"Admiral Dahlgren was a man of science, of inventive genius, of professional skill; but beyond all these, he was a patriot. While climbing, at first with slow and toilsome but reliant steps, and, later on, with swifter, surer progress, that summit to which his genius urged him, he was often and again confronted by the clamor of discontent, the jealousies of his profession, and the various forms of opposition his rapid, upward course evoked; and until the present generation of actors in the great drama in which he played so conspicuous part shall have passed away, it will be difficult to gain an impartial opinion. Yet Death having arrested his ultimate conceptions while yet midway in his career, and set the final seal upon his actions, we are content to leave the verdict of a 'last appeal' to his beloved country and the hearts of a grateful people."
Two years later I attended another meeting of this Historical Society at the residence of Henry Strong, who built and owned the house on K Street now occupied by Mrs. Stephen B. Elkins, and for a time resided there. It was a brilliant assemblage and it deemed itself fortunate in having Moncure D. Conway, the distinguished historical writer and essayist, as the orator of the evening. He spoke upon the leaders of the Federal party during the formative period of our national government, and soon made it apparent that his sympathies were not with them. He was strongly denunciatory of the Federalists, going so far even as to brand some of them as traitors, and especially criticized Jay's Treaty with England in 1794 which was their pet creation. He spoke at some length of Oliver Wolcott, one of the most prominent Federalists of that day, entirely ignorant meanwhile of the fact that some members of the Tuckerman family, his descendants, were in the audience. At this time Mr. Conway was writing the life of Thomas Paine, which has since been published, and the morning after his lecture on the Federal party he called upon me to ascertain whether any unpublished information relating to Paine, which might aid him in his projected biography of the latter, was to be found in the private papers of James Monroe which were in my possession. During our conversation I ventured to remark to Mr. Conway that possibly he was not aware that the previous evening certain descendants of Oliver Wolcott were in his audience. He responded that he had no desire to give offense but that unfortunately he could not adapt history to suit the views of the descendants of early statesmen.
To use a terse expression of Hamlet, I have often heard that Paine was one of the unfortunates who were not treated by our government "according to their deserts." It is now conceded by students of our national history that no man rendered more effective service to the American Revolution than "Tom" Paine. His devotion to the cause and his conspicuous sacrifices in its behalf were repeatedly acknowledged by Washington, Franklin and all the lesser lights of the day. After independence had been secured, still imbued with the spirit of liberty, his pen and his presence were not wanting when required in behalf of the liberties of the French people. He was imprisoned with hundreds of others in the Luxembourg, where he languished for nearly eleven months in daily expectation of being hurried to the guillotine. Following the fall of Robespierre he was liberated through the kindly offices of James Monroe, who had succeeded Gouverneur Morris as our Minister to France, and was at once crowned with honors by the government in whose behalf he had suffered. During the term of his imprisonment, it was his belief that a single word from Washington would effect his release, and he had a right to expect it, but he waited in vain. He was wholly unconscious, meanwhile, that the mind of Washington had been poisoned against him by one high in public counsels, and while still in ignorance of this fact addressed him the well-known denunciatory letter which evoked such wide-spread criticism. Washington, however, was not to blame, for he had been deceived in the house of his friends; but of this Paine was entirely ignorant. Delaware Davis, a son of Colonel Samuel B. Davis of Delaware who rendered such distinguished service during the War of 1812, told me a few years ago that his father was present at a dinner where Paine was asked what he thought of Washington. Doubtless in a spirit of acrimony he uttered the following lines:
Take from the rock the rough and rudest stone,
It needs no sculptor, it is Washington;
But if you chisel, let the strokes be rude,
And on his bosom write ingratitude.
There is probably no period of our national history when party rivalries were so intense and the expression of political animosities were more bitter than they were a century ago between the disciples of Jefferson and Hamilton. Epithets in popular discourse were openly hurled at political antagonists that decent men would not tolerate to-day, and the public press gave expression to charges and insinuations against honorable partisans such as none but the very yellowest and most debauched journals would now deem it expedient to print. As a single illustration, I have in my possession what is called "An infallible remedy to make a true Federalist." It is without date and was given to me by a descendant of Thomas Jefferson who knew nothing of its origin except that it was a Boston production. It speaks for itself, and is as follows:—
Take the head of an old hypocrite, one ounce of Nero's conspiracy, two ounces of the hatred of truth, five scruples of liars' tongues, twenty-five drops of the spirit of Oliver Cromwell, fifteen drops of the spirit of contentment. Put them in the mortar of self-righteousness and pound them with the pestle of malice and sift them through the skin of a Doctor of Divinity and put the compound into the vessel of rebellion and steep it over the fire of Sedition twenty-four hours, and then strain it in the rag of high treason. After which put it in the bottle of British influence and cork it with the disposition of Toryism, and let it settle until the general court rises, and it will then be fit for use. This composition has never been known to fail, but if by reason of robust constitution it should fail, add the anxiety of the stamp act, and sweeten with a Provisional Army.
The above articles may be had of the following gentlemen who are appointed wholesale venders of British Agents in America.
F. Target.
The last days of the Grant administration were filled with forebodings and excitement. I shall always remember, when the news reached Washington that Rutherford B. Hayes had been nominated by the Republican party, the eager inquiries: "Who is Hayes?" It was then I heard for the first time an expression which constantly occurs nowadays—"A dark horse." Samuel J. Tilden, as is well known, was the standard bearer of the Democracy. The fight was long and bitter, as almost up to the day of the inauguration the question as to which candidate was successful was a matter of doubt. The Electoral Commission, the compromise agreed upon by both parties, was composed of the same number of Republicans and Democrats with Justice Joseph P. Bradley of the Supreme Court as the fifteenth member, chosen on account of his neutral position. It decided that the Republican nominee was entitled to the electoral votes of Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina, and the Electoral College accordingly awarded the Presidency to Mr. Hayes by a vote of 186 to 185.
The Tilden campaign was engineered by Manton Marble, an able man and the editor of the New York World. I had known Mr. Tilden when he was a great adherent of Martin Van Buren. He was a small, insignificant looking man whose whole life was given up to politics. As I remember him in general, he was expounding upon his favorite subject regardless of "time and tide." His father had been affiliated with the celebrated "Albany Regency," and the son, inheriting his views, became one of the ablest as well as shrewdest political leaders that the Democratic party in New York has ever known. As a lawyer his great ability was universally recognized, and yet his last will was successfully contested, although it had been drawn up by him with almost infinite care and with the most scrupulous regard for details and engrossed with his own hand.