Hi I I ru£vh£^ I 1 1 '■ ' u^^B - *"( SSSi iisiiS SI • ■ mm ■ Columbia (Stofoenmp intljfCitpofBmigork THE LIBRARIES Bequest of Frederic Bancroft 1860-1945 ^■1 WMBL "ml hpi iPiil^iii^ %xute BHBfc .-JiBLS ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ JFfijt -//^ Ifw?^ ect of all who knew them, by whom their her- esy was rather lamented than resented. PARENTAGE. 19 During the war of the revolution. Eli Footc. in common with all the Episcopalians of New Eng- land, adhered to the royal cause,* but in a quiet, orderly, peaceful manner, and so evidently from conscientious motives that he was never troubled by the zealous patriots of his neighborhood. His father-in-law. and his brothers Ebenezerf and John, served in the American army during the war. being, with all their relatives, except Eli, zealous Whigs. His father, also, in the civil service of his country, was a firm patriot. He was chosen one of the delegates to the State Convention to which the Constitution 'of the United States was submitted for approval or rejection, and strongly urged its adoption. Gen. Ward was also a mem- ber of the Convention, and opposed the Constitu- tion on the ground, that by it the States surren- dered too much of their power to the central gov- ernment. They were both members of the State legislature for many years. Eli Foote and Eoxanna Ward, were married on the 11th of October. 1772, and at the period of the peace which established the Independence of our country, were the parents of six children. The revolutionary war in its progress had im- poverished the people of New England, not only by the loss of property already acquired, but also of the facilities they possessed of acquiring more. by the destruction of their commerce and naviga- *Appendix No. 1. f Appendix No. 2. 20 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. tlon, in which almost all were concerned, directly or indirectly. The change of the government of the country to an independent nation, would necessarily pro- duce changes in the state of society and the course of business: but these were not as great in Con- necticut as in the other States, and in commercial proceedings, the former system of operations was soon renewed, and the first resumption was in i heir navigation. From the earliest period of the settlements of towns along the New England coasts, their mer- chants were engaged in some kind of navigation, and owned small vessels, in which thdjv carried on their trade to the West Indies, to the Southern portions of America, and wherever else they were allowed to trade. A great portion of them Avas engaged in the fisheries, and supplied an im- portant part of the cargoes of those employed in the West India trade. The other portions of these cargoes consisted of lumber and provisions, with deck-loads of horses and cattle. These were exchanged for the rum, sugar, coffee, pimento, etc., of the islands, and supplied the interior demands for those articles. One of this class of traders was Eli Footc, who in connection with another person living on Long Island, had built a small vessel fortius trade; but in this business he was unfortunate, owing to the mistakes or misconduct of his associate; and as his family was increasing, a decrease in the means of PARENTAGE. 21 providing for it was peculiarly distressing. He, however, exerted his best efforts to repair his losses and to increase the profits of his business, as well as the number of individuals in his family. t. It was at that period customary with many of the New England traders to transfer their busi- ness during the winter season to the towns of the Southern States, as most of the mercantile busi- ness of those States was transacted at that sea- son, and commercial operations there were almost exelusivelv conducted by new England and Scotch merchants. It was the custom of New England traders to spend their winters at the South, and return in summer early enough to escape the deadly effects of a Southern climate on Northern constitutions, and as summer and autumn were the business seasons of Xew England, it was prac- ticable to carry on business at the North and South to better advantage than to confine it ex- clusively to either of those regions. Justin Foote. the vouno-est brother of Eli. to whose care he had been confided during his boy- hood, had made a mercantile establishment at Murfreesborough, North Carolina, and had been successful, having fortunately formed a partner- ship with a young Scotchman, a man of excellent character, and a well educated merchant, who had resided in the West Indies Ion 2; enough to consider himself acclimated to a Southern region. Being temperate, prudent and cautious, he escaped the prevailing fevers of that country, and lived to a 22 .MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. good old age ; the connection was dissolved only by death. Those fevers, referred to, were so regular in their visits, as to he expected to return with the same regularity as returns of the season, which they characterized. With the natives they took the mild form of intcrmittents. or fever and ague, but with Northern visitors, billions fevers of a deadly type. The course of trade in those mercantile estab- lishments, was to furnish the Planters with every article they needed, which the plantations did not yield, and collect and ship their disposable pro- duce of every kind, including corn, pork, naval stores, lumber, cotton in small quantities, with a number of smaller articles, and fish in large quan- tities, from the extensive herring and shad fishe- ries on all their rivers. The shipments were chiefly to the West Indies and the Northern ports, and their imports were from the West Indies, su- gar, molasses, coffee, rum, etc.; and from the Nothern cities, not only dry goods and hardware, but hats and shoes, which were almost exclusivelv imported from England, together with millstones, millinery, medicines. and # yankee notions gen- erally, for there were no manufactories of any kind in the Southern States, and as few mechanics as possible. In 3Iurfreesborough, at the begin- ning of this century, there was a considerable number of trading houses, but no mechanics exer- cising their trades, except a blacksmith and a PARENTAGE. 23 tailor. There was not a church, a clergyman or a lawyer in the place; there was, however, a bar- ber and two physicians. A masonic hall supplied the place of all public buildings, except the office of Surveyor of the port, it being a port of deliv- ery. The offices of Surveyor, Inspector, Post- master, etc., were held by Col. Murfrec, the found- er of the town, and afterwards of another of the same name, in Tennessee. The town contained, besides the masonic hall, a tavern, a boarding house, and a race course, which completed the number of its public institutions. Strolling com- panies of comedians sometimes displayed their talents in the masonic hall, and itinerant preach- ers of the Baptist and Methodist denominations, occasionally called the attention of the people to the truths of Christianity, which to most of them was like the preaching of St. Paul at Athens, bringing strange things to their ears. Revivals were occasionally awakened, the influences of which, however, were not generally so permanent as to supercede the necessity of frequent repeti- tions. The genial, kindly, hospitable and friendly dis- positions of the inhabitants of all that portion of the State, were very marked, and their social gatherings were frequent, not only at regular hol- iday periods, but at weddings, races, and all other occasions which would authorize festive assembla- ges. The young men generally, however, seemed to think that ' : a short life and a merry one," was 24 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTF. the maxim to live by, and, in consequence, old men were as rare as young ones at Guilford, from whence youthful emigrants were so constantly flowing, that the proportion of old men among the population was then, and has ever been, a striking characteristic of the place. The use of such quack medicines as whisky, peach brandy, and alcoholic stimulants generally, which were considered prophylactics for their fe- vers, produced the effects which quack medicines generally do, rendering the first clause of the above maxim, of a short and merry life, a practi- cal doctrine, restraining over population as effect- ually as any Malthusian could desire. Justin Foote advised his brother Eli, to make a trading establishment at Winton, the county seat, ten miles below Murfreesborough, on the same river, the Meherrin, and so much nearer to the extensive herring fisheries of that river, and the Chowan, of which it is a branch. The advice was followed, and the business of the first sea- son was so encouraging, that it was continued another vcar, in the course of which the store was broken open and robbed of its most valuable con- tents: and some of the burglars being taken, he was compelled to remain until the session of the court in which they were tried. This was at the commencement of the sicklv season, of which he became one of the earliest victims. He died on the 9th of September, 1792, and through the loss- es he bad sustained, and the difficulties naturally PARENTAGE. 25 attendant on a business left in such an exposed situation, the estate was declared insolvent, and though in a very small amount, it was sufficient to leave his widow destitute and pennyless, with ten children, the elde>t nineteen years, and the youngest less than eight months old. Her father, however, who had no other living child, (his only other one. the wife of Abraham Chittenden. Esq., of Guilford, having died several vears previous/) took her. with all her children, to Xutplains. his farm, about two miles from Guilford, and during the remainder of his life was a father to her chil- dren, as well as herself. Iter oldest son. Andrew Ward Foote, had been at his birth, adopted by him as his principal heir, with the intention of having his name changed by cutting off' its last word, as soon as he should arrive at a suitable age. He died, however, before that period ar- rived, and his grandfather died a few years after, leaving to his daughter a life estate in his farm, together with the house in which she had resided with her husband in Guilford, and some lots in its vicinity in fee. Her two eldest sons died in 1794. at a period at which they had became com- petent to the management of the farm, and the third son having been adopted by an uncle, had gone to AVilliamstown for the purpose of being educated at the college, then lately established there. The two remaining sons. Samuel, aged nearly eight, and George, two years younger, al- though very precocious, were not qualified to do 3 26 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. POOTE. the duties of men. They, however, improved rapidly, and in a few years were men in power, though but boys in age. In farm labors and school attendance, they plodded along until cir- cumstances enabled Samuel to enter upon the ca- reer in whieh he became distinguished at a very early period of life. EARLY LIFE AND KINDRED. 27 C H APTKE I J . E A RLY L I V E A N I ) K I N D R E ] ) •• Who can find a virtuous woman ; her price is far above rubies."* — Sol- omon. The value of female influence in forming the character of a young man. when proceeding from intelligent minds, purified by Christianity, and strengthened by the cares and labors imposed on those to whom afflictions have been sent from Heaven, cannot be too highly estimated. In the blessings derived from this source, Sam- uel E. Foote inherited advantages which, in value, were "beyond the power of gold." His mother was an incarnation of the characteristics of char- ity as enumerated by the Apostle in the thirteenths *A mercantile commentator on this motto might naturally, looking at it in the commercial point of view, suggest ;i doubt whether Solomon had not enjoyed a more extensive credit for wisdom than his capital of that article would give any one at the present time. Such a quotation of prices as it gives would, in a modern mercantile cir- cular, be considered very unsatisfactory to any person desiring to learn from it the fair value of virtuous women in the Jerusalem market in Solomon's time. At the present period, it requires no extraordinary amount of wis- dom to give a much better quotation of the price of a virtuous woman (viz : one "sold for no fault : ') in our nearest markets. They may generally be quoted at from eight to twelve hundred dollars, according to quality. Some fancy articles in that line may be quoted at fifteen hundred dollars. 28 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. chapter of Corinthians. His eldest sister, Harriet, was a zealous member of the Episcopal Church. well acquainted with its history and doctrines, and an acute and skillful eontroversalist in its be- half; qualities which were early called into exer- cise from the circumstance that Nutplains was much visited by young clergymen of the Presby- terian denomination,* who frequently exercised their controversial talents on subjects which were to constitute the pursuits of their future lives. His second sister, Iioxanna. was a woman of ex- traordinary talents and acquirements ; and in that gentle, sweet womanliness of character, which is irresistible in its influence, could not be excelled. Her daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe, has given a slight, but very graphic, sketch of her in her char- acter of Aunt Mary, in one of her Mayflower tales. The amount of the wealth of knowledge laid up "in the countless chambers of her brain, ?: and her power of bringing it into use immediately when wanted, excited admiration, as well as wonder. ^iow such extent and variety of knowledge could have been acquired in such an obscure village as Guilford. The attainment of this knowledge, * Among the lay visitors at Nutplains at that period, Fitz Greene Halleck Avas one who excited much interest. He was a young lad of very modest and pleasing demeanor, and of remarkably precocious talents. His earliest poetical efforts were submitted to the critics at Nutplains and highly com- mended. Many pieces which he did not consider as possessing sufficient merit to bo included among his collected works, were preserved, and some of thorn published many years afterward. They were more highly.estimat- C'l by the public than by the author. -*"" EARLY LIFE AND KINDRED. 29 however, as far as could be obtained from books, was not so extraordinary as the power she pos- sessed of combining in the various kinds of infor- mation acquired from books or conversation, those which belonged together or were sequent, and lay- ing them up so carefully in her memory, that she coald find and bring them together when wanted. The -'Guilford Library" contained most of the standard histories and other works of the highest class in English literature. She had also the use of a valuable French library belonging to a Mr. Gomarre, who taught her the French language. He was a venerable and intelligent gentleman, a fugitive from St. Domingo, who saved his library and some other property with his life, at the time of the massacre of the whites, of whom several came to Guilford, and the younger ones married there and became good Yankees. Her grandfather, also, was in the habit of bring- ing, twice a year, the amount of his pay as a leg- islator,* in the newest literature of the time^ And it was his custom at Xutplains, from the pe- riod of the close of the labors of the day till bed- time, to gather the family at the round table and read aloud, and make suggestive and judicious comments on such literature. Eoxanna Foote was married to the Eev. Lyman Beecher in 1799, and became the mother of eight * The Legislature of Connecticut held two sessions annually previous to the adoption of a State Constitution. 3* 30 MEMOIR OV SAMUEL E. FOOTE. children, viz: Catherine, Edward, Mary, Henry Ward, Harriet, William, George and Charles, most of whom have made their names known in the lit- erary and religions world. The third sister, Mary, was endowed with fine talents and much personal beauty, but she mar- ried at an early age, and sunk under the circum- stances which followed and were its consequence. The following lines, addressed to her brother on the commencement of his sea-faring career, are expressive of strong sisterly attachment, strength- ened bv circumstances that will be referred io> hereafter : TO A BROTHER. A sister, anxious for thy fate, With feelings most affectionate, Presents her parting prayer; And — venturing forth life's dangerous road — "Weeping, commends thee to her God, And asks his guardian care. ^ 'T is not alone that He would deign To save thee from long hours of pain, And guard thy mortal breath, When pestilence, in secret, blasts, Or when around his fatal shafts At noonday scatter death. For fond affection's anxious breast For ills more fatal is distrest, And shrinks with fearful dread, And fervent prays that grace Divine, With brightest beams would ever shine Around her favorite's head. EARLY LIFE AND KINDRED. 31 She asks that Heaven's almighty Power Would watch thee in temptation's hour — Thy erring heart defend. And round thv vet unsullied vouth. His broad defence, "The Shield of Truth/' In mercy e'er extend. And now to foreign lands you go, Unconscious whether weal or woe Your future path attend, Unconscious that you meet not there A mother's or a sister's care, Or even a kindred friend. When fever in a fervid clime Rising upon thy youthful prime. Pours down his scorching ray: Who then shall soothe thy aching head. And, watching round thy painful bed, With fond affection stay? But if thou own'st that "better friend," E'en there His comforts shall descend, Thy weary soul to rest. And if perchance 't is His decree, Thy friends belov'd with sight of thee Shall ne'er again be blest; Yet in thy final dreaded hour, His mercy of its bitterest power, Shall tyrant death disarm; While in the last extremit}', Thy sure, thy firm support shall be His everlasting arm. ?j'l MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. An older sister than Mary, Martha, died young. His youngest sister, Catherine, died also at the age of nineteen. In her improvement he took great interest, making every effort in his power to strengthen her mind and increase her knowl- edge. Such efforts for the improvement of a younger sister exert a favorable influence on the mind, as well as the morals, of a young man. He thereby both gives and receives good and useful lessons, and they are such as are most deeply and perma- nently imprinted on his mind and heart. This effect on the heart is generally well understood, but its influence on the intellect is not so much thought of, though it is very powerful, and a more general and just appreciation of it would be use- ful. A young man whose intellect only has been educated, and educated without reference to his heart, however great may be his genius and tal- ents, will always display some obliquities of mind and crochetty characteristics that weaken not only his moral perceptions, but also those which appear to be exclusively mental. Before we send boys to male instructors for the education of their heajds. we ought to be sure that their hearts are duly ed- ucated, or are in progress of education, under female influence, for, otherwise, their minds lose much of their power, in addition to the loss of strength in their moral character. His sister Mary, two years older than himself, married, in 1803, John James Hubbard, a mer- EARLY LIFE AND KINDRED. 33 chant of the Island of Jamaica, to which place she accompanied him in the same year. He (Hubbard) was desirous to engage his broth- er-in-law in his service, and ottered him a situa- tion in his counting-house. His sister, also, was very desirous of his company in the strange land to which she was going. He therefore accompa- nied her, intending to qualify himself for a mer- cantile career. He remained there, however, but about a year, and during that period displayed that extraordinary aptitude for the acquisition of knowledge, and that quickness of apprehension which distinguished him throughout life. His knowledge, not only of book-keeping, but of the manner of transacting business generally, together with a hand-writing which was a model of easily legible and elegant penmanship, would have been sufficient recommendations for a good situation in any counting-house. He returned with his sister, whose health had become so feeble, that her physicians could only prescribe for her a return to her native land, as offering the sole hope for a prolongation of her life. Her mind had first been shocked by the contrast of manners and morals in the Island (a state of society prevailing there of the existence of which she had never conceived the idea) with the rigid and pure style of morals in her native village, which, at that time, was one of the most primitive of the Puritan towns of Xew England, where a course of life considered harmless and :)4 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. POOTE. not disreputable in the West Indies, would have- been thought one of extreme depravity. Her physical system, also, was shattered from the in- fluence of a AVe>t India climate on a New Eng- land constitution. And she who had left home a vear before in the full bloom of beaut v, glowing with health, and full of the hopes, so natural to ong bride, of a life of wedded happiness in the tairv isle<. whose delicious fruits and mild, genial climate, made it seem to the vouth of the cold north like the enchanted regions of the Arabian tales, returned to linger and die: her hop changed to bitter disappointment, and her pro-- pects for the future only those of mental and phy- al suffering sufficient to carry her to an earlv grave. To a rest there, in the belief that it was the entrance to an existence in a better, brighter world, where hope is not killed by disappointment, but changed t<_- joyous fruition, she looked forward ; and. purified by affliction and suffering, she found that haven of rest for the weary and heavy laden, which her Savior had promised t< :» all that should come unto Him. Her sister Eoxanna, who had the power of conferring comfort and happiness on all within her influence, bevond that of almost anv other human being, aided bv her excellent husband, smoothed her path to the grave and cheered her in its progress Samuel, on his return from .Jamaica, determined to continue his mercantile education, and, at the same time, qualify himself for a navigator, a EARLY LIFE AND KINDRE d for which the tw< pass a - he had m:. _ hened the desire and his Letermina- .' r this purpose he entered the trad: _ shment of Andrew Elli Guilford, wl pied the store that had formerly been that of his father. Ei: I ;iud whose daughter rn) he married twenty-fou rd. >r the purpose of obtaining the mathematical knowledge necessary to a navigator, lie placed himself under the tuition of a person then resid- ing in Guilfoi surveyor by pro: - a, and ]S than Redfield by nam« This was one of th< - men to whom the mathematical seier. rd all the pleas f life that they d sir to en id wh ver a. id never can be. an v thing but m. laticians. h; tg no room in heart or mind : my other guesl The following ane ill illustrate hi* r: Ob :: _ I saw him passi] _ fchi sta >t. and called to him. saving he ~- jlution of a problem. This wi un attraction which it was impossible for him t sisl two immediately _ i chalki: diagram- on the floor until it was nearly cover* w], suddenly. B Id started up. -. _ that he could not wait any longer, as he was going for the doctor 1 i his wife, who he feared dying. 1 h i: died in but the problems sur- vived, and the mathematician wj - mforted. Messrs S mncl ai ^ drew Elliott were own ;><» MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. crs of several vessels employed in the West India trade, and as soon as Foote considered himself sufficiently learned in the theory of navigation, he set about qualifying himself in the practical knowledge, by shipping as a foremast hand on board one of their schooners. He made his first voyage in that capacity to the West Indies. On his second voyage in the same vessel, while lying in port, a brig from Philadelphia belonging to her captain, lost its chief mate, and Foote was recom- mended to fill his place. Although he (Foote) had some doubts as to his qualifications for that office in a square-rigged vessel, as his experience had been only in those of fore-and-aft rig. yet as he had. while a boy, built a ship of about two feet in length, and rigged her complete with every rope, spar and sail, he concluded that he might rely on his knowledge thus gained, and accepted the berth. He went to Philadelphia and returned to the West Indies, where Captain Chase deter- mined to remain until the brig could go to Phila- delphia and return, and gave the command of her to Foote, although he was at that time but eigh- teen years of age. He made a short voyage in her as master, to the West Indies and back to Phila- delphia. He then, although Captain Chase desired him to remain in command of the brig, deter- mined to seek further experience in a subordinate situation. The difficulties he experienced in con- sequence of his extreme youth — among them the apparent incongruity of* seeing men of twenty EARLY LIFE AND KINDRED. •>< and thirty years experience in navigation placed under the command of a lad of eighteen years* and of very little experience — induced him to make this determination, and lie went with Capt. Chase, as chief mate of the ship Cotton-Plant, to Rotterdam. While in Holland, he made inquiries and ob- servations (according to his custom in relation to whatever belonged to the pursuit in which he was engaged) respecting the progress of improvement in navigation, and the construction of merchant ships, in that country in which commerce, in the style in which it is conducted in modern times. may be said to have commenced earliest and been most successful. Although at that time Holland could not furnish specimens of fast sailing clipper ships, t her pro- gress in that respect from the time of the " Goede- Vrouw " not by any means resembling Yankee progress — yet the examples furnished by her ships of extraordinary neatness, good and useful arrangement for economy of room, good disci- pline and regularity, were useful to a young man "While getting his brig into her place in the clock at Philadelphia, he overheard two old East India captains, whose ships were lying near by, dis- coursing on the subject of " modern degeneracy." In exemplification of its alarming progress, one of them remarked, " Why that boy there is mas- ter of that brig!"' "Ay, ay,"' says the other, "they make captains of babies now-o'-days as soon as their clouts are off.'" f The French navy — mercantile as well as warlike — at that period furnished the best specimens of fast-sailing vessels, and at the same time the worst examples in discipline and in the neatness, &c, in which the Dutch vessels excelled. 38 MEMOIE OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. seeking information relative to every detail in all the departments of his profession, and he profited thereby. Yankee vessels, at that time, were very apt to be deficient in the above-mentioned partic- ulars, the Yankee characteristic of doing every thine in a hurry causing such matters to be too much neglected. He then returned to New York, and placed himself under the command of Capt. Chase, one of the best navigators of that port, as mate of the ship ({ olden Fleece, and made two voyages to England, after which, in compliance with the so- licitations of his uncle and brother, (the firm of J. cv J. P. Foote), he took command of one of their vessels trading to the AVest Indies, taking an out- ward cargo from North Carolina, and bringing the returns to New York. This trade, however, did not suit his taste, and he continued in it but a short time. EDUCATION 39 CHAPTER III EDUCATION. " Dull conceited clashes Confuse their hrains in college classes." — Bvkxs. Travel in the younger sort is part of education " — Bacon. The pursuit of knowledge under whatever cir- cumstances might surround him, was a strongly- marked characteristic of Samuel E. Foote. It Avas a pursuit begun at the earliest period of life, and continued until he became one of the be-i educated men of his time. In attributing to him this endowment, the idea intended to be conveyed by it is not based upon the generally received opinion in relation to the constituents of the best education, but upon the belief that it consists in the acquisition of the greatest amount and varietv of the knowledge of such facts in nature, and such truths of science. as may be. and are likely to be, requisite and available for his aid and success in the course of life before him. The course, namely, which cir- cumstances or natural disposition may require him to adopt. It embraces a just appreciation of the results of the experience of others, divesting 40 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. them of the prejudices under which they arc often stated, and combining various statements and opinions in such order that the truth may be drawn from them, whether in accordance with the opinions of their authors or not. His course in acquiring knowledge was not in conformity with any established system of educa- tion, nor in accordance with the prescribed meth- ods of any seminary of learning; neither was it conducted, in its details, upon such a plan as could be generally adopted. The knowledge which requires for its attain- ment of such deep and exclusive attention to any one or two departments, as to make it impossible to acquire a competent acquaintance with the va- rious matters requisite to enable a man to make the best use of his faculties and talents for the benefit of the community, and of himself and those dependent on him, is not what ought to stand in the place of a good education. Parrs and Porsons may be reckoned among the "Curi- osities of Literature," but they would not be very well qualified for American citizens. It may, per- haps, be well enough to have such "curiosities," but it is not good judgment to place them among the highly educated. On the contrary, they are best educated who are best prepared by their ed- ucation to meet and to control circumstances. They are such as possess so much, and such va- rious kinds of, knowledge, that may be made ]n*ac- tically available in the active pursuits of life, as EDUCATION. 41 constitute an accomplished man of business, pre- pared to act promptly in every emergency. Such were the attainments which authorize us to place Samuel E. Footc so high in the ranks of men of education. It is with mental, as with physical, endow- ments, in which a man with duly proportioned powers in each of his bodily faculties, is a more perfect man than one with uncommon develop- ments and powers in one or two of them. The well balanced character, however, does not excite extraordinary attention, and yet it is sufficiently rare to be ottered to our consideration for an in- structive example. The method of education adopted by Foote at a very early age. was to direct his attention rig- idly to the acquisition of the branch of knowl- edge which was first in importance to him — as instanced, previously, in the case of his mathe- matical studies — and. having obtained a compe- tent teacher, to devote his time to that subject until he understood it as well as his instructor. Having made one acquisition, and secured it well in his memory, he turned his attention to the next in importance to himself, ami followed the same course. By this means his knowledge in each department was more perfect than is gener- ally obtained by young men. especially as, in most cases, they adopt studies prescribed by oth- ers rather than those to which their own choice would lead. •j 42 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. Under the tuition of one of the best teachers in Xew York, he extended his knowledge of the physical sciences, taking the time necessary for his studies whenever he pleased. The science of chemistry was then in its infancy, as compared with its state at the present time. Chilton deliv- ered lectures on this science, which he attended, and studied the works of Black, Chaptal, Priestly, and others, until he understood its principles and its progress up to that period. The knowledge of the scientific principles of mechanics was made of practical utility throughout life. With- the progress of improvement in all the sciences and arts, his knowledge of their princi- ples enabled him to keep pace, and to derive that gratification from that progress which is among the purest enjoyments of life, and which is the paramount advantage of any system of early ed- ucation. Political economy he studied rather as a matter of amusement than otherwise. Beginning with Adam Smith in a dry French translation, was a proof that amusement could be derived from a study the least attractive in appearance. He un- derstood his principles thoroughly, and continued through the works of Say, Eicardo, Malthus, Sis- mondi, and the rest of the writers on that science, down to Eaymond, an esteemed cotemporary and friend of his early days. Geology was not then the science that is now designated by that term, but was chiefly devoted EDUCATION. -±3 to giving instructions, derived, for the most part, from imagination, on the subject of world-ma- king — in attempts by learned speculators to show how the world had been, or might have been, or ought to have been, made. Hutton and "Werner, the champions, one of fire, the other of water, as agents employed in the formation of the world, were the leaders, under whom the savans contend- ed for doctrines which did not tend to increase the utility of the science. La Place had not in- vented the theory of world-making out of nebu- lous matter (what kind of matter is that?) and thereby contributed another useless subject of contention to the learned ; but there were many '•guesses at truth *' in relation to the wi cosmogony or creation of the world" besides those quoted by the famous Mr. Jenkinson, and they were pro- claimed then with as little diffidence and modesty as they are now. : ' : -'The science of Geologj-, into which an economical department has been admitted duriDg the present century, constituting it thereby a new and useful science, has not been delivered from the dreams of the early geolo- gists, nor closed against those of the more modern savans. The cultivators of this science still continue, as Hugh Miller said of Lamarque, to "call their dreams philosophy," and to publish "guesses at truth" for deduc- tions of science, and it is quite edifying to see with what trust and confi- dence their guesses and dreams are adopted. The Mosaic account of the creation is not considered by modern savans sufficiently philosophical, and the old "fortuitous concoui'se of atoms " has been replaced by "nebulous matter,' 1 for the purpose of lightening the labor of creation. The efforts of modern skeptics in endeavoring to discredit the first chapter of Genesis, are stimulated probably by the idea that, in case of success, they will be relieved from the duties imposed on them in the twentieth chapter of that book, and the fifth chapter of Matthew. The stupidest fables of the East, as well as the equally stupid conjectures of modern skeptics, have been re- 41 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. Pseudo -philosophers have always been zealous deifiers of chance, and anxious to justify its ways to men. The author of the " Vestiges of Crea- tion," and Mr. Darwin, have constituted thcm- lie'l on for aid with a coolness that is quite edifying to contemplate. The incalculable millions of years appropriated by them to their different eras of creation, have been adopted by their disciples with the same unhesitating confidence with which school-boys used to receive the accounts of II omul us and Remus, and their nursing mother, the she-wolf. The belief of the transmutation of vegetables into mineral coal has been received with more unanimity than almost any dogma in science or religion. Having set aside the account which represents the Creator as accomplishing his work by the fiat, "Let there be," &c, modern savans seem to think it necessary to help him work in a different and easier mode in the establish- ment of the coal measures. This is by the collection of such quantities of vegetable- together in a heap, as coidd not possibly be so collected, then squeezing and melting them into coal, then covering them with a stratum of earth or sandstone, repeating the process at various times, at the same places, which would be quite as difficult as to bring forth light by the fiat, "Let there be light." Why it should be more difficult to create coal than granite, has not been satisfactorily stated. The old discoveries of Asiatic histories and astronomical calculations, go- ing backwards thousands of years beyond the Mosaic period of creation, the calculations of similar periods of time from beds of lava, and the dis- covery of human bones in caves, which must, by geological calculations, have belonged to pre-Adamit-s, have had their day, and new fooleries arc- constantly succeeding them. It seems to be an inevitable tendency of geo- logical science to generate theories and hypotheses. The impossibility of establishing their correctness, and the detection of the fallacies on which they are based, do not seem to serve as warnings of the necessity of laying a foundation before beginning to erect a superstructure. On the contrary, they seem to imagine they can commence at the top ami build downwards, as Gliddon says the Egyptian pyramids were built. The progress of geological discovery has been very rapid during the pres- ent century, but the progress of the application of sound judgment, found- ed on common sense, has been proportionably tardy. Some geologists, however, use this quality — for instance, Sir Charles Lyell, in Erjgland, and Trot'. Christy, in America— whereby they discover that there is no necessity for the millions of years assumed as necessary to geological phenomena, and that there is not at present any particular need for making a theory for the purpose of adapting to it old or new facts. EDUCATION. 45 selves high priests of that idol, and seem to be endeavoring to introduce some kind of order into the temple where they worship. Their mysteries, however, when brought to the light that men of science — and not of notions — reflect upon them, make them appear ridiculous, looking like a heavy superstructure built on a foundation of mud, straAV, stubble and weeds. Palaeontology had not yet received its name, and when Foote, Avhile engaged in the trade with Mogadore. brought from that port a collection of fossils, no one could name them. He gave them to Dr. Archibald Bruce, the most eminent miner- alogist in the United States, who had commenced the publication of a Mineralogical Journal, which was highly commended in Europe, and so totally neglected in America, that not more than one or two numbers were issued. Dr. Bruce seemed to value these fossils chiefly as specimens of the classical region of Mt. Atlas, from a spur of which — the Iron Mountain — they were taken. They had been collected by Eoentzen, a traveler in the service of the African Association, who had spent most of the year 1809 at Mogodore, qualify- ing himself to follow the footsteps of Mungo Park in search of the sources and mouth of the Niger. He began by acquiring a knowledge of the Arabic language, gaining information respecting the in- terior of the country, and making the necessary preparations for his journey generally. Taking 4('» MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. POOTE. with him two guides, he set Out to join a caravan for Soudan, but was murdered by his guides soon after leaving ]\logodore ; the temptation to the commission of this barbarous murder being the covetousness awakened by the property he carried with him. which, although of no very great value to a European, was to them more valuable than the life of an infidel. Such of his fossils and minerals as he had col- lected and left behind, were presented" to Capt. Foote by the friend in whose care they had been left. The fossils were given, as above mentioned, to Dr. Bruce; the other articles, which consisted chiefly of agates, carnelians, &c, to various friends. A knowledge of the most useful modern Ian- CD ' guages was among his early acquisitions. His method with them was to acquire a perfect ac- quaintance with the grammar of one. ami then go to the country where it was spoken, and begin to speak it. undeterred by any awkwardness or blun- ders into which he might tall, until he could think in the language, and speak it like a native. Dur- ing a residence at one time in St. .lago de Cuba, he was domesticated in a family, the children of which, he remarked, acquired without any effort three languages which had cost him much study and labor to acquire. The father being a French- man, the mother an Italian, and the children Spaniards, the three languages were used so im- partially, that the children could not tell which was their native tongue. EDI CATION. 4< While perfecting himself', at previous period-, in the Spanish language at Cadiz, and the French in the West Indies, he remarked, as others have done before and since, that a Frenchman will cor- rect any errors of a learner with a kind polite- ness, and will understand his meaning, if possi- ble. If he should say. in that language, that he had swallowed his physician, when he intended to say that he had swallowed his medicine, fa mis- take that mi edit easily be made by a novice i. he would not be ridiculed, but politely corrected. The Spaniards, on the contrary, allow no indul- gence to the errors of a foreigner, but require strict correctness of language, and without it will not seem to understand in eases in which a French- man would compliment a learner on his progress. They hold their language in so high respect, that they will not. like the English, introduce words or names into it. and allow them to retain their original orthography. Phcebus and Achilles are Febo and Aquiles, when they are admitted into the Spanish language, and all other foreigners are subjected to the same process of qualification for the lofty Castilian speech. Although Foote spoke and wrote each of these Languages with grammatical correctness, and with so little of foreign accent or idiom, that he was frequently taken for a fellow-countryman by na- tives of each of those countries, he preferred the Spanish for conversation, when he could make a choice. The Italian and Portuguese he was never 4S MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. in the habit of using in conversation, though he relished their literature. Of Latin, as he had no temptation or desire to explore the depths and ex- cel in scholarship, he was content with knowl- edge enough to understand common quotations. The library which he carried in his cabin occu- pied a sj)ace so much larger than we were accus- tomed to see devoted to books in ships' cabins, at that period, as to be the subject of frequent re- mark, and, among the old sea captains, of sugges- tions respecting the tendency of modern innova- tions to corrupt the manners of the rising gener- ation. These were similar to those which attend- ed the various departures from primitive manners and customs in other matters amon^ our fore- fathers. Such authors as Hamilton Moore, Bowdich. and other nautical instructors, with, perhaps. Pilgrim's Progress, Eobinson Crusoe, and some stray volumes of travels or novels, generally con- stituted the whole of a shipmaster's library in those early times, which preceded "modern im- provements" in ships and in dwellings. Foote's library comprised the standard histories, scientific works in English and French, with a cyclopedia, and the best English poets, essayists and novelists. Of the latter, Miss Edgeworth was his favorite, and he always considered it one of the misfortunes of his life, that he was pre- vented from accepting a very polite invitation to pay her a visit when at Dublin, on one of his voy- EDUCATION. 49 aires, where he was somewhat of a lion bv reason of his attainments at so early a period of life, aided, perhaps, by a remarkably fine face and person. A letter to the writer from the captain of a British ship in the trade between London and the West Indies, speaks of Capt. Foote as one who had aided greatly in raising the character of ship- masters in the merchant service, and thereby in- creasing the respectability of his profession, for which he felt grateful, and desired to express his thankfulness. The idea of his extraordinary learning enter- tained by his sailors was such, that if the age of magic had not passed away, he might have been taken by them for a potent enchanter. His rigid discipline on board his ship was submitted to with .as implicit obedience as if his commands had been the laws of nature, and his care of his men was proportionate to their trust in him. On an occa- sion of an attempt, while at sea, by a lieutenant of a British frigate, to impress one of his men, Foote told him that he might capture his ship and send her in for adjudication, but that he should not take one of his men without taking him and his ship also. The lieutenant, finding him so determined in his resistance, allowed his man to remain, and during the whole period in which impressments of seamen from American vessels were such frequent and just subjects of complaint, he never had a man taken from him. 5 50 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. If the government of our country had displayed a similar bold and determined resolution not to submit to the overbearing encroachments of un- scrupulous belligerents, the war into which we were forced would either have been avoided, or commenced at an earlier period, before unwise statesmen had blunted our energies and crippled our resources. A well stocked and extensive medicine chest was always one of the indispensable means and appliances of Capt. Foote's ship, and the idea of his universal knowledge, entertained bv his men, made them apply to him in cases of sickness with perfect confidence in his poAver to relieve them. This confidence formed a most important element of success in his medical practice, which was such that it might have been envied by most practi- tioners, for he never lost a man. His men also felt safe, under his protection and government, from the dangers of the sea. being confident that he could foresee and avoid all the dangers to which they were exposed. Their superstitions. so prevalent from time immemorial, were treated with little respect, and never suffered to interfere with their commander's orders, and they under- stood that prompt, unhesitating obedience was the course of safety; a truth in relation to the commands given to all men by their Creator, which it would be well for them to consider. To the increasing vigilance and attention exer- cised under all circumstances under which any EDUCATION. 51 increase of useful knowledge could be obtained, whether from books, observation, and especially- con versat ion, he was indebted for the various and accurate knowledge acquired at an early age, of many subjects that most persons consider as in- compatible and impossible to any but a laborious German student. It was not only a mind origi- nally of strong and varied powers that enabled him thus to acquire knowledge, but in addition a body capable of affording those changes from a mental to a bodily labor, by which both body and mind arc invigorated and strengthened. Each was rested in its turn by the labor of the other, and the diseases which destroy so many ambitious students are by r such a course avoided. Such a sound mind in a sound body is not an endowment of eveiy one desiring to attain excellence, or suc- cess in any" line of life ; but minds of every class may imitate this example. They may not be able, indeed, to follow its details, but to adopt the general principle of dividing the time between labors that keep the body in health, and those that promote the growth of mind, is in the power of all. A young man, by giving the preference to those studies which are most likely to be called into use by the course of life before him. will acquire that confidence in his own powers which is an import- ant, element of success. The self-conceit which is generated in weak minds by superficial acquire- ments may r for a time impose on his associates, 52 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. but, like alcoholic stimulants, it eventually lessens his powers and his influence. The cultivation of a taste for mathematical investigations, at the com- mencement of his studies, will benefit him in any course of life. Even in cases in which a taste for pursuits that seem not to require a knowledge of them — the natural sciences for instance — they will be found useful. Their direct utility in the ordi- nary pursuits of life is not the only advantage they confer, but they are found to be useful in acquiring an accurate knowledge of things which are supposed to be entirely beyond any need of their assistance. Music, for instance, the theory of musical temperament and the mathematical doctrine of the relation of sounds, is among those recondite studies that few ever attempt, and of which few musicians have any comprehension Although Foote had no powers of voice which would enable him to cultivate vocal music, nor did he ever attempt to play on any musical instrument,, yet he was a lover of music, and was desirous to understand the recondite principles by which they are regulated; and, on one occasion when ho was detained in the West Indies, being compelled to wait there several months for the termination of a business that occupied very little of his time, he became acquainted with a mathematician as de- voted to the science as his first instructor. This gentleman, however, was not so exclusive in his- devotion, but was accomplished in many other matters. Under his tuition Foote acquired that EDUCATION. 53 acquaintance with this department of science, which many would characterise (to him) useless knowledge. If it were really so, it would scarcely derogate from the commendation he deserved, of not wasting any portion of his time for such acquis- itions. This knowledge, however, although not precisely utilitarian in the technical sense of the term, cannot with propriety be considered as useless to any young man. Its acquisition may possibly, in some cases, exclude something more practical, but that was not the case in this instance. Another branch of the fine arts, painting, was one of his enjoyments, though he gave no part of his time to any attempt to practice any department of it, nor suffered it at anv time to interfere with his business. On one occasion, he happened to have in company with him at Seville, a man (the car- penter of his ship) who was remarkably unculti- vated and uneducated : he had a curiosity to wit- ness the effect which the first sight of some of the finest specimens of high art would produce on such a man. For this purpose he took him into the celebrated Cathedral of that city, and showed him the famous pieces of Murillo, and other great masters, which it contains. After looking at them all with much attention, but without any display of their effect on his feelings. Foote asked him what he thought of them, he said he "didn't know much about such things, but he did not think any of them was as good as a picture he saw once out- side of a showman's booth, representing a tiger 5* 54 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. VOOTE. with u chikl in his claws, and the blood trickling down in a stream as natural as life." The want of a knowledge of many things pe- culiarly useful and necessary to an agriculturist. he considered the prominent defect in New Eng- land farmers generally, and one which was worthy of more attention than has hitherto been given in the education of young men, and especially so in a region which is annually sending forth such numbers to introduce cultivation into new regions. The deficiency in this respect, among farmers, was remarked by him at that early period of life when he was one of them ; and he. in all his wanderings, paid attention to every thing which would be made to exert a beneficial influence on the agriculture of his native country. This he thought susceptible of much improvement, and he always looked forward to a period when he should be able himself to exhibit a good practical ex- ample. This is a not uncommon anticipation among commercial men, but few of them, when they have the opportunity, display the patience and perse- verance which Foote exhibited during the period of his residence at Xew Haven. In a letter from Buenos Ayres, in 1817, he says : k *Tell G. this is one of the finest countries in the world for a farmer. The land })roduces 100 and 120 for one, and that with one fifth of the labor required in Connecticut to obtain 15 or 20. * * The laziness of this people is almost beyond con- EDUCATION. 55 ception, and I believe a Connecticut farmer does more work than a regiment of them." "It fre- quently happens that the owner of 1000 oxen and horses, and five times as many sheep, has not a bed in his house, and is too lazy to take the wool from his sheep's back, to spread on the ground be- neath him. The skull of an ox serves him for a seat, and the horn for a cup — and this is all his household furniture."' In Peru he was particularly observant of the effects of guano, and thought the importation of it to this country a great desideratum ; but did not suppose that such importation would ever be made a source of profit — an opinion which he was glad t«> see proved erroneous. Most of his observations of the state of agriculture in other nations, fur- nished him with warnings rather than examples for the benefit of his own country. In the latter pai't of his life he saw. with much satisfaction, in the establishment of institutions expressly for the education of the agricultural classes, the com- mencement of a realization of his wishes. '-The Farmers' College," near Cincinnati, had not been established when he left this city. It would have gratified his hopes had he lived to see its success. The establishment and the constantly increasing circulation of agricultural periodicals, however, evinced a great improvement on the part of the farmers, not only in knowledge, but in their esti- mate of the value of the knowledge of the sciences connected with agricultural pursuits. 5C MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. It was somewhat remarkable that of three ac- complishments which he admired exceedingly in others, he never attempted to acquire any prac- tical skill in them himself. He never attempted drawing or painting — except architectural and mechanical designs, and diagrams; nor did he ever attempt to make vocal or instrumental music, and, although a great admirer of graceful movements and bearing, never attempted to dance, and never attended a public ball. MOGADORE. 57 CHAPTER IV M ( i ADORE. " Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased. "' Daniel xii, 4. " The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong." The love of adventure and the desire to see foreign countries where those strange people live, and where those strange sights are to be seen, of which they have heard or read, is a general char- acteristic of youth, and one which is strongly developed in those of the sea coasts of New England. Visits to the West Indies are generally the first steps taken for the gratification of this propensity: those in Foote's case stimulated it more strongly, his disposition being one of those which are not discouraged, but invigorated by the necessity of submitting to unaccustomed dangers, privations and labors. After a few vova^es to the West India Islands, finding them not sufficiently profit- able to repress the desire of more adventur- ous roving, and of a wider sphere of observation and better fields for increasing his knowledge of the world and its inhabitants, he sought for a traffic better suited to these objects. 58 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. A proposition being made to him to conduct a business which gave fairer promise of profit and of the means of extending his knowledge of the world and of commercial operations in different regions, among, to him, a new and strange people, he accepted it. This was the importation of vari- ous African products from Mogadore. Goat skins constituted the bulk of these products; they in- cluded, also, gums and drugs of various kinds. The merchandise with which they were purchased consisting chiefly of dry goods of thin, light kinds, furnished but a small portion of the outward car- goes. These were made up of articles suited to the markets of Lisbon, Cadiz and Teneriffe, from which ports the run down to Mogadore is easy. In this trade the parties concerned were, besides Samuel E. Foote, the firm of J. & J. P. Foote, and William Radcliff, a very intelligent, highly edu- cated gentleman, possessed in an eminent degree of those qualities which will generally insure suc- cess in any line of life; such as unwearied in- dustry, economy without meanness, unshrinking perseverance, and unquestioned integrity. These qualities of the ''strong*' did not, however, enable him to win the race or gain the battle. The latter portion of a career marked by these qualities, was so unfortunate that he was willing in his old age to accept of banishment from friends and country for the poor consulship of Lima. At the period of the renewal and expansion of the foreign commerce of the United States, conse- MOGADORE. 59 (juent on the establishment of our national inde- pendence, a feeling of freedom from the restraints of colonial restrictions, was generally experienced amonjr our merchants. This led to many losses from the gratification of an instinctive love of trade, without the knowledge necessary to its proper management. On the other hand many adventurers succeeded bv the mere aid of fortunate accidents, and among these were many which oc- curred in the commercial countries of Europe through the changes brought about by the French revolution. This revolution gave success to. and consequently increased, American enterprize dur- ing many years in which our country was little thought of by the belligerents of Europe. The attention, however, of these belligerent- was awaked by perceiving that they were not only engaged in "burning, sinking and destroy- ing" eaeh other, and making themselves poor thereby, but that they were making another nation rich. The bone of commerce for which they were fighting, was picked up by a new peo- ple, and when its success became remarkable, excited a degree of envy and jealousy which an- noyed our merchants, and eventually influenced our government to the adoption of measures which annoyed them still more. The hazards attendant on commercial adven- tures had never seemed to exert much influence in restrainingthem. On the contrary they seemed rather to stimulate than repress, and every por- GO MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. tion of the globe was put to the question and made to reveal its capacity for increasing the commerce of the United States. The continent of Africa furnished very few articles for traffic except human chattels, and our imports from the middle and southern portions of that continent, consisting of beings "found guilty of a skin not coloured like our own,'' was con- tinued for many years after we had proclaimed to the world our belief in the self-evident proposition, "that all men are born free and equal," and alike entitled to enjoy "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." The inhabitants of the north of Africa were more consistent in their practice of making slaves of the infidels of Europe and America, and giving them the opportunity of saving their souls by be- coming "true believers'" in Allah and his prophet. But, with an inconsistency very common in the morality of nations, we considered slavery, when our people were the subjects, a horrible enormity, and after disgracing our nation for awhile by pay- ing tribute to the African barbarians, to avert it we acquired glory by chastising and compelling them to abandon their practice of enslaving Christians.* *The resolute daring and enterprising courage displayed by the officer,* and men of our navy in the course of the brief war with Algiers, gave the Americans a fame — a prestige — along the whole coast of Barbary, as well on the Atlantic as the Mediterranean, which no nation had ever aoiuired. The powerful armaments of Christian nations had failed — that of Charles V most signally as it was the greatest — in their efforts to repress the piracies MOG ADOBE. 61 The inconsistency of our professed belief on the subject of slavery, with our practice, was not quite so outrageous after the law prohibiting th<* slave trade was passed, but we have never been able to exhibit real consistency on this subject. After men and women had ceased to be articles of traffic with Africa, other articles were sought, for, and palm-oil, ivory, goat skins, gums, drugs, and a few other articles supplied a small amount of commerce, but it was very small in proportion to the very extensive regions embraced in that continent. The strong desire to discover the course and mouth of the Niger, which has cost the life not only of Mungo Park, but of many other valuable men, was due as much to the desire of increasing a trade with Africa, as for discover- ing its geographical features. In that with Moga- dore, the above named parties had at that time no American competitors, nor has it ever been very attractive to our merchants. The foreign com- merce of that port was transacted chiefly by of the Mediterranean Barbary States. The small naval force of the United States, a young and weak nation, achieved a success where old and power- ful onos had failed. The cause is seen in the different character of the men employed. Every American engaged in that war seemed ready to perform any act of heroism required of him, totally regardless of any danger by which it might be attended. < 'apt. Foote became acquainted with the cuinmunder of one of the Algo- rine vessels, who spoke of Decatur and his associates with that respect and reverence which undaunted courage inspires— when successful. He verified many of the statements published at the time, and gave others whieh ire regret to have forgotten. 6 (52 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. William Willshire, the British Consul, and Wm. Court A: Co., an English house of extensive com- mercial talents and experience. It was necessary that every vessel going there for a cargo should carry some merchandise: for the Emperor, on one of his visits to Mogadore, seeing a foreign ship lying there, inquired what cargo she had brought, and being informed that she brought nothing but money to purchase goat skins, made a decree that no vessel should be al- lowed to take away the products of his Empire without bringing some of the products of foreign countries to exchange for them. This trait of paternal solicitude for the welfare of his subjects.* resembles those of despotic rulers generally, who are very apt to consider themselves the best judges of what will conduce to the welfare of their subjects, with a special regard to their commercial operations. This, however, is not an exclusive characteristic of despots, as we shall find in the case of Jefferson and the American embargo. The decree of the Emperor of Morocco was rigidly enforced, as Vie was in the habit of cutting off the hands of some of his subjects, and the heads of others, if his decrees were neglected or evaded; and if he could not discover the guilty, he substi- tuted for them vicarious subjects: upon the same principle that dictated the laws of ancient J»ome, by which all the slaves belonging to a master were, in case of his murder, put to death without any reference to their guilt or innocence. MOG ADORE. 1 1.", The surgical practice of cutting off hands was very simple, being that of merely severing them from the wrist by the blow of a cleaver, and dip- ing the stump in boiling pitch as a substitute for tying the arteries. The excision of heads was a still more simple operation, requiring no care of the arteries. Both of these operations were SO frequent as to cause no great excitement. Ani 1 lustration of our seend motto was ex- hibited in some incidents connected with the Mogadore trade. Among the imports from that port, was included a variety of gums and drugs, and these included at one time, a quantity of semen santonicum (worm seed) so large that it completely glutted the market. The manufacture of worm seed oil had been commenced, and it was supposed would require a large supply of the raw material. This expectation was not fulfilled, and the article remained on hand longer than the patience of the owners could be kept under due restraint. They therefore resolved to make ex- periments with it in foreign markets, Avhich they did with very discouraging results, except in one instance. At Havana the bales were thrown overboard, that being the easiest Avay of paying the custom house duties; in one or two other ports the market was little better, but at St. Peters- burg the profits were enormous, and the pro- ceeds being invested in Prussia linens, arrived at New York at a period when the market was very bare of those articles, and gave another 64 MEMOIR OK SAMUEL E. KOOTE. handsome profit,. This extraordinary success en- couraged the shippers to hope that the Russian market would be a very important one for in- creasing the profits of their Mogadore trade, and they were thereby induced to make a much larger shipment to that market, including other articles of African produce, which were lying heavy on their hands in ]STew York. This adventure was peculiarly unfortunate. It went to so bad a market at St. Petersburg, that the consignees in the hope of being enabled to give a better account of it than their market would afford, determined to try that of Moscow, hoping to be able not only to give a good account of this adventure, but to open a new market for African products, by which the profits of the Mogadore trade might be in- creased. The account of sales, however, was superseded by the account of the burning of Moscow, after its capture by the "grande armee of Napoleon le grand,'' the adventure being among the merchandise destroyed. The return of this army after the conflagration was an exemplification of our second motto on a large scale ; the snow and ice of Russia being more powerful adversaries than man. Like gentle. quiet female influences, stronger than masculine powers, the soft gentle snow and quiet ice of Russia performed greater feats of conquest than the greatest and best army, led by the most skill- ful and experienced generals of modern times, •would accomplish, although fresh from the work MOG ADORE. 65 of desolation which they had spread over the fairest countries of Europe. "Havoc, spoil and ruin are my gain," seemed to be the appropriate motto for the advancing armies, and '-the spoiler spoiled" for the same armies on their retreat. No event of history -points a moral" more emphati- callv than this retreat from Moscow. It includes, also, many scenes and events, not only among the rich and powerful, but among those in the hum- bler walks of life, that would exhibit more intel- ligibly to common minds, the keenness of the point and the applicability of the moral, if they could be displayed. At the period of one of Foote's voyages to Mogadore, the merino mania was prevailing in the United States, as extensively as the "hen fever," and the morus multicaulis excitement, have pre- vailed at subsequent periods. Search was made. at that time, in all parts of the world, for wool- bearing animals that would furnish the fine kinds of wool neccessary for the manufacture of the finest fabrics. He was at that time informed, that in the province of Tedlah. there was a breed of sheep with fine silky fleeces, superior to those of the merinos. Of course he could not fail to be anxious to obtain so valuable an addition to our American flocks. Although the exportation of animals, of every kind, was strictly prohibited in Morocco, yet permission might be obtained to take a certain number of sheep for ships' stores, provided thev were males, no females of any kind 66 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. POOTE. feeing allowed to be exported on any considera- tion. Of this he intended to take advantage bv sending an agent to procure some specimens of these sheep. As all commercial operations with the interior are, in that country, transacted bv the Jews, he employed one of them to go to Ted- lah. and procure for him some of these valuable animals. He went there and purchased the num- ber wanted; and the only mode of transportation of merchandise, in that country, being on the backs of camels, he had boxes made of the proper dimensions and form, for containing his live mer- chandise, and swung them, as John Gilpin did his bottles, a box 'on each side to make the balance t rue." But the result was far from any resemblance to John's comic adventure. In his journey towards Mogadore, his course was through an intermedi- ate province, the governor of which chanced to notice his novel method of transporting animals, and being, like all barbarians, a strict conserva- tive, was, of course, strongly opposed to any inno- vation in the habits and practices of true believers, especially if made by a Jew, at the instigation of an infidel. His principles of jurisprudence were so simple, that Jeremy Bentham could not easilv have suggested any mode of simplifying them, though he might have found 'fallacies," as striking as in more complex systems. The mode of pro- ceeding in this case w~as, to administer the basti- nado to the Jew, confiscate his cargo, and put him is prison, until the Emperor's pleasure in the EDUCATION. 1)7 matter could be made known. This, which al- ways partakes of the simplicity of the criminal jurisprudence of that region, was expected to be shown in an order to cut off the .lews head, or dismiss him with the jloss of his cargo, and the lesson of instruction given by the bastinado he had received, warning him against the introduc- tion of any novelty in the mode of conveying ani- mals in Morocco. The life of a Jew was of so lit- tle consequence in that country, that Capt. Foote <-ould not learn his fate. The loss of the money, entrusted to his agent, was not of sufficient importance to discourage fur- ther attempts to obtain some of these valuable animals,Hbut the risk of life, or even of bastinado and imprisonment, was too great a price to pay, even for finer wooled sheep than merinos. These animals were afterwards supposed to be Angora, or Cashmere goats, some of which were. at a subsequent period, imported from Asia, and are now propagated in Alabama and Georgia. They probably do not furnish so profitable an ar- ticle of cultivation as cotton, and as " Cotton is King," in those regions, it, like other kings, tole- rates no other rival near the throne. It is proba- ble, however, that at no very distant day, Cash- mere goat's wool, will be included among the val- uable products of our Southern States, and per- haps may, when the efforts to give success to the cultivation of cotton in Asia and Africa, take from (v* MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. the United States their monopoly of that cultiva- tion, give us a new staple, equally valuable. Capt. Riley was heard of as a prisoner and slave, among the Arabs of the desert, at the time of one of Capt. Foote's visits to Mogadore, and much interest in his fate was excited among the few Christian inhabitants of that place. Efforts for the rescue of him and his companions were planned, but the British Consul, AVilliam Will- shire, had the happiness of being the agent of their redemption, and giving them, with the most kind and friendly liberality, the aid and comfort they needed. The town of Wiltshire, in Ohio, is named in honor of him, and if all honors bestowed on cotemporaries, were as worthily bestowed, it would be better for mankind. The United States, at that time, had no Consul :tt Mogadore, but Mr. O'Sullivan was soon after appointed t<> that office, and held it many years, with credit and with abilities worthy of a better station. The Moors of that part of Barbary take but little interest in commercial affairs, which, in the seaports, are in the hands of foreigners, and in those of the 'Jews in the interior. The native Moors are as averse to degrading themselves by productive labor as our southern planters, or the aborigines of our country. The Jews are there an oppressed and despised race, treated with oblo- quy and contempt, by a people that, like them- selves, has sunk from a higher to a lower state of MOGADOKK. GO civilization and refinement, in which state men lose their best and retain their worst qualities. They are superior in character to their superiors in station and national standing ; for they possess some degreee of commercial enterprise, a quality which will always elevate any people when the government does not restrain and limit it, as in China, and other semi-civilized nations; but on the contrary, encourages it, as the British govern- ment has done, since the commencement of the career of that nation, in civilization and social improvement. Having neither the stimulant of commerce, nor of the necessitv of contending against a wintry climate, for the means of subsis- fence, they are in a state of society, in which their good qualities being such as are generated by indolence, and their evil ones not untimely devel- oped, or intensified by alcoholic drinks, they veg- etate rather than live. For they have no amuse- ments in which females can share, and are there- Fore condemned to live, "in dull repose.'' • : No joy that sparkles and no tear that flows/' This state of society was so intolerable to Capt. Foote, that ho purchased an "Arab Steed," on whose back he could race at full speed over the sands, and thereby soothe his impatience, his horse seeming more intelligent and capable of understanding the feelings of his master better, than the lazy Moors, who lived without excite- 76 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. ment, and could not comprehend how anything but fighting could rouse or need that quality. The measures of our government put an end to this and all other foreign commerce, in the year 1807, and it was never renewed. THE EMBARGO. 7i CM A PTEB V THE KM KAROO. "It cannot be but a matter of doubtful consequence, if States be man- aged by empiric Statesmen, not well mingled wJtli men, well grounded l» leurnins; " — Bacox, In the year 1807, an embargo was laid on all the shipping in the ports and harbors of the Uni- ted States. This measure was not in accordance with the generally received meaning of the term, a mere prohibition of the sailing of our ships for foreign ports, during a limited and specified peri- od of time, but an entirely novel experiment in national policy. It was proclaimed t<> be intend- ed as a measure, both of offense and defense, in relation to the European belligerents, by cutting off all commerce, not only with them, but with the whole world. Their insults, piracies and rob- beries of neutrals on the high seas, and in their own ports, had been so flagrant and outrageous, that our country had become despised and dis- graced bv submitting to them, alter an armed re- sistence to those of France. The party in our country which assumed the name and style of Republican, in lieu of that of anti-fede- ral, consisting of the anti-commercial slave-owners 1'i MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. POOTE. of the south, and the discontented, restless and am- bitious politicians of the North, had succeeded in obtaining the control of the government. Themeas • ures adopted under the administration of Wash- ington and his successor, John Adams, for obtain- ing redress for past wrongs, and security for the future, had furnished a theme for clamor against their policy, under the pretense that it was ruin- ing the nation by extravagance, in building ships of war, and fortifying our harbors. The ill-ad- vised measure of Adams, in raising a land-army, had intensified this idea and carried its ramifica- tions deep into the feelings of all classes, who were, some of them, ashamed, and others mad- dened, by a sight of the parades of soldiers in their towns and villages, without any apparent object or necessity. The :i alien and sedition laws." also, were so wrested, by party zealots, from their true intent, as to give great force to the denunci- ations of the Federal party, by demagogues. The Anti-Federalist party adopted Jefferson as their leader, and succeeded in wresting the reins of o-overnmcnt from" the hands of those who had been the most active and efficient agents in achiev- ing our independence and establishing our system of government. In order to justify the change of men, it was necessary to adopt a change of meas- ures, and under new auspices, to preserve the na- tion from retrograding towards those of the old monarchies of Europe. Jefferson, being consid- ered by his supporters and himself, a philosopher, THE EMBARGO. 73 he thought it proper, in tin* new country, which had established an entirely new system of govern- ment, to introduce a novel and philosophical sys,- teni of statesmanship. This he commenced by removing from office such of the wise and expe- rienced officers in the civil department as he sup- posed might embarrass his system of reform, by their common sense view of measures, and then inaugurating his foreign policy by prohibiting foreign commerce. The course pursued thence- forward, until the country could endure it no longer — it being a course of embargo, gun boats, dry docks, and French philosophy generally — was an exemplification of the dangers — referred to in our first chapter — to our country and to freedom generally, which arise from giving empirical, in- capable statesmen, the control of national affairs, and investing them with the power of controlling the political progress of their country. These measures were not merely ridiculous, but — the embargo specially — more unjust and un- equally oppressive than could have been forseen or feared bv anv of the founders or advocates of our system of government. It, (the embargo,) was a measure which might have been considered as perfectly in character, if adopted by such states- men as those of China, Morocco, Japan, and other nations of similar repute and standing in relation to the knowledge and practice of political science. It was. if characterized bv its influence and cau- ses, a declaration of war against, our own commerce, 7 r4 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. in retaliation for the insults and injuries inflicted upon it by the European belligerents. Compar- ing great things with small, it was like the con- duct of an individual beating and abusing his wife and children at home, to gratify his resent- ment for insults received abroad. Its disastrous influence on the prosperity of our country can scarcely be realized, at the present time. Even the subsequent declaration of war against Great Britain — after a course of measures, of which the tendency was to deprive us of the power of mak- ing offensive war — although equally impolitic, was not quite so silly a measure. It was not so disas- trous in its effects on our country's prosperity, and it gave ns an opportunity of retrieving the repu- tation we had lost, among other nations, by the inappropriate measures of weak, conceited states- men. There was this difference in the inception of the measures, and they exhibit the empiric, and the experienced and sagacious, but weak statesman. Jefferson forced the embargo upon his party, Mad- ison's part}' forced the war upon him, for it was a measure he dreaded, because he possessed sufli- cient political sagacity to understand the danger of making war without being prepared, or count- ing the cost. For he had belonged to that band of profound, wise and experienced statesmen, who conducted the affairs of our revolution, established the constitution of our country, and organized, under it, the system of conducting the various THE EMBARGO. <0 departments of government. Washington, as a leader, had assoeiated with him such patriots as Hamilton, Jay, Eufus King, the Morrises, Pick- ering, the Adamses, and other heroes and sages of the revolution, possessing talents to plan and carry into effect a republican system of govern- ment, upon a federal basis. These men laid the foundations of our government so deep and strong, that although many checks and obstacles have been placed in the way of its progress, they have not been able to arrest its course of prosperity. Xo other attempt to establish a federal republican system of government has succeeded, because no other nation was founded by men, who made the establishment of the Christian religion in its pu- rity — according to their belief — an object para- mount to the acquisition of wealth.* Madison's defect was a weakness of will, which caused him to submit to the dictates of party lead- ers, inferior to himself in talents and experience. Jefferson's defect was that of supposing him- self qualified to become a statesman, for which he was specially disqualified. A permanent embargo as a measure of retalia- tion for national injuries and insults, was an orig- inal idea with him, of which no one has ever dis- puted the merit of the invention, unless, indeed, it may have been borrowed from the course of policy * The Huguenot?, at the South, and the Puritans, were alike governetl by this principle. 76 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. adopted by Japan, some centuries ago. He was a man of amiable manners, and possessed an ex- tensive superficial knowledge of the literature and science of the day. He was qualified to be a philosopher as philosojmers went at that period r and it was particularly unfortunate for the coun- try that he did not possess a juste r appreciation of his own qualifications, as well as the duties of a chief magistrate. Short as has been the period of our history, it furnishes useful lessons in that philosophy which teaches by example, and gives warnings which are seen, acknowledged, and — neglected. Politicians who experience a call to assume the duties and functions of demagogues, are as averse to useful lessons as truant school bovs, and as heed- less of warnings as railroad officials. Thus instruc- tions and warnings are wasted, and the commun- ity pays the price of its neglect of the earliest du- ty of a people under a free government, that, namely, of a rigid investigation of, not merely the reputation, but the characters of those to whom the management of their national affairs is com- mitted, and a judicious selection of agents, best qualified to conduct them; for reputations often ate made or destroyed by interested political par- ti zans. When the embargo was laid and proclaimed to be intended as a permanent institution — perma- nent at least, until it should bring the European belligerents to our feet, humbly to beg for supplies THE EMBARGO. i < i cotton and flour — the commercial cities and states submitted to it for awhile, in moody quiet and silence, apparently stunned by such an unex- pected and sudden destruction of the means of subsistence to thousands of the poorer classes, and of a sudden paralysis of the efforts of the enter- prising and industrious. The impolicy of totally destroying* our commerce ourselves, because for- eign nations were trying to destroy certain por- tions of it, was very manifest to the immediate sufferers; but those whose experience of its effects was more remote, had not that realizing sense of its tendency, not merely to impoverish, but to de- moralize the citizens, which was requisite to unite them in adopting the means of obtaining relief by transferring the government to wiser men. There was, however, among them, so large a portion of believers in the doctrines of freedom, which, since the establishment of our independ- ence, had been constant themes of writers and ora- tors, that freedom of speech, in relation to a meas- ure so oppressive, was freely indulged, and freedom of action was so ardently desired as to excite the proverbial inventive faculty of the universal Yan- kee nation. The law establishing the embargo was considered impolitic, unequally oppressive, and its character as a permanent institution un- constitutional. Submission to an oppressive act of tyranny, adopted for the purpose of enabling a weak minded ruler to make a foolish experiment, was not considered a patriotic duty. A belief in 7* 78 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. the maxim, that "the king can do no wrong," even when the king is a party leader, with the title of President, was not so general as in the contrary maxim, that "resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."' The contest between the two parties which resulted in the election of Jefferson to the presidency, was so severe and bitter, that the victors bestowed — as usual in such cases — un- limited power on their leader, and received his commands with unhesitating obedience, and thus he was enabled to make those experiments which demonstrated his Avant of the qualifications of a statesman. Resistance, by force, to an oppressive party meas- ure, however, was not, although advocated by many of the discontented, seriously thought of, since a civil war, whatever the result, would be the greatest of all evils, however justifiable it might be consid- ered under intolerable oppressions. The system of misrule, through party tyranny, under which they were suffering, arose, in part, as was sup- posed, from the jealousy of the southern nabobs — the negro-slave aristocracy — of what they styled, u the cod-fish aristocracy." It was excited by seeing that prosperous commerce would enable some northern merchants to dash as extravagantly, and spend money as foolishly, as those planters who could exercise lordship over gangs of negro slaves, and who exhibited their love of liberty by taking it from as many of tbe African race as they could get in their power. The idea of the THE EMBARGO. 79 savages, that they could inherit all the desirable qualities of every enemy they killed, appeared to be modified by them into a belief that their own freedom was increased bv taking it from others. The southern aristocracy who then, as now. constituted the leaders of the Democratic party, understood the character of negro slaves better than that of Yankee freemen — the former having necessarily claimed much of their attention, while the latter were considered unworthy of it, because obliged to labor for themselves. Yankee contrivances have long been proverbial ; their situation from the time of the first settlement of their countrvhaving required a frequent exercise of the talent of invention, to supply wants originat- ing in an old and highly civilized country, which, in a new and savage region, could not easily be gratified. Under the pressure of the embargo, re- garding it as they did in the light of a tyrannical and ruinous measure, they exercised their inven- tive faculties in contriving methods of evasion. The transfer of cotton across the southern fron- tier, to Amelia Island, and shipping it in British vessels, and of various articles from Passama- quoddy, and across the lake, were among the ear- liest operations for nullifying the embargo law; subsequently it was found practicable to obtain the connivance of government officers for open violations of it. Soon after its effects began to be felt, Foote had been commissioned by two merchants in Xew 80 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. York, to conduct some mercantile operations abroad, and sailed in the Echo, Capt. Bates, for Europe. His business was commenced at Liver- pool, and gave promise of prosperous results. But the arrival there of the ships, which, through the connivance of custom house officers, had eva- ded the embargo, reduced the profits ot his specu- lations to a moderate percentage, after having given promise of a very great profit. These ships, fitted out by G. M. AYoolsey, and other New York merchants, produced effects beyond the calculations or intentions of the owners, on the permanence of the embargo, as well as of the price of cotton. In England it gave new proof of the weakness of the government of the United States, and caused their new invented plan of making war to be regarded as a burlesque. And it was the more disgraceful from complicity of government officers, some of whom were changed in consequence, and were succeeded by others still more corrupt. • It was treated with ridicule in the British parliament, when it was proposed to abandon it. upon condition of the abandonment of some of their high-handed, ar- bitrary proceedings on the high seas, such as im- pressment of seamen, paper blockades, etc., au- thorizing acts of piracy, and subjecting neutrals to intolerable insults. By our own government it was felt that the embargo war was undergoing a disgraceful defeat, and that some new course must be adopted. Non -intercourse and non-im- THE EMBARGO. 81 portation substitutes were tried, and failed sig- nally and disgracefully. After the termination of Foote's commercial op- erations at Liverpool, he went to the West Indies for the purpose of transacting some business there, which yielded some small profits, and gave him an opportunity of visiting nearly all the islands, and. acquiring much knowledge, which was after- wards of practical usefulness. Tpon the repeal of the embargo law, he re- turned to New York and resumed his business there. Appendix No. 2. 82 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. CHAPTER VI THE WAR. " So war untired, his crimson pinions spread." — IIeber. " Whence come wars and fightings?" The Jeffersonian experiment of making war upon the commerce of our own country, as a sub- stitute for the old fashioned modes of attacking its enemies, having been fully tested and found wanting, some new experiment in statesmanship was thought necessary. The first trial was made by the non-intercourse and non-importation law, prohibiting the introduction of British goods into the United States, substituting thereby as ene- mies, the English manufacturers for the American merchants. This was a mark of improvement in knowledge acquired by our statesmen, who had begun to discover what would have been the re- sult of the embargo experiment, if it could have been carried into effect in conformity with its in- tent and meaning. It might, in such case, have rendered us as independent of foreign powers as was a governor of Mogadore. who, when a Brit- ish admiral threatened to batter down his town. if a certain demand on him was not complied THE WAR. 33 with, returned for answer, that if the admiral would pay him half the amount of the cost of bat- tering down the town, he would order it pulled down himself Mr. Jefferson, the inventor of cheap substitutes. had retired to private life, and those upon whom he left his mantle, had begun to feel restive from ob- serving that his measures rendered us ridiculous and contemptible. The non-intercourse law, if it had been tried before the embargo, might have produced some effect, but all the measures of the Jeffersonian democratic party had been so much more calculated to sink, than to raise, the reputa- tion of our country, that they began to feel that the old-fashioned method of settling disputes be- tween nations, "by trying which could do the other the most harm," could not be made effective by embargoes, non-intercourse, and gun-boats, but required a return to the old fashioned system of opposing our enemies with force and arms, on a na- tional scale. After long and wearisome debates it was finally determined that nothing remained but to rush headlong into a war, for which, instead of making due preparations, the Jeffersonian party, from the time they got into power, had been en- gaged in destroying the preparations made by their predecessors. This return to first principles, in national affair- included the laying of a temporary embargo, in order to allow vessels abroad to return, and es- cape capture before the war, and thereby save 84 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. them from being- exposed to the hazards of war, without being aware of them. When Avar should be proclaimed, every one would be, in such a case. at libertv to judge for himself of the risk he mi^ht. encounter, and be governed thereby, according to his own discretion. The intention of the dominant party to lay an embargo, was communicated to J. P. Foote. by a friend of his in that party, but it was not stated that it was to be a preparation for war measures. The idea, that our government would declare war against Great Britain, after so long a period in which its policy had been chiefly directed to des- troying the means of carrying on a war, was too monstrous an absurdity to be considered a suppos- able case. For besides the reduction of our na- vy, the means of procuring ; 'the sinews of war," had been among the destructive operations of the party in power. They had destroyed the Bank of the United States, which, as a financial agent, was absolutely necessary, as the war of the Rev- olution had taught them, and they had insulted, and abused, and alienated most of that class of men from whom they could expect to obtain loans on the most favorable terms, so that they were obliged to submit to new humiliations in their efforts to procure pecuniary aid. The brothers, on receiving information of the intended embargo, were fitting out the ship Pas- senger, which they had purchased for the Cadiz and Mogadore trade, and supposing that our gov- THE WAR. 85 crnment was returning — like the sow to her wal- lowing in the mire — to the Jeffersonian system of making war, not on our enemies but on our com- merce, labored night and day for several days and nights, abandoning the Mogadore department of the adventure, to get her safely beyond the reach of custom-house officers and revenue cutters, in which they — unfortunately, as the event proved — succeeded. The Berlin and Milan decrees of Buonaparte, which denationalized and rendered liable to cap- ture and condemnation, any American vessels which should be found on the high seas, going to or from any British port, and the British "Orders in Council," prohibiting all trade by neutrals with France or her dependencies, professedly in retali- ation for these decrees ; the impressment of our seamen and the capture of the Chesapeake, fur- nished sufficient ground for a war with Great Bri- tain. By these outrages both nations were dis- graced : the one by the piratical insults which they inflicted, the other by their tardy, weak and in- efficient measures adopted to check and obtain re- dress for them. The measures inaugurated by the Democratic party had proved so inefficient, and displayed such a deficiency of talents and of knowledge of their duties, in our statesmen, that the reputation of our country sunk so low in the estimation of the European belligerents, that they did not seem to think it necessary to keep 8 86 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. up the ordinary appearances of respect for us, or for the laws of nations. How much they were mistaken, in supposing that the character of the American rulers was that of the American people, they had opportuni- ties of discovering thereafter. Thus far all their insults and indignities had been met by no other measures, on our part, but such as weakened our- selves and rendered us less capable of retaliation or resistance by force. It was, therefore, a very natural supposition, that the party in power had adopted the policy of submission to insults from stronger powers, and consoled themselves by heap- ing insults on those over whom they had obtained the victory; on those, namely, who had achieved our independence, including Washington and all his officers, with two or three exceptions. Governed by such suppositions, the owners of the Passenger dispatched her for Cadiz, with a a view of keeping her in the Mediteranean and North of Europe trade, as long as the measures of our government should deprive our ships of the power of leaving our own harbors. She was insured to Cadiz, from whence intelligence was to bo sent in relation to her future course, and new insurance was to bo effected in conformity there- with. The Passenger arrived at Cadiz during the siege of that city, by the French troops, under Marshal Victor. The greatest part of the 'Penin- sula had been subdued, and the patriot Junto, THE WAR. 87 with all the government officers of their party, had taken refuge in the only city that was able to withstand the power of the French armies. In a letter from Capt. Foote, announcing his arrival, he says, "The French are in possession of the op- posite side of the bay, and are constantly throwing bombs and shells into the town, which, passing over our own heads, have a very fine effect, partic- ularly in the night, when the arch of fire which they form appears to great advantage. The bat- teries on shore, and the bomb ships generally, an- swer shot for shot. We do not, however, appre- hend any danger to the shipping; nor, indeed, does the town receive much damage, as only about five shots out of a hundred take effect, and as long as the Spaniards are assisted in defending the place by the British, there is no fear of the French being able to get possession of it." Great distress and misery was suffered in the city, dur- ing the siege, increased by the numerous fugi- tives from the places which were exposed to the cruelties of the French soldiery. These were so great, that they would justify the supposition, put by Dr. Franklin in the mouth of an inhabitant of another planet, that this earth was inhabited, not by men, but devils. But the distress which these fugitives were obliged to suffer, in their state of destitution, at Cadiz, were not so much dreaded as the atrocities committed bv the French armies. These cruelties resembled those inflicted more than two centuries previously on the wretched 88 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. EOOTE. inhabitants of Flanders, by the Duke of Alva, and the other commanders of the Spanish armies, sent out by the bloody tyrant, Philip II, to bring heretics to acknowledge a belief in the Christian doctrines of love, forgiveness and universal char- ity, as taught by the doctors of the holy inquisi- tion. The accounts of the cruelties which Capt* Foote heard at this time, he considered as much exaggerated, not thinking it possible that such outrages could be committed in the nineteenth century by the inhabitants of any civilized na- tion; but their truth was confirmed to him seve- ral years afterwards, by some French officers, who gave details of deeds which they saw, and in which they participated, that, like the crimes charged by Burke on Warren Hastings, might have been characterized as "cruelties unheard of, nad crimes without a name." The state of affairs at Cadiz checked all com- mercial operations, and intelligence of the repeal of the British "Orders in Council" having been received, while the Passenger w T as in that port, it was judged best to change her destination, and return with her to New York. The expecta- tion that an adjustment of all matters in contro- versy between the two nations, would follow this repeal, gave reason to expect a renewal of Amer- ican commerce, to an extent that would give our merchant ships better business there than they could find elsewhere. The measure of repeal was undoubtedly intended to be introductory to the ter- THE WAR. 89 ruination of the commercial hostilities between England and the United States, but it was too late. The change of destination of the ship being de- termined, Capt. Foote wrote to his brother, giving the necessary advice for effecting insurance : the letters however were never received, the vessel by which they were sent having probably been cap- tured. The Passenger sailed from Cadiz, and had a fa- vorable time until near the banks of Newfound- land, when she met with the British frigate Bel- videre, commanded by Capt. Byron, whom Capt. Foote had met with on a former voyage, and who sent for him to come on board the frigate, and in- vited him to dine — treating him with marked po- liteness and hospitality. The invitation was ac- cepted, and they passed some time at table very pleasant!}', with good wine, agreeable chit-chat, and all the -'delicacies of the season" that could be obtained at sea. When it was time to break up the party, Capt. Foote being about to return to his ship, expressed his gratification at the repeal of the " Orders in Council," adding that all matters in dispute be- tween the two countries would doubtless now be settled, and friendly feelings restored. "Why, yes," said Capt. Byron, "your country has taken measures to settle them all by a declaration of war." Then calling to a subordinate officer, he said, " Go and set fire to that ship." This order 8* 90 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. seemed so little like the restoration of friendly feelings, that Foote was astounded and looked in Byron's faee with a doubtful feeling, hoping that it might be a joke, or some unintelligible mystifi- cation; but being assured that it was serious earn- est, he begged permission to go on board his ship, and bring off his baggage, which request was very politely granted. On going aboard, he found his cabin looking, as he said, as if a carpenter's gang had been at work cutting up the lockers, and tear- ing the wood-work apart to search for hidden treasures, some of which they had found, and dol- lars were rolling about the cabin floor. He was able, by the aid of the officer who attended him, to save about two hundred of them, which Capt. Byron allowed him to keep, and which served to pay his expenses, and make some necessary provisions for his men, while a prisoner at Halifax, a station which he soon after occupied. After the sailors had cut as many trousers patterns out of the sails as they wanted, and taken whatever else was portable and desira- ble, they set fire to the shij), and as it was a calm day, she drifted towards the frigate, threat- ening her with a fate like her own. This, how- ever, there was men enough on board the fri- gate to prevent. Foote stood on the deck, feel- ing a grim satisfaction in the danger as it in- creased, thinking that he would be willing to risk his life in his boat, for the gratification of seeing his wrongs avenged, by a ten-fold retaliation. THE WAR. 91 This, however, was but a transient, involuntary feeling, for ho knew that Capt. Byron's instruc- tions were to burn, sink, and destroy enemies ships when he did not send them into port for condemnation, and that he was willing to show any kindness consistent with such duties. Foote always bore testimony to the polite and gentle- manly demeanor of the English naval officers, in their intercourse with him, with the exception of the captain of the La Hogue, who supposed him to be a Spaniard, and treated him with the haughty disdain which the British were too apt to bestow on their Peninsular allies, and which disgusted the Spanish people so deeply that they seemed to be considered by them as enemies rather than allies. Of Commodore Hardy, who commanded the squadron on the American Station. Capt. Foote. as well as every other prisoner under his control, spoke most favorably. His kindness and forbear- ance towards all his American prisoners, was so universal, that he became quite popular with his enemies as well as his friends. Of the British colonists, with whom he was compelled to associate, he did not speak, by any means, as favorably, for they annoyed him exces- sively, by their braggadocio insolence, and when, after his return to New York, he heard of the cap- ture of the Guerriere by Capt Hull, in the Con- stitution, he said that he would have been willing to have remained a prisoner, in Halifax, six months longer, for the gratification of seeing how 02 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. the news would he received by some of his ac- quaintances there, who had annoyed him by their boasts of the invincible prowess of the British navy, and wishing that one of their sloops of war could have an opportunity of displaying it by be- ing matched with an American frigate. The cap- tain of the Guerriere had, a short time previous to her capture, endorsed on the register of a - small vessel which he allowed to go into port, a chal- lenge to any one of the "largest American frigates, 1 ' to meet him on the ocean. This register was pre- sented to Capt. Hull, (it was shown to Capt. Foote.) and is probably still preserved, being in the posses- sion of the late Eev. Dr. Jarvis, his brother-in-law. After a due course of imprisonment, Foote was exchanged, and returned to New York, where his brother had several vessels laid up, but not in quite so hopeless and discouraging a condition as during the embargo, the enmity of Great Britain, not being as heavy an evil as that of our own gov- ernment towards our commerce. Tho brothers determined not to lie idle during the war, but to risk further loss instead ; for the decay, cost of ship keeping, wharfage, etc., would be as ruinous as capture. They, therefore, loaded one of the vessels, of which Capt. Foote took the command, and by avoiding the usual routes, which his accu- rate knowledge enabled him to do, arrived safely at St. Jago de Cuba, where his cargo was sold, the proceeds invested in sugar and coffee, and shipped on board a Spanish vessel, in which he returned THE WAR. !)3 to New York. He loaded the same veasel and re- turned to St. Jago, from whence she Avas dis- patched, with another cargo, but was never heard of afterwards. Foote remained at St. Jago, in or- der to transact the business of several vessels, consigned to him there. Of two fast sailing ves- sels sent to him by his brother, for their joint ac- count, one went and returned safe, the other was captured. He was making arrangements with some Spanish merchants for extensive commercial operations, when the news was received by them that the British Government had declared the whole coast of the United States, from Passama- quoddy to New Orleans, in a state of blockade. This was, manifestly, only a paper blockade, as it was impossible to make it a real one, with all the British naval force that could be sent to the Amer- ican coast; and if there had been any court in ex- istence competent to enforce the Laws of Nations, captures of neutrals, under such a decree, would have been declared piracy; but the laws of na- tions, like those of the Christian religion, have only served, in most cases, but as maxims, conve- nient to be quoted, when they assist one party to oppose the proceedings of the other. This blockade, however, such as it was, defeated Foote's plans, as the Spanish merchants would not risk their property under such hazards as it caused. He, therefore, determined to return to New York, and took passage in an apparently Spanish brig, bound for some port from which a 94 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. passage might be easily obtained to the United States. The captain at first declined taking him, as the danger of capture and condemnation, in case of being visited by a British cruiser, would be increased by having an American passenger on board. Foote assured him that no danger should be incurred in such case, by his presence, for he would not speak a word of English, nor would he take with him a line of English manuscript. He, however, warned him, that he had neglected many other precautions, of more importance, which was soon proved to be the case, for the brig was cap- tured by the La Hogue 74, to which ship tho crew and passengers were transferred, and the brig sent to Bermuda for condemnation. The character of the captain of the La Hogue was in strong contrast with that of Byron, and still more so with that of Hardy, he being a drunkard, and coarse and brutal in his manners. Foote messed with the other Spanish prisoners, and described their rations as consisting of choc- olate for breakfast and pea sou]) for dinner, their qualities being such that "you could not tell which was the chocolate and which the pea soup, except by the time of day." As the officers and sailors of the ship did not seem to think it necessarv to restrict themselves to the use of gentlemanly language in regard to their prisoners, who did not understand English, they were in the habit of using such complimentary remarks, seasoned with those hard words which THE WAR. 95 are customary, and considered as appropriate among troopers and sailors, as would have tempted the Spaniards, if they had understood them, to use their knives for some other purpose than that of carving their meat. Foote was strongly tempt- ed to resent in favor of his Spanish friends, some of the remarks on their nation, which required some self-control to restrain, but which his agree- ment with the captain of the brig precluded him from appearing to understand. This state of du- rance, however, did not last long, they were all sent on shore, and he returned to New York. On his arrival, he found that his brother had, during his absence, in connection with some other merchants, purchased a prize vessel, one of the Guernsey cutters, as they are called ; vessels of such peculiar rig that they are known at sight by all the British sailors, and on that account consid- ered more safe in running the gauntlet of British cruisers, than a vessel of any other class. This vessel was sent to Charleston for a car^o of cot- ton, and although that port w r as really blockaded, she went in safely, took on board her cargo, sailed for France, and arrived at Quimper, where she took on board a cargo of French goods, and re- turned in safety. Being equipped with letters of marque and reprisal, she took two or three small British vessels from the West Indies, and went in with them to Newbern, North Carolina, where the whole adventure was sold. Capt. Foote (his brother being ship's husband.) was dispatched to 96 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. ISTewbern, to transact the business : and at the present day it is difficult to conceive the possi- bility of such a state of things, in relation to the intercourse of different parts of our country with each other, at that time. The coasting trade was of course destroyed, and the roads were in such a condition, that transportation by land was so enormously expensive, that no merchandize could afford the charges incurred thereby. All the banks south of JSTew England had failed, and no bills of exchange could be obtained in any of the southern cities, on Philadelphia or ISTew York. Under these circumstances, it was, of course, a dif- ficult matter, after all the sales had been effected, to transmit the proceeds. The best plan that could be adopted for this purpose, was" to obtain bills of the banks of the city of Washington, for which a considerable advance was paid, and it was sup- posed that by paying another large advance, New York bank bills might be there obtained. On his arrival at Washington, Foote found that city in the possession of the British army, under Gen. Eoss, and Admiral Cochrane, who had been amusing themselves by making bonfires of the Capitol and the President's house — a display of Vandalism which disgraced the British with all civilized nations. But this, disgraceful as it was, was not so really infamous as the employment of their savage allies, in their armies in Canada, and saying that they could not prevent them from torturing and murdering their prisoners. THE WAR. 97 All our government officers, and with them all the officers of the banks, had fled — most of them to Frederick, in Maryland — the President to his seat at Montpelier, Virginia, and others of less note, to different places in the interior. The Brit- ish army had returned to the ships, and while waiting for the return of the fugitives, Foote took up his residence at Crawford's, in Georgetown, at that time the principal hotel in the district. He had remained there two or three days, when he attracted the notice of a gentleman — an old bach- elor — of the Virginia F. F. V's, a brother of one of the original proprietors of the District — whose only vocation was gossipry, and the exercise of a philanthropic watchfulness over the conduct and demeanor of its inhabitants, not only those of our public servants, living there in official dignity, but also those in the humble walks of private life. His object was — like that of Columbus — to make important discoveries, for the benefit of his coun- try and mankind. His success was exemplified in his researches respecting the affairs of Capt. Foote, of wdiich the following is "a full and true account." He one day came to Crawford's, and in- quired of him, "Do you know that man who is walking along yonder?'' "I do not recollect his name,"' said Crawford, "but you may see it on the register." "Well,*' said the other, "I know him ; he is Admiral Cochrane, and he has come here again in disguise, with other spies, to see 9 98 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. what further mischief they can do.'" "Pooh,"' said Crawford," I have seen Admiral Cochrane, and know that that man is not him. "What has put such a notion into your head?" ""Why," said the other, "he always looks very grave, talks to no- body, spends all his time, when in the house, in writing, and when out of it, in thinking," adding some other circumstances of equal importance, and verifying his suspicions by the important in- quiry, "If he is not Admiral Cochrane, who can he be?" Crawford's testimony, however, was not satisfactory to so profound an investigator of the historical details of public and private events, their causes and consequences. He, evidently, thought that as the necessary precautions for guarding the city had been neglected, previous to its capture, a double quantity of unnecessary ones adopted after it, would be the proper remedy for the misfortune. It was curious to see and hear the great num- ber of profound tacticians, whose talents were called forth — into conversation — on this occasion, and the variety of their plans. They agreed, however, in but one point, which was, that if the enemy had been beaten at Bladensburgh, instead of our army, the city would not have been cap- tured — if the British had been driven to their ships, our government would not have been driven to Frederick. It was, undoubtedly, a great consolation to these men, to be able to find a safety valve for THE WAR. 99 their patriotic feelings, in cursing both parties ; the British for their Vandalism, and our defenders for their incapacity and cowardice. The gentle- man in question, however, who had taken up the subject of spying out the British spies, was not satisfied, like the others, with a due exercise of the il cacoethes loquendi" but was, besides, active and efficient; for he harangued and wrought up- on so many minds of a similar calibre to his own, that it was determined by them, in council, that something must be done. In order to determine what that something should be, they appointed a committee of two, to examine the room of the dreaded spy, in his absence, and make the neces- sary discoveries to authorize their taking him in- to custody. This committee — who may perhaps have been of the number of those brave men who, with "victory or death" inscribed in letters of gold on their caps, threw down their guns and fled as soon as they were near enough to the Brit- ish soldiers to see that they had not discretion enough to throw down their guns and flee — went to the room designated, and finding the door ajar, peeped in, and seeing the dreaded enemy at his writing, with a sword and pair of pistols lying be- fore him, concluded that it would be best to pro- ceed no further, in a matter which assumed an as- pect so threatening. They, evidently, thought it best, not "to fight and run away," but to run away, without fighting — as the "victory or death," vol- unteers had done — proving that to be the surest 100 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. method of being enabled to live another day. Their recommendation to proceed no further, in so dangerous an undertaking, was adopted, and the committee discharged. A German, however, who occupied a room ad- joining that of Foote, was not so easily satisfied. He thought that this singular stranger must be, if not a spy, a Mephistopheles, or at least, one of the various species of wizards manufactured in Germany, and sent abroad in their modern litera- ture. He might not only set the city on fire, but the Potomac also, and not only carry off the offi- cers that had already ran away, but all that they had left behind. What could be done in the mat- ter, was the puzzling question with him ; for it was too dangerous to meddle with a potent en- chanter, and still more dangerous to allow him to go on weaving his accursed spells and enchant- ments for some future awful catastrophe. How- ever, before that point was settled, the govern- ment returned from its travels into the interior, and resumed their protective functions. Having fully protected that portion of the coun- try that was in no danger, they could rely on their experience in that department of their duties to claim the entire confidence of the citizens of the District. The bank officials returned with those of the government, and with them a brother of the suspicious character, together with a brother of the author of the suspicions, a president of one of the banks on which were his demands. He THE WAR. 101 had left New York at about the time of the land- ing of the British forces, and was proceeding to Washington in the mail stage, and when near the city, was met by a messenger who gave the infor- mation that the battle of Bladensburgh had been fought, and that the enemy had marched into the city, and was then enjoying the amusement of burning the public buildings, and destroying what- ever they pleased, and that the government was taking a - jaunt into the country. As all the pas- sengers had some business to transact with the fu- gitives, it was determined to be necessary to tread in the footsteps of the guardians of their country's honor and glory — if they could be found — and they therefore directed their course to Frederick. At this place, all the highest dignitaries of the country, except the President, were assembled, and seemed to be in a situation very undignified, and looking as if Oliver Cromwell's speech to the Jong parliament had been addressed to them, and they felt they had deserved it, viz : " Get ye gone, ye rascals, and give place to honest men." Their de- liberations, during their visit to Frederick, did not appear to be more effective than their warlike ope- rations for the defense of the capitol, and after a few days delay, intelligence being received, that the enemy had evacuated the city, they all re- turned, except Gen. Armstrong, the Secretary of War, w T hose conduct had been so outrageously in- consistent with his duties, that accusations of treachery, cow-ardiee and treason, were in the *6 102 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. mouths of all the inhabitants of the District, and it would have been unsafe for him to have been seen there, where stories of his misconduct were being continually repeated and generally believed. It is probable, however, that many of them were inventions, yet some circumstances of his life — such as the Newburgh letters at the close of the revolutionary war, and his treatment of the claims of his countrymen for French spoliations, while he was minister to France, were such as to seem to justify the suspicion, that he was capable of any act of treachery to which he might be tenrpt- ed. He was another instance of the folly of put- ting into office men who do not possess the quali- fications of ability and integrity. Of the former, he was possessed, but without the latter, was only thereby more disqualified for office. The most valuable qualifications for a states- man and a man of business, after those above named, are, to know, in any emergency, what is best to be done, and to possess the necessary ener- gy and determination for its accomplishment. These qualifications were instructively exempli- fied by Washington as a statesman, and the sub- ject of this memoir as a man of business. Thus far the progress of the war had been strictly in accordance with such expectations as those of its opponents, and as would naturally be experienced by any sagacious mind, looking at the time and manner of its commencement, the characters of the men who governed, and the THE WAR. 103 agents to whom they committed its management. The redemption of our country from its disgraces on land, where all the glory of the war had been anticipated by its partizans, had been begun on the ocean, all power on which they had proposed to give up without a struggle. The brave men who began and continued to raise up our country's fame from the deep degra- dation into which it had been sunk by incompe- tent statesmen, had by them been treated so con- temptuously, merely because they were Federal- ists, that when they were permitted to go forth upon the ocean, they were smarting with the wounds on their reputation, and were prepared to sacrifice their lives, if necessary, but never to add a new sacrifice of their country's honor. The time for the restoration of our reputation on land had not vet arrived. The Harrisons, Jacksons, Scotts, and other brave and skillful gen- erals, had not yet obtained the opportunity of re- deeming our fame on land. After making the best arrangement of their bus- iness affairs in their power, the brothers returned to New York, and in passing through Bladens- burgh, stopped long enough to obtain some idea of the price paid for the glories of war. Although the battle at that place had been a mere minia- ture representation of a battle, in comparison with those of that period in Europe, through which the minds of men had been so long famil- iarized to the slaughter of tens of thousands on 104 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. one field, yet a sight of its effects on so small a scale even, was sufficient to make any one with human feelings, "Hang his head for shame, and blush to think himself a man." The wounded were lying in a large barrack, "on their pallets of straw, "' where with groans and cries of distress, they were begging the sur- geons for that relief from pain which it was not in their power to give. The smell from the bat- tle field gave evidence that the dead had been carelessly buried, and the vultures and buzzards scented the field from afar, and were hovering around. Amputations were still called for, which, in the situation of the patients in the hot sum- mer weather, seemed often to give only the relief of death, which in most cases appeared to be a welcome messenger. They left this scene with feelings of deep distress, from the sight of suffering which they could not relieve — with feelings of shame and mortification for the disgrace of their country, and of resent- ment towards an enemy capable of inflicting wan- ton injuries on peaceful citizens, from whose en- mity they had nothing to fear, and from whose distresses they had nothing to hope. The wan- ton outrages committed by an army sent over from a Christian nation, professing to be governed by the laws of civilized warfare, against a Chris- tian and kindred nation, were a mark of back- ward progress towards the ages of barbarism, which THE WAR. 105 it is to be hoped, have been repented of, and will never be repeated by the armies of Great Britain. For France, after decreeing that Death is an eternal sleep, and there is no God but nature, it was in character to overrun Europe with her ar- mies, and commit the atrocities and horrors to which such principles lead- — to rob and murder innocent victims, and spread desolation over the most fertile fields of the earth — for such a people such a course might be consistent with the system of ethics adopted by them when they discarded the doctrines of Christianity. It was perfectly in character for that nation, after having abolished all worship but that of glory, to deify Napoleon, who bestowed so much of it upon them — (for men, when they abandon the worship of God will al- ways make to themselves idols, first of flesh and blood, and afterwards of baser materials.) But for Great Britain — a nation containing a large proportion of Christian inhabitants, and profes- sing to be governed by Christain principles — for Great Britain, which had so long held up the anti- Christian example of France as a warning to her people — for this nation to follow that example, in sending armies abroad, to commit ravages, which all Christian nations denounce — (and imitate when they consider it good policy) — and set an exam- ple in the deification of Nelson, of idolatry as gross as that imitated by her enemy, in the case of Napoleon — were inconsistencies too glaring to be justified by any nation professing Christianity. 106 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. And yet they were, although condemned in words, justified in acts, by the United States, in the invasion of Mexico, under a pretext so flimsy that it would have been more creditable to have said : li We want a portion of your territory, and we are the strongest and will take it." And it would have been an exhibition of frankness — such as civilized nations never exhibit — to have added: "We want opportunities for our political aspir- ants to distinguish themselves as warriors, and our nearest neighbor is weak enough to afford us such opportunity, without much risk, which we must improve/' Our armies, however, never committed any such acts of Yandalism as the burning of public buildings, dedicated solely to civil uses, nor com- mitted any acts of wanton cruelty, and we are confident that none of the officers uDder Taylor, Harrison, Scott, or any other of our Generals, were ever guilty of that extreme of meanness exhibited by Ross or his subordinates, who dismantled the office of the National Intelligencer, and threw its types into the gutter.* As this journal from the period of its establishment to that time, (and down to the present,) had been remarkable for the courtesy and gentlemanly demeanor of its conduc- tors, both editorially and personally, towards its opponents, (qualities very rare in public journals *The writer picked up some of these types and preserved them for some time as specimens of modern modes of warfare. THE WAR. 107 at that period,) if singled out by the enemy, it should have been for the purpose of showing res- pect for those qualities, instead of contempt and disregard for them. That doctrine of devils, which teaches that a defensive war may be made by sending armies to overrun and conquer a neighboring territory, to devastate the towns and fields of individuals en- gaged in peaceful pursuits — in such pursuits as are necessary to the existence of the very armies themselves — has not yet been superceded by Chris- tian ethics. Let us hope, however, that the time ma}' come, when Christianity shall be a governing principle for nations and individuals, instead of a mere theme of discussion for polemics, and a political stalking-horse for governments. 108 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. CHAPTEE VII PEACE. " Hail sacred peace.'' — Dwigiit. " Wine is as good as life to a man if it be drank moderately." * Son of Sibach. " Como el gran, Sancho Panzatomo possession dc su insula." Don Quixotte. On the return of j)eace Foote was in North Carolina, where he had in former visits, formed some friendships, which he cherished with char- acteristic warmth, and which were cordially re- ciprocated by the genial, kind-hearted friends re- siding there. One of these friends, Wilson Saw- yer, was an eminent merchant, in Elizabeth City, whose. commercial operations had been successful, and therefore very naturally excited a willingness to extend them. With this gentleman his friendly relations were very intimate, and each was alike enterprising and sagaciously observant of every circumstance in which their efforts for public or private advantage could be exerted with a pros- pect of beneficial results. *And as bad as death to him if it be drank immoderately. peace. Km The deficiency of enterprise and industry in the natives of that region, was so apparent as to be one of the first subjects of remark, not only in relation to commercial, but to agricultural opera- tions. To aid in remedying this defect, the two friends proposed to become benefactors of that portion of their country, in both of these depart- ments. The commerce of all that part of North Caro- lina, bounding on the Pamlico and Albermarle sounds, (the latter especially,) and the rivers which flow into them, has been rendered difficult and dangerous, by the closing of the inlet through which the ships of Sir Water Raleigh entered without any obstruction. This inlet was north of Roanoke island, opening directly into Albermarle sound. Its obliteration by the loose, shifting- sands which constitute the sea-coast for a great distance towards the south, compels all vessels bound to the north-eastern ports of North Caro- lina to go round the dangerous Cape Hatteras. and enter the sounds by way of Ocracock inlet, a distance of some hundreds of miles out of their way in going and returning; requiring northerly winds to reach the inlet and southerly winds as soon as they pass it; not only causing delays and hazards, but much expense of lighterage, all of which might be avoided if Eoanoke inlet could be again opened. The two friends projected the improvement of this extensive coast navigation, bv a restoration 10 110 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. of the original channel through which .Raleigh's ships entered, and by diking the other small in- lets, to keep this one open continually. This undertaking being successfully accomplished, it was to be a matter of course, that a commercial city would be established near the northern point of Eoanoke Island. The idea probably was not original with them, but they supposed the plan to be perfectly feasible, and its advantages so mani- fest, and the results capable of being made so pro- fitable, that it ought to attract the capital and enterprizc necessary to its complete success. With this improvement these sounds would be (in some measure) to North Carolina what the Chesapeake is to Virginia, and it ought to have been carried into effect at a much earlier period. The enterprize of that region, however, — small in amount at any time — was at that period so strong- ly attracted towards making new settlements in Tennessee and Alabama, then newly opened to emigrants, that not enough of it remained behind to carry into effect any undertaking of import- ance. Much talk, and some newspaper para- graphs were expended on the subject, but very little or nothing else. The agricultural plan for the improvement of the country, was the extension over it of the cul- tivation of the Eoanoke Island vines, from which the natives were in the habit of making a wine, which they spoiled, by mixing with it whisky or peach-brandy, to check the fermentation which PEACE. Ill the heat of the climate rendered so rapid, that the real merits of the wine could not be developed. In that sandy region, which can not be cultivated to any profit with the usual products of agricul- ture, vines grow luxuriantly; and in that State there is found a greater variety of wild grapes, and those of better quality, than in any of the other Atlantic States. The Eoanoke vines are a strong exemplification of the influence of soil and site, upon their vinous products; such as is remarked and unexplained in the wine making districts of Europe. The in- habitants of the low country say that the trans - planting of their vines to a distance even of fifty miles into the interior, changes their character entirely. If cellars cool enough to cause the fermentation of the must to go on as gradually as is requisite for developing and preserving the true character of the wine, could be constructed, the product, doubtless, would be greatly improved. Foote had made many observations in the wine countries he had visited, respecting the methods of making, preserving and improving their wines, and sup- posed that some of the methods which he had ob- served might be applied to wine making in North Carolina, and that the introduction into that part of the State of this new branch of industry, would be of inestimable advantage there, and might en- courage some of the listless idlers, which abound in those regions, to attempt the employment of 112 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. their time in more profitable pursuits than drink- ing whisky as a prophylactic to fever and ague, or lounging about, and "for want of thought" weakening their mental and bodily faculties to- gether. Sawyer and Foote made a purchase, for joint account, of a piece of ground on Roanoke Island, with a view of making the experiments projected for an improved system of cultivation of the vine. It was planted with vines; and the European methods of cultivation commenced. But for the success of wine growing in the United States it was necessary that the patient perseverance and ex- haustless capital of a Longworth should be devoted to it — that a Buchanan should collect and publish maxims for cultivation of the vines, and making the wine — that a Rehfuss, a Werk, a Mosher, a Yeatman, a Mottier, a Bogen, and others, should, some of them, bring to the aid of cultivators Euro- pean experience, and others, the intelligent Yankee style of observation necessary to adapt it to our climate. This combination of advantages which has given to Cincinnati a fame for her wines, which promises to be as extensive as that which she has obtained for her pork, was wanting to North Carolina, whose sterile sands contrast as strongly with our fertile Miami vallies, as her lazy "poor white men*' with the industrious, unweary- ing, cultivators of these vallies ; and repulse im- migrants as decidedly as our rich free soils attract them. Her best and most profitable staple pro- PEACE. 11 Q ducts might have been made — and nature displayed it by unerring tokens — from the cultivation of her vines, for in the low country, along the coasts of her sounds and seas, they will grow luxuriantly on the sandy soils which will nourish scarcely any thing else. A general belief has always prevailed in that region, that their native vines will not submit to the restraints of cultivation, but that like the human natives, they must be allowed to take their own course unfetterred — not merely by too much, but — by any regulation. It was supposed, however, that practical experi- ments would afford such a manifest refutation of this doctrine, that it would soon be ranked among the exploded superstitions of the past ages. The parties to this attempt, however, could not afford to devote the time, labor, and capital necessary to test the experiment, and it remains still a problem to be solved by some future cultivator. The ap- pearance of the experimental vineyard, when seen by the writer several years afterwards, seemed to favor the original ideas of the natives, and to de- monstrate that European modes of cultivation are not adapted to American climates. These projects and experiments, however, could not be continued, for the inducements to improve the advantages opened to commercial pursuits by the return of peace, could not be resisted by the two friends, and they, therefore, turned their at- tention to their customary pursuits. 10* 114 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. They found in Norfolk a British prize brig of large tonnage for sale at a low price, and pur- chased her for their joint account, intending to load her in Charleston with cotton for Europe. Foote named her the Sancho, in compliment to one of his old favorites, Sancho Panza, she being like him, capable of stowing in her capacious bowels uncommonly large quantities of good things. This quality, however, as frequently happens with hu- man devourers of great quantities of nourishment — was the cause of her ruin, for it rendered her like them, dull and heavy, not obeying her rudder with sufficient promptitude; in consequence of which, being attacked by a gale of wind in going- out of the Chesapeake, she was driven on Bodies' Island, and lost. As in a former case, the letter ordering her insurance miscarried ; in this case from Post office negligence; and was restored to its proper route only in time to arrive simultane- ously with the accounts of the vessel's loss, conse- quently there was no trouble with the under- writers on the subject. A letter from Foote gives the following account of his disaster : "You will be obliged to procure a map of North Carolina in order to discover what part of the world I am writing from, and even then, unless you get one upon a very largo scale, I doubt whether you will be able to find me out.* * Professor Bacha, in his " Coast Survey," has brought this island into more extensive notice than it had ever attained before. PEACE. 115 "It is a little uninhabited Island or sand bank, between Cape Hatteras and Cape Henry, where I was driven ashore in the night, in a gale of wind. Fortunately no lives were lost, and we have been able to save a part of the cargo, sails, rigging, etc. With our sails we have erected tents upon the beach, where Ave are now living in true Eobinson Crusoe style — goat skin dresses excepted. Having fallen in with a company of fishermen, who are encamped on a neighboring is-land. catching her- rings, I have dispatched several of them in various directions, to give the inhabitants of the neighbor- ing districts intelligence of our being here, and of our wish to remove to a more northern climate, to spend the approaching summer — at the same time inviting them to attend a public sale of all our goods, wares and merchandize, on the 14th inst. " We were fortunate enough to save plenty of provisions, so that we have no fear of starving, but having lost all our water, we have been a little incommoded on that account, having nothing to drink but the brackish stuff we can procure by dig- ging holes in the sand." This was the only instance of shipwreck suffer- ed by Capt. Foote during his nautical career, and it may be, perhaps, attributed in part, to his opin- ion of the superior strength of construction in British built ships in comparison with those of our own country, and to his overlooking the great advantages possessed by the latter in tast sailing, and easier control. He spoke in a letter to his 116 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. mother of his vessel's being "British built," as reasons for diminishing her apprehensions for his safety. Her shipwreck, however, taught him a lesson which he did not forget, and when at a sub- sequent period he built the Fabius. he had learned to combine strength of construction with swift sailing, so that that ship was the most perfect in all her qualities that had been built up to that period. After his shipwreck he returned to New York, and resumed the trade with Havana and Cadiz, varying occasionally his voyages to other Euro- pean and West Indian ports. The trade with England having been so long interrupted during war, was revived with so much spirit and energy after the peace, that as usually happens in such cases, it was overdone, as was all the regular busi- ness with most of the European and all the West India ports. One of the commercial crises which have seemed to be periodical in the United States, took place in consequence of overtrading, and pro- duced extraordinary distress and frequent failures among merchants, which being caused by no great public events, such as the embargo and war, seem- ed to baffle conjecture as to its causes. There, probably, was but one — overtrading — which no warning: is ever sufficient to restrain. One or two years of prosperous commerce seems to cause the most prudent and cautious merchant to forget the lessons of caution which he regularly receives, and to tempt him to extend his operations beyond the PEACE. 117 limit of prudence, and thereby suffer the loss of all the accumulations of his industry. After terminating the business which the unfor- tunate Sancho brought to a close, Capt. Foote re- newed his trade with Spain and her colonies. In the course of it, the following illustration of his character and habits occurred, which it may be useful and instructive to contemplate. That por- tion of the fourth commandment which required him to honor his mother was so deeply rooted in his feelings, that he thought he honored her — a widow — by a readiness to aid and assist any widow in need of aid and assistance whenever it was in his power. He became acquainted with an English lady, of superior education, the daughter of a man holding the office of Governor of that princely commercial corporation, " The Hudson's Bay Company," in London : a gentleman whose conduct to his daugh- ter might suggest the idea that the cold, sterile, inhospitable regions under his government, had lent him some of their characteristics. She had, at his dictation, married a man for whom she had no particular preference, though as her affections were not engaged to any other man, her obedience did not cost her any extraordinary effort. To the same dictation, however, she re- fused to yield obedience when it required her to abandon her husband after he had wasted his property, and debased his character, by dissipa- tion and extravagance : she did not recognize any 118 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. EOOTE. principle that would justify her separation from the man whom she had (although thoughtlessly) bound herself to "love, honor and obey as long as they both should live.'* On the contrary, like a true woman, she devoted herself more deeply and exclusively to him in proportion to his need of her affection and assistance — in proportion to the de- pendence on her alone, to which he was reduced by the abandonment of all his friends and asso- ciates. They emigrated to America, and she established, at Boston, a female seminary of the highest class, and was enabled, bv its success, to maintain her family, and educate her children, — two daughters and one son. After a few years her husband died, and then her father allowed her an annuity sum- dent for her personal wants, and her two daugh- ters being married, and residing in New York, she removed to that city, where she became ac- quainted with Capt. Foote. Her son, the young- est of her children, resolved that his mother should not restrict her comforts by taking from her limited income the amount that would be ne- cessary to qualify him for a profession. lie deter- mined at once to become independent, and rely solely on his own exertions for his future support and advancement in life. In pursuance of this de- termination he shipped as a foremast hand on board a merchant vessel, for the purpose of qualifying himself for the command of a ship in that service. He had made several voyages in that capacity, PEACE. 119 when his mother became acquainted with Capt. Foote, and thinking her son had served long enough in the school he had entered, to qualify him to be- gin to rise in his profession, begged him to take Eobert (the son) on board his ship, in the capacity of second mate. Upon examining the young man, the captain liked him so well that he made him his chief mate ; probably perceiving in him some of his own characteristic traits. His mother was delighted to find her son advanced two grades, when her highest hopes had been for a rise oTone from the forecastle, and she considered hi in now as certain to attain the highest grade in his pro- fession very soon. The voyage, at that time in prospect, was to in- clude Cadiz and Havana, but it had not been determined whether to load first for the latter port, and take a cargo of sugar from thence to Cadiz, or go first to Cadiz, and take a cargo of Spanish goods to Havana, and return with a car- go of sugar and coffee to ]S T ew York. It was, how- ever, finally settled to take the latter course, but before the ship was ready for sea, intelligence was received that the yellow fever was raging at Cadiz with unprecedented virulence. A son of an emi- nent merchant in New York, in the counting house of F. X. Harmony, to whom the ship was con- signed, had died suddenly of this disease ; and among foreigners generally, it was peculiarly Mai. Upon the receipt of this intelligence in New York, great consternation was excited among 120 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. those who had friends in, or on the way to, that doomed city, as it was then considered, and Mrs. Field, mother of the newly appointed mate, had her joy for his appointment changed into horrible apprehensions, that he- was on a forlorn hope bound to almost certain death. She came to Capt. Foote, in a state of uncontrollable distress, begging him to alter the destination of the ship, as well on his own account as that of those under his command, and to go first to Havana, where the ship would probably be detained long enough for the epidemic to have spent its force in Cadiz, before her arrival there. He replied to her solici- tations with an assurance that he would have taken as much pleasure in granting her second as her first request, if it could be granted with pro- priety. But the ship was loaded, almost ready to sail, and her destination could not now be chang- ed. He told her further, that his invariable rule of conduct was to determine on the course he in- tended to pursue, and to arrange all his affairs in conformity with that course, and then to press forward, and use the best means, and his utmost exertions, to bring about a favorable result. But in relation to those matters which belonged ex- clusively to the government of God, he left them in His hand, their results to be borne patiently if adverse, and received thankfully if prosperous. That if she dared not trust Robert (her son) in His hands, he could leave the ship without incur- ring any censure for timidity, or occasoning in- PEACE. 121. convenience or delay to the ship, as his place could readily be supplied. The struggle between her fears for her son's life, and apprehensions of his losing a situation he had been so anxious to obtain, was truly distressing. But Robert par- took more of his Captain's trust and confidence than of his mother's fears, and could not endure the idea of relinquishing a berth which fulfilled his present hopes, and gave a promise for the fu- ture too bright to be darkened by apprehension of danger, to which he must expect to be always exposed, and which it was part of the education he was now acquiring, to learn to look in the face without shrinking. His mother, therefore, en- deavored to be resigned, and allowed him to de- part, with as little display of those feelings by which he would be as distressed, on her account, as she was on his, as possible, and he sailed in the ship for Cadiz. Before their arrival at that port, the epidemic had ceased, and the effects of its ravages were only felt in the hearts that had suffered bereavements, not seen in the' hurry and bustle of business that enlivened the city at the period of the Ocean V arrival. In the mean time the epidemic had made its appearance at Havana, and if the destination of the ship had been changed, in compliance with the wishes of the anxious mother, she would have arrived at the period when the disease was at its bright, and peculiarlv fatal to strangers. 11 122 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. KOOfE. The epidemic had disappeard from Havana previous to tho ship's arrival there, and after ac- complishing the business of the voyage, she re- turned in safet}' to New York, with all on board in good health. Mrs. Field expressed her grati- tude to Capt. Foote, for refusing her second, as strongly as for granting her first request, and her hope now was that her son might become such a man as his Captain, and that she might have an opportunity of presenting him to her father, and claiming from him that pride in his grandson which she felt in her son. This hope was cher- ished for a considerable period, with bright pros- pects of its fulfillment. Robert soon became a respectable shipmaster, and at so early an age as to justify his mother in anticipating for him a favorable career, in which all her best hopes should be fulfilled — the hopes, namely, which a widoAved mother always feels in the future of an only son. who has given such proofs of a dutiful and virtu- ous character, that she asks nothing more for her- self, than to witness the prosperity and happiness which she thinks must, of course, attend him. But alas! these bright anticipations were destined to be of brief duration. Robert died at sea, soon after he attained the command of a ship, leaving his bereaved mother inconsolable, and when the writer saw her two years afterward, his memory seemed to be the only object of her thoughts, and her grief so fresh and deep, as to render her in- capable of comfort. BUENOS AY RES. 123 CHAPTEE VIII BUENOS AYRES. He left a name — To point a moral."— Johnson. The office of Sheriff of the city and county of New York, was one of the most valuable of the 'spoils of victory " obtained by the Democratic, or self-styled Eepublican, party, on the successful termination of the struggle between that and the Federal party, in the year 1814. This office was bestowed on Buggies Hubbard, a most active and efficient partisan, whose aid in obtaining the vic- tory was very marked, and whose personal influ- ence with the voters was seen to be so great as to entitle him to a most important portion of the spoils. He was a man of restless, enterprising charac- ter, possessed of boundless ambition, and in a wonderful degree of those talents for acquiring popularity with the masses, which have always distinguished successful demagogues, and been the most efficient means for the accomplishment of the designs of the ambitions. These talents had 124 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL K. FOOTB. been successfully exhibited in the political strug- gles of the two great parties, into which our coun- try was then, as always, divided. He had, at the commencement of his career as a politician, joined the party then styled Eepubli- can — afterwards, and until the present time, Dem- ocratic — which designation they assumed instead of Anti-Federal, their style at the formation of the two political parties, after those of Whig and Tory had terminated. In this party he displayed a boldness and confidence which were among the causes of his success, and which were unlooked for by his warmest friends. The parties in the State of New York were so nearly balanced, that it was in the power of such a man to turn the scale. The struggle between them had been carried on with such energy and perseverance, as to give ground for the belief, that the doctrine that ' : to the victors belong the spoils,'' was a deep seated principle with leading politi- cians ; the period of such unblushing corruption as permitted its avowal as a party dogma, in the Senate of the United States, had not yet arrived.* The county of Albany, and the senatorial dis- trict of which it formed a portion, was the most decidedly Federal of any part of the State, and Stephen Van Kensellaer, a Federalist of the school of Washington, was the most popular man in that district, and second to none in respectabil- : ' : AppeDdix No. 3. BUENOS AYRE8. 125 ity of character in that State, or even in the United States. This man, in that district, Hub- hard, a young and obscure lawyer, opposed as a candidate for the State Senate, and to the univer- sal astonishment of all parties, was successful. His effective talent for controlling the votes of the million consisted in being able to make them see and feel the genial, kindly disposition which characterized him, and which was perceived to be in his nature, not assumed — though used — to pro- mote his ambitious aims. Tnder the first Constitution of 1777, the State of New York was divided into four Senatorial districts, and from each of these districts one member was selected to constitute, with the Gov- ernor, a " Council of Appointment,'' as it was styled ; a body which had the control of all the offices in the State. Hubbard was chosen a mem- ber of this body, and obtained the best, office it could bestow. This early tide of success did not satisfy but rather increased his ambition, as is its regular effect in similar cases. An opportunity for its dis- play occurred during the term in which he held his office, (the appointment being for three years,) which impelled him to the adoption of rash and ruinous projects, and finally caused his early death. The Spanisli Provinces in America had for some time been in an anomalous, revolutionary state: some of them had attained their independence *11 126 MEMOIR OP SAMUEL E. FOOTE. and among these was the Republic of Buenos Ayres, which sent, in 1815, an ambassador to the United States, Don Martin Thompson by name. He was empowered to make some private nego- tiations with individuals, and in the course of them became acquainted with Hubbard, whose ambition was directed towards those Provinces which had not yet become independent, in which he proposed to take advantage of their disordered condition, and by some bold course of oj^erations, raise himself to the dignity of a lawgiver and founder of a state, in which he might become a second Washington. For the commencement of these designs, how- ever, large funds were necessary, and his first ob- ject was to devise the ways and means for making a large and rapid fortune. With commercial operations and principles he was unacquainted, but he had seen that by them such fortunes had been acquired, and thought (as many persons do of farming) that no particular knowledge of the subject was necessary, but that genius and enter- prise would stand in the place of every requisite for success. The Buenos Ayrean Government was desirous to introduce the French tactics and discipline into their armies, but possessing no officers with the necessary knowledge for this purpose, Don Martin was authorized to engage a certain number of French officers, and send them out at the expense BUENOS AYRES. 127 of the government, and give them their suitable rank in the armies of the Eepublie. After the battle of Waterloo, the occupation of an immense number of Buonaparte's officers was gone, and many of them had emigrated to the United States, and were living in our large cities. They did not seem to possess that facility of changing their avocations with their change of circumstances, which distinguished their country- men who emigrated in the early period of the French revolution. Many of them were living in a state of great destitution — in obscurity and idle- ness — hard for such men to endure, and it was to them a manifest God-send to be offered service in any army of any country whatever. It was conse - quently a matter of no difficulty to engage as many as were wanted. Hubbard opened a nego- tiation with Don Martin for the transportation of these men, and also for the second object of his mission, which required his attention in New York. The success of the introduction of steam-boat navigation on the Hudson river had been so sig- nal and decisive, as to attract the attention of most civilized countries, and those who possessed rivers susceptible of that kind of navigation, were de- sirous to imitate the brilliant example of America, and introduce it into their territories. The Buenos Ayrean Government, just then emerging from their half savage state of colonial degeneracy, seemed desirous of showing themselves worthy of 128 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTB. the independence they had acquired, by introduc- ing as fast as possible, those marks of improved and improving civilization which were then in progress in Europe and North America, and from which the}' had been debarred in their colonial state. The jealousy of foreigners, which had marked the Spanish Government from the period of the establishment of its American colonies, had restrained their enterprise, and thereby caused in- dolence and degeneracy. Don Martin was author- ized by his government to grant privileges, simi- lar to those granted to Fulton and Livingston by the State of New York, to any individual or com- pany that might be induced to introduce steam- boat navigation into their dominions. The project was afterwards discovered to be — like many other projects — planned, not because it was likely to be successful, but because a similar one had been successful somewhere else, and under different circumstances. And it is not strange that such a notion should be adopted in that semi- civilized country, when in the sharp-sighted, close- calculating State of Connecticut, characterized by the extreme of caution in public undertakings, the people were so dazzled by the success of the New York canals, which had been constructed when, and where, and because, they were wanted, that they supposed a similar success would attend one in their own State, where it was not wanted; and they built one from New .Haven to North Hamp- ton. This they were fortunate enough to convert BUENOS AYEES. 12M into the bed of a railroad, after a few years, thus obliterating a memento of their folly, and making the best of a blunder. Hubbard considered that he had achieved a great success in obtaining this grant of the exclu- sive privilege of steamboat navigation to himself and his associates, for an unlimited period, to- gether with some commercial privileges which, together, he supposed would be the foundation of a great and rapid fortune, such an one as would enable him to undertake the higher object he had in view, with the requisite facilities for commenc- ing and carrying it forward. He had known Foote intimately from his boy- hood, had been with him during his residence in Jamaica, and returned from that Island in his company, and knew his qualifications for conduct- ing operations requiring energy, tact, perseverance and knowledge of men, better than he did his own ^qualifications for carrying out projects and plans so extensive and varied as those he now had in view. He therefore used all those powers of persuasion, which he possessed in so eminent a degree, to induce him to undertake the manage- ment of the business throughout. Foote was far from being as sanguine in respect to the success of the undertaking as Hubbard, who, to induce him to bestow on it his time and talents, agreed to give him an equal portion in the profits, both of the steam navigation and the com- mercial grant of privileges. 13« MEMOIR OK SAMUEL E. FOOTE. He, however, was persuaded to undertake and prosecute the business ; which he did with his ac- customed energy. He bought a ship for the joint account of Hubbard and himself, and immedi- ately fitted her for the transport of the French officers. The commander in chief of these men had been an aid-de-camp to Napoleon, and, as he said, had received from him. in acknowledgement of some daring act of bravery on the field of Waterloo, the title of Baron Ballina, of which he was Very ten- acious, so that his real name was scarcely known, and it being one of those unpronounceable Polish names, annoying to eye and ear, was well lost. His second in command was also a Pole, with an equally unpronounceable name. Their military titles were General and Colonel. The other officers were captains and lieutenants, all of them French- men. Most of these men were so totally devoid of all moral principle, that they appeared in their conversation to have no idea of, or capacity for. the slightest degree of that attribute of humanity; there were, however, a few exceptions, and only those were successful in their future career. Moral principle had not been inculcated in the French armies, not being considered there an element of success. Implicit obedience to the commands and will of Napoleon took the place, in those armies, which, in pious Christians, is given to the com- mands of God. BUENOS AYRKS. 131 And it' professing Christians in general would •serve their God with half the zeal" that these men served their Emperor, the histories of nations would not be such exclusive Newgate calenders of crimes as they have ever been. The worship of Buonaparte was combined with that of the bloody idol honor, which, with them — as with us — abro- gated the moral law, substituting, in its stead. doctrines to which it is diametrically opposed. Capt. Foote was not pleased with the prospect before him of making a long voyage in such com- panv. but he determined to keep the control of them at all hazards. He was always strict and unyielding in his discipline with his men. and de- termined to be equally so with his passengers, re- quiring, in all eases, implicit obedience to his commands. pfthe necessity of this determination proof was given before the sailing of the ship. On the dav J. *, appointed for her departure, the writer went on board to take leave of his brother, but learned that he was attending to some business on shore. He found the two Poles, the General and Colonel, at the dinner table, over their wine, engaged in a warm dispute in their native language, which no one on board understood but themselves. One of them at length became so heated with passion, that he seized a decanter and struck the other on the head with it, breaking it and the head of his adversary, who in return took up a carving knive and made a thrust at the other's throat with it, 132 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOXE. but missing his aim he struck the forehead, and the skull being too hard to be penetrated, the knife glanced around it, making an ugly gash, but doing no other injury. A great row and con- fusion very naturally ensued, the passengers all seeming disposed to join in the melee, some of them appearing willing to have a private battle, on a small scale, got up in order to prevent their war- like faculties from abatement by non user. At this moment Capt. Foote returned on board, and no one ever saw him roused to so vehement an asser- tion and display of his authority, nor ever before or afterwards heard hini use those hard words which were formerly considered a necessary por- tion of a sailor's, as well as trooper's, vocabulary, and which were not then, as tiny are now, con- sidered inconsistent with the language of a gentle- man, lie addressed them with a sternness of command and a fiery vehemence' under which — insolent and overbearing as they had been — they quailed like whipped hounds : he ordered them to cease their disorderlv conduct, and n'ive an account of its cause. They explained it in the French language so that all could understand and judge the merits of the quarrel. It proved to be a dis- pute beginning with a matter of trivial import- ance, and proceeding until the explosion was caused by the application of one party to the other of an insulting term (maiwais siyct) which could not be endured by one who had been an officer of the "grande armee" of Xapoleon. BUENOS AYRES. 133 Capt. Foote then warned them that he was to be commander-in-chief during the voyage, and that they must all yield to him implicit obedience or go on shore immediately, and that he should not permit any such transgression of the laws of good-breeding as had just been exhibited, and would punish any such outbreaks of violence, without regard to rank or station, in the offend- ers. Their habits of military obedience were now manifested, and all agreed to submit to the Cap- tain's authority, investing him with the arbitrary power to which they had been accustomed in the French army to yield unquestioning obedience. The ship sailed, but in the course of her voy- age, the quarrel broke out again, and Ballina would have killed the Colonel with a hatchet which he threw at him, if his aim had been as good as his temper was bad. The Captain was thereupon required to interpose his authority to restore peace and order. He assured the parties that anv renewal of such disorderlv conduct would be treated as mutiny, and the offenders put in irons, and kept so until their arrival at Buenos Ayres, when he would deliver them to the proper authorities. This threat of being ironed like common criminals was very hard of diges- tion by the proud commander-in-chief, but there were some on board who had sailed with Capt. Foote before, and were able to testify that the dis- cipline of his ship was never relaxed under any circumstances, and that, in relation to it, what- 12 134 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTS. ever promisee he made would be fulfilled at any hazard. Xo chance for a successful mutiny in resentment of the Captain's rigid discipline ap- pearing, as all the sailors and some of the French officers were ready to obey his orders, whatever they might be. the General thought best to bo quiet during the remainder of the voyage, ami order thenceforth reigned in the ship, as remark- ably as it once did in Warsaw. After the arrival of the ship at Buenos Ayres. and the transfer of the command of the passen- gers to the constituted authorities, thev were sent CI? I %> to their stations at Mendoza. where they very early displayed the need of a continuation of Capt. Foote's rigid discipline. The government soon discovered that the introduction of French tactics and discipline into their army by French officers, was not as brilliant an idea as they had expected, and that foreign teachers were not suit- able instructors in their armies. The conduct of Ballina soon became so atrocious, that he was ar- rested and ordered to be sent back to the United States. The order was not, however, enforced; but what»was the termination of his career was never learned. Some of the vounu - men who went to Buenos Ayres with him, were. Capt. Foote says, worthy young men, but one only ever attained any dis- tinction. Capt. Foote met with him some years afterwards, at Lima, in the army of San Martin, BUENOS AYRES. 135 in which he held a high rank, and was of good repute for character and talents. After finishing that portion of his business which related to his French passengers, he direct- ed his attention to the other objects of his expe- dition, and first to that of the introduction of steam navigation upon the waters of the .La Plata and its tributaries. This he soon discovered was a hopeless project, and that steamboats would have as little prospect of finding profitable em- ployment there as canal boats had found at New Haven. After making all possible investigations, and obtaining from the commercial members of the community all the details of the business of the country, and the manner in which it was con- ducted, as well as the course and manner of travel in that country, he was satisfied that an attempt to carry out the steamboat project would be a wild-goose chase, and the sooner all idea of it w T as relinquished, the more apparent would be his dis- cretion. In his letters to Hubbard, after giving the information he had gained, he says that under such circumstances their commercial projects were out of the question, and steamboat navigation worse than out of the question, for in that coun- try the travel was exclusively on horseback, and that the inhabitants must be brought within the pale of civilization fan event far in the dim dis- tance of time) before they could comprehend the 13G MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. POOTB. advantage of any other mode of travel than that to which they were accustomed. A Buenos Ayrean, if he wished to make a rapid journey, would select from a drove of a thousand or ten thousand horses, such an one as he ap- proved, mount him and ride at full speed a hun- dred miles or more, and if this trial killed him. the value of the hide was so near that of the liv- ing animal, that the loss was of no consequence; but if he was able to endure such a trial he was a most valuable animal, and became a favorite Avith his master, whose life is nearly all spent on horseback. Among such a people, it was as hopeless to at- tempt to inspire any idea of the advantages of steam navigation, as it would be to give our law- givers in Congress a correct idea of the advan- tages of good-breeding, and to make them under- stand that killing a waiter for neglect of due ser- vility to the representatives of the freest people on earth, is inconsistent with common politeness, and the laws of God, which ought to have the preference to those of honor. Commercial operations in that country were conducted in the most dilatory and expensively tedious ways, and he says in his letters, "It would take more time than I can spare, to detail the toil, and trouble, and difficulty of purchasing and shipping a cargo, and I think I would hardly ac- cept of $100,000 as a present if I were obliged to embark it in the produce of this country." * * BUENOS AYRES. 137 11 You are obliged, if you have any cargo, to em- ploy the launches of the country to discharge it, and run the risk of losing one-half, and having the other half damaged, for which you pay a greater price than you would for carrying it from America to Europe/' * * "If you happen to be in want of any thing on board, there is no ship-chandler to whom you could go and supply yourself, and your only resource is to take a horse, ride round the city and country until you find some out-of-the-way kind of thing which may an- swer your purpose, and for which you have to pay five times as much as it is worth — then get a per- mit from the custom-house — then leave from the Gfuarda — then to be examined by the Besguarda — then go to the Mole for a boat — and then wait for good weather to take it off. If the river be low. a small boat cannot come within half a mile of the quay, and, in this case, carts are employed to communicate with her, and if you happen to get belated, or the weather proves bad, you are obliged to drag her up on to dry land, turn her over, and set a guard over her, and wait till morning or good weather returns/' The commercial privileges granted by Don Martin were not sufficient to induce a continua- tion of a trade with such a country, and it was abandoned, after taking two cargoes to Spain, from whence he returned to New York. He found Hubbard, in pursuance of his original design, and undeterred by his want of success in 12* 138 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. raising a rapid fortune, j)lanning a filibustering expedition to Florida. From this project he (Foote) endeavored to turn his attention, repre- senting the disappointment he would experience even in case of success, from a want of knowledge of the Spanish character. But although Hubbard held a most enthusiastic opinion of Foote's judg- ment and talents, his heart had been so long and so deeply fixed upon this expedition, that he could not be persuaded to relinquish it. All his powers of exhortation, on the contrary, were ex- erted to induce Foote to join him, and all the visions of a bright imagination were themes of persuasion : but they could not dazzle the strong- common sense, nor overcome the principle which repelled the feelings of Foote from an undertaking so lawless and dangerous. IsTo arguments, however, nor any representa- tions of the probable result of his project, were powerful enough to induce Hubbard to relinquish it. He had held a correspondence with some of the inhabitants of the province, and with Aury 7 a kind of freebooter, who had, or pretended to have, a commission from one of the South Amer- ican revolutionary governments to cruise against the Spaniards. He had several vessels under his command and was styled commodore. Hubbard was encouraged in the belief that he could take possession of the country without resistance, and that Aury with his fleet would furnish a navy sufficient to guard against any force that Spain. BUENOS AYRES. 139 in her then depressed situation, would be likely to send for the recovery of the territory. A Scotchman, calling himself Sir Gregor Mac- Gregor, was at the same time planning a similar expedition, pretending to have authority, and assurances of support, from the governments of Mexico, New Grenada and Florida. He had the advantage of a prepossessing appearance, his figure large and commanding, and his bearing that of one accustomed to command, but that was all. Hubbard was decidedly inferior to him in person- al appearance, but superior in every other quality. He determined to be in advance of any operations on the other's part, and, collecting a body of such desperate, unscrupulous men as usually constitute the troops employed in filibustering expeditions, he embarked them on two vessels which he had purchased for this object, and, resigning his valu- able office, sailed for Amelia Island. He arrived there after a short and easy passage, landed his troops, and took possession of the Island without resistance, and raised the standard of independ- ence for Florida. The inhabitants of the province generally were tired of Spanish domination, and ready to join any leader that offered himself as a chieftain to lead them on to freedom and independence, which, like all the other Spanish colonists, they thought would bring them happiness and prosperity, not being at all aware how unfitted for self-govern- 140 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. ment centuries of colonial subjection had rendered them. Hubbard's popular manner and talents immedi- ately attracted the favor of all the inhabitants of the Island, who, soon after his arrival, unani- mously elected him their Governor. Three days after this he was attacked by the yellow fever and died, and all his plans died with him. This termination of one of the earliest filibus- tering expeditions from the United States, afford- ed one of the maii3 r unheeded warnings against such expeditions — expeditions which have since been so often repeated, and, in most cases, ter- minating in still stronger demonstrations of their folly. This piratical spirit, which was so early directed against the Spanish colonies in America,* seems to have sprung up anew in this enlightened nineteenth century, and forms a i^rominent fea- ture in the lawless proceedings by which our country has been disgraced. Hubbard, at the commencement of his political career in New York, was the rival of Martin Yan Buren, and while a member of the council of ap- pointment, the strife between them for mastery in " : The Buccaneers of the Seventeenth century were the precursors of our modern filibusters. They, however, had suffered heavy wrongs from the Spaniards, for which they sought redress and vengeance. Those of the present day have no such pretext. They possessed the daring, courage and enterprise of men in a state of desperation, which tho moderns do not. Their conduct after a series of successful raids and robberies, and tho com- mission of atrocious barbarities, is an exemplification of the moral results of successful piracies. BUENOS AYRES. 141 the party was violent and bitter. Hubbard was successful in the struggle, and if he could have submitted to be governed by Foote's advice, might have retained his ascendancy, and perhaps been equally successful in the struggle for the Presi- dency of the United States. The fable of the dog and the shadow never had a better illustra- tion, and the pointing of a moral by the termina- tion of his career was as decided, though not of as world-wide fame, as that of "Swedish Charles/' Hubbard's death left the field open to Mac- (Jregor, avIio, says Hildreth,* "Having collected a band of adventurers in Charleston and Savannah, took possession of Amelia Island, at the same time proclaiming the blockade of St. Augustine. In the hands of these desperadoes, this Island was soon converted into a resort for buccaneering pri- vateers under the Spanish- American flag, and a depot for smuggling slaves into Texas/' Whether MacGregor's career was stopped by death, or by his want of power to lead his desper- adoes to new undertakings, is not known ; he never emerged from the obscurity into which he sunk, as soon as lawful measures were adopted for the suppression of his piratical course. * History of the United States. 142 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. CHAPTER IX. M A D A M E B A L L I N A ; And Hope attends, companion of tbc way, Thy dream by night, thy visions of the day. While Memory watches o'er the sad review Of joys that faded like the morning dew ; Peate may depart, and life and nature seem A barren path, a wilderness, a dream." — Cajipbeli. When Gen. Ballina came from France to Amer- ica, he was accompanied by his wife, a Spanish lady of great beauty, whose short history had already been very eventful. She had been one of the celebrated "heroines of Saragossa," having belonged to the corps of ladies, organized by tho Countess of Burita, to aid in the defence of the city, by services in the hospitals, and wherever else their services might be made available. Madam Ballina was not only beautiful, but pos- sessed of "that grace of Spanish women which all recognize and none can describe, for mere form and feature does not explain it."* Her manners * Urquhart. MADAME BALL1NA. 143 and general bearing gave the idea rather oi a Titania than a Clorinda or a Britomart — of a .sylph or fairy rather than a heroine. She had. however, taken a very active part in the female corps to which she belonged, and which during the seige had exhibited an extraordinary degree, as well of patient endurance of labor and fatigue, as of daring enterprise and courage, by which they were so exposed as to be sometimes engaged in skirmishes with detachments of the beseiginix army. In one of these she had been engaged; and was slightly wounded in the neck by a French soldier, who was about to finish his barbarity bv killing her, when she was rescued bv Ballina. From gratitude for this deliverance, she married him and followed his fortunes. He carried her to Paris, where her beauty and romantic adventure- made her a personage of extraordinary interest, and the most polite and friendly attentions were bestowed on her by the ladies of the court, and by the imperial princesses especially. Belonging to a family of the highest order of the ancient Spanish nobility, she was on that account, proba- bly, more caressed and petted by the parvenu nobility of the imperial court than one from a humble origin would have Item with equal celeb- rity and beauty. When her husband, during the hundred day-, obtained favor with his master, Napoleon, suf- ficient to be made one of his aids, he left his wife with the imperial princesses, ami followed tl 144 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. Emperor to Waterloo,* expecting to return with the spoils of victory — Avith honors and nobility — and her expectations pointed to the enjoyment in France of a rank equal or superior to that which she had renounced in Spain. These hopes and anticipations were destined to a grievous disap- pointment by the result of the battle, which con- demned Napoleon to perpetual Promethean tor- ture on the rock of St. Helena. Ballina, with many other officers of the French army, emigrated to the United States, and had resided sometime in a state of poverty and desti- tution hard to be endured, in the city of New York. The expedition to Buenos Ayres awakened new hopes — hopes destined to meet a still more severe and bitter disappointment than those crushed by the Battle of Waterloo. On this expedition Madam Ballina could not accompany her husband, as the Buenos Avrean government only provided for the transportation of the officers engaged by Don Martin, and they had no private funds to enable them to provide passages for themselves. Ballina was therefore compelled to leave his wife in New York, promis- ing to send for her as soon as suitable provision * Capt. Foote speaking of Ballina, in one of his letters says : " One of the officers who came out with Carrera (Gen. Lavasse) knew him in Francej and says he has always been every thing that is base, villainous ami cow- ardly, and that only the interest which the Empress and Trincess Pauline took in his wife raised him to, and maintained him in, the rank lie held under Buonaparte."" MADAME BALLINA. 145 could be made for her passage, and for her com- fort on her arrival at Buenos Ayres. The writer >a\v her for the first time on hoard the ship in which her husband was to sail the next day. She was inquiring about the comforts provided for the passengers on the voyage, and the dangers to which they would be exposed in crossing the equinoctial line, and other perils of the torrid zone and hurricane latitudes. Like a young school girl, she enquired whether they poured oil on the waters in these modern times in case of a tempest, and whether there was a supply of it on board. She had no foresight of the tempest that would be awakened the next day. on board the ship, while in port, requiring the oil of command- ing authority to control, as related in the last chapter. She was left at New York in a situation very little suited to her habits of life, with a very lim- ited provision for her support until her husband could send for her to join him in Buenos Ayres. On Capt. Foote's return to New York, after his voyage from South America to Cadiz, he made in- quiries respecting her, and learning her situation, which was. in fact, that of a deserted wife, he called on her for the purpose of communicating such intelligence respecting her husband as was in his power, softening it as much as he could consistently with the advice he intended to give. This was to seek a reconciliation with her father, who. bein^ a Spanish nobleman, and still wealthy, 13 14b' MEMOIR OP SAMUEL E. EOOTE. notwithstanding the devastation of his country and the sack of his city, would doubtless relieve her pecuniary distress. In the state of feeling which existed in Spain during, and after, the French invasion, no greater or more unpardonable crime could be committed by one of her daughters than marrying a French- man. and especially one of the invaders, Avhose unrestrained barbarities were, like those of the Indians of our country, marked by such deep and damning outrages as could never be forgiven or forgotten. Notwithstanding the existence of that feeling, however, Capt. Foote believed that if her father could be made to understand her true situ- ation, and should be appealed to with the display of a penitent spirit, and with a filial humility, it would be impossible for him to resist such an ap- peal. Even if he should refuse to be fully recon- ciled to her, he surely would not refuse to grant her pecuniary relief. He recommended her to write a letter to him, giving a full account of her situation and of her wish to be reconciled to her parents. She said that she had already written such a letter, and also one to one of the French princesses at Paris. From her father she had received no reply, but from the princess a very pleasant, friendly answer had been immediately returned. It invited her to return to Paris, .where a situation should be provided for her which would secure her future comfort. This invitation she was desirous to accept, but had not the funds ne- MADAME BALLINA. 147 cessary for her outfit and for the payment of her passage to Havre. Capt. Foote, therefore, immedi- ately interested himself in her behalf, and secured a passage for. her in the first ship that was to sail for that port. He also made such provision for her comforts, and the necessary facilities for her proceedings on her arrival in France as he would have made for a sister. But at almost the last mo- ment, when she had only to embark, having all her affairs arranged, and Capt. Foote was ready to see her safely on shipboard, she informed him that she had received a letter from her father with a remittance of two thousand dollars, and had, in consequence, changed her determination respect- ing her return to France, but instead thereof had resolved to go to her husband at Buenos Ayres. This step he foresaw would destroy every chance of happiness for her future life; though the ban- ishment of Ballina had not then been carried into effect, if it had been decreed; yet his knowledge of the man's character taught him that his wife must necessarily be miserable with him, since the indulgence of his evil passions had rendered him almost insane. The triumph of womanly affection and confi- dence in the man on whem her earliest affections had been bestowed, over discretion and expe- rience — of hope over warnings and disappoint- ments — was as complete as it was mistaken and unfortunate. She went to Buenos Ayres and joined her husband, who. when he had obtained 148 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. the money sent lier by her father, made her life so miserable that it could not be endured. Hope was so completely subdued that it could shed no gleam of brightness on the path of her future life. She left America in a British ship for Eu- rope, but whether she went to her friends in France, or returned to her family in Spain, was not known. PERU. 149 CHAPTER X PER U. " Why those various toils, Those wanderings o'er the wide-extended main." — Potter. " They I i Over ocean wide, With a hempen bridle and horse of wood." — Old Ballad. In his commercial operations, and the course of his trade with Cadiz and Havana, Foote had formed intimate commercial and friendly rela- tions with Peter Harmony, a very eminent mer- chant of New York, and also w T ith his brother, Francis Ximenes Harmony, of Cadiz, an equally eminent merchant of that city, which lasted dur- ing their lives, and controlled or influenced all that remaining portion of his life which was de- voted to navigation and foreign commerce. These gentlemen were of the historical family of Ximenes, which gave to Spain its greatest statesman, in the person of the celebrated Cardi- nal of that name, Prime Minister to Charles Y; and their commercial talents were not inferior, in the pursuits they had chosen, to those of the statesman in that higher vocation, in which suc- 13* 150 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. cess confers fame, preferring that in which it con- fers wealth. Their name, in consequence of its initial being one of those unpronounceable gut- turals introduced by the Arabs into the Spanish language, was Anglicized by Don Pedro into Harmony, which name was added to that of his family by Don Francisco. Yarious mercantile adventures had acquainted these parties with each other's talents and busi- ness qualities, and, in consequence, established a well founded confidence, which was never shaken, and a firm, enduring friendship, such as men of worth and integrity are always disposed to cher- ish. They built for their joint account a beautiful bark, in which Foote introduced some improve- ments in the rigging, which were adopted as soon as seen in all square-rigged vessels. He made several voyages in her to Spain and the West Indies, but she was soon found to be too small for the views of the owners. They therefore resolved to build a ship of the largest class, and, accord- ingly, built the Fabius, a ship which at that time was of that class ; ships of one to two thousand tons had not then been thought of as suited to any branch of the commerce of our country. The Ehinelanders, of New York, had, about the be- ginning of the century, built the Manhattan, of near six hundred tuns, but she was built for glory rather than profit, being too large for any trade PERU. 151 that was carried on at that period, and could never bo made profitable. The Fabius was as beautiful a corvette as had ever been built, and her ownership was equally shared by Harmony, Foote, and Eckford the cel- ebrated ship-builder, who was afterward sent for by the Sultan of Turkey to superintend the build- ing of ships for his navy at Constantinople. By the exercise of his talents in the construction of her hull, and those of Foote in the arrangement of her rigging, she was probably the most beauti- ful and perfect ship in the commercial marine of the United States, which already included some of the best specimens of naval architecture in the world. Her first voyage was to Cadiz, carrying as passengers, Mr. Forsyth, American Ambassa- dor to the Court of Madrid, and his family. At that port the ships of all the commercial nations of the world are seen, probably, in greater vari- ety than in any other, London not excepted, and there the Fabius excited universal admiration, and gained the palm of superiority in beauty, in capacity for easy management, and in that com- bination of sailing and carrying qualities united, which had always been the greatest desideratum in the construction of merchant vessels. Soon after her arrival, Mr. F. X. Harmony ob- tained, from the government at Madrid, permis- sion for her to trade with the Spanish colonies on the Pacific, for which trade she was better adapt- ed than any of the Spanish ships that had for- 152 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTT. merly been employed in that trade, being better qualified for rounding Cape Horn with safety, as well as for making her voyages in much shorter periods — qualities of which her subsequent per- formances gave sufficient proofs. She was loaded with a cargo of upwards of six hundred thousand dollars value, shipped chiefly by different Spanish merchants who had had ex- perience in the trade with those colonies, and knew what kinds of merchandise they required. There was probably, at that time, no trade with am* country in the world, where a knowledge of that kind was so useful in directing the articles suitable for its commerce : a curious exemplifica- tion of which was given by some British mer- chants in one of the earliest of their adventures to Peru. The English arc not exceeded by their Yankee descendants in their eagerness to be the first in carrying supplies to any new market that may be opened to their trade. These merchants, in their anxiety to take ad- vantage of the trade with the Spanish colonies on the Pacific, did not wait to ascertain what articles were suitable to their market, nor what would be the proper mode of transacting the business of this new field of commerce, but made up a cargo for Lima which might have been suitable for Cal- cutta, but was very unsuitable for Peru. This cargo seemed to be selected under an im- pression (not uncommon with John Bull) that British goods comprised every thing desirable in PERU. 153 any market, and that such goods were more de- sirable than any other in all markets. Their cargo, being made up in accordance with this opinion, consequently included a quantity of Lon- don porter, a liquor which it was taken for grant- ed every body liked, and would drink if it could be obtained. This opinion, however, proved to be as groundless as that of the Xova Scotians res- pecting the comparative prowess of British and American frigates. London porter could not be sold at any price in Peru: indeed, it could scarcely be given away. The consignees, therefore, verv judiciously concluded that the most suitable dis- position that could be made of this liquor would be to drink it themselves. Acting in conformity with this opinion, they obtained a profit equal to the expectations of the shippers by selling the empty bottles at a dollar each, although they could not have been sold at half a dollar a dozen when thej' were bottles of porter. The Fabius made her passage with the usual experience of stormy weather in rounding Cape Horn, and arrived safely at Callao, the port of Lima, six miles distant, at a period more stormy and dangerous on shore than any of the storms she had encountered at sea. The period of her arrival was one of great public calamity and ex- tensive and dee]) private distress. The province had been conquered by an army under Gen. San Martin, from Buenos Avres. This army had first marched to Chili, conquered 15-1 3IEM0IR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. and revolutionized that province, and established an independent republican government there. San Martin then proceeded to Pern, which prov- ince also was subdued with very little opposition. He was proclaimed Protector of the Republic, and was a dictator with despotic power, as every con- quering general is in the region he subdues. In all countries, and especially in the Spanish-Amer- ican provinces during their struggle for independ- ence, in revolutionary periods the peaceful pur- suits of commerce are not held in as much respect as at ]S"ew York or Cadiz in ordinary times; great difficulties were, of course, experienced in the transaction of commercial business. Private property was esteemed rather as a raw material which might be converted into the ' ; sinews of Avar.'' than as a matter subject to individual con- trol. It was regarded rather as a means of af- fording facilities for furthering the operations of the conqueror, than as means of contributing to the comfort of its proprietors. This doctrine be- ing one of those established by prescription and general approbation in all invading armies, was exemplified in faith and practice by both parties, as power, subsequently, passed from one party to the other. The obstacles to the prosecution of a peaceful commerce, and the difficulties in the conduct of it when thus forced out of its usual channels, may readily be imagined. The talents, the vigilance and sagacious industry necessary to transact com- PERU. 155 mercial business, and bring it to a successful re- sult, under such circumstances, are very rarely united in any individual, and the plan and man- ner of education adopted by Foote, as record- ed in our third chapter, were calculated to form such a man as those circumstances required. He, however, possessed some extrinsic advan- tages which were more accidental. Some of the officers in the army of San Martin (one of them holding a high rank) had been of the number of those carried by Capt. Foote to Buenos Ayres, and, of course, held him in high regard for his character and talents, and. probably, gave him in- fluence with San Martin. His character, also, of a citizen of the United States, gave him a higher standing than any other would have held, from his nationality, among the revolutionists. This estimation was probably strengthened bv the presence, in the harbor of Callao, of the United States ship, Franklin (74), commanded by Capt. Stuart, whose energy and decision of character no one of any party would have desired to see ex- erted for the protection of any of his fellow coun- trymen from any wrong. The influence which it was perceived was pos- sessed by Capt. Foote with all parties, subjected him to many solicitations for the exercise of that influence in behalf of various oppressed and suf- fering individuals, to which he always responded promptly, and. in most cases, effectively. 156 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. And not only individuals, but public institu- tions, sought and obtained his assistance. A val- uable diamond was presented to him in acknowl- edgment of his services in protecting a convent of nuns from. military license during the most lawless period of the occupation of the city by the enemy's army. Other services which he rendered to the exposed and the suffering, ob- tained less eostly, but. to the heart, not less valu- able, testimonials of his efforts in the cause of hu- manity. The blessings of many who were ready to perish came upon him, and among them were some of the poor priests, who. in the license of the times, were not spared from reverence for their office. To the pure and Christian -like character of many of the Roman Catholic clergy, he bore te timony, although his early life and education had been calculated to excite in his mind strong prej- udices against that order of men. In that city, so long famous for the corrupt and licentious man- ners prevailing there, men who, from the influence of their religion, could preserve purity in life, were entitled to a high degree of respect, and some such men were found there. The acts of kindness which he Was happy in performing for them, he considered such as begin and end with the occasion that calls them forth— to be thought of no longer; but, on his return to Spain, he found that they had given him a repu- tation such as he had never expected to obtain. PERU. 157 and such as no heretic had ever enjoyed in that region before. One lady expressed a great desire, and strong hopes and expectations, that he would be converted to the true Catholic faith, in which case she expected he would become a saint. Oth- ers also expressed the most sanguine hopes of his conversion and consequent salvation. But the conduct of his own affairs, and the judicious management of the business confided to him by others, required incessant vigilance and labors such as were not often seen in that region of indolence and self-indulgence. The disordered state of affairs, however, and the delays consequent thereon, caused him a de- tention of eight months at Lima before his busi- ness could be closed. But this to the Spaniards, accustomed as they were to the slow progress of commercial transactions in the South American provinces, did not seem so extraordinary a delay as it would be to a hurrying, driving Yankee, whose motto is. that "time is money/' and money the one thing needful. The whole of this period was one of incessant labors, cares and watchful- ness, wearisome alike to bodv and mind. To protect the property entrusted to him by hia Spanish friends, in such times of military licenso and revolutionary misrule, required talents as ex- traordinary as the circumstances that called them into exercise, and a wearisome vigilance more Irving to the constitution than the night and day 14 158 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. watches on shipboard when passing the storm j cape. The settlement of his commercial affairs at Lima was, however, at length happily effected, and the Fabius sailed for Guyaquil, where she took a return cargo for Cadiz, at which port she arrived in safety without damaging a spar, sail or rope, although in rounding Cape Horn the ship - was exposed to the tempestuous weather which seems to be almost perpetually prevailing in that latitude. The voyage terminated profitably to owners and shippers, and having been effected at a pe- riod when, in addition to the ordinary dangers of commercial adventures, the extraordinarv ones arising from the disordered state of the South American provinces were added, it was consid- ered an achievement which could only have been accomplished by the exercise of a rare combina- tion of talents. The special protection of the saints, also, had, in the opinion of some of the pious shippers, been granted to the prayers of the poor priests, who had received benefits for which they had nothing else to give in return. The success of this voyage, under the difficul- ties which threatened a disastrous termination, and which had been happily surmounted by the exercise of discreet vigilance and a capacity to create and direct circumstances, seemed to inspire Capt. Foote's associates and friends with the idea that he could accomplish any object that he might PERU. 159 undertake, and they immediately proposed a sec- ond voyage to the Pacific, from which they hoped that the knowledge and experience gained in the first would aid in producing a still better result. The physical and mental fatigues and sufferings which he had undergone, however, made him hesitate and dread a repetition of them. lie ^represented to his associates that they ought not to expect a second adventure to terminate as suc- cessfully as the first, and that it would be wiser to be content with what they had gained than to risk the loss of it by trying to gain more. They, however, would not be convinced that there could be any doubt of the success of any undertaking- confided to his management, and assured him of a . profit to himself in any case, whatever might be the termination of the adventure and its results to themselves, and that his reputation should not be lessened by any result however unfavorable. Although he could have retired at that time with the modest competence to which he had looked forward at the commencement of his ca- reer, yet circumstances had since occurred which made it desirable to enlarge his demands upon fortune, and he was, therefore, more easily per- euaded to try another adventure. This was to be a repetition of the previous voyage, the cargo to consist of merchandise similar in kind and amount. A considerable portion of the cargo consisted of articles suitable only to the trade with the In- dians — a traffic which yielded large profits, but 160 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. which the state of the country rendered difficult and extra-hazardous. Another portion consisted of such Spanish fabrics as the colonists had been accustomed to use and to pay high prices for, the policy of Spain in requiring her colonies to con- tribute to the prosperity of the mother country, by consuming her manufactures, having been as- decided as that of England. This system had been so long in operation, that substitutes tor Spanish fabrics, similar in kind, and even if bet- ter in quality, could not be introduced. Those articles which they had been accustomed to use, and to pay high prices for, they would continue to use, and pay, if necessary, still higher j)rices- for. even if better articles were offered them at a much lower price. On this second voyage, the license from the Spanish government was, from unforeseen cir- cumstances, occurring previous to the arrival of the Fabius at Callao, probably of more value than on the former voyage; and the experiences of that expedition aided Capt. Foote greatly to overcome some very important and unexpected difficulties in the transaction of his business, which had arisen among the recent changes of the state of affairs in Peru. The ship passed Cape Horn safely and without any accident, although she encountered terrific storms, with more than the usual quantity of perilous fatigues and apprehensions on the part of the officers and crew. The care which had beer* PERU. 1G1 bestowed in causing the construction of the hull to be as perfect as knowledge and skill could make it; with the provision of every thing in rigging and tackle likely to be wanted in any event, was found to be an insurance against loss of which the underwriters share the benefits with the owners. On this voyage, while going down the coast toward Lima, the Fabius had occasion to stop at a very obscure port, the name of which had scarcely ever been heard on this side of the con- tinent. After casting anchor, w^hen the captain was preparing to go on shore, he said to his mate, "Well, there is one novelty I shall certainly find here — a place without a Yankee inhabitant." Observing, however, a boat coming from the shore, he awaited her arrival, and on her coming along side, a young gentleman came on board from her who, at sight of the Captain, exclaimed : "Why, Capt. Foote, is this you?" "It surely is, if you are Eldridge, about which I can hardly believe my senses ! But how came you here, and what are you doing in this out-of- the-world place?" " Oh, I have been drifting along down, and thought I would stop here and see if something could n't be done in a place where there are no Yankee competitors — hav n't done much yet, but expect something will turn up that I can take ad- vantage of; they are so lazy in this country that there is n't much danger of competition if any 14* 102 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. thing should offer." And in the changes and chances which in those revolutionary times were taking place, it is probable that something did turn up, but of what nature is not known. The right or wrong of the occurrences of those times were not easily , comprehended by the million, most of whom were ready to follow any leader in any enterprise ho might propose, the labor of thinking for themselves being too heavy a task. After transacting some trifling business which had caused her delay, the Fabius sailed for Are- quipa, and, not being long detained there, pro- ceeded to Callao, where she arrived after a pas- sage of ninety -three days from Cadiz. At the time of her arrival there on the previous voyage, San Martin, with the revolutionary army, had captured the city, and was punishing the royalists, including in tiat class all on whom he chose to lav contributions. At this period, Canterae, with the royalist forces, was in the ascendant, having reconquered the province. He was, as a general, superior in talents, courage and skill, to San Martin ; but no talents or skill could restore permanently the Spanish dominion. In a letter of 23d of June, 1823, Capt. Foote says: "We have been in a most- terrible state of alarm ever since our arrival, and have at last been fairly driven into the sea by the royal army, which is now in possession of Lima. They entered it on the 18th inst., without firing a shot, and are now amusing themselves in levying PERU. IGS contributions, shooting the inhabitants and rob- bing the houses. It is thought, however, that they will not remain here long, and wo have hopes of their returning to the mountains as soon as they have satisfied themselves with the booty they are collecting. We are safely lodged on board our ship, but it is a sad thing for the poor inhabitants, thousands of whom have fled from the citv, and are wandering about the shore with- out shelter and without food. Those who remain are subject to all the violences and exactions of a wanton soldiery, and are perhaps more to be pit- ied than those who are starving along the coast. * * * My ship is full of people who have fled from the town."' A portion of the cargo of the Fabius belonged to a person in very bad odor with the royalists and Foote had some difficulty in saving it from their clutches. He, however, succeeded in pre- serving every thing under his care, but found his situation, if possible, still more exposed to annoy- ances and vexations than on his former voyage. In a letter to his friends at Kutplains, dated 19th July, 1823, he says: "I wrote you a short time since, advising you that we had all been driven out of the city by the royal army, and were shut up in Callao. On the 17th, the royalists evacuated the city, after having squeezed near two millions out of the inhabitants, and we are now returning. In a month we may, probably, have to fly again, as the enemy has it in his 164 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTF. power to come back whenever he chooses. This state of uncertainty has put an entire stop to business, and I am no further advanced in my affairs than the day I arrived. * * * A short time since we had a shock of an earthquake, but, fortunately, its motion was undulating, and, therefore, did but little damage; had it been vi- brating, it would have shaken the teeth out of our heads. The undulating earthquakes do not shake houses down ; the ground only opens and swallows them up, which you know is a mere trifle. In the one we had, the earth opened about a mile from the city, so that we all escaped with a little fright and a great deal of dust. * These are strange countries, and you may tell G. that those who come here for dollars buy them as dearly as in digging potatoes: for my part I think I shall, in future, seek for them somewhere else." In a subsequent letter, dated 23d of September, he says: "The city is entirely drained of its wealth, and as the inhabitants are too cowardly and indolent to give the enemy the least uneasi- ness, we are enjoying all the security of poverty and insignificance. The sad situation of the country has been the cause of my long delay, and I have yet no prospect of getting away in less than two or three months. * * * You can- not imagine how sick and tired I am of these long voyages, and I am every day making the strongest resolutions in the world that I will never undertake any more of them. Will you PERU. 165 give me a berth at Nutplains if I Avill promise not to go to sea any more, and will tell you long- stories about these strange countries'/ Well, wo will see when I get home." The state of poverty and destitution to which the city had been reduced by the alternate exac- tions of patriot and royalist armies had reduced many of his friends to great distress. He sj)oke of one whose wealth had been so great, and with whom the precious metals were formerly so plenty that the cornices of his rooms were of solid sil- ver,* and whose command of wealth seemed boundless, who had been driven from home and forced to leave his wife, bred in the enjoyment of every luxury that wealth could o-ive, in a state of poverty and destitution of which she had never dreamed. ( 'apt. Foote was enabled to be of ser- vice to her, as well as many others, and one of tt^ turns of fortune, frequent in that country, restored the family to a more comfortable condition, though not to its former opulence. The churches had been stripped of a great por- tion of their gold and silver ornaments, and the clergy were obliged to share the sufferings of the laity. Under such circumstances, to make a safe and profitable voyage required no ordinary tal- ents, together with a laborious and sleepless vigi- *The mention of this circumstance was to illustrate the luxury and ex- travagance which prevailed in the city previous to the revolution, and the want of good taste in its display. These cornices were fastened to their places with coarse iron nails, the heads of which were visible. 166 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. lance, so fatiguing to body and mind as to elicit the complaints in the above extracts from his let- ters, and to fix steadfastly his determination never to expose himself to such wearisome and exhaust- ing labors and cares again ; a determination re- quiring strong efforts to adhere to, as will be seen presently. The settlement of his affairs at Lima, requiring five or six months instead of the two or three spoken of in his letters, being at length effected, the Fabius sailed from thence, and after proceed- ing to Payta, Piura and (Juvaquil, where her re- turn cargo was completed and shipped, she passed the stormy Cape and arrived safe at Cadiz, having never in her four passages suffered any damage or lost a man. Capt. Foote was warmly welcomed by his Span- ish friends, to whom the detail of the difficulties he had encountered, and the manner in which they had been conquered, seemed so wonderful that they were confirmed in their previous idea that he must be under the special protection of the Saints or of Nuestra Sefiora herself, and that it was possible for one heretic to be saved. They urged him very strongly to undertake a third voy- age, offering to guarantee twenty thousand dollars profit to himself, whatever might be the result of the adventure, and assuring him that the reputa- tion he had acquired with them should not be lessened by any misfortune or evil casualty that might occur. He, however, was fixed in the dc- PERU. 1<)7 termination expressed in the extracts from his let- ters above quoted, and resisted the solicitations of his friends, who were convinced that the favoring care and protection of him by the Saints had been so strikingly manifested in so many perils and dangers, that they indicated very decidedly that he was destined to be brought, eventually, into the true Church, and saved among the company of the faithful. He was not only unwilling to resume those cares and labors which anticipate the march of time, but was satisfied with the gains he had already acquired, and was anxious to begin a life of greater quiet, in which he might indulge those feelings, which having been gratified in one object, (that of seeing the world as it appears in different coun- tries.) turn to other objects for new sources of gratification. All the objects of his life beyond the acquisition of the means of support and comfort for himself and those dependent on him. were for the further- ance of such designs as are intended to promote the welfare of the community, and increase the progress of refinement and civilization. In doing this, however, he never displayed any ambition to become conspicuous or acquire fame ; but he recognized the duties which devolved upon him as a member of the -community, and fulfilled them faithfully. In the subsequent events of his life he experi- enced a portion of the dangers and hazards of the 1GS MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. land, and overcame them as happily as lie had those of the seas, and bv a similar exercise of in- dustry, discretion, and forethought. CINCINNATI. 169 CHAPTER XI CINCINNATI. The cinl and the reward of toil is rest." — Bf.attik. Although Capt. Foote. at the termination of his second voyage around Cape Horn, was in the full tide of a successful career, and urged with very strong inducements to continue it. he felt that the cares and labors of bodv and mind which it re- . Drake and C. B. Brush, whose poetical contributions graced some of the periodicals of the period; three Misses Black- well, two of whom have since become eminent M. D's., and all of them valuable contributors to the literature and science of the age, three other ladies, whose names have since been changed, with others distinguished for intellectual qualities, con- stituted a literary galaxy which could scarcely 180 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. have been equalled at that time in any city of our country. The cultivation of musical taste and talent has always been a prominent portion of female education in Cincinnati. From the earliest period of its history this has been remarked by travelers and visitors, and among the Semi-Colon ladies, it was a matter of course that there should be those whose excellence in that department was equal to that of the best of the literary contribu- tors. These reunions began and terminated at early hours, and expensive luxuries in food and drink be- ing rigidly prohibited, the health of the members was not endangered, (nor the reputation of their neighbors) ; — intellectual food of a quality superior to any thing afforded by the highest style of cook- ery, and more wholesome than personal gossip, not only for the mind, but for the body also, being served up. Visitors of congenial minds and tal- ents were frequent guests, the members of the club having the privilege of inviting friends to accom- pany them to the meetings. Among those visitors who gave and received much gratification by their attendance. Hoffman, the highly gifted and unfor- tunate, is remembered as one whose company was peculiarly pleasing, who gave no reason from any peculiarity in his actions or conversation to appre- hend the approach of the melancholy calamity that afterwards destroyed the early promise of a mind of talents, and of accomplishments of the highest, order, and overwhelmed one who had CINCINNATI. 181 given testimony of his desire, and power to aid in the elevation of the literary reputation of his country, with the heaviest of human calamities. Other visitors of varied talents and accomplish- ments were occasional guests, and added to the amusement and instruction derived from such meetings. Sumptuary laws, it was well understood, could not be enforced by private associations any better than by governments and lawgivers : it was, how- ever, understood to be one of the principles of the club to discountenance extravagance in dress, and luxury in entertainments, both by example, and by avoiding discussions in which thev might form a prominent subject. In one of the papers, giving an account of the objects and intents of the institution, it is stated that ' ; semi-colonism acts upon the public welfare, by increasing the amount of the private and do- mestic virtues, by extending the influences of kindly feelings, and the intercourse of friendship, and of the knowledge that public prosperity is better promoted by the exercise of private virtues than by acts grounded on maxims of political ex- pediency.'' These remarks were contained in an article written to prove, among other equally im- portant matters which seemed to call for proof, that c - list-lighting in the Halls of Congress, and jneetings by its members at IJladensburgh, to com- mit murder — which at that time constituted a dis- tinguishing portion of Congressional proceedings in 182 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. — were not essential to the public welfare, and that members of Congress were not necessarily requir- ed to be bullies and brawlers in order to be quali- fied for the duties of their stations." These ariru- ments were perfectly convincing — being addressed to those who were already of the same opinion, like political speeches to partizan assemblages — but unfortunately the club neglected to send mis- sionaries into "the District," to propagate their doctrines, and in consequence the heathenish dark- ness which prevailed in that benighted region, at that period, still reigns there with scarcely dimin- ished gloom. "Murder" has been "one of the fine arts ' : of the late Congress, applauded and approved as well when an Irish waiter was its sub- ject, as when an adulterer in high life gave it more eclat. The influence of the club, though lost to the nation's representatives, was not equally un- profitable to the morals and manners of the higher classes of society in Cincinnati. For from thai period to the present, there has not been, in those classes, any examples of murders, duels, breaking the heads of gentlemen while sitting quietly at their desks, nor any of the other Congressional proceedings of that kind, by which members occa- sionally exhibit their talents and fitness for the office of legislators for a free j)eople, whose free in- stitutions can only be preserved by virtuous prin- ciples. Had the club sent missionaries to "the District" at the proj^er period, and had they ex- ercised their functions in a Christian spirit, it is CINCINNATI. 183 probable that a commencement of civilization might have been made in that semi-civilized region — some lives might have been saved, and some characters — among them that of our country — been preserved from many of the foul stains that grieve the hearts of the good, and give cour- age to the vile, by lowering those to whom they ought to look for good examples, to their own level. The club continued in existence many years, and until the fearful commercial catastrophe of 1837 swept like a flood over the country, and occa- sioned a domestic revolution proportionate in its effects to those crises, as they are styled, which, since 1780, (and before,) have been historical events in the annals of commerce, both in Europe and America. The losses and misfortunes inflicted upon individuals and families at that period, were no inspectors of persons, like hurricanes, earth- quakes, and conquerors, they carried desolation very impartially to all in their course, especially to all commercial cities. The banks failed, and individuals were compelled to follow their ex- ample. Although Mr. Foote was not concerned in any business excerpt that of the Water Company, he had lent his name so freely to his friends, that he thought it incumbent on him to make important changes in his manner of life. He sold his ele- gant mansion with its adjoining buildings, (one- third of the price of which would have paid all 184 ' MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. his own debts. ) gave mortgages on the other por- tion of his real estate, to cover all his liabilities, and directed his attention to the object of dis- charging them as soon as possible. The banks granted him all the indulgence he asked, and he directed his attention to the sale of property for this purpose. After the sale of the Water Com- pany property, he accepted the office of Secretary to the Whitewater Canal Company, and afterward the same office in the Ohio Life Insurance & Trust Company, which office he held until he had so regulated his affairs as to be free from all liabili- ties, and in the enjoyment of an income equal to his desires. lie then resigned his office, and de- termined to return to his native State, and pass the residue of his life in the neighborhood of the scenes of his boyhood, and among his early asso- ciates, of whom a large portion still remained there; some had emigrated, but few had died. One of the reasons assigned by him for his de- sire to remove from Cincinnati, was his disagree- ment in the opinion which he thought too preva- lent in the West generally, and in this city par- ticularly, of the superiority of the rights of chil- dren to those of parents. He did not object spe- cially to the modern doctrine of the rights of women, if carried into effect consistently with other rights. and desired to have them recognized and increased as far as reasonable and proper. But he thought that men ought to possess some rights, and especially thatof directing the education of their children, and CINCINNATI. 18.") keeping them under suitable restraints during its progress. In Connecticut the old English system of keeping children in a state of slavish submis- sion to their parents, had been sufficiently relaxed : in the West it seemed to have been reversed, from an idea often acted upon, that the reverse of anv wrong is right. In New Haven, the institutions for the education of youth of both sexes were of the highest class, having received as many of the modern improvements as sound judgment and discretion could approve. In addition to the long established seminaries, a semi-military school for boys had been founded under the direction of competent teachers, and in which the discipline bore a softened resemblance to that of West Point, as well as the modes and themes of instruction. Mr. Foote approved of this system, and the educa- tion of his son was commenced under it. In addition to the educational advantages of New Haven, he believed that the climate of New Kngland would be found more salutary to his fam- ily than that of Cincinnati, there being no con- sumptive tendencies in any member of it. He purchased a beautiful situation on "Whitney avenue, of about twenty acres, formerly the pro- perty of General David Humphreys, of revolu- tionary and poetic fame ; afterward purchased by a Scotch gentleman from the South, who improved it considerably, and gave it the Scottish name of '• Windy Knowe, ' ' which was found to be sufficiently characteristic. But the keen sharp winds of Xew 16* 186 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. England were found too severe for a constitution adapted to a southern climate, and Mr. Campbell, the proprietor, was obliged to abandon it. Mr. Foote immediately on taking possession began that system of improvements in ornamental horticul- ture, which caused it to be reckoned among the most beautiful suburban villas in that city of beau- tiful villas. He also commenced that system of agricultural experiments which he supposed might be made useful to the farmers of that region, some results of which will be found in extracts from his letters in another chapter. HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. 187 CHAPTER XII. HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. And tby sea-marge steril and rocky Lard. My bosky acres and my unskrubb'd down, Rich scarf to my proud earth." — Shakf.spi:are. During his residence at Xew Haven, Mr. Foote was distinguished, as he had ever been,. by an ex- tensive and liberal hospitality. This virtue was with him the cultivation and display of a strongly developed native taste, which his extensive knowl- edge and genial nature, combined with a peculiar vein of quiet humor, rendered exceedingly attrac- tive to his associates. It was also in connection with his horticultural and agricultural operations and experiments, a means of supplying that need of excitement which is generally felt by persons who have retired from active business, for the en- joyment of that ease to which they look forward during their period of anxious toil and restless activity. The promises of increased happiness in retirement they, however, generally find as delu- sive as they have often found "promises to pay' in the course of their business. 1^ MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTF. The disappointments so common in such cases are generally caused by a neglect to educate the mind and heart in the love and true appreciation of the beautiful in nature, and the cultivation of good taste, which is its fruit. The success of this cultivation is as soon and as strikingly manifested in the improvement and adorning of garden and park grounds, as in any mode of its display. " Windy Knowe" was a specimen, not only of good taste in that portion of the grounds devoted to horticultural and floral embellishments, but of suc- cess in demonstrating the power of scientific agri- culture over soils apparently almost barren, and as farming land considered nearly worthless. The ungenial climate of New England can not be changed by any amount of scientific skill, but the products which can endure that climate, and flourish under its influences, may be made as re- munerative to the farmer as those of more favored climates, if the necessary knowledge be obtained in regard to their cultivation, and only those which are well adapted to soil and climate be cul- tivated. In a letter giving an account of his suc- cess in his agricultural experiments, Foote says : "I have just dug 253 bushels of potatoes, from five-sixths of an acre of ground, and shall have 80 bushels of corn from an acre, and 800 bushels of carrots from three-fifths of an acre, and that is as well as you can do in Ohio with only common cul- tivation.'' HOTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. 189 His experiments in this department were not made with any view of profit to himself, but were undertaken for the purpose of exhibiting the ad- vantages of an improved system of agriculture to the farmers of New England, the need of which the recollections of his earh r youth, when he was one of them, was deeply felt. And this he con- sidered one of the methods of paying the debt due to society from all its members. The other methods of paying this debt- by contributions to useful public institutions, he did not neglect, nor did he ever seem to consider, (as some appear to do.) that, as a member of the community, he was entitled to receive as much as he was required to pay- The following extracts from his letters during this period, are characteristic, and show that the genial, pleasant humor, which made him so delight- ful a companion, was not confined to his social conversation. His letters abound with the same light and easy humor, intermingled occasionally with paradoxes similar to those which he liked to propound for the purpose of exciting discussion. It is a matter of regret, that many of his most in- teresting and characteristic letters have been lost. None of them were written like Horace AYalpole's, Pope's, Swift's, and other eminent authors, for publication, or with any idea that they would ever be seen except by the friends for whom they were intended. In consequence, all his characteristic traits contained in them, are so mixed with private 190 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. individual circumstances, that only short extracts can be given from any of them. In reply to a letter from his intimate friend, Dr. IJumscy, containing complaints of the various dis- asters in his pomological labors, and his agricul- tural experiments, he says: "Of course the leaves fall off the pear trees, and the fire-blight kills them, and the pears crack; and the peach trees have the yellows, and the cherry trees burst the bark, and the plums are all stung by the curculio. The apples are all stung by insects, and the trees killed by the borer. The wheat is eaten by the weavel, and the corn is killed by the frost, the potatoes rot, and the carrots have the August blight, and the bagworms cover the forest trees, and the melons have no sweetness, the raspberries shrivel up, and the gooseberries mildew, the red spider kills all the flowering plants, and the green fly eats up the roses, and the mealy bug covers every green thing. I might go on all the morning with the pests we farmers are subject to, and yet farming is considered such a. very safe business. and a farmer's life exempt from care and anxiety. Why the anxiety a farmer has on the subject of rain or no rain, is greater than that of the mer- chant* or mariner, or Wall street stock broker, in all their operations." • : = He seems to have forgotten the anxieties complained of in his letters from Buenos Ayres and Lima, or rather, this may be considered one of the paradoxes he took delight in. HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. 191 His hospitable feelings were in constant opera- tion, and nothing was so gratifying to him as to have his house filled, and his table surrounded with friendly faces. Invitations to his friends were frequent in his peculiar vein of pleasantry. of which the following are examples : "Are vou aware that there are in this region vast numbers of clams, lobsters, blackfish, ami oysters? which are all living in the highest state of surprise and wonderment, that you do not come on, and brighten the chain of friendship that formerly bound you together in such loving inti- macy: ana the more especially that your unhappy fresh water country appears to be now threatened with another visitation of cholera, the just pun- ishment of those foolish and reckless persons who hew out to themselves cisterns which will hold no salt water. I wish vou would take the matter into your serious consideration, and let there be an •effectual calling' upon you to visit the home of your fathers, and sit down upon the clam banks, and feed from the lobster pots that gave them strength in the day of trouble, to extirpate the savage from this land, and drive back the civilized invader of their liberties.'' * * " You Western people put off coming to the sea shore too long; I wish you and M. were here now, for the country is exceed- ingly beautiful in the spring, when every thing is bursting out fresh and green, and our sweet-fern and bay-berry, and sweet-briar, and honey-suckle are so very fragrant, and seem so healthful, and 192 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. we have so many beautiful flowers, too. and the birds sing so sweetly, that it seems strange a sensi- ble man can waste his life on Pacific railroads, and public improvements, and all the modern contriv- ances for destroying the happiness, and shorten- ing the lives of the poor dupes, who are running from one end of the earth to the other, with as little purpose as a kitten runs after its own tail." On the following spring he writes in a different vein. * * * " AVe have had such a Ion & dreary, rain storm, that we are all in the dumps : our spring is entirely behind the age: trees have scarcely begun to show that they intend to have any leaves, and there is not a blossom in the fields. * * * We begin to have a faint hope that gooseberries may ripen between this and October ; luckily I pulled up all my peach trees last fall, and thereby saved them from being winter killed. I do not perceive that the cold winter and late spring have had any material effect upon the trap rock in our vicinity, but I know of nothing else that has escaped injury. I have not yet planted my corn, and the crows and blackbirds who were waiting to pull it up, have got tired, and gone oft' to some more genial climate. * * * I have not seen K. since she came on, but understand that she is getting on as comfortably as can be expect- ed at a watering place, where every possible in- convenience is condensed, and you are in the focus. The moral and physical energy required to con- tend against the inherent evils of hotel life, give HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. 193 a stimulus to the system which I suppose is bene- ficial, but like sea-bathing in winter, requires more resolution than I can command." * * * * " We have at last a few days of real spring weather, and are beginning to hope that the angels have not been skewing the world out of its proper sphere, as Milton says they did after the Tall.' Since the Dred Scott decision of Judge Taney, I have had my fears that it might be considered as a kind of second 'Fall,' and that these same angels might have been tampering with the world's axis again. * * But I am beginning to recover my confidence in the stability of the present arrange- ment of the seasons and climates of the world. * * * In short, every thing in nature seems to intend to go on in the old way, just as if Judge Taney had never made the astonishing discovery that men of African descent have no rights which white men are bound to respect." The cold winter of '55-56 is alluded to in the following extract, Gth February: "It is now ten o'clock A. M.. with a very bright sunshine, and the thermometer in my back porch stands at 2° below zero, and I suppose the mercury would go much lower if it were not afraid of freezing. We are satisfied with it, however, as long as the sunshines so brightly. If it were cloudy, we would not mind letting it go down as low as 20° below, which we think is as far as any respectable thermom- eter would wish to go. 7th. The thermometer was so pertinacious in its determination to go steadilv 17 194 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. POOTE. downward during the whole day, yesterday, not- withstanding the brightest kind of sunshine, that I thought I would wait and see where it would go to; at sun down it was 12° below zero, at sun rise this morning it was 15° below, where it was during night I do n't know." * * " We have not mad© up our minds whether we shall starve or not, after eating our cows and chickens. We all feel so dreadfully sorry for poor old Buchanan, who ha* got himself into such a tight place, (or rather ha* been driven into it by his Southern masters,) that we have little appetite, and therefore our stock may last longer than we feared, and especially so if w* should be obliged to swallow Eobert J. Walker, and Stephen A. Douglas, with our cows and chick- ens, as I fear we shall have to do." March 6. * * II You ought to have been here this winter— it has been such a real old fashioned one — eight weeks of fine sleighing — thermometer below zero — trees all broke down by ice and sleet — people all starr- ing with cold and hunger — horses all ruined by overdriving — next year's fruit all destroyed in the bud — Kansas proclamations by Pierce — Southern domination established — dough -faces bought and sold — every thing in a nice way expects to b* nicer." "You will have seen by the papers, that \r© have recently lost our two most eminent divine*, Dr. Croswell and Dr. Taylor, and I much fear that neither you nor I will live to see their place* supplied : for I am satisfied— as all other men of HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. 195 ripe ago since the flood have been — that the world and the people that inhabit it are growing smaller every day, and, if possible, more dishonest. * * Oar 'Know Nothing' brother is getting on very well, and I expect to see him this morning on his way to Hartford, to resume his legislative duties. But I am afraid that legislating is a business that does not suit him. Once before when he tried it, it made him sick, and it ought to have that effect on any one who is accustomed to the honest sim- plicity and sweet breath of oxen and cows. * * The world has been so long governed by men who did not know anything, and yet made much pre- tension to superior wisdom, that I think it rather a good omen they are now openly assuming their true character." * * * "Some of our old com- panions in Guilford have died lately. J. T. and Krs. G-. L., both at the early age of sixty-five, and I should not be surprised if the climate of Guil- ford, and the habits of its people, should become bo corrupt, that the average age of the inhabitants should not exceed seventy-five years." The agricultural experiments to which we have referred, were made in pursuance of a resolution adopted in the early portion of his life, to devote, if successful in his career, some portion of his time to improvements and experiments for tho benefit of that class of men among whom the first part of his life had been 'passed, the farmers of Hew England. Their indifference to improved systems of agriculture, and book farming, as it 196 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. was styled, has since that period, happily, been repented of by the intelligent and industrious among them, and the want of neatness : good order, and systematic management is not so marked a characteristic of our farmers as it was formerly. Good order and good taste, he considered two of the cardinal virtues in farming, which were most uniformly neglected, through which neglect much of the distaste of young men for a country life devoted solely to agriculture is generated. It is true that most of those who leave the farm for more exciting and more hazardous pursuits, gen- erally intend to return when they become rich, and to spend the last years of their lives in mak- ing agricultural improvements. But of the few who are successful enough to be able to fulfill their intentions, scarcely any can find happiness in be- ing relieved from the excitements and cares which they think are sources of unhappiness when they are obliged to suffer them in their business opera- tions. Haste to get rich, which since the time of Solomon — and probably long before — has been the besetting sin of young men, and a theme of warn- ing for old ones, generates tastes and habits which prevent riches from yielding the happiness that is expected from them. Fortunately for themselves, very few of those hasty young men ever succeed, and being obliged to struggle continually, are happier in their struggles than they could be in the fulfillment of their hopes and wishes. HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. 107 Hope, if properly based and directed, is the healthiest of mental excitements. It forms the qui- et, peaceful enjoyment of the farmer in preparing his grounds, and planting them for the future har- vest, as well as of the merchant in planning his voyages, and sending forth his ventures. Hope deferred, however, seems to be a heavier burden for Americans to bear than for any other people, an overweening anxiety to see the result of what- ever they undertake, being one of their strongly marked characteristics. That restless activity which flows from it seems (especially to foreigners who are frequently remarking it as one of the de- fects of our national character,) inconsistant with the true enjoyment of life. It has, however, had a marked effect on our history, and been the stim- ulant of our rapid rise as a nation, from almost insignificance to the highest rank among the powers of the world in little more than half a century. A rapid extension, not only of territory, but of every kind of improvement demanded by the progress of civilization, unparalleled in the history of the world, is among the consequences. But, on the other hand, one of the results to indi- viduals is, that whenever their railroad rapidity in the career they are pursuing is checked, they become unhappy, and are very apt to try to keep up their excitements by stimulants which hasten their progress to the grave. The New Englanders who stay at home, and cultivate their farms quietly, are generally very 17* 198 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. long lived. The emigrants from New England, a much larger class, are not remarkable for this characteristic. They, however, accomplish more during a short life than the others in a very long one, and more than the natives of any other coun- try. This is strikingly manifested in our Western States and Territories, where towns and cities rise "like exhalations," and railroad locomotives "shine like meteors," and seem to be chasing away the original forests ; becoming, with other modern con- veniences, regular institutions in those regions settled by New Englanders, within periods so short as to be unexampled in the history of human improvements. The will of a despot, who could command the labors of hundreds of thousands of men to build such cities as St. Petersburgh, in modern times, or the Egyptian or Assyrian cities : in remote periods, could raise up palaces and cot- tages with marvellous rapidity, but could only fill them with masters and slaves.* They could not build up such cities as Cincinnati and Chicago, and provide for all their inhabitants such systems of universal education, as would make them all understand their rights and duties. They could * Do Tocqueville considers a (political) aristocracy one of the mo3t effec- tive means of protecting the people from the encroachments of the despot- ism to which democratic governments have a natural tondency. That this a^true in relation to democratic governments which are centralized, may be believed from the testimony of history, as well as from personal observa- tion. In the United States, however, the federal principle of a union of etateB, with separate governments, gives us the protective advantages of an ristocracy without its oppressive tendencies But universal education is HORTICULTURE AND AGRICULTURE. 19i> not substitute the ballot box for guards to protect their persons, nor dispense with standing armies, from a reliance on the intelligence and patriotism of the people. the only effective preservative of such a federal union as ours. In com- munities in which there is an educated and an ignorant class of population, as in mo3t countries, the power of numbers is controlled by the power of in- tellect, and a feeling on the part of the latter class that they are oppressed by the former, is very apt to be felt, and generally with reason, for the love- of power, like the love of money, grows with what it feeds on. But freedom to acquire knowledge and wealth will always restrain a people from violent measures for the acquisition of objects desired. " The Union " will be pre- served, if the educated class in the South aro sufficiently numerous to retain the ascendancy, and the ignorant (including " fire eaters " and demogoguea of all kinds) kept in proper subjection. 200 MEMOIR OP SAMUEL E. FOOTE. CHAPTER XIII. NEW HAVEN. " whatever day Makes man a slave takes half his worth away."— Pops. The opinions of tho citizens of New Haven on the question of negro slavery, were more nearly equally divided than in almost any other of the towns of New England. They, therefore, suppos- ing that the stability of the Union was endangered by the intemperate discussions which convulsed the country, determined to invite two gentlemen, each holding opposite opinions on tho question, to give their different views on this subject in public lectures. On the pro-slavery side of tho question, Mr. Fitzhugh, of Virginia, who had written a book to show "The failure of Free society," was chosen. His opponent was Mr. Wendall Phillips, exten- sively and favorably known as an an ti -slavery advocate. Each of these gentlemen accepted Mr. Foote's invitation to become his guest at Windy Knowe, during his stay at New Haven. The former was a person of pleasing manners, and genial NEW HAVEN. 201 disposition, bred in that region where the best aspects — the least repulsive features — of negro slavery are exhibited, and who evidently had full faith in the doctrines he promulgated. Mr. Foote, who held these doctrines to be political and moral heresies, undertook to exhibit his arguments for their refutation in the form of facts — facts which y like figures, don't lie — the inference from which he considered must be decidedly opposite to those contained in Mr. Fitzhugh's book, and he enter- tained that respect for his guest which gave him confidence in the result of their influence upon his opinions. He rode with him throughout all the streets of New Haven, and directed his attention to everv thing in its vicinity, showing him that it contained no abodes of squalid poverty — that nearly every dwelling of even the poorest of the laboring classes, had a neat, comfortable appearance, that, literally, no cases of suffering from want of the necessaries of life existed in the city, and that no poor-tax Avas assessed on its inhabitants. This was exclu- sively the result of free labor, and nothing else, for the commerce of the city was small, and had declined (most of it having been transferred to New York,) with the increasing prosperity of the community, the lands were not naturally fertile, but required much care and labor for their culti- vation, and no government works brought any of the public exj^enditures to New Haven. Attention was especially called to the beautiful suburban 202 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. village of Fair Haven, established and supported entirely upon the cultivation and traffic in oysters brought from Virginia, and planted in the flats of the Quinnipiac river, near its mouth. These flats extend two or throe miles upwards, and the grounds under water in that locality are subdivid- ed among different proprietors, with the same care and attention to ownership as the dry land, and they yield as profitable crops, which supply the interior towns with a luxury of which the con- sumption is constantly increasing. The wealth of "Fair Haven is also continually on the increase, for the oyster crops depend entirely on the industry of their cultivators, they never fail for want of rain, or from late frosts, or severe winters. Theso "proofs and illustrations" appeared to have their proper influence on the mind of Mr. Fitz- hugh, and ho remarked that he must modify his opinions upon the subject of free labor. He had evidently acquired some new ideas on the subject of the superior benefits of slavery, by his visit to New Haven. Mr. Phillips, whoso fame as a zealous anti-slav- ery advocate, was as extensive as our country, was also a gentleman in private life, whose society was peculiarly pleasing, and his talents, although chief- ly directed to labors for the extension of human freedom, were such as would command respect and fame in other departments. He possessed the ad- vantage of a more extensive popularity than his opponent in New England, though the minority NEW HAVEN. 203 that adopted the views of that gentleman, wsw very largo in Connecticut, for in that State the re- pulsive features of negro slavery had never been •exhibited, and it was one of the States of the North where it lingered so long that it may be said to •have there died a natural death. The result of the public discussions was similar io that which usually follows such discussions, on any controverted subject of deep interest; — like that, for instance, between Robert Owen and Al- exander Campbell, on the social system of the former, and the Christian religion as upheld by the latter, or that between the Rev. Mr. Hill and Daniel Roe. on the Roman Catholic and the New Church (Swedenborgian) doctrines— and like every -other public discussion of deeply interesting sub- jects, furnishing each party with supplies of argu- ments for strengthening the previous belief of the hearers, but seldom changing the opinions of any ^)f them. The following extracts from letters written at -subsequent periods, give strong expression of his sentiments and feelings on the slavery question, as the events of the period called them forth. That question had become the dividing theme of the two great parties into which our country al- ways has been and probably is destined always to be divided. The danger of the dissolution of the Union has been so often made a theme of ambi- tious demogogues, for use in stump speeches, that he regarded it as one of those dangers which hare 204 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. been impending over the country at the time of almost every Presidential election, and which have subsided immediately after the story has been told by the ballot boxes, which like figures, and unlike stump orators, do not lie. His sentiments on this subject were deeply felt and strongly expressed. Although he had many dear friends among the slave holders, whose situation he could appreciate correctly, he never disguised his sentiments on the subject with them. But he was ready to do them justice, and in conversation with Northern abolitionists he would sometimes appear to them to be the advocate of slavery. At the period above referred to, he expressed his feelings veiy freely in his correspondence, spe- cimens of which are given in the following ex- tracts : * * * ( 'It is all idle to think of putting down the pro-slavery feeling in so religious a com- munity as that of Xew England, and I do not in- tend to fight against it any longer; Moses and the Prophets are against me, and the Apostles are not on my side — ' the glittering generalities ' that you shall not oppress your neighbor, and that you shall 'do unto others as you would they should do unto you,' have not a feathers weight against the direct authority of Moses, that you shall buy slaves of the heathen, and leave them as an inheritance to your children, and that you may whip them to death without being answerable for it, because they are your money, etc., etc. * * We have been NEW HAVEN. 205 much edified by the late decision of the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case, and think that after Kansas has been admitted as a slave State, and the Lemmon case decided in our favor, (as the}" certainly will be,) we shall be able to take higher and more Constitutional ground, and after Virginia has replenished her treasury by the sale of all her free negroes, I see no good reason why she should not be authorized to replenish her population by sending it into the free States, and buying or steal- ing such of the young men and women of the lower order — "greasy mechanics,"' etc., — as she may find desirable, either for home consumption, or to send South for sale. There cannot be the slight- est question as to the Constitutionality of such a proceeding, as it is evident that the true meaning of the clause " to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and posterity," means, to secure them to all born white south of Mason and Dixon's line — the universal opinion of the civilized world, that the "greasy mechanics, ; " and other laboring classes, are an inferior class of beings, can't be disputed — and the idea that the framers of the Constitution, being of the First Families of Virginia, or other Southern States, should have thought of guaran- teeing them the same rights and privileges claimed by themselves, is too preposterous to be thought of for a moment. This argument might be con- tinued after the manner of Judge Taney, and made equally satisfactory and conclusive, but I think it unnecessary, and every right-minded person who 18 206 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. is a friend to the Union, will see at a glance that the framcrs of the Constitution never had the re- motest idea that the cotton fields of the South should be deprived of laborers by the shallow pre- tence that the Constitution was intended to guar- antee the blessing of liberty to persons born north of Mason and Dixon's line, and especially those of the lower orders — and should a doubt ever arise on the subject, I think it will be set at rest by the uniform practice of Southern politicians, of buying and selling Northern dough-faces ever since the government has been established." * * * * August, 185G. "We are at this mo- ment firing a grand salute in honor of the glorious victory of the Slave-Power over those d — d Aboli- tionists that infest the House of Eepresentatives. A clean army bill is passed, and there is nothing now to prevent Gen. P. Smith from driving all those infamous Free State men out of Kansas, and establishing our beloved peculiar institution on a firm and solid basis. * Are you going to elect Fremont ? and is it best that he shall be elected? I am rather disposed to think not ; for I have a strong desire to have Mr. Toombs boast of calling the roll of his slaves under the shadow of Bunker Hill monument, literally verified, and I do not wish to have any invidious distinctions made respecting color, as I am perfectly satisfied that the whites will make just as good slaves as the blacks, if you only give them a chance. * * '■■'- I am NEW HAVEN. 207 •afraid it will take a great deal more cudgelling than we have had yet, to convince New England that she can sell her tin -cups and wooden nutmegs to the Southern chivalry just as well after they have dissolved partnership, as before ; until this is done, we have only to take patiently whatever in. solence and scourging it may please our Southern friends to vouchsafe us. The Legislature of Con- necticut is now sitting here in New Haven, and every morning Mr. Toucey has a larger number of votes for TJ. S. Senator than any other man. So long as such a state of things continues, it is to be hoped that one or more Free State Senators or Members will be assaulted and thoroughly beaten every day — that a Yankee school master will be shot down, or tarred and feathered, at least three times a week — that all Free State women living in a Slave State will be imprisoned and kept with- out fire and clothes or bed to sleep on, more espe- cially if in weak health — and that any respectable New England man, found in any Southern city, Will be immediately expelled therefrom by mob violence, even should he be there in an ambassa- dorial capacity from a sovereign and friendly State. I think of selling my place here, and going South to engage in the negro breeding business. I could no doubt make it profitable, and it is becoming so highly respectable that it would be worth a man's while to enter into it at merely a moderate profit: will you join me? * * * But enough of this — T am sick and tired of it — and E. has be- 208 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. come so excited and nervous about Kansas and Sumner affairs, that I have had to take her to New York, until thought and feeling should get into the channel of new silks and bonnets, and become quieted. * * * "I hope you compromise people Avill feel comfortable when Douglas gets his Ne- braska bill through, as I expect he will. If I were in the place of Chase and Sumner, and the other Abolitionists, I would not only vote for Douglas' bill, but would introduce a new one, which should compel every State hereafter admitted to the Union, to be a Slave State, whether they would or not. The policy of such a movement is so obvious that I am surprised the Free Soil party has never adopted it. Had it not been for the curse of slav- ery, the States of Virginia and Kentucky would now have had the supreme control of the whole Union — the port of Alexandria would have been the New York of the country, the cotton mills of Massachusetts and .Rhode Island would have been on the Potomac — New York would have remained a Dutch Province, and Pennsylvania a German one, and Ohio would still be a wilderness. What folly then for the Free States to put it in the power of their neighbors to take the bread from their mouths. I believe if this ground were taken and stoutly maintained by the Free Soil and Com- promise parties, that in five years the politicians of the Southern States would be as clamorous for Abolition as they now are for Extension." NEW HAVEN. 209 The visit of Kossuth to this country, of course, excited his attention ; and the following extracts from his letters exhibit the feelings and opinions called forth on the occasion. White slavery in Europe did not seem to him to require so much of his attention as negro slavery in the United States, but human freedom, generally, was always a sub- ject of interest to him. The besetting sin of the people of this country is to overdo every thing which is supposed to ac- cord with the feelings of the people generally, and to atone for our want of a sufficient number of stated holidays for the people, by giving occa- sional ones, whenever circumstances are favorable for them. * * * "I suppose no one is aware of the amount of suffering he can bear till he is tried. I was perfectly satisfied some time since that read- ing all the speeches that Kossuth had delivered in England and America — and some of them capital good ones — together with all he had yet to deliver, would exceed the utmost limit of human endur- ance, but I find I was sadly mistaken — the little finger of the Morgan, Hodge and Long corres- pondence is thicker than Kossuth's loins, and yet one is obliged to read it or find himself behind the times. Our friend C is a raving Kossuth man, and like all other young men who are good for any thing, is perfectly satisfied that the world is about to be regenerated — that we must put our shoulders to the wheel, and the thing will be done; 18* 210 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. all that is necessary is to put down Tyranny and Oppression, and imbue the world with true Chris- tian principles of doing as we would have others do to us — in short, he has adopted our friend L 's theory, and insists upon it that the desti- ny of the world is in our hands, and that it is a shameful deviation from our imperative duties to suffer wrong and injustice any longer to show their heads on the face of the earth, and therefore we must fall down and worship Kossuth, and be led by H , Should you not be able to perceive the necessary sequence, go to C or G and they will enlighten you. I suppose you wonder what all this has to do with you or me ; with you, perhaps, it has little in common, but it makes it necessary for me, if I would not be put down and trampled upon, to read all Kossuth's speeches, and the interminable correspondence of our Naval and diplomatic ' Eeeds,' when they are 'shaken by the wind' of a French Prefect or a Hungarian Eefugee. # * # "Are you all as Kossuth mad in Cincinnati as we are here and in New York? if you are, the Lord have mercy on you; for we are past praying for. I should like very well to be a friend and partisan of the cause of Hungary and Kossuth, and liberty, and all that myself, if every- body were not making such Judys of themselves, and running the matter clear into the ground — out of sight. I hope if Kossuth is to be killed for the gratification of our rage for man -worship, it NEW HAVEN. 211 will be before he is made a fool of — for I am dis- posed to believe he is a very clever fellow, and one who may be of great service in upsetting such se- vere despotisms as those of Naples, Austria, and Eussia, if he is not poisoned by the slime of popu- lar adulation. His Avife, too, I like much, and think she ought to have a statue erected to her, with her answer to the 'woman's rights ' deputa- tion for the inscription on the base." Louis Napoleon's coup d'etat called forth the following denunciation : * * "I have little domestic intelli- gence to give you, and am so bamboozled by the public and political movements of the outside world, that I don't know what will become of me. Kossuth is insisting with an eloquence seldom, if ever equalled, that we shall commit ourselves body and soul to a crusade to redeem the down-trodden millions of Europe, from the iron rule of Desj^ot- ism, at the same time, that one of its most en- lightened nations, after an experience of many years of self-government in various forms, is al- lowing a trumj>ery 'Nephew of his Uncle' to assume and exercise over them a wantonness ol despotism which would disgust the slaves of the Sublime Porte, or the Emperor of Morocco. I am perfectly bewildered with the idea that so poor a thing as Louis Buonaparte can, with a scratch of his pen, send hundreds of the best and most influ- ential men in France to rot in the swamps of Cay- enne, and thousands of them, including the high- 212 MEMOIR OP SAMUEL E. FOOTE. est and most popular of their military chieftains, to wander in homeless exile — that the whole peo- ple embodied as a National Guard, in precisely the form that one would suppose best adapted to prevent and put down such daring usurpation, should at his bidding quietly surrender their arms and uniforms, and break up a military organiza- tion which it has always been supposed was the only thing necessary to enable a people to resist any infringement of their liberties, or put down established despotisms, in short, all that Kossuth wants to establish freedom throughout the world — that an imbecile, twaddling bankrupt should establish himself in the Palace of the Tuileries^ and send forth day by day, and hour by hour, de- crees that Louis XIV. or the Emperor Napoleon would not have dared to think of — and all France seem to take it as a matter of course — that under such a state of things everybody should appear to be satisfied — that funds should rise and trade flourish — is it not enough to make one crazy?'' The long period of drought and hot weather in New England during the summer of 1856, is thus feelingly alluded to in one of his letters: * * * "Had you been here for the last fortnight you would have been fried brown. The hot weather in Cincinnati melts one down into a liquid pulp, here it fries us to a crisp, and I do not know which is the worst. For 67 years past the thermometer has told no such tales as during the last three weeks — so say the wise ones — in our NEW HAVEN. 213 entry it has been between 80° and 90° every day but one, and it once rose to 91°. We have also had, and still have an unprecedented^drought during the whole time. My potato crop is entirely ruin- ed, and I shall not have half enough for my own use; my corn is nearly as bad, and I fear I shall not have enough to fatten my pigs ; so you see that starvation stares us in the face, both on the animal and vegetable sides. Luckily the eating of horseflesh appears to be coming into use, and as I have plenty of hay, I hope to be able to get through the coming winter, and not in a coach, but on ahorse." As a contrast to this desponding state of feeling, we revert to the period of one of his early visits to Ohio, and give the following extracts of a letter written at the Yellow Springs, at a period when that delightful summer retreat was free from any of the contaminating influences of fashionable life, and when summer tourists had not lost that good taste which derives its enjoyments from what na- ture gives, and do not seek them in contentions and strife for superiority in dress, and in the vari- ous forms of the displays of wealth. The influ- ence of the beautiful and fertile regions of the West, and their contrast with most of the countries he had visited, had a powerful influence in his selection of his place of residence. July 16, 1828. — "Do you know where we are'/ why in the middle of the State of Ohio, in the most delightful place in the world — so cool and 214 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. POOTE. pleasant — such a fine healthy situation — such a romantic country — such lovely rides and walks — such a splendid chalybeate spring — such pleasant society — in short, the most beautiful summer re- treat in the world. The country is like Connecti- cut, only pleasanter, and the people are many of them from thence — the choice spirits of the State picked out and congregated here to escape from the cares and bustle of life, and enjoy a few weeks of cool fresh air, and each -other's society. We had a week or two of excessively hot weather be- fore we left Cincinnati, and all got somewhat ex- hausted, and complaining, so we came up to lay in a stock of health and spirits to last us for the rest of the summer." Some extracts of a more miscellaneous charac- ter arc added. In a letter to a medical friend, he propounds one of his i^aradoxes on medicine. "I am very much scandalized that you physi- cians, after two or three thousand years of study and experience, should be so utterly unable to cure any disorder that would not cure itself with- out you, and I verily begin to believe that the Homoepathists have the good sense of the matter in their practice, and a drop of camomile tea mixed with the whole water of Lake Superior is just as' likely to cure any disease as the prescriptions of a physician. Our children are very well; and they appear to be very happy, partly, I suppose, because they are well, and partly because we do not send NEW HAVEN. 215 them to school, or in any manner make old people of them. B. J. is very well, but has had a great deal of sickness in his family this winter, and Mrs. S. is still very far from well. Her hus- band beingaphysician, andall living in one family, would readily account for its general want of good health ; but somehow or other the whole female population of the country seems to be destitute of any thing like good health, and it is almost liter- ally true that I do not know a really healthy wo- man in the whole circle of my acquaintances. Can you give any good reason for this? - ' Another specimen of the medical paradoxes which he liked to propound, is seen in the follow- ing extract: ; : : * - i I have been quite edified by your address* to the homicides (that are to be) of Cin- cinnati and parts adjacent. There i^ a matter in your address that I can hardly make up my mind to subscribe to. You assume that it is a more praiseworthy vocation to bind up the wounds and preserve the lives of soldiers than that of procuring them to be wounded and killed. The soldier hires himself out to be shot, and I think his employers are bound in good faith to perform their part of the agreement, and have him shot, and the surgeon who interferes in the matter is rather meddling with what does not concern him; unless he does it in the way of perfecting * An iddrcsa to medical students at their graduation 216 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. \ himself in his profession, in which case he should only be allowed to cut and carve in such a way as may be beneficial to himself, and not to his pa- tient." His opinions on the subject of railroad and steamboat accidents, and the dangers of the land, are given in his peculiar vein, in the following extract : * " I congratulate you on your safe ar- rival, without being ground up between broken railroad cars, or scalded, or burnt, or blown up on some steamboat. But you do not seem have kept up with the progressive age, in the matter of travel- ins;. The idea that a man's comfort or even his life is a matter of as much importance, and to be at- tended to with as much care as the safe carriage and delivery of a package of goods, is altogether obsolete, and only referred to by persons who have become so old and broken down that they can amuse themselves in projecting, and endeavoring to make politicians assist them in making rail- roads across great continents, and through moun- tains so high that birds can not fly over them. I am afraid that you people of the olden time will never get over your prejudices respecting the value of the lives of men and women and children, and yet they would seem to have had a very proper estimate of them in the earlier ages of the world, when Timour could build a pyramid of skulls, or Herod send out and have all the children in Judea murdered in cold blood before breakfast, without NEW HAVEN. 217 even having the matter alluded to in the morning papers. There is some comfort, however, in the knowledge that our 'fast' age is beginning to ap- preciate the soundness of the views of the men of old — not old men — and I see no reason why we may not, in the course of a few years be able to blow up a thousand people in a steamboat, or grind them up on a railroad with as much sang-froid as they used formerly to sack a city, and murder all the inhabitants." Speaking of Jenny Lind, he says : * * * "I like her much, she has the only good voice I ever heard from a public singer, and if she would not be driven to execute these fantastic feats which ought to be impossible, she would be perfect. Per- sonally she is exceedingly interesting." "I have been much edified by your account of G \s spiritual intercourse with his cook. * * "We have not been much troubled with spiritual matters latelv except a small dab from C . * * What a pity that you and I are so old that we cannot hope to see the time when our social intercourse will embrace the spiritual as well as the natural world, and when it will make very little difference whether our friends are dead or alive ; with some of them, it is true, it makes very little difference now. but there are others with whom it would be a comfort to spend an evening occasionally. * * * * * * * September 4. 1854. "Our White Mt 19 218 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. expedition was an entire failure. * * S. and F. and L. made the trip, and had a very pleas- ant time. All such jaunts you know are very pleasant after you have got through with them, and have nothing to do but give glowing descrip- tions of all you have seen and heard and done, and make all those who could not go unhappy, in which they have been perfectly successful with E., but they will have to talk a great deal longer, and tell much bigger stories, before they produce much effect upon me." THE LAST OP EARTH. 219 CHAPTEE XIV THE LAST OF EARTH. " We cannot bold mortality's strong hand." — Shakespeare. During a residence of eight years in New Haven, — a period devoted chiefly to labors and experiments in Horticulture and Agriculture — the influence of an active life in pure open air doubt- less had a tendency to preserve the health and en- ergies of Mr. Foote unimpaired until the period of his last sickness, in October, 1858. He had lived — in years — beyond the Scripture term of the ordinary life of man, and in acts and experience, a still longer period. For he not only began to be a man at a much earlier period of life than that in which boys are usually changed into men, but he performed a greater amount of manly labors in any given time of his early life, than any of his cotemporaries. His time was seldom or never wasted during his early years; but the labors, anxieties, exposures and fatigues of that period necessarily affected his constitution, and rendered him less able to over- come disease in his old age. He had suffered two 220 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. attacks of the diseases of tropical climates, (yel- low fever in the West Indies, and a fever of some- what similar character in Buenos Ayres,) and had been often exposed to the influences of sickly cli- mates, which had been rendered innoxious to him through the exercise of prudence, temperance, and suitable precautions. But his system was neces- sarily so much worn as to render it incapable of re- sisting the attack of any violent disease, and that which terminated his existence was so violent in its attack as to cause great apprehensions of a fatal termination. As soon as the account of his condi- tion reached the writer, he visited him, and found him, in the condition described to him. After the first salutation, the sick man said, "I am an old man, my sands are nearly run out — I am going now, but you and George (his other brother) will soon follow," — speaking as if he did not expect to be separated long from his friends, and exhibiting as much cheerful hope as his physical pain would permit. During his intervals of ease, his usual cheerful, pleasant humor, was so frequently exhi- bited, that although his excellent physicians, Pro- fessor Knight, of Xew Haven, and Dr. Bumsey 7 of Fishkill, (an intimate personal friend,) gave very small hopes of his recovery, his friends and family could not give up the expectation of a favorable change in the aspect of his disease, for it was hard to bring their minds to the belief that there could not be a longer period for their enjoy- ment of that social kindness, that easy, quiet hu- THE LAST OF EARTH. 221 mor, that sympathy with the suffering, and that general philanthropy by which he was character- ised. To his elder brother the idea had never occurred that he should be called to record the life and death of the younger. On the contrary, it was a consolitary hope with him that when called to de- part, the paternal cares for those loved ones whom he must leave, would be continued for a while by a younger and more efficient brother. On the morning of his death, the family were assembled in his room, some of them sitting and standing near his couch, when he desired to be raised up, but as soon as it was done he requested to be laid down again, and in the act a sudden painful spasm was seen to have seized him, and life was extinct in a moment. The painful ex- pression of his countenance immediately passed off and was succeeded by a singularly beautiful ex- pression of happiness, which, after a few hours, subsided into an appearance of a natural state of quiet, peaceful sleep. The just appreciation of his character by his fellow citizens of Xew Haven, will be seen in the following obituary notices in the daily papers : [From the New Haven News, Nov. 3d.] Death or Samuel E. Eoote. — Another of our most re- spected citizens has departed. Mr. Samuel E. Eoote, who died on Monday, Nov. 1, came to reside here some eight years since. 19* 222 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. After giving a sketch of his life, the following estimate of his character was added : Few men, if any, whose time was not passed in public life,, have ever produced in the community a profounder feeling of confidence and regard than Mr. Foote. It was so at Cin- cinnati — it was so here. His honor was above suspicion, and his intellect was clear and true as the diamond ; while his sympathies for the suffering and oppressed were if any- thing too tender. Those who knew him least respected him, and those who knew him best loved him most. "While then his family and friends mourn deeply their loss, our city too will regret the departure of one of her purest men. The New Haven Journal gave a more extensive obituary, which is here copied in full : Capt. Samuel E. Foote. — "Within the memory of men now living, perhaps no year of general health has in New Haven been marked so much as this by the loss of so many of the most eminent and beloved of our older citizens. To the honored names of Dr. Taylor, Dr. Croswell, Hon. Henry E. Peck, John Fitch, Thomas Bennett, Thaddeus Sherman, Capt. Goodrich, Dr. Beers, Hon. Aaron N. Skinner, and others, must now be added that of Capt. Samuel E. Foote, who died of a disease of the heart, at his residence in this city, on Monday last, about nine o'clock, A. M., after an ill- ness of about four weeks. Capt. Foote was born in the town of Guilford, in this State, on the 29th day of October, 1787, and had therefore just finished his seventy-first year. His early life was spent on a farm, from which like many others of the most enterprising and stirring young men of New England at that time, he passed to a life of peril and hardy adventure upon the sea. With such quickness of per- ception, such maturity of judgment, and such integrity as his he could not fail to make rapid advancement, and he ac- THE LAST OF EARTH. 223 cordingly was in full command of a ship before he had reached his twentieth year. His voyages were made to al- most every quarter of the globe with which commerce was then carried on — to South America and the "West Indies, to Africa, to the Mediterranean, and to the British Isles. He continued in this business for about twenty years, during which time his ship was once captured by privateers, and he lost the avails of his ventures. About thirty-one years ago he retired from the sea, when he was married, and shortly afterwards settled in Cincinnati, where his character and talents soon placed him among the leading men. He was a noble specimen of a gentleman. His personal appearance was striking. His snow-white beard so set off his fine expressive features, that the attention of every be- holder was naturally attracted. His nature was singularly sympathetic and kindly, and every way large. His sense of justice knowing no bounds of caste or party, made him deeply interested in all that con- cerned the public welfare, and all that interested the weak and oppressed. His thoughts were often busy with ques- tions that most deeply interest the public mind, and to those who had the opportunity of profiting by his conversation, it was always suggestive and always delightful. His intellect was acute and cultivated, and with sound, positive, almost dogmatic judgment, was joined a gravity, a depth of feeling, and a peculiar fancy, that made him some times seem to delight in paradox. He rejoiced greatly in his labors in beautifying his home, which was indeed the center of a large and liberal hospital- ity. Thither were welcomed persons of widely different opinions and feelings. There Mr. Fitzhugh, who came from Virginia to tell us of the beauties of slavery, was invited to meet "Wendell Phillips, with whose opinions of slavery Capt. Foote to a good degree sympathized — opinions always fully expressed, but never altogether popular. Such oppo- 224 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. sites could cordially meet within tlie circle of his genial in- fluence. We can hardly refrain from speaking of one thing that has always seemed exceedingly beautiful and illustrative of the character of this man. It is withal such "a good deed in a naughty world,'" that it deserves to he alluded to for the sake of the example. Every one knows how a poor woman in New Haven, who had been highly educated and delicately bred, became, at the age of fifty-five, a mild religious monomaniac, and how, with others, she was arrested on a most serious charge and thrown into prison. She was utterly without money or in- fluence. It is not probably known how substantial a friend -he found in Capt. Foote. It is not necessary, in this world, to be known widely, how he interested himself to get a fair hearing for her case ; and that when, after trial, she was re- manded to prison, where she was likely to perish, how he secured her removal to his own house, where, cared for with < very respect and attention, she remained about a year, till her death. Oh ! we know such things can not well be told, but they make the memory of some persons blessed forever. We think of them Avith a gratitude too deep even for tears. In- deed, a soul of rare tenderness has just passed on among the spirits of the just and good. Let us rejoice that we have seen and known him for a time. This just and beautiful tribute to the memory of Samuel E. Foote, refers, in the two last para- graphs, to a singular act of benevolence — an act not singular as such, but for the circumstances that called it forth. A number of religious fana- tics had formed an association for mutual enlight- enment in religious doctrines and duties. They wished to perforin some high, religious acts that THE LAST OF EARTH. 225 should bear testimony to their zeal and devotion. In this idea they concluded that the highest per- formance of that character would be to destroy " the man of sin." One of their number was will- ing to be designated as that man, and to be de- stroyed. He was accordingly sacrificed, and the fact becoming known, the associates were imme- diately taken into custody, to be dealt with ac- cording to law. As their acts were sufficient proofs of insanity, they could not be punished as murderers. The woman above referred to, was rather a passive than an active agent in the pro- ceedings of the fanatics, and during her residence in Mr. Foote's family gave no evidence of any re- turn of insanity, but passed there a quiet peaceful life until its termination. Many acts of benevolence, unknown to the writer, have been discovered since his death. Soon after that event he met a very respectable colored man in the streets of Cincinnati, who en- quired so particularly, and with so much deep feel- ing respecting the circumstances of Mr. Foote's sickness and death, that he thought it necessary to give a reason for it to a companion standing near: "Why," said he, "he bought me!" This, however, unlike many others of his acts of bene- volence, involved no pecuniary sacrifice : the sub- ject of it not only paying the price of his freedom by his success in the vocation which he adopted as a free man, but becoming sufficiently wealthy to be enabled to retire to a farm in the country, 220 MEMOIR OF SAMUEL E. FOOTE. where he continues to set a good example to his fellow freedmen of "industry, perseverance and success." In this, as in many other instances, the reflec- tion of the influence of a good character by exciting imitation, (although in circumstances essentially different,) was felt by many who were not aware of its extent. The personal exhibition of attrac- tive virtues in the person of the subject of our memoir has ceased, but this record is intended to perpetuate the rememberance of them, and to stimulate those youths who are beginning their career in life, to go and do likewise. -A-IPIFIEIfcTIDIIX:. I. Eli Foote occasionally indulged a taste for ex- pressing his thoughts in rhymes, which were gen- erally easy and graceful. Tkey were as unstudied as ordinary friendly letters, which, indeed, they were, being invitations to visit his house on par- ticular occasions like the following, or playful re- marks on some passing events of the time. They were not considered poetical, but merely rhyming effusions, and were not preserved with an}' care: in consequence of which the following specimen of the toryism of the time is the only piece that has been found, though some of his old friends used to speak of others which have been supposed to have been much more worthy of preservation for their pleasant humor and shrewd remarks on the circumstances that called them forth. TO L. II.. Y.S'l- St. Pumpkin's Day* being near at hand, When priest and people through the laud, * The New England Thanksgiving Day received the sarcastic appellation in the first line from the Churchmen, in retaliation for the Puritan denun- 228 . APPENDIX. E'en every rebel, saint like whig, "With carrot locks and powdered wig, And coat well brushed, and shirt of linen, Made new from yarn of good wife's spinning, Leads little Joe and simpering spouse, "With solemn step to meeting house To thank the Lord, whose goodness fills His leather book with Congress bills, Gives store of corn to fat his pork, And makes his oxen strong to work : Bat most of all, whose wond'rous power. Aided our troops in lucky hour, Led them bv dint of hardv blows. Quite on the bulwark of their foes At Stonev-Point : for which thev sin"- Praise to their God, and damn their king. On that great day I mean to dine On roasted goose and mutton loin, And drink a health to George our King, Who'll rebels to repentance bring. If tired with gloomv cares, and sick Of dull retirement in East-creek,* Your Toryship will condescend To bring your wife and see your friend : To what 1113- table does afford, You shall be welcome as a Lord. — Eli Eoote. His attachment to the .Royal cause was not shared by any of the members of his family, and by but few of his personal friends. ciation of Christmas. Minced-pies which had always heen considered a necessary aid for the due celebration of Christmas, were considered as sa- voring too much of prelatism, and pumpkin-pies were raised to festive pre- eminence in their stead. * A district of Guilford so called. APPENDIX. 229 It was rather a religious than a political senti- ment that caused the distinction between the Whigs and Tories of ]N~ew England during the war of the revolution. The Puritan fathers did not come to America to establish free toleration for the religious belief of others, but to establish a supremacy for their own religious doctrines, with freedom on their part to prevent all other doc- trines from contaminating the minds and morals of the members of their Commonwealth. They intended to establish a Theocratical government, as nearly on the principles of that of the ancient Jews as circumstances would permit, under which all freedom of opinion in religious matters should be monopolized by the elders and rulers of their Church. Full and free toleration of religious opinions was not included in any system of gov- ernment then existing in the civilized world. Its value as an aid to the progress of Christianity was a discovery of a later period. Its necessity to any system of free government was understood as soon as the United States were required to frame such a government. Previous to the revolution, the Episcopalians considered that the circumstance of their's beinir the established Church of the mother country, was their only security from the persecutions which the Quakers, and others of different denomina- tions, suffered at the hands of the Puritans. They, therefore, very naturally ranged themselves under the banner of "Church and King," fearing to lose, 20 230 APPENDIX. in case of the establishment of the independence of their country, the security they enjoyed for their worship after the manner of their forefathers. If the Puritans had confined their intolerance to that of the immoralities and vices cultivated by the Cavaliers, who, at the restoration, obtained an unbounded sway in politics and manners, as dis- tinctive marks of their being the opponents of the late government, it would have saved their repu- tation from much obloquy on account of their re- lio'ious intolerance. The two cardinal virtues with them were rigid Sabbath observance and chastity. These will make any nation powerful and unceasingly populous, for they will give strength and power to body and mind, by giving necessary rest to the one, and necessary exercise to the other. The "Universal Xankee Nation" has acquired its preponderance in numbers, as well at home as among the settlers of all our Western States and Territories, more from this than any one other cause. -A-iFiFiEiEsriDix:- ii. Although all the relatives of Eli Foote were of different political and religious opinions from those which he adopted, and all his brothers were active patriots and opponents of the Koyal cause, yet their brotherly love was not impaired by the polit- ical condition of their country. Ebenezer Foote, the fourth of the brothers, im- bibed the patriotic ardor of the times with all the vigor of youthful enthusiasm, and became one of a party of similar enthusiasts, all minors, who left their parents, guardians and masters, without staying to obtain leave ; determined to show them- selves men in action and patriotism if not in law. They took part in the battle of Bunker Hill, some of them wearing the "goodly leather aprons" ap- propriate to the employment which they left. He remained in his country's service during the war, and attained the rank of major, which he held at its termination. The whole of his pay he lost by the dishonesty of the man with whom he entrusted the certificate of the amount to which he was entitled. 232 APPENDIX. He married during the progress of the Avar, and in addition to his other losses, sustained that of the chief part of the property of his wife, by the de- predations of the skinners, tories and out-laws, on the border region in New York. His labors, services and sacrifices in the service of his country did not protect him. from the de- nunciations of the Democratic party, by whom nearly all of those disinterested and patriotic officers who were his associates, and who adhered to the party of Washington, were stigmatized as tories; an exemplification of party violence not ex- celled by that of any subsequent period of our political history. The following communication, published in the New York Commercial of January 7th, 1830, gives an account of some of the sufferings which he shared, with many other American prisoners in New York, and which few of them survived. "In your last obituary you take notice of the death of Ebenezer Foote, formerly first Judge of Delaware County. He was a man of excellent character, and great good sense, and was in the literal sense of the expression, a Eevolutionary Patriot. I was intimate with him, and have heard him frequently relate the following incident of his life : " He was taken prisoner by the British at the capture of Fort Washington, on York Island, in November, 177G, and was put in close confinement in the building now called the Bridewell, in this APPENDIX. 233 city. The severity of the confinement induced him, and eight or ten of his companions, to attempt an escape. They succeeded in the night in get- ting out undiscovered, in the rear of the building, and were then in the fields in that part of the city lying north of Chamber street. They made the best of their way to the Hudson river at Green- wich, and adroitly eluded all the sentinels. After running up and down the shore they found a crazy boat, and attempted to embark in it, but it was too old and leaky to be navigable, and the others went up the Island, and were most of them re- taken. Mr. Foote found a plank, and determined to cross the river by swimming, though it was in the month of December. It was a most danger- ous and distressing attempt. He was several hours in the water, and passed undiscovered a British ship of war that was lying at anchor in the river. He was floated down by the tide below Hoboken, and when ho landed on the Jersey shore, was not able to stand, and it was near day light. He was enabled after a while to crawl up to a house, where he got refreshed, and completed his his escape, but his constitution received a shock from which it never recovered ; and this desperate effort enfeebled his health through life. He was, however, permitted by Providence to enjoy the blessings of prosperity and universal esteem, through a long and busy life: and I recall to mind his beautiful mansion on the bank of the Western 20* 234 APPENDIX. branch of the Delaware, in the midst of romantic and wild scenery; and his warm hearted and hos- pitable reception of his friends, with mingled emo- tions of tenderness and respect." A brief memoir of Ebenezer Foote, by his friend Gen. Leavenworth, was published soon after his death, in a St. Louis paper. It was a well written article, honorable alike to the writer and the sub- ject. His nephew, Samuel E., ho spoke of and intro- duced to his friends as his son so frequently that, at length, he apparently forgot their real relation- ship. He was one of those gentlemen said to be "of the old school,' because their bearing and manner were more refined than '-modern degeneracy " re- quires. He was many years a leading politician in the State of New York ; had been speaker of the House of Assembly, Senator, member of the Coun- cil of Appointment, and chief Judge in the county in which he lived. In the violent party struggles of his time he had been warmly engaged, and consequently had many bitter enemies among those of the opposite party. To these, however, he became reconciled, and the leaders of the Democratic part} 7 — such men as De Witt Clinton, Judge Ambrose Spencer, (with whom, in the early period of their political career, he had carried on a war of pamphlets, marked, on each side, by the bitterness which APPENDIX. 235 characterized political publications generally at that time;) Morgan Lewis, the Livingstones, and other gentlemen of the old school, were always his guests when visiting that part of the country in which he resided. In a more advanced period of life, it was pleasing to hear such men speak of him with warm friendly feelings, contrasting very strongly with party bitterness at an earlier period. We are apt at the present time to imagine that the rancor and virulence of party spirit have increased to such a point as to threaten civil war, and dissolution of the Union ; but the danger from this cause in the days of our Fathers was more apparent. Time had not then cemented the Union, and they had not had sufficient experi- ence of the curative influence of the ballot box upon political diseases. APPEIsTDIX TO CHAPTER V. III. The American permanent embargo is herein made so prominent, and dwelt on with such em- phasis, because it was the first governmental measure of importance which indicated that the waves 'raised by the tempest of the French revo- lution had not spent their force before reaching our shores. The wisdom and patriotism of Wash- ington guarded us from their influence during the period of his administration, and his lessons were not forgotten during that of his immediate succes- sor. But the election of Jefferson was considered by the adherents of the French revolutionary partisans, as a triumph of their principles. And they had aright, from many circumstances, and especially from his letter to Mazzie, to con- sider him a thorough adherent of the French re- volutionary philosophy. The embargo was a fore- taste of the practical workings of that philosophy which, proclaiming "liberty and equality," was intended to destroy all then existing governments, and all authority, including that of God. The lead- ers of the revolution did not, however, intend to APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V. 237 destroy arbitrary, tyrannical power, but to transfer it to themselves. The arch-jacobin, Kobespierrc, aware of the influence of time in fortifying and cementing any system of government, intended, says Lerminiere, to produce the effects of time by spilling a given quantity of human blood, — to ob- tain the influence of centuries by cutting off hu- man heads.* The tyranny of the Dantons, Robe- spierres, Marats, and other leaders, was far greater than that of the Louises; and the Jeifersonian embargo was a more oppressive and tyrannical measure than the stamp act, or the plan of parlia- mentary taxation. But the shouting of political watch-words by the million, give more power to demogogues than the calm suggestion of reason and common sense can withstand; and the raising of liberty poles with inscriptions of "No sedition law," "jSTo stamp act," "]STo alien law," gave strength and stability to the Democratic party that no reverence for AVashington, and the prominent patriots of the revolution, and no reasoning or experience, could overcome. The paramount evil of the embargo was its ty- rannical restriction of the freedom of citizens. It * " Eobespierre concut de remplacer le temps qui lui manquait par un poids specifique de sang humain : il crut en abattant des tfites se procurer des siecles; il tua les hommes en l'honneur de sa religion politique ; il pre- nait leur sang pour les convertir : e'etait outrager la raison autant que la charite du genre humain. II so trompa en voulant retourner lc sol avee la hache des proscriptions : il n'y a de fecond que le fer de la charruc et de i'ep£e. ,, — rinfluence de la Philosophic du XVIII Siecle. 238 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V. was not that portion of the surrender of individ- ual liberty for the protection of society from the crimes of the vicious, which is voluntarily made by communities, but a prohibition of a certain class of citizens from pursuing those avocations on which they depended for subsistence. By its ad- vocates it was proclaimed to be intended for the preservation of the property of individuals — the object of ordinary embargoes, — and besides this object, that of annoying European belligerents by withholding from them those supplies of the pro- duce of our country which they needed, as a sort of reprisal for their acts of hostility towards our country. Most of the tyrannical restrictions of freedom in despotic governments, had their inception in the real or pretended care of the rulers for the welfare of their subjects. Despotic power dark- ens the understanding in relation to the influence of restrictive measures, making the ruler feel like Napoleon in the height of his power, that he is the State. He cannot look through that darkness, and see how much more men lose by the privation of the free exercise of their faculties in lawful en- terprizes, than they gain by the increased security thereby obtained; and thus sovereigns often be- come tyrants with good intentions. Thus subjects suffer not only the evils of direct oppression, but the heavier one of that deterioration of character which always flows from any restraint of freedom that is seen to be arbitrary. Any law restricting APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V. 239 the freedom of the citizen so much as to be con- sidered intolerable, and excite evasions, is worse than the evil it is intended to remedy, and this, it has been seen, was the character of the embargo law. It was supposed by many of its friends that it would avert a war. Its actual influence was to hasten one. In saying that this law was a greater evil than the war which followed it, we spoke of it political- ly, not morally; (under which aspect many con- siderations might be presented not ncecssaiy to be discussed here.) It took from us more of our most valued political inheritance— freedom — than wo could afford to lose. We may lose any amount of our property, our ships may Ik- captured or burnt at sea, and our towns may be bombarded and deserted, but by the ^xtrcise of our freedom of action in our accustomed pursuits, we may. re- trieve our losses. But if we. patiently submit to arbitrary and tyrannical restraints in our ordina- ry pursuits, our liberties cannot be regained until oppression begets revolution., ;. If; the embargo could have been enforced according to iis intent, and the principles which dictated, its, imposition, it would have proved. a political opiate to the na- tion as destructive as narcotic poisons to individ- uals. ... The war with all its evils~and< early disgraces, roused that mental and physical .activity which characterises the American people.. and winch the; misrule of Southern Statesmen hapl a.tendency to 240 APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V. suppress. Among a free, an educated and intelli- gent people, activity of mind and body will pro- duce those results that are seen in a more gen- eral diffusion of the comforts and luxuries of life, — in a rapid increase of population, and in the cultivation of good taste in relation both to pub- lic and private matters. The predominant influence of the Slave States, since the period of Jefferson's Presidency, accounts for inany unequal and tyrannical laws. Any sys- tem of slavery recognized as a proper and suitable institution, is always at variance with the political freedom of any class of the population. It takes from the slave the best principles of manhood, and from the master that due appreciation of the prin- ciples of justice and human rights, which are nec- essary to the preservation of political freedom. Christianity, in proportion as its influences are felt and acknowledged, checks the downward ten- dency of slavery in a nation, by its effects on the master and the slave. Most masters are willing that their slaves should be good Christians — it in- creases their own security, and the value of their property. The greatest desideratum, however, is that the masters should themselves be good Chris- tians. It is a question with many persons whether it is a greater evil for men to be too much governed, and thereby enjoy rest and quiet, or so free that societies may some times be required to protect themselves, or redress their wrongs by Lynch law, APPENDIX TO CHAPTER V. 241 or committees of vigilance. This question would never have been mooted with us, if our rulers had been chosen judiciously, and in conformity with principles on which elective republican govern- ments are founded, and which are necessary to the highest political welfare of any free people. 21 j± t> J? e isr id i ix: IV THE SEMI-COLON CLUB. There was no restriction in the rules of the Semi- Colon Club as to the subjects offered for discussion. Poetry and prose were equally eligible for the ex- pressions of opinions on politics and literature, manners and morals, which, together with any other subject that any member might choose to bring forward for discussion, were legitimate themes, and gave opportunities for the display of the tastes and opinions of the members. Some of those articles which were published have been re- ferred to, and some others are here given as speci- mens of the different subjects and styles of other members. Two of the poetical pieces are by the lamented J. H. Perkins, some of the others by lady members of the club. Many excellent arti- cles have been "lost or mislaid," some others have been preserved in archives of the members. A renewal of the operations of the club was proposed several years after its dissolution, and a very pleasant and characteristic meeting was held at the residence of Mr. Lawler, at which some ex- • APPENDIX. 243 cellent contributions were read, but the institution had lost with many of its valuable members the power of revivification. The first piece here given was one of the chap- ters of an "Essay on Man," each of which was devoted to a different subject, and consequently there was no special connection, or relation of the chapters to each other. The various topics in most of the other pieces, as in this, were tempor- ary in their character, and except those referred to as having been published, have not been pre- served. The political prejudices of the time are nearly forgotten, but this first piece is a specimen of them then. 244 APPENDIX. E S S A Y ON MAN. CHAPTER V . There was a time when it was considered quite respectable to be a wise man. This, however, was a long time ago. The seven wise men of Greece are spoken of in history as having been quite influential and im- portant characters among their countrymen ; but we have seven foolish men in the United States that are far more so. It is recorded of these seven wise men, that they were assembled on a certain occasion at a dinner party, and after the cloth was removed, were en- joying their wine — and their cigars, would prob- ably have been added by Plutarch, if they had been able in those days to obtain so great a com- fort — but for cigars, for the invention of steam- doctors, and for Eichard M. Johnson, the world is indebted to America, of which country those sages had never heard. It is probable they felt some thing was wanting to their enjoyments, though they did not know it was cigars. The consciousness of this want may have led them to discourse of happiness, and in the course of the conversation the following opin- ions were given by the seven wise men, each of APPENDIX. 245 which we shall compare with the known opinions of our seven unwise men, and make such reflec- tions upon the subject as we trust may tend to edification. Solon said that a Prince or Sovereign has no means of acquiring glory and happiness so proper as by making his monarchy a democracy. Senator Y. thinks it glory enough to change a democracy into a monarchy, and that there is no way so effective for this purpose as to bamboozle the people until they confound the distinctive principles of the two forms of government. Bias said the Sovereign should be the first to subject himself to the laws. Gen. J. said very little about the matter, and subjected the laws to the Sovereign. Thales said he considered a great man happy when he lived to a good old age, and died a natu- ral death. Mr. C. thinks a great man cannot be happy un- less he commits treason, and deserves to be hanged before he arrives at old age. Anacharsis thought him a happy man who should be the only wise man — or the wisest man — in his country. Senator B. thinks happiness is to be found in making himself more completely ridiculous than any other man in the country. Cleobulus said that a man to be happy must not place any confiderce in any of his associates. 21* 246 APPENDIX. The Secretary of the Navy thinks that the officers of the navy are knavish officers, and ought not to have so much confidence placed in them as to be trusted out of sight of land. Pittacus said that that Sovereign would be the happiest who should so conduct himself that his people should fear — not him, but for him. The Secretary of the Treasury is happy in caus- ing the people to fear — not him, but his intermin- able reports — not his dignity and power, but his rigmarole. Chilon said that a Prince ought not to think of any thing transitory and temporal, but if he would be happy, must think of things eternal and im- mortal. The Yice -President would be happy to have us think he killed Tecumseh. These opinions will serve to demonstrate that although in a poor little country like Greece, they could get along very well with wise men, yet it was probably because they were so poor and igno- rant that they knew no better than to be content with necessaries : but as for us, we have long been beyond that period of civilization. "We have ar- rived at that point when the most expensive luxu- ries are most esteemed, and they are prized in proportion to their cost. Now there is no luxury so costly as that of having foolish men for rulers ; in which we have been indulging ourselves for so long a time, that we have begun to discover that. APPENDIX. 2-17 in this, as in many other matters, we have been too extravagant. England, an old and rich country, can afford to have fools for kings, but we cannot: we are be- coming embarrassed by our extravagance in this point, for we have gone beyond our models, (as people who ape the extravagances of others are apt to do,) and not content with having foolish men for chief magistrates, we must go beyond the English, and indulge ourselves in having foolish ministers of State also. Many people supposed that the "illustrious pre- decessor" would have satisfied the utmost desires of any people for this species of extravagance, but the treader in his footsteps is still more costly. It is generally thought that we cannot go farther in this course, but we have proved in a former chapter, that M. Y. and E. M. J. are not the two foolishest men in the country, and although few will agree with us in this opinion, yet we shall continue to maintain it ; for we will not sacrifice truth to the vanity of having it supposed that we are indulging in the most costly extravagance that could possibly be procured, a foolish vanity that admits of no excuse for its indulgence ; for when people make a great display of luxuries that it is notorious they cannot afford, it adds nothing to their reputation. The fact is as respects us, that such costly ex- travagancies as unwise rulers, tax us so much be- yond our means, that we shall be obliged to go 24S APPENDIX. back to the use of such jriain wise men as our fathers were contented with : for to endeavor to keep up appearances by trying one foolish man after another, only adds to our embarrassments, and will reduce us to abject poverty if we persist in it. N I A G AR A. Troubled waves in beauty rolling Stately to the rocky verge ; And with solemn voices tolling Ever your majestic dirge; Still your echoes haunt my slumbers, Dreamily around they float, Blending still in spirit numbers Peace with every warning note. Pure and white your waters gleaming, Eocks in vain your course would stay, White with foam in sunlight gleaming, Onward still ye urge your wa*y ; To the dizzy height you're sweeping, Pausing never on the brink, O'er the edge in grandeur leaping, In the depths below ye sink. Floating soft in spray to Heaven Now ye soar in glittering dew : But the sunbeams' ray hath given To each drop a rainbow hue ; APPENDIX. 249 Trembling now my heart rejoices, As I gaze with awe and fear; And the echoing spirit voices Still are whispering, " God is here ! ? Thus at night around my pillow Still they chant when none are near ; "So thy life, a restless billow, "Speedeth to death's brink with fear, -Breaking oft on rocks of sorrow, "Foaming still with passion tost, -Moaning on through each to-morrow, -Till within the grave 'tis lost.'" "Keep thy spirit waves as purely, "Strong through suff'ring urge thy way, "In the dread abyss securely "Thou mayst plunge, nor w T ish to stay; "Brightly then in light ascending, " Clad in raiment white as snow, "Hope, thy tears in beauty blending, " O'er thy grave shall arch her bow." NEW ENGLAND. Why do I love that rocky land. And that inclement sky? I know alone, I love it — And ask not. care not xchy. 250 APPENDIX. As round my friends my feelings twine, So round my native shore ; God placed the instinct in my heart, And I seek to know no more. Then howl, ye inland tempests, For ye lull my soul to sleep, And I think I hear the ocean wind, And the surges of the deep — New England's cold and leaden clouds Sweep o'er Ohio's sky, Her frost bound soil rings to my tread, And her snow goes drifting by. My father's bones, New England, Sleep in thy hallow'd ground; My living kin, New England, In thy shady paths are found — And though my body dwelleth here, And my weary feet here roam, My spirit and my hopes are still In thee, my own true home. March 22d, 1843. J. h. p. HYMN. That voice which bade the dead arise, And gave back vision to the blind, Is hushed, but when he sought the skies, Our Master left his word behind. APPENDIX. 251 'Twas not to bid the ocean roll; : Twas not to bid the hill be riven ; ]STo — 'twas to lift the fainting soul, And lead the erring mind to lleav'n. To heave a mountain from the heart; To bid those inner springs be stirr'd ; Lord, to thy servant here impart The quickening wisdom of that word. Dwell, Father, round this earthly fane, And when its feeble walls decay, Be with us as we meet again Within thy halls of endless day. J. H. p. A LAY SEUMOX. " Consider the lilies of the field."— Matt. ch. 8th, part of v. 2(3. In this age and country in which the principles of Utilitarianism are too prevalent for the general good of society, there is a peculiar fitness and pro- priety in calling your attention to this precept of the author of our holy religion. As it is the part of duty to yield implicit and unhesitating obedi- ence to all the commands of our gracious Redeemer. so it is the part of wisdom to enquire into the reasons and influences of those commands; for thus shall we strengthen our faith, increase our hope, and extend our charity. 252 APPENDIX. Flowers are among those common bounties of our beneficent creator, bestowed upon his rational creatures, for the purpose of increasing the happi- ness of them all ; for like air and water they are accessible to all; and they cannot be neglected without producing some of those evils, which a neglect of any of the common and universal bless- ings, bestowed on us by our Maker, always occa- sions. Amid the toils, the cares, and the vicissi- tudes of life, the heart is liable to become hard- ened, and the feelings callous, unless the softening and refining influence of objects of beauty and humility be frequently presented to the senses — objects which, like the flowers of the field, in the voiceless language of angels, reprove with gentle- ness and sweetness the selfish and evil passions of our nature, and call upon us for gratitude and thanksgiving to Him who clothes the lilies of the field with splendor exceeding that of Solomon in all his 2;lorv, and who has assured us that his care for us is in proportion to our superiority to these fading and transitory flowers. When we are overcome by distress and sorrow : when affliction bows our heads to the dust, these simple, humble ministers of consolation meet our view, and teach us that as they have arisen from the dust in beauty and fragrance, so shall we be raised from our weakness and depression, in power and glory, if we obey the commands of our Heav- enly Father, and place our trust in Him alone. APPENDIX. 253 Pride, ambition, and covetousness. when they take possession of the heart, expel from it the de- sire for those pure and simple gratifications which spring from a love of the beautiful in nature; and in the same proportion they expel happiness. The statesman and the warrior do not "Con- sider the lilies of the field.'' and they never enjoy happiness during their career of intrigue or blood, but if their hearts be not entirely hardened and corrupt, they may, perchance, be awakened to a new course of life, and be swayed by gentler im- pulses, then — like the patriot Kosciusko, the lat- ter years of whose life were devoted exclusively to acts of humanity and benevolence, and whose greatest pleasure was in considering the flowers of the field — for. says his biographer, whether in winter or summer, he was never without his flow- ers — like him, they ma}- be good as they have been great — like him, if they be so, they will also .love flowers, and will increase the happiness of their fellow creatures. Thus we see that the precept in our text is, like all the precepts of our Savior, calculated to in- crease the sum of human happiness: and it is ex- pressed in such clear and unequivocal terms, that we can scarcely call him a Christian who neglects the cultivation of flowers — who refuses to "Con- sider the lilies of the field." OO 254 APPENDIX. Y L O W E R 8 . There is do place In this world of ours, Where ye come not with grace Fair flowers ! sweet flowers ! Your beauty is dear to the eyes that weep, \nd without you who would a festival keep ? To the hero's proud triumph, the path of the bride, Oh what could atone for your presence denied. With what perfect bliss The wandering child Doth merrily kiss Your petals wild ! And affection would wish that your hues, fair flowers, Might betoken the joys of his future hours ! On the bier ye are laid — of sweet hopes to tell, And oh how can ye light up the captive's coll ! And where is the prize Like your fragrant bloom. To the darkened eyes In the dull sick room ? APPENDIX. 255 What gleams do ye bring from days that are gone, To bid the faint spirit live happily on. It might almost seem that your eloquent breath Could call the life back to the pillow of death. As the radiance bright, In the tents of the sun, When he resteth at night, When his course is run, So are ye to our toiling and work-a-day rac< A vision of beauty and glory and grace ; If e : er for you, love be lost in the world, May the recreant planet to atoms be hurled ! But may blessings of friendship, of joy and of mirth, Best on all your true lovers, ye gems of the earth. BABIES. •' I heard a voice cry, 'sleep no more,' Again it cried — 'sleep no more' — to all the house.'' Macbeth", (new reading.) Dear Semi-Colons, I want some help, advice. and consolation. I am a bachelor — not by any means an old one — but just in my prime — past the greenness and folly of youth, not feeling at all the weakness and infirmity of age, but arrived at years of sobriety and discretion, and know a thing or two. But 25() APPENDIX. here is one thing, or rather set of things, which I do not know about ; or rather, I should say, under- stand; for I know too much about them. Babies ! At my boarding house there is a young* couple whose room is next mine, and they have a baby, the delight of their hearts, but the destroyer of my rest. I suppose it is colic ; but no one would suppose that any thing short of red-hot pincers could draw such cries from human lungs. The amount of solid noise that child can manu- facture in one night is absolutely incredible. I come home at night ; everything is quiet ; I go to bed with the pleasant anticipation of enjoying* that sound, refreshing sleep that ever attends on a good conscience and a sound digestion. Pres- ently I dream horrible dreams. I am in the dun- geon of the Inquisition, and the shrieks and screams of the unhappy victims fall on my ear with frightful distinctness. Or I am a captive among the Indians — my comrades being slowly tortured before my eyes while I wait my turn. Finally I awake and still hear the dreadful yells, and find it is that baby ! that blessed Baby ! Then for the space of about an hour there is a suc- cession of ear-piercing shrieks and demoniac yells as of an insane locomotive in the next room. Then comes a lull — and just as I am dropping off to sleep, congratulating myself that there is a limit- to every thing, even the powers of that child's lungs, the uproar is renewed with double force and. fury, as though the little wretch had merely APPENDIX. 257 been getting an increase of strength and vicious- ness during the temporary pause. It is a perfect cataract of cries, a tornado of yells, an avalanche of shrieks, all at once, and I am deafened, stunned and stupitied, and so lie and wish for day. That ehild has converted me to the doctrine of infant damnation ; for certainly there never could be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour if a baby was there. Yet these parents, these infat- uated parents, actually seem to take great comfort in the little savage, and talk about it with the ut- most complacency, and say its a dear, sweet, love- ly, amiable child, except it has a little colic now and then. Little colic! now and then! Great Heaven! I sit and stare at them in dumb aston- ishment, and they are in other respects intelligent, well informed people. And what still more as- tonishes, and I may say alarms me, is, that I have reason to believe that other people are just as blind with regard to their babies ; it seems to be a sort of epidemic monomania. They call them angels, cherubs ; when they do not in the slightest degree resemble anything angelic, except that like the cherubim and seraphim they "continually do cry;" and moreover there is this fundamental difference between cherubs and babies, that whereas the former, according to all writers on the subject, have no place for the proper application of Solo- mon's antiseptic, the latter by a wise dispensation of Providence are well supplied in that particular, and nature herself seems to enjoin us not to neg- 22* 258 APPENDIX. lect the opportunity offered. But parents whose opportunities are greatest for availing themselves of such facilities, seem to think of every other duty but that. But what is to be done? Babies, to a certain extent, are necessary no doubt, and have their uses; but is it absolutely essential that there should be so many of them, and that they should be so omnipresent ? Can't they be put somewhere at least until they are old enough to go to parties, and consume cotton, crinoline, and tobacco. They are bad enough then — but before, intolerable. If they can't be put somewhere, can't I ? The dis- coverer of a remedy for this crying evil will be de- servedly ranked by posterity with Fulton, Colum- bus, Galileo, King Herod, and other discoverers inventors, philanthropists-, and benefactors of man- kind. The humble petition of the editors of the Cin cinnati Chronicle and the Illinois Monthly Maga- zine, to the Semi- Colons. Fair and gentle Semi-Colons, Bright as Hebe, wise as Solons, Famed for beauty, wit and learning, Jeux d' esprit, and deep discerning, Secret, social coalition — Listen to our poor petition. APPENDIX. 259 Listen, laughing, lovely woman, Famed for pointed quick acumen, Critics hear whose sterner ken, Walker yclept ac-umen, — Semi-Colons, one and all, Hear the prayer of Drake and Hall ! Each whose footstep hither tends, Philosophic forty friends, •'Favored and enlightened few, - ' Champions of the stocking blue, For your own, your country's sake, List, oh, list to Hall and Drake! Thinking man or thoughtless blade, Matron wise or blushing maid, Samuel Essence, Cherubina, Oh, for honied words to win ye! Long, too long your inspirations, Like some misty exhalations, In the lonely mountain glen. Shunning every human ken, Have distilled in gentle showers, On a few secluded flowers. AVe would sec those treasures rise Boldly up to mortal eyes ; Like the clouds, in grandeur sail, O'er the mountain, o'er the vale, Decked with beaut3 r , clothed in light, Touched with colors dark and bright, 260 APPENDIX. Flashing meteors o'er the sky, Giving rainbows to the eye, Darting outward as they roll, Streams of wit, from pole to pole. We suggest, (to change the figure — And we urge the point with vigor,) That ye act the part of churls, Witty men and pretty girls, Thus to light the torch of pleasure, And to hide it in a measure. Thus ye act like him who lingers. Moping o'er a glowing grate, Thawing out his own cold fingers. Leaving others to their fate. Gentle demi-Semi-Colons, Thus ye lock up nolens volens, Wisdom's fire, Genius' taper, Thoughts that boil like steamy vapor, Bachelor's groan and beauty's sigh, (Meet repast for critic's eye,) Caleb Comma's work of art, Pithy things from spry Joe Dart ; Pleasant fancies — all your treasure Hide ye thus beneath a measure. We, like knights of famed romance, Fain would couch the quivering lance; We would slay the giant guard, Who keeps nightly watch and ward ArPENDIX. 2G1 Over mind, and over beauty. Like a sentinel on duty. We would throw the portals wide, See the fetters all untied ; Till Semi-Colon thoughts should fly, Like comets through the darkened sky. Plainly to speak — we edit papers ; Our readers all have got the vapors, We've grown so dull of late, we scare Can round a period, pen a verse ; Xor knew we why that we, who once Were neither of us, quite a dunce, Beheld our pages thus become, So melancholy and hum-drum ; Until we found that you, dear friends, Had crossed our purposes and ends, By hoarding uj:>, like pirate's booty, All the wit, and all the beauty. Give, oh, give us then the book ; Think how fine we all shall look, Chronicled in goodly pages, Mingled up with saints and sages. Think how all the world would stare, Seeing Semi-Colons there; How they'll wonder, how enquire, How they'll guess, and how admire ! And Semi-Colons, through the nation, Meet with notes of admiration ! ! 2H2 APPENDIX. HOW TO OBSERVE. An Englishman passing down Pali Mall, found another man's hand in his pocket. This was a phenomenon. Strange hand in his pocket! It occured to him that the fellow had intentions, and turnin°\ he asked him frankly if he did not in- tend to pick his pocket, and if he did, to tell him, as a friend, what he had seen particularly soft or foolish in his countenance that had led to his be- ing selected as a fit subject for the enterprise. Such frankness required a return, and the fellow in reply, with many apologies for his mistake, told him that as to the matter of his countenance, that was well enough, but he had noticed that he wore white cotton socks, and thin shoes of a wet day, and had thought from that that the thing could be done upon him. The thief was evidently a philosopher, and a man of genius. All people will fail some times. He failed here, but it wasn't his fault. He should have succeeded. Every one will allow that on the premises the mans pocket ought to have been picked with the most triumphant success. The world is censorious. An undiscriminating crowd would not appreciate the brilliant qualities thus displayed — they wouldn't know how to observe. They probably hooted and yelled, and insisted on escorting the fellow to prison. And the artisticai merit — the show of genius that would have graced any brotherhood of choice jolly spirits for the pro- APPENDIX. •HV.) moting of thievery on genteel principles, meets with a premature fate on the rounds of a tread- mill. This is harrowing. But this isn't half so bad as another ease, which has long been weighing on my mind, and which 1 will take this occasion of relieving my feelings bv commemorating. When will the world learn to be just? I will not say generous, but simply just. Now I know not if any instinctive sense of in- justice in the bosoms of any here present will lead them to conjecture to what object I allude — but I anticipate that it will. It is the much abused — meekl y suffering Quack — that important personage in the modern social eeonomv. Every age is distin- guished for some thing. In one it is the mariner's compass. In another the art of printing. In an- other it is the great plague. In another the fun that was had in burning heretics. In another the similar amusement in doing the same thing for the orthodox. In another the long-peaked shoes. Our own is the age of Dr. Brandreth, Dick- ens, aud the Vegetable Indian Balsam. Witness the philanthropy of the Quack. l)r. So and So's "real blessing," for every bodv. is to be had every where, by the gross, dozen, or single box. What a gratifying assurance! Good, kind Dr. So and So ! Almost a perfect sugar 1 But. as I said before, the world is a censorious world. The order is misrepresented. "Sir," said Dr. Brandreth to me, the other dav. in the course of a familiar conversation we had together. "people 264 APPENDIX. don't appreciate us — the fact is, sir, they haven't learnt how to observe. The age is a superficial one. It doesn't examine. It doesn't plunge, sir ! Thus we are not understood. A Quack — what is a Quack ? He may be called a biped who consults the wants , tastes, and feelings of the community. He is an adaptative animal. He is a' philosopher, for he knows that Quackery goes down — that peo- ple have a natural taste for it. Dont it? Follow my nine and a half a million of boxes of the gen- uine article that have gone off within the last five years, and then say. This I call aptitude. It is more — it is philosophy, taste, science, poetry, and genius ! " Sir, a man down South advertised that he had beat me. He said he could rejuvenesce old age. That I could do too. But he went farther. He said he could make a young man out of an old one, and have enough left for a little dog besides. But I tried him, and he couldn't do it. The little dog teas a failure. He had some left, but not enough for an ordinary sized kitten. I published him the next day — and also an advertisement of Brand- reth's Pills. " The great merit of our system is the quiet and order with which everything is done. The sys- tern of tooling in all its branches we have nothing to do with. Other men mav use the knife and dagger, but we avoid them. We operate with more precision, science and system. Neat— but effective. APPENDIX. 2»)T) "What then to the Quack are triumphs, proces- sions, pomps and vain-gloryings? Conscious of his own merit, he does not need them. He works not for temporal honors. Like Augustus, he is satis- tied with the suhstance without the show of power. He declines an ovation that might be garnished with the endless processions, of the vanquished and the spoils of victory. Through persecution and scoffing he meekly exclaims with the great and virtuous Iago, " Work on, my medicine, work!" : ' Consider the names that have borne the title. A distinguished Ex-President has been designated (but by the uninitiated) as a Quack. A Mr. C. once wrote of him that 'he was a man whom, whatever other qualities he might have, posterity would not fail to set down as a great financial Quack.' Now if posterity do any thing of this sort, they will be doing a very inconsiderate sort of thing. It pertains to the perfection of the character, that it should never have been contam- inated by the taint of a Literary Institution. This gentleman was L. L. D. ; d at Cambridge, and, of course, incapacitated. But that, in spite of this, he was designated for the honor first alluded to. only shows how eminently worthy in other re- spects he was considered for it. "It is a matter of pride." continued Dr. B., "that this, our order, is only of modern growth. It is only under the illumination of the nineteenth cen- tury that it could nourish. Columbus was three 23 2(56 APPENDIX. centuries in advance of us. He opened a new world to Europe. We open a new world to every body — and a very distant one. In fact, people that go sometimes don't come back.'' Dr. B. paused. He was just getting animated. A pleasant flush was overspreading his counten- ance, and lie was preparing to resume, when a man called who had a broken leg cured by setting it so that it stuck out at right angles with his body, and wished for some of the " universal pan- acea," to set it right again. The doctor went to work putting up sixteen gross of boxes of his pills for him, and I reluctantly went my way, deeply impressed with the views he had presented. LETTER FPvOM OKE WHO KNOWS "HOW TO OBSERVE." Cincinnati, February 20th, 1843. i still date, as you see, from the Queen City, where I have been detained quite beyond my ex- pectations, owing to the suspension of navigation. For several days the river was obstructed by float- ing ice, then it began to rain in torrents, swelling all the tributaries, which came pouring their mud- dy currents into the Ohio, till the water became so thick that no boat could possibly get through it. You have no idea of the turbidness of this famous river. It is as near the consistence of their hasty pudding as any thing, and I am told at some APPENDIX. 267 seasons they eat it with a spoon. The very thought of it almost chokes me. What do you suppose they call this river ? " The drink." There never was a greater misnomer. The food, would have been much more appropriate. As we were coming down from Pittsburg, the steward took the cook's boy to the side of the boat, and told him if he didn't behave himself he'd "spill him into the drink." I could not but smile at the singularity of the expression, though I was very much terri- fied lest he should carry his threat into execution ; for they say it 's very common for the captain to throw the hands, or even the passengers, over board in case of any difficulty. I can assure you I minded my P.s and Q.s, and took off my hat to the captain as deferentially as though he had been the Emperor Nicholas, for the thought of being- plunged headlong into such a mud puddle was ab- solutely suffocating. I would as lief be drowned in a soft custard. I am credibly informed, how- ever, it is considerably thinner in summer, so that when diluted with rain water or brandy, it is quite palatable. Indeed, most of the Buckeyes, and some of the New Englanders affected to like it as it is; even giving it the preference to the cold, limpid springs of their own native homo. But there's no accounting for fancies, as the man said to his wife, who imagined herself a powder maga- zine, and was mad because she couldn't blow him up. 2f)S APPENDIX . I am very anxious to get away from here I assure you. They call it the "Queen City;" but for what reason I cannot imagine, for its the most democratic place I ever saw. There's no defer- ence paid to rank whatever. If the great Mogul himself, or any of the family of gulls were to visit here, the} 7 could only receive common civilities. The principle of democracy seems to extend even into family government, so that children contend that the majority should govern, and they (being in most cases a very large majority,) hold a pretty tight rein over their parents, manifesting no more respect for their seniors than they do for themselves, which is very little. A man who lives in a small tenement, in an obscure street, considers himself on an equality with the proprietor of a splendid mansion, and were it not for the Dutch, who bring with them the polish and refinement incidental to a monarchical government, the manners of the people would soon degenerate into a coarse, vulgar freedom, which would be quite intolerable. In one particular, however, Cincinnati bears the palm over all other cities in the world. It is the greatest piggery in creation. You know there is a population here of about fifty thousand, but the greatest proportion of these are within doors. Just suppose them all in the streets together, men, w t o- men, and children; and they would (to use a very common expression here,) make a pretty tall crowd. Imagine then a population of 230,000 hogs, which is the number supposed to have been killed this APPENDIX. 200 winter, and which, of course, must have lived here, and remember they all live out of doors, and you can form some idea of the consternation a stranger feels in being thrown, for the first time, in such an extensive four-legged society. I have myself seen the streets so thronged with this privileged order that horses and carriages were arrested in their progress, till the slow moving procession should pass by. But though respected in life, they all meet with a violent and ignominious death, the details of which would, I fear, prove too much for your sensitive nature, I therefore forbear. Suffice it to say, they are often promenading the streets in the morning, offending the sight of the fastidi- ous, and at night they are tickling the palate of the same fastidious ones in the form of sausages, But I must bring my letter to a close. If I should be detained much longer I may write } t ou again. I should take the stage for Wheeling, but I am told the roads are nearly as muddy as the river. AVe cis-montanes, as a well known Colonel in town would call us, are a great people. AVe over- shadow the whole world as the Cedars of Lebanon overshadowed the brambles under them, "and all that sort of thing." We do every thing better than any nation under the high sun. AVe see more, hear more, and more wonderful things hap- pen to us. Now, for instance, when Ned. Hughes 21* 27G APPENDIX. came back from Home, what could rival his story about the procession of priests at Candlemas? "Yes," said Ned., " there were five thousand priests, each bearing a lighted candle in his hand." "Five thousand priests ! " said his brother Peter, with an air of doubt. " Yes, sir, and every candle was as big as the pillars in front of Dr. Beecher's church, and fluted from top to bottom, by George, sir!" Ned. was born out at Hamilton. But speaking of candles reminds me of Judge B., of Western Pennsylvania. Now the Judge must be allowed to tell his adventures in his own way or he wouldn't tell them at all. If his facts didn't hang well together, why, that was their lookout — not his — he did all he could for them. "One day," said the Judge, "the men Avere going out to the harvest field after dinner, and one of them had a colt that he was trying to break to the saddle. He couldn't manage him, and I got on him to try what I could do. Well, gentlemen, will you believe me, that colt threw me over his head thirty-four yards and a half — we measured it afterwards. And if it hadn't been that there was a foot of snow on the ground, the fall would have broken my neck." "But Judge," said one sitting by, " I thought you said it was in the har- vest field." "Did I?" said the Judge, as he turned slowly in his chair, and gave the fact lover a look that was enough to drill gimblet holes through him — "no, sir, I'll be d — d if I did." The doubter declined joining issue. APPENDIX. 271 But speaking of colts reminds mc of music. Now Jack Jones teas a good musician : he played on the piano admirably. But the strangest things would keep happening to Jack, and Jack would tell them. We were all gathered round a blazing fire one afternoon, each behind a sixpence worth of good tobacco, and sending forth volumes of smoke, when Jack got on to a remarkably tough one. "When I was out in "Wisconsin," he began, "and you know that snakes are rather too plenty there for comfort. The summer rains had come on ; and I was kept in a miserable little log cabin for a whole week, with nothing on earth to do to pass away the time. Well, one morning I Avent into the drawing room and sat down at the piano — a first rate Vienna instrument, by the way — to amuse myself. I thought that I heard a strange kind of noise every now and then, but didn't mind it much. Well, I hadn't been playing much more than half an hour when I happened to turn round, and there was the biggest rattle snake I ever saw, coiled through the back of the chair, and looking over my left shoulder, right into the music book. There he was: licking his lips and picking his teeth with his tongue every minute, as if he had just come from dining with an alderman. And a beautiful audience he was for a modest amateur who had never given exhibitions to a promiscuous assemblage in his life before. Well, gentlemen, I saw how it was going to be. I knew if I stopped, or made one false note, the varmint would bite me 'll'l APPENDIX. sure. So, on I went, with that pestiferous reptile hanging over my shoulder, and blowing his infer- nal breath into my ear, and played every thing I ever knew or heard of, and when I was done, I ])layed 'em all over again." "Well, how did you get away at last, Jack?" interrupted some one through the smoke. " Why, I'll just tell you how it happened. The snake was keeping time all along with his rattles : and by-and-by he got to doing it pretty well. He made use of his big rat- tles for the bass, and the little ones at the end of his tail for the high notes. I saw it kind of puz- zled him to manage some of the passages: and when I got to putting in my big licks in the high parts of Xorma, I got, of course, clear down to the end of the treble keys. I kept one eye on the snake, and t'other on the door; and suddenly, when I was farthest away from him, kicked the chair over, snake and all, cut and run, and have been traveling ever since." "Whew ! ! ! " said some fellow. But he was only blowing out a mouth - full of smoke. But speaking of snakes reminds me of Demo- crats. My particular friend, Thomas Jefferson Smith, is a Democrat: and Thomas has a theory, too, about the weather. He was favoring me with it one day last w^eek somewhat after this fashion. "You know," so he was pleased to begin, "that these bloody aristocrats in town here wont have anything to do with us Loco-foco lawyers. Well, here I was, sitting in my office all spring and all APPENDIX. 273 summer, and taking in no fees except the old clothes that I got from the jail birds for defending them. That did for a while. My landlady took old clothes for board until she got two suits apiece for her children all round, and a winter frock for herself. Twas bright, 'twas heavenly, but it wouldn't last; as the poet says. And my land- lady, says she to me one day, 'Look here, Mr. Smith, I can't afford to trade any longer! so you must fork wp the hard every Saturday night, or your name's Walker.' "Well, I saw how it was go- ing to be: I must either raise the wind or break up my interesting domestic relations. The elec- tion was coming on, and I determined to stump it for the sovereigns, to see if any thing would come of that. Up I went the first night, with my speech all learned by heart for fear I should forget it. Says I to myself, the Lafayette is a gone sucker now; and the Life and Trust may just as well shut up as not. Well, I mounted the stand, and was just giving them a broad-side right into 'em, when a chap in the crowd sings out: 'Helloa! Mister, vot's your name ? Tell us vere you got your brought- in up, and all about it — let's have the proper docu- ments !' Here was a go! It felt like a shower bath. Well, I told them all about m}'self; but they kept on asking question after question for as much as ten minutes. I answered them all, and rolled up my sleeves to fire away, and just as I got fairly into the Constitution and the Eights of Man, a big fellow gets up right in front of me, and sa}'S he, 274 APPENDIX. 1 My friend, ono more question, if you 1 re agreeable to it. It may be necessary for you to settle one fact of considerable importance before you begin. So will you have the kindness to inform this meet- ing whether or not your anxious mother really knows you're out?' I didn't hear any more, sir. I pledge you my word I didn't run. But I did do some of the tallest walking that has ever been known in these parts." "But the weather, Tom," said I, "how do you account for all the rain we've had lately?' 1 "Oh, yes. Why, the fact of the business is, that the sovereigns '-rent the air' so with their shouts as I was leaving that it wont hold water any longer, and the showers have been dripping through the holes ever since." GRAHAMISM. " Could a Tartar e'er grow cruel Coldly fed on water gruel ? But fancy his ferocious force, If lie first ride, then feed upon his horse ! " "The interests of humanity," says a modern re- viewer exultingly, "are at last suspended on a pot- hook." The seething cauldron embodies the ele- ments of the progress of society. The simples of the cabbage garden contain the true elixir of life. "All flesh is grass," as has Ions: ago been declared, APPENDIX. 275 and if man grows it must be grass that expands him. Such are the promises of the vegetable — now denominated the saw dust, now the graham, now the bran, now the oatmeal and chips theory. Vitu- peration is to be expected. Every great discoverer treads, of course, upon the toes of the millions of stupid fellows, who have gone before him. But it is not by vituperation that a theory is to be tested. It is by what it has done, its results, achievements, by truth, reason and philosophy. Taken in this light, our motto affords a most convincing and enforcing proof. It is also tri- umphantly illustrative of the doctrine. Let me repeat, " Could a Tartar e'er grow cruel, Coldly fed on water h the remembrance of the experi- ences which in anv other case would lead them to distrust such fair promises. For the bright ocean when in it- state of quiet repose, gives them no intimation of the dangers from the rocks and shoals beneath its surface, nor of the reservoir of dreadful storms and tempests in the white clouds and blue skies over their heads ; but rather seems to tell in Syren songs, of pearls and precious jewels in its depths, and glorious brightness and prosper- ous breezes above. Thev are like the bright as- pects of slavery, as we have seen them many tin* - exhibited in the South, where a patriarchial care * The term Yankee is general abroad, including all citizens of the United States, bat at home is specific, being restricted to citizens of New England. 298 APPENDIX. and watchfulness over the temporal and future happiness of the slave, was repaid by a love and reverence more than filial.* These scenes of love and trust make us forget that slavery conceals rocks on which our most cherished possessions are in danger of being wrecked, and tempests of fear- ful portent, which call for the exercise of every faculty of mind and heart, to enable us to steer our ship of State to a secure harbor. The dangers to seamen of winds and waves are not those which are most to be dreaded. The Syrens of the Mediteranean, who in the time of Homer's heroes, were accustomed to entice sailors into bad company, and then punish them for go- ing there, are represented in our seaports by those * We have no doubt that in our Southern States many examples might be found, of attachment between masters and slaves, similar to one which remains very vivid among the recollections of the writer's boyhood. In the neighborhood of Newburgh, near New Merlboro', a fugitive from St. Domingo, Mr. J. J. A. Robart, purchased a small estate, which he im- proved with such skill, and beautified with such taste, that it was among the curiosities of that region. At the time of the insurrection in the above named island, a number of his slaves exhibited their love for their master and mistress, not only in providing means of escape for them, and saving as much property as could be carried away, but in refusing to be separated from them, although it re- quired the abandonment of freedom, and their beautiful island, for the (to them) fearfully cold regions of the North. Mr. Robart's character was such as might be expected from such proofs of love by his slaves. His wife was a most beautiful and graceful woman ; such a one apparently as the Empress Josephine must have been from the accounts given of her. APPENDIX. 299 who arc quite as dangerous, who follow their ex- ample, devouring the sailors' earnings, debasing their vocation, and unfitting them for any other pursuit. The example of the subject of this me- moir is that of one who was never seduced into bad company in pursuit of pleasure, though often compelled to be associated therewith by the re- quirements of business.* He never was disquali- fied for any pursuit which circumstances required him to adopt, by youthful follies and careless neg- lect of the opportunities of extensive observation, which teach lessons more effective than those of the teachers who profess to teach languages and sciences in a few easy lessons without a master. Among the plans of that class of benevolent Christians, who, in modern times have been mak- ing exertions to ameliorate the character and con- dition of seamen, the first idea very naturally and properly was to provide boarding houses for them, where they might live exempt from the tempta- tions that more easily beset them. * At the period iu which Mr. Foote was embarrassed by pecuniary diffi- culties in Cincinnati, his characteristic straight forwardness and unreserved truthfulness, confirmed the character he had always sustained. "So great," says a gentleman who was President of one of the banks at that time, "was the confidence in Mr. Foote's honor and integritj-, and in his anxiety to free himself from debt, that no requisition as to time or amount in the re- duction of his indebtedness, further than suited his own convenience, was required of him by the directors. Their confidence in him was perfect, nor was it disappointed." The same gentleman adds : " he suffered a loss of about one thousand dol- lars rather than implicate an individual who might possibly be innocent, 1 ' one who had a family dependent on his labors for support. 300 APPENDIX. Examples of success by the due exercise of in- dustry, with patience and perseverance, combined with econonrv and self-control, will aid as a safe- guard against many of the temptations to which they are exposed, and can not be too often placed before them. Hope with all seafaring, as with most others, is constantly gaining victories over fear, but disappointment too often conquers pa- tience and perseverance, generating in their stead intemperance and carelessness of the future. One consequence of the heedless disregard of the teachings of experience by seamen, and of its warning by merchants, has been the ruin of a great proportion of the latter class; men whose talents and enterprise, have been probably the most efficient causes of the rapid progress of their country in that career, which in little more than half a century has raised it from the lowest to the highest rank among nations. When in high political party times our mer- chants were accused by Southern politicians of be- ing bought by "British gold," and John Bandolph sneeringly asked in Congress, where else they got the capital for the purchase of their ships and car- goes — as if no wealth could be created but by ne- gro slaves — he was answered by Mr. Lloyd, of Massachusetts, that they obtained it by honest and APrENDIX. 301 honorable industry, and successful commerce. lie did not give any exemplifications, but lie might have given many like the following : The ship Neptune was owned by a number of merchants of small capital, and mechanics, of Hartford and New Haven, and was fitted out for an expedition around Cape Horn. She carried nothing but young men,* (some of them fresh graduates from Yale College,) with their provisions and equipments. "With these she proceeded to the South Sea Islands, where by the labor of her men alone, she obtained a cargo of seal skins, carried them to Canton, where they were sold, and the proceeds invested in teas and silks of the value of four hundred thousand dollars in New York, to which port she returned in safety. Other voyages, some to the North-west coast of America, in search of furs for the China market, and others to various places in the Indian and Pa- cific oceans, brought great additions to the com- mercial capital of our merchants, and aided in giving fresh impulse, and opening new regions to their trade. The pretext for the robberies of neutrals by the European belligerents, by which they were made * Capt. Andrew Mack, formerly of this city, and afterward Collector of the Tort of Detroit, was one of them. 26 302 APPENDIX. to differ somewhat in appearance from the old fashioned system of piracy and buccaneering was, on the part of the British, by a paper blockade of nearly all the European ports, and on that of France by Buonaparte's "Continental system," followed by the British "Orders in Council," were by each party designed to obtain the spoils of suc- cessful war. An English political writer of the time spoke of the robbery of neutrals as a source of "plunder for our brave tars," which had begun to fail for the want of enemies' vessels on the seas, with a glow of patriotism like that excited by fresh con- quests in India; and the French Government seemed to desire to excel their enemies in this in- cident of belligerent operations as much as in killing, burning and destroying in the established modes of honorable warfare. America had been a field for plunder to the nations of Europe from the period of its discovery ; and as it now failed to supply the usual gold and silver for this pur- pose, it was like a new discovery to find in that country a people who had acquired wealth which could be taken from them as easily as it had been taken from the Aborigines, and w T ith as little re- gard to the rights of the owners. The British government trusted to their ships to find and ap- propriate their share of the spoils, but the French, being by the English naval supremacy rendered powerless at sea, contrived to obtain their share by offering inducements to neutrals to trade at APPENDIX. 303 their ports, and making prizes of them on their arrival. The infamy of those proceedings has since been shared by our own government, for the French, by a treaty with us, made reparation in part for those spoliations, paying to our government cer- tain sums agreed on for this purpose, which to this day have not been transferred to their rightful owners. The enmity of both parties of belligerents, to- gether with that of our own government, which our merchants had to encounter, it might have been supposed would have annihilated the com- merce of any nation, and especially of one possess- ing such boundless agricultural resources as the United States. And this would probably have been the case in any nation in which the love of freedom and of commerce, its parent and offspring, had not been so early and strongly developed. In the United States it might be modified by circum- stances, but could not be entirely suppressed. The fearless enterprise of our merchants con- tributed to raise up that indomitable host of sea- men which no other nation has ever equalled. The fame of our whalemen became at an early period so great that the French government, de- spairing of ever being able to raise such seamen themselves, invited our whaling ships to sail to and from their ports, and special privileges and immunities were granted to induce them to accept 9 04 APPENDIX. the invitation, which some of them did, but it was an unnatural course, and soon terminated. Our trade with China became at one time so ex- tensive that we supplied not only our own country with Chinese teas, silks, etc., but also some por- tions of Europe, especially Holland, to which country some of our ships made direct voyages from Canton, although she had been formerly so tenacious of her trade beyond the Cape of Good Hope, that the struggle to render it exclusive to herself, was the commencement of the decline and downfall of her commerce forever. The course of our commercial prosperity oper- ated on us as a nation in the same manner that success too often operates on individuals, being followed by reverses which could not be retrieved by men of weak minds among merchants — nor among nations, by those under the rule of weak statesmen ; such countries as Venice, Holland and Portugal for instance. The opposition to a commercial policy for our nation began with the transfer of political power to the anti-federal party, led by Jefferson, whose political education was finished in France, where hostility to England was nourished as the first duty, not only of statesmen, but of patriots in all classes; and England being considered the nurs- APPENDIX. :>05 ery of commerce, inhabited by a " canaille mar- chande" it was regarded as one of her attributes to be held in inimical contempt. The enmity of Southern politicians toward England led to a simi- lar course, when they lent their aid to suppress American commerce. The variety of denominations and sects which the Christian religion has awakened among those nations where freedom of religious discussion is permitted, has been one of the causes, and a very important one, of the more rapid progress of civil- ization and improvement in all the arts of life, among Protestant Christian nations than in any others. The efforts which have been made to establish uniformity of religious belief, have retarded mental growth and progress in all matters. In the United States, where a greater variety of Christian de- nominations, and more perfect freedom of religious opinion exist than in any other country, greater progress is made in one generation than in pagan and idolatrous countries in centuries. And in those Christian nations where uniformity of belief in creeds and dogmas is required, and dissent pun- ished, a proportionate difference in progress is ob- served. Compare the progress of improvement in the arts and sciences in Spain, Portugal and Italy 306 APPENDIX. with the same in England and the United States, and the contrast will be found striking. Every sect and denomination in endeavoring to make proselytes by reasoning and not by force, contrib- ute to mental progress, not merely in metaphysi- cal and theological knowledge, but in that exercise of mind which generates improvements in matters of which theological disputants make no account. When ever it is attempted to propagate the Chris- tian religion by any other mode than that of coun- sel and reasoning, and instruction, it destroys its most distinctive characteristics, which are com- prised in one little word — Love. Success is always deified by nations, and gener- ally by individuals. For want of it, Byng was hung, and through its influence Nelson was raised to the rank of a demigod, and allowed to commit with impunity more sins than any extent of chari- ty can cover. It enabled him to blind the British nation to their atrocities so completely, that he felt as if it made him so superior to the influences of virtue or vice on character and reputation, that he dared to recommend to the care and protection of the British nation, the harlot by whose wiles he had not only been induced to abandon the wife of his youth, but to commit one of the most atro- cious murders on record. APPENDIX. 307 By recommending examples of success to the consideration of the young, we endeavor to make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, in hopes that they may be received into the houses of their minds, accompanied by industry and pru- dence, patience and perseverance, and that the illusions generated by the success of criminals in stations so exalted as to be above human pun- ishment, may be dispelled by the lights of truth, of sound judgment, and just appreciation of the nature of those acts which confer reputation inde- pendent of character. 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