The magazine of history with notes and queries
Abbatt, William, 1851-1935
<hsvu>oM\,k /i . & Y- /l- yf> J<- < fr" 7. VOL. XX NO. 2 THE MAGAZINE OF HISTORY WITH NOTES AND QUERIES Americanus sunt: Americani nihil a me alienum puto FEBRUARY, 191 5 WILLIAM ABB ATT 20 Liberty St., Poughkeepsie, N. Y. and 28 West Elizabeth St., Tarrytown, N. Y. Published Monthly $5.00 a Year 50 Cents a Number THE MAGAZINE OF HISTORY WITH NOTES AND QUERIES Vol. XX FEBRUARY, 191 5 No. 2 CONTENTS SOME PUBLIC SERVICES OF WASHINGTON, COMMONLY OVER- LOOKED . W. Scott, Sec. International Education Conference 51 THE FIGHT FOR OLD MONADNOCK . . Allen Chamberlain 57 THE CONSTITUTION, -THE LAST OF THE "OLD NAVY" Charles Nevers Holmes 62 LINCOLN AND McCLELLAN F. E. L. 68 PERSONAL REMINISCENCES OF THE REBELLION (Fifteenth, Paper) Colonel Le Grand B. Cannon 72 WASHINGTON'S ENGLISH CONNECTIONS A. C. C. 77 LINCOLN GENEALOGICAL NOTES |^;L„rK-} 81 (W. W. J THE GERMAN-DUTCH BRANCH OF THE WASHINGTON FAMILY Guido Bruno 83 \ LINCOLN AS A POLITICIAN 89 THE TRENT AFFAIR . . . . (The late) Charles Francis Adams 90 Entered as second-class matter March, 1, 1905, at the Post Office at Poughkeepise, N. Y. Act of Congress, March 3, 1870. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from The Institute of Museum and Library Services through an Indiana State Library LSTA Grant http://www.archive.org/details/magazineofhistorv20n2abba THE MAGAZINE OF HISTORY WITH NOTES AND QUERIES Vol. XX FEBRUARY, 191 5 No. 2 GEORGE WASHINGTON: SOME GREAT PUBLIC SERVICES COMMONLY OVERLOOKED IT is said that one who digs into the ruins of a Greek city may find a piece of statuary, a fragment of a vase, a gem or other object of artistic skill. If the antiquary unearths a Roman site, he may come upon a broken sword, a piece of armor or other implement of war. Some pre-eminent national quality gives a people its place in history. The Greek led in art and kindled attainments; the Roman in war and government. A closer survey shows that with a dominant quality others are associated, and a nation's pre-eminence rests on a combination of traits as a basis. The Greek excelled not only in art and letters; he was also skilful in politics and commerce, a colonizer, a versatile genius never surpassed. The Roman stands out as a world- soldier, but in law, government and other spheres he has a large part in civilization, sometimes as imitator or borrower and often as an original force. The dominant trait, however, writes its mark on history. The same principle is illustrated in historic personalities, founders of states, soldiers, men of letters, lawgivers, moral leaders. Moses, Homer, Caesar, Charlemagne, Luther, Loyola, Michael Angelo, Napo- leon, suggest at once a unique character, yet each may have given a manysided service to his age. Genius is sometimes defined as human energy, turned now in one, and again in another channel, so that a man distinguished in one age in war, might in another age become a states- man, moral reformer, or a historic figure in other areas. Washington has been named by common consent the "Father of his Country". He belongs among the founders of states, an order of men which some thinkers consider the highest. In the founding and building of a state the problems of human diversity can not be evaded, but they must be brought into practical unity to keep the state from repression on the one hand and disintegration on the other. High 52 SOME GREAT PUBLIC SERVICES OF intellectual and moral qualities joined to practical wisdom and energy are indispensable to such leaders of men. The life of Washington has features, often obscured or overlooked because his fame rests rather on a combination of qualities, a harmony of powers. He was remarkable for symmetry and poise of character. Bancroft ascribes to him common sense or reflective judgment com- bined with creative and executive capacity. Patrick Henry said: "For sound judgment Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on the floor" (of the Continental Congress). He looms up as on the whole the most dependable man of his country, and perhaps of his age. The features of Washington's career, comparatively overlooked, are, however, evidences of his broad intelligence and manysided expe- rience. They form part of the basis of his great fame. Let us view Washington first as a promoter of scientific agricul- ture. It will be remembered that he was a rich man by inheritance and his wealth was further increased by marriage. He was a large landowner. At his death his estate was scheduled at $530,000 and in- cluded over 46,000 acres of land. He ranked among the wealthiest men of his country. For twenty years after 1755 he was a farmer or planter, a pursuit more congenial to him than military or official life. He corresponded with gentlemen in America and Europe on agricul- tural subjects. Among his writings is found one with the title, "Wash- ington, G. Letters to Arthur Young. Account of his husbandry, with map of his farm; his opinions on various questions in agriculture, and many particulars of the rural economy of the United States. Lon- don, 1801." A pamphlet (72 pages) was published by Dr. J. M. Toner in 1892 on "Washington as an Inventor and Promoter of the Useful Arts." He followed agriculture with constant and intelligent interest. He was a good judge of land. Farm and horticultural problems oc- cupied his attention during the period named; among them testing of seed, fertilization, rotation of crops, tree planting and pruning, the arboretum idea, improvement of breeds of animals. He was the first to use a pump in his region; he experimented with labor-saving machin- ery; tested the comparative illuminating value of spermaceti and tal- low candles, and invented a plow; but his inventive talent was crowded out by public affairs. On the Mount Vernon estate many trades were carried on — blacksmithing, wagon and harnessmaking, brickmaking, carpentry, stone masonry, weaving, knitting, shoemaking, milling, etc. WASHINGTON COMMONLY OVERLOOKED 53 At that period the farm was a centre of industry, a condition which has mostly passed away. It is obvious that with this experience Washington understood the claims of agriculture on the statesman, economist and philanthropist. Here also he discerned lines along which the nation must go forward. The movement for improved and scientific agriculture which has arisen in all progressive nations would have had in Washington an ardent friend. The historic Act of the late Senator Morrill of Vermont, which President E. Benjamin Andrews regards as one of the greatest measures in the history of education, and which founded the "land grant" colleges, one in each state, belongs to this development. Conservation of soil and forest and the various re- lated interests, a growing element in state and national policy, may be noted in this connection. The International Chamber of Agriculture, recently established with headquarters at Rome, on the initiative of the King of Italy, prompted thereto by ah American granger, David Lubin, is a step in agricultural progress which will ultimately trans- form the earth into a farm and garden. The extension of agricultural instruction by the "Macdonald Movement" in Canada, the school garden work which is expanding in many countries, and similar efforts to diffuse a practical knowledge of agriculture everywhere are in line with the development of the fundamental pursuit of agriculture. Here, it is evident, Washington is an up-to-date statesman. His experience and writings are inspiring and suggestive to the farmer and scientific agriculturist, and valuable to society in present day problems. He was also a promoter of internal improvements. This was a natural result of his experience and training. He began as a surveyor of the Fairfax estate in Virginia at the age of sixteen. He later trav- eled extensively over the early colonies. As a military officer he was dispatched on long journeys to the northwest of the colonies. Thus both as civilian and soldier he bad opportunities to study the character of the country along the coast, and to penetrate far into the interior — that is, far for the latter half of the eighteenth century. The results of this experience appear in his views as a statesman. He advocated increased facilities for intercourse between the East and West by land and water communication. He urged the construction of national highways, and surveys of western rivers. He recommended the union of the James, the Rappahannock and Ohio by canals; the commercial union of the Great Lakes, the Potomac and the sea. The latter plan was worked out later by the Erie canal and Hudson river route. His 54 SOME GREAT PUBLIC SERVICES OF general attitude toward highway and river improvement has been con- tinued in the public and corporate policy of highway and railroad con- struction, in river and harbor improvements and international steam- ship lines. His liberal views on the development of means of inter- communication, which have had much to do with the progress and happiness of the nation, place him among statesmen who have aided the material advancement of modern nations. Were Washington a contemporary statesman he would doubtless regard as worthy of national and international policy such vast enterprises as transconti- nental highways or railways, intercontinental lines, the Siberian, the Cape-to-Cairo, and the Australian lines, the Suez and Panama canals. The technological professions which have in recent decades expanded into many areas, would find in him a wise and energetic statesman- promoter. It is said that great men and nations have been great road- builders. Horace Bushnell has a discourse on "The Day of Roads", in which he sets forth the value of good roads and the necessity of facilities of intercommunication for the progress of society. Religious thinkers emphasize the importance in the early spread of Christianity of the Roman system of highways which joined all parts of the empire with Rome, and of the Greek language, in which the New Testament was written, as the best vehicle for the new thought, that is, there were two roads, the material highway and a well developed language, which is a road along which thought may travel. In connection with the expansion of intercommunication, a national and world wide interest, which makes all men neighbors, Washington would today rank as a world statesman. Washington deserves a place also as a promoter of education, and, in a certain liberal sense, as an educator. We limit the idea of educa- tion in our day too much to schools and school systems, and overlook the educative processes of society, apart from or supplementary to the school. Give to education a large and reasonable interpretation, and the great leaders of the past appear as men of ample training. Both Washington and Lincoln were thus trained, probably in the best way to develop their powers. Washington left school at sixteen with enough mathematics to be a surveyor; his physical size and power were remark- able; he was a student of military tactics, agriculture, politics; an able man of business and affairs; experienced in civil and military life. His personal habits during twenty years from 1755 to the Revolution were those of a student, administrator and economizer of time, as his daily WASHINGTON COMMONLY OVERLOOKED 55 program attests. He rose before the sun; studied, read or wrote till breakfast; after breakfast he rode about his farms (ten miles); back to study until 3 P. M. when he dined; the remainder of the day and even- ing was given to recreation and company; and he retired at 10 P. M. The product of his studies is found in the "Life and Writings of Wash- ington" by Jared Sparks which comprise twelve volumes. His practical interest in education led him also to aid young men through college, and to assist the school for indigent children at Alex- andria. He gave shares in the James River company to Liberty Hall Academy, later Washington College. He devoted fifty shares of the Potomac Company to found a university at Washington under the auspices of the Government. This was the origin of the movement which continues to the present time for a national university, a favorite idea of Washington. He commended it in messages to Congress, and sets forth in his writings the advantages to the nation of the scheme. The question of a National University is still before the American people. It has had strong advocates in and outside of Congress. In a recent year four bills were introduced in Congress on the subject, but all were open to the criticism that they were not carefully drawn, and not sufficiently representative in the administration proposed. The idea, however, has vitality, and continues in various ways to bear fruit. How to embody the idea in concrete form is a question not yet an- swered. American education has rested chiefly on minor civic units, as the town, county and state. A marked tendency is also manifest to supplement the local unit by the resources of a larger unit. This tendency is stronger today than in the past. The nation is assuming a greater part in educational affaiis. In addition to the Federal con- trol of education in the territories and dependencies, National educa- tional laws, such as the Morrill Act, have been enacted, and other im- portant measures are vigorously pressed in Congress. The Library of Congress (or Library of the United States as it should be named), the Smithsonian Institution, the departments of Education, Labor, Agri- culture, and other National agencies are educational, and nation wide in their operation. Some educators believe a National university may ultimately take form in a way different from that contemplated by Washington and later advocates of the project. It may be federative, supplementary and co-operative with all existing institutions, not a distinct and central institution. Thus the fear of centralization and 56 SOME GREAT PUBLIC SERVICES OF WASHINGTON COMMONLY o'LOOKED interference with the genius and development of higher and general education throughout the nation may be minimized or removed. Our object, however, is to present in brief the educational service of Wash- ington rather than to follow the fortunes of his national educational scheme. His thought was broader than the university idea ; it comprised the diffusion of education among the mass of society. His plea was, to use his own words, "Promote then, as an object of primary impor- tance, the general diffusion of knowledge." We find, therefore, in Washington, what the late Hon. W. T. Harris, United States Commis- sioner of Education terms, an educational statesman. Education has advanced until it is firmly fixed in the thought of all progressive nations, and is growing among backward nations. Washington saw it clearly as a national issue; contemporary statesmen and educators are viewing it as an international and world issue. Arguments which buttress education as local, state or national, apply equally to it as an international or world necessity. Movements for world wide educa- tion are now in the field. An international board of education is re- garded as a practical scheme. The large and varied activities of Washington embrace, as stated at the outset, many phases besides these here presented. His fame rests on the greatness and harmony of his qualities and his patriotism. The study of his richly endowed and many-sided life grows in value after the lapse of more than a century. "Go with mean people", writes Emerson, "and you think life is mean. Then read Plutarch, and the world is a proud place, peopled with men of positive quality, with heroes standing about us." Modern times have produced char- acters not inferior to Plutarch's ancient heroes. To this select company America has given illustrious names, and among them none higher than Washington. W. Scott Baltimore THE FIGHT FOR OLD MONADNOCK COMMON lands are an uncommon thing this side of Old Eng- land, but New England has inherited a few through its British colonial sires. Massachusetts for example still holds the "Great Ponds," and the tidal flats, and the three thousand acres of Province lands at the tip of Cape Cod, all in common, and then there is the Com- mon, here in our very midst, which is ours because it was held undi- vided by the early settlers. Up in New Hampshire there is at least one town that to this very day owns a common woodlot, whence any citizen may draw his stock of fuel without money or price. Too many of these common lands of ours have long since become alienated by hook or by crook, and largely through the heedlessness, ignorance or forgetfulness of recent generations. In the riotous development of unrestrained individualism the community's interests simply slipped from sight. Just at the present time the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests is busily engaged in establishing the public's right in a tract of iooo acres of forest and mountain top on old Monadnock Mountain in the towns of Dublin and Jaftrey. Thirty years ago the town of JafFrey itself bought the title to 200 acres on the mountain's crest, and much more recently the people of that town, aided by their summer visitors, bought 600 acres adjoining the town's land, and turned the title over to the State. The land that the society is now seeking to acquire abuts upon these pieces at the top of the mountain, and lies over the crest on the north, or Dublin side. It embraces one of the most beautiful sections of the old mountain, including the rocky side and the timbered slopes of the great northeast shoulder. When those hill towns were allotted, which was a little more than a century ago, these higher slopes were held as common lands to the then proprietors of the lowland farms. The higher lands were not of much value. Two forest fires in 1804 and 1820 bared the summit of its trees, and the elements saw to it that the soil did not long remain thereafter. What timber was left on the pitches below the rocks was small and difficult to get, and so not tempting. But times have changed. The pulp man does not despise small timber, and it pays to get it from the most inaccessible of situations. Moreover people of wealth have marked that region as a desirable one for their summer homes, and the creation of large forest estates is in steady progress. 58 THE FIGHT FOR OLD MONADNOCK In this particular case the title to those lands did not vest in the corporate community, as did that to Boston Common. It ran in un- divided form to the individual settlers who originally owned the valley farms. It did not even pass from them with any transfer of those farms, unless so specifically expressed by deed, but remained with those original proprietors, "their heirs and assigns forever." Sound title to such old commons is not easy to acquire. The heirs are numerous and scattered, and often have no knowledge that they possess any rights whatsoever. The game of the covetous is, therefore, to gain a vested right based upon some indefinite quitclaim, or through a squat- ter's sovereignty. Such claims have been asserted on these Monadnock lands, and it is this encroachment that the forestry society disputes, that the forest may not be stripped to the mutilation of this noted landscape, or the public be fenced out from a beloved recreation field by some magnate's park. The lumbermen have been enjoined, and the society proposes to hold the tract, subject only to the ruling of the courts as to the final disposition and ownership of these wild public lands. To do this in behalf of the public the society itself has had to acquire titles direct from the heirs of the old Masonian proprietors, as the early grantees were called, and up to date it has succeeded in recording deeds signed by a large majority of these heirs. In this the society is doing for that section of New Hampshire the very sort of service that James Bryce and Shaw Lefevre did for Eng- land when they organized the "Commons and Footpaths Society" nearly fifty years ago. Everywhere in the kingdom the great landed proprietors, acting under the authority of a law enacted in their in- terest way back in the time of Henry III, were seizing common lands and enclosing them for private use. After many years of untiring and ceaseless effort, involving expensive litigation against some of the most powerful landowners of their country, and repeated attempts to secure remedial legislation from the Parliament, they succeeded in stopping the practice, and in firmly establishing the public's rights beyond all peradventure. The history of this battle is most fascinatingly told by Lord Eversley in his "Commons, Forests and Footpaths." Not long before James Bryce retired from his ambassadorial post at Washington he spoke there on the need of conserving this country's beauty spots in the interest of the future. What he then said by way THE FIGHT FOR OLD MONADNOCK 59 of argument and advice was apposite and indicates why the New Hamp- shire society is so vigorously engaged in defending the Monadnock re- gion from encroachment. The pith of Mr. Bryce's remarks on that occasion is found in these words: The population of the world goes on constantly increasing, and nowhere increasing so fast as in North America. A taste for natural beauty is increasing, and, we hope, will go on increasing. The places of scenic beauty do not increase, but, on the contrary, are in danger of being reduced in number and diminished in quantity, and the danger is always increasing with the accumulation of wealth, owing to the desire of private persons to appropriate these places. There is no better service we can render to the masses of the people than to set about and preserve for them wide spaces of fine scenery for their delight. From these propositions I draw the conclusion that it is necessary to save what we have got, and to extend the policy which you have wisely adopted, by acquiring and preserving still further areas for the per- petual enjoyment of the people. GOOD WORK FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE FORESTS Through such activities as these the society is demonstrating that, although it is supremely concerned in the development of the commer- cial forests of the State, it is not unmindful of the economic importance of the purely beautiful or recreational elements of the problem, a phase which too many conservation prophets are prone to ignore. It has not only done a lion's share in wringing from Congress the means for setting up a national forest in the White Mountains, but it has induced the people of its own State to see the wastefulness of forest fires and to fight against it through an efficient State forest service. That forest service and the society work shoulder to shoulder for everything to forward better commercial forests, but the society has to take care of the other little matters by itself. That this work is appreciated is amply proved by the generous support with which its every appeal is met by the citizens, summer residents, and by many an emigrated son of the State, and in one form or another many a voluntary contribution comes its way. One of the latest in this latter category is the gift to the public of the wooded borders of a stretch of State highway, three-quarters of a mile in 60 THE FIGHT FOR OLD MONADNOCK length. Two summer residents of Tamworth, Charles P. Bowditch of Boston and John S. Runnells of Chicago, were the benefactors in this case, giving to the society in trust title to the strips all along this road, one hundred and twenty-five feet deep on either side, amounting to about two hundred acres of forest land. That communal woodlot in a New Hampshire town, to which a passing allusion has been made, is a most interesting example of the socialism of the early settlers, born of the doctrine of commonage brought with them from the mother country. The well-known town of Conway, in the White Mountains, is the proud possessor of this property. Six thousand acres in extent, it lies in a broad stretch across the Green Hills and Rattlesnake Mountain, that minor range that rises just east of the villages in the very heart of the township. This is beyond a doubt, so competent legal authorities confidently assert, a true example of a town-owned forest to which all citizens of this or any other day have rights by mere virtue of their citizenship, and subject only to such control and regulation as they themselves may from time to time prescribe as burghers and joint proprietors. Unhappily those commons, once so handsomely and richly wooded, have been used by the commoners according to the American idea of unrestricted individualism — first come first served, and posterity go hang. The timber as well as the fuel wood has been cut wholly with- out, regard to the future — for what did the owners know or care about forestry? Fires of course followed unrestrained upon the heels of the choppers, and the soil, in many parts, was wholly consumed or washed away, leaving the hills more picturesque in their granite nakedness, but barren and unproductive where once grew forest. On the more remote sections considerable areas of hardwood timber even now re- main, but this will not be for long if the wholly unregulated cutting is continued. The town should be awakened to the present and poten- tial value of this property. So intelligent a community as that of Con- way needs but to be shown that to put that forest under proper man- agement and regulation is really in the interest of the commoners, and in no sense an infringement of their rights. There is need for the immediate reforestation of portions of the tract. For the town to undertake this work of restoration and im- provement would be a large task, but in view of the present attitude of the State as a whole toward the conservation of its forest wealth, as THE FIGHT FOR OLD MONADNOCK 6l shown by its recent legislation, it is not improbable that the active co-operation of the State's forest service could readily be secured, were the town to seek such aid. This is Conway's opportunity to make it- self noteworthy in the best sense of the word. The town needs but to realize that in this public forest it has a property equal in extent with that which the State has itself just purchased in the adjacent Crawford Notch. The acquisition of that forest cost the State $100,000. For timber-growing purposes the town's six thousand acres are equally good at least, and they do not stand the community a cent. What- ever is done the ancient privilege of commonage should be continued under State and town co-operation. Boston Allen Chamberlin THE "CONSTITUTION," THE LAST OF THE "OLD NAVY" NAVAL warfare has changed almost incomparably since the beginning of the nineteenth century. A "dreadnought" has a displacement of 20,000 tons, more or less, and carries 12- inch guns. About 1800 such a warship as the Constitution had a dis- placement of 1,576 tons and carried forty-four guns, which hurled in all only a total weight of about seven hundred pounds of projectiles. The cost of the Constitution was, compared with the cost of construct- ing our modern dreadnoughts, very small, $302,719. She had a large crew, however, nearly 400 men. American commerce was preyed upon by pirates of the Barbary States on the African coast of the Mediterranean, about the beginning of the nineteenth century. To protect this commerce an Act was passed by the third Congress to purchase or build six warships. A result of this Act was the construction in Boston of the famous Consti- tution, whose keel was laid in November, 1794. The building of the ship was intrusted to Mr. Hartt who was one of a family of famous shipbuilders, under the careful oversight of Colonel George Claghorn of New Bedford. The plans were drawn by Joshua Humphries of Philadelphia, assisted by certain naval officers. In connection with the construction of this famous warship, her copper bolts were supplied by Paul Revere, her gun-carriages were made by Ephraim Thayer, her sails in the old Granary near the present corner of Tremont and Park Streets, Boston, and the anchors were made in Hanover, Massa- chusetts. Her frame was of live oak. Regarding the figure-head of the Constitution, this was at first a representation of Hercules with an uplifted club, which was carved by the Skillings of Boston. The figure was afterwards shot away in an engagement before Tripoli, and in 181 2 was replaced by a figure-head representing Neptune. Later, the Constitution carried a simple billet- head scroll. Afterwards a bust of General Jackson was used, and the disagreeable incidents resulting from the use of it will be described later. Colonel Claghorn announced that the Constitution would be launched on September 20, 1797, about three years after the laying of the keel; but the attempt proved a failure. On the 22nd a second at- THE "CONSTITUTION", THE LAST OF THE "OLD NAVY*' 63 tempt was made which was also unsuccessful. These two failures caused more or less superstitious comment. People even went as far as to predict that the ship would be "ill-fated". But on October 21st, at 12.30 P. M., all was in readiness for a third attempt. It was high tide, a cloudy and chilly day. Owing to the two previous failures only a few people gathered to see the launching. But this time the warship slid into the water, Commodore James Sever naming her with a bottle of old Madeira wine, provided by Hon. Thomas Russell out of his private store. The third launching was successful; but the Con- stitution did not move under her sails until about nine months later. With respect to the first hoisting of the American flag over the Constitution, the following is both interesting and amusing. It is taken from Preble's "History of the Flag". "We are glad to be able to record the name of the person who first hoisted our flag over her, little imagining the glorious history she would make. When the Con- stitution was about ready to launch, Commodore Nicholson, who had charge and superintendence of her construction, left the shipyard to get his breakfast, leaving express orders not to hoist any flag over her until his return, intending to reserve the honor to himself. Among the workmen upon her was a shipwright and calker named Samuel Bentley, who, with the assistance of another workman named Harris, bent on and hoisted the Stars and Stripes during the Commodore's absence. When the Commodore returned and saw our flag, contrary to his orders, floating over her, he was very wrathy, and expressed him- self in words more strong than polite to the offending workmen." The initial voyage of the Constitution took place on July 20, 1798, putting out to sea on August 13th. Her first two cruises under Commo- dores Nicholson and Talbot were uninteresting, and it was not until Edward Preble was in command of her in the Mediterranean that she fired her first broadside. Preble hoisted his flag over her on May 21, 1803, caused her to be thoroughly overhauled, and sailed for the Med- iterranean, August 14th. Then she took part in the operations against the Barbary pirates and in the bombardment of Tripoli (August-Sep- tember, 1804). But her real fame began when she was commanded by the famous Isaac Hull. The Second War with Great Britain had begun, and, on July 12, 1 81 2, Hull attempted to join the New York squadron of ships, but was prevented by a British fleet — which included the Guerriere — 64 THE "CONSTITUTION", THE LAST OF THE "OLD NAVY" escaping from it after a remarkable chase of three nights and two days. Of course, as most of us know, this escape was greatly assisted by Hull's use of "umbrellas", which were made of strong spars attached to a central one, just like a huge umbrella-frame. This frame was covered with canvas, and could be opened or closed. The "Umbrella" was towed out some distance by boats, and, being attached to the Consti- tution by stout ropes, and being also sunk in the water, was an excellent means for aiding the escape of the ship, by the crew pulling the vessel up to it. But, anyway, luck or otherwise, the Constitution got away from her pursuers, arriving in Marblehead harbor on Sunday. Then, the Constitution took a grand revenge. The navy depart- ment had about decided to replace Hull in command of the ship, by William Bainbridge and sent word to Hull to remain in Boston Harbor until further orders; but he, foreseeing what was coming, did not wait. He left Boston on August 2nd, and sailed for the Bay of Fundy in search of prizes. Then he made for the Bermudas, and, on the 19th, about one hundred miles east of Boston, he met the Guerriere, one of the ships that had chased him into Marblehead. Both Hull and Cap- tain Dacres who commanded the Guerriere were eager for a fight. The Constitution had at that time fifty-five guns which threw about 700 pounds of projectiles, and a crew of 468, while the Guerriere had forty- nine guns carrying about 597 pounds, and a crew of 263. After man- oeuvring a while for position, the Constitution steered straight for the enemy, receiving her full fire. When his ship was only forty yards away, Hull discharged a whole broadside at the Guerriere, with terrible effect. Soon the enemy's mainyard was shot away and her rigging, sails and hull badly damaged. After this the Constitution poured two fearful broadsides into her. Both British and Americans wished to board, but the state of the sea prevented. At last the Guerriere sur- rendered, in such a battered condition that Hull was obliged to blow her up. The length of this historic fight was less than half an hour, during which the Constitution lost seven killed and seven wounded, and the Guerriere, fifteen killed and sixty-three wounded. Respecting this sea-battle the following quotation may here be in- serted. "What a scene was presented, and how changed in so short a time, during which the Guerriere had been totally dismasted and other- wise cut to pieces, so as not to make her worth towing into port. On the other hand, the Constitution looked perfectly fresh, and even those THE "CONSTITUTION", THE LAST OF THE "OLD NAVY" 65 on board the Guerriere did not know what ship had fought them. Cap- tain Dacres stood with his officers surveying the scene — all in the most perfect astonishment." And, the small damage received by the Con- stitution during this battle won for her the name of "Old Ironsides". William Bainbridge was the next commander of the Constitution. He began a cruise against the British commerce in the West Indies. On December 29, 1812, the Constitution had her hard-fought battle with the Java, off the coast of Brazil. At that time she had fifty-four guns, firing 787 pounds of metal, and a crew of 480, while the Java had forty-seven guns, firing 568 pounds, and a crew of 426. It was indeed a very fierce naval fight, the Americans winning by superior gunnery. Bainbridge himself was wounded, and Lambert, the commander of the Java, fatally so. The Java surrendered but in such a condition that like the Guerriere she had to be blown up. She lost sixty killed and one hundred and one wounded, while the Constitution lost nine killed and twenty-five wounded. After the battle the Constitution sailed for Boston to be repaired; but Boston Harbor was closely watched by the British fleet, and she was obliged to remain there in port until New Year's Day, 1814. Once more the ship — this time under command of Captain Charles Stewart — left Boston to fight the enemy. Again she sailed for the West Indies, and captured there four prizes, a total of twenty-four guns and seventy-six men. Being once more blockaded by a British fleet, she did not escape until December 17, 1814. As he was sailing towards the Madeiras, on February 20, 18 15, Captain Stewart met two British war vessels, the Cyane and the Levant, with respectively thirty- four and twenty-one guns. Stewart's seamanship was superb, the Cyane was captured, and the Levant, also, after being overtaken in its flight by the Constitution. In this remarkable sea fight, the two ships of the enemy had thirty-five killed and forty-two wounded, while the Constitution had four killed and ten wounded. This battle ended in a blaze of glory the great sea fights of the Constitution. Henceforth "Old Ironsides" was to be a ship of peace and history. But there was still a battle to be waged over her. This was the decided unpleasantness about the Jackson figure-head. The General had most bitter personal and political enemies. When it was reported in Boston that the famous ship, in which its 66 the "constitution", the last of the "old navy" citizens were so deeply interested, was to be adorned with the bust of Andrew Jackson, there was no slight disturbance. And the excite- ment grew. The carver of the bust was Laban S. Beecher, and it is reported that large bribes were offered him to destroy the figure-head on which he was working. The excitement became so intense that Commodore Elliott thought it prudent to remove both figure-head and artist to the protection of the Navy Yard, where Beecher finished his work at his leisure. The figure represented Jackson holding in his hand a scroll with the motto, "The Union — it must be preserved." The completed bust was placed on the stem of the Constitution; but on the 3rd of July, 1834, was discovered to have lost its head. This "ac- cident" occurred during a violent thunderstorm, and although there was a sentinel close at hand the executioner was not known until some time afterwards. The doer of the deed was a certain Captain Dewey, a Boston shipmaster, who reached the Constitution in a small rowboat, and beheaded the General with a saw, being obliged to cut through a copper bolt to accomplish his purpose. Although "Old Ironsides" was in considerable danger of destruc- tion at different times from British warships, it was in the greatest peril of its existence in 1830. The famous vessel was condemned to be broken up; but was saved by the brilliant poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes. Since that time her life has not been threatened, although at the outbreak of the Rebellion she was in some danger at Annapolis, Md. In 1833, she was taken into the new dry dock at Charlestown in the presence of Vice-President Van Buren and other high officials. The famous ship was then completely dismasted and dismantled, and rebuilt by Josiah Barker, a noted naval constructor of that day. In March, 1835, thus repaired and rebuilt, sailed again for the Mediter- ranean, from New York, as the flag-ship of Commodore Elliott. In 1855 she was laid up at the Portsmouth navy yard, and was later used as quarters for the midshipmen at Newport and Annapolis. In 1871 she was taken to Philadelphia and again laid up. In 1877 she was once more repaired and rebuilt, and the following year made her last voyage across the Atlantic. In 1897 "Old Ironsides" was "roofed in" at Charlestown, where she lies today, being used as a receiving ship and for other minor purposes. THE "CONSTITUTION", THE LAST OF THE "OLD NAVY" 6j Thus, the good ship was launched, became famous, and is en- joying her placid old age in the waters of Boston Harbor. Her keel was laid in 1794 and it still rests off Charlestown's shore in 191 5. Her commanders were all brave and skillful sailors, but then the ship her- self was a most noble one. During her existence our country has be- come vast and prosperous, and "Old Ironsides" will live amid even a greater generation of American citizens. She is part of the glorious history of our Republic, an honored and treasured heritage of the times and men that made our Nation what it is today. Charles Nevers Holmes Boston LINCOLN AND McCLELLAN LOOKING back over the records of the Civil War, and noting the constant clash of policies and politics, of opinions and ambitions, _^which marked its course, one is sometimes tempted to wonder, not so much that it was brought to a close in four years, as that it ever ended at all in a victory for the Union arms. President Lincoln, who stood at the focal point where all the lines crossed, must have suffered a terrible tax not only on his patriotism and his patience, but on his diplomatic resourcefulness as well. As we commonly have him rep- resented to us, it is the modest, but ultimately triumphant, overcomer of obstacles. But the war era bore for him also its crop of humiliations; and one of the most serious of these occurred in the fall of 1862, when, in order to assure the safety of the national capital, he had to bow his head to a military man whom he had practically retired from active service because of their disagreements. All through the earlier part of the year, the President, Secretary Stanton, and Generals Halleck and McClellan had kept up a fire of missives of remonstrance and rebuke. Back of the Administration was a press eager for thrilling news and a public which knew as little of war, for the most part, as of the differential calculus, and whose one idea of an army was a body of men equipped with weapons of various sorts, who could march and fight without food or sleep, if need be, for an indefinite period. Many enthusiastic patriots were sure that the war had already lasted twice as long as was necessary. Under goading from these sources, the President and his Secretary of War, however well they might understand the reasons for McClellan's deliberateness, felt themselves forced to urge him on, lest the support of the people of the North who were recruiting the volunteer regiments, and of the men of means who were financing the Government's operations should weaken through lack of confidence. McClellan kept insisting on more troops, and more time to get them ready for effective action. But the clamor was so great that the President, on at least one occasion, after convening a council of war and finding that twelve of the twenty offi- cers composing it agreed with McClellan, threw overboard their de- cision and issued peremptory orders himself in defiance thereof. Some- times the correspondence between Washington and the field became positively acrimonious, as where, after describing the slaughter at Gaines Mill, McClellan telegraphed Stanton: "Had I twenty thou- LINCOLN AND MCCLELLAN 69 sand, or even ten thousand, fresh troops to use tomorrow, I could take Richmond. I have lost the battle because my force was too small .... I am not responsible for this. If I save the army, I tell you plainly that I owe no thanks to you, or to any other person in Washington. You have done your best t9 sacrifice the army." Or where Halleck, after attempting to direct from Washington the movements of Mc- Clellan's subordinates in northeastern Virginia, wound up a despatch in this style: "Our people must move more actively, and find out where the enemy is. I am tired of guessing." Meanwhile, Pope had been assigned to command all the troops gathered for the defence of Washington, which had been made into what was known as the Army of Virginia. With the end of August came also the end of his brief campaign, which he had begun with a proclamation declaring the war to have been conducted on too lenient lines and announcing that he should change all that. These utterances were interpreted as a severe reflection on McClellan, and the friends of the latter attributed them to political jealousy. With the disastrous rout at the second battle of Bull Run, Pope's pride was badly broken, and his army moved rapidly northward. The exultant Confederates prepared to threaten Washington on the west with a small force, while the main body of their army was moved up, under cover of this feint, into Maryland and Pennsylvania, to capture Philadelphia and Baltimore and descend upon Washington. 