USA > New Mexico > Men of our day; or, biographical sketches of patriots, orators, statemen, generals, reformers, financiers and merchants, now on the stage of action > Part 27
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" Mr. Lincoln, the crisis demands greater and sterner mea- sures. Proclaim anew the good old motto of the republic, 'Liberty and Union, now and forever, one and inseparable ;' and accept the services of all loyal men, and it will be in your power to stamp armies out of the earth-irresistible armies that will bear our banners to certain victory. In any event, Illinois, already alive with beat of drum, and resounding with the tramp of new recruits, will respond to your call. Adopt this policy, and she will leap like a flaming giant into the fight.
" This policy for the conduct of the war will render foreign intervention impossible, and the arms of the republic invincible; it will bring the conflict to a speedy close, and secure peace on a permanent basis."
Illinois trembled, from centre to periphery, with the enthu- siasm kindled in the hearts of her citizens by these words of her chief magistrate, and by the stirring events of the times. In less than eleven days (thirteen being the time allowed by the War
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Department), in the midst of harvest season, and without resort to a draft, over fifty thousand men volunteered in the army of the re- public, from the State of Illinois. In strong contrast, however, to this action on the part of the people, was that of their repre- sentatives who formed the General Asssembly of 1863-4.
It would seem as if no heart among them could have been deaf to the fiery eloquence of the governor's message, of which we present the closing sentences :
"I can think of no peace worth having, short of crushing out the rebellion, and the complete restoration of the authority of the government. The only way to honorable and permanent peace is through war-desolating, exterminating war. We must move on the enemy's works. We must move forward with tremendous energy, with accumulated thousands of men, and the most terrible enginery of war. This will be the short- est road to peace, and be accompanied with the least cost of life and treasure in the end.
"If our brave boys shall fall in the field, we must bury the dead, take care of and bring home the sick and wounded, and send fresh battalions to fill up the broken ranks, and to deal out death, destruction, and desolation to the rebels. We might talk of compromise, if it affected us alone, but it would affect our children's children in all the years of the future. The interests to be affected are far reaching, and universal to humanity, and lasting as the generations of mankind. I have never had my faith in the perpetual union of these States to falter. I believe this infernal rebellion can be-ought to be- and will be subdued. The land may be left' a howling waste, desolated by the bloody footsteps of war, from Delaware Bay to the Gulf, but our territory shall remain unmutilated, the country shall be one, and it shall be free in all its broad boundaries, from Maine to the Gulf, and from ocean to ocean.
"In any event may we be able to act a worthy part in the trying scenes through which we are passing; and should the star of our destiny sink to rise no more, may we feel for our.
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selves, and may history preserve our record clear before heaven and earth, and hand down the testimony to our children, that we have done all, periled and endured all to perpetuate the priceless heritage of Liberty and Union unimpaired to our posterity."
Unmindful, however, of the solemnity and magnitude of the issues then pending, a majority of these representatives disre- garded the wise and patriotic suggestions of the governor's message reccommending legislative provisions for taking the votes of the State's troops then in the field; the erection of a hospital or soldier's home; liberal bounties to volunteers, etc. And their conduct was so far regardless of the dignity and best interests of the State, as to render necessary the exercise of ex- treme parliamentary strategy in order to prevent legislation which would inevitably have blasted the fair fame of the State. Finally, availing himself of a disagreement between the two houses as to the time of final adjournment, Governor Yates exercised a power placed in his hands by the constitution and prorogued the Legislature until the 31st of December, 1864, the day when its legal existence would terminate by law-and that body, upon whom the blow fell like a thunderbolt, were thus saved from disgracing themselves and their constituents.
With the close of 1864, closed, also, Governor Yates's guber- natorial record, of which it has been fitly said, that "it was providential that a man with his spirit and activity was in the executive chair. He was as fully committed to freedom as against slavery, nor did he ever falter in his position. He stood as an iron pillar, when locally in a minority, and waited for the day when truth should triumph. As governor he was the soldier's friend. On the field he went with them under fire, used every possible exertion to forward them sanitary supplies, to bring the wounded into hospitals and to their homes.
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The soldier's wife or widow could secure audience when officers were turned away."
It was no wonder that when his official term as governor expired, a strong, popular demand was made for his eleva- tion to another position of influence. He was now elected, on the Union Republican ticket, to the Senate of the United States in the place of W. A. Richardson, Democrat, and took his seat in 1865, for a term which will expire March 4th, 1871. We must not forget, also, that the repeal of the "Black Code," in February, 1865, by which Illinois erased from her statute book laws at variance with the dictates of humanity, as well as with her own later record on the subject of slavery, was largely owing to Governor Yates' fiery vehemence of oratory and argument, and to the weight of personal influence which he threw into its public discussion.
Of late it has been often asserted that Senator Yates had fallen into habits of intemperance: and though the statements on the subject have been exaggerated, there is no doubt that they had some foundation in truth, though never to the extent of his ap- pearing, as some others have done, in his place in the Senate in a grossly intoxicated condition. Recently, he has published an address to the people of Illinois, in which, frankly admitting and humbly confessing his past delinquencies in this respect, he says that he has reformed and that he "will compel their confi- dence, not by pledges, but by a course of conduct scrupulously correct," and that notwithstanding their "justifiable distrust, looking to God," to his family, his State, and his high duty, he "shall not despair, but look forward to an unclouded future."
The moral courage which could prompt such a confession and appeal to his constituents is so lofty and noble, that we can- not bu. hope strongly that this brave and gallant man is to be spared from further disgrace and dishonor and yet to do great service to the nation.
HON. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL.
EORGE S. BOUTWELL was born in Brookline, Massachusetts, January 28th, 1818. In April, 1820, his parents removed to Lunenburg, where they lived on a farm until 1863, when both died, his mother in March, and his father in July. His mother was of the Marshall family. Mr. Boutwell's father was a man of good abilities, and was twice a member of the Massachusetts House of Repre- sentatives, and a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1853. Mr. Boutwell learned to read at a very early age, stand- ing at his mother's knee, while she read the large family Bible. The result was that he learned to read as the type setters read, "by the word method."
As he grew up he could not remember the time when he could not read. He went to the public school six or seven very brief summer terms, and to perhaps as many private schools, of a few weeks each, and usually kept by the same teacher. He attended winter schools until, and including, his sixteenth birth- day. The next winter he taught a school in Shirley, Massa- chusetts.
At that time he had thoroughly mastered Arithmetic, and learned something of Latin, Algebra, Geometry, Astronomy, Natural Philosophy and History. He studied these branches, in school and out, under most unfavorable circumstances.
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When nearly thirteen years old he went into a country store at Lunenburg and remained there four years. In March, 1835, he went to Groton, entering upon the mercantile business and continuing there as clerk or partner for several years. The early facility in reading, gained at his mother's knee, created a taste for study, and an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
In the second story of the store where he served as clerk, there was kept an old, but choice and well selected library. This was a mine of wealth to young Boutwell. In the absence of customers, and so far as fidelity to his employer permitted, he read during the day. But at nine o'clock, when the store closed, he repaired promptly to the library and there read till overcome by drowsiness, when he roused himself by some physical exercise, and continued his reading. When sleep again asserted its claims, he plunged his head in a pail of water at hand for that purpose, and under that renewed stimulus read on till an unduly late hour of the night. The fact that at this early age, with such meagre school advantages, and while so closely occupied with farm work and clerk service, he had made so large attainments in the studies named, and that he was able to teach school at sixteen, shows his enthu- siasm in the work of self-culture, his unusual quickness in learning, and invincible energy in pursuing his studies, in the face of manifold difficulties.
When only eighteen years of age he commenced, systematical- ly, the study of law, and entered his name in an attorney's office, studying at odd times, chiefly nights. At the same time he renewed the study of Latin, under Dr. A. B. Bancroft, and read Virgil, and other Latin authors. While an active member of the Legislature, in the winter of 1842-43, he resumed the study of French under Count Laporte, which he had previously pursued without a teacher, devoting for several months one
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half hour a day to this study. For six years his thirst for knowledge almost consumed him. He devoted every moment he could command to study, working till midnight, and often till one, two, or even three o'clock in the morning. This zeal was self-prompted, and without the stimulus of a teacher or any rival companions. This excessive labor injured his health, and in 1841-42, he was obliged to diminish his hours of study. At nineteen he delivered his first public lecture before the Groton Lyceum. In 1840, he entered the political contest in favor of Mr. Van Buren. At the age of twenty-one, he was elected a member of the school committee in Groton, a large town of more than usual wealth and culture. The esteem in which he was held by his fellow-townsmen is also shown by the fact that in the same year he was the candidate of the Democratic party for the Legislature and though defeated the first two years, continued to be their candidate for ten years. He was a member of the legislature in 1842, '43, '44, '47, '48, '49, and '50. He soon became a prominent and influential member, and surpassed all by his thorough mastery of the subjects which he discussed and by his readiness and ability in debate. He successfully advocated the questions of retrenchment of expenses, enlargement of the school fund, and Harvard college reform.
The legislation on these subjects, and especially in reference to Harvard college, was mainly due to his efforts. Between 1842 and 1850, he was Railway Commissioner, Bank Commis- sioner, Commissioner on Boston Harbor, and a member of special State Committees upon the subject of Insanity, and upon the Public Lands in Maine. In all those years he gave numer. ous Lyceum lectures, and political addresses. In 1844, '46, and '48, he was the candidate of the Democratic party for Congress.
He was nominated for the office of governor, in 1849-50, and
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was elected to that office in 1851, and 1852. In the State Legislature and Constitutional Convention of 1853, he was early recognized as a leader. He was familiar with parliamen- tary rules, was always in order, never prolix, speaking merely to be heard or without something to say, but always aimed directly at the point, and of course at all times had the ear of the Convention. He united firmness with conciliation and exhibited fairness, tolerance, and courtesy to opponents.
In the Constitutional Convention, Rufus Choate was his lead- ing opponent. Early in the session, Mr. Choate, by a most elo- quent speech, had won the admiration of the Convention. The subject was "Town Representation." Mr. Boutwell rose to reply. His apparent temerity in meeting the most brilliant member on the Whig side, quite surprised those who did not know him. But the apprehension of a damaging comparison, or a failure, at once passed away. He enchained the attention of the Convention, and maintained his cause with signal ability. He prepared and reported the Constitution which was submitted to the people and adopted. The same year he became a member of the "State Board of Education." It was a deserved tribute to his clear judgment and substantial educa- tion, that Massachusetts, ever proud of her public schools, should call one without collegiate culture to succeed the classi- cal Barnas Sears, and the eloquent and enthusiastic Horace Mann. He was connected with this board ten years, and, as its secretary for five years, acquitted himself with marked ability. His five annual reports, his commentary on the school laws of Massachusetts, and his volume on "Educational Topics and Institutions," rank high in the educational literature of the country. From 1851 to 1860, he was a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard college. In 1856, he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; in 1861, a member of the Phi Beta Kappa of Cambridge, and de-
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livered the commencement oration. Political subjects, according to usage and obvious propriety, are avoided on such occasions, but in this crisis of the nation, officers of college and of the society called upon the ex-governor to discuss freely the state of the country. His oration, after showing that slavery was the cause of the war, demonstrated the justice and necessity of emancipation. It was in advance of the times, and was severely censured, not only by Democrats but by many Republican leaders and papers. It was published entire in various jour- nals, and circulated widely through the country, and hastened the great revolution of public sentiment on this subject more than any address by any American statesman during the first year of the war.
Immersed in public affairs since his majority, no other man of his age in Massachusetts has been so long and constantly in the public service. No other man living, in that State, has held so many, varied and responsible offices, in each of which his course has been marked by integrity, fidelity, and ability.
To the young his life is a fit example of the cardinal virtues of industry, uprightness, and frugality, of strict temperance, and unwearied perseverance. He continues to reside in Groton, where he maintains the same simplicity of rural life and character, the same kind and genial spirit, the same accessi- bility to all classes, which marked his early years. He is still a practical farmer, and takes the deepest interest in his crops and stock, and applies the latest improvements in agricul- ture to his land, so that it is deservedly called a model farm. Among his neighbors, with whom he is still a favorite, he talks as familiarly of Cotswolds and Southdowns, of Devons, Dur- hams, and Alderneys, as if farming had been his only business. He has given many lectures on agriculture, and addresses at " Cattle Shows."
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Mr. Boutwell is not a politician, but a statesman. In all his history, his faith has been in truth, in right, in justice and principle, and not in art and scheming, in management and chicanery. Fidelity to principle has marked his whole career. He has ever been an earnest and consistent advocate of the rights of man. He left the Democratic party upon the repeal of the Missouri Compromise in 1854, his last vote with that party being in 1853. He was a leader in the organization of the Republican party in Massachusetts, and was a delegate to the Baltimore Convention, in 1864; was a member of the Peace Congress in 1861; organized the new Department of Internal Revenue, and served as Commissioner until 1862, when he resigned to take his seat in Congress. He served on the Judiciary Committee, in the Thirty-ninth and Fortieth Con- gress, and was one of the managers in the Impeachment case.
Mr. Boutwell is a man of judicial mind, instinctive sagacity strong memory, iron will, indomitable perseverance, great power of mental concentration, and entire self-command. His energies never seem to flag. His fine voice, distinct articula- tion and deliberate but earnest delivery, make him an impres- sive speaker. His style is clear and vigorous. He is too earnest to deal in sallies of wit, the play of imagination or ornaments of rhetoric, but he is always sincere and impressive. His mind, while full in information, patient in details, and accurate in the minutest point, is naturally comprehensive, and tends to broad and rapid generalizations. Though fitted by taste, nature, and culture, to be a statesman, and able to fill almost any sphere of administrative or judicial service, he seems fashioned to be a Congressman. He has trained himself to " think on his legs." He enjoys debate, excels in forensic con- tests, and seems always strongest in the closest grapple of men- tal combat.
ยท HON. REVERDY JOHNSON.
EVERDY JOHNSON was born in Annapolis, Maryland, on the 21st of May, 1796. He was the son of the Hon. John Johnson, who was the chief judge of the first judicial district of Maryland from 1811 until 1821, when he was appointed chancellor of the State of Maryland.
Reverdy Johnson studied law with his father, and entered upon practice in Prince George's county, and in the city of An- napolis, in his native State. While pursuing his profession, he was engaged in reporting the decisions of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, having prepared the greater part of the well-known series of seven volumes of Harris and Johnson's Reports, which extended to some time in the year 1826.
While pursuing this employment, and engaging in the active practice of his profession, he was appointed a deputy attorney- general of Maryland.
In 1817, he removed to the city of Baltimore. In 1820, he was appointed chief commissioner of insolvent debtors. He held this office until 1821, when he was elected to the Senate of Mary- land. In this body he served for two years, and was re-elected, and served nearly two years longer as a State Senator. He then resigned the office, in order to devote himself to a rapidly in- creasing practice, which he pursued until 1845, with distin- guished ability and success, reaching, by general consent, the leadership of the Maryland bar.
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In 1845, he was elected a Senator in Congress. He retained this position until 1849, when he resigned it to accept the office of Attorney-General of the United States, tendered him by President Taylor. Upon the death of that President, he retired from office, and continued to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, in which he had established a great and well- deserved reputation as a jurist. He was obliged, by the exi- gency of the times, and by his own disposition to use every effort to restore tranquillity to the country, to re-enter political life in 1861. In that year he was a delegate to the Peace Con- gress. In 1862 he was elected, by the Legislature of Maryland, a Senator in Congress for the term commencing in 1863 and ending March 4th, 1869.
His distinguished services in the Senate, during the period of the rebellion, and his masterly and vigorous efforts to maintain the supremacy of the Constitution and the laws during the pro- gress of the rebellion, and after its termination, are well known to the whole country.
During the term of President Lincoln, he was sent to New Orleans, for the purpose of adjusting grave questions which had arisen with foreign governments, by reason of the alleged undue exercise of military and civil authority by the general then commanding in Louisiana. His" action in restraining and cor- recting the abuses, which he had been requested to remedy, was fully approved of by the Government at Washington.
Since the close of the rebellion, Mr. Johnson has, with signal ability, manifested his devotion to the Constitution of the United States. He has uniformly insisted that this instrument was as binding upon ourselves as upon those who sought to violate it in 1861. His selection as a member of the joint select com- mittee on reconstruction was most judicious, for no member of
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the Senate was more thoroughly informed on the subject or more impartial.
The debates in the Senate bear testimony to the earnest zeal with which he has endeavored to confine all parties and sections of the country within the boundaries of constitutional law. In so doing, he has not ministered to the prejudices or hostilities of any political organization, in order to win popularity or pro- mote his personal ambition. He has steadily disregarded the dictates of popular clamor and popular passion, and has been content to pursue that course which will secure to him the appro- bation of all good men and the applause of posterity. His political action has been so calm and impartial as to be wholly judicial in character. This quality of mind, singularly dis- played through his senatorial career, was never more distinctly marked than during the trial of the President before the Senate.
Reverdy Johnson will retire from the Senate on March 4th, 1869. We have the promise, so far as men may judge, that a long career of usefulness remains for him. He will carry with him into retirement the respect and confidence of men of all opinions as a jurist and as a statesman.
HON. JAMES W. NYE.
UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM NEVADA.
O a foreigner studying the organization of our local governments, and the method by which they are repre- sented in our national legislature, it would seem almost inevitable that the Senators and Representatives from the newly constituted States, should be men of mediocre talent and very moderate culture. "The population," he would reason, "in these States is small, and necessarily composed of rough men, enterprising indeed, but possessed rather of physi- cal than intellectual activity, and of little or no education Such a population will, naturally, choose men of their own class for these positions, and the result must be a serious deteri- oration in the average ability of the members of the national parliament."
The foreigner in this case would reason logically, but the facts controvert his reasoning. The early settlers of our new States and territories, are not all rough men, in whom the physical nature is dominant; some, yes, many of the pioneers, though perhaps men of brawn and muscle, are yet men of brilliant talents and profound mental culture; men thoroughly versed in all the intellectual and political questions which agitate the communities farther east; men of great executive ability, and
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HON. JAMES W. NYE. .
capable of filling with honor and dignity any station in the republic.
To this class belongs the able and eloquent Senator whose name heads this sketch. JAMES W. NYE was born in Madison county, New York, June 10th, 1815. In that rich and fertile county he led the life of a farmer's boy, enjoying the advantage of superior schools, and acquiring the foundations of a good education, while developing a physical frame of rugged health, great muscular strength, and remarkable powers of endurance. As he arrived at the verge of manhood, his thirst for intellectual culture grew more intense, and he manifested remarkable ability as a speaker. After obtaining a good academic education, he devoted himself to the study of the law, rather from the fact of that profession being the stepping stone to a political career, than from any special fondness for the practice of law.
In course of time he came to New York, and while practising his profession to some extent, he entered actively into political life, and soon became conspicuous for his eloquence, fearless- ness, and thorough mastery of all political questions. He was affiliated with the Free Soil movement from the beginning, and on the organization of the Republican party, became one of its members, and was active in opposing the Kansas-Nebraska bill and in laboring earnestly for the election of Fremont in 1856. His party were then as now in the minority in New York city, but such positions as were within their gift were freely offered to the eloquent and fearless advocate of their principles. He was one of the police commissioners under the Metropolitan police act, in 1860 and 1861. In the campaign which ended in Mr. Lincoln's election in 1860, Mr. Nye was one of the hardest and most successful workers. His clear convincing logic, his utter fearlessness, and the winning eloquence which led thou- sands into the ranks of the supporters of "Honest Abe Lincoln,"
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