!!«(^\<^\\\\\\\\\VvW^ ^!^a JA3^ ^^ - I ^LIBRARY 0F>^ : 01TS |.gnculfurcUc^c|)O0l | PRESENTED BY \ t : I 47*^ ... p. ' BOOK 920.02.L586H c 1 SL^c* '"°°^'' TREASURES OR Wh IMimiVi^inF^^ ^^"-E OTHERS FA^L 3 T1S3 00?110flO ^ &,^./ -^ rv. Mi**. .vjt'Mi^i. vi " This book may be kept out TWO WEEKS only and is subject to a fine of TWO CENTS a day thereafter. It will be due on the day indicated below HIDDEN^TRESSURES ; ®R, hij some ||uccee(l. hile othens ^^ail. By H. A. LEWIS. FINELY ILLUSTRATED. * Not Failure, but low airr), is crime." SOLD ONLY BY OUR AUTHORIZED AGENTS, KING, RICHARDSON & CO., 137, 139 & 141 State St., Springfield, Mass. 1889. r.liiSI"**^""' Copyright, 1887, By AVRIGHT, MOSES & LEWIS, All rights reserved. PREFACE. ^I^OME succeed while others fail. This is a recognizee^ fact ; yet history tells us that seven-tenths of our mosl successful men began life poor. As our title indicates, w^ shall endeavor to show *'why some succeed while others fail.*' Knowing that everybody desires success, and recog- nizing the old adage, "Example is the best of teachers," we have selected representative characters from the multitude of successful men who have climbed the ladder of success, beginning at the bottom round. These we have followed from childhood to manhood, dwelling at length on the traits of character that have made them so rich and successful, be- lieving that a careful study will convince all that the pro- verbial **luck" had little to do with it. On the contrary, one is taught those lessons of self-helpfulness and self-reliance which are so essential to success in life's struggles. It is fear ful to think how many of our young people are drifting with- out an aim in life, and do not comprehend that they owe mankind their best efforts. We are all familiar with the parable of the slothful servant who buried his talent — all may profit by his example. To those who would succeed, we respectfully present this volume. Ill Every younef man is now a sower of seed on the field of life. The bright days of youth are the seed'time. Every ihought of your i7itellectj every emotion of your heart, every word of your tongue, every principle you adopt, every act you perform, is a seed, whose good or evil fruit will prove bliss or ba?ie of your after life. — Wise. £V INTRODUCTION. T^EAR reader, it is a grave undertaking to write a book, ^^-^ especially is it so in writing a treatise on success and failure, as we haye attempted to do in the work we hereby present you. It is a solemn thing to give advice. Experi- ence teaches that no one thing will please everybody ; that men's censures are as various as their palates ; that some are as deeply in love with vice as others are with virtue. Shall I then make myself the subject of every opinion, wise or weak ? Yes, I would rather hazard the censure of some than kinder the good of others. There need neither reasons to be given nor apologies to be made where the benefit of our fellow-men is our aim. Henry Clay Trumbull says: "At no time in the world's history, probably, has there been so general an interest in biography as that which has been shown of late. Just here lies a weighty obligation upon those who write, and those who read, of the lives of men who have done something in the world. It is not enough for us to know what they have done ; it belongs to us to discover the why of their works and ways, and to gain some personal benefit from the analysis of thtir successes and failures. Why was this man great? What general intentions — what special traits led him to sue* cess ? What ideal stood before him, and by what means did he seek to attain it ? Or, on the other hand, what unworthy purpose, what lack of conscience and religious sense, what nnsettled method and feeble endeavor stood in the way of the 'man of genius ' and his possible achievements?" In this Tolume one sees the barefoot boy rise to the eminent states- man, the great millionaire, the honored inventor. How was this accomplished ? We believe that a careful study of the different characters, by the light of the author^s opinion of the characteristics essential to success, as shown in Depart- ment Fifth, will show why they succeeded. Let the reader follow each character separately, from childhood to manhood, noting carefully the different changes in the career of each and the motives w^hich actuated and brought them about. If this book shall serve to awakea dormant energies in one person who might otherwise have failed, we shall feel abundantly repaid. Doubtless, there are others who are better qualified to write a treatise on suck a subject; nevertheless, we have done our best, and this done, we have attained success. VI CONTENTS. Adams, John. Arthur, Chester A. , - AsTOR, John Jacob, - Barnum, Phineas T., - Beecher, Henry Ward, Bennett, James Gordon Benton, Thomas Hart, Blaine, James G., Bonner, Robert, - Calhoun, John C, Cass, Lewis, Childs, George W., - Claflin, Horace B., Clay, Henry, Cooper, Peter, Corcoran, William W., DissTON, Henry, Dodge, William E., - Douglass, Stephen A., Drew, Daniel, Edison, Thomas A., Everett, Edward, Fair, James G., - Fargo, William G., - Field, Cyrus W., - Fillmore, Millard, Flood, James C. Til PAGE. 129 - 352 85 . 81 404 77 - 248 362 45 . 209 . 207 72 26 256 95 119 93 27 267 11 476 328 54 48 - 467 - 281 49 Franklin, Benjamin, Fulton, Robert, Garfield, James A., GiRARD, Stephen, Goodyear, Charles, Gould, Jay, Grant, Ulysses S., - Greeley, Horace, Hamilton, Alexander, Hancock, Winfield S., - Harper, James, Hayne, Robert Y., Hoe, Richard M., - Howe, Jr., Elias, Jackson, Andrew, - Jackson, Stonewall, - Jefferson, Thomas, Johnson, Andrew, Law, George, Lawrence, Abbott, Lawrence, Amos, - Lee, Robert E., Lincoln, Abraham, Logan, John A., Longworth, Nicholas, - MacKay, John W., - Madison, James, - Marshall, John, McClellan, George B., - Mills, Darius O., Monroe, James, - Morse, Professor S. F. B., Palmer, Potter, - Feabody, George, VIII PAGB. 429 - 436 342 - 106 457 30 299 61 179 . 293 90 - 216 454 - 444 237 - 303 168 . 338 101 271 21 306 312 367 43 52 184 175 297 103 200 462 - 88 116 PAGE, Pullman, George, - - *, - . 473 Ralston, William G., - - - - - 112 Rothschild, Nathan Mayer, ----- 122 Sage, Russell, - - - - - --14 Seward, William H., ------ 204 Seymour, Horatio, - - - . - 289 Singer, Isaac M., - - - - - - 451 Stanton, Edwin M., - - - - - 332 Stephens, Alexander H., ----- 272 Stephenson, George, - - - - - 421 Stewart, Alexander T., - - - - - 39 Taylor, Moses, -- - - « - 110 Tilden, Samuel J., ----... 396 Van Buren, Martin, - . - - - - 263 Vanderbilt, Cornelius, - - - - - 16 Vassar, Mathew, ------ 84 WanNamaker, John, - - - - - -37 Watt, James, - - - . . 415 Webster, Daniel, .---.. 218 Weed, Thurlow, ------ 69 Wilson, Henry, - ^ - . . . 310 Whitney, Eli, - - - - - 435 Why Some Succeed while Others Fail. Success and Failure, - - - - - 481 Concentration op Effort, ----- 486 Self-Reliance, ------ 490 Economy of Time, ------ 495 Causes of Failure, - . • • • 4^Q IX QUOTATIONS. A man,to succeed , must possess the necessary equanimity of temper ameJit to conceive an idea J the capacity to form it into som.e tangible shape, the ingenuity to put it into practi- cul operation, the ahility to favorably impress others with its weritSy arul the power of will that is absolutely necessary to force it to success. — Thomas A. Scott. Labor rids us of three evils. — Tediousness, Vice and P,overty. — Carlyle. ^^ Never start upon an undertaking until you are sure it is practicable and ought to be done, and then let nothing statid long in the tvay of accomplishing that undertaking. It is better to deserve success than to have it ; few deserve it who do not attain it." ^' Th^re is no failure in this country for those whose per- sonal habits are good, and ivho follow some honest calling industriously, unselfishly, and purely. If one desires to succeed, he must pay the price — work ! " In order to succeed, a man must have a purpose fixed, then let his motto be victory or death. — Henry Clay. "Be liberal but cautious ; enterprising but carefuV ^^ Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time wefalV^ ^ Fail!— Fail? In the lexicon of youth, tvhich Fate reserves for a bright manhood, there is no such icord As— fail! — " Richelieu." Benjamin Franklin has truly said: The road to tvealth •is as plain as the road to ynill. X 11 HERE is a great financier. A man of unusual ability; but who is no exception to the rule, born poor. His success came by hard work and a thorough mastery of his business. It is surprising how many Wall Street operators began life on the farm. In the case of Daniel Drew, at the age of only fifteen, matters were made worse by the death of his father. /At eighteen, he concluded to go to New York; but, after a discouraging time of it, his money giving out, he was obliged to return to his home. However, his tiip did not prove a total failure, as subsequent events show. While in the metropolis he heard that fat cattle could be sold there at a profit over what he knew they could be bought for? at his country home. He therefore re- solved to go into the cattle business. True, he had no money, he was a poor country lad, but this made little difference with Drew's determination. As he had no money with which to buy a drove for himself, he did the next best thing ; this was to induce the neighboring farmers to allow him to drive their cattle to market on a commission plan. By this one act the reader can understand the difference between Daniel Drew and the neighboring farm boys, many of whom were better situ- ated, doubtless, than was he. Another characteristic he developed was economy ; his money was saved and with these small savings he added cattle to his drove which were his own, hence, in- 12 HIDDEN TREASURES. creased his profits ; first one at a time, then two, when at last he abandoned the commission business, becoming a drover on his own account. Later, he took a partner and the firm of Drew & Co. became the cattle kings of America. This was the first firm that ever drove cattle from the West, and Drew, ever watchful for opportunities to add to his already increasing income, bought a tavern which became, as Drew knew it would under good management, the centre of the cattle business in the city on market days. As time passed, as a matter of course, following such a line of procedure, he became a very rich man, and hia disposition being of an enterprising nature, he began to cast about him for new investments, seeking new fields to conquer. The explosion of a boat on the Hudson, discommoding for a time the existing line, offered to Drew the favorable opportunity for which he was look- ing, and as was characteristic he at once improved his chance. He immediately placed on the river the '^ Water Witch " ; the old line resumed business ; the fares were reduced until the profits of both companies were eaten up. The opposition tried to intimidate, they tried to buy out, and then tried to negotiate some other deals, but all in vain. On the contrary Drew put on the "West Chester," and instead of stopping at Peekskill,he extended to Albany. He next bought the "Bright Emerald," and started an evening line. This was a new feature in those days and as it enabled the business men to travel without loss of time, it became eminently popular. Drew was a man with a fertile mind ; he made a study of whatever he undertook ; he was a hard man to beat. He bought the "Rochester," and next bought out the old line. For a long time he had things pretty ©ITB OOtTNTBY's WEALTH AKD WHO POSS1U38 IT. IS mnch his own way ; then came a new opposition. This time, through negotiations, he won the opposition over and established the celebrated 'People's Line/' naming their first boat after his new partner, " St. John." Mr. Drew, in connection with others, formed the ''Stonington Line" between New York and Boston, and still later he opened the ''Champlain Transportation Company" from White Hall, New York, to Rouses Point, Vermont. He next placed his shoulder under Erie, endorsing its paper to the amount of ten millions. Later still he was elected President of this company, and as Erie and Central are natural enemies, Vanderbilt and Drew hence- forth became hostile toward each other. Mr. Drew wanted to extend Erie west. To do this he must get a special act of the Legislature. Of course > he had Vanderbilt and Central, with all their patronage, with which to contend, and a bitter fight it proved to be ; but in those days Daniel Drew seemed invincible in court, and the bill passed, Erie re-issuing stock and extending its lines. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and to him is that religious body indebted for that grand institution, '' Drew Theological Seminary." Many men would have made a worse use of vast wealth than did Daniel Drew. He was a man who was quiet ; he kept his "points," and was a pleasing conversationalist. In 1879 he died? leaving two children. ^ 14 HIDDEN TREASURB«. Russell Sage. THIS wonderful man was bom at Verona, Oneida County, New York, over sixty years ago. In early lifejhe determined to earn all that he could, and siDend less than he earned. When he arrived at the age of fif- teen, he removed to Troy, and entered the grocery store of one of his brothers. Until eighteen years of age he remained here as a clerk when he had saved money enough to buy an interest in another store of which another brother was proprietor. Here he remained several years in successful trade, when the partnership was dissolved^ He next turned his attention to the wholesale trade, dealing in grain, flour, pork, beef, etc., the most of these ventures proving successful. His towns' people , recognizing his business ability elected him alderman for seven years, and later, treas urer of Rensselaer county. His fidelity in these trusts won for him a seat in Congress, and he was re-electec Dy an increased majority, serving both terms with greal credit to himself and party. In 1860 he had succeeded so well that he could sho\^ $200,000 on the credit side of his bank account. Seekins new fields to conquer, he naturally gravitated to the money centre. New York. Since that time Russell Sage has been as favorably known in Wall street as any broke) in the country. He occupies an office in the same build ing vnth Gould, and scores of tbe leading spirits, with whom he mingles daily. He attends strictly to business, and never even smokes. Mr. Sage deals in everything OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 15 which he deems " an investment," — banks, railroad stock, real estate, all receive his attention. He is a very cau- tious operator, and cannot, by any possible means, be induced into a ''blind pool." He has, however, been very successful in the ''street," and it is said has built over three thousand miles of railroad. Russell Sage might easily be mistaken for a church deacon, instead of the keen operator that he is. However, no one in the "street" will give away "points" to his friends sooner than he. The Troy Times once mentioned several people who said that Mr. Sage had pointed out to them investments, of which they could never have known but for him, each investment having yielded them thousands of dollars. He often gives friends the benefit of his splendid opportunities, which makes him a general favorite among all brokers. Mr. Sage enjoys the confi- dence and friendship of some of the leading operators, among whom are Jay Gould. He is a man of marked ability, and honesty. He never fails to meet any of his obligations, nor will he allow others to neglect theirs. Of course, he is care- ful what he agrees to do, but always does just as he agrees, regardless of cost. For this reason he is known in Wall street as "Old Integrity." Russell Sage is a shrewd, close calculator, and is worth many millions, the result of improving his oppoi-tunities. He is a con- sistent member of the Evangelical Church, and is very charitable. Long may such men live, for we have many worse. 16 HIDDEJf TREASimES. Cornelius Vanderbilt. YANDERBILT, a synonym for wealth and luxury. IVho indeed has not wished that he could have at least a i!anall part, of the vast wealth possessed by the Vander- bilts ? Yet, when Cornelius Yanderbilt was a boy, he enjoyed far less privileges to make money than the ma- jority who now look on and wish ; but Cornelius Yander- bilt differed from other boys of his age. One difference was his strong determination. It was then, much as it it is now, boys liked to spend their money and have a good time. It was a common saying in the neighborhood where he lived, * that when Corneel. Vanderbilt concludes to do anything it will certainly be done.' A ship stranded off the shore; young Cornelius' father took the contract to transfer the cargo to New York city. This was a job requiring many teams and a force of men to carry the produce to a different part of the island where they were to be taken by water to New York. Although but twelve years old, young Yanderbilt was given control of this part of the work. His father, by accident, neg- lected to furnish him the money with which to pay his Ferriage. Here he was, a lad twelve years old, with no money, in charge of a lot of horses which must be fer- ried over at a cost of over five dollars. He hesitated but a moment; walking boldly up to the hotel proprietor he said: " Sir, I am here vntliout money, by accident; if you will kindly advance me the money to pay the fer- riage, I will leave a horse as your security." The pro- 1 UJ CO or CL QC UJ I- OUR country's wealth and who possess it. 17 prietor was a perfect stranger to Vanderbilt, but he was struck with such enterprise. The money was advance(} and the horse redeemed within forty-eight hours. Vanderbilt wanted a small boat. On the tenth day oi May, 1810, he went to his mother and asked for the money with which to buy it. There was a very rough piece of land on the parental farm which had never been plowed. His mother told him that if he would plow, drag and plant that field to corn within seventeen days, she would buy the boat for him. It was a hard job , doubtless, the mother considered it an impossi- ble one. Vanderbilt, however, seemed never to rec- ognize such a word, as can't. He set about the work at once, and hard as it seemed to be, the task was accom- plished, the boat was bought, and Vanderbilt was a happy boy. He had earned it. Now, as Vanderbilt did not want this boat for pleasure, he at once began business carrying produce from Staten Island to New York city. When the wind was unfavorable he used oars or a pole to aid his sails, thus, hi* produce was always on time. People said, "Send your stuff by Vanderbilt and you can depend on its being in season.'' Now Vanderbilt had to give all of his earnings during the day time to his parents, so he worked nights, but his father also required one-half of what he earned nights, thus his oppoi'tunities were not as great as one might think. He worked very hard and at the end of three years, it was found that Corneel. Vanerbilt had saved for himself over, or about $3,000 and the best of all, had earned the reputation of being the best boatman on the river. While others were smoking and drinking, ^having fun while they were young, for when would they if not then?" Vanderbilt was either earning more money working over time, or 18 HIDDEN TREASURES. at least saving what he had earned, home asleep recruit- ing for the next day's labor. He wished to marry a Miss Johnson, but could not un- less his parents would release him from all parental restrictions. He was only nineteen, yet luckily for the young people the Isidj was a favorite of the father; the desired permission was obtained and henceforth Yander- bilt had the exclusive benefit of his labor. As he had begun, so he continued, and at the age of twenty-three he was worth about $9,000. In 1817 he became captain of the first steam boat that ever run between New York and New Brunswick, New Jersey, at a salary of $1,000 per year. His wife proved to be a helpmeet in the truest sense of the word, she at this time keeping hotel at New Brunswick and making no small amount herself. Seven years passed and Vanderbilt was made superintendent of the company of which he had been an emploj^e. If a man has ability and applies it, his talent will not remain hid ^ under a bushel.' His ability and indomitable energy brought the "Gibbons Line" up to paying $40,000 a year. Seeing a chance, for which he was ever on the •^lei-t, he leased the ferry between New York and Eliza- beth, New Jersey, for fourteen years, put on new boats aiid it became a very jirofitable venture. In 1829 he left the ''Gibbons Line," and began to operate on the Hudson and between New York and Boston; also on the Dela- ware river. He would start an opposition line, and either drive off the old line or effect a compromise. In 1849 he obtained from the Nicaraguan Government a charter for a steamship company. He next went to England and raised the extra funds needed. He then went personally and inspected the whole route that was used, and by a system of cables fastened to trees, shortened the same OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 19 about seven himdred miles over all existing lines. He placed steamers on each ocean and cut the fare from New York to San Francisco one-half. Soon he had destroyed all opiDOsition and then made immense profits. Afterward he sold out for two millions. Mr. Yanderbilt, like all successful men, made finance a study ; he foresaw that there were great profits to be realized in the near future in the undeveloped railway sys- tems in the country. To see a chance was to at once set about planning to improve it. He at once began to with- draw his money from the water and invest in railroads, which were then coming rapidly to the front. The wis- dom of Vanderbilt can be seen, for at the beginning of the war, which he had been long expecting, his money was all transferred from the water, and thus his interests were not jeopardised by the war made upon our commerce. He, however, had ov/ned so many vessels, that he had long since been known as Commodore Yanderbilt, in fact few people to-day know him by any other name. He, at the beginning of hostilities, presented the government with a magnificent steamship, the 'Vanderbilt,'' worth $800,000. When he entered the railroad business he was estimated at from thirty-five to forty millions. He had dealt somewhat in New York and New Haven, and now began to buy Harlem when it was in a most helpless anc depressed condition. He advanced a large sum to the company when it was in need, and for this, among othei things, he was made its President in 1863. By judicious management and influences common in ' The street,' he successfully run Harlem from thirty to two hundred and eighty-five. Such a man was just what the New York Central railroad desired, and after this great ' bulling ' movement he became President of that road. All that 20 HIDDEN TREASURES. was needed now was the Hudson River road and this he bought outright, becoming President of the New York Central and Hudson River Rail Road, extending from New York to Buffalo. At one time there was a bill to be voted on at Albany ; the bill was in the interest of Harlem ; Mr. Yanderbilt was sure it would pass, but Daniel Drew, his antagonist, who ever fought Harlem or Central as they were against Erie, caused a counter movement to be made which defeated the bill. Yander- bilt heard of it, and of course was disappointed but made no foolish protests with the treacherous ^friends' at the capitol. In the meantime these people were sell- ing Harlem short for future deliver}^, expecting that the stock would '' take a tumble '' when it became known that the bill was defeated. As before said Yanderbilt said nothing, but quietly bought up every scrap of stock there was to be found loose. The fatal day came but Harlem stood firm. The derelict Assemblymen were thundeiBtruck when they had to buy at a greatly en- hanced price, and many of the would-be victors were ruined. In 1873 the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad was operated in connection with the Yanderbilt system, making a Palace Car route from New York city bo Chicago. From New York to Buffalo a quadruple track, thence a double track. Among the charities of Mr. Yanderbilt is a gift of three-quarters of a million to the University in Nash- ville, Tennessee, which bears his name. He died in 1877 worth about eighty millions. OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 21 Amos Lawrence. AMOS LAWRENCE was born April 22nd, 1786. He was a weak child, consequently could not attend school, but his mother did not neglect him. When only thirteen years old he became a clerk in a country store. In this store was kept everything in the hardware line, from a plow to a needle ; in the textile line, from a horse- blanket to a pocket handkerchief ; then you could buy the productions usually found in a vegetable garden, — everything was kept, even to Jamaica rum and drugs for the sick ; a good place, indeed, for a bright, active boy to gain new ideas. Each country store, in those days, had its bar, and the clerks were as likely to be called on to mix drinks, as they were to be asked to measure off dry goods, and it was considered as honorable. Not only this, but it was customary for clerks to take a drink themselves, but young Lawrence determined to neither drink nor smoke. True, he liked the taste of liquor, and enjoyed a quiet smoke, but he argued that such pleas- ures, not only eat up profits already earned, but left the system in a poor condition to earn more. When we con- sider that he was a mere lad of thirteen, or at best four- teen, when he had decided upon this honorable course, and when we think that at least, for the time being^these luxuries would have cost nothing, we are constrained to say, no wonder he became a rich man. If our young men would only save the money they yearly smoke up and spend for other needless things, we would have clearer headed and much wealthier 22 HIDDEN TREASURES. men. Our j^oung men all desire to gain wealth and the highest enjoyments possible in this world, but are not willing to pay for them. If they would examine the lives of a great many of our most wealthy and influential men of to-day, they would be surprised to learn how few even smoke. If you see a man with a high hat, gaudily dressed, smoking and seemingly inviting your attention at some horse trot, where he is making a great display of wealth in the w^ay of bets, you can set it down as pretty certain that that man is a clerk working for $10 or $15 per week, or at best, a mere curb-stone broker who will never rise to anything higher. Eeal wealth and distinc- tion never invite your attention. One would hardly take that plain old gentleman, walking along the street yon- der, for other than a country deacon, yet the check of Russell Sage will be recognized and honored to the amount of millions. Jay Gould never enjoys himself more than when at home. We spend as a nation now, every year, nine hundred MILLIONS FOR LIQUOR and THREE HUNDRED and FIFTY MIL- LIONS for TOBACCO. Total, one billion, two hundred and FIFTY MILLIONS. One billiou, two hundred and fifty mil- lions thrown away. More than twice what we use for bread and meat. Then look at that vast waste of un- earned wages. Man can't do two things well at one time. In our large cities we have, of late, seen drunken men, with pipes in their mouths, carrying about the streets a banner inscribed, " bread or blood." They pro- pose to make those who have worked intelligently for money, now divide. Would it not look far more sensi- ble if the banner bore the inscription, henceforth, I our' country's wealth, and who possess it. 23 will boycott the tobacconist, and will vote for no man who is not pledged to suppress the saloon oligarchy ? Amos Lawrence had not the benefit of the philanthrop- ic teaching of our age, but he had a common sense, and a sense of taste and judgment far in advance of his time. These were the principles with which he laid the founda- tion to that great fortune and enviable reputation which he lived to enjoy, and which his name will ever recall. We ha.ve seen that goodhabits were the foundation of his success. He also improved his opportunities. He became perfectly familiar with the drug department of the store. He determined early in life to become a wealthy and in- fluential man. To determine to do anything is half the battle. "Doubt indulged becomes doubt realized.'^ "To think a thing impossible is to make it so." "Courage is victory, timidity is defeat.'' Men who understand these maxims are men w^ho invariably succeed. I say invaria- bly — a man may think he understands when he is grop- ing in midnight darkness. A young man who really is destined to succeed, not only intends to become a rich man, or whatever he aspires to be, but lays plans to that end, and is not discouraged if they are blasted. He only recognizes that he is foiled, for the time being, and never doubts his ability to succeed ultimately. There is a difference between a blustering braggadocio and a quiet, unassuming confidence in one's self. One leads to cer- tain victory, the other, to as certain defeat. Young Lawrence had served his seven long years of apprenticeship, and had no better opportunity presented itself , he would have succeeded, for he had his plans carefully laid to remain in Groton, and if he had, he would have succeeded . But a merchant who had seen him at the store of his employer, no sooner learned of 24 HIDDEN TBBASURE*. his release than he immediately hired him to come to Boston to enter his store there. ''Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men.'^ Thither he went part of the way on foot ; the rest of the way with an accommodating neigh- bor who was driving in that direction. He determined to make for himself here a record for honesty, and so well did he succeed, that the next year he started busi- ness for himself, his principal capital being his reputa- tion and acknowledged ability. He developed a system in his business ; he paid every bill on the spot ; if he could not pay cash, instead of the regular custom of book accounts, he gave his note, thus no complications could arise to embarrass him. He knew when the money was expected on every bill, and made his calculation, and Was never known to be taken by surprise. He was rea- sonably cautious — he never would promise to do what he might possibly be unable to accomplish. He pros- pered — of course he would. Such business principles, pushed by system as Lawrence pushed them, must bring success to any young man. Another thing, to any one who may now imagine he, perhaps, entered business on the tide of prosperity, we desire simply to say, on the contrary, from 1808 to 1815 was one of the dullest periods our mercantile history can recount. No, " luck " did not favor him, but " pluck ^' did. He pushed his mercantile business for years, amassing an immense fortune. Our country was then new, and he had to import most of his merchandise from England, but as he ever made a study of his business, concluded that he would start manufacturing industries here, which would prove not only profitable to himself, but of inesti- mable value to us as a nation. In accordance with thes« OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 25 motives, he was largely instrumental in connection with the Lowells in building up the flourishing cities of Lowell and Lawrence. He never speculated in stocks. Young men, there is no money in stocks to the average man. Not even in legitimate stock dealing, to say nothing of the numer- ous watered concerns. We were looking over a paper recently when our attention was attracted to a para- graph which explained that in a transaction which in- volved 8,000 bushels of wheat, it was found that the odds against the buyer was over 22 per cent. While wheat is not stocks, still a good rule would be never to go into anything unless the chances are at least equal. Amos Lawrence once said: "Young man, base all your actions upon a sense of right, and in doing so, never reckon the cost." What a glorious principle for any young man — a principle he would find hard to follow in many stock speculations. " Even exchange is no robbery." It is not even exchange to bet and take a man's money ; and it makes little difference whether you bet on a horse's gait or the grain he will eat next month. At another time he said : " Good principles, good temper, and good manners will carry a young man through the world much better than he can get along with the absence of either." His sayings are numerous, yet every one is worthy of attention ; all of them have a golden thought for old and young. Mr. Lawrence did not give away in large amounts to institutions of learning, but he kept two rooms in his house wholly for the storage of articles designed to relieve poor people. One contained clothing of every description; the other, food and other necessaries of life. He gave away during his life, over $700,000, and when 26 HIDDEN TREASURES. he died people mourned that he had gone, for there were none left that could take his place. Ah ! this is success. He died December 31st, 1852. Horace B, Claflin. THIS great dry-goods prince was born at Milfordy Massachusetts, in 1811, and his education was at- tained in the public schools of that place. When he became of age he bought out the store in which he was clerk, and in company with another young man began business for himself. But this place was too small for the already expanding vision of both Claflin & Daniels ; they accordingly moved to Worcester. The latter place proving yet too small for Claflin, we soon see him located in Cedar street, New York, where he finds himself some- what satisfied for a time. After a period of successful trade — extending over six years' time, the young men were compelled to find more commodious quarters, which they found at No. 57 Broadway, and two years later they moved once more, locating in the Trinity Building. 1860 came, their business was found to amount to about $12,000,000 annually, and the firm re- solved to build a store, for themselves. The result was an immense dry-goods palace. The retail business was entirely abandoned, and Claflin at once sprung to the front as the leading wholesale dry-goods merchant of America. One day, about five o'clock, Mr. Claflin sat in his private office when a young man, pale and and carewom OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 27 timidly knocked and was asked in. "Mr. Claflin/' said he, " I am in need of help. I have been unable to meet certain payments because certain parties have not done by me as they agreed. I would like to have $10,000. I come to you because I knew that you were a friend of my father, and I thought possibly you might be a friend to me.'^ " Come in and have a glass of wine," said Claflin. "No," said the young man, "I never drink." "Have a cigar?" "No, I never smoke." "Well," re- plied Claflin, " I am sorry but I don't feel that I can let you have the money." "Very well," replied the young man, 'T^ thought perhaps you might ; hence I came. Good day, sir." " Hold on," said Claflin. " You don't drink?" " No." " Nor smoke ? " " No sir.'' " Nor gamble V "No sir ; I., am superintendent of a Sunday-school, in street." " Well," said Claflin, " you shall have it." This w^as characteristic of the man. This anecdote well illus- trates his character. He was an everyday Christian. On November 14, 1885, he passed away, leaving one more gap in the commercial world, and in the member- ship Plymouth Church, of which he had been a member many years. Probably no one man missed him more at the time of his death than did Henry Ward Beecher, of whom he had long been a devoted admirer. WlliaM' E. Dodge, WHEN one finishes the perusal of the life of William E. Dodge, he feels a thrill of unbounded admira- tion. A man who would resign his membership in the 28 HIDDEN TREASURES. Union League Club, because it sold wine to its members; who disposed of valuable investments in three different railroads, when a majority of the stockholders voted to run Sunday trains ; who, while carrying on a large mer- cantile business, and managing an extensive stock and real estate business, yet found time to preside at the Chamber of Commerce and serve on numerous commit- tees, and held a directorship in various banking insti- tutions, is surely to be admired. His religious life was never weakened by his pros- perity, and the more .money Grod blessed him with, the more religious societies he became connected with. William E. Dodge was born in the year 1805, near Hartford, Connecticut. He began at the foot of the ladder, taking down shutters and sweeping out the store in which he was employed. When twenty-one, he went into business in a small way, doing a retail business, which prospered, and at the end of three years Mr. Dodge felt able to support a wife. In 1834 he was invited to become a partner in the firm with his father-in-law, Mr. Anson Phelps, and a brother- in-law, under the firm-style of Phelps, Dodge and Com- pany. This connection proved a most profitable busi- ness venture, and at the end of twenty years Mr. Dodge was accounted a wealthy man. Looking about for in- vestments, his keen perception espied a vast fortune in lumber, and then followed those vast accumulations of timber lands, by buying thousands of acres in West Vir- ginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Canada. He also became greatly interested in ooal lands, and as he must find a conveyance to bring his coal to mar- ket, he was naturally drawn into railroad schemes. His ability and enterprise soon placed him on the board of OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 2'^ directors for such roads as the Delaware, Lack wanna and Western, and New Jersey Central, being at one time President of the Houston and Texas. He helped found several of the most noted Insurance Companies in the country, and was a director until his death, of the Greenwich Saving Bank, City Bank, The American Exchange National Bank, the United States Trust Company, the Bowery Fire Insurance Company, and the Mutual Life Insurance Company. He was Pres- ident of the Chamber of Commerce, and owned a very large number of saw-mills, besides carrying on the reg- ular business of the firm. What will those people, who would do this or that if they only had time, say to all this work done by one man who then found time to serve on the board of management of religious organizations innumerable ? He was a great temperance advocate, giving thous- ands of dollars annually toward the support of various societies. There were others who had wealth, and gave possibly as much to the betterment of mankind as did Dodge, but we cannot now recall any man of great wealth who would deny himself as much personally, be- side giving, as he did. In fact he seemed to be crowded to death with work, yet he never refused to aid all who Were worthy applicants. For years he gave away annu- ally over $200,000, yet it was found at his death, Febru- ary, 1883, that his wealth amounted to something like $5,000,000, a large share of which was also given to charitable purposes. 30 HIDDEN TREASURES. Jay Gould, WE have written the lives of journalists, of eminent statesmen, but we are now going to write the life of one of the most powerful men in America. A man who has far greater influence over his fellow-men than many a king or emperor, and a man who has played a most prominent part in the development of our Republic. Such a man is Jay Gould to-day who has risen to this dizzy height, from a penniless boy on his father's farm, which he left at the age of only fourteen to seek his fortune. He asked his father's permission first, which was readily given, he thinking it would cure the boy of his restlessness, and when young Gould left, his father fully expected to see him again within a few days, but even the father was mistaken in calculating the stick-to- it-iveness of the son. He at last found employment in a store where he remained two years when his health compelled outdoor work. He therefore obtained em- ployment carrying chains for some surveyors at $10 a month. These men were making surveys from which an Albany publishing firm expected to issue maps for an atlas they were getting out. Not only did Gould carry the chains but he improved every opportunity for picking up points in surveying. We see one character- istic of the man plainly showing itself at this early age, for when the firm failed, Gould had the maps published himself, and then personally sold enough of them to clear $1,000. With this start, he went to Pennsylvania, and was employed in a tannery. As one sees, nearly OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 31 every successful man owes that success largely to the cultivation of pleasing manners, so it was with Gould. So apparent was his ability, and so well did he please his employer, that the man set Gould up in business at Gouldsborough, where he cleared $6,000 within the next two years. Gould was not satisfied with this moderate success, fine as it seemed to be ; he only regarded these enterprises as stepping-stones to something higher. He next enters the metropolis where he buys and sells hides in a small office at No. 49 Gold street. About this time Gould met a young lady at the Everett House, where he lived, whose acquaintance was destined to have a marked influence over his subsequent career. This bright, handsome girl attracted his atten- tion so unmistakably that Miss Miller noticed it. A little flirtation took place which ripened into a mutual affection, and they were married without waiting for the parents' approval, probably Gould knew better, as the young lady, at the time was far above his station in life as society would say, hence acted in this matter as he would in any business transaction he entered. Of course, this aroused Mr. Miller's righteous indig- nation, but he soon realized that Mr. Gould was a man of no ordinary calibre and wisely changed his course to- ward him. Mr. Miller owned a large interest in the Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad, and young Gould, after visiting the same, concluded that it could be made to pay. He accordingly bought the entire stock his father- in-law owned, notwithstanding the stock was considered all but worthless. He immediately disposed of all other business, and assumed the management of the road by buying up as much of the remaining stock as seemed necessary to give him supreme control. He at once ^2 HI»DEN TREASURES. became Manager, Superintendent and Treasurer. When the stock had multiplied upon itself many times, he sold out, receiving in all $750,000, for his interest. This first scheme illustrates his line of procedure in most of those seemingly mysterious movements which have marked his uniform success ; namely, to find some road which was almost worthless and, if he thought good manage- ment would bring it up, secretly buy the controlling interest in the line, and when it reached a fair figure, sell. The Kutland & Washington was offering stock at ten cents on the dollar ; he at once bought it up and managed it so well that he soon was enabled to sell at 120, making, as most people would think, a fortune. Cleveland & Pittsburg was for a long time in a pre- carious condition, perceiving which, Mr. Gould bought up all the stock he could find, and threw his whole ability and experience into the development of the same. The stock soon took an upward move, and when it reached 120 he sold his twenty-five thousand shares. We next see him buying Union Pacific at fifteen. This stock kept falling, but while others sold continually at a sacrifice, and seemed glad to unload at any figure, the lower it went the more Gould bought. After securing a controlling interest as desired, he began to develop the iron industries along the line, which of course soon gave the road business. This and other causes soon set Union Pacific " booming," and the stock began to rise. No sooner, however, did the disappointed capitalists see their mistake in selling than the cry was raised: '' That is Gould's road and if you touch it you will surely be burnt." But despite all this the stock gradually rose, and in 1879 Mr. Gould sold the whole hundred thousand shares that he owned to a syndicate. It must not be sup- 2 OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 33 posed, however, that Mr. Gould sold to satisfy public clamor — Mr. Gould is not that kind of a man. How much he was worth when he went into Erie no one knows, but it was no inconsiderable amount. After Mr. Drew's suit with Yanderbilt, whereby the latter lost seven millions, Mr. Gould was made President of Erie, and the capital stock was increased to two hundred and thirty-five thousand shares, which stood about fifty- seven and one-half million. This brought the price down to 44. It was determined to sink Erie still lower, so Gould, Fisk and Drew locked up greenbacks to the amount of one million four hundred thousand. By a false movement on Drew's part, which his partners con- sidered treacherous, they accordingly lost, and at once unlocked greenbacks, thereby stock advanced and Drew^, instead of gaining, lost one million five hundred thous- and, as he was seven thousand shares short. The price of the shares continued upward and Gould was obliged to get it down by some means in order to save himself. He therefore inaugurated a ^^ bull " movement on gold. A. R. Oorbin, brother-in-law of the President, Mr. Grant, was selected to sound the government, who reported that it was not intended to put any gold on the market for the present, at least. The clique at once bought millions more of gold than was to be had in the city out- side of the Sub-Treasury. Up, up, went gold ; 130 is reached, and next 133^, then 134 ; still the order is buy ; buy all that is for sale. The price reaches 144, but nothing daunted, the clique still buy in order to force the shorts to cover ; yet on up it goes. Black Friday week is upon them, but Jay Gould is now selling while others are still buying right and left. Of course, he still pretends to buy, but is secretly selling at 165. At last 34 HIDDEN TREASURES. the crash came, when the Secretary of the Treasury sold four millions on the street, and Gould is nearly the only one who is safe. This may look crooked— it certainly is not Puritan, but there are features of Jay Gould's suc- cess which are not praiseworthy ; however, we claim there are many things that are worthy of imitation, hence it is here given in detail. He next bought Kansas & Texas at 8 and run it to 48. He purchased Wabash at 5, and this, under his management, rose to 80 preferred. Where Mr. Gould has shown the greatest skill in his line, is his connection with the transactions with the Western Union. Desiring to secure control of that company, he went into American Union, and within one year it was a formidable rival, which he substituted for the Western Union .wires on his roads, and that company's stock fell from 116 to 88. If it is true, as stated, that Gould was short 30,000, he must have cleared on this one transaction $840,000. This method is so un- like his usual tactics that we are inclined to disbelieve it ; however, his dealings all through, it is claimed, seem to prove it. He next caused a war of rates to be an- nounced between his company and Western Union, and of course, the stock of the latter dropped still lower. The story was then circulated that he was to become a director of Western Union, and no war would take place; up that stock went to 104. But when the day came for the election, no Gould was to be seen, and back down it tumbled. It is reasonalDly supposable that Gould profited by each of these fluctuations. American Union became a fixed thing, and Western Union becoming alarmed at renewed rumors of war, at once caused Mr. Gould to be seen, and he to-day owns twenty millions of Western Union. His Missouri, Pacific and other lines, together OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 35 with his elevated railroad schemes, are somewhat familar topics with our readers. The career of such a m.an is a type and a proof of the progress of our land and the boundless opportunities that are open to energy and ability. Jay Gould has at- tained this dizzy height from poverty and obscurity. Unlike many rich men he is not a " fast '' man. He is an excellent husband and father ; he is never so happy, seemingly, as when at home sharing the family hearth, while others, who are more widely respected, are at their clubs. Jay Gould has been the subject of much abuse ; indeed, what great men have not been ? He is often described as a heartless oppressor of the poor and an enemy of his country. These accusations can often be traced to jealous rivals. While he has made millions in the new systems he has opened in the West, our ter* ritories and new States have been wonderfully developed and enriched billions of dollars. We honestly believe that the wonderful growth of the Western country would have been utterly impossible but for such men as Gould. If there had not been money in it their energy would have been lacking, and without that energy they must have lain dormant until other capitalists had opened the way to progress. That it takes a vast capital to develop the resources in a new country must be plain to every one. Show me a town which is blessed with men of capital and enterprise, and I will show you a town that is prosperous. Show me a town which has little of either, and I will show you a town in which you would hate to live. Mr. Gould appears to be a man whom nothing would excite; and one of his brokers says of him : " Tou never can tell from his expression when he reads a telegram 36. HIDDEN TREASURES. whether he has made five millions or lost ten." Reti- cence is one secret of Mr. Gould's success. He absolutely cannot be induced to say anything which he desires kept. He is on the whole the most incomprehensible of New Yorkers. He is an embodiment of the money-mak- ing faculty. It would be a hard question to tell what Gould is worth. I know men who believe that he is to- day the richest citizen in New York. I know others who are confident that he is not worth over one million, and others who are certain that he is on the eve of bankruptcy, but this last is preposterous. His wealth is, of course, subject to fluctuation, and possibly Mr. Gould himself could not tell its exact mag- nitude ; certainly no one knows, unless he does, what the precise amount is ; but the writer would say at least seventy-five millions. Indeed, if the truth was known, we would not be surprised if it would amount to nearly one hundred millions. He is incessantly engaged in great operations, and these cannot be managed without vast sums. He is determined that no one shall be acquainted with his affairs. Despite this outward immobility, the strain of these^colossal operations upon his brain and nerves can- not be otherwise than very wearing. It [is said that he is troubled with sleeplessness, and that many of his gi- gantic schemes are worked out while he is lying in bed awake. Occasionally he gets up at night, lights the gas, walks the floor and tears paper into bits. It may be re- membered that Fisk testified on his investigation by the Congressional Committee respecting the transactions of Black Friday, that he observed Jay Gould tearing up paper and throwing the pieces into the waste-basket, and thus he knew that his partner had some work on OUR oountry's wealth, and who possess it. 37 hand. He scarcely ever smiles and never lifts his voice above a conversational tone. He has no friends so far as known, but a host of enemies. His life is in great speculations. His greatest crime in the eyes of his fellow-speculators is, that he succeeds so well in doing to Wall Street, what Wall Street is per- petually,but vainly trying to do to him. John Wannamaker. IN the summer of 1838, John Wannamaker was born in Philadelphia. His father was a brick-maker, and while out of school mornings, nights and Saturdays, the boy John was engaged in turning bricks which were laid in the sun to dry. Thus early those habits of industry were instilled into the lad who, by his own diligence, was destined to one day become the merchant prin ce of Philadelphia. A few years later, school was abandoned for stead;^ employment which was found in a store four miles from his home, where he boarded, for he had not the means to do otherwise, thereby walking eight miles per day, aside from his duties at the store, receiving $1.25 each Saturday evening. Think of it, working hard all the week, walking four miles night and morning — in all foi*ty-eight miles perweek, and receiving only $1.25 salary for the entire week's work. Afterward he was em- ployed in a law office, and still later we find him in a clothing store at a salary of $1.50 per week. Here he 38 HIDDEN TREASURES. seemed to find the calling which suited his taste, and he cultivated a pleasing disposition ; people liked to trade with the young clerk. Of course this faculty, coupled with energy, would soon bring recognition, and it was not long before he was called to responsible positions. Another strong feature of the success of John Wanna- maker was, he lived on less than he earned, and saved the balance. In 1861 he liad saved several hundred dollars, and as he had earned a reputation for honesty and ability, he was enabled to start in business on his own account. This firm of Wannamaker & Brown was situated at the corner of Sixth and Market streets. Mr. Wannamaker kept the books — the firm hired no superfluous help—* everything that they could do personally they hired no one to do. A firm which possesses ability, and follows such business rules, will succeed. Notwithstanding that the times were unusually ^^ shaky," they prospered. As the business increased other stores were opened, and John Wannamaker, the poor clerk — after a period of twenty years of enterprise, pushed by energy, con- trolled a force of 6,000 employees. Not only does the firm handle clothing, but every conceivable ai*ticle gen- erally found in retail trade, the establishment being the largest in the great city of brotherly love. How pleasant it is to see men to whom God has boun- tifully supplied money using that means for the good of their fellow-creatures. Among the liberal, whole-souled millionaires of our country, John Wannamaker is to be found. Although carrying on an immense business he has found time to establish Sunday-Schools, solicit money for the Young Men's Christian Association, and has con- tributed to these personally, over $100,000. OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 39 John Wannamaker is a philanthropist. One of his favorite schemes has been to go into the vilest neighbor- hoods, establish a Sunday-School, build nice houses, and thus bring the locality up to the plane of respectability. He was looked to for aid when the Centennial was pro- jected, and it is needless to say that it was not found wanting. The secret of his great success is his indefati- gable industry, and a thorough mastery of his business. He is one of the most enterprising merchants in history. Alexander T. Stewart - THE dry-goods prince of the world. A marble palace for a store, which is entered daily by an average of twenty-five thousand people who buy $75,000 worth of merchandise — a business with daily import duties to the Government of $25,000 in gold. When we look at all this, and then remember that he was proprietor, not only of the palace store of America, but had branches in Phil- adelphia, Boston, Lyons, Paris, Belfast, Glasgow, Berlin, Bradford, Manchester, Nottingham, and other cities throughout the v\^orld. When we behold this great suc- cess, and then think how he landed in this country a poor Irish lad of sixteen, friendless, homeless, and almost penniless, alone in a strange land, we involuntarily ex- claim, ^^ How was such a change in his position brought about ? " Why did he succeed, while others all about him who were far better situated, failed ? Let us follow him : He was born at Belfast, Ireland, October 21st, 1802, and in 1818 came to America. He was a mere lad of 40 HIDDEN THEASURES. sixteen. The first work that he obtained was as assist- ant in a college ; here he worked hard, saved his money, and at last he was able to open a small store in the city where he sold dry-goods. When he became twenty-one he was called to his native country to claim a small legacy left him by a relative who had died. He had made a study of his business, hence invested the entire sum in Irish products, and returning to America rented another store on Broadway, and thus began that great importing business. At this time he was his own buyer, salesman, book-keeper and errand boy. Ah ! there is the secret of the success of nine-tenths of our great men. They be- gan at the bottom — never hiring help for the mere ap- pearance or convenience of their assistance. They never hired done what they themselves could do. And then there is another thing to remember — beginning thus at the bottom they, of necessity, became thoroughly famil- iar with the details of their business, hence were never obliged to leave anything to the 'confidential clerk' who has ruined so many business men. Stewart soon felt the need of more room, and was compelled to seek more commodious quarters. After making another move to a larger store-room he made his first purchase of real es- tate, which was his "down-town" store. After this his "up-town" store was built. He was a splendid salesman, a perfect gentleman to' ward customers, and people preferred trading with him rather than any clerk in his employ. His tastes were very simple, and he was always plainly dressed. It has been stated that Mr. vStewart never posed for a photo- graph, which is a significant fact of itself. His motto was, "Never spend a dollar unless there is a prospect of legitimate gain." He arose early in the morning, went OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 41 to his ^' up-town " store, and thoroughly inspected every- thing; then to his ''down-town "store where he attended to his business at that end of the line. At the breaking out of the Civil War he aided the Union cause very much. Being in sympathy with the principles of the Eepublican party, and holding a power- ful influence over the commercial world, the President, Mr. Grant, nominated him Secretary of the Treasury, and he was at once confirmed by the Senate ; but as there is a law prohibiting any merchant in the importing busi- ness from holding this position, he was objected to by opposing politicians ; and, although he offered to donate the entire profits of his business to the poor of the city of New York, they still objected, and he was obliged to resign. By this, the country was undoubtedly robbed of the services of a man capable of making one of the best officers for that position our country has ever known. However, it was right that it should be so ; it would have been very unwise to have established such a precedent. In some respects, Mr. Stewart was a very liberal man, although it has been stated otherwise. In his will is his desire to do good„ especially manifested. Arrangements were made for the l)uilding of a church and parsonage, and a school for the benefit of poor boys who desired to fit themselves for a professional life. Some people may be fortunate in one instance in their life . We do not wholly disregard the idea of circum- stances, but we do claim and try to prove that it is not the one instance in the life after alL When we consider a whole life's history, we are convinced every time that generally where one is seemingly very fortunate, it is the result of careful calculation and downright hard 42 HIDDEN TREASURES. work. Bad luck is the natural result of carelessness in business matters. Had A. T. Stewart waited for a lucky chance to come to him, he might — probably never would have realized that> splendid success that did attend his efforts. Here he came to this country at the age of six- teen . He did not wait for his grandfather to die and leave him that legacy but went right at some work. It may be possible that the grandfather gave him that money because he felt that young Stewart would make good use of it. Certain it is he did not wait but went right to work, saved his money, and was well prepared to use the legacy skillfully when he did receive it. How- ever, if Stewart had never had that money given him, he would have succeeded. His whole life was a series of maturing plans, which had been carefully laid, and then pushed to completion. A man must have ability to plan well, and the courage and backbone to push those plans to success. A. T. Stewart possessed these qualities to a marked degree. He began as his moderate circumstan- ces would warrant, and best of all he never allowed his energies to slacken. He never became a lazy business man. He never allowed himself to rest content with the laurels already his. He was a man of enterprise ; while competitors followed the footsteps of their fathers, A. T. Stewart was progressing — he was original in nearly every undertaking. On the 10th day of April, 1876, this great magnate died. His business was carried on, for a time, by others, but the mainspring was gone, and in 1882 the great clock stopped. Here is an instance that should convince us of the result of courage, energy, and self-reliance. A. T. Stewart began without a dollar, and succeeded, while they who ha.d the benefit of his experience, the OUR COUNTRY^S WEALTH, AND WHO POSSESS IT. 43 use of his vast wealth, and a marble palace, could not succeed. The history of the stealing of Mr. Stewart's body is well-known, and as the papers have succeeded so well in keeping the subject before the people,we will not speak further of that here, our object being rather to instruct than to narrate sensational episodes. Nicholas Longworth. IN the year 1782 there was t^rn a child of parents who had once been somewhat wealthy, but who were then living in poverty at Newark, New Jersey. This child was Nicholas Longworth, the father of grape cul- ture in the United States. He attempted to learn various trades, at one time being bound to a shoemaker, but finally settled upon the law and began its study, as his circumstances would allow, in his native city. Young Longworth saw that he would have far more chance to rise in the new country west of the Alleghanies than in the over-crowded East. Therefore, when he was of age he emigrated " out west," stopping at the outskirts of civilization, locating in a small place of 1000 inhabitants called Cincinnati. Here he entered the law office of Judge Burnett, and soon was capable of passing the necessary examination, and was admitted to the bar. His first case was in defense of a certain man who had been arrested for horse-stealing, a very grave offense in that wilderness. 44 HIDDEN TREASURES. This man had no money and about all he possessed in the world that he could call his own was two copper stills. As much as young Longworth needed money he was obliged to accept these as his fee for clearing the man. He .tried to turn the stills into money but finally traded them for thirty-three acres of land, which was a barren waste. He had kept his eyes open and felt sure that the possibilities for Cincinnati were very great. He therefore bought land at ten dollars per lot, as fast as his means would allow, and all through the early portion of his life bought real estate until he became recognized as the heaviest real estate owner in Cincinnati. Tears afterward he saw the wisdom of his course, — living to see his ten dollar lots rise to ten thousand dollars each, and the land which he received as his first fee, that was thought to be all but worthless, rise to the value of two million dollars. After following the law for about twenty years he was forced to give up his practice in order to take care of his extensive land interest. He went into the grape growing business, and for some time his efforts were attended with only dis- couragement, but he had relied on the clippings from for- eign vines. He firmly believed that the Ohio valley was naturally adapted to the growth of the grape, and in this enterprise he allowed himself to harbor no thoughts other than of success. This is a characteristic of any man calculated to succeed. After experimenting with many different varieties, he at last hit upon the Catawba. To encour- age the industry he laid out a very large vineyard, gave away great numbers of cuttings, offered a prize for any improvement in the Catawba grape, and proclaimed that he would buy all the wine that could be brought to OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 45 him from the valley, whether in large or small quanti- ties. The result was that grape growing figured as no small factor in the development of Ohio. He had a wine cellar capable of holding 300,000 bottles, and was worth at his death $15,000,000. Nicholas Longworth was exceedingly liberal in his own way — selling his lots on easy installments, thereby aiding many to a home. His motto was, " Help those who help themselves,'' however, he gave much to those whom no one else would aid. He was personally of in- ferior appearance ; not only this, but nothing pleased him more than a shabby dress, being often mistaken for a beggar. As a benefactor and horticulturist he made his influence to be felt in succeeding generations. Robert Bonner. OF all the newspaper editors we have ever read, possibly Robert; Bonner is the most enterprising. He was born in Ireland in the year 1824, and at the age of six- teen came to Hartford, Connecticut. He had an uncle here who was a farmer, but Robert aspired to own a pa- per, and drifted into the office of the Hartford Courant, Robert Bonner det;ermined to own a paper ; he, there- fore, set about it, working faithfully every day, and over- time, saving his money. He mastered his business, be- coming an expert compositor. In 1844 he went to New York and obtained employment on the Mirror. He was intrusted with the oversight of the advertising depart- ment, and it was soon seen that he had a decidedly fine 46 HIDDEN TREASURES. taste in the arrangement of this line, a feature which has undoubtedly had much to do with his wonderful success later. He was also at this time a correspondent of the Hartford Courant, also newspapers in Boston, Albany and Worcester. About 1851 he bought out the Merchants Led- ger, a paper devoted to the commercial interests of the country. This he transformed into a family story paper, and christened it the New York Ledger, Fanny Fern was just appearing in the columns of literature. Bon- ner offered her $1,000 to write a story for the Ledger, en- closing his check for the amount. As this was a very high price in those days, of course she accepted. Then the papers throughout the country were full of adver- tisements -^'Read the Thousand Dollar Story in the Ledger. ^^ "Read The New York Ledger ^^- Some people said, "Well, first-class journals don't use such flashy ways of inducing people to subscribe ; they rely on the merits of their paper." Bonner heard this and began to study how to overcome this tide of sentiment. There was Harpers' Weekly — no one' questioned its respecta- bility. The Harpers never indulged in any flashy adver- tising, but soon the people were surprised to see in all the leading papers, ^Buy Harpers Weekly,^ as no one imagined that Bonner had paid for the advertising; they attributed the advertisements to the necessity Harpers felt through the rivalry of the Ledger. This sort of en- terprise cost, but it convinced people that respectable journals advertised as did the Ledger, People said it was * cheap, trashy literature, etc' Mr. Bonner at once hunted up Edward Everett who was recognized as the representative of New England refinement. This was a most opportune time for Mr. Bonner, as Mr. Everett was trying to raise a large sum OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 4:7 with which to aid in beautifying the home and tomb of Washington. Mr. Bonner engaged Mr. Everett to write a series of articles on Mount Vernon, giving in return his check for $10,000 to be applied toward the Everett Fund for the aid of the Association. Probably Mr. Ev- erett w^ould have refused to write at any other time, but Bonner took advantage of circumstances — always. He next secured George Bancroft, the eminent histo- rian. Then followed Horace Greeiy, James Gordon Ben- nett, and Henry J. Raymond. When such lights of journalism would write for the Ledger, what could lesser country editors say ? Next came a story by Henry Ward Beecher, who was followed by Dr. John Hall the great Presbyterian Divine, Bishop Clark, Dr. English, Longfel- low, Tennyson, and others, including a series of articles from the presidents of the leading colleges throughout the country. Mr. Bonner is a Presbyterian, being a member of the church presided over by Dr. John Hall, on Fifth Avenue. He has given many thousands of dollars to various insti- tutions and charities. He owns the finest stable of horses in the Union, among which are such as Maud S. — his first great trotter was Dexter. He never allows one of his horses to trot for money. Mr. Bonner is getting along in years but still attends to business. His paper has at times attained a circula- tion of 400;000 copies, each issue. 4B HIDDEN TREASURES. William G. Fargo. WHO, indeed, has not heard of the American Express Company ? Yet, how few there are who know to whom we are indebted for its existence. William G. Fargo was born May 20, 1818, at Pompey^ New York, and at the age of twelve he was mail-carrier over a route that covered forty miles. The inference must be at once formed that William G. Fargo was no ordinary child. He must have been industrious and trustworthy, for the mail must be delivered on time. No holiday could be observed, nor could any circus be allowed to come between him and his work. Seeking a more remunerative calling he went to Waterville, where he clerked in a small store and tavern, improving his spare moments in learning to keep accounts. When seventeen he went to Syracuse and entered a grocery house. He continued in the grocery line in one capacity or another for five years, when he accepted the freight agency of the Auburn and Syracuse Kaih'oad, in which capacity he had found his calling. Two years later he became associated with Pomeroy & Co., and was given the express agency for that company at Buffalo, and in 1844 he became a member of the firm of Wells & Co., who established an express line from Buffalo, west to Detroit, via Cleveland. This firm, in time, became Livingston & Fargo, and finally the several express companies: Wells & Co., Butterfield, Wasson & Co. and Livingston & Co., became merged into the since famous 3 OUR cdUNTRY's WEALTH, AND WHO POSSESS IT. 49 American Express Co. In 1868 Mr. Fargo was elected President of this Company, and remained at its head until his death. He was also connected with various other enterprises, being Vice-President of the New York Central & Hudson River railroad, and was also largely interested in Northern Pacific and other railroad stock. In 1861 he was elected Mayor of Buffalo on the Demo- cratic ticket, but so impartial was he in the administra- tion of the city affairs, and so patent was his business ability, that he was re-elected, being supported by all parties. Such is the reward for earnestness. And will any one say that William G. Fargo was not deserving of this splendid success ? If we will have success we must earn it. Let no man envy another in no matter what station of life he may be situated. Rest assured that we will fill the place that we are capable of filling; no more, no less. James C. Flood. JAMES C. FLOOD was born in New York city. He re- received only a plain common school education, but has succeeded, not from a lack of education but in spite of that lack. He passed through the usual routine of boys placed in moderate circumstances, until the year 1849, being past his majority, he sailed in the good ship " Elizabeth," around the "Horn," arriving in a strange land without money or friends, but he had brains, and 50 HIDDEN TREASURES. they were reinforced by a surprising allowance of will- power. He drifted from one thing to another, kept a restau- rant, and finally in 1854 loomed up as senior partner in the firm of Flood & O'Brien, who were soon deep in '' Old Kentuck," seeking the treasures which they found in great quantities, and finally when they took hold of the '^ Hale & Norcross " mine,it made them the first bonanza kings America ever knew. He next projects the l^evada Bank and makes the call for over five millions of dollars which leads to the suspension of the Bank of California, as the indiscrete placing of its resources leaves that bank in a weak posi- tion to withstand so sudden a drain, and was therefore indirectly the cause, as most people think, of its beloved President's death. Mr. Flood desired to place this Nevada Bank upon so firm a foundation that neither the indiscretion of speculators or the ebb and flow of mercantile life could overthrow it. How well this has been accomplished can be seen from the fact, that it has a capital of nearly fifteen million dollars, and numbers among its directors, such bonanza kings as James C. Flood, John W. MacKay and James G. Fair, whose private fortunes combined represent over $100,000,000, to say nothing of other wealthy directors. This bank asserts that it has special facilities for handling bullion, and we should think quite likely it has. Something of the con- dition of the private finances of Mr.^Flood can be as- certained. If one takes the trouble to look over the assessment roll he will find the following : '' James C. Flood, 6,000 shares, Nevada Bank stock, $1,200,000 ; 12,- 000 shares, Pacific Mill & Mining Co., $4,000,000 ; 250 shares, Pacific Wood, Lumber & Flume Co., $30,000 ; OUR country's wealth and who possess it. 51 1,000 shares, San Francisco Gaslight stock, $90,000 ; 987 shares of Golden City Chemical Works, $20,000 ; 3,000 shares of Virginia & Gold-Hill Water Co., $300,000 ; 47^ shares of Giant Powder Co., $60,000; 649^ shares Atlantic Giant Powder Co., $30,000 ; 35,000 shares Ophir Mine stock, $1,000,000," and he is assessed for $250,000 in money. Then comes J. C. Flood & Co. " Controlling jnterest in stock of Yellow Jacket, Union Consolidated, Scorpion, Savage, Ophir, Occidental, Hale & Norcross, Gould & Curry, Consolidated Virginia, Best & Belcher and other mining compaies, $10,000,000 ; money $500,- 000." In all it is quite a fortune for a poor boy to find, but it must be rememberedthat Mr. Flood had much with which to contend, and that nine men out of ten might have passed over the same ground and found nothing. Industry is what wins, and J. C. Flood is no exception to the rule. In a recent law suit Mr. Flood displayed a most peculiar memory, or rather a most remarkable lack of memory. We take the following facts from an editorial on the subject : ^'A certain man sued Mr. Flood to recover about $26,000,000, the alleged value of certain 'tailings' on some of the mines. Mr. Flood did not know whal company milled the ore of the Consolidated Virginia did not remember who was President of the company a1 the time ; he might have been, could not say for certain, however ; did not know where the crude bullion from his own mines was sent to be melted into bars ; could not tell how much was worked, nor anything about it. He did not remember who was treasurer of the mill company ; he might have been, might now be, but could hot tell for certain." Mr. Flood owns one of the finest mansions, for a 52 HIDDEN TREASURES. private residence, in the whole world. It cost one million, and is a magnificent building in any sense. Few men surpass him in either getting or keeping money. John W. Mack ay. TOHN W. MACKAY is not only the youngest and the \) richest of that bonanza trio -Flood, Fair and MacKay but immense wealth has not spoiled him. He is of Irish birth, but came to this country before he was of age. When the gold fever broke out he was one of the first to seek his fortune in that auriferous country bordering on the Pacific, in California. Contrary to the general sup- position that his great wealth came through ^good luck/ let me say? it was only by constant toil and slowly ac- quired experience that he learned how to tell a non-pay- ing lead from a bonanza. Several times he seemed about to strike the long-looked for success only to find his brightest hopes dashed to the earth. But these failures tempered him for the greater hardships that followed. The famous '^Comstock Lode" is situated among a vast accumulation of rocks and deep canyons — the re- sult of terrible volcanic eruptions at some remote period. This mining district was discovered by two Germans in about 1852-3. Contrary to the opinion expressed by other prospectors, these Germans saw silver in the rejected ore. Both brothers suddenly dying, the claim fell to a store- OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 53 keeper named Comstock who sold out for a few thousand. Mr. MacKay's investment in the one mine, the "Consoli- dated Virginia and California," has paid him unheard of dividends. This mine produced in a period covering six years, from 1873, gold and silver to the amount of ovei sixty-three millions of dollars. The combined profits of the two mines were over seventy-three and one-half mil- lions of dollars. Mr. MacKay drifted to this lode, mak- ing his first 'hit' in 1863, and in this section the bulk of his vast fortune was accumulated. On the 25th of November, 1867, he concluded that he was able to support a wife, and accordingly married the widow of an old friend (Dr. Thompson) who had shared his varying fortune of former years when he little dreamed of the vast wealth that awaited him. This lady is one of the best hands to help a man spend a fabulous income, of which we are aware. She lives in Paris, where she gives the most expensive of entertainments. When General Grant was in France he was her guest. She supports a private railway carriage to use at her pleas- ure, and it would almost exceed belief to describe the cost of her table service ; in fact, she lives in oriental splendor. On the other hand Mr. MacKay is decidedly pronounced, personally, in favor of little show. He is far more at home in Virginia City, where he may often be seen in a genuine mining costume, than at his pala- tial home in Paris. The ground had been known for years wherein his greath wealth was found, but it was pronounced worth- less. Everything seemingly had to be contested ; confi- dence was lacking, and what confidence remained was daily agitated by parties who were jealous rivals. The stock became almost worthless, and great discontent was 64 HIDDEN TREASURES. manifest when, to make matters worse, a fire broke out which burned the company's property and valuable ma- chinery. Twelve hundred feet of ground had to be slowly gone over in search for the right vein, at a cost of $500,000. Amid great discouragement John W. Mac- Kay led this apparently forlorn hope to at last be crowned with the success he so richly deserved. He now is estimated to be worth in the vicinity of $55,000,- 000, and although it may seem a somewhat extravagant reward, it cannot be denied that this vast sum could have been placed in far worse hands. Both Mr. and Mrs. MacKay are very liberal toward charitable purposes. They were especially complimented by Pope Leo XIII for their charitable deeds. As Mr. Mac- Kay is but about fifty years of age, it is hard to conjec- ture his possible future. While many features in his career seem to justify the belief in '4uck," still, to the close observer, it is manifest that had he not possessed great endurance, and known no such thing as fail, the world would never have known of John W. MacKay. Surely, great effort is the price of great success, always. James C Fair, THE name of James C. Fair will be recognized at once as one of the bonanza kings, and like the others he enjoyed only a fair education, starting for California at about the same time as the rest ; he taking OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 55 the overland route while they went by water. His only capital consisting of a miner's outfit, and with those simple implements he began his hard fought battle for wealth. He made mining a scientihc study and after about six years of variable success, he became known as an expert. Soon after this he accepted the superintend- ency of the Ophir mine, and later, the Hale & Norcross ; since which time he has gone on, until now, he can count his worldly possessions by the million. He is a most thorough miner, and his long continued life at the bot- tom of the mines has had a telling effect on his health. That he has successfully managed such wild and wicked men, as many miners are, without becoming the victim of some " accident," indicates something of his ability. Finally his impaired health necessitated his withdrawal from active worK:, and he made an extended voyage, re- turiiiug in a much improved condition. In 1881 he was elected to the United States Senate, where he acquitted himself with credit. He charged nothing for his services, an event without parallel in our history, however, he received all for which he went to Washington — honor. He is assessed for over forty millions, and can well afford to donate his salary to the Government. Like the other bonanza kings he seems to have been specially favored by fortune, but the old saying, " Birds of a feather will flock together," is true in this case, for these men are all practical miners and changed partners often until the firm of Flood, Fair & MacKay was formed, since which time they all seem perfectly satisfied each with the other., All had been sorely tried during their earlier life and w^ere not found wanting either in ability 56 HIDDEN TREASURES. or stick-to-it-iveness astheypassedthrough the crucible of Dame Fortune. As we have just been reading the lives of the three bonanza kings, J. C. Flood, J. C. Fair and J. W. MacKay, possibly a description of one of their enterprises in the shape of a flume v^ill be interesting as described by a New York Tribune correspondent : A fifteen-mile ride in a flume down the Sierra Nevada Mountains in thirty minutes was not one of the things contemplated in my visit to Virginia City, and it is en- tirely within reason to say that even if I should make this my permanent place of residence — which fortune for- bid — I shall never make the trip again. The flume cost, with its appurtenances, between $200,000 and $300,000— if it had cost a million it would be the same in my esti- mation. It was built by a company interested in the mines here, principally the owners of the Consolidated Virginia, California, Hale & ISTorcross, Gould & Curry, Best & Belcher and Utah mines. The largest stock- holders in these mines are J. C. Flood, James C. Fair, John W. MacKay and W. S. O'Brien, who compose with- out doubt the wealthiest firm in the United States. Taking the stock of their companies at the price quoted in the board, the amount they own is more than $100,- 000,000, and each has a large private fortune in addition. The mines named use 1,000,000 feet of lumber per month under ground, and burn 40,000 cords of wood per year. Wood is ^here worth from $10 to $12 per cord, and at market prices Messrs. Flood & Co. would have to pay nearly $500,000 a year for wood alone. Going into the mine the other day, and seeing the immense amount of timber used, and knowing the incalculable amount of wood burned in the several mines and mills, I asked Mr. OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 57 MacKay, who accompanied me, where all the wood and timber came from. '' It comes/' said he, " from our lands in the Sierras, forty or fifty miles from here. We own over twelve thousand acres in the vicinity of Washoe Lake, all of which is heavily timbered." ^' How do you get it here?'' I asked. ^'It comes," said he, "in our flume down the mountains, fifteen miles, and from our dumping grounds is brought by the Virginia & Truckee Railroad to this city, about sixteen miles. You ought to see the flume before you go back ; it is really a wonderful thing. " The flume is a wonderful piece of engineering work. It is built wholly on trestle- work and stringers; there is not a cut in the whole distance, and the grade is so heavy that there is little danger of a jam. The trestle-work is very sub- stantial, and undoubtedly strong enough to support a narrow-gauge railway. It runs over foot-hills, through valleys, around mountains, and across canyons. In one place it is seventy feet high. The highest point of the flume from the plain is 3,700 feet, and on an air-line, from beginning to end the distance is eight miles, the €ourse thus taking up seven miles in twists and turns. The trestle-work is thoroughly braced longitudinally and across, so that no break can extend further than a single box, which is 16 feet. All the main supports, which are five feet apart, are firmly set in mudsills, and the boxes or troughs rest in brackets four feet apart. These again rest upon substantial stringers. The grade of the flume is from 1,600 to 2,000 feet from top to bot- tom — a distance, as previously stated, of fifteen miles. The sharpest fall is three feet in six. There are two reservoirs from which the flume is fed. One is 1,100 feet long and the other is 600 feet. A ditch, nearly two miles 58 HIDDEN TREASURES. long, takes the water to the first reservoir, whence it is conveyed 3J miles to the flume through a feeder capable of carrying 450 inches of water. The whole flume was built in ten weeks. In that time all the trestle-work, stringers and boxes were put in place. About 200 men were employed on it at one time, being divided into four gangs. It required 2,000,000 feet of lumber, but the item which astonished me most was that there were 28 tons, or 56,000 pounds of nails used in the construction of this flume. Mr. Flood and Mr. Fair had arranged for a ride in the flume, and I was challenged to go with them. In- deed the proposition was iDut in this way — they dared me to go. I thought that if men worth twenty-five or thirty million dollars apiece could afford to risk their lives, I could afford to risk mine, which isn't worth half as much. So I accepted the challenge, and two ^ boats ' were ordered. These were nothing more than pig troughs, with one end knocked out. The 'boat' is built like the flume, Y shaped, and fits into the flume. The grade of the flume at the mill is very heavy, and the water rushes through it at railroad speed. The terrors of that ride can never be blotted from the memory of one of the party. I cannot give the reader a better idea of a flume ride than to compare it to sliding down an old-fashioned eve-trough at an angle of 45 degrees, hanging in mid-air without suppoi*t of roof or house, and extending a distance of fifteen miles. At the start we went at the rate of twenty miles an hour, which is a little less than the average speed of a railroad train. The red-faced carpenter sat in front of our boat on the bottom as best he could. Mr. Fair sat on a seat behind him, and I sat behind Mr. Fair in the stern and was of great OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 59 service to him in keeping the water which broke over the end-board, from his back. There was also a great deal of water shipped in the bows of the hog- trough, and I know Mr. Fair's broad shoulders kept me from more than one ducking in that memorable trip. At the heavi- est grades the water came in so furiously in front that it was impossible to see where we were going, or what was ahead of us ; but when the grade was light, and we were going at a three or four minute pace, the view was very delightful, although it was terrible. When the water would enable me to look ahead, I could see the trestle here and there for miles; so small and so narrow and apparently so fragile that I could only compare it to a chalk-mark upon which, high in the air, I was run- ning at a rate unknown to railroads. One circumstance during the trip did more to show me the terrible rapidity with which we dashed through the flume than anything else. We had been rushing down at a pretty lively rate of speed when the boat suddenly struck something in the bow,a nail, a lodged stick of wood or some secure substance which ought not to have been there. What was the effect ? The red-faced carpenter was sent whirling into the flume ten feet ahead. Fair was precipitated on his face, and I found a soft lodgment on Fair's back. It seems to me that in a second's time — Fair himself a powerful man — had the carpenter by the scruff of the neck, and had pulled him into the boat. I did not know at this time that Fair had his fingers crushed between the flume and the boat. But we sped along ; minutes seemed hours. It seemed an hour before we arrived at the worst place in the flume, and yet Hereford tells me that it was less than ten minutes. The flume at the point alluded to must have been very nearly forty-five degrees inclination. In 60 HIDDEN TREASURES. looking out, before we reached it, I thought the only way to get to the bottom was to fall. How our boat kept in the track is more than I know. The wind, the steamboat, the railroad, never went so fast. In this particularly bad place I allude to, my de- sire was to form some judgment as to the speed we were making. If the truth must be spoken, I was really scared almost out of my reason, but if I were on my way to eter- nity I wanted to know exactly how fast I went, so I hud- dled close to Fair, and turned my 'eyes toward the hills. Every object I placed my eyes upon was gone before I could plainly see what it was. Mountains passed like visions and shadows. It was with difficulty that I could get my breath. I felt that I did not weigh a hundred pounds, although I knew in the sharpness of intellect that I tipped the scales at two hundred. Mr. Flood and Mr. Hereford, although they started several minutes later than we, were close upon us. They were not so heavily loaded, and they had the full sweep of the water, while we had it rather at second-hand. Their boat finally struck ours with a terrible crash. Mr. Flood vv^as thrown upon his face, and the waters flowed over him. What became of Hereford I do not know, except that when we reached the terminus of the flume he was as wet as any of us. This only remains to be said : We made the entire distance in less time than a railway train would ordinarily make, and a portion of the dis- tance we went faster than a railway train ever went. Fair said we went at least a mile a minute. Flood said that we went at the rate of a hundred miles an hour, and my deliberate belief is that we went at a rate that annihilated time and space. We were a wet lot when We reached the terminus of the flume. i OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 61 Flood said that he would not make the trip again for the whole Consolidated Virginia mine. Fair said that he should never again place himself upon an equality with timber and wood, and Hereford said he was sorry that he ever built the flume. As for myself, I told the millionaires that I had accepted my last challenge. When we left our boats we were more dead than alive. The next day neither Flood nor Fair were able to leave their beds. For myself, I have only the strength to say that I have had enough of flumes. Horace Greeley. IN the history of journalism, Horace Greeley must, for all time, hold a position in the front rank. As it is well-known he is a self-made man, being born of poor parents at Amherst, Ne w Hampshire, on the 3rd day of February, 1811. His father was a farmer. The Greeley ancestors enjoyed a reputation for ^tenacity,' which was clearly shown in the pale-faced, flaxen-haired but pre- cocious lad of fifteen, who presented himself and was employed at the office of the Northern Spectator, at Poult- ney, Vermont, in 1826 ; having walked from West Haven, his home, eleven miles distant. He was to remain an apprentice until twenty, and received in money the princely sum of forty dollars a year 'with which to buy clothes and what was left he might use for spending money.' Why he lived to found a great paper the the reader can easily guess, when it is learned that 62 HIDDEN TREASURES. Greeley used the greater part of said forty dollars each year for buying books. He joined a local debating club where he became the ^ giant ^ member, a tribute paid to his intellect. Most of the members were older than Greeley, but knowledge proved a power in that society and he was invariably listened to with marked attention despite his shabby appearance. Especially was he fond of political data ; he followed the exchanges in the Siyedator ofl&ce with increasing interest. His parents removed to Pennsyl- vania, where he visited them during his apprenticeship as ^' printers' devil," and general assistant at Poultney , walking the most of the way, a distance of about 600 miles. The Spectator having collapsed, young Greeley, with his entire wardrobe done up in a handkerchief, once more visits Pennsylvania, but not to remain idle ; he soon obtained a place in a printing office near his home, at eleven dollars per month, and later still he obtains employment at Erie where he receives fifteen dollars per month. Soon after this, not yet content, he is enroute for New York, where he arrived August 17, 1831. His appearance in the metropolis was ludicrous in the extreme. One can imagine from accounts given of him how prepossessing he must have looked ; flaxen locks, blue eyes, his hat on the back of his head as if accustomed to star gazing, must have given him the appearance of one decidedly ' green,' to say the least. As is a noted fact he was, to his death, exceedingly indifferent as to his dress and what are known as the social demands of society. Indeed he could be seen on the street almost any day with his pockets stuffed full of papers, his hat pushed back on his head like a sailor OUR country's wealth and who possess it. 63 about to ascend the rigging, his spectacles seemingly about to slip off his nose, his boot heels running over, and we doubt not that he was as likely to have one leg of his pantaloons tucked into his boot top while the other was condescendingly allowed to retain its proper place. In facl^ it is hardly probable that he would have impressed any one with the idea that he was indeed a great editor of that city. But we return to his first visit ; office after office was visited without avail but that he- reditary ' tenacity ' did not forsake him, and at last he met an old friend, a Mr. Jones whom he had first met in Poultney. This friend, although not a ' boss, ' printer fashion set him at work on his own case. When the proprietor came in he was dumbfounded at the speci- men of a printer he beheld, and declared to the fore- man that he could not keep him. Fortunately, how- ever, for young Greeley, the job that he was on was setting small type, — a most undesirable one. The fore- man shrewdly suggested that as Jones, who was a good workman, knew him it would be a good policy to wait and see the result. As it was a very difficult job no wonder that Greeley's proof looked as though it had the measles, but as he was retained he must have done as well if not better than was expected. When the job was finished he was thrown out of employment, and he shifted about for some time doing odd jobs ; in fact it must have been very discouraging, but finally he ob- tained employment on the Spirit of the Times, and after- ward formed a business partnership with Mr. Story who, with Mr. Greeley, invested about $240. They established a penny paper, and were moderately successful, but Mr. Story was drowned and his place was filled by another. His connf^ction with the New Yorker was his next busi- 64 HIDDEN TREASURES. ness venture. While on this paper he was also editor of a paper in Albany, and a regular contributor to the Daily Whig. When we think that he gave himself only four hours sleep out of the twenty-four, we can realize how he could find time to edit two papers and write for the third, but despite this assiduousness his enterprise failed and he thereby lost $10,000. Greeley's opinion on economy was clearly defined when he said : " For my own part, and I speak from sad experience, I would rather be a convict in States Prison or a slave in a rice swamp, than- to pass through life under the harrow of debt. If you have but fifty cents and can get no more for the week, buy a peck of corn, parch it, and live on it rather than owe any man a dollar." He next started the Log Cabin. It was started in the beginning of 1840, designed to be run six months and then discontinued. Into this undertaking Horace Greeley threw all his energy and ability, guided by his experience. In those days a journal with a circulation of ten thousand was a big concern. When an edition of nearly fifty thousand of its first issue was called for, the publishers were beside themselves, and later when the Log Cabin ran up a circulation of eighty and even ninety thousand, the proprietors were frantic as to how they should get them printed. It is needless to say that the Log Cabin outlived its original expectations. Ultimately the Log Cabin and the NeAv Yorker were merged into the Neiv York Tribune. As is a recognized fact, Greeley was stronger in a fight than in peace, and the attacks which this new enterprise received soon run its circulation from the hundreds into the thousands. Of course new presses had to be bought and Greeley, who by the way preferred to discuss the financial policy 4 OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 65 of a great nation than that of his own olfice, soon found himself obliged to get a business man as a part- ner. He was excedingly fortunate in securing Mr. Thomas McElrath, who soon brought order from chaosj and the Tribune became not only an ably conducted paper but a paying one as well. Mr. Greeley next became a lecturer, and in this field he was also fairly successful. He traveled in Europe and wrote such books as "Hints About Reform," ** Glances at Europe," ''History of the Slavery Extension," "Overland Journey from New York to San Francisco," "The American Conflict," "Recollections of a Busy Life," "Essays on Political Economj^," and just before his death, "What I Know About Farming." While Mr. Greeley must ever be regarded among journalists as one of their brightest stars ; he was one of the most peculiar writers it has ever been our pleasure to read. In fact he must be regarded as a kind of liter- rary gymnast. While conducting a political paper he at one time devoted page after page to the theory of reor- ganizing society after the plan of Fourier ; that is to divide society up into small communities to live in com- mon. After wearying the readers on this and numer- ous other 'isms,' it was discontinued. He went into a political frenzy over Clay and protection ; next his paper was full of the 'Irish Repeal,' 'Advocacy of the Water Cure," Phrenology," Mesmerism,' 'Opposition to Capital Punishment," 'Trinitarianism ' and the 'Drama.' He was finally elected to Congress to fill an unexpired term. While here he caused some amusement by his eccentricities. He refused to sit up at night sessions, abruptly leaving when his hour for retiring arrived. Possibly his letter addressed to the managers of his 66 HIDDEN TREASURES. party in his State was one of the greatest surj^rises that he ever sprung upon the country. It was addressed to Mr. Seward personally, but upon mention being made of it by that gentlemen's friends, it was made public by Greeley's demand. It ran something as follows : " The election is over, and its results sufficiently ascertained. It seems to me a fitting time to announce to you the dis- solution of the political firm of Seward, Weed and Gree- ley by the withdrawal of the junior partner, said with- drawal to take effect on the morning after the first Tues- day in February next. I was a poor young printer, and editor of a literary journal — a very active and bitter Whig in a small way, but not seeking to be known outside of my own ward committee. I was one day called to the City Hotel where two strangers introduced themselves as Thurlow Weed and Lewis Benedict, of Albany. They told me that a cheap campaign paper of peculiar stamp at Albany had been resolved on, and that I had been se- lected to edit it. I did the work required to the best of my ability. It was work that made no figure and created no sensation ; but I loved it and I did it well. When it was done you were Governor ; dispensing offices worth three to twenty thousand to your friends and compatriots, and I returned to my garret and mj crust and my desperate battle with pecuniary obliga- tions heaped upon me by bad partners in business and the disastrious events of 1837. I believe it did not occur to me then that some one of these abundant places might have been offered to me without injustice. I now think it should have occurred to you. In the Harrison campaign of 1840 I was again designated to edit a cam- paign paper. I published it as well and hence ought to have made something out of it despite its low price. OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 67 My extreme povery was the main reason why I did not. Now came the great scramble of the swell mob ol coon minstrels and cider suckers at Washington, I not being counted in. I asked nothing, expected nothing, but you Governor Seward ought to have asked that I be Post Master at New York." When the Republicans met at Chicago he ^paid' Mr. Seward off by checkmating his chances of the nomina- tion, and placing Lincoln at the head of the ticket. Mr. Greeley had always been an uncompromising opponent of slavery, and once had all but asked for the impeachment of Buchanan, hence the South expected little sympathy from him; yet, this great editor dismays his friends while his enemies are dumbfounded when they read, "Let the South go," but no sooner do the ^erring sisters ' act upon his suggestion than this political ranch- man is out with his literary lasso vainly trying to keep them in. He next raises the war-whoop of ''On to Rich- mond," and thereby aids in precipitating the terrible disaster of Bull Run. Time goes on — ^the Union cause looks gloomy enough — all seems lost ; yet, when once more the nation needs his powerful support he rushes off to Canada unauthorized, to negotiate a treaty with South- ern Envoys which, to say the least, would have been dis- graceful to the Union Government. When the cause is won he flees to Washington to sign the bail-bond of the arch traitor, and is thus instrumental in his release from justice. Yet, for all this the Tribune prospered. He was regarded by many of his readers as a kind of moral law-giver, and if , per chance,one person journeyed to New York and returned to state that their beau ideal had used undue profanity in his common conversation, the indiscrete individual was ostracised. 68 HIDDEN TREASURES. If Mr. Greeley's previous career had surprised thQ country and disappointed some of his friends, it re- mained for the last political act of his life to com- pletely paralyze the country at large, and plunge some of his most ardent supporters into the deepest gloom. This was when they beheld him the nominee of Repub- licans, 'who were anything to elect Greeley,' and en- dorsed by Free Traders and Democrats whom he had so bitterly denounced all his life. Had he been nominated by the straight Eepublican party it might have been considered as a somewhat extravagant reward for party service for this position could not have been regarded otherwise than consistent ; but the position he now as- sumed was inconsistent, not to say ludicrous. The result was he carried only six States against the successful Grant. He was a Unive*"salist in belief, but educated his daughters at a Cafcholic school. He refused to get his brother, who actually needed assistance, a position worth perhaps $1,000 a year ; yet, he could lend Corneel. Yan- -derbilt about eight hundred thousand dollars without security. His early friend, Mr. Jones, once sent a friend to him bearing a note requesting Greeley's aid to a sub- ordinate position in the custom-house. No sooner had Greeley glanced it over than he astonished the gentle- man, who was aware of Mr. Greeley's early obligation to Mr. Jones, by the volley of oaths and vituperation which he heaped upon him because he did not go West instead of hanging around there seeking office. No wonder the gentleman, who was a reputable middle-aged man, fled from the presence of this famous expounder of 'Moral Ideas.' However, when all this has been said we cannot help but admit that a great and good man died on De- cember 29th, 1872. Certain it is that Journalism lost one of its brightest and most successful stars. OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 69 Thurlow Weed, WHO indeed has not heard of Thurlow Weed, " The king maker," born at Cairo, Greene County, New York, November 15, 1797. His father was a teamster and farmer. The reader can get some insight into the seemingly mysterious power he held for so many years, when it was known that so great was his thirst for know^ledge that he was glad to wrap bits of a rag carpet about his feet and thus shod walk through the snow two miles to borrow a history of the French Revolution, which he mastered at night, stretched before ^the sap bush fire.' The more one investigates the character and lives of those men whom we so often envy, the more we are forced to see that it was will-power rightly directed that overcame all obstacles. Certain it is to this that Thur- low Weed owes his everlasting fame as the ^ American Warwick'; for knowledge is power. He first left the farm work as a cabin boy on a Hudson river steam- boat bound for New York, but being born a journalist he soon drifted into a printing office where he became a good journeyman. When the second war with Great Britain broke out he enlisted, and served on the Northern frontier, where by faithfulness he became Quartermaster Sergeant. When the war was over he returned to the printing office, being at one time in the same establishment with the late James Harper. Finally he started a paper at Oxford, New York, in 1818. He afterward became con- 70 HIDDEN TREASURES. nected with the Onondaga Times, which he finally changed to the Bejpublican, For the next few years he is connected with several different papers until we find him in Rochester at the head of the Anti-Masonic Enquirer. About this time the body of a man who had drowned in Lake Ontario was found, and it was claimed that his name was Morgan ; if so, he was a renegade mason. A question of identity was raised, but as his murder was boldly asserted to have been the work of Masonry, it caused a great excitement for the time being. This ex- citement divided the political parties into Mason and Anti-Mason factions. Anti-Masonry was the political fertilizer which produced the astonishing growth of the assiduous Weed, he being sent to the Assembly twice, mainly on that issue. While at Albany his ability as a party leader becoming so apparent he was decided upon as the proper person to assume the party leadership against the obnoxious ^Albany Regency,' the great Demo- cratic power in New York State at the time. He according- ly moved to Albany and assumed the editorship of the Albany Evening Journal. Weed was one of the men who consolidated the Anti-Jackson, Anti-Mason and old Federal factions into the Whig party. The 'Regency' with which he had to deal consisted of such men as Martin Van Buren, Silas Wright, Willian L. Marcy and others of equal ability. Such were the men with whom he was pitted, but they soon found him in every way worthy of their steel. No one. when speaking of this great political warrior ever thought or spoke of him as a millionaire. Seemingly no one cared how much he was worth ; but what did worry them was, — what will be the outcome of this secret conclave which we now OUR country's v/ealth, and who possess it. 71 suspect- to be in progress at the headquarters of the op- position of the 'Albany Eegency.' He went to battle fearlessly, and his terse pen dealt stinging blows straight in the face of the opponent. In- deed, as an editor he has been rarely equaled. While Greeley w^ould devote a column to an article, he would take the same subject and in a few words put the argument in such shape as to carry far more conviction. His two terms in the State Assembly wound up his career as a legislator, although he could have had any place within the gift of his party from 1830 to 1860. His ambition was not to hold office but to rule men, and it is well-known that his desires were accomplished. He was a great dictator, being largely instrumental as an independent advisor in the selection of Harrison, Taylor and Scott. His first trial of personal strength in this line was when he secured the nomination and election of his personal friend, William H. Seward, as the first Whig Governor of New York. Mr. Seward, who was an unobtrusive man, was one time riding with the driver on a stage when that dignitary asked the stranger his name and business, as was customary when people did not volunteer the information. The answer was, "Why, I'm William H. Seward, Governor of the State." This was too good for the driver, whose answer was a loud laugh, plainly implying that he considered that the gentleman had given a most cute but evasive answer. "Don't you believe me"? asked Seward. "Of course not," replied the driver. Mr. Seward, who was ac- quainted with the proprietor of the next hotel they came to, agreed to leave it to him. In time they arrived and the driver, calling out the landlord, immediately said, "This man says he is Governor of New York State 72 HIDDEN TREASURES. and we have left the matter to you." ^' Yes/' broke in Seward, ''ami not Governor of this State?" The an- swer came quick and sharp; "No, but Thurlow Weed is." ^* There," exclaimed the ignorant driver, who could not see the point at once ; "I knew you weren't Governor of New York State." In 1864 Mr. Weed sold the JowrnaZ, but never entirely suspended literary Vv^ork. He afterw^ard assumed the editorship of the ISleiv York Commercial Advertiser , and often sent letters to the Tribune. In 1882, shortly before his death, the country was set in a flutter by his publish- ing the whole details relating to the Morgan matter, which he had kept all this time claiming it would injure certain parties, but as the last had died, it was now made public. On November 23rd of the same year one more great journalist passed away. He left a large estate, but a larger host of friends. George W, Childs. NO one can read the life of George W. Childs without a feeling slowly coming over him that the possibili- ties of our country are indeed very great. Certain it is that when we see so many examples showing what has been done by poor boys from the farm, we are forced to exclaim that we live in a free country ; despite what some say we reiterate, our country is free. George W. Childs, at the age of ten, became an OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 73 errand boy in a book-store in Baltimore, and after a period of over a year in the Navy which he served later, he removed to Philadelphia and once more entered a book-store — his natural calling. After four years' ap- prenticeship, when less than twenty, with his savings he opened a small book-store on his own account. "Where there's a will there's a way," so believed young Childs. He determined to one day be proprietor of the Philadelphia Puhlic Ledger. "Aim high that you may not strike low," — how true that adage is. When you see a boy make up his mind to do something ; if he makes his actions correspond with his words, you can rest as- sured that it will be done. Sickness may come ; disap- pointments will follow, but all must be overcome. Jerome B. Rice determined to succeed in the seed business, but just as success seemed about to crown his efforts that terrible disease, rheumatism, came and de- formed him. He lost the entire use of his lower limbs, but his brain was spared, and his determination was un- shaken. An invalid chair was bought, a colored man wheels him every morning to his office door where loving hands gently lift him, chair and all, up the steps of the beautiful building now occupied and owned by Jerome B. Rice & Co. Nearly thirty years have passed and Jerome B. Rice has not taken a step, but during that time, despite all obstacles, the firm of Jerome B. Rice & Co. has become one of the leading seed-growing concerns of America. Young men with the same chance he had are apt to say, "It's no use." We answer, "Where there's a will there's a way." "To think a thing impossible is to make it so." George W. Childs determined to own the Puhlic Led- ger, He determined to own the leading paper of the 74 HIDDEN TREASURES. great city of Philadelphia, and he was a poor boy. Was this presumption ? If it was he has proved its practica- bility. If he was building an air-castle he has since placed a firm foundation under it. He labored hard in this little store of his ; he built his own fires ; he did his own sweeping, — it was the same old story; he hired done nothing that he could himself do. He made some money — not very fast — but a good average profit, and he saved what he did earn. He mastered the publishing business, and he developed a marked business capacity in that line. A man usually fills the notch for which he is fitted : I was about to say — I will say that he fits him- self to the notch which he does fill. Sometime we see men in subordinate positions who apparently are capable of the best, but a careful study reveals a screw loose somewhere ; there is a weak point, and invariably that point is the one thing which stands between them and victory. ''Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house." So said Christ eighteen hundred years ago ; is it not so to-day ? As young Childs had ability, and it was apparent, what matter it how old he was or where he came from ? All the world asks is, ^'Whatcanhedo"? The publishing firm of R. E. Peterson & Co. sought his alliance, and the firm of Childs and Peterson became known far and near. Do our readers call this luck ? He now became a successful publisher, and seemingly his cup was running over, so far as this world was concerned, but it will be remembered that years a.go he determined to own the Fuhlic Ledger^ provided he lived. He was alive and his purpose still remained. He was waiting and watching. The Ledger was a penny paper — the war OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 75 broke out — stock went up — the management was weak- ened by death and other complications, the Public Ledger was losing nearly $500 every time it went to press. The paper, great as it was, was losing $8,000 a week — at the rate of $150,000 a year. Now was Mr. Child's chance. In vain did friends entreat ; in vain did wise business men shake their heads ; Mr. Childs felt that his time had come, and he bought the paper, paying for it nearly $150,000. The new proprietor changed things; the pa- per was made a two cent issue, and into the Public Led- ger he now threw his whole soul. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood leads on to fortune." It is even so ; he had purchased the Ledger at the right time. Not one man in a hundred can successfully edit a newspaper; not one editor in twenty could edit i]iQ Pub- lic Ledger with success. Yet, Mr. Childs is one man out of the hundreds — he is the one editor out of that twenty. He determined to publish only the truth ; all claim to do that, but Mr. Childs does it. The paper grew, and on the 20th of June, 1867, the Public Ledger took possession of its new building. This new building cost half a million of dollars, and is one of the finest in the city. At its formal opening many of the most distinguished men in the country were present. Mr. Childs has been largely instrumental in establish- ing a small city at Wayne Station. He owns a large tract of land which he has divided into building lots of about an acre each. Any one desiring a home can get one by paying one-third down, and he is also furnished plans from which to select his ideal of a home. The houses built from these plans cost from $2,000 to $8,000 each. Mr. Childs and his partner, Mr. Drexel, have ex- 76 HIDDEN TREASURES. pended about $2,000,000 exclusively for beautifying the city. Years ago Mr. Childs told a gentleman that he meant to prove that a man could be at once liberal and success- ful as a man of business, and the princely hospitality of this good man has demonstrated, beyond doubt or con- tradiction, its practicability. Dinners to newsboys and life insurance policies given to the wives of his em- ployes; such acts make up the history of his life. The late Chief Justice of Pennsylvania once said in a speech: ^* Some men pursue military glory, and spend their time and energies in the subjugation of nations. Caesar and Napoleon may be named as types of this character. But the tears and blood which follow violence and wrong maculate the pages of history on which their glory is recorded. Others erect splendid palaces for kingly resi- dences, and costly temples and edifices for the promo tion of education and religion in accordance with their particular views. But views of education and religion change, buildings waste away, and whole cities, like Herculaneum and Pompeii, are buried in the earth. Others again win public regard by the construction of means of communication for the furtherance of com- merce. The canals, railroads, and telegraph are glorious specimens of their useful exertion for the public good. But the marts of commerce change. Tyre and Sidon, and Venice are no longer commercial centres. The shores of the Pacific are even now starting in a race against the great commercial emporium of our continent. But Mr. Childs has planted himself in the human heart, and he will have his habitation there while man shall dwell upon earth. He has laid the foundation of his monu- ment upon universal benevolence. Its superstructure is 'OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. il composed of good and noble deeds. Its spire is the love of God which ascends to Heaven." Such a monument IS, indeed, * A Pyramid so wide and high That Cheops stand in envy by." Is not that glorious success ? But if the name of George W. Childs was not a synonym for charity and philanthropy, the fact that he has demonstrated beyond doubt the possibility of making a newspaper not only pure and clean, but also proving that people will buy wholesome news, as well as trash, and thus refuting the opinion that the people are wholly responsible for the vile matter that is circulated, ought alone to commend him to the world as a great benefactor. Worldly rea- soners and great financiers, wiseacres and successful editors prophesied its failure, but what mattered this to George W. Childs ? When a boy he determined to one day own the Public Ledger ; he accomplished that. When a man he determined to elevate the tone of a newspa- per, and thus prove the fallacy of the opinion that "A newspaper must print all the news, no matter what, or else fail " ; — he has here also fulfilled his desires. Surely, "Where there's a will there's a way." James Gordon Bennett. WHEN Horace Greeley was starting the Tribune the Herald was five or six years old, and its success as- sured. Mr. Greeley started his as an uncompromising 78 HIDDEN TREASURES. party paper ; Mr. Bennett presented the Herald to the peo- as an independent paper, the tirst ever published that was simply an indicator of public opinion bound and gagged by no party. To Scotland shall we as a nation ever be indebted for one of the greatest journalists of the nineteenth century. When about fifteen years old he entered a Catholic school at Aberdeen expecting to enter the clergy, but after an academic life of tw^o or three years he abandoned the idea. This sudden change was in no small degree influ- enced by an edition of "Benjamin Franklin's Autobiog- raphy" which was published in Edinburgh about this time. He was greatly taken with the spirit of this volume which found sympathy in his thrifty Scotch na- ture. From the moment he finished this life of Frank- lin he determined to come to America, and after a short stay in Halifax, and Boston, his stay in each place being attended with great privation, we find him in the year 1822 in the city of New York, and still later he is em- ployed on the Charleston Courier, of Charleston, South Carolina. There his knowledge of Spanish was a benefit, enabling him to translate the Cuban exchanges, and to decipher the advertisements which were sent in that language. After a few months he returned to New York where he attempted to open a Commercial School. This scheme came to naught, however, and he then tried lecturing on political economy with but moderate suc- cess to say the least. He soon saw that these undertak- ings were not in his sphere, and once more he returned to journalism. He first connected himself with the Neiv York Courier and when that journal became merged into the Enquirer he was chosen associate editor. After this the OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 79 senior editor, J. Watson Webb, turned square around and began to support the United States Bank which he had so bitterly opposed and fought so vehemently. Young Bennett now withdrew and started a small paper, The Globe, but it was short-lived. He next went to Phila- delphia and assumed the principal editorship of the Pemisylvanian. At that time all papers allied them- selves to one party or the other. Mr. Bennett conceived the idea of an independent j)aper ; one which would be bound to no party or ring. He accordingly returned to New York for this purpose. He was very short of funds, and this fact alone would have discouraged most young men; not so with this man. He hired a cellar; two barrels with a board across served as desk on which was an ink-stand and goose quill. The proprietor of these apartments was not only editor and manager, but reporter, cashier, book-keeper, salesman, messenger and office boy. One hour he was writing biting editorials or spicy paragraphs; the next rushing out to report a fire or some other catas- trophe, working sixteen to twenty hours per day. He per- suaded a young firm to print his paper, and he was thus tided over that difficulty. Most young men would never have undertaken such a task, but what would they have done had they, after embarking in it,been twice burned out and once robbed within the first fifteen months ? Such was the experience of Bennett, but as expressed by himself, he raked the Herald from the fire by almost superhuman efforts, and a few months later, when the great fire occurred in Wall street, he went to the scene himself and picked up all kinds of information about the firms burnt out, the daring deeds of the firemen, and anything sensational he did not fail to print. He also 80 HIDDEN TREASURES. went to the unheard of expense of printing a map of the burnt district and a picture of the Produce Exchange on fire. This enterprise cost, but it gave the Herald a boom over all competitors, which it well maintains. It was the first paper that published a daily money article and stock list, and as soon as possible Bennett set up a Ship News establishment consisting of a row-boat manned hy three men to intercept all incoming vessels and ascertain their list of passengers and the particulars of the voyage. Mr. Calhoun's speech on the Mexican war, the first ever sent to any paper by telegraph, was published in the Herald. At one time when his paper wished to pre- cede all rivals in publishing a speech delivered at Wash- ington, for the purpose of holding the wire, Mr. Bennett ordered the telegraph operator to begin and transmit the whole Bible if necessary, but not to take any other message until the speech came. Such enteriDrise cost, but it paid ; and so it has ever been. Seemingly regard- less of expense, bureaus of information for the Herald were established in every clime. ' Always ahead ' seemed to be the motto of James Gordon Bennett, and surely enterprise was no small factor in the phenomenal success of the Herald, The tone, it has been said, was not always so edifying as that of its contemx)oraries, the Po.s'^and Commercial, still every article was piercing as a Damascus blade. To buy one paper meant to become afterwards one of its customers. It was indeed aston- ishing what a variety of reading was contained in one of those penny sheets ; every thing was fresh and i^iquant^ so different from the old party papers. As originally in- tended, the Herald has always been independent in politics, although inclined to be Democratic. It sup- 5 OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 81 ported Fremont and the Republican party, and was one of the staunch war papers. Mr. Bennett has been described as being stern and disagreeable in his manners. In this we do not fully concur, and in view of the large number of employes who have grown old in his service, we cannot but feel justified in this belief. Horace Greeley and James Gordon Bennett, the two leading New York journalists, but how different. Mr. Greeley had a larger personal following than the Tribune; the Herald had a larger friendship than did Bennett who was the power behind the throne. Journalism lost no lesser light when the great Herald editor passed awa^ J tihg 1st, 1872, than it did six months later when Horace Greeley parsed from darkness into light. As Mr. Bennett vv^as a li:''e-long Catholic, he re- ceived the last sacrament from the hands of the re- nowned Cardinal McClosky. Phineas T, Barnum. WE would not pass by so remarkable a character as that presented to us in the life of P. T. Barnum. a man born of poor parents at Bethel, Connecticut, Like many boys, he picked up pennies driving oxen for his father, but unlike many other boys he would invest these earnings in nick-nacks which he would sell to joy- ful picknickers on every holiday, thus his pennies in- creased to dollars. At an early age he was deprived of 82 HIDDEN TREASURES. his father, and began work for himself at six dollars per month. He here saved his money, and afterwards opened a store which proved a successful business ven- ture, especially after he added a lottery scheme. It is Interesting to read of the many of our successful men who have drifted from one thing to another until they settled upon some life-work, then there was a hard strug- gle for victory, which was sure to come, provided they persevered. In 1835 Barnum heard of a negress in Philadelphia who was reputed to have been the nurse of George Washington, and who it was claimed was 162 years old. Barnum immediately set out for Philadelphia, and suc- ceeded in buying her for $1,000. This was more money than he already had ; he, therefore, risked more than he owned, but by judicious advertising he was enabled to draw large houses, bringing the show up to paying $1,- 500 per week. The next year the negress died, and a post mortem examination proved her to be possibly eighty years old, but Barnum had secured a good start. From this time on, for fifteen years, he was connected with traveling shows, and his museum proved a most profitable enterprise. In 1842 Mr. Barnum first heard of Mr. Charles Strat- ton, whom he presented to the world as General Tom Thumb — exhibiting him in both America and Europe. In 1849, after much correspondence, he secured the sweet singer, Jenny Lind, for one hundred nights, at one thousand dollars per night. His profits on these concerts were simply immense, and he retired from business. In 1857 it was heralded all over the land that Barnum had failed. It was so ; unfortunate speculations had swamped him, and he returned to New York a bankrupt. OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 83 Without a dollar he bought the Museum again, and in less than a year he succeeded in paying for it. His life henceforth has been full of its ups and downs ; twice was he burned out, but as often he came forth in some new role — or rather an improvement on the old. General Tom Thumb was again taken to Europe. This venture, and his lecture on 'Money Making,' in England, succeeded beyond his most sanguine expectations. Every note was taken up, and he is to-day once more a million- aire. He has been for years the central figure in 'The Greatest Show on Earth,' the expense of which is from four to five thousand dollars a day. But not alone is he great as a showman ; his lectures must have made him noted, and he is connected with different other enter- prises. He is avery shrewed man, and is also honest. Think of it ! at fifty a ruined man, owing thousands more than he possessed, yet resolutely resuming business life once more — fairly wringing success from adverse fortune, and paying his notes at the same time. When solicited for money with which to carry on his campaign for Congress, he answered, " God grant that I be defeated, sooner than one grain of gold be so basely used." Such principles are glorious, and upon their per^ petuation depends the rise or fall of a Republican form of government. Mr. Barnum's latest sensation, in order to draw crowds, is the consolidation of his great show with that mammoth show formerly belonging to Adam Forepaugh. This caps the climax, the two "Greatest Shows on Earth ' ' united. 84 HIDDEN TREASURES. Mathew Vassar. YASSAR COLLEGE, five hundred feet long and five stories high, is a momument of which any man might be proud. The founder, Mathew Vassar, was born in England in 1792, and four years later landed in America, settling in Poughkeepsie, on a farm with his parents. In those days the English people thought that they could n't live without a yearly supply of home-brewed ale ; such a thing being unknown in the quiet commu- nity to which they had come. As there was no barley to be had, seed was imported from the mother-country and the family once more enjoyed their favorite beverage. When neighbors called they were, of course, invited to partake, and the fame of Yassar's ale steadily increased, until finally the father concluded to manufacture the ale to sell. Mathew, for some reason, disliked to go into the brewery to work, and the irate father bound him out to a neighboring tanner. However, when the time came for young Yassar to go, lo, he was nowhere to be found. . He fled to Newburg, where he remained four years, learning to keep books, and saving his money. He then returned to his home and, having demonstrated that he could both earn and keep money, was duly installed in his father's establishment as book-keeper. All went well for some time, till at last a fire came, destroy- ing all the property, ruining his father, and worst of all causing his brother's death. The father now returned OUR COUNTRY S WEALTH, AND WHO POSSESS IT. 85 to a farm, but Mathew determined to retrieve the busi- ness. He began business in an old shed. The supply was of necessity small, but it was an A 1. article, and its fame increased, making the ale of Yassar known far and near. From such a beginning the business de- veloped into an immense establishment, with a profita ble business, which he carried on for over thirty years, when he retired. In company with his wife he made an European tour, and on his return resolved to do something with his money for the betterment of society. On the 28th of February, 1861, twenty-eight gentlemen received from Mathew Yassar, a box containing $408,000, in trust, for the establishment of a college for the education of young ladies. The result of their efforts was Yassar Fe- male College, afterwards changed to Yassar College. His entire donations for the establishment and mainte- nance of this institution of learning amounted to about $800,000. It was the first Female College ever estab- lished. His influence will be felt by the numerous gen- erations which will follow him. John Jacob Astor. NOT far from the lovely Hiedelberg on the Rhine, is the picturesque village of Walldorf, which is the birth place of John Jacob Astor, who was born in 1768. His father was a peasant, thus it is seen that he had not the 86 HIDDEN TREASURES. advantages of family influence or assistance. He saved what little money lie could earn, and at sixteen set out on foot for the sea coast, where he took passage in a vessel for London. He had a brother in that city who was, in a small way, a manufacturer of musical instru- ments. Here he remained until 1783, when he em- barked for America, taking some flutes with him. On the voyage he made the acquaintance of a furrier. This in- dividual he plied with numerous questions, until he was quite familiar with the business, and when he reached America he at once exchanged his fl.utes for furs, and hastening back to England succeeded in selling them at a fair profit over all expenses. Having disposed of his business in London, he en- gaged passage in a ship which did not return for some weeks. In the meantime he purchased a lot of goods which he thought would prove salable in America. He also improved the time in visiting the Governor of the then great East India Company. The Governor was from his native town in Germany, and Astor, making the most of this fact, secured from him a permit to trade at any port subject to the East India Company. When he arrived in New York once more he at once closed a bargain with a West India trader, that gentle- man furnishing a ship and cargo, Astor the permit, which was very valuable, as it gained them access to Canton, China, which was closed to all foreigners save the vessels of the East India Company. The terms of this bargain was that each should participate equally in the profits of the voyage, and Aster's share was several barrels of milled dollars, the total profit being about $110,000. He after this bought ships of his own, and shipped his own merchandise to the East, bringing back cargoes OUR country's wealth, akd who possess it. 87 to be sold in the new world. The Government at Wash- ington approved of Aster's proposition to get possession of the fur business of the Interior, controlled at that time by British companies. He succeeded in raising a corporation with $1,000,000 capital, and within a few years Mr. Astor controlled the fur interests of the country. This was back in Jefferson's time when the city of New York was a small village. Astor, with that keen foresight which marked his life's history, had been buying land on Staten Island, and the marvelous growth of the city brought the price of his possessions up to fabulous amounts, and the latter part of his life his whole attention was occupied in taking care of his great blocks of real estate. While other merchants went to their desks at nine, Astor could always be seen there at prompt seven. He early in life, before leaving his old home on the Rhine, resolved to be honest, to be industrious, and to avoid gambling. Upon this solid moral basis he built the superstructure of his fame and secured his great wealth. The one great act of John Jacob Aster's life, which must forever keep the name of Astor before the people, is the establishment of the Astor Library by donating for that purpose $400,000, to which have been added large contributions by his son William B., to whom the elder Astor left about $20,000,000. The library contains about two hundred thousand volumes, the catalogue alone contains two thousand five hundred pages alphabetically arrranged. The Asters are the principal real estate owners of America. 88 HIDDEN TREASURES. Potter Palmer, A HOTEL that has averaged five hundred and fifty daily arrivals for a dozen years. This naturally awakens interest ; where is it ? Who built it ? How does it look ? In answer, we speak of the Palmer House, of Chicago, the Talace Hotel of America,' built by Potter Palmer. The building is as nearly fire-proof as any building can be made, and is swarming Avith servants. You are accommodated with a room which satisfies your desires financially ; and upon entering the dining- room you can choose between the American and Euro- pean plans. This hotel is, indeed, first-class in every respect. It certainly enjoys the widest reputation as suchof any on the continent, and is undoubtedly the finest hotel in America, save possibly the Palace Hotel, in San- Francisco, which is a rival in magnificence. Mr. Palmer was born near Albany, New York, where he worked summers among the farmers as a day-laborer, and attended the district school winters. This kind of life was maintained until he was nearly nineteen years of age when he entered a store at Durham, New York, as a clerk. Here he allowed nothing to escape his at- tention and, by industry, coupled with frugality, he was enabled to enter a business on his own account when twenty-one. Mr. Palmer, like all other young men who have risen from poverty to afiiuence, was constantly alive to the problems of the day; especially did the subject of this narrative watch the indications of progress in his native country. OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 89 Being filled with the idea that Chicago was to be the city of America, he in 1852 moved ^West' to that city. Here he opened a dry-goods business which grew to mam- moth proportions for those days. After fourteen years of successful trade he retired, investing heavily in real estate. When the great fire came much of his vast gains were swept away, but with that indomitable will and <50urage which has always characterized his efforts, he succeeded in forming a company which successfully brought to completion the magificent hotel before men- tioned. Probably no man has been more closely identi- fied with the project of improving the streets of Chicago. When Palmer first entered the city he found it situ- ated in a slough. It was generally supposed that the ground upon which the city was built was a natural swamj), and when Palmer, among others, advocated the idea of raising the streets they were ridiculed. But sub- sequent tests proved that beneath the surface there was a solid rock bottom, therefore it was impossible for the water to leach through. When this was an established fact, and therefore the grumblers were deprived of this excuse, the cry was raised that the city could not af- ford it. Against all obstacles the measure was carried, however, and State Street was widened, making it one of the grandest and most 'stately' streets among any that can be found in any city on the entire globe. Indeed, it IS difficult to estimate the possible benefit Chicago may have derived, directly or indirectly, through the influence of Potter Palmer. 90 HIDDEN TREASURES. James Harper, In a treatise on the Harpers, their life and character^ the history of James is the history of the firm. This firm consisted of James, John, Joseph, Wesley and Fletcher ; James, as the eldest, laying the foundation of that powerful concern, Harper Brothers, which is the largest and wealthiest publishing house in America. James Harper was born April 11. 1795. Like many other ]30or boys who have become wealthy he was the son of a farmer. He early determined to become a printer and, in 1810, was apprenticed to Messrs. Paul & Thomas of the city of New York. He left home to as- sume this position, the prayers of his parents following him. The last words of his mother bade him remember that there was good blood in him. The printer boy in those days was made a sort of lackey to be ordered about by all hands. Among other duties he had to clean the rollers when they became clogged with ink. The ink would get on his hands and apron, and thence it would reach his face — thus the printer boy with his blackened face earned the sobriquet of Sprinter's devil.' James Harper became the ^ devil ' in this office. There is little doubt but that he often felt discouraged and disposed to give up, but he regarded this position as only a step- t)ing stone to something higher and pleasanter. It was oon observed that such was the case ; that James Harpei fully expected to one day rise to be himself proprietor ; even the street Arabs recognizing that he aspired to OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 91 higher things. One day as he was passing along the street an audacious news-boy came up to him and gave him a push, while another sneeringly asked him for his card. Seizing the latter by the shoulder he fairly kicked the astonished ruffian half across the square. " There/' said he, ''is my card, keep it and when you want work come to me, present that card, and I will give you work." This ended all further molestation from this source. His brother John came to New York in the course of a little more than a year and entered another office, ar- ranging his apprenticeship so that it might end about the same time as did that of his brother James. In time James became one of the leading pressmen in the city, and John was one of the best compositors and proof readers in the country. All through their long appren- ticeship they had worked evenings; the surplus thus ac- quired and not one cent of their day earnings ever went for drink, as was so common in those days. To be temper- ate in Harper's day required far more exertion than it would at present, as nearly everyone drank then. So while others spent their evenings in saloons drinking, playing pool and billiards, and 'having lun,' these young Harpers were either hard at work putting in extra time, or at home, thus if they did not earn more they saved what they had already earned. When their time was out they each had a few hundred dollars, and they began business for themselves under the firm-style of J. & J. Harper. They felt their way, at first publishing books only for others. They were industrious, no hand in their employ working harder than the proprietors. Not only were they workers, but they were enterprising. When it was found that the stereotyping consumed much of their profit^ they resolved to learn that art and add it to their busi- "92 HIDDEN TREASURES. ness. This was no small undertaking ; those already in the business were not anxious to set up a rival, as they felt these young men sure to become, but after much trial and vexation the Harpers learned the art, and were therefore better able to carry on their rapidly increasing business. When they had fully become established they ventured out upon a publication of their own. They put out but five hundred for the first edition, taking orders in advance from the booksellers about town. The two other brothers were apprenticed to the firm of J. & J. Harper and, as soon as their time was out, were taken into the firm. In 1825 the firm-style was changed to Harper & Brothers. One of their business maxims was, ^'Mutual confidence, industry and application to business." This made the four one man. They ranked as equals in all things, and the history of James Harper is the history of Harper & Brothers. James being the eldest was once asked, "Which is Harper and which the brothers ?" He answered, *' Either is Harx3er, the others are the brothers." This was precisely the relation they bore toward each other. In 1853 a workman threw a lighted paper into a tank of benzine which he mistook for water, and prop- erty valued at $1,000,000 was destroyed; as their insur- ance amounted to only about $250,000 their loss was great. This was a terrible blow, but the next day they hired temporary quarters, and the debris was hardly cleared away ere they had bought the ground on which to erect the splendid building they have since occupied. It is a most imposing structure, and is probably the most commodious, and finest building in which to carry on a general book business, in all its branches, in the world ; every operation required to produce and publish OUR COUNTRY'S WEALTH, AND WHO POSSESS IT. ^^6 a book being carried on under one roof. The building is absolutely fire-proof, and is seven stories high. Un- derneath are long vaults in which their plates are stored. In 1844 James was elected Mayor of the great city of New York. Mr. Harper was a man of unusual ability, this was recognized by his friends and towns people, but he was at the head of the largest publishing business in the country, and was loth to leave it, therefore he re- fused to be a candidate for Governor. He was always full of mirth and running over with good humor, but he was business, morning, noon and night. He remained actively engaged in business until he was nearly seventy- five years of age, in fact he was still in business ana enjoy- ing good health when he met an untimely death, caused by his horses running away in Central Park, throwing him to the ground and injuring him so badly that he died within forty-eight hours. He was a devout Methodist, and a class-leader, but used some of the Episcopal forms. He was a worthy example for our youth to imitate in business or religious matters. Henry Disston. IN Tewksbury, England, May 24th, 1819, was born a little boy who was destined to become one of the lead- ing manufacturers of the nineteenth century. At four- teen he came to America with his father, who died three 94 niDDEN TREASURES. days after their arrival here. A poor, homeless ori^han, in a strange land — ah ! it takes courage to rise from such a beginning. There is little* luck' in the life of such boys who become wealthy. The poet says : "The fading flowers of pleasures Spring spontaneous from the soil, But the real harvest's treasure Yields alone to patient toil." Whether these lines ever caught the eye of Henr}'- Disston or no, we are not able to say ; certain it is, how- ever, that he concurred in that belief, for so hard did he work, and so closely did he study the business, that he was made foreman when he was but eighteen. When his seven long years of apprenticeship was up he arranged with his employer to take his wages in tools. With scarcely any money, he wheeled a barrow load of coal to his cellar where he began to make saws. Saws of American manufacture, were at that time held in poor esteem, and he had a great public prejudice to over- come. But Henry Disston determined to show people that he could compete with foreign goods, and to do this he sometimes sold goods at an advance of only one per cent. He moved to a small room twenty feet square, at the corner of Front and Laurel streets ; this was in 1846. In 1849 he was burned out, and before he rebuilt he ob- tained control of additional land adjoining that which he had occupied, and here built a new factory. Now he be- gan to reap the reward of his early toil and study. He was enterprising, like all successful men, and his invent- ive genius soon enabled him to get up new designs for teeth to do different kinds of work. He never allowed a poor tool, or an imperfect one, to be shipped from his factory. Consequently a market once gained was easily kept. His enterprise induced him to add a file works to OUR COUNTRY^ S WEALTH, AND WHO POSSESS IT. 95 his already large business ; in fact, the Keystone Saw Works made a splendid exhibit at the Centennial, show- ing all kinds of tools made from steel. His works cover hundreds of acres of land, and employ over fifteen hundred hands, while the business extends all over the world. In March, 1878, this great manufacturer died in Phil- adelphia. He was a very common man — great wealth did not spoil him, and he could perform with his own h^nds any part of the work in his immense establish- ment. This ability to work thorough mastery of the business, which had taken years of patient thought to develop, brought about his splendid success. Peter Cooper WHO, indeed, is there who has not heard of Peter Cooper ? He was born in the city of New York in 1791. His father was a man who possessed some ability, but was so inconstant that the poor boy received only about six months' schooling, and he received that before he was eight years old. Reader, think of it; can you make yourself believe that his great riches came through 'good luck'? we will see : His father, being a hatter, little Peter was early employed pulling the hair off the rabbit skins to obtain material with which to make the hats. In the course of time his father moved to Peekskill, and at seventeen 96 HIDDEN TREASURES. ' Peter resolved to strike out into the world for himself. He returned to his native city and apprenticed himself to the firm of Burtis & Woodward. Here he remained four years where he acquired a thorough mastery of the- coach-making trade. In addition to his board he re- ceived during his apprenticeship the sum of twenty-five dollars per year with which to clothe himself. Although he had spent four long years learning the trade of coach- making he, for some reason, determined not to make that his calling for life. Accordingly he went to Hemp- stead, Long Island, and there he met a party who was manufacturing a patent shears for shearing cloth. To- this man he engaged himself at $1.50 per day, where he remained until the business became unremunerative, a period of three years. He next turned his attention to the business of making and selling cabinet furniture ; at the end of a year he sold out this business, and with his family returned to New York city. He now entered the grocery business and the next year, seeing his opportunity, leased for a period of nine- teen years a piece of land containing a few buildings. He now moved his grocery business into one of these buildings, subletting the others at a profit. His eyes were kept open, and he never let an opportunity slip by to turn an honest penny. There was a glue factory situ- ated not far from his present location. True, it had never paid, and that seemed to be reason enough for all others, but Cooper made a study of the glue business. He satisfied himself that he could make it pay ; he thought he could see where the trouble was with the present proprietor, and he bought it out, paying two thousand dollars, cash down, for it. By a progressive study of this new business he soon produced a better 6 OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 97 article than was made by others, and so materially re- auced the price as to drive out foreign competition from the American markets. Of course, he made money, and when he saw that we paid Russia four dollars per pound for isinglass, he studied up on the manufacture of the same, and added that article to his business, and soon was enabled to sell it at less th^.A one dollar A pound. It is needless to say that he succeeded m completely monopolizing the isinglass industry for a long time, and his profit on that one article would nave made him a very rich man. Mr. Cooper was an observing man ; he saw and real- ized that our country was rich in mineral resources ; es- pecially was his attention drawn toward the iron deposits in Pennsylvania and neighboring States. He felt that there was big money in that business for the man who early entered the field ; he felt that there would be money in it for Peter Cooper. These feelings made him an easy victim to two sharpers who one morning entered his premises and succeeded in getting him to invest $150,000 in a large tract of land, in Maryland, of some three thousand acres. He was told that this land was on a ^boom,' as the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, it was ru- mored, would soon be completed. The steep grades, however, and sharp curves, made it impossible for en- gines then known to make the road in safety. Indeed, it seemed that his land speculation was destined to prove a * White Elephant' on his hands, and, with nine out of ten men it would have so proved, as they would have given up right here. Mr. Cooper set about this problem re- solved to solve it. He soon saw that the success of the Baltimore and Ohio was the success of his speculation. The only thing needed to bring this success was an en- yS HIDDEN TREASURES. gine that could ascend the grades and turn the curves in safety. He set to work patiently, and succeeded in inventing an engine that would do what was required of it, he, himself acting as engineer on its trial trip. This and other favorable influences which were brought about through the success of the railroad, ^boomed' his land in dead earnest this time. He next established an iron furnace on the site of his land and burned the wood for charcoal. The land went on up, and when it reached two hundred and thirty dollars per acre he sold out at an immense profit. He still continued in the iron busi- ness, and as he was always studying his business, he was the first man to roll out iron beams for fire-proof build- ings. His iron industries spread all over Pennsylvania, and the business is to-day carried on by his successors. As is well-known, he was one of the warm supporters of Cyrus W. Field from first to last, extending his aid and sympathy. When the Bank of New Foundland refused t# honor the Cable Company's paper Peter Cooper advanced the much needed funds. While all this business was on his mind his glue and isinglass industry was not in the least neglected. He had removed the worlds to Long Island, where it assumed mammoth proportions. The profits of this giant combination of business poured the money into his pockets in large streams. One feature of the great success of Peter Cooper was he always paid cash. But the great life-work of Peter Cooper is embellished with one gem that is perpetually bright. We speak of Cooper Union. In 1854 the ground was cleared, the plans made and the work begun. This institution cost Cooper about eight hundred thousand dollars. It is deeded as a trust, with all its rents and OUR country's wealth, and who possess it. 9t profits, to the instruction and profit of the poor working people of New York city. Mr. Cooper himself thus de- scribes his motives: "The great object that I desire to accomplish by the erection of this institution is to open the avenues of scientific knowledge to the youth of our city and country, and so unfold the volume of nature that the youth may see the beauties of creation, enjoy its blessings and learn to love the Author from whom Cometh every good and perfect gift." Could any senti- ment be more beautiful ? Could any motive be more worthy of imitation than this ? He was a Democrat and a member of Tammany Hall, but toward the latter part of his life he became a leader of the Greenback party, being a candidate for President on that ticket. He had good habits and was always oc- cupied with business. Two children are living, Edward, and a daughter w^ho married Mr. A. S. Hewitt. The son and son-in-law have each been mayor of their city. There was great mourning in New York city on April 4th, 1883, when it was learned that Peter Cooper was dead. But man liveth not to himself, his memory and influence will be felt by the countless generations which will follow after his death. Certain it is* those who ar« benefited by the aid of "Cooper Union '^ will not forget their benefactor. ^^ There is a wide difference hehveen meriy hut trulij it liev less in some special gift or opportunity vouchsafed to one and withheld from another, — less in that than hi the differing degree in which these common elements of human power are owned and used. Not hotv much talent have I, but how much will to use the tale?it that I have, is the maiti question. Not how much do I know, but how much do I do with what 1 know ? " 100 i<^4m '^ IL. ON October 25th, 1806, in a an humble farmer's home, was born a boy ; that boy was George Law. For eighteen summers he lived contentedly on his father's farm, but a stray volume, containing a story of a cer- tain farmer boy who left home to seek his fortune, and after years of struggle returned rich, caught his eye, and young Law determined to go and do likewise. His edu- cation was meager, but he had mastered DabolFs Arithmetic. Having decided that he could not follow the occupa- tion of his father, he set at work to raise the amount he deemed necessary to carry him to success. By exercis- ing great frugality in his already simple mode of living, he managed to save forty dollars, and at the age of 101 102 HIDDEN TREASURES. eighteen he set out on foot for Troy, New York, thirty- six miles distant. Putting up at the cheapest hotel he could find, he immediately went out in search of employ- ment, which he soon found, beginning as a hod-carrier. He next obtained employment as a helper, laying brick and ^picking up points,' soon obtained employment as a mason at $1.75 per day. But George Law did not mean to always be a day- laborer, he observed everything closely, and books were freely bought that would help him to a better under- standing of his business. Seven long years of day-labor- ing, then he became a sub-contractor, then a contractor. His first efforts in this capacity was building bridges in va- rious parts of Pennsylvania and although it has been said that he could not spell correctly any word in the English language, of three syllables, yet, so carefully were his plans laid that on every contract that he took he cleared money. He put in a bid for three sections of the Cro- ton Aqueduct, and succeeded in obtaining the work on two of them. High Bridge was afterwards awarded to him, among a host of comiDetitors, and was completed in ten years' time from its beginning. These two contracts alone had made him a millionaire, but his active mind could not rest. He first turned his attention to bank stocks. Next he became interested in the horse railway system of New York city. He bought the Staten Island Ferry, run it five years, and sold out. He was also much interested in steam ships. Nearly all these ventures proved profita- ble, and at his death his estate amounted to about $15,- 000,000. He was a giant in size, being over six feet tall, and his mind compared favorably with his stature. His whole energies were concentrated on money-getting and, SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND, HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 103 ^of course, he succeeded. It has been said that he walked until he could ride, and lived humbly until his wealth would more than warrant his living on Fifth Avienue. He carried the hod until he found better work, and never left one position until he had found a better one, no matter what his real or supposed provocation might be. He lived to return home, as did the boy of whom he early read, and established his father comfortably on a farm which he had bought for him. Darius 0, Mills. IN Westchester county, New York, was bom one bright September day, in 1825, Darius 0. Mills. True, it is, that his parents were somewhat well-to-do people, but Darius 0. Mills would have become a wealthy man had he been born in poverty. If a man determines to succeed and has a perceptive mind to see opportunities, if he relies on no one but him- self, and follows this up by hard, persistent work, he will succeed. If he does not he is lacking in some other vital point, but we have never yet read the life of any man who possessed these qualities but that he was a success. What one has done another can do under the same conditions and circumstances. For some time he was casting about to find his calling, and finally deter- mined to become a banker. In this sphere he has proven himself a phenomenon. His talent for money- 104 HIDDEN TREASURES. making was early apparent, and he was appointed cashier of a bank in Buffalo when only twenty-one. Now it must not be imagined that Darius 0. Mills was picked up indiscriminately and placed in so responsible a position. Things do not come by chance. It is evident the case under consideration did not happen through 'good luck.' He was a young man of unusual ability, of which he has always made the most. The bank flour- ished and at twenty-three he resigned and, taking what money he had, he was soon on his way to California. He did not go there to dig gold. Darius 0. Mills knew that gold was the object of nearly every one who went ; he also knew that the people must live ; he perceived the chance to make a fortune as a merchant. Like any man who will succeed, he acted at once. In 1849 he settled in San Francisco, opening trade with the miners. In the course of a few years he became immensely rich through very successful trade and, as he was about to retire from active business, the Bank of California was projected. This he materially aided into existence, and as he was recognized as one of the ablest financiers in the city, he was chosen its first President. So well did he manage its affairs that it soon became the leading banking institution in the country, wielding an immense power in the financial world. He remained at its head for nine years when his private fortune had assumed such mammoth proportions that it demanded his im- mediate attention, he therefore resigned in 1873. In 1875 his successor, William Gr. Ralston, was asked to resign and the bank suspended. Mr. Ralston was a splendid man, but had been somewhat unwise in placing the bank's money, and thus the failure was brought about. At a meeting of the directors it was decided to SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 105 ask for the resignation of the President. Mr. Mills was the person selected to convey the intelligence of the result of the meeting to Mr. Kalston and this he did. Mr. Mills, much against his personal desire, once more assumed the presidency of the bank, and after three years he once more resigned to attend to his private affairs; leaving the bank in a flourishing condition. Possibly no man in America is better capable of hand- ling large sums of money, to bring not only large returns, but to handle the money safely. In 1880 he turned his attention toward the East, moving his family to Fifth Avenue, New York city. His large business block, the Mills Building, ten stories high, fitted up for offices containing three hundred in all, is a magnificent structure. His wealth is very great, being estimated at from fifteen to twenty millions of dollars. He has established on the Pacific slope, at a cost of about two hundred thousand dollars, a . seminary for young ladies. He has also presented a beautiful piece of statuary to the State of California. It is a magnificent gift, repre- senting Columbus at the court of Isabella. He has given numerous costly presents to institutions and relatives. Among the shrewd far-sighted men of the country few are more distinguished than is Darius Ogdon Mills. 106 HIDDEN TREASURES. Stephen Girard. STEPHEN GIRARD was born in Bordeaux, France, May 24tli, 1750. He lived in an age when avenues of business were utilized by the rich. A poor boy had little chance of being other than a poor man. Not only was the subject of this sketch born to poverty, but he also inherited a deformity which made him the butt of ridi- cule among his vulgar companions. His childhood was made up of neglect which developed a cold, distant na- ture. He is generally described as a loveless old man, but his biographers seem to forget the influences that surrounded his childhood. Such were the opportunities enjoyed by Girard ; such the chance offered to him, but he held that a man's best capital was " industry," and this seemed to have been his main idea to the last; as he willed but little property to his relatives, and but little to any one individual. He sailed as cabin boy at the age of twelve, and bj following a line of fidelity, industry and temi^erance, gained the esteem and confidence of the captain who gradually learned to call him '' My Stephen," and at his death placed him in command of a small vessel. He became a resident of Philadelphia, and owned a farm a short distance out of the city. When he visited this farm he rode in an old gig drawn by a scrawny horse ; when he arrived he fell to work like any common hand, and labored as though his very subsistence depended on it. This is an illustration showing the secret of his suo« SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 107 cess in life. He was familiar with every detail, in every department of his business; no matter what part of hig business he went to oversee he was no novice. With Stephen Girard nothing came by chance. He was a self-taught man, having but little education so far as books go; but in the great school of actual business he received a diploma, and to this was afterwards added several complimentary degrees earned after his gradua- tion. He never ceased to be a progressive man. A large range of stores were for sale in the city of Philadelphia at a great sacrifice; these Girard would have been glad to buy but he lacked sufficient funds; seeing it beyond his means to buy safely, he leased them for a term of years and then sublet them at an immense profit. How few young men have the necessary enterprise to gain for themselves success. Girard had both enter- prise and energy; it is not at all surprising that he suc- ceeded. And this was not all; of whatever he undertook he had thoroughly mastered the details, hence was pre- pared for success and made money; that money he saved. Ah! that is three-fourths of the secret. Most young men earn enough but foolishly throw it away on unnecessaries. If Girard owed a man a cent he could rest assured that he would get it; if a man owed him there was much trouble in the way for that man if he attempted to evade the payment. He was just to all men and just to him- self and family. There is another feature in the history of Girard that is worthy of imitation; that is he kept abreast, yea,ahead of the times, — he made a study of the various problems of his day. He saw that the United States Bank was daily grow- ing less popular, and he saw that it must go down in the 108 HIDDEN TREASURES. near future. He had prospered in his shipping business, and seeing here a grand opportunity he began to study up on banking preparatory to taking the bank. Reader, think of this kind of enterprise. His friends might think such a thing visionary ; the best financier might pass the opportunity by, but this man knew that the United States Bank had a vast patronage, and he also knew that the man who stepped into its business would have every reason to expect success. He at once set about to buy a controlling interest in the stock. When the bank was discontinued it was found that he had not only secured a controlling interest in the stock, but had gained possession of the bank building itself. While his friends were predicting his ruin he had bought $1,200,- 000 worth of stock and, by so doing, had stepped into the largest banking business of the Republic. Does one of my readers for one moment allow him- self to believe that Stephen Girard was a lucky man ? Was it 'good luck' that placed Girard at one move at the head of American financiers ? As is well known a great panic followed Jackson's administration, and, of a whole nation, Stephen Girard seems to have been the only prosperous man. His capital stock soon became $4,000,000. In this capacity he was enabled to aid his Government much, in fact to save it from ruin in the terrible crash of 1837. Stephen Girard was bent upon getting rich and yet, while he is generally regarded as a cold money-getter, still he had a heart, a tender heart, locked up within that cold exterior. While the terrible plague, yellow fever, raged in Philadelphia with a violence never before known in American history, and while many others fled the city, Stephen Girard remained and nursed the dying, SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 109 — performing with his own hands the most loathesome duties, and giving most liberally of his wealth toward the fund for the suppression of the disease. A young man, who was a protege of Girard, was one day called to the private office of that gentleman, when the following dialogue took place : " Well, you are nov/ twenty-one. and should begin to think of a life-work." The young man who thought perhaps Girard was going to set him up in some business, said, " What would you do if in my place, Mr. Girard ? " Imagine his astonish- ment when Mr. Girard replied, "I should learn some trade." The young man, who was built of the right material, said, ''Very well, I will learn the cooper's trade." In the course of a few years he received a letter from Mr. Girard ordering the best barrel that he could make with his own hands. When done it was delivered. The young man was thunderstruck when, after a thorough inspection by Girard, he received a check for $20,000; the reader can draw the moral. Time fled, the 26th of December, 1831, came, and with it the death of this man. At his death he possessed about $9,000,000, not a large fortune compared with those of the rich men of our day, but a colossal sum for his day. For all practical purposes it is just as great and useful as one hundred millions. When his will was read it was found that he had left to the Pennsylvania institute for deaf and dumb, $20,000 ; to the Orphan Asylum of Philadelphia, $10,000; for fuel for the poor of Philadelphia, $10,000; to the Philadel- phia Public Schools, $10,000; to the Society for the Re- lief of the Distressed Masters of Ships, $10,000; to the Masonic Loan, $20,000 ; to the city of Philadelphia, $500,000 ; and to the State of Pennsylvania, $300,000. 110 HIDDEN TREASURES. There were other bequests, the largest of which was $2,000,000, with which to found a college for orx)han boys who were to be taken between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. He left minute directions pertaining to the construction and other details, showing even at this time that carefulness, which characterized his life's history. The main building is said to be the finest specimen of Grecian architecture in the world, — it surely is the finest in Amerca. " Contemplating the humility of his origin, and contrasting therewith the variety and extent of his works and wealth, the mind is filled with admiration of the man." Moses Taylor. WHAT a pleasure it is to read the lives of such men as Moses Taylor. He began life as a clerk and died worth $50,000,000; but it is not alone for his wealth that we take such an interest in Moses Taylor, but the good he did with it, and the example he set moneyed men. Born in New York, January 11th, 1808, he served a clerkship of ten long years, when he started business on his own account. The cholera raged that year in that city ; consequently all business suffered, many fled from their homes but young Taylor stood by his new enterprise, and even the first year cleared some money. Three years later he was burned out, but while the smoulder- •UCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS, 111 ing brands lay at his feet he arranged to erect a new building to stand on the same spot, and the next day ♦pened a store in his dwelling house. Of course such enterprise would win in the end; when he was called to the presidency of the city bank no one seemed supprised,, for when a man has ability it is not necessary for him to tell it — he becomes a marked personage. The success that attended his efforts in this new capacity is shown from the following : In the great panic of 1857 a meeting of the various bank presidents was called. When asked what percentage of specie had been drawn during the day some replied fifty per cent., some even as high as seventy five per cent, but Moses Taylor replied, ^ We had in the bank this morning, $400,000 ; this evening, $470,000. " While other banks were badly ^run/ the confidence in the City Bank under his management was such that evidently people had drawn from other banks and deposited in the City Bank. He was Treasurer of the Transatlantic Cable, being one of its most ardent sui^porters from 1854 until long after it had became established. He was a most conspicuous ^ War Democrat/ taking an early stand as to the duty of all bankers. Probably no one man, save possibly JayCook, did more to sustain the credit of the North in those trying times than did Moses Taylor. He became interested in the Dela- ware, Lackawanna & Western railway, and the mines in the coal regions of Pennsylvania. In 1873 he became President of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Co. He also became largely interested in the Manhatten Gas Co., out of which alone he made a respectable fortune. When he died he left a very large •urn of money for the purpose of building a hospital at il2 HIDDEN TREASURES. Scranton. The need of this hospital was \ ery urgent, as accidents were continually happening to the miners in their dangerous work. The building is not only a splen- did edifice but it fills a long-felt want. Such a man was Moses Taylor who died May 23rd, 1882. Few such men have we, would that there were more. Moses Taylor was a practical man, he cared more for business than for any amusement. Art was of far less account with him than were the suffering miners who had no place to stretch their bleeding forms until he came to their aid. William C. Ralston. WILLIAM C. EALSTON, a synonym for goodness, was born at Wellsville, Ohio, January 15th, 1820. He drifted to California, being one of the first to pass through the Golden Gate. Here he remained for twenty- five years, becoming the most noted man in the State, having prospered wonderfully. It has been truly said of him that he did more than any other one man to secure a good municipal govern- ment for San Francisco. Aiding with his money weak industries, he did much to elevate the tone of a class of people consisting of almost every nationality — the miners. The struggling young man had nothing but sympathy extended him from this great philanthropist ; indeed, his great desire seemed to be, what can I do for my less 7 SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 11^ fortunate fellow-man. He was elected President of the Bank of California, to succeed Mr. Mills. This bank had a credit all over the globe. It was the greatest financial power in the Eepublic. Such was its standing in the financial world when Mr. Mills delivered the bank over to Mr. Ralston. Mr. Ralston was a great and good man, but his desire to benefit and aid others led him to place out the bank's money too freely ; hence, when Mr. Flood made his sudden and unlooked for call for over $5,000,000, the amount of his deposit, it was useless for the bank to try to raise it at once, as it could not be done, notwithstanding the bank had ample resources, if they had only been available. Mr. Flood, it seemed to us, need not have pressed his claim when he knew that the bank could pay him soon. It is claimed by some that he chose this method to cripple the Bank of California to the advantage of his Nevada Bank. Be this as it may, Mr. Ralston unwisely allowed his tender heart to be touched too deeply, and thus placed the bank in a weak position to meet such a crisis. A meeting of the direct- ors was immediately called, and it was decided to ask the President for his resignation which, together with his household effects, he promptly tendered. This was a terrible blow to him, and it may be the officials were somewhat hasty. On the 27th of August he went down to the beach, put on his bathing suit, drank something from a bottle (it is alleged), dived into the waves, was carried far out and was never again seen alive. As the people gazed on his lifeless body they began to realize what a loss they had sustained. Threats of vengeance were heard on every hand, which made it seem best for the founders of the rival Nevada Bank to abstain from being seen in their usual haunts. A pub- 114 HIDDEN TREASURES. lie meeting was called, and long before the appointed time to begin the business of the meeting the public hall where it was held was packed, and thousands were unable to get in. One orator addressed those in the hall while the dense mass outside, who were unable to get in, were divided and addressed by two speakers. The sev- eral charges against him were in turn taken up, and ei- bher proven false or shown to be justified by the excited populace. The following resolution expressive of the irreparable loss the city had sustained, was presented. Resolved, " That in reviewing the life of the deceased, William C. Ralston, we recognize one of the first citi- zens of San Francisco, the master spirit of her industries, the most bounteous giver to her charities, the founder of her financial credit, and the warm supporter of every public and private effort to augment her prosperity and welfare. That to his sagacity, activity, and enterprise, San Francisco owes much of her present material pros- perity, and in his death has sustained an irreparable loss. That in his business conceptions he was a giant, in social life an unswerving friend, and in all the attributes of his character he was a man worthy of love and trust." When '^All those in favor of this say aye,'' was called, the answer came like the sound of heavy artillery, and not a solitary ' N"o ' was heard in that vast crowd. Rev. T. K. Noble said, "The aim of his life was not to pull down but to build up. What enterprise can you mention looking to the betterment of material interests in which he did not have part ? In the building of rail- roads, in the establishment of lines of steamships to Australia, to China, to Japan ; in the manufacture of silk; in the Pacific Woolen Mills, the Bay Sugar Re- finery, the West Coast Furniture Manufactory; and in SUCCESSFUL BANKERS. AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 115 those superb buildings, the Grand and Palace hotels; and in many other enterprises I have not time to mention. Into each and all of these he put his money and his brains." This was expressive of much, and it very clearly represented the general impression of the people throughout his State. He gave not only his money, but his sympathy. People of the East who know of him principally as a man of great wealth cannot conceive an idea of such a man, — indeed they have none such among them. He was the moral phenomenon of modern times. The peo- ple of his State all love him, and there are those to-day who are struggling in various enterprises who can look to no one now for help, who like to tell of the time *when they could have gone to 'Frisco and seen Ralston about it.' What a tribute is this; when we think of a man who regarded money only as a means to do good, and who seemed a special Providence to all in need. We look upon this picture and we see him happy only in giving ; but we turn and our hearts bleed in sympathy when we behold him torn from his position, the victim of avariciousness and envy, which to all appearance is the immediate cause of his untimely death. But there is another thought here; he should have been very cautious in placing money where it could not be brought into immediate use in such an emergency. Great was the feeling at his burial. Three regiments, cavalry, artillery, and the National Guard, escorted his remains to their last resting place. After several years Mrs. Ealston received back over $100,000, and is there- fore comfortable. We shall forever mourn the death of such men, and ever regard and cherish their memory as among the dearest in American history. 116 HIDDEN TREASURES. George Peabody. ALONG time ago a little boy who was poorly dressed, but had an honest face, was passing a country tavern in Vermont; night was fast approaching, and he looked tired and hungry; seeing which, the landlord, who had a kind heart, generously offered him sui^xDcr and a nights' lodging free. This he refused to accept, but said, ^^If you please, I will cut wood enough to pay my way." This was accepted by the landlord, and thus the affair passed. Fifty years later he passed the same tavern as George Peabody, the great London banker. The above self-reliant nature was illustrative of the man. It is always interesting to learn how great fortunes were made. Nothing is so fascinating as success, and the momentous question relative to every great man is : " How did he begin ? " George Peabody began life in Dan vers, Massachusetts, February 18th, 1795. He was born of humble parents and the public schools of his native town furnished him his education. At the age of eleven he became a clerk in a grocery store where he re- mained four years, when he went to Newburyport to be- come a dry-goods salesman. By cultivating a loving dispo- sition he gained friends wherever he went, and, of course, thus gained a confidence which he otherwise never would have known. For this reason he gained his first letter of credit which enabled him to buy his first con- signment of goods without advancing the money for them. C/] m JO m r > o m fiUOCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 117 As we review the vci/rious groa-t arxd influential men we cannot but notice how many, out of the total number, cultivated a pleasing manner. Certain it is, to pleasmg manners and ability owed lie hh success; without either he could not have succeeded. V/ithout the generous heart he possessed he could never have won the great honor that he enjoyed, for great wealth alone could not bring such honor. He was a notable moral phenomenon. Of all the great and rich men of whom we are aware, none gave as liberally as did he. Eeader, think of it ; a poor boy who became one of the greatest bankers of his time, and who, during his life, gave over eight millions of dollars to charity. Many of our rich men have willed much to charity, but he gave while living. He went to Georgetown, District of Columbia, and entered into a partnership with an uncle, the firm-style being Kiggs & Peabody. They were wonderfully suc- cessful, and soon established branches in Philadelphia and New York. In 1829 Mr. Riggs retired from actual work, the firm-style becoming Peabody, Riggs & Co. Time passed on, the business grew, and in 1837 he went to London, soon after establishing the banking house of George Peabody & Co. He made banking his study and kept thoroughly posted on financial matters. At about this time the great panic occurred in America, and at a great risk of losing his fortune he bought Maryland securities. But George Peabody knew what he was about; he was thoroughly ]posted and was capable of managing a banking business. By his influence with the Bank of England, he soon became recognized as the man who had saved Maryland from bankruptcy. He now began to dispense the great fortune with which God had so bountifully blessed him. In 1851 he 118 HIDDEN TREASURES. supplied a large sum, so much needed, to make a success of the great Worlds Fair in London. In 1851 he gave $10,000 toward the second Grennell expedition, and the same year the people of his native town, Dan vers, in- vited his presence at an anniversary. He could not personally attend, but sent them $20,000 to be applied toward education. In 1857 he gave the city of Balti- more $300,000 to found a college, and afterward added to this magnificent sum $200,000 more. In 1866 he added still $500,000 more, and later yet $400,000 more, making $1,400,000 in all he gave to this one institution, which is called Peabody Institute. He gave nearly $3,- 500,000 toward the fund to educate the poor of the South. He gave Yale and Harvard college each $150,000; to Phillips Academy $25,000; to Peabody Academy $140,- 000; to the Memorial Church in Georgetown $100,000; to Peabody Academy $250,000 ; and numerous other con- tributions in America. In London he established a fund of $3,000,000 with which to build homes for the poor of that great city. The Queen acknowledged this in a private letter, and presented him with her portrait painted on ivory and set in jewels, valued at $255,000. She also offered to make him a Baron, but this he respectfully declined. He resembled the late A. T. Stewart in some respects. No gold chain ever hung from his watch, and when he wore studs or other ornaments they were never more costly than pearl. He detested show. Altogether dur- ing his life he gave away over eight millions of dol- lars, and at his death left a fortune of over four millions. Had he saved his money and manipulated it like many, of our great millionaires have done, we doubt not he would have died worth perhaps twenty or thirty millions. SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 119 He, however, had gained not only worldly success, but true success, for when he died in 1869, both of the great English speaking nations united to do him honor. He was at first laid in Westminister Abbey among the dead kings and queens. After this her Majesty's ship Monarch bore his remains to America to be buried in Danvers. The respect in which he is held by the people of that town is shown when we know that they have since changed the name of their town to Peabody. He left an imperishable crown containing pearls which can- not be stolen. They are set in homes for the poor, libraries for every one, schools for the young, and other securities which are safely stored in the hearts of a grateful people. Ah ! we are thoughtful after reading the life of such a man. William W. Corcoran. THE veteran philanthropist, William W. Corcoran, was born in 1798. He began his business career in Georgetown, but for many years he has been a resident of Washington. At twenty he went into business for himself, beginning as an auctioneer. After several years of successful business he was obliged to suspend, during the depressed times of 1838. After this he was married to the beautiful daughter of Commodore Morris, of the United States Navy, much to the disgust of that gentleman, who little dreamed 120 HIDDEN THEASURES. what an illustrious son-in-law I.Ir. Corcoran was destined to become. Some years of hard struggle followed, but at last it was found that he had won for himself a some- • what extended reputation as a linancier, which gained for him a partnership w^ith the successful banker, Riggs. This firm began to deal in United States Government securities, which were then at a low ebb abroad. Being a boy friend of George Peabody, the great London banker, his firm was enabled to materially aid the Gov- ernment in its financial straits during the Mexican war. As the firm prospered, Mr. Corcoran became wealthy, and this money he laid out in Washington real estate, the rapid rise of which made him a millionaire. As Mr. Corcoran prospered he began to think of those old debts. When he had failed he secured favorable terms with his creditors, and legally was not bound for one cent, but he recognized a higher obligation than law made by man : hunting up all those old customers, creditors of his, he paid them not only the principal, but the interest that had been accumulating all these years. By this one act we gain a glimpse of the inner heart and impulses of this great and good man. Thousands of dollars found their way into the hands of charity, but then his desire to aid and gratify humanity was not satisfied. On May 10th, 1869, the grounds and institution for the Corcoran Art Gallery was deeded to trustees, and later was incorporated by Congress, being exempted for- ever from taxation. The gallery is situated directly op- posite the State, War, and JSTavy buildings. It has a frontage of one hundred and six feet ; is built of fine, pressed brick; and is one of the most attractive buildings in the whole City of Washington. The whole building SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND LIOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS, liil cost $250,000, and tho donor placed therein his own private collection of paintings and statuar}^ vala^d at $100,000. Not satisfied with this he has added an en- dov/ment fund of $500,000. Many rare and beautiful works of art have been purchased abroad, as well as American works of rare value. Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays the gallery is free ; on alternate days an admission of twenty-five cents is charged. When it is considered how many there are who would naturally take advantage of the free days, and then that the annual income is over $75,000, one can form some idea of the attractiveness of this institution. Mr. Corcoran's desire was to elevate the American taste in the finer arts, and the thousands of visitors which the institution attracts, indicates to what an extent he has succeeded. The lower floor is devoted to statues and to the exhibition of sculp- ture. The second floor is occui3ied by several hundred rare and costly x)aintings, representing the advance of art during the past centuries. The gallery is, probably, all things considered, the finest of the kind in the country. Another institution of wide celebrity is the Louisa Home, founded by Mr. Corcoran in 1871. It is a magnifi- cent building, conspicuously situated in the most fash- ionable part of the city, the West End. This is a most worthy institution, designed for ladies who have been red need from affluence to poverty, affording them a home where they can mingle with a class of people congenial to their refined natures. This building is a beautiful brick structure, four stories high, erected at a cost of $200,000. Visitors are welcome every afternoon. These are only two of the many gifts and enterprises' which originated with the venerable banker. Georg(f Peabody and William Corcoran were boys together ; ho vf 122 HIDDEN TREASURES. similar their lives have been. Would that there were more Corcorans, more Peabodys. Mr. Corcoran has given several millions to charity and ai-t ; how we en^^ him — not for his wealth, but his reputation or better, would that we could do as much good in the world as did these two great men. Nathan Mayer Rothschild. WHO indeed is there who has not heard of the Eothschilds ? But how few there are who know much of them save that they are the richest bankers in the whole world. The subject of this sketch was the richest and most noted of five brothers. The father, Mayer Anselm Rothschild, sprung from a poor Jewish family, and was a clerk in Hanover before establishing himself at Frankfoi*t. At Hanover it is claimed that his integrity and ability became so marked in every position to which he was called that the attention of the Govern- ment was called thereto. After the great French victory of Jena, Napoleon decreed that the Governor of Hesse-Cassel should have his lands and property confiscated. The order was no sooner given than a French army was on its way to carry the edict into efiPect. The Elector William, before his flight from Hesse-Cassel, deposited with the father of the subject of this sketch $5,000,000, without interest, for safe keeping. There was no luck about this ; it was a SUCCESSFUL BANKERS AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. VS6 most difficult undertaking at that time. Any one who had been found witn this money would have lost his life. For Eothschild to invest it so that he could make money from its use was his object; to do so safely and se- cretly required a good business tact. The Elector, it is said, studied sometime before he decided to whom he could intrust this vast sum during his absence. Thus it is seen that as Eothschild came of poor parents, and was simply a clerk. It was not so much luck in his case ^ as strict integrity and the determination he manifested to master everything he undertook. This Rothschilds had five sons, and by the aid of these, through different bankers, he succeeded by good management to lay a foundation upon which has been built that colossal for- tune which the sons have accumulated. This money, belonging to the Elector, they had the benefit of until 1828, when the whole was paid over to the heirs of the original owner with two per cent, interest for a portion of the time. Of the five brothers, Anselm was situated at Frankfort, Solomon at Vienna, Charles at Naples, James at Paris, and Nathan at London. The two ablest finan- ciers were James and Nathan, and of these two Nathan was the superior. His son was the first Jew that ever sat in the English Parliament. It has been said that the fundamental rule of this great banking-house was ''To sell when people desired to buy, and buy when people- Wished to sell.'^ It is related of Nathan Mayer Roths- child that, all day long, at the battle of Waterloo, he hung about the skirts of the two armies, waiting to see how the battle turned. Toward night of that mem- orable day, the clouds of smoke lifting, revealed the French army in full and disastrous retreat. Rothschild took in the situation at once. True to his instincts, he 124 HIDDEN TREASURES. saw ill that awful carnage only tlie shimmer cf his gold. Chance had overcome the most heroic valor, the most stubborn resistance, the best laid plans, and once more declared in the Hebrew's favor. He dashed into Brus- sels, whence a carriage in waiting whirled him into Os- tend. At dawn he stood on the Belgian coast, against which the sea was madly breaking. He oCered five, six, eight, ten hundred francs to be carried over to England. The mariners feared the storm ; but a bolder fisherman, upon promise of twenty-five hundred francs, undertook the hazardous voyage. Before sunset Rothschild landed at Dover ; and engaging the swiftest horses, rode with the wind to London. What a sui)urb special correspondent he would have made ! The merchants and bankers were dejected ; the funds were depressed ; a dense fog hung over the city ; English spirits had sunk to their lowest ebb. On the morning of the 20th, the cunning and grasp- ing Nathan appeared at the Stock Exchange, an embodi- ment of gloom. He mentioned, confidentially, of course, to his familiar that Blucher, at the head of his vast army of veterans, had been defeated by Napoleon, at Ligny, on the 16th and 17th, and there could be no hope for Wellington, with his comparatively small and undis- ciplined force. This was half true, and like all half- truths, was iDarticularly calculated to deceive. Roths- child was a leader among trading reynards. His dole- ful whisper spread as the plague — poisoning faith every- where. The funds tumbled like an aerolite. Public and private opinion wilted before the simoon of calamitous report. It was 'Black Friday' anticipated in Lombard Street. The crafty Israelite bought, through his secret agents, all the consols, bills, and notes, for which he could raise monej^ SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 125 Not before the afternoon of the 21st — nearly forty eight hours after the battle — did the news of Welling- ton's victory reach London through the regular channels. Rothschild was at the Exchange half an hour before the glad tidings were made public, and imparted them to a crowd of greedy listeners. The Bourse was buoyant. Everything went up more rajpidly than it had gone down. England was happy — as well she might be — for she had stumbled into the greatest triumxDh in her his- tory. When bankers and merchants shook hands with the Hebrew speculator, they noticed — ^though they did not understand — an unusual warmth of i)ressure. It was not rejoicing with the nation; it was the imaginary clutch of six millions more of gold. Thus it is seen that the great wealth of the Rothschild was not always used to the best advantage of mankind as a Christian would argue; but a promise given by a Rothschild was as good as his note. Their immense wealth has greatly aided, at different times, all and singular, the various European countries. A favorite investment with them has been loans to the different Governments throughout the world. During twelve years of their business experience they loaned to different European Monarchies over $400,000,000. When it is considered that this was but one division of their business, something of an idea of its magnitude can be imagined. An amusing story is told of Nathan which will be of interest to some of our readers, and enable them to see how fertile was his mind in emergencies. Anselm, the brother at Frankfort, drew on Nathan, of London, for a large amount, and the bill was presented 126 HIDDEN TREASURES. • to the Bank of England to be discounted. The bank oflBcials refused, saying, "We do not discount bills drawn on private persons; we recognize only our own paper.'' "Private i)ersons!" exclaimed Nathan Eoths- child when the interview was reported to him, "I wili show them what kind of private persons we are." Three weeks afterwards, Nathan Eothschid, — who had em- ployed the interval in collecting all the five-pound notes he could buy on the continent, or in England — iDresented himself at the bank on the opening of the office. He drew from his pocket-book a five-pound note, and they counted him out in exchange five gold sovereigns, at the same time looking quite astonished that the Baron Rothschild should have personally troubled himself for such a trifle. The Baron examined the pieces one by one, and having put them in a little canvas bag, pro- ceeded to draw out another five-pound note, then an- other, and another and so on. He never put the i^ieces of gold into the bag without scrupulously examing them, in some instances weighing in his balance, as,- he said, "the law gave him the right to do." The first pocket- book being emptied and the first bag full of coins, he passed them to his clerk, and received a second, and thus continued to the closing of the bank. The Baron had employed seven hours to exchange twenty-one thousand pounds. But as he also had nine employes of his house engaged in the same manner, it resulted that the house of Rothschild had drawn over $1,000,000 from the bank. He had drawn gold exclusively, and so occupied the bank emiDloyes that no one else could do any business. The bankers the first day were very much amused at '* This display of eccentricity." They, however, laughed less the next day when they beheld Rothschild on hand early, flanked by his nine clerks. SUCCESSFUL BANKERS, AND HOW THEY EARNED SUCCESS. 127 They laughed no longer when they heard the irate banker say, '' These gentlemen refused to iDay my bills ; I have sworn not to keep theirs. They can pay at their leisure; only I hereby notify them that I have enough to employ them two months ! " Two months ! Fifty-five million dollars in gold drawn from the Bank of England which was more gold than they had to pay ! The bank was now thoroughly alarmed. Something must be done, and the next morning notice ax)peared in all the papers that henceforth the Bank of England would pay Eoths- child's bills as well as its own. From anecdotes one can often learn much of the in- ner life and thoughts of people, and much can be seen of the real character of the subject of this sketch from the above story. This Napoleon of Finance died in 1836. ■^^- ** The man who seeks one thing in life^ and but one, May hope to achieve it before life be done ; But he ivho seeks all things, tvherever he goes. Only reaps from the hopes which around him he sows A harvest of barren regret^r 128 ^M/^ life t> THE subject of this narrative was a great-grandson of Henry Adams, who emigrated from England about 1640, with a family of eight sons, being one of the earli* est settlers in the town of Braintree, Massachusetts, where he had a grant of a small tract of forty acres of land. The father of John Adams, a deacon of the church, was a farmer by occupation, to which was added the bus-* iness of shoemaking. He was a man of limited means, however, was enabled by hard pinching to give his son a fairly good education. The old French and Indian war was then at its height; and in a remarkable letter to a friend, which contains some curious prognostications as to the relative population and commerce of England and her colonies a hundred years hence, young Adams describes himself 130 HIDDEN TREASURES. as having turned politician. He succeeded in gaining charge of the grammar school in Worcester, Massachu- setts, but, instead of finding this duty agreeable, he found it ^a school of affliction,' and turned his attention to the stud)^ of law. Determined to become a first-class lawyer, he placed himself under the especial tuition of the only lawyer of whom Worcester, though the county seat, could boast. He had thought seriously of the clerical profession, but, according to his own expressions, "The frightful en- gines of ecclesiastical councils, of diabolical malice, and Calvinistic good nature," the operation of which he had witnessed in some church controversies in his native town, terrified him out of it. Adams was a very ambi- tious man; already he had longings for distinction. Could he have obtained a troop of horse, or a company of in- fantry, he would undoubtedly have entered the army. Nothing but want of patronage prevented his becoming a soldier. After a two years' course of study, he returned to his native town, Braintree, and in 1758 commenced practice in Suffolk county, of which Boston was the shire town. By hard study and hard work he gradually introduced himself into practice, and in 1764 married a young lady far above his station in life. In our perusal and study of eminent men who have risen by their own exertions to a higher sphere in life, we are not at all surprised to find that they have invariably married noble women — ladies, who have always maintained a restraining influence when the desire for honor and public attention would appeal to their baser self, and whose guiding influence tended to strengthen their effoiis when their energies seemed to slacken. So it was with John Adams ; his FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 131 wife was a lady of rare abilities and good sense, admira- bly adapted to make him happy. Boys, be careful whon^ you marry ! Shortly after his entrance into the practice of tha law, the attempt at parliamentary taxation diverted his attention from his profession to politics. He was a most active oppositionist. He promoted the call of the town of Braintree to instruct the representatives of the town on the subject of the Stamp Act. The resolutions which he presented at this meeting were not only voted by the town, but attracted great attention throughout the province, and were adopted verbatim by more than forty different towns. Thus it i^ seen that Adams had not studied hard all these years for nothing ; the price of success is honest, faithful work. Of course his towns-people would reward him. Men who have ability, unless some bolt is loose, will invari- ably gain success. Soon after this Mr. Adams was ap- pointed on the part of the town of Boston to be one of their counsel, along with the King's attorney, and head of the bar, and James Otis, the celebrated orator, to sup- port a memorial addressed to the Governor and Council, that the courts might proceed with business though no stamps were to be had. Although junior counsel, it fell to Adams to open the case for the petitioners, as his seniors could not join; the one owing to his position as King's attorney, the other could not as he had recently published a book entitled the * Rights of the Colonies.' This was a grand opportunity for Adams and he made the most of it, — boldly taking the ground that the stamp act was null and void, Parliment having no right to tax the colonies. Nothing, however, came ,of this applica- tion; the Governor and Council declining to act, on the 132 HIDDEN TREASURES. ground that it belonged to the Judges, not to them, to decide. But Adams had put himself on record, and this record established his reputation. "There is a tide in the affairs of men, which, taken at the flood, leads on to for- tune." The time came to Adams to distinguish himself, and he was not found wanting. It was at this same period that Mr. Adams first appeared as a writer in the Boston Gazette. He never allowed his opportunities to pass unheeded; in fact, he made his opportunities. Among other papers which apj)eared at this time from his pen, was a series of four articles which were repub- lished in a London newspaper, and subsequently pub- lished in a collection of documents relating to the taxation controversy, printed in a large volume. At first the papers had no title in the printed volume, being- known as " Essays on the Canon and Feudal Law." Well they might have been called so, but, it seems to us, that it would have been much more consistent to have en- titled them ''Essays on the Grovernment and Rights of New England." His style was formed from the first, as is evident from the articles. His law business continued to increase and in 1768 he removed to Boston where he would have a larger field in which to develop his intellect. He served on various committees during the next two years, and in 1770 was chosen a Reprasentative to the general Court, notwith- standing he had just before accepted a retainer to defend Captain Preston and his soldiers for their share in what had i)assed into history as the Boston massacre. His ability as a practitioner at the bar can be judged from the successful result of their case, as managed by him, against great public prejudice. Adams' duties as a Rep- FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 133 resentative interfered much with his business as a lawyer, on which he depended for support, and which had grown to be larger than that of any other practitioner at the provincial bar. He entered u^Don the duties of his new office with his customary energy, becoming the chief legal advisor of the Patriot party, and now for the first time an active and conspicuous leader of the same. Mr. Adams^ keen foresight enabled him to wisely judge that it would be a good policy not to push too vigorously to the front as a politician until his private wealth would justify his necessarily great loss of time. Hence, he moved back to Braintree, resigning his seat in the Legislature, but still retaining his law office in Boston. A comparative lull in politics made his presence in that body less needed, but still he was consulted as to all the more difficult points in the controversy with Governor Hutch- inson, and freely gave his aid. Indeed, it was not long before he moved back to Boston, but thoroughly resolved to avoid politics, and to devote his undivided attention to his professional work. Soon after his return to Boston he wrote a series of letters on the then mooted question of the independence of the judiciary, and the payment by the Crown of the salaries of the Judges. Soon after this he was elected by the general Court to the Provin- ^ cial Council, but was rejected by Governor Hutchinson. The destruction of tea, and the Boston port bill that fol- lowed, soon brought matters to a crisis. These events produced the congress of 1774. Mr. Adams was one of the five delegates sent from Massachusetts, and his visit to Philadelphia at this time was the first occasion of his going beyond the limits of New England. In the dis- cussions in the committee on the declaration of colonial 134 HIDDEN TREASURES. rights, he took an active part in resting those rights on the law of nature as well as the law of England ; and when the substance of those resolutions had been agreed upon he was chosen to put the matter m shape. In his diary the most trustworthy and graphic descriptions are to be found of the members and doings of that famous but little known body. The session concluded, Mr. Adams left the city of brotherly love with little expecta- tion, at that time, of ever again seeing it. Immediately after his return home he was chosen by his native town a member of the provincial congress then in session. That congress had already appointed a committee of safety vested with general executive powers ; had seized the provincial revenues ; had ap- pointed general officers, collected military stores, and had taken steps toward organizing a volunteer army of minute-men. The governor — Gage — had issued a procla- mation denouncing these proceedings, but no attention was ever paid to it. Gage had no support except in the five or six regiments that guarded Boston, a few tremb- ling officials and a small following from the people. Shortly after the adjournment of this congress Adams occupied himself in answering through the press a champion of the mother-country's claim. This party, under the head of ^Massachusettensis,' had commenced a series of able and effective arguments in behalf of the mother-country, which were being published in a Bosto:i journal. To these Adams replied over the signature of •Novanglus.' These were papers displaying unusual ability on either part. They were afterwards published as" A History of the Dispute with America," and later yet in pamphlet form. Their value consists in the strong, contemporaneous views which they present of the origin FEOM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 135 of the struggle between the colonies and the mother- country, and the policy of Bernard and Hutchinson as governors of Massachusetts, which did so much to bring on the struggle. Like all the writings of Mr. Adams, they are distinguished by a bold tone of investigation, a resort to first principles, and a pointed style ; but, like all his other writings, being produced by piecemeal, and on the spur of the moment, they lack order, system, polish and precision. In the midst of the excitement produced by the battiC of Lexington — which at once brought up the spirit of even the most hesitating patriots to the fighting pitch, and which was speedily followed by the seizure of Ticon- deroga and Crown Point, and by other similar seizures in other colonies throughout the fast uniting provinces — John Adams once more set out for Philadelphia to at- tend the Continental Congress of 1775, of which he had been appointed a member. This congress, though made up for the most part of the same men who constituted that of the previous year, was a wholly different body from its iDredecessor. The congress of 1774 was merely a suggestive convention. The present congress speedily assumed, or rather had thrust upon it by unanimous consent of the patriots, the exercise of a comprehensive authority in which supreme executive, legislative and, in some cases, judicial functions, were united. In this busy scene the active and untiring Adams, oue of whose distinguishing characteristics was his capacity and fond- ness FOR business, found ample employment ; while his bold and pugnacious spirit was not a little excited by the hazards and dignity of the great game in which he had come to hold so deep a stake. Unlike many of that 18(5 HIDDEN TREASURES. body, Adams had made up his mind that any attempt tending toward reconciliation was hopeless. Under the lead of Dickinson, though against the strenuous opposition of Adams and others, that body- voted still another and final petition to the king. How- ever, Adams succeeded in joining with this vote one to put the colonies into a state of defence, though with pro- testations that the war on their part was for defence only, and without revolutionary intent. Not long after this congress was brought up to the point of assuming the responsibility and control of the military operations which New England had commenced by laying siege to Boston, in which town General Gage and his troo^DS were caged, and before which lay animpromptuNew England army of 15,000 men which the battle of Lexington had immediately brought together. Urged by the iSTew Eng- land delegates, congress agreed to assume the expense of maintaining this army. John Adams was the first to pro- pose the name of George Washington for the chief com- mander ; his desire being to secure the good-will and co- operation of the southern colonies. The southern colo- nies also urged General Lee for the second place, but Adams insisted on giving that to Aitemas Ward, he, however, supported Lee for the third place. Having assumed the direction of this army, provided for its re- organization, and issued letters of credit for its mainte- nance, this congress took a recess. Adams returned home, but was not allowed any rest. People who really I'.ave ability are never allowed to remain idle ; the fault is not in others, but in us. No sooner had Mr. Adams arrived home than his Massachu- setts friends sent him as a member to the State coun- cil. This council had, under a clause of the provincial FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 137 charter intended to meet such cases, assumed the execu- tive authority, declaring the gubernatorial chair vacant. On returning to Phildelphia in September, Adams found himself in hot water. Two confidential letters of his, written during the previous session, had been intercepted, by the British in crossing the Hudson river, and had been published in the Boston papers. N"ot only did those letters evince a zeal for decisive measure which made the writer an object of suspicion to the more conservative of his fellow-members of Congress, but his reference in one of them to 'the whims, the caprice, the vanity, the su- perstition, and the irritability of some of his colleagues,' and particularly to John Dickinson as ' a certain great fortune but trifling genius,' made him personal enemies by whom he was never forgiven. But, though for a moment an object of distrust to some of his colleagues, this did not save him from hard work. About this time he wrote: ''I am engaged in constant work ; from seven to ten in the morning in com- mittee, from ten to four in Congress, and from six to ten again in committee. Our assembl)^ is scarcely numerous enough for the business ; everybody is engaged all day in Congress, and all the morning and evening in com- mittee." The committee, which chiefly engaged Mr. Adams' attention at this time, was one on the fitting out of cruisers, and on naval affairs generally. This com- mittee laid the foundation of our first navy ; the basis of our naval code being drawn up by Adams. Governor Wentworth having fled from New Hamp- shire, the people of that province applied to congress for advice as to how to manage their administrative affairs. Adams, always ahead of his brother legislators, seized the opportunity to urge the necessity of advising all of 138 ' HIDDEN TREASURES. the provinces to proceed at once to institute governments of their own. The news, soon arriving of the haughty treatment of their petition by the king, added strength to his pleading, and the matter being referred to a com- mittee on which Adams w^as placed, a report in partial conformity to his ideas was made and adopted. Adams was a worker ; this was a recognized fact ; and his State having offered him the post of Chief Justice of Massa- chusetts, Adams, toward the end of the year, returned home to consult on that and other important matters* He took his seat in the council, of which he had been chosen a member, immediately on his arrival. He was consulted by Washington, both as to sending General Lee to New York, and as to the expedition against Can- ada. It was finally arranged that while Adams should accept the appointment of Chief Justice, he should still remain a delegate in Congress, and till more quiet times should be excused as acting in the capacity of judge. Under this arrangement he returned to Philadelphia. However, he never took his seat as Chief Justice, resign- ing that office the next year. Advice similar to that to New Hampshire on the sub- ject of assuming government, as it was called, had shortly afterwards been given upon similar applications to Con- gress, to South Carolina and Virginia. Adams was much consulted by members of the southern delegation concern- ing the form of government which they should adopt. He was recognized as being better versed in the subject of Republicanism, both by study and experience, coming as he did from the most thoroughly Republican section of the country. Of several letters which he wrote on this subject, one more elaborate than the others, was printed under the title of ''Thoughts on Government FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 139 applicable to the present state of the American Colonies." This paper being largely circulated in Virginia as a preliminary to the adoption of a form of government by that State, was to a certain extent a rejoinder to that part of Paine's famous pamphlet of Common Sense/ which advocated government by a single assembly. It was also designed to controvert the aristocratic views, somewhat prevalent in Virginia, of those who advocated a governor and senate to be elected for life. Adams' sys- tem of policy embraced the adoption of self-govern- ment by each of the colonies, a confederation, and treaties with foreign powers. The adoption of this system he continued to urge with zeal and increasing success, until finally, on May 13th, he carried a resolution through Con- gress by which so much of his plan was endorsed by that body as related to the assumption of self-government by the several colonies. A resolution that the United States ^Are and ought to be free and independent,' introduced by R. H. Lee under instructions from the Virgina con- vention, was very warmly supported by Adams and car- ried, seven States to six. Three committees, one on a^ Declaration of Independence; another on Confederation; and third on Foreign Eolations, were shortly formed. Of the first and third of these committees, Adams was a member. The Declaration of Independence was drawn up by Jefferson, but on Adams devolved the task of battling it through Congress in a three days' debate, during which it Underwent some curtailment. The plan of a treaty re- ported by the third committee, and adopted by Congress, Was drawn up by Adams. His views did not extend be- yond merely commercial treaties. He was opposed to seeking any political connection with France, or any mil- 140 HIDDEN TREASURES. itary or even naval assistance from her or any foreign power. On June 12tli Congress had established a board of war and ordinance, to consist of five members, with a secretary, clerk, etc., — in fact, a war department. As originally constituted, the members of this board were taken from Congress, and the subject of this narrative Was chosen its president or chairman. This position was one of great labor and responsibility, as the chief burden of the duties fell upon him, he continued to hold for the next eighteen months, with the exception of a necessary absence at the close of the year 1776, to recruit his health. The business of preparing articles of war for the government of the army was deputed to a committee composed of Adams and Jefferson; but Jefferson, accord- ing to Adams' account, threw upon him the whole bur- den, not only of drawing up the articles, which he bor- rowed mostly from Great Britain, but of arguing them through Congress, which was no small task Adams strongly opposed Lord Howe's invitation to a conference, sent to Congress, through his prisoner. General Sullivan, after the battle of Long Island. He was, however, ap- ]Dointed one of the committee for that purpose, together with Franklin and Eutledge, and his autobiography con- tains some curious anecdotes concerning the visit. Be- sides his presidency of the board of war, Adams was also chairman of t \e committee upon which devolved the decision of appeals in admiralty cases from the State courts. Having thus occupied for nearly two years a position which gained for him the reputation, among a.t least a few of his colleagues, of having "the clearest head and firmest heart of any man in Congress." He was appointed near the end of 1777 a commis- sioner to France, to supercede Deane, whom Congress FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 141 had concluded to recall. He embarked at Boston, in the Frigate Boston, on February 12th, 1878, reaching Bor- deaux after a stormy passage, and arrived on April 8th at Paris. As the alliance with France had been com- pleted before his arrival, his stay was short. He found that a great antagonism of views and feelings had arisen be- tween the three commissioners, — Franklin, Deane, and Arthur Lee, of whom the embassy to France had been originally composed. As the recall of Deane had not reconciled the other two, Adams devised, as the only means of giving unity and energy to the mission, that it should be intrusted to a single person. This suggestion was adopted, and in consequence of it, Franklin having been appointed sole embassador in France, Adams re- turned home. He arrived at Boston just as a convention was about to meet to form a State constitution for Massachusetts, and, being at once chosen a member from Braintree, he was enabled to take a leading part in the formation of that important document. Before this convention had finished its business he was appointed by congress as minister to treat with Great Britain for peace, and .commerce, under which appointment he again sailed for France in 1779, in the same French frigate in which he previously returned to the United States. Contrary to his own inclinations, Mr. Adams was pre- vented by Yergennes, the French minister of foreign affairs, from making any communication of his powers to Great Britain. In fact, Vergennes and Adams already Were, and continued to be, objects of distrust to one an- other, in both cases quite unfounded. Vergennes feared least advances toward treating with England might lead to some sort of reconciliation with her, short of the in- 142 HIDDEN TREASURES. dependence of the colonies, which was contrary to his ideas of the interest of France. The communications made to Vergennes by Gerard, the first French minister in America, and Adams' connection with the Lee's whom Vergennes suspected, though unjustly, of a secret communication through Arthur Lee with the British ministry, led him to regard Mr. Adams as the representa- tive of a party in congress desirous of such a reconcilia- tion ; nor did he rest until he had obtained from con- gress, some two years after, the recall of Mr. Adams' powers to negotiate a treaty of commerce; and, in con- junction with him, of several colleagues to treat for peace, of whom Franklin, who enjoyed his entire con- fidence, was one. Adams, on the other hand, not entirely free from hereditary English prejudices against the French, vehe- mently suspected Vergennes of a design to sacrifice the interests of America, especially the fisheries and the western lands, to the advancement of the Spanish house of Bourbon. While lingering at Paris, with nothing to do except to nurse these suspicions, Adams busied him- self in furnishing communications on American affairs to a semi-official gazette conducted by M. Genet, chief secretary in the foreign bureau, and father of the French minister in America, who subsequently rendered that name so notorious. Finding his position at Paris uncomfortable, he pro- ceeded to Holland in July, 1780, his object being to form an opinion as to the probability of borrowing money there. Just about the same time he was appointed by Congress to negotiate a French loan, the party who had been selected for that purpose previously, Laurens, not yet being ready to leave home. By way of enlightening FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 143 the Dutch in regard to American affairs, Adams pub- lished in the Gazette, of Leyden, a number of papers and extracts, including several which, through a friend, he first had published in a London journal to give to them an English character. To these he added direct publica- tion of his own, afterward many times reprinted, and now to be found in volume VII of his collected works under the title of ' Twenty-six Letters upon Interesting Subjects Respecting the Revolution in America.' He had commenced negotiations for a loan when his labors in that direction were interrupted by the sudden breach between England and Holland, consequent upon the capture of Laurens and the discovery of the secret nego- tiation carried on between him and Van Berkel, of Am- sterdam, which, though it had been entered into without authority of the Dutch States, was made an excuse by the British for a speedy declaration of war. Adams was soon after appointed minister to Holland m place of the captured Laurens, and at the same time was commissioned to sign the articles of armed neutrality which had just made their appearance on the politi- cal scene. Adams presented memorials to the Dutch government setting forth his powers in both respects ; but before he could procure any recognition he was re- called in July, 1781, to Paris, by a notice that he was needed there, in his character of minister, to treat for peace. Adams' suspicion of Vergennes had, meanwhile, been not a little increased by the neglect of France to second his applications to Holland. With Vergennes the great object was peace. The finances of France were sadly embarrassed, and Vergennes wished no further compli- cations to the war. Provided the English colonies should 144 HIDDEN TREASURES. be definitely separated from the mother-countiy, which he considered indispensable to the interest of France, he was not disposed to insist on anything else. It was for this reason that he had urged upon, and just about this time had succeeded in obtaining from Congress, through the French Minister at Philadelphia — though the informa- tion had not yet reached Paris — not only the withdrawal of Adams' commission to treat of commerce, and the enlargement to five of the number of commissioners to treat for peace, but an absolute discretion intrusted to the negotiators as to everything except independence and the additional direction that in the last resort they were to be governed by tlie advice of Vergennes. The cause for sending for Adams, who still occupied, so far as was known at Paris, the position of sole negotiator for peace : the offer of meditation on the part of Russia and the G er - man empire ; but this offer led to nothing. Great Britain haughtily rejected it on the ground that she would not allow France to stand between her and her colonies. Returning to Holland Mr. Adams, though still unsupported by Yergennes, pushed with great energy his reception as embassador by the States general, which at length, April 19th, 1782, he succeeded in accomplish- ing. Following up this success with his customary per- SEVERENCE, he succccded before the end of the year in negotiating a Dutch loan of nearly two millions of dol- lars, the first of a series which proved a chief financial resource of the continental congress. He also succeeded in negotating a treaty of amity and commerce. His suc- cess in these negotiations, considering the obstacles with which he had to contend, and the want of support from Vergennes, he was accustomed to regard as the greatest triumph of his life. 9 FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 145 Before this business was completed, Mr. Adams re- ceived urgent calls to come to Paris where Jay and Franklin, two of the new commissioners, were already treating for peace, and where he arrived October 26th. Though Mr. Jay had been put into the diplomatic service by the procurement of the party in congress in the French interest, his diplomatic experience in Spain had led him also to entertain doubts as to the sincere good-will of Vergennes. A confidential dispatch from the French Secretary of Legation in America, intercepted by the British, and which Oswald, the British negotiator at Paris communicated to Franklin and Jay, with a view of mak- ing bad feeling between them and the French minister, had, along with other circumstances, induced Franklin and Jay to disregard their instructions, and to proceed to treat with Oswald without communicating that fact to Vergennes, or taking his advice as to terms of the treaty, a procedure in which Adams, after his arrival, fully concurred. It was chiefly through his en'ergy and persistence that the participation of America in the fisheries was secured by the treaty, not as a favor or a privilege, but as a right — a matter of much more importance then than now, the fisheries then being a much more important branch than now of American maritime industry. Immediately upon the signature of the preliminary articles of peace, Adams asked leave to resign all his com- missions and to return home, to which Congress responded by appointing him a commissioner jointly with Franklin and Jay, to negotiate a treaty of commerce with Great Britain. His first visit to England was, however, in a private character, to recruit his health, after a violfent fever with which he had been attacked, shortly after 146 HIDDEN TREASURES. signing the treaty of peace. He spent some time, first at London, and afterward at Bath ; but while still an in- valid he was recalled, in the dead of winter, to Holland, which he reached after a stormy and most uncomfort- able voyage; there to negotiate a new loan as the means of meeting government bills drawn in America, which Were in danger of protest from want of funds — a busi- ness IN WHICH HE succeeded. Adams was included along with Franklin and Jeffer- son, the latter sent out to take the x)lace of Jay, in a new commission to form treaties with foreign powers ; and his being joined by Mrs. Adams and their only daughtei' and youngest son, his other two sons being already with him, reconciled him to the idea of remaining abroad. With his family about him he fixed his residence at Auteuil, near Paris, where he had an interval of com- parative leisure. The chief business of the new commission was the negotiation of a treaty with Prussia, advances toward which had first been made to Adams while at the Hague negotiating the Dutch loan, but before that treaty was ready for signature Adams w^as appointed by congress as Minister to the court of St. James, where he arrived in May, 1785. The English government, the feelings of which were well represented by those of the king, had neither the magnanimity nor policy to treat the new American States with respect, generosity, or justice. Adams was received with civility, but no commercial arrangements could be made. His chief employment was in complaining of the non-execution of the treaty of peace, especially in relation to the non-surrender of the western posts, and in attempting to meet similar com- plaints urged, not without strong grounds, by the British. FROM OBSCUKITY TO GREAT HONOR. 147 more particularly with regard to the obstacles thrown in the way of the collection of British debts, which were made an excuse for the detention of the western posts. Made sensible in many ways of the aggravation of British feelings toward the new republic, whose con- dition immediately after the peace was somewhat em- barrassing, and not so flattering as it might have been to the advocates and promoters of the revolution, the situation of Adams was rather mortifying than agreeable. Meanwhile he was obliged to pay another visit to Holland to negotiate a new loan as a means of paying the interest on the Dutch debt. He was also engaged in a corespondence with his fellow-commissioner, Mr. Jefferson, then at Paris, on the subject of the Barbary powe^and the return of the Americans held captive by them. But his most engrossing occupation at this time was the preparation of his "Defence of the American Constitution," the object of which was the justification of balanced governments and a division of powers, es- pecially the legislative, against the idea of a single as- sembly and a pure democracy, which had begun to find many advocates, especially on the continent. The greater part, however, of this book — the most voluminous of his publications — consists of summaries of the histories of the Italian republics, which, by the way, was not essen- tial to the argument. Although it afterward subjugated the author to charges of monarchical and anti-republican tendencies, this book was not without its influence on the adoption of the federal constitution; during the discussion of which the first volume appeared. Great Britain not hav- ing reciprocated the compliment by sending a minister to the United States, and there being no prospects of his 148 HIDDEN TREASURES. accomplishing any of the objects of his mission, Adams had requested a recall, which was sent to him in Febru- ary, 1788, accompanied by a resolution of Congress con- veying the thanks of that body for ^ The patriotism, per- severance, integrity and dilligence' which he had dis- played in his ten ^/ears' experience abroad. Immediately upon his arrival at home, Mr. Adams was RE-APPOiNTED by Massachusetts as a delegate to the continental congress; but he never resumed his seat in that body, which was now just about to expire. When the new government came to be organized under the newly adopted constitution, as all were agreed to make "Washington president, attention was turned to New England for a vice-president. This office was then held with much more regard than now. In fact, as the con- stitution originally stood, the candidates for the presi- dency and vice-presidency were voted for without any distinct specification as to rank, the second office falling to the person having the second highest vote. Out of sixty-nine electors, John Adams received the votes of thirty-four ; and this being the second highest number, he was declared vice-president. The thirty-five votes were scattered upon some ten different other candidates. By virtue of his new office he became xn'eeident of the senate, a position not very agreeable to his active and leading temperament, being better fitted for debate ; but one in which the close division in the senate, often resuhing in a tie between the supporters and opponents of the new system, many times gave him a controlling voice. In the first congress, he gave no fewer than twenty deciding votes, always upon important organic laws, and always in support of Washington's policy. Down to this time Adams had sympathized with FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 149 Jefferson politically, with whom he had served both in congress and abroad. On the subject of the French revolution, which now burst upon the world, a difference of opinion arose between them. From the very begin- ning Adams, then almost alone, had argued that no good could come from that movement, — as the revolution went on and began to break out in excesses, others began to be of this opinion. Adams then gave public expression to some of his ideas by the publication of his ^Discourses on Davila,' furnished to a Philadelphia paper, and afterward collected and published in one volume, — taking the history of nations, particularly Davilla's account of the French civil wars, and the general aspects of human society as his texts, Adams pointed out as the great springs of human activity, — at least in all that related to politics, — the love of superiority, the desire of distinction, admiration and applause; nor, in his opinion could any government be permanent or secure which did not provide as well foi the reasonable gratification, as for the due restraint of this powerful passion. Repudiating that democracy, pure and simple, then coming into vogue, and of which Jefferson was the advocate; he insisted that a certain mixture of aristocracy and monarchy was necessary to that balance of interests and sentiments without which, as he believed, free governments should not exist. This work, which reproduced more at length and in a more obnoxious form the fundamental ideas of his ^Defence of the American Constitution,' made Adams a great bug- bear to the ultra-democratic supporters of the principles and policy of the French revolutionists; and at the second presidential election in 1792, they set up as a can- 150 HIDDEN TREASURES. didate against him George Clinton, of New York, but Mr. Adams was re-elected by a decided vote. The wise policy of neutrality adopted by Washington received the hearty concurrence of Adams. While Jeffer- son left the cabinet to become in nominal retirement the leader of the opposition. Adams continued, as vice-presi- dent, to give Washington's adminstration the benefit of his deciding vote. It was only by this means that a neutrality act was carried through the senate, and that the progress was stopped of certain resolutions vfhich had previously passed in the House of Representatives, embodying restrictive measures against Great Britain, intended, or at least calculated, to counterwork the mis- sion to England on which Mr. Jay had already been sent. Washington being firmly resolved to retire at the close of his second presidential term, the question of the successorship now presented itself. Jefferson was the leader of the opposition, who called themselves repub- licans, the name democrat being yet in bad odor, and though often imposed as a term of reproach, not yet as- sumed except by a few of the more ultra-partisans. Hamilton was the leader of the federal party, as the sup- porters of Washington's administration had styled them- selves. Though Hamilton's zeal and energy had made him, even while like Jefferson in nominal retirement, the leader of his party, he could hardly be said to hold the place with the Federalists that Jefferson did with the Re- publicans. Either Adams or Jay, from their age and long diplomatic service, were more justly entitled to public honor and were more conspicuously before the people. Hamilton, though he had always spoken of Adams as a man of unconquerable intrepidity and incorruptible in FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 151 tegrity, and as such had already twice supported him for vice-president, would yet have much preferred Jay. The position of Adams was, however, such as to render his election far more probable than that of Jay, and to determine on his selection as candidate of the Federalist party. Jay, by his negotiation of the famous treaty which bears his name, had for the moment called down upon himself the hostility of its numerous oppo- nents. Adams stood, moreover, as vice-president, in the line of promotion, and was more sure of the New Eng- land vote, which was absolutely indispensible to the success of either. As one of the candidates was taken from the North, it seemed best to select the other from the South, and the selection of Thomas Pickney, of South Carolina, was the result of this decision. Indeed, there were some, Hamilton among the number, who secretly vnshed that Pickney might receive the larger vote of the two, and so be chosen president over Adams' head. This result was almost sure to happen, — from the likelihood of Pick- ney's receiving more votes at the South than Adams, as he really did, — could the nothern federal electors be persuaded to vote equally for Adams and Pickney, which Hamilton labored to effect. The fear, however, that Pickney might be chosen over Adams led to the withholding from Pickney of eighteen New England votes, so that the result was not only to make Jefferson Vice-President, as having more votes than Pickney, but also to excite prejudices and sus- picions in the mind of Adams against Hamilton, which, being reciprocated by him, led to the disruption and final overthrow of the Federal party. It had almost happened, such was the equal division 152 HIDDEN TEEASUEES. of parties, that Jefferson had this time been elected President. The election of Adams, who had 71 votes to Jefferson's 68, only being secured by two stray votes cast for him, one in Virginia, and the other in North Caro- lina, tributes of revolutionary^ reminiscences and per- sonal esteem. Chosen by this slender majority, Mr. Adams succeeded to office at a very dangerous and ex- citing crisis in affairs. The progress of the French revolution had superinduced upon previous party divis- ions a new and vehement crisis. Jefferson's supporters, who sympathized very warmly with the French Eepublic, gave their moral, if not their positive support, to the claim set up by its rulers, but which Washington had refused to admit, that under the provisions of the French treaty of alliance, the United States were bound to support France against Great Britain, at least in defense of her West India posses- sions. The other party, the supporters of Adams, upheld the policy of neutrality adopted by Washington. At the same time that Washington had sent Jay to England, to arra.nge, if possible, the pending diffi- culties with that country; he had recalled Morris who, as Minister to France, had made himself obnoxious to the now predominent party there, and had appointed Monroe in his place. This gentleman, instead of con- forming to his instructions, and attempting to reconcile France to Jay's mission, had given them assurance on the subject quite in contradiction of the treaty as made, both the formation and ratification of which he had done his best to defeat. 11(5, in consequence, had been re- called by Washington shortly before the close of his term of office, and C. C. Pickney, a brother of Thomas Pickney, had been appointed in his place. The French FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 158 authorities, offended at this change, and the ratification of Jay's treaty in spite of their remonstrances, while they dismissed Monroe with great ovations, refused to receive the new embassador sent in his place, at the same time issuing decrees and orders highly injurious to American interests. Almost the first act of Mr. Adams, as President, was to call an extra session of Congress. Not only was a war with France greatly to be dreaded and deprecated on account of her great military and naval power, but still more on account of the very formidable party which, among the ultra-Republicans, she could muster within the States themselves. Under these circumstances, the measure resolved upon by Adams and his cabinet was the appointment of a new and more solemn commission to France, composed of Pickney and two colleagues, for which purpose the President appointed John Marshall of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, Instead of receiving and openly treating with those commissioners, Talleyrand, lately an exile in America, but now Secretary of Foreign Affairs to the French Gov- ernment, entered into intrigue with them, through sev- eral unaccredited and unofficial agents, of which the object was to induce them to promise a round bribe to the directors and a large sum of money to fill the ex- hausted French treasury, by way of purchasing forbear- ance. As Pickney and Marshall appeared less pliable than Gerry, Talleyrand finally obliged them to leave, after which he attempted, though still without success, to extract money, or at least the promise of it, from Gerry. The publication of the dispatches in which these dis- creditible intrigues were disclosed, an event on which 154 HIDDEN TREASURES. Tallevrand had not calculated, produced a great excite^ ment in both America and Europe. Talleyrand attempted to escape by disavowing his agents, and pretending that the American ministers had been imposed upon by ad- venturers. Gerry left France, and the violation of American commercial and maritime rights was pushed to new extremes. In America the effect of all of this was to greatly strengthen the Federal party for the time being. The grand jury of the federal circuit court for Penn- sylvania set the example of an address to the president, applauding his manly stand for the rights and dignity of the nation. Philadelphia, which under the lead of Mifflin and McKean, had gone over to the Republicans, was once more suddenly converted as duringWashington's first term to the support of the federal government. That city w^as then the seat of the national newspaper press. All the newspapers, hitherto neutral, published there, as well as several others which had leaned decidedly toward the opposition, now came out in behalf of Adams. Besides an address from five thousand citizens, the young men got up an address of their own. This exam- ple was speedily imitated all over the country, and the spirited replies of the president, who was now in his ele- ment, served in their turn to blow up and keep ablaze the patriotic enthusiasm of his countrymen. These ad- dresses, circulated everywhere in the newspapers, were collected at the time in a voliune, and they appeared in Adams' works, of w^hich they form a characteristic por- tion. A navy was set on. foot, the old continental navy having become extinct. An army was voted and partlj levied, of which Washington accepted the chief com- FROM OBSCURITY TO FREAT HONOR. 155 mand, and merchant ships were authorized to protect themselves. The treaty with France was declared at an end, and a quasi war with France ensued. It was not, however, the policy of France to drive the United States into the arms of Great Britain. Even before Gerry's departure, Talleyrand had made advances tending toward reconcil- iation, which were afterward renewed by communica- tions opened with Van Murray, the American minister to Holland. The effect of the French outrages, and the progress of the French revolution had been to create in a part of the federal party, at least, a desire for an abso- lute breach with France — a desire felt by Hamilton, and by at least three out of the four cabinet officers whom Adams had chosen and kept in office. In his message to congress, announcing the expulsion of Pickney and Marshall, Adams had declared that he would never send another minister to France without as- surance that he would be received. This was on the 21st of July, 1798. Therefore,whenonthe ISthof February follow- ing, without consulting his cabinet or giving them any intimation of his intentions, he sent into the senate the nomination of Van Murray as minister to France, the act took the country by surprise, and thus hastened the defeat of the federal party, his actions being so contrary to his avowed intentions. Some previous acts of Adams, such as the appointment of Gerry, which his cabinet offi- cers had striven to prevent, and his disinclination to make Hamilton second in command, until vehemently iirged into it by Washington, had strengthened the dis- trust entertained of Adams by Hamilton. Adams, in his attempt to reopen diplomatic inter- course with France, was accused of seeking to reconcile 156 HIDDEN TREASURES. his political opponents of the Eepublican party, and thus secure by unworthy and impolitic concessions, his own re-election as president. The opposition to Van Mur- ray's nomination prevailed so far that he received two colleagues, Ellsworth of Connecticut and Davies of North Carolina; but the president would not authorize the departure of Ellsworth or Davies until he had received explicit assurances from Talleyrand that they would be duly received as ministers. On arriving in France they found the Directory superseded by Napoleon Bonaparte who was first counsel, with whom they managed to ar- range the difficulty. But, however beneficial to the country, this mission proved very disastrous to Adams personally, and to the political party to which he belonged. He justified its appointment on the ground of assurances conveyed to him through a variety of channels that France desired peace, and he excused himself for his not having con- sulted his cabinet by the fact that he knew their mind without asking it — to be decidedly hostile, that is, to any such attempt as he had decided to make. The masses of the federalists, fully confident of Adams' patriotism, were well enough disposed to acquiesce in his judgment; but many of the leaders were implacable. The quarrel was further aggravated by Adams' dismissal of his cabinet officers and the construction of a new cabinet. The pardon of Fries, who had been convicted of treason for armed resistance to the levy of certain direct taxes in Pennsylvania, was regarded by many at that time as a piece of misplaced lenity on the part of Adams, dictated, it was said, by a mean desire of popularity in a case where the severest example was needed. But FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 157 Adams can hardly suffer with posterity from his unwill- ingness to be the first president to sign a death warrant for treason, especially as there was room for grave doubts whether the doings of this person amounted to treason as defined by the constitution of the United States. In this divided condition of the Federal party the presidential election came on. Adams was still too popular with the mass of the party to think of dropping him altogether, and the malcontents reduced to the old expedient of attempting, by secret understanding and arrangements, to reduce his vote in the electoral college below that of C. C. Pickney, the other candidate on the federal ticket. The Republicans, on the other hand, under the pros- pect of an arrangement with France, rapidly recovered from the blow inflicted upon them by the violence and mercenary rapacity lately charged upon their French friends, but which they now insisted, was a charge with- out foundation. Taking advantage of the dissatisfaction at the heavy taxes necessarily imposed to meet the ex- penses of warlike preparations, and especially of the un- popularity of the alien and sedition laws — ^two acts of congress to which the prospect of war had led — they pushed the canvass with great energy ; while in Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr they had two leaders unsur- passed for skill in party tactics, and in Burr at least, one little scrupulous as to the means to be used. Not only was the whole blame of the alien and sedi- tion acts, to which he had merely assented without even recommending, laid on Adams' shoulders, but he was the object of vehement and most bitter attacks for having surrendered, under one of the provisions of Jay's treaty, one Thomas Nash, an English sailor, charged with 158 • HIDDEN TREASURES. mutiny and murder. IsTor was it against his public acts alone, nor even to his political opponents, that these as- saults on Mr. Adams were confined. With strong feeling and busy imagination, loving both to talk and write, Adams had been betrayed into many confidences and in- to free expressions of feeling, opinions, and even conjec- tures and suspicions — a weakness very unsuited to the character of a statesman, and one which Adams had during his life many times the occasion to rue. DuringWashington's first term of office, Adams had thus been led into a confidential correspondence with Tench Coxe, who at that time held the position of assistant secretary of the treasury and had afterward been ap- Xoointed supervisor of the internal revenue. Since Adam's accession he had been dismissed from his place on the charge of being a spy upon the treasury department in the service of the Aurora, the principal newspaper organ of the opposition, — with which pai-ty Coxe sympathized, and, since his recent dismissal from office, acted. In this state of mind Coxe betrayed a confidential letter to him from Adams; which, after being handed around in manuscript for some time, to the great damage of Adams with his own party, was" finally printed in the Aurora, of which Coxe had become one of the principal contributors. The purport of this letter, written as long ago as May, 1792, was to give countenance to the charge of the opposition that Washington's cabinet, and of course Adams' which followed the same policy, was under Brit- ish influence ; and that the Pickney brothers, candidates with Adams on the presidential ticket, were especially liable to this suspicion. The publication of this letter was followed by a still more deadly blow in the shape of ■s. FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 159 XI pranplilet, written, printed and signed by Hamilton, — probably intended by him for private distribution among bis friends, but which was made public by Aaron Burr, who had succeed in obtaining some of the proof sheets. This phamphlet had its origin in the same charge against Hamilton of being under the influence of British gold, thrown out by Adams in private conversation. To this he had refused to give any explanation when written to by Hamilton, though when a similar request was made by C. C. Pickney in conseqence of the publication of the letter to Coxe, Adams fully exonerated, in a published letter, both Pickney and his brother from any suspicion which his letter to Coxe might seem calculated to convey. Hamilton declared in the conclusion of his pamphlet that, as things then stood, he did not recommend the withholding of a single vote from Adams. Yet, it was the leading object of his pamphlet to show, without deny- ing Adams' patriotism or integrity, or even his talents, that he had great defects of character which disqualified him for the position of chief magistrate, and the effect which he desired it to have must have been to give C. C. Pickney the presidency, by causing a certain number of votes to be withheld from Adams. The result of the election, however, was to throw out both the federal candidates, while Adams receiving forty- five votes and Pickney fifty-four ; Jefferson and Burr each received seventy-three. In the ensuing struggle between Jefferson and Burr, Adams took no part what- ever. Immediately on the expiration of his term of office he left Washington, where shortly before the seat of government had been moved, without even stopping to be present at the inauguration of Jefferson, against whom he felt a sense of personal wrong, probably think- 160 HIDDEN TREASURES. ing he had been deluded by false professions as to Jeffer- son's views on the presidential chair. Though both were much given to letter-writing, and had to within a short time before been on terms of friendly intercourse, this state of feelings, on the part of Adams, led to strict non-intercourse for the next thir- teen years. The only acknowledgment which Adams carried with him, in this unwelcome and mortifying re- tirement for his twenty-five years' services was the priv- ilege, which had been granted to Washington on his withdrawal from the presidency, and after his death to his widow, and bestowed likewise Mpoi\ all subsequent ex-presidents and their widows, -of receiving his letters free of postage for the remainder of his life. Fortunately for Adams, his thrifty habits and love of independence, sustained during his absence from home by the economical and managing talents of his wife, had enabled him to add to what he had saved from his pro- fession before entering public life, savings from his sala- ries, enough to make up a sufficient property to support him for the remainder of his life, in conformity with his ideas of a decent style of propriety and solid comfort. Almost all his savings he had invested in the farming lands about liim. In his vocabulary, property meant land. With all the rapid wealth then being made through trade and navigation, he had no confidence in the per- manency of any property but land, views in which he was confirmed by t-he commercial revulsions of which he lived to be a witness. Adams was the possessor, partly by inheritance and partly by purchase, of his father's fann, including the house in which he him^lf was born. He had, however, transferred his own residence to a larger and handsomer FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 161 dwelling near by, which had been forfeited by one of the refugee tories of the revolution and purchased by him, where he spent the next quarter of a century. In this comfortable home, acquired by himself, he sought consolation for his troubled spirit in the cultiva- tion of his lands, in books and in the bosom, of his family. Mrs. Adams, to her capacities as a house-keeper, steward and farm manager, added a brightness and activity of mind and a range of reading, such as fully qualified her to sympathize with her husband in his public as v/ell as his private carreer. She shared his tastes for books, and as his letters to her are unsurpassed by any American letters ever yet published, so hers to him, as well as to others, from which a selection has also been published, show her, though exhibiting less of nature and more of formality than he, yet worthy of admiration and re- spect as well as of the tenderness with which he always regarded her. To affections strong enough to respond to his, a sym- pathy equal to his highest aspirations, a proud feeling and an enjoyment of it equal to his own, she added what is not always found in such company, a flexibility suffi- cient to jdeld to his stronger will without disturbance to her serenitj^ or his, and without the least compromise of her own dignity or her husband's respect and deference for her. While she was not ignorant of the foiables of his character, and knew how to avail herself of them when a good purpose was to be served by it, yet her admiration of his abilities, her reliance upon his judgment, her con- fidence in his goodness, and her pride in his achieve- ments, made her always ready to yield and to conform. His happiness and honor were always her leading object 162 HIDDEN TREASURES. This union was blessed with children well calculated to add to this happiness. Just at the moment of his retirement from office private grief was added to political disappointment by the death of his second son Charles, who had grown to manhood, had been married and had settled in New York with flattering prospects, but had died under pain- ful circumstances, which his father speaks of in a con- temporary letter as the deepest affliction of his life, leav- ing a wife and two infant children dependent on him. Colonel Smith, an officer of the revolution, who had been Adams' secretary of legation at London and who had married his only daughter, did not prove in all respects such a son-in-law as he would have wished. Smith's pecuniary affairs becoming embarrassed, his father-in- law had provided for him by several public appoint- ments, the last of which was that of the surveyor of New York, which position he was allowed to hold until 1807, when he was removed from it in consequence of his im- plication in Miranda's expedition. Nor did Thomas, the third son, though a xDcrson of accomplishments and talents, fully answer the hopes of his parents. But all these disappointments were more than made good by the eldest son, John Quincy, who subsequently to his recall from the diplomatic service abroad, into which Washington had introduced him and in which his father, urged by Washington,had promoted him, was chosen one of the senators in congress from Massachusetts. All consolations, domestic or otherwise, at Mr. Adam's command, were fully needed. Never did a statesman sink more suddenly, — at a time too when his powers of action and inclinations for it seemed unimpaired — from a leading position to more absolute political insignificance. FROM OBSCURITY TO GREAT HONOR. 163 His grandson tells us that while the letters addressed to him in the year prior to March 1st, 1801, may be counted by the thousands, those of the next year scarcely num- bered a hundred, while he wrote even less than he re- ceived. Nor was mere neglect the worst of it. He sank, loaded with the jibes, the sneers, the execrations even, of both political parties into which the nation was divided. In his correspondence, which appears to have gradually increased and extended itself, Mr. Adams loved to re-explain his theoretical ideas of government, on some points of which he pushed Jefferson hard, and which the result of the French revolution so far as then developed seemed to confirm. Another subject in which he continued to feel a great interest was theology. He had begun as an Arminian, and the more he had read and thought, and the older he grew to be, the freer views he took. Though clinging with tenacity to the religious institutions of 'New Eng- land, it would seem from his correspondence that he finally curtailed his theology to the ten command- ments and the sermon on the mount. Of his views on this point, he gave evidence in his last public act, to which we now approach. Mrs. Adams had died in 1818, but even that shock, severe as it was, did not loosen the firm grasp^of the husband on life, its enjoyments and its duties. When, in consequence of the erection of the district