(S^amtll Utttocrsitg Etbrarg attiata, New Unrk FROM THE J) ,>■ i BENNO LOEWY LIBRARY COLLECTED BY BENNO LOEWY I854-19I9 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERS[TY DATE, DUE 1^ 4 '^ RRQ£C15'5? }RNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 324 089 390 938 ,;ip-t«ise«r [nteriibrary loafi Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924089390938 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE C OS a RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE BY JOHN BIGELOW Volume IV 1867-1871 Illustrated Garden City New York DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1913 <\~ I 1 1; I'n a I; Y Copyright, 1913, by DOUBLEDAY, PaGE & COMPANY All rights reserved, including that oj translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian PREFACE The material for two volumes of this work was entrusted to me by my father for publication, with such revision and anno- tation as it might need. A little has been added to it and a little taken from it; here and there it has been rearranged; the text has not been materially altered. The foot-notes were in part written or approved by my father, but for most of them I am alone responsible. The Retrospections of an Active Life, of which these are the concluding volmnes, brings my father's Memoirs down to the close of the year 1879. His letters, diaries, and other Uterary remains, covering the last thirty-two years of his life, may be utilized in the preparation of future publications. John Bigelow. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I Visit to Abbe Migne — Return to the United States — Visits to Washington and Richmond . 3 II Farming — Editing the Autobiography of Frank- lin — Visit to Boston 69 m Death of Berryer 233 IV Editorship of the New York Times . . . . 291 V Father Hyachstthe 326 VI Visit to Europe — Researches on Beaumarchais 357 vn The Franco-German War 371 vm The Fall of Napoleon III and causes thereof . 464 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Mirabeau and Franklin Frontispiece FACING PAGE W. H. Huntington lo Charles Eames 48 Ulysses S. Grant 52 John Hay 80 Oliver Wendell Holmes 124 Charles Dickens 130 Autograph Letter from Horace Greeley 226 M. le Senateur Sainte-Beuve 282 Pere Hyacinthe 328 EmiUe Hyacinthe Loyson 330 Autograph Letter from President Grant 346 PrSvost-Paradol 390 George von Bunsen 442 L. A. Thiers 494 von Moltke 49^ His Imperial Highness Prince von Bismarck 556 In text page. Autograph signature of Peter the Great 426 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE VISIT TO ABBE MIGNE — RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES — VISITS TO WASHINGTON AND RICHMOND A MONG the curiosities of Paris not described in guide books /-% and little known outside of the Church are the Ateliers Catholiques of the Abbe Migne. While in Paris in 1859 I spent an agreeable morning in this estabHshment and wrote the following account of my visit: The place was first brought to my notice by a professor of the Pontifical CoUege at Rome, who said it was one of the largest book manufactories in the world. I found it just outside the Barriere d^Enfer in the Rue Petit Montrouge. Save a sign in very large letters painted the whole length of the immense building, there was no exterior indication of the business carried on within. I rang a bell and asked the concierge if the Abb6 was in. He answered in the aflfirmative and took me into an immense printing room, a hundred and fifty by sixty feet, the floor of which was covered with printing cases and the walls with stereotype plates. Adjoining this was a smaller room separated by a glass partition in which fifteen or twenty men were engaged in collating copy, reading proofs, and attending to the cotmting room business of the estabUshment. In one comer was a smaller office which was appropriated to the Abb6 himself, who at the moment of my entering however, was in the printing apartment. I foimd him a remarkably fine looking man, and withal, as I had reason to expect, an intellectual man. He noticed almost instantly, from my French probably, that I was not a Frenchman, and he im- mediately said that he talked French or Latin but that he talked Latin with greater facility than any other language. I was 4 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE obliged to confess that in that as in many other respects he had the advantage of me, and we continued our discourse in his native tongue, which strangely enough had become less famiUar to him than the language of Cicero, which for centuries has ceased to be ranked among Uving languages. Such facihty in the use of the Latin is much more conunon in CathoUc countries, expecially in the eastern part of Europe, than the Protestant world generally supposes. The lectures in the Roman college are almost entirely given in Latin, and in a journey which I made a few weeks since from Trieste to Vienna I made the acquaintance of two young ■priests who conversed in Latin with each other aU the way and with as much fluency and freedom as if it had been their mother tongue, though neither spoke a word of ItaMan and neither had ever been in Rome. The Abb6 has built up an immense printing establishment here, the features of which are that it is devoted entirely to ecclesias- tical science; that every volume for the sake of economy is printed in the same form, quarto; and that every work or collection of works is designed to be as complete as it can possibly be made: and when his cours is complete he designs that it shall embrace all ecclesiastical science to its uttermost boundaries. But a still more remarkable feature of his operations is that he has built up his business, now a colossal one, without a cent of capital to start with and entirely upon his credit with the clergy. He began twenty years ago with the pubUcation of his Cours complet de Theologie in twenty-five volxunes, which he published by subscription. He followed that with his Cours complet d'Ecriture Sainte. The cheapness, accuracy, and general excel- lence of his publications were immediately appreciated, and his sales soon put him in fmids sufficient for an extension of his plans. He went on and published a collection, integral and universal, of the sacred orators of the first and second order, and an integral or assorted collection of most of those of the second order, arranged chronologically so as to present at a glance the history of preaching in France for three centuries, with its commencement, its prog- ress, its apogee, its decline, and its revival. The first series appeared in sixty-seven volumes quarto for sixty-seven dollars; and the second, embracing the most celebrated preachers who have illustrated the French pulpit since 1789, the most remarkable diocesan addresses of the archbishops and bishops of France, Savoy, and Belgium; sermons of twenty-three of the best con- ABBE MIGNE 5 temporary preachers; and a collection of the best pulpit exhor- tations ancient and modem — is published in thirty-three volumes for thirty-three dollars. He has also published the complete works of Saint Frangois de Sales; of Cardinal de Berulle; of Olier, the preceptor of F6nelon; of Tronson; of F^nelon; of Lantages; of Boudot; of Bossuet; of Bourdaloue; of F16chier; of MassiUon; of de La Ch^tardie; of de La Tour; of Baudran; of de Pressy; of de Bergier; of de Pompignan; of Regnier; of Thibault, and I cannot imdertake to say how many more nobles and ignobles of the Latin Church, and which he sells at lower prices than they can be bought at in any other form whatsoever. But the Abba's greatest enterprise is his Cours complet de Patrologie, or as he terms it, his universal, complete, imiform, convenient and economical library of aU the Holy Fathers, doc- tors, and ecclesiastical writers, Greek and Latin, for the first twelve centuries of the Christian church. To this collection is added over two hundred tables of reference to the contents, the most complete apparatus for consultation perhaps that was ever provided for any pubUcation. There are alphabetical, chrono- logical, statistical, synthetical, analytical, analogical, and various other kinds of tables, besides two specially worthy of mention. By the aid of one the reader may see at a glance, not only what one Father but what all the Fathers have written on a given sub- ject. By the other he may see by what Fathers and in what places any of the Fathers have commented on any of the verses of the Bible, from the first of Genesis to the last of the Apocalypse. Two hundred and seventeen voliunes of the Latin Fathers going from TertuUian to Innocent IH are finished, embracing about three thousand authors and costing only five francs, the equiva- lent of one dollar, a volume, if taken entire, or six francs for a single volmne. Sixty volvimes of the Greek patrology in Greek and Latin and thirty in Latin only have yet appeared. When complete it wiU embrace aU the fathers, doctors and writers of the Greek church from St. Barnabas to Photius, and occupy a hun- dred volmnes to cost from eight to nine francs apiece. These works, I judge from the Abbe's account, are prepared with infinite care to insure completeness and accuracy. He has over a thousand scholars employed in preparing matter for his presses, in ransacking the libraries and manuscript repositories of Eiurope. He advertises frequently for works which he knows to have existed and which are therefore necessary to make his 6 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE publications complete; and he has now a standing oflfer of twenty francs before the public for any information of the whereabouts of a letter of St. Francis " On the Power of Demons. " He thus describes his mode of securing accuracy. We begin by preparing the copy from one end of the work to the other to the last word. It is then read in type by the copy thus pre- pared. It is read a second time after corrections, then a third, and then a fourth, and finally a fifth. These revisions are to make sure that none of the errors marked by the proofreaders have been overlooked or erroneously corrected. After this there are one or two revisions before stereotyping, after which follows another reading before the book is put to press; so that the proof- reading and corrections cost as much as the composition. On the loth of January 1867 I took leave of Paris and France, sent the members of my family that were then with me to the railway station with ovu: personal baggage, and took a cab for myself to make a few farewell calls. The most important of these was upon Professor Laboulaye of the Institute of France, whom I was fortunate enough to find in his apartment. During my brief visit, he showed me with pride an ink-stand of silver presented to him by his poUtical admirers at Strasbomrg, who in a note which he read to me with great satisfaction aimounced him as their perpetual candidate for the Corps Legislatif. Before leav- ing, I reminded him of a promise he had once made me to ascer- tain whether I had been right in my conjecture that the manu- script of the autobiography of my most illustrious predecessor in the French embassy was in France. His answer gave me the impression that he had not given the subject much thought; but he kindly promised to give it his immediate attention, and said he did not doubt of his success in finding it if the manuscript were — as he agreed with me in thinking it probably was — in France. Here let me premise that among my guests one day at dinner in Paris; in the simimer of 1866, was Professor Labovilaye. He had recently translated and published a selection from the writings of Franklin,^ and as he had amiably sent me a copy, it naturally became one of the topics of oiu* conversation. In the course of the entertainment I asked my guests, who as far as I remember were aU French gentlemen of letters, if they had ever heard, or if they had any reason to suspect, that the original manuscript of Franklin's autobiography was in France. AU answered in the ' Correspondance de Benjamin Franklin traduite de I'anglais et annot^e. FRANKLIN MEMOIRS 7 negative. I then assigned some reasons for thinking that unless it had been destroyed, which was in the highest degree improb- able, it was somewhere within the limits of the Empire. ist. I said I had received the impression some years previous from Mr. Henry Stevens, a professional book-collector in London, that he had seen the manuscript in the hands of a gentleman residing in France, and had only been discouraged from buying it by the price. ad. Romilly (Sir Samuel) in his diary speaks of having looked through the Autobiography of Frankhn while visiting a friend residing at Amiens. 3. If, as this record authorized the beUef, the original manu- script had ever been in France, there was every reason to presume it was there still. 4th. It was in the highest degree improbable that a manu- script of that character could be in the United States without its lodging-place being a matter of common notoriety, whereas none of Franklin's numerous biographers or kindred had ever professed to have any trace of it after the death of William Temple Fraiik- lin in 1823. 5th. As William Temple Franklin embarked for Europe within a few weeks after the death of his grandfather whose papers he inherited, and who never returned to the United States, the prestunption was that he took this manuscript with him, and that it was in Europe, certainly not in the United States. Mr. Laboulaye seemed impressed by the force of these consid- erations said he had a friend at Amiens who would be sure to know if any literary treasure of that nature was concealed in the neighbourhood; and if in France, whether at Amiens or not, he felt confident of being able to ascertain the fact through some of his friends in the Institute. While speaking of Franklin, Mr. Laboulaye rather surprised me by asking if I thought Franklin had been serious in his appli- cation for the hand of Madame Helvetius. He did not seem entirely free from doubt on that subject, and whether it was not policy rather than a more tender emotion that prompted the old gentleman's proposal. I could not but laugh at the question but reahzing that it was put to me seriously, I told him that the salon of Madame Helvetius was one of the most popular in Paris in those days; that Napoleon I, on his return from his early Italian campaign, did not think his triiunph as a general was 8 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE complete until he had been received there, that it was one of the resorts in Paris most frequented by people with whom it was important for Franklin in the exercise of his mission to meet casually; and finally, that Madame Helvetius was then already sixty years of age and Franklin over seventy. On taking leave I gave Mr. Laboidaye my address in London and New York. I joined my family at the railway station at five p. m, with tickets for Bonn, where I had four cliildren at school and where I arrived the following morning before seven. At nine-twenty in the evening after our arrival we all embarked for London via Dieppe. The passage across the channel was rendered more than usually disagreeable by a violent snow-storm, and some of us landed with wet clothes and feet, pleased enough to be on shore but disappointed to find the cars were not warmed. In due time we reached 117 Jermyn Street, London, where we had often been guests before; and between the warm rooms and the warm supper, the warm welcome of our hostess, and the reimion of all my children aroimd the same table for the first time in many months, oxii happiness was as nearly complete as it weU can be in a part of the world where at that period of the year the sim is invisible most of the time. The following day, being the Sabbath, we went to the most convenient church, which chanced to be Westminister Abbey. On Monday Mrs. Paulton, a sister of Mrs. Hargreaves, whose husband had been for some years my valued correspondent, called upon us and insisted upon our coming to stay with them in Cleaveland Square.^ It proved to be an invitation more difi&cult to reject than to accept. The same evening we dined with Mr. and Mrs. Hargreaves. The first letter that I received upon my arrival in London was from a friend who had returned to his home in Paris from a brief visit to London and had called at my Legation after I had left it. This was William H. Huntington, who for nearly a generation had been the Paris correspondent of the New York Tribune. Though our acquaintance commenced subsequently to my ar- rival in Paris in 1861, he became the most intimate of all my iMr. Paulton and Mr. Hargreaves were at this time much absorbed in the establishment of an International College with four branches, one in France, one in Italy, one in Ger- many, besides the one in England. W. H. HUNTINGTON 9 friends during my residence in that metropoKs. He was a man of letters in the best sense of that term. He was an accomplished connoisseur in art. He knew France and the French people more thoroughly than any other American I had ever been acquainted with. His familiarity with the Enghsh, French and German literatm-es was enviable, and he had withal a sense of htunour which prevented his ever being tiresome for a companion. As a consequence of these attractions I fell into the habit, the day after he had posted his weekly Tribune letter, of dropping in to his apartment and taking him with me for a stroU in the Latin Quarter, which was then and contmues to be the most attractive hunting ground for men of Hterary or artistic tastes in aU Paris — I may add, so far as my knowledge goes, in all Em-ope. Hunt- ington's special weakness was anything relatmg to the early history and historic character of our coimtry. He was known throughout the Latin Quarter as a generous purchaser of any pictures of Washington or Franklin or any of the less conspicuous "Conscript Fathers" of the revolutionary period, also of any Uterature, direct or collateral, for which they had made them- selves in any way or degree responsible. As my tastes made me more cmious about the hterature and art of France and the French people and books rarely reprinted and never seen in the United States, we never came into any competition about the game that we bagged in the course of the day. Not the least pleasant feature of these excmrsions was our limch at twelve o'clock, for which Hvmtington was sure to be able to name on nearly every occasion a different restaurant rendered classical to us by some illustrious person who had been in the habit of frequenting it. Of these I think the Cafe Procope was one of his favorites, as it had been, in the early part of the preceding century, of Voltaire. Mr. Hvmtington was a Bohemian, so far as indifference to social conventions could make him such. He did not possess a dress coat nor a top hat; he never went to fashionable receptions or balls. But he was not a Bohemian in the selection of his associates. He sought and won the heart of every American of interest that came to Paris; and though he had become a denizen of that city, he had probably more warm friends of distinction both in America and in France than he would have ever had had he remained in the United States. His correspondents were legion. I left no one in Paris — in France I may say — whose compamonship I was sure to miss more. 10 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE I expect to take occasion to speak of my friend Huntington again when we shall both be dependent upon the post for our intercourse. I will here insert as a sample of our correspondence a characteristic letter which he addressed to me a few days after I left Paris. HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW Thursday, 27 Dec, 1866. In the Book of On'y-my-duty are writ the words that foUow by the wayfarer, which though a fool, let the wise man read: 1. Now when I was come back from London by way of the sea, and had taken rest from the pitching thereof and the tossing, 2. I said: go to, let us button ourselves up and take a staff, and a book in our hands, and journey by the way which is called Baal vard houseman. 3. And I gat me up, and journied till I came to Legashan: 4. Where there was much boxes. 5. And I asked the servant, Is Mr. Bigelow in his chay [chez lui]? 6. But thy servant answered to thy servant, nay. 7. Again I spake and said, Heh! Eh? cried thy servant. Nay not Eh but Hay,' prayed thy servant. 8 Then thy servant also answered. Nay, the Legashan is no more here, but is "gone up," being translated for the third time, which in the words of the prophet of old, of the prophet Benjamin, is as by fire,' g. To the place of the Arc, even the Arc called of Triumph, which was builded by Nap-bona-kaiser, who afterwards went to grass. 10. Hearing these things I searched in my scrip, in my Mak-phalan and in my redingote, round about, in all the pockets thereof, but found no 11. Card. 12. Thereupon thy servant turned away sorrowful, and as he passed by Aylward,' the sign whereof is his wife's father, which his name was Austin and he is laid down with his fathers, I went in unto the fountain there, and 13. Took something 14. Short. 15. Then was my heart exalted and my spirits they were cocktailed up. 16. So when I was come to my house, I hfted up my voice and sang a song; and these are the words of the song as they sot up to hear the music of my voice. 17. O dear Mr. Bigelow, what though thou art descended into the lowly vale, and art encompassed round about by boxes and much straw, and thy windows are uncurtained; 'John Hay, first Secretary of Legation (1865-1867). ^Franklin's "Three removes are as bad as a fire." 'Toward a certain ale house? W. H. Huntington IN LONDON 11 i8. And the packers pack without ceasing and the noise of the hammers of the hammerers is heard in thy court; 19. And thy claw-hammered jacket, plenipotentially gilded, on both tails and collar, hangs henceforth forsaken, in back chamber closet, a sign and a token of glory departed; 20. What though I owe thee four golden shekels, the which I will pay back, when convenient 21. Or later; 22. Yet will I not revile thee, nor turn coldly away, but will keep warm the memory of the days of pleasantness, and the many kindnesses thou hast poured out on me — also wine in the wine cup often times in full measure. 23. My best wishes shall accompany thee and thine when thou goest down to the sea. 24. May the ship bear thee and thine safely across the waters, 25. May thy servant be remembered patiently, even as he will always remember gratefully. Selah My brief stay in London was passed mainly in showing to my cMldxen as many as possible of the historic curiosities of that grand old city during the day, and dining with friends and the friends of friends at night. Among the dinners, the one at which I heard most of what was worth remembering was with John Forster, the aforetime editor of the London Examiner. The only guests who were of note outside of London were Browning, the poet, and Hermann Merivale, Under Secretary for the Colonies, the brother of the historian of Rome. I found Mr. Forster my junior by about five years, stout, hale, full of animal spirits and enthusiasms. He had just finished a new house he had built in Palace Gate, Kensington West, because, as he said, he had not room in his present home for his books, some thirty thousand voltmies. He showed me a long letter from some one whose name has escaped me, that had been beheaded, but who enjoyed the distinction of being the first victim of the Royal beheading prerogative, which fact was distinctly asserted in this letter which had never been published. He showed me also a curious letter from Cromwell to the man whose daughter afterward married his son Richard. Li this letter Oliver asks his friend to give Richard, about whom he akeady began to have misgivings, some advice. Also a copy of Addison's "Italy" presented by him to Swift, whom he styles in it "the most faithful friend 12 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE and greatest genius of the age." Also several letters from Charles I, in one of which he commanded Rupert to bring on the battle of Marston Moor, for which he has been so much censured. On the 19th of January I received the following letter: lABOULAYE TO BIGELOW Translation January 12, 1867. 34 RUE Taitbout. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Eureka! Thanks to a friend I have found the Franklin manu- script and its possessor. M. Paul de Senarmont, heir of the Le VeiUard family, residing at Paris, rue de Varennes, no. 98, writes us that he possesses: 1. The original manuscript, complete (?) autograph, of the Memoirs of Franklin. 2. A considerable collection of letters of Franklin, forming an unbroken series. 3. A portrait in pastel of Franklin, given by him to M. Le VeiUard. And he asks for it all, the sum of twenty-five thousand francs. There you are on the track. It is for you now to do what you may think fit. Farewell! Receive again aU my wishes for your happiness in this world and in the other (I speak of the New World) . Your very devoted Ed. Labouiaye. The next mail took from me a letter to my valued friend in Paris : BIGELOW TO HXTNTINGTON Confidential [About 15 Jan., 1867] 15 Cleaveland Square, Hyde park, London. My dear Friend: The day I left Paris I realized more completely than ever before, that you were not the right man in the right place. I had four COST OF MEMOIRS 13 hours to kill that day and looked to you as the weapon to do it with, but you were nowhere. The opinion that I formed of you as I turned from yr door the last time, & set out upon my journey to Bonn, I forbear to express, as I have a favor to ask and I know yr vindictive nature. Laboulaye has been long in search of the autograph of Frank- lin's Autobiography for me, and last night I rec'd. the enclosed note from him.i Now I will not attempt to divine the motives of Providence in making this revelation to me after I had left Paris, but content myself with the reflection that I have left a friend behind me there who will not begrudge a little trouble in procuring for me the information which I am not able to seek personally. Now listen, that is, read attentively. I wish your opinion of the condition, quality & value of the articles named in the en- closed note, i. e. : The form, nimiber of pages, and epoch at which terminates the Autobiography. The number of letters, the nimiber if any unedited, and as good a notion as it may be possible for you to obtain of their contents, that is, of their interest. The character, merit & value of the pastel portrait. I wovdd like your impressions upon these points; and any information you can obtain tending to enlighten me as to the amount a wise man could invest in the property in question, and how far your estimate corresponds with that of the proprietor, would be gratefully accepted. Before calling in the rue de Varennes, however, I woiild recom- mend you to see Mr. Laboulaye as my friend, and hand him the enclosed note and ask him how you shall proceed to make the inquiries or procure the information required for me. He may prefer to conduct the affair himself; to report on the articles directly to me &c. Here you wUl show all suitable menagement. He will probably desire no such thing, but wiU teU you exactly where to go, whom to address and what to say. If he has seen the articles, he wiU also teU you what he thinks of their value. I can hardly suppose $5000 would be well invested in that quarter, but I think 10 or 15000 francs might be. I wish you would exercise your discretion about making such an offer, and, if accepted, I mil send you the check at once. If not, see what you can do, and let me know, with yr opinion upon the subject, 'A copy of the foregoing letter from Laboulaye. 14 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE and all as soon as you can; for I leave London for Liverpool on the 28" & if I can arrange this in time to get possession before leaving I should be glad. The weather is very cold here. I enclose a lot of postage stamps which I find in my pxirse & which wiU be of more use to you probably than they are ever likely to be to me. I was accidentally prevented from going skating with my children on Tuesday. If I had gone you wovild probably have escaped this letter. So all calamities have their consolations. Your old friend I received in a few days the following reply: HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 21 January 1867. High private &" fidiicial Dear Mr. Bigelow: Yours of no date whatsomever reached me Saturday, and I Mr. Laboulaye same afternoon. Mr. L. knows nothing more of the MSB. & portrait than what he wrote you: gave me letter of presentation to Mr. Georges de Senarmont, whom he does not know, in the which he mentioned your name with full titles, and addressed it, 78 Rue de Verneuil. It was late to go there that day. A "glance at the map" wiU show you that it is [in] the J [quartier] St. Germain and so I did not go Sunday. Fytte Second After breakfast and "girding myself up" — how much easier one feels after it! — I took the letter in my hand on this blessed day and gat myself up to the highest nmnbers in the Rue de Verneuil, which I found, hke Franklin's Memoirs, broke off- some PORTRAIT OF FRANKLIN 15 time before '78. Whereupon I fetched a compass, as S. T. Paul would say, and ran for Rue de Varennes, where I presently made No. 98 and, hailing the concierge, found I had reached port this time. O such a concierge — both he and his female! reputable, civil, in a comfortable room. While getting up broad clean staircase did hear bell-ringing in the coiurt. By time I reached the door au 2we a gentle domestic aperient was already there by whom my passage through ante room to dining room was lubri- cated, if I so may speak, and I was eased of my card and letter in the most soothing manner. The dining room was thoroughly warmed : — through the open door into the salon, a carpet conter- minous with the parquet and comfortable chairs and other quietly not newly rich furnishings, and still another fire, offered so many painful indications that here was not a shop to buy things cheap in. Mr. de S. presently appeared from up stairs (occupy Pwo floors then!): handsome (not pretty) 33 §. 37 years of age, courteous, shrewd, I guess, but really a gentleman. He said that the MSS. were: I. The original Autobiography with interKnings, erasures etc., from which the copy was made that was sent to W. T. Franklin, and the first French translation: it is in foUo, boimd, complete. II. Letters, mostly he thinks to Mr. [Louis Le] VeiUard, not relating to politics, at least not specially poUtical — friendly letters — and not, he thinks, ever commimicated to Mr. Sparks or other bookmaking person. The portrait is by Duplessis and according to "a tradition in the family" the original, not the replica: it was given by B. F. to Mr. [Le] VeiUard. He had neither MSS. nor portrait in the house: they are at his cousin's (who is, as I understand, part owner of them). On Wednesday I am to go to No. 98 Rue de V. again, when he wiU have them there or wiU accompany me to his cousin to see them. He did reside formerly in Amiens where he or his father had these things. An American, he thinks, did come some years ago to see the portrait there: name of that stranger unknown; also his qual- ity whether merely an inquisitive or an acquisitive traveller. Is ready but not eager to sell (if he knows himself) at 25000 frs. the lot: does not want to sell any one of the three articles separately. Does not know that they are mercantilely worth 25000 frs. but intimates that he shall run the risk of waiting for or provoking the chance of that price being given. Has been applied to by a photographer (this some while ago) to photograph the portrait: 16 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE declined proposition at the time; but now conceives that it might gratify curiosity of Americans coming to exposition next May to see copies of it — or the original hung up there! I fancy that this Universal-French-Exposition idea stands more in the way of reducing the price than anything else. I write you all these things so that, if you see fit, you can let me know before Wednesday noon whether 15000 francs is your last price. Please write me by mail any suggestions or directions you will: also how, in case he does yield to the charm of 15000 down and I can get the MSS. & portrait in time, I am to send them to you. Suppose Mr. de S. yields on Wednesday the 23dj I get your money Saturday the 26th and the articles that night: I express them Sunday morning the 27th. And seeing we are in France, that is the quickest time we could hope to make. I must hurry now to catch the mail. Please remember me to your house, and take my best wishes for your voyage. There is ever so much more I want to write. * * * bigelow to huntington 15 Cleaveland Square, Hyde Park, Jan. 22, [1867] Faithful and trusty friend: Your promptness and zeal in the execution of my conamission are appreciated. I congratulate you upon the pleasant passage which Mr. de Senarmont's domestic aperient secured you though I may be called upon to indemnify two of my EngUsh friends for a set of buttons snapped ofE from their waistcoats through laughing at the incident in yr note which described that particular stage of your good fortune. I made up my mind this afternoon to write you to go the length of 25000 francs to secure the lot of Franklinia if you found every thing aU right, but as I was going to my room to write you, Mtaister Adams' called and staid until I lost the mail & thus at least postponed that foUy. I accepted that as a hint from Provi- dence and determined to leave you to act upon your previous instructions for another day. Presuming that you have acted and that your report is now on the Chaimel pegging away toward •London, Chatles Francis Adams. PRICE OF MEMOIRS 17 the shores of perfidious Albion, I write to say what I am w illin g to do, provided always the step shall receive the approval of your maturer — you dare not deny that you are much older than I am — & more enlightened judgment. If then you find the Autobiography genuine and "all your fancy painted it," if it embraces aU that was ever printed, if the letters are also genuine and the portrait is what it was represented to you, I give you full discretion to buy the lot at any price you may think fit to pay for it not exceeding 25000 francs; or you may let it alone. I enclose an order to Mimroe' to accept your drafts to that am't. I am rather in hopes of receiving by Wednesday night's mail a full report of what will occur on that day on or about 12 o'clock, and, by the aid of the telegraph, may be able to coimtermand these instructions before they can be executed if I should be so disposed. I do not suppose I should ever get my money back, and yet I feel that I should derive some satisfaction from being the actual proprietor of old Benny's story of his life. Should you arrange for the purchase, I wish you to procure from de Senarmont a history of the several articles, how & when they came into the ancestor's possession, & their subsequent fortunes. I need not explain to you more fully what I want in that way nor why. He will no doubt be happy to furnish such a statement. . . . I propose to cormnit myself to the oceano dissocidbili, as your friend Mr. Flaccus terms the waste of waters between Liverpool and Yankeedom, on the 30th itist. I shall leave London for Liver- pool D. V. on Monday the 28th. Packages liable to arrive here after Monday mg. therefore should be addressed to me at the Consulate at Liverpool. . . . Now presuming that I have marked out work enough for you to keep you out of mischief for the rest of this week and to satisfy you that you have gained little or nothing as yet by my quitting France, I commit "the premises" to your discretion and friendly ingerence. Whatever you decide to do or to leave undone wiU be sure of the approval of your humble servant. I came across a file of the Tribune for Dec. 1866 ... at Morley's [Hotel] the other mg. For two or three amiable allusions to myself I hope you wiU not mind accepting my thanks. - As you do not sell compliments, I know the value of those you bestow. Good night. 'John Munroe, the banker. 18 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE huntington to bigelow Paris [8 Rue de Boursault], 23 Jany, 1867. Dear Mr. Bigelow: I have seen the Frankliniseries (say Franklinicnacs). The Autobiography is writ on large foUo foolscap, bound very simply but without the slightest lesion of the pages. This is undoubt- edly the original MS., with interlinings, erasures, marginal notes and blots [of which one smasher, that was smutched thin over one whole page,] of B. F. of the period. It is complete in both parts — the French pubUcation of 1791 stops with the first part, you recoUect — and more complete than the "clean copy," from which W. T. Franklin printed the two parts: i. e. it has several more pages after the arrival in London in 1757, where W. F.'s print stops. I should think there are other passages in this MS. omitted by W. T. F. or by the writer of the clean copy. The MS. closes with these words: "They were never put in execu- tion." Of the letters only two or three are from B. F. ^ — one dated Philadelphia 1787 — another, ditto 1788; — 16 (or 14) are from W. Temple Franklin, 2 from Sarah Bache, 2 from B. F. Bache: all addressed to Mr. [Le] Veillard. I judge from what Mr. Paul de Senarmont said that they do not relate to political subjects. I had not time to read any of them, having to go to Mr. Georges de Senarmont, the cousin, to see the portrait. It is nearly a half length, life size, pastel, perfectly well pre- served, imder glass, not a franc of additional value from the frame. It is not signed. A labelled black and gilt statement, which is imdoubtedly true, is attached to the bottom of the frame and runneth nearly as follows: "Portrait de Benjamin Franklin age 'j'j ans, donne par lui^meme O' M. [Le\ Veillard. Feint par J. S. Duplessis 1783. " I have no doubt of the genuineness of the por- trait. Mr. de S. says that the family tradition is that this was the original and the other one [which was in possession of W. T. Franklin (?)] the replica. Duplessis had a good reputation as a portrait painter. The Biographie Nouvelle cites, among twelve of his most esteemed portraits, one of Franklin in the "Galerie PRICE OF MEMOIRS ACCEPTED 19 Pamard a Avignon. " The one that Mr. Edward Brooks of Janey de Money or his heirs a few years ago was claimed to be by Duplessis. That was in oils — it was offered to me by old de Money in 1852 for 2000 franes. There was a break in his history of it, that led me to suspeet that it might be a copy. — Mr. de Senarmont holds firmly to the fixed price of 25000 francs: agrees that it may be an extravagant one, but will not set any other till after the Exposition: he means to advertise Ameri- cans here next summer of the MSS. & portrait and where they may be seen — depositing them for that end with some book- seller or other party. Meantime he is quite willing to keep my address, and, in case he does not sell at Exposition season, to talk further about the matter. The MSS. & Portrait are^ as I understand him, an undivided family property. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON No. 15 Cleaveland Square, Hyde park, London, Jan. 24, 1867. My dear Huntington: Your report reed, this evening is satisfactory. You should have reed, this mg. my note of yesterday which I hope and pre- sume you will have considered a sufficient authority to effect the purchase. I would wish very much to have it (the FrankUnic- nacs) here if possible, on Simday, if not earher. As soon as the package is dispatched I wovild be greatly obliged to you if you would telegraph me, that I may know when to expect it. Please say nothing of the price I pay, for if it became known, my character in Yankeeland might suffer. I should be reminded perpetually of the relations — time-honored — of a fool and his money. I make no apology for the trouble I give you, my dear friend, because I am too anxious to be ceremonious. Besides I do not think the chase is without its attractions to you. Of course I shall indemnify you for aU expenses you incur. I dined yesterday with John Forster, the historian of the Com- monwealth &c. and former hterary editor of the Examiner. (I am writing with one of my wife's pens which makes me write 20 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE like a woman.) Browning the poet, and Merrivale, brother of the historian, actual Under Secretary for the Colonies, & two or three other good talkers, made the company. He is a charming fellow, is Forster, 55 yrs. old, hale, soUd, Uvely, with a purely English combination of muscle & brain and a hbrary that drove me to despair. In his working room alone he has i5,ckdo vols, nicely bound. He told me he had nearly as many more above stairs. He showed me autograph letters first pubhshed by him- self or unpubUshed of Stafford, O. Cromwell, Charles I & II, James II. A presentation copy from Addison to Dean Swift of his Italy, in which he speaks of Jonathan as "the truest friend & greatest genius of the age" ; the proof sheets of Dr. Sam Johnson's Lives of the Poets; the mem. books or journals of Leonardo da Vinci; and lots more that I can't remember. He seems to be comfortable in his worldly position, and gave us a good dinner. He appeared to be so much a man "of Uke infirmities with our- selves" that I mentioned what a stir you and I were making among old Franklin's bones. He was greatly interested, and said he would stay at home all Sunday to see them in the hope that I would call on him with them. Hence the hope I expressed in the early chapters of this volume that the " Franklinicnacs " may reach me in time to comply with his wish. If you can teU me who will be President when I get home, as- suming that our voyage shall be of reasonable duration, you will obUge me by doing so. At present it looks as if the respective incumbents of the White House and of the Capitol were playing at brag, each hoping to break the other & not without a reasonable chance of success for one of the parties; which one does not yet appear. Good night. Your sincere friend HDNTINGTON TO BIGELOW Paris, 8 RtnE de Boxirsault, 27 Jany, '67. Ever Honoured: My passage out from appartment in search of breakfast this morning was obstructed by the concierge handing [me] your letter of 24th. Yours of 22nd leaving all to my discretion, I thought it discreetest not to spend so large a sum as 25 M francs without PURCHASE OF MEMOIRS 21 positive orders. These last instructions being decisive, I gat myself Onely, to Munroe & Go's, where I showed Mr. Richards/ (who had his hat on), your enabling act authorizing note to them for my drawing of Pactolean draughts to the amoimt of 25 M frs. 2ly, to Legoupy, a print seller of my acquaintance on Blvd. de la Madeleine to ask how best the portrait of B. F. could be safely packed, with or without the glass "With" quoth he decidedly — Then I asked if he would charge himself with the packing, he being much in the way of sending large framed and glazed engrav- ings out of the city; and he said he would. Threely, to the S. E. R. way and package Xpress ofl&ce to ask at what latest minute they would receive and forward packages to London, which proved to be 5 o'clock p. m. Fourmostly to breakfast.. Presently after that refection and its consequence, I girded up my loins and took voiture for 98 Rue de Varennes, where, coming into the presence of Mr. Paul de Senarmont, I spoke, sajdng: "I will take the Franklineanments and MSS. on these 3 condi- tions: I. That I take them inamediately. II. That you deduct 200 francs from the 25000 frs. to pay my expenses for going with them to London. III. That you furnish — sending it to me hereafter — for Mr. Bigelow, the history of the transitions of the three Frank- linicnacs from Mr. [Le] VeUlard's to your hands. AU of which being agreed to, I wrote then and there an order, draught, draft or whatever the proper name of the paper may be, on J. M. & Co. for 24,800 francs in his favour at 3 day's vision. Then P. de S. and the literary remains of B. F., and self with cane, being bestowed in the voiture, no. of the same not preserved, we careered away to Cousin Georges de Senarmont's, No. 23 Rue de Sevres. While Paul went in unto Georges, to the bedroom of him — for Georges was poorly it seems this morning and late abed, leastways late to breakfast — I ventured to relieve B. F. from the state of suspense he was in on the wall of the salon; screwed out of his frame the uron ring and, in the distraction of the moment, gave it to Cousin Georges' housekeeper. That was what B. F. calls an erratum, for I have often use for that sort of screw — which the housekeeper, let us hope, could not care for. Repacking, now, »The senior member of the bankers' firm of John Munroe & Co. had a queer habit of sitting in his office with his hat perched on the back of his head. 22 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Paul de S., the MSS., lunbrella, cane and B. F. his eidolon, which I sustained ever with one hand, into the carriage. I bade cocher drive to 7 Rue de Scribe, where I presented Mr. P. de S. to Mr. J. Munroe, to whom I committed your enabling note and identified Paul. Then P. de S. wished good voyage to London, and the cocher asked, as I was delicately handling B. F's portrait, if that was the Fraiiklin who perished in the Northern Seas? Queer, but disappohiting. Cocher evidently took a lively interest in the frozen party and but a cold indifferent one in the to him unheard of philosopher. Now straight to Legoupy's, whose packer declared he could have all ready by 4 o'clock. I did not beheve him, but by way of encoiiragement, pretended to, and held out to him as reward, in case of success, that I would gladly contribute his stones to the Wash- ington monument — which let us hope wiU never be completed. There was time enough between this and five o'clock to go to the Legation, but small chance of finding Mr. Dix^ there. So I went to the Consulate and offered David^ to pay his passage and expenses if he would go with B. F. to London to-night. David would gladly but could not; had infrangible pre-engagements for this evening. I almost found, but missed, another man, who would, it was thought, take charge of the box and surely deliver it Sunday for 50 francs. During these entrefaites, four o'clock soimded. At j past the caisse was on the back of Legoupy's boy following your servant up the Boulevard. The very best I could do at the R. & Express office was to obtain the most positive assurances that a special messenger should take the box from Cannon Street to Cleaveland Square before noon on Monday. There is no delivery at any price on Sunday. I was on the point of deciding — what I had been debating ever since morning — to take a, go and return ticket and carry box as baggage to London myself. But you know how I hate travelling at aU times; and the Bible bids that one's flight be not in winter; and I should have got you and B. F. together but twenty-four hours earlier. If you were staying in London yet a few days, so that I could have something more than a snatched ten minutes sight of you, or if Graham^ were there — he is in, or on his way from Edinburg tOj 'General John A. Dix, my successor to the French mission (1866-1869). The coloured messenger at the American Consulate. This worthy negro died in 19 10. 'J. Lorimer Graham was an American of wealth who had been Consul at Florence and an ardent CoUector of Americana. Shortly after his death his collection was presented by his widow to the Century Association of which he had been a member. TRANSMISSION OF MEMOIRS 23 Dublin, where now I have but two acquaintances whom I would go across the street to visit — the thought of that journey had been less repulsive. I am sorry that Mr. Forster will stay away from church in vain, and sorry that you won't have time to look leisurely at your treasures till you reach New York. They are, if I can trust M. Legoupy, whom I have hitherto found very trustworthy, very safely packed. On leaving the xpress office I passed a brief telegrammatic sentence to your address through the window of Grand Hotel T. [Telegraph] bureau. The gentle- man who counted its letters estimated them at 6 francs, which is more, proportionately, than what you paid for B. F.'s MSS. and flattering to me. If I ever am able I shall set up a telegraph wire, and dance on to fortune. The very click-click of the machine has a pleasant money promise to the ear. Although my ways along the quais and other marts where books do congregate are not as they were when you were my fellow pilgrim, yet are they still not all without pleasantness. Thus, coming away from my annual visit to the neuvaine fete of Ste Genevieve three weeks ago, I fell upon the nmunest bronze medallion of B. Franklin (hitherto qiiite imheard of by this subscriber,) that ever you could conceive of. And yet another day, one of those days lapsed last week from the polar circles into the more temperate society of our Paris time, I clutched with numbed fingers a diminutive Uttle 4to of pp. 48 with this title: "La Science du Bonhomme Richard, par M. Franklin, suivie des Commandemens de I'honnete Homme, par M. Fentry — prix quatre sols, se vend a Paris, chez RuauU, lihraire, rue de la Earpe. — 1778." So, on another day, was all my homeward walk a path of exceeding peace, by reason of the pri- mary, pre-Adamite, genuine, juvemle, original Eloge de Franklin hugged xmder my arm, like healing in the wings. But the half of the enjoyment of these good gifts of fortune fails me, in that I have now no one to congratulate me or envy me or hate me for their acquisition. Mr. de Senarmont promises me a letter giving the Historique of the triad of Franklin treasures, from the time of Mr. [Le] VeUlard to his possession of them. It will not amoimt to much — not from lack of willingness on his part, but because the special sense in the case is wanting in him. As dry authenticating cer- tificate, however, I still insist on having it, and will forward it to your American address — which do not forget to advertise me of from Liverpool or London. Mr. de S. asks me to ask you, if you U RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE have the Duplessis photographed, to send him two or three cards; please add one other or two for me, since you will be apt to send them to my address. I shall be glad to have word from you, though in your flitting hurry it must be brief, from London — and much gladder to have news from America that you and yours are all safely and soundly arrived there. I will answer the final question of yoxirs of 24th respecting the next Presidency, the moment I receive your definitive, satisfactory explanation of the value of Napoleon's lately announced reforms. With best regards and good wishes to aU your house, I rest Yours 'throwly [P. S.] Here followeth an accompt of ye Expenditures, Outlays and Disbursements of ye Franklyn Expedition. To a chariot and to ye horseman thereof — hire of the vehicle and pourboire, as it were oates, to the driver, for the greater speed • S 00 francs To Packing of B. FrankUn, under glass and in MS. with extra haste and yet care . . . • • . 9.00 " To the binding of B. F. on a boy his back, and porterage of the same . . . . ■ • • • . i . 00 " Studiously brief telegrammatic phrase sent to London . 6 . 00 " " Arduous sperrits (with water) taken for sustentation of the body thys day . . . . . . 0.50 " Condamned tottle 21.50 " BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON Waterloo Hotel, Liverpool, Jan. 29, 1867. My dear friend Huntington: I yesterday hved through an Iliad of anxieties & woes about my Franklin treasures. I rec'd. yr. telegram and your two letters, but up to 2 o'clock yesterday, no caisse. I then concluded that it was my turn to gird up my loins. I took a cab to Charing — was there told that the place for such curiosity as mine to be gratified was Cannon St. — You had not told me where to look for the box — Went to Cannon Street. Nothing had been heard of any parcel for Cleaveland Square. I insisted and dwelt upon the high character of my Paris Correspondent. They only RECEIPT OF MEMOIRS 25 insisted the more that they had nothing there for the Ukes of me. Went out & walked up the street, took yr. letter out of my pocket to read over and see which end of you I should consign to Hades first, when I came upon the assurance given you that the box should be sent "from Cannon Street to Cleaveland Square." That renewed my courage & my pertinacity. I showed this passage of 3t:. letter to a person who seemed to be a sort of Cen- turion upon the premises. He asked what were the contents of the box. I might have told him that was none of his business but was so glad of any parley that deferred a repetition of that dreadful "Nothing for you. Sir," that I replied in my blandest manner that it was a portrait & some books. "Oh a portrait" quoth he. "Then it has probably come, but directed to our first clerk who is out & will not return till 4 o'clock. " Here was another good place to play the injured party, but I was so gratified to find my chances of getting the box increasing that I let him off easy & took a stroll. I had not gone far when I was overtaken by a boy who told me I was wanted again at the office. I went back, improving in my spirits & speed with every step, & was informed that the box had just that moment come in. I seized it, paid 7s. 6p. for its transport,put it into my cab and went off without a single parthian fling at them for making me wait nearly 2 days for what should have reached me or at least that office in 14 hours. I took it home and opened it, and as luck would have it Forster had invited my wife & me a second time to dine with him that very evg. I took with me the autograph [autobiography]. The picture I dared not disturb. Legoupy had pasted four great bands of brown paper over Benjamin's face so that nothing could be seen of it without taking them off. As I did not know what ministry these bands were intended to perform, I did not know what mischief I might do by removing them. So I left the portrait at home and do not expect to have even my own curiosity gratified in regard to it imtil I reach "my own my native land. " Both Forster & [WUkie] Collins were delighted. F. thought it one of the most perfect & imique MSS. he ever saw; said he envied me the pleasure of collating it with the pubUshed version, & seemed to think that on the whole I had done a good thing. I am disposed to be satisfied myself. At least no one could as yet re- purchase the collection for what I paid. I saw by your silence 26 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE upon the subject that you thought I had made a donkey of myself but "I don't see it." And now my friend I wish you to "draw yoiu: draft" on Mimroe & Co. for the remainder of the 25,000 francs; out of it repay yourself for the expenses of that busy 27th January and put the balance in your pocket. I will not call it your Commission for it is too small a sum for that, but just such a trifle as will make me feel more at ease in troubling you another time with a similar chore. I am glad now you did not come, for I reaUy should have been able to see nothing of you, could you even have got here on Sunday mg. . . . I see the President has got Motley's head in the basket. "In- satiate archer!" Goodnight. P. S. I am a candidate for all your "Franklinicnacs" when you have done with them. I have a chest at the Consulate in David's charge, in which you may deposit Littre, La Fontaine, &c. whenever they become in your way. When the chest gets fuU it will be sent to me. Mr. de Senarmont's historique of the triad of Fra nklin treasxu"es from the time they came into the possession of Mr. Le VeUlard was forwarded to me from Paris. Of this the following letter from Himtington gives a copy: HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW Paris, 28 Jany, 1867. Dear Mr. Editor: I received a note and appendix of which copy foUoweth: Paris 27 Janvier 1867. Monsieur, J'ai i'honneur de vous remettre ci-contre una note de tous les renseigne- ments que j'ai pu recueillir sur le manuscrit de Franklin dont M. Hunting- ton s'est rendu hier acquereur en votre nom. HISTORIQUE OF MEMOIRS 27 Je suis heureux de vous voir possesseur de ces precieux souvenirs, et du beau portrait du fondateur de la Kberte de votre patrie. La rapidite avec laquelle j'ai 6t6 oblige de remettre le portrait h M. Huntington m'a empgche de la faire reproduire par la photographic comme j'en avals I'intention. Dans le cas ou vous ferez faire cette reproduction je vous serais bien reconnaissant de vouloir bien m'en envoyer trois exem- plaires. J'ai I'honneur, de vous temoigner, Monsieur, I'expression de ma plus haute consideration. P. DE Senarmont, 98 rue de Varennes. Monsieur John Bigelow Ancien Ministre des Etats-Unis. Notice sur le Manuscrit autographs des MSmoires de Benjamin Franklin. Le manuscrit des Memoires de Franklin est un in-folio de 220 pages 6crit a mi-marge, sur papier dont tous les cahiers ne sont pas uniformes. M. Le Veillard, gentilhomme ordinaire du Roi, maire de Passy, etait intime ami du Docteur Franklin. D avait vecu avec lui a Passy (pres Paris) dans une societe de tous les jours, pendant le temps de la residence de Franklin en France a I'epoque de la guerre de I'lndependance Americaine. Au depart de son ami, il I'accompagna jusq'au navire sur lequel Frjinklin s'embarqua pour TAmerique, etc'est de sa patrie que le Docteur lui envoya comme gage d'amitie, la copie de ses Memoires echang6e depuis contra Voriginal. Le tnanuscrit original est unique: M. William Temple Franklin, petit-fils de Benjamin Franklin, I'a recueilli au deces de son aieul qui lui avait legue tous ses ecrits. Lorsque Mr. Temple vint en France pour y faire faire I'edition qu'il a publiee, il demanda a M. Le Veillard sa copie pour la faire imprimer, parce qu'elle lui parut plus commode pour le travail typographique, a cause de sa nettete. II donna a M. Le Veillard en echange de sa copie le manuscrit original entiirement ecrit de la main de Franklin. L'original etait cependant plus complet que la copie, ce que Mr. Temple n'avait pas verifie. On en trouve la preuve au 2e volume de la petite edition des Memoires en 2 volumes in i8-mo, donnee par Jules Renouard a Paris en 1828. On y lit, en tSte d'une suite qu'il fait paraltre pour la premiere fois, une note (page i) ou il declare devoir cette suite k la communication que la famille Le Veillard lui a donnee du manuscrit.' 'The note here referred to, translated, reads as follows: "We publish for the first time this paper, which had never been published in English or French. It is translated from the original manuscript which served for the English edition which William Temple Franklin pubUshed in 1818, of the Memoirs of his grandfather. This manuscript belongs to the family of Mr. Le Veillard, an intimate friend of Franklin, and we owe the communi- cation of it to Mr. de S., one of the members of this honorable family." The Mr. de S. here referred to, I presume, was the father of the Mr. P. de Senarmont from whom I received the Memoiis and the memorandum now under the reader's eye. 28 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE L'inspection seule en demontre I'authenticit^, a I'appui de laquelle vien- nent, d'ailleurs, des preuves positives tirees de difEerentes pieces; telles que 3 lettres du Dr. Franklin a Mr. Le Veillard, ii lettres de Mr. William Temple, et diverses lettres de Benjamin Franklin Bache, de Sarah Bache, sa femme,' d'un libraire qui voulait acquerir le manuscrit de M. Le Veillard en 1791,2 etc. M. Le Veillard qui est I'auteur de la Traduction Franjaise des Memoires de Franklin,^ a conserve le manuscrit autographe avec le mSme sentiment qui avait determine son ami a lui envoyer ses Memoires encore inedits. Apres la mort de M. Le Veillard qui preit sur I'echafaud revolutio- naire en 1794, le manuscrit a passe a sa fille; au deces de celle-ci en 1834, il est devenu la propriete de son cousin M. de Senarmont, dont le petit-fils I'a cede le 26 Janvier 1867 a M. John Bigelow, ancien ministre des Etats- Unis a Paris. Le manuscrit est accompagne d'un beau portrait au pastel par Duplessis; Franklin avait pose pour ce portrait pendant son sejour a Passy et en avait fait cadeau a M. Le Veillard. Paris, le 27 Janvier 1867, P. DE Senarmont. I urged Mr. de S. on Saturday to give as many details as possi- ble about the passage of the MSS. through the family hands, but as I wrote you that afternoon, I did not expect much more than the above meagre account. Although I last spoke to him on this head in EngUsh, which I find that he weU understands, either from ignorance of more facts or inapprehension of their interest, he could think of nothing more to say than what he has here set down, and proposed to do it on the spot. I begged [him] to take •Sarah Bache was the mother, not the wife, of Benj. F. Bache. The Bookseller here referred to is Buisson, who published the first edition of the Me- moirs, in French, in 1791. His note reads as follows: Snt: — I learn that you have manuscripts relating to the life of Dr. Franklin. If it is your mtention to dispose of them, I offer to become their purchaser. I have the honor to be, sir. Your humble and obedient servant, Buisson, Bookseller, Rue Hautefeuille, No. ^. I want a word of reply, if you please. Paiiis,26 June, 1791. Mr. de Senarmont is evidently in error in attributing the French translation that was printed in 179 1 to Mr. Veillard. Mr. Veillard made a translation; but it must have been printed subsequently, if at all. See page 29 post. What reply was made to this application will probably never be known. That the MS. was not sold is certain, for we know it was afterward exchanged for the autograph. PUBLICATION OF MEMOIRS SUGGESTED 29 time to write more fully, and here is all that comes of it. How- ever, it is a good certificate. Perhaps if you wrote him, in the interest of the New Edition, categorical question, you might get some triflingly enlightening answers. He has the MS. translation of the Memoires by [Le] Veillard, and of some other well-known pieces of B. F.'s. These not for sale, he told me. You have, I think, a copy of the "Memoires de la Vie privee de B. F. " etc. published at Paris in 1791. Look at foot note on page 2 of preface to that volume, and at this foot note p. 4 to the Preface of Benjamin Franklin's " Kleine Schriften . . . nebst seinem Leben Weimar 1794" — it is a statement in- serted, on occasion of the publication of the above-mentioned Paris book, in the "Journal de Paris, 1791, No. 83:" "Les 156 premieres pages de ce volume contiennent en effet le commencement des Memoires de M. Franklin, presque entierement conformes au manuscrit que je possede. T ignore comment le traducteur a pu se les procurer: mais je declare et je crois necessaire qu'on sache, qu'il ne les tient pas de moi, que je n'ai aucune part a la traduction; que cette partie quifinit en i^jo n'est guere que le tiers de celle que j'ai, qui ne va que jusqu'a 1757, et qui consequ^mment ne termine pas I'ouvrage. " Though I have had both the books above mentioned for some time, it is only yesterday that I thought of comparing the two and feU. upon these two notes. Who was the first translator? and where did the EngHsh copy at Buisson's come from or go to? Of aU the long things that man wants httle of, Mr. Editor, advice, if it is good, is the plentiest. Try a little here below of mine, double compound winter pressed Extract of Advice (to be taken internally) in respect of a new and only complete EDITION of B. F.'s Memoires, from the original MSS., with notes historical and otherwise illustrative, by J. B." 2 vols. sm. 8vo. (with plates.) Firstly there shall be a preface: 2ly, a transfer as exact as type can make it of the text of the MS. — all its erased passages (where they can be made out imder the marks of erasure) as well as marginal additions and corrections inserted at foot of the pages — Editor's notes in different type: Threely, any editions to the text, such as headings of chapters or the like to be put on a separate page; Fourmostly, four or five portraits newly engraved — after Duplessis's pastel, after the sitting full length, after Nini's medallion, and after the Sevres biscuit medallion (which there 30 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE are various authorities for regarding as faithful to the original) Fifth, a complete bibliography of B. F's writings and what has been writ about him — a descriptive catalogue of portraits — another appendix made up of editor's pickings about B. F's life in Paris. On the 24th of January my friend WiUiam Howard Russell suffered a severe affliction in the death of his devoted wife. I wrote him expressing my condolence and offering him some advice as to his financial affairs. BiGELOw TO William Howard Russell 1867. You have now an excellent opportunity for reducing your expenses. I hope you wiU improve it. You have no occasion to maintain costly relations with the rest of mankind, while you have abimdant motives for thrift. It is a wonderful comfort when one gets along, as I have done, to a time of life when few things interest or excite sufficiently to make work on them easy, to feel at hberty to sit down quietly after breakfast with your pipe in "gowned and sHppered ease," and know that yoiur dinner is provided for. When you get to that condition anybody wiU be glad to come and help you eat your dinner. While no one, per- haps, would offer you a dinner if you had none provided of your own. You are a very extravagant dog, my friend. Now let me beg you again — for I have preached to you on the subject before— to save your money, invest it productively. You would earn enough to make you rich in a few years, if you entertained the same contempt for Mrs. Grundy that she wiU entertam for you if you grow old and poor. I tell you there is nothing like having a few thousand pounds slaving away in some dark comer for you, instead of you slaving for them; they toiling while you are sleep- ing. You'll not regret when you're old any of the money you did not empty into the stomach of Tom, Dick and Harry. I SAIL FOR HOME 31 I am glad Dickens is coming over again to us. He will reverse the verdict passed upon him on the appearance of his 'American Notes,' which every American must see now was anything but harsh. I would to God we had nothing worse to purge ourselves of thian the sins of which he accused us. I suppose one of these days I shall have the pleasure of seeing you welcomed back to our shores in a similar acces of amiable condonation. On the 30th of January I sailed with my family from Liverpool on the steamer City of Baltimore. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON Off Queenstown, Jan. 31 [1867] 2i p. M. My dear Friend: I received your interesting favor of the 28th yesterday morning at Liverpool. I enclose a note which, after reading, I wiU thank you to send or deliver to Mr. de Senarmont as you find most agree- able. Your advice is, I think, worthy of all acceptation. I shall be disposed to take it if I can get at my books or when I can. Did you ever see a book printed as you propose this should be, with the additions to the text on a separate page. If so refer me, if you can, to one. I imagine that the page of the text must look a httle as though it had no friends. The idea is correct but by what art to execute it? Gladstone was scandalised because at the dinner given him by the Economists the Emperor's health was overlooked. In reply to his call for explanations he was told that, as the Society was not imanimous in desiring the health of his Imperial Majesty they had abstained from the consideration of anybody's health but their own at the dinner. Moreau tells him he had this from an intime of the Exchancellor. Good bye again, my friend. I will write you from the Land of the Free, if I ever reach there. Yours faithfully 32 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE We had violent head winds all the way to New York. I recall only a single incident that diversified the monotony of our voyage. At our table was a naturahzed German citizen of Baltimore, whose conversation betrayed the fact that he was what in the language of the day was called a Copperhead. One evening he indulged himself in some flippant talk, about his despising Charles Sumner, in the hearing of several guests at the table they shared with us. I calmly told him that "despise" was not the word to be appHed to Mr. Simmer by any one; that Simmer had qualities too rare in the pubhc life of any country to be thus characterized. I emmierated some of them: ist. He was the most accomplished man in public life in America. and. The ablest orator in Congress. 3rd. Of unblemished private character. 4th. Of equally imblemished pubhc character, which no breath of calumny had ever reached, and a man whom no one had ever dared approach with a dishonorable proposition. Sth. A man whose zeal and talents had been expended in furtherance of measures and pohcy looking invariably to the improvement of the conditions of himnan society. With such ends in view — whatever dififerences of opinion may prevail as to the adaptation of his means to secmre them — he was entitled to the sympathy and respect of all good citizens. 6th. He is very amiable. 7th. His decorum of character and his talents have done and are doing more than those of any other man in the Senate to arrest the gradual dechne of that body in the estimation of our country. This alone is a service which those who feel the important r61e the Senate has to play in our constitutional system know how to appreciate. He had no reply to make, and seemed astonished. He had heard in Baltimore, I presimie, the name of Simmer referred to only in terms of opprobrium, obloquy, or derision. To beguile the tedium of the fifteen days of our stormy voyage to New York I read Mac Knight's Life of Burke which had just appeared in London. Though full of irrelevant stuff, and wanting much relevant material, it sufficed to make me insensible to mate- rial discomforts. I am tempted to give here some notes of Burke's career, which I was anxious to remember. His first hterary labor was as the editor of the Annual Register LIFE OF BURKE 33 for which he received from the publisher the moderate com- pensation of £100 a year. In 1759 he was an appUcant for the vacant consulate at Madrid. Though his appUcation was well supported, Pitt threw it into the waste-basket, "which act shows," says Mac Knight, "that he (Pitt) did not know what he was about." Had Pitt known what he was about, could he have made a wiser disposition of Burke's apphcation? What a different figure this inexperienced yoimg Irishman would have made in history had he in the prime of his Ufe been biu-ied in a consulate at Madrid! In 1 77 1 Burke was named Agent for the State of New York at a salary of £50x3 a year. Some one caUed it a bribe. That, to use one of his own magnificent similes, "would have been building a Chalcedon with the most magnificent and most inviting site of the universe full in view on the opposite shore. " Burke prophesied the ultimate appeal of the American colonies for foreign aid. The employment of Hessians by England was enough of itself, he thought, to provoke it. When Burke's thirteen resolutions for the pacification of the colonies were defeated in Parliament, Frankhn prepared to retium to the United States. On taking leave of Burke and Chatham, Mac Knight reports Franklin to have said that America would never be so happy again as she had been imder the protection of England. If we had such a prophecy from the hps either of Burke or of Chatham, it would inspire us with more confidence in its accuracy. It is still not impossible that Franklin may have used language capable of creating that impression. Lord Stormont was Ambassador to France during Franklin's residence there, and had once refused to answer a civil letter addressed to him there by Franklin. Franklin had his revenge, if he had any desire for it, for in the Lord George Gordon riots Stormont, who had become one of the Secretaries of State, was mobbed. FrankUn's residence was in Portland Place, and it was to his house that Lord George Germain, Secretary for War, drove first on the Simday morning when he received the news of the defeat of ComwaUis. Even then, and after Lord North was disposed to concede independence to the colonists, Stormont in the upper house declared himself violently opposed to it. He had to expiate his obduracy by seeing Burke apply successfully for the exchange of Major-general Burgoyne for Colonel Henry Laurens, 34 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE then a prisoner in the Tower, while the son of Colonel Laurens,* who was in general charge of prisoners in America, was one of the commissioners who drew up the terms of capitulation which Lord Comwallis, another British general even more vinfortunate, had to sign. It curiously happened too that Burke, always the friend of the American colonists, at the time of the Gordon riots foimd an asylimi for himself in the house of General Bur- goyne. Lord George Germain, the Secretary for War voider whose admmistration, as Burke put it, "England had lost one himdred thousand men, thirteen American provinces, an annual revenue of four and a half millions of pounds sterling, five West India islands, besides Florida and Minorca," had been formerly dis- missed from the service for cowardice and had never been rein- stated. In looking over the contest in the British parliment en grand, one is at a loss to determine which were the most effective instru- ments in the hands of Providence for the greatest good of the greatest niunber — Biurke, Fox, and their party, who were tr3Tng to inspire the government with a modicum of wisdom and justice in their treatment of the colonies, or George III and his Cabinet, who were determined not to be so inspired. Why should Burke or any one take the disregard of his wise advice much to heart? Let us aU do our best, and leave results to Providence. Ahithophel, who went and hanged himself because his advice was not taken, was not only a fool but a blasphemer. Any man who despairs or even frets because his counsel is not taken by his coimtry is violating the commandment first in order and importance of the Decalogue. I am surprised that during our controversy over slavery no notice has been taken, or at least none has fallen xmder my eye, of Burke's writings upon that subject. It was he who said that "nothing could make a happy slave but a degraded man"; and that it was "impossible to civilize a slave. " He was also one of the first co-adjutors of Wilberforce in the reprobation of the slave trade. George III was delighted with Burke's "Reflections on the French Revolution," and said it was a book that "every gentle- man ought to read" — an equivocal compliment for Burke from such a source. 'Lieut.-Colonel John Laurens. HUNTINGTON PAID 35 HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW Paris (8 Rue Boursault) 6 [and lo] Feby, 1867. Dear Mr. Editor: Yours of "Waterioo Hotel, Liverpool, 29 January," and ditto "off Queenstown of 31st" (fi/to, came to hand in due time. . . . Unless the Channel passage was super-extra bad, there is no excuse for the company's not having deUvered them to you before noon of Monday. ... I am glad that you are so content with yoiur bargain. I don't think you could have made it on better terms tiU after Exposition. . . . The strips of paper pasted across B. F.'s face were: first, for the purpose of preventing the glass from breaking; but, secondly, in case of fracture, to prevent the faU and scratches thereof on the pastel. And you did not know their uses! Whatever is the good of foreign travel if folks can't learn such things? I dragged the draught (impiger hausit) on M. & Co. for the residuary frs. 200 directly I got your orders to that effect. Thank you. Part of the money has gone to a charitable purpose which you would approve. Part I keep to buy some memorial of you with — what? I have been vainly cudgelling my brain to devise — much to the weariness of that feeble organ. I thank you for the money with as sincere and perhaps more hearty gratitude than tho' I needed it for body uses; but let us imderstand, dear Mr. Ed., that now and henceforth the only reward I can accept for executing any httle book commissions for you in Paris must be that of Virtue. I shall let you know to a centime what is paid out on your account, which you will reimpocket me. Apart from the real satisfaction that the doiog of any service to you wiU secure me, I shall get entertainment and healthful exercise in the doing. I had a proper good time last Saturday lugging home a bronze bustette of B. F. — for you, if you want it. It is "of the period," or rather, I guess, of perhaps 1789, for there was a J. J. Rousseau as pendant which the marchand was zealous that I should take. It is uncommon ugly, not nearly as nice a piece of work as one in the same material and nearly the same size which I pointed out to Graham's pocket hi Rue 8 Amsterdam 36 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE six years ago. But now that you have the Auto-auto-biography and portrait, you may fancy to go on with collecting all signs and tokens of B. F.'s life and influence in Paris and on the French. . . . My notion of printing additions to the text on a sepa- rate page, though not intended exactly as you appear to have conceived, is I suspect quite an iU one. But this you will do — ^put every intercalation, whether headings of chapters or any other matter not belonging in footnotes, within brackets, and in a type different from that of the Franklin text? . . . I left your note to Mr. de Senarmont at his door last Sunday, accompanying it with one of my own in which I quoted so much of yours of 31st Januarj' to me, as bore on the matter in [hand]. I have heard notlung from him since — now the fourth day. Hence I argue that, as he is a Frenchman and seems a French gentleman, he is probably trying to execute more or less badly the task you impose on him, for which, I apprehend, he is quite unfit by lack of taste — of sense — in that kind — and of knowl- edge in the case. . . . If it ever stops raining — which there is reason to doubt — I wiU take this, with de Senarmont's certificate of which I for- warded you a copy, up to Legation to-morrow or next day. I hope you got outside of the storm that has been blowing on the European coast these three days. . . . Have you seen Extraordinary Commissioner Loubat's paper- wipe at you and Beckwith?^ I have been favoured with two copies and can let you have one at reasonable rates if you are destitute. Being in a bookshop the other day and speaking of the Frank- lin, the keeper said that he had one of the few copies of La Science du Bonhomme Richard printed in folio by Renouard — rather as specimen of fine typographic art than for mere book- selling profit — intimated that it was not dear, went to another room to get it, and came back with word that it was lately sold. That's what breaks a man's constitution, keeps him from sleep of nights. Per contra I've got a quite bad edition of My Lord Verulam's Miscellaneous pieces, folio 1661, for the which I paid ' N. M. Beckwith, a gentleman of leisure temporarily residing in Paris, whom at my request Mr. Seward appointed Commissioner-general of the United States for the French Exposition of 1867. CARE OF PASTEL 37 — its material condition being unexceptionable — two francs in the currency of this reahn. With best regards to Mrs. Bigelow and good wishes to aU your house. I rest Yours throwly [P. S.] Since writing the above some aays ago, an artist who works a great deal in pastels and with whom I spoke about your Franklin, suggests, as an operation that may have the effect of giving greater brilliance to that work, to remove and carefuUy wash the glass on the \mder side. If you think, as I almost did, that there is something the appearance as though the colors of the portrait were sUghtly faded, this experiment might be worth trjdng. It is quite safe, and Dupont tells me often desirable, to remove a slight coating of dust that has penetrated from without or that has been deposited from the pastel itself on the glass. AU of which is respectfully submitted. I shall take this to the legation tomorrow (Feb. ii) or so. Nothing yet from Mr. de Senarmont. The pastel portrait of Franklin referred to in the foregoing postscript, I presented to the New York PubHc Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden foundation, in 1908. BIGELOW TO N. M. BECKWITH New Yoek, Feby. 22, 1867. My dear Beckwith: We reached New York last Thursday morning [February 15th], after a very stormy passage, with my son John ill of typhoid fever, acquired in London.^ He is stiU quite sick. This has pre- vented my going to Washington and may detain me from there for a couple of weeks yet. I have seen Derby'' two or three times. They are looking up a >0n our arrival in New York, we were all unejcpectedly welcomed temporarily to the residence of the late George T. Trimble. ' Then a clerk in the State Department. 38 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE bill in Congress, the purpose of which I have had no time to investigate, but Derby thinks the members are under the impres- sion that Loubat^ has not been fairly dealt with. I had an oppor- tunity of explaining the situation to two or three of the Commis- sioners at Derby's ofl&ce, and Derby afterwards told me that he thought what I had said would have an excellent effect. Weed professed to be dreadfully mortified with L's behaviour and said that L's uncle here also was. Norton,^ I am told, has an appointment from Governor Fen- ton' as State Commissioner under some old law which allows him $2,000 salary. N's success at Washington is due to the fact that his father-in-law furnishes the President with his wines & liquors. The President has expressed a personal interest in his confirma- tion, but Derby says the Senate is sm-e to reject him. What call he has to prophesy thus, time will determine. I suppose N's $2,000 salary is the capital of the new Paris banking house of Norton & Co. Governor Fenton, who gave N. this appointment, some thirty years ago, was going to Albany and was charged by a merchant with a few thousand dollars which he wished to remit to a house in Albany. On arriving at Albany the money was lost. The poHce were charged to hvmt it up, and it was finally found sewed up in the mattress on which the future Governor slept. I have the story from Weed, who spoke to Fenton about it. F. said the affair had given him great concern; that a man he trav- elled with probably took it and hid it there & went off the next morning without it. While I am dealing in gossip, here is some more. The steamer on which Gibbs (our friend the detective in Paris) sailed for California two years ago, which steamer, as you may remember, was wrecked, had on board some $700,000 of government coin going to the Pacific to pay troops &c. That money was lost. The government has now the conviction that Gibbs and the cap- 'Mr. Loubat, now known to the world by virtue of a Papal commission as Duke Loubat, had been named honorary commissioner to the Paris Exposition of 1867 by Mr. Seward upon the recommendation of Mr. Thurlow Weed, who had received from Mr. Loubat's father some attentions when in Paris. He presumed upon this commission to have equal authority with Mr. Beckwith, whom I had previously appointed Commissioner-general with plenary powers. Failing to be recognized, either by the legation or by Mr. Beck- with as an independent power, he wrote and printed a pamphlet, parading his grievances, and sent copies of it to every member of congress, for which he was rewarded promptly by Mr. Seward as stated in this letter. ^Colonel Norton, a drift from New York who sought to be appointed by the President one of the commissoners to the French Exposition of 1867. •Of New York. I VISIT WASHINGTON 39 tain of the steamer divided that money between them. It had the last chain in the legal proof in its hands, when the Captain, hearing what was a-foot, bribed the necessary witness, one of his officers, to disappear. I had made up my mind before leaving Paris that Gibbs was a rogue, and yet this news took me a little by stuprise. In communicating to you all this gossip I place entire reUance in yoiur discretion. You may read such parts as you please to Nicolay, in confidence. . . . There is a dream here among the king makers of the Administration type to make Farragut President. Grant they say has not yet entirely conquered his taste for strong waters & is thought unsafe. Mrs. Bigelow unites with me in kind remem- brances to your family. . . . Yours very truly After some eight or ten days of ofl&cial, ofl&cious, and cordial hospitality in New York, I deemed it my duty to go to Washing- ton to settle my accoimts with the State Department, and as it were, take ofl&cial leave of President Johnson and Mr. Seward. After unsuccessful applications at three hotels in the capital for accommodations, I took refuge at a lodging house then recently established by a worthy colored man of the name of Wormley. BIGELOW TO BECKWITH Washington, February 28, 1867. My dear Beckwith: There is a Providence. Norton has been rejected by the Senate and is now nothing but Colonel Norton. Loubat's honorary commission has been withdrawn, and he is nothing now but the son of his father. I enclose a copy of the biU, or rather joint resolution, which has passed the Senate and is ejcpected to pass the House. I never saw Seward looking in better health, nor have I ever heard him talk with more clearness and ability. I do not think the assassin did him any harm. There are signs of reaction here against the farther prosecution 40 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE of the President, and the radicals will hardly dare to attempt his impeachment. His measures generally, I think, wiU bear the test of longer time than those of Congress, which is legislating with passion and vindictively, and therefore not altogether wisely. Motley has committed a blimder in trying to be made a martjrr, and his friend Sumner in assisting him. Seward wrote that letter^ to save him and others of Lincoln's appointees. He knew there was no truth in the McCrackin letter, but he could not afford to object to making the inquiry. To-morrow the election for President of the Senate takes place in caucus. It Ues between Wade and Fessenden. If W. suc- ceeds it will be regarded as the triumph of the Impeaching party, but it would prove the reverse, for it would frighten the coimtry. At least that is my conAdction. Yours very truly BIGELOW TO HXTNTINGTON Washington, Feby. 28, 1867. My dear Huntington: . . . I came on yesterday from New York where I have been detained by the illness of my boy John. I have seen cleaner streets than are to be found either in this town or in New York, but I never saw a people any where so entirely satisfied that every thing has been done that could be reasonably asked or expected to make their ways the ways of pleasantness. I have not yet dared to quote Stem, much less to distinctly affirm that "they do these things better in France." I was well pleased with my portrait of Franklin. I have never seen one that pleased me more. I owe you much for your kindness in negotiating the affair, though I am trying with all my might to forget the price I paid for the lot. This Congress has done one sensible thing this winter. It has purchased the hbrary of Peter Force.* I send you the report of Mr. [A. R.] Spofford [librarian of Congress], that you may have some idea of the value of the acquisition. 'Ill, 636 n. ante. 'Author of American Archives. His library comprised an immense collection of books, manuscripts, maps and plans, for which the government paid $100,000. DEANE'S LETTERS 41 I spent an hour in the library to-day running through a volume of intercepted letters of Silas [Deane] published in 1782 by Rivington, the Tory bookseller & editor in N. Y. The letters were all written in 1781 to relatives or intimate friends to per- suade them of the impolicy of prosecuting the war for indepen- dence & to sow distrust of the French alliance. The title is — Paris Papers or late intercepted Letters of Silas Deane to his Brothers b° other intimate Friends in America. 18° Rivington, N. Y., 1782. The hbrarian said the vol. had belonged to Jefferson, & showed me old Tom's private mark — the letter T before the letter J that marked the number of the signature at the bottom of the page. Also if as in this case the nos. of signatures reached to T, that was followed by the letter J — thus giving his initials twice in the book, by which he was enabled to identify one of his vols wherever found. If you should ever come across a copy of that book in your walks and more is asked for it than you care to give, you may go $100 on it for the Subscriber. Your friend Norton's glory has encountered a nipping frost. The Senate pronounced him not good looking enough for a Commissioner and declined to confirm him. Loubat too has paid the penalty of a too great facihty with the pen. Mr. Seward has reUeved bun from the biirden of honorary Commissioner under which he was staggering. The sword hath slain its thousands but the pen its tens of thousands. Motley has also fallen a victim to the same fatal faciUty. He mistook an effort on Seward's part to save him for an effort to get rid of him.^ But as Bacon's disgrace gave him leisure to finish the Novum Organum, so Motley now wiU have nothing to do but blaze away at the Dutch Republic. I am struck since my retvim by the intolerance of the people of all conditions upon pohtical questions. It is as much as the oldest friendship is worth, to differ with any body about anything pohtical. You are as certain to be esteemed a traitor as Mrs. Cranch^ was certain that you were a slave holder and a Roman Cathohc. Good night. For the evidence see III, 634 ante; also the International Renew for July and August, 1878. =Mrs. Cranch, the wife of the painter and poet, both of them residing in Paris, was a "testy dogmatist" about the differences at home between the North and the South, while Huntington was apt for amusement to always appear to sympathize with the under dog. Hence he rarely left her tea-table before incurring the charge, in a jocular vein, of being no better than a slaveholder and a Roman Cathohc. 42 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE The first evening after my arrival in Washington I spent with Mr. Seward, whom I found alone with his family. He seemed to be looking uncommonly well. His face was scarred, but not painfully disfigvu^ed to the eye. In the course of our conver- sation he told me at length the story of his preventing the Presi- dent from corresponding with the Emperor; and also of the cir- cimistances which compelled him to accept Motley's resignation of the Austrian mission — of both of which the reader has been advised. He also spoke of President Johnson. "He reads everything," said Mr. Seward. "He is a man of prodigious in- dustry. Lincoln never knew nor cared anything about the foreign relations. He was the War Minister, and a very good one; but he never questioned anything I did about the foreign relations. " Mr. Seward also said, "I sent General Schofield to Paris to parry a letter brought to us from Grant insisting that the French should be driven head over heels and at once out of Mexico. It answered my purpose. It gave Schofield something to do, and converted him to the poKcy of the Department by convincing him that the French were going as fast as they could. That paci- fied Grant and made everything easy. Schofield seemed entirely satisfied with you." The following morning I breakfasted with Senator Morgan of New York, where I met Seward again. Both he and the Senator asked me to have my trunk brought to their houses, but I declined. In the course of the morning I visited the Senate, with most of the members of which body I was acquainted, and which only three years before had given me a unanimous vote for confirma- tion as minister plenipotentiary. Several of them spoke to me of a fierce speech made the previous day in extra session by Senator Fogg against Sanford's^ nomination as minister plenipotentiary. (He was only a minister resident in Belgiimi.) The gravamen of Fogg's complaint was that the gold lace on the hats of Sanford's servants was a quarter of an inch wider than that on the hats of any other of the foreign ministers' servants, etc. The following day I told Mr. Seward that I had serious thoughts of choosing Washington as a winter residence. He advised me earnestly to do nothing of the kind. "A man is of no account here," he said, "who does not represent a power behind him. Old Jackson knew that so well that the moment he ceased to be President he lighted his pipe, mounted his horse, started for H. S. Sanfoid. LIFE OF WASHINGTON 43 Tennessee, and never appeared in Washington again. President Pierce planned to stay here after the inauguration of his successor until the weather in New Hampshire should become comfortable. Before he had tarried a week as a private citizen, when he rode as usual on horseback up Pennsylvania Avenue no man he passed raised his hat to him or appeared to know who he was or to care. Marcy too after he had been Secretary of War continued to reside ia Washington, but was soon entirely overlooked. Even the clerks of his department would not waste attention upon him. It was not imtU he became Secretary of State that he recovered any importance. I would not stay here a day if not in office. There is no society here with which you would wish to be identi- fied, if you are not a pubUc officer. You would be put down as a claim agent, or be overlooked by the officials or first class people, and your position would be anything but pleasant to yourself, still less pleasant to your wife. I always held on to my country home at Auburn, because, come what come might, there I could always be sure of ranking with the first. I would not live in New York City because there one becomes cheap. You are lost in the crowd. By keeping outside of the City I was always a Hon in the city. I patronized, instead of being patronized. Go to Orange County, and make that your home. There dispense yoiur hospi- tality and from there you may be felt. But don't come here to be kicked vmder the feet of government clerks." I dropped in on the House of Representatives for a whUe to greet some old friends. Banks surprised me by saying that he thought the President's mind had been afiFected more or less for several months, and that Mrs. Johnson had told him that the President coiild not Uve two weeks longer under his burdens. In the evening I dined again with Seward; Barthehny, the most recent ambassador from France, his only other guest. Seward surprised me by saying that Benjamin and perhaps Mason were privy to the plot for the assassination of Lincohi and of his cabinet ministers. He was imable to suppose Jefferson Davis could have been. His reasons for suspecting the two former were that the assassins had gold, and they could only have got that from their government, as there was no gold then in circulation in the United States, and no one did anything for the government without being paid. Had any corresponding attempt at assassination been made on our side, he — Seward — or President Lincoln himself must have been responsible for it, as no one else would 44 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE have had the means — the gold — to set the necessary machinery in motion. In the course of the evening Mr. Seward uttered an opinion than which nothing could better illustrate the temperamental difference which distinguished Seward from Lincoln. To my remark that Johnson did not know how to be a President, he said Johnson knew a great deal better than Liacoln; that Lincoln succumbed under disaster, but at other times was too indifferent; that he let things go so long as they did not trouble him. John- son on the other hand let nothing escape. "He reads and examines everything, is a prodigious worker, has the constitution of an ox, and is generally very cheerful, though to-day very much oppressed with the weight of important measures before him involving the future of the country." Seward thought he was not sick and that there was no danger of his health giving way. These remarks justify a suspicion that Lincoln had more faith in the wisdom and fatherly love of his Creator than Seward; while Seward, though not altogether lacking faith in either, not in- frequently at a pinch was wont to have a little more faith in him- self. He also told me that after I had left the President in the morning, Chase^ came in. Johnson's patience at his interruptions was exhausted. As he passed Seward to receive Chase, he said in the way of exclamation, but so that Seward only should hear him, "Christ!" Chase, bland as a stmmier's morning with his httle day's work finished, said that he had called to ask a personal favor. He wanted the appointment of a couple of paymasters. After he had gone out Seward said to Stanton, "Sir, you caimot accuse me of ever passing by you and asking the President for an ap- pointment of any kind. " With his healthy optimism Seward remarked also, "the South will be admitted into the Union somehow within a twelvemonth; the next presidential election will dispose of the root of bitterness upon winch everybody nowadays seems to be chewing, and subordinate our present controversies to questions which wUl then seem of superior importance. " On the 2d of March the President sent to the Senate two vetoes, perhaps the most important that any President of the United States has up to the present day ever signed. One was the Reconstruction Act, which divided the ten Southern States into >S. p. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury. POLITICAL GOSSIP 45 five military districts under military governors. The seceded states were to be restored to their places in the Union whenever a convention of delegates elected by the male citizens of whatever race or color, except those disfranchised for participation in the rebellion, should frame a constitution; provided that this consti- tution, being ratified by the people and approved by Congress, should be put into operation, and the legislature thereby elected should adopt the Foiirteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The other was the Tenure-of-Office act, designed to frustrate President Johnson in any attempt to carry out the pohcies of his administration, providing that the consent of the Senate should be necessary to the dismissal of any officer who had been appointed by and with the consent of that body. Seward and Stanton drafted the President's Veto Message for the Tenmre-of-Ofl&ce act, and Jeremiah Black of Pennsylvania was presumed to have assisted in preparing the other veto.^ On the day those vetoes were received I visited the Senate again while the Tenure-of-Office bill was being read. No one but Ira Harris of Albany* pretended to Usten. Senator Nye of Nevada called my attention to the utter contempt with which anything coming from the White House was treated there. "He is of no accoimt," he said, "we pay no attention any more to what he says." No more they did. I asked Sumner if they were not going to confirm Dix as minister to France. "Perhaps with the Democrats he will get a majority," was the reply, "but I am opposed to it. Congress should require friends in foreign as well as in domestic places; the same loyalty to it that was due to the President, when we had one. The present incumbent is a nullity and will he treated as such. " I was so shocked by this kind of talk that I began to doubt whether the Constitution was in safer hands now than it had been when the South was in the saddle. I had this very morning finished reading the ninth volume of George Bancroft's History of the United States, which he had sent me as I was leaving New York. I was struck by the simi- larity of the conditions and emergencies of the coimtry there described and those through which we were at the moment pass- ing. Bancroft had made terrible havoc of the characters of several of the old heroes, so-called, of the Revolution, especially •See the Diary of the late Gideon Welles, at the time Secretary of the Navy. •Senator f^om N. Y. 46 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE of Gates, Schuyler, Silas Deane, and Read. He says that Deane was simple enough to reveal all the plans he had concerted with Vergennes for aid from France to Edward Bancroft, a paid spy both of the colonies and of England. Of John Adams he says, "While he cultivated confidential relations with [Arthur] Lee and Gates, he never extended the same cordial frankness to Washing- ton, never comprehended the latter's superior capacity for war, nor ever weighed his difficulties with generous confidence." After Lee had been associated officially with Deane and Franklin, Bancroft says: "Thus the United States were to be represented in France, to its people and to the elder house of Bourbon, by a treacherous merchant; by a barrister who, otherwise a patriot, was consxmied by malignant envy; and by Franklin, the greatest diplomatist of his century. " He says John Adams blamed Washington without stint for having crossed the Schuylkill when pursued by Howe, and ex- claimed, " Oh Heaven grant us one great soiil! One leading mind would extricate the best cause from that ruin which seems to await it. " Bancroft further tells us that neither General Gates nor Gen- eral Lincoln appeared on the field of battle which led to the capitulation of Burgoyne. On the siege of Red Bank, John Adams cried, "Thank God, the glory is not immediately due to the commander in chief or idolatry and adulation would have been so excessive as to endanger our liberties. " Lord Mansfield, the father of the truculent Stormont, was the only one in the House of Lords who sat unmoved when Lord Chatham fell senseless after his famous speech in April, 1778. Bancroft cannot find that on any day or occasion Louis XVI expressed any voluntary sympathy with America; that "he would break out into a passion whenever he heard of help fximished the Americans"; so at least said Coimt d'Artois, as reported by Stormont. When I had finished the volume, I foxmd that the most dis- tinct impression I had received from what I had read was that pretty much aU political crises in history were parodies of crises that had been experienced before; and that the troubles with which Johnson was contending and those which confronted Washington a himdred years before, differed little but in their names. Envy, jealousy, ambition, selfishness, were among the EXIT LOUBAT 47 poisonous elements responsible for most, if not all, of the heart- aches and back-aches freely complained of. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON New York, March 6, '67. My dear Friend: Your favor of the 6th February only came to hand last evening. From the pleasure it gave me I conclude that your compositions, like wine, are benefitted by much travel. Of course I want the bustette of B. F., and if you come across any of the early engravings of him, especially that in the cap, I will thank you to secure it. In the Bulletin de la Societe de VHistoire du Protestantisme franqais of the isth January, 1867, there is a reference to a letter from F6neIon in another letter written from Jouy en Josas, bearing date loth December, '66, by one Mr. Labouchere. K it be possi- ble, as it no doubt is, to get me a copy of that Bulletin at the office or Agence Centrale No. 174 — the Bulletin which contains F6n6- lon's letter, not the reference to it — you will make me one of the happiest of men. That you may send me by mail or legation bag as may be most convenient. I got Senarmont's story. It con- tains nothing additional. I shaU not fail to profit by your sug- gestion about cleaning the Franklin. Yovu: offer of a copy of Loubat's screed had been anticipated by its author. Copies were sent to all the members of Congress. Seward was so impressed with it that he thought it luifair to require any more service from him, and has restored him to the post of honor. His career was short but imcommon brilliant, as was that of your friend Norton, who did his stint of Exhibition work to the Senate's entire satisfaction before the Exposition opened. He will now be able to give his exclusive attention to his bank, & the President I presume will have to pay full price for his Uquor. I do not yet know where I am to instal myself and library; it is the subject of dreams and meditations. I have no coxmtry house large enough, and it takes much time and more monies to build, not to speak of the making a fool of one self, proverbially spealdng, thereby. City houses are very high and city life very 48 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE expensive, yielding little for the money of what I enjoy. If Dick Hunt^ had not gone off to Paris this summer, I would have set him at work upon a house, but now I do not know what to do. Tantalus, I think, had a comparatively good time to what I am experiencing with my large and muchly unexplored library inac- cessible to me & liable to remain so for months to come. I occasionally threaten to do desperate things. I returned from Washington on the 2d. instant. The President was raining vetoes, which roUed off of Congress like water off a duck's back. There was but one senator who listened to a word of his veto of the Tenuxe of Office biU, and that was Harris of New York, who wishes a mission or a judgeship or an old pair of pantaloons or something. I never saw Seward looking better nor heard him talk better. His wound has left a great scar upon his face without having seriously deformed its expression. His mind is clear, and he is the only man in Washington who appeared cool and deliberate. Any word of moderation there is a groimd of suspicion. To require proof of the most malignant and improb- able rumor is attributed to pohtical imsoundness. Seward says it is as much as he can do to escape being tried with Surratt for conniving at the attempt upon his own life. They don't cut throats any longer here, but the work they make of characters is something only paralleled in the declining days of the Girondists. The opposition take the ground that we have no President prop- erly speaking, that the incimibent must be considered & treated as a nullity, and that Congress, therefore, is bound to engross all the executive functions it can lay its hands on. It is acting according- ingly. The President has no longer power to remove one of his cabinet. Sumner gave me as a reason for voting against the con- firmation of Dix, the necessity of requiring abroad the same loyalty to Congress now that was "due to the President when we had one." In other words, he would unite the legislative & executive power in the same hands. Seward thinks Benjamin will prove to have been accessory to the murder of Lincoln.^ He wished to save Motley and the other Lincoln officers, and hence the letter' to which M. made himself a ■R. M. Hunt, the architect. ^Benjamin, embracing the earliest opportunity after the capture of Davis to take refuge in England for the remainder of his life, countenanced Seward's suspicion when he said that the President and Secretary of Stale only in the United States, could have raised any gold at that time for any purpose. "Ill, 636 n. ante. Charles Eames CHARLES EAMES 49 martyr. Oh what a way we have of doing things and of being done! As for my own part, I scarcely know how to behave here. I am not excited enough to share the passions of either side, and yet I find it very difficult to follow the quiet course which my taste & judgment dictate — in the language of Tacitus, "Inter abruptam contumaciam et deforme obsequium pergere iter." I have been tempted with offers to return to joumaUsm by people who try to persuade me that I may do so much good by talking a few sober words to the drunken crowd. But I do not flatter myself, nor do I mean to be flattered, out of my independence. This poUtical fermentation is natural, inevitable, & purifying, and useful. It win work out its office without me & I mean that it shall have aU the credit of it. No President was ever so powerless as Johnson is. Even the Moderados are afraid to be seen with him. My wife says I must come to bed "& stop that scratching," so good night Your friend & servant On the 19th of March the Washington press annoimced the death of Charles Eames, a person to whom I felt under very great obligations, without owing him anything but friendship. I made his acquaintance at our common boarding house in Grand street in 1837. For some years and until his marriage, when I was his best man, we were roommates. He was five or six years my senior. No other person ever did so much by personal intercourse to develop in me a serious Uterary taste. He had a faculty of analysis and statement which I have rarely seen equalled, and scarcely surpassed even by Gladstone. He had also hke many, if not most, men who accompUsh much for good in this world's estimation, an insatiable appetite for praise. I had myself while in college a roommate named Hoyt who exhibited the same canine appetite. Like Eames, he was also a man of otherwise charming dispositions and superior talents. I feel greatly in- debted to both not only for then loyal friendship but no less for the effect of this infirmity in them upon myself. I am not sure that praise was not quite as agreeable a condiment to me as it appeared to be to them, but I have learned that we receive the best lessons in life from observing in others our own failings, 50 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE which we would never otherwise have discovered. Hence I am persuaded that school children learn what is of far more value to them in the play-ground if they have one, than from their teachers or books, however valuable those portions may be; and that in- struction imder private tutors for the young is usually a misfor- tune, and if from choice, ordinarily a mistake. Know Thyself was the instruction of the Greek philosopher. But there is no way of getting that instruction so good as seeing oui own infirmi- ties as well as our virtues reflected as by a mirror in the conduct of another. We are all bom blind to our own infirmities. Mr. Eames had graduated first in his class at Harvard College. He married a daughter of Judge Campbell, when Siurogate of New York. Shortly after his marriage he was invited by Ban- croft to a clerical position in the Navy Department of which Bancroft was head. Later through the influence and friendship of Governor Marcy, when Secretary of State, Eames was sent as commissioner to the Sandwich Islands and subsequently as minister to Venezuela. During the Civil War Gideon Welles, then Secretary of the Navy, appointed him special coimsel for that department, in which he achieved distinction and what for him was wealth. He had just completed a house in Washington which probably represented all the wealth he had invested. On the 22d of March I called upon Mrs. Frank Blair Sr., whom President Van Buren had been heard to speak of as the best politician in Washington. She soon revealed to me that the political situation of the country was still uppermost in her mind. She denoimced the majority in Congress and its cruelty toward the south vehemently. She thought Jefferson Davis one of the greatest men she ever knew — or, "that ever lived. " Presently her husband came in, looking a little more thin than formerly, but apparently as well in health as ever I remembered to have seen him. He seemed. very much excited about a recent confiscation speech of Thaddeus Stevens; thought his policy would be pursued in the next Congress, and that we were repeating some of the worst phenomena of the French Revolution. He told me, what I should never have otherwise suspected, that the proposal which he carried to Jefferson Davis [in 1864] was that he should leave Richmond, lead his army into Mexico, and drive Emperor Maximilian into the sea, that Davis was disposed to do it, had the proposition come to him in proper form; that is, if Lincoln had approved of it and had consented to go down with FRANK BLAIR 51 Seward and meet Davis. Blair then wrote a proposition which he read to Davis and which Davis accepted. Lincohi asked Blair if Davis had not sent a copy of his proposal to Napoleon. Blair replied in the negative. He had not left a copy; he only read the paper. Blair thought the reason Davis did not stick to his first proposition was that the glory of founding a new empire in Mexico for the Confederates would have inxured to Lee and not to him. My own impression was that Davis never for one moment seriously entertained such an absurd project, but pretended to think well of it for the purpose of having a proposal made in a way to compromise our government. When he should have got the proposal from Lincoln, he would possess all he needed for operating on the Paris and London markets. Lee said 25,000 men would be enough to finish Mexico. Grant was to f oUow Lee as if pursuing him, and occasionally skirmishing with him, to the frontier, and should it seem to become necessary for driving the French out, to follow Lee into Mexico. Blair said he went to the meeting first with the privity of Grant but without the knowledge of Lincoln — or rather without Lincoln's knowing what he meant to propose. When Blair returned, he reported what had passed between him and Davis to Lincohi, whom he persuaded to go down and meet Davis. Blair did not r^ort to Seward because he and Seward did not draw well together and he doubted whether Seward would promote a negotiation conducted over his head by a third party. Evidence that these doubts were not imaginary Mr. Blair professed to find in an aUusion in Seward's dispatch to Mr. Adams and myself, in which he said in effect that it often happened that persons who were most active in provoking war are most ready to make peace. Most of the Cabinet, Seward being of the number, were indis- posed to reinforce Fort Sumter. Blair's son Montgomery, Postmaster General, was the only one in favor of this step, which brought on the war. It was decided ui the negative. Old Mr. Blair said he met the President just after the cabinet meeting and said to him, "Mr. Lincohi, not to reinforce Fort Sumter is high treason ! " and there he left him without another word. The next day orders were given to reinforce Fort Sumter. This was the provocation of war to which Mr. Seward is supposed to have alluded in his dispatch. Mr. Blair said that Davis told him the French government had already purchased the James River and the Kanawha Canal tiiid 52 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE expected in case of separation to have thus secured the control of Hampton Roads, the best harbor on the coast south of New York. He said that the French tried to flank our republic on the south in Mexico, as the EngUsh had tried to do on the north during Jackson's time, when they conspired to annex New England to Canada. FROM MY DIARY March 30th. Called on General Grant in Washington. He looks like the current photographs, but a Uttle thinner. He approached me evidently uncertain what sort of a person he was to meet, and apparently anxious not to commit himself in any way xmtil better informed. At first General Badeau^ and I had to do the talking. Grant said Httle, and looked on the floor, and seemed pale. By and by he grew communicative. He asked about France and her leaving Mexico. "Yes," I said, "though she did not leave per- haps as soon as you wished, she has left. " The General said that was so, and asked if the Emperor [Napoleon III] was not in a rather shaky position. He said it seemed so to him, perhaps because he disliked him so. I repUed that physically he was an invaUd, but not more likely to die at present than other people. Grant said it was reported to him upon what he deemed suffi- cient authority, that Bazaine had become worth two and a half miUions of dollars; that he had a couple of stores in Mexico which were stocked with goods that came in for him free of duty and from which therefore he had derived large profits; that the other day a Liberal general caught $350,000 on its way out of the coimtry, and Bazaine asked him if he would not be good enough to restore it to him, on the groimd that it was his private property. This humiliating and undignified appeal, however, was not re- warded with success. Grant said he guessed that when Bazaine got home to France, it would turn out that he had married a very rich wife, like the officer in the quartermaster's department in his earlier military days who was always attributing the apparently incomprehensible physical comforts he enjoyed to the death oj his Uncle Sam. ■Adam Badeau, brevet brig-gen. and aide-de-camp. Ulysses S. Grant DINNER WITH SEWARD 53 The Washington Star announced this morning that a treaty has been concluded with Russia for the cession to the United States of all her possessions in America for $7,000,000. Dined in the evening with Seward; Mr, and Mrs. Gideon Welles, and a Senator from New Jersey the only guests. The talk was of the Russian treaty. De Stoeckl^ came in during the evening. Seward said that the dispatch from St. Petersburg authorizing the signature of the treaty arrived at ten last night. It was in answer to one of nine thousand words written by Stoeckl and sent by the State Department's telegraph a day or two ago. Mr. Seward went over to the Department with the dispatch, and the Treaty was signed there this morning between one and two o'clock. Seward commented upon the fact that the same day that Russia retires from the American continent, the last French soldier sails from Vera Cruz. " This is the most remarkable coin- cidence of this half century," said Seward, "and it will produce a corresponding sensation. The people who used to say that our flirtations with Russia could never have any practical result will now be disposed perhaps to reverse their opinions. " In con- clusion Seward intimated that this was part of a system of negotiations which he was conducting, he thought to a successful issue. At table we again discussed Washington as a residence for a gentleman not in public Hfe. Seward convinced my wife, I be- lieve, who was one of the guests, that of aU cities Washington was the last one to settle and to bring up a family in. Also that the rural districts were the best. He said that, in the changes which the ballot was always working in the society of Washington, we: should be there of little accoimt; that no one is ever thought of for any national honors who lives in a city. He then referred to the rural origin of President Johnson, of his predecessor Buchanan, and of his two constitutional successors, if either incumbent should die. Senator Wade and Speaker Colfax. We finished the evening at Congressman Hooper's,^ where we found BoutweU, Butler, Sumner, Harris, and several others. All tallied of the new Alaska treaty. Harris felt badly about it, he hated Seward; thought we were buying an elephant. Sumner said the necessary appropriation would pass Congress in twenty- fovir hours. •Russian Minister in Washington. 0f Nebraska. 'P. 77 ante. 84 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE it. Last Saturday I fell upon " Les Affaires de V Angletene et de I'Amerique. Anvers." 13 vols. 8vo. — 1776-1779. You know B. F. collaborated in this work. I don't know that it is complete as I have it, each vol. is in a sort complete in itself. Volume 13 is in a woeful bad condition, and one of the others in not a good one: aU are only in brochure. There will be plenty of time to talk of packing & forwarding between now and September. I am pleased to read that you are arrived at last to my estimate of the valuelessness of newspapers. When you say that H. G.'s letter to the Union Cli^b is the best he ever wrote, I am stUl inclined to agree: but that the act of his which provoked it was the silhest he ever did? Are you not, in your admiration of this, overlooking the many acts of that Apostle ? If you see the Revue des Deux Mondes of Jime ist,i or your servant's letter to the Tribune of 7th June, you will observe that Forcade^ puts a very different and high estimation of Greeley & his act of bailing out that broken cistern, J. Davis, from what the weaker vessels at home do. Without much thinking of it at first one way or the other, I was rather disposed to find G. rather right than wrong in the business; but on learning of the generality and warmth of the popular out- bvirst against him for his share in it, I more firmly concluded that he was right. The very violence of this attack of indignation shows that it is not like to last or to be based in the operations of reason. Randolph told me this morning that Colonel Hay, imder the simshine of our Washington court, has been made charge of Austrian affairs. You wiU be much obHged to me for saying nothing about the good service that mad Pole^ did for the retro- grade party here the other day, nor — there is a ring at the door. July J J Since writing the above I have been the victim of an unin- terrupted series of interruptions, the last of which was a voyage 'Vol. 69, p. 754. ^Eugfine Forcade, political editor of the Remie des Deux Mondes. 'A. F. J. Colonna, Count Walewski, natural son of Napoleon I and Marie, Countess Walewski, a Pole; bom in Poland in 1810; was French secretary of foreign affairs from i8ss to i86o, minister of state from i860 to 1865, and senator from 1855 to 1865. In the latter year he resigned from the senate to succeed De Momy as president of the corps Ugislatif. His toleration, in that capacity, of the anti-imperialism manifested in the cham- ber occasioned a revolt of the imperiaUstic majority which caused his downfall in 1867. He died in 1868. BOOKS ON FRANKLIN 85 to Switzerland, whither I went as convoy plenipotentiary of an invalid cousin of mine and her two boys and much baggage. On returning last Monday, I foimd on the table your letter introduc- ing E. D. Morgan, and one from him inviting me to dinner the fourth of July, Met him in the street the same day and was reinvited for last Wednesday: — good victuals, good talk, ditto cigars, and a good time generally, with orders to come again. I am very glad that he is to stay here a little while ; I was wanting a a pleasant house to be let go to. Yours of 2ist June is at hand and specially satisfactory in that it assures me of your not neglecting B. F. his MS. The variantes you give between it and the W. Temple edition are curiously interesting; your opinion of that degenerate's editorial quahty and of B. F.'s probable opinion of it, could he have foreknown how it was to be exercised, is sound past reasonable question. My friend Dr. Green,^ who is as warm an admirer of the old Philosopher as yovirself, holds soxmd doctrine when he urges that the whole truth be told about F., though it should not be exactly flattering. When the worst is told, there is always a great balance of good: the old feUow was rich enough in virtue to bear his faults, and surely those he recorded himself others need not trouble themselves to conceal. And now I must make a confession. This Dr. Green, for whom I began to collect Ameri- canisms, came in the other day, to my delighted siuprise, but before leaving Paris he took all my American books, except duplicates, and a few Franklinesques that I told him belonged to you. Among his takings was Les Affaires etc. in 13 vols, of which mention is made on the first page. The report on Magnetism, the funeral Eloge, and a few others, I reserved. I also have for you the Colbert, 4th vol., the last Guizot, and shall have the Napoleon correspondence so far as it has gone. . . . By the way, do you really own a farm? Mr. Morgan decHnes recognizing any such fact, and Parke Godwin ahnost laughs at the idea. I met P. G. at Luzern. He was well and joUy, and we had some fun over his creation as knight in the Leg of Honour: but the Godwin chevaUer of the Times report, turned to Goodwin in the more detailed report of GaUgnani, who won his spurs by prowess in sewing machines. Papa Beckwith you see is officer. The rosette will be a pretty addition to the gay colors of his 'Samuel A. Green, author of many historical monographs, now librarian and vice-presi- dent of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 86 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE toilette. Let us hope he will find this high knightly honour a sufficient offset for the daily offenses and low cussins which his Commissionership exposes him to, so that he shall not lay up agin you his appointment to that office. You may recoUect a German book in 2 vols., Life and Writings of Franklin, which you dechned to take from my room by reason of the unknown tongue of it. There is a note in the preface to it which I copied before Dr. Green gobbled it, which I herewith append: together with translation of a few words of the German prefacer. He is speaking of different editions of B. F.'s Life and Writings that appeared up to that date, 1794: — "On the other hand there appeared in Paris in the year 1791 a French transla- tion of a part of that Life, which goes to the year 1731, imder the title : Menwires de la Vie privee de B. Franklin, ecrits par lui-meme etc. Mr. Le VeiUard declared in a Paris paper that he had no part in this undertaking, but admitted however the genuineness of the work. "^ You have a copy of this first French Menwires of 1791, and wiU see on page second of the pubHsher's preface that he had the Memoir es "dans leur langue originate." Now how came he by the copy? Was it W. Temple's or one that W. T. let be made from it? You wiU note too that this preface writer doubts whether the original wUl be thought fit by B. F.'s heirs to see the light just as he wrote it. On the other side is aU of Grauser's letter except his distin- guished sentiments and your ancient plenipo. titles. I have cut off these ornaments in a sperrit of postal economy. I keep the bUl by reason of his receipt done upon it for 100 francs. The sum of it is 233 frcs. 65 cts. The items are for binding La France, Constitutionel & Debats, one half year 1866 of each, 7 frs. apiece: furnishing odd numbers of same 4.65; binding of the Times, 12 francs a vol., four vols, a year, four years; furnishing old journals to fill in, 16 francs. And with these, and best regards to your folks and wishes for your farm (ef you really have a farm) I rest Yours throughoutly Several months elapsed after my return to the United States before a propitious occasion presented itself for me to verify the 'Page 32 ante. FRANKLIN AUTOBIOGRAPHY 87 importance of the statement in Mr. de Senarmont's note, that my manuscript of Franklin's Memoir was more complete than the copy which had been used in preparing the edition published by William Temple Franklin and copied by Dr. Sparks. It never occurred to me that the text had been tampered with in English after it had left the writer's hand. A very cursory examination of it, however, awakened my suspicions that it had been, and I availed myself of my earliest leisure to subject the Memoirs to a careful collation with the edition which appeared in London in 1817, and which was the first and only edition that ever pur- ported to have been printed from the manuscript. I commenced this work on the 13th of June, my daughter Grace reading the Sparks version. I found, to my great surprise and, I may add, to my greater delight, that the original Franklin manu- script had undergone some twelve or thirteen hundred alterations vinder the hands of the London pubhsher, which it would become my privilege to eliminate. I foimd also at the end of my manu- script some eight pages that had not been printed in any Enghsh version of the autobiography. Many of these changes are mere modernizations of style such as would measure some of the modifications which EngKsh prose had undergone between the days of Goldsmith and Southey. Some, FrankHn might have approved of; others he might have tolerated; but it is safe to presmne that very many he would have rejected without ceremony. These discoveries gave me for the first time an idea of the propriety of pubHshing incontinently the original and uncontami- nated version of the memoirs left us by the first envoy extra- ordinary ever sent by the United States of America to France. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON June 21, 1867. My dear Huntington: Your favor from "The Cell" was most welcome to me. I was most happy to hear that you had Franklin's report about mes- merism, which has a new value now that I have evidence that the commission sat chez lui. I have collated my MS. autobiog. with 88 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Temple F's edition, and find that it was doctored by the grandson, or by some Bohemian who thought he could improve the style of the old printer, to an extent which astonishes me even yet. In the first chapter alone I found 575 distinct changes, in the second 281. In the whole 1229; but "phansy me pheeUnks" when after col- lating all of W. T. F's text I foimd eight more pages of Benjamin which had never been vulgarised by [American] printer's ink. And such 8 pages! They give an accoimt of his first interview with Lord GrenviUe on his first visit to London as agent of the colony of Pennsylvania. There are no more important eight pages in the voltune. I am now disposed to publish an edition from this MS. treating all others as spurious. This additional matter settles the question about which at first I had some doubt, as to the authorship of the emendations. Wm. T. F. probably never saw these last pages, and supposing the original to be the same as that given to Mr. Le VeiUard, he exchanged them without inspection. But if Franklin had made the changes, he would doubtless have made them on his own MS., which was amply provided with margins for that piupose; but if he made them on the copy, he would not have been likely to have continued his story on the defective MS. My theory is that when Wm. T. F. sat down in 18 1 7 to edit this, he or his pubKsher thought they could improve the original by giving it the benefit of such changes in style & manner as our literature had undergone in the preceding thirty or forty years. Some of the changes, no doubt, Franklin would have accepted, if recommended to him, though as a general thing they are not such as would have seemed to him important, while in very many cases, I think, he would have rejected them with wrath. I will give you a few specimens of changes that old B. F. I think, would hardly have made sponte sua. W. T. F. says "he had acquired a habit of drinking brandy." B. F. " "he had acquired a habit of sotting with brandy. " W. T. F. " "The violation of my trust respecting Vernon's money was," &c. (money he had collected for V.) B. F. " "The breaking into this money of Vernon's was," &c. The following in the MS. is omitted entirely by W. T. F., an omission for which he at least was excusable. EDITING FRANKLIN 89 "In the meantime that hard to be governed passion of youth hurried me frequently into intrigues with low women that fell into my way, which were attended with some expense and great inconvenience, besides a continual risque to my health by a distemper which of all things I dreaded, though by great good luck I escaped it." Again, in classifying the virtues which he proposed specially to cultivate, he eniunerated "Chastity: Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation. " I am not disposed to think that the man who would write the foregoing passages woiold ever have stricken them out. You wiU have heard of the report of Hay's appointment to suc- ceed Motley. A note from him only two days old informs me that he has no information upon the subject except what he has derived from the newspapers. The bruit was probably lance as a feeler of pubUc opinion. As the appointment has not been assailed, I suppose the Administration wiU send Hay his commis- sion in due time, if my theory about the origin of the report is correct. I have no news for you. I rarely go to town. I can't tell you how I enjoy the tranquil beauty of my country home. Farragut invited us to come to his reception on Friday on board his flag- ship. I like him & would have had pleasure in doing him honor, but the folly of exchanging my peace of body and mind for the bustle of a crowd of pohticians and pohticianesses ia New York took such proportions in my mind's eye, that I concluded not to raise my anchor. Cicero somewhere says, agricultura proxima sapientiae. Don't you think with my recent gettings I have been getting imderstanding? I beUeve I told you that I hai^ bought a farm — not one that is going to absorb and worry me much, but which promises to give me much satisfaction. Its management presents questions which seem to me a thousand times more important than that of Recon- struction, Impeachment, or the guilt of Mrs. Suratt. But I was sadly reminded last week of the inseciuity of all himian arrange- ments for happiness by the death of my farmer under most pain- 90 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE ful circumstances. He went, according to his custom, to take a bath early in the morning and appears to have been seized with a hemorrhage of the limgs in the bath and to have tried to reach the house, about 5 rods distant, for help, but to have fallen dead when within 10 ft. of the door. He has Uved with me since he first came to this cotmtry in 1857 from Germany; he was a master of his business, very honest, and had the entire direction of my place. To replace him will be difficult — I suppose impossible — and I find myseK suddenly called upon to hire and pay men and give orders, of which he formerly reheved me. So that now I am about as full of business as ever, but with less care, and get my sleep. Bancroft did me a kind turn before he left. He placed all the Lord Stormont (British Ambassador at Paris during first part of Franklin's residence there) correspondence at my disposal, during his absence. From a glance I have had of it I judge that it is most useful for me. General Grant spent an eveng. with me a week ago. He talks very well; as long as the cigars hold out, & he never says a foohsh thing. Good bye, my friend. I'll not load this letter with another sheet, though I am tempted. bigelow to hargeeaves Highland Falls, Orange Co., New York, July 12, 1867. My dear friend: I reproach myself very much for the long interval which has elapsed since I last wrote you — and you so delicate aU the time that you could not reproach me yourself. You would not remem- ber it against us, however, if you knew how often we think and talk of you aU, in our domestic circle ; how often we wish there was nothing more formidable than the British Chaimel in the way of our dropping in for a day or two upon you in your country home. , I did not tin recently reaHze how much I was to miss here the . society of my European friends, even of those whom I saw so rarely as you. The fact that I could always see you in twelve or fourteen hours was a comfort which I find I parted with on the other side of the Atlantic. . . . MEXICO 91 The Mexicans have lost a fine opportunity of acquiring the respect and sympathy of all civilized states, but in losing it they have done precisely as the Latin race has always done under the same circumstances. Old Rome pretended parcere subjectos debellare superbos but neither she nor any of the issue of her loins have practiced forbearance to the prostrate. Whatever hopes were entertained in any quarter outside of Mexico for the suc- cess of the Juarez restoration I think must now be abandoned. Like all his predecessors, the last resource of his statesmanship is terrorism and vengeance; and the inevitable consequence of all attempts to live by the sword is death by the sword. I shall be sur- prised if Juarez keeps his head on his shoulders sis months longer. * But that is the least of my apprehensions. We have or our present government has imdertaken to say what sort of pohtical insti- tutions and rulers Mexico shall not have, which leads logically to the necessity of saying what she shall have. I see this more dis- tinctly perhaps than the mass of our people, or I think they would recoil from the foUy of shifting the burden which was so near crushing your imperial neighbor on to our shoulders. There is a Mr. Cave M. P. here travelling with James Mc- Henry.'' They are going over the Pacific railroad as far as com- pleted. They dined with me yesterday. What is his history, if you happen to know anything of him? Is he a financier or states- man or both? I gathered from his conversation that he was a disciple and friend of Mr. Bright, which of course was sufl&cient to secure my respect for him. . . . Always sincerely your friend and servant bigelow to beckwith Highland Falls, Orange Co. July 19, 1867. My dear Beckwith: I have just read your correspondence with Ruggles. Derby, who had a copy, lent it to me. It was not so acharnee as I ex- ' Juarez died in July 1872. =A prosperous American merchant established in London. 92 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE pected from what a friend of Ruggles, a Mr. James who recently returned from Paris, has told me. He had got his impressions from Ruggles, who gave him to imderstand that he had been most grossly insulted by you & that your nose wanted nothing so much as a good puUing. I told him that he had better wait tiU he heard the other side, that I knew both parties pretty well, and that the presumptions were all so decidedly in favor of your nose's innocence that I had no hesitation in pronoimcing Rug- gles' story "bosh." This the Correspondence demonstrates, though I am sorry that you allowed him to provoke you into writing an)d;hing about him that his vanity wiU never permit him to forgive, for that is always unwise, as no one knows better than yourself. A man in the pubHc line should beware of resort- ing to what Tacitus terms the "facetics asperce, quae aicrem sui memoriam relinquunt." I admit that the temptation was irresistible, and that in your place I should probably have been ten times as indiscreet. It is now imderstood that Grant will nm for the Presidency if invited. I wish he might be made to see the superior wisdom of making the next President, than being it. The impression which I have derived from what I have seen here is that Stanton is much the ablest man in Washington and that his chances for the succession ought to be, if they are not, the best. I think you ought to come home if possible with your report, and be in Washington when it is submitted to Congress. I have no doubt it will do you great credit, but as the M. C's may be besieged by persons imfriendly to you, if you are not there, it may prove an economy in many ways to the authorities under whom you have been acting, to pay them the homage of a visit. I have not seen your boys since I wrote you, though I have put them in correspondence with the Superintendent of the Central Park. They doubtless have advised you of what has happened, if any- thing. Please let me hear from you when you have time, & place me at the feet of Mrs. Beckwith. Yours very truly HIGHLAND FALLS 93 BIGELOW TO HARGREAVES Highland Falls, Orange Co., N. Y. August i8, 1867. My dear Friend: We have not abandoned our old country home as you seem to suspect from the superscription of our letters. We stiU live at the "Squirrels" but not in "Buttermilk Falls." Some of my aspir- ing neighbors Asrith ears better timed to euphony than their ancestors' resolved to change the name of our village about a year before my return & it is now known as "Highland Falls." I think the change an improvement, though the other had the merit of antiquity and of association with interesting portions of our revolutionary annals. George Washington was quartered quite near them, and embraced them in his Hne of defences. Arnold was lodged in a house directly opposite to them on the other side of the river, the night before he took refuge with the British fleet after the capture of Andre. My farm, which is a part of a 1,000 acre tract that embraced the falls, & which is traversed by one of their principal tributaries, was conveyed to one of my preced- ing proprietors by George HI. Behold a new bond of union between us. I derive title to my new farm in a direct hne from one who was the common sovereign of yr ancestors as well as mine. It will give me great pleasure to correspond with you about our common agricultural experiences, though in such a commerce I ought to advise you in advance I should be the principal gainer, for I am yet as the Rosicrucians used to express it, "a dweUer in the threshold. "... But alas, I have so much to do, wood to cut, ditches to dig, rocks to blast or to bury, stones to remove, fences to build, sheds and buildings to erect, laborers to find, test & place in their points of greatest usefulness &c. &c. that I feel as if I might be a very old man — I am now for that matter, I shall be 50 in November — before I can have any pecuniary returns from my labor or money. However I shall begrudge 94 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE neither if I continue to derive the same degree of pleasure from the work that I have derived thus far. I begin to suspect that we have been disposed to exaggerate the merit of Cincinnatus in returning from the command of an Imperial Army to his plough. It is by no means clear to my mind that he did not make a profit- able exchange. And speaking of exchanges, you wiU have re- marked that the President has exchanged Stanton for Grant as Secretary of War. This fatuous proceeding of the President, like aU his other foUies, may work us substantial good not other- wise attainable. It seems likely to result in the election of Stanton to the Presidency, which on the whole would, I think, be a matter for national congratulation. Stanton is probably the ablest administrative officer about Washington, and has not been tempted to enter into any covenants with the Amelek- ites. Mr. Adams would stand a fair chance for the Presidency to which he has almost an hereditary title, if he had not chosen to cast his fortunes rather precipitately with those of Mr. Johnson. I think there is no disposition here to forgive such an offence and every day Johnson is rendering forgiveness more difficult. The surrender of your Tories to the popular summons teaches one important lesson worth as much as, more perhaps than, the new franchise it confers; that is, that with the aid of a cheap press, and the other modem improvements, abuses are no longer so formidable as they used to be, they are so much sooner besieged & reduced. While you are extending the elective franchise to men, we are debating the propriety of extending it to our mothers & sisters & daughters. I have no doubt they wiU enjoy or suffer that fran- chise here before it is extended to aU the whites in England. I have been surprised to find how much attention the question attracts and how strong a party favors it in some of the States. If adopted in one State, sooner or later it will become general; for I am not aware of any conclusive argimient against women's vot- ing when that privilege is enjoyed by all the men. There are but two questions involved, I believe, in the determination of the abstract right. Are women already sufficiently represented by their male friends, or is their interest that is imrepresented too inconsider- able to entitle them each to a whole vote as is the case with lima- tics, idiots, and children? When the discussion shall be fairly FEMALE SUFFRAGE 95 engaged I doubt if either of these questions will be decided in the affirmative. Another reflection has passed through my mind since this subject has been vmder discussion here, and that is that possibly the participation of woman in the duties of citizens at the poUs may serve to neutralize some of the evils of the representative system which as at present administered are certainly serious. We find that in aU his social relations man becomes barbarous in proportion as he is isolated from the gentler sex. No man can develop synunetricaUy without experiencing more or less con- tinuously the influence of women. May it not be equally true of gov'ts? Certainly if we were to double our voting population by the addition of that number of persons, who do not swear, who do not fight, who do not drink, who do not seek jobs — at least such jobs as corrupt men mostly affect — and whose presence is a re- straint always upon the vulgar and depraved, might not they prove the just and natural complement of the male voters & neutrahze, if not cure, the grosser evils of the elective system as functioning at present? I begin to doubt whether even here universal suffrage is possible as a permanence without vtniting the sexes in its exercise. You see, my friend, what an idle man I must have becometo be betrayed into a discussion of female suffrage by correspondence. But I can't talk with you, so I must write as I should be likely to talk if I had you beside me on my piazza looking out upon the beautiful Hudson, with Mrs. Hargreaves & Constance near us with their work, exchanging knowing glances with each other now and then at my nonsense, & each occasionally protesting that they, have cares enough already without assuming any of the cares of state. You see I don't mention Paulton among our listeners, because I should not have dared to broach such doc- trines before him. But for the pleasure of his company & that of his never-to-be-too-much-esteemed wife & children I would be but too happy to leave the rights & wrongs of women to Provi- dence & Time. ... I wish to be affectionately remembered to your friends at Boughton as well as to your own household. Your faithful friend 96 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE bigelow to huntington Highland Falls, Orange Co., N. Y. Aug. 4, 1867. My dear Friend: In reply to yr most welcome missive of the nth of Jime, I have to say: -Lst. I do not wish the vols of journals [newspapers] bound by Grauser sent home till farther orders, if Mr. Nicolay will have the goodness to store them. 2nd. . . . Your administration of my funds in your hands has been most exemplary. Periere & Fould wiU have to look to their laurels. I feel now very sorry that I did not take that German book, the Life and Writings of Franklin, for the extract you sent me is of the utmost importance. I must have the whole of Le VeiUard's letter of which the Dutchman gives a paragraph. And any thing relating to the subject of it that may accompany, precede, or follow it in the Journal de Paris, 1791 No. 83. I would have asked Moreau to make the search for me but for the difl&culty of posting him up for the work. If you wiU post him or Proeschel upon the point they wiU procure some one to compulse the Journal for any thing that was written about these Memoirs at the time they appeared, in that print. It is undoubtedly easy of access in the Bib. Imp. Any expense incurred I wiU venture to ask you to pay & let me know how much I am your debtor. You shall not be long out of pocket on my a/c. Laboulaye went me the other day a couple of pages of the edition by Renouard of 1828 in 2 vols., which contained the pages not foimd in W. T. F.'s edition of the Memoirs of 18 17. Strangely enough it has escaped aU American editors, even Sparks, & has never appeared in EngUsh; so that the news was not as depressing to me as it might have been. If you come across a copy of the edition of 1828 please get it for me, and the quicker the better. I am very much in hopes that in the Journal de Paris may be found traces of the first translator of the Memoirs. Le Veillard there says he had nothing to do with the translation. Mr. de Senarmont says in his note to me that that translation was made by Le Veillard himself. If so, why did he not give the whole in RENOUARD'S FRANKLIN 97 his hands mstead of the fragment? If he did not translate it, who did? You may abandon yourself to the repose of an absolute faith in my acquisition of a farm. About 2 mos. ago I bought about 315 acres, about equally divided into rocks, woods & arable land. It lies in the mountains behind me about 35 minutes walk from my house and serves to absorb what Uttle of my time and money are not absorbed by my smaller place. It has not as yet added to my wealth. I fear it never will; but it has tended to confirm a suspicion I have long entertained, that it does not make much difference what one is doing if it only occupies all his time. I am as much interested in looking after my cows & hay &c. as I ever was in badgering Drouyn de Lhuys about Mexico, & the more I reflect upon it the more I think I am better employed. There is no news here that I know except what you find in the papers. God bless you. I go out very Uttle. BxnsrriNGTON to bigelow Haussmannville, 24 Aug., 1867. Dear Sage of the Squirrels: Yours of 4th August came in yesterday. I congratulated my- self on reading it that I knew exactly where to lay my hand on copy of Renouard, 1828 edition of Franklin's Life. I saw it at Veuve Renouard's, 6 Rue de Tournon, when I was there with Dr. Green four weeks ago. It was the last copy they had and I thought it rather dear for 5 francs, seeing that I did not actually want it for myself and did not know but that you had it. I went for it this morning. This second coming apparently was taken as proof that I very specially needed it. They pre- tended not to know the price of it. Two grown men took it off into a side cupboard and after a quarter of an hour of consul- tation, one of them returned with the price at 7.50, and showed me in proof that the old price given four weeks ago was wrong, the new one marked on the fly leaf. If I had had a finger of public scorn about me, I should have pointed it at that miserable man. I listened to his pitifully mean talk with a dry eye and in silence. Let us hope he felt ashamed of himself. I paid him the money and sent you the vols. Two lines in the preface to the first and a 98 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE note on page i of the 2nd will attract your attention. You have no need to regret the German book, I sent you every word of the only note in it that interests you. If you want to see it, however, my friend Dr. Green, 25 Kneeland Street, Boston, wiU be glad to lend it to you. He is an ardent Frahklinist, knowing heaps about Franklin bibliography and iconography, and I am sure would be more than willing to put his knowledge at your service for the only pure & correct edition of the Life — in which he is much interested and about which I told him all that you have written me. American books grow rarer. There have been several persons out here this year treacherously looking for them and for Washington and Franklin portraits. Despite these adversaries I have got a many Franklin editions. Fell upon one lot of over 40 the other day; had to take all or none, and so for the sake of the few good and rare ones, took the dupUcates and common and poor ones, at a high price. With these and what I had before, I can make out a set of 40 different portraits : price 200 francs. Do you want them? If so speak quick. I picked up two or three of them in Switzerland this summer, where I passed the first week in July. This reminds me to say that I did not write the Paris letter to the Tribune of 2d or 6th July, in one of which, if you chanced to see it, your name is mentioned, not coupled with abuse certainly, but differently from what I should like to have you suppose I wrote. I will attend to looking into the Paris Journal next week Wednesday or so; cannot do so sooner by reason of a ten days protracted aboUtion meeting to be held on Monday and Tuesday at Salle Herz under the presidency of Laboulaye, the which I am ordered to attend and report. Yoimg de Senarmont has the MS. translation, which, as I imderstood him, was writ by Le VeiUard. I saw it: it looked to me too clean to have ever been in a printing office long enough to be printed from. My guess is that copies were made of it for that purpose. And again it looked too clean and free from erasures and interlineations — so far as I — turned its pages, which, to be sure, was carelessly and not far, to be the translator's first draft. It is a pity that old Senarmont had not Uved a few years longer. He was a deUghtful old gentleman, so a friend of mine who knew him teUs me, and probably had valuable traditions of Franklin. My friend thinks on the strength FRANKLIN MANUSCRIPT 99 of imperfectly recollected conversation had with this amiable vieillard so long ago as 1855, that he had books or other memorials of Franklin besides the portrait & biography. Mr. Hunt however, was not at all interested in Franklinism, and just the biography and the letters you now have may have been all the old gentleman referred to. Since writing the above I have been comparing a few passages of the Renouard and the 1 791 Lives. They are not printed from the same MS. at aU at aU; and the differences are more than would exist between a first draft and an amended translation by the same hand And then, what I was not remembering a little while ago, there is the note on page 2 of the pubUsher's preface to the 1791 edition: "1,65 personnes curieuses de lire les Memoires de la Vie priv'ee de Franklin, dans leur langtie originale, peuvent se faire inscrire chez Buisson, libraire, rue Hautefeuille, No. 20." B. F. died in 1790, April 17. When did W. Temple exchange the origmal MS. with the copy that his grandfather gave to VeiUard? If immediately after the old man's demise, might he not have left the copy or a copy of the copy with Buisson? You have marked the variantes between the original MS. and the printed English of W. Temple's edition. Might not a comparison of some of these variantes with their corresponding paragraphs in Renouard and the 1791 Ed. be worth the while to make? WUl not Qu6rard^ or Barbier^ teU you who was the author of the Buisson 1791 edition? I have stopped again to read the preface of that anonymous translator. If he was an utterly honest man, he did not know of the existence of more MS., though he seems to suspect it, as he has a suspicion of the infidelity to their trust of the literary executors of the old philosopher. I am pleased to have yovir written assurance that you do own a farm. The next time I see Mr. Morgan he shall be cured of scepticism in that regard. I dined with him last Wednesday. He and his all well. They talk of leaving Paris for Italy or some- where in about six weeks. What with cholera and Garibaldi, Rome does not promise an agreeable residence for strangers. My friend Bond, who is interested in the silver mine that Brooks is a shareholder of, says it threatens to be profitable. Per contra the Copper sauce pan handle mine that I bought into when you 'Some one of the numerous publications of J. M. Qufaard, the great French bibliographer who died in 1865. 2J. C. Barbier, honorary President of the SocUte des Etudes historiques and author of several works. 100 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE and Beckwith blindly refused to invest, has been sold, so the papers say, in Boston at 50 cents (currency) per share: but on the other hand my brother, who is my minister of finance, has been served by its oflScers with a call to pay an instalment of $3 per share — which, I believe, they call that fineanshearing. By the way, have you any swamp or bushpasture on your farm that you would like to swap for copper stock? Think it over and let me know. State also if there are snakes on the land, and if so how many. Meantime I rest. Yours truly, P. S. Have consulted Querard who gives one Gibelin as the Translator of the 1791 Vie de Franklin. Turning to Didot's Biog. Universelle, I only find that- Jacques Gibelin was bom at Aix, 1744, died in 1828, and filled up a good deal of the intervening time in translating books of science from the English. Was a doctor and often visited England before 1791. Your Dor6 Lafontaine is nearly complete — No. 43 received. Shall I have it bound, and in what style? The moment you go beyond plain Grauser work, binding costs. What say [you] to a handsome half -morocco with comers at 15 a 20 francs. The book hardly deserves more than that. Dore is not up to his old mark throughout. SUMNER TO BIGELOW Boston, 28th Aug., '67. My dear Mr. Bigelow: Why should you not pubUsh an edition of Fra nklin 's Life? But you should complete it by bringing it down to his death. I have always thought his Autobiography the finest specimen of that species of composition which exists. It is a classic & must be read always. Next to it, but very imlike, is Gibbon's, which I admire much. This is the Hfe of a Scholar, & of all books the best for a youth, who begins to feel the charm of study. These two books are educators, each in its own way. Let us have Franklin, — ^as you alone can do it. In your retirement, with wife & children & your beautiful views, take up this pastime. Remember me kindly to Mrs. Bigelow, & believe me Ever sincerely yoiurs, BECKWITH ON THE EXPOSITION 101 The following letter from Mr. Beckwith, while Commissioner- general of the American Department of the Paris Exposition, though volimiinous, will not be found a line too long to anyone who reads it through. In no other way can anyone with so little trouble be quaUfied to appreciate the trials, the embarrassments, and the indignities to which the American exposes himself who accepts such a position and does his duty. It is a pleasure to me here to say pubUcly that Mr. Beckwith did his duty, and he did it so faithfully and so triumphantly that it constituted one of the notable achievements in Mr. Seward's management of the State Department. I myself am not ashamed to confess that I feel some pride also in having had a humble share in the selection of Mr. Beckwith as our Commissioner- general. M. BECKWITH TO BIGELOW Personal & private [September, 1867 Dear Bigelow: I have had a joUy time for 3 mos., so much pleasure I could not spare time for a line to you, not even to thank you for underwrit- ing me to Mr. Sumner — of which I do not doubt there was need — assxmiing that he reads the newspapers, the bible of politicians, & places faith in them! But let me begin where I left off in the centre of an acre of boxes, which drifted to this side without invoices, inventories, or catalogues, or any indication of the con- tents of each: these had to be opened, registered, inventoried for carters, & catalogued for exhibition, which should have been done & I supposed had been done, at the same time fixtures to be altered & foundations made to fit the products, which did not agree in any wise with those reported to be coming, but many of which never came; and we were on the eve of opening the Exhibition ist of April, jury work to begin the 2d & be finished in a month. Simul- taneously arrived a Congress of Commissioners & an assembly of State Commissioners, bearing with the stiffness & pretension they call dignity, the oppressive weight of the State. They commenced wrangling at home & ranged themselves un- 102 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE der two heads, Frank Leslie & S. B. Ruggles. These two began as friends in N. Y. — S. B. R. wrote his own biography to an- nounce his greatness in Europe & F. Leslie pubUshed it with an engraving from a crayon taken at the age of 35 ! Then they got into a barouche and drove about New York kissing each other in presence of the people. S. B. R., being hid in the lobby, could not keep faith, & slipped off to Washington unknown to F. L. & got a bill passed in the Senate which F. L. considered treacherous & intended to cut him down. But F. L. watched S. B. R., & as he left Washington, F. L. shpped past him on the road & got the Bill modified in the House, which upset the apple cart of S. B. R. Both were angry & dissatisfied. (N. B.) My impression is that Sumner saw through this, because I observed that the new BO was carefully worded so as not to interfere with the previous Bills & Regulations imder which I was working, though it was the design of both F. L. & S. B. R. to set aside the Regulations, & they persuaded themselves they had done so. Subsequently they made up differences, because it was necessary to work together here, to override me. The Commis- sioners commenced daily services by laws, reports, committees, congressional riiles, previous questions, & long speeches. They had no distinct notion of the work they were directed to do, nor how to go about it. A committee to study science or to paint a picture are equal foUies. (Science is a mysterious revelation from within, it is individual & comes of observation, study, & reflection, which is not the work of Committees.) But they had a distinct notion that they could manage the exhibition better than I could, & were resolved to do so. F. L. & S. B. R. pretended to know in- timately the design of Congress in the new bill which was to supersede the Regulations & they persuaded most of the Commis- sioners of this. This went on for three days — during which the president shook his head but said not a word. 3d arrival; about j of the Exhibiters — %oths of whom were deaf & dumb; they expected to find the Exhibition made, but only foimd a line of boxes from Havre to Paris. Then three ele- ments were in presence, a chaotic mass of products, a wrangling commission, and a lot of exhibiters so ignorant of the language, the customs, the ways of business, the Regulations of the Jury, & the methods of doing things, that they were nothing but a nuisance. The battle ground of an exposition is always in front of the THE EXPOSITION 103 juries; 95 juries and 600 jurors; if you can't get your products all displayed to the juries, carefully examined, compared & judged, if you can't convince the Juries, your Case is lost. Their verdict is final for the next 10 years. You must fail or win by the Juries. That is the main chance, and aU else is subordinate. The situ- ation was reaUy desperate, & I could not sleep on it. I would have resigned, but that was disgraceful. I thought of suicide, but that was cowardly, & I concluded to accept the contest. I resolved to make the Exhibition in my own way. To do this I selected a few exhibiters, all who could do anything — 7 or 8; and with my own staff about 40 or 50 in all, for the work. All others I left out, by not giving them tickets of entry. This reUeved me of the pressure & interruption of people worse than useless. I directed the work myself, got permission & a poUce for night work, & drove it day & night — till 2, 4, & 5 in the morning. I gave one hour at the ofl&ce in the morning to listen to complaints & grum- bling, went to the Champ de Mars & remained till 3, came back to preside at the meetings & hear myself abused dined and returned to the Champ de Mars for night work. This continued for 3 weeks, & the hard work and want of sleep wore me down. The indignation meetings then began, part of the Commissioners joined them, they aroused the Bedouins of the press who love a row, made speeches, reports, etc, & sent lots to Washington and to the American press. They also piled my table with letters &c. &c. I paid no attention to this, worked on in silence, refused to give tickets to whomsoever who could not help me, made no explanations to the Commissioners, and said nothing. This gave them a hint (for I said not a word) that then- legislation would come to nothing, as I might not submit to it! By this time also F. L. and S. B. R. had begun to quarrel again. S. B. R. by his lobby tactics got the advantage, which disgusted his friend F. L. (who then told me the Biographical story — & the "ingratitude" of S. B. R.), and then he left for Italy. S. B. R. was triumphant, & turned his whole attention now to me. I had discovered by this time the tendency to a spHt — & that S. B. R. only wanted a little stimulating to lead him to such extravagance that his supporters would revolt. Consequently the stimulus was not omitted & the result followed. He came down on me with 9 pages of awful writing intended for Washing- ton and the press. I put it in my drawer & told him I woxild reply 104 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE when I had time. He thought I was embarrassed & he was foolish enough to read his paper & to crow. I went on with my work & never relaxed an hour. Most of the missives sent me I put in the basket & never answered them, but went on with the work — looking to the main chance, the Juries. At the end of a week, for the first time I read his letter, & replied, a page & a half. The gas came out of his bubble the instant it was pricked, & he came down from his perch with signs of distress. At the next meeting he brought in a resolution to embarrass me, & backed it by a blustering speech. His followers revolted, voted hun down — & from that time I have had no trouble with the meetings. Work going on well at the Exhibition. Episode. In connec- tion with all this, the balls, fetes, concerts, reviews & what not, occurred in rapid succession. Our colony, with wives & daughters of course, were of opinion that fetes could not go on without them. They had a fair share of invitations, but I could not get all they wanted: the body was too numerous. They were more angry at this than at anything else, threatened me with "Con- gressional inquiry" — & even with "Impeachment" & got Wash- bume, they said, to take it up; wrote me letters complaining of " neglect to ladies, " — & all that sort of thing, I did my best for them & could do so; they were simply wild & crazy like children; the women besieged me in my home, sat down & scolded, de- manded, laughed & cried, wiped their eyes & began again. Never was such childishness. Meantime I got my exhibition up, and let everybody in. The jury work was going on — a great nimaber of people were present. Our exhibiters, who could not understand, did not know a jury man from any other man; & it has occurred over & over, when I & my people were attending to jurors, the exhibiters were pulling me by the sleeve to know when the jiuy was coming, & grumbUng that I gave no heed to them, because, in point of fact, I was too busy explaining their products & plead- ing their cause to do so! This is no exaggeration. Now my friend, you see that I was very unpopular. I could not have been more so. I expected that, but I could not avoid it without failing in the work. But I succeeded in the work; got the products carefully examined, & reported upon by 95 Juries, & their imited verdict gives us over 50 % of awards. No nation will beat that — though not over J of our exhibiters were present. The jury battle was thus fought, and that is the whole of an BECKWITH DECORATED 105 Exposition. As for the rest, I don't trouble myself. They are aH dissatisfied; those who have no awards are naturally discon- tented, those who have [mention] should have had bronze, the bronze should have been silver, the silver gold, & the gold, decor- ations. It is all the fault of the Commissioner-general! Competition brings out the good products & bad quaUties of producers, like a horse race or an election. All is anxiety, excite- ment, selfishness & discontent; fairness & justice are upset & selfishness prevails. Our people are unconscious how completely they are imbued with the war spirit: its vestiges remain in every breast: wrangling, wriggling & disputatious as if they had swal- lowed Medusa, head & hair. But excitement on one side begets cahnness on the other, & I take no credit for preserving my tem- per & patience, and laughing like Charles Lamb's philosopher in the stocks amid showers of rotten eggs & brickbats, which his fancy converted into tokens of Uvely applause. The Emperor has been complimentary — & asked me to din- ner; he was aware of my difficulties all through, that I had suc- ceeded, and made the first American exhibition in Europe. Our products had taken high rank, & he wished to show me a mark of his appreciation by conferring the distinction of Officier de la Legion etc. — two steps at once. Subsequently he charged the Empress to present me with the emblems, which she did in graceful words & manner in presence of the Court. At a later period I recom- mended for distinction some of my assistants, associates & exhibi- ters. These were conferred & sent to me through the foreign office to distribute to the parties, which I did. Herein lies a display of human nature. Our people have the greatest contempt for these things & for those who accept them, & atthe same time a hvely and ardent yearning to get them for them- selves; the warmth of their abuse is the evidence of their envy, & they hate you for having that which they crave. Such is Mfe. If you step up on a brick 2 inches above the level, 20 violent hands are thrust out from all sides to puU you down; but coming from all round, the poise neutralizes the puU, & if you have any back bone you are confirmed on your brick by the strain — which is but an in- verted brace. Here anent is a joke. I don't think a feUow has the first element of fitness for affairs, who cannot ignore the passing dif- ferences that arise in business, & act outside of them as if they had never occurred. Therefore I ignored — and asked S. B. R. if he wished to be decorated. He was nervous & said he would ask the 106 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE advice of his old friend General Dix — as he was afraid it wotold "kill him at home" — they would say he "had been bought," &c. I said, "it is not certain that you will get it, if I recommend you, but certatti that you wiU not get it if not recommended; they don't offer without knowing that it wiU be acceptable, & if you ask Dix, & finally faU, you had better have kept your own coun- sel." He repHed, "WeU then, I won't ask Dix, but I will leave you to do just as you think best. I am in the condition," said he, "of the woman who on a certain occasion said she didn't want to ask for it, but she wanted it to happen. " This was his method of expressing his amorous yearning & modesty respecting the ribbon. After I sent it to him his courage fell, he was frightened and though he received it, he, I am told, says he did not want it, but did not wish to offend the Emperor by declining — and waits to see what his own government wiU say. But everybody does that inevitably, whether he will or no. Respecting his mone- tary commission — he says he has been "eminently successful" & is going home to report & come directly back. The situation is briefly this. The resolutions finally adopted by the committee on weights, measures & coin, were drawn up by J. P. Kermedy, & they are based on the plan developed in the letter I read to you, published by Mr. Seward, 29th Jime, 1866. K. & I discussed them, & I had them put in French; S. B. R. intro- duced them — that is all. But he made the worst speech on them I ever heard, & showed that he did not imderstand the situation; it would have done harm if it had not made everybody laugh. The unit I did not recommend, I consider it of no moment; it may be adopted or not, it is immaterial. The main thing is — uni- form standard of 9/10 and decimal system. This is the substance of the resolutions — France may have a imit of i, America of 5 (I's) England of 25 (I's) or they may all have a imit of 5 (I's) as recommended; but that is not worth talking about. I don't claim any credit for the thought, but I ask anybody to point out any writing which shows that simple & practical method of arriving at harmony before the appearance of my letter. There might be such, but I never saw nor heard of them. By the way, I ought to mention that in the meetings of our Commission, J. P. Kennedy is the only man who has stood upright bolt on the Laws & the regulations, imderstood them & supported them with success, which helped me greatly. This is aU that occurs to me to say that would interest you. When you have read EXPOSITION AWARDS 107 this, mil you do me the favor to destroy it. In the first place, it is impossible to talk so much about myself without appearing ego- tistical — which makes me ashamed. In the next place, it is worse than f ooUsh — it does harm to tell aU sorts of tales — to show men's fibs & failures — they leak out some way & produce embarrassment to the authors if not destroyed. N. B. Seward stands by me like a brick. His experience & sagacity don't permit him to be misled by the passing ebullitions of excited people. All the Sabbatical Pharisees at home & abroad are down upon me now on the Sunday question, with petitions to the Commission — but the Commission defers to me. Another lot of saints apply for liberty to preach, one in the school house, another in the aimex. Yesterday Doctor Mary Walker walked in to group II, in trousers, & seeing a photograph of Lee, Johnson, & others, she got in a rage and commenced tearing the card off the picture of Lee. I seized her arm & stopped the demoUtion. I told her my duty was to protect the property accepted by author- ity of the government & placed on exhibition & I could not per- mit depredations — but as she insisted, I led her out of the com- partment. Pleasant business — exhibitions ! With best regards to Mrs. Bigelow believe me very truly yours, N. M. B. P. S. I began with a small sheet, thinking it enough — but forgot that first thoughts are best, & went on. I forgot to men- tion the following. Gold medals (and aU others of the same de- nomination) are absolutely equal: the fact of one name being placed before another on the hst is a necessity, but implies nothing as to rank or quaUty of products — the Usts are filled up as the reports come in from the juries and are recorded by the clerks, but without any regard to order, there being no distinction among them of any one class of medals. The jviries havmg settled the question of merits in respect of products exhibited, I stated on my own responsibility to the Minister of State: "The question of products is settled, but you are accustomed to take a larger view of the subject and bring in other considera- tions. The house of Chickering is an ancient establishment in the U. S. — from father to son — it has grown into a settled & impor- tant Institution; great ability, zeal & ceaseless study and atten- tion have been paid to the improvement of the quaUty of their 108 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE products, which has resulted in bringing them to a level with the best in Europe; this worthy example & success have contributed by raising the standard to improve the whole piano industry in the U. S., which is obUged to work up to the best standards, & in this manner progress is made. " Likewise in regard to Elias Howe; I consider him the central man, the founder of that great & important industry now spread- ing over the world, represented by the sewing machine. Others have improved the machine, & now make better than his. He gets a gold medal, but only as "cooperator"; his machine falls behind; nevertheless, had there been no Howe, there woiild have been no machine — public opinion instinctively accepts that con- clusion. It is the business of exhibitions to mark these persons as weU as their products & to award personal distinctions for personal merit. On this presentation of the subject those decor- ations were given. I consider it right & that it is my business to attend to it. But I am censured for it, just as if others were equal to & had done as much, & I had been partial to these parties at the expense of others!!! BIGELOW TO HXJNTINGTON Highland Falls, Sept. 2, 1867. My dear Friend: In overhauling my portfolio the other day I found the en- closed draft in favor of Grauser, which I think I professed to send you in my last letter. To err is human. Please find some way of getting it to poor G., who I doubt not, is in great need of it. When you are in search of a pretext for a walk, go to de Senar- mont's and ask his authority for stating, as he does in his "Notice sur les Memoir es," that Mr. Le Veillard translated them for the first French Edition. When he has given his reasons it will be in order for you to ask him to explain the Venerable's flat denial of the same in his note to the Journal de Paris which you were good enough to quote to me.^ I fear the old rat took a liberty with the truth, for I do not see how it was possible for Buisson, the pub- ^Note by Mr. Huntington: I afterwards found and forwarded copy of the entire letter of Le Veillard, of which I had previously sent only an extract to Mr. B. The entire letter justifies Le Veillard. BUISSON AND THE FRANKLIN MEMOIRS 109 Usher of the Edition of 1791, to have found means of saying & doing what he did without Le Veillard's connivance at least. If he did not use Le Veillard's copy, perhaps de Senarmont knows by tradition what copy he did use. I found among the papers de Senarmont sent me, a letter from Buisson offering to become the purchaser of the Memoirs. It is dated the 26th June 1791. His edition of the Memoirs appeared, I think, in August of that jt."^ Perhaps de Senarmont knows what answer was given to that letter. If so I should much Uke to be as wise. I go to-morrow with four of my children to p^ace them in the Friends' School at Providence. Johnson appears to be getting ready for something pretty desperate. The curious thing about it is that those who pretend to be his friends are as ignorant of his plans and as incapable of seeing anything sensible or statesman- like in them as his opponents. Napoleon was not more isolated in Mexico. I hear nothing more of Dana's paper, though it is xmderstood still that it win appear this fall & that Tammany HaU is in prepa- ration for the new birth. Putnam's Magazine is to reappear in January with new attrac- tions. So I leam to-day by a note inviting suggestions & contri- butions, both commodities in which I am not dealing at present. I have not yet got my books out, nor do I know when I shall have a place where I can put them, which is a necessary preliminary to their impacking. Some of the few that I did impack were dam- aged by the water, which fills me with anxiety & impatience. I am studying agriculture nowadays, on the lowest form, as they say in EngUsh schools. I must do it, for in our country now, a man who wishes to have anjrthing done must know how to do it, for he can hire no one who knows. The class who know how to do any thing here, hire; they are not to be hired. Shortly after I bought my farm, my steward who had been with me ten years, a German, & who knew everj^hing, died. If I had lost my sight, the blow would scarcely have been more irreparable. Good night my friend. Yours very sincerely Wole by Mr. Huntington: In March. 110 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE hunxnstgton to bigelow 8 Rue de Boxirsault, 4 Sept., 1867. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Enclosed you will find accurate copy of all of Le VeiUards letter, less the passage which you already have. . . . What seems to me most noteworthy in that portion of the letter of Le VeiUard which I read for the first time to-day, is the statement that W. T. F. was then in England, busily occupied, and far advanced, in preparing a pubUcation that, for some reason or other, never saw the light tiU twenty-six years after. This strengthens the current notion of W. T.'s infidelity to his trust. Le VeiUard's translation (edition of 1828, Renouard) should have been made, it seems, from the "clean" copy? So that not even Renouard is after the original, genuine, juvenUe first proof? Have you thought to look after notice of Buisson's edition in your Mercure de France for 1799? The mystery is as great as ever how that Doctor Jacques Gibehn ever did get hold of the MS. in EngUsh. He was more than once in England, was a naturalist of some mark, and among other translations from English philo- sophical writers, did two from Priestly and an abridgement of the Phil. Trans, of the Royal Society of London. Could B. F. have given a copy of the fiirst part of his Life to Priestly, or some of his philosopher friends in England, from whom it passed to Gibelin? Gib. pubUshed in 1791 a vol of Melanges, Observations et Voyages, which must be looked after. I sent you the Renouard Edition, with a letter, by the Legation bag last week. Hope they are come safely to hand. Yours truly P. S. There is a dealer here by the Church St. Sulpice who tells me he has 3 letters of Franklin. I did not ask to look at them, not wishing to excite his cupidity or my own desire. Unless they are the merest notes of no accoimt he would be apt to charge high for them. These critturs have an idea that Ameri- cans win pay any price asked. You have helped to encourage them in that notion. The price you paid for the B. F. portrait & MS. was told me some time ago; but the story runs, I think, among BUISSON AND FRANKLIN MEMOIRS 111 the MS. folks that you paid the whole sum for the MS., and among the print & picture dealers, that you paid the whole sum for the portrait. I barely missed buying not long since a miniature of B. F. said to have been well done and to be "of the period. " A treacherous wretch of an EngUshman had just caught it up. I don't sleep well nights. Enclosure JOURNAL DE PARES. No. 8j Jeudi, 24 Mars 1791, de la Lune le 20 SUPPLEMENT No. jp LIVEES DIVERS. Passy les Paris, 21 mars 1791. Peu de temps avant sa mort, M. Franldin m'envoya les Me- moires de sa Vie ecrits par lui-mSme; je les ai traduits et je n'en ai differ6 la pubUcation que par 6gard pour sa famiUe, et particu- Uerement pour M. W. Temple Franklin, son petit-fils, a qui son grand p6re a legu6 tous ses manuscrits. II se propose d'en faire une edition complete, tant en anglais qu'en frangois, dans laquelle il ins6rera ma traduction. II est actueUement en Angleterre ou il s'occupe de cet objet, et sous peu de jours U doit passer en France pour achever de le remplir. On vient de publier chez M. Buisson, Libraire, rue Haute- feuiUe, im voliune in 8vo., intitul6, Memoires de la vie priv^e de Benjanain Franklin, ecrits par lui-mSme & address6s k son fils. Les 156 premieres pages — [here follows the paragraph of Veil- lard's letter which you already have part of .^ . . . ] — ne termine pas I'ouvrage, et que le reste est entre les mains de M. W. T. Franklin, qui disposera son edition de maniere que les Me- moires complete de M. Franklin formeront un ou deux volxmies qu'on pourra se procurer separ^ment. Le Veillaed. 'Page 29 ante. 112 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW i6 September, 1867. When you have received my last two letters, you wiU see, I think, that there is no need for me to call on young Senarmont to tell what he does not know about the Buisson business. The VeiUard letter which I sent you full copy of in my last is proof positive that V. Ued or did not know how Gibelin got hold of a copy of the MS. Now if he Hed, he doubtless left word to his fanuly to stick to it, or else said nothing to them on the subject; and, presently getting his head cut off, left them in the dark. The present Senarmont is in the dark, ex-officio, as you may say, respecting Franklin. His old uncle, I am afraid, carried all valu- able tradition to the grave with him. You see by VeiUard's letter that Buisson pubUshed before 2ist March; Buisson's offer to V. to purchase the Memoir es would have been then for the sake of controlling the property in them. No, there was a third copy of the first part of the Memoires in Enghsh, either let be made by Buisson or W. T. F., or surreptitiously made from one of the two in possession of V. & W. T. F. Yours, etc. huntington to bigelow 8 Rue de Bouiisault, Paris. II p. m. 26 Sept., 1867. Dear Mr. Bigelow: . . . Your letter of 2 September was all interesting, that part of it in especial that touched on home pohtics. I shall not try to send you any return in kind, though the kind — with L. N. B.'s cumulating run of iU luck just now — is interesting here too. It never rains but it pours; it almost looks as though the shower this time would keep on to a deluge and sweep off the MEXICANA 113 throne. But you see report of all this. Girardin keeps a stand- ing heading in La Liberie: L'Enquite sur I'Expedition mexicaine, under which he prints the decrees, proclamations, circulars etc. of the French chiefs of the expedition published in Mexico, putting the more bloodthirsty and abominable passages in italics and small caps, by way of commentary. Some of these are sent in from private hands, but most of them are taken from Editor Seward's publications. An old story to you, they are new and startHng to the French. Other papers and higher class journals abo\md in similar docviments, and in articles on that woeful Mexican business. The most damaging to government of all these is the series pubUshed in the Revue Contemporaine, the writer of which has imdertaken to defend Bazaine (whereby he has but partial success), and consequently attacks poor Max. and this government in a manner disastrous to reputations. It is very late and I ditto sleepy. Must stop here. . . . I want to tell you of a Mr. Olmsted now here, who is to your predecessor, Joel Barlow,^ what you are to your predecessor, B. Franklin, in the matter of devoted zeal of admiration — but luckier than you in the collection of original writings of his minister. J. B., according to his account, was a super-extra- ordinary intelligence, and the accoimt seems much less extrav- agant than one could beUeve tiU after listening to him. But oh-yah-a-um! how precious dormibund I be. Yours drowsily Credit mobUier offered to-day at 170. Talk of Drandylwheez taking Moustier's place. The Bismarck note sworn at but eaten — seasoned with Mr. Rouher's and many of H. M.'s own words. huntington to bigelow 8 Rtie de Boursault, Paris, 22 Oct., 1867. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Your vmcommon long, and by consequence ditto good, letter of 6 Oct. was handed me Sunday at about 3 o' the clock as I was started on my way to Suresnes, I stopped and read it in the door- 'Minister to France from 1811 to his death in 1812. 114 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE way and then, for my sins, must disempocket and read it again as I walked in the Bois de Boulogne, whereby I lost my way and did not reach Suresnes till my host and his other guests were already past their soup. A very jolly dinner by the way — victuals good, the wine (an agreeable bibble that I ordy became acquainted with this summer), that same kind which Henri IV was so fond of, chicken than which that good-wishing king could have wished a better in the peasant's pot, and the convives deepest dyed Reds all. The gentle Bloncourt^ was there: a man of more acquire- ment, by the way, than I had supposed, and, when you can get his tongue to run on something besides his own race, worth Ustening to. I rather like him too for the simpUcity of his political scheme : it is as easy to understand as the Pope's. Pius IX folds his hands and says non-possumus, and henedicite; Bloncourt stretches his out tin they turn backward and says do the impossible and damn 'em. The Mrs. Lincoln business, it seems to me, is dirty enough of itself, without Mr. Weed needing to smirch white paper with trying to wipe it up; nor does it seem to me that his argument is sound in excuse of the nation for not paying that silly woman what we owed her husband's estate. To decline paying a debt because we don't happen to like the original creditor's heir, is as easy a moraUty as Butler's (not the bishop) or Pendleton's.^ Which one of these last, by the way, is to be incorporated into the national creedo. I acknowledge receipt of your draft on Mimroe in my favour, the which I got cashed yesterday, for 200 francs. . . . With this go the forty Franklins good and poor.* Dr. Ran- dolph, who has been in the consulate for two years or so, leaves that lucrative office next week for home. He passes through New York and is kind enough to take charge of the package as far as there, and commit it to an express bureau. I add a few of the caricatures of the day, thinking that some of them might amuse you: the Ste-Beuve protecting Renan in the Senate is good; so is the Guizot. * * * * * if: if They tell Mrs. Charles Simmer is here in Paris — the gossips say she has seceded from imion with that statesman. The Con- 'A quadroon from one of the islands of the West Indies. 'G. H. Pendleton advocated the payment of the public debt in paper money, "green- backs." 'Portraits costing 200 francs. PICTURES OF FRANKLIN 115 sulate bvdlding is condemned to expropriation, and Mr. Nicolay is beginning to be bothered to know where to move. Rents are higher than ever. Mr. Woods, pleasant and sensible a man as ever, must also scatter. Good old Madame Busque came limp- ing into my room last week — her precious old legs are rheimiatic, and she is 59 years old, even as our Emperor. She sang your praises wanidy, keeps your photograph for a sign and a token in one of her reUgious books. The German sings the same air and time. You wiU be glad to learn that he does not so continually guzzle and gobble as he was used to do. A new doctor has got hold of him, thinks he can restore his sight, and meantime has put him on diet, without coffee and cigars. Whereby, it being close on dinner time, I make my leg and rest Yours truly BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The SqumRELS, Novr. 4, 1867 My dear Friend: . . . I do not know where I stand with you now financially speaking, but I trust you do, and that you wiU let me know when there is danger of the balance getting against me. I am willing to prey without scruple upon yr good nature but not a scruple on )Tr purse. Last week I went on to Philadelphia to see Lippincott. He was enthusiastic about the "First and only complete" &c., and is very anxious to pubhsh, and says there are shekels in it. His view of the maimer of bringing it out corresponds with my own entirely. He sees the whole thing as we do, and wiU spare no expense to produce it just as such a book should be produced. My in- troduction will occupy some fifty pages devoted exclusively to the history of the MS., and the MS. is to be published pure & simple. ... The pubKc press, as you may have observed, has taken juris- diction of Sumner's domestic relations, and has dreadfully ag- gravated a situation sufiiciently painful when the knowledge of it was confined to the parties immediately concerned. It seems to be established that the Senator's marriage has proven infelicitous 116 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE to both parties. They have passed their summer apart — she at Lenox, & he at Boston, writing lectures from which he hoped to derive money enough to furnish a house which he had bought in Washington. An Attach^ to the Prussian legation is named among the causes of their aUenation, although I believe no one pretends that this party's crime went farther than his being more agreeable as a companion to Madame than her lawful husband was. He was recalled during the sxmmier — a newspaper corre- spondent (no one knows better than you the value of such an authority) says at Mr. Sumner's personal request — and she has packed up, and in point of time at least followed him to Europe. Sumner has in a measure confirmed the reports & suspicions in circulation, by breaking oflf his lecture engagements, giving up his house , & taking bachelor's quarters. This latter proceeding favors the impression that he regards the separation as final. The at- tentions of the Prussian were the subject of comment when I was in Washington last March. It struck me then that such an intimacy crowded rather close upon the honejmioon, but I con- fess I was not prepared for its distressing denouement. It is diffi- cult to beUeve that any one, even Sumner, should have been so wanting in tact as to make a personal application for the removal of the cavaUer from Washington, but somehow every one believes such to be the fact, and gives that as Madame's sufficient excuse for taking lodgings beyond the jurisdiction of the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The copperhead class of all shades enjoy this scandal prodigiously and delight in fitting it on to aU imaginable hypotheses. It is even asserted upon authority that would astonish you, that Madam had uistituted proceedings for a divorce on the groimd that S. was not equal to the paramount duty of a husband. His apparent insensibility to the charms of the fair sex during that period of Kf e when they usually exert most influence, is doubtless the only foundation of this report; but that is a sufficient foundation for a very large number of his country- people. This development has replaced the excitement over Mrs. Lincohi's "Old Clo" speculation. She and her New York agent have entirely subsided. No one seems to know whether she "reaKzed" or not m money, but now there is no longer any doubt in any one's mind that the reports of her plundermg the White House when letiring from it were or at least might have been true. Ah, my friend, if every body knew the perils which beset POLITICAL SPECULATION 117 exalted stations, how few wovild aspire to them. The fools would have them aU to themselves. Judge Pierrepont told me only yesterday (this is entre nous of course) that he was talking this last summer with Seward over their after dinner cigar about S's occupation after his retirement from Washington, which then seemed to outsiders imminent, and Pierrepont suggested that it wotdd give him an opportunity of putting in an imperishable shape his varied and extraordinary experiences of pubUc affairs. Seward turned around to him abruptly, and in a very impassioned manner said to him, "You present to me, sir, the most loathsome task that I could possibly imdertake." That no doubt was a veridical statement of the results of one of the longest and on the whole perhaps one of the most successful political careers nm by any Uving statesman — taking into account the capital of all kinds originally invested. The elections this faU are not propitious to the Repub's. It is very doubtful whether they will carry this state — that is, it is doubtftd among the pohticians I hear. I do not doubt myself much. I think their defeat is nearly inevitable, unless Sejmaour takes too active a part in the canvass. Negro suffrage has done it. The masses wiU not hear to giving to freedmen suffrage at once without preparation and without the consent of the white population of the South, all of whom that are recognized as competent leaders being deprived of that right. If New York goes Democratic, Grant will be nominated by the Repub's, & E. D. Morgan, Vice. It is not so certain if the Rep's carry the State. Good bye. . . . Yours very faithfully john rorster to bigelow Palace Gate House, Kensington W., gth October, 1867. My dear Mr. Bigelow: With this you wiU receive the Titles — but if you name to me again the paltry sum paid for them, never again expect me to submit to any small or great kindness at your hands.* 'This is an allusion to a proffer of a remuneration for some expenses incurred in pro- curing some memoranda for me from the British Musemn. 118 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Enclosed is a note from Dickens, which will speak for itself. It was not untU a week ago he really made up his mind finally. He was very strongly inclined to it — but I have myself seen some reasons against it, and I put them before him lately in such a way as to bring him to me at Ross (from which my last letter was written to you) to discuss them. It ended as such discussions are apt to do. He failed to convince me; perhaps I did not entirely fail to convince him; but the latter process of conviction not car- rying "his will" with it, the other opinion remained. Nor, after the various argimients stated by him, did I continue any strong resistance. He sails by the boat of the 9th November; landing at Boston; and I heartily hope that all will go well with him. As to the kindness of his reception I never had a doubt. I am still in the coimtry, at present at Gloucester; and suffering from so severe an attack of cold & fever that I can hardly hold my head up to write these few lines. Forgive me that I must close them somewhat abruptly. With all kindest regards to Mrs. Bigelow and every good wish — beUeve me ever most Sincerely your friend, John Forster. Gad's Hill Place, Higham by Rochester, Kent, Monday, seventh October, 1867. My dear Forster: I have been very much interested and gratified by that pleasant passage from Mr. Bigelow's letter concerning me. As you say you are going to write to him, pray tell him as much, and assure him that I shall hope to become his friend on the other side of the Atlantic. Truly dear Forster, Your affectionate Charles Dickens. It was early in November 1867, and after a brief visit to our children at school in Providence, that my wife and I foimd our- selves at the Parker House in Boston. The day following our IN BOSTON 119 arrival we were invited to lunch at Cambridge with Longfellow. It was the poet himself who opened the door for us. He looked plump and well conditioned; wore his hair, then white, long d la Tennyson, his beard also. He introduced us to his three daugh- ters, and a son. Professor Greene,^ one of "the grandsons," is staying with Longfellow, superintending the printing of his biog- raphy of his grandfather. We lunched most cheerfidly on a Yorkshire pudding, a tmrkey, and generous subsidiaries. The house occupied by Longfellow had been General Washington's headquarters, which made it a two storied classic. Longfellow has two rooms for his Ubrary, one for books and the world, the other for books and himself; his laboratory. I asked him if he had ever projected an ideal library. He said he had; that he would have every book within reach, and to get greater height of shelving, would have drawers below to puU out, that one by standing on them might reach the higher volumes. Longfellow has a pleasant voice, a serene face, and as I thought a most amiable disposition. I had seen Longfellow once some twenty years before at the Carlton House in New York where I was boarding. I did not then make his acquaintance, but I remember the impression he gave me of being the finest looking, most attractive and best "turned out" man I had then ever seen. I was pleased to find that the lapse of a generation failed to prompt any qualification of my first impressions. Charles Dickens had then recently arrived in Boston and was sta)dng also with his friend, manager, and titular secretary — Mr. Dolby, at the Parker House. Mindful of his friend Forster's letter asking me to call upon him, I sent my cards to him the following morning. Return cards from him and Mr. Dolby arrived before sundown. After breakfast the following day I went to hear Mr. Whipple's oration or eulogy on Governor Andrew,* for which my friend Dr. Green had been kind enough to procure me a ticket. Whipple's countenance was wrinkled and wore a haggard expression, the manifest penalties of excessive brain work and bad digestion. His eulogy had the misfortune to fit almost anybody who had reached any prominence. It gave me no idea of Andrew as distinguished from any other governor of Massachusetts, He treated him as a 'George Washington Greene, grandson of General Nathanael Green of the Revolution. K)f Massachusetts. 120 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE man who had completed the promising career which he had barely begim. Exilogy was such a foregone conclusion with him, so entirely the thing he had come there to make, with or without straw, that it failed of effect. He did not get a single applause, except when he closed. In the afternoon Professor TheophHus Parsons called. He talked at length about Sumner's desagrement with his wife. He said the first serious outbreak between them resulted from Mrs. Sumner's accepting an expensive amber necklace from an attache of the Prussian legation. She had been wearing false ones. The attach6 told her she ought to wear real ones. She replied that her purse did not admit of that. The attache sent to St. Petersburg for real ones and presented them to her. When Sumner heard of it he sent to the attache for the biU for the necklace. On the 7th of November, shortly after breakfast, I went to call upon Dr. Ohver Wendell Holmes. He had told my wife a day or two before that the morning was the most convenient time for him to see his friends. He received me so cordially that, in spite of several efforts to release him, I was detained vmtil half-past eleven, though I had promised my wife to drive out with her to Cambridge at half -past ten. The Doctor's appearance at first did not impress me much. There seemed abimdant activity and vivacity, but he was smaU in stature, with a Puritanically shaped head, rather high in the region of self esteem, with short, rather bristly hair, and grayish, but very pleasant eyes. His conversation was eloquent without effort, his manner most prepossessing. I liked him before we had talked ten minutes, and I kept on liking him better and better till I left. He showed me a hygrodeik for measuring the himiidity of the atmosphere. It was standing on his mantel, and he pro- nounced it the best instrument of the kind in the world. He talked earnestly about the religious condition of the world, and read me an extract from a letter of Sainte-Beuve favoring the erection of a monimient to Voltaire, in which the utter want of religious faith in France was not only admitted but rather justi- fied. He wanted to know more about Saint-Beuve. My reply to this led to talk of the Emperor's poUcy toward the Church as compared with that of the opposition, who always denounced that poUcy. He spoke also of the religious questions agitating England and this coimtry. I asked if he had ever read the CHARLES DICKENS 121 "Divine Providence" of Swedenborg. He said he had not, and asked if I accepted Swedenborg's teachings. I said I had perfect faith in him — thought his superior wisdom and insight was a result of superior moral and spiritual attainments. I also gave a brief account of the way in which I became acquainted with his writings. Had not my wife called to take me away, I do not know how or when I should have left the Doctor; I found his talk so very engaging. In the evening I dined with Mr. and Mrs. J. T. Fields. Among the guests were Mr. Dickens, and Mr. Dolby. Dickens of course was very entertaining. He said that he beUeved he was desig- nated in Forster's will as one of the trustees to be charged with Ms library; that Forster had offered it to the Literary Fimd Society, a corporation which Dickens denounced as "a corrupt set of vil- lains" because they declined to accept it, not wishing to have the trouble of it. Forster had some thoughts of sending it to his native town of Newcastle. Dickens was opposed to burying such a treasure in such a napkin. He spoke also of Home, the med- ivan,^ to whom he apphed aU the hard names he could lay his tongue to, "ruffian" and "scoundrel" being two which I particu- larly remember. Then he told a story he had from Anthony TroUope of the way TroUope got Home out of his house in Flor- ence, where Home had installed himself through the interest in spirituahsm with which he had inspired Mrs. TroUope. It was arranged one day that they were to have a seance the evening following, at which it was proposed to make inquiries of the fate of a relative who had come to a violent death. Home had a way of walking up and down in front of the house with the children, pretending to be talking with them but keeping his eyes and ears open to whatever any one in ear-shot might be saying, never going far or long beyond it. Mr. TroUope said in a solemn manner to his wife, " It was just years this night since oiu: dear — — was drowned. " At night when the spirits were questioned about the manner of 's death, and the date, they gave the same cause and time of the death. The facts were, said Dickens, that she died in an entirely different manner and at a different time. When asked how he accounted for some of the remarkable ID. D. Home, bom near Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1833; educated near Norwich, Con- necticut; held spiritualistic stances in the United States, England, and on the continent of Europe; was expelled from Rome as a sorcerer; married twice, each time to a Russian lady of rank; author of Incidents in my Life, first series 1863; lb, second series, 1872; and Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism (1877); died at Auteuil, France, in 1886. His widow wrote D. D. Home, his Life and Mission (1888). 122 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE phenomena of spiritualism, of which Fields related two remarka- ble cases, he said, "Coincidence." He then himself told of a ghost story sent to him by the brother of Gleig (I presvime the biographer of Wellington^ — ) and pubHshed in All the Year Round. This story was claimed by another person as stolen from his manuscript. Mr. Dickens replied that it was impossible that the gentleman who sent it to him could have procured it by any unworthy means. The complainant said he would be glad to beheve so, but that there was a date in the story which he did not wish published, and it was to avoid that that he had withdrawn it from the pubUsher. That date was in the "All the Year Round" version, which showed it could not have been picked up in any way at second hand. Dickens said that the story was sent to him without any date, and that he had put in one because it was no story without some date in this blank. The dates proved to be precisely the same. He foxmd the proofs and sent them to the complainant with the date in his own hand-writing. Dickens also told a story of having a dream of seeing a woman enter his house, of the name of Napier. The following day an acquaintance. Miss Boyle, called and presented a Miss Napier with the features of his vision, a person he had never seen nor heard of and of no interest whatever. This reminds me of another dream story of profounder interest which Dickens wrote to his friend Forster on the authority of Secretary Stanton. On the afternoon of the day on which the President was shot, there was a cabinet council at which he presided. Mr. Stanton arrived rather late. Indeed they were waiting for him, and on his entering the room, the Presi- dent broke off in something he was saying, and remarked: "Let us proceed to business, gentlemen." Mr. Stanton then noticed, with great surprise, that the President sat with an air of dignity in his chair instead of lolling about it in the most imgainly attitudes, as his invariable custom was; and that instead of teUing irrelevant or questionable stories, he was grave and calm, and qxiite a different man. Mr. Stanton, on leaving the council with the Attorney-general, said to him, "That is the most satisfactory cabinet meeting I have attended for many a long day! What an extraordinary change in Mr. Lincoln!" The Attorney-general replied, "We all saw it before you came in. While we were waiting for you, he said, with his chin down on his breast, 'Gentlemen, something very extraordinary is going to happen, and that very soon.' " To which the Attorney-general had ob- 'G. R. Gleig (1796-1870). A Scotchman; served in the British army in Spain and in the United States; wrote Life of the Duke of Wellington, Campaigns of Washington and New Orleans, and other works. CHARLES DICKENS 123 served, "Something good, sir, I hope?" when the President answered very gravely: "I don't know; I don't know. But it will happen, and shortly too!" As they were all impressed by his manner, the Attorney-general took him up again: "Have you received any information, sir, not yet dis^ closed to us?" "No," answered the President; "but I have had a dream. And I have now had the same dream three times. Once, on the night preceding the Battle of Bull Rim. Once, on the night preceding such another" (naming a battle also not favourable to the North). His chin sank on his breast again, and he sat reflecting. " Might one ask the nature of this dream, sir?" said the Attorney-general. "Well," repUed the President, without lifting his head or changing his attitude, "I am on a great broad roUing river — and I am in a boat — and I drift — and I drift! — But this is not business " suddenly raising his face and looking round the table as Mr. Stanton entered, "let us proceed to business, gentle- men." Mr. Stanton and the Attorney-general said, as they walked on together, it would be curious to notice whether anything ensued on this; and they agreed to notice. He was shot that night. ^ I remarked to Mr. Dickens that Bulwer (Lord Lytton) had faith in, Home, the medium. "Oh, yes," Dickens replied, "but you see Bulwer is deaf and he does not Uke to have it remarked; so Home would say, " 'Do you hear those raps?' And Bulwer would say, " 'Oh yes, I heard them per-fect-ly.'" And this Dickens pronounced so exactly as Bulwer since his deafness pronounced, as to convulse the whole table with laughter. Yet as very often happens, so with Dickens — his prejudices were only a reaction of his own opinions. If he had not been a trifle superstitious himself, he probably would not have felt and spoken with so much vehemence against poor Home. For example: He chanced to be absent from London when the col- lected series of the Pickwick papers appeared in 1837. It had, as we know, an incomparable success, and made him at once incon- testably the most popular writer in our language. The super- stitious strain in his blood led him to coimect the extraordinary success of his book with his absence from London when it ap- peared. One of the consequences was that, for the rest of his life, whenever he was to be delivered of a new book, he withdrew from town till the accouchement was over. 'Forster's Life of Charles Dickens. 124 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE PROM MY DIARY November 28th. Dined with Mrs. Chase. Met there her brother, Chief Justice Bigelow, and a swarm of young Bigelows. Mrs. Chase is a cousin of Mrs. Abbott Lawrence, and was sure, she afl&rmed, that I was of the same tribe. Speaking of super- stitions, she told the following of Abbot Lawrence. When on his way to be presented to the Queen (Victoria) he discovered that in changing his dress he had left at home a pair of scissors that he had carried in his vest pocket ever since he was a clerk and which he had got accustomed to associate superstitiously with his suc- cess in hfe. Though he had driven halfway to the palace before he discovered that he had not brought his mascot with him, he insisted upon driving back to get them. December ist. Went out to Cambridge. Sat for an hour with Theophilus Parsons at the Law School. Accidentally asked what he thought of the Lipptncotts as pubHshers. That led him to ask if I was intending to pubUsh anything. I told him that I was editing the original of Franklin's Autobiography for pubhcation. Thereupon he went on to say that on the whole the Lippincotts were the best men for me in the country, but he urged me to be careful in making my contract. He thought there was a great deal of money in the book if well managed. He said that, if Prescott had it in hand, he would make a fortune out of it. He gave some amusing stories of Prescott's cleverness in marketing his books. On my return to our hotel, found Mr. and Mrs. Holmes in the parlor. To my surprise he referred to the book of Swedenborg which I had recommended to him as worth his reading, and asked me to give him again the title. I asked his permission to send it to him. My wife took the Doctor and Mrs. Holmes home in our carriage, and brought him back again, as he was to dine at the Atlantic Club, at which he had invited me to be his guest. In this however he had been anticipated by Fields and LoweU. WhUe waiting, I received a note from Richard H. Dana Jr.^ informing me of his return from Richmond, where he had been for the govemm.ent to try Jefferson Davis, begging me also to be his 'Author of Two Years before the Mast. Oliver Wendell Holmes O. H. HOLMES 125 giest at the Club. Fields asked Holmes to take charge of me at ne dinner as he had several guests, so I went in with the Doctor o the reception room. LoweU received me very cordially. I was presented to Mr. Richard Dana Sr., Norton, Emerson, and vyjnpple, before dinner was announced. Longfellow was in the Chair (vice-president), Agassiz, the president, being absent in consequence of his mother's recent death; Richard Dana Sr. was on Longfellow's left, and Dickens on his right. Hohnes wished to place me next to Dickens; I made him take that seat, on the ground that two stranger guests ought not to sit together. R. H. Dana Jr. was on my right. Fields and Norton were opposite, Lowell was next; Emerson was near the end of the table. Holmes spoke with great emotion of the persistent attacks of the Nation upon The Guardian Angel,^ begi nnin g with the first number. Had the writer awaited the completion of the work, he said, he would not have minded it; but his conduct, Hohnes said, could only be compared to the brutaUty of kicking a woman with child every week, in the belly. He thinks the writer to be a foreigner who has an idea that he may show his smartness to advantage at the Doctor's expense. I told him I feared he attached too much importance to the criticisms of books, which were read by very few persons after all. He thought he had gotten over it, but I saw he had not. Dickens was asked by Hohnes if he had ever had his head examined by a phrenologist. "Oh, yes," he said, "frequently;" and he said he had faith in the science, if only for the prominence of the bump of order iq his head. "For," said he, "I never can set myself down to work tiU I have been aU over my house and seen everything in its place. It is simply impossible for me to write tUl I have gone through that preUminary. I do it now," said he, "every day." Toward the hour of ten Emerson came aroimd to sit by me, but the time was so short that we could have but a brief conversation, which I have always regretted — that is, its brevity. He also inquired about Sainte-Beuve, and was disappointed on leamiag that Ste-B. had become an imperiahst.^ In Boston Sainte-Beuve seems to be the best known of the French writers. Dana said Jefferson Davis was not tried because Chase, the 'A Hovel by O. W. Holmes. ^It would seem that Ste-Beuve was an imperialist from the establishment of the empire in 1852; he was made a senator in 1865. 126 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Chief Justice, refused to try him; and his refusal Dana attributed to Chase's fear that such a proceeding might prejudice his chances for the Presidency. Longfellow asked me if Buff on said, "The style is the man," or " of the man. " I rephed that it was generally quoted in the first form, and Norton remarked that the latter seemed destitute of point. Hohnes however said that Bufion wrote, "Le style c'est de I'homme lui-m6me. "^ December 2d. Dined at the Charles Masons'. HiUard, Mrs. Mason, and Mr. and Mrs. Dalton were the other guests. Nice dinner. HiUard spoke in praise of Everett (Edward) at great length; said that in his youth he^was one of the handsomest men in Boston; was graduated from Harvard College at sixteen with the highest honors; at twenty was the pet of society; read a poem before the Phi Beta Kappa or somewhere else, then esteemed the best poem yet produced in the cotmtry; was settled over the first parish in Boston, where he was drowned. He was so timid, said HiUard, that if there was one hostile person at the table he was dimab, while among friends he was the most deUghtful of compan- ions. This weakness, HiUard thought, explained his failure as a public man. He said Everett was a great worker, and Uked to work. December 3d. Dined with Dickens, Mr. and Mrs. Fields the only guests besides Dolby, and my wife and myself. I never had a more agreeable dinner. Dickens shared my admiration of the French; thinks them smarter than the English. He makes no secret of his oprnon in England and often gets rasped for it. Admires Froude very much. We played games at his suggestion after dinner. First we took the number seven and began coimting from one forward, and the rule of the game re- quired that at the word "seven" or any multiple of seven, the person whose turn it was should say "buz." This amused us for a while. Another game was for one to take a word, no matter which, and the next person to repeat it and add a word to it. A person failing to repeat the words in their proper order was " dead," and the rest continued tUl aU but one was "dead." This made much fim. Then we played what Dickens called ' 'History. " He wrote on a piece of paper the following sentence: 'Buffon's words were : Le style est I'homme mime. They were spoken in the address which he made on taking his seat in the French Academy, Aug. 25, 1753. DINING WITH DICKENS 127 "A controversy arose between Mr. Green and Mrs. Brown in consequence of the conduct of yoimg Black, who it appeared had made turtle soup in a coal scuttle belonging to Miss WHte without her consent. " This was repeated to my wife who sat next him, in a whisper. She was to repeat it in a whisper to her next neighbor, and then write it down on her slip of paper, previously furnished to her and the rest of us; the neighbor was to repeat the whispered words in the same way to his neighbor; and so on. When it had gone around the table, the several reports in their order, beginning with my wife's, were given to Mr. Dickens and read, with the following results: Mrs. Bigelow: A controversy arose between Mr. Brown and Mrs. Green in consequence of young Green having made turtle soup in Mrs. Brown's coal scuttle without her consent. Mrs. Fields: A controversy arose between Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Green about an old coal scuttle which feU down at Mrs. Green's door and Mrs. Green said she didn't care. Mr. Dolby: A controversy arose between Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Green about a coal scuttle which fell down at Mrs. Green's door. Bigelow: A controversy broke out between Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Green about a coal scuttle which was dropped at Mrs. Green's door. Mrs. Fields: A controversy arose between Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Green about a coal scuttle which Mrs. Brown couldn't tell anything about it. Such was the fate of Mr. Dickens' story after passing through the five mouths; and such, he said, is History! Of this history game I was fortimate enough to secure Dickens' original and all the answers. I was interested in this, to me, new device by which a man who gets his bread by the use of his brains, rests them. Dickens said that when playing this at Knebworth, Bulwer complained that the sentence was too compUcated. He then gave this: "Milton died in '76. He had flaxen hair and a fair complexion," or something like that. When the answers came in it was found that his hair and complexion had taken aU the colors of the rainbow. I asked Dickens if in any of his novels he had ever given promi- nence to a nobleman, remarking that I could recall none, "Lord knows who" being hardly an exception. He replied that the 128 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE only case — or the nearest to it — was perhaps a baronet in "Bleak House." I remarked that his stories had in this respect seemed to mark an era in the history of literary fiction. The older romances usually turned upon the fortunes of princes and princesses. Then came the stories of high hfe. But he was the first to show that everjrthing that was tragical, comical or farcical was to be found as well in low Ufe as in high life. He said he knew that, and wrote with that view. He then added that he had often been called to account by the aristocracy about that, and his usual reply to them had been, "You have had your day; I mean now to give those a chance who have not had theirs." This was interesting. It is curious to see fiction's sympathy with history, and how, as common people are becoming heroes, a novehst is always the first to become their biographer. Dickens took Coffee after dinner, but he said he had not taken it more than twice in five years. He knew Sydney Smith very intimately; always travelled with a copy of his Lectures on Moral Philosophy, presented to him by Smith, but which, he added, had never been published in England. Only one hxmdred, he said, were printed. When I told him I had a copy printed in America, Then," he said, "some unfaithful person must have furnished a copy to the American publisher. It cannot be bought in Europe, " he assured me. He said that after every new novel that he published. Smith used to write him about the public men of the day, giving them the names of his characters for their common resemblances. He had great quantities of these letters, which he burned. I told hioi that he deserved to have been burned with them. Two or three days after I left Boston, Dickens began his read- ings in New York. I think I heard him read, once at least, all the pieces that he used for these entertainments. He was not a good reader. He had something of the mannerism of a school boy reading something that he did not vinderstand. But what he read, speedily made his audience indifferent to his elocution. He was in comfortable circiunstances before he came to New York. While there he was making a clear profit from his readings of $6500 a week, while at the same time writing stories for All the Year Around and doubtless some new novel. One would suppose that, coming to New York, where so much had been forgiven him, he would have been content with the CHARLES DICKENS 129 $6500 weekly for his readings and his other labors, and have given some little time to social recreation and to cultivating some of the friendships which should have been regarded by him as a privilege to contract. He did nothing of the kind after assuring himself that his readings were going to prove a financial success. He not only declined aE proffers of hospitaUty, which of course were showered upon him, but avoided visits of courtesy, even some- times to rudeness, rather than allow his hterary work to be inter- rupted. One case of this kind was a source of great mortification to me. Having met Mr. Bryant, the poet, when he was in New York in 1842, he expressed to me a desire to meet him again; and on his learning the poet's address, left a card at his door. I mentioned to Mr. Bryant the interest Mr. Dickens expressed to meet him again, and the result was that Mr. Bryant returned his call in the forenoon of the following day, having learned that it was Mr. Dickens' habit to remain at home tiU after limch. Mr. Dickens' valet said to Mr. Bryant that Mr. Dickens had given orders not to be interrupted. Mr. Bryant then told the valet to take his card to Mr. Dickens himself, and say that Mr. Bryant had called to see him. The man repUed rather em- phatically that his orders were to take no cards to Mr. Dickens vmtil he was sent for. When a few evenings after this, Mr. Bryant recited to me the result of his visit, he said he thought it very imcivil. Happily they afterwards met at a dinner somewhere, and estabUshed relations satisfactory to both; but I doubt if Mr. Bryant every changed his opinion that, whatever else Dickens was, he was not a thoroughbred. I think myself that his lust for money made him unconsciously a suicide. Whenever a man forgets or neglects his duties to society in order that he may consecrate aU his time to the promotion of his own personal interests, he certainly ceases to belong to the class em- braced in the word — gentleman, in its original and legitimate sense. This Dickens did. As a consequence he had multitudes of admirers, but few friends. It is to be said, however, in extenu- ation of his conduct, that he was a constant sufferer whUe in New York from iU health, the consequence of his incessant labor, and the abuse of stimulants required to quaUfy him to meet aU his engagements with the pubUc. His throat had already exhibited evidences of weakness that should have warned him against the fatigue of public readings, from which he usually retired in such a profuse perspiration as to require a complete and immediate 130 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE change of all his underclothing. He suffered in New York from a cold on the chest which would have made any prudent man cancel all his reading engagements and abandon the platform forever. I warned him one day very earnestly of the peril he was inviting, by the abuse of his voice and the nostrums he was taking to whip his vocal machinery up to its work. He listened to my warnings as if he knew the truth of what I said as well as I did, but he never made money so easily or so fast in his life before, and I doubt if death itself had more terrors for him than the neglect of this golden harvest possessed for him. Here is his accoimt of his mode of living for his last ten weeks in America as communicated to his friend Forster. "I cannot eat (to anything like the necessary extent) and have established this system. At 7 in the morning, in bed, a tiraibler of new cream and two tablespoonfuls of rum. At 12 a sherry cobbler and a biscuit. At 3 (dinner time) a pint of champagne. At five minutes to 8 an egg beaten up with a glass of sherry. Between the parts, the strongest beef tea that can be made, drunk hot. At a quarter past 10, soup, and any httle thing to drink that I can fancy. I do not eat more than half a poimd of solid food in the whole four and twenty hours, if so much." At his farewell reading in New York given on Monday evening, April 20th, 1868, a printed notice signed by Dr. Fordyce Parker, his physician, was distributed among the audience, stating that Mr. Dickens was suffering severely from a neuralgic affection of the foot — a euphemism for the gout, it was supposed — but expressing the hope that in spite of it, he might be able to read. He did read; and whether it was the effect of his complaint or the prospect of soon quitting America, he was certainly in tmcommon spirits, and many who had frequented his readings said he had never read so well before. I never saw him again. Gifted as Dickens was as a writer in his own way, he saw only with his eyes, not with his understanding. He took note of what passed before him like a photographic plate, but he saw nothing more. If he saw a group of vagabonds in the street, he would note at a glance every expression of each one's countenance, every article of dress, every rent, patch, color and missing button, and remember exactly what, if anything, each one said and how he said it. But it would never have occurred to him to inquire what social, moral or political influences had grouped these vagabonds where he found them. He would paint with marvelous fidelity Charles Dickens CHARLES DICKENS 131 the outward symptoms and manifestations of misgovernment, but he never looked, nor did he seem to have the faculties re- quired to look, beyond these outward symptoms which first address the eye, to those fundamental principles of poUtical and social economy which such a spectacle might suggest to the philosophical statesman or economist. He was in fact to the social and poUtical philosopher what the photographer is to the artist. He copied faithfully what passed across the field of his vision, but he could not combine the charms or elements of many scenes like Claude or Salvator Rosa and produce an ideal. He began his Uterary career as a reporter, and a reporter he remained to the end of the chapter. He learned Uttle from, and profited less than most men by reflection. Dickens was not a philosopher, but he was a great humorist and a marvelous painter of human life. He created many men and perhaps one girl who wiU be Uving in the memories of the English reading world long after a majority of the statesmen of the Victorian era have become but the X. Y. Z. of an algebraic formula. He was a most agreeable companion, and take him aU in all, was one of the rarest combi- nations of talents and virtues that England produced in his century. (from my diary) The Squtrrels, December 4th. Received a telegram in Boston day before yes- terday informing me that two horses which I had bought a few months ago at what was for me an extravagant price, had been stolen from my stable at Highland Falls, and that my friends there had piirsued the thieves and captured one, with the horses. The captive proved to be a person who had been recently in charge of my stable. I caused him a few weeks later to be sent to the state's prison for a term of years. I never heard of him again. The other man, who probably seduced him, I never heard of at aU. The progress of the war waging between a majority of Congress and President Johnson at the opening of Congress in 1867, as it appeared in the eyes of the President's cabinet, is given m the 132 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE following extract from the Diary of Gideon Welles, then Secre- tary of the Navy, and pubUshed in the Atlantic Monthly of Sep- tember 1910. Saturday, November 30, 1867. To-day the President laid before us his annual Message. A sound, strong, good document. After its perusal, and running criticism, he submitted a letter addressed to the Cabinet, stating the condition of affairs, the proposed impeachment, and the proposition to suspend the President when impeached, until after his trial and judgment by the Senate. There was great xmcertainty of opin- ion on the subject in the discussion. That the President should submit to be tried if the House preferred articles was the opinion of all his cabinet. That he should consent to, or permit himself to be arrested or suspended before conviction, was in oppo- sition to the opinion of each and all. General Grant said it would be clearly ex post facto to pass a law for suspension of the President, and unless the Supreme Court sustained the law, it ought not to be submitted to. I agreed with General Grant that a law in the President's case would be ex post facto and therefore to be resisted, if attempted. But I went further and denied that Congress had authority to suspend the President — the Executive — a coordinate branch of the government, on the mere party caprice of a majority of the House of Representatives. Mr. Randall was very emphatic in denouncing such a movement as destructive to the Government. General Grant said he thought a mere law of Congress would not justify suspension or authorize it, but that there should be an amendment of the Constitution to effect it. We all assented that if the Constitution so ordered, submission was a duty, but not otherwise. A few days since, the Judiciary Committee, who have been engaged by direction of the House to search the Union, ransack prisons, investigate the household of the President, examine his bank accoimts, etc., etc., to see if some colorable ground for impeachment could not be found, made their several reports. A majority were for impeachment. Until just before the report was submitted, a majority were against, but at the last moment, Churchill, a member from the Oswego, New York, district, went over to the impeachers. Speculators and Wall Street operators in gold believed that a resolution for impeachment would cause a sudden rise in gold. Unfortu- nately for them, no rise took place, but there was a faUing off. If Churchill was influenced by the speculators, as is generally supposed, his change did not benefit them, and in every point of view was discreditable to him. Boutwell, who made the report to the House, is a fanatic, impulsive, violent, an ardent, narrow-minded partisan, without much judgment, not devoid of talents, with more industry than capacity, ambitious of notoriety, with a mind without comprehension and not well- trained; an extreme radi- cal, destitute of fairness where party is involved. The report was drawn up by Thomas Williams of Pittsburg, a former partner of Stanton's, a rank disorganizer, a repudiator, vindictive, remorseless, unscrupulous, regardless of constitutional obligations and of truth as well as fairness, [who] was put DIARY OF GIDEON WELLES 133 upon the Committee because he had these qualities. The other three gentlemen of the majority may be called smooth-bores, men of small calibre, but intense partisans. The report and its conclusions condemn themselves, and are likely to fail even in this radical House. Whether such would have been their fate had the election gone differently, is another question. The voice of the people has cooled the radical mania, and checked their wild actions.^ BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Squirrels, Dec. 6, 1867. My dear Friend: . . . I have just returned from a week's visit at the Hub. . . . This was my first experience of Boston chez soi. Socially it is very unlike any other city in the country. The educated & refined are there carefully separated from the ignorant and the vulgar, not mixed as in New York. One finds there too, some men as clever as you will find any where. Better talkers than Holmes, Lowell, and Emerson in their respective ways I have never met. And yet I could not help feeling that there was some- thing provincial about the society. Their cleverness seemed to be expended in learning & telling what other people — the farther off the better — had thought and had said — a lunar radiance, reflecting Ughts from another system. What a contrast with the serene complacency of an Academician who regards anything written or said or done out of France only as a ciuiosity, but of Uttle intrinsic value. Yet Boston is, I beUeve, the only place in this coimtry where pure scholarship possesses anything like its true value. I saw Brooks* daily in Boston, and his brother-in-law, Fiske,^ of whom you have heard him speak. F. is imquestionably a man of remarkable talent & acquirement. He writes $100 a month's worth about books &c. for the N. Y. World. For this kind of work he is not so well adapted as for scientific work, for the reason that he has seen but httle of the world and does not know how to mix his supphes for the popular palate. He wiU press a point with great skill & lots of learning, which the readers of newspapers 'The recent elections in Ohio and Pennsylvania. »J. W. Brooks p. 103 n. ante (1867). ■John Fiske, at this time not three years out of the Harvard Law School. 134 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE generally care little or nothing about and have not time to read if they wanted to. He falls down to the idols of the den. He is young, however, & has his living to earn. Let us hope that he will profit by these conditions. . . . Your sincere friend FROM MY DIARY December 4, 1867. Called on Bryant. Found him sitting in his back parlor with Miss Sands. He read me a letter from Smn- ner, who had been distirrbed about a letter written from Washing- ton to a western paper and copied into the Evening Post, which represented Seward to have furnished him with material for speeches in favor of the acquisition of Alaska, and that those favors had been enough to secure his vote for such acquisition. Sumner's letter to Bryant was to justify himseK for his sensitive- ness and to thank Bryant for the correction he had made. Miss Sands asked why Sumner's wife separated from him. Bryant said he thought it simply was that a woman is not content with a husband who is too exclusively occupied with himself and his own greatness. This would have been a commonplace remark for any other man to make, but it was a significant utterance for Bryant. The following day, which was Sunday, I called upon Mr Azariah Flagg, formerly comptroller of the State and subse- quently President of the New York Central RaUroad during the period of its construction between New York and Albany. The old man was sitting up, but looking very old, even ghastly. He was however cheerful, not the least gloomy or despondent, though blind, helpless, almost bedridden, father of one daughter who had been bvuied the year previous, another only just returned from a mad-house. Yet he cracked liis jokes as in his most prosperous days, seemed much interested in my projected publication of the autograph copy of Franklin's Memoirs. He said he read those memoirs in 1803, when he was only ten years old, so I understood him to say, and was incUned to think that nothing he had ever read had had so much influence in shaping his life. He added that Franklin's letter to President Stiles was his own "body of divinity," which was all summed up, he said, in doing to other people as much good as he could and as little harm. THURLOW WEED 135 On the same day Thurlow Weed told me that he was so infatu- ated with the desire of becoming a printer after reading Franklin's Memoirs that he was apprenticed with Edwin Croswell of the Catskill Recorder. He remained there however, only a few months, for his father, being a laboring man, moved with the family to a country place west, where there was no printing office, and for a time it looked as if he must give up his cherished dream. But one day a man arrived who started a newspaper. Weed applied to him at once to learn the trade of a typo. He spoke of his shortcomings in grammar and of his pride when he first re- ceived some manuscript to set up. Soon after he was directed to set up an obituary notice of Mrs. So-and-so, consort of So-and-so. He looked at the word "consort" for a while, but did not approve of it. He thought he could improve it. He set it up "comfort." The printer put it into form without looking it over and pretty soon the press was going on with it, he and Weed working it. There was an old shoemaker who lived next door who was in the habit of coming in and getting about the first clean sheet printed. He came in tMs day as usual, got his paper and returned to his shop. In a few minutes he came back with his paper in his hand and showed something to the printer. Weed meantime, with an instinct that something was wrong, had withdrawn to the other side of the room. The printer, as soon as he had read the notice, seized the sheepsfoot, and with a volley of oaths, threw it at Weed with great violence, just missing him, and said he would see if he could not beat some brains into the boy's stupid head. Weed also gave me an account of the Opdyke suit.^ Had he been a poor man Weed said it would have ruined him. It cost eighteen thousand dollars. The day the verdict was rendered he went to his ofl&ce and drew three checks for 2500 dollars each, one for Evarts, one for Pierrepont, and one for [Samuel] Blatchford in whose office the attorney business was conducted. He gave these to Blatchford, and asked him to see if it was satisfactory to the other gentlemen, and if not to get their bills, and also to send him an account of their own disbursements, which he would pay in addition. In about ten days his checks were returned to him, and the bill for the whole, amounting to some eighteen thousand, receipted. The money had been subscribed by a number of his 'Libel suit brought against Thurlow Weed by George Opdyke, resulting in the dis- agreement of the jury. 136 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE friends. Weed promised to show me the list of their names, but he omitted to do so. He told me also that he brought three young men into the business with him at Albany some thirty years ago. The chief of them was Dawson, a young Irish boy who was sleeping around in a bearskin at a tavern at Rochester, a sort of errand boy. Weed Uked him and took him to his house. From thence he rose, step by step, to be the head of the Albany Evening Journal estabUshment. From the day Weed started the journal tiU he left it — over thirty years — he assured me he never looked at any of the books of accounts, nor knew anj^hing of the business of the ofl&ce, except what was revealed by the yearly statement rendered to him and of which he rarely saw or noticed anjrthing but the svim total. When he made up his mind to leave Albany, he told the young men his purpose and asked them to tell him within an hour what his share in the concern was worth. They wished to keep his name in the job printing ofl&ce, to which he yielded his consent, retaining a small interest. The boys re- turned in about half an hour and said that they had made up their minds that his interest in the paper, exclusive of the job ofl&ce, was forty thousand dollars. "Give me your notes," Weed said, "for thirty thousand." They did so, and that was closed. Mr. Weed said that during all their connection, their confidence in each other was such that he not only never dreamed of examining their accounts, but they never had even an impatient word with each other. Dawson did not think Weed could do anything wrong, and Weed was certain Dawson could not. Weed also showed me an abstract of the records of the Court of Oyer and Terminer at Albany, of the proceedings of The People vs. Reuben H. Fenton^ for stealing. The owners of the money that was missing were Trevelyan, afterward President of the Bank of North America, and Mr. Homer, Flagg's neighbor in Twenty- third Street. Mr. Trevelyan is dead but Mr. Homer says there is no doubt that Fenton stole the money. He was allowed to go, through the forebearance of these persons, who having got their money were disposed to be gentle. 'Subsequently Governor of New York. P. 38 ante. AMERICANS GREGARIOUS 137 BECKWITH TO BIGELOW Always private Paris, 8th Deer., 1807. My dear Bigelow: . . . I find the taking down & right delivery of all the prod- ucts as great a labor as setting them up for exhibition, but I am' now pretty weU advanced with it. My congress of commissioners with their colony of wives & children have nearly aU departed. Experience is a hard teacher & they return wiser than they came, but how far the country will benefit by their sufferings remains to be seen. The congressional education & pohtical habits of our people render them gregarious. They have a certain degree of individuahty & self assertion, more than other men, but within a smaU circle, & outside of that are remarkably dependent on each other, & must come together often & talk over the commonest matters before any one knows where to go, what to do, or how to do it. With all our appearance of individual independence, I know no people practically less self contained, less self sufiicing, individually. Each one wishes to know what his neighbors think, about it, before he ventures to settle his own opinion, & usually adopts what he thinks the average general notion. Thus, no one is himself, but a conglomerate of other people — a sort of mouth- piece, or trumpeter, uttering what he supposes to be the thoughts of others, & adopting them for himseK, & consequently without any convictions based upon principles or derived from the inherent nature of situations & things. In all this there is only outward observation, no interior study, Uttle originality of thought, no convictions; opuiions, or rather notions thus derived will always command a certain degree of assertion & support, but they have no vitaUty, there is nothing durable & sohd in them, they are frequently superficial & in general easily dissipated. Men educate each other in this way up to a certain level — each knows what the other knows, & they are consequently "inteUigent"; every man is m haste to speak first, to anticipate others, knowing that they will say the same things and leave 138 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE nothing more to be said. But all this never amounts to knowledge ; no one knows anything in particular throughout & thoroughly. Consequently, when they come to business their work is super- ficial and frequently bad. Take the fiscal legislation of Congress for example. Is it not just as feeble as possible, ignorant of eter- nal principles, ignorant of all experiences, destitute of knowledge — in short, as bad as it can be? AVhen you wish to turn your thoughts inward & apply yourself to the development of some- thing useful, to be compelled to fritter away your time & strength in a useless assembly, is very hard. Our little congress was very diligent in meetings, seldom even a third of the 40 were present; the two thirds being on a tour of pleasure, but as one went another came, keeping always what they called a "quorum" (at first 11, then 9), and thus eternal sessions. During their 7 months they held 30 regular sessions (a httle more than I a week on an average), though they were very irregular, sometimes daily for several days. Having the duty to preside, & seeing the necessity of attending to it, I missed only two meet- ings of the whole, which of course kept me in town all summer! AH this labor & fatigue had nothing to do with their real busi- ness, did not help it, but hindered it. It was the poUtics of the affair, intended for brave effect, and consisted of cabals, intrigues, discussions & bosh! Half a dozen respectable men attended to their business & didn't know what the intriguers were at; this is always so, & honest men are thus entrapped into voting wrongly. Half a dozen self seekers always at work, resolved to upset any individual & bring him to grief, can if they are shrewd, make great use of the inattentive & honest & lead them astray. You must in such case go often to the kitchen yourself & look at the cooking, or you will have a bad dinner. That is the hatefid work I have had on hand all summer — 7 mos. I will only give you one specimen of it. The rogues, seeing I was wearing them out and besting them, adopted this dodge. They took to night sessions in Oct., and as the 31st was approach- ing they made up their minds ist. To continue the sessions a month longer imder pretence of necessity to finish up work. If this succeeded they knew that in a fortnight my majority would be gone home, & I should be in the hands of the clique who could then pass their Report of Censure. 2d. To make sure, on the evening (session) 29th, the old gen- BECKWITH'S TRIALS 139 tlemen being absent or sleepy & gone home as usual, the Clique suddenly altered the rules, reduced the number of votes required to elect, & then elected a couple of fellows for the purpose of making votes. The clique intended thus to settle matters — on the night of the 31st they were to protract the session iato the night or morning, tiU my majority got sleepy as usual and went home, and then by bringing in their two new members they would beat me & prolong the sessions for a month, which would result as above suggested. My wish was of course, ist to close the ses- sions, and 2d to have a vote of thanks for my services. Having learnt the value of silence & self reliance, I said nothing & in fact ignored their plans, & they did not suppose that I sus- pected them. I wrote a note to each of the tardy but honest men, & begged them to be pimctual to the hour, as the principal busi- ness would be done at the opening & they would not be detained long (having made up my mind to begin with the end & reverse the order of business. I then spoke to one man, & only one, & said, "Will you do me the favor as soon as I have opened the meeting and passed the minutes, to rise immediately & make a motion? If the meeting is not fuU, I shall gain time for it to fill, by raising a question on the minutes & discussing it myseK tiU the meeting fiUs, when I wiU drop my objections to the record & pass it; then I want you to move that when this meeting adjourn, it adjourn sine die." He said "Certainly I will." "If that is carried, I said," "wiU you then move a vote of thanks to the Presi- dent?" & he agreed to that also, having intended he said to offer that resolution of course, but at the close! — to which I rephed that I had no doubt of such a Resolution being spontaneously offered, but that I had reasons for desiring it at the beginning & not at the end — & no more was said or explained on this subject. The meeting was full & the adjournment sine die, after a red-hot discussion in which the zeal of the cKque for the public interest & the progress of science was made conspicuous — was carried squarely & fairly. This settled the rest; the clique saw that I had them, & when the resolution of thanks was (immediately) read, the rogues caved in — their side talk suddenly stopped, & their two leaders both spoke first, to second the resolution, & both did second it! Consequently the vote on it was unanimous. They were dead beat by sunply reversing the order of business on which they had not counted — and though they cuddled rapidly to save appearances, they cut sticks one by one in a very 140 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE little time, & the work went on without them for the rest of the evening. It is no great thing to best such men. I never mentioned the circumstance before & probably never shall again. I only do it to show you what pestiferous work I have had to attend to all sum- mer & how it has wasted my time. The foreign commissioners (general) some 40 of them, have also had regular meetings for a year past to discuss a thousand things of common interest — vis a vis de la Cour Imp. et du Gouvernement — and these meetings from the variety of ideas, language, habits, races, nations, & everjrthing else, such an assembly as rarely meets, all educated & clever, these meetings were interesting & instructive. But it is all labor & time, besides the daily care & thousand Uttle questions & difficulties in the Exhibition itself. I have been so busy & so worn out that I could not sleep, much less read or write, and as to Reports, I have not put pen to paper. The general report on the Exhibition which I wished to write, but positively can not, was vmdertaken by Seymour of the N. Y. Times. But I don't know what it is: I have not even read it: I don't know as I shall, though I told him I would, before sending it in. But there is a limit to physical labor for men of my age. I am getting rid of the products & trjdng to bring my accounts to a close. I shall have money enough — & some to spare — I have a horror of debts & had kept a grip on the purse strings that the d 1 could not shake off. I never let the Commission know anything about the financial condition, because I did not want advice. I took the responsibility & will take the blame. I should have been blamed for debt, I shall be blamed for economy — I expect no thanks — but I shall not be worried by debts nor be a suppUant to Congress for money. I can understand how power & place may tempt a man under a monarchy, but do not understand the desire of men in a repubhc to get into a piUory. It seems to me a very demoralized taste: a preference for rotten eggs to quiet obscurity may shew an honor- able ambition, but looks to me more Ijke depravity. As for my work, when it comes before Congress, I shall leave it to itself. I never wiU bother myself to defend it. If it finds no friends, and I don't see why it should, it must suffer as many good things on earth do, the want of them! My particular friend went home a smaller man than he came — the governments foimd him out quickly — and dropped him with a grimace of astonishment. FRENCH POLITICS 141 But how rapidly things are going here ! The Emperor accepted Sadowa, accepted Mexico, accepted Providence as he always does, but his people reproached him & would not pemnt him to accept Rattazzi & Garibaldi ! They drove him back to Rome against his feelings, his policy & his interests — in spite of himself. But according to his notions, Providence having brought Protestant- ism to the ascendant, he expected Providence to complete its work. He therefore called a Conference, not of the great powers, nor of the Catholic powers, but of all powers great & small, in which he expected Protestantism, that is, free opinions, to take the lead & gently bury the remains of the temporal power, which he has striven so long in vain to do. Now I cannot understand the reluctance of Protestantism to embrace the greatest & first opportunity it ever had for a coup de grace to its enemy! But so it was: it does not seem yet to know its new position on earth. This imexpected hesitation & delay has lost an opportvmity, it is fatal for the present & inaugurates an indefinite period of reaction that wiU be serious. New Ger- many win be shaken & Italy will very likely perish. At any rate Providence was too slow for the Emperor, or disliked his assist- ance. In other words, the Emperor in his far-seeing visions, placed himself too much in advance of his people, too much in advance of his neighbours, and has been compelled to retreate; & it is a dreadfiil retreat, it looks Uke a return from Moscow. He has broken down & thrown himself into the arms of the Church. How long will it support him? He had to choose between democracy & the Chxurch, & he chose the latter. Prince Napo- leon always said the only chance for the family was to root itself in the democracy! At aE events the Pope is topsawyer to-day. AntoneUi^ rules, & we are going to have good times. Rulers are often upset for keeping behind & refusing to advance with the general movement. Here is a great ruler brought to grief by an enlightened policy too much in advance of his people & his neighbors. They wiU certainly come up to him, but prob- ably not till he is buried & his f anuly forgotten. It is dangerous to undertake to hinder or to help Providence — much. De Moustier's speech in the Senate, sagacious, philosophical, wise, with those flashes which illuminate at once yesterday & to-morrow, was the speech of the Emperor. "You wish to 'Giacomo Antonelli, Papal Secretary of State. 142 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE destroy the unity of Italy & you readily believe it can be done because you desire it should be done. But the imity of Italy is an accomplished fact. I do not inquire into the causes of it, I accept it, et bien que je n'aie compris que V existence de I'ltalie f4t incompatible avec V existence dans son sein d'une enclave indepen- dante, il est tres difficile de concevoir comment la papaute pourrait exister a cote' de I'appareil d'un grand gouvernement et du bruit des assemblies deliber antes." But this fact, which the Emperor so clearly sees & so finely expresses, is too advanced for the Church; they will not accept it, they forced the Emperor to Rome, & the hesitation of the Conference has forced him to surrender to the Church. They will never clamor for the restoration of Umbria, the Marches, etc., & who will help Italy? But what is to be done at Washhiigton? Things look strained — are they going to break? Our finances are bad. We want wiser counsels. Shall we get them from the negroes? the rebels? the Copperheads? The elections will sober the radicals, but will not make them wise. We are aU in good health & beg to be kindly remembered to Mrs. Bigelow. I suppose the Post as usual. wUl blame the Em- peror for going to Rome!! How Uttle does one side of the world really know about the other side. Very truly yours As our Federal government has at divers times shown a strange convoitise for a massive rock in the Antilles called the Island of St. Thomas, it may be worth while to make a record of the following letters, Uttle calculated to encourage any investments in real estate on that island. KIEROLF TO BIGELOW St. Thomas. i6 December, 1867. My dear Sir: You have, no doubt, read of the earthquakes we now for i month continually have had. Half of the main street is ruined, ST. THOMAS 143 and houses fall every day. My ofl&ce fell in the first day, and there has been a constant destruction going on. The extent of these earthquakes convinces me they flow as the ultimate result of the total destruction of the old church. I have been looking for them — the effect in the spirit world must be felt here — and question if any of the Antilles wiU be left. We had an eruption close outside the harbor the first day (I beheve 14th November or i8th) ; it ran in a straight line from the south point of the eastern battery right before the mouth of the harbor down to an island | mile distant; it boiled fearfully and threw up smoke, ashes, and stones, a strong smell of sulphur at same time. I with several others who were not too much agitated by the shaking of the earth, saw a reef arise; to judge, it was near the surface of the ocean, for this was in the ocean, I presume a depth of 40 or 60 feet. The steamers sought later to go out in the afternoon, but foimd they could not pass — but in the night aU sunk down. The sea came violently in, entire burying an island 3 miles to the south, and taking, in this island, about 40 or 60 houses, washing them in every direction. It was a grand, magnificent sight, but fearful; it far exceeded the hurricane in which I remained out all the time in the open air — as I could not endure confinement at that time in the house. These are rare occurrences and well worth beholding in all their terror. . . . Forgive my imper- fect letter as mail goes. You will hear from me shortly. Yours sincerely KIEROLF TO BIGELOW St. Thomas, 30 July, x868. My dear Sir: I believe it is as far back as February, since I wrote you, at a time we were so convulsed with earthquakes, which now thank God, we but sUghtly hear rumbling occasionally. St. Thomas is nearly ruined, they have been building constant, but yet far from repairing the damages. Cholera has done still greater mischief, as it has entirely broken up our trade. The purchase of the Island by the U. S. was as yoiu: first letter indicated an imcer- tainty, and I beheve now certain, will not take place. I wish it had been accompUshed. . . . Your sincere 144 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE huntington to bigelow Napoleon tight Corners 24 and 25 Dec, 1867. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Being in the Consulate yesterday for the use of David's paste pot and wrapping paper, in the interest of yoiu: last number of the Prot. Bib. Hist. Soc. Bulletin — out comes Nicolay breakfast- ward, who stopped to tell me that he was going to Rome. He has had printed — not published — a " Memoir e pour les Etats-Unis d'Amerique centre Messrs. Arman, Erlanger" et al. of 220 quarto pages, and signed Berryer, Moreau, and Caron, aU about your old Bordeaux steamers. I supposed that you would have received an advance copy, or I shotdd have sent you one. It wiU be an old story to you, but pleasant reading in its way, contrasting the anxiety of the past time with your quiet in your Squirrels' nest. Juvabit olim haec meminisse, as P. M. Virgil says in the Latin Grammar. By the way, among all the books grown out of the war, there is none recounting the skirmish campaigns carried on abroad — Avis au lecteur: You have leisure and pen and ink; why not sit down and write your quoram pars? Proudhon's last published posthiunous volume is full of clever- nesses. Here are scraps from one of its appendices: "Considerations sur la N ationalite franqaise" Generation equivoque, mSlee de Gaels, Eamris, Suisses, Allebroges et, Beiges. Caractere femmelin, leger, vaniteux, inconstant, peu de dignite, peu de caractere, servile, bavard, badaud, b6te. — La France ne comprend n'aime que le commandement. — II n'y a pas d'esprit public dans ce pays. Toujours on y donne raison au gouvemement! Tou jours le dtoyen est sacrifie au pouvoir par ses concitoyens. Le Franfais n'a pas reellement besoin d'etre libre. Pourvu qu'il ait de quoi vivre, qu'il raiUe, qu'il blague; pourvu qu'il glose sur le gouvemement, tout en lui obeissant, il est content. Du vin, de I'amour, des epetits vers; des diners fins, des spectacles, des feux d'artifices, du tam-tam, il est content. Apres moi le deluge!" Effective drawing isn't it? He hits the English and us as sharply. REGICIDE 145 , Next day Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you and your flock. Ste-Beuve has been very ill so that a few days ago there was talk of having him die of it. One paper says his malady was much of the nature of that of Montalembert, which was the stone, it seems to me. I enclose a newspaper sUp, thinking it would please you to know that your favorite critic was following your favorite medical doctrine.^ BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Sqtjireels, Christmas [1867J My dear Friend: . . . I find on one of Bachelin's catalogues (where I bought my Mercure de France) this annonce: Recueil de Poesies Calvinis- tes.^ I wish you would do me the favor to get it and send it to me. Nicolay wOl probably send it by his bag, or you can send it by post or by some good-natured traveler to be left at the Ev. Post Comer of Nassau & Liberty. I am in no hurry for it, if I can only secure it, for I wish to be able to show that, bad as the Roman- ists were during a certain period, there was a great deal of human and unregenerate natiure among the Protestants about the same time, and that we can't denounce too freely imless we are pre- pared to appropriate a portion of our denunciation to oiu-selves. I think the case can be pretty well made out without this book, but the sort of Jesuits who used to beheve in Regicide as a legitimate political remedy for abuses of power, I find scattered through pretty much all denominations of Christians down even to the time of the deep damnation of Lincoln's taking off. This book promises to furnish some early cases. * « * * 4: * * I celebrated my semi-centennial birthday with a breakfast at Longfellow's, who pledged my health bxunperously. I said that, 'Homeopathy. 'RECUEH. DE POSIES CALEVINISTES 1550-1566 PubliS par P. Tarbfi, correspondant de I'lnstitut. DeuxiSme edition, 1866, in-8 br. Tirg el petit nombre sur pap. vergfi. 550. Get ouvrage a pour but d'etablir que les prindpes du tyrannicide furent professes par la litt^rature calviniste bien avant qu'on pdt la reprocher aux catholiques du xvi siede. 146 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE if I could be assured of spending all birthdays so pleasantly, I did not know but I might think it worth while to live on some years. Longfellow takes old age beautifully, frosty but kindly. He is not much of a talker, more art than science, more tact than strength, more of the ox than the buU, more of the lamb than the Hon, but on the whole a very agreeable and, I should think, lovely character. I found one of the "the Grandsons," G. W. Green, living with him & reading the proofs of a life of his grandfather, one vol. of which, appeared last week — weU done but for being over done.^ Longfellow advanced the money for the poor fellow to get to bed with this book, with which and nothing else, he has been big, to my certain knowledge, ten years. It was kind of Longfellow to deUver him. Lippincott's new magazine just out, is not up to the occasion. I told him to send you a copy. It contains a paragraph under the head of "Literary Gossip" about my Franklin. Putnam redivivus is out also. It is better than Lippincott, but falls short of the Atlantic standard. It looks as if we should have to get New England to do our writing for some time yet. . . . Dana has bought out the Sun for a large simi of money. This is a bad sign. He cannot hold the subscribers of that paper for a week, if he means to add to them; and in trying to do both I fear he tstII have the luck of the dog & his shadow. Then the interest upon $150,000 purchase money added to Tammany HaU, &c., will make a large load to commence his journey with. Then he must sell his paper for 2 cts., the price of the raw material; that win be laying it on pretty thick upon the chamber maids and waiters who, with their advts., are to furnish the profits. I should have to be a much yoimger man than I am to undertake such an enterprise against such odds.^ Please wish Legras a merry Christmas for me, also a happy New Year. I hope he wiU not get so rich as to break up or change his business before I get out there again. I expect to need his ^Life of Naihanael Greene by G. W. Greene, in three volumes. "On the 8th of January 1868, C. A. Dana wrote, "Just as we were about commencing our own paper, the purchase of the Sun was proposed to me and accepted. It has a circula- tion of from fifty to sixty thousand a day, and all among the mechanics and small mer- chants of this city. We paid a large sum for it, $175,000, but it gives us at once a large and profitable business. If you have a thousand dollars at leisure, you had better invest it in the stock of our company, which is increased to $350,000, in order to pay for this new acquisition. Of this sum about $220,000 is invested in the Tammany Hall real estate, which is sure to be productive, independent of the business and the paper." (Life ofC.A. Dana by J. H. Wilson, p. 382.) FRANKLINISMS 147 services very much when I return to Paris, and I should not recognize the Boulevard at all, if I did not see his and his wife's pleasant faces beaming upon me as I passed. Besides, we should hav^ no so convenient & time-savmg, money-spending, rendez- vous if they were gone. Good night, my friend. You see by the length of my writing that I have no one to talk with here. Fortunately you have learned by this tune that, if you do not read my letters through, you lose nothing important. Yours always To the Philosopher of the Rue Boursault. huntington to bigelow 42 Rue de Labruyere, Haussmann's Crossings II Jany, 1868. I am glad that you were pleased with the W. T. F.^ letter. Don't speak of my trouble in the case: I am obUged to you for having put me on the track of finding a document, which not only B. F.'s other editors and biographers have overlooked, but its author himself had evidently forgotten when he penned the pref- ace to his grandfather's writings in 181 7. You have doubtless compared the two, as I first did the other evening, when pasting a MS. copy of the letter into your gift volume of B. F.'s biography. Decidedly, W. Temple had either a very defective conscience or memory or both. It is queer about Franklinisms, when you think you have foimd the last old novelty, they suddenly tirni up again. I bought a thin volume on the quais the other day for the sake of an Eloge funebre de Washington which it contained among other things. Getting home, I found also bound in with this, no. 15 of "La Decade philosophique, litteraire et politique. An VI de la Republique frangaise, 30 pluviose — 18 fevrier 1798," and in it a "Fragment des Memoires de Franklin, ecrits par lui-meme, et »W. T. Franklin. 148 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE non publies." The fragment begins with your page 213, "It was about this time I conceived the bold and arduous project of arriving at moral perfection": and goes to the break ofi at Passy, your page 230. The translation seems to me quite faithful. A note says: "Ce morgeau est tire du manuscrit anglais qui fait suite a ce que Buisson a imprime il y a quelques annees, et qui n'a point encore ete puUie." The article preceding the "Fragment" is a review of the Works of Diderot, whose remarks on Dickinson's Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer are quoted. Mr. Thos. Balch is doing a record of the French troops in the American war of independence^ — doing it rather well, I should judge, from what I saw of his preparations. He has been about it for two or three years and has got together some curious docu- mentary matter hitherto httle known and partly inedif. There is no end of new newspapers since your time, or rather since the new law of May. Among the novelties is La Presse Libre edited in chief by Malespine. The Moniteur Universel, as perhaps you know is, since ist January, no longer Officiel, but moderate opposition — has an Orleanist tang to it. Rouher meant to carry the title over to his new Journal Officiel de I'Empire, which, at the last moment, he concluded to pubhsh with no other heading than the last imder- scored words and an imprint of the Imperial arms. Neither the old Moniteur in new hands, nor Rouher's new Official Journal — one wishing to retain, the other to re-enlist Ste-Beuve, has suc- ceeded. That writer has gone over to Le Temps, pen and paper! I send you his second contribution to that journal, thinking the theme imder his treatment would be of interest to you. I will try to remember to buy and forward his next Lundi on TaUejrrand. Despite the nmnerous press trials (two a week on an average) joumaUsm is taking more and more Uberty every day — and indeed has more and more granted it. There is not an inde- pendent paper that does not almost daily pubhsh articles that would have been prosecuted a year ago and brought on suspen- sion two years ago, and three years ago would have been somehow nipped in the inkstand. Government journals themselves are frequently nowadays letting out a paragraph that the opposition would have thought risky a few years back. Then there has come up a quite new historical hbrary — books of simple narration and documentary in large part — relating the story of Louis Napoleon 'Lm FranQais en Am^ique pendant la Guerre de I'lndependance des Etats-Unis, 1777-1783. NEWS FROM PARIS 149 and the origins of the Empire. Taxile Delord's Hist, du 2nd Empire is promised for the end of this week. These are some of the signs and omens of the evolution that is going on — to a good [deal] more concession of poHtical freedom or to the jumping oflE place. Not the jumping off, I hope and am inclined to think. Practically, the Emperor is conceding, and may make some for- mal concession on the i8th at the opening of the Leg. Corpse. The elections for that old body's new members next Jime are already the chief "preoccupation" of Gov. and independents of all shades. . . . We are not to have a "war in the spring" apparently: so wiU have more liberty or else an insurrection: more hberty I think. Public sentiment, if one can judge from the public prints, gives Anson Bvirlingame^ and his cream of Tartars an unusually cordial reception. He is high content and joUy, they teU me; I missed him on a call last Sunday. He and his gentlemendarins have lighted in Rim du Bel Respiro, your old Quarter. I was in at Munroe's a moment to-day: saw Mr. Richards, who appeared to be well and had his hat on. Does he sleep in it, or does he let it have its nap separate o'nights? Is it an acqvdred habit, or was he bom with a caul, to wear it? Norton (& Co.) has moved into the Grand Hotel (occupjring the comer, basement and rez de chausse), nearly opposite to Munroe's — quite the elegantest banking and news rooms of any of the American enterprisers in Paris. I continue to hunt along the quais, occasionally bagging books of great rarity and valulessness. I have redupUcated most of what you took from my shelves; if you know any body who is silly enough to pay a good deal more than they are worth and not less than they can be bought for again — pray give him my address. My shelves are so fuU that there is not room left for a knife blade. There is great need of a clearing out. You know how books encroach on one, even in spacious country rooms. Papa Guizot comes up to town this week to preside at some Protestant society meeting or other, and put his yearly volimae through the press of his Israelitish pubUshers, the Levys. His 'Mr. Burlingame was the gentleman who, while a member of Congress, was challenged by a colleague from South Carolina, who failed, however, to show up on the field. Mr. Burlingame subsequently contracted confidential relations with the Emperor of China, which resulted in his being appointed the head of a Chinese commission to visit the capitals of the western world, with the dignity and authority of an ambassador. He was at this time visiting the court of the Second Empire. 150 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE son and Comelis de Witt^ are said to be cutting bait for their candidatures at the next elections. It is also said that govt, will not violently oppose them. I note what you say about Berryer and wish you had written it a few weeks sooner. There was a good deal of printed stuff in the papers about him at the time of his death. ... I have read somewhere that Mr.Moreauis to prepare avolimie of B.'s speeches and perhaps other matter for the press. If you write to him, he would doubtless furnish you with aU sorts of information. Write thro' the undersigned if you will. The subscription for a monu- ment to B., opened by the legitimist papers without objection from government, amounted, the last time I paid any attention to the Usts, to about 40,000 francs. The monument is to be, I beUeve, a statue erected in the Salle des Pas perdus or some other hall of the Palais de Justice. Did it ever strike you that in the course of many winter evenings passed in turning over Le Mercure de France you might find some- thing for your 1870 edition of B. F.? The idea hit me the other day in the Bib. Imperiale while I was doing two years of that duU joiimal in search of anecdotage about Asgill,^ in whose fate the Parisians appear to have taken a most Hvely interest. His story has been the subject of four plays at least. The opening scene of one of them represents him in irons, in prison, and in conversa- tion with Washington filsf Washington pere figures further on in the play. And with these and aU good wishes in season and out of season Yours truly HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW Haussmannville, 17 Feby., 1868. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Walking on the quais as is the custom with me in the afternoon, I met the bibhographic Harrisse, who then to me in few: "My heart's desire is to rest in Paris, where I am loved and honored. >Son-in-law of Guizot. ^Captain Charles Asgill of the British army, in the war of the American Revolution, who, while a prisoner in the hands of the Americans, was chosen by lot to be executed m retaliation for the unjustifiable hanging of an American officer by the British. AMERICAN MAGAZINES 161 For that, money is needed: to the getting of money, work. I would work in the American law business, which Mr. Bigelow once told me might be made a profitable business in Paris. I wrote him a letter some while since addressed to the Evening Post office, asking his counsel in respect of establishing myself here and have received no answer. WiU you, when next writing, ask him if he has received the letter? I fear it has gone astray."^ Then I to him: "O Harrisse, yes." Which hereby I have. Harrisse was much tickled that day, Em. OUivier having referred to him as authority (not by name) for some facts about news- paperism in the state of New York, in his, E. O.'s, great speech in the Press Law debate. It must be to you that I am indebted for a specimen mmiber of Lippincott's & Putnam's new magazines. They both have the trifling defect of duUness to my seeming, as Mr. [Frederick] Sheldon (for whose pleasant acquaintance I am much more your debtor) properly remarks, the fault of being too volmninous for the money. Lippincott is the best looking of the two, the cheerfulest to the eye. But what careless bungling in the Monthly Gossip about your Franklin MS. — "Its fate left no trace that we are aware of upon the literatiure of any country" since 1802! And "has been at least that length of time in the hands of the family at whose special instigation it was written!" This is inexcusable ignorance anywhere; but in the Doctor's own town of Philadelphia such a brilliant display of it is peculiarly "gratuitious [sic] and imcalled for." There is equally hopeless American carelessness and loose newspapery shabbiness as to facts and form of expres- sion in Putnam, e.g., "T^e coming Revolution in England," and "Dante and his latest Translators." Blackwood on American politics might be as disregardful of facts as the first, and might put forth a critical article with the opinions of the second, but it would have them written at least in another guess style. Do note the requisites of a good translation mentioned on page 165 of Putnam: "sheen," "spontaneous warm emanation," "billowy motion," "high colour," "ghrded vigour," "clear outUne," "chiselled edge," "tonic ring," — and then compare Harry Franco Briggs's Monthly Chronicle with Forcade's Revue de la Quinzaine. On the day marked by the meeting with the Harrisse, I called at every bookshop on the quais, from Pont Louis XF to ditto Neuf, il received the letter, dated Jan 6, 1868. 152 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE aloud for Gibelin's (the first translator of B. F.) book in vain, and at a later day, with equal vanity of result, at the Bibliotheque Imperiale. Here one of the officials had dihgent search made for it, but told me that it was not in the Hbrary nor yet mentioned in Querard. My only authority for its existence is Didot's Biographic — a work which I find more and more imperfect the more it is consulted, and which is wofuUy defective on the biblio- graphic side: and so, likely enough, it has given a wrong title to Gib.'s book, supposing that G. ever did pubHsh it — or that there ever was a G. — or that anything is anything or anything else — "What is truth? said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for answer." . . . I am told that a petition has been circulated here and has by this time reached Washington, pra3dng for the removal of Nicolay from the Consular Chair; that Mxmroe & Co., Wood, and other most respectable names were attached to it; that the main charge was neglect of ofiice duties — to which, I fear there is some base of reason. Perhaps N.'s graver fault has been not to culti- vate his countrjonen here — his radical gravest fault, the cause of aU the rest, that his digestion is not good. Dyspepsia knows no law, not even the U. S. Digest: que voulez-vous? For my own part I rather like N. and rather the more the more I see of him. But it is plain that the ofl&ce is not kept as it was in the better days of the RepubHc '6i-'64 civis et Magnohumili Coss. I take it N. does not desire to stay after this year, and feels pretty sure of his tenure for this term; and so does not care much whether school keeps or not for the rest of it. I have not seen him since his return from Rome & Vienna — if indeed he be returned. You & Heaven forgive this long screed. Yrs thro' & thro, — W. H. H. huntington to bigelow Paris [Rue de Boiirsault], 20 Jany., 1868. Dear Mr. Bigelow: . . . Your Dore La Fontaine is completed. The pubUshers have intercalated in the last four numbers eight designs, more NEWS FROM PARIS 153 than they promised, which are much finer than the average of those in the body of the book — also a portrait of the fabulist with index, notice of his Ufe & works, etc. It altogether will make a handsome book when the binding is added: for that I shall wait a month or two till the ink of plates is thoroughly dry. I was proper glad to read that you are reaUy in for it with the B. F. There was an allusion to your MS. the other day in the Pail Mall Gazette. Yo\ir engraver (who is he?) is to reproduce your pastel portrait, I hope. Why would it not do to afterwards put it into Marshall's hands for a fine large copy, a companion to his Stuart's Washington? But the Fenelon will be the Mag. opus. Four years? What would the good Archbishop have thought had he been spiritually foretold that his Life was to be written by an heretic admirer, native of La NouveUe France? . . . Re- clus, looking remarkably well in body and fuU of spirits, was in to see me last week. . . . He hopes to get out his second voltmie within a year. He told me that he had ordered his first volmne sent to you; but had not written, not wishing to impose any re- quest on you for your services in his behalf with the booksellers. I hope, however, that you and they think that the book will pay for reproduction in American English. Legras has f oimd the Recueil de Poesies Calvinistes — a quaintly handsome book — which I sent with this, by the despatch bag, via David. Legras was pleased with your remembrance and promises to tarry on the Boulv. des Capucines tiU you come. His poor wife is in doleful dumps by reason of the recent death of an only sister. She is really pretty in black. . . . Nicolay is not yet returned from Rome. Miss Dix is to be united in "maritime bonds" to a Mr. Walsh, sometime of Japan. Mrs. Jotham Post and Miss Penniman are set down in the Ughter chronicles of the newspapers as among the notable female decorations of the ItaUan opera. Genl. Dix looks old. Col. Heine^ has returned from his trip to the Rocky Moimtains and quite a Uon cub for the moment. Your neighbour Osbom with his excellent wife and two children is about going to Spain. . . . Was interested most agreeably with yom: bits about Longfellow (whom I read French and German under) and Dick- ens, and saddishly with what you say of Dana's purchase of the 'Wilhelm Heine, Colonel 103 N. Y. vol. inf. and brevet brig-gen., who contributed to the Bulletin de la Soci&e de Giographie, 1867, an article Le Chemin de Per du Pacifique. 154. RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Sun. A few days after receiving your letter another person told me of the same, and thought just as you do about it. I hope you are both mistaken. It won't do for Dana to fail this time — it will be late to begin again.^ Yours &c. FROM MY DIARY Washington, February 20, 1868. Pleasant dinner alone with Sumner. He has bought a house, and is said to be implacable toward his wife, who it is imderstood would entertain a proposal to have her return. Subsequently attended a reception at the house of Mr. Seward. He took me aside to say that he and I would go down to posterity in that book {UEUvation et la Chute de I' Empereur Maximilien par Keratry). He also gave me to under- stand that he thought it my duty to write the history of our foreign relations dining the last war. Washington, February 21, 1868. Dined to-day with the Presi- dent and Diplomatic Corps. The President had sent to the Senate during the day a message annoimcing the removal of Stanton from his office (Secretary of War), and the appointment of General Thomas in his place. The Senate went into executive session at once and remained in session until about half past nine. It was during the vmcertainty as to what the Senate would do that the President ate his dinner, which explained his excessively pre- occupied air. He said little to anyone. He looked fagged and discovuraged. I did not learn till I called upon the Secretary of the Treasury, McCulloch, after the dinner, that the Senate was still in session. As I was about coming away, Seward said to my wife that, had I had as much respect for his advice as she had, I would have been in Paris now. I stopped at Sumner's at ten o'clock. He was just dining. He told me that the Senate resolved with the entire Republican •Huntington's saddishness was to be relieved by reports received from Dana, who wrote to him on the 2d of June, 1868: ". . . Professionally I may be called prosperous. Since I have had the Sun, now five months, it has not failed to make money, and its subscription lists steadily increase. The profits are not very large, but that they should exist at all is surprising. I did not expect it. . . . When its sales are seventy-five thousand daily, as I think they are bound to be, its profits will be handsome . . . ." (Life ofC.A. Dana by J. H. Wilson, p. 394.) The newspapers report the recent sale (1912) of a controlling interest in the Sun (fifty-one shares) for $2,500,000, which would make a total value for the paper of nearly $5,000,000; for its purchase, see p. 146 n. ante. STANTON'S REMOVAL 155 vote that the removal of Stanton was illegal and unconstitutional. Stanton had notified them that if they esteemed the act of the President Ulegal, he would not leave the War Department except by force. A committee of the Senate waited upon Grant to know what he would do in the premises. He asked them how or where the President would get the file of soldiers necessary to remove Stanton, implying that his orders could not be obtained for such a purpose. Stanton said he would sleep in the War Department. The House is expected to bring in articles of impeachment to-morrow. On one of these occasions Seward told me that Weed had writ- ten him a letter, worded evidently to be shown to the President if necessary, recommending him (Seward) to take the mission to England. Weed, he added, was easily discouraged and prone to despond when the wind was not fair. Seward said he did not take the same views at all of the situation; he meant to stand by the government where he thought he could be most useful; he had no intention to quit the State Department and have it filled by men like Jerry Black or some such creature; neither would he go abroad as an agent of another — the devil knows who — to settle questions that he was now in a better position to settle as princi- pal. He said his resignation had been in the hands of the Presi- dent from the commencement of the administration, to be accepted at any moment, for he would scorn to remain in his office a day without the desire of the President and the Congress. WILLIAM DUANE TO BIGELOW Philadelphia, Feby. 22, 1868. Sir: I have lately learnt that you are about publishing the entire autobiography of Dr. Franklin, recently recovered by you in France. I have thought it might interest you to know that fifty years ago the opinion of his descendants here was that Temple Franklin had received a consideration from the British govern- ment for suppressing part of the Memoirs. The delay in pub- lishing any part of it may have been due to the same cause.^ Very respectfully, etc. 'This authority confinns the opinions advanced in Bigelow's Life of Benjamin Franklin I, S2-66. 156 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE BIGELOW TO HARGREAVES Washington, Feby. 26, 1868. My dear Friend: I presume you and your friends feel some solicitude about our affairs, and that a letter from our seat of government, where I have been spending a couple of weeks, wiU be more than usuaEy wel- come. The first question you would ask if I were by your side would be — will the President be convicted and deposed. My impression is that if he exhibits ordinary tact and discretion for the future, which is a great deal more, I am sorry to say, than he has done in the past, he will not be convicted. I base this opinion upon reasons quite independent of his guilt or innocence. He would be convicted to-morrow by the Senate & the country would sustain them probably for the present at least, if that were the end of it. But the moment it is proposed to remove him, the question of the succession looms into view; and many who would be glad to have Johnson put out of the way shrink from the con- sequences of giving the control of the Executive department of the Government to Benj. Wade, the President of the Senate^ & ex- ofl&cio successor to the vacancy. He is a man of an intemperate character; he says our greenbacks are the best cturency in the world, and advocates the addition of 100,000,000 to the present stock at once; and last year made a speech in the west in which he was imderstood to recommend a redistribution of property oc- casionally by law. These matters will soon be brought to public attention and their effect wiU not be favorable to him. Besides which, his elevation would interfere with the aspirations of other Presidential candidates or with the influence of such candidates upon the succeeding administration. Already these jealousies begin to develop. Then again the success of the prosecution will depend to some extent upon the promptitude with which it is accomphshed; and that will depend in a great degree upon Chief Justice Chase, who you know is the candidate for the Presidency, of the same wing of the RepubUcan party as Senator Wade. Mr. Chase, like Wade, comes from Ohio, the same State that has just voted to replace Wade in the Senate with a Demo- 'Acting vice-president of the U. S. PRESIDENT JOHNSON 157 crat, but who does not take his seat until next March a year. Chase will feel no particular interest in helping to give the control of the Republican party to another man from his own State who also aspires to the Presidency. Neither will he feel a particular pleasure in assistmg to bring the impeachment to a successful issue, which would resiilt in making Wade President and Grant his successor, when, by letting it fail, both those gentlemen would be in great danger of having their respective noses put sadly out of joint. The part which both Wade and Grant have taken, and more especially the part which they will have to take in the con- test now pending between Congress and the President, renders the success of the impeachment of vital importance to them politically. And then again Chase will be placed in an awkward position if he accepts the responsibility of trying the President. He could never be brought to try Jefferson Davis, who was indicted for inciting a rebeUion, but he makes no opposition to presiding at the trial of a man who helped to put that rebeUion down. If the crisis should terminate in striking all three from the Hst of possible candidates for the Presidency, I shoiild not be much surprised. The trial cannot be a very short one, however desirable promp- titude may be to the partisans of impeachment; for the President wUl be interested in prolonging it to the utmost, and of course legal questions wiU bristle at every stage of the proceedings, which cannot be disposed of without discussion. It will be protracted until the Presidential election advances into the foregroimd and renders the pubhc indifferent about the result, and then, of course, nothing is to be gained by conviction. You will observe by the steadiness of our markets that the coimtry takes these things coolly. It is not unwilling to have impeachment held in terrorem over the President to make sure that he imdoes nothing that the war was intended to accomphsh and make permanent; beyond that, the people are indifferent. The President lacks all requisite quaUties for a coup d'etat, and in this respect has disappointed the Democrats. He consulted no one about the recent appointment of Thomas as acting Secre- tary of War, not even his Cabinet nor any member of it. Conse- quently no one was prepared in the Senate or House to say a word for him when the announcement was made. And yet all this secrecy went for nothing, because he sent a man to replace Stanton who has neither the sense nor pluck necessary to do it. 158 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE If Thomas had requested Stanton to leave immediately and had taken possession, the President would now be master of the situ- ation as completely as Stanton is. This might have been done without the least difi&culty. So the President was outmanceu- vred by Grant in restoring Stanton to the War Department. Such blimders betray a want of tact, vigor, and resoiurce which satisfy the public that whatever might be the President's designs, he could never be a formidable antagonist; and that Congress, especially while Grant Uves, can easUy hold him in check. He is not wanting in parts, but he is incapable of appreciating the bearings of the position he occupies. He received from Mr. Lincoln one of the greatest poUtical heritages that ever descended to a mortal, but he has squandered it all, simply by lack of the sovereign quahty. He was trained a tailor, and a taUor he will be to the end, I fear We are aU well; that is the most I can say of personal news at present. I saw a good deal of your minister here and like him.^ He has left everywhere a pleasant impression. I see by this morn- ing's papers that Dizzy has at last realized the dream of his life and become Prime Minister. I think you'll find it hard work to get him out again. Yours very sincerely BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Squirrels, March lo, 1868. My dear Friend: Yoiu- note written in January, accompan)dng the Chansons Cahinistes, did not get a reading until yesterday. I have been cavorting about in partibus for the month past and only returned to N. Y. Saturday & got the package containing your note Mon- day. I am more pleased than I expected to be, with the Chansons, French poetry in the general being mostly caviare to such as I. I can hardly advise you to attempt to enlarge my stock of F6nelonia, for I think I had stripped that teat pretty dry before I left Paris. You would be much more likely, if you ventured into the business, to get what I have than what I have not, that having ■Sir Edward Thornton. VISIT TO FLORIDA 169 been my special hobby since i860. Besides, to be frank with you, I am ashamed to buy any books for that business until I have done something -with those I akeady have. I expect to read my last proofs of the Franklin to-morrow. The engraving for the book is passable, though too large for the page, which will involve the necessity of using larger paper than is profitable, though perhaps none too large for beauty. I have taken passage for myself, wife & two yoimgest children, for Charleston on Satmrday, with the intention of visiting Savan- nah and a Uttle of Florida. I met Mrs. Stowe (Uncle Tom) the other day in Philadelphia at dinner. She was on her way to her ranch on the St. John's river. Her accounts of her Ufe there quite fascinated me, one feature only excepted. Neighbors or strangers would come & take possession of her verandah, smoke & lie aroimd loose, dine & sleep there with the same matter of coixrse- ness or coarse-ness as if they were at the sign of the "Pig 6° the Whistle. " She says it is not particularly disagreeable after you get used to it. She is pleased with the native Floridians. They are gentle and handsome — much like the Neapolitans, and have winning ways — both sexes as I imderstood her. She herself by the way has been foully calumniated by photography. She is really as handsome a woman as any one of her age need desire to be and much handsomer than most of her sex are at that age. Bryant told me the other day that he had finished the transla- tion of one third of the Iliad of Homer and meant to go through with it. He says he is so fascinated with the work that he can't bear to be diverted from it. The death of Halleck, however, has diverted hiTn from it for a season, for he is now preparing an Eloge on the only poet who has really given permanent celebrity to the bookkeeper's vocation.^ Public opinion is settling steadily against the deposition of Johnson & the imposition of Wade. The phrase is "We do not wish to see the U. S. Mexicanized. " Those who do not fear that, pause at the prospect of having a President who thinks our greenbacks the best currency in the world, with the single defect that there are not enough of them. 4: « 4: 4: 4: 4: 4s Yours very truly 'During the latter part of Halleck's life he was the bookkeeper of John Jacob Astor at the latter's office in Prince Street. If Charles Lamb was a poet, Halleck may have been the second one to glorify that profession by which both earned their bread. 160 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE hxtntington to bigelow Haussmannville [8 Rue de Boursault] [lo March, '68.] Dear Mr. Bigelow: Here be the three books of Keratry.i . . . In aid and justi- fication of that faith which leads me still twice a week to follow the quais in expectation of great book things, I have added to the hobbies which we rode together, that of pamphlets-on-Mexico. Of these I have some twenty or so. I doubt if they would be worth your storing — but if you care for them, say so and they shaU be forwarded by Legation bag. (You know to what extent I may properly use the said bag; no objection has yet been made to my, or rather David's, use of it.) My fellow pilgrim along the quais this afternoon was Mr. Sheldon. It so happened that on our way thither and on our retixm, John Bigelow was a chief subject of conversation: and the curious part of it was, that though both talkers pretended to be his friends and both have been recipi- ents of his kindness, neither said much against him: — Sheldon, in fact, nothing. I think this wiU strike you as remarkable. What possessed me not to pick more faults with the subject, I can't guess. The next time Mr. S. walks with me (I trust it will be soon — and meantime thank you again for his acquaintance), I win bring J. B. into discourse again and see if something cannot be done in the way of back-biting of him. I have to thank you as always for so much of your letter as touches on pohtics and reigning politicians; it was full of interest. But you might have added a Httle more about yourself and Benjamin F., and told me, among other things I want to know, what portrait of B. F. you have decided on for frontispiece to the Autobiography. It ought to be an original engraving from your pastel. When you come to a second or third edition, I wiU send you a beautiful mezzotint by McArdle of a standing B. F. after a picture done in 1760 something, reduced copy of which should further ornament that edition. I have not had much luck of late in htmting for Americanisms, but have added a fifth to my Wash- 'ia CrSance Jecker, L'ElSvaiion et la Chute de I'Empereur Maximilien, and La Contre- guiritta fransaise au Mexique, all by Count E. de Kfiratry. LITERARY NEWS FROM PARIS 161 ington plays (all in French) since last Saturday. There is yet one more to be foimd — a sort of OpSra comique in which G. W. figures as a chief personage. Did you ever annotate for the use of a French party a heavy pamphlet by H. Greeley, pubhshed before the war, giving the political history of the slavery question in the United States? I bought it to-day, and found in the mar- gin and on one or two inserted slips notes in a handwriting that curiously resembles yours. Renan is on the point of publishing a volume of essays on political and other themes of direct contem- porary bearing. Ste-Beuve has just done an article on Madame de Stael, in which he teUs us that that strong minded female was at one time desirous of migrating to the United States. Cantu, the Italian historian, has published a work devoted to an historico- philosophical comparative study of Washington and Mirabeau. Laboulaye's Prince Caniche — a satire on the excess of admin- istrative Reglementation in France — is just out in book form. Duvemois's book on Mexico^ always remains in MS. When he accepted the editorship of the Epoque, he in a sort, forfeited his right to publish it. A new advanced-liberal paper is to be started here in a few days — should have appeared before now — La Tribune or something like that — of which Pelletan is the direct- ing editor. The new press law and the long discussion of it in the Corpse Leg. have hurt and will more hurt the government. One of the articles of the original bill was flatly rejected by a quite handsome majority Saturday. The law itself is such a criss-cross of incon- sistencies that it cannot, it seems to me, possibly hold many years. The Corpse shows more and more signs of Ufe, one of the most significantly Uvely of which is the ever more clearly defined position of the Arcadiens or extreme Right, who in their zeal for his good, more royalist than the king, ahnost openly resist the Emperor's mild notions of reform. It is they who are forcing into shape the third party, or right-center, which de Momy dreamed of. One Mariu's Topin (he did not name himself) hath just pub- lished an 8vo. intituled L'Europe et les Bourbons sous Louis XIV. I am told that the title rather overlaps the book, which is mainly limited to the episode of the Prince de Conti — his transient Polish royalty, its history with attendant intrigues, etc., under the management and mismanagement of the Abbe de Pohgnac. As WIntenenUonfranfaise au Mexique with a preface by Cltoent Duvemois. 162 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE it is in, or at least attaches to, your line of reading, I thought it weU to mention it. If you want the volume, say the word, and it shaU be forwarded. I almost wish — though, seeing "the lubricity of life," one should never wish pleasure deferred — that you had put off writing your last long enough for its date to fall within the impeachment epoch. Do write to me soon and long about this new phase of our revolution. Nestor Bryant is sl physiological, or say rather hygienic, & poetic phenomenal brick. I doubt tho' that his Iliad will be very readable. It will not be the first American translation. I saw one very handsomely printed (pretendedly at Richmond, Va.) on Legras' shelves a year or two ago; it was by — I have for- gotten the name — American.^ I bought last week for the sums of 75 centimes respectively the two thin httle volumes of Matthew Arnold's Ste-Beuvesque — i. e. imEngUsh in tone — critical lectures on translating Homer. They are both set off with an autographic formula of presentation addressed by the author to old Nisdrd. Now Nisard is not dead^ — which is shabby. This reminds me, by an association of ideas which it would be long and wearisome to imravel the thread of, to rehearse to you the laughablest nannie-joke that my dia- phragm hath been exercised on for a month. A gamin de Paris comes into a bureau one morning and earnestly asks the respect- able middle-aged cashier there present to be good enough to tell him exactly what o'clock it is? " Thirty-two minutes past eleven. And why, my little man, do you wish to know so precisely?" "Because at 12 o'clock precisely I want you to go to hell. With that the gamin cuts for the door; and the cashier boxmces from his chair and puts after him. Midway down the second block he meets his employer coming to the bureau, who asks: "What in heaven's name does this mean, Mr, Dubarard, you racing bare-headed down the street in this way? " " Why I want to overtake that boy who just tinned the comer and who had the impudence to ask me to go to hell at precisely 12 o'clock." Employer, looking at his watch: "Yes, but there is no need of such hurry; you have got twenty-five minutes yet." And with this I rest Very truly yours 'Probably WUliam Munford of Virginia, whose translation was published m 1846 by Little and Brown of Boston. A translation by A. G. Lewis of Boston was published in 1911. •J. M. N. D. Nisard, Senator author of Histoire de la LUtSratme francaise and other works, died in 1888. » RECLUS' LA TERRE 163 Reclus was in my room two weeks ago and showed me a letter from Minister Marsh,i warmly laudatory of his book La Terre and strongly advising him to arrange for its republication in America. A day or two later R. sent me a note, asking your address. You have probably received his letter before this. I ventured to encourage his writing to you as one sure to be willing, and not imlikely to be able, to aid a little in forwarding his piu:- pose with the booksellers. Do help him, if you can. Marsh, if I remember rightly, recommended Scribner and Lippincott — perhaps others. R. ordered a copy of the book sent you long ago, but seemed doubtful whether it had reached you. If it have, you will see what a valuable cyclopaedic work on physical geog- raphy it is. Yours as follows hargreaves to bigelow 34 Craven Hill Gds, Hyde Park, March 19, 1868. It was most kind of you, my dear friend, to think of us amid the excitement of the crisis through which your government is passing, and to write for the advantage of your several friends here the very interesting letter I have read to them. Among these was of course Mr. Bright, who, considering its contents too interesting to be hid away in my desk, suggested the extraction of a few passages for the Star & the pubUc. Pray pardon me for doing this. Such Uberties sometimes break the freedom of cor- respondence. I feel, however, it will not be so in our case. And here I had better confess that this is not my first sin of the kind. I extracted a passage from a previous letter on woman's suffrage, which went the round of the papers, & I have no doubt made many converts. This question, by the by, makes progress here — all women who are ratepayers will certainly very soon have the vote. And now for the more serious question which now engages you, and on which the eyes of Europe, be assured, are intently fixed. Will you disappoint the ill-disposed in this matter of impeach- 'U. S. Minister to Italy. 164 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE ment of your highest ofl&cial, as m that of the war? We cannot doubt it, when we see your people so cahn amid a state of things, the hke of which here would send consols to zero, StUl although assured that, whether acquittal or conviction be the issue, the begiiming and the end will be peaceful & not wanting in dignity — one would rather the thing had not been, to be quoted for some time to come by the enemies of popular Uberty. At the same time, if carried through successfully, it will be one more indication that the days of " reigning & ruUng" are gone by, and that even the President of a repubhc is the highest ofl&cial and nothing more, of the nation — a servant and not a master. We shall all await the issue of the struggle with deep interest, although we too, are passing through a poUtical crisis scarcely second in importance to yours. I think the coimtry would have been satisfied to let the present government remain in ofl&ce until the basis of the suffrage had been settled in Scotland & Ireland, as m England, but the state of things is so bad in Ireland, and the scandal to England in the face of the world so great, that it was felt that the people of that injured country ought at least to be assured that the crying evil of the Protestant estabHshment would be swept away by the new ParUament, if not before. Mr. Gladstone, therefore, has decided to lead the liberals to the assault, and whether he wins now or not, the end will be certain, when the new Parliament comes together. I am inclined to think he wiU win now. It is true the hberal party is rather disjointed — but then the proud lords & squires are not easy imder the leadership of the oriental adventurer. Old things are passing away even in this Old World, when 4 great dukes fill the subordinate places in a cabinet of which the "descendant of the thief on the Cross" as O'Connell once named Disraeli, is the head. It does not say much for our poUtical morale, in any way, when such a state of things is possible. It assiu-es us at least that the present H. of Commons is worthless for the purposes intended and that we must look henceforth to our, hitherto, unrepresented classes, who, as our good friend Jacob Bright^ says in his maiden speech to the House, have "no vested interest in injustice." And here I may tell you that our friend has already made an excellent impression on his co-representatives. On this point the speaker congratulated his eminent brother. I sent you the speech of the elder brother on the Irish question, who has laid his 'Brother of John Bright. ENGLISH POLITICS 165 foundations as a statesman so deep that it is taken for granted that ofl&ce must be oflEered to him if Mr. Gladstone comes in, and that he will accept it. I do not venture an opinion on this latter point, but I know it will not be without a tremendous struggle versus on his part, & that when decided, it wiU be on the ground of public utility, whatever that decision be, and imder the guidance of his own high conscientiousness. In the ripeness of the harvest of which he has so long sown the seed, the strongest argument may perhaps be found in favor of an official position. That the mass of the people would rejoice to see their great champion so crowned, I have no doubt. But the great battle of his Ufe wiU ever be his noblest crown, and we must believe that in this, his futiure will be in no way unworthy his past. I feel assured of this at least, that if he cannot do all the good he would desire, he will prevent many evils. Like your great President Lincoln, he can put his foot down & keep it there. Ah! would that his departed friend whose name must ever be associated with his own, were here to share his power. But then, as Mr. MUner Gibson once said on the suggestion of the three associated in one Cabinet — "We should be in danger of finding our heads on Tower Hill!" Well, there will be a great battle on the Irish Church aboUtion. Is it but an outwork of the EngUsh Church — and then who knows. Yes, who knows what may happen. ... A strange destiny it would be, if the English persecution of Ireland should result in a revolution in the Chinch & the Land question destined to travel eastward across the Chaimel — a fitting & righteous retribution. Things go a great pace in these days. Steam & electricity have touched the nerves of thought as well as industry. . . . My wife has her usual place at my side & is well. She desires her most kind love to Mrs. Bigelow, & I ask permission to join in the same to her and to all of you. BECKWITH TO BIGELOW Paris, 19th March, 1868. My dear Bigelow: 1 am greatly indebted to you for yours of the 20th & 29th July. You take more interest in me than I take in myself. I work for what I think useful, ask nothing for it, and expect no retinn but 166 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE the criticisms of the ignorant & misrepresentations of the jealous — anything more agreeable would surprise me. Why should it not? You had diSicult & delicate work to do here & did it well, & were sufficiently naisrepresented, but who has thanked you? Even the great Secretary himself, who has rendered vast services to the nation & to civiHzation, appears on the point of being shoved aside in a row, as if he were no better than rubbish! If I were made in my humble sphere an exception to general rule, I think I should feel some uneasiness! It is precisely these rough conditions of terrestrial existence that require amehoration & embelUshment, and there is nothing better for us to do on earth than to lend a hand to improve it & be satisfied with the effort & the motive. To expect more as things are is unreasonable, and in point of fact, it is just as well to remember that, if our right efforts were always rightly appre- ciated & extolled, it would not increase our humiHty & their best effects on omrselves would thus be diminished. You see, my friend, I have an easy method of arriving at a forced settlement with the pubUc on its own terms; & to say truth, I am never unhappy but when I fall short in the settlement with myself, with whom I cannot always make such easy con- ditions! I am extremely anxious to close up the work of the Exhibition which is delayed by the slowness of the Imp. Com. I shall get off by September the 26th aU the medals, the show cases, & 200 of the diplomas in readiness for exhibition at the Capitol. There will remain 100 diplomas which will come forward by the time the first are up & the space ready for them. I have suggested the old chamber of representatives as the only place that will give room enough. I want 1300 sq. feet of wall space, which can be supphed by erecting temporary screens for hanging the diplomas which are nicely framed & glassed. If well arranged the show wiU be respectable. I shall suggest to Mr. Seward a redistribution of the awards with the formaUties becoming a national act. We are not much accustomed to national gatherings not poUtical — but that is no reason for not recognizing the contributions of science & of the mechanical and industrial arts to the wealth & civilization of the age, in a manner suitable to their importance. Pohtical civiUzation is old but mechanical civilization is new, & it is the chief feature of the time; for it is your men of science & PARIS EXPOSITION 167 yoifr great engineers who are changing the face of society, equal- izing conditions, making labor doubly productive & hfting up whole populations by improving their material and moral con- dition. A redistribution will afford an excellent occasion for the orators who wish to discourse eloquently on the industrial, commercial, & economical state of the coimtry, & show that they understand & appreciate these great interests as well as they do poUtics. I don't know if the idea will be acceptable — it will depend much on the situation 3 months hence — it is perhaps an even chance that the government wiU not wish to be bothered with it, or wiU see an occasion to be turned to account, & in the latter event nobody could make more of it than the Secretary himself if he should take a fancy to it. As to the propriety of it, if it is worth while to engage in international comparisons & compe- titions, to spend pubhc money on them, for the government & Congress to give attention to them, & for men like the Secretary of State to think about them, & for you and I and such like to spend a great deal of labor & time on them — if this is not all a mistake, it is stiU worth while to bring the affair which has been for us in a national sense eminently successful, to a close in a manner to lend a certain dignity to it, and give a certain eclat to the successes of our producers, which are undeniable. Neverthe- less, I am so weary of the work that I shall consider my duty fulfilled when I have made the suggestion. But you had better turn it over in your mind, & if you think well of it & that the subject reqiiires farther development, perhaps you will communi- cate your views to Mr. Seward; I shall say but a few words. What you say about the poUtical situation is extremely interest- ing. I have read the articles of impeachment, but there are so many pohtical considerations not in the articles, but not the less in the minds of senators, which must influence their decision, that I have no notion of the conclusions they are likely to arrive at. The comments in the Enghsh & French press in general are temperate & sensible & shew a more accurate appreciation than is usual in regard to our affairs. There is an effort here to connect the journey of Prince Napoleon with the pretended Imperial conspiracy on the Eastern question — but no one well informed has very serious behef in the rumors. As soon as I get this exhibition work off my hands I shall begin to pack for home. I don't know what I shall do when I get there, 168 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE but as I never had any time to spare, I don't think I ever shall have any. We are aU in excellent health & beg to be kindly remembered to Mrs. Bigelow. ******* Yours very truly In answer to an invitation to take part with "the Press" in giving a dinner on the i8th of April to Charles Dickens I wrote as follows: BIGELOW TO HENRY E. SWEETSER Charleston April 2, 1868. Dear Sir: Mr. Young's^ note inviting me to imite in a complimentary entertainment to Mr. Dickens, only reached me yesterday on my return to this city from Florida, and after the period fixed for its acceptance [March 29th]. Had I been fortunate enough to receive the invitation in time, I should have promised myself the great pleasure of joining with my old comrades of the Press in paying public honors to one of its greatest ornaments. The opportunity is one which posterity will envy you. Aside from the distinction which his genius has conferred upon our order, Mr. Dickens stands in relations of pecuhar interest to our press, the hterary representative of perhaps the largest commimity of his readers in the world. It would be difi&cult to name another writer who in his whole lifetime ever contributed so much substantial and umocent pleasure to so large a niunber of his fellow-creatures. Mr. Dickens has also illustrated with unequalled abihty the imiversal kinship and brotherhood of our race. He has taught multi- tudes who needed the lesson, that obscurity of station does not necessarily imply insignificance; that ignorance does not always imply immorahty; and that poverty is not the inevitable ally of depravity. Mr. Dickens has also entitled himself to be regarded 'John Russell Young managing editor of the N. Y. Tribune and chainnan of entertain- ment committee. CHARLES DICKENS 169 as the literary correlation of the poKtical genius of his time, by showing in his sketches of humble Hfe with what propriety all legitimate sovereignty resides with and emanates from the people, without distinction of rank or worldly condition, while he has never countenanced false standards of merit in society by select- ing the favorite subjects for his pencU from among the privileged classes; in this respect inaugurating a new era in the Hterature of fiction. He has also been one of the most effective teachers of the greatest of Christian virtues, charity in that comprehensive sense which recognizes none of the distinctions of sect or party. Though one of the most voluminous of writers, Mr. Dickens has never printed a line calculated to give attractiveness to vice, or extend toleration to crime. He has never published a book which has not added to his reputation, nor one, I venture to say, that would not have added to the reputation of any writer of his years at the time it was written. To such a man it is not only a duty but a privilege to do honor, and I trust the Press of New York will do justice to itself by showing that it knows how to appreciate such a rare combiaation of genius and virtues. I am, dear Sir, with great respect, your very obedient servant, BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON New York, April 21, 1868. My dear Friend: I have told Lippincott to send you a copy of the Franklin,^ which will be pubUshed in all this week. I directed him to send one also to you for Reclus whose address in town I am not sure of. You wOl be good enough to let him know where to send for it. Neither Scribner nor I have received Reclus' book yet. will no doubt pubHsh it but R. has ruined aU his chances of getting an3^hing for it by sajdng may give what he thinks proper. I have been to Secessia & back since the first of March. I think I wrote you from the South. If not, I meant to do so several times. The part of the country that I visited, Florida and 'First edition of my Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, 170 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE South Carolina, is inhabited by a half civilized people, and the power that they managed to exercise in our government reveals the greatest defect in our system of state sovereignties, for their constitutional power was wholly disproportioned to their num- bers and their quaUty. If our people in Washington were to travel through the South once they would never hsten to a man from there again nor pay any more attention to their clamor than to the clamors of their wives and daughters at home upon politi- cal matters. I don't think they will depose Johnson, though the contrary impression prevails. My only groxmd for thinking as I do is that the objections to such a step seem to me of mountainous propor- tions. The Republicans woTild back out, if they could, but they fear it would ruin their party. I think myself that conviction would hurt them more than deliverance, provided the deliverance was put upon proper ground — to wit, that the necessary criminal intent was not proved — and not upon the groxmd that he had not violated the law or was not a pesky bad president. Brooks went with me South & I left him in Charleston with the advice to try his luck in that quarter. Don't be surprised if you hear of him as a judge or a member of Congress or some other specimen of political depravity. Farewell my friend. Yours very truly BIGELOW TO THE EDITORS OF THE NEW YORK EVENING POST.' Gentlemen: The whole difficulty with the case for the conviction of the President is the want of proof of that intent which should dis- tinguish a "high crime and misdemeanor" imder our constitution from an ordinary statute or common law crime. Such intent has not been estabUshed to the satisfaction of the nation. TiU it is established, conviction tends rather to convert Johnson into a great martyr than into a great criminal. If to be an incompetent or perverse or wicked President were sufficient ground for impeachment, it would undoubtedly be the judgment of the country that Johnson should be impeached; but 'New York Evening Post, May 4, 1868. AGAINST IMPEACHMENT 171 these words would but mildly express the sentiments entertained of some half dozen of our late Presidents by about half the people of the United States. But impeachment is not designed as a remedy for incompetence or perversity in the executive. The ballot box is the constitutional remedy [for that] and there is no other. Short Presidential terms were provided in contemplation of just such blunders as we made in choosing Johnson for Vice- President. If we are to resort to impeachment whenever a majority turns up in Congress opposed to the policy of the executive, why not elect our Presidents like responsible ministers in England, to hold ofl&ce so long as they enjoy the confidence of the country, or for life? If our institutions are as wise as we pretend they are, and if the principle of popular govermnent is as sound as I think it is, it is our duty to stand to our bargain, and worry along through the few remaining months of Johnson's term as well as we can. We committed a great mistake and it was not the first of its kind, in choosing a Vice-President who every one knew was not fit for the Presidency. There is only one way in which that mistake can be turned to account. The nation must become thoroughly aroused to the inconveniences of such blunders, that it may not repeat them. It has already manifested more soHcitude than usual in reference to the choice of its candidates for the Vice-Presidency next faU; but are we sure that we would not be aU the wiser for wandering a few months longer in the wUdemess? Do the candi- dates who have been most prominently brought forward for that ofl&ce indicate that we have learned aU that Johnson is capable of teaching us in regard to the proper mode of discharging our elec- toral duties? We took Johnson as Christians take their wives for better or for worse. He has disappointed us; but shall we better the matter by f amiharizing the country with the degradation of its chief magistrate or by replacing him for the few imexpired months of the current Presidential term with a man who has been chosen by no State and is rejected by his own.^ Impeachment, Hke divorce, is not the proper remedy for mere incompatabihty of temper. Wherever they shall be tried, the demoralization and corruption of society will inevitably foUow. Nor is that aU the evil that would follow. Shakespeare, whose all-seeing eye seems to have embraced in its range of vision pretty much every social contingency, has said wisely: >B. F. Wade, Acting Vice-President. 172 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE " . . . The cease of Majesty Dies not alone; but like a gulf, doth draw What's near it with it; it is a massy wheel Fixed on the summit of the highest moimt, To whose huge spokes ten thousand lesser things Are mortised and adjoined, which when it falls, Each small aimexment, petty consequence. Attends the boisterous ruin. Never alone Did the King sigh, but with a general groan. " [Hamlet III, 3]. Remove Johnson for no better reason than has yet been proved, and the independence of the executive is gone forever. He is no longer what the Constitution designed him to be, a co-ordinate branch of the government. He becomes the mere sheriff or dis- taff of Congress, which, like the old Continental Congress, will gradually absorb the executive power, without any ability to exercise it to the advantage of the country. The President will become a mere instrument without power for anything but mis- chief. His study will be to see that he always has a majority of Congress with him, and that, if he is indifferent about the means — as Presidents elected imder such a regime would be sure to be — he can always have. The fear of what Johnson may do between this and the 4th of March next is absurd. With the army, with Congress, and with the people almost imanimously. Democrats as well as Republicans indisposed to Hnk their fortimes in any way with his, it seems like pusillanimity to fear anything he can do to the detriment of the Republic. He can make us more ashamed perhaps of what we did five years ago, when we nominated him, but that is no sufficient reason for disturbing him now. It is reported that many who feel that there is no sufficient case for the deposition of Johnson, insist upon convicting him on the groimd that a verdict of "not guilty" would prejudice the Repub- Ucan party and probably defeat its candidate at the next election. I am free to say that, if I thought the conviction of Johnson necessary to the success of the RepubUcan candidate at the next Presidential election, it would make me seriously distrust my own judgment in the matter; for it would indicate that the mass of the people who voted for Mr. Lincoln desire Mr. Johnson's conviction. Such, however, I do not beheve to be the case. There are many, AGAINST IMPEACHMENT 173 very many Republicans who have heard charges made against Mr. Johnson, for which, if true, they would wish to see him re- moved, though they would be better pleased — and this I am persuaded is the feeling of the great body of the people — if proofs should not show a case that would demand a resort to the ex- treme remedy of deposition. I know something of the sentiment of the country, and I think there would be a general feeling of reUef , if the Court of Impeach- ment should find that the testimony did not warrant them in degrading the executive just as we are entering upon the canvass for his regular successor. I regard the Republican party at the present time as the bulwark of oiu: Uberties and as the legitimate repository of the national power. No proper means should be neglected to secvixe its ascendency for at least another term, but that result is not to be attained by a judgment upon Mr. Johnson that shall not command the approval of the civilized world. Any verdict wanting such approval will be open to suspicions which the RepubUcan party, strong as it is, cannot afford to incur. The judges who are to pronounce President Johnson guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors are to set to work the day after his deposition to distribute the enormous patronage which that pro- ceeding'wiU let loose. They wiU require a case which has but one side to it, if they wish to come from their task with imspotted hands. Mr. Wade, too, must be many times more or less Mr. Wade than he is, if he can administer the patronage that will then fall into his hands, without rending this party from end to end. The day he takes the oath of office wiU there not inevitably be two Republican piarties? Again, looking at the approaching election, it is apparent that a change of administration would be fatal to anything like a free and dehberate choice of candidates. No disposition of patronage could be made that wovild not be assailed with apparent justice, as an fllegitimate interference with the freedom of electors. The RepubUcans would be accused and in great danger of being found guilty, of having deposed the President that they might use the patronage of his office to prolong their power for another term. This would be one of the inevitable issues of the canvass. In due time the RepubUcans in Congress will experience the fate to which all parties are exposed and go into a minority. Then come re- prisals. The Democrats, if they cannot bully the President into their service, which by that time they will probably be able to do, 174 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE will take a lesson out of the Republican primer and impeach him. Public sentiment will be too much demorahzed to rally against such a mode of warfare, and instead of offering resistance, the poUticians will be studjnng the chances of bettering their con- dition by new combinations. But why should a failure to remove Johnson enure to the prejudice of the RepubHcan party? My conviction is that it would strengthen it. The country is satisfied that there was enough presiunptive evidence floating about to justifiy its repre- sentatives in putting him on trial. It will be reheved to find that the Court on which the duty of trjdng him is conferred by the Constitution, with all the temptations to find him guilty which beset them as pohtical partisans, had the firmness and uprightness to find the proofs insufl&cient — if they are insufficient — to con- vict him. This would inspire the country with respect for the Court, and for the party to which a majority of its members be- long. Can a contrary verdict on the proofs now before the pubhc inspire a corresponding respect? There can be no doubt that it would not. I have heard it suggested, and as I think, with great force and propriety, that the senators have the power, and will possibly avail themselves of it, to so render their verdict, as to obviate aU the partisan objections that have been made to a discharge of Mr. Johnson. Republicans feel that they cannot afford to give the President and the Democrats a triimiph, just at this moment especially. Nor are they entitled to any. But what is to prevent the senators, individually or collectively, when he or they rise to give their verdict, reading an opinion in which they shall briefly recite that they fiind the President has violated the Civil Tenure Act and any other laws, in such and such particulars, specifying them; that he has used his patronage in ways which have tended to delay reconstruction and to encoxu-age disaffection; that he has been wanting in deconun in his intercourse with his cabinet, with Congress, and with the pubHc; that he has presumed to have a policy which he has sought to force upon the acceptance of the country without a proper deference for the opinions of any of the co-ordinate branches of the govenmient specially delegated to represent the wishes of the people; and that he has in other respects acted in an unbecoming and unpresident-Hke maimer, but that they do not find sufficient proof of criminal intent to sustain the charges, etc., and therefore they vote "Not Guilty." AGAINST IMPEACHMENT 175 A verdict conceived upon that basis would be sustained by the nation. It would be as great a humiliation as this country can afford at present to inflict upon its chief magistrate. It would leave no leverage for the opposition to operate upon. It would prevent our party from being distracted during the coming canvass by the ten thousand issues that a change of adminis- tration would introduce, and by the jealousies and rivalries that would inevitably ensue, whatever disposition should be made of them. It would show that we are not Mexicans, and that we are not degenerating into that fatal imdervaluation of authority and law which has kept Spanish America for half a century the prey of revolution. It would show that we had the courage to abide by the consequences of an occasional imwise exercise of the elective franchise, and that we were prepared to profit like wise men, and not like sans-culottes, by our mistake. If the Democrats could make an3rthing out of such a decision they are welcome to it; but I for one am not prepared to welcome them to what they could make out of a verdict which would trans- form Johnson from a criminal into a martyr and place the sena- tors of the United States and the leaders of the RepubHcan party upon trial before the people in the approaching Presidential can- vass, instead of those greater issues between the Republican and Democratic parties which involve the existence and prosperity of the Republic. Yours respectfully, OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES TO BIGELOW Boston, April 26th, 1868. My dear Mr. Bigelow: I await with longing the advent of that most deUghtful story of a life, as it is to come from your careful and loving hands.^ Soc- rates used to caU himself the midwife of thought, but the world has given him a higher place than he claimed. I do not suppose, however, that you are looking for fame in your pious task, but gratitude from great multitudes of readers you may be sure of. 'The untinkered M^moires of Benjamin Fninklin. 176 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE What can be more simple and charming, what can be more typically American, than one North-end boy's account of his early days and experiences. The next time you come to Boston you must let me shew you the triple gravestone of the Worthylakes in Copp's Hill bur3dng- ground. I never knew what to make of it — father, mother, daughter, all "died" on the same day — nothing said of any acci- dent as accoimting for their dying together. I was mightily pleased when I fould the solution in the Autobiography. How I wish we could get the two ballads — that on the Worthylakes and that on "Blackbeard" the pirate! Well, I shall be looking out for the volume, which will remind one of the pleasant meetings I enjoyed with yourself and with Mrs. Bigelow (to whom I wish devoutly to be remembered) in addition to the new value the story itself wiU have after your emendations and additions. Believe, me, dear Mr. Bigelow, Most truly yours O. W. HOLMES TO BIGELOW Boston, May 7th, 1868. My dear Mr. Bigelow: I have been as much delighted with the book as I expected to be. First comes the reaUy admirable portrait, the best engraved one I have ever seen, full of life and truth; then your most curious and interesting accoimt of the previous editions, which is such a resurrection of the past as only a miracle of good fortxme turned to good account could have given us; and then the amended and enlarged story of that life, which, though not presenting aU the aspects of hiraian nature, had yet so much that was wholesome, broad, natural, wise, human, national. I could not help being struck by that suggestion of the parallel or rather contrast with Franklin's accoimt of himseh and Rousseau's. If you bring Dante as a third term of comparison, what diverse types of the same himian race you have seK-revealed! And of these, how singxilarly the healthy, concrete, practical, cheerfixl, robust, work- ing, sagacious, shifty American represents the natural evolution from a new soil, peopled by working men, of their plain, sensible, BIGELOW'S FRANKLIN 177 useful ideal ! We are very apt to base our conception of Franklin upon his sublime discovery — the one which is his surest claim to immortality. But we who have seen another mighty discovery — that of painless surgery — come to hght under our own eyes can believe that a less man than Franklin might have contrived the kite that brought down the lightning. His invention and dis- covery might have come through other channels; but his Ufe, and the story of it as told by himself are all his own, and stand by themselves as a fresh record of a new form of genuine manhood. I am sure your coimtrymen wiU thank you for the good work you have done so well, and I again add my own special thanks that you have enriched my Ubrary with this beautiful and most interesting voliune. With my best regards to yourself and Mrs. Bigelow, etc. BRANTZ MAYER TO BIGELOW Baltimore, 9 May, 1868. My dear Sir: Having just finished reading your new edition of Franklin's biography, I must at once enroU myself among the thousands who wiU doubtless be obUged to you for this refreshing revival of one of the most charming & useful pictures of part of a great life ever given! to the world. I lately acquired a letter from Josiah Franklin to one of his nephews giving a pretty full biographical accoimt of the family, written a few years before the old gentle- man's death. If you would like a copy for another edition, I will send it. I forward to your address by this mail a copy of a Memoir of my friend Sparks, & hope you wiU agree with me in my estimate of the valuable labors of that worthy man. Possibly you may not coincide with me in my commentaries on our historians; but I have been frank, and adhere to what I said generally, a year ago, in regard to Bancroft, notwithstanding the violent assaults on him since then. You will be glad I am sure to know that my prospects in life have brightened since I saw you last, and since the time when you made the generous, noble ofiers to me which I shall never cease to remember with gratitude. The recollection of your 178 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE kindness — at a time when kindness itself was aid — always touches me profoundly, & no one rejoiced more than I did at the success and ability of your labors for our country during your residence in and mission to France. Did you not pubUsh a pamphlet in Paris on the subject of the war? I certainly saw one alluded to, and should be dehghted to have a copy if you have one to spare. In 1862 our friend Stanton appointed me a paymaster in the army, & I served during the war. On the reorganization of the army in March of 1867 he reappointed me in the Regular Army, so that I suppose I am to be a colonel for the rest of my days, and to "dispense Government funds." As I am posted here, & will probably not be removed hence, unless by caprice, I am comfortably fixed in Baltimore, and really hope you wiU let me see you when visiting our city. With sincere regards and compli- ments to yourself and Mrs. Bigelow, I am, truly & always, your friend & servant, Brantz Mayer. JOHN HAY TO BIGELOW Vienna, April 27, 1868. Dear Mr. Bigelow: I have received and answered a letter from Mrs. Bigelow this evening and I don't yet feel inclined to leave yoiir company. So I will say a word or two to you, lingering with my hand on the door knob. I had no idea when I came abroad last summer that I should be here so long. I thought they would fill up the vacuum (abhorred by Nature and ofl&ce seekers), in a few months — so I came for a flyer, principally because I was a Kttle ashamed of having been in Europe nearly two years and having seen nothing. I have had a pleasant year of it. There is very little work to do at the Legation. I have sinned grievously against certain ten-day regulations that I have heard of. I have seen all I care to of Prussia, Poland, Turkey, and Italy. I have drawn my salary with startling pimctuahty. I have not wearied the Home ofl&ce with much despatches. My sleep is infantine & my appetite wolfish. I am satisfied with my administration "of this arduous and deUcate post." I beHeve that is the regular shriek of the radical journals in aUuding to the Vienna Mission. JOHN HAY AT VIENNA 179 You and Mr. Adams worked while you were in harness. I am not sure but that a serious man could always find work in those two missions. But equally sure am I that no two other American diplomats can catch each other's eyes without mutual guffaws, unless they have a power of facial muscle that would put the Roman augurs to shame. Just let me get into Congress once and take a shy at the Diplomatic appropriation bOl! I am very glad I came. Vienna is worth while for a year. It is curious and iastructive to see this people starting off on the awkward walk of political babyhood. They know what they want and I beUeve they will get it. The aristocracy are furious and the Kaiser a Uttle bewildered at every new triumph of the democratic and Uberal principle. But I don't think they can stop the machine now — though they may get their fingers mashed in the cogs. I don't think the world ever seemed getting ahead so positively and quietly before. Two years ago — it was another Eiu'ope. England has come abreast of Bright. Austria is governed by forty-eighters. Bismarck is becoming appalled by the spirit of freedom that he suckled with the blood of Sadowa. France stiU Ues in her comatose slumber — but she talks in her sleep and murmurs the Marseillaise. And God has made her ruler blind dnmk that his Helot-antics may disgust the world with despotism. If ever, in my green and salad days, I some- times vaguely doubted, I am safe now. I am a Republican tiU I die. When we get to Heaven, we can try a monarchy, perhaps. I suppose Mr. Motley wiU be restored as soon as Mr. Wade gets in the White House. I will resign at once thereafter and come home — after a few weeks in Switzerland and the Kingdom of Great Britain. This is confidential as yet. I do not want to set a swarm of amiable noodles upon the State Department. You once spoke of the correspondence between S. & M.^ about the Paris Legation business. There is none on the books here but what was published. He might have written private letters, also. I am very sincerely yours If you take the trouble to answer this, please tell me what you have been doing. I have heard a work about Franklin mentioned but have not seen it advertised. Why don't you write a history of American Diplomacy? 'Seward and Motley. 180 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE JAMES PARTON TO BIGELOW New York, 303 E. i8th St. May 10, 1868. My dear Sir: I return Sir Henry Bulwer's letter which, of course, I read with the gratification with which we usually read our own praises. I was not aware that the Motley volume^ to which he refers had ever made its way to Paris: I send also a short list of books re- lating to Daniel Webster. Mr. Everett's Life of him and Web- ster's Private Correspondence wiU suffice for the purpose in- tended. You have rendered valuable service in restoring Franklin. Only yesterday, I had occasion to quote a sentence from the beer passage of his London life and f oimd that his fool of a grandson or somebody else, had put "drinking" beer, for "guzzling" beer. Heavens! What must be that man's imbeciUty who can prefer drinking to guzzling in such a passage. It is as bad as striking out "old Put" from General Washington's correspondence, and sub- stituting " General Putnam. " I hope you are enjoying these beautifxil Spring days. Very respectfully HENRY MOREAU TO BIGELOW Paris, le vendredi, 17 mai, 1868. Mon cher ami: Je vous suis bien recormaissant d'avoir pense a moi au retour de votre grande excursion dans le Sud, et je compte surtout sur votre promesse de me commimiquer prochainement vos impressions sur la situation d'un pays qui a tant soufEert de la guerre civile, puis du malgouvemement de M. Johnson. Ici tous les lib6raux sont d'instinct pour le Congres. Je dis d'instinct parce que nous ^Memoir of John Lothrop Motley by O. W. Holmes. GOVERNMENT OF NAPOLEON III 181 ne pouvons pas avoir la pretention de juger vos affaires que nous ne connaissons pas, mais nous sommes si peu habitues k voir une assemblee parlementaire imposer le respect de ses droits au pou- voir ex6cutif , et nous sommes si convaincus que cette proportion de I'ex^cutif est fatale d nos intlrSts que nous applaudissons des deux mains quand nous voyons ailleurs la representation nation- ale revendiquer I'autorite qui lui est due. Nous en sommes id au m6me point. Le gouvemement per- sonnel de I'Empereur est toujours la cl6 de voftte de notre systdme constitutionnel et comme tout va mal, tout est imput6 au gouv- emement. Le commerce souffre et attribue la responsabilite de ses souffrances au pouvoir qui a regl6 k sa guise et sans consulter le pays les tarifs de nos douanes. Les institutions de credit s'effrondent, le public qu'elles ont ruin6 s'en prend a I'Empereur qui a 6rig6 M. M. Pereire et Michel Chevalier en institutions imp6riales. Quand k la politique Itrangere les consequences des fautes des demieres ann6es accentuees chaque jour par Sadowa, nous im- pose des armements et des depenses qui mecontentent les gens les plus pacifiques k I'interieiu:. Les plaies de l'exp6ditions du Mexique ne sont pas encore cicatrisfies et il n'est pas jusqu'au succes des Anglais en Abyssinie qui ne presente un contraste penible et blessant. Cependant la machine fonctionne encore et quoique tout le monde voie qu'eUe se dStraque, il est impossible de prevoir la catastrophe qui terminera tout et cependant chacxm en pressent rimminence. Dans la discussion qui s'est €i.ev6e au S6nat a propos de la loi sur la presse im grand nombre de sena- teurs sont venus naivement exposer leurs inquietudes pour le maintien des institutions imperiales auxqueUes Us se sentent attaches par leur dotation de 30,000 francs. Je serai tres heixreux de recevoir votre edition des maximes de Franklin, et je me ferai vm v6ritable plaisir de faire connaltre votre Etude sur Franklin aux lecteurs du Correspondant, qui profite de la Liberie de la Presse pour paraitre deux fois par mois, et je puis vous assurer que votre envoi fera 6galement le plus grand plaisir k MM. Berryer et de Montalembert qui ont tous deux gard6 de vous le meUleur souvenir. Je vais d'ici a quelques jours conduire mes pauvres enfants k Vitry ou il y a trois ans vous nous trouviez tous joyeux. Dieu a ordonne que ce bonheur eIn the case of E. B. Ketchum, a young man of the firm of Ketchum, Son and Co. bankers of New York — who was convicted by confession, on the 30th of December, 1865, of forgery in the third degree and sentenced to imprisonment for 4 years and 6 months. His embezzlement amounted to himdreds of thousands of dollars and affected many leading banking houses. He applied to Governor Fenton for a pardon. The Governor refused it on what would now seem to be sufficient grounds to satisfy any good citizen. Writing on the subject, March 9, 1868, to Parke Godwin, editor of the Evening Post, he said: " . . There are many circumstances coimected with the case which would make it agreeable to me to grant the application, if I could do so consistently with a sense of public duty . . . the recommendations come from soiurces which entitle them to full faith, but they rest on grounds which do not seem to justify a pardon. The fact of guilt is conceded. The crime was of the gravest character. It was one of a series of offenses of a similar nature. It was committed with deliberation. Nothing has since transpired which changes its character. Therefore, in my judgment, the case is not one in which 1 can properly remit the sentence. ..." Ketchum served his time, which by good be- havior as a prisoner, he abridged to 3 years, 10 months, and 14 days {.Rec. of Convictions, Ct. 0} Gen. Sess., N. Y. Co., N. Y.; N. Y. Times, March 30, 1868; lb. July i, and Nov. 16, 1869). GRANT'S CANDIDACY 197 BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON Washington, July 20, 1868. My dear Huntington: I wish you to send me at your earliest convenience all of K6ratry's publications about Mexico, which appeared originally in the Rexiie Contemporaine. They have been since republished in Belgium, I believe, one with an introduction by Paradol, Ele- vation et Chute de Maximilien. This Seward lent me. He was charmed with it and asked me to write a history of the foreign relations of the U. S. during the War. I do not propose to accept his invitation, but I shall not willingly die without leaving my children some accoimt of the part I had in it, and therefore, I want everything that is pubhshed in Paris that discusses what I did. I have been spending a couple of weeks here in Washington. The Senate has refused to admit Thomas, senator elect from Maryland, to a seat in their body because he would vote with the Democrats. They assign other reasons which, however, were not the effective ones. Their decision woidd not be so bad, if it were always siure to operate in favor of our friends. Genl. Sherman declines to join in the dance with Johnson, Grant & Stanton. A letter was received to-day at the War Department — it has not yet transpired beyond a confidential circle — in which Sherman declines the honor of Brevet General; refuses to make his head- quarters at Washington, even mider the penalty of resigning his commission. He is willing to make his headquarters in N. Y. but not in Washington. Grant is numing night and day for the Presidency. He may be seen everywhere in Washington where there is gaiety, sandwiched between his vigilant wife and another lady of his family, arm in arm, or as the sailors say "wing & wing," sailing into the room and distributing his patient endurance among the guests with an impartialty bordering on indifference. I am sorry to say that his undisguised desire to be President has stripped him of one of his greatest charms as a pubUc man ; I fear too of his prin- cipal strength as a candidate. He has kiUed Chase however. The RepubUcans see that even with Grant they will have no strength to spare. Seward does not think of going to England, 198 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE nor does he mean to leave the Cabinet to be replaced by Jerry Black or any Skaliwag of that character. He thinks there will be a reaction against the poKcy of the Radicals towards the South and he is willing to wait for it ia the Easy Chair of the State Department. Sumner has bought a nice house in Washington in which he keeps bachelor haU. ... I received an invitation to-day to dine with the President. It was addressed to me on the envelope, "Hon. John Bigelow En mile." Which I beg to remain Your very sincere friend. [P. 5.] Bryant has translated one third of the lUad & means to finish it. Isn't he game to the last? It will be a satisfaction to compel the unlettered English of the world to read Homer in an American translation, which he wiU do. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Squirrels, July 30th, 1868. My dear Friend: I never felt so much like tweaking my own nose, or spanking my own self, or punching my own head, or damning my own eyes, as I did this morning on taking up Keratry's U Elevation et la Chute de Maximilien, which I had not before had a chance to look into, and finding snugly concealed between its leaves your deUghtful note of the loth of March. I repeat "delightful" for it is no ordinary letter that will keep fresh as new nearly five months, and two of those summer months at that. Henceforth I shall explore books that come from you before I put them aside for that "convenient opportunity" that frequently is so long in coming. I received your Duvernois^ last week and have read it with infinite pleasure. It is one of the few books about Mexico that would bear translation, for it is artistically writ and as interesting as a romance. I doubt if your collection of French pamphlets would be generally new to me. I have a great number, but if you will send me "La Cour de Rome et I'Empereur Maximilien"^ pub- ^L'lntervention frangaise au Mexique . . . with a preface by C16ment Duvemois , ''Anonymous. LEASE OF CONSULATE 199 lished by Amyot, I will be obliged to you. I see by a telegraph to-day that the Court has decided against us in the smt against Arman, on the ground among others, that there was no evidence that the steamers were built for the Confederates. ' Our counsel had in his hands an autograph letter from Arman stating that the vessels were to be built for the Confederates. I do not imderstand this. Some months ago our consul at Paris wrote to me that he was required to quit his quarters in the Rue Richelieu and asking a power from me to collect for his own account the dommages-interet to result from his derangement. I wrote him that when I left the consulate I asked him to take my lease off my hands — it had some ten years to nm — with aU the privileges of indemnity from the city thereimto appertaining. He decHned accepting the privileges with the responsibilities; which he had a right to do, & I therefore remained his landlord quo ad Uable at any quarter to have the apartment thrown upon my hands whenever he could find more acceptable accommodations. In reply to his appHcation I wrote to him the substance of the above, and then proposed that we should divide the indemnity, whatever it might be, equally between us, he taking half for the trouble he might have in collecting, &c. He sent me a reply that was not a model of logic or good sense, and said he would coUect what he could & give me my share when he saw me. I do not understand this way of doing things, and yet it has its aspects of interest to me. If you see Woods {colocataire of the Consul) I wish you would ask him where my claim ought to be lodged, and learn anything else upon the subject which he can communicate of interest to me in the premises. I propose to leave the matter with Nicolay as he has arranged, but I would like to be advised from time to time of the progress of things, providing I can be, without giving my friends trouble.^ Have you read Bulwer's sketches of historic characters?^ II en vaut Men la peine. Especially his sketch of Talleyrand. The Tauchnitz edition is the most acciurate. The Democrats could not afford to nominate an imequivocal Union man for President. That woxild have implied a censure upon the great body of their party and have put the noses of all 'In due time Nicolay sent me what he supposed to be my share. How much he received I never knew, nor cared to know. historical Characters: Talleyrand, Mackintosh, Cobbett, Canning, by Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer. 200 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE their leaders out of joint forever. These gentlemen preferred to be leaders in a defeated party than proscribed in a victorious one, which is as natiural as laughing. So they nominated Seymour, as I think I told you they would so long ago as last February from Washington. If I did not,, I did not do as weU by you as by some of my friends. My impression now is that Seymoxu: wiU have a smaller electoral vote than MacClellan had. Grant can do nothing for himself, but Seymour and his men rarely open their mouths that they do not strengthen Grant's hands. Bancroft is for Grant. So are most of the Cabinet, I beUeve, though as yet it is not certain which way the influence of the administration is to be exerted. You wiU have read in the papers of a project among some of our N. Y. newspaper savants to throw the French Academy into the shade. They propose to organize a National Institute of Arts, Sciences, & Literature &c. They begin by making everybody a member who can read and write & cjTpher or in any other way pro- mote the interests of Uterature. They repudiate the aristocratic pohcy of the French Institute, "select though few," and intend to make up in quantity what in this emporium of commerce we lack in quality. I regretted that I could not attend the meet- ing which they held the other night, that I might have seen whether there was any disposition to form an organization that would amotmt to any thing, if they were told how to do it. If they would raise a fimd and give to every member a pension or pay sufi&cient to let him be in a measure master of his time, and then choose only men who have won their spurs in some sphere of intellectual combat, they might organize a literary tribimal in the country which some day would come to something, but in the way they are going on, membership ensures neither honor nor profit. They propose to make me a member of the department of "Laws & PoHtical Economy." I trust! have said nothing of their plans calculated to depreciate the compliment. Yours &c. FRENCH IMPERIALISM 201 huntington to bigelow Haussmann's Corners, 42 Rue de Labruyere, 5 Aug., 1868. Dear Mr. Bigelow: M. Paradol has not yet sent in his Nouvelle France, probably because he is out of town, as pretty much every one who can go is out of town. We have never had, in my Paris time, such a hot season. Straightway the book comes I will forward it, after perusal of the parts of it not yet read. The preface, the closing chapter, and some other passages I have aheady read, extracted in newspapers, and by peeking among the imcut leaves for an hour at Legras.' It is the gravest discussion of L. N.'s constitution in French print — for that is just what it is, a discussion of what the Senatus Consult declared indiscutable. A year ago, cer- tainly two years ago, it would have been seized. But since then, and especially since the passage of the new press bill, a very much greater Ucense is allowed. Thus, if you see the city papers, you will have noted that latterly they indulged with impxmity in comments on the doings and sayings of the Legislature greatly freer than such as ten of them were prosecuted and condemned for, at the commencement of this session. I sent you two nimibers of the Moniteur containing the last Mexican debate. If you read it, you noticed that Favre cited K&atry as authority, and that Rouher, in reply, tossed aside that writer with supercilious contempt a,s"un monsieur. " Thereupon K6ratry addressed a letter to Rouher through the Journal de Paris that nms nearly as follows: " I owe you respect as Minister, which does not relieve you from the obligations of ordinary civility. I care as little for yoiur disdain as I cared for your severity. I pub- lished a series of articles on the Mexican expedition which you did not dare refute nor prosecute because I had on my side the truth and its written proofs. Guarantee me full liberty of the pen, and I win tell the nation yet other truths which I know and they ought to learn, respecting the expedition. " It is said now that Keratry has made a formal application for a guarantee from Ministers. He wUl give us queer reading, if he gets it. Meantime there is in the last niunber of Le Correspon- RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE dant a long article, the first of a promised series, on the last months of the Mexican Empire. It is written by Charles d'Hericault' who was MaximiHan's "Confidential political correspondent at Paris. " He mainly treats of the time and its events between the departure of the French troops and the execution of Maximilian. He is not complimentary to the U. States and, of course, makes out the best story he can for MaximiHan, but seems to be inten- tionally honest, and is evidently able to contribute some new matter towards the history of that tangledest of all modem affairs, the Franco-Mexican business. . . . Mr. de Senarmont acknowledges receipt of his copy of Franklin by a note where he says: "Pray give Mr. Bigelow my best thanks for his kind remembrance. As to the question you ask me, I believe your memory is quite faithfvil. My French Manuscript was written by Mr. Veillard, who translated himself his friend's M6moires, but I do not remember if his translation is the same that was printed by Renouard, and not being in Paris, I cannot now ascertain the fact. " He writes from St. Germain. I don't think M. de S. knows much about the Franklin business. I left a note with your book at his door in which I asked him if I rightly remembered his telling me in the time, that the handsome French MS. which he showed me was in Veillard's handwriting and the original of Renouard's edition. Was it not this edition that Mr. de S. meant to refer to, and not the Gibelin-Bvdsson one? See your note page 31. By the way: it is perfectly plain to you that Sam. Rormlly was in a mull when he wrote " There are only two copies — this and one which Dr. F. took with a machine. " Of course there were at least three copies: 1° yours primary original; 2° clean revised copy; 3° reproduction of this last by mechanical process, which was first sent to Veillard and then exchanged for no. I. (No. 2, according to my theory is the Price- Vaughan- GibeUn-Buisson copy; which W. T. F., if not an ass, would have bought out of Buisson's hands, as Buisson tried to buy No. i out of Veillard's hands: — I don't mean that the Buisson-Gibelin was the identical No. 2, but was a transcript of No. 2's first part.) AH this is perfectly clear to you, but it do seem to me that you don't make it quite so clear to the reader, whom you leave a little ex- posed to the infection of Sam RorniUy's muU. All of which is respectfully submitted in view of the many future editions. Don't think that I am not very much interested in what you say 'Charles- Joseph de Ricault, known also as d'H6ricault. THE FRANKLIN MANUSCRIPT 203 from time to time about the political situation at home, and not really thankful to you for the pains you take in saying it. Only I can't reply in kind. I am more of a Grant man than I was, sim- ply because Chase seems to prove less of a man than he seemed. Can you tell me in your next how far we are going in the way of repudiation? . . . Am glad that you are an LL. D., if that entertains you. I was once Captain of the Norwich Up Town Fire Engine Company, but have long since omitted afl&xing the title to my name. The machine could not hold its water, but that is neither here nor there. . . . Yours faithfully BECKWITH TO BIGELOW Newport, R. I., 9th Augt., 1868. Dear Bigelow: Your reckoning in a fog is as likely to be right as anybody's & I beg you to give me the poHtical latitude and longitude. I em- barked with a notion that to obtain legislative reform it might be necessary to vote for Chase, & landed to find Sejonour on the plat- form which upset my speculations. The leaders of both parties are demoralized to the point of bidding against each other for repudiation, & I don't see clearly where we are to look for reform. Sherman's bill showed the taint of the Senate, & the Conference bill shows the rottenness of both houses. They fish for votes with poisoned bait. The principle of the permissive or negative bill they offered, put affirmatively, they would not dare to vote for, but they do not hesitate to encourage dishonesty by an ap- parent willingness to evade pajonent of the pubUc debt by a method which they know to be delusive & impossible. Is there any mode of reform but by bringing in rebels enough of the worst stamp to make repudiation odious & shame the repubU- can leaders into better ways? When water fails, fire is the best method of fighting fire. Would not the sweeping method of the Wade Hampton rebels put out or cure the slow consumption of Stevens-Butler? What are your plans for the summer? Are you likely to come 204 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE this way? I have been fishing for a week at Naushon & am now here for six weeks — off & on. Has Seward struck a bargain with Grant, or what is he going to do? Where are we? . . . Very truly yours BECKWITH TO BIGELOW Newport, 13th Augt., 1868. Private Dear Bigelow: Some of my friends are talking to me about taking charge of a big railway — but I know nothing about that business in particu- lar & what I perceive is that they want to get somebody with an iron hand to regulate and manage & organize & turn out rogues & stop plunder & fraud, and introduce order & prosperity — which is hard work. But it has been my fortvuie always to clean out Augean stables & combat rogues & fools, & I am tired of it. I do not intend to imdertake such another job & refuse flat. If it were a quiet berth with some occupation & not too much work, I might be tempted; but I have fought the battle of life for 60 years & am weary of contention. Therefore, if it were not for my children, I would return to my books & reflections in a more genial climate & in reach of comforts & always near the great centres of thought, which save a fellow so much trouble of thinking! As to country — it is rather a vulgar notion that locaUty of residence has anything to do with it. The globe is but a nutshell an)rway, and a man of my experience is always at home in his own country — because it goes with him. It is made up of memories, preferences, sympathies, feelings &c. — which live inside of you; and with the currents of circulation which centre in Paris for example, you may be really more at home, that is more in America than you can be at Newport where all is dull & slow. Did you find anybody on your return better informed of things in general, which is all you wished to know, than you were yourself? I say that nowadays any man of cultivation, who no longer need hold the plough, can take his country with him wherever he chooses to go. It is only dull minds that depend on locaUties & think there AMERICAN LIFE ABROAD 205 is virtue in one spot of earth over another spot of earth. You may indulge your preferences for country & institutions & people, & contemplate the growth of the great RepubUc as well outside as inside of it. What is the difference? Now are you disposed to gossip also? What are your plans? With your active mind & habits as to fancying yourself happy & contented in the coimtry — I can't imagine it. I don't think it possible. It is necessary to be in the whirl — it makes Ufe longer — the rapid succession of emotions which make life don't come in the solitudes of sea or land. The spirit of man is gregarious — on earth & in Heaven. I stiU count on seeing you here in Septem- ber and hope I shall not be absent exploring. Write me when you are coming. I am as uneasy as a fish, for the first time in my Hfe, & don't like the feeling. My people have gone to something they call "a Yacht Race," — some white sails flapping lazily — too tedious to look at, & some rowdy gents to guide them. With best regards to Mrs. Bigelow & your family, beUeve me Very truly yours HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW Haussmann's Centre, 20 Aug., 1868. My dear Doctor: Let me begin by thanking you for the recommendation to Bulwer's book and note of its pubHcation in the Tauchnitz. Straightway I bought it and have read Talleyrand, very gladly, getting not only more of an idea but a something better idea of that old fox than I was before possessed of. Sir H. B. is less of a hterary artist than I had supposed. His translations are not good and he Gallicises like a newspaper writer. But he seems to be impartial in his judgment, though with an evident liking for the poUtic man; indeed, to use one of his favorite words, he makes a stronger defense for his client in this manner than if he had spiced it more strongly. ... By the way I notice in looking at the titles of the other Essays in the book, that there "the Honest Man" is wanting. Does it mean that he is not an "historical character," or that Sir Henry never met one? I should not pre- sume to dispute Sir H. B. on a point of fact in Talley's history, but 206 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE can't help thinking that he lets the uninformed reader infer for T. Perigord a quite too important rdle among the authors of the grand educational system or scheme of national instruction of which the Institute was the crowning. AYhat makes me think so is the recent reading of an impretentious volume entitled Le Vandalisme de la Revolution, or something like that. I have given away my copy and cannot nicely recall its title, which, as you may guess, is to be "took sarcastical. " It is a calmly expressed, pretty full, and very clear statement of what the revolution — the convention mostly — did for Uterature, science, the arts, and popular education. I have never read anything that gave so high an idea of that remarkable assembly — steadily, laboriously for years studying and shaping out to final completeness a system of instruction embracing in its harmonious proportions everything from A. B. C. to transcendental mathematics and speculative philosophy — "nor steel nor poison, MaUce domestic, foreign levy, nothing" of all the distractions of a world tumbling about their ears arrest- ing their continuous work at this part of the reconstruction of a new and firmer one. By '93 or '94 they had devised and so far as possible had arranged for the putting to practice of a scheme of Common School instruction, quite equal on the whole, to say the least of it, to anything you have in the Northern United States to-day. . . . I seiid with this " La Cour de Rome, " etc. , as you desire, and add Jecker's response to Keratry, which, I am told by those who have read it, is not a very satisfactory document. . . . Yours truly W. H. HtTNTINGTON. L. L. D. BiGELOW. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Squirrels, Sept. 11, 1868. My dear Huntington: I wish I had you here to-day to smoke a cigar with me in my new library. I have just finished an addition to my old house, BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON 207 36 X 18 feet, the first floor of which is consecrated to books. I thought it was large enough, but did not realize until I came to arrange my books in it, into what extravagance & foUy your cor- rupting society in Paris had betrayed me. I have barely place for half of my books in this room. I thought to have resigned to Mrs. B. two or three rooms that were walled with books, but find I cannot yield her an inch nor even shelve my Congressional Ubrary, which I have been compelled to pile up in the garret. But I have my French books all xmder my eye and that is a com- fort I have never enjoyed before. I share aU youj impressions, I believe, about Bulwer's book, and yet I enjoyed it and am grateful to him for writing it. We have very few more careful studies of any prominent statesman in our language, and it required a poHtical man like Bulwer to do a man like TaUejrand. Grant is to be the next President, I think. The Democrats have foolishly put the origins and the ends of the late war in issue, and upon that point the country is I am happy to say tolerably unanimous. At their convention they were divided, a part inclining to try their chances of winning Repubhcan votes by taking a RepubUcan candidate, and a part inclining to rely upon Southern and disaffected votes. The latter carried the day and the same issue is now presented practically as it was presented in 1864, and I think it will be foUowed by similar results. The selection of Seymour by the Democrats left Chase in a very morti- fying position, from which he will hardly recover. If Grant is elected and he makes an entirely new cabinet, Sumner wiU probably be Secretary of State imless he prefers to remain in the Senate; which he does not, I think. I see a very strong certificate of good character was given him by the Mas- sachusetts Convention, which looks as if he was looking for another roost. The resolutions covered rather too much groimd for the simple purpose of naming him for reelection. Grant & CoLfax have not yet returned from the dark places into which they took refuge immediately after the nomination. It is supposed they will return in time for their iaauguration, if elected. In looking over an old Analectic Magazine the other day I saw this statement: "Wm. Temple Franklin, in reply to the charge that he had been bribed by an emissary of the Enghsh govern- ment to suppress the publication of his grandfather's works, wrote 208 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE a letter to the Editor of the Argus (an EngHsh newspaper pub- lished in Paris), dated March i8, 1807, in which he said that the Doctor did not direct him to pubUsh his entire Works, but left the matter to his own discretion; that he never sold any part of the MS. to the British government, nor were any attempts made, directly or indirectly, to cause him to do so. Did you ever hear of such a paper in Paris as the Argus, and wiU it ever fall in your way to inquire at the Imperial Hbrary or any other, likely to have preserved a file; and if so, to procvire for me a copy of that docu- ment? If it should, you would do me a service for which I would endeavour to be suitably reconnaissant. Yours sincerely BECKWITH TO BIGELOW [Newport, Sept. 12, 1868.] Dear Bigelow: Judging from your remarks on manners and morals I should think you had been among the gentry of Newport. The sons of men who in my day worked so hard from morning to night, came down so early & went home so late that they never could have seen the color of their children's hair by daylight — the sons of these worthy sires are now a drinking, gambling set of ignorant 6 ill-mannered feUows. There must be something profoundly wrong in society which produces these results and no others. The idea of educated and weU bred yoimg women marrying such maudlin, mannerless wretches is repulsive va. the highest degree. I always preferred a rattlesnake to a goat, but would prefer either to a mixture of mint jvdep & segars at 10 o'clock in the morning and cards in the afternoon. My only object in going to N. Y. or rather in thinking of it is to start my sons, but I never had had greater misgivings & doubts about the best thing to do. Your remarks on politics remind me — BurHngame dropped in upon me the other night at 10 p. M. We talked tiQ 2 A. M., recom- menced at 6 — & never stopped till the boat left the wharf at 7 p. M. He began by saying, "I have sent on my Chinese to N. Y., from whence we sail on the 9th, and I have but 24 hours to spare. I have already told you in my letters that I owe to you the education you gave me for three months in Paris when I was ANSON BURLINGAME 209 profoundly ignorant of the East. I fovind all you told me true, & in fact as you know, I have done nothing but carry out your ideas, the rfesult of which is I am now here. I have done something, the past is secure, but how about the future? Nothing is finished & England, as you told me she would, is rising up against me. Now I want your help again. I will tell you the exact state of things with me: you know the situation in Europe, & when you see just what there is to be done wiU see also how to go about it. Let us make a programme, & be assured it will be fol- lowed." We then set about it — I with a good wiU because I know the importance of the work, in a higher sense, and I know the great & lasting results it wiU have, better than any one who has not had the same opportimity & time for studying the subject. If I could choose, and with a view of doing something good in the world & for reputation growing with the good results, — I would take his mission in preference to any other in the world. (But talking is of no use, so little does our side of the world know of the other side.) When we had finished this business, I said, "And now, teU me something about Washington, Seward, & the rest." He [Burlingame] replied, "I can teU you aU about it; my isolated position, old acquaintance & political habits made me useful, but I must tell you in confidence a good part of it. " I can't go much into this nor is it of consequence. The upshot is, however, that he negotiated a reconciliation between Grant and the 7 senators, including Butler, to the extent that they were satisfied and wOlaJl take the field, satisfied that G. wiU not throw himself into the hands of any set of men, which is aU they demand. The only pledge he makes to anybody is, "I take for guide the laws & the Constitution; the idea of my being guided by certain men or any men is simply preposterous, this you may rely on," and again, "Yes, there is one man from whom I once received a favor, I acknowledge it; & though he may remind me of it so often and presimie upon it so much as at last to make me hate him, he will not make me forget myself. " This is about all any of them can get out of him ; they must take him largely on trust. The last fini^ was given here, & G.'s agent left for Galena the next morning. He was to have come to my house the next day, but sent me a note to say he had a telegraph from G. to come chop 210 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE chop, & he left immediately. I see from all this pretty much how the land lays with the wire workers. As to Seward — they say or seem to say, "he is old, he has exercised enormous power for so long a time that it has had its effect; he is difl&cult to approach, is absolute, rough, and unman- ageable — & it is probable they can do without him." "This mountain is not likely to come to Mahomet nor will Mahomet go to the mountain." This is all the gossip I have for you this morning. I am going this evening to New York for a few days to see how things look. My story agrees pretty weU with yours. Yoiurs truly On the 2ist of September, 1868, I received a letter from Mr. Seward, dated the 9th instant, in reply to one I had sent with a copy of the Paris Figaro containing revelations of indiscretions said to have been committed by Maximilian (the late Emperor of Mexico) during his visit to Brazil, to which the writer traces the acceptance of the crown of Mexico, and as a consequence the tragedy of Quer6taro. I had said to Mr. Seward in sending him this paper, that it confirmed me in a theory I had sometimes indulged that one fact, like each link in a chain, is just as impor- tant as another; in other words, the strength of a chain is to be measured by its weakest link; and that tracing the tragedy of Queretaro in '67 back to the embraces of a prostitute in Rio in i860 was the obverse of Shakespeare's " Imperial Caesar, dead and turned to clay. Might stop a hole to keep the wind away. " To this I received from Mr. Seward a letter asking if what I had written did not mean fataUsm. "Think a moment," he said, "of a corollary that must be equally true if the theory be true. " If it be so in the order of Providence, that one incident in the life of any man or any nation is of no more importance than another, must it not be equally true that in the order of Provi- dence one incident in the life of any man or any nation, any ani- mal or any thing, has no less influence upon the whole course of terrestrial events than any other? What is this but fataUty, unreUeved by any measure of freedom of the wiU of any created being on earth?" RELATION OF EVENTS 211 He added: "Confidentially, the President is pleased with the success of his administration in the affairs of French intervention in Mexico. He feels with more sensibility than I do some partisan pubhcations which are inspired by zeal in the support of the Republican candidate for the Presidency and which contend that the merit of that success is due to the activity and efficiency of the chief Republican candidate. He desires me to vindicate what he is pleased to think is my own right in the matter. I have become, if I was not always, absolutely insensible and reckless in regard to partisan or even popular injustice. My insensibility, however, is no reason why he or any other of my associates should acquiesce in injustice done to them. "How would it suit your convenience to spend a week or two with me here in refreshing your memory by looking over the documents and preparing a true statement of the case. You your- self have a great personal interest in the matter. Please teU me. "Faithfully yours" To this letter I sent the following reply: The Squirrels, September 14, 1868. Dear Mr. Seward: I am detained at home a few days by some guests, but as soon as possible after they leave, the first of next week perhaps, xmless I hear that you are absent from Washington, I will run on for a day or two and talk over the matter referred to in the concluding paragraph of your letter. In regard to my "theory," though I by no means propose to make myself its champion against all comers, I am tempted to respond to your corollary in kind. If a man were permitted to do any act that exerted an influence upon another, the man thus influenced would to the extent of such influence cease to be a free agent. Again, if one act is of more importance than another, neither could be of divine origin, for we can conceive of no difference or degree in the importance of any act of divine origin. But as all power to act comes directly from God, there can be no difference 212 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE of degree in the importance of any acts of which man is the definite instrument. Or agaia, all of any act that a man can call his own is the choice of the motive, whether good or evil, with which he does it. Non quod sed quemadmodum feras interest, as Seneca has put it in his Providentia. The power to give that motive expression in act comes directly from God. If any man had the power of himself to perform an act, he would be of himself a source of power, that is, a god, and two gods (omniscient and omnipresent) are im- possible. Or again, as a man can only be accountable for the motives of his acts, nothing he can do or that others may do to him can limit his freedom in the choice of the motives from which he is to act. If they could, his accoimtabiUty would be diminished in the same proportion, and that way fatalism lies. But if a man can do nothing himself nor another do anything to him to impair his freedom to choose between good and evU, it necessarily foUows that what a man does in this life has no influence upon any one but himself, and therefore his acts sepa- rated from the motives which animated them, are of no impor- tance to any, or what is the same thing, of equal importance to all. Though I have thus I trust satisfactorily proved to you that what I may do can have no influence upon anyone but myself, I have great pleasure in assuring you that I am always Very sincerely your friend and servant, In reply to this I received the following: Department of State, Washington, September 17, '68. My dear Mr. Bigelow: Very well. I shall hope to see you next week. Till then we will adjourn our debate, which turns out as I supposed, to be the same and only one which preplexed the first and only tenants of Paradise. Very truly yours RELATION OF EVENTS 218 PKEVOST-PARADOL TO BIGELOW Paris, Sept. 17, 1868. My dear Friend: I hope my book^ has reached you and I shall be delighted to have your judgment about it. I think, you have heard the unex- pected success it had here, where six or seven thousand of it were sold in five weeks. I hope that the result of that extensive read- ing will be useful for the good cause, but I know I have nothing to reap from it for myself as a candidate in our future general elec- tions. Our French demos does not read anything and obeys either the Prefects or the Demagogues, ho\h. of whom honour me with their cordial hatred. My dear friend, we are drifting to war very speedily and I wonder if it can be deferred till next spring. If however peace would last one year more, I think our govern- ment would then be on the verge of its fall, but war will come even if our master shrinks from it, which I doubt. You are well, I hope and surrounded with a prosperous family. My wife is always very ill, but my children are well, and for myself, I hope to outlive the imperial system and I do not want more. Yours truly Poor feUow! His wish was not gratified, on the terms for which he stipulated; but the fall of the imperial system occurred much sooner than he had dared to expect. FROM MY DIARY September 22, 1868. On my way to Washington I read Kera- try's La Cour de Rome et VEmpereur Maximilien. It shows how education, rank, and refinement can give a certain dignity to a very silly proceeding, such as a man's attempting to rule an 'Zfl France Nouvelk. 214 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE empire in Mexico with one foot in Rome and the other in Paris. The Pope saw neither stability nor success in MaximiUan's project and wisely decHned to divide with him the ignominy of his failure. Maximilian felt the need of aid from Rome. He grew more importunate as his difficulties increased. In the same proportion Rome grew more deaf. Ebhitt House, Washington, Sept. 23. After breakfast went arotmd to see Mr. Seward, who was just sitting down to his. I sat with him; spoke of Dix's letter in favor of Grant in the morn- ing's paper. He said Dix would always be the same; asked me if I knew how he came to be sent to Paris. I repUed that I did not, except that he was thought the best man for the place, or some- thing of that sort. He said that he himself had been chosen to replace Dix in the Senate, and he had always felt it was hard upon Dix, who was the more worthy of the place. "Then he behaved so well during the war that I felt that I must improve any oppor- tunity for indemnifying him for the damage that he had sustained through me." I wish Mr. Seward had said that he had appointed Dix because he had been a faithful and able senator, and was besides an expe- rienced and patriotic statesman, which woxild have been but justice to Dix and not a confession that he had given an important office to satisfy a personal obUgation. I mentioned that Sam Bowles had been to see me on his return from his western trips with Colfax, who had been making up the cabinet for Grant — Sherman and Farragut for the army and navy, and Smnner for Secretary of State. "Vice-Presidents, " said Seward, "are at first like lovers. Gen- eral Taylor insisted upon having FiUmore attend the cabinet meetings, tiU he found out, as he did in a few months, that he was a traitor. Lincoln felt the same weakness for Hamlin at first, and the latter made up a cabinet for him which Lincoln insisted upon retaining, but which he (Seward) predicted could not last, as it did not. Grant would be very likely to have a s imil ar weakness for Colfax, but it could not last long. He dug Johnson out and had him made Governor first and afterwards Vice-President. Johnson has always recognized his obUgations. " After breakfast we rode up to the State Department. On the way he said the President was annoyed about an article in the Washington Daily Chronicle (edited by ForneyO covering an ij. W. Forney, for a niunber of years clerk of the House of Representatives. IN WASHINGTON 215 extract from a campaign life of Grant just published in Wash- ington to estabUsh Grant's character as a statesman by claim- ing for him the merit of having driven the French out of Mexico. The President is anxious to have this set right and thought I was perhaps the man to do it. He [Seward] said also that, if it suited my other Hterary plans, a history of the foreign relations of the United States for the last eight years would be an excellent work in the interest of my own reputation as well as the interest of the public. After a few questions on my part and an intimation that I could undertake nothing that would keep me in Washington or the United States during the coming winter, he proposed that I should go to see the President. I asked if he was prepared to see me. He said he was, and sent Donelson, his man/, down with me to see that I received prompt admission. I went, and in a few minutes was ushered into the President's presence. He wore an exhausted expression, though it was only ten o'clock. I have never see him without it. A brief conversa- tion revealed the fact that he wanted me to reply in the Intelli- gencer to Forney's article about Mexico in the Chronicle. I pointed out to him as gently as I could the foUy of attempting to make an issue of this kind in defense of him and Seward at a moment when the entire RepubUcan party would be sure to sustain any pretensions made in behalf of Grant, whether just or unjust. I said no one would vote against Grant or for him on account of anything that covild be said of his conduct on this subject, and that if I wrote an3rthing at this tmseasonable mo- ment I would not only not do him nor Seward any good, but would incapacitate myself for setting this matter right with the pubUc hereafter, when pubUc sentiment should have settled on its lees. After Grant has disposed of all his ofl&ces, I added, there will be less difl&culty perhaps in securing a friendly hearing for anything anybody may wish to say in correction of any error into which the pubhc might have been led by the indiscreet zeal of Grant's friends dviring the canvass. When I had made Mr. Johnson understand my views he gave me as clearly to understand that he had no use for me, by inquiring how soon I expected to return to New York. Before I had parted with Seward he had said he would expect me at his ofl&ce after I had seen the President. So back I went, but on my arrival I foimd that the President was already with him. 216 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE I did not tarry, as I was expected to join Seward again at dinner. In the evening I repaired to his residence and told him briefly the result of my visit to the President. He said, " Very well, no more of that" ; as the President had mentioned to him what I had said. He then told me that the President had been to see him, full of a story of two prominent RepubHcans engaged in '66 in running slaves into Cuba; this after Johnson had been accused by Sumner and others of conniving at similar irregularities^ Seward said he had told the President that he did not believe a word of these reports, for the informants gave neither time, place, name of party nor of slave. But the President, who can never bear to lose a pretext for a fight, went off not satisfied with his view. I could not help reflecting on the pitiful condition to which the ad- ministration was reduced. Representing more than any one the whole power of the coimtry, the President had not a press nor a speaker ^n it to rely upon for his defense even when he is in the right. While at dinner, Mr. Seward called my attention to the Presi- dent's speech to the Colombian Minister; sent for it and made me " read it aloud at table. In this speech Johnson spoke very strongly in favor of the Darien ship canal. Mr. Seward then spoke of an American policy which he desired to introduce between our Re- pubUc and the other American states. Chew came in after dinner and we played whist. Seward playing dummy, which is his favorite mode of playing whist. Whole playing he said he wished to show me some papers at the State Department about the Darien canal, and would like me to read them and help him make some public opinion about it for him in the press. I begged him laughingly to take any other shape than that. On leaving the dining room he showed me a picture hanging behind the door representing Stoeckl pointing out the boimdaries of Alaska on a globe, Seward seated, holding a chart in his lap, Chew bringing a draft of a treaty, and Simmer and Fred Seward sitting a httle aside talking it over. "Do you wish to know how that treaty was consummated?" said Mr. Seward. Of course I answered I did. "Then," he replied, " I must put you under oath. Before that money could be voted, two thousand doUars had to be given to Robert J. Walker, ten thousand to his partner, F. K. Stanton, ten thousand to two members of Congress, and twenty thousand to Forney, INSIDE HISTORY 217 who had lost forty thousand by the defalcation of his clerk. One thousand more were to have been given to poor Thad. Stevens, but no one would undertake to give that to him, so I vmdertook it myself. The poor fellow died, and T have it now. " This state- ment gave me much food for reflection on my way back to the hotel. I had been struck by the oracular manner in which Mr. Sumner, though known to be poUtically more or less hostile to Mr. Seward and opposed to the Alaska purchase itself, had stated in my hearing and in a mixed assembly, that the appropriation for the purchase of Alaska would be made the following day. He could only have said that, knowing that at least, some of these grafted gentlemen, whose lead the House was in the habit of following, were in favor of the ptxrchase. Though speaking so confidently of it, Sumner said nothing to indicate his own approval of the measure. Whether he learned how Thad. Stevens and Company were going to vote, from themselves or from Seward or from Stoeckl, are problems of great interest which are not likely ever to be solved. There was something too that seemed strange in the figures representing the amount to be paid to Russia. If it had been $7,500,000, or $8,000,000, it woiild have appeared more natiu^l because more casual; but it is difficult to unagine any basis for estimating the peculiar value of Alaska then, that would exceed $7,000,000 and stop at any intermediate figure before $7,500,000. The presumption is that Stoeckl was the lubricator of the appro- priation. Ebbitt House, September 24, 1868. Breakfasted with Seward. He read to me a paragraph from Forney's Chronicle about a discussion alleged to have occurred in the Cabinet about the candidates for President. Seward said, "There is not one word of truth in that, but," said he, "you wiU find a contradiction of it in the Baltimore Sun or in the Intelligencer. The President thinks everything must be contradicted that is untrue. He doesn't care much where, if he only gets it of record. He thinks the mischief is cured, and he is satisfied." He spoke also of a recent visit of Sanford E. Church with Dean Richmond^ to the President, to see if any help was to be expected >A public-spirited citizen of Bufialo with considerable influence over the Democratic party of New York State. 218 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE from that quarter for Seymour and Blair. ^ He said this in reply to a remark of mine, that I had heard that one of his colleagues gave it out that he, Seward, would vote for Seymour. Church had asked the President what Mr. Seward was going to do. The President reported this inquiry to Seward. Seward replied, "Why don't they ask me?" The President reported this to those gentlemen, and thereupon they called upon Seward. He told them, he said, that they [the Democrats] ought to have nominated Johnson and then he woxild have been compelled to support their candidate; that they might and probably would be defeated, but they would come out of the fight with their party in position. Failing of that they should have nominated Chase. "Though he is the most selfishly ambitious of all the politicians I ever knew, I would have supported him. Not only that, I did all I could to ensure his nomination. Now you have nominated a man or men whom I could not help elect if I would. I could take nobody with me to their support. " I then remarked that the leaders of the Democratic party were obUged in self defense to nominate Seymour or some other traitor because they had been traitors, and to nominate any loyal man like Chase on a loyal platform was to seal their own condemnation and to rule themselves out of school, or at least down to the foot of the class; that the Democrats had but one possible chance to make and save the party: that was Mr. Seward. He represented aU the issues that they coxild advantageously make with the Radicals and none which would weaken them with the people; and that but for the necessity of taking a candidate who would not raise the party standard of loyalty above their level, they would have taken him. He said, "Yes, that is what they ought to have done." In the course of the day following I called again at the State Department to take leave of Mr. Seward. I told him I was sorry to have disappointed the President's wishes or expectations. I said that the only object that could be assigned for going into the newspapers with the Mexican business would be to defeat Grant; that it would not change a vote, but would put it out of my power ever to say anything effectively for him [Seward], on that subject, even when the public might be in a more deliberative frame of mind; that I should never cease to feel grateful to him, but always disposed to do anything I could to befriend him. 'Democratic candidates against Grant and Colfax. W. H. SEWARD 219 Though I had not proposed to occupy myself in the way the President suggested, I was perfectly willing to discuss with him [Seward] the expediency of writing an account of the Mexican intervention, if he on deliberation thought it would give him any satisfaction to have me do it; but that as his friend, jealous of his fame and grateful for his kindness, I would not jdeld to the President's wishes to throw away whatever reserves I controlled for being useful to him now and hereafter. I then said in refer- ence to the present canvass, that I would exercise the privilege of a friend and of a citizen representing a very small fraction of pub- lic opinion, to counsel him to preserve the attitude of neutraKty which he had hitherto occupied before the public. If his party thought they could get along best without him, it was logically his privilege and perhaps his duty to let them do it; and when the time came to vote, that he should vote according to his inclination — and that could not be for Seymour — as quietly as possible. That as soon as his term of office expired and on the fifth of March — "The fourth," he interrupted — Very well, say the fourth — take your carpet bag and set out for Auburn. Then your career as a foreign minister is complete. The policy which under your auspices more especially led to the war, the policy with which it was conducted, and the poUcy with which you sought to heal its woimds, wiU have attained an epic completeness. The coun- try having chosen to inaugurate a new poHcy, to destroy in a measure the autonomy of the States which you were disposed to protect, you leave with your successors the responsibility for its preservation and the glory of it if successful. In retiring you dis- connect yourself from the President and from all responsibility for his measures. Your reputation wiU be enlarged like the genii in the tale of the Arabian Nights and fill the whole country, while your country will be possibly burning Sumner in effigy in the streets of Boston before the expiration of another year as a traitor to the negroes and to the RepubUcan party. Mr. Seward said: "I agree with all you say except upon one poiQt. My relations with the President as his first minister are personal as well as poUtical. I caimot vote for Grant without condemning the President's poUcy, which I advised. My busi- ness is here. I shall have important duties about election time which wiU make it scarce worth my while to imdertake a long journey to Auburn to exercise the elective franchise. Besides this, the Darien canal, the Alabama Claims and other matters 220 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE will require the aid of Democrats in Congress who have stood by me very faithfully for two years past. It is but just that I should not throw my sword into the scale against them. It is also I think for the interest of the country. I shall have time enough after the election to regulate my relations with the President to be elected. " I said I had no doubt he would act wisely on the election day. The only difl&culty I saw in the course he proposed to pursue was that he might be identified in the public mind with the President, who was supposed to desire the election of Seymour. "That, " he said, "is no such thing. He has done nothing and will do nothing to that end. " At 10.40 p. M. took train for New York. HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 42 Rue de Labruyere, 28 Sept. '68. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Having in the hurry with which my last letter closed omitted to say the Httle there was then to tell respecting your expropria- tion money, it seemed as well to wait tiU the result of the claim for an increase was known. You very probably know by this how favorable that result is. I only learned it the past week and reaUy had not time to write by the Friday's mail. The indemnity offered for the interruption of your lease in the Rue de Richelieu was 5,000 francs. Nicolay, so David told me at the time, put the care of a larger claim in the hands of M. Henry Moreau, and the jury has since allowed 15,000 francs. This is, I suppose, much less than would have been obtained had your tenant been carry- ing on any mercantile business. ... I have been to jail since my last — called the other day on my friend Cluseret^ at Ste- Pelagie — had a joUy time and picked up crvmibs with the jail birds — there were thirty-five of us in all at dinner; journalists, detenus politiques, their wives, children, and other Sunday visitors. Among these last was Reclus, who told me that owing to some "failure to connect" between Scribner & Sampson, Low & Co. of 'G. P. Cluseret, imprisoned for dilii de presse; had served in the Union army, 1862- 1863. LEASE OF CONSULATE 221 London, the translation edition of his book had fallen in the water. He also told me that he was near the completion of his second volvmie. . . . Did you see a paragraph in the N. Y. Messager Franco-Ameri- cain, which has been quoted into the journal des debats, saying as how letters of adhesion to Grant & Colfax have been received in America from nearly aU the diplomats on this continent holding their commissions from A. Johnson, Hay, Dix & Nicolay among the number? It is funny and cheering, but reaUy, it seems to me, inconvenant. And do you know that some of the French papers insist upon it as a fact that Mrs. Lincoln has been in Paris for two or three weeks and been entertained by Genl. Dix among others ? " The American Annual Register of Historical Memoirs of the United States for the year i'jg6. Philadelphia, printed and sold by Bioren and Madan, No. 77 Dock Street, January ig, 1797." There is the whole of the title page of an 8vo of 288 pages, di- vided into eleven chapters, treating mainly but not solely of the poUtical history of the year, observing the chronological order of events; written with a quite remarkably spirited style — with no intimation of writer's name, or indication by writer or bookseller that this vol. was preceded or was to be followed by others in other years. If you chance to know anything about it, please let on in your next. It reads almost like Cobbett, but is decidedly democratic, which he had not then got to be. Remarking that Washington's character has essentially suffered by absurd encomiums, ' The Saviour and father of his country, the man to whom we owe everything,' these are" he goes on to say, "expres- sions common in company. This is the language of ignorance bordering on idiotism. If the merit of the Revolution could be divided into ten thousand equal portions, it is rash to say that fifty of them would fall to the share of any single person." He continues then for a page to "distribute shares" among persons. "Something was owing to John Adams for his activity when ambassador in Holland, and much to Benjamin Franklin as Am- bassador in France. TTiomas Paine seems to have as large credit in the Revolution as perhaps any other man. " After these come the generals, as "Green,^ the Buonaparte of the Southern States" 'Greene. RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE and Gates. "Congress itself was the centrical instrument." But the great helper was France. Have not had great luck of late in bookhunting but still faith- fvilly wear out my shoes in pilgrimating along the quais. . . . Truly yours seward to bigelow Department of State, Washington, Sept. 30, 1868. My dear Mr. Bigelow: I have your letter which is without a date. My visit to New York must depend upon the appointment to be made for me, by gentlemen in the city, who take an interest in the Darien Ship- Canal. I shall be glad if it shall happen before the 6th or 7th of October. What you can write in favor of that project will be as usefully written after that interview as before. When it occiurs I shall be able to give you very interesting facts, which now could not be collected without an effort, for which the Department is unprepared. Very faithfully yours BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Squirrels, Sept. 30, 1868. My dear Friend: Bowles stopped to see me last week on his return from the Rocky Mts. whither he accompanied our next Vice-President and party. He says it is or was the idea of the wise men of his party and supposed to be Grant's, to take the oj0&cers of highest rank in the army & navy for ministers of War & Navy. Seward, whom I saw in Washington the other day, said that it was a necessity for the Republicans to take a military man for their candidate; but there will be the same necessity for Grant to take civil advisers, which seems reasonable. New England, that is the portion of it AGAINST WRITING UP GRANT 223 represented by Colfax & party, says that Sumner must be Secre- tary of State. Bowles says that Grant doesn't like S. much, but would be brought to it upon the ground that the extreme left must be represented in the Cabinet and that Simmer would fit that place better than any other radical would fit any place. They also put Morgan^ into the Treasury, but I happen to know that the latter gentleman if elected, as he doubtless will be, to the Senate for a second term, wiU be a very difficult horse to get into the treasury traces. I think a like disappointment will overtake all the Rocky Mountain combination. Seward will leave the Cabinet on the 4th of March & go travel for two years through the States to Spanish America and Oriental Asia. Such at least was his expectation a week ago. Beckwith has taken a furnished house in New York, $7,000 a year, and is so sick of the U. S. that if he did not love his children a Httle more than he hates Uncle Sam he would have been back in Paris before this. If he feels that way now, how wiU he feel after a winter in New York? Confidential. The President sent for me the other day to come and see him & Seward. He wanted me to stop Grant from plucking their Mexican laurels. I decUned to enter upon such a task pending the Presidential canvass. Such periods, I said, were not favorable to the striking of historical balances. I felt and feel Hke the old judge in the days of the Fronde who said if the government accused him of a design to steal and run away with the towers of Notre Dame, he would not think of stopping to defend himself but would run away a;s fast as he could. So if the RepubUcans were to claim that Grant wrote all Seward's dis- patches to me and all mine to Seward, or that he whipped Bur- gojoie at Saratoga and ComwaUis at Yorktown, the farthest I would think of going in the direction of dissent until after the offices are all disposed of imder the next administration would be to say that I did not know it before. You see I assume that Grant will be elected. The opposition already give it up pretty generally. If the October elections respond harmoniously to the vote in Maine, Seymour will only be kept in the field for the local elections. Have you met Genl. Nye in Paris? The Radicals found his name on the secret Ust of men to be rehed on in case of need, to vote against impeachment. So he was not invited to take the 'Senator E. D. Morgan, 224 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE stump on wages as during former elections. So we go. I enclose some newspaper slips for your entertainment. Yours always BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Squirrels, Oct. 7, 1868. My dear Huntington: . . . I heard yesterday that the Longfellow dinner the other day was an advertising dodge of the Langham hotel stock- holders. Its fortunes have been declining for some time; so Sanderson^ projected a diimer to our poetical Hon; got Bierstadt who is himself a gentleman of a frugal mind, though not indis- posed to figure before the public, to aUow the invitations to go out in his name, they paying the shot; and thus Longfellow & Gladstone & divers other bugs of the bigger sort were taken in & nourished to the great advantage, for a week or two at least, of the sickly Langham — another illustration of the base uses to which men of genius may be brought who go abroad to realize on their fame. Antoine writes me that Madame Antoine has thrown doublets & boys at that. Dix I hear has left his apartment in the Rue Pres- bourg & gone into more inexpensive quarters, renouncing all pre- tensions to the entertainment of the American Colony in Paris at his hospitable board the coming winter. Mrs. D. says he intends to return in the spring. I fear the old gentleman has not found missionary Hfe in Paris aU his fancy has been painting it for the last twenty years. Lamson of the high falutin', Roman candle, synagogue in the Rue Bayard, is now here laboring to be made a bishop in partibus. He is a thrifty party. Nothing new in poUtics smce my last, except that the nxmiber who think Seymour has any chance of election grows daily smaller. The elections which will occur in Pennsylvania, & Ohio & Indiana before you get this, will cure many of them, I think. I am taking no part in the canvass, not even attending political meetings or reading political speeches, which are about the thinnest reading that falls under my eyes in these days. Truly yours 'Proprietor of the Langham Hotel. LABOULAYE TO BIGELOW 225 seward to bigelow Washington D. C, October 8th, 1868. My dear Mr. Bigelow: Your letter of the 6th is received. I am glad for the sake of all your family that Mrs. Bigelow has determined so wisely. I do not yet see the time for going to New York. The proposition about Cuba to which you aUude^ came to me from the same quar- ter at the same time it reached you. Oiu: domestic distractions forbade attention to it then. Now we must wait upon events at Madrid, especially events bearing on the republican system and on provincial slavery. You know the history of San Domingo; would the United States want Cuba without slavery? woidd the United States now want Cuba with slavery? would either and which party take the financial responsibility? How sadly domestic disturbances of ours demoralize the national ambition. Very faithfully yours I addressed a copy of my work on Franklin to Mr. Edouard Laboulaye, who acknowledged its receipt in the following letter: Glatigny, Versailles, 23 Octobre, 1868. Cher Monsieur Bigelow: Je vous dois miUe remerciments et mille excuses pour les M6- moires de Franklin. II y a six mois que, de jour en jour, je me propose de vous 6crire, et le temps passe sans que je fasse rien. Franklin s'excuse quelque part de sa negligence, et dit que I'age rend paresseux, veuiUez recevoir avec bont6 cette mediocre justi- fication qui ne peut avoir cours que dans la patrie de Franklin. J'ai lu avec grand intdr^t la nouvelle Edition des Memoires, et je vous suis fort obUge pour la f aveur honorable dont vous me traitez dans la Preface. Votre texte sera le texte definitif , et quoique les ■This refers to the proposition purportmg to have come to me from Prim, for the sale of Cuba to the United States for three millions of dollars; see letters of Viscount Trement III, 496, S91, ante. 226 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE changements ne soient pas considerables au fond, ils donnent un autre aspect au livre, car ce sont justement les expressions les plus originales et les plus am6ricaines de FranUin qu'un maladroit correcteur a effacees pour les remplacer par ses platitudes. Void la revolution arrivee en Espagne mais en France, on se fait una assez triste id6e de I'avenir de la Peninsula. Personne ne plaint la Reine Isabelle, qui ne merite aucun inter^t, mais dans sa chute on na voit que le succes d'une conspiration mihtaire. Le peuple est rest6 indifferent jusqu'au lendemain de la victoire, et ne parait pas avoir grand desir de reprendre possession de ses droits. Pour moi qui connais I'Espagna, j'ai grand peur que ce changamant de regne ne soit qu'un changemant de personnes, et que I'Espagna ne continue a 6tra la proie da ses generaux ambi- tiaux comma elle I'a ete depuis trante ans. Catta revolution a derange je crois, les projets de I'Empereur; I'Espagne etait pour lui un secours et una force. Ella paut devenir un danger. Aussi commanca-t-on a proclamer sur tous les toits qu'on veut maintenir la paix. La paix sera pour toute I'Europe un bienf ait, mais je ne sais si la libarte en profitera beau- coup chez nous. La revolution d'Espagne n'a pas agite beaucoup I'opinion en France. Nous sommes habitu6s a ces coups d'etat militaires chez nos voisins; le pays est toujours fort andormi ou plut6t fort dego(it6. On n'a pas la moindre confiance dans la gouv- ernement actuel. On n'a qu'una tres mediocre astime pour ceux qui la conduisant mais k part les gens qui refl6chissent, le grand nombre das habitants das viUes n'a pas confiance dans la Hbarte; las essais da libra gouvemement ont tant de fois echoue; on a si grand peur de I'anarchie qu'au fond on aime autant rester comme on est par peur d'une plus mauvaise situation. Quant aux cam- pagnas, eUas sont toujours dans la main de radministration; le paysan a peur at votara pour la gouvemement prasque en tous pays. Je ne crois done pas qua las prochaines elections changant la situation. Suivant toute apparanca ces elections se feront avec autant de passion at aussi pau de sincerit6 que les autres; le resultat na sera pas sensiblement different; le gouvamamant aura la victoire a moins d'un changemant d'opinion qua je ne pr6vois pas, mais cetta victoire emportee par das moyans peu respectables ne lui donnera ni force ni duree. Depuis six ans il pard chaque jour de sa puissance sur I'asprit public et sans que rien le menace il s'affaiblit. C'est im singulier spectacle que cette veine de pou- 7^ fr^ c-y" LABOULAYE TO BIGELOW 227 voir absolu qui se trouve toute puissante dans les chambres et qui est sans force centre la resistance des intfirets et des id6es. Dts qu'il veut faire un pas en avant ou en arriere il sent qu'U n'est pas soutenu, U hesite et met toute sa politique a ne pas bouger. L'Empereur est dit-on, fort vieilli; sa volont6 a soufiert, et il ne veut changer ni d'honunes ni de systdme, ce qui, selon moi, com- promet singulidrement I'avenir de la dynastie. Quant a moi, je ne crois pas qu'on songe a moi pour les Elections. Ma situation est singuliere. Les id^es que je defends font leur chemin parmi les jeunes gens et les ouvriers, mais n'appartenant k aucun parti, je ne suis pas enregiment^. H en resulte que pas un parti organise ne se soucie de moi. Les Democrates ont I'horreur de toute croyance religieuse et Us adorent Robespierre et Danton. J'ai \m profond mepris pour ces d6magogues qui n'ont rien etabli que la guillotine, et je sais que sans une religion les hom- mes ne peuvent pas 6tre libres; en voUk assez pour qu'on ait peu de confiance en moi. Les lib6raux de la vieiUe ecole mettent toute la politique dans I'omnipotence des chambres, je suis de I'ecole americaine et j'enseigne que les chambres n'ont que des pouvoirs delegues, et que le citoyen a des droits auxquels im parlement ne peut pas toucher. Vous voyez que je suis im Americain egare au milieu de la vieiUe Eiirope. J'ai cependant mes partisans qui grossissent en nombre tous les joiurs, mais quand ils feront la majorite, U y aura longtemps que je me reposerai des fatigues de ce monde. Je travaille pour I'avenir avec la confiance d'avoir raison et la tranquiUit6 d'lm homme qui a renonce a toute ambi- tion personelle. Ce n'est pas une mauvaise situation. J'y trouve ce grand avantage que je vis paisible et que je n'ai pas a me reprocher im repos egoiste; mon pays ne veut pas de moi il n'a de goiit que pour les declamateurs et les farceurs. Adieu! La place me manque pour vous dire que je pense souvent a vous, qu'on se souvient de vous, et que je regrette beaucoup que vous nous ayez quitte. Vivez heureux, et pensez quelques fois a moi comme a im ami. Mes respects a Madame Bigelow. Votre bien d6vou6 Ed. Laboulaye. [P. S.] J'apprendrai avec bien grand plaisir I'^lection du G6n6ral Grant; je crois comme vous que ce sera I'inauguration d'une ere nouvelle; il n'y aura plus de place pour la politique Sudiste et les partis seront obligfe de se transformer. R6publi- 228 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE cains ou Democrates, on n'aura plus a se combattre sur le ter- rain des State Rights. La nationalite americaine ne sera plus contest^e. In the campaign of 1868 which resulted in the election of General Grant to the presidency, the politicians of our village invited Horace Greeley to address them and he accepted., The duty of entertaining him on this occasion seemed to devolve upon me, and I accordingly asked him to be my guest. horace greeley to bigelow New York Tribune, New York, Oct. 24, 1868. Dear Sir: I expect to be at Highland Falls next Tuesday evening to speak and shall be very glad to spend all the leisure I have at your house. Please say so to the friends who have asked me to speak, so that they may know that I wish to go to you. I hope to arrive by the Mary Powell. Yours Horace Greeley. Hon. John Bigelow Highland FaUs, N. Y. EROM MY DIARY October 2g, 1868. Went to the wharf for Greeley Tuesday evening [Oct. 27]. He wore a soft felt hat with an uncommonly broad brim, and the old white coat, bearing in his hand a carpet- bag with an oilcloth covering, so torn as to give the impression of an over loaded package falling through the Hning of a coat. I ought here to remark that my acquaintance with Mr. Greeley was almost exclusively confined to what I had learned of him through his paper. We shook hands, of course, and I naturally asked him how he was. He said he was cheerful. Promptly upon reaching my HORACE GREELEY home we had dinner. All my children were at the table, and one of their aimts who was a visitor. Greeley did not address a re- mark to one of them, but persisted in talking about the value of trees as a crop, advising me to trim out my forest and put in seed to get new kinds, etc., regardless of the expense of trimming and the increased expense of chopping wood that is not taken clean. He talked in a way to satisfy me that, whatever might be his knowledge, his judgment on agricultural matters was simply worthless. He mentioned one thing, however, for which I thank him. He said that after one leaves the Mississippi a few days' journey, one does not find between that and the Pacific a piece of wood of which an axe-helve could be made, and that the teams always take an axe-helve or two extra when they start to cross the plains, because a broken one could not be replaced anywhere on the journey. I asked why they did not plant hickory and ash and other hard woods, which would be more useful on the plains. He said he did not know, but he doubted whether the trees thus planted would have the qualities acquired by those growing in our more rigorous and stormy climate. As evidence of that, he said that the oak of California is good for nothing but fuel. As soon as we had finished our repast we went over to the meet- ing, where I was called upon to preside. On taking the chair I remarked in substance that we were in the midst of a great crisis; that Grant was a great man, and Horace Greeley had come to prove it. He then advanced and spoke about two homrs and a half. What he said was remarkable only for the steady tension of the mind for so long a period. There was no eloquence; he made no striking points; yet the whole told tolerably well upon the audience, which crowded the hall to the utmost. On going home he went at once to bed. In the morning while sitting in my Ubrary I heard him at the iront door coming in. He was bare-headed, though the morning was quite cool. I asked why he did not wear his hat. He said the air felt cool and refreshing; that he had not had so good a night's rest in a long time, at the same time admitting that he was " but an indifferent sleeper" ; that he had not had— to use his own language — "a square night's sleep for fifteen years " ; but he said it rested him to he down. I got his hat, put it on hun, and took him out to show him a bit of the highland scenery. He began again talking about trees and saw nothing. After breakfast I took him in my carriage with my 230 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE eldest daughter to the steamer Mary Powell. He did not speak to any of the family but myself during his stay, nor on leaving, except a word or two to my eldest daughter the previous evening, just before supper, when I was obliged to leave them for a few minutes. When we got on board of the boat he sat down by him- self, pidled out a copy of the Independent, and read it entirely through, I think, from beginning to end. After a while I joined him. He then showed me the leading article in the Independent which he wanted me to read, saying, "Here is an article by Tilton on Evarts that is wonderfully well done. I should not wish to have written or pubhshed it myself, but it ought to be written and pubhshed." This he said over twice. Perhaps he was thinking I ought to have it in the Evening Post. Then he took it out of my hands. Before he discovered that I had done with his paper my eye had glanced over a gratuitous attack on Motley and Bancroft. I quietly observed to him that Tilton had contrived to make three or four bitter and formidable enemies by those articles, but I doubted whether he would be indemnified for such a result by the pleasure he would give to others. "Why, yes," said Greeley, "the Herald made its reputation by its attacks upon people." He then spoke of Reverdy Johnson's flirtation with Laird* and the rebeUion fomenters in England, denouncing him violently for something he had said or done. He added that Seward was at the bottom of it; it was Seward and not Johnson, for Seward wished to go to England as minister. It is a common riunor that Greeley is a declared candidate for the English mission; that he would Uke to have Morgan Secretary of the Treasury, in which case he would transfer his aspirations to the vacant seat in the Senate. It is certain that he ran once for the Senate against Evarts, and both were defeated. All these facts taken together accoimt for his zeal in defending the Inde- pendent, which nowadays seems to be conducted in his interest. Here in a short conversation of half an hour, Greeley, though meaning to be reticent and anything but confidential with me, revealed the furious hatred that was raging in his breast against fom: or five of the most prominent men of our country merely because they have heretofore stood or may hereafter stand in the way of his ambition. He is now prowling around the state every night making speeches to keep himself in evidence. He is as easily flattered as a child. How strange that a man who loves iBuilder of the Alabama. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON 231 flattery so much should not treat other people more humanely and should defend such an outrage, on pubhc decency as Tilton's article on Evarts. Grant and Colfax were elected President and Vice-President, while Griswold, the Republican candidate for Governor of New York, was defeated by Hoffman. On the 31st of October I received a letter from Henri F. d'Aligny advising me that he was entrusted with a set of medals (gold and silver), which he was instructed to present to me on behalf of the Imperial Commission for services rendered to the International Exoosition. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON Oct. 18, 1868. My dear Huntington: Among other gettings, since I last wrote you, we have got a new baby — it's a girl — and a new President — he's one of the boys. The girl was two weeks old on Sunday last, and to all intents and purposes an ornament to her sex. She was bom on Sunday morning at simrise precisely. I hope I have at last one child with no prejudices to conquer, against that period of the day, more talked of than seen. President Grant is one day old this evening. He is expected in Washington next week, when he emerges from the chrsylis (please spell that cussed word for yoiurself , I can't stop to write it over,) state into which he was begotten by the Nominating Con- vention, to that of a full winged President. The Cabinet Makers will now take charge of him and supply him for the next six months with all the fiuniture of that description that he wiU reqxiire. I have nothing new to tell you upon that subject; nor do I think any one else has. Your Patron Saint H. G. spent the night with me about a week ago and made a speech at a meeting in our village at which I was required to preside. I never was so near to H. G. before and I 232 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE had an opportunity of forming more complete impressions about him & verifying others. I like him (between ourselves) less than ever. I think I never saw a man more absorbed with himself and more destitute of any sort of genuine charity for his neighbor, especially if that neighbor could by any possibility be in his way as a candidate for anything nice under the new administration. I could interest you with an accovmt of my observations, but I can't write them out. Seward made a speech the other day for Grant, after telling me less than a month ago that he should not vote at aU. This looks a Uttle as if he might remain in the State Department, the more so as he told me also that on the 4th of March he should leave Washington and go to Mexico and other out of the way places for a couple of years. Providence takes pleasmre in disappointing people. Greeley, who loves Seward, says that the Russian Minis-- ter told him that Grant could not get Seward out of the State Department with a file of soldiers. I am at work now in my hbrary pretty regularly but not very hard. This baby bunting business is very interrupting. Yours very sincerely [P. S.] Beckwiths all deadly sick of Uncle Sam. I saw Hay the other day, in excellent spirits. Ill DEATH OF BERRYER HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 42 RxjE DE Labruyere, 17 Nov., 1868. Dear Mr. Bigelow: 4: 4: 4: 4: * 4: 4: WE HAVE had a momentous coil {sic\ over a subscription started the day after All Souls to raise a monument to the memory of the Coup d'Etat and of Baudin, Mon- tagnard member of the Legislative Assembly, who was struck to death by it on a barricade the 3d Dec. 1851. Government got scared and has suppressed the subscription — in which it had pro- voked finally all sorts of folks to take part. Berryer sent in his contribution with a notable letter of adhesion. ^ Paradol's letters on the occasion and one or two other pen cuts by that master of fence I enclose. Old Berryer, Mr. Moreau told me two days ago, is able to ride out — and indeed, yesterday, managed to be taken 'BEKEYER TO THE EDITOR OF L'ELBCTEVR Paris, November nth, 1868. Mr. Editor: The 2d of December 1851 I moved in, and obtained from the national Assembly, con- vened at the mayoralty of the loth arrondissment, a decree of forfeiture of Presidential jurisdiction and immuni ty therefrom, calling on the citizens to resist the violation of law of which the President had rendered himself guilty. This decree was made as public in Paris as was possible. My colleague, Mr. Baudin, energetically obeyed the orders of the Assembly; he was made a victim of those orders, and I feel boxmd to take part in the sub- scription started for the erection of an expiatory monument over his tomb. Kindly accept my contribution, and at the same time the expression of my most distinguished consider- ation. Bebryes. 233 234 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE to Augerville, his country seat — but his case is a serious one and recovery hardly to be expected. Rothschild, the first Jew baron, Harris, and Rossini aU died within three days of each other. The newspapers are fallen into anecdotage over them. Here is the best thing I have seen of the banker, illustrative of exclusive re- spect for business in business hours. Some high-going personage is let by mistake get access to his private ofl&ce; "take a chair," says the Baron, without looking up from his papers; — High Party somewhat piqued at such lack of ceremony — "you are perhaps not aware that I am the Count of X" — "Oh! well, take two chairs."^ Sahn-Sahn's book^ on Mexico and Maximilian is not to be sold, I believe, in Paris. There is a new book, not of much volume or value I apprehend, by a Frenchman who edited a newspaper at Orizaba in the Maximilian time. Do you want it? With this go two numbers of yoiu: Protestant Bulletin. I don't beUeve you ever read them and shaU stop subscription at the end of the year unless otherwise ordered. When are you going to send for your books at the Consulate? Old Lady Colmache wants to seU some MSS. to American magazine editors. She has one story that, when she told it, I thought capital. If I forward it to you, do try to sell it for her. Bulwer's Talleyrand is just published here in translation. His brother Nedward has* at last found a hero in our Teutonico-American actor Bandmann and has cut out his Sea Captain with that histrion at the fore.* Papers say the success is handsome — quite as much owing to Bandmann as to Nedward. Reclus' second voliune^ is out. . . . Wishing you Merry Christmas, enpeptic Thanksgiving, happy New Year and New Baby, I rest, dear Doctor, Yours truly 'That reply has made the tour of the United States as my friend Joseph H. Choate's best. I leave him and Mr. Rothschild to settle the question of its parentage. Wiary in Mexico by Prince Felix Salm-Salm. The author, the youngest son of one of the oldest families in Germany, served in a military capacity in Prussia, Austria, the United States and Mexico. Captured at Quergtaro with Maximilian he was condemned to death. On being pardoned he returned to Europe and to service in the Prussian army, and died of a wound received at the battle of Gravelotte, August i8, 1870. 'E. G. E. Bulwer, the novelist (Lord Lytton). »D. E. Bandmann, bom at Cassel, Germany, in 1840; died at Missoida, Montana, in 1905; acted in Germany, the U. S., and England; in 1868 took the part of Vyvyan (Captain of the privateer Dreadnought) in the performance at the Lyceum Theatre, London, of Lord Lytton's play The Rightful Heir, rewritten from an earlier play by the same author, The Sea Captain. 'La Terre. PREVOST-PARADOL 235 [P.S.] Cornells de Witt Is talked of as a successor to Harris, or as candidate at the general elections next year in some Nor- mandy district. I found a medallion of the late B. Franklin last Saturday in cast iron! My cup of happiness almost overflowed — but alas! those piles in the bottom embitter the bumper. I don't know that I ever told you that I have the piles, ititemal and quite to myself. It is an interesting malady, pregnant of re- flexions, a moral complaint. It constantly reminds one of his latter end, and when the pain is sharp, the moral is pointed; I had as Uef the divinity had shaped my tail end by some other esthetics. Enclosure PREVOST-PARADOL TO THE EDITOR OF LE PAYS Translation Sir: In reproaching me for my subscription to the montunent pro- posed to Representative Baudin, killed the 3d of December, 1851, you asked whether my intention was to thank Mr. Baudin "for having put the government of my predilection out of doors." It has seemed to me up to this time that, if anyone was occupied the 3d of December, 185 1, in putting a regular government out of doors, it was not Mr. Baudin. Strict justice ought to lead you to recognize, aside from any party feeling, that Mr. Baudin has a right to the same epitaph as the combatants of July, faUen in defense of the laws; and as the sacrifice of his life, made voluntarily and without hope, was ac- companied by an admirable utterance,^ I always thought, long in advance of the noise that is now being made about this monument, that the memory of Baudin should be as dear as Jhat of the Cheva- lier d 'Assas to all who are sensible of the honor of the French name. Pray accept. Sir, the assurance of my high consideration Prevost-Paradol. •As Baudin was exhorting his fellow-citizens about him to defend the Republic, one of these replied: "Do you think we are going to get killed to preserve to you your twenty- five francs a day?" "You are going to see," retorted Baudin, "how one dies for twenty- five francs. " Ascending the barricade with a broad scarf across his body and a tricolor flag in his hand, he was felled by a discharge of musketry. 236 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Enclosure 2 PREVOST-PARADOL TO THE EDITOR OF LA PATRIE October loth, 1868. Sir: I read with some surprise in your issue of yesterday evening that, having desired the foundering of a dynasty, I figured among those who accompanied the Queen of Spain from Saint-Sebastian to Pau. This assertion is altogether wrong. I chanced to be present with some other Frenchmen at the passage of the Queen of Spain through the station at Biarritz and at her interview with the Emperor. That is all, and it is this simple incident that has caused the false report which you have shown a very natural zeal in circulating. As to "the foundering of a dynasty," that is a spectacle often enough presented to Parisians, as you know, without their having to leave their homes to witness it. And permit me to add that you and your friends are neglecting nothing to insure that the present generation shall not be deprived of it any more than those of the past. Accept, etc. Prevost-Paradol HENRY MOREAU TO BIGELOW Translation Paris, December 3, 1868. My dear Friend: The telegraph will doubtless have borne to you the sad news of the death of Mr. Berryer. Regret here is imiversal. Every- one regards as a calamity the loss of so good a man; of the eminent orator, of the great patriot, of the friend of liberty as sincere as he was enhghtened. As to myself, already so cruelly afflicted only eleven months ago,^ I am now assailed in one of my 'By the loss of his wife. DEATH OF BERRYER 237 most cherished friendships, a friendship upon which I counted for many years to come, considering the vigorous constitution of Mr. Berryer. He was taken away by a tumeur a la prostate, which the most skillful physicians were not able either to divert or to slacken the course of. Except in his last days, during which he endured cruel agonies, he preserved all the warmth of his affections and aU the charms of his intellect. He was already in his death struggle when, apropos of the subscription invited for the erection of a statue in honor of Representative Baudin, he wrote some lines to reinforce his indignation at the infamies of December 2.^ Mr. Berryer was always a Christian. The most lively faith was the consolation of his last moments as it had been the support of his long and noble existence, and I shall never forget the marks of his faith when the last sacraments of the Church were administered to him. You comprehend me, do you not, my dear friend, for you knew this excellent man and he had for you a real sympathy of which he often gave me proofs. Permit me in closing to say to you that, if there be any con- solation for the loss of friends whom Providence in its impene- trable decrees, deprives us of, it is thinking of friends who remain to us, and you are in the first rank of these, though fifteen hundred leagues divide us. P.S. Mr. Berryer named me as the first of his testamentary executors. HENRY MOKEAU TO BIGELOW Translation Paeis, December 31, 1868. My dear Friend: If you still read the French papers you will be convinced of the sorrow which our dear friend Mr. Berryer has left behind him. All is over very soon in this world, especially in France; yet the character and talent of Mr. Berryer had made for him so many friends among all classes that his death has been a veritable dices national with most striking demonstrations. Despite a 'Berryer to the editor of L'Electeur, page 95 (1868) ante. RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE deluging rain, more than 4,000 persons resorted to Augerville to pay a last homage to Mr. Berryer. General Dix, detained at home by a severe cold, was represented by Colonel Hoffman.^ I have told you, I believe, that I am his first testamentary ex- ecutor, with the legacy of a portrait of Chancellor L'Hdpital. This picture is still hanging over the mantelpiece of the cabinet de travail at AugerviUe, where you for the first time entertained Mr. Berryer with the interests of your dear coimtry, for which he was so full of sympathy. Above this portrait the owner has written these lines of Sacred Scripture which apply to Berryer as well as to the illustrious Chancellor. Qui loquitur veritatem, in corde suo non commorehitur in ceternum.^ In fact the word of our great orator was always profoimdly true, and no consideration could shake his sincerity. A Uttle volimie is in course of preparation which wiU contain all the homages rendered by the various organs of pubUc opinion, and I wiU be happy to send you a copy as soon as it appears.* The latest manifestation of pubhc recognition is a national subscription which aheady has numerous adherents and will exceed certainly 100,000 francs, an vmheard of expression of generosity from the French people, without the concurrence of the ofl&cial world, and which contrasts with the meagre sums obtained for statues for all the colossuses with feet of clay of the Second Empire, Billaut, de Momy, St. Amaud; in a word, les brigands triomphants. 'First secretary of American Legation. =Taken from the fifteenth Psalm of David: "Who shall dwell in the holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness And speaketh truth in his heart. . . . He that slandereth not with his tongue Nor doeth evil to his friend, Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. Nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved." Berryer's homage to L'Hdpital is the more remarkable as the Jesuit Maimbourg said of L'H6pital: "Mais aprfes tout, ni I'onne peut ni Ton ne doit dissimuler ce qui a bien temi I'Mat de tant de belles qualitids, c'est qu'il favorisait tout ouvertement le Calvinisme en toutes rencontres;" and Berryer was one of the stanchest of Catholics. 'Berryer — Hommages rendus d sa Mimoire. BECKWITH TO BIGELOW BECKWITH TO BIGELOW [November, 1868.] Dear Bigelow: . . . I was there [in New York] for a week looking for a house and had to pay for one half furnished and worth about $2,000, the sum of $7,000, & complete the furnishing at my own expense. I met no person who appeared sober. No one spoke quietly with weU poised judgment on any subject, but with ur- gency & exaggerations one would think intended only to astonish, if not followed by corresponding actions. At length the fog lifted a httle when I saw the sale of a cottage "payable in greenbacks at the price of gold on Saturday in the gold-room at twelve m." Five per cent, is a fair profit on a cot- tage, but whether the seller would gain or lose 5 % he could not know tiU after the last shuffle before twelve, in the gold-room on Saturday. All was left to luck. Abolish the usual measure of values, & substitute a poUtical fiction which expands & contracts daily and hourly with the changes of mental temperature — subjugate commerce to the reign of the gambling deity called "Fate, For time. Luck"' — and the influence of her sway on the minds, manners, & character of commercial commimities will be in a short time astonishing. Under the rule of luck quick minds feel the uselessness of re- flection, sobriety, intelligence, judgment or integrity; they are encmnbrances; the best way is not to think, but — bold & strong — take another drink & play quick. The usual conditions of commerce disappear, an atmosphere of gaming is inhaled, & everyone is excited or tipsy. The most sober appear anxious to get rid of their "money." "Do you imagine Hudson River, N. Y. Central, or that house you just bought for $185,000, worth the prices you paid for them?" "I think nothing of the kind," said my friend, "but I don't believe the bottom will fall clean out of them as it may from the bag of rubbish I exchanged for them." "I do not know," he added, "anything about the value of my property, what I am worth & what not, nor does any man in the commimity; the only way is to rush on with the rest, grasp all 240 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE you can, & accept the residuum when the settlement comes. . . . I deduce values for taxation as near as I can, but always with mental reservations which none but God can understand; for I am myself ignorant of my situation & only conscious of a desire to do the right thing." WiQ Congress, which has produced, stiU strive to protract these conditions? I think with you, Providence takes care of us; I saw that in the death of Thad Stevens, & hope to see Ben Butler dropped out. If Providence would take out or leave out of Con- gress all these exaggerations, & permit the country to right itself in time, it may yet avoid the rocks on which it is now drifting. What you say of Grant sounds well. Let us try the sailors and soldiers. The most important is the Treasury; who is to have it? I want nothing of Burlingame — however he may want me . . , but would be glad to assist him in a good work. Every- thing on the thither side of the moon may differ from the hither side: don't mind that. I shaU be in New York about the 15th or 20th October, No. 4 W. 1 6th Street & hope to see you there. Meantime my family is at Naushon, where I intend to join them on Saturday for a week or 10 days. I rather like fishing and shooting; not that I do much but meditate, but they are favorable to thinking. You can do them mechanically and occupy your mind with other subjects. I hope your oxen will win, but what about the LL.D? I have not heard of it. I don't think the country is the place for me. I want the help of other men's thoughts, & wish to be in the centre where the cur- rents flow in & out. I find no conversation here above the level of horses & gambling. I don't think this is the place for men of cultivation & reflection, or even for inquirers like myself; & if I did not love my children more than myself I woiild quit it. Make my kind remembrances to Mrs. Bigelow & my good wishes for the stranger she is to introduce. If you believe with Plato that the sum of immortality is always the same, because the immortal is eternal & the eternal can no more have a beginning than it can have an end, you will perceive that the coming individual existed previously, & perhaps you would Hke to inquire something about that previous state. At all events, you will notice first his bewilderment, then his surprise, & gradually his conclusion that there has been some mistake of NEWS FROM PARIS 241 which his dissatisfaction will express itself in yelling & screaming. Midwives they say are as necessary at the next birth as they were at the previous, and that those who have preceded us will be waiting to lend us a hand then, as our precedents did when we came here, and that we in turn must do for those who come after us there, as we shall have been done by & now do for those who follow us here. Speaking of fishing & shooting, I don't find the pleasure in it I did once. If I kill an animal that was not going to kiU me & that I have no need to eat, I feel as if in my ignorance I had re- leased an individual prematurely, & that I had better have left him to fulfil his career. If I wish to eat him, I have not the same doubts about the propriety of killing him, but I cannot justify this upon any higher consideration than that which governs an alligator. Feeling the mystery of life & my ignorance of the meaning of existence, I think on the whole, killing for sport dis- plays less of the man than of the beast. Yours truly [P.S.] A rainy morning. My Dear Sir: GIDEON WELLES TO BIGELOW Washington, sth Deer., 1868. I was sorry not to have seen you when you were last here, and you must not allow any one who may be with me for the moment to shut you off. I am never so engaged as not to see you. We are drifting strangely, and God only knows where we are to bring up. The poor old Evening Post has got to be about as deeply imbued in centraUsm as the Tribune. The fundamental law is no law to them — hiunanitarianism overrides state and constitutional limitations. When the press and Congress dis- regard the law — the higher law — what is there to prevent general demorahsation? In haste Yours very truly 242 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE GEORGE T. RICHARDS TO BIGELOW Paris, 7 Deer., 1868. My dear Mr. Bigelow: I have received your favor of the 21st. ultimo, and take pleasure in saying that your draft on Mr. Nicolay was vise at once and will be collected to-day by my j5rm, on whom at your convenience you can draw for the amoimt. The case as presented by you to Mr. Nicolay must have appeared to him too clear to permit of any hesitation on his part. . . . I can tell you nothing more interesting than that last evening our Chapel Society formed themselves into a Constituted Church, with powers to elect & dismiss a pastor — gave a call to Reverend Dr. Robinson, which I hope wiU be accepted to-day. The next American movement will probably be in connection with the Chinese embassy, and if presented to the Emperor by the 25th instant, so that Mr. Burlingame can on the ist of January take his place at the Palace among the "Ambassadors" of the world to this Court, it wiU quite surprise John Bv31 and contrast with their snail-like movement in a similar ceremony. I am preparing to go into a house which I have been building in the vicinity of that Palace, which you remember in the Avemie du Rot de Rome, and which by the way probably yesterday became the property of the Queen of Spain. Gen. Dix soon goes again [to] No. 6 Rue Presbourg but in that part of the house where Mr. Munroe once was. The China Shop will be 104 Champs Elys6es just above Mr. Mimroe's hotel. . . . Very sincerely yours BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Squirrels, Dec. 18, 1868. My dear Friend: I feel uncommonly obliged to you for your last envoi and the trouble you took about Wm. T. F's letter. That shall decorate BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON 243 my "revised edition," that is to appear in the Year 1871. I read your treatise on piles with tears in my eyes. If they were tears of laughter, do me the justice to believe that like Byron I laughed that I might not weep. I know nothing practically of that com- plaint, but I have seen enough of its torments in my friends to pity you with all my heart. You will now have to discipline your appetites. The piles have a special commission from Providence to war upon all kinds of stimulants. It is hard, but you will have to submit to it. Grant has been exhibiting himseK freely around since his election and making some of his costive speeches. My impres- sion is that short as they are they might sometimes be shorter to advantage. I enclose one of that class. The Army have been holding a sort of jubilee lately in the West. The care with which everything was excluded from their pubUc proceedings that could constitute a reasonable motive for displacing such a large body of dignitaries at this inhospitable season, leads me to suspect that the real motive did not tran- spire. What that motive may have been I can't begin to guess, being only a birth-right Yankee, but the opportunity for an ex- change of opinions about all matters in which the futiure Presi- dent & his old companions in arms were interested was too tempting not to be improved. Cabinet speculations take no definite shape as yet. J. L. Motley spoke a piece before the New England Society, the design of which was to prove, what did not need much arguing before that audience, that on the whole the world moved. It was an academic performance worked up with all the rhetoric that he could lay his hands upon, but it got to be very long towards the end, & his audience of which I was one, would have let him off without a murmur one good hour before he asked us to. Ham. Fish used up all the high soimding adjectives in his Dutch dic- tionary to introduce him, but the press generally seems to think it has done its whole duty in printing the discourse without talk- ing of it much. It is xmderstood that M. will be quite content with the Austrian mission, and he is making this pilgrimage to prove his superior fitness for it. My own impression is that he is not bettering his case, though it is not probable that he will hurt it enough to destroy his chances, which were pretty good. . . . Bowles is not making much money in the Republican, ;244 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE but he says he wants nothing from Grant, recommends Sumner for Secretary of State in his paper & Morgan for the Treasury. Both rather improbable; the latter decidedly so. I wish you would send me anything going about Berryer that is conveniently within your reach. I think I shall write some- thing about him one of these days, covering my relations with him that were of a public character. Our President, Johnson the ist, felt that his popularity was rather excessive, and so he sought to reduce it to a general aver- age by recommending repudiation. Johnson No. 2 (Reverdy) seemed to be laboring under the same complaint, and so ex- plained the criticising he was getting from his countr3mien by saying that they wanted to fight England. What statesmanship ! What diplomacy! What a genius that name has for finding out in each deep to which it descends a lower depth of foUy or fatuity. Good-bye, my friend. Yours very sincerely BIGELOW TO HARGREAVES The Squirrels, Sunday ev., Dec. 27, 1868. My dear Friend: The season recalls absent friends. I cannot break into the New Year without wishing that it may bring to you and yours new privileges, new pleasures, and increased capacities for enjoy- ing them. I wish you a happy New Year, not only as a father but as a grandfather. I congratulate you and your friends upon the result or results of yotu: elections. What a triumph for Mr. Bright and his as- sociates ! What a change in ten years ! A^Tiat a hiunihation to his adversaries! There should have been one place in the new min- istry left vacant, the better to recall to the occupants of the others the principles and virtues of him under whose sign they have conquered, and by a faithful adherence to whose example they 'A Maryland politician of considerable talent and the first of President Grant's ministers plenipotentiary to Great Britain. He negotiated a treaty for the settlement of the Ala- bama claims which the Senate rejected because it failed to provide for indirect damages. NEWS FROM ENGLAND 245 will win any future successes that are in store for them. Cobden must be in the new government or it will not be long lived. If he is not there, it had better be shortUved, for it will show that more agitation, more discussion, more war is necessary to make your people accept the doctrine of the greatest good of the greatest nmnber as the basis of all good government. We have no government at all at present, nor are we to have until the accession of oiir new president! Johnson seems to be possessed with a devil — one or more. My impression is, how- ever, that Grant will straighten things out here rapidly. There seems to be a fataUty about the name of Johnson. Our Minister at your Court of that name seems to have lost his wits. It is most time, for he is nearly eighty years of age I believe. . . Your sincere friend HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 42 RUE DE LABRTJYEEE, HATJSSMANN'S CROSSINGS, II Jan'y, 1869. Sir: . . . Your remark that piles are commissioned by Provi- dence to bombard the human appetite for stimulants, is as my poor friend Tracy used to say, "uncalled for and gratuitous." Permit me to observe that there is probably no one now, if extant, more fanuHar with that trait of natural theology than the person who now addresses you. For the rest, I rarely indulge in anvthing stronger than unfiltered Seine water. . . . hargreaves to bigelow 34 Craven Hill Gardens, Hyde Park, Jany. 11, 1869. -' We have taken refuge [for] some time in the great city — not that we needed its shelter, for the season has been one of singular mildness — but for the sake of the society which gathers here at 246 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE this time — foxhunting squires being drowsy companions. We saw many members of the new parliament before they separated for the Christmas recess — and partook of the daily excitement of the ministerial arrangements. Bright was led like a lamb to the slau^ter — a most unwilling victim. He called upon me the morning before his acceptance of office, his eyes bearing the trace of a sleepless night. I have seen him but once since, when he narrated his first interview at Windsor. The Queen told Mr. Gladstone that "Mr. Bright had spoken kind words of her which she could never forget," alluding to his defence of her as "one who cherished in her breast a noble sor- row" — when the court folks would have dragged her from her privacy. She desired he would go through no form to which he had an objection — so he "kissed hands" standing. He has since been among the earliest invited to Osborne — although Derby said "the Queen would not have him" in a speech he made at Manchester some years ago. But old Lord Aberdeen once told the Queen that Mr. Cobden & Mr. Bright might some day prove her truest friends. How true yomr words feel just now as to the vacant place — Alas! the world has never seemed the same to me since Cobden left it. I call to mind the words of his final speech at the close of the League. "Oiu" ashes may be dis- solved but our spirit will be abroad over the whole earth." This is oiu: consolation. I am glad to tell you that our friend Profr. Rogers is now en- gaged on Cobden's speeches, to be published in one or two voliunes similar to Bright's. Would that we could have his letters too, for there is his Hfe already written. But I fear the time is not yet. Gladstone has certainly gathered around him an efficient staff, and is said to be in "terrible earnest." But apart from the Irish question, the Govt. poHcy is already on its trial, and the old evils of "China outrages" and Continental embroilments are cropping up, and were it not for Bright's presence, I confess I should fear the resiilt in the hands of Ld. Clarendon. Two things may be added also to Bright's influence, viz. Gladstone's passion for financial economy, & the bad state of trade generally. Our people are not disposed just now for fixrther taxation. I doubt if Pal- merston himself could have aroused their wicked instincts. Our fears are not from this question, but from the classes who hve out of the taxes and who must already foresee the consequences of Gladstone's threatened policy. I expect to hear a cry, from LIFE OF BERRYER 247 the west as well as the east end of London, from the recipients of outdoor relief. Such being the state of matters, the weighty- influence of Bright in the Cabinet may keep us out of trouble, & cause our Govt, to withdraw from any material embroilment on the Continent. There every thing is combustible. AH are armed to the teeth, and the great powers woiild like to settle matters in their own way; but Spain, Italy, & Greece object to being smothered. You ask if Sir H. Bulwer has returned. He sits with Peel for Tamworth, but is petitioned against & may be unseated. Our bribery & corruption law is now very stringent, & the judges are not ex- pected to show mercy. In fact they would like to stop the ballot which is looming. By and by, Sir H. B. has a notice on his ques- tion posted. The Ballot Society holds a great meeting this week under the presidency of our friend [Milner] Gibson — just the man for the question. I am glad to say there is a chance of his finding a seat in Manchester again, the Tory being threatened on petition. My son-in-law & Ld. E. Howard were beaten at Pres- ton by the influence of smaU bribes &c. on the residuum. Purity men have smaU chance at present — so this house is the richest ever returned. God help the people! All the young advanced radicals, who would not resort to imworthy means, were beaten, as well as the working-men candidates, some of whom were of the best type. In truth the new householders were not organized. This win reqiiire time and then, with the ballot, good men of moderate means wiU have a chance. Ever Yours On the 1 6th of February I delivered or rather read a paper before the New York Historical Society on Berryer. The object and tenor of it was to give to our people some notion of their obHgations to that eminent barrister for his pubHc manifestations of sympathy for us in our Civil War. Most of the paper ap- peared the following morning in the N. Y. Evening Post and the Tribune. 248 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE HENRY MOREAU TO BIGELOW Translation Paris, 15 January, 1869. Dear Sir: I; thank your for your offer of cooperation which you send me -for the monument we propose to raise to the memory of this eminent man, and any contributions from Americans would be received by us with lively gratitude. I propose, as you have reason to think, to write the life of Mr. Berryer. It is a work which will demand time and much care and to which I shall de- vote myself in a few months. As to the pubUcation of his pro- fessional and parliamentary works, I shall not have anything to do with them directly, the ownership of those works having been ceded to a Company by Mr. Beriyer in his Hfe-time. . . . There are several candidates for the seat in the Academy [to succeed M. Berryer]. Those having the best chance are Count d'HaussonviUe (whom I much prefer) and Duvergier de Hauranne. The former of these candidates was elected on the 27th of April, 1869, and the latter on the 19th of May, 1870. BIGELOW TO PREVOST-PARADOL February i, 1869 [circa] My dear Friend: Yesterday, the very day I received your favor of the 20th ultimo, a telegram announced the probability of your coming to the U. S. as Ambassador. Till I read yoiu: note I doubted the report, mainly because I knew it was not usual with your govern- ment to select for its diplomatic representatives persons not reared in the service. I am dehghted to find your name added to the short Ust of eminent exceptions to this rule. PREVOST-PARADOL 249 I am delighted also that the Emperor begins to comprehend the necessity at last of placing the liberties of France under the protection of its brains. I am deUghted no less at the prospect of a reconciliation between the great pohtical and Hterary forces of France, so long disastrously hostUe to each other; and I am above all delighted at such a triumph of the pen over the bayonet as this nomination confers upon you. I find some satisfaction too in the impUcation that the purpose of replacing the present by a dynastic regime is practically abandoned. I assume that the Emperor has given Mr. OUivier satisfactory guaranties, and in that case I do not see why you should hesitate to accept the mission to the United States provided you feel that a residence at Washington would be agreeable to you. I hope you will accept it. As Mr. Guizot very truly said of you the day you were received into the Academy: "Vous d'une generation et I'lm des premiers dans vme generation en qui la France espSre. . . . Vous dtes de ceux a qui il appartient d'aider au succes de notre 6poque dans sa difficile tache, la pratique efficace du gouvemement libre." And I can't think of a better discipUne for such a task at your age than a diplomatic position for a year or two in the United States. I am glad you decHned a Cabinet position. No doubt you would have been very useful there and have acquired much experience and reputation, but I do not think it well for so young a man as you to dwell in the shade of a court. I often thought and may have said to you that you and your friends made yourselves too inaccessible to the overtures of the Emperor, and were therefore in a measure responsible for many of the poHtical evils of which you complained. You drove him into the arms of inferior men because you would not act with him, just as the Gallicans by their irreconcilable hostility drove him into a quasi aUiance with Ultramontanism. Your friends compelled Viim to seek elsewhere the strength which you denied him. 01- Uvier has the honor of having been among the first to see that an irreconcilable opposition is treason, and I am glad you have al- lowed yourself to entertain such an honorable proposal to place your talents at the disposal of his administration. Yours Sincerely 250 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE PREVOST-PARADOL TO BIGELOW Paeis, Feb. 24, [1869]. My dear Friend: Nothing is more calculated to cool my desire to go to America than the bad news of our probably crossing the ocean in different ways and my finding your coimtry empty of you. My nomina- tion is decided in that sense that the emperor, the cabinet, and myself have agreed on the point, but there are practical diffi- cidties in the way, and if much time is spent in disposing of them, the state of things and the state of our mind may change. To send Mr. Barthemy elsewhere somebody must be promoted, and to promote somebody, somebody else must be sent ofiE the service, which is crowded more than ever by the disappearance of some German states which Prussia has swallowed up. My dear friend, if I do not go I shall remain here the more willingly knowing you are coming, for I had buUt many hopes on the certainty of meet- ting you there. By aU means I shall not leave France before April, and perhaps you wiU come before my starting. Whatever may happen, beheve me, my dear friend, ever and most earnestly yours P. PAIWlDOL. BIGELOW TO SEWARD New York City, March 3, 1869. 4: * * * * 4: * Permit me to profit by this opportunity to say to you that while in common with many of your old friends — their nimiber wiU increase — I regret your retirement from the government, which seems to me imminent, I rejoice with all my heart that you are so soon to return to a position more favorable than that you are quitting for a just appreciation of your eminent public services. Children sometimes seem to transfer their affections from their parents to their toys, but when they get into trouble they are not RECOGNITION OF MAXIMILIAN 251 long in showing where their hearts are and who are"their natural protectors. In this respect our people behave not unlike children and no one can tell how soon they may be glad to exchange their friends of a day for the friends of a life time. I hope if you pass through this city you will tarry long enough to give me an opportvmity of pressing your hand if nothing more. Very faithfully yours SEWARD TO BIGELOW Auburn, March 8, 1869. My dear Bigelow: I have just received here your letter of the 3d together with the newspaper article in which you have answered your, or rather my, carping assailant on the subject of the French intervention in Mexico.^ Your reply is conclusive. But it was not needed. From the day of my departure from Washington, the appetite of the people for criticisms upon the policy of the State Depart- ment during the war became dull. Your assailant must find a new field to explore. Well, I have reached home to find myself taxed for skill in navigating the sleigh through the snow drifts accumulated during three months. My neighbors seem to be kinder than ever, if that is possible. I hope you wiU bring your family, or as many as you can, and spend as much time with me as you can. We shall enjoy a rare pleasure in looking out upon the world free from jealousy and from ambition. Faithfully yours BIGELOW TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE New York, February 27, 1869. Sir: In your jovimal of the 2 2d instant I find an allusion to my ofiicial conduct while one of the diplomatic representatives of the 'A letter of mine to the N. Y. Tribune, which follows this letter. 252 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE United States in Europe, which, as it does not now occur for the first time in your columns, is made, I presume, deliberately, and if so, ought not to pass unchallenged. When it appeared, on the previous occasions which have come to my notice, I was absent from the country, and condemned to silence by the regulations of the service upon which I was em- ployed. Besides which, I supposed it was one of those mistakes into which the daily press is hable to faU in judging the conduct of diplomatic officers, as they often must, upon imperfect infor- mation, and might safely be left to the correction of time. In this it appears that I was mistaken. The aUusion to which I refer occurs near the close of the fol- lowing sentence: This treaty [referring to a treaty now before the Senate for the settlement of the Alabama Claims], with its scornful disregard of American honor and American interests, and its wide opening of our national treasury to satisfy the still luitnown claims of unfriendly Englishmen, to be awarded by lot or a friendly sovereign, leaving every question of international neutrality in the same muddle in which it finds them, is a fitting conclusion to that feeble and faithless policy that has so often compromised, during the war, our dignity and our rights, and which, in one memorable instance, after Napoleon had announced that the erection of a European throne in Mexico was intended as an insult and a menace to the American republic, actually extended to the French at the beginning of the plot, in defiance of the earnest protest of Mexico, custom house facilities for the invasion, and at its ignominious close suggested, through Mr. Bigelow to Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys, that if the Emperor would remove his troops the American govern- ment could recognize the empire of the ill-starred Maximilian as soon as they were gone. The implication of so much of this paragraph as relates to myself is that, imder instructions from the State Department at Washington, I proposed, as an inducement to the Emperor of France for withdrawing his army from Mexico, that the United States would recognize the sovereignty of Maximilian; in other words, if the French flag were withdrawn from Mexican territory our government would at once give to the empire it had been try- ing to estabhsh the moral support of our recognition, without reference to the wishes of the Mexican people or the constitutional pretensions of President Juarez. Upon whatever authority this impHcation was made and is now repeated it has misled you. I presume I am as well in- formed as any one, both in regard to the instructions sent by the RECOGNITION OF MAXIMILIAN 253 State Department to the United States Legation at Paris, while it was in my charge, and as to the proposals made by myself to the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, and I am entirely ignorant of any authority for attributing either to the State Department or to myself any such action or intention. I never received from the State Department any instructions to negotiate for a recog- nition of Maximilian on any terms whatever, nor did I ever propose any basis of negotiation which contemplated in any contingency the recognition of any government in Mexico that was not the spontaneous and deliberate choice of the Mexican people. The only pretext upon which even personal mahce could hang such a charge must be found in an effort I made, soon after the peace of 1865, to convince the imperial government that, judged by its own pretensions and professions, it was logically bound to withdraw its flag and its troops from the territory of Mexico. This occurred during the more prosperous stages of Maximihan's imperial career. I was repeatedly assured by the French Minister of Foreign Affahs that the new Emperor was very popular; that the people were giving in their adhesion to him as fast as they could; that Juarez had fled, and concealed himself so effectually that even our own diplomatic agents could not find him; that he had no party, and that it was idle to talk about his government, which, as they were advised, had only an imaginary existence. On the other hand he always insisted that France had no terri- torial aspu-ations in Mexico, and had no motive for sustaming Maximilian's authority there, except to put an end to the anarchy which had theretofore desolated the cotmtry. He insisted, there- fore, that the United States had no excuse for refusing to recog- nise the de facto government of Mexico merely because it was an imperial government, after waiving that objection in the case of Don Pedro of Bra2al, and of Iturbide in Mexico. I thought I was better mformed in regard to the popularity of Maximihan with his new subjects than Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys seemed to be, but I could hardly expect to convince hun of this; so, after protesting that our oracles gave conflicting responses, and deeming it my duty first to exhaust the efficacy of all such inducements to withdraw as were entirely free from menace, I represented to him in substance, that we had recognized Don Pedro because he was the choice of the Brazilians; that we had recognized Iturbide because he was the choice of the Mexicans, 254 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE and if it ever should appear that the Mexicans wished to change the form of their government and to have Maximilian for their Emperor rather than Juarez for their President, I presiimed we should respect their preferences. We did not propose, so far as I was aware, to arrogate to ourselves the privilege of determining the form of government under which our neighbors should live, while in the act of protesting against such arrogance in other powers. All we required was that the Mexicans be placed in a position to choose their form of government and their ruler without constraint. For that purpose it was indispensable for the French army to abandon their territory. No government organized in the presence of a foreign army could ever be regarded by us as the choice of the Mexican people. To the suggestion that we should first recognize Maximilian, I said that was impossible; that the logic of the situation required that France should go first; that the United States were in official relations with a government which the Mexicans had established, and which the Mexicans had never, so far as my government was advised, superseded; that no government since established in Mexico by foreign aid could exhibit so good a title to sovereignty; and finally, that France must first withdraw her troops and place the Mexican people once more in the condition to choose freely between Maximilian and Juarez, between an imperial and a re- pubKcan form of government. I did not hesitate to express to Mr. Drouyn de Lhuys my conviction that in such a case the choice of the Mexican people, whatever it might be, would be respected by the United States; and therefore, if he was satisfied that Maxi- mihan, the Emperor, was that choice, he had no excuse for keep- ing an army there to support him. This conversation, held without any instruction from Washing- ton, except generally to press upon the French^minister the danger to the friendly relations of our respective governments of pro- longing the occupation of Mexico, has, I presume, furnished such elements of truth as liirk in the insinuations to which I except.' I do not know that the views developed by me in this conversa- tion are any more acceptable to you than those which you are pleased to attribute to me. At least they are the views which I expressed, and by which I desire to be judged. If, in the progress of this conversation, I neglected an excellent opportunity of enlarging to the French minister upon the terrors of the American Eagle, it was not because I was ignorant of this RECOGNITION OF MAXIMILIAN 255 cheapest of all methods of making reputation as a diplomatist, nor indifferent to the applause of my coimtrymen, but because I preferred to treat the very delicate business with which I was charged in the way which seemed best calculated to preserve the friendship of the two great nations without degrading either. Yoxirs, very respectfully. BIGELOW TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW YORK TRTBtOSrE New Yoek, March lo, 1869. Sir: In your comments upon the note from me, to which you were good enough to extend the hospitahty of your columns on the 3rd instant, you state that the remarks which provoked that note were based upon my official correspondence, of which you cite the following passage, from one of my letters: I asked whether in yoxir Excellency's opinion, Maximilian would be able to sustain himself without the aid of France, if his authority were recog- nized by the United States? Had you in your editorial cited the whole of the passage of which this is but a part, I do not know that I should have cared to trouble you again upon this subject, and I count upon your courtesy for the privilege of citing it here. The passage would then have read as foUows: Your Excellency, in reply to my inquiries, had been expressing your measure of faith in the ultimate consolidation of power founded under the auspices of France in Mexico. And upon that faith rested your hopes of soon recalling your troops. You recapitulated some of the difficulties against which it would require some little time to provide; but all of which you seem to think would diminish in magnitude, if the adversaries of the new order received no encouragement from the United States. It was in view of such representations that I asked whether, in your Excellency's opinion, Maximilian would be able to sustain himself without the help of ftance, if his authority were recognized by the United States. This in- quiry led to a conversation in which I had occasion at least twice, to state to your Excellency that our recognition of any government in Mexico, so long as it was sustained by foreign arms, was impossible. 256 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE I am not aware that there is anj^ing in this statement that is not perfectly consistent with the communication which you criticise. Aside however from the context, there is surely a very con- siderable difference between my asking the French minister if he thought Maximilian could sustain himself were we to recognise his authority, and my proposing to him to recognise it. The question was a mode of testing his faith in the popidar strength of Maximilian. The answer to it, whatever it might be, necessarily placed my interlocutor in a dilemma to which his previous conversation exposed him, and for which I sought to derive a legitimate advantage. Had I supposed any portion of this con- versation would have been subjected to a newspaper discussion, I should have taken the precaution to give it entire, and not merely such points as sufficed for parties famiHar with the current and tone of a protracted negotiation. I regret that my management of this business has not proved acceptable to you. I daresay there are many who would have conducted it more to your satisfaction. That they were not employed was no fault of mine, but of those who, in my absence, and through no sohcitation of mine, for reasons best known to themselves, committed it to me. It is not for me to say that in this they did not make a mistake; but with aU my shortcomings it is now a source of great satisfaction to reflect that all the important questions pending between the United States and France during my residence at the latter court, and some of them were of a gravity not easily exaggerated, were entirely settled before I retired from the mission, upon a basis perfectly satisfactory, I beheve, to both nations, and without leaving a scar to show where the hereditary friendship of the two nations had received an almost fatal wound. While I claim no credit to myself for my hiunble agency in treating the wound so success- fully, it may not be unbecoming in me to remind those who com- plain of my diplomacy, that every serious difference which had arisen between om government and the French previous to my appointment, and I think I can recall fom: of them during our brief national existence, resulted in a termination of diplomatic relations for a time, and in a financial crisis. Had I adopted the heroic treatment of our recent differences, so popular in this country, especially with those who were not responsible for what might be done; if by an abrupt and gratuitous assertion of our THE STONEWALL 257 Continental pretensions which, by the way, no foreign govern- ment has yet recognised, nor any administration at Washington yet ventured to assert at the hazard of a war; if, I say, by an abrupt and gratuitous assertion of such pretensions, I had con- ducted the two nations into armed conflict, and given our dis- affected Southern population all the encoiuragement they needed to revive the RebeUion; if I had added a few himdred millions to our national debt, a few more populous acres to our soldiers' cemeteries, and planted in the hearts of two friendly and powerful nations a hatred for one another which would have survived the youngest citizen of either — aU things at one moment more diffi- cult to avoid doing than to do — it is not improbable that my course would have received a more unanimous approval; that it would have escaped your animadversions; and that I should have been spared the necessity for this explanation. You ought not to be smrprised that I did not think such unanimity or immunity — precious as they would be to me — worth purchasing at such a price. Yours very respectfully, John Bigelow. 1869, THE STONEWALL The ram Stonewall, which in a preceding volume*, I left sailing under the Confederate flag from Lisbon for parts unknown,^ proceeded by way of Santa Cruz and Nassau to Havana. When she arrived there our Civil War was drawing to a close, and on the 19th of May, 1865, she was sold there to the Spanish government for $16000. The United States government claimed the vessel by right of revindication. The Spanish government, without allowing the claim, surrendered her to the United States in the month of July following, "on the ground of the mutual good-will which has happily prevailed between the two countries" and received, though not as a condition to the surrender, the sum of $16000, the amoimt of the expenses which the Captain-general of Cuba incurred in obtaining possession of her. 'n, 452 ante. =(Her object was to strike a blow at Port Royal, supposed to be the base of General Sherman's advance through South Carolma, 258 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE On the 9th of August, 1867, she sailed from Washington Navy Yard for the Norfolk Navy Yard, commanded by Commander George Brown, U. S. Navy, and flying the Japanese flag, having been sold by the U. S. government to the goverimient of Japan. From Hampton Roads she proceeded to Barbadoes and thence to Yokohama, where she arrived on the 24th of April, 1868. Owing to a change of government which had occurred since her purchase, and a revolution then in progress, she was placed again under the flag of the United States. But on the 8th or 9th of March, 1869, she was deHvered to the Japanese government by Commander Brown. As few people know what a remarkable career she had in the Japanese navy, the story of it is here presented as given to me by Commander Naomi Taniguchi of the Imperial Japanese navy, in the form substantially of the following notes : The price paid for her was $470,000. She was renamed the Kotetsu, which means Hterally Armor. Her description was as follows: displacement, 1,358 tons; length, 153 feet; beam, 31 feet; arm^r — belt, 4 inches; battery, 4 inches; draught of water, 13 feet, 3 inches; propellers 2; indicated horse power, 1200; armament, i 9-inch, 13 ton, M.L.R.^ (Armstrong); 4 6j-inch, 5 ton, M.L.R. (Armstrong); speed, 9 knots. The civil war in which Japan was at this time engaged presents a striking analogy to the Civil War of the United States, since it resulted in the compact union of the nation. It bears a further resemblance to the Civil War of the United States, in the fact that it was fought between the South and the North, although in Japan the South represented the Imperial Government. It is interesting to notice that, although it was only twelve years since the modern navy had been established in Japan, naturally her navy was in the stage of mere infancy — the little squadrons applied the European art of war pretty well and fought very bravely and gallantly, many nameless heroes sacrificing their lives for the cause which they espoused. The Stonewall belonging to the Government force, was the only iron ship, and was superior to any other ship in either navy. She participated in every engagement on the sea during the war, taking the most con- spicuous part in it. The following is a short account of one of the engagements, which was not only the greatest sea fight of the Civil War, but the most desperate one in the entire history of the Japanese navy. 'Muzzle-loading rifle. THE STONEWALL Early in 1869, the rebels occupied Hakodate as their base of operation. Their sea power consisted of four cruisers, the Kaiten, Banryiu, Takao, and Chiyodagata, under the command of Admiral Yenomoto. The Government squadron consisted also of four cruisers, the Stonewall, Kasuga, Yoshun, and Teibo. The latter squadron sailed from Tokio Bay, early in March, escorting four transports. As soon as the report of the departure.of the Govern- ment squadron reached the rebels, a council of war was smnmoned by the rebel Admiral Yenomoto, and a plan of battle decided upon according to the advice of Captain Koga, commanding the Kaiten. As. the Government squadron was escorting the trans- ports, it was believed that it would call at some port on its way to Hakodate, and the port would, in all probability, be Miyako Harbor. It was planned, therefore, that the Stonewall should be captured by surprise, if she shoulji happen to be in the port with the other ships. If the Stonewall should be taken, the other ships could easily be disposed of. Such being the plan, several squads of soldiers were embarked to reinforce the sailors. They soon began the practice of moving the broadside guns from one side to another, and also organized parties for the purpose of undertaking the hazardous duty of boarding the enemy's ship. On March 2ist, the rebel cruisers Kaiten, Banryiu and Takao sailed from Hakodate for the conflict. It was fmrther planned that the Banryiu and Takao should attack the Stonewall simultaneously from the right and left, and the Kaiten fight all the other ships of the enemy. To reconnoitre the enemy's position Yamada Harbor, wMch is situated south of Miyako, was selected as the rendez-vous. Un- fortimately for the rebels, their small squadron came upon a heavy fog and were scattered. The Kaiten and Takao, however, arrived at Yamada safely, but nothing could be heard of the Banryiu. It was soon learned from shore, to the great excite- ment and delight of the entire fleet, that eight Government ships were at anchor in Miyako. Not a moment was to be lost. The original plan was modified. It was decided that the Takao alone should attack the Stonewall and the Kaiten fight the other ships. Before dawn on March 25th, both of these ships were approach- ing t*he enemy's port. Here the Takao had some accident in her engine and was obliged to stop. In spite of aU these mishaps the captain of the Kaiten decided not to lose this opportimity and dauntlessly pushed on xmsupported into the harbor, where the eight ships of the enemy's force were at anchor. 260 retrospectio:ns of an active life At dawn of day the Kaiten steered into the harbor. The brave officers and men exchanged farewells in silence. - The vessel had lost one of her masts some time before, which made her appear rather strange to her enemy. Besides, on her peak an American flag was flying. She was for these reasons very naturally taken for an American ship, and the officers and men of the Government squadron watched her with curiosity, as she gradiially drew nearer and nearer to the Stonewall. The boarding parties, hav- ing tied white bands over their shoulders as badges of distinc- tion, hid themselves behind the bulwarks. When the two ships were near enough to each other the Stars and Stripes of the Kaiten were suddenly hauled doVn, and to the great surprise of the Government force, the Rising Sim was hoisted to her peak. Soon the bugle calls were heard among the Government ships and great disorder and tumtdt observed in every direction. The Kaiten failed to come alongside of the Stonewall and came to a dead stop, her bow at the distance of a few yards from the enemy's stem. But Captain Koga, by prompt and resolute action, suc- ceeded in bringing her bow in contact with the waist of the Stonewall, when he fired the larboard broadside. The boarding parties had to proceed through the narrow bow, and then jump six feet down to the enemy's deck. This caused some hesitation among the boarders, but encouraged by orders of Captain Koga, one after another they jumped over amidst the enemy's rifles and spears. They were so greatly embarrassed, however, by the narrowness of t*he passageway that they were prevented from acting collectively, and therefore, without exception, were either shot or stabbed to death^ or fell under the heavy fire of the Gatling guns. By and by the seven Government ships weighed anchor and began to surrotmd the two combatants. Captain Koga, seeing the "failure of his imdertaking, gave orders to depress the 56-po"imder at the bow toward the deck of the Stonewall and fired, causing many casualities to the latter. Meanwhile shells from all around began to hit the Kaiten, and her brave captain lost his right arm and was then wounded in his left leg. But he was stiU giving orders, when a third shell hit his neck and he fell dead on the bridge. The second officer Aral now took command of the distressed ship, and seeing that nothing more could be done, managed after great efforts and much loss of life, to free her from the crowd of the enemy's ships. The combat lasted hardly more than 30 minutes. But the cas- THE STONEWALL 261 ualties of the Kaiten were recorded as 20 killed and 30 wounded; all her ofl&cers, except two or three, were either killed or wounded. The casualities of the Stonewall are not accurately known, but it is believed they must have been at least equal to her opponent's. The Government squadron soon pursued the Kaiten and, at the ofiSng of the harbor, foimd the Takao, her unfortunate con- sort still in a crippled condition. The captain of the distressed ship, seeing the impossibility of escape, set fire to her. The Kaiten^ after great trouble, finally succeeded in entering Hako- date, while the Banryiu returned to the portal one. Thus the desperate engagement ended in the complete failure of the rebels. The naval force of the rebels was now reduced to only three ships, while the Government squadron was reinforced by a new addition, the cruiser Choyo. The engagement on land also went against the rebels, although they fought very bravely. On the night of May 14, the Chiyo- dagata, a rebel ship, grounded on shoals in the harbor, and after many useless efforts to float her, was finally abandoned. On the ybh, the Government squadron pressed on the remaining two ships of the rebels, and 9-inch shells of the Stonewall struck the Kaiten, making her unable to steam. The Kaiten was finally brought agroxmd and was used as a floating battery. The only remaining ship Banryiu was burned on the 12th, after the fierce engagement against the Stonewall and Kasuga. Thus the rebels lost aU their ships, and on the i8th of May, Admiral Yenomoto^ evacuated his last stronghold Goryokaku and surrendered to the Government force. After the war the Stonewall was renamed the Azuma, which means the E,ast, and remained the strongest ship of the new navy for many years. She took a prominent part in the war of the Saga Rebellion in 1874, and again in the war of the Satsimia Rebellion in 1877. She was condemned in 1888, and was afterward sold to a fishing company. 'Admftal Yenomoto was given important positions in the Government, holding from time to time such offices as Minister of Marine, Minister to Russia and Minister to China. He died on the 26th of October 1908, much lamented by his countiymen. 262 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE FROM MY DIARY March 8, i86g. Grant was inaugurated on the 4th of March. Called on Seward at the Astor House. He has been retired from the Department of State to make way for [Elihu] Wash- bume and was on his way to his home in Auburn. He appeared to be in good spirits. Grant has made a fatal mistake in asking Congress to suspend the operation of the law prohibiting Secre- taries of the Treasury from being personally interested in trade, in order that the greatest importer of the union should be eligible as his Secretary of the Treasury. Happily Congress saw the foUy of jdelding to his request and Stewart declined to accept the nomination.^ BIGELOW TO BXnSTTINGTON 313 W. 22d St., [New York] Confidential March 16, 1869. My dear Friend: I send you to-day by the dispatch bag a full report of my paper on Berryer. It possesses the single merit of bringing to the ac- quaintance of our people one of their most useful friends of late years in France. I hope it wiU give no offence. I also have sent you a couple of Tribunes containing letters of mine to its editor, who after my two years of most vmenviable obscurity has thought me worth the trouble of maligning. It is my old friend John Jay in this instance who furnishes the venom. He may have sus- pected that I was in his way for something, or he may have wished to prove that he has inherited the diplomatic mantle of his grand- pops and that he is as sound on the Mexican goose as Grant himself. Grant at last has got a cabinet, chosen however apparently for what they were not, rather than for what they were. Their 'By the persuasion of the late Mr. Hilton, then a junior partner of A. T. Stewart, head of the largest importing dry goods store in this country. President Grant, who had a curious weakness for rich men and for the luxuries which wealth can provide, ofiered the secretaryship of the Treasury to Mr. Stewart. GRANT AS PRESIDENT 263 greatest negative merit in Grant's eyes is that they are none of them politicians except Boutwell, who was taken because the man first chosen for the treasury was too Httle of a politician and had too little sense of the fitness of things, to give up his dry goods shop in New York to accept the charge of Uncle Sam's strong box. The Cabinet is not strong, but it is respectable. Whether it lasts or goes to pieces depends upon Grant's purpose in selecting it. If he has a policy and wanted men merely for instruments to put it into operation, it is admirably chosen. If he wants responsible ministers he has not got them. Hamilton Fish is my neighbor in the coimtry — an amiable but heavy man, who at the bar ranked as a moderate attorney, but whose name I suspect does not appear in the books of reports once. He in- herited and married great wealth, and was wise enough to invest a portion of that in a house for Grant and afterwards some more in a fimd to buy it back and present it to Genl. Sherman at a price just twice as large as its cost and a third more than Grant had authorized his broker to sell it for. Stewart and Borie also invested in Grant's real estate. Genl. Butterfield, a prominent candidate for Hale's place at Madrid, took a good deal of the same stock. In fact, so profitable has this kind of investment proved that you must not be surprised if Grant owns half of Washington before his term expires. Mr. Washbume is another illustration of Grant's fideUty to his friends. ... In com- pany with many of his predecessors he [Washbume] will have one advantage over the people he is to Kve among — he will learn a great deal more from them than they are hkely to learn from him. He takes with Viim I presume our old friend Gibbs as Consul. G. froze to him two years ago and has never left him since. G's. nomination, I am told, has been made; I doubt however if it wiU be confirmed. Grant has lost prestige enormously in the country. Already the press begins to aUude to his " gratitude to his friends," to the absurdity in the same week of nominating an avowed free trader and an avowed protectionist to the post of Secretary of the Treasxuy. . . . The Congress is only waiting a good chance to hamstring him, and if he calls many more millionaires about him they will not wait for any more serious pretext for making war. Genl. Webbi has been here lately, asserting his claim to the glory of driving the French out of Mexico. He wishes the Naval 'James Watson Webb, formerly editor of the extinct New York Courier and Enquirer. RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE ofl&ce. He showed me the papers upon which he bases his claim, about a month ago. Endorsed upon them was the charge that Seward had tried to suppress these papers, which were committed to him confidentially and were only recovered by a ruse, &c. To appreciate this and in fact the whole transaction you should know that Webb owes to Seward the very bread that he & and his family have subsisted upon for the last eight years; that to a pardon of Seward's he owes it that he did not spend two or three years in the Sing Sing prison many years ago for fighting a duel with Tom' Marshall^; finally that one of his sons is named after Seward and must bear the shame he, in his selfish greed for another ofl&ce, is now trying to fasten upon that name. . . . Between ourselves you need not be surprised to see me drop in upon you some day this simimer on my way to Germany with my family. That is rather more probable now than that I shall spend the summer here. If I go it wiU be with the intention of remaining for some time. Of course I do not expect to go in any public character. Beckwith's oldest son, I hear, is engaged to a daughter of Mr. Edwards Pierrepont. P. expected a place in the Cabinet to which he was certainly entitled, as things go, if for nothing else than for his modest contribution of $20,000 in the campaign which was widely advertised at the time in the press. His failure is of coturse a grievous disappointment to papa B., who is nothing like so much of a Grant man this week as he was last. I wish you would ask David Fuller to have my effects at the Consulate boxed up and marked so that there wiU be no con- fusion of property when a new consul arrives who "knows not Joseph." Dana is foolishly trying to be Collector. Foolishly, because his paper deserves all his attention, & requires it.^ Your faithful friend 'Thomas F. Marshall, nephew of Chief Justice Marshall. ''C. A. Dana was given to expect an appointment as Collector of the Port of New York; to the surprise of many besides himself, it was given to Moses H. Grinnell. He was after- ward offered the position of Appraiser of Merchandise under Grinnell, which he declined {Life of Charles A. Dana, by J. H. Wilson, pp. 407, 414, 415). FRENCH POLITICS 265 HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 42 Rue de Labruyere, 17 [and 18] March, '69, Haussmannton. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Yours of 19th Feby. with the Berryer paper reports in the Trib. came duly. I read the Berryer through — which, seeing I hate newspaper reading and fine print, gives you in short my estimate of its vfery interesting quahty. If I had been sure of your winter address, I should have sent you two little books about Berryer, one by Alfred Nettement,^ and one published at the Gaz. de France office, made up of "Hommages rendus a sa Memoire," by Comte de Chambord, Dupanloup,^ Favre, etc. and the speech makers at his gravfe anji the journalists. . . . I was at 7 Rue Scribe yesterday. Mr. Richards was sitting under a new hat — not so taU, and broader rimmed than the il- lustrious predecessor, but sot on with equal firmness as if not for the day but for aU the time. I wish I knew for certain whether he sleeps in it; do you think he would take it iU, if I asked? He certainly would not take it off. . . . There hath been great growth of journals since your time and diminution of price. Le National, edited by La Bedolli&re, of tone and style of the Siecle, sells at one sou, just the price of the timbre, and has now, at the close of its second month, a circula- tion of 68,500. Le Peuple, Duvemois' and Napoleon's liberal djTiastic organ, at the same price but much smaller sale; Le Public, the Dreolle (of La Patrie) Rouher organ, two sous; La Presse Libre, Malespine's, two sous; the Journal de Paris, able and Orleanist; Le Moniteur liberal independent, stiU pubUshing the Corps. Leg. reports in fuU as of old, yet selling for two sous; Le Gaidois, free lance, but opposition — a sort of Figaro, which also gives more attention to pohtics than formerly, and one or two other daihes. Then there are five weeklies and semi-weeklies given up to poHtics, of which PeUetan's La Tribune is the ablest, and aU but one of which are advanced opposition. And these are but a part of the significant and substantial proofs of that great 'A legitimist, who for his opposition to the coup d'6tat of December 2, 1851, was im- prisoned in so unwholesome a cell that he lost an eye. He died on the gth of November, 1869. 'F. A. P. Dupanloup, Bishop of Orleans. RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE change in this European constitution, which you rightly speak of as general, in your Berryer paper, and as rightly attribute in large part to that high liberty tide that after swamping slavery and drowning out J. Davis' rebel court at Richmond, is now flowing over Europe. That " Ebrew jew " H. Harisse, told me last Sunday that a Mr. AndraP told him that Moreau had had your Berryer paper translated and pubHshed in some provincial paper, with the intent that it should be cited thence into Paris prints. But Mr. M. will be like to have written you about this. . . . I went last Sunday with two thousand other folks to the Cirque du Prince Imperial, where we sat for nearly three hours, not dis- content, listening to a charming preliminary talk by Laboulaye and then to a biographico-eulogistic lecture on Abraham Lincoln, by your other friend Cochin.^ When, m the exordium, teUing how Washington used his almost dictatorial powers only as a citizen for his country's good, he closed the long roUing sentence with: "and indignantly repelled the thought of degrading his noble brow with a golden royal circle." It would ha' done you good to be moved by the swelling triple surge of applause that then broke forth. Then Coclun, when it grew still again, spoke for five minutes parenthetically, deprecating any intention of odorous comparisons between America and France, any inten- tion of political allusions — making three or four clever ones by the way, which were, perhaps after all, honestly unintentional. The truth is that you cannot talk history to a Paris audience that they won't take and make allusions of their own head. After this there were more than once great tides of applause — the grandest I think when, treating of Lincoln's great unselfish labors to sustain the republic and restore it to peace, he closed the period with: "having the sole concentered purpose of found- ing the future of his coimtry not of his family." The roar was loud enough and long enough to have reached the TuHeries. Next Simday, at the same place, Jules Favre closes this series of con- ferences, the organizers of which did and do sincerely propose not to make poUtical meetings of them, and the speakers generally do honestly mean to make the best of the new law that permits them, tho' with no pretence of liking the law. Other meetings where organizers and orators do sincerely endeavor to strain the law to its utmost and make known their detestation of it and "Probably C. G. P. Andral, of the French bar. 2P. S. A. Cochin (1823-1872),! French publicist, author of many works, including Abr> ham Lincoln, published in 1869. HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 267 of the regime that grudgingly conceded its hampered privileges, offer, as you may suppose, more exciting entertainment. I was at the hall of the Grand-Orienf one Sunday when PeUetan was the lecturer. Here we were all puros or mere pleasure seekers — no Orleanists or that sort: no pohtical Laodiceans. An orator, like PeUetan, possessed of the sjonpathy of his audience and of some skill in rhetoric, can generally manage to say by allusion pretty much everything he wants to: for in leading up to his point through a long paragraph, he takes care to say nothing that the most captious commissaire can object to; and then the point is fitted on to the end of a sentence and shot off in ten words or less. If the commissaire is now provoked to protest, just three seconds too late, he cannot jam the naughty words back into unspokenness — locuta manent — he only makes a scene, turns the applause for the orator to a noisy discord of disapprobation addressed to himself, and by holding the audience for a while on the last words of the orator, imderscores them as it were and secures them a separate distinct place and impression in the memories of the hearers. Nothing seems to me more certain than that the press and meeting laws of last May & Jtme, have got to be revised for better or worse within a very few years. If we United States behave oiirselves for the next fom: years, we shaU revise them, exempli gratia — which I render by grace of good example; may our sovereigns be moved to give it, Dei gratia! I was interested, as always, in what you vouchsafe about our politics, and hope for more notes in Uke kind from time to time. The occupant of your ex-office [consulate] is in something of a freeze, over the annoimcement to him by telegraph two days ago of Gibbs' appointment to his post. Yesterday he had taken courage again, and seemed to persuade himself that he was in no immediate danger at least of a supercessor. Nicolay clings to the flesh-pot with a rather unseemly clutch, to my thinking. His notion that the shade of Lincoln, because he was his secretary, is more favorable to continuous crops of Consular emolument than Court sunshine, affects this observer as erroneous; as does Mr. Washbume's reputed notion that bowing through a Paris season of diplomatic and other calls and soirees is a less exacting service for the vertebral column than a winter session of Congress. When you write of Mr, Morgan that " he is getting rich rapidly ' ' you convey a more eloquently disastrous idea of the impoverished ^Hdtd du Grand-Orient de France, a centre of free-masoniy. 268 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE state our late well-to-do fellow citizens are suffering from than could be imparted by the longest of newspaper essays. " Getting rich," he! Why he got that long ago, supposing aU the money a man wants to spend who knows how to spend it, makes him rich. I am rich enough here, but sometimes feel as if I should like to go home to lay my bones and any trifle of adherent flesh that belongs to this feeble body. But you scare me to perpetual exile. Indeed, my own experience in the winter of 1865-66 showed me that Uving m America was rumously costly, though one Uved on his friends. It is an arithmetical fact that during those five months, I paid out more for havmg other folks meet my expenses, than I do here in the same time to pay them myself. Please remember me to Mr. Morgan and his house as you see him. His want that you should return to joumahsm is natural; why not gratify it? I met Mr. Juif the other day, who asked particularly after you, as do frequently the Sydows, with whom latterly I often enough take my victual. Not that the meat is better than elsewhere for the price, but Mrs. Sydow's serving gives it a sort of grace and household flavor. Poor Sydow has come to be stoneblind — with no loss of appetite. Legras is friendly as ever though "getting rich" and heartless in his prices for 2nd hand books. Luckily, I don't read much. It has been snowing all the afternoon in a slow, sleety, slovenly way — doing up a belated February job. I am going to Crawford's to-night — much against my will — because it is St. Patrick's. They will ask de vos nouvelles, sure. BurKngame (Anson of Pekin)^ wiU be there, Genl. Dix is engaged, and Rangab6 the Greek f and Crawford^ told me with great glee, that his wife cherished a fond hope that Burlingame would loan them one of his real Chinamen, pig-tail, button and all, for a part of the evening. B. Anson is in high spirits with his diplomatic and social success here; but I don't hear that the Empress means to give up any of the things that Palikao* and company stole for her from Ching-Chow's Siunmer Palace before they burned it to the ground. It is high dinner time. Yours truly 'See 1, 164, and IV, 149, n. 241, ante. "M. A. R. Rangab^, Greek Charge i' Affaires accredited to the U. S. 'Correspondent of the London Daily News. 'General Cousin-Montauban, Count de Palikao. He won his title of nobility as com- mander of the alUed French and British forces in the expedition against China in i860, which culminated in a decisive victory at Palikao. The destruction of the Summer Palace was executed by the allied forces in retaliation for violations of the laws of war by the Chinese. BRANTZ MAYER TO BIGELOW [P.S.] I o'clock a. m., i8 March. We stop the press to inform our readers that there were four (4) Chineses at Crawford's swarry — each with his tail and button. T. B. s. V. p. I did want to just give one turn to one of the buttons to see if it would ring. But you can't have your own way to swarries. I enclose a newspaper scrap or two about Berryer. His sale is ;iow going on. BRANTZ MAYER TO BIGELOW Baltimore, March 20, 1869. My dear Sir: I thank you very much for the Recollections of Berryer which you were so kind as to send to me. I received the pamphlet this morning and could not put it down until I had read every word of it. I was deUghted, not only by the charming picture you have drawn "ad vivum" of the staxmch old royal defender of his "lost cause,' but also by the glimpse you give of the qmet success with which you foiled, in Paris, the British attempt to break us down in '63. How amazingly small oiu: "Anglo-Saxon-brethren" are begin n ing to appear in the history of the rebellion! Were you not struck by Mr. Roebuck's frank disclosures of poor old "Pam's"^ opinions, now that Pam is dead and gone? Also by the no less extraordinary lies told by Lord Johnny Russell to our friend Reverdy Johnson, over their toddy, as to the escape of the Confederate steamers from British home & colonial ports? It seems to me the Alabama Claims may be soon settled when the noble Earl resorts to sheer mendacity under the sharp county court cross-questioning of Reverdy. I suppose you saw Johnson's Glasgow speech to which I allude. The scene described is so perfectly Johnsonian — (to us Marylanders) — that one might swear to its fidelity. Wasn't it rich? " I knew all about Mr. Ambassador, but alas! our attorney-general had a 'bee in his bonnet' — in fact, was gone clean crazy — & of course I couldn't know it ofl&cially!" Is there anything finer since the day when Mr. Bull declined rescuing his drowning compatriot to whom he had not been introduced? What child's-play statesmanship is when such things are facts. 'Palmerston's. Roebuck, it may be presumed, represented that he got encouragement from Palmerston to propose to France that she join England in recognizing the Southern Confederacy. 270 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Your fine sketch of the royalist lawyer, who had every element of greatness save the essential instinct which should have divorced him from the dead past, is I think, another proof of the narrow- ing effect of his profession. Wasn't it lawyership that made such confusion of ideas here before the war? Of course there must be a great deal of loyalty in true law; and that, of course, helped some of us; but then, what a trouble, you know we had, to break laws in order to preserve the supreme one! Technical law made lots of Southern sjmipathizers and defenders in this region. But I did not begin this note of acknowledgment to write poli- tics. I simply wanted to say how much I was obliged by your recollection of me, as well as how much I was instructed & pleased by your portrait of Berryer. It seems almost impossible that one of such fine analytical powers could have written the, final letter of i8" Novr. to his "Lord and King," in anything but the last flicker of a senihty that had no memory of anything but its early attach- ments. But it was French, and dramatic, and proves, I suppose, that the Bourbonists as well as the Bourbons themselves "learn nothing & forget nothing."^ I will take the Uberty now to ask you a question, which I de- signed doing when we met: whether you ever had any proofs of the portrait of Franklin struck from the plate engraved for your volume? I have a large number of very fine engraved portraits of the philosopher — in fact, from nearly aU the known pictures I have one that I especially value, from Vanloo's portrait, engraved by Alexander which was given by Franklin himself to a gentleman 'Without being in the common acceptation of the term a strictly pious man, Benyer was always faithful to the national church in which he had been educated and was a conscientious observer of its ordinances. Indeed it was a mere chance that he did not enter the priesthood. Had he done so, it would probably have been less difficult than it now is, to name the greatest orator which the GaUican church has yet produced. He was always the champion of the church when her prerogatives were encroached upon, and one of the sources of his uncompromising opposition to the Emperor was what he regarded as the profane and unfeeling policy of his administration toward the Pope. About a fort- night before he died he wrote the note to the Count de Chambord here referrred to: "My Lord — "My King: "They tell me that I touch the term of my life. I die in sorrow that I have not wit- nessed the triumph of your hereditary rights, consecrating the establishment and develop- ment of the liberties of which our country has need. "I bear these prayers to heaven for your Majesty, for her Majesty the Queen, and for our dear France. " That they may be the less unworthy of being accepted by God, I quit life, armed with all the ministrations of our holy religion. "Adieu Sire, may God protect you and serve France. "Your devoted and faithful subject, Nov. i8th [1869]. " BERR-raR." VISIT TO SEWARD 271 in Philada., whose nephew gave it to me. If you have ever had, or ever shall have, copies struck from your plate, I shall be greatly obliged if you will spare me one, if you can. for my Collection of Frankliniana. Please present me kindly to Mrs. Bigelow & believe me truly, your obliged friend & servant. P. 5. You were unanimously elected a Member of our Maryland Hist. Soc. at the March meetuig. Your diploma will be sent to you shortly. I hope it will be acceptable, & that you will do us the favor to rank yovurself among us whenever you come to Baltimore. FROM MY DIARY Auburn, March 24, i86g. I left New York this morning and reached here this evening. General MacDougall,! the partner of Secretary Seward's eldest son William [H.], who is President of the bank in Auburn, met me at the station and drove me back to the Secretary's home. On the way the General said many compHmentary things of William the Junior. The Governor received me cordially, presented me to Mrs. William Seward Jr. and to his sister Mrs. Worden, with whom he was playing three-handed whist when I entered. After supper the Governor Ut his cigar and the ladies retired. He appeared to be in imcommonly good spirits. His effects from Washington had arrived the day before, filling a himdred and twenty boxes and he had been occupied in bestowing them in an old carriage house. He proposes to alter his house to provide more room for his books, and then set to work to arrange his papers, etc., for use. He had been astonished to find how much he had done since he had been in public hfe and how well some things had been done which he had entirely forgotten. In the morning after breakfast we retired to his office, a sort of wing to the house where he used to practise law when he re- turned from Albany after his defeat for Governor. He showed me a letter just brought in by the postman from Reverdy John- son, complaining of Sumner's new theory of damages inflicted upon our commerce by Great Britain during the war; that is 'C. D. MacDougall, breveted in Civil War, brigadier-general of volunteers. RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE damages beyond the specific damage alleged by individual claim- ants. I observed that neither Smnner nor any one else had made any such pretension before, and I presumed Sumner had his cue from Grant. "No doubt he had," said Seward. "That means then," said I, "no settlement there." "Yes," said he, "and the use of the precedent set by England kept for other purposes." I then referred to the extraordinary passage in Grant's inaugural in which he avowed as the basis of our national moraUty that we would do as we were done by rather than as we shoxdd be done by. Mr. Seward said he was surprised that that had not been noticed; had President Johnson uttered such a sentiment the whole press would have rung with it unceasingly. He said Grant had no idea of a foreign poUcy but brute force; that he (Seward) had told them at Washington that there were but three men fit to be Secretary of State that he knew; they were Sumner, Charles Francis Adams, and himself; that no one but himself could make an analysis of the Alabama correspondence in less than a year, and that it would take four months for him to do it. " Fish will refer everything to the Attorney-general; he will do nothing himself; he cannot. Sumner wished and had a right to have been asked into the cabinet, though he would not have accepted it. It was neither courteous nor wise in Grant to neglect this attention." Stanton he said had a very jealous disposition. He (Seward had regarded it as his first duty to the Republican party to pre- vent a dissolution of the cabinet which would have ruptured the party and brought the enemy into power. Owing to these in- firmities of Stanton and others, he (Seward) was never absent that something impleasant did not occur. Some articles ap- peared about himself in the Boston Advertiser once very harsh in their tone. Not long after they overhauled Stanton, who got the impression that Seward inspired them. As soon as he dis- covered the difficvilty he went to Stanton, and by exhibiting the previous articles about himself, gradually disabused his mind of the erroneous impressions. When the fight with Johnson oc- curred last spring he said he was out of town. Had he been in town nothing of the kind could have occurred. When he left Washington, he did not call upon Stanton because of the feeling of the family about impeachment, which left him in doubt whether the visit would be appreciated. He thinks the relations of Stan- ton with Grant are not entirely confidential. He met Grant at dinner in January or thereabout and casually asked how Stanton VISITING SEWARD 273 was. Grant replied that he did not know, had not seen him in six months. He says he sees war ahead; that the Republican party is already disorganized, but he does not yet see the question or policy which separates them: spoke with contempt of party appointments or the tenure of office bill as party issues. He owned however that he covild not see what was to be the question of the future. Thought it extraordinary that Grant should have taken a man so notoriously imfit as Washbume for Secretary of State merely to pay him a compMment, as he admitted that he had done, and questioned whether he had not taken Stewart for the same reason. At twelve o'clock we drove together to Throop Martin's place, the original residence of Governor Throop^ to lunch with his descendants there, on Onawaska Lake. On our way I asked Mr. Seward if it was true that neither the late President nor any of his cabinet was invited to assist at the inaugural ceremonies of President Grant. He answered that they were and they were not. He then stated that the immemorial usage of the incoming President at Washington had been to send some one (as in Lin- coln's case it was Seward, his Secretary of State) to the President- elect to ask when it would be agreeable to him to receive his successor. This was followed by an invitation, usually by a visit from a committee of Congress, to concert with the incoming and outgoing executives a prograrmne for the inauguration. Grant declined to visit Johnson or to hold any communication with him or with certain members of his cabinet — Seward not of the number. The congress went on as usual and provided places for the president and his cabinet, which was published in the paper. The mimicipal authorities invited Mr. Johnson and his cabinet to ride in a parallel colmnn with the President-elect. The President and a majority of the cabinet against Seward's advice, resolved not to accept the invitation farther than to receive a salute as they passed the White House at twelve o'clock. Seward^ not being willing to be separated from his colleagues, declined also. His relations with Grant, he said, had always been of the most cordial character; that they frequently exchanged hospitaUties with each other; but when the time for the inauguration ap- proached. Grant never asked a question, never expressed a desire for any information in regard to any of the matters in his depart- '182^-1830. 274 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE ment Not one of Johnson's cabinet had an opportunity of transmitting to any of his successors any of the knowledge which he possessed about the affairs of his department, except so far as it was preserved in the archives. Grant, he said, a year or more ago, wanted a place for a military friend who desired to be em- ployed in surveying the Darien Canal. Seward said the treaty must be made to secure the privilege of such a survey, and he would see what could be done. He did so, and got the treaty adopted; but Grant never aUuded to the subject after his election, but by his application became the father of the Darien project. Grant, he said, had no idea of a cabinet minister except as a staff officer; that he had but to give orders to a Secretary of State and have them executed with military promptitude and precision; that he (Seward) had great difficulty in preventing Grant's getting an army of observation into Texas to threaten the French with; that he sent Schofield to France merely to avoid such a proceeding, he himself knowing that the Emperor would quit Mexico as fast as he could. He fears Grant is still medi- tating mischief in Mexico, referred to news that the govenmient was providing barracks for more troops in Texas, says Romero^ made a fearful mistake in not adhering to his policy rather than to Grant's; says he told Romero that if they once got United States troops into Mexico they would never get them out. They now see it, and he gets letters from Romero and Juarez by every steamer, full of anxiety. In the course of our drive to Onawaska Lake Mr. Seward showed me a Httle village of cheap houses which he had buUt. He began many years ago. He had some money, and people came to borrow it. He would not lend to his adversaries and could not afford to lend to his friends, who would think it hard to be compelled to repay him. He then commenced buUding small houses for the factory people, worth about a hundred and fifty or thereabout a year. These he would seU as fast as needed at a price payable at any period less than twenty years that the purchaser might prefer, on condition of pa3dng Mm lo per cent, a year and taxes, aU above 7 per cent, and taxes going toward the extinction of the principal. He said he had fifteen of these houses then buUding. While we were at dinner at the Martins', Mr. Seward said he would be ashamed to write a book about himself, but that he had 'Mexican Minister in Washington. VISITING SEWARD 275 projected a history of the obligations of the world to America, or rather perhaps a history of the progress which civiHzation has made since the discovery of America. His travels which he had in contemplation would help him in such a work, which he meant to study whether he ever executed it or not. In the evening after our return he referred to the Chicago Con- vention that elected Lincoln for the Presidency, and said that when the result was announced he saw that his prestige in the country was gone; that his wand had lost its charm, even in the Senate. He therefore went into the State Department as the most dignified place of retirement. He then talked of Mr. Mot- ley's resignation from Vienna, repeating in substance what he had previously told me in Washington. He added that Motley was never fit for the place, and he only appointed him to placate Sumner, who was grouty about the sending of Charles Francis Adams to England and whose position in the Senate [as chair- man of the Foreign Relations Committee] rendered it indis- pensable to conciliate him. Mr. Seward said he had left most of his correspondence about diplomatic business, though marked "private," on file in the State Department. I advised him to get Fred to help him in arranging all his correspondence, printed and unprinted, in per- fect order for reference and to make such notes and memoranda as would enlighten the future student in regard to matters now not fully understood, like the Motley matter, for example. We talked of this at length and finally he concluded to write Fred by that evening's mail to come up, and they would concert a plan of joint work. He said that he had no secular cares to distract his attention; that his sons attended to everything of that kind; that he never had managed his own private affairs, nor even earned any money. They paid everything, even for his stamps clothing etc. They were all provided for and happily settled in Ufe. Weed, he said, had allowed his leisure to be encroached upon with plans for money-getting. It had demoralized him. His ex- cuse was that he had dependent children and grandchildren. Seward has a large brick house in admirable arrangement. It and everything in it exists for him. He seemed much gratified by my visit and begged me to come again. He is a great man, greater than he appears, because his greatness is mixed with so much partisan littleness. But after all, he talks more like a statesman and shows far more forecast than any that I meet. 276 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON Saturday evening, March 27, 1869. My dear Huntington: There is a general feeling in this country that our new Presi- dent^ was what is technically termed "a bite," "a sell," "a bad egg," or "words to that affect." True, as yet they have only his appointments to judge him by, but his gratitude to his rich and generous friends and his devotion to his family is so much like Desdemona's love for Othello that it seems to leave none for any body else. In point of fact, I do not remember any of our presidents who were "got in the family way" so soon after their inauguration. The Evening Post, which has been promising us the millennium as one of the more immediate consequences of Grant's entering the White House, is after Mm to-night with a sharp stick. The people say he has "caved," is not up to the mark, and the news from Washington to-night is that he has a sick headache and could see no one to-day. . . . I have been spending a couple of days with Seward at Auburn. He thinks it very strange that Grant should have deemed it be- coming to offer a post of such dignity and consequence as the State Department merely as a compliment to any one, and es- pecially to a man whom nobody for a moment supposed was pos- sessed of any of the qualifications for it, like Washbume. He thinks Grant regards his cabinet as staff officers who have only to execute orders, and that he has no notion whatever of the way in which nations are accustomed to hold intercourse with each other. There is a report to-night that Johnson (Andrew) is dead. If so, I would not wonder if Grant made him pass for a great man and a wise President. If he does it wiU be a greater achievement than conquering Lee. Gibbs has been nominated for the Paris Consulate, but there are doubts of his confirmation. The World and the Nation have already denoimced it as a nomination not fit to be made. Col. Hay has left Washington and is lecturing in the West. * * * I|C * * I|i 'U. S. Grant. HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 277 huntington to bigelow 42 Rue de Labruyere Napoleopolis, 14 April, 1869. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Yourses of 16 & 27 March received, the latter at the instant. I am sorry for the country, glad for myself, that you don't find it habitable and are coming on trial to Europe again. I am per- sonally much interested in the matter apart from feeling a general interest in what concerns you; for wherever you pitch your tent this siunmer in Germany, I mean to go and take a glass of beer with you. Of the best places for settlement you probably know more than I. Good schools and good German are at Dresden, Bonn and Frankfort. I should prefer the last named of the three as a residence, it being nearer the centre of things than the other two and offering (in everjrthing but art) more resources than Dresden, I should think. Heidelberg is a pleasanter landscape and, I suspect, a milder climate. If you get yourself settled in a tolerable winter country, would Freibourg in Baden do? The beautifullest Gothic cathedral that ever was finished, beautiful landscape and I suppose nuldish climate, and there be cheap tolerable lodging in the neighborhood. I may inflict myself on your Ust of visiting acquaintance for a month or two. For after next October first, I shall be like OtheUo when he closed his cor- respondence with Desdemona. My 18 years' occupation is going to be gone at that date. The Tribune folks have given me six months' warning, dating from April fool's day, that my services, like the gospel at Theodore Parker's Church, as Mrs. Partington said, can be dispensed with. I am too far oflf from New York and out of the current to hook another correspondence, I am afraid, and am like to have a quantity of elegant leisure on my hands. :|c Hf Hf He * * * I note with interest aU you say of Grant. Over here — whether it is distance that lends enchantment (without security) or what not — he seems better than to you. His ignorance of law and indiflFerence as to essential principles imderlying law — displayed in his appointment of Stewart and his purpose of withcaUing [sic] Johnson's pardons, were about all that has troubled me, until this 278 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE sick-headache turned up. That be suspicious. I have had sick- headaches myself in my time, owing to attention to appointments of over night. However, let us hope, as Nicolay does, who now thinks himself pretty safe in his berth till next Congress at least. But it hath been suggested by the ingenious, that the new law changing the Paris consulate to a Consulate General was sug- gested by the ingenuous Gibbs; that the effect of it wiU be not to turn Nic. out of the office but to turn the office out of him — which, to the shrewd observer, seems to come to much the same thing. Here is a new office imincumbented, and so — "Ban, ban, Cahban, Have a new master have a new man!" I was something surprised to see Mr. Pierrepont left out in the cold after having furnished that silver warming pan for Grant's berth in the White House. But where there are so many calls a few must be choused. As for Chevalier Beckwith's disappoint- ment, let him remember what the learned pig said on the spit: "Things must take a turn." He hath had his days of prosperity in the Celestial and Imperial Empires as Dives in this world, and should hardly have expected, on going to the New World, to be received straight into Grant's bosom. Who is to supersede Hale in Egypt? He I learn, on authority that I must unwUlingly trust, is dreadfully given to the drink pots. . . . David assures me that your request that your effects at the consulate be kept carefully and segregate, is uncalled for and "gratuitious," being always anticipated by his willing service. David hath eaten of the insane root, with the appetite of a Caucasian, and aspires to a higher roimd on the official ladder than he now roosts on. I believe he seeks elevation to a consular clerkship. He reaUy does merit higher wages than he gets, but I am afraid the desired clerkship wiU be reserved for white folks; but then David will have equality with the rest in the White Man's pleasures of office-seeking — which is so much gained in the contest of races. I sent you the other day a bundle of papers — mostly Moni- teurs. If you look at them, especially at the reports of the de- bates in Corps Leg. you wiU be struck with the contrast they offer to those of your Parisian time. If there were a few thousand practical politicians among the 40 miUion French, they could develop under the nominally Imperial regime, nearly every polit- D. F. S. FULLER 279 ical liberty to any desirable extent. We have very funny elec- tion hxunors here now: one candidate has presented a large public school in his district with new water-closets a Fanglaise, a droll case of bribery and cleanliness at the very seat of corruption. Mr. Balch has taken a lot of my books, as a help to the com- position of one he is at work upon. Don't you forget that I have Lafontaine, many nmnbers of the great dictionary, and one or two other books of yours as well as 200 and odd francs in monies. Yours truly [P. S.] You win write me again advising me of your hegira from America. . . . We stop the press to say that news has just reached us of Mr. Reade's appointment to the Consulate. Sic transit gloria Nicoli! DAVID F. S. FULLER TO BIGELOW Consulat des Etats-Unis Paris, April 9th, 1869. 55 Rue du Cardinal Fesch. Dear Sir: Permit me to thank you for the pamphlet, Some Recollections of the late Pierre-Antoine Berryer, which you were so good as to send me; also I feel imder some obUgations to you for the kind attention you gave an article written by me in the Journal des Consulats. It was a lame attempt on my part to show up the short-comings of oiur race. Of course in taking the stand that I do with regard to our color I am not to expect much credit or support from it. My experience both at home and abroad has taught me that we are yet wanting in a very great measure the necessary qualifications which would (did we possess them or seek to) do away with many of the obstacles that we are subject to in the world. I see that a question is being raised in the States with regard to the fitness of some of the most intelligent of us for ofl&cial positions; and even a question relative to foreign mis- sions. To speak frankly I hardly think our time has come for that, in fact we are not educated for foreign missions particularly, but. Sir, should there be the sKghtest chance of success with regard to this important question may I take the Uberty of asking you 280 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE to intercede in my behalf for the next vacant consular-clerkship for the Paris consulate; you know my capabilities; I think I have already given some proofs of my fitness for the post, and there are himdreds of my friends here who would willingly endorse any petition or sign a bond for me if it were necessary. I am perfectly familiar with aU the routine of the office as you yourself know, speak and write the French language as well as my own, am bom in the United States, and am a citizen of the State of Massachu- setts; and if it should be necessary to pass an examination, I think I could make as good a show as Mr. Glasier, the recently appointed consular clerk at Frankfort sur M. My ten years probation in the Consulate at Paris I think merits some attention, should my name come up for the post in the event of a vacancy in the corps. My best wishes to Madame Bigelow and the rest of the family, and many thanks to yourself for the many kind favours extended towards me. And beUeve me, Hon. Sir, Your most obed't ser't David F. S. Fuller — attached to the U. S. Consulate at Paris. FROM MY DIARY April 5, i86g. . , . I bought to-day Ulloa's "Travels" in two volumes, one in Enghsh and one in Spanish, to present to Mr. Seward. Governor Morgan told me yesterday that in the last campaign they had a meeting of some seventy people to promote General Grant's election. He was surprised to see X., a notorious Demo- crat among them. Tom Murphy^ said he had brought him and told him he ought to subscribe $500, and that he, Murphy, would give him the money. Not long afterward he heard X. holding forth to a crowd about him that he had put up his bottom doUar for the cause out of his salary, while rich men would put up Uttle or nothing. When the time came for the money to be paid, X.'s check did not come. The collector was sent for it. X. said he would send it down. In a day or two Frank Moore,^ a great admirer of X., came down and handed Morgan X.'s check for 'Hon. Thomas Murphy, state senator (1866-1867). ''Assistant Secretary of the United States Legation in Paris from 1869 to 1872, and later engaged in journalism in New York; editor of The Rebellion Record and other works. ULLOA'S TRAVELS 281 $500. When he saw Morgan taking it, he asked, "Are you going to take it?" "Yes," said Morgan, "why not?" "Why," said he, "it is X.'s bottom dollar, from his salary." Mr. Morgan said he guessed he'd take it and see how they came out. If they did not need it he would send it back. The following day he saw Murphy and told him what had happened. "What," said Murphy, "is it possible that X. hasn't paid that? Why I gave him the money some time ago." He told Morgan to keep the money and Morgan did keep it. Highlands Falls, Orange Co. New York, April 7, 1869. Mr. dear Mr. Seward: I stumbled the other day, when in New York, upon the works of the Ulloas, which recalled to my mind the conversation at Martin's in which you expressed a desire to consult them. It gave me great pleasure to secure them in. the hope that you would do me the favor to accept them as my hmnble contribution toward the Magnum Opus to which a portion of your new-bom leisure is to be consecrated. You have done already a great deal for yovir name but I feel that it is in your power to be remembered longer for what you may yet do, if you carry out the intention you expressed to me — than for any thing you have yet done. By one of those strange caprices in which the Goddess Fortime seems to deUght, the volume in Spanish now on its way to you, came from the library of the late Emperor of Mexico. It was bought at the recent sale of his Ubrary at Leipsic.^ What a sad history is involved in the f ortimes of this Uttle book? How strange that it should so soon have foimd its way from the shelves of the Imperial library in Mexico to your quiet home at Auburn, yours of aU other men? This book written by two brothers of no very great note, more than a century ago, still Uves, and it will live long after the world has become as indiJBFerent to Maximilian as to the color or breed of the geese that saved the Capitol. The moral of this is, give us the book. * * * * * * * V Yours very sincerely 'By Joseph Sabin, second-hand bookdealer in New York. 282 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE PREVOST-PAEADOL TO BIGELOW Pakis, Friday, 2d April, 1869. 47 St. Georges. My dear Friend: The loss of which you speak with friendly s)nnpathy, is a great trial for me. The death of my dear wife was imexpected in spite of her protracted illness, which has, with some interruptions, lasted nearly ten years. You know how we get accustomed to see our sick people go on, however poorly, and how real fear is slow to enter into our heart. I believe, at every moment, to hear my wife ringing; and the sound of her bell, missing now, makes the house empty. You did not know her enough to appreciate fully what affection she deserved and what a passionate devotion she felt for her children and for me. I married her when I was twenty-two, and she went with the most amiable fortitude through all the difficulties of my youth, giving me in every circumstance the most noble advice, without any of those weaknesses for wealth, comfort, or luxury which have such a hold upon many women. I thank you heartily for your Berryer paper which I have read with lively interest, and also for your excellent letter on your negotiations with our government when we were so happy to have you here. I envy you your Grant in spite of his failhigs; and now that we are approaching our shameful elections I feel more acutely than ever how far we are from England or from you. I shall, however, plunge into the fight, and stand probably for Nantes in the place left by the death of Lanjuinais.^ If I am not returned, I shaU perhaps go to America for some time, because I am disgusted with writing in newspapers and want a change. TeU Mistress Bigelow how grateful we are, my eldest daughter and myself, for her kind remembrance, and beUeve me ever yours truly JOHN A. DDC TO BIGELOW Paris, 6 April, 1869. My dear Sir: I have read with great pleasure yoxu: Recollections of Berryer. 'V. a. Vicomte de Lanjuinais, a delegate of liberal ideas, who died on the ist of January, i86g. M. le Senateur Sainte-Beuve BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The paper is an admirable one — better than anything that has been written or said of him here. I have also read with the same satisfaction your edition of Franklin's autobiography, destined henceforth, I am sure, to be the standard one. What a pity it is that we cannot ascertain how William Temple Franklin earned those seven thousand pounds sterling! With kind regards to Mrs. Bigelow and with the hope of seeing you shortly under oiu: own skies, I am very truly yours SMNTE-BETJVE TO BIGELOW Paris, le 6 avril 1869. Cher Monsieur: J'aurais dii deja vous remercier depms longtemps de vos honor- ables temoignages d'attention. J'ai refu votre Franklin, je refois aujourd'hui votre Berryer; je trouve dans cette demiere pubUcation des pages vivantes qui appartiennent a notre histoire poUtique et qui montrent combien vous y avez ete mS16 et par les meUleurs cotes. Votre portrait de I'homme est parlant. Veuil- lez recevoir partout oil ce mot vous atteindra (s'U vous parvient) I'expression de ma gratitude & de mon respectueux souvenir, Sainte-Betjve. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON Highland Falls, April 8, 1869. My dear Friend: I have done violence to my feelings in delaying so long to thank you for the Talleyrand papers. ^ I read them all through the evening I received them. They were exceedingly weU done and entertaining. Ste-Beuve evidently laid himself out on those papers. \^y? Did he not get the cue from the Txoileries where it is important to break down the character of Talleyrand as a Witness? Is it not what the Memoirs of T. contain about the ist Nap. which prevents their being pubUshed as promised? If 'M. de Talleyrand by Ste-Beuve. 284 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE you have any information upon these points that I don't possess, suppose you share it with me. You need not trouble yourself farther about Berryer. I do not propose to occupy my pen with him any more. I felt that something was due to his memory from this side, and knew that no one would do it if I did not, and so I did what I did, in spite of my lack of knowledge and material from which knowledge was to be derived. I sent you the other day an " official " copy of the paper which I hope you will receive.^ I have taken my passage for Hamburg on the first of June. I was near getting into a newspaper agaui but was Providentially rescued. I am now alone here in the coimtry, putting my house in order & pressing forward my preparations as fast as possible, to leave the very first day of June, I do not feel sure of success, but am hopeful. I find it takes all my tune to Uve here and all my money. For the same or less money I hope to be able to live abroad, at least while I am responsible for the education of my children, and have some time for other things than keeping myself and family clothed and fed and from being robbed. There is another consideration affecting myself mdividuaUy which may seem to you chunerical. The atmosphere of my home is not favorable to the kind of Hterary work upon which I wish to be engaged. Gibbon coiild never have written the Decline & Fall in London, nor could Raphael have painted his Madonnas in New York, supposing there had been a New York in his day. There is a local influence that affects a man's work strangely but irresistibly. American artists feel it in Rome but try in vain to carry it away with them. It is impossible in this country to feed much upon the past. It is like smoking a cigar in a gale of wind. The spirits of ovix country are Present and Future. These are hardly on speaking terms with the Past who has abandoned them or rather been abandoned by them. If, however, the opportunities of my children were satisfactory I should probably remain here; but they are quite the reverse, and such as they are, runiously expensive. Of pubUc affairs I can teach you little. Grant has disappointed his friends exceedingly, and the public is settling down with the conviction which has passed into a proverb in France — Vieux soldat vieille bete. He seems to have no comprehension of the nature of political forces. His Cabinet are merely staff officers, 'My paper on Berryer. GRANT AS PRESIDENT 285 selected apparently out of motives of gratitude or for pecuniary favors received from them. His relatives and old friends were among the first provided for, though the pubHc had not been prepared to see any other motives (they doubtless exist) than a desire to provide for his own household, for this preference. No President before was ever "got in the f anally way" so soon after inauguration. By his secretiveness in regard to his choice of a cabinet and by his taking men imknown to his party or to any party, he woimded the pride of Congress incurably. He not only did not consult a member of either House but he did not in his first programme take a member of either branch, nor a man whom any member of either branch wovild have taken. This was a greater indignity than Johnson ever was accused of perpetrating upon Congress, and the consequence was that Grant within a month after his inauguration has been obUged to supphcate Congress in vain, & is more completely powerless than Johnson was at the end of two years of his reign. He seems to lack tact; has too much confidence in himseh; and with the best intentions no doubt, makes the sort of blunders which men always make who undertake to handle tools the use of which they have never learned. What a pity that he did not better comprehend the strength of his position as the favorite general of our army, the heir of pretty much all the glory of the late war; the rival of Washington in the affections of the people, but must aspire to descend to become the successor of Johnson, and Pierce & Buchanan. When I see the hero of the age staggering imder the load of unfa- miliar cares which he has permitted the people to place upon his shoiilders and continually stimibling, everybody criticizing or laughing at him, I am reminded of the remark Paul Louis Courier made when Bonaparte proposed to have himself made Emperor: " Un homme comme lui, Bonaparte, soldat, chef d'armee, le premier capitaine du monde, vouloir qWon I'appelle Majeste? Etre Bona- parte, et se fake Sire. II aspire a descendre . . . II aime mieux un litre qu'un nom. Pauvre homme, ses idees sont au dessous de sa fortune." Grant is conscious, I think, that he has made a mistake. Those who have seen him lately say he looks very much worn and used up and vuihappy. Cela se comprend. I think it doubtful if Gibbs replaces Nicolay. Fish is making inquiries about him, and that is not favorable to his success, I RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE think. Nicolay had better put his house in order, for Grant's relations are not yet all provided for, to say nothing of his wealthy friends. Stewart the haberdasher is very much disgusted with the turn his aflfairs took. He was the biggest man in America after Grant, the day after inauguration. Now he can't get an inspectorship in the Custom House. Congress will adjourn in a few days, and then huzza for Cuba & Mexico. Is it not proclaimed from the greatest pulpit in the land, in the President's inaugural, "Do imto others as they do unto you?" We propose to try on this new system of public morals first, where they make the best cigars. Good bye, my friend. I hope to see you this simimer by hook or by crook, and then we wiU take measures to settle that thorny and nettlesome question about Richards' hat. Yours very faithftdly [P. S] Fish writes me that the dispatch bag is always at my disposal. BERRYER fils TO BIGELOW 133 AVENXJE DE l'EmPEREIIR, PaRIS. II avril, 69. Monsieur: Ma tante, la Duchesse de Riario Sforza, a regu la brochure que vous venez de publier sur mon pere; j'ai lu avec un vif interfit cette expression de votre opinion siu: celui qvi fut votre ami et qu'ici nous regrettons si amerement. La sante, fort alteree de ma tante I'a empechee de vous re- mercier directement, jusqu' k ce jour, du souvenir que vous avez conserve d'eUe. Je me fais son interprete en vous disant combien eUe a ete touchee du tribut d'hommage que vous avez bien voulu payer a la memoire de ce noble esprit qui restera vine des gloires de notre pays. Un journal frangais avait pubUe, en traduction, quelques passages de votre ceuvre; d'autre joumaux ont reproduit ces fragments; mais I'ensemble de votre 6crit est necessaire pour en apprecier toute la valeiur. Serait-il ime indiscr6tion que de vous demander, pour moi et divers membres de ma famile, quelques exemplaires de la pu- HARGREAVES TO BIGELOW 287 bKcation faite par vous? J'ose esperer que non. J'ose penser que vous excuserez rindiscrgtion de ma demande en consideration du prix infini que moi et les miens attachons k tenir de vous- m^me I'expression de vos sentiments d'affection et d'estime pour mon p&e. Veuillez agrfier, Monsieur, I'assurance des sentiments de haute consideration que je conserverai toujours pour vous, Bekryer.- hargkeaves to bigelow Send Holme, Woking Station, Jime 7, 1869. My dear Friend: It is very long since I wrote you last — certainly not since the receipt of your beautiful paper on the late Mr. Berryer. I felt but one doubt of your estimate, & that not of Mr. B. but of our dear friend Cobden, whose sensibility & sympathy you place on a lower level than Mr. Berryer 's. I never saw the latter and never read many of his speeches, and am not, therefore, in a posi- tion to draw a comparison; but I have never known a more sus- ceptible or S3mipathetic nature than Cobden's. His sensibiUty was such that he dared not give the rein to it in his pubUc hfe. He once said to me — speaking of Bright's great eloquence — "He has such wonderful control over his feeHngs — I dare not express mine." The consciousness of this forced him to be reticent, when the sjmapathetic cord was touched. You will remember how soon his eyes suffused. FeeUng this, I have often wondered how he sustained himself in the great fight — but Heaven had endowed him with the highest morals and a most remarkable persistence. And now, my dear friend, I hope we two are on the best of terms as heretofore, spite of the wrangle into which your late representative here^ and Mr. Simmer have managed to draw oiu: two nations. We at least imderstand each other, having ever been of one mind as to the grievous wrong done to your country by the upper & middle classes of mine. How often Cobden used to say, "What future hiuniliation is in store for us!" I therefore am of those who feel with your President, as represented, that it is not a question of mere money com- 'Keverdy Johnson. 288 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE pensation. With the exception of a very select few and a large majority of our working class — for whom I could have desire that Mr. Simmer had said a few words — the bulk of the nation desired the triimiph of the slave-holders, and the breakup of your great Repubhc. I write this with a deep sense of shame. A more fatal battle, in the overthrow, I trust, of none but the bad, is approaching in our Upper House in London — where the Lords threaten to follow in the track of all privileged orders, as last exemplified in your own country, & to commit suicide. We know not what the next few months may bring forth among us. Our people are not in a mood to endure foUy for any long time. Whether the Lords find this out in time is to me, I confess, a matter of indifference (their existence is an insidt to every man of us) ; to them it is a matter of vital importance, so great & so transparent to ordinary visions that I shall only beheve in their intentions when the Bill estabHshing rehgious equaUty in Ireland is rejected by them. I have not seen or heard from Mr. Bright for some time. When I last saw him he expressed himself as much happier in the H. of Commons than he had ever been before — not for office sake but because the party beUeved him, and was in earnest & there were none to stab him in the back. He speaks in the highest terms of Mr. Gladstone, whose good faith and great genius has been patent to everyone in the progress of his great work. Verily we move on. Our race moves at high speed in this generation. . . . Ever yrs faithfully MOEEAU TO BIGELOW Translation Paris, 15 June, 1869. Your new minister to Paris is installed. He appears to be a very worthy man.^ General Dix has kindly recommended me to him in the warmest terms. The poor General has left Paris, after pronouncing at a banquet analogous to that offered you under hke circumstances, a Bonapartist discourse le plus aigu que puisse s'imaginer. He prefaced with a declaration d'amour a 'E. B. Washbume. DEATH OF H. J. RAYMOND 289 I'Imperatrice, but this incident occurred in the midst of oxir elec- toral agitations and was not noticed by the press, a forbearance which I cordially applauded, for I had always only praise for the conduct of the General and I should have regretted that this malapropos discourse had brought upon him the criticism of our papers. You wUl have learned that our poor friend Cochin has not been elected. The electoral movement this year has been a very serious one. About one hundred deputies opposed by the Government, or one third of the whole chamber have been chosen, and the nmnber of suffrages won by the Opposition throughout France is 3,500,000 against 4,000,000 devoted to the Government. You win have read in the papers of some riots in Paris. Though in themselves of little account, yet as a symptom in a country which has its poHtical education yet to acquire, it is much; for our people are perhaps less advanced poUticaUy even than your negroes. Paradol had but 2000 votes. He has much talent, but il n'a pas le ton qui convient au suffrage universel, which is of course no compliment to universal suffrage. FROM MY DIARY June 22, i86p. At a late hoiu- last Friday night [June 19] the body of Henry J. Raymond was brought home in a carriage and thrown on the hall floor of his residence by two men who immedi- ately disappeared. The servant who opened the door, being in her night clothes, escaped as soon as she had turned the key of the door [to admit the party], so that what happened thereafter was not discovered till early in the morning, when Raymond's stertorous breathing was overheard by his daughter Mary. I attended his funeral yesterday. I called upon Mrs. Raymond in the afternoon. She told me that Raymond's relatives, that is, as I understood her, his mother, her father, and an uncle on his mother's side, had died in the same way. Mr. Raymond had founded the Times, had made it prosperous and influential as the organ of the Whig attachment of the RepubUcan party. Returning to my country home this morning, Henry Ward Beecher, who had preached Raymond's funeral sermon, sat be- side me 'in the cars. He told me that Raymond was returning RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE from the residence of a somewhat popular actress named Rose Eytinge,^ where he had had a very stormy time, and that since his wife's return from Europe, where she had been residing with her children for a considerable time, he had been trying to ex- tricate himself from the toils of this woman, who determined how- ever to make him pay for his emancipation. Raymond had left his home, so the papers had it, to go to a poUtical meettag, but in fact he went to Miss Eytinge's apartment, in reply to a simimons from her that he must come to her or she would go to his house. His letters in her hands were her instruments of torture. Mr. James, a prosperous broker of that day, speaking of this tragedy, told me that he and Raymond when they first came to New York, occupied different parts of the same house, which they hired together for $425. James, who had just returned from Europe, told me that while Raymond was under this female in- fatuation, the following incident occurred, and that he had com- municated it to Raymond. " When I was in Paris I went to visit a lady in an apartment in the fourth floor, very modestly furnished. She was surrovmded by three charming children whom she was teaching to read. I foimd them reading an article from a news- paper. It was a complimentary notice of some speech their father, the lady's husband, had been making in the United States." Within two months after that, he said, Mrs. Raymond was at home. Raymond was now trying, I presume, to lead a more exemplary Hfe, but the devils by which he was obsessed are not exorcised but with prayer, and I fear Raymond had but im- perfect notions of the efl&cacy of prayer. This beheading of the Times very unexpectedly disturbed the plan of Ufe which I had marked out for myseK, which was to take up my residence for a year or two in Europe for the better educa- tion of my children. I immediately began to be spoken of as the most ehgible successor to the editorship of the Times. These rumors first obtained currency in the Commercial Advertiser. 'Rose Eytinge, b her prime, was one of our country's most popular actresses. She held the boards for many years, having made her first appearance in 1852 at the age of 17. She was married three times. Her eldest daughter married John T. Raymond, the actor. Rose Eytinge died on the 20th of December, 1911, at the Brunswick Home, Amity, L. I., where she had been living m the care of the Actors' Fund of America. IV editorship or the new york times hay to bigelow Springfieud, Illinois. June 22, 1869. My dear Mr. Bigelow: The last time I was in New York you were not there. I was only a day there myself. I came back home, and received an offer to edit the Illinois State Journal, pubUshed in this town. I have been here a month. I write to-day merely to report to you where I am — as a sub- altern is required to do once a month — and to say, with frank impertinence, that I hope you wiU go into the management of the New York Times. It is precisely the place for you — an independent, well bred sort of character, the paper has: and could be made a most useful engine. What has become of the {Commercial] Advertiser?^ I am very glad to hear of Mr. Weed's improved health. What a pitiable exhibition our old friend made in his valedictory! My best compliments to Madame and the young people. I don't write this for an answer. It is not worth while. Perhaps some Saturday I will have something to say — and teU you of my deaUngs out here, with the Anthropophagi & men whose heads are none of the best. Nicolay will be in New York in a fortnight or so. Yours very truly "For a time owned or edited by Mr. Weed. 291 292 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Since my return from Europe I had received two several inti- mations that my return to the Post would be very welcome to William C. Bryant & Co., but I considered that I had ahready got out of joumaUsm aU of good that I could, and never gave these intimations a serious thought. The imanimity of my friends, of all pohtical denominations, in advising me to accept the posi- tion as Raymond's successor, would hardly have diverted me from the coxirse of Uf e that I had marked out for myself, but for a curiosity I felt to see what might be accomphshed with the advantage which a morning paper in those days enjoyed over those attainable for the evening press. I had first consented to entertain the proposition only upon condition of my acquiring a certain niunber of shares of the stock of the company. It was on the advice of my friend Beckwith that I surrendered that con- dition, and I quote his reasons as I recorded them in my diary at the time. He told me he had written me a letter to take no stock and to have no pecuniary interest depending upon the pros- perity of the paper, but to accept any salary without stock that I would be wilimg to accept, with it. That my place, when I had once warmed it, would be mine upon my own terms thereafter. That I covdd make money just as fast with my sixty or seventy thousand doUars necessary for the purchase of the stock, outside of the Times as in it, and that upon that subject I need have no concern whatever. He added that no one could be insensible to the relations between what he was publishing and his investments, if he was owner of the paper he edited. It was that sympathetic relation which deprived journalism of all its character and dignity in this country. Beckwith's views impressed me very much. I came to the con- clusion that he was right; that my position would be really a more dignified and independent one if my kingdom were Umited to the editorial quarters; that the addition to my fortune could hardly be considered even one of the least of my motives for entering into this arrangement, while seventy thousand dollars, the least sum probably that would buy ten shares of the paper, was a large stun for me to put into a partnership with men who were aU com- parative strangers to me and one of whom at least was a notorious predator upon weaker understandings than his own. If I should succeed in setting the Times upon its legs again and making it prosperous, they would be ashamed not to be Uberal. If I did not, I should not care to remain there nor to own the stock. It EDITORIAL PROSPECTS 293 was better too for me to feel and have them feel that I was under- paid rather than overpaid. As I thought it over, the conviction came upon me so strongly that I felt as if illuminated; I had no misgivings upon the subject. Cta Monday previous, Mr. Henderson of the firm of Wm. C. Bryant & Co. called upon me, and said he had written to me at Highland Falls to have me caU upon him. After many inquiries about the time and terms of my contemplated arrangement with the Times, he informed me that Godwin had left the Post; that he had not been a member of the concern since he left for Europe the last time; that he returned from Florida last spring a year in con- sequence of a hitch in the arrangement for separation, which was then finally closed. Mr. Henderson wished further to know whether it woxild suit my taste, in case I made no arrangement with the Times, to return to the Post, and if it would, he would go up to Cummington and see Mr. Bryant, whom he had not con- sulted in regard to his proposition. I thanked him and told him I would talk with him further upon the subject if the negotiations now pending should fail. This same day I received the following note from Senator Sumner: SUMNER TO BIGELOW Boston, 26th July, '69. My dear Ex-Minister: On your proposed return to the press I offer sincerely my best wishes rather than congratulations. It is a grave responsibihty which you assume, with hard work. The Times is an important pulpit always "beaten" with abiUty, but with nippmg ways. I do not know how completely you in- tend to continue drum & nippers. The general tone is excellent — on some subjects aU that could be desired. I write thus freely, because I suppose that down to this time no censure or praise belongs to you on accotuit of it. There are literary articles frequently, which read well. To-day I read the long article on Forster's Landor, & was much interested. I wished I knew who among us wrote so well, I wish you a great deal of success, which means money & fame, & also congenial employment. Ever sincerely yours 294 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE BIGELOW TO SUMNER My dear Senator: You are at least anticipating events in addressing me as the Editor of the Times. The future may be big with some such event, but is not yet dehvered of it. I have been invited to take the direction of that journal and it is possible, indeed probable, that the conditions attached to the invitation wiU be made ac- ceptable to me. In reply to some misgivings scarcely disguised in yr note, let me say that it is proposed that I should edit the Times, not that the Times should edit me. Neither my poUtical philosophy nor editorial ethics have undergone any material change since my separation from the Post that I am aware of. Perhaps experience has taught me to think bad men in general not quite so bad, nor good men quite so good, as I used to think them, and that our most dehberate judgments of other men's actions would often, indeed generally, be modified if we knew more about them. Under this limitation, and allowing for an esteem for yourself personally and an appreciation of yovir talents and pubHc as well as private virtues, which have grown with my growth & strengthened with my strength, I am not conscious that I have undergone any change which can seriously affect my edi- torial character. I am here only for the day or I woiold nm up to see you before deciding this question finally. That is now im- possible. I hope when you are next in N. Y. you wiU give me an opportunity of seeing you. Always faithfully yours hay to bigelow Springfield, Illinois, July 2, 1869. My dear Mr. Bigelow: I owe you many cordial thanks for your kind letter, which has this moment reached me. I have determined, malgre my better judgment, to go to Spain for a little while. I have read and HAY TO BIGELOW 295 thought a good deal about revolutions, and I cannot resist an opportunity so favorable of Ufting the very pot Hd and seeing the "heUbroth seethe and bubble." I submit to aU your reproaches — agree in advance that I am an idiot for going — but go. The ease with which I sUp my newspaper cable, answers several of your questions. I leave here to-day to go over to Warsaw and spend a rainy day with my mother: then I go East & sail in the first steamer I can catch. I win be in New York one or two days at the St. James Hotel. If you are then in the city, will you be good enough to send me your address? (This in confidence) I shall not be gone more than a year at utmost. I must get settled some time. I have some debts also, and cannot postpone seeking some gainful emplo3anent more than a year longer. I await, with the deepest interest, the result of the discussion in regard to Mr. Raymond's successor. I shall be greatly dis- appointed if you do not go there. It is a powerftd and well placed machine, and you can take it now and carry it up to a higher and broader field of usefulness than it has ever yet occu- pied. It is a pity that petty jealousies or spite should enter into the consideration of so weighty a matter. My faithful homage to Mrs. Bigelow and my love to the children. BIGELOW TO BECKWITH The Squirrels, July i6, 1869. My dear Beckwith: I only retximed last evg. after an absence of nearly three weeks, which win explain my delay in acknowledging your letter. In answer to your questions. The West lives mainly by specu- lation, and its credit is strained to pretty nearly the last figure. If a very bad time comes, the heaviest bolts will fall there I think. Otherwise emigration may carry them through. To guarantee the Cuban ransom to Spain would be to estabUsh a protectorate, and I am against protectorates. The indepen- dence of Cuba means annexation to the U. S., and cannot be RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE made to mean any thing else more than a year or two, if so long. What Cuba is worth in cash I do not pretend to know, but I do not think we are in a situation to buy more territory except at a decided bargain, and that we had better guarantee our own, than Cuban bonds — that is, we had better buy of Spain than of Cuba. We are in no hurry if they are not; still less if they are. Perhaps if I knew more of the situation in Spain and in Cuba I should think differently, but I suppose I know as much as the mass of the people, and therefore I think my opinions on this subject are likely to correspond with theirs. I expect to sail in the City of Paris in August. Yours truly BECKWITH TO BIGELOW Newport, 20th July, 1869. My dear Bigelow: I was rather in hopes of hearing that you had thought better of it & had put off going till "next year" — tho' if you go at all it is better to go at once. . . . Poor Boutwell must feel as if "whatever I do the rogues turn it against me — " the complaint of many honest men who imder- take things they do not understand. The old idea was a purchase of Cuba, but that I hope has had its day. The programme now is: ist. Mediation of the U. S. 2d. Spain to offer independence to Cuba on the basis of indemnity — say for surrender of crown property — 100 or 150 millions! jd. U. S. to guarantee interest Sz: take hen on Cuban Revenues. Consider first, that in point of fact we don't want Cuba, but that she is going to drop, & we must prevent her falling into oxu: hands & keep the Spaniards out of Congress; second, [that] this method will give us a chance of keeping her off, and at the same time getting all the advantages, commercial & naval, that are possible without the calamity of aimexation; third, [that] it will not excite the jealousies of Europe, but rather their concurrence, & it will set up & confirm the new order in Spain, now so weak & CUBA 297 poor that she can only carry on a Ungering contest, that will de- populate & desolate the Island, & draw us in at last; fourth, [that] once separated and organized, a preference for independence wiU become strong in the Island: it mE be the interest & poUcy of all other nations, ourselves among them, to help her to secure & maintain independence; & placed as she is, with much more civilized light flowing through her than Mexico or the other Spanish States here, with less of the aboriginals & a better influx of aU peoples at once, she will have a fine chance of success. At aU events, if you can chalk out anything better than this, to keep her off ouj hands & at the same time conform to the course of events, pray let us have it. Why can't you run down here & make us a brief visit before you go? I shall be very glad to see you & take charge of you here — only let me know a few hours in advance. ... I hope to get a telegraph from P. S. Forbes soon to know how things look at Madrid. . . . beUeve me very truly yours SUMNER TO BIGELOW Boston, 30th July, '69. My dear Editor: For, so it is or is to be ! The law-writers tell xxs that " time " is of the essence of a contract. I suppose they are right. If you were 10 years younger I should have no doubt in your present temptation. I should say yield. I was hoping for you something different. I wished yr prac- tised pen engaged in some soUd book, which you could compose at yr own hours, & in yr own house, without the perpetual Charivari of a daily press. Perhaps, I am too Capuan & wish too easy a life. Yr idea that the Times shall not edit you is excellent — with salt enough to save independence & to savor the paper. Which- ever way you go, my good wishes wiU be with you. Ever sincerely yours 298 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON The Squirrels, Jidy 31, 1869. My dear Huntington: It is true; I have fallen. I yesterday closed with the Times and on Monday [August 2d, shall] put on the editorial harness again. I have passed ten years out of the harness; three of those in comparative idleness. Pray for me. The beautifvil dream of " a peaceful Ufe of thoughtful joy" in Germany is dispelled, leaving not a wrack behind. It was either something hke this or banish- ment. ... Sir H. Bulwer gave me about a year ago as an excuse for standing for Parhament, "that life, if one can not give it some action, stops in a sort of inert dissatisfaction which re- sembles a loss of breath." If that was true to him in Europe how much more true of us here. . . . My friends made a great clamor here against my going abroad to live, and it was in the embarrassment growing out of these conflicting considerations that the Tempter found me. When Benedict denounced matri- mony he did not expect to live tiU he married. When I parted with you in Paris I never expected to be put again to grinding in the Editorial MiU for the Philistines, but Man proposes &c. You I suppose have been denouncing me as a swindler the past two months for not putting in my appearance at Paris or Stutt- gart. But I wrote you in good faith, and at this moment we are all packed, our passages are taken for the next trip of the City of Paris, and most of our parting visits have been made. What are you at? Have you actually quit the Tribune or did they — Young^ being mihorsed — reconsider? Did you go to Germtoy, or why have I not heard from you in an age? Enlighten me, forgive me, & pray for me. Yours always 'Managing editor. EDITOR OF THE TIMES 299 SAMUEL J. TILDEN TO BIGELOW New York, Aug. i, '69. My dear Bigelow: I am delighted to hear that your negotiation for the Times has reached a successful issue. I think there must be fitness on both side. For, some two weeks ago, as I was having for a short time that opportunity for thought and. repose which comes in a rail car, but never comes to me in town, the idea came into my mind absolutely without any outside suggestion. As I passed thro' Albany I read in one of the newspapers that you were thought of in that connection, and in the boat met Mr. Weed, of whom I inquired about it, but who was not so sanguine of the issue as I would have liked. I did half intend to write to you to incite you to the imdertaking. I feared a little, that conditions might deter you or weaken your piupose or action — which could & ought to be surmoimted. Now without knowing the details of your arrangement, I congratulate you that it is made. The opportunity for a sphere of activity which is aheady formed — which is capable of vast good to society — which gives to the individual who fills it, not merely occupation, but personal and social consideration — the daily exercise of power, which may be made very independent, the sense of acting upon the public thought and feeling by what is now perhaps the best in- strumentality of our times for that purpose — a connection with mankind in his day and generation that keeps him from djong out — a business which, on the one hand, affords scope for per- sonal effort and ambition & on the other, admits of being so or- ganized as not to caE for excessive personal labor, if that be the preferred alternative, and which is capable of ample pecimiary rewards — it seemed to me that such an opportunity should be weU considered before it were allowed to pass. I hope you see your way to become a large proprietor in the concern. Even if you have to pay more than you would as a mere investment so that a large rate of income from the capital, as such investments usually give, may be firmly applied for a few years to reduce the capital — one ought not to be deterred. In haste truly yrs 300 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE BISHOP HORATIO POTTER TO BIGELOW Private New York, 38 East 2 2d Street, Aug. 4, 1869. My dear Mr. Bigdow: I don't know when I have heard any thing with more pleasure than the news that you were to take the chief direction of the New York Times. I think I have taken that paper ahnost, if not quite, from its first beginning. I have largely approved of its general tone toward the affairs of the country, both dxiring the War & after it. I took thoroughly in my first address to my convention, after the close of the War, the Hne of conciliation & magnanimous treatment of the South; & I thoroughly approved of the same policy in the N. Y. Times. I cannot doubt that under your influence the paper will gain in refinement of tone, in Uterary excellence, in moral elevation, & in every statesmanlike quality. I was particularly pleased, a day or two since, with your reference to the church trouble about Mr. Cheney at Chicago.* It is, as your paper said, a simple question of obedience to law & order. If one belongs to a fraternity of cobblers, or any other, keep the rules, if you cannot get them changed; or else leave the association. INULLIFICATION IN THE CHORCH In the form laid down in the Book of Common Prayer for the ministration of the rite of baptism in the Protestant Episcopal Church, the rubric prescribes that the minister shall say: "Our Savior Christ saith, none can enter the kingdom of God, except he be regen- erate and bom anew of water and the Holy Ghost." Rev. Mr. Cheney, rector of Christ Church, Chicago, has been accustomed for many months to omit the words "regenerate" and "regeneration" wherever they occur in connection with this baptismal service. This liberty on his part has been made the subject of Church discipline. That the rector of Christ Church conscientiously believes he ought not to recite the word "regenerate" in this service is clear; but no less clear, apparently, was it the duty of his Bishop to call him to account for the omission, and on his refusal to yield to the pre- scribed ritual, to present his case before an ecclesiastical court. If Mr. Cheney dissents from the doctrine set forth in the book of Common Prayer, his true way out of the difficulty should be to withdraw from the ministry of the Episcopal Church. If on the other hand, as is more probable, he is only an ardent advocate of such a revision of the liturgy as will make it conform more acciirately in expression to what he thinks to be the belief of the Church, it may be doubted whether he has taken the proper way of doing it. The General Convention for the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States is the medium for altering the forms of worship which the same body established, and under which Mr. Cheney was ordained. . . . New York Times, Aug. 3, 1869. EPISCOPAL RITUAL 301 If one man may change one important word in the ofi&ces of the Church, other men may change others & we have nothing secure. I confess I am surprised at the interposition of the civil court. I thought each religious body was supported in governing ac- cording to its own rules, provided there be nothing in those rules contrary to fundamental rights. It seems to me that such a resort to the civil courts to impede ecclesiastical discipline may lead to something dangerous. Of course, my dear Mr. Bigelow, I am not supposing that a secular paper like yours can show any particular favour to any one reUgious body, much less to any one phase of opinion in such body. All we desire is fair & gener- ous treatment. On a few occasions I confess it did seem to me that there was some influence reaching the N. Y. Times, & giving it a tone un- friendly to the views of the great majority of ova church in this diocese & in this country. Very likely it was because there was something popialar & plausible in the views put forth on the side of discontented people, given to promoting agitation. At the late gen. convention of our church, the general views of order & discipline which had prevailed in a recent trial in this diocese, were virtually sustained by an immense majority. For myself, I am in favour of a Uberal policy in church government. I am not fond of ecclesiastical arraignments. The proceedings in Mr. T.'s case^ were not commenced by me. Sometimes we may as well not see offences. Still, there are limits, beyond which we cannot safely overlook gross & deHberate violations of order. Excuse this prolix note. I thought that you would not object to this frank statement of my thoughts & views. Wishing you' all success, I am. My dear Mr. Bigelow, With great respect & regard, most truly yours, Horatio Potter. HAY to bigelow Madrid, August 19, 1869. Dear Mr. Bigelow: It comes from so many sources that I can no longer disbelieve the good news that you have taken the Times. The right man 'Tyng's case, N. Y. Times, Aug. i, 1869. 302 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE sometimes strays, even in this ricketty world, into the right place. I congratulate you and the Times and journalism generally, I am fallen so into the habit of believing evil of persons & corpo- rations who make appointments that I had almost given up the idea of seeing you where you ought to be. But it is perhaps on the whole to a newspaper's interest that it should be conducted by a man of brains, and that doubtless determined your selection. In the civil service, it makes no difference to anybody who holds the ofl&ces. Einc the deaf and dumb tenants of our Legations. With the exception of Madrid — 'pon my modesty, there is not a house on the vast continental sea-line from Lisbon to Petersburg over which screams the national buzzard, tenanted by a man who can speak French, or write EngUsh without roUing out his tongue. Cheerful despatches Messrs. Fish & Bancroft must read — con- fined exclusively to discussions of Alabama poKtics and the contingent fund. As for me, I am the right man in a tight place. We have a great deal of work to do here. But it is interesting and instruc- tive. The government at home expects brutahties and im- possibihties. As you know it always does. But our relations with the people in the Spanish Government are very cordial and every thing is as pleasant as the state of the case wUl permit. There is, up to date, nothing decided, after an ocean of talk, but there is no question of principle at stake. The whole game is in the hands of Fish & Grant, if they know what to do with it. But I am not a hero worshipper any more, & if I were, where is the hero ? You are too busy to write to me now, but teU Miss Annie to exercise her infant faculties on an epistle to her elderly friend, to let me know you are all well and happy. Convey my best compliments to Mrs. Bigelow. I dined, my one day in Paris, with Mrs. Richards who spoke affectionately of both of you, & hoped to see you this summer. I hinted at a possibility of your being detained longer at home. I had a long & good talk with Htmtington too. The Tribune has turned him off — like idiots. He has written better letters this year than ever, don't you think so? I wish you could use his talent some way. He really regrets his removal — though manly & philosophical about it. Good-bye. If I ever get time I will write you a less scrambling letter. Your true vassal. SPAIN AND THE UNITED STATES 303 BECKWITH TO BIGELOW New Port, 2 2d Aug't, 1869. My dear Bigelow: . . . Barnard, I think, is sorry Raymond is dead. He, Barnard, was here a week ago. I did not see him, but was told he, Fisk, & Gould came together, staid at the Hotel together over Sunday, & left together. What a spectacle! Grant is the show gooseberry now, and as busy as he can be working — for his reelection. Being a fihbuster, he is afraid the Democrats are going to make capital of their Cuban sjTnpathies, while he is forced to observe the laws, & be just. The Madrid business having for the time miscarried, owing to the feebleness of the regency, Grant pretends to think they are deceiving him & only wish to gain time, & he is seized again with an itching to concede belligerent rights. The concession would not diminish the duties of neutrahty, but wotild it not render neutraUty im- possible? Being intended for encouragement, the swarms of adventurers from our shores could not well be repressed. Spain might not find in concession a cause for war, but could easily find a pretext for it in the expeditions; & though she is too poor & weak to make war, is she too weak or too wise to declare war? Distracted & desperate, with no commerce to lose, & mortified by the loss of colonies & the method of it, why not declare war? Would not every crazy Iberian call for war? f ds of our commerce is stiU in foreign bottoms where the Alabama drove it; and a few fast steamers from the ports of England & France (stealing out) with letters of marque & the Sp. flag would soon dispose of the other ^d. We have not a vessel & never had, to follow up such craft & with Europe neutral, refusing us hospitaUty & sympathizing the other way, BoutweU's surplus would not enable us to blockade effectively a single Spanish port. With a declaration of war, a commercial panic, & a call for a new loan, what would be the effect on our credit at home & abroad & upon the industry & affairs of the country? — augmented by the falling off in the gold revenue? We could not hurt Spain, but she could hurt us, & why should she not if we needlessly augment 304 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE her calamities & mortify her? Why not wait, & let Congress institute this policy if they wish? What chance of reelection for a man who can't conduct affairs without producing commercial and financial earthquakes? The western cabinet is more in danger of going too fast than too slow in this matter. Why not let weU alone and wait? P. S. [Forbes] is on his way back again to explain. Yours truly BECKWITH TO BIGELOW sd Sept., 1869. My dear Bigelow: You have shaken them out & made them slow up a Uttle. They have tacked their Cuban ship and are sailing a more reason- able course, but still heading for grief, and coupHng their offers with threats which are bad both in diplomacy & in words. My object however is merely to ask for my own satisfaction what you think of the following, which you can answer in two words. I think the incorporation of Cuba into the Union would be a cal- amity, & that there is no possibility of such an event without war. Purchase? That was always a shallow thought & in the nature of things not possible. A populous & wealthy country, a civiHzed people, a nation sold & deUvered by one Govt, to another for money — was never, I believe, done on earth or is ever likely to be. Territories pass by sale or concession, but peoples & coun- tries only by conquest. Florida? Sitka? Vacant territories. Lou- isiana? Vast territory with small settlements; but this transfer was the effect of a coming war in which it was only to choose between passing to the enemy by conquest or to a friendly neutral. I need not develop to you the long list in which the thing has not been done. You know the case of Savoy & Nice, & that it is no exception to my proposition. Annexation? This implies the assent of the aimexed. But no people, no race, ever aimexes itself to another race. Such acts do not belong to human history. The delusions in regard to an- nexation are remarkable. Some of our people, especially our western people, admire themselves so profoundly & are so ig- norant of others, that they think the world envies us & wishes to CUBA 305 join us! But where have you seen another nation or people not as much in love with themselves & their own as we are! They may quarrel with their rulers & desire to change their institu- tions — so may we — but they no more desire to change them- selves to us than we to them; the idea is preposterous. In theory it is conceivable that a people the same in race, lan- guage, rehgion, laws, habits, & neighborhood might volimtarily annex — but when did they? Canada & Nova Scotia are almost us, but wait till they come. They may learn to love us even more than they do England, but will always love themselves more than either, and prefer to govern themselves, if free to choose. It is only the weaker & losing party that ever talks of annexation. But ask the Spanish race to annex themselves to the Anglican, or the Anglican to the Spanish — it is against nature. Mr. Lemus^ may talk to Genl. Grant of annexation; he wants aid; Grant may believe him, but it is sham or delusion. Separate Cuba from Spain, & then ask them [the Cuban people]. Like all the Spanish anarchies from Mexico to Patagonia they will prefer governing themselves as they may, to joining us. My conclusion is that purchase & annexation are both out of the question, impossible; that Cuba can only fall to us by con- quest, and if you can induce the Govt, to mind its own business, give fair play, & preserve honorable neutrality, you wiU preserve us from the calamity of war & the worse calamity of the Spaniards in Congress & pohtics. Isn't that so? Very truly yours J. C. B. DAVIS^ TO BIGELOW Confidential Department or State Washington, Aug. 14, 1869. My dear Bigelow: Foley handed me your note of the 13th. I write you a line, more to teU you what not to say than what to say. Babcock,^ 'Morales Lemus, President of the Cuban junte in the United States, accredited agent of the revolutionary republican government of Cuba. 'Assistant Secretary of State. •General O. E. Babcock, one of President Grant's four secretaries, all of whom were army officers. 306 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE who is a very shrewd and very honest fellow, has gone to St. Domingo for the Govt, to mark, learn, and inwardly digest what he may see there. We are beset by a parcel of speculators, among whom is Fabens, — to take steps for annexing St. Domingo. I think Baez'^ has made concessions & grants to Fabens, and that CabraP has done the same to Folsom. What Cole's^ interest is I don't know. AU these people want annexation to give value to their grants. There is no disposition here to go beyond the acquisition of Samand as a naval station, if it can be got for a moderate sum. You will also see a great many rumors about Cuba. It is safe to conclude that none of them are anything but guesses, and many of those wide of the mark. I say for yotir guidance however, that negotiations are going on at Madrid, which must very soon be brought to a point. If they terminate successfully, it will result in an armistice; if not, recognition of a state of war must follow at no distant day. My own impression is that the Spaniards will 3deld at the last moment when it is nearly or quite too late. I shall always be glad to communicate with you freely, for I know that you wiU use the information only as it is intended, and I feel that in the main you will S)anpathize in the foreign poHcy of the administration and appreciate our difl&culties. I was very glad to see you called to the Times. The Secy, had given Ray- mond his confidence in one or two very important matters, which was judiciously used for the interests of the country. I know that he will be very glad, as I certainly shall, to continue the same relations with you. Yours very truly MOREATJ TO BIGELOW Translation ViTRY, 9 August, 1869. . . . I think you ascribe to our Emperor a sagacity which would do him much honor, but which he does not possess. The 'President of St. Domingo. ^General Jos6 Maria Cabral, Leader of Haj^ian revolution. 'Cornelius Cole, U. S. Senator from California. NAPOLEON III 307 result of the last elections has been to him a great surprise and mortification. You may have learned from our press that he continues making concessions when he particularly desires not to, simply because an opposition confronts him which draws its main force from the sentiment of a country which can have recourse to violent means which he can not contend with, by Cayenne or Carmon. Mr. Berryer uttered a profound conunent on him after 1849 when he declared que chez le restorateur de la dynastie Bona- partiste Vamour propre passait toujours apres I'interet. That is very true and explains why des balourdises, such as the Mexican war and the treaty of commerce, have not been mortal to him. The great danger of the new opposition is the absence of men prepared to direct it. For 18 years our pubUc men have been trained no longer to think for themselves; they trust nothing, they vdll oppose nothing. Laboulaye has not been elected to the Corps Legislatif any more than Paradol. For that, imiversal suffrage must answer. As to Annan, ^ there is no farther question about him. He has been bankrupt for a year past. His failure will be disastrous for his creditors. We only prosecute our case against him, for the principle involved. The case will be heard before the Imperial Court in December. Apropos of this matter, I hasten to inform you that in pursuance of your recommendations Mr. Fish has charged Mr. Jules Favre to assist in the case. You are amiable in your appreciation of my argument in the case against the Pereires. My success was complete. They have been condemned with all their colleagues for considerable sums to the stockholders. I thank you in behalf of my friend GaUtzine for aU the infor- mation you were so amiable as to transmit to me. Montalembert has left for the coxmtry in a sad condition of health. HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 42 Rue de La Brxtvere, 16 Aug., '69. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Your apology of 11 July is received and must, I suppose, be accepted; but I don't like it. When Hay went thro' here on his 'The builder of naval steamers in French ports for the Confederates. 308 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE way to reside with the Sickles as near as he could get to what- ever government Spain may be labouring under, he told me there had been pourparlers between you and the Times proprietors respecting its editorial chair, but he rather left the impression on my substitute for a mind that they were liking to end in your non-acceptance of the seat. A week ago a New York correspon- dent wrote that you were in for it, and so I had made my mourn- ing for our lost German meeting before David gave me yotir letter this morning. I did not go to Germany, did not write you be- cause I kept hoping to hear from you there, till a comparatively late date, when I did send you a letter which you should have received before this. I don't doubt but you act in your moral and intellectual as well as pecimiary interest by resuming editorial work, hard as it is. With that unliappy American temperament of yours, I can understand your inability to live in the past amid OMi swift passing present. Different folks have different talents — and napkins to keep them in. I wrap mine in a bed qmlt and doze thankfully. I yet am not proud and try to look charitably on those who are visited with more uneasy gifts. I received notice on the 6th of April that my services would not be needed for the Trih. after Oct. ist. Undoubtedly had Young been un- horsed two months sooner than he was, my career would have been undisturbed. As I understand it, the succession was prom- ised to C. [Clarence] Cook, by Young, and I have heard nothing of any revision of his decision: nay, a N. York friend who thinks he knows, writes that Greeley did not approve of my dismissal, whence I conclude that it is sure to take place; for I have observed that Horace is constantly having or letting things be done in the paper which he says he does not approve of. I do not know, nor very much care, what I shall do after October ist. The loss of the 4,000 annual francs is certainly not agreeable, but I can man- age to live (in Europe) without it. I've a part of a notion still to go into Germany, tho' I shall not find you there — to Trieste perhaps, where my old friend Thayer sits in the consular chair vacated by the late historian Hildreth; and from there, may be, to Florence where my friend Graham holds consular office. Does the Times want an occasional straggling letter from a roving correspondent? Our new consid here, Mr. Reid (or Reade?)^ seems a very 'J. M. Read, Jr., consul-general at Paris (1869-1873) and minister and chargi d'affaires at Athens (1873-1878). HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 309 amiable gentleman. He has brought a part of his library over with him and is kind enough to give me the run of it. There are some books to my taste on his shelves. But I fear that he has not the real root of the matter in him — is not a quai hunter with the true scent — seems to make too much account of the upholstery of literature. I stiU am addict to Americanicknackery. Just missed, thanks to the old fool who was directed to me by Mrs. Cohnache and sold it for a quarter of what I should have been glad to pay — a copy of the first printed Declaration of Independence. He took it to Legras. The fates wiUed that I failed to call at 27 Boulevard des Capucines for four days, on one of which the ma- licious Van der Kemp comes in and snaps it up for 10 francs! May nightmares ride him, and his water be stopped! May corns and bunions wait on his steps ! Let him miss the omnibus and the hour for maihng! Let his proprietor raise the layer, and the concierge forget the names of his visitors! May bedbugs bite him, and showers catch him without an umbrella! Let carriages bespatter him, and deserving but needy Americans get monies out of him, and the binder misletter his books! May his shirt buttons fall off, and his coat ruck in the back! Let him forget to button his jjantaloons on going into company, and mistake Gibbs for Read and congratulate him on getting the Consulate! Let his cigar not draw, and his ink be muddy and his lamp sputter and go out! I hate him. Gibbs and Read (who is nice on his dignities) are already at quarrel about conflicting jurisdictions and precedences! In a letter long ago you were speaking of Talleyrand apropos of Ste.- Beuve's articles. Only yesterday I came upon this, and turned the leaf to your address: in Spark's Life of Gouvemeur Morris, Morris loquitur (it is in his diary kept while in France), "June 6th (1789). Dine with Mr. Jefferson.^ ... At ten go to sup with Madame de Flahaut [she who afterward married de Souza and brought up her son's boy by Queen Hortense, De Momy].^ The bishop of Autun' who is one of our company and an intimate friend of Madame [de] Flahaut, appears to me a sly, cool, cvinning, ambitious, and maUcious man. I know not why 'Thomas JefiEerson, American minister. 2The brackets are Huntington's. Madame de F's first husband, N. de Flahaut, was guillotined in 1793, leaving her a son, Count A. C. J. de Flahaut, who became a general under Napoleon and the father of De Momy by Queen Hortense, the wife of Napoleon's brother Louis. In 1802 Madame de Flahaut married J. M. de Souza-Botelho. •Talleyrand. 310 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE conclusions so disadvantageous to him are found in my mind: but so it is, and I cannot help it. " Curious, isn't it? This was Morris's first meeting with Talleyrand, apparently. Must have had instincts, that Morris. Was at Lagrange last Wednesday with Mrs. Colmache and other pleasant company, where we were very courteously re- ceived by Mr. Jules de Lasteyrie, the actual proprietor of the chS,teau and what is left of the estate. There is hardly any relic of Lafayette's American career now there. The portrait of Washington which he brought from America and that I eminently desired to see, is held by some other of the heirs. Talking of American literature, of which he appeared to have considerable knowledge, Mr. Lasteyrie put Prescott at the head of our his- torians — next place in his admiration was held by Motley. He afterward admitted, more by courtesy than conviction — cer- tainly more than from feeling — that Bancroft ought to rank above either; yet evidently kept the first place in his own mind, all the same, for Prescott. This confirms what you once said to me, of the mistake Bancroft made for his literary fame in choosing an American subject. But things will take a turn "as the pig said on the spit," and by the time the United States hold an himdred millions, American history will get to be interesting, and they numerous enough to vote reputations without consulting European dilettanti. If ever, in the busy career you are now entered on, you still find a moment for the "past" you like so well, cast me a line over your shoulder. I am mediaeval, antediluvian, and rest, firmly as the old red-sandstone, faithfully yours motley to bigelow London, 22 Sept., '69. My dear Mr. Bigelow: I received the enclosed note from Sir H. Bulwer a few days ago, with the request that I would forward it to you. I make use of the occasion to send you a friendly greeting and to beg you, if I can be of use to you in any way, to let me know. You will observe that the note to you was slightly snipped by the BULWER'S HISTORICAL CHARACTERS 311 scissors which cut through the outer envelope of the letter to me in which it was enclosed. Sir H. B. informs me that he is engaged upon a life of Lord Palmerston, which you have kindly undertaken to help through its American publication. I hope that he will have access to the Diary which seems to have been left by Lord P.— but this would seem to require very delicate handling. . . . I remain Ever my dear Mr. Bigelow Very sincerely yours Enclosure BXJLWER TO BIGELOW Ems, Sepr. i6. My dear Mr. Bigelow: You were kind enough to say you would try & help me in bringing out any new work of mine in the U. States. I am en- gaged in writing a Life of Lord Palmerston, of which the first volume win soon go to press. Would you kindly teU me how I had best manage? Were Hist. Characters printed in America? They had much success in England. Money is not ye chief object most assuredly — but one is always disposed to get ye most for one's wares. The work consists in a great degree of Palmerston's own letters & MS. & will, I think, be interesting. I was desirous, as you are probably aware, to bring on the settlement of our differences with the U. S. last session. Sumner had gone so much beyond the mark that there was sure to be a reaction, and at the moment of that reaction I would have treated the question as one between two nations, which could look at things justly & largely & not as between 2 Govts which had been years in higgling & haggling about the length of straws. Mr. Motley however & our Govt, were of another opinion & therefore matters are left to chance, which however, may some- times blow fairly as weU as foully. Still, I don't like leaving ill alone, tho' it is right to leave well alone. The European world is in a bad state. It always, alas, gets into that state during a long peace; for man will not be made perfect in spite of aU our efforts, & the 19th Century which has invented so many things, has not invented a new human nature. 312 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE The Emperor's health, tho' not so bad as stated, is by no means good. The problem of estabUshing Liberty in France doubtful. The Spirit of the Nation is too mathematically absolute to be contented with the Compromises & inconsistencies of which Liberty is composed. However, the wheel has begun to move. Write to me please, 53 Upper Brook St., London or Athenasum Club, Pall Mall. I am taking w^aters here, which rather do one good. Ever yrs with kind remembrances to Mrs. Bigelow, GIDEON WELLES TO BIGELOW Private Hartford, 21st Sept., 1869. My dear Sir: I need not tell you how glad I am that you have resumed your old weapon and vocation. The times need such men and on such duty. The country is drifting, and where the government will bring up no one can teU. In wild schemes of humanitarianism, consti- tutional land-marks and restrictions are disregarded, and states' rights are wrecked — the central government arrogates and usurps powers never delegated, and radicahsm tends to empire. You have seen enough of Grant to be aware he has no rightful conception or comprehension of the structure of our governmen- tal system; and his surroimdings are such that he will not be enlightened — would not be if disposed. I see nothing redeeming in his Cabinet. BoutweU is in the most responsible position, and perhaps the master-mind — earnest, fanatical, and possibly sin- cere, but without grasp, power, or financial ability; making gold merchandise, not currency, and paying off our immense national debt before its maturity by giving the public creditor one dollar and twenty cents for every dollar so paid. But I did not commence this letter intending to scold. I have not lost all faith in popular intelligence and rectitude. We shall get rid of radicalism, or of our federal system of free governments. MONITORS IN THE U. S. NAVY 313 The way in which our fragmentary, usurping congress has domi- nated the Southern States for the last four years is a burlesque on imion and constitutional rights and limitations. My object in this note, however, was to commit to yoiu: judg- ment and disposition a few remarks touching naval matters. When the war was upon us, and we were threatened by England & France, we were compelled to face great difficulties. Our peo- ple were rejoicing ui our "Monitors," and seemed to suppose that they would accomplish every thing needful. They were all we required for defensive purposes, but in the event of a foreign war, and especially with France and England, or either, something else was necessary. We wanted fast steamers, chasers, for offen- sive and aggressive war — a class of vessels whose speed would be such that they could overhaul any vessel they shoidd pursue, and never be overtaken by any ship they wished to avoid. I called upon our best naval constructors and engineers to fur- nish the plans of such a vessel. In order to get the requisite steam power, such a vessel must have great boiler capacity. Heavy armament might be dispensed with, and all other quaUties were to be made secondary to speed. With a few such vessels we could sweep British commerce from the Ocean, and destroy her communications with her colonies. Our experts gave me such a vessel in the Wampanoag and three others of her class. But like the monitors, or turret vessels, they were not popular with a certain class of officers. The boilers and engines encroached on officers' quarters. After the trial trip of the Wampanoag, which made 20 miles an hour, the EngUsh Naval authorities became aware of our policy, and immediately produced the Inconstant as a competitor. This led to the article in the London Times of the 26th of August, extracts from which are sent. If you have the Times of that date, you will perceive the drift. While the Enghsh have detected and are availing themselves of our policy, I understand that our Navy Department is abandon- ing it; that they are about taking out some of the boilers, and putting spare-decks on some of these fast steamers, thus destroy- ing their character and purpose. They reduce the speed to about ten knots, and get in return more comfortable quarters for the officers. Neither the " Monitors " nor the " Chasers " were made for the pleasure and ease of those in command. Congress has not authorised this proposed change, which will 314 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE cost a hundred thousand dollars, nor made any appropriation for it. But law is not much regarded in these radical days. With these remarks I submit the article which I send here- with for you to dispose of, by publishing or destroying. You will make such changes and alterations as you think proper if you use it. For obvious reasons I desire not to be known in this matter. While connected with the Navy Department, I encoxmtered, and in a great measure broke up, cliques, to which there is a constant tendency in the Navy. Latterly they are being encouraged, and I wish to avoid them. The present managers seem to think it important that they should do different from their predecessors, in order to show there is a change. I therefore woiild not inter- rupt them, nor have penned the article sent, but for the reason that the EngMsh are stealing our thunder, and our authorities are helping them. Please make my regards to Mrs. Bigelow, accept them for yourself, and believe me Very truly yours WELLES TO BIGELOW HARTrOEB, 21 Oct. 1869, My dear Mr. Bigelow: I was much obUged to you for giving the remarks I sent you a place in the Times.''- It had the effect I anticipated, and stirred up certain parties who are mischievously inclined. . . . I was glad when I heard you were going into the Times, and not sorry when I heard you had left it. We need such a paper in New York as you could give us, but the Times, it is evident, could not be brought up to that standard. The truth is, there seems to be general demoralisation through- out the country, and I know not when nor from what quarter we are to expect relief. You, doubtless, think better of Grant than I do, and it wiU give me pleasure should your estimate be more correct than mine. He has, as you say, " much to learn, " and if I thought he had any disposition to learn, I might have some hope; 'Editorial page of Times September 23, 1869. GIDEON WELLES ON GRANT 315 but from what I saw of him, I came to the conclusion that he knew but httle of the structure of the government and cared less. He has shrewdness, cunning beyond what is generally conceded him, but it is not elevated or of high order. His instincts are low, and, though excessively fond of power and ready to conform to almost anything to retain it, I have no doubt [he] has more real enjoyment and takes greater pleasure in his stable than in the CoimcU Chamber; would rather smoke his cigar in the back room of a tavern with loafing loungers than associate with statesmen. Admiral Porter who knew him earlier than I did, wrote me privately that Grant was entirely selfish, imgenerous, ungrateful, wanting in magnanimity, and a good deal of a hypocrite. This was before I had any intimacy with Grant, but what I saw of him and his conduct towards President Johnson confirmed this esti- mate. I say this to you alone. Yours truly john rorster to bigelow London, Palace-Gate House, Kensington W. 13th October, 1869. My dear Mr. Bigelow: The book about Landor^ was sent to you at the time of its pubUcation (by my direction — for I was then out of town), and it went, as I have just ascertained upon enquiring at my publish- ers, through Messrs. Fields & Co., who have issued the American edition. If you will kindly make enquiry there, I should be glad to know that it had not miscarried, but it is my hope that ere this you wiU already have received it. Yovir letter (undated but received at the opening of last month) was a very great pleasure to me. Such a man as you cannot "rest unused"; and, faihng for the present other pubUc services, your place is where you have chosen it. There is no American paper that has a higher reputation here in England than the New York Times — and this I am sure you will sustain. Heartily I wish you all success, and should be glad indeed of an opportunity to show how true is the interest I take in it. 'Forster's Biography of Walter Savage Lanier. 316 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Thank you for asking after my health. Until lately I could have answered more hopefully than I can for the present. But an old enemy (bronchitis) has visited me lately, persisted in accom- panjdng me all over North Wales (where I had taken my wife to show her all the beauty of that scenery), returned to town with me last week, and wiU not be shaken off. Of a disagreeable sub- ject that is enough! I have not yet seen Motley — meaning day by day to send him greeting, which is due from me, but stiU delaying as one does with both duty and pleasure. With public affairs we go on much as when you were with us here. Not ascending, as many of us think, but getting what good we can out of the other direction to which some think our steps are tending, and hoping at least that "It" (whatever that may mean!) "wiU last our time." Let me hear from you now & then, and I wiU try and write you what I can. And above aU make my wife's and my own re- membrances as cordial and pleasant as you can to Mrs. Bigelow, remembered always happily by us both. Ever my dear Mr. Bigelow, with the greatest truth & regard Your sincere John Forster. I was not long in discovering the difference between William CuUen Bryant as a business associate and Mr. George Jones. There was no writer left on the staff of the Times when I took its editorial chair who could write a political editorial that would be accepted by any first-class metropoUtan daUy paper of to-day. In consequence of my appointment as editor, one of the most experienced men on the Times, who was disappointed in not getting the place himself, disappeared, and whatever became of him has never transpired, so far as I know; but he was presumed to have killed himself or to have suffered death at the hands of others or by accident. Because I had been an ardent Republican when the preserva- tion of the Union was the dominating issue of the new party which had taken that name, and during my service abroad had enjoyed the confidence of Mr, Seward and the RepubUcan leaders in Congress, the proprietors of the paper doubtless assumed that I would edit the Tim^s on the political fines on which it had been DIFFICULTY WITH N. Y. TIMES 317 edited by Mr. Raymond. President Grant himself called upon me to talk, about the course of the Times, and appeared to be entirely satisfied with it. I took occasion, however, in the course of our interview to teU him that as the war was over and the dangers of disunion were disposed of, it seemed to me to be his first duty to ask Congress to repeal the War Tariff for which there was no longer any excuse. His reply surprised me. "Oh," said he, "we can't do anything of that kind. " And he uttered it with so much confidence that I saw any argiunent with him about it would be wasted. Having known of Grant only as a military man, and that so far as he had any political principles he had been a Democrat, the promptness with which he rejected any thought of a reduction of the war tariff satisfied me that the protec- tionists had already been ploughing with the Whig contingent's heifer. About the same time his Secretary of State, Mr. Hamilton Fish, told me that Grant was in favor of conceding belligerent rights to the Cubans, and requested him to draw a proclamation to that effect, which he said he kept suspended only to learn the result of negotiations pending at Madrid. Both these proceedings better illustrated in my judgment the attributes of a soldier than of a statesman. It was about this time that Jones began to complain that I was ruiming up the expenses of the ofl&ce and that I was elevating the standard of the paper too high for New York. He complained that I had appointed men on the paper without consulting him, and that I had abolished the title "Minor Topics" from the edi- torial page, which he regarded as only less profane than dancing on Raymond's grave.^ When I replied that I had never worked so hard in my life, he said, yes, I worked too hard and conducted the paper upon too high a standard. I told him there was no place in New York for another paper like the Herald or the Tribune, but there was room for a better paper than either, and that was what I undertook to make. I never intended to make a paper like either of those, and supposed Mr. Jones understood as much. The general principles by which I was guided may be gathered from the following leading editorial which appeared in the paper on the 3d of August, the day after I became its editor: >The Minor Topics caption was resumed shortly after I left, but was rejected again by the successors to the Jones administration, and for a number of years has been replaced by that of Topics of the Times. 318 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE USES AND ABUSES OF JOURNALISM The newspaper is as essential an incident of popular sovereignty as the ballot-box. Indeed, it gives a much more distinct voice to public opinion than is possible at the polls. With the aid of the telegraph it compels the whole world to think aloud; to sit daily in open council on public affairs; it places all, however widely separated, simultaneously in possession of the same information, so that all may act with about the same lights, and reach conclusions, not seriously conflicting, at about the same moment. The Press is therefore everywhere, and nowhere more than in the United States, a part of the Government and a very potential part of it. There is no political organization or authority that can resist it when it presents a united front. God, however, has wisely combined the powers with which He endows His creatures with such infirmities that it is only when they exert those powers in harmony with His laws that their full energy can be felt. This truth is singularly illustrated in the history of the Press, which always loses power in proportion as it abuses it. At this season, when an unusual repose broods over the great deep of public affairs; when our rulers are dispersed in quest of health and recreation regardless of "What the Swede intend and what the French," we may be excused for stepping aside a moment from the beaten paths of politics to consider in what ways, if any, the power of the Press may be in- creased and its part in the government of the country more justly propor- tioned to the talent engaged in it, and to the public needs. I. News as an element of interest in the Press has so far transcended all others since the construction of the telegraph that the force of a news- paper is now largely concentrated in that department. Every article of commerce for which there is a great demand, or which commands a high price, is sure sooner or later to be counterfeited, adulterated, or in some other way falsified. The commodity of news is no exception to this law, and of course a great deal of the so-called news which is ministered daily to the curious public is made up of conjecture, hearsay and ignorance. The super- vision and authentication of intelligence coming, as it does now, from every quarter of the world and through agencies over which in many cases we can exert no direct control, is of course very diflScult, if not impossible. The Press can however discourage that species of reporting, by denounc- ing it when its character is discovered, and by always refusing to treat editorially, statements coming through unknown or imreliable channels, till properly confirmed or authenticated. The power and value of a journal lies in the reliability of its news, more even than in the soundness of its opin- ions; and any indifference upon this point is a public as well as professional calamity. II. Incidental to a want of truthfulness in the Press is the practice of giving prominence and notoriety to obscure people in whose movements the public in general can have no possible interest. It encourages a depraved taste for publicity; it disturbs the proper standards of public judgment; it gives undeserved prominence to people whose vanity must be presumed to EDITORIAL PRINCIPLES 319 have provoked it and is to be gratified by it, and of course throws a more deserving class into .correspondmg obscurity. III. There is a method of advocating a cause by denouncing its enemies, which may be, and often is, carried to excess, especially by youthful partisans. It is not by harsh names nor by persistent detraction that men are per- suaded to abandon their opinions, and those who ply that sort of warfare are usually less intent on gaining proselytes than in making a public or part merit of their zeal. No one is fit to be a guide to public opinion who has not learned that the bad men are not generally quite so bad, nor the good men quite so good as the intemperate partisan is disposed to believe him, and soft words often dissolve prejudices and errors in our adversaries which violence and detraction render solid and imperishable. rV. The facilities which a journaUst possesses for giving his opinion of public men; of what they have done or have not done, furnishes a tempta- tion to great abuse. It may be doubted whether all the reserve is exercised on this point, which is wise and becoming. No person can be excused for gratuitously weakening the pubUc respect for legitimate authority, and the Press must be relied upon to cultivate and sustain those sentiments of loy- alty to the representatives of the national will on which rest in last analysis the peace and prosperity of a people. V. Happily the personal controversies which used to disfigure American journalism have pretty much disappeared. Let us hope that they may disappear altogether. Editors can never have a better excuse than the gratification of personal vanity for washing their dirty linen in public. They are simply organs of public opinion, and they are false to their position when they are betrayed into an abandonment of their impersonality. The American Press is responsible, to a very considerable degree, for the administration of this Government. The laws of oiu: Congress and the policy of our Executive are, and necessarily must be, largely shaped by the Fourth Estate. This was never more true perhaps than now. K the Press is true to itself our Government will always and imder whatever party dispensation be a success, and our legislation always wise and humane. Jones admitted that the circvilation of the Times remained about the same as before I assumed its editorship though we had passed through the worst season of the year. The thirty-six writers for the Times, exclusive of foreign and domestic cor- respondents and the editor-in-chief, received eleven hundred and twenty-nine doUars a week. I think the proprietors of the Times of to-day would be only too happy to get ofi for the same service at that sum per diem. I then told Mr. Jones that there was a very easy remedy for all his grievances, and I was prepared to prescribe it at once: that I woidd retire, and was very happy that in gratif3ang my o^vn wishes in the matter I would not embarrass him. Jones then complained that I had said that I did not know how long I should stay with the paper about three weeks ago, and RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE that it looked as though I had no interest in the property. I then said to him that the Times when I joined it was utterly demor- aUzed and had lost its hold upon the country. The following Monday I told Mr, Jones that I wished my name struck from the pay-roU from the Friday preceding. I also ad- vised him to give the direction of the paper to Mr. E. M. Bacon, the most competent man on my staff until he foimd some more competent person. The last day of September I went to the Times office, tied up my own papers, and prepared myself to take leave of it in the afternoon. Jones insisted upon my taking the cheque for the last week's work, which I handed back and de- clined to receive. He said he would feel hurt if I persisted, I reluctantly yielded. He said he would be glad if I would write for the Times whenever I felt like it; and thus the Times and I parted. We might not possibly however have parted so soon but for one incident of our connection which I had not taken any thought of before I entered into it. I had been trained as far as I was trained for joumahsm, on an evening paper, where I formed habits of early rising, doing my work mostly in the morning and getting my sleep at the hours which natvire prescribes for that refreshment. When I joined the Times I foimd it necessary to remain at the ofl&ce xmtil midnight at least, for the lack of a competent managing editor. One of the consequences of that was that I rarely got to sleep before two o'clock and was sure to wake at about my usual hour for waking, from six to seven in the morning. I found it was teUing.upon my health, and I began to despair of being able to acquire the ability to sleep in the day time, as the managing editors of morning papers are obhged to do. The salary had been no inducement to me to accept the position, and surrendering it no sacrifice, and I was only too happy that evening to rejoin my family, a free man, at The Squirrels. bigelow to beckwith Highland Falls, Orange Co., Oct. 3, 1869. My dear Beckwith: My connexion with the Times terminated on Thursday last. My reasons for withdrawing are more numerous and more WITHDRAWAL FROM TIMES 321 satisfactory than those that led me to make the comiexion, but I must reserve them till we meet. I may here say, however, that everything about the Times, inside and out, disappointed me, from the day I entered my Editorial Chamber and found neither pen nor paper nor any provision for my avenement. The milieu, morally and intellectually, was uncongenial. This is for your private ear. It is all over now, and I think I was never so happy as since I got back to my eyrie with the consciousness that my editorial chains were broken. If you read the Times habitually during my gerance, you prob- ably found in its columns satisfactory answers to aU your letters — alas, too few. I only regret that I could not find time to give them a more direct & less pubhc acknowledgment. . . . Yours very sincerely bigelow to huntington Highland Falls, Orange Co., N. Y., Oct. 3d, 1869. My dear Friend: . . . I am ciured of aU taste for joumaUsm and pubhc em- ployment of every kind in America. I will now give you briefly my plans so far as they have matured. I propose to spend the wiuter in my Ubrary hard at work; in May or June start for Germany with all my household, where when my anchorage is ascertained, I shaU hope to have you execute the programme which you marked out for us so nicely this summer. . . . Grant is getting on pretty well, considering the ma- terial he has to deal with, but " Oh Lord how long, " &c. During the past week the government was nearly surprised and taken captive by a gang of gold operators, and but for the exercise of irregular powers by the Treasury, they wovild have succeeded. Though anyone who can see to the end of his nose must admit this to be the natural consequence of our paper money system, no one about the government seems to think of retxmiing to a specie cxrrrency. RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE bigelow to hargkeaves Highland Falls, Orange Co., New York, Oct. 4, 1869. My dear Friend: 4; 4: :ic 4: ^ 4: 4: I hear that there has been some talk of sending Mr. Bright to the U. S. as Envoy Extraordinary. I beg he will not come in that capacity. When he visits the United States he must come as a Hon, not as a fox. We want to itte him, not to negotiate with him. When he visits us we wish to receive him with open arms as our friend, not as a diplomatist with our arms en garde. I do not doubt that he would be more successful here than any one else, but in case of failure he has more to lose than any one else, for he is at present by far the most popular European with the Yankees. There is another difficvilty about Bright. It is not only necessary to send some one who woiald have influence with us, but who would also have weight with the privileged classes [of England], from whom most opposition would be encountered to any settlement to which this country would be a party. My impression is that a representative of the upper House, a man who shares its interests and prejudices, would be needed to carry it through that House the results of any negotiation likely to be successful at Washington. The subject is growing every day, however, of less pubhc interest; Sumner's basis has few adherents, if any, besides himself and Motley; and I fancy if a man with a Uttle tact and knowledge of our people is charged with the busi- ness when necessary, not before, the matter can be arranged without difficulty. I would reconmiend Talleyrand's counsel point de zele. The Govt, I think, has no thought of reclaiming of England because of the concession of belligerent rights to the Confederates, which is the first count of Sumner's indictment, but simply for violating her neutral obHgations towards us. Nor, as I believe I have written you before, do I think Grant would care if nothing more were ever heard or said of the Alabama Claims, if he were sure of not being called to account for his neglect of them by the Hybemian patriots, whose influence at ALABAMA CLAIMS 323 Washington becomes annually more and more fonnidable. The fact is, we have financial and political troubles enough at home to keep our rulers pretty well occupied for a few years without going abroad to borrow trouble. Motley, I hear, is very much disgusted with the government for withdrawing the Alabama business from London and transferring it to Washg., but the pubUc generally approves the step. . . . What you have written us from time to time of your daughter and new son has interested us very much. I do not think it was a great calamity for him to be defeated as a candidate for Parlia- ment. He is pretty young for Parliamentary life, and a few years more of study, observation, and reflection can do him no harm. Remember me cordially to aU your circle and especially to your wife. Your very sincere friend HENRY MOREAU TO BIGELOW Translation Pams, October 22, 1869. My dear Friend: You describe so well to me the advantages of repose and inde- pendence that I quite understand the determination you have made to leave such a brilliant and attractive post, but at the same time so laborious a one, as that of editor of the New York Times. I rejoice specially in that you wiU continue your correspondence, which is so agreeable to me, and realize your project of returning soon to see your friends in Europe. You see that my work on Mr, Berryer continues. I hope that it will require less waiting for than you beUeve. At this moment I am occupied in col- lecting the docmnents. I can do no more, and I am resorting to good somrces. I have not, however, all the facilities you suppose. The papers are in jealous hands, and not especially intelligent ones, this being between ourselves. There seems to be fear of revelations, and as they know my independence, they have evinced some hesitation in letting me have the communications that I desired. On my side, it did not suit me, on account of the affectionate confidence with which Mr. Berryer honored me, to 324 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE persist much with people who knew him little or not at all. I therefore found myself momentarily deprived of some sources of information, and to supply it addressed myseH to the particular friends of Mr. Berryer, from whom I gather many interesting details, for he was a prolific letter-writer. But you, wiU recognize that this sort of work requires time. When I shall have collected my materials, I wiQ consecrate my professional vacations to this work, which I have much at heart and which is singularly faciU- tated by the intimate knowledge that I had of the man. You flatter, I think sincerely, our Emperor with being the pos- sessor of penetration which is altogether foreign to him. He betrays the serious symptoms of disease that are precipitating his decrepitude. Moreover, his health is perhaps stUl less compro- mised than that of the Empire. You do him too much honor in supposing that he has changed the skin of the Hon for that of the fox. He is stUl much embarrassed, and while recognizing on the one hand that his prestige has vanished, he nevertheless will not frankly renounce personal power. Hence the marches and countermarches which are so many siuprises for the coimtry; impairing his authority and securing neither merit nor profit from any of his concessions; for every one knows that those conces- sions are wrenched from him and yielded on indefinite and un- wilHng conditions. We did not endure the octroi of the Charter from our legitimate kings; how could we accept with gratitude, partial and forced restitutions of our property by the one who took it violently from us so short a time ago. If you were here, you would also see that the hopes and the previsions of the adversaries of Bonapartism are entirely ratified by the fears of his partisans. The emperor is more isolated than ever between those who want a liberal gover- ment and the senators who see their places and their persons in peril. The only element, — I will not say of strength, the word woidd be out of place — but of durability, that the imperial government still has is the disruption of parties which are as di- vided as the rehgious sects with you. The opposition, composed of elements the most heterogeneous, has no more pohtical pro- gramme than the govermnent. It is at the same time disor- ganized and led by a minority of the country composed of the disclassed, turbulent good-for-nothings; enemies of all order and of all government. If the democratic opposition would dis- connect itself openly and energetically from this degrading SITUATION IN FRANCE 325 patronage, it would no longer frighten that bewildered mass without a compass, trembling for its interests, which consists of the great majority of the coimtry, and it would have everybody with it. But to arrive there we should have to have men, and that is what we do not possess. Let us hope that Providence will work in our favor, but we are yet very far from the goal. In- stead of having men we have otdy indiflferents; narrow and stub- bom minds; and Clement Duvemois, auri sacra fames. The century of Louis Napoleon differs from that of Louis XIV in that the latter counted upon ComeiUe, Moliere, Racine, and Colbert, the other on such as Duvemois, Michel ChevaUer, Drouyn de Lhuys, and Rouher. Good-bye, my dear friend, present my respects to Madame Bigelow, my friendly remembrances to those dear children, and believe in my most affectionate sentiments. FATHER HYACINTHE* I HAD received on the 3rd of June a letter from Father Hyacinthe in which he said that he had just returned from a two weeks' visit sous le toit du grand theologien Catholique et antirRomaniste (DoUinger), and added: "I return thence armed with renewed resolution for the great battles which are impending. The Coimcil of the Vatican will finish nothing and attempt everything. It will provoke great changes in the religious destinies of the world. More than ever I am a CathoUc, determined to remain faithful to my church while battling energetically against its abuses; laboring to unite di- vided Christian commimities. I wait in the silence of my study and prayer. I am not in haste, but although without any personal ambition, I have an interior assurance that my hoiu: will come. " . Had Loyson profited by a two weeks' visit with DoUinger before instead of after he took upon his own shoulders exclusively the task of reforming the CathoUc Church, it may be fairly presumed that the chivalric monk's remaining Ufe would have been more useful and certainly less accidente. HENRY MOEEAU TO BIGELOW P. S.^ Your old acquaintance of Notre Dame, Father Hya- cinthe, is going to America, and he has been ruined by the praises 'Charles Loyson, named Father Hyacinthe in 1863 by the order of Barefooted Car- melites, of which he had taken the vows. In 1869 he was forty-two years of age. He was a graduate of the theological seminary of St. Sulpice and for the last four or five years had been a favorite pulpit orator in Paris. October 22, 1869 ante. S26 FATHER HYACINTHE 327 which he has received. He has much talent, he is a good man but the master quahty of mind, good sense, is not his strong point. He amuses people with benedictions by one of the friends of Garibaldi, Mr. Villamarina. On the i8th day of October, 1869, the superior of the monas- tery of Barefooted Carmelites in Paris landed from a French steamer in New York. Instead of wearing the usual garb of his order, however, he was clothed in the ordinary dress of a private gentleman. Instead of avaiUng himself of the hospitality pro- vided in most large cities for rehgious mendicant orders, he drove with his baggage directly to one of our popular hotels. His arrival was promptly telegraphed to the extremities of the con- tinent. It was the subject of comment in every newspaper in our land. His hotel was thronged by reporters. He was deluged with invitations. Shop windows and illustrated journals radia- ted his portrait. The maUs were loaded with expressions of interest and sympathy for him. In fact, had Pius IX himself executed the purpose at one time attributed to him of taking refuge in the United States, he could hardly have produced a greater sensation. The day Loyson left Paris he renounced the position he held as Superior of the Convent of the CarmeUtes, and laid aside the garb of his order without permission, thus provoking the solemn penalties of excommunication from his Chiurch. Though I heard him preach once at Notre Dame in Paris, I had never met him personally; but a day or two after his arrival I called upon him, largely for the purpose of rescuing him from interviewers, a class of press fimctionaries with which he had never had any experience and aU of whose questions he inferred it was his duty to answer, nbt knowing a word of Enghsh and very much embar- rassed by the few who knew any French. I saw at once that the greatest kindness I could do him was to get him out of the city, and accordingly I invited him to come up with me to the coimtry. He was only too happy to accept my invitation, and in a day or two joined my family at The Squirrels where he tarried with us for a week or more. During his stay I think we spent about eighteen hoiurs out of every twenty-four discussing the causes and history of his rupture with his Church, and in speculating upon the future which he had to confront. 328 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE This leads me to mention one circumstance which I became aware of during his brief sojourn at The Squirrels, which prob- ably was more responsible for his rupture with the Church than any of those he had assigned to me. A lady, who had brought a letter of introduction to me while in Paris from Henry Ward Beecher, had been fascinated by his eloquence at Notre Dame or elsewhere and sought his counsel in the confessional and outside of the confessional at Rome, where she foxmd herself during the occasion of one or more of his three visits to that city. I knew nothing of this at the time of his sojourn with me although the curiosity he expressed about my opinions in re- gard to the ceUbacy of the clergy and the comfort he seemed to derive from my Protestant views on the subject made me sus- picious that his interest in the discussion of that subject was not entirely evangeUcal or academical. My wife, naturally more perspicacious than I on such matters, told me before Loyson had been with us three days, that he was in love. She was right, for on the second of September, 1872, he was married to the fore- mentioned lady, an American widow, Mrs. EmUy Meriman.^ In reviewing the history of this spiritual revolt, after the lapse of more than half a centtuy, I find myself trying to inqiiire to what extent, if any, the Vatican Council of 1869-1870 declaring the dogmas of Papal Infallibility and of "the corporeal assumption of the Holy Virgin" both of which were stoutly resisted by many the most prominent prelates of the Roman Church of the most CathoHc coimtries, France, Germany, and Spain — may have contributed to provoke the religious as well as poUtical dis- sensions which are now distracting each of those countries to the verge of open revolution. To proclaim the inf aUibiUty of any man or set of men is to proclaim the existence of two Supreme powers, of two First Causes; which is such an absurdity in terms that of the 601 votes in the Sacred CoUege, 150 members, in defiance of Pius IX's persistence, voted against it. I cannot forbear the expression of my conviction that neither Huss nor Luther aimed such a serious blow at the vital energies of the Church of Rome as was dealt by Pope Pius IX in insisting upon the dogmatization of his own infallibility and upon the divinity of the Mother of the Jesus, who spent all of His incarnate life in eliminating the liabili- ties to temptation and sin which he had inherited from her. . I ^Mrs. Loyson, after a happy wedded life of nearly forty years, died in Paris on the 3rd of December, 1909. Pere Hyacinthe ARTICLE ON HYACINTHE 329 am not sure that even those Catholic countries which have thrown off the authority of Rome or threaten to woxild not regard the triple crown better fitted to-day for the head of Father Hyacinthe than for a Pio Nono, their people seeming to be so much more favorably inclined to the reforms he advocated than to those insisted upon by the Pope. That Loyson had made a mistake in supposing that he was capable of a successful reform in the ancient ecclesiastical organi- zation entrenched at Rome, could hardly surprise any one who talked with him for half an hour. He knew less of the world and of the himian race than any adult man I have ever met. He had lived all of his rational life in the seclusion of a monastery and in the companionship of monks. He had read little, if anything, that the average man of his generation, if he read anything, was ettv sure to be familiar with, except the Bible and his book of ^'^avers He was as simple and guileless at forty as most children ^ at ten Of the female sex he knew practically nothing but ^ hat he had learned from them in receiving their confessions. G. p. PUTNAM TO BIGELOW New York, Octr. 26, 1869. ^^^'Shfr Hyacinthe" has given special sanction to a trans- , / nf his Sermons & Addresses by Rev. L. W. Bacon, which Vn nnbUsh & we have undertaken to pay him a royalty, as X thfSSlato" on all copies sold, after the expenses are ^'iHe seemed weU pleased with our suggestions & proposition. iJ.vT^r Washburn of Calvary Ch. has consented to write for the Rev.Dr.WasttD^ Biographical Sketch - incorporatmg iSs ktt^r&rSeL^^^^^ his position in the Church t Mto Hya^the is to see the sketch before pub" to correct Xleam that you have taken interest in this gentleman's his- J&7^S.%ay we not persuade you to write for the iLVNo. of our Magazine something in regard to him & his lustory? 330 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE We are anxious to incorporate in the volume Father Hya- cinthe's sermon on the " Family. " It so happens that the Father has not a copy of this with him, and we have not been able to find one in New York. Do you happen to have brought a copy from Paris, and if you have one, could you spare it for a few days to our translator? Yours resp'y In compliance with this request I wrote an account of my acquaintance with Father Hyacinthe, which was published in Putnam Monthly Magazine, for January 1870, and republished as an introduction to The Family and the Church by Father Hya- cinthe (Putnam 1870); it was also pubhshed in French in the Revue Chretienne (Feb. 5, 1870). MOEEAU TO BIGELOW Translation 26 November, 1869. My dear Friend: I send you with this — first, a letter from Prince Galitzine to whom I have transmitted the book you were pleased to send to me — second, two numbers of the Gazette de France containing a work of M. Dupanloup, the Bishop of Orleans, about the Ecumeni- cal Council. You w^l see by reading it, what is of the greatest interest, the difference between the man who remains faithful to his oath against the enemies of truth and progress, and your friend Father Hyacinthe, who is certainly very amiable and very gracious, but who after aU, is guilty of a great wrong, after taking freely the vow of obedience, which no one imposed upon him, to think, himself authorized to break that vow. You are perfectly right in censuring the intolerance of the acts which have led him to act as he has done, but from the Catholic point of view, the excuse is insufficient; and had he been reaUy of the race of Saints, as he declares himself to be in his letter de rupture, he should have resigned himself like so many others of equal importance, and awaited the judgment day in this world or Emilie Hyacinthe Loyson FATHER HYACINTHE 831 in the other. Father Hyacinthe is an unconscious Protestant; so IS any one who does not accept the judgment and discipline of the Church, and does not consider it as the sole depositary of truth. Now, he does not accept the judgment and the discipline of the Church, since he breaks on his own authority vows which he took of his own free will and puts himself in a state of rebeUion against his legitimate superiors, and declares in advance that if the supreme authority to which he makes appeal does not decide his case in his favor he will pay no attention to its decision, which he treats in advance as emanating from an assembly devoid of liberty. I say again that Father Hyacmthe is not a CathoUc because — and this results very clearly from his last letters from America — because he does not believe in a church which has for its chiefs the Pope and the Bishops, but in a larger church which comprehends all Christian sects. This doctrine has always been rejected by the CathoUc Church; and when we say that out of the Chmch there is no salvation, we do not mean to declare that all outside of the Catholic Church are necessarily doomed to the pains of heU; we only say that oiu: church presents us conditions of salvation pre- sented by no other chinch. Such is the situation of the true Catholic. I do not inquire whether we are right or wrong, because I do not wish to weary you with a controversy. I state only that every one who places himself outside of those conditions which I have permitted myself to indicate to you, ceases virtually to belong to the CathoUc Church. The Father Hyacinthe matter has, for the rest, had less reten- tissement here than was to have been expected. PoUtical pre- occupations, the orthodoxy of beUevers, the indifEerence of a larger nimiber, prevented its being otherwise. Nor has there been with us the curiosity which the poor man was met with in America when he arrived, preceded by the reputation que lui a value son grand salut; and if he desires to proceed in the steps of Wesley and of Channing, it is certainly not in France that he wiU find his adepts. Le Pere Hyacmthe a eu un succes immense. On a vu en Im le successeur de Ravignan et de Lacordaire, il a ete I'objet des actes les plus signales d'enthousiasme, on a ete pour lui etre agreable jusq'a exhumer de I'oubli les vers et la prose de son pere; il s'est cru un reformateur. J'espere qu'il s'est trompe. D'ailleurs, jevous re- pete il a toujours les plus vrais sympathies dans les limites oil la 332 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE conscience les autorise, a I'egard d'un homme qui s'est cru en droit de ne pas tenir son serment. . . . Believe in my most affectionate sentiments — Without any thought of participating in the controversy be- tween my friend Loyson and his church, I venture a few words in the nature of apology rather than of defense of the earnest Dominican which in a measure may explain, if it should not justify, his differing with Moreau in his point of view. In the first place, when Loyson made his priestly vows, his church had not adopted the Pope's infaUibiUty as one of its dog- mas, and the episcopate of France was far from being unanimous in the adoption of that dogma. Loyson himself of course did not approve of it, not only because he did not beUeve that any de- scendant of Adam was infallible, but because, if such a thing were possible, the tragedy of Calvary would have been useless. In the second place, Mr, Moreau assumes that when a member of his church makes a vow, whatever his age, or experience, or instruction, he is guilty of deliberately violating an oath if and whenever he adopts different opinions. That is an assumption that whenever a person joins the Roman Cathohc Church he can never change his opinion about any of its dogmas without per- juring himseK and incurring a habUity to inexpiable penalties. This binds him to believe also that none of the Popes since the death of St. Peter has committed a sin or changed any opinion about his credo since his consecration. If there is any faith to be placed in the annals of history, there have been many Popes who now at least know better than that. Every human hfe involves as constant a succession of changes of opinion as the body itself undergoes, from birth to its grave. With every successive day's experience our duties to our neigh- bors and to our Father in Heaven are undergoing an incessant modification as our temptations change, and they change from day to day and from hour to hour. It may reasonably be doubted whether our notions of our duty to God or to our neighbor are not undergoing quite as many and as constant changes as our bodies, and whether any one worships precisely the same God, that is, a God of absolutely the same attributes, any two successive days, if hoiu-s, though we are as insensible to these changes as to the FATHE HYACINTHE 333 changes that add a pennyweight to our physical structure. All our churches, Sunday schools, and schools of theology are recog- nitions of this changeableness, without which they could be of no imaginable use. They aU exist only upon the principle that we grow in or fall from grace as we grow in age. Hence aU vows made at the altar of any church are subject to the changes they undergo as we advance in age and experience. To treat any change in our religious opinions as necessarily a sin is as absurd as to treat any change in the conditions of our health and strength as a sin. The pretended dogmatic infaUibiUty of the Latin Church, and the Westminster catechism of the largest branch of the Protestant Church, have probably done more to unsettle faith in the Bible as being the Word of God than any other two causes that can be named, and are probably the most serious reason why the oldest of the Christian churches is not accepted as the Uni- versal Church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, which it never can be while discredited by that pretension. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON New York, Novr. 17, 1869. My dear Friend: It seems long since I have heard from you, and I comfort my- self by reflecting that perhaps you are travelling and not neglect- ing. I am just finishing a two weeks sojourn at a water cure establishment m. this City, during which I have raised and har- vested as large a crop of boils to the square inch on my lower hmbs, you bet, as Job ever did on any part of his body. They have served occasionally to recall your troubles in that Une to me, and that is I beUeve the only comfort I have got out of them unless I reckon as such the reflection that there is nothing a man can better spare than what boils over through his skin. I expect to return to my country home to-naorrow. Father Hyacinthe has been spending a week or so with me in the country and we take to each other curiously. He is a very interesting man in a very interesting frame of mind. He has told me the whole history of his rupture with the Scarlet Lady. I wish you would send me any thing about him that appears in Paris that you can conveniently lay your hands on. If my funds 334 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE are out, let me know and I will cover your nakedness. Write me any thing you hear about him from the CathoHcs. Has he any party since his Excommunication? I judge not. Even Mont- alembert would shrink from a rebel of such proportions. Poor Montalembert! I hear that he is in a sad way & liable to die any day. Yours faithfully O. W. HOLMES TO BIGELOW^ Boston, Dec. 14th, 1869. My dear Mr. Bigelow: * Hf * * * * * Alas! I cannot travel as other people can. I am compelled to give up lecturing away from home on account of these con- founded attacks of asthma which are so apt to catch me when- ever I leave my nest. This is the whole secret of my home- sta3dng habit. My friends can hardly beUeve me except those who have met me when I was suffering from this annoyance, which has sometimes been distressing. As long as I am at home I am safe enough, but I am liable at any time, especially in the country, to be troubled and made good for nothing by one night away. One does not like to talk about any such weakness, especially when his general health is so good as mine — but I must explain to you why I have not passed a night away from home, except at New Port, where of late years I have escaped the attack that twice drove me away from my friend Mr. Norton's in the middle of a visit. I am grateful for aU your kindness — I shovild enjoy visiting you but for the fear I speak of — and I cannot bear to think you would believe me guilty of any neglect of your most courteous in- vitations. . . . Always faithfully yours [P. S.] PSre Hyacinthe brought me a letter from you which procured me two charming interviews. I will answer Captain Parsons to-day. »In reply to aa invitation to come and give a talk to the cadets at West Point O. W. HOLMES S36 BIGELOW TO HARGREAVES Highland Falls, Dec. i8, 1869. My dear Mr. Hargreaves: I send you an article I have been writing about a French Monk whose recent visit to this country has been our principal sensa- tion. He spent a week with us at The Squirrels and during his stay in the country I saw enough of him to become sincerely attached to him. He is a very simple-hearted, unsophisticated sort of man; has seen very little of the world, never having been even to a pubhc school, for he passed from the domestic /o^'e?' to the Seminary of St. Sulpice & thence to the Monastery. He is therefore as Uttle worldly wise as a school girl, but a man of pro- found feelings & convictions, and morbidly conscientious if that be possible. His learning is neither extensive nor various. He feeds his eloquence from within rather than from without, from what he feels rather than from what he knows. His faith in the authority of the Church to bind the human conscience is fatally shaken. Whether there is any place for him within the CathoHc Communion longer is very doubtful. The recent letter of the Bishop of Orleans about Papal infaUibiUty threatens another GaUican schism which may give him hospitality, but not unless the Bishop goes farther than he has yet gone and denies the right of anyone to smrender to another or others the keeping of his conscience. Our congress has been in session some two weeks, but I do not know what they are doing. I have not read a report of a single day's proceedmgs. Our President gave us a commonplace, humdrum, sort of message, which I read, and was glad it was not worse. I understand that his secretaries also have published reports. I have read none of them, and from the utter silence about them observed by the press I infer that the pubUc generally have read them as I did, in the parliamentary way, "by their title." This indifference to the doings of our rulers, which is general, is a very significant phenomenon. I hope it indicates a growing disposition among the people to mind their own busi- 336 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE ness and a strengthening conviction that our rulers will mind theirs. ... I was sorry to hear of the Star's demise,^ but in fact its work was accomplished when Bright went into the Cabinet with Gladstone at its head. . . . Your sincere friend On Saturday the 17th of December, Goldwin Smith, then one of the professors at Cornell University, was to give the cadets at West Point a talk about the EngHsh imiversities. Before coming to America & during our Civil War, Mr. Smith had been one of our few stanch & useful friends. I accordingly invited him to make my house his home during his stay over the Sabbath, which invitation he was pleased to accept, and I became one of his audience at the Point. FROM MY DIARY Sunday, December i8th. Went last evening to hear Mr. Smith lecture at the Point. He was tall, thin, of a dark complexion, baldish, nothing sjonpathetic in his manner nor winning, though his smile when he indulged himself with one was pleasant. He appears Uke a man overworked, to whom even conversation had become a fatigue. His lecture was unwritten & not as well deUvered as I had expected from so practised a lecturer. He returned with me to The Squirrels. Monday, December igth. Mr. Smith left this morning. He seemed to take no interest in anything, while he did not avow indifference to anything. . . . He says Cornell has committed a fatal mistake in putting his college at Ithaca, which is the dullest & gloomiest place he was ever in, that in the whole year they have not more than one month of sun; that Cornell was born there; that he wished to be great where he had been Uttle & this con- sideration overruled the advice of everybody whom he consulted on the subject; that while he has a very good corps of young pro- 'A daily paper established a few years before by the special political friends of Cobden and Bright and under the management of a brother-in-law of Mr. Bright. GOLDWIN SMITH 337 fessors around him, they will soon require more pay or they will leave. He thinks it our true poKcy to federalize the colleges of the State & have a competent board of Examiners to certify those who should receive degrees. Mr. Cornell is opposed to this be- cause he wishes his University to be the University par Excellence & would have nothing above it. bigelow to hxjntington Highland Falls, Dec. 17, '69. My dear Huntington: I send you by this post a copy of Putnam containing a screed of mine about Pere Hyacinthe. I do not know that the matter wiU interest you, but it serves me as a pretext for writing to wish you a Happy New Year, a Merry Christmas, and an3^hing else in that line that is going on at this season of the year. I saw much of Father H. while here and became much attached to him. Whether his futiure career is destined to keep the promise of what has passed, is a question which I am not going to pronounce upon. If his education and conventual training have not ruined him, he wiU be heard from again, for he started with a prodigious capital for the line of business in which he has been engaged of late. But oh — castration is nothing to the training of a monk, for getting all the manhood out of him. There are to be two new books pubHshed this winter that may survive the spring — Bryant's translation of Homer's Hiad and Dr. Draper's third & last vol. of his history of the War. I know of nothing else worth speaking of. . . . I have been water curing for a month past but have suspended operations for the winter. Yovurs very sincerely 338 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE GARCm DE TASSY* TO BIGELOW Paris, Xbre 19, 1869. My dear Sir: I offer you my best thanks for your kind letter of October last, by which I know that you are again quite free and able to come again to France and see your former friends who esteem and like you so much. In the meantime you have received our illustrious preacher. Father Hyacinthe, considered now as an outcast for having said a truth formerly received in France: viz., that the Roman doctrines, so called, are not Christian; id est, the archiultramontane ones backed by VevuUot & Company. We GaUicans endeavored to start a GaUican newspaper, but vainly, GaUicanism being out of fashion, the fashionable people and even our government being ultramontanists. You win find at p. 33 of my last address I sent you a copy of, an allusion to that Roman mania. . . . We beg to be remembered to your amiable lady and dear Grace, and that you accept yourself our best regards and love, believing me always. My dear Sir, Most faithfully yoiurs Garcin de Tassy. OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES TO BIGELOW Boston, Dec. 21st, i86q. Dear Mr. Bigelow: I have just been reading your account of Pere Hyacinthe in the copy of Putnam which you were kind enough to send me. I only regret that I did not have a chance of reading it before seeing the Father. I felt as if I knew too little of him to make half an hour's talk what I wanted it to be. I know that xmder more 'Professor of oriental literature at the CoUige de France. O. W. HOLMES 339 favorable conditions I should have broken through the crust of my bad French into something Uke an exchange of those human sentiments in which, if in nothing else, we should have stood on common ground. I was very sorry to have to make those personal explanations as to staying-at-home restrictions. It is hard for any but my own family to imderstand them — they have seen me so frequently coming home from a harmless excursion rendered absolutely good for nothing for the time being that they do not wonder at all to see how rarely and with what precaution I ventiire away from my fireside. You know that I appreciate perhaps even more keenly the offers of hospitality which I do not venture to accept, and you may be smre that the more than kind invitation of yoiurself and Mrs. Bigelow sounded as pleasantly to me as the simmier wind — though my casement is not open. Remember me cordially to her and beUeve me Gratefully and truly yours HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW Florence, 29 Dec, 1869. Dear Mr. Bigelow: I greatly envy you the Hyacinthine week and wish I could have sat there an eavesdropper in your Ubrary or Hstened at keyhole of that sanctuary. I had aheady concluded from the local date of his letter to the Rev. Bacon^ that he must be stopping with you — readily conceiving how his right CathoUc spirit and your im-church Christianity would naturally conmnme. You have doubtless seen all that I have, probably more, of whatever was printed about the Father up to end of October, the date of my leaving Paris. If when I return, I should fall upon anything new, it shall be held on your account. In respect of your "funds" have no fear that they will be insufficient to cover your orders. I can't at this distance from the records say with nice accuracy, but think iL. W. Bacon who was to edit an English edition of Father Hyacinthe's book, The Family and the Church. 340 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE there remains of your monies something like 250 francs. Should say with confidence, that your judgment that Hyacinthe has no following since the excommunication, is fully sustained by the fact. Should say that French folks who want a church at aU, wiU be apt to rest for some long while yet within the pale of the one they were brought up in, the one that responds better than any other yet invented Christian Church to the spirit of the French people, among whose developed traits are, on the intel- lectual side, logical quaUty, on the moral side, sympathetic qual- ity, and belonging to or growing from the combination of these, a need for Unity, authority & an artistic sense of form & colour. All of which no one of the numberless churches of Protestantism, quarrehng with aU the rest, protesting the right of private judg- ment for itself against the Roman Church and protesting against the exercise of that right on its articles (39 more or less), with very little of the human none of the female element in its reHgion, with rites & ceremonies either taken from the Roman church, or cold, hard, and colorless as the North East side of a New England meet- ing house — answers to. As for French folks who make up their minds to do without the Church, they naturally go beyond or aside from the Father H. He is like to be a lonely man; as you say, even Montalembert, who must have sjTnpathized with liim up to the eve of the ex- commimication, is as foreign to him now as our friend Reclus. Of printed facts & fiction relating to Montalembert,! repeat what was just writ of the same kind regarding the new booted CarmeUte. A friend of mine who met him and saw something of him in New Haven, writes, among other things to his praise — "He was quite the conventional priest in appearance, with the side long glance heightened by near-sightedness in spite of the eyeglass and boots and other costvtme of a gentleman of the period; and it was quite touching to see that the boots were a great deal too large for him — that he might break his feet gradually to the restraint. " The glimpse you give of Papa Beckwith swells in my mind's eye to a pleasing and gorgeous image resplendent in barbaric brass and daze of colour. I have been in Florence since the 3d of last month, where I am wonderfully hospitalized by J. L. Graham and his dear wife. He is, as you may know, successor of your half namesake Lawrence, FATHER HYACINTHE 341 in the consulate-generalate of Italy ,i and Your Ancient is his household vice. If I could only find out which I least want to labour through the seeing of, Venice or Rome, I should leave, straightway. Shall probably get back to Paris anyway by ist of next March. Did on the third day of my being here come upon the "Vita di Benjamino Franklin Scritta da se medesimo" etc., bought a copy, found it was translation, with recognition of your edition, and was about sending it to you, when Mr. Marsh told me he had already forwarded you the volume. . . . . Don't forget to write definitively about your European voyage, so that I may have the letter at least not later than at my return to Paris, and hold me Yours truly FATHER HYACnSTTHE TO BIGELOW Translation January i, 1870 Dear Sir and Friend: I write these lines on this day of the solemn renewal of the year. My thought carries me back to New York and Highland Falls. My wishes for you and yours go towards the Lord. I hope that you wiU come to this side of the Atlantic in the year 1870, and that it will be given me to shake your hand and to resume our pleasant conversations of hardly two years ago. Your article for Putnam's Magazine^ has excited the greatest in- terest among the persons to whom I have communicated it. . . . I am happy that your name has been Unked with mine before the pubHc in this great rehgious crisis of my life, as your soul has been Hnked with my soul before God. How can I ever forget what you have been to me and the good that you have done me. I am still fatigued by the very rough crossing that we had, and I could not begin the work which you have encouraged me to do. I wiU take it up now. The deplorable beginnings of the Coimcil engage me to persevere in the Une of energetic protesta- tion and of profoimd reformation on which I have entered. An 'T. Bigelow Lawrence, Consul-general of Italy (1861-1867). ^Father Hyacinthe and his Church, January, 1870. 342 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Ecumenical Council, convened after three centuries' interval and in face of the peculiar situation of the contemporary world, should be like a new revelation of the spirit of God on earth; and nevertheless the ultramontane majority wish to make of it an instnmient of tyrannical centralization and of criminal oppression of consciences, and the Galilean minority only hopes by force of talent, of cleverness, of courage, to secure a negative and sterile result!! Was I not right in exclaiming: Is there no balm in Gilead, no physician there? At such times, how much one needs to take refuge in the depths of one's conscience, in that inviolable sanctuary of the soul where Jesus dwells with us. There the invisible Church appears in aU its truth, its purity, its beauty, like his celestial spouse on Tabor. There the soiled and darkened veils are torn, and the sun of justice already begins its eternal rise in oxu: hearts. " It is good to be here, let us make our tent!" I have received the kind note you wrote me in sending me the letters addressed to Highland FaUs. I thank Mrs. Bigelow for her remembrance of me, and I send her my homage as respectful as it is affectionate. I kiss the charming Httle Flora; I ask of her a little prayer for me. Her angel sees ever the face of my Father. * * * * * 4: li: A Dieu, dear Sir and Friend, beheve in my gratitude and in my affection. Fr. Hyacinthe Loyson. peevost-paradol to bigelow Paris, 47 rue St. Georges, Thursday, 20 January [1870] My dear Friend: I am very grateful for your kind remembrance and I have read your paper on F. Hyacinthe with pleasure. Nothing shows better the difference of France on one side and England and America on the other than the interest with which these religious quarrels are followed in the two Anglo-Saxon cotmtries and the absolute indifference which they meet here. When oiir politics are in a luU, as was the case so long, there is an artificial rising of PREVOST-PARADOL 343 religious questions which can deceive a casual observer, but as soon as the political strife is fairly raging, as is the case now, re- ligious subjects are vanishing off altogether. The Council, which fills whole columns of the Times, has no existence here, where the great question of revolution or no revolution is put every morning to the country. You must know that my friends are now in power and the Emperor [is] sincerely trying to be a constitutional sovereign. We are so disgusted with our anarchist and sociaUst madmen that we help him sincerely also. Now I have been offered a portfolio during the ministerial crisis, but I was far from Paris and could not accept such a way of entering the pubUc service. But I am tempted to accept another thing which seems to be now at my disposal: it is to be the French minister in your country. I am hesitating a good deal, but the more I think of it, the more tempted I am. To spend one year in America in that capacity would be so useful and agreeable. As to lecturing, I won't have anything of the kind any more. It was an exception. Give me your opinion about the other thing and believe me. Yours very sincerely bigelow to prevost-paradol [Highland Falls, N. Y., ca February i, 1870.] My dear Friend: Yesterday, the very day I reed your favor of the 2o"ult. [I received also] a telegram announcing the probabUity of your coming to the U. S. as Ambassador. TiU I read yr. note I doubted the report, mainly because I knew it was not usual with your government to select for its diplomatic representa- tives persons not reared in the service. I am deUghted to find your name added to the short list of eminent exceptions to this rule. . . . About this time I very reluctantly yielded to the wishes of my oldest son and apphed to President Grant for his appointment as a cadet at the Military Academy at West Point, from which the following correspondence ensued: 344 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE president grant to bigelow Executive Mansion, Feb. 7, 1870. My dear Sir: Your letter forwarding an application of your son for an appoint- ment at large as cadet at West Point, reached me in due time. In reply I have to say that, while it would afford me pleasure to appoint your son, yet I feel it my duty to give these appointments to the sons of officers of the army and navy (these branches of the government having no representation in Congress), or the sons of volimteers who fell during the RebeUion, or rendered eminent service during the same tr3dng period. The number of appli- cants from the above enimaerated classes exceed by a great many the mmiber of appointments within my gift. With kind regards, I am, Yours truly, U. S. Grant. BIGELOW TO president GRANT Highland Falls, Feb. 15, 1870 Dear Sir: I have your favor of the 7th inst. in reply to my son's appli- cation for a cadet's commission at West Point, in which you in- form me that you feel it your duty " to give these appointments to the sons of officers of the army and navy (those branches of the government having no representation in Congress), or to the sons of volunteers who feU during the Rebellion or rendered eminent service during the same trying period." Had my son's appUcation been simply denied, I should have had no farther occasion to trouble you with the subject, Mr. President. I should have been constrained to presume that the commissions in question were reserved for more meritorious can- didates or such as you so esteemed. You have, however, been pleased to assign reasons for your decisions which I could hardly APPLICATION FOR CADETSHIP 345 be expected to pass in silence. In the first place, you justify the new distinction you have made between the civil and mihtary elements of our society upon the ground that the army and navy have no representation in Congress. During the Rebellion, unless I have read its history incorrectly, the army and such officers of the navy as were in American ports were allowed aU the priAoleges of suffrage enjoyed by the rest of the community. On the other hand, during that whole period I was on foreign service, and in that respect at least withan the category of unrepresented pubUc servants for whom you inform me that the West Point commissions are to be henceforth spe- cially reserved. It is true I have my vote now, but so have most of those who served in the Rebellion; for most of them,Uke myself, have quit the pubUc service, and are in the enjoyment of all the privileges of citizenship. As a farther reason for refusing my son's appUcation, Mr. President, you state that you felt it your duty to bestow your West Point patronage upon the sons of volunteers (among others) "who had fallen ia the Rebellion, or who had rendered eminent service dming the same trjdng period." I cannot suppose. Sir, that you would take advantage of such an occasion, or indeed of any, to treat me with deUberate disrespect. I infer, therefore, that you were not aware, or have forgotten, that during the entire War I held commissions from the State Department which required me to reside in France. Of my services, first as Consul and afterwards as Minister Plenipotentiary for a period of nearly six years, I do not pretend to fix the value; but your note of the 7th inst. makes it proper for me to state that my official con- duct from first to last received the unqualified and repeated approval of the government I represented; and I have yet to leam that the final and happy disposition of the momentous questions with which I was charged and towards which I must be presumed to have contributed according to my opportunities, gave anything less than complete satisfaction to the coimtry at large. I shall not claim that any services it was my fortune to render my country, whether as consul or minister or in any other capacity, were "eminent"; but I do feel at Uberty to question the propriety of excluding my son from the Military Academy at West Point upon the ground that the services his father rendered during the RebeUion were too inconsiderable to entitle him to be considered by you, even as a candidate for its privileges. 346 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE I united in my son's application very reluctantly, Mr. Presi- dent, and only to satisfy him that I was willing to make what would seem to him a trifling sacrifice to gratify his ambition. You have denied it for reasons which reflect upon my character as a public servant. I am xmwilKng to attribute to you any such purpose; but whether you did or did not entertain it, it was equally impossible for me to permit such a reflection to pass unchallenged. I am, Mr. President, With due respect. Your obedient servant, Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, Feb. 19th, 1870. Dear Sir: Your letter of the 15th inst. is received, and I very much regret the interpretation it gives of the letter to which it is a reply. I have probably five hundred appUcations for the ten cadet appoint- ments at my disposal. These appointments are made by law, one year before the admission of the appointee. When personal apphcation is made, I uniformly make to the applicant, verbally, the reply which I made you in writing. In all other cases the applications and recommendations are filed with the inspector- general of the Military Academy and no response is made. In your case, however, knowing you personally as well as by repu- tation, both as representative of this government abroad and as a distinguished writer at home, I thought it due to you to answer your application for a cadetship for your son, both to relieve any suspense you might be in and to enable you to make application to the member of Congress representing your district, should you desire to do so. I assure you no reflection was intended, but quite the reverse. I am, with great respect. Your obt. svt., Hon. John Bigelow, Highland Falls, N. Y. U. S. Grant. I met Mr. Grant frequently after this correspondence, at pubHc festivals and receptions, but I never saluted him again. My son, VMA^yksM K' S/1- (^-^iT .K<>_ (|Xi^t^tf jAr_ ^^^ ^^^^x^.„j>T,,^/i:^;:3L.^-t.'^~ ^c-t-^ ^-^^s-t^st^s-*:^^ -^Cy -^<^ ^ y~ ^Zo GRANT TO BIGELOW 347 two or three years later, received an appointment from Mr. Lyman Tremain of Albany, whom neither of us knew, at the instigation of the late Professor Forsyth and Professor Michie of the Military Academy, who were sagacious enough to perceive that my son was composed of the stuff of which good ofl&cers are made, as time has proved. hargreaves to bigelow 34 Craven Hill Gardens, London, Feby. 20th, 1870 My dear Friend: 4: 4: 4: 4: 4: 4: 4: I feel that I shall best satisfy your impatience by next referring to a subject of greater public interest — I mean the [illegible] indisposition of our friend, of everybody's friend, Mr. Bright. The papers will have informed you as to the nature of his Ulness — one similar in its character to that from which he suffered some 14 years ago. HappUy not so severe — but we cannot forget that he is now 14 years older. He spent the two Sunday evenings previous to his break-down at our quiet fireside. He complained of the long hours at the Cabinet Councils and their long fasting, and on the last evening I remarked that he did not look quite well, and that he had a very dark shade around one eye. He then told me that in walking from the last Coimcil he felt giddy, and thought he should have fallen had he been unsupported. He was leaning on Lord Clarendon's arm fortimately. After dinner he felt better & I reminded him how, .that years ago, I had observed that he could not go half an homr beyond his usual meal-time without evident suffering. He attended Councils almost every day the week following, and at last, thought became a difficulty & a pain. His illness is simply the result of brain-work on an empty stomach. He sent a short letter to Mr. Gladstone by his brother Jacob, to whom Mr. Gladstone made the remark that, if he fasted as long as Mr. Bright, it would kill him, that he always took an early dinner before the Coimcil. Bright is now at Norwood with a part of his family, and the 348 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE daily reports are encouraging, but I fear he will be unable to take any part in the passing of the great work, to which he has devoted so large a portion of his hfe — to him a great disappointment, to all of us a sorrow and a misfortime. Complete rest & time are absolutely necessary to his recovery. Happily the biU presented to the House appears to give general satisfaction, so much so that it is beheved it wiU pass the and reading without a division. Some changes will no doubt be fought for in committees by the landlords. But a vague fear hangs over them that something worse may be reqmred of them, so that we feel sanguine that this great work wiU be at last accomplished. If pohtical economy is outraged in some points, justice has been the same, and for centimes. Things cannot be set right without some force. On education & other questions we are likely also to make some way. Our free & cheap press is revolutionizing most things. . . . Yours &c bigelow to sm edward bulwer, lord lytton Highland Falls, Orange Co. New York, March ii, 1870 My dear Sir: I desire to recall myself to yr. remembrance for the purpose of asking a place in yr. library for a new translation of the Diad which has just appeared in this country. It is from the pen of Mr. Wm. C. Bryant, oxu: first American poet, whom you may remem- ber to have met at my house in Paris in 1866. I venture to say that the fideUty, grace, and Saxon vigor of Mr. Bryant's version of the greatest of poets wiU justify the hberty I take in commending it to your perusal. It is one of the marvels of this version that it is the performance of a poet in his seventy- sixth year. It will be difficult to name another work of merit of any kind executed at such an advanced period of life that exhibits the intellectual and aesthetic faculties in a state of such imimpaired perfection. I am happy to observe that you are in the enjoyment of good working health, and that our public, in common with the rest of the Enghsh reading world, may long continue to receive the BRYANT'S ILIAD 349 annual harvest which jrr. industry & genius has been accustomed for nearly half a century to reap for them. * ***** * I remain, my dear Sir, &c. lord lytton to bigelow 12 Grosvenor Square, May 17, 1870. Dear Mr. Bigelow: I thank, you much for your kind thought of me and the val- uable addition you have made to my library. Mr. Bryant is himself so genuine and eminent a poet that he can afiord to be exact as a translator and leave Homer to speak for himself un- adorned. In the cursory survey of his work that, amidst the business and whirl of the London season, I have alone been enabled to take, I am impressed with his marvellous fidelity to the original and with the masculine and vigorous flow of his verse. A more careful and critical reading I reserve for the later simimer. I beg my kindest regards to Mrs. Bigelow & am truly Yr ObUged Lytton bigelow to BRYANT^ Highland Falls, March 14th, 1870 My dear Sir: I have recently received a letter from Mr. Emilius Wolff, an eminent Prussian sculptor, long resident at Rome, and perhaps personally known to you, in which occiirs a passage to which I venture to ask yotir attention: "Two years ago the celebrated Villa Albani was sold by the heirs of that family to Prince Torlonia, formerly the rich banker of this city. I know that he purchased it with a view to make a 'William C. Bryant, was ist Vice-President of the Metropolitan Museiun of Art. 350 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE great and profitable speculation of it, and I have it from his own mouth that he intended to sell it. I gave notice of it to the Prussian govenmient, but I am afraid that in the always uncer- tain state of politics in Europe they wiU not be disposed to make any large outlay of money and so I think that a rich country like that of the United States, which is in greater need to provide [for its wants] in this branch of intelligence, would be glad to find a favorable opportunity to cover a blank, which perhaps never will return. " The ideas of Prince Torlonia are rather extravagant, and there Ues the difficulty. He takes his precedent from the conditions by which the Borghese Museum was sold to the first Napoleon, then at the sum of — so far as I can recollect — 14,000,000 francs ($2,800,000); and, considering the great renown of this museiun, as well as the lower standard of money in present times, he would even not be satisfied with such a sum. But if it shovdd come to a definite arrangment he might be found more reasonable. " This is reported to be, as you are doubtless aware, the finest collection of antique art in the world, after the collections of the Vatican and the Capitol at Rome. No opportxxnity of making such an acquisition for our metropoKs has ever occurred before, and it is dijfficult to foresee any contingency that shall offer a second. It has been suggested to me that the gentlemen composing the MetropoKtan Museum of Art, of which you are, I beheve, the chief officer now in the country, may be disposed to profit by the information with which Mr. Wolff has so kindly favored me, to insure the absolute, immediate, and triumphant success of their enterprise, by securing a collection which has required a century or more to get together; which would at once make New York City one of the art centres of the world, and which would probably not cost the interest of the money actually expended upon its acquisition and preservation to the present time. For the information of such of your associates as may never have had the privilege of visiting the ViUa Albani or who may preserve indistinct impressions of its contents, I append some memoranda of its more notable features, drawn from reUable sources. It appears from Mr. Wolff's communication to me that the ViUa is to be sold with the collection. The edifice and grounds, if not needed, might be sold at a price that would greatly reduce VILLA ALBANI 351 the cost of its contents, or it might perhaps be worth the while of your association to consider the practicabiKty of retaining it and converting it into a school for American artists in Rome, similar to the schools sustained there and at Athens by the government of France, to which a few of the most promising young artists in the empire are sent to study at the pubUc expense for the pubHc advantage. This villa would make a delightful residence, and might be converted into an Artists' Home upon some basis that, at no inordinate expense, might render incalculable service to American art, and reflect great honor upon your association, I have only to add, what I daresay is superfluous, that I send you this information for what it is worth, leaving it with you entirely to judge of the propriety of submitting it to your as- sociates. I remain, dear sir, very faithfully yours, huntington to bigelow 42 Rue de La Bruyere, Paris, 24 March, '70. Dear Mr. Bigelow: * * * * Since my return from Italy, 8th February, I have kept a little lookout for Hyacinthine news, but leam nothing. ... A bad deal of the time since getting home I have been obHged to keep at the house — for the last fortnight have stirred out of my room but once, and am well pimished for that excursion. The trouble is a sore toe that won't heal — what the doctor calls "indolent," though it runs a Uttle on its own account. It has been bothering me since mid January, kept me indoors a fortnight at Florence and shortened my stay at Venice — whose strange beauty revived that sort of wondering, story-book sentiment which was provoked by the first sight of some of the old German towns twenty years ago, the very susceptibility of which I had supposed was died out of me. All evil hath its compensating good — the very father of evil, for example, being devilish con- venient as a conversational expletive. Extremes meet. This toe we are speaking of is an ever ready and fertile theme for a paragraph, and you are now the sixth correspondent whom 352 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE I have entertained with interesting particulars concerning the same. But you are more directly interested in it than the others, for because of my imprisonment this last fortnight I have not been able as I wished to foUow the papers at the reading room and find and forward to you what has been written in them about Montal- embert. Of his death you have of course been advised, and wiU^ have received before this, I trust a number of the Moniteur (the only journal I take in) giving some accoimt of his death, also another Moniteur with Champagny's^ Moge of Berryer. Prob- ably the Correspondant wiU have an elaborate article on Montal- embert, which I will procure and save for you, as I shaU the catalogue of Ste-Beuve's hbrary, which Legras sends me to yoiu: address. The sale of S. B's. books began Monday this week. I attended, with SmaUey,^ the first night. The books did not generally rim to very high prices. Thus S. bought Renan's Vie de Jesus and the sequent two volumes — gift copies with author's autograph envoi — for 21 francs (unbound) and another work, compilation of French poets, at very reasonable rate. S. B.'s own copy of History of Port Royal with MS. notes (in pencil mainly I think) 256 francs or thereabouts. The collection is very miscellaneous — a working Ubrary, for the most, with few great rarities or elegances of edition, condition, binding, etc. The especial Port Royal collection however, is not included in this catalogue; and it is the hope, I am told, of those who have the management of its late owner's afifairs, that it may not be dis- persed at public sale, but bought in block and kept together. Since our country is so happy that, as you report, its current poUtical history has come to be unreadably dixU, you might turn for entertainment to that of France. Though here the proverb is at fault; for while the history of France is more interesting these 18 months or two years than ever before since 1851-2, it wiU be the great fault of its people if they do not continue to grow in happi- ness. Thus far — and this is to me most remarkable — they show a singular practical wisdom both in their way of demanding and accepting the gradual re-formation. Seeing the conditions of culture for the past 18 years, the acquired growth of poUtical com- mon sense in these parts is truly extraordinary. The processes and progress of this unparallelled pacific French Revolution are 'Count Franz Champagny (1804-1882), author of Les CSsars and other works; his Discours de Deception before the French Academy (March 10, 1870) was devoted to a eulogy of Berryer. "G. W. Smalley, foreign correspondent of the N. Y. Tribune. NEWS FROM PARIS 353 changing my hope to confidence. Of course, abundant abuses remain, numerous obstacles have been rather avoided than over- come, and many dangers are masked not removed: but the peas- ants, the upper classes, and the bourgeoisie are thus far decidedly hostile to violent revolutionary action — pubHc opinion is as decided for pacific revolution as against the violent means of the red radicals: the violence of these last, now that the press is so nearly free, goes far to correct its own dangerousness. A Coup d'Etat is as good as out of the possibihties. L. N. B. is behaving better and OUivier with more pohtic ability than could have been fairly expected. The social question, the Church question, and the possible revival at any moment of the war question, are always formidable but not immediately pressing. It is odd to note that at present the most fractious party in the Corps L6gislatif is made up of the old ImperiaUst puros. The most oneasy opposition paper, among the daily prints that you used to read, is the Paysl The old sitting hens at the Luxembourg don't like to have the spoiled constitutional eggs — from which they never could hatch anything — plucked from imder them, but even their cackle over the operation will not be very loud nor long. With a difference, they are like Dupanloup & Co., who protest against the InfaUi- bility dogma (because it weakens the bishops' authority over the priests) ; if it is voted they wiU accept it and damn aU the protes- tants and freethinkers who (quite foolishly) are taking their part in the present resistance. 3|C i|C 3|C 9|E Sp 3|C 3|C Yours truly SIR HENRY BULWER TO BIGELOW Cannes, March 28, 1870. My dear Sir: A thousand thanks for your letter^ & J shall accept Mr. Lippin- cott's offer with pleasure and send him the proofs in time. It will do when I send them to fix on which of ye 2 alternatives we settled upon. I am quite satisfied that I am dealing with an honorable straightforward gentleman & that is sufl&cient. I think ye book 'In compliance with request of Sept. 16, 1869, page 100 ante. 354 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE will be interesting. The first part is in fact a history of Palmers- ton himself^ & ye times he was living in from his own letters & journal up to 1830 — with much personal narrative, anecdote &c. The second is his career of Foreign Minister — and as from 1835 to 1851 1 was employed by him on ye most important posts I can say much that no one else can. The latter part takes in his duties as Prime Minister, leader, & Premier, with such correspondence as I think characteristic. What are you about besides yoiu: Journal, which is in itself a life & power. How can you contrive to Hve in ye country? Nothing is done or Hkely to be done in respect to our differences because ye 2 Foreign Ofl&ces have only to make out their cases. The thing to do wd be to make out a case against both Foreign Ofl&ces over whose DemoUtion ye countries might shake hands. But one gets lazy in these times about laboring for great objects. Every ant is busy with rolling on his small bit of millet seed & is careless about storms or earthquakes. The wretched weather, the immense majority in favor of Government, & other smaU causes, have kept me up to this time in the South & I shall not go up for Parliament tiU after Easter. We are doing a good deal for Ireland, but not in my opinion in ye right way — but representative governments must always be between ye wrong & ye right, for such is ye case with opinion in general, & it is no use having a better opinion than the opinion in general. The Emperor in this coxmtry has been pla3Tng a great game. If he keeps his present cards in his hands he may win it — if not, Tell me your do abouts, yr where abouts — & intend abouts. Place me at Mrs. Bigelow's feet. Ever yrs B. Address always — Athenseiun Club, Pall MaU, or British Embassy, Paris. 'The history of the real Palmerston from Baron Bailing and Bulwer's point of view. GOSSIP FROM HAY 355 JOHN HAY TO MRS. JOHN BIGELOW Legation This letter is dreadful. You OF THE United States must not read it but once. OF America, Madrid. Then burn & forget it. April 4, 1870. Dear Mrs. Bigelow: I thank you very heartily for your letter and the definite and satisfactory information it contained about the Marquise^ and my fiancee. You did not remember her name, but that is not important — Nous allons changer tout cela. I am awaiting a great pleasure. Mrs. Sam. Hooper of Boston will be here in a day or two. The first friend I have seen for a year. She will tell me great heaps of gossip, and I will repay her by repeating verbatim your last letter, and we will be merry over our tea cups as in old times at Washington. Did you ever know Mrs. Hooper? She is very weU worth while. I like her better than any of my Aunts. " If this be treason make the most of it. " Do you remember (of course you don't) a yoimg lady named Wilson from Indiana who came to Paris to study art, during your reign? She is here now, with Mrs. Butterfield (sister-in-law to ours), and a Miss Dart. They are devoted to art and the Protestant propaganda. What is the matter in America? A half dozen Major-generals have recently died. A yornig lady in Boston went to a party with His Satanic Majesty and coming back, suicided herself with a brand-new pearl-handled pen-knife. George Wilkes has received personal correction on the street from BiU Leland — the first debt WiUiam ever paid. And to add a new element of disorder Prince Pierre Bonaparte has sailed for New York. He is greatly disgusted with France — says he is going to the only cotmtry in the world where a gentleman can enjoy himself with a revolver. You know the jury found him innocent and fined him 25,000 francs & costs, to teach him not be be so innocent the next time he kills a man. Who will give him the first dinner and the first ball? He makes rather a better figure dining than dancing. His ap- petite is sprightly, but his feet are gouty. °°° Brazilian 50,000 Egyptian S°>°°° American 100,000 Mississippi 2S>oo° Diamonds 200,000 Uniforms 16,000 Beaujon 60,000 Total £933,000 BIGELOW TO HXnSTTINGTON 4 HOHENZOLLEEN SXRASSE, BERLIN. March [ist and and], 1871. My dear Huntington: Your letter gave me, I need hardly say, very great pleasure. I was glad to know that you had not succtunbed to short commons nor German needle gvms, and above all had not like old Bishop Hatto fallen a prey to the rats, either by not agreeing with them or they with you. I was all packed up yesterday morning to leave in the evening for Paris. I have since determined to postpone the trip until things are a httle more settled there and tiU my friends more generally have returned. I have a complete set of Kladderadatsch for you, from July i, 1870 to date, which I proposed to take on but now must defer until another opportimity presents itself, unless you are in a hurry for them; if so I will send them by mail. I have not been able to find a single copy of Bazaine's defence in Berlin. It was printed in Brussels and as I am going to Stutt- gart to-night, I shall hope to find it when I get farther west. There is great discontent here with the terms of peace, especi- ally AArith the surrender of Belfort for which Bismarck is chastised roundly. Germany will now, it is said, have, to build a large fortress right opposite to Belfort & garrison it in time of war with EUROPEAN POLITICS 473 from 50 to 100,000 men, when had she retained Belfort, 15,000 men would have suf&ced. They do not like either, Bismarck's falling so much in his pecuniary indemnity. He should never have asked so much originally as 10 milliards or never fallen to half the amoimt. It is akeady taken for granted thfit a new war is not far distant. Austria they say here must have a fight with Germany for very existence. Without a fight she cannot sus- tain herself and probably not with one; but that Germany is to have a two-handed war very shortly with Austria on the east and France on the west is regarded as a matter of course. The relations of England with Germany too are any thing but satis- factory, and the impatience of Mr. BuU to get on better terms with the United States, which he has lately exhibited, has left the impression that there is a coahtion forming between England, France & Austria on the one hand and Russia & Germany on the other, which is to result in a fight. Russia I learn is building ships now on the Black Sea and rebuilding fortifications in com- plete disregard of the treaty of 1856. That explains the extra- ordinary zeal England has recently shown to square accoimts with us, I think. Six months ago Bismarck would not have dared to contract an offensive & defensive alliance with Russia. Now he is strong enough to do any thing, and the hostile dis- positions of Austria wiU make such a step only the more a matter of course. Did you know that Austria had an army all ready to march into Germany at the first battle with the French, which it was taken for granted would result in the German defeat? Within a week after the battle of Woerth, the Emperor of Russia, who till then had been on the fence, got down on the German side & sent Francis Joseph word that he must not attack Germany. Had the French won that battle I might have been permitted to see the Austrian army quartered in Berlin last summer, which no doubt was the arrangement in contemplation at the Tidleries in those sunset hours of French imperiahsm. I shall be vmhappy tiU I see Paris again and I begin to have some hope that France has done with Die-nasty Govermnents. Yours very Sincerely P. S. I hope they will send me the Debais from the time it stopped coming or keep it there for me and continue to send it regularly henceforth. /. B. Write me soon. I shall be back in a week. 474 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Thursday Evg. I have been compelled to defer my trip to Stuttgart indefimtely. I may go on Saturday and not go at all. I learned last evening tliat some Russian bankers have been here with an offer to take the entire French debt to Germany and hand over the money at the rate of a milliard at a time in 3, 6, 9, 12, 15 months more or less, they taking for their security French rentes at say 50; about i per cent, below the market price. Bis- marck has signified his assent to the proposal and the parties have gone to London, Amsterdam & then to Paris to see what can be done. This does not look as if the financial part of the French indemnity was regarded by bankers as disproportionate to the strength of France, however oppressive it may be regarded by the French themselves. It would be a favorable omen for the peace of Europe to have the debt transferred to other than Ger- man hands. I judge that you are writing occasionally for the Tribune. I read a very interesting letter in that print the other day, which had the incontestible Himtingtonian smack — or as we say in Deutchland "Schmecke." Yours always P. S. Are there to be any literary trouvailles on the quays this spring, or elsewhere? If I come on, can we have profitable walks among the old books, pictures &c. or have those trades too suf- fered with the war? BIGELOW TO HAHGREAVES 4 HOHENZOLLEEN SXBASSE, March 4, 1871. My dear Friend: Thank God, peace is once more restored to Europe, but not I fear for a long time. The correspondence which has just passed between the Emperors of Germany and Russia va. which the former acknowledges his never to be forgotten obligations to Russia for preventing Austria's interference, is portentous. It puts an end to the delusion indulged I think in yoxxr foreign oflice, that an alliance was practicable between Prussia and Austria. Whatever chances may have existed for such an arrangement, BIGELOW TO HARGREAVES 475 these letters, or rather the publicity so deliberately given to them, have disposed of. I infer from this publication that Bismarck intends that Austria shall be either a much weaker or a much stronger power before many months — at least before France shall be in a condition to help her much. Russia is, I imderstand, going on with the reconstruction of her ships of war and arsenals, &c. in the Black Sea as if there had never been a Crimean War or a treaty in 1856, excluding vessels of war from the Black Sea. The publication of this correspondence is evidently intended to let the world know before the Conference resumes its sittings that Germany and Russia mean to act in harmony at least while their present sovereigns live. You will probably notice in the Times of this morning that Mr. Thiers has signified his intention to put an end to the Cobden Treaty and, as he puts it, obey the example of America in resort- ing to high tariffs to meet unprecedented burdens. As this step would exclude German manufactures which com- pete formidably with French industry, I am not sure that plausi- ble orators may not make it popular. It woidd be sad if the first measure of the new government should make the world begin to regret the loss of the Empire. The indemnity in money exacted by Germany seems to be a frightful bmrden for a nation to assiune, and yet I understand that bankers are organizing a ring to take it aU and pay Germany off at once so that her army may be withdrawn immediately. If that succeeds it will show a confidence in the resources of France, which would go far to justify the terms imposed by Bismarck, for the pertinacity with which France has persisted in pushing on the war rather than kiss the rod did not entitle her to be let off with much less than the limit of her capacity. . . . Very faithfully yours HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW Paris, ii [and 13] March, 1871. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Yours of the first reached here the 6th. I mention this to ex- phcate what might else seem wrong m the date of these by the time you get them. I was mortial sorry to read that you had 476 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE unpacked, having 'lotted on your coming this way, though you did well perhaps to defer your visit if seeing friends and book hunting were its chief objects. Some of the former would not have returned, and more probably have gone, since the raising of the siege — either for the sake of seeing wives and children sent into the provinces in September or their properties there, or to attend at Bordeaux in and about that Assembly, where the help seems less than the assistance. That won't be there much longer. Manager Thiers having engaged the troupe for a series of performances at the Versailles Palace theatre. As nine tenths of the members will want to pass their nights in Paris, we shall soon have a parhamentary train, if not a parliament, as they do in England — the Gauche gomg out and coming in by Mt. Par- nasse, the Right by the rail on the Rive droite, and the Centre by the Place de la Concorde and horse raU — moderates and inde- pendents can take their own kerridge or foot it. Is it not odd how the big rivers run past the large cities! For the rest, what- ever would Louis XIV say to it, if he could look up from his rest- ing place on such a gang at such a business in his house? L'etat, c'est moil His cjoiical great grandson would say, "Just as I ex- pected. Apres moi le deluge." As to book himting: there never was so little game. Business of every sort, not relating to munitions de louche or de guerre, was arrested during the siege — book publishing and auction sales with the rest. From habit and for the sake of keeping the hobby in condition, I have taken a trot every fortnight or so on the quais, and have not brought home since September so many books as I could count on my fingers. As for new ones pubUshed in the time you may count them on your thmnbs. I do not recall a single octavo printed in the last six months. The Chdtiments and Napoleon le Petit, first Paris editions, were our novelties: the Chdtiments had great sale. Newspaperism per contra fructi- fied and frisked and fictioned most notably — never brisker nor fuller of news than in that fortnight during which we were as ignorant of what was going on in the outer world as the beasts in Noah's Ark — not even a pigeon coming over the lines for two weeks. Vinoy^, acting of course by Thiers' order — Favre, Picard and /. Simon assenting — has just shut up or himg up rather, six of the sUKest of the papers. And so we work back to the old track. It is a pity. These journals undoubtedly 'General Joseph Vinoy. HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 477 preached sedition — but like most preachers, mainly addressed themselves to the converted. The very day that Viaoy's suspen- sory order is signed, the holders of the cannon at Montmartre had offered to give them up — (no, the day before) and the restless state of the city (grossly exaggerated by sensational, careless, and politically calculated reports) was passing. It's a pity, because it breaks an experiment of freedom of the press, which one would think ought to be accepted as final and successful. From 4th Sept. to nth March the press was really free in aU senses: the shutting up of the Combat 23d Jan., the previous arrest of Portales and the three days' suspension of the Patrie are hardly exceptions but accidents rather, and did not affect the general rule of absolutely imrestricted freedom. Never was a govern- ment more frankly criticised, more mahciously attacked, more licentiously abused than was ours during the period just men- tioned — or with less damage. The affairs of 5th, 7th and 31st October and of 2 2d January grew out of the state of things and would, I sincerely beheve, have borne more and more fruit had it not been for this very freedom of speech and print — thanks to which everybody was forewarned and everybody but our gover- nors forearmed. It is great pity to let pass this chance of letting the press regiilate itself without statute law. But beside that, Mr. Thiers is quite too old and too French to admit a Uberty with- out reglement. I suspect he had Vinoy issue the present order to the address of the really and pretendedly alarmed decapitaUza- tion party among the provincials in the assembly and out, who after constructing an insurrection in Paris were making an argu- ment of it in favor of sitting at Carpentras or Briva-la-GaiUarde and carrying on Government by package express. Truly "they are a rum lot," those assembly men, as the clergyman's daughter said of the ten commandments. But they are French, and I have come to hold as past controversy this truth that no foreigner can imderstand them. We know that no foreigner can imder- stand our folks — and I confess that I have staid away so long that they are got a mortial puzzle to me. Do you perceive that striking resemblance between ovir institutions and those of the people you are hving among, first discovered by Colvunbus Ban- croft and recently exploited by Vespuccius Grant? "There was a river in Macedon and look you there is a river in Monmouth." I do not answer to a large part of your letter because what relates to diplomatics and other politics does not call for any response 478 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE but thanks. I read it with great interest and hope that you will furnish more such reading in your next. Shall be glad of the Kladderadatsch when you bring it on. No hurry, and no matter about Bazaine's defense now. I think I have seen the substance of it. The latter part of this letter is writ this Monday morning, 13 March, so don't blame the post for not bringing it as though it were mailed at its initial date. Come as soon as you can and rejoice. Yours truly HAY TO BIGELOW AsTOR House, March 12, 187 1. My dear Mr. Bigelow: I have felt sometimes like giving way to my remorse and asking Reid to tell you I was no more. I have enjoyed your letters more than any I ever received, and yet here are months that I have not even acknowledged your kiadness. This is the only ex- planation — I do not know whether you have ever been so weak as to understand or appreciate it. It is all along of the Tribune — not that I write very much, but mitil I have done a certain amount of work I do not feel that I have a right to do anything else. It usually happens that this day's work is not done before two o'clock at night — argal, &c. I make no visits & yet I am so often asked to dinners and tea battles that it makes a serious inroad on my time. I have one day of leisure, Saturday, & there- fore find it crowded worse than any other. These are not excuses — they are merely des circonstances attenuantes, as they used to say in France when a man killed his wife because he wanted to marry another woman. I do not yet feel at all firm in the saddle for the career of jour- nalism. I waste two-thirds of my time trying to think of some- thing to write about. Hassard^ writes has column while I sit staring at the City Hall in blank imbecility. Reid writes very little, but when it is necessary he beats me two to one. This is not encouraging, but on the other hand I get large pay and many good words. I satisfy myself less than any one else. Some of the best tlungs we have had in the Tribune were those 'J. R. G. Hassard; after the death of Horace Greeley in 1872, managing editor of the Tribune; author of several works; died in 1888. HAY TO BIGELOW 479 letters of yours, upon which Mr. Raid permitted me to write the editorials. Your presentation of the changed relations between Turkey, England, and Russia^ was most graphic and striking, and it was about a month before everybody came round to your opinion. Yovir paper on the Centennial was thorough and very impressive — and ought to have met with an immediate response. But the public mind is curiously apathetic nowadays. It seems impossible to do anything with it, except by narcotics and buf- foonery. Mark Twain's [Autobiography and first Romance] and William Morris's [Earthly Paradise, 3d vol.] are the two success- ful books of last year. They laugh at one & go to sleep over the other — two luxuries they are willing to pay for. The project of the Centennial struck everybody as eminently proper and as admirably set forth in your letter, but every one seems too inert to move in it. I have suffered from this temporary disease of taste. I have written one or two poems in our Pike County language and I am nothing but " the Author of " them, henceforth, until people forget them. Do you ever see the Atlantic Monthly in Berlin? I am publishing in that magazine some papers I wrote in Spain, which win form when printed (next September) the most serious study I have ever made.^ Osgood wants to publish my "Poems" in a volume. "I may do that I shall be sorry for." I see a good deal of your friends, the Bryants, and Godwins and Blodgetts &c. &c. You are always kindly spoken of and your absence regretted. I have become somewhat intimate in a house you would be slow to guess — Sam Barlow's. I think him a thoroughly good fellow. I have been one of his standing dinner party, where I am siuroimded with an atmosphere of political brimstone: Church, Marble, Withers, Hurlbert, etc. Prayers are offered up for me in Printing House Square whenever I start for Madison Avenue. One of my greatest affictions is that I cannot get Reid to marry. I shall take my own medicine as soon as I own two or three shares of Tribune stock. Tell Mrs. Bigelow that McDon- ough of the Century [Association] is engaged to Miss Bross of Chicago, and ask her sjmtipathy for one who isn't. And as I have heard my name yoked with goodly company several times since I came here, assure Madame that there is no shadow of truth in it. 'Letter of Dec. 17, 1870. N. Y. Tribune. 'CasHlian Days. 480 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Miss Chase^ is to be married in Washingon on the 23d instant, and I am going to "stand up" with young Hoyt who stands up with her. He is a very nice fellow — and no end of cash. She is a very nice girl and no end of talent. Reid showed me your letter about Sumner. I agree with every word of it. But since then you will have learned that he is not dead; but deposed by a vindictive President and an envious and servile Senate. He takes out all the brains of the foreign rela- tions committee in his hat when he goes. A deep and sullen disgust is apparent in aU private conversa- tion of political men. But it will amoimt to nothing except to chill the canvass a httle. Grant will be renominated and, I think, reelected by a reduced majority. My homage to Mrs. Bigelow and my love to the children. I shall write again. Yours faithfully hahgreaves to bigelow 34 Craven Hill Gds., London W. March 14, '71. My dear Friend: I have looked over through Mr. Grant's book^ & confess to have been disappointed with it. He is a very questionable free trader — thinks the effect of the Cobden treaty proves that we have gone far enough for the present in the face of Continental competition etc. In fact I take him to be at heart a "reciproc- ity" man and no true free-trader. Why, competition is the soul of free trade. He seems to have written his book imder the in- fluences of the panic of '66 and the paralysis in the Cotton trade — pleading for the removal of the idle portion of the population (idle mainly from these causes) to our colonies by the Govt. But already the trade of the cotmtry is demanding more labour. Lancashire, York re, Glasgow, Newcastle on T3aie, Birmingham & all the great centres of industry want more hands. Even London is following — but this huge metropolis will always be the refuge of the most miserable and unfortunate. And to add to the excep- tional pressiure, there is a shifting of the ship-building trade to the north — mainly the result of trades unionism. Govts, ought 'Daughter of Chief Justice Chase. "Home Politics by William Grant. HARGREAVES TO BIGELOW 481 never to touch emigration save to inspect the ships, leaving the rest to the natural outflow. To do otherwise would only cause great confusion and increase of misery. Mr. Grant takes little notice of our home questions — extravagant govt, expenditure — 80 millions spent in drink. — land laws & laws of irQieritance — which shut out the agricl. popxilation from its natural calling, & drive it into the great cities. It is this last which disturbs the natural balance between town and country, leaving such an exaggerated proportion of our popu- lation dependent on imported food. No country in the world is in so unnatural a position in this regard: and no country is advancing so rapidly towards extreme democracy as England, as the residt of this state of things. I am not a large landholder in the EngUsh sense — but I pray for more landholders for the security of what I have. The state of parties in France is not hopeful. They are a long way from the a. b. c. of self-govt. When a member is cried down in the Chamber he sends in his resignation! They are certainly intolerant of minorities. There are some strong-headed men among them, capable of carrjdng on govermnent, if they were allowed to do so — but they are apparently few. Only fancy ChevaUer writing to my friend MaUet, that Bismarck, intends to spend the 200 millions in building ironclads for the purpose of invading England with 300,000 men for plunder! That the Queen is at the bottom of our policy, and that the English are as much her slaves as the French were to L. N. This from one of L. N's paid senators! How sad. It seems pure childishness, looking abroad for causes which are at their own door. I have omitted to thank you for aU the school information. Mr. Lure said he would write you himself — and wiU doubtless have done so. I trust you are aU well. We are looking forward to Send-Hohne at Easter. Ovir united love to your circle. Ever yours, my dear friend, ROBERT ADGER TO BIGELOW Charleston, 21 March, 1871. Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your esteemed favor of nth instant & in reply would say that in my judgment the chief cause of the low 482 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE prices at which the bonds of our state have been ruling is the want of confidence in the capacity for management, and more espe- cially in the honesty of those having charge of the political & financial affairs of our state. It is generally believed that the Bonds authorised to be issued for the last two or three years by the Legislature have not been legitimately apphed to the pur- poses for which they had been appropriated, and that a large portion of the amoimt has been squandered or is being used for the personal benefit of individuals. Certainly no satisfactory account of the disposition made of them has ever been given to the pubKc. To this we must add the notorious corruption of our legislators, rendering it certain that any measure, no matter how injurious or disastrous to the interest of our state, could be made a law by bribery, and that almost aU our legislation is made to subserve the pecuniary interests of the individuals having present control of her political affairs. AU this necessarily created the apprehension that there would be no limit to the issue of bonds, or other additional liabilities, imposed upon the state. To coun- teract these apprehensions, our last legislature passed an act, called the Sterling Funded Debt Act (copy of which I send you), which provides for negotiating a loan payable in London for £1,200,000, to be appropriated to the pajnnent of, or the ex- change for, the existing debt, and pledging the faith of the state that no future debt should be created, unless first sanctioned by a vote of two thirds of the voters of the state. This has the appearance of wholesome legislation, and, if honestly administered, would have a good effect. The feeling however is general among our people that these bonds wUl not be legitimately used, and that the proceeds of them will not be applied to the Hquidation of the old ones, or any considerable amount of them, or if so ex- changed, the old ones wiU be again reissued, thus virtually in- creasing the debt of the State by six millions of doUars. The result of the corruption prevailing among those in power necessarily produces with our people great discontent. They have to bear the burden of aU this maladministration, this ex- cessive taxation, to meet the squandering of the public monies by unprincipled men, many of whom, tho filling ofl&ces with only moderate salaries, have nevertheless in a few short years amassed fortunes. They are, too, suffering from taxation without repre- sentation. A large portion of our legislature is composed of ignorant men, who bear no portion of the taxation. These are SOUTH CAROLINA FINANCES 483 entirely under the control of bad men, whose sole object seems to be to make all the money they possibly can, no matter in what way, or at what cost to the state. Is it to be wondered at that under these circvunstances there should be discontent, or even excitement, prevailing among our people, and that many should urge that the state should hereafter repudiate the debts now being corruptly incurred, and that this feeUng should be rapidly in- creasing and becoming more general? My own opinion is, that should our own people ever again come into power, they have so great reverence for the honor of our State, that, with our debt as it now stands, even though satisfied that a large portion of the money received for it has been miser- ably squandered, they will never coimtenance for a moment the idea of. repudiation. Should they, however, find in the future that in violation of the pubHc pledges given, the debt of the state is increased, or that the bonds to be issued under the SterUng Funded Debt Act have not been legitimately appUed, then I have little doubt they wiU resort to this terrible remedy. I can, how- ever, see no prospect of any earl^ change in our rvilers, and as I can have no confidence in those who now control, I should hesi- tate very much in advising any friend of mine to invest in our State bonds. As long as it is their interest so to do, and they can in any way, or at any sacrifice of the interests of the state, com- mand the means, I have no doubt those in power wiU pay regu- larly the interest on her bonds, but a continuance of the policy they have been pursuing (and I look for no change) must inevi- tably ere long plunge our unf ortimate state, as well as all her tax pajdng people, into hopeless bankruptcy. Yours very respectfully FROM MY DIARY Berlin, March 22, 1871. Accompanied my wife to the Schloss to-day — we were joined by Dr. Abel. One of his messengers handed him a copy of the King's discourse, which he read to me at the restaurant where I took him to dine. It struck us as plain, commonplace, and not up to the occasion. We agreed that Napoleon III was the greatest master of the art of making sovereign discovirses that Evirope has ever had. Abel says the King could not have written even this discourse; 484 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE he is a very illiterate man, and does not even pretend to know anything about war, but no one is better advised than he about the number of buttons on a soldier's coat and the way he should carry his knapsack. As a measure of his mind and resources he mentioned this fact, which he says deserved to be preserved for history, that King William went 150 times to hear Flick and Flock. Abel thought that ten times would have driven any other man crazy. What an instance of the goodness of Providence that all this power and worldly distinction should have descended upon a man whom they caimot harm. Most men capable of appreciating the eminence of his position would be ruined by it. It does not harm him any more than the gilding of his oats pleased CaUgula's horse. He does not comprehend what he has become. Prince Charles, Abel says, is a dreadful creatiure, worse even than Richard III. He is the King's younger brother and mar- ried the Queen's elder sister. I remarked that the address looked a little like cioltivating Austria, so little fuss was made about the New Empire and things calculated to touch Austrian sensibility. "You must not trust what Mr. Bismarck says as a criterion of what he means," says Abel. It is one of his tricks to mislead people in that way. Wlien he returned from the campaign in 1866 he was very taci- turn, no one could get anything out of him. At last, at the station and in the presence of some person whom it suited his purpose to have hear him, he said in reply to congratulations upon the peace, "I don't know. We have still a nut to crack with those Southern German States, I suppose," or something to that effect. This was dropped carelessly and casually to aU appear- ance, that it might go to Napoleon and keep him quiet, which it did. But his treaty with those Southern States had then already been signed a fortnight. When the King arrived at the station the other day, after kiss- ing his family he kissed old Wrangel and Bismarck who had gone there to receive him. Before I was out of bed this morning I received a note from Bancroft asking me to accompany him to-day to hear Curtius discourse about the birthday of King Wilhelm before the Uni- versity. Hammel, the Swiss minister, rode with us. Curtius developed the idea I presented in my Thanksgiving discourse, that the defeat at Sedan was the logical result of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. Bancroft remarked it also. KING WILLIAM 485 JOHN A. C. GRAY TO BIGELOW New York, March 26, 1871. My dear Bigelow: Your letter of sixth February asks if I gave your message about the Income Tax to Mr. Bryant. I supposed I had answered you ' that I did give him the message and reported his reply. The same evening I received your letter I dined with him — and it was the same day that Gen. Pleasonton, the new Commis- sioner of Internal Revenue, had stated to a Committee of Con- gress that the cost of collecting the income tax was more than it amounted to. Mr. Bryant said: " Say to Mr. Bigelow, that the Post cannot advocate a source of revenue the expenses of which exceed the amoimt collected. I think, if Pleasonton is right as to the cost, there can be no argvmient for the tax." I did not sup- pose I coxild give you anything new from Washington, and hence did not write. But the state of things there is chaotic. In an interview I had with Gen. Grant, his whole conversation was a denunciation of Sumner. He seems to have become suddenly talkative, and a few men of the Chandler stamp control him. Simmer enjoys the notoriety the Grant raid on him gives, and seems to bear himself well. He is generally sustained by the reflecting men of the party — and, if there is the same warfare on him, the RepubUcan party wiU break up. Not that Simmer is popular — but his opponents are very un- popular — and the men who do Grant's biddings, such as Chandler, are low, coarse men. Grant has around him a mihtary cUque who know nothing of poUtics; & yet make his appointments. Fish is led by Bancroft Davis — and wants to go to England. He would have gone, instead of Gen. Schenck, but for appearances — and now the general is detained I think he wiU resign & go to England, when the joint Commission is closed. Schenck is to be attorney for the Northern Pacific Railroad at $25,000 a year. This I think is authentic. Morton^ will be Secretary of State. Sanford was over here looking for the Spanish mission, but he did not get it. It is generally thought Morgan^ will be secretary of the Treasury — as soon as Boutwell's loan experiment is over 'Levi P. Morton. *E. D. Morgan. 486 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE — whether it is successful or not. He will probably get all the 5 per cent loan taken. Money is very easy. FROM MY DIARY March 28, i8yi . Let me here record an historical illustration of the truth of the old proverb that the love of a dog is better than his hate. King George gave Queen Victoria mortal ofifence many years ago when she and her husband came to visit him, by placing the latter at a separate table, as not being of royal rank. This outrage was aggravated later by his sending to reclaim the Han- over diamonds. These acts begat such relations between the two courts that when the war of '66 broke out England made no effort to protect his crown, which a word from the Queen would have done. I had this story from Mrs. Siemens, where Mrs. Blodgett is boarding. The old King is now living in Austria, and his subjects are getting rapidly reconciled to his loss. Wednesday, April 5, 1871. Spent the afternoon with Mrs. Bancroft. The other day she asked me to lend her some of Swedenborg's books. I have none here but those in Latin, so I took to her Bayley's Scripture Paradoxes. She spoke of a report from a Washington correspondent or writer that Sumner wrote Motley's instructions and many other things when he first accepted ofl&ce — at Fish's request. Bancroft thought Sumner ought not to have divulged the fact. This led Mrs. B. to teU me a story of her husband, who had then gone out, which I had not suspected. She said Johnson, the late President, hac^ a high opinion of Bancroft and sent for him to prepare his first message. Mrs. B. also told me a good story of Mrs. Colonel Walker,^ whose manners she thinks about as well of as we do. She and the Colonel were dining one day with the Bancrofts at von Bunsen's, who then lived over the Bancrofts. While at table Mrs. W. said, "Why, Mr. Bancroft, you don't speak English, you speak American." Mr. Bancroft rephed, "WTiy, Mrs. Walker, I have flattered myself that I spoke EngUsh." Mrs. Bancroft, who hap- pened to have heard only shortly before, providentially, that Mrs. 'Military attach^ of the British legation. MRS. COLONEL WALKER 487 Walker was bom in Nova Scotia, leaned forward and meekly asked, "Mrs. Walker, what language do you speak? You are an American." "I an American? No, I am not. I am an Eng- lishwoman," replied Mrs. W. "Oh, I beg your pardon," said Mrs. B. "Your husband told me you were an American." When they returned Bancroft said to Ms wife, "My dear, I never loved you so much in my Ufe as when you said that." Mrs. Bancroft tried to force me to express an opinion of Ban- croft's Eulogy on Lincoln by saying that she thought it the best thing he ever wrote, and addng if I did not think so. I repUed that I was not sufficiently fresh from the perusal of it to feel pre- pared to go quite so far as that, and so let it pass. Mrs. B. said that Mr. B. wrote two notes to prevent Sir Fred. Bruce's coming to hear it; one to Seward and one to Hooper. Hooper said to Sir Fred., however, that he thought he might go, and told some one who told Bancroft he had said so. Bancroft immediately wrote Hooper to say that he had erred in giving Sir F. encourage- ment to come, and asked him to say so to Sir F., which H. did, but Sir F. came all the same; and then the report has still pos- session of the world that Sir F, was gratuitously insulted. Mrs. B. says her husband has a letter from Sir F. admitting that he was warned of what was coming. whitelaw reid to bigelow New York Tribune New York Ap. lo [and 14], 1871. My dear Mr. Bigelow: ******* You cannot be more disgusted at the treatment Sumner has received at the hands of the President^ than I am.^ I didn't say much about the course of the Tribune simply because in my position it is not becoming that I should; but you don't need to be informed that, if I had directed it, Mr. Simmer would have received from the outset a more continuous, outspoken and hearty support. 'Grant. "Sumner's removal from the chairmanship of the Senate committee on Foreign Rela- tions. 488 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE I got so far on the loth when I was interrupted, and now I see it is the 14th. Such is one of the beauties of a newspaper office so crowded and driven as is the Tribune. But to finish what I was saying about Sumner. We have been hampered by two or three considerations. Mr. Greeley has, I fear, a latent feeling of personal dislike to Mr. Simmer. Then he was anxious to avoid a break with Grant or the administration, and specially anxious to prevent what looked, for a Httle while, like the ruin of the Repubhcan party. When I have had an opportimity to write anything on the subject, I have taken Mr. Svimner's part de- cidedly, going even to the extent in so doing of rapping your friend Mr. Conkling pretty vigorously over the head. I have been wanting for some time to write to you about your suggestions concerning the proper mode of preparing for the cen- tennial celebration. You are the one man who has shown any comprehension of the importance & magnitude of the event, or any adequate grasp of the means for commemorating it. I talked with Mr. Ripley^ and others about your suggestions concerning the proposed Club. Mr. Ripley falls in with them cordially, but is not sanguine, recalling as he does, his bitter experience in his effort to establish the American Academy. He and two or three others, it seems, bore it on their shoulders till he went abroad;^ then it collapsed and has never more been heard of.' James S. Pike;* to whom I showed your letter, said the other 'George Ripley (1802-1880), a leading transcendentalist and promoter of the Brook Farm experiment; literary critic of the New York Tribune, and joint editor with C. A. Dana of the New American Cyclopaedia. 2In 1869. 'The present American Institute of Arts and Letters was founded in i8g8, and this society founded the present American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1904, as a section of the Institute. 'Associate editor of the N. Y. Tribune from 1850 to i860; U. S. minister to Holland from 1861 to 1866; author of Horace Greeley in 1872 and other works. [The following articles found in the form of a pencil memorandum in one of my father's note-books appear to be his project of a constitution for the club referred to in the fore- going letter — Ed.] 1. We the undersigned, for the purposes hereinafter mentioned, do hereby constitute ourselves a close corporation under the name and title of The Seventy-Sixers. 2 . The purposes of this association are to commemorate the emancipation of the British North American colony; the first establishment of popular government upon a constitu- tional basis [and] to collect and preserve memorials of the Dedaration of our Independence of those who have contributed to its achievement, and of those who subsequently, by their talents and patriotism, have indicated the justice and wisdom of that proceedmg. 3. The number of members is limited to seventy-six. 4. A corresponding number of honorary members may be chosen. 5. Regular and honorary members shall be chosen by ballot. 6. No member shall be balloted for who has not been nominated by two regular CLUB OF SEVENTY-SIXERS 489 day, "Tell Mr. Bigelow the thing for him to do is to come and put this thing in motion himself, since no man can conduct a great movement so well as the man who has the prescience to plan it." I don't send that message because I don't beUeve you would come; but I do send Mr. Ripley's and my own, to the effect that we will very heartily co-operate in efforts to carry out a plan provided you wiU first be good enough to do the work which you proposed in your letter about it. Draw up whatever papers are necessary for the Club, and put all your suggestions in compact and convenient form. I can then put them in type pri- vately in our ofl&ce, and submit them to half a dozen or a dozen of our best people. What you say about the enslaving influence of money on aU literary movements in New York, seems to me to hit the nail exactly on the head. It is so truthfvil, that some day or another I shall be tempted to steal two thirds of the sentences in it, and turn them into an editorial. Hay is doing admirably. His Uttle Pike County Ballads are in the press of Fields, Osgood & Co., with a number of other poems; and are to be pubUshed in a volume members in writing, at a meeting held at least one month before the election, and unless he receives the vote of at least four-fifths of the whole number of regular members. 7. The ofScers of this corporation shall consist of a president, two vice-presidents, [a] recording secretary, [a] cor. secretary, [a] treasurer, and an executive committee, to be elected by ballot on the 4th day of July of each year. 8. A majority of the votes of aU the regular members shall be necessary to a choice. 9 The President shall preside at the meetings of the corporation, shall suggest meas- ures for increasing the usefulness of the association and promoting its objects, and see that the directions of the association are duly executed. ro. The vice-president shall ofSciate in the place of the president when, by ill health or other cause, the president shall be prevented from officiating. rr. The recording secretary shall keep the minutes of the proceedings of the associa- tion and also of the executive committee. r2. The corresponding secretary shall direct the correspondence with honorary mem- bers, with foreign societies, and such other correspondence as the association may direct. r3. The treasurer shall be charged with the collection and disbursement of the funds of the association under the direction of the society. 13. The president, vice-president, and secretaries shall be ex officio members of the executive committee. 14. The executive committee shall consist of not exceeding nine members. 15. It shall be the duty of the executive committee to fix the time and place of meeting of the Association, to select the names of candidates for membership to be presented for ballot by the association, and to attend to any business which may be referred to it by the Association. 16. The admission fees and annual dues from members shall be fixed by the executive conmiittee. 17. It shall be competent for the executive committee to authorize the establishment of not exceeding one auxiliary association in each state of the Union, to consist of not exceeding 76 members. 490 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE some time during the present month.^ His Castilian Days made up of the articles in The Atlantic and a nimiber of others, will ap- pear in the autvmm. Altogether he has made more reputation in the last six months than any yoimg American writer we have. In joumaHsm his performance is only equalled by his promise. I have never seen a more brilliant beginning, and it is an immense comfort to have him with me. Sometimes I am a httle afraid that social demands are going to be too pressing upon him, and I have no sort of doubt that to these must be attributed his shabby conduct in not writing to you. I don't at aU Kke the outlook for the RepubHcan party. If Chief Justice Chase were a well man, the probabUity of his elec- tion by one party or the other would be great. As it is both parties are in a state of imcertainty, with confidence largely on the side of the Democrats. The Sumner diversion, however, is fading out, and the practical withdrawal of the Santo Domingo movement, in Grant's message, will have a good effect, as had also the imexpected success in Connecticut. It is not clear that Grant is not certain of the renomination, but it is clear that the poh- ticians would be heartily glad to get rid of him. It remains to be seen whether he has such a hold of the people as Lincoln had in 1864. Always faithfully yours^ FROM MY DIARY April 10, 1871. Met von Bunsen at Bancroft's. He told some stories of a man named Rio much spoken of in the Recits d'une Sosur^ who was a Jesuit spy of the French government known in France among the ofl&cials as an agent avoue. He married a Welsh 'This work was published by James R. Osgood & Co., successors to Ticknor and Fields, and Fields, Osgood & Co. ^Regarding this letter and the other letters from him that appear on page 570 Mr. Reid remarked when they were shown him in February 191 2, that they were obviously youthful, and exemplified particularly two of the faults of youth, needlessly strong state- ment, and too great readiness to accept nmiors affecting personal character. So far as General Grant is concerned, these rumors were never supposed to affect him. The phrase about things being traced to the White House did not mean traced to the President, but to the subordinates there. 'By Mrs. Augustus Craven. 1848 491 lady of some family consequence and told an English lady, Mrs. Wynne, at Baden-Baden that he was there secretly to persuade the Baden Catholics that they should lean upon France, which only was capable and willing to protect them. This was in 1859. He, Rio, was once waited upon early in the morning by a friend who begged him to jump right into his cab without a moment's delay and go with him — it was in 1848 — to find an affiche signed by Ledru-RoUin and written by George Sand which had just been posted, but which the pohce were tearing down as fast as they could. They told the driver to go in all haste to the part of the city which the agents of the poUce would be likely to reach last, and at last they found one. It was a proclamation of thanks to those who had contributed to the revolution and after refer- ring to all the principal agents in the work it went on to say: "Grdce a vous,jeunes fiUes, qui ont voue vos corps a Vinfamie et vos dmes a Dieu." Before he had time to copy this, said Rio, the poHce came and tore it down, and he is not aware that there is a copy in existence. BIGELOW TO HARGEEAVES 4 HOHENZOLLEEN StRASSE April 15, 1871. My dear Mr. Hargreaves: ******* The spectacle which France now presents is pitiable, but it is the natural ultimation of a civilization which recognizes falsehood as one of the legitimate resources of a gentleman. A commimity of people, living without faith in one another as the French do, must sooner or later, like the dispossessed devils in the Scriptures, throw themselves into the sea and drown themselves, or otherwise come to grief. I do not share your hopes or faith in the Versailles government. The moment Thiers proposed to install his gov- ernment at Versailles I saw that he was conscious that he did not represent the poKtical sentiment of Paris. It was a confession of weakness which must sooner or later prove fatal to his rule. The fact is the present AssembUe Nationale was chosen solely upon the issue of peace or protracting the war with Germany. When peace 492 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE was signed, and France turned her eyes within to repair domestic losses, she felt the need of an entirely new set of men, and in my opinion she will have them before she will be quiet. Thiers is a Bonapartist doctrinaire. He more than any other man, by speech and pen, has made Bonapartism the ideal statesmanship of France; he, more than any other man in the Corps Legislatif after i860 and 1866, made the worse appear the better reason for re- sisting by force the unification of Italy and of Germany, it having been always his poUcy to make France great by making her neighbors small; he inaugurated his administration as Chief of the new repubUc by suspending the freedom of the press which had been indulged with good results imder greater diflSculties all through the siege; he followed this suicidal step by proclaiming the need of a protective system for France at the moment when of all other epochs of her history she needed to buy where she could buy cheapest, and the choice upon the most favorable condi- tions, of aU. the markets of the world for her fabrics. He next awakened suspicions in France that he was negotiating or intrigu- ing for a restoration of the Bourbons and the Jesuits, an impres- sion which a large majority did what they could to confirm. To this I may add that he brought into oflSce the reputation of a most uncertain statesman without much private or public character to fit him for the very confidential and responsible position to which, at an age for reflection but not of action, he was so strangely called. He was just the man to force large numbers of excellent men into the ranks of an opposition organized and nursed by the very worst elements in France. It is probable that those elements will overthrow the Versailles government. They have already extorted concessions from it only less serious than abdica- tion, but even if the VersaUles government should finally recover the control of Paris, it will only prolong the revolution, for Paris wiU never patiently submit to any government calling itself a RepubUc which is established and sustained by the sword. France is now at school. She has a great deal to learn and she cannot afford to be long about it. She wiU probably make many experiments and have a great many governments in the course of the current year, before she finds the right one at aU events. As none of the IsraeUtes who left Egj^t with Moses ever entered the Promised Land, so probably aU the men who now figure as seamen trying to bring poor, dismasted, rudderless, weather- smitten France into port, and many of their successors, wiU be THE THIERS GOVERNMENT 493 swept into oblivion by the waves of revolution, and their Joshua is yet to appear. Holding these views I sincerely hope, and indeed some two weeks ago said as much to your Ambassador here, that I hoped that Mr. Gladstone would not take too much stock in the Ver- sailles government until the nature of the Paris demonstration developed itself more distinctly, so that he woidd make no mis- take in deciding on which side of the fortifications of Paris the government of France is to be found. I am free to say that if I were a Frenchman, I shovild feel very unwiUing to see the for- tunes of my country committed to the direction of Mr. Thiers or to the majority of what they call a National Assembly, and that, horrible as would be the association with much that seems to be dominant now in Paris, I should not despair of finding the draught of which this is the fermentation, more to my taste than that which is brewing at Versailles. I fear this will shock you, I know it wiU shock Mr. Paulton, and I hope you will not let me suffer in his estimation, by reporting me to him; but I feel so con- fident that time is destined before very long to vindicate these views that I am not afraid to trust to your friendly toleration for that period. This government is very much perplexed to know what to do about those 5 milliards, which in their imagination, every German has already spent several times over, but which daily seems to assiune more shadowy proportions. The ParHament here must soon begin to deal with that question, for the expenses of the government continue to be almost as large as during the heat of the war. I am glad to hear such good reports from Mr. Bright, but a report of a new speech from his Hps would be more satisfactory. If his health were to be restored him I don't know that he would have any great reason to regret his seclusion for the past eight months. Mr. Gladstone has, I think, managed all foreign ques- tions as wisely as possible, but neither he nor his colleagues will make any glory or friends out of it. I fear however that the time is not far distant when he and Mr. Bright wiU have to separate and take different roads. However, "Siofficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' Excuse this long screed, my dear friend. You see I am getting gamilous in my old age. Yours very faithfully RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE hargeeaves to bigelow Send-Holme, Woking Station, June 26, '71. My dear Friend: ******* You are mistaken in supposing that we are friends of Thiers & his policy. So far from that he has ever been to Paulton & my- self "the most vmfortimate minister France has ever had," to use the words Gladstone once uttered in private with reference to Palmerston & England. He has always pandered to and fed the national passion for glory and is a thorough protectionist. My own sympathy is much more in harmony with the prin- ciples at least of the commimists whose greatest error has been that of so many in like circumstances — viz., descending to the use of the antagonist's weapons; in which he is so much more skilled than they. Unhappy France! & how blind, when she first attempted to found a Republic, leaving the masses uned- ucated & ready to the hands of the reviving priesthood. So long as this state of things lasts there can be no permanent freedom in any part of Europe. The priest is now in power & denying freedom of thought & intellectual independence, irenders political freedom impossible. I recollect that Cobden told the Spaniards that religious free- dom must always precede poUtical. And in one of the last con- versations I had with him, he dropped the remark that he thought the next great revolution in Europe would be a reHgious one. In England the priest has his gra^ even upon the most educated Roman CathoHcs. A friend of mine, passionately devoted to natural history, dare not read Darwin's book — it is in the condemned index. I never knew a Roman CathoUc, however educated, who had any real freedom of mind outside his creed. He is ever a most timid politician & waits to know the opinion of his priest. He is only on the Uberal side in England for the sake of his reUgion — and having obtained nearly all he wants he will gradually drift to the Tories, his natural aUies. Turning from France to our own poUtics — you will have observed, if you did not know already, how completely we are L. A. Thiers HARGREAVES TO BIGELOW 495 slaves to the Services — the feeding grounds of the Younger Sons. The Whigs feed here as well as the Tories — hence the ministe- rial weakness. Would that Gladstone had put his foot down at the outset and fallen, if need be, in defence of the Cobden poUcy — peace & free trade. He has violated both & estranged the best men in & outside the House. And now it is doubtful if he wiU carry a single measure of importance this year — the Arbi- tration Treaty with your Government excepted. This is great enough to redeem many errors. It is at once a great deed in the interest of peace and a precedent for the future. FROM MY DIARY Berlin, April i6, 1871. Bancroft told me this evening that he was never invited to any entertainment of the royal family except to the court receptions at the palace, nor by any of the aristocracy. He had never been inside the Crown Prince's palace. Neither the Crown Prince nor any of the princes are at liberty to invite a member of the diplomatic corps to dine with or visit them without the King's permission. The Crown Prince once sent him word that he would be very happy to see him fre- quently at his palace, but that the etiquette of the court did not permit it, and there the matter ended. Frederick the Great laid down the rule that the other members of the royal famUy should never entertain members of the diplomatic corps without first obtaining his permission, and that rule has been since rigorously observed. When Bancroft presented his letters of credence, Bis- marck made the King have him to dinner at one of his country places. This, says Bancroft, was unprecedented, and astonished the diplomatic corps. Riding yesterday with Bismarck, Bancroft said they met the King. Bismarck afterward told him that the King was not well pleased because he had no decoration on, adding that the King always liked to see the iron cross and two other orders on the breasts of those who were entitled to wear them. This story of the old king is at least a partial explanation of his passion for Flick 6° Flock. 496 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Berlin, Monday, May i, 1871. Went to hear von Helm- holz open his course of lectures on Natural Philosophy at the vmi- versity. He entered the lecture-room at precisely twelve, and began with his subject without a word of introduction. This, says Dr. Abel, is the German way. The professor and the audience have no relations with each other theoretically except of a scientific character, that of giver and receiver of scientific knowledge. Von Hehnholz is a handsome man of about fifty years, without a single one of the reputed characteristics of the German savant about him. He was dressed like a man of the world in a blue Oxford coat with side-pockets, and gray pantaloons. He sported a gold chain with a gold locket the size of a half-doUar; mous- tachios but no whiskers; his hair was brushed back and he had the whole appearance of a man who lived well and was in the enjoy- ment of an unimpaired digestive apparatus. He is reputed to be a prodigious reader, and especially of novels, and a very many- sided man, far more such than Himiboldt. He had been a pro- fessor of natural philosophy at Konigsberg, where he subsequently became professor of physiology. He then went to Heidelberg as professor of physiology and anatomy. He has just come to the Berlin university as a professor of natural philosophy. He has made important discoveries in aU these different departments of science; is besides an eminent musician and has made important discoveries in acoustics; is perfectly unaffected and impretending in his manners, evidently thinks and invents as he talks; is not therefore exactly fluent, though he does not hesitate for words except to fix the shape and proportion of the new ideas that are constantly weUing up in his mind. He has cold, hard eyes which do not invite confidence or sympathy. His expression is exceed- ingly earnest. There are no traces of indolence of thought or of self-indulgence. Berlin, Monday, May 8, iS'/i. At Bancroft's last evening was presented to von Moltke. He spoke French, was very imaf- fected, not much a man of society nor yet wantuig m the ease and composure of one; wastes no words, attempts no fine speeches, but says precisely what he means. The situation of Paris, he said, was pitiable. He did not think Thiers would succeed, he was so vaniteux, not to be trusted, not popular in France. He insisted that the Germans must have a government there before von Moltke PRESENT TO VON MOLTKE 497 long that could make a treaty, for the [German] army could not remain in France forever. He surprised me by saying I might expect to see Napoleon back. He had previously stated that the end of the present anarchy must be the arrival of some one who by a grand massacre should terrorize the population of Paris and reduce them to order. He evidently expects that of Napoleon. The Nord-Deutsche Zeitung has lately had articles squinting at the return of the Emperor. How the game is to be played it is difficult to conjectiure, but it is pretty clear that a restoration of the imperial regime is the favorite solution of the problem at this court. Moltke looks thin and rather round-shouldered, not so plump and fuU-chested as I had expected. He spoke to my wife of the sword he had received from the ladies of Baltimore.' Mrs. Rives asked him if the King was not jealous. "Gewiss," was the reply. He said to my wife that she was the first Baltimore lady he had ever seen. Friday, May ig, iSfi. Dined at the Schidtens', twenty people. Bancroft and Bucher, one of Bismarck's familiars, head I under- stand, of the legation department of Foreign Affairs, were among the guests. Had a long talk with Bucher after dinner. He made one observation that was new to me. In reply to an inquiry of 'The sword was sent to Von Moltke as the chosen general of the German people of Baltimore. At a fair held for the benefit of the German soldiers wounded in the war the sword was on exhibition, and every visitor voted for the general of his choice. Von Moltke acknowledged its receipt with the following letter: tkanslation General Headquarters, Versailles, Jan. 23, 1871. My highly honored Ladies: It would be difficult for ma to express my joyful surprise at the receipt of your hand- some and costly present [Ehiwgeschenk], accompanied by such kindly wishes for my wel- fare. Accept my most sincere thanks for this testimonial with which you have honored my small services to our common and cherished Fatherland; and be assured that the sword of honor will ever be treasured in my family as a striking proof that German love of Fatherland and high minded German womanliness never die. May throughout our now united Germany the results of such great sacrifices be approved with the same unanimity as it has been by you, my highly honored ladies, who from so great a distance follow impartially, and with a warm, patriotic heart, the movement of events at home. What enhances for me the value of your flattering present is the circumstance that its procure- ment and presentation to me are associated with a blessed act of mercy for our poor wounded and mvalid soldiers. May God bless to you all this additional and your many other proofs of true German womanhood. In conclusion, accept, my highly honored ladies with the renewed expression of my heart- felt thanks, the assurance of the highest consideration and respect of your most obedient servant, Cottot von Moltke, General of Infantry and Chief of the General To the Society of Staff of the German Army. German Patriotic Women of Baltimore, Md. 498 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE mine whether the uprising against the papal infaUibiUty dogma of which Dollinger was a leader would not residt as the Lutheran uprising three centuries earher, in detaching from the Roman Church a large niunber of its friends, as was the case when Eng- land, Germany and Sweden joined in the Reformation, he said, "No, neither Dollinger nor the schismatics would accomplish anything, for the simple reason that the poor clergy could not afford to go with him. With them the material — the bread and butter — question incident to a revolt was too serious. If they hesitated to accept the decisions of the Cotmcil they were cut off from their base of suppUes at once, and they were the least compe- tent of all imaginable people to get a Hving by any other trade. The Reformation, he said, would not have got on at aU if the kings and dukes of Germany had not found it profitable to con- fiscate the goods of the church to their own uses and with them secured a Uving for the schismatics. He spoke of Pomerania wheeMng into Luther's side without a word of opposition, for it not only involved no sacrifice to the clergy or to the government, but on the contrary gave to the former in fee what before they had only a life interest in. He also said that a large brewer at Mimich who belonged to a league or society organized to sustain the views of DoUinger and his party came to one of their meetings recently, rose, and with tears in his eyes, proceeded to state that that was the last time he could meet with them. He was a brewer and depended upon his business for his liveUhood. He was accustomed to serve some two hundred publicans with their beer, and he had akeady received letters from more than one hundred and forty of them saying that if he continued to attend the meetings of the league they must decline to take his beer. Bucher said these pubHcans cared nothing about the fallibility or infaUibihty of the Pope or Council, but their wives did and their wives compelled them to send the brewer this notice. So, said he, until there is some material provision for those whose hvehhood would be threatened by revolt, there is no probabihty of any serious or important rupture in the church. He intimated a doubt, which I have heard before, whether it would be desirable to have a body of Catholic clergy in a state of revolt against Rome. Would they not weaken Protestantism more than Romanism?' lA few days later Von Bunsen remarked to me that Cavour had the same idea and would never have been successful in his Italian revolution if he had not secured the passage of a law giving the clergy a minimum salary of about four hundred francs so that they had nothing to lose by quitting Rome. BUCHER 499 WILLIAM H. RUSSELL TO BIGELOW 33 St. James Square, May 25, '71. My dear Bigelow: I was so glad to hear news of you & yours thro' Mrs. Bigelow's letter to Alberta, & as the latter is a very bad correspondent, I anticipate her probably by a few lines to thank you & say how grateful I feel for the friendship which survives years of absence & separations & trials. I have just returned from a short visit to Alice, whom I foimd just as young as she was when she left me in spite of 3 children & many pets. Her husband has sold out of of the Army, & they live in a charming house called Lowther Lodge on the sea shore near Balbriggan — he bxu-ied in the pro- f oundest mathematics & matrimonial attachment & she skimming over the surface of life as a swallow flies over the great deep. Poor Willie is far away from me out in Chinkiang China in the Imperial Chinese Customs. He was gazetted to the Army when a letter came from the Chief Commissioner offering him the post & he threw up aU his hopes & took it in order not to be a burthen on me, & now I fear he may lose his health & am most anxious to have him back as he has no future before him. John is in Oppen- heim's house Alexandria & doing very well. And Alberta is now out, & I am to do pere chaperon, Lord help me, & to begin once more an edifice of expense & obligations, & idleness which the work of years to come must undo — for I have not prospered in the world — at least my expenditure is always in advance of my income & I am for ever at the work of Danaids. I have no heart left in me to write a long letter with such horrid news as we have to-night. Were demons ever permitted to work such mischief Hell would break out of boimds — & yet there are wretches — soi disant philosophers here — who affect to find excuses for the Commune! The worst effect of crimes like these is to make men tigers & fill them with lust for blood. I would I were a guillotine to keep cut cut cutting the vile necks of the loath- some viUams. I saw the whole thing begin. There were no means of repression perhaps for such poor soulless devils as the rich bourgeoisie of Paris, but in London the movement would have been stamped out by a division of police — & yet we have 500 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE nigh on three million & a half of sovils & among them how many scoundrels! Give my kind regards to the good wife & Grace & aU who can remember me. I shall see you, please God, when the Einzug takes place, tho' that seems distant now. Your & ever affectionate friend RUSSELL TO BIGELOW June 12, '71. My dear Bigelow: I am so savage! I was all packed up when lol a note came to say that they had decided at the Times office to let Abel "do" the Einzug. It would be too expensive for me to go on my own hook. And so I shall miss you — & that I do assmre you is a far greater disappointment than the loss of many shows. I wanted to see you all & mark the march of time in the growth of my friend's children. This wiU be handed to you by a very simple, good natured man, whose only misfortune is that he is Diie of Manchester & husband of one of the loveliest women in the world — a von Alten. If you can take him in for the sake of & in lieu of yours ever & always. Truly & affectionately BIGELOW TO MRS. CHARLES EAMES 4 HOHENZOLLERN StRASSE Berlin, May 26, 187 1. Dear Mrs. Eames: ******* I have been nearly sick for two days of reading the news from Paris. "Hellislet loose and all the devils are there." What do you think now of German vandalism? God knows where this wiU stop, for the communists seem determined to make Paris an ash-heap rather than submit to a Restoration. France without a government seems to me an exaggeration of a man without a EUROPEAN POLITICS 501 will; a strong man gone mad and in his reckless fury destroying his property, his children, everything which should be most dear to Mm. I blame Thiers more than anyone else, for he ought not to have driven such a sentiment as animated the communists to despair. There should have been a "transaction." Bismarck and his parliament are at loggerheads. He threat- ens to resign, if they pass a bill now before them about Alsace and Lorraine. They think he is bullying them and are disposed to let him "try it on." You need not be surprised to find this country in a crisis before long. There are great commotions in the air and Germany is very inflammable. All the working classes here are on a strike. In fact that has become their chronic state. Strikes are the only ways the people have in Europe of showing their sense of their power in society. They have there- fore a very great significance. Very sincerely yours FROM MY DIARY Sunday, June 4, i8yi. Yesterday went to the Reichstag to hear Bismarck. The Alsace-Lorraine question was up. He does not speak Hke a man entirely self-possessed nor like a man who could ever electrify an audience by eloquence. He began by a back-and-f orward motion, as if keeping time to music, with his whole body. This was his principal movement throughout the speech. He hesitated a good deal for words, like English speakers, and every now and then would take up a pen from his table and then lay it down. He spoke in a single key, not raising his voice nor lowering it, but as if reading. He is engaged in a contest with the Parliament, and has threatened them with resignation if they do not let him have his way. They wiU htmior him this time, but it is not so certain that they will the next. The press has spoken with great freedom and unanimity of his bullying course, and the next time he may find, as our late secretary of the treasury, Salmon P. Chase, did, that he has sent his pitcher once too often to the well. 502 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 42 RtiE DE La Brtjyeee, 6 June, '71. Dear Mr. Bigelow: All right and tight, well and hearty thank you, as perhaps Mr. Moreau has told you — leastways he said he would, what time we met three or four days ago. He thinks the incoming of the long awaited king is sure. I don't. I mean I don't think. As for our Days of May, continuation with variations of the Days of June, 1848: the material destruction is much less than probably the newspapers have led you to suppose. I read an article from the London Times which would give the idea that a standing house in Paris is a rarity. Now you might walk miles on miles here without observing the marks of the Seven Days War unless here and there yoirr attention were turned to them. Heaven knows and the other place that the waste is bad enough. It does not need to be exaggerated: take the whole of it for the last two months and as much or more has been done by Versailles guns (on the west, at Neuilly etc.) than by the Communeux. And it is well enough to remember — what most folks pay no heed to — this fact that the latter did not fire a building or assassinate hostage tUl after the Versaillais had begun executing their pris- oners: well enough to keep in mind that whatever the Communeux might have done, their assassinations were to the Versaillais executions less than i to 10 — both assassinations and executions being of maimed or disarmed persons. The truth is, the passions were up, the wild beast that lies in all of us broke out, and " Satan was in all their hearts." Pleasant, courteous, amiable fellows too on both sides. A curious people, whom I am grown convinced we can't tmderstand any more than they us. We are all agreed that Shakespeare or Lafontaine can't be translated. Then how presiune that the inexpressibly larger, subtler, more varied his- torical work we call a nation can be translated faithfully into the one mind of a foreign cuss! Mr. Richards, as you probably have heard, died a little before the worst troubles came. Your ex-consular clerk. Tuck, is part- ner in the house, was out here after the siege, and left only a week or so before Mr. R's death. Poor old JIfme. Busque died of the HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 503 siege a Kttle before it ended. It was well. Had she lived to see the Archbishop and the other clergy imprisoned and the churches closed, it would have been a long martjordom to her pious soul. I don't know any of our common acquaintance who has been hurt in these days. You don't meet any one who has not run extra- ordinary risks of life and limb, but none of them had a scratch. The only possible explanation of these weU-nigh miraculous hair- breadth escapes, is that the imperilled persons were not hit. They are like the man who only escaped drowning by being in the other boat. Your old neighbors Messrs. Woods and Read were out of town: the first with his family. Mrs. Read was in some danger. Her apartment is on the Place de la Trinite, where shot and balls flew about with great vivacity for a day or two: some of them breaking the balcony and chipping out bits of stone, and one of them entering her salon, cutting the fringe of her centre-table cloth, then rolling off quietly under the sofa. Washbume is said to be in bad odor with the Govt, he is accred- ited to, and certainly is with many of the order folks and other folks — from a variety of causes. Dviring the siege he most in- discreetly aired his opinion, which was anything but compH- mentary, of the Govt., its Chief, Trochu, and the French generally — aU of which airings came to the ears of Trochu, and others. Even with discretion, the due performance of his duties as acting minister for Prussia was enough to make his position a very deh- cate one. As Mr. Washbume is not deUcate he was in a false position. The truth is, he does not know French nor the French, nor sjonpathize with nor care for them; nor give himself any trouble to disguise his plentifiil lack in these regards. But furthermore, in these latter days, he spent many of them in Paris & had occasion (in the interest of American and German persons and property) to commimicate with members of the Commxme. EvU commimications these in the eyes of the VersaiQais and order folks. Among Paschal Garrifet's papers have been found, it is said, letters in which Washbume addressed the Commune's Delegue aux Relations exterieures as Mon ami! Which is thought very abominable — a sign of a sort of approval, a smacking to, a com- pUcity like! As though, Wash, needing to visit the archbishop or advise P. Garrifet that such an American house or Alsacien's house must not be disturbed, could have addressed P. G. on the subject with a: "Gredin et brigand que vous ites, fai Vhonneur 504 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE de vous faire" etc. However, Elihu W. has cut all the political bait there is to be cut in this country, and had now best cut the country. When do you think of coming to see us? And what are you always doing in HohenzoUern Strasse? You say nothing of your- self. Yet the subject is interesting. You are kind enough to ask after my future plans. I haven't got none. Never had much. Perhaps it is best so, or put them in one's last wUl and testament and deposit them at the notary's as that amiable wind bag, Tro- chu, did. I do think a Uttle of going home next autumn. Should be apt to go now, if it were not for fear of our summer heats. There are trans- Atlantic citizens and citizenesses whom I want to see after these six years' lack of vision. And Paris is not quite what it was. And I am getting semi-tired of it, and I am past 50 now and grow lonesome. You know I have books of yours — Lanfrey's French Revolution and others. Do you care to know that I fell the other week upon a lot of copies of Panckoucke's^ Atlas, folio edition, of the Bon- homme Richard! The only find this two months. Remember me to your house and hold me. Yours truly [P. S.] The house you used to live in at Porte Maillot is a mere rubbish heap. On the i6th of June, 1871, Emperor William with the Prussian contingent of his army was expected to make a formal entry into BerMn. Of course such a prospect after such a war as had been so triumphantly concluded by Germany promised a fete to the Ber- liners siupassing in interest any that that city had ever expe- rienced. I and my family had been invited to share the most eUgible seats on the parade-groimd by Mr. Ehrenreich, the largest brewer, I beUeve, in Prussia. The weather broke for the fete very fine. We ordered our carriage for seven o'clock, and we were in it at a quarter past seven. Flora, my youngest child, was left at home with Dortchen, her German nurse, who " did not care to celebrate the return of an army which took away her brother but did not bring him back." We found the streets already alive with people. In the Belle Alliance Strasse, through which the 'The Panckouckes were a family of bookdealers, printers and writers, from 1700 to 1886. TRIUMPHANT ENTRY INTO BERLIN 505 procession passed, people were already taking the places they ex- pected to hold for the rest of the day. Everything that offered space for a seat was already appropriated. Even the trees were fuU of people, and the curbstones were occupied by aged women and children with their nurses. High brick walls too were scaled by adventurous boys, and wagons without number were drawn up at the sides of the streets, and benches in them offered for sale. Everywhere were advertisements of windows to let. We reached the brewery about eight o'clock, where we found a pleasant, spacious balcony parterre overlooking the vast parade- ground on which the troops were formed. Upon the vast plain in front of us soldiers were already riding about moimted; mounted sentinels were patrolling in aU directions; while outside of the patrols, crowds of people were Ijong around in groups on the grass, eating, drinking, smoking, or selling to others wherewith to eat, drink and smoke. To reheve the tedium of so long a period of suspense — for the King was not expected tiU eleven — some took more beer and sometimes stronger waters than was good for them, but through the whole day, going and coming, I saw but one fight, which occiured on the Champs de Mars in the afternoon, in which some women participated. They were probably the cause of it. It was bloodless as well as I could judge, but far from noiseless. In due time 60,000 men, the exact number of Dutch and Eng- lish forces by sea and land with which Marlborough commenced his first campaign in 1702 against France, were marshaled in three lines, two at the sides and one in the centre of the field. PvinctuaUy at twelve the Emperor appeared — for he had al- ready exchanged for that title his Kingship — preceded by the ladies of the imperial family in spic and span new spring toilets and in carriages with four or six horses and outriders. Bismarck, Roon, and Moltke rode immediately after the King, or before him — I forget now which. It was wonderfid to see this old man at seventy-four riding like a yoimg hussar and scarcely look- ing old enough to be free from military service himself. About twelve this procession began to move down. My daughter said it started at half-past eleven. The last of it passed us at three o'clock, making its passage before us continue from three to three and a half hours. It was a remarkable feature of this parade that there was no traflSc except in refreshments, there was no gambling, no horse-racing, no speculating upon the ignorance 506 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE or vices of the crowd in any way, nor but one fight, which was settled in a few minutes. Our host, who had just sold his brewery and is coming to Hve in our neighborhood — HohenzoUemstrasse — together with his wife and his charming daughters, was very hospitable, suppHed us with beer and wine at discretion, and really placed us under very great obUgations, for I can conceive of no opportunity of seeing so much as we saw with so Uttle discomfort on such an occasion, to which I had looked forward not without some dread for weeks. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON 4 HOHENZOLLERN StRASSE Berlin, Jime 17, 1871. My dear Huntington: Your letter gave me great satisfaction — ist, to know that you had rights which the Parisians felt bound to respect; and 2d, that you did not find from your personal observations that the Communist devil is as bad as he painted himself. I don't know why the Debats perversely refuses to send me my daily due unless it is only printed for admirers of Thiers and Orleanists. If you are walking in that direction, I wish you would just teU them that I have received but two numbers since the peace. I have not heard from Moreau. I presimie he is highcockalorum at the improving prospects of a Legitimate King, a GaUican Archbishop, and the restoration of the Church to its own & something over, in France. I fear he is counting some of his chickens that are yet only in the sheU. I have no faith that the French wiU submit either to a restoration or to any government that is clerical at its base. The weather is so warm and the condition of Paris is in so many ways unsatisfactory for a visit that I doubt if I get there before the faU, imless by deferring my visit I should miss you there which is a contingency not to be contemplated. Surely you will not go home this summer. When fall comes you wiU reflect how severe our American winters are and then you wiU put off your return to the following spring perhaps, especially if I encourage you to hope for the company of the Bigelows, who may feel ready to repatriate themselves about that time. In any event be BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON 507 sure you notify me of your departure in time to give me ample verge for a good fortnight in Paris before. I can get on without the Edtel de Ville and the Louvre but without you, Paris would be as Palmyra to me. Can't we manage to meet somewhere here in Germany this summer! Don't you feel like coming and taking a look at the New Empire that has grown up here within the year before you return to United States? If we could forgather at some pleasant place it would be to me a source of infinite satis- faction. When I shall go is stUl undecided. Schools will keep me here I suppose till about the ist August. The King led 6o,cxx> troops into Berlin yesterday, to the ad- miration of many thousands of his imperial subjects. It was a big 4th of July — no speeches, no exercises — simply a display of Force without any accoimtabiHty. To me there is something not altogether pleasant about a display of power without limi- tation. Electricity in a Leyden jar or in the hair of a cat's back is aU very well; you know that it has given bonds to keep the peace. But when you see it playing about your Chimney Stack, your emotions become mixed. This old King believes fuUy & entirely in the divine right by which he reigns and the equally Divine Right by which his subjects serve, and when you see a man so big a fool as to entertain such notions in 187 1 wielding such an irresistible force as he does at this moment, it keeps one constantly asking of events, "What next?" I apprehend that another war is not far off with Austria. I send you a copy of the Golden Age^ in which I have marked the paragraph which gave me most pleasure to read. Do write to me often. Has the Consul returned? How is David? Empfehlen me to both. Yours very truly HXTNTmGTON TO BIGELOW 42 Rue de La BRinfEEE, 29 Jime, 187 1. My dear Mr. Btge„ow: I was glad to get yours of 17th June, which should have been straightway responded to, but I spake unto myself and said: first- mostly I wiU gat myself up the stair of the /. des Debats office and "Edited by Theodore TUton. 508 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE regulate the forwarding of that journal to 4 HohenzoUem Street. Which I have not yet done. So 'elp me I'll go to-day. Rather guess the catch is that there is some new postage to pay. If that is the trouble it shall be corrected. If you only would preserve a band of the journal and whenever there is any irregularity in receipt, forward that to the bureau, your reclamation would be surer of prompt attention. Mr. Moreau surely told me he was on the brink of writing to you. His time may have been taken up with election business. A Moreau that may be he, figures on the variorum, hotch-potch, coalition-conservative hst of candidates. This only one of half a dozen Usts set forth from as many different committees of as many different colours, each committee (as its hst shows to any one familiar with Paris political pigments) being made up of diversely shaded members. What with those recom- mended by committees or some coaUtion of newspapers and in- dependent candidates there are already more than 120 citizens offering themselves to fill the 21 vacancies of the Paris delegation at Versailles. Whether the new blood infused into the assembly there wiQ give that queer body the strength it needs — testiclate, if I may so express myself, its hitherto impotent foozhng fancy to rigid constituent purpose and fruitful action — is mere matter of conjecture. At present it is unparallelled among aU French or other legislative congregations. It has not a majority for example. For negative and sentimental purposes the two thirds or so vote or rattle their paper knives or make " mouvements" or applaud when papa Thiers threatens to leave them in the lurch, if they don't do as he bids when some clever slant hits Badin- guet* or a leftward voice is raised in praise of Gambetta or of the RepubUc quand meme or when the Bourbon of either branch is exalted. There is a majority that cherish monarchic sentiments, hopes and intrigues — but not for any one monarch: — not united but only adjoined, and actmg or resisting action in common and mo- mentarily on the sole condition of not agreeing on a common base of action setting forth a practical programme, defining the object of their aspirations. They sit, not hold, together. It is con- glomeration not cohesion. Except in the pure legitimist group of the extreme right and in the smaller deep red group of the Name of mason working on the chateau of Ham, from whom Louis Bonaparte bor- rowed a suit of laborer's clothes in which to escape. As emperor, he could not live down the popular recollection of this disguise, and the sobriquet of Badinguet stuck to him through his reign. THE VERSAILLES GOVERNMENT 509 extreme left — two impossible knots, neither of which is vindice dignus — there is no loftier sentiment, no prof ounder conviction, than personal vanity, hand to mouth expediency, politicastery, at best party patriotism. On this divided and subdivided col- location of groups and cliques — a base of quagmire and quick- sand — rests the government! It has already happened over and over again, as you know, that Thiers has carried points that to his view were essential, only by adding to his marvellous cunning of argumentation in the Cham- ber and to preliminary extra-parliamentary persuasions and menaces, the threat of resignation. This wakes them from their little dreams of a future legitimate, Orleans, or Imperial monar- chy, frights them away from their childish sport of party intrigue, scares them with the view of the imminent and impenetrable pros- pect of confusion confounded from which, if Thiers is removed, not so much as a sheet of brown paper protects their helpless heads iu the storm that must foUow: and then they vote as he bids, cowed but pouting hke whipt schoolboys. They don't aid, hardly and imwiUingly stand by, give no impulsion to the govern- ment. And so it floats along, this French Ship of State the Cap- tain-pilot Thiers liable to mutiny of the disorderly crew at any moment — he liable at any moment to faU asleep like Palinurus and fall down to death. Really in a sense, we are as much xmder the one-man government now as in the days of the Empire. Suppose Thiers were to die to-morrow? He is 73, of an old Uved family to be sure! Another trouble is: apart from the defects of the Chamber-men at Versailles ahready referred to, I suppose it is safe to say that the historical eye hath rarely gazed on so large a number of well- dressed persons capable of reading and writing, selected, by an Electoral or other process, as representatives of the wants, not to say the ideas, of any large community, among whom were so few who by virtue of endowment, vocation or acquirement are fit for legiferent work. This is natural enough. The primary schools of a free pubUc life, the ecole normale of a free parlia- mentary system, the school of practice and appUcation opened by a system of responsible ministers had been closed for a genera- tion. The school of what may be called administrative tech- nology — it sufl&ciently degraded — alone was open. But the graduates from this last, as well as the few statesmen and prac- tised politicians and half-practised parliamentarians who served 510 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE under the Empire were, just by virtue of such service, excluded from the electoral lists or condemned by constituencies in the elections of February. Nor was it in the distressed minds and excited passions of the electors at that moment, to choose constituent mandataires or legislative representatives. The real mandat was either to make peace on any terms, or protest against peace on any terms: and the result was the choice — in the country, of large proprietors, mostly conservative men of effective local personal influence (whose monarchical or other political principles were an accident dans I'espece), and — in the great towns, especially in Paris, of pohtical and social protestants. The pohtical education and practice of the first class — so far as its chosen members had any, dated, for the bald headed of them, from the Monarchy of July and the Restauration — and, for the yoimger ones, was but a tradition from their elders. The others could but be more or less intelligent theorists, taught by books, by mutual instruction in cafes and conciliahules, inspired by their "inner consciousness" and mere hate of the past, by French vanity misled by logique and straight-Uned ratiocination — forgetful; i. e., fiercely heedless of the truth, so weU phrased in a book you once lent me, that "The best reasoned is not always the most reasonable conclusion." The consequence is, among others, that of the very few laws the assembly has past, the important ones are not simply bad — they are impossible. Take two of pressing importance for Paris, the one on house and shop rents and the one on deferred debts: loi des layers and hi des echeances. The first of each of them was so hopelessly bad, as voted at Bordeaux, that they were both repealed at VersaUles^ — their passage meantime having aUen- ated all classes at Paris and admirably prepared the way for the revolt of 1 8th March and the easy early triumph of the Com- mvaie. ^ Of the second laws on these two matters, that of the Loyer is unintelligible, that of the echeances already imder discus- sion for grave amendment or repeal: neither of the two can be fully applied. If you choose to spend your time on the government project for new taxation, you will be struck with the theoretical, impohtic, if not unpractical, bureaucratic cut-and-driedness of many of its features. I doubt if it be greatly modified in committee. But God forgive me, and you for this long screed on themes 'The AssemhUe Nationale, sole depositary of the sovereign power of France was elected on the 8th of February, 1871. It sat first at Bordeaux and then at Versaillw. THE VERSAILLES GOVERNMENT 511 which, if they interest you at all, you know of, past my writing. Why don't you tell me more of yer own doings and next purposes to do? I have reasons not hitherto so valid for going home this next autumn. Am not like, however, in any case to take ship before tail end of August; and am like to be free for my move- ments from mid July to near the end of that month. If, within those terms, you are like to fall in pleasant places — some hill country of the Black or other Forest or in Switzerland or else- where, keep me at least advised. If I can't come to you, it will be pleasant at any rate to devise what a pleasant time we miglit have of it, if we were to meet. An impertinently tall fellow, son of Saml. Bowles he made me believe, came to my room yesterday and said, among other things, that his father and Dr. Barker were on their way now to England. LaFayette Foster is here in these days. Consul Read is well — well, it is no libel to say that there was once a Consul whom I liked better. David keeps his colour. Woods is back, but I've only seen his back in retreat up the street. He appears to be well as to his shoulders, and is, one is sure, all right as to his hearty soxmd character. There is hardly another common acquaintance to speak of. Richards, you know, is dead — without his hat at last. Eelas! Yours truly FROM MY DIARY Carlsbad, July ii, 1871. Mr. von Bimsen and family arrived yesterday. At dinner to-day he said he had been struck by a remark made to him by the Grand Duke of Baden to the effect that there was more danger that the temporal power of the Pope would be extended over all Italy than that the power of Victor Emmanuel would be consolidated over Rome. In confirmation of his opinion he pointed to the fact that Father Hyacinthe's recent letter from Rome had been seized and the copies conj&s- cated by the Italian government. Von Bunsen also told me that Charles Albert, the father of the present King of Italy, once told his, von Bunsen's, father that that King's confessor had quite con- vinced the King that he saw with perfect distinctness through a particular place in the floor which he pointed out, down to where his, the King's father— who had relaxed some of the rigor of 512 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE the inquisitional treatment prescribed for the Albigenses in his dominions — was roasting and boiling in the flames of heU, and said that it was a great pain to him to feel how fearfiilly his poor father was expiating the crime of his indiscreet weakness to those worthless heretics. Carlsbad, Friday July 14, iSyi. Von Bunsen told me that he had studied philology with the intention of making it his profes- sion, but his eyes gave way and he did not recover the perfect use of them tiU his thirtieth year. He said he used to write Hebrew with tolerable fluency. I asked if he had kept the run of the movement for a new translation of the Bible in England. He said they ought not to attempt it in England, for they had no scholars there who knew Hebrew; that there was not a man in England, that is an Enghshman at least, who had any acquaintance with Hebrew that amounted to anything for such work. I asked how it was with Dean Alford.^ "He is dead," said von Bunsen, "nor did he know any Hebrew worth speaking of." Von Bunsen said the Hebrew is a very difficult language; that the greatest Hebraist Uving is a Jew professor at Bonn who had been a student with him there. "But," he added, "the learned Jews never imder- stand or at least derive the same significance from the incidents of the Bible that we Christians do. For example, a particular letter or word is read in connection with the letter numbering say two hundred letters forward and two hxmdred letters behind, and so on. Those letters and others thus combined in some cabahstic fashion make the word which expresses the idea that they adopt from the perusal of the Hebrew Bible. Hotel Pilsen, Carlsbad, July 20, i8fi. To-day von Bunsen at my request repeated the story already referred to of Sir Charles Wyke's manner of being sustained by the British Cabinet in with- drawing the Enghsh troops in' Mexico from the Mexican aUiance on the written opinion of Lord Clarendon to the Cabinet, of which he was not a member. Von Bunsen said it was the only case in modem diplomacy he remembered of an international question being settled upon the exclusive responsibility of a minister pleni- potentiary. He also mentioned the Queen's insertion in the original treaty of aUiance of a clause giving England the right honorably 'Henry Alford, Dean of Canterbury. TALKS WITH VON BUNSEN 613 to withdraw from it when she did as one of the evidences of the important influence which she exerted upon the government of wluch the pubUc knows nothing. Carl von Bunsen was reading Die Bernsteinhexe by Meinhold, and his father said I would know it by the EngHsh translation, The Amber Witch. It was written, he said, by a country parson in Germany for his amusement and purported to be the substance of a manuscript prepared in the time of the Thirty Years' War and to give the autobiography of a person whose career was de- signed to illustrate the tenacity with which the common people held on to certain notions of witch-craft. By some accident the parson's manuscript foimd its way into the hands of the late King who was a very literary man. He was much struck with it, and supposing it to be an historical document, sent for the author. The parson undeceived the King and made him tmderstand that it was only an invention of his own and in no sense a history. The King advised its publication. The author repHed that he had no acquaintance with publishers, neither had he the means of pub- lishing it on his own accovmt. The King then asked the parson's consent to pubHsh it, which of course was readily obtained. It was pubUshed [in 1843], but without preface of any kind. The King, acting as the parson's publisher, sent him a handsome sum of money, such a smn as he would have sent to a writer of the highest reputation. The public took the novel to be a history; as the King had done, and it was received and praised as such to such an extent that Meinhold felt it to be his duty to set the public right, which he did in a note to the press. Unfortunately a Leip- sic professor had written a profound review of the book based upon its supposed historical character, and his amour propre was woxmded by the statement of Dr. Meinhold; and what does he do but send a note to the press rebuking the audacity of the coimtry parson's presimaing to have written the book, and proceeding to argue, with infinite learning, that it was what it purported to be, a ' recovered manuscript of the last century. Dr. Meinhold had to come out again and show that in his own attempts to imitate the German of the previous century he had made some errors and had used some words of much more recent origin. He cited them and thus closed the controversy. 514 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE bigelow to hargreaves Hotel Roi d'Angleterbe, Carlsbad, July 17, 1871. My dear Mr. Hargreaves: During the Communist ascendency I wrote a paper the design of which was to discourage the French from relapsing again into dynasticism, toward which every one took it for granted that Thiers was tr3ang to lead them. It grew to such proportions before I had quite eased my mind that I sent it to Sampson, Low & Co. to pubHsh.^ They did so in spite of the imprepossessing view taken in it of the EngUsh monarchy as a model for France, and I have requested them to send you a copy. I cannot suppose it will please you, more likely you wiU disapprove of it altogether; but I coidd not publish anything in England and not send a copy to so old and valued, may I not add indulgent, a friend. I dare say you will be reminded, in running your eyes over it, of the dis- tich of good old Dr. Watts: For Satan still will mischief find For idle hands to do. You may say what you please of it and do what you please with it, only promise that nothing it contains shaU qualify the friend- ship you have always manifested towards me and mine and which it is one of the ambitions of my secluded life to cultivate and strengthen. I have been drinking the waters here for 10 days and propose to remain about eight weeks longer. God bless you all. HARGREAVES TO BIGELOW Send-Holme, July 24th, 1871. My dear Friend: Thank you for the book your pubHshers have sent me and for the kind words with which you commend it to my notice. ^France and Hereditary Monarchy, published by Sampson, Low & Co., London. FRANCE AND HEREDITARY MONARCHY 515 It reached me during the visit of my friend Mallet, whom I think you met at Craven Hill; and who has been spending some days here with his wife & family. As our talk, when we come together, is ever of national affairs, be assured we lost no time in reading and, as I hope, "inwardly digesting" the volume, so full of facts on which every Frenchman & Enghshman too has need to ponder. Of course we had it all our own way in your absence, when the criticism was adverse as well as favorable. We only regretted your absence — had you been present our pleasure would have been greatly enhanced & our discussion would have gone probably into the smaU hours of the night, con- trary to my usual invaUd habits. I may tell you that we can- tered over the chapters on Thiers & Guizot in perfect accord. Of course Mallet, who was dear Cobden's most able assistant in the work of the English Free Trade Treaty, can have no love for Thiers the protectionist — and I may say of him, as Gladstone once said of Palmerston & England, that he is the most unfor- tunate statesman (if he can be so called) France has ever had. He has Hved to see the external poUcy of his life falsified after the direst national suffering, and it looks as though this "rural" Parliament might overtvim him on his home policy of protection. Thanks to Cobden's great work, the letter of which may be de- stroyed but of which the spirit will Uve to spring again with new life — the agricultural popiiation of France, so oppressed formerly by the monopolist manufacturers & iron-masters, have tasted a few at least of the sweets of free trade, and seem not disposed to part with them. The struggle will be an interesting one. Mallet was twice called to London to advise with the Foreign & Board of Trade Ministers. There will be no recession on the part of England. Should aU the other countries with which sequent treaties have been made stand firm, Thiers may yet be forced to change his line. But passing on to the chapter on the trans- mission of the executive power in France, we felt the truth of your picture at once concise & telling. It is when touching on the same question as regards England that the discrepancy became apparent. For the best of 40 years the Crown has been little more than a sign manual. Parliament has ruled, & Parliament is responsible for whatever of good or evil has attached itself to English politics. Disraeli in one of his early novels endeavours to dissuade the people from attacking the Crown. He tells them 516 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE the aristocracy is their bane, and that their efforts should be directed against that preponderating power in the state. It is as true now as then. Our government is an oligarchy tempered by household suffrage in the Commons' House. And when we have changed that state of things, which we shall certainly do ere long — for the outworks of the citadel are being gradually undermined — it wiH then be a question how much longer we shall work with a Minister-President. Not long, I suspect, when the crowned Puppet stands alone. On the Condition of England question, we neither of us think much of Messrs. Fawcett & Grant's suggestions.^ It is simply a mockery to preach absti- nence of a certain kind^ to a population such as ours. Much higher condition & culture are required to bring about a whole- some restraint in this & other directions. And Mr. Grant's emigration scheme imder government is bad imder almost any circiunstances. They who can go & desire to go, go now. But in truth a better distribution of labor is the real want — from Birmingham northward wages are constantly rising, & hands are now wanted in the manufacturing districts. Mr. Grant's table of paupers 6° exports (page 37') is very fallacious and may be read many ways. The paupers of 1850 were as numerous as those of 1866 — although several millions have been added to the population. Of course it will be said that the exports having nearly doubled in the mean time the paupers ought to have decreased. True — but mark the period of change when the numbers again swell — i860 — your great war — our cotton famine. There must be such local fluctuations. In 1870 again the East of London suf- fered from a shifting of the ship-building trade to the Tyne, the Clyde & the Mersey. But in addition to all this, the growing laxity of our Poor Law administration is the main cause why Pauperism has not diminished with the increase of Trade. Our system of out-door relief has been growing upon us, & is pauperising our people. I see it in my own Uttle parish here. The young people never think of helping their aged parents — and all are improvident under a system which brings bread to the door when needed, at the public expense! As regards the future — both Mallet & myself consider the passage from Mr. Grant at ^Pauperism: Its Causes and Remedies, by HenryTawcett; Home Politics, by Daniel Grant. Trom drink. 'France and Hereditary Monarchy. FREE TRADE 517 page 40^ on the trade of England & the United States as fallacious from beginning to end. And as regards foreign rivalry — to show you how little our people really think of that, I may tell you that in the manufacturing town of Oldham alone new mOls for 350,000 spindles are being erected — a number equal, I see, to the whole of the Russian spindles at this time. No, no, be assured we are only at the threshold of the effects of Free Trade. Mr. Grant cannot be a disciple of Cobden. I have not seen Mr. Hoyle's book^ — but should judge it contains much that is nearer the mark. It was a reUef , however, to pass from these authors to your own thoughts in the later half of your book. Our troubles have a manifold origin — for some oiir government is responsible, but alas for the greater part we have ourselves to blame. What you say of the Church of Rome reminds me that Cobden remarked to me in almost the last conversation I had with him that he thought the next great revolution in Europe would be a religious one. I know it was always his opinion that poHtical freedom could only be based on reUgious freedom. Thank you again for the book. I much regret it was not first pubUshed in the Fortnightly Review — now our boldest Review & much read. You may note Mr. Forster's speech last night on the Education vote. With Education & Free Trade in land England wiQ yet maintain a far larger population in far greater abundance & happiness. It is a very expansive question, & I must close imtn you ask for more. THXIRLOW WEED TO BIGELOW London, July 18, 1871. My dear Mr. Bigelow: Harriet has just finished reading your very welcome letter. In consequence of overworking my head it broke down four months ago, since which time I have not been able to write or read. We came away hoping that a voyage would benefit me and that both of us would be the better for a summer abroad, but the voyage gave us thirteen days of discomfort in a rolling ship ^France and Hereditary Monarchy. K)ur natural Resources and how they are wasted, by William Hoyle. 518 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE with but intervals of fair weather; this upset me a good deal and instead of going as we intended to Germany, we remained four days in Liverpool and have been more than a fortnight in London. Having come to the conclusion that home is the best place for an invalid, we intend to embark in the Wyoming on the 2nd of August. We only drive about the Parks, and see nobody but the few friends who call. Mr. Beckwith with his family have apartments adjoining ours. Mr. Eyarts with a part of his family are ex- pected on Saturday. John Knower, with his sister and sister-iu- law, are also with us. Gen. Webb with his family came on with us from Liverpool and are now in Paris. R. M. Blatchford, with Mrs. Blatchford and Miss Hone, have gone to Homberg. We think of going for a few days to Malvern and thence to Liverpool. The Sanf ords left for America a few days before we arrived. They are to pass the summer in Newport and the win- ter in Florida. We had hoped to see you and yours again on this side of the Atlantic, but must content ourselves with anticipating that pleasure in America. Harriet joins me in affectionate remem- brance of Mrs. Bigelow and the children. Very truly yours P. S. My father attempted to sign his name but as you see failed. He is very feeble and a good deal discouraged. I dread another voyage before he has recovered from the bad effects of the one just over, and I fear the warm weather will debihtate him. Sir Henry Holland has tried to convince him that he makes a mis- take, but he feels that he is not as well and must go. Very sorry not to see you all; but shall hope to hear.^ william h. russell to bigelow 25 Alfred Place West July 22, '71. My dear Friend: It is so pleasant to hear from you — a friend, wise, witty & true, whose kind words nevertheless go thro' me like arrows — for I am, as I ever have been & shall be till second childhood 'Thurlow Weed survived the dictation of this letter to his daughter Harriet eleven years. He died on the 22nd of November 1882. W. H. RUSSELL 519 renders me sage perforce, engaged in pulling diabalus his tail with an energy which gives me a great idea of the splendid manner m which that appendage is rivetted on. When I returned from the wars I found Alice's husband selling out & settling in the coxm- try, & Alberta & all her friends said that no criminal who had ever poisoned the air of heaven would be so bad as the father who did not bring his daughter out. So I brought her out. She was duly presented at Court & balled & partied & I took a house & kept horses & asses, & now at the end of the season the dear girl does not see why she should stay in London all the year, &c., — in other words suggests a round of visits. Si sur ces entrefaites you come & coolly propose a visit to Karlsbad! I want it badly. I want to see you. Hang my liver. It has made itself quite too intrusive. A man I know was eating lobster & crab for supper (hot whiskey to wash it do\ra) the other night & I said to him "You will play the deuce with your Uver — crab & lobster divil at this time of night." "I don't care a d about my liver" was bis reply, "& I do care a great deal for devilled crab." Now I am not like him — I care much for my liver, but it is a selfish, ungrateful, unsympathetic organ & doesn't care for me. My Army 6° Navy Gazette keeps me afloat a Uttle & when, if ever, I get it clear of a mortgage it will answer my modest wants. I am now about a History of the War — a new edition of the old Crimean fellow & a book on Egypt, so you may see that I have enough to do. But alas! The caJf has been eaten in the cow's belly. I teU you more than I would let most of them know who caU me friends. It is a comfort to let some one peep behind the door of my closet, for outside it is all beautiful. Alberta is now down at Cowes yachting with some swell friends & I am going over to Ireland with the Prince of Wales. I was asked by C. P. to accompany him to Mimich, but it was a short notice, & I could not leave my daugh- ter. You see what we have done — restored the prerogative of the Crown to overturn the power of the House of Lords in dealing with the Queen's Army — as it is called by a very poor fiction which will soon be left without the smallest trace of colour on its impudent face. If England is to be ruined, Gladstone is the man for the business, depend on it. I intended to sit down to a great dish of chat with you & lo! the meal is interrupted. Give my love to yoiu: dear ones who remember me. I keep them all in memory as they were long ago & perhaps would fail to identify some now. Ever yours affectionately, my dear friend 520 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE FROM MY DIARY [Carlsbad] Sunday, July 23, 187 1. The von Bunsens and I went up to the Kreuzberg this evening and took our supper. As we were crossing the bridge beyond the National Hotel — Mrs. von B. in a donkey cart — we noticed the full length image of a saint with a golden aureole around his head and comparatively modern ecclesiastical costume, standing upon a projecting rock near the bridge. Bunsen said that I would find saints' images ahnost universal in CathoUc Germany near bridges, and then went on to teU me that the origin claimed for these statues was invented by the Church, and was as follows: An archbishop of great piety in the 14th century was the father confessor of the wife of the Emperor Wenceslaus IV. His name was John of Nepomuk. The Emperor suspected his wife of some indiscretions, and feeling assured that she must have confessed them to the Archbishop, asked him to reveal her confessions to him. The Archbishop refused. The Emperor threatened. The Archbishop was inflexible, and the Emperor threw him, [from a bridge] into the river Moldau — this took place at Prague — and he was drowned. Hence, say the good CathoUcs, all bridges are imder his special protection. ^ A yoimg historian and friend of von Bunsen took it into his head to investigate the origin and authority for this legend and foimd that the Archbishop was not drowned, but died peaceably in his bed as all Archbishops should, at a very advanced age; that this story was of comparatively recent origin and had been invented for the purposes which Bunsen went on to state. John Huss was exceedingly popular in Bohemia, and in the times of the Reformation this country was ahnost entirely Hussite or Protestant. So great was the reverence for his name that statues or figures were erected through the country at the ends of bridges, they being the great thoroughfares and most fre- quented places in those days, and a sort of saintly devotion was thus paid to his memory. How the protestantism of the people was persecuted out of them by dragonnades and otherwise after Luther's death, is familiar to every reader of histoiy. But the priests and government neither dared to pull down these figures 'Mvuray's Handbook for Travellers in Southern Germany (1871), p. 505. JOHN OF NEPOMUK 521 of Huss nor to leave them protesting with their mute eloquence against the abuses to which Huss became a martyr. So the CathoUcs gradually equipped the images as monkish saints, and invented this story of Saint John of Nepomuk, who has finally become in Bohemia one of the best known saints in the calendar of the Church.1 In connection with this, von Bunsen told another story. When he was a boy at Rome, the authorities in sinking a shaft among the catacombs for some of their excavations, broke a great many tumular marbles, and among- them was a piece with the words Thugater Philoumene (their terminations in the dative), only left, the name of some person which preceded having been incontes- tably left or broken off. In about three months the name of St. Philomene was added to the Ust of saints in the Roman calen- dar,2 and von Bunsen says that through the south of France, at Aries, at Nimes, &c., there is no saint more frequently appealed to than St. Philomene. Priez pour nous imder her image meets one on aU the highways and in aU the churches. Two volumes were published at Rome setting forth the history of the canoni- zation of this St. Philomene and of her claims to that distinction. Von Bimsen, wishing to commimicate the facts to the historian of the previous fraud, sent to his father and mother who knew all about it, and they sent him fuU particulars. HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 42 Rue de La Bruyeee, 23 July, '71. Dear Mr. Bigelow: Yours of 17th only comes in — leastways I find it only coming late to-night from a jolly evening passed with Saml. Bowles. I 'In the succeeding month I was at Prague, and in crossing the river Moldau from the old town to the Kleamsite we traversed the bridge from which St. John was reported to have been thrown. His statue of bronze is one of twenty-five statues which ornament the bridge, and there was a small iron gate or wicket in the parapet of the bridge where the saint is supposed to have been precipitated into the river. The place is marked with a cross and five stars, in memory of the five flames which for three days were alleged to have flickered over the water under which his body lay. ^he following legend has been invented for her. Philomene was the daughter of a Greek prince. Emperor Maxentius (Constantine the Great) vanquished the Prince and fell desperately in love with Philomene. But she refused to yield to his passion, saying that she had devoted her virginity to God. Maxentius ordered her thrown into the sea with an anchor attached to her, but the sea refused to drown her and she floated miracu- lously on the water. She was finally beheaded. {La grande Encyclopidie.) 522 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE note every thing in it, but in the press I am in will only speak now of Reclus. Primo it is Elisee I am writing about, not his brother Elie. Elisee is our man, author of La Terre, etc. His brother Elie was the one appointed to the head management of the BiUiotheque Nationale by the Commune as late as 29th April. Elisee was taken prisoner about the jd or 4th of April, I should say, acting with the Commune troops, I was told, as simple sol- dier. I suppose, but don't know, that he is at the Isle d'Aix — was told that the batch of prisoners he was taken with were sent there in the time. I don't know how to communicate with him, nor to ascertain where he is. I should suppose that a letter would reach him if the authority at Versailles would xmdertake to for- ward it: would undertake to forward it if Washbume urged doubt- less. I ought to have written you about this sooner. Was once minded to speak to Washbume about it. Am not excusable for not doing so on the ground that it would probably do no good. Ought to try. Am sorry that I can do nothing more for him or give you any hints for the better direction of your doing. Elisee Reclus never, I think, held any office of honor or emolument from the Commime. Shall be glad to see your brochure when it comes. ^ Does Gueroult^ read English? If so he should have a copy. I shall send one, I think, to Portalis of the Verite. I guess from what you hint of it, that it will fall in with his ideas. Tired and sleepy. Very truly yours [P. S.] Coxild Laboulaye be got to say a word for Reclus? My impression is that the tendency at Versailles now is rather to clemency. R. was taken I think at NeuiUy and I am quite sure not later than the sth of April — my impression is that it was the 3d. BIGELOW TO HON. ELIHU B. WASHBURNE MINISTER OF THE UNITED STATES AT PARIS Carlsbad, July 31, 1871. Dear Sir: I have just learned through a common friend and a country- man of ours that Mr. Elisee Reclus, a gentleman of whom you ^France and Hereditary Monarchy. ^Adolphe Gu6roult, author of La Ripublique en France and other works. ELISEE RECLUS 523 must have heard in Paris, if he be not personally known to you, was taken a prisoner while serving in the Commune army as a common soldier some time about the third of April last, and is in danger of being transported to a penal colony. Both as an old friend of Mr. Reclus and as an American, I can- not bear to contemplate the possibility of his condemnation to such a hopeless exUe, and I venture to hope that his case, when you come to imderstand it, may awake your sjonpathies and friendly intervention in his behalf. I owe the acquaintance of Mr. Reclus to his ardent sympathy with our Republican institutions, the practical operation of which he had studied in the United States, and to his zeal in defending our cause in France when it required more than ordinary faith to defend it there. Throughout our late civil war his voice and pen were often employed in correcting false impressions propagated by our enemies and in conciliating for us the sympathies of Europe. He has been for years one of the most esteemed contributors to the Revue des Deux Mondes. It is only two or three years since he pubhshed La Terre, a work of two massive volumes which I take no responsibility in saying is the most complete and sys- tematic treatise on physical geography now in print. Though taken in the act of resisting the lawfid authorities of his coimtry, Mr. Reclus is in no sense to be confounded with the miscreants who took advantage of the temporary disorganization of the government to dehver over the metropolis of France to ruffianism and pillage. France has no more patriotic citizen, nor one who acts habitually from a more incorruptible sense of duty. He was betrayed by his enthusiasm for what he justly regarded as the greatest of causes, the welfare of his coimtry, into quite unsuspected associations with a class of men with whom he has as Httle in common as with those upon whose judgment his fate for life is now depending. He is not a conspirator, neither is he given to reprehensible methods of political agitation: he is a student, a scholar, he supports himself by a pen consecrated mainly to the diffusion and popxdarization of science; he thought the chance of securing popular sovereignty to France was in danger, and to protect it he rashly associated himself with those who seemed to liiTn as patriotic and disinterested as himself. It did not require these four dreary months of captivity to reveal to him the error he committed, nor is there any one less likely than he to repeat it. Mr. Reclus does not belong to the dangerous 524 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE classes, and no good or useful purpose would be answered by treat- ing him as if he did. On the contrary he is already, though still a young man, one of the glories of France, with the best and most productive portion of his life yet before him ready to be devoted to the fame and welfare of his coimtry. In view of these cir- cxunstances, and more especially in view of the services Mr. Reclus rendered our country in the hour of its greatest peril, I venture to hope you will interest yourself in his case, and that you may be able to prevent a consummation only less calamitous to France than to Mr. Reclus himself and his dependent family. In invoking the clemency of the French government you will be asking no greater indulgence for Mr. R. than our own govern- ment extended to an army of rebels far more cidpable than he; and I am xmwilling to believe that any appeal from you in his behalf could be made in vain. It wiU be easy for yovir secretaries now in Paris to verify aU I have said of Mr. Reclus's character and repu- tation. I am sir, with great respect, Your very obedient servant This letter yielded me no echo from Washbume, nor conse- quently from Reclus. Washburne did not read my letter, though he had told me that, if I should write one, he would see what could be done. huntington to bigelow 42 Rue de La Bruyeee 27 Aug. '71. My dear Mr. Bigelow: Yours of no date with Mr. Bunsen's note reached me yester- day. I don't think of anything more that can be done for Reclus. I saw a paragraph in one of the papers the other week — after Jules Simon's visit to Cherbourg — which I meant to cut out and send you: it stated that the Minister had ordered or procured an ameUoration of Reclus's treatment, who was suffering from the confinement and ordinary fare of the pontons. This is the only news I have of our worthy enthusiastic friend, and is good after a fashion. The delay in exaniination and trial of the prisoners is abominable. I think with time some pretty large measure of HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 525 amnesty will be adopted by government, if not in justice to the prisoners in mercy to itself: else it is like to be out of existence long before it can try them aU. I am not surprised at Washbume's indifference. "Of course he had never heard of Reclus" — and if he had, he would of course care as httle. Reclus is not an American voter, slangwhanger, or even newspaper writer. What interests me more in your note, or rather m that of your friend Bunsen, is the reference to some trouble in your home. What- ever it may be, and whoever be the "patient," I trust it is passed. The Tribune folks asked me back for the third time. I have gone back only half way, agreeing only to write when I feel hke it and what I feel. WTien Mr. Friedlander^ was in my room I supposed it certain that I should go to Berlin some time in Sep- tember, and he was kind enough to offer to engage rooms for me in advance out of an hotel. Since then letters have come that are like to txan my visit to England instead. ... I woidd thank you to make my apologies to Mr. Friedlander for not returning his call. The weather was most debiUtating. I was not well in body, was oppressed by very sad news at the time from home, and presently left town for country air and quiet, getting back only yesterday. I promised him to inquire again about the Ste- Beuve Port-Royal books and have not kept my promise. Will though. Don't think they have been sold — surely not at public sale — ^nor that they will be, before next faU. I don't think any more of going to America this year. I received your book (5 copies) from London: read it with real interest and don't find the first part so much out of date as you represented. Things are on the change here, and what seems an- cient history one week tmns up actiMlite almost the next. I gave one copy to Sam'l Bowles, who was here, to my high content, about the time the books came from Sampson, Low and Co. J. A. C. Gray, I find by his card, is in town, or was some time last week. I can't call on him tiU to-morrow. I do hope that "your patient" no longer gives anxiety. Very truly yours During the whole period of the Commune, Mr. Laboulaye was a volimtary exile in the obscure village of Bolbec. Upon the estab- lishment of the Thiers government he was elected to the AssemUee nationale; shortly afterward I received from him the following letter : ■Head of the largest scientific book business (retail) in Berlin and in the world. 526 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE LABOULAYE TO BIGELOW Translation Glatigny, Versailles, July 28, 1871. Dear Mr. Bigelow: I shoxild have written you long ago. The terrible events we have passed through explain my silence. You must pardon a great deal to shipwrecked people. I wrote you after the 4th of September, teUing you I should remain at Paris to do my duty as a hospital nurse. But I was not able to execute this purpose. Threatened ever since the 6th of September by the communists, who already believed themselves sure of success and who counted upon the existence of martial law to come into power, I believed it prudent to withdraw from Paris for some days and left it to organize some ambidances in Nor- mandy. The prompt arrival of the Prussians closed to me the gates of Paris, and, separated from a part of my family, I tarried at Bolbec, near Havre, and from December until the armistice I lived in the midst of the war and of the invasion. I have en- joyed a close inspection of Prussian civilization and I hope that light win soon break upon the conduct of a people, who in con- tempt of the modem law of nations, have conducted themselves with all the barbarity and the rapacity of the lansquenets of the Thirty Years' War. They deceive you in Germany and in the United States, but a Ue Uves but a day. History will dissi- pate it. I with my own eyes have seen systematic incendiarism; the ransoming of cities and villages which did not defend themselves; the taking of hostages; thefts by ofl&cers and soldiers; the drunk- enness and debauchery of the chiefs; all crimes united save one (assaults upon female chastity) and I have conceived a prof oimd hatred for this hypocritical and perverse race, incapable alike of nobility and generosity. Do not believe that at my age I am using the language of wounded pride; of a false patriotism; no, it is as a man, not as a Frenchman, that I experience as much indig- nation as contempt for such brigands. Retiuning to Paris the isth of March, I withdrew on the 26th LABOULAYE TO BIGELOW 527 to my house at Versailles, which the Prussians had abandoned on the 1 2th. I had been but moderately pillaged in comparison with my neighbors. It is true that I had the good fortune to have no officers in my house. The gardener had furnished the soldiers what wine and wood they asked for, so they were contented with pillaging my wine cellar and taking some trifling articles which pleased them. Besides, they were Catholics, and they had respected the crucifix of my wife which they had placed with veneration on a stand and surrounded with a wreath of boxwood. Next door to me a much ' more important house, belonging to Madame the Marchioness de La Tour Dupin, was entirely pillaged and the family pictures carefully packed up for Berlin with the pianos and the clocks. But what is this to St. Cloud burned with petroleum the day after the armistice. Six hundred houses were deliberately destroyed to show the French people that the Prussians make war seriously and without romanticism. You wiU have difficulty in believing this, but the day will come when the truth will strike you, and if you could once see St. Cloud you would know what to expect of Prussian virtue. It resembles that of your aristocrats at the South. "It is the sum of all villainies." I shall read yoiur brochure^ with interest but I doubt if any one outside of France can form any just idea of our situation. We are very " sick" and the wisdom of the late elections can not delude us. The cities and the country are overrun by communism, and with the provisional government which we have we may see one fine day either a military prommciamento or a social war. To save France there is need of a generous heart and an arm of iron. Mr. Thiers is only a skilful politician, little used to governing. He will have a majority in the Chamber, which body is very prudent, but win he have it in the coimtry? You are right in sajdng that it were better that the national assembly were a constitutional convention. We have great need of a constitution — of a defini- tive goveriunent. But our statesmen do not know that security is the great need of the people. They have been in opposition all their Uves, crying Vive la liberie. And they suppose too readily that an assembly gives society aU the guarantees that it needs for working, for Uving. I do not yet know what part I shall play in the assembly. I am old, tired, without ambition, and lack everything that is needed to lead a party or to assist in leading it. ^France and Hereditary Monarchy. 528 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE I shall do my best when I shall have studied the temper of the assembly a little. It is certainly very honest and very moderate, but it is very ignorant and very easy to deceive with fine words and platitudes. I do not beheve Mr. Thiers will compromise himself with Italy. He is very decided about repairing the destruction of the war and rehabUitating our army, but the behavior of the King of Italy towards us is not of a nature to fortify the friendship of the two nations. We cannot forget that Victor Emmanuel violated the treaty he had signed as soon as we were not in a condition to make hitn respect it. Neighbors ready to take advantage of oiu: mis- fortunes, to break their word, are not to the taste of Frenchmen. It is not the Catholics alone who are woimded by this bad faith. Besides, I have explained myself on this point with friends in Italy. I believe the union of the two countries useful and neces- sary, but on the condition that the Pope is not to be the victim of the union. As to the attitude of Prussia and of Austria towards the Pope and the dogma of infaUibihty, I have nothing to say against it. I would prefer that von Bismarck should enter upon that path, where he wUl certainly learn that force can accompUsh nothing against conscience (misled or not, it Uttle matters). The merit of France has been that she has always respected the scruples of CathoHcity and never broken with the old GaUican policy. Let von Bismarck bring back the Concorditaire traditions of Louis XIV as he has brought back the law of nations to the time of the war of the Palatinate; that is his affair. A near future will in- form him that he has deceived himself in reUgious as well as in poUtical matters, and that he is only planting everywhere the germs of a war which will be the scourge and the degradation of Europe for a period of time which it is not for me to determine. He has proclaimed from the housetops that the Frenchman was the hereditary enemy of Germany. He wiU soon declare that German Protestantism ought to make an end of Roman Catholicism. We wiU see where these theories of hatred and vengeance lead to. For myseh, the issue is not doubtful; it is the awakening of aU the animosities of religion and of race and in due time a war, of which the war of 1870 wiU have been but the feeble prelude. These ideas will doubtless astonish you, and you wiU think me very mis- anthropic and melancholy. You are yoimg enough to see some day that I had but too much ground for these apprehensions. LABOULAYE TO BIGELOW 529 Adieu! My respects to Mrs. Bigelow and a thousand thanks for your kind remembrance of me. Very truly yours How true was Bismarck's reply to the almost pathetic iaquiry of Thiers: "Mais qui combattez vous done?" "Louis XIV," was the reply. It never seemed to have occurred to Mr. Laboulaye, that the overthrow of the Empire, though it necessarily humiliated France, gave to himself a prominence in public affairs for which he had sighed in vain imder the empire. Not only was he chosen a mem- ber of the new assembly in 187 1, and made chairman of the com- mittee on the reorganization of PubHc Instruction in France, but in 1873 he was appointed Director of the CoUege of France, and subsequently elevated to the highly remunerative dignity of sen- ator for Hfe. He filled the position of a representative always with dignity and ability, but he never became the focus of any considerable popidar influence. His standards were for the most part too high for effective partisanship. Though imbued with Uberal opinions, he was too exclusively in sympathy with the comparatively restricted class with which, in books or in society, he had always hved, and among whom he had always found his models. His health, too, was always deUcate — a circumstance which aided to diminish his by no means numerous points of con- tact with the world at large. FROM MY DIARY * * * , * * * * ' Carlsbad, July 2g,i8yi. Among the guests at Carlsbad was Gen- eral von Etzel, who had commanded a division in the late German- Austrian war and had solicited from me a copy of my brochure France and Hereditary Monarchy, expressing a desire to translate it. August 2, 1871. Von Bunsen says the General lost the battle of Koniggratz, for if he had moved the 10,000 troops under his command as he should have done, the whole Austrian army would 530 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE have been captured, over 200,000 men at least, instead of being simply pursued and slaughtered imtil the King put a stop to the useless waste of hfe. Some one said to the General, "You have lost the greatest opportunity ever offered to a general." Moltke regarded that battle as to Mm a defeat. He has but one system of tactics, the capture of his enemy. A dead enemy does not coimt with him. He only shoots in order to capture, and every man kUled is a leaf taken from his victorious wreath. General von Etzel has never had a command since. He told me that he was at the head of the military academy at Berlin, but nothing of that appears on his card. At dinner to-day I mentioned that Prince Mettemicy had once told me of the large quantity of papers kept by his father, and which he hoped one day to have leisure to edit. Von Bunsen said the old prince was a hlagueurf that his own father when yet a young man knew Mettemich well. For reasons of his own the Prince was specially devoted to von Bimsen, who spent hours and days with him. The father of von Bimsen told his son that in aU his intercourse with Mettemich he never heard him say any- thing striking or worth remembering. I remarked that the same might be said of Louis Napoleon. Von Bvinsen quoted in reply a remark of Napoleon while President to his friends when they were dismayed with the supposed popularity of Changamier, "Une hgne du Moniteur suffira pour cela." Returning again to Mettemich, he said that he was ready to receive money from any- one. When the members of the Congress of Vienna were about to separate, the Emperor Alexander of Russia sent for the Prince and said to him, "Prince, I do not feel disposed to permit the friendship which we have contracted for each other during these last months to terminate here. I wish to cultivate it. I want you to write me as often at least as once a fortnight. Of course I cannot expect you to give your time to me without suitable recompense. I shall give orders to my legation in Vienna to place at your disposal roubles, (a sum as great perhaps as aU the rest of Mettemich's revenue). The Prince received it without a blush, not at aU obUvious of the French proverb that "Qui prend s^ engage." Von Bimsen added that every time a new loan was made the Rothschilds used to make Mettemich costly 'Richard, eldest son of the famous diplomat, himself a diplomat and ambassador to France from 1859 to 1870. ^The Prince did edit his father's papers, and published them in 1879 under the title Denkwiirdigkeiien PRINCE METTERNICH 531 presents. In one case the Prince and Princess were at Frankfort or going through, and were guests of Rothschild. As they were stepping into their carriage to leave, the Baron remarked to the Princess, "You have neglected to bring your shawl: allow me," and with that covered her shoulders with a cashmere or Indian shawl worth a mint of money. During the famous Congress of Vienna aU the monarchs were the guests of some nobleman, and pretty much all present were of royal or imperial rank. Baron Rothschild was among the invited par exception but he modestly took his place near the host and not among the nobility. All of the guests one after the other, as soon as they discovered Roths- child, rose and saluted him except the King of Prussia. Some one asked him why he did not rise. He rephed, "Did not I? Well, I suppose I was the only one that did not owe him anything." The emperor of Austria gave Mettemich the Johannisberger estate on the Rhine. It belonged, if to anyone, most probably to. the German Empire, which no longer existed. At aU events it was a property very difficult to dispose of except as a gift to some benefactor both of Prussia and of Austria. It was in con- sequence of large orders for Johannisberger wine from the crowned heads of Russia and Austria and the other alHed powers at ridic- ulously high prices that that wine acquired its reputation. It is by no means, said von Bimsen, the best wine grown on the Rhine, but to bribe the Prince by an appeal to a passion through which he was always accessible, they gave the wine a reputation which it preserves stiU to at least a profitable extent. The family of the Prince is descended from Coimt Mettemich and all the mem- bers of it lived oflF of the Bishops of Treves, who made the daugh- ters abbesses and the sons something else. He himseK was bom at Coblenz. The king of Prussia, wishing to make him some gratifying testimonial, purchased the house in which he was bom and which had frequently changed hands since it had ceased to belong to the family, and sent him the title-deeds with a pleasant letter. The Prince sent the papers at once to his agents with instructions to sell the property and remit the proceeds to him. Von Bimsen knew Morrison^ in London, of whose history he was reminded by my teUing of a dream which I had had dozens of times in my life of being perfectly destitute of money. He said Morrison died in an asylum raving mad. He was tolerably quiet 'A man of notorious wealth and eccentricities, and resident of London, latefy deceased. 532 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE till Saturday came, when he was very much agitated at the hour of twelve o'clock when he was accustomed to receive a shilling. He unagiaed himself in a workhouse, and that it was upon the receipt of this shilling that he was dependent for his support. He died leaving thirty-five miUions of doUars. Von Bunsen visited him once at his country-place in Berkshire, and remarked the radiance of satisfaction from the old man's face when he declined a very fine cigar offered to him. The old man smoked the best of cigars costing tenpence or a shilling perhaps. Von Bimsen also remarked the cold reception he met with from the tenantry when he walked out among them tiU they were satisfied that he was not a spy from the Hall. Morrison had first come to London as a clerk for some obscure merchant, a Mr. Todd or some such name. One day he proposed to Todd to trust him (Morrison) for a few days with an assorted stock of goods to the value of £i,ooo. Todd assented. Morrison hired a Uttle shop on a popular thoroughfare for fifteen days only, put in his goods and advertised, "Selling out a bankrupt's estate at a great sacrifice," &c., &c. In forty-eight hours he had sold out and pocketed a profit of £800. He returned to Todd his money and asked him to double the venture. Todd again consented. Morrison opened a handsomer store in a more desirable quarter of London, got some help, and had a corresponding success. Mr. Todd, finding how clever he was, gave him his daughter in marriage and in due time took him into partnership. He would hear of large manufacturers in trouble, would take advantage of their neces- sities to buy their stock at a third or a quarter of its value, and was the reputed author of the system of "selling out to close a bankrupt's estate." He gave his sons a good education. The eldest, Charles, who came to America, was just like his father. He wrote from the United States that he thought he had dis- covered the secret of making money: save it. One of his daugh- ters married an army captain, but with aU their wealth they have never been able to take any position in England. This reminded me of a Une in the fourteenth chapter of Isaiah: "The end of evil doers shall never be renowned." Von Bunsen asked Mor- rison why with aU his affairs he sat for parliament. "I was married," he rephed, "had children — sons; I saw it was not worth while to accumulate a fortune to be swept away by revolution which seemed to be impending. I went into parliament to assist in passing the reform bill which I felt rendered property secure. MORRISON 533 I never gave myself any trouble about acquiring wealth. It came so easily that I never felt the cart behind me." Von Bunsen said Napoleon I thought meanly of Mettemich. The Prince courted one of the Bonaparte princesses. The Em- peror said to her one day, "Amusez ce niais la." Carlsbad, August 5, i8yi. Von Bvmsen told me to-day that when William B. Astor was last in Europe he presented Chevalier von Bunsen, the father of George, with £2,000. The old gentle- man was deUghted and had it aU invested for the benefit of his wife. Hotel Weisse Hahn, August y, 1871; Ratishon, 8 p. m. Mr. von Bimsen and I left Carlsbad this morning for a Nachkur tour into Bavaria. On our journey von Bunsen gave a clever illus- tration of the French peasant's notions of public economy. The tenant farmer presents himself in Paris pxmctuaUy according to his invariable custom at the residence of Madame la Baronne, his rent, all in five-franc pieces, in a bag. At her convenience he is received by Madame la Baronne, who instructs him with all her eloquence to despise and hate the present imjjerial dynasty, while he goes on silently coimting out his money for her. The farmer does not ventiure to argue or contest the views of Madame la Baronne, but when he has finished his counting, and she has pretty much exhausted her vituperation, he interposes a "but." "It may be all as you say, Madame la Baronne, but Madame, the late King Louis Philippe was so mean." "Wliat do you say," says the Baroness, in consternation. "The late King — God forgive me for saying it — was so stingy, so mean, while the Emperor is so generous. In the late King's time he was so grasping and stingy that you could not get hold of a rente for less than ninety. He could hardly bear to let them go at that. Now you can get them from our whole-hearted, hberal-souled Emperor for forty- five or forty-six. Oh, it was aU very well for such as you, Mad- ame la Baronne, but the present government suits our class better." Von Bimsen told another story of the Emperor during the spiritualist Home's favor at court. He had been entertaining lus august host and the family circle with some important communications from the spirit world, the spirits that evening seeming to be very commimicative. At last Home came to the 534 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Emperor and said, "Sire, a spirit desires to communicate with your Majesty." After a moment's hesitation not without a little surprise, the Emperor inquired "who made the request?" Mr. Home said that the author of the request had not made himself known, and seemed indisposed to do so. The Emperor finally assented. He had hardly got the words out of his mouth when he felt himself kicked the whole length of the room and against the wall. He recovered himself as well as he could, and a little angrily asked Home what this meant. Home said it was Louis Philippe. Opposite the market place in Ratisbon, over a pubUc fountain, is a statue of Justice, blindfolded, with a sword in one hand and scales in the other. Opposite this fountain is the Hotel Golden Cross, on the front of which is paiuted a portrait of Don John of Austria and three verses of six or eight lines each, painted in con- spicuous letters, reciting that in that house Emperor Charles V and a maiden, Barbara Blomberg, begat the young man to whose prowess at the battle of Lepanto, Europe owed the defeat of the Turks and the salvation of Christendom, and whose efl&gy adorned the waU of the hotel. I do not remember to have ever heard or read of any act of that nature, the debauching of a humble maiden by an Emperor, to have been made, with its fruits, a mimicipal distinction in any part of the world. It was not a memorial, that Don John was bom there, but that he was begotten there. Hotel Marienbad, Munich, August 8, i8yi. This morning at half-past six, von Bimsen and I drove to the WalhaUa, which we found to be an institution more distinguished for the celebrities omitted than for those admitted. Among the omitted we noticed Melanchthon, Thomas k Kempis, Huss, the Hmnboldts, the Schlegels; all the celebrities in natural science, such as. Wolf, Heinsius, and their class, while there is an abundance of generals and princes of whom the world has heard Uttle and cares less. Von Bimsen says that when he was here several years ago with some feUow-students from Bonn to spend the night, all they attempted to do was to visit the Walhalla. There was then already much talk of the old King's excluding Luther from a col- lection of German notabihties. They remarked as they entered, or soon after, to the custodian, "You have no Luther here." "Yes, we have," was the reply, "and here it is" — pointing to a portrait from one of Cranach's later pictures — "it was placed MUNICH 535 here last night, and you are the first to see it." It seems the young king, who had just succeeded Louis, the builder of the edifice, had lost no time after coming to the throne in wiping out the stain upon the government by giving to Luther his proper place in the Walhalla. This monarch was the father of the kin g who is now giving a helping hand to Bollinger and who threatened to declare war against France in spite of his parliament, if they, under priestly influence, refused to carry out the provisions of the treaty by which Bavaria had bound herself to help Prussia in a defensive war. The bridge on which we crossed the Danube to go and return from the WaUiaUa has a statue of a boy sitting astride of some- thing in imitation of a roof, with his hands up to his eyes, looking at the cathedral tower. The legend as given by our driver was that the architects of the two works, the bridge and the cathedral tower, had a strife and a wager on which of them should get the work soonest done. The bridge man won, and hence this monu- ment, which had a touch of humor in it which pleased us very much. BIGELOW TO HIS SONS KONIGSTEIN, Aug. 9, 1871. My dear Sons: You are both about to leave your parents for other guides and for an indefinite period. I was but eleven years old when I was sent from home to school, neither I nor my parents, I suppose, dreaming that our separation would last more than a couple of years. I never returned to my father's house except as a visitor. Perhaps a similar fate may be in store for you. At all events, while separated, you wiU be more or less reheved from customary and perhaps unintelligible restraints; you will be exposed to a new order of temptations and left in greater dependence than hereto- fore upon your own judgment and upon the influence of com- parative strangers. In the course of my varied youthful experiences I often felt the need of friendly counsel, and in reviewing my life I can see many occasions where a timely suggestion in regard to my health and conduct, would to all human appearances, have been of incalcul- able advantage. 536 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE As far as lies in my power I would like to be such a counseUor to you. No man lives to my age without gathering some experi- ences and forming some rules which, though they may not insure, are essential to success ia Ufe. As I am not to be with you to minister these coxmsels when they are likely to be most needed, I propose to put some of the more important on paper that you may read and meditate them at your leisure. You will find them consecrated by afifection — I hope also by some measure of wisdom. You wiU not recognize the importance of all of them perhaps at first, and as you mature they may acquire different degrees of value in your estimation. The truth in some of them has been purchased by me at a great price. Unless you accept it from me you may have to purchase it on as onerous terms as I did. God bless to you what I have here written, and may He always have you, my dear children, in His Holy keeping. Your affectionate Father. Enclosure Take as much of your necessary sleep as possible after sundown and before midnight. n Use your eyes and brains as little as possible upon serious and exciting emplo)Tnents after sundown or immediately before, dur- ing, and after eating. m From your habitual nourishment eschew all narcotics, and especially coffee, tea, beer and tobacco, and kindred stimulants which tend to prevent or impair sleep — the great moral as weU as physical restorative of man — and every thing which provokes or palliates the consequences of indiscreet indulgence. Happily you have as yet no tastes of this sort to contend with. Let me urge you most earnestly to contract none. Narcotics are treacherous allies. They wiU promise you strength and impunity for an kinds of excesses, but the force you receive through them to-day you borrow at compoimd interest from to-morrow; they heat your blood, develop all your evil propensities, impair your judgment and bring upon you premature infirmities. A taste BIGELOW TO HIS SONS 537 contracted for any one of them, is the mother of a family of appetites, each more exacting than its parent, and none of them is ever satisfied till it has destroyed the health and morals of its victim. God gives us daily all the strength we require for our daily duties. This allowance is so divinely apportioned to our needs that whoever resorts to stimulants to increase it, commits precisely the offence by which Adam fell and repeats the folly of the unbeUeving Israelites who disobediently stored up Manna beyond their daily needs only to breed worms and offensive odours. IV Wash yr entire person every day in cold water, being sure to take such exercise after it as may be necessary to make you com- fortably warm. My experience agrees with the prevailing author- ity of physicians, that the best time for bathing is directly after leaving yr bed in the morning. Let me commend to you farther and without qualification the sanitary habits of Mr. Bryant as described in a letter written to Mr. Joseph Richards in March last, of which I gave you a copy. Mr. Bryant has written little if anything destined to exert a more extensive and salutary influence upon mankind than that picture of the pure and simple habits by which the first EngUsh-writing poet of our time has preserved Ms rare mental and bodily powers in such unimpaired perfection; like Homer " In years, but not impaired by years." Whosoever faithfully observes the daily regimen to which Mr. Bryant has addicted himself can scarcely furnish more reUable evidence of a well spent life. VI Accustom yoxurselves to master whatever study you undertake. Don't be bullied or tempted into passing over any lesson without understanding it. If you do you will fall into indolent and slovenly habits of mind which wiU deprive what you learn of half its value and gradually weaken your character. vn Don't waste your time upon poor books, whether you read for instruction or recreation; select always the best of their class. 538 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Observe the same rule in all your entertainments. Keep aU your standards as high as possible. "Every thing good in man," says Emerson, "leans upon something higher. Hitch your wagon to a star." vin When you read a book try to fix clearly in your mind its plan, its leading thought, and such details as will iriorm without cum- bering your imderstanding. Qualify yourselves before hying it aside, to give to another person a just idea of its purpose and character. You may do weU to practise this upon your intimate friends. I have found it convenient to note on one of the fly leaves of a book I have been reading, the pages which I might like to re- read or which contained passages to which I might wish again to refer. Buckle used to note in his books the date of his reading them. In this practice I could never see much if any advantage. He probably did or would not have persisted in it. rx Beware of the ambition to read fast or much. It is the most certain way you can adopt of being a long time in learning very Uttle. You shoidd read to get new ideas and not distractions. The miners of California are not the richer by the amount of sand they wash over in the course of a day but by the size and number of the nuggets they find in it. X Cultivate habits of meditation and reflection. Don't fancy a half hour lost because you have no book to read or companion to talk with. You may reason yourselves into more Imowledge than you can ever acquire from books, for every thing in this world is the logical complement of every thing else. Reading without meditation is like eating without digestion : the one makes the mind and the other the body thinner and feebler, and finally destroys it. Overfeeding of the mind in this way is one of the vices of our time and deserves to be classed among the regret- table consequences of cheap printing. If our reasoning powers were perfect, we could reach aU truth without books. It fol- lows that the more we reflect the smaller will be the proportion of our valuable knowledge derived from books. BIGELOW TO HIS SONS 539 XI Do not look for friends in a circle that does not receive you socially upon equal terms. Association with "one's betters," as persons occupying a higher social position than ourselves are vulgarly termed, is only possible at the expense of our dignity and self respect, and tends to increase and perpetuate often purely unaguiary and pernicious distinctions. There is an excellent old French proverb which says, "11 faut que I'amitie nous trouve ou nous fasse 6gaux." xn As a general thing cultivate the companionship of people who are more mature, and in some respects substantially more accom- pHshed than yourselves. Distrust your motives if you find your- selves inclining to the society of people younger or less educated, or for any other reason more ready to flatter your vanity by allowing you precedence of them. I have rarely known a boy who sought his associates mainly among boys who were younger or in a lower class than himself, that was much esteemed by his classmates or that took a high rank either in his school or in the world. The famous Lord Clarendon said "that he never was so proud, or thought himself so good a man, as when he was the meanest (that is, the least important) man in the company." xin Beware how you allow your friendships to ripen into intimacies, for the next stage of such fruit is apt to be decay. The illustrious Wm. von Hmnboldt in one of his private letters said wisely, "Friendship and love require confidence, the fullest and most heartfelt, but confidences, never." To his I will add a remark of La Bruyere equally sagacious and more feUcitously expressed: "Toute confiance est danger euse si elle n'esf pas entiere. II y a peu de conjonctures ou il ne faille tout dire ou tout cacher. On a deja trop dit d'un secret a celui a qui Von croit de- voir en derober une circonstance." Ponder both these cautions before you abandon yourselves to any of those absorbing intimacies in which young people sepa- rated from their friends are prone to indulge. 640 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE XIV Before commencing your daily emplojonents, never fail to make some formal recognition of your dependance upon your Father in Heaven for everything you are or hope to become, and invoke His presence and direction during the day. I hope you will continue to make a chapter or at least a few verses of the Bible a subject of daily meditation. With the Bible under your hands you may get on very well without any other book; but all the libraries in the world would be no adequate substitute for it. XV Give yourselves little concern about the results of what you do or undertake. They are sure to be satisfactory if the motives of your conduct are unexceptionable. Our Kfe in this world is but a succession of choices between good and evil motives. It is even doubted whether what we do has much if any effect upon any but ourselves, but the moral quality of our motives for any act, how- ever trifling apparently or imconsidered, affects oxu: destinies for eternity. XVI Among all the forces and graces of your characters be sure that truthfulness ranks with the first. Disingenuousness of any kind is a confession of weakness. No one would resort to it who did not feel himself unequal to the immediate emergency without it. Lying is blasphemous. It is repeating the crime of Peter and denying our Lord and Master of whom all truth is a part. In the course of your life it will often seem as if very substantial advan- tages would result from taking what appear to be trifling and venial Uberties with the truth. This is a dreadful delusion. We can take no sacrifice of truth however slight without parting with a larger proportion of force, not to speak of those higher consid- erations which I trust you have no occasion to be reminded of by me. The power which habitual truthfulness of speech and character confers upon those who possess it would make the falsest villain the most truthful if blindness were not one of the Provi- dential conditions of dupUcity, This view of the wisdom of truth is no novelty. It is at least as old as Homer. When Telemachus, voyaging in search of his father, arrives at Pylos, BIGELOW TO HIS SONS 541 Minerva proposes that he go at once and ask the advice of Nestor, saying: "Entreat him "That frankly he declare it. He wUl speak "No word of falsehood. He is truly wise.''^ The great need throughout the world to-day in every calling, in public and in private life, is truthful men who are proof against all temptation to deceive and betray xvn In your intercourse with people let your predominant purpose be to serve them. What you do with a single eye to the welfare of a fellow creature you wiU never regret, whether yoiir efforts ac- comphsh the result you hope or not. Such acts are "the gifts and calling of God" which, says St. Paul, "are without repen- tance." You cannot say as much of what you do ostensibly for the good of others but with an ulterior view to some personal advantage. Such plantings rarely if ever yield the fruit that is expected of them. It is what you do for others that wins for you friends, not what they do for you. xvm Beware how you talk of yourselves. You can converse upon no topic on which you are likely to appear to so little advantage, upon which you will find it more difi&cult to avoid wilful misrep- resentations, or upon which what you have to say is less likely to edify your audience. xrx Let me implore you never to allow yourselves to be interested in any game of chance. When I was first leaving home for col- lege, my mother, to my surprise, asked me to promise not to "play cards" (the only kind of gambling she had ever heard of, though I doubt if she had ever seen a pack of cards in her life) while I was away. Of course at that age — I was not quite four- teen — I had no idea of the fascinations which gaming possesses for some temperaments, and it cost me nothing to give her the promise she desired, nor, at first, to keep it. She asked me on 'Bryant's Odyssey — Book III, 25. 542 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE my return if I had been faithful to my engagement. I was happily able to say I had been, and the satisfaction my answer gave her strengthened me to be always ready for a renewal of the question, though she never asked it again. As I grew older I found myself sometimes embarrassed by the chains in which I had bound myself, and thought myself a better judge than she, of the extent to which I could with propriety participate in the amusements of my comrades. But I was too fond of my mother to give her the pain of a confession that I had disregarded her wishes or my pledge, and as a consequence I went through coUege without winning or losing a penny upon a game of chance. I then began to see the wisdom of her restriction, which has been growing clearer to my mind ever since; and if she were to descend from her home among the angels and ask if I had been faithful to my coUege vows against gaming, I am happy to say that I could stiU answer her in the afl&rmative. I regard gaming as the most depraving of aU the vices to which one can become addicted. It is almost the only vice which is wholly infernal in its origin and tendency. The gambler's pleasure is purchased only by the corresponding misfortime of his neighbour. One must lose just as much of what he values as the other gains. The strife of each, therefore, is that of Satan — to make himself happy through another's misery, exactly revers- ing the Christian rule of doing to others as we would have them do to us, and loving our neighbour as ourselves. No one can be- come habituated to the struggles of the gaming table without becoming more and more Uke a devH. The immediate consequence of falling imder this vice is to change the character of our associates. We are attracted to and attract those who are animated by the same Satanic lust, while we alien- ate all our former friends who have resisted its perilous fasci- nations. Thus every day the gambler loses his hold upon the virtuous portion of society, and surrounds himself gradually with a predatory class whose " house is the way to HeU going down to the Chamber of Death." One may measure his moral deterioration by the change and steady decline in the character of his asso- ciates. In your games remember that their purpose is exercise and recreation; and in any dissension between yourselves and another you will never lose reputation with your fellows, nor self respect. BIGELOW TO HIS SONS 543 by yielding in a difference where you may feel sure that you are right, remembering that triiraiph over one another is not the proper purpose of your game, and that declining to have a con- troversy about it does not aflfect the relative merits of your play. Whenever a lady or a gentleman enters a room where you are sitting, always rise and stand imtU they are seated or leave. When you are presented to a person, always look him or her directly in the eye until the course of conversation releases your attention. I have seen boys and men whose eye I could not catch even while I was shaking their hand. I won't analyze that species of boorishness, for you are too young, probably, to com- prehend it; but it is not unimcommon belief among men of the world that the man who wiU not look at you when you address him is more or less of a rogue. Beware of affectations of any sort. People are never ridiculous except when they try to appear to others what they are not. Try to get along in your intercourse with your comrades with as few adjectives as possible, for they are only required when you have failed to select a proper substantive to express your meaning. Never allow yourselves to call your comrades nicknames of any kind if you can help it, and never apply to them nicknames which can wound their pride or sensibility in the shghtest degree. Any boy who wiU always speak to or of his comrades by their proper names, whatever the degree of their intimacy, is sure to be one of the most respected and popular of the school. I would rather have you graduate from your school with that reputation than to have you graduate at the head of yoiu: class. 644 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Motley's Parthian Arrow MOTLEY TO MRS. BIGELOW Dear Mrs. Bigelow: 6 Kneuteedyk, The Hague, lo Aug. 71. Pray let me thank you very sincerely for your kind expressions in regard to my removal from London. No man was ever treated in so infamous a manner by any civilized government. I hope that you are enjo)dng yourself at Kissingen. The summer is just beginning here. Until the last three or four days we have had nothing but cold weather. Now the sea baths are very agreeable in the morning, Scheveningen being only twenty minutes' drive. Pray thank your husband in my name for sending me his book upon France & Hereditary Monarchy which has just been for- warded to me from London & which I shaU read at once & I am sure with pleasure & profit. My wife & youngest daughter send much love to you. The others are not with us. My eldest daughter (Mrs. Ives)^ has been travelling in Northern Italy & Southern Germany during the last two months & is now about leaving Berchtesgaden to return to us here. Pray give my kind regards to Mr. Bigelow when you write & believe me always. Very faithfully yxs J. L. Motley. FROM MY DIARY Oherammergau, August 14, 18^1. Very uncomfortable lodgings and a sleepless night, benches of boards for seats; and my im- 'Elizabeth Cabot Motley, the eldest daughter of J. L. Motley, twice married, first to Capt. T. p. Ives of theU. S. Navy and then (1877) to the Rt. Hon. Sir Wm. Vernon Har- court, member of the House of Commons. OBERAMMERGAU 545 perfect knowledge of German quite disqualified me for enjoying the entertainment which I had taken much pains to witness, still more to judge it. There are a few things I may say of it however without distrust. One of its merits and its imperfections results from the actors being quite as hmnble in social station, if not as uneducated, as most of the persons they tried to represent. Christ was personated by a man of thick, jet-black hair, very low forehead, and a puggish nose. It was impossible for me to feel at ease in allowing myself to associate in my mind the person of our Savior with such a figure. St. John too was represented by a person who looked very like the head keUner at our German hotel. To such and to all who require, like Doubting Thomas, to thrust their fingers into the Lord's wounds before they can beUeve, these plays may be very useful. To me they have a tendency to obscure and degrade rather than to clarify and enlarge my conception of Christ's passion and mission. I am not sure however that if I had seen it under more favorable auspices it woidd have fouled my conception, nor am I sure it would not. At half-past eleven there was an intermission of one hour. At half-past two I returned to remain an hour. The performance lasted until five. We immediately set off for home. The crowd of vehicles and pede'strians making their way down the moimtain reminded me of my return from the Derby in i860. In our walks and rides von Bimsen told me some things worthy of remembrance. His father, he said, commended and followed the sententious advice which had been given to him by his father. Let your table be below yom: means, Your dress according to your means, And your house above your means. He said also that he himseK wrote Latin at five and read Plato's Phaedo at twelve years of age. Speaking of the famous poem on the burial of Sir John Moore, which set all England talkiig of it, and which was never avowed by its author, he said it was assumed that there were but two men in England who could have written it, Tom Moore and Lord B3rron. Moore promptly gave the report the dementi and said he would be very happy to have ever written a poem worthy of being compared with that, or something to that effect. Byron never contradicted the report as to himself, but allowed it to prevail. The origmal draft of the poem with many alterations and in dif- 546 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE ferent forms was finally discovered among the papers of a de- ceased country clergyman bearing the name also of Moore, who had never claimed the credit of the verses which gave him rank among the poets of the second class in England. Von Bunsen then said Byron was one of the worst men that ever lived, and went on to illustrate with the following stories. Von Bimsen's father told him that Bjrron seemed always to be acting. When the order was sent to Thorwaldsen at Rome for Byron's bust by some of his (Byron's) admirers, Thorwaldsen said to Mr. von Bunsen senior that he could not take the bust of a man he had not known; he would like to meet and have a little conversation with him. Von Bimsen senior brought them to- gether at his house two or three times. When Byron went to Thorwaldsen's atelier to sit, Thorwaldsen, who was making the preliminary work, more or less independent of the sitter, at last turned to him to get a definite impression. On the instant BjTon drew himself up and gave to his face a theatrical expression as far as possible from that with which Thorwaldesn was familiar. "Wliy, my Lord," said Thorwaldsen, "that is not your face." "That is the way I wish it to go down to posterity," repUed Byron. Again, he suddenly opened a most fervent correspondence with Samuel Rogers, then in Italy, and said of him that he would re- turn to England covered with glory, etc. In time Rogers re- turned. Byron gave a great dinner in his honor, to which aU that was famous in England was invited. Rogers had the seat of honor, was to lead the conversation, and the greatest defer- ence was paid by Byron to what he said, apparently. Rogers had accepted the invitation with the understanding that he was to leave early to meet a previous engagement elsewhere. In due time he pled this engagement and retired. Byron followed him to his coach with as much attention as if he were a minister of state. WTien the door finally closed upon the retiring guest, Bryon returned, went to Rogers' seat and plilcked out a poem from imder the cushion and read it aloud. It was the most ven- omous and merciless satire upon Rogers and his poetry that could be written by a man with Byron's genius and devilish dis- position. Kissingen, August 30, i8yi. Came here accompanied by an EngHsh gentleman weU on in years by the name of Bennet, whose , LORD HOUGHTON 547 conversation I always found very interesting. He said the father of Richard Monckton Mihies was pronounced by Robert Peel the cleverest man in England, and the son, Monckton, the best educated. This was in answer to the question which he thought the cleverer. The father had decUned the peerage and the chan- cellorship of the exchequer. The Lord did not decline the peer- age, which was given him by Palmerston with whom he was always very friendly. One day the son, Lord Houghton, had his pocket picked while walking in Belgravia. He chased the thief, who however was much the better rmmer, but who fell into the arms of a poHceman before he got out of Houghton's sight and was detained tUl he came up. The next morning Houghton was obliged to give up an invitation to Brockett Hall, Palmerston's country place, to attend the police and give the thief in charge. The tluef was condemned to three months in prison. Houghton inquired his motive for resorting to such a life. The thief said his fathef was a thief and had trained him to it (he was only eighteen years old and a fine looking fellow), and he knew no other calling. Houghton asked him if he could not live in some other way. "Now I cannot for I am found out. They have a picture of me at the prison; I shall always be a thief in England, whether I steal again or not." "If I give you the means to get to the colonies, do you think you could live honestly?" "Oh, yes," was his reply. " If I can only get away from my father and from England I shall do weU enough." Houghton paid his fare in a ship to AustraHa and told the captain if the boy conducted himself well to give him £30 for a start on his arrival. This was done. The boy soon got a place as sub-officer in a prison, mar- ried the keeper's daughter, now holds a position from the govern- ment worth a couple of thousand a year, and writes every year to Houghton and says that the luckiest day of his life was that on which he picked his Lordship's pocket and became acquainted with the first honest man he had ever known. Bennet told the history of the following impromptu by Byron, addressed to Miss Piggott, an old sweetheart, and written one day at Southwell. Mr. Beimet knew Miss Piggott, who had never married, and though near eighty is stUl good-looking. Philosophers have never doubted Ladies' lips were made for kisses, By Jove, I could not live without it In such a stupid place as this is. 548 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE I was struck this morning with a story in my daughter's little German book with an admirable moral of the boy who resented the reply of the echo and retorted with harsh words as if he had been insulted by some other boy in the forest. He finally ran with his grievance to his mother, who wisely told him that if he had not used offensive language he would have heard none. BIGELOW TO HARGREAVES KoNiGSTEiN Septr. 24, 1871. My dear Friend: I feel very much ashamed of my long neglect of your very wel- come letter in August, for which, however, I have many excellent pretexts, if no good excuse. The Carlsbad waters you know I suppose reduce men to the last stages of imbecility. I was there, and at the apogee of intellectual inefficiency, when your letter reached me. From there at the expiration of my month, I went to Oberammergau, Munich &c., and lived in railways and tnuiks for a fortnight, during which it was impossible to write anything but orders for money. I then joined my family, which for the most part was camped at Kissingen, and where I found Grace just entering a tolerably active stage of typhoid fever. As my wife was taking the waters and baths, and as there was no homoeo- pathic physician there, it of course devolved upon me to be the doctor and nurse. Between my medicine, nursing and a kind Providence, she was well enough to move in about a fortnight, when I brought her here near Dresden for hydropathic treatment, she to recover from her fever and I from the effects of the Carls- bad waters, which did not destroy my stomach altogether only because I did not give them quite time enough. Here between bathing and walking and eating and drinking and sleeping by the clock and keeping up a necessary correspondence with the rest of my household, which returned to Berlin about a week since — (this is a shocking pen) — I have found little time to think, still less to write anything which I should think worthy of sending to Send-Holme. I know I take the risk of aggravating my offence by this long explanation, but it would not bear abbre- viation and besides it contains an outline of the way we have passed the summer. To-morrow we leave here for Dresden to BIGELOW TO HARGREAVES 549 meet John, whom we propose to accompany to Freiberg for his matriculation at the mining school; then we shall spend a few days in Dresden to complete our study of its galleries and shops; then take a run down to Prague for a couple of days and then re- join the Premier Corps d'Armee at Berlin about the sth of October. You were very amiable about my book, and, if I had supposed Mr. Mallet woiald have given it the consideration which he and you seem to have given it, I should have taken the liberty of sending him a copy. If you think it is not too late and will take the responsibiUty of making it acceptable to him, I will feel obliged to you if you will send for a copy, which will be given you upon the enclosed order, and offer it to him. I spent nearly an hour this morning in overhauling my baggage trying to find your letter, without success, that I might have re- ferred to some of your remarks, but fortunately for both of us perhaps, I did not find it. I say "fortunate" because I should have perhaps been tempted into a wearisome explanation or defence of statements upon which I have already had my say and that perhaps already once too often. If we are ever fortunate enough to meet again and we have exhausted all other more agreeable & profitable topics of conversation, and you have any stomach left for the topics of my book, I shall be delighted to hear what you have to say and to have my say in return. I can't hope to be so fortunate as to hear Sir F. MaUet's views, but perhaps you will be willing to become his interpreter. Two sons of Mr. Armitage of Manchester dined here with some EngUsh friends day before yesterday. They are stud3dng German in Dresden. Also two sons of Mr. Parkinson — I think from Manchester or from Accrington — were also here, aU very nice people and permit me to say that when English people are nice I find them very nice. I have quite lost the nm of the outer world. Occasionally an American paper follows me into my seclusion, but I scarcely know of anything that has happened in Europe since the first of August. I can send you therefore nothing of any iaterest. I see nobody who knows anything. I had a note from Mr. George von Bun- sen, with whom I have spent considerable time this simmier, in which he writes (from Berlin) : "The CathoUc movement in South Germany is extending its purposes. There is still some talk about ceHbacy of the priest- 550 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE hood, &c., Yet — I am unable to feel warmer on this matter. These good men entirely forget to bring their wives along with them; and these will bring the whole population back to the Pope's feet in a short time; quod aver tat Deus." I feel it in my bones that the relations between Germany & Austria are not satisfactory and that some critical changes are impending, but I cannot at present or imtil I get to Berlin give a reason for the faith that is in me. One thing in my travels has. struck me very much. I have met several Austrians quite acci- dentally this summer and have been surprised to hear them speak of their government as hopeless, rupture and revolution as inevitable — mere questions of time. Nor have I met any one who exhibited any faith or hope in the present dynasty or constitution. The unsatisfactory turn given to the negotiations at Gastein, the omission of the Emperor of Austria to meet the Emperor of Germany there, contrary to the givings out of the press, inclines me to think that the jar that will shake her brittle organization to pieces will be given her by Germany before 1872 is as old as 187 1 now is. But we may all be deceived by the artful dodgers who are playing the game. You will have observed that Thiers is now asking his people if they wiU give up the system of government consecrated by ages and traditions and glories, &c. About three months ago the salvation of France he said depended upon the perpetuity of the republic. While I was at Carlsbad I saw Henry Reeve, editor of the Edinburgh Review. He has become completely anti-German and pro-GaUican. I infer that this is the Whig policy, for Reeve is only a reflector, not an initiator. It is in my judgment very bad poHcy for England, and the emphatic sympathy which Glad- stone shows for France as a victim of Germany is to my sight the weakest feature of his Administration. I hope Odo RusseU wiU straighten him out on that point, for a close alliance with Ger- many is much more important to England than one with France, if the friendly alliance of both be not practicable. Always faithfully yours EUROPEAN POLITICS 551 BIGELOW TO HARGREAVES 4 HOHENZOLLERN StRASSE, Berlin, Oct. 29, 1871. My dear Mr. Hargreaves: SpeaMng of pleasant Englishmen, Sir Harry Verney dined with us night before last with a few other nice people whom he de- lighted. He is an uncommonly fine specimen of an old English gentleman. He married a sister of Florence Nightingale. Mr. Plimkett too, who has recently joined your legation here and is a near neighbor of ours, we also like very much; the more perhaps because he has married a very nice countrywoman of ours. It is announced in the New York Evening Post that Glad- stone has consented to contribute a series of articles to Scribner's Monthly of New York City. People have been laboring under the impression that the Prime Minister of England had tolerably fuU emplo3Tnent for any one man, but that seems to be a delusion, if Gladstone has to seek for something to keep him out of mischief in magazines 2500 miles oflF. It is a comfort to see at least one pubHc man whom hard work can't kill off. But can it not? What you sent me about Bright, though brief and vague, was interesting. I have since seen it stated that he expects to take his seat again m Parliament at the opening of the next session. If he is well enough for this, Heaven be thanked. But if he is no longer the Bright that is embalmed in the history and literature of England, I hope he wiU not show himself in Westminster Hall. There are ways enough in which he can be useful in retirement. He must not spoil the picture by which he is known to his con- temporaries by showing himself to be anything less than the first parliamentary orator in England. You see that France shows no signs of relapsing into dynasti- cism. The elections show a growing trust in popular govern- ment, more even than I anticipated at this early day and with an ultramontanist at the head of the government. France is get- ting accustomed day by day to trust in herself and to depend less upon hereditary niers. I think this of good augury. Ultra- montanism and dynasticism are losing their hold of France every 352 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE hour that the present provisory government endures, and con- sidering the wretched material in France for anything like a dynasty I cannot but regard this as a matter for congratulation. Thiers and any other government that tries in the face of aU her crushing UabHities to place and keep France on a footing of ag- gressive war must sooner or later I think go under, for that way bankruptcy Ues, but each change they make wiU ameliorate their situation in the main. Their interest and taxes will sooner or later make them see the foUy of their costly system of national defence and of their aspirations for revenge, for the logic of in- debtedness is inexorable, and France can't take to the highway for a liveUhood as she did in '94. Bismarck proposes to establish the most complete University in the world at Strasburg. He has invited Roggenbach, formerly Prime Minister of Baden, and an micommonly clever man, to organize it. He is to have all the money he wants and Alsace is to be reconciled to her stepmother by the present of as complete an institution of learning as it is practicable to establish. It is a wise as weU as cunning step. You will have observed that this government proposes to estabUsh the Mark as the unit of currency for Germany. That will suit you very well, but I doubt if France, Italy, Belgimn and Switzerland will conform. Always faithfully yours E. D. MORGAN TO BIGELOW I Newport, October 12, 1871. My dear Mr. Bigelow: Every body is absorbed now by the dreadful Chicago fire, at which it is beUeved that 150 millions were destroyed, though some days must elapse before we get to the bottom and know it aU. I have not heard of any reaUy large & strong Insurance Company that will not pay all, & have something left, imless it may be " The Home" and to-day the accounts are better in relation to that company. I see it stated that they can &° will pay and continue business. It is fortimate that the surpluses of the Insurance Companies were so large. These will now all be wanted or nearly so, and in some cases more. But the loss of life at Chicago will E. D. MORGAN TO BIGELOW 553 prove to be many hundreds, and no human being can realize the terrible anguish of that People during the past 3 days. The failures thus far have been few and comparatively unimportant. But there is no class exempt nor scarcely any man that will not in some way, be a suflEerer from this catastrophe. Seward has gone to his Auburn home, without stopping in New York. . . . The elections are all our side this year. The Tammany frauds cannot be overcome by the Democrats. The country won't trust them, and we shall carry New York this fall, state o£&cers and legislature. Yesterday was election day in Pennsylvania, Ohio & Iowa & you see the result all one way. . . . Yours very truly. BIGELOW TO MRS. CHARLES EAMES 4 HOHENZOLLERN SXRASSE, Berlin, Nov. 9, 1871. Dear Mrs. Eames: You ask me how I found the Ober Ammergau exhibition. Let me premise: ist, that the night previous I passed almost sleep- lessly on a bedstead about a foot too short for me — a not un- common trial of mine at hotels in Germany — and imder a feather bed, so that I felt when I awoke in the morning as if every bone in my body had been broken about twice; 2nd, that my knowledge of German is not yet perfect. There was nothing in the spectacle calculated to inspire other than reverent feelings; it was of coiurse very interesting, for it detained an audience of several thousand people from 8 A. m. till 5 p. m. with only an interval of one hour at noon for refreshments. I know of no other play or theatre that would hold an audience half that time, once — stiU less for a series of Simdays running through several months. There was nothing in the performance smacking of Romanism, though Ober Ammergau is the very benightedest centre of iiltramon- tanism. I do not see why it should not have been as edif)dng to any school of Protestants as to any school of CathoUcs. The person representing Christ had occasion, in the course of the per- 554 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE formance, to repeat nearly every sentiment uttered by our Lord while on earth of which we have any authentic report and as nearly as possible in the words of the Evangelists. As most of the hearers were Catholics of the plainer class I could not but wonder, while I rejoiced, that they were permitted to imbibe so much of the word of God, directly from the fountain, as it were, and unadulterated with priestly commentary and church-craft interpretation. I fancy that this is a privilege they enjoy nowhere else nor on any other than these decennial occasions. For these reasons I am glad these plays are given, and if they would bear it, I could wish them given annually instead of de- cennially, yet as for myself I did not feel quite at ease there nor am sure that I am glad to have seen it. In the first place what of Christ and perhaps of the Apostles, also, that is susceptible of being presented by these peasants on a stage, is precisely what of Christ was not divine; what was of the earth earthy; what he left behind him when he was glorified; what in fact he had in common with all men, capacities for being tempted and degraded. It is not these conditions of Christ's life on earth which I think is profitable to dwell upon, nor do I care to have him associated in my mind, however remotely, with the features and persons of ordinary — I may add in this instance very ordinary men. In a less degree this is true, so far as I am con- cerned, as to the apostles also. It would not aid my conception of the disciples to put their language in the mouth of a Neapol- itan fisherman; on the contrary, these material incidents only confuse the impression I desire to receive of the processes through which their regeneration was accomplished. When I add to this that the actors were in the extremest sense of the word "realists," who to aU outward appearance might not only have been born in a manger but have slept and fed too ever since in one, and fished for their living, you will understand why, to me, the spectacle was not whoUy edifying and why I would not be sorry to have never seen it. I was told the other day that the man who takes the role of Jesus was in prison for poaching aU simimer and only let out for the time necessary to play his part and then taken back. I did not suspect anything of that sort when I was there nor can I say that I think the story entirely authentic, but I remember thinking that I never saw a more cut-throat look- ing visage than the party about whom this poaching scandal is current. OBERAMMERGAU 555 What fearful tragedies these in Chicago and Wisconsin.^ Have you seen Hayls letters in the Tribune. They are thrilling. Defoe's description of the plague was not more eloquent than his account in the Tribune, which came to-day, of the burning of W. B. Ogden's village of Pesthogus.^ I don't think that is spelt right, but I had never heard of the place till I read Hay's account of its destruction and of the frantic mother digging a hole with her hands in the sand for her little baby and then lying down over it to keep it from the flames, both to awaken next morning in heaven together, her body a cinder and her child's face only unscathed. A statue of Schiller is to be imveUed here to-morrow, and I am invited with my household to share a window and the spectacle [to be witnessed] through it. I don't think I shall go, though; first, because it is in the mg, which I have consecrated to work and, secondly, because I have lost my interest in SchiUer since I learned that he stimulated himself for composition by eating rotten apples, of which he always kept such a supply in his writing table drawer, qualifying themselves to be converted into blank verse, that no one could stay in his room because of the stench. He must have been a nasty fellow in other respects, for no one is ever nasty in one way only. I see you have been giving Washbume a testimonial. I am glad of it. He deserved well of his countrymen for his conduct in remaining in Paris diuring the siege. Every American was proud of the contrast which his conduct presented to that of most of his colleagues. Yours very truly During my oflScial residence in Paris I became acquainted with a Count von Enzenberg, then minister resident of Darmstadt. For the incident which brings his name into this record I should premise that Enzenberg was an Austrian by birth, an adventurer by nature, had been trained in the Austrian army m which he had reached the rank of lieutenant, when for some indiscretions to which every lineament of his painfully ugly face betrayed a constitutional predisposition, he found it convenient to make an •The burning of Chicago, and forest fires in Wisconsin. =Peshtego, N. Y. Tribune, Oct. 26, 1871, p. $. 556 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE excursion to the United States. Here he enlisted in our army and served under General Scott, as a common soldier, in Mexico. At the close of the Mexican War he was mustered out of the service before the army returned to the United States, and somehow foimd himself one day adrift in Texas without money, without friends, and without credit, for his face was fearfully disfigured with sabre cuts which I fear bore evidence of a rash and difficult temper rather than of military prowess in the tented field. His situation there finally became so desperate that he was thankful for an opportmiity of earning his board by teaching the children of a Texan planter. He remained in this situation some five months awaiting remittances from Vienna. By the time they arrived, however, he had become so enamoured of his Bcetian retreat that, instead of returning to Europe, he invested the money he had received in a sheep farm and became a ranchero. He was not permitted to enjoy his new vocation long, for in the course of a few months he received a notice from the Austrian war office that he must report for duty at once or take the usual consequences of refusal be cashiered for cowardice and desertion. This was a penalty for which even a sheep ranch in Texas was no equivalent in his estimation; so he sold out and hastened back to Austria. This was in 1847. I^ the following year came the revolutionary cyclone which shook the foundations more or less of every throne in Europe. Enzenberg naturally cast his fortunes with the cy- clone. On its coUapse he took refuge in Paris, where he remained in distressing poverty until the war between France and Italy on the one hand and Austria on the other broke out in 1859. He promptly offered his services to his fatherland. They were as promptly accepted and he resumed his rank of lieutenant in the Austrian army. Proving to be more useful in the secret service department of the government, to that he was soon trans- ferred. As soon as the war was over the Prince of Hesse Darm- stadt sent him as his minister resident to Paris, where I first met him, and where he remained until the Franco-German war broke out in 1870. This of course put an end at once to his mission and his stay in France. He took refuge in Frankfort, where he had to live as best he could on 4,000 francs a year instead of 30,000 which was the salary he had been receiAong as minister. In the spring of the current year — 1871 — an intimation reached him that it might be well for him to visit Berlm. He lost no time in profiting by it, and the final result of that was an His Imperial Highness Prince von Bismarck VON ENZENBERG 557 appointment as minister of the new German Empire to Mexico. Upon receiving a call from him to acquaint me with his new ap- pointment I invited him to dine with me the succeeding week. On the morning of the day apointed for the dinner and before I had left my bed, I received from him the following note, with an jdbimi: Berlin, 17 nov. 1871. Hotel Royal. Dans ce moment je regois une invitation chez S. A. I. le Prince de Bismarck pour ce soir a diner a 5 heures. Vous comprendrez, tres cher Monsieur et collegue, que je n'ai pas pu refuser. Veuil- lez done agreer avec mes regrets, mes excuses. Je ne puis pas partir avant d'avoir 6t6 regu par S. M. I'Empereur et Roi. Le diner chez le Prince sera en tout petit comite, Mr. de Brandt (Japon) et votre ami et serviteur Cte. Enzenberg Min. Res. Mes compliments empresses a Mad. Bigelow, s. v. p. P. S. Je vous envoye ici mon album de Souvereins, Ministres et Collegues. VeuiUez me faire I'honneur de vous inscrire avec date et, soit ime petite pensee £l vous, ce qui me plairait le mieux, soit une citation d'un auteur favori. Ex ungue leonem, soit exprime en language du R6gent d'Orleans (1715), courte mais bonne. Puis veuillez me renvoyer le livre par le Dienstman, No. 2199 — porteiu:. J'espere ce soir obtenir I'autographe du Prince — peut-fetre — quien sabe? sur la feuille qui porte les autographes de Guizot et de Thiers.i Berlin, 17 Nov., 1871. 'At this moment I received an invitation to dine with His Imperial Highness Prince Bismarck this evening at s o'clock. You will understand, very dear Sir and colleague, that I was not able to refuse. Will you then accept, with my regrets, my excuses. I cannot leave Berhn before being received by his Majesty the Emperor and King. The dinner with the Prince will be quite private, Mr. de Brandt (Japan), and your friend and servant CotTNT Enzenberg, Minister Resident. My special comphments to Mrs. Bigelow, s. v. p. P. S. I send you my album of sovereigns, ministers and colleagues. Will you do me the honor of inscribing yourself with date, and either a little sentiment, one of your own would please me most, or a quotation from a favorite author. Ex ungue leonem, or in the language of the Regent d'Orleans — 1715 — short but good. Please return the book by the messenger, No. 2199 — bearer. I hope to obtain this evening the autograph of the Prince — perhaps — who knows, on the page bearing the autographs of Guizot and Thiers. 558 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE The album handed to me contained akeady the pensees of Guizot and Thiers. Without leaving my bed I made my brief contribution, of which, I have preserved no copy or recollection, and sent back the book by the bearer. Among our guests at the dinner that evening were Count Miinster; the Countess Olga, his daughter; Baron Althaus of the Baden legation; and two or three American friends. To my surprise we had scarcely risen from the table when Enzenberg was announced, his face wreathed in smiles, which did not in the least improve its expression. He was wild with deUght at hav- ing secured Prince Bismarck's pensee for his album, and hastily handed me the following copy he had made for me of the auto- graph record of his triumphs: Ma longue vie m'a appris deux sagesses que j'ai eu souvent a pratiquer: I'une de beaucoup pardonner, I'autre de ne jamais oublier. Paris, 23 mars 1870. Guizox.^ Un peu d'oubli ne nuit pas h la sincerity du pardon, ni a sa dignite. Paris, 6 avril 1870. A. Thiers.* Ma vie m'a appris que j'ai beaucoup a oublier et beaucoup a me faire pardonner. Berlin, 17 nov., 1871. Bismarck.' Album du Cte, d'Enzenberg, Ministre Res. de I'Empire Ger- manique k Mexico. Berlin, 17 nov. 1871. To me there was something intensely interesting in this trial of wits into which an enthusiastic and importunate autograph hunter had beguiled the three most eminent statesmen at that moment in Europe. Prince Bismarck had the advantage of his competitors perhaps in having his turn come last, and he certainly improved it. If 'My long life has taught me two lessons which I have often turned to account, one to pardon much, the other never to forget. Paris, March 23, 1870. Guizot. ^A Uttle f orgetfulness does not impair the sincerity of a pardon or its dignity. Paris, April 6, 1870. A. Thiers. •My Ufe has taught me that I have much to forget and much to be forgiven for. Berlin, Nov. 17, 1871. Bismarck. A CONTEST OF WIT 559 as the lines import, they express the lessons which the respective careers of these three eminent poUtical leaders had taught them, it is incontestable that the youngest appears in them to have profited most by his opportunities. One can hardly suppress a smile at the sly rebuke which Thiers admioisters to Guizot for his austere implacability, assimiing a certain air of self-importance which he no doubt thought per- fectly natural and proper towards his life-time rival. The adroitness with which the German statesman avaUs himself of the opportunity to throw into reUef the implacability of one and the unsearchable vanity of both and at the same time to bring his own modesty to the front, is eminently characteristic of the man whose greatness consists less perhaps in the many great things he has done than in the felicity of his choice of the time for doing them. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON 4 HOHENZOLLERN StRASSE, NoV. 24, 1871. My dear Friend: I have received through my friend, Mr. von Bunsen, sad tid- ings of our unfortunate Reclus. I enclose von Btmsen's note, as it contains an intimation that perhaps there is yet hope that the poor fellow wiU not be compelled to drain the cup that has been brewed for him. To-day I take up the Tribune of the nth inst. and the first thing that meets my eye is a half a column advertise- ment of Harpers Brothers commencing as foUows: HARPER & BROTHERS, New-York Publish This Day RECLUS'S THE EARTH. TheEarth: A DescriptiveHistory of the Phenomena and Life of theGlobe, By Elisee Reclus. Translated by the late B. B. Woodward, and edited by Henry Woodward. With 234 maps and illustrations, and 23 page maps printed in colors. 8v6, Cloth, $5. What a ghastly contrast! While his writings are cormnended to English readers throughout the world in terms which would have satisfied the vanity of Buffon, the author is compelled to be almost grateful to his own country for allowing him to drag out 560 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE the remainder of his days at the antipodes. I wish I knew how to do something for the poor fellow, but I believe I have exhausted my resources. I have never heard from Washbume upon the subject though he knew how much I had the subject at heart. So I do not feel like addressing him again. Perhaps it is a sub- ject he does not like to meddle with because he has no instructions from home. I remember hearing of a Spanish princess whose horse ran away with and killed her because it was a capital of- fence for a subject to touch a royal person and so her groom could offer her no assistance. Remusat^ is an old coUaborateur of the Revue des Deux Mondes with Reclus, and one would think would incline his ear to a friend of Reclus now. Thiers can have no desire to see such a man eliminated from civilization. Indeed by a sentiment of his which I saw in an album a few nights since, he is rather committed to mercy. . . . " Un peu d'oubli ne nuit pas a la sincerite du pardon, ni a sa dignite." Coidd not or would not Read do something towards helping to have Reclus made an exception of? Von Bunsen has promised to see in a few days a member of the Assemblee Nationale & to do what is possible to interest him in R's case, but if the solicitude for him should reach the pardoning power wherever it Hes, if anywhere, from different quarters, the chances of its efficacy woxold be increased. I have a recent letter from Father Hyacinthe who is lecturing at Miuiich. His faith in a reformed Catholic church seems un- abated. " Vers la fin du mois," he writes, "je quitterai cette ville ou fai goUte les seules consolations auxquelles je suis accessible dans les epreuves sans exemple de I'eglise catholique. J'ai trouve id ce qui n'existe pas en France: un centre puissant d'opposition orthodoxe et de rejorme catholique; des hommes nombreux, savants convaincus qui ne veulent pas accepter non plus le joug de plus en plus arbitraire et lourd que Von fait peser en son nom sur les con- sciences. Autant vous m'avez vu plein de trouble a New York, ily a deux ans, autant vous me trouverez plein de courage et d'esperance aujourdhui." It was through him that the most of France &° Hereditary Mon- archy was transferred to the Revue de Cours litteraire. He says in this note to me: ^Paul de RImusat. ELISEE RECLUS 561 "Mais quoi que vous disiez, cher Monsieur 6° ami, M. Thiers pourra tres -hien etre le Washington de la France." . . . Faithfully yr friend HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 42 Rue de La Bruyere, 26 Nov., 1871. My dear Mr. Bigelow: Receipt this Sunday morning of yours of 24th makes me twice and three times glad despite the sadness that goes with thinking on its main topic. Yoiu- unusually long sUence provoked apprehen- sions respecting your health corporal or mental. Either he is sick in body or is hard at work with intellectual travaux forces — which is itseK a malady. Work was given us as a cuss and, un- like most gifts and cusses, remains aU that it was cracked up to be originally. Of the statements regarding Reclus made by the German newspaper man whose paragraph you inclose, — the first, that he was director of the Bibliotheque nationale under the commime is untrue — his brother, Elie, was appointed to that ofl&ce some time after Elisee's capture; the second, that he took part in the battles against Versailles is an exaggeration — he took part only in one, or an attempt at one, and was taken prisoner April 5th; the third, that he has been condemned to simple deportation is unhappily true. How far Thiers has encouraged delay as a calculated prepara- tion of amnesty, I don't know. It is certain that he is now in favor of clemency, both toward the mass of prisoners not yet tried and to those condemned. Reclus' sentence is generally regarded as a very severe one. He behaved in a simple manly way before his judges, who themselves recognized his intellectual, literary, and moral worth, and made that apparently the chief reason for punishing him so heavily. The members of the Geo- graphical Society are, I think, interceding for him, and it is said that his collaborators of the Remie des Deux Mondes have done or will do likewise. I look for a commutation of his penalty by the Commission des Grdces, but not for pardon. Washbume's excuse for not trying to help him — that he has no orders from home — should lead us to infer that it was in accordance with express 562 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE advices from President Grant that he took under his protection during the hoppophagic siege the horses of Sartiges^ — of all men in the world. Had Mr. W. been able or inclined to read the "Papiers, etc. de la Famille Imperiale" pubUshed by direction of the Government to which he was accredited, he would have learned that Sartiges, while still minister in Washington, had written home a letter excessively abusive of ovir country.^ I doubt if Read can do anything, but I will speak to him in Re- clus' interest as you suggest. What has become of the brother, EUe, I don't know. Hippolyte Vattemare, who continued under the commime to fill the office of commissary of poUce for his quarter, to which he had been appointed under the 4th September government, has been condemned on that account to a month's imprisonment plus the three or four months preventive incarceration, awaiting trial. It is hardly pretended that he was a communard, and ap- peared plainly enough on trial that his remaining in office was a fortimate thing for his quarter. But since government and army and nimierous respectable folks ran away, it seems to be the doctrine of the tribimal that mere staying in the city to prevent or palliate mischief from the commime is a penal offense. That doctrine still finds favor with a great body of the bourgeoisie. Their fear makes them cruel, and their cowardice would shelter itself under the name of policy. There is a notable reaction in- deed towards rational policy, humanity and justice; but class and party fear, prejudice and hate stiU oppose formidable obstacles to an amnesty. However Thiers exposed himself to censure for his methods of suppressing the insurrection, and whatever blame falls to his share for the arrest of prisoners in mass and the treatment dealt out to them since the 30th May last, it would be unfair to tax him now with the impoHcy and injustice of refusing a large meas- ure of indulgence if not amnesty. It would have been idle to 'Count Sartiges, minister to the U. S. from 1851 to 1859. 'Having applied to the French minister of foreign affairs for a change of mission, he wrote to Dr. Henri Conneau, who, as physician of Napoleon HI, enjoyed the Emperor's confidence : "Washington, le 28 juin 1857. "Cher Monsieur: " . . . Six annfies d'^tudes sur la libertd, dans ce pays oi la loi prot6ge le coquin et oil I'honnfite homme a ^ se prot6ger lui-m6me, suffiseut k mon 6ducation politique; envoyez ici k ma place quelqu'homme d'itat attard6, pour lui faire commencer la sienne. . . . "Sartiges" {Papiers et Correspondance dela Famille impSriale, I, 351.) HUNTINGTON TO BIGELOW 563 weaken his not too strong moral authority mth the army, the well-to-do classes of society, and the majority of the Assembly, to propose any measure of that sort to that body any time during its last session. It wiU not be one of the first measures sure to be brought forward and carried through by a handsome vote at the Coming session. I don't think that it would be best proposed by government even now. Thiers has already risked something by his unofficial, almost ostentatious, expressions of opinion favoring clemency — and gained something too, imquestionably, the shrewd little man. The Bloody Week may shake its gray locks at him and can say he did it: but latterly both his selfish and larger scheme of French policy have led him to hedge and, sincerely, generously even, I believe, desire and strive after a treatment of the victims of his trimnph over the Commune in which forgetting shall join hands with forgiving. That albimiinous trilogy, "read in the Hght of events" future to the penning of the same, is curiously interesting. Taking Guizot, Thiers, Bismarck in their order then, I shoxild comment respectively: wise, smart, crafty. Bismarck has and takes characteristic advantage* of the Mot de la fin. How cleverly the practised old sinner — and what a practise! in the lawyer's sense! shakes his hard grinning Mephistophelian ninomy [sic] with this saintly domino — et heaucoup a me f aire pardonner. If you will let me, here are other marginal scholia to the three. Religion; i. e., deep based conviction; worldly common sense set off by a nice literary sense of form — French literary sense — and height- ened, for its critical quality, by a spice of malice to the address of an old political adversary and feUow academician; the best use made of omissions and commissions of predecessors — bmlding on others' f ovmdations wiser than they knew — mock modesty so well done as to deceive the general reader, after all essentially sound in itself, true, and will wash. Your extract from pere Hyacinth's letter I have also to thank you for. Not that, with such dim light as is vouchsafed your servant, it enables me to discover the fine prospect for the church visible to the writer, but because his visions are more interesting to-day and in the case than most men's views. As for "Thiers being able to be infuturo the Washington of France," it is, to my seeming, an historico-rhetorical phrase nearly without meaning. There is no correlation between Adolphe and George, distracted old France and the new United Colonies. Let alone. 564 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE discrepancies such as George's Veridiqiie hatchet and Thiers capacity of lying on occasion with his sharp pen and cutting phrase of tongue. Father Hyacinthe, like most Frenchmen, is possessed with the grossly erroneous idea that it depended on the will of one American general whether the inhabitants of the States should be subjects or citizens. He is as ignorant of the essential, fatal elements of our history and "institutions" as pretty much every American you or I ever met are of the history and of the under-lying sub-soU, characterizing, elements of the French people. Next time you deign to write condescend to yourself and pri- vate Ufe and teU me a little what you are and are doing: also, an enlightening word about the strikes, high-rents, and other ele- ments of the modern revolution as they present themselves to your view in Berlin. You did not at any time ever send me, before to-day, the un- flattered edidolon of yourself I now am glad to have, of the Mimich's sun's making. It holds place now on the frame of my mirror; a position where, native vanity of consulting one's own visnomy {sic[ to see how it is getting on, helping, I am sure to have it in constant sight: — painful in comparison with the reflection from the qiiick present (who holds his own indeed, but that only, alas!) but most pleasant as help to Memory. With best regards to your house and to that bookselling Dr., forget his name, whom you commended to me last summer, I rest as always Yours truly PROM MY DIARY December 3d. Last Thursday [November 30] being Thanks- giving Day in the United States, the Reverend Mr. Baker de- Uvered a discourse in the chapel which I did not admire much and Mrs. Bigelow still less, chiefly because he vindicated the intoler- ance of the Puritans towards other rehgionists. In the evening we celebrated the day as Americans by a dinner at the Edtel de Rome. About one hundred and eighty sat down. Among Mr. Bancroft's guests were Prince Hohenlohe; Gove, Rector of the THANKSGIVING IN BERLIN 565 Berlin University; Philipsbom, Assistant Secretary of Foreign Affairs; the Reverend Doctor I. A. Domer; Ernst Curtius, the historian; Rudolf Gneist, the publicist. Most of the others were Americans, or Americanised Germans. Mr. Bhss* had asked my by note and in person to reply to the toast, "The Day we celebrate"; I always categorically refused. Tuesday evening last Mr. Bancroft came himself and asked me. I told him that I did not wish to be thought uncivil but that I would much prefer to have some one else discharge that duty. I said I woidd let him know my decision, if I wavered, the next day. About 3 p. m. I received a note from him saying there was no alternative and he reUed upon me. At the dinner table, at which he presided, he called first upon Prince Hohenlohe, then upon Curtius, and then upon me. Mine was the first English speech except Bancroft's, half Enghsh and half German, and except Kreisman's who followed me. I was repeatedly congratulated upon having made the speech of the evening. I quoted Seneca's remark apropos of the then recent Chicago fire. Bona rerum secundarum optabilia adversarium mirahilia, and proposed to read Whittier's poem which was an expansion of my idea in verse, but there was not Ught enough by which to read the small characters in which the poetry was printed in the Tribune. CHICAGO Men said at vespers: "All is well!" In one wild night the city fell; Fell shrines of prayer and marts of gain Before the fiery hiirricane. A sudden impulse thrilled each wire That signalled around that sea of fire; Swift words of cheer, warm heart-throbs came; In tears of pity died the flame! From East, from West, from South and North, The messages of hope shot forth, And underneath the severing wave, The world, full-handed, reached to save. 'Colonel Bliss, secretary of legation. 566 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE- LIFE Fair seemed the old; but fairer still The new the dreary void shall fill, With dearer homes than those o'erthrown, For love shall lay each corner-stone. How shrivelled in thy hot distress The primal sin of selfishness! How instant rose, to take thy part, The angel in the human heart! Ah! not in vain the flames that tossed Above thy dreadful holocaust; The Christ again has preached through thee The gospel of humanity. Then hft once more thy towers on high, And fret with spires the western sky. To tell that God is yet with us And love is still miraculous! I concluded with a toast to John G. Whittier, the wise inter- preter of the ways of God to men. Curtius seemed much im- pressed by my remarks and said to my wife and afterwards to me : "I now understand American eloquence, of which I have heard so much." Gove expressed himself as dehghted, and Dorner, who sat on Mr. Bancroft's left, came and asked to see the poem. I fancy their ignorance of the language served me a good txurn, though the enthusiasm came mostly from the audience below. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON 4 HOHENZOLLERN StRASSE, [BeRLESt] Dec. 28th 1871. My dear Friend: . . . Since my return to Berlin in October I have been pretty steadily at work upon The Archbishops, devoting to him all my time not needed for exercise and other refreshments of the natural man, pushing social and epistolary duties as much as possible into the indefinite future. 'A Life of F^nelon, Archbishop of Cambiai. BIGELOW TO HUNTINGTON 567 I stopped work the day before Christinas to vacate with my young folks until they return to their schools, & to gather up the ravelled sleave of my correspondence. You will gather from the nature of my employments that I am not in a condition to tell you much about the labor and social questions here in which you seem interested. One must foUow the papers closely & go a good deal among the people to xmder- stand them, and I do neither. The Germans are very industrious, hve upon very httle, and with the indemnity money which your people are pajdng for their promenade militaire in 1870 are very conafortable. One evidence of this has struck me. Last winter, scarcely a day passed that I was not interrupted by applications for aid to different organized charities. Not a single book has been presented to me this winter as yet. ■ The opinion prevailing in high quarters in France that killin g Germans was not murder produced a very bitter feeling here for a time, and the defence made by the Debats that the Germans had provoked retaUation by divers and sundry outrages upon prop- erty & life in France did not better the matter. Bismarck's dispatch going to the extreme verge of diplomatic license in qualifying the French shows better than anything else the ex- asperation produced in Germany by the judicial actions to which he refers. The French seem to covet destruction. Instead of profiting by the peace to reduce their miUtary budget and re- establish their credit, they not only maintain their old army, but are now proposing to increase it enormously and to construct new lines of interior defences preparatory to the revanche which the futiure is big with in their imagination. Revenge is generally an expensive luxury for nations as well as individuals, but for France in her present crippled condition, to threaten Germany with re- venge is repeating the folly of the frog that had not water to drink calling for a bath, as the Negroes say in Hayti. I opened Renan's new book the other day at a store intending to buy it, and abnost the first word my eye fell upon was the statement that of course France could not exist without the prov- inces of Alsace & Lorraine. According to his doctrine France is Alsace & Lorraine, as according to Dr. Franklin it was the ass & not the man that voted under the property qualification. So I had a letter some time since from Laboulaye assxuing me that a war was impending in Europe to which the late war was but a flea bite, &c. All these things, crowned by Bismarck's last dis- 568 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE patch, Beust's mission to London and the Duke Alexis' to Amer- ica, incline me to think that France has not yet seen her worst days. I have omitted to mention that this Empire has pro- vided for a large increase of its force 30,000 a year or some 350,000 in twelve years. Russia answered the call of Andrassy to the Ministry of foreign affairs in Austria by putting her Western fron- tier on a war footing, and the Servian and Bohemian press talk with the utmost freedom of changes at hand which can only be the result of war or revolution. If Germany has to march an army into France a second time, I should judge from the feeling existing among the Germans now, they would leave much more permanent traces of their visit than they ever did before. Bismarck has been quite ill but is now pretty weU. One day his doctor called to see his patient and B. sent him word that he was too ill to see him. They are doing up things in New York pretty thoroughly accord- ing to appearances. If the Hercules who has taken ovir municipal stables in charge is not a spurious one, there seems a chance that New York may yet be once more a habitable city for decent people. I fear the Presidential bee in Greeley's bonnet is giving the Tribune a bad lead. Timeo Danaos &c., and I distrust a can- didate that is to depend for his success upon the Democrats' nominating no candidate. It is not certain that what has never happened never wiU, but there is Scripture for saying that what has happened will happen. The Democratic party is in the habit of nominating its own candidates and it is not much in the habit of voting for the candidates of other parties — "if it knows it." Do you still prowl for books of prey? If so please look out for the enclosed.^ I bought yesterday a German Bible printed in 1543 at Wittemberg under the eye of Luther — fine copy, well bound, aU leather, in 1693, for 16 Thalers. Good bye. God bless you and send you a Happy New Year. Yours very faithfully On Saturday the 30th of December the French Academy elected to its membership the Due d'Aumale, Littr6, de Lominie and Rousset, to succeed Comte de Montalembert, ViUemain, M6ri- mee and Prevost-Paradol. The same day Monseigneur Dupan- ^Principes de Messieurs Bossuet et FSnelon sur la Souveraineti (anonjonous). BISHOP OF ORLEANS 569 loup, Bishop of Orleans, addressed to Mr. Legouve, Director of the French Academy, the following letter: Mr. Director: I can no longer have the honor of being a member of the Acad&mie franqaise. Will you cause my resignation to be accepted, and accept for yourself the homage of my perfect consideration. Felix, Bishop of Orleans. The Journal des Debates editorially criticized this resignation, remarking: Monseigneur the Bishop of Orleans will no longer attend the sessions of the Academy there to preach to it. The Academy sustains a great loss, but it will console itself by recovering the calm necessary to its deliberations. Besides, it cannot accept the resignation for this reason, that once admitted to the Academy, no one has ever left it; and for this other reason, that one cannot replace or praise, as if he were dead, a living Academician. To this the Bishop addressed what the Gaulois described as a "veritable Catalinaire" against Mr. Littre. The character of his discourse was such that it was decided that no mention should be made of it in the record of the deliberations of the Academy, The animus of the Bishop's letter is contained in the following para- graphs: "If the French Academy were nothing more than a salon for literary conversation, and if the pubUc and obstinate negation of God, of the soul, and of human liberty are but chimeras without importance, you are perfectly right and I am wrong. Who en- ters a salon or who leaves it is ordinarily of no importance, but I had formed an entirely different idea with regard to the Academy; and as I have said in the Academy itself, seeing that it contains the first statesmen, the first philosophers, the first jurists, the first litterateurs of my country, I believed and I still beUeve that France notices its acts, its words, its elections. My vsnrong, if I have committed one, has been that of accustoming myself to the thought that nothing ought to make the Academy descend from that high place. "The doctrines of Mr. Littre are of such a nature that with them no philosophy is possible. To sanction them by raising to the highest honors of the French mind the writer who is among us the most ardent propagator of those doctrines appeared to me absolutely impossible. It was, occurring when it did and in the 570 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE intellectual confusion in which we are laboring, too hard a blow to strike at public conscience." However deplorable were the negations imputed by the good Bishop to Littre, justly I assume, were any of them so blas- phemous as the dogma of Papal infallibility to which the reigning Pope insisted successfxiUy in having the Council attach his sig- nature and seal? Yet though one of the Protestants against that blasphemy, the good Bishop never called Pius IX any bad names for insisting, and successfully, upon having it done. WHITELAW EEID TO BIGELOW New York Tribtjke, New York, Dec. 30, 1871. My dear Mr. Bigelow: ******* With me the course of the Tribune has been one of instinctive dislike of men of Gen. Grant's character and calibre for our high- est positions, and of deliberate beUef that it woiild be best for a great journal like the Tribune to hold itself above party. With Mr. Greeley it has been a dislike of Gen. Grant personally, the belief that he is too smaU a man for the Presidency, and great dissatisfaction with many parts of his management, particularly with his encouragement of disreputable men, and his partisan interference with the civil service all over the coimtry. That the general estimate of Grant's administration thus far is likely to be favorable, I concede; the payment of the debt and the treaty with Great Britain are great achievements. I am sure we have states- men imder whose guidance each would have been better, but, as it is, each is a success. On the other hand the treatment of the South has not been a success, and it is a significant thing that Gen. Grant's partisan management has resulted in making a Chandler, a Butler, Carpenter, Conkliag, Morton, Nye, Stewart, and their kind, his devoted champions; Stunner, Trumbull, Schurz, Bryant, Greeley, and their kind, his determined antagonists. AU administrations, I suppose, are more or less corrupt; cer- tainly the depth of corruption this one has reached is scarcely suspected as yet, even by its enemies. There is believed to be no sort of doubt that a percentage of the profits on the General Order robbery here go direct to the White House. There is in existence AMERICAN POLITICS 571 proof dangerously complicating the White House with James Fisk's Black Friday business. There is an utter surrender of the civil service to the coarsest use for factional purposes by the coarsest men. Mr. Grinnell goes out to make room for Mr. Murphy. When we drive Mr. Murphy out his counsel and per- sonal representative take his place, while Mr. Geo. WiUiam Curtis seduced, as even his friends familiar with the circum- stances say, by the social attentions of the White House and the offer of the Secretaryship of State, glorifies the Civil Service reforms which the President intends to make. But enough of this. You see far more arraignment of the administration in the Tribune than is Hkely to prove attractive reading. Only let me add this: The little flurry in the senate over the reappointment of the retrenchment committee was excessively damaging to the administration, not perhaps in the general estimate of the voting masses, but certainly in the opinion of thinking men all over the country; and there are few who en- tertain any doubt that the opposition to investigation sprang from a knowledge that the disclosure would be very hard to deal with in the midst of a presidential campaign. At this moment serious efforts are making here to suppress the revelations of a cast-off mistress, who is said to have disclosed the division of the General Order's spoils. ... Of course such testimony is sure to be scandalous, and likely to be grossly exaggerated, but of some of the more disreputable facts involved, there is, I believe, no doubt. The one thing which, as it seems to me, would make Gen. Grant's reelection a certainty is a war with Spain. Here the Tribune has been compelled to declare its honest convictions without reference to political effect. We don't want war with Spain, but we do believe that things have come to such a pass that it is the duty of the government to make a demonstration, moral or otherwise, that shall compel the atten- tion of Spain, and, if possible, lead her to surrender to its inhabi- tants the island she can no longer govern [Cuba]. Yet, in the hands of such a soldier as Grant, such a situation is full of oppor- tunity. Eager as many were for Mr. Fish's retirement a few months ago, there are at least as many now hoping that he may remain in place and remain as firm as heretofore in his opposition to a belligerent policy. You probably know that what the Tribune has told about 672 RETROSPECTIONS OF AN ACTIVE LIFE Sickles' return is the truth. ^ I presume he is really trying to earn a fee from the London stockholders of Erie, and hold on to his diplomatic position. You will be glad, I know, to learn that the fooUsh chatter of the Times about injury to the Tribune in consequence of the Tammany business finds its best refutation in the weekly receipts. This is our harvest season for the semi-weekly and weekly editions and the aggregate receipts, footed up each Saturday, thus far show no falling off any week, and generally an increase over the corresponding weeks of last year. Meanwhile the daily circula- tion is about 50,000 as compared with some 30,000 for the Times. The latter journal did rise in the height of the excitement to 35,000, having at no time within 3 years been so near as then to the daily circulation of the Tribune. Senators like Chandler and Conkling, however, are making a serious effort through local committees and otherwise to injure us, the probable result being that they will badly damage the beauty of their frontispiece in the operation. Tribune stock, which was $7500 per share 3 years ago (on the par value of $1000 per share), has risen to $10,000, and the last sale was made at $10,000 cash, ex-dividend not to be declared for some weeks. I have known of an offer in responsible, but not negotiable paper, which discounted would amount to a net offer of $11,600 per share. All this, you know, is without our new building, in which we propose to invest from a quarter to a third of a million doUars. Other newspapers are also, I believe, floiirishing; cer- tainly the Post is. BeUeve me always, my dear Mr. Bigelow, Faithfully yours, P. S. You know Swinton^ has utterly abandoned journalism and taken an ofl&cial position at a handsome salary in the banking house of his friend Mr. Dimmick. Hay is doing admirably and is even growing corpxilent. Society has many rumors of his engagement to this and that beauty, among the rest to Christine Nilsson, but if he has left any fair friend behind him in Paris, she may set her heart at rest as to any serious danger yet. •N. Y. Tribune, Dec. 23, 1871, pp. 1 and 7, col. 3. 'John Swinton, brother of William Swinton the historian. The Country Life Press Gakden Ciiy, N. Y.