JOHN HAY. THE POETIC TRUMPET: .
THE RHETORIC OF “THE STATESMAN OF THE
GOLDEN RULE"

Thesis for the Degree of Ph. D.
MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
James F. Huffman
19656

 

LIBRA R 3'
Michigan Start

University

 
 
   

This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

JOHN HAY, THE POETIC TRUMPET:
THE RHETOHIC OF "THE STATESMAN OF THE
GOLDEN RULE"

presented by
JAMES F.‘ HUFFMAN

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

M degree in

Speech

   

\ Major professor

[hue August 15, 1966

 

0-169

ROOM USE ONLY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE

JOHN HAY, THE POETIC TRUMPET:
THE RHETORIC OF "THE STATESMAN OF THE
GOLDEN RULE"
by

Air
James F>‘)Huffm an

A THESIS
Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of 3
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Speech

1966

 

THE

This study
as aSpeaker, be
and regional gro
When he Spoke K
England and as 5

Although J
speaking was Sig
the age in which 1
opinion in Alrieri
equally proficien
sic, and epideict
ity of the man h
Gilded Age as N
incorporated in h
was quick to a

when he halt the 1]
“Don.

ABS TRAC T

JOHN HAY, THE POETIC TRUMPET:
THE RHETORIC OF ”THE STATESMAN or THE
GOLDEN RULE"
by

James FiO‘l-qufm an

This study presents an analysis of the development of John Hay
as a speaker, beginning with the early period of his speaking to local
and regional groups and concluding with a description of his rhetoric
when he spoke to national and international groups as Ambassador to
England and as Secretary of State,

Although John Hay is better known as a writer and a diplomat, his
speaking was significant in that he helped to articulate the thoughts of
the age in which he lived and contributed to the shaping of the climate of
opinion in America. Hay was extremely versatile in his speaking and
equally proficient with the three kinds of rhetoric: deliberative, foren—
sic, and epideictic. His versatility as a speaker reflected the versatil—
ity of the man himself —— a personality that had been shaped by the
Gilded Age as revealed in the habitual style and thought processes
incorporated in his speaking. Yet Hay was a poet by nature; and though
he was quick to adapt to his environment, he was also a nonconformist
when he felt the inherent principles of democracy were being trampled
upon.

This study presents four case studies of Hay's Speaking in the
early period. While not as well known as the speeches of the later
period, they reveal the growth of Hay's rhetoric and mirror the influ—
ences of the age that were to shape his attitudes in politics and diplo—
macy. Originally almost a "radical for his day, " with a deep sympathy
for the emerging republican movements in Europe, Hay became in his

1

 

 

later speaking
of the seventie:
the nineteenth r
breakdown of 1:
inherited the re
America had g1

Hay, as .~'
Stlmbolized the
Speaking during
which were to s
Wentieth Cent]
“P in his speed
our rule of com
the Golden Rule

Hal's abi
public Speaking
1““ Repuhlicai
office. Hay‘s St
prosperity Whic
Hay hintself did
Republican part;

The impei
tions with Great
and his stmng 8
While Amhassad
(increase3 then

this Dosim
011ml by ties of
”there is a:
ofpar

h

'1

 

2
later speaking and writing, the foremost apologist of the new capitalism

of the seventies and eighties. The labor trouble of the last decades of

the nineteenth century convinced him that society was threatened with a
breakdown of law and order and that the new aristocracy of wealth had

inherited the responsibility of conserving those principles through which
America had grown powerful.

Hay, as America's first Secretary of State of the new century,
symbolized the country's arrival as a world power. The study of his
speaking during the later period of his career reveals the principles
which were to shape the relations of this country with others in the
Twentieth Century. Hay's approach to foreign policy was best summed
up in his Speech on "American Diplomacy”: "The briefest expression of
our rule of conduct, " he stated, "is, perhaps, the Monroe Doctrine and

the Golden Rule. With this simple chart we can hardly go far wrong."

Hay's ability as a phrase maker was reflected in much of his
public Speaking, and he contributed substantially to the technique that
later Republicans were to use so effectively during their long tenure in
office. Hay's Speaking symbolized the patriotic power and eXpanding
prosperity which inSpired the new rulers of America and which John
Hay himself did so much to make an integral part of the traditions of the
Republican party.

The imperative necessity of establishing close and cordial rela~
tions with Great Britain became the sheet anchor of Hay's foreign policy;
and his strong sympathy for England was reflected in a political speech,
While Ambassador, calling on the peoples of Great Britain and America
to increase their cooperation in world affairs. Hay was never deterred
from this position; and he believed that, because the two countries were
bound by ties of origin, language, and similar interest, it was evident
”that there is a sanction like that of religion which binds us to a sort

0f partnership in the beneficent work of the world."

 

 

 

To
Martha A. Huffman
Kenneth G. HanCe
and

My Parents

 

 

 

Copyright by
JAMES F. HUFFMAN

1967

ACIOTOW LE D1

INTRODUCTIC

CHAPTER

I. THE Fl

Farm
The
Law
The

H- A BRIE
1865-13

The '
Back
A Br.
The 1
Assig
Diplo
Journ

111- HAY's A
FROM 1.

 

The c
Grant
The c
Marri
The B
N THE EAT

Hay as

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
\

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .
INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER

I. THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF JOHN HAY .

Family Heritage and Early Life.
The First Years of Education. . .
Law and Political Apprenticeship.
The Lincoln Years. . . . . . . . .
II. A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF JOHN HAY'S CAREER,
1865—1875.....................
The Young Diplomat.
Back to Washington . . . .
ABrief Interlude at Home. . . . . . . . . .
The Emerging Political Philosophy of Hay .
Assignment in Vienna. . . . . . . . .....
Diplomatic Duty in Spain . . . . . . . . . . .
Journalism, Authorship, and the Lyceum .....
III. HAY’S AUDIENCES -— THE CLIMATE OF OPINION
FROM187OT01885.................
The Gilded Age ........ .
Grantism.............. .....
The Cincinnati Convention.

Marriage and Hay's Emerging Economic Philosophy.

The Bread-winners . . .
Politics and Reform .
IV. THE EARLY ERIOD OF THE SPEECHMAKING OF
JOHNHAY

HayasaSpeaker

A Rhetorical Analysis of Four Representative

Speeches of the Early Period of Hay's Career . . . .
The Method of Selection . . . . . . . . . .....
The Method of Analysis .

CaseStudies.....................

The Lectures: "The Progress of Democracyuin

EurOpe” and “The Heroic Age in Washington . . . .

‘ The Setting and Occasion. . . . . . . . . . . .

102

103
107
109
111
116
133

142

155
156
157
159

159
159

Chapter

O)HHmU)HF-T=' (‘ r—c.1
C‘C‘NLA

51.:

f?

V- THE CL
0F Jom

 

John

Tea

The}

W THE LA'
JOHN Hi

Amba:
secret
llThe 1
The
The
Ith
InVl
111w

BIBUOGRAPI

 

 

 

Chapter

The Arrangement of "The Progress of
Democracy in EuropeH .............
The Arrangement of' 'The Heroic Age in
Washington” .............

Invention (Logical Proof). . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Invention (Emotional Proof) ..........
Invention (Ethical Proof) ......
The Style of the Speech ..............
The Response to the Lectures ...........
Summary of the Analysis ..............

"The Pioneers of Ohio" ................
The Setting and the Occasion .............
The Arrangement of the Speech ..........
Summary of the Analysis. . . . ..........
”The Balance Sheet of the Two Parties"

The Setting and Occasion. . ..........
The Arrangement of the Speech ...... . . . .
Invention (Logical Proof) ............ . .
Invention (Emotional Proof) ............
Invention (Ethical Proof) ..............
The Style of the Speech ...........
Summary of the Analysis .........

V. THE CLIMATE OF OPINION AND A BRIEF ACCOUNT
OF JOHN HAY'S CAREER FROM 1885 TO 1905 .....

John Hay and Henry Adams .
Abraham Lincoln: A History
The Years of Transition

The Platform of Anarchy .

............

VI THE LATER PERIOD OF THE SPEECHMAKING OF
JOHN HAY . . . .

Ambassador to England

Secretary of State . .....

"The Carnegie Hall Address”
The Setting and Occasion . .......
The Arrangement of the Speech . . . .
Invention (Logical Proof). . ..........
Invention (Emotional Proof) . .
Invention (Ethical Proof).
The Style of the Speech. .
Summary of the Analysis. .

VII. CONCLUSIONS .

.....

BIBLIOGRAPHY .

 

Page

240

241
250
259
279

302

304
313
332
332
336
346
348
349
350
350

352

358

 

 

I wish to
Dr. Kenneth G

and encouragii

Thanks a
Dr. Kenneth G.
Ostrander and

In additic
sonnet for the 1
research; (1)
Hathaway Was ‘
0f Hay's earlie:
Detroit Public
College Librar:
(Mrs. Olga Pact
(6) The Illinois
Library (The B.
””8in 0t Michj
(10) Western Re

For aSSis1
Wish to thank m‘
Carter, Mrs, DC
derson and Staff
typed the maHUSl
Mr. Robert E. T

To my Wifr

graliiUde fol‘ the:

 

 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express to my adviser at Michigan State University,
Dr. Kenneth G. Hance, sincere gratitude for his assistance in guiding

and encouraging me in the development of the writing of the dissertation.

Thanks are also extended to the members of my doctoral Committee:
Dr. Kenneth G. Hance (Chairman), Dr. Frederick Alexander, Dr. Gilman
Ostrander and Dr. David Ralph.

In addition, I am grateful to the following libraries and their per-
sonnel for the courteous and efficient assistance given in aiding my
research: (1) The Brown University Library —— (Mrs. Christine D.
Hathaway was very helpful in locating and supplying rare galley proofs
of Hay's earlier speeches); (2) Burton Historical Collection of the
Detroit Public Library; (3) The Cleveland Public Library; (4) Flint
College Library (Mott Memorial); (5) General Motors Institute Library
(Mrs. Olga Pacek was especially helpful in arranging interlibrary loans);
(6) The Illinois State Historical Society Library; (7) Yale University
Library (The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library); (8) Uni—
versity of Michigan Library; (9) Michigan State University Library; and
(10) Western Reserve Historical Society Library.

For assistance in various matters regarding the dissertation, I
wish to thank my friends at General Motors Institute, including Dr. Robert
Carter, Mrs. Dolores Davidson, Dr. Charles 0. Harris, Mrs. Helen Hen-
derson and staff, Miss Frieda Hollowell, Mrs. Johann Maynard (who
typed the manuscript), Professor Ronald Smith, Mr. Robert P. Stapp and
Mr. Robert E. Tuttle (Chairman, Department of Humanities).

To my wife, Martha, and children —— David and Ann, I express my

gratitude for their understanding and patience.

iii)"; \

 

 

The pur
to consider hi
of the era in or
only was influi
through his Sp
Public life is b

success as a s

John Ha)
“'8 transition
early Speaking
for the emergi]
industrialiZed ;
Political and e C
more refleCte d
order Could be
Work of govern]

AS a State
cordial relation
was reflected in
cessful in helpii
nations of the WI
1 Wk of John
Prosperity Whic}
tributed to the st
la in mean

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this work is to study John Hay as a Speaker and
to consider his speeches against the backdrop of the climate of opinion
of the era in which he lived, as well as to inquire to what extent Hay not
only was influenced by the events of his time but helped to shape them
through his speaking. It is a premise of this study that Hay’s career in
public life is best presented through his speaking and that much of his

success as a statesman was due to his speaking.

John Hay, through both his deeds and words, symbolized Ameri—
ca's transition from the Civil War into the Twentieth Century. His
early speaking reflected his poetic inclinations and also his sympathy
for the emerging republican movements in Europe. As America became
industrialized and dominated by the new aristocracy of wealth, Hay‘s
political and economic philosophy also changed. His speaking more and
more reflected his Hamiltonian principles through which he felt law and
order could be best preserved while still insuring a democratic frame—

work of government.

As a statesman, his primary concern was to establish close and
cordial relations with Great Britain. His strong sympathy for England
was reflected in his Speeches; and through his speaking, Hay was suc-
cessful in helping to launch America into her new role among the
nations of the world. This study advances the hypothesis that the
rhetoric of John Hay symbolized the patriotic power and expanding
prosperity which inspired the new rulers of America but, in turn, con—
tributed to the shaping of a philosophy of power which extends to this

day in American foreign relations.

While no particular limitations have been placed on this study,
the career of Hay lends itself to an examination of his speaking in
terms of two distinct periods —— the early period of his fame as a
Writer and as secretary of Lincoln which stimulated a demand for his

appearance on the lecture circuit, and the later period of his career,

V

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hay delivered

specimens of
processes an
climate of op'
This stu
of research;
against the be
his speeches
selected speec
Hay's career
As his b]
avenues of app:
words. Althou;
valuable sourm
Extracts from
available are tl
Thayer and Ty]
vided by a stud;
and other assoc
early period of
the "Leetures"
along with the '
later period of
inwarnpniet for

Chapter 0
that shaped him
lincoln during t
Hay and follows
assignments ab
Philosophy are s
Tiling climate 1

Shape the prevai

 

 

 

when Hay spoke to national and international audiences as Ambassador
and finally as Secretary of State. It is not the purpose of this study to
give in detailed chronological order a catalogue of all the speeches that
Hay delivered in this country or abroad, but rather to examine selected
specimens of speeches as they reveal the crystallization of his thought
processes and Hay’s manner of adapting to the constantly changing

climate of opinion.

This study uses the combined historical and rhetorical methods
of research; and as previously mentioned, Hay's Speaking is studied
against the backdrop of history and the climate of opinion. In addition,
his speeches are subjected to a general rhetorical analysis; four
selected speeches of the early period and one of the later period of

Hay‘s career are given a detailed analysis.

As his biographers have earlier discovered, one of the best
avenues of approach in the study of the man Hay is through his own
words. Although not all of his letters have been preserved, an extremely
valuable source is the three-volume set of "Letters of John Hay and
Extracts from Diary" which were privately printed by his wife. Also
available are the excellent biographies of Hay's life by William Roscoe
Thayer and Tyler Dennett; an additional understanding of Hay is pro-
vided by a study of the biographies and autobiographies of Henry Adams
and other associates. Although printed texts of Hay's speaking in the
early period of his career are not readily available, galley proofs of
the "Lectures" were discovered in the archives at Brown University

along with the "Balance Sheet of the Two Parties.’

l

The Speeches of the
later period of Hay's career are, for the most part, readily available

in pamphlet form or in the Addresses of John Hay.

Chapter One considers the man Hay by describing the influences
that shaped him; primarily family, education, and his association with
Lincoln during the war years. Chapter Two continues the narrative of
Hay and follows his career after the Civil War to various diplomatic
assignments abroad. In Chapter Three, Hay‘s economic and political
philosophy are studied in terms of how they were shaped by the pre—
vailing climate of opinion and how Hay, in turn, helped to articulate and

shape the prevailing mood of his era. Chapter Four describes the early

vi

 

  

period of the
of four select
ters ranging
consider the

 
   
  

impact on the

audiences. A

 
 

together with

  

 

 

 

period of the Speechmaking of John Hay and contains rhetorical analysis
of four selected Speeches which reflect the evolution of his rhetoric mat-
ters ranging from invention to style. The final chapters of the study
consider the changing historical forces in America and the resultant
impact on the Speaking of Hay as he faced national and international
audiences. A general rhetorical analysis of Hay's Speaking is furnished,

together with a detailed examination of one selected speech.

 

 

 

 

of the speaker
the speaker i
many facets

as a mature

birth and termi
Abraham Linc<

of Hay's careei

On an ear
North Atlantic (
Secretary of Sta
would conclude

 

 

 

CHAPTER I

THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF JOHN HAY

One of the elements basic to any rhetorical study is a consideration
of the Speaker, himself, and a clear perception of the development of
the speaker into a mature man. It is also important to examine the
many facets that combine together to give the speaker his uniqueness
as a mature man. Only then can we approach the matter of evaluation
of him as a speaker. Chapter I is intended to describe the first phase of
the development to intellectual maturity of John Hay, beginning with his
birth and terminating with his service as private secretary to President
Abraham Lincoln. Subsequent chapters will deal with the later phases

of Hay's career and development.

Family Heritage and Early Life

 

On an early fall day in 1898, two ships passed each other in the
North Atlantic Ocean.1 The eastbound steamer was taking the outgoing
Secretary of State, William R. Day, to a peace conference in Paris that
would conclude a treaty between the United States and Spain, thus
bringing to official termination the Spanish—American War. The west—
bound vessel had on its passenger list the name John Hay, returning
from his postas the American Ambassador to England to assume Day‘s
place at the helm of the State Department. There was something sym-
bolic in this crossing of watery paths. It marked a basic change in
American foreign policy, a change culminating out of many critical
events of that year. Prior to 1898 the United States had, in the main,
remained in the backwater of the mainstream of international politics.

It had rigidly maintained its complete independence of action through

 

1The commentaryon this event is drawn from Norman A. Graebner,

An Uncertain Tradition (New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1961), p. 22.

1

 

 

 

the avoidance

nation lay in tl
with the ultirm

John Hay
self swept alor

 

the importance
spoke of the c

with any chanc

John Mi
twentieth cen
third child of
of Hay's biogr
heirloom to wh:

affinities. "4

It is cert:
part of the eigh
army under the
the imcertain m
ular Hay who er
1750.5 Certain
settled at York,
County, Virgini
andoah Valley.
tind possibly e

 
  
  
   
   
   

1Address
(New York: Th

2John Hay
ftom college, d
llllgllished, for h

 

the avoidance of international commitments. The future path of the
nation lay in the direction of increasing involvement in world affairs

with the ultimate abandonment of its onetime isolationism.

John Hay, the first Secretary of State in this new era, finding him—
self swept along by the tide of great events and with a strong sense of
the importance of sustaining America's influence in international affairs,
spoke of the cosmic tendency. "No man, no party," he said, ”can fight

with any chance of final success against a cosmic tendency.H

John Milton Hay,2 the nation's first Secretary of State in the
twentieth century, was born in Salem, Indiana, on October 8, 1838, the
third child of Dr. Charles and Helen Hay.3 William Roscoe Thayer, one
of Hay's biographers, states that Hay was indeed an American but "an
heirloom to which theorists in heredity might attribute his cosmOpolitan

affinities. "4

 

It is certain that the Hays had their roots in Scotland. In the early
part of the eighteenth century, one of them enlisted in the Elector's
army under the Elector Palatine. At this point we have to grope through
the uncertain mists of family history, but it may have been this partic—
ular Hay who emigrated over from the Palatinate to Pennsylvania about
1750.5 Certain it is, however, that of his four sons, John, the eldest,
settled at York, Pennsylvania. Another son, Adam, went on to Berkeley
County, Virginia, and established a home in the lower end of the Shen—
andoah Valley. It is assumed that Adam did his share of Indian fighting

and possibly enlisted in the Continental Army under George Washington.

 

1Addresses of John Hay: "The Press and Modern Progress”
(New York: The Century Co., 1906), p. 250.

2John Hay carried the middle name, Milton, until he was graduated
from college, dropping it, so it is alleged, because it seemed too dis-
tinguished, for he who desired to be a poet.

 

3Biographical material in this chapter is drawn chiefly from:
William Roscoe Thayer, The Life and Letters of John Hay (Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Co., 1929); and Tyler Dennett, John Hay, From Poetry
to Politics (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1934).

Thayer, The Life and Letters of John Hay, I, p. 3.
Ibid.

 

 

 

His son John,
father, Adam
teen. Althoug
to be more of
pioneer adven
with enough
was here that
John Milton H
build, and alto
strength of wil
The gr
land was cheap
capital value,
Charles, born i
the father of Jo

With trad
ness and prairil
lived in commui
them, the family
approach to eco:
outside Lexingtc
manufacturer a
utilized in these
the home. It wa
more modem to
Milton Hay, wro

 

 

 

3
His son John, the grandfather of John Milton Hay, parted with his
father, Adam Hay, and left Virginia, about 1792, at the age of eigh-

teen. Although the parting was friendly, the departure of John seemed
to be more of an escape from stern discipline rather than a desire for
pioneer adventure. Nevertheless, the father supplied the young man
with enough capital to buy land just outside of Lexington, Kentucky. It
was here that he became a neighbor of Henry Clay. In later years
John Milton Hay described his grandfather as a "man of Herculean
build, and altogether quiet and peaceable in disposition, of great

strength of will and force of character."

The grandfather married Jemima Coulter; and in an era when
land was cheap and the number of progendy was reckoned in terms of
capital value, they had fourteen children. Of the fourteen children,
Charles, born in 1801, was the oldest to survive and destined to become
the father of John Milton Hay.

With traditions linked closely to village life, rather than wilder-
ness and prairie, the Hays had little desire for isolation and always
lived in communities. Buying and selling farms, but never cultivating
them, the family reflected a Hamiltonian, rather than a Jeffersonian,
approach to economics. The grandfather operated in Walnut Hill, just
outside Lexington, a small cotton mill; and on a small scale became a
manufacturer and a merchant. The labor of the growing sons was
utilized in these enterprises while the daughters were employed within
the home. It was a primitive economic unit and was contrasted with
more modern forms of economic organization when the grandson, John

Milton Hay, wrote The Bread—Winners.

The Hays enjOyed only a modest prosperity in Kentucky. Central
Kentucky remained economically stagnant for several decades following
the close of the War of 1812. Perhaps chief among the retarding factors
was slavery. Whatever the cause, the elder Hay felt compelled to cross

the Ohio River into Illinois. The year was 1830, and among those

 

1Dennett, John Hay, From Poetry to Politics, p. 2, quoting John

Milton Hay, Dr. Charles Ha . Privately printed by John Hay at the DeVinne
Press in 1885.

 

 

moving into t
Abraham Lin<
that their attit
and not in the
‘ elder Hay sett
Abraham Linc
t having lived "1

During t
remarkable int

i at Transylvani
Holley, the fut

career in medi

From a \
although
OPPOrtuni
were Far.
his Elem;
hardly be
Upon then
day and r
entered a
same eaS“
these lang
he neVeI‘ 1
IS greate
Infinner th
3 Simple C
ment at he

ma at the a E

lith

 

 

moving into the virgin territory of the Illinois was the family of
Abraham Lincoln. Though the Hays detested slavery, Dennett states

that their attitude toward the slavery question developed as Lincoln's

and not in the same manner as the more extreme abolitionists. The
elder Hay settled down in Springfield, and as the years passed he and
Abraham Lincoln became friends. Old John Hay died May 20, 1865,

having lived "to watch Lincoln's funeral pass his windows.H

During the Kentucky years, the son Charles had benefited from a
remarkable intellectual movement in the bluegrass region. As a student
at Transylvania University, then headed by the brilliant Dr. Horace
Holley, the future father of John Milton Hay prepared himself for a

career in medicine. In later years, the son wrote of his father:

From a very early age he had been a devoted student,
although in the West, at the beginning of this century, the
opportunities for instruction and even for extensive reading
were rare. The ease and rapidity with which he mastered
his elementary text—books surprised his teachers, who could
hardly be convinced that he was not playing a practical joke
upon them, when they saw a child learning his alphabet one
day and reading with facility a fortnight later. He went
rapidly through the classes of the common schools, and then
entered a classical school at Lexington, where he made the
same easy progress in Latin and Greek. His knowledge of
these languages was remarkable for the time and place, and
he never lost it during his life. In later years it was one of
his greatest pleasures to teach his own children, in such a
manner that their reading of Homer and Virgil, which was

a simple drudgery at school, became an intellectual enjoy-
ment at home.

Thus was established a professional tradition in the Hay family
with the graduation of Charles Hay from the Medical School of Transyl-
vania at the age of twenty—eight. Three other brothers followed Charles
into the professions, two becoming physicians and one a lawyer. The
tradition was later strengthened with the marriage of Dr. Charles Hay
to Helen Leonard, the daughter of a Baptist minister. Tyler Dennett,
Hay's biographer, states that though John Milton Hay barely qualified

 

llfliu p. 3.
2Dr. Charles Hay, pp. 6-7.

 

 

 

for a professi
nevertheless
enced by this

Dr. Hay
years before .
Lexington to c
springtime of
approximately
tle down and p
than a decade.
his adopted be
however, beca
Citizens in the
father] whichj
letter S Which at

"There a
Nathaniel
cut and D
r eSPeCtat
“t Doct
althoughk
Why he (it
Stiff‘neck
prellldice.
North Ca:
faVOrite 01
perhaps n

ere is 1
firstgatur
° causet‘

1
Dennett. ;
2n g
1d» p. 5

 

for a profession by passing the bar examinations some years later,
nevertheless his inclinations and associations through life were influ—

enced by this professional tradition. 1

Dr. Hay was like his father in his hatred for slavery, and two
years before his father migrated to Illinois the young physician left
Lexington to cross over the Ohio River into southern Indiana. In the
springtime of the year 1829, he arrived at Salem, Indiana, a village of
approximately 800 inhabitants. It was here that Dr. Hay decided to set—
tle down and practice his profession. He would remain there for more
than a decade. Interms of achieving any degree of material success in
his adopted hometown of Salem, Dr. Hay was a failure. He became,
however, because of his background and education, one of the leading
citizens in the small community. The qualities of John Milton Hay's
father, which in turn were to be reflected by his son, are revealed in

letters which are partially quoted by Dennett:

"There are two physicians here," he wrote to his brother
Nathaniel in September, 1829, "Dr. Bradley from Connecti-
cut and Doct Newland from North Carolina. They are both
respectable in professional acquirements and character,
but Doct Bradley gets not much more practice than I do
althoughhe has been here for ten years, and the only reason
why he does not get more is because he is yankee and is
stiff-necked, that is, does not bow often enough. Sectional
prejudices I find run very high here and as the yankees and
North Carolinians have their favorite I will have to be the
favorite of the Kentuckians who are quite numerous although
perhaps not so numerous as the North Carolinians.

There is to be a meeting of the citizens held here on the
first Saturday in October to endeavorto bring about measures
to cause the expulsion of the free negroes from the state.

In the same letter he added that he had access to two or
three good libraries while he was waiting for his practice
to grow.

 

lDennett, John Hay, p. 4.
21bid., p. 5.

 

 

The fat
reputation as
competent:

The foll

courthov

and Lad
cheered
him was
ton, Jefl
These cr
designed
sonians”
correcte
hesitatec
explainet

BY a cur
J0“ Hay Farr
friends, and it
With Other infl

hiredity of Job

Farnham
Leomrds Were
Born in wau
Emerson.2 The
had CIOSe tie s w
must haVe Offer
enjoy, Famhan
and scholar1y ta
high level of m
the Fal‘nham fa
Farnhnms at the

 

 

 

6

The father of the future John Milton Hay also enjoyed a local
reputation as a public speaker, an area in which his son was to become
competent:

The following year he was the Fourth of July orator at the

courthouse before "a very crowded audience of gentlemen

and Ladies" and was happy to find his sentiments cordially

cheered by the company. The only objection made known to

him was that the oration contained nothing about ”Washing-

ton, Jefferson and the 'hero of two wars‘ (alias Jackson).”

These critisms did not annoy the doctor, for he had expressly

designed not to mention these men. Onlyafew ”ultra Jack-

sonians" complained. He had been requested to furnish a

corrected copy of the speech to the paper in Charleston but

hesitated. "I am not in favor of too much puffing," he

explained. John Milton Hay, also, was like that.

By a curious coincidence, the leading lawyer of Salem was named
John Hay Farnham. The young lawyer and Dr. Hay became congenial
friends, and it was the result of this association that was to combine
with other influences in the shaping of the social as well as physical

heredity of John Milton Hay.

Farnham had married Evelyn Maria Leonard. Both Farnhams and
Leonards were purest New England stock, by way of Massachusetts.
Born in Newburyport, Farnham was a distant cousin of Ralph Waldo
Emerson. The Leonards were from Middleboro and, like the Farnhams,
had close ties with the more settled East.3 The Farnham home in Salem
must have offered just the kind of intellectual circle that Dr. Hay would
enjoy. Farnham, like Hay, was a Clay Whig and a man of refinement
and scholarly tastes. Mrs. Farnham, educated in the East, reflected a
high level of literary achievement. It was through his friendship with
the Farnham family that Dr. Hay met his future wife. Living with the
Farnhams at that time was Helen Leonard, a Sister of Mrs. Farnham,
two years younger than Dr. Charles Hay, and to whom She became
engaged in a Short period of time. They were married, October 12,

1831. The Hays had six children, all except the youngest were born in

 

1Ibid., pp. 5-6.
Ibid.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 4-5.

 

 

 

 

 

Salem, Indian
1838.
Mrs. He
the best
equalled
Dennett,
bloodline left 1
David A1
had to a
have obs
years be
Hay owe.
Leonard.
a strain
sober co
The earl;
With that of the
University and
aid, ordained t.

At a dinm
Hay gaVe graph

when I 104
“’38 half 1

 

 

 

7
Salem, Indiana. John, the future Secretary of State, was born October 8,

1838.

Mrs. Hay was remembered as "a strong-minded woman in
the best sense of the term. Her mental endowments were
equalled only by her modesty and domestic qualities. "

Dennett, Hay's biographer, states that the legacy of the maternal

bloodline left its stamp on John Milton Hay:

David Augustus Leonard, the other grandfather of John Hay,
had to a marked degree the mercurial qualities of which we
have observed traces in Dr. Hay. Although he died nineteen
years before the grandson was born, it is evident that John
Hay owed much both to him and to his wife, Polly Peirce
Leonard. From his maternal grandfather John Hay received
a strain of liberalism which was always at war with the
sober conservatism of the Hay family.

The early career of John Hay was also to bear a marked similarity

with that of the grandfather Leonard. Both were graduated from Brown

University and both were poets of their respective classes. David Leon-

ard, ordained to the Baptist ministry after graduation, was also a man

of high repute among his contemporaries for learning and eloquence.3

The grandson was to add to the lustre of this reputation in later years.

At a dinner of the Ohio Society of New York, on January 17, 1903,

Hay gave graphic description to the contrasts in his bloodline:

When I look to the springs from which my blood descends,
the first ancestors I ever heard of were a Scotchman, who
was half English, and a German woman, who was half
French.. Of my immediate progenitors, my mother was from
New England and my father was from the South. In this
bewilderment of origin and experience, I can only put on an
aSpect of deep humility in any gathering of favorite sons,

and confess that I am nothing but an American.

 

1Quoted from a letter of Dr. A. W. King in Lorenzo Sears, John

 

Hay, Author and Statesman (New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1914),

 

p.5

2Dennett, John Hay, pp. 7-8.
3Sears, John Hay, p. 4.
4Addresses of John Hay, p. 220.

 

 

for the Hay 1
Dr. Hay had
formed with
paper of app]
enterprise w;
1 land speculat
’ demand in
l epidemic at
ll services tot
‘ With a
vated by rest
decided to m
his father
Dr. Hay took
was a frontie
eighty miles
Moines sugger
center. While
family improx
At War:

surroundings
. all such settle

} last century.
1 emigration frr
Plains and the
the territorie:
' flict. Many o
‘ settled in "ble
holding state vs

7 l

 

1Thayer
2Sears,
3%. r

 

 

 

8
The Salem years, as mentioned before, were not prosperous ones

for the Hay family. In 1834, in order to supplement the family finances,
Dr. Hay had ventured into the field of journalism. In a partnership

formed with Royal B. Child, Hay published the Salem Monitor, a news-
paper of approved Whig views to which he contributed articles.1 This

enterprise was not too successful, and neither were his attempts in
land speculation. His services as a physician were never too much in
demand in the pioneer settlement of Salem, except during a cholera
epidemic at which time he distinguished himself through his unstinting

services to the community.2

With a need to provide for a growing family and, perhaps, moti—
vated by restlessness common to Western settlers of the time, Dr. Hay
decided to move from Salem in search of better conditions. Because
his father and two brothers were doing well in Springfield, Illinois,
Dr. Hay took his family in 1841 to nearby Warsaw, Illinois. Although it
was a frontier settlement, its location on the Mississippi River about
eighty miles west of Springfield and Opposite the mouth of the Des
Moines suggested that it someday might become an important distributing
center. While promise was never fulfilled, the fortunes of the Hay

family improved.

At Warsaw the boy John, at three years of age, began a life in
surroundings that, in many ways, were comparable to a composite of
all such settlements on the upper Mississippi in the fifth decade of the
last century. The area surrounding Warsaw was in the mainstream of
emigration from the East and the border states to the distant Western
plains and the regions of the Pacific. Much of this emigration was to
the territories where slavery and freedom were to engage in grim con—
flict. Many of the settlers that passed through Warsaw eventually
settled in ”bleeding Kansas." In one sense, Illinois itself was a slave-

holding state with over 4, 000 negroes in bondage in the southern counties. 3

 

lThayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 5.
2Sears, John Hay, p. 4.
31bid., p. 7.

 

 

It was again:

antislavery p

In a sp
St. Louis, sin

imagery his 1

 

But ther
Of those who 5
Illinois. A no
Ol Lincoln. In

these early co

But they
figured I
the life i
wholesor
even attz
came ea
go back '
Western
obligatic

 

an

zAddres.

Nicolay
1890), pp. 68 -l

 

 

 

 

9
It was against this backdrop that the young John Hay was imbued in the
antislavery principles traditionally held by the Hay family.

In a speech delivered at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at
St. Louis, sixty years later, Hay described with somewhat romantic

imagery his early boyhood years on the banks of the great river:

The years of my boyhood were passed on the banks of the
Mississippi, and the great river was the scene of my early
dreams. The boys of my day led an amphibious life in and
near its waters in the summer time, and in the winter its
ice bridge, of incomparable beauty and purity, was our
favorite playground; while our imaginations were busy with
the glamour and charm of the distant cities of the South, with
their alluring French names and their legends of stirring
adventure and pictures of perpetual summer. It was a land
of faery, alien to us in all but a sense of common ownership
and patriotic pride. We built snow forts and called them
the Alamo; we sang rude songs of the canebrake and the
cornfield; and the happiest days of the year to us who dwelt
on the northern bluffs of the river were those that brought
us, in the loud puffing and whistling steamers of the olden
time, to the Mecca of our rural fancies, the bright and busy

metropolis of St. Louis.

But there was also a quality of melancholy bleakness in the lives
of those who shared in the isolation of those early settlements in Western
Illinois. A not so romantic picture is painted by Hay himself, in writing
of Lincoln. In disputing those who spoke of a "glorious existence" in
these early communities, Hay wrote:

But they see the past through a rosy mist of memory, trans-
figured by the eternal magic of youth. The sober fact is that
the life was a hard one, with few rational pleasures, few
wholesome appliances. The strong ones lived, and some
even attained great length of years; but to the many age
came early and was full of infirmity and pain. If we could
go back to what our forefathers endured in clearing the
Western wilderness, we could then better appreciate our

obligations to them.

 

libid.

2Addresses of John Hay, pp. 244—245.

3Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln (New York: The Century Co.,
1890). pp. 68-69.

 

 

 

,—

.____—__

The ye
John Hay, for

based on stor

Without
demanding th
tlers in the a:
probably did
public affairs
time, in fact,
glowing opti

To the

no mea
the elec

politici
These
0f Hay's boyh
new stimulus 1

Change was to
way.

The fact
Vitinity of War
he discussed a
lawyers. politi
local populace.
fillestions of th
«immunities ?
Could the natic
important, the

 

Roger I
SChuster, 1957
Dennett

3

Thayer,

 

10
The years of youth in Warsaw undoubtedly left their imprint on

John Hay, for in later years he was to become famous as an author
based on stories set in this particular locale.

Without question it was a raw country, full of potential but
demanding the utmost in energy and initiative to be exploited. The set—
tlers in the area, busy with the tasks of developing the new country,

probably did not have much time for books and even less concern for

public affairs. Roger Butterfield suggests that the whole country at the

time, in fact, was preoccupied with individual pursuits and possessed a
glowing optimism regarding the future:

To the 17 million Americans of the 1840's politics was by

no means all~important. Only a small number took seriously
the elections and the debates in Congress. Nor did they
worry about such things as war. . . . They were bursting
with energy and self—esteem, these Americans of the forties,
and they felt that their future was bright despite anything the

politicians might—~or might not——do.1

These were the general conditions which formed the background
of Hay's boyhood. Events, however, were occurring that would give a
new stimulus to political activity. The old order was changing and the

change was to affect the future career of John Hay in a most dramatic
way.

The fact of the Underground Railroad, which passed in the general
vicinity of Warsaw, was symbolic of the critical questions that were to
be discussed and debated across the land.2 Even in this virgin country,
lawyers, politicians, preachers, and lecturers flourished among the
local populace.3 As time went on,,Hay must have heard them speak on
questions of the highest order. Should slavery be allowed in the new
communities? If not, where should the line of restriction be drawn?
Could the nation survive, half slave —— half free? Which was the more

important, the preservation of the Union or the welfare of the negro?

 

Roger Butterfield, The American Past (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1957), pp. 124-125.

Bennett, John Hay, p. 12.
Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 10.

 

 

Politics, mo:
concerned th

and fundamer

These l
beyhood, with
The New Engl

tant role in

    

There is
school. The in
retentive memt
the scholar of 1

Because
the young Hay 1
His biographer
style in later y
. . . Johr
old-time
resource:
his father

of which 1
a prefere

\W“
lain.
2Dennett,

Dictiona‘

Sons, 19605, IV,

 

 

—: ‘

11
Politics, more and more, was to become of vital interest as people

concerned themselves with various interpretations of the Constitution

and fundamental conceptions of morals and humanity.

These were the material and intellectual conditions of John Hay's
boyhood, with the boy at home growing up in an antislavery atmosphere. 1
The New England background of his parents would also play an impor—
tant role in the molding of the young man, especially in terms of his
education. Dennett states that Hay had within himself many personalities
struggling to get through:

In John Hay not two, but many, natures were at war. Some—

times spoke the restless, radical, poet grandfather; again,

it was the cool, industrious, calculating mother; but most

often, perhaps, it was the voice of the father, somewhat

indolent and content with relatively small accomplishments,

but knowing how to live and be loved. But for a series of

circumstances which John Hay looked upon as accidents,
the son would probably been the kind of man his father was.2

The First Years of Education

There is very little recorded regarding Hay‘s first few years in
school. The information available suggests that he had an unusually
retentive memory and a capacity for study that indicated he was to be

the scholar of the family.

Because the public school system had not yet appeared in Warsaw,
the young Hay received a rather wide range of educational experiences.
His biographer suggests that this background was revealed in his literary
style in later years:

. . John Hay submitted to the ministration of one of the
old—time schoolmasters, and exhausted the educational
resources of Warsaw before he was twelve. At home, with
his father, he acquired a fondness for the classics, marks
of which remained through life; Hay‘s literary style revealed
a preference for a vocabulary of Latin derivation, and his

 

lim-
2Dennett, John Hay, p. 12.

Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1960), IV, p. 430.

allusio

transla
ready

of Virg

had als

an itine

; about t

‘ Paradit

' of the n

haps, m

 

 

There
and his older
role in his ea
years later b

Roosevelt on

Dear

I

M
him eve
he had a
much 01
quick at
me my L
than he d
tice. Bu'
own. He
selfishne
fought m;
bullying 1
the beast
lion and i
and drag
came out
to Rome,
place. It
life.

He
expressic
had a wet
bats, kite
shops. 0

 

 

—: ‘I

12
allusions to classical mythology were frequent. The
translation of Latin and Greek became a discipline of his
ready imagination. It is stated that he had read six books
of Virgil and some Greek by the time he was twelve.

He
had also picked up a speaking knowledge of German from
an itinerant teacher.

A visiting relative remembered that
about that time he was committing to memory pages of

Paradise Lost. A quick mind appears to have relieved him

of the necessity of arduous mental application; he was, per—
haps, more bookish than studious.

There was also an unusually close bond between the young Hay
and his older brother, Augustus Leonard Hay, that played an important
role in his early education. This is revealed in a unique letter written

years later by John Hay, then Secretary of State, to President Theodore
Roosevelt on the occasion of Augustus Hay's death:

Dear Theodore:

I cannot talk about it--so I will write you a word.

My brother was my first friend and my best. I owe
him everything. He was only four years older than me, but
he had a sense of right and of conduct which made him seem
much older.

He was always my standard. He was not so
quick at his books as I was, but far more sure

. He taught
me my Latin and Greek so that I made better recitations
than he did, and got higher marks--which was a gross injus-
tice. But he took more interest in my success than in his
own. He made many sacrifices for me, which I, with the
selfishness of a boy, accepted as a matter of course. He
fought my battles. It was ill for the big boy whom he caught
bullying me. Once I dreamed we were Christians thrown to
the beasts in the Coliseum. He stepped between me and a
lion and whipped the great cat with his fists, then seized me
and dragged me through a subterranean passage till we
came out on the Appian Way. Years afterwards when I went
to Rome, I looked about to see where all that had taken
place. It was as clear and vivid as any real action of my
life.

He was my superior in every way but one—-the gift of
expression. His scholarship was more exact than mine. He
had a wonderful skill with his hands; could make better balls,
bats, kites, fishing—rods, etc., than could be bought in the
shops. Once he gathered up all the pamphlets in the house,
and bound them neatly though he had never seen a book
bindery. He was--as I have been told by those who served
with him- ~the best company officer and the best adjutant in
the army. Yet he had no luck in promotion. His rigid sense

Dennett, John Hay, p. 13.

 

 

 

of duty
forbade
obeyed l
tion will
H4
mind an
rest of u.
and brav
Nc
with him
tain heal
me away
him.1
Whateve:
school years, j
him to take adv
1849 he was lm
SChOOl. at the 1C
surroundings 0:
Pittsueld in th,

“V0 years in th.

Pittsfield
settled chiefly l
foratown of tin
was New Engla
Couhh‘lUSe and .
acters like lh0s.

ittsfield Was Sc
excellentplaCe f
ecircuit C0ur1

ll ls as
involving c

LettePs .
Wills‘ehT19os)
his Ha The lel

and Dlaiy. ”Furth

33mg Jo}
Dennett. J

 

 

13
of duty forbade him to seek advancement, and he sternly
forbade me ever to mention his name at headquarters. I
obeyed him because I knewhe would have refused a promo-
tion which came through the solicitation of his friends.

He was the chief of my tribe, in birth as well as in
mind and character. We were not a handsome family, the
rest of us- —but he was unusually good looking, tall and straight
and brave.

Now he has left us, and I neverhad a chance to get even
with him for all he did for me when we were boys. My uncer-
tain health, the weather, and other futilities have even kept
me away from his funeral. I feel remorsefully unworthy of
him.

Whatever the quality of education received during his grammar
school years, it seemingly was of sufficient depth and quality to allow
him to take advantage of a better school when the opportunity came. In
1849 he was invited by his uncle, Milton Hay, to live with him and attend
school at the local private academy.2 This meant leaving the familiar
surroundings of home on the banks of the Mississippi and moving to
Pittsfield in the neighboring county of Pike. It was to be an important

two years in the life of the young John Hay.

Pittsfield was something very different from Warsaw. It had been
settled chiefly by immigrants out of western Massachusetts and named
for a town of the Berkshires. As a result, the atmosphere of the town
was New England in nature. The center of town, or ”Square,“ had a
courthouse and a Congregational Church. Even though there were char—
acters like those that appeared later in Hay‘s, ”Pike County Ballads,"
Pittsfield was somewhat of an oasis of culture. It also seemed to be an
excellent place for the education of a future statesman, especially when
the circuit court came to town:

It is asserted that an old court record reveals a case,
involving only about fifty dollars, in which were engaged no

 

 

1"Letters of John Hay and Extracts from Diary" (Printed but not
published, 1908), V. 111, pp. 321—323. The letters cover the period 1860
to 1905. The letters were selected by Henry Adams and edited by
Mrs. Hay. Further references to this material willbe cited as ”Letters
and Diary.”

2Sears, John Hay, p. 9.
3Dennett, John Hay, p. 13.

 

 

 

fewer tl
United 5
John Ha
of his nephew.
relatively ear?
become a law;
had read his 1:
As a practicin
who was later
lined to becom
one of those W]
and twice a ye;
married in Pit
explains why h.
T0 Milt01
who gave
and. , .
Lincoln c
Hay's bio
between uncle a
much like Miltc
“hilarity-5

The acade
Hay attended du
important eVent
John GeOrge Ni<
hiltoln and the

 

 

14
fewer than eight lawyers, six of whom subsequently became
United States Senators.

John Hay's uncle was to have an important influence on the future
of his nephew. Milton Hay had moved to Illinois from Kentucky at the
relatively early age of fifteen, and in the county seat of Pittsfield had
become a lawyer, politician, and a man of influence in the region. He
had read his law in the law—firm of Stuart and Lincoln in Springfield.
As a practicing lawyer, he prepared cases to be tried by E. D. Baker,
who was later to become a United States Senator from Oregon and des-
tined to become one of the early victims of the Civil War. Baker was
one of those who traveled the famous circuit with Lincoln and Douglas,
and twice a year came to the courthouse in Pittsfield.3 The uncle had
married in Pittsfield, Where both his children had died. This perhaps
explains why he appears to have all but adopted John Hay:

To Milton Hay, John owed a great deal for it was the uncle

who gave the boy the lift which took him Out of Warsaw,

and. . . . it was the same hand which guided John into the

Lincoln circle in Springfield.

Hay's biographer goes on to suggest that the intimate relationship
between uncle and nephew was reflected in Hay‘s later becoming very
much like Milton as regards business conservatism and party
regularity. 5

The academy, kept by Mr. and Mrs. John D. Thomson, that John
Hay attended during his two years in Pittsfield was the scene of another
important event in the life of the young man. It was here that Hay met
John George Nicolay, the future private secretary of President Abraham

Lincoln and the man with whom Hay would coauthor the monumental

 

lDennett, John Hay, p. 13, quoting Clark E. Carr, The lllini: A
Story of the Prairie, p. 137. The laWyers were: Stephen A. Douglas,
0. H. Browning, Richard Yates, E. D. Baker, James A. McDougall,
William A. Richardson, D. D. Bush, and William R. Archer.

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 14.

31bid.

41b1d., p. 15.

5mm.

 

 

 

biography of I
printer's detd
immigrant boy
become not on

politics by the

Helen N;
that the meeti
influence in he

Another ;

an errati

and tutor
away 3pc

through b

Who came

John Hay

was to de

For a tin

brilliant I

Permitted
With his brother
aunts in Spring
indicate the Hat
“hereti- Tho;
in Pittsfield, 1'10!
and his achiever,
classmate Sheds

We all .
black. I‘e,

 

 

l5
biography of Lincoln. Nicolay had come to Pittsfield to serve as

printer’s devil for the Pike County Free Press and though he was an
immigrant boy from Bavaria, had applied himself in such manner as to
become not only editor of the paper but also an important cog in county

politics by the time he was twenty-one.1

Helen Nicolay, daughter and biographer of John Nicolay, notes
that the meeting between Nicolay and Hay was an equally important

influence in her father's life:

Another stimulating and important influence in his life was
an erratic Irish schoolmaster, John Thomson, a graduate
and tutor of Dublin University, who had drifted to this far-
away Spot and stayed to fit young men for college. It was
through him that my father met John Hay, an Indiana youth
who came to Pittsfield to live with his uncle, Milton Hay. .
John Hay and my father quickly formed a friendship which
was to deepen with the years and last as long as life itself.
For a time, my father dreamed of going to college with this
brilliant young friend, but neither his strength nor his purse
permitted him to do so.

John Hay finished his course at the academy in 1852 and together
with his brother, Leonard, .was passed on to the grandfather, uncles, and
aunts in Springfield. Here he attended Illinois State University, later
to be known as Lutheran Concordia College. There are no records to
indicate the nature of the curriculum pursued by Hay at the so—called
university. Those with whom he came in contact at the Thomson school
in Pittsfield, however, recalled the ease and fluency of his translations
and his achievement beyond the ordinary boys in general education.3 A
Classmate sheds additional light on those early school years:

We all remember John Hay at that time as a red-checked,

black-eyed, sunshiny boy, chuck full of fun and devilment

that hurt nobody. He Spoke German like a native, having

picked it up just as he had gathered an inexhaustible reper-

toire of river slang from the steamboat men, which served

its turn later on in the "Pike County Ballads, 'which I have
never liked, for the reason that they never suggested John

 

1Ib_id, p.15.
Helen Nicolay, Lincoln 8 Secretary (New York: Longmans
Green and Co. , 1949), p. 12.

3Sears, John Hay, p. 8.

 

 

    

 

than a local re
Springfield:

were turr

It can be
occasionally to
sensational tria
speakers durini
the youth to his
hat Hay Was all
etler reVeals 8‘
while in Sphingf

 

 

16
Hay to me. Only at moment of riotous mental dissipation
would he give expression to such stuff as appears in the
”Ballads," and then to work of his superabundant humour.1

The years at the academy in Pittsfield, together with those at the
"university" in Springfield, seemingly were of sufficient depth to pre—
pare Hay for higher education. Probably more important in terms of
his general preparatory education was the impact of living in Springfield,
Illinois, at that particular time, for Springfield was the capital of Illinois

and the town was the scene of busy activity among businessmen, poli—

ticians, attorneys, and lobbyists. This was especially true when the
state legislature was in session; and the fact that a boom in railroad-

building had begun, only added to the general aura of excitement.
Thayer graphically describes the kind of men who, even then, had more

than a local reputation and Whom one might meet in the streets of

Springfield:
Senator Stephen A. Douglas, the "Little Giant," who was
trying, with apparent success, to serve the God of Freedom
and the Mammon of Slavery; or gaunt, lanky Abraham Lin—
coln, with his backwoods manner, and strange, sad eyes,
and the gifts of humor and direct speech which already
made him a prominent figure throughout the State; or Lyman
Trumbull and David Davis, leaders in Illinois, whose eyes
were turned to the national stage in Washington.2

It can be assumed that a quick—witted youth like Hay listened
occasionally to the debates in the state legislature, or witnessed some

sensational trial in the courthouse, or heard the antislavery stump
speakers during the political campaigns. Dennett quotes a letter from
the youth to his sister on March 5, 1854, part of which indeed suggests

that Hay was already curious about the legislative process. The same
letter reveals something, too, about the academic program he pursued

While in Springfield:

The Legislature adjourned yesterday. During the session
I went several times to the Hall, but heard nothing of
interest, except on one day where there was quite an
animated debate on the Nebraska Bill.

1113101., pp. 8—9.
Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 20.

 

 

else, the New
faIllily should
BrOWn where
graduated as C
field, Milton H
education. He 1
towards the em
hand» to matri
another reason
was the Baptist
BEing hit:
his nephe,
at one tim

e PI‘esbI
associatet

S i
that 13mg.

 

 

 

 

17

We are studying Latin, Greek, Rhetoric and Algebra. We
are now reading the odes of Horace which are beautiful.
Tomorrow we commence the Iliad of Homer. We are busy
every night with our studies, except Sunday and Friday
night". On Friday our Society meets for the purpose of
debating, reading original essays, and criticising. I man-
age to come in as often as possiblelfor speaking, which

takes up no time in the week.

Higher Education at Brown University

With the termination of his schooling in Springfield, Hay returned
home to Warsaw to plan with his parents the nature of his future career.
The record made by the young Hay in his preparatory schooling indi—
cated to the family that they had an unusual boy, and it was felt by all
of them that John should be sent to the best college possible. If nothing
else, the New England tradition imposed that the "scholar” of the
family should continue his education at a university, preferably at
Brown where Mrs. Hay's father, David Augustus Leonard, had been
graduated as Class Orator in 1792. Again it was the uncle in Spring—

field, Milton Hay, who made it possible for John to continue his

education. He promised to support the young man through college; and

towards the end of summer in 1855, John traveled to Providence, Rhode
Sears suggests that

Island, to matriculate at Brow 'n University.‘
another reason for the uncle's strong support in sending John to Brown

was the Baptist affiliation of the school.
Being himself a Baptist, he may have had hOpes of directing
his nephew’s inclinations toward the ministry, which he had
at one time, into service in that denomination rather than in

the Presbyterian Church with which the boy had been
associated. Other reasons may have been found in the fact
that his grandfather had graduated from Brown in 1792 and
that Providence had been his mother's early home. In any
case he came East, four hundred miles further than the

other two Western men in his class from Cincinnati; the

 

Dennett, John Hay, p. 19, quoting from a letter of John Hay to

his sister, Helen Hay.
Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 22.

3Ib1' d.

 

 

 

lied him for
While meeting
be noted that
physical devel

01d.2 Somewh

are still tradit
tionships With
years.

Hay '3 thr
hi“ PI‘Ogram.5
Greek, ehemistr
hh°S°Phw and
history; Fren Ch,

 

 

 

18

rest of the class being from New England, except one from

New York.
John Hay's academic preparation at the Springfield school quali—

fied him for entrance at Brown as a sophomore in the, class of 1858.
While meeting the formal academic requirements of the college, it should
be noted that Hay's intellectual development had far outdistanced his
physical development. He still was a shy youth not yet seventeen years
Somewhat undersized and less mature than the average of his

old.2
class, Hay also had a natural reserve which did not encourage the usual
Dennett states that it was difficult

intimacies of college friendships.
for others to call Hay by his first name and thus the sobriquet for him,

Despite this, he was invited to join the Theta

"Thaddeus of Warsaw."
Delta Chi fraternity and appears to have taken an active part in the

affairs of the society even to the point of contributing some songs which
Nevertheless, Hay never formed any close rela-

are still traditional.
tionships with his fraternity brothers that would endure through the

years.
Hay's three—year course of study at Brown comprised a rather

thin program.5 Onevhalf year for study in each was allotted to Latin,
Greek, chemistry, mathematics, physics, political economy, intellectual
philosophy, and declamation. One year in each was given to rhetoric,

history, French, German, and moral philosophy.
Dennett comments that the academic program at Brown was at a

particularly low ebb at that time:
Hay appeared at Brown at a time of academic depression.

When Francis Weyland retired as president in 1852, he
bequeathed to his successor, Barnas Sears, What was known
as the "News stem, " which had for its praiseworthy motive

.Y
the bringing of the college closer to the people. The system,

ISears, John Hay, p. 10.
ZDennett, John Hay, p. 19.

E" p. 20.

Ibid.

Information about Brown for this period is drawn from Dennett,

5
Wily, pp. 20-22; and Sears, John Hay, pp. 12—22.

 

 

some indicatio
Prevailing at
meats about hi:

ICame in
Tuesday.

 

arrived tl

after Sup]

and move

examined

emistn

by leCture

.thered
l

 

 

 

19
however, was not a success. Its effect had been to lower
both the standards of admission and the quality of the work.
The new president frankly described it as a system of
"underbidding other collegesH and soon proposed reforms.
For the class of 1858, to which Hay belonged, the new sys-
tem, unfortunately, remained in force, and while ostensibly
the college offered the master's degree, which Hay took,
for five years' work, the conditions were hardly complied
with. President Sears asserted that no more work was
actually being required than for a bachelor's degree.1

Sears in his biography of Hay is, however, more favorable about

the system that existed then at Brown and states that what was required

furnished a good foundation for professional or business careers:

If John Hay had taken anticipatory courses in theology, law,
medicine, or pedagogy would his diplomacy have been as
masterly as it was in subsequent years? Therefore his
success need cause no crowding of classes in International
Law. Diplomats, like poets, are born and can be made in
the classroom no oftener tham eminent writers.

From the letters he wrote home during the first year at Brown

some indication of Hay's reaction to the system of education then

prevailing at the university can be gained. In one of the first are com—

ments about his new surroundings:

 

I came into Boston about four o'clock in the afternoon
Tuesday. Bought a mince pie for three cents and a cake
for two, and feasted royally. Taking the cars for Providence,
arrived there in a couple of hours. Went to a hotel, and
after supper walked up to the college, found Billy Norris
and moved my traps up forthwith. The next morning was
examined, admitted and commenced my studies, which are
Chemistry, Rhetoric, and Trigonometry. The first two are
by lectures which we are required to take down as they are
delivered and recite the next day. We also have exercises
in speaking and writing essays.

My room is a comfortable and conveniently furnished one on
the second floor of the college, costing about 50 dollars. My
chum is a young man from the State of New York, steady,
studious, and good scholar, so I stand a chance of doing a
good deal of hard study this winter. It is not here as in
Springfield. Here I am acquainted with no one in the city
and have no inducements to leave the college, while in

 

 

 

 

lDennett, John Hay, pp. 20-21.
2Sears, John Hay, pp. 13-14.

 

 

 

 

Springfit
and entiJ

Another

in college dese

To-morI
and man
when this
with my
surround
have don
pied with
I cannot
entered t
have seve
them. An
ICan atte.
With just:
time, but
Studies a:
IEO thro1
avail mys
ures of th
Of an Eas

This matt
you may t
determine
not been

Present g,
me that I
Standing 1
.Theprofes

here 011 3?;
Day: and t
p°SSib1e u]

 

 

 

20
Springfield my circle of acquaintance was far from limited,
and entirely too agreeable for my own good.

Another letter from Hay to his parents regarding his first

in college deserves to be quoted:

To—morrow is Thanksgiving. We have no lessons this week
and many of the students have gone home. Ithought that

when this time came I would have plenty of time to catch up
with my correspondence and make some excursions to the
surrounding country. But here half the week is gone and I

have done nothing at all. The fact is, I am so much occu—
pied with my studies that when a few days of release come

I cannot make a rational use of my liberty. You know I
entered the Junior Class behind the rest, and consequently
have several studies to make up before I can be even with

them. And as the prescribed studies are about as much as
I can attend to, I do not know whether I can finish the course,
with justice, in two years. I think I can graduate in that
time, but will not stand high, or know as much about the

studies as if I had been more leisurely about it. Again, if
I go through so hurriedly, I will have little or no time to
avail myself of the literarytreasures of the literary treas—
ures of the libraries. This is one of the greatest advantages
of an Eastern College over a Western one.

This matter, however, I leave for you and Pa to decide; but
you may be assured that whatever time I remain here I am
determined to show you that your generous kindness has
not been misapplied or ungratefully received. I am at
present getting along well in my class. The Register tells
me that I stand in the first class of homor, my average
standing being 18 in 20. The life here suits me exactly.
The professors are all men of the greatest ability, and what
is more, perfect gentlemen. They pursue a kind and
friendly course toward the students as long as they act in
a manner to deserve it, but any violations of the rules of
the institution are strictly punished. There have been
several expulsions and suspensions since I came here.

Ihave no acquaintances out of the college, consequently
know very little of the city. There is not much excitement
here on any occasion, except Thanksgiving and Training—

Day, and then it is a quiet Yankee excitement as much as
possible unlike the rough, hearty manner of the West.

I heard Oliver W. Holmes deliver a poem here last week,
which was a splendid thing; also a lecture by Professor
Huntingdon. Thackeray will be here before long and I
expect to hear him lecture.

year

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, pp. 24—25.

 

 

 

 

It is ge‘
with my
in Sprir
The re:
the young stu
1858 as a sop
the library.

Accordi
Brown reveal
that were rea
Reliques, W0

reviews were

There \
and writing -.
Brown WES thl
Thayer pI‘OVil
one of Hay's c

The me1
Browm
eIlthusia
}Medi;
lEnglisl
througm
Of my C]
me that
that he 1
althOugh

These w

PM who Was :

creatiVe Work

tures, Was JOh

1\
John Thayer

Haliy to hi
3mmleij
4ThaYEr

Sears,

 

2.1
It is getting very late and I close this excuse for a letter
with my best regards for all the family and all my friends '
in Springfield.1
The response to this letter was favorable. The family rallied to
the young student's support and Hay was established into the Class of
1858 as a sophomore, with ample time to browse through the riches of

the library.

According to Dennett, an examination of the library record at
Brown reveals he read a great deal of literature.2 Among the items
that were read are Beowulf, Spencer, Beaumont and Fletcher, Percy's
Reliques, Wordsworth, Goethe, and Beranger. The British quarterly

reviews were also read on a regular basis.

 

There was also time to develop latent talents in both rhyming
and writing -- as well as in public speaking. Basic to the system at
Brown was the practice of conducting all classes wholly by recitation.

Thayer provides an example through a reminiscence provided him by

 

one of Hay's classmates, the Reverend J. H. Gilmore:

The method of studying English literature which existed at
Brown. . . . was not one which tended to stimulate literary
enthusiasm. We had six pages of advance, six pages of
immediate review, and six pages of back review in Spalding's
"English Literature," to be recited every Friday afternoon
throughout the Junior year; and there you were. Why, one
of my classmates, who graduated summa cum laude, told
me that he had never read one of Shakespeare's plays, and
that he had ”never consciously read a line of Tennyson's,"
although "In Memoriam" was published in 1850.3

These weekly exercises certainly were not inspiring to a budding
poet who was feeding his imagination on Shelley. Sears comments that

creative work, instead of recalling statements from textbooks and lec-

tures, was John Hay's main forte.4 This creative drive was sublimated

*—

‘

1Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, pp. 30-32, quoting a letter from
John Hay to his parents, November 28, 1855.

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 22.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 34.

 

 

4Sears, John Hay, p. 14..

 

 

 

 

 

in the writinl

but his intert

Hay's i
which to grox
that his crow
the class poe
mood of his (

philosophy to

Oit let
To gre:
Let him
From 1‘
T0 pom
Squande
And she
The em
Earth g
But spe
As whet
In wast!

The fin:
the dreamy p(

0111‘ W
AS Hind
We may
The bri,
Yet we 1

 

22
in the writing of poetry. Hay's grades for his courses remained high,

but his interests were increasingly in the direction of poetry.

Hay's inclination to the poetic found a congenial atmosphere in
which to grow during his years at Brown. All of his biographers agree
that his crowning creative achievement, up to then, was the authoring of
the class poem. Dennett suggests that the following lines reflect the

mood of his college days and, in a sense, indicate Hay's developing
philOSOphy toward life:

Oft let the poet leave his toil and care

To greet the spirits of the sky and air,-

Let him go forth to learn of love and truth,
From Nature smiling in eternal youth:

To ponder long on infinite wealth and power,
Squandered to deck with gold one wayside flower;
And share the peaceful majesty that fills

The emerald circuit of the sunny hills.

Earth grows not old, nor niggard of her joys

But spells as genial on our souls employs

As when Greek sunsets poured their purple dyes
In wasteful splendor on blind Homer's eyes.

The final stanza, filled with contrasting imagery, suggests again

the dreamy poetic spirit and the impact of life on Hay up to this point:

Our words may not float down the surging ages,

As Hindoo lamps adown the sacred stream;

We may not stand sublime on history's pages,

The bright ideals of the future's dream;

Yet we may all strive for the goal assigned us,

Glad if we win and happy if we fail;

Work calmly on, nor care to leave behind us,

The lurid glaring of the meteor's trail.

As we go forth, the smiling world before us

Shouts to our youth the old inSpiring tune,-

The same blue sky is bending o'er us

The green earth sparkles in the joy of June,

Where 'er afar the beck of fate shall call us,

Mid winter's boreal chill or summer blaze,

Fond memory's chain of flowers shall still enthrall us,
Wreathed by the spirits of these vanished days.

Our hearts shall bear them safe through life's commotion,
Their fading gleam shall light us to our graves;

As in the shell the memories of the ocean

Murmur forever of the sounding waves.

 

1Dennett, John Hay, pp. 22-23.

 

 

 

l
l

Comm'
Howells wrot
That it
praise
familia
a young
more t1
and fee
The re!
Hay's relativ
modern equix.
them ab0ve 11
Beta Kappa.
ecOhhmy, and
fessors, Jam
of MiChigan,
'I used
my clas
meanini
felicity
Original
comme
; ~ - thl
1Itstant
Yet the]
S(”neWha
tenth. Sears

Thy.

1\
3Dehnet
J

Libra 31:13:8‘

Tint 1911)1
4 I

Dehnet

 

23
Commenting on this poetic effort some fifty years later, W. D.

Howells wrote:

That it was easily better than most class poems is not to
praise it overmuch. There was the graceful handling of a
familiar measure, and the easy mastery of the forms which

a young writer's reading makes his second nature; but it was
more than commonly representative of the poet's own thinking

and feeling.

The records from the Registrar of Brown University indicate

Hay's relatively high standing as a student. Transposed in terms of

modern equivalents, he was above ninety in all his courses, many of
them above ninety—five.2 They were good enough to admit him to Phi
Beta Kappa. His most superior academic work was in history, political
economy, and in German and French. Dennett quotes one of Hay's pro—
fessors, James B. Angell, who later became president of the University
of Michigan, regarding his ability in languages:

'I used to say that he was the best translator I ever had in

my classes. He not only apprehended with precision the

meaning of the original, but he excelled all others in the

felicity of finding the exact English equivalent of the

original. '3

Commenting on this ability, Dennett suggests that it perhaps was
one of Hay's greatest accomplishments:
fht of another and give to it

. . . the ability to grasp the thou
instant and accurate expression.

Yet there was another facet in the complex personality of John
Hay, somewhat in contradiction to the image of a shy, poetic, and studious

youth. Sears quotes from opinions and reminiscences made by some

 

lSears, John Hay, p. 15.

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 20.
. 3James B. Angell, "Address at the Dedication of the John Hay
Library" Privately printed, but not published (Providence, Rhode
Island, 1911), p. 31.

4Dennett, op. cit., p. 20.

 

 

of Hay's clas

One re.
bloom :
ment, 3
compar
good m
who art
gularly
winning
even to
which h
upon ali
his littl
his boo:
Hay see
the temperam
lust as often l
grow in the H;
to the effect t’

his nature exi

Hay Was
My as a Writ
incident at his
local reputatit

' ~ - the
t0 Speak
thing de
be dry,”
and then

‘S entht

1" JOhn]
HTS enth.
Qihtion 0

devek,pe
girl) he I

1\

zsea's. .
Thayer,

 

24
of Hay's classmates in later years:

One remembers him as a comely young man with a peach
bloom face, quiet and reserved, with a thoughtful tempera-
ment, yet frank, manly, open-hearted, and a most delightful
companion, desiring, as in his own words, 'to make all
good men his well wishers that some may grow into friends,
who are the sunshine of life.' Another recalls his' 'sin—
gularly modest and retiring disposition; but withal of so
winning a manner that no one could be in his presence,
even for a few moments, without falling under the spell
which his conversation and companionship invariably cast
upon all who came within its influence. " He was, indeed, to
his little circle of intimates, a young Dr. Johnson without
his boorishness, or a Dr. Goldsmith without his frivolity.1

Hay seemingly possessed the wide range of emotions that reflect

the temperament of a poet. Often buoyant, jocular, and witty, he could

just as often be deSpondent and sad. This strain of melancholia was to

grow in the Hay personality in the years to come. There are statements

to the effect that he was the best of storytellers, but always present in
his nature existed a persistent pathos.

Hay was already rapidly developing his gift of expression, not

only as a writer but as a Speaker, too. There is the story about an

incident at his first dinner at college that immediately established his
local reputation for speaking and possessing a quick wit:

. the toastmaster, after calling on everybody who wished
to Speak, summoned Hay to his feet. ”We don't want any-
thing dry," a youth shouted. "Hay that is green can never
be dry,' the unfashionable stranger from Illinois retorted;
and then he poured out a sparkling speech, which delighted
his enthusiastic hearers and made his reputation.

In John Hay, poetic temperament and eloquence seemed to be

inextricably linked together. His roommate recalled Hay's Spirited

impromptu utterances:

His enthusiasm was boundless, and his love for and appre—
ciation of the beautiful in nature and in art was acutely
developed. If he was smitten with the charms of a pretty
girl, he raved and walked the room pouring out his sentiment

 

1Sears, John Hay, pp. 16—17.
Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 35.

 

in a flo
beautiil
being c:
ful disp
but the
situatio
teeth an
There a
in speaking or
at Brown wen
of which Hay 1
negative side
not admitting
nil: July 11’ 1
had been awar

The Cap:
Class Day, Jm
Song." and fim'

Quotes one re;

HTS then
depth of
We have
Of 0111- lb
by Passe
every re

 

There W(
forth both tear

Thus Hay
thonphl In fat
Poetry and The
but any deficie]

“MOT as the n

1\
A. s.
Lvl’ 450. Ch

2
3Dehnett’

ThaYEr,

 

—_4____4

 

25
in a flood of furious eloquence. He would apostrOphize a
beautiful sunset till the last glow had expired. I remember
being called out of bed by him one night to witness a beauti-
ful display of Northern Lights. The display was gorgeous,
but the night was cold, and after stating my View of the
situation, I retired to my room leaving him with chattering

teeth and eloquent language addressing Aurora B.
There are fragments of information indicating Hay's involvement
in speaking on a more formal level while in college. Debating activities

at Brown were conducted under the auspices of the Philermenian Society,

of which Hay was vice-president in his senior year. He was on the

"Resolved: That Mormonism is a sufficient cause for

negative side of:
The Providence Jour—

not admitting Utah as one of the United States."
gal, July 11, 1856, notified its readers that the first prize in Rhetoric

had been awarded to John M. Hay.

The capstone of Hay's oratorical career in college occurred on
Class Day, June 10, 1858, when he Spoke on the theme, "The PowerOf
Song," and finished with a reading of the poem already cited. Thayer

quotes one reporter who was especially enthusiastic:

His theme. . . was marked by a fertility of conception, a

depth of sensibility, and a power of poetic expression, which

we have rarely heard equaled, and never surpassed, at any

of our literary anniversaries. It was agreeably enlivened

by passages of keen wit and of pleasing humor, and was, in

every respect, a most scholarly and brilliant performance.

There were others who commented that Hay's presentation brought

forth both tears and thunderous applause during the course of its delivery.

Thus Hay ended his student years at Brown on a note of oratorical
triumph. In fact, his most notable achievements at Brown were in
poetry and rhetoric. His ”intellectual awakening" had only been partial,

but any deficiencies in his formal education would be more than made

up for as the result of experiences soon to come.

“—

LVI 1A. S. Chapman, ”The Boyhood of John Hay," Century Magazine,
, 450.

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 22.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 48-49.

 

At a In
June 19, 1906
Statesman."

at Brown:

John H
years 0
and ret
quiet, 5
books
and was
things 0
intellec
seemed
professi
from "ti
at once 1
school 0
under th
a place :

With the
Brown stampe
ward and to ho
absence of aln

Degree.

Great
fact, the state
thing college

 

 

26
At a meeting of the Alumni Association of Brown University on
June 19, 1906, Joseph Bucklin Bishop spoke on, "John Hay, Scholar and

Statesman." His statements are articularl a t re arding Ha 's career
10 y P g y

at Brown:
John Hay was a shy, dreamy, poetic youth, scarcely twenty
years of age, when in June, 1858, he bade farewell to Brown
and returned to his home in Illinois. He had spent three
quiet, secluded years here, living more in the society of
books than of men, for he had the sensitive nature of the poet
and was endowed with that capacity for exquisite joy in the
things of the spirit which is Heaven's choicest gift to the
intellectual man. If ever youth on the threshold of manhood
seemed destined to a life of complete devotion to the gentle
profession letters he did. Little did he dream as he departed
from "the still air of delightful studies" that he was to enter
at once upon a six-year course in the most extraordinary
school of human experience that the world has ever known,
under the tuition of a teacher who was to make for himself
a place among the foremost men of all the ages.

With the degree of Master of Arts and memories of the years at
Brown stamped on his sensitive soul, John Hay turned his eyes west-
ward and to home. He would return to Brown only once again after an

absence of almost forty years, to receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws

Degree.

Back Home in Illinois

Great possibilities confronted Hay upon his return to Illinois. In
fact, the state had for a generation been a scene of opportunity for the
young college graduates from the eastern schools. The prairie in the
first quarter of the century was mastered by those with strong arms
and willing hands, but now as the century passed its zenith the demand
for leadership was supplied more and more by the products of formal

education. The change was wrought by a combination of factors, the

 

lJoseph Bucklin Bishop, "John Hay, Scholar and Stateman."
An address delivered before the Alumni Association of Brown Univer-
Sity, June 19, 1906. Privately printed, but not published (Providence,

Rhode Island: 1906), pp. 5-6.

economic fac

Down t
limited
tered g
and ru

northw
lating

could r
After 1
became

l
l
I
t

This w
agricultural
newly cultivat
prices and the

prime factors

Yet the ,
rising p‘
in 1855 :
railroad
like Chit
had hard
covered

It was a;
home to his fa:

familiar sur

melancholy.

 

 

27
economic factor being the most prominent:

Down to 1850 American agricultural settlement had been
limited to the forests and to the smaller prairies with scat-
tered groves of trees by the pioneer's dependence on wood

and running water. . . . As late as 1849 one could look

northward from a knoll near Peoria, Illinois, over an undu—

lating plain, unbroken by a house or tree as far as the eye
could reach.

After 1850 the prairie farmer instead of the backwoodsman

became the typical American pioneer.

This was partly due to the invention of a fabulous array of new
agricultural machinery which helped to reap the enormous yields of the
newly cultivated prairies and thus solved the labor problem. Rising
prices and the advancing transportation network, however, were the
prime factors in transforming the economics of the prairie:

Yet the greatest impetus to prairie farming came from the

rising price of wheat (from $0.93 a bushel in 1851 to $2.50

in 1855 at the New York market), and the rapid building of

railroads into the prairie country, from lake and river ports

like Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis. In 1850 railroads
had hardly fenetrated the Middle West; by 1860 their network

covered it.

It was against this changing backdrop that John Hay returned
home to his family in Warsaw, Illinois. He spent nine months in the old,
familiar surroundings of boyhood, experiencing a period of youthful
melancholy. Hay had departed from Brown with aSpirations as a poet
and a man of letters. The dreams of an aspiring poet could be nurtured
in the more sophisticated atmosphere of Providence, Rhode Island, which
welcomed such persons in its midst; but Illinois was a different matter.
Though the state was "pouring millions into the lap of many a business—
man or railroad magnate, it would not then have furnished a daily mess

Of porridge to either a Milton or a Byron."3

 

 

 

1Morison and Commager, The Growth of the American Republic
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1942), I, p- 619-

21bid., pp. 618-619.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 53.

 

His lac
this period w
of Providenc
at Brown, a
Mrs. Whitma
fine classica
had been bri
the aura of
undreamed-o
She and her
endeavors. T

and he came I

at his poor fa
life which he
profit to his fl

"Boeotian atm

 

 

28
His lack of certainty about himself and his depressed mood during

this period was revealed in a letter to Mrs. Sarah Helen Power Whitman
of Providence. Hay had been invited into her home during his last year
at Brown, a home reflecting comfort, refinement, and culture.

Mrs. Whitman was a woman of local literary importance, possessing a
fine classical education and with a reputation as a literary critic.1 She
had been briefly engaged to Edgar Allen Poe, which served to heighten

To Hay, her home was "an

the aura of the romantic surrounding her.
2
H

undreamed-of world, the glimpse of which ravished his starving soul.
She and her circle of friends had encouraged Hay in his literary

endeavors. Thus Hay was convinced his true direction was the poetic

and he came back to Warsaw "rebellious at his poor fate, and in a mood
at his poor fate, and in a mood which blinded him to much in Illinois

life which he might have appreciated with great credit to himself and

profit to his future."3 In his letter to Mrs. Whitman, Hay wrote of the

”Boeotian atmosphere" around him:

I very much fea’athat if I remain in the West, I will entirely
lose all the aspirations I formerly cherished, and see them

fading with effortless apathy. Under the influence of the
Boeotian atmosphere around me, my spirit will be "Subdued
to what it works in," and my residence in the East will
remain in memory, an oasis in the desolate stretch of a
material life. So before the evil days come on I cling more
and more eagerly to the ties which connect me with Provi-
dence and civilization, and only hope that those whose genius
Ihave long admired and whose characters I lately learned
to love, may not utterly cast me off, but sometimes reach
me a hand in the darkness to raise and console.

His feeling of being out of place is revealed in another letter
written in January, 1859, to a Miss Perry, whom Hay had met in the
home of Mrs. Whitman:

My father, with more ambition and higher ideals than I, has
dwelt and labored here a lifetime, and even this winter does

 

1Dennett, John Hay, p. 28.
2Ibid.

3Ibid., p. 29.

4—

Thayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 57— 58.

 

At the
tlonal confli
His biograph
his disjoined
refuge in an

Hay ha
must have rec
iencing. The
uncle, Milton
education:

. . .Jol

to what
his mot]

master .
a profes
of educa
certain t

 

 

 

29
not despair of creating an interest in things intellectual among
the great unshorn of the prairies. I am not suited for a
reformer. I do not like to meddle with moral ills. I love
comfortable people. I prefer, for my friends, men who can
read.

At the age of twenty-one, Hay was going through a period of emo-
tional conflict, a condition which was to emerge again in his later life.
His biographer suggests that he was suffering from "the multiplicity of

his disjoined gifts" and, not knowing what to do with his life, "took

refuge in an appearance of high disdain."2

Hay had been welcomed home; and the family, at least in part,
must have recognized the constitutional fits of depression he was exper-
iencing. The father wrote a letter in the early fall of 1858 to John's
uncle, Milton Hay, to whom the youth was indebted for his college

education:

. John is now at home, and I am somewhat undecided as
to what course I will advise him to pursue. Augustus and
his mother both protested against his becoming a school-
master in Warsaw-—at least are entering upon the study of
a profession. So I did not put in his claims before our board
of education which took place before John's return. I am not
certain that a berth of that kind would be a pleasant one for
him in Warsaw. . . I have some reasons too for not wishing
to place him in a law office in Warsaw, which it is unneces-
sary to name here now, and some further reasons for not
wishing him to remain at all in Warsaw through the winter.

In the meantime some of his friends urge him to turn his
attention immediately to the law, while others, especially
some valued ones at the East, advise him to turn his attention
at once and wholly to literature. I wish him, of course, to
have some profession upon which he can fall back, or rather
rise upon, while he is rising, higher. Upon what terms can

he enter your office and spend twelve months as a student?. . .3

It was the result of this type of letter written on the young man's
behalf that would ultimately turn the key of the door of fate for John Hay,

 

1Caroline Ticknor (ed.), A Poet in Exile: Early Letters of John
Hay (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1910), pp. 23—24.

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 25.
Thayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 53-54.

 

and thrust

small role.

Sever
indicating h
reading law.
mistry woul

. . . I

horse

I woul

The :1
been the res
local churche
letter to his 1

During

prepare
in this t
house I

receive
were m

It has i
pious £1
for me,

Hay's n
reflected in a

 

 

- 30
and thrust him in the arena of public affairs, in which he would play no

small role.

Several months later, John responded to a letter from his uncle
indicating he would be favorable to the idea of coming to Springfield and
reading law. In the same letter he explained why a career in the min—
mistry would not suit him:

. I would not do for a Methodist preacher, for I am a poor
horseman. I would not suit the Baptists, for I dislike water.

I would fail as an Episcopalian, for I am no ladies' man.

The advice of his friends that he enter the ministry might have
been the result of a lecture which Hay gave that winter in one of the
local churches. Hay refers to the event in the previously mentioned
letter to his uncle, Milton Hay:

During the last few weeks I have been occupied in making

preparations for a lecture before the "Literary Institute"

in this town. I delivered it last Saturday evening to the best

house I have ever seen in Warsaw. I think it was well

received. People did not expect much from a boy, and so
were more than satisfied. .

It has had one effect, at least. It has convinced my very

pious friends in this place that there is no Sphere of life,

for me, but the pulpit.

Hay's negative attitude regarding a career in the minstry is
reflected in a humorous statement written in the same letter:

. . . I find it the easiest way to agree with everything they

say and to follow the example of the shrewd youth in the

parable, who "said, 'I go,‘ and went not."3

The subject of the youthful orator's lecture was the ”History of
the Jesuits." A newspaper clipping that is quoted by Thayer contains
high praise for the effort:

. avery able and eloquent effort, indeed, considering the

age of the speaker—-being not yet twenty years of age. .
The churchwas crowded with listeners, many of whom were

 

llbid., p. 59.
Ibid.
31bid., p. 60.

 

 

 

unable t
his mar
any per
raisedi
and not
his effo
historic
which ht
ture. T.
of him,
and mar
make hi
the fault

A few of
reveal some 0
T“ Hay‘s mind
successful eff<

far corners of

The b1a<
Of the re
SiSSippi
nhmes tl
Des Moi]
hilt the t

There is
llavier, the sc
Hay's biograp]
originalsociet:
to let his imag

Their pr
thEiI‘ Wr:
Contl‘Ove;
lashionat
lnthe m:

31
unable to get seats. . . His voice was strong and clear, and
his manner of delivery excellent——far surpassing that of
any person we have before heard in our city. . . Being
raised in this city, of course many turned out to hear him,
and not one have we heard who was not well pleased with
his effort, and who does not accord to him all praise for
historical research, and for the fine flights of eloquence of
which he delivered himself at intervals throughout the lec-
ture. The parents of this young man may justly feel proud
of him, as do the citizens of our city, for his intelligence
and manly bearing. He has the talent, and if he does not
make his mark in the world as a bright and shining light,
the fault is with himself]-

A few of the passages in'this lecture on the "History of the Jesuits "
reveal some of the patterns of thought that were beginningto take shape
in Hay's mind. The young orator evidently had been stimulated by the
successful efforts of the Jesuits to spread their influence'throughout the
far corners of the earth, especially in the heartland of America:

The black-robed fathers left their memories in the hearts

of the red men who dwelt by the rushing rapids of the Mis—

sissippi and an enduring memorial of their presence in the

names they stamped on hill and river, Marquette, Joliet,

Des Moines, and Illinois. The very ground we walk on has

felt the tread of their unresting feet.

There is a paragraph, vivid with. imagery, describing Francis
Xavier, the scholar and traveler, and Ignatius Loyola, the courtier.
Hay‘s biographer'suggests that this select little group who formed the
original Society of Jesus represented "a station of society. . . Hay loved
to let his imagination dwell upon."3

Their preachers filled the most richly endowed pulpits;

their writers flooded the continent with works of faith and

controversy; their priests listened to penitents in the most

fashionable confessionals and taught the children of the rich

in the most popular schools. In courts and camps their

power was felt though unseen. They ruled the masses by
love and the potentates by fear.

 

3%., p. 61.

Dennett, John Hay, p. 26.
Ibii, p. 27.

Ibid.

“

PWNH

 

 

 

Dennet‘
relates to H2
though Wende
many of the <

urge to follm

It is St
debates on sl
reprehensibll
the atmosphe
self had been

Howeve
time when thr
Against a has
Hfalsehood of
general tone
intolerant pop
on the shores

The ten

alld eve

fervof c

the tth

exampll

Ill the L
Of Our C

That he
Mak.
Thrning
The

to premium-Ila1
life.

ss/

7.

E

[9:

 

32
Dennett's comment on this passage is an interesting one as it

relates to Hay's attitude about the abolition movement. He states that
though Wendell Phillips and William Lloyd Garrison, in 1858, embodied
many of the characteristics of a Loyola or an Xavier, "John Hay felt no

urge to follow. "1

It is surprising that Hay was not stirred by the great political
debates on slavery then convulsing the nation. Although abolition was a
reprehensible word in Southern Illinois, Lincoln and Douglas had filled
the atmOSphere with emotion as the result of their debates and Hay him—

self had been raised in an abolition family.

However, it should be noted that Hay's address was given at a
time when the overtones of the Know-Nothing movement still remained.
Against a backdrop of intolerance and extremism, Hay emphasized the

”falsehood of extremes" in his remarks, thus giving his address a

H

general tone "surprisingly tolerant for Warsaw. He contrasted the

intolerant political conditions of Europe with the ”young republic standing

on the shores of the new Atlantis” and its ”temple of liberty":

The temple of liberty is wide enough to admit every creed
and every nation. We can admire and imitate the faith and

fervof of the Jesuits and yet not tremble when we hear afar

the thunder of coming reforms. Thus, scorning neither the
examples of the past nor the lessons of the present, we may

in the light of both, pray with the fondest love, at the altar
of our common country

That here fair form may stand and shine,
Make bright our days and light our dreams,
Turning to scorn with lips divine
The falsehood of extremes.3

It was this theme of moderation and dislike of extremists that was
to predominate in Hay's intellectual habits throughout the rest of his
life.

 

lIbid.
21bid., p. 26.
31bid.

 

 

 

 

The Ill]
from Brown
lecture on the
poet. This in
stances, it din
reliance, and
The letters 0:
spring of 1851

his office in E
Hay w01

Just as
him, he
W8.V€I‘€(
an seem
the burc
hear, th
tain sea
the bell:

In going
into a new lifl
had deveIOped
eminent men I
Which Lincoln
T “0'” the fi
Milton's partn
Thus there We
lanyers’ but a

The off;

.3
Then. I It Was

1\
Thaye]

33
The nine months that Hay spent in Warsaw after his graduation

from Brown were not too promising. The one highlight had been the
lecture on the Jesuits, but his dominant wish remained that of being a
poet. This in itself was no mean ambition, but considering the circum~
stances, it didn't quite fit the time or place. The boy still lacked self~
reliance, and again it was his sympathetic family that came to the rescue.
The letters of Hay's father to Milton Hay finally bore fruit, and in the
spring of 1859 the uncle invited the nephew to begin the study of law in
his office in Springfield.

Hay would never forget his first ambition:

Just as a new life, of amazing inspiration, was opening for
him, he thus pledged his devotion to the old—-and he never
wavered in it. Long afterward, when he appeared to strangers
an accomplished man of the world, or when he staggered under
the burdens of statesmanship, he heard again, and thrilled to
hear, the poetic voices which captivated his youth. So, at cer—
tain seasons, dwellers on the Breton coast hear the pealing of
the bells of the city which the waves submerged long, long ago. 1

Law and Political Apprenticeslgp

 

In going to Springfield to be with his uncle again, John Hay moved
into a new life. In the years that John had been at Brown, Milton Hay
had developed a large law practice and was considered one of the most
eminent men of the bar in the State of Illinois. His office was one in
which Lincoln had been the junior partner for a few years in the forties,
but now the firm of Lincoln and Herndon occupied the adjoining room.
Milton's partner, Stephen T. Logan, had been Lincoln's former partner.
Thus there was not only a close geographical relationship among these
lawyers, but a very personal one, too.

The office of Hay's uncle had a reputation "for cradling public

”3

men It was in these surroundings that John began the study of law.

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 73.
2"Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, I, p. 216.

3Ibid., p. 214, (John M. Palmer and Shelby M. Cullom had left the
law office of Milton Hay to become Governors of the State of Illinois,
With the latter also becoming a Congressman and Senator).

 

 

 

Being back in
association wit
at college, Nico
ted to the bar i
office of Secre
During the yea
of Lincoln with
and a part of ti

self became pa

The mon
been very distr
llhnois going t}
it was also very
field, the Capit
political attent
camlhign. Whi
the reputation .
his own state.
it was this man

shaping of Johx

it is not .
regardhgthe n
called him. He
hltial
lbl

appreci;
or indulged in

notables, or st:

suggests the In

F
elenN
and C0" 1949)
2m '
3%" D.

Thayer,

34
Being back in Springfield made it possible for Hay to resume his

association with John G. Nicolay. During the years John had been away

at college, Nicolay had remained in Illinois, studied law, and was admit-
ted to the bar in January, 1859. He had also been appointed Clerk in the
office of Secretary of State and was in charge of the State Library.

During the years in Springfield, he had followed the various campaigns
of Lincoln with interest until, at last, he had become a devotedfollower
and a part of the Lincoln circle.1 It was through Nicolay that Hay him—

self became part of the same circle.2

The months that Hay spent in Springfield studying law must have
been very distracting for a young law student. Not only was the State of
Illinois going through a period of accelerated material development, but
it was also very much at the center of important political events. Spring—
field, the Capital, was already beginning to divide with Washington the
political attention of the nation as a result of the Lincoln—Douglas
campaign. While Lincoln had been defeated by Douglas for the Senate,
the reputation of this strange figure now loomed beyond the borders of
his own state. This was the man next door to Uncle Milton‘s office, and
it was this man whose career was to have an enormous influence on the

shaping of John Hay's career.

It is not to be assumed that Hay at twenty-one had any prescience
regarding the future greatness of "Honest Abe, " as his fellow townsmen
called him. Hay, possessing a dreamy, poetic nature, probably had little
initial appreciation of the sad-eyed, ungainly lawyer who "uttered par-
ables in language that might have been taken from the New Testament,
or indulged in coarse jokes, or drew vivid word-portraits of the Western

”3

notables, or stated political issues with masterly clearness. Dennett

suggests the possibility that Hay was even unaware of the "extent of the

 

1Helen Nicolay, Lincoln's Secretary (New York: Longmans, Green
and Co., 1949), p. 27.

21bid., p. 42.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 80.

 

 

 

great events
head. "1

The rt
mentary and
of a local Sp
his social 111
company of t

With 5.

attendi

coln le
stepsa

Panyinl

embow

Signifit

from t

time, 1‘

and tha

Partisa

allowet

Whicht

0f slav

free sc

a form

But eve
that Hay, be
find himseu.
that had been
Slavery ques
WilhamH' Se
the minds of
alignmwts W
The years of
determinatio3

1\
2D9nne

froln H De???

W
3

FrEde

 

 

35
great events of the time" and that they probably "passed over his young

head."1

The record of Hay's period of studying law in Springfield is frag—
mentary and scanty at best. He is mentioned in the pages of the diary
of a local Springfield belle, and from this information it appears that
his social life did not suffer as he attended concerts and lectures in the
company of the Ridgely girls:

With some one of the Ridgely girls or their friends he was

attending the monthly concerts, going to hear Abraham Lin—

coln lecture on "Discoveries and Inventions,H waiting on the

steps after prayer—meeting to escort the girls home, accom—

panying them to church, and returning to the honeysuckle-

embowered summer-house to finish out the evening. If any
significance at all attaches to this village social life, aside

from the fact that Hay was obviously having a very good

time, it lies in the fact that the Ridgelys were Democrats

and that their establishment was the best in town. Whatever

partisanship Hay may have claimed, at that time, was not

allowed to restrict his enjoyment of the best social life

which the town afforded, while black ”Becky," the remnant

of slavery which remained to the Ridgely household on the

free soil of Illinois, did not present the issues of slavery in

a form which excited lively sympathy.

But events were now moving at such a pace on the political scene
that Hay, because of fortuitous circumstances and associations, would
find himself caught up in a maelstrom of political activity. The issues
that had been a long time quiescent were now demanding attention. The
slavery question, so dramatically and prophetically characterized by
William H. Seward in 1858 as "an irrepressible conflict,”3 was engaging
the minds of political leaders throughout the country. The old political
alignments were changing, and efforts to postpone it were of no avail.
The years of agitation had resulted in a ripening of the conviction and

determination of the citizenry at large. Sides were now being taken on

 

lDennett, John Hay, p. 33.

Dennett, John Hay, pp. 33-34, Commenting on selected passages
from "A Girl in the Sixties: Excerpts from the Journal ofAnna Ridgely. "
Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society, October, 1929, p. 404.

3Frederic Bancroft, The Life of William H. Seward (New York:
Hayser and Brothers, 1900), I, p. 459.

 

 

 

the several
Its ab
intrig
a slav
the D
fugitit
power
and sl:
issue
ultime
As the
issue comp]
together. B;
actively con
nominated J1
two factions
Breckenridg
bearer Steph
to the POIitic
convention, t
tempol‘ary bl
Mather too I
Stay at home

Onthe .
began With th
of the Second
LlHCan Of 111
told in th e Ni

The thi

hundm

Inirked

steadily
dat6s~ .

:NiCOIa
H9161)

 

36
the several aspects of the great slavery issue:

Its abstract morality, its economic influence on society, the
intrigue of the Administration and the Senate to make Kansas
a slave State, the judicial status of slavery as expounded in
the Dred Scott decision, the validity and the effect of the
fugitive—slave law, the question of the balance of political
power as involved in the choice between slavery extension
and slavery restriction—-and, reaching beyond even this, the
issue so clearly presented by Lincoln whether the States
ultimately should become all slave or all free.1
As the spring of 1860 wore on, the ferment surrounding the slavery
issue completely severed the bonds that held the old political parties
together. By the end of June there were four presidential candidates
actively contesting for the prize. Fragments of the old Whig party
nominated John Bell of Tennessee. The Democrats were now split into
two factions, with those on the proslavery side nominating John C.
Breckenridge of Kentucky. The antislavery faction chose as its standard
bearer Stephen A. Douglas and this division of forces was to prove fatal
to the political fortunes of the Democrats. The last to hold its national
convention, the Republican party met in Chicago on May 16th in a large
temporary building called the Wigwam. The choice of the Illinois dele—
gation, Mr. Lincoln was not present, humorously telling Leonard Swett,
"rather too much of a candidate to go, though not quite enough of one to

stay at home. "2

On the third day of the convention, the serious work of the delegates
began with the balloting for the nominee. It became apparent by the end
of the second ballot that the contest was between Seward of New York and
Lincoln of Illinois. The event of the historic third ballot is dramatically
told in the Nicolay and Hay biography of Lincoln:

The third ballot was begun amid a breathless suspense;

hundreds of pencils kept pace with the roll-call, and nervously

marked the changes on their tally—sheets. The Lincoln figures

steadily grew. Votes came to him from all the other candi-
dates—~4-1/2 from Seward, 2 from Cameron, 13 from Bates,

 

lNicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, 11, pp. 292-293.

Helen Nicolay, Lincoln's Secretary, p. 31.

 

 

 

 

18 from
Lincoln
before

tors an
result:
tering v
to a ch<
nomina'
Aprofo
ceased
distinct
telegra;
ment ha
it was

While e
David K
of four
moment
skylight
on the I
crowds
spread

became
after de

- - - Th
announc
Illinois,
date fol
in a voi.
and tom
York, H
The wet
his friend Nit
NiColay had at
Missouri Dem
field HPIEESQC‘
apparently Wa
Nicolay and I
lefiChicago th

that already t}

1\

NiCOIa‘
2 V
Helm ]

 

37
18 from Chase, 9 from Dayton, 3 from McLean, 1 from Clay.
Lincoln had gained 50—1/2, Seward had lost 4—1/2. Long
before the official tellers footed up their columns, specta-
tors and delegates rapidly made the reckoning and knew the
result: Lincoln, 231—1/2; Seward, 180. Counting the scat-
tering votes, 465 ballots had been cast, and 233 were necessary
to a choice; and 1-1/2 votes more were needed to make a
nomination.

Aprofound stillness suddenly fell upon the Wigwam; the men
ceased to talk and the ladies to flutter their fans; one could
distinctly hear the scratching of pencils and the ticking of
telegraph instruments on the reporters' tables. No announce-—
ment had been made by the chair; changes were in order, and
it was only a question of seconds who should speak first.
While every one was leaning forward in intense expectancy,
David K. Cartter sprang upon his chair and reported a change
of four Ohio votes from Chase to Lincoln. There was a
moment's pause, — —a teller waved his tally—sheet towards the
skylight and shouted a name,--and then the boom of a cannon
on the roof of the Wigwam announced the nomination to the
crowds in the streets, where shouts and salutes took up and
Spread the news. In the convention the Lincoln river now
became an inundation. Amid the wildest hurrahs, delegation
after delegation changed its vote to the victor.

. . The din at length subsided, and the presiding officer
announced that on the third ballot Abraham Lincoln, of
Illinois, received 364 votes, and "is selected as your candi-
date for President of the United States." Then Mr. Evarts,
in a voice of unconcealed emotion, but with admirable dignity
and touching eloquence, speaking for Seward and for New
York, moved to make the nomination unanimous.

The work of the convention was over. It can only be assumed that
Hay took an interest in the proceedings, but it certainly was evident that
his friend Nicolay was now wholeheartedly in the Lincoln movement.
Nicolay had attended the Chicago convention as a correspondent for the

Missouri Democrat and, according to his biographer, returned to Spring—

 

field "pleased and happy."2 The enthusiasm of the convention hall
apparently was transmitted wholesale across the countryside. Perhaps
Nicolay and Hay were among the crowd of delegates and visitors that
left Chicago that night to board homeward-bound railroad trains and "saw

that already the enthusiasm of the convention was transferred from the

 

1 .
Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, II, pp. 274—277.

Helen Nicolay, Lincoln's Secretary, p. 33.

 

 

Wigwam to t
until after 2
boys carryin
passengers v
cannon, the (1
boys, who we
who thirty y

stream now a

With th
excitement.
former's p05

selected as t]

The In.
and amOng th
in the Gamma
friend, Hay, b
Spoke at mee
letters to the
unSh01'11 Inen
Which undEI‘lz

The Es:
Platform 0f 1.
lnStI‘Umem f0
M 3“ Organs
adopted platf.
Northern stat

1\
Nicha
3Helen
4Thaya
[bid

\‘

A:

M .
in 635,0“3‘

 

 

38
Wigwam to the country. 'At every station where there was a village,

until after 2 o'clock, there were tar—barrels burning, drums beating,
boys carrying rails, and guns great and small banging away. The weary
passengers were allowed no rest, but plagued by the thundering of the
cannon, the clamor of drums, the glare of bonfires, and the whooping of
boys, who were delighted with the idea of a candidate for the Presidency
who thirty years before split rails on the Sangamon River-classic

. . 1
stream now and for evermore - - and whose neighbors named him hone st. "'

With the nomination of Lincoln, Springfield seethed with political
excitement. Nicolay, who was not unknown to Lincoln because of the
farmer's position in the office of Secretary of State of Illinois, was

selected as the nominee's secretary for the forthcoming campaign.2

The men of Lincoln's hometown worked ardently for the cause,
and among them was Hay. With the appointment of Nicolay as secretary
in the campaign for Lincoln, it seemed only natural that Nicolay's old
friend, Hay, be asked to assist.3 Hay labored "to enroll supporters and
Spoke at meetings as enthusiastically as if he had not deplored, in his
letters to the poetesses at Providence, the hOpeless materialism of the
unshorn men of the prairies. He began to be electrified by the ideals

which underlay the Republican movement. ”4

The essential aspects of the Republican cause as embodied in the
platform of its national convention gave the four-year old party an
instrument for the achieving of unity of purpose. It was already ”more
of an organic whole than the old Whigs had ever been”5 and its newly
adopted platform made it a party of an idea, but a party of all the
Northern states as well. But where the party had been attended in birth

Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, II, p. 278.

 

Helen Nicolay, Lincoln's Secretary, p. 34.
Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 87.
Ibid.

I Morison and Commager, The Growth of the American Republic,
, p. 635.

 

 

“>me

 

 

 

by the crusz

politicians:
0n the
less tr
ferenc:
for the
old Wh
same i
secess
also pr
land, a
interna
Northe

This c:
Republ
season
The pa
WOuld more
business and
maturity togt
Would be para
OMS mater
Were Constant
fEither. It is:
worked for ir
3118111 with it
Party of Jeffe

John Ha
With the elec
immediately a
andNic°1ay i]
tary‘ H Glen}

My lath
John Ha'
tlme of'

\

bi

,_.

p—t
a.

,5"
a.

7

/,

 

 

39

by the crusaders, it was now guided to maturity by the seasoned

politicians:
On the slavery question it was as clear as in 1856, though
less truculent: no more slavery in the territories; no inter—
ference with slavery in the states. So there was no place
for the abolitionists, who denounced new Republicanism as
old Whiggery writ large. John Brown was condemned in the
same breath with the border ruffians of Missouri, and
secession was called plain treason. The Chicago platform
also promised the settlers a free quarter—section of public
land, and revived Henry Clay's old 'American system' of
internal improvements and protective tariff, representing
Northern desires that had been balked by Southern interests. . .

This careful construction of the platform showed that the

Republican party was no longer guided by crusaders, but by

seasoned politicians. . .1

The party was at the first stage in its evolutionary process that
would more and more cause it to be identified with the goals of big
business and finance. John Hay and his chosen party would grow to
maturity together; and with rare exceptions, his political philosophy
would be parallel with the philosophy of the party in the decades to come.
On his maternal side, Hay had inherited the liberal proclivities that
were constantly struggling with the Hamiltonian instincts instilled by his
father. It is rather symbolic that the young party he so enthusiastically
worked for in 1860 "combined the solid policies of Hamiltonian Feder-
alism with the hopeful and humanitarian outlook of its namesake, the
party of Jefferson."2

John Hay's door to future fortune and fame was completely opened
with the election of Abraham Lincoln on November 6. Nicolay was
immediately appointed by the President—elect to be his private secretary,
and Nicolay in turn requested that Hay be employed as assistant secre-
tary. Helen Nicolay describes the event in the biography of her father:

My father appears to have been entirely responSible for

John Hay's presence inWashington. In Springfield, when the
time of departure for Washington neared, he asked his chief

 

1Ibid.
21bid.

 

 

 

if Jot
Mr. L
perplc
with r

"Well
launched on
effect on his

Denne

particularly

Three
parlor
field i
Lincol
in con
touch I
moods
able tc

On Fel
Springfield ,
described by

menochrome

Early
family.
in Spr:
neighbt
storm)
to thei:
dued a
POSitio
him, 01

Allen

 

 

40
if John might go with them. An odd expression crossed
Mr. Lincoln's face, turning all its ruggedness into lines of
perplexity, as he answered: "But I can't take all Illinois
with me! "1

"Well, let Hay come,112 said Lincoln; and thus John Hay was
launched on a career in national politics that would have an enormous

effect on his future life.

Dennett's description of Hay‘s role in the presidential party is

particularly apt:

Three years in Providence, a few calls in Mrs. Whitman's
parlor, and two years as young-man-about—town in Spring—
field had given to John Hay a sophistication of which the
Lincoln party, as it set out for the capital of the nation, was
in conspicuous need. The young man also introduced a
touch of gaiety to lighten the more prevailing and somber
moods of the President—elect, moods which Hay was so well
able to understand because they were like his own.

On February 11, 1861, the presidential party arrived early at the
Springfield station for the departure to Washington. The event is
described by Hay in terms of imagery that suggests a black and gray

monochrome:

Early Monday morning (the 11th) found Mr. Lincoln, his
family, and suite at the rather dingly little railroad station
in Springfield, with a throng of at least a thousand of his
neighbors who had come to bid him good-bye. It was a
stormy morning, which served to add gloom and depression
to their spirits. The leave—taking presented a scene of sub-
dued anxiety, almost of solemnity. Mr. Lincoln took a
position in the waiting—room, where his friends filed past
him, often merely pressing his hand in silent emotion.

The half-finished ceremony was broken in upon by the
ringing bells and rushing train. The crowd closed about the
railroad car into which the President-elect and his party
made their way. Then came the central incident of the
morning. The bell gave notice of starting; but as the

 

1Helen Nicolay, Lincoln's Secretary, p. 76.

 

Allen Johnson and Dumas Malone (eds.), Dictionary of American
MEX (New York: Charles Scribner‘s Sons, 1960), IV, p. 431.

3Dennett, John Hay, p. 34.

 

 

 

condu
Mr. I.
his ha
heads
bors

home,
reads
fate.

The b
delivery of
"To the ima
atic in the a
portico, frc
dome of the
statue of Li

Even
cOmplete th
center of ti
representin‘

to tePlninatt

 

 

41
conductor paused with his hand lifted to the bell-rope,
Mr. Lincoln appeared on the platform of the car, and raised
his hand to command attention. The bystanders bared their
heads to the falling snowflakes, and standing thus, his neigh-
bors heard his voice for the last time, in the city of his
home, in a farewell address so chaste and pathetic, that it
reads as if he already felt the tragic shadow of forecasting
fate.

The Lincoln Years

 

The beginning of the new administration was signalled with the
delivery of Lincoln's Inaugural Address at the Capitol on March 4, 1861.
”To the imaginative Spectator there might have been something emblem-
atic in the architectural features of the scene"2 as Viewed from the east
portico, from where the President delivered his speech. The great
dome of the Capitol was still unfinished. Not far away stood the bronze

statue of Liberty waiting to be lifted to the yet not prepared pedestal.

Even the audience provided its share of striking symbolism to
complete the "vision of fateful prOphecy.” Confronting each other in the
center of the inaugural group stood four men, each in his own way
representing a phase or an action of the political drama that was soon

to terminate in civil war:

Senator Douglas, the author of the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise, representing the legislative power of the
American Government; Chief-Justice Taney, author of the
Dred Scott decision, representing the influence of the judi-
ciary; and President Buchanan, who by his Lecompton
measures and messages had used the whole executive power
and patronage to intensify and perpetuate the mischiefs born
of the repeal and the dictum. Fourth in the group stood
Abraham Lincoln, President-elect, illustrating the vital
political truth announced in that sentence of his Cincinnati
speech in which he declared: "The peOple of these United
States are the rightful masters of both Congresses and
courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow
the men who pervert the Constitution.”3

1Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, II, pp. 290-291.
21mm, p. 325.
3Ibid.

 

 

 

Linco'
perception (
sibilities. '1
friends and
later in wr.
suggestioni

and "transn

It was
coln's
Mr. 5
some
preju<
fear 1
the co
fellow
solem
Mr. St
of a c
long a
thong]
Witht
tratio

Hay,
same talent
the qualitie:
farOutweigk
differences
"appreciate
Social disti1
which Opens
That the f0,

~/

Nicc

Tha:

‘Aww

 

42
Lincoln's Inaugural Address moved the country to a quickening

perception of all that could be lost if the government denited its respon-
sibilities. The concluding passage was so eloquent that when John Hay's
friends and classmates read it, they assumed he had written it.1 Years
later in writing of the event, Hay and Nicolay described how Seward's
suggestion for the concluding lines of the Speech were taken by Lincoln
and ”transmuted into pure gold":

It was in the closing paragraph of the inaugural that Mr. Lin—

coln's mastery in literary art clearly revealed itself.

Mr. Seward. . . thought that "some words of affection--

some of calm and cheerful confidence,” "to meet and remove

prejudice and passion in the South, and deSpondency and

fear in the East," ought to be added. In the original draft

the concluding sentence, addressing itself to ”my dissatisfied

fellow-countrymen,H was: ”With you and not with me is the

solemn question, Shall it be peace or a sword? " This ending

Mr. Seward proposed to strike out, and submitted two drafts

of a closing paragraph to take its place. One of them was

long and commonplace; under the other lurked a fine poetic

thought cumbrously expressed. This Mr. Lincoln took, and

with his more artistic sense transformed it into an illus-

tration of perfect and tender beauty.

Hay, with his literary sense, was quick to discern and value the
same talents in the President.3 Although Hay could appreciate many of
the qualities in his chief, it should be remembered that the differences
far outweighed the similarities in personality between them. In fact, the
differences were so marked that it is to the credit of Hay that he could
"appreciate and understand the President."4 Hay had a sharp eye for
social distinctions and was ”already well versed in the lore of manners
which Opens doors that neither birth, wealth, nor genius can unlock.

That the former rail-splitter should occupy a position in which, among

Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 90.

Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, III, p. 323.
Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 104.

Dennett, John Hay, p. 49.

 

i-PwNI—s

 

 

 

 

his other fu
the Nation,

ciated humc

The y
great qualit:
listen, his 1
glimpse of
Also to be m
the Preside}
"They told e
Lincoln, Hay
carried on a
HaY'S diary
- . . A
lines,
volum.
me the
ingly -
hangin
tail fe;
lhan a1

Hay, d
drawn to Lin
of unusual ta
ofthe Repubj

e War year
terms of the

1\
Thayg

2
Delme

3.I
Lett‘

4
Denne

 

43
his other functions, he was head of the official society of the Capitol of

the Nation, must have tickled Hay's sense of the comic."1 Hay appre-

ciated humor; in fact, here was a master of humor.

The young secretary was witness to, and impressed by, other
great qualities of Lincoln —— his genius of compassion, his readiness to
listen, his love of justice, and his patience. This is noted wherever a
glimpse of Lincoln is provided in the letters and diary of John Hay.
Also to be noted is the development of close personal relations between
the President and Hay, that Dennett likens to that of father and son.
”They told each other stories of Illinois, and had their laughs. With
Lincoln, Hay went to the theatre where, according to the Secretary, they
carried on a 'hefty flirtation' with the girls in the wings.”2 An entry in
Hay's diary provides a remarkable insight into this relationship:

. A little after midnight, as Iwas writing those last

lines, the President came into the office laughing, with a

volume of Hood's Works in his hand, to show Nicolay and

me the little caricature, "An unfortunate Bee—ing," seem—

ingly utterly unconscious that he, with his short shirt

hanging about his long legs, and setting out behind like the

tail feathers of an enormous ostrich, was infinitely funnier

than anything in the book he was laughing at. What a man it

is! Occupied all day with matters of vast moment, deeply

anxious about the fate of the greatest army of the world,

with his own fame and future hanging on the events of the

passing hour, he yet has such a wealth of simple bonhommie

and goodfellowship, that he gets out of bed and perambulates

the house in his shirt to find us that we may share with him

the fun of poor Hood's little conceits. . .

Hay, during those first months in the White House, even though
drawn to Lincoln's temperament, probably did not suspect that this man
of unusual talent and character would ultimately prove to be the savior
of the Republic. Dennett goes so far as to suggest that Hay, throughout
the war years, did not perceive the real significance of the struggle in

terms of the fate of constitutional government and human freedom.

 

1
Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 104.

2

Dennett, John Hay, p. 39.
3.

'Letters and Diary," I, pp. 190-191.
4

Dennett, John Hay, p. 39.

 

 

 

 

However, t
unusual po
movements
ities of ind:
in the youn;
been able t
day the Wh

complete, t
An er

Mass
arriv
RhOdt
who t
is ve
stand
Carlf
Oflfis
in his
Conte
arden
adViSl

The S
1$an 5
Was VI
dress
Hades
Sugge
talkec

Anen
time Excite
James Lane
leers __ am

G011}
flag 1
me te

\
2Thay
"Let

 

44
However, the letters and diary written by Hay reveal an individual of

unusual powers of observation. The excitement resulting from troop
movements, the atmosphere of crises in the Capitol, and the personal-
ities of individuals engaged in various missions are accurately reflected
in the young secretary‘s comments. Thayer notes that "if John Hay had
been able to continue during the succeeding four years to write day by

day the White House Chronicle. . .he would have left not only the most

complete, but the most varied and picturesque of records.”1

An entry in the diary for April 26, 1861, is lifelike in its imagery:

Massachusetts and Rhode Island troops in large numbers
arrived to-day. . . . I called on Sprague, the Governor of
Rhode Island, with Nicolay. A small insignificant youth,
who bought his place; but who is certainly all right now. He
is very proud of his company, of its wealth and social
standing.

Carl Schurz was here to—day. He spoke with wild enthusiasm
of his desire to mingle in this war. He has great confidence
in his capability of arousing the enthusiasm of the young. He
contemplates the career of a great guerilla chief with
ardent longing. He objects to the taking of Charleston and
advises forays on the interior states. .

The Seventh Regiment band played gloriously on the shaven
lawn at the south front of the Executive Mansion. The scene

was very beautiful. Through the luxuriant grounds, the gaily
dressed crowd idly strolled, soldiers loafed on the prome-
nades, the martial music filled the sweet air with vague

suggestion of heroism, and Carl Schurz and the President
talked war.2

An entry for April 29, 1861, is full of the pungent aroma of war—
time excitement as Hay captures a portion of the dialogue between
James Lane of Kansas, border-fighter and brigadier—general of volun—
teers -- and Carl Schurz:

Going into Nicolay's room this morning, C. Schurz and J.

Lane were sitting. Jim was at the window, filling his soul

with gall by steady telescopic contemplation of a Sece'ssion

flag impudently flaunting Over a roof in Alexandria. 'Let

me tell you," said he to the elegant Teuton, "we have got to
Whip these scoundrels like hell, C. Schurz. They did a good

 

lThayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 94-95.
2
"Letters and Diary," I, pp. 25—26.

 

thing
flag a
blood,
”I he:
men 3
”No,

Mexic
than a
and g
bigge:
An ho
to an
month
permi
priety
pirate
to cor
a won

A hun
efforts in a
their
great]
Was a
stood‘
80 b8.(
Of all
Carl Schurz
amOng the 3
German mi,
SChurZihim
enviromnen'
abilities as ;

voters and u

 

 

 

 

45

thing stoning our men at Baltimore and shooting away the
flag at Sumter. It has set the great North a-howling for
blood, and they'll have it."

"I heard," said Schurz, "you preached a sermon to your
men yesterday.H

"No, sir! this is not time for preaching. When I went to

Mexico there were four preachers in my regiment. In less
than a week I issued orders for them all to stop preaching
and go to playing cards. In a month or so, they were the

biggest devils and best fighters I had."

An hour afterward Carl Schurz told me he was going home
to arm his clansmen for the wars. He has obtained three
months' leave of absence from his diplomatic duties, and
permission to raise a cavalry regiment. I doubt the pro-
priety of the movement. He will make a wonderful land
pirate; bold, quick, brilliant and reckless. He will be hard
to control and difficult to direct. Still, we shall see. He is
a wonderful man.1

A humorous entry for April 30, 1861, describes Lincoln's feeble

efforts in communicating with a group of Indian visitors:
. . Three Indians of the Pottawatomies called to-day upon

their great father. . . . The President amused them

greatly by airing the two or three Indian words he knew. I

was amused by his awkward efforts to make himself under-

stood by speaking bad English: e.g.--Where live now? When

go back Iowa?

Of all the visitors during these first months in the White House,
Carl Schurz was the one who most deeply impressed Hay. Schurz was
among the Sprinkling of intellectuals who arrived with the thousands of
German migrants to America resulting from the revolution of 1848.3
Schurz, himself, was a political refugee and had adapted well to the new
environment of the United States. Living now in Wisconsin and with
abilities as a scholar, politician, writer -- Schurz swayed many German

voters and was being considered by the President for a diplomatic post.4

1"Letters and Diary,” I, pp. 26-27.
2Ibid., pp. 27-28.

I Morison and Commager, The Growth of the American Republic,
. p. 501.

4Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years (New York:
Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1939), I, p. 167.

 

 

 

 

An entry in
feelings for
lawn,
After
Carl ‘
ment.
dusk 1
took t
tor, a
music
pictui

The e
and that his
Thayer stat

Schur

and dr

flouri
tility,

the m.

cosmr

John

uncon

There
w°ll1dfasci1
Bl“ if men ]
It became 0.
title he USe
WasmngtOn
wthh Profe
man'll4 An

\'
3Thay

Denn

 

 

46
An entry in Hay's diary for May 11, 1861, indicates the young secretary's

feelings for this unusual man:

. . . This afternoon the Marine Band played on the south
lawn, and Carl Schurz sat with Lincoln on the balcony.
After the President had kissed some thousand children,
Carl went into the library and deve10ped a new accomplish-
ment. He played with great skill and feeling, sitting in the
dusk twilight at the piano until the President came by, and
took him down to tea. Schurz is a wonderful man. An ora-
tor, a soldier, a philOSOpher, and exiled patriot, a skilled
musician! He has every quality of romance and of dramatic
picturesqueness. . . .

The entry reveals again the poetic, romantic tendencies of Hay
and that his new station in life had not greatly modified his true nature.

Thayer states the spell cast by Schurz over Hay was not accidental:

Schurz, though less than ten years older than Hay, had seen
and done many things. Uprooted from his native soil, he was
flourishing in the land of his adoption. He embodied versa—
tility, carried beyond the stage of the dilettante to that of
the master; he was a cosmopolite. To be versatile and
cosmOpolitan were instincts which Nature had planted in
John Hay at his birth-~ideals toward which he had been
unconsciously groping since his earliest boyhood.

There would be others like Schurz, urbane and cosmopolitan, who
would fascinate John Hay during his years of servicein the White House.

But if men like this intrigued him, it was Lincoln who dominated him.3

' an affectionate

It became obvious very soon to Hay that the ”Tycoon,'
title .he used for his chief, could effectively handle the best minds in
Washington as he came in contact with them. ”The ability to interpret,
which Professor Angell had discovered at Brown, appears in the random
notes about Lincoln which Hay jotted down in the diary. Hay knew his

”4

man. An entry on May 7, 1861, recounts how the President handled

1"Letters and Diary," I, p. 34.
2Thayer, Life and Letters, pp. 103-104.
3I_bi_d., p. 104.

4Dennett, John Hay, p. 47.

 

 

 

 

 

a grandoise

I went
news,
very

mirac
the S]
restir

Ispok
estab]
and e:
cotton
and d2
inclint
tion 0
respe,
the pr

I told]
by suc

l'For

vading
Prom
must:
the m
Whene
incapa
be one
that is
case :
ment,
ever I
Takini
majOr
He is

be an
the fut

As tin
Nico1ay Was
filling this
Nicolay, da‘
the Preside;

l‘

more

 

 

47
a grandoise scheme prOposed by Congressman O. H. Browning:

I went in to give the President some little items of Illinois
news, saying among other things that Seward was behaving
very badly. He replied with emphasis that Seward was a
miracle of meanness; calmly looking out of the window at
the smoke of two strange steamers puffing up the way,
resting the end of the telescope on his toes sublime.

I Spoke of the proposition of Browning to subjugate the South,
established a black republic in lieu of the exterminated whites,
and extend a protectorate over them while they raised our
cotton. He said: ”Some of our northerns seem bewildered
and dazzled by the excitement of the hour. Doolittle seems
inclined to think that this war is to result in the entire aboli-
tion of Slavery. Old Col. Hamilton, a venerable and most
respectable gentleman, impresses upon me most earnestly
the prOpriety of enlisting the Slaves in our army."

I told him his daily correspondence was thickly interspersed
by such suggestions.

"For my part," he said, "I consider the central idea per—
vading this struggle is the necessity that is upon us of
proving that popular government is not an absurdity. We
must settle this question now, whether, in a free government,
the minority have the right to break up the government
whenever they choose. If we fail, it will go far to prove the
incapability of the peOple to govern themselves. There may
be one consideration used in stay of such final judgment, but
that is not for us to use in advance: that there exists in our
case an instance of a vast and far-reaching disturbing ele-
ment, which the history of no other free nation will probably
ever present. That, however, is not for us to say at present.
Taking the government as we found it, we will see if the
majority can preserve it."

He is engaged in constant thought upon his Message. It will

be an exhaustive review of the questions of the hour and of

the future. . .

As time wore on, the association between Lincoln and Hay deepened.
Nicolay was absent for a few weeks during the late summer of 1863; and
during this time, Lincoln and Hay were much together. In a letter to
Nicolay, dated August 7, 1863, Hay records his growing admiration for
the President:

. . . The Tycoon isin fine whack. I have rarely seen him
more serene and busy. He is managing this war, the draft,

1”Letters and Diary," I, pp. 30—32.

 

 

 

foreigi
all at
rules

decide
firmly
deman
over.

so firr
They a
but do:
know \
power

In and
Expresses h
matters:

. . .Y
directi
Papers
militai
did. th
and Wit
machir
equally
Hay, “

Very Observe

his dial-y he

Daniel Web s

was striking;

him’ and tho:

HOWeVI
and Hay We]
suggests that

to overlook :

. 48
foreign relations, and planning

a reconstruction of the Union,
all at once.

I never knew with what tyrannous authority he
rules the Cabinet till now. The most important things he

decides, and there is no cavil. I am growing more and more
firmly convinced that the good of the country absolutely
demands that he should be kept where he is till this thing is
over. There is no man in thecountry so wise, so gentle and
so firm. I believe the hand of God placed him where he is.

They are all working against him like braves though. .
but don't seem to make anything by it.

. I believe the peOple
know what they want, and unless politics have gained in
power and lost in principle, they will have it. .

In another letter written to Nicolay on Septemberl 1, 1863, Hay

expresses his opinion regarding the Presidential handling of military
matters:

. You may talk as you please of the Abolition Cabal
directing affairs from Washington,- some well—meaning news—
papers advise the President to keep his fingers out of the
military pie, and all that sort of thing. The truth is, if he
did, the pie would be a sorry mess. The old man sits here
and wields like a backwoods Jupiter the bolts of war and the
machinery of government with a hand equally steady and
equally firm.2

Hay, who read widely and possessed a strong critical sense, was
very observant regarding the Presidential taste in literary matters. In
his diary he reported a conversation between Lincoln and Seward on
Daniel Webster, ”in which the financial sanssoucism of the great man
was strikingly prominent. Seward thought he would not live, nor Clay,
atithe as long as John Quincy Adams. The President disagreed with

him, and thought Webster will be read forever."3

However, it must be noted that the differences between Lincoln
and Hay Were more striking than the similarities. Hay's biographer
suggests that while appreciating Lincoln's unique greatness, "Hay had

to overlook many standards upon which he himself Set great store.”4

1"Letters and Diary," 1, pp. 90—91.
233%., p. 102.
Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 109.
Dennett, John Hay, p. 49.

 

 

—---

Despite tht
secretary,
ities of his

In C(
resp
valut
colnt
writi
Linc
was
was
achit
serv
with
But i
ChiEf. ther
hence that
that grew ,
as secreta:
he see him
0f the natic
the sense 1
HaY'S desc
Spoke at th
011 01
Nicol
atti t
W. It
At B:
Just
a hit
talks

 

49'
Despite the fact that Lincoln must have had a great impact on his young

secretary, there is nothing to suggest that Hay assumed any of the qual—

ities of his character:

In coming to View Lincoln with affection, and profound
respect, Hay did not in any way compromise his own set of
values. Imitative though he was, he never tried to be Lin-
colnesque, and there are only a few lines of his published
writings which reveal the mark of his association with
Lincoln. Hay, young as he was, was his own man. Lincoln
was less an influence that an episode in a life which also
was exceptional. Ultimately, on his own account, John Hay
achieved greater distinction than any other man who ever
served as a secretary to a President of the United States,
with the exception of the Adamses.

But if Hay did not adopt the characteristics and attributes of his
chief, there was undoubtedly a pervasive influence of the Lincoln expe-
rience that remained with Hay the rest of his life. It was an influence
that grew with the passage of time. It is evident that Hay in the years
as secretary to the President did not take his role too seriously nor did
he see himself in the portentious role as a prime mover in the affairs
of the nation. This somewhat light—hearted approach to his position and
the sense of being an observer rather than a participant is revealed in
Hay's description of the trip to Gettysburg, where President Lincoln
spoke at the dedication of the Soldiers' Cemetery:

On our train were the President, Seward, Usher and Blair;

Nicolay and myself; Mercier and Admiral Raymond; Bertin-

atti and Capt. Isotta, and Lieut. Martinez and C. M. Wise;

W. McVeagh; McDougal of Canada; and one or two others.
At Baltimore, Schenck's staff joined us.

Just before we arrived at Gettysburg, the President got into
a little talk with McVeagh about Missouri affairs. McVeagh
talked radicalism until he learned he was talking recklessly.

At Gettysburg the President went to Mr. Wills, who expected
him, and our party broke up. McVeagh, young Stanton and I
foraged around for a while-—walked out to the College, got a
chafing dish of oysters, then some supper, and, finally, loafing
around to the Court House, where Lamon was holding a
meeting of marshals, we found Forney, and went around to
his place, . . . and drank a little whiskey with him. He had
been drinking a good deal during the day, and was getting to

 

 

feel
on It
pitch
truth
time
He 5
your.
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there
laugl
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sere]
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and 5
he w
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I stai
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Imprt

In the
“the sere
Forneyls s
gravity," ']
this low cc
scene 0f co
Shakespear

Hay's
isbrief. A
Lincoln's C
Segretary.

““10“ Perl

In the
and Si
fOrIne

1,I
2 Let
Thay

 

50
feel a little ugly and dangerous. He was particularly bitter
on Montgomery Blair. McVeagh was telling him that he
pitched into the President coming up, and told him some
truths. He said the President got a good deal of that, from
time to time, and needed it.

He says, ”Hay, you are a fortunate man. You have kept
yourself aloof from your office. I know an old fellow over
seventy, who was Private Secretary to Madison. He thought
there was something solemn and memorable in it. Hay has
laughed through his term.". . .

We went out after a while, following the music to hear the
serenades. The President appeared at the door, said half
a dozen words meaning nothing, and went in. Seward, who
was staying around the corner at Harper's, was called out,
and spoke so indistinctly that I did not hear a word of what
he was saying. Forney and McVeagh were still growling
about Blair. We went back to Forney's room, having picked
up Nicolay, and drank more whiskey. Nicolay saying his little
song of the ”Three Thieves," and we then sang ”John Brown.”
At last we prOposed that Forney should make a Speech, and
two or three started out. . . to get a band to serenade him.
Istaid with him; as did Stanton and McVeagh. He still
growled quietly, and I thought he was going to do something
imprudent.

In the same entry in his diary, Hay proceeds to give a description
of the serenade that followed. An account is given of the "bibulous
Forney's speech, in which, in tipsy fashion, he mingled drollery and

f

gravity.’ Thayer describes the scene as ”quite ShakeSpearean. .
this low comedy interlude, coming just before the stately, dramatic
scene of consecration. Perhaps, after all, Nature sometimes emulates

Shakespeare. "2

Hay's commentary on the event of the dedication of the cemetery
is brief. Although he possessed a fine literary sense, the delivery of
Lincoln's Gettysburg Address had little, if any, impact on the young
secretary. His description of the events of November 19, 1863, is
almost perfunctory:

In the morning I got a beast and rode out withthe President

and suite to the Cemetery in procession. The procession
formed itself in an orphanly sort of way, and moved out with

1

"Letters and Diary," I, pp. 120-123.
2

Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 206.

 

 

Perl
the Gettys
others fail
fact, comp
a dozen pa

oration.

It is
and menus
0f great it
entitled "R
the Divine
However, j
1871 in Cm

”1658 word

The :
the S
Spiri
quest
lime
never
than

to 0t]
Prep]
in the
than

this <
hone:
with

Carri

\1
"LG
2
Dem

 

 

51

very little help from anybody; and after a little delay

Mr. Everett took his place on the stand,-—and Mr. Stockton

made a prayer which thought it was an oration,--and

Mr. Everett spoke as he always does, perfectly; and the

President, in a firm, free way, with more grace than is his

wont, said his half-dozen lines of consecration,—-and the

music wailed, and we went home through crowded and cheering

streets, and all the particulars are in the daily papers.1

Perhaps Hay can be excused for not grasping the significance of
the Gettysburg Address. In retrospect, ”it should be remembered that
others failed with him; and it should be recorded that Hay did not, in
fact, completely lose it."2 Many years later, Hay and Nicolay devoted
a dozen pages in their monumental study of Lincoln to the famous

oration.

It is to be noted that Hay kept for himself very few of the letters
and manuscripts associated with Lincoln. One, which he regarded as
of great importance in his interpretation of Lincoln‘s personality, is
entitled "Reflections on Providence" —- later renamed "Meditation on

the Divine Will" and discussed fully in Abraham Lincoln. A History.

 

However, Hay describes the contents of the manuscript as early as
1871 in one of his public lectures, ”The Heroic Age in Washington," in

these words:

The solemnity which you see in the Gettysburg address and
the Second Inaugural is but a shadow of the momentous
spiritual contests which he fought out alone with his own
questioning soul. I have here a paper written by him, in a
time of profound national gloom, with religious self-searching,
never intended to be published nor to be seen by other eyes
than his own. To-night for the first time it is made known
to others than myself. You shall see how this patriarch and
prOphet wrestled in secret with his God . . . Iknow of nothing
in the whole range of history or literature more remarkable
than this paper-~this unflinching facing of absolute truth—-
this cold cross-examination of omnipotence. Many men are
honest with each other. This one was mercilessly honest
with himself. In these deeply-solemn musings, which
carried him down to the very bed-rock of things, he passed

1"Letters and Diary," 1, pp. 124-125.
2Dennett, John Hay, p. 48.

 

a la:
they
of hi
The]
style; a th
coln text t.

follows:

The
Clair
be,a
thee
it is
entt
insti
adap
that
VVliiS
the n
or d
confi
victo

Hay',
dEpth and l
impact this
acter is ha
“01‘ did he
Pr8sident
character'l
Who regem
iIlsight Can
this re1a1
personaliti
H0u39_

x
- FPO}

2
Johr
‘% (Nev

 

52
a large portion of his time during the Summer of 1862,- and
they produced the act which is more his own than any other
of his life—~the Proclamation of Emancipation.

There is suggested in this passage by Hay an echo of the Lincoln
style; a theme of sharp contrasts yet tinged with subtle irony. The Lin-
coln text that Hay referred to, "Meditation of the Divine Will," is as
follows:

The will of God prevails. In great contests each party

claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may

be, and one must be, wrong. God cannot be for and against

the same thing at the same time. In the present civil war

it is quite possible that God's purpose is something differ—

ent from the purpose of either party; and yet the human

instrumentalities, working just as they do, are of the best

adaptation to effect his purpose. I am almost ready to say

that this is probably true; that God wills this contest, and

wills that it shall not end yet. By his mere great power on

the minds of the now contestants, he could have either spared

or destroyed the Union without a human contest. Yet the

contest began. And, having begun, he could give the final

victory to either side any day. Yet the contest proceeds.2

Hay's comments on Lincoln's text reveal an appreciation for the
depth and p0wer of this great soul, at least in retrospect. How much
impact this awareness of Lincoln‘s greatness had on Hay‘s own char—
acter is hard to estimate. Certainly he did not try to emulate Lincoln,
nor did he in later years associate with men who resembled ”the
President either in externals, or in the more subtle qualities of his
character." Hay tended to gravitate toward men like Seward, or those
who resembled his old college teacher, James B. Angell. Yet much
insight can be gained about Hay the man not only through an examination
of his relationship with the President but through his reactions to the
personalities and events encountered during his tenure in the White

House.

 

1From unpublished galleys in the archives of Brown University
Library.

2John G. Nicolay and John Hay (eds.), Abraham Lincoln, Complete
Works (New York: The Century Co., 1894), II, pp. 243—244.

 

 

 

As p
observer .
around hir
ever, to m
and hadun
with whon
which mor
plex persc
in overall
brought in‘
rest of his
time to m
Lincoln to
than most I
to maturit
degree."1
Yet, again
temperam,
he could th
tholights. ":

Anot
diaries ant
fESsor An;
Brown Unit
for their ]
Portraitum
111031; VaPie
know1edge
Lianlnl I
the PFtisid

 

53
As previously mentioned, Hay seemed to take the role of the

observer in terms of the great events that were constantly swirling
around him. That ”he laughed his way through his term" seems, how-
ever, to miss the point. Hay was a keen observer of the human scene
and had uncommon sensitivity regarding his insight into the personalities
with whom he associated. His likes and dislikes provide a clue by
which more accurately can be gained an understanding of his own com-
plex personality. Although Hay contrasted sharply with the President
in overall qualities of character, yet the association with the President
brought into sharp relief the dominant traits that would identify Hay the
rest of his life. It may be that Hay, the dreamy poet, needed a longer
time to- mature; and perhaps it was this very quality that attracted
Lincoln to Hay. Dennett notes that "although John Hay lingered longer
than most young men on the threshold over which one passes from youth
to maturity, he won the confidence of Abraham Lincoln to a marked
degree."1 Here was a companion that the President could laugh with.
Yet, again, should be noted the almost paradoxical contrast in Hay's
temperament in the fact that Lincoln chose him ”as one before whom
he could think out loud and whose attentive ear helped him to clear his
thoughts. "2

Another characteristic is revealed through a reading of Hay's
diaries and letters; his ability to interpret. As mentioned before, Pro-
fessor Angell had discovered this trait in his young student while at
Brown University. The diaries and letters written by Hay are remarkable
for their lucidity and "are in no way out of line with the composite
portraiture of Lincoln in the war period which has emerged from the

"3 If Hay did not yet have complete

most varied and detailed searches.
knowledge of himself, there is no question that he "knew his man,H
Lincoln. As mentioned before, the recognition of the great qualities of

the President did not mean that Hay necessarily came to appreciate

 

1Ibid., p. 49.
21bid.
3 '“.
Ibld.

 

 

Lincoln, c

a closer a

Sew;
thei
Sew;
didi
appr
thel
1861
whic

t-3{>'—3$t£t>

to.ha
para
supp

IfHa
equally int

1 wis
Conn
hch‘
the C
eral
Payh
Pres
the d
State
Once
andt

Hay 1;
a matu]
reflectmns

d

1 me:
Wlthc
of th
Cent

 

 

 

54
Lincoln, certainly not at first. Hay's biographer states that Hay had

a closer affinity for the Secretary of State, William H. Seward:

Seward was Hay's kind of man, carefully tailored, a man of
the world. Indeed, one suspects that Hay came to appreciate
Seward, in spite of his strong brandy and cigars, which he
did not like, more quickly and more easily than he came to
appreciate the President, who was in all superficial respects
the kind of man that Hay never desired to be. In December,
1861 . . . Hay inscribed to the Secretary of State a sonnet
which concluded:

And so, a generous peOple, at the last,

Will hail the power they did not comprehend.
Thy fame will broaden through the centuries;
As, storm and billowy tumult overpast,

The moon rules calmly o'er the conquered seas.

. . . Several months elapsed before the young man appears
to have recorded any estimate of Abraham Lincoln in com-
parable terms, and, strangely enough, the emancipator never
supplied him with a theme for verse.

If Hay admired Seward, his dislike for General McClellan was as

equally intense. The entry in his diary for November 13, 1861, reads:

lwish here to record what I consider a portent of evil to
come. The President, Governor Seward, and I went over to
McClellan‘s home to-night. The servant at the door said
the General was at the wedding of Colonel Wheaton at Gen-
eral Buell's and would soon return. We went in, and without
paying particular attention to the porter who told him the
President was waiting to see him, went up-stairs, passing
the door of the room where the President and Secretary of
State were seated. They waited about half an hour, and sent
once more a servant to tell the General they were there;
and the answer came that the General had gone to bed.2

Hay's following comment in the same entry reflects the judgment
of a mature, perceptive man. The following statements are not the
reflections of a ”dreamy poet.H

I merely record this unparalleled insolence of epaulettes

without comment. It is the first indication I have yet seen

of the threatened supremacy of the military authorities.
Coming home, I spoke to the President about the matter,

11bid., p. 52.
2"Letters and Diary," I, p. 52.

 

 

but
wert
and y
In th
obvious co
It is just a
coln's tole
example, i
at the hanc

Hay'
noninvolve
than any 01
in constitu
did not see
during the
the Conflic
The entry ;

On at
road:
have
the (
voral
Viies
ingly
pens
Style
SCOtc
But c
I‘olls
Patri

But e

\d.

 

 

 

 

 

55
but he seemed not to have noticed it specially, saying it
were better at this time not to be making points of etiquette
and personal dignity.

In the foregoing passage, Lincoln's "invincible patience” is in
obvious contrast to Hay's tendency to pronounce immediate judgment.
It is just as obvious that Hay, at this point in his career, lacked Lin-
coln's tolerance and genius for compassion. ". . . McClellan, for
example, fared harder at the hand of Hay, the biographer, than he did

at the hand of Lincoln, the Commander-in-Chief.”

Hay's attitude toward the Civil War suggests his tendency for
noninvolvement, or being an observer rather than a participant, more
than any other event. As noted before, ”the significance of the struggle
in constitutional government and in the long march of human freedom
did not seem to lodge in his thought." There is an entry in his diary
during the early days of the war which "reveals how another aspect of

the conflict offended his fastidious sense and moved him to ridicule.”

The entry is for April 24, 1861:

On account of the stoppage of trains, on the Northern Rail-
roads, we have nothing this morning but a Southern mail. I
have been reading it with new surprise and astonishment at
the depth of degradation of which the human mind, in unfa-
vorable conditions of existence, is capable. Nothing but the
Vilest folly & feculence, that might have simmered glimmer-
ingly in the narrow brain of a chimpanzee, flow from the
pens of our epistolary Southern Brethern. . . . There is
style in cussing as in other things, and elegant oaths, as the
Scotch baroness said are "a great sett-off to conversation."
But only a gentleman can swear with grace, and blaSphemy
rolls as. awkward and malformed from a seceding pen, as
patriotism or purity from the lips of James Gordon Bennett.3

But even as an observer, Hay was still stirred by the grim ear-

nestness of the events around him. Dennett notes that the young secretary

11bid., p. 53.
zDennett, John Hay, p. 49.
3Ibid., p. 40.

 

 

 

was "stirre

aristocracy

I wen
heroe
other:
dress
sever
consc
about
Comm:
honor
purch:
beggai
their
hands
never
setan
good I
the So;
iSthe

I

There
Hay had a c
temPhramen
Staff eventua
Promotjcms
notused fliex
Deane the
PNSident’ E
field- Positi.
0f Washingtc
the C0111‘1t1‘y ;
d°d§e or eSc
Whom-2e 0r

“duals who ‘

It is to
hiown by his

1\
21bit.
Ada

 

56
was ”stirred in a characteristic way, for Hay greatly respected
aristocracy." He wrote on April 30, 1861:

I went up to the Interior Department to see the Rhodian
heroes, I saw Goddard, Ho pin, DeWolf, Sackett, Pearce and
others of the whilom [sic loungers of Westminster, all
dressed in the coarse blue flannel and all doing duty, the
severest duty, without a murmur, and without any apparent
consciousness that there was anything at all remarkable
about it.

Scattered through the rubbish and camp-litter of
Company C‘s quarters there was enough of breeding and

honor to retone the society of the Gulf and wealth enough to
purchase the entire state of Florida, and take the poor
beggarly Montgomery loan. When men like these leave
their horses, their women and their wine, harden their
hands, eat crackers for dinner, wear a shirt for a week and
never black their shoes,-—all for a principle—-it is hard to
set any bounds to the possibilities of such an army. The
good blood of the North must now be mingled with that of

the South in battle and the first fight will determine which
is the redder.1

There is nothing in his diary or letters, however, to indicate that

Hay had a desire to join them. He was "never either physically or
temperamentally a military man."

Hay's position of the White House
Staff eventuated in his becoming commissioned a major with successive

promotions to lieutenant colonel and colonel. Although the term was
not used then, it was somewhat the equivalent of being a military aide.
Despite the rank and the running of some military errands for the
President, Hay was safe from the smoke and turmoil of service in the
field. Positions of this type prompted Gurowski to write: ”The streets
of Washington, the bureaus in the Departments, and I am certain that
the country at large is also, so to speak, filled with young men who
dodge or escape the military service. It is a shame if those in power

patronize or yield to such unmanly practice and keep as clerks indi-
viduals who could well go to the field."2

It is to Hay‘s credit, however, that in later years, although always
known by his military title, he made no pretensions or claims based on

13331.” p. 40.

Adam Gurowski, Diary 1863-‘64-‘65 (Boston: Lee & Shepard,
1862-66), III, p. 294.

 

 

 

military service.

at a soldiers' re

I declined
would be ple
myself, and
conspicuous
obscure and

debt toward

Some refere
Hay at this partic
the nation‘s capitol.
"It has been said i
as it found him."2
Lincoln than it was
tary sampled the s

that another facet

Dennett sug
John Hay very muc
seemed to be espet
When Hay had beco
who had known hir
young secretary as
St. Louis Dispatch
reporter wrote: "‘
toppishly dressed.
physically or ment:

abrain active and

 

1113-19
2Nicolay and
Dennett, J31

 

57
military service. Hay was reflecting an inherent honesty in a speech
at a soldiers‘ reunion in Cleveland in 1879 when he said:

I declined making a speech, for I knew, of course, there
would be plenty here who were better worth hearing than
myself, and many more whose service in the field was more
conSpicuous and efficient than mine, which was certainly
obscure and insignificant enough. . Like thousands of
others, I went where I was sent, and did what I was ordered,
without gaining any glory or establishing any claim upon the
consideration of my fellow—citizens, and when I was mustered

out of the army, I regarded the Nation as acquitted of any
debt toward me thenceforth and forever.1

Some reference should be made to another influence on the life of
Hay at this particular stage in his life: The influence of residence in
the nation‘s capitol. Nicolay and Hay, the biographers of Lincoln, wrote:

"It has been said that a residence in Washington leaves no manprecisely
as it found him.”2

Dennett comments that "the saying was less true of
Lincoln than it was of Hay."

During his leisure hours, the young secre—
tary sampled the social life of Washington and it is through this activity
that another facet of the Hay personality is revealed.

Dennett suggests that "all through his life people either liked
John Hay very much or they disliked him in equal degree." This
seemed to be especially true during the early years in Washington.
When Hay had become famous as the result of his literary work, those
who had known him then began to remember their impressions of the
young secretary as he had appeared in Washington during the war. A
St. Louis Dispatch article for May 30, 1871, is quoted by Dennett. The
reporter wrote: ”We saw a young, good—looking fellow, well, almost
fOppishly dressed, with by no means a low opinion of himself, either
physically or mentally, with plenty of self-confidence for anybody's use,

a brain active and intellectual, with a full budget of small talk for the

llbid.

Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, I, p. 294.
Dennett, John Hay, p. 54.

 

 

 
    
   
     
   
    
   

ladies or anybody
interests of 'numb

In his biogra
had known Hay mo
one way or the 0th
impact. A more I
Sedalia (Mo.) Tim
urbane, polished,
intellectual youth:

"Though he
and went mu
his twelve or
House . . . 3
during those
club house a
the same witt
fellow. No 0
had decided

One editor,
Springfield §_ta_t§_J_o_
sion upon Western
make himself felt a

is best summed up

America cou
education for
world. It we
might easily
Nicolay, and
with the Pre:
earnest, abs
to Polly Peir
ley County. ‘

 

H

Lbi_d., p. 54
1b___m., p. 55
IE9:
Ib__id.

“3W“

 

 

58

ladies or anybody else, and both eyes keeping a steady lookout for the
interests of ‘number one."'1

In his biography of Hay, Dennett quotes other neWSpapermen who
had known Hay more intimately. While some had not been impressed
one way or the other, there were journalists on whom Hay had made an
impact. A more favorable impression of Hay was published in the
Sedalia (M0,) Times on May 11, 1871. The reporter remembered an

urbane, polished, witty, vivacious, smooth-faced, ruddy—cheeked, and
intellectual youth:

"Though he constantly pursued his belles lettres studies
and went much into society, he was a hard worker also, as
his twelve or fourteen hours a day of hard work in the White
House . . . sufficiently attested. . . We say much of Hay
during those years, most of the time boarding at the same
club house and dining in the same mess.

He was always
the same witty, genial, agreeable, effervescent and insinuating

fellow. No one could be with him and not discover that he
had decided genius and unusual literary culture.”2

One editor, remarking on Hay's appointment as editor of the
Springfield State Journal in 1868, stated: "If he makes as much impres—

sion upon Western readers as he did upon Washington ladies, he will
make himself felt as a journalist."3

Social Washington‘s impact on Hay
is best summed up by Tyler Dennett:

America could have furnished at that time no more ideal
education for a young man who desired to be a man of the
world. It was, however, the kind of an education which
might easily have been ruinous. Hay, steadied by the elder
Nicolay, and never forgetting the dignity of his association
with the President, kept his head. The breeding of thrifty,
earnest, abstemious pioneers, back through the Leonards
to Polly Peirce, and through the Hays to old Adam of Berke—
ley County, Virginia, was beginning to show.

 

115101., p. 54.
2151a,, p. 55.
315m.

Ibid.

 

 

If Hay pres
inWashington, it

nature of the youn

provided the semi
of his speeches an
tion of his tempera
directly in the wa
of his mind, relat
perceptive. In lat
ments ever made
following passage

perception that wa

 

retary to Lincoln:

Historical j

either very i
sight of. Mi

of history ex
board, alwa

element of p
begun, domi
without a mat
credit, withm
or public sup
be no army

methodical h
statecraft are
to talk of mil:
ference of a:
campaign wit

Above all, thy
daily and ”often h<
obviously, as notet
provided him a kno
It also provided hi
and deeds that wer

w

1

Nicolay and

 

 

If Hay presented a facade of Ziglentantism to his contemporaries
in Washington, it served only to hide the more serious and observing
nature of the young man. These early years of his life in Washington
provided the seminal experiences that would bear fruit in the content
of his speeches and writings in the years to come. Through a combina-
tion of his temperament and circumstances, Hay did not involve himself
directly in the war. It should be noted, however, that the involvement
of his mind, relating to the events swirling around him, was deep and
perceptive. In later years, Hay wrote one of the most incisive state—
ments ever made regarding the relationship of war to politics. The
following passage is typical of Hay's perception, regarding the war, a
perception that was already beginning to form while he was yet a sec—
retary to Lincoln:

Historical judgment of war is subject to an inflexible law,
either very imperfectly understood or very constantly lost
sight of. Military writers love to fight over the campaigns
of history exclusively by the rules of the professional chess-
board, always subordinating, often totally ignoring, the
element of politics. This is a radical error. Every war is
begun, dominated, and ended by political considerations;
without a nation, without a government, without money or
credit, without popular enthusiasm which furnishes volunteers,
or public support which endures conscription, there could
be no army and no war--neither beginning nor end of
methodical hostilities. War and politics, campaign and
statecraft are Siamese twins, inseparable and interdependent;
to talk of military ope rations without the direction and inter—
ference of an Administration is as absurd as to plan a
campaign without recruits, pay, or rations.

Above all, the most important influence on the young Hay was the
daily and ”often hourly companionship" of Abraham Lincoln. Quite
obviously, as noted before, his position as secretary to the President
provided him a knowledge of the shaping of military and political plans.
It also provided him an opportunity to observe the collective motives

and deeds that were ”woven into the fabric of the Drama." Most of all,

 

Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, IV, 359-360.

 

 

it "enabled him to o

and character of the

world. ' '

If there were f
were, however, a be
about the President,
House, were crystal
first part of the spec
adescription of "the
astrange mixture of
were perhaps at bott
touch of that deep e
After commenting o
to give a word portr

change in values the

Upon all but t
of unusual p0
only in the cas
tional standar
political hostil
ears became u

The evidence c
he maintained,
singular dignit
versation. Ch
one always fel
power which n
In his relation
was the maste
stantly had to
them it was b:
advised was it
highest cultur
primacy there
before him. i
sentiment of 1
though I was 2'
was safety in

 

1Thayer, 1:32
2Addresses (

 

 

 

60
it ”enabled him to observe, at closest range, the working of the heart

and character of the ruler who has had no peer in the Anglo-Saxon

world. "1

If there were few similarities between Hay and Lincoln, there
were, however, a boundless empathy and appreciation. Hay's feelings
about the President, while taking shape during his years in the White
House, were crystalized in a speech delivered some years later. The
first part of the speech dealt with the daily life of the White House and
a description of "the unprecedented rush of office-seekers, inSpired by
a strange mixture of enthusiasm and greed, pushed by motives which
were perhaps at bottom selfish, but which had nevertheless a curious
touch of that deep emotion which had stirred the heart of the nation. . .”
After commenting on the literary preferences of Lincoln, Hay proceeded
to give a word portrait of the President which reflects, perhaps, the

change in values the years had produced in Hay himself:

Upon all but two classes the President made the impression
of unusual power as well as of unusual goodness. He failed
only in the case of those who judged men by a purely conven-
tional standard of breeding, and upon those so poisoned by
political hostility that the testimony of their own eyes and
ears became untrustworthy. .

The evidence of all the men admitted to his intimacy is that
he maintained, without the least effort or assumption, a
singular dignity and reserve in the midst of his easiest con—
versation. Charles A. Dana says, ”Even in his freest moments
one always felt the presence of a will and an intellectual
power which maintained the ascendancy of the President.‘'
In his relations to his Cabinet "it was always plain that he
was the master and they were the subordinates. They con-
stantly had to yield to his will, and if he ever yielded to
them it was because they convinced him that the course they
advised was judicious and appropriate." While men of the
highest culture and position thus recognized his intellectual
primacy there was no man so humble as to feel abashed
before him. Frederick Douglass beautifully expressed the
sentiment of the plain people in his company: "I feel as
though I was in the presence of a big brother and that there
was safety in his atmosphere.

 

lThayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 184.
2Addresses of John Hay, pp. 336—338.

 

 

—

The remaini
the changes wroug

responsibilities:

As time wor
no one of all
more appare
of the nation
from disappc
from the ope
anger of disc
distress and
in which he v
of the most t
to give order
man of order
terable wast
The cry of ti
the awful re

of an imperi
not make hi

sum of burns

Under this f
changedusoa‘

 

 

when the ch

a very differ
one who had ‘
same kindly,
but the bOiStt
year; the eye
tous subjects
surroundings

This change
life-masks--
April, 1860,

spring of 18f
for his year:
from‘fat, but
mouth is rea
nose is broa
a face full of
is so sad ant
sculptor Aug
it, that it we
living face,

thin, and let
mouth is fix
one on whon
victory is 01
unspeakable

 

 

 

61
The remaining part of the speech is montage-like in describing

the changes wrought in Lincoln as the result of his Presidential

responsibilities:

As time wore on and the war held its terrible course, upon
no one of all those who lived through it were its effects
more apparent than upon the President. He bore the sorrows
of the nation in his own heart; he suffered deeply not only
from disappointments, from treachery, from hope deferred,
from the open assaults of enemies, and from the sincere
anger of discontented friends, but also from the world-wide
distress and affliction which flowed from the great conflict
in which he was engaged and which he could not evade. One
of the most tender and compassionate of men, he was forced
to give orders which cost thousands of lives; by nature a
man of order and thrift, he saw the daily spectacle of unut-
terable waste and destruction which he could not prevent.
The cry of the widow and the orphan was always in his ears;
the awful responsibility resting upon him as the protector
of an imperiled republic kept him true to his duty, but could
not make him unmindful of the intimate details of that vast
sum of human misery involved in a civil war.

Under this frightful ordeal his demeanor and disposition
changed—-so gradually that it would be impossible to say
when the change began; but he was in mind, body, and nerves
a very different man at the second inauguration from the
one who had taken the oath in 1861. He continued always the
same kindly, genial, and cordial spirit he had been at first;
but the boisterous laughter became less frequent year by
year; the eye grew veiled by constant meditation on momen—
tous subjects; the air of reserve and detachment from his
surroundings increased. He aged with great rapidity.

This change is shown with startling distinctness by two
life—masks--the one made by Leonard W. Volk in Chicago,
April, 1860, the other by Clark Mills in Washington, in the
spring of 1865. The first is of a man of fifty-one, and young
for his years. The face has a clean, firm outline; it is free
from'fat, but the muscles are hard and full; the large mobile
mouth is ready to speak, to shout, or laugh; the bold, curved
nose is broad and substantial, with spreading nostrils; it is
a face full of life, of energy, of vivid aspiration. The other
is so sad and peaceful in its infinite repose that the famous
sculptor Augustus Saint—Gaudens insisted, when he first saw
it, that it was a death—mask. The lines are set, as if the
living face, like the copy, had been in bronze; the nose is
thin, and lengthened by the emaciation of the cheeks; the
mouth is fixed like that of an archaic statue; a look as of
one on whom sorrow and care had done their worst without
Victory is on all the features; the whole expression is of
unspeakable sadness and all—sufficing strength. Yet the

 

 

 

 

peace is not
passeth unde

There is 501
foregoing passage.
ancholy; and his dc
the biography of Li

This taint of
Lincoln; it n
early settler
circumstanm
ness in whict
went on. . .
which easily
sustained ch
very little.
observations
"They are at
times join in
of their diss
quency. . .
you do not e
laughs."2

 

 

Perhaps it w
Hay to make an ext]
ation of the Presic'
Lee at Appomatto:
decision is surpri
weariness with We
reason, he acceptt
on March 22, 1865
brother, Charles:
You have prl
Paris as Se<
able way of 1
in any even
aSpects of If
putting them
a few month

w

1M. pp. 3
Nicolay an

A

 

62
peace is not the dreadful peace of death; it is the peace that
passeth understanding.
There is something vaguely descriptive of Hay himself in the
foregoing passage. He, like Lincoln, was given to periods of deep mel—

ancholy; and his description of "the taint of constitutional sadness” in

 

the biography of Lincoln could very well apply to John Hay:

This taint of constitutional sadness was not peculiar to
Lincoln; it may be said to have been endemic among the
early settlers of the West. It had its origin partly in the
circumstances of their lives, the severe and dismal loneli-
ness in which their struggle for existence for the most part
went on. . . . They occasionally burst out into wild frolic,
which easily assumed the form of comic outrage, but of the
sustained cheerfulness of social civilized life they knew
very little. One of the few pioneers who have written their
observations of their own people, John L. McConnell, says,
"They are at the best not a cheerful race; though they some-
times join in festivities, it is but seldom, and the wildness
of their dissipation is too often in proportion to its infre—

quency. . . . Acquainted with the character of the pioneer,
you do not expect him to smile much, but now and then he
laughs."2

Perhaps it was out of such a period of depression that compelled
Hay to make an extraordinary decision. Afull month before the assasin-
ation of the President and just a few weeks prior to the surrender of
Lee at Appomattox, Hay decided to quit his post with Lincoln. His
decision is surprising in retrOSpect, but the evidence suggests his
weariness with Washington and a desire for a change. Whatever the
reason, he accepted an appointment as Secretary of Legation at Paris
on March 22, 1865. Mention of the change is in a letter written to his
brother, Charles:

You have probably seen from the papers that I am to go to

Paris as Secretary of Legation. It is a pleasant and honor-

able way of leaving my present post which I should have left

in any event very soon. I am thoroughly sick of certain

aspects of life here, which yOu will understand without my

putting them on paper, and I was almost ready, after taking
a few months‘ active service in the field, to go back to

 

lIbid., pp. 338-341.
Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, I, pp. 187-189.

 

 

 

would coinc'

As Dennett n
seem hardly to ha
responsibilities w
sonal staff an ass
There is nothing i

decision.

As mention
and indecision, co
grapher states th:
routine and giving
all contributed to '
later in a letter to
for leaving:

It gives me

three times

tape career

may have b

nature-~but

shoat all In
other men's

w

1“Letters a
2Dennett, J;
3M.» p. 55

A

63

Warsaw and try to give the Vineyard experiment a fairtrial,
when the Secretary of State sent for me and offered me this
position abroad. It was entirely unsolicited and unexpected.
I had no more idea of it than you have. But I took a day or
two to think it over, the matter being a little pressing,——as
the Secretary wanted to let Mr. Bigelow know what he was to
expect- -and at last concluded that I would accept. The Presi—
dent requested me to stay with him a month or so longer, to
get him started with the reorganized office, which I shall do,

and shall sail probably in June. . .

I very much fear that all my friends will disapprove this
step of mine, but if they knew all that induced me to it they

would coincide.1

As Dennett notes, ". . . the prospects, when Hay made his decision,
seem hardly to have warranted the conclusion that the President's great
responsibilities were over, and that he could easily spare from his per—
sonal staff an assistant who had served with him from the beginning.”2

There is nothing in his letters or diary to indicate the reasons for his

decision.

As mentioned before, Hay suffered from periods of depression
and indecision, comparable to those which affected Lincoln. Hay's bio-
grapher states that this characteristic, in addition to his dislike of
routine and giving "his constant attention over a long period to anything,"
all contributed to the making of the final decision to quit. Several years

later in a letter to his friend Nicolay, Hay may have provided the reason

for leaving:

It gives me a shudder to think that there have been two or
three times in my life when I stood on the brink of a red—
tape career. It may have been accident that saved me. It
may have been an underlying protest of my own Illinois
nature--but that danger any how is passed. I may be a poor
Shoat all my days, but I shall never wear a livery, or do
other men's work, if I know myself.

 

1"Letters and Diary,” I, p. 253.
2Dennett, John Hay, pp. 57—58.
31bid., p. 58.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This passa

routine, but his d
to classify them
a period of melah
intolerable grind.
in the years to fol
His decisio
the President, no
was the Secretar

offered the way of

The tragic e
in the Lincoln bio
day, April 14, 186
noted, however, t
bed-room at 453
the death of the
characteristic of
circle, in fact, in
was reluctant to w
tant to shoulder hi
at least, should ha

Hay describt

As the dawr
fresher beat
then was sca
group of stat
moaning, wt
look of unst
At twenty-ti
the silence

Dr. Gurley

The widow c
her son and

lung, p. 58:
an, an 4‘
Nicolay ant

A

64
This passage reflects Hay's fear of becoming trapped in dull

routine, but his duties were of such a varied nature that it is difficult
to classify them as related to a ”red—tape career. Perhaps when in

a period of melahcholy, he ”may have come to regard his work as an
intolerable grind." Hay was to make a number of decisions of this type

in the years to follow.

His decision to leave evidently did not cost him the friendship of
the President, nor "did it involve the loss of Seward's confidence, for it
was the Secretary who, doubtless with the approval of the President,

offered the way of escape."1

The tragic end of his association with Lincoln is described by Hay
in the Lincoln biography. The details of the assassination on Good Fri—
day, April 14, 1865, are too familiar to be repeated here. It should be
noted, however, that "on the morning of April 15, 1865, in the little hall
bed-room at 453 Tenth Street, when the Surgeon General pronounced
the death of the President, there were twenty witnesses. . . . It was
characteristic of Hay that he stood, not in the front but in the outer
circle, in fact, in the corner of the room behind the head of the bed. He
was reluctant to witness human suffering, but he was even more reluc—
tant to shoulder himself forward in any crowd. It was proper that he,

at least, should have been there."
Hay describes the final moment:

As the dawn came, and the limplight grew pale in the
fresher beams, his pulse began to fail; but his face even
then was scarcely more haggard than those of the sorrowmg
group of statesmen and generals around him. IHlS automatic
moaning, which had continued through the night, ceased; a
look of unspeakable peace came upon his worn features.
At twenty-two minutes after seven he died. Stanton broke
the silence by saying, "Now he belongs to the ages.

Dr. Gurley kneeled by the bedside and prayed fervently.
The widow came in from the adjoining room supported by3
her son and cast herself with loud outcry on the dead body.

 

lIbid., p. 58.
Ibid., pp. 46—47.
Nicolay and Hay, Abraham Lincoln, X, pp. 301-302.

 

 

 

 

The Linco

is best summed

. . . He fai
other hand
with Amer
led off into
unreal and
already di
would have
that, while
end, becom

w

1its. p. 49

A

65

**>I<******>k**

The Lincoln years were over. The impact of those years on Hay

is best summed up by Dennett:

. He failed to learn Lincoln's political sagacity. On the
other hand, it may be that this association for four years
with American democracy incarnate held Hay from being
led off into what would have been in the United States an
unreal and alien world of aristocracy, toward which he had
already displayed inclinations, but in which his own gifts
would have been entirely frittered away. It may well be
that, while Hay never became like Lincoln, he did, in the
end, become less like the John Hay he otherwise would have
been.

 

llbid., p. 49.

 

 

 

 

been focused on t

have been of maj
personality. An '
tion, his desire t
efforts in public
the resulting app
was devoted to H
the major role th
purpose of the fol
influences and ex
1865 to 1875.

This period
matic posts and 126
of the New York '1
of his career. Spi
efforts as a rheto

amethod shaping

Hay was twe
the opportunity of
history of the Rep
and had learned or
serve with Lincol:
nor clothe him" a:

3atings from his I

 

CHAPTER II

A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF JOHN HAY‘S CAREER, 1865-=l875

 

The major attention in the rhetorical biography, thus far, has
been focused on those forces and experiences which are believed to
have been of major significance in the shaping of Hay‘s character and
personality. An investigation was made of Hay's early life and educa-
tion, his desire to be a poet and a man of letters, the first tentative
efforts in public speaking, the fortuitous friendship with Nicolay, and
the resulting appointment to the staff of President Lincoln. Much space
was devoted to Hay's experiences as a secretary to Lincoln because of
the major role they played in the development of Hay, the man. The
purpose of the following chapter is to relate the consequences of these
influences and experiences as they affected the career of John Hay from
1865 to 1875.

This period of time covers Hay's activity abroad in minor diplo~
matic posts and terminates with his position as a journalist on the staff
of the New York Tribune. Hay reached full maturity during this phase
of his career. Special attention is also given in this chapter to Hayfs
efforts as a rhetorical critic and to his growing interest in speech as

a method shaping belief and moving men to action.

The Young Diplomat

 

Hay was twenty-seven when the Civil War ended, and he had had
the Opportunity of serving with "one of the most sincere men” in the
history of the Republic. He had come out of the experience unSpoiled
and had learned much and it had been, he realized, a great privilege to
serve with Lincoln. However, "the recollection of it would neither feed
nor clothe him" and Hay needed a job to sustain his station in life. The

savings from his small salary were represented by a few parcels of

66

 

unprofitable 13nd
The post of Secre
living wage: and f
where he joined f‘
in Paris to serve
boss of New York
Seward and the in
"Hay is a bright:

tastes. Idon't be
exposed. If he re
will like him. "1

Hay‘s basic
was acquired at it
acquired a speaki
international com
friends, and this ‘
John Bigelow, wh
a propagandist to
had been promote
man to understan
the family.3 Hay
ful advice on his
tion with Bigelow

career of John H:

Eighteen In
replaced. Perhal
ness, Hay decide;
concerned about i
vocation for life.
Uncle Milton in E

1
John Bi
century Co., 138

fears: J o]
Dennett, ;

67
unprofitable land in Florida and an undeveloped vineyard in Warsaw.

The post of Secretary of Legation at Paris offered Hay an immediate
living wage, and he gladly accepted it. Hay reached his post in 1865,
where he joined forces with his old friend, Nicolay, who had just arrived
in Paris to serve as American Consul there. Thurlow Weed, Republican
boss of New York, wrote John Bigelow, the close friend of William H.
Seward and the individual who was in charge of the American Legation:
"Hay is a bright, gifted young man, with agreeable manners and refined
tastes. I don't believe that he has been spoiled, though he has been
exposed. If he remains the modest young man he was, I am sure you

will like him."1

Hay's basic schooling in diplomacy, under the direction of Bigelow,
was acquired at the Legation in Paris; and while he was there, "he also
acquired a speaking knowledge of the French language as a medium of 1
international communication."2 Hay was most fortunate in his choice of
friends, and this was especially true regarding his association with ‘
John Bigelow, who, because of his newspaper background, had served as
a propagandist for the Union cause during the war years and recently
had been promoted to the post of Minister. "He was just the sort of
man to understand and appreciate Hay,H and he was taken in as one of
the family.3 Hay was taught the techniques of diplomaCy and given help—
ful advice on his literary work by the scholarly Bigelow. The associa—
tion with Bigelow was another important step in the advancement of the

career of John Hay.

Eighteen months after Hay arrived in Paris, Bigelow was
replaced. Perhaps for this reason, but also as the result of a restless—
ness, Hay decided to return to America. More and more Hay was
concerned about his future career and he felt it was time to think of a
vocation for life. It was this concern that prompted Hay to write his

Uncle Milton in Springfield regarding a position in his law office. While

 

lJohn Bigelow, Retrospections of an Active Life (New York: The
Century Co., 1909), II, p. 521.

2Sears, John Hay, p. 40.
Dennett, John Hay, p. 59.

 

W

._..._———
l'—--- Wm .-

in Paris, he had ;
still at loose end;

perfectly:

I believe I l
he got by It
French and
service. I
think I can
down quietl

Iwrite now
you think In
course rush
in the east .
newspapers
writing. Bi
longer. lw
thing I‘easo:
not hold any

13m not co:
1 Should be
1aW I read y
I am not Q“
01‘ business
6"91‘ get to

it on.

This time if
the process of or;
third law partner
small prospects i

new career_ His

68
in Paris, he had started his literary work in earnestness; but Hay was

still at loose ends. His letter, September 30, 1866, stated the case
perfectly:

I believe I have got as much out of this place as there is to
be got by me. I have lived within my means and have learned
French and the machinery and mechanism of the Diplomatic
service. I have still on hand a few hundred dollars that I
think I can profitably use by going to Germany and setting
down quietly somewhere to study German for a few months.

I write now to ask you whether you want me, and how much
you think my work would be worth, to begin with. I can of
course make more money for the next few years by staying
in the east and picking up odd jobs. The magazines and
newspapers began to pay me decent prices before I stopped
writing. But I am getting too old to be drifting about much
longer. I want some steady employment. I could get any—
thing reasonable I asked for in Washington but I would rather
not hold any more offices if I can help it.

I am not conceited about my value to you. I know very well
I should be worth very little. I have forgotten most of the
law I read with you and would have to learn it all over again.
I am not even a good clerk as I know very little about money
or business. It is nearly an even chance whether I would
ever get to be worth my salt at the bar, but I feel like trying
it on.

This time the uncle could offer no encouragement, as he was in
the process of organizing a new law firm and there was no place for a
third law partner who knew little law. Thus Hay arrived home with
small prospects for employment and ill—equipped to make a start in a

new career. His eighteen months of diplomatic service in Paris "had

 

1This letter is quoted by Dennett in his biography on Hay, p. 60.
His footnote comment on the letter is worth repeating here for it pro—
vides some insight on Hay' s approach to literary composition.

"This letter is quoted from a draft in pencil, found in John Hay's
paper. It is given without change as an interesting study of Hay‘s literary
composition at that time. No doubt the letter was corrected both as to
style and punctuation before it was sent. When compared with others,
addressed to such friends as Bigelow and Seward, and published in
Bigelow's Retrospections, it is apparent that Hay's gift of literary
expression, far from being perfectly spontaneous, was the result of
careful rewriting and polishing. His early discipline in rhetoric and
composition has been obviously sketchy. To the end of his days he had
trouble with 'will' and ‘shall,’ with relative pronouns, and even with
forms of the double negative involving 'only. "'

 

made him what he
cosmopolite."1 H
of many types of i
the world capitol,
of Imperial splenr
to his observing r
despotism" that e:
came home a man
"an unalloyed Ami

zealous believer i

Hay arrived
took a train for W
flict between Pres
their imbroglio w:
Southern States. i
quished enemy wa
being advanced in
bitterness of feeli

remarks in a rece

Witness Me]
that the Pre

0f Francs

massacre of

author of the
ment. , . ‘

as the Retput

It Was again

impeachment proc

.3 01d friehd in ti

1

Thayer. Li
2n)- \
n.

H, p, 43.401‘18011 ar.

made him what he had instinctively friarned to be since boyhood —— a
cosmOpolite.”1 Hay's service in Washington had given him a knowledge
of many types of Americans against a backdrop of wartime crisis; at
the world capitol, Paris, he had observed society against the backdrop
of Imperial Splendor during the zenith of the reign of Napoleon III, but
to his observing mind was also revealed the "unlovely machinery of
despotism" that existed behind the ”blazing hedges of tinsel. " Hay
came home a man of the world, but, as the result of his experiences,
"an unalloyed American whom the seductions of an Empire left a more

zealous believer in a Republic. "

Back to Washington

 

Hay arrived in New York on February 1, 1867, and immediately
took a train for Washington. He arrived in the midst of a raging con—
flict between President Andrew Johnson and Congress. The essence of
their imbroglio was centered on the issue of the Reconstruction of the
Southern States. Presidential moderation regarding the recently van—
quished enemy was being replaced by a series of "thorough" measures
being advanced in Congress by Thaddeus Stevens and the Radicals. The
bitterness of feeling had prompted Senator Sumner to make the following
remarks in a recent speech:

Witness Memphis, witness New Orleans. Who can doubt

that the President is the author of these tragedies? Charles

IX of France was not more completely the author of the

massacre of St. Bartholomew than Andrew Johnson is the

author of these recent massacres now crying out for judg—

ment. . . . Next to Jefferson Davis stands Andrew Johnson

as the Republic's worst enemy.3

It was against this background of political crisis and impending
impeachment procedures against President Johnson that Hay sought out

his old friend in the Department of State, Secretary Seward. From

 

lThayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 244.
2Ibid.
Morison and Commager, The Growth of the American Republic,
II, p. 41

Seward he hoped
securing a perms
matic service. "
while it might me
better position, :
business could at
with Seward in a
He went in
dangers of
silizing prc
that he fea
assured him
pursuing 1‘
come home
The best it
in the Departmer
Which he refused
mill of routine."
”It must have Ch:
’horde 0f office—g

viewed with so In

Before 1e31,
WhiCh are noted i

and a conVersam

1
zDemett, J

Deflnett

State in 1829 as“;
ghere he ”daft
metretary of Sta
111‘st r y Sueci
MSKiEIhelp t0 JC

ey an

3 d R0
4D9nnett’ L

In.

 

 

 

70
Seward he hoped to gain some measure of advice that would help in

securing a permanent position in government; preferably in the diplo-
matic service. "The government was, after all, a sure paymaster and
while it might never pay richly, it was likely to offer the young man a
better position, and more remuneration to begin with, than private
business could afford."1 Hay described the results of the interview
with Seward in a letter to Nicolay:

He went into a long and very clever disquisition on the

dangers of a man holding officeu—the desiccating and fos-

silizing process—~illustrating it by Mr. Hunter2 and saying

that he feared Nicolay was getting into the same way. I

assured him that Nicolay was not; that he was singlemheartedly

pursuing 10,000 dollars, and that when he got it he would

come home and go to his ranch.

The best that Seward could offer Hay was a temporary position
in the Department of State as Seward’s private secretary, a position
which he refused because he believed it would consign him to a "tread-

mill of routine. "

One by one the prospects faded; and as Dennett notes,
"It must have chagrined Hay to discover that he had now joined the
'horde of office—seekers' which he, as Lincoln's secretary, had formerly

viewed with so much disgust. "4

Before leaving Washington, Hay attended several social functions
which are noted in his diary. A reference is made to one such function

and a conversation with Sumner, the senior Senator from Massachusetts.

 

lDennett, John Hay, p. 63.

2Dennett notes that William Hunter entered the Department of
State in 1829 as a clerk. In 1855, for a few weeks, he was made Assist—
ant Secretary of State, and then resumed his position as Chief Clerk,
where he remained until 1866 whenhe was appointed Second Assistant
Secretary of State. He died in office in 1886. Alvey A. Adee became
his worthy successor. It is the same Adee who was to be of immeas-
urable help to John Hay when he became Secretary of State during the
McKinley and Roosevelt administrations.

3Dennett, John Hay, p. 63.
4 .
Ibid.

Hay describes tl

Senate to appoint

Idined wit
political. '
speech aga
Office bill
thought he
unanswere(
removing r
to the Senat
said, "for.
would now .

As to the a
scouted thaw
governmen‘
frequently (
and politics
patriotic M
administrat
ton and sai
remove him

Hay then p1
and the alleged fE

of this as it refle

Hay Wrote j

In all this j
umner's’
earnest ma
neCessary 1
0f SUCh a c
times The
“the Presi
WhiCh migh
9r oppress
In 1861, the
ashingmn
9fRevo1uti<
1f the

l
2Thayer: L:
Ibid

\‘i D. 2(

 

 

71
Hay describes the Senator's arguments regarding the power of the

Senate to appoint members of the President's Cabinet:

Idined with Sumner. . . . The conversation was entirely
political. The debate of the day in the Senate. Sherman's

speech against including Cabinet Ministers in the Tenure of
Office bill was rather severely critized by Sumner, who
thought he had been to magnanimous in allowing it to pass

unanswered. Sumner thought the power of appointing and
removing members of the Cabinet more properly belonged
to the Senate as a permanent body than to the President. He
said, "for instance, I can scarcely imagine a Senate that
would now confirm Mr. Seward.H

As to the argument in favor of harmony in the Cabinet, he
scouted that altogether. He said that in every constitutional
government in the world the head of the Government was
frequently obliged to accpet ministers that were personally
and politically obnoxious. That it was the duty often of a
patriotic Minister to remain in the counsels of a perverted
administration as a "privileged spy.” He referred to Stan-
ton and said it should be made impossible for Johnson to
remove him.

Hay then proceeds to give an analysis of Senator Sumner's views
and the alleged fallacy inherent in his line of argument. Note is made
of this as it reflects Hay's growing interest in argumentative discourse

as a means of affecting opinion and shaping the minds of men.

Hay wrote in his diary:

In all this ingenious and really clever and learned talk of
Sumner's, I could but remark the blindness of an honest,
earnest man, who is so intent upon what he thinks right and
necessary that he closes his eyes to the fatal consequences
of such a course in different circumstances and different
times. The Senate is nowabulwark against the evil schemes
of the President; therefore, he would give the Senate a power
which might make it the most detestable engine of anarchy
or oppression. Had this law that he now demands existed
in 1861, the Rebellion would have had its seat and center in
Washington, and loyalty would have worn the bloody color
of Revolution. I told him so, but he would not see it, saying
if the South had taken that course they would by that act
have abnegatgd their rebellion-—which to me seems

absurd. . .

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 260-261.
21bid., p. 261.

 

While this (
personal concern
getting a job caus
the possibilities 1
possibilities, inc
zine. Nothing, hc

his journey back

In one sens
point in his caree
ences that would
hadn‘t found hims.
indicated in one 0
home and with in
the shape he wan-
Commentary on hi
he wrote:

1am Safely
find my par.
and full of }
gray hair, .
gI‘OWlng b0)
There is lit
hideous; 1.

cold Weathe
and a them
he” Fahrei
nature has i

SO much f0;
Where. In 1
SpeculatiOn:

alias 3. bu<
n0 bUSineSE
the little tO'
Ere; but he

1
IlLetters a

 

72
While this question of Senatorial power would become a matter of

personal concern to Hay in the years to come, the immediate concern of
getting a job caused him to leave Washington on February 23 and turn to
the possibilities in New York. Here he looked over a number of business

possibilities, including an interview with the editor of Harper's Maga-

zine. Nothing, however, seemed to work out; and on March 3 he began

his journey back to Warsaw, Illinois.

A Brief Interlude at Home

 

In one sense, Hay's return to his home in Warsaw was a turning
point in his career. Already he had gone through a spectrum of experi-
ences that would have sufficed most men for a lifetime, but Hay still
hadn't found himself and certainly had not begun to achieve the promise
indicated in one of such a combination of talent and experience. Now at
home and with little to do, he could reflect on the pattern of his life and
the shape he wanted it to take. A letter of March 18, 1867, provides a
commentary on his introspections at this time. To his old friend Nicolay

he wrote:

I am safely lodged at last among my lares and Penates. I
find my parents as well as ever; my mother better than usual,
and full of her old good spirits; my father at 66 with not a
gray hair, with the ruddy cheek and ravenous appetite of a
growing boy.

There is little comfort in the country now. The weather is
hideous; i. e. what peOple insanely call "beautiful, fresh,
cold weather." A cloudless sky, white, shining distances,
and a thermometer ten degrees below 0 according to Mein-
herr Fahrenheit. I have escaped six winters, and my good
nature has been nipped and frozen in this absurd springtime.

So much for nature. Society much worse. Poverty every—
where. In the East it is still tempered by the fever of
speculation, but in the West everything and everybody is as
flat as a buckwheat cake de la veille. There is no money and
no business. One endless Sunday seems to gloom over all
the little towns you pass. A man can live for almost nothing
here; but he just misses that, and he makes nothing.

 

1"Letters and Diary," 1, pp. 278-279.

Hay went 0:
"You had better 1
friends in the Set
into an eternity 0
over with Nicolay
Lincoln. He stat4
our book. We wil

day, when we can

Viewed in I
ceived so little 0;
lowing the Civil V
and industry, pro
tariff, was reapir.
of his contempore
men, with whom 1
well on their way
Francis Adams, (
were involved in
and his associate
their own. Reid;
in journalism, wt
The Opportunities
Of an expanding n
aplace for many
armies of the Civ
my government jt
their minds ”hart
the spirit of adve

 

73
Hay went on to warn Nicolay, who was still counsul in Paris,

”You had better not come here till you are kicked out and our crazy

friends in the Senate have legislated all the dead—beats not in office
'1 While in Paris, Hay had talked

into an eternity of bread and butter.'
over with Nicolay the possibility of their coauthoring a biography of

Lincoln. He states, however, in the same letter: "Nobody is keen for

our book. We will have to write it and publish on our own book some

day, when we can afford."
Viewed in retrospect, it seems almost paradoxical that Hay per-

ceived so little opportunity for himself at home during the decade fol—
lowing the Civil War. A new phase in national develOpment had started;
and industry, prospering with the aid of foreign wars and a favorable

While Hay had been away, many
' These

tariff, was reaping immense rewards.
of his contemporaries "saw the opportunities and seized them.‘
men, with whom Hay would eventually form close associations, were
well on their way toward the amassing of considerable fortunes. Charles
Francis Adams, Chauncey M. Depew, George Pullman, and many others
were involved in the booming field of railroad transportation. Carnegie
and his associates were making iron and steel a private kingdom of

their own. Reid and Watterson were carving out careers for themselves
in journalism, while Holt and Putnam were doing the same in publishing.

The Opportunities in law and finance seemed limitless; and as the result
”spoils system” was providing

of an expanding national government, the
a place for many to partake at the ”government trough.” Many, as the

armies of the Civil War had disbanded, had made a rush on Washington
for government jobs. As the years slipped by, these same men found
their minds "hardening to dull routine" while they themselves were losing

the Spirit of adventure. This, however, was not the sort oflife for John

Hay.

1Ibid, p. 279.

21bid.

See Wish, Society and Thought in Modern America (New York:
1957), "The Captain of Industry, The Gilded

 

Longmans, Green and Co.,
Age, and Taylorization," pp. 174—193.

Perhaps H
rather than an a;
"JohnHay was no
life as McKinley,
ful whether in all
not a politician a
beenoffered a pa
in claims, and hat
in his diary, he r.
a claim agent in ‘
different, and I ll
my ill-starred Fl
ingly had little at
he had spent fou:
memory which ex
ahappier side to
poetic nature of H
him and in Hthe
June 3, 1867:

I never was

have watche

is a little
very Sweet
far enough

the birds a]

the SOlitude

8' patCh Of 0

hated With

fOr Wars u

Orioles and

01‘ +h€ 131’]

I‘Unning t0 ,

Pluck than

bluebells~-

Oil/ever, a]
bors: the F

1
2Dennett: J
3.1Letters a

Thayer, L

74
Perhaps Hay toyed with the idea of trying for elective office

rather than an appointed position in government; but, as Dennett notes:

"John Hay was not the kind of a man to go out and wrestle with political
life as Mcfflnley, Cannon, Cullom, Foraker, and Hanna did. It is doubt-
ful whether in all his years he ever slapped a man on the back. Hay was
not a politician and, in spite of his origins, not a pioneer." He had
been offered a partnership in a law firm in Washington which specialized
in Claims, and had seriously considered the possibility. However, noted
in his diary, he rejected the idea: "I have a great distaste to the life of
a claim agent in the Federal City where my associations have been so

different, and I long ago made up my mind not to lose any sleep over
my ill-starred Florida speculation."2 The actual practice of law seem—
ingly had little appeal; and as Thayer notes: "He could not forget that
he had spent four years in Washington as Lincoln's secretary, -— a

memory which exacted a certain dignity of him.

a happier side to the months spent "in limbo" while in Warsaw. The

poetic nature of Hay found refreshment and delight in the nature around
' He notes in his diary, dated

him and in "the old familiar places.‘

June 3, 1867:
I never was so close to nature before since I was a child. I
have watched the flowers like a detective this spring. There
is a little patch of wild woodlawn on my. . . place that is
very sweet and solitary-~full of fresh, wodsy smells and
far enough from my farmyards to be utterly still--barring
the birds and the grasshoppers~-whose racket only makes

3
" There was, however,

the solitude more perfect by proof. I stumbled one day on
a patch of open turf thick in blue grass and superbly illumi-
nated with great purple pansies that had probably bloomed
for years unseen by any eyes, but the bright, beady ones of
orioles and jays and catbirds. It was worth the price I paid
for the land, to feel that this exquisite show, so lavishly
running to waste year after year, was mine. I would not
pluck them——the violets and phlox, the windflowers and
bluebells——because I loved them. WhenI crossedthe fences,
however, and walked down the valley pastures of my neigh—
bors, the poaching Spirit waked in me and I gathered red

lDennett, John Hay', p. 62.

2"Letters and Diary,” I, p. 284.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 278.

bud, hawth
left_-makll
abOUt a tho
had raised
pink and f?
they were

Then at the
Grover'S“
amphitheat
handful 0f C
and along .
looking at

morning 311‘
every sunS'

By way of E
"So the pleasant 1
plans."2 Once a;
stirred into life t
for the romantic
throughout Hay‘s
however, enough <
as it might be, w
what direction sh
and varied talents
of Dame Fortune
his diary, Hay lea
to act as Charge
played in his life
long after:

....fors
Atthefeet‘

The circum

political nature \

 

75

bud, hawthorne, apple bloom and plum blossom right and
left--making what I thought an equitable return in killing
about a thousand ugly green-black—yellow caterpillars that
had raised their tent on the limb of a splendid crab, all
pink and fragrant in its May bloom. Icut off the branch
they were on and dropped it into the fresh, clear rivulet.
Then at the risk of my neck I clambered up the bank by
Grover's--where the surviving precipice looks like a ruined
amphitheatre of the woodlawn gods that are gone-~and got a
handful of columbine and then came slowly down to the river
and along its pebbly banks home. Ican never get enough
looking at the river. It has its new fresh beauty every
morning and noon. And a new and unimagined transfiguration

every sunset.
By way of an appropriate afterthought to this entry, Hay added:
"So the pleasant spring has shaken away its sands. Ihave scarcely any

Once again the poetic and romantic nature of Hay had been

plans. ”
stirred into life through the stimulus of Nature. This compulsive urge

for the romantic, expressed in poetry, would be a recurring theme

throughout Hay's lifetime. The composer of these idyllic thoughts was,
however, enough of a pragmatist to know that such writing, as admirable
as it might be, would not suffice to keep ”body and soul together.“ In
What direction should he move? To this man of complex temperament

and varied talents was extended, as so often in the past, the "lucky hand
of Dame Fortune." Very shortly after the above lines were written in
his diary, Hay learned that he was to be appointed Secretary of Legation
to act as Charge d' Affaires at Vienna. This role that circumstances

played in his life is reflected in the lines of a poem that Hay wrote not

long after:

. . . . for soon unhorsed I lay

At the feet of the strong god Circumstance.3

The circumstances alluded to in this case were the events of a
political nature which allowed Hay's old friend, Secretary of State
Seward, to appoint him to the post of Charge d' Affaires at Vienna.

1"Letters and Diary," I, pp. 282-283.
21bid., p. 283.
3John Hay, The Complete Poetical Works (Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 1916), ”Una," p. 17 .

Before des
assignment in Vi
political philosol
in France during
that masked the
for Hay‘s distast
fact, became sor

stage of his deve

Tl

Hay‘s first
only to experiem
observe the polit
Why was at its
to be heard. Thi
Napoleon Ill was
sion he had begu]
pattern of parlia:
his time, had a v
liberty and peace
my gave to his

a COIOI‘ WhiCh me

Here disli
the occasion of a
retiring Ambass;
QQSSOT: General
event with this e1
Bigelow in

next rOOm

1B1“ t
(Englezllood cum

Die ‘
3%

m.

 

76
Before describing in detail the experiences related to Hay's

assignment in Vienna, the next section will first discuss the emerging
political philosophy of Hay. Hay reacted negatively to what he had seen
in France during his first diplomatic tour of duty. The facade of glitter
that masked the despotism of the reign of Napoleon III became the basis
for Hay's distaste for autocratic government from that time on. Hay, in
fact, became somewhat of a liberal in his politics at this particular

stage of his development.

The Emerging Political Philos0phy of Hay

 

Hay's first appointment abroad had given him an opportunity not
only to experience the delights of life, on the Continent, but also to
observe the political systems then prevalent throughout Europe. Mon-
archy was at its zenith, but the voice of republicanism was clamoring
to be heard. This was especially true of France in the 1860's, where
Napoleon III was being forced to slowly abandon the measures of repres-
sion he had begun his reign with, and out of which was growing a new
pattern of parliamentary government.1 Hay, like most young men of
his time, had a vision "of a republican millennium in EurOpe founded on
liberty and peace. . . ."2 In Hay's case, this "ardent belief in democ—
racy gave to his writings [and Speeches] for the next few years a tone and

a color which may offend the judicious historian."3

Hay's dislike for monarchy was expressed in his diary describing
the occasion of a reception at the Court of Napoleon III honoring the
retiring Ambassador of the United States, John Bigelow, and his suc—
cessor, General John Adams Dix. Hay gives a graphic account of the
event with this entry for October 23, 1866:

Bigelow in a few moments was called for. He entered the

next room where the blaze of the imperial presence dazzled
us through the opening door. His audience was soon over.

 

lBrinton, Christopher, and Wolff, A History of Civilization
(Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1955), II, pp. 253—263.

2Dictionary of American Biography, IV, p. 432.
3 .
Ibid.

 

Genera]. 1:
into the I:
for the E]
whO was S
meet him.
Cambacer
little man
him a din
Speech to
admiring E
the rich 8..
groups of ‘
sent- Not
dashes in i
an ethisi
furnished1
and the M;
Violet- YE
to the Cent
listening 0
our Rehub
look at him

Short and 1
a gouty CI
expect his
rattle. A‘
Whenever

an hour’ 0
perhaps: i
which the

the mouth
twitch. E ‘
ignoble: 15
"nobody at
wonderful

as if carve
unlike one
short-his
throne 01‘ l

It was duri
by Bigelow, bega
in the Place de

movements spI‘E

1i
2 ‘Letters

Sister Sai
PhD. Dissertati

77
General Dix followed by me and Hoffman was then ushered
into the Presence. The General looked anxiously around
for the Emperor, advancing undecidedly until a little man
who was standing in front of the Throne stepped forward to
meet him. Everybody bowed profoundly as the Due de
Cambaceres gave the name and title of the General. The
little man bowed and the General beginning to recognize in
him a dim likeness to the Emperor’s portrait made his
speech to him. Ilooked around the room for a moment
admiring as I always do on ceremonial occasions in France
the rich and tasteful masses of color which the various
groups of Great Officers of the Crown so artistically pre—
sent. Not a man's place is left to accident. A cardinal
clashes in a great splash of scarlet. A cent—garde supplies
an exquisite blue and gold. The yellows and the greens are
furnished by the representatives of Law and Legislation,
and the Masters of Ceremonies fill up with an unobtrusive
violet. Yet these rich lights and soft shadows are accessory
to the central point of the picture--the little man who is
listening or seeming to listen to the General's address. If
our Republican eyes can stand such a dazzling show, let us
look at him.

Short and stocky; he moves with a queer sidelong gait like
a gouty crab: a man so wooden looking that you would
expect his voice to come reasping out like a watchman's
rattle. A complexion like crude tallow--marked for Death,
whenever Death wants him—-to be taken sometime in half
an hour, or less, neglected by the Skeleton King for years
perhaps, if properly coddled. The moustache and imperial
which the world knows, but ragged and bristly concealing
the mouth entirely, moving a little nervously as the lips
twitch. Eyes sleepily watchful——furtive, stealthy, rather
ignoble: like servants looking out of dirty windows & saying
"nobody at home" and lying, as they say it. And withal a
wonderful phlegm. He stands there as still and impassive
as if carved in oak for a ship‘s figure head. He looks not
unlike one of those rude inartistic statues. His legs are too
short-—his body too long. He never looks well but on a
throne or on a horse, as Kings ought.

It was during this first tour of duty abroad that Hay, encouraged
2 . . .
by Bigelow, began in earnest his writing of poetry. His first, ”Sunrise
in the Place de la Concorde," reveals his sympathies for the republican

movements spreading throughout Europe. Being a discreet diplomat,

 

1"Letters and Diary," I, pp. 264—266.

ZSister Saint Ignatius Ward, "The Poetry of John Hay” (Unpublished
Ph.D. Dissertation: The Catholic University of America, 1930), p. 4.

 

Hay did not publ
i poem opens wit]

characteristic c

I stand at
In the Cha
The tremi
As they sl
Strike Lu)
And Wild 1'
With their
Ramp the
But the Pl
Dead hush
And the C.
With sleep
I see the I
Where the
In the Em]
March on
T0 trumpe
Their spei
The ghostl
Like a COI
Alld the nc
For the ge
Up the ion
The arm

Through tl

Hay Proce
de la ConCorde 1

There is c
AS if the g
Still Shadc

can hear

78

Hay did not publish the poem until after his return from France. The

poem

Opens with a vivid description suggesting the image-filled style

characteristic of Hay in his writings and speeches in the years to come:

de la

I stand at the break of day

In the Champs Elysées

The tremulous shafts of dawning

As they shoot o‘er the Tuileries early,
Strike Luxor's cold gray spire,

And wild in the light of the morning
With their marble manes on fire

Ramp the white Horses of Marly.

But the Place of Concord lies

Dead hushed 'neath the ashy skies.

And the Cities sit in council

With sleep in their wide stone eyes.

I see the mystic plain

Where the army of spectres slain

In the Emperor's life-long war

March on with unsounding tread

To trumpets whose voice is dead.
Their spectral chief still leads them,-—
The ghostly flash of his sword

Like a comet through mist shines far,——
And the noiseless host is poured,

For the gendarme never heeds them,
Up the long dim road where thundered
The army of Italy onward

Through the great pale Arch of the Star!1

Hay proceeds with a description of a scene witnessed in the Place

Concorde from the French Revolution of the past:

There is one that seems a King,

As if the ghost of a Crown

Still shadowed his jail-bleached hair;
I can hear the guillotine ring,

As its regicide note rang there,
When he laid his tired life down

And grew brave in his last despair.2

And now emerges in Hay's imagination the figure of Madame

Dubarry:

And a woman frail and fair
Who weeps at leaving a world

 

1The Complete Poetical Works, pp. 29-30.
21bid., pp. 30-31.

 

____ ____J

Of love an
For life w
With kings

A brief re

bearing before t.

Whose blot
In the days
Her shade
In majesty

The poem
the French peopj

lution, only to he

Murdered
Slayers th:
Till the dr
That poure
Till red as
Were spla;
'Wifllthe w

And Liberi
In the day
Her royal
With the 11
And darke:
Of the nan

Ose bk)!
More dam:

Has she m
ChaiHEd’ v
Grinding 1;
h the mill

ave not h
Flowing th
WHShed th‘

ethOu h
Blowinggo‘
In Tony-

’6"
5'.

M
F/
,_..
O;
”U

/_

79
Of love and revel and sin. .
For life was wicked and sweet
With kings at her small white feet.1

A brief reference is made to Marie Antoinette and her regal

bearing before the guillotine:

Whose blood baptized the place

In the days of madness and fear,--
Her shade has never a peer

In majesty and grace.

The poem now builds to a climax, as Hay developes his theme of
the French people emerging from the blood drenched days of the Revo-

lution, only to have the prize of liberty snatched from them:

Murdered and murderers swarm;

Slayers that slew and were slain,

Till the drenched place smoked with the rain
That poured in a torrent warm,--

Till red as the Rider's of Edom

Were splashed the white garments of Freedom
With the wash of the horrible storm!

And Liberty's hands were not clean

In the day of her pride unchained,

Her royal hands were stained

With the life of a King and Queen;

And darker than that with the blood

Of the nameless brave and good

Whose blood in witness clings

More damning than Queens' and Kings'.

Has she not paid it dearly?

Chained, watching her chosen nation
Grinding late and early

In the mills of usurpation?

Have not her holy tears

Flowing through shameful years,
Washed the stains from her tortured hands ?
We thought so when God's fresh breeze,
Blowing over the sleeping lands,

In 'Forty-Eight waked the world,

And the Burgher—King was hurled
From that palace behind the trees.

 

11bit, p. 31.
Ibid.

 

 

 

Napoleon III, w

back to freedo
the Emperor, H
people":

As the sw

And when
Comes th

Freedom

With a bla
That shall
As the sux
This Plac
0f the gla
And the hi
Ringing w
From eve
The com:
And the d:
Shall fling
Like the c
On the gr:
And back

While the
To crown
From the

 

13014» pp

Ibis-a pp

 

 

80
As Freedom with eyes aglow
Smiled glad through her childbirth pain,
How was the mother to know
That her woe and travail were vain?
A smirking servant smiled
When she gave him her child to keep;
Did she know he would strangle the child
As it lay in his arms asleep?1

Hay's allusion to "a smirking servant" is an obvious reference to
Napoleon III, who had "strangled" liberty in France. Despite the set-
back to freedom following the Revolution of 1848 and the ascension of
the Emperor, Hay predicted the eventual Victory of a "glad triumphant

people ":

Liberty's cruellest shame!

She is stunned and speechless yet.
In her grief and bloody sweat

Shall we make her trust her blame?
The treasure of 'Forty—Eight

A lurking jail—bird stole,

She can but watch and wait

As the swift sure seasons roll.

And when in God's good hour

Comes the time of the brave and true,
Freedom again shall rise

With a blaze in her awful eyes

That shall wither this robber-power
As the sun now dries the dew.

This Place shall roar with the voice
Of the glad triumphant people,

And the heavens be gay with the chimes
Ringing with jubilant noise

From every clamorous steeple

The coming of better times.

And the dawn of Freedom waking
Shall fling its splendors far

Like the day which now is breaking
On the great pale Arch of the Star,
And back o'er the town shall fly,
While the joy—bells wild are ringing,
To crown the Glory sprin ing

From the Column of July!

 

1110101., pp. 31-33.
Ibid., pp. 33-34.

 

 

 

Hay is eve

in his poem, "T
young diplomat'
”and when he to
and not strength
of Napoleon III 1

But at last
And she
This basta
And his

For an Oe

Afraid to 1

He cow

The peoplt

God is

As sugges

in terms of dist:
ignoble form of

x.“—
1Thaye r,

The Con:

 

in his poem, "The Sphinx of the Tuileries.’

81
Hay is even more severe in his indictment of the Third Napoleon

' Here is reflected the

young diplomat's loathing for all that is represented in despotism;
"and when he found it personified in a man whose resources was craft
and not strength, his loathing was doubled."1 Hay's bitter indictment

of Napoleon III is as follows:

I thought as I walked where the garden glowed
In the sunset's level fire,

Of the Charlatan whom the Frenchmen loathe
And the Cockneys all admire.

They call him a Sphinx,—-it pleases him,-—
And if we narrowly read,

We will find some truth in the flunkey's praise,——
The man is a Sphinx indeed.

For the Sphinx with breast of woman
And face so debonair
Had the sleek false paws of a lion,
That could furtively seize and tear.
So far to the shoulders,-—but if you took
The Beast in reverse you would find
The ignoble form of a craven cur
Was all that lay behind.

She lived by giving to simple folk
A silly riddle to read,

And when they failed she drank their blood
In cruel and ravenous greed.

But at last came one who knew her word,
And she perished in pain and shame,-—
This bastard Sphinx leads the same base life

And his end will be the same.

For an Oedipus-People is coming fast
With swelled feet limping on,
If they shout his true name once aloud
His false foul power is gone,
Afraid to fight and afraid to fly,
He cowers in an abject shiver;
The people will come to their own at last,--
God is not mocked forever.

As suggested in his lines of poetry, Hay saw the picture in France

in terms of distinct contrasts. To him it was simply a matter of ”the

ignoble form of a craven cur" versus "the peopleH who "will come to

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 229.
2The Complete Poetical Works, pp. 35-37.

 

 

   

their own at la

his case and p1
they pertained
doubt as to hi
heartily that D
malignity, that
readiness gave

their standing
However
opinions; and n

heart, Hay enj

 

many of the Fr
of the Imperi
instinct for th
Courts was to
assignment to

regarding Eur

En route
afternoon spen‘
traits of impor
parliamentary
with his blazin
with his hat 0
Chambers, whe
the mo st notic‘
Reform Bill it
post, defendin

He has grown

 

Ing-
2"Lette1
311a. p

 

82

' Hay, the poet, had a tendency, perhaps, to overstate

their own at last.’
his case and probably overlooked some of the more significant facts as
they pertained to the situation in Paris at that time. There can be no
doubt as to his feelings, though, the problem being "he believed so
heartily that Democracy could cure political evils of every degree of

malignity, that he underestimated the advantage which the element of
readiness gave to the partisans of Reaction, solidaire, and propped by

their standing armies and their churches."1

However, as mentioned before, Hay was discreet regarding his
opinions; and nobody seemed to know of them. While a democrat at
heart, Hay enjoyed the trappings that were a part of the official cere-
mony of the French Court. In fact, he seemingly enjoyed the elegance
of the Imperial Court and mixed well with the Imperiali-sts. This
instinct for the refinement inherent in the older traditions of European
Courts was to emerge in Hay in other diplomatic assignments. His new
assignment to the post in Vienna was an opportunity to broaden himself

regarding European affairs, and Hay made the most of it.

Assignment in Vienna

 

En route to Vienna, Hay stopped in London. His account of an
afternoon spent in the Houses of Parliament is interesting for its por-
traits of important personages in British politics and observations on
parliamentary debate. In the vestibule he met Lord Eliot, "looking
with his blazing head and whiskers as if he 'had just come through hell
with his hat off.'"2 Then follows a description of the Parliamentary
Chambers, Where "on the Government bench, to the right of the Speaker,
the most noticeable man was Disraeli, who, since the very inception of
Reform Bill which is now near its passage, has been constantly at his
post, defending, explaining and fighting for the Government Measure.

He has grown enormously in the public estimation in this session."3

 

libid.
2"Letters and Diary,H I, p. 299.
3mm, pp. 299-300.

 

  
    
  
   
  
  
  
    
  

Hay's nex
of that time,1 f0
hing between p1
have need of all
perceive to a gr
throw everythin'
Republicans are
by the force of

long delays. "2

Hay then
liamentary orat
the participants:

 

front. Yet
and respec
their app:
I admired
talking uni
until the S

There we]
who were,
Among the

The debat‘
the House
and took

Chancello
either sid
pying his
the right.

 

1Dictiona:
2"Letters

 

 

 

83
Hay's next entry offers an interesting judgment of British politics

of that time,1 for he wrote in July, 1867: "In the great fight now begin-
ning between privilege and democracy in England, the Democrats will
have need of all their skill and discretion, for the aristocracy seem to
perceive to a great extent the meaning of the occasion, and they will
throw everything away in the fight that does not seem essential. If the
Republicans are not distracted by false issues they will conquer at last,
by the force of numbers. But they must make a good fight or suffer

long delays. "2

Hay then proceeds to give a rather detailed account of the par-
liamentary oratory he heard, punctuated with colorful descriptions of

the participants:

While we were there, Disraeli, Gladstone, Forster, Newde-
gate and several others made short conversational talks. I
was very much impressed with their directness and simplic-
ity of statement. I think the exclusion of the public, by taking
away all temptation to display, has a very fine effect on
parliamentary oratory. Nothing could be clearer and finer
than Disraeli's and Gladstone's manner of stating their
points.

The members sat with their hats on, taking them off when
they rose to speak and replacing them immediately after-
wards. Many had their feet on the back of the bench in
front. Yet on the whole their demeanor was very attentive
and respectful. They have a very decided way of expressing
their approbation or disapproval of the member speaking.
I admired Newdegate's coolness in holding his own and
talking unmoved by a general growl of ill—natured comment,
until the Speaker called him to order.

There were a dozen or so very young fellows in the Hall,
who were, of course, the representatives of their families.
Among the most youthful looking was Lord Amberly.

The debate not being specially entertaining we went over to
the House of Lords. We came in just behind the woolsack
and took our seats on the steps of the Throne. The Lord
Chancellor was in his seat. In front of him the Clerks, on
either side, on benches, the Peers. The Government occu—
pying his right; Lord Derby at their head. Nearest us, on
the right, were the spiritual Lords, the Archbishop of

 

1Dictionary of American Biography, IV, p. 432.
2"Letters and Diary,” I, p. 300.

 

  
  
   
  
   
  
  
   
  
    

Canterbur
Bishop of
made me 1
the Bishop
a stiff, drj
him snore
Stanhope.
of hair. 1‘
Marquis 0
Loan; Ear
the Duke
Lord Strat
man, whit
manner th
and Chand
saw—-who

  

 
 

 

 

father, sh
one of his
looking, y
recent ad
Speeches

The same

. . . we pa
The street
old, painte
now overfl
these poor
rather to 1
conclude tl
there is a
don that Pt
ful mien,"

It is obvic
interest was not
observing 500161
that he had praci
which primarily
seeing, and for I

 

1"Letters
291151.: p‘ I

 

 

 

84
Canterbury, an elderly and rather infirm—looking man; the
Bishop of Oxford, a fine, portly prelate, whose blue riband
made me think of a prize ox; the Bishop of South Wales and
the Bishop of London. On our left sat the Duke of Buccleuch,
a stiff, dry Scotchman, with a wen on his forehead. Next to
him snored comfortably Viscount Sidney. Then came Lord
Stanhope. Then the Duke of Argyll, small of stature and red
of hair. Moran pointed out to us the tall, slender, finicky
Marquis of Bath, who was severely nipped by the Cotton
Loan; Earl Powis, a smaller Forrest without the mustache;
the Duke of Richmond, a good-looking silver-haired man;
Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, a rather undersized old gentle-
man, white—haired, bent, and not in the least the grand
manner that Kinglake fancies; and the Duke of Buckingham
and Chandos, the most remarkable—looking nobleman I ever
saw-—who looks in style, station, dress, way of getting over
the ground, face and features like a brisk country grocer in
New England. Yet he is one of the best bloods that the
English stud can show and is a bright fellow besides, as the
plucky retrieval of his estates, ruined by the waste of his
father, shows. Bourgeois as he looks, he is as proud as any
one of his class, they say. The Earl of Bradford is a good—
looking, youngish man. Lord Romilly and Lord Cairns, two
recent additions to the lower Lords, made short, sensible
speeches while we were there.

The same entry in Hay‘s diary describes a trip through London:

. we passed down the Haymarket for quarter of an hour.
The streets were full of poor old women and some not so
old, painted, bedizened and miserable. The Belgians just
now overflow the town and they were the objective point of
these poor, lost creatures to—night. The Belges seemed
rather to enjoy the attention they received, from whichI
conclude that the Belgian women must be hideous, or that
there is a charm in novel ugliness. It was certainly in Lon-
don that Pope learned that "Vice is a monster of such fright-
ful mien," etc.

It is obvious from the entries in his diaries that Hay‘s chief

interest was not primarily centered on diplomatic duties but rather
observing society and the life of the people. At Vienna he discovered
that he had practically nothing to do and thus was free to continue that
which primarily interested him. Hay indulged his appetite for sight—

seeing, and for him this meant not only monuments and art galleries

 

1"Letters and Diary," I, pp. 300-303.
21pm, p. 304.

 

 

 

but the custom

description of t

The Tiefe
city that
strides f

Gestade,
starts the
and ends
light of t

ures in lo
conceivab
because 0
creeping :
fling feet.
lent, craf‘
greasy cu
coquetry

who wroti
locks" co
criticism
are all dc
in the sur
three or :
chorus ox
revolutio:
always s2
is so bri:
make mo

idle as th
these lon
next gene

 

 

85
but the customs and habits of the people. Particularly vivid is Hay's

description of the Viennese Ghetto:

As I go in the early morning to take my plunge and splash
in the Danube water in Leopold Stadt, I walk through the
Tiefen Graben, the deep ditch which marks the site of the
ancient moat of the outer fortress of the city. . . .

The Tiefen Graben is so far below the average level of the
city that about half way down its length, Wipplinger Strasse
strides far above it in the air. In the T. G. you wonder what
that suspension bridge is for, and in Whipplinger Strasse
you gaze with amazement at the men and wagons burrowing
at the bottom of the ditch. The Tiefen Graben runs into the
Gestade, and out of this dark, foul and utterly ignoble place
starts the Talzgries, which runs for a few hundred paces
and ends in the broad, bright, garish sunshine and wide day-
light of the Donau Arm.

Along this unclean street rolls an endless tide of Polish
Jews continually supplied by little rivulets running down
from the Judenplatz and the culs de sac of that neighborhood,
not running, but trickling down the steep, stone bed of the
canons called Fischer Stiege and Marien Stiege and Wachtel
Gasse, Quail Alley. These squalid veins and arteries of
impoverished and degenerate blood are very fascinating to
me. I have never seen a decent person in those alleys or on
those slippery stairs. But everywhere stOOping, dirty fig—
ures in long, patched and oily black gaberdines of every
conceivable material, the richest the shabbiest usually,
because oldest and most used, covering the slouching,
creeping form, from the round shoulders to the Splay, shuf-
fling feet. A battered soft felt hat crowns the oblique, indo—
lent, crafty face, and what is most offensive of all, a pair of
greasy curls dangle in front of the pendulous ears. This
coquetry of hideousness is most nauseous. The old Puritan
who wrote in Barebones' time on the "Unloveliness of love
locks" could here have either found full confirmation of his
criticism or turned with disgust from his theme. What they
are all doing is the wonder. They stand idle and apathetic
in the sunshine, or gather in silent, of chatty groups of
three or four, take snuff and blow their aquiline noses in
chorus on dubious brown handkerchiefs. They have utterly
revolutionized my ideas of the Hebrew. In America we
always say rich as a Jew, because even if a Jew is poor he
is so brisk, so sharp and enterprising that he is sure to
make money eventually. But these slouching rascals are as
idle as they are ugly. It occurred to me that it might be
these long coats that keep them down in life, and that the
next generation if put early into roundabouts might be spry

 

 

 

 

 

fellows.

I suppos
especiall
Hay's po
moral climate
the betterment
The above pas
described by H
The young dipl

 

zeal. Elsewhe

tion of the Ghet
on the nation a
Seward, dated

say that he see
No great Powe
youth and trees

sustain the we

Hay's as
found he had litt
Thus, he had ti
the same time p
own political pl
as reflected by
September 10,
Spirit in Amerii
the United State

Garibaldi

This is be

he will go

that he is
hates drug

ought to f]

die. His

the field<

 

1.1231.» pp:

Thayer,

 

 

 

 

86
fellows. But the Jesuits moved the world in their long coats.

I suppose the curse of the nation has lit on these fellows

eSpecially.1

Hay's political philosophy gave full blame to government for the
moral climate of its peOple. The problem of how to control power for
the betterment of mankind was to face .Hay many times in the .future.
The above passage is not so much an indictment of the peOple as
described by Hay, but rather a criticism of an autocratic government.
The young diplomat was still possessed with the fire of his Republican
zeal. Elsewhere in his diary he continues his comments on the degrada-
tion of the Ghetto, as well as the inordinate, influence by clerical forces
on the nation and the menacing danger of militarism. In a letter to
Seward, dated February 5, 1868, he wrote: "No honest statesman can
say that he sees in the present attitude of politics the necessity of war.
No great Power is threatened. . . . Why then is this awful waste of
youth and treasure continued? I believe from no'other motive than to

sustain the waning prestige of Kings."2

Hay's assignment in Vienna lasted but a year, and while there he
found he had little to do in carrying out his diplomatic responsibilities.
Thus, he had time to travel and learn more of the Continent while at
the same time perfecting his German. All the time he was refining-his
own political philosophy while observing the forces at work in Europe
as reflected by the leaders of revolution. An entry in his diary for
September 10, 1867, comments on the contrasts of the revolutionary
Spirit in America and EurOpe and how radical extremism is diluted in
the United States as the result of a healthy national life:

Garibaldi at the Geneva Peace Congress makes a war speech!

This is bold and fine. The old man has not long to live and

he will go up with a flash. He loved liberty and peace so well

that he is willing to fight for them. He hates war-~as adoctor

hates drugs, but he uses it, for‘the good of the world. He

ought to free Rome, if Rome is worth freeing (?) and then

die. His short cuts, by the compass of abstract right, over
the field of Government and law are too destructive to the

llbid., pp. 300-303.
2Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 303.

 

 

 

 

 

Fetishes
Brown is
malignar
America

man cam
anything
have full

Hay's po
just prior to h]
rapher, Williai

for war; then I

Here in J
privilege
and are i
demande
on here

has outg
has begu
legislati

 

My prob

Another
oping sympathi
Also revealed
enveloping Eur
betterment of 1

I am ver
is curiox
the awkv
they wan
furious,
umph of
think the
their fin1
ever see

1"Letter

2The Lii
catalogue of t
University in l
ment of 1858,

 

 

87
Fetishes for him to lead a quiet life even in Italy free. John
Brown is a saint now. Had he lived he would have been a
malignant radical, and people would have tired of him. In
America the current of national life is so healthy, that one
man cannot disturb it. So that our revolutionists do not hurt
anything. Error and truth, as we regard them, must never
have full course. We must take both diluted.1

‘ Hay's political philosophy is best summed up in a letter he wrote,
just prior to his return to America, to Walt Whitman's friend and biog-
rapher, William Douglass O'Connor. In the letter is repeated his hatred

for war; then Hay states his political credo for both home and abroad:

Here in Austria the people are steadily gaining upon the
privileged classes. The latter see the danger instinctively
and are fighting with desperate energy against the reforms
demanded by the spirit of the time. When I see what is going
on here and in England and at home, it seems that the world
has outgrown the clumsy revolutions of blood and terror and
has begun a different cycle, founded on public opinion and
legislative action.

My probation as a Republican is over. My education, so far
as that question is concerned, is complete. As long as I live,
I shall stand by Democratic Republicanism. It is the only
name given under heaven whereby the nations shall be saved.2

Another letter to his friend, John Bigelow, emphasizes the devel-
Oping sympathies of Hay insofar as foreign relations are concerned.
Also revealed are his prejudices for the republican movements then
enveloping Europe, though his prOphecy as to their outcome and to the

. betterment of the world seems now somewhat naive in retrospect:

I am very glad I came. Vienna is worth while for a year. It
is curious and instructive to see their peOple starting off in
the awkward walk of political babyhood. They know what
they want, and I believe they will get it. The Aristocracy is
furious, and the Kaiser a little bewildered at every new tri-
umph of the Democratic and liberal principle. But I don't
think they can stOp the machine now--though they may get
their fingers mashed in the cogs. I don't think the world
ever seemed getting ahead so positively and quietly before.

 

1"Letters and Diary," I, pp. 330-331.

. 2The Life and WOrks of John HayL 1838-1905; A commemorative
catalogue of the exhibition shown at the John Hay Library of Brown
University in honor of the centennial of his graduation at the commence-
ment of 1858, (Providence: 1961), p. 30.

 

 

 

 

 

home by the S

of the forces

spirit of rep
realized to w

Prussian War

Hay ret
lican principl
ture that Hay
entry in his d'
ance in Buffal

Delivere

on ”The

house-4
sonably
trepidati

Hay's v:
these months
busied himsel'
York Harbor 1
again on diplm
him into a per
to appropriate
in June, 1869,

 

1Thayer
2"L. ette:
Dictior

 

 

 

88
Two years ago--it was another Europe. England has come
abreast of Bright. Austria is governed by Forty-Eighters.
Bismarck is becoming appalled by the Spirit of Freedom that
he suckled with the blood of Sadowa. France still lies in her
comatose slumber- ~but she talks in her sleep and murmurs
the Marseillaise. And God has made her ruler blind drunk,
that his Helot antics may disgust the world with deSpotism.

' If ever, in my green and salad days, I sometimes vaguely
doubted, I am safe now. I am a Republican till I die. When
we get to Heaven, we can try a Monarchy, perhaps.1
. With the completion of his tour of duty in Vienna, Hay was ordered
home by the State Department. He left the Continent with an awareness
of the forces that were Operating to counter the nascent nationalism and
spirit of republicanism extant then in EurOpe, but it is doubtful if he
realized to what extent these forces would be unleashed by the Franco-
Prussian War of 1870. I

Hay returned to America, confirmed more than ever in his repub-
lican principles. These principles became the basis for a pOpular lec-
ture that Hay delivered for the first time during his return home. The
entry in his diary for January 27, 1869, comments on a lecture appear-
ance in Buffalo, New York:

Delivered last night a lecture before the Y. M. C. Association

on "The Progress of Democracy in Europe." Had a fair

house--veryattentive and good-natured audience. Was rea-

sonably successful--especially pleased at the absence cf
trepidation and duration of my voice.

Hay's visit home lasted but eight months. While the records of
these months are somewhat scanty, there is enough to indicate that he
busied himself seeking another diplomatic post. He had sailed into New
York Harbor toward the last of October, 1868, and by July of 1869 was
again on diplomatic duty abroad. "Lone office holding had now converted
him into a persistent office seeker."3 As the result of repeated requests
to appropriate officials in the new Grant Administration he was offered,

in June, 1869, the post of First Secretary of Legation at Madrid.

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 312-313.
2"Letters and Diary," 1, p. 372.
3Dictionary of American Biography, IV, p. 432.

 

 

 

 

r1:

Hay arri
Isabella II has
remote. In a I

View the antic1

II have d
Bigelow, ”to g(
good deal abou
able of lifting t
I submit to all
going-but go.

Spain in
tions. These f;

jected to years
to do about it.2
exile and the c<
General Franci
Juan Prim Who
monarchy. To
Order at home

erIlpire.

A Part of
nice; the Carib
"V0“ against j
demanding its <
issue with the 5
granting it sow

1\
Bigelow
Bgckgl‘c

drawn
1934)‘ Chleflyf

 

89
Diplomatic Duty in Spain

 

Hay arrived in Spain during a moment of national crisis. Queen
IsabellaII has been expelled and the possibility of revolution was not
remote. In a letter some weeks before, Hay had expressed a desire to

View the anticipated revolution from a ringside seat.

"I have determined, malgre my better judgment,” he wrote to
Bigelow, ”to go to Spain for a little while. I have read and thought a
good deal about revolutions, and I cannot resist an Opportunity so favor-
able of lifting the very pot lid and seeing the 'hellbroth seeth and bubble.’
I submit to all your reproaches--agree in advance that I am an idiot for

H

going- -but go.

Spain in 1869 was a confused picture of disgruntled political fac-
tions. These factions were in perfect agreement that they had been sub-
jected to years of misrule but were in perfect disagreement as to what
to do about it.2 The Queen, as mentioned before, had been driven into
exile and the country was temporarily under the leadership of a regent,
General Francisco Serrano. The real power was invested in General
Juan Prim who had led the movement that had temporarily toppled the
monarchy. To Prim had fallen the almost impossible task of maintaining
order at home while at the same time saving the far-flung Spanish

empire.

A part of that empire touched upon the American Sphere of influ-
ence; the Caribbean island of Cuba. The island was now seething in
revolt against its Spanish masters and many influential Americans were
demanding its outright acquisition. Cuba, at best, was an emotional
issue with the Spanish people and any government who acquiesced to
granting it sovereignty or transfer to America would soon be toppled.

The Government under Prim was clearly walking a tightrOpe.

1Bigelow, Retrospections, IV, pp. 294—295.

 

2Background information for this period in Spanish history is
drawn chiefly from J. B. Trend, The Origins of Modern Spain (Cambridge,
1934).

 

 

The Cu
of the Spanisl
were working
for a monarcl
lutism while ‘2
Hay arrived j
pathies were
"he had seen
despotism; in
autocracy; an

would spring ;

The Am
what tarnishet
The record in
Shared his vie
namely; the re
that Hay Woult
198 carried in
Hamilton Fish
independence
WOW gul‘ante.
first abolishec
Hay found that
also pI‘OVidedt
at firsthand tht
“Power, The

1

2Thayer

3%
Spain. he tVW

 

 

90
The Cuban problem only served to intensify the domestic struggle

‘ of the Spanish political parties for power. Republicans of various types
were working for a republic while Liberal Conservatives were hoping
for as monarchy. The Clericals in this group intrigued for the old abso-
lutism while the Liberals wished for a constitutional version of monarchy.
Hay arrived just in time to witness this political contest and his. sym-
pathies were clearly for the Republicans. "In Paris," Thayer notes,
"he had seen the growing restlessness of Liberals under the Imperial
despotism; in Vienna, he saw a constitutional monarchy emerge from an
autocracy; and now in Madrid he hoped that his ideal, the Republic,

would spring into vigorous being."1

The American Minister at Madrid, and Hay‘s chief, was the "some—
what tarnished figure in American history”; General Daniel E. Sickles.2
The record indicates that Hay accepted the leadership of Sickles and

shared his views regarding the question of American interests in Cuba,

 

namely; the recognition of Cuban independence. It would be a question
that Hay would face again, as Secretary of State, in 1898. General Sick-
les carried instructions from President Grant's able Secretary of State,
Hamilton Fish, to push for Spanish permission for Cuba to purchase its
independence. There was also the implication that the United States
would gurantee payments provided, as a preliminary step, slavery was
first abolished on the island. As a result of this complicated situation,
Hay found that the duties of his office consumed much of his time. It
also provided the always observant Hay with an opportunity to observe

at firsthand the role of persuasive speech as a tool for the achieving

of power. The protagonists in this case were some of the most color-

ful characters ever assembled in the arena of the Spanish Cortes.3

 

lThayer, Life andLetters, I, p. 314.
f 2Dictionary of American Biography, IX, p. 151.

S _ The two houses constituting the national legislative body of
pain.

This stri
remarkable gr<

Hay is especial

Foremos
advocate
ranked P
ruler; a 1
his powei
makes th
Sagasta,

statesma

Hay studi
diary is a vivid
Hay’s love for
reveals Hay‘s <

wrote:

The Span
vacation
Cage hold
The seat:
solemn p
Maceros
during th
replies.

the t0p b.
ator sort
aptitude t
Praetice.
Rivero 5.
them OVe
Governm
being in ,
hundred ;
ent. The
the West.
Not man:

1\

Thayer;
”Letter

 

91
This struggle for ascendancy in Spain was carried on by a

remarkable group of statesmen. The description of some of them by

Hay is especially excellent:

Foremost among them was Castelar, whose reputation as the
advocate of Republicanism had crossed the Atlantic. Next,
ranked Prim, "a soldier, conspirator, diplomatist, and born
ruler; a Cromwell without convictions; a dictator who hides
his power; a Warwick, who mars Kings as tranquilly as he
makes them," Serrano, the regent, dignified and conciliatory;
Sagasta, still at the half -way stage between politician and
. statesman; Silvela, Ca’novas del Castillo.

Hay studied these Spanish leaders and their speaking intently. His
diary is a vivid reflection of their activities in the Cortes and suggests
Hay's love for color and passionate Spanish oratory. The diary also
reveals Hay's own ability as a rhetorical critic. On October 1, 1869, he

wrote:

The Spanish Cortes resumed their session to-day after a
vacation of some months. The Diplomatic Body have a little
cage holding fifteen. We have three cards and one I stole.
The seats all vacant in the hall. The President comes in in
solemn procession with the Maceros and Secretaries. The
Maceros dressed out of Froissart. Rivero wears white kids
during the whole session. His Opening speech. Figueras
replies. Figuerola, Orense, and Castelar sitting together on
the top bench of the extreme left. Figueras, a Western Sen-
ator sort of man in build and carriage, with a wonderful
aptitude of speech and good knowledge of parliamentary
practice. Orense, the noble factor of the play.

Rivero scolds the Deputies like a schoolmaster, knocking
them over the knuckles without merci or mise’ricordia. The
Government sits on a bench distinguished from the rest by
being in blue velvet instead of crimson. Out of the three
hundred and four Deputies, not more than one hundred pres-
ent. The afternoon sun pouring in through the windows facing
the west. Lighting up. The Maceros relieving each other.
Not many nobles.

1Thayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 317-318.
2"Letters and Diary," I, pp. 376-377.

 

 

The entr

an interview H

tion of Castela

Went wit
coming t
with him
French f
ported hi
papers.
a Winning
He Spoke
tacle of z
of an old
Of Spain
tion in C
there we
He said i
party of
This wor
It is a ci
monarch
here. A}
is hard 1;
He said 1
the suspt
mine war
say SOInt
Iapoiogi
mornents
When I VI
are over
SCurial

The next
Cortes‘ Hay's
glowing des Cri

OCtObEr

0f Guara
to‘mOrr.

 

92
The entry in his diary for the following day is a commentary on

an interview Hay had with Castelar which sets the stage for a descrip-

tion of Castelar's oratory:

Went with Fabra to see Castelar; found him at his own door
coming home with his hands full of documents. Walked up
with him--and had a long talk about everything. He speaks
French fluently--learned it in exile in Paris, where he sup-
ported himself and many others by writing for South American
papers. He has an exquisite face—-a soft, sweet tenor voice,
a winning, and what the Spaniards call, simpatico manner.

He spoke of Napoleon's sickness and of the humiliating spec-
tacle of a great nation looking for its destiny in the cuvette
of an old man. We talked a good deal of art and Italy.

Of Spain he spoke sadly; he seemed to feel that the insurrec-
tion in Catalonia was premature and ill-advised. He thought
there were evil days coming for the Republicans in Madrid.
He said we have just had a hard hour‘s work to persuade the
party of action not to precipitate an insurrection to-night.
This would be madness. Madrid is thoroughly monarchical.
It is a city of placeholders. The militia is in great majority
monarchical. There are 10,000 or 12,000 regular troops
here. An insurrection would be smothered in blood. Yet it
is hard to keep the fiery young fellows from trying it.

He said he was going to speak in the Cortes to-morrow on
the suspension of Guarantees. It is not my subject, he said,
mine was the impeachment, but this comes first, and I am to
say something on it.

I apologized for having taken up so many of his precious
moments; but he insisted on my staying longer.

When I went he said: "After a while, when these troubles
are over, if I survive them, we will go to Toledo and the
Escurial together. "

The next day occurred the promised speech by Castelar in the
Cortes. Hay's powers as a rhetorical critic are evident here in this

glowing description of Castelar's manner as an orator:

October 3, Sunday. The discussion to-day on the Suspension
of Guarantees occupied all the afternoon and will be continued

to-morrow.
Castelar was superb. His action is something marvellous.

He uses more gesticulation than any orator or actor I have
ever heard. His voice is, as I suspected, rather rich and

 

 

1Ibid., pp. 377-379.

 

musica
is apt t
than hi:
such fli
ful cur]
tation,

His wh<
fluency
his mos
word oi
in the v
of mire
filing o
phrase:
and bri
with a 1
graphs:
never 5
fingers
memor
with su
solid t}

A few (
debates takin
rhetorical st;
regarding the
the elements
Certain facet
he Wrote:

Castel;
Ministt

 

93

musical than strong, and he uses it so remorselessly that it
is apt to suffer in an hour or so. But his matter is finer
than his manner. I have never imagined the possibility of
such fluency of Speech. Never for one instant is the wonder-
ful current of declamation checked by the pauses, the hesi-
tation, the deliberations that mark all Anglo-Saxon debate.
His whole speech is delivered with precisely the energy and

. fluency that Forrest exhibits in the most rapid passages of
his most muscular plays: and when you consider that not ”a
word of this is written or prepared, but struck off instantly
in the very heat and spasm of utterance, it seems little short
of miraculous. The most laborious conning and weighing and
filing of the most fastidious rhetorician could not produce
phrases of more exquisite harmony, antitheses more sharp
and brilliant, metaphors more perfectly fitting-—all uttered
with a feverish rapidity that makes the deSpair of steno-
graphers. Then his logic is as faultless as his rhetoric. He
never says a foolish or careless word. All history is at his
fingers' ends. There is no fact too insignificant forihis
memory-—none too stale to do service. They are all presented
with such felicity and grace too, that you scarcely see how
solid they are.1

A few days later, Hay again commented in his diary regarding the
debates taking place in the Cortes. Observations are made by Hay of the
rhetorical style of some of the other speakers. In all his commentary
regarding the speeches he heard, Hay seemed to be most sensitive to
the elements of style and how they in turn were affected by and revealed

certain facets in the personality and ethos of the speaker. On October 6

he wrote:

Castelar spoke again Monday and again Tuesday. Sagasta,
Minister de la Gubernacion, greatly distinguished himself

on Monday. He defended the Government, eSpecially himself,
with wonderful vigor and malice. He is the hardest hitter in
the Cortes. Everybody calls him a scamp and everybody
seems to admire him, nevertheless. .He is a sort of Disraeli-
little, active, full of energy and hate, tormented by the oppo-
sition to the proper point of hot anger, he made a defense
offensive that enchanted the Government benches.

Silvela also made a good speech or two--but Silvela is rather
too good a fellow for this kind of work. He is very sincere
and candid but lacks the devil, which makes Sagasta so
audacious and Prim so cool.

 

 

1Ibid., pp. 379-380.

 

 

J

Prim‘s

the inter
He begg
he beggt
measurt
Sagasta
enigma-
sive in :
and the

exquisit
with a t]
left the

The ren
interview witi
not the purpor
tics of 1869-1
Hay and the A
rection in Cut
independence;
when he becar
t0 Nicolay, ex
praise of Gas

he wrote: in I:

The am
thlng p(
C0mmu:
than us
good en
intentio
Offered
the Cub
the gov
If 1t C0]
may ta]
Some 0
an asto
1‘ehtmsi
fer ins:
\ HIS act
Gibbon
POWerf-
eVeH in

1\
Ibid

\‘3

 

94
Prim‘s speech Tuesday evening after Castelar had announced
the intention of the Republicans to retire, was a masterpiece.
He begged them to reCOnsider-—he was frank, Open, soldierly;
he begged them to stay and threatened them with severe ‘
measures if they went—-he was not savage and insulting like
Sagasta—-nor phrasy like Silvela, but he was the perfection Of
enigma-—as always. His speech was powerful and impres-
sive in its deep simplicity-~and greatly affected Castelar
and the Republicans. Castelar answered in the same tone of
exquisite courtesy, rejecting the advice which was coupled
with a threat. The law passed and the Republican Deputies
left the Chamber.1

The remaining portion of this entry in the diary is a record Of an
interview with Silvela regarding the worsening political climate. It is
not the purpose Of this chapter to dwell on the intricacies of Spanish poli-
tics of 1869-1870. Suffice to say the diplomatic business which concerned
Hay and the American Legation had to do with Puerto Rico'and the insur-
rection in Cuba. Sickles and Hay would have pushed strong for Cuban
independence; but Hamilton Fish, much in the manner of Hay himself
when he became Secretary of State, acted with restraint. Hay, in a letter
to Nicolay, expressed his frustrations and reiterated his enthusiastic
praise Of Castelar and his "facility of expression.” On October 7, 1869,

he wrote, in part:

The amount Of talk we have done since we came here is some-
thing portentous. I have been always on hand as a medium Of .
communication, and so have seen more of the gros bonnets
than usually falls to the lot Of Secretaries. We have had a
good enough time Of it; have done nothing but show our amiable
intentions. The Government here is crazy to accept our
Offered mediation but does not dare. The cession of Cuba to
the Cubans—-would be a measure too frightfully unpOpular for
the government to face in its present uncertain tenure. Still

if it continues to grow stronger as now seems probable, it
may take the bit in its teeth and do something after a while.

Some of the Spaniards are men Of sense;--all of them have
an astounding facility of expression which is simply incomp-
rehensible to one of our stammering Teutonic race. Castelar,
for instance, is an orator such as you read of, and never see.
His action is as Violent as Forrest. His style as florid as
Gibbon. His imagination and his memory equally ready and
powerful. He never writes a speech. Yet every sentence

. even in a running debate when all the government hounds are

lIbid., pp. 380—382.

 

 

 

 

W

 

yelpii
as if
he wi
too rr.
fanati

We ai
can it
- has i1
ago.
is Cht

Hay's
been a bit 0
tery of lang

reminiscent

AS thl
somewhat a1

Conservatis

Ihave
of im
tiresc
the b]
there
gettin
for fl,
not ha
Systei
GOVer
to put
left t(
Shut; 1
thun

This n
Suggems the
Obvio
bilitie
billion
5‘ futu

,_.
H
E.
Q

7

5’
5.

Z

 

95
yelping at him at once, is as finished and as elegantly balanced
as if he had pondered all a rainy Sunday over it. I am afraid
he will cease to be the Republican idol before long. He has
too much sense and integrity to follow the lead of the socialist
fanatics.

We are a little blue, just now, we Republicans. The Republi-
can insurrection in Barcelona was premature and silly, and

- has injured the cause, which looked most promising a month
ago. It is by no means hOpeless yet, though the propaganda
is checked for the moment.

Hay's admiration for Castelar and his style of speaking might have
been a bit of admiration turned inward. The soaring imagery and mas-
tery of language used to enunciate principles of heroic prOportions are

reminiscent of Hay's own style Of speech. -

As the months passed on, the conditions of political ,life stabilized
somewhat and Spain again moved toward the Old pattern of autocracy and

conservatism. On January 30, 1870, Hay again wrote to Nicolay:

I have no news for you. .This Legation has absolutely nothing
of importance now in its hands. There is a great deal of
tiresome routine work which employs the fingers more than
the brain, and, byway Of keeping the circulation regular,
there is dancing enough tO keep the feet from. rusting. I am
getting rather tired of it, and shall begin to plume my wings
for flight some time in the spring. I am sorry Sickles has
not had a better chance, but nothing was possible with Fish's
system of platonic bullying. I am afraid Cuba is gone. This .
Government wants to sell out but dares not, and has no power
to put a stOp .tO the atrocities on the island. The only thing
left to our Government is to do nothing and keep its mouth
shut; or interfere to stop the horrors in Cuba on the ground
of humanity, or the damage resulting to American interests.

This momentary outburst and pique directed at the State Department
suggests the rashness of youth. Dennett, in his biography, comments:

Obviously, John Hay was still too young for great responsi-

bilities. His service abroad was important not for its contri-

butions to American history, but as a part Of the training Of
a future Secretary of State. Its immediate significance in

11bid., pp. 386-388.
2Ibid., pp. 389-390.

 

 

 

 

 

his pt
intellt
which
Hay's
revolution f
each new di
lished in 18
placed."2 I
retire, Hay
There was a
"coupled Wit
were major
lam g
great.
enougi
a Span
As Ha:
not only the

also of Prus

set for the I
Come; a role
the strugg1e
bad. had pro
u“muting in
match. _ -h
longw to be

PEturn home

¥
Denn.

Ibid.,
3\

They
Sun.

Bri

6
Thayl

 

‘ 96
his personal deveIOpment was that it culminated in an
intellectual awakening which he had missed in college, and
which he had also failed to receive in the White House.1
Hay's dream of a Spanish Republic came to nought as the threatened
revolution failed to materialize. "With thinly veiled eagerness, he hailed

each new disturbance and in Castilian Days, written while there and pub—

 

lished in 1871, he was reluctant to' admit that his faith had been mis-
placed."2 Regretting that "pecuniary circumstances" compelled him to
retire, Hay submitted his resignation to General Sickles on May 1, 1870.
There was also the desire to return to "lively America” and this,
"coupled .with the conviction that he had completed his training in EurOpe,'

were major factors that influenced his decision. To Nicolay he wrote:

I am glad I committed the folly of coming. I have seen a
great deal and learned something. I speak the language--well
enough to be understood, but not well enough to be taken for
a Spaniard. . .4 j

As Hay prepared to leave Spain, he had the disappointment Ofseeing
not only the failure of the Republican cause in Spain but the emergence
'also Of Prussian despotism in Germany.5 The stage was already being
set for the role Hay would play as Secretary Of State in the years to
come; a role he would play with distinction. The experiences of watching
the struggles for power and Observing men using that power, for good or
bad, had provided Hay with a unique education. Now thirty-two years Old,
‘ ”carrying in his memory a treasure of experiences which few could
match. . . his travels had made him what from early boyhood he had
longed to be, a citizen of the world."6 His first concern now was to

return home and make a living.

Dennett, John Hay, p. 67.
Ibid., p. 66.

Thayer, Op. cit., p. 326.
Ibid., p. 328.

5Brinton, "ChristOpher, and Wolff, A History Of Civilization, II,
pp. 287-288. —

6Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 329.

NH

t-POO

 

 

.3

 

 

 

 

 

Hay's
with the urgt
earn a living
place for hir
Lincoln's se

as Dennett s

Accor<
New York by
ington and nc
Horace Gree
to the Tm
leaders for (
toyed” with t
who pronoun.
editorials he
Greeley t0 se
Phase of Hay

It Will ;
description 0
say that begii
Hay estabiis}
editorials--6
Writer in the
HaY'S biogra]

In that
tleB\r§
her 19,
in the 5
Country

1\
Denne-
Thdye:
31h
\ld‘ a

 

 

Journalism, Authoreriti, and the Lyceum
Hay's arrival home in 1870 found him possessed more than ever
ith the urge to be a writer. Following in close second was the need to
am a living. Although still relatively young, Hay needed now to find a
lace forhimself at home. "The credit drawn from having once been
incolnl's secretary being now temporarily exhausted, John Hay was,"

3- Dennett states, "for the first time in his life, on his own resources.”1

According more to legend than fact,2 Hay was met at the boat in
ew York by Whitelaw Reid, an acquaintance from the Old days in Wash-
tgton and now second in command of the New York Tribune under
orace Greeley. That evening, according to the story, Reid invited Hay
» the Tribune Office and asked him to try his hand at writing some
3aders for dispatches containing news from Europe. Reid was "over—
>yed" with the results. The next, day it was read by Horace Greeley,
'hO pronounced Hay's sample editorial as "the best Of them all," of
iitorials he had read over a lifetime. He was urged by both Reid and
re‘eley to serve on the great newspaper and thus began the journalistic

iase of Hay's career.

It will not be the purpose of this section to engage in a detailed
ascription of Hay's career during the decade of the 1870's. Suffice to
ty that beginning with his initial employment in 1870 and through 1875,
1y established some sort of publishing record, not only as a writer of
litorials--Greeley stated that he was the most brilliant newspaper
riter in theUnited StatesB—-, but as an author and poet in his own right.
ty's biographer, Tyler Dennett, describes and appraises this emergence:

In that one year, Hay appeared five times in the Atlantic,"c>n.ce

in Harper's Monthly, and six times in Harper's Weekhy. Lit-

tle Breeches“ was published in the Daily Tribune, Novem-

ber 19, 1870; "Jim Bludso" appeared first on January 6, 1871,

in the semi-weekly Tribune. They ran like wild—fire over the
country, copied and recopied from coast to coast. Apamphlet

 

 

1Dennett, John Hay, p. 70.
zThayer, Life and Letters, I, pp. 330-331.
31bid., p. 334.

 

 

of thee
througl
phlet w
Pieces.
this, in
Castili:
lished.
appeart
literarg
zenith.
as man
when ht
James'

 

Hay, hi
remained as
time when his

close contact

The ye;
Under Horace
The great edi
a caInpdign o:
the papeI- Was
United States,
man of affair;
best newspap.
that the name
can letters' u?

The day
pitch" and, f0
life'he Was th
to the discipl;
rately apprai:
and the po e t,
him on his In.
was unable to

1\
Dehnet
MU ]

98
of these ballads, selling at twenty—five cents, was rushed
through the press to meet an insistent demand. The pam—
phlet was followed closely by Pike County Ballads and Other
Pieces, one hundred and sixty—seven pages Of verse, and
this, in turn, carried the publisher's announcement that
Castilian Days, by the same author, was soon to be pub-
lished. Before the end Of the year many of his poems had
appeared in an English edition. Within ten months Hay's
literary fame, rising from complete Obscurity, reached its
zenith. By the end of 1871 his name was probably known to
as many peOple in the United States and abroad as in 1897
when he was appointed Ambassador to the Court of St.
James's. A brilliant young man.

 

Hay, his fame as writer and lecturer increasing year by year,
iained as coeditor with the Tribune until 1875. It was a period of
8 when his mind, ”fertilized for many years,H was brought into

3e contact with "other minds in the atmosphere Of a metropolis."

The year 1870 was a transitional one for the New York Tribune.
{er Horace Greeley, the paper had become influential and prosperous.
great editor, as though seeing the end of his reign, was launched on
impaign of bringing in new blood. He could well afford to do so as
paper was counted among the richest newspaper properties in the
bed States. Whitelaw Reid, managing editor under Greeley, was a
l of affairs and influential in gathering under one roof some of the
: newspaper brains that existed then in the country. ”Godkin remarked
the names on the staff read like the index tO some manual of Ameri-

letters. "2

The day—by-day routine in the Tribune Office was "keyed to a high
h" and, for Hay, it was a new experience. For the first time in his
he was thrown into daily competition with his peers and subjected
1e discipline of delivering a product which could be easily and accu—
ly appraised. Newspaper presses cannot wait for I'inspirations”
the poet, turned newspaperman, found that his new environment "put
on his mettle.H "One can understand," suggests Dennett, ”why he

unable to endure the ordeal very long, but it is equally understandable

 

lDennett, John Hay, p. 71.
Ibid., p. 90.-

 

 

that these ‘
taskmastei
On March

I do :
nalis
some
I sit
very
This
pay 2
else.

Hay':
profession:

Bishop wrc

It wa
life.

mort
watc]
who I
it- -ft
was 1
tion;
word
of pe
know
play

and a

This
fellow worl
We. I
b°°k I‘Oyalt
demand Hf(

 

99

hat these years were his most productive ones. Hay. . needed a

askmaster."1 Hay confesses his own uncertainties in a letter to Bigelow.

in March 12, 1871, he wrote:

I dO‘not feel at all firm in the saddle for the career of jour—
nalism. I waste two-thirds of my time trying to think of '
something to write about. HaSsardZ writes his column while
I sit staring at the City Hall-in blank imbecility. Reid writes
very little, but when it is necessary, he beats me two to one.
This is not encouraging, but on the other hand, I get large
pay and many good words. I satisfy myself less than any one

else.

Hay's modesty and playing the role of the amateur, rather than the

rofessiOnal, won him the friendship of men like Joseph Bucklin Bishop.

'ishOp wrote about Hayyin later years:

It was a liberal education in the delights Of the intellectual
life. . . . the highest gift that Heaven has bestowed upon
mortals, to sit in intimate companionship with John Hay and
watch the play of the well-stored and brilliant mind. NO one
who had enjoyed that supreme privilege could ever forget
it--forget the musical voice, which in every tone and fibre

. was the voice of the intellectual man; the clear-cut ennuncia-

tion; the unerring use of the right word and the only right
word in every instance; the wide knowledge of men and nations,

of peOples and governments; the familiar and ever-ready

knowledge of all that is best, in literature, and over it all the

play of a humor which was next-door neighbor to melancholy

and all the finer for that close association.4

This tribute is typical of the admiration Hay evoked among his
:llow workers. Hay met corresponding success outside the office Of the
ribune. His fortunes rose as the result Of magazine contributions and
)Ok royalties; and, as a result Of literary success, there was created a
emand ”for his appearance on the lyceum circuits where he won a suc-

rss comparable with that in literature."5 Hay had two popular lectures

 

l¥

lIbid.
2John R. G. Hassard, "a brilliant writer,” states Dennett, "whose
arkle might easily be mistaken for that of Hay."

 

3Bigelow's Retrospections, IV, p. 478.
4Dennett, John Hay, pp. 91-92.
5Ibid., p. 32.

 

that he prest
America," a
these preser
lic Speaking

chapter.

The pI
outline the f:
The primary
been noted.
service abrc

possessing 1.-

The as
the first of t
However, as
to be Lincol]
martyred PI
vice there 9]
"a real know

his formal e

Also n,
ters, H Prima
Hay needed t
York M
this early pt
terms of hot
be deSCribed

In a se

\
Clare
WQrkS 0

w

. 100
hat he presented many times during the 1870's, ”The Heroic Age in

' So typical are

merica," and "The Progress of Democracy in Europe.’
I ese presentations of Hay's rhetoric, during the early phase of his pub-
"c speaking career,they‘ will be examined in detail in a subsequent

hapte r.

The primary concern of this chapter has been to sketch in broad
utline the factors that Operated in combination to create the man Hay.
he primary influences of family heritage and home environment have
een noted. This, together with the Lincoln experiences and diplomatic
rvice abroad, produced an individual of diverse abilities and a man

ssessing unusual insight and sensitivity.

The association with Lincoln provided the initial fame that opened
e first of the many doors of Opportunity that were to come Hay‘s way.
owever, as mentioned before, Hay "was his own man" and never tried
> be Lincolnesque or capitalize on his former association with the
tartyred President. With the experiences gained from diplomatic ser-
.ce there emerged the cosmOpolitan Hay, still somewhat na'ive regarding
I. real knowledge of European affairs,” but with a broadened outlook and

s formal education completed.

Also noted were the first serious efforts of Hay as ”a man oflet-
rs, ” primarily as a poet. Although he loved to write and wrote easily,1
:y needed the discipline imposed on him as a journalist with the New
»rk Tribune in order to bring his writing‘talent to full fruition. Through
5 early phase of Hay's career has been noted his rhetorical ability in
'ms of both critic and performer. His excellence in the latter area will

described in detail in later chapters.

In a sense, Hay's career as a public speaker can be divided into

» periods. The early period is Hay, the public lecturer, fresh from

____

1Clarence Leonard Hay in ”Introduction," Complete Poetical
:ks of John Hay, p. xiii.

 

 

 

literary accl
secretary, s;
is Hay, the :
audiences. Ii

zation of mat

By way
Hay's inclina
was to derive
career in di;
His son, Cla
conjecture wi
had followed '
hands and tur
Hay‘s ability

Play a major

H
0"
I—-

g..-

101
literary acclaim and famous for his wartime services as Lincoln's

secretary, speaking to local and regional audiences. The later period
{8 Hay, the senior statesman, speaking to national and international
udiences. In this study of the public Speaking of John Hay, the organi-

, ation of material will follow these general lines of division.

By way of a final summing—up it should be remembered that, though
I ay's inclinations were always in the direction of authorship, his fame
as to derive from a diplomatic career. Hay always considered his
areer in diplomacy an accident, "or rather a chapter of accidents.H
is son, Clarence Leonard Hay, wrote in later years: "It is vain to
onjecture what position he would have held in the world of letters if he
ad followed the inclination of his youth. Fate took the choice out of his
ands and turned the bard to first a writer, then a maker, of history."1
ay's ability as a communicator, both as writer and speaker, was to

lay a major role in the shaping of that history.

1Ibid., p. ix.

 

C HA PTE R III

HAY'S AUDIENCES -- THE CLIMATE OF OPINION
' FROM 1870 TO 1885

The nature of the setting in which the speaker Operated is of
primary concern to the rhetorical critic. Speeches take place in highly
homplex situations, with many factors exerting their influence on the

peaker and the immediate audience. This setting, or background, might
e called'the "larger audience" or the "climate OfOpinion." The histo-
Eian, Carl Becker, states that "the preconceived idea. . .. . is determined
y the climate of Opinion in which the historian lives."1 A parallel to

lhis Observation, as it applies to the historian, may also be drawn with
tespect to the speaker and his times. Becker continues with another

hought that relates not only to the historian, but to the rhetorical
:ritic as well:

Living in this climate of Opinion he has acquired unconsciously
certain settled convictions as to the nature of man and the
world, convictions which interpret human experience, in such

a way that it is easier for him to believe that any number of
witnesses may be self— deceived than it is to believe that the
particular event testified to has ever happened or can ever

happen. 2

Although Becker's concern is with the problem of achieving detach-
ent and Objectivity in the Writing of history, the problem is no less for
e rhetorical critic as he examines the setting in which "the speeches

the past" have occurred.

fi-

1Charlotte Watkins Smith, Carl Becker: On History and the Climate
)pinion (Ithaca, New York: Cornell UniVersity Press, 1956), p. 90.

21bid.

 

102

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

103
Marie Hochmuth gives another dimension to this problem of

erpreting the climate of opinion:
When a student concerns himself with the speeches of the
past, he tries to obtain a view of the conditions, limitations,
and potentialities of the leadership of Speakers in all spheres,
political, economic, social, cultural. He tries to discover
the ideas which have been generated, the conditions of their
acceptance or rejection, the SCOpe, dimension, and intensity
of concerted action. The critic of rhetoric must endeavor
to see events in terms of their yet unactualized future, free
from all events which were subsequent. To recover the
implications of time, place, attitudes of both speaker and

audience, the symbolic fitness of the Speaker, the level of

cultural development and taste becomes an almost insur-
mountable task.1

To understand the "events in terms of their yet unactualized
:ure” is a formidable obstacle in any attempt to recreate the climate
Opinion of any past period. However, despite the fact that nonverbal
pects of the Situation are apt to be ”capricious," the factors influencing
e beliefs, attitudes, and emotional character of the ”larger audience"
America from 1870 to 1885 must be outlined. This must be done if

e words of Hay for that period are to become meaningful.

This chapter will consider the deveIOpment of political, social,

d economic factors which lay beneath the climate of Opinion during
3 early period of Hay's public Speaking and which impinged upon the
aas set forth in his speeches. Whereas the primary focus of Chap-
."s I and II was Hay as a man, the primary focus of this chapter is the
cial milieu, or the climate of Opinion, in which Hay spoke during the
riod from 1870 to 1885. Since Hay helped to shape the climate Of
inion of this period, this chapter also continues the description of the

.ient events of his career.

 

The Gilded Age

"Never was there, perhaps, more hollowness at heart than at

esent, and here in the United States," commented Walt Whitman in

 

1 Marie Kathryn Hochmuth (ed. ) A History and Criticism of American
alic Address (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1955), Vol. III, p. 22.

 

 

 

 

 

 

104
1
L871 in his chief prose work, Democratic Vistas. Whitman was describing

 

a situation that sounds familiar to the generation living in this decade

of the twentieth century:

I say that our New World democracy, however great a suc-
cess in uplifting the masses out of their SlOughs, in materi-
alistic development, products, and in a certain highly-
deceptive superficial popular intellectuality, is, so far, an
almost complete failure in its social aspects, and in really
grand religious, moral, literary, and esthetic results.2 A

Whitman's gloomy commentary was echoed by others. Edwin L.

Godkin, founder of the intellectual journal, The Nation, labeled the

 

' while to

emerging decade of the 1870's as the ”chromo civilization,’
Mark Twain it was the Gilded Age. As the result of a book by that name

that he had coauthored with Charles Dudley Warner, Twain's term for

 

the age stuck.

The seeds for the growth of the Gilded Age had been sown during
the time of Hay‘s first diplomatic missions soon after the Civil War.
The victory of the Radical Republicans at the polls in 1868 assured a
harsh policy of reconstruction toward the South and a more favorable

climate for the expansion of the American Industrial Revolution.3 With

  
   
 
 
 
  
  
  
   

the ending of the sectional dominance of the South, there began an era

in America that was typified by the rise of a new capitalist class. The
industrialists, the railroad builders, the financiers -- all those held in
check by the legislative power of the Old South -- were now unhindered
to grow to undreamed of proportions. The pace of economic change

quickened, and the main outlines of modern America began to emerge.

1Harvey Wish, Society and Thought in Modern America (New York:
Longmans, Green and Co., 1952), p. 337, Quoting from Walt Whitman,
Democratic Vistas.

2%. .

3Material for this period is drawn chiefly from the following:
Charles and Mary Beard, Rise of American Civilization (New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1927), II, pp. 166-210; Ray A. Billinton, Bert J.
oewenberg, and Samuel H. Brockunier, The United States (New York:
inehard & Company, 1947), p. 287; and Arthur M. Schlesinger, "The

oundatiOnS of the Modern Era,H New ViewLoints in American History
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922), pp. 245-264.

 

 

 

 

 

105
The Civil War had given a great stimulus to the output from the

ories of the North. The need of the Federal armies for equipment
arms, clothing and footwear, had resulted in Government contracts
caused Northern manufacturers to embark on large—scale produc-
FurthermOre, Northern industrialists and financiers had asked,
received from, Congress various protective measures. This scheme
hings not only gave a tremendous thrust to American business enter-
se but also, after Appomattox, led to an unparalleled concentration of

'Lvity.

This concentration gave rise to large combinations in the indus-
al world and the development of the corporate structure. Out of the
linary corporation evOlved the trust, the holding company, and the V
nbination of corporations in doubly concentrated form. 'One of the
st salient features in the development (of American industry was the
>wth of these huge corporations in such areas as steel, oil, railroads,
>lic utilities, coal, lumber, and communications. Americanindustri-
sts had found the key to turn the vast treasure of natiOnal resources
the United States into a vast outpouring of finished goods. To this

y added a complex system of railroads and canals which supplied the

   
    
   
   
   
  
  

tories and distributed their manufactured products to a mass market.
sustain the growing deveIOpment of American industry, capital and
or were drawn from EurOpe.1 The first of the huge waves of postwar
igration from EurOpe began to change the population profile of

erica.

It was natural, under such conditions, that the growth of great
'vidual fortunes should parallel this industrial deveIOpment. In each
hese fields of enterprise arose great captains of industry. A new

con entered the vocabulary of the American peOple as they began to

H H H H

ak of "coal barons, steel kings, railroad magnates," and "Napo-
s of finance." Many of these huge private accumulations were the

ult of increases in land value, but in the main they were the product

 

1Charles and Mary Beard, "Reconstruction and Economic Expan-
,” Basic History of the United States (New York: Doubleday, Doran &
. 1944?, pp. 287-302.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

. 6 - .
>f corporate growth and speculation in stocks and bonds of industrial

:orpo rations .

The men who were the principal energizers- of this economic trans-
formation were an unusual breed, and it was their activity that gave the"
climate of Opinion of the Gilded Age’its unique aura. Most of them were
of humble origin, without discipline or training, but with. ability and the .
will to power that fitted them for the social milieu of the times. In them
was personified the basic drive of the era -- the "welling-up of primi-
tive pagan desires. . . . to grow rich, to grasp power, to be strong and
masterful and lay the world at its feet.”1 Parrington states that it was

a time Of' "new freedoms" with a climate conducive to the creation Of

"a race of capitalistic buccaneers":

Society of a Sudden was become fluid. With the sweeping-
away of the last aristocratic restraints the potentialities of
the common (man found release for self-assertion. Strange
figures, Sprung from Obscure origins, thrust themselves
everywhere upon the scene. In the reaction from the mean
and skimpy,- a passionate will to power was issuing from
unexpected sources, undisciplined, confused in ethical values,
but endowed with immense vitality. ' Individualism was being
simplified to the acquisitive instinct. These new Americans
were primitive souls, ruthless, predatory, capable; single-
minded men; rogues and rascals often, but never feeble,
never hindered by petty scruple, never given to puling or
whining--the raw materials of a race of capitalistic buc-
caneers. Out of the drab mass of common plebian-life had
come this'vital energy that erupted in amazing abundance
and in strange forms. The new freedoms meant diverse
things to different men and each like Jurgen followed after
his own. wishes and his own desires. Pirate and priest issued
from the common source and played their parts with the
same picturesqueness. The romantic age of Captain Kidd
was come again, and the black flag and the gospel banner
were both in lockers to be flown as the needs of the cruise
determined. With all coercive restrictions put away the
democratic genius of America was setting out on the road of
manifest destiny,.2 '

 

 

 

 

J11 1Vernon Louis Parrington, The Beginnings of Critical Realism in
. merica (Main‘CurrentS in American Thought, III, New York: Harcourt,
Brace and Co., 1930), p. 11.

2Ibid., pp. 11-12.

 

 

 

107
In such a climate of opinion one begins to understand what Walt

Vhitman meant by, "Never was there. . . . more hollowness at heart
han at present, and here in the United States." It was an elemental,
>rimitive world populated by colorful individuals like Daniel Drew, Com-
nodore Vanderbilt, Jim Fisk, Jay Gould and Boss Tweed. Yet, chromo
:ivilization or Gilded Age, such labels do not quite capture the essence

>f the time. To Parrington it was also a boldly adventurous and creative
generation:

. a generation in which the democratic freedoms of Amer-
ica, as those freedoms had taken Shape during a drab frontier
experience, came at last to spontaneous and vivid expression.
If its cultural wealth was less than it thought, if in its exu-
berance it was engaged somewhat too boisterously in stamping
its own plebeian image on the work of its hands, it was only
natural to a society that for the first time found its opportun-
ities equal to its desires, a youthful society that accounted
the world its oyster and wanted no restrictions laid on its
will. It was the ripe fruit of Jacksonian leveling, and it ran
to a grotesque individualism--if in its self-confidence it was
heedless of the smiles of Older societies--it was nevertheless
by reason of its uncouthness the most picturesque generation
in our history.

G rantism

The political climate of the Gilded Age favored the occurence of
Forruption at all levels; including that of the administration in Washing-
on. As a result of "Grantism," that Hay experienced his first disap-
pointment with the political party with which he had become so closely
dentified. Grant had been elected in 1868; and Hay, like so many of

.is countrymen, had been enthused with the choice and looked forward

3 a bold and vigorous administration. Like his close friend, Henry
Ldams, Hay hOped that the new President would steer a course of action
that would in the main be ”practical, sensible, and in intention honest. "2

5 did not take long, however, for the disillusionment to set in.

 

 

1Parrington, Main Currents in American Thought, III, pp. 10-11.

2Henry Adams, "The Session. 1869-1870," The Great Secession
inter of 1860-61 and Other Essays by HeanAdamS, ed. by George E.
ochfield (New York: A. S. Barnes and Company, Inc., 1963), p. 196.

 

 

 

 

 

 

108
It would have been well for Grant's reputation if Appomattox had

seen the closing act of his career. "He was unfitted for the presidency
3y temperament, and less equipped for it than any predecessor or suc~
:essor."1 Not long after Grant's first term got under way, it became
3bvious that he was unaware of the complex forces that were shaping
the United States. He was equally inept in his choice of Cabinet members
and could never quite understand that a good soldier did not necessarily
make an honest public servant. Appointments to high Office made on
this basis led to ultimate disaster; and Grant, much to the dismay of
stalwart supporters like Hay, became one of the most unfortunate pres-

idents in American history.

An incident that epitomized the new business Spirit that had emerged
in the country since the Civil War, the gold market scandal, was the first
of. many such incidents that characterized the Grant administration. The
uncertain stability of ”greenback" currency, a remnant of Civil War
finance, gave two New York stock gamblers a dangerous Opportunity. The
fluctuating value of the currency was based on uncertainty as to whether
Congress would redeem the greenbacks in gold or keep them in circula-
tion. The two opportunists, Jay Gould and Jim Fisk, with the ”connivance

f persons high in the confidence of the President and the treasuryH --
ook advantage of the situation to organize a corner in gold. They were
almost successful. The premium on gold rose to 162 on "Black Friday,”
September 24, 1869; and many investors faced ruin as a result. Only
the dumping of four million dollars in gold on the market by the Govern-
ment defeated the attempted corner. Although there had been no malev-
Jlent intent on his part, Grant received the entire blame for allowing
1imself to be ensnared in such an affair. "The worst scandals of the
18th century," wrote Henry Adams, "were relatively harmless by the
side of this which smirched executive, judiciary, banks, corporate sys-

.ems, professions, and pe0ple, all the great active forces of society.”2

 

1Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American
People (New York: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 726.

2For a detailed commentary on this event see Henry Adams, "The
Jew York Gold ConSpiracy,” Essays by Henry Adams, ed. by George E.
iochfield, pp. 157—189.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

109
It was events of this type that created a political. climate of

corruption and debauchery at their worst. A letter from Senator Grimes
of Iowa to Senator Trumbull of Illinois stated that the Republican party
was ”going to the dogs"; that it had become "the most corrupt and
debauched political party that has ever existed."1 While perhaps at
the time the comment was an exaggeration, within a span of less than
a decade it was very true indeed. The prelude to Grant's attempt for a
second term emphasized the failure of his administration. Weak cabinet
appointments and intimacy with New York financiers of bad reputation
led, in turn, to failures in reconstruction and civil service reform, and
in the attempts to revise the excessive wartime customs duties. All
this raised Opposition to Grant's reelection within his own party. The

stage was set for a bolt from the party.

The Cincinnati Convention

 

The break with the regular party occurred in May, 1872, with the
convention of the Liberal Republicans in Cinncinnati, Ohio. Hay's paper,
the New York Tribune, had been instrumental in banding together a

group of like—minded editors in the attempt to stem the tide of what was

 
 
   
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
  

called "Grantism. "

Among them were such men as Samuel Bowles,
Joseph Medill, William Cullen Bryant, John Bigelow, Emil Praetorius,
Henry Watterson, Murat Halstead, and Oswald Ottendorfer. To a man
they endorsed Greeley's charge that Grant's Administration was ”guilty
of wanton disregard Of the laws of the land"; and that the President him-
self had ”Openly used the powers and Opportunities of his high Office for
the promotion of personal ends," had "kept notoriously corrupt and
unworthy men in places of power," and had ”shown himself deplorably
unequal to the tasks imposed upon him by the necessities of the country, and
culpably careless Of the responsibilities of his high office. ”2 These were

also the sentiments of the entire staff of the Tribune, including John Hay. 3

 

1Morison and Commager, The Growth of the American Republic,
1. pp. 71-72.

2L. D. Ingersoll, The Life and Times of Horace Greeley (Chicago:

Union Publishing Co., 1873), pp. 540-550.

3Ibid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

110
This group, together with individuals like Carl Schurz and Charles

Francis Adams, provided the leadership for the Cincinnati Convention.
It was the kind of group that Hay felt most at home with -- "with a lib-

eral cause in harmony with his own feelings. He despised political

.1

corruption.' The platform of the Convention was also much to Hay's

liking.2 It charged the Republican for having circumvented investigation
and reform, as well as having ”kept alive the passions of the war."
While condemning Grant for careless use of his high office, the platform
called for the supremacy of civil over military power, return to Specie
payments, reform of the civil service, refusal of further land grants to
railroad and other corporations, and the removal of all civil disabilities
imposed by reason of the late war. "Up to this point," Dennett states,
"Hay had no difficulty."3 However, the nomination of Horace Greeley,

his chief, provided Hay with a most difficult choice:

Then came the nomination of Greeley, his own chief, but
also Lincoln's gadfly, whose political ineptitude had reached
a climax at Niagara Falls with Hay as its most intimate
witness.4 Two months later at Baltimore the Democratic
party endorsed Greeley and his platform, thus making the
ticket less Republican than Democratic. Hay left no record
of his emotions. After all, the choice in November was to
be between Greeley and Grant. To work for Greeley may
have been difficult but to follow Grant was impossible. Poli-
tics are that way. Group or corporate action of any sort
rests on compromise which is bitter medicine for poets and
individualists generally. It is hard to realize that the choice
between two evils, where there is no third alternative, is the
choice between two goods. It is doubtful whether Hay as a
regular Republican ever had a more difficult choice, than
faced him as a bolter in 1872.5

Greeley proved himself, surprisingly to Hay and others, an excel-

lent campaigner. The odds, however, were against him. With all the

 

1

 

Dennett, John Hay, p. 120.
21bid.
31bid.

The reference is to Greeley's ill-fated peace mission at Niagara
Falls on July 20, 1864. He was accompanied by Major Hay who repre—
ented President Lincoln.

 

5Dennett, Op. cit., p. 120.

 

 

 

 

 

 

111
vested interests contributing generously to the Republican campaign

fund and the total support of the rank and file of the party, Grant carried
every state but six and had a pOpular majority of over 700,000.1 The
attempt for the Presidency was to be Greeley's last act and three weeks

later he died, a brokenhearted man.

 

The death of Hay's chief set the stage for a struggle for the con—
trol of the New York Tribune. In brief, the contest was between the
conservative and liberal wings of the Republican camp with the liberals
eventually winning out. With the newspaper controlled by the liberals,

"the political views expressed by the Tribune were, in general. . . . the

 

views which John Hay approved.”2 Even after Hay resigned from the
paper a few years later, he continued over a span of almost twenty

years to contribute political comments as well as literary criticism to
the Tribune.

From his vantage point as second-in-command of a paper with
independent Republican leanings, Hay was in the forefront in the Oppo-
sition to "Grantism." These were, however, to be the last years of
Hay's career as a political independent. On January 8, 1874, he wrote

lto E. M. Stanton:

I am going to be married. If you want to see the last of me,
be at Mr. Stone's, 113 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio, on
the evening of the 4th of February, and I will ShOW you a

lovely woman in a white dress and a man in a black coat,
who is now and always

Yours faithfully.3

Marriage and Hay's Emerging Economic PhiIOSOphy

On February 4, 1874, Hay was married to Miss Clara Stone of

Cleveland, Ohio. She was the daughter of Amasa and Julia Gleason

 

Stone; and her father, a prosperous financier of Cleveland, typified those

 

i; lFor biographies dealing with the political aspects of Grant's

 

ee W. B. Hesseltine, U. S. Grant and Louis A. Coolidge, The Life of
lysses S. Grant.

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 122.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 351.

 

 

 

 

112
who had prospered mightily in the favorable business climate that had

followed the Civil War. In fact, Amasa Stone had quietly built the basis
of his fortune during a time when more dramatic events were luring
others to the gold fields of California:
While others were hurrying across the Isthmus, or the still
more deadly plains, lured by the gold of California, Stone
found wealth by tapping the less elusive resources of Ohio.
With two partners he undertook the contract to construct the
railroad from Cleveland to Columbus, and after its comple-
tion became its superintendent, establishing his home in
Cleveland. A few years later he quietly gathered sufficient
votes to go into a directors' meeting and vote himself in as
president of the road in place of the man who had raised the
capital and brought him to Ohio to build it. Amasa Stone was
remembered in Cleveland for more than one coup like that.1
Detailed reference to Hay's marriage and his father-in-law is
made in this chapter because they were of major significance not only
to Hay's development but to the climate of Opinion of this particular era.
Hay, as the result Of his marriage and changed circumstances, undoubt-
edly modified his own views regarding the importance of prOperty to the
total scheme of things. Without question, as one reviews Hay's Speech—
making and writing during the 1870's and 1880's, his conservative leanings
and party regularity become more and more apparent. It was to be a
sincere conservatism, buttressed by Hay's own historical studies and
tinged now and then with reform. By the end of 1870's however, "
Iohn Hay came to rest in the Republican party from which he ten years
2
Defore had been more estranged than separated. " To be sure, the party
1ad changed in the meantime from what it had been in Grant's time:

”but Hay, also, had changed. "3

Amasa Stone provided Hay with his first experience as a business-
nan and made him "ready to Skin the pensive Buckeye with neatness and

iispatch. "4 This was an entirely new role for Hay. From Amasa Stone

 

lDennett, John Hay, pp. 99-100.
21bid., p. 132.

3Ibid.

4 —

Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 391.

 

 

113
he was to be oriented to a far different kind of discipline than that he

had learned from Abraham Lincoln. Mention has already been made of
Stone's coup that made him president of a railroad. There were many
such successes; and "with confidence born of one success after another,
Stone marched forward through three decades of Ohio history until he
became a national figure. . . recognized. . . as one of the great builders
in the empire of the West. "1 Hay's father-in-law had a range of inter-
ests that included mines, iron and steel; banking; and communications.
He was a major stockholder in the Western Union Telegraph Company
at the time of its emerging greatness. Railroads, however, were Amasa
Stone's major interest. He helped build the Chicago and Milwaukee and
the old Union Passenger Station in Cleveland. The Lake Shore Railroad
was his major monument which later, under Commodore Vanderbilt,
became a part of the famous line from New York to Chicago. This was
the empire that now became Hay's environment; and, as always, he

adapted well to his new surroundings.

Stone was a dominant man and would have liked to have John Hay
take the place of a son he had lost some years before. AS Hay's

biographer comments:

  
 
   
   
  

The two men were too near of an age and too far apart in

temperament; the Older man represented the qualities in

American life without which it would not now be possible to

go from New York to Chicago by rail in twenty hours; the

younger was the son of a man without whose qualities Amer-

ica would have become too brutal to live in.2

John Hay, however, did his duty by his father-in-law. Using his
connections with the Tribune, he built a public image of Amasa Stone
hat softened the picture of a ruthless buccaneer of industry. To Reid
f the Tribune he sent the story of Stone's endowment of half a million
ollars to Western Reserve University; of which institution, incidentally,
ay became a lifelong trustee. When on December 29, 1876, the Ashta-
ula bridge of the Lake Shore Railroad went down carrying a trainload

f people to destruction, it was Hay who attempted to soften the charges

 

lDennett, John Hay, p. 100.
2Ibid., p. 102.

 

\l‘)
l\‘1
Ill

 

 

114
against Stone. The bridge had been built using the famous Howe truss

principle. At Stone's insistence, and against the advice of his engineer,
iron had been substituted for the wooden timbers. The structure could
not take the added weight; and Stone, who had been right so many times
before, saw the verdict go against him ”at a fearful cost of human life

' Mr. Stone had persisted in an experiment "which ought

and suffering.1
never to have been tried. "1 Stone, with few friends to begin with, was
the target of malicious charges. "At night he walked the floor of his
Sleepless chamber, tormented by his thoughts, a man who had lived over
into a technological age which he did not understand, and for which a
carpenter's rule-o'-thumb was not sufficient.2 Within less than six
years, broken in health, he took his own life. Again it was Hay who
wrote the article for the Tribune that attempted to release Stone from
the blame attached to the bridge disaster. As a last gesture, he pub-

lished a final affectionate memoir to his father-in—law.

John Hay was handsomely provided for in the will, and circum-
stances now provided a situation that allowed him to move in any direc-
tion he so wished. He was most fortunate, too, interms of his wife. Clara‘
Stone proved to be a near-perfect manager of their household, and her
even disposition gave a constancy to the pattern of Hay's life that
allowed him "to direct his energies straight to the task in hand, undis—
tracted by the cares which so Often rob literary and public life of their

fine st accomplishments. "3

The events that had so rapidly occurred changed entirely the
aspect of Hay's life. Following his marriage, he continued his relations
with the Tribune. This lasted for about a year; and then, as mentioned
before, he found himself more and more involved in the business activity

of his father—in—law. Hay then abandoned the career of a journalist,

1Dennett quoting from the Report of the Joint Committee con—
cerning the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster, under Joint Resolution of the
General Assembly, Columbus, 1877; also, The Ashtabula Disaster by
The Rev. Stephen D. Peet, which gives the text of the verdict of the
coroner's jury.

 

 

 

 

 

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 101.
3113101., pp. 97-98.

 

-_._

 

 

115
free to take the role that fitted so well the current climate in America -—

the role Of a businessman. Marriage and Cleveland made of Hay, Hto a
degree rarely found in a man of letters, a man of affairs. "1 He had an
unerring business sense:

"The moral is, buy real estate and don't specklate, " he wrote

to Reid in the midst of the panic of 1873, when fora few days,

he supposed that Amasa Stone had lost everything, and when

he was not wholly unhappy about the prOSpect, since it might

hasten his marriage. Known best as a verse-maker, John

Hay became actually a better business-man.2

AS previously mentioned, reference to Hay's marriage is pertinent
to the deveIOpment of the climate of opinion during the early period of
his public Speaking. Hay was not only an articulator of the social, polit-
ical, and economic issues during this period of the nineteenth century --
but a shaper of them as well.3 Marriage was the gateway to his becoming
a man of prOperty and marked the moment in his life of the initial move-
ment to the conservatism that was to be a part of his phiIOSOphy for the
rest of his life. Hay's brand of conservatism, the notion of property
and personal rights as being inextricably bound together, was reflected
in both his Speaking and writing. If Mark Twain captured the political
essence of the times with his book, The Gilded Age, then to Hay goes

 

I the credit for recognizing the economic issues with his novel, The
Bread-winners, which was written in 1882 and which reflects his eco-
nomic and social views as they were formed by the events of the 1870's.

I It ”fanned the coals that were smoldering in the industrial life of the

I day, threatening a general conflagration. It was the first recognition on

Ithe part of literature that a class struggle impended in America. . . and
as such it assumes importance as an historical document quite beyond

« . . . 4:
1ts S1gn1f1cance as a work of art. ”

 

11bid.,;L 106.

21bid.

Charles and Mary Beard, The Rise of American Civilization
(New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947), II, p. 435.

4“Parrington, Main Currents in American Thought, III, p. 173.

 

 

 

116
The Bread-winners

The climate of opinion ofthe 1870's and the first half of the 1880's
may be viewed from a number of vantage points. It will be the purpose
of this section to interpret the socialmilieu from the standpoint of Hay's
controversial book, The Bread-winners, which as noted before, seems
to capture in its contents the essence of the mainstream of conflicting
issues for this period. Hay's book presents another dimension of the
setting for this era; albeit with a heavy bias. To allow Hay's book, ’_I‘_h_e_
Bread-winners, to present the only picture of the climate of opinion
would ignore Becker's caution regarding the deceptive nature of human

experience. Hay lived in the period that his book attempts to interpret,

 

and its basic theme of capital versus labor was a universal one. It cap-
tured the tone of American thought that persisted after the Civil War --
a tone of thought that had been shaped by the evolutionary ideas of the
celebrated English scientist Charles Darwin.1 On the other hand, the

book is a frank defense of property against the ”dangerous classes" and,

 

to a certain extent, a satire of labor unions.2 Nevertheless, The Bread-

 

winners must be regarded as "the first important polemic in American
fiction in defense of Property"3; and by an examination of the con-
flicting arguments it inspired, a rather accurate picture of the climate
of opinion for the period can be drawn. A detailed discussion of this
book is also warranted in the sense that it contributed to the shaping
of that climate.

Hay wrote his novel in the winter of 1882-83 and published it

anonymously in Six installments in the Century Magazine.4 The basic

 

theme of the book was developed from his observations of the labor

lStow Persons, American Minds, A History of Ideas (New York:
Henry Holt and Company, 1958), p. 237.

2Parrington, Main Currents in American Thought, III, p. 173.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, 11, p. 15.

4Thayer states that Hay's book ”caught the public at once, and
ecame the novel of the year. Although the secret of its authorship must
ave been shared by eight or nine persons, it was never so authoritatively
ivulged that curiosity ceased. Any one familiar with Cleveland could

 

 

 

11 7
strife he had witnessed through the 1870's and which culminated in the

riots of 1877 -— a turmoil which "burnt deep into Hay's heart.” This

is revealed in a letter to Amasa Stone of July 24, 1877:

. . Since last week the country has been at the mercy of
the mob, and on the whole the mob has behaved rather bet-
ter than the country. The shameful truth is now clear, that
the government is utterly helpless and powerless in the face
of an unarmed rebellion of foreign workingmen, mostly Irish.
There is nowhere any firm nucleus of authority--nothing to
fall back on as a last resort. The Army has been destroyed
by the dirty politicians, and the State militia is utterly inef-
ficient. Any hour the mob chooses, it can destroy any city
in the country--that is the Simple truth. Fortunately, so far,
it has not cared to destroy any but railway property.1

In this letter to his father-in-law, Hay's reference to the mob was
directed at the employees of several of the great railroad companies who
had organized strikes. During the summer of 1877, Hay had taken charge
of Amasa Stone's business affairs while the latter was in Europe; and he
was therefore particularly sensitive to the situation. The strikes rapidly
turned into riots and created for a brief period a condition of near-

crisis. The worst excesses occurred at the railway centers, including

Hay's adOpted hometown of Cleveland.

The labor strike of 1877 was but a part of a series ofviolent out—
breaks that coincided with the rise of organized labor. The period fol-
lowing the Civil War consisted of a number of "phases of bewildering
complexity” marking the attempt of labor to meet organized capital on
equal terms. American labor leaders had organized and used such

instruments as national and local trade unions, as well as cooperatives,

not fail to recognize that city as the scene of the story; further reasoning
might have reduced the number of Clevelandites capable of writing it to
one-—John Hay; but he, of course, denied, or gave an evasive answer,
when the accusation was made to him point-blank. Perhaps he remem-
bered Seward's excellent formula, jotted down in the White House Diary:
'If I didn't know, I would gladly tell you.‘ So to the end of his life Hay
never acknowledged The Bread-winners."

1Thayer, Life and Letters, 11, pp. 1—2.

 

118
and had to put in practice such theories as those eSpoused by Owen,

Cabet, and Fourier in their efforts to escape from the established order.1

The Irish workingmen, mentioned in Hay's letter to Amasa Stone,
typified another aspect of the overall problem faced by labor. Hardship
in EurOpe during the previous decades had sent streams of miserable
peOple to the United States in search of a better life. Their numbers
served, in many instances, to create the same conditions of hardship
they had faced in EurOpe. Until the potato blight Spread to Germany and
the political persecutions that followed the abortive mid-nineteenth cen-
tury revolutions on the Continent, the major portion of American immi-
gration came from Ireland. The Irish had suffered many oppressions
from man and nature but the worst blow was the potato famine of 1846.
People died like ordinary animals in Ireland and "travelers along the
highways reported that unburied dead lay where they fell, with their mouths
stained green by weeds and thistles eaten for nourishment in their last

”2

extremity. It is estimated that during that period over half the working

class of Irelandstreamed into America, forming the largest ethnic group

among the 4,300,000 immigrants who arrived between 1840 and 1860.3

When these waves of unhappy people surged upon the shores of the
United States, they piled up into a bewildered mass whose basic emotion
was fear. A stark picture of their fight for survival is drawn by John

Greenway:

Desperate for survival, they fought like beasts with each
other for man-killing jobs at wages as low as fifty cents a
day. They were reckoned as the earth's expendables by
employers, and in the South were assigned to labor too dan-
gerous or debilitating for the slaves. As a cotton transport
master explained to a passenger who inquired why there were
so many Irish roustabouts. "The niggers are worth too much

 

 

1For an extended treatment of labor's experimentation in Utopian
socialism see Merle Curti, ”New Currents of Equalitarian Thought and
Practice,” The Growth of Merican Thought (New York: Harper &
Brothers, 1943), pp. 295-317.

2Charles A. and Mary Beard, The Rise of American Civilization,
I, p. 641.

31bid.

 

 

 

 

119
to be risked here. If the paddies are knocked overboard or
get their backs broken, nobody loses anything.”1

This contempt for the Irish was also held by American native
labor, who felt these ignorant peasants represented a threat to the
wage scales painfully evolved by them through the years. Not until it
was recognized that the Irish responded heartily to union agitation did
workers and their unions accept them. "Unscrupulous employers found
that the Frankenstein's monster they had nurtured while it aided them
against native labor was now turning against them. 'When they receive
employment,’ complained one disgruntled capitalist, 'are they not the
first to insist on higher wages and to strike?"'2 The end result was
total discrimination against Irish laborers by the employers, and the
"NO Irish Need Apply” notation accompanied many job advertisements.
The bitter resentment of the Irish was expressed in a song that the
lyric heart of John Hay could appreciate:

I'm a decent boy just landed

From the town of Ballyfad;

I want a situation, yes,

And want it very bad.

I have seen employment advertised,

"It's just the thing, " says I,

But the dirty spalpeen ended with
”No Irish Need Apply."

"Whoa," says I, "that's an insult,
But to get the place I'll try, "

SO I went to see the blackguard
With his "No Irish Need Apply."
Some do count it a misfortune
To be christened Pat or Dan,
But to me it is an honor

To be born an Irishman.

1John Greenway, American Folksongs of Protest (New York: A. S.
Barnes and Company, Inc., 1953), p. 40.

 

2Jesse Chickering, Immigration into the United States (Boston:
1848), p. 65, quoted by John Greenway, American Folksongs of Protest,
p. 40.

 

 

 

120

I started out to find the house,

I got it mighty soon;

There I found the Old chap seated,
He was reading the Tribune.

I told him what I came for,

When he in a rage did fly,

"No!" he says, "You are a Paddy,
And no Irish need apply."

Then I gets my dander rising
And I'd like to black his eye
To tell an Irish gentleman
"No Irish Need Apply."

Some do count it a misfortune
To be christened Pat or Dan,
But to me it is an honor

To be born an Irishman.

I couldn't stand it longer

So a hold of him I took,

And gave him such a welting

As he'd get at Donnybrook.

He hollered "Milia murther,"
And to get away did try,

And swore he'd never write again
"No Irish Need Apply."

Well, he made a big apology,

I told him then goodbye,

Saying, ”When next you want a beating,
Write 'No Irish Need Apply."'

Some do count it a misfortune

To be christened Pat or Dan,

But to me it is an honor

To be born an Irishman.1

These were the kind of men with whom the employers found them-
selves locked in combat during the labor conflicts of the 1870'S.2 Typ—
ical of these was the outbreak in the anthracite coal mining region of
Pennsylvania, around Mauch Chunk and Pottsville. The area was ter-
rorized by a secret miners' association called the Molly Maguires,
composed mostly of Irish Catholics, which burned property and even
went to the extreme of murdering bosses and supervisors who offended

it. The Mollies were broken up in June, 1877, through legal processes

1John Greenway, American Folksongs of Protest, pp. 41-42.

 

2Descriptive material for the events cited here drawn from
amuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American People,
p. 768—769.

'l
I

 

 

121
that included the hanging of ten Of the murderers. The same year was

marked by serious race riots in San Francisco directed against the
Chinese immigrants who comprised 17 per cent of the population. This
was capped by the incident that Hay was closest to; the strike against
the four Eastern trunk line railroads, which was triggered with the
announcement by the railroads of a wage cut of 10 per cent. Supported
by a huge army Of hungry and desperate unemployed, the unorganized
railroad employees struck. Traffic was suspended on the trunk lines,
and in industrial centers like Chicago and Pittsburgh there were
pitched battles between militia and the mob. Only with the use of fed-
eral troops was order restored. "Few Americans realized that their
country had reached a stage of industrial development which created a
labor problem, or that the 'Great Strike of '77' would be the first of a

long series of battles between labor and capital.”1

There is no doubt regarding Hay's sympathies in the matter. A
letter to Amasa Stone in the late summer of 1877 reflected his
pessimism:

. The prOSpects of labor and capital both seem gloomy
enough. The very devilseems to have entered into the lower

classes of working men, and there are plenty of scoundrels
to encourage them to all lengths.2

Again on September 3, 1877, he wrote his father-in-law:

. I am thankful you did not see and hear what took place
during the strikes. You were saved a verypainful experience
of human folly and weakness, as well as crime. Ido not
refer to the anxiety, etc., for you are not a man who would
be overanxious even in a general panic; but you would have
been very much disgusted and angered, I am sure. . . .3

Hay, like many of his fellow Americans, was puzzled and depressed
)y the riots of 1877. Like most he had gone on the assumption "that

inder American conditions—- equal opportunity for all, high wages, equal

 

lIbid., p. 769.
2Thayer, Life and Letters, 11, p. 5.
3Ibid., p. 6.

 

 

122
laws, and the ballot-box--no angry laboring class could grow up.”1 The

riots, however, diSpelled such comfortable thoughts and proved, indeed,
the existence of an angry class. The intensity and duration of the events
indicated that they were more than a mere outburst of temper. Could it
be that Democracy was a failure? "Hay had sung his paean to liberty;
Hay had throbbed at the efforts of patriots in Spain and in France to
overthrow their despots; he had even exulted over the signs of democ-
ratization in England. Had he been the victim of mirage? "2 Must
human society make its choice between the extremes of ”the despotism
of Autocracy and the deSpotism of Soc ialism?" Was Democracy only

a momentary phase and not the final goal of human society?

These were the questions that Hay mulled over in his mind prior
to the writing of The Bread-winners. Hay undoubtedly subscribed to the
Spencerian interpretation of Darwin as applied to economic matters.
The appeal of Spencer3 to so many Americans of the period was based
on the notion of ”the self-operating order." "Such 'laws' as supply and
demand, or survival of the strong at the expense of the laggards, were
demonstrated to be so competent to conduct the business of mankind
that the only thing left for the businessman was to conform to them.
Above all, no 'artificial' interference--especially by the state-—was to

be tolerated.”4 This meant unlimited laissez faire as applied to the

 

Ifield of economics. Spencer's phiIOSOphy, conceiving Nature as a state
Iof ruthless competition in which the weak are eliminated, suggested that
Ithe competitive America of the 1870's should continue to be just What it

-was, ”and nobody should complain."
Hay took a comparable position, according to Thayer:

. That the assaults on Property were inspired by dema—
gogues who used as their tools the loafers, the criminals, the

 

1Ibid.

21bid., p. 7.

_ 3Herbert Spencer, 1802-1903, a British phiIOSOpher very pOpular
in America during the latter part of the nineteenth century.

4Perry Miller (ed.), American Thought, Civil War to World War I
{New York: Rinehart & Co., Inc., 1954), pp. xxiii-xxiv.

 

 

123

vicious,--Society's dregs who have been ready at all times

to rise against laws and government. That you have property

is proof Of industry and foresight on your part or your

father's; that you have nothing, is a judgment on your lazi-

ness and vices, or on your improvidence. The world is a

moral world; which it would not be if virtue and vice received

the same rewards.1

This became the theme of The Bread-winners and, for many Amer-
icans, the perfect expression Of the climate of Opinion. In essence it
meant that ”the property you own-~be it a tiny cottage or a palace-.—
means so much more than the tangible Object! With it are bound up
whatever in historic times has stood for civilization. So an attack on

PrOperty becomes an attack on Civilization."2

Hay, in The Bread—winners, allowed his criticism to play on the

 

provincialism of the upper classes as well. It was "as much as anything
a critique of Cleveland society" which typified the general tone of society
in the larger industrial cities of the period. Hay, in his Opening pages,

described a drawing-room scene:

It was the usual drawing-room of provincial cities. The sofas
and chairs were mostly occupied by married women, who
drew scanty entertainment from gossip with each other, from
watching the proceedings of the Spinsters, and chiefly, per-
haps, from a consciousness of good clothes. The married
men stood grouped in corners and talked of their every-day
affairs. The young people clustered together in little knots,
governed more or less by natural selection--only the veterans
of several seasons pairing Off into the discreet retirement of
stairs and hall angles. At the farther end of the long drawing-
room, Farnham's eyes at last lighted upon the object of his
quest. Alice sat in the midst of a group of young girls who
had intrenched themselves in a corner of the room, and
defied all the efforts of skirmishing youths, intent upon
flirtation, to dislodge them. They seemed to be amusing
themselves very well together, and the correct young men in
white cravats and pointed shoes came, chatted, and drifted
away. They were the brightest and gayest young girls of the
place; and it would have been hard to detect any local color
in them. Young as they were, they had all had seasons in
Paris and in Washington; some of them knew the life of that
most foreign Of all capitals, New York.. They nearly all
spoke French and German better than they did English, for

lThayer, Life and Letters, 11, p. 7.
2Ibid., p. 8.

 

 

     

Ill: .1111 .. . ... titan... 1.
41.3111“... 3.1.2.111. «haul». humanism . . .

 

r. .

   

124
their accent in those languages was very sweet and winning
in its incorrectness, while their English was high-pitched
and nasal, and a little too loud in company. They were as
pretty as girls are anywhere, and they wore dresses designed
by Mr". Worth, or his New York rivals, Loque and Chiffon;
but they occasionally looked across the room with candid and
intelligent envy at maidens of less pretensions, who were bet-
ter dressed by the local artists.1

The Bread-winners was, states Dennett, ”a patronizing description

 

pretentious wealth."2 Hay used the fictitious name of Buffland for the
ty that is the setting for his novel, made up by "combining the “first
.d laSt syllables, respectively, of Buffalo and Clevelandi-‘I"3 It was a
g city and had all. the elements of display that characterized the Gilded

ge:
Its air was filled with the smoke and odors of vast and suc—
cessful trade, and its sky was reddened by night with the
glare of its furnaces, rising like the hot breath of some
prostrate Titan, conquered and bowed down by the pitiless
cunning of men. Its peOple were, as a rule, rich and honest,
especially in this avenue of which I have spoken. If you have
ever met a Bufflander, you have heard of Algonquin Avenue.
He will stand in the Champs Elysees, when all the vice and
fashion of Europe are pouring down from the Place of the
Star in the refluent tide that flows from (Boulogne Wood to
Paris, and calmly tell you that ”Algonquin Avenue in the
Sleighing season can discount this out of Sight." SOmething
is to be pardoned to the spirit of liberty; and the avenue is
certainly a fine one. It is three miles long and has hardly a
‘shabby house in it, while for a mile or two the houses upon
one Side, locally called "the Ridge, " are unusually fine, large,
and costly. They are all surrounded with well—kept gardens
and separated from the street by velvet lawns which need
scarcely fear comparison from the emerald wonders which
centuries of care have wrought from the turf of England.4

,—

 

1John Hay, The Bread-winners (New York: Harper 8: Brothers,
14), p. 173. ‘

zDennett, John Hay, p. 105.
3Ibid.

Ibid., quoting from Hay's novel, The Bread-winners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

125
Hay, in a later chapter, drew a vivid picture related to the labor

rmoil of the times and the economic—political background of the
ruggle:

A week had passed by; the great strike was already almost
forgotten. A few poor workmen had lost their places. A few
agitators had been dismissed for excellent reasons, having
no relation with the strike. The mayor had recovered, from
his panic,“ and was beginning to work for renomination, on
the'strength of his masterly dealing with the labor difficul-
ties, in which, as he handsomely said in a circular composed
by himself and Signed by his friends, he "nobly accomplished
the duty allotted him of preserving the rights of property
while respecting the rights of the peOple, of keeping the
peace according to his oath, and keeping faith with the masses,
to which he belonged, in their struggle against monopoly.”

The rich and prOSperous peOple, as their manner is, congrat-
ulated them-selves [sic on their escape, and gave no thought
to the questions which had come so near to an issue of fire
and blood. In this city Of two hundred thousand people, two
or three dozen politicians continued as before to govern it,
to assess and to spend its taxes, to use it as their property
and their chattel. The rich and intelligent kept on making
money, building fine houses, and bringing up children to hate
politics as they did, and in fine to fatten themselves as sheep
which should be mutton whenever the butcher was ready.
There was hardly a millionaire on Algonquin Avenue who knew
where the ward meetings of his party were held. There was
not an Irish laborer in the city but knew his way to his ward

club as well as to mass.1

The synopsis of the plot of the book is succinctly stated by
rrington:

. it is the story of the oily machinations of Ananias

Offitt, a professional agitator who lives off Simple honest
workmen whom he seduces, organizes a secret Brotherhood
of the Breadwinner, urges on riot and robbery at the time
of a great strike, is checkmated by the hero--a cultivated
and elegant clubman by the name of Captain Arthur Farnham- -
betrays his tool, and in the end is murdered by him. For—
tunately for the welfare of prOperty interests there are "hon-
est" workmen, men like Leopold Grosshammer, who rally to
the support of law and order and eventually break the strike.
The love-story is provided with two heroines, and the con-
trastbetween them emphasizes the class line which property
draws. The upper—class heroine is as correct and colorless

 

1Hay, The Bread-winners, p. 246.

 

 

 

 

 

 

126
as COOper'S Eve Effingham: the lower-class heroine is as
vulgarly handsome and as brazen as "such peOple” are sup-
posed to be. A high-school education has spoilt her for the
factory or domestic service, filling her empty head with
foolish ambitions, but it could not make a lady out of her.

Much of the controversy about the novel centered in Hay's
lnsympathetic portrait of the union, organizer, Offitt -- in contrast to the
LGI‘O, Alfred Farnham, who organized a body of volunteer policemen to
treServe order during the strike. Typical of Hay's treatment of Offitt
s a scene at a union meeting, with Offitt reSponding to questions from
he floor regarding the strategy of the newly organized brotherhood of

vorkers:

, ". . I ain't that kind, I j 'ined to do somethin': --what's to
be done?"

He sat down with his hand on his hip, squarely facing the
luckless Bott, whose face grew as purple as the illuminated
side of it. But he opened not his mouth. Offitt answered the
question:

"I would state, 'he said glibly, 'the objects we propose to
accomplish: the downfall of the money power, the rehabita-
tion of labor, the----"

"Oh, yes!" Bowersox interrupted, ”I know all about that,--
but what are we goin' to do?"

Offitt paled a little, but did not flinch at the savage tone of
the surly brute. He began again in his smoothest manner:

"I am of the opinion that the discussion of sound principles,
such as we have listened to to-night, is among the objects of
our order. After that, organization for mutual profit and
protection against the minions Of the money power,--for

. makin' our influence felt in elections,--for extendin' a helpin'
hand to honest toil,-—for rousin' our bretheren from their
lethargy, which, like a leaden pall----"

"I want to know,” growled Bowersox, with sullen obstinacy,
"what's to be done.‘

"Put your views in the form of a motion, that they may be
properly considered by the meetin', " said the imperturbable

president.

"Well, I motion that we stOp talkin' and commence doin'--—--"

"Do you suggest that a committee be appointed for that
purpose ? " .

 

1 Parrington, Main Currents in American .Thought, III, pp. 174 - 1 75.

 

 

127'
”Yes, anything.‘ And the chairman appointed Bowersox, Bott,
and Folgum such a committee.

All breathed more freely and felt as if something practical
and energetic had been accomplished. The committee would,
of course, never meet nor report, but the colloquy and the
prompt action taken upon it made every one feel that the
evening had been interesting and profitable. Before they
broke up, Sleeny was asked for his initiation fee of two dol-
lars, and all the brethren were dunned for their monthly
dues.

"What becomes of this money? " the neOphyte bluntly inquired
of the hierOphant.

"It pays room rent and lights," said Offitt, with unabashed
front, as he returned his greasy wallet to his pocket. ”The
rest goes for propagatin' our ideas, and especially for influ-
encin' the press."

Sleeny was a dull man, but he made up his mind on the way
home that the question which had so long puzzled him--how
Offitt made his living-~was partly solved.1
Hay's description of this crude take over of power within an organ-
;ation that is presumably based on the tenet Of protecting its me mber-
1ip-from exploitation is reminiscent of a more contemporary social
>vel written by George Orwell in 1946. Orwell in his book, Animal
EYE; dealt in a satirical vein with the problem of power and, like Hay,
ated a problem which he would not solve. Orwell, in allegorical
shion, narrated the take-over of the management of a farm by the
imals and their attempt to build a. Utopia. They began as equals; but,
tle by little, the more intelligent pigs took over. The original motto
der which they had organized their revolution against management,
11 Animals Are Equal," eventually was changed by those who had
sumed the reigns of power to:
' "All Animals Are Equal
But Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others"2
What good is a revolution if the change is worse than the m

0? Hay raised a similar question in The Bread-winners. In an era

 

 

1Hay, The Bread—winners, pp. 84-85.

 

 

2George Orwell, Animal Farm (New York: Harcourt, Brace and
mpany, 1946), p. 112. ’

 

 

 

128
characterized by ”strike after strike, many of them long and bloody,

pitched battles between Pinkerton detectives and discontented workmen,
clashed between soldiers and employees, and widespread destruction of
property” -- raised in the minds of ”anxious Observers like John Hay. . .
the question whether the republic that had survived the civil conflict
was to be destroyed by social wars."1

Hay, as he developed the plot of his novel, argued that the right

7

lies on the Side of Capital. "He does not deny,’ states Thayer, "that
Capital has its faults; he paints individual capitalists in dark colors; but
he instills into you the belief that 'honest' Labor has nothing to complain
of; that socialistic and anarchistic panaceas, instead of curing, would
poison Society; and that those persons who engineer a social war are
either actual or potential criminals, having the gullible masses for
their dupes. The moral is obvious--Society must protect itself against

the faction which plots its destruction.”

The Bread-winners was an outstanding literary success and con-

 

tinued serially in the Century through January, 1884. In London the.

Saturday Review, February 2, 1884, described the novel as. ”one of the

 

strongest and most striking stories of the last ten years."3 The success

of Hay's book can be measured by its translation into French, Swedish
nd German editions and the number of imitations it inSpired.4 T_hg
read-winners articulated in dramatic fashion one of the most persist-
nt social problems of the new industrial age and, with its publication,

ade its own contribution to the prevailing climate of Opinion.

 

1Charles A. and Mary Beard, The Rise of American Civilization,
1. p. 204.

2Thayer, Life and Letters, II, p. 14.
3Dennett, John Hay, p. 110 quoting from the London Saturday Review.

 

 

4"So great was the pOpularity of The Bread-winners," states

ennett, that a former reporter on the Tribune, Henry F. Keenan, the
ext year wrote The Money Makers, A Social Parable. It was advertised
is a reply to The Bread-winners and took the labor side of the contro-
rersy. As a novel it was trash, but it attained some circulation by
reason of the fact that Hay, Whitelaw Reid, and Amasa Stone were por—
rayed with thin disguises. Hay made every possible effort to have the
)00k suppressed because of the almost libellous treatment of Amasa
itone under the name of Aaron Grimstone. ”

 

 

 

 

 

 

129
It did not take long for the critical reaction to The Bread-winners

o develop; and even in this area, a contribution was made by the book

o the climate of opinion. "The more serious criticism," states Dennett,
'was that the book misrepresented the laboring classes generally and
.he trade-union movement in particular.”1 "As a 'social study,' as it
>urports on its title page to be," stated the 213g, ”it is worse than a

'ailure; it is deliberately insulting to workingmen and women, andito all

who sympathize with them.H

The avalanche of criticism to his novel astonished Hay. After all,
:hrough speeches and writing Since his return from Europe in 1870 he
lad openly declared his sympathy with political democracy and his
Jelief that all men ought» to be free. A partial explanation for Hay's
1ttitude might have been the fact that "by temperament as by his herit-
1ge of pioneer village life" he was 'an individualist. "The idea of a labor
inion violated his sense of liberty. Even in politics he was finding party

regularity very difficult. As for strikes, they incensed him. Rogues

1nd strikers he placed together.”3

Smarting under the critism, Hay defended his novel in a series of
.etters to the Century. One such letter, written in March, 1884, mir-

rored Hay's own social phiIOSOphy and that of many Of his own class:

For several months I have listened in silence to a chorus of
vituperation which seems to me unjust and unfounded, until

my original purpose of replying to no form of misrepresen—
tation has been so far shaken that I beg for a little Space to

correct some errors and justify at least my intentions.

The charges of my critics may be divided into three heads:
1. The Bread-winners is conceived from an aristocratic
point of view. 2. It is not well written. The incidents are
extravagant and untrue to nature. 3. It is a base and craven

thing to publish a book anonymously.

The first charge seems to me too absurd to be considered
seriously. I hardly know what is meant by an aristocratic
point of view. I am myself a working man, with a lineage of
decent working men; I have been accustomed to earning my

 

11bid., p. 111.
2Ihid.
3Dennett, John Hay, p. 110.

 

 

 

 

 

, 130
own living all my life with rare and brief holidays. I have
always been in intimate personal relations with artisans and
with men engaged in trade. I do not see how it is possible
for an American to be an aristocrat; if such a thing exists,
I have never met one. But because, in my little book, more
attention is bestowed upon certain dangerous and vicious
tendencies among the poor than upon the faults incident to
wealth, I am called an aristocrat, or a snob,--a name equally
vague and senseless, which, so far as I can discover, merely
denotes that the man using it does not like the man to whom
it is applied" The question may be asked, Why do I talk more
about the failings of the poor than about those of the rich?
Simply because I know more about them.

The germ of The Bread-winners was a remark made to me
by a friend 'of mine, a carpenter of Detroit. He, said one day,
when we were walking past the High School and talking of
social matters: "There is hardly a carpenter's daughter in
this town who will marry a carpenter." The image of Miss
Maud Matchin then formed itself in my mind. A few days
later I met Mr. Offitt in a railway train, and afterwards, I
came to know him well in a boarding house we both frequented.
Almost without my consciousness the story took shape as it
was written. The hero of the tale is Offitt, not Farnham; the
heroine is Maud, and not Alice. I care little about Farnham.
, It is true I gave him a fine house and a lot of money,--which
cost me nothing,--that was only because Miss Matchin would
never have lookedat him otherwise. He is a commonplace
soldier, with a large prOperty; he pretends to be nothing
else. Some of my critics, to my amazement, have said, as
if they were making a great discovery, that there is nothing
remarkable about him. I never intended there should be. I
probably could not have made him wise or learned or witty
if I had tried,-—but I certainly never tried. I wanted him to
be a gentleman, and I think he is; but that I cannot discuSs,
for I have never known two people to agree upon a definition
of a gentleman. I

 

The only other rich peOple at all kindly treated in the book
are Mrs. Belding and her daughter. And here another aston-
ishing criticism has been made. This comes from the Boston
Transcript. The writer rebukes me for my aristocratic
leanings, and then goes on to discover a glaring inconsistency
in the fact that Miss Belding is a nice sort of person, while
her mother is not especially refined, and her'father was a
successful mechanic. My gentle, though wabbling [Sic] critic,
was it not I who decided that this nice young person should be a
daughter of the people as well as Miss Matchin? and is it not
possible that I knew what I was about as well as you?. . .1

 

1Ibid., pp. 11 3-114 quoting from Hay's letter to the Century.

1 31
And so Hay continued the defense of the novel that he had written

anonymously.1 The anonymity damaged the role he played as a moralist,

but Hay Hsincerely thought that he was a believer in democracy, but he
meant political democracy only. Industrial democracy was to him
incomprehensible.”2 The late Professor Vernon Parrington criticized

.The Bread- -winners on the basis that it ”was conceived in a spirit of

 

benevolent paternalism towards the proletariat, ” and that "it is too frank
in defense of vested interests," while at the same time it looked ”with
too stern a disfavor upon all labor leaders who refuse to accept the
finality of the present industrial order."3 Parrington felt that the book
exuded "too strong an odor of prOperty-morality to deceive the intelli-

" and that the novel was essentially ”a partisan defense of _

gent reader,
economic individualism,'an attack upon the rising labor movement, a
grotesque satire smeared with an unctuous morality--and because of

this, a perfect expression of the Spirit of upper-class America. . ."4

The Bread-winners was described by the Beards as "perhaps the
best vindication of raw capitalism" of the period.5 Granville Hicks

looked at The Bread-winners as the dividing point in Hay's life, Signi-

 

fying "the conversion of John Hay" from a son of the frontier to a

lllThe authorship of The Bread-winners," states Dennett, ”was

first officially disclosed in 1907, when Mrs. Hay permitted the editors
of A Manual of American Literature for the Tauchnitz Edition to credit
Hay with the novel, (Nation, August 10,1916). However, at the time of
publication, many critics guessed correctly, although other names as
widely separated as James G. Blaine and Grover Cleveland were also
suggested. As early as November, 1883, it was pointed out that the
style resembled that of Castilian Day_s_, that one character was born in
Salem, Indiana, that the library described in the novel exactly described
Hay's, that the author was familiar with the habits of office seekers in
Washington, that he knew Cleveland intimately, and, most significant of
all, that the sarcasm of the book was characteristic of Col. Hay, N. Y.
Tribune, November 29, 1883.”

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 115.

 

 

 

 

 

3Parrington, Main Currents in American Thought, III, p. 174.
4 . .
Ibld.

5Charles and Mary Beard, The Rise of American Civilization, II,
p. 173. -

 

 

132
defender of capitalism.1 Parrington felt that the book marked the point

that climaxed Hay's shift to conservatism as the result of his marriage
to Miss Stone. John Hay, according to Parrington, "had become a thor-
oughgoing Hamiltonian. In his younger days his sympathies had gone
out to radical republicans everywhere, and he watched the rising tide
of liberalism with great satisfaction."2 Typical of this spirit of liber—
alism, stated Parrington, was Hay's lecture on "The Progress of
Democracy in EurOpe."3 However, 'Hay's affection for liberal move-
ments waned as economic unrest crept into politics and "as strikes and
boycotts began to disturb his father-in-law's business, he discovered

less sympathy for revolutionary movements."4

Parrington charged Hay with lack of sincerity in his writing The

Bread—Winners, saying that it cloaked a "Tory purpose” with "a mantle

of democracy."5 This is caustic criticism, indeed, and hardly fits the

profile of Hay as etched by his chief biographers. Perhaps Dennett
comes closest to the truth of the matter as he gives Hay great credit
for accurately articulating the climate of opinion of the period:
Those who protested against the novel in 1884 (and later)
may have belonged to the coming day, but in their own they
were a very small minority. Hay, far better than his critics,
knew how the great mass of the people were thinking on the
industrial question in the seventies. Neither Jim Bludso nor
the father Of "Little Breeches" ever carried union cards.
John Hay was no prophet of the golden dawn, but he was a
faithful interpreter of the gilded age.6
In contrast to the charges of intellectual dishonesty made by Par—
rington is the attempted vindication by Thayer, who Observes that it is

not a social polemic in the same class as Mrs. Stowe's Uncle Tom's

 

Cabin or Victor Hugo's Les Miserables, because these authors "spoke

 

 

1Granville Hicks, "The Conversion of John Hay," The New Repub~
li_C, June 10, 1931.

 

2Parrington, Main Currents in American Thought, III, p. 177.

3Ibid.

4Ibid.

Ibid., p. 178.

6Dennett, John Hay, pp. 117~118.

 

 

 

U‘l

 

. _,_

 

 

 

133
to free the downtrodden from misery and injustice, whereas Hay pleads

in behalf of preserving the rights of the fortunate in the battle of life.
However, his motive is as honorable as theirs--for he aims at saving
civilization by saving the law-and—order classes on which civilization

rests——but it lacks the emotional appeal."1

Politics and Reform

 

Although Hay's book had captured one of the basic themes of the
climate of opinion, other events were contributing their share to the
variegated pattern of American life.2 In 1876 a World's Fair was held
in celebration of the centenary of the Declaration of Independence --
an Opportunity for the citizens of both foreign nations and America
to View the achievements of man up to that time. Most notable were the
exhibits of machinery and inventive skill, but there were displays
reflecting cultural advances as well. It was still the Victorian- Civil
War period of questionable taste in architecture and interior decorating,
but it was also an age that could display the artistry of such men as
La Farge, Winslow Homer, Alden Weir, and Thomas Moran, as well
as the earlier Peales, COpleys, and Stuarts. It was estimated that over
three million visitors saw the exhibits at the Fair. To them it was
symbolical of the triumphant march of democracy and a testimony to
the accomplishments of the unleashed energy of man. The Fair, being
held on so important a centenary and within a few months ofthe com—
plete reéstablishment of the Union by the reinstatement of the last
seceded State, helped to deepen the sentiments both of nationality and

Union.

In this year marking the centennial of the republic, the scandals
of the Grant administration in national politics, and the stench which
arose from many of the municipalities, had at last caused the nation to

feel a sense of shame. In the elections of 1876, the Democratic Party

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, II, p. 15.

2Material for most of the events cited here drawn from James
Truslow Adams, The Epic of America (Boston: Little, Brown & Com-
pany, 1931), Pp. 235-240.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

134
had an exceptional chance to return to power and put forward the

reformer and statesman, Samuel J. Tilden, as its presidential nominee.
The alarmed Republicans responded with Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio,

a colorless but honest candidate. In a close contest it was at first
accepted that Tilden was elected, but an Electoral Commission appointed
by Congress to pass on the returns from four disputed States made a
decision in favor of the Republicans. Most studies made since then

indicate that Tilden was deprived of his rightful election as President.

Tilden acquiesced with a high sense of patriotism and requested
his followers to do so. Considering the depth of passion aroused and the
magnitude of the fraud, "this peaceful acquiescence of a majority of the
nation in the forms of law and their refusal to precipitate any further
strife constituted a landmark not only in our own history but in that of
self-governing democracies."1 The Union had shown that it could with—
stand the disintegrating effect Of Civil War; the Hayes-Tilden election
proved that it had grown to maturity in the ability to maintain self-

control ”under enormous provocation."

Slowly a higher ideal of public
service began to evolve with the formation of the New York Civil Ser-
vice Reform Association in the following year. Even Hay was Optimistic

in a letter to William Dean Howells:

. Of course I do not expect from Mr. Hayes a reform of

the Civil Service. It is too much for any man to accomplish.

Human nature and free suffrage are against it. But he can

and will, I feel sure, chasten the outrageous indecency of the

present system as much as any one could.2

The birth of the Republican Party had been brought about on the
issue of slavery and the Union, and that issue was now dead. New issues
were slow to crystallize, and the struggle between the parties "now
degenerated for a while into nothing more stimulating than the contest

113

of rival railroads for traffic. Hay's regard for President Hayes

deepened ”as he watched that conscientious chief magistrate— -too often

1James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America, p. 236.
2Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, pp. 429—430.

3James Trus low Adam S, op. cit.

 

 

 

135
set down as mediocre, but conscience in high public station is never

mediocre--strive to give the country a worthy administration."

The election of 1880 raised no issues and decided. none -- and the
Republicans were again successful- During this Campaign, Hay spoke
several times in behalf of the Republican candidates. To Whitelaw Reid
of the Tribune he wrote on October 6, 1879:

I am making a speech nearly every night. Here is my last,

made on the Square Saturday night to 5000 peOple, by the

Brush light. . .2

Previously-Hay had written to Reid in a humorous vein regarding
his political speechmaking: ,

. . As you never read anything but proof, perhaps the form
in which this oration is printed may induce you to cast your
eye over it. I am going to say it to a big crowd at North

Solon day after to-morrow--the Pioneer‘s' Reunion,--all
others are Spurious.

We are having a red hot canvass,--our side especially; I am

invited to make four speeches this week, and am not on any

Committee's list either. I shall try it a little--slowly and

gently at first, and find out whether I can. I don't call it

making a Speech unless a fellow can bore his audience heart-

ily and thoroughly for an hour, without having written a word

of it beforehand--like William Allen and sich. [sicfl

The excitement for the Republicans was provided within their own
ranks with Hayes' refusal to run in 1880. This set Off a free-,for-all in
the Republican convention that even saw Grant's friends entering his
name for a third term. The nominatiOn was won by General James A.
Garfield on the 36th ballot. Garfield, a liberal "dark horse," had a gOod
record in the warand as governor of Ohio, but the Republicans made
more of his birth in a log cabin -- the last time that the ancient cliche
was dragged out. This was the first presidential election when recon—
struction questionswere not seriously discussed, and it marked the end

of the "bloody shirt" as a symbol to be flaunted against the Democrats.

 

IThe Democrats nominated General Winfield Scott Hancock of Pennsylvania,

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, I, p. 431.
2"Letters and Diary," II, p. 43.
3Ibid., p. 42.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

136
whom Grant considered the best of his corps commanders. Hancock had

pleased the South as the result of his moderation during the reconstruc-
tion period; but with little political experience to his credit, he ran a
listless campaign. The Democrats were defeated in their attempt to

make profitable political use of military renown.

Hay, of course, supported General Garfield; and his letter to the
Republican nominee on October 18, 1880, reveals the rather close rela—

tionship that existed between them:

Dear General Garfield:

I did not come down on you while I was at Cleveland,
simply because I felt that the truest service I could render
would be to stay away--but as it will not take a minute of
your time to read this note, I write it to offer my congratu-
lations from the bottom of my heart. I believe that you will
carry every Northern State and will go into the Presidency
with the most magnificent moral backing any one has had in
our time. I know you will feel no selfish gratification in this,
but your opportunities for good will be incalable. Great
things are to happen under your administration. It would be
an impertinence for me to intrude upon the high subjects
that must now be occupying your mind. But even at the risk
of seeming presumptuous I will rid myself of this word
which has positively haunted me for a week. Beware of
your own generosity! On the 2d of November,fl(”not
Launcelot nor another") are to be made our President. I
believe it is to be an administration full of glory and benefit
to the country--and it will be glorious and fruitful just in the
proportion that it is your own. You do not need the whispered
admonition of the ancient monarchs, "Remember thou art
mortal." It will pay you to keep a cheap friend to drone con-
tinually in your ear, "It was you who were nominated at
Chicago and elected by the people."1

President Garfield, soon after his election, asked Hay to become
lhis private secretary and gave to the post an eminence so that Hay would
Ihave ranked with members of the cabinet.2 Hay considered the offer,

Ibut then wisely declined.3 Acceptance of the post offered by Garfield

would probably have sidetracked Hay to eventual oblivion in terms of

 

1Ibid., pp. 51-52.
2Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 442.
3_Dictionary of American Biography, IV, p. 433.

 

 

 

137
his own career. In November, 1879, he had accepted the appointment

from the Hayes Administration as Assistant Secretary of State, resigning
just after the Garfield administration came into office, March 31, 1881.
While in Washington, he found his most important friendship; that with
Henry Adams.1 The eventual change of residence from Cleveland to
Washington was the beginning of a new phase in the life of John Hay:

Cleveland gave him (Hay) wealth and leisure; gracefully and

good-naturedlyhe accepted both. Yet the city encased him

in a kind of stuffy, comfortable insulation in which it was

fatally easy to take on the dogmas ofthe rich men who were

his neighbors and friends on Euclid Avenue. Washington

shook him loose from a pleasant prison. It gave him his

own kind of work to do. It gave him Clarence King and

Henry Adams to talk to.2

During this time Hay renewed his acquaintance with an old friend
from the White House days, John Nicolay, for in the Civil War years
the two secretaries had discussed writing the story of "the momentous
times in which they lived." Very little had been done with the projected
biography, but now as the image of Lincoln began to assume heroic pro-
portions with the passage of time, both felt the need to start the work
they had planned for so long. Hay's marriage and his retirement from
the Tribune now gave him the necessary wealth and leisure to engage
in the projected biography on Lincoln. His old friend, Nicolay, had
returned from Paris, where he had been consul and -- coincident with
Hay's move to Washington, was now established in the capital as mar-
I shalof the Supreme Court. They were now able to join forces; and
I after ten years of arduous labor, "they signed in 1885 a contract for the
serial publication. of the work in the Century."3 Their combined work
contributed enormously to the Lincoln Legend, and in an age that felt
I an increasing need to be reminded of its heroic past, added another

dimension to the climate of opinion.

 

1Elizabeth Stevenson, Henry Adams, ABiography (New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1956), p. 138.

21bid., pp. 137-138. More detailed development of the influence
of King and Adams on Hay will be given in Chapter V.

 

3Dictionary of American Biography, IV, p. 433.

 

 

 

 

 

138
Insofar as politics were concerned, the election of Garfield made

it easier for Hay to think of himself as a regular Republican:

. . . Hay and Garfield were about the same age and they
liked each other. That made it easier, for now Hay could
say "we" with fewer reservations. He was a deep-dyed
Republican, committed by a dozen public speeches, by con-
Spicuous Office-holding, and, unlike Schurz, never quite
easy in the role of reformer.1

In this period, Hay had been reviewing the history of the Demo—

cratic Party as a basis for the second volume of Abraham Lincoln: A

 

History, and his historical studies strengthened his party convictions.
His great speech of the Garfield campaign, "The Balance Sheet of the
Two Parties," was largely historical.2 "Thus John Hay came to rest
in the Republican Party from which he ten years before had been more

estranged than separated."3

Not only had Hay changed, but the Party
itself was going through a change in terms of what it had been in Grant's

day.

Reform continued to be the keynote of political activity in the
1880's. James Bryce, visiting the United States during the period to

write his American Commonwealth, found reformers everywhere fighting

 

boss rule and political corruption. While assassination only after four
months in office ended whatever program of reform Garfield might
have proposed, the manner Of his death gave popular sanction to what
the Civil Service Reform League had been advocating for years. The
President, who was Shot by a disgruntled office seeker, became a
Itragic symbol of the system of politicalpatronage that every President
Isince Polk had suffered. The spoils system had so permeated the

I layers of government and eaten into presidential prerogative that the
I chief executive was by way of becoming a mere figurehead. President

I Garfield, not long after his inauguration, declared, ”I'm going to find

 

1Dennett, John Hay, pp. 130-131.
2Ibid., p. 131.
3Ibid., p. 132.

 

 

 

 

139
out whether I am merely a recording clerk for the Senate or chief

executive of the United States."1

Chester A. Arthur, the Vice President, succeeded tothe high office
and, to the dismay of his Stalwart supporters, became somewhat of a
reformer. During his administration, a landmark in civilservice reform
was reached with The Pendleton Act of 1883. The stage was now set for

more positive action in this area by later Presidents.

The tempo of reform carried into the middle of the 1880's with
the return to power of the Democrats under Grover Cleveland. The new
President, characterized by "bulldog courage" and absolute honesty,
managed to antagonize many interests. He made many enemies with
his attempts to reduce the tariff, his nullufication of illegal leases of
Western lands, his vetoing of pension bills, and his efforts to stop the
free coinage of silver. Worse yet was the final irony. The President,
despite his attempts at reform, finally had to yield to the irresistible
pressure Of Democratic politicians in their drive for the spoils of office

.12

after twenty- eight years ”in the wilderness. Thus he succeeded in

alienating the reformers.

The end of the year 1885 found Hay, together with Nicolay, deeply
Immersed in the writing of the monumental work, Abraham Lincoln: A

istory. It was a period that marked Hay's retreat, for awhile, from

 

olitics as he turned once more to literature. He took no active part in
olitics under the administrations of Cleveland and Harrison. Prior to
Ihis time, from 1870 to 1885, Hay had been active in many areas, ranging
Irompoet to businessman and from journalist to politician. In so doing

Ie had not only reflected the climate of opinion but contributed to it.

Ihe role Of his speechmaking as an aspect of this activity will be

txamined in the next chapter.

1Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American
'eople, p. 736.

 

2James Truslow Adams, The Epic of America, p. 237.

 

 

 

 

 

140
>:< >:< >:< =1: >.'< >:< >:< >l< >:< >l< >:< 9.:
The purpose of Chapter III has been to consider the development
of economic, social, and political factors which lay beneath the climate
of opinion during the early period of Hay's public speaking, and which

impinged upon the ideas set forth in his speeches.

The climate of Opinion in America from 1870 to 1885 was largely
determined by the great economic revolutions which swept the nation
and trans formed the United States from an agricultural country into a
great industrial power. With increasing industrialization and centrali-
zation of population, the character of the problems facing America came
to be different. The American Civil War had benefited the nation in that
Slavery had been abolished and the geographical union of the United
States had been preserved. It had, however, harmed the nation in that

there was diminished reSpect of the citizen for the State and the

unbridling of national extravagance.

The critical need to finance the war had led to artificial measures
in order to stimulate production. Chief among these measures was the
protective tariff which became the cornerstone of the Republican Party.
The Party, strong because of its prestige in the Civil War, claimed that
its policies were aimed at protecting American labor and yet encouraged
unrestricted immigration to supply industrialists with the cheapest labor.
The influx of millions of foreigners raised further problems andhastened

the debate of social revolution in America.

Democracy, which cannot function perfectly unless every member
is honest, found itself under attack from many quarters. The frauds in
government, a national _e_t_ho;s shaped almost entirely by moneymaking,
and the unhealthy involvement of the masters of industrialism in the

legislative process threatened the very sheet anchor of Democracy itself.

Out of these excesses came the first tentative efforts at reform
as the self—correcting principle of check and balance, inherent in the
republican system of government, began to take hold. Hay, as a shaper
of the climate of opinion, took the conservative approach in his attempt
to answer the timeless questions of security and liberty. He also

1rticulated the ”bewilderment and alarm of those not parties to the

 

 

 

 

itruggle but victims of the conflict." Around these issues and the
iebate that ensued, developed the climate of opinion for the period.
America had gone through one heroic age in solving of its most critical
problems; and now, as it moved ever closer to the dawn of a new cen—

tury, it needed most desperately another.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER IV
THE EARLY PERIOD OF THE SPEECHMAKING OF JOHN HAY

The foregoing chapters have introduced the man Hay, outlined the
events as related to the early period of his career, and described the
national climate of Opinion in terms of the issues with which Hay was
identified. It is the purpose of Chapter IV to present a description and
analysis of Hay's rhetorical practices, during the early period of his
career, as they are exemplified in certain representative speeches. A

subsequent chapter will examine Hay's rhetorical practices during the
latter period of his career.

”Much of contemporary speech criticism,"

state Thonssen and
Baird, "is of an incidental character. The speaking accomplishments of
a public figure are often interwoven with the story of his life. This bio—
graphical approach. . . usually fails to throw the meaning Of a man's
Speaking efforts into the right focus; the emphasis remains on the
sequence of events in the biography, rather than upon the social pattern

in which the speaker's thoughts were expressed. . ."1

While the organ-
izational pattern of this study has been contingent upon certain biograph-
ical elements, the major stress has been placed upon ideas as related'to
the ”historical urgencies of the moment."2 This broad approach of study
will be continued in this chapter in the attempt to place the speechmaking

of John Hay in its natural and rightful milieu.

This chapter contains two divisions: Part I consists of examination
of those fragments of information provided by newspapers, contemporaries

of Hay and, Hay himself; for the purpose of deveIOping a picture of Hay as

 

Lester Thonssen and A. Craig Baird, Speech Criticism (New York:
The Ronald Press Company, 1948), p. 3.

2Ibid., p. 280.

 

142

 

143
Speaker. Unfortunately, with Hay, as with so many other speakers of

311g ago, such an investigation must be made without the benefit of
notion pictures or voice recordings. We must rely upon what Hay said

ind upon the commentaries of contemporaries and critics. The weak-

H

lesses to this approach are obvious. . even when the printed text

' comments Oliver, "this does not mean it is an authentic

.s verbatim,'
reproduction Of what was said. The printer had no way of capturing the
gestures, or the pauses, or the facial expressions, or the vocal inflec-
tions that did so much to give the remarks a meaning that was indissolu-
bly wedded to the moment of delivery. "1 While such evidence is fre-
quently contradictory and tenuous as best, it provides the only basis
from which conclusions can be drawn. Part II consists of a detailed
rhetorical analysis of four representative Speeches of the early period

of Hay's career, and a statement concerning their textual accuracy.

Each case study includes an inquiry into the setting and background for
the speech; an analysis of arrangement, invention, and style; and, where

available, a report on the immediate response to the Speech.

The nature of Hay's Speechmaking, with its undercurrent of the
poetic, suggests an emphasis on stylistic considerations. The words of

Allen Tate, as quoted by Marie Hochmuth Nichols, are relevant here:

After years of reiteration of the narrow Aristolelian defini-
tion that rhetoric is the "faculty of Observing in any given
case the available means of persuasion,” I find the concep-
tion of the literary critic, Allen Tate, refreshing. "By
rhetoric I mean," says Tate, "the study and the use of the
figurative language of experience as the discipline by means
of which men govern their relations with one another in the
light of truth." Grounded on the disciplines of grammar and
logic, it is to Tate the "study of the full language of experi-
ence, not the specialized languages of method.” In other
words, rhetoric is a process of so embodying truth as to
govern relationships between men. It is a means of so
ordering discourse as to produce an effect on the listener or
reader. Such ordering requires exactness, compelling
vitality, and what Tate has called ”historical imagination. ”

 

 

1Robert T. Oliver, History of Public Speakingin America (Boston:
Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1965), p. xvii.

2Marie Hochmuth Nichols, Rhetoric and Criticism (Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 1963), p. 8.

 

 

 

 

144:
This concern with "historical imagination, " as developed through

the use of figurative language, will be stressed in the case studies of

Hay's speaking.

I. Hay as a Speaker

 

As we have pointed out earlier, there was always in Hay's charac—
ter a struggle between many ambitions which, as he grew older, narrowed
down to the fields of literature and politics. Yet Hay was a more diverse
personality than this ambivalence of goals would suggest. The descrip-
tion provided by Charles Franklin Thwing is particularly apt:

. these were not his onlyharvest fields. For, as a com-

petent critic, writing of Sargent's portrait, says: "The

attributes of a gentleman, writer, traveler, lover of art,

thinker, leader, and diplomat--not each in turn, but altogether,

are shown in the Hay portrait. . . . It certainly is a mental

or a spiritual delineation of the elusive of elements--the
mind of a great personality."1

Hay's son emphasized "the poetic side" of his father's nature:

John Hay was by inclination an author. He loved to write,

and wrote easily. His. . . career he considered a. . .chap-
ter of accidents. . . . diplomacy and affairs of state con-
trolled his life. The poet sang no more songs, and rhymed
no more ballads. . . . It is vain to conjecture what position

he would have held in the world of letters if he had followed
the inclinations of his youth. Fate took the choice out of his
hands and turned the hard to first a writer, then a maker, of
history. Though thoroughly suppressed, the poetic side of
my father's nature ran as an undercurrent throughout his
last years, and helped him in the many serious problems he
was called upon to solve. But for the stateman in him, he
would have been more a poet: but for the poet in him, he
would have been less a statesman.2

Because Hay's life, in a sense, was a compromise among sev-
eral goals, a distinctive trait of his public career was the intensity

with which Hay prepared for the treatment of any important subject.

 

1Charles Franklin Thwing, Guides, Philosophers and Friends (New
York: The Macmillan Company, 1927), p. 268.

2The Complete Poetical Works of John Hay, Introduction by
Clarence L. Hay, pp. xiii-xiv.

 

 

145
However, Hay's future promise as a public speaker was evident from

his student days. Reference has already been made to the preparation

he received at Brown University and his first successful efforts in Speech-
making. Hay, throughout his life, continued the eager pursuit of knowl-
edge for its own sake; and as a result, his indirect preparation -- his
general knowledge and experience -- was an extremely significant factor

in his effectiveness in Speaking.

Reference has already been made to the observations of one of
Hay's contemporaries, Joseph Bucklin BishOp, who wrote about the intel-
lectuality of Hay's "well—stored and brilliant mind." Bishop was
impressed with "the musical voice, which in every tone and fibre was
the voice of the intellectual man." BishOp's tribute to Hay was full of
superlatives, indeed, as he commented on ”the clear-cut enunciation;
the unerring use of the right word and the only right word in every
instance; the wide knowledge of men and nations, of peOples and govern-
ments; and familiar and ever-ready knowledge of all that is best in
literature, and over it all the play of a humor which was next-door

neighbor to melancholy and all the finer for that close association. ”1

Another observer on Hay's approach to public Speaking suggests
that, while Hay was a master of the craft, he did not particularly enjoy
the act of speaking:

It may be said here of his public speaking that he was not

fond of employing his gifts in this direction. He was nervously
apprehensive for days before an important occasion. This
anxiety does not of itself always insure success, but it is a
rare Speaker who does well without it; and often his prosperity
is in proportion to his fear--for the first few sentences. It
may not have been the secret of Mr. Hay's achievement, for
they were based upon knowledge of what should be said, a

wide acquaintance with the best literature of every kind, and
an unfailing discrimination between what was fitting and what
was not. A word in bad taste, an untimely witticism, an
inappropriate anecdote, above all a story that was near
spoiling from age or vulgarity, cannot be imagined as pro-
ceeding out of his mouth, because it could not abide in his
heart with the hospitality which is apt to entertain a story

 

lJoseph Bucklin BishOp, Notes and Anecdotes, p. 67.

 

 

 

 

 

 

146
broader than its point. Often what is called ”a good one"
has breadth as its principal dimension. It was never so in
his speaking.1

The same observer goes on to state that Hay's wit and general

of address were always appropriate to the occasion:

His wit [in terms of being in bad taste] was not of that order.
So too, it may be said of his oratory,--it did not belong to
the first half of the last century, the billowy and thunderous
style. Instead, it was quiet, clear, incisive, humorous. It
was also reserved for needful occasions. Still, this accom-
plishment is next to that of diplomacy in foreign courts, and
sometimes the public address at a state banquet is more
effective than the "note" of an ambassador.2

While the next comment was made in relation to the later phase
3 career, it is included here in that his ability to conciliate and
'ess the audience was already apparent during the early period of

5 public Speaking:

In choosing him, his ability to conciliate and favourably
impress the public is always taken into account in the appoint—
ment. For fifty years the government has been fortunate in
this respect, in no instance more so than in Mr. Hay's. The
man who could reveal himself in semi-official attitude, and
his large-mindedness and cosmopolitan spirit, with loyalty
to his own country, was admired by men of every nation.3

The following observation presents the high estimate Sears placed

ay's persuasive ability:

How then did he accomplish results which were at first con—
sidered visionary and impossible ? By what for the lack of
a more definite term may be called Decisive Persuasion.
First, he knew what he wanted done: then he had the rarer
ability to make others willing to co-operate with him. He
disarmed suspicion, kept nothing back, was so frank and
honest that circumlocutory diplomats had no occasion to
darken counsel with words nor misrepresent for a reason.
He got at men at once. They understood immediately his

 

 

1Lorenzo Sears, John Hay, Author and Statesman, pp. 121-122.
21bid., pp. 122-123.
3Ibid., p. 123.

 

 

 

 

 

147
purpose; it was reasonable, though often too exalted for
others, but never below the better sentiment of personal and
national honor.1

A reference is made to Hay's tendency to be retiring and reserved:

All in all John Hay's name is the symbol of what is best in
personal character, noblest in official station, and highest
in national policy. Modest himself, others were ready to
praise him. Retiring, his fellows sought his company.
Reserved, his sympathies went out to the ends of the world.
Loyal to his own land he remembered that it did not own the
earth, and that other peOple loved their country.2

A hint as to the estimate which Hay placed on his own powers of
my is revealed in a letter from England to Richard W. Gilder:

You never saw a people so willing and eager to be bored as

these blessed John Bull's. If I were of the Neronic type that

takes delight in human anguish, I could make a speech every

night the year round. But I refrain--being merciful, and lazy.3

Charles Franklin Thwing, whose observations on Hay's personality
already been noted, was impressed with this tendency toward self-
eciation:
His permanent mood was of self—depreciation. He did not
think of himself more highly than he ought to think. In fact,

he did not think of himself as highly as he ought to think. He
shrank from all fullness of praise. Laudation was abhorrent.4

 
 
    
  
   
   
  
  

Hay's tendency toward stage fright and extreme nervousness about
ing was described by Thwing, who, at the time, was President of

em Reserve University:

ESpecially public addresses gave him a sense of panic. I
asked him once, in the month of July, if he could not come
to Western Reserve University and give an address at the
next commencement. He declined. In declining, he said,
"I should not sleep a night between now and next June!”

 

113331;, pp. 133—134.

2Sears, John Hay, Author and Statesman, p. 141.
3”Letters and Diary," III, p. 110.

4IThwing, Guides, Philosophers and Friends, p. 283.

 

 

 

 

148
Quoting the reply to his sister- in- law, Mrs. Samuel Mather,
she observed, "There is some truth in the remark. "1 .
Hay, himself, confirmed this observation, "He had an aversion,"

:cording to his elder daughter, "amounting to physical suffering, to

iblicity in any form, and his greatest public utterances were preceded
days of nervous dread that sometimes made him literally ill. His
inderful fund of self-control and balance always came to the rescue at

e Critical moment, but they could not prevent his suffering agonies of

lticipation. He once said: 'Luckily the shakes go to my knees and not

. 2
my VOlce. '"

Many years later, as Hay was reaching England to begin his ambas-

ldorship, he wrote to his brother—in~law, Samuel Mather:

I quake a little in the knees and palea little about the gills
as I am informed the Mayor and Corporation of Southampton
are to meet us at the dock and make me an address of wel-

come and flapdoodle. 3

To Andrew Carnegie he wrote:

It is a solemn and a sobering thing to hear so many kind and
unmerited words as I have heard and read this last week. It
seems to me another man they are talking about, while I am
expected to do his Work. I wish a little of the kindness could

be saved till I leave office finally.
Nevertheless, Thwing was impressed with Hay's ability on the
ttform and he favorably compared his speaking with his writing.

With this essay should be joined his speeches, or essays,——
for the Speeches are essays, writ large and spoken aloud.
What variety of themes, what richness of interpretation,

what happiness in allusion! They are either the interpreta—
tions by a man of letters of current phenomena, based on
timeless principles, or they are glimpses and glances Of the
same principles, applied to immediate problems. They
include themes as diverse as ‘Omar Khayyam, ” ”Sir Walter
Scott, " "International Copyright, ” ”The Press and Modern

 

Ibid.
Thayer, Life and Letters, 11, p. 66.

_I___bid., p. 158.
I__bid., p. 175.

 

tbler-t

 

149
” "Fifty Years of the Republican Party,’I and "The

Grand Army of the Republic. ” No utterances more thoroughly
illustrate the breadth of his understanding or his happy
adjustment to the interests which commanded his thinking
and speaking.1

Hay's lucidity and wit, together with his style and reasoning, made

Progress,

pression on Thwing:

Hay's chief intellectual characteristic ever seems to me,
after fifteen years of personal association and after the more
than twenty years since his death,--1905,--to be his lucidity.
By lucidity I me an something more than clarity of intellectual
interpretation, or of intellectual workmanship. In the word

I include understanding, and I also include. . . that indefin-
able thing which we call style. He saw distinctly. He reasoned
soundly. He inferred accurately. He analyzed a complex
condition carefully,—-and, be it added, the power of analysis
has been a special characteristic of men trained at Brown
University. He understood the relation of things. He made
the important, important; the trivial, trivial; the more, more;
the less, less. He saw in proportion. He reasoned through
and in his imagination more than most men. For he was a
poet rather than a logician. In his lucidity was manifest his

wit}2

 

The wit of John Hay also impressed another contemporary-- James
thodes, the historian, a Cleveland resident of the same period.
e living in Cleveland, Hay had organized the ”Vampire Club,” which
once a month for good food and talk. Rhodes was one of the charter

bers of the organization and was one of Hay's most appreciative

IGI‘SI

He had an innate sense of refinement but his cultivated man-
ner never obscured his Western raciness. He loved society
and talk. Residing ten years in Cleveland, he organized a
dinner club, called the Vampire, of which he was the life.
Hay used to come to the dinners primed with circumstances
and anecdotes and, eating and drinking little, he gave himself
up to talk and was listened to with interest and delight. Not
infrequently one of the wits of the club would prod Hay and,
with his rare sense of humor a witticism of the sort served

for an additional display.3

1Thwing, Guides, PhiIOSOphers, and Friends, p. 273.

9
“Ibid., p. 279.
James Ford Rhodes, The McKinleyand Roosevelt Administrations

York: The Macmillan Company, 1922), pp. 120—121.

 

 

 

150
Hay's intelligence and the fact "that he never repeated himself"

ressed Rhodes:

Occasionally he would fall into a serious strain and talk of
political events or his acquaintances in New York or England,
but always replete with intelligence. Sometimes, although
with seeming reluctance, he would speak of his work on
Lincoln, on which he was then engaged, and the business
men. . . . were eager to hear of the processes of a live
author. But it was a common remark that he never repeated
hims elf.1

If wit, indeed, is an index of intelligence, then Hay rated highly in

estimate of Rhodes:

"There is no longer the play of wit and raillery, ” wrote Pro-
fessor Matthews, "the brilliancy, the concentration, the
rapid glancing at a hundred subjects in succession, which
there used to be in the attic nights of Johnson, Burke, Gar-
rick and Sheridan. " But had the Professor dined with the
Vampire, when Hay was at his best, he might have thought
it an attic night.2

 

Hay, evidently, was the "soul of the club"; and when in 1879 he left
ccept the position of Assistant Secretary of State, he left a void,
arding to Rhodes, "which, although the dinners went on, was not

2d until his return to Cleveland, when he was welcomed with glee."
An example of Hay's wit is provided by Thwing:

His wit proved, illustrated, and reinforced his lucid style in
. Speech. . . I recall severaloccasions in which wit was
added to understanding. I must content myself with repeating
only one. The last time I saw him in his Office, I made the
remark that I believed the American peOple had confidence
in the President and the Secretary of State. Quickly he
responded, "that reminds me. I know that most of the anec-
dotes told about Lincoln are apocryphal. But this one is
true. In the campaign which led, as it proved to his election
I was out with Mr. Lincoln on the 'stump.' We had a recep-
tion given to us in one of the cities of our campaign. In the
line there came up a man who, getting close to Mr. Lincoln,
said, 'Mr. Lincoln, down our way, in Buffalo, we kind 0'

 

1Ibid., p. 121.
2Rhodes, The McKinley and Roosevelt Administrations, p. 121.

 

 

 

 

151

think if we can have you and God, we can pull the old thing
through.’ Getting close, himself, to the man, Mr. Lincoln
replied. 'I kind 0' think you are more than half right.'”1

Hay's wide range of indirect preparation impressed Rhodes as he

H

Hay's "innate sense of refinement. Although the following obser-

has more to do with the informal or conversational speech Of
as is true of the preceding comments, its inclusion seems appro-
e because of the insight it provides in giving a profile of Hay, the

81":

. . Hay was decidedly a cultivated man. His natural pro-
pensity for culture was fostered by the reading Of books and
by mingling in the best society. Having a notable aptitude
for acquiring knowledge at second hand he used this knowl-
edge in his talk with wonderful skill. Always meeting inter-
esting peOple he absorbed incidents that in turn set Off his
own conversation. He loved wit and humor and any manifes-
tation of them was to his latest day a passport to his favor.
He was a remarkable dinner—table talker and, in adiscussion
of the subject, a man of wide experience could think only of
two shining lights of Boston and Cambridge who were his
equal or superior.2

Combined with these intellectual characteristics was "joined a

.nt charm of manner,H

according to Thwing:
The impression and the impressiveness of the gentlemen
rested upon him by nature and by habit. He had none of the
brusqueness or freshness which popular conception gives to
the boy born in Indiana and bred in Illinois. As, long ago
some one remarked that [Theodore Roosevelt was ”a man of
the East with the manners Of a man of the West," perhaps it
might be added that Hay was a man of the West with man-

' ners of a gentleman of the East. With this charm was united
a certain splendor, or affluence, of bearing and ofspeech.3

Hay's tendency to "selfwardness," a characteristic that others had
i somewhat unfavorably during the Lincoln years, is treated sympa-
cally by Thwing:

This Splendor, however, was free from any touch of vanity
or arrogance. He was not without selfwardness. But his

 

1Thwing, Guides, Philosopher and Friends, p. 280.

 

 

2Rhodes, The McKinley ang Roosevelt Administrations, p. 124.
3Thwing, Guides, Philosophers and Friends, pp. 280—281.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

152
selfwardness was free from selfishness. There was in him,
of course, self-respect. But also this respect for himself
was no greater than for every other self. The bearing did
not invite liberties. Some one has said he would ”never think
of slapping John Hay on the back!" I can hardly think of even
Henry Adams taking such a liberty.1

Hay's Hcourtesy toward everyone" is mentioned by Thwing as an
ment that softened the image of ”selfwardness" and a tendency toward

aness. "I was present, commented Thwing, "when a reporter came

tim asking him virtually to repeat a lecture which he had just given

1 large audience and which the reporter had missed. The dealing of

,r with the youth was charming."2 There was only one area where
v's natural courtesy was sorely tried. "This courtesy, " stated Thwing,
dnot extend so far as the United States Senate. . .Ezvher‘I-Ithey failed

ratify treaties which he had arranged. ”

Hay's treatment from the press seemed to be invariably good.
Never, the value of the speech criticism by the newspapers of the era
of doubtful quality. The appraisal by Thonssen and Baird of the use
such source material for speech criticism seems especially

ropriate:

NeWSpapers and periodicals furnish a certain amount of
Speech criticism. The editorial writer or the popular col-
umnist, neither of whom is necessarily skilled in rhetorical
investigation; appraises the more important speechmaking
of the day. Much of this reviewing--for such it usually is--
amounts to little more than highly colored praise or blame
of a detail or aspect of a speech.- Seldom do we find such a
report embracing the many constituents which properly
deserve consideration, if a Speech as a whole is to be eval—
uated fairly and me aningfully.4

Typical of Hay's favorable ”press, " during the earlyperiod of his

ilic speaking, was the announcement in the Cleveland Leader of

 

 

I__bid. ., p. 251.
Ibid.
_I_bid.

1
2—
3—
4Thonssen and Baird, Speech Criticism, p. 4.

 

 

 

 

 

 

153
ember 1, 1872, of his forthcoming lecture, ”The Progress of Democracy

urOpe,” to be delivered in Case Hall:

Time was when Cleveland was the paradise of popular lec-
turers. The day Of cheap commonplace speakers came, and
the Cleveland public, having listened patiently through half
a winter to the platitudes of the small men, went home at
last with disgust, and has since refused to be brought out by
any speakers of acknowledged ability. Since then the regi—
ment of successful public lecturers has been reduced to a
platoon, and it gives us genuine pleasure to announce that
Colonel John Hay, one of the brightest and best of the sur-
vivors, is to Open our lecture season of 1872 by a discourse
in Case Hall, before the Young Men's Christian Association
on the evening of Thursday the 14th Of November. Colonel
Hay is in many respects one of the most remarkable young
men now living in this country. Called to Washington before
he was twenty years of age, as the confidential secretary
and intimate personal friend of President Lincoln, it was his
good fortune to live for four years a life which would itself
furnish materials for a history of rarest interest. The world
has seen and read many biographies of Abraham Lincoln,

all more or less faithful and interesting, but the real story
of that strange life will never be written until Colonel Hay
shall take up the task and write it. From Washington, Colo-
nel Hay went, after the death of President Lincoln, first to
Paris as Secretary of Legation, and thence to Madrid as
Consul. During his official life in Spain, his highly cultured
and receptive mind was completely possessed by the literature
and the daily life of the Spaniards, and on his return to the
United States he gave to the world, in his "Castilian Days,"

a book which the English critics pronounced the most masterly
work which has been written upon Spain for half a century.
Those who know Colonel Hay only as the author of "Jim
Bludsoe" and "Little Britches,” know him by only the rudest
of his work. 1

The Leader commentary then concluded that Hay's success in his
re would be dependent on the ability of the audience to appreciate
tellectual level of the presentation. Hay, evidently, rarely Spoke
n” to his audience:

As a lecturer, he has appeared but Sparingly, but always

with a degree of success that was measured only by the

culture of his audience. His lecture in this city will probably

have for its theme "The Progress of Democracy in Europe,"
a subject which Emilio Castellar has shown to be one of the

 

1Cleveland Leader, November 1, 1872, p. 2.

 

 

 

 

154
most absorbing and important Open to modern research. In
the coming lecture of Col. Hay we can promise to the people
of Cleveland an entertainment which will worthily inaugurate
the season of 1872.1

 

 

 

Instead of his lecture "The Progress of Democracy in EurOpe,"
's theme for this appearance in Cleveland was ”The Heroic Age in

.hington." The lecture, sometimes entitled ”Phases of Washington

:," concerned itself with President Lincoln and the war years in the

itol. This lecture, too, had received favorable reviews in such papers
he Chicago Tribune which stated that it revealed ”something of the
r life of the great Lincoln, unspoken before in public, with such

masiveness of oratory and finish of Speech" that the audience was

lled. 2

The review in the Cleveland Leader was most warm in its praise

ay's lecture:

Of all the great men who were brought into prominence by
the War of the Rebellion, President Lincoln yet stands, as
he has hitherto, first and dearest to the pOpular heart. There
was in his personal life a strange, mysterious fascination
which nothing of all that has been Spoken and written has
been able to explain away or destroy. The appearance in
public of his brilliant young secretary, Colonel Hay, with a
lecture which describes in elegant and beautiful language so
many new and interesting passages of the great President's
life, has been the signal for a new and widespread awakening
of public interest on that never wearying subject. It is gen-
erally recognized that Colonel Hay is the one man who can
write the only biography of Abraham Lincoln which the
country will consent to accept as just and authentic, and this
fact has invested with unusual importance all that the poet-
lecturer has said on the subject. Wherever he has Spoken,
vast audiences have listened with almost tearful attention to
his eulogium upon that heroic life and tragic death which
form so precious a part of our Nation's history.3

.Hay remained in Cleveland to deliver his lecture several times.

Cleveland Leader, in commenting on Hay's final appearance,

 

 

1Ibid.
2Dennett, John Hay, pp. 82-83 quoting from the Chicago Tribune.
3Cleveland Leader, November 30, 1872, p. 2.

 

 

 

 

 

 

155
eproached its readers for the poor attendance and, again, was lavish

its praise of Hay:

The audience that assembled last evening was a select and
appreciative one, but in numbers was not an adequate tribute

to the merit of the lecture. About five hundred were present,
and those five hundred listened to an intellectualtreat, which
for the credit of Cleveland should be envied.l

In their praise of Hay as a speaker, most commentaries are con-
istent regarding Hay's ability in the use of language in clearly com-
1unicating his thoughts and feelings. He was never commonplace in his
peaking, and his constant aim at perfection may help explain his reluc-
tnt attitude regarding some speaking engagements. Another contemporary

tated of Hay's speaking:

Familiar with the vast possibilities of the English tongue,
both for beauty and strength, his orations, addresses and
state papers were always clear, luminous and strong, with
ever a hint of poetic color and a virilef imagination. Hearing
him or reading his speeches, no one would imagine him to
be the shrinking, reluctant man he was, averse to publicity
and exceedingly difficult to bring to a positive engagement to
make an address. So easy to us it seemed for him to open
his mouth and so impossible for him to be commonplace--to
speak without enlightening, to plead a great cause without
carrying everything before him, in the ardor of his sincerity
and the strength of his convictions, in his scathing denuncia-
tions of that which aroused his antagonism; all this, as well
as his remarkable conversational gifts, illustrate what is
meant when speaking ofhim as a master of English speech.2

 

II. A Rhetorical Analysis of Four Representative

 

Speeches of the Early Period of Hay’s Career

 

Hay's fixed habit of writing his Speeches and lectures has been of

 

ormous aid to the speech critic in establishing textual authenticity. A
mparison of the available written manuscripts with the print ed versions

veals, insofar as it is possible to ascertain, that the latter reflect

 

1Ibid., December 6, 1872, p. 4.

2Hiram C. Haydn, The Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State, An
preciation; a Discourse in the First Presbyterian Church, July 16,
05 (Cleveland: 1905), pp. 7—8.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

156
rately the words originally prepared by the Speaker. Relatively few

1y's political Speeches from the early period have been preserved,
he one he considered most important, "The Balance Sheet of the
Parties," was issued in pamphlet form as a campaign document
agrees textually with the original handwritten manuscript in the
ives at the John Hay Library of Brown University. Hay's two lec-
;, ”The Progress of Democracy in Europe" and "The Heroic Age in
lington,” were found in galley proof form in the archives of the Hay
1ry, with marginal corrections made in Hay's handwriting. , The
:hes from Hay's later period, to be examined in a subsequent chap-
tre more readily available in published collections. Many of these
ches were also published-in full by newspapers, especially the New

Tribune.

The Method Of Selection

 

The selection of each of the four Speeches for detailed analysis
based on the following criteria: (1) The speech must be represent-
of the important themes on which Hay spoke during the early period
5 career, 1870-1885; (2) the speech must be representative of Hay's
ring on different oceasions and under different circumstances;
1e Speech must be representative of Hay's Speaking at different
as during the early period of his career; (4) the speech must be
ficant in terms of its purpose and the response elicited from the
ediate audience, responsible contemporaries, and recognized his-
ns; and (5) the speech must be representative of the Speechmaking

which Hay must rest his claim to distinction as a Speaker.

Accordingly, the following Speeches were chosen for purposes of
'81s:

1. "The Progress of Democracy in EurOpe" and "The Heroic
Age in Washington." These lectures will be considered
together as a distinct unit, since they reflect Hay's first
serious efforts as a public Speaker on the lyceum. circuit.
As has been noted before, these lectures received wide
acclaim in the cities where they were delivered during
the early 1870's. An Old lecture bureau advertising card
is still preserved which shows Hay's face in a galaxywith
such popular idols as Wendell Phillips, Harriet Beecher
Stowe, Horace Greeley, John B. Gough, Josh Billings,

 

 

157
and Petroleum V. Nasby.1 Others in the group of Lyceum
lecturers with whom Hay appeared were John G. Saxe,
George William Curtis, Bishop Matthew Simpson, Susan B.
Anthony, Edward Everett Hale, Charles Sumner, Ralph
Waldo Emerson and A. Emily Dickinson.

2. "The Pioneers of Ohio," delivered before the Pioneers'
Association of the Western Reserve, at Burgess' Grove,
Cuyahoga County, Ohio, August 27th, 1879. This speech,
published in pamphlet form and later included as an extra
number of The Magazine of History, is an excellent exam-
ple of Hay's abilitywith the tribute or ceremonial address.

3. "The Balance Sheet of the Two Parties," Cleveland, Ohio,
July 31, 1880. Hay's great speech of the Garfield cam-
paign reflected his party convictions, which, in turn, had
been strengthened by his historical studies in preparation
for the writing of Abraham Lincoln: A History. The
Speech was subsequently printed and received wide cir-
culation as a campaign document. Although Hay continued
to engage in political speaking during the first half of the
decade of the eighties, he never equalled this speech of
the Garfield campaign for overall effect on the electorate.

 

 

These four speeches represent the type of speaking and the themes
t Hay addressed himself to during the fifteen-year period of the early
't of his career. The lectures were given in many areas, but most
quently in cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Buffalo, and New York. Both
:he other speeches were delivered in his adopted home state of Ohio
be time when Hay was yet to achieve international prominence as a
tesman. As mentioned before, the Speeches of the later period of

career will be examined in a subsequent chapter.

The Method of Analysis

 

In the examination of each Speech, consideration will be given to
historical events as they relate to providing a background for the
per understanding of each speech. The rhetorical analysis will then
made in terms of arrangement, invention, and style. These terms,
erent in the classical divisions of rhetoric, not only serve as useful
'. convenient points of departure, but also constitute the basic pattern

rirtually all critical investigations into the art and practice of

1Pamphlet of clippings in Rare Book Room of the New York Pub—
Library.

 

 

 

158
speechmaking. Each case study will include an abstract of the speech

in the author's own words; and the arrangement will be reported in
terms of the development of the specific parts of the speech -— intro-
duction, body, and conclusion. While in the actual sequence of Speech
preparation, invention, or the finding of materials and ideas, necessarily
precedes arrangement; it is convenient to consider arrangement first

in order to provide a précis of the materials to be analyzed.

The concept of invention refers to the entire investigative process,
or, as Baldwin points out, to "the investigation, analysis, and grasp
of the subject matter."1 It is concerned with the theme and its supporting
materials, with the modes of persuasion —- logical emotional, ethical --
in their complex interrelationships, and with those factors which refer

to the substance rather than the form of the Speech.

The study Of style involves basically a study of the speaker's use
of language; his choice of words and their arrangement or composition.
Alfred North Whitehead has stated that style is "an aesthetic sense,
based on admiration for the direct attainment of a foreseen end, simply
and without waste. Style in art, style in literature, style in science,
style in logic, style in practical execution, have fundamentally the same
aesthetic qualities, namely, attainment and restraint. . . . Style, in its
finest sense, is the last acquirement of the educated mind; it is also
the most useful."2 Special attention is directed to Hay's skill in the
use of words, figures of speech, and similar items in the process of

phrasing materials which have been selected and arranged.

 

1Charles Sears Baldwin, Ancient Rhetoric and Poetic (New York:
The Macmillan Company, 1942), p.‘ 43.

2 Alfred North Whitehead, The Aims of Education and Other Essays
(New York: The Macmillan Company, 1929T, p. 19.

 

 

 

159
CASE STUDIES

THE LECTURES: "The Progress of Democracy in Europe" and
"The Heroic Age in Washington"

The Setting and Occasion

 

As previously mentioned, Hay's literary success in 1871 ”created
a lively demand for his appearance on the lyceum circuits where he won
a success comparable with that in literature."1 It is evident that Hay
was one of the "pioneers" in terms of the lecturers sponsored by the
Boston Lyceum Bureau.2 This organization came into being, shortly
after the Civil War, through the collaboration of George L. Fall with
James Clark Redpath, one of the most important men in the lecture
susiness. ”Redpath was an immediate success, for he met a long—felt
need—-a central bureau that could supply lecturers to local lyceums.
Just as Holbrook gave the lyceum its initial impetus, so did Redpath
give it its beginning as a big business, making well-known lecturers

available to almost any community."3

Among the Hay manuscripts are letters mentioning lectures or

lecture engagements under the auspices of Redpath and Fall. A letter

I>f May 30, 1871, addressed to George L. Fall, discussed terms of

ossible lecture engagements:

My Dear Sir:

I do not think it worth while at present to make any restric-
tions as to time or territory. Of course, if there should be
any invitations at a great distance from each other involving
more travelling days than talking nights, they would not be
worth while.

As to terms, what do you advise? One hundred dollars is
pretty nearly the average, is it not? I would prefer never to
lecture except in cases where there are season tickets.

 

1Dennett, John Hay, p. 82.

2Kenneth G. Hance, H. O. Hendrickson, and E. W. Schoenberger,
The Later National Period, 1860-1930," A History and Criticism of
lmerican Public Address, ed. by William Norwood Brigance (New York:
’IcGraw- Hill Book Company, 1943), I, p. 121.

3Ibid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

160
I leave these matters very much in your hands, however,

1 consented to the use of my name on your list, rather on

account of what was suggest ed, than because I thought an

anxious public was pining to see me. If you get any invita-

tions, I will express my surprise and do my best to justify

you.1

Redpath and Fall managed most of the American lecturers from
1867 to 1875 on the basis of a ten per cent commission. According to
Hance et al., these two enterprising individuals were able to place lec-
turing on a commercial basis during this period and enabled their
clients to command fees as high as $1,000 for a single lecture.2
According to the available information, Hay did not command the top
”going price" during this early period. Nevertheless, Hay was quite
active as a lecturer during the early 1870's and traveled extensively
out of his New York Office. A letter of July 7, 1871, to George Fall

discussed his lecture tour in the West:

My Dear Sir:

I do not wish to remain long in the West. All engagements
which you make, therefore, should be as close together as
possible. Make the Chicago evening as early in the season
as you can, and the rest can conform to that. I am informed
you will have an application before long from Springfield,
Illinois.3

In a letter to his lecture agents on September 5, 1871, Hay felt

that "The Progress of Democracy in Eur ope" would suit in Poughkeepsie

and mentioned another possible lecture engagement:

Gentlemen:

Yours of yesterday received. Ithink "The Progress of
Democracy in EurOpe" would suit in Poughkeepsie as well
as any.

The A. L. B. American Literary Bureau of New York
inform me they have referred to you an application for

 

1From the Hay Manuscript Collection in the John Hay Library
Archives, Brown University.

2Hance, et al., History and Criticism ofMerican Public Address,
I, pp. 121-122.
3

 

Hay Manuscript Collection, Brown University.

 

 

1872,

 

 

161

Roxbury, Mass. for Nov. 8. If this does not conflict with
other engagements it would be agreeable to me.1

To his mother, Mrs. Charles Hay, a letter written December 5,

described his lectures in Springfield and Cleveland. In the same

letter, Hay commented that he had heard a rumor that Colfax would

succeed Greeley as editor of the New York Tribune:

My Dear Mother,

I had a splendid house at Springfield and enjoyed my visit
very much. . . . I think this lecture of mine is a remarkable
one in one reSpect at least. It is the only one you and Aunt
Lizzie have heard in recent years. I made a point of her
going, and the whole family, with the exception of Aunt Elma,
occupied one seat in full force. Charlie sent you a paper
containing notice.

I arrived in Cleveland this morning and Spent the day in
visiting some acquaintances. llectured to-night in Case
Hall to a large and excellent audience. I think I will stay
here until tomorrow evening and then go through to New
York. I will let you know the state of things there as soon
as I arrive. There was a report current in Springfield that
Colfax was to be the successor of Greeley in the Tribune, but
I think there was no foundation for it. Reid has managed the
paper so admirably during the last month that no reasonable
objection can be made to him. If there is any attempt made
to oust him I shall oppose it with all the means in my prOper.

I hope some of you will write me at once and let me know
the news.2

In a letter of December 11, 1872, to his father Dr. Charles Hay,

Hay discussed his own financial affairs and his lecture engagements

together with a description of a supper party given by S. L. M. Barlow.

All in all-it is a vivid picture of the end of Hay's second year in New

York:

My Dear Father,

I arrived here without accident on Monday after a pleasant
Visit in Cleveland. I found stacks of letters waiting for me
but nothing of any great importance which had been neglected.
There were two lecture invitations, one from Poughkeepsie
which I was rather sorry to lose. But the most were invita-
tions to dinner which I am as well pleased to be free from.

 

1Ibid.

2Hay Manuscript Collection, Brown University.

 

 

162
Last night I went to an amusing supper party. It was at

S. L. M. Barlow's and consisted of Manton Marble and
Hurlburt of the World, Sam Ward, son-in-law of Astor, a
witty old scape-grace, General Rebel) Dick Taylor, son of
the President and, ostensibly, [:inch Father Burke, the great
Dominican orator. We were especially invited to meet
Father Tom, [Sic-I but we waited an hour and he did not come.
We sat down and were very merry without him. When sup-
per was about half there was a loud ring at the bell and we
thought it must be his Reverence; but when the door opened,
a woman, half crazy with excitement shouted "Save your-
selves! the Fifth Avenue Hotel is on fire." This was true,
but Madison Square was between us and the fire and not a
man budged from the table, and when we went home at mid-
night, the fire was subdued, and the hotel not much hurt.

We have not quite settled down after the events of last
month, and I am not yet perfectly sure about Mr. Reid's
permanence but of this I can tell you more definitely after
a week or two. My diamond shares, of course, turn out
worthless, but I lose nothing as Mr. Barlow gives me back
the money I gave him for them.1 My other affairs look a
little better than they did, though I do not quite yet see day-
light through them. I am embarking, with powerful friends,
in another enterprise, where the loss, if any, willbe small,
and the profit, if it comes, will be large.

My lecture before the Christian Association has been
postponed a week--Gough taking my place and I taking his.2
I shall speak the 20th. The Steinway Hall lecture, "The
Heroic Age in Washington," will be towards the end of
January.

I anticipate rather a pleasant winter. I am arranging so
as to work more in the daytime, to get up and to to bed
earlier. I have cheerful lodgings and good attendance.

My love to all the house. Thanks to Harwood for Frank's
critique. It did equal honor to his head and heart.3

 

1Dennett in John Hay, pp. 92-93 includes an interesting footnote

egarding Hay's investment in diamond shares. "It was Clarence King
ho exposed the great swindle in the 'salted' diamond fields of Wyoming,

ate in 1872. Clarence King Memoirs, pp. 396-400. Had the fraud
emainedundisclosed till the following Spring, large sums of money
ould have been wasted in the costly purchase of worthless property.
any well-known capitalists were imposed upon."

 

zHance, et al., History and Criticism of American Public Address,
, p. 1 22.

3Hay Manuscript Collection, Brown University.

 

 

 

163
These letters, then, reflect the general background as related to

the pr ofessionalization of public speaking after the Civil War and John
Hay's role in it. Those that participated in the early phase of the lec-
ture bureau movement believed that they were involved in a new era of
cultural reawakening in America, and that their efforts were providing
one means of doing this. In 1871 James Redpath wrote about the
movement:

Lecturing is becoming a distinct profession. The system

has grown up without system; it has never been organized

by competent managers or carefully studied by competent

observers; but as it extends itself it will be reduced to

order, its attractions multiplied, its Sphere widened, its

popularity increased, its influence for good augmented a

hundred-fold. In this era of the newspaper, it seems the

only ally that science and literature can confidently count

upon to make their teachings household words and their dis-

coveries known in the homes of the Merican people.1

We can only surmise that the discipline involved in speaking for
a fee helped Hay improve his techniques as a Speaker. In order to
please a wide variety of audiences, there would have to be the constant
effort to improve the art and skill of Speaking, not to mention the expe-
rience gained in audience adaptation. The paid lecture circuit provided
Hay, who tended to be a reluctant Speaker, an opportunity to overcome

his fears of the public platform.

On the negative side, the influence of professionalism had a tend-
ency to cause lecturers to be motivated purely in terms of money.

Oliver states the problem of professionalization as follows:

The professionalization of public speaking converted it (on
the commercial platform) into a means of earning a living.
Such speaking came to be judged basically in terms of
whether an audience would pay to listen; and whether they
would want the speaker back. A predominant skill became
that of giving the people what they liked to hear. Unpalatable
messages had to be sugar—coated. Crusading speeches had to
identify people not in the audience as the agents Ofevil. . .

 

1Charles F. Horner, The Life of James Redpath and the Develog
ment of the Modern Lyceum (New York: Barse and Hopkins, 1926),
pp. 187-188.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

164

A difference that makes a difference is whether the motivation

comes from a commercial system or from an inner drive .1

There was the danger, then, that the paid lecture circuit developed
a kind of speech primarily concerned with the winning of admiration and
applause. The purpose was essentially to sound impressive at the risk
of failing to communicate ideas. The available records suggest that
Hay enjoyed speaking professionally and was seriously concerned with
the communicating of his theme. His lecture, "The Progress of Democ-
racy in Europe, " was a sympathetic review of the various liberal move-
ments in Europe and "strongly in the interests of the strugglingpeoples
of the old world." A Rochester paper is quoted by Dennett which stated:

"Several portions of his lecture were relieved by vivid and

earnest descriptions full of eloquence and power. This was

especially the case in the powerful passage, in which he

described the communists' leaders, who suffered death at

the hands of the Versaillists, or subsequently by the decrees

of the Thiers government."2

"Mr. Hay had a good voice, a fine elocution, spirit and earnest-
ness, " commented another paper; "he can place his audience in sympathy

with himself, and is altogether a good speaker."3

The theme of the lecture, "The Heroic Age in Washington, " dealt
with Lincoln and the war years as observed by Hay. Less controversial
in terms of audience reaction, it was typical of the Speaking that per-
sisted throughout the nineteenth century in that its theme was closely
identified with the events of history. Hay never took for himself the
role of the crusading zealot. He was almost apolitical radical for his
day; but not quite.4 There is no doubt that "he had been deeply touched by
the struggles of the oppressed masses in Europe, " but there is no evidence

that he had a political theory that aimed at a remedy. His lectures

 

1Robert T. Oliver, History of Public Speaking in America (Boston:
Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1965), p. 434.

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 83.

3Ibid.

4IIbid.

 

 

165
tended to express moods rather than'settled conclusions.1 "He Spoke

as a poet, .but not as a prOphet, least of all as a reformer."2 Both lec-
tures had the element, as labeled by Nichols, of "the great-hero
approach to public address" -- an approach characterized by the attempt
to "imbue a spirit of patriotism by presenting the heroic efforts of the

past."3

 

The comprehensiveness of the lectures shows careful preparation
and an emphasis on the principles of rhetoric that have to do with
imagery and the forms of support. The finished products -~ roughly
10,400 words for "The Progress Of Democracy in Europe" and 9,000
words for "The Heroic Age in Washington" -— are somewhat long when

compared with most contemporary lectures.

 

The Arrangement of "The Progress of Democracy in EurOpe"

 

Introduction

 

There was a good deal of human nature about the Pharisee who
thanked God he was not as other men are. We are all too apt to take it
for granted that virtue is rather an easier thing for us than for others,
and to acquiesce in the subjection and degradation of our neighbors with
the comfortable assurance that it is about what they deserve, and that
they are incapable of appreciating anything better. We consider freedom
as necessary for us as light and air; yet how many of us regard the
aspiration of patriotic and oppressed men under other skies as a sickly
sentiment-~too weak to bear fruit. How long we looked at France,
gagged and throttled; two murdered Republics and two flourishing
Empires; a people stretching out its hands in worship to the Invalides,
in mendicancy to the Tuileries! For how many years we saw the POpe
safe in the Vatican, surrounded by foreign bayonets that seemed effec-
tual to turn off the lightnings of reason and revolution; and Garibaldi
limping about his cabbage-field at Caprera dying of consumption and
heartbreak! And even to—day in the calm that has come after the tre-
mendous storm which was let loose upon the world by the greed and
folly of kings, after all the blood they have shed, after the ruin they have
wrought,lthere are many who refuse to see in all these mighty convul—
sions the direct result and consequence of the wrongs of despotism, and
prefer to charge the vast sum of misery to the workings of Democracy.
The abasement of the countries of EurOpe preach but one lesson to the

 

 

 

llbi_
2lbi

3Marie Hochmuth Nichols, Rhetoric and Criticism, p. 56.

91?:

 

 

 

 

166
eyes blinded by prejudice and self-conceit--that the people of EurOpe
have no right to be free; that we alone are strong and prudent enough to
handle the sharp and dangerous edge-tools of liberty.

We may congratulate ourselves at having solved at last the polit-
ical problem that has addled the brains of many ages. We have small
reason to think contemptuously of peOpleS who have been fighting a
hundred years for freedom and have not yet Obtained the golden crown
of their desires. For we were fighting longer still.

BO dy

 

In the ages when History was not, our race was taking its first
lessons of freedom. Freedom is indigenous to Northern climes as the
oak and the pine. I do not mean the enlightened freedom of our day, but
the germ was there--the spirit of individual independence of effort
combined with the faculty of organization. And all this vast capital of
the theory and practice of freedom went on accumulating for us, until
the Mayflower sailed into the wintry sea. The little tree of freedom
which they carried over to transplant into the soil of the New World
could not die. It had grown too sturdy, nourished by the blood and
sweat of stalwart generations.

I claim that the quintessence of the political education existing in
the world in the seventeenth century was brought to America by the
Puritans. And here the ideas of free government were elaborated under
favorable conditions. They had no aristocracy to dazzle and debauch
them. While in EurOpe the peOple were still toiling like dumb beasts of
burden under the lash of despotism, our ancestors were laying the
foundations of the Republic.

The age that preceded in Europe the great Revolutionary era was
one of almost unimaginable foulness. There was a general looseness
of moral sentiment pervading all classes Of society.

The year of 1848 was a rude one for kings. They could not lay
aside their old mask and costume of divine right and paternal authority,
and yet they saw themselves forced day by day to give up every position
they assumed. Very few were actually turned out of their places. There
was a time when great qualities raised men to thrones. But now, if a
king is a great and good man, it is in Spite of his royal training.

But if we find in high place nothing that was of good report, in
compensation we see in the ranks of the people reason for hope to all
those who believe in the progress of humanity. All over EurOpe the
peOple in revolution were brave as lions in combat, but generous and
magnanimous in victory. This has been denied by the hirelings of
reaction; but it is true. These facts do honor to humanity.

Much was gained by these colossal efforts of 1848. Equality before
the law, extension of suffrage, direct representation, responsible Min-
isters-~these are the plain and palpable results that remain. But much
for a time seemed lost through the falsehood and treachery of the reaction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

167
After the civil triumphs Of the revolution came the struggles for
nationality, and there begins the page of this epic. Poland was crushed
again; the insurrection of Baden was quenched in blood; the Republic of
Venice fell, and Hungary succumbed to the coalition of Austria and Rus-
sia. The arms of France, under Bonaparte, destroyed the young Repub-
lic of Rome.

All over EurOpe order reigned. The armed Revolution was at an
end. The necessity of armed and violent revolutions seems really to
have passed. But by moral means even more effectual Democracy has
been making a steady and substantial progress since the victories of
'48 in every country of Europe. There is scarcely a country in EurOpe
what has not materially altered its legislation in a liberal direction in
these last twenty years.

I have paid especial attention to the part borne by France in the
insurrectionary movements of Europe, because it has seemed that Paris
has hitherto furnished Revolutions ready-made to the rest of the world.
But nothing is plainer now than that even before the war of 1870 France
had lost the vast moral influence she once exerted over the free minds
of the earth. The forfeiture by France of her place as the leader of the
European political mind, was evident, even before Benedetti disturbed
the digestive promenade of King William at Ems, and destroyed with a
word the equilibrium of a continent.

The time has passed by for movements founded on great contagious
movements of insurrection. The world looked on without an impulse of
adhesion at the outburst of Paris. Even the Internationale, of which so
much was expected, did not stir hand or foot. These movements have
had their day and done their work. Not only must every nation now work
out its own salvation with fear and trembling, but it seems as if every
prOpaganda must Operate in the future through individual education. The
results of this natural and healthy progress of national deveIOpment are
not less startling than the fruits of sudden tumult and the devastation of
invasion have been in other days. The advance of the last few years is
almost incredible to us who have witnessed it. Household suffrage has
been given to England by an aristocratic Cabinet. The country now
demands and will soon obtain manhood suffrage and the ballot. The
great and essential questions of land, church, labor, and financial reform
are rapidly moving forward to a Democratic solution. It does not as yet
appear that this democratic movement is to be destructive of anything
which ought not to be destroyed. The people accept with a certain good-
natured dignity all the victories their cause achieves-—taking nothing as
. a finality, but working steadily on toward Democracy.

5 I cannot join in the jeremiads of those prophets of evil who see

’ nothing but tyranny and centralization in Germany as the result of her
colossal victories. Force is not necessarily a temptation to self—enslave-
ment; we proved that sufficiently in the year that followed Appomattox.
The German clay is too noble to be wrought into vessels of dishonor.

The age of politics is coming next-~the era of parliamentary criticism.
There is nothing to fear from the predominance of the military Spirit

so long as it is not professional, but Springs from a conscientious per-
formance of civic duty.

 

168
The best results of 1866, are to be seen in the realm of the
vanquished. It is Austria who has plucked from the nettle of defeat the
flower of Freedom. Austria now enjoys a regular parliamentary govern-
ment, greatly resembling that of England, though their double system of
general and local legislatures bears some resemblance to our own fed-
eral structure.

One of the examples which is forever dinned into our ears of the
incapacity of the Latins to govern themselves is that of Spain. We point
to the superstition and servility of the peOple-~the power exerted over
them by the fetishes of the crown and the cowl--but these prove nothing
more than that despotism, spiritual and civil, has been a bad thing for
them, as it always is for any nation. Spain has not escaped the influence
of those great moral and political currents which the rest of the world
has experienced. This their splendid revolution of three years ago
abundantly proves. Although they did not gain a democratic limited
monarchy, where, for the first time since the Austrian kings throttled
civil and religious freedom in Spain, some freedom of Speech and of
thought is guaranteed. The old traditions die hard, but they are wounded
to death. To us, Republicanism seems far preferable. But if peoples
have a preference for monarchy, and surround it with the prOper con—
stitutional restraints, taking away all its power to harm, there is nothing
incompatible between such a monarchy and a purely Democratic social
and political system.

The essential points in the progress of Democracy are the abolition
of aristocratic privilege--the establishment of equality before the law--
and the extension of the right of suffrage. It is evident that EurOpe is
making steady and constant advances in each of these respects. Can we
say as much? Yet even we are improving. Mr. Frederick Douglass
begins to complain that he rarely enjoys a whole seat in the cars nOw-a-
days. He says he was recently roused from a comfortable nap, by a
man crowding into his seat. "I'm a nigger,” said Douglass, unwinding
the Shawl from his head. "Don't care a 1-..- what you are,” said the
leveling intruder; "I want a seat."

Every step in the advance of EurOpe toward Democracy has been
marked by an extension of the suffrage, and this right once given can
never be withdrawn without the gravest danger. The better classes see
year by year, that no terrible cataclysm follows this leveling policy. A
strong, wholesome Opposition grows up in all the provinces, and a spirit
of intelligent inquiry awakes in the public mind.

After the deadly canker of Aristocracy is once eradicated, it is
gone forever. You can no more reestablish a system of privilege among
a free and intelligent peOple, than you can reconstruct a rainbow after
the clouds and mist that caused it have disappeared. The respect for
royal blood lasts longer. But the especial besetting sin of new Democra-
cies is too great a dependence upon their leaders. It is ill for a democ~
racy when the magnanimity of its leaders is the limit of their power.

 

1 69
Conclusion

 

One greater lesson still remains for the Old World to learn of the
New; that in the true Democracy the greatest and best men are the ser-
vants, never the masters, of the people; that the government is but the
expression and symbol of the pOpular power. When a despot dies, the
land rejoices; when a good king departs, his people fear for the unknown
future. But in a well-ordered Republic, the bullet of the assassin may
take away in an instant the greatest, wisest, best loved, and while the
nation weeps for him, the Government feels no tremor. Every hour of
our war was full of sacrifices for us, of lessons for EurOpe. But the
most instructive of lessons as the most precious of sacrifices was that
which exchanged on the brow of LINCOLN the civic garland for the
Martyr-Crown. In the truest and highest sense, a martyr—-in his death
he bore witness. This has sunk deeply into the heart of EurOpe.

Who can now deny that a Republic, which the sages of all time
have longed for as the highest ideal good, is also the firmest, most
durable of human systems. It is my conviction that the world is drawing
every day nearer to us in political progress. I do not hOpe that all at
once Democracy will be the healing of the nations. But I am sure that
without freedom we cannot have peace, we cannot have good will to men.

The Arrangement of "The Heroic Age in Washington"

 

Introduction

 

No one has stood among the memorials of the Past without afeeling
of intense curiosity as to the character and the life of the men who reared
them. It is not the cyclopean granites of Stonehenge that fill the mind
with wonder and awe as you stand in their mysterious circle on the
stricken waste Of Salisbury Plain. It is the vague and mystical frag-
ments of the history of the Druids which give to that mighty ruin its
tantalizing charm. And when we sail in to the Piraeus from the blue
Egean, and see the Parthenon towering in its marred but immortal love—
liness, like a battered coronet on the brow Of the Acropolis, it is not
alone its beauty and majesty that conquers and controls our hearts. It
is the same tantalizing enigma as to the true character of that marvel-
ous race which called into being this absolute perfection of form. We
ask of the splintered columns and crumbling friezes the question which
history but imperfectly answers. Could we but have been there! Half
the joy and half the pain of travel is in this vain imagining.

But these fancies all seemed to grow at once vain and delusive to
me as I stood last October among the brand-new ruins of Chicago. All
the gray mystery of an antiquity without a beginning seemed to have
fallen upon them in a night. Standing amid that vast and impressive
desolation with the key in your hand, the riddle was not the less difficult
to unlock. The decay is already historical, but nothing iS lacking to
give you full comprehension of the sermon it is preaching. You are
yourself a part of the life these ruins symbolize, of the civilization which

 

 

170
they express. There is no unknown quantity in the problem they present.
There it is--make of it what you will. If you come to nothing, do not
blame time or history for the dust that is in your eyes.

Body

 

It is not merely distance and the lapse of years which makes his—
torical objects fabulous and wonderful. It is that loyal element of belief
and worship in men's hearts which makes mythologies and traditions.
The time of great beliefs and passionate convictions is also the time of
great deeds. The hour when a peOple forgets itself and struggles for a
great and lofty principle iS its heroic age, and as time passes on the
creations of poets and the adoration of believers will hang around all
its events the garlands of fable.

Only a decade has passed Since the beginning of our Iliad, and yet
how many names have passed into reverend tradition, have become
spells to conjure with, have begun a new career as living principles and
examples. Those four years are our Heroic Age. Before the impres-
sions of those hours pass away, it is not amiss for those who saw some—
thing Of that wonderful history to compare their impressions and their
reminiscences, to fix if possible some definite ideas of what they saw
before it all glides away into myth and fairy fables. I hOpe the hour we
are to pass in this way to-night will not be utterly wasted.

I do not come to rake up the ashes of old animosities. The strifes
which preceded the colossal contest of 1860 are dead. They now seem
as petty as our little quarrels of to—day will appear hereafter. But in
that contest there was a quality which raised it above ordinary elections.
There was a sudden pause for consideration-—a casting up of the balance
of the national life. Men asked themselves seriously whether there
were anything worth fighting for in political principles. The answer
was in that vast majority of Lincoln's. The first words I ever heard
from him in that momentous Summer which preceded the struggle were
singularly significant of this moral tendency our politics at that moment
began irresistibly to take. He came into the law office where I was
reading, which adjoined his own, with a copy of Harper's Magazine in
his hand, containing Senator Douglas's famous article on POpular Sov-
ereignty. Lincoln seemed greatly roused by what he had read. Entering
the Office without a salutation, he said: ”This will never do. He puts
the moral element out of this question. It won't stay out." This was the
gathering and growing conviction of the whole country. All measures
had been adopted to evade the frightful responsibility Of decision. But it
was coming, and everybody knew it.

In the North and in the South alike there was a tremendous progress
of Opinion seen every day between the election and the inauguration of
Lincoln. There was never a time, even in our history, where men always
count for so little, which exhibits so plainly the tyrannous power of pOp~
ular tendencies. The seeds of Opinion long ago planted, which had lain
apparently dead for years, suddenly germinated and burst into flower.
Those Southern leaders who Opposed Secession, and they were numerous
and able, were heard with respectful contempt. The Northern statesmen
who met in Washington for that famous Peace Congress, which is now

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

171
utterly forgotten—-how many peOple here know anything about it? --
wasted those February days in some of the cleverest and most useless
talk ever uttered by man.

There was something singularly solemn and impressive in that
progress of Lincoln to Washington--scarcely less so than his journey
home again. When in the gray of Winter twilight, from the platform of
a car at the Springfield station, he bade farewell to his friends and
neighbors, asking their prayers to the God ”without Whose aid I cannot
succeed, and with which I cannot fail," the key-note of the journey was
struck. There was something of religious fervor in the welcome every-
where extended to him, and the thronging crowds that came out under
the harsh skies to bid him God-speed. He took none of these honors to
himself. He knew he was but the standard-bearer. The reverence and
the cheers were for the flag. In this very city, as he looked out upon
the vast assembly that had come to testify their faith to the principle he
represented, he said, "These peOple are worthy of your Republic, and
you can't take it away from them." He was but the symbol of the power
the people honored because it was their own, and never for an hour did
he forget this. SO his reward was great. His love for the Republic was
paid by love for him. He belonged to no Church. Yet he was the uncan-
Onized saint of all the Churches. He never uttered a prayer in public.
Yet prayers for him fastened our cause daily with golden chains around
the feet of God. He was cold and ungrateful to his friends, as Republics
are. And yet men who never saw him thronged at his bidding the road
of death as to a festival. I do not wish to make a faultless monster of
him. But he comes nearer than any man I ever knew to being a type of
Democratic Republicanism incarnate.

When he arrived in Washington, the picture was as confused and
bewildering as a dissolving view. The old time was passing away, and
all things had not become new. The old race of self-serving, swaggering
politicians, whose ruling principle was selfishness tempered by whisky,
was losing its absolute control. We had enough of them in the North. It
is a product as difficult to exhaust as the Canada thistle. There are
still conscript fathers among us to whom the same remakr could be
addressed as that which Wigfall, in his last night in the Senate, hurled
at a distinguished fellow—member, who had exclaimed, in a moment of
disgust, "If these things continue, I shall go and live among the Coman-
ches." "Don't," roared Wigfall; "the Comanches are my constituents,
and have already suffered sufficiently by contact with the vices of the
whites.‘

There are thieves and Yahoos in Congress yet, but it is not as bad
a case as it was in that Winter before the war, when the North was dumb
before the mighty catastrophe it foresaw, and the South was loud, and
reckless, and arrogant, going forth to its secession as to a great pic-nic
[SIC], with positively no thought Of accountability.

There seemed to me then, and now, a profound significance in the
conversation which took place in the President's room at the Capitol, on
Inauguration Day, between Buchanan and Lincoln, between the petty past
and the great future. The courteous old gentleman took the new Pres-
ident aside for some parting words into the corner where I was standing.
I waited with boyish wonder and credulity to see what momentous counsels

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172
were to come from that gray and weatherbeaten head. Every word must
have its value at such an instant. The ex-President said: ”I think you
will find the water of the right-hand well at the White-House better than
at the left," and went on with many intimate details of the kitchen and
pantry. Lincoln listened with that weary, introverted look of his, not
answering, and the next day, when I recalled the conversation, admitted
he had not heard a word of it. Through every chamber of his heart and
brain were resounding those solemn strains of long-suffering warning
which he that day addressed to the South: "With you, not with me, rests
the awful issue. Shall it be peace or the sword? "

This shadow Of resolute earnestness rested on every man in
Washington who was worthy of the name of manhood during that month
of preparation. The men in the Government meanwhile exhausted every
expedient of persuasion and compromise which could be found in the
arsenal of politics, and though many of you doubtless blamed them for
this, I believe the result gave them reason. The crisis was too tre-
mendous to justify them in affording to the South the slightest pretext
for its crime. It was due to the North, it was due to the world, that
they should push their patience even to the perilous verge of weakness.
They were right in assigning to the doomed hands of the criminal side
the fearful task of flinging open the horribly-creaking gates of the tem-
ple of War.

The day before, we had appeared hopelessly divided. But before
the smell of powder disappeared from Charleston Harbor, the flag
floated from every newspaper office in the country. From the opposite
poles of opinion men thronged to the call of their country.

It is not Often given to the life of a nation to see a moment of
moral exaltation like this. The world may wait long before it will see
again a gathering like that of the manhood of the nation which swept
down almost with the swiftness of thought to Washington and the border.
That was the army which England called a horde of hirelings enlisted
to butcher the gentlemen of the South. England said that in English--
and so we understood and remembered it. But let us not be unjust to
the Motherland. The whole world repeated the taunt in its various
dialects.

But the Diplomatic Body, posted in Washington for the express
purpose of telling the truth about us, sent nothing over the oceau but
calumnies and misrepresentations. What a farce it all was! These
Off-shoots of aristocracy or fungus-growths of despotism, the diplomats
of Washington burrowing like moles away from the fierce light of a
dawning epoch, stuffing their ears with cotton that they might deny the
existence of the storm of lightning and thunder which was clearing the
foul air of its long-gathered poisons. Yet every street and avenue
swarmed with heroes. Men worthy of the myths of romance crowded
the hills around Washington. Why should I enumerate names ? Each
heart here recalls a different one, and feels that no words could do jus—
tice to his memory. But I will mention two whom I knew most intimately,
whose names have been consecrated by death as the first conspicuous
victims of the solemn sacrifice-~Baker and Ellsworth.

 

-—

 

 

 

 

 

173

Of Baker I do not speak as a politician, though he had attained the
highest place open to a foreigner; nor as a lawyer, though distinguished
at the bar of three States; nor as a soldier, although the magic and
magnetism of his presence once brought victory to our flag on the rocky
slope of Cerro Gordo. But there was something almost superhuman
about Senator Baker as an orator. He was almost utterly unknown in the
East, for his great successes were attained at an early day in the West,
where there were few journals and no reporters. He could not write a
speech. He was forced to depend upon the stimulus of the occasion for
all he accomplished. But that was always sufficient. He never rose
without making a better speech than he intended. No one who ever saw
him in action, the grand and simple presence, the thin gray hair, the eye
that flashed pale fire, the eagle face, and heard that silver snarling trum-
pet Of his voice, could ever dismiss the vision from his mind. Two or
three times he was supremely great. At the funeral of Broderick he
mourned the death of that brave and generous rowdy in strains of lyric
beauty as fine as any uttered over the urns of the dead victors of Mara—
thon. At the great meeting in Union-square, in April, he was the only
orator up to the level of the august occasion. But his last Speech was
perhaps the most intensely dramatic. He was stationed at Ball's Bluff
with his regiment, and riding into the town one day, he dismounted at
the Capitol, and walked, booted and spurred, with the dust of the road on
his uniform, into the Senate Chamber. The Kentucky Lucifer, John C.
Breckinridge, was making a brilliant and impassioned plea for the
Rebellion. As he concluded, Baker, moved by a sudden and irresistible
impulse, threw down his hat and his gauntlets, and, striding to his seat,
claimed the floor. It was granted him, and he delivered, without an
instant's preparation, a full, complete, and rounded oration, not less
distinguished by its law and its logic than by its beauty and energy of
utterance. A few days later he was dead--pierced through and through
by Rebel lead on that fatal bluff of the Potomac, a victim of the pitiable
vacillation which then paralyzed the military arm. He was grandly
buried, and nobly praised in the Senate House. Sumner called him the
Prince Rupert of battle and debate. Yet, in spite of this preeminence of
genius and place, though he was the first Senator who had ever died in
fight, he had made such rare and swift apparitions in public that the
fame he so eagerly hungered for has been denied him; and if you find
anything of exaggeration in my words about him, it is only another proof
of the insufficiency of contemporary evidence in dealing with its phe-
nomenal men.

But if Baker is ill known, Ellsworth has fared still more hardly.
This brilliant meteor, which shone with such blinding light for a moment
in our sky and then went out forever, has left no trail Of truthful history.
Ihave heard the remarks, "He was lucky in his death. He was a Short
boy, or a charlatan, or a fop." I believe no one in the world knew him so
well as I did, and I have no authority to force my knowledge of him upon
the world. From the hour when I first met him, when he was a penni-
less law-student, eating dry bread to save his pennies for books, he
shared my scanty purse and I shared his magnificient dreams. And I
will say this of him, that I never yet saw so much of manhood embraced
within five feet and a half from spur to plume. He was a soldier born
to command men, and he was an artist also, a ready and persuasive

 

174

stump speaker, a close, relentless student, but everything in him was
subordinate to a feverish and passionate love of arms and lust of fame.
He had that intense and romantic devotion to the flag which is only seen
among young and imaginative men. I have seen him take the colors in
his hands and caress them as a mother does her child. He was, per-
haps, not a man of our time. He was too purely a soldier to be a per-
fect Republican. He was full of reveries of conquest. There are men
who say he died in an act of reckless audacity. True; but a youth of 22
who never does anything rash will not be worth killing when he grows
older. His death was not without result. It kept no young men out of
the army; it drew many in. For Forty-Fourth New-York was his fittest
monument.

But the heroism of that time was not confined to the ranks of the
fighting men. The soldiers who poured out their blood upon the frozen
fields performed no more precious service than the women who filled
every camp and hospital with the light of their purity and their loving
charity.

Of course there was much in those days which was mean and sor-
did. The comedy of selfishness is never lacking to any such scene. But
it really appears to me now that the proportion was about the same as
that of farce tragedy in the old-fashioned theaters--one act of farce to
five of tragedy. I remember Mr. Lincoln once estimated with some
disgust the number of office—seekers who visited Washington at 30,000;
but, he quickly added, "There are some 30,000,000 who ask for no
offices." But those who came were either of a singularly aggravated
type, or the circumstances of the time made one impatient Of their
peculiarities. There is no one who can appreciate the tightness of a
shoe except the man whose toe is pinched; and so the heart of the office~
seeker knoweth its own bitterness. To him, the disposition of his post-
office was a matter of more account than a battle or an earthquake. A
dozen times the same dispatch was received in different names. ”Unless
Muggins gets the Podunk P. O. the Republican party is dead in this State."
You rarely found an office—seeker who wanted a place for its own sake.
He wanted to help the cause, and could do it better from that vantage
ground than from any other. Their spirit of disinterested abnegation
was crystalized in that classic joke of Artemus Ward, who said that he
had already given one second cousin to the war, and rather than not
have the war prosecuted he would sacrifice all his wife's relations.

There never was a President who so little as Lincoln admitted
personal considerations in the distribution of places. He rarely gave a
place to a friend--still more rarely because he w_a_s_ friend. He had one
characteristic which was Often imputed him as a fault, but which I think
a most creditable quality. He was entirely destitute of gratitude for
political service rendered to himself. He filled this cabinet with enemies
and rivals, and refused any reward to those energetic politicians who did
so much to nominate him in Chicago. This, I cannot but think, is true
Republicanism. The Republic is ungrateful. It ought to be. It is worthy
of our best work without gratitude. It accepts our best service as
Heaven accepts our prayers, not because either needs them, but because
it is good for us to serve and to worship. There was a whimsical inci-
dent illustrating this ingratitude of Lincoln. At a dark period of the

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

175
war, a gentleman of some local prominence came to Washington for
some purpose, and so as to obtain the assistance of Lincoln, he brought
a good deal of evidence to prove that he was the man who originated his
nomination. At the door the President turned, and, with that smile
which was half sadness and half fun, he said: ”So you think you made
me President?" "Yes, Mr. President, under Providence, Ithink Idid.H
”Well," said Lincoln, Opening the door and going in, ”it's a pretty mess
you've got me into. But I forgive you."

He was often for a moment impatient at loss of time, and yet he
was not always sure that this was not a part of the necessary Scheme.
There are those who think his tranquility in those terrible scenes was
shallowness or unthinking levity. There could be no greater error.
The Solemnity which you see in the Gettysburg address and the Second
Inaugural is but a shadow Of the momentous spiritual contests which he
fought out alone with his own questioning soul. I have here a paper
written by him, in a time of profound national gloom, with religious
self-searching, never intended to be published nor to be seen by other
eyes than his own. To-night for the first time it is made known to oth-
ers than myself.

In the late years of the war there was less of this doubt and
reveree sicEI. A certain assurance of the result had come to be gen—
erally accepted, and Washington had like Michridates supposed so long
upon the poison of sensation that they had become her natural good and
ceased to affect her.

As the great struggle neared the close, the impatience of early
days, the hot and righteous anger against the wrong, began to give way,
and that commonest fault of noble minds, excessive magnanimity and
generosity, was Clearly indicated as the danger that threatened the new
Administration. Not only in the President was this conspicuous-—this
malice toward none, this charity for all--but in those most trusted
members of his Cabinet, who had seen the war through from its begin—
ning, there was the same tendency. There could have been no harsh-
ness of punishment or example with a government of which Lincoln was
the head and Seward the Prime Minister.

Lincoln needed no lapse of years to become immortal. In one
flash of blinding light he sprang full-panOplied into the religion of the
peoples.

Conclusion

 

As in the old tragedies, after the fall of the hero came the fan—
fare of the trumpets and the entry of the forces, so after Lincoln had
gone from Washington came in the victorious soldiers. It seems to me
no such touching pageant was ever seen.

Thus they passed on, the victors and the martyrs. Out of the
army into peace, out of our sorrow into holy memories. And with the
sweet and thrilling sounds of the bugles and the rising dust of the
columns smitten into golden glory by the sun setting over Georgetown
Hights E112], passed away the Heroic Age from Washington.

 

 

Ila... 1.11.1.1: .11.... 11.141.111.11 11 . alall..l.1 Jinn-1‘41...
.. . .u .1..... .1... . ..u.. l 1.1.... H... a

 

176
Hay acquired a minor fame with these two lectures and delivered

them on the lecture circuit for a period of approximately five years.
This was an era when audiences were still conditioned to a flowery use
of language and involved organization. The unquestioning receptivity
of audiences to this kind of public address was reflected in a hoax
authored by Mark Twain: "Mark Twain, who was one of the greatest
masters of the lecture platform .. . . was so distraught from hearing
this kind of verbal vacuousness that he fabricated a hoax in the form of
a meaningless passage, and then gleefully noted that it was praised for
its beauty by listeners who took it for granted that it must mean some—
thing."1 Hay's lectures, of course, were not a hoax, but followed the
general pattern of organization and development of the lecture as con-
ceived at that time. The term lecture is somewhat misleading in
referring to these two presentations. The lecture as thought of today
"is usually academic or pseudo-academic in its content, generally
personal in its observation or comment, and sometimes narrative in
its development."2 While the lectures of Hay conform in general to
these guidelines, their involved organizational formats echo an oratori—

cal model that went out of style before the turn of the century.

The Hay lectures, while elaborate, were structured coherently
along the classic lines of Speech organization with its three divisions --

introduction, body, and conclusion.

The introductions of the lectures consisted of long passages that
were circuitous in their approach to the central idea. Hay used the induc-
tive approach and did not immediately reveal his Speech purpose. This
was especially true of "The Heroic Age in Washington," wherein much
time was spent in the development of word pictures and the creation of

a mood to make the audience receptive to the basic aim of the lecture.

1Robert T. Oliver, History of Public Speaking in America, p. 436.

2Edward Rogge and James C. Ching, Advanced Public Speaking
(New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1966). p. 342.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

177
References were made to the "cyclopean granites of Stonehenge that fill

the mind with wonder and awe," to the "Parthenon towering in its marred
but immortal loveliness," to the "monoliths of Thebes," and to the per-
sonal experience of standing in the ruins of Chicago after the famous
fire that Hay had covered as a reporter for the New York Tribune.
These Specific instances were used by Hay to make the point that myth-
ologies and traditions are the result of a "loyal element of belief and
worship in men's hearts" which comprise the basis for a time of "great
beliefs and passionate convictions" —- or the time of great deeds in the

life of a nation; its heroic age.

With this transition to the body of the speech, Hay proceeded to
his main idea that the four years of the Civil War represented the heroic
age of America. The main hero, of course, was Lincoln. Then followed
the introduction Of other heroes as Hay knew them and his interpretation
of the role they played in contributing to the "fables and traditions of

I

the future" that comprise "the mythology of the Republic.’ The pattern

of organization in the main body of the lecture was essentially character-

ized by the use of a number of major examples to develop a Single point.
This same technique of organization was employed by Hay in the

lecture, "The Progress of Democracy in Europe."

A rather lengthy
introduction introduced the main theme -- that the mighty convulsions
in the nations of Europe were "the direct result and consequence of the
wrongs of despotism" inthe attempts of the people to establish freedom
and democracy. Major examples were then drawn from events in a
number of European countries to support the main point. Hay succeeded
in the conclusion of this lecture to relate Lincoln as the ultimate sym—

bol of a "true Democracy."

The great lesson to be learned by the Old
World, concluded Hay, was that the greatest and best men are "the
servants, never the masters, of the people; that the government is but

' The audience was

the expression and symbol of the popular power.'
then reminded of the Civil War and its lesson of sacrifice, but the most
instructive lesson for the Old World in its slow progress to Democracy,
according to Hay, was the lesson implied in the life of Lincoln:

Every hour of our war was full of sacrifices for us, of les—
sons for Europe. But the most instructive of lessons as the

 

 

 

178
most precious of sacrifices was that which exchanged on the
brow of LINCOLN the civic garland for the Martyr-Crown.
In the truest and highest sense, a martyr--in his death he
bore witness. This has sunk deeply into the heart of
Europe. Who can now deny that a Republic, which the sages
of all time have longed for as the highest ideal good, is also
the firmest, most durable of human systems.

Having sought to establish the idea of the Republic as the most
ideal and durable of political systems, Hay stated his conviction "that
the world is drawing every day nearer to us in political progress"; and
though Democracy could not be expected at once to be the healer of the

nations, he was "sure that without freedom we cannot have peace, we

1

cannot have good will to men.‘ With a final flourish, the poet-orator

expressed his feelings with a quotation from Swinburne:

In the hope, in that assurance I echo the challenge and
response of Swinburne:

Liberty! What of the night?

I feel not the red rains fall-—

Hear not the tempest at all,

Nor thunder in Heaven any more.

All the distance is white

With the soundless feet of the sun;
Night with the woes that it wore--

Night is over and done.

As in "The Progress of Democracy in Europe," the figure of Lin-

coln dominated in the concluding passages of "The Heroic Age in Wash-

1

ington.‘ Drawing from his experiences in the art galleries of EurOpe,

Hay developed an embellished image of the President in death:

In the princely palace of Liechtenstein, at Vienna, there is
a great canvas of Ruben's called the Triumph of Decius.
The warrior lies dead in his car, his white face staring
sternly at the sky, around him the golden Spoils Of sack and
battle and the sacred laurels of victory; and bound to his
chariot wheels throng princes and leaders, the clanking of
whose fetters soothe the fierce soul of the hero on his way
to the shades. It was superbly impressive. The very Spirit
of the old glory of force and violence was there.

How much more impressive though, stated Hay, was "the funeral
march of Lincoln to those sunset prairies of his love." It was a picture

of "better grandeur" because it was within the framework of a "freer

 

 

 

‘

 

 

179

." As he depicted the scene of the "mourning people" around Lincoln's

age

catafalque, Hay developed the hero—image to its fullest.

The tearful benedictions of ransomed millions called forever
downiupon him the cherishing smile of God. In the chiming
of the silver—th roated bells you might hear the echoing cho—
rus, Well done! and almost fancy in the solemn hush of his
midnight pauses the awful rushing of unseen wings as of the
convoying legions of the just made perfect. He had kept the
faith. He had become a spiritual force and essence. His
great character and example went abroad on the wings of
every wind that blew.

According to Hay, Lincoln became the symbol of ideal Democracy;

even abroad:

A friend of mine found a peasant family in the Hartz moun—
tains crying like children over the news of his death. A
member of the Austrian Reichsrath said to me, "Alreadyhe
has become a Myth, 3 Demigod, a type of ideal Democracy."

This source was contrasted with the reverent expression of a

recent slave in North Carolina:

It needed not even his death to give him this supernatural
character among the humble people of his own land. In a
prayer—meeting at Hilton Head one night a young negro said
he would like to see Linkum. A gray-headed patriarch
rebuked the rash wish, saying "No man see Linkum. Linkum
walk as Jesus walk. No man see Linkum."

This was the truly heroic man and the epitome Of the heroic age.
Lincoln needed no extended period of time to becomeimmortal. "In one

flash of blinding light he sprang full-panoplied into the religions of the

H

peoples. And thus it was that Hay developed the climax to his "Heroic

ll

Age

Hay did not end his lecture, "The Heroic Age in Washington," with
a poetic quotation, as in "The Progress of Democracy" —- but theimagery
was the same as he summed-up the participation of the soldiers in the

great conflict:

SO all hearts that day were divided in reverence and gratitude
between our two armies, the one on its way homeward
.crowned with love and laurels preparing its own unselfish
disarmament and its return to the peaceful interests of the
country it had saved; and the men ofthe other, invisible
forevermore in those wasted columns, who had gained their

 

 

 

 

 

180

promotion on the battle—field to a higher and Wider sphere
of duty, fulfilling now the scheme of the Lord of Hosts in
some activity above the clouds. Thus they passed on, the
victors and the martyrs. Out of the army intopeace, out Of
sorrow into holymemories. And with the sweet and thrilling
sounds of the bugles and the rising dust of the columns smit—
ten into golden glory by the sun setting over GeorgetOWn
Hights,I:sic:Ipassed away the Heroic Age from Washington.

Invention
(Logical Proof)

Because the general purpose of both lectures was primarily

H

informative and stimulative, the "logical elements in these presenta-

tions remained subdued as contrasted with the "emotional elements"

of speech developm ent.

"The Progress of Democracy in Europe" and "The Heroic Age in
Washington" reflected intensive use by Hay of the Deductive—inductive
approach based on concrete examples. This was especially true of the
latter with its theme that the moral rightness of the Northern cause
produced an age of heroism of Iliad—like Proportions. "The time of
great beliefs and passionate convictions is also the time of great deeds.

The hour when a people forgets itself and struggles for a great and

II

lofty principle is its heroic age. . . Hay then proceeded by a process

of induction to support his main contention:

It is not often given to the life of a nation to see a moment
of moral exaltation like this. The world may wait long
before it will see again a gathering like that of the manhood
of the nation which swept down almost with the swiftness of
thought to Washington and the border. You know when the
quota of the States were full, how those who were left out
clamored to get in. How theyoverflowed the limits oftheir
own States, and gave infinite trouble to the mustering
officers bytheir change of venue. They committedperjuries
and frauds to get a chance to be shot at. ‘

Hay then used a series of specific instances in the further develop-

ment of his theme:

And among those who came in those first Splendid days was
to be found the finest flower Of our great Western civiliza-
tion. What recruits they were! One Rhode Island company

had a half—dozen millionaires in the ranks. And, what is far

 

-——
. .—

 

 

 

 

181
better than millionaires, there were parsons, and scholars,

and poets, men of wit and men of genius, willing to waste
the spoil of the ages they had accumulated in study, as a
mere protest of civilization against barbarism.

Essentially the same pattern of logical development is used in the

1

lecture, "The Progress of Democracy in Europe.’ Revolution and dis—

sent in Europe were the result of the ages of tyranny that preceded
them. Hay built the essence of this concept on a quotation from Marquis

de Boissy:

You will see that I am trying in a very few words to indicate
the reasons of the vast difference between our Revolution
and the French, which immediately followed it. The late
Marquis de Boissy (so long the only member of that sham
Senate kept by the man of December, who had a mind and a
tongue of his own) said one day not long before he "went
down to sup with the dead men." "The violence of revolu-
tions is in a direct ratio to the enormities of the precedent
tyranny"; and as tyrannies become more and more restrained
by public Opinion, so revolutions lose their horrors.

As suggested in the foregoing passage from the lecture, Hay had
a corollary in the deveIOpment of his generalization. The comparative
ease by which the colonies achieved freedom, he said, was not the
result of virtue on the part of America, but the result of our political
inheritance from the Puritans and the favoring climate for freedom on

the North American continent:

I claim that the quintessence of the political education
existing in the world in the seventeenth centurywas brought
to America by the Puritans. And here for the first time
Since society existed, the ideas of free government were
practically elaborated under almost faultlessly favorable
conditions. They had no inherited obstacles to work with--
they had left them all three thousand miles behind. They
were free from the poisonous influences Of courts. They
had no aristocracy to dazzle or debauch them. They worked
in the fresh and dewy light, as of a nation's morning; under
God's eye, fearing him and not man. . . . and while in
Europe the people were still toiling like dumb beasts of
burden under the lash of feeble and dissolute despotism, our
ancestors were laying broad and deep the foundations of that
mighty Republic which is our pride and glory at this hour. .

Hay reasoned that because the colonists had been "educated far
enough to take up arms for an idea" and since their brains hadnot been

"wasted by the atrOphy of hunger, nor maddened by outrageous physical

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

182
wron s" -- their rebellion a ainst the British was the "coolest, most
g g

decent, most dignified" that the world had yet seen. The Declaration of
Independence was, according to Hay, "as logical as a proposition of

Euclid, and hardly more vehement." The doctrine of the Declaration
was as good now as then and so it would be forever. For the colonists,
too, it had been a matter of simple deduction. They had stood on the

immutable truths, fought the good fight, and won it.

Invention

(Emotional Proo f )1

 

"It is not difficult," says Aristotle, in his Rhetoric, quoting Soc-
rates, "to praise the Athenians to an audience of them."2 Hay, in his
lecture on "The Heroic Age in Washington," did essentially that. Hay's
primary concern in this presentation, in terms of emotional appeals,
was with the development of patriotic pride in the recent achievements
of the North in preserving the Union and giving his audience a sense of
self-esteem in their identification with those achievements. Hay real-
ized that a different interpretation might be made by succeeding gener-
ations on the deeds related to the Civil War and that there would be the
tendency to romanticize the period:

History may place an entirely different value on those broth-

ers of ours with whom we have touched elbows, whose lives

lay open to us, and whose deaths were in our arms. But

whether this be so or not, whether history is to rectify the

errors and prepossessions of the present, or whether the
wonder and reverence of posterity is to distort still further

the facts of that extraordinary time, making the personages

of that day loom like evening Shadows vast and vague across

the chronicles of the time, one thing is certain:--—that those
four years are our Heroic Age.

 

1The term "emotional proof" is used to include both pathos (the
application of certain elements having the effect of arousing the emotions
of anger, fear, shame, etc.) and motivation (efforts to win response by
utilizing those "motive appeals" which lead people to reSpond to self—
esteem, patriotism, self-preservation, reputation, etc.), and no attempt
is made to draw a sharp distinction between the two.

2The Rhetoric of AristotleJ trans Lane Cooper (New York: D.
Appleton- Century Company, 1932), p. 51.

 

 

 

 

 

 

183
In order to develop an aura of Objectivity regarding his remarks,

Hay disclaimed any attempt to raise the symbol of the "bloody-Shirt."
"I do not come to rake up the ashes of old animosities. The strifes
which preceded the colossal contest of 1860 are dead." Hay's promise
of objectivity was soon forgotten in the use of pathos as he described
the arrogance of the South as it went forth in a loud and reckless man-
ner "to its secession as to a great picnic." The South did this with no
sense of accountability and was led by a "race of self-serving, swag-
gering politicians, whose ruling principle was selfishness tempered

by whisky."

Bad as the political climate was in Washington, continued Hay, it
was never "so bad in bulk as that swarm of slave-drivers who went
away cursing their country and its liberties." Thus Hay developed the
backdrop to the events leading to the age of heroes in Washington --
using the simple themes of antagonist and protagonist, of hero and vil-
lian, of evil and good involved in a bitter contest for the divided loyal-
ties of the nation. Against a background of events portraying the
climactic moments of the national tragedy, Hay constructed in bold
relief the "flash of patriotism" that welded the North in "imposing unity."
Even the "shrill voice of the agitator was hushed" in that moment of

sudden awakening:

The North, for the sake of the Union, passed over athousand
affronts and injuries, but every one Of them made up the sum
of that mighty cry of indignation that burst all along the bor—
der at the echo of the first shot against Sumter. All those
blows which had seemed to break up and divide the North
were but welding it together to that imposing unity with which
it rose to the conflict. The day before, we had appeared
hopelessly divided. But before the smell of powder disap—
peared from Charleston Harbor,the flag floated from every
newspaper office in the country. From the opposite poles of
Opinion men thronged to the call of their country. Long-
estranged enemies stood shoulder to shoulder; Gov. Andrews
gave into the hands of Ben Butler the sword of the Puritans.
The coldest conservatives sprang forward to the front and
the wildest radicals kept time with the new music. Douglas
and Lincoln joined hands. Millard Fillmore put on the uni-
form of a militiaman, and Wendell Phillips stood for the
first time in his life under the Stars and Stripes, and wel-
comed the tread of Massachusetts men ma rshaled for war.

184
Evidently feeling that mere prose could not do justice to his theme,

Hay embroidered it all with a burst of poetry:

Throughout the land there goes a cry:
A sudden splendor fills the sky.

From every hill the banners burst

Like buds by April breezes nurst.

In every hamlet, home, and mart

The first beat of a single heart

Keeps time to strains whose pulses mix
Our blood with that of Seventy-six!

The lecture, "The Progress of Democracy in EurOpe," was more
expository in nature; and Hay used the elements of emotional proof in a
more subdued manner. As mentioned before, Hay strongly sympathized
with the revolutionary movements transpiring throughout Europe during
the early period of his career. This was reflected in the use of emo-
tional proof to downgrade the role of the aristocracy while ascribing a
moral rightness to the cause of the peOple in their march toward democ-
racy. The revolutions of 1848, according to Hay, "brought to light no
brilliant examples of royal fortitude or heroism." Great qualities used
to raise men "on the shields of shouting followers, to thrones." If a
king was a great and good man, concluded Hay, it was in spite of his
royal training.

On the other hand, Hay stated that he could see in the ranks of the

peOple of Europe reason for hope and joy:

But if we find in high places, in all these lurid days, nothing
that was lovely and of good report, in compensation we see
in the turbulent ranks of the peOple reason for hOpe and joy
to all of those who believe in the progress of humanity.
There was much to excite the people to acts of violence.
There was misrule, and bad crOps, and hard times. The
people had given for a half century their labor and their
blood to their petty tyrants, continually tricked and cajoled
by promises of freedom, and flattered by appeals to their
local patriotism. They had labored and fought, and their
mean despotisms had seized always the moment of exhaus—
tion that follows victory to steal its fruits and to repudiate

their promises.

 

- -—.
..-_..._

 

 

185
In their moment of victory, contended Hay, it was the people who

displayed the virtues once. revealed in those of royal blood. Hay used
the example of the French people to support his point:

Yet in their hour of triumph, the people were clement and

merciful. They burned the gilt throne of Louis Phillipe, and

smashed his tea service, but they shut their sharp eyes as

he fled through France and embarked himself and his carpet-

bag at Havre. Men in workmen's blouses and faces hollow

with hunger defended with their lives the piled-up treasures

of palaces against the assaults of thieves.

The same was true throughout EurOpe, where the peOple were
"brave as lions in combat, but generous and magnanimous in victory."
Despite the denials of the reactionaries, stated Hay, all of this was true

and the facts "do honor to humanity. "

The name of Lincoln, with its strong connotation of stirring
moments in the nation's history, was used by Hay in both lectures to
deveIOp an effective climax with strong emotional overtones. Not only
for America, but EurOpe as well -— Lincoln symbolized the very essence
of Democracy. In the "Heroic Age in Washington," his death was "that
most precious of sacrifices" and welded the nation again into "one mind
by the death and burial of its prOphet-leader. . . ." The same thought
was applied by Hay in "The Progress of Democracy in EurOpe." The
example of Lincoln "has sunk deeply into the heart of Europe." The
real heroes of both the Old and New World are those who "are the ser-

vants, never the masters, of the peOple. . . ."

Invention

(Ethical Proof)

 

The term ethical proof is used in the sense of the attempts of the
speaker to establish himself as a man of good character and intellectual
honesty, to set himself up as an authority on the subject of his presenta-

tion, and to secure the good will of his audience. The life and the back-

 

ground of the speaker, insofar as they are known to the audience, con-
stitute a measure of ethical persuasion. An interpretation of the
Aristotelian approach to ethos (ethical proof) is given by George Kennedy:

Proof found in the character of the speakeris called ethos,
a term which is, however, applied by rhetor1c1ans, including

 

- -—-_

Ion-3—

 

 

 

 

 

186
Aristotle, to several different "characters.' The most
important to Aristotle is the moral character which the
Speaker exhibits and which causes the audience to trust him.1

Hay's efforts to achieve ethical proof or persuasion may be exam—
ined from two points of view: (1) Direct "ethical" statements or appeals
by which Hay intended to give as reasons as proof of his intelligence,
character, and good will; and (2) general, or indirect, ethical values
derived from his life and record as a speaker and from his workman-
ship within the speech, i.e., his choosing, ordering, and wording of

premises and generalizations.

In the area of direct ethical proof, the remarks made by Hay at
the beginning of the lectures probably helped to establish him, in the
minds of the audience, as a widely traveled man of erudition. "No one,"
stated Hay, "has stood among the memorials of the Past without a
feeling of intense curiosity as to the character and the life of the men

' The listener was then launched on a journey in the

who reared them.’
"Heroic Age" lecture, through the word pictures of Hay, where he
visited "the granites of Stonehenge on the stricken waste of Salisbury
Plain," sailed in to the Piraeus "from the blue Egean," saw the Par-
thenon" on the brow of the Acropolis, " was made to visualize "the
monoliths of Thebes" in the sky of ancient Africa and "the first greeting
which the Memnon, fresh and shining from the Theban Chisels, shouted

to the sun, over the Nile waters in the morning of time. . . ."

As noted before, Hay closely identified himself with the moral
and patriotic issues of the Civil War era, especially in those passages
of the lecture concerned with Lincoln. "The first words I ever heard
from him in that momentous summer which preceded the struggle,"
stated Hay, "were singularly significant of this moral tendency our
politics at that moment began irresistibly to take." The aura of the
Lincoln association and the ethical appeals inherent in that association
were heightened by Hay in his allusion to the slain President's spiritual

contests. As mentioned in a preceding chapter, some insight was

 

1George Kennedy, The Art of Persuasion in Greece (Princeton,
New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1963), p. 91.

 

 

 

 

 

 

187
provided into Hay's own convictions as he discussed "the momentous

spiritual contest" which Lincoln fought out alone "with his own ques-
tioning soul." Hay's intimate friendship with Lincoln, together with his
judgment and restraint, were revealed in his decorous treatment of the
event:
The solemnity which you see in the Gettysburg address and
the Second Inaugural is but a shadow of the momentous spir-
itual contests which he fought out alone with his own ques-
tioning soul. I have here a paper written by him, in a time
of profound national gloom, with religious self-searching,
never intended to be published nor to be seen by other eyes
than his own. To-night for the first time it is made known

to others than myself. You shall see how this patriarch and
prophet wrestled in secret with his god:

"The will of God prevails. In great contests each
party claims to act in accordance with the will of
God. . . . He could have saved or destroyed the
Union without a human contest. Yet the contest
began. And having begun, He could give the final
victory to either side any day. Yet the contest
proceedsfl'

' commented Hay, "in the whole range of his—

"I know of nothing,’
tory or of literature more remarkable than this paper. . . ." This
"cold cross-examination of omnipotence" was an "unflinching facing of
absolute truth." With this commentary, Hay revealed something ofhis own

ethical standards and thereby probably enhanced his direct ethical appeal.

As in the "Heroic Age," the lecture dealing with "The Progress
of Democracy in Europe" allowed Hay an opportunity to display his
wide range of knowledge of European history as well as the contem-
porary events of that period. In a remarkable passage in the lecture,
Hay condensed the history of liberty from the time of the Vikings down
to the first colonial settlements in America. This approach was int er-
woven with an expressed concern for people and their struggle for
freedom. The direct ethical appeals are also merged with some of the

emotional proofs as noted in some of the foregoing passages.

Hay did not attempt to ingratiate hims elf with his audiences in
his use of ethical appeals. In the introduction to "The Progress of
Democracy in Europe," Hay chided his audience for taking it "for

granted that virtue is rather an easier thing for us than-for others, and

 

 

 

 

 

L

 

 

 

 

 

T—+——

188
to acquiesce in the subjection and degradation of our neighbors with the

comfortable assurance that it is about what they deserve, and that they

are incapable of appreciating anything better."

Hay warned his listeners
not to be blinded by "prejudice and passionate self— conceit" in thinking
that the people of EurOpe have no right to be free. He warned them of
the dangers implied in thinking "we alone are strong and prudent enough
to handle the sharp and dangerous edge-tools of liberty." In this

instance, Hay softened his otherwise caustic comments with the use of

 

humor:

This airy assurance of our own salvation and disregard of
that of our neighbors, reminds one of that serene young lady
at the Class-Meeting, who said that "finding her jewelry was
dragging her down to hell, she had given it all to her sister."

It should be noted that the lectures were delivered exclusively to

Northerners; and as a result, Hay identified himself with his audiences

 

in a manner that many times suggested an air of righteous superiority.
This was especially true in "The Heroic Age" lecture, where Hay was
actually insulting to the former slaveholders. Hay's position was well-
known as the result of the role he played in the White House during the
war years, and his ethical appeal was further enhanced through his
developing reputation as a poet and writer. These elements, including
his craftsmanship in handling the materials that comprised the lectures,
musthave seemed to give Hay a solid basis of ethical appeal in winning

success on the lecture circuit.

 

The Style of the Speech

James Burrill Angell, one of Hay's professors at Brown and in
his later years the President of the University of Michigan, recalled in

his Reminiscences the picturesque style of his former student and his

 

regret "that circumstances had diverted him [Hail from a purely literary
career."1- During the early 1870's and the time of Hay's appearance on

the lecture circuit, the predictions of a brilliant career in literature

 

1Charles Franklin Thwing, Guides, Philosophers and Friends,
pp. 44-45 quoting from the Reminiscences of James Burrill Angell,
pp.109-110.

 

 

 

 

 

*

 

189
seemed on the verge of coming true. Reference has already been made

to Hay's sudden rise in the literary world, stemming largely from his

authoring of the Pike County Ballads. Much promise was also revealed

 

as the result of his other publications, characterized principally by
their lyric quality and imagery:

Immediately following Hay's year at the chancellory of

Vienna, he experienced peculiar delight at the court of

Madrid, where the past glories of Spain appealed to his

poetic temperament. With spontaneous enthusiasm for the

history, the romance, the poetry, and the beauty of Spain,

he produced not alone charming pictures in prose, but one

of the most stirring of his lyrics, "The Surrender of Spain."1

Hay, however, never attained "the alpine heights of poetic fame";
and the writing of poetry became to him an avocation. His most sig-
nificant contributions in the poetic field were "marked by grace,
originality, and terseness of expression."2 These characteristics of
style in Hay the poet were also reflected in the style of Hay the speaker;

especially in the lectures.

Hay appears to have written the lectures with a vivid sense of
the dramatic moment and an instinctive feel for poetic imagery con-
verted to prose style. While certain passages are ornate and somewhat
reminiscent of the mid- Victorian manner, the language in the main
flowed easily and was never obscure. Hay's handling of sentence struc-
ture was extremely flexible. In some passages the sentences were
predominantly long, in others short, but certainly varied sufficiently to

avoid any impression of monotony.

In his construction of sentences, Hay consistently achieved an
effect of contrast and comparison in his development of imagery. The
following passage from the "Heroic Age" illustrates this ordering of
language:

Half the joy and half the pain of travel is in this vain

imagining. But these fancies all seemed to grow at once

vain and delusive to me as I stood last October among the
brand-new ruins of Chicago. All the gray mystery of an

 

lSister Saint Ignatius Ward, "The Poetry of John Hay, " p. 45.
21bid., p. 55.

 

 

 

 

190

antiquity without a beginning seemed to have fallen upon
them in a night. Standing amid that vast and impressive
desolation with the key in your hand, the riddle was not the
less difficult to unlock. The builders are living and
breathing as we are; we think the same thoughts which
found expression in these broken walls and melted columns,
eat and drink and love and grieve and hope and go on with
work kindred to that which now has suddenly taken its place
in the Past. The decay is already historical, but nothing
is lacking to give you full comprehension of the sermon it
is preaching. You are yourself a part of the life these
ruins symbolize, of the civilization which they express.

Despite a tendency to use the extremely long sentence, Hay

, achieved a quality of figurative language characterized by clarity and
vigor of expression. These elements were frequently interwoven with
imagery and concrete words to achieve rich associations of meaning
having strong emotional connotation. An example of this approach was

Hay's treatment of the heroism of women during the Civil War:

The soldiers who poured out their blood upon the frozen
fields performed no more precious service than the women
who filled every camp and hospital with the light of their
purity and their loving charity. Here all words become
weak. It is to suit such occasions as those that all the
songs and romances which have been written since the
birth of literature in honor of women were made. Every
age in its own way has worshipped women. There was a
true reverence in the chisel that carved the imposing
beauty of Our Lady of Milo. A virile devotion to woman,
which they imagined to be religion, gave that miraculous
power to the matchless pencils of Raphael and Murillo.
Dante and Shakespeare have given us in still more enduring
verse the high ideals of feminine worth and loveliness.
But it will require the united excellences of all these mas—
ters to fitly embody those impulses of unutterable devotion
and gratitude excited by the conduct of American women in
those days. Your hearts go before me to recall they did.
Over the horror and the savagery of war the story of their
labors and their love floats with a tenderness and beauty
which is all divine. It gilds the darker pictures over which
it hovers, like the halo woven of mist and rainbows which
hang forever in caressing loveliness over the rushing ter—
ror of Niagara.

While he tended toward the ornate in style in the lectures, Hay

frequently varied this approach with shorter sentences incorporating

 

 

 

Innulln. 1 I.

 

 

 

 

 

191
the use of personification and occasional metaphor or simile. His

description of the abortive Peace Congress is illustrative:

The Northern statesmen who met in Washington for that
famous Peace Congress, which is now utterly forgotten--
how many people here know anything about it?--wasted
those February days in some of the cleverest and most
useless talk ever uttered by man. Their words were as
wise and as futile as the hootings of a congregation of pol-
itic owls that had come together in the gathering darkness,
which seemed to them their congenial twilight. But it was
not the gloom of night, sacred to owls. It was the deathly
obscurity of the eclipse and the hurricane. There was not
a word of this weighty deliberation and discussion reached
the ears or the heart of the world.

 

Because of his excellent craftsmanship as a writer and his com-

 

mand of the English language, Hay employed a formal style in his
speaking. His frequent use of learned words, derived more often from
the Latin rather than the Anglo-Saxon, and the use of illustrations and
figures of speech taken from literary models --- all contributed to this
stylistic approach. Hay's formality of style, which erred at times on
the side of ornateness, incorporated a frequent use of balance and
antithesis in the long and involved sentence structure. It was a style
which, as its best, was an excellent blending of thought and expression.
A passage from "The Progress of Democracy in Europe," which

described the debauchery in the ancient courts of Europe, is typical:

The age that preceded in Europe the great Revolutionary
era was one of almost unimaginable foulness. The evil
spirit of tyranny, as if feeling that its time was short, was
rending the frame of humanity with bitter malignity. There
was a general looseness of moral sentiment pervading all
classes of society; but, as kings and princes were unre-
strained and irresponsible, we find in them the most per—
fect bloom and development of vice. It was this age that
witnessed the extinction of the great families of the Farnese
and the Medici, worn out by unnatural and vicious luxury.
In the Spanish and Italian Bourbons that frightful deteriora-
tion of blood had begun which was to Spread idiocy and
epilepsy into half the royal families of Europe. In the
courts of Saxony and Poland, the Hercules of debauchery,
Augustus II, was trying the effect of the elaborate infamies
of the Neroes upon the robust constitutions of the North.
When he died, full of years and dishonor, he left 854 chil-
dren, more or less disconsolate, showing that our Latter-
Day saints had some things in common with these Former-
Day sinners. Among the grotesque pictures of this singular

 

 

192

age are Don Joao V. of Portugal, with a cynicism sublime

in its audacity, turning a convent of 300 nuns into a private

seraglio, and, to add an element of comic hideousness to

the sacrilege, making his confessor attend him in his visits

to this establishment; the Regent of Orleans catechizing

the dames of the Palais Royal, and Louis Quinze on his

knees with the girls of the Parc-aux-cerfs.

In general, to the modern reader, the style of the lectures, while
formal and ornate, is marked by its sensitive use of language in con-
veying a sense of drama and historical imagination. Contributing to
this "sense of drama" are such rhetorical techniques as a figurative
language, the frequent use of illustrations and figures of speech, and a

vividness of imagery achieved through the ordering of language.

The Response to the Lectures

 

Mention has already been made of Hay's success on the lecture
circuit resulting from the favorable response to his lectures. The
early 1870's was a period of pro fessionalization of public speaking in
America. It provided Hay an opportunity to improve himself in the art
and skill of speaking; and though he was not one of the "stars" of the
circuit, the accounts that are available indicate he pleased his audi—

ences and steadily grew in stature as a speaker during this earlyper iod.

A passage from a neWSpaper review best sums up the reasons

for Hay's audience appeal as a lecturer:

Mr. Hay‘s very intimate relations with our national hero
and martyr, and the momentous events in which he figured
so sublimely, gave him the best opportunities to study the
character of Lincoln and to know his subject. Add to this
vantage ground, his fine qualities as a writer and graces
as an orator, and you have one most fit to depict the most
glorious parts of the great chief's life, and review the
events that surrounded that life during the grandest epoch
of our nation's history.1

 

lCleveland Leader, December 6, 1872, p. 4.

 

 

193
Summary of the Analysis

 

Hay', in terms of the communicative arts, considered himself,
above all else, a poet, especially during the early period of his career.
This tendency to the poetic in his public speaking, no doubt, helps
explain the uniqueness of the use of language in the lectures. Hay
seemed instinctively to use the stylistic elements to achieve the special
ordering of words and figures that. enhanced the conditions for forcible
expression. In a sense, Hay the orator was actually Hay the poet ~—
adapting the associative mode of expression commonly identified with

poetry to the prose of the lecture.

The arrangement of the lectures was designed to conform to the
classical divisions of introduction, body, and conclusion -- yet handled
in such manner as to allow the utmost flexibility'in terms of incor-
porating support material that reflected both Hay‘s direct and indirect
preparation. The examples drawn from literature and Hay's wide
range of experiences have been noted. The materials of each lecture
were arranged so as to achieve a progression from the less interesting
to the more interesting, tending always toward a climax. Yet Hay
never allowed the parts of the lectures to assume a "crazy- quilt" pat-
tern of aimless juxtaposition, but made them logically dependent on
each other so that the component effect was always subordinate to the
total effect.

The various forms of rhetorical proof were closely interwoven
with Hay‘s application of stylistic elements. Metaphors, similes,
hyperboles, and personification were embodied to develop a primary
’ emphasis on both pathos and psychological appeals. Hay's central
theme of patriotism and pride in country, dramatized by the hero-
image, allowed him to make extensive use of imagery in the develop-

H

ment of "imaginative appeal. It was, in other words, a form of the

poetic in action.

In terms of rhetorical theory, it may be that Hay erred on the
side of being over ornate, over florid, or affeCted. While this may
suggest the lectures bordered on the bombastic, this charge, however,

doesn't hold --' since bombast is nothing but a force of expression too

 

 

 

 

 

 

194
great for the dimensions of the ideas embodied. Hay‘s poetic use of

images was powerful, but the heroic theme of the lectures even more

SO.

THE PIONEERS OF OHIO1

Delivered before the Pioneers' Association
of the Western Reserve, at Burgess'
Grove, Cuyahoga County, Ohio,
August 27th, 1879.

The Setting and Occasion

 

Within two years after the election of President Hayes, Hay found
it necessary to improve his political standing in his adopted state of
Ohio, and especially in that region known as the Western Reserve. In
December, 1878, a vacancy had occurred at the diplomatic post in Ber-
lin; and Hay's name had been suggested to the President as a possible
choice for Minister. Word had gotten back to Hay,‘via William Walter
Phelps, of the negative reaction on the part of the President -- a reac—
tion stemming principally from Hay's noninvolvement in Ohio politics.2

The hint was not lost on Hay.

Hay turned to politics with concentrated intensity, and during the
campaign of 1879, he spoke many times in behalf of the Republican
candidates. In August of that year he sent his old friend Reid of the

Tribune some samples of his speechmaking:

. . . I wish you would help our Shermanizing a little by
sticking into your able and leading pages somewhere (these
paragraphs) between the red lines. I made this Speech last
night in the strongest Democratic ward of Cleveland to an
audience nearly half Democrats, and there was nothing but
approval manifested.3

 

1The text used in the analysis of this Speech is found in The Ma a—
zine of History with Notes and Queries, Extra Number 103,, June, 1924;
and in pamphlet form (Cleveland: Leader Printing Company, 1879).

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 126.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, 1, p. 432.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

195 .
Hay increased the frequency of his political speaking during the

ensuing months so that in October of 1879 he could report to Reid:

I am making a speech nearly every night. Here is my last,

made on the Square Saturday night to 5000 people, by the

Brush light. Tell Mr. Phelps he bullied me into it last

Spring.1

In between the moments of political activity and speaking, Hay
took advantage of important opportunities to gain further visibility for
himself. Such was the occasion of a ceremonial speech delivered
before the Pioneers' Association of the Western Reserve- Mention of
the address was made by Hay in a letter to Reid on August 25, 1879:

. . . AS you never read anything but proofs, perhaps the

form in which this oration is printed may induce you to cast

your eye over it. I am going to say it to a big crowd at

North Solon day after tomorrow--fli_e’ Pioneers' Reunion,"

all others are spurious. . . .

The Association comprised many of the leading citizens of the
area of which Cleveland was a part, and derived from a banding together
of the descendants of the early pioneers of the Western Reserve.3 While
the Reserve was no longer a geographical division in its own right, it
still was a term used to identify an area which, in the eyes of its inhab—
itants, comprised the richest, finest, and most progressive part of
Ohio. The Reserve originated with the charter, granted to the first
Connecticut Colony, which gave to the colony a strip of land about
seventy-five miles wide extending from ocean to ocean. In 1786 Con-
necticut ceded the bulk of her western lands to the Congress but
reserved for herself a sizeable strip in what is now northern Ohio. It
lay between the Shore of Lake Erie and the forty-first parallel just
south of present Youngstown, and extended 120 miles west from the
western boundary of Pennsylvania to a point just beyond Sandusky. This

was New Connecticut, Connecticut's Western Reserve.

 

lIbid., p. 433.
21bid.

Information on the Western Reserve drawn from Harlan Hatcher,
The Western Reserve (Indianapolis: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.,

 

1949).

 

 

 

wean--

 

 

 

 

 

196
The majority of the first pioneers in the Reserve had migrated

from Connecticut or New England, and their impact on the area had
remained. Something of the old values and traditions of New England
survived in the new generations that had descended from the original
pioneers. It was to an association of this group that Hay was invited
to speak on August 27th, 1879, on the occasion of their annual reunion

in the small city of North Solon just west of Cleveland.

The Speech is included here as an excellent example of Hay's
ability with the ceremonial address. It will not be analysed in the
detailed manner as the lectures but examined from the standpoint of
the considerations unique to the type of address classified by Aristotle
as epideictic or ceremonial speaking. Aristotle, in his description
of the kinds of oratory, stated that the elements of an epideictic
[ceremonial] speech are praise and blame and ". . . . to the epideictic
Speaker, above all, belongs the present, for every one praises or
blames with regard to existing conditions, though a speaker often adds
to his resources with reminiscences from the past and conjectures
about the future."1 The analysis of the Speech, which follows the
abstract, will primarily concern itself with the general characteristics

of the ceremonial address as established by Aristotle.

The Arrangement of the Speech

 

The abstract of the speech, in the author's own words, is as

follows:

 

Introduction

I beg to present you my cordial thanks for the honor you have done
me in asking me to address you to-day. Your association was one of
the first, and is still the most important of those societies which,
throughout the Union, are devoted to the work of cherishing the memory
of the founders of our civilization. While you might readily have
selected from among your number some one who could have read the
lesson of the day more ably and more agreeably, you could not easily
have found anyone who sympathizes more thoroughly with the spirit and
intention in which your association was formed. I have not the honor to
trace my descent to the men who first occupied the Western Reserve,

 

1Cooper, The Rhetoric of Aristotle, pp. 17-18.

 

 

 

. ~a—

 

 

 

 

 

 

197
but I am, nevertheless of the race of pioneers. My family, in three

successive generations, were early settlers of Virginia, Kentucky, and
Illinois, and my grandfather in his youth visited "a beautiful Spot on
Lake Erie, where," as he told us in his old age, "the city of Cleveland
now stands." When, several years ago, I came to Cleveland in my turn,
the beauty of the place affected me more permanently than it did my
grandfather, for I have stayed there ever since.

We are met to celebrate a great victory;:not one of the common-
place triumphs of war, with its long lists of slaughter for the glory of
a guilty few, but the righteous victory of light over darkness, of man
over nature, of the blossom of the rose over the desolation of the
wilderness. And we may indulge ourselves in cordial congratulations
upon this great achievement without any imputation of personal vain-
glory, for the oldest man here was not born when the fight of civiliza-
tion against barbarism fOr the possession of the Western Reserve was
begun, and the large majority of us came into the world after our
fathers had conquered the wilderness and established for us the bases
of social order among the fallen trunks of the primeval forest. We
come to celebrate a victory gained not by ourselves, but by our fathers,
and we believe there is nothing servile and nothing arrogant in this
tribute of respect. One of the earliest mandates of our religion promises
length of days to the men and the nations who honor their parents, and
the universal judgment of mankind gives sanction to it. The religion of
many races consists in the worship of ancestors, and this pious retro-
spect is an attribute of all generous minds. The generation that does
no honor to its fathers deserves to be forgotten by its posterity. Upon
the respected traditions of the past we build our hopes of loyalty to the
institutions of the present and the magnificent promise of the future.

Body

If, then, pride in the achievements of our fathers be a pardonable
thing, certainly no generation of men that ever lived have better reason
than we to congratulate ourselves upon the work of those who imme-
diately preceded us, and to endeavor by assemblies like this to-cele—
brate their virtues and their labors. Their lives are not withdrawn
from us in the mists of antiquity. Their rude cabins are not entirely
gone from the face of the earth which they have made to bloom. In
many families of Northern Ohio their very garments are preserved with
the same filial care with which the mail and hauberk of the crusaders
are preserved in baronial halls in' Europe. It is in this very nearness
of view that our advantage lies, when we wish to study the origins of
our civilization; and so far from our pioneers losing by this absence of
perspective it is their eternal glory and honor that they wrought so well,
that in one short century these colossal results have been achieved.
Only eighty-three years have elapsed since the band of New England
men, who came to the wilderness to survey it, to prepare in the pathless
forests a way for the august feet of the coming civilization, skirting the
shores of Lake Erie, which sparkled in the sunshine of the summer
morning, turned into the little inlet now called Conneaut Creek, and
landed in the dewy prime of the Fourth of July, 1796, and thus caused
the annals of this favored region to begin with that natal day of freedom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

198

I believe the history of the world may be safely challenged to
produce a parallel to a progress so grand and so beneficient as the
Western Reserve of Ohio has made since that ever-memorable Fourth
of July. In the midst of those woods, tenanted only by the wild creatures
of the forest, and those still stealthier red men whose "crackling tread
prowled round the baby—bed" of the infant State, what wonders of art
and industry have arisen for the good and not the evil of the world. What
if one of those weary men had fallen asleep on the banks of Conneaut
Creek that day and had dreamed what should be seen in one hundred
years, and waking had told the vision to his friends! Even to their
strong faith and hope the tale would have sounded like the ravings of
delirium. The most sanguine of them never dreamed of these millions
of acres of laughing farm land, waving with golden grain; these orchards
of incomparable fruit; these vineyards redolent of grapes as flavorous
as the clusters of Eshcol; these pOpulouS cities greater than any the
continent then contained, with their triumphs of art and engineering and
architecture; these hundreds of churches, the Shrines of so many sects
and professions; all worshipping God without fear of man; these towering
chimneys, with their wild—streaming banners of smoke, at once the
monuments and the temples of a worship whose divinity is labor, and
whose purpose is the progress of man upon earth; this strange network
of iron roads covering the land in every direction, along which rush
those mightiest servants of men, those engines which have given unim-
agined development to commerce and communications, and that still
more mysterious system of metallic cobwebs in the air, which bear
over the face of the country the million thoughts and wishes and greetings
of mankind; and grander, perhaps, than all these, those hundreds of
school-houses, from the palatial High Schools of Cleveland and Toledo,
to the humblest room that marks a crossing of country roads, all filling
their purpose, blest of men and approved, we hope, of heaven, of
spreading light and knowledge, of banishing darkness and cruelty, and
teaching the young their duty to their fellows and their God. And yet
all this is the result of less than one hundred years. The trees are not
yet old which bent as saplings at the passage of the first pioneers who
pitched their camp on the bank of the Cuyahoga.

This forms the true wonder of this marvelous growth. In the
ordinary progress of nations from barbarism to civilization, centuries
are but moments. The peOple builds itself by an evolution as slow and
unhurried as the process which forms the river or the mountain. The
earliest inventors become myths and divinities before the successive
steps are accomplished which constitute the full-grown State. But the
founders of our commonwealth rested but yesterday from their labors.
Some of us have sat at their feet and heard their words of wisdom. We
bear their names and their likenesses. We are much the same manner
of men outwardly as they were. Their accurate memory is among us,
haunting our every- day life for warning and example. The society they
founded needs little change to answer the highest needs of our being.

Whence comes this extraordinary progress in a time so brief?
This Palias leap, full statured, of a vigorous and brilliant civilization,
from a source where nothing but the forces of wild nature could have
been discerned a few life-times ago?

 

. __ '.'._.' 'fi-

 

 

 

 

 

199
The answer is evident enough. The men who founded this State in
the wilderness were depositaries of the most valuable and the most
minute political knowledge existing at that time on the face of the earth.

They had been long ages learning that lesson. The germ of that
schooling for freedom was in the Scandinavian and German forests. It
was carried by the Northmen to France, by the Saxoninvaders to
England. The little tree of freedom which they carried over to trans-
plant into the rugged soil of the New World could not die. It had grown
too sturdy, nourished by the blood and sweat of stalwart generations.

I claim, then, that the quintessence of the political education
existing in the world in the seventeenth centurywas brought to America
by the Puritans. For another hundred years and more the ideas of free
government were practically elaborated in New England, under what
may be considered almost faultlessly favorable conditions. They had
no inherited obstacles to work with; they had left these all three thou-
sand miles behind. They were free from the disturbing influence of
courts; they had no aristocracy to dazzle or pervert them. They worked
as in the fresh and dewy light of a Nation's morning, under God's eye,
fearing Him and not man.

The men of New England, who planted this great Western Reserve
of Ohio, were the graduates of this most perfect school of democracy.
They were the sons of those wise and unpretending rural statesmen who
had been formed by the town meeting; the men who framed those mar-
velous constitutions which excited the wonder of students in Europe and
were called by Thomas Paine "the grammar of politics." Some of them
had held town offices in the East. Some had learned to suffer and to
obey in the Continental ranks. All had brought with them that priceless
gem of true citizenship, the innate perception of the saving fact that it
is brave and honorable to obey the laws; that the man who cannot master
his natural impulses is unworthy to be free.

Never were there seen in the world, I believe, a people so supe-
rior to their circumstances. It is a hackneyed definition that "democ-
racy means the superiority of man to his accidents." If this be true,
our fathers were the most perfect democrats that ever lived. When we
consider what their "accidents" were, it is hard to understand how
completely and how safely they bore through those early years and
transmitted to their children the forms of civil government and house-
hold discipline and conduct. Rarely has environment exercised less
influence upon human beings. They lived in cabins ruder than the huts
of Cetywayo and his savage followers. Furniture in many cases, they
had none; their tables were great logs smoothed with an ax on the tOp,
and supported on sticks fastened in auger holes. Their beds were
formed by driving two pronged sticks in the floor, laying a pole upon
them, and on this supporting a half dozen smaller poles with their inner
ends stuck between the logs of the house. A family which possessed a
skillet, a sauce-pan, and a pot all at once had an immediate claim to
aristocracy. The breaking of a kitchen utensil was a serious disaster.
I have heard of a pioneer family who went into camp for several weeks
to try to find an ax which had been dropped in a creek. A pioneer
farmer, rebuking a young man who was complaining that the nearest
mill was three miles away, said scornfully, "When I was your age I

 

 

- 1.1.2:

 

-—-'

 

 

200
used to take my plow fifty miles to get it sharpened." It is hard for us
to understand a state of things so devoid of all we call conveniences.

It was the same with what we are accustomed to consider the
pleasures of life. Children had no toys. They grew up to maturity
without tasting candy. I knew an intelligent old man, who told me he
had never seen a piece of money until he was twelve years old. We
cannot imagine the Western Reserve without schools. But in other
portions of the West they were so rarely found that the children could
not even enjoy the simple pleasure of playing truant. AS they grew
older, merry-makings were few and far between. About the only fes-
tivities were weddings, and young people, whatever their good Will,
could not be marrying all the time, merely to keep society lively. There
was something less of romance in the courtship of those times than we
have taste and leisure for.

It appears a harsh and cheerless life to have lived through-but I
have been at many gatherings of pioneers and old settlers, and I have
never heard that early life described as a hard one. It shines rosily
through the mists of memory to the hale old man or woman, recalling
the time when they were young and strong: when the blood coursed
merrily through the full veins, and each morning brought its toil which
was a pleasure for the mighty muscles, and each night the repose which
comes from a wholesome fatigue. "You don't know what fun is," said
an old Illinoisan. "The only way for a man to relish his breakfast is to
get up before day, get on your horse and run down your deer before you
eat him."

The pioneer life is apt to lead to a relaxation of the social and
political sense. Those faculties which find no exercise in the wild and
isolated life of the wilderness are in danger of perishing-often do seem
to perish-for want of use. But it is the especial and peculiar glory of
the pioneers whose memory we celebrate to-day that they never yielded
one inch to the barbarizing tendencies of the wilderness, but, in the
midst of adverse circumstances, were still steadfastly, perhaps uncon—
sciously, true to the high conceptions of life with which they had left
their New England homes. It was a rugged life they led, but it never
was a rough one. It was remarked by one who visited the country in
its early days that on approaching a clearing in the woods the traveler
might well be alarmed at the solitude, the darkness gathering over the
rude cabin, the gaunt and silent family who with a few words welcomed
him, the ill- furnished interior, the arms that hung conspicuously dis—
played when he entered; but his apprehensions took flight when they
gathered about the supper table and the head of the house in a few fer-
vant words asked the blessing of heaven upon the simple repast.

Of course there is no claim that in the Western Reserve alone
this high standard of morals and civil conduct was found. In other
parts of the State the same lofty ideal was pursued by men whose habit
of life was plain living and high thinking. The Ohio Company, which
settled Marietta and the adjoining regions, also carried civilization,
ready made, into the virgin forests. They possessed to a high degree
the enthusiasm of common sense. They settled their pioneers in squads
of twenty on contiguous lots, for mutual aid and defense. The principles
which guided them in making their municipal laws were "order,

 

 

 

 

 

201
decency, sobriety, and a sacred observance of the Lord's day.’ Every
settler was bound to release to the public use all needed highways. He
was to plant at least fifty apple trees and twenty peach trees within five
years. He was to keep his gun in order and his powder dry, not for the
defense of his private dignity, but for the public safety. With principles
and practices such as these the country prOSpered; how could it help
prospering? Even the long and anxious years of the Indian wars could
not thrust back into even temporary barbarism a people like this, who
were honest from the ground up, who were law-abiding from instinct,
who were industrious from sheer sanity.

I

In the character of these men, in the spirit which informed the
institutions they planted in this fertile soil, we trace the origin of the
greatness and the prosperity of this State. We do not wish to infuse
one drop of bitterness in the cup of our rejoicings to-day by drawing
comparisons which may wake the demon of controversy, for whom there
is no room in the shadows of this grove, sacred to a gentler genius.

But I hope there are some questions so finally adjudicated that we may
refer to them in passing and provoke no rejoinder, and in the hOpe I say
that the ordinance of 1787 was in great measure the occasion of our
high civilization and our vast prosperity. It stood, like a granite land-
mark, at the headwaters of the Ohio, and said to the emigrating thou—
sands from the Atlantic States, "Choose ye this day whom ye willserve.
On the right bank is free soil forever, on the left bank is slavery for a
while." And the people who went to the right chose a different faith and
a different fate from those who went to the left.

I know it is sometimes said by ill-informed brethren of ours that
while we have waxed exceedingly rich and strong and powerful in all the
elements of material well-being, we have not made equal progress in
the things of the spirit, and have not kept alive those sentiments of
chivalry and honor which are supposed to have survived in the regions
to the south of us . It would not be profitable to discuss this matter
about which we have, of course, our own opinions. We will rest content
with our millions of well—tilled acres, our manufactures, our churches
and school houses, and not quarrel with those who think we would be
better without them.

As to the other charge that we have not been sufficiently eager in
our culture of the spirit of chivalry, it is idle to make any answer. No
body of Americans, take them together, are braver than any other body.
The Pioneers of Ohio, as of all the other Western States, in building
their civil structure, wrought like the workmen of Judea, with the sword
in one hand and the trowel in the other.

Conclusion

 

One word, in closing, to the men of my own age, and to those
still younger. We have a goodly heritage in the institutions and the
traditions bequeathed to us by our fathers. We need go no further back
than 1787 to find the beginning of a pedigree which will make any man
who is worthy of it noble enough. A great many Americans, I know,
trace their undoubted descent from well-known families in the Old
World. I do not refer to those pitiable beings who invent or appropriate

 

 

 

__.-_.'._.---

 

 

202
the arms of others; but at best this is a child's amusement unworthy
a full-grown man. We have no distinction of classes in this country.
I believe and hope we never shall have.

We can hardly hope to emulate a character so unique, so simply
complete and heroic. But let us strive, by God‘s help, to be not entirely
unworthy of the names they have left us, and the country they have given
us to guard.

This ceremonial address was in the form of a tribute to the pio-
neers of the Western Reserve of Ohio, praising their achievements in
laying a solid basis for the political, social and cultural institutions
within the framework of the Anglo-Saxon heritage. Hay traced, in
broad outline, the contributions made by their descendants to the prog—
ress of the state and nation in times of both war and peace; and thereby,

he commended his immediate audience for their accomplishments.

The organization of the speech, not as elaborate as that of the
lectures, demonstrated in the tighter transitional development the fact
that Hay was putting in practice what he had learned from his prior
experiences in public speaking. The sentences of this ceremonial
address, while tending to be long and some what involved, also reflected
a more "listenable" quality in that they were more consolidated and

balanced.

In the introduction, Hay expressed his pleasure in speaking to
the group and engaged in a combination of "common-ground" and "self-
esteem" development; commenting that the association "was one of the
first, and is still the most important of those societies which, through-
out the Union, are devoted to the work of cherishing the memory of the
founders of our civilization." While Hay could not claim to have
descended from the "men who first occupied the Western Reserve, "
he could -- and did -— say that he was, nevertheless, "of the race of

pioneers. "

"We come to celebrate a victory gained not by ourselves, " stated
Hay, and "upon the respected traditions of the past we build our hOpes
of loyalty to the institutions of the present and the magnificnet promise
of the future." With this transition, Hay moved to the main body of the

speech and developed an interesting contrast between the pioneers of

 

 

 

 

203
the Western Reserve and the "mythical" heroes of antiquity:

If, then, pride in the achievements of our fathers be a par-
donable thing, certainly no generation of men that ever lived
have better reason than we to congratulate ourselves upon
the work of those who immediately preceded us, and to
endeavor by assemblies like this to celebrate their virtues
and their labors. Their lives are not withdrawn from us in
the mists of antiquity. There is nothing fabulous about the
report of their doings which has come down to us. We do
not trace our descent through lying rolls of heralds' col-
leges to red-handed robbers of the dark ages, to mythical
vikings sailing on unknown seas, to kings and demigods of
the People of the Mist. The patient, peaceable heroes who
laid the foundations of this mighty State, and of her august
sisters of the Northwest, were our fathers or at farthest
our fathers' fathers. Their lives lie open to us in the kindly
traditions of the hearth- stone. Their rude cabins are not
entirely gone from the face of the earth which they have
made to bloom. In many families of Northern Ohio their
very garments are preserved with the same filial care with
which the mail and hauberk of the crusaders are preserved
in baronial halls in Europe.

In other words, the pioneers of the Western Reserve were bona
fide heroes and not some imaginary people out of the mists of time.
"It is in this very nearness of view that our advantage lies," stated
Hay, "and so far from our pioneers losing by this absence of perSpec-
tive it is their eternal glory and honor that they wrought so well, that

in one short century these colossal results have been achieved."

Although Hay delivered this tribute to the pioneers of the Western
Reserve almost seven years after his appearance on the lecture circuit,
there remain in it some of the overtones of personal philosophy that
characterized the "Progress of Democracy in Europe" lecture. Hay
felt the pioneers, because they had not been "dazzled" by a decadent
and immoral aristocracy, epitomized the workings of democracy at its
best. In tracing the material progress of the Western Reserve, Hay
commented that the reason for such extraordinary achievement was
based on the fact the pioneers knew how to govern themselves:

The men who founded this State in the wilderness were

depositaries of the most valuable and the most minute

political knowledge existing at that time on the face of the

earth. They were simple men, judged by certain conven-

tional standards, but they instinctively knew more of pub-
lic policy, more of public morals, than all the philosophers

 

 

 

204
put together who were at that time torturing the feverish
body of France with their terrible political experiments.
They knew how to govern themselves, they knew the nec-
essity of laws and of obedience to them; and the people that
know this are worthy to be free, and sure to become free
and to remain so.

The last line of the preceding passage suggests a subtle change
in Hay's own political philosophy at that time. The early 1870's saw
Hay, with the impact of his European experiences still fresh in mind,
holding an optimistic faith in the outcome of revolutionary movements

' Circumstances and

that were conducted in the name of "the people.’
the passage of time had changed his proclivity for 'radical" politics,
and Hay began to give greater emphasis to "the necessity of laws and

of obedience to them."

Hay was still sympathetic to the struggles of
the "underdog"; but in his mind, as reflected in this speech, there was
a growing realization that a change from the status quo -- just for the
sake of change -— did not necessarily solve the age-old problem of the
proper taming of power. Corollary to the acquisition of power was the
greater need for responsibility in the handling of power. Only a people
who knew this were "worthy to be free, and sure to become free and to

remain so."

Several passages in the main body of the speech included material

that had been used in the lecture on "The Progress of Democracy in

Europe.’ The section containing the remarkable history of freedom in

capsule form was well adapted to the prevailing attitudes that then
existedin the minds of Hay's immediate audience. They were the
natural heirs of pioneers who had developed their political outlook in
New England, and could appreciate the historical allusions of Hay that

H

culminated in his claim, . . that the quintessence of the political

education existing in the world in the seventeenth century was brought
to America by the Puritans." It had taken "long ages" for many races

of people to learn the lesson of liberty:

The germ of that schooling for freedom was in the Scan-
dinavian and German forests. It was carried by the North-
men to France, by the Saxon invaders to England. It
consisted in the spirit of individual independence of effort,
combined with a faculty for organization. This the English
people never lost but continually developed, even in war and

 

 

.1 “3*-

 

 

205
and captivity and serfdom. Every successive conquest
made England really freer than before. And all this vast
capital of the theory and practice of freedom went on accu-
mulating for our benefit until the Mayflower sailed prayer-
fully into the wintry sea. The richest freight she carried
from Delft Haven to Plymouth Rock was that legacy of a
thousand years of struggle. The Puritans were the Senior
Wranglers of the University of Liberty. Heirs of all the
ages from Alfred to Cromwell, inheriting the Witenagemotes,
Runnymede, the Reformation, a dozen civil wars and a hun—
dred Parliaments, they stood in the formost files of their
time . The little tree of freedom which they carried over
to transplant into the rugged soil of the New World could
not die. It had grown too sturdy, nourished by the blood
and sweat of stalwart generations.

This was the background, stated Hay, that led to the development

in New England of "this most perfect school of democracy."

raduates of this "school" who had "planted" the reat Western
g g
Reserve:

They were the sons of those wise and unpretending rural
statemen who had been formed by the town meeting; the
men who framed those marvelous constitutions which
excited the wonder of students in Europe and were called
by Thomas Paine "the grammar of politics."

Hay again gave emphasis to the elements that constituted the
"priceless gem of true citizenship":

. . the innate perception. . . . that it is brave and
honorable to obey the laws; that the man who cannot master
his natural impulses is unworthy to be free. That we are
a community who go to church and to the polls in the same
spirit of decency and duty; that murder is infamous as well
as criminal among us; that work is more respected than

any amount of swaggering pretense; that honesty and honor

are inseparable sentiments among the Ohio men of this
region. . . .

Hay ascribed the preceding values as resulting not from any

superior virtue inherent in the present generation, but rather stemming

It was the

 

from "the fact that our fathers bred us with these ideas and our mothers

taught them to us from our cradles." Using a form of support drawn

from literature, Hay extended his lesson on liberty to the present gen—

eration and how they could avoid the nightmare of ”hellish license"

 

 

206
through the priceless legacy from the older generation:

You all know the story of the immortal tinman who wrote
"The Pilgrim's Progress"; when he saw a drunken, cursing
ribald reeling before him, he said, ”There——but for the
grace of God——goes John Bunyan." Let us teach our children
to study and to meditate upon the character of the men who
cleared this wilderness for corn and for civilization with
their axes and their ideas. Then when they hear of riot,

and terrorism, and lawlessness, and unpunished or even
applauded assassination in other regions, let them devoutly
consider that but for the virtues of their ancestors they

might be dwelling in the midst of just such scenes of hellish
license.

In his sketch of pioneer life in the Western Reserve, Hay developed
the "historical imagination" of his audience through concrete instances
incorporating contrasting images. His wit was displayed in an example
related to the simplicity "in the courtship of those times":

One Ephraim Stout, a mighty hunter in his day, was married
frequently. His wives were taken off with the regularity of
Bluebeard‘s spouses, but he found no difficulty in filling
their places. He was by no means handsome or well-
favored, and once, when he was asked how he managed to
make himself so irresistible, he said, "I always promise
them they shall live in the timber, where they can pick up

their own firewood." It seemed a lure no female heart
could resist.

Hay was selective in the tribute he paid to the generation to whom
he addressed his remarks. His temperate use of encomiums probably
did much to give a ring of sincerity to his praise and to give additional
support to Hay's own personal integrity. His praise was consistently
buttressed by instances which gave credence to his statements and
could be accepted as proof by his immediate audience. This approach

was typified in his praise of contemporary Ohio men who had "done
pretty well in the competition of intelligence":

As to the quality of brain which a civilization like this pro-
duces, it is not becoming for you to boast. As I am not a
native of Ohio, however, I may be permitted to mention
what——through the modesty of Ohio people, which has been
carried so far that the phrase "Western Reserve" was
supposed, by Secretary Evarts, to denote a moral quality
rather than a geographical division-—has been hitherto
unknown and unmentioned, viz: that several Ohio men have
recently done pretty well in the competition of intelligence;

 

 

 

 

 

 

207

that the editor of the first literary magazine of New England,
the most delicate and fastidious writer of American English
now living, the man who, with a surer hand than any prede—
cessor, can draw the uncaricatured American——his name is
Howells——is from Ashtabula; that the editor of the leading
newspaper of America EJVhitelaw Reid] is from Cedarville,
near Xenia; that the first general, EVilliam T. Shermarfl

of the army comes out of Lancaster; that the second in
command, EDhilip H. Sheridan] was born in Perry county;
that the Secretary of the Treasury, ETohn Shermanjwhose
works praise him beyond any poor words of mine, is of
Fairfield county; that the leading mind games A. Garfield]

of the House of Representatives is from Mentor; that the
President of the United States [Rutherford B. Hayes] is from
Fremont. If I should enter upon your roll of ordinary
immortals, we should get no dinner to-day.

Summary of the Analysis

Hay's ceremonial address before the Pioneers' Association was,
in most respects, a tribute to the heroes of a previous generation. One
recalls the lecture on "The Heroic Age in Washington" as Hay, in his

final example, described the patriotism of the sons of the Ohio pioneers
in the Civil War:

And when the time came for their sons to decide whether
the civilization thus built was worth defending in the bat-
tlefield; when men bred in other ideas, under different
influences, forswore their loyalty and attempted to destroy
the costly work of the past century; when our nearest neigh-
bor of the South, called to her duty by the authoritative
voice of Abraham Lincoln, denied her allegiance and
trampled her sacred faith under foot, it is written that a
Governor of Ohio sent over the wires, which Should have
thrilled with a message so knightly: "If Kentucky will not

fill her quota, Ohio will fill it for her."

To the people of the Western Reserve, living and dead, Hay com-
posed a fitting tribute that was both selective and temperate in its
praise for their accomplishments and deeds. His speaking style

reflected Hay‘s improved "feel" for public address through its direct-

ness and adaptation to the audience. The address was topical-

chronological in its arrangement and incorporated frequent usage of
imagery and the traditional forms of support. In several instances,

Hay used material that had stood him in good stead on the lecture

circuit and applied it with appropriate effect in this ceremonial address.

 

 

 

208
Hay's theme of the heroic was not new, but the shape of the vessel he

served it in had changed. The poetic use of imagery to give "imagina—
tive realization of facts' was more artistically interwoven with the
prose of speech, while at the same time remaining on a level above
formal expository development as befitted the theme.

The conclusion of the address was appropriate in its inspira—
tional appeal, and conformed to the charge made by the oratorical
school of Isocrates as to the most fitting elements that would move the
souls of men. "What, then," asked Isocrates, "did those immortals

see who reached at the greatest things in writing and scorned unvarying
nicety‘?" The answer was revealed in nature's intent for men "to be

no low species nor ignoble" but "to be spectators of all that she shows
and contestants eager for honor." It was nature that had "implanted
forthwith in our souls invincible passion for all that is permanently
great and in our eyes more divine."1

Hay's final passages were a
perfect response to the Isocratean charge:

But descended as you are from a race of men pre—eminent
in virtue and capacity, you have the obligation laid upon you
never to forget your origin, and never to fall below the
standard which they unconsciously and instinctively set up.
As the result of their fruitful labors, our lives have become
more complex than theirs, our wants greater, our duties
not so simply defined. But one or two ideas come out
clearly enough from the study of their character. They
believed in order, decency, sobriety; in reverence for all
things reverend, for religion, for law. They were always
more ready to fight in a public than in a private quarrel.
They were honest, and severe in their honesty; they claimed
their own, while they allowed each man his own. The enemy
of the public welfare was their enemy, but they did not
rashly conclude that their enemy was necessarily the enemy
of the public good. They were loyal to the last drop of their

blood, to their consciences, to their families, to their
country .

We can hardly hope to emulate a character so unique, so
simply complete and heroic. But let us strive, by God's
help, to be not entirely unworthy of the names they have

left us, and the country they have given us to guard.

 

lCharles Sears Baldwin, Ancient Rhetoric and Poetic, p. 130.

 

 

209
THE BALANCE SHEET OF THE TWO PARTIESI

Cleveland, Ohio, July 31, 1880

The Setting and Occasion

 

"There is no drearier chapter in American political history,"
wrote Morison and Commager, "than that which records the period from
the end of Reconstruction to the Populist revolt of the early nineties."2
Many of the vital interests of the period were not agitated as political
issues and very few new policies were written into law. The Beards
viewed it as "the age of negation" and wrote that "between 1865 and
1897, there were put upon the federal law books not more than two or
three acts which need long detain the citizen concerned only with those
manifestations of political power that produce essential readjustments
in human relations."3 It would seem that American politics as con-
trasted with previous periods was "intellectually bankrupt," and the
only way it could be brought back to life would be through the adoption
of vital issues by the major parties. The lack of clearly defined issues
between the parties and the preference of political leaders to be "all
things to all men" could, perhaps, be explained in part by the experience
of the Civil War. The last time that the major parties had built their
platforms on critical issues the country had been almost destroyed, and

nobody wanted that .

_ The end result was to give national politics a quality of unreal-
ness as political leaders refused to commit their parties to the real
forces that were transformingthe country. Instead, AInerica's recovery
from the Civil War was, at times, threatened by politicians on both
sides as they exploited sectional animosities for reasons of political

expediency. Political leaders of the era essentially ignored the problems

 

1 The text used in the analysis of this speech is found in pamphlet
form, (Cleveland: Leader Printing Company, 1880).

2Morison and Commager, The Growth of the American Republic,
II, p. 214.

3Charles and Mary Beard, The Rise of American Civilization,
II, p. 341.

 

nob—l ~'

 

 

 

 

210
emerging with the "super-trusts" and their proper relationship to the

commonwealth. Their "political blindness" also permeated such areas
as the farm problem and the money question. The former issue was
finally called to their attention by a political revolt; but the latter,
which affected the fortunes of an entire generation and demanded the
most careful and impartial study, was "either ignored or, when that
attitude was no longer tenable, dealt with as a moral rather than an
economic problem."1 Political campaigns, as a result, were‘character-
ized by the raising of fake issues by politicians who had relatively lit-
tle faith in democracy. James G. Blaine of Maine was typical of those
who waved "the bloody shirt of rebellion" to fan the flames of sectional
animosity for partisan or personal purposes; but by 1880 the old issues
stemming from the Civil War and Reconstruction were on the wane and
politicians, such as Blaine, were forced to reSpond to the pressures of

the issues inaugurated by the new decade.

The 1880's were transitional times for the Republican Party and
the Americans that it represented.2 The Republican dominance of
Congress ended with Reconstruction, and the center of power in the
legislative body alternated between Democrats and Republicans for most
of the remaining century. The Senate more and more became a strong-
hold of Republican power as opposed to a House that was becoming
more frequently Democratic in its composition. The Senate, as a
major party fortress, was comprised of individuals whom Hay was to
know well as the result of his political ventures: William B. Allison,
of Iowa; Justin Smith Morrill, of Vermont; James G. Blaine, of Maine;
and Roscoe Conkling, of New York. While the pressures of the late
1870's and early 1880's compelled these senators and their colleagues
to turn their attention to such matters as Western discontent focused

in Granger movements and the free silver issue, the Republican party

 

1Morison and Commager, The Growth of the American Republic,
II, p. 215. .

2Background material for this period drawn from David S.
Muzzey, James G. Blaine (Port Washington, N.Y.: Kennikat Press,
Inc., 1963). and H. Wayne Morgan, William McKinley and His America
(Syracuse, N. Y.: Syracuse University Press, 1963).

 

 

 

‘ . "'_. ..

 

 

 

 

 

211
"clung to the old issues and rhetoric of its birth." It was through this

approach that the party had consolidated its power during and after the
Civil War; and now, more than a decade later, its program reflected
the groups and coalition of interests that composed it. Through the
development of many programs, the party appealed to various sections
and interests in the country:

Eastern elements supported its stand on protection and

"sound money." Western interests accepted tarrif protec—

tion and internal improvements, liberal home stead laws and

government subsidies to the railroads, and pressured
through the party for varying degrees of monetary inflation.

Whatever its faults, and they were many and manifest in
practice, the Republican party was at least the great national
party of its day. To the politicians it was a machine for
winning elections; to the theorist it symbolized a kind of
progress for the whole country; to the man above both it

was a vision of unity.1

It never occurred to the politicians of the "Grand Old Party" that
the Democrats might run the government someday. It was an era that
took its politics seriously:

. . when campaigns combined all the virtues and defects

of politics, religion, and entertainment. Mere flag-waving

did not prompt. . . . the orators of the day to identify their

party with progress and the best in national life. As

Mrs. Foraker said, "The Republican Party had saved the

Union. It was the Union."2

Many could have agreed with John Sherman when he said, "In
these times a bad Republican is better than an average Democrat."3
However, despite the outward appearance of monolithic solidarity that
the Sherman statement seemed to suggest, all was not well within the
party. Mention has already been made in a previous chapter regarding

"Grantism "

and the disputed presidential election of 1876. These events
had left the party in a state of political confusion; made still worse as

the result of the severe panic which had broken upon the country in

 

lH. Wayne Morgan, William McKinley and His America, p. 56.
2Ibid., p. 67.
31bid.

 

 

 

 

212
1873 and which showed no signs of abatement up to the time when Hayes

took the oath of office. It was one of the most severe depressions yet
encountered by the nation:

No general revival of business took place until 1878. . . .

These five years are a long dismal tale of declining mar-

kets, exhaustion of capital, a lowering in value of all kinds

of prOperty including real estate, constant bankruptcies,

close economy in business and grinding frugality in living,

idle mills, furnaces and factories. . . . laborers out of

employment, reductions of wages, strikes and lockouts. . . .

depression and despair.1

This combined with labor turmoil and the growth of inflationist
sentiment, made "alarming inroads on the party strength in those
Western States which had been its dependable strongholds since the
Civil War. "2

since 1875, gained a narrow margin in the Senate as a result of the

The Democrats, who had been in control of the House

midterm elections of 1878. For the first time since the Civil War, a
Republican President had to contend with a hostile majority in both
Houses of Congress. "It was high time that something drastic should
be done if the Grand Old Party was not to go on the rocks."3 Even
hard- fisted men of business were becoming puzzled by the "windy
rhetoric and the false heroics of spoilsmen leaders" typified by Roscoe

Conkling:

These embodied long after their time had passed the most
ancient arts of official corruption; they imposed upon their
hands ‘of followers a form of tribal loyalty no less ancient,
and held them entrenched in the government system, like
some fixed military class that retarded "progress" and
flouted all "business principles." From their brawling
dissensions all meaning seemed to have fled. Their leader-
ship, moreover; seemed unequal now to meeting the demands
for privilege which were being made by the strongest class
in the community, the industrial capitalists. This failure

in itself Spoke of inward decay in the old party institution
and the need of a political rebirth. To men who cared nothing

 

1James Ford Rhodes, History of the United States from the
Compromise of 1850 (New York: Macmillan Company, 1893-1925),
VII, pp. 52-53.

2Muzzey, James G. Blaine, p. 160.
3 .
Ibld.

 

 

         

... .....n.uu.=....... 1H1! u.

w is.

 

 

 

213
for political speeches, and thought chiefly in terms of bank
deposits and steel ingots, it seemed that an end must be
made somehow of the eternal wrangling over post offices;
party authority must become more responsible to the needs
of finance and industry; party Organization itself must be

turned to better account.
"It seems to me the great duty of the hour for Republican is to

quit quarrelling and try to get together," Whitelaw Reid wrote to John
Hay.2 Both felt that Blaine, who had seen the Presidency wrested
from him in 1876, might provide the intelligent statesmanship as an

experienced party leader and bring unity of purpose to the badly
divided party. However, it was not to be. Blaine himself, very much

aware of the dissension within his party, was even more concerned

about the preparations being made by the Conkling wing of the party
His fears were confirmed with

for the "restoration" of General Grant.
the materialization of the Grant-Conkling movement, which was sup-

ported by the old Stalwarts of the party:
Their program was the return to the radicalism of Thaddeus

Stevens and Charles Sumner, with no quarter shown to
unrepentant rebels or their allies among the Northern
Democrats or their new recruits from the muddle-headed,
mushy-hearted "liberals" in the Republican fold. Their
instrument was the machine, well oiled with patronage,
turning out rewards for the regulars and punishments for
the recalcitrants, manned by reliable manipulators who
knew which side their bread was buttered on and wanted no
interference from. . . . any. . . visionary "snivel ser—
vice" reformers. The candidate must be no goody-goody
like "Granny Hayes, " but a strong, red-blooded man who
identified patriotism with Republicanism and would stand
no nonsense from "traitors" to the country or to the party.
That man they found in General Grant—-not the generous
Grant of Appomattox, but the "tawdry Caesar" of the

Enforcement Acts.
The idea of ex- President Grant's becoming the leading candidate

of the Stalwarts had evolved while the General was on an extended

lMattheW Josephson, The Politicos, 1865-1896 (New York: Har-

court, Brace and Company, 1938), pp. 276—277.
2Royal Cortissoz, The Life of Whitelaw Reid (New York: Charles

Scribner's Sons), I, p. 394.
Muzzey, James G. Blaine, p. 160.

a

...a,-__

 

 

 

 

214
and the longer he stayed away from the United States the

world tour, '
Grant had sailed

better he looked to the demoralized Republicans
from Philadelphia on May 17, 1877, to recover from the strain of Six-
teen years of military and civil office. What had been billed as "an

indeflnlte tour abroad" rapidly developed into a triumphal progress

which proved not a little embarrassing to Grant's natural democratlc

" In all countries he visited he was given receptions and

simplicity.

honors usually reserved for visiting sovereigns; and when he again set
foot upon his native soil on September 20, 1879, Grant was undoubtedly
the most popular man in America. "The shortcomings of his presi—
dentlal years were forgotten by the people whose political memory 18

short and whose criterion of greatness is more often determined by

the acclaim which reputation elicits than by the apprec1atlon which
"2 The Conklings and Camerons, who

intellect and character merit.
were already planning Grant's return to the White House might dwell

upon his enhanced fitness" resulting from world travel but of course
The Grant who landed at San Francisco in 1879 was

they knew better.
the same Grant who had sailed from Philadelphia in 1877

There is not the least indication that his trip had added a
cubit to his mental or moral stature. He had met states-
men of whose policies his lack of historical or economic
knowledge precluded any real understanding; he had been
lionized by authors whose books he had never read or had
the slightest intention of reading; he had hurried through
museums, bored by canvases and sculptures which woke no
response in his unfurnished mind. The pyramids had
impressed him because they were so huge. The crowds
had interested him. The banquets had satisfied him. In the
enforced leisure of the deck chair he had read Mark Twain's
Innocents Abroad. .

It was the same "manipulable Grant” who had come home and 1t
." With him in the

was thus he was welcomed by the "ultra-Stalwarts
White House they could look forward to a return of the good old days

lGeorge H- Mayer, The Republican Party, 1854—1964 (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1964), p. 198.

2Muzzey, op. cit ., p. 161.
31bid., p. 162.

 

 

 

 

 

215
of the "senatorial oligarchy" —— with Roscoe Conkling in the role of

"grand vizier" of the party. Grant, at first, seemingly did not have
aspirations for the Presidency and indicated in a letter to Adam Badeau
he would not run for a third term. ”I Shall go to my quiet little home
in Galena," he wrote, "and remain there till the cold drives me away.
Then I will probably go south--possibly to Havana and Mexico--to
remain till April."1 The spring of 1880, however, saw Grant anxious

to receive the nomination and his desire for life in "the quiet little
home in Galena" recede more and more into the background. Mean—
while, the "triumvirate" of Stalwart leaders; Conkling, Cameron, and
Logan had secured for Grant the pledges of the New York, Pennsylvania,
and Illinois delegates to the approaching Chicago convention. With the
convention only weeks away, Grant's nomination for a third term
seemed to be almost certain to the leaders of the anti- Grant forces and
the followers of Blaine. No matter who was nominated, it appeared to
the optimistic Democrats that the Republicans would tear themselves

apart in fratricidal war.

The Convention met on June 3, 1880, at Chicago's Exposition.
Conkling, the "silver-tongued orator" of his time, stood under the ban-
ner of New York and put Grant's name before the Convention.

And when asked what state he

hails from,

Our sole reply shall be,

He hails from Appomattox

And its famous apple tree.

"So said Conkling-~and the Convention and the galleries roared
and thundered until the building shook."2 It looked like an easy victory
for Grant, but soon after the balloting started it became evident that
neither Grant nor his leading rivals could be nominated. On the first
ballot Grant received 304 votes against 284 for Blaine, and 167 were

scattered among the candidates of lesser degree. (The number

 

1Adam Badeau, Grant in Peace (Hartford: S. S. Scranton &
Company, 1867), p. 518.

_ 2W. E. Woodward, Meet General Grant (New York: Horace
leeright, Inc., 1928), pp. 474-475.

 

 

 

 

216
necessary for nomination was 378.) The strength of the leading rivals

remained almost stationary through the longhours and days of the Con—
vention. One delegate from Pennsylvania voted on the third ballot for
I Senator James A. Garfield, a Civil War general and a dark horse from
I Ohio; and he hung on throughout the long balloting. On the thirty— fourth
' ballot sixteen delegates joined the man from Pennsylvania. General
" Garfield's strength increased on the thirty—fifth; and as the taking of the
thirty—sixth ballot proceeded, the Blaine forces and others began to
‘ pour in their support. The choice of the Ohio senator was clearly indicated:
There was a universal uproar; half the convention rose to
its feet. While the building was resounding with loud cheers
for Garfield there was a cluster of excited delegates about
the General himself, who sat quiet and cool in his ordinary
place at the end of one of the rows of seats in the Ohio dele—
gation. He wore the white badge of an Ohio delegate on his
coat, and held his massive head steadily immovable. But
for an appearance of extra resoluteness on his face, as that
of a man who was repressing internal excitement, he might
have been supposed to have as little interest in the pro—
ceedings as any other delegate on the floor of the conven—
tion. He was being struck by Presidential lightening while
sitting the body which was to nominate him. He was being
nominated for President at half past one o' clock in the
afternoon, when he could hardly have dreamed of such a
thing at nine o' clock in the morning.1
Thus by an extraordinary prolongation of factional strife, the party
"wound up with a nomination unforeseen alike by the nominee and his
fellow countrymen."2 Conkling and the Stalwarts bitterly held out to the
last; their 306 votes ending in the Grant column at the final balloting.
"Chauncey Filley, one of the loyal Grant men, later sent each of them
a medal bearing the phrase 'Old Guard,’ a designation which was to
bear a long life in Republican politics."3 Hay, who had supported Blaine,
had seen his favorite go down in defeat; but, as has been pointed out ina

previous chapter,he was happywith the Convention's choice of Garfield.

 

1Cortissoz, The Life of Whitelaw Reid, 11, pp. 25-26 quoting the
New York Tribune.

21bid., p. 26.
3Mayer, The Republican Party, 1854-1964, p. 201.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

217 "V
While many were satisfied with its results, the outcome of the 1

Convention had also led to the defeat of "a number of the most powerful ,

and combative leaders in the party and to leave them intensely bitter ‘ -

toward Blaine and all his supporters. . . . It was entirely possible that

 

 

unless something were done to harmonize the party. . . . in other
1 words, to conciliate the Grant men, the resulting 'apathy' might cause

a loss of electoral votes which would certainly be fatal."

Garfield faced the situation with a willingness to consult "with
any good Republican"; but, as a matter of principle, there would be no
bargains or "understandings." "Such men as John Hay and Whitelaw
Reid, warm admirers and supporters, hastened to impress upon him
the overwhelming necessity for caution and reticence in speech."2
With prOSperity reviving and the scandals of the Grant Administration

all but forgotten, the Republicans entered the campaign of 1880 in

 

relatively good standing with the voters. The Democrats, however,

were no easy obstacle: , A:

. .by nominating General W. S. Hancock, the hero of
Gettysburg, the Democrats had deprived their opponents of .
the perennial issue of loyalty to the Union. Hancock's war * in
record was as unimpeachable as Garfield's. With a Union '
major general in the White House there would be little to
fear from the sinister designs of Confederate brigadiers in
Congress. Moreover, the Democrats, mindful of their
popular majority in 1876 and determined, as in the days of
Andrew Jackson, to redress the "fraud" which had kept
their candidate out of the Presidency, presented an ener-
getic and united front, while the Republicans were split into
the hostile factions of Stalwarts and Halfbreeds.3

The Democrats and their standard bearer, General Winfield Scott Han— l
1 cock, could be beaten only if the disgruntled factions of the Republican ‘

party could be moved to give their active support to the campaign. t
l

;

 

1Theodore Clarke Smith, The Life and Letters of James Abram
Garfield (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1925), II, p. 994.

2Ibid., p. 995.
3Muzzey, James G. Blaine, p. 175.

 

 

 

 

.

 

 

 

As the summer of 1880 wore 3;,8Republican campaign strategy
settled into a familiar pattern. Party politicians unveiled a brand new
"Conspirators' SongH which "recounted the history of Democratic trea-
son from 1860 to 1880."1 Veterans were warned that their pensions
were safe only with a Republican victory. When a coalition of Pro-
hibitionists, Greenbackers, and Democrats carried the state election
in Maine, Republican or ators made a renewed effort to stop defections

in other states through an emphasis on the protective tariff.

It was against this background of events that Hay opened the
Republican campaign in northern Ohio. His speech, "The Balance
Sheet of the Two Parties, " delivered July 31, 1880, in Mark Hanna's

opera house in Cleveland, was reported at full length in the New York

Tribune. "The Cleveland Leader reported that 'a perfect storm of

applause greeted Cleveland's honored son' as he came upon the plat-
form. He was introduced as 'the cultured and honored Assistant
Secretary of State,’ and the speech was subsequently printed as a cam—

paign document. "2

The Arrangement of the Speech

 

W

There are many reasons why it should seem an easy matter for
the Republican party to carry the elections this year. The party now in
control of the National administration has governed this country hon—
estly and, on the whole, wisely for twenty years. If we look to the past,
we see a record of glorious results, such as no other party can boast.
The spread of slavery chocked, and slavery finally abolished; the Nation
saved from disunion and dismemberment; an army of a million men
raised, subsisted, and finally disbanded and returning to the peaceful
walks of life; the Atlantic and Pacific united by rail; the debt diminished
by one thousand millions, and then refunded by a stroke of financial
policy, through which one—third of our interest charge was saved;
resumption of specie payments accomplished, and general prosperity
restored to the Nation; and all these objects attained with the most
scrupulous adherence to law and constitutional precedents. Of the
record of the Democratic party in the last twenty years, it is perhaps
enough to say that it has consisted of savage, vindictive opposition,

 

1Mayer, The Republican Party, 1854—1964, p. 203.
2Dennett, John Hay, p. 131.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

219
born of blind hate and ignorance to all these beneficient achievements
of the Republicans. They strove to extend slavery, while we were trying
to check it; they fought to pollute free territory which we were trying
to protect from that accursed institution; they were willing to see the
Nation destroyed rather than unite with us to save it; they opposed Lin—
coln and his cabinet and the Republican Congress in every measure
they found necessary for the marshaling of our grand armies and the
final extirpation of slavery, the cause and support of the war; when the
war ended, they made common cause with the unrepentant rebels, in
opposing every effort made by the Republicans to protect the Union
people of the South in their rights; they attacked the public credit, by a
clamor for repudiation in 1868, by a demand for inflation afterwards,
and by a furious opposition to the Resumption Law of 1875, from the
moment of its passage to the day When, under the firm hand of the
Republican Secretary of the Treasury, resumption was accomplished
without a shock or tremor in the world of commerce. This is the con-
trasted record of the two parties in the past-on the one hand, a history
of great powers gloriously used for results of immense Significance; on
the other, me re sterile, bitter, ignorant and unavailing resistance to the
march of light and progress. "By their fruits ye shall know them;" the
fruits of the one are freedom, peace and prosperity; of the other, the
Dead Sea apples of dust and ashes, of partisan rage and bitterness.

Body

Now I am ready to admit that no party can live upon its record;
but if we look at the events of the past year, we will see, I think, that
the relative attitude of the two parties has not changed in the least in
all the vicissitudes of twenty years.

Abandoning for a moment, therefore, the record of the past, and
the advantage We derive from the comparisons it suggests, let us see
what are the claims and promises the two parties present at this hour
to the country for its suffrages. The Republicans offer to continue the
same general course which has resulted so well. They propose to guard
the integrity of the Nation and the honor of the flag, at home and abroad;
they propose to reduce the National burdens by wise and honorable
management of the Nation's finances; they propose to protect those
citizens for whose freedom they are responsible; to foster the indus-
tries of the people by judicious tariffs; to maintain the purity and the
freedom of the ballot box; and, so far as mere sentiment is concerned,
to keep alive the ancient patriotism and faith of our fathers, to let it be
known that, man for man, a loyal man is better than a traitor, in heart
and brain and deserving.

This is what we are to expect if the Republicans retain the admin—
istration of affairs. What we are to look for in case of the success of
the Democrats is a matter about which predictions differ. Nobody
knows precisely what they will do; but, judging from what they have
been attempting for the last few years, I think their purposes and ten-
dencies have been briefly and succinctly summarized by Senator Hoar,
one of the most high-minded and impartial of our public men, who in a

 

 

I11!" ..4|I.I..u.._...\... .1.-
. . u. .

...r_.

220
few words gives us the Democratic program as it presents itself to him
and to other intelligent observers in Congress:

I repeat, therefore, that there would seem to be many reasons for
expecting a decisive and an easy success of the Republican ticket this
year. The bad record and character of the one party, and the glorious
history of great actions which is secured for the other; the business
interests of the country, all enlisted logically on the Side of the party
which saved the Nation-first in its life, and then in its credit; the very
sentiment of National integrity and honor would seem enough to decide
the contest between these two pretenders to the public favor. The
Republicans certainly deserve to win this election without fighting for
it. Why, then, do we see these elaborate and earnest preparations
making all over the North for a contest which recalls the days of 1860
in its ardor of sincerity and conviction? Why should a party, so strong
in its position, in its great history, in its pure administration and its
beneficent promise, be compelled to go into the arena to fight for its
life with a soiled and bedraggled vagabond of an adversary, who has
been defeated again and again, and whose every defeat has been a dis—
grace. What is there, I say, which gives this party of Tweed and Jef-
ferson Davis another chance for the plunder of this Government?

The answer is too obvious to dwell upon. It is because, through—
out the whole extent of the States lately in rebellion against the National
authority, civil freedom has well nigh ceased to exist. The ballot has
been stricken down. The right to vote has been trampled in the dust.

In those States liberty lies prostrate, under the power of the shot—gun
and the bull-whip. It is for this reason that every Republican of the
North must this year fight two adversaries; the Democrat in Georgia

or Mississippi who votes for himself and a negro or two, and the
Democrat in the North who sympathizes with him. Our opponents enter
this contest with 138 stolen electoral votes; votes that will not have

cost them an effort of legitimate organization, nor a word of persuasion.

Yet they have the assurance to call us the "sectional" party. There
is an old maxim of law that no man shall take advantage of his own wrong.
But‘here we see these people committing upon the Republicans the most
saVage wrong conceivable and then blaming them for the result of it. It
is as if you should put out a man's eyes and then curse him for his
blindness.

I do not wish to be mistaken. I do not me an that the Republican
party is destroyed in all the Southern States. On the contrary, its
vitality is still something to admire and applaud. It deserves our warm
sympathy and our material aid. Even in the midst of the oppression
under which they suffer, the Republicans will make in some regions a
gallant fight; they will cast more votes than they did four years ago, and
will wrest several seats in Congress from the bull-dozers. In one or
two States they will cast a majority of votes, but they frankly admit
they do not expect them to be counted. This is a humiliating confession
for free people to make, but truth compels it to be made. If it were to
last forever it would disgrace us all. It would be as infamous to us
here in Northern Ohio as to the States where this wrong is practiced.
But it will only disgrace us if we submit to it.

 

 

 

 

221

I think nothing is to be gained just now by attempting to investigate
the origin of this monstrous state of things. The evil exists, and the
question is not so much how it came about, as how it is to be remedied.
It is clear that nothing is to be done by Government interference, for
very good reasons. In the first place, we have no force to employ. Our
over-worked and ill—treated little army is all employed on the frontier,
and even if it were large enough to use for the keeping of the peace in
the South, so long as the Democrats have a majority in both houses of
Congress, it will be impossible, even if it were desirable, to use troops
for any such purpose. So the evil must continue, for the present, with-
out let or hindrance. Constitutional Government sometimes has these
limitations. You cannot prevent frauds on the suffrage in South Caro-
lina; you cannot prevent independent candidates from being shot in the
back in Mississippi, any more than you can prevent a Texas jury from
bringing in a verdict of acquittal when a lively and genial ruffian kills
a Northern man. These are evils which can only be reached and cured
from a distance. But our system of government is not absolutely pow-
erless to reach them, even from a distance. The ballot is free here if
it is not there. Public opinion is guided by private conscience here, at
least, and if in every State of the North the merits of this great issue
are made to appear plainly, there will be an end of this barbarism, as
soon as the prOper constitutional process can be gone through.

The South has been made solid by the hope of regaining the con-
trol of the Government through the aid of the Democrats of the North.
Destroy that hope this year, and the solidity of the South cannot endure
in the face of the great social and industrial changes now going on. And
the people will learn that it is not to their interest to remain forever
the tools and catspaws of their proud and poor demagogues who have
nothing to boast of but the slaves they used to rob and the commissions
they bore in the rebel army. Let us win this election by a good, decisive,
conclusive majority, and no section will profit by it so much as the
South. They have a great, rich, magnificent country. They need law and
order and a civilized public opinion to insure capital its due protection
and labor its just reward. It seems to me there can be no stupidity so
dense as not to understand the lessons which this year's census will
cry aloud to those misguided people. Why are the distant wildernesses
of Minnesota and Iowa made to blossom as the rose under the busy
hands of strong, honest and thrifty immigrants, while the rich fields of
Mississippi and Alabama lie barren and deserted under the bright South-
ern sun? Why is every brook and river this side of the Ohio tormented
by the ingenious hands of skilled labor, to contribute what power it may
have to mechanical enterprises, while the streams of the South gush
from their mountains and Sport down to the sea, as idle and useless as
the long haired chivalry who are too proud and too lazy to do anything
but hunt and fish and fight along their banks ? It is because capital will
not trust itself where law is despised; because labor cannot thrive where
it is not honored. No part of the country more needs the benefits of
Republican Government than this same blind and prejudiced South.

But coming down to the practical question, let us see which of
these parties has shown the greatest business capacity, and which
offers the best guarantee for future successful services. For twenty
years the Republicans have had the executive control of affairs, and are

 

 

 

 

 

222
to a great extent responsible for the stewardship of this vast estate
during that time. For some twenty years before that the Democrats
controlled this country. 1860 was like 1880, a year of peace and pros-
perity. It is fair, therefore, to compare the general situation of the
country in a financial and commercial point of view at the time when
the Democrats left power, with the situation to— day after twenty years
of Republican rule. If the Nation has not retrograded, the party in
power has not prevented its growth and health. If it'has gone steadily
forward, the party in power is entitled to some credit for having
assisted its progress, and if it has made great and extraordinary
advances, the party under whose rule those advances have been made,
is entitled to the gratitude and the confidence of the people.

In one word, we never before produced so much iron, so much
cotton, so much wheat, so much corn, so much petroleum, as during
this past year. We never made so many manufactured articles; we
never sold so many to other countries. We never bought so many from
other countries; and yet so vast is the increase of our production, that
we still have a heavy balance of trade in our favor. This is the pros-
perity that comes from wise and good national housekeeping, where we
can afford to buy more than we ever did before, and not only pay for it
with our own productions, but have a handsome sum in cash to the good
beside. The Republican party has so managed the business of this
country as to bring about not only a vast increase of production in every
department of human activity, but an enormous increase in the perma—
nent wealth of the nation. Under Democratic rule, it took all our specie,
and something over, to meet the excess of our imports over our exports.
Now, after twenty years of Republican administration, we keep all our
vastly increased production of the precious metals, and have called on
Europe beside for over $75,000,000, in the eleven months preceding the
1st of June, to pay for the excess of goods which we have sent over the
water. We are not only doing this vast volume of business, but we are
making a profit, and laying up wealth at the rate of $155,000,000 a year.

What does this prove? That not only has the Republican party
administered the National interests of this country wisely and well, but
that the ideas and policy of the Democratic party were a positive hin-
drance and obstacle to prosperity. Any intelligent and candid man
ought to see that this amazing development of the country under Repub—
lican rule is due in great part to the practice of Republican principles.
It is due to the change in the policy of the Government in regard to the
great matters of National concern, the tariff, internal taxation, the
fostering care the Government has shown towards manufactures, the
more honest and systematic administration of revenue affairs; and more
than all this, is it due to the strong and irresistible rise of the National
prOSperity and Spirit, through the abolition of slavery, the maintenance
of the financial honor of the country, and the final defeat of the spirit
of disunion. Who can truthfully deny that all this is the work of the
Republican party, and that at every step of this great work they had to
stand like the people of ancient days, building up the National prosperity
with one hand, and fighting the Democratic party with the other ?

Before dropping this branch of the subject, let me leave with you
two facts which are better than hours of argument. One is this: In 1860,
after twenty years of Democratic rule, the Government found it hard to

 

 

      
  

.. |.|I..I 1. (..~d.....v...

7.....1]

 

 

223
sell its six per cent. bonds for eighty-nine cents on the dollar. In 1880,
after twenty years of Republican rule, the markets of the world catch
up greedily Our four per cent. bonds at a premium of nine per cent.
What more brilliant feat of financial management is recorded in history
than that?

Now in View of this showing which speaks to the understanding and
to the interests of every working man and every business man in this
country the question arises, Are we sick of all this prOSperity? Do we
wish to go back to the low wages, the small profits, the constant excess
of debt over credit, the constant unfavorable balance of trade which we
had under a Democratic administration? Have we had enough of this
liberal employment of labor, these; profits of manufacturers in which
the workingmen participate, of these comfortable homes, of these
thriving farms? Do we wish to turn back this tide of immigration which
is coming to our shores in greater numbers and of a better class than
we have ever seen before? 177,000 immigrants landed at the port of
New York during the six months ending with July; and are we ready to
say to them, and to their friends who hope to follow, that we are con-
templating a change of policy, which, the best you can say of it, will be
doubtful in its effects upon public prosperity?

I know in the platforms and speeches of the Democrats they put
forward a pretense of economy, of retrenchment and reform, but
nowhere can they show you the facts and the figures to justify this
pretense.

In short the Democratic party has shown as much incapacity since
it gained the majority in Congress, as it showed disloyalty and immo-
rality while it was in the minority. It has been able to do literally
nothing; it has been overwhelmed by the responsibilities of the legisla-
tion. No session since the Government was formed, has so little to
Show in the way of results for the time expended, as the session which
has just closed. Matters about which everybody is agreed could not
get through Congress. Important public business failed because the
time was needed for partisan harangues and personal explanations. If
one honorable gentleman called another a liar it involved the loss of a
day or two. They would hurry through a bill for spending millions of
dollars in five minutes, and then wrangle all day to find out whether a
motion to strike out two words was in order. Not only did they fail to
accomplish the proper and necessary work for which they were sent
there, but they also failed ignominiously in most of the attempted
rascalities.

It remains to consider briefly the attitude of the two parties as
exhibited in their conventions and their candidates.

The nominations made on both sides this year are characteristic.
The Republicans have nominated one of their foremost statesmen-a
man who represents the history, the purpose, the principles of the
party; who was a Republican before the party was named; who shared
its earliest struggles; who, when the ordeal by battle was decreed, went
into the army, where he represented on many a stricken field that
advanced and ardent Republicanism which believed that the country was
worth fighting for, and worth purifying; who, called from the field to the

 

 

 

 

 

224
council, obeyed that summons also, and has ever since represented on
the floor of Congress the better element of the people who believe in
Nationality, in honesty and common sense in finance, and in the sacred-
ness of the equal rights of the citizen. He has never had any opinions
to conceal. No man has ever doubted his position. He has been tried in
war and in peace. On every great point of controversy his record is
open to the light. His life's work is a platform, parallel to that adopted
at Chicago, and not differing from it by a word or a phrase.

Have the Democrats done anything like this? Did they select at
Cincinnati one of their representative statesmen, a man whose name
would mean something in the way of purpose or policy? Nothing of the
kind. They knew well enough that a Democrat with a record could not
be elected, and they went to the regular army for a candidate who might
be presented to the peOple as no Democrat at all.

But when we come to talk of them as candidates for the Presidency
there is a vast difference between them, and we claim that the advantage
is all on one side. We present to the people for their suffrages one of
themselves. Although gifted with great powers of mind and elevation
of character which have lifted him in place above the rest of us, General
Garfield is still one of the people in feeling, in sympathy, as well as in
origin. He was born in an obscure village of Ohio in the humblest sur-
roundings. Not one of us ever battled more persistently in boyhood
against diverse circumstances. From a child he was inured to labor.
He ate his bread in the sweat of his brow. Had it not been for the uncon-
querable soul within him he might have been to-day a day-laborer on
your streets, for all that fortune has done for him.

Now, when we come to consider the candidacy of General Hancock,
we are at once met by an anomaly which needs explanation. What rea-
son is there that a convention dominated by the solid South, full of men
who had fought against us, should have chosen as their candidate a gen-
tleman known only to the country as a brilliant and successful general
in the war? It is not often that a party defeated in battle chooses for
its standard bearer one of the men who have inflicted upon it the humil-
iation and disaster of defeat. It cannot merely be admiration of his
soldierly qualities that induced these gentlemen at Cincinnati to nom—
inate General Hancock with such enthusiasm, and which induced
Mr. Wade Hampton to pledge to him the solid vote of a Republican
State. If they wanted to vote for a Union soldier, they had a much
better chance in 1868 and 1872. Some other reason must be looked for,
and two have been given in different quarters since the nomination was
made, which together may perhaps serve to account for it. The Demo-
crats of the North insist that they did not nominate General Hancock as
a soldier. They did not nominate him upon his war record. One may
almost say that their claim is that they did not nominate General Han-
cock at all, that they nominated a Democratic politician of that name,
who was sent by Andrew Johnson to New Orleans to execute the per-
sonal wishes of that eccentric statesman in the administration of the
States of Louisiana and Texas, and to do what he could in obedience to
the known prejudices of the President to nullify within his jurisdiction
the acts of a Republican Congress. General Ord, General Canby and
General Phil. Sheridan were not found to be available timber for work

 

 

     
   

I 11|1IJI.|.1. 1 II III: . l: .. I
(«.1 . .
‘.|l.lln\. .
. . . .1“

 

225

of this sort, but General Hancock immediately justified the sagacity of
the President who chose him for this service by issuing a series of
Democratic circulars under the guise of general orders, informing the
rebel leaders of those States, that so far as he was concerned they
might do just about as they pleased without fear of interference from

the military authorities. This, of course, constitutes a strong claim
upon the Democratic party of the North and upon the consolidated States
of the South. But this, it appears, was not enough; and here I enter

upon a subject which seems to me one of the gravest which have ever
been submitted to the judgment of the American people at a Presidential
election. It is a matter which involves the very structure of the Govern—
ment, being the first instance in our history where the sword has
presumed to usurp the functions of the legislature and the judiciary.
Shortly after the nominations were made at Cincinnati, it began to be
rumored that the influences which were brought to bear upon the South—
ern delegates to solidify them for Hancock were of a very peculiar
nature. It was asserted that Senator Eaton, of Connecticut, had given
out that at the time the result of the last Presidential election was dis-
puted and in doubt, and while the subject of the constitutional method

of counting the electoral vote was under discussion in Congress, Gen—
eral Hancock wrote a letter to General Sherman, announcing that in case
the President of the Senate should declare Mr. Hayes elected, and the
House of Representatives should differ in opinion, he had made up his
mind to disregard the announcement of the President of the Senate, and
in case the House of Representatives should declare Mr. Tilden, Pres—
ident, he would take that declaration as his rule of conduct, and would
place his sword and his command at the disposition of Mr. Tilden. This
story seemed too incredible for belief. It outraged every tradition of
the Republic. It was referred to for some days merely as a dark rumor.
At last Mr. Atkins, a Democratic delegate to the Cincinnati Convention
from Vermont, declared that the story was true, that it was greatly to
the credit of General Hancock, and that it contributed powerfully to his
nomination at Cincinnati. He gave as his authority for the story,
General W. F. Smith. General Smith was immediately asked as to the
truth of it, and he confirmed it in every particular, and unhesitatingly
justified the conduct of General Hancock. Thus the story stands at
present.

I imagine the people of this part of the country will think twice
before they vote to place in the office of chief magistrate of this Nation
a man who can have been capable of such an act as this-an act which
shows his utter incapacity to appreciate the very nature of Republicans
constitutional government. There are countries, we know, where it is
the fashion for Major-Generals to declare who shall be and who have
been elected President, but the fashion has never yet taken root in the
soil of Anglo—Saxon communities, and we are not inclined to cultivate
it. We keep Congress at great expense to make our laws, and courts
to interpret them, and no Major—General, however handsome. and gal-
lant he may be, can have the function in this day and generation to
decide contested points of constitutional law, at the invitation of a
party caucus, or his own caprice.

 

 

226

But, after all, it is not General Hancock so much as his party we
are discussing, and the whole case may be stated very briefly. The
country cannot afford to run the risk of putting the Democratic party
in power at this time. Of course it is unreasonable to expect and
unwise to desire that one party should remain forever in possession of
the Government. An occasional change is natural and salutary. Let
the Democratic party follow once their better impulses and put their
better elements in control, and we might see some advantage to both
parties in their dividing the administration of affairs.

Their success would mean simply change, and no man knows what
the change would be.

I believe the American people have sufficient practical sense to
let well enough alone. They are in the enjoyment of peace, freedom and
prosperity, except in a few States of the South, and they do not wish to
adopt the principles or practices of those States. Their finances are in
admirable condition; they do not wish them disturbed and unsettled.
Their civil service was never so honest and efficient as now; they do
not wish it exposed to a rush of hungry and untried office-seekers.
Their revenue system brings in a million a day; they do not want it
tinkered by Congress. Their debt is being daily reduced; they do not
want its reduction stopped or its ultimate payment thrown in doubt.
Their Government is substantially in the hands of the men who have
always been true to it; they do not wish to see it given over to the men
who tried for years to destroy it.

There is the issue, and it cannot be avoided by such flimsy
devices as the nomination of a Union soldier here and there.

General Garfield represents an unbroken tradition of loyalty and
good Government. The gallant face of General Hancock is a mask
behind which the treasons, defeats and hostilities of a generation hide.

It is not the first time this game of decoy-soldier has been tried.
In 1864, when the world was tremulous with the Shock of the contest
which was to determine whether this Nation should live or die, a
Democratic convention met in Chicago, solemnly declared that the war
was a failure, and nominated for President a Union soldier of far
greater fame and popularity than the one they now offer us. The people,
undazzled by his uniform, chose again for their ruler the plain citizen,
in whose honest hands they felt the Nation was safe.

We send this bit of history and its moral, with our kindest regards,
to General Hancock on Governor's Island. We hope he will not resign.
We can beat him easier if he retains his commission, and he deserves
more than that for Gettysburg.

Conclusion

 

In concluding, I have a word to say to the Young Men of this State-
to those who are just beginning their civic life, who are just casting
their first votes in a National election. Many of you are Democrats
through some accident of association, without having maturely weighed
the history and the principles of the two parties. I ask you to look back

 

 

 

 

 

 

227
for twenty years and see upon which side the continuing honor and
glory lie. Which party elected Abraham Lincoln? Which party opposed,
villified and finally killed him? Which party freed the slaves ? Which
party built the Pacific Railroad? Which saved the Union and the honor
of the flag? Which sustained the financial integrity of the Nation, and
made its credit the best in the world? If it be right to regard with pride
the fulfillment of your duties as citizens, look around you and see who
boasts that he voted for Breckenridge in 1860? Who brags that he cast
his first vote for Vallandigham? What father tells his children that he
labored to put Buchanan in the White House? On the one side is a
record of glory and good repute which sheds something of lustre on the
declining days of every man who fought that desperate battle against
slavery and treason. On the other it is a shameful story of half-hearted
loyalty or open rebellion, of ignorant or malicious opposition to light
and knowledge, of blind and futile defiance to the stars in their courses,
fighting for freedom and progress. Why should young men-for youth is
generous and strong; it looks hopefully to the future; it holds its honest
brow proudly to the broadening dawn—why should young men choose to
cast in their lot with a discredited and soiled record, with a party which
only asks of the present, the plunder of office; and of history, only
oblivion. With what noble thought, with what high enterprise, has that
party been associated in the last quarter of a century? What purpose
but that of blind obstruction has it served? I firmly believe it has no
Space left it for repentance. Its place is fixed in history. It forms the
dark background upon which the deeds of valor and of wisdom of
Republican worthies stand out in burning lines of light. It is written,
and can never be forgotten, that in the long contest by which the Nation
was saved, a race enfranchised, the National honor sustained and
heightened, this Democratic party, as a party, despite the heroism and
loyalty of individuals, stood by in sullen obstruction, refusing alike the
labor and the glory.

This is no fit fellowship for brave and magnanimous youth. If
you wish to cast a vote you will be proud of when you are old, if you
wish to take part in the sympathies and the memories of a great era on
the Side of light and liberty and progress, you will never have a better
chance than now. The National glory and the National welfare have
been in Republican keeping for twenty years, with the results you see.
In the ranks of that party are enlisted the greater portion of the virtue
and intelligence of the land; while its counsels are hallowed by the
traditions of the patriots and martyrs of the great war. Its past is
luminous with the story of beneficient achievements; its future is as
bright with promise as the radiance of the morning stars.

As previously noted, Hay's speech of the Garfield campaign was
an outgrowth of his study of the history of the Democratic party from

the days of Pierce and Buchanan; a study that was primarily motivated

by the preparation for the second volume of Abraham Lincoln: A

 

History. The speech, therefore, was largely historical in nature as

Hay presented his views on the basic differences between the two major

 

‘..-

 

in II.\ :5134 .. in! A...“
J“. m. .. I. .940. \. .... .

228
parties, past and present. The primary purpose of the speech, of

course, was to advocate the support of the Republican party and its

candidates in the election year of 1880. The length of the speech would
also suggest that Hay had foreknowledge regarding its publication, and
this would also help explain his attempt to answer every argument that

could be advanced in support of the Democratic party.

Despite its length, the Speech was clearly organized; and its
three divisions were readily discernible. The purpose of the speech
is summed up in the first sentence: "There are many reasons why it
Should seem an easy matter for the Republican party to carry the

" The remainder of the rather extensive introduc-

elections this year.
tory paragraph was devoted to a series of instances applied inductively
to support the generalization that the Republican party had governed
the country "honestly" and "wisely" for the past twenty years. This
same approach was applied to the record of the Democratic party and
ended with a contrast between the achievements of the two parties:

This is the contrasted record of the two parties in the past--

on the one hand, a history of great powers gloriously used

for the results of immense significance; on the other, mere

sterile, bitter, ignorant and unavailing resistance to the

march of light and progress. "By their fruits ye Shall know

them;" the fruits of the one are freedom, peace and pros-

perity; of the other, the Dead Sea apples of dust and ashes,

of partisan rage and bitterness.

The body of the Speech was an extension of the initial comparison
between the two parties made by Hay in the introduction of the speech.
While Hay admitted that "no party can live upon its record, ” his basic
argument remained "that the relative attitude of the two parties has
not changed in the least. . . ." and, "The Republicans offer to continue
the same general course which has resulted so well." Within this
framework of extended comparison, the main proposals of the Repub-
lican platform were developed in the body of the Speech: (1) "They
propose to guard the integrity of the Nation and the honor of the flag,
at home and abroad"; (2) "to reduce the National burdens by wise and
honorable management of the Nation's finances"; (3) "to protect those
citizens for whose freedom they are reSponsible"; (4) "to foster the

industries of the peOple by judicious tariffs"; (5) ”to maintain the

 

 

229
purity and the freedom of the ballot box"; and (6) "to keep alive the

ancient patriotism and faith of our fathers." "This," stated Hay, "is
what we are to expect if the Republicans retain the administration of
affairs." These prOposals were deve10ped through the use of exposi-
tion and argument, the argument being development mainly through the
use of analogy and causal reasoning. The "lines of argume nt" stood
out clearly in the body of the Speech, and transitions from one idea to
another were effectively made through the use of frequent summary

statements .

The conclusion of the address was an appeal to the emotions of
the young men in Hay's audience as he urged them "to look back for

twenty years and see upon which side the continuing honor and glory

H

lie. "Many of you," commented Hay, "are Democrats through some

accident of association, without having maturely weighed the history

H

and principles of the two parties. . . . Then, through a series of

rhetorical questions, Hay summed up the historical perspective in a

manner to give strong emphasis to the appeal of patriotism:

Which party elected Abraham Lincoln? Which party
opposed, villified and finally killed him ? Which party
freed the slaves ? Which party built the Pacific Railroad?
Which gave the Union and the honor of the flag? Which
sustained the financial integrity of the Nation, and made
its credit the best in the world? If it be right to regard
with pride the fulfillment of your duties as citizens, look
around you and see who boasts that he voted for Brecken—
ridge in 1860? Who brags that he cast his first vote for
Vallandigham ? What father tells his children that he
labored to put Buchanan in the White House?

For the young men old enough to vote for the first time, the
election of 1880 offered them -- felt Hay —- an opportunity to share in
a proud moment: "If you wish to cast a vote you will be proud of when
you are old, if you wish to take part in the sympathies and the memories
of a great era on the side of light and liberty and progress, you will

never have a better chance than now."

 

 

2 30
Invention

(Logical Proof)

 

In the development of his arguments regarding the respective
merits of the two parties, Hay used a variety of methods to support his
generalizations. In the case of the Democratic party, he began with a
quotation from Republican Senator George F. Hoar of Massachusetts to
support inductively his contention regarding "the pernicious tendencies"

of the party:

"It represents," he Senator Hoar] says, "the degradation of
American citizenship, the overthrow of constitutional govern-
ment in many Southern States, the attempt to overthrow it in
Maine, the refusal to provide peaceful and constitutional
means for ascertaining the result of National elections, the
destruction of all safeguards against fraud and violence at
the polls, the revival of the doctrine of State Rights, falsely
so- called, the making titles to seats in the Senate and House
depend upon the mere will of party majorities, the adorn-
ment of specie payments, the overthrow of the National bank
system, the destruction of the currency and the disturbance
of the reviving industries of the country by radical changes
in the tariff."

The Republican party, continued Hay, was forced "to fight for its
life" as the result of the cessation of civil freedom in the South. Since
"the right to vote has been trampled in the dust," he reasoned from
cause-to-effect, the Democrats were assured a solid bloc of votes from
the States of the South. Thus, the problem for the Republicans was
clear for all to see: "It is for this reason that every Republican of the
North must this year fight two adversaries; the Democrat in Georgia or

Mississippi who votes for himself and a negro or two, and the Democrat

in the North who sympathizes with him.’ Political life, argued Hay, had

ceased to exist in the South:

Our opponents enter this contest with 138 stolen electoral
votes; votes that will not have cost them an effort of legit-
imate organization, nor a word of persuasion. They need
not write one article; they need not make one speech; they
need not spend the price of a one-cent postage stamp, nor
the time necessary for one Congressman to frank an
envelope. Their machinery is now so perfect that even
murder, the cheapest of all political methods in the South,
will hardly be necessary this year. They can even econo—
mize in powder and shot, for they have so utterly killed

 

  
    

an-......--....u...- .1... «1a.... .ient... 1......

231
political life in their region that they can hardly find a
pretext for shooting a Republican voter.

Hay quoted from statistics to Show "how completely the freedom

of the ballot is at an end in some of the States of the South." Using a

few counties as specimens, he demonstrated the pattern of voting in the
South in the election year of 187 6:

Hayes Tilden
Green County, Alabama ...........

2 408
Walton County, Georgia ........... 2 1,393
Wilkes County, Georgia ........... 2 1,139
East Feliciana, Louisiana .......... 0 1,736
Lowndes County, Mississippi ........ 2 2,073
Tallahatchee County, Mississippi ...... 1 1,144
Yazoo County, Mississippi ......... 2 3,672
Brown County, Texas ............ 1 525
Eastland County, Texas ........... 3 1,787
Hidalgo County, Texas ........... 4 1,629
Buchanan County, Virginia ......... 2 1,330

"In connection with these eloquent figures," stated Hay, "let us

read a paragraph from the Democratic platform of this year":

The right to a free ballot is a right preservative of all

rights, and must and shall be maintained in every part of
the United States.

Hay argued that the inclusion of this plank in the Democratic
platform was a piece of "pure effrontery” and that "no such false pre-

tense has ever been put forth by an American party." Hay then rea-

soned by analogy to Show how wrong it was for the Democrats to label
the Republicans with being the "sectional" party:

But here we see these people committing upon the Repub-
licans the most savage wrong conceivable and then blaming
them for the result of it. It is as if you should put out a
man's eyes and then curse him for his blindness.

A more literal analogy was used to show how the South would
benefit from a decisive Republican victory. The barren fields of Mis—
sissippi and Alabama could be made to "blossom" like those of Min-4

nesota and Iowa, reasoned Hay, if the South had "the benefits of
Republican Government." ". .

law is deSpised.

. capital will not trust itself where

. . labor cannot thrive where it is not honored."

“1.. ..'-——

 

 

 

 

232
Hay again used an analogy to argue that the Democratic party had

not yet regained the confidence of the people because of its "unatoned

crimes":

An absurd comparison has sometime occurred to me, though
not more absurd than the effrontery of this criminal party

in demanding the confidence of the Nation. You want a good
man to oversee your business. A sinister-looking customer
comes up and proposes himself. "What are your credentials
from your last place?" you naturally ask. "Well," he
answers, "I have been out of a job for the last twenty years."
"How did that happen?" "Oh! I had a first rate place, but
my employer and I had a difference of opinion about the way
the business ought to be run, and I tried to cut his throat.
We had a fight and he kicked me out at last, but not before I
had destroyed several thousand million dollars of property,
and killed about half a million of his family." And to make
the analogy perfect the murderous tramp ought to say in
conclusion, "And now as I come to look at you, you are the
same man I had the fight with. But I am willing to forgive
and forget-~80 give me your keys and say no more about it.
I can run this business better than you can."

Then, arguing a fortiori, Hay stated his reasons why the greater
confidence should rest in the Republican party: "But coming down to
the practical question, let us see which of these parties has shown the
greatest business capacity, and which offers the best guarantee for

' Statistics were then used to show the com—

future successful service.'
parative prosperity of the country during the Democratic administration
of 1860 and the Republican administration of 1880. "We are not only

I

doing this vast volume of buSiness,' stated Hay, "but we are making a
profit, and laying up wealth at the rate of $155,000,000 a year." This
was in contrast with Democratic rule, when "it took all our specie, and
something over, to meet the excess of our imports over our exports."
Hay argued that this proved that not only "has the Republican party
administered the National interests of this country wisely and well, but
that the ideas and policy of the Democratic party were a positive hin—

drance and obstacle to prosperity.‘ Hay continued his a fortiori argu-

ment through the example of the sales of Government bonds:

In 1860, after twenty years of Democratic rule, the Govern-
ment found it hard to sell its six percent bonds for eighty-
nine cents on the dollar. In 1880, after twenty years of
Republican rule, the markets of the world catch up greedily

 

$55

 

233
our four per cent bonds at a premium of nine per cent.
What more brilliant feat of financial management is

recorded in history than that?

More statistics were used as Hay reasoned from example to
demonstrate how business had improved under the Republican admin-
istration. He then summed up his brief for the Republican party through

a series of rhetorical questions:

Are we Sick of all this prosperity? Do we wish to go back
to the low wages, the small profits, the constant excess of
debt over credit, the constant unfavorable balance of trade
which we had under a Democratic administration? Have

we had enough of this liberal employment of labor, these
profits of manufacturers in which the workingmen partic—
ipate, of these comfortable homes, of these thriving farms?
Do we wish to turn back this tide of immigration which is
coming to our shores in greater numbers and of a better
class than we have ever seen before? 177,000 immigrants
landed at the port of New York during the six months ending
with July; and are we ready to say to them, and to their
friends who hope to follow, that we are contemplating a
change of policy, which, the best you can say of it, will be
doubtful in its effects upon public prosperity?

The "balance Sheet" for the Democratic party showed, Hay argued,

"as much incapacity Since it gained the majority in Congress, as it
1
Its

showed disloyalty and immorality while it was in the minority.’

record was one of doing "literally nothing" and of being "overwhelmed
by the responsibilities of legislation." The Democrats failed in their

handling of important public business "because the time was needed for
' In short, it was "the

partisan harangues and personal explanations.l
worst—intentioned Congress that ever sat in Washington" and only the

veto power of the Republican President prevented it from doing real
harm. Hay then turned his attention to "the attitude of the two parties

as exhibited in their conventions and their candidates."

Invention

(Emotional Proof)
Many of the logical and emotional argume nts used by Hay were

largely developed to destroy the prestige of the newly unified Demo—
cratic party, especially its Presidential candidate, General Winfield

 

._-

 

 

 

234
Scott Hancock. In this respect, the emotional appeals were subordinate

to, and parallel with, Hay's purpose -- to link the Democratic party and

its standard bearer with what was non-virtuous. In the development of

this contention, for example, Hay attempted to arouse indignation and
contempt for those Democrats of the Cincinnati Convention who "went

to the regular army for a candidate who might be presented to the

people as no Democrat at all." They did this, stated Hay, because they
realized "a Democrat with a record could not be elected" and thus they
were guilty of using "the gallant face of General Hancock" as a facade
"behind which the treasons, defeats and hostilities of a generation

hide." While disclaiming any attempt to caste aspersions on the per-
sonal character of General Hancock, Hay attempted to raise suspicions
regarding the motives of the Democratic party in nominating him.
"What reason, " he asked, "is there that a convention dominated by the
solid South, full of men who had fought against us, should have chosen
as their candidate a gentleman known only to the country as a brilliant
and successful general in the war?" They did not nominate him because

they admired his soldierly qualities, continued Hay, but because of his

pro—Southern record during the period of Reconstruction. The fol-
lowing excerpt illustrates the basic appeal of indignation used through—

out the speech in support of the parallel ethical appeal for suspicion

toward the Democrats and their candidate:

The Democrats of the North insist that they did not nominate
They did not nominate him

General Hancock as a soldier.
upon his war record. One may almost say that their claim
is that they did not nominate General Hancock at all, that
they nominated a Democratic politican of that name, who

was sent by Andrew Johns on to New Orleans to execute the
personal wishes of that eccentric statesman in the adminis—
tration of the States of Louisiana and Texas, and to do what
he could in obedience to the known prejudices of the Presi—
dent to nullify within his jurisdiction the acts of a Repub-
lican Congress. General Ord, General Canby and General
Philip Sheridan were not found to be available timber for
work of this sort, but General Hancock immediately jus—
tified the sagacity of the President who chose him for this
service by issuing a series of Democratic circulars under

the guise of general orders, informing the rebel leaders
of those States, that so far as he was concerned they might

do just about as they pleased without fear of interference

from the military authorities.

 

 

5|... 1:... . A 3.. .
J..Iu:...'.ll 14.3.1... ..v 11.11 . .I 1.. a ... .

.. :2 . I .3... .11.... . .-

 

235
With this attempt to associate General Hancock with the

suppression of civil rights in the South, Hay proceeded to develop the
emotional appeal to fear in charging the Democratic candidate with a

willingness to use armed force "to usurp the functions of the legislature

' Hay based his charge on an assertion that, during

and the judiciary.’
the disputed election of 1876, "General Hancock wrote a letter to
General Sherman, announcing that in case the President of the Senate
should declare Mr. Hayes elected, and the House of Representatives
should differ in opinion, he had made up his mind to disregard the
announcement of the President of Senate, and in case the House of
Representatives should declare Mr. Tilden, President, he would take
that declaration as his rule of conduct, and would place his sword and
his command at the disposition of Mr.-Tilden.” Hay admitted that the
story was "too incredible for belief" at the time; but during the Demo—

cratic Convention at Cincinnati a Mr. Atkins, a delegate from Vermont,
"Thus the story stands at present," con-

declared the story to be true.
tinued Hay, and ”it is asserted and defended by the friends of General

Hancock, and is not denied by himself."

Thus, Hay built to a climax his appeals to indignation and fear —-
interspersed with the appeal to self-preservation in the implication
that the constitutional form of government of the nation was at stake:

I imagine the people of this part of the country will think

twice before they vote to place in the office of chief magis-

trate of this Nation a man who can have been capable of
such an act as this—-an act which shows his utter incapacity

to appreciate the very nature of Republican constitutional
There are countries, we know, where it is the

government.

fashion for Major-Generals to declare who shall be and who
have been elected President, but the fashion has never yet
taken root in the soil of Anglo—Saxon communities, and we

are not inclined to cultivate it.
The appeals made to pride and patriotism in the conclusion of
the speech have already been noted, being used by Hay to support the
appeal for friendliness toward the Republican party and its candidate.
This was in contrast to the emotional appeals to indignation and fear
which Hay had used largely in support of the appeal for unfriendliness
toward Hancock and the Democratic party, and his attempt to link them

with a non-Virtuous cause.

2 3 6
Invention

(Ethical Proof)

 

Hay made few attempts to achieve direct ethical persuasion in this
speech, his major effort being expended in the attempt to establish belief
in his own concern for the welfare of the country and the processes of
constitutional government. Consistently, Hay identified himself with
the "good" cause and his opponents with the non-virtuous or "bad"
cause. These were interwoven with an effort to establish belief in his
sincerity of purpose and in his courage in fighting an important political

battle rather than indulging "in the luxury of indifference or repose";

. . the remedy rests with us, with the Republic of the
North. We must, and I trust in Heaven We shall, win this
one fight in addition to the many which have gone before it,
and then, perhaps, there may be a laying off of battered
armor, and a period of rest from partisan strife. If the
cause of freedom and nationality for which so many thou—
sands of our brethren died was worth their blood and their
mother's tears, it is worth our serious efforts to-day. If
there was any moral obligation resting upon good citizens
in 1864 to vote for Lincoln rather than McClellan, the same
obligation rests on them now to vote for Garfield and not
for the candidate whose party threaten the destruction of
Lincoln's work. A victory this year will confirm the
results of twenty years of labor and sacrifice, and we are
unworthy of our privileges if we fail to win it.

Although the speech contained few direct ethical appeals in sup-
port of Hay's own competence, character, and good will, each argu-
ment, each bit of evidence and reasoning offered by Hay, was for the
purpose of challenging the intellectual honesty of General Hancock and
the Democratic party. In addition, as has been noted, Hay made several
attacks upon Hancock's motives but never engaged in an all-out assault
on his character. The following excerpt is an example of Hay's restraint
in this matter. Perhaps, while engaging in this approach, Hay hoped in
an oblique manner to focus attention on his own character and good will:

And I wish to observe at this time that I shall have nothing

to say about the personal character of either candidate.

They are both men who deserve and enjoy the love and

esteem of their friends. Between now and November they

'will both be charged with plenty of petty little infamies, but
nobody will believe a word of it all. The Democrats know

 

237
that General Garfield is an able, patriotic and honest man,
of great capacity, unsullied character and blame less life.
The Republicans know that General Hancock is a gallant
soldier and an accomplished gentleman. Both of them have
private characters without stain; both have rendered signal
services to the Republic. All the mud that can be thrown
at them will defile only the hands that throw it.

At another time in the speech, Hay stated "it is not General Han—

” Again, when

cock so much as his party we are discussing. . . .
summing up his contention that the Democrats were playing a "game
of decoy-soldier" in nominating the General, Hay stated as follows:
”We send this bit of history and its moral, with our kindest regards,
to General Hancock on Governor's Island. We hope he will not resign.
We can beat him easier if he retains his commission, and he deserves

more than that for Gettysburg."

The ethical bases of the speech were coalesced in the summary
of the speech, as Hay reiterated the virtues of the party with which he

was so closely associated:

The National glory and the National welfare have been in
Republican keeping for twenty years, with the results you
see. In the ranks of that party are enlisted the greater
portion of the virtue and intelligence of the land; while its
counsels are hallowed by the traditions of the patriots and
martyrs of the great war. Its past is luminous with the
story of beneficent achievements; its future is as bright
with promise as the radiance of the morning stars.

The Style of the Speech

 

Because so many excerpts of the speech have been quoted, it is
scarcely necessary to present additional passages as illustrative of
Hay's style. In general, the style was less involved and less figurative
when compared with the speeches previously analyzed. Hay was
learning to apply more of an "oral" style to his presentation, a style
that was more direct and, when at its best, distinguished by its clarity
and simplicity of expression. While there were still instances of the
long and involved sentence structure that characterized many of Hay's
early speeches, there were increasing instances of sentences that were

simple in structure. Hay's use of language, too, reflected a greater

 

 

238
degree of appropriateness to the immediate purpose and the occasion

of the speech.

In this presentation, Hay dealt in facts of a statistical nature,
maintaining, however, his ability to trans late dry, abstract principles
into vivid, concrete expressions through the use of description, narra-
tion, and figurative language. Many of the excerpts that were pre-
sented demonstrated his use of the example and analogy. An example
of his use of imagery is provided in the following excerpt:

Why are the distant wildernesses of Minnesota and Iowa

made to blossom as the rose under the busy hands of strong,

honest thrifty immigrants, while the rich fields of Mis-

sissippi and Alabama lie barren and deserted under the

bright Southern sun? Why is every brook and river this

side of the Ohio tormented by the ingenious hands of skilled

labor, to contribute what power it may have to mechanical

enterprises, while the streams of the South gush from their
mountains and sport down to the sea, as idle and useless as

the long haired chivalry who are too proud and too lazy to

do anything but hunt and fish and fight along their banks ?

Efforts to achieve clarity were also made through the use of con-
crete details and the orderly sequence of ideas. This speech also
reflected an increasing skill in the use of proper transitional mate-
rials and the use of suitable summaries. Hay, the poet, was still very
much in evidence in his handling of language and his ordering of words,
but now there was a somewhat different tone to his speechmaking. "He
never again," stated Dennett, "wrote as good verse as he had written
before he became a 'regular' Republican."l It was equally true, per—
haps, that the practical circumstances of political speechmaking had
caused Hay to conform to rhetorical practices that made him a more

effective communicator for his party.

Summary of the Analysis

 

With this speech, Hay demonstrated his ability as a campaigner
and political orator for the Republican party. "The Balance Sheet of

the Two Parties" opened the Garfield campaign in northern Ohio and

 

1Dennett, John Hay, p. 132.

 

 

 

 

239
was subsequently published in pamphlet form and widely circulated as

a campaign document. Hay's primary aim was the defeat of General
Hancock and the Democratic party, and the fact that the Republicans
carried northern Ohio was due, in part, to Hay's efforts as a speaker

throughout the campaign.1

In this address, Hay attempted to answer the arguments that were
advanced by those who favored a return of the Democrats to power.
The warring factions of the Republican party had all but exhausted any
hope for reconciliation; and this, combined with the abuses of power
over the previous decade, had cast doubt on their ability to win at the
polls. Hay and others helped the party to overcome this serious split
and, with an aggressive campaign, carried the "doubtful states" and
regained control over Congress. Garfield won the Presidency in a
close vote, defeating General Hancock 4,454,416 to 4,444,952.

Despite its length, the speech was clearly organized; and its
three divisions were readily discernible. The "lines of argument"
stood out clearly in the body of the speech, and transitions were

smoothly made through the use of frequent summary statements.

The various forms of proof; logical, emotional, and ethical were
exhaustively developed by Hay and these were buttressed by a style
that was becoming increasingly direct; being less involved, less fig—
urative, and marked by its greater clarity and simplicity as contrasted
with previous speeches. Moreover, in accordance with Aristotle's
dictum that "weighty matters shall not be treated in a slipshod way, "2
Hay's language in his political speaking was appropriate to his imme-

diate purpose and the occasion.

 

1The Life and Works of John Hay, p. 46.
2Cooper, The Rhetoric of Aristotle, p. 197.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER V

 

THE CLIMATE OF OPINION AND A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF
JOHN HAY'S CAREER FROM 1885 TO 1905

Although a description of the climate of opinion has been given in
Chapter III for the early period of Hay's public speaking, this chapter
will consider the development of political, social, and economic factors
which lay beneath the climate of opinion during the later period of his
speaking. As in Chapter III, a secondary focus of this chapter is an
examination of the salient events of Hay's career which helped to shape

the climate of Opinion of the period.

The division of this study into two periods reflects, in a sense,
the progress of Hay's own career. Brief mention has already been
made of his becoming Assistant Secretary of State in November, 1879;
a position in which he served for seventeen months. With the termina-
tion of this service, he returned to New York, where, in the absence of
Whitelaw Reid, he was acting editor of the Tribune for six months.
Except for his directorship in the Western Union Telegraph Company,
Hay did not hold any office until March, 1897, when he accepted the
ambassadorship to England.

Thus, from the time he was forty~three until his fifty-ninth year,
Hay was free to pursue any whimsy dictated by his poetic nature.
During this period, Hay once again turned to writing and, as previously

noted, authored the controversial social polemic, The Bread—winners.

 

His most ambitious literary work, however, was the writing, with

Nicolay, of Abraham Lincoln: A History; and in editing the speeches,

 

letters, and state papers of Lincoln which were published in two vol—
umes in 1894. Nevertheless, this period was one of comparatively
little activity; and Hay's biographer comments: "After making the

most generous estimates as to the amount of time devoted to productive

240

 

 

 

241
literary work, one finds about ten fallow years. Some portion of this

time is chargeable to illness, but it is plain that, notwithstanding the
periods of furious labor on the history, John Hay was leading a very

leisurely life."1

These years of "leisure," however, were important to the con-
tinued growth of Hay. It was during this time that he made frequent
trips to Europe, "there to absorb the information and to acquire the
points of view which were to be invaluable in the nation's service."2
It was during this period, too, that he moved his permanent residence
from Cleveland to Washington; and "there he found his most important

friendship, that with Henry Adams. "3

Although Hay decided to give up
politics after the Garfield campaign, he was never able to resist the
temptation to back aSpirants for the presidency. His tendency to back
the unsuccessful candidate persisted until the McKinley administration,
at which time he was launched on a career that saw him serve as
ambassador to Great Britain and then Secretary of State under two

presidents .

It will be the purpose of this chapter to describe these phases of
Hay's career, with a special emphasis on their relationship to the
climate of opinion. The following chapter will then examine his public
speaking of the later period, when Hay, as a senior statesman, spoke to

national and international audiences.

John Hay and Henry Adams

 

The middle of the decade of the 1880's marked the beginning of
a new phase in the life of John Hay. In the early Spring of 1884, he and
Adams had purchased ”a swell piece of land which looks across a little

square, something like Portman Square, to the White House, where our

 

1Dennett, John Hay, p. 143.
2Dictionary of American Biography, IV, p. 433.
3 .

Ibid.

 

--u—"

 

 

 

242

1 On this piece of choice real estate they built

Presidents live."
adjoining homes, designed for them by the gifted architect H. H. Rich—
ardson; and here was assembled one of the most remarkable groups of
individuals ever to grace the Washington scene. This group, which
varied from time to time in its composition of personalities, collec-
tively called themselves the "Five of Hearts" -- a symbol which was
nothing more than an amusing name to its members, but which aroused

the curiosity of the public which was excluded from its "mysterious

tea-table rites.' They sought no influence and had none either in the

life of the nation or of the nation's capital, and yet, "what a canvas the

group presents":

If it were possible to add to an intimate biography of John
Hay, that of Clara Stone, Henry Adams, Marian HOOper, and
mix it up with a dash of the almost unbelievable life of
Clarence King--doing it as Thackeray or Mrs. Humphry
Ward would have done such a group in English society--the
product would be an incomparable chapter of Americal
social history: Henry Adams, scholar, recluse; Marian
Hooper, clever, a good Sport, a man's woman, childless;
Clara Stone, a woman's woman, mother of four children,
conventional, regular at the meetings of the missionary
society, buying her Christmas presents in August, an
American matron of the Western Reserve, whose presence
in any group carried assurance that it was respectable;
John Hay, who escapes all classifications except that of
amateur; and, Clarence King, a man of fashion, good fel—
low, scientist, engineer, writer, improvident, unreliable,
and, after his death, known to have been leading so incred-
ible a double life that his name was never again mentioned
over the "Five of Hearts" teacups. . . . To fill in the story,
add Don Cameron, Mrs. Cameron, the Lodges, the Leiters,
father, mother, and daughters, George Curzon, the Endi-
cotts, Joseph Chamberlain, Whitelaw Reid, and William C.
Whitney. All this against the background of the Cleveland
and Harrison Administrations. That was America.2

Brought together for no other purpose than good company and
intellectual conversation, the above group provided Hay a different

kind of life than the one he had known in Cleveland. Hay, now free from

responsibility and "in search of gaiety," used his ample means, not for

1Henry Adams, Letters, 1858-1891 (ed.) W. C. Ford (New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1930), p. 357.

2Dennett, John Hay, pp. 156-157.

 

 

      

i .l. i ---l - . ..
. . 4... ...... 1......1lsilnbnlu. an}...

 

243
luxury and indolent amusement, "but on those objects which appeal to

men and women of taste." "Infinitely more precious to him than any-

' states Thayer, "were his friendships. They

thing money could buy,’
not only satisfied the healthy demands of his affections, but fed his

always keen and craving intellect, and stimulated his enjoyment of the
fine arts."1 Living in Washington also provided a backdrop, more than
any other American city, for studying "men of every stripe" and for

" To his old associates in

observing "how masses of men are swayed.
Cleveland, Hay may have seemed on the surface to have become a
dilettante and a bored "man of the world," whereas "the years which
he seemed to be spending unproductively were really completing his

. . . . 2
preparation for the crowning achievements of hls career."

During these years of "retreat," his most important friendship
in the Washington circle was that for Henry Adams. It was Hay's
friendship for Adams, in fact, that had been the primary reason for his
moving to Washington and maintaining his residence there. Adams and
Hay had first met each other many years before, possibly when Hay
first came to Washington with Lincoln;3 and their acquaintance had

' states

"ripened into the closest friendship." "No other person,’
Thayer, "exercised so pro found an influence on Hay; no other kindled

in him such a strong and abiding devotion."4

Henry Adams, the son of America's able Minister to England
during the Civil War, was born in the same year as Hay; but in other
respects the two were quite dissimilar. In Adams was represented the
very essence of old Boston and whose ancestors were of "those vig-
orous, blunt, hard-headed, fearless and far-sighted men who led the
colony of Massachusetts into the Revolution, and then shared with

Virginia in leading the Republic."5 Indeed, the most significant influence

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, II, p. 75.
21bid., p. 71.

3Ernest Samuels, The Young Hengy Adams (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 1965), p. 91.

 

 

4Thayer, op. cit., p. 54.
51bid., p. 53.

 

 

 

244
in his life was that of his family heritage, a heritage that included

having both a grandfather and great- grandfather as Presidents of the
United States.1

the lever of power, success, however distinguished in science, the arts

"on

The fact that his ancestors always had their hands
or other careers, could scarcely fail to spell comparative failure. . . .
By any ordinary standard for individuals, Henry's career was a bril-
liant one. The sense of frustration and failure came because he was,
not wielding that power the desire for which was in his blood and which

each of his ancestors had managed to control."2

After his graduation from Harvard, Henry's career had included
serving as secretary to his father in England (where for eight years he
watched the game of diplomacy being played); later he had been a Wash-
ington correspondent with his eye "on an eventual editorial chair from
which he might influence opinion" and thus achieve power; this was
followed by a seven-year span of teaching history at Harvard and
editing the North American Review during the same period. Although

 

his professorial career had been brilliant, chiefly in terms "of his
personality and in his introduction of new methods of teaching"; seven
years "were enough." Thus, frustrated in his desire for power, Adams
moved to Washington in 1877 -- convinced, he said, that, "as far as he
had a function in life, it was as stable-companion to statesmen, whether
they liked it or not."3

This was the man who was to exercise such a profound influence
on the career of John Hay during the later period of his life; and thus
through his friend, Adams was to experience vicariously the wielding
of power that had forever eluded him. The friendship between Adams
and Hay was, states Thwing, "one of almost unexampled intimacy and
oneness":

The unity of their two dwelling places illustrated the per-
sonal oneness. In their intellectual constitution, Adams had

 

1Henry Adams, The Education of Henr Adams (New York:
Random House, 1931), Introduction by James Trus low dams, p. v.
2

3

 

Ib_ic_l., p. vii.
Ibid., p. 317.

 

       

  

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. .. r ..Hl..a.s...:....w4und.. .nt...

L~.I

  

. 1111.11!“ 1.5.1111.- .l.... .n.l. 1.... .I II I

 

245
a larger historic deposit, a weightier sense of human values,

and a deeper psychology. Hay's mind was the more nimble,
the more witty, the more biographical.

Adams was the
historian,——Hay, the poet. Adams' mind had a circle the
larger, of larger time—values.

Hay's mind was the more
immediate, more adjustable to immediate conditions.
Adams' mind lent itself more easily to vast syntheses. He
put the "cosmos" into ”a nutshell."

Hay's was devoted to
more detailed analyses. Adams was the more sober, Hay
the more gay and frolicsome.

Adams had an element of
raillery, of a fun, without grossness, approaching the sar—
donic. Hay had a raillery more gentle, passing into happy
irony and sarcasm. Adams incarnated the traits, grace,

graces, and severities of the most famous family in Amer—
ican history. Hay was a man of the world, without world—
liness. Adams was so much an aristocrat that he did not
hesitate to be a democrat. Hay was so much a democrat
that he had no reluctance in being and seeming aristocratic.

In each there was a certain finish and a sense of complete-
ness, and also a sense of life's fullness.

The best had been
given unto them and the best had been their circumstance.1

However, there were also similarities of thought and attitude that
existed between the two men in the sense that both were skeptics, and
that "each realized that the orbit of their lives and their power was
infinitely small in comparison with the great circles of infinite powers

that surround, and in which they were more victims than either agents
or interpreters."2

Their mutual skepticism was not used as a vehicle
of thought through which their thoughts converged, but rather as an
instrument of divergence. They met, "not to agree and nod approval,
but to pitch into each other, to engage in dialectics, to score points.”3
There is no evidence to show that either had "materially altered any
important convictions because of the views of the other"; in fact, both
remained the same sort of men that they had been before 1880.4 Adams,
a Democrat with leanings to "mugwumpery," remained a "free—trader”
and admired Blaine only for his "powers of invention"; Hay remained

"a protectionist and a Republican with fast hardening convictions. ”

1Thwing, Guides, Philosophers and Friends, pp. 285-286.
2Ibid., p. 286.
3

Dennett, John Hay, p. 166.
4Ibid.
5

Ibid.

 

 

‘fih—v‘

 

 

 

246
While a pattern of similarity is noted between Adams and Hay
with respect to their writing, even in this instance there were distinctive

contrasts in technique and the generalizations that were drawn:

During the fir st seven or eight years of their intimacy both
men were engaged in the writing of history, but While Adams
was historically minded and had a gift for generalization,
Hay was more a journalist turned historian, who wrote only
about the times through which he had lived, and about the
people Whom he had known. Both interrupted their histor-
ical work to write fiction, where Adams again disclosed a
reflective habit of mind, and so presented his characters
that they spoke for themselves, whereas Hay too obviously
intruded with his own opinions. Democracy by Adams was
a caricature; The Bread—Winners was a tract. Hay's his-
torical generalizations were like ly to be brash and Violent,
as when he described Andrew Jackson as the most injurious

person in American history.1

Through all their intellectual activity, however, is reflected the
fact that "each was rather an interpreter than a doer. . . Each was
a Greek in his reticence, pieties, and aesthetic appreciations. Each
seemed to dwell in a world apart from the timely and the common."
Both men were equally thoughtful, "but it is evident that they thought
about different things and grappled differently with their ideas."3 The
chief concern of Adams was in the significance of the past as it might
reveal the trend of the future; Hay, with his more practical turn of
mind, was more concerned with the "now."

With so many disparate thoughts on a wide range of subjects, it
seems contradictory that Hay and Adams remained such close friends
through the remaining years of their lives. One explanation is pro-
vided by Adams in his autobiography: "One friend in a lifetime is much;
two are many; three are hardly possible. Friendship needs a certain
parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aim. "

4 Adams
also provided a definition of friendship in his novel, Democracy, which

 

Dennett, John Hay, p. 165.

Thwing, Guides, Philosophers and Friends, p. 286.
Dennett, op. cit.

l
2

3
4Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams, p. 312.

 

 

 

247
seems perfectly apt regarding his relationship with Hay. Adams wrote:

"The keenest psychologist could not have detected a single feature or

quality which they had in common, and for that reason they were devoted
friends."1

As individuals who contributed to the climate of opinion in their
era, Hay and Adams owed much to each other.

Their interaction
through intellectual speculation gave life to dormant thoughts; their

conversations helped to clarify and shape their dissimilar opinions
which ultimately were given expression in writing and speaking to a
larger audience. An example of this is provided in Hay's address
delivered at the opening of the Press Parliament at the Louisiana Pur—
chase Exposition at St. Louis, May 19, 1904. Hay, speaking as the Sec-
retary of State, used the theme of ”The Cosmic Tendency" for his
speech; a theme that was reminiscent of the discussions between him—
self and Adams . The "Cosmic tendency," as interpreted by Hay, was

an inexorable law that acted with equal effect on the actions of men and
the affairs of nations:

While we should give due credit to the individual instrumen~
talities by which this great transaction was brought about,
we should not forget the overwhelming influence exerted by
the unseen Director of the Drama. Whether we call it the
spirit of the age, or historic necessity, or the balance of
power, or whether we reverently recognize in the matter
the hand of that Providence which watched over our infancy
as a people, we can not but admit that the acquisition of

this vast territory the Louisiana Purchase] was, in one way
or another, sure to come. A wise diplomacy hastened it; a
timid conservatism might have delayed it; but it was writ-

ten in our horoscope.

"The surest proof of this," stated Hay, ”lies in the eminent per—

sonalities by whom the purchase and sale were made. Jefferson was
the last man in America of whom we could have expected this departure
on the field of illimitable expansion, and Napoleon was, of all the sov—

ereigns of Europe, the least likely to give up so vast an extent of

1Dennett, op.cit., quotingfrom Henry Adams, Democracy, p. 15.
2

Addresses of John Hay: "The Press and Modern Progress,"
p. 250.

 

 

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248
. 1 . .
empire." In making this statement, Hay may have been inwardly

raising "with himself the question of how it happened that he, who had

once felt so differently, could for six years past have been agent for

American territorial expansion."2 According to Hay, it was the "Cos-

mic tendency" that made men do what they were least likely to do:

No ma n, no party, can fight with any chance of final success
against a cosmic tendency; no cleverness, no popularity,
avails against the spirit of the age. In obeying that invin-
cible tendency, against all his political convictions, Jef-
ferson secured a conspicuous place in history; while the
Federalist politicians who should have welcomed this
signal illustration and proof of the truth of their theory of
the power of the Governme nt they had framed, through the
influence of party spirit faltered in their faith and brought
upon their party a lasting eclipse through their failure to
discern the signs of the times. . . .

Hay, as he continued, imbued the "cosmic tendency" with a char—

acteristic that could have easily been derived from the Darwinian

principle of evolution; namely, "the survival of the fittest":

)

But more important than the immense materian increase
in the extent and resources of the new Republic was this
establishment of the principle, thus early in its career,
that it was to assume no inferior position to other nations
in its power to acquire territory, to extend its influence--
in short, to do all that any independent, self-respecting
power might do which was in accord with public morals,
conducive to the general welfare, and not prohibited by the
Constitution. . . . The nation had outgrown its swaddling
clothes. Even the most impassioned advocates of strict
construction felt this time that it was the letter that killeth
and the spirit that giveth life. The nation moved on its
imperial course. . . . The national principle once estab-
lished, other things were naturally added unto us. . . .
Even the shores of the ocean could not long check the Eagle
in his marvelous flight. The isles of the uttermost seas

became his steppingstones.4

 

1Ibid., p. 249.

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 277.
3Addresses of John Hay: "The Press and Modern Progress,"

p. 250.

41bid., pp. 251 -253.

 

 

 

249
At this point, Hay may have recalled his old discussions with

Adams; and, if he did, his sense of confidence regarding the orderly
scheme of progress in the cosmos might have been tinged with a sense
of inward doubt. Adams, who from the very beginning had had serious
reservations about Darwin, had once remarked to Hay: "The law of
nature is chaos, not cosmos."1 For Adams, progress "did not mean
the steady improvement suggested by the analogies of genetics and
Darwinian evolution."2 Adam's conception of progress turned "to the
imagery of physics" as he came to envision a society whose success
must be judged by the amount of its energies and its ability to control
them."3 What good was it to believe in pe rfectibility, Adams had
argued, "if, after nineteen hundred years, the world was bloodier than

9'14

when she [Christianity] was born Thus Adams came to deny the

notion of an absolute truth operating in the universe, and was content

to seek "only a spool on which to wind the thread of history without

breaking it."5
For Hay, however, the lesson of history was obvious:

This, gentlemen, is the lesson which we are called to con-
template amid the courts and the palaces of this universal
exhibition; that when a nation exists, founded in righteous-
ness and justice, whose object and purposes are the welfare
of humanity, the things which make for its growth and the
increase of its power, so long as it is true to its ideals, are
sure to come to pass, no matter what political theories or
individual sentiments stand in the way. The common good
will ultimately prevail, though it "mock the counsels of the
wise and the valor of the brave."5

"I know," he added, "what snares may lie in this idea—-how it

may serve as the cry of demagogues and the pretext for despots. Woe

 

1Ernest Samuels, Henry Adams: The Major Phase (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1964), p. 383.

28amuels, The Young Henry Adams, p. 308.
31bid., p. 309.
Samuels, Henry Adams: The Major Phase, p. 381.

Ibid.
Addresses of John Hay: "The Press and Modern Progress,"

CHI-P-

 

03

 

p. 253.

 

 

 

 

250
be unto the nation which misuses it! but shame and disaster is also the

portion of those who fear to follow its luminous beaconing."1 Thus Hay

gave emphasis to his convictions and, at the same time, provided a

sharp contrast with Adams's pessimistic philosophy regarding the

nature of the cosmos. Both agreed "that the orbit of their lives and

their power was infinitely small in comparison with the great circles
n

of infinite powers that surround. . . . ; their disagreement centered

on the nature and ultimate purpose of that power.

Abraham Lincoln: A History

 

From their adjoining residences in Washington, Adams and Hay
could look across the park and reflect on the constantly changing nature
of power within the framework of a democracy. Adams pondered, states
Dennett, "on democracy's neglect of the well-born and the intelligent,
and Hay could look over toward the room he used to occupy in the Lin-
coln days, and grow bitter about the 'corruptions, the self-seeking, the
cowardice' which had rejected John Sherman and brought to the Exec-
utive Mansion a Benjamin Harrison, and later returned the fat, toiling
Cleveland with the four chins, and the pretty wife."2 As they studied
the passing parade of personalities that changed with each administra-
tion, Hay and Adams reflected on what the years had brought them.
From the vantage point of the year 1892, Adams reckoned they had lost
twenty years -- but what they gained? They both realized they were
no longer young, and the fact was made mo re poignant as they observed
what time had done to men who once "had swayed the course of empire":

Hay had a singular faculty for remembering faces, and

would break off suddenlythe thread ofhis talk, as he looked

out of the window on La Fayette Square, to notice an old
corps commander or admiral of the Civil War, tottering
along to the club for his cards or his cocktail: "There is

old Dash who broke the Rebel lines at Blankburgl Think of
his having been a thunderbolt of war! " Or what drew Adams 's

 

llbid. ,
2Dennett, John Hay, p. 164.

 

 

 

251
closer attention: "There goes old Boutwell gambolling like
the gambolling kid!" There they went! Men who had swayed
the course of empire. . . .1

Yet, looking out of their windows on the "antiquities of La Fayette
Square," Hay and Adams realized they had "all that any one had; all
that the world had to offer; all that they wanted in life, including their

names on scores. of titlepages and in one or two biographical diction-

aries. . . ."2 However, it was not the kind of success that merited

consideration in America during the transitional years between the

Civil War and the last decade of the nineteenth century:

Hay had passed ten years in writing the "Life” of Lincoln,
and perhaps President Lincoln was the better for it, but
what Hay got from it was not so easy to see, except the
privilege of seeing popular bookmakers steal from his book
and cover the theft by abusing the author. Adams had given
ten or a dozen years to Jefferson and Madison, with expenses
which, in any mercantile business, could hardly have been
reckoned at less than a hundred thousand dollars, on a
salary of five thousand a year; and when he asked what
return he got from this expenditure, rather more extrava-
gant in proportion to his means than a racing stable, he
could see none whatever. Such works never return money.3

The negative evaluation placed on their accomplishments by
Adams seems, in retrospect, to be somewhat overdone. During these

"unproductive" years, Hay, in partnership with Nicolay, had completed

their Abraham Lincoln: A History. Comprising 4700 pages, about one

 

and one-half million words, "it was twice the size of Green's English

People, longer'than Gibbon's Roman Empire, and equalled only by

 

Bancroft's History of the United States."4 Very few histories had ever

 

before been written on such a scale, although Adams approached it
during this same period with his Jefferson's and Madison's Administra-
tions. "It was one of the many contradictions of Hay's career," wrote

his biographer, that he, whose whole life was characterized by turning

 

 

1Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams, pp. 325- 326. _
21___bid., p. 326.

3Ibid., p. 327.

4—

Dennett, John Hay, p.133.

 

252
from one interest to another, rather than by sustained effort in any one

direction, should have been joint author of this monumental work in

1
ten volumes."

The writing of the history had begun while Hay was still residing
in Cleveland; for in 1874 Robert T. Lincoln, the President's son, had
placed at the disposal of Nicolay and Hay the largest body of Lincoln
material available. Thus began the collecting of materials necessary
for the writing of the history; a task far more formidable than it is

H

today. . . libraries were few, poorly stocked, andbadly catalogued.
Historical societies had not yet begun to collect correspondence sys-
tematically, if at all. There were no manuscript collections of impor-
tance on the war outside of the official archives of the government.
Nicolay and Hay had, in fact, to make a library before they could make
a book."2 With his appointment as Marshal of the United States
Supreme Court in 1872, Nicolay resided in Washington and was near the
official archives. Thus a routine of activity began to develop; with
Nicolay's library becoming the central storehouse of material, and, as
the work went on, Hay added to the resources, buying many manuscripts,
documents, and rare books for their joint use. "Nicolay blocked out the
schedule of chapters, which they then discussed together, and, after
coming to a decision, each chose the topics he preferred. As fast as
these were written, they passed to the other partner, for criticism,

trimming, verification, and additions."3

Nicolay and Hay wrote their history with no particular academic
theory of historiography as a frame of reference. Historical scholar-
ship in America during the eighties of the last century was itself
between two worlds. "Just passing was the method which required a
selected point of View, a party or a personal loyalty. . . . just beyond
was the modern historicalscholarship which . . . . sought detachment,

objectivity, and held itself as rigidly as mortals may to inductive

 

1Ibid.
21bid., p. 134.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, 11, p. 17.

 

 

 

 

253

1 Nicolay and Hay had a hero and "were therefore committed to

logic."
writing a hero-tale. They were attorneys for the defense. They

belonged to the Republican party."2

When publishers learned that the work was in progress, they
made offers for the opportunity to publish it; but all were declined by
Nicolay and Hay until they saw the end in sight. It was an enormous
task they had cut out for themselves; and, as the labor of writing and
research dragged over the long years, it wore down both authors. The
completion of the work had become a mission, almost a crusade in that
they now saw themselves as "the guardians of the Lincoln tradition, an
increasing responsibility."3 Abraham Lincoln was not yet the great
national hero to be placed next to Washington in the national Pantheon,
and both authors viewed their history as necessary in terms of securing
Lincoln's rightful place. A portion of a letter requesting the release
of the Lincoln papers, written by Nicolay to Robert Lincoln, states as

much:

But novelty and ephemeral interest are not our only aim.
We hold that your father was something more than a mere
makeweight in the Cabinet against Seward or any particular
Secretary. We want to show that he formed a Cabinet of
strong men and great men--rarely equalled in any histor-
ical era—-and that he, the master-spirit, held, guided, con-
trolled, curbed and dismissed not only them but other high
officers, civil and military-—and at times the people them-
selves--at will, with perfect knowledge of men, and almost
prOphetic forecast of events. And this we believe a logical
presentation of the proof will demonstrate. Some things
will perhaps need to rest on our mere assertion; and our
assertion will carry weight just in proportion as it is
accompanied by exclusive documents, showing knowledge
of matters not in possession of the public.

 

1Dennett, John Hay, p. 136.
21pm.

31bid., p. 138.

4 '

Helen Nicolay, Lincoln's Secretary, p. 277.

 

 

 

 

 

254
The following letter, written by Hay to Nicolay on August 10, 1885,

reflects both the "spirit and method" of collaboration between the two

authors and Hay's creed as an historian:

 

I have just received your letters of the 7th and 8th. I
herewith return the Gilder correspondence. There will be
no difficulty whatever in beginning the series—~if ever--
next fall (1886). The only contingency in which we should
not be able to keep up would be death. If we live we can do
it.

The reason why I wanted you to criticize the chapter
with the greatest severity is this-~I dictated every word of
it. I found myself breaking down with the nervous fatigue
of writing and copying. I therefore hired a stenographer

I always thought I could not dictate-—but I found the
only thing was to take time and not hurry, to go back--
erase, start fresh, etc., just as if I was writing--and not
much faster. It is a great gain. . . . After he writes out
the notes I go all over them again with great care.

 

As to your criticisms, you can put in all the things you
think lacking, or make a note, and Iwill do it next fall,
strike out or reduce to footnotes whatever you think super-
flous. Do this without hesitation and I will do the same
with you. An outside judgment on these points is almost
sure to be right.

As to my tone toward Porter and McClellan-~that is an
important matter. I have toiled and labored through ten
chapters over him (McC.). I think I have left the impres-
sion of his mutinous imbecility, and I have done it in a
perfectly courteous manner. Only in "Harrison's Landing"
have I used a single injurious adjective. It is of the utmost
moment that we should seem fair to him, while we are
destroying him. The Porter1 business is a part of this.
Porter was the most magnificent soldier in the Army of the
Potomac, ruined by his devotion to McClellan. We have
this to consider. We are all alone in condemning him. I
don't count John Logan as company for historians. Even
Palfrey, who takes the hide off McClellan, speaks of "Por-
ter's perfect vindication at the hands of the Board." A big
majority of the American people believe him innocent: all
the Democrats, all the Mugwumps, which means all the
literary folks, all the Southerners, and half the Republicans
of the North. We believe him guilty; but I don't think we
need go further than say so dispassionately. A single word
of invective, I think, would be injurious to us, rather than

 

 

1General Fitz-John Porter, court-martialed after the Second
Battle of Bull Run; subsequently exonerated.

     

 

 

 

255
to him. It would be taken to show that we were still in the
gall and bitterness of twenty years ago.

Gilder was evidently horrified at your saying that Lee
ought to be shot: a simple truth of law and equity. I find,
after a careful reading of a dozen reports, that Stonewall
Jackson was a howling crank: but it would be the greatest
folly for me to say so. I am afraid I have come too near
saying so, in what I have written about him. He is a "saint
and a hero," Gen'l Black said so in a speech the other day.
General Black, of Illinois, Commissioner of Pensions.

The war has gone by. It is twenty years ago. Our book
is to be read by people who cannot remember anything
about it. We must not show ourselves to the public in the
attitude of two old dotards fighting over again the politics
of their youth.

I confess I learned something from the criticisms of
your book. All the reviews acknowledged its merits of
style, accuracy, and readableness--but nearly every one
objected to its tone of aggressive Northernism. This was
a surprise to me . I read it in MS. and thought it perfectly
fair and candid--but I am of that age and imbued with all
its prejudices.

We must not write a stump speech in eight vols., 8vo.

We will not fall in with the present tone of blubbering
sentiment, of course. But we ought to write the history of
those times like two everlasting angels who know every-
thing, judge everything, tell the truth about everything, and
don't care a twang of their harps about one side or the
other.

There will be one exception. We are Lincoln men all
through. But in other little matters, let us look at men as
insects and not blame the black beetle because he is not a
grasshopper.

Salmon P. Chase is going to be a nut to crack.

So is Stanton.

I am sick abed~-but the Doctor thinks I am gaining on
him, and will be out of his hands this week.1

"We are Lincoln men all through," wrote Hay to Nicolay; and

neither of the two authors ever dissembled the fact of it as being the

major bias in the writing of their history. Nathaniel Wright Stephen-

son, a later biographer of Lincoln, stated that "their Lincoln is exas~

peratingly conventional, always the saint and the hero, as saint-heroes

 

lThayer, Life and Letters, II, pp. 30-33.

 

 

b

In .15.. r1u fl...

 

256
were conceived by the average American in the days when it was a

supreme virtue to be 'self-made.'"1 It should be remembered, though,
that the authors were "conventional me n; one of them was, as truly as
Lincoln himself, 'self—made'; and the other author hardly less so, yet

with a different result."2

John Spencer Bassett, a Democrat from the South, and one of the
best of American historical scholars, gave the Nicolay and Hay history
a more generous criticism: "In completeness of treatment, clearness
of statement, and fair discussion of the men and problems that Lincoln
encountered, it was one of the best historical works of the generation
in which it was written."3 The bias and partisanship the book contained
was probably "more apparent to a politically sensitive reader at home
than to the foreign observer."4 James Ford Rhodes, an old Cleveland
friend and one of Hay's most discriminating critics, wrote some years

after the death of Hay as follows:

Hay was not a trained historian in the way of knowing thor—
oughly the masters of the art. He did not read with rapt
attention Gibbon, Macaulay, Parkman or any other historian
except Henry Adams. He was apt to have at hand some high
class French novel or Memoirs. He was especially fond of
Tourguéneff. Is there in literature, he asked, such another
story of a suicide so dramatically told, as that Nejdanof in
Terres Viorges? During a long acquaintance I never heard
him talk of historians except of his friend Henry Adams, but
he had at his tongue's end what we used to call belles-
lettres and his conversation thereon was a profit and delight.
In his familiar letters written to his coadjutor Nicolay in
regard to the History, when he Spoke of condensation or

the troubles of narration, there is never a question how
Macaulay or Parkman would have treated the one or solved
the other. We "must seize every chance to condense," he
wrote. "We could cut down a good deal and present what
would be a continuous narrative in about half the space we
have taken for our book." Unquestionably had he followed

 

1Dennett, John Hay, p. 141 quoting from the Cambridge History
of American Literature, III, p. 378.

21bid., pp. 141-142.

3Ibid., p. 142 quoting from the Cambridge History of American
Literature, III, p. 182.

41bid., p. 142.

 

 

 

 

 

 

257
out this idea, the History would have been more popular and
less criticized.1

"Although Hay did not possess the power of generalization of

Gibbon," continued Rhodes, "he had two qualities invaluable for a his-

torian-~that of narration and a skepticism that influenced in a marked

degree his judgment of men and of events."2 With the priceless mate-

rials that Robert Lincoln had placed at their disposal, together with

their own memoranda and impressions; Nicolay and Hay wrote a tract

that to many Democrats, however, may have appeared like "an ermine

mantle to cover the faded and unlaundered 'bloody shirt'. . .

...3

Although he aimed at impartiality, "Hay was a partisan and he carried

partisanship into his historical work. . . . Therein lay an unconscious

partisanship. Nicolay and Hay made Lincoln out a saint and, when he

came

into contact with other men, the saint was always right."4 The

History was, commented Dennett, a Republican document:

The book was, in fact, a good deal of a Republican document,
a by-product of which had been Hay's campaign speech at
Cleveland in the summer of 1880. As Hay's political con-
victions hardened (Nicolay's were already fixed) it was
impossible to keep the Republicanism from sticking out. It
was not the primary aim of the history to make Republicans
proud of their party, and to gather in the new voters each
year, but it served to accomplish such a purpose. The book
was having that effect as late as 1902, when Roosevelt, up
at Oyster Bay, read it. "After reading your volumes," he
wrote to "Dear John," July 22, 1902, "I do congratulate
myself that my father was a Republican and that I am a
Republican. It seems to me it would be a dreadful thing to
have to live down being descended from Vallandigham; and
I should mortally hate to have had men like Seymour or
McClellan for ancestors"--which were almost the words of
Hay's apspeal twenty-two years before to the young voters
of Ohio.

 

1909,

1Rhodes, The McKinley and Roosevelt Administrations, 1897-
pp.121-122.

21bid., p. 122.

3Dennett, John Hay, p. 142.
4

5

Rhodes, op. cit., p. 123.
Dennett, op. cit., pp. 140-141.

 

 

258
In the autumn of 1890, the Century Company published the work

in ten volumes and sold 5000 sets by subscription within a short time.
A one-volume abridgment by Nicolay in 1901 sold 35,000 c0pies, but
the greatest impact of the History was achieved with serial publication
in the Century; the first installment appearing November, 1886; the
last, in May, 1890. The Century Company paid fifty thousand dollars
for the serial rights, the largest any American magazine had paid up
to that time.1 Serial publication gave the History an enormous reading
audience; and, as a result of the world-wide publicity given to the
installments of the History which appeared in the Century, "it is evi-
dent that no other American historical work has reached so many

readers in so short a time ."2 As with the Bread-winners, Hay had

 

made a significant contribution to the climate of opinion of his era with
the publication of the History. The theme of the book contrasted in

many ways with the Bread-winners, chiefly in that "the Lincoln theme

 

had again awakened the moralist in Hay-—he who did not like to meddle
with moral ills. He wrote furiously to do justice to a slandered friend,
to set a nation right. In a mood not out of harmony with that in which
he had come back from Europe in 1870, crying for freedom and hating
Napoleon III, he now found himself writing a tract."3 The History also
made Hay "the apostle of the Republican party, " and to the end of his
days he was regarded as "the Republican laureate." "As the Lincoln
Legend grows," wrote Thayer, "men will turn again and again to the
record of the two young secretaries who walked and talked with him,
saw him most intimately as man, as statesman, and as savior of
Democracy, and came to revere and love him as a hero-friend: for

"4 With the aid of Nicolay, Hay had

given the country a new appreciation for a fallen hero; the writer of

no other source can rival theirs.

history now found the pattern of his life changing in a manner that

would cause him also to become a maker of history.

 

Thayer, Life and Letters, II, p. 17.
Ibid., p. 49.
Dennett, op. cit., p. 141.

 

I-PCADNP"

Thayer, op. cit., p. 51.

 

 

 

259
The Years of Transition

 

Almost simultaneously with the publication of Abraham Lincoln:

 

A History, there appeared in print the initial pair of Adams's History
of the United States of America; two volumes that addressed themselves
to the first administration of Jefferson. Alluding to his neighbor busy
with Nicolay on the ten-volume Lincoln, Adams stated his own theories
on American historiography: "Hay and I are racing and carry about

the same weight. Between us we have pretty well disposed of the His-
tory of the United States. Another generation will have other methods

and objects, but I hear of no one among our contemporaries who pro-

”1

poses to jostle us from our seats. The dissimilarity of philosophies

that marked Adams's friendship with Hay was also reflected in their
writing of history. While Hay emphasized the role of the hero, Adams
sounded the theme of the unimportance of the hero in history, the
mechanical determinism which governs the interplay of social forces,
the absence of freedom of the will in the historic process. Adams, in
describing the social dynamics of democracy, saw history as a vast

irony and thus he pronounced the decline and fall of the hero:

To Adams as to Tolstoy, history was. . . . a web of para—
doxes in which man was enmeshed. Habitually unable to
foresee the necessity of circumstances man became the vic-
tim of them. The element of individuality, as he once
objected to Tilden, was "the free—will dogma” of current
historical writing, a dogma which drove historians into
contradiction and statesmen into hypocrisy. Jefferson's
policy toward the Indian was a striking case in point;
avowedly humanitarian, he was obliged by the logic of
national expansion to encourage ruthless measures by his
willing instrument Governor William Henry Harrison. The
Governor's report "of Indian affairs," said Adams, "offered
an illustration of the law accepted by all historians in theory,
but adopted by none in practice; which former ages called
'fate,‘ and metaphysicians called necessity, but which modern
science has refined into the 'survival of the fittest.’ No

acid ever worked more mechanically on a vegetable fibre
than the white man acted on the Indian."2

 

1Ernest Samuels, Henry Adams, The Middle Years (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 1958), p. 347.

21bid., p. 350.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

260
Adams agreed with the similar view taken by Tolstoy in his War

and Peace, that ”the actions of Napoleon and Alexander, on whose words
the event seemed to hang were as little voluntary as the actions of any
soldier who was drawn into the campaign by lot or by conscription."1
Adams declared that "we are forced to fall back on fatalism as an
explanation of irrational events,” a fatalism that merged into the laws
of physics. The theory of history, which Adams was trying to formu-
late, "relied not only upon the idea of the conservation of energy--as
in his assertion that 'the law of physics could easily be applied to
politics; force could be converted only into its equivalent force‘--but
also upon the Second Law of Thermodynamics, certainly by implica-
tion."2 The basic conception held by Adams looked upon society as an
energy system; ”a system in which greater and greater quantities of
energy were released, but in which there was a corresponding loss of
potential, a process of social entropy."3 Adams offered the example
of The War of 1812 to illustrate his theory of the cyclical release of
energy. "Experience seemed to show that a period of about twelve
years measured the beat of the pendulum."4 Now "the third period of
twelve years was ending in a sweep toward still greater energy; and

already a child could calculate the result of a few more such returns.H5

Indeed, the Census Report of the year 1890 seemed to give sup-
port to Adams's notion of history's being inexorably determined by a
”law of acceleration"; of the accelerated sweep of the pendulum con-
sistently ending in the release of "still greater energy." The Report
of that year indicated that, for the first time , the unsettled area of the
country had been so broken into by isolated bodies of settlement that

there can hardly said to be a frontier line. The vast continent, which

 

 

had absorbed the energies of millions of people in its conquering, was --

 

 

in terms of the "sweep of the pendulum" -— moving through a
119221-
ZSamuels, The Young Henry Adams, p. 310.
3M-
4121.91-
5

Ibid .

 

 

 

 

 

261
transitional phase preparatory to even a greater release of energy. As

though in verification of his theory of history, Adams could write: ”The
power of the railway system had enormously increased since 1870. Already
the coal output of 160,000,000 tons closely approached 180,000,000 of

the British Empire, and one held one's breath at-the nearness of what one
had never expected to see, the crossing of courses, and the lead of Amer-

ican energies. The moment was deeply exciting to a historian. . ."1

From his study windows, ”Adams gazed upon a modern enigma."
The rise of "this new Rome challenged explanation as much as the fall
of the old. What really were to be the character and destiny of this
new empire; what fate awaited it in the struggle for existence among
the nations."2 To some, like Professor Frederick J. Turner, the
development of national life, thought, and character had been dependent
upon the frontier; and now, with its disappearance, there would be a
slow but gradual change in American life.3 Professor Ray A. Billing-
ton, although he accepted some of the criticisms of the Turner thesis,
concluded that the frontier process was the most important of the New
World conditions explaining American development and that it "remains
one essential tool--albeit not the only one--for interpreting American

History . "

Turner took the viewpoint that the frontier was the real American
melting pot, and that it deve10ped in the pioneer immigrant settlers
such American traits as individualism, democracy, inventiveness, and
materialism: The frontier had been the main inspiration of nationalism,
where immigrants had laid outside the restrictive outlook of the old
world and emerged real citizens of a new world. Now that free land
was all but gone with the disappearance of the frontier, Turner felt
that ”the future of the United States rested with his beloved Middle

1Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams, p. 330.

2Samuels, Henry Adams, The Middle Years, p. 351.
See Frederick J. Turner, The Frontier in American History
(New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1920).

4Ray Allen Billington, "How the Frontier Shaped the American
Character," American Heritage, IX (April 1958), p. 8.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ..II In: I
I 1. ill ll nul 11 I. I:
11.1.1.1 .I I.III.. i ...u 1.1.: ...l .
.. ..V ...-I. 1 " n:...r.f.¢.u.._i |.r-I....| 1 ‘in. I .I
.. ...—... ... a: I n u .

      

   

2621
" The Turner hypothesis stated

West of the Upper Mississippi Valley.
it was in this section of the country that the great national virtues

 

remained preserved:
Here were preserved the great national virtues, as created
and reinforced by a frontier background, which could bring
The

salvation to an industrialized and urbanized nation.
Middle West was to be the buttress of the rights of the com~
mon man--rights to be guaranteed by the government as
against heartless business corporations. Furthermore, also
in accord with the so-called ”Progressive" ideals of the

time, United States concepts and institutions were to be
spread overseas in a philanthropically conceived imperialism.2

This latter point of View goes a long way in providing a focus on

the climate of opinion as it was to develop in the last decade of
nineteenth century. When Professor Turner read his famous essay
on "The Significance of the Frontier in American History" before a
conference of historians at the World Fair in Chicago in 1893, annex-
ationists were already arguing for an extension of the American fron-
tier. Like a complimentary echo to the Turner thesis, American
expansionists were stating that lands outside the continental limits of
the United States were needed to provide a pOpulation outlet for a people
who could no longer escape to their own frontier:
. . these annexationists. . . evolved an entire library of
imperialist writings. They argued that pioneer farmers had
rights to the soil that were superior to those of backward
nomadic peoples; that the Anglo-Saxon benefited mankind by
introducing everywhere democracy, civilization, and regen-
eration; that geography determined the eventual annexation

of nearby undeveloped areas by powerful states; and above

all, that American expansion was not selfish in a colonial
sense, but offered equality to all peoples under the flag.
Such patriots could plainly see that their nation had a glo-
rious mission to spread the blessings of civilization to

In ankind .

lRobert E. Riegel, ”Current Ideas of the Significance of the
United States Frontier,” The American Past (New York: The Mac—

millan Co., 1965), H, p. 103.

 

21bid.
Harvey Wish, Society and Thought in Modern America, p. 388.

 

 

 

263
In the 1890's, the extreme exponents of Manifest Destiny, together

with Anglo-Saxon superiority and other doctrines to rationalize expan-
sionism, became very active. At the beginning of the decade Cap-
tain A. T. Mahan, president of the Naval War College, wrote in the

Atlantic Monthly: ”Whether they will or no, Americans must now begin
This "quiet, tight-lipped naval officer" excelled in

 

to look outward."1
shaping imperialistic dogmas and, possessing one of the most forceful

minds of his time, had an enormous influence on the climate of opinion

of his era. Mahan was born in 1840 at West Point, where his father

taught at the military academy; but the son embarked upon a naval
career as a midshipman at the United States Naval Academy. He had
served in the Civil War with the Gulf and Atlantic naval squadrons, and,
in 1886, became president as well as a naval lecturer at the NeWport

War College. The school was devoted to advanced study in naval mat—

ters and international law and Mahan, who previously had been a critic

of imperialism and considered Secretary of State Blaine a dangerous

man because of his imperialistic tendencies, taught his classes ”an

aggressive interpretation of the potentiality of sea power.”

While at the War College, Mahan developed a set of lectures
which were published under the title, The Influence of Sea Power Upon

History, 1660-1783 and, two years later, The Influence of Sea Power
The books made

 

Upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793-1812.
a strong impact not only at home, but overseas as well, and Mahan

promptly became a World figure, lionized in Europe where he was
acclaimed a brilliant strategist:

Ordered to command the flagship of the European Station

in 1893 (much against his will, for he would have preferred
to stay at home and continue writing), Mahan was received
in England with unprecedented honors. He was invited by

the Queen to a state dinner at Osborne, dined with the Prince
of Wales and was the first foreigner ever to be entertained
by the Royal Yacht Club, which gave a dinner in his honor

 

lBarbara w. Tuchman, The Proud Tower (New York: The
Macmillan Co., 1966), p. 130 quoting from A. T. Mahan, "The United
States Looking Outward, ” Atlantic MonthlL (December 1890).

2Harvey Wish, Society and Thought in Modern America, p. 391.

 

 

264
with a hundred guests, all admirals and captains. In London,
John Hay, who was visiting there, wrote to him that "all the
people of intelligence are waiting to welcome you."1

 

His most enthusiastic disciple, Wilhelm II, invited him aboard his
yacht; and Mahan learned the Kaiser had ordered that a copy of The

Influence of Sea Power be placed on every ship in the German Navy.

The Japanese, too, were no less interested and adopted Mahan's book
as a text in Japanese military and naval colleges. The major corollary

of the Mahan theme, of course, was the need to develop the American

Navy:

As Cleveland's Secretary of the Navy, William C. White,
said in 1887, it did not have the strength to fight nor the
speed to run away, and in Mahan's judgment it was not a
match for Chile's Navy, much less Spain's. In 1880, when
serious discussion began of an Isthmian Canal, which in the
absence of adequate naval power would constitute more of a
danger than an asset, he had written, ”We must without
delay begin to build a navy which will at least equal that of

. . That

England when the Canal shall have become a fact. .
this will be done I don't for a moment hOpe but unless it is

we may as well shut up about the Monroe Doctrine at once.”2

 

Mahan's long campaign began to bear fruit when, in 1890, the Navy
at last began to build a modern fleet based upon battleships not only
capable of protecting all of the American coasts, but with an ability
to range as far as 5,000 miles and carrying a combination of armor
and firepower that represented the best in design and construction of
the time. The new battleships gave support to the disciples of Mahan

such as Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts. Lodge,
declaiming in the Senate on March 2, 1895, stated: "It is sea power
which is essential to every splendid people.H Speaking with dramatic

effect in front of a map of the Pacific, Lodge urged the building of the

Canal and the acquisition of Hawaii. ”We are a great people; we con—

trol this continent; we are dominant in this hemiSphere; we have too

 

lBarbara W. Tuchman, The Proud Tower, p. 132.
21bid., p. 133.
3John A. Garraty, Hengy Cabot Lodge: A Biography (New York.

Alfred A. Knopf, 1953), p. 52.

 

 

 

 

 

265
great an inheritance to be trifled with or parted with. It is ours to

guard and extend."1 A growing number of people, like Senator Lodge,
were becoming convinced that small states belonged to the past and
that expansion was a movement that made for ”civilization and the

advancement of the race."

Mahan's concept of naval power implied more than ”a dirty string

of overseas coaling stations " in that he wanted ”all that tends to make

a people great upon the sea or by sea.’ His emphasis on a strong navy

dovetailed with the designs of business groups who had long favored the
acquisition of Pacific bases to expand "the China trade,” and many

Christian denominations were impelled in the same direction by the

desire to convert and civilize "the heathen.’ The Reverend Josiah

Strong, a popular lecturer and a leader of the American Home Mis—

sionary Society and the Evangelical Alliance, declared:

. . this race of unequaled energy, with all the majesty
of numbers and the might of wealth behind it—-the represen—
tative, let us hope, of the largest liberty, the purest Chris—
tianity, the highest civilization——having developed peculiarly
aggressive traits calculated to impress its institutions upon
mankind, will spread itself over the earth. If I read not
amiss, this powerful race will move down upon Mexico,
down upon Central and South America, out upon the islands
of the sea, over upon Africa and beyond. . . .

Is there room for reasonable doubt that this race, unless

devitalized by alcohol and tobacco, is destined to dispos—

sess many weaker races, assimilate others, and mold the

remainder, until, in a very true and important sense, it

has Anglo—Saxonized mankind?

John Fiske, another popular lecturer who combined history with
Darwinian biology, spoke to large crowds on the theme of "Manifest
Destiny," a phrase that John L. O'Sullivan in 1845 had first applied to
the American experience. Fiske proclaimed that America would
expand "until every land on the earth’s surface that is not already the

seat of an old civilization shall become English in its language, in its

 

1Ibid.

2Merrill D. Peterson and Leonard W. Levy (eds.), Major Crises
in American History, Documentary Problems, 1865-1953 (New York:
Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc.), II, p. 139.

 

 

 

 

 

 

266
political habits and traditions, and to a predominant extent in the

blood of its people.”1

Thus, as the first of the new battleships (Oregon, Indiana, Massa-
chusetts, and Iowa) moved down the way, the transitional years of
American political life moved to a close. "The policy which these
ships expressed, though far from being generally accept ed at once,
represented a fundamental change in the direction which Mahan was
pointing: outward."2 As though in vindication of Henry Adams‘s theory
of mechanical determinism on the historic process, Mahan cited the
reasons in support of his theme:

Whether they will or no, Americans must now begin to look

outward. The growing production of the country demands

it. An increasing volume of public sentiment demands it.

The position of the United States, between the two Old

Worlds and the two great oceans, makes the same claim,

which will soon be strengthened by the creation of the new

link joining the Atlantic and Pacific. The tendency will be

maintained and increased by the growth of the European

colonies in the Pacific, by the advancing civilization of

Japan, and by the rapid peopling of our Pacific states with

men who have all the aggressive spirit of the advanced line

of national progress.3

Underlying all of these impulses —- impulses reminiscent of the
Turner hypothesis regarding the frontier —— was a revival of the tra-
ditional American appetite for expansion: "The American people. .
simply liked the smell of empire and felt an urge to range themselves

."4 The climate of opinion,

among the colonial powers of the time.
with its strong overtones of expansionism and imperialism, gave the
nation a strong push toward international adventure -— the first phase
of which culminated in war with Spain. All at once, the public was

perplexed; and a growing number began to question America's role in

 

1Peterson and Levy, op. cit.
2Barbara W. Tuchman, The Proud Tower, p. 134.

3A. T. Mahan, "The Interests of America in Sea Power,” Readings
in American History, ed. by Oscar Handlin (New York: Alfred A. Knopf,
1957), p. 485.

4George F. Kennan, American Diplomacy, 1900—1950 (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1951), p. 17.

 

 

 

  

. . . l.l. fl..|. ..
I ..lalidl... ..Alpl ..Iliufim. ..
...‘oa..u.”- ..an - {...-e. il- u

  
 

. I. -.lh... I)...

§

 

267
imposing sovereignty over an unwilling people, especially in the case

of the Philippine Islands. This anti-imperialistic sentiment proved to
be only a momentary aberration in the march of the flag overseas, and
the hesitant responded with a will to Kipling's widely published exhorta-

tion in verse:

Take up the White Man's burden
Send forth the best ye breed,

Go bind your sons to exile

To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness

On fluttered folk and wild,

Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half- child. . . .

Take up the White Man's burden
The savage wars of peace,

Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease. . . .

Ye dare not stoop to less----

The Road to Power and International Diplomacy

 

"We know, to the hour and minute, when this country reached the
point of no return on its way to becoming a world power. It was at
exactly 5:39 A.M., Manila time, on Sunday, May 1, 1898, when Com-
modore George Dewey, U.S.N., commanding the Asiatic Squadron of
four small cruisers and two gunboats, cooly turned from his position
on the bridge of his flagship Olympia, and said to its captain in words
that were to echo across distant America: 'You may fire when you are
ready, Gridley."'1 It was at that moment, too, as the salvos of shells
crushed the fleet of the Spanish Admiral Montojo ~- that the transition

years in American political and economic life came to an end.

These years of transition, roughly 1868 to 1898, had been chiefly
marked by the country's absorption in its industrial and agricultural
development within the continental borders. The subsequent rise of
the unparalleled advance in the economic organization of American

society had, in the main, been encouraged by both major political

 

1Harold A. Larrabee, "The Enemies of Empire,"

American
Heritage, XI (June 1960), p. 28.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

268
parties. "No harm shall come to any business interest as the result of

administrative policy so long as I am President," said Grover Cleve-
land,”. . . . a transfer of executive control from one party to another

. . . . . . 1
does not me an any serious disturbance of ex1st1ng conditions."

However, as a result of the Treaty of Paris that ended the war
with Spain on February 6, 1899, America found itself in possession of
a colonial empire -- and the Pacific Ocean was thenceforth to be

regarded as "an American lake."

The old conditions of American life,
with a primary concern for domestic matters, were to be affected more
and more by considerations relevant to American foreign policy. What

John Hay called ”cosmic tendency,"

and others termed Manifest Destiny,
had culminated in the raising of the flag by force over noncontiguous
territory with an effect on American foreign and domestic policy that

is still incalculable .

The road which the country had taken on its way to imperialism
during the latter part of the transition years was a highway with rapid,
and sometimes violent, changes occurring on the way. One of the most
severe depressions in the nation's history had developed in 1893, with
over fifteen thousand business failures taking place during its first
twelve months.2 The conditions in agriculture had started to worsen
many years before the actual depression, for the American farmer had
been witnessing declining prices ever since the seventies.3 With the
market for agricultural products shrinking, the plight of the farmers
had been made more critical as the result of the action by the banks in
calling in loans and otherwise tightening credit. The Populist had
emerged as a movement through which the disaffected had protested
their plight and the increasing political, economic, and social dominance

of industrialists and financiers. Many nostrums had been advanced,

 

lMatthew Josephson, The Politicos, 1865-1896, p. 341.
2See Morison and Commager, "The Battle of the Standards,”
The Growth of the American Republic, II, pp. 236-256.

3See Louis M. Hacker, ”The Agrarian Revolt: (Greenbackism,
Populism, the Election of 1896,H The United States since 1865 (New
York: Appleton- Century- Crofts, Inc., 1949). pp. 252—273.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

269
during the period, to effect a cure of the nation's economic problems;

such as the free coinage of silver which attracted millions of adherents.
The most articulate advocate of the free silver movement, William
Jennings Bryan, captured the Democratic nomination for the Presidency
which, in turn, was ratified by a Populist convention. Labor, too, was
experiencing a siege of violence with the eruption of strikes in many

urban and semi—urban areas of the country, culminating in the bloody

 

Pullman strike that temporarily paralyzed half the nation's railroads
. 1
1n 1894.

These uprisings among farmers and laborers, intensified by the
deepening crises of the panic, disconcerted the businessmen, lawyers,
teachers, clergymen, and journalists who were molders and leaders of
public opinion. Many of them predicted a new sectional conflict, this

time between the industrial East and the agricultural West; and in

 

Speeches, news stories, magazine articles, and sermons they dwelt on
the dangers of impending class conflict.2 There were others who stated
the pessimistic View that the economy had grown too fast, that it pro-
duced too much, and that new markets would have to be found if indus-
try and capital were to continue their progress in terms of providing

jobs for the nation's expanding population.

The massive influx of immigrants received much of the blame
for the country's ills from a growing number of native Americans.
Unlike the previous waves of immigration that came from western and
northern Europe, these newcomers originated in southern and eastern
Europe and, as they crowded the labor market in the congested cities,
were critized as having introduced inferior and unassimilable strains

into the "Merican race.’ The hostility toward these aliens increased

with the growing fear of radicalism, strikes and other signs of dis-

 

quiet which were attributed to foreign agitators and anarchists.3 In

 

1Hacker, The United States since 1865, pp. 199—200.

2See Charles and Mary-Beard, "Politics in the New Economic
Setting," New Basic History of the United States (New York: Doubleday &
Company, Inc., 1960), pp. 303-317.

3Tuchman, "The Idea and the Deed," The Proud Tower, pp. 63—

 

 

 

 

113.

 

 

 

270
these transition years of the last decades of the nineteenth century,

industrialization and urbanization were changing the contours of Amer-
ican society as even institutions with long stability like the Church and
the home were shaken and altered. The new world of the city and the

factory now "confronted the American Dream with a spiritual challenge

which almost overwhelmed it":1

To the rural mind the city was tantalizing; it was both

attractive and repulsive, good as well as evil. "Every city

has been a Babylon, and every city has been a New Jeru-

salem," Plymouth Church's Reverend Lyman Abbot said,

"and it has always been a question whether the Babylon

would extirpate the New Jerusalem or the New Jerusalem

would extirpate the Babylon." To many in the 1880's and

1890's it seemed that Babylon had won out.2

The Reverend Josiah Strong, surveying the scene about him in
those years, saw "great perils threatening our Christian civilization,
such as wealth, its worship and its congestion, anarchism and lawless—
ness, intemperance and the liquor power, immigration and a supersti-
tious Christianity [Catholicisrrflfl' and all of them, he noticed, "are. . . .
massed in the city. And not only so, but in the city every one of these
perils is enhanced."3 Lord Bryce, the friendly visitor from England,
"was appalled at the corruption in municipal government which gnawed
away at" the self-reSpect of Americans and threatened the continuance
of democracy itself. Continue as you are, he told some Mericans, and

'you will set us liberals back in Europe five hundred years.'"4

Henry Adams pronounced a pessimistic judgment on the era;
finding the times "rotten and bankrupt, society sunk in vulgarity, com-
monness, imbecility and moral atrophy, himself on the verge of 'mental
extinction' and 'dying of ennui'; finding Amcrica unbearable and leaving
for Europe, finding Europe insufferable and returning to America,

finding 'decline is everywhere' and everywhere 'the dead water of the

 

1Carl N. Degler, Out of Our Past (New York: Harper & Brothers,
1959), p. 338.

2Degler, Out of Our Past, pp. 338-339.
31bid., p. 339.
41bid.

 

 

 

 

271
fin de siecle. . . . where not a breath stirred the idle air of education

 

or fretted the mental torpor of self-content.'"1

The events of the period stimulated a clamorous nationalism,
prompting a new school of writers in prose and poetry to use literature
as a vehicle of protest against the rising tide of materialism. "The lit-—
erature of social revolt was varied as the social scene itself";2 and
one of the lesser poets, Edwin Markham, sounded both a warning and a
challenge with his moving protest against the exploitation of labor, Th_e
Man with the Hoe:

 

Bowed by the weight of centuries he leans

Upon his hoe and gazes on the ground,

The emptiness of ages in his face,

And on his back the burden of the world. . . .
Through this dread shape the suffering ages look;
Time's tragedy is in that aching stoop;

Through this dread shape humanity betrayed,
Plundered, profaned and disinherited,

Cries protest to the Judges of the World,

A protest that is also prophecy.

As noted in a previous chapter, this criticism of American life
did not emanate entirely "from those upon whom the sun of economic
success had not shone." John Hay, who moved in the best circles, had

described labor troubles, in an unsympathetic manner to be sure, in

the pages of The Bread—winners; while his close friend Henry Adams

 

drew such a bitter indictment of American politics in Democracy that

 

he was moved to publish it anonymously.3 These were but a few of the
many volumes of social protest that poured from the publishers' presses
during the latter decades of the nineteenth century. There was also
turmoil in the area of philosophical thought as clergyme n, teachers,
journalists, and other intellectuals articulated, through writing and

speaking, their attempts to reconcile the old beliefs with the newer

 

lTuchman, The Proud Tower, p. 140 quoting from Henry Adams,
The Education, p. 331 and from Adams, The Letters, Vol. II.

2Morison and Comager, The Growth of the American Republic,
II, p. 281.

31bid., p. 283.

 

 

 

 

 

......r --—r-

 

 

272
scientific and social dogmas derived from Darwinian biology. "For

nearly all Americans, the nineties were agitated, unquiet, fearful

years."1

These were the years, however, when Americans began to realize
how far their country had advanced; and, paradoxically, they boastfully
described their nation's progress. The World's Fair at Chicago in
1893 was an eloquent testimony as to the measure of America's advance
and even caused Henry Adams to remark: "The Exposition itself defied
philosophy. . . . As a scenic display, Paris had never approached it,
but the inconceivable scenic display consisted in its being there at
all."2 In a letter to Adams on July 3, 1893, John Hay offered his

impressions of the Fair: . . Well, we have done our Chicago, and

have not a word to say about it. We were all knocked silly. It beats

the brag so far out of sight that even Chicago is dumb ."3

Like millions of his fellow Americans, Hay was deeply moved
by the Fair; especially in the growing power and genius of America as
reflected by the vigorous architecture that housed the various exhibits.
More than four months later he wrote to his publisher, Joseph B.
Gilder:

Your letter of the 4th reached me only to—day, too late for
me to write anything for printing in your paper. Even if I
had received it in time, what I could have said would have
been little to the purpose. I imagine that most of your
reSponses must have been as monotonous as a chorus of
angels in glory. The Chicago Fair was, in almost every
respect, the greatest universal exposition ever seen; but
in architectural beauty, and in the felicity of the disposition
of its principal features, it so far transcended anything
which the genius and the devotion of man has ever yet
achieved, that it will probably be remembered and cele-
brated more for the incomparable splendor and loveliness
of the ensemble than for any merit of details; the partic-
ular claims to admiration, great as they were, are likely

 

1Peterson and Levy, 0p. cit., p. 139.
2Henry Adams, The Education of HeanAdams, p. 339.
3Thayer, Life and Letters, 11, p. 94.

 

 

 

 

273
to be neglected in the overpowering impression ofgrandeur
and beauty made by the whole.1

Hay's patriotic pride in American accomplishment, as signified
by the Chicago Exposition, was somewhat ruffled by the attitude of
Europeans toward the Fair. Continuing his letter to Gilder, which was

written while Hay was visiting Europe, he stated on November 20, 1893:

Perhaps the thing that has most imp resse’d me has been the
entire ignorance of Europe in regard to the matter. The
most beautiful sight that has ever gladdened the eyes of
humanity has shone for six months on the shores of Lake
Michigan, and it is hardly too much to say that the rest of
the world knows nothing, and refuses to know anything, about
it. When we speak of it, we are met with incredulity and a
more or less polite lifting of the eyebrows. In the annual
revue of one of the Paris theatres, it is represented as a
four gigantesque. In this country where they are continually
talking of our worship of the dollar, the Chicago Fair is
summarily dismissed from notice as a failure, because the
stockholders made no money out of it. They order these
things better in France.2

 

"insult"

However, Hay remained philosophical about the European
regarding the Fair and felt that its chief value lay in the fact that it had
raised the cultural standards of millions of Americans:

But it is not philosophical to quarrel about such matters.

Contemporaneous history gives no account of the Crucifix-

ion. Nobody knows anything about Shakespeare. The Chicago

Exhibition has fared better, at least, than these two events,

the most important in the history of the human mind. A

great many millions of Americans have brought away from

it higher and nobler standards of beauty and grandeur than

they ever had before.3

Indeed, the boastful descriptions of Americans about the growing
power and maturity of their country were based on solid foundations.
During the last two decades of the nineteenth century, the population
had grown to the point that Americans now outnumbered the people of

all other industrial states except Russia. While the population growth

 

llbid., pp. 94-95.
21bid., p. 95.
31bid., p. 96.

 

 

274
gave cause for concern, the production of the United States kept apace

as, for instance, in agriculture with an output exceeding that of all
other countries. It was much the same in other areas of activity, as
in railroad mileage and the total number of its schools, newspapers,
churches, and banks. In output of coal, iron, and steel, it bade fair
soon to surpass England, the industrial leader of the world; and an
American of the 1890's had only to leaf through an almanac to see that

his country had indeed become one of the greatest on earth.1

To Henry Adams, the significance of the Chicago Exposition
remained an enigma. What did it all me an in terms of the future course
of American history? Sitting on the steps beneath Richard Hunt's dome
at the Fair, Adams pondered it and other questions as they were sug-
gested by his own philosophy of history: "Here was a breach of continu-
ity--a rupture in historical sequence! Was it real, or only apparent?
One's personal universe hung on the answer, for, if the rupture was
real and the new American world could take this sharp and conscious
twist towards ideals, one's personal friends would come in, at last, as
winners in the great American chariot-race for fame ."2 Although
Adams composed these sentences with others in mind; they seem now
in retrospect to have been especially prophetic regarding the future

career of his closest friend -- John Hay.

During the years of his and Hay's "retreat" in Washington, when
they were busily engaged in writing history, Adams stated he was quite

content with his role in life but "he never quite understood that of John

Hay":3

. Adams saw no office that he wanted, and he gravely
thought that from his point of View, in the long run, he was
likely to be a more useful citizen without office. He could
at least act as audience, and, in those days, a Washington
audience seldom filled even a small theatre. He felt quite
well satisfied to look on, and from time to time he thought
he might risk a criticism of the players; but though he

 

1Peterson and Levy, op. cit., p. 139.
2Henry Adams, op. cit., pp. 340—341.
31bid., p. 323.

 

275
found his own position regular, he never quite understood
that of John Hay. The Republican leaders treated Hay as one
of themselves; they asked his services and took his money
with a freedom that staggered even a hardened observer;
but they never needed him in equivalent office. In Washington
Hay was the only competent man in the party for diplomatic
work. He corresponded in his powers of usefulness exactly
with Lord Granville in London, who had been for forty years
the saving grace of every Liberal administration in turn.
Had usefulness to the public service been ever a question,
Hay should have had a first-class mission under Hayes;
should have been placed in the Cabinet by Garfield, and
should have been restored to it by Harrison. These gentle-
men were always using him; always invited his services,
and always took his money.1

This gross oversight of his friend's talents on the part of the
politicians was to be remedied in a manner that suggests, again,
Adams's concept of a mechanical determinism governing the interplay
of social forces and the absence of freedom of the will in the historic
process. Hay, himself, might have borrowed from one of his own
poems to describe the chain of events that led to his rise in power:

Good Luck is the gayest of all gay girls,

Long in one place she will not stay,

Back from your brow she strokes the curls,

Kisses you quick and flies away.2
Luck, in this instance, was Hay's friendship with Major William McKin—
ley of Ohio. "John Hay," states Dennett, "owed his position in life to
his association with Abraham Lincoln; his position in American history
he owed to his friendship with William McKinley. And yet, but for their
official positions, it seems unlikely that Hay would ever have known
either of them intimately. McKinley was not, any more than Lincoln,

the kind of man Hay was accustomed to pick for a friend."3

Hay's earliest association with McKinley stemmed from the years
of politics in Ohio and from the fact that, though later moving to Wash-

ington, as "an earnest Republican, he took great interest in politics and

 

1Ibid., pp. 323-324.

2"Good and Bad Luck," The Complete Poetical Works, p. 215-

3Dennett, John Hay, p. 177.

 

 

 

276

and cooperated with the managers of the Republican cause in Ohio. . . ."1

Hay, who often had the bad luck to back men who were unsuccessful
aspirants for the presidency, was to have a change of luck with the
emergency of one of the greatest political managers yet to come from
Ohio; Marcus Alonzo Hanna of Cleveland. A rather harsh sketch of the
McKinley— Hanna relationship is drawn by Hacker and Kendrick:

Hanna and McKinley make a curious constellation in Amer-

ica's political annals. They were joined, apparently, by

mutual feelings of sympathy, understanding, and admiration.

It almost seemed that their characters complemented each

other: the politician was simple—mannered and amiable,- the

businessman was arrogant, self—possessed, and a firm

believer in his own destiny. Hanna's adult life had been

exactly like that of hundreds of captains of industry in whose

company he moved. He had started out as a dealer in coal

and iron; and he had ended by owning iron and coal mines,

railroads, a shipbuilding company, a newspaper, a bank, a

street traction company, and an opera house. He had,

finally, become the director of the destinies of the Repub—

lican party in Ohio. In his person there was exemplified

that union between politics and industrial capitalism that

had become the prevailing characteristic of American pub—

lic life.2

As a congressman from Ohio, McKinley had made the tariff the
field of his particular interest; and with the writing of the Tariff Act of
1890 by his committee, his name had gone "up and down the land as the
friend of protectionism."3 McKinley had gone down to defeat that same
year in his bid for re—election to Congress but, through the efforts of
Hanna, was elected governor of Ohio in 1891 and again in 1893. McKin—
ley's career as governor was not entirely a happy one in that he had
endorsed the notes of an acquaintance who defaulted —— and facing
financial ruin as a result, McKinley paid his debts in full through the

efforts of Hanna.

 

1Rhodes, The McKinley and Roosevelt Administrations, 1897-
1909, p. 123.

2Hacker and Kendrick, The United States since 1865, pp. 264—

 

 

265.
31bid., p. 265.

 

 

 

e W ' ’_-r' :-

277
A some what different and more sympathetic picture is drawn of

the McKinley~ Hanna association by James Ford Rhodes:

Hanna's admiration for McKinley was profound. He shared
his belief in the protective tariff as something sacred and
not to be touched by profane hands. A man put forward for
the presidential nomination should lose no opportunity for
seeing influential men in the several States and commending
himself to them by his personal bearing. Once when Hanna
had with some difficulty secured an assemblage of men to
meet the prospective candidate in an Eastern city, McKin-
ley sent regrets on account of the illness of an invalid wife.
This, for the moment, irritated Hanna as he thought that the
wife might in her chronic condition have been left to the
care of a doctor and nurse, as she was by no means dan-
gerously ill and that McKinley might have kept the engage-
ment which would have been a signal aid to his candidacy.
This misfortune seemed to Hanna a considerable obstacle
in the path of McKinley's advancement yet he was so struck
with the man's sublime devotion to his invalid wife that he
could not help exclaiming, ”McKinley is a saint."1

Hay's own reaction to the McKinley "boom" under the auspices of
Hanna, as the country approached the presidential election year of 1896,

is revealed in a letter to Henry Adams:

.I spent yesterday with the. Majah EVIcKinleyI. I had
been dreading it for a month, thinking it would be like talking
in a boiler— factory. But he met me at the station, gave me
meat, and, calmly and serenely as if we were summer
boarders in Beverly at a loss for means to kill time. I was
more struck than ever with his mask. It is a genuine Italian
ecclesiastical face of the fifteenth century. And there are
idiots who think Mark Hanna will run him!

You are making the mistake of your life in not reading
my speech. There is good stuff in it--to live and die by.
If you read it in a reverent and prayerful spirit, it might
make you a postmaster. You are not interested in political
news. If you were, I would give you a pointer. The Majah
has a cinch——and don't you forget it.2

The humorous reference to his speech was made by Hay, however,

with an undertone of seriousness. Hay had watched with interest Hanna's

promotion of McKinley's candidacy and, as early as October 25, 1895,

 

1Rhodes, op. cit., p. 10.
2"Letters and Diary," III, p. 78.

 

 

 

 

 

. JIII. I 11.1.). ...IIJIJ.

278
had written Adams: "I think McKinley is much 'forrider' [sic] than a
few months ago. The faithful think For aker is pulling straight, and

there are anguilles sous roches that betoken an early collapse of other
1
H

 

booms.

Another "boom" was taking shape with the rise of Populism,
during the 1890's, and the issue of the free coinage of silver that many
advocated as a cure for the nation's economic ills following the panic
of 1893. Popular support for President Cleveland's second administra—
tion became alienated not only as a result of the hard times that fol-
lowed the panic, but also as the result of his having brought the country
to the brink of war with Great Britain in 1895. The crises occurred
when the President, almost without warning, issued a defiant message
to the British Government when he insisted upon the recognition of the
interest of the United States in the settlement of the Venezuelan boundary
dispute. Cleveland declared that the United States would uphold the

 

Monroe Doctrine "against all comers" and that England must arbitrate
her controversy with Venezuela. Hay wrote his brother-in- law on
December 31, 1895: ". . . . It is incumbent on all sane men to be very
careful how far they commit themselves to the support of one in so
disturbed state of mind as the President at this moment. The man who
could write so headlong a message, and follow it a few days later with
that panicky cry for help from Congress—-and then allow Carlisle to
say that no help was needed, is a most unsafe guide to follow."2 There
were many of the same opinion in the President's own party, and, as
the country approached the campaign of 1896, Cleveland found himself
moving farther and farther away from public opinion and his desertion
by his party at the Democratic convention was received with little

protest.

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, II, p. 141. Governor Joseph B.
For aker was another Ohio aspirant. Thayer states that the allusion to
the "eels under the rocks” seems to imply that Hanna's intrigues were
beginning to tell.

2Thayer, Life and Letters, 11, pp. 141-142.

 

 

 

 

279
The important contest at the Democratic convention ranged around

the matter of its platform, which in final form favored free silver at the
sixteen—to-one ratio, criticized the use of injunctions in labor disputes,
and denounced the overthrow of the Federal income tax. In its behalf
William Jennings Bryan delivered his ”Cross of Gold" oration and
gained the support of the silver delegates by his effective answers to
the criticisms of the silver plank in the platform by the administration
orators. As a result of the impetus gained from his Speech and the
fact that he appealed to the delegates as the Democrat who could unite
the silver and agrarian factions of the party, the nomination was given

to Bryan.

When the Republican convention turned to nominations, Foraker
of Ohio presented the name of Major William McKinley. Still grateful
for a compromise arrangement with Hanna which was sending him to
the U. S. Senate, Foraker spoke in the dual role of politician and pro-
phet: "My countrymen, let not your hearts be troubled; the darkest
hour is just before the day. The twentieth century will dawn bright and
clear; God lives, the Republican party is coming back to power and
William McKinley is to be President of the United States."1 At least
part of the prophecy was to be fulfilled with the help of the delegates,
for they gave McKinley a first ballot nomination. The stage was now
set for one of the most spectacular political campaigns in American

history.

The Platform of Anarchy

 

Bryan's oratorical ability was exploited by the Democrats, and
they sent their nominee back and forth across the country on speaking
tours with telling effect. As the campaign reached its climax, enormous
crowds gathered to hear Bryan; and by the end of summer the Repub—

licans, who imagined that they would win with ease, were no longer

 

1George H. Mayer, The Republican Party, 1854—1964, p. 249.

 

 

 

 

 

 

280
complacent. The alarm of the Republicans is reflected in a letter of

September 8, 1896, when Hay wrote to Adams:

What a dull and serious campaign we are having! The Boy
Orator makes only one speech——but he makes it twice a
day. There is no fun in it. He simply reiterates the unques-
tioned truths that every man who has a clean shirt is a
thief and ought to be hanged; that there is no goodness or
wisdom except among the illiterate and criminal classes;
that gold is vile; that silver is lovely and holy; in short,
very much such speeches as you would make if you were
here. He has succeeded in scaring the Goldbugs out of their
wits; if he had scared them a little, they would have come
down handsome to Hanna. But he has scared them so blue
that they think they had better keep what they have got left
in their pockets against the evil day. Your friend George
Fred Williams 1 weeps in public over the wickedness of the
Goldbugs and does not appear to get reconciled to the [kicks]
which they are giving him. He is, so far as I know, the only
blossgm of the Mugwump garden who has gone wrong this
year.

In sharp contrast to the Bryan campaign, Hanna and the Republi-
can management kept McKinley at his home in Canton, Ohio, where
carefully selected delegations made formal calls and listened to "front
porch" speeches by the candidate. The Republicans, like the Demo—
crats, also were guilty states Matthew Josephson -— of appealing to the

lowest of motives and inflaming class hate in their campaign oratory:

Nor did the high command of the Republican campaign halt
at provoking the most violent class hate. Aggressive young
Republican orator s, such as Henry Cabot Lodge and Theo—
dore Roosevelt, then the Police Commissioner ofNew York,
and even respectable ministers of the church, attempted to
outdo with their billingsgate firebrands like Tillman.
Altgeld was chosen as the main target of attack; he was
"the crowned hero and worshipped deity of the anarchists
of the Northwest," who used the pliable Bryan as his pawn,
said Dr. Lyman Abbot. On October 16, 1896, before a
crowd of 15,000 in Altgeld's own city of Chicago, Theodore
Roosevelt, who this seas on distinguished himself as a pic-
turesque stump orator, characterized the Governor of
Illinois as "one who condones and encourages the most

 

 

 

lFormer Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts who
joined the Bryan faction of the party.

2Thayer, Life and Letters, II, p. 151.

 

   

. .l‘. ..1. ...ul... ii!....~l. V‘u!...i...
.I.|. .....I.fl|.1.l . ...I..... I‘ n u.. . . 11....

I
.I .... ¥..

l

infamous of murders,‘ and "would substitute for the

government of Washington and Lincoln. . . . ared govern~
ment of lawlessness and dishonesty as fantastic andvicious
as the Paris Commune. . . . Bryan. . . . would steal from

the creditors of the nation half of what they have saved."
The sophisticated John Hay delivered himself of a coldly
conceived piece of vituperation entitled "The Platform of
Anarchy, "which was broadcast by the Eastern press.

The address of Hay‘s referred to had an amusing history in that
it was never delivered as a speech. Hay had written President Thwing
of Western Reserve University late in September of 1896 that he wished
to be invited to address the student Republican Club of the University
but that he might not be able to come in person. However, with an
invitation from the faculty and students, he would be provided with
an opportunity to print the address and have it circulated. The invita—
tion was immediately forthcoming, and the address was delivered
October 7 "in the form of several thousand pamphlets from the job

.”2

press of the Cleveland Leader. Hay's rather strained definition

of the term "address" is given by Dennett:

"The word 'address, ' " he explained in a letter to Dr. Thwing,
is non— commital and does not necessarily connote the
living voice."3

The most amusing part of the story is continued in Dennett's

narrative:

The faithful Tribune on the same day carried extracts from
it with the following introductory paragraph:

"Cleveland, Oct. 6 (Special)—-Immediately on the opening of
Western Reserve University for the fall term President
Thwing, at the request of the faculty and students of that
institution, invited Colonel John Hay to address them on the
political issues of the hour. He responded today in an
address, from which the following passages are taken." The
Tribune also commented on the speech editorially, and
hailed Hay as belonging in the front rank of political orators,
but neither in the pamphlet nor in the Tribune was there any

 

1Matthew Josephson, The Politicos, 1865—1896, p. 700.

 

2Dennett, John Hay, p. 178.
Ibid.

 

 

 

 

 

Anarchy,

282
hint that the author, far from being in Cleveland that day
was actually still at his summer home on Lake Sunapee.1

Some of the passages of Hay's ”address," "The Platform of

with which the campaign of 1896 was waged. Hay described the results

of the Cleveland administration as follows:

The apostles of free trade gained a hearing, and the
Republicans were defeated. The Democrats came, for the
first time in the memory of most of the present generation,
into full control of every branch of the Government. They
had the President, the Senate and the House of Representa-
tives. But it was a queer combination; and Benjamin Har—
rison, looking at it with a clear and sagacious eye, undimmed
by defeat, called it a "team of wild horses." He was right——
they would not work in harness. They did, to do them jus—
tice; the worst they could; and it was not the fault of the
President nor of the Democratic leaders that the tariff bill
which finally became a law was not far worse than it was.
It was bad enough—-from every point of view; "the team of
wild horses" themselves shied at it. The President saw in
it only "perfidy and dishonor,’l and refused to sign it; it
went into force, doomed from the start by the voice of both
parties to disastrous and disgraceful failure. It worked out
its doom. The Supreme Court decided one important sec-
tion of it to be in violation of the Constitution. The rest of
it has gone on, wrecking everything it has touched. All our
industries have felt its blighting influence. Fires have gone
out; wheels have ceased to turn; shutters have been closed,
all over the country. A decline of values has taken place
greater than would have followed a year of war. Even the
revenue, which it was pretended was the motive of this ill-
starredlegislation, has not profited by it. A steady, gaping
deficit of some fifty millions a year stares us in the face.
The debt, which under Republican policy had been reduced,
in the years that followed the war, in a measure which
compelled the wonder of the world, has begun to grow again,
having been increased by Mr. Cleveland 3. quarter of a
billion dollars-—and the end is not yet. Nobodyhas profited,
unless it be a few importers, and a few English Manufac—
turers, who find their opportunity in the distress of our
industries. American securities are a drug in the markets
of the world.

"2 are quoted here in that they mirror the heat and intensity

 

11bid., pp. 178-179.

The Text of this Speech is found in pamphlet form, (Cleveland:
Leader Printing Company, 1896), John Hay Collection, Library of
Adelbert College, Western Reserve University.

 

 

 

 

 

mm, ,1

283
f "The application of Republican principles is and should be,”

stated Hay, "as wide and beneficient as the shadow of the flag. Our
only invitation to our opponents was 'Come! let us reason together.

Let us see which is right and which is wrong. We hope to beat you,

but your defeat will benefit you as much as us.'" Hay then launched
into a blistering attack on the Democratic convention, which had nom-
inated Bryan as the standard bearer, and on the Democratic platform
in particular. Saying that the Republicans had looked forward to a
"fair and loyal campaign between the two great parties," Hay contended

that the Democratic party had failed to control their ”lawless asso—

ciates and "in the twinkling of an eye the whole face of the campaign

was changed":

The explanation of their action lies partly in causes having
their rise in the intricacies of politics moving obscurely in
the woods and mountains of the interior, in the dark places
of the South, in the slums of great cities, in the counting
houses of rich traders and miners, and partly in the acci—
dental influences of heat and worry and thirst—~problems,
as they say in the West, of drouth and irrigation—-on a vast
crowd huddled together without previous acquaintance and
exciting each other by competitive violence of speech.
These causes are too far to seek; we have only to deal with
their results. Certainly no madder outcome of an assembly
supposed to be sane and deliberative has been seen in the
world for a hundred years. Nothing resembling it has been
known since the half—demented clubs of Paris, when the old
French civilization was rocking to its fall, delivered their
daily defiances to all existing institutions.

 

 

Let us look at a few clauses of the Chicago Platform, and
i see in how many places they hurl their frantic challenge
against every feature of our civilization.

1. They denounce, not only the President of their own party,
but the executive power itself. At the instigation of men
like Debs and Altgeld they condemn the prompt and
patriotic action of the President and of Attorney General
Olney, which saved Chicago from sack and pillage, as
"arbitrary interference by Federal authorities in local
affairs" and "a violation of the Constitution" and "a
crime against free institutions." The proper and com-
mendable resort to the common law writ of injunction
against illegal organization they denounce as "a new and
highly dangerous form of oppression." They make them-
selves the mouthpiece of law—breakers, and demand
freedom for them and shackles for the Government which
should seek by legal means to restrain them.

 

1 , , .mpmn, ,, Jim,

 

 

 

284
And, for fear the platform had not committed him far
enough to this new policy of anarchy, Mr. Bryan, in his
letter of acceptance, has made a still more amazing bid
for the suffrages of lawbreakers by emphasizing this
clause, and by virtually binding his own hands, should he
become President, against any enforcement of the
national laws by national authority in case a Governor
of a State should unfortunately be terrified by or in
sympathy with a mob. He thus pledges himself, in a
case like that of Chicago, to let rapine and murder rage
unchecked unless some future Altgeld should request
him to interfere.

. If there is one sentiment more deeply implanted in the
hearts of American citizens than any other it is that of
respect for our courts of justice, and especially for
those august tribunals, the Federal and the Supreme
Courts. By a century of wise and upright administration
of justice-—with as few errors as was possible to any
human institution——they have gained the respect and
reverence of this nation and the admiration of the world.
It was left to this bedlamite convention to assail with its
utmost venom this honored bench. In one place they
denounce "life tenure in office." They would have the
power lodged in a successful faction to drag the judges
from their places whenever they are dissatisfied with a
decision. They even propose a "reconstitution" of the
Supreme Court for the purpose of packing it in favor of
an income tax. Imagine for an instant what sort of a
Court the Chicago Convention would have substituted, if
it had had the power, for that majestic body where Mar-
shall and Chase have left the tradition of their glorious
and impressive presence. Would it amuse Mr. Altgeld
to reverse the decisions of Chief Justice Fuller ? Would
Mr. Debs, perhaps, like to utilize in Constitutional ques-
tions his experience of jail life and the Keeley cure?

. There are few departments of administration on which
this convention has not laid a band of ignorant and reck—
less interference. "We are opposed," it says, "to the
issuing of interest—bearing bonds of the United States in
time of peace." They have given us a tariff which does
not produce revenue enough to pay the expenses of the
government. They refuse to the government the relief
of such revision of the tariff as Shall produce an ade-
quate revenue. How, in these circumstances, is the
government to be carried on without borrowing, and who
will lend it money without interest? This is the merest
babble of the loafers around a rural livery stable.

. Of like inconsequence and folly is their proposal to
abolish our national banking system and to substitute for
it a flood of legal tender issued by the government of the
United States. There seems no end to their self-con-
tradictions. In one place they deprecate "the centralization

 

 

 

 

O)

. In accordance with this tendency is the clause of their

. But all these appeals to the baser passions of men, to

285
of governmental power"; in another they claim that the
government shall be the only bank of issue. In one breath
they denounce their own administration for putting a stop
to riot and disorder which was preventing the transmis—
sion of the mails by the railroads, and in another they
call for "a stricter control by the Federal Government
of those arteries of commerce." There is one purpose
underlying all these inconsistencies. They would weaken
the hands of the government to the point of absolute
impotence where it is inclined to protect order and prop-
erty. They would make it despotically strong where the
object is to promote disorder and override the fundamen-
tal law in the interest of faction.

platform which demands outright the abolition of all that
measure of reform of the civil service to which we have
so painfully and so gradually attained, and a frank and
cynical return to the spoils system, which has been con-
demned by both parties and by the public conscience, as
wasteful, unbusiness-like and demoralizing. It is an
appeal to vulgar greed similar to that made by their
candidate at Ada, when he Spoke of himself, with inde—
cent levity, as interesting because of the offices he soon
hoped to distribute.

the destructive elements of society, are regarded by the
framers of the Chicago platform, as strictly subordinate,
if not wholly insignificant, beside the grand bid which
they make to ignorant cupidity in their financial clause——
in their demand for the free, unlimited and independent
coinage of silver, without the concurrence of other nations;
insisting upon the ratio of sixteen to one, when the mar—
ket rate is thirty—two to one: upon giving Silver dollars

a full legal tender quality for all debts public and private;
asking for legislation to prevent men from promising to
pay in gold: and denouncing the government for giving its
creditors the option of payment in gold or silver. They
have chosen to make their campaign upon this clause
alone. In the other planks we have spoken of they have
made their appeal, with brutal frankness, to the openly
lawless and greedy; but in this they hope to decieve,
bewilder and confuse the great mass of farmers and wage—
earners, whose intentions are honest, to make them
believe that their interests lie in overturning the entire
fabric of our present financial system. They make a
pretense of reiterating their free trade doctrine in their
platform; but their orators on the stump refuse to enter
into any discussion of the tariff——the subject above all
important to a country with a deficit——and their candidate
himself, in his letter of acceptance, expressly says he
will not talk about tariff until free coinage is secured.
After all, we may commend their prudence in this

 

 

 

 

286
procedure. The events of the last few years have made
almost everybody more or less protectionists. The dis—
inclination of our opponents to discuss the question
merely shows that in that direction they have only defeat
to expect. It remains to be seen whether they can suc—
ceed in this new attempt to arrive at power by an appeal
to lawlessness and greed.

Instead of a debate on the "ways and means of government; we are
challenged to fight for the government itself," contended Hay; and
instead of talking over a better way to pay our debts, the Democrats
give us a ”harangue in favor of cheating our creditors.H In fact, Hay
looked upon the Democratic platform as a threat to civilization itself:
"Civilization itself is attacked. We are challenged to go back a thou—
sand years to the dark ages of brute force, before the modern ideas of
well—ordered commerce, equal laws, and national honor had arisen on
the wo rld's horizon. It is as if a champion at a tourney, awaiting the
onset of a chivalrous antagonist, Should suddenly find himself attacked

by a lunatic in rags."

Actually the contest was not with the Democratic party at all, but
rather with the Populists, who, according to Hay, "though vastly infer—
ior in numbers to that of the Democrats, it has yet succeeded in

swallowing it, as a python might swallow an ox":

The candidate for President is a Populist--both candidates
for Vice-President are Populists in principle, though the

one is a "bloated bondholder," and the other an agitator in
want of a job. All that is left of the party is rank Populist.

Its unquestioned leaders are the Altgelds, the Tillmans, the
Debses, the moral dynamiters, whose lawlessness stops

just short of the criminal courts. There is hope and cheer
for our civilization in the fact that so many self—respecting
Democrats refuse to follow these reckless leaders into the
Slough. The blast of scorn and reprobation which came the
other day from the cool hills of Vermont, and again from the
rock—bound coast of Maine, showed that thousands of the
Democrats of those gallant States counted party ties as
nothing when questions of common sense and common honesty
were at stake; and we confidently look for similar demonstra—
tions from every State in the Union. But we cannot, see
without regret that even in New England there were still
many thousand Democrats who at the bidding of a convention
proved false to the better teachings of all their leaders in
the past and voted for this platform of dishonor and chaos.

 

 

 

 

287
Hay then addressed himself to the issue which typified the campaign

of 1896. The Republicans, in their party platform, had declared for the
gold standard until bimetallism could be secured by international agree-
ment; while the Democrats favored free Silver at the sixteen—to—one
ratio. Hay's detailed development of this issue included a brief history
of the monetary problem from the birth of the Republic itself. This
section of the address, used by many Republican orators as resource

material during the campaign, is presented here in its entirety:

The first thing we have to notice about this free silver busi—
ness is that it is a campaign of false pretenses. Mr. Bryan
and his followers call themselves bi—metallists, a name to
which they have no right whatever. They are silver mono-
metallists, and nothing else. Some of the best minds of this
and other countries have been devoting themselves for years
I to the study of the question of bi—metallism, with a hope of

1 bringing about an international agreement for a larger use

i of silver upon some ratio with gold which shall not be too

K violently opposed to the known facts of production and mar-
ket value. The re is much to be said on this question, for
which I have neither the time nor the capacity. It is the
custom of Mr. Bryan in his public speeches to select the
least promising—looking man in his audience and to scream
at him: "You understand this matter better than all the
financiers in London or Wall street." I am free to confess
that, after some years of reading and study, I am by no

me ans clear as to the possibility of the adoption of a double
standard even by international agreement. It is a matter
which can only be decided—-first, by the investigations of the
leading economists of the world, and then by actual experi-
ment. But there is one thing absolutely without doubt-—that
all the scientific bi-metallists of the world are agreed in
saying that the adoption of free coinage of silver by the
United States alone would result in disastrous failure for us,
and would put an end to the possibility of bi-metallism any—
where for years to come. All the intelligent bi—metallists
of America, with General F. A. Walker at their head; all
those of England, led by Mr. Balfour; all the German schol—
ars, represented by Dr. Arendt, agree in this. The free
coinage of silver, as advocated by the Chicago platform,
means the instant disappearance of gold from our currency
and the abandonment of all efforts for geniune bi—metallism.

 

The free silver movement is not only tainted, even in its
name, with false pretenses; the argument for it stands
throughout on false foundations. 1ts origin is in a fiction;

its present pretensions are based on the assertion of a state
of things which does not exist; it forecasts a future which

is not possible. Let me touch, most briefly, on these three
points; and let me beg your pardon in advance for reiterating

 

 

i

288
once more what you are all familiar with, and what you may
have frequently heard much better said than I can say it?
One of the disadvantages of this extraordinary campaign is
that we must be continually repeating the Ten Command-
ments and the multiplication table as if they were novelties.

First, of course, we must refer to the charge of the Bryanites
that all our woes spring from what they call "the crime of
'73"-—the vote in Congress by which the silver dollar ceased
to be included in our coinage, which they claim to have been
surreptitiously and secretly done, as the result of a con-
spiracy of John Sherman and European bankers. This is one
of the most singular and tenacious delusions of modern
times. It is as absurd as to accuse John Sherman of the
murder of a man who is walking your streets alive and well
to—day; yet it is believed with passionate fury of conviction
by thousands of men. The men who invented the legend and
who proclaim it daily in every tone, now lachrymose, now
abusive and threatening, do not believe a word of it, as I shall
Show you in a moment——but thousands of those who have
heard it, do believe it, and make a sort of strange religion
of their faith. Nothing can be simpler than the story of the
act in question. It was merely the recognition by statute of

a state of things which already existed in reality; silver dol—
lars had long before that date ceased to be coined. The ratio
of silver to gold, as originally adopted in 1792, after most
careful inquiry, was 15 to 1. This proved unsatisfactory.

It led to the exportation of our dollars and they ceased to

be coined in 1806, under President Jefferson. The market
ratio slowly changed and gold began to grow scarce about
1810; by 1817 it had disappeared from circulation. From
that time till 1834, our metallic money consisted altogether
of silver. In 1834, when Jackson was President the ratio

of 16 to 1 was adopted, but as Silver was slightly under—
valued at that ratio, very little was coined. It was profitable
to send our silver to France where the ratio was 15-1/2

to 1, and have it coined there. Gold thus became our only
coin of circulation, under the administration of Andrew
Jackson and with his hearty approval. You see if our
Populist friends insist on John Sherman going into the
criminal's dock, we will give him good Democratic company.
In l853——under another Democratic administration, that of
President Pierce—-silver was still further demonetized,
and placed in the rank of subsidiary coinage. From this
time on, the silver dollar disappeared from our coinage,
until the flood of paper made necessary by the stress of the
rebellion, carried away all metallic circulations of every
kind.

After the war ended, the Republican party, grappling with
the evils of our paper currency with that same integrity it
has always shown in national affairs, went about the work
of restoring specie payments at the earliest possible

moment. The overhauling of our coinage laws was one of

 

 

 

 

L—L‘.IW++

“fo:,~51- ._ ..—-—:¢_.__ .7:: WM.“ W,— ‘w‘ m

2 .
the first moves to that end. A bill for this purpose was
prepared in the Treasury Department, then under the charge
of Secretary Boutwell, with the greatest care and the most
profound research; every one versed in the art and science
of coinage was consulted, and the bill when completed
embodied the best results of all the information at the dis-
position of the Department. It was submitted to Congress
in April, 1870. It repeated the principal provisions of the
law of 1853, discontinuing the coinage of the dollar and
retaining the fractional silver currenCy. The bill received
the'attention of Congress, off and on, for three years. There
was no hurry, no pressure for its passage; resumption was
nine years away, and there was plenty of time to discuss its
details thoroughly. It was printed thirteen times; the debates
on it in the Senate fill 66 columns of the record and those in
the House 78: the discontinuance of the silver dollar was
especially discussed. It attracted little public attention
simply because the dollar had ceased to circulate nearly
forty years before. It became a law on the 12th of February.
1873. by a vote of both Houses which was virtually unani-
mous. This is the history of the crime of 1873 divested of
its fantastic legend. I have said I would Show you that the
authors of the legend did not believe in it, any more than
Joe Smith believed in the Mormon Bible, which he colported
about among the farmers of Northern Ohio. This promise
is easy to keep. The silver Senators of Nevada—‘—the prin—
cipal propagators of this delusion-—themselves supported
and urged the passage of this coinage law. They were then,
as they are now, active and influential members of the
Senate, thoroughly versed in questions of coinage, fully
alive to all matters interesting their constituents. If there
was a crime committed, their hands were in it, up to the
elbows. They were conscious of their work and were proud
of it for years afterward. In 1874 Senator Jones said, in
his place in the Senate: "I believe the sooner we come down .
to a purely gold standard, the better for the country.H Often,
in the long financial debate of that year, he repeated in the
most emphatic terms, his conviction that gold was the only
adequate standard of value for civilized nations. Senator
Stewart, in the same debate, (June 12th, 1874), said: HThe
laboring man and the producer is entitled to have his product
and his labor measured by the same standard of the world
that measures your national debt. * =I< * The question will
neverlbe settled until you determine the simple question
whether the laboring man is entitled to have a gold dollar
if he earns it, or whether you are going to cheat him with
something else." I will not weary You with further citations.
The Speeches of both these Senators are luminous with the
praises of gold as the only true standard of value.

But alas for poor human nature! There came a time when
silver, through its enlarged and cheaper production, lost
its relative value to gold, and the silver mines of Nevada,

 

 

 

 

 

290
of which these eminent statesmen are large owners, needed
a market for their product. They then began the propaganda
which they still keep up, with ever—increasing heat and
clamor, for the free coinage of silver. Now, I do not mean
to say, they may not believe that the free coinage of silver
is a good thing. My observation teaches me that men's
opinions are influenced by their acts, more than their acts
by their opinions. It is, therefore, charitable to allow that
these silver senators are now sincere when they advocate
free silver as the best public policy. But no stretch of
charity can make us believe them in earnest when they
denounce our honored Senator Sherman as the author of
that "crime of '73,H which was a proper and matter of
course act of administrative and legislative routine, in
which they heartily participated, and which for years after-
ward they boldly avowed and strenuously defended.

It is thus seen that the story of the "crime of '73," is
entirely without foundation in fact. The accounts which
Populist orators give us of the results of that act are
equally devoid of foundation. They say that "silver having
been stricken down" by the legislation of 1873, we are suf-
fering from a dearth of money thus occasioned. If we can
Show that more silver has been coined since 1873 than ever
before, and that we have more money in circulation than
then, is there anything left of the Populist contention?

In 1875, the Resumption act provided for an issue of silver
fractional currency with a legal tender quality up to ten
dollars. These coins were largely circulated. Then the
Bland bill, as modified in the Senate by Senator Allison,
authorized the Secretary of the Treasury to purchase sil—
ver at the market price, not more than $4,000,000 worth or
less than $2,000,000 per month, and cause it to be coined
into silver dollars. It also authorized the issue of certifi-
cates against that coin deposited in the Treasury. Vetoed
by President Hayes, but passed over his veto, the bill
became a law, and the United States purchased 291,000,000
ounces of silver at a cost of $308,279,260. Even this
immense purchase failed to check the rapid decline in the
value of silver; and Congress interposed again in 1890
(July 14,) with the Bill called the Sherman act for the pur—
chase of 4,500,000 ounces per month and the issuance of
legal tender certificates therefor. This final experimen —-
after fair trial and at disastrous cost, after the purchase of
168,000,000 ounces--failed like those which had preceded
it, and the bill was repealed on the list of November, 1893.

It is hard to account for a delusion so strange as that which
makes the staple of POpulist oratory~-that the crime of '73
put a stop to the coinage of silver in this country, and that
a dearth of money has resulted. "In the good old days when
silver was free" to which Mr. Bryan wishes us to return—-
that is, in the years from 1792 to 1873, eight millions of

 

 

 

 

291
dollars in all were coined. Since silver was "stricken
down," it has been coined to an extent never before dreamed
of in our history; four hundred and thirty millions of silver
dollars have been added to the currency, more than fifty
times as many as were in the country in the years "before
the crime."

As to the alleged dearth of money, the report of the Treas-
ury Department shows that we have in actual circulation
among the people, in addition to the amount in the Treasury,
fifteen hundred millions of dollars of all sorts, some $22

or $23 per capita for every man, woman and child in the
country. In 1860, in the days before the war, we got on with
$13.85. In 1865, when the country was still submerged by
the flood of paper money rendered necessary by the war,
we had $20.57. In 1878, in the midst of the preparation for
specie resumption it was $15.32. Since then it has risen
gradually to about twenty—two dollars per person. There is
some fluctuation in the exact amount, according to the
greater or less demand in the business world for a circu—
lating medium; but it ranges between $21 and $24; a larger
amount than is carried by any first- class commercial
nation in the world except France. Germany has no such
amount; nor has England with all her colossal commerce
and glut of gold. There is no dearth, and consequently no
special appreciation of gold. Its production is continually
increasing. In 1886, the world produced $109,000,000.
Three years later the product rose to $127,000,000. In
1892 it was $146,000,000. In 1894, $180,000,000. There is
no gold famine in prospect. It is, it always will be, "heavy
to get and hard to hold"—-that is what makes it valuable;--
but there is as yet nothing to show there will not be enough
of it produced to satisfy the requirements of the world's
exchanges, and to serve as a basis for the far vaster opera-
tions of credit.

Looking upon the Populist promises for the future as "Visionary
as their stories of the past and their assertions as to the present, "
Hay contended that Bryan's argument represented a contradiction in
terms: "He tells us that when he has established free coinage of silver
we can buy bullion at 53 cents and pay our debts with it at a dollar, and
the next minute he says that the moment we have free coinage the price

' This was, Hay said, the most

of silver will go to 129 cents an ounce.I
. "remarkable instance of eating your cake and having it too, " and "one

hardly knows what to think of the mental constitution even of a ‘boy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

292
orator' who is capable of such an utterance." To Hay, the Populist

argument ranked close to outright thievery:

No Populist declaimer has ever told us how the man who
owes something and has nothing to pay with is to get those
wonder—working dollars under free coinage. To hear them
talk you would think that silver dollars were to rain from
the skies, or sprout from the earth like mushrooms. There
is no way under heaven of gaining money except by earning
it, receiving it as a gift, or stealing it. We do not think
that in either of these ways will acquisition be easier under
free coinage than it is now. The thieves are always a small
part of the population, and need not be considered. No sane
man believes that if Altgeld and Debs were in charge of
affairs they would give us money of any coinage. They
would not have it to spare. They are not much given, we
hear, to Scripture reading, but they would be sure, if any
amount of money came into their hands, to reflect that he
who careth not for his own household is worse than an
infidel. No; money must be earned, in the future as in the
past, and it will not be earned more easily when the busi—
ness of the country is prostrate and panic devastates our
finances. Mr. Bryan's assertion that our adoption of free
coinage will double the price of silver is an idle phrase,
unsupported by reason or by proof, and contradicted by all
financial science and history. One nation, standing by itself,
can no more double the market price of Silver throughout
the world than one broker could, unassisted, double the
market price of cotton. By offering double he could do a
lively business for one day, but the next day he would put
up his shutters, and the place that once knew him would
know him no more. There is something pathetic in the
sight of these thousands of men--mainly honest and well-
meaning-—listening to the words of a glib-tongued adven~
turer, promising them fairy money for their votes. Times
are difficult; there is little to earn and many to keep; work
is hard to get and scantily paid. It is not unnatural that the
sore beset wage earner should sometimes seek consolation
in the tinkling words of the agitator, who promises him the
golden age for his ballot. He can promise what he pleases;
talk is cheap; the promise of millions may bring him a
round of applause, and that is the last of it for him. He is
responsible for his lies to no tribunal but to heaven and his
conscience, and heaven is far away and his conscience has
gone out of business. He enjoys himself for a season or
two, and when the time for accounting comes he is generally
safe in his own obscurity and in the forgetfulness of a good—
natured people; but for those who have listened to his irre-
sponsible chatter and given their ballots for a policy of insane
experiment there is left a long repentance of hunger and
idleness and misery.

 

 

 

 

 

 

293
In considering the eventuality of a Bryan victory, Hay warned

that it would require no legislation ”to effect this tremendous change in
our monetary system"; that it would only require one phrase from the
Secretary of the Treasury -- "cease paying gold," and the damage
would be done. Hay then proceeded to describe the financial crises

that would result:

This me ans that every one who has money owing him will
use his utmost endeavors to get it realized and in a place
of safety at the earliest possible moment. No one having
money will let it go, with a prospect of payment in depre-
ciated currency, unless at an enormous rate of interest or
discount. There will be a rage of foreclosures throughout
the land; who, under such circumstances would dare to
renew a mortgage? The avarice of the money- lenders,
whom Mr. Bryan hates so intensely that he would be willing
to risk the wreck of the country to injure them, would be
glutted by the forced acquisition of millions of property at
half—price. There would be, for the moment, no such thing
as credit: it could not live in such an atmosphere.

We do not me an that the country is going to be destroyed.

It will take more than one blunder, however vast and dis—
astrous, to destroy a country like this. Out of the wreck of
business which would follow the election of Bryan there
would come a reconstruction, more or less gradual, adjusted
to the new conditions. It is for us to consider what the new
conditions would be and what form the reconstruction would
take. Here again we are not left to conjecture; both these
points are clearly presented to us, the one in the Speeches
and platform of the Populists, the other in the plain lessons
of history and economic science.

After four months of panic induced by the mere threat of
silver monometallism, Mr. Bryan will, immediately on his
accession to office, place us officially on that basis. He will
be forced, both by his own pledges and by the condition of the
Treasury, to pay all public debts in silver; and this will
involve the acceptance of silver for all public dues. Nothing
but Silver and paper will be current in domestic transactions,
except under special contracts for gold, and it remains to

be seen how far the temptation to repudiation will carry this
particular class of debtors. But all our purchases abroad
must be paid for in gold, no matter at what sacrifice; this
will virtually double the prices paid for foreign commodities
and greatly diminish our business with the rest of the world.
The duties on our imports will be payable in silver or

paper based on silver alone, and thus the revenue, already
proved to be insufficient, will be still further reduced.

Mr. Bryan and his followers have declared against the

policy of borrowing money. What is left the Government,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

294

with him in the Presidency, a Secretary of the Treasury

of the same manufacture, a Congress which will have delib-

erately tied their hands against any sound financial action,

is a question which can only be left to conjecture as wild

and lawless as the Chicago platform itself. If they keep

their solemn pledges, nothing can be expected but still

further confusion and embarrassment, ending by a plunge

into national bankruptcy.

This change in the nation's monetary policy, Hay reasoned, would
lead first to deflation and then inflation; and in this ”juggler's play of
fluctuating values it is only the professional dealer in money who wins;

labor, in the end, pays the heaviest cost of every demagogic experiment."

The next passage of the address is Hay's response to the Populist
charge that the "Money Power" was in control of the destinies of the
Republican party. This issue of "Money Power" had not only been
stressed by Bryan during the campaign, but also reflected in many of
the political cartoons of the era. The obvious target of this criticism
were the large corporations who, prodded by Hanna, were pouring mil—
lions of dollars into the campaign in support of the Republican candi—
dates. Quoting from the Addresses of Senator Scott, Rhodes provides
an example of one of these political cartoons and its effect on Hanna:
"'1 Shall never forget,’ said Senator Scott of West Virginia, 'one
morning during the campaign of 1896 when Hanna handed me a New
York paper containing a cartoon of himself pictured as a huge monster,
clad in a suit covered with dollar marks, smoking an immense cigar,
and trampling under foot women and children until their eyes protruded
from the sockets and their skeleton forms writhed in agony. After I
had looked at it for a moment he said to me, 'That hurt."'1 If Hanna
read one of the thousands of pamphlets containing a reprint of Hay's
speech and the rebuttal to the "Money Power" allegation, he must have

felt somewhat assuaged in the bitterness of his feelings and marked

 

thodes, The McKinley and Roosevelt Administrations, 1897—
1909, p. 6.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

295
Hay’s name down for future reference as a deserving Republican. Hay's

answer to Bryan's charge concerning the "Money Power" is as follows:

Allow me one word on that favorite figment of the dema-
gogue's brain, that bugbear against which his most sul—
phurous oratory delights to thunder--the Money Power. It
is strange that a thing which does not exist and never existed
should pay the expense of such oceans of slack—jawed decla-
mation; but after all, as Speaker Reed said the other day,
ghosts have frightened more men than ever armies have,
and there never were any ghosts. There never was any
Money Power in the sense the Boy Orators give the word—-
a secret conspiracy of wealth against the people. Wealthy
men prosper most when the people prosper; rich individuals
are too busy looking out for themselves to waste time in
conspiring against the people. As to this country, it is easy
to track these noxious animals~-by whatever name you choose
to call them, the money power, the creditor class, or what—
ever epithet of infamy you prefer—~to track them to their
lairs and unmask their villanies. Five millions of them are
depositors in savings banks; they have eighteen hundred
millions of dollars laid away in those wicked recepticles.

In other banks, loan and trust associations three millions
and a half of miscreants have stored up some two thousand
millions, accumulated dollar by dollar in every trade and
handi-work, and put away for future use, instead of Spending
it in beer and dynamite. Another million and a half of these
money sharks have put four hundred and fifty millions of
dollars into building and loan associations. Ten millions in
all of those detestable creatures who have saved a little
money; five thousand millions of dollars laid by from the
proceeds of labor and trade. This is the money power of
America-—certainly a many-headed monster, a busy day's
work for all the anarchists in the country to exterminate.
Bear in mind-~what seems never to have occurred to

Mr. Bryan——that these ten millions of depositors, laborers,
traders, mechanics, widows and orphans belong to the great
Creditor Class of the country, and the institutions which
hold their Spare cash are their Debtors. Cut the value of
the gold dollar in half (which the Bryanites frankly prOpose
to do), and the creditors are robbed, and the banks-—if any-
body—~put in the way of enrichment to just that extent.

In replying to the charge of the Democrats that the Republicans
had no program, Hay offered the platform of the Republican Convention
and stated its main features in a few words: "We are to resist to the
uttermost the Chicago scheme [Democratic platfornrfl of folly and dis-
honor; to pay our debts to the letter and the Spirit; we are to stand by

the tradition of Washington, Hamilton and Lincoln in our revenue laws ~—

 

 

 

 

 

296
providing money enough for the economical support of the government,

and in that process giving help and encouragement to the whole body of
AInerican industries. . . . At home and abroad our flag is to carry the
same protecting and beneficent influence. We demand and offer recip-
rocal benefits in our intercourse with the rest of the world." Continuing
his comments on foreign policy and not realizing that he would be the
Secretary of State in just a few short years, Hay said: ”We will com—
mit no wrongs and will suffer none. We claim the right to extend our
sympathy to every oppressed people under the sun, and especially to
our near neighbors who are making so gallant a struggle against unut-
terable wrongs." Hay then offered a brief biographical sketch of the
Republican standard bearer, McKinley, stating that "his every utterance
is distinguished by that lofty courtesy to his opponents which is the

infallible sign of the men born to high destinies.’ Hay, himself, was

not so "courteous, " however, in his closing paragraph regarding the

"boy orator":

And this is the man whom, with those who support him, a
meandering orator from the muddy and wide—mouthed
Platte, accuses of not being a true American, of subser—
vience to European influences. Evidently the bOy orator
has much to learn, among other things these: that to be a
patriot one need not be an ignoramus; that a recognition

of natural laws is a part of a statesman's business; that the
winds of trade know no geographical barriers; that the same
law of gravitation rules Niagara and the Ganges, and can—
not be changed by a Populist Convention; that commerce
and morals are not parochial institutions; that the great
commandment "Thou shalt not steal, " thundered in smoke
and flame from a Syrian mountain, still has full force and
efficacy wherever there are minds to comprehend and
consciences to respect it——from Sinai to Nebraska.

Thus John Hay contributed his bit to the campaign of 1896, with—
out realizing "that the rest of his career was bound up in McKinley's
success."1 Hay had also spent most of the campaign summer in Europe;
and during his stay in England "he took care to enlighten the British
public as to McKinley's prOSpects and deserts, and he used his per—

sonal influence to renew the friendly relations between England and the

 

1Thayer, Life and Letters, II, p. 141.

 

 

 

 

 

297
United States which had been wrenched by President Cleveland's

Message on the Venezuela Boundary dispute."1 During the summer
Hay continued to urge the British to settle the Venezuela dispute as
soon as possible; and in so doing, states Thayer, he "was performing
a patriotic duty; for he warned them not to expect that a Republican

administration would disavow President Cleveland's stand in the matter."2

The McKinley victory in November had not been such a sure thing
in September, as the great debate between the Democrats and Republicans
on the monetary issue appeared to be a stand—off. Thereafter, economic
developments worked to the detriment of the Democrats; and deSpite
Bryan's dogmatic assertion that commodity prices could not rise under
the gold standard, market quotations on wheat edged slowly upward.3
Bryan's error about a major commodity dimmed his image as an eco—
nomic prognosticator and Republican orators and newspapers were
quick to exploit their opportunity:

On October 3, the Chicago Tribune gloated over the repeal

of the law which had bound wheat and Silver prices together:

"What agenCy," sneered the editor, "has dared to separate

those whom Altgeld and Bryan have joined together in the

unholy bonds of rotten money."

McKinley, busily conducting his famous "front porch" campaign,
gave emphasis to the Tribune statement with an interpretation for a
visiting delegation of farmers, who happened to be visiting Canton that

very same day: "You don't get customers through the mind, you get

 

 

1Ibid., p. 143.

2Ibid., p. 147, Hay's efforts on behalf of the Republican nominee,
both home and abroad, were not lost on either Hanna or McKinley.
Thayer comments as follows:

 

 

As soon as President McKinley was inaugurated, he announced
that he had appointed John Hay Ambassador to Great Britain——an '
announcement which caused general satisfaction throughout this country,
for he was experienced, he had not been identified with any Republican
faction, and he was popularly thought of rather as a statesman than as
a politician.
3Mayer, The Republican Pariy, 1854-1964, p. 254.

4Ibid., p. 255.

 

 

 

298
McKinley assured the delegation that a

”1

them through the factory.
protective tariff would reduce the agricultural surplus by increasing
wages, and this became the theme that was repeated many times by
Republican orators in the farm belt. "Few farmers shared McKinley's
childlike faith in the tariff, but east of the Missouri River they were
increasingly receptive to Republican predictions that free silver would
cut the value of the dollar in half."2

The shift to McKinley in the farm belt, during the early fall, was
now beginning to occur in the labor centers, "where some entrepreneurs

fri htened their emplo ees"3 b shuttin down seasonal operations
g .Y y g

< earlier than usual and telling other workers not to return to work if

( Bryan won the election. The Democrats took notice of these unusual

t proceedings, but Hanna promptly termed the charges "absurd." The

‘ campaign grew increasingly bitter as the weeks went by, with ministers
as active and bitter as the politicians. On November 2, the Sunday
before the election, congregations all over New York City heard anti—
Bryan sermons; and "some were told that nobody could be a Christian

and vote for the Democratic 'anarchists."'4

It was evident that the Republican strategy had worked as the
results gave the Republicans their first decisive victory since 1872.
The popular vote was unusually large, each candidate receiving larger
totals than any previous candidate of his party; McKinley's vote was
7,098,474 and Bryan's 6,379,830. The election of 1896 was significant
in that it foreshadowed a long period of Republican supremacy; and
because it came during a period of recovery from depression, "grateful
Americans dubbed the Republicans the Grand Old Party"; with its nick—
name G.O.P. becoming a symbol of prosperity, while the Democrats
picked up a reputation as the party of depression. The images of the

two parties would not be reversed until 1932, and up to that year the

 

 

1Ibid., quoting from the New York Times, October 3, 1896.
2Ibid., quoting from the Republican Campaign Text, 1896, p. 73.
3 .

Ibid.
4ihid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

299
Republicans "could count on a reliable backlog of voters who regarded

it as the custodian of good times."1 3 . “i

As previously mentioned, the incoming Republican Administration ' 3
rewarded Hay with the Ambassadorship to the Court of St. James. While 1
he was glad for his friend, Henry Adams was critical of the new swing

of the "pendulum" and its effect on his personal life:

One dragged one's self down the long vista of Pennsylvania
Avenue, by leaning heavily on one's friends, and avoiding to
look at anything else. Thus life had grown narrow with
years, more and more concentrated on the circle of houses
round La Fayette Square, which had no direct or personal
Share in power except in the case of Mr. Blaine, whose
tumultuous struggle for existence held him apart. Suddenly
Mr. McKinley entered the White House and laid his hand

‘ heavily on this special group. In a moment the whole nest

\ so slowly constructed, was torn to pieces and scattered

‘ over the world. Adams found himself alone. John Hay took
his orders for London. Rockhill departed to Athens. Cecil
Spring—Rice had been buried in Persia. Cameron refused
to remain in public life either at home or abroad, and broke
up his house on the Square. Only the Lodges and Roos evelts
remained, but even they were at once absorbed in the
interests of power. Since 1861, no such convulsion had
occurred.

 

The "convulsion" referred to by Adams had been foreseen by the
outgoing President, who upon the return from the inauguration exercises
on March 4, 1897, turned to McKinley and said gravely: "I am deeply
sorry, Mr. President, to pass on to you a war with Spain. It will come
within two years. Nothing can stop it."3 Feeling that war could be
avoided, McKinley at that moment was extremely happy; but thirteen
months later, April 21, 1898, Cleveland's propheCy was fulfilled.

 

1See Malcolm Moos, "God's in His Heaven," The Republicans,
A History of Their Party (New York: Random House, 1956), pp. 201—
232.

2Adams, op. cit., pp. 355-356.
3Moos, op. cit., p. 221.

 

 

 

 

 

300

 

>:<>.'<>t<>:<>.'<>t<>‘.<>:<>‘.<**>.'<

It has been the purpose of this chapter to give a description of
the climate of opinion that led to the Spanish—American War and the
most significant years of the life of John Hay that saw him serving
first, as Ambassador to England and later, as Secretary of State. Hay
went to London at a time of great importance for the United States, his
resources being needed to secure the goodwill of Great Britain in the
war with Spain. In 1898 he was urged by McKinley to accept the post

of Secretary of State, in which office he served until his death in 1905.

Suffice it is to say at this point that Hay's length of service in
the State Department rivaled that of James Madison, John Quincy Adams,
William Henry Seward, and Hamilton Fish and, up to that time, sur—
passed all predecessors in the volume of work accomplished. Hay
served not quite three years under McKinley and a little less than four

under Theodore Roosevelt.

John Hay was regarded by some as the best American friend the
British ever had; yet, paradoxically, he secured from England greater
concessions to American advantage than any of his predecessors in

office. His biographer cites the following accomplishments:

He obtained the security of an unbroken Alaskan coast—line;
a clear title to the exclusive possession of Tutuila, one of
the best harbors in the South Pacific; the right by treaty
for the United States to build and defent the Panama Canal;
and the acquiescence of England to American paramountcy
in the Caribbean Sea. These concessions were accompanied
by the hearty good—will of England in the transfer of the
Philippines to American sovereignty; and, in China, sub—
stantial support, until the formation of the Anglo-Japanese
Alliance in 1902, of the doctrine of the integrity of the
Chinese Empire.1

This chapter has reviewed the chain of events that led to Hay's
arrival at the summit of power in international affairs. The major

emphasis regarding the climate of opinion has been given to the decades

 

1Dennett, John Hay, p. 212.

 

 

 

 

 

of the 1880's and the 1890's, the yeaioslwhich were the great watershed
of ideas and opinions that were to flow into the new century. It was an
era that seemed to forecast an ominous stratification of class lines in
a democracy which had always supposed itself classless. With the
vanishing of the frontier, enormous aggregations of capital had
developed; and there were tensions of every sort —— between capital
and labor, between farm and city, between the races, and between the
native—born and immigrant. An important body of opinion in the country
believed that America's resolution of these problems lay in a new
frontier, beyond the continental limits of America. The resultant
release of forces, giving rise to the concept of Manifest Destiny, was

to have a profound effect on Hay's career at the turn of the century.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VI
THE LATER PERIOD OF THE SPEECHMAKING OF JOHN HAY

Hay assumed the responsibilities of Ambassador to England, and
then later as Secretary of State, "with a broader background of diplo—
matic experience and greater familiarity with international politics than
had any of his predecessors since the opening years of the nineteenth
century."1 About sixty years old at the time of his appointment, he was
admirably equipped for his high post and even looked very much the
diplomat —- his trim figure, finely chiseled features, and closely cut
Vandyke beard lending an air of "quiet distinction" to his manner.
Modest and unassuming, he possessed a social charm that was accented
by moods that alternated between gaiety and quiet melancholy. Mention
has already been made of his reputation as a witty conversationalist
which, in turn, gave an added degree of suavity and polish to his aris—
tocratic manner. His abilities in many areas of activity, described in
the preceding chapters, coupled with his poetic nature, gave Hay the
reputation of being some thing of the dilettante. He was decidedly ease—
loving [Henry Adams once wrote sardonically that his ambition "was to
escape annoyance ':I, "highly adaptable, and so constituted as to bring to

diplomacy an instinctive tact and spirit of accommodation."2

The biographical information in this study has described the events
in Hay's live that, though he was born on the frontier of that period, led
him to an ever-closer identification with the more sophisticated society
of the East. After he left home to study at Brown University, Hay's

range of activities after graduation included acting as wartime secretary

 

1Foster Rhea Dulles, "John Hay, " An Uncertain Tradition, Amer-
ican Secretaries of State in the Twentieth Century, ed. by Norman A.
Graebner, p. 23.

21bid.

302

 

 

 

 

303
and military aide to Lincoln, serving as a member of the American

legations in Paris, Vienna, and Madrid, working for a time as an editor
on the staff of the New York Tribune, engaging in business in Cleveland
for several years, acting as Assistant Secretary of State in the Hayes
administration, and becoming widely known as a writer and then later

as a speaker. The great biography of Lincoln, written in collaboration
with John Nicolay, was his most significant literary work; but the Amer-
ican public knew him best as the author of the Pike County Ballads, and

 

his poem of the heroic steamboat captain, "Jim Bludso," who died to
save his passengers' lives —— "was among the most popular poems of

his day":1

He weren't no saint,-~but at jedgment
I'd run my chance with Jim,
'Longside of some pious gentlemen
That wouldn't shook hands with him
He seen his duty, a dead—sure thing,--
And went for it thar and then;
And Christ ain't a—going to be too hard
On a man that died for men.
It has also been noted that during the period he lived in Washington,
Hay made numerous trips abroad, where he absorbed the information
and acquired the point of view which were to be invaluable in the nation's
service. During this time, he became known as a political speaker ——
especially during the Garfield and McKinley campaigns. Through his
marriage, Hay became a man of independent wealth, which allowed him
the freedom to pursue a course of activity that led to an intimate associ—
ation with such political—minded men as Henry Adams, Henry Cabot
Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt. As a staunch Republican anxious for
public service and hoping for an important foreign post, Hay finally

attained his reward for his political support of McKinley in 1896.

It is beyond the limits of this chapter to engage in a lengthy expo—
sition of the diplomatic history of the United States from 1898 to 1905,

the period of time corresponding with Hay's service as Ambassador and

 

1Ibid.
2"Jim Bludso," Complete Poetical Works, pp. 3—4.

 

 

 

304
Secretary of State.1 Only that material which is appropriate for providing

a background to the selected speeches, delivered by Hay, willbe included.
Neither is it necessary to repeat the information provided in Chapter IV

which described the emergency of John Hay as a speaker.

This chapter contains an analysis of portions of selected speeches
given by Hay during the later period of his career, together with a
detailed rhetorical analysis of the "Carnegie Hall Address," in which he

defended his diplomatic record during the Presidential campaign of 1904.

own praise of another's speaking —- typified much of John Hay's public
speaking during the later period of his life. It will be the purpose of
this chapter to examine some of those speeches which established Hay's
reputation as "a master" of the English tongue in the last decade of his
life.

"The freedom of a master and the reserve of a gentleman," to quote his
l

Ambassador to England

Hay went to London at a time of great significance for the United
States, inasmuch as the controversy with Great Britain regarding the
proper method of settling the Venezuelan boundary diSpute had strained
relations between the two countries and American difficulties with Spain
as to the conduct of affairs in Cuba were soon to flare into actual war.
Hay's charm and dignity soon won for him a distinguished place in
English society, a position he thoroughly enjoyed:

Hay thoroughly enjoyed English society, made countless

friends, and was completely at home in the great country

houses where he was always a welcome visitor. It was an

existence that appealed immensely to his aristocratic prej—

udices; Henry Adams was later to write that these were
undoubtedly "the happiest months" in Hay's entire life.2

 

1Excellent background for this period is included in A. L. P.
Dennis in S. F. Bemis (ed.), The American Secretaries of State and
Their Diplomacy (Vol. IX, New York, 1929); A.'Whitney Griswold, T_h_e
Far Eastern Policy of the United States (New York, 1938); Paul A.
Varg, Open Door Diplomat: The Life of W. W. Rockhill (Urbana, Ill.,
1952); and Lionel M. Gelber, The Rise of Anglo—American Friendship;
A Study in World Politics, 1898-1906 (New York, 1938).

2Foster Rhea Dulles, op. cit., p. 24.

 

 

 

 

 

305
Hay's speaking ability contributed enormously in enhancing his
The occasion of the unveiling of the

  

prestige with the British public.
bust of Sir Walter Scott in Westminster Abbey (May 21, 1897) marked

his first public appearance, and he made an address of such literary
distinction that it led "the British public to believe that they had in him
such a minister as America had not sent them since James Russell
Lowell."1 His speech was both a tribute to a famous British author who
was read widely in America and a reflection of Hay's own literary abil—
ity. Scott's name "is revered wherever the English speech has traveled,"

Hay said, "and translations have given some glimpses of his brightness
." The effect of the speech

through the veil of many alien tongues.
on his English audience assured Hay's reputation as a speaker, and his

letters reveal his having to decline many invitations to speak. Hay's

simple reference, states his biographer, "to his father's life in Ken—
tucky, and the contrast of Scott's portrayals of romantic life with the

rude realities of pioneer living, were captivating":

In this most significant and interesting ceremony I Should
have no excuse for appearing, except as representing for
the time being a large section of Walter Scott's immense
constituency. I doubt if anywhere his writings have had a
more loving welcome than in America. The books a boy
reads are those most ardently admired and the longest
remembered; and America reveled in Scott when the coun—
try was young. I have heard from my father, a pioneer of
Kentucky, that in the early days of this century men would
saddle their horses and ride from all the neighboring coun—
ties to the principal post—town of the region when a new novel
by the author of "Waverley" was expected. All over our
straggling states and territories—-in the East, where a
civilization of slender resources but boundless hopes was
building; in the West, where the stern conflict was going on
of the pioneer subduing the continent——the books most read
were those poems of magic and of sentiment, those tales of
by-gone chivalry and romance, which Walter Scott was
pouring forth upon the world with a rich facility, a sort of
joyous fecundity like that of Nature in her most genial moods
He had no clique of readers, no illuminated sect of admirers,
to bewilder criticism by excess of its own subtlety. In a
community engaged in the strenuous struggle for empire,
Whose dreams, careless of the past, were turned in the

lThayer, Life and Letters, II, p. 160.
2Dennett, John Hay, p.187.

 

"historical ersona es of ast centuries" and "heroes.
p g p

306
clear, broad light of a nation's morning to a future of unlimited
grandeur and power, there was none too sophisticated to
appreciate, none too lowly to enjoy those marvelous pictures
of a time gone forever by, pleasing and stimulating to a
starved fancy in the softened light of memory and art, though
the times themselves were unlamented by a people and an
age whose faces were set toward a far—different future.

Through all these important formative days of the Republic,
Scott was the favorite author of Americans, and, while his
writings may not be said to have had any special weight in
our material and political development, yet their influence
was enormous upon the taste and the sentiments of a people
peculiarly sensitive to such influences from the very circum—
stances of their environment. The romances of courts and
castles were specially appreciated in the woods and prairies
of the frontier, where a pure democracy reigned. The poems
and novels of Scott, saturated with the glamor of legend and
tradition, were greedily devoured by a people without per—
spective, conscious that they themselves were ancestors of
a redoubtable line, whose battle was with the passing hour,
whose glories were all in the days to come.1

In the conclusion of his brief address, Hay's references to the

strong" are reminiscent of the hero theme and the sense of "historical

imagination" which were used in his lectures many years before:

But probably the morality of Scott appeals more strongly to
the many than even his enormous mental powers. His ideals
are lofty and pure; his heroes are brave and strong, not
exempt from human infirmities, but always devoted to ends
more or less noble. His heroines, whom he frankly asks you
to admire, are beautiful and true. They walk in womanly
dignity through his pages, whether garbed as peasants or as
princesses, with honest brows uplifted, with eyes gentle but
fearless, pure in heart and delicate in Speech; valor, purity
and loyalty—-these are the essential and undying elements

of the charm with which this great magician has soothed and
lulled the weariness of the world through three tormented
generations. For this he has received the uncritical,
ungrudging love of grateful millions.

His magic still has power to charm all wholesome and can—
did souls. Although so many years have passed since his
great he art broke in the valiant struggle against evil for-
tune, his poems and his tales are read with undiminished
interest and perennial pleasure. He loved with a simple,
straightforward affection man and nature, his country and
his kind; he has his reward in a fame for ever fresh and
unhackneyed. The poet who as an infant clapped his hands
and cried "Bonnie!" to the thunderstorm, and whose dying
senses were delighted by the farewell whisper of the Tweed

 

. brave and

 

 

307

rippling over its pebbles, is quoted in every aspect of sun
and shadow that varies the face of Scotland. The man who
blew so clear a clarion of patriotism lives forever in the
speech of those who seek a line to describe the love of coun—
try. The robust, athletic spirit of his tales of old, the loyal
quarrels, the instructive loves, the stanch devotion of the
uncomplicated creations of his inexhaustible fancy—-all these
have their special message and attraction for the minds of
our day, fatigued with problems, with doubts and futile ques-
tionings. His work is a clear, high voice, from a simpler
age than ours, breathing a song of lofty and unclouded purpose,
of sincere and powerful passion, to which the world, however
weary and preoccupied, must needs still listen and attend.

Hay's only political speech during his service as Ambassador to
England occurred at the Lord Mayor's Easter dinner, April 21, 1898.
Its theme, "A Partnership in Beneficence," is an unmistakable echo of
the sharing of "the white man's burden" concept then in vogue in England

1 and with the expansionists in America:

A Partnership in Beneficence1

 

I am honored in having the privilege of thanking you, on
behalf of all my colleagues as well as myself, and the coun—
tries which we represent, for the cordiality with which this
toast has been proposed and the kindness with which it has
been received. In this place, the civic heart of London, the
home of a traditional and princely hospitality, whence from
time immemorial the only challenge that has gone forth has
been one inviting the world to that wholesome competition in
civilizing arts which benefits all parties to it, we cannot but
accept this courtesy in the Spirit in which it is tendered, and
in return wish success and prosperity to England and to
British trade and commerce, in the full assurance that all
the nations of the world will profit more or less directly by
every extension of British commerce and the enterprise and
enlightenment that go with it hand-in-hand.

Perhaps I may be pardoned if I say a word about my own
country. Knitted as we are to the people of Great Britain

by a thousand ties, of origin, of language, and of kindred
pursuits, it is inevitable that from time to time we should
have occasions of discussion and even of difference. We
hear sometimes that we are thought to be somewhat eager
and pertinacious in the pursuit of our own interests. If that
is so, I can say, I hope with no impertinence, and in a spirit
rather of pride than of contrition, that it merely goes to Show

 

1 The text for this speech is found in Addresses of John Hay, pp. 53—59.

 

 

 

 

308
of what stock we are. But this truth is unquestionable-—that
for now nearly three generations of men there has been
peace between us and friendly regard, a peace growing more
solid and durable as years go by, and a friendship that I am
sure the vast majority of both peoples hope and trust is to
be eternal. The reasons of a good understanding between
us lie deeper than any considerations of me re expediency.
All of us who think cannot but see that there is a sanction
like that of religion which binds us to a sort of partnership
in the beneficent work of the world. Whether we will it or
not, we are associated in that work by the very nature of
things, and no man and no group of men can prevent it. We
are bound by a tie which we did not forge and which we can—
not break; we are joint ministers of the same sacred mis~
sion of liberty and progress, charged with duties which we
cannot evade by the imposition of irresistible hands.

In his reference to "the mighty pageant of Last June," Hay was
reminding the audience of America's participation in the celebration of
the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. The following passage also
captures the basic theme and keystone of Hay's diplomacy, that Amer—
ican foreign policy should always be tied to a firm Anglo—American

understanding:

It may be trite and even tedious for me to refer again at
this distance of time to the mighty pageant of last June, but
I may ask leave to recall one incident of the naval review,
which will long be remembered by those who saw it. On the
evening of that memorable day, when all the ships lay
enshrouded in darkness, the commander of the Brooklyn
ran up the British and American colors, and then at a given
signal turned upon those two kindred flags the brilliant rays
of her searchlights. In that high illumination shrined in
clear radiance far above the obscurity that hid the engines
of destruction and preparations for war, those friendly ban—
ners fluttered, proclaiming to the navies of the world their
message of good will. The beauty of the scene lasted but a
moment; it passed away with much of the splendor and mag—
nificence that adorned the historic day; but may we not hope
that the lesson and the inspiration of that spectacle may
last as long as those banners shall float over the seven seas,
carrying always in their Shadow freedom and civilization?

"The Speech was," states Dennett, "merely Hay's confession of

political faith, the gist of convictions which had now thoroughly matured,

 

309
uttered without suggestion from Washington, but now Without realization

that the words would be heard in Europe. To that extent he was an
Anglophile."1

Just a few months previous to the speech, the M_ai£ had exploded
in Havana Harbor, and "fire—eaters" in America were "beating the war
drums" for a conflict with Spain. The speech is significant in that it
helped to conciliate English opinion in favor of the United States. In a
letter to Senator Lodge on April 5, 1898, Hay indicated the direction of
his diplomacy:

If you think I am rushing in where I am not welcome, you
can rap my knuckles and I will bear it me ekly--but I will
have had my say.

I do not know whether you especially value the friendship
and sympathy of this country England]. I think it important
and desirable in the present state of things, as it is the only
European country whose sympathies are not openly against
us. We will not waste time in discussing whether the origin
of this feeling is wholly selfish or not. Its existence is
beyond question. I find it wherever I go-—not only in the
press,‘but in private conversation. For the first time in my
life I find the "drawing- room" sentiment altogether with us.
If we wanted it-—which, of course, we do not—-we could have
the practical assistance of the British Navy-—on the do ut
des principle, naturally.

I think, in the near future, this sentiment, even if it amounts
to nothing more, is valuable to us. . . . He now describes
how, at the last levee, all the royalties stopped me, shook
hands and made some civil remark. The Spanish Ambassador
coming next to me, was received merely with a bow. .

You may think "it is none of my Lula business," but I think
the Senate Committee's allusion to England in the Hawaii
[report was not of sufficient use at home to compensate for
the jar it gave over here.

And there is that unfortunate Putnam award!2 I suppose you
all think-—as I do-—that it is absurdly exorbitant; that P. gave
us away—~which is all true, I have no doubt. But, after all,
he was our representative, and we are included by his act.
We have nothing to do but pay and look pleasant, or else say
we won't, which is of course open for any nation to do-—with

 

1Dennett, op. cit., p. 189.

2Judge W. L. Putnam, for the United States, and Judge King for
Canada, arbitrators of the British claims for the unjust seizure of
British vessels, awarded $425,000 to the claimants.

 

 

310
the natural result. Is there no way of hurrying the matter
through? I am sure it will be worth the sacrifice.

You have had an anxious and exciting week. You may imagine
what it is to me, absolutely without light or instruction, com—
pelled to act from day to day on my own judgment, and at no
moment sure ofthe wishes of the Department. What I should
have done, if the feeling here had been unfriendly instead of
cordially sympathetic, it is hard to say. The commonest
phrase is here: "I wish you would take Cuba at once. We
wouldn't have stood it this long."

And of course no power on earth would have shown such

patience and such scrupulous regard for law.1

Events now crowded one another, and on May 1 Commodore Dewey
crushed the obsolescent Spanish fleet at Cavite in the Philippines. The
news of the victory had a startling effect on both the United States and

Europe, causing Hay to write the following letter to Theodore Stanton in

 

Paris on May 8:

"We are all very happy over Dewey's splendid Sunday's
work at Manila, and anxiously waiting news from Sampson
and Schley. If we can carry off one more serious sea—fight,
I hope we can then see daylight. I detest war, and had hoped
I might never see another, but this was as necessary as it
was righteous. I have not for two years seen any other issue.

"How Dewey did wallop them! [he writes to Mr. Adams on
May 9|. His luck was so monstrous that it really detracts
from his glory. And don't you go to making mistakes about
McKinley! He is no tenderfoot-—he has a habit of getting
there. Many among the noble and the pure have had occa—
sion to change their minds about him. My friend Smalley
changes his weekly. Sometimes he admires him more than
I do, and sometimes less. I think he is wrong both times.
I don't pretend to know the Major very well, but the Cobden
Club and Godkin2 know him still less."3

Hay again wrote Senator Lodge on May 25, 1898, in his letter

commenting not only on the future relations of England with America

 

1Thayer, op. cit., pp. 165—167.
2Editor of the New York Evening Post.
3Thayer, op. cit., pp. 167-168.

 

311
but making reference to a significant speech made by Mr. Chamberlain,

the colonial secretary of the British Government:

. Your letter gave me the most gratifying and the most
authentic account of the feeling among the leading men in
America that I have got from any source. It is a moment of
immense importance, not only for the present, but for all
the future. It is hardly too much to say the interests of
civilization are bound up in the direction the relations of
England and Ame rica are to take in the next few months.

The state of feeling here is the best I have ever known.
From every quarter, the evidences of it come to me . The
royal family, by habit and tradition, are most careful not to
break the rules of strict neutrality, but even among them I
find nothing but hearty kindness, and——so far as is consis-
tent with propriety--sympathy. Among the political leaders
on both sides I find not only sympathy, but a somewhat eager
desire that "the other fellows" shall not seem the more
friendly. Chamberlain's startling speech1 was partly due

to a conversation I had with him, in which I hoped he would
not let the opposition have a monopoly of expressions of
good—will to America. He is greatly pleased with the recep—
tion his speech met with on our side, and says he "don't
care a hang what they say about it on the Continent."

 

I spend the great part of my time declining invitations to
dine and speak. But on the rare occasions when I do go to
big public dinners the warmth of the welcome leaves nothing
to be desired. But the overwhelming weight of opinion is on
our side. A smashing blow in the Caribbean would help
wonderfully. But an enemy determined not to fight can
elude a battle a long time. And our hair is growing gray
while we wait and read the fool despatches. .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10h May 13, Mr. Chamberlain addressed the Birmingham
Liberal— Unionist Association and said: "What is our next duty? It is
to establish and to maintain bonds of permanent amity with our kinsmen
across the Atlantic. There is a powerful and a generous nation. They
Speak our language. They are bred of our race. Their laws, their
literature, their standpoint upon every question, are the same as ours.
Their feeling, their interests in the cause of humanity and the peaceful
developments of the world are identical with ours. I don't know what
the future has in store for us; I don't know what arrangements may be
possible with us; but this I do know and feel that the closer, the more
cordial, the fuller, and the more definite these arrangements are, With
the consent of both peoples, the better it will be for both and for the
World—-and I even go so far as to saythat, terrible as war may be, even
war itself would be cheaply purchased if, in a great and noble cause,
the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack should wave together over an

Anglo— Saxon alliance.

312
I wish we could all be chloroformed for a few months, and
begin life again in October. 1 do not so much mind my
fr1ends going into battle, but the fever is a grisly thing to
encounter.

On August 15, 1898, Hay received a telegram from President
McKinley which invited him to return to the United States and become
Secretary of State in place of Day, who was to be one of the commis—
sioners to the peace conference at Paris that followed America's vic—
tory over Spain. Dennett offers a graphic picture of the ensuing struggle

that Hay had with himself before wiring his acceptance to the President:

Hay appears to have drafted two replies, a declination and
an acceptance. A copy of the former, in Hay's handwriting,
found in the Hay Papers, reads:

"1 received your deSpatch with mingled emotions of
affection, gratitude and sorrow. It would have been
the dearest wish of my heart to be associated with
you in that way, but my health will not permit it. I
will hold this place through the winter or resign
immediately, which ever will be most convenient
for you.’I

Instead, after much debate, he sent the following:

HYour despatch received. I am entirely and most
gratefully at your disposition. But I fear it is not
possible to get to Washington by September first.

I am suffering from an indisposition, not serious
but painful, which will prevent my moving for some
little time. I shall require several days to break
up my establishment and get away. If about four
weeks delay could be granted me I could be there
by first of October. It might increase the influence
and prestige of Mr. Day if he went to Paris as Sec—
retary of State. If the need of a change is urgent
and it would be inconvenient to wait for me, I hope
you will act without reference to me."

The two draft telegrams present in the most graphic way the
great underlying conflict which had embroiled Hay's life for
forty years; on the one hand, love of ease; on the other, sense
of duty. The two texts do not require claboration. Some-
where in him was a hero whom he had once portrayed as the
man who could "hold her nozzle against the bank till the last
galoot's ashore, " and whose "ghost at length went up alone

in the smoke of the Prairie Belle.” Now, at the age of s1xty,
his own chance had come. He faltered, but only for amoment.

 

 

lThayer, op. cit., pp. 168-170.

313 ‘
The decision which he had once assigned to Jim Bludso he
made his own.

"He seen his duty, a dead—sure thing,——
And went for it thar and then."

For almost seven long years, a period of service which
ranks John Hay sixth among all the Secretaries of State,
only Madison. Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Seward, and
Fish having served longer, with no personal ambition to
gratify. always engaged in a running fight with ill health,
John Hay served his time. Granted a delay by the President,
he assumed office September 30.1

Secretary of State

"John Hay's ambassadorship," states Thayer, "ranks in impor—
tance next after that of Charles Francis Adams. Adams prevented
England from officially cooperating to destroy the American Union.
Hay, more than any other individual, persuaded England,-in a world
crisis from which was to issue the new adjustment of nations and races,
of Occident and of Orient, and of civilization even, that her interests.
if not actually her salvation, called for a larger union with her Ame r—
ican kinsmen."2 One year later, as Secretary of State, Hay wrote as
follows: "As long as I stay here [in Washingtofl no action shall be
taken contrary to my conviction that the one indispensable feature of

our foreign policy should be a friendly understanding with England."

In the settlement with Spain, Hay showed himself an imperialist
and steadfastly supported the President in his final determination that
the Philippines should become American. The war with Spain having
been liquidated by 1899, the time seemed appropriate for a proposal to
the great powers, including Japan, that a declaration should be made in
favor of the "Open Door" in China. The "Open Door" notes, which Hay
dispatched abroad, followed the language of William W. Rockhill -- an
expert in Far—Eastern affairs -— that he had used in memorandum

written in August, 1899. The doctrine of the "Open Door," or of equal

 

 

 

lDennett, op. cit., pp. 195-196.
2Thayer, op.. cit.. p. 182.
3DictionarobfAmerican Biography, 1V, p. 434.

 

 

opportunity, came to be known to the world as a policy particularly with
Hay's name. There followed in 1900 the so-called "Boxer movement,"
a Chinese outbreak against the policy of spoilation which various Euro—
pean countries had been following at the expense of China. The revolt
was accompanied by brutal outrage on the part of the Chinese and vio—
lation of international law and courtesy, but Hay's policy during this
crisis was to use force only when necessary and to assume that the
revolution was purely local with a view to preventing the partition of
China. To make matters worse, The German Emperor, whose Min-
ister Ketteler had been shot in Peking, sent out a "punitive" expedition
under Count Waldersee, "bidding his soldiers to give no quarter and to
comport themselves so like Huns that for a thousand years to come no

Chinese would dare to look a German in the face."1

Without getting into the intricacies of the efforts to prevent China
from being dismembered after the Boxer troubles, it is sufficient to say
that Hay's part in saving the Empire was greater than that of any other
statesman. In a letter to Henry Adams on November 21, 1900, Hay gave
his private opinion of the nations with whom he had to deal during the

trouble in China:

. What a business this has been in China! So far we have
got on by being honest and naiful do not clearly see where
we are to come the delayed cropper? But it will come. At
least we are spared the infamy of an alliance with Germany.
I would rather, I think, be the dupe of China, than the chum
of the Kaiser. Have you noticed how the world will take any-
thing nowadays from a German? Biilow said yesterday in
substance——"We have demanded of China everything we can
think of. If we think of anything else we will demand that,
and be d—-—-d to you"——and not a man in the world kicks.

My heart is heavy about John Bull. Do you twig his attitude
to Germany? When the Anglo—German pact came out, I took
a day or two to find out what it meant. I soon learned from
Berlin that it me ant a horrible practical joke on England.
From London I found out what I had suspected, but what it
astounded me, after all, to be assured of——THAT THEY DID
NOT KNOW! Germany proposed it, they saw no harm in 1t,
and signed. When Japan joined the pact, I asked them'why.
They said, "We don't know, only if there is any fun gomg

 

 

lThayer, op. cit., p. 244.

 

315
on, we want to be in.' Cassini is furious-—which may be
because he has not been let into the joke.

On November 19, 1901, Hay delivered a speech on "American
Diplomacy" before the New York Chamber of Commerce and uttered a

sentence which went over the country.

"If we are not permitted to boast of what we have done," he said,
"we can at least say a word about what we have tried to do and the
principles which have guided our action. The briefest expression of
our rule of conduct is, perhaps, the Monroe Doctrine and the Golden
Rule. With this simple chart we can hardly go far wrong." Hay's state—
ment was particularly significant in that he framed it against a back-
ground that described what diplomaCy used to mean -- a "science of

intrigue and falsehood":

I am asked to say something about our diplomacy. You want
from me nothing but the truth; and yet, if I confine myself
to the truth, I can not help fearing I shall do my profession
a wrong in the minds of those who have been in the habit of
considering diplomacy an occult science, as mysterious as
alchemy, and as dangerous to the morals as municipal poli—
tics. It must be admitted that this conception of the diplo-
matic function is not without a certain historical foundation.

There was a time when diplomacy was a science of intrigue
and falsehood, of traps and mines and countermines. The
word "machiavelic" has become an adjective in our common
Speech, signifying fraudulent craft and guile; but Machiavel
was as honest a man as his time justified or required. The
King of Spain wrote to the King of France after the massacre
of St. Bartholomew congratulating him upon the splendid
dissimulation with which that stroke of policy had been
accomplished. In the last generation it was thought a
remarkable advance in straightforward diplomacy when
Prince Bismarck recognized the advantage of telling the
truth, even at the risk of misleading his adversary. It may
be another instance of that na'if credulity with which I have
often been charged by European critics when I say that I
really believe the world has moved onward in diplomacy as
in many other matters. In my experience of diplomatic life,
which now covers more years than I like to look back upon,
and in the far greater record of American diplomacy which
I have read and studied, I can say without hesitation that we
have generally told squarely what we wanted, announced

 

 

 

1Ibid., pp. 248-249.

 

 

 

316
early in negotiation what we were willing to give, and allowed
the other side to accept or reject our terms. During the time
in which I have been prominently concerned in our foreign
relations, I can also say that we have been met by the rep—
resentatives of other powers in the same spirit of frankness
and sincerity. You, as men of large affairs, will bear me
out in saying there is nothing like straightforwardness to
beget its like.

The comparative simplicity of our diplomatic methods would
be a matter of necessity if it were not of choice. Secret
treaties, reserved clauses, private understandings, are
impossible to us. No treaty has any validity until ratified
by the Senate; many require the action of both Houses of
Congress to be carried into effect. They must, therefore,
be in harmony with public opinion. The Executive could not
change this system, even if he should ever desire to. It
must be accepted, with all its difficulties and all its advan—
tages; and it has been approved by the experience of a hun-
dred years.

 

As to the measure of success which our recent diplomacy
has met with, it is difficult, if not impossible, for me to
speak. There are two important lines of human endeavor

in which men are forbidden even to allude to their success——
affairs of the heart and diplomatic affairs. In doing so, one
not only commits a vulgarity which transcends all question
of taste, but makes all future success impossible. For this
reason, the diplomatic representatives of the Government
must frequently suffer in silence the most outrageous impu—
tations upon their patriotism, their intelligence, and their
common honesty. To justify themselves before the public,
they would sometimes have to place in jeopardy the inter—
ests of the nation. They must constantly adopt for themselves
the motto of the French revolutionist, "Let my name wither,
rather than my country be injured."

 

But if we are not permitted to boast of what we have done,
we can at least say a word about what we have tried to do,
and the principles which have guided our action. The
briefest expression of our rule of conduct is, perhaps, the
Monroe Doctrine and the Golden Rule. With this simple
chart we can hardly go far wrong.

With an eye in the direction of the forthcoming negotiations for
the building of the Panama Canal, Hay had word for "our sister repub—
lics to the south":

I think I may say that our sister republics to the south of

us are perfectly convinced of the sincerity of our attitude.

They know we desire the prosperity of each of them, and

peace and harmony among them. We no more want their
territory than we cover the mountains of the moon. We are

‘ 317

l grieved and distressed when there are differences among
them, but even then we should never think of trying to com—
pose any of those differences unless by the request of both
parties. Not even our earnest desire for peace among them
will lead us to any action which might offend their national
dignity or their just sense of independence. We owe them
all the consideration which we claim for ourselves. To
critics in various climates who have other views of our pur-
poses we can only wish fuller information and more quiet
consciences.

Hay delivered this Speech shortly before the death of President McKin—
ley, whose views on reciprocity in world trade he shared. In the fol—
lowing passage he argued for the support of the reciprocity treaties

‘ "which now await the action of the Senate":

As to what we have tried to do—-what we are still trying to
do——in the general field of diplomacy, there is no reason
I for doubt on the one hand or reticence on the other. Presi-
l dent McKinley in his messages during the last four years
has made the subject perfectly clear. We have striven, on
t the lines laid down by Washington, to cultivate friendly rela—
tions with all powers, but not to take part in the formation
of groups or combinations among them. A position of com—
plete independence is not incompatible with relations
involving not friendship alone, but concurrent action as well
in important emergencies. We have kept always in view the
fact that we are preéminently a peace—loving people; that
our normal activities are in the direction of trade and com-
merce; that the vast development of our industries imper—
atively demands that we shall not only retain and confirm
our hold on our present markets, but seek constantly, by all
honorable means, to extend our commercial interests in
every practicable direction. It is for this reason we have
negotiated the treaties of reciprocity which now await the
action of the Senate; all of them conceived in the traditional
American spirit of protection to our own industries, and yet
mutually advantageous to ourselves and our neighbors. In
the same spirit we have sought, successfully, to induce all
the great powers to unite in a recognition of the general
principle of equality of commercial access and opportunity
in the markets of the Orient. We believe that "a fair field
and no favor" is all we require; and with less than that we
can not be satisfied. If we accept the assurances we have
received as honest and genuine, as I certainly do, that
equality will not be denied us; and the result may safely be
left to American genius and energy.

Hay then briefly reviewed the accomplishments of American diplo~

macy up to that time, giving credit to the accomplishments of President

 

 

318
McKinley and stating that his successor, President Roosevelt, "is as

incapable of bullying a strong power as he is of wronging a weak one."

E‘he policy of the "big stick" had not yet been born]

We consider our interests in the Pacific Ocean as great now
as those of any other power, and destined to indefinite devel—
opment. We have opened our doors to the people of Hawaii;
We have accepted the responsibility of the Philippines which
Providence imposed upon us; we have put an end to the
embarrassing condominium in which we were involved in
Samoa, and while abandoning none of our commercial rights
in the entire group, we have established our flag and our
authority in Tutuila, which gives us the finest harbor in the
South Seas. Next in order will come a Pacific cable, and an
isthmian canal for the use of all well—disposed peoples, but
under exclusive American ownership and American control——
of both of which great enterprises President McKinley and
President Roosevelt have been the energetic and consistent
champions.

 

Sure as we are of our rights in these matters, convinced as
we are of the authenticity of the vision which has led us thus
far and still beckons us forward, I can yet assure you that
so long as the administration of your affairs remains in
hands as strong and skillful as those to which they have been
and are now confided, there will be no more surrender of
our rights than there will be violation of the rights of others.
The President to whom you have given your invaluable trust
and confidence, like his now immortal predecessor, is as
incapable of bullying a strong power as he is of wronging a
weak one. He feels and knows—~for has he not tested it, in
the currents of the heady fight, as well as in the toilsome
work of administration?——that the nation over whose des—
tinies he presides has a giant's strength in the works of
war, as in the works of peace. But that consciousness of
strength brings with it no temptation to do injury to any
power on earth, the proudest or the humblest. We frankly
confess we seek the friendship of all. the powers; we want to
trade with all peoples; we are conscious of resources that
will make our commerce a source of advantage to them and
of profit to ourselves. But no wantonness of strength will
ever induce us to drive a hard bargain with another nation
because it is weak, nor will any fear of ignoble criticism
tempt us to insult or defy a great power because it is strong,
or even because it is friendly.

Hay concluded his address with a reference to America‘s great
diplomat to the Court of Versailles, Benjamin Franklin, attributing to
him a quotation regarding "the attitude of our diplomacy":

The attitude of our diplomacy may be indicated in a text of
Scripture which Franklin—-the first and greatest of our

 

319

diplomats—-tells us passed through his mind when he was

presented at the Court of Versailles. It was a text his father

used to quote to him in the old candle shop in Boston, when

he was a boy: "Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he

shall stand before kings." Let us be diligent in our business

and we shall stand-—stand, you see, not crawl, nor swagger—-

stand, as a friend and equal, asking nothing, putting up with

nothing but what is right and just, among our peers, in the

great democracy of nations.1

Hay's speech on "American Diplomacy" was delivered almost two
months after the assassination of President McKinley; and in many
respects, both events mark the zenith of Hay's career as Secretary of
State. Under McKinley, Hay had essentially been his own man and was,
in truth, in charge of the destinies of the State Department. However,
under Theodore Roosevelt, the day—by—day routine of conducting busi-
ness in the arena of international affairs felt the heavy hand of the
energetic young President, much to the distress of Secretary Hay. Hay's
best work was done under McKinley; the "least creditable achievements
of his term of service belong actually to Roosevelt."2 Hay, in his
"American Diplomacy" speech, was citing a record and a policy of
activity in foreign affairs that had earned for him "the Statesman of the
Golden Rule." Although he was to do more before he died, in terms of
conducting negotiations, "the origination and decision of policy came to

rest more and more with the President."3

"Power when wielded by abnormal energy," wrote Henry Adams,
"is the most serious of facts, and all Roosevelt‘s friends know that his
restless and combative energy was more than abnormal. Roosevelt,
more than any other man living within the range of notoriety, showed
the singular primitive quality that belongs to ultimate matter -— the
quality that medieval theology assigned to God—-he was pure act."4

This was, perhaps, the essential element that mirrored the differences

 

 

1The text for this speech is found in Addresses of John Hay,
pp. 113—125.

2Dictionary of American Biography, IV, p. 436.

 

 

3Thayer, op. cit., p. 297.

4Adams, op. cit., p. 417.

 

 

 

between Hay and Roosevelt; differences that were magnified in the area

of international relations:

International relations. . . . are no longer primitive as
when men first lined up with clubs along their tribal bound—
aries. Civilization has spun a delicate fabric between states.
It has a gossamer quality which John Hay loved to feel and
which he was well adapted to weave. When Theodore Roose-
velt, with his restless, combative energy, seized one deli-
cate thread while Hay held the other, the relationship between
the two men became, as Adams observed, essentially false.
The difference was not merely between youth and age; it
embraced habits of thought, ways of living, values. Nothing
is so likely to disturb the peace and good—will of nations as
"pure act." Roosevelt's intervention in the Alaska settle-
ment marred a pattern of foreign affairs which his Secretary
of State had designed; the intervention at Panama wrecked
another as when a heavy—handed apprentice drives a weary
master craftsman from his loom.

 

Now, at the age of sixty—three, there were other factors that con-

 

tributed to Hay's sense of "weariness" and helped to create the condi—
tions that, in retrospect, made 1901 "the great meridian of his life."
Never in too good health, Hay's condition was rapidly weakening, and at
this time he had to confront a series of personal misfortunes. The first
was the tragic death of his older son, Adelbert; followed by the assassi—
nation of President McKinley, and, at the end of the year occurred the
deaths of intimate friends -— Clarence King and John Nicolay. Up to
1901, Hay had gone from success to success, from "strength to strength"
-- but after that year "his reservoirs of vitality were too much depleted
to sustain the effort at the new altitudes."2 After the tragic death of
McKinley at Buffalo in September, 1901, Hay had expected to retire
from his position; but Roosevelt had made it clear that Hay was to con—
tinue as Secretary of State.

In making the transfer from McKinley to Roosevelt, Hay's ability
his rescue; much in the same manner as that

to adapt again came to

revealed in "the ability to pass from Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley,

_I/ff
1Dennett, op. cit., p. 364.
2Ibid., p. 430.

 

 

321

from Blaine to Hayes, from Sherman to Hanna and McKinley."l

Despite
their differences in temperament and in age, the personal relationship
between Hay and Roosevelt developed into as much affection "as the two
men were able to muster for each other."2 Hay would often try to antici—
pate the President and protect him from what he feared would be his
rashness, as when King Edward contemplated conferring a military dis—
tinction upon Roosevelt which would have been politically embarrassing.
Hay took matters into his own hands and wrote the American Ambassador
in London:
I see in several newspapers a story that the King is
thinking of making the President Honorary Colonel of one of
the Regiments of the British Army. I presume this is mere

silly season gossip~-but out of excess of caution I am writing
this word.

In case Lord Lansdowne should mention the matter to
you I wish you would say to him that you think it not desir-
able that the offer should be made. The President being
constitutionally prohibited from accepting such an honor
without authorization from Congress, it might give rise to
a debate in which things would be said by opposition mem—
bers which would be unpleasant to read. If Sir Michael
Herbert says anything about it to me, I shall give him the
same answer without referring it to the President. I think
it decidedly advisable that the matter should not come before
him, for acceptance or refusal.3

Therefore, in this sense, the personal relations of the two men
were good -- but there is abundant evidence to support the fact that they
differed on the conduct of foreign policy. When the privately published
"Letters and Diary" of Hay were placed in his hands some years after
Hay's death, Roosevelt's vanity was evidently wounded by some of the
none too complimentary statements regarding himself. The President
then gave a critical estimate of Hay, to the effect ". . . he was not a
great Secretary of State. . . . In the Department of State his usefulness

to me was almost exclusively the usefulness of a fine figurehead. . . ."4

 

11bid., p. 343.

21bid., p. 345.

3September 29, 1902; Dennett quoting from aletter in the Hay Papers.
4

See Henry F. Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Harcourt,
Brace and Company, 1956), pp. 170-171.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

322
"These statements. . . . are more difficult for the biographer of

Roosevelt," states Dennett, "than for one who writes of Hay":

That the latter did not always agree with his chief, and that

he did not always approve en bloc, is abundantly supported

by evidence; that he did not argue with the President may be

conceded. He did not argue with McKinley, but to both men

he stated his views, when he had any, freely and yet with a

courtesy and deference which he never failed to show to the

office. Perhaps Roosevelt, ready for a rough-and—tumble,

failed at times to catch the tones of disapproval. As for the

initiation of policy, as we view it now, the new creative

period in American foreign relations which followed the War

of 1898 closed in 1901. Probably Roosevelt would have been

shocked to discover how little foreign policy he himself

created. There was left to him little but to follow the paths

which McKinley, Root, and chiefly Hay, had thought out and

projected. American diplomacy changed in character, as

when one turns from chess to six— ounce gloves, but there

was nothing new as to objectives; only the method changed,

losing a delicate touch.1

"Bruised in body and oppressed in spirit, " Hay's "delicate touch"
was still needed in the conduct of the nation's foreign policy -- such as
the settlement finally arrived at with respect to the Alaskan boundary
question in 1903. The United States achieved a favorable decision in the
controversy, chiefly because Hay was able to maneuver for a postpon—
ment of consideration until passions had cooled and the Canadians were
willing to accept a tribunal composed of equal numbers for the United
States and Canads.2 However, in the formulation of the treaties relating
to the Panama Canal, Hay suffered many disappointments as the result
of conflict with the Senate. Hay's letters during these months reveal
that he was strongly opposed to the constitutional requirement of a two-
thirds favorable vote in the Senate for approval of treaties; and he was
critical of the right of amendment. Even more difficult for Hay, was
the hasty action of Roosevelt in giving prompt recognition of the new
republic of Panama and the threat of force to prevent Columbian inter-

vention on the Isthmus. A discussion of the violent storm of criticism

 

1Dennett, op. cit., p. 349.

2See A. L. P. Dennis, "John Hay," The American Secretaries of
State and Their Diplomacy, (ed.) by Samuel Flagg Bemis (New York:
Alfred A. Knopf, 1929), IX, pp. 115—189.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

323
that followed these events is beyond the scope of this chapter, except to

say the tedious negotiations conducted by Hay provided the basis for the

successful action that assured the construction of the canal.1

 

During 1902—1903, American pressure was brought to bear on
Germany to prevent her from endangering the Monroe Doctrine by hasty
naval action against Venezuela. While the action against Germany was
due primarily to Roosevelt, it is difficult to distinguish Hay‘s part and
Roosevelt's.2 The same was true regarding American policy toward
Far—Eastern matters; however, after the Presidential election of 1904
Hay's hand relaxed because of ill health, and Roosevelt became the

director of Far—Eastern policy.

In citing the accomplishments of Secretary Hay, it is difficult to
classify them in orderly topical arrangement. There can be no such
grouping of a statesman's work, for they are tasks which go forward
simultaneously with frequent overlapping. So it is in the case of Sec—
retary Hay, and it should be mentioned that long before he signed the
important new treaty with the new Republic of Panama, he had given
eager support to the meeting at The Hague in 1900 and the proposals
for a second such meeting in 1904 to promote the cause of world peace.
Negotiations to secure the Danish West Indies and to preserve the inde—
pendence of Liberia, not to mention the various arbitration treaties over
which he labored, all would fill many pages in Hay's record as Secretary
of State.

Mention should be made of a lesser incident because of the light
it throws on the Hay—Roosevelt association. At the Republican National
Convention in 1904 there was a great deal of "sullen grumbling" among
the delegates -— for though the country wanted "Teddy," the fact was
distasteful to the professional politicians. Since the death of Mark Hanna
four months before, active opposition had collapsed; and the disgruntled

leaders had arrived in Chicago prepared to register the inevitable as

 

1Ibid.

2See Samuel Flagg Bemis, A Diplomatic History of the United
States (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1951), pp. 479-494.

 

.—; ask. . 5...... .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

324
ungraciously as possible. Although he was assured of the nomination,

Roosevelt, like Lincoln, had a haunting fear of being defeated in elections;

and he was worried lest the dislike and distrust of him "so openly exhib—

 

ited at Chicago should gather volume and explode at the ballot box.
Something was needed to prick the sulks and dispel the gloom of the
convention before it made a lasting impression upon the public."1 The

opportunity was provided by the "Perdicaris Affair."

Ion H. Perdicaris, the son of a South Carolinian mother and a
naturalized Greek father, had, at the outbreak of the Civil War, regis-
tered himself at Athens as a Greek subject to escape military service
and subsequently had established residence at Tangier, where he was
commonly known as a Greek. On a May evening in 1904, Raisuli, a

Berber chief and last of the Barbary pirates, swooped down on Perdi-

 

caris in the Palace of the Nightingales and carried him off for ransom.
Although the captive's release had already been arranged for, Roose-
velt needed an opportunity for a demonstration "to make the eagle
scream" and stir "the lethargic Republican Convention" to life.

1

"The opportunity was irresistible,‘ states Tuchman, for every

neWSpaperman could testify "to Roosevelt's extraordinary sense of news
value, to his ability to create news, to dramatize himself to the public.

He had a genius for it":

"Consciously or unconsciously,H said the journalist Isaac
Marcosson, "he was the master press agent of all time."
The risk, of course, was great, for it would be acutely
embarrassing if the facts leaked out during the coming cam-
paign. It may have been the risk itself that tempted Roose-
velt, for he loved a prank and loved danger for its own sake;
if he could combine danger with what William Allen White
called a "frolicking intrigue," his happiness was complete.2

 

On June 22, 1904, the memorable telegram, "This Government

H

wants Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead, crackled across the Atlantic

cable over Hay's signature; and at Chicago, convention chairman Uncle

 

1Barbara W. Tuchman, "Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead," Amer-
ican Heritage, X (August, 1959), p. 100.

2Ibid.

 

 

 

 

325
Joe Cannon read the telegram to an electrified convention:

Delegates sprang upon their chairs and hurrahed. Flags and
handkerchief waved. Despite Hay's signature, everyone saw
the Roosevelt teeth, clich’e of a hundred cartoons, gleaming
whitely behind it. "Magnificent, magnificent!" pronounced
Senator Depew. "The people want an administration that will
stand by its citizens, even if it takes the fleet to do it," said
Representative Dwight of New York, expressing the essence
of popular feelings.

Roosevelt was nominated by acclamation; and the convention
departed in an exhilarated mood, while Perdicaris, who was never in
actual danger, was released by Raisuli. Actually, Perdicaris had never
during the years taken steps to resume American citizenship; and the
whole affair began to assume absurd proportions. Hay wrote to Assist-
ant Secretary Adee on September 3: "As to Paregoric or is it Peri—
carditis——it is a bad business. We must keep it excessively confidential

n2

for the present. They succeeded, and Roosevelt was elected in Novem—

ber by the largest popular majority ever before given to a presidential

candidate. On June 23, Hay wrote: "My telegram. . . . had an uncalled—

for success. It is curious how a concise impropriety hits the public."3

Thus was the man of "pure act" given loyal support, albeit painful
at times to Hay, by his Secretary of State Whose "delicate touch" was
also enlisted, during the waning months of his career, in the area of
public Speaking; both as critic and performer. To President Roosevelt
he wrote on July 13, 1904:

I return herewith the draft of your Speech. 1 am sorry to
return it almost absolutely intact. Knowing how you yearn
for the use of the meat—axe on your offspring, I always feel
in default when I send back your drafts with no words but
those of unlimited admiration. I really think this is one of
the best speeches you have ever made. The first two pages
are severe, but absolutely just and dignified, and the rest is
history with a fine flavor of actuality.4

 

l—‘

Ibid.
Ibid., p. 101.

N

Thayer, op. cit., p. 383.
Ibid., p. 379.

rhea

 

 

 

 

 

 

.I .Ilili ti.-

..1.I|..)I...|.1.u. \I u I

 

326
Shortly before his death, Hay wrote Roosevelt a glowing report

relating to the President's Chicago speech of a few days before. This
letter of May 21, 1905, was written from Bad Nauheim, Germany —— one
of the places he visited in Europe on his last trip abroad in search for
health:

Dear Theodore:

I wrote you yesterday, and this morning I received your
letter from Glenwood Springs.

I need not tell you with what pride and pleasure we all
read your speech at Chicago. It has the true ring of con—
science and authority combined,—-the voice of a man "who
would not flatter Neptune for his trident." It is a comfort
to see the most popular man in America telling the truth to
our masters, the people. It requires no courage to attack
wealth and power, but to remind the masses that they too
are subject to the law, is something few public men dare to
do.1

Roosevelt's ability to communicate with the masses, even while

reminding them of their responsibilities, caused his young military
aide —— Lieutenant Douglas MacArthur —- to ask him to what he attri-
buted his extraordinary success. To which Roosevelt replied, "To put
into words what is in their hearts and minds but not their mouths.”
That, was it, and Lincoln had the same gift -- and almost the same thing

H

had once been said of Hay, . . the ability to grasp the thought of

another and give to it instant and accurate expression."

Hay felt, as time took its toll of his physical strength, that he had
"lost the power of contact with actuality" in his public speaking. This
was expressed at a time when more demands than ever were being made
on him, for, after all, he was the Republican laureate. In a letter to
"Dear Theodore" on April 14, 1904, he communicated his reluctance to
accept the many invitations to speak:
The Committee of the Michigan delegation called yester—

day morning and, with a look of cheerful expectation, asked
me if you had Spoken to me as you promised them. I said

 

1"Letters and Diary," 111, p. 337.
2Morison, The Oxford History of theAmerican People, p. 829.

 

3Sears, op. cit., p.15.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

327
yes,-—that you had dealt with me faithfully,-—said I was a
cumberer of the ground-—likewise a bump on a log,——that
the State Department was too great a place to be held by a
dumb dog that would not bark;—-to all of which I had assented,
and had taken the matter under advisement. They tried to
make it as easy for me as they could and, to clinch the mat—
ter, and make my acceptance certain, they said I could read
my speech,——"Yes!" said another, with large magnanimity,
"You can sit in a chair and read it if you like." I have
already agreed to go to St. Louis and Speak on the 19th. I
had to do it or else stay away from the Fair altogether.

I have thus broken the promise made to myself for good
and sufficient reasons which still seem to me good and suf—
ficient. I have also broken the promise I made to my wife,
who is witness of what such engagements cost. I have no
natural appetite or sleep while the horror lasts, and I know
perfectly well it is not worth while. Although I have lost all
the creative rhetorical capacity I once had, I have not lost
my faculty of criticism, and I can judge my own work and
find it inadequate. When I read one of your speeches and the
speeches of others, I see how completely I have lost the
power of contact with actuality.

 

Of course there is in all this an element of personal
indolence and a desire to shirk, but leaving that out, I am
convinced that, if I am worth anything in the State Depart—
ment, it is a waste of whatever I am worth, to go about the
country making speeches.

Hay made many speeches during his last years, some of the bet-
ter known ones during the last full year of his life: at the opening of
the St. Louis Fair; at the Semi- Centennial Celebration, at Jackson,
Michigan, on July 6, of the birth of the Republican Party; and at Car—
negie Hall, New York, on October 26. "Only the last was directly poli—
tical; but the Jackson speech, judging by its wide circulation, was

regarded by the Republican managers as their best campaign document."2

Thayer sums up these last years of Hay's speaking as follows:

 

Hay's later addresses, carefully thought out and much pol-
ished, contrast in style with the spontaneity of his earlier
prose, and especially of his familiar letters. He writes now
as one sophisticated in the art of writing. This does not
imply that some of his later pieces have not much excel-
lence. Best of them all is "Franklin in France" (1904) Lnever

1"Letters and Diary," III, p. 294—295.
2Thayer, op. cit., p. 380.

 

 

 

 

328
delivered due to the death of a brother]; most popular is the
brief praise of Omar which he delivered in England (Decem-
ber 8, 1897). For pure eulogy which makes no pretense at
criticism his oration on President McKinley might serve as
a model-—affectionate, dignified, imputing only the best
motives and giving full credit to every good deed. The lau—
dation of the Republican Party, to which Hay attributed
almost every beneficent act in fifty years, except possible
the introduction of antiseptic surgery, must have tickled
Hay's sense of humor in the writing, as it surely fed the
satisfaction of the thousands who heard it. Underneath the
exuberance of encomium there is still an honest outline of
the services of the party.

After the inauguration in March, 1905, Hay "fell under the load";
and Mrs. Hay, With the help of Henry Adams, took charge and engaged
passage for Europe. Hay improved in Europe; and as he did so, all
Europe wanted to see him:

The man who forty-seven years before had returned to the

banks of the Mississippi a not very promising youth, had

become the statesman for whose favors monarchs were

striving. King Leopold—— "the old coot," Hay called him-—

wished to see the American Secretary of State. The Kaiser

was even more insistent. In England a degree was waiting

at Cambridge. Roosevelt in Washington became alarmed

lest his Secretary in accepting one invitation and refusing

another should provoke the wrath of nations. "2

One of Hay's last letters was written on shipboard, June 10, 1905,
on his return voyage to the United States and reveals, in contrast to the
reception he received in Europe, a personal rebuff on the part of the
Senate. The French Government, in the summer of 1904, wished to
confer upon Hay its highest distinction -— the Grand Cross of the Legion
of Honor -- in recognition of his services in behalf of world peace. How—
ever, the resolution that would have permitted Hay to accept the decora-
tion was defeated in the Senate and Hay responded with a letter to Sena-
tor Cullom:

I rarely ask a favor personal to myself, but I shall be

greatly obliged to you, if you will prevent any further con—
sideration by the Senate of the Resolution you presented

 

1Ibid., pp. 380-381.
2Dennett, op. cit., p. 437.

 

 

 

     

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last winter permitting me to accept the distinction of Grand
Cross of the Legion of Honor conferred upon me by the
French Government.

Perhaps you will pardon me in a word of explanation. It
has more than once occurred that I have been informed that
such tokens of good will were contemplated by foreign gov—
ernments. But I have always replied with grateful acknowl—
edgments of the honor intended and a request that the offer
should not officially be made. On this occasion, however, in
view of the statement by the Government of the French
Republic that the compliment was tendered in recognition of
the work done by the American Government during the last
seven years in the interest of the world's peace, it was felt
by me and by those whom I consulted that it could not properly
be decline d; and that it was probable that no objection would
be made in any quarter.

In this I was mistaken. I was entirely unaware of the feeling
existing towards me among some prominent members of my
own party. But since it is evident that such a feeling exists,
I beg that you will prevent the further consideration of your
Resolution which failed of adoption last winter, as it would
lead to a discussion which would be without advantage in any
way, and would inevitably not be agreeable to the Govern—
ment of a friendly Republic which was offering us a token of
courtesy and good will.

By their defeat of the Resolution, states Thayer, "the 'graywolves'
in that body, glad of an opportunity to vent their ill—will against the too
unyielding Secretary. . . . struck a dying man."2 As the Baltic con—

tinued its voyage home, over the same watery path that Hay had traveled

 

almost seven years before to assume the mantle of Secretary of State,

he wrote in his Diary on June 13, 1905:

I dreamed last night that I was in Washington and that I went
to the White House to report to the President who turned out
to be Mr. Lincoln. He was very kind and considerate, and
sympathetic about my illness. He said there was little work
of importance on hand. He gave me two unimportant letters
to answer. I was pleased that this slight order was within
my power to obey. I was not in the least surprised at Lin—
coln's presence in the White House. But the whole impres—
sion of the dream was one of overpowering melancholy.3

 

 

1"Letters and Diary," III, pp. 347-348.

2Thayer, op. cit., pp. 393-394.
3"Letters and Diary," III, p. 349.

 

 

Hay's dream of a visit with the Great Companion of his youth was
prophetic for, though he seemed improved and remained nearly ten days
in Washington out of a sense of duty, the Secretary contracted another
cold on the train taking him to his summer home at Lake Sunapee. On
arrival, his condition rapidly became worse; and in the early hours of
July 1, 1905, "his Pale Horse, which had so long waited at the door, bore

him away. "

Thus ends the narrative of the life of one of America's greatest
statesmen who, though brilliant and talented in many fields, did not find
himself until fated by "the god Circumstance" to do his duty "thar and
then." A deeper dimension of understanding the man Hay has been pro—
vided by reading his words and letting him tell his story and, in closing,
it is fitting that his words be used to better comprehend the significance
and meaning of this life. The following pages include a poem, an entry
from the Diary, a passage from a speech, and a case study of "The
Carnegie Hall Address" —- all of which communicate something of the

inner man and contribute to the understanding of a great American.

Some years before the beginning of the new century, Hay had writ—
ten a poem, "The Stirrup Cup," the lines of which, at the moment of his

death, seem singularly appropriate:

My short and happy day is done

The long and dreary night comes on;
And at my door the Pale Horse stands,
To carry me to unknown lands.

His whinny shrill, his pawing hoof,
Sound dreadful as a gathering storm;
And I must leave this sheltering roof,
And joys of life so soft and warm.

Tender and warm the joys of life,-—
Good friends, the faithful and the true;
My rosy children and my wife,

So sweet to kiss, so fair to View.

 

 

 

 

 

331
So sweet to kiss, so fair to view,-—
The night comes down, the lights burn blue;
And at my door the Pale Horse stands,
To hear me forth to unknown lands.

Almost the last entry in John Hay's Diary, dated June, 1905, con-

tains the following farewell:

I say to myself that I should not rebel at the thought of my
life ending at this time. I have lived to be old; something I
never expected in my youth. I have had many blessings,
domestic happiness being the greatest of all. I have lived
my life. I have had success beyond all the dreams of my
boyhood. My name is printed in the journals of the world
without descriptive qualifications, which may, I suppose, he
called fame. By mere length of service I shall occupy a
modest place in the history of my time. If I were to live
several years more I should probably add nothing to my
existing reputation; while I could not reasonably expect any
further enjoyment of life, such as falls to the lot of old men
in sound health. 1 know death is the common lot, and what
is universal ought not to be deemed a misfortune; and yet--
instead of confronting it with dignity and philosophy, I cling
instinctively to life and the things of life, as eagerly as if I
had not had my chance at happiness and gained nearly all
the great prizes.

In a speech delivered at the Thirty- Sixth National Encampment of
The Grand Army of the Republic, Washington, D.C., October 6, 1902;
Hay had said: "Thirty-seven years have passed since some of us,
wearing crape on our arms and mourning in our hearts for Abraham
Lincoln, saw the great Army which he loved pass before the White
House in the Grand Review. Many of you marched in those dusty col—
umns, keeping step to the rhythm of drums and trumpets which had

sounded the onset in a hundred battles."3

During the years that had
slipped by, Hay had also gone forth to do battle for his country on the
diplomatic fronts. John Hay had marched to the sound of the poetic
trumpet within himself; and now, though it was stilled, its echo yet
reverberates in the unfinished story of the Republic. A part of that

story is told in Hay's speech, "The Carnegie Hall Address," which also

 

1"The Stirrup Cup," Complete Poetical Works, p. 98.

2"Letters and Diary," III, p. 350.
3Addresses of John Hay, p. 210.

 

 

 

 

 

 

332
reflects, in part, the speaker's own contributions in the shaping of the
The speech is presented here in complete form

story of the Republic.
and followed by a rhetorical analysis.

 

THE CARNEGIE HALL ADDRESSl

New York, October 26, 1904

The Setting and Occasion
In one respect, the background to this speech —- one of the last

major addresses of John Hay -- has already been developed in the pre—
ceding chapters. The speech delivered at Carnegie Hall was, in many
ways, a listing of the achievements of the Republican Party since the
founding of the party in 1860, but more particularly it was a defense of
the record in foreign affairs that had been accomplished through Hay's
own efforts. It was a campaign speech designed to sum up the case for
the Republican party in the coming Presidential elections, and Hay had
been sent to Carnegie Hall to give the big address that marked the close

 

of the campaign.
In his speech on July 6 at Jackson, Michigan, Hay had concluded as

follows:
We have fought a good fight, but also we have kept the faith.
The Constitution of our fathers has been the light to our
feet; our path is, and will ever remain, that of ordered
progress, of liberty under the law. The country has vastly
increased, but the great—brained statesmen who preceded
us provided for infinite growth. The discoveries of science
But we

have made miraculous additions to our knowledge.
are not daunted by progress; we are not afraid of the light.
The fabric our fathers builded on such sure foundations will
stand all shocks of fate or fortune. There will always be a
proud pleasure in looking back on the history they made;

but, guided by their example, the coming generation has the
right to anticipate work not less important, days equally
memorable to mankind. We who are passing off the stage
bid you, as the children of Israel encamping by the sea
were bidden, to Go Forward; we whose hands can no longer

lThe text used in the analysis of this speech is found in manu—
script form in the Owen Franklin Aldis Collection, Yale University

Library.

 

 

     

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hold the flaming torch pass it 1:33“) you that its clear light

may show the truth to the ages that are to come.1

It was in this spirit, the spirit of moving forward and taking the
torch from the older generation, that Hay addressed his remarks to the
younger generation of voters. The campaign of 1904 was a critical time
for the Republicans in that, under the direction of McKinley and Hanna,
"it had threatened to stagnate in the role of defender of the status quo,"
but now, under the energetic Theodore Roosevelt, "it was on the verge

of becoming both the party of prosperity and reform."2

The Republican party, at the turn of the century, was so construed
by the party bosses such as Hanna that no Republican convention of that
period would have given a man like Roosevelt a Vice Presidential nomi-
nation had it thought the President would die in office. "From the time
of Lincoln to McKinley, the Republicans had selected candidates with a
remarkable gift for self-restraint in public. As Presidents, some had
been fiercely partisan, but for the most part their prejudices had spoken

through deeds rather than words."3

This changed with the successor to
McKinley who, in some respects, resembled more the candidates the
Democrats usually nominated for President. The impact of this knowl—
edge hit hard on those like Hanna, who after McKinley's assassination,
exploded before a friend: "I told William McKinley it was a mistake to
nominate that wild man at Philadelphia. . . . Now look, that damned

cowboy is President of the United States.”4

The old line politicians found in President Roosevelt a more com—
plex person than they had ever imagined. Actually, he was less of a
radical than they had first supposed, his inflammatory language being
merely a vehicle "for expressing orthodox American ideals." Combining

a Harvard education with the experience of the "strenuous life" of the

 

 

 

1n

p. 301
2Mayer, M" p. 286.
3131a,, p. 272.

4Herman H. Kohlsaat, From McKinley to Harding (New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1923), P. 99.

Fifty Years of the Republican Party," Addresses of John Hay,

 

 

 

 

 

334
American frontier, Roosevelt's personality was one that was at home

with either aristocrat or commoner. Although Roosevelt's empathy
with the comman man was, to a degree, an "inverted form of snobbery,"
he yet had a Sincere dislike for the new class of capitalists coming to

power at the end of the nineteenth century.1 Despite his dislike for the

nouveaux riches, Roosevelt's politics were not that of doctrinaire rad—

icalism; and though he was interested in providing practical help for the
underprivileged, "he distrusted labor unions and agrarian protest move-
ments as much as he did the new class of industrial entrepreneurs."2
Roosevelt often baffled his contemporaries by denouncing all three
groups in the same speech; but, on the other hand, he had a positive
genius for "reading the minds of the populace, he knew how to express —-
and to capitalize to his own advantage—-the sentiments, wishes, and
yearnings of most Americans":

When sport was becoming popular, he was the amateur

sportsman par excellence. When great wealth was in ill-

repute, he was the first politician to lecture it sternly. When

political reform had become a popular cry, 10'. Theodore

Roosevelt was in the van of the procession, proudly carrying

aloft the standard that men like La Follette, Bryan, and other

westerners had been bearing patiently for years. (But with

a difference, for he sensed that Big Business had come to

stay. What was needed was not its fragmentation but its

control through the central government.)3

Roosevelt opposed any policy that promoted the stratification of
class lines, most of his actions being motivated by his ideal of a class-
less society. "It would be a dreadful policy that promoted the hardening
of class lines," he wrote in 1904, if the country were divided into two
parties, "one containing the bulk of the propertied people. . . . the

other the bulk of the wage workers."4

 

1Mayer, op. cit., p.273.

Ibid., p. 274.
Hacker and Kendrick, The United States Since 1865, p. 327.

Mayer, op. cit., quoting from the Roosevelt Papers, Roosevelt
to P. C. Knox, Nov. 10, 1904.

N

3

 

 

 

 

 

. .. 4. 4...

      

Roosevelt had to proceed cautiously in 1904, for he had not come

into power as an opposition leader, but was President "by act of God,"
' The election of 1900

and "titular head of the party of big business.‘
appeared a mandate to let business alone, at least to most Republican

leaders, but Roosevelt sensed that the conscience of the people was
aroused and their "temper ripe for action.” Until Hanna died early in
1904, most of the country doubted that Roosevelt was the head of the
Republican party, in fact as well as in name, and the President himself
had been careful to keep on terms of friendship with the Old Guard rulers
of the party and had retained all of the McKinley Cabinet. Victory for
Roosevelt, in the campaign of 1904, depended on winning over the con-
fidence and support of the Republican party machine and to entrench
himself safely in the popular regard. The latter concern had already
become an objective of party orators loyal to Roosevelt priot to the
Republican Convention of 1904. Hay, in a speech at the Ohio Society
Banquet in New York, January 17, 1903 ~- and thinking of the new gen—
eration of voters who had been born since the Civil War, concluded his

address on Theodore Roosevelt as follows:
And, finally, I, whose memories are of a generation of which
few survivors remain, feel like congratulating you who are

young, in the words of the dying Voltaire on the eve of the
splendors and the marvels of the French revolution, which

he was not to witness, ”You young men are going to see fine
In the six years which remain of President Roose-

things.”

velt's term——if my arithmetic is wrong I am open to cor-

rection-—you will see what a stout heart, an active mind, a

vital intelligence, a wide range of experience, a passion for

justice and truth and a devoted patriotism can accomplish

at the head of a nation which unites the strength of a mighty

youth to the political sense which is the rich inheritance of

centuries of free government.

This was Hay's purpose then, in his "Carnegie Hall Address," to
assure the Old Guard and conservative elements -— while at the same
time incorporating an exciting vision of "fine things" yet to come so as

to capture the imagination of the vast group of uncommitted voters.

1”President Roosevelt," Addresses of John Hay, pp. 219-225.

 

 

 

 

 

336
The Democrats in nominating Alton B. Parker, a conservative

New York judge, had turned their backs upon "Bryanism" and pledged
themselves to maintain the gold standard in an attempt to win back the
conservative vote. Business leaders, however, had been more afraid
of the Democratic party than of Roosevelt; and their contributions to
the Republican campaign were so large that Parker rashly charged
"blackmail." The corporations, Parker said, were being forced to
contribute in return for the suppression of evidence that the Govern—
ment had against them; charges that Roosevelt indignantly denied and

were later proved to be unfounded.1

It was against this backdrop of events and conditions that Hay
gave "the big speech" in Carnegie Hall to climax the Republican cam—

paign of 1904. The complete text of the Speech

The Arrangement of the Speech

 

Introduction

This campaign will be memorable in our annals as one of the
quietest ever known. Rarely in our recollection has there been so lit-
tle excitement, so Slight disturbance of the orderly course of affairs.
Why is it that these great assizes where eighty millions of people are
to decide in whose hands they are to place their interests for the next
four years should be approached with so little noise, with such unusual
calm? Why is it that the American people are posessing their souls in
such repose?

There is, I venture to say, no explanation of this state of feeling,
except that the people of this country have made up their minds that
there is to be for the present no change in the principles and policies
that have proved so successful in the last eight years. They had resolved
definitely and clearly in 1896 that their temporary aberration from the
policy which as long ago as the time of Henry Clay was called the Amer-
ican system had not resulted favorably. They intrusted William McKin-
ley with the task of bringing the country back to its old bearings, of
restoring the well—tried ways of the national housekeeping. He Showed
himself worthy of their confidence. In four years the country made great
progress along its regular old-fashioned lines of healthy development,
and in 1900 when he gave an account of his stewardship the people
approved it and renewed his term of office. An unspeakable crime
snatched him away from his glorious task and our loving confidence.

In the classic myth when the golden bough was torn away another

 

lSee Pringle, Theodore Roosevelt, pp. 249—250.

 

 

 

   
   

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337
immediately appeared in its place. Theodore Roosevelt took up the
burden our beloved Chief laid down and with incomparable courage and
strength has carried it on. With the work of both these faithful servants
the American people are satisfied. Believing and intending that the work
shall go on in the hands and under the guidance which has been found so
efficient, they are not wasting so much time as usual from their private
affairs to show an interest which is too universal to need much advertising.

Body

None of us will make the mistake of thinking the contest of this
year unimportant. On the contrary, it goes down to the very foundations
of our national welfare. It is not campaign rhetoric, it is merely the
simple fact, to say that nothing but disaster could follow the reversal of
the policies to which we are indebted for the prOSperity of the past few
years. The country can not afford to give up the gold standard and to
drift on the shifting currents of financial experiment and quackery. It
can not afford to give up the principle and practice of protection to '
American industries. Any radical meddling with the tariff would throw
a thousand industries into confusion and bring many to ruin. Stability,
unity of purpose, is absolutely necessary to the complicated and delicate
machinery of modern business, where the change in the price of a sin—
gle by—product may vitally affect the prOSperity of a great industry and
may make all the difference between comfort and want to thousands of
workingmen and their families. Nobody denies that the tariff must from
time to time be revised. But it is too evident for argument that the
revision must be intrusted to friendly hands—-to those who believe, as a
matter of business and of public morals, in the policy of cherishing
American manufactures and of caring for the well—being of millions of
American workmen. It is not a matter to be handed over to those who
insist at the start that American industries have no right to protection
at all, and that such protection is "the robbery of the many for the bene-
fit of the few." It was an old maxim of English law that said, "A child
should not be given in charge to a nurse that loves it not."

Neither can the country afford to intrust its vast domestic inter—
ests to those who denounce as extravagant and unconstitutional all money
spent for the "general welfare, " to promote which was one of the special
objects for which the Constitution was brought into being. Do we want
to give our gallant little Army to the care of those who think it ought to
be disbanded, or our Navy—-which under this Administration has carried
our flag into so many distant seas, never on a wanton errand of hostility,
but always as the friend of American commerce and the protector of
our citizens-~do we want it handed over to the men who say it ought to
be thrown to the scrap heap ? Do we want the Philippines abandoned to
be the victims of misrule at the hands of their own agitators, or the prey
of any covetous power that may wish to enslave them for its own profit?
Do we want to sneak out of the Isthmus of Panama, acknowledge we have
no right there, and basely surrender the hope and the dream of centuries ?
And do we want to forsake and repudiate the foreign policy of McKinley
and Roosevelt, which was also the policy of Lincoln and Monroe, which
had its august origin in the heart and brain of George Washington, of

 

 

 

 

 

 

338
treating all countries as friends, doing business with all the peoples of
good—will, meeting courtesy with courtesy and wrong with firmness,
being just to all nations and partial to none?

These are not idle questions. Every one of them is directly
involved in the result of this election. On every one of them there is not
a man here to-night but knows how the Republican party stands. In our
platform, in our record, in the words of our candidates, our views and
our intentions are made known to the world. Our path is marked out for
us so plainly that even if we wanted to we could not deviate from it. If
the people want a continuation of the policies of the last eight years, they
know they will get it from the Republican party. But what man in this
audience, what man in this universe, can tell what Judge Parker would
do if he were elected next month? Perhaps-—and this is the theory of the
most optimistic of his supporters--he might do just what Mr. Roosevelt
is doing; and perhaps he would take the opposite view of all public ques—
tions. There comes no light on this vital inquiry from the Democratic
platform. It dodges some questions and straddles others; it makes
charges without a basis of truth or probability. It palters in a double
sense on all the questions upon which we desire a frank utterance. And
if we seek it from the candidates we are no better off. When they do not
contradict the platform they contradict each other and themselves. They
have been for holding the Philippines and for scuttling from them. They
are for free silver, to judge by their acts; they are for a gold standard,
to judge by their words. They are for free trade-~and a fair degree of
protection. On one point they and the platform agree. They are in favor
of the Constitution--except in the Southern States.

But whatever the platform and the candidates may profess it is
perfectly clear that the vast proportion of the party, as at present organ—
ized, is opposed to the Republican principles set forth in our platform
and avowed by our candidates. They are opposed to the gold standard;
to protection of American industries; to all our programme, foreign and
domestic; and their candidate, if he should happen to be elected, would
be confronted with chaos at the very outset of his administration.

He has recently made a speech which would be a very shirt of
Nessus to him if he were ever called on to carry his words into action.
He has at last come to the point where he is willing to say we must
abandon the Philippines. In his speech of acceptance he acknowledged
our responsibility for them and said we should give them self-govern—
ment. His friends, in great distress of mind, cried out to him that that
was the Republican doctrine and that what he intended to say was that
we had no responsibility for them and must give them independence.
Certainly, that was what I meant, said the judge—-and he wrote some-
thing like it in his letter of acceptance. But even that was not enough,
and ten days ago he revised his views again, and now declares for the
absolute abandonment of the islands and for an immediate proclamation
of our intention to do so. Among the reasons he gives for this reckless
and ill-considered utterance are some which show an astonishing care-
lessness of the facts. He says they have cost us six hundred and seventy
millions. Others say that the annual expense of them to the taxpayers
is fifty millions. The truth, accessible to him and to everybody, is that
they have cost far less than one—third of what he says, and the annual

 

 

 

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339
disbursement on their account is about one-tenth of the amount charged.
Judge Parker says further that the Philippines have cost us 200,000 lives,
wherein he is wrong to the extent of about 195,000. But these mere errors
in his figures, gross as they are, do not compare with the monstrous lev-
ity with which he proposes to take a step which would cover us with indel-
ible discredit, which would be an abdication of our position in the Pacific,
the surrender of our commercial prestige in the Far East, a base treach—
ery and betrayal of the loyal and intelligent Filipinos who have trusted
us, and a direct invitation to intestine war and foreign invasion. And if
he pretends that we should relinquish control of them, and still be
responsible for their acts——that we should give up the task of civilizing
them, and still stand between them and a hostile or covetous world, no
matter what they may do——the inhumanity of such a proposition is only
equalled by its want of common sense. It is a blunder well-nigh incred—
ible for him to say that we should treat the Philippines as we did Cuba.
There is no analogy between the two cases. We have never owned Cuba;
we have never claimed to own it. The Philippines are ours by every
sanction known to public law; by fortune of war, by treaty, by purchase, ,
by occupation, by undisturbed and undisputed possession. To say that g" '
the cases are the same and require the same treatment simply shows
in the man who says it a confusion of mind or a deliberate misrepresen-
tation, either of which proves him to be—-in the words of one of Judge
Parker's most ardent admirers—- "not fit to be President this year or
any other year."

In this Speech the Democratic candidate has given the measure of
his knowledge of large affairs, has shown his lack of any sense of
responsibility, and has introduced another element of doubt and danger
into the problems which would confront his administration if he were
elected.

This, gentlemen, is the crux of the situation. If you vote the
Republican ticket you know what you are doing. The Republican record
and the Republican professions are at one. They avow what they have
done. They make no apologies, no excuses, for it. They say that under
similar circumstances they will do the same again. Whether right or
wrong they are clear, explicit, straightforward. They ask no man's
vote on false pretenses. On the other hand-—and I wish to speak with
respect of a great party which embraces so many good citizens, so many
of our valued friends--no wizard son of a seventh son can tell what their
policy is, what they would do with the Government if they were given it.
Their platform is a set of turbid and evasive phrases. The utterances
of their public men are shifty and self—contradictory. They talk of a
policy of adventure! I have yet to hear of an adventure so reckless and
wild as intrusting the fortunes of the Republic to an aggregation like the
Democratic party of to—day——a fortuitous concourse of unrelated prej—
udices. We can say to—night, what has so often been said before in times
of far more danger and stress than these, that the Republican party is
the ship—-all else is the sea. It is the only certainty in sight.

At every election we hear that there should be rotation in office——
that neither party should be continually in power. None of us deny that
there is some truth in this contention. There should be occasional
change in the Government; there may be whenever two things happen:

 

 

 

 

340
When the Republicans forsake their record and the Democrats get rid of
theirs. Again I say we are not so silly as to claim any individual super-
iority, moral or intellectual, over our opponents. It would be absurd to
say that nearly half our people are devoid of the highest civic virtues.
But the simple truth is they are badly led. They made a mistake, deplor—
able past all computation, in 1860, and they have not recovered from it
yet. First there was slavery extension, then secession, then repudiation,
and populism and free silver-—a hopeless succession of mistakes. It is
most difficult--we hope it will not be impossible——for them to extricate
themselves from such a Serbonian bog. We all earnestly desire the day
when the two parties may enter the lists under equally Sane and safe
leading. It is painful to say that day has not yet dawned.

There was a moment this year when we had hopes of a salutary
change in the Democratic attitude. They were travel- stained and unhappy
with their wanderings in the wilderness in 1896 and 1900. They seemed
to have made up their minds that free trade, repudiation, and anarchy
were out of date and unbecoming--that they no longer appealed to the
public taste. So they tried to get as near to the Republican platform as
possible. Some of their leaders apparently intended, when they went to
St. Louis, to say to the country: We are just as safe and sane as the
Republicans. We are for the gold standard; for a reasonable tariff; for
restraining unlawful combinations without injuring lawful business; for
self-government, not abandonment, of the Philippines. But the instinct
of blundering was too strong for them. As soon as they got together the
power of the mass asserted itself. They turned down the gold-standard
proposition, they declared protection to be robbery, and came out flatly
for the immediate abandonment of the Philippines. Then they tried to
make up for this destructive platform by nominating what they called
conservative candidates-—for the Presidency, a gold—standard, or at
least a gilt—standard, man, who had voted for free silver whenever he
got a chance; and for Vice—President, a Southern Democrat, enormously
rich, who believed in protection.

With this harlequin ticket and timidly radical platform they have
gone to the country and little by little their well-meant disguise has
worn into tatters and the party appears in its old, familiar shape. Its
reliance is, as of yore, on the Solid South, which means an appeal to
racial hatred, and on Tammany Hall, which me ans organized corruption.
And relying upon these two sources of power, they claim the confidence
of the country upon grounds that affront the common intelligence and
fatigue the derision of the world. Is it not a sight for men and angels to i
see the Solid South, which exists by virtue of its nullification of the ,1
Constitution, which promises Judge Parker the bulk of his electors 1
through a suppression of a vast majority of its voters, attacking Theodore
Roosevelt in the name of an endangered Constitution? Is it not a groveling
farce to see Tammany Hall, whose name is a hissing and a reproach to ,
a disgusted civilization, accusing the Republican party of extravagance 1‘
and corruption? But the campaign has narrowed itself to this. Everything
else has vanished, dissolved in a mist of contradictions. Protection is
robbery—~but they are in favor of reasonable protection. Their leaders
say the gold standard is a fixed fact-—but the majority of their party
still side with Mr. Bryan. They cry out against appropriations in gen-
eral—-but do not dare to specify those they will cut off. With that

 

 

 

 

 

341
discretion which is valor's better part they abuse our Army because it
is small, and Speak—~some of them--rather respectfully of our Navy
because it is strong. Their candidate denounces the pension order,
admitting a fixed age as a partial proof of disability, and then offers, as
a bribe for soldiers' votes, to recommend a service pension for every-
body of an indefinite and unSpecified age.

In this hopeless lack of unity, in this dearth of issues, they fall
back on a campaign of fiction and slander. They remind one of the clas—
sic French story of the famous household where there was more wit
than means, where the dinner was often merely a feast of reason and a
filet of sole. On one occasion the thrifty lady of the house telegraphed
her clever husband, "Give us another story; we've got no roast."

It is a misfortune for a party, as it is for an individual, to have no
serious occupation, for Satan finds mischief for idle hands. Because
they have absolutely no facts to bring forward they have produced a
fantastic variety of fictions. I will not occupy your time by recounting
these rather ignoble flights of imagination. I will only refer to one ; .
class of charges—-those which ring the changes on two words; the Presi- 1;"
dent is "lawlessH and "unsafe." “

 

Every act of his which they qualify as lawless has been done after
careful study of the law, after counsel with the best lawyers, and every
one which has been brought to the test of the courts has been triumphantly
approved by our highest judicial authorities.

And then that hoodoo cry "unsafe"-—how is it to be treated seriously?
Unsafe he undoubtedly is, as the law is to the malefactor, as the judge is
to the criminal, as the disinfectant is to the microbe. But what shall we
say to those who in the same breath accuse him of dangerous hostility
to business interests and also of subservience to the great corporations?
Let them answer each other.

But we are told he is dangerous to the peace of the world, he is a
fire eater, a war lord—-he wishes to embroil us in a policy of adventure.
What does the record say? He and his predecessor have done more in
the interest of universal peace than any other two Presidents since our
Government was formed. They have done more for the cause of arbitra—
tion than all the rest put together. They have composed more difficulties
by friendly negotiation; they have settled more questions that threatened
our peace; they have made more treaties, and more mutually advantageous
ones, than any other Presidents in our history. Theodore Roosevelt gave
to The Hague Court of Arbitration the breath of new life when death
threatened it. His influence, constantly and quietly exerted among our
sister nations, has often dissuaded from violence and led to peaceful
solutions. He is now preparing a set of arbitration treaties with all the
countries which desire them. In compliance with the call of the Inter—
parliamentary Union—-who had confidence in his discretion and his love
of peace-—he is trying to induce the powers to come together once more
in conference at The Hague to concert measures for the peace and wel—
fare of the world. And yet I would not ask you to believe that the Presi-
dent holds peace higher than all other considerations. Sacred as the
word is to him, there are others more sacred still——Honor and Duty.

 

 

 

_._ 1‘ ..u; ..

      

I|I.III iIJI... .II 14.. II . \I I! II. I .1I.II.III I IIII.I.. . .l I II .II. III III I III I rIl I II I .....I1
q .. I. . I ..Jl . . J.
I .nt-I'l- (III I .II I I I
I . . I I I . I . . I

 

342
So long as the millennium delays he will stand by American interests
and American rights, keeping his sword well sharpened and his powder
dry.

It sometimes seems a waste of time to meet these "wild and
whirling words" of calumny. The men that utter them do not themselves
believe them. Each man of them knows very well that he could wish no
happier lot to his boy in the cradle than that he might grow up to be such
a man as Theodore Roosevelt. If some weak-minded anarchist should
take it into his addled brain to adopt the amiable and chivalrous advice
given the other day in a public speech by an Alabama Congressman and
send President Roosevelt to join the equally loved and maligned Lincoln
and Garfield and McKinley, you know now what a pall of sorrow would
spread over this country from end to end; and not over this country
alone, for the shadow of that grief would sweep like a sudden night
around the world. It is the curse of party spirit, especially in times
when the opposition has no great cause to advocate, when there is no
great issue at stake, that impels even honest men to say what they do
not believe and to incite disordered minds to deeds which fill with
anguish the heart of a nation.

I read a while ago in the platform of the Democrats of Massa-
chusetts this reckless charge against the President:

He has declared war against a sister republic with-
out an act of Congress, in defiance of the well-known
usages of international law and in the face of an
adverse opinion from his chief law adviser, it is
commonly believed.

Who, I may ask, believes it? Who is the man gifted with the
malignant credulity which makes such belief possible? This is a model
campaign fiction, for every word in it is false. The President has not
declared war on any nation. A declaration of war is a solemn official
act, impossible except by a vote of Congress. No such act ever took
place. It may be presumed the platform refers to the notice given to the
hostile forces on the Isthmus that they were not to fight on the line of the
railroad, which it was our duty to keep open. But this was no war, and
no declaration of war; there was no defiance of our Constitution, nor of
international law. The action. of the President was in the interest of peace
and it was effective. Not a hostile shot has since been fired on the
Isthmus. And to complete the story of this amazing fiction, all the Pres—
ident's legal advisers, "numbering good intellects,” such as Knox, Root,
Taft, and Moody, have heartily endorsed and approved his action. Both
Houses of Congress have adOpted it. The Senate accepted the treaty
based on it by an overwhelming majority, embracing half the Democratic
Senators, who honored themselves by rising above the petty politics of
their would—be leaders and refusing to reject a great national benefit
because of the sordid fear that a President not of their party might be
thanked for it. It is little less than criminal that men should play so
recklessly with words of serious import. They do not seem to know the
plain meaning of words. They accuse the President of the gravest of
crimes, one deserving instant impeachment. If what they were true, the
House which should impeach him, the Senate which should try him, are
disgraced by every hour of inaction; and a people who would see their

 

 

 

    

I .i I I I... IIIIIII . .Il..ld.1...1. ..I1...III II...
I .1 i1I4..II1I..1 .. .. .. . .. . . I

 

Constitution thus violated would be worthy of slavery or anarchy. There
is but one inevitable conclusion—-they do not believe one word they say.

And here is the plain proof of it. In the very same breath with
which they accuse us of being on the Isthmus as the result of violence,
robbery, and treachery they propose not only to stay there, but to go
right on and reap the fruit of our infamy by building the canal. There
is no talk of restitution, no suggestion of a national penance for trans—
gression. Nothing of the kind. They will enter the house of sin which
we have built——they will eat of the fat and drink of the sweet, rolling up
sanctimonious eyes and thanking Heaven they are not as those wicked
Republicans. This would be a revolting spectacle if they believed what
they say. But it is not so bad as that. They know we are there by right,
legally and morally. If fortune favored them they would go in and build
the canal, in pursuance of the action of President Roosevelt, with no
load on their souls, with consciences void of offense-—except that of
having libeled and slandered their own Government and their own country.

This Constitution of ours must possess a marvelous vitality to
have survived all the attempts to save it. They began in the time of
Washington. He was a tyrant, too, in his day. The Constitution was
constantly in danger of violation at his hands. Next, Jefferson was
accused of the same crime; in fact, he rather suspected himself at the
time of the Louisiana Purchase—-but the people forgave and applauded,
and that act is now the brightest jewel in his coronal of fame. But the
most dangerous enemy of the Constitution, the one whose supposed vio—
lations of that sacred instrument excited the most frenzied cries of rage
and terror, was Abraham Lincoln, that nisi prius lawyer, that old Clay
Whig, who worshiped the Constitution scarcely less than his Maker.
Even the Democrats have now grown ashamed of these attacks, and it
has become fashionable for them to praise and to quote him. That emi-
nent Constitutional jurist Senator Tillman the other day joined the ranks
of his admirers and reproached the Republican party for having forsaken
his teachings. In the evolution of Lincoln's fame we have seen some
strange happenings; but we were not prepared to see him defended with
a pitchfork.

Patriotism was once petulantly called the last refuge of a scoundrel.
The Constitution, which we ought all to cherish and revere as something
sacred, is coming to be considered as a missile to be thrown at the head
of our opponents whenever we fall short of other ammunition. The sim—
ple fact is that no President has ever violated the Constitution, and I risk
nothing in saying that no President will violate it in the next four years.

The Republicans can avow their adherence to the Constitution with—
out hypocrisy and without the labored emphasis of remorse. The first
great work of the party was performed in 1861, when with toil and
struggle such as we pray may never be necessary again they saved the
Constitution from the assaults of the predecessors of the men who now
claim exclusive charge of it, and who even to-day not only acquiesce in
its violation in certain States of the Union, but shamelessly profit by it.

If all the citizens of the Southern States were allowed their Constitutional
rights, the Democratic party, as at present organized, would cease to
exist, and the politics of the country, no longer chained to dead issues of

 

 

 

 

 

   

I II I ..........

In. uld II III]. .I
n . . W

   

h .vi....II..I.. . I IdiJ 4.: . ..
. .

 

 

 

344
the past, could arrange themselves on lines of dispassionate discussion
and patriotic development .

Conclusion

This extraordinary campaign is drawing to a close. On the 8th of
November the bickering and confusion of tongues will cease. The people
who have been filling the air with slander of the man who has so well
and so nobly served the country will recognize with gratitude his excel—
lent work, and will be glad they are still to enjoy the benefits of it.
Without referring to what might be the results of a Democratic success,
we shall see as plain as day what we have gained by a Republican victory;
no new or untried courses, but a continuance of the policies which have
proved so fruitful in advantage for the last fifty years. The Constitution,
our great charter of public and private rights, will be found intact. The
doctrine of protection, given forth by Washington and Hamilton, ampli-
fied and perfected by the experience of a century of trial, will still be
available to fill our Treasury and to foster our manufactures. The gold
standard of currency and our banking laws in the hands of those who
established them and who do not have to protest the sincerity of their
adherence to them will keep our finances firm as the hills. The prin-
ciple of nationality, derived from our Revolutionary fathers and con-
secrated by the blood and toil of the civil war, will guard this indis—
soluble Union of indestructible States against all attack from within or
without. The Atlantic and Pacific oceans will still be equally the field
of our trade and commerce. Our possessions beyond the seas will be
governed with firmness and liberty, with an ever—increasing measure
of freedom, as they develop the faculty of self-control. We shall con—
tinue to treat our sister republics of this hemisphere as friends and
equals, not coveting their goods or their soil-—desiring only their trade
and their friendship. Our relations with the rest of the world will
remain as they have been in recent years—-those of frank and honorable
amity with all, and entangling alliances with none. Our ideal will be
Justice; the desire of our hearts, to which the labor of our hands will be
devoted, Prosperity and Peace.

 

It quickens the pulses to think what splendid progress we are to
make on every line of national welfare in the next four years with Theo—
dore Roosevelt at the helm. In the strength of his young manhood, with
lofty hopes and purposes, with large experience of life, with the coun-
try his only care and God his guide, he will fill his high office, with
reverence for the law and the Constitution "as ever in his great Task—
master's eye." His just fame in history will add a new splendor to the
glory of his native State.

Men of New York! will you allow it to be said that while the rest
of the country stood by him you fell away? When President Roosevelt
ascends the steps of the Capitol next March, shall it be said that his
Mother State has no part in his triumph? If that shall be so, yours will
be the loss, not his.

 

   

     

... {JIIJII 110*...” 4.4 .

On similar occasions in the past, Hay delivered a speech two or

' It is, therefore,

three times the length of the "Carnegie Hall Address.‘
more concise and, in terms of organization, tightly structured with its
three divisions readily discernible. The purpose of the speech is indi~
cated by Hay's answer to a question he posed in the introduction: "Why

is it that these great assizes where eight millions of people are to

decide in whose hands they are to place their interests for the next four
years should be approached with so little noise, with such unusual calm?"
The reason for such little excitement in the campaign, stated Hay, is

that the American people believe, under Theodore Roosevelt, McKin—
ley's "work shall go in the hands and under the guidance which has been
found so efficient," and "they are not wasting so much time as usual
from their private affairs to show an interest which is too universal to

need much advertising."

Hay then elaborated, throughout the body of the speech, on the
precedents of policy that had been established under McKinley and
would be maintained under Roosevelt. It is suggested by Dennett, that
Hay "was being made use of, " by the party leadership, as he developed
the theme that the McKinley policies would not be changed.1 For exam—
ple, Hay "labored the point, among others, that while the tariff needed
revision, the operation could safely be trusted only to those who loved
it." Hay "Spoke in good faith," states Dennett, "and it was only after
the election that he learned that the President had decided even to omit

. . . . 2
from h1s annual message all reference to tariff rev1s1on."

 

The conclusion of the speech was both an appeal to the conserva—
tism of the Old Guard and the challenge of the future to the new genera—
tions of voters. The Constitution "will remain intact" and "the doctrine
of protection, given forty by Washington and Hamilton. . . . will still
be available to fill our Treasury and to foster manufactures, "contended
Hay, while still implying there would be changes in the programs of the

administration: "It quickens the pulses to think what splendid progress

 

lDennett, op. cit., 434.
2Ibid.

 

—_—m

 

 

 

we are to make on every line of national welfare in the next four years

with Theodore Roosevelt at the helm."

Invention
(Logical Proof)

In the deveIOpment of his arguments, Hay contended that the past
programs of the Republicans had proven successful and, arguing g
fortiori, stated his reasons why the Republican party should continue in

charge:

Any radical meddling with the tariff would throw a thousand
industries into confusion and bring man to ruin. Stability,
unity of purpose, is absolutely necessary to the complicated
and delicate machinery of modern business, where the change
in the price of a single by-product may vitally affect the
prosperity of a great industry and may make all the difference
between comfort and want to thousands of workingmen and
their families. Nobody denies that the tariff must from time
to time be revised. But it is too evident for argument that

the revision must be intrusted to friendly hands.

Again, in the area of foreign affairs, Hay was arguing in behalf of

his own policies as Secretary of State:

Neither can the country afford to intrust its vast domestic
interests to those who denounce as extravagant and uncon-
stitutional all money spent for the "general welfare," to
promote which was one of the special objects for which the
Constitution was brought into being. Do we want to give our
gallant little Army to the care of those who think it ought to
be disbanded, or our Navy-~which under this Administration
has carried our flag into so many distant seas, never on a
wanton errand of hostility, but always as the friend of Amer—
ican commerce and the protector of our citizens—-do we
want it handed over to the men who say it ought to be thrown
to the scrap heap? Do we want the Philippines abandoned

to be the victims of misrule at the hands of their own agi-
tators, or the prey of any covetous power that may wish to
enslave them for its own profit? Do we want to sneak out of
the Isthmus of Panama, acknowledge we have no right there,
and basely surrender the hope and the dream of centuries?

With this deductive approach, that all had been done well under the
Republicans and therefore the same could be expected in the future, Hay
turned to the charges of the Democrats regarding the ”fire eating" ten—

dencies of President Roosevelt in the field of foreign relations and that

—_—_.

 

 

 

 

 

 

he was "dangerous to the peace of the world. The pacific character of

the President's foreign poliCy must. . . . have been a little difficult,"1
states Dennett, but Hay got around it by "averaging": "But we are told he
is dangerous to the peace of the world, he is afire eater, awar lord——
he wishes to embroil us in a policy of adventure. What does the record
say? He and his predecessor have done more in the interest ofuniversal

peace than any other two Presidents since our Government was formed."

In his arguments, Hay consistently "turned the table” on his oppo-

sition and exposed the inherent contradictions in their reasoning:

. they do not believe one word they say. And here is
the plain proof of it. In the very same breath with which
they accuse us of being on the Isthmus as the result of
violence, robbery, and treachery they propose not only to
stay there, but to go right on and reap the fruit of our infamy
by building the canal.

"Everything else has vanished, dissolved in a mist of contradic—

tions, " argued Hay:

Protection is robbery—-but they are in favor of reasonable
protection. Their leaders say the gold standard is a fixed
fact—~but the majority of their party still side with Mr. Bryan.
They cry out against appropriations in general——but do not
dare to specify those they will cut off. With that discretion
which is valor's better part they abuse our Armybecause it
is small, and speak--some of them—-rather respectfully of
our Navy because it is strong. Their candidate denounces
the pension order, admitting a fixed age as a partial proof
of disability, and then offers, as a bribe for soldiers' votes,
to recommend a service pension for everybody of an indef-
inite and unSpecified age.

The fallacies in the opposition's arguments, contended Hay, made it

impossible to predict the course of action of their nominee, Judge Parker:

But what man in this audience, what man in this universe,

can tell what Judge Parker would do if he were elected next
month? Perhaps--and this is the theory of the most opti—
mistic of his supporters—~he might do just what Mr. Roose-
velt is doing; and perhaps he would take the opposite view
of all public questions. There comes no light on this vital
inquiry from the Democratic platform.

 

 

 

 

       

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..In. .- r I . ._ ... I u .. . .I ...
. A. o _I .

 
 

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....I... ... .... -

 

348
The Democratic platform, argued Hay, dodged some questions and
straddled others while, at the same, making "charges without a baSis of

' The same was true of the candidates who, if not

truth or probability.’

contradicting their platform, were contradicting each other and

themselves:
They have been for holding the Philippines and for scuttling
from them. They are for free silver, to judge by their act;
they are for a gold standard, to judge by their words. They
are for free trade—-and a fair degree of protection. On one
point they and the platform agree. They are in favor of the
Constitution-~except in the Southern States.

Invention
(Emotional Proof)

The logical and emotional arguments used by Hay were closely
interwoven to disparage the Democratic party's platform and its can—
didates. Neither could Hay resist a slight hint of the resurrection of
"the bloody shirt": "But the simple truth is they are badly led. They
made a mistake, deplorable past all computation, in 1860, and they have
not recovered from it yet." This was followed by a "hopeless succes—
sion of mistakes," contended Hay, as he raised the "ghosts of the past":
"First there was slavery extension, then secession, then repudiation,

and populism and free silver-~a hopeless succession of mistakes."

Combining both the appeals of altruism and patriotism, Hay
climaxed his use of emotional proof as he defended, in a sense, his own

policy in foreign affairs:

The principle of nationality, derived from our Revolutionary
fathers and consecrated by the blood and toil of the civil war,
will guard this indissoluble Union of indestructible States
against all attack from within or without. The Atlantic and
Pacific oceans will still be equally the field of our trade and
commerce. Our possessions beyond the seas will be governed
with firmness and liberality, with an ever-increasing meas—
ure of freedom, as they develop the faculty of self—control.
We shall continue to treat our sister republics of this
hemisphere as friends and equals, not coveting their goods
or their soil——desiring only their trade and their friendship.
Our relations with the rest of the world will remain as they
have been in recent yearS~-those of frank and honorable

 

 

..i ,-; so-

 

349

amity with all, and entangling alliances with none. Our ideal

will be Justice; the desire of our hearts, to which the labor

of our hands will be devoted, Prosperity and Peace.

Then, appealing to the pride and loyalty of his audience, Hay
uttered a challenge: "Men of ‘New York! will you allow it to be said
that while the rest of the country stood by him you fell away? When
President Roosevelt ascends the steps of the Capitol next March, shall
it be said that his Mother State has no part in his triumph? If that shall

be so, yours will be the loss, not his."

Invention
(Ethical Proof)

Hay achieved direct ethical persuasion in terms of identifying
himself with the "virtuous" cause, but his major effort was expended
in establishing belief in the courage and sincerity of President Roose—
velt. As previously mentioned, one of Hay's major purposes was to
develop support for Roosevelt from two divergent groups and most of
his attempts to achieve ethical persuasion were in that direction.
Already alluded to has been the passage where Hay, albeit somewhat
strained, attempted to make the President appear to have the image of

a "dove" rather than a "hawk."

In another passage, he alluded to a recent speech by an Alabama
Congressman which, according to Hay, indicated the "calumny" and low

ethical purpose of which the opposition was capable:

If some weak-minded anarchist should take it into his addled
brain to adopt the amiable and chivalrous advice given the
other day in a public Speech by an Alabama Congressman
and send President Roosevelt to join the equally loved and
maligned Lincoln and Garfield and McKinley, you know now
what a pall of sorrow would spread over this country from
end to end; and not over this country alone, for the shadow
of that grief would sweep like a sudden night around the
world.

"It is the curse of party spirit," Hay said, "especially in times
when the opposition has no great cause to advocate, when there is no

great issue at stake, that impels even honest men to say what they do

 

 

 

 

350
not believe and to incite disordered minds to deeds which fill with

anguish the heart of a nation."

The Style of the Speech

 

Hay, in the later period of his public speaking, continued to develop
a style that was less involved and less figurative than that in his earlier
speeches. The sentence structure reflected more of an oral style, and
his choice of words is increasingly more adapted to the audience and

the immediate purpose of the speech.

Efforts to achieve clarity were facilitated through the use of con—
crete details and the orderly sequence of ideas. The "Carnegie Hall”
speech featured frequent use of rhetorical questions that, again, gave
the total presentation an aura to the audience of being talked ”with"

rather than "at.”

The comparative brevity of this address probably caused Hay to
forsake the usual admixture of lengthy examples and frequent employ—
ment of imagery. Relying more on brief factual instances, Hay's style
was more expository in nature and made frequent use of suggestion
rather than drawing "word pictures" for his audience. There was just
enough "leavening of the loaf" in the employment of illustration, as in
the instance of "Give us another story; we've got no roast," to give

balance to the use of abstractions.

Summary of the Analysis

 

This speech represented a kind of ”summing up” regarding the
career of John Hay, although ostensibly it was delivered in behalf of
Roosevelt and the Republican effort in the campaign of 1904. Reflected
throughout the speech were references to achievements that were actu—
ally his own. The synopsis tracing the fifty-year history of the Repub~
lican party, the party with which he had come to identify so closely,
mirrored Hay's rationalization for his party loyalty. This party loyalty,
observed Henry Adams, "became a phase of being, a little like the

loyalty of a highly cultivated churchman to his Church. He saw all the

 

 

 

 

 

 

351
failings of the party, and still more keenly those of the partisans; but

he could not live outside."

John Hay's sentiments, regarding the purpose of power as employed
through the lever of a political party, was probably more accurately
phrased in a passage of his speech, ”Memorial Address on the Life and
Character of William McKinley.'' In responding to his own question

regarding the use of political power in achieving the greatest good for

 

the greatest number, within the bounds of morality and conscience, Hay

stated:

It is easy for partisanship to say that the one side was right
and that the other was wrong. It is still easier for an indo-
lent magnanimity to say that both were right. Perhaps in
the wide view of ethics one is always right to follow his
conscience, though it lead him to disaster and death. But
history is inexorable. She takes no account of sentiment
and intention; and in her cold and luminous eyes that side
is right which fights in harmony with the stars in their
courses. The men are right through whose efforts and strug—
gles the world is helped onward, and humanity moves to a
higher level and a brighter day.2

 

 

1Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams, p. 321.

 

2Hon. John Hay, ”Memorial Address on the Life and Character
of William McKinley," Delivered before the Two Houses of Congress,
February 27, 1902, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1903),
pp. 14-15.

 

—:

 

 

 

CHAPTER VII

CONCLUSIONS

 

Once in a speech, John Hay described himself as a man without a
state and, in providing an explanation, gave a synopsis of his biographical
data:

HI was born in Indiana, I grew up in Illinois, I was educated
in Rhode Island, and it is no blame to that scholarly com-
munity that I know so little. I learned my law in Springfield
and my politics in Washington, my diplomacy in Europe,
Asia and Africa. I have a farm in New Hampshire and desk
room in the District of Columbia. When I look to the springs
from which my blood descends the first ancestors I ever
heard of were a Scotchman, who was half English, and a
German woman, who was half French. Of my immediate
progenitors, my mother was from New England and my
father was from the South. In this bewilderment of origin
and experience I can only put on an aspect of deep humility
in any gathering of favorite sons, and confess that I am
nothing but an American.I

Yet, in many respects, Hay was not a typical American for very

l

few of his countrymen were like him. "For similar reasons,| suggests

his biographer, "it cannot be claimed that Franklin or Jefferson was a

. . 2
repre sentative Amerlcan. "

While Hay was a product of the frontier,
through a combination of talent in many areas and an incredibly wide
range of experiences, he achieved a career in two great fields —— liter—
ature and diplomatic statesmanship. His life, while always active and
involved in doing many things well, was also one of internal conflict with
itself; the desire for comfort constantly being at war with the drive
provided by "the engine of ambition" within himself. He would have

preferred, to use his own words, "to lie in the orchard and eat the

 

1Addresses of John Hay, pp. 219—220.
2Dennett, John Hay, p. 440.

 

352

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER VII
CONCLUSIONS

Once in a speech, John Hay described himself as a man without a
state and, in providing an explanation, gave a synopsis of his biographical
data:

HI was born in Indiana, I grew up in Illinois, I was educated
in Rhode Island, and it is no blame to that scholarly com—
munity that I know so little. I learned my law in Springfield
and my politics in Washington, my diplomacy in Europe,
Asia and Africa. I have a farm in New Hampshire and desk
room in the District of Columbia. When I look to the springs
from which my blood descends the first ancestors I ever
heard of were a Scotchman, who was half English, and a
German woman, who was half French. Of my immediate
progenitors, my mother was from New England and my
father was from the South. In this bewilderment of origin
and experience I can only put on an aspect of deep humility
in any gathering of favorite sons, and confess that I am
nothing but an American. "1

Yet, in many respects, Hay was not a typical American for very
few of his countrymen were like him. "For similar reasons," suggests
his biographer, "it cannot be claimed that Franklin or Jefferson was a

. . 2
representatlve Amerlcan. "

While Hay was a product of the frontier,
through a combination of talent in many areas and an incredibly wide
range of experiences, he achieved a career in two great fields —- liter—
ature and diplomatic statesmanship. His life, while always active and
involved in doing many things well, was also one of internal conflict with
itself; the desire for comfort constantly being at war with the drive

ll

provided by "the engine of ambition within himself. He would have

preferred, to use his own words, "to lie in the orchard and eat the

 

1Addresses of John Hag, pp. 219—220.
2Dennett, John Hay, p. 440.

 

352

 

 

 

 

353
sunny side of peaches"; however, suddenly in his sixties he was lifted

out of himself and put in the right place.

Hay was born in Salem, Indiana, on October 8, 1838; and although
he was a native of the Middle West, his marriage and subsequent career
gave him a closer identification with the more sophisticated society of
the East. After leaving home to study at Brown University, Hay was
launched on a life of activity, amazing in its range and variety. During
the early period, he acted as military aide and wartime secretary to
Lincoln, served on the staff of the American legations in Paris, Vienna,
and Madrid, worked for a few years as an editor on the staff of the New
York Tribune, was involved in business activities in Cleveland for a
period of time, became Assistant Secretary of State in the Hayes
administration, and was widely known as a writer —— especially as a poet,

novelist, and biographer.

During the transitional years before arriving at the peak of his
career, he wrote, in collaboration with John Nicolay, the great biography
of Lincoln. While this was his greatest literary work, the American
public knew him better as the author of the Pike County Ballads. During
this eleven years of transition, before President McKinley made him
American Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, Hay lived in Wash—
ington, where he acquired a friendship with Henry Adams that was to
have a deep influence on his life. While in Washington during these
years, he also made frequent trips abroad, where he absorbed the infor—
mation which led to the point of view which was to be of great value in

the nation' 8 service.

Having the leisure and time provided by his independent wealth,
Hay was anxious for public service; and thus began the late period of
his career. The sort of foreign post he had hoped for was finally
attained in reward for his political support of McKinley in 1896. In
London, Hay was eminently successful in cementing the growing Anglo—
American rapprochement that characterized the late 1890's; due in part
to his love of English society and English life. These were "the hap-
piest months" in Hay's entire life, wrote Henry Adams some years

later.

 

 

 

 

354
As a result, Hay did not wish to leave his Ambassadorial post

when asked to accept the more arduous assignment as Secretary of
State. He was also concerned over his health and, professing to feel
a sense of inadequacy in taking over such important reSponsibilities,
hesitated before accepting out of a sense of duty; but the ambition which

always warred with his love of ease surely had a part in it.

Although not himself originally an imperialist and never a jingoist,
Hay accepted the war with Spain as "necessary as it is righteous,” and
became increasingly responsive to the opportunities that it opened up
for the expansion of American power. Whereas in the long past the
United States had rigidly maintained its complete independence of
action through the careful avoidance of entangling political commit-
ments, chiefly through the policies articulated by Hay, the country came
to accept all the ambitious consequences of its emergence upon the world

stage.

The imperative necessity of establishing close and cordial rela-
tions with Great Britain became the sheet anchor of Hay's foreign
policy; and his strong sympathy for England was reflected on a political

speech, while Ambassador, calling on the peoples of _Great Britain and

 

America to increase their cooperation in world affairs. Hay was never
deterred from this position; and he believed, because the two countries
were bound by ties of origin, language, and similar interests, it was

evident "that there is a sanction like that of religion which binds us to

a sort of partnership in the beneficent work of the world."

Hay's ability at compromise and accommodation was revealed
under both McKinley and Roosevelt, but his most important diplomatic
work was done under McKinley. Hay's status gradually changed upon
Roosevelt's rise to the Presidency in 1901, and the role of Secretary of
State became an increasingly subordinate one. Roosevelt and Hay
remained good personal friends, although there were moments of fric-
tion when the Secretary sought to restrain his impetuous chief. Roose—
velt, as the vigorous proponent of ”speaking softly but carrying a big
stick, " dominated the scene more and more after the election of 1904 -—

due in part to Hay's increasing ill—health.

 

 

 

 

355
Hay, resenting the role of the Senate in the approval of treaties,

could not get along with that body and was outspoken in his condemna—
tion. ”No fair arrangement between us and another power will ever be
accepted by the Senate,” he wrote to Nicolay in 1900. "We must get
everything and give nothing,——and even then some malignant Senator
or newspaper will attack the deal, and say we have surrendered every-

thing,-—and that scares our cowardly friends out of their wits.”

Hay's approach to foreign policy was best summed up in his
Speech on ”American Diplomacyz": "If we are not permitted to boast of
what we have done we can at least say a word about what we have tried
to do and principles which have guided our action. The briefest expres—
sion of our rule of conduct is, perhaps, the Monroe Doctrine and the

Golden Rule. With this simple chart we can hardly go far wrong."

Hay's rule in diplomacy was to settle all questions, if possible,
through personal communication and to write few papers. As a result,
his name is not attached to an impressive volume of state papers such
as mark the records of Jefferson, J. Q. Adams, and Webster; yet the
phrases "open door" and ”administrative entity” reflect years of inces-

". . these phrases," wrote Henry Adams,

sant diplomatic activity.
"both in what they express and what they avoid expressing, show Hay's
method:--a method that he may have learned from Abraham Lincoln. "
Hay's method of diplomacy and his technique of communicating his

policies reflect "the hand of Hay," stated Adams, "but the temper, the

tone, the wit and genius bear the birthmark of Abraham Lincoln."

Hay's ability as a phrase maker was reflected in much of his
public speaking; and though he did not particularly enjoy the act of
speechmaking, he was very effective in this medium of communication.
Hay’s literary success in 1871 created a lively demand for his appear—
ance on the lyceum circuits, where he won a success comparable with
that in literature. His lectures of this early period of his speechmaking
bore the stamp of his association with President Lincoln and his first
experiences in Europe as a diplomat. In each lecture, the figure of
Lincoln predominated as an example of the essence of democracy and

reflected Hay's strong liberal sentiments of the early period. Hay's

 

 

 

 

 

 

356
lecture on the "Progress of Democracy in Europe" was an especially

sympathetic review of the republican movement in Europe from the
days of the French Revolution. Hay's interest in revolutionary move-
ments began to dim through the passing of the years, both as the result
of marriage and his association with the eggs of the business climate.
At first an independent in politics, Hay became more and more a deep-

I

dyed Republican, "committed by a dozen public speeches,‘ and in his

later years was never quite easy in the role of reformer.

Hay was extremely versatile in his speaking and equally pro-
ficient with the three kinds of rhetoric; deliberative, forensic, and
epideictic. This versatility as a speaker was, perhaps, a reflection of
the man himself -- a personality that "caught and threw back most of
the qualities which gave character to the period and made in modern
history a figure which might have been impossible in any other time and

H

place. A product of the Gilded Age, his personality took on and
reflected the attributes of the age as revealed in the habitual style and
thought processes incorporated in his speaking. Yet Hay was a poet by
nature; and though he was quick to adapt to his environment, he was
also a non— conformist when he felt the inherent principles of democracy

were being trampled on.

John Hay, through both his deed and words, symbolized America's
transition from the Civil War into the Twentieth Century. He began a
career after college with the desire to be a poet; and his best poetic
efforts were, paradoxically, inspired by the life and the language of the
midwest that he had originally despised as being a "dreary waste of

heartless materialism. "

Originally almost a "radical for his day" with
a deep sympathy for the emerging republican movements in Europe, he
became, in his later writing and speaking, the foremost apologist of the
new capitalism of the seventies and eighties. The labor trouble of the
last decades of the nineteenth century convinced him that ”the devil had
entered the working classes, ” and his apologia for the aristocracy of
wealth was motivated less by justifying the actions of that group than by

his concern with the breakdown of law and order.

 

 

 

 

 

 

357
In his political Speaking, Hay contributed much in the way of

technique and phrase-making that later Republicans were to use so
effectively during their long tenure in office. Hay’s political philosophy,
as revealed in his speaking, was Hamiltonian and tinged with an admira-
tion for the British ruling class and British imperialism. His arguments
that the proprietors and entrepreneurs of industry and finance possessed
an inherent right to rule over "the rabble" was accompanied with the
warning that power should be used with a sense of public reSponsibility.
Hay’s heritage to the later generations of Republican politicians, from
McKinley and Roosevelt to Hughes, Hoover, and Stimson, was the con—
viction that the G. O. P. possessed a monopoly in international states-
manship and that America's prosperity depended upon its continuance

in office. In his Speaking, John Hay symbolized the patriotic power and
expanding prosperity which inspired the new rulers of America and
which Hay himself did so much to make an integral part of the tradi—

tions of the Republican party.

 

 

 

 

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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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358

 

 

 

359
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—‘— i—

 

 

360
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—‘—1 l L

 

 

 

 

363
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Articles and Pamphlets

 

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I

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Newspapers

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Unpublished Volumes

 

"Letters of John Hay and Extracts from Diary." Vol. I, II and III.
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Ward, Sister Saint Ignatius. "The Poetry of John Hay." Unpublished
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_:—

 

 

 

 

 

364
Other Sources

Pamphlet of clippings in Rare Book Room of the New York Public
Library. ‘

John Hay Manuscript Collection, John Hay Library, Brown University.

 

 

 

 

 

   
 

  

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