■an 
 
 William Pitt Fessenden 
 
 By WILLIAM SALTER. D. D. 
 
 Reprinted from the April, 1908, Number of 
 
 ANNALS OF IOWA 
 
 Published by the 
 
 HISTORICAL DEPARTMENT 
 
 DES MOINES, IOWA 
 
 MAURO & WILSON, 401 Jefferson Street 
 BURLINGTON, IOWA 
 
 will send a copy to any address on receipt of price, SO cts. 
 

By Tiransfw 
 
 MAR 30 1917 
 
WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN 
 
 From a marble medallion by Larkin G. Meade, which was presented to the 
 Historical Department of Iowa by Mrs. James W. Grimes. 
 
4^^^ 
 
 WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN. 
 
 BY WILLIAM SALTER, D. D. 
 
 The Congress of the United States is the most important 
 deliberative and la^^Tnaking- body in the world. It represents 
 the American people more than the British Parliament or the 
 German Parliament or the French Chamber of Deputies rep- 
 resent the people of their respective countries. No member of 
 Congress holds his seat except by re-election, for more than 
 two years in the case of Representatives, or for more than six 
 years in the case of Senators. The American government is in 
 the hands of the American people by freciuent elections. It 
 is a Democracy, a Referendum, such as no great nation ever 
 had before. The administration of it depends upon the intelli- 
 gence, the virtue, and the good sense of the people in the 
 exercise of the elective franchise. If they are ignorant or 
 corrupt, and elect incapable and dishonest men to office, they 
 have only themselves to blame for a bad government. 
 
 Wise and good men in Congress are the palladium of the 
 Nation, and the people's welfare. In the highest rank among 
 such men was William Pitt Fessenden, and close beside him for 
 ten years, in the most momentous period of our country's his- 
 tory, was James W. Grimes. They stood together, and gave the 
 full measure of their strength to the life and credit and salva- 
 tion of the Nation in the crisis of its fate. What Grant and 
 Sherman were in the march of the army, Fessenden and Grimes 
 were in the field of legislation. When the catastrophe was 
 over, Mr. Grimes told Mr. Fessenden that he ought to write a 
 history of that period. But death intervened. The work was 
 subsequently undertaken by one of his sons, and now appears 
 in the Life and Public Services of William Pitt Fessenden* 
 
 *Life and Public Services of William Pitt Fessenden, by his son Francis 
 Fessenden, Brigadier General, Retired Major General, U. S. A. 2 vols.; pp. 
 374, 367. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 
 
— 2— 
 
 Of the many accounts of that period none are so lucid and 
 graphic as to what was done in the halls of Congress. Presi- 
 dent Lincoln and the army and navy were supported by taxes 
 levied, money borrowed, and the appropriation of millions, all 
 of which passed under the hands of Mr. Fessenden as chair- 
 man of the Senate Committee of Finance, or Secretary of the 
 Treasury. Early in the war he saw the necessity of giving 
 freedom to the slaves. He and Mr. Grimes were in advance of 
 the Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln, and at 
 last, after a long and severe struggle, crowned his work with 
 the seal of the Constitution. 
 
 A graduate of Bowdoin College at the age of 17, and ad- 
 mitted to the practice of law at the age of 21, Fessenden early 
 became a distinguished lawyer. He was twice chosen to the 
 legislature of IMaine. At the age of 34, he was elected to Con- 
 gress, and served one term. In the prime of his powers, at 
 the age of 48, he was elected to the United States Senate. The 
 repeal of the Missouri Compromise and the crime against Kan- 
 sas were then the questions at issue. Pie at once took part in 
 their discussion in sharp debates with Senators Jefferson 
 Davis and Stephen A. Douglas. Cass, and Butler of South 
 Carolina, also interrupted him, only to be worsted. Mr. Sum- 
 ner said that a champion of Freedom had come. 
 
 ^Ir. Fessenden was less than two years older than Mr. 
 Davis. They were men of like stature and figure, tall and 
 slender. Both were forcible speakers, high-strung, and prompt 
 to resist attack, but Fessenden was superior in a lofty nature, 
 in freedom from personal ambition, in knowledge of the Con- 
 stitution and the laws of the history of the United States, and 
 of the world. On one occasion Mr. Davis remarked that he 
 attacked nobody, and did not suppose any one was afraid of 
 him. Mr. Fessenden said that he was, which Mr. Davis took 
 seriously, when Mr. Fessenden explained that he spoke only 
 from an intellectual point of view, which caused laughter in 
 the Senate. 
 
 Senator Douglas was also a forcible speaker, but coarse, 
 overbearing, a master of sophistry, and on several occasions 
 opprobrious towards Mr. Fessenden, who answered him indig- 
 
—3— ^ 
 
 nantly and severely. Later, speaking of great men, Mr. Doug- 
 las said, "Henry Clay was the most fascinating, Daniel Web- 
 ster the most powerful orator, John C. Callioun the logician 
 of the Senate, William Pitt Fessenden the readiest and ablest 
 debater." Many years later, Mr. Sumner said, that as a 
 debater jMr. Fessenden was "without a superior, without a 
 peer. Nobody could match him in immediate and incisive 
 reply. ' ' 
 
 One of Mr. Fessenden 's strongest speeches was in a debate 
 with Jefferson Davis upon the admission of Kansas, under the 
 Lecompton Constitution, into the Union. President Buchanan 
 recommended it, and a bill to that effect passed the Senate, 
 but was lost in the House. Mr. Fessenden denounced the whole 
 thing as a fraud, infinitely dishonorable to all concerned. He 
 said that "the South had lost all claim to honor, and the 
 Democratic North never had any. ' ' 
 
 When South Carolina opened fire upon Fort Sumter, Mr. 
 Douglas saw that his efforts to propitiate the slave-interest 
 were in vain. He at once turned front, and advised his 
 friends to sink party ties, and support President Lincoln ; soon 
 afterwards he died. 
 
 Mr. Fessenden also measured swords with Senator Seward 
 upon a bill brought in by Jefferson Davis to increase the ap- 
 propriation for the army to eight million dollars, under pre- 
 tense of fear from the ^Mormons, but really to uphold slavery 
 in Kansas. Mr. Seward was the only Republican Senator who / 
 voted for it. ' ' He is perfectly heyv^i^6red, but thinks himself ^ 
 wiser than any of us," said Mr. Fessenden. 
 
 In a home letter of this period, Mr. Fessenden wrote, " If I 
 leave my sons nothing else, I shall bequeath them the legacy 
 of eternal warfare upon the infamous slave system. It is 
 to be a contest of years, and I will not live to see the end. If 
 you do not witness its extinction, you will, I trust, live to 
 see its gradual and sure decay — the fatal arrow in its side. ' ' 
 
 In the discussion, February, 1859, upon a Pacific railroad, 
 Mr. Fessenden gave it as his opinion that it should be built by 
 the government, and its control remain in the hands of Con- 
 gress. Later, he said, ' ' It should be a national work. National 
 
 ^^^-^ 
 
— 4— 
 
 works should not be put into the power of corporations, for it 
 was getting to be the ease that the country was to be controUed 
 by great corporations, and legislation controlled by them." 
 He did not vote for the Union Pacific Railroad bill, but .secured 
 the proviso that Congress should preserve control of the road, 
 with power to legislate for it in the future. 
 
 Upon his election to a second term in the Senate by a unani- 
 mous vote of the Maine legislature, he wrote to his son: "I 
 am exceedingly gratified at the good feeling and unanimity. I 
 am doubly bound to serve the people honestly, and to justify 
 their confidence. I can say with tnith that I have never sought 
 a nomination to office. I have not the shame of recollection 
 that I owe my success to unworthy means. For many years 1 
 struggled on in a hopeless minority, content, as far as I 
 was concerned, to remain there, retaining a clear conscience 
 and my own self-respect." 
 
 Speaking of the difference which the circumstances and 
 employments of men made in their opinions, Mr. Fessenden, 
 from his own observation of human nature, said: "In cities, 
 politics are necessarily influenced by trade. The mercantile 
 class, as a class, is always mercenary and unreliable in public 
 affairs. Sometimes one rises above the selfishness begotten by 
 his calling, and in emergencies and crises is capable of great 
 sacrifices. Still, as a general rule, men engaged in Southern 
 trade cannot look beyond the present to the future. I never 
 calculate on such men ; but the heart of New England is 
 sound." He added "I would rather belong to a small and 
 free State than be subject to an oligarchy so overbearing and 
 tyrannical as the slave-power. What I have left of life is at 
 the service of my country. I hope the storm will blow over, 
 and that these Southern fools will not attempt to pull down the 
 fabric which, if it falls, will surely bury them in its ruins." 
 
 The first term of Mr. Grimes in the Senate was coeval with 
 Mr. Fessenden 's second term. They early came into a Avarm 
 friendship, which continued to the end of their days. They 
 were fond of taking walks and strolls together all over Wash- 
 ington, and when absent from the city, they kept in friendly 
 correspondence with each other to the last. Of different tem- 
 
peraments, and Mr. Fessenden the senior in age by ten years, 
 they mixed and mingled as if kith and kin, while each was 
 independent, self-reliant, and acted from his own convictions. 
 Both were frank and outspoken, Mr. Fessenden with his im- 
 passioned nature, and Mr. Grimes with his cool and deliberate 
 mind, and his temper under command. 
 
 Both realized the determined and desperate character of the 
 rebellion at its outbreak, and that the issue of life or death 
 was before the Nation. Throughout the war, Mr. Fessenden 
 gave his sleepless vigilance to provide the sinews of war for 
 its enormous expenses, especially to have every soldier paid in 
 honest money. Mr. Grimes was ecjually vigilant to promote the 
 efficiency of the navy, and bring about the great achievements 
 of Farragut and Porter. Three of Mr. Fessenden 's sons served 
 in the army ; one was mortally wounded in 1862 at Bull Run ; 
 another was severelj^ wounded at Shiloh, and again in the 
 Banks' Expedition. To this son we owe the memoirs of his 
 father, written with filial devotion in his crippled condition, 
 with much care and pains. 
 
 ]\Ir. Fessenden, May 7, 1861, wrote from his home in Port- 
 land to Mr. Grimes : ' ' Frank desires to take part in the war, 
 but I desire that he shall first re-establish his health, and then, 
 if he desires it, I cannot refuse him, dear as he is. I think our 
 Southern friends will soon lay aside all hopes of Northern aid. 
 Our people are all but unanimous, though there are some who 
 sympathize with the traitors. "With love to Mrs. Grimes, 
 yours always. ' ' 
 
 He wrote, June 1, 1861 : "It has struck me that our friends 
 at Washington had on a pretty good head of steam. At present, 
 however, they are behind the popular feeling. It is to be pre- 
 sumed that what they have done thus far is to be submitted to 
 Congress, and confirmation requested. There may be some 
 doubts whether Congress will not limit the government, but 
 after all in the present excited state of public feeling there is 
 more danger of error upon the other side. I confess that were 
 I in Lincoln's place a small scruple would not detain me from 
 doing what was needful. And it is safer to excuse the exercise 
 of powers not warranted, in an extraordinary emergency, than 
 to grant a power easily perverted." 
 
— 6— 
 
 At the special session of Congress, July 4, 1861, called by 
 the President, Mr. Fessenden and Mr. Grimes were in their 
 seats in the Senate. Early in the session, Mr. Grimes proposed 
 a diversion of the men and money employed in the Coast Sur- 
 vey to the prosecution of the war. ]\Ir. Fessenden objected. 
 He spoke of the importance of the Coast Survey, and said : 
 ' ' We do not know how long the war will continue. It may end 
 in the course of a few months." Mr. Fessenden also objected 
 to some other measures proposed by INIr. Grimes, whereupon the 
 latter said: "My experience has taught me that it is futile 
 to war against the Chairman of the Committee on Finance. 
 His eloquence, and will, and persistency are such that it is 
 useless for me to press any amendment against his wishes. I 
 therefor withdraw the proposition, hoping to receive his sup- 
 port some other time. ' ' 
 
 Portland, September 26, 1861. 
 My dear Grimes: 
 
 I was glad to get your letter, though it was a continual growl 
 from beginning to end. Of course I could expect nothing else. 
 
 As to this unfortunate Fremont affair, I am with you entirely, 
 so far as the proclamation is concerned and wrote Fremont to that 
 effect, as soon as I saw the President's foolish letter. The people 
 here, as with you, are all for the proclamation, and the President 
 has lost ground amazingly. It was a weak and unjustifiable con- 
 cession to the Union men of the border States, who cannot take 
 care of themselves, and are haunted by the Slavery demon night 
 and day. I fear however that this is but a trifling matter. A friend 
 in St. Louis, who liked and thought highly of Fremont, writes me 
 that he fears all is going wrong, that Fremont has surrounded 
 himself with a set of corrupt broken-down speculators from Cali- 
 fornia, and is playing the very devil with the public money, etc. — 
 but I will hope for the best, for, if obliged to lose faith in Fremont 
 I shall not know where to look. 
 
 I am patriot enough, my friend, to rejoice most heartily that our 
 money affairs are so much better than I expected. It would grieve 
 me to lessen your opinion of your own financial sagacity in any 
 way, but you will permit me to say that, as yet, there has not been 
 time enough to consider the experiment as fairly tried. You must 
 not be too hard on Chase and me, for you will reflect that we never 
 had that peculiar experience in raising the wind which is only 
 acquired by Iowa Banking. * * * 
 
 And so our sweet friend is going to Europe. Joy go 
 
 with her the world over. May God bless her, and make her as happy 
 
— 7— 
 
 as she deserves to be. If I could believe that any effort would have 
 made me the possessor of such a jewel, and that I was in any degree 
 worthy to possess it, such an opportunity lost would be a lifelong 
 regret. It would be folly in me, however, to think of such a woman, 
 and selfishness even to wish that youth and loveliness should be 
 sacrificed to the solace of my few remaining years. I have reso- 
 lutely schooled myself to look disagreeable truths squarely in the 
 face. And none is more obvious than that, at my age, I have no 
 right to look for woman's love, or any sentiment beyond respect and 
 esteem. I must therefore go on my way alone. Excuse me for mak- 
 ing a serious matter of your joke. 
 
 Why did you not come? Believe me when I say that no man 
 would be more welcome to my house and heart. I am living here 
 quietly, taking little part in what is going on around me, impatient 
 until I get the news of the day, and somewhat hard pressed to dis- 
 pose of time after I get it. My oldest son who has a fine business, 
 a sweet wife, and two little boys, has undertaken to raise a company 
 of sharp-shooters, and my only hope is that he will fail. Sam annoys 
 me every day on the same subject, and I expect to wake some morn- 
 ing and find him gone. 
 
 I do so long to hear something creditable to our army. When is 
 it to be? If this state of things shall continue much longer I shall 
 join the grumblers. Politics however is a great captain, and I try 
 hard to keep cool. 
 
 Portland, Nov. 10, 1861. 
 These are delightful times, are they not? What a lovely report 
 that was of old Thomas (Lorenzo), and what excellent good sense 
 and taste was displayed in publishing it. We shall have to investi- 
 gate the matter. I think that even Floyd would have shrunk from 
 anything so utterly shameless. These people must give some sounder 
 reasons than I have seen yet, or their treatment of Fremont will 
 damn them. Who and what are at the bottom of it? In the very 
 best view I can take of it, our affairs on the Potomac have been ) 
 but a succession of blunders. I reserve my puMic opinion until I 
 have learned more. 
 
 Mr. Chase commended Edwin M. Stanton to Mr. Fessenden 
 as a man of great ability and entitled to the highest confidence, 
 and in January, 1862, Mr. Fessenden in the Senate gave his 
 warm approval to the confirmation of Edwin M. Stanton "as 
 
 just the man for Secretary of War." 
 
 Portland, Sept. 25, 1862. 
 Dear Grimes: 
 
 My youngest son was mortally wounded at Bull Run. He lived 
 about thirty-six hours, manifesting through all, I am told, as in the 
 
battle, the most heroic calmness and self-possession, uttering no com- 
 plaint, but dying like a man and a soldier. The loss has affected me 
 most severely, and the fact that two others of my sons are exposed 
 to the same fate renders me unquiet and unhappy — but I have noth- 
 ing but patience and submission. 
 
 I presume you are not more pleased than I am with the present 
 condition of our affairs. McClellan as usual lost the golden oppor- 
 tunity on Thursday. I see nothing before us but a renewal of last 
 winter's campaign. You have read Pope's report. I have no doubt 
 of its truth, nor has anybody who was in Washington at the time. 
 The President knows it to be true. And yet he gave McClellan the 
 command of the army, and at his request restored to their places 
 Porter, Franklin and Griffin, through fear of his influence with the 
 army. The Proclamation is, however, to make up for everything 
 with you radicals. I, being less sanguine, do not expect as much 
 from it as many others, but pray that it may produce all the antici- 
 pated good. 
 
 Portland, Oct. 19. 1862. 
 
 I am glad that you have done so well in Iowa. The folly of 
 the President has lost Ohio and Indiana, and I am surprised that 
 its effects have not been still more calamitous. Wade, I am thinking, 
 will close his senatorial career with this Congress. He has some 
 faults, but I shall be sorry to lose so true a man.* 
 
 Private advices from Washington are to the effect that McClellan 
 is to be removed from command of the army, and Halleck is to take 
 his place. We should gain little by that in my judgment. I am for 
 Hooker. He has shown more brains than any of them. 
 
 I shall go to the old place if I can get my old room, and hope 
 you will do the like. Having become accustomed to you, I am con- 
 tent to tolerate your infirmities for the good that is in you. 
 
 Upon the meeting of Congress in December, 1862, the Senate 
 took into consideration the recent disasters of the army. ]\Ir. 
 Fessenden, Mr. Grimes, and other Senators regarded the course 
 of IVIr. Seward and his influence over the President as in a 
 measure responsible. Mr. Seward had opposed the employ- 
 ment of negro soldiers. While our enemies were being sup- 
 ported by the labor of their slaves, he had informed the gov- 
 ernments of Europe in a circular to our foreign ministers that 
 slavery had nothing to do with the rebellion. A committee of 
 Senators held a conference with the President, and recom- 
 mended a removal of ]\Ir. Seward from the Cabinet. Mr. 
 
 * Mr. Fessenden was mistaken about Ohio; Mr. Wade was re-elected to the 
 Senate. 
 
— 9— 
 
 Seward sent his resignation to the President and Mr. Fessen- 
 den advised its acceptance. But the matter became compli- 
 cated by Mr. Chase sending in his resignation. Mr. Fessenden 
 felt that Mr. Chase could not be spared from the Treasury. 
 Holding up Mr. Chase's resignation, Mr. Lincoln said, "Now 
 I have the biggest half of the hog, I shall accept neither. ' ' 
 
 In 1863, Mr. Seward changed front, and supported the em- 
 ployment of negro soldiers, and the Emancipation Proclama- 
 tion of that year. 
 
 In the fall of 1863, Mr. Grimes visited Mr. Fessenden, and 
 in a letter to Mrs. Grimes said : 
 
 Portland, Nov. 24, 1863. 
 
 I reached Mr. Fessenden's without accident, and am now at his 
 house. I wanted to leave to-day for Boston, but he restrained me, 
 and I shall not go until tomorrow. I shall be in Boston until Fri- 
 daj', when Mr. Fessenden is to meet me, and we shall go to Washing- 
 ton together. I judge Portland to be one of the pleasantest cities 
 in the United States. Fessenden has a grand old place; house and 
 everything in it appearing to be not less than fifty years old and 
 upward. He expressed his regret that you were not with me. All 
 of his family, including sons, brother-in-law, etc., seemed to be 
 pleased to see me, and all inquired kindly for you, as if they knew 
 you. In Fessenden's chamber I found four framed portraits, his 
 wife, Samuel, who is also dead, and my wife and my wife's husband. 
 
 Upon Mr. Fessenden's appointment to succeed Mr. Chase 
 as Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Grimes wrote him a letter 
 of exceeding pathos and tenderness, to which Mr. Fessenden 
 replied with his characteristic sympathy and warm affection. 
 The correspondence is in the Life of James W. Grime&* pp. 
 263-66. An additional part of Mr. Fessenden's letter is as 
 
 follows : 
 
 Washington, July 24, 1864. 
 
 I suppose you, like everybody else, were disgusted with the dis- 
 graceful manner in which the recent raid upon Washington was met. 
 Where the fault was I am not able to say. Perhaps in the stupidity 
 of entrusting important commands to such men as Sigel and Wal- 
 lace„ Yet we blunder on. Only worse blunders on the part of our \ 
 adversaries will save us— and there is our chance. 
 
 Mr. Fessenden served eight months as Secretary of the 
 Treasury. He took the office at the earnest solicitation of the 
 
 *Life of James W. Grimes, by WlUiam Salter. N. Y., Appleton «& Co., 1876. 
 
—10— 
 
 President. It was in' the gloomiest period of the war, the 
 movement of our armies in doubt, the national credit at its 
 lowest ebb. There was a debt of nearly two billion dollars; 
 an inflated paper currency, irredeemable, of six hundred mil- 
 lions ; daily requisitions upon the treasury for three millions ; 
 and gold at 225. Mr. Fessenden said: 
 
 I consented to take the Treasury not only with extreme reluctance, 
 but with much pain, having little strength for labor of any kind, 
 but I could not resist the appeals to try to save our sinking credit — • 
 upon which the success of our cause depended. It was unfortunate 
 (for me that just at that moment I was believed to possess the con- 
 fidence of the country to an extent which imposed the effort upon 
 me. Under this state of things and in the hour of peril, I did not 
 dare to refuse, whatever might be the consequences to myself. It 
 
 /may result in the destruction of all the reputation I have gained. 
 
 ' Be it so — I owe that to my country as well as my life. My days are 
 devoted to hard work, and I find many things to harass and perplex 
 me. I could, however, do well enough but for the constant trouble 
 in my head. But I do not feel like complaining when I think of 
 Frank's amputated limb, or the many thousands of glorious fellows 
 who bear wounds and suffering patiently and cheerfully because their 
 country demands the sacrifice. All I can do and bear is trifling in 
 comparison. 
 
 By vigor and skill in the management of the Treasury put- 
 ting an end to any further issue of irredeemable paper, Mr. 
 Fessenden restored confidence in the national credit. He 
 addressed the people directly in a spirited appeal, told them 
 the situation frankly, and called for their support. He said, 
 "It is your war. The brave men who are fighting our battles 
 must be fed and clothed, and the munitions of war be fur- 
 nished, or the war must endure defeat and disgrace." The 
 /people responded in large subscriptions, and the country was 
 \ saved from bankruptcy. The famous work of Hamilton in 
 providing for the Revolutionary war debt was surpassed in 
 . providing for the greater debt incurred by the war of the 
 Rebellion. 
 
 { In a letter to the President, February 6, 1865, resigning his 
 office, to take effect March 3d, Mr. Fessenden said : 
 
 I desire gratefully to acknowledge the kindness and consideration 
 with which you have invariably treated me, and to assure you that 
 
—11— 
 
 in retiring I carry with me great and increased respect for your » 
 personal character, and for the ability which has marked your ad- 
 ministration of the government at a period requiring the most 
 devoted patriotism and the highest intellectual and moral qualities 
 for a place so exalted as yours. 
 
 Allow me, also, to congratulate you upon the greatly improved ) 
 aspect of our national affairs, to which and to the auspicious result 
 of our prolonged struggle for national life, now, as I believe, so near 
 at hand, no one can claim to have so largely contributed as the Chief 
 Magistrate of this great people. 
 
 That your future administration may be crowned with entire 
 success, and that you may at its close take with you into retirement 
 the well-deserved gratitude of the people you have well and faith- 
 fully ruled, is the most fervent wish of 
 
 Your friend and obt. servant, 
 
 W. P. Fessenden. 
 To The President. 
 
 Upon Mr. Fessenden 's election to a third term in the Senate, 
 he expressed in a letter to the Maine legislature his gratifica- 
 tion at this renewed proof of their confidence, and said : ' ' The 
 administration of President Lincoln has been marked by extra- 
 ordinary events. It has formed a memorable epoch in history. 
 The struggle has enchained the attention of the world — the 
 result must seriously affect the welfare of ages to come. Let 
 it be our boast that in the emergency Maine was true to the 
 cause of civil liberty, that at no moment did her people falter 
 or faint, that no sacrifice could shake her purpose or weaken 
 her faith." 
 
 Upon the death of President Lincoln, Mr. Fessenden deemed '^ 
 it the duty of the new President to call Congress together in 
 view of the extraordinary condition of things. The new Presi- " 
 dent thought otherwise. He took the government of the rebel 
 States into his own hands, without authority of law. He had 
 promised to be the Moses of the late slaves, but abandoned 
 them to be despoiled by their late masters. 
 
 Upon the assembling of Congress in December, 1865, Mr. 
 Fessenden labored in personal interviews with the President' 
 to convince him of the authority of Congress over the rebel 
 States. Their armies were captured or surrendered, their 
 president a prisoner, their slaves emancipated, their people 
 under martial law, with no government of their own. At the 
 
—12— 
 
 outset of the rebellion, they withdrew their Senators and 
 representatives from Congress. The questions now pending 
 were as to their readmission into the Union, and the terms 
 upon which they might again send Senators and representa- 
 tives to Congress. Mr. Fessenden said it was an infamy in 
 President Buchanan to allow the rebellion to gain force and 
 form, but it would be more infamous to allow the rebel States 
 to come back, send Senators and representatives to Congress, 
 without guaranteeing the safety of the Nation, without assent- 
 ing to the abolition of slavery, without repudiating the rebel 
 debt, or without giving the rights of freemen to their former 
 slaves. 
 
 A joint committee of both Houses on "Reconstruction" was 
 appointed, to inquire into the condition of the Confederate 
 States, and report upon these questions. Mr. Fessenden was 
 made chairman of the Committee. Mr. Sumner wanted the 
 place, but was deemed "too ultra." Mr. Grimes was second 
 on the committee. Mr. Fessenden 's labors with the President 
 were futile. The President asserted his own authority, and 
 later he defied Congress. The labors of the committee were 
 arduous. There were contrary opinions. The strife and strain 
 imperiled Mr. Fessenden 's health, and nearly broke him down. 
 But in weariness and painfulness he held his head aloft in 
 long and sharp debates, and braved every difficulty. At last, 
 ,>he saw the crown of his labors in the adoption of the Thir- 
 teenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Consti- 
 itution. As the war of the Revolution led to the adoption of 
 the Constitution, so the -war of the Rebellion led to the adop- 
 tion of the Amendments. They were the corollary of the Re- 
 bellion, the inevitable consequence of its failure and defeat. 
 
 The final report of the Committee on ' ' Reconstruction ' ' was 
 
 drawn up by Mr. Fessenden, and presented to the Senate, 
 
 < June 11, 1866: "In my opinion," said Mr. Grimes, "it is the 
 
 ablest paper submitted to Congress, since I have been in the 
 
 Senate." 
 
 When the revision of the tarifif was under consideration, 
 some parties, who were making enormous profits in steel, 
 charged IMr. Grimes with exerting an influence upon the Fi- 
 
—13— 
 
 nance Committee, in favor of reducing- the duties on steel. 
 Mr. Fessenden, referring to the matter, said : " I will frankly 
 say that if there is a man in or out of the Senate who possesses 
 influence over me, it is the honorable Senator from Iowa. No 
 man possesses more. I have great respect for his opinion, 
 and for the uniform integrity of his character, as we all have. 
 But I. must say in justification of the Senator, and of the Com- 
 mittee, or of the chairman of it in this instance, that the Sen- 
 ator never spoke to me upon the matter referred to, or alluded 
 to it in any way. All I ever heard him say on the subject was 
 said here on the floor of the Senate." 
 
 The folly and malfeasance of President Johnson early 
 aroused Mr. Fessenden's indignation, but he doubted the ex- 
 pediency of impeaching him. The question took form in the 
 House of Representatives in January, 1867, when it was re- 
 ferred to the Judiciary Committee (James F. Wilson chair- 
 man), for examination. The Committee took a large amount 
 of testimony, but could not complete their investigation during 
 that Congress, and the matter was turned over to the next, the 
 40th, which met March 4, and continued in its first session 
 till IMarch 30, and subsequently by adjournment July 3-20, 
 November 21-30. 
 
 When some Senators were freely expressing their minds 
 upon the matter in the Senate, Mr. Fessenden said, July 20, 
 1867, that he deemed it ' ' improper for one, who was to act as a 
 judge in the case, to commit himself in advance upon the guilt 
 of the accused, but should hear the case without prejudice or 
 passion." 
 
 The Judiciarv^ Committee of the House, by George S. Bout- 
 well, made a report, November 25, in favor of impeachment. 
 Mr. Wilson did not agree with it, and made a minority report. 
 The subject was then postponed to the next month. On De- 
 cember 7, a vote was taken, when the yeas were 57, nays 108. 
 
 The situation was changed February 21, 1868, by the Presi- 
 dent's removal of the Secretary of War, EdA\nn M. Stanton. 
 Congress had passed a law to protect ^Ir. Stanton in that office, 
 and his removal was deemed a crime that demanded impeach- 
 ment. The vote now stood, yeas 126, nays 41. The next day, 
 
 \ 
 
—14— 
 
 James F. Wilson stated that if the President could not be con- 
 victed on the ground of his removal of Mr. Stanton, he prob- 
 ably could not be convicted on the other charges against him. 
 The trial was made to hinge on that article, though the other 
 charges were presented and discussed. 
 
 On the 5th of INIarch, 1868, the Chief Justice of the United 
 States and the Senators took the oath to do impartial justice 
 in the matter according to the Constitution and the laws. The 
 trial went on in long arguments and speeches pro and con 
 until the 16th of May, when 35 Senators voted "guilty," 19 
 "not guilty," and the impeachment failed, two-thirds being 
 required for conviction. Ten days later, votes were taken on 
 other charges with like result, and the Senate sitting as a 
 Court adjourned sine die. 
 
 The following extracts from Mr. Fessenden's letters to Mr. 
 Grimes show his views of how things went on : 
 
 Portland, May 8, 1867. 
 
 It was taken for granted that there would not be a session in 
 July unless something new "turned up" — though Sumner professed 
 to know that there would be. These fellows considered themselves 
 beaten and were very sore. Wade's vision of the Presidency and 
 Schenck's of succeeding him during the present Congress were 
 somewhat dimmed — though the former and his Lieutenants are 
 arranging their forces for the next campaign and are abusing every- 
 body — not excepting Grant. 
 
 We had a hard time of it during the called session. The fight 
 among ourselves was a severe one, but the leaders found themselves 
 in the vocative at last, and were pretty thoroughly used up. Im- 
 peachment had got to be a matter of ridicule before the session 
 closed, but the movement has done us harm. 
 
 I trust your health is restored. We needed your help very much, 
 but a consideration of your very critical condition induced us to 
 forgive you. 
 
 Yours always with the best regards to Mrs. Grimes. 
 
 Portland, June 18, 1867. 
 Shall you go? It is all nonsense in my judgment, and Stevens and 
 others are jumping at a pretense. I am disgusted with Johnson 
 for giving them such a pretense. God only knows what mischief 
 will be done if we get together. We shall have to consider July 
 and August as mortgaged. Besides, we shall be weak. The Pacific 
 coast is not to be counted on, and Morrill of Vermont and Sherman, 
 with many of the House are in Europe. 
 
—15— 
 
 I see that our V. P. is fairly in for the Presidency. I suppose he 
 will divide the West with Colfax. Under which of these doughty 
 champions will Iowa range itself? 
 
 Portland, July 14, 1867. 
 What do you think of Andy's reconstruction scheme? It strikes 
 me that the rebels are having it all their own way. The papers say 
 that Montgomery Blair approves. It is quite time, in my judgment, 
 that the Blairs were laid aside, though as Fox [Gustavus V., Assist- 
 ant Secretary of the Navy] belongs to the family, I suppose the Com- 
 mitee on Naval Affairs will go with the administration. I have been 
 hard at work gardening, and my health has improved wonderfully. 
 
 Portland. Sept. 20, 1867. 
 My dear Grimes: 
 
 I have just finished my evening cigar, and, as it happens to be a 
 good one, I am in a most desirable condition. Beside the cigar, I 
 am just now in excellent health — eat well (in spite of chronic 
 dyspepsia which my friends assign in excuse of my bad temper) — 
 sleep well — my garden flourishes — and Frank with his charming 
 little wife and pretty boy make a part of my family. Should not all 
 these happy circumstances and surroundings enable me to bear even 
 Mr. Sumner's philippics with a reasonable degree of equanimity? 
 
 The truth is I didn't get angry with Sumner this time. The whole 
 thing was exquisitely funny. All the world this way is laughing at 
 him. It was manifest that the thing was deliberately got up. I 
 will bet you a guinea he either had a week to prepare, or took that 
 time to revise the manuscript. 
 
 With you, however, I was surprised at the appearance of such 
 stuff in the Advertiser. Mr. Chandler (J. P.), the principal owner 
 and director, was away, as was the leading editor. Chandler wrote 
 me from the country that he don't understand it. I have sent him 
 your letter for edification. 
 
 The truth is that for some reason or other, this particular clique 
 have resolved to write and talk me down — to persuade the people 
 that I am untrue to the principles of the party — a friend and de- 
 fender of Andrew Johnson. They would do the same by Grant if 
 they dared. See Sumner's hints and Phillips' open attacks. Forney 
 cottons with them and beslavers Grant. They don't want him if it 
 can be avoided, and mean to dispose of me in case any happy incident 
 should kill off Grant. Now, so far as I am concerned, they need not 
 trouble themselves. I would go as far to avoid being a candidate 
 myself as I would to defeat Wade. But the malice is only equalled 
 by their meanness and cowardice. 
 
 I have recently returned from a water expedition to St. John in 
 company with Hooper [Samuel] and Conkling [Roscoe]. We talked 
 freely of Sumner's manifesto, and Phillips' letter found us at East- 
 
—16— 
 
 port; Conkling was evidently much annoyed, and thought he should 
 have a friendly talk with Sumner. He says, Phillips' letter, so far 
 at it refers to me, was but a repetition of what he had heard Sumner 
 say in the cars when riding from the Capitol. I have not heard 
 from Edmunds. As both of them were fond of complimenting Sum- 
 ner, I shall let them settle the matter in their own way. 
 
 We are looking to the Western elections with much interest. I 
 mark your prediction. If it comes true, I think the hopes of these 
 gentlemen will be somewhat clouded. 
 
 Is it true that Wilson [James P.], has written a letter in favor 
 of impeachment? If so, he has not acted with his usual discretion. 
 
 Keep cool my friend, enjoy your leisure, and come back full of 
 love to all your associates — particularly for the writer who, with best 
 regards for your wife, remains as always yours. 
 
 Portland, Oct. 20, 1867. 
 
 As j'ou predicted the elections have surprised people, though Iowa 
 has held her own very well. Our friends Wade, Chandler & Co. must 
 feel particularly gratified with the result in Ohio. I see Stevens 
 imputes it to the corruption of Congress in not impeaching the Presi- 
 dent. Most of our influential journals, however, think it is owing to V 
 a general disgust with the leadership of Stevens and his drive. 
 
 * * * All is Grant now, and I do not see but he will go in by gen-', 
 eral acclamation, without any declaration of his principles, or pledges ' 
 of his action. It will be only necessary for the Democrats to nom- 
 inate him also, and we shall have an administration "without regard . 
 to colour" — and shall see in due time, what is to come of it. You 
 must be on the look-out for squalls. There will be plenty of crimi- 
 nation and recrimination. Will you and Edmunds and others be 
 prepared to take a part in the fight, or are we to be silent and take 
 all the abuse certain gentlemen will load us with? 
 
 Mr. Fessenden held that the act of Congress which was in- 
 tended to protect Mr. Stanton in his office was unwarranted 
 by the Constitution. He delivered an elaborate written opinion 
 to that effect. Later, upon the election of General Grant as 
 President, that act was repealed. At the close of his opinion 
 Mr. Fessenden said with reference to the diatribes against him : 
 "I should consider myself unworthy a place among honor- 
 able men, if for any fear of public reprobation, and for the 
 sake of securing popular favor, I should disregard the convic- 
 tions of my judgment and m.y conscience. The consequences 
 which may follow from conviction or acquittal are not for me 
 to consider. The future is in the hands of Him who made 
 and governs the universe, and the fear that He will not govern 
 
—17— 
 
 it wisely and well would not excuse me for a violation of His 
 law." 
 
 In the trial Mr. Sumner held that the Senate was still a 
 political body, and the Senators under a political responsi- 
 bility ; Mr. Fessenden held that the Senate was now a Court. 
 The difference in their point of view appeared in the fact that 
 Mr. Sumner and his side addressed the Chief Justice as ' ' Mr. 
 President." Mr. Fessenden and Mr. Grimes always addressed 
 him as ":\Ir. Chief Justice." 
 
 Washington, June 12, 1868. 
 My dear Grimes: 
 
 Glad to liear that you are improving. All you have to do is to 
 enjoy yourself, and let public affairs take care of themselves. Trum- 
 bull has been very busy of late getting the rebel States in— including ' 
 Alabama, to which he was opposed. The fools outvoted us as usual, 
 as if our burdens were not heavy enough now. 
 
 Andy has behaved very well so far, and I think he will hold on 
 until after the Democratic convention. The Democrats go to see 
 him, such as Hendricks and Buckalew, and I think he is compara- 
 tively safe in their hands. 
 
 Have you seen the London papers? All with one accord congratu- 
 late this country upon its escape from a serious blow at its govern- 
 ment, and praise us for our firmness. They evidently consider im- 
 peachment in this case as a mere scheme of Jacobinism to get 
 power. Was it not about so? Stanton, I learn, is very bitter. This 
 does not surprise me though I deeply regret such an exhibition of 
 bitterness in such a man. 
 
 Mr. J. M. Forbes, of Boston, IMay 23, 1868, wrote Mr. Fes- 
 senden : "I hope you do not care anything for the ravings of 
 our radical papers; and I know you will not let them move 
 you a hair from the even tenor of your way. The more I 
 agree with them, in the main, the more they make me mad 
 with their extravagance and unreasonableness. ' ' In reply Mr. 
 Fessenden said : 
 
 Washington, June 21, 1868. 
 * * * I have felt outraged by the gross attacks made upon me by 
 some of the Republican journals. However, I cannot but feel that 
 time will set all things even. Whether it does or not, the path of 
 duty is plain. No considerations of this sort could justify me in 
 departing from my line of duty. A man who has knowingly and 
 deliberately put at hazard all that most public men value, in obedi- 
 
—18— 
 
 ence to his sense of right, will not be likely to throw away all the 
 consolation that remains to him — his own approval. 
 
 Grimes will be in Boston before long, and I hope our friends will 
 see and cheer him. He is a noble fellow, and I love him more 
 than ever.* 
 
 A large number of citizens of Boston of the Republican 
 party, "desirous of expressing their sense of the value of his 
 public services," invited INIr. Fessenden to a public dinner to 
 be given in that city. They said: 
 
 "While some of us strongly dissent from the conclusion at\ 
 which you arrived with regard to the conviction of President 
 Johnson, we all heartily recognize and admire your courage 
 and conscientiousness under circumstances of peculiar diffi- >• 
 culty." 
 
 Declining the invitation from considerations of his duty in 
 the Senate and of his own health, Mr. Fessenden referred to 
 the "circumstances of peculiar difficulty" alluded to. A few 
 extracts from his letter show how he regarded the situation : 
 
 Washington, June 25, 1868. 
 To the Hon. Alexander H. Bullock, and others: 
 
 * * * The impeachment of the President was a most extraordinary 
 event, and will constitute a remarkable chapter in our country's 
 history. The conduct of the President almost from the beginning 
 of his administration had been such as to render him obnoxious to i 
 the suspicion of designing to defeat the cherished object of those ' 
 who had elected him, and of plunging the country back into a con- 
 dition little better than that from which it had been rescued at so 
 vast a sacrifice. It was not only humiliating, but irritating in the 
 extreme. 
 
 * * * I do not wonder that the idea of impeachment was popular, 
 nor did it surprise me that but few should stop to consider that the 
 long catalogue of the President's alleged offenses prior to the re- 
 moval of Mr. Stanton had for the most part been under investigation 
 by a learned and able committee of the House, and had been reported 
 upon, and that the House by a large majority had voted against 
 impeachment for those offenses. 
 
 The President was arraigned upon specific charges. Although the 
 offenses were political, the proceeding itself I could not but regard as 
 of a judicial character. The constitution of the tribunal, the oath 
 imposed upon the members, impressed me with the belief that I was 
 bound to lay aside all prejudice against the individual, and to try ■ 
 
 *Letters and Recollections, John Murray Forbes. If, 164-66. 
 
—19— 
 
 him solely upon the law and the facts, the crimes and misdemeanors 
 charged. * * * The members were, to be sure, servants of the people, -^ 
 responsible to them, but only as judges are for an honest decision; all ' 
 the attempts to coerce a decision by outside pressure, by appeals to 
 party obligation, by threats and vituperation, were as wrong as if 
 applied to any case of private right before any court in the land, 
 and subversion of justice and of public and private morality. I . 
 considered the matter entirely beyond and above party jurisdiction. 
 For the vote I gave I offer no excuse or apology, and ask no vindica- 
 tion; nor do I consider myself entitled to any special credit for ^ 
 courage or conscientiousness in the discharge of what I considered ' 
 an imperative duty. 
 
 Andrew D. White in his Autobiography, II, 147, calls Mr. 
 Fessenden's action "an example of Spartan fortitude, of 
 Roman heroism worthy to be chronicled by Plutarch," and 
 says, "The time will come when a statue will commemorate 
 his great example." 
 
 To Mr. Grimes. 
 
 Washington, June 24, 1868. 
 
 We are getting along stupidly as usual here. The impeachers are' 
 not particularly happy, though most of them have become very civil. 
 Wade is said to be very cross, and refuses to be comforted. I am' 
 told that Forney says the party had a narrow escape. I am informed 
 that General Grant talks well and properly, as a sensible man should. 
 His particular friends and organs have come to the conclusion that 
 they cannot afford to throw away any support. 
 
 I shall decline the Boston invitation. I could not avoid saying 
 something about Sumner's resolutions, but I have treated them re- ■ 
 spectfully, and said nothing of him. Every day he gets some hard 
 rubs in the Senate all round. Yesterday I was obliged to defend 
 him, as he was badly treated. 
 
 Evarts' nomination is to be bitterly opposed by Congw^ss and 
 others, but I hardly think he can be rejected, though there are a 
 great many fools in the Senate. Stanton I never hear spoken of. "" 
 
 I am glad to hear that you continue to improve. 
 
 July 2. I struck out of my Boston letter all that related to 
 Sumner. I am glad that you like the letter. It was not easy to tell 
 what not to say. 
 
 Mr. Grimes to Mr. Fessenden. 
 
 Bath, Maine, July 7, 1868. 
 * * * I have not heard of a man here who disapproved of your 
 course after he came to understand it. Nor did I in Boston. I dis- 
 covered that Hooper [Samuel] telegraphed and went to Boston, while 
 
—20— 
 
 the matter was pending, to get up a public meeting in favor of con- 
 viction and it was to head off that movement that R. H. Dana, Jr., 
 introduced his resolution into the House [Legislature of Massachu- 
 setts] where he was chairman of the Judiciary Committee, and 
 which came near passing that Body. 
 
 From the extracts I have seen of Butler's [B. F.] report, I judge 
 that it is the most discreditable public paper ever issued in this 
 country, and to permit it to go to the world unaccompanied by the 
 evidence on which it was based is infamous, and in my opinion in- 
 volves in the infamy all who are party to it, and agree to it. 
 
 In April, 1869, Mr. Grimes went to Europe in hope of re- 
 gaining' his health. It improved in London, but in Paris a 
 second attack of paral^'sis again prostrated him. When able 
 to hold a pen, he wrote Mr. Fessenden : 
 
 Paris, July 9. 1869. 
 
 Your welcome letter came duly to hand. * * * This attack closes 
 up my political career. I shall never, I am sorry to say, sit by your 
 side as a member of the Senate again. * * * There is one thing we 
 lack in America more than anything else, to make up an accurate 
 history of our country, and that is, memoirs of public men. I am 
 greatly struck with that fact here, where they have ever been so 
 abundant. What kind of history can an.y man coming after us make 
 up of the last ten years from the newspapers? None at all. Now, 
 you have lived in the most eventful period of our country's history. 
 You have had a leading part in public affairs for twenty -five years; 
 you have a cool head, a retentive memory, a facile pen. I insist 
 that you ought in justice to the future, in behalf of your own mem- 
 ory, and for the common good, to spend a few leisure hours every 
 day in preparing your memoirs. Y'ou need not take up subjects 
 seriatim, begin with any one of the many interesting topics, and 
 after one is completed, you will be more in the humor to begin an- 
 other. If you do not choose to publish them in your own time, leave 
 them to be published in some future time, in vindication of your 
 memory, and to promote the cause of truth. 
 
 The last of ^Ir. Fessenden 's letters to Mr. Grimes was the 
 following": 
 
 Portland, August 8, 1869. 
 
 I was rejoiced, and my mind relieved to get a letter in your own 
 handwriting, for I had heard a rumor of your second attack, and 
 felt much alarmed. I am grieved to learn how much you have been 
 afflicted. Under the skilful treatment you can find in Paris, I shall 
 still hope to see you again in your old place before I leave the Sen- 
 ate, if not at so early a day as I could wish — unless you retire under 
 
—21— 
 
 the advice of those best able to judge of what your permanent good 
 requires. 
 
 * * 
 
 [As to re-election to the Senate] What the result will be I can- 
 not foresee, and on my own account do not much care, for I am 
 about tired of the whole thing. I shall be a candidate, for duty to 
 myself and the State requires it of me. But I shall contend at some 
 disadvantage, for I will not use the means that will be used against 
 me. If money is to be used, be it so. It will not be used by or for ) 
 me. I will have no hand in corrupting legislative morals. If elected, 
 it must be on my merits, and because the people so desire. For 
 corrupt and corrupting honors I have no desire. My hands are 
 clean thus far, and I mean to keep them so. Any but an honest and > 
 high-minded people I have no desire to serve. If Maine desires that 
 her Senators shall be elected by petty newspaper and office-seeking 
 politicians, it is very clear that I shall not be one of them, nor, in 
 such a case, do I wish to be — and that is the end of it. 
 
 * * * Take good care of yourself, my dear friend, and believe 
 me with the kindest regards to Mrs. Grimes and Mary [afterwards 
 Mrs. W. B. Allison]. Ever yours most truly, 
 
 Hon. James W. Grimes. W. P. Fessenden. 
 
 In reply Mr. Grimes wrote from Switzerland: 
 
 August 31, 1869. 
 
 Your letter of the 8th has just reached me in the midst of the 
 Savoy Alps, being douched and soaked in hot sulphur water. 
 
 Perhaps you have observed that I have resigned my place in the 
 Senate. I regret to leave on your account, and on Trumbull's. 
 
 We shall not return to America this year. We have it in con- 
 templation to spend the winter in Italy, a considerable part of it 
 in Rome, and I shall take the liberty to kiss the pope's great toe on 
 your account and in your behalf. Read Milton's invocation beginning 
 
 "Avenge, O Lord, thy slaughtered Saints!" 
 and then fancy that we are right among the descendants of those 
 slaughtered saints. 
 
 In the night of the same day the letter was written, Mr. 
 Fessenden was seized with a fatal illness at his home in Port- 
 land, and died nine days afterward. Upon receiving the in- 
 telligence, Mr. Grimes in a letter to Mr. Lyman Cook, of 
 Bnrlington, Iowa, wrote : 
 
 Vevay, Switzerland, Oct. 10, 1869. 
 
 I have never been so afflicted by the death of any man as by the 
 sudden decease of Mr. Fessenden. He was my most intimate, sincere, 
 and attached friend, and the sentiment was most cordially recipro- 
 cated. I knew him as no other man knew him, for he always made 
 
—22— 
 
 me his confidant. I admired as only those admired him who Ivnew 
 him intimately. He was the highest-toned, truest, noblest man I 
 ever knew. I never knew or expect to know a man who can ap- 
 proach him in the qualities that go to make a grand man and a 
 noble statesman. The man does not live who can take his place in 
 the Senate. To tell you the truth, his death has been a serious blow 
 to me. The news nearly upset me. I have not been able to think 
 of much else since I heard it. Only four days before the news came, 
 I received a long, cheerful, and characteristic letter from him. 
 
 Writing- later to ^Ir. Cook with reference to the Impeach- 
 ment trial, Mr. Grimes said: 
 
 I would not exchange the recollection of that grasp of the hand 
 and that glorified smile given me by that purest and ablest of men 
 I have ever known, Mr. Fessenden, when I was borne into the Senate 
 chamber on the arms of four men, to cast my vote, for the highest 
 distinction of life. 
 
 Senator James Dixon, of Connecticut, had said in a letter 
 to Mr. Fessenden: 
 
 It is due mainly to you and Grimes that the country was saved 
 from seeing a President removed when any party desired it. This 
 was averted by a degree of courage and patriotism the world has 
 never seen surpassed. My respect for men who resisted a tre- 
 mendous influence brought to bear upon them is too great for ordi- 
 nary language to express. 
 
 George W. Julian, a representative from Indiana, said, 
 twenty years afterward : 
 
 I was one of the many men whose partisan madness and exasper- 
 ation carried them headlong into the Impeachment movement, but 
 I was not long in discovering my mistake; and no man is more will- 
 ing than myself to do honor to the brave men who faced the wrath 
 and scorn of this party in 1868.* 
 
 In the Memorial Addresses delivered in Congress three 
 months after Mr. Fessenden 's death, Senator George H. Wil- 
 liams, of Oregon (Judge of the First District of Iowa, 1847- 
 '52), said of him: 
 
 When he spoke, he bore himself proudly, and with graceful ease, 
 his nerves firm and electric as a Damascus blade, always choosing 
 simple language. Few beholding his imperial bearing would suspect > 
 that some nervous prostration followed every effort. He had no 
 
 * Iowa Historical Record, VIII, 360. 
 
—23— 
 
 taste for grandiloquent oratory, but of that unaffected speech which 
 is in earnest to force conviction, he was a consummate master. 
 Fitted to shine in society, he usually avoided it, to the regret of his 
 friends, as they felt that he would have been more widely beloved, 
 had he been less of a recluse. Those who were invited to his home 
 found him cordial in manner, fascinating in conversation, a brilliant 
 talker, often speaking with humor, more willing to show his learning, 
 his love of poetry, and his literary treasures at his own fireside than 
 in any public theater. 
 
 Senator Sumner said : 
 
 During the whole period of the war, when appropriations were 
 beyond precedent in the world's history, Mr. Pessenden's influence 
 swayed the Senate, and what all our best generals were in the army 
 he was in the financial field. 
 
 Hannibal Hamlin (Vice President, and presiding officer of 
 the Senate, 1861- '5), said: 
 
 The duties and victories of civil life are as important as those of 
 arms, and the statesman, who aids in wisely directing the councils 
 of the Nation, should be held in as cherished remembrance as he who 
 successfully commands our armies in the field. Such is the position 
 the historian will assign Mr. Fessenden. 
 
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