of that year, but it contained little or nothing in reference to his early life not given above. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 381 LINCOLN'S ANCESTRY. It has been claimed by some that Abraharr Lincoln came of a fine line of ancestors, but Lincoln himself never paid much attention to these assertions. As Napoleon said of his brave Marshal of the Empire, Le- febvre, "He is his own ancestor." The first of this family of Lincolns came to this country from En- gland about 1637, settling first at Salem and afterwards at Hingham, Mass., was the American progenitor. To the same source has been traced the ancestry of General Benjamin Lincoln, of Revolutionary fame, who received the sword of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781 ; two early Governors of Massachusetts (both named Levi Lincoln); Governor Enoch Lincoln of Maine, besides others of national reputation. Mordecai Lincoln, the son of Samuel, lived and died in Scituate, near Hingham, Mass. ; Mordecai II., his son, emigrated first to New Jersey and then to what afterwards became Berks County, Pennsylvania, as early as 1720 to 1725. John, his son, removed to Rockingham County, Virginia, in 1758 ; his son Abraham, the father of Thomas (who was the father of the Martyr President, settled in Kentucky about 1781 or 1782, where he was killed by Indians in 1784, leaving Thomas, the father of the future Presi- dent, a child of the age of six years. Abraham Lincoln, the son of Thomas Lincoln and Nancy Hanks, was born the I2th of February, 1809, in the men Hardin County, Ken- tucky. Abraham's parents were married near Beachland, in Washing- ton County, the same State, on June I2th, 1806, Miss Hanks being the niece of Joseph Hanks of Elizabethtown. Aftei; the birth of a daughter he removed to a farm about fourteen miles from Elizabethtown, where Abraham was born, "at a point within the new County of La Rue, a mile or a mile and a half from where Hodgens* mill now is." This is according to the memorandum furnished by President Lin- coln to an artist who was painting his portrait. LINCOLN'S EARLY YOUTH. When Abraham was in his eighth year his* father removed with his family to what is now Spencer County, Indiana. Here there is reason to believe their mode of life was even more comfortless than it was in Kentucky, as the country was newer and they settled in an unbroken forest. Lincoln himself says, in the paper prepared as the basis for a campaign biography in 1860, that "this removal was partly on account of slavery, but chiefly on account of the difficulty in land-titles in Kentucky." For a time, the family lived in a sort of camp or cabin built of logs 382 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. on three sides and open at one end, which served as both door and win* dows. A story told by Lincoln himself about his life here gives his first, if not his only, experience as a hunter. "A few days before the comple- tion of his eighth year, in the absence of his father, a flock of wild turkeys approached the new log-cabin, and Abraham, with a rifle gun, standing inside, shot through a crack and killed one of them. He has never since pulled a trigger on any larger game." Another story connected with his life in Indiana is that told by Aus- tin Gollaher, a school- and play-mate of Abraham's though somewhat older who claims to have rescued the future President from drowning in consequence of his falling into a stream which they were crossing on a log, while hunting partridges near Gollaher's home. The same claim of having saved Lincoln's life has been set up by Dennis Hanks, presum- ably referring to the same event. In his own sketches, Mr. Lincoln makes no reference to this incident, though there is believed to have been some basis of truth in the story, as told so graphically and circumstantially by Gollaher. Here Abraham again went to school for a short time, but, according to his own statement, "the aggregate of all his schooling did not amount to one year." According to the statement of his friend Gollaher, he "was an unusually bright boy at school, and made splendid progress in his studies. Indeed, he learned faster than any one of his schoolmates. Though so young, he studied very hard. He would get spice-wood brushes, hack them up on a log, and burn them two or three together, for the purpose of giving light by which he might pursue his studies." An ax was early put into his hands, and he soon became an important factor in clearing away the forest about the Lincoln home. Two years after the arrival in Indiana, Abraham's mother died, and a little over a year later his father married Mrs. Sarah Johnston, whom he had known in Kentucky. Her advent brought many improvements into the Lincoln home, as she possessed some property and was a woman of strong char- acter. Between her and her step-son sprang up a warm friendship which lasted through life. His devotion to her illustrated one of the strong points in Mr. Lincoln's character. In 1826, at the age of seventeen years, Lincoln spent several months as a ferryman at the mouth of Anderson Creek, where it enters the Ohio. According to a story told by him to Secretary of State Seward, after he became President, it was here he earned his first dollar by taking two travelers, with their baggage, to a passing steamer in the Ohio. It was here, too, probably, that he acquired that taste for river life which led, at ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 383 the age of nineteen, to his taking his first trip to New Orleans as a hired hand on board a flatboat loaded with produce, belonging to a Mr. Gentry, a business man of Gentryville, Ind., for which he received eight dollars per month and his passage home again. An almost tragic incident connected with this trip, told by Mr. Lin- coln himself, was an attack made upon the boat and its crew by seven negroes for the purpose of robbery, and possibly murder, one night while the boat was tied to the shore along "the coast" on the lower Mississippi. The intended robbers were beaten off, but not until some of the crew had been wounded in the assault. Te negroes were themselves pretty badly used up. In March, 1830, Abraham removed with his father's family to Illi- nois. This removal was brought about largely through the influence of John Hanks, who had married one of Abraham's step-sisters, and had preceded the family to Illinois by two years. The first location was made on the banks of the Sangamon River, near the present village of Harris- town, in the western part of Macon County. Here he set to work assisting his father to build their first home and open a farm, splitting some of the rails which aroused so much enthusiasm when exhibited after his nomination for the Presidency in 1860. A year later, in conjunction with John Hanks and one or two others, he built a flatboat, on the Sangamon River near Springfield, for Daniel Offutt, on which he went to New Orleans with a load of produce. During a stay of one month in the "Crescent City," he had his first opportunity of seeing the horrible side of the institution of slavery, and there is reason to believe that he then became imbued with those senti- ments which bore such vast results for the country and a race a genera- tion later. According to the testimony of his friend Herndon, "he saw 'negroes in chains whipped and scourged/ " LINCOLN'S FIRST SIGHT OF SLAVERY. One morning, in their rambles over the city, they passed a slave auction. A vigorous and comely mulatto girl was being sold. She un- derwent a thorough examination at the hands of the bidders; they pinched her flesh and made her trot up and down the room like a horse to show how she moved, as the auctioneer said, that "bidders might sat- isfy themselves" whether the article they were offering to buy was sound or not. The whole thing was so revolting that Lincoln moved away from the scene with a deep feeling of unconquerable hate. Bidding his companions follow him, he said : "If ever I get a chance to hit that tiling 384 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. (meaning slavery), I'll hit it hard." Judge Herndon, Lincoln's law part- ner and biographer, said this incident was not only furnished to him by John Hanks, but that he heard Mr. Lincoln refer to it himself. After his return from New Orleans, he entered the service of Offutt as clerk in a store at New Salem, then in Sangamon County, but now in the County of Menard, a few miles from Petersburg. While thus em- ployed, he began in earnest the work of trying to educate himself, using a borrowed "Kirkham's Grammar" and other books, under the guidance of Mentor Graham, the village school-teacher. Later, with Graham's assistance, he studied surveying in order to fit himself for the position of a deputy to the County Surveyor. How well he applied himself to the study of the English language is evidenced by the clearness and accuracy with which he was accustomed to express himself, in after years, on great national and international questions as he had no opportunity of study in the schools after coming to Illinois. The year after locating at New Salem (1832) came the Black Hawk War, when he enlisted and was elected Captain of his company a result of which, previous to his election to the Presidency, he said, he had not since had any success in life which gave him so much satisfaction. His company having been disbanded, he again enlisted as a private under Captain Elijah lies. He remained in the service three months, but par- ticipated in no battle. This, he often said, was no fault of his. After returning from the Black Hawk War, Lincoln made his first entry into business for himself as the partner of one Berry in the pur- chase of a stock of goods, to which they added two others by buying out local dealers on credit. To this, for a time, he added the office of Post- master. In less than a year, they sold out their store on credit to other parties, who failed and absconded, leaving a burden of debt on Lincoln's shoulders which was not lifted until his retirement from Congress in 1849. LINCOLN ENTERS THE FIELD OF POLITICS. The year 1832 saw Lincoln's entrance. into politics as a candidate for Representative in the General Assembly of Illinois from Sangamon County, in opposition to Colonel E. D. Taylor, who afterwards became Receiver of Public Moneys at Chicago by appointment of President Jack- son. Taylor was elected, Lincoln then sustaining the only defeat of his life as a candidate for office directly at the hands of the people. Lincoln was then in his twenty-fourth year, uncouth in dress and un- polished in manners, but with a basis of sound sense and sterling hon- esty which commanded the respect and confidence of all who knew him. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 3% He also had a fund of humor and drollery, which, in spite of a melan- choly temperament, found expression in sallies of wit and the relation of amusing stories, and led him to enter with spirit into any sort of amuse- ment or practical jokes, so customary at that time ; yet those who knew him best say that he "never drank intoxicating liquors," nor "even, in those days, did he smoke or chew tobacco." After his disastrous experience as a merchant at New Salem, and a period of service as Deputy County Surveyor, in 1834 he again became a candidate for the Legislature and was elected. During the succeeding session at Vandalia, he was thrown much into the company of his col- league, Major John T. Stuart, whose acquaintance he had made during the Black Hawk War, and through whose advice, and the offer of books, he was induced to enter upon the study of law. Again, in 1836, he was re-elected to the Legislature. His growing popularity was indicated by the fact that, at this election, he received the highest vote cast for any candidate on the legislative ticket from Sangamon County. In the Legislature chosen at this time, Sangamon County was rep- resented by the famous "Long Nine" two being members of the Senate and seven of the House of whom Lincoln was the tallest. This Legisla- ture was the one which passed the act removing the State capital from Vandalia to Springfield, and set on foot the ill-fated "internal improve- ment scheme," in both of which Lincoln bore a prominent part. It was also conspicuous for the large number of its members who afterwards became distinguished in State or National history. On his return from the Legislature of 1836-37, he entered upon the practice of law, for which he had been preparing, as the necessity of mak- ing a livelihood would permit, for the past two years, entering into part- nership with his preceptor and legislative colleague, John T. Stuart. The story of his removal, as told by his friend, Joshua F. Speed : "He had ridden into town on a borrowed horse, and engaged from the only cabinet-maker in the village a single bedstead. He came into my store, set his saddle-bags on the counter, and inquired what the fur- niture for a single bedstead would cost. I took slate and pencil, made a calculation, and found the sum for furniture, complete, would amount to seventeen dollars in all. Said he: 'It is probably cheap enough; but I want to say that, cheap as it is, I have not the money to pay. But if you will credit me until Christmas, and my experiment as a lawyer here is a success, I will pay you then. If I fail in that, I will probably never pay you at all.' The tone of his voice was so melancholy that I felt for him. I looked at him, and I thought then, as I think now, that I never saw so 3 86 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. gloomy and melancholy a face in my life. I said to him, 'So small a debt seems to affect you so deeply, I think I can suggest a plan by which you will be able to attain your end without any debt. I have a very large room, and a very large double bed in it, which you are perfectly welcome to share with me if you choose.' 'Where is your room ?' he asked. 'Up- stairs,' said I, pointing to the stairs leading from the store to my room. Without saying a word he took his saddle-bags on his arm, went upstairs, set them down on the floor, came down again, and, with a face beaming with pleasure and smiles, exclaimed, 'Well, Speed, I'm moved.' " The friendship between Lincoln and Speed, which began in, and was cemented by, this generous act of the latter, was of the most devoted character, and was continued through life. During the Civil War he was intrusted by President Lincoln with many delicate and important du- ties in the interest of the Government. His brother, James Speed, was appointed by Mr. Lincoln Attorney General in 1864, but resigned after the accession of President Johnson. After 1840 Lincoln declined a re-election to the Legislature. His prominence as a political leader was indicated by the appearance of his name on the Whig electoral ticket of that year, again in 1844 and in 1852, and on the Republican ticket for the State at large in 1856. Ex- cept while in the Legislature, he gave his attention to the practice of his profession, first as the partner of Major Stuart, then of Judge Stephen T. Logan, and finally of William H. Herndon, the latter partnership con- tinuing until his election to the Presidency. In an address before the Young Men's Lyceum at Springfield, in January, 1837, on "The Perpetuation of our Political Institutions," Lin- coln gave out what may be construed as one of his earliest public utter- ances on the subject of slavery. His theme was suggested by numerous lynchings and mob outrages in a number of the Southern States, and by the burning of a negro in St. Louis charged with the commission of a murder. The argument, as a whole, was a warning against the danger of mob law to the principles of civil liberty enunciated in the Declaration of Independence, and a cautious plea for the right of free speech. In it he said: "There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law. In any case that may arise, as, for instance, the promulgation of abolitionism, one of two positions is necessarily true that the thing is right within itself, and therefore deserves protection of all law and all good citizens ; or it is wrong, and, therefore, proper to be prohibited by legal enact- Lincoln, svs President. Signing McKinley's Brevet as Ma^or President Lincoln a.nd His Son "Tad" ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 387 ments ; and in neither case is the interposition of mob law either neces- sary, justifiable, or excusable." LINCOLN'S MARRIAGE. On November 4th, 1842, Lincoln was married to Miss Mary Todd. In 1846 he was elected as Representative in Congress for the Springfield District. He made several speeches during his term, the most notewor- thy being one in which he took ground in opposition to the position of the administration in reference to the Mexican War on that subject agreeing with the famous Tom Corwin. His attitude on the slavery question is indicated by his statement that he voted in favor of the Wilmot Proviso forty-two times, and sup- ported a bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, with the consent of the voters of the District and with compensation to the owners. This was his uniform position with reference to slavery up to the time when the slaveholders forfeited their right to be protected by en- gaging in rebellion, and when its abolition became a "war measure." During the five years following his retirement from Congress in 1849, Lincoln gave his time to the practice of his profession more indus- triously than ever before. The passage, in May, 1854, of the so-called Kansas-Nebraska bill, repealing the Missouri Compromise and opening the way for the admission of slavery into territory which had been "dedi- cated to freedom," again called him into the political arena, and marked a new era in his career, and he almost immediately became one of the leaders of the opposition to that measure. During October, 1854, the State Fair being in progress, Senator Douglas came to Springfield to defend his action. In Lincoln and Lyman Trumbull he found his ablest antagonists. Two weeks later, Lincoln made, at Peoria, probably the most exhaustive argument that had, so far, been delivered on this ques- tion. At the November election he and Judge Stephen T. Logan were elected to the Legislature, but Lincoln, recognizing that his name was to come before the Legislature at the coming session, as a candidate for the United States Senate, as a successor to General Shields, declined to accept his certificate of election, thereby leaving a vacancy to be filled by a special election. By means of a "still hunt," a Democrat was chosen to fill the vacancy. When the Legislature met on Jan. ist, 1855, the Anti- Nebraska Whigs and Anti-Nebraska Democrats still had a small ma- jority. T.he Senatorial election came on February 8th. , Lincoln became the caucus nominee of the Whigs, Shields of the 388 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. straight-out Democrats, while Lyman Trumbull received the support of the Anti-Nebraska Democrats. On the first ballot Lincoln received his full vote of forty-five mem- bers. Trumbull received five, which, combined with the Lincoln vote, would have been sufficient to elect all other candidates receiving forty- nine votes. By Lincoln's advice, his friends went to Trumbull, and he was elected. On May 2Qth 1856, Lincoln made before the Bloomington Conven- tion one of the ablest and most inspiring speeches of his life; the Re- publican party, so far as Illinois was concerned, was brought into ex- istence ; the program proposed by him at Decatur, for the nomination of Bissell for Governor, was carried into effect by acclamation, and its wis- dom demonstrated by the election of the entire State ticket in November following. In the first National Convention of the Republican party, held at Philadelphia on June 17, he was a leading candidate for the nomination for the Vice-Presidency on the Fremont ticket, receiving no votes, and coming next to William L. Dayton, who was nominated. CHAPTER XXX. LINCOLN'S GREAT "HousE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF" SPEECH, WHICH FIRST BROUGHT HIM INTO NATIONAL PROMINENCE JOINT DEBATE WITH DOUGLAS ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY OF THE UNITED STATES. Lincoln gave little time to politics until 1858, devoting his attention chiefly to his profession. The Republican State Convention met June 1 6, continuing its session two days. On the I7th a resolution was unani- mously adopted declaring Abraham Lincoln its "first and only choice for United States Senator, to fill the vacancy about to be created by the expiration of Mr. Douglas' term of office." In the evening Lincoln de- livered an address in response to this resolution. This is called his "Di- vided House" speech, and its effect was startling. While it provoked the bitter criticism of his opponents who, without justification, de- nounced it as a plea for disunion it was regarded by many of his friends as ill-advised. Yet its far-reaching sagacity and foresight, which now seem to have been prompted by a species of inspired prophecy, were demonstrated by the events of less than five years later, in which he was a principal factor. LINCOLN'S "HousE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF" SPEECH. The following is the text of this remarkable oration : "Gentlemen of the Convention: If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was ini- tiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. 'A house di- vided against itself cannot stand.' I believe this Government cannot en- dure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved I do not expect the house to fall but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction ; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall be- 389 39 o ABRAHAM LINCOLN. come alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new North as well as South. "Have we no tendency to the latter condition? "Let any one who doubts, carefully contemplate that now almost complete legal combination piece of machinery, so to speak com- pounded of the Nebraska doctrine and the Dred Scott decision. Let him consider not only what work the machinery is adapted to, and how well adapted ; but also let him study the history of its construction, and trace, if he can, or rather fail, if he can, to trace the evidence of design and concert of action among its chief architects, from the beginning. "The year of 1844 found slavery excluded from more than half the States by State Constitutions, and from most of the national territory by Congressional prohibition. Four days later commenced the struggle which ended in repealing that Congressional prohibition. This opened all the national territory to slavery, and was the first point gained. "But, so far, Congress had acted ; and an indorsement by the people, real or apparent, was indispensable, to save the point already gained, and give chance for more. "This necessity had not been overlooked, but had been provided for, as well as might be, in the notable argument of 'squatter sovereignty,' otherwise called 'sacred right of self-government,' which latter phrase, though expressive of the only rightful basis of any government, was so perverted in this attempted use of it as to amount to just this : "That, if any one man choose to enslave another, no third man shall be allowed to object. That argument was incorporated into the Ne- braska bill itself, in the language which follows: " 'It being the true intent and meaning of this act not to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it therefrom ; but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and regulate their do- mestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States/ "Then opened the roar of loose declamation in favor of 'squatter sovereignty/ and 'sacred right of self-government/ 'But/ said opposi- tion members, 'let us amend the bill so as to expressly declare that the people of the territory may exclude slavery/ 'Not we/ said the friends of the measure ; and down they voted the amendment. "While the Nebraska bill was passing through Congress, a law case involving the question of a negro's freedom, by reason of his owner having voluntarily taken him first into a free State and then into a Terri- tory covered by the Congressional prohibition, and held him as a slave ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 391 for a long time in each, was passing through the United States District Court for the district of Missouri; and both Nebraska bill and lawsuit were brought to a decision in the same month of May, 1854. The negro's name was 'Dred Scott,' which name now designates the decision finally made in the case. "Before the then next Presidential election, the case came to, and was argued in, the Supreme Court of the United States, but the decision of it was deferred until after the election. "Still, before the election, Mr. Trumbull, on the floor of the Senate, requested the leading advocate of the Nebraska bill to state his opinion whether the people of a Territory can constitutionally exclude slavery from their limits; and the latter answers: 'That is a question for the Supreme Court.' "The election came. Mr. Buchanan was elected, and the endorse- ment, such as it was, secured. That was the second point gained. The endorsement, however, fell short of a clear popular majority by nearly four hundred thousand votes, and so, perhaps, was not overwhelmingly reliable and satisfactory. The outgoing President, in the last annual message, as impressively as possible echoed back upon the people the weight and authority of the endorsement. The Supreme Court met again ; did not announce their decision, but ordered a re-argument. The next Presidential inauguration came, and still no decision of the court ; but the incoming President in his inaugural address fervently exhorted the people to abide by the forthcoming decision, whatever it might be. Then, in a few days, came the decision. "The reputed author of the Nebraska bill finds an early occasion to make a speech at this capital indorsing the Dred Scott decision, and vehemently denouncing all opposition to it. The new President, too, seizes the early occasion of the Sillman letter to indorse and strongly commend that decision, and to express his astonishment that any differ- ent view had ever been entertained. "At length a squabble sprang up between the President and the author of the Nebraska bill, on the mere question of fact whether the Lecompton Constitution was or was not, in any just sense, made by the people of Kansas; and in that quarrel the latter declares that all he wants is a fair vote for the people, and that he cares not whether slavery be voted down or up. I do not understand his declaration that he cares t not whether slavery be voted down or up to be intended by him other than an apt definition of the policy he would impress upon the public mind the principle for which he declares he has suffered so much, and 392 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. is ready to suffer to the end. And well may he cling to that principle. If he has any parental feelings, well may he cling to it. That principle is the only shred left of his original Nebraska doctrine. "Under the Dred Scott decision squatter sovereignty squatted out of existence, tumbled down like temporary scaffolding like the mould at the foundry, served through one blast and fell back into loose sand helped to carry an election and then was kicked to the winds. His late joint struggle with the Republicans, against the Lecompton Constitution, involves nothing of the original Nebraska doctrine. That struggle was made on a point the right of the people to make their own constitution upon which he and the Republicans have never differed. "The several points of the Dred Scott decision, in connection with Senator Douglas' care-not policy, constitute the piece of machinery, in its present state of advancement. This was the third point gained. "The working points of that machinery are : "First. That no negro slave, imported as such from Africa, and no descendant of such slave, can ever be a citizen of any State, in the sense of that term as used in the Constitution of the United States. This point is made in order to deprive the negro, in every possible event, of the benefit of that provision of the United States Constitution which declares that 'the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.' "Secondly. That, 'subject to the Constitution of the United States/ neither Congress nor a Territorial Legislature can exclude slavery from any United States territory. This point is made in order that individual men may fill up the Territories with slaves, without danger of losing them as property, and thus to enhance the chances of permanency to the institutions through all the future. "Thirdly. That, whether the holding of the negro in actual slavery in a free State make him free, as against the holder, the United States courts will not decide, but will leave to be decided by the courts of any slave State the negro may be forced into by the master. "This point is made, not to be pressed immediately, but, if acquiesced in for a while, and apparently indorsed by the people at an election, then, to sustain "the logical conclusion that w r hat Dred Scott's master might lawfully do with Dred Scott, in the free State of Illinois, every other master may lawfully do with any other one, or one thousand slaves, in any other free State. "Auxiliary to all this, and working hand in hand with it, the Nebraska doctrine, or what is left of it, is to educate and mold public opinion, at ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 393 least Northern public opinion, not to care whether slavery is voted down or up. This shows exactly where we now are; and partially, also, whither we are tending. "It will throw additional light on the latter, to go back and run the mind over the string of historical facts already stated. Several things will now appear less dark and mysterious than they did when they were transpiring. The people were to be left 'perfectly free,' subject only to the Constitution. "What the Constitution had to do with it outsiders could not then see. Plainly enough, now, it was an exactly fitted niche, for the Dred Scott decision to afterward come in, and declare the perfect freedom of the people to be just no freedom at all. Why was the amendment, ex- pressly declaring the right of the people, voted down? Plain enough now ; the adoption of it would have spoiled the niche for the Dred Scott decision. Why was the court decision held up ? Why even a Senator's individual opinion withheld, till after the Presidential election? Plainly enough now; the speaking out then would have damaged the perfectly free argument upon which the election was to be carried. Why the out- going President's felicitation on the indorsement? Why the delay of a re-argument? Why the incoming President's advance exhortation in favor of the decision? These things look like the cautious patting and petting of a spirited horse preparatory to mounting him, when it is dreaded that he may give the rider a fall. And why the hasty after-in- dorsement of the decision by the President and others? "We cannot absolutely know that all these exact adaptations are the result of preconcert. But when we see a lot of framed timbers, dif- ferent portions of which we know have been gotten out at different times by different workmenStephen, Franklin, Roger, and James, for in- stance and when we see these timbers joined together, and see they exactly make the frame of a house or mill, all the tenons and mortises exactly adapted, and all the lengths and proportions of the different pieces exactly adapted to their respective places, and not a piece too many or too few not omitting even scaffolding or, if a single piece be lacking, we see the place in the frame, exactly fitted and prepared yet to bring such a piece in in such a case, we find it impossible not to believe that Stephen and Franklin and Roger and James all understood one another from the beginning, and all worked upon a common plan or draft drawn before the first blow was struck. It should not be overlooked that, by the Nebraska bill, the people of a State as well as a Territory were to be left 'perfectly free, subject only 394 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. to the Constitution.' Why mention a State ? They were legislating for Territories, and not for or about States. "Certainly, the people of a State are, or ought to be, subject to the Constitution of the United States ; but why is mention of this lugged into this merely territorial law? But why are the people of a Territory and the people of a State therein lumped together, and their relation to the Constitution therein treated as being precisely the same? While the opinions of the court, by Chief Justice Taney, in the Dred Scott case, and the separate opinions of all the concurring judges, expressly declare that the Constitution of the United States neither permits Congress nor a Territorial Legislature to exclude slavery from any United States Ter- ritory, they all omit to declare whether or not the same Constitution permits a State, or the people of a State, to exclude it. "Possibly, that is a mere omission; but who can be quite sure, if McLean or Curtis had sought to get into the opinion a declaration of unlimited power in the people of a State to exclude slavery from their limits, just as Chase and Mace sought to get such a declaration, in behalf of the people of a Territory, into the Nebraska bill I ask, who can be quite sure that it would not have been voted down in the one case as it has been in the other? "The nearest approach to the point of declaring the power of a State over slavery is made by Judge Nelson. He approaches it more than once, using the precise idea and almost the language, too, of the Nebraska act. On one occasion, his exact language is, 'Except in cases where the power is restrained by the Constitution of the United States, the law of the State is supreme over the subject of slavery within its jurisdiction/ "In what cases the power of the States is so restrained by the United States Constitution is left an open question, precisely as the same ques- tion as to the restraint on the power of the Territories was left open in the Nebraska act. Put this and that together, and we have another nice little niche, which we may, ere long, see filled with another Supreme Court decision, declaring that the Constitution of the United States does not permit a State to exclude slavery from its limits. And this may especially be expected if the doctrine of 'care not whether slavery be voted down or up' shall gain upon the public mind sufficiently to give promise that such a decision can be maintained when made. "Such a decision is all that slavery now lacks of being alike lawful in all the States. Welcome or unwelcome, such a decision is probably coming, and will soon be upon us, unless the power of the present po- ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 395 litical dynasty shall be met and overthrown. We shall lie down pleas- antly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the very verge of mak- ing their State free, and we shall wake to the reality instead, that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave State. To meet and overthrow the power of that dynasty is the work now before all those who would prevent that consummation. That is what we have to do. How can we best do it? "There are those who denounce us openly to their friends, and yet whisper us softly that Senator Douglas is the aptest instrument there is with which to effect that object. They wish us to infer all from the fact that he now has a little quarrel with the present head of the dynasty ; and that he has regularly voted with us on a single point, upon which he and we have never differed. They remind us that he is a great man, and that the largest of us are very small ones. Let this be granted. But 'a living dog is better than a dead lion ;' for this work it is, at least, a caged and toothless one. How can he oppose the advances of slavery? He don't care anything about it. His avowed mission is impressing the 'public heart' to care nothing about it. "A leading Douglas Democratic newspaper, treating upon this sub- ject, thinks Douglas's superior talent will be needed to resist the revival of the African slave trade. Does Douglas believe an effort to revive that trade is approaching? He has not said so. Does he really think so? But, if it is, how can he resist it ? For years he has labored to prove it a sacred right of white men to take negro slaves into the new Territories. Can he possibly show that it is less a sacred right to buy them where they can be bought the cheapest? And unquestionably they can be bought cheaper in Africa than Virginia. He has done all in his power to reduce the whole question of slavery to one of a mere right of property ; and, as such, how can he oppose the foreign slave trade how can he re- fuse that trade in that 'property' shall be 'perfectly free' unless he does it as a protection to the home production ? And as the home producers will probably not ask the protection, he will be wholly without a ground of opposition. "Senator Douglas holds, we know, that a man may rightfully be wiser to-day than he was yesterday that he may rightfully change when he finds hmiself wrong. But. can we, for that reason, run ahead, and infer that he will make any particular change of which he himself has given no intimation? Can we safely base our actions upon any such vague reference? Now, as ever, I wish not to misrepresent Judge Douglas's position, question his motives, or do aught that can be per- 396 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. sonally offensive to him. Whenever, if ever, he and we can come together on principle so that our cause may have assistance from his great ability, I hope to have interposed no adventitious obstacle. But, clearly, he is not now with us he does not pretend to be he does not pretend ever to be. "Our cause, then, must be intrusted to, and conducted by, its own undoubted friends those whose hands are free, whose hearts are in the work who do care for the result. Two years ago the Republicans of the nation mustered over thirteen thousand strong. We did this under the single impulse of resistance to a common danger, with every ex- ternal circumstance against us. Of strange, discordant, and even hostile elements, we gathered from the four winds, and formed and fought the battle through, under the constant hot fire of a disciplined, proud and pampered enemy. Did we brave all then, to falter now? now, when that same enemy is wavering, dissevered and belligerent? The result is not doubtful. We shall not fail if we stand firm, we shall not fail. Wise counsels may accelerate, or mistakes delay it, but, sooner or later, the victory is sure to come." THE LINCOLN-DOUGLAS JOINT DEBATES. The Springfield speech was followed, a few months later, by a series of joint debates with Senator Douglas, in which Lincoln was the chal- lenging party, Douglas naming the conditions. Seven meetings were held, as follows: Ottawa, August 21; Freeport, August 27; Jonesboro, September 15; Charleston, September 18; Galesburg, October 7; Quincy, October 13; Alton, October 15 Douglas opening and closing at four and Lincoln at three. They not only aroused the interest of both parties throughout the State, but attracted the attention of the whole country. A feature of this debate was the seven questions submitted to Douglas by Lincoln, four of which were propounded at Freeport and the other three at subsequent dates. These were a sort of offset to an equal num- ber of questions propounded to Lincoln by Douglas at their first debate at Ottawa. At the election in November, 1858 although the Republicans elected their State ticket by nearly 4,000 plurality the friends of Judge Douglas secured a majority in the Legislature, thus a second time defeat- ing Lincoln's aspirations to the United States Senate. The national reputation thus w r on for him was still further enhanced by his speeches in Ohio in September, 1859, still later in Kansas, and early in 1860 in the East that delivered at Cooper Institute, New York, on February 27th, 1860, being the most memorable. The latter, by their ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 397 sound sentiment, convincing logic, and lofty patriotism, evoked the ad- miration of Eastern Republicans and prepared the way for what was to come at Chicago in May following. The National Republican Convention met at Chicago, May 16, 1860, and the work of nominating a candidate for President was taken up on the third day May 18. On the first ballot, William H. Seward led Lin- coln by 53^ votes, on the second by only 3^ ; on the third, Lincoln received 23 1 votes to 180 for Seward all others receiving 53^ votes. Before the result was announced, Lincoln's vote had increased to 354, and he was finally nominated unanimously amid the wildest enthusiasm. The succeeding campaign was one of great earnestness and enthu- siasm on the part of his political friends in all the Northern States, and one of intense bitterness on the part of his enemies, especially in the South. He was described in the partisan press as rude, ignorant, and un- cultivated to the last degree, and pictured as a "baboon," and even painted as a sot and drunkard after his election, in spite of his abstemious habits. The election in November gave him a plurality of the popular vote and 180 electoral votes out of 303, although not a single vote was returned for him from ten Southern States. On the morning of February nth, 1861, he left his home at Spring- field, never to return alive, to assume the duties of his office at Wash- ington. Standing on the rear platform of the train at the depot, he ad- dressed his friends and neighbors, who had assembled to witness his departure. "My Friends : No one not in my position can realize the sadness I feel at this parting. To this people I owe all that I am. Here I have lived more than a quarter of a century. Here my children were born, and here one of them lies buried. I know not how soon I shall see you again. I go to assume a task more difficult than that which has devolved upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the same divine bless- ing which sustained him ; and on the same Almighty Being I place my reliance for support. And I hope you, my friends, will all pray that I may receive that divine assistance, without which I cannot succeed, but with which success is certain. Again, I bid you an affectionate farewell." No man ever spoke with profounder earnestness, or from a con- science stirred to deeper feeling by the burden of responsibility which had been placed upon his shoulders by the choice of the peopU. His route on the way to the National Capital lay through the States of In- 398 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. diana, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and, at nearly every important station, immense throngs were gathered to greet him and bid him God-speed in the cause he had undertaken. The discovery of a plot to assassinate him in Baltimore led to a change of the program of his journey at Harrisburg, and he passed through Baltimore at night in company with Ward H. Lamon and Allan Pinkerton, the detective, ar- riving at Washington in safety on the morning of February 23d. CHAPTER XXXI. LINCOLN INAUGURATED AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES His INAUGURAL ADDRESS THE MEANS OF CALLING ALL THE FRIENDS OF THE CAUSE OF THE UNION TO HlS SUPPORT WAR BEGINS IN EARNEST THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION OF JANUARY IST, 1863, FREES THE SLAVES So LONG HELD IN BONDAGE. President Lincoln entered upon his duties as the head of the nation on the 4th of March, 1861, in the face of difficulties never before pre- sented to a man in his station. The country was on the verge of civil war, and all knew it, yet the language used by the new Chief Magistrate in his inaugural address was eminently conciliatory. This address was a marvel of logic and clear reasoning, as those who read it may judge for them- selves. Excitement was at fever heat. It had been necessary for the new President to steal into the National Capital in order to prevent his as- sassination, so great was the feeling against him on the part of those who espoused the cause of secession, and had it not been for the military precautions taken by Lieutenant General Scott, commanding the Army of the United States, it is doubtful if Mr. Lincoln would have lived through the day. Secession was rampant, and there were men in the vast assemblage who would have taken his life had they dared. But the incoming President was not a man to be frightened. He was made of too stern material for that. He deli^/ered his inaugural ad- dress in a clear, strong voice, seemingly unmindful of the tumult all around him. LINCOLN'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS. "Fellow Citizens of the United States : In compliance with a custom as old as the Government itself, I appear before you to address you briefly, and to take, in your presence, the oath prescribed by the Consti- tution of the United States to be taken by the President before he enters on the execution of his office. "I do not consider it necessary, at present, for me to discuss those 399 400 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or ex- citement. Apprehension seems to exist among the people of the South- ern States that, by the accession of a Republican administration, their property and their peace and personal security are to be endangered. There has never been any reasonable cause for such apprehension. In- deed, the most ample evidence to the contrary has all the while existed, and been open to their inspection. It is found in nearly all the published speeches of him who now addresses you. I do but quote from one of those speeches, when I declare that 'I have no purpose, directly or indi- rectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.' I believe I have no lawful right to do so. Those who nominated and elected me did so with the full knowledge that I had made this, and made many similar declarations, and had never recanted them. And, more than this, they placed in the platform, for my acceptance, and as a law to themselves and to me, the clear and emphatic resolution which I now read: " 'Resolved, That the maintenance inviolate of the right of the States, and especially the right of each State, to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment exclusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endur- ance of our political fabric depend ; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as among the gravest of crimes.' "I now reiterate these sentiments ; and in doing so I only press upon the public attention the most conclusive evidence of which the case is susceptible, that the property, peace, and security of no section are to be in any wise endangered by the now incoming administration. "I add, too, that all the protection which, consistently with the Constitution and the laws, can be given, will be given to all the States when lawfully demanded, for whatever cause, as cheerfully to one section as to another. "There is much controversy about the delivering up of fugitives from service or labor. The clause I now read is as plainly written in the Con- stitution as any other of its provisions : "No person held to service or labor in one State under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regula- tion therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be de- livered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due.' "It is scarcely questioned that this provision was intended by, those ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 401 who made it for the reclaiming of what we call fugitive slaves ; and the intention of the lawgiver is the law. "All the members of Congress swear their support to the whole Con- stitution to this provision as well as any other. "To the proposition, then, that slaves whose cases come within the terms of this clause 'shall be delivered up/ their oaths are unanimous. Now, if they would make the effort in good temper, could they not, with nearly equal unanimity, frame and pass a law by means of which to keep good that unanimous oath? - .' ; "There is some difference of opinion whether this clause should be enforced by national or by State authority ; but surely that difference is not a very material one. "If the slave is to be surrendered, it can be of little consequence to him or to others by which authority it is done ; and should any one, in any case, be content that this oath shall go unkept on a mere inconse- quential controversy as to how it shall be kept ? "Again, in any law upon this subject, ought not all the safeguards of liberty known in civilized and humane jurisprudence to be introduced, so that a free man be not, in any case, surrendered as a slave ? And might it not be well at the same time to provide by law for the enforcement of that clause in the Constitution which guarantees that 'the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States' ? "I take the official oath to-day with no mental reservations, and with no purpose to construe the Constitution or laws by any hypercritical rules; and while I do not choose now to specify particular acts of Con- gress as proper to be enforced, I do suggest that it will be much safer for all, both in official and private stations, to conform to and abide by all those acts which stand unrepealed, than to violate any of them, trust- ing to find impunity in having them held to be unconstitutional. "It is seventy-two years since the first inauguration of a President under our national Constitution. During that period fifteen different and very distinguished citizens have in succession administered the executive branch of the Government. They have conducted it through many perils, and generally with great success. Yet, with all this scope for precedent, I now enter upon the same task for the brief Constitutional term of four years, under great and peculiar difficulties. "A disruption of the Federal Union, heretofore only menaced, is now formidably attempted. I hold that in the contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Per- 4 o2 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. petuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to exe- cute all the express provisions of our national Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself. "Again, if the United States be not a government proper, but an association of States in the nature of a contract merely, can it, as a con- tract, be peaceably unmade by less than all the parties who made it? One party to a contract may violate it break it, so to speak ; but does it not require all to lawfully rescind it? Descending from these general principles, we find the proposition, that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual, confirmed by the history of the Union itself. "The Union is much older than the Constitution. It was formed, in fact, by the Articles of Association in 1774. It was matured and con- tinued in the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further ma- tured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of the Confederation in 1778; and, finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was 'to form a more perfect union.' But if destruction of the Union by cne, or by a part only of the States, be lawfully possible, the union is less perfect than before, the Constitu- tion having lost the vital element of perpetuity. "It follows from these views, that no State, upon its own mere mo- tion, can lawfully get out of the Union ; that resolves and ordinances to that effect are legally void, and that acts of violence within any State or States, against the authority of the United States, are insurrectionary or revolutionary, according to circumstances. "I, therefore, consider that, in view of the Constitution and the laws, the Union is unbroken, and to the extent of my ability I shall take care, as the Constitution itself expressly enjoins upon me, that the laws of the Union shall be faithfully executed in all the States. Doing this, which I deem to be only a simple duty on my part, I shall perfectly perform it, so far as is practicable, unless my rightful masters, the American people, shall withhold the requisition, or in some authoritative manner direct the contrary. "I trust this will not be regarded as a menace, but only as the de- clared purpose of the Union that it will constitutionally defend and main- tain itself. Lincoln, the Rail Splitter The Lincoln Monument at Springfield. 111. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 407 "In doing this there need be no bloodshed or violence; and there shall be none unless it is forced upon the national authority. "The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government, and collect the duties and imposts; but beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere. "Where hostility to the United States shall be so great and so uni- versal as to prevent the competent resident citizens from holding Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people that object. While the strict legal right may exist in the Govern- ment to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be so irritating, and so nearly impracticable withal, that I deem it best to forego, for the time, the uses of such offices. "The mails, unless repelled, will continue to be furnished in all parts of the Union. "So far as possible, the people everywhere shall have that sense of perfect security which is most favorable to calm thought and reflection. "The course here indicated will be followed, unless current events and experience shall show a modification or change to be proper ; and in every case and exigency my best discretion will be exercised according to the circumstances actually existing, and with a view and hope of a peaceable solution of the national troubles, and the restoration of fra- ternal sympathies and affections. "That there are persons in one section or another who seek to de- stroy the Union at all events, and are glad of any pretext to do it, I will neither affirm nor deny. But if there be such, I need address no word to them. "To those, however, who love the Union, may I not speak, before entering upon so grave a matter as the destruction of our national fabric, with all its benefits, its memories and its hopes ? Would it not be well to ascertain why we do it ? Will you hazard so desperate a step while there is any possibility that any portion of the ills you fly from have no real existence ? Will you, while the certain ills you fly to are greater than all the real ones you fly from will you risk the commission of so fearful a mistake? All profess to be content in the Union, if all Constitutional rights can be maintained. Is it true, then, that any right, plainly written in the Constitution, has been denied? I think not. Happily the human mind is so constituted that no party can reach to the audacity of doing this. 4 o8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "Think, if you can, of a single instance in which a plainly-written provision of the Constitution has ever been denied. If, by the mere force of numbers, a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly-written Constitutional right, it might, in a moral point of view, justify revolu- tion; it certainly would, if such a right were a vital one. But such is not our case. "All the vital rights of minorities and of individuals are so plainly assured to them by affirmations and negations, guarantees and prohibi- tions in the Constitution, that controversies never arise concerning them. But no organic law can ever be framed with provision specifically ap- plicable to every question which may occur in practical administration. No foresight can anticipate, nor any document of reasonable length con- tain, express provisions for all possible questions. Shall fugitives from labor be surrendered by national or by State authorities? The Constitu- tion does not expressly say. Must Congress protect slavery in the Terri- tories? The Constitution does not expressly say. From questions of this class spring all our Constitutional controversies, and we divide upon them into majorities and minorities. "If the minority did not acquiesce, the majority must, or the Gov- ernment must cease. There' is no alternative for continuing the Govern- ment acquiescence on the one side or the other. If a minority in such a case will secede rather than acquiesce, they make a precedent, which, in time, will ruin and divide them, for a minority of their own will secede from them whenever a majority refuses to be controlled by such a mi- nority. For instance, why may not any portion of a new confederacy a year or two hence arbitrarily secede again, precisely as portions of the present Union now claim to secede from it? All who cherish disunion sentiments are now being educated to the exact temper of doing this. Is there such a perfect identity of interests among the States to compose a new Union as to produce harmony only, and prevent renewed seces- sion ? Plainly, the central idea of secession is the essence of anarchy. "A majority held in check by Constitutional check limitation, and al- ways changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it does, of necessity, fly to anarchy or despotism. Unanimity is impos- sible ; the rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly in- admissible. So that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or des- potism, in some form, is all that is left. "I do not forget the position assumed by some, that Constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court, nor do I deny that ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 409 such decisions must be binding in any case upon the parties to a suit, while they are also entitled to a very high respect and consideration in all parallel cases by all the other departments of the Government; and while it is obviously possible that such a decision may be erroneous in any given case, still, the evil following it, being limited to that particular case, with the chance that it may be overruled, and never become a prece- dent for other cases, can better be borne than could the evils of a differ- ent practice. "At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that, if the policy of the Government upon the vital questions affecting the whole people is to be irrevocably fixed by the decisions of the Supreme Court the in- stant they are made, as in ordinary litigation between parties in personal action, the people will have ceased to be their own masters, unless having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. "Nor is there in this view any assault upon the court or the judges. It is a duty from which they may not shrink, to decide cases properly brought before them ; and it is no fault of theirs if others seek to turn their decisions to political purposes. One section of our country believes slavery is right, and ought to be extended, while the other believes that it is wrong, and ought not to be extended ; and this is the only substantial dispute ; and the fugitive slave cause of the Constitution and the law for the suppression of the slave trade are each as well enforced, perhaps, as any law can ever be in a community where the moral sense of the people imperfectly supports the law itself. The great body of the people abide by the dry legal obligation in both cases, and a few break over in each. This, I think, cannot be perfectly cured, and it would be worse, in both cases, after the separation of the sections than before. The foreign slave trade, now imperfectly suppressed, would be ultimately revived, wLhout restriction in one section; while fugitive slaves, now only partially sur- rendered, would not be surrendered at all by the other. "Physically speaking, we cannot separate; we cannot remove our respective sections from each other, nor build an impassable wall between them. A husband and wife may be divorced, and go out of the presence and beyond the reach of each other, but the different parts of our coun- try cannot do this. They can but remain face to face, and intercourse, either amicable or hostile, must continue betv/een them. Is it possible, then, to make that intercourse more advantageous or more satisfactory after separation than before ? Can aliens make treaties easier than friends can make laws? Can treaties be more faithfully enforced betv/een aliens 4 io ABRAHAM LINCOLN. than laws can among friends ? Suppose you go to war, you cannot fight always ; and when, after much loss on both sides, and no gain on either, you cease fighting, the identical questions as to terms of intercourse are again upon you. "This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who in- habit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending, or their revolu- tionary right to dismember or overthrow it. I cannot be ignorant of the fact that many worthy and patriotic citizens are desirous of having the national Constitution amended. While I make no recommendation of amendment, I fully recognize the full authority of the people over the whole subject, to be exercised in either of the modes prescribed in the instrument itself, and I should, under existing circumstances, favor rather than oppose a fair opportunity being afforded the people to act upon it. "I will venture to add, that to me the convention mode seems prefer- able/ in that it allows amendments to originate with the people them- selves, instead of only permitting them to take or reject propositions originated by others not especially chosen for the purpose, and which might not be precisely such as they would wish either to accept or refuse. I understand that a proposed amendment to the Constitution (which amendment, however, I have not seen) has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of States, including that of persons held to service. To avoid misconstruction of what I have said, I depart from my purpose not to speak of particular amendments, so far as to say that, holding such a provision now to be implied Constitutional law, I have no objections to its being made express and irrevocable. The Chief Magistrate derives all his authority from the people, and they have conferred none upon him to fix the terms for the separation of the States. The people, themselves, also, can do this if they choose ; but the Executive, as such, has nothing to do with it. His duty is to admin- ister the present Government as it came to his hands, and to transmit it unimpaired by him to his successor. Why should there not be a patient confidence in the ultimate justice of the people ? Is there any better or equal hope in the world ? In our present differences is either party with- out faith of being in the right ? If the Almighty Ruler of nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be on your side of the North, or on yours of the South, that truth and that justice will surely prevail by the judg- ment of this great tribunal, the American people. By the frame of the Government under which we live, this same people have wisely given 'ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 4" their public servants but little power for mischief, and have with equal wisdom provided for the return of that little to their own hands at very short intervals. While the people retain their virtue and vigilance, no administration, by any extreme wickedness or folly, can very seriously injure the Government in the short space of four years. "My countrymen, one and all, think calmly and well upon this sub- ject. Nothing valuable can be lost by taking time. "If there be an object to hurry any of you, in hot haste, to a step which you would never take deliberately, that object will be frustrated by taking time ; but no good can be frustrated by it. "Such of you as are now dissatisfied still have the old Constitution unimpaired, and, on the sensitive point, the laws of your own framing under it; while the new administration will have no immediate power, if it would, to change either. "If it were admitted that you who are dissatisfied hold the right side in the dispute, there is still no single reason for precipitate action. Intel- ligence, patriotism, Christianity, and a firm reliance upon Him who has never yet forsaken this favored land, are still competent to adjust, in the best way, all our present difficulty. "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. "You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government ; while I shall have the most solemn one to preserve, protect and defend it. "I am loth to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. "The mystic cords of memory, stretching from every battle-field and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature." UNION MEN STAND BY LINCOLN. The effect of this address throughout the country was electrical. All men devoted to the cause of the Union rallied around the President, who had declared in his inaugural address that his first and only thought was the preservation of the Union of the States. All other issues were for- gotten, as subservient to the issues of the hour, for it was thoroughly ap- preciated that there was now a man at the head of the Government who said what he meant and meant what he said. In a little more than a month after the inauguration of President Lin- 4 i2 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. coin grim war was on, and it was war in earnest. Fort Sumter was fired upon, the Confederacy became a fixed fact, the President called for hun- dreds of thousands of troops, battles were won and lost, the situation be- came the gravest, and the Nation was called upon to confront grave situations, and yet the brave heart of the President never faltered. He knew victory would rest with the cause of justice at last. While Lincoln was necessarily impatient for the end, he was a man who knew how to labor and to wait. When the Civil War had been in progress nearly two years he, biding his time meanwhile, prepared and issued his Emancipation Proclamation, which resulted in the freedom of the slaves and forever broke the power of the slaveholders in the United States of America. THE PROCLAMATION OF EMANCIPATION. The following is the complete text of the immortal emancipation proclamation, issued by President Lincoln, January I, 1863, at Wash- ington : "WTiereas, on the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing among other things, the following, to-wit: " 'That on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thou- sand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free, and the Executive Government of the United States, includ- ing the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom. " 'That the Executive will, on the first day of January aforesaid, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people thereof respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States; and the fact that any State or the people thereof shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States, by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such State shall have participated, shall, in the absence of a strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive evidence that such State, and the people thereof, are not then in rebellion against the United States.' "Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 413 by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit and neces- sary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty- three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days from the day first above men- tioned, order and designate, as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to-wit : "Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemine, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, As- sumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Marie, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Geor- gia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Anne, and Nor- folk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth), and which excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued. "And, by virtue of the power and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be, free ; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons. "And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free, to ab- stain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense ; and I recommend to them, that in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reason- able wages. "And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service. "And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, war- ranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the consid- erate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of the Almighty God. 4 i4 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my name, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed. "Done at the City of Washington, this first day of Jan- uary, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred [L.S.] and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-seventh. "ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "By the President, "WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State." CHAPTER XXXII. LINCOLN'S BOYHOOD AND YOUNG MANHOOD AS ILLUSTRATED BY THE STORIES TOLD REGARDING HIM How HE ACQUIRED THE SOBRIQUET OF "HONEST ABE" THE FIRST DOLLAR HE EVER EARNED EXPERI- ENCES ON THE MISSISSIPPI ON A FLATBOAT PAID EVERYTHING HE OWED. No man in public life in the history of the United States rose from such obscurity and abject poverty as Abraham Lincoln. He was heaven- born and possessed attributes little less than divine, and yet his surround- ings at birth and for many years thereafter were of the most squalid de- scription. Of all those who rose to prominence in this country and fought the battles which resulted in making the Republic what it is, Lincoln was the most typical of the self-made. He triumphed over every possible discour- agement, surmounted all obstacles to his advancement, and appeared upon the scene at the opportune time. There may have been others who were fully as capable, but Lincoln was, all in all, the man the country needed at the critical period. Whether any other man would have served his country as well is a problem yet to be solved. That he was the man of the time is conceded. Many did not know it then, but they know it now. His personality was not altogether pleasing. The East thought him uncouth and rough. The West had faith in him. And faith is everything. How LINCOLN EARNED His FIRST DOLLAR. "Did you ever hear how I earned my first dollar?" inquired Presi- dent Lincoln of Secretary of State Seward at a Cabinet meeting one day. "No," rejoined Mr. Seward. "Well," continued Mr. Lincoln, "I belonged, you know, to what they called down South the 'scrubs.' We had succeeded in raising, chiefly by my labor, sufficient produce, as I thought, to justify me in taking it down the river to sell. "After much persuasion, I got the consent of mother to go, and con- structed a little flatboat, large enough to take a barrel or two of things that we had gathered, with myself and little bundle, down to the Southern 415 4 i6 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. market. A steamer was coming down the river. We have, you know, no wharves on the Western streams ; and the custom was, if passengers were at any of the landings, for them to go out in a boat, the steamer stopping and taking them on board. "I was contemplating my new flatboat, and wondering whether I could make it strong or improve it in any particular, when two men came down to the shore in carriages with trunks, and looking at the different boats singled out mine, and asked, 'Who owns this ?' I answered, some- what modestly, 'I do.' 'Will you/ said one of them, 'take us and our trunks out to the steamer ?' 'Certainly,' said I. I was very glad to have the chance of earning something. I supposed that each of them would give me one or two or three bits. The trunks were put on my flatboat, the passengers seated themselves on the trunks, and I sculled them out to the steamboat. "They got on board, and I lifted up their heavy trunks, and put them on deck. The steamer was about to put on steam again, when I called out that they had forgotten to pay me. Each of them took from his pocket a silver half-dollar, and threw it on the floor of my boat. I could scarcely believe my eyes when I picked up the money. Gentlemen, you may think it was a very little thing, and in these days it seems to me a trifle ; but it was a most important incident in my life. I could scarcely credit, that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar. The world seemed wider and fairer before me. I was a more hopeful and confident being from that time." LINCOLN'S EXPERIENCE ON A MISSISSIPPI FLATBOAT. At the age of 19, Abraham made his second essay in navigation, and at this time caught something more than a glimpse of the great world in which he was destined to play so important a part. A trading neighbor applied to him to take charge of a flatboat and its cargo, and, in company with his own son, to take it to the sugar plantations near New Orleans. The entire business of the trip was placed in Abraham's hands. The fact tells its own story touching the young man's reputation for capacity and integrity. He had never made the trip, knew nothing of the journey, was unaccustomed to business transactions, had never been much upon the river ;' but his tact, ability and honesty were so trusted that the trader was willing to risk his cargo and his son in Lincoln's care. The incidents of a trip like this were not likely to be exciting, but there were many social chats with the settlers and hunters along the banks of the Ohio and the Mississippi, and there was much hailing of similar craft afloat. Arriving at a sugar plantation somewhere between Natchez ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 41? and New Orleans, the boat was pulled in, and tied to the shore for pur- poses of trade ; and here an incident occurred which was sufficiently excit- ing, and one which, in the memory of recent events, reads somewhat strangely. Here seven negroes attempted the life of the future liberator of the race, and it is not improbable that some of them have lived to be emanci- pated by his proclamation. Night had fallen, and the two tired voyagers had lain down on their hard bed for sleep. Hearing a noise on shore, Abraham shouted : "Who's there?" The noise continuing and no one replying, he sprang to his feet and saw seven negroes, evidently bent on plunder. Abraham guessed the errand at once, and seizing a hand-spike, rushed towards them, and knocked one into the water the moment he touched the boat. The second, third, and fourth who leaped on board were served in the same rough way. Seeing that they were not likely to make headway in their thieving enterprise, the remainder turned to flee. Abraham and his companion, growing excited and warm with their work, leaped on shore, and followed them. Both were too swift on foot for the negroes, and all of them received a severe pounding. They re- turned to their boat just as the others escaped from the water, but the latter fled into the darkness as fast as their legs could carry them. Abra- ham and his fellow in the fight were both injured, but not disabled. Not being armed, and unwilling to wait until the negroes had received rein- forcements, they cut adrift, and floated down a mile or two, tied up to the bank again, and watched and waited for the morning. The trip was brought at length to a successful end. The cargo, "load," as they called it, was all disposed of for money, the boat itself sold for lumber, and the young men retraced the passage, partly, at least, on shore and on foot, occupying several weeks in the difficult and tedious journey. "Goo KNOWS WHEN." It is perhaps unknown to the majority of our readers that there was a time when Abraham Lincoln spelled God with a little "g." It is no reflection upon the Great Emancipator, for he was very young at that period. Jn an ancient copy-book, in which Lincoln wrote many things, that upon the fly-leaf was written : 418 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "Abraham Lincoln Holds the pen. He will be good, but god knows when." In after life Lincoln often laughed over this. "I didn't know any better," he said. No VICES, No VIRTUES. Riding at one time in the stage, with an old Kentuckian who was re- turning from Missouri, Lincoln excited the old gentleman's surprise by refusing to accept either of tobacco or French brandy. When they separated that afternoon, the Kentuckian to take another stage bound for Louisville, he shook hands warmly with Lincoln, and said good-humoredly, "See here, stranger, you're a clever but strange com- panion. I may never see you again, and I don't want to offend you, but I want to say this : My experience has taught me that a man who has no vices has d d few virtues. Good-day." Lincoln enjoyed this reminiscence of his journey, and took great pleasure in relating it. GAINS THE SOBRIQUET OF "HONEST ABE/' During the year that Lincoln was in Denton Offutt's store, that gen- tleman, whose business was somewhat widely and unwisely spread about the country, ceased to prosper in his finances, and finally failed. The store was shut up, the mill was closed, and Abraham Lincoln was out of busi- ness. The year had been one of great advance, in many respects. He had made new and valuable acquaintances, read many books, mastered the grammar of his own tongue, won multitudes of friends, and became ready for a step still further in advance. Those who could ap- preciate brains respected him, and those whose ideas of a man related to his muscles were devoted to him. It was while he was performing the work of the store that he acquired the sobriquet "Honest Abe" a char- acterization that he never dishonored, and an abbreviation that he never outgrew. He was judge, arbitrator, referee, umpire, authority, in all disputes, games and matches of man-flesh, horse-flesh, a pacificator in all quarrels ; everybody's friend ; the best-natured, the most sensible, the best-informed, the most modest and unassuming, the kindest, gentlest, roughest, strong- est, best fellow in all New Salem and the region round about. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 419 WOULD NOT ASK GOD'S PROTECTION. When Lincoln was working for the nomination for the Legislature the second time, he was on a certain occasion pitted against one George Forquer, who had been a leading Whig, but was now a "Whole Hog Jack- son Man," and his reward was a good office. Forquer devoted himself to taking down the young man from New Salem. He ridiculed his dress, manners and rough personal appearance, and with much pomposity derided him as an uncouth youngster. Lincoln had noticed, on coming into Springfield, Forquer's fine house, on which was a lightning rod, then a great novelty in those parts. Lincoln, on rising to reply, stood for a moment with flashing eyes, and pale cheeks, betraying his inward but unspoken wrath. He began by discussing very briefly this ungenerous attack. He said: "I am not so young in years as I am in the tricks of the trade of the politician; but, live long, or die young, I would rather die now, than, like that gentleman, change my politics, and with the change receive an office worth three thousand dollars a year, and then feel obliged to erect a lightning rod over my house to protect my guilty conscience from an offended God." The effect upon the simple audience, gathered there in the open air, was electrical. "I AM A BLOATED ARISTOCRAT/' At another time, Lincoln replied to Col. Richard Taylor, a self-con- ceited, dandified man who wore a gold chain and ruffled shirt. His party at that time were posing as the hardworking, bone and sinew of the land, while the Whigs were stigmatized as aristocrats, ruffled-shirt gentry. Taylor making a sweeping gesture, his overcoat became torn open, displaying his finery. Lincoln in reply said, laying his hand on his jeans- clad breast : "Here is your aristocrat, one of your silk-stocking gentry, at your service." Then, spreading out his hands, bronzed and gaunt with toil : "Here is your rag-basin with lily-white hands. Yes, I suppose, according to my friend Taylor, I am a bloated aristocrat." "ABE" AS A COUNTRY STOREKEEPER. Lincom could not rest for an instant under the consciousness that he had, even unwittingly, defrauded anybody. On one occasion, while clerk- ing in Offutt's store, at New Salem, 111., he sold a woman a little bale of 420 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. goods, amounting in value by the reckoning to two dollars and twenty cents. He received the money, and the woman went away. On adding the items of the bill again to make himself sure of correctness, he found that he had taken six and a quarter cents too much. It was night, and, closing and locking the store, he started out on foot, a distance of two or three miles, for the house of his defrauded customer, and, delivering over to her the sum whose possession had so much troubled him, went home satisfied. On another occasion, just as he was closing the store for the night, a woman entered, and asked for a half pound of tea. The tea was weighed out and paid for, and the store was left for the night. The next morning Lincoln entered to begin the duties of the day, when he discovered a four- ounce weight on the scales. He saw at once that he had made a mistake, and, shutting the store, he took a long walk before breakfast to deliver the remainder of the tea. These are very humble incidents, but they illustrate the man's perfect conscientiousness his sensitive honesty better, perhaps, than they would if they were of greater moment. PAID EVERY DOLLAR HE OWED. Mr. Lincoln was appointed postmaster by President Jackson. The office was too insignificant to be considered politically, and it was given to the young man because everybody liked him, and because he was the only man who was willing to take it who could make out the returns. He was exceedingly pleased with the appointment, because it gave him a chance to read every newspaper that was taken in the vicinity. He had never been able to get half the newspapers he wanted before, and the office gave him the prospect of a constant feast. Not wishing to be tied to the office, as it yielded him no revenue that would reward him for the confine- ment, he made a postoffice of his hat. Whenever he went out the letters were placed in his hat. When an anxious looker for a letter found the postmaster, he had found his office ; and the public officer, taking off his hat, looked over his mail wherever the public might find him. He kept the office until it was discontinued, or removed to Petersburg. One of the most beautiful exhibitions of Mr. Lincoln's rigid honesty occurred in connection with the settlement of his accounts with the Post- .office Department, several years afterward. It was after he had become a lawyer, and had been a legislator. He had passed through a period of great poverty, had acquired his education ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 421 in the law in the midst of many perplexities, inconveniences, and hard- ships, and had met with temptations such as few men could resist, to make a temporary use of any money he might have in his hands. One day, seated in the law office of his partner, the agent of the Post- office Department entered, and inquired if Abraham Lincoln was within. Mr. Lincoln responded to his name, and was informed that the agent had called to collect the balance due the Department since the discontinuance of the New Salem office. A shade of perplexity passed over Mr. Lincoln's face, which did not escape the notice of friends present. One of them said at once : "Lincoln, if you are in want of money, let us help you." He made no reply, but suddenly rose, and pulled out from a pile of books a little old trunk, and, returning to the table, asked the agent how much the amount of his debt was. The sum was named, and then Mr. Lincoln opened the trunk, pulled out a little package of coin wrapped in a cotton rag, and counted out the exact sum, amounting to something more than seventeen dollars. After the agent had left the room, he remarked quietly that he had never used any man's money but his own. Although this sum had been in his hands during all these years, he had never re- garded it as available, even for any temporary use of his own. CAPTAIN IN THE BLACK HAWK WAR. In the threatening aspect of the Black Hawk War, Governor Reynolds issued a call for volunteers, and among the companies that immediately responded was one from Menard County, Illinois. Many of the volun- teers were from New Salem and Clary's Grove, and Lincoln, being out of business, was first to enlist. The company being full, they held a meeting at Richland for the election of officers. Lincoln had won many hearts, and they told him that he must be their captain. It was an office that he did not aspire to, and one for which he felt that he had no special fitness ; but he consented to be a candidate. There was but one other candidate for the office (a Mr. Kirkpatrick), and he was one of the most influential men of the county. Previously, Kirkpatrick had been an employer of Lincoln, and was so overbearing in his treatment of the young man that the latter left him. The simple mode of their electing their captain, adopted by the com- pany, was by placing the candidates apart, and telling the men to go and stand with the one they preferred. Lincoln and his competitor took their positions, and then the word was given. At least three out of every four went to Lincoln at once. When it was seen by those who had arranged 422 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. themselves with the other candidate that Lincoln was the choice of the majority of the company, they left their places, one by one, and came over to the successful side, until Lincoln's opponent in the friendly strife was left standing almost alone. "I felt badly to see him cut so," says a witness of the scene. Here was an opportunity for revenge. The humble laborer was his employer's captain, but the opportunity was never improved. Mr. Lincoln frequently confessed that no subsequent success of his life had given him half the satisfaction that this election did. He had achieved public recognition ; and to one so humbly bred, the distinction was inexpressibly delightful. SOUVENIR OF LINCOLN'S PATENT. Lincoln had enough mechanical genius to make him a good mechanic. With such rude tools as were at his command he had made cabins and flat- boats ; and after his mind had become absorbed in public and professional affairs, he often recurred to his mechanical dreams for amusement. One of his dreams took form, and he endeavored to make a practical matter of it. He had had experience in the early navigation of the Western rivers. One of the most serious hindrances to this navigation was low water, and the lodgment of the various craft on the shifting shoals and bars with which these rivers abound. He undertook to contrive an apparatus which, folded to the hull of the boat like a bellows, might be inflated on occasions, and, by its levity, lifted over any obstruction upon which it might rest. On this contrivance, illustrated by a model whittled out by himself, and now preserved in the Patent Office in Washington, he secured letters patent ; but it is certain that the navigation of the Western rivers was not revolutionized by it. LINCOLN A MAN OF RESOURCE. Governor Richard Yates (the first), of Illinois, in a speech at Spring- field, quoted one of Mr. Lincoln's early friends W. T. Green as having said that the first time he ever saw Mr. Lincoln, he was in the Sangamon River with his trousers rolled up five feet, more or less, trying to pilot a flatboat over a mill-dam. The boat was so full of water that it was hard to manage. Lincoln got the prow over, and then, instead of waiting to bail the water out, bored a hole through the projecting part and let it run out; affording forcible il- St. Ga. \iderv s Statue of Lincoln (In Lincoln Park, Chicago) The Secret Burial of John Wilkes Booth ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 427 lustration of the ready ingenuity of the future President in the quick in- vention of moral expedients. "FETCHED A GOOD MANY SHORT ONES." "The first time I ever remember seeing Abe Lincoln," is the testimony of one of his neighbors, "was when I was a small boy and had gone with my father to attend some kind of an election. One of the neighbors, James Larkins, was there. Larkins was a great hand to brag on any- thing he owned. This time it was his horse. He stepped up before Abe, who was in a crowd, and commenced talking to him, boasting all the while of his animal. " 'I have got the best horse in the country/ he shouted to his young listener. 'I ran him nine miles in exactly three minutes, and he never fetched a long breath.' " 'I presume/ said Abe, rather dryly, 'he fetched a good many short ones, though.' " JUSTICE FOR EVEN POOR Lo. One day, during the Black Hawk War, an old Indian strayed into the camp of Lincoln's company. The men wanted to kill him, considering him a spy. A letter from General Lewis Cass, recommending him, for his past kind and faithful service to the whites, the trembling old savage drew from beneath the folds of his blanket ; but failed in any degree to appease the wrath of the men who confronted him. "Make an example of him," they exclaimed ; "the letter is a forgery, and he is a spy." They might have put their threats into execution had not the tall form of Captain Lincoln, his face swarthy with resolution and rage, interposed itself between them and their defenseless victim. The Indian left the camp unharmed. LINCOLN'S "DUEL" WITH GENERAL SHIELDS. General James Shields was Auditor of the State of Illinois in 1839. While he occupied this important office he was involved in an "affair of honor" with no less a personage than Abraham Lincoln. At this time Shields was the pride of the young Democracy, and was considered a dashing fellow by all, the ladies included. In the summer of 1842, the Springfield (111.) Journal contained some letters from the "Lost Township," by a contributor whose nom de plume was "Aunt Becca," which held up the gallant young Auditor as "a ball- 428 A B R A H AM LI N COL AT. room dandy, floatin' about on the earth without heft or substance, just like a lot of cat fur where cats had been fightin'." These letters caused intense excitement in the towrv Nobody knew or guessed their authorship. Shields swore it would be coffee and pistols for two if he should find out who had been lampooning him so unmerci- fully. Thereupon "Aunt Becca" wrote another letter, which made the furnace of his wrath seven times hotter than before, in which she made a very humble apology, and offered to let him squeeze her hand for satisfac- tion, adding: "If this should not answer, there is one thing more I would rather do than get a lickin'. I have all along expected to die a widow ; but, as Mr. Shields is rather good-looking than otherwise, I must say I don't care if we compromise the matter by really, Mr. Printer, I can't help blushing but I must come out I but widowed modesty well, if I must, I must wouldn't he maybe sorter let the old grudge drap if I was to consent to be be his wife? I know he is a fightin' man, and would rather fight than eat ; but isn't marryin' better than fightin', though it does sometimes run into it ? "And I don't think, upon the whole, I'd be sich a bad match neither ; I'm not over sixty, and am just four feet three in my bare feet, and not much more around the girth ; and for color, I wouldn't turn my back to nary a girl in the Lost Townships. But, after all, maybe I'm counting my. chickens before they're hatched, and dreamin' of matrimonial bliss when the only alternative reserved for me may be a lickin'. Jeff tells me the way these fire-eaters do is to give the challenged party the choice of weap- ons, which being the case, I tell you in confidence, I never fight with anything but broomsticks or hot water, or a shovelful of coals, or some such thing ; the former of which, being somewhat like a shillelah, may not be so very objectionable to him. I will give him a choice, however, in one thing, and that is whether, when we fight, I shall wear breeches or he petticoats, for I presume this change is sufficient to place us on an equality." Of course, some one had to shoulder the responsibility of these letters after such a shot. The real author (it was claimed) was none other than Miss Mary Todd, afterward the wife of Lincoln, to whom she was en- gaged, and he was in honor bound to assume, for belligerent purposes, the responsibility of her sharp pen-thrusts. Lincoln accepted the situation, the principals met, but there was no duel. Lincoln had selected broad- swords, and this made the whole affair so ridiculous that Shields was glad to drop it. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 429 LINCOLN ALWAYS DOUBTED THIS STORY. In the year 1855 or 1856, George B. Lincoln, Esq., of Brooklyn, was traveling through the West in connection with a large New York dry- goods establishment. He found himself one night in a town on the Illi- nois River, by the name of Naples. The only tavern of the place had evi- dently been constructed with reference to business on a small scale. Poor as the prospect seemed, Mr. Lincoln had no alternative but to put up at the place. The supper room was also used as a lodging room. Mr. Lincoln told his host that he thought he would "go to bed." "Bed !" echoed the landlord. "There is no bed for you in this house unless you sleep with that man yonder. He has the only one we have to spare." "Well," returned Mr. Lincoln, "the gentleman has possession, and perhaps would not like a bed-fellow." Upon this a grizzly head appeared out of the pillows, and said : "What is your name ?" "They call me Lincoln at home," was the reply. "Lincoln!" repeated the stranger; "any connection of our Illinois Abraham ?" "No," replied Mr. Lincoln. "I fear not." "Well," said the old gentleman, "I will let any man by the name of 'Lincoln' sleep with me, just for the sake of the name. You have heard of Abe ?" he inquired. "Oh, yes, very often," replied Mr. Lincoln. "No man could travel far in this State without hearing of him, and I would be very glad to claim connection if I could do so honestly." "Well," said the old gentleman, "my name is Simmons. 'Abe' and I used to live and work together when young men. Many a job of wood- cutting and rail-splitting have I done up with him. Abe Lincoln was the likeliest boy in God's world. He would work all day as hard as any of us and study by firelight in the log-house half the night ; and in this way he made himself a thorough, practical surveyor. Once, during those days, I was in the upper part of the State, and I met General Ewing, whom President Jackson had sent to the Northwest to make surveys. I told him about Abe Lincoln, what a student he was, and that I wanted he should give me a job. He looked over his memorandum, and, holding out a paper, said : " 'There is County must be surveyed ; if your friend can do 430 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. the work properly, I shall be glad to have him undertake it the compen- sation will be six hundred dollars.' "Pleased as I could be, I hastened to Abe, after I got home, with an account of what I had secured for him. He was sitting before the fire in the log-cabin when I told him ; and what do you think was his answer ? When I finished, he looked up very quietly, and said : " 'Mr. Simmons, I thank you very sincerely for your kindness, but I don't think I will undertake the job.' " 'In the name of wonder,' said I, 'why? Six hundred does not grow upon every bush out here in Illinois.' " I know that,' said Abe, 'and I need the mpney bad enough, Simmons, as you know; but I have never been under obligation to a Democratic Administration, and I never intend to be so long as I can get my living another way. General Ewing must find another man to do his work.' " Mr. Carpenter related this story to the President one day, and asked him if it were true. "Pollard Simmons !" said Lincoln. "Well do I remember him. It is correct about our working together, but the old man must have stretched the facts somewhat about the survey of the County. I think I should have been very glad of the job at the time, no matter what Administration was in power." CHAPTER XXXIII. LINCOLN ON THE CIRCUIT AS A LAWYER DETERMINED TO SUCCEED IN His PROFESSION His KINDNESS TO His STEPMOTHER His SENSE OF JUSTICE IN CONDUCTING His LAW CASES GETS THE WORST OF IT IN A HORSE TRADE ONE OF His DISAPPOINTMENTS How "ABE" WAS NOMINATED FOR CONGRESS His TRUST IN GOD. Lincoln was beset by every conceivable difficulty when studying law. He was laughed at and ridiculed. It was said that it was quite as well to make a lawyer out of the stump of a tree. But Lincoln did not care. He knew what he was about and he pursued his way without disturbing himself in regard to what was said about him. He borrowed books and read them when he should have been asleep in his bed. He snatched the time for study from his waking hours, and made a lawyer of himself in spite of the opposition of those who predicted that time spent in study was time wasted. That Lincoln's attempt to make a lawyer of himself under the adverse and unpromising circumstances excited comment is not to be wondered at. Russell Goodby, an old man who still survives, told the following: He had often employed Lincoln to do farm work for him, and was sur- prised to find him one day, sitting barefoot on the summit of a woodpile, and attentively reading a book. "This being an unusual thing for farm hands at that early date to do, I asked him," relates Goodby, "what he was reading. "He answered, 'I'm studying.' " 'Studying what ?' I inquired. " 'Law, sir/ was the emphatic response. It was realty too much for me, as I looked at him sitting there proud as Cicero." LINCOLN'S KINDNESS TO His STEPMOTHER. Soon after Lincoln entered upon his profession at Springfield, he was engaged in a criminal case in which it was thought there was little chance of success. Throwing all his powers into it, he came off victorious, and promptly received for his services five hundred dollars. A legal friend calling upon him the next morning found him sitting before a table, upon which his money was spread out, counting it over and over. 431 4.32 ABRAHA M LIN COL N. "Look here, Judge," said he. "See what a heap of money I've got from the Black case. Did you ever see anything like it? Why, I never had so much money in my life before, put it all together." Then, crossing his arms upon the table, his manner sobering down, he added : "I have got just five hundred dollars; if it were only seven hundred and fifty, I would go directly and purchase a quarter section of land, and settle it upon my old step-mother." His friend said that if the deficiency was all he needed, he would loan him the amount, taking his note, to which Mr. Lincoln instantly acceded. His friend then said : "Lincoln, I would not do just what you have indicated. Your step- mother is getting old, and will not probably live many years. I would settle the property upon her for her use during her lifetime, to revert to you upon her death." With much feeling, Mr. Lincoln replied: "I shall do no such thing. It is a poor return at best for all the good woman's devotion and fidelity to me, and there is not going to be any half- way business about it." And so saying, he gathered up his money and proceeded forthwith to carry his long-cherished purpose into execution. A DISTINCTION WITH A DIFFERENCE. Lincoln had assisted in the prosecution of a man who had appropriated some of his neighbor's hen roosts. Jogging home along the highway with the foreman of the jury, who had convicted the hen stealer, he was complimented by Lincoln on the zeal and ability of the prosecution, and remarked : "Why, when the country was young, and I was stronger than I am now, I didn't mind packing off a sheep now and then, but stealing hens !" ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS A LAWYER. Two things were essential to his success in managing a case. One was time ; the other was a feeling of confidence in the justice of the cause he represented. He used to say : "If I can free this case from technicalities and get it properly swung to the jury, I'll win it." W r hen asked why he went so far back, on a certain occasion, in legal history, when he should have presumed that the court knew enough history, he replied : "There's where you are mistaken. I dared not trust the case on the presumption that the court knew anything ; in fact, I argued it on the presumption that the court did ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 433 not know anything." A statement that may not be as extravagant as one would at first suppose. When told by a friend that he should speak with more vim, and arouse the jury, talk faster and keep them awake, he replied: "Give me your little penknife with its short blade, and hand me that old jackknife, lying on the table." Opening the blade of the penknife he said : "You see this blade on the point travels rapidly, but only through a small portion of space till it stops, while the long blade of the jackknife moves no faster but through a much greater space than the small one. Just so with the long-labored movements of the mind. I cannot emit ideas as rapidly as others because I am compelled by nature to speak slowly, but when I do throw off a thought it comes with some effort, it has force to cut its own way and travels a greater distance." The above was said to his partner in their private office, and was not said boastingly. When Lincoln attacked meanness, fraud or vice, he was powerful, merciless in his castigation. The following are Lincoln's notes for the argument of a case where an attempt was being made to defraud a soldier's widow, with her little babe, of her pension : "No contract, Not professional services, Unreasonable charge, Money retained by Def., not given by Pl'ff, Revolutionary War, De- scribe Valley Forge privations, Ice, Soldiers' Bleeding Feet, Pl'ff husband, Soldier leaving home for Army, Skin Deft, Close." Judgment was made in her behalf, and no charges made. The following reply was overheard in Lincoln's office, where he was in conversation with a man who appeared to have a case that Lincoln did not desire: "Yes," he said, "we can doubtless gain your case for you; we can set a whole neighborhood at loggerheads ; we can distress a widowed mother and her six fatherless children, and thereby get for you six hundred dollars to which you seem to have a legal claim, but which rightfully belongs, it appears to me, as much to the woman and children as it does to you. You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right. We shall not take your case." MRS. LINCOLN SURPRISED HER HUSBAND. A funny story is told of how Mrs. Lincoln made a little surprise for her husband. In the early days it was customary for lawyers to go from one county to another on horseback, a journey which often required several weeks. On returning from one of these jaunts, late one night, Mr. Lincoln dis- 434 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. mounted from his horse at the familiar corner and then turned to go into the house, but stopped; a perfectly unknown structure was before him. Surprised, and thinking there must be some mistake, he went across the way and knocked at a neighbor's door. The family had retired, and so called out: "Who's there?" "Abe Lincoln," was the reply. "I am looking for my house. I thought it was across the way, but when I went away a few weeks ago, there was only a one-story house there, and now there is two. I think I must be lost." The neighbors then explained that Mrs. Lincoln had added another story during his absence. And Mr. Lincoln laughed and went to his remodeled house. A HORSE TRADE IN WHICH LINCOLN GOT THE WORST OF IT. Abraham Lincoln and a certain judge once got to bantering one an- other about trading horses; and it was agreed that the next morning at nine o'clock they should make a trade, the horses to be unseen up to that hour, and no backing out, under a forfeiture of $25. At the hour appointed, the Judge came up, leading the sorriest-looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts. In a few minutes Mr. Lin- coln was seen approaching with a wooden saw-horse upon his shoulders. Great were the shouts and laughter of the crowd, and both were greatly increased when Mr. Lincoln, on surveying the Judge's animal, set down his saw-horse, and exclaimed : "Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse trade." CONSIDERATIONS SHOWN TO RELATIVES. One of the most beautiful traits of Lincoln was his considerate regard f6Y the poor and obscure relatives he had left, plodding along in their humble ways of life. Wherever upon his circuit he found them, he always went to their dwellings, ate with them, and, when convenient, made their houses his home. He never assumed in their presence the slightest su- periority to them, in the facts and conditions of his life. He gave them money when they needed and he possessed it. Countless times he was known to leave his companions at the village hotel, after a hard day's work in. the courtroom, and spend the evening with these old friends and companions of his humbler days. On one occasion, when urged not to go, he replied, "Why, Aunt's heart would be broken if I should leave town without calling upon her" ; yet, he was obliged to walk several miles to make the call. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 435 ONE OF LINCOLN'S DISAPPOINTMENTS. At the time of Lincoln's first nomination for the Presidency, Newton Bateman, Superintendent of Public Instruction for the State of Illinois, occupied a room adjoining and opening into the Executive Chamber at Springfield. Frequently this door was open during Lincoln's receptions, and throughout the seven months or more of his occupation, he saw him nearly every day. Often, when Mr. Lincoln was tired, he closed the door against all in- truders and called Mr. Bateman into his room for a quiet talk. On one of these occasions, Mr. Lincoln took up a book containing canvass of the city of Springfield, in which he lived, showing the candidate for whom each citizen had declared it his intention to vote in the approaching elec- tion. Lincoln's friends had, doubtless at his own request, placed the result of the canvass in his hands. This was towards the close of October, and only a few days before election. Calling Mr. Bateman to a seat by his side, having previously locked all the doors, he said : "Let us look over this book ; I wish particularly to see how the min- isters of Springfield are going to vote." The leaves were turned, one by one, and as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln frequently asked if this one and that one was not a minister, or an elder, or a member of such and such a church, and sadly expressed his surprise on receiving an affirmative answer. In that manner he went through the book, and then he closed it, and sat silently for some minutes regarding a memorandum in pencil which lay before him. At length he turned to Mr. Bateman, with a face full of sadness, and said : "Here are twenty-three ministers of different denominations, and all of them are against me but three, and here are a great many prominent members of churches, a very large majority are against me. Mr. Bate- man, I am not a Christian God knows I would be one but I have care- fully read the Bible, and I do not so understand this book," and he drew forth a pocket New Testament. "These men well know," he continued, "that I am for freedom in the Territories, freedom everywhere, as free as the Constitution and laws will permit, and that my opponents are for slavery. They know this, and yet, with this book in their hands, in the light of which human bondage cannot live a moment, they are going to vote against me ; I do not understand it at all." Here Lincoln paused paused for long minutes, his features sur- 436 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. charged with emotion. Then he rose and walked up and down the recep- tion-room in the effort to retain or regain his self-possession. Stopping at last, he said, with a trembling voice and cheeks wet with tears : "I know there is a God, and that He hates injustice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place and work for me, and I think He has, I believe I am ready. I am nothing, but Truth is everything. I know I am right, because I know that liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ is God. I have told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand; and Christ and Reason say the same ; and they will find it so. "Douglass don't care whether slavery is voted up or down, but God cares, and humanity cares, and I care; and with God's help I shall not fail. I may not see the end ; but it will come, and I shall be vindicated ; and these men will find they have not read their Bible right." Much of this was uttered as if he were speaking co himself, and with a sad, earnest solemnity of manner impossible to be described. After a pause he resumed : "Doesn't it seem strange that men can ignore the moral aspect of this contest? No revelation could make it plainer to me that slavery or the Government must be destroyed. The future would be something awful, as I look at it, but for this rock on which I stand" (alluding to the Testa- ment which he still held in his hand), "especially with the knowledge of how these ministers are going to vote. It seems as if God had borne with this thing (slavery) until the teachers of religion have come to de- fend it from the Bible, and to claim for it a divine character and sanction ; and now the cup of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be poured out." Everything he said was of a peculiarly deep, tender, and religious tone, and all was tinged with a touching melancholy. He repeatedly re- ferred to his conviction that the day of wrath was at hand, and that he was to be an actor in the terrible struggle which would issue in the over- throw of slavery, although he might not live to see the end. After further reference to a belief in the Divine Providence and the fact of God in history, the conversation turned upon prayer. He freely stated his belief in the duty, privilege, and efficacy of prayer, and intimated, in no unmistakable terms, that he had sought in that way Divine guidance and favor. The effect of this conversation upon the mind of Mr. Bate- man, a Christian gentleman whom Mr. Lincoln profoundly respected, was to convince him that Mr. Lincoln had, in a quiet way, found a path to the Christian standpoint that he had found God, and rested on the eternal ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 437 truth of God. As the two men were about to separate, Mr. Bateman re- marked : "I have not supposed that you were accustomed to think so much upon this class of subjects; certainly your friends generally are ignorant of the sentiments you have expressed to me." He replied quickly : "I know they are, but I think more on these sub- jects than upon all others, and I have done so for years ; and I am willing you should know" it." AN INCIDENT OF LINCOLN'S HOME LIFE. A woman relative who lived for two years with the Lincolns, told me that Mr. Lincoln was in the habit of lying on the floor with the back of a chair for a pillow when he read. One evening, when in this position in the hall, a knock was heard at the front door, and, although in his shirt sleeves, he answered the call. Two ladies were at the door, whom he invited into the parlor, notifying them in his open, familiar way, that he would "trot the women folks out." Mrs. Lincoln, from an adjoining room, witnessed the ladies' entrance and, overhearing her husband's jocose expression, her indignation was so instantaneous she made the situation exceedingly interesting for him, and he was glad to retreat from the mansion. He did not return till very late at night, and then slipped quietly in at a rear door. How "ABE" WAS NOMINATED FOR CONGRESS. When Lincoln was an aspirant for Congressional honors the chief interest of the campaign lay in the race between Hardin fiery, eloquent, and impetuous Democrat and Lincoln plain, practical, and ennobled Whig. The world knows the result. Lincoln was elected. It is not so much his election as the manner in which he secured his nomination with which we have to deal. Before that ever-memorable Spring, Lincoln vacillated between the courts of Springfield, rated as a plain, honest, logical Whig, with no ambition higher politically than to occupy some good home office. Late in the Fall of 1842 his name began to be mentioned in connection with Congressional aspirations, which fact greatly annoyed the leaders of his political party, who had already selected as the Whig candidate one Baker, afterward the gallant Colonel who fell so bravely and died such an honorable death on the battlefield of Ball's Bluff in 1862. Despite all efforts of his opponents within his party, the name of the "gaunt rail-splitter" was hailed with acclaim by the masses, to whom he had endeared himself by his witticisms, honest tongue, and quaint philoso- phy when on the stump, or mingling with them in their homes. 43 8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The convention, which met in early Spring, in the city of Springfield, was to be composed of the usual number of delegates. The contest for the nomination was spirited and exciting. A few weeks before the meeting of the convention the fact was found by the leaders that the advantage lay with Lincoln, and that unless they pulled some very fine wires nothing could save Baker. They attempted to play the game that has so often won, by "convinc- ing" delegates under instructions for Lincoln, to violate them, and vote for Baker. They had apparently succeeded. "The plans of mice and men aft gang aglee." So it was in this case. Two days before the convention, Lincoln received an intimation of this, and, late at night, indited the following letter. The letter was addressed to Martin Morris, who resided at Petersburg, an intimate friend of his, and by him circulated among those who were instructed for him at the county convention. It had the desired effect. The convention met, the scheme of the conspirators miscarried, Lincoln was nominated, made a vigorous canvass, and was triumphantly elected, thus paving the way for his more extended and brilliant conquests. This letter, Lincoln had often told his friends, gave him ultimately the Chief Magistracy of the Nation. He has also said, that, had he been beaten before the convention he would have been forever obscured. The following is a verbatim copy of the epistle : "April 14, 1843. "FRIEND MORRIS: I have heard it intimated that Baker is trying to get you or Miles, or both of you, to violate the instructions of the meeting that appointed you, and to go for him. I have insisted, and still insist, that this cannot be true. "Sure Baker would not do the like. As well might Hardin ask me to vote for him in the convention. "Again, it is said there will be an attempt to get instructions in your county requiring you to go for Baker. This is all wrong. Upon the same rule, why might I not fly from the decision against me at Sangamon and get up instructions to their delegates to go for me. There are at least 1,200 Whigs in the county that took no part, and yet I would as soon stick my head in the fire as attempt it. "Besides, if any one should get the nomination by such extraordinary means, all harmony in the district would inevitably be lost. Honest Whigs (and very nearly all of them are honest) would not quietly abide such enormities. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 439 "I repeat, such an attempt on Baker's part cannot be true. Write me at Springfield how the matter is. Don't show or speak of this letter. "A. LINCOLN/' Morris did show the letter, and Lincoln always thanked his stars that he did. LINCOLN'S KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE. Once, pleading a cause, the opposing lawyer had all the advantage of tke law in the case ; the weather was warm,, and his opponent, as was ad- missible in frontier courts, pulled off his coat and vest as he grew warm in the argument. At that time, shirts with the buttons, behind were unusual. Lincoln took in the situation at once. Knowing the prejudices of the primitive people against pretension of all sorts, or any affectation of superior social rank, arising, he said: "Gentlemen of the jury, having justice on my side, I don't think you will be at all influenced by the gentleman's pretended knowledge of the law, when you see he does not even know which side of his shirt should be in front." There was a general laugh, and Lincoln's case was won. LINCOLN DEFENDS A WOMAN PENSIONER. A woman 70 years old, the widow of a Revolution pensioner, told Lincoln that a pension agent had charged her a fee of $200 for collecting her claim. Lincoln was satisfied by her representations that she had been swindled, and, finding that she was not a resident of the town, and that she was poor, gave her money, and set about the work of procuring restitu- tion. He immediately entered suit against the agent to recover a portion of his ill-gotten money. The suit was entirely successful, and Mr. Lin- coln's address to the jury, before which the case was tried, is remembered to have been peculiarly touching, by allusions to the poverty of the widow, and the patriotism of the husband she had sacrificed to secure the Nation's independence. He had the gratification of paying back to her $100, and sent her home rejoicing. "WOULD LIKE TO HAVE IT NICE." Leonard Volk, the artist, relates that, being in Springfield when the nomination was announced, he called upon Mr. Lincoln, whom he found looking radiant. "I exclaimed, 'I am the first man from Chicago, I be- lieve, who has had the honor of congratulating you on your nomination for President.' Then those two great hands took both of mine with a grasp never to be forgotten, and while shaking, I said, 'Now that you will doubt- less be the next President of the United States, I want to make a statue of you, and shall try my best to do you justice.' 440 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "Said he, 'I don't doubt it, for I have come to the conclusion that you are an honest man,' and with that greeting, I thought my hands in a fair way of being crushed. "On the Sunday following, by agreement, I called to make a cast of Mr. Lincoln's hands. I asked him to hold something in his hands, and told him a stick would do. Thereupon he went to the woodshed, and I heard the saw go, and he soon returned to the dining-room, whittling off the end of a piece of broom handle. I remarked to him that he need not whittle off the edges. 'Oh, well/ said he, 'I thought I would like to have it nice.' " LINCOLN'S VISION IN 1860. Lincoln, after hearing of his nomination at Chicago for the Presi- dency, returned home, and, feeling somewhat weary, went upstairs to his wife's sitting-room, and lay down upon a couch in the room directly oppo- site a bureau, upon which was a looking-glass. "As I reclined," said he, "my eye fell upon the glass, and I saw dis- tinctly two images of myself, exactly alike, except that one was a little paler than the other. I arose and lay down again with the same result. It made me quite uncomfortable for a few minutes, but, some friends com- ing in, the matter passed out of my mind. The next day, while walking in the street, I was suddenly reminded of the circumstance, and the dis- agreeable sensation produced by it returned. I had never seen anything of the kind before, and did not know what to make of it. "I determined to go home and place myself in the same position, and, if the same effect was produced, I would make up my mind that it was the natural result of some principle of refraction or optics, which I did not understand, and dismiss it. I tried the experiment, with the same result ; and, as I had said to myself, accounted for it on some principle unknown to me, and it then ceased to trouble me. But the God who works through the laws of Nature, might surely give a sign to me, if one of His chosen servants, even through the operation of a principle in optics." Lincoln remarked to Noah Brooks, one of his most intimate personal friends : "I should be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this footstool if I for one day thought that I could discharge the duties which have come upon me, since I came to this place, without the aid and enlightenment of One who is stronger and wiser than all others." He said on another oc- casion : "I am very sure that if I do not go away from here a wiser man, I shall go away a better man, from having learned here what a very poor sort of a man I am." CHAPTER XXXIV. LINCOLN AS THE CHIEF MAGISTRATE OF THE NATION His ENEMIES BRAND HIM AS A COWARD His SUBSEQUENT CAREER SHOWS HIM THE BRAVEST AND MOST FEARLESS AMONG ALL THE MEN WHO HELD THE DESTINY OF THE REPUBLIC IN THEIR HANDS DISDAINFUL OF THE THREATS OF ASSASSINATION HE PURSUES His WAY IN CALM- NESS AND HEROIC FORTITUDE. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, was obliged to enter Washington as a thief in the night, and his enemies rejoiced for the reason that they deemed him a physical and a moral coward. How far they were wrong in their estimate of him time was to show. Never a more courageous man than Abraham Lincoln was ever born. Surrounded on all sides by enemies he was calm and collected. When he delivered his inaugural address there was no quaver in his voice. He knew that he was in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and yet he did not falter. At any moment an assassin, safely hidden in secur- ity, might have taken his life, and yet he was not alarmed. He was buoyed up by his sense of duty and the responsibility devolved upon him. General John A. Logan and Mr. Lovejoy, of Illinois, called upon Mr. Lincoln at Willard's Hotel, Washington, February 23, the morning of his arrival, and urged a vigorous, firm policy. Patiently listening, the President replied seriously but cheerfully, "As the country has placed me at the helm of the ship, I'll try to steer her through." Soon after Mr. Lincoln began his administration, a distinguished South Carolina lady, the widow of a Northern scholar, called upon him out of curiosity. She was very proud and aristocratic, and was anxious to see this monstrosity, as he had been represented. Upon being presented she hissed in the President's ear : "I am a South Carolinian." The President, taking in the situation, was at once courteous and dig- nified. After a pleasant conversation, she said : "Why, Mr. Lincoln, you look, act, 'and speak like a kind, good-hearted, generous man." "And did you 441 442 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. expect to meet a savage?" said he. "Certainly I did, or even something worse. I am glad I have met you, and now the best way to preserve peace is for you to go to Charleston, and show the people what you are, and tell the people you have no intention of injuring them." The lady attended the first levee after the inauguration. LINCOLN'S UNCONVENTIONALITY IN THE WHITE HOUSE. Mr. Lincoln's habits at the White House were as simple as they were at his old home in Illinois. He never alluded to himself as "President," or as occupying "the Presidency." His office he always designated as "the place." "Call me Lincoln," said he to a friend ; "Mr. President" had become so very tiresome to him. "If you see a newsboy down the street, send him up this way," said he to a passenger, as he stood waiting for the morning news at his gate. Friends cautioned him about exposing himself so openly in the midst of enemies ; but he never heeded them. He frequently walked the streets at night, entirely unprotected ; and felt any check upon his movements a great annoyance. He delighted to see his familiar Western friends ; and he gave them always a cordial welcome. He met them on the old footing, and fell at once into the accustomed habits of talk and story-telling. An old acquaintance, with his wife, visited Washington. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln proposed to these friends a ride in the Presidential carriage. It should be stated in advance that the two men had probably never seen each other with gloves on in their lives, unless when they were used as protection from the cold. The question of each Mr. Lincoln at the White House, and his friend at the hotel was, whether he should wear gloves. Of course the ladies urged gloves ; but Mr. Lincoln only put his in his pocket, to be used or not, according to the circumstances. When the Presidential party arrived at the hotel, to take in their friends, they found the gentleman, overcome by his wife's persuasions, very handsomely gloved. The moment he took his seat he began to draw off the clinging kids, while Mr. Lincoln began to draw his on ! "No! no! no!" protested his friend, tugging at his gloves. "It is none of my doings ; put up your gloves, Mr. Lincoln." So the two old friends were on even and easy terms, and had their ride after their old fashion. An amusing, yet touching, instance of the President's preoccupation The Execution of Booth's Accomplices Samuel AtzerotK One of Booth's Accomplices The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln Escape of Booth, the Assassin John Wilkes Booth. President Lincoln's Assassin ABRA.HAM LINCOLN. 443 of mind occurred at one of his levees when he was shaking hands with a host of visitors passing him in a continuous stream. An intimate acquaint- ance received the usual conventional handshake and salutation, but per- ceiving that he was not recognized, kept his ground instead of moving on, and spoke again ; when the President, roused to a dim consciousness that something unusual had happened, perceived who stood before him, and, seizing his friend's hand, shook it again heartily, saying : "How do you do? How do you do? Excuse me for not noticing you. I was thinking of a man down South." He afterwards privately acknowledged that the "man down South" was Sherman, then on his march to the sea. STANTON WAS A VALUABLE MAN. Dennis Hanks was once asked to visit Washington to secure the pardon of certain persons in jail for participation in copperheadism. Den- nis went and arrived in Washington, and instead of going, as he said, to a "tavern," he went to the White House. There was a porter on guard, and he asked : "Is Abe in?" "Do you mean Mr. Lincoln ?" asked the porter. "Yes ; is he in there ?" and brushing the porter aside he strode into the room and said, "Hello, Abe ; how are you ?" And Abe said, "Well!" and just gathered him up in his arms and talked of the days gone by. Oh, the days gone by ! They talked of their boyhood days, and by and by Lincoln said : "What brings you here all the way from Illinois ?" And then Dennfs told him his mission, and Lincoln replied : "I will grant it, Dennis, for old-times' sake. I will send for Mr. Stanton. It is his business." Stanton came into the room, and strolled up and down, and said that the men ought to be punished more than they were. Mr. Lincoln sat quietly in his chair and waited for the tempest to subside, and then quietly said to Stanton he would like to have the papers next day. When he had gone Dennis said : "Abe, if I was as big and as ugly as you are, I would take him over my knee and spank him." Lincoln replied: "No, Stanton is an able and valuable man for this nation, and I am glad to bear his anger for the service he can give this nation." 444 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. ANYTHING BUT A BED OF ROSES. An old and intimate friend from Springfield called on the President and found him much depressed. The President was reclining on a sofa, but rising suddenly, he said to his friend : "You know better than any man living that from my boyhood up my ambition was to be President. I am President of one part of this divided country at least; but look at me! Oh, I wish I had never been born ! I've a white elephant on my hands, one hard to manage. With a fire in my front and rear to contend with, the jealousies of military commanders, and not receiving the cordial co-operative support from Congress that could reasonably be expected with .an active and formidable enemy in the field threatening the very life-blood of the Government, my position is anything but a bed of roses." LINCOLN'S STORY ABOUT His HAIR. "By the way," said Mr. Lincoln to Colonel Cannon, "I can tell you a good story about my hair. When I was nominated at Chicago, an enterprising fellow thought that a great many people would like to see how Abe Lincoln looked, and, as I had not long before sat for a photo- graph, the fellow, having seen it, rushed over and bought the negative. "He at once got no end of wood-cuts, and so active was their circu- lation they were soon selling in all parts of the country. "Soon after they reached Springfield. I heard a boy crying them for sale on the streets. 'Here's your likeness of Abe Lincoln!' he shouted. 'Buy one, price only two shillings ! Will look a great deal better when he gets his hair combed !' " "On, PA ! HE'S JUST BEAUTIFUL !" Lincoln's great love for children easily won their confidence. A little girl, who had been told that the President was very homely, was taken by her father to see the President at the White House. Lincoln took her upon his knee and chatted with her for a moment in his merry way, when , she turned to her father and exclaimed: "Oh, Pa ! he isn't ugly at all ; he's just beautiful !" LINCOLN'S SIMPLICITY IN HOME LIFE. Mr. Jeriah Bonham describes a visit that he paid Mr. Lincoln at his ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 445 room in the State House, where he found him quite alone except that two of his children, one of whom was Tad, were with him. The door was open. We walked in and were at once recognized and seated the two boys still continuing their play about the room. Tad was spinning his top ; and Mr. Lincoln, as we entered, had just finished adjusting the string for him so as to give the top the greatest degree of force. He remarked that he was having a little fun with the boys. At another time, at Lincoln's residence, Tad came into the room, and putting his hand to his mouth, and his mouth to his father's ear, said in a boy's whisper, "Ma says come to supper." All heard the announcement, and Mr. Lincoln, perceiving this, said : "You have heard, gentlemen, the announcement concerning the interesting state of things in the dining-room. It will never do for me, if elected, to make this young man a member of my cabinet, for it is plain he cannot be trusted with secrets of state." LINCOLN'S GREAT LOVE FOR LITTLE "TAD." No matter who was with the President, or how intently absorbed, his little son "Tad" was always welcome. He almost always accompanied his father. Once, on the way to Fortress Monroe, he became very trouble- some. The President was much engaged in conversation with the party who accompanied him, and he at length said : " Tad,' if you will be a good boy, and not disturb me any more until we get to Fortress Monroe, I will give you -a dollar." The hope of reward was effectual for a while in securing silence, but, boy-like, "Tad" soon forgot his promise, and was as noisy as ever. Upon reaching their destination, however, he said, very promptly, "Father, I want my dollar." Mr. Lincoln looked at him half-reproachfully for an instant, and then taking from his pocketbook a dollar note, he said : "Well, my son, at any rate, I will keep my part of the bargain." While paying a visit to Commodore Porter, of Fortress Monroe, on one occasion, an incident occurred, subsequently related by Lieutenant Braine, one of the officers on board the flag-ship, to the Rev. Dr. Ewer, of New York. Noticing that the banks of the river were dotted with spring blossoms, the President said, with the manner of one asking a special favor: "Commodore, 'Tad' is very fond of flowers ; won't you let a couple of 446 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. your men take a boat and go with him for an hour or two along the shore, and gather a few ? It will be a great gratification to him." DEATH OF LINCOLN'S SON WILLIE. In February, 1862, Mr. Lincoln was visited by a severe affliction in the death of his beautiful son, Willie, and the extreme illness of his son Thomas, familiarly called "Tad." This was a new burden, and the visi- tation which, in his firm faith in Providence, he regarded as providential, was also inexplicable. A Christian lady from Massachusetts, who was officiating as nurse in one of the hospitals at the time, came to attend the sick children. She reports that Mr. Lincoln watched with her about the bedside of the sick ones, and that he often walked the room, saying sadly : "This is the hardest trial of my life ; why is it ? Why is it ?" In the course of conversation with her, he questioned her concerning her situation. She told him that she was a widow, and that her husband and two children were in Heaven; and added that she saw the hand of God in it all, and that she had never loved him so much before as she had since her affliction. "How is that brought about ?" inquired Mr. Lincoln. "Simply by trusting in God and feeling that he does all things well," she replied. "Did you submit fully under the first loss ?" he asked. "No," she answered, "not wholly ; but, as blow came upon blow, and all were taken, I could and did submit, and was very happy." He responded: "I am glad to hear you say that. Your experi- ence will help me to bear my affliction." "It was during the dark days of 1863," says Schuyler Colfax, "on the evening of a public reception given at the White House. The foreign legations were there gathered about the President. "A young English nobleman was just being presented to the Presi- dent. Inside the door, evidently overawed by the splendid assemblage, was an honest-faced old farmer, who shrank from the passing crowd until he and the plain-faced old lady clinging to his arm were pressed back to the wall. "The President, tall, and, in a measure, stately in his personal pres- ence, looking over the heads of the assembly, said to the English noble- man : 'Excuse me, my Lord, there's an old friend of mine.' "Passing backward to the door, Mr. Lincoln said, as he grasped the old farmer's hand : ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 447 " 'Why, John, I'm glad to see you. I haven't seen you since you and I made rails for old Mrs. , in Sangamon County, in 1837. How are you ?' "The old man turned to his wife with quivering lip, and without re- plying to the President's salutation, said : " 'Mother, he's just the same old Abe!' " 'Mr. Lincoln,' he said finally, 'you know we had three boys ; they all enlisted in the same company; John was killed in the "seven-days' fight"; Sam was taken prisoner and starved to death, and Henry is in the hospital. We had a little money, an' I said, "Mother, we'll go to Washington and see him. An' while we were here," I said, "we'll go up and see the President." ' "Mr. Lincoln's eyes grew dim, and across his rugged, homely, tender face swept the wave of sadness his friends had learned to know, and he said: " 'John, we all hope this miserable war will soon be over. I must see all these folks here for an hour or so, and I want to talk with you.' The old lady and her husband were hustled into a private room, in spite of their protests." "TIME LOST DON'T COUNT/' Mr. Weed, the veteran journalist and politician, relates how, when he was opposing the claims of Montgomery Blair, who aspired to a Cab- inet appointment, when Mr. Lincoln inquired of Mr. Weed whom he would recommend, "Henry Winter Davis," was the response. "David Davis, I see, has been posting you up on this question," retorted Lincoln. "He has Davis on the brain. I think Maryland must be a good State to move from." The President then told a story of a witness in court in a neigh- boring county, who, on being asked his age, replied, "Sixty." Being satisfied he was much older the question was repeated, and on receiving the same answer the court admonished the witness, saying, "The court knows you to be much older than sixty." "Oh, I understand now," was the rejoinder, "you're thinking of those ten years I spent on the eastern shore of Maryland; that was so much time lost, and didn't count." A CABINET RECONSTRUCTION INCIDENT. The President had decided to select a new war minister, and the leading Republican Senators thought the occasion was opportune to change the whole seven Cabinet ministers. They, therefore, earnestly advised 44 8 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. him to make a clean sweep, and select seven new men, and so restore the waning confidence of the country. The President listened with patient courtesy, and when the Senators had concluded he said, with a charac- teristic gleam of humor in his eye : "Gentlemen, your request for a change of the whole Cabinet because I have made one change, reminds me of a story I once heard in Illinois, of a farmer who was much troubled by skunks. His wife insisted on his trying to get rid of them. He loaded his shotgun one moonlight night and awaited developments. After some time the wife heard the shotgun go off, and, in a few minutes, the farmer entered the house. 'What luck have you?' said she. 'I hid myself behind the wood-pile,' said the old man, 'with the shotgun pointed towards the hen roost, and before long there appeared not one skunk, but seven. I took aim, blazed away, killed one, and he raised such a fearful smell that I concluded it was best to let the other six go.' " The Senators laughed and retired. WAS ALL RIGHT, BUT A CHRONIC SQUEALER. One of the Northern Governors was able, earnest, and untiring in aiding the administration, but always complaining. After reading all his papers, the President said, in a cheerful and reassuring tone : "Never mind, never mind; those dispatches don't mean anything. Just go right ahead. The Governor is like a boy I saw once at a launch- ing. When everything was ready, they picked out a boy and sent him under the ship to knock away the trigger and let her go. At the critical moment everything depended on the boy. He had to do the job well by a direct, vigorous blow, and then lie flat and keep still while the boat slid over him. "The boy did everything right, but he yelled as if he were being mur- dered from the time he got under the keel until he got out. I thought the hide was all scraped off his back ; but he wasn't hurt at all. "The master of the yard told me that this boy was always chosen for that job, that he did his work well, that he never had been hurt, but that he always squealed 'in that way. That's just the way with Governor . Make up your mind that he is not hurt, and that he is doing the work right, and pay no attention to his squealing. He only wants to make you understand how hard his task is, and that he is on hand performing it." ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 449 SAID LINCOLN WAS A D D FOOL. Mr. Lovejoy, heading a committee of Western men, discussed an important scheme with the President, and was then directed to explain it to Secretary Stanton. Upon presenting themselves to the Secretary, and showing the President's order, the Secretary said, "Did Lincoln give you an order of that kind ?" "He did, sir." "Then he is a d d fool," said the angry Secretary. "Do you mean to say that the President is a d d fool ?" asked Lovejoy, in amazement. "Yes, sir, if he gave you such an order as that." The bewildered Illinoisan betook himself at once to the President and related the result of the conference. "Did Stanton say I was a d d fool?" asked Lincoln, at the close of the recital. "He did, sir, and repeated it." After a moment's pause, and looking up, the President said: "If Stanton said I was a d d fool, then I must be one, for he is nearly always right, and generally says what he means. I will slip over and see him." ONE MAN JUST AS GOOD AS ANOTHER. Secretary Chase, when Secretary of the Treasury, had a disagree- ment, and the Secretary had resigned. The President was urged not to accept it, as "Secretary Chase is today a national necessity," his advisers said. "How mistaken you are!" he quietly observed. "Yet it is not strange ; I used to have similar notions. No ! if we should all be turned out tomorrow, and could come back here in a week, we should find our places filled by a lot of fellows doing just as well as we did, and in many instances better. "As the Irishman said, 'In this country one man is as good as another ; and, for the matter of that, very often a great deal better.' No ; this Government does not depend upon the life of any man." DID ANNA SEE HIM WINK? Noah Brooks, in his "Reminiscences," relates the following incident : While the ceremonies of the second inauguration were in progress, just as Lincoln stepped forward to take the oath of office, the sun, which had been obscured by rain-clouds, burst in splendor. In conversation the next day, the President asked : "Did you notice that sun-burst? It made my heart jump." 450 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Later in the month, Miss Anna Dickinson, in a lecture delivered in the hall of the House of Representatives, eloquently alluded to the sun- burst as a happy omen. The President sat directly in front of the speaker, and from the reporters' gallery, behind her, I had caught his eye, soon after he sat down. When Miss Dickinson referred to the sun-beam, he looked up to me, involuntarily, and I thought his eyes were suffused with moisture. Perhaps they were ; but the next day he said : "I wonder if Miss Dickinson saw me wink at you ?" "BUT THEN HERE I AM!" An old acquaintance of the President visited him in Washington. Lincoln desired to give him a place. Thus encouraged, the visitor, who was an honest man, but wholly inexperienced in public affairs or business, asked for a high office, Superintendent of the Mint. The President was aghast, and said : "Good gracious ! Why didn't he ask to be Secretary of the Treasury, and have done with it?" Afterwards, he said: "Well, now, I never thought Mr. had anything more than average ability, when we were young men together. But, then, I suppose he thought the same thing about me, and here I am!" "AARON GOT His COMMISSION, You KNOW/' President Lincoln was censured for appointing to office a man who had zealously opposed his second term. He replied: "Well, I suppose Judge E., having been disappointed before, did behave pretty ugly, but that wouldn't make him any less fit for the place ; and I think I have Scriptural authority for appointing him. "You remember when the Lord was on Mount Sinai getting out a commission for Aaron, that same Aaron was at the foot of the mountain making a false god for the people to worship. Yet Aaron got his com- mission, you know." CHAPTER XXXV. LINCOLN DURING THE WAR OF THE REBELLION A MAN OF SENTIMEN- TALITY AND DEEP FEELING SATISFIED WITH THE WAY GENERAL GRANT DID THINGS THE DUTCH GAP CANAL THE PRESIDENT'S BELIEF IN THE EFFICIENCY OF THE MONITOR His ABSENCE OF FEAR REGARDING ASSASSINATION. During the progress of the War of the Rebellion 1861-65 Presi- dent Lincoln, as Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, was in active control of affairs. Yet he did not obnoxiously obtrude with his authority, although in instances like the failure of Gen- eral McClellan to take Richmond when he was within twelve miles of the Confederate Capital he would have been justified in interfering. When General Grant came upon the scene it was different. Grant was a man who knew his business, and his commander appreciated the fact. "I like this man Grant; he fights!" said Lincoln to those who sought the removal and downfall of the grim and silent soldier who never lost a battle. Grant was everything within himself. He did not let the President nor anyone else know what he proposed to do, but Lincoln was not dis- pleased because of this. On the contrary, he was contented and satis- fied. On the 3Oth of April, 1864, after Grant had been commissioned Lieutenant General and Commander of all the Armies of the Union, the President wrote him the following letter : "EXECUTIVE MANSION, Washington, April 30, 1864. "Lieutenant General Grant : "Not expecting to see you before the spring campaign opens, I wish to express in this way my entire satisfaction with what you have done up to this time, so far as I understand it. "The particulars of your plan I neither know, nor seek to know. You are vigilant and self-reliant, and, pleased with this, I wish not to obtrude any restraints or constraints upon you. "While I am very anxious that any great disaster, or capture of our men in great numbers, shall be avoided, I know that these points are less likely to escape your attention than they would be mine. 451 452 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "If there be anything wanting, which is within my power to give, do not fail to let me know it. "And now, with a brave army and a just cause, may God sustain you. "Yours very truly, "ABRAHAM LINCOLN." Grant had his own way after that. AFRAID OF THE DUTCH GAP CANAL. The President, in company with General Grant, was inspecting the Dutch Gap Canal at City Point. His opinion of the success of the enterprise he made known to Gen- eral Grant in his usual manner. "Grant, do you know what this reminds me of ? Out in Springfield, 111., there was a blacksmith named . One day, not having much to do, he took a piece of soft iron, and attempted to weld it into an agri- cultural implement, but discovered that the iron would not hold out ; then he concluded it would make a claw hammer; but having too much iron attempted to make an ax, but decided after working a while that there was not enough iron left. "Finally, becoming disgusted, he filled the forge full of coal and brought the iron to a white heat ; then with his tongs he lifted it from the bed of coals, and thrusting it into a tub of water near by, exclaimed with an oath, 'Well, if I can't make anything else of you, I will make a fizzle anyhow.' "I was afraid that was about what we had done with the Dutch Gap Canal." NOT SATISFIED WITH GENERAL MCCLELLAN. President Lincoln was not satisfied with General McClellan as a fighting man. At one time he said : "General McClellan is a pleasant and scholarly gentleman. "He is an admirable military engineer, but he seems to have a special talent for a stationary engine." The President had no fault of this sort to find with General Grant. THE PRESIDENT AND THE MONITOR. The President expressed his belief in the Monitor, to Captain Fox, the adviser of Captain Ericsson, who constructed the Monitor. "I am not prepared for disastrous results, why should I be ? We have three of the ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 453 most effective vessels in Hampton Roads, and any number of small craft that will hang on the stern of the Merrimac like small dogs on the haunches of a bear. They may not be able to tear her down, but they will interfere with the comfort of her voyage. Her trial trip will not be a pleasure trip, I am certain. "We have had a big share of bad luck already, but I do not believe the future has any such misfortunes in store for us as you anticipate." Said Captain Fox : "If the Merrimac does not sink our ships, who is to prevent her from dropping her anchor in the Potomac, where that steamer lies ?" pointing to a steamer at anchor below the long bridge, "and throw- ing her hundred-pound shells into this room, or battering down the walls of the Capitol?" "The Almighty, Captain," answered the President, excitedly, but without the least affectation. "I expect set-backs, defeats ; we have had them and shall have them. They are common to all wars. But I have not the slightest fear of any result which shall fatally impair our military and naval strength, or give other powers any right to interfere in our quarrel. The destruction of the Capitol would do both. "I do not fear it, for this is God's fight, and He will win it in His own good time. He will take care that our enemies will not push us too far. "Speaking of iron-clads," said the President, "you do not seem to take the little Monitor into account. I believe in the Monitor and her commander. If Captain Worden does not give a good account of the Monitor and of himself, I shall have made a mistake in following my judgment for the first time since I have been here, Captain. I have not made a mistake in following my clear judgment of men since this war began. I have followed that judgment when I gave Worden the com- mand of the Monitor. I would make the appointment over again today. The Monitor should be in Hampton Roads now. She left New York eight days ago." After the captain had again presented what he con- sidered the possibilities of failure, the President replied, "No, no, Captain, I respect your judgment, as you have reason to know, but this time you are all wrong. "The Monitor was one of my inspirations; I believed in her firmly when that energetic contractor first showed me Ericsson's plans. Captain Ericsson's plain but rather enthusiastic demonstration made my conver- sion permanent. It was called a floating battery then ; I called it a raft. I caught some of the inventor's enthusiasm, and it has been growing upon me. I thought then, and I am confident now, it is just what we want. I am sure that the Monitor is still afloat, and that she will yet give a good 454 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. account of herself. Sometimes I think she may be the veritable sling with a stone that will yet smite the Merrimac Philistine in the forehead." Soon was the President's judgment verified, for the "Fight of the Monitor and Merrimac" changed all the conditions of naval warfare. After the victory was gained, the presiding Captain Fox and others went on board the Monitor, and Captain Worden was requested by the President to narrate the history of the encounter. Captain Worden did so in a modest manner, and apologized for not being able to better provide for his guests. The President smilingly re- sponded: "Some uncharitable people say that old Bourbon is an indis- pensable element in the fighting qualities of some of our generals in the field, but, Captain, after the account that we have heard today, no one will say that any Dutch courage is needed on board the Monitor." "It never has been, sir," modestly observed the captain. Captain Fox then gave a description of what he saw of the engage- ment and described it as indescribably grand. Then, turning to the Presi- dent, he continued, "Now, standing here on the deck of this battle-scarred vessel, the first genuine iron-clad the victor in the first fight of iron- clads let me make a confession, and perform an act of simple justice. "I never fully believed in armored vessels until I saw this battle. "I know all the facts which united to give us the Monitor. I with- hold no credit from Captain Ericsson, her inventor, but I know that the country is principally indebted for the construction of the vessel to Presi- dent Lincoln, and for the success of her trial to Captain Worden, her commander." HOOD'S USEFULNESS WAS GONE. When Hood's army had been scattered into fragments, Lincoln, elated by the defeat of what had so long been a menacing force on the borders of Tennessee, was reminded by its collapse of the fate of a savage dog belong- ing to one of his neighbors in the frontier settlements in which he lived in his youth. "The dog," he said, "was the terror of the neighborhood, and its owner, a churlish and quarrelsome fellow, took pleasure in the brute's forci- ble attitude. Finally, all other means having failed to subdue the crea- ture, a man loaded a lump of meat with a charge of powder, to which was attached a slow fuse ; this was dropped where the dreaded dog would find it, and the animal gulped down the tempting bit. "There was a dull rumbling, a muffled explosion, and fragments of the dog were seen flying in every direction. The grieved owner, picking ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 455 up the shattered remains of his cruel favorite, said : 'He was a good dog, but as a dog, his days of usefulness are over.' "Hood's army was a good army," said Lincoln, by way of comment, "and we were all afraid of it, but as an army, its usefulness is gone." WANTED A BARREL FOR EACH GENERAL. Just previous to the fall of Vicksburg a self-constituted committee, solicitous for the morals of our armies, took it upon themselves to visit the President and urge the removal of General Grant. In some surprise Mr. Lincoln inquired, "For what reason?" "Why," replied the spokesman, "he drinks too much whisky." "Ah!" rejoined Mr. Lincoln, dropping his lower lip, "by the way, gentlemen, can either of you tell me where General Grant procures his whisky? Because, if I can find out, I will send every general in the field a barrel of it!" ONE YOUNG ONE ACCOUNTED FOR. Burnside was shut up in Konxville, Tenn., for a time, and there was great solicitude all over the country on his account, as his communica- tions with the North were temporarily cut off. One day Washington was startled. The long silence concerning Burnside's movements was broken by an urgent call from him for succor. Lincoln, relieved by the news that Burnside was safe, at least, said that he was reminded of a woman who lived in a forest clearing in Indi- ana, her cabin surrounded by hazel bushes, in which some of her numer- ous flock of children were continually being lost; when she heard a squall from one of these in the distance, although she knew that the child was in danger, perhaps frightened by a rattlesnake, she would say, "Thank God ! there's one of my young ones that isn't lost." WAS WILLING TO LET OLD JEFF Go. When Grant saw that Lee must soon capitulate, Grant asked the President whether he should try to capture Jeff Davis, or let him escape from the country if he would. The President said : "About that, I told him the story of an Irishman, who had the pledge of Father Matthew. He became terrible thirsty, and applied to the bartender for a lemonade, and while it was being prepared he whis- pered to him, 'And couldn't ye put a little brandy in it all unbeknown to myself?' "I told Grant if he could let Jeff Davis escape all unbeknown to himself, to let him go, I didn't want him." 456 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. WAS NOT AFRAID OF BEING ASSASSINATED. The President, one day, said philosophically, "I long ago made up my mind that if anybody wants to kill me, he will do it. Besides, in this case, it seems to me, the man who would succeed me, would be just as objectionable to my enemies if I have any." One dark night, as he was going out with a friend, he took along a heavy cane, remarking good-naturedly: " 'Mother' (Mrs. Lincoln) has got a notion into her head that I shall be assassinated, and to please her I take the cane when I go over to the War Department at night when I don't forget it." Mr. Nichols relates this thrilling incident : "One night I was doing sentinel duty, at the entrance to the Soldier's Home. This was about the middle of August, 1864. About eleven o'clock I heard a rifle shot, in the direction of the city, and shortly afterwards I heard approaching hoof beats. In two or three minutes a horse came dashing up. I recog- nized the belated President. The President was bareheaded. The Presi- dent simply thought that his horse had taken fright at the discharge of the firearms. "On going back to the place where the shot had been heard, we found the President's hat. It was a plain silk hat, and upon examina- tion we discovered a bullet hole through the crown. "The next day, upon receiving the hat, the President remarked that it was made by some foolish marksman, and was not intended for him; but added, that he wished nothing said about the matter." PASSES TO RICHMOND NOT HONORED. A gentleman called upon President Lincoln before the fall of Rich- mond and solicited a pass for that place. "I should be very happy to oblige you," said the President, "if my passes were respected ; but the fact is, I have, within the past two years, given passes to two hundred and fifty thousand men to go to Richmond and not one has got there yet." WAS SORRY TO LOSE THE HORSES. When President Lincoln heard of the rebel raid at Fairfax, in which a Brigadier General and a number of valuable horses were cap- tured, he gravely observed: "Well, I am sorry for the horses." "Sorry for the horses, Mr. President!" exclaimed the Secretary of ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 457 War, raising his spectacles and throwing himself back in his chair in astonishment. "Yes," replied Mr. Lincoln, "I can make a Brigadier General in five minutes, but it is not easy to replace a hundred and ten horses." CHARLES CERTAINLY LOST His HEAD. Jefferson Davis, it appears, insisted on being recognized as a com- mander or President in the regular negotiation with the Government. This Mr. Lincoln would not consent to. Mr. Hunter hereupon referred to the correspondence between King Charles the First and his Parliament as a precedent for a negotiation between a constitutional ruler and rebels. Mr. Lincoln's face then wore that indescribable expression which generally preceded his hardest hits, and he remarked: "Upon questions of history, I must refer you to Mr. Seward, for he is posted on such things, and I don't profess to be; but my only distinct recollection of the matter is, that Charles lost his head." CHAPTER XXXVI. LINCOLN'S SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS ON MARCH 4TH, 1865 THE LAST SPEECH MADE BY THE MARTYR PRESIDENT, IN RESPONSE TO A SERENADE, BEFORE His ASSASSINATION TEXT OF His IMMORTAL ADDRESS ON THE BATTLEFIELD OF GETTYSBURG. President Lincoln's second inaugural address, delivered March 4th, 1865, is celebrated for the tone of kindliness and charity which pervades it : "FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN : At this second appearing to take the oath of the Presidential office, there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then, a statement somewhat in detail of a course to be pursued seemed very fitting and proper. Now, at the expi- ration of four years, during which public declarations have been con- stantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented. "The progress of our arms, upon which all else chiefly depends, is as well known to the public as to myself ; and it is, I trust, reasonably satis- factory and encouraging to all. With high hope for the future, no pre- diction in regard to it is ventured. "On the occasion corresponding to this four years ago, all thoughts were anxiously directed to an impending civil war. All dreaded it ; all sought to avoid it. While the inaugural address was being delivered from this place, devoted altogether to save the Union without war, insur- gent agents were in the city seeking to destroy it without war seeking to dissolve the Union and divide the effects by negotiation. Both parties deprecated war; but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish ; and the war came. "One-eighth of the whole population were colored slaves, not dis- tributed generally over the Union, but localized in the southern part of it. These slaves constituted a peculiar and powerful interest. All knew that this interest was somehow the cause of the war. To strengthen, perpetuate and extend this interest, was the object for which the insur- 458 Louis Pa.yne Boston Corbett Ford's Thea.tre a.t Washington The Home of Mrs. Surra-tt M .2 J5 Z u 4) X U ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 463 gents would rend the Union even by war, while the Government claimed no right to do more than to restrict the territorial enlargement of it. "Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself would cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. "Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God. and each invokes his aid against the other. It may seem strange that any man should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces ; but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. 'Woe unto the world because of offenses, for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh.' If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of these offenses, which in the Providence of God must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may soon pass away. Yet if God wills that it continue until the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unre- quited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn by the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thou- sand years ago, so still it must be said, that 'the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.' "With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and orphans, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations." THE LAST SPEECH OF PRESIDENT LINCOLN. The last speech ever made by President Lincoln was on the night of April 1 5th, 1865, three days before his assassination. It was in re- 4 6 4 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. sponse to a serenade at the White House, in rejoicing over the virtual close of the war: "FELLOW-CITIZENS: We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart. The evacuation of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace whose joyous expression cannot be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all blessings flow must not be forgotten. A call for a national thanksgiving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated. Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing be overlooked. "Their honors must not be parceled out with the others. I myself was near the front, and had the high pleasure of transmitting much of the good news to you; but no part of the honor, for plan or execution, is mine. To General Grant, his skillful officers and brave men, all be- longs. The gallant navy stood ready, but was not in reach to take active part. "By these recent successes, the re-inauguration of the national au- thority, reconstruction, which has had a large share of thought from the first, is pressed much more closely upon our attention. It is fraught with great difficulty. Unlike the case of a war between independent nations, there is no authorized organ for us to treat with. No man has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man. We simply must begin with and mold from disorganized and discordant elements. Nor is it a small additional embarrassment that we, the loyal people, differ among our- selves as to the mode, manner and means of reconstruction. "As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I cannot properly offer an answer. In spite of this precaution, however, it comes to my knowl- edge that I am much censured from some supposed agency in setting up and seeking to sustain the new State Government of Louisiana. In this I have done just so much, and no more, than the public knows. In the annual message of December, 1863, and accompanying proclamation, I presented a plan of reconstruction (as the phrase goes) which I prom- ised, if adopted by any State, should be acceptable to, and sustained by, the Executive Government of the nation. "I distinctly stated that this was not the only plan which might possibly be acceptable ; and I also distinctly protested that the Executive claimed no right to say when or whether members should be admitted to seats in Congress from such States. This plan was, in advance, sub- mitted to the then Cabinet, and distinctly approved by every member of ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 465 it. One of them suggested that I should then, and in that connection, apply the Emancipation Proclamation to the heretofore excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana; that I should drop the suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people, and that I should omit the protest against my own power, in regard to the admission of members of Congress, but even he approved every part and parcel of the plan which has since been employed or touched by the actions of Louisiana. "The new Constitution of Louisiana, declaring emancipation for the whole State, practically applies the proclamation to the part previously excepted. It does not adopt apprenticeship to freed people, and it is silent, as it could not well be otherwise, about the admission of members of Congress. So that, as it applies to Louisiana, every member of the Cabinet fully approved the plan. "The message went to Congress, and I received many commenda- tions of the plan, written and verbal; and not a single objection to it, from any professed emancipationist, came to my knowledge, until after the news reached Washington that the people of Louisiana had begun to move in accordance with it. From about July, 1862, I had corre- sponded with different persons supposed to be interested, seeking a recon- struction of a State Government for Louisiana. "When the message of 1863, with the plan before mentioned, reached New Orleans, General Banks wrote me he was confident that the people, with his military co-operation, would reconstruct substantially on that plan. I wrote him, and some of them, to try it. They tried it, and the result is known. Such only has been my agency in getting up the Louisi- ana Government. As to sustaining it, my promise is out, as before stated. BAD PROMISES ARE BETTER BROKEN. "But, as bad promises are better broken than kept, I shall treat this as a bad promise, and break it, whenever I shall be convinced that keep- ing it is adverse to the public interest. But I have not yet been so con- vinced. "I have been shown a letter on this subject, supposed to be an able one, in which the writer expresses regret that my mind has not seemed to be definitely fixed on the question whether the seceded States, so called, are in the Union or out of it. It would, perhaps, add astonish- ment to his regret to learn that, since I have found professed Union men endeavoring to make that question, I have purposely forborne any public expression upon it 466 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "As appears to me, that question has not been, nor yet is, a practi- cally material one, and that any discussion of it, while it thus remains practically immaterial, could have no effect other than the mischievous one of dividing our friends. "As yet, whatever 'it may hereafter become, that question is bad, as the basis of a controversy, and good for nothing at all a merely per- nicious abstraction. We all agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of their proper relation to the Union, and that the sole object of the Government, civil and military, in regard to those States, is to again get them into their proper practical relation. I believe it is not only possible, but, in fact, easier to do this without deciding, or even considering, whether these States have ever been out of the Union, than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had ever been abroad. "Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restoring the proper practical relations between these States and the Union, and each forever after innocently indulge his own opinion whether, in doing the acts, he brought the States from without into the Union, or only gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it. "The amount of constituency, so to speak, on which the new Louisiana Government rests would be more satisfactory to all if it contained fifty, thirty, or even twenty thousand, as it really does. It is also unsatisfac- tory to some that the election franchise is not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent and those who serve our cause as soldiers. Still, the question is not whether the Louisiana Government, as it stands, is quite all that is desira- ble. The question is, 'Will it be wiser to take is as it is, or to reject and disperse it ?' "Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or discarding the new State Government? "Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore Slave State of Lou- isiana have sworn allegiance to the Union, assumed to be the rightful political power of the State, held elections, organized a State Govern- ment, adopted a Free State constitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to black and white, and empowering the Legislature to confer elective franchise upon the colored man. The Legislature has already voted to ratify the Constitutional amendment passed by Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the nation. "These twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the Un- ion and to perpetual freedom in the States committed to the very things, ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 467 and nearly all the things, the nation wants and they ask the nation's recognition and its assistance to make good that committal. MUST NEITHER REJECT NOR SPURN THEM. "Now, if we reject and spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We, in effect, say to the white men : 'You are worth- less, or worse ; we will neither help you, nor be helped by you.' To the blacks we say: 'This cup of liberty which these, your old masters, hold to your lips, we will dash from you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and undefined when, where and how.' "If this course, discouraging and paralyzing both white and black, has any tendency to bring Louisiana into proper practical relations with the Union, I have, so far, been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we recognize and sustain the new government of Louisiana, the converse of all this is made true. "We encourage the hearts and nerve the arms of the twelve thousand to adhere to their work, and argue for it, and proselyte for it, fight for it, and feed it, and grow it and ripen it to a complete success. The colored man, too, seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance, and energy, and daring the same end. Grant that he desires elective franchise, will he not obtain it sooner by saving the already advanced steps towards it, than by running backward over them? Concede that the new govern- ment of Louisiana is only as to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smash- ing it. [Laughter.] "Again, if we reject Louisiana, we also reject one vote in favor of the proposed amendment to the National Constitution. To meet this proposition, it has been argued that no more than three- fourths of those States which have not attempted secession are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I do not commit myself against this, further than to say that such a ratification would be questionable, and sure to be persist- ently questioned, while ratification by three-fourths of all the States would be unquestioned and unquestionable. "I repeat the question : 'Can Louisiana be brought into proper prac- tical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State Government?' What has been said of Louisiana will apply generally to other States. And yet so great peculiarities pertain to each State, and such important and sudden changes occur in the same State, 4 68 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. and, withal, so new and unprecedented is the whole case, that no exclusive and inflexible plan can safely be prescribed as to details and collaterals. Such exclusive and inflexible plan would surely become a new entangle- ment. Important principles may, and must be, flexible. "In the present situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some new announcement to the people of the South. I am consid- ering, and shall not fail to act, when satisfied that action will be proper." LINCOLN'S ADDRESS AT GETTYSBURG. The address of President Lincoln, delivered at the dedication of the Gettysburg National Cemetery, on the Gettysburg battle-field, November ipth, 1863, is regarded as one of the finest pieces of composition in the English language. In fact, it has become a classic. Here it is in full : "LADIES AND 'GENTLEMEN: Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation, conceived in lib- erty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. "We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. "But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow, this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who strug- gled here, have consecrated it far above our power to add or detract. The world will little note, or long remember, what we say here; but it can never forget what they did here. "It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. "It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion ; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain ; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that the Government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall not perish from the earth." CHAPTER XXXVII. JOHN WILKES BOOTH THE ORIGINATOR OF THE PLOT TO ASSASSINATE THE PRESIDENT FLIGHT, CAPTURE AND DEATH OF THE MURDERER BURIAL OF His BODY IN THE OLD PENITENTIARY AT WASHINGTON. John Wilkes Booth was the projector of the plot against the Presi- dent which culminated in the taking of that good man's life. He shrank at first from murder until another and less dangerous resolution failed. This was no less than the capture of the President's body, and its deten- tion or transportation to the South. There was found upon a street with- in the city limits of Washington a house belonging to one Mrs. Greene, mined and furnished with underground apartments, furnished with man- acles, and all the accessories to private imprisonment. Here the Presi- dent, and as many as could be gagged and conveyed away with him, were to be concealed, in the event of failure to run them into the Confederacy. Owing to his failure to group around him as many men as he desired, Booth abandoned the project of kidnaping. When Booth cast around him for assistants, he naturally selected those men whom he could control. The first that recommended himself was one Harold, a youth of inane and plastic character, carried away by the example of an actor, and full of execrable quotations, going to show that he was an imitator of the master spirit, both in text and ad- miration. This Harold was a gunner, and therefore versed in arms ; he had traversed the whole lower portion of Maryland, and was therefore a geographer as well as a tool. His friends lived at every farm house between Washington and Leonardsville, and he was respectably enough connected, so as to make his association creditable as well as useful. Young Surratt does not appear to have been a puissant spirit in the scheme; indeed, all design and influence therein was absorbed by Mrs. Surratt and Booth. The latter was the head and heart of the plot ; Mrs. Surratt was his anchor, and the rest of the boys were disciples to Iscariot and Jezebel. John Surratt, a youth of strong Southern physiognomy, beardless and lanky, knew of the murder and connived at it. "Sam" Arnold and one McLaughlin were to have been parties to it, but backed 469 470 ABRAHAM LI 2V COLN. out in the end. They all relied upon Mrs. Surratt, and took their cues from Wilkes Booth. The conspiracy had its own time and kept its own counsel. Murder, except among the principals, was seldom mentioned except by genteel implication. But they all publicly agreed that Mr. Lincoln ought to be shot, and that the North was a race of fratricides. Much was said of Brutus, and Booth repeated heroic passages, to the delight of Harold, who learned them also, and wondered if he was not born to greatness. In this growing darkness, where all rehearsed cold-hearted mur- der, Wilkes Booth grew great of stature. He had found a purpose con- sonant with his evil nature and bad influence over weak men ; so he grew moodier, more vigilant, more plausible. By mien and temperament he was born to handle a stiletto. All the rest were swayed or persuaded by Booth ; his schemes were three in order : First. To kidnap the President and Cabinet, and run them South or blow them up. Second. Kidnaping failed, to murder the President and the rest, and seek shelter in the Confederate capital. Third. The rebellion failed, to be its avenger, and throw the coun- try into consternation, while he escaped by the unfrequented parts of Maryland. When this last resolution had been made, the plot was both con- tracted and extended. There were made two distinct circles of confi- dants, those aware of the meditated murder, and those who might shrink from murder, though willing accessories for a. lesser object. Two col- leagues for blood were at once accepted, Payne and Atzeroth. The former was the one who stabbed Mr. Seward. Atzeroth was a fellow of German descent, who had led a desperate life at Port Tobacco, where he was a house-painter. He had been a blockade-runner across the Potomac, and a mail-carrier. When Booth and Mrs. Surratt broke the design to him, with a suggestion that there was wealth in it, he embraced the offer at once, and bought a dirk and pistol. Payne also came from the North to Washington, and, as fate would have it, the President was announced to appear at Ford's Theater in public. Then the resolve of blood was reduced to a definite moment. On the night before the crime, Booth found one on whom he could rely. John Surratt was sent northward by his mother on Thursday. Sam Arnold and McLaughlin, each of whom was to kill a Cabinet officer, grew pigeon-livered and ran away. Harold, true to his partiality, lingered around Booth to the end ; Atzeroth went so far as to take his knife and ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 471 pistol to Kirkwood's, where Vice-President Johnson was stopping, and hid them under the bed. But either his courage failed, or a trifling acci- dent deranged his plan. But Payne, a professional murderer, stood "game," and fought his way over prostrate figures to the sick victim's bed. There was great confusion and terror among the tacit and rash conspirators on Thursday night. They had looked upon the plot as of a melodrama, and found to their horror that John Wilkes Booth meant to do murder. Six weeks before the murder, young John Surratt had taken two splendid repeating carbines to Surrattsville, and told John Lloyd to secrete them. The latter made a hole in the wainscoting and suspended them from strings, so that they fell within the plastered wall of the room below. On the very afternoon of the murder, Mrs. Surratt was driven to Surrattsville, and she told John Lloyd to have the carbines ready, be- cause they would be called for that night. Harold was made quarter- master, and hired the horses. He and Atzeroth were mounted between eight o'clock and the time of the murder, and riding about the streets together. The whole party was prepared for a long ride, as their spurs and gauntlets show. It may have been their design to ride in company to the Lower Potomac, and by their numbers exact subsistence and transporta- tion. Then came the shooting of the President and the escape of Booth. While the report of the pistol, taking the President's life, went like a pang through the theater, Payne was spilling blood in Mr. Seward's house from threshold to sick-chamber. But Booth's broken leg delayed him or made him lose his general calmness, and he and Harold left Payne to his fate. Within fifteen minutes after the murder the wires were severed en- tirely round the city, excepting only a secret wire for Government uses, which leads to Old Point. By this wire the Government reached the fortifications around Washington, first telegraphing all the way to Old Point, and then back to the outlying forts. Payne having, as he thought, made an end of Mr. Seward, which would have been the case but for Robinson, the nurse, mounted his horse, and attempted to find Booth. But the town was in alarm, and he galloped . at once for the open country, taking, as he imagined, the proper road for the East Branch. He rode at a killing pace, and when near Port Lincoln, on the Baltimore pike, his horse threw him headlong. Afoot and bewil- dered, he resolved to return to the city, whose lights he could plainly see ; 472 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. but before doing so he concealed himself some time, and made some al- most absurd efforts to disguise himself. Cutting a cross section from the woolen undershirt which covered his muscular arm, he made a rude cap of it, and threw away his bloody coat. This was found later in the woods, and blood was found also on his bosom and sleeves. He also spattered himself plentifully with mud and clay, and taking an aban- doned pick from the deserted intrenchments near by, he struck out at once for Washington. He reached Mrs. Surratt's door just as the officers of the Govern- ment were arresting her. They seized Payne at once, who had an awk- ward lie to urge in his defense that he had come there to dig a trench. That night he dug a trench deep and broad enough for them both to lie in forever. They washed his hands, and found them soft and womanish ; his pockets contained tooth and nail-brushes, and a delicate pocket-knife. All this apparel consorted ill with his assumed character. Coarse, and hard, and calm, Mrs. Surratt sjiut up her house after the murder, and waited with her daughters till 'the officers came. She was imperturbable, and rebuked her girls for weeping, and would have gone t6 jail like a statue, but that in her extremity Payne knocked at her door. He had come, he said, to dig a ditch for Mrs. Surratt, whom he very well knew. But Mrs. Surratt protested that she had never seen the man at all, and had no ditch to clean. "How fortunate, girls," she said, "that these officers are here; this man might have murdered us all." Her effrontery stamps her as worthy of companionship with Booth. Payne was identified by a lodger of Mrs. Surratt's as having twice visited the house, under the name of Wood. Atzeroth had a room almost directly over Vice-President Johnson's. He had all the materials to do murder, but lost spirit or opportunity. He ran away so hastily that all his arms and baggage were discovered; a tremendous bowie knife and a Colt's cavalry revolver were found between the mattresses of his bed. Booth's coat was also found there, showing conspired flight in company, and in it three boxes of cartridges, a map of Maryland, gauntlets for riding, a spur, and a handkerchief marked with the name of Booth's mother a mother's souvenir for a murderer's pocket. Atzeroth fled alone, and was found at the house of his uncle, in Montgomery County, Maryland. Harold met Booth immediately after the crime, in the next street, and they rode at a gallop past the Patent Office and over Capitol Hill. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 473 As they crossed the Eastern Branch at Uniontown, Booth gave his proper name to the officer at the bridge. This, which would seem to have been foolish, was, in reality, very shrewd. The officers believed that one of Booth's accomplices had given this name in order to put them out of the real Booth's track. So they made efforts elsewhere, and Booth got a start. At midnight, precisely, the two horsemen stopped at Surratts- ville, Booth remaining on his nag, while Harold descended and knocked lustily at the door. Lloyd, the landlord, came down at once, when Harold pushed past him to the bar, and obtained a bottle of whisky, some of which he gave to Booth immediately. While Booth was drinking, Harold went upstairs and brought down one of the carbines. Lloyd started to get the other, but Harold said: "We don't want it ; Booth has broken his leg, and can't carry it." So the second carbine remained in the hall, where the officers after- ward found it. As the two horsemen started to go off, Booth cried out to Lloyd : "Don't you want to hear some news?" "I don't care much about it?" cried Lloyd, by his own account. "We have murdered," said Booth, "the President and Secretary of State." And, with this horrible confession, Booth and Harold dashed away in the midnight, across Prince George's County. On Saturday, before sunrise, Booth and Harold, who had ridden all night without stopping elsewhere, reached the house of Dr. Mudd, three miles from Bryantown. They contracted with him, for twenty-five dollars in greenbacks, to set the broken leg. Harold, who knew Dr. Mudd, introduced Booth under another name, and stated that he had fallen from his horse during the night. The doctor remarked of Booth that he draped the lower part of his face while the leg was being set ; he was silent, and in pain. Having no splints in the house, they split up an old-fashioned wooden band-box and prepared them. The doctor was assisted by an Englishman, who at the same time began to hew out a pair of crutches. The inferior bone of the left leg was broken vertically across, and, because vertically, it did not yield when the crippled man walked upon it. The riding-boot of Booth had to be cut from his foot; within were the words "J. Wilkes." The doctor says he did not notice these. The two men waited around the house all day, but toward evening they slipped their horses from the stable and rode away in the direction of Allen's Fresh. 474 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Below Ervantown run certain deep and slimy swamps. Along the belt of these Booth and Harold picked up a negro named Swan, who volunteered to show them the road for two dollars. They gave him five more to show them the route to Allen's Fresh ; but really wished, as their actions intimated, to gain the house of one Sam Coxe, a notorious rebel, and probably well advised of the plot. They reached the house at mid- night. It is a fine dwelling, one of the best in Maryland ; and after hal- looing for some time, Coxe came down to the door himself. As soon as he opened it, and beheld who the strangers were, he instantly blew out the candle he held in his hand, and, without a word, pulled them into the room, the negro remaining in the yard. The confederates remained in Coxe's house till 4 a. m., during which time the negro saw them eat and drink heartily; but when they reappeared they spoke in a loud tone, so that Swan could hear them, against the hospitality of Coxe. All this was meant to influence the darkey; but their motives were as apparent as their words. He conducted them three miles further on, when they told him that now they knew the way, and giving him five dollars more, making twelve in all, told him to go back. But when the negro, in the dusk of the morning, looked after them as he receded, he saw that both horses' heads were turned once more toward Coxe's, and it was this man, doubtless, who harbored the fugitives from Sunday to Thursday, aided, possibly, by such neighbors as the Wilsons and Adamses. At the point where Booth crossed the Potomac the shores are very shallow, and one must wade out some distance to where a boat will float. A white man came up here with a canoe on Friday, and tied it by a stone anchor. Between seven and eight o'clock it disappeared, and in the after- noon some men at work on Methxy Creek, in Virginia, saw Booth and Harold land, tie the boat's rope to a stone and fling it asho're, and strike at once across a ploughed field for King George Court-house. The few Unionists of Prince George's and Charles Counties, long persecuted and intimidated, came forward and gave important testimony. They told the officers of the secret meetings at Lloyd's Hotel, and so Lloyd was taken and put into jail at Robytown; that night his house was searched, and Booth's carbine found hidden in the wall. Three days afterward Lloyd himself confessed. The little party examined all the farm houses below Washington. Beyond Bryantown they overhauled the residence of Dr. Mudd, and found Booth's boots. This was before Lloyd confessed, and was the first ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 475 positive trace the officers had that they were really close upon the assassins. By this time the country was filling up with soldiers, but previously a second detective party went out under the personal command of Major O'Bierne. It embarked at Washington on a steam tug for Chappell's Point. Here a military station had long been established for the preven- tion of blockade and mail running across the Potomac. It was command- ed by Lieutenant Laverty, and garrisoned by sixty-five men. On Tues- day night Major O'Bierne's party reached this place, and soon afterward a telegraph station was established here by an invaluable man to the ex- pedition, Captain Beckwith, General Grant's chief cipher operator, who tapped the Point Lookout wire, and placed the War Department within a moment's reach of the theater of events. Major O'Bierne's party started at once, over the worst road in the world, for Port Tobacco. Into this abstract of Gomorrah the few detectives went. They pre- tended to be inquiring for friends, or to have business designs, x and the first people they heard of were Harold and Atzeroth. The latter had visited Port Tobacco three weeks before the murder, and intimated at that time his design of fleeing the country. Atzeroth had been in town just prior to the crime. He had been living with a widow woman, named Mrs. Wheeler, and she was imme- diately called upon by Major O'Bierne. His trunk was found in her garret, and in it the key to his paint shop in Port Tobacco. The latter was fruitlessly searched, but the probable whereabouts of Atzeroth in Montgomery County obtained, and Major O'Bierne telegraphing there immediately, the desperate fellow was found and locked up. By this time the military had come up in considerable numbers, and Major O'Bierne was enabled to confer with Major Wait, of the Eighth Illinois. The Major had pushed on, on Monday night, to Leonardstown, and pretty well overhauled that locality. It was at this time that preparations were made to hunt the swamps around Chapmantown, Bethtown, and Allen's Fresh. Booth had been entirely lost since his departure from Mudd's house, and it was believed that he had either pushed on for the Potomac or taken to the swamps. The officers sagaciously determined to follow him to the one, and to ex- plore the other. The swamps tributary to the various branches of the Wicomico River, of which the chief feeder is Allen's Creek, bear various names, such as 476 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Jordan's Swamp, Atchall's Swamp, and Scrub Swamp. There are dense growths of dogwood, gum, and beech, planted in sluices of water and bog, and their width varies from a half mile to four miles, while their length is upward of sixteen miles. Frequent deep ponds dot this wilder- ness place, with here and there a stretch of dry soil, but no human being inhabits the malarious extent ; even a hunted murderer would shrink from hiding there. Serpents and slimy lizards are the only living denizens; sometimes the coon takes refuge in this desert from the hounds, and in the soft mud a thousand odorous muskrats delve, and now and then a tremulous otter. But not even the hunted negro dare to fathom the treacherous clay, nor make himself a fellow of the slimy reptiles which reign absolute in this terrible solitude. Here the soldiers prepared to seek for the President's assassins, and no search of the kind has ever been so thorough and patient. The Shawnee, in his stronghold of despair in the heart of the Okeefenokee, would scarcely have changed homes with Wilkes Booth and David Harold, hiding in this inhuman country. The military forces deputed to pursue the fugitives were seven hun- dred men of the Eighth Illinois Cavalry, six hundred men of the Twenty- second Colored Troops, and one hundred men of the Sixteenth New York. These swept the swamp by detachments, the mass of them dismounted, with cavalry at the belts of clearings, interspersed with detectives at frequent intervals in the rear. They first formed a strong picket cordon entirely around the swamps, and then, drawn up in two orders of battle, advanced boldly into the bog by two lines of march. One party swept the swamps longitudinally, the other pushed straight across their smallest diameter. A similar march has not been made during the war; the soldiers were only a few paces apart, and in steady order they took the ground as it came, now plunging to their armpits in foul sluices of gangrened water, now hopelessly submerged in slime, now attacked by legions of wood- ticks, now tempting some unfaithful log or greenishly solid morass, and plunging to the tip of the skull in poisonous stagnation ; the tree boughs rent their uniforms ; they came out upon dry land many of them without a rag of garment, scratched, and gashed, and spent, repugnant to them- selves, and disgusting to those who saw them ; but not one trace of Booth or Harold was anywhere found. Wherever they might be, the swamps did not contain them. While all this was going on, a force started from Point Lookout, and swept the narrow necks of St. Mary's quite up to Medley's Neck. To complete the search in this part of the country, Colonel Wells and Major ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 477 O'Bierne started, with a force of cavalry and infantry, for Chappell's Point. They took the entire peninsula, as before, and marched in close skirmish line across it, but without rinding anything of note. The man- ner of inclosing a house was by cavalry advances, which held all the avenues till mounted detectives came up. Many strange and ludicrous adventures occurred on each of these expeditions. While the forces were going up Cobb's Neck there was a counter force coming down from Allen's Fresh. Major O'Bierne started for Leonardstown with his detective force, and played off Laverty as Booth, and Hoey as Harold. These two ad- vanced to farm houses and gave their assumed names, asking at the same time for assistance and shelter. They were generally avoided, except by one man named Claggert, who told them they might hide in the woods behind his house. When Claggert was arrested, however, he stated that he meant to hide only to give them up. While on this adventure, a man who had heard of the reward came very near shooting Laverty. The ruse now became hazardous, and the detectives resumed their real characters. One Mills, a rebel mail-carrier, also arrested, saw Booth and Harold lurking along the river bank on Friday; he referred Major O'Bierne to one Claggert, a rebel, as having seen them also; but Claggert held his tongue and went to jail. On Saturday night, Major O'Bierne, thus as- sured, also crossed the Potomac with his detectives to Boone's farm, where the fugitives had landed. While collecting information here, a gun- boat swung up the stream, and threatened to open fire on the party. It was now night, and all the party worn to the ground with long travel and want of sleep. Lieutenant Laverty's men went a short dis- tance down the country and gave up, and Major O'Bierne, with a single man, pushed all night to King George's Court-house, and next day, Sunday, re-embarked for Chappell's Point. Hence he telegraphed his information, and asked permission to pursue, promising to catch the assassins before they reached Port Royal. This the department refused. Colonel Baker's men were delegated to make the pursuit with Lieutenant Doherty; and O'Bierne returned to Washington. Chief of the Secret Service Lafayette Baker then took up the case. He at once possessed himself of the little the War Department had learned and started immediately to take the usual detective measures, till then neglected, of offering a reward, and getting out photographs of the sus- pected ones. He then dispatched a few chosen detectives to certain vital points, and awaited results. 478 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The first of these was the capture of Atzeroth. Others, like the taking of Dr. Mudd, simultaneously occurred. But, the district suspected being remote from the railway routes, and broken by no telegraph station, the Colonel, to place himself nearer the theater of events, ordered an operator, with the necessary instrument, to tap the wire running to Point Lookout, near Chappell's Point, and send him prompt messages. The same steamer which took down the operator and two detectives, brought back one of the same detectives and a negro. This negro, taken to Colonel Baker's office, stated so positively that he had seen Booth and another man cross the Potomac in a fishing boat, while he was looking down upon them from a bank, that the Colonel was at first skeptical; but, when examined, the negro answered so readily and intelligently, recognizing the man from the photographs, that Baker knew at last he had the true scent. Straightway he sent to General Hancock for twenty-five men, and while the order was going drew down his coast survey maps, with that quick detective intuition amounting almost to inspiration. He cast upon the probable route and destination of the refugees, as well as the point where he would soonest strike them. Booth, he knew, would not keep along the coast, with frequent deep rivers to cross, nor, indeed, in any direction east of Richmond, where he was liable at any time to cross the lines of occupation; nor, being lame, could he ride on horseback, so as to place himself very far westward of his point of debarkation in Virginia. But he would travel in a direct course from Bluff Point, where he crossed to Eastern Maryland, and this would take him through Port Royal, on the Rappahannock River, in time to be intercepted by the outgoing cav- alrymen. When, therefore, twenty-five men, under one Lieutenant Dogherty, arrived at his office doors, Baker placed the whole under control of his former Lieutenant-Colonel, E. J. Conger, and of his cousin, Lieutenant L. B. Baker the first of Ohio, the last of New York and bade them go with all dispatch to Belle Plain, on the Lower Potomac, there to dis- embark and scour the country faithfully around Port Royal, but not to return unless they captured their men. Quitting Washington at two o'clock p. m., on Monday, the detectives and cavalrymen disembarked at Belle Plain, on the border of Stafford County, at ten o'clock, in the darkness. Belle Plain is simply the nearest landing to Fredericksburg, seventy miles from Washington City, and located upon Potomac Creek. It is a wharf and warehouse merely, and here the steamer John S. Ide stopped and made fast, while the party gal- The Assassination of Cza.r Alexander I. Attempt to Assassinate Emperor Willia.r\ I. of Gerrna.ny The Chicago Anarchists of 1886 Adolph Fischer Louis Lingg, the Bomb-Marker Avigvist Spies Micha.el Schwa.b Mrs. Lucy Parsons Sennviel Fielden Albert R. Pa.rsorvs Osce^r W. Neebe Rudolph Schn-A \jbelt The Bomb-Thrower of the CHica-go Ha.yma.rket ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 483 loped off in the darkness. Conger and Baker kept ahead, riding up to farm houses and questioning the inmates, pretending to be in search of the Maryland gentlemen belonging to the party. But nobody had seen the parties described, and after a futile ride on the Fredericksburg road, they turned shortly to the east, and kept up their baffled inquiries all the way to Port Conway, on the Rappahannock. On Tuesday morning they presented themselves at the Port Royal Ferry, and inquired of the ferryman, while he was taking them over in squads of seven at a time, if he had seen any two such men. Continuing their inquiries at Port Royal, they found one Rollins, a fisherman, who referred them to a negro, named Lucas, as having driven two men a short distance toward Bowling Green, in a wagon. It was found that these men answered to the description, Booth having a crutch, as previ- ously ascertained. The day before Booth and Harold had applied at Port Conway for the general ferry-boat, but the ferryman was then fishing, and would not desist for the inconsiderable fare of only two persons ; but to their sup- posed good fortune a lot of Confederate cavalrymen just then came along, who threatened the ferryman with a shot in the head if he did not in- stantly bring across his craft and transport the entire party. These cavalrymen were of Mosby's disbanded command, returning from Fair- fax Court-house to their homes in Caroline County. Their captain was on his way to visit a sweetheart at Bowling Green, and he had so far taken Booth under his patronage that, when the latter was haggling with Lucas for a team, he offered both Booth and Harold the use of his horse to ride and walk alternately. This is the court-house town of Caroline County, a small and scat- tered place, having within it an ancient tavern, no longer used for other than lodging purposes ; but here they hauled from his bed the captain aforesaid, and bade him dress himself. As soon as he comprehended the matter he became pallid, and eagerly narrated the facts in his possession. Booth, to his knowledge, was then lying at the house of one Garrett, which they had passed, and Harold had departed the existing day with the inten- tion of rejoining him. Taking this captain along for a guide, the worn-out horsemen re- traced their steps, though some were so haggard and wasted with travel that they had to be kicked into intelligence before they could climb to their saddles. The objects of the chase thus at hand, the detectives, full of sanguine purpose, hurried the cortege so well along that by two o'clock early morning all halted at Garrett's gate. In the pale moonlight, three 484 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. hundred yards from the main road, to the left, a plain old farm house looked grayly through the environing locusts. It was worn, and white- washed, and two-storied, and its half-human windows glowered down upon the silent cavalrymen like watching owls, which stood as sentries over some horrible secret asleep within. Dimly seen behind, an old barn, high and weather-beaten, faced the roadside gate, for the house itself lay to the left of its own lane; and nestling beneath the barn a few long corn-cribs lay, with a cattle-shed at hand. In the dead stillness, Baker dismounted and forced the outer gate, Conger kept close behind him, and the horsemen followed cautiously. They made no noise in the soft clay, nor broke the all-foreboding silence anywhere, till the second gate swung open gratingly, and even then no hoarse or shrill response came back, save distant croaking, as of frogs or owls, or the whiz of some passing night-hawk. So they surrounded the pleasant old homestead, each horseman, carbine in poise, adjusted under the grove of locusts, so as to inclose the dwelling with a circle of fire. After a pause, Baker rode to the kitchen door on the side, and, dis- mounting, rapped and hallooed lustily. An old man, in drawers and night- shirt, hastily undrew the bolts, and stood on the threshold, peering shiv- eringly into the darkness. Baker seized him by the throat at once, and held a pistol to his ear. "Who is it ?" cried the old man. "Where are the men who stay with you?" challenged Baker. "If you prevaricate, you are a dead man!" The old fellow was so paralyzed that he stammered and shook and said not a word. "Go light a candle," cried Baker, sternly, "and be quick about it." The trembling old man obeyed, and in a moment the imperfect rays flared upon his whitening hairs and bluishly pallid face. Then the ques- tion was repeated, backed up by the glimmering pistol. "Where are these men?" The old man held to the wall, and his knees smote each other. "They are gone," he said. "We haven't got them in the house; I assure you that they are gone." In the interim Conger had also entered, and while the household and its invaders were thus in weird tableau, a young man appeared, as if he had risen from the ground. "Father," he said, "we had better tell the truth about the matter. Those men whom you seek, gentlemen, are in the barn, I know. They went there to sleep." ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 485 Leaving one soldier to guard the old man, all the rest, with cocked pistols at the young man's head, followed on to the barn. It lay a hun- dred yards from the house, the front barn-door facing the west gable, and was an old and spacious structure, with floors only a trifle above the ground level. The troops dismounted, were stationed at regular intervals around it, and ten yards distant at every point, four special guards placed to com- mand the door, and all with weapons in supple preparation, while Baker and Conger went direct to the door. It had a padlock upon it, and the key of this Baker secured at once. In the interval of silence that ensued, the rustling of planks and straw was heard inside, as of persons rising from sleep. At the same moment Baker shouted : "To the persons in this barn I have a proposal to make. We are about to send in to you the son of the man in whose custody you are found. Either surrender to him your arms, and then give yourself up, or we'll set fire to the place. We mean to take you both, or to have a bon- fire and shooting match." No answer came to this. The lad, John M. Garrett, who was in deadly fear, was here pushed through the door by a sudden opening of it, and immediately Lieutenant Baker locked the door on the outside. The boy was heard to state his appeal in undertones. Booth replied : " you. Get out of here. You have betrayed me." At the same time he placed his hand in his pocket, as if for a pistol. A remonstrance followed ; but the boy slipped on and over the reopened portal, reporting that his errand had failed, and that he dare not enter again. All this time the candle brought from the house to the barn was burning close beside the two detectives, rendering it easy for any one within to have shot them dead. This observed, the light was cautiously removed, and everybody took care to keep out of its reflection. The boy was placed at a remote point, and the summons repeated by Baker: "You must surrender inside there ! Give up your arms and appear ; there's no chance for escape. We give you five minutes to make up your mind." A bold, clarion reply came from within, so strong as to be heard at the house door: "Who are you, and what do you want with us?" Baker again urged : "We want you to deliver up your arms, and become our prisoners." "But who are you ?" hallooed the same strong voice. 486 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. "That makes no difference; we know who you are, and we want you. We have here fifty men, armed with carbines and pistols. You cannot escape." There was a long pause, and then Booth said : "Captain, this is a hard case, I swear. Perhaps I am being taken by my own friends." No reply from the detectives. "Well, give us a little time to consider." "Very well; take time." Here ensued a pause. In this little interval Booth made the resolve to die. But he was cool and steady to the end. Baker, after a lapse, hailed for the last time: "Well, we have waited long enough ; surrender your arms and come out, or we'll fire the barn." Booth answered: "I am but a cripple a one-legged man. With- draw your forces one hundred yards from the door, and I will come. Give me a chance for my life, Captain. I will never be taken alive !" "We did not come here to fight, but to capture you. I say again appear, or the barn shall be fired." Then, with a long breath, which could be heard outside, Booth cried, in sudden calmness, still invisible, as were to him his enemies : "Well, then, my brave boys, prepare a stretcher for me!" There was a pause repeated, broken by low discussions within be- tween Booth and his associate, the former saying, as if in answer to some remonstrance or appeal : "Get away from me. You are a coward, and mean to leave me in my distress ; but go go ! I don't want you to stay I won't have you stay !" Then he shouted aloud : "There's a man inside who wants to surrender." "Let him come, if he will bring his arms." Here Harold, rattling the door, said: "Let me out; open the door; 1 want to surrender." "Hand out your arms, then." "I have not got any." "Yeu are the man who carried the carbine yesterday ; bring it out !" "I haven't got any." This was said in a whining tone, and with an almost visible shiver. Booth cried aloud at this hesitation: "He hasn't got any arms ; they are mine, and I have kept them." "Well, he carried the carbine, and must bring it out." ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 487 "On the word and honor of a gentleman, he has no arms with him. They are mine, and I have got them." At this time Harold was quite up to the door, within whispering distance of Baker. The latter told him to put out his hands to be hand- cuffed, at the same time drawing open the door a little distance. Harold thrust forth his hands, when Baker, seizing him, jerked him into the night, and straightway delivered him over to a deputation of cavalrymen. Then Booth made his last appeal, in the same clear, unbroken voice : "Captain, give me a chance. Draw off your men, and I will fight them singly. I could have killed you six times to-night, but I believe you to be a brave man, and would not murder you. Give a lame man a show." Ere he ceased speaking, Colonel Conger slipped around to the rear, drew some loose straws through a crack, and lit a match upon them. They were dry and blazed up in an instant, carrying a sheet of smoke and flame through the parted planks. Behind the blaze, with his eye to a crack, Conger saw Wilkes Booth standing upright upon a crutch. At the gleam of the fire, Wilkes dropped his crutch and carbine, and on both hands crept to the spot to espy the incendiary and shoot him dead. His eyes were lustrous, like fever, and swelled and rolled in terrible beauty, while his teeth were fixed, and he wore the expression of one in the calmness before frenzy. In vain he peered, with vengeance in his look ; the blaze that made him visible con- cealed his enemy. A second he turned glaring at the fire, as if to leap upon it and extinguish it, but it had made such headway that this was a futile impulse, and he dismissed it. Then he pushed for the door, carbine in poise. At that moment Sergeant Boston Corbett fired, and the assassin fell headlong to the floor, lying there in a heap, shot through the throat. "He has shot himself," cried Baker, unaware of the source of the report, and, rushing in, he grasped his arm, to guard against any feint or strategy. A moment convinced him that further struggle with the prone flesh was useless. Booth did not move, nor breathe, nor gasp. Conger and the two sergeants now entered, and, taking up the body, they bore it in haste from the advancing flame, and laid it without upon the grass. A mattress was brought down, on which they placed him, and propped his head, and gave him water and brandy. The women of the household dipped a rag in brandy and water, and, this being put between Booth's teeth, he sucked it greedily. When he was able to articulate again, he muttered to Baker the same words, with an addendum : "Tell mother I died for my country. I thought I did for the best." 4 88 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. Baker repeated this, saying at the same time, "Booth, do I repeat it correctly ?" Booth nodded his head. A soldier had been meanwhile dispatched for a doctor, but the route and return was quite six miles, and the murderer was sinking fast. Final- ly the doctor arrived, in time to be useless. Just at his coming, Booth had asked to have his hands raised and shown him. They were so par- alyzed that he did not know their location. When they were displayed, he muttered, with a sad lethargy, "Useless useless!" These were the last words he ever uttered. His jaw drew spasmodically and obliquely downward; his eyeballs rolled and began to swell ; lividness, like a horrible shadow, fastened upon him, and with a sort of gurgle, and sudden gasp, he stretched his feet, threw his head back, and passed away. They sewed him up in a saddle-blanket. Harold, meantime, had been tied to a tree, but was now released for the march. Colonel Conger pushed on immediately for Washington; the cortege was to follow. Booth's only arms were his carbine, knife and two revolvers. They found about him bills of exchange, Canada money, and a diary. A horse, the relic of former generations, was impressed and harnessed to a shaky wagon, and in the latter they laid the discolored corpse. The corpse was tied with ropes around the legs, and made fast to the wagon side. Harold's legs were tied to stirrups, and he was placed in the center of four cavalrymen. When the wagon started, Booth's wound, now scarcely dribbling, began to run anew. The blood fell through the crack of the wagon, and fell dripping upon the axle. Progress was slow, but toward noon the cortege filed through Port Royal, where the citizens came out to ask the matter, and why a man's body, covered with sombre blankets, was going by with so great escort. They were told that it was a wounded Confederate, and so held their tongues. The little ferry, again in requisition, took them over by squads, and they pushed from Port Conway to Belle Plain, which they reached in the middle of the afternoon. At Washington, high and low turned out to look on Booth. Only a few were permitted to see his corpse for purposes of recognition. It was fairly preserved, though on one side of the face distorted, and look- ing blue like death, and wildly bandit-like. Finally, the Secretary of War, without instructions of any kind, committed to Colonel Baker, of the Secret Service, the stark corpse of J. Wilkes Booth, and it was taken to the old Penitentiary, adjoining the Arsenal grounds. The building had not been used as a prison for some ABRA.HAM LINCOLN. 480 years previously. The Ordnance Department had filled the ground-floor cells with fixed ammunition one of the largest of these cells was selected as the burial place of Booth the ammunition was removed, a large flat stone lifted from its place, and a rude grave dug; the body was dropped in, the grave filled up, the stone replaced, and there rests to this hour all that remained of John Wilkes Booth. CHAPTER XXXVIII. EXECUTION OF MRS. SURRATT, ATZEROTH, HAROLD AND PAYNE IN THE JAIL YARD AT WASHINGTON SCENES AND INCIDENTS THOUSANDS OF SOLDIERS GUARD THE PRISON AND THE VICINITY How THE CULPRITS DIED. The execution of Mrs. Surratt, Atzeroth, Harold and Payne occurred at Washington on the 9th of July, 1865, less than three months after the assassination of President Lincoln, Major General Hancock having charge of all arrangements. It was, in effect, a military execution, about three thousand troops being assigned the task of guarding the jail and vicinity. Atzeroth made a partial confession to the Rev. Mr. Butler, a fews hours before his execution. He stated that he took a room at the Kirk- wood House on Thursday afternoon, before the murder of the President, and was engaged in endeavoring to get a pass to Richmond. He then heard the President was to be taken to the theater and there to be cap- tured. He said he understood that Booth was to rent the theater for the purpose of carrying out the plot to capture the President. He stated that Harold brought the pistol and knife to the Kirkwood House, and that he (Atzeroth) had nothing to do with the attempted assassination of Andrew Johnson. Booth intended that Harold should assassinate Johnson and he wanted him (Atzeroth) to back him up and give him courage. Booth thought that Harold had more pluck than Atzeroth. He alluded to the meeting at the restaurant about the middle of March. He said Booth, Harold, Payne, Arnold and himself were present, and it was then concerted that Mr. Lincoln should be captured and taken to Richmond. They heard that Lincoln was to visit a camp near Washington, and the plan was that they should proceed there and capture the coach and horses containing Lincoln. He denied that he was in favor of assassinat- ing Lincoln, but was willing to assist in his capture. He stated, however, that he knew Lincoln was to be assassinated about half-past eight o'clock on the evening of the occurrence, but was afraid to make it known, as he feared Booth would kill him if he did so. 490 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 491 He said that slavery caused his sympathies to be with the South. He had heard a sermon preached which stated that a curse on the negro race had turned them black. He always hated the negroes, and thought they should be kept in ignorance. Booth had promised him that if their plan succeeded for the capture of Lincoln they should all be rich men, and they would become great. The prisoners would all be exchanged, and the independence of the South would be recognized, and their cause be triumphant. At fifteen minutes before one o'clock General Hartranft informed the newspaper men to be in readiness for the prison doors to be opened. About 1 1 a. m. the prison yard was thrown open to those having passes, and about fifty entered. The first object in view was the scaffold, which was erected at the northeast corner of the penitentiary yard, and con- sisted of a simple wooden structure, of very primitive appearance, faced about due west. The platform was elevated about twelve feet from the ground, and was about twenty feet square. Attached to the main platform were the drops, two in number, on which the criminals stood. At the moment of execution, these drops were connected with the main plat- form, by means of large hinges, four to each drop. The drops were supported by a post, which rested on a heavy piece of timber placed on the ground, and so arranged that two soldiers stationed at the rear of the scaffold instantaneously detached the two supports from their positions by means of pressing two poles, which occupied a horizontal position, the action of which dislodged the props of the scaf- fold and permitted the drops to fall. The gallows proper was divided into two parts by means of a per- pendicular piece of timber, resting on the platform, and reaching up to the cross-beam of the gallows. Two ropes hung on either side of the piece of timber mentioned. They were wound around the cross-beam, and contained large knots and nooses at the lower end. The platform was ascended by means of a flight of steps, thirteen in number, erected at the rear of the scaffold, and guarded on either side by a railing, which also extended around the platform. The platform was sustained by nine heavy uprights, about which rose the two heavy pieces of timber which supported the cross-beam and constituted the gallows. The entire plat- form was capable of holding conveniently about thirty people, and was about half full at the time of the execution. The executioners were all regular soldiers, and did their work well. The rope was furnished from the navy yard, and was one and a half inches in circumference, and composed of twenty strands. 492 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. The graves were dug close to the scaffold, and next to the prison wall. They were four in number, and were about three feet and a half deep, in a dry, clayey soil, and about seven feet long and three wide. Four pine boxes, similar to those used for packing guns in, stood between the graves and the scaffold. These were for coffins, both being in full view of the prisoners as they emerged from their cells, and before them until they commenced the dreadful ascent of those thirteen steps. About a thousand soldiers were in the yard and upon the high wall around it, which is wide enough for sentries to patrol it. The sun's rays made it very oppressive, and the walls kept off the little breeze that was stirring. There was no shade, and men huddled together along the walls and around the pump to discuss with one another the prospect of a re- prieve or delay for Mrs. Surratt. But few hoped for it, though some were induced by Mrs. Surratt's counsel to believe she would not be hanged that day. When one of them came out and saw the four ropes hanging from the beam, he exclaimed to one of the soldiers : "My God ! they are not going to hang all four, are they ?" The drops were tried at 1 1 130 with three-hundred-pound weights upon them, to see if they would work. One fell all right ; one hung part way down, and the hatchet and saw were brought into play. The next time they were all right. At 12 140 four arm-chairs were brought out and placed upon the scaf- fold. The newspaper correspondents and reporters were admitted to a position about thirty feet from the gallows, and about I no the heavy door in front of the cells was swung upon its hinges for the hundredth time within an hour, and a few reporters, with General Hancock, passed in and through to the yard. General Hancock for the last time took a survey of the preparations, and, being satisfied that everything was ready, re-entered the prison building, and in a few minutes the solemn procession marched down the steps of the back door and into the yard. Mrs. Surratt cast her eyes upward upon the scaffold, for a few mo- ments, with a look of curiosity, combined with dread. One glimpse, and her eyes fell to the ground, and she walked along mechanically, her head drooping, and if she had not been supported would have fallen. She ascended the scaffold, and was led to an arm-chair, in which she was seated. An umbrella was held over her by the two holy fathers, to protect her from the sun, whose rays shot down like blasts from a fiery furnace. She was attired in a black bombazine dress, black alpaca bon- net, with black veil, which she wore over her face till she was seated on the chair. During the reading of the order for the execution, by General ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 493 Hartranft, the priests held a small crucifix before her, which she kissed fervently several times. She first looked around at the scene before her, then closed her eyes and seemed engaged in silent prayer. The reading and the announcement of the clergymen in behalf of the other prisoners having been made, Colonel McCall, assisted by the other officers, proceeded to remove her bonnet, pinion her elbows, and tie strips of cotton stuff around her dress below the knees. This done, the rope was placed around her neck and her face covered with a white cap reaching down to the shoulders. When they were pinioning her arms, she turned her head, and made some remarks to the officers in a low tone, which could not be heard. It appeared they had tied her elbows too tight, for they slackened the band- age slightly, and then awaited the final order. All the prisoners were prepared thus at the same time, and the preparations of each were com- pleted at about the same moment; so that when Mrs. Surratt was thus pinioned, she stood scarcely ten seconds, supported by those standing near her, when General Hartranft gave the signal, by clapping his hands twice, for both drops to fall. As soon as the second and last signal was given, both fell, and Mrs. Surratt, with a jerk, fell to the full length of the rope. She was leaning over when the drop fell, and this gave a swinging motion to her body, which lasted several minutes before it as- sumed a perpendicular position. Her death was instantaneous ; she died without a struggle. The only muscular movement discernible was a slight contraction of the left arm, which she seemed to try to disengage from behind her as the drop fell. After being suspended thirty minutes, she was cut down, and placed in a square wooden box or coffin, in the clothes in which she died. Payne died as he lived, at least as he had done since his arrest, bold, calm, and thoroughly composed. The only tremor exhibited by this ex- traordinary man during the terrible ordeal of the execution was an invol- untary vibration of the muscles of his legs after the drop fell. He was next in order to Mrs. Surratt in the procession of the criminals from their cells to the place of execution. He was supported on one side by his spiritual adviser, and on the other by a soldier, although he needed no such assistance, for he walked erect and upright, and retained the peculiar piercing expression of the eye that had ever characterized him. He was dressed in a blue flannel shirt, and pants of the same material. His brawny neck was entirely ex- posed, and he wore a new straw hat. He ascended the steps leading to 494 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. the scaffold with the greatest ease, and took his seat on the drop with as much sang froid as though sitting down to dinner. Once or twice he addressed a few words in an undertone to persons close by him, and occasionally glanced at the array of soldiers and civilians spread out before him. A puff of wind blew off his hat, and he instantly turned around to see where it went. When it was recovered and handed to him, he intimated by gesturing that he no longer required it, and it was laid aside. During the reading of the sentence by General Hartranft, just previ- ous to the execution, he calmly listened, and once or twice glanced upward at the gallows, as if inspecting its construction. He submitted to the process of binding his limbs very quietly, and watched the operation with attention. His spiritual adviser advanced, a few minutes previous to the execu- tion, and made some remarks in Payne's behalf. He thanked the different officials for the attention and kindness bestowed on Payne, and exhorted the criminal in a few impassioned words to give his entire thoughts to his future state. Payne stood immovable as a statue when the drop fell. Although next to Harold, who died the hardest, he exhibited more bodily contortions than the others while suspended. While the noose was being adjusted to his neck, Payne raised his head, and evidently desired to assist the executioner in that delicate operation. Probably no one of the criminals felt as great a dread of the terrible ordeal through which they were to pass as young Harold. From the time he left his cell until his soul was sent into the presence of the Almighty, he exhibited the greatest emotion, and seemed to thoroughly realize his wretched condition. His face wore an indefinable expression of anguish, and at times he trembled violently. He seemed to desire to engage in con- versation with those around him while sitting in the chair awaiting execu- tion, and his spiritual adviser was assiduous in his attentions to the wretched man. Harold was dressed in a black cloth coat and light pants, and wore a white shirt without any collar ; he wore also a black slouch hat, which he retained on his head until it was removed to make room for the white cap. At times he looked wildly around, and his face had a haggard, anxious, inquiring expression. When the drop fell, he exhibited more tenacity of life than any of the others, and he endeavored several times to draw him- self up as if for the purpose of relieving himself from the rope by which he was suspended. ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 495 Atzeroth ascended the steps of the scaffold without difficulty, and took his seat at the south end of the drop without exhibiting any particular emotion. He was dressed in a dark gray coat and pants, and black vest and white linen shirt, without any collar; on his feet he wore a pair of woolen slippers and socks. He sat in such a position that he could see the profiles of his fellow-prisoners, and he had his hands pinioned behind him. He wore no hat, but had a white handkerchief placed over his head, with a tuft of hair protruding from it and spreading over his forehead. Directly behind him stood his spiritual adviser, who held an umbrella over him to keep off the burning rays of the sun. During the reading of the sentence by General Hartranft, he kept perfectly quiet, but his face wore an expression of unutterable woe, and he listened attentively. He wore a thin mustache and small goatee, and his face was pale and sallow. Once, and once only, he glanced around at the assembled throng, and occasionally muttered incoherent sentences, but he talked, while on the scaffold, to no one immediately around him. Just before his execution, his spiritual adviser advanced and stated that Atzeroth desired to return his sincere thanks to General Hartranft and the other officials for their many acts of kindness extended toward him. He then called on God to forgive Atzeroth. He hoped that God would grant him a full and free forgiveness, and ended by saying: "May the Lord God have mercy on you, and grant you His peace." The handkerchief was then taken from his head, and he stood up, facing the assembled audience, directly alongside of the instrument of his death. His knees slightly trembled, and his legs were bent forward. He stood for a few moments the very embodiment of wretchedness, and then spoke a few words in an undertone to General Hartranft, after which he shook hands with his spiritual adviser and a few others near him. While he was being secured with bands, tied around his legs and arms, he kept muttering to himself, as if engaged in silent prayer. Suddenly he broke forth with the words, "Gentlemen, beware who you " and then stopped, as if with emotion. As the white cap was being placed over his head he said, "Good-by, gentlemen; may we all meet in the other world. God take me now." He muttered something loud enough for those close by him to hear, just as the drop fell, evidently not anticipating such an event at that moment. He died without apparent pain, and his neck must have been instantly broken. After hanging a few seconds, his stomach heaved considerably, and subsequently his legs quivered a little. His death appeared to be the easi- est of any of the criminals, with the exception of Mrs. Surratt, who did 496 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. not apparently suffer at all. After hanging half an hour, Atzeroth's body was taken down, it being the first one lowered, and an examination made by Surgeons Otis, Woodward, and Porter. About half-past eight o'clock that morning, Miss Surratt, accom- panied by a female friend, visited the White House for the purpose of ob- taining an interview with the President. President Johnson having given orders that he would receive no one, the door-keeper stopped Miss Sur- ratt at the foot of the steps leading up to the President's office, and would not permit her to proceed further. She then asked permission to see General Mussey, the President's Military Secretary, who promptly an- swered the summons. As soon as the General made his appearance, Miss Surratt threw herself upon her knees before him, and, catching him by the coat, with loud sobs and streaming eyes, implored him to assist her in obtaining a hearing with the President. General Mussey, in as tender a manner as possible, informed Miss Surratt that he could not comply with her request, as President Johnson's orders were imperative, and he would receive no one. Upon General Mussey's returning to his office, Miss Surratt threw herself upon the stair steps, where she remained a considerable length of time, sobbing aloud in the greatest anguish, protesting her mother's inno- cence, and imploring every one who came near her to intercede in her mother's behalf. While thus weeping, she declared her mother was too good and kind to be guilty of the enormous crime of which she was con- victed, and asserted that if her mother was put to death she wished to die also. The scene was heart-rending, and many of those who witnessed it, including a number of hardy soldiers, were moved to tears. Miss Surratt, having become quiet, was finally persuaded to take a seat in the East Room, and there she remained for several hours, jumping up from her seat each time the front door of the mansion was opened, evidently in hopes of seeing some one enter who could be of service to her in obtain- ing the desired interview with the President, or that they were the bearers of good news to her. Two of Harold's sisters, dressed in full mourning and heavily veiled, made their appearance at the White House shortly after Miss Surratt, for the purpose of interceding with the President in behalf of their brother. Failing to see the President, they addressed a note to Mrs. Johnson, and expressed a hope that she would not turn a deaf ear to their pleadings. Mrs. Johnson being quite sick, it was thought expedient by the ushers ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 497 not to deliver the note, when, as a last expedient, the ladies asked permis- sion to forward a note to Mrs. Patterson, the President's daughter, which privilege was not granted, as Mrs. Patterson was also quite indisposed. It was a noticeable incident of the execution that very few Govern- ment officials were present, the spectators being nearly all connected with the trial in some capacity, or else representatives of the press. By permission of the authorities, the daughter of Mrs. Surratt passed the night previous to the execution with her mother, in her cell. The entire interview was of a very affecting character. The daughter re- mained with her mother until a short time before the execution, and when the time came for separation the screams of anguish that burst from the poor girl could be distinctly heard all over the execution ground. During the morning the daughter proceeded to the Metropolitan Hotel, and sought an interview with General Hancock. Finding him, she implored him in pitiable accents to get a reprieve for her mother. The General, of course, had no power to grant or obtain such a favor, and so informed the distressed girl, in as gentle a manner as possible. General Hancock, with the kindness that always characterized his actions apart from the stern duties of his noble profession, did his best to assuage the mental anguish of the grief-stricken girl. The alleged important after-discovered testimony, which the counsel for Mrs. Surratt stated would prove her innocence, was submitted to Judge Advocate-General Holt, who, after a careful examination, failed to discover anything in it having a bearing on the case. This was com- municated to the President, and doubtless induced him to decline to inter- fere in the execution of Mrs. Surratt. Execution of the Chicago Anarchists Emma. Goldman The High Priestess of Anarchy BOOK IV. A History of Anarchy. The Notable Assassinations of Modern Times. BOOK IV. History of ^ The ffotahle As-ta-t-sination-s of Modern Time's CHAPTER XXXIX. NOTABLE ASSASSINS AND ASSASSINATIONS OF RECENT TIMES MURDER OF PRESIDENTS OF REPUBLICS, CROWNED HEADS AND PROMI- NENT MEN OF VARIOUS NATIONS CHARACTERISTICS OF REGICIDES THEIR METHODS OF PROCEDURE MOST OF THEM OF A Low TYPE OF INTELLECTUALITY WHAT PROMPTED THEM TO THEIR FEROCIOUS AND DESPERATE DEEDS THE BLOODY AND GHASTLY RECORD OF A SINGLE CENTURY PUNISHMENTS METED OUT TO THE CRIMINALS. The record of the past century in the matter of the murder and attempted murder of heads of states is a most bloody and ghastly one. Surely since the dawn of the Nineteenth Century, almost all the nations of the world whose inhabitants possessed any degree of intelligence, have been amenable to the laws which govern civilized and progressive com- munities, but the results have not tended to fully prove this. Since the year 1800 two of the Czars of All the Russias have fallen victims to the cord and dynamite bombs of their nobles and subjects; three Presidents of the Great North American Republic of the United States were felled by pistol shots ; one Sultan of Turkey, several Turkish Ministers of State, one President of the French Republic, one Shah of Persia, one President of Uruguay, one President of Guatemala, an Em- press of Austria, one King of Italy, one Premier of England, a member of the Royal Family of France, a Prince of Montenegro, a Prince of Servia, a Marshal and a Prime Minister of Spain, a Premier of Roumania, two Archbishops of Paris, a Duke of Parma, and many others of those occu- pying the foremost places and positions in the world have come to a sudden and untimely end. 506 So6 HISTORY OF ANARCHY. The following is the awful list: George III. of England, attempt by Margaret Nicholson on August 2, 1786, and by James Hatfield on May 15, 1800. Napoleon I. of France, attempt by use of an infernal machine on December 24, 1800. Czar Paul of Russia, killed by nobles of his court on March 24, 1801. Spencer Percival, Premier of England, killed by Bellingham on May u, 1812. George IV. of England, attempt on January 28, 1817. August Kotzebue of Germany, killed by Earl Sand for political mo- tives on March 23, 1819. Charles Due de Berri, killed on February 13, 1820. Andrew Jackson, President of the United States, attempt on January 30, 1835. Louis Philippe of France, six attempts : By Fieschi, on July 28, 1835 ; by Alibaud, on June 25, 1836; by Miunier, on December 27, 1836; by Darmos, on October 16, 1840; by Lecompte, on April 14, 1846; by Henry, on July 19, 1846. Denis Afire, Archbishop of Paris, on June 27, 1848. Rossi, Comte Pellegrino, Roman statesman, on November 15, 1848. Frederick William IV. of Prussia, attempt by Sofelage on May 22, 1850. Francis Joseph of Austria, attempt by Libenyi on February 18, 1853. Ferdinand Charles III., Duke of Parma, on March 27, 1854. Isabella II. of Spain, attempts by La Riva on May 4, 1847 5 by Merino on February 2, 1852 ; by Raymond Fuentes on May 28, 1856. Napoleon III., attempts by Pianori on April 28, 1855 ; by Bellemarre on September 8, 1855 ; by Orsini and others (France) on January 14, 1858. Daniel, Prince of Montenegro, on August 13, 1860. Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, at Ford's Theater, Washington, by John Wilkes Booth, on the evening of April 14 ; died on April 15, 1865. Michael, Prince of Servia, on June 10, 1868. Prim, Marshal of Spain, on December 28 ; died on December 30, 1870. George Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, by communists, on May 24, 1871. Richard, Earl of Mayo, Governor General of India, by Shere AH, a convict, in Andaman Islands, on February 8, 1872. Amadeus, Duke of Aosta, when King of Spain, attempt on July 19, 1872. HISTORY OF ANARCHY. 507 Prince Bismarck, attempt by Blind on May 7, 1866; by Kullman on July 13, 1874. Abdul Aziz, Sultan of Turkey, on June 4, 1876. Hussein Avni and other Turkish Ministers, by Hassan, a Circassian officer, on June 15, 1876. William I. of Prussia and Germany, attempts by Oscar Becker on July 14, 1 86 1 ; by Hoedel on May n, 1878; by Dr. Nobiling on June 2, 1878. Mehemet AH Pasha, by Albanians, on September 7, 1878. Lord Lytton, Viceroy of India, attempt by Busa on December 12, 1878. Alfonso XII. of Spain, attempts by J. O. Moncasi on October 25, 1878; by Francisco Otero Gonzalez on December 30, 1879. Loris Melikoff, Russian General, attempt on March 4, 1880. Bratiano, Premier of Roumania, attempt by J. Pietraro on December 14, 1880. Alexander II. of Russia, attempts by Karakozow at St. Petersburg on April 1 6, 1 865; by Berezowski at Paris on June 6, 1867; by Alexander Solovieff on April 14, 1879 ; by undermining a railway train on December i; 1879; by explosion of Winter Palace, St. Petersburg, on February 17, 1880; killed by explosion of a bomb thrown by a man who was himself killed, St. Petersburg, on March 13, 1881. James A. Garfield, President of the United States, shot by Charles J. Guiteau on July 2, 1881. Mayor Carter H. Harrison of Chicago, shot by Prendergast on Octo- ber 28, 1893. Marie Francois Carnot, President of France, stabbed mortally at Lyons by Cesare Santo, an anarchist, on Sunday, June 24, 1894. Stanislaus Stambuloff, ex-Premier of Bulgaria, killed by four persons, armed with revolvers and knives, on July 25, 1895. Nasr-ed-Din, Shah of Persia, was assassinated on May i, 1896, as he was entering a shrine near his palace. The man who shot him was dis- guised as a woman and is believed to have been the tool of a band of con- spirators. He was caught and suffered the most horrible death that Persian ingenuity could invent. Antonio Canovas del Castillo, Prime Minister of Spain, shot to death by Michel Angolillo, alias Golli, an Italian anarchist, at Santa Agueda, Spain, while going to the baths on August 8, 1897. Juan Idiarte Borda, President of Uruguay, killed on August 25, 1897, at Montevideo, by Avelino Arredondo, officer in Uruguayan army. So8 HISTORY OF ANARCHY. President Diaz, attempt in the City of Mexico by M. Arnulfo on September 20, 1897. Jose Maria Reyna Barrios, President of Guatemala, killed at Guate- mala City on February 8, 1898, by Oscar Solinger. Empress Elizabeth of Austria, stabbed by Luchini, a French-Italian anarchist, at Geneva, Switzerland, on September 10, 1898. William Goebel, Democratic claimant to the Governorship of Ken- tucky, shot by a person unknown on Tuesday, January 30, 1900, while on his way to the State Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. Humbert, King of Italy, shot to death on July 29, 1900, at Monza, Italy, by Angelo Bresci. Albert Edward, then Prince of Wales, now King of England, attempt by Brussels anarchist on April 4, 1900. William McKinley, President of the United States, shot at Buffalo on September 6, 1901. In the times of savagery and tumult, when force ruled the earth, when kingdoms were but the property of brutalized and despoiling sov- ereigns, statesmen and ministers, it was not surprising that the oppressed should endeavor to rid themselves of their oppressors. It was, in fact, no more than natural that the people, from the period of Caesar to the time when the people of the various nations were given some semblance of rights of speech and participation in governmental affairs, should seek to rid themselves of those who sought to enslave them. Yet in spite of this the assassin has always been regarded as the most despicable of wretches. Men delight in fair play, and demand that every- one be given a chance for his life. This the assassin refuses to do, but strikes in the dark, or when his victim is off his guard and unsuspecting. The memory of the assassin is always held in execration and contempt, and the world is ashamed that it ever gave birth to such a villain. Of the assassins of Chief Magistrates of the United States extended mention is made elsewhere. As to the others, the cord or rope, the pistol, the knife, the bomb and poison were the instruments used in carrying out their designs. The Czar Paul, of Russia, was strangled to death by nobles of his court, because he had become obnoxious to them and the people, by reason of his atrocious cruelties. This assassination was done so openly that the names of the murderers of his father were well known to the Czar Alexander I., yet the latter kept many of them in his service, heaping the highest honors upon them. He walked, talked and consulted daily with them, but so powerful were they that he dared not mete out to them the HISTORY OF ANARCHY. 509 punishment they deserved. The shadow of this crime hung over this monarch as long as he lived, yet he is described as "a sweet and perfect prince," in spite of the fact that he, the beneficiary, did not avenge the foul deed. Spencer Percival, Prime Minister of England, who was shot dead in the lobby of the House of Commons at Westminster, owed his death at the hands of the murderer Bellingham to the excited state of political feeling in Great Britain at that time. The United States has never known such a condition of things, politically, as was prevalent in the British Isles at that period. Bellingham was hanged for his crime. EXECUTION OF THE CZAR'S ASSASSINS. The frightful scenes attendant upon the execution of the five Nihilists who were in the plot to assassinate the Czar of All the Russias, Alexander II., is vividly told by J. A. Chandor, who represented the London Daily Telegraph at the time, and was an eye-witness : "Just prior to his death Alexander was at an inspection of a body of his troops' some distance from the palace. The inspection of the Cossacks over, the Czar and his escort began the trip back to the royal home. They could have taken two routes, either the Catherine Canal, or what was known as the garden path, to the palace. The escorters went by the canal, and it was indeed fortunate that they did, for had they taken the garden route that day there would have been a frightful slaughter, and a large portion of St. Petersburg would have been blown up. The Nihilists had the garden route mined for blocks, and enough dynamite was beneath the surface of the roadway to tear up the entire street. I saw these mines after the killing of the Czar. They were wonderfully executed, and in their construction the Nihilists displayed great engineering skill and cunning. "The signal was given as to the route the Czar and his convoy would take. The plans for the assassination on the garden route were thwarted for a minute, but the Nihilists immediately repaired to the canal. The first bomb thrown failed to kill the Czar, but blew to atoms four or five of the escort. It was the second of the bombs that completed the task so sacred to the Nihilists, and which startled the world and threw Russia into mourning. "The Nihilist party was very strong in St. Petersburg at that time, and all along the most rigid precautions were taken to prevent the terrible happening. Suspected persons were thrown into prison for conspiracy on every side, but that did not stop the plan for the killing of Alexander. The tragic event over, the authorities began the task of fastening the crime 5io HISTORY OF ANARCHY. on the guilty parties, and as a result six people were condemned to be hanged for the crime. I was on the scene of the assassination twenty minutes after the bombs were thrown and before the bodie? of the killed had been removed. I was also present at the trials of the Nihilists and at the execution of the condemned. "To show you how strict everything was after the assassination I will tell you how I, with twenty-five other newspaper correspondents, hap- pened to be present at the execution. The condemned persons were to meet their death on the race course just outside St. Petersburg. The date of the executions was not set, and it was not until Governor General Baranoff of St. Petersburg fixed the date that anyone knew when or where the executions would take place. I was at my quarters one night and was asleep, about midnight, when I was awakened by my servant with the information that there was a Cossack at the front door, and that he wanted me immediately. I hurriedly dressed and went down. There stood the great, tall soldier, a perfect picture, but, as you are aware, a very dirty creature, for a Russian soldier seldom washes himself. He looked at me a moment, and then glanced at an official paper he held in his hand. I knew what he was doing, for he was comparing my features with the official photograph of me in the possession of the department. At last he nodded his head, as if satisfied, and drawing from his bosom another official paper, handed it to me. Then he saluted, wheeled about, and went out into the night. I examined the paper, and it was a summons from General Baranoff to be present at the execution, which would take place the next morning at 5 o'clock. The order read to meet the official staff at the palace. I went there and found, long before 5 o'clock, my brother newspaper men, numbering twenty-five, already assembled. Carriages were waiting. We were instructed to take our places in them and prepare to go to the race track, the scene of the execution. Mr. Dobson of the London Times and myself were in one carriage, and the others were all paired off. In each carriage were four Cossacks, in addition to two cor- respondents. This precaution was taken so that it would be impossible for us to hold any conversation with the outside world as we passed. We were to be the only civilians to witness the execution. "At the race track fully 5,000 troops were assembled. They com- pletely surrounded the place where the convicted were to die. When we approached the solid formation broke at one place, and the latest arrivals passed through long lines of soldiery before reaching the spot where the Nihilists were to pay the penalty for regicide. I may tell you right here that they do not hang in Russia for murder. The death penalty is only HISTORY OF ANARCHY. 511 imposed in cases of persons convicted of regicide, while ordinary mur- derers are sent to Siberia for life. To continue, the scaffolds, six in all, were erected side by side. The drops were only two feet, and possibly less, for in Russia they strangle to death and do not break the neck with the drop. Directly in front of the gallows the platform for the staff of the Governor General and for the twenty-six correspondents was built. It was a slightly elevated affair, and just large enough to accommodate the official party. We were placed in rows, with Cossacks all around us, and whether or not we cared to, were forced to see all the hangings. "There is no official hangman in Russia, and when one is necessary, a convicted murderer is called upon to perform the duty. On this occa- sion a man named Froloff, who had killed his entire family, was selected for the task. He, as a reward for the work, was to have his life sentence in Siberia cut down to a term of five years. He was drunk at the time of the execution, for the Cossacks gave him liquor in any quantities he wished so as to make him equal to the occasion. His condition was responsible for the frightful bungling that occurred when the second man was being hanged. "The first victim put to death was the peasant boy who was a tool of the other Nihilists, and who threw the first bomb at the Czar. His name was Risakoff. There was no excitement at this stage. Froloff, the hang- man, performed his first task in an accurate manner, and the boy was soon dead. Then it was they brought in the second victim. Froloff became excited and nervous. The man was Muravieff, an officer in the artillery, and who was the least guilty of all those convicted and condemned. His connection with the Nihilists and with the assassination of the Czar was more by accident than by design. His death was a frightful one. He had* to be hanged three times. The first rope was adjusted badly by Froloff, and when the trap was sprung it snapped in two and Muravieff was picked up in a semi-conscious condition to be hanged over again immediately. Another rope was secured, the only extra one at the gallows, and this broke as did the first. There were no caps used, and the frightful condition of the man's neck was plainly seen by all about the scaffold. There being no more extra ropes, it was necessary to utilize one of the other scaffolds. The sixth scaffold was to have been used for the hanging of Jessie Helt- man, but she was pardoned at the last minute and sentenced to Siberia for life, because it was known that she was enceinte. Her gallows was then used for the taking of Muravieff's life. This time Froloff did his work well, and there were no more harrowing scenes of that kind. "The third man to meet death was the head and center of the Nihilist S i2 HISTORY OF ANARCHY. party, Jeliabroff. He, like all the others, was placed on the scaffold with his arms pinioned, and both hands extended out in front of the body. The hands were covered with fingerless gloves, as is the custom, and apparently Jeliabroff was very nervous. His hands twitched terribly, and I, for one, did not believe that it was all due to nervousness. My sus- picions were a few moments after confirmed, for an officer in the staff of Governor General Baranoff was arrested and convicted of being a Nihilist. Prior to being exiled in Siberia, he confessed all his connection with the party, and he told how Jeliabroff had communicated with him in regard to several details of the party workings while he was on the scaffold waiting the trap to fall. The fourth man to hang was Kibalchik, an officer in the navy, who had stolen the dynamite with which the Czar was killed from one of the Government arsenals at Kronstadt. The last vic- tim was a woman of noble family and a daughter of one of Russia's poets. She was Sophie Perowska, and her part in the assassination of Alexander II. was an all-important one. She was near the scene of the inspection of the troops, and when the royal party began the return trip to the palace, she signaled the Nihilists, who were in waiting on the route the convoy was to take. She was one of the first prisoners taken, but she was the last victim hanged. "The care taken at the execution on the part of the Government was remarkable. The prisoners were brought to the scene of the execution in five high carts. Around each cart was a band of fifes and drums, which played continually during the march from the prison to the race track. This was done to prevent the condemned holding any communica- tion with any outsider." ELNIKOFF'S INFERNAL MACHINE. The infernal machine used by the assassin Elnikoff to kill the Czar, Alexander II., was seven and one-half inches in height, and was com- posed of metal tubes filled with chlorate of potash, and enclosing glass tubes loaded with sulphuric acid (oil of vitriol). These intersected the cylinder. Around these glass tubes were rings of iron, closely attached, doing duty as weights. No matter how the bomb fell it would break. The chlorate of potash was combined with sulphuric acid, which ignited at once, and the flames communicated at once over the fuse with the piston, which was filled with fulminate of silver. The concussion (when the bomb was thrown) exploded the dynamite or "black jelly" with which the cylinder was closely packed. HISTORY OF ANARCHY. $13 Another infernal machine to have been used in killing the Czar's son and successor bore the appearance of a huge book. It was filled with dynamite, but the assassin did not have a chance to use it. ASSASSINATION OF MAYOR HARRISON. The assassination of Mayor Carter Henry Harrison, of Chicago, on the night of October 28th, 1893, was peculiarly atrocious. An idle fellow named Prendergast rang the door-bell at the Mayor's house, was admitted, and as Mayor Harrison came out into the hallway Prendergast shot him. He lived only a few minutes. It was just three days before the close of the World's Columbian Exposition, and the latter ended in gloom. Prendergast was hanged in spite of the fact that he feigned insanity to a most successful degree. PRESIDENT CARNOT STABBED TO DEATH. President Marie Francois Carnot, head of the French Republic, was stabbed to death by an anarchist named Caesare Santo, an Italian, while on a visit to Lyons. He was in his carriage, but Santo got past his guards, the President dying almost instantly from the effect of his wounds. Santo's trial was a very short one, and within two months after the tragedy his head fell under the axe. He had no accomplices, although it was shown that he was a member of an Italian anarchist society. Im- mediately afterward all the Italian anarchists who could be found were expelled from France. DEATH OF THE EMPRESS ELIZABETH. One of the most cruel and causeless of all the notable assassinations of sovereigns in the history of the world was that of the Empress Eliza- beth, wife of His Majesty, Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria. The Empress had nothing whatever to do with the governmental affairs of the Austrian Empire, but was traveling in search of health. On the evening of September loth, 1898, she was about to take the boat to leave Geneva, Switzerland, when she was approached by an Italian anarchist named Luchini, and stabbed to the heart. As there is no law in Switzerland for the execution of murderers, Lucini was sen- tenced to imprisonment for life. He was one of the rabid anarchistic school and gloried in his deed. THE SHOOTING OF KING HUMBERT. The assassination of King Humbert I, of Italy, on the 29th of July, 1900, at his country residence, near Monza, Italy, not far from Rome, 514 HISTORY OF ANARCHY. was but the beginning of a series of assassinations, so the anarchists claimed, the other victims selected being William McKinley, President of the United States ; William II, Emperor of Germany, and Nicholas II, Czar of all the Russias. President McKinley was assassinated in little more than a year afterward, but no connection was ever discovered be- tween that tragedy and the one which robbed the Italians of their monarch. King Humbert's assassin was also an Italian anarchist, named Angelo Bresci, but at the time he was living in Paterson, N. J., and was sent from that place for the sole purpose of killing the King. The plot which led to the assassination was formed at Paterson. King Humbert was in the act of distributing some medals when Bresci slipped through the line of guards and shot His Majesty, the latter living but a short time. It so happened that King Humbert had signed a law for the abolition of capital punishment in Italy, and the assassin could not, therefore, be executed, but being placed in close confinement he went insane and com- mitted suicide about a year after his cowardly crime. He was closely guarded, and his cell was so brilliantly lighted day and night that he could not get sleep. While in his cell he could neither sit down nor stand up, owing to its peculiar construction. CHAPTER XL. THE HISTORY OF ANARCHY AND ANARCHISTS IN EUROPE AND THE UNITED STATES SINCE THE CONCEPTION OF THE MOVEMENT INFLUENCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION SOMETHING ABOUT NITRO-GLYCERINE, DYNAMITE, LYDDITE AND MELINITE ANARCHISTS, HOWEVER, PRE- FER DYNAMITE UNITED STATES GETS THE TERRORISTS IN FORCE AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THE GERMAN SOCIALIST LAW. Anarchy in the United States is of the German school, which is more nearly akin to Nihilism than to the doctrines taught in France. It is founded upon the teachings of Karl Marx and his disciples, and it aims directly at the complete destruction of all forms of government and reli- gion. It offers no solution of the problems which will arise when society, as we understand it, shall disappear, but contents itself with declaring that the duty at hand is tearing down; that the work of building up must come later. There are several reasons why the revolutionary program stops short at the work of anarchy, chief among which is the fact that there are as many panaceas for the future as there are revolutionists, and it would be a hopeless task to think of binding them all to one platform of construction. The anarchists are all agreed that the present system must go, and so far they can work together ; after that, each will take his own task into Utopia. Their dream of the future is accordingly as many-colored as Joseph's coat. Each man has his own ideal. Engel, who was hanged in 1887, was Karl Marx's successor in the leadership of the movement, believed that men will associate themselves into organizations like co-operative societies for mutual protection, support and improvement, and that these will be the only units in the country of a social nature. There will be no law, no church, no capital, no anything that we regard as necessary to the life of a nation. England is really responsible for the most of the present strength of the conspiracy against all the civilized governments of the world, for it was in the secure asylum of London that speculative anarchy was 515 Si6 HISTORY OF ANARCHY. thought out by German exiles for German use, and it was from London that the "red Internationale" was in all probability directed. This was the result of political scheming, for the fomenting of discontent on the continent of Europe has always been one of the weapons in the British armory. In England itself the movement had only of late won any prominence, although it was in England that it was baptized "Socialism" by Robert Owen, in 1835, a name which was afterward taken up both in France and Germany. INFLUENCE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. The French Revolution drew a broad red line across the world's history. It was the most momentous fact in the annals of modern times. There is no need for us to go behind it, or to examine its causes. We can take it as a fact as the great revolt in the history of the world of the common people and push on to the things that follow it. Babeuf "Gracchus" Babeuf, as he called himself after serving part of a term in prison for forgery, escaped, went to Paris in the heat of the Revolution and started The Tribune of the People, the first Socialis- tic paper ever published. He was too incendiary even for Robespierre, and was imprisoned in 1795. In prison he formed the most famous "Con- spiracy of Babeuf," which was to establish the Communistic republic. For this conspiracy he and Darthe were beheaded May 24th, 1797. Etienne Cabet was a Socialist before the term was invented, but he was a peaceful and honest one. He published, in 1842, his "Travels in Icaria," describing an ideal state. Like most political reformers, he chose the United States as the best place to try his experiment upon. It is a curious fact that there is not a nation in Europe, however much of a failure it may have made of all those things that go to make up rational liberty, which does not feel itself competent to tell us just what the United States ought to do, instead of what we are doing. Cabet secured a grant of land on the Red River in Texas just after the Mexican War, and a colony of Icarians came out. They took the yellow fever and were dispersed before Cabet came with the second part of the colony. About this time the Mormons left Nauvoo in Illinois, and the Icarians came to take their places. The colony has since established itself at Grinnell, Iowa, and a branch is at San Bernardino, California. The Nauvoo settlement has, I believe, been abandoned. Babeuf and Cabet prepared the way for Saint Simon. He was a count, and a lineal descendant of Charlemange. He fought in our War 517 of the Revolution under Washington, and passed its concluding years in a British prison. He preached nearly the modern Socialism the revolt of the proletariat against property and his work has indelibly impressed itself upon the whole movement in France. Charles Fourier, born in 1772, was the son of a grocer in Besancon, and he was a man who exercised great influence upon the movement among the French. He was rather a dreamer than a man of action, and, although attempts have been made to carry his familistere into practice, there is no conspicuous success to record, save, perhaps, that of the familistere at Guise, in France, which has been conducted for a long time on the principles laid down by Fourier. EACH HAD A CURE FOR SOCIAL EVILS. All these men had before them concrete schemes for a new society in which the evils of the present system would be avoided by what they considered a more equable division of wealth, and each made the effort to carry his scheme from theory into practice, so that the world might see the success and imitate it. Following them came the men who held that, before the new society can be formed, the old society must be got rid of men who see but one way toward Socialism, and that through Anarchy. Louis Blanc was the first of these, although he would not have described himself as an Anarchist, nor would it be fair to call him one. He represented the transition stage. He attempted political reforms of a most sweeping character during the revolution of 1848. The govern- ment of the day established "national workshops" as a concession to him. Of these more is said hereafter. Pierre Joseph Proudhon, born in Besancon July I5th, 1809, is really the father of French Anarchy. His great work, "What Is Property?" was published in 1840, and he declared that property was theft and property-holders thieves. It is to this epoch-making work that the whole school of modern Anarchy, in any of its departments, may be traced. Proudhon was fired by a natural hatred of the rich. He describes a proprietor as "essentially a libidinous animal, without virtue and without shame." The importance of his work is shown by the effect it has had even upon orthodox political economy, while on the other side it has been the inspiration of Karl Marx. Proudhon died in Passy in 1865. FRENCH SOCIALISM A REFLEX OF THE GERMAN SCHOOL. Since his time until within the last year or two, French Socialism has been but a reflex of the German school. It has produced no first-rates, Si8 HISTORY OF AN ARCHY. and has been content to take its doctrines from Lasalle, Karl Marx and Engel, the leaders of the German movement, and Bakounine and Prince Krapotkin, the Russian terrorists, have impressed their ideas deeply upon the French discontented ones. The revolt of the Commune of Paris after the Franco-German war was nol; exactly an Anarchist uprising, although the Anarchists impressed their ideas upon much of the work done. The Commune of Paris meant very much the same as "the people of Illinois." It was the legal designation of the commonwealth, and did not imply Communism any more than the word commonwealth does. It was a fight for the autonomy of Paris, and one in which many people were engaged who had no sympathy for Anarchy, although cer- tainly the lawless element finally obtained complete control of the situation. The rising in Lyons several years later was distinctly and wholly Anarchic, and it was for this that Prince Krapotkin and others were sent to prison. At the present day there is no practical distinction between Socialism and the Anarchy in France, or, indeed, the United States. All Socialists are Anarchists as a first step, although all Anarchists are not precisely Socialists. They look to the Russian Nihilists and the German irrecon- cilables as their leaders. German Socialism is really the doctrine which is now taught all over the world, and it was this teaching that led directly to the Haymarket mas- sacre in Chicago in 1886. At the time it began with Karl Rodbertus, who lived from 1805 to 1875. He first became prominent in Germany in 1848, and he was for some time Minister of Education and Public Worship in Prussia. He was a theorist rather than a practical reformer, but com- petent critics assign him the very highest rank as a political economist. His first work was "Our Economic Condition," which was published in 1843, and his other books, which he published up to within a short time of his death, were simply elucidations of the principles he had first laid down. His writings have had a greater effect on modern Socialism than those of any other thinker, not even excepting Karl Marx or Lasalle. His theories were brought to a practical issue by Marx, who united into a compact whole the teachings of Proudhon and of Rodbertus, his own genius giving a new luster and a new value to the result. Marx was far and above the greatest man that the Socialism of the Nineteenth Century has produced. He was a deep student, a man of most formidable mental powers, eloquent, persuasive and honest. His great book, "Capital," has been called the Socialist's Bible. Ely places it in the very first rank, saying of it that it is "among the ablest political economic o 2 88; in 1878, 473,158. The Social Democrats poll nearly 10 per cent of the whole vote of Germany at the present time. In 1878 occurred the two attempts on the life of the Emperor of Germany, described in a succeeding chapter, and the result was severe repressive measures against the Social Democrats. Their vote fell off and their influence declined, but in the past two years, 1887 and 1888, they have more than recovered their past strength, and they now poll more votes and seem to exercise a greater political control in Germany than ever before. GERMAN SOCIALISTS COME TO AMERICA. The Passage of the "Ausnahmsgesetz," the exceptional law against HISTORY OF ANARCHY. , 525 German Socialists, drove many of them to this country, but had no effect in diminishing the propaganda in Germany. The result was an exodus of Socialists, or rather Anarchists, to America by this time the two terms, wide apart as they may have seemed, had become one and to Chicago came most of the irreconcilable ones. The American sympathizers, thus formed, at first fixed their attention upon the political situation in the old country, and they applied themselves closely to work in connection with the agitators who had not expatriated. THE APPEAL TO INFERNAL MACHINES. The attempt to gain political ends by an appeal to infernal machines is not a new one. It is as old as gunpowder and the evangel of assassina- tion is older still. Murder was the recognized political weapon of the Eastern and Western Empires, and the Chicago and other Anarchists who worked in the United States proved themselves neither better nor worse than the "old man of the mountain" or the other Italian prices of the middle ages. During the reign of Mary Queen of Scots the mysterious explosion occurred in the Kirk of Feld in which Darnley lost his life. Somewhat later was the "gunpowder plot," in which Guy Faukes and his fellow- conspirators tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. The petard and the hand grenade were the grandfather and grandmother of the modern bomb, and murderous invention came to its new phase in the infernal machine which Ceruchi, the Italian sculptor, contrived for the purpose of killing Napoleon when First Consul a catastrophe which was avoided by the fact that Napoleon's coachman was drunk and took the wrong way in going to the opera house. France was fertile in this sort of machinery. Some years later Fieschi, Morey and Pepin tried to kill Louis Phillippe with a similar apparatus on the Boulevard du Temple. The King escaped, but the brave Marshal Mortier was slain. Orsini and Pieri made a bomb, round and bristling with nippers, each of which was charged with fulminate of mer- cury to explode the powder within, meaning to assassinate the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Eugenie. DYNAMITE NOT INVENTED FOR ASSASSINATIONS. In the year 1866, according to the most trustworthy authorities, dyna- mite was first made by Alfred Nobel. In speaking of the invention, Adolf Houssaye, the French literateur, said : "It should be remembered that nine-tenths, probably, of the dynamite 526 HISTORY OF ANARCHY. made is used in peaceful pursuits ; in mining, and similar works. Indeed, since its invention great engineering achievements have been accomplished which would have been entirely impossible without it. I do not see, then, much room for doubt that it has on the whole been a great blessing to humanity. Such certainly its inventor regarded it. 'If I did not look upon it as such/ he once said, 'I should close up all my manufactories and not make another ounce of the stuff.' He was a strong advocate of peace, and regarded with the utmost horror the use of dynamite by assas- sins and political conspirators. When the news of the Haymarket tragedy in Chicago reached him, M. Nobel was in Paris, and expressed his horror and detestation at the cowardly crime. " 'Look you,' he exclaimed. 'I am a man of peace. But when I see these miscreants misusing my invention, do you know how it makes me feel? It makes me feel like gathering the whole crowd of them into a storehouse full of dynamite and blowing them all up together.' " Few people know what dynamite is, though it has attracted a good deal of attention, and before considering its use as a mode for political murder, it may be well here to give an account of its making. How DYNAMITE Is PRODUCED. Nitro-glycerine, although not the strongest explosive known to sci- ence, is the only one of any industrial importance, as the others are too dangerous for manufacture. It was discovered by Salvero, an Italian chemist, in 1845. ^ is composed of glycerine and nitric acid compounded together in a certain proportion and at a certain temperature. It is very unsafe to handle, and to this reason is to be ascribed the invention of dynamite, which is, after all, merely a sort of earth and nitro-glycerine, the use of the earth being to hold the explosive safely, as a piece of blotting paper would hold water until it was needed. Nobel first tried kieselguhr, or flint froth, which was ground to a powder, heated thoroughly and dried, and the nitro-glycerine was kneaded into it like so much dough. Of course, many other substances are now used, besides infusorial earth, as vehicles for the explosive sawdust, rotten stone, charcoal, plaster of Paris, black powder, etc., etc. These are all forms of dynamite or giant powder, and mean the same thing. When the substance is thoroughly kneaded, work that must be done with the hands, it is molded into sticks somewhat like big candles, and wrapped in parchment paper. Nitro-glycerine has a sweet, aromatic, pungent taste, and the peculiar property of causing a violent headache when placed on the tongue or the wrist It freezes at 40 degrees Fahren- HISTORY OF ANARCHY. 527 heit, and must be melted by the application of water at a temperature of loo degrees. In dynamite the usual proportions are 25 per cent of earth and 75 per cent of nitro-glycerine. The explosive is fired by fulminate of silver or mercury in copper caps. SOMETHING IN REGARD TO LYDDITE. Outside of the French arsenals it is to be doubted if anybody knows anything more about the new explosive, melinite, further than that it is one of the compounds of picric acid and picric acid is a more frightful explosive than nitro-glycerine. The following excerpt is from the London Standard, describing the artillery experiments at Lydd with the new explosive, lyddite, which the British used in the South African war. The Standard, after declaring that the experiments were "entirely satisfactory," said : "The character of the compound employed is said to be 'akin to melinite/ but its precise nature is not divulged. We have reason to believe that the kinship is very close. The details of the experiments which have lately been conducted at Lydd are known to very few individuals. But it is unquestionable that the results were such as demonstrated the enor- mous advantage to be gained by using a more powerful class of explosives than that which has been hitherto employed. There could be no mistake as to the destructive energy of the projectiles. Neither was there any mishap in the use of these terrible appliances. The like immunity was enjoyed at Portsmouth. "A deterrent to the adoption of violent explosives for war purposes has consisted in the risk of premature explosions. But there is still the consideration that the advantage to be gained far exceeds the risk which has to be incurred. France has not neglected this question, and she is ahead of us. Her chosen explosive is melinite, and with this she has armed herself to an extent of which the British public has no con- ception. "All the requisite materials, in the shape of steel projectiles and the melinite for filling them, have been provided for the French service and distributed so as to furnish a complete supply for the army and navy. Whatever may be said as to the danger which besets the use of melinite, the French authorities are confident that they have mastered the problem of making this powerful compound subservient to the purposes of war. "Concerning the composition of this explosive, great secrecy is observed by the French Government, as also with regard to the experi- 52 8 HISTORY OF ANARCHY. ments that are made with it. But Colonel Majendie states that melinite is largely composed of picric acid in a fused or consolidated condition. Of the violence with which picric acid will explode, an example was given on the occasion of a fire at some chemical works near Manchester a year ago. The shock was felt over a distance of two miles from the seat of the explosion, and the sound was heard for a distance of twenty miles." THE FRENCH TO USE MELINITE IN WAR. The conduct of the French in committing themselves so absolutely to the use of melinite as a material of war clearly signifies that with them the use of such a substance has passed out of the region of doubt and experiment. Their experimental investigations extended over a con- siderable period of time, but at last the stage of inquiry gave place to one of confidence and assurance. So great is the confidence of the French Government in the new shell that it is said the French forts are henceforth to be protected by a composite material better adapted than iron or steel to resist the force of a projectile charged with a high explosive. In naval warfare the value of shells charged in this manner is likely to be more especially shown in connection with the rapid-fire guns which are now coming in use. The question is whether the ponderous staccato fire of monster ordnance may not be largely superseded by another mode of attack, in which a storm of shells, charged with something far more potent than gunpowder, will be poured forth in a constant stream from numerous guns of comparatively small weight and caliber. Combined with rapidity of fire, these shells cannot but prove formidable to an armor-clad ship, independently of any damage inflicted on the plates. The great thickness now given to ship armor is accom- plished by a mode of concentration, which, while affecting to shield the vital parts, leaves a large portion of the ship entirely unprotected. On the unarmored portion a tremendous effect will be produced by the quick- firing guns dashing their powerful shells in a fiery deluge on the ship. Altogether the new force which is now entering into the composition of artillery is one which demands the attention of the British Government in the form of prompt and vigorous action. While we are experimenting, others are arming. REVOLUTIONISTS PREFER TO STICK TO DYNAMITE. Dynamite, however, is the weapon with which the "Revolution" has armed itself for its assault upon society. A terrible arm, truly, but one difficult to handle, dangerous to hold, and certainly no stronger in their HISTORY OF ANARCHY. 529 hands than in ours, if it should ever become necessary to use it m defense of law and order. A number of Russian chemists, members of Nihilist party, were the first to apply dynamite to the work of murder. It is to their researches that is to be credited the invention of the "black jelly," so called, of which so much was expected, and by which so little was done. Nihilist activity in Russia commenced almost as soon as the emanci- pated peasantry began to be in condition for the evangel of discontent. It was Tourgeneff, the novelist, who baptized the movement with its name of Nihilism and the truth is that it is a movement rather than an organization. It is a loose, uncentralized, uncodified society, secret by necessity and murderous by belief ; but it is a secret society without grips or pass words, without a purpose save indiscriminate destruction, and its very formlessness and vagueness have been its chief protection from the Russian police, who are, perhaps, after all is said and done, the best police in the world. At statement of Nihilism by that very famous Nihilist, known as Stepniak, but who is suspected to be entitled to a more illustrious name, ran thus : "By our general conviction we are Socialists and Democrats. We are convinced that on Socialistic grounds humanity can become the em- bodiment of freedom, equality and fraternity, while it secures for itself a general prosperity, a harmonious development of man and his social progress. "We are convinced, moreover, that only the will of the people could give sanction to any social institution, and that the development of the nation is sound only when free and independent and when every idea in practical use shall have previously passed the test of national consideration and of the national will. "We further think that as Socialists and Democrats we must first recognize an immediate purpose to liberate the nation from its present state of oppression by creating a political revolution. We would thus transfer the supreme power into the hands of the people. We think that the will of the nation should be expressed with perfect clearness, and best, by a National Assembly freely elected by the votes of all the citizens, the representatives to be carefully instructed by their constituents. "We do not consider this as the ideal form of expressing the people's will, but as the most acceptable form to be realized in practice. Submit- ting ourselves to the will of the nation, we, as a party, feel bound to appear before our own country with our own program or platform, which we 530 HISTORY OF ANARCHY. shall propagate even before the revolution, recommend to the electors dur- ing electorial periods, and afterward defend in the National Assembly." NIHILISTIC PROGRAM IN RUSSIA. The Nihilist program in Russia has been officially formulated thus : First The permanent Representative Assembly to have supreme control and direction in all general state questions. Second In the provinces, self-government to a large extent. To secure it all public functionaries to be elected. Third To secure the independence of the Village Commune ("Mir") as an economical and administrative unit. Fourth All the land to be proclaimed national property. Fifth A series of measures preparatory to a final transfer of owner- ship in manufactures to the workmen. Sixth Perfect liberty of conscience, of the press, speech, meetings and electoral agitations. Seventh The right to vote to be extended to all citizens of legal age, without class or property restrictions. Eighth Abolition of the standing army ; the army to be replaced by a territorial militia. It must be remembered that the conditions in. Russia are peculiar. The country is by an autocracy; government is not by the people, but by "divine right." The conditions which the English-speaking people ended at Runnymede still exist in Muscovy. There is neither free speech, free assembly, nor a free press, and naturally discontent vents itself in revolt. There is no safety valve. Russia is full of generous, high-minded young men and women, who find their church dead, and their state a cruel despotism. They find themselves face to face with the White Terror, and they have sought in the Red Terror a relief. Flying at last from the hopeless contest, they have carried the hate of government, born of ba