Part 8

John Adams. By his energy and eloquence he did more than any other man to crystallize the American sentiment in favor of independence. He was a member of the celebrated committee appointed to draft the immortal “Declaration.” In the debates on that instrument, he was its chief defender; and it was he who persuaded Congress to adopt it. He was the most distinguished signer. Jefferson himself said, that “he [Adams] was the pillar of its support; its ablest advocate and defender.”

203. What were the last intelligible words of Benedict Arnold?

“Bring me, I beg you, the epaulets and sword-knots which Washington gave me. Let me die in my old American uniform, the uniform in which I fought my battles. God forgive me for ever putting on any other.”

204. What bird is an apt illustration of the proverb that “Pride will have a fall”?

The pouter pigeon. It stands perpendicularly erect, and seems exceedingly vain of the swollen crop which gives it the name of pouter. It can inflate its crop with air, until the head is almost hidden behind it. This inflation oftentimes causes the bird to lose its balance, and to fall down chimneys, on which it is fond of standing, thereby aptly illustrating the proverb, that “Pride will have a fall.”

205. What noted poet was so thin that he was said to wear lead in his shoes to keep himself from being blown away by the wind?

Philetas, a distinguished poet and critic of the Alexandrian school, who lived in the fourth and third centuries B. C., was so sickly and so thin, that the comic poets stated that he used to wear lead in his shoes to keep himself from being blown away. The story runs that he died from the excessive assiduity with which he sought the answer to the sophistical problem, called “The Liar,” viz.: If a man says he is telling a lie, does he speak truly or falsely?

206. Was Adam created with a beard?

Scripture does not tell us, but the tradition that he was created with one (which may be described as bushy rather than flowing) is recorded on ancient monuments, and especially on an antique sarcophagus, which is one of the ornaments of the Vatican. The Jews, with the Orientals generally, seem to have accepted the tradition for a law. Among them the beard was a cherished and sacred thing. The Scriptures abound with examples of how the beard and its treatment interpreted the feelings, the joy, the pride, the sorrow, or the despondency of the wearer.

207. Who was the wealthiest President?

Washington, who left an estate valued at $800,000. The next in order of wealth was Van Buren, whose property was valued at $400,000.

208. Who were the original “Jersey Blues”?

They were a battalion of five hundred soldiers from New Jersey, during King George’s War (1745–1748), and were so called from the color of their uniform,--blue, faced with red, gray stockings, and buckskin breeches. They were described at the time as “the likeliest well-set men who ever entered upon a campaign.”

209. Who was “Tam O’Shanter”?

He was the hero of Burns’s poem of the same name, a farmer, who, riding home very late and very drunk, from Ayr, in a stormy night, had to pass by the kirk of Alloway, a place reputed to be a favorite haunt of the devil and his friends and emissaries. On approaching the kirk, he perceived a light gleaming through the windows; but having got courageously drunk, he ventured on till he could look into the edifice, when he saw a dance of witches merrily footing it round their master, who was playing on the bagpipe to them. The dance grew so furious that they all stripped themselves of their upper garments, and kept at it in their shifts. One “winsome wench,” happening unluckily to have a shift which was considerably too short to answer all the purposes of that useful article of dress, Tam was so tickled that he involuntarily roared out, “Weel done, Cutty-sark!” (Well done, Short-smock); whereupon, in an instant, all was dark, and Tam, recollecting himself, turned and spurred his horse to the top of her speed, chased by the whole fiendish crew. It is a current belief, that witches, or any evil spirits, have no power to follow a poor wight any farther than the middle of the next running stream. Fortunately for Tam, the river Doon was near; for, notwithstanding the speed of his horse, by the time he gained the middle of the arch of the bridge, and consequently the middle of the stream, the pursuing vengeful hags were so close at his heels, that one of them, “Cutty-sark,” actually sprang to seize him; but it was too late,--nothing was on her side of the stream but the horse’s tail, which immediately gave way at her infernal gripe, as if blasted by a stroke of lightning; but the farmer was beyond her reach.

210. Who was “Old Public Functionary”?

This sobriquet, which was sometimes humorously abbreviated O. P. F., was sometimes given to James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United States. He was the first to apply the expression to himself, in his annual message to Congress in 1859:--

“This advice proceeds from the heart of an _old public functionary_, whose service commenced in the last generation, among the wise and conservative statesmen of that day, now nearly all passed away, and whose first and dearest earthly wish is to leave his country tranquil, prosperous, united, and powerful.”

211. Who was “Light-Horse Harry”?

This sobriquet was popularly conferred upon General Henry Lee (1756–1818), a gallant American cavalry officer in the war of the Revolution, in allusion to his rapid and daring movements in battle, particularly during the campaign in the Carolinas.

212. Who was the “French Game-cock”?

On account of his bravery, this name was given by the American soldiers to Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves Gilbert Motier, Marquis de Lafayette.

213. What was the “Albany Regency”?

It was a junto of astute Democratic politicians, having their headquarters at Albany, who controlled the action of the Democratic party for many years, and who had great weight in national politics. The effort to elect William H. Crawford President, instead of John Quincy Adams, was their first great struggle.

214. In what country are prayers said by wheels?

An important part of the duties of a pilgrim to Lassa, the centre of Lamaism, is penance. Among the lighter forms of penance is turning a wheel called _Tchu-Kor_, “revolving prayer.” This devotional machine is usually a sort of barrel, moving upon an axis and inscribed all over with Buddhistic petitions. The worshipper sets it going, and it turns prayers for his benefit, while he pursues some more mundane occupation.

215. What Presidents were born in Virginia?

Thus far seven of our Presidents have been natives of Virginia, viz.:--

Washington, born in Westmoreland County, Feb. 22, 1732; Jefferson, born at Shadwell, Albemarle County, April 2, 1743; Madison, born at King George, March 16, 1751; Monroe, born in Westmoreland County, April 28, 1758; Harrison, born at Berkeley, Charles City County, Feb. 9, 1773; Tyler, born in Charles City County, March 29, 1790; Taylor, born in Orange County, Sept. 24, 1784.

216. Which is the only monarchy on the Western Continent?

The government of Brazil is a mild form of a constitutional and hereditary monarchy. The laws of succession are the same as in England. The Emperor Dom Pedro II., of the house of Bragança, and the Empress, a sister of the king of Naples, are universally beloved and respected for their intellectual and moral endowments, and their affectionate interest in the welfare of their subjects.

217. What becomes of all the greenbacks and banknotes after they have served their few years of usefulness?

They go to the government. After about three years of service they are pretty well worn, and are taken to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, and placed in a machine containing immense knives, which chop the notes into fragments. Three officers of the Treasury Department are stationed to watch the destruction of the notes. No one else is allowed to be present except the officials and the men who run the machine. They are compelled to remain in the room until each separate note is destroyed. They must account afterwards to the Redemption Bureau for each note, and should one become lost or mislaid and afterwards find its way into circulation, the result would be the immediate discharge of the three who daily have in their custody millions of dollars of notes and bonds. The shreds are reduced to pulp, and then moulded into figures of birds and animals and sold as mementos to visitors. Often it will happen that one little object will be composed of what was once $1,000,000 worth of money.

218. What sort of mound has been raised to the memory of Kosciusko?

Near Cracow there is a mound of earth one hundred and fifty feet high, which was raised to the memory of the Polish patriot, Thaddeus Kosciusko, by the people, earth being brought for this purpose from every great battlefield of Europe on which Polish blood had been shed. From a fanciful resemblance in shape to this tumulus, the loftiest known mountain in Australia has received the name of Mount Kosciusko.

219. In what country are the forests without shade?

With few exceptions, the Australian trees are evergreens, and they show a peculiar reverted position of their leaves, which hang vertically, turning their edges instead of their sides toward the sun, and giving no shade. There are great shadeless forests of eucalypti and other trees.

220. Which are the tallest trees in the world?

The loftiest product of the vegetable kingdom is the eucalypti-trees, indigenous to Australia and Tasmania. They are sometimes called “gum-trees,” because they abound in resinous exudations. The _Eucalyptus gigantea_, called “Stringy bark,” sometimes attains a height of four hundred and eighty feet, and a diameter of over eighty feet; over one hundred feet higher than the highest specimen of the mammoth trees of California (_Sequoia gigantea_), now standing. These trees form a characteristic feature of the peculiar vegetation of those islands, having entire leathery leaves, of which one edge is directed toward the sky, so that both surfaces are equally exposed to the light. They also have the peculiarity of shedding their bark annually instead of their leaves.

221. Who was the most famous heroine of antiquity?

Zenobia, the queen of Palmyra. Her second husband, Septimius Odenathus, prince of Palmyra, was assassinated in A. D. 266, by his nephew Mæonius. Zenobia put the assassin to death, and assumed the vacant Palmyrene throne. For five years she governed Palmyra, Syria, and adjoining parts of the East with vigor and judgment, independent of the Roman power. She assumed the title of “Queen of the East,” and exacted from her subjects the same adoration that was paid to Persian monarchs. She maintained her power through the reigns of Gallienus and Claudius, but was finally defeated and captured by Aurelian, 273 A. D. Decked with splendid jewels, and almost fainting under the weight of gold chains, she adorned the triumph of the emperor, but was presented by him with large possessions near Tivoli, where she passed the rest of her life in comfort and even splendor. Her daughters married into noble Roman families, and her descendants were still living in the fifth century. She was exceedingly beautiful, dark in complexion, with large black, fiery eyes. She spoke Latin, Greek, Syriac, and Egyptian, and wrote for her own use an epitome of Oriental history. She was a passionate hunter, and thoroughly inured to fatigue, sometimes walking on foot at the head of her troops.

222. What is dynamite?

This explosive, of which we hear so much, looks very much like moist brown sugar. It is made of nitro-glycerine, a heavy, oily liquid which explodes with great violence, mixed with an absorbent to make it safer to handle. Nitro-glycerine is composed of nitric acid, sulphuric acid, and that clear, sweet, soothing liquid called glycerine. The absorbent material is a fine, white powder, composed of the remains of infusoria. This takes up two or three times its weight of the nitro-glycerine without becoming pasty; the ingredients are mixed in leaden vessels with wooden spoons to avoid friction. If fire is applied to this mass, it burns with a strong flame without any explosion; but the application of a full sudden blow causes it to explode with tremendous force.

223. Who was the “Great American Commoner”?

Thaddeus Stevens (1793–1868), of Pennsylvania, an American statesman, was so called on account of his opposition to slavery and secession. He was elected representative in Congress in 1848 and re-elected in 1850. He strongly opposed the Fugitive Slave Law and the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. He was again elected to Congress in 1858, and held his seat till his death.

224. What was the proper name of Columbus?

His Genoese name was Christoforo Colombo, which, according to the custom of the time, he Latinized into Columbus. When he went into Spain he adopted the Spanish form of it, Christobal Colon.

225. Who were the parents of Columbus?

Columbus was the eldest son of Domenico Colombo, a wool comber of Genoa, and Susanna Fontanarossa. They had two other sons, Bartolommeo (Bartholomew) and Giacomo (James, called in Spain Diego), and a daughter who married a butcher.

226. Who was the wife of Columbus?

In the convent of All Saints, Lisbon, where Columbus was accustomed to attend religious service, were certain ladies of rank, either resident as boarders, or in some religious capacity. With one of these, Doña Felipa Moñis de Perestrello, Columbus became acquainted. Her father, Bartolommeo Moñis de Perestrello, an Italian cavalier, lately deceased, had been one of the most distinguished navigators under Prince Henry, and had colonized and governed the island of Porto Santo. Columbus soon fell in love with the lady, and married her. By her he had one son, Diego, born about 1472. A few years afterward his wife died.

227. How many children had Columbus?

He had two sons. The eldest, Diego, was by his wife. His second son, Fernando, born in 1487, was the illegitimate child of Doña Beatriz Enriquez, a noble lady of Cordova, to whom Columbus became attached, while waiting for an opportunity to appear at court. This son became the historian of his father.

228. When did the line of Columbus become extinct?

Diego married Doña Maria de Toledo, daughter of the Duke of Alva. Their eldest son, Luis, exchanged the hereditary dignity of admiral for a pension and the title of Duke of Veragua, Marquis of Jamaica. Luis’s eldest daughter married her cousin Diego, and died without issue, the male line thus becoming extinct. Finally the property and titles became, in 1608, merged by marriage through the female line in a branch of the house of Bragança.

229. What were the last words of Columbus?

He died while repeating the following words in Latin: “Lord, into thy hands I commit my spirit.”

230. Where do the remains of Columbus now repose?

The body of Columbus was deposited in the convent of San Francisco, Valladolid, Spain. It was thence transported, 1513, to the Carthusian Monastery of Seville, where a handsome monument was erected by command of Ferdinand and Isabella, with the simple inscription, “To Castile and Leon, Colon gave a new world.” In 1536, his body and that of his son Diego were removed to the city of St. Domingo, Hayti, and interred in the principal chapel. But, in 1796, the remains, as was supposed, were taken to Havana with imposing ceremonies. The tomb in the cathedral is marked by a slab elaborately carved, on which is inscribed,--

“Restos e Imagen del grande Colon! Mil siglos durad guardades en la Urna Y en la remembranza de nuestra Nacion,”

which is Spanish for,

“Oh, rest thou, image of the great Colon, Thousand centuries remain, guarded in the urn, And in the remembrance of our nation.”

In 1877, however, while excavating near the cathedral in St. Domingo, the vault was opened and a leaden coffin found containing human bones, and inscribed in Spanish, “Illustrious and renowned man, Christopher Columbus.” It is therefore thought that the body carried to Havana was not that of the great admiral.

231. What was the last writing of Columbus?

It is contained in a final codicil to the will of 1498, made at Valladolid on the 19th of May, 1506. By this the old will is confirmed, the mayorazgo is bequeathed to his son Diego and his male heirs, failing these to Fernando, his second son, and failing these to the male heirs of his brother Bartholomew: only in case of the extinction of the male line, direct or collateral, is it to descend to the females of the family; and those into whose hands it may fall are never to diminish it, but always to increase and ennoble it by all means possible. The head of the family is to sign himself “The Admiral.” A tenth of the annual income is to be set aside yearly for distribution among the poor relations of the house. A chapel is founded and endowed for the saying of masses. Beatriz Enriquez is left to the care of the young admiral in most graceful terms. Among other legacies is one of “half a mark of silver to a Jew who used to live at the gate of Jewry, in Lisbon.” The codicil was written and signed with the admiral’s own hand. Next day (May 20, 1506) he died.

232. Which is the “Sucker State”? Why so named?

This is a cant name given to the State of Illinois, the inhabitants of which are very generally called _suckers_ throughout the West. The origin of this term is said to be as follows: The Western prairies are, in many places, full of the holes made by the “crawfish” (a fresh-water shell-fish, similar in form to the lobster), which descends to the water beneath. In early times, when travellers wended their way over these immense plains, they very prudently provided themselves with a long, hollow reed, and, when thirsty, thrust it into these natural artesians, and thus easily supplied their longings. The crawfish well generally contains pure water, and the manner in which the traveller drew forth the refreshing element gave him the name of “sucker.”

233. What was the “Bug” Bible?

What is known as the “Bug” Bible was printed in 1551, and contained a prologue by Tyndall. Its name is derived from the peculiar rendering of the fifth verse of the ninety-first Psalm, which is made to read, “So that thou shalt not need to be afraid for any bugs by night.”

234. How is celluloid made?

A roll of paper is slowly unwound, and at the same time saturated with a mixture of five parts of sulphuric acid and two of nitric, which falls upon the paper in a fine spray. This changes the cellulose of the paper into fine pyroxyline (gun cotton). The excess of acid having been expelled by pressure, the paper is washed with plenty of water until all traces of acid have been removed; it is then reduced to pulp, and passes on to the bleaching trough. Most of the water having been got rid of by means of a strainer, the pulp is mixed with from twenty to forty per cent. of its weight of camphor, and the mixture thoroughly triturated under millstones. The necessary coloring matter having been added in the form of powder, a second mixture and grinding follow. The finely divided pulp is then spread out in thin layers on slabs, and from twenty to twenty-five of these layers are placed in a hydraulic press, separated from one another by sheets of thick blotting paper, and are subjected to a pressure of one hundred and fifty atmospheres until all traces of moisture have been got rid of. The plates thus obtained are broken up and soaked for twenty-four hours in alcohol. The matter is then passed between rollers heated to between one hundred and forty and one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit, whence it issues in the form of elastic sheets. Celluloid is made to imitate amber, tortoise-shell, coral, malachite, ebony, ivory, etc., and besides its employment in dentistry, is used to make mouthpieces for pipes and cigar-holders, handles for table-knives and umbrellas, combs, shirt-fronts and collars, and a number of fancy articles.

235. When is “Ground Hog Day”?

Candlemas day (Feb. 2). In Germany’s folklore there is a superstition that the badger, on that day, peeps out of his hole, and when he finds snow, walks abroad; but if he sees the sun shining, draws back into his hole. This latter action, so the legend goes, signifies that the winter weather is not over, the sun’s rays being too prematurely warm for the season. Doubtless the superstition concerning the ground hog in this country is derived from the above source.

236. Where are our Presidents buried?

Washington was buried at Mount Vernon, Va.; John Adams, at Quincy, Mass.; Jefferson, at Monticello, Va.; Madison, at Montpelier, Va.; Monroe, at Richmond, Va.; John Quincy Adams, at Quincy, Mass.; Jackson, at the Hermitage, near Nashville, Tenn.; Van Buren, at Kinderhook, N. Y.; Harrison, at North Bend, Ind.; Tyler, at Richmond, Va.; Polk, at Nashville, Tenn.; Taylor, at Washington, D. C.; Fillmore, at Buffalo, N. Y.; Pierce, at Concord, N. H.; Buchanan, at Lancaster, Pa.; Lincoln, at Springfield, Ill.; Johnson, at Greenville, Tenn.; Garfield, at Cleveland, Ohio; and Grant, at Riverside Park, New York City; Arthur, at Albany, N. Y.

237. Which is the “Modern Athens”?

This name is often given to Edinburgh, on account of its many noble literary institutions, the taste and culture of the people, the many distinguished men who have issued from it or resided in it, and the high character of its publications; and also on account of a marked resemblance to Athens in its topographical position and its general appearance.

The same epithet is applied to Boston, Mass., a city remarkable for the high intellectual character of its citizens, and for its many excellent literary, scientific, and educational institutions and publications.

238. What was the origin of the term “Old Harry”?

It has been suggested that this vulgar appellation for the devil comes from the Scandinavian _Hari_ or _Heira_, names of Odin, who came in time to be degraded from his rank of a god to that of a fiend or evil spirit.

According to Henley, the hirsute honors of the Satan of the ancient religious stage procured him the name _Old Hairy_, corrupted into Old Harry.

239. What was the origin of the terms “Whig” and “Tory”?

These designations of political parties in English, and more lately in American history, were originally applied as terms of reproach. There are three accounts for the origin of the term Whig.

1. That it is derived from _whig_, whey, which the Scottish Covenanters used to drink, and hence a name applied to them.

2. That it is a contraction of _whiggam_, a term used in Scotland in driving horses, or from _whiggamore_, a driver of horses. In 1648 a party of these people marched to Edinburgh to oppose the king and the Duke of Hamilton. “This,” says Burnet, “was called the Whiggamore’s inroad; and ever after all that opposed the court came in contempt to be called _whiggs_; and from Scotland the word was brought into England.”

3. That it is formed from the initials of the motto, “_We hope in God_,” the motto of the club from which the Whig party took its rise.

The term Tory is derived from an Irish term applied, says Roger North, to “the most despicable savages among the wild Irish”; and the name was first given to the followers of the Duke of York, in 1679, because he favored Irishmen.

Another account of its origin is that it is derived from _toree_, give me (sc. your money), a term used by the Irish robbers.

240. Who invented decimal fractions?