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 memoRiAL 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE GILxMAN FOGG. 
 
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 £)<AyiX-n^ y^' 
 
 MAY 9. 1916 
 
MEIMORI^L 
 
 OP 
 
 GEORGE GILMAN FOGG. 
 
 THE ADDRESS OF 
 
 REV. AUGUSTUS WOODBURY 
 
 AT THE FUKERAL SERVICES, OCT. 8, 1881, 
 
 A TRIBUTE BY 
 
 FRANK B. SANBORN. 
 
 CONCORD, N. H. : 
 
 PRINTED BY THE REPUBLICAN PRESS ASSOCIATION. 
 
 1882. 
 
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GEORGE GILMAN FOGG 
 
 Was born at Meredith Centre, N. H., May 26, 1813, and died at Con- 
 cord, N. H., October 5, 1881, He was the son of David and Hannah 
 Gilman (Vickery) Fogg. His father was a native of Pittsfield, and 
 his mother of Exeter. He was fitted for college at the New Hampton 
 Institution, and graduated at Dartmouth college in the class of 1839. 
 He studied law with Judge Lowell, at Meredith, and at the Harvard Law 
 School, and commenced the practice of his profession at Gilmanton 
 Iron Works in 1842. 
 
 In 1846 he was a member of the House of Representatives, and took 
 an active part in the election of John P. Hale as senator. Up to this 
 time a Democrat, he now became a prominent member of the Free Soil 
 party, retaining, however, his belief in the principles of the Democratic 
 party, as it was then constituted, so far as they were not affected by the 
 question of slavery. During this session he was elected Secretary of 
 State, holding the office for one year. This necessitated his removal 
 to Concord, which was thenceforward his home. 
 
 Mr. Fogg was practically the founder of the Independent Democrat, 
 a newspaper which exerted a great influence upon New Hampshire 
 politics. It was started in Manchester, May i, 1845, but removed to 
 Concord in June following. Mr. Fogg did not nominally assume con- 
 trol till February, 1846, but he contributed to its columns from the 
 first. From this time to 1861 this newspaper absorbed the best ener- 
 gies of his life. In 1856 he made a trip to Kansas as Clerk of the 
 Kansas Commission of the United States House of Representatives. 
 He was Law Reporter of New Hampshire from 1855 to 1859. He was a 
 delegate from New Hampshire to the convention which nominated 
 Abraham Lincoln in i860, and Secretary of the Republican National 
 Executive Committee in the campaign which followed. After the Re- 
 
publican party obtained control of the state, he was also for several 
 years State Printer, that position, according to custom, being always 
 given to prominent editors. In 1861 he was appointed by President 
 Lincoln Minister for the United States to Switzerland, holding the office 
 till after the assassination of the President in 1865. 
 
 After his return from Europe, he was appointed in 1867 United 
 States Senator, by Gov. Smyth, to fill the unexpired term of Hon. 
 Daniel Clark, who had been appointed Judge of the U. S. District 
 Court for New Hampshire. 
 
 He resumed editorial labor in 1867, though not, as before, taking sole 
 charge of the paper, finally severing his official connection in 1872. 
 From this time, to his death, he only wrote occasional articles for the 
 press. 
 
 Mr. Fogg was a member of the New Hampshire Historical Society, 
 succeeding Rev. Dr. Bouton as Corresponding Secretary ; trustee of 
 Bates College, Maine, receiving from that institution the honorary de- 
 gree of Doctor of Laws. 
 
 He was stricken with paralysis, September 11, 1879, ^om which he 
 only partially recovered, and which finally culminated in his death. 
 
 Mr. Fogg was never married. He left legacies to Dartmouth col- 
 lege, the school at New Hampton, the Unitarian church in Concord, 
 with which he was connected, the school-district where he was born, 
 and to various charitable institutions in Concord, in addition to lega- 
 cies to his kindred and friends. He had previously made a liberal gift 
 to Bates college. 
 
MEMORIAL ADDRESS. 
 
 THE past season has been one of unexampled anxiety 
 and trouble. I doubt if human history can furnish a 
 parallel to the period, in all its aspects and features. The 
 cordial sympathy of the civilized world has been expressed 
 with our own national sorrow and bereavement, and mes- 
 sages of fraternal feeling and good-will have come to us 
 from the other side of the sea — from the other side of the 
 globe. Two continents have mingled their tears and their 
 prayers, and for once, at least, the nations of the world 
 have felt the closeness of the ties of a common brother- 
 hood. There has been a wonderful deepening of the re- 
 ligious sentiment — a wonderful strengthening of the moral 
 sense of mankind. How earnestly have we prayed that 
 the cup might pass from us. " If it be possible," said Jesus, 
 in his own great agony. " If it be possible ! " But it was 
 not possible that it should pass, except we drank of it ; and 
 then the expression of our hearts was, — " Nevertheless, not 
 our own will, but God's." We turn to Him who can alone 
 give us the comfort and strength we need, and bow before 
 Him in submission and trust. So we have prayed for a sick 
 friend, or a sick child, crying out of the depths unto the 
 Lord. But let us not feel that our prayers have been un- 
 answered. The divine way is better than our way ; the 
 divine will is better than our will ; — and when we come to 
 understand that the divine way and the divine will are al- 
 ways best, and when we bring ourselves into full accord and 
 acquiescence with the divine disposition for us, we are re- 
 
ceiving from the divine hand a blessing, and from the divine 
 love a full and complete answer to every petition, 
 
 " III that God blesses is our good, 
 And unblest good is ill ; 
 And all is right that seems most wrong 
 If it be His dear will ! " 
 
 It is in this spirit of submission and trust that we gather 
 here to-day. During the year which is now drawing near 
 its end, prominent men, in all departments of human ac- 
 tivity, have been taken from the midst of their earthly la- 
 bors to their immortal rest. The circles of business, the 
 university, the church, the state, have been deprived of 
 some of their brightest ornaments and their most useful 
 servants. Some have fallen without warning ; some, with 
 but a brief season of sickness ; some, after months of strug- 
 gling with the unseen and insidious disease which has 
 sapped their vital powers, and at last carried the citadel of 
 the heart. The death of the president is a national be- 
 reavement. My own state was but lately called to mourn 
 the loss of her most distinguished and best-beloved citizen — 
 General Burnside — in whom many of the soldiers of New 
 Hampshire had a leader, comrade, and friend. And now 
 we come to pay our last tribute of affection and respect to 
 one who in former years was conspicuous here in those 
 struggles of principle and policy in which great issues for 
 humanity have their rise. Not long ago we laid away to 
 rest other friends who were associated with him, and whom 
 he has now joined in the everlasting home, from which 
 there is no more going out forever. 
 
 The incidents of his life I need not recount. But it may 
 be well, both for our instruction and comfort, to recall a few 
 of his characteristics. Familiar as they are in this commu- 
 nity, where he has lived so long and in whose affairs he has 
 borne so important a part, they may yet bear recital. 
 
 First, I speak of our friend as a man of positive convic- 
 tions. In these days, when half belief and doubt and de- 
 
nial seem attractive to many minds, it is something to have 
 known a man who firmly held to what he felt and knew to 
 be true and right. That which he believed, he wrote and 
 spoke. Perhaps in the early days, which were days of con- 
 flict, some of his friends may have thought that he spoke 
 and wrote in too severe terms. I have myself suggested 
 to him that gentler words might sometimes be used with 
 equally good advantage to his cause. But he always felt 
 that he was engaged in a great struggle, in which it was 
 necessary to give and take hard blows ; and it is but just to 
 say of him that he was as ready to take as to give. He ex- 
 pected to carry some wounds and scars out of the battle, 
 and while the contest was going on I think that he really 
 enjoyed it. Those of us who can look back upon those 
 well-fought fields, can even now take some pleasure in the 
 remembrance. We know that wherever the warfare was 
 waged most hotly, our friend was foremost, doing manful 
 service. The weapons may not always have been of the 
 finest temper on either side, but there were always brave 
 hearts and strong hands to wield them. A friend of mine 
 at Washington made the remark to me a few years ago, that 
 since the anti-slavery question had been decided there was 
 but little principle in politics. However that may be, it is 
 quite certain that while the question was at issue there 
 were important principles at stake, and Mr. Fogg was very 
 positive in his convictions as to where the right of the mat- 
 ter lay. Being thus positive, he entered into the anti-slavery 
 controversy with all his heart and soul, and he lived to re- 
 joice in the victory which he had largely helped to win. 
 
 Had he been taken in the midst of those stirring days, it 
 would have been felt by all that a strong man had fallen. 
 He was known throughout the countrv as a man of firm con- 
 victions, a resolute purpose, and an earnest spirit, and he en- 
 joyed the confidence and won the esteem of men of public 
 affairs and station. In this state it is not too much to say 
 that his was the clear mind and his the vigorous hand that 
 
8 
 
 directed those movements and counter-movements which, 
 however ineffective of results they may have seemed, were 
 yet really very efficient in bringing on the final triumph. It 
 is the providential arrangement, that some men shall sow 
 the seed, and other men reap the harvests ; that some shall 
 fight the battle, and others enjoy the fruits of victory. It is 
 the sign of human weakness, and perhaps of human in- 
 gratitude, that those who reap and enjoy should forget those 
 who sowed and fought. The present generation can hardly 
 conceive of the intensity with which the controversy was 
 carried on. But now I think that both sides are satisfied 
 with the decision that was made. The strife has at last 
 ended, and former foes have long since shaken hands in rec- 
 onciliation, and forgiven whatever there was to forgive on 
 either part. 
 
 This positiveness of conviction gave to our friend a cer- 
 tain strength and solidity of character. He indulged in no 
 petty vices. He took large and serious views of life. He 
 felt the sense of obligation to make the most and best of 
 himself. He was truthful in thought, clear in speech, and 
 forceful in action. However much any one might differ 
 from his opinions, no one ever questioned the honesty with 
 which he held them, and the earnestness with which he 
 served the cause he espoused. There was nothing for him 
 to conceal. He was open as the day. The structure of his 
 character was based on solid and substantial foundations, 
 and his manhood was firmly and compactly put together. 
 He fairly won the influence which he exerted in this com- 
 munity and throughout the state, and no man's work in it 
 was ever more faithfully and thoroughly done. He was ac- 
 customed from his youth to struggle with difficulties, as in 
 gaining his education and in journalism, and he carried into 
 all his struggles the spirit of persistent endeavor and gen- 
 erous ambition. A high sense of personal honor raised 
 him above anything like sycophancy ; and amidst all discour- 
 aging circumstances, and amidst all temptations to personal 
 
advantage, he preserved untouched and unweakened his 
 independence of mind and soul. He never crooked "the 
 pregnant hinges of the knee, where thrift might follow 
 fawning." He never learned to encourage the vanity or to 
 flatter the prejudices of other men ; but, always truthful, 
 straightforward, and sincere, he did the duty God gave him 
 to do, and spoke the word God gave him to speak, as well 
 and faithfully and truthfully as he could. 
 
 Here I may be permitted to pause a moment to dwell 
 upon the excellent lesson which his example, in this respect, 
 has to teach, especially to the young. There is always 
 something encouraging and inspiring in the sight of a brave 
 and honest struggle with the difficulties of life and the un- 
 toward circumstances of one's lot, that a better manhood 
 and a larger opportunity may be gained. The struggle may 
 not always be successful ; but the glory is in the contest 
 itself, when that is waged with a fearless spirit and a per- 
 sistent resolution. That it was thus waged in the case of 
 our friend we are certainly assured. He succeeded, too, in 
 gaining the education which he desired. He succeeded in 
 gaining a commanding position in the great warfare of the 
 day. And that success was due to his honest and perse- 
 vering endeavor. If larger successes were denied him, we 
 know that the struggle was carried forward with clean hands 
 and an upright intent. 
 
 With this positiveness and strength of character were 
 mingled a vein of gentleness and a warmth of heart which 
 were particularly attractive to those who knew our friend 
 well. In later years, when withdrawn from the scenes of 
 political strife, he became more tolerant and genial. The 
 asperities of life had been smoothed away. Better and 
 more peaceful days dawned upon him ; and the last decade, 
 before disease laid its heavy hand upon him, was marked 
 by the quiet enjoyment of leisure, a happy intercourse with 
 valued friends, the reading of good books, and such light 
 employments as suited his disposition and tastes. He had 
 
lO 
 
 a pleasant and well-ordered home, where he was kindly 
 served and ministered to, and he loved to bring beneath his 
 hospitable roof those in whose company he could renew the 
 past, and indulge the pleasing recollections of former scenes. 
 No man was more thoughtful, loyal, firm, and constant in 
 his friendships. He never forgot an act of kindness of 
 which he was the object. He held fast to those who gave 
 him their confidence, and permitted no cloud of misunder- 
 standing or difference to dim the brightness or chill the 
 warmth of his feelings. He secured the attachment and 
 regard of many who only knew him through the jour- 
 nal which he edited, and he won the sincere love of 
 those who knew him in the more private and intimate re- 
 lations of life. In a visit to Berne, which I made two years 
 ago, I found some of the friends whom he had drawn around 
 him during his residence there ; and the impression he had 
 made upon them was of a very pleasant as well as perma- 
 nent nature. They recalled him with grateful recollections 
 both of his urbanity and kindness of heart, and his straight- 
 forwardness and integrity of character. 
 
 His diplomatic career was creditable to his powers. Al- 
 though the position did not give much opportunity for the 
 display of great statesmanship, it was still very important 
 at the time that it should be filled by a thoroughly patriotic 
 man. The period of his residence in Sv/itzerland was the 
 time of our civil war, when strenuous efforts were making 
 to misrepresent our cause and its character to the powers 
 and people of Europe. Public sentiment, in the country 
 to which Mr. Fogg was sent, was, as a matter of course, on 
 the side of the North. But Switzerland is overrun with 
 tourists of different nationalities, and it was necessary that 
 that sentiment should be reinforced and strengthened by 
 the presence of an American representative, whose patri- 
 otism was as strong and earnest, and whose sentiments were 
 as well pronounced, as were those of Mr. Fogg. In this 
 respect he did a very valuable and important work, and his 
 
II 
 
 influence, as I had occasion afterwards to know, extended 
 beyond the bounds of the country to which he was ac- 
 credited. To Americans \isiting Switzerland he was very 
 helpful and hospitable. His house was always open, and 
 be rejoiced in every opportunity of welcoming his guests. 
 He had a rare enjoyment of the beauty of nature, and his 
 residence in the suburbs of Berne commanded a fine view 
 of that magnificent panorama of the Bernese Alps and Ober- 
 land, which every tourist carries away with him as one of 
 the most pleasing memories of European trav^el. He loved 
 to talk of the grandeur of the mountains and the beauty of 
 the lakes. Although of more majestic proportions than the 
 mountains of New Hampshire, and on a larger scale than 
 its waters, his affection for his native state and his enjoy- 
 ment of its own peculiar beauty were not in any way 
 •diminished. He was a thorough New Hampshire man, with 
 all the best qualities of character that distinguish the men 
 and women of this sterling commonwealth, and he knew 
 and loved the good old state as few men did. He was in- 
 terested in its history, in its educational institutions, in the 
 schools wherein he had spent his youthful days, in his Alma 
 Mater, in the men whom the state had produced, in its rocks 
 and hills, its streams and lakes — in all that makes it, to 
 those who have entered into an appreciation of its beauty, 
 the spirit of its institutions, and the heart of its people, even 
 more and better than the " Switzerland of America." I am 
 sure that the men of New Hampshire will long mourn his 
 death, and cherish the memory of his true and faithful life. 
 
 I have spoken of the positiveness of his convictions. 
 This trait of his character showed itself in his religious life. 
 He was loyal and generous to his church, and that phase of 
 Christian doctrine which it illustrates and exemplifies. He 
 knew clearly what he believed, and he could give a reason 
 for the faith that was in him. But there was something 
 deeper than mere belief. There was a deep principle in his 
 religious life, which underlay his thought and action, and 
 
12 
 
 made him both helpful and considerate of other men and 
 their views, and conscious of his obligation to serve the will 
 of God according to the strength he had. Always a con- 
 stant and interested attendant upon religious services, he 
 was an appreciative hearer and a faithful doer of the Word. 
 Of later years the gentler graces of religion became appar- 
 ent in a deeper trust and a more cheerful and buoyant faith. 
 He bore the ills that came upon him with an exemplary pa- 
 tience, and while he felt that there was no more for him to 
 do in life, he accepted the state of weakness which had been 
 ordered for him with a spirit of acquiescence and submis- 
 sion which it is now grateful to recall. It was no small 
 trial to a man of his mental activity to feel that his powers 
 could no longer respond to the demands made upon them. 
 But I think he bore the trial with an admirable composure. 
 When, at the call of a friend, he would light up with the 
 old-time expression for a moment, it would seem as though 
 he might again go forth among men. With a fund of 
 pleasant anecdote and reminiscence he would endeavor to 
 brighten the interview, and one would almost forget his 
 weakness in the cordiality of his greeting and the grateful 
 appreciation of the kindly interest that had prompted the 
 visit. But he was saddened by the loss of his former asso- 
 ciates and companions in the early struggles, notably of his 
 friend Amos Tuck, with whom he had most intimate rela- 
 tions ; and he could not but look forward to his release from 
 earthly care and physical infirmity with a certain feeling of 
 hope for a better and happier life beyond the grave, and a 
 longing to be at rest. 
 
 So the end has come ; but the end of earth is the begin- 
 ning of a new and higher state. The fine and vigorous 
 mind, clouded for a time, has again become clear and strong. 
 The warm and earnest heart has found its more congenial 
 sphere. The love for truth and right reaches its fruition. 
 The struggling, weary spirit has entered upon an eternal 
 peace ! 
 
GEORGE GILMAN EOGG. 
 
 BY FRANK B. SANBORN. 
 [From the Springfield Republican of Oct. lo, 1881.] 
 
 I would pay the tribute of a brother journalist and an old 
 friend to George Gilman Fogg, the sturdy New Hamp- 
 shire editor and organizer, tb whom was due, more than to 
 any other man, the political regeneration of that " Switzer- 
 land of America" thirty-six years ago, when it seemed to 
 be hopelessly given over to the cause of American slavery. 
 Mr. Fogg was a young mart then, and he lived to be an old 
 man, — but he never merited the thanks of the whole North 
 so much as in the period of ten years from 1845 to 1855, 
 when New Hampshire was converted and reconverted from 
 her pro-slavery idols, until the little state became as sure 
 and steadfast in her political faith as Massachusetts or 
 Vermont. What had been her previous record we know 
 from the scornful sayings of the anti-slavery leaders. Em- 
 erson wrote to William Henry Channing, in 1845, — 
 
 " The God who made New Hampshire 
 Taunted the lofty land with little men, — 
 Small bat and wren, 
 House in the oak : 
 If earth-fire cleave 
 
 The upheaved land and bury the folk. 
 The Southern crocodile would grieve. 
 For who, with accent bolder. 
 Dare praise the freedom-loving mountaineer ? 
 I found by thee, O rushing Contoocook ! 
 And in thy valley, Agiochook ! 
 The jackals of the negro-holder." 
 
14 
 
 The year before this, in 1844, Garrison, lamenting the 
 suspension of the little newspaper published in the New 
 Hampshire capital, by Rogers, "The Old Man of the 
 Mountain," had said in the Liberator, with much bitterness, — 
 " On the question of negro emancipation, the heart of New 
 Hampshire is as hard as her own granite ; she is as desper- 
 ately perverted as it is in the power of corrupt priests and 
 political demagogues to make her. So hardened is she 
 that she cannot blush ; and as for repentance, she seems 
 almost to be given over to ' believe a lie that she may be 
 damned.' If anything yet remains to be done to give pro- 
 tection and perpetuity to the accursed slave system of the 
 South, she will be prompt to do it, if it be in her power. 
 Such traitors to true Democracy as Atherton and Wood- 
 bury she delights to honor, and spurns with brutal con- 
 tempt all those who would save her from defilement and 
 shame. She does not belong to New England, but should 
 cut from her moorings and float southward, to find a geo- 
 graphical position between Texas and Louisiana." This 
 was sharp enough ; but the agitator, pausing to catch his 
 breath, added, — " Yet she may not be wholly beyond recov- 
 ery ; she has some of the choicest spirits to be found any- 
 where on the wide earth, and there is hope while such dwell 
 on her political soil." Even while he wrote, the ferment 
 had begun which was to change all this subserviency of the 
 New Hampshire Democrats into a degree of independence 
 such as was then almost unknown. Two years later, the 
 revolting Democrat, John P. Hale of Dover, was sent to 
 the United States Senate, the first avowed anti-slavery sen- 
 ator, free from the yoke of party, who ever sat in that body. 
 His election was the result of his own boldness, reinforced 
 by the enthusiasm of other independent Democrats, and by 
 the support which George Fogg's newspaper, well-named 
 the " Independent Democrat," gave to the new movement. 
 Mr. Fogg was then a young lawyer in scanty practice at 
 Gilmanton ; but he went to Concord as editor in 1845, and 
 
15 
 
 from that time forward until the emancipation of the slaves 
 he directed the politics of New Hampshire as effectively as 
 Isaac Hill had done in Jackson's time, or Franklin Pierce 
 in the days of Tyler and Polk, — though with less profit and 
 glory to himself. He had Pierce as an opponent for some 
 ten years, four of which the New Hampshire Democrat was 
 president of the United States, — but in the end Pierce and 
 his solid phalanx of voters were beaten, and the state 
 ranged herself definitely on the right side in the great . 
 contest. 
 
 The first triumph of the independent Democrats was won 
 in March, 1846, when they formed a coalition with the 
 Whigs, and carried the state election by a majority large 
 enough to make Anthony Colby governor, John P. Hale 
 senator, and George G. Fogg secretary of state. By the same 
 legislature which did all this. Colonel Jo Cilley of Notting- 
 ham, a veteran of the War of 18 12, and half brother of 
 Hawthorne's friend, Jonathan Cilley of Maine, was sent to 
 the United States Senate for nine months, from June, 1846, 
 to March, 1847, when Hale took his seat. Col. Cilley 
 is still living, at the age of ninety or more, and is one of 
 the few survivors of the men actively engaged in that 
 contest against " the central clique," with Frank Pierce at 
 its head. When the first victory was secured in the con- 
 test (March, 1846), the poet Whittier, living on the borders 
 of New Hampshire, and warmly interested in its politics, 
 wrote a burlesque poem, in the form of a letter from Frank 
 Pierce to Moses Norris of Pittsfield (then a leading Demo- 
 cratic congressman, noted for his pro-slavery sentiments), 
 which was printed by Elizur Wright in the Boston Chrono- 
 type, and had great vogue in New Hampshire, though 
 never acknowledged among the poems of Whittier. It has 
 recently been reprinted, however, with his consent, in a 
 Boston newspaper ; and no doubt the aged poet takes a cer- 
 tain pride in it, as well he may. There is a racy free- 
 dom and coarseness about it characteristic of the men 
 
i6 
 
 whose feelings it undertook to portray, but it has the un- 
 mistakable movement of Whittier's flowing verse. It 
 begins, — 
 
 " 'T is over, Moses ! all is lost ! 
 
 I hear the bells a-ringing. 
 Of Pharaoh and his Red Sea host — 
 
 I hear the Free-Wills singing. 
 We 're routed, Moses, horse and foot, 
 
 If there be truth in figures. 
 With federal Whigs in hot pursuit. 
 
 And Hale, and all the ' niggers.'" 
 
 Then the mortified Pierce goes on to mention the gloomy- 
 news that preceded this calamity, naming persons and 
 places familiar then in New Hampshire, and not yet wholly 
 forgotten : — 
 
 " Our Belknap brother heard with awe 
 
 The Congo minstrels playing; 
 At Pittsfield, Reuben Leavitt saw 
 
 The ghost of Storrs a-praying; 
 And Carroll's woods were sad to see. 
 
 With black-winged crows a-darting; 
 And Black Snout looked on Ossipee, 
 
 New glossed with Day & Martin. 
 
 " We thought the ' Old Man of the Notch ' 
 
 His face seemed changing wholly ; 
 His lips seemed thick, his nose seemed flat, 
 
 His misty hair looked woolly. 
 And Coiis teamsters, shrieking, fled 
 
 The metamorphosed figure : 
 ' Just look ! — that old stone cuss,' they said, 
 
 ' Himself is turnin' nigger! '" 
 
 '&&^ 
 
 The allusion here, of course, was to the Franconia " Old 
 Man" — the "Great Stone Face" of Hawthorne, which has 
 made such an impression on the political mind of New 
 Hampshire — while Black Snout and Ossipee are two moun- 
 tains in the range between the towns of Sandwich and 
 Ossipee, along which the Bearcamp river drains down into 
 the Saco, through regions long familiar to Whittier. Reu- 
 ben Leavitt was a cousin of Moses Norris (and, I may con- 
 fess, of my own), and as sheriff had arrested an abolitionist 
 
17 
 
 preacher while engaged in prayer — an incident which was 
 very effectively turned to account by the anti-slavery men. 
 George Fogg had grown up among these people ; he knew 
 them root and branch, and they knew him ; he could meet 
 them therefore with their own weapons and on their own 
 ground. His newspaper was a weekly, for in those days few 
 persons read the daily j)apers, but waited till the end of the 
 week's toil brought them leisure to peruse the one cherished 
 weekly. He gave his readers sound doctrine, to begin with ; 
 then he supplied such news as they needed, and a miscel- 
 lany of general information and literature, scanty enough 
 when compared with what newspapers now can furnish, but 
 welcome to the boy by the farm-house fire, or the youth in 
 the shoe-shop who loved to learn. I found it serviceable to 
 my boyish love of literature; and it was in the Independent 
 Democrat in 1849, that I first tasted the unspeakable joy 
 of seeing my verses first printed — a translation from the 
 German to begin with, and, by and by, some original verses 
 such as a youth of eighteen could write. Mr. Fogg knew 
 the value of literature, though he overrated this particular 
 minstrel. He made his journal indispensable by such 
 means, and gave it a wide circulation within the state ; while 
 at the same time, and by the cooperation of its readers, he 
 helped to organize his party in every school-district of New 
 Hampshire. The result we all know, — but most of the ac- 
 companying circumstances have passed from remembrance 
 with the lapse of years. He was one of those few New 
 England men who planned and wrought for the nomination 
 of Abraham Lincoln in i860, when most of us were fasci- 
 nated with Seward or some other well-known candidate. He 
 brought Lincoln to New Hampshire in the winter preced- 
 ing, and gave him the opportunity to make one of his great 
 speeches in Concord, which was then duly reported in his 
 Democrat. As a consequence, he carried the New Hamp- 
 shire delegation at Chicago for Lincoln, and thus contributed 
 materially toward his nomination. In the campaign follow- 
 2 
 
i8 
 
 ing, Mr. Fogg was secretary of the National Republican- 
 Committee, and was thus brought into close communication- 
 with Lincoln, who knew his value, and greatly relied on 
 him at some critical points. He was honored by Lincoln 
 with the appointment of Minister to Switzerland, where he 
 remained during the civil war, and was of much service to> 
 the country. 
 
 It is to be hoped that Mr. Fogg, before his death, put his 
 reminiscences of Lincoln, Seward, Greeley, etc., into a form- 
 in which they will be preserved and published ; for in some 
 matters he was a confidant and eye-witness whose testimony 
 was invaluable. Before his paralytic attack, some two 
 years ago, he had proposed writing out these recollections, 
 but did not; and when he was no longer able to write, but 
 retained his clear and accurate memory, he strove to impress 
 these things by recital on the recollection of his friends. 
 I shall not soon forget with what earnestness, when Mr. 
 Bird and I visited him in March, 1880, he persisted in tell- 
 ing us the story of Lincoln's first cabinet appointments, the 
 part played by Seward in that affair, and the wise way in 
 v/hich Lincoln checkmated him and carried out his original 
 plan for a representative cabinet. We feared to fatigue 
 him by the conversation, and sought to leave him, but he 
 held us, through many pauses and returns, until he had fin- 
 ished the main part of his relation. I visited him again in 
 the summer of 1881, and heard more of these reminiscen- 
 ces, — but he had then lost in some degree the power of 
 will, which, in all his life, was so marked a feature, and add- 
 ed so much to the endowment of capacity that nature gave 
 him. It was agreed between Mr. Bird and myself that we 
 should, if possible, draw out these reminiscences for publi- 
 cation ; and on my last visit, meeting Hon. James W. Patter- 
 son at our friend's house, I urged upon him, too, the import- 
 ance of preserving such memorials of a great national crisis. 
 He agreed with me, and perhaps did something towards it. 
 I have since heard that there were some letters from Lincoln 
 
19 
 
 to Fogg, which have no doubt been preserved, and should 
 be printed. 
 
 Mr. Fogg was not an original or highly gifted man, as 
 such things are usually rated. His origin was humble, his 
 education was delayed, and he was completing his college 
 course at Dartmouth at an age when some men are well ad- 
 vanced in an active career. But he possessed that tenacity 
 of purpose, that settled force of will, which is native to New 
 Hampshire men, and makes them the most stubborn adver- 
 saries, the most sturdy supporters. In his political cam- 
 paigns he enlisted for the war, and gave no truce to his op- 
 ponents until they were beaten ; indeed, he was averse to 
 any parley with his antagonists, but was perpetually charg- 
 ing upon them. In the management of a party, however, 
 he was most judicious, keeping the main point in view, and 
 was able to combine men for a special purpose better than 
 most can. He sought little for himself, and was not much 
 annoyed by the self-seeking of others, provided it did not 
 interfere with the objects of party organization. To young 
 men he was genial and instructive, toward his associates 
 plain-dealing and sagacious. He wrote well and talked 
 well, but had little turn for public speaking. He and his 
 friends, among whom were many more illustrious than him- 
 self, gave his native state an importance in the politics of 
 the nation that it will perhaps never hold again, and they 
 did it by the most honest and legitimate means ; by cour- 
 age in opinion, persuasion of the people, and a firm trust in 
 the soundness of the popular heart. In times such as we 
 have seen of late, when money and official power have 
 largely taken the place of argument and popular agitation, 
 it is refreshing to turn back to such leaders of opinion, — who 
 had no arts but manly arts, who struck hard but struck fair 
 blows, and by whose success foes were reconciled, and not 
 friends demoralized and ruined. 
 
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