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Copyright, 1916,
By The Roycrofters

CONTENTS
THE LITTLE JOURNEYS CAMP ... vii
GEORGE WASHINGTON  3
BENJAMIN FRANKLIN  31
THOMAS JEFFERSON  53
SAMUEL ADAMS  77
JOHN HANCOCK  97
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS  125
ALEXANDER HAMILTON  151
DANIEL WEBSTER  183
HENRY CLAY  207
JOHN JAY  229
WILLIAM H. SEWARD  253
ABRAHAM LINCOLN  277

THE LITTLE JOURNEYS CAMP
BERT HUBBARD

A little more patience, a little more charity for all, a
little more devotion, a little more love ; with less bowing
down to the past, and a silent ignoring of pretended
authority ; a brave looking forward to the future with
more faith in our fellows, and the race will be ripe for
a great burst of light and life.
—Elbert Hubbard

KOdlJHH

THE LITTLE JOURNEYS CAMP

r was not built with the idea of ever
becoming a place in history: simply
a boys' cabin in the woods.
Fibe, Rich, Pie and Butch were the
bunch that built it.
Fibe was short for Fiber, and we
gave him that name because his real
n£une W£is Wood. Rich got his name
from being a mudsock. Pie got his because he weis a
regular pieface. And they called me Butch for no reason
at all except that perhaps my great-great-grandfather
was a butcher.
We were a fine gang of youngsters, all about thirteen
years, wise in boys' deviltry. What we did n't know
about killing cats, breaking window-panes in bams,
stealing coal from freight-cars, and borrowing eggs
from neighboring hencoops without consent of the
hens, W£is n't worth the knowing.
There used to be another boy in the gang. Skinny. One
day when we ran away to the swimming-hole after
school, this other little fellow did n't come back with us.
^ You see, there weis the little-kids' swimmin'-hole and
the big-kids* swimmin'-hole. The latter was over our
heads. Well, Skinny swimg out on the rope heoiging
from the cottonwood-tree on the bank of the big-kids'
hole. Somehow he lost his head and fell in. IX

THE LITTLE JOURNEYS CAMP

None of us could swim, and he was too far out to reach.
There was nothing to help him with, so we just had to
watch him struggle till he had gone down three times.
And there where we last saw him a lot of bubbles came
up. The inquiry before the Justice of Peace with our
fathers, which followed, put fright in our bones, and the
sight of the old creek was a nightmare for months to
come. After that we decided to keep to the hills and
woods. This necessitated a hut. But we had no lumber
with which to build it.
However, there were three houses going up in town —
and surely they could spare a few boards. So aiter dark
we got out old Juliet and the spring-wagon eind made
several visits to the new houses. The result weis that in
about a week we had enough lumber to frame the cabin.
^ Our site was about three miles from town, high up
on the Adams Farm. After many evening trips with the
old mare and much figuring we had the thing done, all
but the windows, door, and shingles on the roof. Well,
I knew where there was an old door and two window-
sash taken off our chicken-house to let in the air during
Summer. And one rainy night three bunches of shingles
found their way from Perkins' lumber-yard to the foot
of the hill on the Adams Farm.
In another five days the place was finished. It was ten
by sixteen, and had four bunks, two windows, a paneled
front door, a back entrance and a porch — altogether a
rather pretentious camp for a gang of young ruffians JS

THE LITTLE JOURNEYS CAMP

But it was a labor of love, and we certainly had workec^
mighty hard. Our love was given particularly to the
three house-builders and to Perkins, down in town SS
Of course we had to have a stove.
This we got from Bowen's hardware-store for two dol
lars and forty cents. He wanted four dollars, and we
argued for some time. The stove was a secondhand one
and good only for scrap-iron anjrway. Scrap was worth
fifty cents a hundred, and this stove weighed only two
hundred fifty, so we convinced the man our offer was
big. At that we made him throw in a frying-pan.
For dishes and cutlery, I believe each of our mothers*
pantries contributed. Then a stock of grub was con
fiscated. The storeroom in the Phalansterie furnished
Heinz beans, chutney, and a few others of the fifty-
seven. John had run an ad in " The Philistine " for
Heinz and taken good stuff in exchange.
For four years eif ter that, this old camp was kept stocked
with eats all the time. We would hike out Friday after
school and stay till Sunday night. At Christmas-time
we would spend the week's vacation there.
Many times had I tried to get my Father to go out and
stay overnight. But he would n't go. One time, though,
I did not come home when 1 had promised, so Father
rode out on Gamett to find me. Instead of my coming
back with him he just unsaddled and turned Garnett
loose in the woods and stayed overnight.
We gave him the big bunk with two red quilts, and he
xi

THE LITTLE JOURNEYS CAMP

stuck it out. Next morning we had fried apples, hjim
and coffee for breakfast.
What there was about it I did not understand, but John
was a very frequent visitor eifter that.
You know we called Father, John, because he seud that
was n't his name.
He used to come up in the evening and would bring
the Red One or Sammy the Artist or Seiint Jerome the
Sculptor. Once he brought Michael Monahan and John
Sayles the UniverseJist preacher.
Mike did n't like it.
The field-mice running on the rsif ters overhead at night
chilled his blood. He called them terrible beasts.
From then on we youngsters were gradually deprived of
our freedom at camp. These visitors were too numerous
for us £md we had to seek other fields of adventure.
John got to going out to the camp to get away from
visitors at the Shop. He found the place quiet emd
comforting. The woods gave him freedom to think and
write. It so developed that he would spend about four
days a month there, writing the " Little Journey " for
the next month. How many of his masterpieces were
written at the Camp I can not say, but for several years
it weis his Retieat and he used it constantly.
He reminded us boys severed times when we kicked,
that he had a good cleum on it — for did n't he furnish
the door and the window-frames?
I never suspected he would recognize them.
xii

%Mt Jfotirnf SS

Snmiflui Stattsinto

GEORGE WASHINGTON

He left £is fair a reputation as ever belonged to a
human character. . . . Midst all the sorrowings
that are mingled on this melancholy occasion I venture
to assert that none could have felt his death with more
regret than I , because no one had higher opinions of
his worth. . . . There is this consolation, though,
to be drawn, that while living no man could be more
esteemed, and since dead none is more lamented.
— IVashmgton, on the Death of Tllghman

GEORGE WASHINGTON

EAN STANLEY has said that all
the gods of ancient mythology were
once men, and he traces for us the
evolution of a mem into a hero, the
hero into a demigod, and the demi
god into a divinity. By a slow proc
ess, the natural man is divested
of all our common faults and frail
ties; he is clothed with superhuman attributes emd
declared a being separate and apart, and is lost to us
in the clouds.
When Greenough carved that statue of Washington
that sits facing the Capitol, he unwittingly showed how
a man may be transformed into a Jove,
But the world has reached a point when to be human
is no longer a cause for apology; we recognize that the
human, in degree, comprehends the divine.
Jove inspires fear, but to Washington we pay the tribute
of eiffection. Beings hopelessly separated from us are
not ours: a god we can not love, a man we may. We
know Weishington as well as it is possible to know any
man. We know him better, far better, than the people
who lived in the very household with him. We have his
diary showing " how and where I spent my time " ; we
have his journal, his account-books (emd no man weis
ever a more pednstaking accountant); we have hundreds 5

GEORGE WASHINGTON

of his letters, emd his own copies and first dreifts of
hvmdreds of others, the originals of which have been
lost or destroyed. ^ From these, with contemjjoreiry
history, we are able to make up a close estimate of the
man; and we find him human — splendidly human. By
his books of accounts we find that he weis often imposed
upon, that he loaned thousands of dollars to people
who had no expectation of paying; and in his leist will,
written with his own hemd, we find him canceling these
debts, emd making bequests to scores of relatives;
giving freedom to his slaves, emd acknowledging his
obligation to servants emd various other obscure per
sons. He weis a mem in very sooth. He was a man in
that he had in him the appetites, the eimbitions, the
desires of a man. Stewart, the artist, heis said, " All of
his features were indications of the strongest emd most
ungovernable passions, emd had he been bom in the
forest, he would have been the fiercest man among
savage tribes."
But over the sleeping volcemo of his temper he kept
watch and weird, until his habit became one of gentie-
ness, generosity, and shining, simple truth; emd, behind
all, we behold his unswerving purpose and steadfeist
strength 53 53
And so the object of this sketch will be, not to show the
superhuman Weishington, the Washington set apeu-t,
but to give a glimjise of the man Washington who
aspired, feeu-ed, hoped, loved and bravely died.
6

GEORGE WASHINGTON

HE first biographer of George Washington
was the Reverend Mason L. Weems. If you
have a copy of Weems' " Life of Weishing
ton," you had better wrap it in chamois and
place it away for your heirs, for some time it will com
mand a price. Fifty editions of Weems' book were
printed, and in its day no other volume approached it
in point of popularity. In American literature, Weems
stood first. To Weems are we indebted for the hatchet
tale, the story of the colt that was broken and killed
in the process, and all those other fine romances of
Washington's youth. Weems' literary style reveals the
very acme of that vicious quality of untruth to be
found in the old-time Sunday-school books. Weems
mustered all the " Little Willie " stories he could find,
and attached to them Washington's name, claiming to
write for " the Betterment of the Young," as if in
dealing with the young we should carefully conceal the
truth. Possibly Weishington could not tell a lie, but
Weems was not thus handicapped.
Under a mass of silly moralizing, he nearly buried the
real Washington, giving us instead a priggish, punk
youth, and a Madame Tussaud, full-dress general, with
a wax-works manner and a wooden dignity.
Happily, we have now come to a time when such
authors eis Meison L. Weems and John S. C. Abbott are
no longer accepted as final authorities. We do not dis
card them, but, like Samuel Pepys, they are retained 7

GEORGE WASHINGTON

that they may contribute to the gaiety of nations Si
Various violent efforts have been made in days agone
to show that Washington was of " a noble line" — eis if
the natural nobility of the man needed a reeison — for
getful that we are all sons of God, emd it doth not yet
appear what we shall be. But Burke's " Peerage " lends
no light, emd the careful, imprejudiced, patient search
of recent years finds only the blood of the common
people 53 53
Washington himself said that in his opinion the history
of his ancestors " weis of small moment and a subject
to which, I confess, I have paid little attention,"
He had a bookplate and he had also a coat of arms
on his carriage-door. The Reverend Mr, Weems has
described Washington's bookplate thus: " Argent, two
bar gules in chief, three mullets of the second. Crest,
a raven with wings, indorsed proper, issuing out of a
ducal coronet, or."

8

GEORGE WASHINGTON

ARY BALL was the second wife of Augustine
Washington. In his will the good man
describes this marriage, evidently with a
wink, as " my second Venture." And it is
sad to remember that he did not live to know that his
" Venture " made America his debtor. The success of
the union seems pretty good argument in favor of
widowers marrying. There were four children in the
family, the oldest nearly full grown, when Meuy Ball
came to take charge of the household. She weis twenty-
seven, her husband ten years older. TTiey were married
March Sixth, Seventeen Hundred Thirty-one, and on
February Twenty-second of the following year weis
bom a mem child and they named him George.
The Washingtons were plain, hard-working people —
lemd-poor. They lived in a small house that had three
rooms downstairs emd an attic, where the children slept,
emd bumped their heads against the reifters if they sat
up quickly in bed,
Washington got his sterling qualities from the Ball
family, and not from the tribe of Washington, George
was endowed by his mother with her own splendid
health and with all the sturdy Spartan virtues of her
mind. In features and in mental characteristics, he
resembled her very closely. There were six children born
to her in all, but the five have been nearly lost sight of
in the splendid success of the firstborn.
I have used the word " Spartem " advisedly. Upon her
9

GEORGE WASHINGTON

children, the mother of Washington lavished no soft
sentimentality. A woman who cooked, weaved, spun,
washed, made the clothes, and looked after a big family
in pioneer times had her work cut out for her. The
children of Mary Washington obeyed her, and when
told to do a thing never stopped to ask why — and the
same fact may be said of the father.
The girls wore linsey-woolsey dresses, and the boys
tow suits that consisted of two pieces, which in Winter
were further added to by hat and boots. If the weather
Wcis very cold, the suits were simply duplicated — a boy
wearing two or three pairs of trousers instead of one 53
The mother was the first one up in the morning, the
last one to go to rest at night. If a youngster kicked off
the covers in his sleep and had a coughing spell, she
arose and looked after him. Were any sick, she not only
ministered to them, but often watched away the long,
dragging hours of the night.
And I have noticed that these sturdy mothers in Israel,
who so willingly give their lives that others may live,
often find vent for overwrought feelings by scolding;
and I, for one, cheerfully grant them the privilege.
Washington's mother scolded and grumbled to the day
of her death. She also sought solace by smoking a pipe.
And this reminds me that a noted specialist in neurotics
has recently said that if women would use the weed
moderately, tired nerves would find repose and nervous
prostration would be a luxury unknown. Not being
10

GEORGE WASHINGTON

much of a smoker myself, and knowing nothing about
the subject, I give the item for what it is worth.
All the sterling, classic virtues of industry, frugality and
truth-telling were inculcated by this excellent mother,
emd her strong commonsense made its indelible impress
upon the mind of her son.
Mary Washington always regarded George's judgment
with a little suspicion; she never came to think of him
eis a full-grown man; to her he was only a big boy.
Hence, she would chide him and criticize his actions
in a way that often made him very uncomfortable.
During the Revolutionary War she followed his record
closely; when he succeeded she only smiled, said some
thing that sounded like " I told you so," and calmly
filled her pipe; when he was repulsed she was never
cast down. She foresaw that he would be made Presi
dent, and thought " he would do as well as anybody."
^ Once, she complained to him of her house in Fred
ericksburg; he wrote in answer, gently but plainly, that
her habits of life were not such as would be acceptable
at Mount Vernon. And to this she replied that she had
never expected or intended to go to Mount Vernon,
and moreover would not, no matter how much urged — a
declination without an invitation that must have caused
the son a grim smile. In her nature was a goodly trace
of savage stoicism that took a satisfaction in concealing
the joy she felt in her son's achievement; for that her
life was all bound up in his we have good evidence. 11

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Washington looked after her wants and supplied her
with everything she needed, and, eis these things often
came through third parties, it is pretty certeiin she did
not know the source; at emy rate she accepted every
thing quite eis her due, emd shows a half-comic ingrati
tude that is very fine.
When Washington started for New York to be inaugu
rated President, he stopped to see her. She donned a
new white cap emd a clean apron in honor of the visit,
remarking to a neighbor woman who dropped in that
she supposed " these great folks expected something a
little extra," It was the leist meeting of mother emd son.
She was eighty- three at that time emd " her boy "
fifty-five. She died not long eifter.
Semauel Washington, the brother two years younger
than George, heis been described as " small, semdy-
whiskered, shrewd and glib," Samuel weis married five
times. Some of the wives he deserted and others deserted
him, and two of them died, thus leaving him twice a
sad, lorn widower, from which condition he quickly
extricated himself. He weis eilways in financial straits
and often appealed to his brother George for loems. In
Seventeen Hundred Eighty-one we find George Wash
ington writing to his brother John, "In God's name!
how heis Seimuel managed to get himself so enormously
in debt? " The remark sounds a little like that of
Samuel Johnson, who on hearing that Goldsmith was
owing four hundred pounds excleiimed, " Weis ever poet
12

GEORGE WASHINGTON

so trusted before? " ^Washington's ledger shows that
he advanced his brother Samuel two thousand dollars,
" to be paid back without interest." But Seimuel's ship
never ceime in, and in Washington's will we find the
debt graciously emd gracefully discharged.
Thornton Washington, a son of Samuel, weis given a
place in the English army at George Weishington's
request; and two other sons of Samuel were sent to
school at his expense. One of the boys once ran away
emd was followed by his uncle George, who carried a
goodly birch with intent to "give him what he deserved" ;
but after catching the lad the uncle's heart melted, and
he took the runaway back into favor. An entry in
Washington's journal shows that the children of his
brother Seimuel cost him fully five thousand dollars.
^ Harriot, one of the daughters of Samuel, lived in the
household at Mount Vernon and evidently was a great
cross, for we find Weishington pleading eis an excuse for
her frivolity that " she weis not brung up right, she heis
no disposition, and takes no ceire of her clothes, which
eu-e dabbed about in every corner, emd the best are
eilways in use. She costs me enough! "
And this weis about eis neeir a complaint as the Father
of his Country, and the father of all his poor relations,
ever made. In his ledger we find this item: " By Miss
Heuriot Washington, gave her to buy wedding-clothes,
$100,00." It supplied the great man joy to write that
line, for it wets the last of Heu-riot. He furnished a fine
13

GEORGE WASHINGTON

wedding for her, and all the servants had a holiday, and
Harriot and her unknown lover were happy ever after
wards — so far as we know.
From Seventeen Hundred Fifty to Seventeen Hundred
Fifty-nine, Weishington weis a soldier on the frontier,
leaving Mount Vernon and all his business in charge of
his brother John, Between these two there weis a
genuine bond of affection. To George this brother weis
always, " Dear Jack," and when John married, George
sends " respectful greetings to your Lady," and after
wards " love to the little ones from their Uncle," And
in one of the dark hours of the Revolution, George
writes from New Jersey to this brother: " God gremt
you health and happiness. Nothing in this world would
add so to mine eis to be near you." John died in Seven
teen Hundred Eighty-seven, and the President of the
United States writes in simple, undisguised grief of
" the death of my beloved brother,"
John's eldest son, Bushrod, weis Weishington's favorite
nephew. He took a lively interest in the boy's career,
and taking him to Philadelphia placed him in the law-
office of Judge James Wilson, He supplied Bushrod with
funds, and wrote him many eiffectionate letters of
advice, emd several times made him a compemion on
joumeys. The boy proved worthy of it all, and developed
into a strong emd manly man — quite the best of all
Washington's kinsfolk. In later years, we find Weish
ington asking his advice in legal matters and excusing
14

GEORGE WASHINGTON

himself for being such a " troublesome, non-pajong
client," In his will the " Honorable Bushrod Washing
ton " is neimed as one of the executors, and to him
Washington left his library emd all his private papers,
besides a share in the estate. Such confidence weis a
fitting good-by from the great and loving heeirt of a
father to a son full worthy of the highest trust.
Of Washington's relations with his brother Cheirles,
we know but little, Charles weis a plain, simple mem
who worked hard emd raised a big feimily. In his will
Weishington remembers them all, and one of the sons
of Cheu-les we know was eippointed to a position upon
Leifayette's steiff on Weishington's request.
The only one of Weishington's feimily that resembled
him closely was his sister Betty. The contour of her
face weis almost identical with his, emd she was so proud
of it that she often wore her heur in a queue emd doimed
his hat emd sword for the amusement of visitors, Betty
meu-ried Fielding Lewis, emd two of her sons acted eis
private secretaries to Washington while he weis Presi
dent. One of these sons — Lawrence Lewis — ^meirried
Nellie Custis, the adopted daughter of Weishington and
granddaughter of Mrs. Weishington, emd the couple, by
Weishington's will, became peirt-owners of Mount
Vernon, The man who cem figure out the exact relation
ship of Nellie Custis' children to Weishington deserves a
meded 5S S&
We do not know much of Weishington's father: if he
15

GEORGE WASHINGTON

exerted any special influence on his children we do not
know it. He died when George weis eleven years old,
and the boy then went to live at the " Hunting Creek
Place " with his half-brother Lawrence, that he might
attend school, Lawrence had served in the English navy
under Admiral Vemon, emd, in honor of his chief,
changed the name of his home and called it Mount
Vemon, Mount Vemon then consisted of twenty-five
hundred acres, mostly a tangle of forest, with a small
house and log stables. The tract had descended to
Lawrence from his father, with provision that it should
fall to George if Lawrence died without issue, Lawrence
married, and when he died, aged thirty-two, he left a
daughter, Mildred, who died two years later. Mount
Vemon then passed to George Weishington, aged
twenty-one, but not without a protest from the widow
of Lawrence, who evidently was paid not to take the
matter into the courts, Weishington owned Mount
Vemon for forty-six years, just one-half of which time
weis given to the service of his country. It weis the
only place he ever called " home," and there he sleeps.

16

GEORGE WASHINGTON

HEN Weishington weis fourteen, his school
days were over. Of his youth we know but
little. He weis not precocious, although phys
ically he developed early; but there was no
reeison why the neighbors should keep tab on him and
record anecdotes. They had boys of their own just eis
promising. He weis tall and slender, long-armed, with
large, bony hands and feet, very strong, a daring horse
man, a good wrestler, and, living on the banks of a
river, he became, as all healthy boys must, a good
swimmer 53 53
His mission among the Indians in his twenty-first year
was largely successful through the personal admiration
he excited eimong the savages. In {X}ise, he was equal
to their best, and ever being a bit proud, even if not
vain, he dressed for the occasion in full Indian regalia,
minus only the war-peunt. The Indians at once recog
nized his nobility, and named him " Conotancarius " —
Plunderer of Villages — ^and suggested that he take to
wife an Indian maiden, and remain with them as chief.
^ When he retumed home, he wrote to the Indian
agent, announcing his safe arrival and sending greetings
to the Indians. " Tell them," he says, " how happy it
would make Conotancarius to see them, and take
them by the hand,"
His wish weis gratified, for the Indians took him at his
word, and fifty of them came to him, saying, " Since
you could not come emd live with us, we have come to
17

GEORGE WASHINGTON

live with you," They camped on the green in front of
the residence, and proceeded to inspect every room in
the house, tested all the whisky they could find, appro
priated eatables, and were only induced to depart eifter
all the bedclothes had been dyed red, and a blanket or
a quilt presented to each.
Throughout his life Washington had a very tender
spot in his heart for women. At sixteen, he writes with
all a youth's solemnity of " a hurt of the heart uncur-
able," And from that time forward there is ever some
" Faire Mayde " to be seen in the shadow. In fact,
Weishington got along with women much better than
with men; with men he weis often diffident and awk
ward, illy concealing his uneasiness behind a forced
dignity; but he knew that women admired him, emd
with them he was at ease. When he made that first
Westem trip, carrying a message to the French, he
turns aside to call on the Indian princess, Aliguippa.
In his journal, he says, " presented her a Blanket emd
a Bottle of Rum, which latter was thought the much
best Present of the 2,"
In his expense-account we find items like these: " Treat
ing the ladys 2 shillings." " Present for Polly 5 shil
lings." " My share for Music at the Dance 3 shillings."
' Lost at Loo 5 shillings," In fact, like most Episcopa
lians, Washington danced and played cards. His favorite
game seems to have been " Loo " ; and he genereilly
played for small stakes, emd when playing with " the
18

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Ladys " usually lost, whether purjjosely or because
otherwise absorbed, we know not.
In Seventeen Hundred Fifty-six, he made a horseback
journey on military business to Boston, stopping a
week going and on the way back at New York, He
spent the time at the house of a former Virginian,
Beverly Robinson, who had married Susannah Philipse,
daughter of Frederick Philipse, one of the rich men of
Manhattan. In the household was a young woman,
Mary Philipse, sister of the hostess. She was older than
Washington, educated, emd had seen much more of
polite life than he. The tall, young Virginian, fresh
from the frontier, where he had had horses shot under
him, excited the interest of Mary Philipse, and Weish
ington, innocent but ardent, mistook this natured
curiosity for a softer sentiment and proposed on the
spot. As soon eis the lady got her breath he weis let
down very gently.
Two years eifterwards Mary Philipse married Colonel
Roger Morris, in the king's service, and cards were
duly sent to Mount Vemon, But the whirligig of time
equalizes all things, and, in Seventeen Hundred Seven
ty-six, General Washington, Commander of the Con
tinental Army, occupied the mansion of Colonel Morris,
the Colonel and his lady being fugitive Tories, In his
diary, Washington records this significant item: " Dined
at the house lately Colonel Roger Morris confiscated
emd the occupation of a common Farmer." 19

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Weishington always attributed his defeat at the hemds
of Mary Philipse to being too precipitate emd " not
weiiting until ye ladye weis in ye mood," But two 'yeais
later we find him being even more heisty and this time
with success, which proves that eJl signs fail in dry
weather, and some things are possible eis well eis others.
He weis on his way to Williamsburg to consult physicieins
emd stopp>ed at the residence of Mrs. Demiel Peirke Custis
to make a short ceJI — weis pressed to remain to tea, did
so, proposed marriage, emd weis graciously eiccepted.
We have a beautiful steel engraving that immortalizes
this visit, showing Weishington's horse impatiently
waiting at the door.
Mrs. Custis weis a widow with two children. She weis
twenty-six, and the same age eis Weishington within
three months. Her husband had died seven months
before. In Weishington's cash-account for May, Seven
teen Hundred Fifty-eight, is em item, " one Ejigage-
ment Ring £2.16.0."
The happy couple were married eight months later,
emd we find Mrs, Washington expleiining to a friend
that her reeison for the somewhat hasty union weis that
her estate weis getting in a bad way and a mem weis
needed to look after it. Our actions are usually right,
but the reeisons we give seldom are; but in this ceise no
doubt " a man weis needed," for the widow had much
property, and we can not but congratulate Martha
Custis on her choice of " a man," She owned fifteen
20

GEORGE WASHINGTON

thousand acres of land, many lots in the city of Wil
liamsburg, two hundred negroes, and some money on
bond; all the property being worth over one hundred
thousand dollars — a very large amount for those days.
Directly after the wedding, the couple moved to Mount
Vemon, taking a good many of the slaves with them.
Shortly after, arrangements were under way to rebuild
the house, emd the plans that finally developed into
the present mansion were begun.
Weishington's letters and diary contain very few refer
ences to his wife, and none of the many visitors to
Mount Vemon took pains to testify either to her wit
or to her intellect. We know that the housekeeping
at Mount Vemon proved too much for her ability,
and that a woman was hired to oversee the household.
And in this reference a complaint is found from the
General that " housekeeper heis done gone emd left
things in confusion," He had his troubles.
Martha's education was not equal to writing a present
able letter, for we find that her husband wrote the first
draft of all important missives that it weis necessary
for her to send, and she copied them even to his mis
takes in spelling. Very patient weis he about this, and
even when he weis President and harried constantly
we find him stopping to acknowledge for her " an
invitation to take some Tea," and at the bottom of the
sheet adding a pious bit of finesse, thus: " The President
requests me to send his compliments and only regrets
21

GEORGE WASHINGTON

that the pressure of affairs compels him to forego the
Pleasure of seeing you."
After Weishington's death, his wife destroyed the
letters he had written her — many hundred in number —
an offense the world is not yet quite willing to forget,
even though it has forgiven.

22

GEORGE WASHINGTON

LTHOUGH we have been told that when
Washington was six years old he could not
tell a lie, yet he afterwards partially over
came the disability. On one occasion he
writes to a friend that the mosquitoes of New Jersey
" can bite through the thickest boot," and though a
contemporary clergyman, greatly flurried, explains
that he meant " stocking," we insist that the statement
shall stand as the Father of his Country expressed it,
Washington also records without a blush, " 1 announced
that I would leave at 8 and then immediately gave
private Orders to go at 5, so to avoid the Throng,"
Another time when he discharged an overseer for in
competency he lessened the pain of parting by writing
for the fellow " a Character,"
When he went to Boston and was named as Commander
of the Army, his chief concern seemed to be how he
would make peace with Martha. Ho! ye married men!
do you understand the situation? He was to be away
for a year, two, or possibly three, and his wife did not
have an inkling of it. Now, he must break the news to
her 53 S&
As plainly shown by Cabot Lodge and other historians,
there was much rivalry for the office, and it was only
allotted to the South as a political deal after much
bickering, Washington had been a passive but very
willing candidate, and after a struggle his friends
secured him the prize — and now what to do with
23

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Martha! Writing to her, among other things he says,
" You may believe me, my dear Patsy, when I assure
you in the most solemn manner that so far from seeking
the appointment 1 have done all in my power to avoid
it," The man who will not fabricate a bit in order to
keep peace with the wife of his bosom is not much of a
man. But " Patsy's " objections were overcome, and
beyond a few chidings and sundry complainings, she
did nothing to block the great game of war.
At Princeton, Washington ordered campfires to be
built along the brow of a hill for a mile, and when the
fires were well lighted, he withdrew his army, marched
around to the other side, and surprised the enemy at
daylight. At Brooklyn, he used masked batteries, and
presented a fierce row of round, black s{x>ts peunted on
canvas that, from the city, looked like the mouths of
cannon at which men seek the bauble reputation. It is
said he also sent a note threatening to fire these sham
cannon, on receiving which the enemy hastily moved
beyond remge. Perceiving afterwards that they had
been imposed upon, the brave English sent word to
" shoot and be damned." Evidently, Weishington con
sidered that all things are fair in love and war,
Weishington talked but little, and his usual eiir weis one
of melancholy that stopped just short of sadness. All
this, with the firmness of his features and the dignity
of his carriage, gave the impression of sternness emd
severity. And these things gave rise to the popular
24

GEORGE WASHINGTON

conception that he had small sense of humor; yet he
surely was fond of a quiet smile.
At one time. Congress insisted that a standing army
of five thousand men weis too large; Weishington replied
that if England would agree never to invade this
country with more than three thousand men, he would
be perfectly willing that our army should be reduced
to four thousand.
When the King of Spain, knowing he weis a farmer,
thoughtfully sent him a present of a jackass, Washing
ton proposed naming the emimal in honor of the donor;
emd in writing to friends about the present, draws
invidious comparisons between the gift and the giver.
Evidently, the joke pleeised him, for he repeats it in
different letters; thus showing how, when he sat down
to clear his desk of correspondence, he economized
energy by following a form. So, we now find letters
that are almost identical, even to jokes, sent to persons
in South Carolina emd in Meissachusetts. Doubtless
the good mem thought they would never be compared,
for how could he foresee that an autograph-dealer in
New York would eventually catalog them at twenty-
two dollars fifty cents each, or that a very proper but
half-affectionate missive of his to a Faire Ladye would
be sold by her great-granddaughter for fifty dollars?
^ In Seventeen Hundred Ninety-three there were on
the Mount Vemon plantation three hundred seventy
head of cattle, and Washington appends to the report
25

GEORGE WASHINGTON

a sad regret that, with all this number of homed beasts,
he yet has to buy butter. There is also a fine, grim
humor shown in the incident of a flag of tmce coming
in at New York, bearing a message from General
Howe, addressed to " Mr, Washington," The General
took the letter from the hand of the redcoat, glanced
at the superscription, and said: "Why, this letter is
not for me! It is directed to a planter in Virginia, 1 '11
keep it and give it to him at the end of the war." Then,
cramming the letter into his pocket, he ordered the
flag of truce out of the lines and directed the gunners
to stand by. In an hour, another letter came back
addressed to " His Excellency, General Washington."
^ It was not long after this a soldier brought to Weish
ington a dog that had been found wearing a collar
with the name of General Howe engraved on it. Wash
ington retumed the dog by a special messenger with a
note reading, " General Weishington sends his compli
ments to General Howe, and begs to return one dog
that evidently belongs to him." In this instance, I am
inclined to think that Weishington acted in sober good
faith, but was the victim of a practical joke on the part
of one of his aides.
Another remark that sounds like a joke, but perhaps
weis not one, was when, on taking command of the
army at Boston, the General writes to his lifelong
friend. Doctor Craik, asking what he can do for him,
and adding a sentiment still in the air: " But these
26

GEORGE WASHINGTON

Massachusetts people suffer nothing to go by them
that they can lay their hands on." In another letter
he pays his compliments to Connecticut thus: " Their
impecunious meanness surpasses belief," When Corn
wallis surrendered at Yorktown, Washington refused
to humiliate him and his officers by accepting their
swords. He treated Cornwallis as his guest, and even
" gave a dinner in his honor." At this dinner, Rocham
beau being asked for a toast gave "The United States,"
Washington proposed " The King of France," Corn
wallis merely gave " The King," and Washington,
putting the toast, expressed it as Cornwallis intended,
" The King of England," and added a sentiment of
his own that made even Cornwallis laugh — " May he
stay there!" Washington's treatment of Cornwallis
made him a lifelong friend. Many years after, when
Cornwallis was Governor-General of India, he sent a
message to his old antagonist, wishing him " prosperity
and enjoyment," and adding, "As for myself, I am yet
in troubled waters,"

27

GEORGE WASHINGTON

NCE in a century, possibly, a being is born
who possesses a transcendent insight, and
him we call a "genius," Shakespeare, for
instance, to whom all knowledge lay open;
Joan of Arc; the artist Turner; Swedenborg, the mystic
— these are the men who know a royal road to geometry;
but we may safely leave them out of account when we
deal with the builders of a State, for among statesmen
there are no geniuses.
Nobody knows just what a genius is or what he may
do next; he boils at an unknown temperature, and
often explodes at a touch. He is uncertain and there
fore unsafe. His best results are conjured forth, but
no man has yet conjured forth a Nation — it is all slow,
patient, painstaking work along mathematical lines,
Washington was a mathematician and therefore not a
genius. We call him a great man, but his greatness was
of that sort in which we all can share; his virtues were
of a kind that, in degree, we too may possess. Any man
who succeeds in a legitimate business works with the
same tools that Weishington used. Weishington weis
human. We know the man; we understand him; we
comprehend how he succeeded, for with him there
were no tricks, no legerdemain, no secrets. He is very
near to us.
Washington is indeed first in the hearts of his country
men. Weishington has no detractors. There may come
a time when another will take first place in the affections
28

GEORGE WASHINGTON

of the people, but that time is not yet ripe, Lincoln
stood between men who now live and the prizes they
coveted; thousands still tread the earth whom he bene
fited, and neither class can forgive, for they are of clay.
But all those who lived when Washington lived are
gone; not one survives; even the last body-servant,
who confused memory with hearsay, has departed
babbling to his rest.
We know all of Weishington we will ever know; there
are no more documents to present, no partisem wit
nesses to examine, no prejudices to remove. His purity
of purpose stands unimpeached; his steadfeist earnest
ness and sterling honesty are our priceless examples.
We love the man.
We call him Father.

29

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

I will speak ill of no man, not even in matter of truth;
but rather excuse the faults I hear charged upon
others, and upon proper occasion speak all the good I
know of everybody.
— Franklin 's Journal

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

ENJAMIN FRANKLIN was twelve
years old. He was large and strong
and fat and good-natured, and
had a full-moon face and red cheeks
that made him look like a country
bumpkin. He weis bom in Boston
within twenty yards of the church
called " Old South," but the Frank
lins now lived at the comer of Congress and Hanover
Streets, where to this day there swings in the breeze a
gilded ball, and on it the legend, " Josiah Franklin,
Soap-Boiler." Benjamin was the fifteenth child in the family; and
several having grown to maturity and flown, there
were thirteen at the table when little Ben first sat in
the high chair. But the Franklins were not superstitious,
and if little Ben ever prayed that another would be
born, just for luck, we know nothing of it. His mother
loved him very much and indulged him in many ways,
for he weis always her baby boy, but the father thought
that because he was good-natured he was also leizy and
should be disciplined.
Once upon a time the father was packing a barrel of
beef in the cellar, and Ben was helping him, and as the
father always said grace at table, the boy suggested he
eisk a blessing, once for all, on the barrel of beef and
33

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

thus economize breath. But economics along that line
did not appeal to Josiah Franklin, for this was early
in Seventeen Hundred Eighteen, and Josiah was a
Presbyterian and lived in Boston, ^ The boy was not
religious, for he never " went forward," and only went
to church because he had to, and read "Plutarch's Lives"
with much more relish than he did " Saints' Rest," But
he had great curiosity and asked questions until his
mother would say, " Goodness gracious, go and play! "
^And as the boy wasn't very religious or very fond
of work, his father and mother decided that there were
only two careers open for him: the mother proposed
that he be made a preacher, but his father said, send
him to sea 53 To go to sea under a good strict cap
tain would discipline him, and to send him off and put
him under the care of the Reverend Doctor Thirdly
would answer the same purpose — which course should
be pursued? But Pallas Athene, who was to watch over
this lad's destinies all through life, preserved him from
either 53 53
His parents' aspirations extended even to his becoming
captain of a schooner or pastor of the First Church at
Roxbury, And no doubt he could have sailed the
schooner around the globe in safety, or filled the pulpit
with a degree of power that would have caused conster
nation to reign in the heart of every other preacher in
town; but Fate saved him that he might take the Ship
of State, when she threatened to strand on the rocks
34

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

of adversity, and pilot her into peaceful waters, and to
preach such sermons to America that their eloquence
still moves us to better things.
Parents think that what they say about their children
goes, and once in an awfully long time it does, but the
men who become great and learned usually do so in
spite of their parents — which remark was first made by
Martin Luther, but need not be discredited on that
account 53 Si
Ben's oldest brother was James, Now, James was nearly
forty; he was tall and slender, stooped a little, and had
sandy whiskers, and a nervous cough, and positive
ideas on many subjects — one of which was that he was
a printer. His apprentice, or " devil," had left him,
because the devil did not like to be cuffed whenever
the compositor shuffled his fonts, James needed another
apprentice, and proposed to take his younger brother
and make a man of him if the old folks were willing.
The old folks were willing and Ben was duly bound by
law to his brother, agreeing to serve him faithfully, as
Jacob served Laban, for seven years and two years
more 53 53
Science has explained many things, but it has not yet
told why it sometimes happens that when seventeen
eggs are hatched, the brood will consist of sixteen barn
yard fowls and one eagle.
James Franklin was a man of small capacity, whimsical.
jealous and arbitrary. But if he cuffed his apprentice 35

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Benjamin when the compositor blundered, and when
he did n't, it was his legal right; and the master who
did not occasionally kick his apprentices was considered
derelict to duty. The boy ran errands, cleaned the
presses, swept the shop, tied up bundles, did the tasks
that no one else would do; and incidentally " learned
the case." Then he set type, and after a while ran a
press. And in those days a printer ranked considerably
above a common mechanic. A man who was a printer
was a literary man, as were the master printers of Lon
don and Venice, A printer was a man of taste. All edi
tors were printers, and usually composed the matter as
they set it up in type. Thus we now have the expres
sions: a "composing-room," a "composing-stick," etc.
People once addressed "Mr. Printer," not "Mr. Editor,"
and when they met " Mr. Printer " on the street
removed their hats — ^but not in Philadelphia,
Young Franklin felt a proper degree of pride in his work,
if not vanity. In fact, he himself has said that vanity is
a good thing, and whenever he saw it come flaunting
down the street, always made way, knowing that there
was virtue somewhere back of it — out of sight perhaps,
but still there. James, being a brother, had no con
fidence in Ben's intellect, so when Ben wrote short
articles on this and that, he tucked them under the door
so that James would find them in the morning, James
showed these articles to his friends, and they all voted
them very fine, and concluded they must have been
36

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

written by Doctor So-and-So. Ph. D.. who, like Lord
Bacon, was a very modest man and did not care to see
his name in print.
Yet, by and by, it came out who it was that wrote the
anonymous " hot stuff," and then James did not think
it was quite so good as he at first thought, and moreover,
declared he knew whose it was all the time, Ben was
eighteen and had read Montaigne, and Collins, and
Shaftesbury, and Hume. When he wrote he expressed
thoughts that then were considered very dreadful, but
that can now be heard procleiimed even in good ortho
dox churches. But Ben had wit and to spare, and he
leveled it at government officials and preachers, and
these gentlemen did not relish the jokes — people seldom
relish jokes at their own expense — and they sought to
suppress the newspaper that the Franklin brothers
published ^ Si
The blame for all the trouble James heaped upon Ben
jamin, and all the credit for success he took to himself,
James declared that Ben had the big head — and he
probably was right ; but he forgot that the big head, like
mumps and measles and everything else in life, is self-
limiting and good in its way. So, to teach Ben his proper
place, James reminded him that he was only an appren
tice, with three years yet to serve, and that he should
be seen seldom and not heard all the time, and that if
he ran away he would send a constable after him and
fetch him back. 37

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

Ben evidently had a mind open to suggestive influences,
for the remark about running away prompted him to
do so. He sold some of his books and got himself
secreted on board a ship about to sail for New York 53
Arriving at New York, in three days he found the
broad-brimmed Dutch had small use for printers and
no special admiration for the art preservative; and he
started for Philadelphia.
Every one knows how he landed in a small boat at the
foot of Market Street with only a few coppers in his
pocket, and made his way to a bakeshop and asked for
a threepenny loaf of bread, and being told they had no
threepenny loaves, then asked for threepenny 's worth of
any kind of bread, and was given three loaves. Where is
the man who in a strange land has not suffered rather
than reveal his ignorance before a shopkeeper ? When I
was first in England and could not compute readily in
shillings and pence, I would toss out a gold piece when
I made a purchase and assume a 'igh and 'aughty mien.
And that Philadelphia baker probably died in blissful
ignorance of the fact that the youth who was to be
America's pride bought from him three loaves of bread
when he wanted only one.
The runaway Ben had a downy beard all over his face,
and as he took his three loaves and walked up Market
Street, with a loaf under each arm, munching on the
third, he was smiled upon in merry mirth by the buxom
Deborah Read, as she stood in the doorway of her
38

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

father's house. Yet Franklin got even with her, for
some months after, he went back that way and courted
her, and she grew to love him, and they " exchanged
promises," he says. After some months of work and
love-making, Franklin sailed away to England on a
wild-goose chase. He promised to return soon and
make Deborah his wife. But he wrote only one solitary
letter to the broken-hearted girl and did not come back
for nearly two years.

39

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

IME is the great avenger as well as educator;
only the education is usually deferred until it
no longer avails in this incarnation, and is
valuable only for advice — and nobody wants
advice. Deathbed repentances may be legeil-tender for
salvation in another world, but for this they are below
par, and regeneration that is postponed until the man
has no further capacity to sin is little better. For sin
is only perverted power, and the man without capacity
to sin neither has ability to do good — isn't that so?
His soul is a Dead Sea that supports neither ameba
nor fish, neither noxious bacilli nor useful life. Happy is
the man who conserves his God-given power until
wisdom and not passion shall direct it. So, the younger
in life a man makes the resolve to turn and live, the
better for that man and the better for the world.
Once upon a time Carlyle took Milbum, the blind
preacher, out on to Chelsea embankment and showed
the sightless mem where Franklin plunged into the
Thames and swam to Blackfriars Bridge. " He might
have stayed here," said Thomas Carlyle, " and become
a swimming- teacher, but God had other work for him! "
Franklin had memy opportunities to stop and become
a victim of arrested development, but he never em
braced the occasion. He could have stayed in Boston
and been a humdrum preacher, or a thrifty sea-captain,
or an ordinary printer; or he could have remained in
London, emd been, like his friend Ralph, a clever writer
40

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

of doggerel, and a supporter of the political party that
would pay the most,
Benjamin Franklin was twenty years old when he
retumed from England, The ship was beaten back by
headwinds and blown out of her course by blizzards,
and becalmed at times, so it took eighty-two days to
make the voyage. A worthy old clergyman tells me this
was so ordained and ordered that Benjamin might have
time to meditate on the follies of youth and shape his
course for the future, and I do not argue the case,
for I am quite willing to admit that my friend, the
clergyman, has the facts.
Yes, we must be " converted," " born again," " regen
erated," or whatever you may be pleased to call it.
Sometimes — ^very often — it is love that reforms a man,
sometimes sickness, sometimes sore bereavement 53
Doctor Talmage says that with Saint Paul it was a
sunstroke, and this may be so, for surely Saul of Tarsus
on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians was not
in love. Love forgives to seventy times seven and
persecutes nobody.
We do not know just what it was that turned Franklin;
he had tried folly — ^we know that — and he just seems
to have anticipated Browning and concluded:
" It 's wiser being good than bad;
It 's safer being meek than fierce;
It 's better being sane than mad." 41

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

On this voyage the young printer was thrust down into
the depths and made to wrestle with the powers of
darkness; and in the remorse of soul that came over
him he made a liturgy to be repeated night and morn
ing, and at midday. There were memy items in this
ritual — all of which were corrected and amended from
time to time in eif ter-years. Here are a few paragraphs
that represent the longings and trend of the lad's heart.
His prayer was:
" That I may have tenderness for the meek; that I may
be kind to my neighbors, good-natured to my compan
ions and hospitable to strangers. Help me, O God!
" That 1 may be averse to craft and overreaching, abhor
extortion and every kind of weakness and wickedness.
Help me, O God!
" That I may have constant regard to honor and
probity; that I may possess an innocent and good
conscience, and at length become truly virtuous emd
magnanimous. Help me, O God!
" That 1 may refrain from calumny and detraction; that
1 may abhor deceit, and avoid lying, envy and fraud,
flattery, hatred, malice and ingratitude. Help me, O
God! " 53 53
Then, in addition, he formed rules of conduct and wrote
them out and committed them to memory. The meodms
he adopted are old as thought, yet can never become
antiquated, for in morals there is nothing either new
or old, neither can there be.
42

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

On that return voyage from England, he inwardly
vowed that his first act on getting ashore would be to
find Deborah Read and make peace with her and his
conscience. And true to his vow, he found her, but she
was the wife of another. Her mother believed that
Franklin had run away simply to get rid of her, and the
poor girl, deized and forlorn, bereft of will, had been
induced to marry a man by the name of Rogers, who
weis a potter and also a potterer, but who Franklin
says was " a very good potter," ^ After some months,
Deborah left the potter, because she did not like to be
reproved with a strap, and went home to her mother 53
Franklin was now well in the way of prosperity, aged
twenty-four, with a little printing business, plans plus,
and ambitions to spare. He had had his little fling in
life, and had done various things of which he was
ashamed ; and the foolish things that Deborah had done
were no worse than those of which he had been guilty.
So he called on her, and they talked it over and made
honest confessions that are good for the soul. The
potter disappeared — no one knew where — some said he
was dead, but Benjamin and Deborah did not wear
mourning. They took rumor's word for it, and thanked
God, and went to a church and were married,
Deborah brought to the firm a very small dowry; and
Benjamin contributed a bright baby boy, aged two
years, captured no one knows just where. This boy was
William Franklin, who grew up into a very excellent 43

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

man, and the worst that can be said of him is that he
became Governor of New Jersey. He loved and respected
his father, and called Deborah mother, and loved her
very much. And she was worthy of all love, and ever
treated him with tenderness and gentlest considerate
care. Possibly a blot on the 'scutcheon may, in the work
ing of God's providence, not always be a dire mis
fortune, for it sometimes has the effect of binding broken
hearts as nothing else can, as a cicatrice toughens the
fiber 53 53
Deborah had not much education, but she had good,
sturdy commonsense, which is better if you are forced
to make choice. She set herself to help her husband in
every way possible, and so far as 1 know, never sighed
for one of those things you call " a career," She even
worked in the printing-office, folding, stitching, and
doing up bundles.
Long years afterward, when Franklin weis Ambassador
of the American Colonies in France, he told with pride
that the clothes he wore were spun, woven, cut out, and
made into garments — all by his wife's own hands.
Franklin's love for Deborah was very steadfast.
Together they became rich and respected, won world
wide fame, and honors came that way such as no
American before or since has ever received.
And when I say, " God bless all good women who help
men do their work," 1 simply repeat the words once used
by Benjamin Franklin when he had Deborah in mind.
44

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

HEN Franklin weis forty-two, he had accumu
lated a fortune of seventy-five thousand
dollars. It gave him an income of about four
thousand dollars a year, which he said was
all he wanted; so he sold out his business, intending to
devote his entire energies to the study of science and
languages. He had lived just one-half his days; and had
he then passed out, his life could have been summed up
as one of the most useful that ever has been lived. He
had founded and been the life of the Junto Club — the
most sensible and beneficent club of which I ever
heard 53 53
The series of questions asked at every meeting of the
Junto, so mirror the life and habit of thought of Franklin
that we had better glance at a few of them:
1. Have you read over these queries this morning, in
order to consider what you might have to offer the
Junto, touching any one of them?
2, Have you met with anything in the author you last
read, remarkable, or suitable to be communicated to
the Junto; particularly in history, morality, poetry,
physics, travels, mechanical arts, or other parts of
knowledge?
3, Do you know of a fellow-citizen, who has lately done
a worthy action, deserving praise and imitation; or
who has lately committed an error, proper for us to be
warned against and avoid?
4. What unhappy effects of intemperance have you
45

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

lately observed or heard; of imprudence, of passion, or
of any other vice or folly?
5, What happy effects of temperance, of prudence, of
moderation, or of any other virtue?
6, Do you think of anything at present in which the
members of the Junto may be serviceable to mankind,
to their country, to their friends, or to themselves?
7. Hath any deserving stranger arrived in town since
last meeting that you have heard of? And what have
you heard or observed of his character or merits? And
whether, think you, it lies in the power of the Junto to
oblige him, or encourage him as he deserves ?
8. Do you know of any deserving young beginner, lately
set up, whom it lies in the power of the Junto in any
way to encourage?
9. Have you lately observed any defect in the laws of
your country, of which it would be proper to move the
legislature for an amendment ? Or do you know of any
beneficial law that is wanting?
10. Have you lately observed any encroachment on the
just liberties of the people?
1 1 . In what manner can the Junto, or any of its mem
bers, assist you in any of your honorable designs?
1 2. Have you any weighty affair on hand in which you
think the advice of the Junto may be of service?
^3. What benefits have you lately received from any
man not present?
14, Is there any difficulty in matters of opinion, of
46

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

justice and injustice, which you would gladly have
discussed at this time?
The Junto led to the establishment, by Franklin, of the
Philadelphia Public Library, which became the parent
of all public libraries in America, He also organized and
equipped a fire-company; paved and lighted the streets
of Philadelphia; established a high school and an
academy for the study of English branches; founded the
Philadelphia Public Hospital ; invented the toggle-joint
printing-press, the Franklin Stove, and various other
useful mechanical devices.
After his retirement from business, Franklin enjoyed
seven years of what he called leisure, but they were
years of study and application ; years of happiness and
sweet content, but years of eispiration and an earnest
looking into the future. His experiments with kite and
key had made his name known in all the scientific
circles of Europe, and his suggestive writings on the
subject of electricity had caused Goethe to lay down his
pen and go to rubbing amber for the edification of all
Weimar Si Franklin was in correspondence with the
greatest minds of Europe, and what his " Poor Richard
Almanac " had done for the plain people of America,
his pamphlets were now doing for the philosophers of
the Old World,
In Seventeen Hundred Fifty-four, he wrote a treatise
showing the Colonies that they must be united, and this
was the first public word that was to grow and crystallize 47

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

and become the United States of America, Before that,
the Colonies were simply single, independent, jealous
and bickering overgrown clems. Franklin showed for the
first time that they must unite in mutueJ aims.
In Seventeen Hundred Fifty-seven, matters were
getting a little strained between the Province of
Pennsylvania emd England. " The lawmakers of Eng
land do not understand us — some one should go there
eis em authorized agent to plead our cause," and Franklin
WEIS at once chosen as the man of strongest personality
and soundest sense. So Franklin went to England and
remained there for five years as agent for the Colonies.
^ He then retumed home, but after two years the
Stamp Act had stirred up the public temper to a degree
that made revolution imminent, and Franklin again
went to England to plead for justice. The record of the
ten years he now spent in London is told by Bancroft
in a hundred pages. Bancroft is very good, and I have
no desire to rival him, so suffice it to say that Fremklin
did eill that any man could have done to avert the
coming War of the Revolution, Burke has said that
when he appeared before Parliament to be examined
as to the condition of things in America, it weis like a
lot of schoolboys interrogating the master.
With the voice and tongue of a prophet, Franklin
foretold the English people what the outcome of their
treatment of America would be. Pitt and a few others
knew the greatness of Franklin, and saw that he weis
48

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

right, but the rest smiled in derision, ^ He sailed for
home in Seventeen Hundred Seventy-five, and urged
the Continental Congress to issue the Declaration of
Independence, of which he became a signer. Then the
war came, and had not Franklin gone to Paris and made
an ally of France, and borrowed money, the Continental
Army could not have been maintained in the field 53
He remained in France for nine years, and was the pride
and pet of the people. His sound sense, his good humor,
his distinguished personality, gave him the freedom of
society everywhere. He had the ability to adapt himself
to conditions, and was everywhere at home.
Once, he attended a memorable banquet in Paris
shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War.
Among the speakers was the English Ambassador, who
responded to the toast, " Great Britain." The Ambeis-
sador dwelt at length on England's greatness, and
likened her to the sun that sheds its beneficent rays on
all. The next toast was " America," and Franklin was
called on to respond. He began very modestly by saying:
" The Republic is too young to be spoken of in terms
of praise; her career is yet to come, and so, instead of
America, 1 will name you a man, George Weishington —
the Joshua who successfully commanded the sun to
stand still." The Frenchmen at the board forgot the
courtesy due their English guest, and laughed needlessly
loud 53 53
Franklin was regarded in Paris eis the man who had both
49

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

planned the War of the Revolution, and fought it.
They said, " He despoiled the thunderbolt of its danger
and snatched sovereignty out of the hand of King
George of England." No doubt that his ovation weis
largely owing to the fact that he was supposed to have
plucked whole handfuls of feathers from England's
glory, and surely they were pretty nearly right.
In point of all-round development, Franklin must stand
eis the foremost American. The one intent of his mind
was to purify his own spirit, to develop his intellect
on every side, and make his body the servant of his
soul. His passion was to acquire knowledge, and the
desire of his heart was to communicate it.
The writings of Franklin — simple, clear, concise, direct,
impartial, brimful of commonsense — form a model
which may be studied by every one with pleasure and
profit. They should constitute a part of the curriculum
of every college and high school that aspires to culti
vate in its pupils a pure style and correct literary taste.
^ We know of no man who ever lived a fuller life, a
happier life, a life more useful to other men, than
Benjamin Franklin. For forty- two years he gave the
constant efforts of his life to his country, and during all
that time no taint of a selfish action can be laid to his
charge. Almost his last public act was to petition
Congress to pass an act for the abolition of slavery.
He died in Seventeen Hundred Ninety, and eis you walk
up Arch Street, Philadelphia, only a few squares from
50

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

the spot where stood his printing-shop, you can see the
place where he sleeps.
The following epitaph, written by himself, does not,
however, appear on the simple monument that marks
his grave: The Body
of
Benjamin Franklin, Printer
(Like the cover of an old book.
Its contents torn out.
And stripped of its lettering and gilding,)
Lies here food for worms.
Yet the work itself shall not be lost.
For it will (as he believes) appear once
more
In a new
And more beautiful Edition
Corrected and Amended
By
The Author.

51

THOMAS JEFFERSON

If I could not go to Heaven but with a Party, I would
not go there at all,
— Jefferson, in a Letter to Madison

THOMAS JEFFERSON

THOMAS JEFFERSON

ILLIAM AND MARY COLLEGE
was founded in Sixteen Hundred
Ninety-two by the persons whose
names it bears. The founders be
stowed on it an endowment that
would have been generous had there
not been attached to it sundry strings
in way of conditions 53 The intent
was to make Indians Episcopalians, and white students
clergymen; and the assumption being that between the
whites and the aborigines there was little difference,
the curriculum was an ecclesiastic medley.
All the teachers were appointed by the Bishop of Lon
don, and the places were usually given to clergymen
who were not needed in England,
To this college, in Seventeen Hundred Sixty, came
Thomas Jefferson, a tall, red-haired youth, aged seven
teen. He had a sharp nose and a sharp chin; and a
youth having these has a sharp intellect — mark it well.
^ This boy had not been " sent " to college. He came
of his own accord from his home at Shadwell, five days'
horseback journey through the woods. His father was
dead, and his mother, a rare gentle soul, was an invalid.
^ Death is not a calamity " per se," nor is physical
weakness necessarily a curse, for out of these seeming
unkind conditions Nature often distils her finest
55

THOMAS JEFFERSON

products. The dying injunction of a father may impress
itself upon a son as no example of right living ever can,
and the physical disability of a mother may be the
means that work for excellence and strength. The leist-
expressed wish of, Peter Jefferson was that his son
should be well educated, and attain to a degree of
useful manliness that the father had never reached.
And into the keeping of this fourteen-year-old youth
the dying man, with the leist flicker of his intellect,
gave the mother, sisters and baby brother.
We often hear of persons who became aged in a single
night, their hair turning from dark to white ; but I have
seen death thrust responsibility up)on a lad and make
of him a man between the rising of the sun emd its
setting. When we talk of " right environment " and
the " proper conditions " that should surround grow
ing youth, we fan the air with words — there is no such
thing as a universal right environment.
An appreciative chapter might here be inserted con
cerning those beings who move about only in rolling
chairs, who never see the winter landscape but through
windows, and who exert their gentle sway from an
invalid's couch, to which the entire household or neigh
borhood come to confession or to counsel. And yet 1
have small sympathy for the people who professionally
enjoy poor health, and no man more than I reverences
the Greek passion for physical perfection. But a close
study of Jefferson's early life reveals the truth that the
56

THOMAS JEFFERSON

death of his father and the physical weakness of his
mother and sisters were factors that developed in him
a gentle sense of chivalry, a silken strength of will, and
a habit of independent thought and action that served
him in good stead throughout a long life.
Williamsburg was then the capital of Virginia. It con
tained only about a thousand inhabitants, but when
the Legislature was in session it was very gay.
At one end of a wide avenue was the Capitol, and at
the other the Governor's " palace"; and when the city
of Washington was laid out, Williamsburg served as a
model. On Satuidays, there were horse-races on the
"Avenue"; everybody gambled; cockfights and dog
fights were regarded as manly diversions; there was
much carousing at taverns; and often at private houses
there were all-night dances where the rising sun found
everybody but the servants plain drunk.
At the college, both teachers and scholars were obliged
to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles and to recite
the Catechism. The atmosphere was charged with
theology 53 53
Young Jefferson had never before seen a village of even
a dozen houses, and he looked upon this as a type of all
cities. He thought about it, talked about it, wrote about
it, and we now know that at this time his ideas con
cerning city versus country crystallized.
Fifty years after, when he had come to know London
and Paris, and had seen the chief cities of Christendom, 57

THOMAS JEFFERSON

he repeated the words he had written in youth, " The
hope of a nation lies in its tillers of the soil! "
On his mother's side he was related to the " first
families," but aristocracy and caste had no fascination
for him, and he then began forming those ideas of
utility, simplicity and equality that time only strength
ened 53 53
His tutors and professors served chiefly as " horrible
examples," with the shining exception of Doctor Small,
The friendship that ripened between this man and
young Jefferson is an ideal example of what can be
done through the personal touch. Men are great only
as they excel in sympathy; and the difference between
sympathy and imagination heis not yet been shown us.
^ Doctor Small encouraged the young farmer from the
hills to think and to express himself. He did not en
deavor to set him straight or explain everything for
him, or correct all his vagaries, or demand that he
should memorize rules. He gave his affectionate sym
pathy to the boy who, with a sort of feminine tender
ness, clung to the only person who understood him.
To Doctor Small, pedigree and history unknown, let
us give the credit of being first in the list of friends that
gave bent to the mind of Jefferson. John Burke, in his
" History of Virginia," refers to Professor Small thus:
" He was not any too orthodox in his opinions." And
here we catch a glimpse of a formative influence in the
life of Jefferson that caused him to turn from the letter
58

THOMAS JEFFERSON

of the law and cleave to the spirit that maketh alive.
After school-hours the tutor and the student walked
and talked, and on Saturdays and Sundays went on
excursions through the woods; and to the youth there
was given an impulse for a scientific knowledge of birds
and flowers and the host of life that thronged the forest.
And when the pair had strayed so far beyond the town
that darkness gathered and the stars came out, they
conversed of the wonders of the sky.
The true scientist has no passion for killing things. He
says with Thoreau, " To shoot a bird is to lose it,"
Professor Small had the gentle instinct that respects
life, and he refused to take that which he could not
give. To his youthful companion he imparted, in a
degree, the secret of enjoying things without the passion
for possession and the lust of ownership.
There is a myth abroad that college towns are intel
lectual centers; but the number of people in a college
town (or any other) who really think, is very few,
Williamsburg was gay, and, this much said, it is need
less to add it was not intellectual. But Professor Small
was a thinker, and so was Governor Fauquier ; and these
two were firm friends, although very unlike in many
ways. And to " the palace " of the courtly Fauquier,
Small took his young friend Jefferson. Fauquier was
often a master of the revels, but after his seasons of
dissipation he turned to Small for absolution and com
fort. At these times he seemed to Jefferson a paragon 59

THOMAS JEFFERSON

of excellence. To the grace of the French he added the
earnestness of the English. He quoted Pope, and talked
of Swift, Addison and Thomson. Fauquier and Jefferson
became friends, although more than a score of yeeirs
and a world of experience separated them, Jefferson
caught a little of Fauquier's grace, love of books and
delight in architecture. But Fauquier helped him most
by gambling away edl his ready money and getting
drunk and smoking strong pipes with his feet on the
table. And Jefferson then vowed he would never handle
a card, nor use tobacco, nor drink intoxicating liquors.
And in conversation with Small, he emticipated Buckle
by saying, " To gain leisure, wealth must first be se
cured; but once leisure is gained, more people use it in
the pursuit of pleasure than employ it in acquiring
knowledge." 53 53

60

THOMAS JEFFERSON

jAD Jefferson lived in a great city he would
have been an architect. His practical nature,
his mastery of mathematics, his love of
proportion, and his passion for music are the
basic elements that make a Christopher Wren, But
Virginia, in Seventeen Hundred Sixty-five, offered no
temptation to ambitions along that line; log houses with
a goodly " crack " were quite good enough, and if the
domicile proved too small the plan of the first was
simply duplicated. Yet a career of some kind young
Jefferson knew awaited him.
About this time the rollicking Patrick Henry came
along, Patrick played the violin, and so did Thomas.
These two young men had first met on a musical basis.
Some otherwise sensible people hold that musicians are
shallow and impractical; and 1 know one man who
declares that truth and honesty and uprightness never
dwelt in a professional musician's heart; and further,
that the tribe is totally incapable of comprehending the
difference between " meum " and " tuum," But then
this same man claims that actors are rascals who have
lost their own characters in the business of playing they
are somebody else. And yet 1 '11 explain for the benefit
of the captious that, although Thomas Jefferson and
Patrick Henry both fiddled, they never did and never
would fiddle while Rome burned. Music was with them
a pastime, not a profession.
As soon as Patrick Henry arrived at Williamsburg, he
61

THOMAS JEFFERSON

sought out his old friend Thomas Jefferson, because he
liked him — and to save tavem bill. And Patrick
announced that he had come to Williamsburg to be
admitted to the bar,
" How long have you studied law? " asked Jefferson,
^ " Oh, for six weeks last Tuesday," was the answer 53
Tradition has it that Jefferson advised Patrick to go
home and study at least a fortnight more before making
his application. But Patrick declared that the way to
learn law is to practise it, and he surely was right.
Most young lawyers are really never aware of how little
law they know until they begin to practise.
But Patrick Henry was duly admitted, although George
Wythe protested. Then Patrick went back home to
tend bar (the other kind) for Laban, his father-in-law,
for full four years. He studied hard and practised a
little betimes — and his is the only instance that history
records of a barkeeper acquiring wisdom while following
his calling; but for the encouragement of budding youth
I write it down.

62

THOMAS JEFFERSON

O doubt it was the example of Patrick Henry
that caused Jefferson to adopt his profession.
But it was the literary side of law that first
attracted him — not the practise of it. As a
speaker he was singularly deficient, a slight physical
malformation of the throat giving him a very poor and
uncertain voice. But he studied law, and after all it
does not make much difference what a man studies — all
knowledge is related, and the man who studies anything
if he keeps at it will become learned.
So Jefferson studied in the office of George Wythe, and
absorbed all that Fauquier had to offer, and grew wise
in the companionship of Doctor Small. From a red
headed, lean, lank, awkward mountaineer, he developed
into a gracious and graceful young man who has been
described as " auburn-haired." And the evolution from
being red-headed to having red hair, and from that to
being auburn-haired, proves he was the genuine article.
Still he was not handsome — that word can not be used
to describe him until he was sixty — for he was freckled,
one shoulder was higher than the other, and his legs
were so thin that they could not do justice to small
clothes 5353
Yet it will not do to assume that thin men are weak,
emy more than to take it for granted that fat men are
strong, Jefferson was as muscular as a panther and could
walk or ride or run six days and nights together. He
could lift from the floor a thousemd pounds. 63

THOMAS JEFFERSON

When twenty-four, he hung out his lawyer's sign under
that of George Wythe at Williamsburg, And clients
came that way with retainers, and rich planters sent
him business, and wealthy widows advised with him —
and still he could not make a speech without stuttering.
Many men can harangue a jury, and every village has
its orator; but where is the wise and silent man who will
advise you in a way that will keep you out of difficulty,
protect your threatened interests, and conduct the
affeiirs you may leave in his hands so as to return your
ten talents with other talents added! And I heizard
the statement, without heat or prejudice, that if the
experiment should be made with a thousand lawyers
in any one of our larger cities, four-fifths of them would
be found so deficient, either mentally, morally or both,
that if ten talents were placed in their hands, they
would not at the close of a year be able to account for
the principal, to say nothing of the interest. And the
bar of today is made up of a better class than it was in
Jefferson's time, even if it has not the intellectual fiber
that it had forty years ago.
But at the early age of twenty-five, Jefferson weis a wise
and skilful man in the world's affairs (and a man who is
wise is also honest), and men of this stamp do not
remain hidden in obscurity. The world needs just such
individuals and needs them badly, Jefferson had the
quiet, methodical industry that works without undue ex
penditure of nervous force; that intuitive talent which
64

THOMAS JEFFERSON

enables the possessor to read a whole page at a glance
and drop at once upon the vital point; and then he had
the ability to get his whole case on paper, marshaling
his facts in a brief, pointed way that served to convince
better than eloquence. These are the characteristics
that make for success in practise before our Courts of
Appeal; and Jefferson's success shows that they serve
better than bluster, even with a backwoods bench
composed of fox-hunting farmers.
In Seventeen Hundred Sixty-eight, when Jefferson was
twenty-five, he went down to Shadwell and ran for
member of the Virginia Legislature, It was the proper
thing to do, for he was the richest man in the county,
being heir to his father's forty thousand acres, and it
was expected that he would represent his district. He
called on every voter in the parish, shook hands with
everybody, complimented the ladies, caressed the
babies, treated crowds at every tavern, and kept a large
punch-bowl and open house at home. He was elected.
On the Eleventh of May, Seventeen Hundred Sixty-
nine, the Legislature convened, with nearly a hundred
members present. Colonel George Washington being
one of the number. It took two days for the Assembly to
elect a Speaker and get ready for business. On the third
day, four resolutions were introduced — ^pushed to the
front largely through the influence of our new member.
These resolutions were:
1 . No teixation without representation. 65

THOMAS JEFFERSON

2, The Colonies may concur and unite in seeking redress
for grievances.
3. Sending accused persons away from their own
country for trial is an inexcusable wrong.
4. We will send an address on these things to the King
beseeching his royal interposition.
The resolutions were passed: they did not mean much
anyway, the opposition said. And then another reso
lution was passed to this effect: " We will send a copy
of these resolutions to every legislative body on the
continent." That was a little stronger, but did not
mean much either.
It was voted upon and passed.
Then the Assembly adjourned, having dispatched a
copy of the resolutions to Lord Boutetourt, the newly
appointed Governor who had just arrived from London,
<I Next day, the Governor's secretary appeared when
the Assembly convened, and repeated the following
formula: " The Governor commands the House to
attend His Excellency in the Council-Chamber." The
members marched to the Council-Chamber and stood
around the throne waiting the pleasure of His Lordship.
He made a speech which 1 will quote entire, " Mr,
Speaker and Gentlemen of the House of Burgesses: 1
have heard your resolves, and augur ill of their effect.
You have made it my duty to dissolve you, and you are
dissolved accordingly,"
And that was the end of Jefferson's first term in office —
66

THOMAS JEFFERSON

the reward for all the hand-shaking, all the caressing,
all the treating!
The members looked at one another, but no one said
anything, because there was nothing to say. The
secretary made an impatient gesture with his hand to
the effect that they should disperse, and they did.
Just how these legally elected representatives and now
legally common citizens took their rebuff we do not
know 53 53
Did Washington forget his usual poise and break out
into one of those swearing fits where everybody wisely
made way ? And how did Richard Henry Lee like it, and
George Wythe, and the Randolphs ? Did Patrick Henry
wax eloquent that afternoon in a barroom, and did
Jefferson do more than smile grimly, biding his time?
^ Massachusetts kept a complete history of her political
heresies, but Virginia chased foxes and left the refine
ments of literature to dilettantes. But this much we
know: Those country gentlemen did not go off peace
ably and quietly to race horses or play cards. The slap
in the face from the gloved hand of Lord Boutetourt
awoke every boozy sense of security and gave vitality
to all fanatical messages sent by Samuel Adams,
Weishington, we are told, spoke of it as a bit of upstart
authority on the part of the new Govemor; but Jef
ferson with true prophetic vision saw the end 53

67

THOMAS JEFFERSON

|NE of the leading lawyers at Williamsburg,
against whom Jefferson was often pitted, was
John Wayles. 1 need not explain that lawyers
hotly opposed to each other in a trial are not
necessarily enemies. The way in which Jefferson con
ducted his cases pleased the veteran Wayles, and he
invited Jefferson to visit him at his fine estate, called
" The Forest," a few miles out from Williamsburg.
Now, in the family of Mr. Wayles dwelt his widowed
daughter, the beautiful Martha Skelton, gracious and
rich as Jefferson in worldly goods. She played the spinet
with great feeling, and the spinet and the violin go very
well together. So, together, Thomas and Martha played,
and sometimes a bit of discord crept in, for Thomas was
absent-minded and, in the business of watching the
widow's fingers touch the keys, played flat.
Long years before, he had liked and admired Becca,
gazed fondly at Sukey, and finally loved Belinda, He
did not tell her so, but he told John Page, and vowed
that if he did not wed Belinda he would go through
life solitary and alone. In a few months Belinda married
that detested being — another. Then it was he again
swore to his friend Page he would be true to her mem
ory, even though she had dissembled. But now he saw
that the widow Skelton had intellect, while Belinda
had been but clever; the widow had soul, while Belinda
had nothing but form. Jefferson's experience seems to
settle that mooted question. " Can a man love two
68

THOMAS JEFFERSON

Women at the same time? " Unlike Martha Custis,
this Martha was won only after a protracted wooing,
with many skirmishes and occasional misunderstandings
and explanations, and sweet makings-up that were
surely worth a quarrel.
Then they were married at " The Forest," and rode
away through the woods to Monticello. Jefferson was
twenty-seven, and although it may not be proper to
question closely as to the age of the widow, yet the
bride, we have reason to believe, was about the age of
her husband.
It was a most happy mating — all their quarreling had
been done before marriage. The fine intellect and high
spirit of Jefferson found their mate. She was his comrade
and helpmeet as well as his wife. He could read his
favorite Ossian aloud to her, and when he tired she
would read to him ; and all his plans and ambitions and
hopes were hers. In laying out the grounds and beauti
fying that home on Monticello mountain, she took
much more than a passive interest. It was " Our Home,"
and to make it a home in very sooth for her beloved
husband was her highest ambition. She knew the great
ness of her mate, and all the dreams she had for his
advancement were to come true. With her, ideality
was to become reality. But she was to see it only in
part 53 53
Yet she had seen her husband re-elected to the Virginia
Legislature ; sent as a member to the Colonial Congress 69

THOMAS JEFFERSON

at Philadelphia, there to write the best known of all
American literary productions; from their mountain
home she had seen British troops march into Charlottes
ville, four miles away, and then, with household trea
sure, had fled, knowing that beautiful Monticello would
be devastated by the enemy's ruthless tread. She had
known Washington, and had visited his lonely wife
there at Mount Vernon when victory hung in the bal
ance; when defeat meant that Thomas Jefferson and
George Washington would be the first victims of a
vengeful foe. She saw her husband War-Governor of
Virginia in its most perilous hour; she lived to know
that Washington had won; that Cornwallis was his
"guest," and that no man, save Washington alone, was
more honored in proud Virginia than her beloved lord
and husband. She saw a messenger on horseback ap
proach bearing a packet from the Congress at Philadel
phia to the effect that " His Excellency, the Honorable
Thomas Jefferson," had been appointed as one of an
embassy to France in the interests of the United States,
with Benjamin Franklin and Silas Deane as colleagues,
and, knowing her husband's love for Franklin, and his
respect for France, she leaned over his chair and with
misty eyes saw him write his simple " No," and knew
that the only reason he declined was because he would
not leave his wife at a time when she might most need
his tenderness and sympathy.
And then they retired to beloved Monticello to enjoy
70

THOMAS JEFFERSON

the rest that comes only after work well done — to spend
the long vacation of their lives in simple homekeeping
work and studious leisure, her husband yet in man
hood's prime, scarce thirty-seven, as men count time.
and rich, passing rich, in goods and lands.
And then she died.
And Thomas Jefferson, the strong, the self-poised, the
self-reliant, fell in a helpless swoon, and was laid on a
pallet and carried out, as though he, too, were dead.
For three weeks his dazed senses prayed for death. He
could endure the presence of no one save his eldest
daughter, a slim, slender girl of scarce ten years, grown
a woman in a day. By her loving touch and tenderness
he was lured back from death and reason's night into
the world of life and light. With tottering steps, led by
the child who had to think for both, he was taken out
on the veranda of beautiful Monticello. He looked out
on stretching miles of dark-blue hills and waving woods
and winding river. He gazed, and as he looked it came
slowly to him that the earth was still as when he last
saw it, and realized that this would be so even if he
were gone. Then, turning to the child, who stood by,
stroking his locks, it came to him that even in grief
there may be selfishness, and for the first time he re
sponded to the tender caress, saying, " Yes, we will
live, daughter — live in memory of her! "

71

THOMAS JEFFERSON

HEN two men of equal intelligence and sin
cerity quarrel, both are probably right. Ham
ilton and Jefferson were opposed to each other
by temperament and disposition, in a way that
caused either to look with distrust on any proposition
made by the other. And yet, when Washington pressed
upon Jefferson the position of Secretary of State, I can
not but think he did it as an antidote to the growing
power and vaunting ambition of Hamilton.Washington
won his victories, as great men ever do, by wisely
choosing his aides. Hamilton had done yeoman's ser
vice in every branch of the government, and while the
chief sincerely admired his genius, he guessed his limita
tions. Power grows until it topples, and when it topples,
innocent people are crushed, Washington was wise as a
serpent, and rather than risk open ruction with Hamil
ton by personally setting bounds, he invited Jefferson
into his cabinet, and the acid was neutralized to a degree
where it could be safely handled,
Jefferson had just retumed from Paris with his beloved
daughter, Martha, He was intending soon to return to
France and study social science at close range. Already,
he had seen that mob of women march out to Versailles
and fetch the King to Paris, and had seen barricade after
barricade erected with the stones from the leveled
Bastile; he was on intimate and affectionate terms with
Lafayette and the Republican leaders, and here was a
pivotal point in his life. Had not Washington persuaded
72

THOMAS JEFFERSON

him to remain " just for the present " in America, he
might have played a part in Carlyle's best book, that
book which is not history, but more — an epic. So,
among the many obligations that America owes to
Washington, must be named this one of pushing
Thomas Jefferson, the scholar and man of peace, into
the political embroglio and shutting the door. Then it
was that Hamilton's taunting temper awoke a degree
of power in Jefferson that before he wist not of; then
it was that he first fully realized that the " United
States " with England as a sole pattern was not enough,
^A pivotal point! Yes, a pivotal point for Jefferson,
America and the world; for Jefferson gave the rudder
of the Ship of State such a turn to starboard that there
was never again danger of her drifting on to aristo
cratic shoals, an easy victim to the rapacity of Great
Britain, Hamilton's distrust of the people found no
echo in Jefferson's mind.
He agreed with Hamilton that a " strong government "
administered by a few, provided the few are wise and
honorable, is the best possible government. Nay, he
went further and declared that an absolute monarchy
in which the monarch was all-wise and all-powerful,
could not be improved upon by the imagination of man,
^ In his composition, there was a saving touch of humor
that both Hamilton and Washington seemed to lack.
He could smile at himself; but none ever dared turn a
joke on Hamilton, much less on Washington, And so
73

THOMAS JEFFERSON

when Hamilton explained that a strong government
administered by Washington, President; Jefferson,
Secretary of State; Hamilton, Secretary of the Trea
sury; Knox, Secretary of War; and Randolph, Attorney-
General, was pretty nearly ideal, no one smiled. But
Jefferson's plain inference was that power is dangerous
and man is fallible ; that a man so good as Washington
dies tomorrow and another man steps in, and that
those who have the government in their present keep
ing should curb ambitions, limit their own power, and
thus fix a precedent for those who are to follow.
The wisdom that Jefferson as a statesman showed in
working for a future good, and the willingness to forego
the pomp of personal power, to sacrifice self if need be,
that the day he should not see might be secure, ranks
him as first among statesmen. For a statesman is one
who builds a State — and not a politician who is dead,
as some have said.
Others, since, have followed Jefferson's example, but
in the world's history 1 do not recall a man before him
who, while still having power in his grasp, was willing
to trust the people.
The one mistake of Washington that borders on blunder
was in refusing to take wages for his work. In doing
this, he visited untold misery on others, who, not hav
ing married rich widows, tried to follow his example
and floundered into woeful debt and disgrace; and
thereby were lost to useful society and to the world.
74

THOMAS JEFFERSON

And there are yet many public offices where small men
rattle about because men who can fill the place can not
afford it. Bryce declares that no able and honest man
of moderate means can afford to take an active part in
municipal affairs in America — and Bryce is right.
When Jefferson became President, in his messages to
Congress again and again he advised the fixing of
sufficient salaries to secure the best men for every
branch of the service, and suggested the folly of expect
ing anything for nothing, or the hope of officials not
" fixing things " if not properly paid.
Men from the soil who gain power are usually intoxi
cated by it; beginning as democrats they evolve into
aristocrats, then into tyrants, if kindly Fate does not
interpose, and are dethroned by the people who made
them. And it is not surprising that this man, born into
a plenty that bordered on affluence, and who never
knew from experience the necessity of economy (until
in old age tobacco and slavery had wrecked Virginia
and Monticello alike), should set an almost ideal
example of simplicity, moderation and brotherly kind
ness 53 53
Among the chief glories that belong to him are these:
1, Writing the Declaration of Independence,
2, Suggesting and carrying out the present decimal
monetary system.
3. Inducing Virginia to deed to the States, as their
common property, the Northwest Territory, 75

THOMAS JEFFERSON

4. Purchasing from France, for the comparatively
trifling sum of fifteen million dollars, Louisiana and
the territory running from the Gulf of Mexico to Puget's
Sound, being at the rate of a fraction of a cent per acre,
and giving the United States full control of the Mis
sissippi River,
But over and beyond these is the spirit of patriotism
that makes each true American feel he is parcel and
part of the very fabric of the State, and in his deepest
heart believe that " a government of the people, by
the people, and for the people shall not perish from the
earth." 53 53

76

SAMUEL ADAMS

The body of the people are now in council. Their opposi
tion grows into a system. They are united and resolute.
And if the British Administration and Government do
not return to the principles of moderation and equity,
the evil, which they profess to aim at preventing by
their rigorous measures, will the sooner be brought to
pass, viz., the entire separation and independence of the
Colonies.
— Letter to Arthur Lee

»•*¦ "'^ •s,, ¦»

9/y l^r.-^jm^^

,x /

SAMUEL ADAMS

SAMUEL ADAMS

AMUEL emd John Adams were
second cousins, having the seime
great-grandfather. Between them in
many ways there was a meirked
contrast, but true to their New
England instincts both were theo
logians 53 53
John weis a conservative in politics,
emd at first had little sympathy with " those smeill-
minded men who refused to pay a trivial tax on their
tea; emd who would plunge the country into war, emd
ruin all for a matter of stemaps." John was bom and
lived at the village of Braintree, He did not really center
his mind on politics until the British had closed all law-
courts in Boston, thus making his profession obsolete.
He was scholeirly, shrewd, diplomatic, cautious, good-
natured, fat, emd took his religion with a wink. He was
blessed with a wife who was worthy of being the mother
of kings (or presidents); he lived comfortably, acquired
property, and died aged ninety-two. He had been
President and seen his son President of the United
States, and that is an experience that has never come
and probably never will come to another Uving man,
for there seems to be an unwritten law that no man
under fifty shall occupy the office of Chief Magistrate
of these United States. 79

SAMUEL ADAMS

Samuel was stern, serious and deeply in eamest. He
seldom smiled and never laughed. He was uncompro
misingly religious, conscientious and morally unbending.
In his life there was no soft sentiment. The fact that he
ran a brewery can be excused when we remember that
the best spirit of the times saw nothing inconsistent
in the occupation; and further than this we might
explain in extenuation that he gave the business indif
ferent attention, and the quality of his brew was said
to be very bad.
In religion, he swerved not nor wavered. He was a
Calvinist and clung to the five points with a tenacity at
times seemingly quite unnecessary.
When in that first Congress, Samuel Adams publicly con
sented to the opening of the meeting with religious service
conducted by the Reverend Mr, Duche, an Episcopal
clergyman, he gave a violent wrench to his conscience
and an awful shock to his friends. But Mr, Duche met
the issue in the true spirit, and leaving his detested
" popery robe " and prayer-book at home uttered an
extemporaneous invocation, without a trace of intoning,
that pleased the Puritans and caused one of them to
remark, " He is surely coming over to the Lord's side!"
^ But in politics, Samuel Adams was a liberal of the
liberals. In statecraft, the heresy of change had no
terrors for him, and with Hamlet, he might have said,
" Oh, reform it altogether! "
The limitations set in every character seem to prevent a
80

SAMUEL ADAMS

man from being generous in more than one direction;
the bigot in rehgion is often a Uberal in poUtics, emd vice
versa. For instance, physicians are almost inveiriably
Uberal in reUgious matters, but are prone to call a man
" Mister " who does not belong to their school; while
orthodox clergymen, I have noticed, usuaUy employ a
homeopathist 53 53
In that most valuable and interesting work, " The
Diary of John Adams," the author refers ref)eatedly to
Samuel Adams as " Adams " ! This simple way of using
the word " Adams " shows a world of appreciation for
the mem who bleized the path that others of this
illustrious name might foUow, And so with the high
precedent in mind, I, too, will drop prefix and call my
subj«;t simply "Adeims,"
On the authority of King George, General Gage made
an offer of p>ardon to eiU save two who had figured in
the Boston uprising.
The two men thus honored were John Hancock (whose
signature the King could read without specteicles), and
the other was " one, S, Adams."
Adams, however, weis the real offender, and the plea
might have been made for John Hancock that, if it had
not been for axxident and Adams, Hancock would
probably have remained loyal to the mother country 53
Hancock weis aristocratic, cultured emd complacent.
He was the richest man in New Ejigland. His personal
interests were on the side of peace and the established 81

SAMUEL ADAMS

order. But circumstances and the combined tact and
zeal of Adams threw him off his guard, and in a moment
of dalliance the seeds of sedition found lodgment in his
brain. And the more he thought about it, the nearer he
came to the conclusion that Adams was right. But let
the fact further be stated, if truth demands, that both
John Hancock and Samuel Adams, the first men who
clearly and boldly expressed the idea of American
Independence, were moved in the beginning by personal
grievances 53 53
A single motion made before the British Parliament by
we know not whom, and put to vote by the Speaker,
bankrupted the father of Samuel Adams and robbed
the youth of his patrimony.
The boy was then seventeen; old enough to know that
from plenty his father was reduced to penury, and this
because England, three thousand miles away, had
interfered with the business arrangements of the
Colony, and made unlawful a private banking scheme 53
Then did the boy ask the question. What moral right
has England to govern us, any^vay?
From thinking it over he began to formulate reasons.
He discussed the subject at odd times and thought of
it continually, and, in Seventeen Hundred Forty-three,
when he prepared his graduation thesis at Harvard
College he chose for his subject, " The Doctrine of the
Lawfulness of Resistance to the Supreme Magistrate if
the Commonwealth Can Not Otherwise be Preserved,"
82

SAMUEL ADAMS

When Massachusetts admitted that she was under
subjection to the King, yet argued for the right to
nullify the Acts of the English Peirliament, she took
exactly the same ground that South Carolina did a
hundred years later. The logic of Seimuel Adams and
of Robert Hayne was one and the same 53 Yet we are
glad that Adeims carried his point ; emd we rejoice exceed
ingly that Hayne failed, so curious are these things
we call " reasons."
The royalists who heard of this youth with a logiceJ
mind denounced him without stint. A few newspapers
upheld him and spoke of the right of free speech and
eiU that, reprinting the thesis in full. And in the contro
versy that followed, young Adams was always a promi
nent figure. He was not an orator in the populeir sense,
but he held the pen of a ready writer, and through the
Boston papers kept up a constant fusillade.
The tricks of journalism eire no new thing belonging to
the fag-end of this century. Young Adams wrote letters
over the " nom de plume " of Pro Bono Publico, emd
then replied to them over the signature of Rex Americus.
He did not adopt as his motto, " Let not thy left hand
know what thy right hemd doeth," for he wrote with
both hemds emd each hemd was in the secret.
During the years that followed his graduation from
college he was a businessmem emd a poor one, for a man
who looks after public affeurs much can not attend to
his own. But he managed to make shift; and when too
83

SAMUEL ADAMS

closely pressed by creditors, a loan from Hancock, or
John Adams, Hancock's attorney, relieved the pressure.
In fact, when he went to Philadelphia " on that very
important errand," he rode a horse borrowed from John
Adams, and his Sunday coat was the gift of a thoughtful
friend 53 53
In Seventeen Hundred Sixty- three, it became known
that the British Government had on foot a scheme to
demand a tribute from the Colonies, On invitation of a
committee, possibly appointed by Adams, Adams was
requested to draw up instructions to the Representatives
in the Colonial Legislature, Adams did so and the
document is now in the archives of the old State House
at Boston, in the plain and elegant penmanship that is
so easily recognized. This document calls itself, " The
First Public Denial of the Right of the British Parlia
ment to tax the Colonies without their Consent, emd
the first Public Suggestion of a Union on the part of the
Colonies to Protect themselves against British Aggres
sion." 53 53
The style of the paper is lucid, firm and logical; it
combines in itself the suggestion of all there was to be
said or could be said on the matter. Adams saw all over
and around his topic — no unpleasant surprise could be
sprung on him — twenty-five years had he studied this
one theme. He had made himself familiar with the
political history of every nation so far as such history
could be gathered; he was past master of his subject 53
84

SAMUEL ADAMS

However, when he was forty years of age his followers
were few and mostly men of small influence. The Calk-
ers' Club was the home of the sedition, and many of the
members were day-laborers. But the idea of inde
pendence gradually grew, and, in Seventeen Hundred
Sixty-five, Adams was elected a member of the Meissa
chusetts Cx>lonial Legislature. In honor of his writing
ability, he was chosen clerk of the Assembly, for in all
public gatherings orators are chosen as presidents and
newspapermen for secretaries. Thus are honors dis
tributed, and thus, too, does the public show which
talent it values most.
On November Second, Seventeen Hundred Seventy-
two, on motion of Adams, a committee of several
hundred citizens was appointed " to state the Rights of
the Colonies and to communicate and publish them to
the World as the sense of the Town, with the infringe
ments and violations thereof that have been or may be
made from time to time; also requesting from each
Town a free communication of their sentiments on this
Subject," Si Si
This was the Committee of Correspondence from which
grew the union of the Colonies and the Congress of the
United States, It is a pretty well attested fact that the
first suggestion of the Philadelphia Congress came from
Samuel Adams, and the chief work of bringing it about
was also his.
It was well known to the British Government who the
85

SAMUEL ADAMS

chief agitator was, and when General Gage arrived in
Boston in May, Seventeen Hundred Seventy-four, his
first work weis an attempt to buy off Samuel Adams,
With Adams out of the way, England might have
adopted a policy of conciliation and kept America for
her very own — yes, to the point of moving the home
government here and saving the snug little island as a
colony, for both in wealth and in population America
has now far surpassed England.
But Adams was not for sale. His reply to Gage sounds
like a scrap from Cromwell: " I trust I have long since
made my peace with the King of Kings, No personal
consideration shall induce me to abandon the Right
eous Cause of my Country."
Gage having refused to recognize the thirteen Counsel
ors appointed by the people, the General Court of
Massachusetts, in secret session, appointed five dele
gates to attend the Congress of Colonies at Philadelphia.
Of course Samuel Adams was one of these delegates;
and to John Adams, another delegate, are we indebted
for a minute description of that most momentous
meeting 53 53
A room in the State House had been offered the dele
gates, but with commendable modesty they accepted
the offer of the Carpenters' Company to use their hall 53
And so there they convened on the fifth day of Sep>-
tember. Seventeen Hundred Seventy-four, having met
by appointment, and walked over from the City Tavern
86

SAMUEL ADAMS

in a body. Forty-four men were present — not a large
gathering, but they had come hundreds of miles, and
several of them had been months on the journey.
They were a sturdy lot; and madam! 1 think it would
have been worth while to have looked in upon them.
There were several coonskin caps in evidence ; also lace
and frills and velvet brought from England — ^but
plainness to severity was the rule. Few of these men
had ever been away from their own Colonies before,
few had ever met any members of the Congress save
their own colleagues. They represented civilizations of
very different degrees. Each stood a bit in awe of all the
rest. Several of the Colonies had been in conflict with
the others.
Meeting new men in those days, when even the stage
coach was a passing show worth going miles to see, was
an event. There was awkwardness and nervousness on
the swarthy faces; firm mouths twitched, and big, bony
hands sought for places of concealment.
The meeting had been called for September First, but
was postponed for five days awaiting the arrival of
belated delegates who had been detained by floods.
Even then, delegates from North Carolina had not
arrived, and Georgia not having thought it worth while
to send any, eleven Colonies only were represented.
Each delegation naturally kept together, as men will
who have a fighting history and a pioneer ancestry 53
It was a serious, solemn business, and these men were
87

SAMUEL ADAMS

not given to levity in any event. When they were
seated, there weis a moment of silence so tense it could
be heard. Every chance movement of a foot on the
uncarpeted floor sent an echo through the room.
The stillness was first broken by Mr, Lynch, of South
Carolina, who arose and in a low, clear voice said:
" There is a gentleman present who has presided with
great dignity over a very respectable body emd greatly
to the advantage of America. Gentlemen, 1 move that
the Honorable Peyton Randolph, one of the delegates
from Virginia, be appointed to preside over this meet
ing. I doubt not it will be unanimous."
It was so; and a leirge man in powdered wig emd scarlet
coat arose, and, carrying his gold-headed cane before
him Uke a mace, walked to the platform without
apology 53 53
The New Englanders in homespun looked at one
another with trepidation on their features. The red coat
was not assuring, but they kept their peace emd
breathed heird, praying that the enemy had not cap
tured the convention through strategy. Mr, Randolph's
first suggestion was not revolutionary; it was that a
secretary be appointed.
Again Mr. Lynch arose and named Cheirles Thomson,
" a gentleman of family, fortune and character." This
testimonial of family emd fortune was not assuring to
the plain Massachusetts men. but they seud nothing
and aweuted developments.
88

SAMUEL ADAMS

All were cautious as woodsmen, and the motion that
the Council be held behind closed doors was adopted.
Every member then held up his right hand and made
a solemn promise to divulge no part of the transactions;
and Galloway, of Pennsylvania, promised with the rest,
and straightway each night informed the enemy of
every move.
Little was done that first day but get acquainted by
talking very cautiously and very pK)Iitely, The next day
a notable member had arrived, and in a front seat sat
Richard Henry Lee, a man you would turn and look at
in any company. Slender and dark, with a brilliant eye
and a profile — and only one man in ten thousand has a
profile — Lee was a gracious presence. His voice was
gentle and flexible and luring, and there was a dignity
and poise in his manner that made him easily the fore
most orator of his time.
Near him sat William Livingston, of New Jersey, and
John Jay, his son-in-law, the youngest man in the
Congress, with a nose that denoted character, and all
his fame in the future.
The Pennsylvanians were all together, grouped on one
side, Duane, of New York, sat near them, " shy and
squint-eyed, very sensible and very artful," wrote John
Adams that night in his diary.
Then over there sat Christopher Gadsden, of South
Carolina, who had preached independence for full ten
years before this, emd who, when he heard that the
89

SAMUEL ADAMS

British soldiers had taken Boston, proposed to reuse a
troop at once and fight redcoats wherever found.
" But the British will burn our seaport towns if we
antagonize them," some timid soul explained,
" Our towns are built of brick and wood; if they are
burned we can rebuild them; but liberty once gone is
gone forever," he retorted. And the saying sounds well,
even if it will not stand analysis.
Back near the wall was a man who, when the assembly
stood at morning prayers, showed a half-head above
his neighbors. His face was broad, and he, too, had a
profile. His mouth was tightly closed, and during the
first fourteen days of that Congress he never opened it
to utter a word, and after his long quiet he broke the
silence by saying, " Mr. President, I second the motion,"
Once, in a passionate speech, Lynch turned to him and
pointing his finger said: " There is a man who has not
spoken here, but in the Virginia Assembly he made the
most eloquent speech 1 ever heard. He said, ' I will
raise a thousand men, and arm and subsist them at my
expense and march them to the relief of Boston.* " And
then did the tall man, whose name was George Weish
ington, blush like a schoolgirl.
But in all that company the men most noticed were the
five members from Massachusetts, They were Bowdoin,
Samuel Adams, John Adams, Cushing and Robert
Treat Paine. Massachusetts had thus far taken the
lead in the struggle with England. A British army was
90

SAMUEL ADAMS

encamped upon her soil, her chief city besieged — the
p>ort closed. Her sufferings had called this Congress into
being, and to her delegates the members had come to
listen. All recognized Semiuel Ademtis as the chief man of
the Convention, His hand wrote the invitations and
earnest requests to come. Galloway, writing to his
friends, the enemy, seud: " Samuel Adeims eats little,
drinks little, sleeps little and thinks much. He is most
decisive and indefatigable in the pursuit of his object.
He is the man who, by his superior application, manages
at once the faction in Philadelphia and the factions of
New Englemd,"
Yet Semiuel Adams talked little at the Convention. He
edlowed John Adams to state the case, but sat next to
him supplying memoranda, occasionally arising to make
remarks or explanations in a purely conversational tone.
But so earnest and impressive was his manner, so ably
did he answer every argument emd reply to every objec
tion, that he thoroughly convinced a tall, angular,
homely man by the name of Patrick Henry of the
righteousness of his cause. Patrick Henry was pretty
thoroughly convinced before, but the recital of Boston's
case fired the Virginian, and he made the first and only
real speech of the Congress, In burning words he
pictured all the Colonies had suffered and endured, emd
by his matchless eloquence told in prophetic words of
the glories yet to be. In his speech he paid just tribute
to the genius of Samuel Adams, declaring that the good
91

SAMUEL ADAMS

that was to come from this " first of an unending suc
cession of Congresses " was owing to the work of Adams.
And in after-years Adams repaid the compliment by
saying that if it had not been for the cementing power
of Patrick Henry's eloquence, that first Congress prob
ably would have ended in a futile wrangle.
The South regarded, in great degree, the fight in Boston
as Massachusetts' own. To make the entire thirteen
Colonies adopt the quarrel and back the Colonial army
in the vicinity of Boston was the only way to make the
issue a success, and to unite the factions by choosing
for a leader a Virginian aristocrat was a crowning stroke
of diplomacy,
John Hancock had succeeded Randolph as president of
the second Congress, and Virginia was inclined to be
lukewarm, when John Adams in an impassioned speech
nominated Colonel George Washington as Commander-
in-Chief of the Continental Army, The nomination was
seconded very quietly by Samuel Adams, It was a vote,
and the South was committed to the cause of backing
up Washington, and, incidentally. New England, The
entire plan was probably the work of Samuel Adams,
yet he gave the credit to John, while the credit of stoutly
opposing it goes to John Hancock, who, being presiding
officer, worked at a disadvantage.
But Adams had a way of reducing opposition to the
minimum. He kept out of sight and furthered his ends
by pushing this man or that to the front at the right
92

SAMUEL ADAMS

time to make the plea. He was a master in that fine art
of managing men and never letting them know they are
managed. By keeping behind the arras, he accomplished
purposes that a leader never can who allows his person
ality to be in continual evidence, for personality repels
as well as attracts, and the man too much before the
public is sure to be undone eventually, Adams knew
that the power of Pericles lay largely in the fact that he
was never seen upon but a single street of Athens, and
that but once a year.
The complete writings of Adams have recently been
collected and published. One marvels that such valuable
material has not before been printed and given to the
public, for the literary style and perspicuity shown
are most inspiring, and the value of the data can not
be gainsaid 53 53
No one ever accused Adams of being a muddy thinker;
you grant his premises and you are bound to accept his
conclusions. He leaves no loopholes for escape.
The following words, used by Chatham, refer to docu
ments in which Adams took a prominent part in pre
paring: " When your Lordships look at the papers trans
mitted us from America, when you consider their
decency, firmness and wisdom, you can not but respect
their cause and wish to make it your own. For myself,
I must avow that, in all my reading — and I have read
Thucydides and have studied and admired the master
statesmen of the world — for solidity of reason, force of
93

SAMUEL ADAMS

sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion under a complica
tion of difficult circumstances, no body of men can stand
in preference to the general Congress of Philadelphia.
The histories of Greece and Rome give us nothing like
it, and all attempts to impress servitude on such a
mighty continental people must be in vain,"
In the life of Adams there was no soft sentiment nor
romantic vagaries. " He is a Puritan in all the word
implies, and the unbending fanatic of independence."
wrote Gage, and the description fits.
He was twice married. Our knowledge of his first wife
is very slight, but his second wife, Elizabeth Wells,
daughter of an English merchant, was a capable woman
of brave good sense. She adopted her husband's political
views and with true womanly devotion let her old kins
men slide; and during the dark hours of the war bore
deprivation without repining.
Adams' home life was simple to the verge of hardship.
All through life he was on the ragged edge financially,
and in his latter years he was for the first time relieved
from pressing obligations by an afflicting event — the
death of his only son, who was a surgeon in Washing
ton's army. The money paid to the son by the Govern
ment for his services gave the father the only financial
competency he ever knew. Two daughters survived
him, but with him died the name,
John Adams survived Samuel for twenty-three years.
He lived to see " the great American experiment." as
94

SAMUEL ADAMS

Mr, Ruskin has been pleased to call our country, on a
firm basis, constantly growing stronger and stronger.
He lived to realize that the sanguine prophecies made
by Samuel were working themselves out in very truth 53
The grave of Samuel Adams is viewed by more people
than that of any other American patriot. In the old
Granary Burying-Ground, in the very center of Boston,
on Tremont Street — there where travel congests, and
two living streams meet all day long — you look through
the iron fence, so slender that it scarce impedes the view,
and not twenty feet from the curb is a simple metal
disk set on an iron rod driven into the ground and on
it this inscription: " This marks the grave of Samuel
Adams." 53 53
For many years the grave was unmarked, and the disk
that now denotes it was only recently placed in position
by the Sons of the American Revolution, But the place
of Samuel Adams on the pages of history is secure.
Upon the times in which he lived he exercised a pro
found influence. And he who influences the times in
which he lives has influenced all the times that come
after; he has left his impress on eternity.

95

JOHN HANCOCK

Boston, Sept. 30. 1 765
Gent: Since my last 1 have receiv'd your favour by Capt
Hulme who is arriv'd here with the most disagreeable
Commodity (say Stamps) that were imported into this
Country & what if carry'd into Elxecution will entirely
Stagnate Trade here, for it is universally determined
here never to Submitt to it and the principal merchts
here will by no means carry on Business under a Stamp,
we are in the utmost Confusion here and shall be more
so eifter the first of November & nothing but the repeal
of the act will righten, the Consequence of its taking
place here will be bad, & attended with many troubles,
& I believe may say more fatal to you than us. I dread
the Event,
— Extract From Hancock's Letter-Book

JOHN HANCOCK

JOHN HANCOCK

ONG years ago when society was
young, learning was centered in one
man in each community, and that
man was the priest. It was the priest
who was sent for in every emergency
of life. He taught the young, pre
scribed for the sick, advised those
who were in trouble, and when
human help was vain and man had done his all, this
priest knelt at the bedside of the dying and invoked a
Power with whom it was believed he had influence 53
The so-called learned professions are only another
example of the Division of Labor, We usually say there
are three learned professions: Theology, Medicine and
Law. As to which is the greatest is a much-mooted
question and has caused too many family feuds for me
to attempt to decide it. And so I evade the issue and
say there is a fourth profession, that is only allowed to
be called so by grace, but which in my mind is greater
than them all — the profession of Teacher. I can conceive
of a condition of society so high and excellent that it
has no use for either doctor, lawyer or preacher, but
the teacher would still be needed. Ignorance and sin
supply the three " learned professions " their excuse for
being, but the teacher's work is to develop the germ of
wisdom that is in every soul. 99

JOHN HANCOCK

And now each of these professions has divided up, like
monads, into many heads. In medicine, we have as
many specialists as there are organs of the body. The
lawyer who advises you in a copyright or patent cause
knows nothing about admiralty; and eis they tell us a
man who pleads his own case has a fool for a cUent, so
does the insurance lawyer who is retained to foreclose a
mortgage. In all prosperous city churches, the preacher
who attracts the crowd in the morning allows a 'prentice
to preach to the young folks in the evening; he does not
make pastoral cedls; and the curate who reads the
service at funerals is never called upon to perform a
marriage ceremony except in a case of charity. Likewise
the teacher's profession has its specialists : the man who
teaches Greek well can not write good English; the
man who teaches composition is beiffled and perplexed
by long division; and the teacher who delights in
trigonometry pooh-poohs a kindergartner.
Just where this evolutionary dividing and subdividing
of social cells will land the race no man can say; but
that a specialist is a dangerous man, is sure. He is a
buzz-saw with which wise men never monkey, A surgeon
who has operated for appendicitis five times successfully
is above all to be avoided. I once knew a man with
lung trouble who inadvertently strayed into an oculist's
and was looked over and sent away with an order on an
optician. And should you through error stray into the
office of a nose and throat specialist, and ask him to
100

JOHN HANCOCK

treat you for varicose veins, he would probably do so
by nasal douche.
Even now a specialist in theology will lead us, if he can.
a merry " ignis-fatuus " chase and land us in a morass.
The only thing that saved the priest in days agone was
the fact that he had so many duties to perform that he
exercised all his mental muscles, and thus attained a
degree of all-roundness which is not possible to the
specialist. Even then there were not lacking men who
found time to devote to specialties: Bishop Georglus
Ambrosius, for instance, who in the Fifteenth Century
produced a learned work proving that women have no
souls. And a like book was written at Nashville,
Tennessee, in Eighteen Hundred Fifty-nine, by the
Reverend Hubert Parsons of the Methodist Episcopal
Church (South), showing that negroes were in a like
predicament. But a more notable instance of the danger
of a specialty is the Reverend Cotton Mather, who
investigated the subject of witchcraft and issued a
modest brochure incorporating his views on the subject.
He succeeded in convincing at least one man of its
verity, and that man was himself, and thus immortality
was given to the town of Salem, which, otherwise,
would have no claim on us for remembrance, save that
Hawthorne was once a clerk in its custom-house,
A very slight study of Colonial history will show any
student that, for two centuries, the ministers in New
England occupied very much the same position in
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JOHN HANCOCK

society that the priest did during the Middle Ages. As
the monks kept learning from dying off the face of the
earth, so did the ministers of the New World preserve
culture from passing into forgetfulness. Very seldom,
indeed, were books to be found in a community except
at the minister's. And during the Seventeenth Century.
and well into the Eighteenth, he combined in himself
the offices of doctor, lawyer, preacher and teacher.
Mr. Lowell has said: " 1 can not remember when there
was not one or more students in my father's household,
and others still who came at regular intervals to recite.
And this was the usual custom. It was the minister who
fitted boys for college, and no youth was ever sent away
to school until he had been drilled by the local clergy
man," 53 Si
And it must further be noted that genealogical tables
show that very nearly all of the eminent men of New
England were sons of ministers, or of an ancestry
where ministers' names are seen at frequent intervals.
As an intellectual and moral force, the minister has now
but a rudiment of the power he once exercised. The
tendency to specialize all art and all knowledge heis to a
degree shorn him of his strength. And to such an extent
is this true, that within forty years it has passed into a
common proverb that the sons of clergymen are rascals,
whereas in Colonial days the highest recommendation a
youth could carry was that he was the son of a minister.
^The Reverend John Hancock, grandfather of John
102

JOHN HANCOCK

Hancock the patriot, was for more than half a century
the minister of Lexington, Massachusetts. 1 say " the
minister," because there was only one: the keen compe
tition of sect that establishes half a dozen preachers in
a small community is a very modern innovation.
John Hancock, " Bishop of Lexington," was a man of
pronounced personality, as is plainly seen in his portrait
in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. They say he ruled
the town with a rod of iron; and when the young men,
who adorned the front steps of the meetinghouse during
service, grew disorderly, he stopped in his prayer, and
going outside soundly cuffed the ears of the first delin
quent he could lay hands upon. In his clay there was a
dash of facetiousness that saved him from excess,
supplying a useful check to his zeal — for zeal uncurbed
is very bad. He was a wise and beneficent dictator ; and
government under such a one can not be improved upon.
His manner was gracious, frank and open, and such was
the specific gravity of his nature that his words carried
weight, and his wish was sufficient.
The house where this fine old autocrat lived and reigned
is standing in Lexington now. When you walk out
through Cambridge and Arlington on your way to
Concord, following the road the British took on their
way out to Concord, you will pass by it. It is a good
place to stop and rest. You will know the place by the
tablet in front, on which is the legend: " Here John
Hancock and Samuel Adams were sleeping on the night
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JOHN HANCOCK

of the Eighteenth of April, Seventeen Hundred Seventy-
five, when aroused by Paul Revere,"
The Reverend Joneis Clark owned the house after the
Reverend John Hancock, and the ministries of those
two men, and their occupancy of the house, cover one
hundred years and five years more. Here the thirteen
children of Jonas Clark were bom, and all lived to be
old men and women. When you call there I hope you
will be treated with the same gentle courtesy that 1
met. If you delay not your visit too long, you will see a
fine, motherly woman, with white " sausage curls "
and a high back-comb, wearing a check dress and felt
slippers, and she will tell you that she is over eighty,
and that when her mother was a little girl she once sat
on Govemor Hancock's knee and he showed her the
works in his watch.
And then as you go away you will think again of what
the old lady has just told you, and eis you look back for a
parting glance at the house, standing firm and solemn
in its rusty-gray dignity, you will doff your hat to it,
and mayhap murmur: The days of man on earth — they
are but as a passing shadow!
" Here John Hancock and Samuel Adams were sleep
ing when aroused by Paul Revere! " Merchant-prince
and agitator, horse and rider — ^where are you now?
And is your sleep disturbed by dreams of British red
coats or hissing flintlocks? 53 Phantom British war
ships may Ue at their moorings, swinging wide on the
104

JOHN HANCOCK

unforgetting tide, lanterns may hang high in the belfry
of the Old North Church tower, hurried knocks and
calls of defiance and hoof -beats of fast-galloping steed
may echo and echo again, borne on the night-wind of
the dim Past, but you heed them not!

105

JOHN HANCOCK

HE Reverend John Hancock of Lexington had
two sons, John Hancock (Number Two)
became pastor of the church of the North
Precinct of the town of Braintree, which
afterwards was to be the town of Quincy.
The nearest neighbor to the village preacher was John
Adams, shoemaker and farmer. Each Sunday in the
amen corner of the Reverend John Hancock's meeting
house was mustered the well washed and combed brood
of Mr. and Mrs. Adams. Now, this John Adams had a
son whom the Reverend John Hancock baptized, also
named John, two years older than John, the son of the
preacher. And young John Adams and John Hancock
(Number Three) used to fish and swim together, and
go nutting, and set traps for squirrels, and help each
other in fractions. And then they would climb trees, and
wrestle, and sometimes fight. In the fights, they say,
John Hancock used to get the better of his antagonist,
but as an exploiter of fractions John Adams was more
than his equal.
The parents of John Adams were industrious and savin'
— the little farm prospered, for Boston supplied a
goodly market, and weekly trips were made there in a
one-horse cart, often piloted by young John, with the
minister's boy for ballast. The Adams family had ambi
tions for their son John — he was to go to Harvard and
be educated, and be a minister and preach at Braintree,
or Weymouth, or perhaps even Boston !
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JOHN HANCOCK

In the meantime the Reverend John Hancock had died,
and the widowed mother was not able to give her boy a
college education — times were hard.
But the lad's uncle, Thomas Hancock, a prosperous
merchant of Boston, took quite an interest in young
John. And it occurred to him to adopt the fatherless
boy, legally, as his own. The mother demurred, but
after some months decided that it was best so, for when
twenty-one he would be her boy just as much and as
truly as if his uncle had not adopted him. And so the
rich uncle took him, and rigged him out with a deal
finer clothing than he had ever before worn, and sent
him to the Latin School and afterward over to Cam
bridge, with silver jingling in his pocket.
Prosperity is a severe handicap to youth ; not very many
grown men can stand it; but beyond a needless display
of velvet coats and frilled shirts, the young man stood
the test, and got through Harvard, In point of scholar
ship he did not stand so high as John Adams; and
between the lads there grew a small but well-defined
gulf, as is but natural between homespun and broad
cloth. Still the gulf was not impassable, for over it
friendly favors were occasionally passed,
John Hancock's mother wanted him to be a preacher,
but Uncle Thomas would not listen to it — the youth
must be taught to be a merchant, so he could be the
ready helper and then the successor of his foster-father.
^Graduating at the early age of seventeen. John
107

JOHN HANCOCK

Hancock at once went to work in his uncle's counting-
house in Boston. He was a fine, tall fellow with dash
and spirit, and seemed to show considerable aptitude
for the work. The business prospered, and Uncle
Thomas was very proud of his handsome ward, who was
quite in demand at parties and balls and in a general
social way, while the uncle could not dance a minuet to
save him 53 53
Not needing the young man very badly around the
store, the uncle sent him to Europe to complete his
education by travel. He went with the retiring Govemor
Pownal, whose taste for social enjoyment was very much
in accord with his own. In England, he attended the
funeral of George the Second, and saw the coronation of
George the Third, little thinking the while that he
would some day make violent efforts to snatch from
that crown its brightest jewel.
When young Hancock was twenty-seven, the uncle
died, and left to him his entire fortune of three hundred
fifty thousand dollars. It made him one of the very rich
est men in the Colony — for at that time there was not
a man in Massachusetts worth half a million dollars 53
The jingling silver in his pocket when sent to Harvard
had severely tested his moral fiber, but this great for
tune came near smothering all his native commonsense.
If a man makes his money himself, he stands a certain
chance of growing as the pile grows 53 There is little
doubt as to the soundness of Emerson's epigram, that
108

JOHN HANCOCK

what you put into his chest you take out of the man.
More than this, when a man gradually accumulates
wealth, it attracts little attention, so the mob that
follows the newly rich never really gets on to the scent.
And besides that, the man who makes his own fortune
always stands ready to repel boarders.
There may be young men of twenty-seven who are men
grown, and no doubt every man of twenty-seven is
very sure that he is one of these; but the thought that
man is mortal never occurs to either men or women until
they are past thirty. The blood is warm, conquest lies
before, and to seize the world by the tail and snap its
head off seems both easy and desirable.
The promoters, the flatterers and friends until then
unknown flocked to Hancock and condoled with him
on the death of his uncle. Some wanted small loans to
tide over temporary emergencies, others had business
ventures in hand whereby John Hancock could double
his wealth very shortly. Still others spoke of wealth
being a trust, and to use money to help your fellow-
men, and thus to secure the gratitude of many, was the
proper thing.
The unselfishness of the latter suggestion appealed to
Hancock. To be the friend of humanity, to assist others
— this is the highest ambition to which a man can aspire !
And, of course, if one is pointed out on the street as the
good Mr. Hancock it can not be helped. It is the
penalty of well-doing. 109

JOHN HANCOCK

So in order to give work to many and to promote the
interests of Boston, a thriving city of fifteen thousand
inhabitants, for all good men wish to build up the place
in which they live, John Hancock was induced to
embark in shipbuilding. He also owned several ships
of his own which traded with London and the West
Indies, and was part owner of others. But he publicly
explained that he did not care to make money for
himself — his desire was to give employment to the
worthy poor and to enhance the good of Boston,
The aristocratic company of militia, known as the
Governor's Guard, had been fitted out with new uni
forms and arms by the generous Hancock, and he had
been chosen commanding officer, with rank of Colonel,
He drilled with the crack company and studied the
manual much more diligently than he ever had his
Bible 53 53
Hancock lived in the mansion, inherited from his uncle,
on Beacon Street, facing the Common. There was a
chariot and six horses for state occasions, much fine
furniture from over the sea, elegant clothes that the
Puritans called " gaudy apparel," and at the dinners
the wine flowed freely, and cards, dancing and music
filled many a night.
The Puritan neighbors were shocked, and held up their
hands in horror to think that the son of a minister
should so affront the staid and sober customs of his
ancestors. Still others said, " Why, that 's what a rich
110

JOHN HANCOCK

man should do — spend his money, of course; Hancock
is the benefactor of his kind; just see how many people
he employs! "
The town was all agog, and Hancock was easily Boston's
first citizen, but in his time of prosperity he did not
forget his old friends. He sent for them to come and
make merry with him; and among the first in his good
offices was John Adams, the rising young lawyer of
Braintree 53 53
John Adams had found clients scarce, and those he had,
poor pay, but when he became the trusted legal adviser
of John Hancock, things took a turn and prosperity
came that way. The wine and cards and dinners had n't
much attraction for him, but still there were no con
scientious scruples in the way. He patted John Hancock
on the back, assured him that he was the people, looked
after his interests loyally, and extracted goodly fees for
services performed.
At the home of Adams at Braintree, Hancock had met
a quiet, taciturn individual by the name of Samuel
Adams. This man he had long known in a casual way,
but had never been able really to make his acquaintance.
He was fifteen years older than Hancock, and by his
quiet dignity and self-possession made quite an impres
sion on the young man.
So, now that prosperity had smiled, Hancock invited
him to his house, but the quiet man was an ascetic and
neither played cards, drank wine nor danced, and so
111

JOHN HANCOCK

declined with thanks, ^ But not long after, he requested
a small loan from the merchant-prince, and asked it as
though it were his right, and so he got it. His manner
was in such opposition to the flatterers and those who
crawled, and whined, and begged, that Hancock was
pleased with the man, Samuel Adams had declined
Hancock's social favors, and yet, in asking for a loan,
showed his friendliness.
Samuel Adams was a politician, and had long taken an
active part in the town meetings. In fact, to get a
measure through, it was well to have Samuel Adams at
your side. He was clear-headed, astute, and knew the
human heart. Yet he talked but little, and the con
vivial ways of the small politician were far from him;
but in the fine art that can manage men and never let
them know they are managed he was a past-master.
Tucked in his sleeve, no doubt, was a degree of pride
in his power, but the stoic quality in his nature never
allowed him to break into laughter when he considered
how he led men by the nose.
In Boston and its vicinity, Samuel Adams weis not
highly regarded, and outside of Boston, at forty years
of age, he was positively unknown. The neighbors
regarded him as a harmless fanatic, sane on most
subjects, but possessed of a buzzing bee in his bonnet
to the effect that the Colonies should be separated from
their protector, England, Samuel Adams neglected his
business and kept up a fusillade of articles in the
112

JOHN HANCOCK

newspapers, on various political subjects, and men who
do this are regarded everywhere as " queer," A profes
sional newspaper-writer never takes his calling seriously
— it is business. He writes to please his employer, or if
he owns the paper himself, he still writes to please his
employer, that is to say, the public. Journalism, thy
name is pander!
The man who comes up the stairway furtively, with a
manuscript he wants printed, is in dead eamest; and he
has excited the ridicule, wrath or pity of editors for
three hundred years. Such a one was Samuel Adams.
His wife did her own work, and the grocer with bills in
his hand often grew red in the face and knocked in vain,
^ And yet the keen intellect of Samuel Adams was not
a thing to smile at. Any one who stood before him, face
to face, felt the power of the man, and acknowledged it
then and there, as we always do when we stand in the
presence of a strong individuality. And this inward
acknowledgment of worth was instinctively made by
John Hancock, the biggest man in all Boston town 53
John Hancock, through his genial, glowing personality,
and his lavish spending of money, was very popular. He
was being fed on flattery, and the more a man gets of
flattery, once the taste is acquired, the more he craves.
It is like the mad thirst for liquor, or the Romeike habit,
^ John Hancock was getting attention, and he wanted
more. He had been chosen selectman to fill the place
that his uncle had occupied, and when Samuel Adams
113

JOHN HANCOCK

incidentally dropped a remark that good men were
needed in the General Court, John Hancock agreed with
him. He was named for the office and with Samuel
Adams' help was easily elected.
Not long after this, the sloop " Liberty " was seized by
the government officials for violation of the revenue
laws. The craft was owned by John Hancock and had
surreptitiously landed a cargo of wine without paying
duty Si 53
When the ship of Boston's chief citizen was seized by the
bumptious, gilt-braided British officials, there was a
merry uproar. All the men in the shipyards quit work,
and the Calkers' Club, of which Samuel Adams was
secretary, passed hot resolutions and revolutionary
preambles and eulogies of John Hancock, who was doing
so much for Boston.
In fact, there was a riot, and three regiments of British
troops were ordered to Boston.
And this was the very first step on the part of England
to enforce her authority, by arms, in America,
The troops were in the town to preserve order, but the
mob would not disperse. Upon the soldiers, they heaped
every indignity and insult. They dared them to shoot,
and with clubs and stones drove the soldiers before
them. At last the troops made a stand and in order to
save themselves from absolute rout fired a volley. Five
men fell dead — and the mob dispersed.
This was the so-called Boston massacre.
114

JOHN HANCOCK

Pinkerton guards would blush at bagging so small a
game with a volley. They have done better again and
again at Pittsburgh, Pottsville and Chicago.
The riot was quelled, and out of the scrimmage various
suits were instigated by the Crown against John Han
cock, in the Court of Admiralty, The claims against him
amounted to over three hundred thousand dollars, and
the charge was that he had long been evading the
revenue laws, John Adams was his attorney, with
Samuel Adams as counsel, and vigorous efforts for
prosecution and defense were being made.
If the Crown were successful the suits would confiscate
the entire Hancock estate — ^matters were getting in a
serious way. Witnesses were summoned, but the trial
was staved off from time to time.
Hemcock had refused to follow Samuel Adams' lead in
the controversy with Governor Hutchinson as to the
right to convene the General Court. The report was
that John Hancock was growing lukewarm and siding
with the Tories. A year had passed since the massacre
had occurred, and the agitators proposed to commemo
rate the day.
Colonel Hemcock had appeared in many prominent
parts, but never as an orator,
" Why not show the town what you can do! " some
one said 53 Si
So John Hancock was invited to deliver the oration.
He did so to an immense concourse. The address was
115

JOHN HANCOCK

read from the written page. It overflowed with wisdom
and patriotism; and the earnestness and eloquence of
the well-rounded periods was the talk of the town 53
The knowing ones went around comers and roared with
laughter, but Samuel Adams said not a word. The
charge was everywhere made by the captious and
bickering that the speech weis written by another, and
that, moreover, John Hancock had not even a very firm
hold on its import. It weis the one speech of his life,
Anjrway, it so angered General Gage that he removed
Colonel Hancock from his command of the cadets.
An order was out for Hancock's arrest, and he and
Samuel Adams were in hiding.
The British troops marched out to Lexington to capture
them, but Paul Revere was two hours ahead, and when
the redcoats arrived the birds had flown.
Then came the expulsion of the British, the closing of
all courts, the Admiralty included. The merchant-
prince breathed eeisier, and that was the last of the
Crown versus John Hancock.

116

JOHN HANCOCK

HROUGHOUT the months that had gone
before, when the Hancock mansion weis gay
with floral decorations, and servants in livery
stood at the door with silver trays, and the
dancing-hall was bright with mirth and music, Samuel
Adams had quietly been working his Bureau of Cor
respondence to the end that the thirteen Colonies of
America should come together in convention. Chief
mover of the plan, and the one man in Massachusetts
who was giving all his time to it. he dictated whom
Massachusetts should send as delegates. This delega
tion, as we know, included John Hancock, John Adams
and Samuel Adams himself.
From the danger of Lexington, Hancock and Adams
made their way to Philadelphia to attend the Second
Congress 53 Si
At that time the rich men of New England were
hurriedly making their way into the English fold. Some
thought that the mother country had been harsh, but
still, England had only acted within her right, and she
was well able to back up this authority. She had regi
ment upon regiment of trained fighting men, warships.
and money to build more. The Colonies had no army,
no ships, no capital.
Only those who have nothing to lose can afford to resist
lawful authority — back into the fold they went, penitent
and under their breath cursing the bull-headed men
who Insisted on plunging the country into red war 53
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JOHN HANCOCK

Out in the cold world stood John Hancock, alone, save
for Bowdoin, among the aristocrats of New Englemd.
The British would confiscate his property, his splendid
house — all would be gone!
"It will all be gone, anyway," calmly suggested Samuel
Adams. " You know those suits against you in the
Admiralty Court? "
" Yes, yes! "
" And if we can unite these thirteen Colonies em army
can be raised, and we can separate ourselves entire, in
which case there will be glory for somebody."
John Hancock, the rich, the ambitious, the pleasure-
loving, had burned his bridges. He was in the hands of
Samuel Adams, and his infamy was one with this man
who was a professional agitator, and who had nothing
to lose 53 Si
General Gage had made an offer of pardon to all — all,
save two men: Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Back into the fold tumbled the Tories, but against John
Hancock the gates were barred. John Adams, Attomey
of the Hancock estate, rubbed his chin, and decided to
stand by the ship> — sink or swim, survive or perish 53
Down in his heart Samuel Adams grimly smiled, but
on his cold, pale face there was no sign.
The British held Boston secure, and in the splendid
mansion of Hancock Uved the rebel. Lord Percy,
England's pet. The furniture, plate and keeping of the
place were quite to his liking.
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JOHN HANCOCK

Hancock's ambitions grew as the days went by. The
fight was on. His property was in the hands of the
British, and a price was upon his head. He, too, now
had nothing to lose. If England could be whipped he
would get his property back, and the honors of victory
would be his, beside.
Ambition grew apace; he studied the Manual of Arms
as never before, and made himself familiar with the lives
of Caesar and Alexander, At Harvard, he had read the
Anabasis on compulsion, but now he read it with zest,
^The Second Congress was a Congress of action; the
first had been one merely of conference, A presiding
officer was required, and Samuel Adams quietly pushed
his man to the front. He let it be known that Hancock
was the richest man in New England, perhaps in
America, emd a power in every emergency,
John Hancock was given the office of presiding officer,
the place of honor.
The thought never occurred to him that the man on the
floor is the mem who acts, and the individual in the chair
is only a referee, an onlooker of the contest. When a
mem is chosen to preside he is safely out of the way, and
no one knew this better than that clear-headed man,
wise as a serpent, Samuel Adams.
Hancock was intent on being chosen Commander of
the Continental Army. The war was in Massachusetts,
her principal port closed, all business at a standstill,
Hemcock was a soldier, and was, moreover, the chief
119

JOHN HANCOCK

citizen of Massachusetts — the command should go to
him. Samuel Adams knew this could never be.
To hold the Southern Colonies and give the cause a
show of reason before the world, an aristocrat with
something to lose, and without a personal grievance,
must be chosen, and the man must be from the South,
To get Hancock in a position where his mouth would be
stopped, he was placed in the chair. It was a master
move 53 53
Colonel George Washington was already a hero; he had
fought valiantly for England. His hands were clean;
while Hancock was openly called a smuggler. Washing
ton was nominated by John Adams. The motion was
seconded by Samuel Adams. Hancock turned first red
and then deathly pale. He grasped the arms of his chair
with both hands, and — ^put the question.
It weis unanimous,
Hancock's fame seems to rest on the fact that he was
presiding officer of the Congress that passed the
Declaration of Independence, and therefore its first
signer, and, without consideration for cost of ink and
paper, wrote his name in poster letters. When you look
upon the Declaration the first thing you see is the
signature of John Hancock, and you recall his remark,
" 1 guess King George can read that without spectacles."
The whole action was melodramatic, and although a
bold signature has ever been said to betoken a bold heart.
it has yet to be demonstrated that boys who whistle
120

JOHN HANCOCK

going through the woods are indifferent to danger.
" Conscious weakness takes strong attitudes," says
Delsarte, The strength of Hancock's signature was an
affectation quite in keeping with his habit of riding
about Boston in a coach-and-six, with outriders in
uniform, and servants in livery.
When Hancock wrote to Washington asking for an
appointment in the army, the wise and farseeing chief
replied with gentle words of praise concerning Colonel
Hancock's record, and wound up by saying that he
regretted there was no place at his disposal worthy of
Colonel Hancock's qualifications. Well did he know that
Hancock weis not quite patriot enough to fiU a lowly
rank 53 53
The part that Hancock played in the eight years of war
was inconspicuous. However, there was little spirit of
revenge in his character: he sometimes scolded, but he
did not hate. He never allowed personal animosities to
make him waver in his loyalty to independence. In
fact, with a price upon his head, but one course was
open for him.
Just before Washington was inaugurated President, he
visited Boston, and a curious struggle took place
between him and Hancock, who was Governor, It was
all a question of etiquette — ^which should make the first
call. Each side played a waiting game, and at last
Hancock's gout came in eis an excellent excuse and the
country was saved, 121

JOHN HANCOCK

In one of his letters, Hancock says, " The entire Genteel
portion of the town was invited to my House, while on
the sidewalk I had a cask of Madeira for the Common
People." His repeated re-election as Govemor proves
his popularity. Through lavish expenditure, his fortune
was much reduced, and for many years he was sorely
pressed for funds, his means being tied up in unpro
ductive ways.
His last triumph, as Govemor, was to send a special
message to the Legislature, informing that body that
" a company of Aliens and Foreigners have entered the
State, and the Metropolis of Government, emd under
advertisements insulting to all Good Men and Ladies
have been pleased to invite them to attend certain
Stage-Plays, Interludes and Theatrical Entertainments
under the Style and Appellation of Moral Lectures. . . .
All of which must be put a stop to to once and the
Rogues and Varlots punished,"
A few days after this, " the Aliens and Foreigners "
gave a presentation of Sheridan's " School for Scandal,"
In the midst of the performance the sheriff and a posse
made a rush upon the stage and bagged all the offenders.
^ When their trial came on, the next day, the " varlots
and vagroms " had secured high legal talent to defend
them, one of which counsel was Harrison Gray Otis. The
actors were discharged on the slim technicality that the
warrants of arrest had not been properly verified.
However, the theater weis closed, but the " Common
122

JOHN HANCOCK

People " made such an unseemly howl about " rights "
and all that, that the Legislature made haste to repeal
the law which provided that play-actors should be
flogged 53 53
Hancock defaulted in his stewardship as Treasurer of
Harvard College, and only escaped arrest for embezzle
ment through the fact that he was Governor of the
State, and no process could be served upon him. After
his death his estate paid nine years' simple interest on
his deficit, and ten years thereafter, the principal was
paid 53 53
His widow married Captain Scott, who was long in
Hancock's employ as master of a brig; and we find the
worthy captain proudly exclaiming, " I have embarked
on the sea of Matrimony, and eim now at the helm of
the Hancock mansion! "
No biography of Govemor Hancock has ever been
written. The record of his life flutters only in newspaper
paragraphs, letters, and chance mention in various
diaries 53 53
Hancock did not live to see John Adams President.
Worn by worry, and grown old before his time, he died
at the early age of fifty-six, of a combination of gout
and that unplebeian complaint we now term Bright's
Diseeise 53 53
Thirty-three years eifter, hale old John Adams down at
Quincy spoke of him as " a clever fellow, a bit spoiled
by a legacy, whom I used to know in my younger days."
123

JOHN HANCOCK

He left no descendants, and his heirs were too intent on
being in at the death to care for his memory. They
neither preserved the data of his life, nor over his grave
placed a headstone. The monument that now meirks his
resting-pleice was recently erected by the State of
Meissachusetts. He was buried in the Old Granary
Burying-Ground, on Tremont Street, and orJy a step
from his grave sleeps his friend Samuel Adams.

124

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

To the guidance of the legislative councils; to the assist
ance of the executive and subordinate departments;
to the friendly co-operation of the respective State
Governments; to the candid and liberal support of the
people, so far as it may be deserved by honest industry
and zeal, I shall look for whatever success may attend
my public service; and knowing that " except the Lord
keep the city, the watchmem waketh in vain," with
fervent supplications for His favor, to His overruUng
providence I commit, with humble but fearless con
fidence, my own fate and the future destinies of my
country 53 53
— Inaugural Address

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

INE miles south of Boston, just a
little back from the escalloped
shores of Old Ocean, lies the village
of Breiintree. It is on the Plymouth
post-road, being one of that string
of settlements, built a few miles
apart for better protection, that
lined the sea, Boston being crowded,
and Plymouth full to overflowing, the home-seekers
spread out north and south 53 In Sixteen Hundred
Twenty, when the first cabin was built at Braintree,
lemd that was not in sight of the coast had actually no
veJue. Back a mile, all was a howling wilderness, with
trails made by wild beasts or savage men as wild. These
paths led through tangles of fallen trees and tumbled
rocks, beneath dark, overhanging pines where winter's
snows melted not till midsummer, and the sun's rays
were strange and alien. Men who sought to traverse
these ways had to crouch and crawl or climb. Through
them no horse or ox or beast of burden had carried its
load Si Si
But up from the sea the ground rose gradually for a
mile, and along this slope that faced the tide, wind emd
storm had partly cleared the ground, emd on the hill
sides our forefathers made their homes. The houses
were built facing either the east or the south. This
127

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

persistence to face either the sun or the sea shows a
last, strange rudiment of paganism, making queer
angles now that surveyors have come with Gunter's
chain and transit, laying out streets and doing their
work 53 53
A mile out, north of Braintree, on the Boston road,
came, in Sixteen Hundred Twenty-five, one Captain
WoUaston, a merry wight, and thirty boon companions,
all of whom probably left Englajpd for England's good.
They were in search of gold and pelf, and all were
agreed on one point: they were quite too good to do
any hard work. Their camp was called Mount WoUeis-
ton, or the Merry Mount, Our gallant gentlemen culti
vated the friendship of the Indians, in the hope that
they would reveal the caves and caverns where the
gold grew lush and nuggets cumbered the way; and the
Indians, liking the drink they offered, brought them
meal and corn and furs.
And so the thirty set up a Maypole, adorned with
bucks' horns, and drank and feasted, and danced like
fairies or furies, the livelong day or night. So scandal
ously did these exiled lords behave that good folks
made a wide circuit 'round to avoid their camp.
Preaching had been in vain, and prayers for the con
version of the wretches remained unanswered. So the
neighbors held a convention, and decided to send Cap
tain Miles Standish with a posse to teach the merry
men manners,
128

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

Standish appeared among the bacchanalians one morn
ing, perfectly sober, and they were not. He arrested the
captain, and bade the others begone. The leader was
shipped back to England, with compliments and regrets,
and the thirty scattered. This was the first move in
that quarter in favor of local option.
Six years later, the land thereabouts was granted and
apportioned out to the Reverend John Wilson, William
Coddington, Edward Quinsey, James Penniman, Moses
Payne and Francis Eliot,
And these men and their families built houses and
founded " the North Precinct of the Town of Brain
tree," 53 Si
Between the North Precinct and the South Precinct
there was continual rivalry. Boys who were caught
over the dead-line, which was marked by Deacon Penni-
man's house, had to fight. Thus things continued until
Seventeen Hundred Ninety-two, when one John Adams
was Vice-President of the United States, Now this
John Adams, lawyer, was the son of John Adams,
honest farmer and cordwainer, who had bought the
Penniman homestead, and whose progenitor, Henry
Adams, had moved there in Sixteen Hundred Thirty-
six. John Adams, Vice-President, afterwards President,
was born there in the Penniman house, and was re
garded as a neutral, although he had been thrashed by
boys both from the North and from the South Precinct.
But at the last, there is no such thing as neutrality. 129

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

John Adams sided with the boys from the North
Precinct, and now that he was in power it occurred to
him, having had a little experience in the revolutionary
line, that for the North Precinct to secede from the
great town of Braintree would be but proper and right.
^The North Precinct had six stores that sold W. I.
goods, and a tavern that sold W, E, T, goods, and it
should have a post-office of its own.
So John Adams suggested the matter to Richard
Cranch, who was his brother-in-law and near neighbor.
Cranch agitated the matter, and the new town, which
was the old, was incorporated. They called it Quincy,
probably because Abigail, John's wife, insisted upon
it. She had named her eldest boy Quincy, in honor of
her grandfather, whose father's name was Quinsey,
and who had relatives who spelled it De Quincey, one
of which tribe was an opium-eater.
Now, when Abigail made a suggestion, John usually
heeded it. For Abigail was as wise as she was good, and
John well knew that his success in life had come largely
from the help, counsel and inspiration vouchsafed to
him by this splendid woman. And the man who wiU
not let a woman have her way in all such small matters
as naming of babies or towns is not much of a man.
So the town was named Quincy, and brother-in-law
Cranch was appointed its first postmaster. Shortly
after, the Boston "Centinel" contained a sarcastic arti
cle over the signature. " Old Subscriber." concerning
130

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

the distribution of official patronage among kinsmen,
and the Eliots and the Everetts gossiped over their
back fences. ^ At this time Abigail lived in the cottage
there on the Plymouth road, halfway between Brain
tree and Quincy, but she got her mail at Quincy.
The Adams cottage is there now, and the next time
you are in Boston you had better go out and see it,
just as June and I did one bright October day,
June has lived within an hour's ride of the Adams'
home all her blessed thirty- two sunshiny summers;
she also boasts a Mayflower ancestry, with, however,
a slight infusion of Castle Garden, Uke myself, to give
firmness of fiber — and yet she had never been to Quincy.
^ The John and Abigail cottage was built in Seventeen
Hundred Sixteen, so says a truthful brick found in the
queunt old chimney. Deacon Penniman built this house
for his son, and it faces the sea, although the older
Penniman house faces the south, John Adeims was
bom in the older house; but when he used to go to
Weymouth every Wednesday and Saturday evening
to see Abigail Smith, the minister's daughter, his
father, the worthy shoemaker, told him that when he
got married he could have the other house for himself,
^ John was a bright young lawyer then, a graduate of
Harvard, where he had been sent in hopes that he
would become a minister, for one-half the students
then at Harvard were embryo preachers. But John
did not take to theology. 131

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

He had witnessed ecclesiastical tennis and theological
pitch and toss in Braintree that had nearly split the
town, and he decided on the law. One thing sure, he
could not work: he was not strong enough for that —
everybody said so. And right here seems a good place
to call attention to the fact that weak men, like those
who are threatened, live long. John Adams' letters to
his wife reveal a very frequent reference to liver com
plaint, lung trouble, and that tired feeling, yet he lived
to be ninety-two.
The Reverend Mr, Smith did not at first favor the idea
of his daughter Abigail marrying John Adams, The
Adams family were only farmers (and shoemakers
when it rained), while the Smiths had aristocracy on
their side. He said lawyers were men who got bad folks
out of trouble and good folks in. But Abigail seud that
this lawyer was different; and as Mr, Smith saw it was
a love-match, and such things being difficult to com
bat successfully, he decided he would do the next best
thing — give the young couple his blessing. Yet the
neighbors were quite scandalized to think that their
pastor's daughter should hold converse over the gate
with a lawyer, and they let the clergyman know it as
neighbors then did, and sometimes do now. Then did
the Reverend Mr, Smith announce that he would
preach a sermon on the sin of meddling with other
folk's business. As his text he took the passage from
Luke, seventh chapter, thirty-third verse: " For John
132

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye
say, he hath a devil,"
The neighbors saw the point, for a short time before,
when the eldest daughter, Mary, had married Richard
Cranch (the man who was to achieve a post-office), the
community had entered a protest, and the Reverend
Mr. Smith had preached from Luke, tenth chapter,
forty-second verse: " And Mary hath chosen that good
part which shall not be taken away from her," So there,
now! 53 53
And John and Abigail were married one evening at
early candlelight, in the church at Wejonouth. The
good father performed the ceremony, and nearly broke
down during it, they say, and then he kissed both bride
and groom.
The neighbors had repaired to the parsonage and were
eating and drinking and making merry when John and
Abigail slipped out by the back gate, and made their
way, hand in hand, in the starlight, down the road that
ran through the woods to Braintree. When near the
village they cut across the pasture-lot and reached
their cottage, which for several weeks they had been
putting in order. John unlocked the front door, and
they entered over the big, flat stone at the entry, and
over which you may enter now, all sunken and worn by
generations of men gone. Some whose feet have pressed
that doorstep we count as the salt of the earth, for their
neimes are written large on history's page, Washington 133

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

rode out there on horseback, and while his aide held
his horse, he visited and drank mulled cider and ate
doughnuts within. Hancock came often, and Otis,
Samuel Adams and Loring used to enter without plying
the knocker.
Through the earnest work of William G, Spear, the
cottage has now been restored and fully furnished, as
near like it was then as knowledge, fancy and imagina
tion can devise.
When we reached Quincy we saw a benevolent-looking
old Puritan, and June said, " Ask him! "
" Can you tell me where we can find Mr, Spear, the
antiquarian? " I inquired,
" The which? " said the son of Priscilla Mullins,
" Mr, Spear, the antiquarian," 1 repeated,
" It 's not Bill Spear who keeps a secondhand-shop,
you want, mebbe? "
" Yes; I think that is the man,"
And so we were directed to the " secondhand-shop,"
which proved to be the rooms of the Quincy Historical
Society, And there we saw such a wondrous collection of
secondhand stuff that, as we looked and looked, and Mr,
Spear explained, and gave large slices of Colonial his
tory, June, who is a Daughter of the American Revolu
tion, gushed a trifle more than was meet.
Nothing short of a hundred years will set the seal of
value on an article for Mr, Spear, and one hundred
fifty is more like it. On his walls are hats, caps, spurs,
134

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

boots and accouterments used in the Revolutionary
War. Then there are candlesticks, snuffers, spectacles,
butter-molds, bonnets, dresses, shoes, baby-stockings,
cradles, rattles, aprons, butter-tubs made out of a
solid piece, shovels to match, emdirons, pokers, skillets
and blue china galore.
" Bill Spear " himself is quite a curiosity. He traces a
lineage to the well-known Lieutenant Seth Spear, of
Revolutionary fame, and back of that to John Alden,
who spoke for himself. The bark on the antiquarian is
rather rough; and I regret to say that he makes use of a
few words I can not find in the " Century Dictionary,"
but as June was not shocked I managed to stand it. On
further acquaintance I concluded that Mr, Spear's
bruskness was assumed, and that beneath the tough
husk there beats a very tender heart. He is one of those
queer fellows who do good by stealth and abuse you
roundly if accused of it.
For twenty-five years Mr. Spear has been doing little
else but studying Colonial history, and making love to
old ladies who own clocks and skillets given them by
their great-grandmammas. There is no doubt that Spear
has dictated clauses in a hundred wills devising that
William G, Spear, Custodian of the Quincy Historical
Society, shall have snuffers and biscuit-molds.
At first, Mr, Spear collected for his own amusement and
benefit, but the trouble grew upon him until it became
chronic, and one fine day he realized that he weis not
135

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

immortal, and when he should die, all his collection,
which had taken years to accumulate, would be
scattered. And so he founded the Quincy Historical
Society, incorporated by a perpetual charter, with
Charles Francis Adams, grandson of John Quincy
Adams, as first president.
Then, the next thing was to secure the cottage where
John and Abigail Adams began housekeeping, and
where John Quincy was bom. This house has been in
the Adams family all these years and been rented to the
firm of Tom, Dick and Harry, and any of their tribe
who would agree to pay ten dollars a month for its use
and abuse. Just across the road from the cottage lives a
fine old soul by the name of John Crane. Mr. Crane is
somewhere between seventy and a hundred years old,
but he has a young heart, a face like Gladstone and a
memory like a copy-book. Mr. Crane was on very good
terms with John Quincy Adams, knew him well and had
often seen him come here to collect rent. He told me
that during his recollection the Adams place had been
occupied by full forty families. But now, thanks to
" Bill Spear," it is no longer for rent.
The house has been raised from the ground, new siUs
placed under it, and while every part — scantling, rafter,
joist, crossbeam, lath and weatherboard — of the origineJ
house has been retained, it has been put in such order
that it is nolonger going to ruin.
From the ample stores of his various antiquarian
136

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

depositories Mr, Spear has refurnished it; and with a
ripe knowledge and rare good taste and restraining
imagination, the cottage is now shown to us as a Colonial
farmhouse of the year Seventeen Hundred Fifty, The
wonder to me is that Mr. Spear, being human, did not
move his " secondhand-shop " down here and make of
the place a curiosity-shop. But he has done better.
As you step across the doorsill and pass from the little
entry into the " living-room," you pause and murmur,
" Excuse me," For there is a fire on the hearth, the tea
kettle sings softly, and on the back of a chair hangs a
sunbonnet. And over there on the table is an open
Bible, and on the open page is a pair of spectacles and a
red, crumpled handkerchief. Yes, the folks are at home:
they have just stepped into the next room — perhaps are
eating dinner. And so you sit down in an old hickory
chair, or in the high settle that stands against the wall
by the fireplace, and wait, expecting every moment that
the kitchen-door will creak on its wooden hinges, and
Abigail, smiling and gentle, will enter to greet you.
Mr, Spear understands, and, disappearing, leaves you
to your thoughts — and June's.
John and Abigail were lovers their lifetime through.
Their published letters show a oneness of thought and
sentiment that, viewed across the years, moves us to
tears to think that such as they should at last feebly
totter, and then turn to dust. But here they came in the
joyous springtime of their lives; upon this floor you
137

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

tread the ways their feet have trod; these walls have
echoed to their singing voices, listened to their counsels,
and seen love's caress. ^ There is no surplus furniture
nor display nor setting forth of useless things. Every
article you see has its use. The little shelf of books, well-
thumbed, displays no " Trilby " nor " Quest of the
Golden Girl " — not an anachronism anywhere. Curteiins,
chairs, tables, and the one or two pictures — all ring
true. In the kitchen are washtubs and butter-ladles and
bowls; and the lantem hanging by the chimney, with a
dipped candle inside, has a carefully scraped horn face.
It is a lanthom. In the cupboard across the comer are
blue china and pewter spoons and steel knives, with just
a little polished-brass stuff sent from England, Down
in the cellar, with its dirt walls, are apples, yellow
pumpkins and potatoes — each in its proper place, for
Abigail was a rare good housekeeper. Then there is a
barrel of cider, with a hickory spigot and an inviting
gourd. All tells of economy, thrift, industry and the
cunning of woman's hands.
In the kitchen is a funny cradle, hooded, and cut out of
a great pine log. The little mattress and the coverlet
seem disturbed, and you would declare the baby had
just been lifted out, and you listen for its cry. The
rocker is worn by the feet of mothers whose hands were
busy with needles or wheel as they rocked and sang.
And from the fact that it is in the kitchen, you know
that the servant-girl problem then had no terrors.
138

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

Overhead hang ears of com, bunches of dried catnip,
pennyroyal and boneset. and festooned across the
corner are strings of dried apples, ^ Then you go up
stairs, with conscience pricking a bit for thus visiting
the house of honest folks when they are away, for you
know how all good housewives dislike to have people
prying about, especially in the upper chambers — at
least June said so!
The room to the right was Abigail's own. You would
know it was a woman's room. There is a faint odor of
lavender and thyme about it, and the white and blue
draperies around the little mirror, and the little femi
nine nothings on the dresser, reveal the lady who would
appear well before the man she loves.
The bed is a high, draped four-poster, plain and solid,
evidently made by a ship-carpenter who had ambitions.
The coverlet is light blue, and matches the draperies of
windows, dresser and mirror. On the pillow is a night
cap, in which even a homely woman would be beautiful.
^ There is a clothespress in the comer, into which
Mr. Spear says we may look. On the door is a slippery-
elm button, and within, hanging on wooden pegs, are
dainty dresses; stiff, curiously embroidered gowns they
are, that came from across the sea, sent, perhaps, by
John Adams when he went to France, and left Abigail
here to farm and sew and weave and teach the children.
June examined the dresses carefully, and said the
embroidery was handmade, and must have taken
139

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

months and months to complete. On a high shelf of the
closet are bandboxes, in which are bonnets, astonishing
bonnets, with prodigious flaring fronts. Mr. Spear in
sisted that June should try one on. and when she did
we stood off and declared the effect was a vision of
loveliness. Outside the clothespress, on a peg, hangs a
linsey-woolsey every-day gown that shows marks of
wear. The waist came just under June's arms, and the
bottom of the dress to her shoe-tops 53 We asked
Mr. Spear the price of it, but the custodian is not
commercial. In a corner of the room is a cedar chest
containing hand-woven linen.
By the front window is a little, low desk, with a leaf
that opens out for a writing-shelf. And here you see
quill-pens, fresh nibbed, and ink in a curious well made
from horn. Here it was that Abigail wrote those letters
to her lover-husband when he attended those first and
second Congresses in Philadelphia; and then when he
was in France and England, those letters in which we
see affection, loyalty, tales of babies with colic, brave,
political good sense, and all those foolish trifles that
go to fill up love-letters, and, at the leist, are their divine
essence and charm.
Here, she wrote the letter telling of going with their
seven-year-old boy, John Quincy, to Penn's Hill to
watch the burning of Charlestown; and saw the flashing
of cannons and rising smoke that marked the battle of
Bunker Hill, Here she wrote to her husband when he
140

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

was minister to England, " This little cottage heis more
comfort and satisfaction for you than the courts of
royalty," ^ But of all the letters written by that brave
woman none reveals her true nobility better than the
one written to her husband the day he became President
of the United States, Here it is entire:
Quincy, 8 February, 1797
" The sun is dressed in brightest beams.
To give thy honors to the day,"
" And may it prove an auspicious prelude to each en
suing seeison. You have this day to declare yourself
head of a Nation. And now, O Lord, my God, Thou
hast made Thy servant ruler over the people. Give unto
him an understanding heart, that he may know how
to go out and come in before this great people; that he
may discern between good and bad. For who is able to
judge this Thy so great a people, were the words of a
royal Sovereign; and not less applicable to him who is
invested with the Chief Magistracy of a nation, though
he wear not a crown, nor the robes of royalty.
" My thoughts and my meditations are with you,
though personally absent; and my petitions to Heaven
are that the things which make for peace may not be
hidden from your eyes. My feelings are not those of
pride or ostentation upon the occasion 53 They are
solemnized by a sense of the obligations, the important
trusts, and numerous duties connected with it. That
you may be enabled to discharge them with honor to
141

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

yourself, with justice and impartiality to your country,
and with satisfaction to this great people, shall be the
daily prayer of your A. A,"
It was in this room that Abigail waited while British
soldiers ransacked the rooms below and made bullets
of the best pewter spoons. Here her son who was to be
President was born,
John Quincy Adams was six years old when his father
kissed him good-by and rode away for Philadelphia
with John Hancock and Samuel Adams (who rode a
horse loaned him by John Adeims), Abigail stood in the
doorway holding the baby, and watched them disappear
in the curve of the road. This was in August, Seventeen
Hundred Seventy-four, Most of the rest of that year
Abigail was alone with her babies on the little farm. It
was the same next year, and in Seventeen Hundred
Seventy-six, too, when John Adams wrote home that
he had made the formal move for Independency and
also nominated George Washington as Commander-in-
Chief of the army; and he hoped things would soon be
better 53 53
Those were troublous times in which to live in the
vicinity of Boston, There were straggling troops passing
up and down the Plymouth road every day. Sometimes
they were redcoats and sometimes buff and blue, but
all seemed to be very hungry and extremely thirsty.
and the Adams household received a great deal more
142

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

attention than it courted. The master of the house was
away, but all seemed to know who lived there, and the
callers were not always courteous.
In such a feverish atmosphere of unrest, children evolve
quickly into men and women, and their faces take on
the look of thought where should be only careless,
happy, dimpled smiles. Yes. responsibility matures,
and that is the way John Quincy Adeims got cheated
out of his childhood.
When eight years of age, his mother called him the
little man of the house. The next year he was a post-
rider, making a daily trip to Boston with letter-bags
across his saddlebows.
When eleven years of age, his father came home to say
that some one had to go to France to serve with Jay
and Franklin in making a treaty.
" Go," said Abigail, " and God be with you! " But
when it was suggested that John Quincy go. too, the
parting did not seem so easy. But it was a fine oppor
tunity for the boy to see the world of men, and the
mother's head appreciated it even if her heart did not.
And yet she had the heroism that is willing to remain
behind 53 Si
So father and son seiiled away; emd little John Quincy
added postscripts to his father's letters and said, " I
send my loving duty to my mamma,"
The boy took kindly to foreign ways, eis boys will, and
the French lemguage had no such terrors for him as it
143

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

had for his father. The first stay in Europ>e was only
three months, and back they came on a leaky ship.
But the home-stay was even shoi-ter than the stay
abroad, and John Adams had again to cross the water
on his country's business. Again the boy went with him.
^ It was five years before the mother saw him. And
then he had gone on alone from Paris to London to
meet her. She did not know him, for he weis nearly
eighteen emd a man grown. He had visited every
country in Europe and been the helper and companion
of statesmen emd courtiers, and seen society in its
various pheises. He sp>oke several languages, emd in
point of poUsh and manly dignity weis the F>eer of many
of his elders, Mrs. Adams looked at him and then began
to cry, whether for joy or for sorrow she did not know.
Her boy had gone, escaped her, gone forever, but, in
stead, here weis a taU young diplomat ceilUng her
" mother," 53 53
There weis a career ahead for John Quincy Adams —
his father knew it, his mother was sure of it, and John
Quincy himself was not in doubt. He could then have
gone right on, but his father weis a Harvard mem, and
the New England superstition was strong in the Adams
heart that success could only be achieved when based
on a Harvard parchment.
So back to Meissachusetts sailed John Quincy; and a
two-year course at Harvard secured the much-desired
diploma 5353
144

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

From the very time he crawled over this kitchen-floor
and pushed a chair, learning to walk, or tumbled down
the stairs and then made his way bravely up again
alone, he knew that he would arrive. Precocious, proud,
firm, and with a coldness in his nature that was not a
heritage from either his father or his mother, he made
his way 53 53
It was a zigzag course, and the way weis strewn with
the flotsam and jetsam of wrecked parties and blighted
hopes, but out of the wreckage John Quincy Adams
always appeared calm, poised and serene. When he
opp>osed the purchase of Louisiana it looks as if he
allowed his animosity for Jefferson to put his judgment
in chancery. He made mistakes, but this was the only
blunder of his career. The record of that life expressed
in bold stands thus:
1 767— Bom May Eleventh,
1 776 — Post-rider between Boston and Quincy,
1 778 — At school in Paris.
1 780 — ^At school in Leyden.
1781 — Private Secretary to Minister to Russia.
1 787 — Graduated at Harvard,
1 794 — Minister at The Hague.
1797 — Married Louise Catherine Johnson, of
Maryland 53 53
1 797— Minister at Beriin.
1 802 — Member of Massachusetts State Senate,
1803— United States Senator. 145

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

1806 — Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory at Har
vard 53 53
1809 — ^Minister to Russia.
1811 — Nominated and confirmed by Senate as
Judge of Supreme Court of the United
States; declined.
1814 — Commissioner at Ghent to treat for peace
with Great Britain.
1815 — Minister to Great Britain.
181 7 — Secretary of State.
1 825 — Elected President of the United States.
1830 — Elected a Member of Congress, and repre
sented the district for seventeen years,
1848 — Stricken with paralysis February Twenty-
first in the Capitol, and died the second
day after.

146

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

RE N'T we staying in this room a good
while? " said June; " you have sat there
staring out of that window looking at nothing
for just ten minutes, emd not a word have
you spoken! "
Mr, Spear had disappeeired into space, and so we made
our way across the littie haU to the room that belonged
to Mr, Adeuns, It was in the disorder that men's rooms
are apt to be. On the table were quill-pens and curious
old papers with seals on them, emd on one I saw the
date, June Sixteenth, Seventeen Hundred Sixty-eight —
the whole document written out in the hemd of John
Adams, beginning very prim and careful, then moving
off into a hurried scrawl as spirit meistered the letter.
There is a Uttie hair-covered trunk in the comer,
studded with breiss nails, and boots and leggings and
canes and a jackknife and a bootjack, and, on the win-
dow-siU, a friendly snuffbox. In the clothespress were
buff trousers and an embroidered coat, emd shoes with
silver buckles, and severed suits of every-day clothes,
showing weeu- and patches.
On up to the garret we groped, and bumped our heads
against the rafters. The light was dim. but we could
make out more apples on strings, and roots and herbs
in bunches hung from the peak. Here was a three-legged
chedr and a broken spinning-wheel, emd the junk that
is too veJuable to throw away, yet not good enough
to keep, but " some day may be needed.*" 147

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

Down the narrow stairway we went, and in the little
kitchen, Sammy, the artist, and Mr, Spear, the custo
dian, were busy at the fireplace preparing dinner. There
is no stove in the house, and none is needed. The crane
and brick oven and long-handled skillets suffice. Sammy
is an expert camp-cook, and swears there is death in
the chafing-dish, and grows profane if you mention
one. His skill in turning flapjacks by a simple manipu
lation of the long-handled griddle means more to his
true ego than the finest canvas.
June offered to set the table, but Sammy said she could
never do it alone, so together they brought out the blue
china dishes and the pewter plates. Then they drew
water at the stone-curbed well with the great sweep,
carrying the leather-baled bucket between them.
I was feeling quite useless and asked, " Can't I do
something to help? "
" There is the lye-leach — ^you might bring out some
ashes and make some soft soap," said June pointing to
the ancient leach and soap-kettle in the yard, the joys
of Mr, Spear's heart,
Sammy stood at the back door and pounded on the
dishpan with a wooden spoon to announce that diimer
was ready. It was quite a sumptuous meal: potatoes
baked in the ashes, beans baked in the brick oven,
coffee made on the hearth, fish cooked in the skillet.
and pancakes made on a griddle with a handle three
feet long, 148

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

Mr. Spear had eisplrations toward an apple-pie and
had made violent efforts in that direction, but the prod
uct being dough on top and charcoal on the bottom
we declined the nomination with thanks,
June suggested that pies should be baked in an oven
and not cooked on a pancake griddle. The custodiem
thought there might be something in it — a suggestion
he would have scorned and scouted had it come from
me 53 53
To change the rather painful subject. Mr. Spear began
to talk about John and Abigail Adams, and to quote
from their " Letters," a volume he seems to have by
heart 53 33
" Do you know why their love was so very steadfeist,
and why they stimulated the mental and spiritual
natures of each other so? " eisked June.
" No, why was it? "
"Well, I '11 tell you: it weis because they spent one-
third of their married Ufe apart."
" Indeed! "
" Yes, and in this way they Uved In an ideal world. In
all their letters you see they are always counting the
days ere they will meet. Now, people who are together
all the time never write that way, because they do not
feel that way — I '11 leave it to Mr. Spear! "
But Mr. Spear, being a bachelor, did not know. Then
the case was referred to Sammy, and Seimmy Ued and
said he had never considered the subject. 149

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS

" And would you advise, then, that married couples
live apart one-third of the time, in the interests of
domestic peace? " I asked,
" Certainly! " said June, with her Burne-Jones chin in
the air. " Certainly; but I fear you are the man who
does not understemd; and anyway I am sure it will be
much more profitable for us to cultivate the receptive
spirit and listen to Mr, Spear — such opportunities do
not come very often, I did not mean to interrupt you,
Mr. Spear; go on, please! "
And Mr, Spear filled a clay pipe with natured leaf that
he crumbled in his hemd, emd deftly picking a coal from
the fireplace with a shovel one hundred fifty years old,
puffed five times silently, and began to talk.

150

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

The objects to be attained are: To justify emd preserve
the confidence of the most enlightened friends of good
government; to promote the increasing respectability of
the American name; to answer the calls of justice; to
restore landed property to its due value; to furnish new
sources both to agriculture and to commerce ; to cement
more closely the union of the States; to add to their
security against foreign attack; to establish public order
on the basis of an upright and liberal policy: these are
the great and invaluable ends to be secured by a proper
emd adequate provision, at the present p)eriod, for the
support of public credit.
— Report to Congress

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

E do not know the name of the
mother of Alexander Hamilton: we
do not know the given name of his
father. But from letters, a diary and
pieced-out reports, allowing fancy
to bridge from fact to fact, we get
a patchwork history of the events
preceding the birth of this wonderful
man, ^ Every strong man has had a splendid mother,
Hamilton's mother was a woman of wit, beauty and
education. While very young, through the machinations
of her elders, she had been married to a man much older
than herself — rich, wilful and dissipated. The man's
name was Lavine, but his first name we do not know, so
hidden were the times in a maze of obscurity. The young
wife very soon discovered the depravity of this man
whom she had vowed to love and obey; divorce was
impossible; and rather than endure a lifelong existence
of legalized shame, she packed up her scanty effects
emd sought to hide herself from society and kinsmen by
going to the West Indies,
There she hoped to find employment eis a governess in
the family of one of the rich planters; or if this plan
were not successful she would start a school on her own
account, and thus benefit her kind and make for herself
an honorable living. Arriving at the island of Nevis,
153

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

she found that the natives did not especially desire
education, certainly not enough to pay for it, and there
was no family requiring a governess. But a certain
Scotch planter by the name of Hamilton, who was
consulted, thought in time that a school could be built
up, and he offered to meet the expense of it until such a
time as it could be put on a paying basis. Unmarried
women who accept friendly loans from men stand in
dangerous places. With all good women, heart-whole
gratitude and a friendship that seems unselfish ripen
easily into love. They did so here. Perhaps, in a warm,
ardent temperament, sore grief and biting disappoint
ment and crouching want obscure the judgment and
give a show of reason to actions that a colder intellect
would disapprove.
On the frontiers of civilization man is greater than law —
all ceremonies are looked upon lightly. In a few months
Mrs, Lavine was called by the little world of Nevis,
Mrs, Harnilton, and Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton regarded
themselves as man and wife.
The planter Hamilton was a hard-headed, busy indi
vidual, who was quite unable to sympathize with his
wife's finer aspirations. Her first husband had been
clever and dissipated; this one was worthy and dull.
And thus deprived of congenial friendships, without
books or art or that social home life which goes to make
up a woman's world, and longing for the safety of close
sympathy and tender love, with no one on whom her
154

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

intellect could strike a spark, she keenly felt the bitter
ness of exile.
In a city where society ebbs and flows, an intellectual
woman married to a commerce-grubbing man is not
especially to be pitied. She can find intellectual affinities
that will ease the irksomeness of her situation. But to
be cast on a desert isle with a being, no matter how good,
who is incapable of feeUng with you the eternal mystery
of the encircling tides; who can only stare when you
speak of the moaning lullaby of the restless sea; who
knows not the glory of the sunrise, and feels no thrill
when the breakers dash themselves into foam, or the
moonlight dances on the phosphorescent waves — ah,
that is indeed exile ! Loneliness is not in being alone, for
then ministering spirits come to soothe and bless —
loneliness is to endure the presence of one who does not
understand 53 Si
And so this finely organized, receptive, aspiring woman,
through the exercise of a will that seemed masculine in
its strength, found her feet mired in quicksand. She
struggled to free herself, and every effort only sank her
deeper. The relentless environment only held her with
firmer clutch.
She thirsted for knowledge, for sweet music, for beauty,
for sympathy, for attainment. She had a heart-hunger
that none about her understood. She strove for better
things. She prayed to God, but the heavens were eis
brass; she cried aloud, and the only answer was the
155

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

throbbing of her restless heart. ^ In this condition, a
son was bom to her. They called his name Alexander
Hamilton, This child was heir to all his mother's
splendid ambitions. Her lack of opportunity was his
blessing; for the stifled aspirations of her soul charged
his being with a strong man's desires, and all the
mother's silken, unswerving will was woven through his
nature. He was to surmount obstacles that she could
not overcome, and to tread under his feet difficulties
that to her were invincible.
The prayer of her heart was answered, but not in the
way she expected. God listened to her after all; for every
eamest prayer has its answer, and not a sincere desire
of the heart but somewhere will find its gratification 53
But earth's buffets were too severe for the brave young
woman; the forces in league against her were more than
she could withstand, and before her boy was out of baby
dresses she gave up the struggle, and went to her long
rest, soothed only by the thought that, although she
had sorely blundered, she yet had done her work as
best she could.

156

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

T his mother's death, we find Alexander
Hamilton taken in charge by certain mystical
kinsmen. Evidently he was well cared for, as
he grew into a handsome, strong lad — small,
to be sure, but finely formed. Where he learned to read,
write and cipher we know not; he seems to have had
one of those active, alert minds that can acquire knowl
edge on a barren island.
When nine years old, he signed his name as witness to a
deed. The signature is needlessly large and bold, and
written with careful schoolboy pains, but the writing
shows the same characteristics that mark the thousand
and one dispatches which we have, signed at bottom,
" G. Washington,"
At twelve years of age, he was clerk in a general store —
one of those country stores where everything is kept,
from ribbon to whisky. There were other helpers in the
store, full grown; but when the proprietor went away
for a few days into the interior, the dark, slim youngster
took charge of the bookkeeping and the cash ; and made
such shrewd exchanges of merchandise for produce that
when the " Old Mem " retumed, the lad was rewarded
by two pats on the head and a raise in salary of one
shilling a week.
About this time, the boy was also showing signs of
literary skill by writing sundry poems and " composi
tions," and one of his efforts in this line describing a
tropical hurricane was published in a London paper.
157

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

This opened the eyes of the mystical kinsmen to the
fact that they had a genius among them, emd the elder
Hamilton was importuned for money to send the boy
to Boston that he might receive a proper education and
come back and own the store and be a magistrate and a
great man. No doubt the lad pressed the issue, too, for
his ambition had already begun to ferment, as we find
him writing to a friend, " 1 '11 risk my life, though not
my character, to exalt my station."
Most great things in America have to take their rise in
Boston; so it seems meet that Alexander Hamilton, aged
fifteen, a British subject, should first set foot on Amer
ican soil at Long Wharf, Boston. He took a ferry over
to Cambridgeport and wedked through the woods three
miles to Harvard College, Possibly he did not remain
because his training in a bookish way had not been
sufficient for him to enter, and possibly he did not like
the Puritanic visage of the old professor who greeted
him on the threshold of Massachusetts Hall; at any
rate, he soon made his way to New Haven, Yale suited
him no better, and he took a boat for New York,
He had letters to several good clergymen in New York,
and they proved wise and good counselors. The boy
was advised to take a course at the Grammar School
at Elizabethtown, New Jersey,
There he remained a year, applying himself most
vigorously, and the next FaU he knocked at the gate of
King's College. It is called Columbia now, because kings
158

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

in America went out of fashion, and all honors formerly
paid to the king were turned over to Miss Columbia,
Goddess of Freedom,
King's College swung wide its doors for the swarthy
little West Indian, He was allowed to choose his own
course, and every advantage of the university was
offered him. In a university, you get just all you are
able to hold — it depends upon yourself — and at the last
all men who are made at all are self-made,
Hamilton improved each passing moment as it flew;
with the help of a tutor he threw himself into his work,
gathering up knowledge with the quick perception and
eager alertness of one from whom the good things of
earth have been withheld.
Yet he lived well and spent his money as if there were
plenty more where it came from; but he was never dis
sipated nor wasteful.
This was in the year Seventeen Hundred Seventy-four,
and the Colonies were in a state of political excitement.
Young Hamilton's sympathies were all with the mother
country. He looked upon the Americans, for the most
part, as a rude, crude and barbaric people, who should
be very grateful for the protection of such an all-
powerful country as England, At his boarding-house
and at school, he argued the question hotly, defending
England's right to tax her dependencies.
One fine day, one of his schoolmates put the question
to him flatly: "In case of war, on which side will you
159

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

fight? " Hamilton answered, " On the side of Eng
land." 53 53
But by the next day he had reasoned it out that if
England succeeded in suppressing the rising insurrec
tion she would take all credit to herself; and if the
Colonies succeeded there would be honors for those
who did the work. Suddenly it came over him that
there was such a thing as " the divine right of insur
rection," and that there was no reason why men living
in America should be taxed to support a government
across the sea. The wealth produced in America should
be used to develop America,
He was young, and burning with a lofty eimbition. He
knew, and had known all along, that he would some
day be great and famous and powerful — ^here was the
opportunity 53 53
And so, next day, he announced at the boarding-house
that the eloquence and logic of his messmates were too
powerful to resist — he believed the Colonies and the
messmates were in the right. Then several bottles were
brought in, and success was drunk to all men who strove
for liberty 53 53
Patriotic sentiment is at the last self-interest; in fact,
Herbert Spencer declares that there is no sane thought
or rational act but has its root in egoism.
Shortly after the young man's conversion, there was a
mass-meeting held in " The Fields," which meemt the
wilds of what is now the region of Twenty-third Street.
160

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

Young Hamilton stood in the crowd and heard the
various speakers plead the cause of the Colonies, and
urge that New York should stand firm with Massachu
setts against the further encroachments and persecu
tions of England, There were many Tories in the crowd,
for New York was with King George as against Mas
sachusetts, and these Tories asked the speakers em
barrassing questions that the speakers failed to answer.
And all the time young Hamilton found himself nearer
and nearer the platform. Finally, he undertook to reply
to a talkative Tory, and some one shouted, " Give
him the platform — the platform! " and in a moment
this seventeen-year-old boy found himself facing two
thousand people. There was hesitation and embarrass
ment, but the shouts of one of his college chums, " Give
it to 'em! Give it to 'em! " filled in an awkward instant,
and he began to speak. There was logic and lucidity of
expression, and as he talked the air became charged
with reasons, and all he had to do was to reach up and
seize them.
His strong and passionate nature gave gravity to his
sentences, and every quibbling objector found himself
answered, and more than answered, and the speakers
who were to present the case found this stripling doing
the work so much better than they could, that they
urged him on with applause and loud cries of " Bravo!
Bravo! " 53 53
Immediately at the close of Hamilton's speech, the
161

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

chairman had the good sense to declare the meeting
adjourned — thus shutting off all reply, as well as closing
the mouths of the minnow orators who usually pop up
to neutralize the impression that the strong man has
made 53 53
Hamilton's speech was the talk of the town. The lead
ing Whigs sought him out and begged that he would
write down his address so that they could print it eis a
pamphlet in reply to the Tory pamphleteers who were
vigorously circulating their wares. The pens of ready
writers were scarce in those days: men could argue, but
to present a forcible written brief was another thing.
So young Hamilton put his reasons on paper, and their
success surprised the boys at the boarding-house, and
the college chums and the professors, and probably
himself as well. His name was on the lips of all Whig-
dom, and the Tories sent messengers to buy him off.
^ But Congress was willing to pay its defenders, and
money came from somewhere — not much, but all the
young man needed. College was dropped; the political
pot boiled; and the study of history, economics and
statecraft filled the daylight hours to the brim and
often ran over into the night.
The Winter of Seventeen Hundred Seventy-five passed
away; the plot thickened. New York had reluctantly
consented to be represented in Congress and agreed
gmmpily to join hands with the Colonies 53 The red
coats had marched out to Concord — and back; and the
162

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

embattled farmers had stood and fired the shot "heard
'round the world."
Hamilton was working hard to bring New York over
to an understemding that she must stemd firm against
English rule. He orgemized meetings, gave addresses,
wrote letters, newspaper articles and pamphlets. Then
he joined a miUtary company and was perfecting him
self in the science of war.
There were frequent outbreaks between Tory mobs
and Whigs, and the breaking up of your opponents'
meeting was looked upon as a pleasant peistime.
Then came the British ship " Asia " and opened fire
on the town. This no doubt made Whigs of a good
memy Tories. Whig sentiment was on the increase;
gangs of men marched through the streets emd the
king's stores were broken into, emd prominent Royalists
found their houses being threatened.
Doctor Cooper, President of King's College, had been
very pronounced in his rebukes to Congress and the
Colonies, and a mob made its way to his house. Arriving
there, Hamilton and his chum Troup were found on
the steps, determined to protect the place, Heimilton
stepped forward, and in a strong speech urged that
Doctor Cooper had merely expressed his own private
views, which he had a right to do, emd the house must
not on any account be molested. While the peirley was
in progress, old Doctor Cooper himself appeared at one
of the upper windows and excitedly cautioned the
163

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

crowd not to Usten to that blatant young rapscalUon
Hamilton, as he weis a rogue and a varlet and a vagrom.
The good Doctor then slammed the window emd escaped
by the back way.
His remarks raised a laugh in which even young Hamil
ton joined, but his mistake was very natural in view
of the fact that he only knew that Hamilton had de
serted the college and espoused the devil's cause; and
not having heard his remarks, but seeing him stemding
on his steps haranguing a crowd, thought surely he was
endeavoring to work up mischief against his old precep
tor, who had once plucked him in Greek,
It seems to have been the intention of his guardians
that the Umit of young Hamilton's stay in America weis
to be two years, and by that time his education would
be " complete," emd he would return to the West Indies
emd surprise the natives.
But his father, who suppUed the money, and the mys
tical kinsmen who suppUed advice, and the kind friends
who had given him letters to the Presbyterian clergy
men at New York and Princeton, had figured without
their host. Young Hamilton knew all that Nevis had
in store for him: he knew its littleness, its contumely
and disgrace, and in the secret recesses of his own
strong heart he had slipped the cable that held him to
the peist. No more remittances from home; no more
soUcitous advice; no more kind, loving letters — the past
was dead 53 For Elngland he once had had an almost
164

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

idolatrous regard; to him she had once been the pro
tector of his native land, the empress of the seas, the
enlightener of mankind; but henceforth he was an
American Si Si
He was to fight America's battles, to share in her
victory, to help make of her a great Nation, and to
weave his name into the web of her history so that as
long as the United States of America shall be remem
bered, so long also shall be remembered the name of
Alexander Hamilton.

165

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

jHAT General Washington caUed his " farruly "
usually consisted of sixteen men. These were
his aides, and more than that, his counselors
and friends. In Weishington's frequent use
of that expression, " my family," there is a touch of
affection that we do not expect to find in the tents of
war. In rank, the staff ran the gamut from captain to
general. Each man had his appointed work and made
a daily report to his chief. When not in actual action,
the family dined together daily, and the affair was
conducted with considerable ceremony, Weishington
sat at the head of the table, large, handsome and dig
nified. At his right hand was seated the guest of honor,
and there were usually several invited friends. At his
left sat Alexander Hamilton, ready with quick pen to
record the orders of his chief.
And methinks it would have been quite worth while to
have had a place at that board, emd looked down the
table at " the strong, fine face, tinged with melancholy,"
of Washington; and the cheery, youthful faces of Law
rence, Tilghman, Lee, Aaron Burr, Alexander Heimilton
and the others of that brave and handsome company.
Well might they have called Washington father, for
this he was in spirit to them all — grave, gentle, cour
teous and magnanimous, yet exacting strict and instant
obedience from all ; and well, too, may we imagine that
this obedience was freely and cheerfully given,
Hamilton became one of Washington's family on March
166

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

First, Seventeen Hundred Seventy-seven, with the
rank of lieutenant-colonel. He was barely twenty years
of age; Washington was forty-seven, and the average
age of the family, omitting its head, was twenty-five.
All had been selected on account of superior intelligence
and a record of dashing courage. When Hamilton took
his place at the board, he was the youngest member,
save one. In point of literary talent, he stood among
the very foremost in the country, for then there was no
literature in America save the literature of politics;
and as an officer, he had shown rare skill and bravery.
^ And yet, such was Hamilton's ambition and confi
dence in himself, that he hesitated to accept the position,
and considered it an act of sacrifice to do so. But having
once accepted, he threw himself into the work and
became Washington's most intimate and valued assist
ant, Washington's correspondence with his generals,
with Congress, and the written decisions demanded
daily on hundreds of minor questions, mostly devolved
on Hamilton, for work gravitates to him who can do it
best, A simple " Yes," " No " or " Perhaps " from the
chief must be elaborated into a diplomatic letter, con
veying just the right shade of meaning, all with its
proper emphasis and show of dignity and respect. Thou
sands of these dispatches can now be seen at the Capitol ;
and the ease, grace, directness and insight shown in
them are remarkable. There is no muddy rhetoric or
befuddled clauses. They were written by one with a
167

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

clear imderstanding, who weis intent that the person
addressed should understand, too 53 Many of these
documents were merely signed by Washington, but a
few reveal interlined sentences and an occasional word
changed in Washington's hand, thus showing that all
was closely scrutinized and digested.
As a member of Washington's steiff, Hamilton did not
have the independent commemd that he so much
desired; but he endured that heroic Winter at VeJley
Forge, was present at all the important battles, took
an active part in most of them, and always gained
honor and distinction.
As an aide to Washington, Hamilton's most ImpKjrtemt
mission was when he was sent to General Gates to
secure reinforcements for the Southern army. Gates
had defeated Burgoyne and won a full dozen stem
victories in the North, In the meantime, Weishington
had done nothing but make a few brave retreats.
Gates' army was made up of hardy and seasoned sol
diers, who had met the enemy and defeated him over
and over again. The flush of success weis on their bem-
ners; and Washington knew that if a few thousand of
those rugged veterans could be secured to reinforce his
own well-nigh discouraged troops, victory would also
perch upon the beinners of the South.
As a superior officer he had the right to demand these
troops; but to reduce the force of a general who is
making an excellent success is not the common rule of
168

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

war. The country looked upon Gates as its savior, and
Gates was feeling a little that way himself. Gates had
but to demand it, and the position of Commander-in-
Chief would go to him, Washington thoroughly realized
this, and therefore hesitated about issuing an order
requesting a part of Gates' force. To secure these troops
as if the suggestion came from Gates was a most delicate
commission, Alexander Hamilton was dispatched to
Gates' headquarters, armed, as a last resort, with a
curt military order to the effect that he should tum
over a portion of his army to Washington, Hamilton's
orders were: " Bring the troops, but do not deliver this
order unless you are obliged to," 53 Hamilton brought
the troops, and returned the order with seal intact 53
The act of his sudden breaking with Weishington heis
been much exaggerated. In fact, it was not a sudden
act at all, for it had been premeditated for some months.
There was a woman in the case, Hamilton had done
more than conquer General Gates on that Northern
trip; at Albany, he had met EUzabeth, daughter of
General Schuyler, and won her eifter what heis been
spoken of as " a short and sharp skirmish," Both Alex
ander and Elizabeth regarded " a clerkship " eis quite
too limited a career for one so gifted; they felt that
nothing less than commemder of a division would
answer. How to break loose — that was the question.
And when Weishington met him at the head of the
stairs of the New Windsor Hotel and sharply chided
169

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

him for being late, the young man embraced the oppor
tunity and said, "Sir, since you think I have been remiss,
we part,"
It was the act of a boy; emd the figure of this boy, five
feet five inches high, weight one hundred twenty, aged
twenty-four, talking back to his chief, six feet three,
weight two hundred, aged fifty, has its comic side.
Military rule demands that every one shall be on time,
and Washington's rebuke was proper and right. Further
than this, one feels that if he had followed up his rebuke
by boxing the young man's ears for " sassing back," he
would still not have been outside the lines of duty.
But an hour afterwards we find Washington sending
for the youth and endeavoring to mend the break. And
although Hamilton proudly repelled his advances,
Washington forgave all and generously did all he could
to advance the young man's interests, Washington's
magnanimity was absolutely without flaw, but his
attitude towards Hamilton heis a more suggestive
meaning when we consider that it was a testimonial of
the high estimate he placed on Hamilton's ability.
At Yorktown, Washington gave Hamilton the perilous
privilege of leading the assault, Hamilton did his work
well, rushing with fiery impetuosity upon the fort —
carried all before him, and in ten minutes had planted
the Stars and Stripes on the ramparts of the enemy.
It was a fine and fitting close to his glorious military
career 53 53
170

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

HEN Washington became President, the
most important office to be filled was that of
manager of the exchequer. In fact, all there
was of it was the office — there was no trea
sury, no mint, no fixed revenue, no credit; but there
were debts — foreign and domestic — and clamoring
creditors by the thousand. The debts consisted of what
was then the vast sum of eighty million dollars. The
treasury was empty. Washington had many advisers
who argued that the Nation could never live under
such a weight of debt — the only way was flatly and
frankly to repudiate — wipe the slate clean — and begin
afresh 53 53
This was what the country expected would be done;
and so low was the hope of payment that creditors
could be found who were willing to compromise their
claims for ten cents on the dollar. Robert Morris, who
had managed the finances during the period of the
Confederation, utterly refused to attempt the task
again, but he named a man who, he said, could bring
order out of chaos, if any living man could. That man
was Alexander Hamilton. Washington appealed to
Hamilton, offering him the position of Secretary of
the Treasury, Hamilton, aged thirty-two, gave up his
law practise, which was yielding him ten thousand a
year, to accept this office which paid three thousand
five hundred. Before the British cannon, Washington
did not lose heart, but to face the angry mob of creditors 171

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

waving white-paper claims made him quake; but with
Hamilton's presence his courage came back.
The first thing that Hamilton decided upon was that
there should be no repudiation — no offer of compromise
would be considered — every man should be paid in full.
And further than this, the general government would
assume the entire war debt of each individual State,
Washington concurred with Hamilton on these points,
but he could make neither oral nor written argument
in a way that would convince others; so this task was
left to Hamilton. Hamilton appeared before Congress
and explained his plans — explained them so lucidly
and with such force and precision that he made an
indelible impression. There were grumblers and com-
plainers, but these did not and could not reply to Hamil
ton, for he saw all over and around the subject, and
they saw it only at an angle, Hamilton had studied the
history of finance, and knew the financial schemes of
every country. No question of statecraft could be asked
him for which he did not have a reply ready. He knew
the science of government as no other man in America
then did, and recognizing this, Congress asked him to
prepare reports on the collection of revenue, the coast
ing trade, the effects of a tariff, shipbuilding, post-
office extension, and also a scheme for a judicial system.
When in doubt they asked Hamilton.
And all the time Hamilton was working at this be
wildering meize of detail, he was evolving that financial
172

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

policy, broad, comprehensive and minute, which en
dures even to this day, even to the various forms of
accounts that are now kept at the Treasury Depart
ment at Washington,
His insistence that to preserve the credit of a nation
every debt must be paid, is an idea that no statesman
now dare question. The entire aim and intent of his
policy was high, open and frank honesty. The people
should be made to feel an absolute security in their
government, and this being so, all forms of industry
would prosper, " and the prosperity of the people is
the prosperity of the Nation," To such a degree of
confidence did Hamilton raise the public credit that
in a very short time the government found no trouble
in borrowing all the money it needed at four per cent;
and yet this was done in face of the fact that its debt
had increased.
Just here was where his policy invited its strongest and
most bitter attack. For there are men today who can
not comprehend that a public debt is a public blessing,
and that all liabilities have a strict emd undivorceable
relationship to assets, Alexander Hamilton was a
leader of men. He could do the thinking of his time and
map out a policy, " arranging every detail for a king
dom." He has been likened to Napoleon in his ability
to plan emd execute with rapid and marvelous precision,
emd surely the similarity is striking.
But he was not an adept in the difficult and delicate 173

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

art of diplomacy — he could not wait. He demanded
instant obedience, and lacked all of that large, patient,
calm magnanimity so splendidly shown forth since by
Abraham Lincoln, Unlike Jefferson, his great rival, he
could not calmly and silently bide his time. But I will
not quarrel with a man because he is not some one else.
^ He saw things clearly at a glance; he knew because
he knew; and if others would not follow, he had the
audacity to push on alone. This recklessness to the
opinion of the slow and plodding, this indifference to
the dull, gradually drew upon him the hatred of a class,
^ They said he was a monarchist at heart and " such
men are dangerous," The country became divided into
those who were with Hamilton and those who were
against him. The very transcendent quality of his
genius wove the net that eventually was to catch his
feet and accomplish his ruin.

174

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

T has been the usual practise for nearly a
hundred years to refer to Aaron Burr as a
roue, a rogue and a thorough villain, who took
the life of a gentle and innocent man.
1 have no apologies to make for Colonel Burr; the record
of his life lies open in many books, and 1 would neither
conceal nor explain away.
If I should attempt to describe the man and liken him
to another, that man would be Alexander Hamilton,
^ They were the same age within ten months ; they
were the same height within an inch; their weight was
the same within five pounds, and in temperament and
disposition they resembled each other as brothers sel
dom do. Each was passionate, ambitious, proud.
In the drawing-room where one of these men chanced
to be, there was room for no one else — such was the
vivacity, the wit, and the generous, glowing good
nature shown. With women, the manner of these men
was most gentle and courtly; and the low, alluring
voice of each was music's honeyed flattery set to words,
^ Both were much under the average height, yet the
carriage of each was so proud and imposing that every
where they went men made way, and women turned
and stared.
Both were public speakers and lawyers of such eminence
that they took their pick of clients and charged all the
fee that policy would allow. In debate, there was a
wilful aggressiveness, a fiery sureness, a lofty certainty, 175

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

that moved judges and juries to do their bidding.
Henry Cabot Lodge says that so great was Hamilton's
renown as a lawyer that clients flocked to him because
the belief was abroad that no judge dare decide against
him. With Burr it was the same.
Both made large sums, and both spent them all as fast
eis made 53 53
In point of classic education. Burr had the advantage.
He was the grandson of the Reverend Jonathan Ed
wards, In his strong, personal magnetism, and keen,
many-sided intellect, Aaron Burr strongly resembled
the gifted Presbyterian divine who wrote " Sinners in
the Hands of an Angry God," His father was the
Reverend Aaron Burr, President of Princeton College.
He was a graduate of Princeton, and, like Hamilton,
always had the ability to focus his mind on the subject
in hand, and wring from it its very core. Burr's reputa
tion as to his susceptibility to women's charms is the
world's common — very common — property. He was
unhappily married; his wife died before he was thirty;
he was a man of ardent nature and stalked through the
world a conquering Don Juan, A historian, however,
records that " his alliances were only with women who
were deemed by society to be respectable. Married
women, unhappily mated, knowing his reputation, very
often placed themselves in his way, going to him for
advice, as moths court the flame. Young, tender and
innocent girls had no charm for him."
176

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

Hamilton was happily married to a woman of aristo
cratic feimily; rich, educated, inteUectual, gentie, and
worthy of him at his best. TTiey had a feimily of eight
children, Hemailton was a favorite of women everywhere
and weis mixed up in veurious scemdedous intrigues. He
was an easy mark for a designing woman. In one
instance, the affair was seized upon by his poUtical foes,
emd made capital of to his sore disadvemtage, Heimilton
met the issue by writing a p>eimphlet, laying beire the
entire shemneless affair, to the horror of his feunily and
friends. Copies of this pamphlet may be seen in the
rooms of the American Historical Society at New York,
Burr had been Attorney-General of New York State
and also United States Senator, Elach man had served
on Washington's staff; each had a brilUemt miUtary
record; each had acted as second in a duel; each
recognized the honor of the code.
Stem poUtical differences arose, not so much through
matters of opinion and conscience, as through ambitious
rivalry. Neither was willing the other should rise, yet
both thirsted for place and power. Burr ran for the
Presidency, emd was sternly, strongly, bitterly opposed
as " a dangerous man " by Hamilton.
At the election one more electoral vote would have
given the highest office of the people to Aaron Burr; as
it was he tied with Jefferson. TTie matter was thrown
into the House of Representatives, emd Jefferson was
given the office, with Burr eis Vice-President. Burr
177

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

considered, and perhaps rightly, that were it not for
Hamilton's assertive influence he would have been
President of the United States.
While still Vice-President, Burr sought to become
Govemor of New York, thinking this the surest road to
receiving the nomination for the Presidency at the next
election 53 53
Hamilton openly and bitterly opposed him, and the
office went to another.
Burr considered, and rightly, that were it not for
Hamilton's influence he would have been Governor of
New York.
Burr, smarting under the sting of this continual
opposition by a man who himself was shelved politically
through his own too fiery ambition, sent a note by his
friend Van Ness to Hamilton, asking whether the
language he had used concerning him (" a dangerous
man ") referred to him politically or personally.
Hamilton replied evasively, saying he could not recall
all that he might have said during fifteen years of
pubUc life. " Especially." he said in his letter, " it can
not be reasonably expected that I shall enter into any
explanation upon a basis so vague as you have adopted,
I trust on more reflection you will see the matter in the
same light. If not, however. I only regret the circum
stances, and must abide the consequences,"
When fighting men use fighting language they invite a
challenge. Hamilton's excessively polite regret that " he
178

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

must abide the consequences ** simply meant fight, as
his language had for a space of five years,
A challenge was sent by the hand of Pendleton, Hamil
ton accepted. Being the challenged man (for duelists are
always polite), he was given the choice of weapons. He
chose pistols at ten paces.
At seven o'clock on the morning of July Eleventh,
Eighteen Hundred Four, the participants met on the
heights of Weehawken, overlooking New York Bay.
On a toss Hamilton won the choice of position and his
second also won the right of giving the word to fire 53
Each man removed his coat and cravat ; the pistols were
loaded in their presence. As Pendleton handed his pistol
to Hamilton he asked, " Shall I set the hair-trigger? "
" Not this time," replied Hamilton. With pistols
primed and cocked, the men were stationed facing
each other, thirty feet apart.
Both were pale, but free from any visible nervousness
or excitement. Neither had partaken of stimulants.
Each was asked if he had anything to say, or if he knew
of any way by which the affair could be terminated
there and then.
Each answered quietly in the negative. Pendleton,
standing fifteen feet to the right of his principal, said:
" One — two — three — present! " and as the leist final
sounding of the letter "t" escaped his teeth. Burr
fired, followed almost instantly by the other.
Hamilton arose convulsively on his toes, reeled, and
179

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

Burr, dropping his smoking pistol, sprang towards him
to support him, a look of regret on his face.
Van Ness raised an umbrella over the fallen man, and
motioned Burr to be gone.
The ball passed through Hamilton's body, breaking a
rib, and lodging in the second lumbar vertebra.
The bullet from Heimilton's pistol cut a twig four feet
above Burr's head.
While he was lying on the ground Hamilton saw his
pistol near and said, " Look out for that pistol, it is
loaded — Pendleton knows I did not intend to fire at
him! "
Heimilton died the following day, first declaring that he
bore Colonel Burr no ill-will.
Colonel Burr said he very much regretted the whole
affair, but the language and attitude of Hamilton forced
him to send a challenge or remain quiet emd be branded
as a coward. He fully realized before the meeting that if
he killed Hamilton it would be political death for him,
too 53 53
At the time of the deed Burr had no feimily; Hamilton
had a wife and seven children, his oldest son having
fallen in a duel fought three years before on the
identical spot where he, too, fell.
Burr fled the country.
Three years afterwards, he was arrested for treason in
trying to found an independent State within the borders
of the United States. He was tried and found not guilty.
180

ALEXANDER HAMILTON

^ After some years spent abroad he retumed and took
up the practise of law in New York, He was fairly
successful, lived a modest, quiet Ufe, and died Septem
ber Fourteenth, Eighteen Hundred Thirty-six, aged
eighty years.
Hamilton's widow survived him just one-half a century,
dying in her ninety-eighth year.
So passeth away the glory of the world.

181

DANIEL WEBSTER

Not many days ago I saw at breakfast the notablest
of all your notabilities, Daniel Webster. He is a magnif
icent specimen. You might say to all the world, " This
is our Yankee- Englishman; such links we make in
Yankeeland! " As a logic fencer, advocate or Parlia
mentary Hercules, one would incline to back him at
first sight against all the extant world. The tanned
complexion; the amorphous, craglike face; the dull
black eyes under the precipice of brows, like dull
anthracite furnaces needing only to be blown; the
mastiff mouth accurately closed; I have not traced so
much of silent Berserker rage that I remember of in
any other man, " I guess I should not like to be your
nigger! "
— Carlyle to Emerson

DANIEL WEBSTER

DANIEL WEBSTER

HOSE were splendid days, tinged
with no trew;e of blue, when 1 at
tended the district school, wearing
trousers buttoned to a caUco waist,
I had ambitions then — I was sure
that some day I could spell down
the school, propound a problem in
fractions that would puzzle the
teacher, and play checkers in a way that would cause
my name to be known throughout the entire township,
^ In the midst of these pleasant emotions, a cloud
appeared upon the horizon of my happiness. What
was it? A Friday Afternoon, that's all.
A new teacher had been engaged — a woman, actueiUy
a young woman. It was prophesied that she could not
keep order a single day, for the term before, the big
boys had once arisen and put out of the building the
man who taught them. Then there was a boy who
occasionally brought a dog to school; and when the
bell rang, the dog followed the boy into the room and
lay under the desk p>ounding his teiil on the floor; and
everybody tittered and giggled until the boy had been
coeuced into taking the dog home, for if merely left in
the entry he howled and whined in a way that made
study impossible. But one day the boy was not to be
coaxed, and the teacher grabbed the dog by the scruff
185

DANIEL WEBSTER

of the neck, and flung him through a window so forcibly
that he never came back. And now a woman was to
teach the school: she was only a little woman and yet
the boys obeyed her, and I had come to think that a
woman could teach school nearly as well as a man,
when the awful announcement was made that there
after every week we were to have a Friday Afternoon.
There were to be no lessons ; everybody was to speak a
piece, and then there was to be a spelling-match — and
that was all. But heavens! it was enough,
Monday began very blue and gloomy, and the density
increased as the week passed. My mother had drilled
me well in my lines, and my big sister was lavish in her
praise, but the awful ordeal of standing up before the
whole school was yet to come.
Thursday night I slept but little, and all Friday morn
ing I was in a burning fever. At noon I could not eat
my lunch, but I tried to, manfully, and as I munched
on the tasteless morsels, salt tears rained on the johnny-
cake I held in my hand. And even when the girls
brought in big bunches of wild flowers and cornstalks,
and began to decorate the platform, things appeared
no brighter, ^ Finally, the teacher went to the door and
rang the bell: nobody seemed to play, and as the schol
ars took their seats, some, very pale, tried to smile, and
others whispered, " Have you got your piece? " Still
others kept their lips working, repeating lines that
struggled hard to flee.
186

DANIEL WEBSTER

Names were called, but 1 did not see who went up,
neither did 1 hear what was said. At last, my name was
called: it came like a clap of thunder — as a great sur
prise, a shock, I clutched the desk, struggled to my
feet, passed down the aisle, the sound of my shoes
echoing through the silence like the strokes of a maul.
The blood seemed ready to burst from my eyes, ears
and nose,
1 reached the platform, missed my footing, stumbled,
and nearly fell, 1 heard the giggling that followed, and
knew that a red-haired boy, who had just spoken, and
was therefore unnecessarily jubilant, had laughed aloud,
^ I was angry. I shut my fists so that the nails cut my
flesh, and glaring straight at his red head shot my bolt :
" I know not how others may feel, but sink or swim,
live or die, survive or perish, I give my heart and my
hand to this vote. It is my living sentiment and by the
blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment. Inde
pendence now, and independence forever."
That was all of the piece. I gave the whole thing in a
mouthful, and started for my seat, got halfway there
and remembered I had forgotten to bow, turned, went
back to the platform, bowed with a jerk, started again
for my seat, and hearing some one laugh, ran.
Reaching the seat, 1 burst into tears, ^ The teacher
came over, patted my head, kissed my cheek, and told
me 1 had done first-rate, and after hearing several
others speak I calmed down and quite agreed with her.
187

DANIEL WEBSTER

T was Daniel Webster who caused the Friday
Afternoon to become an institution in the
schools of America, His early struggles were
dwelt upon and rehearsed by parents and
pedagogues until every boy was looked upon as a
possible Demosthenes holding senates in thrall.
If physical imperfections were noticeable, the fond
mother would explain that Demosthenes was a sickly,
ill-formed youth, who only overcame a lisp by orating
to the sea with his mouth full of pebbles ; and every one
knew that Webster was educated only because he was
too weak to work. Oratory was in the air; elocution
was rampant; and to declaim in orotund, and gesticu
late in curves, was regarded as the chief end of man.
One-tenth of the time in all public schools was given
over to speaking, and on Saturday evenings the school-
house was sacred to the Debating Society,
Then came the Lyceum, and the orators of the land
made pilgrimages, stopping one day in a place, putting
themselves on exhibition, and giving the people a taste
of their quality at fifty cents per head. Recently, there
has been a relapse of the oratorical fever. Every city
from Leadville to Boston has its College of Oratory, or
School of Expression, wherein a newly discovered
" Natural Method " is divulged for a consideration.
Some of these " Colleges " have done much good; one
in particular I know, that fosters a fine spirit of sym
pathy, and a trace of mysticism that is well in these
188

DANIEL WEBSTER

hurrying, scurrying days. ^ But all combined have
never produced an orator; no, dearie, they never have,
emd never can. You might as well have a school for
poets, or a college for saints, or give medals for pro
ficiency in the gentle art of wooing, as to expect to
medce em orator by telling how.
Once UF>on a day, Sir Walter Besant was to give a lec
ture upon " The Art of the Novelist." He had just ad
justed his necktie for the last time, slipped a lozenge
into his mouth, and was about to appear upon the
platform, when he felt a tug at the tail of his dress-coat.
On looking around, he saw the anxious face of his
friend, Jeimes Payn, " For God's sake, WeJter," whis
pered Payn, " you are not going to explain to 'em how
you do it, are you? " But Walter did not expledn how
to write fiction, because he could not, and Payn's quiz
zing question happily relieved the lecture of the bump
tiousness it might otherwise have conteiined.
The first culture for which a people reach out is oratory.
The Indian is an orator with " the natured method ";
he takes the stump on smeill provocation, and under
the spell of the faces that look up to him, is often moved
to strange eloquence. I have heard negro preachers
who could neither read nor write, move vast congrega
tions to profoundest emotion by the magic of their
words emd presence. And further, they proved to me
that the ability to read and write is a cheap accomplish
ment, and that a man cem be a very strong cheiracter, 189

DANIEL WEBSTER

and not know how to do either. ^ For the most part,
people who live in cities are not moved by oratory;
they are unsocial, unimaginative, unemotional. They
see so much and hear so much that they ceeise to be
impressed. When they come together in assemblages
they are so apathetic that they fail to generate magnet
ism — there is no common soul to which the speaker can
address himself. They are so cold that the orator never
welds them into a mass. He may amuse them, but in a
single hour to change the opinions of a lifetime is no
longer possible in America. There are so many people,
and so much business to transact, that emotional life
plays only upon the surface — in it there is no depth.
To possess depth you must commune with the Silences.
No more do you find men and women coming for fifty
miles, in wagons, to hear speakers discuss political
issues; no more do you find campmeetings where the
preacher strikes conviction home until thousands are
on their knees crying to God for mercy.
Intelligence has increased; spirituality has declined,
and as a people the warm emotions of our hearts are
gone forever.
Oratory is a rustic product. The great orators have
always been country-bred, and their appeal has been
made to rural people. Those who live in a big place
think they are bigger on that account. They acquire
glibness of speech and polish of manner; but they pur-
cheise these things at a price. They lack the power to
190

DANIEL WEBSTER

weigh mighty questions, the course to formulate
them, and the sturdy vitaUty to stand up and declare
them in the face of opposition. Revolutions are fought
by farmers and rail-spUtters; these are the embattied
men who fire the shots heard 'round the world.
When Daniel Webster's father took up his residence in
New Hampehire, his log cabin was the most northern
one of the Colonies. Between him and Montreal lay an
unbroken forest inhabited ordy by prowling Indians.
Ebenezer Webster's long rifle had sent cold lead into
memy a redskin; and the same rifle had done good
service in fighting the British, Once, its owner stood
guard before Washington's Headquarters at Newburgh,
and Washington came out and said, " Captain Web
ster, I can trust you! "
Ebenezer Webster would leave his home to cany a bag
of com on his back through the woods to the mill ten
miles away to have it ground into meed, and his wife
woidd be left alone with the children. On such occasions,
Indians who never saw settlers' cabins without having
an itch to bum them, used sometimes to call, and the
housewife woidd have to p>arley with these savages,
" impressing them concerning the rights of property,"
^So here was bom Daniel Webster, in Seventeen
Himdred Eighty-two, the second child of his mother.
His father was then forty-three, and had already reused
one brood, but his mother weis ordy in her twenties. It
seems that biting pwverty and sore deprivation are
191

DANIEL WEBSTER

about as good prenatal influences as a soul can well
ask, provided there abides with the mother a noble
discontent and a brave unrest 53 However, it came
near being overdone in Daniel Webster's case, for the
Mrs. Gamp who presided at his birth declared he could
not live, and if he did, would " alius be a no-'count," 53
But he made a brave fight for breath, and his crossness
and peevishness through the first years of his life were
proof of vitality. He must have been a queer toddler
when he wore dresses, with his immense head and deep-
set black eyes and serious ways.
Being sickly, he was allowed to rule, and the big girls,
his half-sisters, humored him, and his mother did the
same. They taught him his letters when he was only
a baby, and he himself said that he could not remember
a time when he could not read the Bible,
When he grew older he did not have to bring in wood
and do the chores — he was not strong enough, they
said. Little Dan was of a like belief, and encouraged
the idea on every occasion. He roamed the woods,
fished, hunted, and read every scrap of print that came
his way 53 53
Being able to read any kind of print, and not being
strong enough to work, it very early was decided that
he should have an education. It is rather a humbling
confession to make, but our worthy forefathers chiefly
prized an education for the fact that it caused the
fortunate possessor to be exempt from manual labor.
192

DANIEL WEBSTER

When Demiel was fourteen, a member of Cx>ngress cemie
to see Ebenezer Webster, to secure his influence at
election. As the great man rode away, Ebenezer said
to his son: " Daniel, look there! he is educated and gets
six dollars a day in Congress for doing nothing; while
I toil on this rocky hillside and hardly see six dollars
in a year, Daniel, get an education! "
I '11 do it," said Daniel, emd throwing his arms around
his father's neck, burst into tears.
The village of Salisbury, where Webster was bom, is
fifteen miles north of Concord. You leave the tredn at
Boscowan, and there is a rickety old stage, with a
loquacious driver, that will take you to Salisbury, five
miles, for twenty-five cents. The country is one vast
outcrop of granite; and one can not but be filled with
admiration, mingled with pity, for the dwellers there
abouts who call these piles of rock " farms,"
As we wound slowly around the hills, the church-spire
of the village came in sight; and soon we entered the
one street of this sleepy, forgotten place. 1 shook hands
with the old stage-driver as he let me down in front
of the tavern; and as 1 went in search of the lemdlord,
I thought of the remark of the Chicago woman who,
in riding from Warwick over to Stratford, seiid, " Good
ness me! why should a man like Shakespeare ever take
it in his head to live so far off ! "
Seilisbury has four hundred people. You can rent a
house there for fifty dollars a year, or should you prefer
193

DANIEL WEBSTER

not to keep house, but board, you can be accommodated
at the tavem for three doUars a week. There are veirious
abandoned farms round about, and they are abandoned
so thoroughly that even Kate Sanborn would not have
the courage to their adoption try.
TTie landlord of the hotel told me that were it not for
the " Harvest Dance," the demce on the Fourth of
July, and the party at Christmas, he could not keep
the house open at all. Of course, edl the inhabitemts
know that Webster was bom at SaUsbury, but there
is not so much local pride in the matter eis there is at
East Aurora over the fact that one of her former citizens
is a jjerformer in Beimum and Bailey's Circus,
The number of old men in one of these New England
villages impresses folks from the West as being curious.
TTiere are a fuU dozen men at SeJisbury between seven
ty-five and ninety, and edl have positive ideas as to
just why Daniel Webster missed the Presidency. I
found opinion curiously divided as to Webster's abil
ity; but aU seemed to argue that when he left New
Heunjjshire and became a citizen of Massachusetts, he
made a fatal mistake.

194

DANIEL WEBSTER

HE sacrifices that the mother and the father
of Daniel Webster made, in order that he
might go to school, were very great. Every
one in the family had to do without things,
that this one might thrive. The boy accepted it all,
quite as a matter of course, for from babyhood he had
been protected and petted. At the last we must admit
that the mem who towers above his fellows is the one
who has the power to make others work for him; a
great success is not possible in any other way.
Throughout his life Webster utilized the labor of others,
and took it in a high and imperious manner, as though
it were his due. No doubt the way in which his family
lavished their gifts upon him fixed in his mind that
immoral slant of disregard for his finemcial obligations
which clung to him all through life.
There is a story told of his going to a county fair with
his brother Ezekiel, which shows the characters of
these brothers better than a chapter. The father had
given each lad a dollar to spend. When the boys got
home Daniel was in gay spirits and Ezekiel was de
pressed. " Well, Dan." seiid the father, " did you spend
your money? "
" Of course 1 did," replied Daniel,
" And, Zeke, what did you do with your dollar? "
" Loaned it to Dan," replied Ezekiel,
But there was a fine bond of affection between these
two. Ezekiel was two years older and, unfortunately 195

DANIEL WEBSTER

for himself, was strong and well. He was very early set
to work, and 1 can not find that the thought of giving
him an education ever occurred to his parents, until
after Daniel had graduated at Dartmouth, and Dan
and Zeke themselves then forced the issue.
In stature they were the same size : both were tall, finely
formed, and in youth slender. As they grew older they
grew stouter, and the personal presence of each was
very imposing. Ezekiel was of light complexion and
ruddy; Daniel was very dark and sallow. 1 have met
several men who knew them both, and the best opinion
is that Ezekiel was the stronger of the two, mentally
and morally.
Daniel was not a student, while Ezekiel was; and as a
counselor Ezekiel was the safer man. Up to the very
week of Ezekiel's death Daniel advised with him on
all his important affairs. When Elzekiel fell dead in the
courtroom at Concord and the news was carried to his
brother, it was a blow that affected him more than the
loss of wife or child. His friend and counselor, the one
man in life upon whom he leaned, was gone, and over
his own great, craglike face came that look of sorrow
which death only removed. But care and grief became
this giant, as they do all who are great enough to bear
them 53 53
It was two years after his brother's death that he made
the speech which is his masterpiece. And while the
applause was ringing in his ears he turned to Judge
196

DANIEL WEBSTER

Story and said, " Oh, if Zeke were only here! " Who
is there who can not s3Tnpathize with that groan? We
work for others; and to win the applause of senates or
nations, and not be able to know that Some One is
glad, takes all the sweetness out of victory,
" When I sing well, I want you to meet me in the wings
of the stage, and taking me in your arms, kiss my cheek,
and whisper it was all right," When Patti wrote this
to her lover she voiced the universal need of a some one
who understands, to share the triumph of good work
well done. The nostalgia of life never seems so bitter
as after moments of success; then comes creeping in the
thought that he who would have gloried in this — know
ing all the years of struggle and deprivations that made
it ix>ssible — is sleeping his long sleep.
In that speech of January Twenty-sixth, Eighteen
Hundred Thirty, Webster reached high-water mark.
On that performance, more than any other, rests his
fame. He was forty-eight years old then. All the years
of his career he had been getting ready for that address.
It was on the one theme that he loved; on the theme he
had studied most; on the only theme upon which he
ever spoke well — the greatness, the grandeur and the
possibilities of America, He spoke for four hours, and
in his works the speech occupies seventy close pages.
He was at the zenith of his physical and intellectual
power, and that is as good a place as any to stop and
view the man, 197

DANIEL WEBSTER

On account of his proud carriage, and the fine poise of
his massive head, he gave the impression of being a
very large man; but he was just five feet ten, and
weighed a little less than two hundred. His manner
was grave, deliberate and dignified; and his sturdy
face, furrowed with lines of sorrow, made a profound
impression upon all before he had spoken a word. He
had arrived at an age when the hot desire to succeed
had passed. For no man can attain the highest success
until he has reached a p)oint where he does not care
for it. In oratory the personal desire for victory must
be obliterated or the hearer will never award the palm,
^ Hayne was a very bright and able speaker. He had
argued the right of a State to dissent from, or nullify,
a law passed by the House of Representatives and
Senate, making such law inoperative within its borders.
His claim was that the framers of the Constitution did
not expect or intend that a law could be passed that
was binding on a State when the people of that State
did not wish it so. Mr. Hayne had the best end of the
argument, and the opinion is now general among jurists
that his logic was right and just, and that those who
thought otherwise were wrong. New England had
practically nullified United States law in Eighteen
Hundred Twelve, the Hartford Convention of Eighteen
Hundred Fourteen had declared the right; Josiah
Quincy had advocated the privilege of any State to
nullify an obnoxious law, quite as a matter of course.
198

DANIEL WEBSTER

The framers of the Constitution had merely seud that
we "had better " hang together, not that we " must,"
But with the years had come a feeling that the Nation's
life was unsafe if any State should pull away.
Once, on the plains of Colorado, I was with a party
when there was demger of an attack from Indians, Two
of the party wished to go back; but the leader drew his
revolver and threatened to shoot the first man who
tried to seek sedety. " We must hang together or hang
sep>eirately," Logically, each man had the right to
secede, and go off on his own account, but expediency
made a law and we declared that any mem who tried to
leave did so at his peril.
To Webster was given the task of putting a new con
stmction on the Constitution, and to meike of the Con
stitution a Law instead of a mere compact. Webster's
spjeech weis not an argument; it was a plea. And so
mightily did he p)oint out the demgers of sep>aration;
review the splendid peist; and prophesy the greatness
of the future — a future that could only be ours through
absolute union and loyalty to the good of the whole —
that he won his cause.
After that sp>eech, if Calhoun had allowed South
Carolina to nullify a United States law. President
Jackson would have made good his threat and hanged
both him and Hajme on one tree, and the p>eople would
have approved the act. But Webster did not get the
case quashed: he got ordy a pK)Stp)onement, In Eighteen 199

DANIEL WEBSTER

Hundred Sixty, South Carolina moved the case again;
she opened the argument in another way this time, and
a million lives were required, and millions upon millions
in treasure expended to put a construction on the Con
stitution that the framers did not intend; but which
was necessary in order that the Nation might exist.
In the battle of Bull Run, almost the first battle of the
war, fell Colonel Fletcher Webster, the only surviving
son of Daniel Webster, and with him died the name
and race.

200

DANIEL WEBSTER

HE cunning of Webster's intellect was not
creative. In his argument there is little
ingenuity; but he had the power of taking
an old truth and presenting it in a way that
moved men to tears. When aroused, all he knew was
within his reach; he had the faculty of getting all his
goods in the front window. And he himself confessed
that he often pushed out a masked battery, when be
hind there was not a single gun.
Under the spell of the orator an audience becomes of
one mind: the dullest intellect is more alert than usual
and the most discerning a little less so. Cheap wit wiU
then often pass for brilliancy, and platitude for wisdom.
We roar over the jokes we have known since childhood.
and cry " Hear, hear! " when the great man with up>-
raised hands and fire in his glance declares that twice
two is four.
Oratory is hypnotism practised on a large scale.
Through oratory ideas are acquired by induction,
Webster was a lawyer; and he was not above resorting
to any trick or device that could move the emotions or
passions of judge and jury to a prejudice favorable to
his side. This was very clearly brought out when he
undertook to break the will of Stephen Girard,
Girard was a freethinker, and in leaving money to
found a college devised that no preacher or priest should
have anything to do with its management. The ques
tion at issue was, " Is a bequest for founding a college a
201

DANIEL WEBSTER

charitable bequest?" If so, then the will must stemd.
But if the bequest were merely a scheme to deprive
the legal heirs of their rights — diverting the funds
from them for whimsical and personal reeisons — then
the will should be broken, Mr. Webster made the plea
that there was only one kind of charity, namely, Chris-
tiem charity, Girard was not a Christian, for he had
publicly affronted the Christian religion by providing
that no minister should teach in his school, Mr, Webster
spoke for three hours with many fine bursts of tearful
eloquence in support of the Christian faith, reviewing
its triumphs and denouncing its foes 53 The argument
was carried outside of the realm of law into the domain
of passion and prejudice.
The court took time for the tumidt to subside, and
then very quietly decided ageiinst Webster, sustaining
the wiU. The coUege building was erected and stands
today, the finest specimen of purely Greek architecture
in America; emd the good that Girard College has
done and is now doing is the priceless heritage of our
entire country 53 53
One of Webster's first greatest speeches was before the
United States Supreme Court in the Dartmouth CoUege
ceise. Here he defended the cause of education with
that grave and wonderful weight of argument of which
he was meister. In the Girard College case, eighteen
yeeu-s edter, he reversed his logic, and touched with
rare skiU on the dangers of a too-Uberal education 53
202

DANIEL WEBSTER

No man now is quite so daring as to claim that Webster
weis a Christian, Neither was he a freethinker. He
inherited his religious views from his parents, and
never considered them enough to change. He simply
viewed religion as a part of the fabric of government,
giving sturdiness and safety to established order. His
own spiritual acreage was left absolutely untilled.
His services were for sale; and so plastic were his
convictions that once having espoused a cause he was
sure it was right. Doubtless it is self-interest, as Herbert
Spencer says, that makes the world go round. And thus
does sincerity of belief resolve itself into which side
will pay most. This question being settled, reasons
are as plentiful as blackberries, and are supplied in
quantities proportionate in size to the retainer.
John Randolph once touched the quick by saying, " If
Daniel Webster weis employed on a case and he had
partially lost faith in it, his belief in his client's rights
could always be refreshed and his zeal renewed by a
check," Si 53
Webster had every possible qualification that is required
to make the great orator. All those who heard him
speak, when telling of it. begin by relating how he
looked. He worked the dignity and impressiveness of
his Jovelike presence to its furthest limit, and when
once thoroughly awake was in possession of his entire
armament 53 53
No other American has been able to speak with a like
203

DANIEL WEBSTER

degree of effectiveness; and his name deserves to rank,
and will rank, with the names of Burke, Chatham,
Sheridan and Pitt, The ceise heis been tried, the verdict
is in and recorded on the pages of history. There can
be no retrial, for Webster is dead, and his power died
thirty years before his form weis laid to rest at Marsh
field by the side of his children and the wife of his youth,
^ Oratory is the lowest of the sublime arts. The extent
of its influence will ever be a vexed question. Its result
depends on the mood and temperament of the hearer.
But there are men who are not ripe for treeison and
conspiracy, to whom even music makes small appeal.
Yet music can be recorded, entrusted to an interpreter
yet unborn, and lodge its appeal with posterity. Litera
ture never dies: it dedicates itself to Time. For the
printed page is reproduced ten thousand times ten
thousand times, and besides, lives eis did the Homeric
p>oems, passed on from generation to generation by
word of mouth. Were every book containing Shake
speare's plays burned this night, tomorrow they could
be rewritten by those who know their every word.
^With the passing years the painter's colors fade;
time rots his canveis; the marble is dragged from its
pedestal and exists in fragments from which we resurrect
a nation's life; but oratory dies on the air and exists
only as a memory in the minds of those who can not
translate, and then eis hearsay. So much for the art
itself; but the influence of that art is another thing.
204

DANIEL WEBSTER

He who influences the beliefs and opinions of men
influences all other men that live after. For influence,
like matter, can not be destroyed.
In many ways, Webster lacked the inward steadfastness
that his face and frame betokened; but on one theme
he was sound to the inmost core. He believed in Amer
ica's greatness and the grandeur of America's mission.
Into the minds of countless men he infused his own
splendid patriotism. From his first speech at Hanover
when eighteen years old, to his last when nearly seventy,
he fired the hearts of men with the love of native land.
And how much the growing greatness of our country
is due to the magic of his words and the eloquence of
his inspired presence no man can compute.
The passion of Webster's Ufe is well mirrored in that
burning passage:
" When mine eyes shall be turned to behold for the
last time the sun in heaven, may 1 not see him shining
on the broken and dishonored fragments of a once
glorious Union: on States dissevered, discordant, bel
ligerent: on a land rent with civil feuds, or drenched,
it may be, in fraternal blood. Let their last feeble and
lingering glance rather behold the gorgeous ensign of
the Republic, now known and honored throughout the
earth, still full high advanced, its arms emd trophies
streeiming in their original luster, not a stripe erased
or polluted, or a single star obscured, bearing for its
motto no such miserable interrogatory as ' What is all
205

DANIEL WEBSTER

this worth? ' nor those other words of delusion emd
foUy. ' Liberty first and Union edterwards ' ; but every
where, spread all over in characters of Uving Ught,
blazing on aU its eimple folds, as they float over the sea
emd over the lemd, and in every wind under the whole
heavens, that other sentiment, dear to every true
American heart, ' Liberty and Union, now and forever,
one and insep>eirable,' "

206

HENRY CLAY

If there be any description of rights, which, more than
any other, should unite all parties in all quarters of
the Union, it is unquestionably the rights of the person.
No matter what his vocation, whether he seeks sub
sistence amid the dangers of the sea, or draws it from
the bowels of the earth, or from the humblest occu
pations of mechanical life — wherever the sacred rights
of an American freeman are assailed, all hearts ought to
unite and every arm be braced to vindicate his cause.
— Henry Clay

HENRY CLAY

HENRY CLAY

HERE is a story told of an Irishman
and an Englishman who were immi
grants aboard a ship that was com
ing up New York Harbor. It chanced
to be the fourth day of July, and as
a consequence there was a needless
waste of gunpowder going on, and
many of the ships were decorated
with bunting that in color was red, white and blue,
" What can all this fuss be about? " asked the English
man 53 53
" What 's it about? " answered Pat, " Why, this is
the day we run you out! "
And the moral of the story is that as soon as an Irishman
reaches the Narrows he says " we Americans," while
an Englishman will sometimes continue to say " you
Americans " for five years and a day. More than this,
an Irish- American citizen regards an English- American
citizen with suspicion and refers to him as a foreigner,
even unto the third and fourth generation.
No man ever hated England more cordially them did
Henry Clay.
The genealogists have put forth heroic efforts to secure
for Clay a noble English ancestry, but with a degree
of success that only makes the unthinking laugh and
the judicious grieve 53 Had these zealous piedigree- 209

HENRY CLAY

hunters studied the parish registers of County Derry,
Ireland, as lovingly as they have Burke's Peerage, they
might have traced the Clays of America back to the
Cleighs, honest farmers (indifferent honest), of London
derry, ^ The character of Henry Clay had in it various
traits that were peculiarly Irish, The Irishman knows
because he knows, and that 's all there is about it. He
is dramatic, emotional, impulsive, humorous without
suspecting it, and will fight friend or foe on small prov
ocation. Then he is much given to dealing in that
peculiar article known as palaver. TTie farewell address
of Henry Clay to the Senate, emd his return thereto a
few years later, comprise one of the most Irishlike
proceedings to be found in history.
There is no finer man on earth than your "thrue Irish
gintleman," and Henry Clay had not only all the highest
and most excellent traits of the " gintleman," but a
few also of his worst. Clay made friends as no other
American statesman ever did, " To come within reach
of the snare of his speech weis to love him," wrote one
man. People loved him because he weis affectionate, for
love only goes out to love. And the Irish heart is a heart
of love. Henry Clay called himself a Christian, and yet
at times he was picturesquely profane. We have this
on the authority of the " Diary " of John Quincy Adams,
which of course we must believe, for even that other
fighting Irishman, Andrew Jackson, said, "Adeuns'
Diary is probably correct — darrm it! "
210

HENRY CLAY

Clay was convivial in all the word implies; his losses
at cards often put him in severe financial straits; he
stood ready to back his opinion concerning a Presidential
election, a horse-race or a dog-fight, and with it all he
held himself " personally responsible ** — ^having fought
two duels and engaged in various minor " misunder
standings," 53 53
And yet he was a great statesman — one of the greatest
this country has produced, and as a patriot no man
was ever more loyal. It was America with him first and
always. His reputation, his fortune, his life, his all.
belonged to America.

21 1

HENRY CLAY

HE city of Lexington conteuns about twenty-
five thousand inhabitants. In Lexington two
distinct forms of civilization meet, ^ One is
the civilization of the F, F. V,, converted
into that peculiar form of noblesse known the round
world over as the Blue-Greiss Aristocracy, Blue-Grass
Society represents leisure and luxury and the generous
hospitality of friendships generations old; it means
broad acres, noble mansions reached by roadways that
stray under wide-spreading oaks and elms where
squirrels chatter and mild-eyed cows look at you
curiously; it means apple-orchards, gardens lined with
boxwood, capacious stables and long lines of white
washed cottages, around which swarm a dark cloud of
dependents who dance and sing and laugh — and work
when they have to.
Over against these there are to be seen trolley-cars,
electric lights, smart rows of new brick houses on lots
thirty by one hundred, negro px)Ucemen in uniforms
patterned after those worn by the Broadway Squad,
streets torn up by sewers and conduits, steam-rollers
with an unsavory smell of tar and eisphalt, push-buttons
and a Hello-Exchange,
As to which form of civilization is the more desirable
is a question that is usually answered by taste and
temperament. One thing sure, and that is, that a pride
which swings to t'other side and becomes vanity is
often an element in both, E^h could leeim something
212

HENRY CLAY

of the other. Lots that you can jump across, rented to
families of ten, with land a mile away that can be
bought for fifty dollars an acre, are not an ideal condition.
^ On the other hand, inside the city limits of Lexington
are mansions surrounded by an even hundred acres.
But at some of these, gates are off their hinges, pickets
have been borrowed for kindling, creeping vines and
long grass o'ertop the walls of empty stables, and a
forest of weeds insolently invades the spnjt where once
nestled milady's flower-garden.
Slowly but surely the Blue-Grass Aristocracy is giving
way to purslane or asphalt, moving into flats, and
allowing the boomer to plat its fair acres — running
excursion-trains to attend auction-sales where all the
lots are corner lots and are to be bought on the instal
ment plan, which plan is said by a cynic to give the
bicycle face.
Just across from Ashland is a beautiful estate, recently
sold at a sacrifice to a man from Massachusetts, by
the name of Douglas, who I am told is bald through
lack of hair and makes three-dollar shoes. The stately
old mansion mourns its former masters — all are gone —
and a thrifty German is plowing up the lawn, that the
cows of the Douglas (tender and true) may eat early
clover 53 Si
But Ashland is there today in all the beauty and
loveliness that Henry Clay knew when he wrote to
Benton: " I love old Ashland, and all these acres with
213

HENRY CLAY

their trees emd flowers and growing grain lure me in a
way that ambition never can. No, I remeiin at Ashland."
^The rambling old house is embowered in climbing
vines and clambering rosebushes and is set thick about
with cedars, so that you can scarcely see the chimney-
tops above the mass of green. A lane running through
locust-trees planted by Henry Clay's own hands leads
you to the hospitable, wide-open door, where a colored
man, whose black face is set in a frame of wool, smiles
a welcome. He relieves you of your baggage emd leads
the way to your room.
The summer breeze blows leizily in through the open
window, and the only sound of life and activity about
seems to center in two noisy robins which are making
a nest in the eaves, right within reach of your hand.
The colored man apologizes for them, anathematizes
them mildly, and proposes to drive them away, but
you restrain him. After the man has gone you bethink
you that the suggestion of driving the birds away was
only the white lie of society (for even black folks tell
white lies), and the old man probably had no more
intent of driving the birds away than of going himself.
^On the dresser is a pitcher of freshly clipped roses,
the morning dew still upon them, and you only cease
to admire as you espy your mail that lies there awaiting
your hand. News from home and loved ones greets
you before these new-found friends do! You have not
seen the good folks who live here, only the old colored
214

HENRY CLAY

man who pretended that he weis going to kill cock-
robin, and did n't. The hospitality is not gushing or
effusive — the place is yours, that 's all, and you lean
out of the window and look down at the flowerbeds,
and wonder at the silence and the quiet and peace,
and feel sorry for the folks who live in Cincinnati and
Chicago, The soughing of the wind through the pines
comes to you like the murmur of the sea, and breaking
in on the stillness you hear the sharp sound of an ax —
some Gladstone chopping, miles and miles away.
Your dreams are broken by a gentle tap at the door
and your host has come to call on you. You know him
at once, even though you have never before met, for
men who think alike and feel alike do not have to " get
acquainted," Heart speaks to heart.
He only wishes to say that your coming is a pleasure
to all the family at Ashland, the library is yours as well
as the whole place, lunch is at one o'clock, and George
will get you anything you wish. And back in the shadow
of the hallway you catch sight of the old colored man
and see him bow low when his name is mentioned 53
Ashland is probably in better condition today than
when Henry Clay worked and planned, and super
intended its fair acres. The place has seen vicissitudes
since the body of the man who gave it immortality
lay in state here in July, Eighteen Hundred Fifty- two.
But Major McDowell's wife is the granddaughter of
Henry Clay, and it seems meet that the descendants 215

HENRY CLAY

of the great man should possess Ashlemd. Major
McDowell has means and taste emd the fine pride that
would preserve aU the traditions of the former master.
The six hundred acres are in a high state of cultivation,
and the cattle and horses are of the kinds that would
have gladdened the heart of Clay,
In the Ubrary, halls and dining-room are various por
traits of the great man, and at the turn of the stairs
is a fine heroic bust, in bronze, of that leem face and
form. Hundreds of his books eire to be seen on the shelves,
aU marked emd dog-eared and scribbled on, thus dis
proving much of that old cry that " Clay was not a
student." Some men are students ordy in youth, but
Clay's best reading was done when he was past fifty.
The book habit grew up>on him with the years.
Here are his pistols, spurs, saddle and memorandum-
books. Here are letters, faded and yeUow, dusted with
bleick ix>wder on ink that has been dry a hundred years,
eisking for office, or words of gracious thanks in token
of benefits not forgot.
Off to the south stretches away a great forest of weJnut,
oak and chestnut trees — ^reminders of the vast forest
that Daniel Boone knew. Many of these trees were
here then, and here let them remain, said Henry Clay.
And so today at Ashland, as at Hawarden, no tree is
feUed until it heis been duly tried by the entire family
and all has been said for and against the sentence of
death. I heard Miss McDoweU make an eloquent plea
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HENRY CLAY

for an old oak that had been rather recklessly harboring
mistletoe emd many squirrels, until it was thought
probable that, like our first parents, it might have a
fall. It weis a plea more eloquent than " O Woodman,
spare that tree," A reprieve for a year was granted;
and I thought, as I cast my vote on the side of mercy,
that the jury that could not be won by such a young
woman as that was hopelessly dead at the top and more
hollow at the heart than the old oak under whose
boughs we sat.

217

HENRY CLAY

SHLAND is just a mile south of the court
house. When Henry Clay used to ride horse
back between the town and his farm there
were scarce a dozen houses to pass on the way,
but now the street is all built up, and is smartly paved,
and the trolley-line booms a noisy car to the sacred
gates every ten minutes,
Lexington was laid out in the year Seventeen Hundred
Seventy-four, and the intention was to name it in
honor of Colonel Patterson, the founder, or of Daniel
Boone. But while the surveyors were doing their work,
word came of the battle of some British and certain
embattled farmers, and the spirit of freedom promptly
declared that the town should be called Lexington.
^ Three years after the laying-out of Lexington, Henry
Clay was born. He was the son of a poor and obscure
Baptist preacher who lived at " The Slashes," in
Virginia. The boy never had any vivid recollection of
his father, who passed away when Henry was a mere
child 53 53
The mother had a hard time of it with her family of
seven children, and if kind neighbors had not aided,
there would have been actual want. And surely one
can not blame the widow for " marrying for a home "
when opportunity offered. Only one out of that first
family ever achieved eminence, and the second brood
is actually lost to us in oblivion.
Henry Clay was a graduate of the University of Hard
218

HENRY CLAY

Knocks; he also took several post-graduate courses
at the same institution. Very early in life we see that
he possessed the fine, eager, receptive spirit that absorbs
knowledge through the finger-tips; and the ability to
think and to absorb is all that even college can ever
do for a man. 1 doubt whether college would have
helped Clay, and it might have dimmed the diamond
luster of his mind, and diluted that fine audacity which
carried him on his way. In this capacity to comprehend
in the mass. Clay's character was essentially feminine.
We have Thoreau for authority that the intuition and
the sympathy found always in the saviors of the world
are purely feminine attributes — the legacy bequeathed
from a mother who thirsted for better things.
From a clerk in a country store to a bookkeeper, then
a copyist for a lawyer, a writer of letters for the neigh
borhood, a reader of law, and next a lawyer, were easy
and natural steps for this ambitious boy.
Virginia with its older settlements offered small oppor
tunities, and so we find young Clay going West, and
landing at Lexington when twenty years old. He
requested a license to practise law, but the Bar Associ
ation, which consisted of about a dozen members,
decided that no more lawyers were needed at Lexington.
Clay demanded that he should be examined as to fitness,
and the blackberry-bush Blackstones sat upon him,
as a coroner would say, with intent to give him so stiff
an examination that he would be glad to get work as
219

HENRY CLAY

a farmhand, ^ A dozen questions had been eisked,
and an attempt had been made to confuse and brow
beat the youth, when the Nestor of the Lexington Bar
expectorated at a fly ten feet away, and remarked,
" Oh, the devil! there is no need of try in' to keep a boy
like this down — he 's as fit eis we, or fitter! "
And so he was admitted.
From the very first he was a success; he toned up the
mental qualities of the Fayette County Bar, and made
the older, easy-going members feel to see whether their
laurel wreaths were in place.
When he was thirty years of age he was chosen by the
Legislature of Kentucky as United States Senator,
When his term expired he chose to go to Congress,
probably because it afforded better oppwrtunity for
oratory and leadership. As soon as he appeared upxjn
the floor he was chosen Speaker by acclamation. So
thoroughly American was he, that one of his very first
suggestions was to the effect that every member should
clothe himself wholly in fabrics made in the United
States, Humphrey Marshall ridiculed the projxjsition
and called Clay a demagogue, for which he got himself
streughtway challenged. Clay shot a bullet through his
English-made broadcloth coat, and then they shook
hands 53 53
When his term as Congressman expired, he again went
to the Senate, and served two years. Then he went
back to the House, and through his influence, and his
220

HENRY CLAY

edone, did we challenge Great Briteun, just as he had
challenged Marshall,
England accepted the challenge, and we call it the War
of Eighteen Hundred Twelve,
Very often, indeed, do we hear the rural statesmen at
Fourth of July celebrations exclaim, " We have whipped
England twice, emd we can do it again! "
We whipped England once, and it is possible we could
do it again, but she got the best of us in the War of
Eighteen Hundred Twelve, Henry Clay plunged the
country into war to redress certain grievances, and as
a peace commissioner he backed out of that war without
having a single one of those grievemces indemnified ,or
redressed 53 53
After the treaty of peace had been declared and " the
war was over," that fighting Irishmem, Andrew Jackson,
Irishlike, gave the British a black eye at New Orleans,
just for luck, emd this is the only thing in that whole
misunderstemding of which we should not as a nation
be asheimed.
If England had not had Napx>leon on her hands at that
particular time, Wellington would probably have made
a visit to America, emd might have brought along for
us a Waterloo, And these things are fully expleuned
in the textbooks on history used in the schools of Great
Britain, on whose possessions the sun never sets.
But as Henry Clay had gotten us into war, his diplo
macy helped to get us out, and as it was a peace without
221

HENRY CLAY

dishonor, Clay's reputation did not materiedly suffer.
In fact, the terms of p>eace were so ambiguous that
Congress gave out to the world that it weis a victory,
and the exact facts were quite lost in the smoke of
Jackson's muskets that hovered over the cotton bales,
^ Later, when Clay ran against Jackson for the Presi
dency he found that a peace-hero has no such place in
the hearts of men as a war-hero. Jackson had not a
tithe of Clay's ability, and yet Clay's defeat was over
whelming. " Peace hath her victories " — ^yes, but the
average voter does not know it. The only men who have
received overwhelming majorities for President have
been war-heroes. Obscure men have crept in several
times, but popular diplomats — never. Tlie fate of such
popular men as Clay, Seward and Blaine is one. And
when one considers how strong is this tendency to
glorify the hero of action, and ignore the hero of thought,
he wonders how it really happ>ened that Paul Revere
was not made the second President of the United States
instead of John Adams.
Clay was a most eloquent pleader. The grace of his
maimer, the beauty of his sp)eech, and the intense
earnestness of his nature often convinced men against
their wills.
There was sometimes, however, a suspicion in the air
that his best quotations were inspirations, and that
the statistics to which he appealed were evolved from
his inner consciousness. But the man had power and
222

HENRY CLAY

personality plus. He weis a natural leader, and urdike
other statesmen we might name, he always carried his
town and district by overwhelming majorities. And it
is well to remember that the first breath of popular
disfavor directed ageiinst Henry Clay was because he
proposed the abolition of slavery.
Those who knew him best loved him most, and this
was true from the time he began to practise law in
Lexington, when scarcely twenty-one years old, to his
seventy-fifth year, when his worn-out body was brought
home to rest.
On that occasion edl business in Lexington, and in
most of Kentucky, ceeised. Even the farmers quit work,
and very many private residences were draped in
mourning. Memorial services were held in hundreds of
churches, the day was given over to mourning, and
everywhere men said, " We shall never look upon his
like again."

223

HENRY CLAY

EFORE I visited Lexington, my cousin.
Little Emily, duly wrote me that on no
account, when 1 was in Kentucky, must I
offer any criticisms on the character of Henry
Clay; for if I grew reckless and compared him with
another to his slightest disadvantage, I should have to
fight 53 53
That he was absolutely the greatest statesman America
has produced is, to all Kentuckians, a fact so sure that
they doubt the honesty or the sanity of any one who
hints otherwise. He is their ideal, the perfect man, the
model for all youths to imitate, and the standard by
which all other statesmen are gauged. Clay to Ken
tucky scores one hundred. And eis he was at the leist
defeated for the highest office, which they say weis his
God-given right, there is a flavor of martyrdom in his
history that is the needed crown for every hero.
Complete success alienates man from his fellows, but
suffering makes kinsmen of us all. So the South loves
Henry Clay,
He is so well loved that he is apotheosized, and thus
the real man to many is lost in the clouds. With his
name, song and legend have worked their miracles, and
to very many Southern people he is a being separate
and apart, like Hector or Achilles,
With my cousin. Little Emily, 1 am always very fremk —
and you can be honest and frank with so few in this
world of expediency, you know! We are so frank in
224

HENRY CLAY

expression that we usually quarrel very shortly. And
so I explained to Emily just what I have written here,
as to the real Henry Clay being lost.
She contradicted me flatly and seud, " To love a person
is not to lose him — ^you never lose except through in
difference or hate! " I started to explain and had gotten
eis far as, " It is just Uke this," when the conversation
was interrupted by the arrival of General Bellicose,
who had come to take us riding behind a spanking pair
of geldings, that I was assured were standard bred.
In Lexington you never use the general term " horse."
You speak of a mare, a gelding, a horse, a four-year-old,
a weanling or a sucker. To refer to a trotter as a thor
oughbred is to suffer social ostracism, and to obfuscate
a side-wheeler with a single-footer is proof of degener
acy. This applies equally to the ethics of the ballroom
or the livery-stable. In Kentucky they read Richard's
famous lines thus: " A saddler! a saddler! my kingdom
for a saddler! " So when I complimented General
Bellicose on his geldings and noted that they went
square without boots or weights, and that he used no
blinders, it thawed the social ice, and we were as
brothers. Then I led the way cautiously to Henry
Clay, and the General assured me that in his opinion
the Henry Clays were even better than the George
Wilkes, To be sure, Wilkes had more in the 'thirty list,
but the Clays had brains, and were cheerful; they
neither lugged nor hung back, whereas you always had
225

HENRY CLAY

to lay whip to a Wilkes in order to get along a bit, or
else use a gag and overcheck,
I pressed Little Emily's hand under the lap-robe and
asked her if all Kentuckians were believers in metem
psychosis. " Colonel Littlejourneys is making fun of
you. General," said Little Emily; " the Colonel is
talking about the man, and you are discussing trotters!"
^ And then I apologized, but the General said it was he
who should make the apology, and raising the carriage-
seat brought out a box of genuine Henry Clay Havanas,
in proof of amity.
It 's a very foolish thing to smile at a man who rides a
hobby. Once there was a man who rode a hobby all his
life, to the great amusement of his enemies and the
mortification of his wife; and when the man was dead
they found it was a real live horse and had carried the
man many long miles.
General Bellicose loves a horse; so does Little Emily
and so do 1, But Little Emily and the General know
history and have sounded politics in a way that puts
me in the kindergarten; and I found before the day was
over that what one did not know about the political
history of America the other did. And mixed up in it
all we discussed the merits of the fox-trot versus the
single-foot 53 53
We saw the famous Clay monument, built by the State
at a cost of nearly a hundred thousand dollars, and
with uncovered heads gazed through the gratings into
,226

HENRY CLAY

the crypt where lies the dust of the great man. Then
we saw the statue of John C. Breckinridge in the public
square, and visited various old ebb-tide mansions
where the " quarters " had fallen into decay, and the
erstwhile inhabitants had moved to the long row of
tenements down by the cotton-mill. My train whistled
and we were half a mile from the station, but the
General said we would get there in time — and we did.
I bade my friends good-by and quite forgot to thank
them for all their kindness, although down in my heart
I felt that it had been a time rare as a day in June. 1
believe they felt my gratitude, too, for where there is
such a feast of wit and flow of soul, such kindness, such
generosity, the spirit understands.
When I arrived home 1 found a box awaiting me, bear
ing the express mark of Lexington, Kentucky. On open
ing the case I found six quart-bottles of " Henry Clay —
1881 "; and a card with the compliments of Little
Emily and General Bellicose. On the outside of the
case was neatly stenciled the legend, " Thackeray, Full
sett, 14 vol., half Levant." 1 do not know why the box
was so marked, but 1 suppose it was in honor of my
literary proclivities. 1 went out and blew four merry
blasts on a ram's horn, and the Philistines assembled.

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JOHN JAY

Calm repose and the sweets of undisturbed retirement
appear more distant than a peace with Britain 33 It
gives me pleasure, however, to reflect that the period
is approaching when we shall be citizens of a better
ordered State, and the spending of a few troublesome
years oi our eternity in doing good to this and future
generations is not to be avoided nor regretted. Things
will come right, and these States will yet be great and
flourishing.
— Letter to Washington

JOHN JAY

JOHN JAY

<sm<^

M ERICA should feel especially
charitable towards Louis the Great,
called by Carlyle. Louis the Little.
for banishing the Huguenots from
France. What France lost America
gained. Tyranny and intolerance
always drive from their homes the
best: those who have ability to

think, courage to act, and a pride that can not be
coerced 53 53
The merits possessed by the Huguenots are exactly
those which every man and nation needs. And these
are simple virtues, too, whose cultivation stands within
the reach of all. These are the virtues of the farmers
and peasants and plain people who do the work of the
world, and give good government its bone and sinew.
To a great degree, so-caUed society is made up of
parasites who fasten and feed upon the industrious
and methodical.
If you have read history you know that the men who
go quietly about their business have been cajoled,
threatened, driven, and often, when they have been
guilty of doing a little independent thinking on their
own account, banished. And further than this, when
you read the story of nations dead and gone you will
see that their decline began when the parasites got
231

JOHN JAY

too numerous and flauntingly asserted their supposed
power. That contempt for the farmer, and indifference
to the rights of the man with tin pail and overalls,
which one often sees in America, are portents that
mark disintegrating social bacilli. If the Republic of
the United States ever becomes but a memory, like
Carthage, Athens and Rome, drifting off into senile
decay like Italy and Spain or France, where a man may
yet be tried and sentenced without the right of counsel
or defense, it will be because we forgot — ^we forgot!
In moral fiber and general characteristics the Hugue
nots and the Puritans were one. The Huguenots had,
however, the added virtue of a dash of the French
man's love of beauty. By their excellent habits and
loyalty to truth, as they saw it, they added a vast
share to the prosperity and culture of the United States,
^ Of seven men who acted as presiding officer over the
deliberations of Congress during the Revolutionary
Period, three were of Huguenot parentage: Laurens,
Boudinot and Jay. John Jay was a typical Huguenot,
just as Samuel Adams was a typical Puritan, In his life
there was no glamour of romance. Stern, studious and
inflexibly honest, he made his way straight to the high
est positions of trust and honor. Good men who are
capable are always needed. The world wants them now
more than ever. We have an overplus of clever individ
uals; but for the faithful men who are loyal to a trust
there is a crying demand.
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JOHN JAY

TTie life of Jay quite disproves the oft-found myth that
a dash of Mephisto in a young man is a valuable ad
junct, John Jay was neither precocious nor bad. It is
further a refreshing fact to find that he was no prig,
simply a good, healthy youngster who took to his books
kindly and gained ground — made head upon the whole
by grubbing.
His father was a hard-headed, prosperous merchant,
who did business in New York, and moved his big
family up to the little village of Rye because life in the
country was simple and cheap. Thus did Peter Jay
prove his commonsense,
Peter Jay copied every letter he wrote, and we now
have these copy-books, revealing what sort of man he
was. Religious he was, and scrupulously exact in all
things. We see that he ordered Bibles from England,
" and also six groce of Church Wardens," which I am
told is a long clay pipe, " that hath a goodly flavor and
doth not bite the tongue," He also at one time ordered
a chest of tea, and then countermanded the order,
having taken the resolve to " use no tea in my family
while that rascally Tax is on — having a spring of good,
pure water near my house." Which shows that a man
can be very much in earnest and still joke.
John was the baby, scarcely a year old, when the Jay
family moved up to Rye, He was the eighth child, and
as he grew up he was taught by the older ones. He took
part in all the fun and hardships of farm Ufe — going
233

JOHN JAY

to school in Winter, working in Summer, and on Sun
days hearing long sermons at church.
We find by Peter Jay's letter-book that: "Johnny is
about our brightest child. We have great hopes of him,
and believe it will be wise to educate him for a preach
er," In order to educate boys then, they were sent to
live in the family of some man of learning. And so we
find " Johnny " at twelve years of age installed in the
parsonage at New Rochelle, the Huguenot settlement.
The pastor was a Huguenot, and as only French was
spoken in the household, the boy acquired the language,
which afterwards stood him in good stead.
The pastor reported favorably, and when fifteen, young
Jay was sent to King's College, which is now Columbia
University, kings not being popular in America.
Doctor Samuel Johnson, who nowise resembled Ursa
Major, was the president of the College at that time.
He was also the faculty, for there were just thirty
students and he did all the teaching himself. Doctor
Johnson, true to his name, dearly loved a good book,
and when teaching mathematics would often forget
the topic and recite Ossian by the page, instead. Jay
caught it, for the book craze is contagious and not
sporadic. We take it by being exposed.
And thus it was while under the tutelage of Doctor
Johnson that Jay began to acquire the ability to turn
a terse sentence; and this gained him admittance into
the world of New York letters, whose special guardians
234

JOHN JAY

were Dickinson and William Livingston. ^ Livingston
invited the boy to his house, and very soon we find the
young man calling without special invitation, for
Livingston had a beautiful daughter about John's age,
who was fond of Ossian, too, or said she was.
And as this is not a serial love-story, there is no need
of keeping the gentle reader in suspense, so I will explain
that some years later John married the girl, and the
mating was a very happy one.
After John had been to King's College two years we
find in the faded and yellow old letter-book an item
written by the father to the effect that: " Our Johnny
is doing well at College, He seems sedate and intent
on gaining knowledge; but rather inclines to Law in
stead of the Ministry."
Doctor Johnson was succeeded by Doctor Myles Coop
er, a Fellow of Oxford, who used to wear his mortar
board cap and scholar's gown up Broadway, In young
Jay's veins there was not a drop of British blood. Of his
eight great-grandparents, five were French and three
Dutch, a fact he once intimated in the Oxonian's pres
ence. And then it was explained to the youth that if
such were the truth it would be as well to conceal it.
^ Alexander Hamilton got along very well with Doctor
Cooper, but John Jay found himself rusticated shortly
before graduation. Some years after this Doctor Cooper
hastily climbed the back fence, leaving a sample of his
gown on a picket, while Alexander Heimilton held the
235

JOHN JAY

Whig mob at bay at the front door, ^ Cooper sailed
very soon for England, anathematizing " the blarsted
country " in classic Latin as the ship passed out of
the Narrows,
" England is a good place for him," said the laconic
John Jay,
So John Jay was to be a lawyer. And the only way to be
a lawyer in those days was to work in a lawyer's office,
A goodly source of income to all established lawyers
was the sums they derived for taking embryo Black-
stones into their keeping. The greater a man's reputa
tion as a lawyer, the higher he placed his fee for taking
a boy in.
In those days there were no printed blanks, and a
simple lease was often a day's work to write out; so it
was not difficult to keep the boys busy. Besides that,
they took care of the great man's horse, blacked his
boots, swept the office, and ran errands. During the
third year of apprenticeship, if all went well, the young
man was duly admitted to the Bar, A stiff examination
kept out the rank outsiders, but the nomination by a
reputable attorney was equivalent to admittance, for
all members knew that if you opposed an attorney
today, tomorrow he might oppose you.
To such an extent was this system of taking students
carried that, in Seventeen Hundred Sixty-eight, we
find New York lawyers alarmed " by the awful influx
of young Barristers upon this Province." So steps were
236

JOHN JAY

taken to make all attorneys agree not to have more than
two apprentices in their office at one time. About the
same time the Boston newspaper, called the " Cen
tinel," shows there was a similar state of overproduction
in Boston. Only the trouble there was principally with
the doctors, for doctors were then turned loose in the
same way, carrying a diploma from the old physician
with whom they had matriculated and duly graduated,
^ Law schools and medical colleges, be it known, are
comparatively modern institutions — not quite so new,
however, as business colleges, but pretty nearly so.
And now in Chicago there is a " Barbers' University,"
which issues diplomas to men who can manipulate a
razor and shears, whereas, until yesterday, boys learned
to be barbers by working in a barber's shop. The good
old way was to pass a profession along from man to
man 53 53
And it is so yet In a degree, for no man is allowed to
practise either medicine or law until he has spent some
time in the office of a practitioner in good standing.
In the Catholic Church, and also in the Episcopal, the
novitiate is expected to serve for a time under an older
clergyman ; but all the other denominations have broken
away, and now spring the fledgling on the world straight
from the factory.
Several other of his children having sorely disappointed
him, Peter Jay seemed to center his ambitions on his
boy John, So we find him paying Benjamin Kissam, the
237

JOHN JAY

eminent lawyer, two hundred pounds in good coin of
the Colony to take John Jay as a 'prentice for five years,
John went at it and began copying those endless, wordy
documents in which the old-time attomey used to
delight, John sat at one end of a table, and at the other
was seated one Lindley Murray, at the mention of
whose name terror used to seize my soul.
Murray has written some good, presentable English to
the effect that young Jay, even at that time, had the
inclination and ability to focus his mind upon the sub
ject in hand. " He used to work just as steadily when
his employer was away as when he was in the office,"
a fact which the grammarian seemed to regard as rather
strange 53 53
In a year we find that when Mr. Kissam went away he
left the keys of the safe in John Jay's hands, with orders
what to do in case of emergencies. Thus does respon
sibility gravitate to him who can shoulder it, and trust
to the man who deserves it.
It was in Kissam's office that Jay acquired that habit
of reticence and serene poise which, becoming fixed in
character, made his words carry such weight in later
years. He never gave snapshot opinions, or talked at
random, or voiced any sentiment for which he could
not give a reason.
His companions were usually men much older than he.
At the " Moot Club " he took part with James Duane,
who was to be New York's first continental mayor;
238

JOHN JAY

Gouverneur Morris, who had not at that time acquired
the wooden leg which he once snatched off and bran
dished with happy effect before a Paris mob ; and Samuel
Jones, who was to take as 'prentice and drill that strong
man, De Witt Clinton,
Before his years of apprenticeship were over, John Jay,
the quiet, the modest, the reticent, was known as a safe
and competent lawyer — Kissam having pushed him
forward as associate counsel in various difficult cases,
^ Meantime, certain chests of tea had been dumped
into Boston Harbor, and the example had been fol
lowed by the " Mohawks " in New York, British op
pression had made many Tories lukewarm, and then
English rapacity had transformed these Tories into
Whigs, Jay was one of these; and in newspapers and
pamphlets, and from the platform, he had pleaded the
cause of the Colonies. Opposition crystallized his
reasons, and threats only served to make him reaffirm
the truths he had stated.
So prominent had his utterances made his name, that
one fine day he was nominated to attend the first Con
gress of the Colonies to be held in Philadelphia.
In August, Seventeen Hundred Seventy-four, we find
him leaving his office in New York in charge of a clerk,
and riding horseback over to the town of Elizabeth,
there joining his father-in-law, and the two starting
for Philadelphia, On the road they fell in with John
Adams, who kept a diary. That night at the tavern
239

JOHN JAY

where they stopped, the sharp-eyed Yankee recorded
the fact of meeting these new friends and added, " Mr,
Jay is a young gentleman of the law . . , and
Mr. Scott says a hard student and a very good speaker,"
^ And so they journeyed on across the State to Tren
ton and down the Delaware River to Philadelphia,
visiting, and cautiously discussing great issues as they
went, Samuel Adams, too, was in the party, as reticent
as Jay, Jay was twenty-nine and Samuel Adams fifty-
two years old, but they became good friends, and
Samuel once quietly said to John Adams, " That man
Jay is young in years, but he has an old head."
Jay was the youngest man of the Convention, save one,
^ When the Second Congress met. Jay was again a
delegate. He served on several important committees,
and drew up a statement that was addressed to the
people of England; but he was recalled to New York
before the supreme issue was reached, and thus,
through accident, the Declaration of Independence
does not contain the signature of John Jay.

240

JOHN JAY

]N Seventeen Hundred Seventy-eight, Jay
was chosen president of the Continental
Congress to succeed that other patriotic
Huguenot, Laurens, The following year he
weis selected as the man to go to Spain, to secure from
that country certeiin friendly favors.
His reception there weis exceedingly frosty, emd the
mention of his two years on the ragged edge of court
Ufe at Madrid, in later years brought to his face a grim
smile 53 53
Spedn's diplomatic poUcy was smooth hypxjcrisy emd
remk untruth, and all her promises, it seems, were
made but to be broken. Jay's negotiations were ordy
pjartially successful, but he came to know the langueige,
the country emd the pjeople in a way that made his
knowledge very valuable to America.
By Seventeen Hundred Elighty-one. Elngland had begun
to see that to compel the absolute subrm'ssion of the
Colonies was more of a job than she had anticipated.
News of victories was duly sent to the " mother coun
try" at regular intervals, but with these glad tidings
were requests for more troop)s, and requisitions for
sliip)s emd arms.
The American army was a very hard thing to find. It
would fight one day, to retreat the next, and had a way
of meiking midnight attacks and flank movements, that.
to say the least, were very confusing. Then it would
separate, to come together — Lord knows where! This
241

JOHN JAY

made Lord Cornwallis once write to the Home Secre
tary: " 1 could easily defeat the enemy, if 1 could find
him and engage him in a fair fight." He seemed to
think it was " no fair," forgetting the old proverb
which has something to say about love and war.
Finally, Cornwallis got the thing his soul desired — a
fair fight. He was then acting on the defensive. The
fight was short and sharp; and Colonel Alexander
Hamilton, who led the charge, in ten minutes planted
the Stars and Stripes on his ramparts.
That night Cornwallis was the " guest " of Washington,
and the next day a dinner was given in his honor.
He was then obliged to write to the Home Secretary,
" We have met the enemy, and we are theirs " — but
of course he did not express it just exactly that way.
Then it was that King George, for the first time, showed
a disposition to negotiate for peace.
As peace commissioners, America named Franklin,
John Adams, Laurens, Jay and Jefferson.
Jefferson refused to leave his wife, who was in delicate
health, Adams was at The Hague, just closing up a
very necessary loan. Laurens had been sent to Holland
on a diplomatic mission, and his ship having been
overhauled by a British man-of-war, he was safely in
that historic spot, the Tower of London.
So Jay and Franklin alone met the English commis
sioners, and Jay stated to them the conditions of peace,
^ In a few weeks Adams arrived, still keeping a diary,
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JOHN JAY

In that diary is found this item: " The French caU me
' Le Washington de la Negociation ' : a very flattering
compliment indeed, to which 1 have no right, but sin
cerely think it belongs to Mr. Jay."
Jay quitted Paris in May, Seventeen Hundred Eighty-
four, having been gone from his native land eight years.
When he reached New York there was a great demon
stration in his honor. Triumphal arches were erected
across Broadway, houses and stores were decorated
with bunting, cannons boomed, and bells rang. The
freedom of the city was presented to him in a gold box,
with an exceedingly complimentary address, engrossed
on parchment, and signed by one hundred of the lead
ing citizens.
Jay spent just one day in New York, and then rode on
horseback up to the old farm at Rye, Westchester
County, to see his father. That evening there was a
service of thanksgiving at the village church, after
which the citizens repaired to the Jay mansion, one
story high and eighty feet long, where a barrel of cider
was tapped, and " a groce of Church Wardens " passed
around, with free tobacco for all,
John Jay stood on the front porch and made a modest
speech just five minutes long, among other things say
ing he had come home to be a neighbor to them, having
quit public life for good. But he refused to talk about
his own experiences in Europe, His reticence, however,
was made up for by good old Peter Jay, who assured
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JOHN JAY

the people that John Jay weis America's foremost
citizen; and in this statement he was backed up by the
village preacher, with not a dissenting voice from the
assembled citizens.
It is rather curious (or it is n't, I 'm not sure which)
how most statesmen have quit public life several times
during their careers, like the prima donnas who make
farewell tours. The ingratitude of republics is proverbial,
but to limit ingratitude to republics shows a lack of
experience. The progeny of the men who tired of hearing
Aristides called The Just are very numerous. Of course
it is easy to say that he who expects gratitude does not
deserve it; but the fact remains that the men who
know it are yet stung by calumny when it comes their
way 53 53
That fine demonstration in Jay's honor weis in great
part to overwhelm and stamp out the undertone of
growl and snarl that filled the air. Many said that peace
had been gained at awful cost, that Jay had deferred
to royalty and trifled with the wishes of the people in
making terms.
And now Jay had got home, back to his farruly and
farm, back to quiet and rest. The long, hard fight had
been won and America was free. For eight years had he
toiled and striven and plarmed: much had been accom
plished — not all he hoped, but much.
He had done his best for his country, his own affairs
were in bad shape. Congress had paid him meagerly,
244

JOHN JAY

and now he would turn public life over to others emd
live his own life.
All through Ufe men reach these places where they say,
" Here will we build three tabernacles "; but out of the
silence comes the imperative Voice, "Arise, and get
thee hence, for this is not thy rest,"
And now the war was over, peace was concluded; but
war leaves a country in chaos. The long, slow work of
reconstruction and of binding up a nation's wounds
must follow. America was independent, but she had
yet to win from the civilized world the recognition that
she must have in order to endure.
Jay was importuned by Weishington to take the position
of Secretary of Foreign Affeurs, one of the most impor
tant offices to be filled.
He accepted, and discharged the exacting duties of the
place for five years.
Then came the adoption of the Federal Constitution,
and the election of Weishington as President of the
United States.
Washington wrote to Jay: " There must be a Court.
perpetual and Supreme, to which all questions of
internal dispute between States or people be referred.
This Court must be greater than the Executive, greater
than any individual State, separated and apart from
emy political party. You must be the first official head
of the Executive."
And Jay, as every schoolboy knows, was the first Chief
245

JOHN JAY

Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, By
his sagacity, his dignity, his knowledge of men, and
love of order and uprightness, he gave it that high
place which it yet holds, and which it must hold; for
when the decisions of the Supreme Court are questioned
by a State or people, the fabric of our government is
but a spider's web through which anarchy and unreason
will stalk.
In Seventeen Hundred Ninety-four, came serious com
plications with Great Britain, growing out of the con
struction of terms of peace made in Paris eleven years
before 53 53
Some one must go to Great Britain and make a new
treaty in order to preserve our honor and save us from
another war.
Franklin was dead; Adams as Vice-President could not
be spared; Hamilton's fiery temper was dangerous — no
one could accomplish the delicate mission so well as Jay.
^ Jay, self -centered and calm, said little; but in com
pliance with Washington's wish resigned his office, and
set sail with full powers to use his own judgment in
everything, and the assurance that any treaty he made
would be ratified.
Arriving in England, he at once opened negotiations
with Lord Grenville, and in five months the new treaty
was signed.
It provided for the payment to American citizens for
losses of private shipping during the war; and over ten
246

JOHN JAY

million dollars were paid to citizens of the United States
under this agreement 53 It fixed the boundary-line
between the State of Maine and Canada; provided for
the surrender of British posts in the Far West; that
neither nation was to allow enlistments within its
territory by a third nation at war with another ; arranged
for the surrender of fugitives charged with murder or
forgery; and made definite terms as to various minor,
but none the less important, questions.
A storm of opposition greeted the treaty when its terms
were made known in America, Jay was accused of
bartering away the rights of America, and indignation
meetings were held, because Jay had not insisted on
apologies, and set sums of indemnity on this, that and
the other.
Nevertheless, Washington ratified the treaty; and when
Jay arrived in America there was a greeting fully as
cordial and generous as that on the occasion of his other
homecoming Si Si
In fact, while he was absent, his friends had put him in
nomination as Governor of New York, His election to
that office occurred just two days before he arrived, and
when he landed his senses were mystified by hearing
loud hurrahs for " Govemor Jay,"
When his term of office expired he was re-elected, so he
served as Governor, in all, six years. The most impor
tant measure carried out during that time was the
abolition of slavery in the State of New York, an act
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JOHN JAY

he had strenuously insisted on for twenty years, but
which was not made possible until he had the power of
Governor, and crowded the measure upon the Legis
lature 53 53
Over a quarter of a century had passed since John
Adams and John Jay had met on horseback out there
on the New Jersey turnpike. Their intimacy had been
continuous and their labors as important as ever
engrossed the minds of men, but in it all there was
neither jealousy nor bickering. They were friends 53
At the close of Jay's gubernatorial term. President
Adams nominated him for the office of Chief Justice,
made vacant by the resignation of Oliver Ellsworth.
The Senate unanimously confirmed the nomination, but
Jay refused to accept the place.
For twenty-eight years he had served his country —
served it in its most trying hours. He was not an old
man in years, but the severity and anxiety of his labors
had told on his health, and the elasticity of youth had
gone from his brain forever. He knew this, and feared
the danger of continued exertion, " My best work is
done," he said; " if 1 continue 1 may undo the good 1
have accomplished. 1 have earned a rest."
He retired to the ancestral farm at Bedford, West
chester County, to enjoy his vacation. In a year his
wife died, and the shock told on his already shattered
nerves 53 53
" The habit of reticence grew upon him," says one
248

JOHN JAY

writer, " until he could not be tricked into giving an
opinion even about the weather."
And so he lived out his days as a partial recluse, deep
in problems of " raising watermelons, and sheep that
would not jump fences." He worked with his hands,
wore blue jeans, voted at every town election, but to a
great degree lived only in the past. The problems of
church and village politics and farm life filled his
declining days.
To a great degree his physical health came back, but
the problems of statecraft he left to other heads and
hands 53 53
His religious nature manifested itself in various phil
anthropic schemes, and the Bible Society he founded
endures even unto this day. These things afforded a
healthful exercise for that tireless brain which refused
to run down.
His daughters made his home ideal, their love and
gentleness soothing his declining years.
Death to him was kindly, gathering him as Autumn.
the messenger of Winter, reaps the leaves.

249

JOHN JAY

O one has ever made the claim that Jay pos
sessed genius. He had something which is
better, though, for most of the eiffairs of life,
emd that is commonsense. In his intellect
there was not the flash of Heimilton, nor the creative
quality possessed by Jefferson, nor the leu-ge all-round
ness of Fremklin 53 He was the average man who has
trained and educated and made the best use of every
faculty and every opportunity. He was genuine; he was
honest; and if he never surprised his friends by his
brilliancy, he surely never disappointed them through
duplicity 53 He made no promises that he could not
keep; he held out no vedn hopes.
As a diplomat he seems nearly the ideal. We have been
taught that the line of demarcation between diplomacy
and untruth is very shadowy. But truth is very good
policy and in the main answers the purpose much
better than the other thing. 1 eim quite willing to leave
the matter to those who have tried both.
We can not say that Jay was " magnetic," for magnetic
men win the rabble; but Jay did better: he won the
confidence and admiration of the strong and discerning.
His manner was gentle and pleasing; his words few,
and as a listener he set a pace that all novitiates in the
school of diplomacy would do well to follow.
To talk well is a talent, but to listen is a fine art. If 1
really wished to win the love of a man I *d practise the
art of listening. Even dull people often talk well when
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JOHN JAY

there is some one near who cultivates the receptive
mood; and to please a man you must give him an
opportunity to be both wise and witty. Men are pleased
with their friends when they are pleased with them
selves, and no man is ever so pleased with himself as
when he has expressed himself well.
The sympathetic listener at a lecture or sermon is the
only one who gets his money's worth. If you would get
good, lend your sympathy to a speaker, and if, acci
dentally, you imbibe heresy, you can easily throw it
overboard when you get home,
John Jay was quiet and undemonstrative in speech,
cultivating a fine reserve. In debate he never fired all
his guns, and his best battles were won with the powder
that was never exploded, " You had always better keep
a small balance to your credit," he once advised a
young attorney.
When the first Congress met. Jay was not in favor of
complete independence from England, He asked only
for simple justice, and said, " The middle course is
best," He listened to John Adams and Patrick Henry
and quietly discussed the matter with Samuel Adams;
but it was some time before he saw that the density of
King George was hopeless, and that the work of com
plete separation was being forced upon the Colonies
by the blindness and stupidity of the British Parliament,
^ He then accepted the issue.
During those first days of the Revolution, New York
251

JOHN JAY

did not stand firm, as did Boston, for the cause of
independence, " The foes at home are the only ones
1 really fear," once wrote Hamilton.
First to pacify and placate, then to win and hold those
worse than neutrals, was the work of John Jay. While
Washington was in the field. Jay, with tireless pen,
upheld the cause, and by his speech and presence kept
anarchy at bay.
As president of the Committee of Safety he showed he
could do something more than talk and write. When
Tories refused to take the oath of allegiance he quietly
wrote the order to imprison or banish; and with friend,
foe or kinsman there was neither dalliance nor turning
aside. His heart was in the cause — his property, his
life. The time for argument had passed.
In the gloom that followed the defeat of Washington
at Brooklyn, Jay issued an address to the people that
is a classic in its fine, stern spirit of hope and strength.
Congress had the address reprinted and sent broadcast.
and also translated and printed in German,
His work divides itself by a strange coincidence into
three equal parts. Twenty-eight years were passed in
youth and education; twenty-eight years in continuous
public work; and twenty-eight years in retirement and
rest, ^ As one of that immortal ten, mentioned by a
great English statesman, who gave order, dignity,
stability and direction to the cause of American
Independence, the name of John Jay is secure,
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WILLIAM H. SEWARD

I avow my adherence to the Union, with my friends,
with my party, with my State; or without either, as
they may determine; in every event of peace or war,
with every consequence of honor or dishonor, of life
or death,
— Speech in the United States Senate. I860

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

HEN I was a freshman at the Little
Red Schoolhouse, the last exercise
in the afternoon was spelling. The
larger pupils stood in a line that
ran down one aisle and curled clear
around the stove. Well do I remem
ber one Winter when the biggest
boy in the school stood at the tail-
end of the class most of the time, while at the head of
the line, or always very near it, was a freckled, check-
aproned girl, who once at a spellin'-bee had defeated
even the teacher. This girl was ten years older than
myself, and I was then too small to spell with this first
grade, but I watched the daily fight of wrestling with
such big words as " un-in-ten-tion-al-ly " and " mis-
un-der-stand-ing," and longed for a day when I, too,
should take part and possibly stand next to this fine,
smart girl, who often smiled at me approvingly. And
I planned how I would hold her hand as we would
stand there in line and mentally dare the master to
come on with his dictionary. We two would be the
smartest scholars of the school and always help each
other in our " sums,"
Yet when time had pushed me into the line, she of the
check apron was not there, and even if she had been
I should not have dared to hold her hand. 255

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

But I must not digress — the particular thing I wish to
explain is that one day at recess the best scholar was
in tears, and I went to her and asked what was the
matter, and she told me that some of the big girls had
openly declared that she — my fine, freckled girl, the
check-aproned, the invincible — ^held her place at the
head of the school only through favoritism.
I burned with rage and resentment and proposed fight;
then I burst out crying and together we mingled our
tears 53 53
All this was long ago. Since then I have been in many
climes, and met many men, and read history a bit — I
hope not without profit. And this I have learned: that
the person who stands at the head of his class (be he
country lad or presidential candidate) is always the
target for calumny and the unkindness of contempo
raries who can neither appreciate nor understand 53
Not long ago I spent several days at Auburn, New
York, so named by some pioneer who, when the Nine
teenth Century was very young, journeyed thither
ward with a copy of Goldsmith's " Deserted Village "
in his pack.
Auburn is a flourishing city of thirty thousand inhab
itants. It has beautiful wide streets, lined with elms
that in places form an archway. There are churches
to spare and schools galore and handsome residences.
Then there are electric cars and electric lights emd
dynamos, with which men electricute other men in
256

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

the wink of an eye. I saw the " fin-de-siecle " guillotine
and sat in the chair, and the jubilant patentee told me
that it was the quickest scheme for extinguishing life
ever invented— patented Anno Christi Eighteen Hun
dred Ninety-five, Verily we live in the age of the Push-
Button! And as I sat there I heard a laugh that was a
quaver, and the sound of a stout cane emphasizing a
jest struck against the stone floor,
" We didn't have such things when I was a boy! "
came the tremulous voice.
And then the newcomer explained to me that he was
eighty-seven years old last May. and that he well
remembered a time when a plain oaken gallows and
a strong rope were good enough for Auburn — " provided
Bill Seward did n't get the fellow free." added my new
found friend.
Then the old man explained that he used to be a guard
on the walls, and now he had a grandson who occupied
the same office, and in answer to my question said he
knew Seward as though he were a brother. " Bill, he
was the luckiest man ever in Auburn — ^he married rich
and tumbled over bags of money if he just walked on
the street. He believed in neither God nor devil and
had a pompous way o' makin' folks think he knew all
about everything. To make folks think you know is
just as well as to know, I s'pose! " and the old man
laughed and struck his cane on the echoing floor of
the cell 53 53 257

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

The sound and the place and the company gave me a
creepy feeling, and I excused myself and made my
way out past armed guards, through doorways where
iron bars clicked and snapped, and steel bolts that held
in a thousand men shot back to let me out, out into a
freer air and a better atmosphere. And as I passed
through the last overhanging arch where a one-armed
guard wearing a G. A. R. badge turned a needlessly
big key, there came unbeckoned across my inward sight
a vision of a check-aproned girl in tears, sobbing with
head on desk. And 1 said to myself: " Yes, yes! country
girl or statesman, you shall drink the bitter potion that
is the penalty of success — drink it to the very dregs.
If you would escape moral and physical assassination,
do nothing, say nothing, be nothing — court obscurity,
for only in oblivion does safety lie,"
All mud sticks, but no mud is immortal, and that senile
fling at the name of Seward is the last flickering, dying
word of detraction that can be heard in the town that
was his home for full half a century, or in the land he
served so well. And yet it was in Auburn that mob spirit
once found a voice; and when Seward was Lincoln's
most helpful adviser, and his sons were at the front
serving the country's cause, cries of " Burn his house!
Burn his house! " came to the distracted ears of wife
and daughter.
But all that has gone now. In fact, denial that calunmy
was ever offered to the name of Seward springs quickly
258

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

to the lips of Auburn men, as they point with pride
to that beautiful old home where he lived, and where
now his son resides; and then they lead you, with a
reverence that nearly uncovers, to the stately bronze
standing on the spot that was once his garden — now
a park belonging to the people.
Time marks wondrous changes; and the city where
William Lloyd Garrison lived in " a rat-hole." as re
ported by Boston's Mayor, now honors Commonwealth
Avenue with his statue. And so the sons of Seward's,
enemies have devoted willing dollars to preserving
" that classic face and spindling form " in deathless
bronze 53 53
And they do well, for Seward's name and fame are
Auburn's glory.

259

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

MAY be mistaken, but it seems to me that
all the worry of the world is quite useless.
And on no subject affecting mortals is there
so much worry as on that of (no, not love!)
parents' ambitions for their children. When the dimpled
darling toddles and lisps and chatters, the satisfaction
he gives is unalloyed; for he is so small and insignificant,
his demands so imperious, that the entire household
dance attendance on the wee tyrant, and count it joy.
But by and by the things at which we used to laugh
become presumptuous, and that which was once funny
is now perverse. And the more practical a man is, the
larger his stock of Connecticut commonsense, the
greater his disillusionment as his children grow to man
hood. When he beholds dawdling inanity and dowdy
vanity growing lush as jimson, where yesterday, with
strained prophetic vision, he saw budding excellence
and worth, his soul is wrung by a worry that knows
no peace. The matter is so poignantly personal that he
dare not share it with another in confessional, and so
he hugs his grief to his heart, and tries to hide it even
from himself.
And thus does many a mother scrub the kitchen-floor
on her knees, rather than face the irony of maternity
and ask the assistance of the seventeen-year-old pert
chit with bangs, who strums a mandoUn in the Uttle
front parlor, gay with its paper flowers, six plush-
covered chairs and a " company " sofa.
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WILLIAM H. SEWARD

The late Commodore Vanderbdt is reported to have
said, " I have over a dozen sons, and not one is worth
a damn." I fear me that every father with sons grown
to manhood has at some time voiced the same senti
ment, curtailed, possibly, only as to numbers, and
softened by another expletive, which does not mitigate
the anguish of his cry, as he sees the dreams he had for
his baby boys fade away into a mist of agonizing tears.
^ And is all this worry the penalty that Nature exacts
for dreaming dreams that can not in their very nature
come true? Jean Jacques Rousseau, who wrote so beau
tifully on child-study, avoided the risk of failure by
putting his children into an asylum; several " Com
munities " since have set apart certain women to be
mothers to all. and bring up and care for the young,
and strangely, with no apparent loss to the children;
and Bellamy prophesies a day when the worries of
parenthood will all be transferred to a " committee."
^ But the worry is futile and senseless, being born often
of a blindness that will not wait. Man has not only
" Seven Ages," but many more, and he must pass
through this one before the next arrives. The Commo
dore certainly possessed what is called horse-sense,
and if his conceptions of character had been clearer, he
might have realized that in more ways than one the
abilities of his sons were going to be greater than his
own. His eldest son was, nevertheless, banished to a
Long Island farm on a pension, "because he could not be
261

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

trusted to do business," The same son once modestly
asked the Commodore if he would aUow him to have
the compost that had been for a year accumulating
outside the Fifth Avenue barns, " Just one load, and
no more," said pater, William thereupon took twenty
teams and as many men, and transferred the entire
pile to a barge moored in the river. It was a barge-load.
And when pater saw what had been done, he said, " The
boy is not so big a fool as I thought," The boy was
forty-five ere death put him in possession of the gold
that the father no longer had use for, there being no
pockets in a shroud, and he then showed that as a
financier he could have given his father points, for in
a few years he doubled the millions and drove horses
faster without a break than his father had ever ridden.
^ Seward's father was a doctor, justice of the peace,
merchant, and the general first citizen of the village of
Florida, Orange County, New York, And he had no
more confidence in his boy William than Vanderbdt
had in his. He educated him only because the lad was
not strong enough to work, and it seems to have been
the firm belief that the boy would come to no good end.
In order to discipline him, the father put the youngster
in college on such a scanty allowance that the lad was
obliged to run away and go to teaching school in order
to be free from financial humiliation. Here was the best
possible proof that the young man had the germs of
excellence in him; but the father took it as a proof of
262

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

depravity, and sent warning letters to the young school
teacher's friends threatening them " not to harbor the
scapegrace." 53 53
The years went by and the parental distrust slackened
very little. The boy was slim and slender and his hair
was tow-colored and his head too big for his body. He
had gotten a goodly smattering of education some way
and was intent on being a lawyer. He seemed to know
that if he was to succeed he must get well away from
the parent nest, and out of the reach of daily advice 53
His desire was to go " Out West," and the particular
objective point was Auburn, New York,
The father gave him fifty dollars as a starter, with the
final word, " 1 expect you '11 be back all too soon." 53
And so young Seward started away, with high hopes
and a firm determination that he would agreeably dis
appoint his parents by not going back.
He reached Albany by steamboat, and embarked on a
sumptuous canal packet that bore a waving banner on
which were the words woven in gold, " Westward Ho! "
^ And he has slyly told us how, as he stepped aboard
that " inland palace," he bethought him of having
written a thesis, three years before, proving that DeWitt
Clinton's chimera of joining the Hudson and Lake Erie
was an idea both fictile and fibrous. But the inland
palace carried him safely and surely. He reached
Auburn, and instead of writing home for more money,
returned that which he had borrowed. The father, who
263

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

was a pretty good man in every way, quite beyond the
average in intellect, lived to see his son in the United
States Senate,
And the moral for parents is: Don't worry about your
children. You were young once, even if you have for
gotten the fact. Boys will be boys and girls will be girls —
but not forever. Have patience, and remember that this
present brood is not the first generation that has been
brought forth. There have been others, and each heis
been very much like the one that passed before. The
sentiment of " Pippa Passes " holds: " God 's in His
Heaven, all 's right with the world."

264

Wl LLIAM H, SEWARD

N Eighteen Hundred Thirty-four, Seward was
the Whig candidate for Governor of New
York, He was defeated by W, L, Marcy. Four
years later he was again a candidate against
Marcy and defeated him by ten thousand majority 53
Seward was then thirty-six years of age, and was
counted one of the very first among the lawyers of the
State, and in accepting the office of Governor he made
decided financial sacrifices.
Seward was a man of positive ideas, and, although not
arbitrary in manner, yet had a silken strength of will
that made great rents in the mesh of other men's
desires. Before a court, his quiet but firm persistence
along a certain line often dictated the verdict. The
faculty of grasping a point firmly and securely was his
in a marked measure. And any man who can quietly
override the wishes and ambitions of other men is first
well feared, and then thoroughly hated.
One of Seward's first efforts on becoming Governor was
to insure a common-school education among the chil
dren of every class, and especially among the foreign
population of large cities. To this end he advocated a
distribution of public funds among all schools established
with that object; and if he were alive today it is quite
needless to say he would not belong to the A, P, A, nor
to any other secret society. He knew too much of all
religions to have complete faith in any, yet his apprecia
tion of the fact that the Catholics minister to the needs
265

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

of a class that no other denomination reaches or can
control was outspoken and plain. This, with his con
nection with the Anti-Masonic Party, brought upon his
name a stigma that was at last to defeat him for the
Presidency. Seward's clear insight into practical things,
backed by the quiet working energy of his nature,
brought about many changes, and the changes he
effected and the reforms he inaugurated must ever
remk his name high eimong statesmen.
By his influence the law's delay in the courts of chancery
was curtailed, and this prepared the way for radical
changes in the Constitution. He inaugurated the
geological survey that led to making " Potsdam out
crop" classic, emd "Medina sandstone" a product that is
so known wherever a man goes forth in the fields of
earth carrying a geologist's heimmer.
Largely through his efforts, a safe and general banking
system was brought about; and the establishment of a
lunatic asylum was one of the best items to his credit
during that first term as Governor, But there was one
phdological change that proved too great even for his
generalship. The word " lunacy," as we know, comes
from " luna," the belief in the good old days being that
the moon exercised a profound influence on the wits of
sundry people, 1 'm told that the idea still holds good
in certain quarters, and that if the wind is east and the
moon shows a horn on which you can hang a flatiron,
certeiin persons are looked upon askance and the
266

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

children cautioned to avoid them. ^ Seward said that
insane people were simply those who were mentally ill,
and that " Hospital " was the proper term. But the
classicists retorted, " Nay, nay, William Henry, you
have had your way in many things and here we will now
have ours," It has taken us full a century officially to
make the change, and the plain folks from the hills still
refuse to ratify it, and will for rriany a lustrum.
It was during Seward's administration that the " debt
ors' prison " was done away with, and it was, too,
through his earnest recommendation that the last trace
of law for slaveholding was wiped from the statute-
books of the State of New York.
The question of slavery was taken up most exhaustively
in what was known as the " Virginia Controversy," This
interesting correspondence can be seen in a stout volume
in most public libraries. It is a series of letters that
passed between Governor Seward of New York and the
Governor of Virginia, as to the requisition of two
persons in New York charged by the Govemor of
Virginia with abducting slaves. Seward made the patent
point, and backed it up with a forest of reasons in
politest English, that the accused persons being charged
with abducting slaves, and there being no such thing
as slaves known in New York, no person in New York
could be apprehended for stealing slaves — for slaves
were things that had no existence.
Then did the Governor of Virginia admit that slaves
267

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

could not be abducted in New York; but he proceeded
to explain in lusty tomes that slavery legally existed in
Virginia, and that if slaves were abducted in Virginia,
the criminal nature of the act could not be shaken off
because the accused changed his geographical base.
Seward was a prince of logicians: the subtleties of
reasoning and the smoke of rhetoric were to his fancy,
and although there is not a visible smile in the whole
" Virginia Controversy," I can not but think that his
sleeves were puffed with laughter as he searched the
universe for reasons to satisfy the haughty First
Families of Virginia, And all the while, please note that
he held the alleged abductors safe and secure 'gainst
harm's way.
In this correspondence he placed himself on record as
an Abolitionist of the Abolitionists; and the name of
Seward became listed then and there for vengeance — or
immortality. The subject had been forced upon him,
and he then expressed the sentiment that he continued
to voice until Eighteen Hundred Sixty-five, that
America could not exist half -free and half -slave. It must
be a land of slaveholders and slaves, or a land of free
men — ^he was fully and irrevocably committed to the
cause 53 53
In Eighteen Hundred Forty, he was re-elected Gov
ernor, The second administration was marked, as was
the first, by a vigorous policy of pushing forward pubUc
improvements, 268

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

At the close of his second term Seward found his
personal affairs in rather an unsettled condition, the
expenses of official position having exceeded his income.
He had had a goodly taste of the ingratitude of republics,
and philosopher though he was, he was yet too young
to know that his experience in well-doing was not
unique, a fact he came to comprehend full well, in later
years. And so he did that very human thing — declared
his intention of retiring permanently from public life 53
Once back at Auburn, clients flocked to him, and he
took his pick of business. And yet we find that public
eiffairs were in his mind. Vexed questions of State policy
were brought to him to decide, and journeys were made
to Ohio and Michigan in the interests of men charged
with slave-stealing. There was little money in such
practise and small honors, but his heart was in the work,
^ In Eighteen Hundred Forty-four, Seward entered
with much zest into the canvass in behalf of Henry Clay
for President, as he thought Clay's election would
surely lead the way to general emancipation.
In Eighteen Hundred Forty-eight, he supported General
Taylor with equal energy. When Taylor was elected,
there proved to be a great deal of opposition to him
among the members from the South, in both the Senate
and the House of Representatives. The administration
felt the need of being backed by strong men in the
Senate — men who could think on their feet, and carry a
point when necessary against the opposition that sought
269

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

to confuse and embarrass the friends of the adminis
tration with tireless windmill elocution.
From Washington came the urgent request that Seward
should be sent to the United States Senate, In Eighteen
Hundred Forty-nine, he was chosen senator and from
the first became the trusted leader of the administration
party 53 53
The year after Seward's election to the Senate, Presi
dent Taylor died and Vice-President Fillmore (who had
the happiness to live in the village of East Aurora.
New York) succeeded to the office, but Seward still
remained leader of the Anti-Slavery Party,
Seward's second term as United States Senator closed in
Eighteen Hundred Sixty-one, In Eighteen Hundred
Fifty-five, when his first term expired, there was a very
strenuous effort made against his re-election. His strong
and continued anti-slavery position had caused him to
be thoroughly hated both North and South. He was
spoken of as "a seditious agitator and a dangerous
man." 53 53
But in spite of opposition he was again sent back to
Washington, Small, slim, gentle, modest and low-voiced,
he was pointed out in Pennsylvania Avenue as " one
who reads much and sees quite through the deeds of
men." 53 53
Men who are well traduced and hotly denounced are
usually pretty good quality. No better encomium is
needed than the detraction of some people. And men
270

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

who are well hated also have friends who love them well.
Thus does the law of compensation ever live.
In Eighteen Hundred Fifty-six, there was a goodly little
demonstration in favor of Seward for President, but the
idea of running such a radical for the chief office of the
people was quickly downed; and Seward himself knew
the temper of the times too well to take the matter very
seriously 53 53
But the years between Eighteen Hundred Fifty-six emd
Eighteen Hundred Sixty were years of agitation emd
earnest thought, and the idea that slavery was merely
a local question was getting both depolarized emd
dehorned. The non-slaveholding North was rubbing its
sleepy eyes, and asking. Who is this man Seward, any
way? The belief was growing that Seward, Garrison,
Surrmer and Phillips were something more than self-
seeking agitators, and many declared them true patriots.
In every town and city, in every Northern State,
political clubs spremg into being and their battle-cry
was " Seward! " It seemed to be a foregone conclusion
that Seward would be the next President, When the
convention met, the first ballot showed one hundred
seventy-three votes for Seward and one hundred two
for Lincoln, the rest, scattering. But Seward's friends
had marshaled their entire strength — all the rest was
opposition — ^while Lincoln was an unknown quantity 53
When the news went forth that Lincoln was nominated,
Seward received the tidings in his library at Auburn; 271

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

and the myth-makers have told us that he cried aloud,
and that the carved lions on his gateposts shed salty
tears. But Seward knew the opposition to his name, and
was of too stern a moral fiber to fix his heart upon the
result of a wire-pulling convention. The motto of his
life had been: Be prepared for the unexpected. It may
be that the lions on the gateposts shed tears, and it is
possible there was weeping in the Seward household —
but not by Seward.
He entered upon a hearty and vigorous campaign in
support of Lincoln — making a tour through the West
and being greeted everywhere with an enthusiasm that
rivaled that shown for the candidate,
Seward said to his wife, when the news came that
Lincoln was nominated: "He will be elected, but he
will have to face the greatest difficulties and carry the
greatest burdens that ever a man has been called to
bear. He will need me, but look you, my dear, I will
not serve under him. I must be at the head or no
where." Lincoln knew Seward, and Seward didn't know Lin
coln, And so after the Convention Lincoln journeyed
down East, It took two days to go from Chicago to
Buffalo, and there were no sleeping-cars; and then
Lincoln went on from Buffalo to Auburn — another
day's journey, Lincoln wore bis habitual duster and
the tall hat, a little the worse for wear. He telegraphed
Seward he was coming, and. of course, Seward met
272

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

him at the station in Auburn, Lincoln got off the car
alone, unattended, carrying his carpetbag, homemade,
with the initials "A, L," embroidered on the side by
the fair hands of Fannie Anna Rebecca Todd.
Seward and his two sons — ^William and Frederick — met
the coming President, and the boys laughed at the
dusty, uncouth, sad and awkward individual, six feet
five, who disembarked.
The carriage was waiting, but Lincoln refused to ride,
saying, " Boys, let's walk," and so they walked up the
hill, in through past the stone gateposts where the lions
stood that shed tears. Seward ran ahead into the house
and said to his wife: "Look you, my dear, we have
misjudged this man. Do not laugh. He is the greatest
man in the world! "
Three months later, Seward met Lincoln by appoint
ment in Chicago ; and from that time on, to the day of
Lincoln's death, Seward served his chief with hands and
feet, with eyes and ears, and with brain and soul. When
Lincoln was elected, his wisdom was at once manifest
in securing Seward as Secretary of State. The record of
those troublous times and the masterly way in which
Seward served his country are too vivid in the minds of
men to need reviewing here, but the regard of Lincoln
for this man, who so well complemented his own needs
is worthy of our remembrance, Seward and Welles
were the only members of Lincoln's first Cabinet who
stood by him straight through and entered the second.
273

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

Early in April, Eighteen Hundred Sixty-five, Seward
met with a serious accident by being thrown from his
carriage and dashed against the curbstone. One arm and
both jaws were fractured, and besides he was badly
bruised in other parts of his body. On April Thirteenth,
Lincoln returned from his trip to Richmond, where he
had had an interview with Grant. That evening he
walked over from the White House to Seward's resi
dence. The stricken man was totally unable to converse,
but Lincoln, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding
the old man's thin hands, told in solemn, serious mono
tone of the ending of the war; of what he had seen and
heard; of the plans he had made for sending soldiers
home and providing for an army whipped and van
quished, and of what was best to do to bind up a nation's
wounds. ^ Five years before, these men had stood before
the world as rivals. Then they joined hands as friends,
and during the four years of strife and blood had met
each day and advised and counseled concerning every
great detail. Their opinions often differed widely, but
there was always frank expression and, in the main, their
fears and doubts and hopes had all been one.
But now at last the smoke had cleared away, and they
had won. The victory had been too dearly bought for
proud boast or vain exultation, but victory still it was.
^ And as the strong and homely Lincoln told the tale
the stricken man could answer back only by pressure
of a hand,
274

WILLIAM H. SEWARD

At last the presence of the nurse told Lincoln it was
time to go; in grave jest he half -apologized for his long
stay, and told of a man in Sangamon County who used
to say there is no medicine like good news. And rumor
has it that he then stooped and kissed the sick man's
cheek. And then he went his way. ^ The next night at
the same hour a man entered the Seward home, saying
that he had been sent with messages by the doctor.
Being refused admittance to the sick-chamber, he drew
a pistol and endeavored to shoot Seward's son who
guarded the door; but being foiled in this he crushed
the young man's skull with the heavy weapon, and
springing over his body dashed at the emaciated figure
of Seward with uplifted dagger. A dozen times he struck
at the face and throat and breast of the almost dying
man, and then thinking he had done his work made
rapidly away.
At the same time, linked by Fate in a sort of poetic
justice, with the thought that if one deserved death so
did the other, Hate had with surer aim sent an assassin's
bullet home — and Lincoln died.
Weeks passed and the strong vitality that had served
Seward in such good stead did not forsake him. Men of
his stamp are hard to kill.
On a beautiful May-day, Seward, so reduced that a
woman carried him, was taken out on the veranda of his
house and watched that solid mass of glittering steel
and faded blue that moved through Pennsylvania 275

WILLIAM H, SEWARD

Avenue in triumphal march, Sherman with head
uncovered rode down to Seward's home, saluted, and
then back to join his goodly company, and many
others of lesser note did the same.
Health and strength came slowly back, and happy was
the day when he was carried to the office of Secretary of
State and, propped in his chair, again began his work.
Another President had come, but meet it was that the
Secretary of State should still hold his place.
Seward lived full eleven years after that, seemingly
dragging with unquenched spirit that slashed and
broken form. But the glint did not fade from his eye,
nor did the proud head lose its poise.
He died in his office among his books and papers, sane
and sensible up to the very moment when his spirit
took its flight.

276

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

The world will little note, nor long remember, what
we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
It is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the
unfinished work which they who fought here have thus
far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here
dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that
from these honored dead we take increased devotion
to the cause for which they gave the last full measure of
devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead
shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government
of the people, by the people, and for the people, shaU
not perish from the earth,
— Speech at Gettysburg.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

O, dearie, I do not think my child
hood differed much from that of
other good healthy country young
sters. I 've heard folks say that
chddhood has its sorrows and all
that, but the sorrows of country
children do not last long. The young
rustic goes out and tells his troubles
to the birds and flowers, and the flowers nod in recog
nition, and the robin that sings from the top of a tall
poplar-tree when the sun goes down says plainly it has
sorrows of its own — and understands.
1 feel a pity for all those folks who were born in a big
city, and thus got cheated out of their childhood.
Zealous ash-box inspectors in gilt braid, prying police
men with clubs, and signs reading, " Keep Off the
Grass," are woeful things to greet the gaze of little
souls fresh from God,
Last Summer six " Fresh Airs " were sent out to my
farm, from the Eighth Ward, Half an hour after their
arrival, one of them, a little girl five years old, who had
constituted herself mother of the party, came rushing
into the house exclaiming, " Say, Mister, Jimmy Dris-
coU he 's walkin' on de grass! "
I well remember the first Keep-Off-the-Grass sign I ever
saw. It was in a printed book; it was n't exactly a sign,
279

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

only a picture of a sign, and the single excuse I could
think of for such a notice was that the field was full of
bumblebee-nests, and the owner, being a good man and
kind, did not want barefoot boys to add bee-stings to
stone-bruises. And 1 never now see one of those signs
but that 1 glance at my feet to make sure that 1 have
shoes on 53 53
Given the liberty of the country, the child is very near
to Nature's heart; he is brother to the tree and calls aU
the dumb, growing things by name. He is sublimely
superstitious. His imagination, as yet untouched by
disillusion, makes good all that earth lacks, and habited
in a healthy body the soul sings and soars.
In childhood, magic and mystery lie close around us.
The world in which we live is a panorama of constantly
unfolding delights, our faith in the Unknown is limitless,
and the words of Job, uttered in mankind's early morn
ing, fit our wondering mood: " He stretcheth out the
north over empty space, and hangeth the earth upon
nothing." 53 53
I am old, dearie, very old. In my childhood much of the
State of Illinois was a prairie, where wild grass waved
and bowed before the breeze, like the tide of a summer
sea, 1 remember when " relatives " rode miles and miles
in springless farm-wagons to visit cousins, taking the
whole family and staying two nights and a day; when
books were things to be read; when the beaver and the
buffalo were not extinct; when wild pigeons came in
280

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

clouds that shadowed the sun; when steamboats ran on
the Sangamon; when Bishop Simpson preached; when
Hell was a place, not a theory, and Heaven a locality
whose fortunate inhabitants had no work to do; when
Chicago newspapers were ten cents each; when cotton
cloth was fifty cents a yard, and my shirt was made
from a flour-sack, with the legend, " Extra XXX,"
across my proud bosom, and just below the words in
flaming red, " Warranted Fifty Pounds! "
The mornings usually opened with smothered protests
against getting up, for country folks then were extrem
ists in the matter of " early to bed, early to rise, makes
a man healthy, wealthy and wise." We had n't much
wealth, nor were we very wise, but we had health to
burn. But aside from the unpleasantness of early
morning, the day was full of possibilities of curious
things to be found in the barn and under spreading
gooseberry-bushes, or if it rained, the garret was an
Alsatia unexplored.
The evolution of the individual mirrors the evolution of
the race. In the morning of the world man was innocent
and free; but when self -consciousness crept in and he
possessed himself of that disturbing motto, " Know
Thyself," he took a fall.
Yet knowledge usually comes to us with a shock, just
as the mixture crystallizes when the chemist gives the
jar a tap. We grow by throes.
I well remember the day when I was put out of my
281

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Eden. ^ My father and mother had gone away in the
one-horse wagon, taking the baby with them, leaving
me in care of my elder sister. It was a stormy day and
the air was full of fog and mist. It did not rain very
much, only in gusts, but great leaden clouds chased
each other angrily across the sky. It was very quiet
there in the little house on the prairie, except when the
wind came and shook the windows and rattled at the
doors. The morning seemed to drag and would n't pass,
just out of contrariness; and I wanted it to go fast
because in the afternoon my sister was to take me some
where, but where I did not know, but that we should
go somewhere was promised again and again.
As the day wore on we went up into the little garret
and strained our eyes across the stretching prairie to see
if some one was coming. There had been much rain, for
on the prairie there was always too much rain or else
too little. It was either drought or flood. Dark swarms of
wild ducks were in all the ponds; V-shaped flocks of
geese and brants screamed overhead, and down in the
slough cranes danced a solemn minuet.
Again and again we looked for the coming something,
and 1 began to cry, fearing we had been left there,
forgotten of Fate,
At last we went out by the barn and, with much
boosting, 1 climbed to the top of the haystack and my
sister followed. And still we watched,
" There they come! " exclaimed my sister.
282

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

" There they come! " I echoed, and clapped two red,
chapped hands for joy.
Away across the prairie, miles and miles away, was a
winding string of wagons, a dozen perhaps, one right
behind another. We watched until we could make out
our own white horse. Bob, and then we slid down the
hickory pole that leaned against the stack, and made
our way across the spongy sod to the burying-ground
that stood on a knoll half a mile away.
We got there before the procession, and saw a great
hole, with square comers, dug in the ground. It was
half -full of water, and a man in bare feet, with trousers
rolled to his knees, was working industriously to bail
it out 53 53
The wagons drove up and stopped. And out of one of
them four men lifted a long box and set it down beside
the hole where the man still bailed and dipped. The box
was opened and in it was Si Johnson. Si lay very stiU,
and his face was very blue, and his clothes were very
black, save for his shirt, which was very white, and his
hands were folded across his breast, just so, and held
awkwardly in the stiff fingers was a little New Testa
ment, We all looked at the blue face, and the women
cried softly. The men took off their hats while the
preacher prayed, and then we sang, " There '11 be no
more parting there."
The lid of the box was nailed down, lines were taken
from the harness of one of the teams standing by and
283

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

were placed around the long box, and it was lowered
with a splash into the hole. Then several men seized
spades and the clods fell with clatter and echo. The men
shoveled very hard, filling up the hole, and when it was
full and heaped up, they patted it all over with the
backs of their spades.
Everybody remained until this was done, and then we
got into the wagons and drove away.
Nearly a dozen of the folks came over to our house for
dinner, including the preacher, and they all talked of
the man who was dead and how he came to die.
Only two days before, this man. Si Johnson, stood in the
doorway of his house and looked out at the faUing rain.
It had rained for three days, so that they could not
plow, and Si was angry. Besides this, his two brothers
had enlisted and gone away to the War and left him all
the work to do. He did not go to War because he was a
" Copperhead "; and as he stood there in the doorway
looking at the rain, he took a chew of tobacco, and then
he swore a terrible oath.
And ere the swear-words had escaped from his lips.
there came a Winding flash of lightrung, and the mem
fell all in a heap like a sack of oats.
And he was dead.
Whether he died because he was a Copperhead, or
because he took a chew of tobacco, or because he swore,
I could not exactly understand, 1 waited for a con
venient lull in the conversation and asked the preacher
284

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

why the man died, and he patted me on the head and
told me it was " the vengeance of God," and that he
hoped I would grow up and be a good man and never
chew tobacco nor swear.
The preacher is alive now. He is an old, old man with
long, white whiskers, and 1 never see him but that I am
tempted to ask for the exact truth as to why Si Johnson
was struck by lightning.
Yet I suppose it was because he was a Copperhead: all
Copperheads chewed tobacco and swore, and that his
fate was merited no one but the living Copperheads in
that community doubted.
That was an eventful day to me. Like men whose hair
turns from black to gray in a night, I had left babyhood
behind at a bound, and the problems of the world were
upon me, clamoring for solution.

285

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

HERE was war in the land. When it began 1
did not know, but that it was something
terrible I could guess. 1 thought of it all the
rest of the day and dreamed of it at night.
Vlany men had gone away; and every day men in blue
straggled by, all going south, forever south.
And all the men straggling along that road stopped to
get a drink at our well, drawing the water with the
sweep, and drinking out of the bucket, and squirting a
mouthful of water over each other. They looked at my
father's creaking doctor's sign, and sang, " Old Mother
Hubbard, she went to the cupboard,"
They all sang that. They were very jolly, just as though
they were going to a picnic. Some of them came back
that way a few years later and they were not so jolly.
And some there were who never came back at all.
Freight-trains passed southward, blue with men in the
cars, and on top of the cars, and in the caboose, and on
the cowcatcher, always going south and never north.
For " Down South " were many Rebels, and all along
the way south were Copperheads, and they all wanted
to come north and kill us, so soldiers had to go down
there and fight them.
And 1 marveled much that if God hated Copperheads,
as our preacher said He did, why He did n't send light
ning and kill them, just in a second, as He had Si
Johnson. And then all that would have to be done would
be to send for a doctor to see that they were surely
286

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

dead, and a preacher to pray, and the neighbors would
dress them in their best Sunday suits of black, folding
their hands very carefully across their breasts, then we
would bury them deep, filling in the dirt and heaping it
up, patting it all down very carefully with the back of a
spade, and then go away and leave them until Judg
ment-Day,Copperheads were simply men who hated Lincoln, The
name came from copperhead-snakes, which are worse
than rattlers, for rattlers rattle and give warning. A
rattler is an open enemy, but you never know that a
copperhead is around until he strikes. He lies low in the
sweJe and watches his chance, " He is the worstest
snake that am,"
It was Abe Lincoln of Springfield who was fighting the
Rebels that were trying to wreck the country and
spread red ruin. The Copperheads were wicked folks
at the North who sided with the Rebels. Society was
divided into two classes: those who favored Abe Lincoln,
and those who told lies about him. All the people I
knew emd loved, loved Abe Lincoln,
1 was bom at Bloomington, Illinois, through no choosing
of my own, and Bloomington is further famous as being
the birthplace of the Republican party. When a year old
I persuaded my parents to move seven miles north to
the village of Hudson, that then had five houses, a
church, a store emd a blacksmith-shop. Many of the
people I knew, knew Lincoln, for he used to come to
287

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Bloomington several times a year " on the circuit " to
try ceises, and at various times made speeches there.
When he came he would tell stories at the Ashley House,
and when he was gone these stories would be repeated
by everybody. Some of these stories must have been
peculiar, for 1 once heard my mother caution my
father not to tell any more " Lincoln stories " at the
dinner-table when we had company.
And once Lincoln gave a lecture at the Presbyterian
Church on the " Progress of Man," when no one was
there but the preacher, my Aunt Hannah and the
sexton 53 53
My Uncle Elihu and Aunt Hannah knew Abe Lincoln
well. So did Jesse Fell, James C. Conklin, Judge Davis,
General Orme, Leonard Swett, Dick Yates and lots of
others 1 knew. They never called him " Mister Lincoln,"
but it was always Abe, or Old Abe, or just plain Abe
Lincoln, In that newly settled country you always
called folks by their first names, especially when you
liked them. And when they spoke the name, " Abe
Lincoln," there was something in the voice that told of
confidence, respect and affection.
Once when I was at my Aunt Hannah's, Judge Davis
was there and I sat on his lap. Years afterward I
boasted to Robert IngersoU that when I wore trousers
buttoned to a calico waist I used to sit on the lap of
David Davis, and Colonel IngersoU laughed and said,
"Now I know you are a liar, for David Davis didn't
288

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

have any lap," The only thing about the interview I
remember weis that the Judge reaUy did n't have any
lap to speak of.
After Judge Davis had gone, Aunt Heirmah said, " You
must always remember Judge Davis, for he is the man
who made Abe Lincoln! "
And when I said, " Why, I thought God made Lin
coln," they all laughed.
After a little pause my inquiring mind caused me to
ask, " Who made Judge Davis? " And Uncle Elihu
answered, "Abe Lincoln."
Then they aU laughed more than ever.

289

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

ANY volunteers were being called for. Neigh
bors and neighbors' boys were enlisting —
going to the support of Abe Lincoln,
Then one day my father went away, too.
Many of the neighbors went with us to the station when
he took the four-o'clock train, and we all cried, except
mother — she did n't cry until she got home. My father
had gone to Springfield to enlist as a surgeon. In three
days he came back and told us he had enlisted, and was
to be assigned his regiment in a week, and go at once
to the front. He was always a kind man, but during that
week when he was waiting to be told where to go, he
was very gentle and more kind than ever. He told me
1 must be the man of the house while he was away, and
take care of my mother and sisters, and not forget to
feed the chickens every morning; and 1 promised.
At the end of the week a big envelope came from Spring
field marked in the corner, " Official,"
My mother would not open it, and so it lay on the table
until the doctor's return. We all looked at it curiously,
and my eldest sister gazed on it long with lack-luster
eye and then rushed from the room with her check
apron over her head.
When my father rode up on horseback 1 ran to tell him
that the envelope had come.
We all stood breathless and watched him break the
seals. He took out the letter and read it silently and
passed it to my mother.
290

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

I have the letter before me now, and it says: " The
Department is still of the opinion that it does not care
to accept men having varicose veins, which make the
wearing of bandages necessary. Your name, however,
has been filed and should we be able to use your
services, will advise,"
Then we were all very glad about the varicose veins,
and 1 am afraid 1 went out and boasted to my play
fellows about our family possessions.
It was not so very long after, that there was a Big
Meeting in the " timber," People came from all over
the county to attend it. The chief speaker was a man
by the name of IngersoU, a colonel in the army, who was
back home for just a day or two on furlough. Folks
said he was the greatest orator in Peoria County,
Early in the morning the wagons began to go by our
house, and all along the four roads that led to the grove
we could see great clouds of dust that stretched away
for miles and miles and told that the people were
gathering by the thousands. They came in wagons and
on horseback, carrying babies; two boys on one horse
were common sights; and there were various four-horse
teams with wagons filled with girls all dressed in white,
carrying flags.
All our folks went. My mother fastened the back door
of our house with a bolt on the inside, and then locked
the front door with a key, and hid the key under the
doormat Si Si 291

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

At the grove there was much handshaking and visiting
and asking after the folks and for the news. Several
soldiers were present, among them a man who lived
near us, called " Little Ramsey," Three one-armed men
were there, and a man named Al Sweetser, who had
only one leg. These men wore blue, and were seated on
the big platform that was all draped with flags. Plank
seats were arranged, and every plank held its quota.
Just outside the seats hundred of men stood, and beyond
these were wagons filled with people. Every tree in the
woods seemed to have a horse tied to it, and the trees
over the speakers' platform were black with men and
boys, 1 never knew before that there were so many
horses and people in the world.
When the speaking began, the people cheered, and then
they became very quiet, and only the occasional squeal
ing and stamping of the horses could be heard. Our
preacher spoke first, and then the lawyer from Bloom
ington, and then came the great man from Peoria. The
people cheered more than ever when he stood up, emd
kept hurrahing so long 1 thought they were not going
to let him speak at all.
At last they quieted down, and the speaker began. His
first sentence contained a reference to Abe Lincoln,
The people applauded, and some one proposed three
cheers for " Honest Old Abe." Everybody stood up and
cheered, and 1, perched on my father's shoulder, cheered
too. And beneath the legend, " Warranted Fifty
292

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Pounds," my heart beat proudly. Silence came at last —
a silence filled only by the neighing and stamping of
horses and the rapping of a woodpecker in a tall tree.
Every ear was strained to catch the orator's first words.
^ The speaker was just about to begin. He raised one
hand, but ere his lips moved, a hoarse, guttural shout
echoed through the woods, " Hurrah'h'h for Jeff
Davis!!!" 53 53
" Kill that man! " rang a sharp, clear voice in instant
answer 53 53
A rumble like an awful groan came from the vast crowd.
My father was standing on a seat, and 1 had climbed to
his shoulder. The crowd surged like a monster animal
toward a tall man standing alone in a wagon. He swung
a blacksnake whip around him, and the leish fell savagely
on two gray horses. At a lunge, the horses, the wagon
and the tall man had cleared the crowd, knocking down
several people in their flight. One man clung to the
tailboard. The whip wound with a hiss and a crack
across his face, and he fell stunned in the roadway 53
A clear space of full three hundred feet now separated
the man in the wagon from the great throng, which with
ten thousand hands seemed ready to tear him limb from
limb. Revolver shots rang out, women screamed, and
trampled children cried for help. Above it all was the
roar of the mob. The orator, in vain pantomime,
implored order,
I saw Little Ramsey drop off the limb of a tree astride
293

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

of a horse that was tied beneath, then lean over, and
with one stroke of a knife sever the halter.
At the same time fifty other men seemed to have done
the same thing, for flying horses shot out from different
parts of the woods, all on the instant. The man in the
wagon was half a mile away now, still standing erect.
The gray horses were running low, with noses and tails
outstretched.The spread-out riders closed in a meiss and followed at
terrific speed. The crowd behind seemed to grow
silent. We heard the patter-patter of barefoot horses
ascending the long, low hill. One rider on a sorrel horse
fell behind. He drew his horse to one side, and sitting
over with one foot in the long stirrup, plied the sorrel
across the flank with a big, white-felt hat. The horse
responded, and crept around to the front of the flying
meiss 53 53
The wagon had disappeared over a gentle rise of
ground, and then we lost the horsemen, too. Still we
watched, and two miles across the prairie we got a
glimpse of running horses in a cloud of dust, and into
another valley they settled, and then we lost them for
good 53 53
The speaking began again and went on amid applause
and tears, with laughter set between.
1 do not remember what was said, but after the speak
ing, as we made our way homeward, we met Little
Ramsey and the young man who rode the sorrel horse,
294

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

They told us that they had caught the Copperhead
after a ten-mile chase, and that he weis badly hurt,
for the wagon had upset and the fellow was beneath it,
Ramsey asked my father to go at once to see what
could be done for him 53 The man, however, was quite
dead when my father reached him. There was a purple
mark around his neck; and the opinion seemed to
be that he had got temgled up in the harness or
something.

295

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

HE war-time months went dragging by, and
the burden of gloom in the air seemed to
lift; for when the Chicago " Tribune " was
read each evening in the post-office it told
of victories on land and sea. Yet it was a joy not un-
tinged with black; for in the church across from our
house, funerals had been held for farmer boys who had
died in prison-pens and been buried in Georgia trenches.
^ One youth there was, 1 remember, who had stopped
to get a drink at our pump, and squirted a mouthful
of water over me because I was handy.
One night the postmaster was reading aloud the names
of the killed at Gettysburg, and he ran right on to the
name of this boy. The boy's father sat there on a nail-
keg, chewing a straw. The postmaster tried to shuffle
over the name and on to the next.
" Hi! Wha — ^what 's that you said? "
" Killed in honorable battle — Snyder, Hiram," said
the postmaster with a forced calmness.
The boy's father stood up with a jerk. Then he sat
down. Then he stood up again and staggered his way
to the door and fumbled for the latch like a blind man,
^ " God help him! he 's gone to tell the old woman,"
said the postmaster as he blew his nose on a red hand
kerchief 53 53
The preacher preached a funeral sermon for the boy,
and on the little pyramid that marked the family lot
in the burying-ground they carved the words: " Killed
296

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

in horrorable battle, Hiram Snyder, aged nineteen."
Not long after, stremge, yellow, bearded men in faded
blue began to arrive. Great welcomes were given them ;
and at the regular Wednesday evening prayer-meeting
thanksgivings were poured out for their safe return,
with names of company and regiment duly mentioned
for the Lord's better identification. Bees were held for
some of these returned farmers, where twenty teams
and fifty men, old and young, did a season's farm-work
in a day, and split enough wood for a year. At such
times the women would bring big baskets of provisions,
emd long tables would be set, and there were very jolly
times, with cracking of memy jokes that were veterans,
emd the day would end with pitching horseshoes, emd
at last with singing " Auld Lang Syne,"
It was at one such gathering that a ghost appeared —
a lank, saffron ghost, ragged as a scarecrow — ^wearing
a foolish smile and the cape of a cavalryman's overcoat
with no coat beneath it. The apparition was a youth of
about twenty, with a downy beard all over his face, and
countenance well mellowed with coal-soot, as though he
had ridden several days on top of a freight-car that
was near the engine, ^ This ghost was Hiram Snyder,
^ AU forgave him the shock of surprise he caused us —
all except the minister who had preached his funered
sermon. Years after 1 heard this miruster remark in a
solemn, grieved tone: " Hirema Snyder is a man who can
not be relied on," 297

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

S the years pass, the miracle of the seasons
meems less to us. But what country boy can
forget the turning of the leaves from green
to gold, and the watchings and waitings for
the first hard frost that ushers in the nutting season!
And then the first fall of snow, with its promise of
skates and sleds and tracks of rabbits, and mayhap
bears, and strange animals that only come out at night,
and that no human eye has ever seen!
Beautiful are the seasons; and glad 1 am that 1 have
not yet quite lost my love for each. But now they parade
past with a curious swiftness! They look at me out of
wistful eyes, and sometimes one calls to me as she goes
by and asks, " Why have you done so little since I saw
you last? " And I can only answer, " I was thinking of
you." Si 53
I do not need another incarnation to live my life over
again. I can do that now, and the resurrection cf the
past, through memory, that sees through closed eyes,
is just as satisfactory as the thing itself.
Were we talking of the seasons? Very well, dearie, the
seasons it shall be. They are all charming, but if 1 were
to wed any it would be Spring, How well 1 remember the
gentle perfume of her comings, and her warm, languid
breath!
There was a time when I would go out of the house
some morning, and the snow would be melting, and
Spring would kiss my cheek, and then I would be all
298

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

aglow with joy and would burst into the house, and
cry: " Spring is here! Spring is here! " For you know
we always have to divide our joy with some one. One
can bear grief, but it takes two to be glad.
And then my mother would smile and say, " Yes, my
son, but do not wake the baby! "
Then I would go out and watch the snow turn to water,
and run down the road in little rivulets to the creek,
that would swell until it became a regular Mississippi,
so that when we waded the horse across, the water
would come to the saddlegirth.
Then once, I remember, the bridge was washed away,
and all the teams had to go around and through the
water, and some used to get stuck in the mud on the
other bank. It was great fun!
The first " Spring beauties " bloomed very early in
that year; violets came out on the south side of rotting
logs, and cowslips blossomed in the slough as they never
had done before. Over on the knoll, prairie-chickens
strutted pompously and proudly drummed. The war
was over ! Lincoln had won, and the country was safe ! 53
The jubilee was infectious, and the neighbors who used
to come and visit us would tell of the men and boys
who would soon be back. The war was over !
My father and mother talked of it across the table, and
the men talked of it at the store, and earth, sky emd
water called to each other in glad relief, " The war is
over! " 53 53 299

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

But there came a morning when my father walked up
from the railroad-station very feist, and looking very
serious. He pushed right past me as 1 sat in the door
way. 1 followed him into the kitchen where my mother
was washing dishes, and heard him say, " They have
killed Lincoln! " and then he burst into tears. 1 had
never before seen my father shed tears — in fact, I had
never seen a man cry. There is something terrible in the
grief of a man.
Soon the church-bell across the road began to toll. It
tolled all that day. Three men — 1 can give you their
names — rang the bell all day long, tolling, slowly tolling,
tolling until night came and the stars came out. 1
thought it a little curious that the stars should come
out, for Lincoln was dead ; but they did, for 1 saw them
as I trotted by my father's side down to the post-office,
^ There was a great crowd of men there. At the long
line of pesled-hickory hitching-poles were dozens of
saddle-horses. The farmers had come for miles to get
details of the news.
On the long counters that ran down each side of the
store men were seated, swinging their feet, and listen
ing intently to some one who was reading aloud from
a newspaper. We worked our way past the men who
were standing about, and with several of these my
father shook hands solemnly.
Leaning against the wall near the window was a big,
red-faced man, whom 1 knew as a Copperhead. He had
300

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

been drinking, evidently, for he was making boozy
efforts to stand very straight. There were only heard
a subdued buzz of whispers and the monotonous voice
of the reader, as he stood there in the center, his news
paper in one hand and a lighted candle in the other.
The red-faced man lurched two steps forward, and in a
loud voice said, " L — L — Lincoln is dead — an' 1 'm
damn glad of it! "
Across the room 1 saw two men struggUng with Little
Ramsey. Why they should struggle with him I could
not imagine, but ere I could think the matter out, I saw
him shake himself loose from the strong hands that
sought to hold him. He sprang upon the counter, and
in one hand I saw he held a scale-weight. Just an instant
he stood there, and then the weight shot straight at the
red-faced man. The missile glanced on his shoulder and
shot through the window. In another second the red-
faced man plunged through the window, taking the
entire sash with him,
" You '11 have to pay for that window! " called the
alarmed postmaster out into the night.
The store was quickly emptied, and on following out
side no trace of the red man could be found. The earth
had swallowed both the man and the five-pound scale-
weight 53 53
After some minutes had passed in a vain search for the
weight and the Copperhead, we went back into the
store and the reading was continued, 301

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

But the interruption had relieved the tension, and for
the first time that day men in that post-office joked and
laughed. It even lifted from my heart the gloom that
threatened to smother me, and 1 went home and told
the story to my mother and sisters, and they too smiled,
so closely akin are tears and smiles.

302

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

HE story of Lincoln's life had been ingrained
into me long before 1 ever read a book. For
the people who knew Lincoln, and the people
who knew the people that Lincoln knew,
were the people I knew. I visited at their houses and
heard them tell what Lincoln had said when he sat at
table where 1 then sat, 1 listened long to Lincoln stories,
and " and that reminds me " was often on the lips of
those 1 loved 53 All the tales told by the faithful
Herndon and the needlessly loyal Nicolay and Hay
were current coin, and the rehearsal of the Lincoln-
Dougleis debate was commonplace.
When our own poverty was mentioned, we compared
it with the poverty that Lincoln had endured, and felt
rich, I slept in a garret where the winter's snow used
to sift merrily through the slab shingles, but then 1 was
covered with warm buffalo-robes, and a loving mother
tucked me in and on my forehead imprinted a good
night kiss. But Lincoln at the same age had no mother
and lived in a hut that had neither windows, doors nor
floor, and a pile of leaves and straw in the corner was
his bed. Our house had two rooms, but one Winter the
Lincoln home was only a shed enclosed on three sides,
^ I knew of his being a clerk in a country store at the
age of twenty, and that up to that time he had read
but four books; of his running a flatboat, splitting rails,
and poring at night over a dog-eared law-book; of his
eisking to sleep in the law-office of Joshua Speed, and of
303

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

Speed's giving him permission to move in. And of his
going away after his " worldly goods " and coming
back in ten minutes carrying an old pair of saddlebags,
which he threw into a corner saying, " Speed, I 've
moved!" 53 53
1 knew of his twenty years of country law-practise,
when he was considered just about as good and no
better than a dozen others on that circuit, and of his
making a bare living during that time. Then I knew
of his gradually awakening to the wrong of slavery, of
the expansion of his mind, so that he began to incur
the jealousy of rivals and the hatred of enemies, and
of the prophetic feeling in that slow but sure moving
mind that "a house divided against itself can not stand.
I believe this Government can not endure permanently
half-slave and half-free."
I knew of the debates with Douglas and the national
attention they attracted, and of Judge Davis' remark,
" Lincoln has more commonsense than any other man
in America "; and then, chiefly through Judge Davis'
influence, of his being nominated for President at the
Chicago Convention. I knew of his election, and the
coming of the war, and the long, hard fight, when friends
and foes beset, and none but he had the patience and
the courage that could wait. And then I knew of his
death, that death which then seemed a calamity —
terrible in its awful blackness.
But now the years have passed, and 1 comprehend
304

ABRAHAM LINCOLN

somewhat of the paradox of things, and I know that
this death was just what he might have prayed for. It
was a fitting close for a life that had done a supreme
and mighty work. His face foretold the end,
Lincoln had no home ties. In that plain, frame house,
without embellished yard or ornament, where I have
been so often, there was no love that held him fast. In
that house there was no library, but in the parlor, where
six haircloth chairs and a slippery sofa to match stood
guard, was a marble table on which were various gift-
books in blue and gilt. He only turned to that home
when there was no other place to go. Politics, with its
attendant travel and excitement, allowed him to forget
the what-might-have-beens. Foolish bickering, silly
pride, and stupid misunderstanding pushed him out
upon the streets and he sought to lose himself among
the people. And to the people at length he gave his
time, his talents, his love, his life. Fate took from him
his home that the country might call him savior. Dire
tragedy was a fitting end; for only the souls who have
suffered are well-loved.
Jealousy, disparagement, calumny, have all made way,
and North and South alike revere his name.
The memory of his gentleness, his patience, his 6rm
faith, and his great and loving heart are the priceless
heritage of a united land. He had charity for all and
malice toward none; he gave affection, and affection is
his reward, ^ Honor and love are his. 305

so HERE ENDETH " LITTLE JOURNEYS TO THE HOMES
OF AMERICAN STATESMEN," BEING VOLUME THREE OF
THE SERIES, AS WRITTEN BY ELBERT HUBBARD :
EDITED AND ARRANGED BY FRED BANN ; BORDERS AND
INITIALS BY ROYCROFT ARTISTS AND PRODUCED BY
THE ROYCROFTERS, AT THEIR SHOPS. WHICH ARE IN
EAST AURORA, ERIE COUNTY, NEW YORK, MCMXXII

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