Part 1

_“LOG CABIN TO WHITE HOUSE” SERIES._

PINE TO POTOMAC

_LIFE OF_ JAMES G. BLAINE

_HIS BOYHOOD, YOUTH, MANHOOD, AND PUBLIC SERVICES_.

WITH A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF GEN. JOHN A. LOGAN

BY E. K. CRESSEY

BOSTON: JAMES H. EARLE, PUBLISHER, 178 WASHINGTON STREET. 1884.

_Copyright, 1884._ BY JAMES H. EARLE.

To All, Young and Old, _THE WHOLE WORLD OVER_, WHO LOVE THE NAME America, IS THIS LIFE OF JAMES G. BLAINE, The Typical American, DEDICATED, BY THE AUTHOR.

INTRODUCTION.

Mountains are the homes of giants,--giants in brawn and giants in brain. The giants of brawn may be the more numerous, and in the sense of muscle and fisticuffs, more powerful; but not in the sense of manhood and power that achieves results that are far-reaching and that endure,--results that thrill a nation’s heart and command the admiration of the world.

Whoever makes you proud that you are a man,--that you are an American citizen,--makes you feel that life is not only worth living, but that to live is joy and glory,--such an one lifts you up toward those higher regions from which man has evidently fallen, and gives some glimmer and hint of the old image and likeness in which we were created. That man who comes from nearest to the nation’s heart and gets nearest to the world’s heart, brings with him lessons of wisdom, goodness, and love which shall work like leaven with transforming power.

Great not only in brains, but great in heart, also, are the giant men of true greatness, who come down from the mountains into the arena of the world’s activities. They need no introduction. The world awaits them, recognizes, and hails them. They know and are known; they love and are beloved. Place awaits them, and they enter; fitness fits; life is a triumph, and they are happy. Such men, fresh from nature’s mint, bring consciences with them,--consciences unseared, into the battle of life.

These are not only the germ of character and the source of joy, but chief among the elements of that stupendous strength which makes victory their birthright, and victory is the birthright of every good, true soul that will work to win. Only the false and the indolent are sure to fail; the true and industrious are ever succeeding.

Especially great in powers of will are the men who come forth from the nation’s strength and give themselves back in exalted service to a nation’s life. The great streams that flow into the ocean, went forth of the ocean in mists and clouds of rain. The great men of Rome were the products of Rome. The great men of Germany and France are the products of those respective countries. And so the great men of America are the products of America. It took generations to produce the heroes of the Revolution, but when the hour struck, they came forth, full armed with a purpose that blood could not weaken, clad in a panoply that no host could destroy. Washington blazed forth as an orb of greater magnitude in the chair of state, in time of peace, than in the saddle in time of war. As a warrior he cut out the work, as statesman he made it. Statesmanship is more the work of the whole man and of a life-time. Garfield was splendid upon the field of battle, but while there he shone as a star among suns, while in the halls of state he shone as a sun among stars. There was a steady grandeur of purpose, a magnificence of character, a wealth of intellect, a power of thought, a loftiness of courage, of that high, heroic type which moral stamina alone can produce, which created a greater demand for him in the councils of the nation than in the battle-front when warriors were the nation’s sorest need. Others could take his place in Tennessee, but not in Washington.

Among the nation’s great productions, born midway between the war of the Revolution and the war of the Rebellion; born in times of peace, for times of direst carnage and divinest peace again, a very prince of the land; born to lead, and born to rule; springing at once with the bound of youthful blood into the foremost ranks of the nation’s monarchs of forces, and emperors of kingly powers, is he who leads to-day the giant forces of the great nation’s conquering host, the Hon. JAMES G. BLAINE, not of Maine, or of Massachusetts; not of Minnesota, or the Golden Gate, but of America. He is a man of the nation’s heart, a man of the nation’s brain, a man of conscience, and a man of will; large, vivid, and powerful in his consciousness, wherein he realizes, in most brilliant conceptions, both the power and glory of men and things. He came forth from the mountains of the Alleghanies, a giant from the nation’s side.

Never since the nation’s youth was there such demand for any man. He is emphatically the typical American, and the yeomanry would have him. They caught his spirit, and would not shake off the spell of his genius. They forget not to-day that he was Garfield’s first choice, and sat at Garfield’s right hand. They remember, as only they who think with the heart can remember, that as his pride and confidant, he was by Garfield’s side in that awful hour of holy martyrdom, thrusting back the terrible assassin with one hand, and with the other catching the falling chief. Garfield knew him, Garfield loved him, Garfield sanctioned, honored, trusted, and exalted him. And the sentiments of that great heart which beat out its life-blood for the nation’s glory then, it is firmly believed, are the sentiments of the nation’s heart to-day.

CONTENTS.

I.

THE BOY.

Old Hickory--National Highway--Indian Hill Farm--The Alleghanies--Daniel Boone and the Wetzells--Scotland of America--Birth-Place--Ancestors--Mother--Valley Forge--The Old Covenanters--Dickinson College--Cradle Songs--Stories of Monmouth and Brandywine--Old United States Spelling-Book--Country School-House--Cut Jackets--Uncle Will--Grandfather’s Ferry--Too Much Spurt--Capt. Henry Shreve--First Steamboat from Pittsburgh--Life of Napoleon--Average Boys’ Ability-- Working on the Farm--Revolutionary Soldiers--Home Training--Books--Spelling School--Sleigh-Ride--Victory Page 21

II.

PREPARATION.

Inheritance--Bullion’s Latin Grammar--Campaign of General Harrison--Political Meetings--Jackson’s Methods-- Newspapers--An American Boy--Plutarch’s Lives--Seeing General Harrison--Teachers--Homely People--Grandpa’s Explanation--Grandfather Gillespie’s Death--His Father’s Library--Swimming the River--Nutting--Marvel of Industry--School in Lancaster, Ohio--Two Boys by the Name of James--Hon. Thomas Ewing--The Problem of Presidents--Getting Ready for College--Contrast with Garfield 41

III.

IN COLLEGE.

Doctor McConahy--Young Ladies’ Seminary--Entering College-- Habits--Good Teachers--Professor Murray--New Testament in Greek--No Book-Worm--An Old Class-Mate--College Honors--Henry Clay--“Rights and Duties of American Citizenship”--Who Reads an American Book 60

IV.

TEACHING IN KENTUCKY.

A Triumph--Blue Licks Military Academy--Five Hundred Dollars--Trip to Kentucky--Stage-Coach--A Young Lady Companion--Great Country for Quail--Georgetown--“I am Mr. Blaine”--At Tea--Monday Morning--Hard, Quick Work--Lexington and Frankfort--Annual Picnic--Met his Friend--Enamored--The Future--Southern Trip--Two Winters in New Orleans--Col. Thorndike F. Johnson--Bushrod Johnson--Visits Home--Richard Henry Lee--Professor Blaine 71

V.

A NEW FIELD.

President Polk--One Old Bachelor--Reading Law--Institution for the Blind--Pine Tree State--_Kennebec Journal_--Franklin Pierce--Colby University and Bowdoin College--Getting Ready for Work--Editor’s Chair 95

VI.

JOURNALISM.

Master of the Situation--Henry Ward Beecher--Abolitionists-- Attack on Sumner and Greeley--Senator Fessenden--John L. Stevens--Fifty Days--Blaine’s Old Foreman, Howard Owen--Slave Trade--Philadelphia--Jefferson’s Remark--Seward’s Great Speech--Momentous Period 103

VII.

IN THE LEGISLATURE.

Great Year of Republicanism--Frémont and Dayton--First Public Effort--Editorials--Henry Wilson--_Richmond Enquirer_-- Dred Scott Case--Sells Out--Coal Lands--_Portland Daily Advertiser_--No Vacation--Business Success--God’s Storm--Six Times a Week--Armed to the Teeth--Right Ways--Political Weather--Earl of Warwick--The Aggressor--At a Stand-Still--Speaker of the House--“Gentlemen of the House of Representatives”--Old Wigwam at Chicago--A Firm Lincoln Man--Solid Front--Send us Blaine--Hullo!--Gold-Bowed Spectacles--Advancing Backward--Can a Southern State Secede?--Glow of the Contest--Whittier’s Poem 122

VIII.

SPEAKER OF THE MAINE LEGISLATURE.

Latest from Charleston--Governor Morrill--What Did they See?--Short-Cut Words--Ten Thousand from Maine--Will Mr. Blaine go?--North’s History of Augusta--Colonel Ellsworth--General Lyon--Israel Washburne, Jr.--Bloody Work--Regiments Born in a Day--In Washington--Senate and House Honored--All the Material for the Campaign--This Sort of Thing--The New Year 155

IX.

SECOND TERM AS SPEAKER.

Demand for Legislation--Blockade-Runners--Fort Knox--Hog Island--Resolutions--Hon. A. P. Gould, of Thomaston-- Opportunity for Forensic Effort--Domestic War--Great Triumph of the Winter--Will the Negro Fight?--Only Half a Negro--Nominated for Congress--Visits the Old Home--Loud Calls for Mr. Blaine--Maine What?-- Republican before there was a Party--Miles Standish--Open Letter--Love of Men 176

X.

ENTERING CONGRESS.

Life in Washington--Cliques--Passports--First Resolve--First Bill--Test of Ability--Great Speech--Working Members--A Slight Rebuff--Penitentiary Bill--Convention of Governors--A Little Episode--Boutwell’s Courtesy--New York City--After Him from all Sides--Union National Republican Convention at Baltimore--Frémont and Cochrane--Delegates--Dr. Robert J. Breckenridge--Idol of the Army--Million Men in Arms--“War a Failure”--Sixty Day’s Work in other States--No Mountain or Sea-shore--Squirm or Cheer--His Speeches--“Never Settled until it is Settled Right”--“Give Me Gold”--Power with an Audience--Mr. Lincoln’s Real Triumph 201

XI.

SECOND TERM IN CONGRESS.

Kittery to Houlton--Re-elected to Congress--Evolution-- Greenbackism--Pay in Coin--Intuition--Long Years of Study-- “I feel” and “I Know”--Befriending a Cadet--A Civil Question--Iron Clads that Will Not Float--The “Jeannette”--“A Cruel Mockery”--Bludgeon of Hard, Solid Fact--“Paper Credits”--Keen Eye for Fraud--Flag Again Flying on Fort Sumter--Unshackle Humanity--“A Little Grievance”--Amending the Constitution-- Closing Speech--Thoroughness and Mastery 236

XII.

CONTINUED WORK IN CONGRESS.

Not McClellan, but Lincoln--Religious Character of Abraham Lincoln--War Closed--Lincoln Murdered--Great Review--Basis of Representation--History of Finance--A Lively Tilt--Consistency--Amnesty--At Home in Congress--Political Re-action--Brass--No Red-Tape-- Volunteers in the Regular Army--Fair Play--Thad. Stevens--Strong Friendships 262

XIII.

CONGRESSIONAL CAREER CONTINUED.

On their Way Up--The Place to Look for Presidents--Drivers of the Quill--Seed-Corn--Blaine and Logan Then--Little Things--Cornstalks--Not Hot-Headed--Newspapers-- Europe--England’s Trade--Parliament--Home of his Ancestors-- Knowledge of French--The Rhine and Florence--Malaria in the Bones--Studied from Life--Italy a Joy--Return--In his Seat-- Five-Twenties--Power of Analysis--National Debt--Two Days to Reply--“Payment Suspended”--The President’s Impeachment--Field-Work--Hard or Soft Money--Wrings the Neck of a Heresy--New President of the Right Stamp 277

XIV.

SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN CONGRESS.

No Clouds--Manhood’s Prime--Vacancy in the Speaker’s Chair--How to Win--Trio of Leaders--Right-Hand Man--Chosen Chief--Tennyson’s Words--A Proud Day--National Reputation--Drawing a Resolution-- Growth of Congress--Third Election to the Speakership-- Statesmanship--Political Assassination--Brigadiers by the Score--Credit of the Fourteenth Amendment--Invite Him up-- Betrayed--Reads the Letters--Cablegram Suppressed--Eye-Witness-- Proctor Knott--Honored by Governor Connor, of Maine--Vindicated and Endorsed by the State Legislature--Answer, ye who Can! 298

XV.

UNITED STATES SENATOR.

Sabbath Morning--Ill and Weary Time--Gail Hamilton--Colleague of Hannibal Hamlin--One Inning Then--Galaxies by the Score--Old Spirit of Freeness--Statue of William King--Hard Money--Commodore Vanderbilt--Weight of the Silver Dollar--“Order”--Honoring the Aged Soldier--Magnanimity, not Intolerance--Pensioning Jeff. Davis--Negro Practically Disfranchised--Groups of States-- Resolutions--Contrasts and Comparisons--Peroration--White Man’s Vote North and South 318

XVI.

BLAINE AND GARFIELD.

Forever Linked Together--Lincoln and Seward--Young Men Together--Dark Days--Iron Chest--Breath of Battle Blew Hottest--Beautiful Plants--Massive Heads--Future Candidates--A Matter of Honor--Great Speech--They Crowned Him--“Command My Services”--Political Lying--Dead Upon the Field--True as Steel--His First, Best Friend--Clean as Well as Competent--At His Right Hand--Love Lights the Path 337

XVII.

SECRETARY OF STATE.

Foreign Policy of the Garfield Administration--War in South America--General Hurlbut--Chilian Authorities--The Three Republics--Object of the Peace Congress--William Henry Trescot--Received a Vindication--A Beautiful Prophecy--Lincoln and Blaine--Clayton-Bulwer Treaty--Servant of his Genius--The Assassin’s Bullet 351

XVIII.

HOME LIFE OF MR. BLAINE.

“Letters to the Joneses”--Home a Republic--Why Not Shine on?-- Brown House on Green Street--Come and See Me--Pound of Steak-- “James! James!”--“Must not Work so Hard”--Every Vote in America--A Baby-Boy--Sorrow--Six Children--“Owen, Have You a Quarter?”--A Good Joke--The Family Pew--Bible-Class Teacher--His Old Pastors--More Copy--The Man, Not the Clothes--Stranger to Storms--State-street Home--Press-Excursions--Bright Side of Things--No Liquors--Home-Life at its Zenith--Photographs--The Hammock--The Coolest of the Company 362

XIX.

CHARACTERISTICS OF MR. BLAINE.

A Business Man’s Estimate--Incident Showing Versatility-- Curiosity--Humor--Coolness and Self-Possession--Retentive Memory--Genuineness and Simplicity--Scene with a Malicious Reporter--Great-Heartedness--Lover of Fair Play--Sense of Honor--Industry--Sympathy for Misfortune--Caution--A Singular Habit--Vigorous Exercise--Punctuality--General Resume 384

XX.

NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT.

A Steady March Upward--Campaigns of 1876 and 1880--His Loyalty under Defeat--The Great Convention of 1884--Organization and Preliminaries--Maine’s Favorite Son Presented--Twelve Thousand People Cheering--Exciting Scenes--The First Ballot--Gains for Blaine--The People’s Choice--A Whirlwind of Vociferous Applause--Blaine’s Nomination Made Unanimous--The Evening Session--Gen. John A. Logan for Vice-President 402

XXI.

GEN. JOHN A. LOGAN.

His Birth--Parentage--Youth--Slight Educational Opportunities-- Shiloh Academy--Enlistment for the Mexican War--Fearlessness-- Promotion--Additional Studies--Enters on the Profession of Law--Clerk of Jackson County--Prosecuting Attorney--In the Legislature--Presidential Elector--On the Stump--A False Allegation--Surrounded by Rebel Sympathizers--Lincoln’s Election--In Congress--Raises a Regiment--Brilliant Career in the Army--Rapid Elevation--Major-General within a Year--“I Have Entered the Field to Die, if Need be”--At the Head of the Fifteenth Army Corps--“Atlanta to the Sea”--Lincoln’s Second Election--Johnston’s Surrender--The Grand Review--Resignation from the Service--Declines Mission to Mexico--Repeated Elections to Congress--On the Impeachment Committee--Chosen United States Senator--His Eloquence--Helps Found the Grand Army of the Republic--First National Commander--Action on Financial Measures--His Modest Mode of Life--A Noble Wife--His Children-- Stalwart Supporter of General Grant--Nominated for the Vice-Presidency--Conclusion 409

PINE TO POTOMAC

I.

THE BOY.

“Old Hickory is coming! He will be along in his great coach to-morrow, before noon,” rang out the cheery voice of Uncle Will Blaine, who seemed glad all over at the prospect of once more seeing the Hero of New Orleans and the man of iron will.

“Well, let him come,” said the Prothonotary. “I would not walk up to the cross-roads to see him,” and the face of the old Whig grew stern with determination.

“You will let me take Jimmy, will you not, to see the old General?”

“O, yes, you can take him,” the politic use of General instead of President having relaxed, somewhat, the stern features of the sturdy Scottish face.

“He’s coming! He’s coming! Hurrah! Hurrah! Here he comes,” shouted voice after voice of the great crowd assembled on the morrow, from valley and mountain, Uncle Will leading off at last, with the regular old-fashioned continental “Hip, Hip, Hurrah,” with three-times-three.

Martial music, of the old revolutionary sort, rang out, with fife and drum, as President Jackson, who had just been succeeded by Martin Van Buren, after serving from 1829 to 1837, stepped from his carriage, and after a hearty greeting, spoke a few incisive words, as only the old hero could.

A boy seven years old was held above the crowd, just before him, by the strong arms of Uncle Will. The General saw the large, wondering eyes, and the eager face, patted him on the head, saying, “I am glad to see you, my noble lad.”

The boy was James G. Blaine.

The impression of that moment remains to this hour. Little did General Jackson think he was looking into the face of a future candidate for the presidency.

The National Road over which the congressmen and presidents, and the great tide of travel from the west and south, passed to and from Washington, was near his father’s door.

This National highway, built by the government before the days of railroads and steam-boats, was a strong band of union between remote sections of the country. It was a highway of commerce as well as of travel, and formed one of the chief features in the country, so rapidly filling up after the fearful storms of war were over and the settled years of peace had come.

It is a remarkable fact, that inspired penmen have sketched the infancy of most of the great men whose lives they have portrayed. This is beautifully true of Moses, the great emancipator and leader, a law-giver of the ancient Hebrew people. How they glorify the childhood of this great man, and make us love him at the start! So, also, are the infancy and childhood of Samuel, great among the prophets of Israel, disclosed. The voice of his heroic mother is heard as she gives him to the Lord. The infancy of John, the mighty man at the Jordan, and of Jesus, are most impressively revealed. No lovelier pictures hang on the walls of memory; no sweeter sunshine fills the home than the little ones with their joy and prattle, and with the sublime possibilities to be unfolded as they fill up the ranks in humanity’s march, or take the lead of the myriad host.

As we go back to study the beginnings of a world, so may we well look back to behold the dawning of that life, great in the nation’s love and purpose to-day.

We shall find there a child of nature, born in no mansion or city, but on “Indian farm,” upon the Washington side of the Monongahela River, opposite the village of Brownsville, and about sixty miles below Pittsburgh, in the old Quaker State of Pennsylvania.

It was at the foot-hills of the Alleghanies, a region wild, romantic, and grand, well fitted to photograph omnipotence upon the fresh young mind, and impress it with the greatness of the world. It was a section of country whose early history is marked with all that is thrilling in the details of Indian warfare, which constituted the chief staple of childhood stories.

Daniel Boone and the Wetzells had been there. The startled air had echoed with the crack of their rifles; the artillery of the nation had resounded through these mountains; the black clouds of war had blown across the skies, and the smoke of battle had drifted down those valleys.

All that is terrible in nature had its birth and home in that section of our country, which is most like the great ocean petrified in its angriest mood and mightiest upheavals. The bears and wolves, in their numbers, ferocity, and might commanded in early days the respect even of savages, while elk and deer, antelope and fowl, and fish in endless variety, birds and flowers of every hue, and foliage of countless species, won the admiration of these rude children of nature.

Here in this Scotland of America, born of a sturdy ancestry whose muscle and brain, courage and mighty wills, had made them masters of mountain and glen,--here in the heart of the continent,--James G. Blaine was born. Eternal vigilance had not only been the price of liberty in that bold mountain home for generations, but the price of life itself.

It was in a large stone house, built by his great-grandfather Gillespie, that James Gillespie Blaine was born, January 31, 1830, one of eight strong, robust, and hearty children, five of whom survive. It was midway between the war of 1812 and the Mexican war of 1848, and in a country settled nearly fifty years before by soldiers of the Revolution. Few are born in circumstances of better promise for the full unfolding of the faculties of body and mind than was this child of four and fifty years ago, cradled in the old stone house on the ancestral farm. The house itself tells of the Old World; and those mountains whose heights are in the blue, tell of Scottish and Irish clans that never lose the old fire and the old love, and that marched from the conquest of the Old to the conquering of the New World.

The father, Ephraim Lyon Blaine, was of Scottish origin, and Presbyterian of truest blood, with sign and seal and signet stamp of the old Scotch Covenanters upon life and character. His ancestors came to this country in 1720,--one hundred and ten years before the birth of James.

His mother, Maria Gillespie, was of an Irish-Catholic family from Donegal in Ireland. They belonged to the Clan Campbell, Scotch-Irish Catholics, and descended from the Argyles of Scotland. They came to America in 1764, and were Catholics through and through. They were large land-owners in America, and resided wholly in old colonial Pennsylvania.