DOCTORAL DISSERTATION SERIES t i t l e rMT AUTHOR tvut/zi/M ^emer// c//e/jr//)/v U N IV E R S IT Y DEGREE £dW/}&/> £lf£*£TT M/CM S7~AT£ PI P. W . C0££. . PUBLICATION DATE- NO.. UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS U N I ANN ARBOR M I C H I G A N THE MINS OF EBWAHD EVERETT By WILLIAM KENNETH CHRISTIAN A THESIS Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English 1952 THE MIND OP EDWARD EVERETT By William Kenneth Christian AN ABSTRACT Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies of Michigan State College of Agriculture and Applied Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English Year Approved^ 1952 1 The Mind of Edward Everett The purpose of this study was to seek out and evaluate the ideas of Edward Everett on history, education, American literature, economics, and slavery. Chapter One, "The Careers of Edward Everett," provides a bio­ graphical sketch, showing his careers as minister, teacher, editor, orator, politician, governor, ambassador, college president, Secre­ tary of State, and writer. Chapter Two, "History and Its Lessons," presents his views con­ cerning American history. The Pilgrims created a refuge from Europe's religious and political tyrannies. The American Revolution was the "most momentous event" in history, and the Constitution, which "com­ pleted the great revolutionary movement," is the safe-guard of liberty. All history proved the greatness of the American heritage. In the drama of liberty the star-kero was George Washington. Chapter Three, "Literature in America," discusses Everett's meagre literary comments. As editor of the North American Review, he vigorously defended American literature against British ridicule. Everett did not understand Emerson or anything connected with the transcendental movement. He had praise for Bryant, Longfellow, Whittier, Irving, and Cooper; he was aghast at Whitman. Everett's interest in his own oratory and political ambitions contributed to his lack of appreciation for contemporary literature. 2 Chapter Four, "The Champion of Education," concerns the ideas Everett expressed in support of education. He advocated teacher training, general education, and practical science. The populariza­ tion of knowledge aids the development of real learning. The press, free government, and Christianity are three great modern instruments for the extension of education and civilization. Chapter Five, "The Voice of Wall Street," outlines his economic ideas. He held the conservative Whig view that property ri^its were the basis of civilization. for economic advancement. In America everyone has an equal chance The Declaration of Independence was the cause of the expansion and the economic development of the country. Everett argued for protective tariffs, trying to show that all the people would benefit from them. As governor of Massachusetts, he urged complete abolition of imprisonment for debt and wanted legal restrictions on banks. Chapter Six, "Social Change, Slavery, and the Union," deals with Everett's views of social change and his attitude toward slav­ ery. He believed optimistically that human progress was assured. He held the philosophic view that social welfare required the inter­ action and balance between conservative and progressive elements. He considered himself a conservative. Everett consistently offered the sentiment of Union as the antidote for the agitation over slav­ ery. The true patriot worked "to merge in one comprehensive feeling all discordant sectional preferences." His position was a nebulous Idealism and he "blindly maintained it until Confederate guns fired on Fort Sumter. Then he made his decision to support Lincoln and the Union completely and actively. Chapter Seven, "Wasted Genius - An Evaluation," presents an ex­ planation of Everett's failure to make a lasting mark in American history. As a man, he was a complex of vanity, dignity, extreme self-assurance, and "boundless energy. His public utterance was overly polished and freighted with scholarship. Political ambition and the desire to be president dominated his entire life. But Everett lacked the courage to face the slavery issue and he did not possess the fighting, tough, resilient mind essential for political success. ACEUOWLEDOMMTS Research for this study was chiefly carried on at the Massachu­ setts Historical Society, and 1 wish to express ay appreciation to Ur. Stephen T. Riley, Librarian, and the members of his staff. Other librarians whose help I wish to gratefully acknowledge ares Miss Julia Manning of the Boston Public Library, Miss Dorothy W. Bridgewater of the Tale University Library, Miss Carolyn Jakeman of the Houghton Li­ brary at Harvard, Mrs. Henrietta Alubowicz of the Michigan State Col-; lege Library, as well as the staffs at the Harvard Archives, the New York Public Library, and the New York Historical Society. I wish to express my indebtedness to Professor Russel B. Nye, at whose suggestion I undertook this study, and to Professor Claude M. Newlin, whose constant encouragement and advice have contributed great­ ly to the completion of this project. Por continued encouragement, editorial assistance, and the typing of this manuscript, I am indebted more than I can say to my wife. W. K. C. 11 VITA. William Kenneth Christian candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Pinal Examination: November U, 1952. Dissertation: The Mind of Edward Everett Outline of Studies: Major subject: American Literature Minor subject: English Literature Biographical Items: Born, January 27, 1913» Wilkesbarre, Pennsylvania Undergraduate Studies, New York State College for Teachers at Albany, 1931-35 Graduate Studies, Cornell University, 1937-38; Michigan State College, 19U6-52. Experience: Teacher of English, Franklin Academy, Malone, New York, 1935-37; Instructor in Oral and Written Expression, New York State Agricultural and Technical Institute, Morrisrille, New York, 193S-U2; Instructor in History at Syracuse University under the ASTP, 19^12-^4; Instructor in Rhetoric at Cornell University under the tJSMAP-ASTP, 19Uh; Member of the English Department, East Carolina Teachers College, Greenville, North Carolina, 1 9 ^ - ^ ; Instructor in Written and Spoken English, Michigan State College, 19^5“ • Member of Kappa Phi Kappa, Pi Gamma Mu, ill TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ........................................ 11 V i t a ............................. ill Preface...................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE - THE CAREERS OF EDWARD EVERETT.................. 1 1. Education and Wanderjahr............................ 2 2. Teaching and the Promise of Greatness................. 10 3* Politics and O r a t o r y ............................... 20 U. G o v e r n o r ................ 2U 3. Ambassador ............................... 23 6 . President of H a r v a r d ............................... 33 7* Climax and Downfall............................... . 37 .............................. I19 CHAPTER TWO - HISTORY AND ITS LESSONS........................ 5S 5. Tears of Redemption 1. American Historiography in the Early Nineteenth Century . 39 2 . Plans and Projects for the Writing of History......... 73 3. Geography and American History SS .................. U. Colonial Experience and American Independence......... 90 3* The Operation of Providence in History ....... 93 6 . Liberty, the Key to History.......................... 96 7* Political Organization* "the most momentous practical question"............................................ 103 S. England, "the most favored abode of liberty". . . . . . . iv 110 CHAPTER TTO - (Continued) 9* Faults of the Hew England Forefathers................... 117 10* Social necessity for Monuments........... 121 11. The Feneration of Washington........ 125 CHAPTER THREE - LITERATURE IH AMERICA........................... 131 1. Movements in American Literature.............. • • • • 2. Literary War with England 132 ................... 135 3. Circumstances Favorable to the Progress of Literature in America ........................... 152 I*. Poetry and S c i e n c e ....... ........................ 156 5. Opinion of Emerson ................................. l6l 6 . Bryant, the Hestor of American P o e t s .......... 165 7. Washington Irving..................................... 166 S. Oratory and Style..................................... 176 CHAPTER FOUR - THE CHAMPION OF EDUCATION...................... 135 1. Developments in American Education.................... 136 2. The Wide Diffusion of Knowledge.............. 139 3* Fains of Education in aR e p u b l i c .................. . . 195 h. Knowledge and M o r a l i t y ••••• 215 5. Self-Taught M e n ••••• 2 lS . ••••••• 221 6 . College Education 7« Preparation of Teachers............................... 227 S. "Education for Practical L i f e " .............. 233 9. Science and P r o g r e s s .............................. . 235 CHAPTER FIVE - THE VOICE OF STATE STREET ............... 2UO 1. Conservative Boston and E v e r e t t ................ 2Ul 2. Capital and Civilization................................250 3* Business and the Declaration of Independence............. 262 H. Agriculture - the Basic Industry .................268 5. "Protecting the Arts and Industryof the people" . . . . . 272 6 . Interest in Internal Improvements 278 ............. 7* Attitudes toward Labor................................. 282 8, Everett's Gubernatorial Addresses...................... 293 CHAPTER SIX - SOCIAL CHANGE, SLAVERY, AND THE U N I O N ............. 302 I. Reform Movements In the Nineteenth Century............... 30 U 2. The Obsession of Union.................... 321 3* References to S l a v e r y .............. .............. . 329 U. The Election of I 8 6 0 ........... ................... . 3 . The Secession Crisis............ ... ................ 355 6 . Opinions of L i n c o l n ................ .. 358 7* Everett's Case against the South . . . • • .......... • 362 8 . Support of the Government............................. 373 CHAPTER SEVEN - TASTED GENIUS - AN EVALUATION . . ............. 378 1. Summary of His Vi ews ......... 380 2. The Complexity of the M a n ................. . 393 3 . An Evaluation................ 398 Appendix I . . . . ...................................... *101 Appendix II .............................................. *&9 Bibliography ............................................ vi EHEFACB the purpose of this study is to seek out and evaluate the ideas of Edward Everett on history, education, American literature, econom­ ics, and slavery* in effort also has heen made to present evidence explaining why Everett did not fulfill his early brilliant promise left no outstanding mark in American life. Because Everett's literary remains are so vast, some practical limits have had to he set. His running observations on political con­ ditions are ignored since they properly belong to a separate study of Everett as a politician. Only his reviews which directly concern Amer­ ican literature and history have been considered. articles have been ignored for two reasons. His many newspaper For years he contributed anonymous articles, letters, and editorials on politics, and these are part of his life as a politician* In preparing the bibliography for this thesis, I found the clues to many anonymous articles in his jour­ nals and was able to locate them in newspapers, but I know that addi­ tional research will reveal many more anonymous articles. The second reason is that most of the signed articles concern national and inter­ national politics. This study has also excluded consideration of Everett's rhetoric. vii 1 CHAPTER I THE CAREERS 07 EDVARD EVERETT Probably no other eminent American of the nineteenth century enjoyed such fame in his lifetime and is so little known a century later as Edward Everett, Ibis is strange* too, when we consider two important facts about Everett*s career. First of all, the span of his public life extends from 1S13 to I865 , a period of fifty-two years, during which Everett had not one but several "careers." He was succes­ sively clergyman, teacher, editor, orator, member of the House of Rep­ resentatives, governor, ambassador, college president. Secretary of State, United States Senator, writer, and advocate of philanthropic and educational causes. Perhaps the one man of this time who came closest to such a diversified record was John Quincy Adams. The other significant fact is the turbulence of the half century during which he lived. firmly established. This was a time when American nationality was The great westward migration went on steadily. The industrial revolution began to transform the appearance and char­ acter of some of the seaboard states, especially Everett's own Massa­ chusetts. the North. Immigrants from Europe poured into the coastal cities of Projects of reform were advanced. Above all, slavery, with » n its ethical, political, and economic implications, came to the fore as the dominant challenges of the period. All the tides of change seemed finally to find their focus in the issue of slavery. And Ever­ ett' 8 life ended Just a few months before the close of the War which 2 settled the political aspect of the slavery question. The careers of Eduard Everett, then, are part of a period of intense change in American life. 1. Education and Wanderjahre Everett was horn in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on April 11, 179U, the fourth of eight children. His father, Oliver Everett, was a lib1 eral Congregational clergyman. His mother was the daughter of Alexan2 der Hill, a Boston merchant of some wealth. In 1802 Oliver Everett 3 died and the family moved to Boston. Everett's precocity early began to show Itself. He had started k school at the age of three. In ISOH he won a Franklin Medal for Eead5 ing, an Interesting augury in that Benjamin Franklin was later to he one of Everett's oratorical subjects. Ahout this time the hoy was sent to a private school kept hy Ezekial Webster, an older brother of Daniel Webster. When Ezekial became ill, Daniel Webster, then fresh from his law studies, temporarily taught in the school. "Thus began a friendship for young Everett," Frothingham points out, "which lasted nearly half a century, and left its mark upon the literature and poll6 tics of America." 1 Paul Severe Froth Ingham, Edward Everett. Orator and Statesman (Boston, 1925)» p* 2 Ibid., p. 6 . ^ Ibid., p. 5« ^ Ibid., p. 6 . 5 Ibid., p. 8 . ^ Ibid., p. 8. 3 The drive toward public speaking and oratory was early set. In 1805, at the age of eleven, he won another Franklin Medal, this time at the Boston Public Latin School "and delivered an English oration 7 of his own composition.* He also belonged to a declamation society, 8 though he claimed later this did him no great good. He persuaded his mother to let him enter Phillips Academy at Exeter, "At this excellent school I revised all my former studies, and attended to some new ones. 9 I improved my hand-writing and made some progress in speaking." He graduated in 1807, delivering his own Valedictory Latin address. 10 at thirteen, he became a freshman at Harvard. Hot much is known of Everett's college life. Then, He seems to have shown a fondness for metaphysics; he discovered his remarkable memory which later enabled him to deliver two-hour orations without one single look at a manuscript; and his participation in a short-lived venture to 11 launch a campus literary magazine showed editorial ability. Upon grad­ uation with the highest honors in 1811, Everett delivered the Valedic­ tory English Oration. He also composed a class song which seemed to be 12 his first venture into poetry. 7 Frothingham, p. 8. 8 NUeaoirs Edward Everett," Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Series XVIII, 9^* 9 Ibid., p. 95. ^ Frothingham, p. 9* 11 Ibid., p. 13. 12 . Ibid., p. I5*. I k Now pressure was brought to bear upon him to turn him away from the study of the law which was his inclination. Dr. John T. Kirkland* Harvard's President* and Dr. J. S. Buckminster, the famous clergyman, were the chief persuaders. As a result, Everett continued at Harvard 13 as a resident graduate and prepared for the ministry. During this Ik time he served as a Latin tutor. On August 27* 1312, he read a very elaborate poem entitled "Amer­ ican Poets" at the annual meeting of the Harvard Chapter of Phi Beta 15 Kappa. Here Everett regrets the lack of poets in America. The aris­ tocratic conditions of monarchy could produce poets but "Our plain 16 Bepublicks, with their homely modes" has so far failed. He pointed out that the towers of business were the chief mark of America: And if the poet seek throughout our land Where our famed turrets, towers and castles stand, Show him each brick-kiln pile, whose aspect meets The admiring gaze, in Boston's pompous streets. * And these very "pompous streets" of Boston which he referred to sa­ tirically were later to become for him streets so well loved that he was a living example of Boston's assuredness and pomposity. The poem is not, however, negative in theme. In fact, it is quite patriotic, with Everett pointing out American life as a source of in- ^ Frothingham, p. 15* ^ Ibid., p. IS. Ibid., p. 15. 16 Ibid., p. 16. 17 Ibid., p. 16. 5 spiration which would 'be used by later poets. IS The thing of historic note about this poem Is the fervid expression in 1812 of a need for a purely American poetry. When Everett received his Master of Arts degree in the Commencemeat of the summer of 1813. he was a very promising young man. At the Commencement he delivered an English oration entitled "On the 19 Restoration of Greece." In the previous year the brilliant young clergyman. Dr. Buckminster, had suddenly died, leaving vacant the pulpit of the Brattle Street Congregational Church. Right after his 20 graduation, Everett was asked to supply the pulpit for several Sundays. The Brattle Street Church "was unquestionably the largest and most fashionable in Boston at the time; and that meant the most critical 21 and exacting." On November 28. 1813, Everett was formally invited to become the 22 pastor of the church. After about a month's hesitation he wrote his 23 acceptance. Brattle Street was a Congregational Church and so it was necessary for an ecclesiastical council to pass upon Everett's fit­ ness as a candidate. 18 February 9* 18lH, was the date of the ordination See Appendix I for complete copy of "American Poets." ^ Frothingham, p. IS 20 Ibid., p. 20. 21 22 Ibid., p. 22. Ibid., p. 21. 23 Ibid., p. 23. and installation. At the ecclesiastical council which proceeded, the desire of conservative ministers that Everett he asked to give a pro­ fession of faith, was voted down, a statement of belief in the Apostles' creed being considered sufficient. Thus Everett was accepted and in­ stalled in a church which was a liberal leader in the developing re21* ligious controversy. At twenty he was in the most desirable pulpit in Boston. Just before his ordination Everett began his first book. A for­ mer Harvard graduate and Boston clergyman named George Bethune English had left the ministry and written a book entitled The Grounds of Chrls25 tlanlty Examined. The book created a furor. Everett determined to answer it and in October 1313 Began to write a book in reply. The re­ sult, a five hundred page work called A Defence of Christianity, he 26 completed in ten months. Frothingham doubts that the book was neces­ sary, for interest in the original attack waned. "Written long before the day of the Higher Criticism, it ceased long since to have any value 27 except as a monument to the author's zeal and industry." The Intense labor which went into this book, at a time when Everett was preaching and looking after the affairs of a large church, brought on a nervous breakdown. ^Frothingham, p. 2h-. 25 Ibid., p. 28, 26 Ibid., pp. 28-9« 27 Ibid., p. 30- So in the autumn of 18lh he went on a 7 28 trip with a friend to Maine and along the Kennebec river. That same autumn Everett went on a trip to Washington. He carried a letter of introduction to Thomas Jefferson from John Adams. Among other things, John Adams wrote* "Mr Everet is respectable in 29 every Vein; in Family fortune Station Genius Learning and Character.* 3q Unfortunately Everett did not go as far as Monticello. During the course of this journey, he met many of the great men of the country Professor Silliman and President Dwight of Tale, Gouvemeur Morris in Hew York, Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Rufus King, Jeremiah Mason, 31 Christopher Gore, and President Madison in Washington. Meeting the great was always a characteristic of a journey made by Everett. In the latter part of ISlU Everett was offered the newly-estab­ lished chair of Greek Literature at Harvard. With the offer came per­ mission to spend two years in study in Europe. Everett hesitated a 32 while and then accepted. At first glance it might seem odd that he should so lightly and early in life cast aside his profession and en­ ter another. However the offer of further study in Europe could not help tempting a person of Everett's great Intellectual abilities and inclinations. Van Wyck Brooks gives a simple and plausible defense. Frothingham, p. 3°* 29 Ibid., p. 31* 3° Ibid., p. 31. 31 Ibid., pp. 32-3* 32 Ibid., p. I 8 "If he had abandoned, with little scrcple, the career of the m«w» of God, everyone knee that half the ministers were only men of God be­ cause the pulpit, which was highly honoured, also gave them time to 33 read and write** On April 12, 1S15, Everett was Inaugurated as Pro­ fessor of Greek Literature, having resigned his pulpit only a month before. This was the day after he became twenty-one. And four days 3U later he sailed for Europe in the company of George Ticknor. What was to have been two years study and preparation for the Greek professorship turned out to be a stay in Europe of almost five years. The first two years he studied at the University of GGttingen; then, when Harvard extended his leave, he travelled around the conti­ nent and into Turkey and Greece, bringing his absence almost to five 35 years. Although this two-year leave was originally granted chiefly because of his health, at G&ttingen Everett "usually passed from fourteen to sixteen hours every day, in attendance in the lecture room 36 or preparation for it." He apparently always had an unusual ability to concentrate. Here at GGttingen this tendency was disciplined and trained in the erudite tradition of the German universities. One re­ sult was a habit of scholarly exactness which was a dominant charac37 terlstic all the rest of his life. 33 Van Wyck Brooks, Flowering of Hew England (Hew York, 1936), p. 75* 3^ Frothingham, pp. 3**“5» 35 orie William Long, Literary Pioneers (Cambridge, 1935)» P» 6U. 36 ••Memoir," p. SB, 37 yor an example of the disciplined way in which Everett tried to organize his life, see Appendix II. 9 GGttingen opened to Everett an intellectual world not then available in America. The subject to which Everett naturally devoted most of his atten­ tion was Greek under Dissen; but there were lectures on modem history with Heeren, on civil law with Hugo, and private instruc­ tion In Hebrew and Arabic with Eichhom. Moreover, he gave some time to the study of modem languages, particularly to perfecting his knowledge of the German language, literature, and philosophy. Shortly after his arrival he writes that he had engaged Elchhora to give him two hours a week of instruction in German literature, and that he is looking into the works of Vinckelmann. . . • But the study of Greek consumed the most of Everett’s time • • .3® During this period Everett and Ticknor had had an interview with 39 Goethe, Everett not being too well impressed. But he became inter*10 ested in the poet as a result of reading one of his plays. So he read further and even wrote a review of Goethe's work which was pub­ lished in the January 1817 North American Review and had "the distinc­ tion of being the first significant paper on Goethe in any American bl journal." On September 17. 1817, he was granted the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, apparently the first American ever to receive one from a German university. After this he continued the study of Greek and U3 Italian in Paris. In an autobiographical memoir he commented, "I en­ joyed a great advantage in the pursuit of my studies, in a free access to the King's library." 3® Long, p. 65* Ibid., p. 68. 1,0 Ibid., p. 67. ^ Ibid., p. 68. ^ Ibid., p. 11. **3 Ibid., p. 71. ^ "Memoir," p. 93. Concerning the following winter, he 10 wrote: "I passed the winter months at Rome, occupied In the study of Roman antiquities. Vatican. Almost every day, I went to the library of the In the course of the winter, I made the acquaintance of the members of the Bonaparte family resident at Some, and visited the mother of Napoleon, the princess Borghese his sister, Louis the ex><5 king of Holland, and Lucian; the latter frequently." These years of travel took him down into Greece and Turkey and up through the Balkans back to France and England. He neglected no opportunities to study. He neglected no social opportunities either, everywhere the doors open­ ing whereby he could meet noted people. tinent was also true in England. U6 Scott1s home. What had been true on the con­ He enjoyed greatly his visit to In October 1819 be arrived back in America, his wander years at an end. "Immediately on my return," he wrote,"I was urged from many quarters to preach. I did so first at my former church. Finding these calls to multiply greatly, and deeming it not strictly proper, while engaged in other pursuits, to continue those of my former pro­ fession, I determined at length to retire from it altogether, I preached U? for the last time in the summer of 1822." 2. Teaching and the Promise of Greatness Upon landing in New York, Everett proceeded immediately to Cam­ bridge to take up his duties as Greek Professor. llR J "Memoir," p. 99» ^ Frothingham, pp. 52**3* h? 1 "Memoir," p. 101. "After being pre­ n sented to kings* and haring freely conversed with ntonarchs in the world of art and letters, he suddenly found himself face to face with a group of hoys in a recitation-room whom he was expected to instruct U8 in the rudiments of an ancient language.* The career as a teacher be­ gan. To it, Everett brought precocious gifts and his resulting influ­ ence upon the Intellectual life of New England was great. Tanffyck Brooks, who points out that such a Harvard chair as the U9 Greek Professorship was Halmost as important as a seat in the Senate," writes, "There were several persons who suspected that Everett might be hollow. This was quite unjust. Everett was a little spoiled, perhaps. How could he not have been spoiled when President Kirkland said that he resembled the bust of Apollo? tionably gifted. He was a little vain, but he was unques­ He was a little ambitious, in every sense of the word; but he had his own way to make in the world . . . Ho one denied thathe was conscientious. He was a helpful friend. 50 really something to boast of . • The most powerful con who was one of tribute to Everett at his pupils. It shows the Everett as a young man. hg Frothingham, p. 61. lm glowering, p. 7^. 50 ^ Ibid., p. 75* Besides, his Greek was this time comes from Esertremendous promise of 12 Germany had created criticism In vain for us until 1820, when Edward Everett returned from his five years in Europe, and brought to Cambridge his rich results, which, no one was so fitted hy natural grace and the splendor of his rhetoric to introduce and recommend. He made us for the first time acquainted with Wolff's theory of the Homeric writings, with the criticism of Heyne. The novelty of the learning lost nothing in the skill and genius of his relation and the rudest undergraduate found a new morning opened to him in the lecture-room of Harvard Ball* There was an influence on the young people from the genius of Everett which was almost comparable to that of Pericles in Ath­ ens. He had an inspiration which did not go beyond his head, but which made him the master of elegance. . . . they will easily re­ call his radiant beauty of person, of a classic style, his heavy large eye, marble lids, which gave the impression of mass which the slightness of his form needed; sculptured lips; a voice of such rich tones, such precise and perfect utterance, that, although slightly nasal, it was the most mellow and beautiful and correct of all the instruments of the time. The word that he spoke, in the manner in which he spoke it, became current and classical in Hew England. . . . He had a great deal of special learning, and all his learning was available for purposes of the hour. It was all new learning, that wonderfully took and stimulated the young men. It was so coldly and weightily communicated from so commanding a plat­ form . . . yet this learning instantly took the highest place to our imagination in our unoccupied American Parnassus. . . . In the lecture-room, he abstained from all ornament, and pleased himself with the play of detailing erudition in a style of perfect simpli­ city. In the pulpit (for he was then a clergyman) he made amends to himself and his auditor for the self-denial of the professor's chair, and, with an infantine simplicity still, of manner, he gave the reins to his florid, quaint and affluent fancy. * Emerson goes on to say that this was an exhibition of rhetoric such as the country had never before seen, that it greatly stimulated the 52 young men to remember anecdotes of Everett and to mimic him. “This was a triumph of Bhetoric. It was not the intellectual or the moral princi­ ples which he had to teach. •51 It was not thoughts. When Massachusetts "life and letters in Hew England, "lectures and Biographical Sketches (Boston, 19H)* PP* 330-333• 52 Ibid., p. 333- 13 was fall of his fame it was not contended that he had thrown any truths into circulation But his power lay in the magic of form . . 53 This judgment that Everett's Influence was "a triumph of Ehetoric" was 5^ an evaluation of Emerson's old age, written about 1867. What concerns us at the moment was Emerson's enthusiastic memory of the great stimu­ lus Everett was to his students at Harvard. In 1822 Emerson wrote in 55 his journal that Everett was "our Cicero." One of the first achievements in an academic sense was the trans­ lation of Buttmann's Greek grammar for classroom use. This transla­ tion of Everett's, which was even reprinted in England, shows the 56 surging drive which was always present in the man. During this period, invitations to preach came from far and wide, including one from the city of Washington. "Services in those days were held at the Capitol in the Chamber of the House of Representa­ tives, preachers of different denominations, and from various parts of the country being heard. Everett preached on Sunday, February 13, 1820, and took the city by storm. The effect was magical. Cabinet members, Justices, Senators, and Congressmen were loud in their praises, covering the young man with their commendations, and writing to their 57 friends about the wonderful discourse." This success in Washington un­ doubtedly prepared Everett for the next break, the leaving of Harvard. 55 "Life and Letters," p. 33^* 5^ Ibid., pp. 572-3. 55 Journals. I, 207. 5^ Frothingham, p. 62. 57 Ibid., p. 65. Ik Also, at this time, Everett gave a course of lectures on "Anti58 quities" in Boston, a series which proved very popular. These lec­ tures helped contribute to the development of the lyceum movement, a fact which Emerson credits to him, "By a series of lectures largely and fashionably attended for two winters in Boston," Emerson noted, "he made a beginning of popular literary and miscellaneous lecturing, which in that region at least had important results. , „ . I am quite certain that this purely literary influence was of the first import59 ance to the American mind," In 1320 a new career opened for Everett, but one naturally and closely allied to teaching. He was appointed editor of the North Amer­ ican Review, then a .journal with a circulation of between 500 and 600. Within two years the circulation had increased to 2,500. It is the judgment of Mott that "Everett was the most successful of the Review1a 60 editors up to that time," He contributed heavily himself, with a total of 116 articles over 61 a forty-five year period. He introduced some new writers, including Caleb Cushing, W. B. Prescott, Nathaniel Bowditch, and Joseph 0. Cogs- 62 well. "European literature, society, and politics occupied hundreds and eventually thousands of pages of the North American. Everett came Erothingham, p. 66 . 59 »i,ife and letters," p. 335* 60 p. 227• a History of American Magazines, 1850-1365 (Cambridge, 1938), 61 Mott, p. 227. 62 Ibid., p. 228. 15 to his editorship fresh from European travel and with his head full S3 of European ideas.* The magazine seemed so European that some deri6U sively called it "the North TJnamerican." There is evidence, though, that Everett wanted to get out a journal that was definitely American. On March 23, 1821, early in his editorship, he wrote to Professor Silliman at New Haven, "I spare no pains to make it truly national in its spirit, as far as that can he done, without sacrificing the per65 . sonal independence of its supporters," Mott quotes a letter of Everett to Jared Sparks in response to Sparks’ complaint that the Review was not sufficiently American. The points of defense given hy Everett seem to show a woeful lack of understanding of what was going on in America. in it. "1st. You cannot pour anything out of a vessel hut what is I am obliged to depend on myself more than on any other person, and I must write that which will run fastest. 2d. There is really a dearth of American topics; the American hooks are too poor to praise, and to abuse them will not do, 3d. The people round here, our most numerous and oldest friends, have not the raging Americanism that 66 reigns in your quarter." But we must look at the things actually to Everett's credit in reflecting American life and thought at this time. He published art­ icles on internal improvements, called attention to work in American — --- D Mott, p. 228. Ibid., p. 229. 6*5 "Everett Papers," New York City Historical Society. 66 Mott, p. 229. 16 history and biography, and included articles on American science and 67 lav. In the controversy with English periodicals over the question, "Who reads an American book?", Everett played an important part. Mott claims, "Perhaps the leading American magazine articles in the wordy war - which was at its height in 1819-20 - were those of Everett in 68 the North American." When he resigned in 1823 to enter politics, his period of editorship had given him "a public standing in this country and abroad. It brought him also into interesting touch with statesmen o9 and men of letters." Everett was not content at this time. demon of restlessness. He seemed driven by a He had a dispute with the college authorities as to whether he, as a faculty member, could have special permission 70 to live in Boston Instead of Cambridge. In an Interesting letter to Judge Story, marked "Private," he wrote on April 13, 1821: . . . Prom the first week of my return hither, 1 saw that our university . . . would furnish me little scope for the com­ munications of the higher parts of ancient literature, and that a good grammatical driller, which I cannot consent to be, was wanted. But I find besides that the whole pursuit, and the du­ ties it brings with it, are not respectable enough in the estima­ tion they bring with them. . . . In short, I die daily of a cramped spirit, fluttering and beating from side to side of a cage. I am not quite sure that I can break through its sides. I was twenty-seven years old two days ago, which, though something ancient to take a new start, is not, in our simple state of society where the servitude to forms ^ Mott, pp. 230-1. 68 A History of American Magazines, 17^1-1850 (Hew York, 1930) * p. 1*9. ^ Erothingham, p. 68 . 70 Ibid., pp. 71-**. 17 is moderate* a period wholly desperate. . . . /He goes on to tell the people whom he has privately consulted, including Webster and the President of Harvard^ • • • During my period of law study, I should live on the 'Worth American Review,' which, if it do not fall off, will furnish me an ample support. . • I would only add that I am actuated now by no motive of po­ litical ambition. I regard the high offices of our country as splendid burdens - hardly splendid; - and I am desirous of em­ bracing the profession of the law, with a view of supporting my­ self by the laborious practice of it. I am fully aware that it is laborious, in all its ways, but labor has no terrors to me. 71 So Everett came bade again in his own mind to the study of law, from which, he had been persuaded to turn at the end of his undergraduate days. And he claimed in this letter that from the very beginning of his teaching at Harvard he saw the inadequacy of his position. Also, we may well ask ourselves if the careful denial of political ambition does not indicate that some thought had been given to it. In the spring of 1322 Everett married Charlotte Gray Brooks, one 72 of the daughters of Peter Chardon Brooks, wealthy Boston merchant. This was a most fortunate marriage for Everett. Although he would continue to write at times as though he had difficulties in supporting himself and his family, he actually had no more financial worries. And from now on he was assured an unquestioned standing in the right cir­ cles of Boston. The day following the wedding, Mr. Brooks wrote to his new son-in-law that "besides paying for the furniture for their future home, he would send than quarterly the Interest at five per cent 73 on $20,000. . . •" 7^ Erothingham, pp. 70-1. 72 Ibid., p. 75* 73 Ibid., p. 76* 18 Vhen in the early 1820' e the Greeks revolted and appealed to 7^ America for help In their fight for independence, Everett responded. He possessed first-hand information about the country and its leaders; he wrote an article for the Worth American Review; he awakened Web­ ster* s interest and supplied him with material; he tried to enlist 75 the support of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams. Everett cher­ ished the hope of being sent to Greece as a member of a special Amer76 ican commission, but the government refused to take any such action. How occurred an opportunity which pushed Everett forward drama­ tically into the light of national attention. He was invited to be the orator at the annual meeting of the Harvard Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, on August 25» 182^. The occasion alone would give him a chance to speak out on national questions. But word came that Lafayette, who was arriving in Hew York the week before for a visit to America, would come directly to Harvard in order to attend commencement and the Phi 77 Beta Kappa meeting. Everett's theme - "The Circumstances Favorable to the Progress of Literature in America" - was patriotically suited to the day. The church in which the meeting was held was packed, and an electric ex­ citement filled the air.Everett, with stperb grace and beauty, set out to prove that a republican government is best adapted to encourage Frothin£um>, p. 76* 75 Ibid., p. 77* 76 Ibid., p. 80. 77 Ibid., p. 82. 19 learning* At the climax of the oration, he turned to Lafayette and addressed to him an apostrophe of welcome. 7S gave Everett a resounding ovation. Frothingham writes* A deeply stirred audience *But whatever may have been the momentary effect of the oration on others, its Influence on the speaker's own career was lasting. So far as he himself was concerned, it marked the termination of a purely scholastic career, and saw him launched on the 79 stormy waters of political existence.” Less than two months after this oration a convention of indepen­ dent voters nominated Everett as a condidate for Congress from the SO Middlesex District. Everett immediately accepted, a fact which is in interesting contrast to his former hesitations in accepting the call to the pulpit of the Brattle Street Church and the invitation to take the Greek Professorship at Harvard. In the brief campaign which followed, the tributes to Everett's abilities and qualities had the resounding ring of praise which he was to hear for the next four decades. A cam­ paign broadside described him as "with a mind eminently gifted by Na­ ture, enriched by learning, enlightened and liberalised by t ravel . . . ardent admirer and able defender of our National Rights, feelings, prin81 ciples, and institutions.” 7® Prothin^wm, pp. 82-6. 79 Ibid., p. 86. m 81 Ibid., p. 87. Ibid., p. 88. 20 Everett was easily elected. the Harvard authorities. Bat a problem developed at once with Everett wanted to follow the precedent of John Quincy Adams, who had remained as a Professor of Bhetoric even while he filled the duties of United States Senator. But the university would not permit Everett to continue as Greek Professor and forced him to choose "between the scholastic position and Membership in the House of Representatives. Everett chose politics and paid hack to Harvard $3,300 which represented money a dvanced to him for travel and study 82 abroad. 3. Politics and Oratory According to his biographer, Everett was not well prepared to step into the arena of national politics. Greek scholar of his day. "He was counted the best But when it came to politics he had little but the'gift of tongues1 to recommend him. Up to the time of his e- lection to Congress, we have his own word for it that he had never even cast a vote whether at a National or State election. . . . he was soon to experience the difference between a Phi Beta Kappa Oration and a 83 speech in opposition to an amendment to the Constitution.* Everett served in the House of Representatives from 1825 to 1835, the longest period devoted to any one of his careers except that of oratory. In an autobiographical fragment he writes of the committees on which he served during this times Trothin^xam, pp. 89-91* 83 Ibid.* p* 9^* Foreign Affairs, Library and 21 Public building*, "the Panama mission," affairs of the Indians in Georgia, the Retrenchment Committee, "select Committee in favor of the Colonization Society," Committee to examine the Bank of the SU Chi ted States. As Everett*s own record shows he frequently wrote the majority or minority reports of these committees. nifleant, too, that in the two It seems sig- autobiographical fragments he only briefly mentions speeches before the House, while he mentions by title and date many commemorative and lyceum addresses during this period. When he began to bring out the volumes of his Orations and Speeches, he carefully omitted any speeches given in the House of Representatives, or, later, during his brief term as Senator. One reason for these omissions might be the fact that one of his early speeches contained a reference to slavery that brought an in­ stant reaction against him and haunted him the rest of his public life. The House was considering a proposed amendment to the Consti­ tution which would prevent the election of the President and VicePresident devolving upon Congress; this was precipitated by the fail­ ure of the people in the 182b election to give a clear majority to g5 any one of the candidates. Debate on this question went on for weeks. , Everett was opposed, and he prepared a long, elaborate speech which in the delivery took almost three hours. -j- "Memoir," pp. 103-7* Frothingham, p. 99- The speech contained a good deal of "redundant and elaborate rhetoric.* 86 "Taken as a whole," 87 Trothingham says, "the speech was that of an extreme conservative. The great error of judgment came In comments which Everett made about slavery. As Frothingham points out, Everett needed only to refer to slavery as the subject of the compromise hack of the Consti­ tution in stating his stand in opposition to any disturbance of that 88 compromise. But he went further and discussed slavery: he referred to a recent uprising of slaves in Haiti. He said that if there ever were "a servile insurrection at the South . . . there is no cause in 89 which I would sooner buckle a knapsack on my back . . . " Then, in a remark which might have been prompted by the egotism of the scholar, he revealed that in the Creek original the New Testament said, "Slaves obey your masters.* The reaction against Everett for these words was 90 bitter and lasted for decades. If his action here brought criticism, his actions relative to the Indians and their rights brought commendation. He strongly opposed 91 an effort to move the Creek and Cherokee tribes west of the Mississippi. Everett was a strong supporter of Adams during the four years of his “I T Frothingham, pp. 100-1. 87 Ibid., p. 102. ft# Ibid., p. 10U. 89 ibid., p. 105. 90 Ibid., pp. 106-8# 91 Ibid., pp. 109-10. 23 administration. 92 When Jackson was elected in 1828* Everett realised it would make a great difference to him since he had had such cordial 93 personal relations with the White House. The shift in political power caused Everett to determine to visit the western part of the country. In Jpril 1829 he started on a trip which took him down the Mississippi to Hew Orleans and in three months1 travel enabled him to see a great deal of the southwest. During these years Everett delivered some of his greatest commem­ orative addressesl 11The first Settlement of Hew England,* at Plymouth, December 22, 182^; "The First Battles of the Revolutionary War,* at Concord, April 19, 1825* "The Principle of the American Constitutions,* at Cambridge, July k, 1826; "Adams and Jefferson,* a eulogy at Charles­ town, August 1, 1826; "The History of Liberty," at Charlestown, July H» 1828; "The Settlement of Massachusetts," at Charlestown, June 28, I83O; "The Seven Tears War and the School of the Revolution," at Worcester, July U, 1833* "The Battle of Lexington," at Lexington, April 20, I835; 95 and "The Battle of Bloody Brook," at Bloody Brook, September JO, I835. 96 In 1827 Everett was elected to the Harvard Board of Overseers. This was but one of several honors of this sort which he gained. He himself summarized those received vop to I83O. 92 Frothingham, pp. 112-15* 93 ibid., pp. 96* *16. 9^ Ibid., pp. 117-19. 95 The texts of all these orations are to be found in Volume I of Orations and Speeches. 9*> Frothin#iam, p. 115. 2k . . . A few weeks ago I drafted an address on behalf of the Di­ rectors of the Bunker Hill Monument Association. Of this asso­ ciation I was one of the original members. 1 served two or three years as Secretary and devoted much time and labor to its objects. While in Europe on the visit to Weimar, . . . jfX7* • • re“ eeived the compliment of a diploma of membership of the Geological Society of that place. 1 received the degree of Doctor of Phil­ osophy, on leaving G&ttingem. I was elected, while abroad, a mem­ ber of the American Antiquarian Society; and shortly after my re­ turn, a member of the American academy of Arts and Sciences, and the ^MassachusettsJT Historical Society. In lB2k I was elected a member of the Columbian Institute. A few years ago the Geograph­ ical Society at Pari8 chose me a corresponding member. Last year I was elected an honorary member of the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanics' Association. This year I have been elected a member of the Prench Society of Universal Statistics, and of the Historical Society of Michigan. °7 During these years Everett again became restless, expressing his dis­ content at one time because of having to live in a boardinghouse in Washington, at another time because of separation from his children who could not well be brought to Washington during the times of Con98 gressional sessions. In 133*+ he announced that he would not be a can99 didate for reelection. Early in 1835 it became clear that Everett was considered the best candidate in the Whig party for Governor of Masea- 100 chusetts. U. Governor In his study of Massachusetts politics in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, Arthur B. Darling points out: 97 "Memoir,* p. 105. 93 Frothingham, pp. 120-5* 99 Ibid., p. 125* 100 Ibid., p. 126. 25 At the beginning of this period* Massachusetts was approach­ ing a great economic development. At the end* it had been prac­ tically transformed from an agricultural and seafaring community into a manufacturing region. Gottorn mills started in the early 'twenties had expanded into corporations with millions of Invested capital controlled in the financial circles of Boston. By 18U8 railroads spread out from Boston into all parts of the state* and connections had been made over the Berkshire Bills with the West. The free-trade principles of shipowning families had given way to the demand for protection. A new conservative class had risen from the ruins of the old. Daniel Webster, sensing that his con­ stituents had bear metamorphosed into manufacturers and railroad builders* had abandoned free-trade opinions. A different econo­ mic order had appeared* but conservative ideas still dominated business and social life, They were still most successful at the polls. Tet* as the wealth of Massachusetts concentrated under the direction of Bostonian financiers and urban interests grew more predominant, sounds of rural discontent rose higher. A host of liberal movements sprang from the soil of agrarian districts and gained strength in fishing communities along the seacoast. . . . The period from the demise of the old Federalist party in 182U to the birth of the new Free Soil party in 18US was a time of seething unrest. It was an age of reform. From it* Massachusetts emerged into a new social order. In Bov ember 1835 Everett was easily elected. He was a candidate of the Whig party and of the Anti-Masons as well* having consented to 102 run on the Anti-Masonic ticket only if he had the Whig nomination too. This created some difficulty because, once in office, he did not re103 fuse to appoint Masons. Everett had also been nominated by the Whigs in such a maneuver of "the triumvirate, Webster, Edward Everett, and John Davis,* to quote J. Q. Adams, as to ignore the wishes of Lleutenand Governor Samuel F. Armstrong. Political Changes in Massachusetts 182U-U8 (Hew Haven, 1925)* pp. 2-3* Frothingiam, p. 128. 103 Ibid., p. 135. 10^ Ibid., p. 129. 26 These were slight difficulties Indeed compared to those resulting from remarks on slavery which Everett, for no apparently sound and im­ mediate reason at all. Interpolated in his Inaugural address. He stated his regret over the recent agitation, emphasized the legality of slavery under the Constitution, and urged that the subject he no 105 longer discussed, Frothin^iam calls these the "words of a wise and 106 cautious conservatism," And it could he that these were words that most people in Boston and Massachusetts liked at that time, hut they, like the speech in Congress, were sentences which furnished materials 107 for hitter attacks for many years, Frothingham also points out that 108 most of the "solid men" of Soston were with him in this. As antislavery sentiment waxed stronger in Massachusetts, Everett was placed hy hie own words on the extreme conservative side, The most positive contribution of Everett as governor to the trends of change in Massachusetts came in his support of state edu­ cation, especially the establishment of normal schools. He also re­ commended to the legislature and signed the hill which created the first state Board of Education, Horace Mann as secretary, 109 Board's annual reports. This Board at its first meeting chose Everett, while he was governor, wrote the Address of His Excellency to the Two Brandies of the Legis­ lature (Boston, I836), pp. 29-30* 106p. 133. Frothingham, p. 13^* 108 p. 13^. ivh Frothingham, pp, 135“S» 27 In the turbulence of state politics at this time, a reform ques­ tion provided the pretext which defeated Everett when he ran for election the fifth time in 1839* was temperance* Among the reforms being advocated An effort had been made to set up a separate temper- 110 ence party. A bill was introduced into the legislature which would limit the sale of liquor to Mquantities not less than fifteen gallons.* This would obviously eliminate the sale of drinks over the bar in sa­ loons* And Everett was convinced that this would be beneficial to 111 society. Bancroft, Democratic leader in Massachusetts, was quick to perceive the opportunity Everett*s foolish act gave him* What laborer could afford to buy his daily tot fifteen gal­ lons at a time? Did the Whigs mean to restrict the pleasures of rum wholly to the moneyed class? In vain the Whigs might protest that prohibition was not a plank in their platform, for Everett's signature gave the bill an unmistakable Whig character, and the laboring classes saw it as Whig and nothing else. The election of 1839 turned primarily upon the liquor law . • • I*2 The year before Everett lost the governorship, he wrote of his services as governor and we can see what actions he considered as im­ portant* These seem to have been the reduction of the Common Law to a systematic code, efforts to further abolish capital punishment, ex­ tension of the railroads, support of silk culture in the state, pre­ servation of public archives, strengthening of the militia, estab­ lishment of the Board of Education, undertaking of the Geological Sur113 vey, and the appointment of Bank Commissioners* 110 Darling, Political Changes. p.?39* 111 Ibid., p. 239. H 2 Bussel p. 121. B. Eye, George Bancroft, Brahmin Rebel (Knopf, 19^)* 115 "Memoir,* pp. 109-11. 28 Everett felt fitter about this defeat at the polls; especially mas it humiliating since he lost by a single mote. And his brother Ilk Alexander had publicly opposed him in this campaign. Everett made no public shorn of his feelings but quickly made plans for taking his fam­ ily to Europe for an extended stay. 5. Ambassador The rather abrupt departure for Europe mas not wholly due to dis­ appointment because of defeat at the polls. Mrs. Everett mas in poor health and a mans climate had been recommended. So Italy mas the des­ tination. The family party landed at Havre early in July lS^O and 115 after mazy leisurely stops arrived at Florence in November. As usual, during this journey and later at Florence the Everetts moved in the very best society. In a letter to his sister written on January 1, ISUl he expressed happiness at the news of the Whig victory in the fall elections. he claimed to be completely uninterested in getting any office. But This is contrary to what he had written to his good friend Wlnthrop a cou­ ple of months before. "My wish mould be, if ay friends at home desire my continuance in public life, to find employment abroad. . . . If I 116 am fit for anything, it is a diplomatic employment." That winter he wrote to his father-in-law, P. C. Brooks, specifically stating that 117 his preference mould be the ambassadorship to England. 11 Frothingham, pp. 15*H?• n 5 Ibid., pp. 157-S9. 116 ibid., pp. 172-3 * Ibid., pp. 176-7 * 29 Meanwhile Webster became Secretary of State in the new government, and Everett was nominated for Ambassador to Great Britain and hie name submitted to the Senate* Everett. In the Senate there was strong opposition to This can he understood when we realize that England had abolished slavery in her domains and was actively engaged in stqppressing the slave-trade. Any American Minister to England would have the job of protesting against the seizure of any American slaves and demanding suitable reparation. Southern slaveholders felt that the Ambassador should at least be a definite Southern sympathizer. And since they did not so classify Everett, they opposed him bitterly. Rufus Choate and Henry Clay were champions for Everett, and in the 118 final vote he was confirmed. Definite news of his confirmation did not reach Everett in Naples until October 12. He started the long journey to England, arriving in 119 London some weeks later. During his service in London Everett's social and intellectual gifts made him very popular. He came to know quite well leading lit­ erary people - Samuel Rogers, Macaulay, Sydney Smith, Henry Hallam, 120 Peel, Disraeli, Carlyle, and Wordsworth. In fact, Everett became so popular that he was accused of "being too English, an aristocrat, and 121 fond of ostentation." U S Frothingham, pp. 123-5* 119 Ibid., pp. 185-7* 120 Ibid., p. 190. 101 Beckles Willson, American Ambassadors to England 1785-1929 (Hew York, 1929), P* 23U. 30 These social gifts wore much needed at this particular time* The former American ambassador had sent a parting note to the British government which was not at all tactful* There were several sources of friction - the questions relative to the slave-tradee and Maine boundary negotiations. Webster wanted Everett in London as someone 122 whom he could well trust. Everett’s industry showed itself in the way in which he took hold of this responsibility. Bis predecessor had left and there was no assistant to guide him or advise. Tet on the evening of his arrival. Everett read all the accumulated correspondence and the next day began 123 organizing his work. He seems to have possessed an instinct for the right social thing to do. for, even though he had no background in diplomacy, he made no blunders and proceeded tactfully with his work. Bis first written instructions from Webster were dated December 28, 12k 13Ul, almost two months after his arrival in London. These instructions, when received, were very verbose. Webster told him that this was ”a very important crisis” and that ”0 n the 125 boundary question you are well-informed,* Webster, however, was ar­ ranging to negotiate the boundary question himself in Washington with Lord Ashburton as special commissioner. 122 Willson, pp. 229-30. Frothingham, p. 133. 12U Willson, p. 23O. 125 J Ibid., pp. 230-1. t 31 In January ISU3 Everett was offered the post as head of a diplo­ matic mission to China. sion. Congress had made provision for such a mis­ Webster urged him to accept. The rumor reached Everett's ears that this move was being made so that Webster could go to London as ambassador. Once before, during the first year of his ambassadorship, Everett had been approached in a private letter by Webster with the idea of shifting to the embassy in Paris so that Webster could go to Londons Webster had explained that his position in Tyler's cabinet was not comfortable. firmly refused. This first suggestion of change Everett had Everett did not like the "trade" aspect of the mis­ sion to China, nor the idea of travelling to such a far place. His position was made uncomfortable by the fact that John Quincy Adams and President Tyler independently of each other wrote urging him to 126 accept the mission. But Everett would not be persuaded. The handling of the boundary question in Washington and the offer of the China mission seemed to have combined to bring criticism on Webster for the way in which he was treating Everett. And the facts of the situation are Indeed very strange. The long friendship between 127 the two was threatened. Everett's chief official duty seemed to be to argue cases of slave property which had been seised by the ships of 12S the British Government. This he found very unpleasant. Everett did ----- Frothingham, pp. 22b-3^» 127 Ibid., p. 233* 128 Ibid., pp. 23**-7. 32 not appreciate 'being in the position of opposing England In her efforts to stop the slave trade. In December 12^3 he wrote in an official dis­ patch: . • • It is greatly to be wished that some law might be passed which would put an effectual stop to the employment of American capital and the participation of American citizens in a traffic condemned by religion and humanity and revolting to the public feeling of the American people. The strenuous resistance of the United States to the methods by which Great Britain has been so long endeavoring to suppress the trade in slaves, and the great expense to which our Government is put in sustaining a squadron on the coast of Africa, make it equally our duty and our Interest to resort to every measure within our competence to put an effective stop to the nefarious traffic. ^ In the election of IShU the Whigs were defeated and this spelled the end of Everett's term as ambassador. After the new government took office in ISU5 Everett wrote to the new Secretary of State asking to be informed of his wishes. He did not offer his resignation. He wanted very much to stay on and friends tried to make such an arrangement. But in July he received word that Louis UcLane had been appointed to 130 succeed him and would arrive in August. Many English friends expressed 131 the sincerest regrets at Everett's departure for home. On September 19, ISU5 , Everett and his family landed in Boston. The very next day he received a letter signed by all the members of the Harvard Corpor­ ation asking him to accept the Presidency of the University. Trothln^iam, pp. 235-6. ^ 131 Ibid., pp. 250-3* Ibid., pp. 261-2. I 33 6. President of Harvard How followed another period of hesitation. mentioned for president of the College, In 1828 he had been In a letter to Bancroft then he had explained shy such a post could not appeal to a man of letters. "The office would give him no leisure and no liberty, A man would he 132 in a hornet'8 nest." Bven before he had left London word had come to Sverett that he was to be offered the presidency. He wrote strongly against it to his father-in-law: •I know college life well. The reality is very different from the outside. So far from being an eligible retreat for a man of literary tastes* it is a laborious and* what I think more of* a very anxious place. • , • Ho parent who has children of his own needs be told what it must be to be the head of a family of two hundred beys* all at the most troublesome anxious age. You cannot do with them as you do with men. It is in the power of a thoughtless youth - his head perhaps inflamed with an extra glass of wine - to do deeds that plunge the whole institution into disorder. But most friends wanted Sverett to accept. him to accept this as his destiny. 13U. agreed. Webster called and urged Bather unwillingly, he finally On February 5» 1SU6, his nomination was approved by the Over­ seers. On April 30 Inauguration exercises were held in the same church auditorium where Sverett years before had scored his first 135 great triumph of oratory in the welcome to Lafayette. Snerson was present to witness his former idol take office, and he recorded his reactions and Impressions in some detail: 132 Frothingham, p. 266. 133 Ibid., p. 268 13^ Ibid., p. 269. 135 Ibid., p. 2?1. May 1* 1SU6. I was at Cambridge yesterday to see Everett inaugurated. Hie political brothers cane as if to bring him to the convent door, and to grace with a sort of bitter courtesy his taking of the cowl. It is like the marriage of a girl; not until the wedding and the departure with her husband does It appear that she has actually and finally changed homes and con­ nections and social caste. Webster I could so willingly have spared on this occasion. Everett was entitled to the entire field: and Webster came, who is his evil genius, and has done him Incalculable harm by Everett's too much admiration of his iron nature; warped him from his true bias all these twenty years, and sent him cloud-hunting at Washington and London, to the ruin of all solid scholarship, and fatal diversion from the pursuit of his right prizes. It is in vain that Everett makes all these al­ lusions to his public employment; he would fain deceive me and himself: he has never done anything therein, but has been, with whatever praises and titles and votes, a mere dangler and ornamen­ tal person. It is in vain for sugar to try to be salt. Well, this Webster must needs come into that house just at the moment when Everett was rising to make his inaugural speech. Of course, the whole genial current of feeling flowing toward him was ar­ rested, and the old Titanic Earth-Son was alone seen. The house shook with new and prolonged applause, and Everett sat down, to give free course to the sentiment. . . . Everett's grace and propriety were admirable through the day. Nature finished this man. He seems perfectly built, per­ fectly strong and whole; his eye, voice, hand exactly obey his thought. His quotations are a little trite, but saved by the beautiful modulation and falls of the recitation. The satisfaction of men in his appointment is complete. Boston is contented because he is so creditable, safe and pru­ dent , and the scholars because he is a scholar, and understands the business. . . . . . . the complexion of these Cambridge feasts is not lit­ erary, but somewhat bronzed by the colors of Washington and Bos­ ton. The aspect is political, the speakers are political, and Cambridge plays a very pale and permitted part in its own halls. A man of letters - who was purely that - would not feel attracted, and would be as much out of place there as at the Brokers' Board. • • • The close of Everett's inaugural discourse was chilling and melancholy. . . . * If the entrance of Webster just as Everett was to begin his in­ augural address was a symbol of things to come, then it was appropriate. Unhappy days were ahead. And the chill that Emerson sensed in the ad­ dress was apparently a reflection of Everett's own feelings. ^ Journals, VII, 166-70 35 One historian of Harvard writes! "The quixotic Everett came In for three years of torment, hoth to himself and to the school, when he took over in 18U€. The students gave him the merry treatment! when he chided one of them for not using his kerchief, a waving of kerchiefs greeted him at chapel. coat costumes. They mocked his British airs with blue-tail- They staged a cockfight on Fast Bay, and the cry of eall women out of the Yard' went 137 being entertained in quarters." when 'two females' were discovered Everett complained that he had not known the real condition of 138 the college, but this does not seem quite accurate. Certain it is, trouble with the students began the day after his arrival in Cambridge. It included "outrageous singing and uproar" at midnight, boyish pranks, attempted explosions, "beckoning to loose women," "incendiary out139 rages," and felonies. Hours and hours were spent in disciplinary ac­ tion. Details of all sorts had to be handled by Everett. In addition to the students who "proceeded to make his life a hell," Everett had difficulties with the faculty. He wanted them to attend daily chapel as an example to the students. have agreed, but most of the professors stayed away. The tutors seem to Everett then turned to the Corporation and asked for a law requiring daily chapel attendance by the professors. This request seems to have been very m Charles A. Vagner, Harvard. Four Centuries and Freedom (New York, 1950)* p. 11^. Frothingham, p. 275* 139 Ibid., pp. 277-31. 36 lUo quietly by-passed. "Everett conceived an intense dislike of every­ thing that his predecessor had done, including the formal adoption of lHl the Veritas arms and seal . . .M He wanted to restore what he consid­ ered "the true and historic seal of the College." He apparently did not realize that he was going to stir up heated opposition. The Corp­ oration spent months in debate and only grudgingly voted in Everett's favor. The whole question seems to have grown out of his passion for accuracy In historical detail, this passion coming in opposition to lU2 the tradltinally established seal. This Incident of the seal shows a pettiness of temper and lack of proportion which was evident all through Everett's three unhappy years as college president. Two lasting achievements occurred during this time. Mr. Abbott Lawrence gave the University $50,000 to be used for a scientific school. This was the largest sum ever donated up to this time by a living bene­ factor. And Everett secured Louis Agassiz as Professor of Zoology and 1U3 Geology in the new Lawrence Scientific School. It was clear to Everett, even in 18^7. that he would have to watch his health very carefully. effects that worry would have. continue in the Presidency. 1 His doctor warned him of the serious He knew then that he could not long This same summer his wife's health gave Frothingham, pp. 283*5* Samuel ELiot Morison, Three Centuries of Harvard 1636-1936 (Cambridge, 1936)# P* 279* ^ IU3 lU4 Frothin^iam, pp. 287-90. Ibid., pp. 290-1. Ibid., p. 293* 1U5 way. In December 18US Sverett wrote hie letter of resignation, and the following month marked the end of hie career as University Pros­ it ldent. "Certain it ie,N writes a historian of Harvard,"that Sverett will he remembered for the things he might have done rather than for those actually accomplished in his short term at the helm, though some historians still claim his teaching belonged with the best* Simpler men, without his elegance, seem to have overshadowed his high poten­ tiality at every important turn. If it were not for Lincoln, whose masterful two-minute speech at Gettysburg was preceded by Sverett *s ponderous and boring two-hour address, he might be forgotten except 11*7 in the faithful chronicle of Harvard's own history." On January 1, 18&9, his father-in-law, Mr. Brooks, died, leaving a considerable fortune to be divided equally among his children. 1US this, Sverett had no financial worries. After 7* Climax and Downfall Sverett recuperated at Sharon Springs, New York. improved. His health For a time, he seems not to have been sure what he would do. 3 Frothingham, p. 295* lU6 A D Ibid., p. 297* lh7 Wagner, p. 115* ikB Frothingham, p. 295• 38 An offer to "be President of the new University of the State of Missouri 150 he refused. Macaulay wrote inviting him to visit England. *1 am quite sure that every American whom you have furnished with letters of recom­ mendation will tell you that a line from you Is the heat passport into the "best society of London. Even your patriotism ought to impel you to 151 come over often, and to stay with us long.* But such urging from his dear friend Macaulay did not persuade him. 152 him to run for Congress, hut he refused. Wlnthrop and others urged He seems again to have taken up writing projects. writing a "Natural and Civil History of America.N He thought of He thought of doing a history of Greece. And again he turned to the idea of a treatise on 153 International Law. Hone of these were carried through. But he did at this time edit Webster's speeches for publication and write a lengthy 15k memoir of his friend. An event occurred which marred the Everett-Webster friendship. In IS^O Webster made his famous Seventh of March Speech. Reaction to the speech was instantaneous, the North accusing Webster of false155 dealing, calling him "a fallen star." "Solid men of Boston," however, sent a testimonial of approval to Webster. Leading Boston coneerva156 tlves signed, but not Everett. When Everett received the full text Frothingham, p. 303. ^ Ibid., p. 302. *52 Ibid., p. 303» 153 Ibid., p. 308-S. ibid., pp. 309-10. 155 Ibid., p. 315. *56 ibid., pp. 39 of hi8 friend's speech* he studied it carefully and went through a period of struggle with his conscience hut he could not approve it since he could not countenance the enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law. He wrote personally to Wehster explaining why he could not ap­ prove. Everett was depressed hy this event* hut the friendship was 157 not broken. In July 1S50 Millard Fillmore became President on the death of Zachary Taylor. Webster was made Secretary of State in Fillmore's 152 cabinet. This led directly to Everett's reparticipation in diplomacy. In the autumn of I85Q Webster asked Everett to assist him in composing a letter to H&lsemann, the Austrian Chargfc d*Affaires. The United States had sent an agent to Hungary to study events connected with a revolutionary movement headed by Kossuth. The Austrian government* offended by this move* had started a correspondence with the United States. This offered an opportunity "for a declaration of American 159 sentiment which was always popular with the mass of the people.* Webster asked Everett to help compose such a letter. Everett prepared a draft which Webster, with some changes* released as America's answer to Austria. The letter as printed was boastful and "ultra-patriotic." A«d Everett claimed that Webster meant, as soon as he retired, to ex- 160 plain the part Everett played in the authorship. FrothIngham, pp. 317-20. 158 Ibid., p. 32l« ^ Ibid. 160 Ibid., pp. 321-1** Ho In 1852 Webster tried but failed to gain the Whig nomination for the Presidency. This may have contributed to the serious ill- health which resulted in his death on October 2H, 1852. Immediately on hearing the news, Everett composed a newspaper obituary on his life161 long friend. At a memorial meeting in Faneuil Hall on the 27th Everett spoke in honor of Webster. As he left for this meeting, he received an invitation from President Fillmore to become Secretary of State, that 162 position now vacant because of Webster's death. Everett spent several days making up his mind. Finally, on Oct163 ober 30, he wired the President that he would accept. The following Tuesday was Election Day and Pierce was elected, so Everett knew be­ fore he left Boston on November H that he could serve as Secretary of 16H State only the four months left in the Whig tenure of office. With the forcefulness and energy characteristic of him, Everett plunged into his duties on his arrival in Washington. He was asked at once by the President to prepare a letter to the Eaperor of Japan to I65 be taken by Commodore Perry who was soon to sail. Everett also found it necessary to devote time to straightening tp various matters in the 166 State Department which Webster had handled clumsily. The biggest bus­ iness of diplomacy during this quarter concerned Cuba. IST Frothingham, p. 326. 162 Ibid. 163 Ibid., p. 327. Ibid., p. 32S. 165 ibid., p. 331. 166 Ibid., pp. 331-2. kl Expansionist Americans had long looked toward Cuba. Southerners had considered it as a natural field for the extension of slavery. In 1852 England and France proposed that the United States join them Nin a joint agreement guaranteeing to the Spanish Government the undisturbed 167 possession of Cuba." This was to he a Tripartite Convention. On Dec­ ember 1, 183s * Everett wrote to the Compte de Sartiges, and this long communication was his reply to the two governments. Frothingham claims that this letter "became a great State document . . . to be quoted and 168 to guide our national policy at a later period . . . " The gist of the letter was that the United States did not covet Cuba but that it con­ sidered the condition of Cuba was entirely "an American Question." Everett sketched the long history of the United States1 policy of no entangling alliances and declined the invitation to join in the pro­ posed convention. January 5th. The document was not released to the public until 169 Then praise came from all sides. This brief period was very successful for Everett. It increased his national prestige and was a pleasant antidote to the bitterness of the Harvard experience. "The fact of the matter was . . . that Ever­ ett was constantly mentioned at this time as the next Whig candidate for 170 the Presidency." The Whigs had met national defeat in 1852. This auto­ matically cut short his term as Secretary of State, but before that * 7 Frothin^ism, p. 335* 168 Ibid. 169 Ibid., pp. 3 3 M . 170 Ibid., p. 3to. Us brief time was up Everett had opportunity to continue on the national stage. In February 1853 be was elected by the Massachusetts legisla­ ture to the United States Senate. the new position. In every way he seemed fitted for He entered It after success in the State Depart­ ment and long varied experience nationally and internationally. It seemed easily possible that he might be the I856 Whig candidate for 171 president. On taking his Senate seat March U, 1853 * Everett seemed to be in a natural position for moving into the White House. He became a mem­ ber of the Committee on Foreign Delations and also the Committee on 172 Territories. By the late fall of that year he seems to have been 173 pleased with his political prospects. But in January of I85U trouble began. Stephen Douglas introduced the Kansas-Nebraska Bill into the Senate. This bill repealed the Compromise of I85O and reopened the whole explosive question of slavery. Everett was alarmed. ial Committee he opposed the bill. happy situation. In the Territor­ For a conservative this was an un­ Everything had been going smoothly, with no disrupt­ ing or emotional political issue. Everett recorded in his journal that a member of the Territorial Committee "intimated that one great object for which it Jthe BillT was brought forward was *to put me to 17U the test.>N In the heated debates on the floor of the Senate Everett 171 Frothingham, p. 3**0. 172 Ibid., p. 3UI. 173 Ibid., p. 3U2. 17^ Ibid., p. 3U5* spoke against the Mil, hut only after he had sought advice from 175 political friends. He favored the Compromise of 1850, wished no change to he made in that arrangement, deplored the evils of slavery aad expressed the hope that Providence would correct them in its own 176 good time. Frothingham defends the position taken in this speech as 177 due to Everett’s heing "a clergyman in politics.* This is certainly a charitable view. Another equally valid view might he that Everett 178 took the position designed to hurt least politically. The real trouble came later at the time for the vote on the hill. The vote was taken at daybreak after an all-night session of debate, 179 from which Everett had gone home ill at 3*30 A.M. There was an im­ mediate clamor in the papers against those Senators who had "dodged" 180 voting. A letter of explanation released to the newspapers instead 181 of clearing why Everett was absent seemed only to Increase the abuse. Arthur High Clough is quoted by Frothingham as writing: "Everett's course has been pitiably timid and time-serving, and his political career may be considered finished - he wanted the Presidency, and 182 misses it by trying too hard for it." And Charles Francis Adams 175 Frothingham, p. 3^5 176 Ibid., pp. 3US-9. 177 Ibid., P* 3^9* 17s Ibid., P. 350. 179 Ibid., pp. 350-1. 180 Ibid., P. 353181 Ibid. 182 Ibid., p. 35U. 1* wrote to Stumer: «Your colleague has not bettered himself here by his last movement* He has entirely verified what I predicted of him to you the year of his election - stuff not good enough to wear in 183 rainy weather, though bright enough in sunshine. The situation was only mads worse when Everett had a chance to try to redeem himself in the public view. A Remonstrance Address was drawn up and signed by over three thousand Hew England clergymen of 1SU all denominations. Many eminent ministers were among the signers. The petition had arrived in Washington too late to be presented dur­ ing the debate. Sumner was not asked to present it because of his extreme views. Though the document was late* Everett was asked to present it to the Senate. He apparently only looked hastily at the document before explaining to the Senate that the number of signers represented an overwhelming majority of New England ministers. He then read the Remonstrance "and a sensational and angry outburst was 185 the result." Those who opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Bill and those who voted for it were equally angry. The clergy were vehemently criticized for preaching political sermons. And others complained that Everett was apologetic in presenting the petition. His unhappy position Everett explained in a letter to Mrs. Henry Augustus Wise: 183 , Frothingham, P* 35^* 1Sl+ Ibid., p. 356. 185 Ibid., p. 357• 1*5 Then, finally, the aspect of things in the political world is wholly changed since I agreed to come to the Senate; in fact the change has taken place within three months. There was then a fine field of usefulness, if not of distinction, open to me. Now the National Whig Party has ceased to exist - its conservative position in the non-slaveholdlng states is annihilated - and we have nothing in prospect, for the next three years, but anti­ slavery agitation. This 1 cannot conscientiouly join, for it leads inevitably toward the dissolution of the Union; but I can­ not oppose it, for it is justly provoked by the attempt to repeal the Missouri Compromise; nor resist it - for it is sweeping all before it. Discouraging as the s tate of things is, I will stand my ground as long as the state of my health permits; but if I find that is really giving way - as I have too much reason to apprehend - 1 shall beat a retreat. Another move of Everett*s at this time worked against him politi­ cally. Shortly after leaving the State Department he felt the time was ripe for revealing to the public his share in writing the famous Hfclsemann letter while Webster was Secretary of State. He reasoned that his assistance in writing a famous diplomatic paper would help his political ambitions. Everett had his original draft of the H&lsemann letter and the public document, showing Webster*a corrections and additions, print­ ed together in a pamphlet. He sought friendly advice about releasing the pamphlet, but before much could be decided, the newspapers somehow got hold of the story and Everett was accused of "playing false to a 1ST dead friend. * This was more than Everett could take. He again consulted his doctor, and against the political advice of his friends, he resigned his seat as Senator. He was baffled and defeated. In eighteen months as Senator he want from Nhis highest pitch of popularity" to resignation Frothingham, p. 359 187 Ibid., p. 360. 188 tinder fire. "The time had come for heroism, not for harmonlzers: for duty, not decorum. The need of the hour was for conscience, not 189 for compromise.* Although in retirement, Everett still occupied himself with some type of public activity. In January 1850 he had offered "his valuable collection of State papers and other works j£”to the proposed Boston Public Library 7. This offer was the first relating to a considerable 190 amount of library material." Everett considered himself the real 191 founder of the Library. He served as President of the Board of Trua192 tees from 1852 to 186U. In these years after leaving the Senate, he became the active citizen. "Everett from this time on was the most conspicuous private citizen of Boston. Dr. Holmes called him *the yardstick by which men are measured in Boston.* In his leisure he found time to take tip with renewed activity his correspondence with 193 friends abroad." In 1855 the Mercantile Library Association of Boston asked him to give the introductory lecture in their course for the I855-56 sea­ son. He refused but later realized that IS56 would be the hundredth anniversary of Washington's first visit to Boston. Then he wrote to the Library Association, pointing out the coming anniversary and offer­ ing to speak on February 22 if the meeting were made a patriotic 188 prothingham, pp. 361-2. 1S9 Ibid., p. 363. 190 Horace G. Wadlin, The Public Library of the City of Boston (Boston, 19H)» P» 191 Frothingham, p. 3&k, *92 Ibid., p. 365* 193 occasion with the proceeds to go for some commemorative purpose. The Library Association agreed and announced the projected special meeting. This "brought forth invitations to speak on Washington in other parts of the country. Everett wrote to Richmond stating that he would give the Washington oration there if the proceeds would go 195 to the Ladies Mount Vernon Association. This Association had been formed some time before in an effort to raise the funds to buy Mount Vernon from private hands, restore it to its original state, and make it a public monument. Within a month after the first delivery of the Washington oration in Boston Everett had given it in New Haven, New York (where he was given a two hour public reception), Baltimore, Richmond, Petersburg, 196 Va., the University of Virginia, and Washington. Thus started the round of repetitions of this speech. On this first trip Everett stopped over at Philadelphia where he visited for the first time Miss A. P. Cunningham, the invalid woman who had founded the Ladies Mount Vernon Association. He was greatly impressed by her vitality and promised to return later and give the oration in Philadelphia for the 197 benefit of the Association. Now he began to definitely arrange trips through the whole country to deliver the "Washington," the proceeds to go to saving Mount Vernon. *9** Frothingham, pp. 373~^» 195 ibid., p. 37U. Orations, IV, 5"6. *97 Frothingham, p. 377* Perhaps by coincidence or perhaps because Everett's mind was long trained to political possibilities, 1856, the year he started out in February to speak through the country on a non-political subject, was also a presidential year. of such speech-making. Some people saw the political implications On March 11, 1856, L. May, Jr. wrote to a friend: . . • Edward Everett is travelling over the land, delivering his eulogy or Oration, ostensibly on G. Washington, but really on him­ self and his prospectb for the next Presidency, or at least a place in Fillmore's cabinet! Everett is a poor, cold coxpse walking about above ground, which hasn't found out yet that it is dead, and ought to be in its proper place - the grave of his own library. It is pitiable to see this old hack running round for votes. His chance is far inferior to what Daniel Webster's was - and we all know what that was, Whatever the motive may honestly have been, Everett was building up even a greater reputation for himself than he had formerly enjoyed. The activity to support the Mount Vernon Association opened up another career for Everett. Bobert Bonner, energetic publisher of the weekly Hew York Ledger, set out to get Everett as a contributor, Robert Bonner and P. T. Bamum were considered "the two most effective adver199 tisers in America," One of Bonner's very effective methods was to pay phenomenal sums to his writers, Bonner knew better than to approach the great man with offers of direct remuneration; but as an editor of many devices, he looked about for some effective indirect attack. Finally he found Ever­ ett's vulnerable heel in his presidency of the Mount Vernon Asso­ ciation. . . . when Bonner Offered to donate $10,000 to the cause 198 199 Anti-Slavery May Papers, VI, Boston Public Library. Mott, A History of American Magazines 1890-1865 (Cambridge, 1933), P. 15. If Everett would contribute a short article to the Ledger every week for a year, the celebrity was captured. Everett took a month to think it over - and yielded. But many good people were shocked by the idea of their paragon's appearing in a. story-paper alongside Mrs. Southworth and Sylvanus Cobb. . . . 200 Mount Vernon and the Washington oration started Everett in newspaper writing again. anonymously. He had during his early political life written much Now he wrote under his own name. He started the week­ ly series in November I85S and finished it a year later. He called the series "The Mount Vernon Papers” and under that title they were published in book form in I860. Everett did not stop. But once started in newspaper writing He continued his writing for the Ledger except that his contributions were on a monthly basis and the financial ar­ rangements were made directly with him. 201 vance. He was paid a year in ad- 8. Tears of Redemption Circumstances had destroyed Everett's hopes of being a presi­ dential candidate in I856. The Whig Party continued to disintegrate, and I860 saw a new alignment of political forces in the country. The Democratic Party meeting in Charleston, South Carolina, split. The faction of Southern States nominated Jdhn C-Bfeckenridge. The other delegates nominated Stephen A. Dowlas * The Republicans, meeting in Chicago, put forth a surprise candidate in Abraham Lincoln. Some of the leaders of the old Whig Party met at Baltimore, called POO 201 179-181*. Mott, pp. 2>2U. See opening pages of Everett's journals, Everett Papers, 50 themselves the Constitutional Union Party. This was a very respectable group of conservative old men. They hoped to save the Union by a bold appeal to patriotic sentiment. John Bell of Tennessee was nominated for the presidency and Edward Everett for the vice-presidency. For Everett this was a bitter pill. To be second in placet He had sent Instructions asking to have his name withdrawn as a condidate since preliminary discussion somewhat favored him for the first place. But in the confusion of the convention it was not made clear that he directed himself the withdrawal of his name. So, when he was proposed for the second place on the ticket, he was given the nomination by 202 acclamation* Everett spent several perplexed weeks before he reluc- 203 tantly accepted the vice-presidential nomination. When the ballots were counted, not only was the little known Lincoln from the west 20U elected, but the Union Party had garnered only 39 electoral votes. The actual division of the country over the question of slavery had now come, the thing long dreaded by Everett. that Lincoln was equal to the occasion. wrote in his journal: And he did not feel On February 15, 1861, he "The President-elect is making a zigzag progress to Washington • o , He is evidently a person of very inferior cast of 205 character, wholly unequal to the crisis.*1 On April 7 Everett in Wash­ ington met Lincoln after a service at church. "His manner and appear­ ance were better than I expected to find them, and particularly 202 Frothingham, pp. 1J07-10. 205 9 ibid., p. U11. 20l* Ibid., p. Ul2. 205 Ibid., p. klk. 51 206 courteous toward me.* Later that mouth when news came of the firing on Fort Sumter, Everett wrote that since he disapproved the course of the Secessionists more than that of the Republicans, he had no choice 207 now but to support the government. The "path of duty* for Everett was not a supine agreement with the party in power but active support of the government, especially On April 27th 208 Everett spoke at a flag-raising at Chester Square in Boston. On May 209 8th he spoke in behalf of the families of volunteers in Roxbury, Mass. the contribution of Everett's greatest gift - oratory. On July U he spoke at the Academy of Music in New York on "The Ques210 tions of the Day.* Frothingham points out that this speech did not have *the usual Everett embroidery.* The address was a straightfor­ ward , logical structure, in which he reviewed carefully and disproved 211 the claims involved in the doctrine of the right of secession. Everett Also prepared another address called *The Causes and Conduct of the War,* which he delivered sixty times beginning at Boston in October, 1861. He gave this speech as far west as Dubuque and in the 212 principal cities of the north. If we look at the peroration of this speech, we can sense the fervor that Everett put into his efforts to support the war effort of the national government. 206 Frothingham, pp. dl5« 208 Orations, IV, 326. 209 Ibid., p. 330. 210 Ibid., p. 3^* 211 Frothingham, pp. U22-U. 212 Ibid., p. U25. 52 • • • that any man, not a maniac nor a lunatic, can seriously helieve that the paths of prosperity in a country like ours can lead through the "bloody gates of treason and rebellion, that anar­ chy and chaos can conduce to the growth of a family of republics, and an internecine secular war among ourselves give us strength and well-being at home or influence abroad, is almost enough to make one despair of virtue, freedom, and reason, andtake refuge in blind chance, brute force, andstolid scepticism. But it cannot, it shall not be. This glorious national fabric shall not be allowed to crumble into dishonorable fragments. This seamless garment of Union, which enfolds the States like a holy Providence, shall not be permitted to be torn in tatters by trait­ orous hands. No, a thousand times nol Rise, loyal millions of the country! hasten to the defence of the menaced Unionl . . . Gome with your strong hands, come with your cunning hands; come with your swords, come with your knitting - needles; come with your purses, your voices, your pens, your types, your prayers; come one, come all, to the rescue of the country! ^13 In late October 1861 Everett wasasked by Seward to come to Wash­ ington to discuss some public business. Seward sounded him out on the possibility of his being one of a group of men to visit England and Europe to influence public opinion favorably to the Worth. At later times, too, Everett was asked to present his views, Lincoln once tell21^ ing him that he was Mone of the Cabinet Council.* The next year he was strongly urged to go to Europe to represent the government in a sort of unofficial capacity. cussion of details. Some weeks were spent in specific dis­ Everett and Lincoln conferred about it. Finally on September 23# 1861, Everett wrote to Seward the conditions under which he would be willing to undertake the unofficial mission, the chief condition being the provision of a sufficient expense account to permit Everett to adequately return hospitalities that would be Orations, IV, U88-9. Frothingham, p. U32. 1 53 shown him by Influential and governmental people. Shortly after, however, Everett declined because he felt there was nothing he could do of significance which was not already being done through regular 215 diplomatic channels. Speeches of various types supporting the government continued. When the Union Club was formed in Boston in 1863, Everett was elected 216 president. But the last great triumph of his career came when Everett was invited to be the orator of the day at the dedication of tiie Na- ?17 tional Cemetery at Gettysburg in November 1863* to make a few remarks. Lincoln was invited All of Everett's culture and experience and polish went into the formal, two hour address which he prepared and 218 delivered on this occasion. It is a great irony that at this moment, apparently on an occa­ sion when the circumstances would stamp his words indelibly in the pages of history, Lincoln should speak for two minutes following Everett and simply wipe out the memory of the great orator's words. Everett was almost seventy years old when he spoke at Gettysburg. He gave the type of oration for which he was famous and which was expected of him. Everett seems to have quickly realised that what Lincoln said in his few remarks went directly to the heart of the occasion. For the very next day he wrote to Lincoln saying that he wished he had 215 Frothingham, pp. hh2-8. Ibid., p. tyjO. 217 Ibid., p. 451. 21S Ibid., pp. H53-7. 54 'been able to state the theme of the day as veil In two hours as 219 Lincoln had done in two minutes. There is also evidence that he spoke this tribute directly to Lincoln right after his speech had been giv220 en. Certain it is that the aristocratic dislike of Lincoln which Everett had a few years before was now gone, and Everett was keen enough to grasp the value of what Lincoln had said and big enough to acknowledge it. When Lincoln ran for reelection in 1864, Everett not only sup­ ported Lincoln but was a Presidential Elector at large on the Bepub221 lican ticket. He had supported Lincoln despite the abuse and sarcasm 222 aimed at the President by his neighbors on Beacon Hill. Everett spoke in favor of Lincoln's reelection at Paneuil Hall on October 19, 1864, 223 calling his address "The Duty of Supporting the Government." Frothingham says, "Thus the last Presidential election of Everett's life­ time came and went. It was the most momentous with which he had ever been connected, and he was not only on the winning side, but he was on the side at last of progress, development, enlightenment, justice, 224 freedom, and reform.• Frothingham goes on to say that Everett had redeemed "the some225 shat cautious choices" of his earlier life. Others, too, shared such Frothingham, p. 458 William E. Barton, Lincoln at Gettysburg (Hew York, 1950)» pp. 166, 176, 182. 22^ Frothingham, p. 462. 222 Ibid., p. 460. 223 Orations, IV, 698. p. U6U. 225 n u . 55 a view. Bancroft declared that from the very nature of the man when the Civil War crisis arose, "there was hut one direction in which he 226 could move." Bryant wrote: " . . . when the rehellion hroke out, he emancipated himself at once from all such /conservative/ tendencies of his mind. He embraced the war in defence of the Union with all its consequences and all its risks. . . . he recognized the great necessity of the time . . . His example and his words had an immense effect throughout the country, both upon the wavering, and upon those who, like himself, were conservative. . . ." Whittier wrote: In that brief period /since outbreak of the Civil War/ crowded as it is with a whole life-work of consecration to the union, freedom and glory of his country, he not only commanded respect and reverence, but concentrated upon himself in a most remarkable degree the love of all loyal and generous hearts. . . . But Edward Everett did more than this; he laid on the altar not only his time, talents and culture, but his pride of opinion, his long-cherished views of policy, his personal and political predilections and prejudices, his constitutional fastidiousness of conservatism, and the carefully elaborated symmetry of his public reputation. With a rare and noble magnanimity, he met without hesitation, the demand of the great occasion. . . .228 As part of his public effort at this time, Everett supported various relief projects. He was active in the East Tennessee Refugee 229 Relief. His last public appearance was in behalf of the Savannah 230 sufferers. He spoke at Faneuil Hall on January 9 , 1865. He went home j_pV The Hew York Ledger, January IS, I865. 227 Everett Papers 2U7 , bound volume of clippings. 228 Ibid. 229 Everett Papers 37» bo* of correspondence concerning the East Tennessee Refugee Relief. 230 prothingham, p. 469* 56 ill and for two days was tumble to make an entry in his journal* Then on January 12 he wrote that he had just managed to escape pneumonia, and he commented, "What a waste of time is not illness I Early the fel232 lowing morning Everett died. That Sunday Lincoln was just returning from a religious service when the news of Everett's death reached the White House. Lincoln ordered the Secretary of State to announce the news to the people of the country, to hare flags on government buildings flown at half-mast and to have military salutes fired in Everett's honor the following day. All of this as a sincere gesture and mark of honor Lincoln saw as proper and fitting. His thought, however, ran that day to what in the long and lavishly praised career of Everett might be basic and enduring. To Brooks that evening he said, "How, you are a loyal New Englander, - loyal to New England, - what great work of Everett's do you remember?" Brooks was forced to say he could not recall any. . . . And Brooks's later account proceeded: Not receiving satisfaction, he said, looking around the room in his half-comical fashion, as if afraid of being overheard, "Now, do you know, I think Edward Everett was very much overrated. He hasn't left any enduring monument. . . . " 233 While Lincoln speculated on Everett's place in history, Boston prepared to bury her illustrious dead. The Common Council of the City of Boston held a special memorial meeting in Faneuil Hall on January IS. It was claimed that "since the death of Mr. Webster no such gen23U eral and profound manifestations of sorrow had been exhibited." The 231 232 Frothingham, p. U70. Ibid. ^33 0axi Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln, the War Years (New York, 1939)» iv, 115. Frothingham, p. U7I. 57 funeral cortege and services the next day were very impressive, A 235 special funeral march was written for the occasion. So the great citizen of B ob ton, the man of many careers who had “been active in public life for over fifty years, was laid to rest. And the question remains, shat did Everett achieve? no one oration of his left a mark in the American memory. his literary efforts is now read. Certainly Hone of His varied positions of public service assure him a place in the history hooks, hut it is a minor position indeed compared to the praise and adulation heaped upon him during his lifetime. One biography of Everett has been written. But no study has been made of the ideas which he poured forth in silvered cadence, in polished and elegant periods. Perhaps in the survey of his ideas we may see better where he belongs. For no man could have a public record like Everett’s without being at least representative of some segment of American thought. Frothingham, pp. U7I-2. CHAPTER II HISTORY AND ITS LESSONS Edward Everett grew tip when the Revolution was fresh in men's minds. Some participants in it still survived. that generation would soon he gone. Yet obviously all Some effort must he made to keep the memory of the Revolution alive. On July H, 1826, Everett declared; is at hand. "The age of commemoration The voice of our fathers' hlood begins to cry to us from beneath the soil which it moistened. Time is bringing forward, in their proper relief, the men and the deeds of that high-souled 1 day." Briefly put, that states the general purpose of most of the commemorative addresses which marked Everett's long career. Again, and again, he strove to put "in their proper relief" the men and events of American history. Most of Everett'8 literary productions concern history. This is chiefly due to his being for so many years a popular orator for historical festivals. egories: His historical writings fall into three cat­ first, the dozens of commemorative orations; second, the several biographical sketches, including the biography of Washing­ ton; and third, the magazine and newspaper articles touching on history. X "Principle of the American Constitutions," Orations. 1, 109. t 59 1. American Historiography in the Early Nineteenth Century John Spencer Bassett points out that, ”The Revolutionary War gave 2 our historians new motives for writing.” This great event needed to he recorded and to he popularly told. The post-Revolutionary period of history writing seems to have heen dominated hy three groups of writers. First, there were those who wrote ahout the Revolution itself, or some phase of it. Then, there were those who wrote state histories. Finally, there were historians who attempted to write general histories of the 3 United States. Everett was chiefly interested in the Revolution and in the life and character of Washington. Those who had "been leading actors in the Revolution felt that a history of the times was wanting. The early decades of the Republic had not produced a real historian. John Adams complained, "Can you account for the apathy, the antipathy of this nation to their own history? Is there not a repugnance to the thought of looking back? While thousands of frivolous novels are read with eagerness and got hy heart, the history of our own native country, is not only neglected, hut despised and abhorred.” Even though a ready-made and exciting theme lay at hand, the conditions were not yet right for much literary expression. The lack of a strong literary t radition, the immaturity of American society, ^ Cambridge History of American Literature (New York, 19^+3)» II»10U. 3 Ibid., pp. lOlj-7. ^ Quoted in Michael Kraus, A History of American History (New York, 1937), p. 163. i the unusual economic opportunities and the problems of establishing national existence were factors combining to discourage serious his5 torical writing. Everett did much to help correct the condition about which Adams complained. William Tudor, an early editor of the North American Review, 6 “popularized among the elite an eagerness for historical research.1* This Journal gave much attention to history for many decades. "More than any other force," Kraus says, "the Review stirred the slow stream of intellectual life to a swift-flowing current whose sparkling waters 7 refreshed spirits long laden with dust." In the pages of the North American Everett reviewed historical works by Bancroft, Butler, and others. As a critic he helped to shape opinions toward our historians and our writing of history. Consideration of a few of his reviews of historical works will reveal some of his attitudes toward the writing of history. In 1823 Everett reviewed Frederick Butler* s three-volume History 8 of the United States. "In a historical work," Everett wrote, "the materials made use of are of course of greater importance, than in 9 almost any other species of composition." In the preface the author had promised a list of "numerous authorities," but the list of author­ ities at the end of the third volume is so short that Everett repro­ duces it, pointing out that one book was listed three different 5 Cambridge History, II, 106-7* ^ Kraus, p. 169* 7 Ibid. ® "Butler*s History of the United States," North American Review , XVI, (Jan. 1823), 156-63* 9 *Butler’s History," 157* 61 10 "Our readers will 'begin to judge "by this time into what hands 11 the subscribers to this history of the United States have fallen." times* Everett considers the hook* its contents and style, in sentences biting with irony. He points out that the author’s stated purpose is to show the governing power of God in establishing "his church in 12 this wilderness*N It may be easily conceived that a history, which is intended to contain a complete course of natural theology, must take a toler­ ably wide range, and our author accordingly begins with the de­ parture of the Jews from Egypt, about fifteen centuries before our Lord. Not contented with this seasonable beginning, he soon goes back to the origin of navigation, where his style, his know­ ledge of antiquity, and his arrangement of facts are so finely displayed, that we will treat our readers with a sentence. *A spirit of commerce and naval enterprise commenced with the Phoe­ nicians and Egyptians, as early as two thousand years before Christ; this opened the way for the Egyptian colony, which Cadmus led into Greece; where, in about three hundred years after, it (?) led to the expedition of the Argonauts to Cholchos, (?) in quest of the golden fleece; which opened the way for the commerce of Greece. • .» In the same discriminating style he speaks of the discovery of America. . . . This is followed by a sentence, which, being in Italics, we suppose contains an important truth, but which we are unable either to construe, parse, or understand: - ’The coinci­ dent circumstances attending this wonderful adventure, are worthy of notice; may serve to illustrate the great plan of Infinite Wisdom, in opening a high way into the west and Into the east about the same time. The first to prepare an asylum for his afflicted, persecuted church, and the other to furbish means to support and protect her in her remote retreat.’ One is sometimes able to judge of a writer’s most familiar occupation by his figurative language and the objects from which his metaphors are drawn. We should suppose our author to have been a toll-gatherer or a turnpike man, did not his title page inform us he Is a master of arts. . . . The Italics, are our au­ thor's own fancy, in this, as in our other citations. . . .*3 10 "Butler’s History," 157-8. 11 Ibid. *15812 Ibid. ■*3 Ibid. ,£.158-9. Everett used brackets around the question marks. 62 Everett proceeds for a few more pages to rip any scholarly pre­ tence from the hook. "It is one of the most notable productions of 1U the catchpenny school of literature, that hath lately appeared.* But the "most serious charge* against the hook as history is "impertinent allusions to the divine providence of God, appeals far too frequent to his name and councils, and unauthorized reference to his immediate interference. It is not in this way, that his glory is promoted or his ways to man vindicated. This is not a theme so easily treated. . . . To multiply commonplace ascriptions and repeat, on every extra­ ordinary event, that it was an immediate interposition of the Most 15 High . . . is conclusive evidence of nothing hut had taste.* A discussion of the providence of God "on proper occasions, hy 16 the proper persons" Everett did feel was right. He did believe in the providence of God, as we shall see later, and he considered him­ self a proper person to discuss it, And when he discussed God's pro­ vidence it was not in the style of Cotton Mather or of Butler, Mather's spiritual descendant. He discussed it as a grand theme that gave spiritual meaning to the general plan of history. Everett's national feeling is expressed in the opening para17 graphs of a review of the Life of Hi chard Henry lee. He discusses the "Butler’s History," 162. 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid. ^ "Memoir of Richard Henry Lee," North American Review, XXII (April, 1826), 373-UOO. 63 tendency of Americans toward "State partiality," which he claims is IS "both honorable and natural." . . . when we boast of our great revolutionary characters, we boast of them, not so much as Americans, but as citizens of the commonwealth to which we belong. Destroy the local tie, which binds together the people of each State, and the Union would net survive a day. . . . The Union, comparatively speaking, is the metaphysical and theoretical thing. . . . Its operation is occa­ sionally sharp and harsh; it wants the feeling of age. But the States, at least the thirteen States, come home in a different way to the hearts of their citizens. They are not metaphysical, they are historical beings. ° It is now the function of the true patriot to promote an appreciation of the heroes of all the other states. "Every man was essential. 20 Every one, who served his country, did it precious service." Among the conspicuous works about revolutionary heroes, this memoir "deserves very honorable mention." Everett spends seventeen 21 pages summarizing the life of lee as presented in the book. Ee pre­ sents a straightforward sketch of lee’s career. "The literary exe­ cution of the work is, upon the whole, highly respectable . . . ," Everett felt, but "Of the typographical execution little can be said 22 in commendation." American history must not only be accurately writ­ ten, and well written, he felt, but also decently published. He goes on to praise the author for having deposited all the manuscript correspondence of lee in the Philadelphia library. "The 3,8 "Hichard Henry lee," 373"^• 19 Ibid. .^37^* 20 Ibid. ,*.375. 21 Ibid. ,*.3*0-97. 22 Ibid. ,*39*. i 64 history of our Revolution and constitutional organization is yet to he written. /[""The date of this is April 1826./ Nothing hut materials have heen published on this unparalleled theme. And many more mater­ ials must yet he given to the world* and perhaps another generation 23 elapse, before the history can he written.* Everett clearly understood this scholarly phase of the problem, for he .went on to say: ’'She ar­ chives at Washington must he explored; those of the several states thoroughly searched; and the treasures, which are scattered about in the families of revolutionary worthies, must he given to the world. The latter is quite as important a preliminary as either of the others. The history of the Revolution is in the letters of the great men who 24 shone in it." In the October 1826 issue of the Review Everett has a discussion 25 of a history of the United States published at Gdttingen. He sharp­ ened his pen for attack and in his opening paragraph disposed of the book. This work, as far as its historical contents go* is a meagre compilation from Ebeling’s Geography and History of North America. Its object is, to present the most unfavorable picture, which can possibly be borne out by a semblance of facts, of the origin, progress, and present state of the American Institutions. In the earlier periods of our history, for obvious reasons, more impar­ tiality is observed, or rather the libel is in those portions of the book composed with less relish. The author throws in his red •Richard Henry Lee," 398. 24 25 Ibid. *>399. "History of Democracy in the United States," North American Review, m i l (Oct. 1826), 304-14. 65 pepper as he proceeds; till at last, not merely the seasoning hut the entire composition of his dish, is borrowed from the hottest pages of Turreau,Bristed, Felix Beaujour, and other gentlemen of that cast. The performance is wholly destitute of merit, even of that of being tolerably well composed, with a reference to the object in view; for with all the curiosity, with which scandal is almost sure to be read, we would defy Sir Benjamin Backbite him­ self, to read any one chapter in this work, without a yawn. It possesses none of the sturdy, heart of oak defamation of the Quar­ terly; none of Blackwood's flippant insolence; none of the romanc­ ing calumny of the French libellers; but is a tame imitation of the Baron Von Fftretenw&rther and the excellent Messrs Schmidt and (kill. In a word, it is the most narcotic lampoon we ever r e a d . ^ 6 This shows that Everett, elegant gentleman that he was, and pro­ per too, knew how to slash out in a critical attack. No essential point about the book as a whole remains for comment, and for the rest of the review Everett writes as the critic of Europe. When Bancroft's first volume of his History of the United States appeared, Everett gave it full praise. He claimed it was essential to point out "that the work of Mr. Bancroft is one of the ablest of the class, which has for years appeared in the English language; that it compares advantageously with the standard British historians; that as far as it goes, it does such justice to its noble subject, as to super­ sede the necessity of any future work of the same kind; and if comple­ ted as commenced, will -unquestionably forever be regarded both as an 27 American and as an English classic," Everett makes much of the point that a satisfying history of a country must be written by a native. "None but a native can easily "History of Democracy," 30^* 27 "Bancroft's History of the United States," North American Review. XL (Jan. 1235)* 99*122. 66 acquire that accurate knowledge of localities, which give life and 28 distinctness to narration." Only a native can have sufficient feel­ ing for the "passion" of his theme. "The writer ifeo would produce a classical history, must carry his heart to the task. While learning instructs and judgment guides him, a lofty patriotism must take pos29 session of his soul." This does not mean that history should become panegyric, as is often the case. "It is too much the fault of historical writers, that, having been struck with the importance of some subject of his­ tory, and having for that reason, taken in hand to treat, they become over-partial to their theme, exaggerate its importance or merits; and thus pursue the narration, through volumes of strained interpretation, 30 flattery, and suppression.* Or one may undertake to write in a com­ pletely unfriendly spirit. In either case, the partiality is wrong. Everett then proceeds to explain what he feels the true, the classical, historian does. But the classical historian, in composing the history of his own country, rises above either passion; and devotes himself to his great work, both sine ira and sine studio. He is elevated above both, by the generous conception, which he forms of his province; one of the most noble in the world of mind. He is the instrument of Providence, to award to good men, who in times past have served or adorned his native land, their just meed of praise. Perhaps, in their own times they were undervalued. Party prejudice 28 "Bancrofts History," 100. 29 Ibid. 30 Ibid. ,£.101. 6? was unjust to their merits; fortune did not smile upon their efforts; - they struggled nobly, "but without success, against events too strong for their mastery • . . or they did all they could, all that man could do in their time, in their position, hut it was imperfect, it was a beginning . . . She faithful, the generous, the learned, the enthusiastic historian comes, and does than justice. He rises above party, and can see the worth of great men, who could not see the worth of each other. . * . and where the fabric of national prosperity stands, in all its fair and absolute proportions, consolidated by years, and as venera­ ble as firm, he points out the enduring zeal, the open-handed liberality, the fortitude, and the heroism, with which, in the day of small beginnings, the first foundations were laid. Hone but the heart of a native can accomplish this; no Other can take up the theme, with that religious fondness which is r e q u i r e d .*1 The classical historian attempts to do historic justice, awarding good men, and attempting to move above the level of petty prejudices and ill feeling. As a native he can do this best because he is pa­ triotically concerned. Everett goes on to illustrate this by using Roger Williams as an example. A native historian would present Williams as n& truly great man, in advance of his times.11 The for­ eign historian would take Williams just as he finds him portrayed in popular sources; he would not be prompted by the passion of patriotism 32 to ask, H. . . was not injustice done this great man?w Everett compares the way in which other historians have handled the life and character of Roger Williams with that of Bancroft. 33 He shows that Williams has been treated in a prejudiced manner or the significance of his ideas and position passed over and ignored. ^ 32 51Bancroft* s History,M 101-2. Ibid. ,>102. 33 Ibid. ,#003-9. 4 Mr. Bancroft goes differently to work. He perceives in the tol­ eration principle of Williams a Jewel* like the great Portuguese diamond, of inestimable value, which had till lately been sadly obscured, tinder the unsightly exterior and sordid crust of party prejudice and sectarian controversy. Carefully drawing to his aid, the numerous and respectable commentators of the present and former days, he nevertheless goes to the fountain-heads of authority, and derives his account of Hoger Williams from the colony records, from the Journal of Governor Winthrop, from the work of John Cotton, and the letters and other writings of Wil­ liams himself, ^ Bancroft is praised for his attempt to give historic Justice and for his diligence in research. Everett goes on to praise the philosoph35 ical spirit that marks his pages. (The one defect which seems appar­ ent is a diffuseness of style and "an occasional want of precision in the use of language.")5^ There are two characteristics of the historian which are impor­ tant - a certain extravagance in writing, and a deep love of truth. The man who cannot singly and conscientiously, with his whole heart, make his oblation on the altar of truth, is no historian. He does not know shat history means. He is not prepared to engage in its first labors, its lowest drudgery, if anything pertaining to truth can be called drudgery. No: it is nothing but a reli­ gious, a superstitious reverence for truth, which will give a man courage to steer his way through conflicting statements, to select, to condense, and to generalize. . . . He only who loves, who Idol­ izes truth, can discriminate and compare truth. The extravagance which we plead for is that of the sound, the well-balanced, the well-instructed, and conscientious mind, warmed and exalted by love of its theme. It is the extravagance which runs through all the great and generous works of Providence and man . . . This ex­ travagance, or enthusiasm, if it ended here, would of course be a weakness; but with the qualifications already stated, guided by judgment, checked by a sound philosophy and an intelligent criti­ cism, taught by patient study, it is an indispensable ingredient in the historian*s character. 37 3^ "Bancroft1s History,» 107. 35 ibid. ,£115. 36 Ibid. 57 I"bid. ,*-116. 69 Animation is essential in the writing of history. For after all, the page of history is the dead letter. Describe as accurately as you will, - narrate facts, - pourtray £"sic_7 characters, - sketch scenery, - and how far inferior is the im­ pression made upon the mind to that produced by actual presence and inspiration; - to the seeing of the eye and the hearing of the ear. To fill up this mighty interval between the two kinds of impression is the province of the master; so to narrate the fact as to make you the witnesses of the occurrence; so to describe the spot, as to spread out its map before the imagination . . . This cannot be done by a timid adherence to shat is erroneously called truth; - erroneously, because that representation cannot be true, which inadequately and imperfectly reproduces the original. ^ History clearly is an art. By the use of words the historian is to make the past vivid, moving, true, and significant, as the painter makes the past colorful and life-like. Everett must have had some such analogy in mind when he wrote that the historian in order Mto awaken the illustrious dead into an immortality of fame, must so de­ scribe them, as to produce as nearly as possible on the reader’s mind, 39 the effect of an actual presence.* Everett describes the actual position and effect of the histor­ ian as sufficient evidence in itself of the responsibility of his task. From time to time, letters flourish in some favored spot, and every branch of knowledge, - and among others, the historical, - is cultivated. The annals of the past are then searched out and recorded, by gifted minds; either of the world at large, or of great periods of its duration, or of great states and confedera­ cies, or of single countries. The power and skill of the histor­ ian will often decide from that time forward, how much shall be familiarly read and known of the people he describes. If his work is successfully composed, it will go down to after times, taking Bancroft’s History,* 116-17 39 Ibid.,3«L17. 70 the place of the mass of contemporary and occasional pamphlets, and superseding ponderous tomes of more learned antiquarian col­ lections. In a letter written to Bancroft, Everett summed up his feeling that the History made the American past vivid and alive. You have written a work that will last as long as the memory of America lasts; and which will instantly take its place among the classics of our language. It is full of learning, information, common sense, and philosophy; full of taste and eloquence, full of life and power. You give us not wretched pasteboard men, not a sort of chronological table, with the dates written out at length, after the manner of most historians; but you give us real, individual, living men and women with their passions, interests, and peculiarities. A person cannot help wondering if this emphasis on "extravagance," enthusiasm, vividness, is not connected with the elocutionary manner­ isms that marked Everett*s oratorical style. Certainly what he de­ scribes as necessary extravagance in the historian is a general equiv­ alent to the studied use of gestures and the ornate language of his own rhetoric. In October 1850 Everett reviewed the second volume of The Works U2 of John Adams, edited by Charles Francis Adams, and discussed the question of having a son or a grandson as biographer and editor of a great man. "It Is for many reasons desirable that important family papers should be prepared for publication by a person who brings a family interest to the task. . . . He alone is likely, by aid of the family traditions, thoroughly to understand the subject in all its U3 bearings; - to perform the duty with delicacy and intelligence." ^ "Bancroft's History," 119* Qpoted in Kraus, p. 230. "The Works of John Adams," Horth American Review, LXX2 (Oct. 1850), U07-U5. Ibid. ,Jp.U0S. 71 He then raises the question whether it would he preferable to hare the son or the grandson edit such a work. felt that the grandson would he preferable. In most cases, Everett The additional time lapse of a generation would make for more accurate judgment. *We are too apt to see contemporary characters and transactions, as infants do surrounding objects, - all on the same plane. • . • The great man of the day sometimes turns out afterwards to have been only a great man UU for the day.* Since a portion of the volume under review contains the diary of John Adams, Everett makes some observations about the keeping of dia­ ries. He poses the question: *How far is it right for an individual to record the events of the day, and his own speculations upon them, with a urobable view to posthumuos publication, or at least taking the risk of such publication.* A diary can give permanence to temporary impressions and false judgments of character, and it can violate con­ fidences. On such moral grounds, diaries are condemned, but Everett HS feels that this reasoning is false. The keeper of a diary should be protected against being misquoted or misused just as a conversational­ ist has such protection. *0ne of the objections against diaries is, that they tend to check the freedom of social converse, by the fear of having every unguarded word caught up by the journalist. ^ "Works of John Adams,* U09« Ibid. &kll. UB Ibid. But why 72 should, the license of the talker he respected and protected more than **7 that of the diarist?* Everetts conclusion is that, regardless of the arguments advanced against the ahuae of diaries, they are a major Us source of historical information. The editorial work done hy Charles Francis Adams won the thanks of Everett, and he concluded the review hy stating: "Regarding the present volume as a fair specimen of the work, we are confident that it will prove a contribution to the materials of American history, not second in imoortanc® and interest to any of the great publications U9 with which it is most obviously to be compared." In January of IS5O, the same year in which this review of Adams* diary was published, Everett offered to the projected Boston Public Library "his valuable collection of State papers and other works. This offer was the first relating to a considerable amount of liter50 ary material." Everett not only discussed in theory the desirability of having original source material published, but he was public spir­ ited enough to assist in making such material generally available. His first gift to the Boston Public Library was of about one thousand 51 volumes dealing with American civilization and political history. I17 "forks of John Adams," Ul2. Ur ^ 50 lbid.,&Ul3. Ibid. Wadlin, p. 13. 51 Ibid., p. 20. t 73 Everett was always the friend of scholarship, and especially of historical scholarship. He gave at various times research assistance 52 to Motley, Prescott, and Bancroft. George Bancroft discussed Everett in relation to historical writ­ ing in a eulogy of Everett written for the Hew York Ledger. It is equally vain to wish, that he had devoted his powers to the completion of some special elaborate work. • . . It is not certain, that he would have been one of the first of historians; those of his writings which come nearest to history, such as his life of Webster and his life of Washington, are by no means his best. Ho one could have painted action in more vivid colors; but of the three qualities which are needed by historians, he had not a sufficient perception of how bad men can be, of that evil in human nature which theologians call depravity. Neither was he accustomed sufficiently to consider events as subordinate to law. The other requisite, which is to perceive that after all there is something in man greater than himself, he had in an eminent degree; and this perception he turned brilliantly to account in his addressBancroft, as the successful practicing historian, could look at his friend and see the shortcomings. But Everett, busy with one career after another, driven by a demon of energy, entertained the idea of writing history all his life. 2. Plans and Projects for the Writing of History In a letter to his brother Alexander, written from GHJttingen on November 11, 1835, Everett discussed some of his ideas about writing history. He wrote that he felt “a historical work had many advantages 5k over every other species of writing.11 Since a man who would make writ­ ing his business must learn to work “by hours and seasons," some form ^ Frothingham, p. 3^9* 53 January 18, I865. ^ Everett Papers 1, box of letters. of writing which involves "matters of calculation" is important.*His­ tory seems the most eligible, being a union of research and speculation 55 and affording scope to a good deal of practical philosophy." He proceeds in his letter to tell his brother that at various times he has thought of writing three different kinds of history of America, of the Church, and of the Jews, "fhe first is difficult? the second a question of too much ordinary controversy; the third not quite dignified enough, besides sharing the objection of the second. Not much can be done with topics of this nature, till a very different mode of philosophizing is introduced into England and America. So long as the rules of evidence are professedly suspended, with respect 56 to any subject, it is vain to reason, to object, to inquire." These comments are revealing. "not quite dignified enough." showing itself. A history of the Jews he felt was This is the conservative side of Everett The blanket objection to a religious history is that "rules of evidence" are usually suspended in such works and they lack objectivity. The brilliant young Everett does not see any challenge here, any Incentive to produce a pioneering work; instead it is a rea­ son for no action. Everett then went on in this same letter to discuss a historical subject which he declared was fresh. of an Arabian history. He asked Alexander what he thought He felt that it could start with Mahomet or the 55 Everett Papers 1, box of letters. 75 rise of Mahometanism and come down to the present day. He marshals various reasons for undertaking an Arabian history: This is in the first place a very curious portion of history, being unexampled in the light of the world, for the magnitude of the events, compared with the little time in which they were effected, and the rapidity of their succession. It is important in the connection with the Modern European system, that may be supposed to have been affected powerfully by the crusades; and the influence of the Arabian literature on the provencal, would also lead to useful observations and inquiries upon the character of the middle age literature, and the formation of the Modem lan­ guages. Mohammedanism would be a rich topic for Philosophical remarks and comparisons; and is a subject I imagine as yet not placed in a true light: at least the cant of Theologians about it, cannot be better expressed than by a word used a good deal here, umbawenlief. We can see clearly that Gbttingen was opening and expanding Everett's mind, helping him to see possible causal relations between events, movements, and periods in history. It would also look as though Everett were going to develop out of the narrow range of Puritanical Christian thought which automatically damned Islamic culture. But Everett was later to slip into the ready-made system of prejudices about other cultures as he progressively rose in his political career. It remained for Everett's pupil Snerson to break through the accustomed barriers and speak out the first clear words of appreciation in America for other cultures of the world. On September 27, 1S27 Everett wrote to William Simmons of Boston who had asked for a suggested course of reading: "I have named but one or two books on American history because we are yet in want of classical writers on that subject. 57 But the Young American cannot Everett Papers 1, box of letters. 76 begin too soon to react the historical works relative to his own coun5S try." Evidently the idea of writing an American history grew in his mind over the years, for he made the following entry in his journal on November 29, I838: Plan of a Natural and Civil History of America Part I. A complete description of the geography, geology, mlnerology, botany and zoology in all their branches, - of the American continents* Part II. The aborigines in every aspect. Part III. Discovery, colonization and history to the present time. 59 Apparently Everett never went beyond such a notation as a record of his thinking. But it does show us that he thought of history as much more than a military and political record. as the background for colonial history. He saw the native cultures And he was keenly aware of the natural sciences. Before Everett left London, Macaulay wrote to him and asked: ttWhy should not you undertake to give us a history of the United States, such as might become classical and be in every English as well as in every American library? In some way or other you will, I hope, 60 keep us mindful of you till we see you again, as surely we shall.M But even urging from his very dear friend Macaulay did not bring any desired results from Everett. Everett Papers 6l, letterbook 59 Ibid., 152. journal. ^ Prothingham, p. 308. 77 The following idea concerning Greece was entered in his journal: "December 2k, 18U6. Purchased Grote’s History of Greece for myself. It has been one of my day-dreams to write a history of Greece; but, 61 alas, I am destined to pass away and leave no permanent memorial." A totally different subject of history Everett gave serious con­ sideration to, a subject which combines his early interest in law with his liking for politics, "October 8, 18^9. Were my health bet­ ter and my mind free from some of the heaviest sorrows and most cut­ ting cares of life, I think I should make a serious beginning on a 62 general treatise upon the Law of Nations." A few years later Everett again mentioned this subject in a let­ ter to Daniel Webster dated February 18, 1852. I have yours of the 16th alluding to "a Social History of Rome" as in preparation by me. I am much obliged to you for your kind intention to refer to it; but there is no foundation for the report. At an earlier period of my life, when I was for­ aging in all directions, I turned my thoughts to the history of Rome, and used to speak of it as a desideratum. But I soon fell upon other tracks. My opus magnum, that is to be, is the modern law of nations. For this I have read and collected a good deal, but my life is wearing away with little definitely brought to pass. " This opus magnum apparently did not grow beyond some notes and the 6*f collection of source material. The modern law of nations was a sub­ ject for which Everett m s well fitted by both temperament and ex­ perience. He had already, some years before, published the series Everett Papers 165* journal. 62 Ibid., 168, journal. ^ Ibid., 28, box of letters. fk Ibid., 219, bound volume, and 222, bound notebook. 7S of letters to Lord Canning on diplomatic relations with the United States. His service as Ambassador to England established his abil­ ities in this field. His wide reading of history and his scholarly habit of mind are additional factors which would have aided such a project. In one form or other, such a history never left his mind. On September 22, I860 he wrote in his journal: Gave the best part of the dayto an article on "WarH for the New York Ledger. An exhaustive essay on that subject would be extremely valuable, to contain a history of war among the nations more ancient than the Greeks - among the Greeks and Homans - the Barbarians - the Crusaders - the modem Orientals, - the nations of modern Europe, - and the savage races generally; - a Philoso­ phy of War, what precisely it aims to effect and does effect; and then its morality £ \ 7 how far it is an Institution, how far an abuse and a crime. We know that Everett had the careful scholar's approach to writ­ ing, desiring whenever possible to deal with original source material. Beyond that there is little direct evidence to show how Everett would write history. In a letter of December 26, 1826, to Dr. S. G. Howe he commented on a history of the Greek Revolution which Dr. Howe con­ templated writing. . . . The idea of such a book strikes me very favorably. Your opportunities of personal observation have been and will continue to be great. . . . In executing the work I should recommend to act upon the principle, which usually guides the pen in recording the lives of great and illustrious individuals. While you relate nothing but the Truth, you are not bound to dwell on every dis­ advantageous detail. You can often lead to be inferred, that the frailties of human nature and political society have existed among the Greeks, in the course of this Revolution, and you will doubtless act with caution in putting reasons and justifications into the mouths of those, who make no.allowances and are always on the side of power and oppression. ^ 66 Everett Papers 179* journal Ibid., 60, letterbook. In a letter of January 3, 1827 to I* T. Austin, we read: With regard to the expediency of writing and publishing at this time the account of that part of Mr. Genny's life which covers the period of our most embittered party contentions . . . If you publish a history of those days in the spirit of those days, that is taking as decided a part as in acting. You awaken the passions which time and the change of events have to a considerable degree put to rest. . . . Another consideration is that a history of those times now introduced into Mr. G.'s biography would have the effect of making his reputation a permanent matter of party feel­ ing. . . . In the biography of a man like Mr. Genny, his own let­ ters are a vital part both for amusement and instruction. Mr. Jefferson very correctly observed that the history of the Revolu­ tion was wrapped up in the letters of the Revolutionary Patriots. I would not be parsimonious with them. ®7 Everett definitely wanted the historical writer to keep in mind the position of "great and illustrious Individuals" and to be sparing in the use of "every disadvantageous detail." The assumption here is that history should magnify virtue and greatness. iods of very bitter feeling are best forgotten. And historical per­ Everett clearly did not believe in the careful, balanced re-creation of a period of his­ tory even though he did believe, as previously shown, in rescuing in­ dividuals like Roger Williams from the unjust verdict of their times. This idea, that history should teach the lessons of virtue, and apply them if possible to the present, is brought out in a letter written to T. I. Wharton of Philadelphia on August 10, 1S27. I received a day or two ago a copy of the oration pronounced by you on the Uth of July. . . . I beg leave to make you my hearty acknowledgments. You have treated a noble but a trite theme, with equal originality and success; and have turned the anniversary to account, by exchanging those lofty and abstract declamations, with which bth of July orations are apt to abound for the practical ap­ plication Of the doctrines of the Great Day to things and questions ^ and men that possess immediate and paramount interest to the Nation. Everett Papers 60, letterbook. ^ Ibid., 61, letterbook. 79 Everett felt keenly about the uses of historic occasions to incul­ cate practical lessons froia history. On October 15, 1S53, he wrote to Charles Stunner and commented on a speech Sumner gave at Plymouth: "I thought it hardly fair in you to make a free-soil speech on such an occasion . . . Our patriotic celebrations will be broken tip, and we shall all get to hate each other . . . if we turn every occasion into 69 a party channel.” History too furnished a point of unity, for it was the one thing which all citizens, regardless of political party, shared in common. So he warned Sumner not to break up patriotic celebrations, for then a point of social unity would be lost. This use of history motivated much of Everett*s handling of Washington. In an address entitled "The Boyhood and Youth of Franklin,” delivered November 1J, lB2$f before the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in Boston, Everett made the following statement about biography: HIn no way can lessons of discretion, perseverance, temper­ ance, and fortitude be so well inculcated as in the historical delin­ eation of an honorable career. This is especially the case when the young are apt to be addressed. Ethical and didactic writing of every kind is apt to be read with impatience and weariness by those who most 70 need instruction; but biography is universally fascinating." Everett made many biographical speeches, sketching the lives of prominent fellow citizens and delineating those qualities of character go--Sumner Ms., Houghton Library, Harvard University. ^ Orations, II, 1. go for which they should he remembered. On at least ten occasions he 71 delivered eulogies before the Massachusetts Historical Society. In 1S55 k® prepared a memoir of Peter Chardon Brooks, his fatherin-law, for publication in Hunt*5 Merchants Magazine. In the opening paragraphs he comments on biography. History and biography for the most part record the lives only of those who have attained military, political, or literaxy distinction; or who, in any other career, have passed through ex­ traordinary vicissitudes of fortune. The unostentatious routine of private life, although in the aggregate more important to the welfare of the community, cannot, from its nature, figure in the public annals. It is true that historians have lately perceived how important a part of the history of a people consists of a comparative account of its industrial pursuits, condition, educa­ tion, and manners, at different periods. . . . But such accounts relate to the sum total of society, and do not carry with them a narrative of individual life and character. But the names of men who distinguished themselves, while they lived, for the possession, in an eminent degree, of those qualities of character, which mainly contribute to the success of private life and to the public stability, - of men who, without dazzling talents, have been exemplary in all the personal and so­ cial relations, and enjoyed the affection, respect, and confi­ dence of those around them, - ought not to be allowed to perish. Their example is more valuable to the majority of readers, than that of illustrious heroes, statesmen, and writers . . • 72 With this introduction Everett then proceeded to recount, with very few details, the life of Mr. Brooks and to delineate fully the qual­ ities of character he possessed, especially those which contributed to his enormous business success. 71 72 See bibliography for listing. “Peter Chardon Brooks," Orations, III, 255"0» 81 The two chief biographical works of Everett were the lengthy 73 7? memoir of Webster, first published in 1851 and ag&in in 1903, and 75 the small* one-volume biography of Washington. The Memoir of Daniel Webster is a nine-chapter account of Web­ ster1s career up to the time he was made Secretary of State. Everett opens the first chapter by explaining the plan of the edition and the basis of selection for arriving at the contents. The account itself follows a rather obvious and easy chronological pattern, beginning with the origins of the Webster family in Scotland and a simple genealogical background. The scholarship is shown in the quotation of letters and original sources and the strong factual emphasis. Considering the long and deep friendship that existed between Everett and Webster, it is somewhat surprising that the writing is largely straightforward and factual. Everett did not let his rhetoric get in the way of his sub­ ject. He tries to help the reader understand the social conditions during Webster’s lifetime. For example, the following remark about the signi­ ficance of a college education: HIn truth, a college education was a far different affair fifty years ago from what it has since become, by the multiplication of collegiate institutions, and the establishment of public funds in aid of those who need assistance. It constituted a 76 person at once a member of an intellectual aristocracy.” 73 in WebBter, Works (Boston, 1851)• 7* Writings and Speeches of Daniel Webster, National Edition (Bos­ ton, 190371 75 q?he Life of George Washington (New Yoxk, I860). •jC Writings and Speeches of Webster, I, 15. 82 The first two pages of the second chapter are devoted to a summary of Jefferson*s political philosophy in relation to practical party poli­ tics at the time when Webster as a young lawyer first became inter77 ested in politics. Everett does more than try to provide a sufficient background. He functions as the interpretative historian in evaluating events. As the repeal of the Orders in Council was nearly simultan­ eous with the declaration of war, the delay of a few weeks might have led to an amicable adjustment. Whatever regret on the score of humanity this circumstance may now inspire, the war must be looked upon, in reviewing the past, as a great chapter in the progress of the country, which could not be passed over. When we reflect on the influence of the conflict, in its general results, upon the national character; its importance as a demonstration to the belligerent powers of the world that the rights of neutrals must be protected; and more especially, when we consider the po­ sition among the nations of the earth which the United States have been enabled to take, in consequence of the capacity for na­ val achievement which the war displayed, we shall readily acknow­ ledge it to be a part of that great training by which the country was prepared to take the station which she now occupies. 7® Such comments as these, as well as the clearly created background of conditions, help to make this biographical sketch interesting and readable. The style, too, is helpful. There are some formal touches, such as **the writer** and the constant use of **Mr. Webster,** but these are reflections of current conventions. I have already mentioned that Everett did not decorate the writing here with any rhetorical devices. He Jshows an ability to be very straightforward, as, for instance, in his comment on a diplomatic move by the British government. 77 Writings and Speeches of Webster, I, 2^-5 78 Ibid., X* pp. 27-8. **This step on the part of the British government was as hold as it was wise. It met the difficulty in the face. It justly assumed the existence of a corresponding spirit of conciliation on the part of the United States* and of a desire to hring matters to a practical result. It was hold, because it was the last expedient for an amicable adjust­ ment, 'and because its failure must necessarily lead to very serious 79 and immediate consequences.M Although Everett felt, as we have seen before, that the historian and biographer should overlook "disadvantageous” personal facts about an individual, in this biographical sketch Everett is neither too ex­ tremely laudatory nor too critical. For example, though President Jackson was a political opponent of Everett’s, references to Jackson here are without bitter prejudice. praise. In fact, at times Jackson receives "General Jackson was brought into power by a somewhat ill- compacted alliance between his original friends and a portion of the friends of the other candidates of 1S2U. . . . There is reason to suppose that General Jackson, who, though his policy tended greatly 80 to impair the strength of the Union, was in feeling a warm Unionist." In relating Jackson’s reaction to the nullification crisis in South Carolina, Everett wrote: "This decisive act roused the hero of New Orleans from the vigilant repose with which he had watched the coming gl storm.” ^ Writings and Speeches of Webster, I, llg. 50 Ibid., p. 95. 51 Ibid., p. 98. gif Everett*s Life Of George Washington ia a shorter biography than the Webster* It was originally written at the suggestion of Macaulay 82 for the Encyclopaedia Britannica. In the preface Everett acknowledges his debt Mto the great national works /on Washington/ of Marshall, S3 Sparks, and Irving." And he further explains, "The purpose for which the memoir was written will, I trust, sufficiently account for the necessary condensation of the narrative; for the omission of many facts of importance, and for the superficial statement of others; as also for the occasional mention of what is familiar to every American, but which gif may need explanation for the European reader." Chapter one begins with the birth, parentage, and genealogy of Washington, the customary chronological development. recounting of the genealogy, Washington is lauded. But even in the "The genealogy of George Washington is a matter of greater importance to the memory of his ancestors than to his own; he throws hack far greater glory than 85 he can inherit." Attention is given to clarifying social conditions, such as an explanation of the usual means of education in the southern 86 colonies at the time of Washington's boyhood, but this is scant because of the necessity for brevity evident throughout. There always seems, however, to be sufficient room for the praise of Washington. After pointing out his "neatness, method, skill in the use of figures," Everett proceeds; ^ Washington, p. iii. 83 Ibid., p. iv. Ibid., p. v. For his English readers he defines his use of the word "squatters," p. lf-3, as "settlers without title are called in the United States." 85 Ibid., p. 26. 86 Ibid., pp. 29-30. S3 According to still existing traditions, he evinced in his boyhood the military taste, which seems to have been hereditary in hie family. The self-elected but willingly obeyed leader of his comrades, he formed them into companies for their juvenile battles. His early repute for veracity and justice, with his athletic prowess beyond his years, made him the chosen umpire of their disputes. He wrestled, leaped, ran, threw the bar, and rode with the foremost. A spot is still pointed out, where, in his boyhood, he threw a stone across the Happahannoe; he was proverbial­ ly strong of arm; in manhood he had one of the largest hands ever seen; and he was through life a bold and graceful horseman. And the praise of Washington seems to cover every possible phase of his life. . . . an experienced practitioner in the Western courts pronounced in after-years, that of all the surveys which had come within his knowledge, those of Washington could alone be depended upon. . . . This dangerous errand was undertaken by Washington through an unsettled wilderness, infested by savages, at a season of the year when the huntsman in his log cabin shrinks from the storm; and this not by a penniless adventurer, taking desperate risks for pro­ motion and bread; but by a young man allied by blood and connected by friendship with the most influential families in the colony, possessed of property in his own right, with large presumptive ex­ pectations* In this his first official service, undertaken under these circumstances, he displayed the courage, the presence of mind, the fortitude, the endurance, the humanity (on a small scale indeed, but at the risk of his life, in preserving that of the treacherous savagel, which, throughout his career, never failed to mark his conduct. In just this manner, again and again through the book, the greatness of Washington is emphasized. Then, finally, the last fifteen pages of the volume are devoted to a kind of summary of Washington’s chief traits of character, includ­ ing a comparison with Napoleon, and ending with this glowing sentence: Washington, pp. 31“2 SS Ibid., p. US. ^ Ibid., pp. 65-6. *In the possession of that mysterious quality of character, manifested in a long life of unambitious service, which, called by whatever name, inspires the confidence, commands the respect, and wins the affection of contemporaries, and grows upon the admiration of successive genera­ tions, forming a standard to which the merit of other men is referred, and a living proof that pure patriotism is not a delusion, nor virtue an, empty name, no one of the sons of men has equalled GEOHGE WASHINGTON.B This steady adulation of Washingtcn, so vitally important to Everett, is the factor which today makes the biography of so little value. If Everett could have shown the same restraint in use of language and the nice balance between personal facts and social milieu in writing of Washington as he did when writing of Webster, the Washington biography might be worth reading. 3* Geography and American History On December 22, 182U, Everett delivered an oration at Plymouth at the commemoration of the first settlement in New England. There is, appropriately enough, comment in this oration about the effect of geography on national history. In the midst of an elaborate exordium, which customarily began with a statement of his unworthiness to deal with the subject, he speaks of the rapid growth of American civilizations A continent, for the first time, effectually explored; a vast ocean, traversed by men, women, and children, voluntarily exiling them­ selves from the fairest portions of the Old World; and a great na­ tion growing up, in the space of two centuries, on the foundations Washington, p. 272. 87 so perilously laid "by this feeble band - point me to the record or to the tradition, of any thing that can enter into competition with itl It is the language, not of exaggeration, but of truth and soberness, to say that there Is nothing in the accounts of Phoenician, of Grecian, or of Homan colonization, that can stand in the comparison. 91 The allusions here to other civilizations are typical of the constant reference made to history in the orations. No listener or reader could ever escape Everett’s historical learning. He points out that the Pilgrims conceived a "grand" design, "even appalling," for creating a refuge from religious and political tyranny in Europe. 11They achieved not that alone, but they have opened a wide 92 asylum to all the victims of oppression throughout the world." The rest of the world, though nominally divided into three continents, in reality consists of but one. Europe, Asia, and Africa are separated by no natural barriers which it has not been easy, in every age, for an ambitious invader to pass. The conse­ quence has been, on the whole, unfavorable to social progress. The extent of country inhabited, or rather infested, by barbarous tribes, has always far outweighed the civilized portions. More than once, in the history of the world, refinement, learning, arts, laws, and religion, with the wealth and prosperity they have created, have been utterly swept away, and the hands turned back on the dial-plate of time, in consequence of the irruption of savage hordes into civilized regions. . . . Till an ocean interposes its mighty barrier, no region is secure from foreign violence. 93 The nations who have been able longest to maintain their inde­ pendence have been those assisted by "lofty mountains, wide rivers, or the surrounding sea." In these three united continents there was no place where a people could undertake a great exoeriment in human Sk improvement with any prospect of success. 91 "First Settlement of New England," Orations, I, HG. 92 Ibid., p. 57 93 Ibid., p. 50* 91* Ibid., p. 51. SB Up to this point in history the most important results to America coming from "seclusion "behind the mighty veil of waters'* have "been political. This isolation has given time to put down political founda­ tions, continue settlement, and win independence. implications to this exclusion. But there are deeper "In every noble, in every true accept­ ation, it implies, not merely an American government, but an American character and an American feeling. To the formation of these, nothing will more powerfully contribute than our geographical separation from 95 other parts of the world.” While there is constant struggle "by in­ trigue and bloodshed" in the Old World to gain control of a little 96 territory, American commerce peacefully encircles the globe. . . . the true principle of American policy, to which the whole spirit of our system, not less than the geographical features of the country, invites us, is separation from Europe. Next to UNION AT HOME, which ought to be called, not so much the essential condition of our national existence as our existence itself, sep­ aration from all other countries is the great principle by which we are to prosper. . . . and we shall rise or decline in strength, improvement, and prosperity, as we obey or violate this principle. This is the voice of Nature, which did not in vain disjoin our continent from the Old World; nor reserve it beyond the ocean, for fifty years, only that it might become a common receptacle for the exploded principles, the degenerate examples, and the remediless corruptions of older states. This is the voice of our history, which traces everything excellent in our character and prosperous in our fortunes to dissent, non-confoimity, departure, resistance, and independence. 97 This passage illustrates many ideas that appear again in Ever­ ett’s discourses. The idea of separation from Europe as a key to our prosperity is part of a strain of patriotism that appears in many forms 95 "First Settlement of New England," Orations. I, 52. 96 Ibid., p„ 53. 97 Ibid. «9 in the speeches. The idea of Union, emphasized here in 182H, was a theme apparently never out of Everett's sight, for it is a "bond of consistency which runs through his whole public life and which we shall have to examine in more detail later. And a third idea worth comment is the degeneracy of Europe which led to the dissent and non­ conformity so important in our history. This may only he the negative side of the coin of patriotism, hut it is an idea Everett used more than once* But nature gave more than the protection of distance to the young American nation. Everett asserted that "The qualities of our climate and soil enter largely, in other ways, into that natural "basis on which our prosperity and our freedom have been reared. It is these which dis­ tinguish the smiling aspect of our busy, thriving villages from the lu­ crative desolation of the sugar islands and all the wide-spread miseries of the colonial system of modern Europe, as it has existed, beyond the barrier of these mighty oceans, in the unvisited, unprotected, and un98 avenged recesses of either India." And Everett does not miss the op­ portunity to make a favorable comparison with his beloved New England. "The compact numbers and the strength, the general intelligence and the aptitude for the arts of high civilization, which, since the world be­ gan, were never exhibited beneath the sultry line, have been the pre99 cious product of this iron-bound coast." 98 99 r Orations, I, 61. Ibid., p. 62. 4 90 k. Colonial Experience and American Independence From his study of American history Everett m s convinced that the early experience in war of the American colonies prepared them for the time when they revolted against the mother country. On the Uth of July 1S33. he spoke at Worcester and the published version of this address 100 is entitled "The Seven Tears* War and the School of the Revolution.** In the early part of his address he again emphasises the theme of the ©reservation of the Union, calling it "the great and nraval,ling 101 principle in our political system." This m s the time when Jackson m s beginning his second term in the White House and Everett commented on the cordial, feeling extended to the President by men of all parties 102 during his recent tour of the lew England states. Everett appealed to the great patriots of the past who by their lives created the Union ©f the States. "They gather," he said, “is saddened majesty around us, and adjure us, by their returning agonies and re-opening wounds, not to ■sennit our feuds and dissensions to destroy the value of that birth103 rig£it which they purchased with their precious lives." Everett states anphatically: momentous event in human affairs. "A revolution like ours is a most History does not furnish its para- 10k 11 el." We should net, however, permit the significance of the Revolu­ tion to lead us to consider England a sort of natural enemy, because 100 Orations. I, 377-^1* Ibid., p. 3^0. 102 * Ibid., p. 379. 103 rua., P. 3®l. W U IMS. 91 the Revolution was preceded by the Seven Years* War when England and 105 the colonies fought together Tinder ^united banners” in a common cause. Americans should remember Hthe civil and military education which the country had received in the earlier fortunes of the colonies; the great oraeparatio libertafcLs, which had fitted out our fathers to reap the harvest of Independence on bloody fields, and to secure and establish it by those wise institutions, in which the only safe enjoyment of 106 freedom resides.” This theme had not, he thought, been given adequate attention, even though there has been stress on the civil straggle with the mother country and the stirring effect of this in awakening men to a sense of their rights. He felt that Mthe peculiar and extraordinary concurrence of.facts in the military history of the colonies, the manner in which the moving causes of the revolution are interwoven with the great in107 cidents of the previous wars, deserve a particular development. The colonists would never seriously entertain the idea of revolt as long as France controlled Canada. One of the strong ties binding the colonies to the crown was the fear of Canada and her Indian allies. The first olan of colonial confederation was advanced in 175^ because 10S of this fear of a common foe. The war with France ended with a vic­ tory for Britain and her colonies, but it had a strange irony. 105 "As Orations, I, 3^3* Ibid., p. 3«U. “ 7 IM4. 108 Ibid. , p. 3«5. i 92 ffolfe died in the moment of triumph, so the power of England on this continent received its death-blow in the event that destroyed its 109 rival, w The removal of the fear of the French had a wonderful effect on the colonists. They no longer need just maintain a foothold on the coast, now they could advance their frontiers. *A political miracle was wrought; the mountains sunk, the valleys rose, and the portals 110 of the west were hurst asunder. * The colonists had no immediate thought of exerting their strength for independence once France no longer threatened. 111 windependency'1 was suggested to a few. But the idea of The subversion of this power required, or was thought to re­ quire, a new colonial system* Its principles were few and simple. An army was to he stationed, and a revenue raised, in America. . . . the colonists wore to he kept down and the French kept out. The policy was ingenious and plausible; it wanted but one thing for its successful operation; but that want was fatal. It needed to be put to practice among men who would submit to it. It would have done exceedingly well in the new Canadian conquests; but it was wholly out of place among the descendents of the Pilgrims and the Puritans. So victory bred the policies which forced the increased thought of independence. In the fight against the French the colonists received training "in the strictest school of British military discipline and 113 conduct.H And we must not forget that France itself was prepared by llU the event to become our later ally. 109 Orations, I, 326 110 Ibid., P* 321* i n Ibid. 112 Ibid., PP . 387-S 113 Ibid., P* 395- ilk Ibid., P« 339. S3 5. The Operation of Providence in History Everett "believed that God worked in human history using human individuals as his channels. dence operated, He spoke frequently of the way Provi­ "The physical creation "began with light;" he said, "the intellectual and moral creation "begins with light also. Chosen servants of Providence are raised up to speak the word; power is given to religious or political reformers to pronounce the decree; it spreads like the elemental "beam, "by the thousand channels of intelligence, from 115 mind to mind, and a new race is created." Cincinnatus and Epaminondas are two examples of individuals raised up as instruments of Providence. "A single "bold word, heroic exploit, or generous sacrifice, at the fortunate crisis, kindles the latent faculties of a whole population, and turns them from "beasts of "burden into men; excites to intense ac­ tion and sympathetic counsel millions of awakened minds, and leads 116 them forth to the contest." The men who serve history in key positions are not always ade­ quately recognized or rewarded at the time. "Thus Providence, which has ends innumerable to answer, in the conduct of the physical and intellectual, as of the moral world, sometimes permits the great dis­ coverers fully to enjoy their fame, sometimes to catch but a glimpse of the extent of their achievements, and sometimes sends them, deject­ ed and broken-hearted, to the grave, unconscious of the great impor­ tance of their own discoveries, and not merely under-valued by their 117 contemporaries, but by themselves. ^ 5 "Education Favorable to Liberty, Knowledge and Morals," Orations, I, 607. 116 Ibid., p. 60S. 117 Ibid., p. 621. 9^ In quite a real sense, then, the historian's devotion to truth and his desire to present history in the light of justice, help to clarify the ways of Providence, at least to the extent of correct interpre­ tations. "When a great event is to "be brought about," Everett de­ clares, "in the order of Providence, the first thing which arrests the attention of the student of its history, in after times, is the 11S appearance of the fitting instrument for its accomplishment." He 119 gives James Otis as an example of such an instrument of Providence. Everett shared with his spiritual forebears of Hew England a theological view of the purpose of the founding of colonies in the Hew World. "Although the continent of America, when discovered by the Europeans, was in the possession of the native tribes, it was obviously the purpose of Providence that it should become the abode of civilisation, the arts, and Christianity." This purpose of Prov­ idence, he further explains, clearly cannot be carried out except through emigration from Europe. "This is doubly necessary, not only as being the only process adequate to produce the desired end, but in order to effect another great purpose in the order of Providence, namely, the establishment of a place of refuge for the victims of persecution, and the opening of a new field of action, where princi­ ples of improvement and of liberty could be developed, without the restraints imposed on the work of reform, by long-established and 120 inveterate abuses." V jsr "The Seven Years* War the School of the Revolution," Orations, 1 .386. 119 Ibid. 120 "The Battle of Bloody Brook," Orations, I, 636. 95 Providence works through realistic channels in attaining its ends* "The age of miracles is past; the emigrants must he brought hither, and sustained here, by the usual motives and impulses which operate on the minds of men. * . . The arm of spiritual persecution 121 must drive out the suffering Puritan in search of a place of rest." This idea of the influence of Providence is used by him at times as though it were just an embellishment of his oratory. For example, in speaking at a Municipal Dinner in Faneuil Hall on July h, 1833* he said; I trust, sir, that the Fourth of July will ever continue to be celebrated as it has been today, under standingly as well as enthusiastically; because it furnishes at once the most instruc­ tive and glorious illustration of the union of the two great prin­ ciples of STABILITY and PROGRESS, on which our independence was originally founded; on which our prosperity, at the present date, rests as upon its corner-stone; and by whose cordial alliance and joint-working alone, the great designs of Providence in reference to our beloved country can be fulfilled. On an earlier occasion Everett spoke at the opening of the rail­ road from Boston to Springfield. He spoke of the geographical diffi­ culties of trade between Boston and the interior of the state, diffi­ culties overcome by the completion of the railroad. "That, sir, is the problem which Providence has committed to us, and I desire to be grateful that we live to witness its solution. It is a law of our moral natures, that the great boons of life are to be obtained by a 123 strenuous contest with natural difficulties." And a few moments 121 "The Battle of Bloody Brook," Orations, I, 637. 122 "Stability and Progress," Orations. Ill, 225. wOpening of the Railroad to Springfield," Orations. II, 366-7* 96 after stating this moral principle, he came again to the theme of Providence and the individual. ". . . and I rejoice that the same Providence which deepens the channels of the rivers, and lifts the "blue summits of the mountains to the sky, has given to man those in­ ventive faculties, and that capacity for the creative arts, "by which he is enabled to wind his way through the hills, to span with his 12^ proud arches the impetuous current. . .* When we recall that Everett had previously stated in the Worth American Review that a discussion of the Providence of God was right non proper occasions, by the proper persons," we may conclude that he did take such a mystic principle seriously, but that at times he spoke as a popular minister might and used the idea out of sheer habit. 6. Liberty, the Key to History In his "Eulogy on LaEayette" Everett sneaks of "a leading prin125 dole" in history. "There is at every great era of the history of the world, a leading principle, which gives direction to the fortunes of nations and the characters of distinguished men. This principle, in our own time, is that of the action and reaction upon each other of Europe and America, for the advancement of free institutions and 126 the promotion of rational liberty." Igl}. "Opening of the Bailroad to Springfield," Orations, II, jGj. Orations, I, H6O-52U. 126 Ibid., p. t 97 Speaking at the Plymouth Festival commemorating the landing of the Pilgrims, held on August 1, 1853* Everett spoke thus of the prin­ ciple of libertyt "There are two master ideas, greatest of the spir­ itual inmates enthroned in the mind of man, the only ideas, compara­ tively speaking, which deserve a name among men, springs of all the grand "beneficent movements of modem times, by whose influence the settlement of New England may be rationally explained. You have anti­ cipated me, descendants of the Pilgrims, these great ideas are GOD and LIBERTY. It was these that inspired our fathers: by these that their weakness was clothed with power, that their simplicity was transmuted to wisdom; by these that the great miracle of their enterprise was 12? wrought." That he considered this the basic social principle and the chief concern of civilized communities he clearly stated on August 25, 1833. "Although liberty, strictly speaking," he said, "is only one of the objects for which men have united themselves in civil societies, it is so intimately connected with all the others, and everything else is so worthless when liberty is taken away, that its preservation may be considered, humanly speaking, the great object of life in civilized 128 communities." One of Everett’s speeches is entitled "The History of Liberty," and if we look at the main ideas in his discussion we can see how he 129 applied this idea of liberty as an interpretative key to human history. ^ 7 HrpkQ pilgrim Fathers," Orations. Ill, 239* 128 "Education Favorable to Liberty," Orations, I, 602. ^ 9 Orations, I, 150-72. on July U, 1828, This oration was delivered at Charlestown 4 98 At first he makes the comment that not all chapters of history are equally important. "History, as it has often teen written, is the genealogy of princes, - the field-hook of conquerors; and the for­ tunes of our fellow-men have been treated only so far as they have been affected by the influence of the great masters and destroyers of our race. Such history is, I will not say a worthless study . . • 130 But it is a melancholy study . . . " And such a melancholy study dis­ heartens the real lovers of liberty. "But the history of Liberty, - the history of men struggling to be free, - the history of men who have acquired, and are exercising their freedom, - the history of those great movements in the world, by which liberty has been estab­ lished and perpetuated, forms a subject which we cannot contemplate too closely. This is the real history of man, - of the human family, 131 *» of rational, immortal beings." In applying this principle, Everett looks first at Greece and Rome. These nations had "bright examples of public virtue," but nowhere an extensive region blessed by the institutions of liberty. They came "surprisingly near" to the truth but fell short In prac­ tice. They were able to establish popular government in some single cities, "but for want of the representative principle, they could not 132 extend these institutions over a large and populous country." This 130 Orations, I, 151. 131 132 Ibid. Ibid., p. 152. I 99 want was fatal "because the liberty of single free cities could "be easily destroyed, And Everett concludes that in the ancient world liberty "was a speculation of the philosopher, and an experiment of 133 the patriot; but not an established state of society." The middle ages was not a hopeful period. Some "petty republics of Italy" tried to gain freedom. "But the remedy of bloody civil wars between neighboring cities, was plainly more disastrous than the dis13^ ease of subjection." In more recent centuries conditions were more hopeful, length, a new era seemed to begin." "At Things which seemed to augur a new era were the art of printing, the fall of Constantinople, the religious reformation, nations. and the spirit ofadventure among the maritime "... the signs of the times seemed to augur a great po135 litical regeneration."But a new institution grew up in Europe which took away the power of the great barons, "the sole check on the des136 potism of the monarch which the feudal system provided." This new system was standing armies - "in other words, a military force, or­ ganized and paid to support the king on his throne, and retain the 137 people in their subjection." So standing armies sealed the fate of freedom in Europe and left no hope, in Everett*s view, of governmental institutions founded on such a principle. Orations. I, 152. ^ Ibid., p. 153. ibid., p. 15U. 136 Ibid. l* Ibid. 1 He goes on to recount the long efforts of Columbus to gain aid for his projected voyage across the Atlantic. When he describes the sailing of the three ships under the command of Columbus, he comments: ••With this humble instrumentality did it please Providence to prepare the theatre for those events by which a new dispensation of liberty was to be communicated to man. . . . The discovery of America has taken place under the auspices of the government most disposed for maritime adventure . . . But it was not from the same quarter that the elements of liberty could be introduced into the new world. Causes, upon which I need not dwell, made it impossible that the great political reform should go forth from Soain. For this object, a new train of incidents 13S was preparing in another quarter.** Only England, of all the modern European states, has made any 139 real advances in freedom. Over several centuries persecuted peoples from England and other parts of Europe were driven to America. **In this way, a fair representation of whatsoever was most valuable in European character - the resolute industry of one nation, the inventive skill and curious arts of another, the courage, conscience, principle, self-denial of all - was winnowed out, by the policy of the prevail­ ing governments, as a precious seed wherewith to plant the American 1*10 soil." By a strange series of simultaneous events, America became "The lUl great asylum of suffering virtue and oppressed humanity.** Orations, I, 157* 159 Ibid., p. 15«. 11(0 Ibid., p. 159. ^ Ibid. i 101 Everett points out certain developments in our history which particularly aided the growth of liberty. One was the fact that Europeans of many different kinds came to America. "Had we been the unmixed descendants of any one nation of Europe, we should have re­ tained a moral and intellectual dependence on that nation, even after lU2 the dissolution of our political connection had taken place." The qualities of the Anglo-Saxon character were dominant but the colonists had traits from most of the other European countries. A "leading incident" in our early history was the simple way in which representative government grew up in the colonies. The English government did not plan such a development nor did philosophical states­ men urge it. Representative assemblies grew rp by accident. "At this early period, and in this simple, unpretending manner, was introduced to the world that greatest discovery in political science, or political lU3 practice, a representative republican system." The liberty found in the institution of representative government was safeguarded by the framers of the Constitution. They rejected the notion of hereditary monarchy as essential to the executive. They rejected a privileged, hereditary nobility as necessary for social stability. They rejected one contralized point of political power; instead they divided powers and functions between the states and the federal government. In doing this, the framers of the Constitution I5i Orations, I, 161. 1^3 Ibid., p. 162. A 102 ". • • completed the great revolutionary movement . * . perfected that mature organization of a free system, destined, as we trust, to stand forever, as the exemplar of popular government. Thus was discharged the dut^of our fathers to themselves, to the country, and to the wo rid.11 The effect of the American example was instantly felt in Europe, especially in Prance. There may he some fluctuation in the forward- movement of liberty, hut nothing can really impede it. Everett de­ clares, "There is an element of popular strength abroad in the world, stronger than forms and institutions, and daily growing in power. A public opinion of a new kind has arisen among men - the opinion of the civilized world. Springing into existence on the shores of our own continent, it has grown with our growth and strengthened with our strength; till now, this moral giant, like that of the ancient poet, marches along the earth and across the ocean, but his front is among 1U5 the stars." To prove his point about the new power of public opinion, Everett claims that in one generation three revolutions have broken out under the influence of public opinion. These are the revolutions in Prance, 1U6 the Spanish colonies in America, and Greece. So Everett saw the mod­ e m history of liberty keyed to the principle of representative govern­ ment and through the force of public opinion awakening nations and peoples suffering under some form of despotism. Orations. I, 167. ll*5 ibid., p. 1SB. lUfi Ibid., pp. 168-9. 103 7. Political Organization, "the most momentous practical question." "The most momentous practical question" concerns the foundation on which a government shall he built. On July U, 1826, Everett spoke at Cambridge on the subject "Principle of the American Constitutions" 1U7 and attempted to answer this question. His discussion begins with a sweeping patriotic tribute, declaring that " . . . the various addresses, petitions, and appeals, the correspondence, the resolutions, the leg­ islative and popular debates, from I76U to the declaration of indepen­ dence, present a maturity of political wisdom, a strength of argument, a gravity of style, a manly eloquence, and a moral courage, of which iks unquestionably the modem world affords no other example." All polit­ ical reforms and revolutions prior to the Declaration of Independence Iks were mere palliatives. Of all temporal concerns, the political organisation of a people is the most important. Until our federal and state constitutions were established, force was the only answer to this need. "The right of the strongest," Everett explains, "was the only footing on which the governments of the ancient and modern nations were in fact placed? and the only effect of the theorists was, to disguise the simple and startling doctrine of the right of the strongest, by various mystical 150 or popular fictions, which in no degree altered its real nature." Orations. I, 103-31* lhg Ibid., p. 108. llf9 Ibid., p. 111. 150 Ibid., p. 112. Two versions of this doctrine form the bases of the two great political parties in England. The tories claim that the real foundation of gov­ ernment is “divine right'* - "Though the delicate ears of the age are 151 flattered by the milder term legitimacy.* The whigs trace the founda­ tion of government hack to an "original contract" - "hut of this con­ tract, the existing organization was the record and the evidence, and 152 the obligation was perpetually binding." Everett is willing to accept "in a merely speculative sense" that everything exists by the divine will, and, as a general sentiment, this is an exalting idea. He feels that it is a misuse of language and a false liberality to state that " . . . the form of government is matter of original compact with the people; that my ancestors, ages ago, agreed that they and their posterity, to the end of time, should give up to a certain line of princes the rule of the state; that noth­ ing but extreme necessity, a necessity which it is treasonable even to attempt to define beforehand, justifies a departure from this com­ pact, in which no provision is made that the will of the majority 153 should prevail . . . " ‘ Whichever label you use, at the root of those two so-called opposing theories is the doctrine of force. "The doc­ trine of the divine right gives to the ruler authority to sustain himself against the people, not merely because resistance is unlawful, Orations, I, 112. 105 "but 'because It Is sacrilegious. The doctrine of the compact denounces every attempted change in the reigning line as a breach of faith, and I5U as such also not only treasonable, but immoral.*1 A conflict is set­ tled by force and then the winning party uses either one of these doctrines to justify itself. Every major government on earth except that of the United States is **at this moment** supported by a standing army. Men have expressed their horror at the excesses of the mob, as witnessed in the case of the French Revolution. But the force of the mob is indeed terrible “when to all its native terrors it adds the force of a frightful per­ manence** and **a regular organization** in the guise of a mercenary 155 army. The British Parliament was "a great step in the progress of uop156 ular rights** and helped advance the idea of representative government. The organisation of the federal constitution meant the creation of **a family of states, associated in a confederate Union, which, if any thing human is entitled to that name, may be called a perfect fora of 157 government. ** As a true believer in the democratic process, Everett had pre­ viously stated his deep faith in people. 154 Orations, I, 113-lH. 155 156 Ibid., pp. nll-15. Ibid., p. 118. 157 Ibid., p. 119. 106 • • • the people always conquer. They always must conquer. Annies may he defeated, king3 may he overthrown, and new dynas­ ties imposed, hy foreign arms, on an ignorant ana slavish race, that care not in what language the covenant of their subjection runs, nor in whose name the deed of their barter and sale is made out. But the people never invade; and, when they rise against the invader, are never subdued. If they are driven from the plains, they fly to the mountains. Steep rocks and ever­ lasting hills are their castles; the tangled, pathless thicket their palisado, and nature, God, is their ally. . . . never gave, and never will give, a final triumph over a virtuous and gallant people, resolved to he free. . . . the great maxim of constitutional governments /iVT" that the voice of the people is the voice of God. *59 Through equality the beneficial principle of representative government is put into operation. "The principle of all other govern160 meats is monopoly, exclusion, favor." Everett opposed rather vehemently Buiko’s idea that when you talked about the "people" you meant a "legal fiction" like any other "corporation." Everett felt, that everything in man which makes for his national sociability supports the idea of the "people." All the social sympathies and sentiments of our nature give it strength. Are all the relations of ancestry, posterity, and fellow-citizenship; all the veneration and love bound up in the name of Country; the delimit, the enthusiasm, with which we seek out, after the lapse of generations and ages, the traces of our fathers* bravery or wisdom; are these all "a legal fiction?" Is it a legal fiction that moistens the eye of the solitary traveller, when he meets a countryman in a foreign land? Is it a "common agreement" that gives its meaning to my mother tongue, and enables me to speak to the hearts of my kindred men beyond the rivers and beyond the mountains? 15S Orations, I, 95* 159 Ibid., p. 97- 160 Ibid., p. 119. lSl Ibid., p. 121. 107 The mutual dependence of people, both individuals and groups, in a nation is a law of nature. He declares that ". . . political society exists by the law of nature. Man is formed for it; every man has an equal right to its privileges; and to "be deprived of them, under what162 ever pretence, isso far to he reduced to slavery.11 These were good words to speak in 1826, and they helped to make Everett popular, to help him along in his political ambitions. But we know that, at this time in his career, when Everett said "man" and "every man," he really meant "white man." It was on the application of the principle of equality, about which he spoke so beautifully and movingly, that his political career was wrecked. Perhaps this is al­ ways true of a conservative - that the discrepancy with progressive principles does not become apparent until a problem of application arises. The right fice our lives of suffrage is so precious to us that we would sacri­ tomaintain it. "To condemn men to live -under an ar­ bitrary government" would be to deny them the "satisfaction which na163 ture designed should flow from those principles within us . . ." Everett felt that "great and positive improvements" were to come from the development of the republican form of government. The first result would be to make wars less freouent or perhaps stop them alto16U gether. "Republics, we are told, indeed, are ambitious - a seemingly Orations, I, 122. 163 Ibid., p. 123. Ibid. 1081 wise remark, devoid of meaning. Man - man is ambitious; and the question is, Where trill his ambition he most likely to drive his country into tot; in a monarchy, where the ruler has hut to *eiyhavoc, and let slip the dogs of war,' or in a republic, where he must get a vote of a strong majority of the nation? Let history furnish the an165 swer." Everett turns back to history and shows how much it is a rec­ ord of various families instead of the human family, of the ambition of rulers and conquerors, of the petty civil wars. He states his con­ viction that under a system like ours a war of "ambition and aggrand­ isement" could not take place. trine. In 1&26 this seemed like sound doc­ By 1850* when the first collected volume of his orations was re­ published, Everett added a footnote of qualification to this idea HI am sorry to say that the events of the last few years in this 166 country have done much to discredit this opinion." Another great benefit from the establishment of republican govern­ ment in America is the extension of political rights to so many people. Whereas formerly, by monarchical decree, colonisation was forbidden beyond the Alleghenies, now a republican government opens all this / territory to multitudes of people. In fact, Everett felt that the Declaration of Independence has done more in fifty years to extend the area of civilization "than would have been done in five centuries 167 of continued colonial subjection." 1 Orations. I, 12U. 166 Ibid., p. 126. 167 Ibid., p. 127. 109 Then, too, we must take into account the influence that "an example of successful popular government" will have upon the other nations and people of the world. In spite of some negative effect from the excesses of the Trench Revolution, "popular government is 168 rapidly gaining in the world." We may look upon the free republics of Central and South America as results of the influence of our own republican government. Through the force of example we can fulfill our historic destiny. "The greatest engine of moral power known to human affairs, is an or­ ganized, prosperous state. can do . . . All that man, in hie individual capacity, is as nothing, compared with the collective, perpetuated influence on human affairs and human happiness, of a well-constituted, 169 powerful commonwealth." The way the Declaration of Independence it­ self came into being is of historic import. The idea of independence was calmly "deliberated in parliamentary rule, like an ordinary po­ litical question. Henceforward let us despair of nothing desirable for humanity, merely because it is unheard of, in the former history 170 of man." Orations, I, 123. 159 Ibid., p. 129. *7° "Memoir of Richard Henry Lee," 377• 110 JS. England, "the most favored abode of liberty.H Our forefathers brought with them from England the necessary “habits and principles11 for what they set out to achieve. Of all the nations of Europe, England is “the most favored abode of liberty; the onlv part of Europe, where, for any length of time, constitutional 171 liberty can be said to have a stable existence.11 Along with America, England thus holds a special position in history. “What American,“ Everett asks,“does not feel proud that his fath172 ers were the countrymen of Bacon, of Newton, and of Locke?" And we cannot forget that Burke and Chatham championed the struggle of the colonies for independence. “The pride I take in my own country makes me respect that from which we are snrung. In touching the soil of 173 England, I seem to return, like a descendant, to the old family seat." Everett claims not to be “the panegyrist of England." He is not im­ pressed by the array of the nobility and the accoutrements of the monarchy. What he feels is the sentimental love for the "cradle" of 17U the free principles inherited by his forefathers. Everett's interest in England led him to make some interesting observations. He wrote two noted articles in the North American Re­ view commenting on the waves of revolution and reform sweeping Europe. Since he believed that the example of the United States Mpirat Settlement of New England," Orations, I, 63. Ibid., p. 6U. X73 ibid. ^ Ibid., p. 65« was stimulating oppressed peoples everywhere, his opinions of reform in Europe, and especially England, the "abode of liberty," take on added significance as showing how he felt contemporary history was moving. In "The Prospect of Reform in Europe," Everett makes the obser­ vation that people always consider that the age they live in is the most extraordinary and exciting. wBut after all due allowance is made for this exaggeration, we cannot but feel that the history of the civilized world, since the year 1775» has been marked with the most 175 wonderful incidents." History is so very complex, with causes going back generations to their origins and effects that will not be ap­ parent fully for generations still to come, that "we can fully compre- 176 hend but a small part even of contemporary movements." Everett surveys the way in which all the nations of Europe are arming; the threat of war is imminent. The war of opinion, predicted 177 in 1823 a31! 1826 by Canning, seems to have started. Everett says that the people of Poland, for example, are of opinion they should be independent. All through Europe, conflicting opinions are back 178 of the war threat. Though there are many local grievances, this is the"great war of opinion," called by Canning "the struggle between the aristocratic and the democratic principle. 175 m m "The Prospect of Reform in Europe," (July 1831), 15U. This circumstance North American Review, 112 presents at once the most hopeful and the most alarming features of the contest. 179 This consideration makes it a common cause on each side. To read the events of Europe in terms of a struggle between aris­ tocracy and democracy is "of appalling significance." Reason can ac­ cept only one object for the origin of political communities - "the welfare of their members. - of the greatest possible majority of their ISO members." In Everett's eyes the aristocratic position is the position of force, even though it may be cloaked in the dogma of divine right. He reminds his reader of "the irreverent proposition of Frederic the Great, who said, that he had observed, that the Lord was always the 181 ally of the strongest party." The intermingling of Church and State under the feudal system created a system of interlocking dependencies which perpetuated force. The idea of an hereditary nobility and the principle of primogeniture caused "this abusive system" to be "inter182 woven with all the relations of life." Everett goes on to designate what he considers the abusive ele­ ments of the aristocratic system. He is convinced that the absurdity 183 of an hereditary monarchy will in time be felt. He feels, too, that 18*4 an hereditary House of Lords is "founded on the most flagrant abuse." 179 ISO "The Prospect of Re foam in Europe," 159* Ioid.» p. Io0» 181 Ibid. 182 Ibid., p. 161. 183 Ibid., p. 163* 1SU Ibid. i 113 "By the same test of principle /the right of the people to elect/, we should arrive at the same conclusion, in respect to an established Church, the law of primogeniture, and all antiquated, unequal, and abusive corporate monopolies, in civil or ecclesiastical, public or 185 private affairs." And he continues The liberal party are those who are of a contrary opinion on all these points. They maintain, that all Government is intended for the good of the people; and ought to be organized to that end alone. They accordingly consider the deliberate and well ascer­ tained will of the people, as the rightful directory of the Gov­ ernment; and they hold it to be proved by experience, that this will can be ascertained in no other way, than that of an equal representation of the people, convened in legislative assemblies, elected for short periods. . . • They accordingly hold that, in the long run, the people acting through representatives of their own choice, are the best judges of their own interests; and that all good government consequently resolves itself into an equal representative system. Two governments seem safest from the present waves of upsetting reform - Russia and the United States. same reason: fected people. And both are safe for the they do not contain any appreciable number of disaf­ But the conditions in England are "highly critical." Of England, Eyerett writes, "It has long been the boast that her Con­ stitution is mixed. Pex’haps it will be found, on an impartial analy­ sis, that this supposed mixture is a state of transition from the pure absolutism of the Stuarts to a pure representative Government, toward which since 1688, the Constitution has been struggling. But it is plain, that a pure representative Government cannot exist, where two 187 of the great estates of the realm are hereditary." !85 1 S 6 "Prospect of Reform in Europe," IcH. .VI Ibid. 187 Ibid., p. 167* 11^ Popular feeling in England is intense* If more people owned property in England, there would "be greater interest in preserving the peace and a change to an elective government might he made with­ out a struggle. Also, if more people owned property, these changes could he easily dehated and the crown even dispensed with hy law. "But the extreme ineq\iality of fortunes gives an ominous charester 188 to the contest. There are too many who have nothing to lose." Pending in Parliament was a hill to change the has is of repre­ sentg,tion in Commons. "It appears to us, that it is what it has been declared to he, hy the most eminent of those who have opposed it in Parliament: a Revolution; a great change, carrying within itself a 189 oledge of further change." Everett agrees with the reformers, that 1Q0 an honest geographical system of representation he worked out. If this reform is carried through, and the ancient abuses in the system of representation are removed, we cannot expect the House of Lords, the Church, and the crown to he unaffected. There is no way of stepping the present tide of reform in gov­ ernment which is affecting all the nations of Europe. '"Right or wrong," Everett believes, "beneficial or pernicious, it is impossible to persuade the mass of the people of any community, that the system, which gives them an equal voice in the Government of the country, is not the best. Governments and ministries may persuade themselves, "Prospect of Reform in Europe," l6S. 189 Ibid., p. 169. 190 Ibid., pp. 169-72* t 191 ■but they cannot persuade the people that they are their own foes." The example of the United States will aid reform in England "because it is an example "from a kindred source." The impetus to our system of equal representation came from the stream of English liberty. How we have proven the efficacy of equal representation; it is "a noon-day 192 reality" and will in turn affect the aause of reform in England. In a second article Everett declared that the whole question of 193 a reform in the government, of England is an American question. This is true not only because of commercial relations but because British colonies surround the United States. England also "now claims the right to interfere in every great question of international politics, whoever may be the more immediate parties. . . . We shall have occa­ sion, in the course of our remarks, to express the opinion, that, with the adoption of the proposed new principle of organisation in the British Government, this extensive interference in foreign nolitics 19k will both from necessity and of choice cease." Part of the plan of reform proposed a modification of the colo­ nial system to permit some representation of British colonies in Par­ liament. This idea of representation for her colonies Is an inevi­ table reform in Everett*s opinion. "The American Revolution is a "Prospect of Reform in Europe," 176 . X92 Ibid. 193 wpeform in England," North American Review. XXXIV 23* I9U Ibid., p. 25• (Jan. 1&32) 116 standing demonstration, that British Colonies must he represented or become independent, whenever the popular feeling is awakened on the subject. England brings up her children to a notion of rights and 195 liberties, which makes them awkward subjects of arbitrary power.» The real difficulty arrives when a colony is fit to be represented, for then it is usually fit to be independent. “The colonial system, with or without representation, never was intended for free, intelli­ gent communities, of the kindred of the mother country. It suits in­ fant plantations, remote and conquered savage or semi-civilised tribes, and military posts like Malta, and Gibraltar, which are rather garrisons 196 than Colonies.11 Everett proceeds to examine the proposed representation for the colonies, and to show that it is to a great extent a false and absurd proposal. This is especially true of representation for British India, the government of which is a military despotism, asks. “Th© native population? represent or protect. “Represent whom?M he Why, they have no political rights to Represent the army which holds them in submis­ sion? . . . If any body in India needs representation, it is the poor 197 natives.11 The colonies of British America are ready for representation 19S but they are also fit for independence. One of the benefits of reform In England would be to change her relationship with other countries; she would become weaker abroad and 195 “Reform in England,” Uj. 196 Ibid. 197 Ibid., p. Ug. 198 Ibid., pp. l+S-9. I 199 stronger at home. The reason for this would he the change from exten­ sion of the empire to improvement of conditions at home. If we wish to stop the cycle of wars recurring every thirty years, then we must give ’’full development to the representative principle. This will cut off the great source of wars, the personal passions of 200 those in power.” Everett is hopeful that this is possible. He says that if England and France thoroughly bring the representative princi­ ple into their governments, their influence, plus that of the United 201 States, would prove sufficient to put an end to war. 9* Faults of the New England Forefathers Just as Everett could point out abuses in the. English system of government and society, so also he realised some of the weaknesses in the founders of New England. This fact is important because as a pop­ ular speaker on commemorative occasions, he would be tempted to pass over the weaknesses and deal only with the triumphs. That Everett did not do this is proof of his intellectual integrity. On June 2?, 1830, Everett delivered an address entitled "The Settlement of Massachusetts" before the Charlestown Iyceum; the occa­ sion was the two hundredth anniversary of the arrival of Governor 202 Winthrop. In discussing the founding of Massachusetts, he brings up certain points which pose the questions as to how we should judge our forefathers. Everett discussed the removal by the Puritans of the "Reform in England, ” 50* 200 ..., __ Ibid., p. 52* 201 Ibid., p. 53. 202 . Orations, I, 2IH-U5. charter for Massachusetts. The colonists brought the charter along with them. "This was the turning point in the destiny of New Eng203 land." This step was considered legally doubtful, but a few years later it was submitted to vote by the company and approved. Two motives led to the colonization of New England. "commercial adventure." First was "Without the direction given by this spirit to the minds of men, and the information brought home by fishing and trading vessels, the attempt would probably have never been made to 20h establish a colony." The second reason was "the spring of all that is truly great in human affairs, the conservative and redeeming prin­ ciple of our natures, - I mean the self-sacrificing enthusiasm of our 205 forefathers, sacrificing present ease for a great end." We notice that Everett has a modem sound in his reading of history when he places the economic motive first and the religious second. In judging the founders of New England, we should take into ac­ count the age in which their work m s done. results. And we should look to "Men who have been connected with the establishment of great institutions ought to be judged by the general result of their work. We judge of St. Peter's by the grandeur of the elevation and the maj­ esty of the dome, not by the flaws in the stone of which the walls 206 are built." 203~ Orations, I, 228. ^ Ibid., p. 233. 119 The men and women who left the tyranny of England and came to New England were not perfect, “They were imperfect, they had faults, they committed errors. But they laid the foundations of the state of things which we enjoy - of political and religious freedom; of public and private prosperity; of a great, thriving, well-organised republic. What more could they have done, What more could any men do? . . . But let us not, meantime, nourished as we are out of the abundance which they, needy and suffering themselves, transmitted to us, deride their bigotry, which turned trifles into consequences, or wonder at 207 their seal, which made great sacrifices for small inducements.w Everett not only asks for understanding in this way but he goes on to show that in some ways the Puritans were the moral superiors of present-day Americans. He discusses the modern treatment of the In­ dians and the proposition that they may be ejected from their land as though they had no right to it. »I do not recollect that, in a sin­ gle instance, our fathers claimed the right to eject a native popula­ tes tion.M Contrasted with this is the modern notion that a State char­ ter gives the right of sovereignty and Indians have only the right of occupancy, by the permission of white men. And Everett adds that the Indian leaders who oppose this modern notion win their official papers, written by themselves, plead for their rights in better Eng­ lish than that of the high officers of the Government, who plead 209 against them.n " 207 Orations, I, 23*5-7* 208 Ibid., p. 23S. 209 Ibid., p. 239. 120 Such comparisons and argil’sants based upon then are unrealistic. Instead* an are and the people who lived in it must be judged by the standards of that age. He asserts But I protest against bringing the actions of sen* in one age, to the standard of another* in things that depend on the state of civilisation and public sentiment throughout the world. Try our fathers by the only fair test, the standard of the age in which they lived? and I believe that they admit a very good defence, even on the point where they are supposed to be mostvulnerable - that of religious freedom. I do not pretend that they were governed by an enlightened spirit of toleration. Such a spirit, actuating a large community*,, made up of sen of one mind, ar.u possessing absolute power to compel the few dissenters to conform, is not so common, even at the present day, as say be­ thought. . . , With all the p*oritaaieal austerity, and - what is such core to be deplored - the intolerance of dissent, which are chargeable to our fathers, they secured, and we are indebted to them for, two great principles, without which all the candor and kindness we may express toward opponents, go but a short step towards religious freedom. One of these is the independence of each individual church; the other, the separation of church and •** state. In other discussions too, at different times in his career, Brerstt brought out the faults of the Puritans', each time asking that they be judged in terms of their age. This is an example of Everett’s application of his idea that the historian should seek to give a just interpretation of history. 220 Orations, I, 239-ho. 10. Social necessity for Monuments Everett had the true historian’s interest in wishing to preserve the past for the light and instruction of the future. This interest showed itself in two ways - the collection of original source material and the building of monuments to perpetuate great men. In reviewing Flint’s Geography and History of the Western States, Everett ends with the suggestion that an association of booksellers publish a complete collection of American historians. MIt ought to contain,M he explains, win a regular series, both the original works and the subsequent compilations; beginning with such productions as Captain Smith's History of Virginia, Winthrop's Journal, and Prince’s Chronology . . . to works written since the declaration of independence and at the present day. A complete collection of charters and patents should fora a part of the plan. 211 verely felt.** The want of such a collection is se- In a review of Sparks’ Life and Writings of Washington he said that a standard edition of Washington was a matter of national import­ ance. Washington "must speak directly to posterity from the printed page. This impress of his mind and character must be perpetuated in the volumes of his works, for the guidance of all succeeding genera212 tions.” Patriotism and scholarship combine to make the publication of source material an Imperative. Pll North American Review, XXVIII (Jan. 1S29)» 102. 21? Ibid., XLVII (Oct. 1.33S), 320. 122 The full glory of a nation's past is, however, best preserved in monuments to its heroes and its great events. oration is at hand. The voice of us from beneath the soil which it In September 1327 & circular "The age of commem­ our fathers' hlood begins to cry to moistened.Time is bringing forward, 213 in their proper relief, the men and the deeds of that high-souled day." was issuedcalling upon graduates of Harvard to contribute toward the erectionof a "suitable monument" 21k in honor of John Harvard, founder of the University. The circular tells how a few graduates happened to conceive of the idea in the course of a social conversation. Everett was elected secretary of the group. He had previously been active in the Bunker Hill Monument Asso215 elation. Then, in 1359» n statue of Daniel Webster by Powers was erected in Boston. Everett had been a member of the Committee of One Hundred on the Webster Memorial. He not only gave a dedicatory address, but, when the statue was severely criticized, wrote in its 216 defence. We have already considered the great amount of time and energy which Everett put into his efforts with the Mount Vernon Asso­ ciation. Thus, over the years he was associated with one monument project after another. 233 21^215 Pl6 "Principle of the American Constitutions," Orations, I, 109. Ibid., p. 185. Frothinghaa, p. 88. A Defence of Power's Statue of Webster (Boston, 1859)* i 123 Harper*3 Weekly in its issue of February 11, I860, had an edi­ torial entitled "About Monuments." It pointed out that the American was too busy to be much interested in monuments, that the people of Boston permitted the Bunker Hill Monument to stand year after year half finished, that the purchase of Mount Vernon might not have been consummated for many years except for the efforts of Everett. Then it continued: The truth is that the genius of our people does not incline them to monuments or commemorative statues. The countenances of our greatest men are familiar to every body every where in the coarse lithograph likenesses that hang upon the walls of tavern bar-rooms and other places of popular resort. Besides, we grow such enormous annual crops of great men! But to continue. Mr. Everett has issued proposals for another monument, as President of an association to erect a me­ morial on Lexington Green. He is supported by a body of VicePresidents from every part of the country, gentlemen of . . . phenomenal respectability. The address to the citizens of the United States, signed by Mr. Everett, and evidently written by him, explains the grounds of the national appeal . . . Lexington Green is the spot upon which armed resistance was first regular­ ly made to the anas of Britain and the war began. Therefore it is a national spot . . . 2 ' Mount Vernon was not the only historical memorial which to Everett might function as a rallying point for patriotic citizens as the virus of sectionalism took deeper hold upon the coxmtry. Now Lexington Green must become a national memorial. ments were a fetish with him. Statues and monu­ Through them the evils of division might be warded off. On May 28, 1833* speaking at Faneuli Hall at a meeting called to consider means for the completion of the Bunker Hill Monument, Everett gave his arguments in favor of such monuments. He takes 217 p. 8? i his stand upon the simple philosophical premise that the thing which does good is to he approved. This, of course, requires a definition of "good" and Everett supplies a proper definition. Does a railroad or canal do good? Answer, Yes. And how? It facilitates intercourse, opens markets, and increases the wealth of the country. But what is this good for? Why, individuals prosper and get rich. And what good does that do? Is mere wealth, as an ultimate end, - gold and silver, without an Inquiry as to their use, - are these a good? Certainly not. . . . But as men grow rich, they live better. Is there any good in this, stopping here? Is mere animal life - feeding, working, and sleeping like an ox - entitled to he called good? Certainly not. . . , There is no good in the mere animal life, except that it is the physical hasis of that higher moral existence, which re­ sides in the soul, the heart, the mind, the conscience; in good principles, good feelings, and the good actions . . . Bow, sir, I say that generous and patriotic sentiments . . . are good, good, humanly speaking, of the highest order. It is good to have them, good to encourage them, good to honor them, good to commemorate them . . .218 People may claim that hooks will properly commemorate the past. But Everett contends, hooks cannot give the living sense of the past which a monument or statue can. "Can the dead letter of history pre­ sent you the glowing lineaments of your Washington, as he looks down upon you from that wall, or reproduce to you his majestic form in the 219 chiselled marble?" We might regret that so much of Everett’s energy went into pro­ jects for monuments. We could wish that he had given time to support­ ing more efforts for the collection of source material for the scholar. But the driving energy of the man made social outlets a necessity and the monument fetish helped serve this need. 218 "The Bunker Hill Monument," Orations, I, 358 219 Ibid., p. 361. 125 11. The Veneration of Washington One of the last times Edward Everett's father made a public appearance was on February 22* 1800, when he gave an oration in mem220 ory of Washington in the Dorchester Church. Without doubt the most famoxis oration of Everett's was his speech on "The Character of Washington." It does not matter to us whether or not there is more than interesting coincidence between these two facts. What we can­ not overlook is the veneration of Washington. We have already considered the biography of Washington. are other writings and speeches which deal directly with him. There In the four volumes of Orations there are sir separate speeches dealing 221 with Washington. In the Forth American Review he contributed two 222 reviews of lives of Washington. Of the Mount Vernon Papers, thirty223 six in number, eleven directly concern the life of Washington. But this is not all; references abound in the orations. 220 Frothin^iam, p. 5» 221 Vol. I- "The Youth of Washington" (July H, 1835) Vol.Ill- "The Birthday of Washington" (Feb. 22, 1851) "Dedication of Crawford's Washington" (Feb. 22, I858) "Presentation of the Cane of Washington"(Feb.22*1858) "Washington Abroad and at Home" (July 5, 1858) Vol. IV- "The Character of Washington" (Feb. 22, I856) 222 "Sparks' Life and Writings of Washington," XLVII (Oct. 1838) "Guizot's Washington," LI (July 18^0) 22*5 F o b . 9, 10, 12lh172h25, 263 6 , 3 7 , 38- "Washington's Diary" "The Fourth of March, 1789" "Lord Erskine's Testimony to Washington" "Another Volume of Washington's Diary" "Washington's Southern Tour" "Seven Critical Occasions and Incidents in the Life of Washington" 126 The famous oration on "The Character of Washington" was given ?2k 225 twenty-one times during 1856. and 137 times from 1857 to I860. Everett gave this around the country in order to assist the Mount Temon Association. The qualities of character which Everett saw in Washington are the essence of conservatism. Washington was "a well-balanced char­ acter," "grave, sober," possessing, Everett said, "the unpopular 226 qualities." . . . Such a virtue, for instance, is prudence, which, accord­ ing to the stern Roman satirist, disarms Fortune of her power. Consummate prudence marked the life and conduct of Washington. But, in the inverted estimate of the world, prudence receives no applause, excites no admiration, wins no love. We sometimes al­ most hate it for the restraints which it imposes upon the endear­ ing weaknesses and generous follies of a warm and kindly nature. Justice is another of the great kingly virtues of life; the governments of men, the government of God on high, rest upon it. Justice was personified in Washington; it was the law of his life. But justice is not a quality that fascinates the imagination of men. Moralists inculcate it, all men exact it in their dealings when it promotes their interest; the Athenians, at the height of their refinement, grew tired of it, in the person of Aristides, and banished it. Modesty is a lovely trait, which sets the last seal to a truly great chracter . . . Common sense was eminently a characteristic of Washington . . . Few qualities of character in those who influence the for­ tunes of nations are so conducive both to stability and progress. But it is a quality which takes no hold of the imagination; it inspires no enthusiasm, it wins no favor; it is well if it stands its grounds against the plausible absurdities, the hollow pre­ tences, the stupendous impostures of the day. 22J Everett Papers 200, bound first draft of Washington oration. Ibid., 201, bound volume of the Washington oration. "The Character of Washington," Orations, IV, 3S. 2?7 Ibid. 127 These observations show a keen insight hut the qualities here listed are strangely those of Everett himself. They are not the qual­ ities of boldness, or revolution, of foresight, or of vision. are status quo qualities. They They conveniently reinforce Everett's whole philosophy of politics and society. Everett felt that "unobtrusive” as these chief qualities of Wash­ ington were, they are the real mark of "sterling greatness." "To complain of the character of Washington that it is destitute of bril­ liant Qualities, is to complain of a circle that it has no salient 22S points and no sharp angles in its circumference . . . " As he proceeds, Everett, like many succeeding politicians, seems indirectly to identify himself with Washington by advancing even more vague generalities. Providence. Washington was raised up as part of the design of This was to provide "a living example" to show that gov­ ernments are best conducted "by men of sound moral principle" who fol229 low "the one plain and straight path of public and private virtue." He calls TJpon the "citizens of the country” to show their apore230 ciation of Washington by following "his example and his counsels." This can best be done if we observe the maxims in his "last testament of affection" - the Farewell Address. 228 Orations, 17, 39* 229 230 Ibid., pp. ^40-1. . Ibid., p. Ul. i 328 Of all the exhortations which it contains, I scarcely need say to yon that none are so emphatically uttered, none so anxiously uttered, as those which enjoin the preservation of the Union of these States. On this, under Providence, it depends in the judg­ ment of Washington whether the people of America shall follow the Old World example, and he broken up into a group of independent military powers, wasted hy eternal border wars, feeding the am­ bition of petty sovereigns on the life-blood of wasted principal­ ities, - a custom-house on the bank of every river, a fortress on every frontier hill, a pirate lurking in the recesses of every bay, - or whether they shall continue to constitute a confederate republic, the most extensive, the most powerful, the most prosper­ ous in the long line of ages. No one can read the Farewell Ad­ dress without feeling that this was the thought and this the care which lay nearest and heaviest upon that noble heart; and if which Heaven forbid - the day shall ever arrive when his parting counsels on that head shall be forgotten, on that day, come it soon or come it late, it may as mournfully as truly be said, that Washington has lived in vain. 231 This advice does not come from a merely great character, Washington "is not an isolated fact in History;" on the contrary he is Ma disnen232 sation of Providence for good." And higher tribute Everett could not give. Everett apparently was aware ofthe fact that his use of the Farewell Address and the repeated eulogy of Washington was somewhat like the soul-saving exhortations ofa revivalist with his fervent appeals to sacred Scripture. On July 5* 1858, he attended a dinner in Boston, given by the Young Men’s Democratic Club. Speaking in response to a toast, he said: Sir, I linger, but you I amsure will not think too long, on these solemn and affectionate appeals, which seem, after a lapse of two generations, to come sounding to us like an oracle 231 Orations, IV, U9-5O. 232 Ibid., p. 50. I 129 of wisdom and love from the sacred shades of Mount Vernon. It has ceased to he a popular strain; hut I willingly accept the unpopularity. I know that "Union-saving," as it is derisively called, is treated in some quarters with real or affected con­ tempt. I am content to share in the ridicule which, attaches to that anxiety for the preservation of the Union, which prompted one sixth part of Washington’s farewell address. 233 In this same speech Everett gave a definition of statesmanship which reveals the conservative character of his mind and the conse­ quent real significance in his thinking of the "sober" qualities in the character of Washington. "Statesmanship, as it was understood in my younger days, that is, the study of the foreign relations of the country, its defences, naval and military, its currency and finances, its internal improvements, its great industrial interests, and the relations of the government to the Indian tribes, has nearly become an obsolete idea, and our -oolitical life has assumed almost exclusive23h ly the form of sectional agitation.” This listing of the elements of statesmanship closely reflects Everett’s own -oublic life but seems completely lacking in an understanding of the great reform movements in the country. Re makes no mention of social problems or the increas­ ingly important question of labor. His onl,v references to economic problems are *currency and. finances’* and "great industrial interests." This definition was given in I858. And Emerson, in commenting on the Fugitive Slave Law, had written in his journal back in lS^l, "The state stands for property, and the slave, as the highest kind 233’”’ "The Fourth of July," Orations, III, bUl. 23^ ^ rbia., p. 637* 4 130 of property, is fitly made the cuestion between the oarty of lieht and the party of darkness.” Everett’s fear of the slavery question, the meaning of which was clear to Emerson and other liberal minds many years before, perhaps is part of the reason why he seems to have care­ fully excluded social questions from this definition. We cannot assume that Everett was dissimulating when he so used the materials of Washington’s life and character in his speeches. The references to Washington are so numerous, so consistent, and so ob­ viously genuine that the veneration of Washington nmst have been real. Here are some entries from Everett’s journal: February 26, 1836 Read a considerable portion of the tenth volume of Washing­ ton’s Works. A lesson for small politicians like me. He had the same troubles, disgusts and cares: - was tormented with the feuds of his associates (Jefferson and Hamilton) and slandered for small matters, - his style of bowing at his parties. February 27, 1836 I finished the tenth volume of Washington's Works. His char­ acter seems the perfection of the Prudent Man. He had no imagina­ tion, and but little warrntn of feeling: - at least as far as can be inferred from these papers. 236 Washington - ’’the perfection of the Prudent Maci” This was a right observation to be made by a governor of Massachusetts and a leading citizen of Boston. Journals, VIII, 2k?.. ^ Everett Papers 1^4-S, journal I CHAPTER III LITERATURE IN AMERICA In 1S35 Everett copied into his journal a reference to himself from the London Athenaeum of January 3* I835. The Athenaeum said: "Some of the hest prose writers in America are not properly authors. The pen of Danl. Webster unmatched like his oratory, for strength and fire: - of Edward Everett the eloquent, the learned, the admired (per­ haps altogether the most accomplished and gifted man that has ever 1 risen in America) . . ." If this seems like an extravagant statement, it is because we underestimate how well known Everett was. During the decade of the 1320*3 alone he had had more than thirteen of his orations published in booklet form, one of them going into four editions. He had served a period as editor of the North American Review, and during the dec­ ade of the twenties he contributed eighty-three reviews to that pub­ lication. These were published anonymously but yet the authorship was many times known and they helped to establish his reputation. In spite of the devotion to politics, Everett thought of him­ self as a literary man. 20: In 1338 he wrote in his journal on November "In the evening delivered my lecture on the Northmen, before the Warren Street Chapel institution. appearance. This I propose shall be my last I leave the business to younger men; and resolve to Everett Papers 1^7* journal. devote what time I can snare from business to some permanent effort ~2 of a literary character.” increased. The interest in literature seems to have He wrote to Dr. Warren on June 22, lSUg, while he was still president of Harvard: ”2To two years of my life were ever so completely lost, in reference to my literary pursuits and the culti- 3 vation of my own mind.” The following year, April IS, 18h9, he wrote in a similar vein to Webster: ”1 have therefore no expectation but to pass the rest of my life in the care of my family and the cultivation of those literary tastes, which I have at all times cherished.” 1. Movements in American Literature Sometimes the War of 1812 is called a Second War of Indepen­ dence because it clearly established the independent sovereignty of the former thirteen colonies. But, whatever the political implications, the psychological results of that war were important, nationalism was stimulated. The country was youthful, and a psychological romanticism swept through the American mind. It expressed itself partly in the Ameri­ can System which advocated all kinds of exciting internal improvements. The possibility of challenging improvements in transportation was appealing. The realism of the eighteenth century, with its dark view of human nature, gave way to the liberalism of Unitarian thought, and some people went even beyond this and scaled the heights of transcen­ dentalism. - Bverett Papers 152, journal. ^ Ibid., 25, box of letters. 133 Transcendentalism and liberalism were the dominant movements in New England during Everett*s lifetime. And, as we shall see later, Everett did have some sympathy with the liberal development in New England* He probably would have had more liberal sympathies if his political ambitions and entanglements were not constantly tripping him up. With Emerson, the chief exponent of the transcendental movement, Everett had no intellectual sympathy. There is nothing in Everett's journals to indicate that he ever really understood what the transcendentalists were concerned with. In fact, the references to literature and to specific authors are disappointingly brief and few in the jour­ nals. What evidence there is, tends to show that Everett was prac­ tically untouched by the new movements of his own time. His conservative attitude is well expressed in a letter he wrote to J. B. Lieb of Philadelphia on October 6, 1823. At this time Ever­ ett was serving as temporary editor of the North American Review while Sparks was in Europe, and he wrote to Mr. Lieb returning an article submitted for publication. I know little of Shelley but what I have gathered from the English Reviews and your own and at the risk of giving you a mean opinion of my Philosophy and Independence, I fear I must ask to be ex­ cused from inserting the article. . . ./He points out that he is only temporary editor/* • • In the next place I am in some matters of literary taste (tho' in little else) an old school-man. If I have any taste for English poetry, it is formed on a study of Pope, Dryden, Milton, and Shakespeare. Shelley has evidently high poetical genius and that is a great thing for a poet: but it is not Poetry. Poetry is an art and has its rules founded on reason and experience and not to be violated with impunity. When I like as I do passionately some of the New Poetry; it is not for its peculiarities; but in spite of them. Lastly if it be true, as has been charged and is not denied by you, that Shelley was an Atheist 13^ tho' I am not a man to denounce, abuse, and persecute Atheists, yet I would not willingly contribute, nor would you on second thought, I am sure to give currency to productions in which he inculcated his disbelief in the subjection of the Universe to the moral government of its Author* Such a disbelief is as fatal to true poetical inspiration as to devout feeling and practical morality, and ought to be exploded as a heresy in taste as well as in opinion. 5 The emphasis here on rules for the art of poetry is an echo of the statements we have already considered concerning the "classic" historian. Actually, three ideas expressed in this letter were ob­ stacles to Everett's understanding of the chief movement of thought in ITew England during his own lifetime - the belief in classical lit­ erary rules; the "devout feeling" which to Everett meant that the basic tenets of religion were reasonable and not subject to question­ ing; and the "practical morality," a phrase which reflects the cau­ tion of a rising politician. The practical set of Everett's mind seems to have so blinded him that later when American writers are making an effort to use psychological symbolism and explore beneath the surface of life, his reaction is complete misunderstanding. The prodigy who had amazed the faculty at Harvard as a youth, clearly did not develop in depth and discernment as the years of his public career progressed. March 23. 1&60, he entered this in his journal: On "Sat up late last evening reading Hawthorne's new novel, the •Marble Faun,* a very ex­ traordinary and as it seems to me very silly book as far as the story 6 goes." 5 Jhrerett Papers 63» letterbook. 6 Ibid., 179. journal. I 135 The successive references made to Elsie Venner show his distaste for this effort of his good friend Holmes. March 10, 186l Read in the evening a hundred pages in Elsie Venner. I v understand its heroine is of a compound nature human and rattle­ snake - as Hawthorne's hero is human and marble faun: - and this in both cases not figuratively but physiologically and actually. When I hear such insipid extravagance lauded as efforts of genius I feel how far I am behind the times. March 11, 186l More of ELsie Venner: - very unwholesome reading as it seems to me. March 13, 186l Finished Elsie Venner. There is vast ability in it of var­ ious kinds, but I cannot but think it extravagantly unnatural and a very unwholesome kind of reading. That the circumstance that Elsie's mother was killed by the bite of a rattlesnake before her child was born should inspire Elsie with a congenital horror of rattlesnakes may be conceivable; that it should give her the tem­ per and disposition of those reptiles and their supposed power of fascination does not follow from the premises. 7 A final bit of evidence showing that Everett's mind was not open to new ideas or new modes of literary expression is seen in a journal reference to Whitman, made on September 18, I860. "The filthy sheet in Hew York (Saturday Ev'g Press) is conducted by a club, the charac­ ter of which may be estimated by the fact that Walt Whitman is its 8 leader.* 2. Literary War with England Everett loved England. Speaking before the British Association for the Promotion of Science in 13^2, he said: "We worship at the same altars, we reverence the same canonised names, as you. 7 Everett Papers 180, journal. g Ibid., 179* journal. The 136 great modern names of your literary Pantheon - the Addisons, Johnsons, and Goldsmiths, of the last century, the Scotts and Byrons of this 9 are not more familiar to you than to us." Bren though he was speaking as the American Ambassador on this occasion, there is not a doubt of his sincerity in expressing these sentiments. Yet, for many years Everett, in various articles in the fforth American Review, fought the stigmatism of inferiority in the question, Mfho reads an American book?* In the course of conducting that defense he played a prominent part in the literary war with England, He expressed the opinion in one article that the early love for France and England grew ux> in this country and was fostered bv the 10 alignment of American political parties, When party spirit became less bitter, these feelings waned, A condition existed for some time in which England and America had mutual admirers in the other country motivated by political expediency. explains, and the admiration ceases, Remove the political cause, he ’’Meantime, we, who like all hon­ est people, wish to be thought and spoken well of in the world, and are sorely perplexed with this pitiless pelting from all quarters, are too apt, it may be, to generalize on the subject, and to suppose that there is a systematic and organized hostility to us in England, when nerhans the symntoms which seem to indicate such an hostility may 11 be more easily accounted for,” ^ Orations, II, ^29* 10 "Mr. Walsh’s Appeal," Horth American Review, X (April, 1820)335* 11 Ibid., p. 337* 137 In attempting to account for this* Everett asks what country does "please and satisfy" the people who travel through it. An Englishman who travels on the continent runs into all kinds of difficulties. A Frenchman visiting in London runs into things, including London fog, 12 which make him wish he were at home. What shows the real spirit of a country is the home life of the 13 people, and the traveller is usually cut off from these scenes. Also, if he is not unusually fair-minded, he will enjoy finding fault. "It shows originality to find fault, and wit to detect ridiculous faults; and who would lose the credit of "being original or witty, for want of finding or making a few imperfections in a foreign land? In a word we have given up the idea of ever seeing a "book of travels with any pre­ tensions to merit or authority, which would satisfy those most conill cerned with it . . . " Everett says that he came to this conclusion when he learned that Madame de Stael's "book on Germany had horrified the Germans. He feels that the desire to ridicule or appear witty and the per­ sonal opposition of the unknown writers in the English reviews are the cause of the hostility rather than any such policy on the part of the British government. There is also an inherited animosity on the part of some of the English people resulting from the American Revolution. 12 "Mr. Walsh's Appeal," 337* 13 Ibid., p. 33S. lU Ibid. 1 138 "Such a spirit resides in the old families, in the church, in the hered15 itary political parties . • . " The hook of Mr. Walsh’s "being here considered was a defense of the United States against the attacks of the British press. Everett comments on the fact that some Americans have resented this "book writ­ ten in their own defense, claiming that America has "been calumniated only "by the illiterate. But this is not true; America has "been mis16 represented ""by the highest political and literary authority." Everett proceeds to illustrate the care with which Walsh has tried to refute untrue stories about America, and then asks if this is not fair. MTo deny this, seems to us to be carrying the blessed doctrine of 17 peace-making to a somewhat generous extent." Everett not only defends Walsh's book against criticism at home, but he sets forth clearly his reasoning in his several defenses of America against British attack. He writes that . . . we are quite unable to comprehend why the duty of forbear­ ance is to begin with us. At whatever point of our history you choose to begin, whether at the expulsion of the puritans from England, at the oppression of the early settlers, at the revolu­ tionary war, or since the peace of 1811}-, English princes, minis­ ters, and authors, have ever been the assailants, and we appre­ hend it to be quite fair that we should meet their charges. Let them, when we have done this, see to the duty of putting a stop to the war of recrimination. Moreover, England stands, or claims to stand on the vantage ground. She is the old, the powerful, the rich, the wise, and the polite combatant; and we, she will have it, are not only young, but weak, poor, ignorant, ^ "Mr. Walsh's Appeal," 3^0* 16 Ibid., p. 3U1. 17 Ibid., p. t 139 and 'barbarous. . . . The duty of forbearance, of listening with­ out reply, and of leaving it to calumny to refute itself, does not belong to us. It is not only lawful for us, but it is our bounden duty to repel it; and we should deserve the abuse which has been heaped upon us, were we so insensible to the value of national reputation as to leave it unrefuted, and, where occa­ sion offers, unreturned. 18 In February 1821 the New London Monthly Magazine printed an article entitled "On the complaints in America against the British Press." Everett wrote an article in reply in which he stated that the "laws of reviewing" place some small restraints on the cruelty involved, explaining that "it is permitted under the names of remark, stricture, observation, and reply, to mix up a good share of hetero­ geneous materials, and to make tolerably free use of that particular figure of sueech, which the gods call misrepresentation, but for 19 which the plain spoken men have invented a shorter name." The English article in question was written to review Mr. Walsh’s book. The anonymous English writer claims that the Walsh book was unnecessary. Americans ought not to become angry at "a little harm­ less pleasantry." In reply to this, Everett asked if "vain Americans" should consider Lord Grey and Mr. Canning as "makers and venders of 20 caricatures." A second point made by the English article is that the most effective weaoon of defense is silence and that Americans ought 21 to be dignified enough as a nation to be quiet. T^e article also ^ "Mr. Walsh's Appeal," 3^9* IQ "England and America," North American Beview. XIII (July, 1821), 20. 20 Ibid., p. 26. 21 Ibid., p. 28. I 11*0 attacks the poor English used by Americans. is ridiculous. Everett feels that this He proceeds to show that almost all hooks current in America had their origin in England and so askg, "How is it possible 22 then that we should not speak good English?*1 The very nature of American political institutions makes some Americanisms inevitable, such as "congressional," and "presidential." And the criticism of Joel Barlow’s vocabulary is decidedly unfair since American reviewers ?3 themselves rejected his Oolumblad. The English article attacks the American vanity as taking pride in the future of the United States. Everett points out that Eng­ land’s pride is in her past, and he affirms the American pride in the 2b future. Everett considers this difference in national vanity very interesting, and the American position healthy. "What our nation has been, and, to a good degree, what it is," he writes, "are beyond our control. To our fathers’ glory we contributed nothing . . . But what 25 our children and posterity will be depends mainly on us.w Everett is able to see values in the English character and na­ tion. "England, moreover, has a tower of strength, a great deposi­ tory of moral and physical power, in her numerous orderly, intelli­ gent, middling class, which the corruptions, that exist in the two extremes of society, have as yet scarcely touched. ^ And ages we trust "England and America," 31* 23 Ibid., pp. 29, 332b Ibid., p. 37. 25 Ibid., p. bo. i 141 will pass "by, "before the happy abodes of this virtuous community, will feel the overwhelming power of political and moral degeneracy and corruption. We wish this for the sake of humanity, order, and peace abroad, of which the English character is certainly the great assurance.* This attitude, apparently sincere, helps give a tone of restraint to the entire review. And this restraint is maintained even when he answers another charge, namely that we should never make a speech for freedom so long as we maintain slaves. *Now we certainly shall not allow ourselves to be betrayed into a defence of slavery either by taunts from abroad, or the desire of favor at home. 27 No one defends it, no one approves it.* The English argument here is ridiculous, he feels, because the English colonies permit slaves. In another review Everett tries to state, as he sees it, the difficulty of the foreign traveller who writes a book. *He lands among us, falls into some circle, good or bad, as the case may be, hears them speak in strong terms of their party adversaries, is able to make none of that secret qualification, which the citizens of the same community make for each other amidst all their railings, and so is often lead away to be-rate honest people, who are far from de28 serving it, especially at his hands.* Qqlte innocently an otherwise amiable author can misjudge Americans or even make gross misstatements 25“ *England and America,* 42. 27 Ibid. 28 *Views of Society and Manners in America,* North American Re­ view, XIV (Jan., 1S22), 16. 4 iUs of fact. Everett shows how the author of Views of Society and Man­ ners in America has "been led into such errors. judgment of the whole hook. Then he states his "The work is in fact an eulogium on our country and its character; a panegyric of the warmest cast. The discreet citizen will place it before him as the model, toward which he should strive to bring his country, rather than as a tablet of actual perfections, of which in every case he has now a right to 29 boast." Two years later, in 1S2U, Everett wrote another review of an American travel book written by an Englishman. This time he was not 30 amiably disposed toward the subject. At the first appearance of Faux's book, Everett was inclined to ignore it as being just another 31 cheap attempt to "pander to the taste for American calumny." The only reason now for any notice is that this "trash" has become the subject of an article in the Quarterly Review. Everett asserts that the Quarterly Review has a very ingenious system for misrepresenting authors whose works attack America. The system is this - "to pick up a sorry fellow, call him a gentleman, a man of intelligence, and of observation, or if he be downright doltish and barbarian, pronounce him a straight forward, plain spoken, 32 honest creature; and, thus prepared, proceed to quote his ribaldry . . ." 29 "Views of Society and Manners in America," 19. 3® MFaux's Memorable Days in America," North American Review, XIX (July, 1821+), 92-125. 31 Ibid., p. 93. 32 Ibid., p. 95- 1U3 As if this misrepresentation were not enough, the Review goes a step further and places responsibility for whatever they say in an article upon "our honest, intelligent traveller, who went to America full of 33 admiration for the country,* Because of this building tip of such a false authority, there is no apparent limit to the calumny which can be seriously produced for readers. To destroy any serious consideration of the Faux book, Everett proceeds to take several incidents in it and discuss them in detail, proving the impossibility of the incident portrayed. One such pre­ posterous incident involved the assertion that navigators on the Mis­ sissippi River would steal as many as twenty sheep a night from far­ mers along the river. This silly trash is copied by the Quarterly Reviewer, who is a perfect gudgeon when America is to be abused. He forgot that flocks of sheep so large and numerous, that ten or twenty at once can be frequently stolen from them, do not agree very well with the representation, which he himself gives us of the 'population now thinly spread over the immense vale of the Mississippi, be­ fore the forests and cane breaks are cleared away, the dismal cypress swamps drained, and the rotten bottoms, and rank prairies are reclaimed from their stagnant and putrid water,' He forgets, too, that frequently stealing ten or twenty sheep at a time is a practice, which accords but ill with the keenness and mercenary thrift, which he uniformly ascribes to the American character. Where are these semicivilized savages, the owners of the sheep, while 'ten or twenty at a time are frequently stolen?' Where are their rifles, which according to him they are so prompt to use? Who does not perceive, that the whole is a pure fiction, not only not true, but impossible , . .3^ "Faux's Memorable Days in America," 95» 3U J Ibid., p. 97. I In discussing another impossible incident, Everett states his purpose in this fashion: "flow we intend on this occasion to show to the dullest observer, not the want of principle of these wretched vagabonds who infest our country, but the disingenuousness and fraud 35 of the Reviewer who quotes them." ple. The incident is fundamentally sim­ In a southern town a slave had been killed by a white man. Several days after the murder the body is discovered. Faux, the trav­ eller, happens along in time to witness the jury of inquiry looking at the newly-discovered body. He hears only the conversation of the jury members at this time; a certain Kelly is discussed as someone to be questioned. Faux immediately jumps to the conclusion that Kelly is guilty and so should be punished; he writes a letter to a news­ paper in the next town. Then, without getting any additional facts or inquiring as to the outcome, Faux goes on his way and, later, in his book makes unjust statements about the course of justice in Amer­ ica. ’’The enlightened editor of the Quarterly may tell us," Everett declares, "when he next writes on America, whether he would have had the reputed murderer hung without any process, or tried for murder without ascertaining that there had been a murder, or, finally, what 36 should have been done?" Apparently one of the charges made much of in the British review was Faux* s "monstrous fabrication" that huge dogs were trained to hunt "Faux’s Memorable Days in America," 101. 36 Ibid., p. 102. down Negroes. Apparently charges had "been made frequently about the existence of slavery in America and the conditions of the slaves. Everett answers this in the enumerative, decisive style of a debater. We accordingly repeat what we stated in a former number, and what we shall reiterate, whenever we have occasion to notice the cal­ umnies of the British ultra press on this subject. First, that slavery in America is a British institution, established by Brit­ ish laws, and for the benefit of British traders. Secondly, that the American colonists early made attempts to prevent the further introduction of slaves, which attempts were resisted and defeated by the English ministers at the instigation of English traders. So well known was this, that Mr. Burke, in his speech on the con­ ciliation of America, recognizes 'her refusal to deal any more in the inhuman traffic of the negro slaves, as one of the causes of her quarrel with England.* Thirdly, a generation before the slave trade was abolished by the British parliament, it was abolished in several of the American states, and eighteen years before its abolition by Great Britain, the provision was made for its aboli­ tion throughout America in the year ISOS. In addition to these facts, we may add, that America has set to England the example of the only effectual measure of destroying this traffic, that of declaring it to be piracy; and, finally, that the amelioration of the condition of the British slaves in the West Indies is owing to the example of North American masters. 37 This manner of turning the argument back against the person ad­ vancing it is Everett's method in this particular article. He writes like a debater, like a fencer who parries the thrust of his opponent and then lunges forward to attack. In these reviews written to de­ fend American institutions and prestige Everett shows an ability of argument which is not apparent in any of his speeches until after the outbreak of the Civil War when Everett took to the stump to rally public support behind Lincoln and the government. This accusation about slavery in America was upsetting to him and he pressed the attack home. ^ "It is a solemn truth," he contends, "Faux's Memorable Days in America," 105. 1U6 "that more men are at this moment held in slavery hy English power, and English laws, than "by all the rest of the world together. This would he nearly true, were we to understand slavery in the literal sense of the word. When we extend it farther, and make it include . . . "being deprived of all the rights, which make liberty worth having, and in this connexion reflect on the British empire in the East, it will appear incontestibly, that the English nation has sinned and is sinning as deeply against the cause of human freedom, as the most 38 heinous despotism, of which the memory exists.” To give greater force to this charge, Everett refers to an article on India in the very is­ sue of the Quarterly Review which had the review of Faux’s book. The English writer apologizes for the British actions in India as a blunder. This explanation Everett castigates as absurd. To disfranchise "sixty or eighty millions of men" who were "reduced from owners in fee simple to tenants" in order to provide a steady and per­ manent fixed income for the home government is hardly a blunder! "India is far off, little known, little cared for, by the political inquirer . . . From the information, however, that is before the world, we have no scruple in asserting, that the British administra­ tion of that quarter of the globe has been guilty, every year of its existence, of more oppression, fraud, tyranny, robbery, and murder, 39 than can be laid to the charge of Bonaparte in his whole career." "Faux’s Memorable Days in America," 108. 39 Ibid., p. 109. I 1^7 Yet, while these conditions exist, England lauds her own self for her services to liberty and heaps abuse on America. Another point of attack on America in the Review concerned re­ ligion in this country. The article claimed that the government com­ pletely ignored religion and that it was a fatal mistake not to have an established church. Everett asks if the writer is entirely ignor- Uo ant of the American state and federal consitutions. He points out that in England the River Tweed is the boundary line for the author­ ity of the two national religions of Great Britain, not to mention the third in Ireland. Everett asks if there is some special virtue 1+1 in this legalized spiritual conflict and confusion. He is disturbed also by the Review's statement that the whole American nation is irreligious. In first reaction to this, he de­ clares, "The American government may be exceedingly irreligious, and in consequence exceedingly immoral, but the infamous vices of its members, we thank Heaven, have not yet become the scandal of the civ1+2 ilized world . . ." Lest this seem just personal and petty on his part, Everett quickly makes a case against the Review1s supporting statement that Americans are much given to natural religion and re­ ject revelation. He lists the prominent English writers and think­ ers who have upheld such religious opinions. He rejects the idea tyQ "Faux's Memorable Days in America," lll+. 1+1 Ibid., p. 115* 1+2 Ibid., p. 116. that it was "a few perverted geniuses in France, in the fever of the revolution* who were the “apostles of infidelity*' in the m o d e m world. This "is an entirely false impression, for m o d e m infidelity was taught in England. There have "been more distinguished writers in that country against Christianity, than in all others together.* Even the origins of the ideas of "infidelity* of the m o d e m German writers on religion may he traced to the English. Everett may he qualified to participate actively in such literary warfare hut he does not relish it. He says that Americans "are weary of these travellers and their critics. This calling of hard names and saying harsh things is not a work we are used to, nor one in which we take pleasure. Every hody sees how easy it would he to draw the most frightful pictures of English society, and more than retaliate all that even their imaginations can devise against us. We engage, out of au­ thentic English works, to find a parallel for every tale of barbarity, vice, and misery, which can he collected from the most faithless and gossioing traveller in this country. As American citizens, we have had provocation enough* and temptation enough to do this." England is much loved in this country since it is the ancestral home of most Americans. It is a responsibility of such journals as the Quarterly Review to ask themselves whether or not they want to turn American good will toward England into bitterness. 43 ^ "Faux's Memorable Days in America," 116. Ibid., p. 117. U5ihid. U6 Ibidrr-p). 122. **7 Ibid., p. 123. lUg The tone of a later review is friendlier, and although critical, Everett avoids the slashing attack. He felt that Captain Basil Hall deserved thanks for the avoidance of personality in his two volumes US of travels in America. But there are things to he noted in Hall's hook which, Everett felt, had to hear comment. He first objected to Hall's complaint that wherever he went in America people wanted to show him the objects of local interest and Ug curiosity. Everett undertakes to show that this is a misunderstand­ ing and fails to show appreciation for the sacrifice of time of his various hosts. Captain Hall was also perplexed by the way in which ✓ "Americans constantly themselves praised what they called him to ex- 50 amine." In discussing this, Everett seems not to understand the point or to accept it as a valid comment on American manners. He declares, "The truth is, Captain Hall evidently mistook his own feelings, and came to this country with principles and opinions utterly incapaci- 51 tating him from receiving favorable impressions of it." This state­ ment, and some which follow, show that Everett could be petty in his criticism. Eor instance he feels that Hall's "remarks about the wea- 52 ther are equally ungracious and querimonious." He also felt that 53 Hall's writing was slovenly and contained examples of bad grammar. TfS--- "Captain Hall's Travels," North American Review. XXIX (Oct., 1829), 522U9 Ibid., p. 523. 5° Ibid., p. 526. 51 Ibid., p. 527. 52 Ibid., p. 532. 53 Ibid., p. 53U. 150 Such topica as these for consideration in a review do not seem worth the effort. They are trite and insignificant compared with the ideas Everett discussed in other articles. In 1832 Mrs. Trollope published her Domestic Manners of the Amer­ icans and in the following year a review hy Everett appeared. He undertook to belittle Mrs. Trollope's "book by reviewing it simulta­ neously and comparing it with a travel book by a German who spent several years in England and soundly berated the English character 5U and culture. "His book, without having the least reference to America, 55 is the best possible answer to Mrs. Trollope." The approach here then is novel. used to offset the other. One prejudiced book is to be Everett quotes at length the summary comment on the English character made by Prince Muscau, adding that this ought to have been a lesson to those English critics who were going to re56 view Mrs. Trollope's book. This method of quoting from the German writer enables Everett to attack more forcibly and is an application of the very method he had accused the Quarterly Review of using, i.e., setting up a false authority and then using that authority as a means of criticism. Everett recognizes the unfairness of the German writer and this seems to add to the effectiveness of using him in writing for an American audience. 5I* "Prince Pttckler Muscau and Mrs. Trollope," North American Re­ view, XXXVI (Jan., 1833). 55 Ibid., p. 1. 56 Ibid., p. 5. 151 The parallels brought out between the two books are startling. In some ways it looks as though they had been written according to the same plan. Mrs. Trollope criticizes the \mcouth manners and dress of men attending the theater in Cincinnati. The German Prince has a strikingly similar passage about the theater manners as he claimed to 57 have found them in London. Everett undertakes to reply to many of the misconceptions about 5S America. He also defends American speech and usage. The chief fault, however, is that which has marked so many books by Englishmen about America. "Some of Mrs. Trollope's strictures'are well merited; and would perhaps have done good, and entitled her to our gratitude, had they carried with them the appearance of being well meant. The great defect of the work is, that it is throughout conceived in bitterness 59 and ill-nature, evidently indicative of personal disappointment." This article which was the last in Everett's personal literary war with England, lacked some of the vindictiveness found in previous reviews. His points were as well taken and as clearly made but his language lacked the name-calling quality. Perhaps, as he had. stated in his review of Faux a few years before, he was getting tired of "these travellers and their critics." 57— "Prince Muscau and Trollope," 5 58 Ibid., pp. iij~ig. ^ Ibid., p. 3^. 152 3» Circumstances Favorable to the Progress of Literature in America In 1612 Everett had read his poem on "American Poets" at the 60 annual meeting of the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa. He had there expressed his confidence that American poets would turn to the themes found around them in their own country. In 182U Everett was invited to de­ liver the oration at the annual meeting of the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa, and his address attracted such attention that it started his political 61 career. The topic of this oration was "The Circumstances Favorable to the Progress of Literature in America." of Everett’s discussion. Three main points form the focus First, the development of literature in Amer62 ica is affected by the new form of government in the country. Second, a condition peculiarly suited to encourage literary progress is "the extension of one government, one language, and, substantially, one 63 character, over so vast a space as the United States of America." Third, the country is growing "with a rapidity hitherto without exam6k pie in the world." Consideration of the ideas he used to support these main points will show us the patriotic spirit which he exempli­ fied again and again, and the simple level of the ideas he presented. 60 prothingham, p. 15. ^ Ibid., p. 86. ^ Orations, I, 12. 63 Ibid., p. 27. ^ Ibid., p. 3U. 153 America offers a fresh and original condition for the encourage­ ment of literature. He points out that ®a uniform and complete rep­ resentative system, organized "by a written constitution of government, and unaccompanied by a powerful hereditary element, is original in 65 this country." Despotism is unfavorable to intellectual progress. Public honors and trusts may now in this country exert a direct stim­ ulating influence "on the largest mass of men, with the smallest d o s - - 66 sible deductions.® Here for the first time the popular will operates in a nation. "I as persuaded," Everett declares, "that, mainly, in this equa­ ble diffusion of rights and privileges lies the secret of the aston- 67 ishing development of Intellectual energy in this country." The na­ ture of this country is to seek out talent and give it an opportunity. "These little local republics" (the democratic town meetings) train the character and the mind. People are encouraged to "read, and think, 6S and form judgments on important subjects." gether capacity and opportunity. The conditions bring to­ "The village school-house and the village church are the monuments of our republicanism; to read, to write, and to discuss grave affairs in their urinary assemblies, are 69 licentious practices of our democracy.® ""65 Orations, I, 12. 66 Ibid., p. 13. gy Ibid., p. 1^. 6S Ibid., p. 15. 69 Ibid. The criticism is made that in our country the frequent elections and the consequent recurrent political excitement is "unfriendly to learning," since this overemphasizes political ambition. Everett feels that this is a natural stage in the development of the country. The first necessity is that a country he organized and that its political foundations he secured. "In the early stages of society, when there is a scanty population, its entire force is required for administra­ tion and defence. We are receding from this stage, hut have not yet reached, although we are rapidly approaching, that in which a crowded population produces a large amount of cultivated talent, not needed 70 for the services of the state." In Europe "for ten centuries" men have heen trained in the idea, that government and war were the only nohle callings. Since free gov­ ernment would not lahor under this idea, it should he more favorable to intellectual development. This follows a natural law because God distributes genius among a whole people with an "impartial providence." A "false organization" of society consigns many men of ability to per­ manent obscurity. A democratic society is founded in this principle of nature. Everett declares that we cannot foresee the direction of the development of literature in America. Literature is but a more perfect communication of man with man, and mind with mind. It is the judgment, the memory, the imagi­ nation; discoursing, recording, or musing aloud, upon the mater­ ials drawn from the great storehouse of observation, or fashioned out of them by the creative powers of the mind. It is the outward 10 Orations, I, 17. 155 expression of the intellectual man; or, if not this, it is poor imitation. What, therefore, affects, the man, affects the liter­ ature; and it may “be assumed, as certain, that the peculiarity of our political institutions will he represented in the character of our intellectual pursuits. Government, war, commerce, manners, and the stage of social progress, are reflected in the literature of a country. No precedent exists, to teach us what direction the mind will most decidedly take, under the strong excitements to action ahove described . . • 7* In this wordy passage we read the theme of the entire oration. It is not a very profound idea, nor is it supported by evidence of great depth of insight. "The greatest efforts of human genius," Everett says, "have been 72 made where the nearest approach to free institutions has taken place." When political liberty first appeared in Greece, we see Homer. 73 liberty declined in Greece, then literature too declined. When The extension of liberty in this country over such a large geo­ graphic area will have a great effect. "Hitherto, in the main, the world has seen but two forms of political government - free govern7U ments in small states, and arbitrary governments in large ones." It has thus never been possible to see what the literary effects could be of a free society covering a wide area. Now the printing press has given a wide extension to literature. This advantage is greatly offset by "the multiplicity of languages" in the modern world. The literatures of neighboring countries "are 75 comparative strangers to each other." Latin had formerly helped to ^ Orations, I, 20. 72 Ibid., p. 2373 Ibid., p. 25. 71* Ibid., p. 27* 75 Ibid., p. 29. 156 prevent this and form a communion of understanding between scholars. Translations cannot effectively overcome this condition because they 76 are generally inferior to the originals. The wide extent of this country, and the development of a vast republic where the people sneak the same language, will prevent the same condition here as in 77 Europe and will make for 11a new era" in wthe intellectual world." U. Poetry and Science On August 16, 1S37. Everett delivered a Commencement Day address before the Adelphic Union Society of Williams College. the address is "Superior and Popular Education." The title of In it Everett dis­ cusses the conditions necessary for the flowering of genius. He claims that in the modern world few great minds had a training which would seem favorable to the development of their genius. "Of the great men who form the glory of English literature," he says, "not one, I think, was so situated as to enjoy the best advantages for edu­ cation which his country, at the time, afforded; least of all was this 78 the case with the greatest of them, - Shakespeare." Prom his study of the literary masters of the human race, Everett feels that no matter how high they rose, with more favorable education they might have risen higher. And with more education, they would have had higher standards of morality. "I can sometimes behold the soil of the world upon their snow-white robes, and the rust of human ^ Orations, I, Jl, 77 Ibid., p. 337^ Orations, II, 213* 157 79 passion upon the glittering edge of their wit.*1 Even Shakespeare at times suffered from a lack of moral restraint; he and others might "by a happier course of life and education” have "been redeemed from 80 their faults. This idea is introductory to consideration of how much an age affects the development of genius. In the course of discussing this, Everett advances some interesting ideas about science and poetry. "I am aware," he says, "that it is a prevalent notion, that, to some efforts of genius, an advanced state of civilization is unfriendly; that the infancy of science is more congenial to a state of poetry; and that, in general, the period of critical learning is unfavorable to the development of strongly-marked original talent. I am inclined, gl however, to believe that this is a mistaken notion . . ,M He feels that it is unfounded and "degrading" to contend that an age of limited g2 knowledge is more favorable to "the exercise of original genius." Truth is the great inspirer of the mind. "I do not mean that there is no beauty in poetical language founded on scientific error; that it is not, for instance, consistent with poetry to speak of the ris- S3 ing sun, or the arch of heaven." pleasing. These sensible images are very "Prom the imperfection of human language, it will, perhaps, always be necessary to describe many things in the material, and still 79 Orations, II, 2lU. 80 Ibid., p. 215. 81 Ibid. 82 Ibid. 83 Ibid., p. 216. i 158 more in the moral and metaphysical world, under similitudes which fall SH greatly "beneath their reality." He proceeds to quote three passages, one each from Shakespeare, Spenser, and Milton, and to show that, con­ sidering each separately, it is "beneath the dignity of the subject in the light of present-day knowledge; "but, at the same time, these images are ’’poetical and pleasing.” Because they are pleasing, they will "be acceptable in poetry no matter how much science develops. ’’But what I maintain is this; that, as knowledge extends, the range of all imagery is enlarged, poetical language is drawn from a larger circle, and, what is far more important, that the conception 85 kindles "by the contemplation of higher objects.” Astronomy can fur­ nish us illustrations of this idea. All the great poets down through Milton got their images of the heavens from the same basic concepts of astronomy. "Now, I cannot but think that, when the sublime discoveries of modern astronomy shall have become as thoroughly wrought into the vocabulary and the intelligence of the community as the humble and erroneous conceptions of the ancients, the great and creative minds 86 will derive from them a vastly grander range of poetical illustration” By the study of astronomy alone, literature should be greatly ennobled. In reference to poetry, this would be more than an exaltation of poetic imagery. "The ideas formed of divine wisdom and power, of infinite Orations, II, 216. 85 IlJid# OD Ibid., p. 217. 1 159 space, of stupendous magnitude and force, and of the grandeur and harmony of the material universe, are among the highest materials of 37 thought, and the most prolific elements of poetical conception." Science will transform the subject matter as well as affect the lan­ guage symbols. To illustrate his point, Everett goes back to Paradise Lost, reminding his listeners that in it "there is a struggle between the old and new philosophy. The telescone was known, but had not yet 33 revolutionized the science of astronomy." He quotes a long passage from the poem and declares that all the imagery in the passage is "borrowed from the lowest order of the wonders unfolded by the tele89 scope." If Milton could have known more of astronomy, Everett is certain that he would have had even brighter visions of truth. "He would have awaked to a new existence, in the light of such a philoso90 phy." The sublimity of Milton, however, gives us only glimpses of great 91 truths. "It may be that, at some advanced stage of human science, the contenrolative and pious genius will be enabled to lift the veil which 92 now hangs between spirit and sense." If at some time the mind can 87 Orations, II, 217« SS Ibid., p. 213. 39 * Ibid. 90 * Ibid., p. 219. 91 Ibid. 92 Ibid., p. 220. 160 nenetrate the "mysterious temple of the Infinite," then all the arts 93 and all branches of knowledge "will speak with new voices." "The greatest of the elevation of the poet's mind, and of the refinement of the age in which he lives, is the distinctness, power, 9^ and purity, with which he conceives the spiritual world." Homer's 95 poetry does not have "a ray of pure spiritual illumination." The spiritual world of Virgil was not superior but it possessed "a decor­ um and grace which form the appropriate counterpart of the Homeric 96 grossness." In Dante we first see the "dawn of a spiritual day" in 97 spite of "the shadows of superstition." "In "Paradise Lost* we feel 93 as if we were admitted to the outer courts of the Infinite." These illustrations show the effect of the progressive development of know­ ledge and spiritual understanding upon the mind of the poet. Everett believes in "continued progress in the intellectual world" and as a consequence he looks to some great poem in the future which will do what Milton failed to achieve in Paradise Regained. He said: "Should a poet of loftier muse than Milton hereafter appear, or, to speak more reverently, when the Milton of a better age shall arise, I there is yet remaining one subject worthy of his powers, - the counter­ part of 'Paradise Lost.' In the conception of this subject by Milton, 93 Orations, II, 220. 9^ Ibid. 95 Ibid. 96 Ibid., p. 221. 97 Ibid. 98 Ibid. 161 then mature in the experience of his great poem, we have the highest 99 human judgment, that this is the one remaining theme.w Everett even expresses the hope that the time is not far distant when "another Milton" will so detach himself from the passions of the world as to "be able to "address himself to this only remaining theme of a great 100 Christian epic." 5. Opinions of Emerson In the "brief and simple reactions of Everett recorded in his journal we can see his unfolding opinion of Emerson. 1230, he wrote: On August 8, "Mr. R. W. Emerson preached all day; in the forenoon on Conscience in the afternoon on Gentleness; exceedingly well "both 101 as to manner and matter." So we "begin with full approval as is "be­ fitting "between Harvard men. The next references came in 1837* the year following the publi­ cation of Emerson's Nature. On February 19! "I finished reading Mr. Furness observations on the New Testament and ran over Mr. Erner102 son's little book called Nature. The rest of the day Botta." Then on March 7! wMr. R. W. Emerson delivered a lecture on the national traits of the English character. After lecture he sat an hour with 103 us." If Everett was greatly upset or even impressed by anything in Orations, II, 223* 100 Ibid., 22k. Everett Papers IU3, journal. Ibid., lU9, journal. 103 Ibid. 1 IS? Nature, he did not take the trouble to make a note of it. It is possible that he was too absorbed in his own career as governor to give much thought to Emerson's little book. On August 31 he wrote: "At eleven I took the Lt. Gov. to Cam­ bridge to attend the Phi Beta Kappa exercises. Waldo Emerson was in the New Platonic Style. cises we had a pleasant dinner. The oration by Mr. After the public exer­ I gave as a toast after some allu­ sions to Edward and Charles Emerson a conroliment to the Orator and 10U his deceased brethren." The address that Emerson gave this day was "The American Scholar." Apparently no idea in it was worth mention. But in the next year, I83S. the comments become critical. On July 15 Emerson delivered the famous "Divinity School Address." There now could be no doubt what Emerson thought of traditional re­ ligion. day. On Sunday, August 9» Everett recorded: Dr. Parkman preached, and dined with us. at Mr. Emerson's course. "Went to church all Intensely scandalized It appears to me that Mr. Emerson in deny­ ing (if he does so) all separate identity destroys all the principles of thinking £ , J judging and acting: - all evidence - all experience 105 L moral laws formed upon the observed relations of things." This time to be sure Emerson's ideas have made an impression. The sweeping philosophical indictment here set down seems like the re­ action of an outraged clergyman. While Everett had given up the pul­ pit as a profession, he still could react like a proper parson. 5 Everett “io 105 Papers 150, journal. Ibid., 151, journal. 163 The comments made during the following six weeks are less harsh hut still not approving. day. Sunday, August 12; ’'Attended church all Mr. Waldo Enerson preached, with great ingenuity and "beauty, hut in a style so wrapped up in mysticism as to he nearly unintelli106 gible." Then on September 2; "Great excitement is produced these days hy a discourse delivered by Mr. R. W. Eaerson to the graduating class of divinity college entirely in the strain of Carlyle. - It seems to me pure Pantheism or Atheism hut in an elevated and tender 107 strain." Finally on September 6: "Stay at home in the morning the first time for several days. family. At 2 went to Medford to dine with the Mr. Brooks and his son and three other sons and daughters with their wives and husbands; - lH. ily took tea with us. Dr. and Mrs. Palfrey and fam­ The discourse at table was somewhat on Mr. Emerson's late productions which meet with little favor. - They no doubt contain brilliant and profitable thoughts mingled with much 103 unintelligible nonsense." When the conservative and wealthy of Bos­ ton gathered, they found the heresy of Emerson's thought something not to be favored. And Governor Everett belonged to the conservative and wealthy. That Everett believed Emerson denied the essentials of Christ­ ianity is evident in two later references. On January 27, 1855* Everett wrote to Mrs. Charles Eames and in the course of the letter To 5 Everett 107 Ibid. 108 IMd. Papers 151* journal. 16U said! "R. W. Emerson delivered an anti-slavery lecture here this week. He says the reason why the North is so pro-slavery is to he sought in the prevailing skepticism and want of faith! Cool this for a man who gave up the pulpit because he did not believe in the mira­ culous accounts of Christianity, and has since attained the transcen109 dental height of denying the personality of God.” On Sunday, Decem­ ber 23. I860, Everett wrote in his journal: Mr. Ellis officiated. ’’Attended church all day; He made an allusion to Mr. R. W. Emerson’s late essay on religion, having if I understood him previously alluded to him as a person not believing in a personal God. He spoke of Mr. E. as a ’’Wise” and kind Gentile. The Psalmist does not accord the eoi110' thet wise to him who ’hath said in his heart there is no God.'” The years definitely brought Everett no understanding of Emerson and his thought. When Everett was asked to speak at the Fiftieth Anniversary of Graduation, held in Harvard Hall on July 17, 186l, he remarked about the growth of an American literature. ’’Indeed,” he said, ”of native original literature there was scarce anything sixty 111 years ago.” Then he went on to mention Harvard’s contribution to this development. "The time would fail me for an exhaustive enumer­ ation; but may we not, as sons of Harvard, reflect with honest pride, that, out of eight capital writers of history who have appeared in the United States within the last half-century, taking them in the 109 Everett Papers 30, "bo* of letters. Ibid., 179, journal. 111 "Fiftieth Anniversary of Graduation," Orations, IV, U28. 165 order of their published works, - Irving, Sparks, Prescott, Bancroft, Hildreth, Godwin, Palfrey, and Motley, - . . . six have been sent from 112 these halls . . .*• Significant in Everett1s remarks is the ommission of any reference to Bnerson, who not only had graduated from Harvard, but had been one of Everett's pupils there. 6, Bryant, the Nestor of American Poets In 186U a public tribute to William Cullen Bryant was planned in New York, George Bancroft was a leading spirit in this project, and he invited Everett to attend and participate, tend, Everett could not at­ but on October 25 wrote a letter to Bancroft which was intended to beread at the meeting. The letter said? I deeply regret that I cannot be with you on the evening of the 5th, to join you in doing honor to the Nestor of our American poets. . . . Having myself touched the goal of three score years and ten, but a few months earlier than Mr. Bryant, I can, better than some of you youngsters, enter into the sentiment of the tribute which you are paying to him. I have through life been a great lover of Mr.Bryant's poetry. My admiration of it began in earlyyouth, with his first produc­ tions, and is one of the juvenile tastes, which after years and severer hebits of thought have confirmed and strengthened. I particularly enjoy Mr. Bryant's poetry, because I can un­ derstand it. It is probably a sign that I am somewhat behind the age, that I have but little relish for elaborate obscurity in lit­ erature, of which you find it difficult to study out the meaning, and are not sure that you have hit upon it, at last. This is too much the character of the most popular poetry of the modern Eng­ lish school. On the contrary, our noble poetical trio, Bryant, Longfellow, and Whittier, are easily intelligible. They touch the finest chords of taste and feeling, but they never strain at effect. This, it seems to me, is the highest merit, in every department of lit­ erature, and in poetry it is well called Inspiration. Surprise, 112 Orations, IV, ^28 166 conceit, strange combinations of imagery and expression, may "be successfully managed, but it is a merit of an inferior kind. The truly beautiful, pathetic, and sublime, is always simple and natural, and marked by a certain severe unconsciousness of effort. This is the character of Mr. Bryant's poetry. ^-3 This letter reflects the Greek scholar in Everett. His giving the title of "Kestor" to Bryant is the orator seeking an apt label. And the statement of esthetic judgment is Greek. "The truly beauti­ ful, pathetic, and sublime, is always simple and natural, and marked by a certain severe unconsciousness of effort." The very adjectives, "beautiful, pathetic, and sublime," reflect the classic standard. We have already seen that in the case of Hawthorne's Marble Faun and Holmes* Elsie Tenner Everett was uneasy when confronted with the efforts to probe into the subconscious and deal with psychological truths. Here the same idea appears in the statement - "I have but little relish for elaborate obscurity in literature." The three American poets who most please him - Bryant, Longfellow, and Whittier - do so because they have the simplicity and directness which is also characteristic of Greek art. 7. Washington Irving Everett wrote three reviews of Washington Irving's books for the Horth American Review and gave two short addresses in tribute to him. llU He considered Irving "the Hestor of the prose-writers of America." Everett Papers 212, bound volume. llU , Orations, IV, 2^8. 167 In these two addresses there are some evaluative opinions of Irving and his work. The Knickerbocker1s History of New York was, Everett felt, the happiest work of its kind in our language. "It would seem cynical to subject a work of this kind to an austere com­ mentary . . . But . . . while this kind of humorous writing fits well with the joyous temperament of youth . . . it is still, in my opinion, better adapted for a jeu d*esprit in a magazine than for a work of considerable compass. To travesty an entire history seems 115 to me a mistaken effort of ingenuity . . . " Everett comments on the often-made comparison between Irving and Addison! " . . . there is no great resemblance between them, ex­ cept that they both write in a simple, unaffected style, remote from 116 the tiresome stateliness of Johnson and Gibbon." Only as miscella­ neous essayists can they be compared, and on this point "Irving ex­ ceeds Addison in versatility and range, quite as much as Addison exceeds Irving in the far less important quality of classical tinc­ ture; while as a great national historian, our countryman reaped 117 laurels in a field which Addison never entered." As an historian, Irving "has enriched the literature of the country with two first-class historical works, £the lives of Colum­ bus and Washington/ which, . . . are . . •• in general interest, secllg ond to no contemporary works in that department of literature." — — Orations, 17, 2^9• 116 Ibid., p. 251» 117 Ibid., p. 252. llg Ibid., p. 2Ug. These comments all taken from a memoriam speech after the death of Irving are of no great moment. Everett's other speech on Irving was at a public celebration of the birthday of Irving, held in New York City, April 3» I860. In this speech Everett discussed Irving's services in first starting an American literature after the war of independence. "It tended," he said, "to foster a nationality of the 119 purest and noblest kind, - a nationality of mind." By his publica­ tion of The Sketch Book Irving had reversed the question, "Who reads an American book?" so that it came to read, "Who does not read an 120 American book?" In 1822 Everett had a higher opinion of Irving's Knickerbocker* s History of New York than he indicated in his later oration already quoted. When reviewing Bracebridge Hall, Everett referred to the previous productions of Irving. Knickerbocker's History was "a book of unwearying pleasantry, which, instead of flashing out as English and American humor is wont, from time to time, with long and dull in­ tervals, is kept up with a true French vivacity from beginning to end; a book which, if it have a fault, has only that of being too 121 pleasant, too sustained a tissue of merriment and ridicule." Irving also wrote in a style of "remarkable chastity" and at a time when our political conflicts with England were arousing her journalists 122 against us. "Birthday of Washington Irving," Orations, IV, 257* 120 Ibid., p. 260 ^2^ "Bracebridge Hall," North American Review, XV (July, 1822). 122 Ibid., pp. 206-7. 169 Although The Sketch Book was well received in England, Everett felt it was “inferior to the author's earlier writings.B The reasons 123 for this are the lack of originality and the choice of its subjects. Everett is not sure how to classify Bracebridge Hall. Because the people who are subjects of most of the sketches bear a relationshin to each other and because the wedding is a kind of denoument, 12U the book might "perhaps, be called a novel in disguise." But since the plot is so subordinate, it is properly classed as a book of es­ says.". . . as a series of essays and sketches on English rural life and manners, we may venture to put it in comparison with anything else of the kind in English literature, for accuracy and fidelity of ob­ servation, for spirit of description, for a certain peculiar sly pleasantry, like the very haopiest touches of the Addisonian school, 125 and for uncommon simplicity and purity of style." Having delivered himself of this full praise, Everett raises a point of criticism which shows his extreme sensitivity on any matter of national pride. face to the book: He objects to a statement of Irving's in the pre­ "It has been a matter of marvel at least to the European part of my readers, that a man from the wilds of America 126 should express himself in tolerable English." Everett feels that such a statement implies that even some Americans might hold such an idea. — And the fact that America has already produced such literary ■^2-2 “ "Bracebridge Hall," 208. Ipk ^ Ibid., p. 209. l25 ibid. Quoted in "Bracebridge Hall," p. 210. I documents as Franklin*s letters on electricity, political treatises, and Jefferson's Notes on Virginia is sufficient evidence that no 127 apology, direct or indirect, is needed. The subject matter of Bracebridge Hall is new to Irving since he has so far appeared as an American writer. Now he appears as wthe observer of English life and manners," trying to write like an Englishman. This effort has led, Everett feels, to Irving's missing the opportunity of commenting with sympathy on English life and man­ ners. Irving "should at least have acted on the principle, announced in his preface as that on which his interest in England rested. A well educated American, kindly received in good company in England, and capable of expressing in writing the associations and the emotions, with which he beholds the panorama of a life in many respects new . . . might surely be called upon to produce a work of a strongly marked original character. We know not the individual, who could have done 12S it better than Mr. Irving." A true patriot sees his native country in the best perspective when he is abroad. Irving's book would have been much better if he had observed and written about the English as 129 a. sensitive American. The separate stories and sketches bring out varied comment. Dolph Heyliger "is of the true Knickerbocker and Rip Van Winkle school, though not equal to the best efforts of the author, in the same _ _ "Bracebridge Hall," 210-11. ■jog Ibid., pp. 212-13. 129 Ibid., p. 2lk. J 171 130 department." 131 The use of alchemy in the Student of Salamanca is trite. In Annette Delarbre, "the description of Annette in her state of mad­ ness is quite equal to the "best things of the kind, contained in our 132 literature." In fact, most of the stories are to "be commended as un­ usually pleasant, "replete with that half suppressed irony and gentle 133 wit, which form the charm of a considerable portion of the Spectator." Thirteen years later Everett next reviewed a book by Irving. In the meantime Irving had published Tales of a Traveller, life of Col­ umbus, Conquest of Granada, and the Alhambra. The particular book being reviewed this time by Everett was A Tour on the Prairies. Be­ cause of the books written since the review of Bracebridge Hall, we are not surprised to find Everett starting with a sweeping judgment. "We regard Washington Irving as the best living writer of English prose. Let those who doubt the correctness of this opinion name his superior. . . . He unites the various qualities of a perfect manner of writing . . . His style is sprightly, pointed, easy, correct, and expressive, without being too studiously guarded against the opposite I3U faults. It is without affectation, parade, or labor." In praising Irving for having "a perfect style," Everett does not mean to praise "mere manner." alone. It is not a skillful use of words "Mr. Irving writes well, because he thinks well; because his 131 Ibid., p. 216. 132 Ibid., p. 218. 133 Ibid., p. 222. ^3^ "A Tour on the Prairies," North American Review, XII (July, 1835). l. j 172 135 ideas axe just, clear, and definite." His sentences are not pompous or affected 'because the man is not. "There is no overloading with ornament, because with the eye of an artist, he sees when he has got 136 enough . . .* In spite of all the praise given to Irving, full justice has not yet been done him, Everett contends. Irving can be easily com­ pared with any English writer of this generation, except Scott. He is the equal of Goldsmith except in poetry and drama, yet he surpasses Goldsmith in history because of his Life of Columbus. Irving has an exceedingly wide range. "Prom Mr. Irving we have the humors of con­ temporary politics and every-day life in America, - the traditionary peculiarities of the Dutch founders of Few-Torte, - the nicest shades of the school of English manners of the last century, - the chivalry of the middle ages in Spain, - the glittering visions of Moorish Ro­ mance, - a large cycle of sentimental creations founded on the invar­ iable experience, - the pathetic sameness, - of the human heart, - and lastly, the whole unhackneyed freshness of the West . . . This is Mr. 137 Irving1s range, and in every part of it he is equally at home." In writing history Irving weighs questions "in the scales of a golden \ criticism." When he writes of long-past events in the Alhambra, the life and color of that time is brought vividly into the oresent con13S sciousness of the reader. I35 "A Tour on the Prairies," 3» Ibid. 137 Ibid., pp. lJ-5. 138 Ibid., p. 5. 173 Everett feels it is difficult to classify A Tour on the Prairies. It cannot "be classed as a novel "because it lacks a plot, and it is not a romance "because the incidents are true. 11It is a sort of senti- 139 mental journey, a romantic excursion . . .” This seems a hazy class­ ification, and the further statement of definition does not help much either. Everett calls it "a creation of Mr. Irving’s mind," showing 1»J0 what ’’taste and genius” can do in working with the material of others. To show clearly how wonderfully living had improved his material, Everett quotes parallel passages from the Tour and Lieutenant Wheelock’s journal. The writer of genius can transform any material, Everett claims. "No matter how remote the region. With one "bound of the imagination, he is there, and his reader with him, at once familiarized and at home. Mo matter how novel and uncouth the scenery, in a single chapter, it is like the village, where we were t o m . . . . This is the characteristic of the great masters, - of Shakespeare and Scott, - shared in greater lUl or less degree, "by every man of genius and taste.” And this creative oower of the poet or writer does not depend unon "ruined castles and lU2 crumhling ahheys" fot its inspiration. Recognizing this power of genius, Everett’s deepest wish is that it "be applied to American themes. "For ourselves, we wish for nothing so ardently, as that the literature of the country should "be the 139 ”A Tour ©a the Prairies,” 1J4O Ihid., p. 6. I'oid., p. 13* IMd. indigenous growth of the soil; indigenous in its topics, associations and snirit, - not for patriotic reasons merely, hut on principles of 1U3 art and taste." Irving is now to he thanked, after producing proud sketches of English life, for turning his attention to the prairie and making it 11into classical land." And this skilled dealing with an American theme is a chief value of A Tour on the Prairies. The following year, IS36, Irving published Astoria. Everett was reading it on November 14 and entered the following comment in his journal: "I began upon Irving's Astoria and read through the first volume of it with great pleasure. lous production. It is somewhat of an anoma­ Neither purely historicl nor mainly imaginative but something of both. There is a little too much of Geoffrey Crayon in the narrative; while the dry matter of fact at times contrasts too l4U sharply with the ornate execution." This mixed and largely negative reaction is quite in contrast to the lavish commendation of Irving in the review we have just considered. And the review which Everett did write of Astoria is in decided IU5 contrast with that of A Tour oh the Prairies. There are no fine gen­ eralizations here about the superior merits of Irving's writing. is almost as if Everett would like to avoid the subject. It He starts by characterizing the present age as "the age of plunder" in which the leading nations were attempting to seize new-found lands. This ll+3 "A Tour on the Prairies," lU. 144 , Everett Papers 149, journal. 145 200- 37. "Irving's Astoriz," North American Heview, XLIV (Jan. 1337), 175 has led to many injustices and the enslaving of many people. among the plundering nations is Great Britain. Chief (Everett was not missing an opportunity to express his nationalism.) All this is by way of showing how the United States and England became interested 1U6 in the mouth of the Columbia. River. After this lengthy, and at times passionate introduction, Everett begins to tell his readers about the book. There is only one brief comment on the writing. "The whole work,*1 Everett says, "bears the impress of Mr. Irving*s taste. A great variety of somewhat discordant materials is brought into a con­ sistent whole, of which the parts have a due reference to each other; and some sketches of life and traits of humor come fresh from the pen 1U7 of Geoffrey Crayon." This is damnation by faint praise. The avoid­ ance of reference to Irving’s other books and to his literary reputa­ tion helps to convey the weight of disappointment which Everett felt about the book. Perhaps the disappointment was increased by the fact that so short a time before he had hailed Irving for turning to an lHS American theme again in writing about the prairies. "Irving*s Astoria," 200-3. 1^7 ' Ibid., p. 205. lUg How closely Everett related his sense of nationalism with literature may be seen in extracts from a letter about Cooper written on September 23* 1S51. It is apparently the only comment of any length about him; " . . . The works of Mr. Cooper have adorned and elevated our lit­ erature. There is nothing more purely American, in the highest sense of the word, than several of them. In his department he is facile princeps. He wrote too much to write every thing equally well; but his abundance flowed out of a full original mind, and his rapidity and variety bespoke a resolute and manly consciousness of power. . . • "With much about him that was intensely nations,1, we have but one 1J6 S. Oratory and Style Since oratory was the main avenue of expression for Everett, we face a natural question when we wonder what concept he had of the orator. The question may "be easy to ask, “but there is little material to serve as a direct answer. tor, not a dabbler or a teacher. Everett was a practicing ora­ He did not write about rhetoric as his contemporary John Qpincy Adams did. In a few scattered remarks, however, we get a slight idea of his theory. In commenting on Webster's speech of July U, I 85 I, at the lay­ ing of the comer-stone of the addition to the caoitol at Washington, Everett wrotet "It belongs . . . to a species of oratory neither forensic, nor parliamentary, nor academical; and which might perhaps conveniently enough be described by the epithet . . . the patriotic. These addresses are strongly discriminated from the forensic and the parliamentary class of speeches, in being from the nature of the case more elaborately prepared. The public taste in a highly culti­ vated community would not admit, in a performance of this kind, those other writer . . . /Washington Irving/. . . as widely known abroad. Many of Cooper's works were not only read at every fireside in Eng­ land, but were translated into every language of the European conti­ nent. "He owed a part of his inspiration to the magnificent nature which surrounded him: to the lakes, and forests, and Indian tradi­ tions, and border life of your great State. It would have been as difficult to create Leatherstocking any where out of New York, or some State closely resembling it, as to create Don Qpixote out of Spain. To have trained and possessed Fenimore Cooper will be, is already, - with justice, one of your greatest boasts." New York Public Library, Mascellaneous Papers. 177 marks of extemporaneous execution, which, it not only tolerates, hut IU9 admires, in the unuremeditated efforts of the senate and the bar." We might uncharitably say that in claiming there was a type of oratory which could be called patriotic Everett was describing a type to fit his own most effective kind of speech. But such a judg­ ment would be unfair because at least during the early part of the nineteenth century the patriotic or historical address was of social and political significance. Since social necessity will determine the types of speech in a culture, he is here recognizing a type of oratory pecxiliarly American. In a general summation of the qualities of Webster’s are,tory, Everett set forth briefly some key ideas. "The Orator who would do justice to a gres.t theme or a great occasion must thoroughly study and 150 understand the subject . . . " This is a familiar generalization of classic rhetoric which emphasized, careful preparation of the sneaker. He goes on to say that "if possible" the address should be written down beforehand. "He must entirely possess himself beforehand of the main things which he wishes to say, and then throw himself upon the 151 excitement of the moment and the sympathy of the audience." The ex­ citement felt by the speaker in contact with his audience stimulates his memory and "all that the orator has seen, read, heard, or felt" is drawn upon to furnish images and examples for the illustration of Speeches of Webster, I, 6i. 150 Ibid., p. 62. 178 his ideas. ’"The cold and premeditated text will no longer suffice for the glowing thought. The stately, balanced phrase gives place to some abrupt, graphic expression, that rushes unbidden to his 152 lips.” Everett felt that the vivid, well-stocked memory was perhaps the greatest asset of the orator; he illustrated this idea by refer­ ences to Webster. In his own case, the apparently endless supply of references to classical subjects and to history proves the rich stock of material upon which he could draw. We see too that Everett did not feel that advance preparation should be absolute. On the con­ trary the orator should be able to adapt his speech to a particular audience situation. Such ideas are in the classical rhetorical tra­ dition. The oration holds a high place in the history and literature of a People, Everett felt. "The political history of a country is, in 153 a good degree, the history of its eminent men." Taking this premise as a starting-point in a review of Henry Clay’s speeches, he argued for the collection and printing of the speeches of our prominent men. (This was nine years before the publication of his own first volume of orations.) The speeches he felt were an integral part of the "action of the age" and would enable people to study and see "the I5U general result of the wondrously complicated political machine." 132 153 Speeches of Webster, I, 62. "Speeches of Henry Clay," North American Review, XXV (Oct. 1327)* ^ 7." I5U Ibid. 179 Modern political conditions have changed the significance of oratory. "We are well aware, that one great reason for the poverty of the parliamentary eloquence of earlier days is to he sought in political causes. There can he no eloquence in discussion, where there is no independence of decision within doors, and no power of public sentiment without. The growth of parliamentary eloquence in England has kent pace with the march of free principles in the coun155 try. . . . " The eloquence of Burke shows his knowledge that his " speeches, although delivered in Parliament, would he read hy a wider 156 audience; they were thus designed to affect public opinion. Two im­ portant factors in addition are the improvement in the reporting of 157 speeches and the development of faster printing. This review of Henry Clay's speeches says very little ahout Clay as an orator. Everett feels that he is "one of the most eminent of IpS American orators." He can find no trace of meticulous advance prepa­ ration. Apparently none of Clay's speeches were written d_own before delivery and there is little evidence of later revision. For these reasons "they contain few single passages likely to he quoted as 159 prominent specimens of oratorical declamation." Seme years later Everett reviewed the two volumes of Webster's Speeches and Forensic Arguments. Here we have the same paucity of 155 "Speeches of Henry Clay," U2S. ibid. 157 Ibid., p. U29. ^ Ibid., p. UU2. 159 Ibid., p. I&5. comment on the oration as a form of literature or on rhetoric. Ever­ ett begins with a premise that reflects his strongly optimistic view of life. " . . . such is the present lofty state of civilization, so much mind is in high and constant action, that without going out of the circle of the English language, there is annually laid before the reading world, some one -oroduction at least, that may be called class160 ical; something equal to the works of the first class of any age." It is our reverence for antiquity which makes us reluctant to out such 161 a high value on a contemporary production. The reader is prepared for the comment on Webster's two volumes. Everett says that "we may gather from it the most satisfactory illus­ tration of the opulence of modern literature, in which treasures like 162 these can make their appearance without being regarded as phenomena." What greater critical tribute from one friend to another than to have the ex-Greek Professor from Harvard attest that his personal friend and political mentor spoke in a vein equal to the best of classic ora­ tory! Everett evidently feels keenly about the ability of the modern age to produce work of classical quality. "Let us not be mistaken," he continues, "We are not scoffers at the ancients; on the contrary, we are of the humblest, but of the most enthusiastic worshippers at their venerable shrine. But do not let us sacrifice reason and common 160 ii^eLster's Speeches," Forth American Review, XLI (July, 1835)* 231. 161 Ibid., p. 232. 16^ Ibid., p. 233* sense; do not let us vilify the age in which we live; do not let us 163 be insensible of the progress of the human mind." The age helps greatly to make the orator since he is a man of talent and ambition 164 who is called upon to play some part in public action. Eloauence in the British Parliament and the American Congress would be a credit 165 to the greatest masters of rhetoric of ancient Greece and Rome. Some of Webster's speeches equal in quality the best given in the British Parliament or delivered by the classic orators of ancient times. Everett's remarks on style are as scanty as those on rhetoric. On July 71 1828, he wrote a letter to the son of a friend, a boy at­ tending a boarding school in Northampton. In this we see a. statement of what a basic writing style should be. My dear William, I received some time ago your letter of 19th June, and was much obliged to you for writing me again so soon. I hardly ex­ pected it knowing that you cannot have much leisure to write; that when you do write you must naturally prefer to write to your father and mother; as indeed it is your duty to do; and knowing besides all this that boys of your age are not very fond of writ­ ing. The reason I suppose is that they do not know how to fill up their letters; - they think they must make a formal matter of it, and they do not know what to say. And yet the same boys, if they were in company with a friend instead of having to write to him would find no difficult;/ in talking as fast and as long as he would hear them. Now the great beauty of a letter; I mean a familiar letter is to have it nun along just like the conversa­ tion of intelligent people; and if boys or men either would write as they talk, th^y would find no difficulty in filling up their letters. . . . 163 "Webster's Speeches," Ibid., p. 235. 165 Ibid., p. 239. 166 jjyel*e-tt Papers 62, letterbook. IS2 This idea of a simple conversational style in letter writing Everett himself practiced all his life. His letters do not have the embellishments or formalisms found in his speeches. This letter is also interesting because, being written in 1822, it shows that Ever­ ett then had in mind the value of a natural and simplestyle. In I85O the two volumes of his Orations which had been published up to that time, were reprinted. In writing the ’’Preface to the Sec­ ond Edition," he discussed and defended his ownstyle. "In revising the earlier compositions in this collection forthe present edition," he writes, "I have applied the pruning-knife freely to the style. This operation might have been carried still farther with advantage; for I feel them to be still deficient in that simplicity which is the 167 first merit in writings of this class." He goes on to relate that when he was in college the authors most admired and imitated were Johnson, Gibbon, and Burke. The stately antithesis and magnificent devices of such men easily degenerate in the hands of a youthful ad168 mirer. Everett asks the reader’s indulgence for the lack of condensa­ tion in the orations. He explains that all the occasions for the speeches were of "a popular character." A terse exoression is nec169 essary for the "graver business occasions of life." 1ST” Orations, I, vii. l6S Ibid. ■^9 iMd. > viii. I 1S3 Everett -undertakes to defend himself against the charge of "being '•too strongly eulogistic" in his patriotic speeches. "On this point I can only olead that every thing said hy me, to which this objection 170 may "be supposed to apply, has been said in good faith." He lists the reasons leading him to this position as: his five years' residence in Europe, especially his travels in Greece; the renewed force of the old regime in Italy, France and Germany; and still doubtful acceptance in England of liberal ideals and principles; the "tone of unfriendli­ ness and disparagement towards the United States" found then in lead171 ing literary and political journals. The editorship of the Worth American Review had placed Everett in the position of champion. "Traces of this may be found in some of the addresses contained in the present collection. In reference to great principles, I do not find that the feelings under which I wrote, heightened as they were by the ardor of youth, led me to maintain opinions which, after the lapse of twenty-five eventful years, require to be qualified. But I am free to confess, that there is occasionally an exaggerated na­ tionality in the tone with which principles, correct in themselves, 172 are stated, which does not now appear to me in the best taste." These varied comments on literature and on oratory show a reluc­ tance to form any theories. the past. They show, too, a great dependence upon The poetic masters are those of eighteenth century English Orations, I, viii. 171 T V, ... Ibid., pp. viii 172 Ibid., p. ix. ix. literature, plus of course Shakespeare. those of the ancients. The standards of oratory are Everett's mind is definitely set on the past. 7?hat the older writers said and did is the standard of good taste. For a person who talked continually about being a literary man, Ever­ ett not only failed to produce any significant work of literature but he failed even to produce a significant body of literary comment. 185 CHAPTER 17 THE CHAMPION 0? EDUCATION Ellas Nason claimed that when Everett returned from his studies and travels In Europe he "was doubtless then the most accoa1 plished Creek as well as general scholar in America." This scholar­ ship Everett fed through the following years by constant and omnivor­ ous reading. It never, however, found expression in a single substan­ tial undertaking in history or literature. Instead, it was expressed in diverse ways according to the various careers Everett followed. There are but two ideas which Everett championed - the sentiment of Union, and the value of education to a republic. He preached the values of education from one part of the country to the other, over a period of many years. Out of 186 orations in the four volumes of his collected works, thirty-five concern education in some way. A study of the titles shows that Everett was not reluctant to speak briefly at a school exhibition or the presentation of prizes. Directly, as governor of Massachusetts, Everett helped establish the first state Board of Education. Indirectly, as editor of the North American Review, as lyceum speaker, and as a moving spirit in establishing the Boston Public Library, he aided the growth of educa­ tion. * Address before Massachusetts Genealogical Society Jan. 30, 1865. found in In MeaorLam. a Society publication ([Boston, 1865). P. 59* ^ I 186 1. Development a In American Education In the period of the four decades preceding the Civil War the development of education in the United States was very uneven. Tra­ dition had built up the idea that all children should learn how to read and write. cepted. But the idea of free public education was not ac­ Historians of education claim that "In all parts of the coun­ try* even in those areas where tax support was permitted* the public 2 schools were a reproach to the democracy which fostered them." In New England there were more opportunities for elementary and secondary education than in other parts of the country. had their widest popularity in this region. Academies The old Latin and gram­ mar schools had been in existence for over two hundred years. In 1S27 Massachusetts had passed a law requiring towns of five hundred or more families to establish high schools. College education was generally poor in quality. In 1S30, most colleges still adhered to the original purpose of preparing clergymen. The foundation subjects were Latin, Greek* and mathematics* but science and literature began to appear in the curriculum. This meant the cur­ tailment of logic and theology* which in turn led to the establishing of theological seminaries. During this period professional schools in 3 law and medicine made their appearance. - Newton Edwards and Herman G. Richey, The School in the American Social Order (Boston, I9U7 ), p. 323* ^ Ibid.* pp. 326-7* 1ST Carl Sue sell Pish claims that the chief developments in this period were two* "First came the acceptance by the community of its responsibility to educate its children by taxation* a position which it reached by stages, rising from acceptance of the responsibility for those whose parents could not afford it, and finally attaining the view that it was desirable to extend tax-supported education to all. Secondly, the principle of compulsion was applied to education, which involved two quite different conceptions; the one, that every community should offer such opportunities, the other, that every child must be made to take advantage of them, so as to conserve the public k safety." Various speeches of Everett*s, as we shall see, aided the development of both these ideas in the public mind. This was an easy time to impress on the general public "the spu­ rious brilliancy of an educational veneer" and the prestige of edu­ cation was very high. Education was considered the key to success and tremendous importance was placed upon it. This notion perhaps explains the note of almost-veneration which constantly crept into the newspaper praise of Everett. Proof of the widespread belief in the efficacy of education may be found in a report of workingmen in Philadelphia in I83O. passed a resolution saying: They "that there can be no real liberty with­ out a wide diffusion of real intelligence; that the members of a re­ public, should all be alike instructed in the nature and character — nThe Else of the Common Man, 1830 - 1890 (Hew York, 1927)* — p. 200. IBB of their equal rights and duties, as human beings, and as citizens; . . . that until means of equal instruction shall be equally secured to all, liberty is but an unmeaning word, and equality an emoty shad5 ow." The educational use of libraries had not yet been realized* Most colleges had them, but only a few had them in separate buildings* Scientific equipment was generally meager. Once in lSUg and once in 1S^9 Everett appeared before the committee on education of the Massa­ chusetts Legislature to plead for financial help for Harvard, Amherst, and Williams. One of the points for which Everett asserted the three colleges needed money was "the procuring of apparatus in the various scientific departments, the increase of the mineralogical and other scientific cabinets and collections, and the completion of the set of 6 instruments required at the observatory." The growing professional spirit also affected teachers. Fish declares that when Horace Mann, as secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, began to issue annual reports, "his first attempt 7 was to improve, or rather create, the teaching profession." Everett was proud of the selection of Msinn as the first secretary of the Board established while he was governor, and he wrote the introduc­ tions to the first few reports Mann wrote. ^ Quoted in Fish, p. 212. "Aid to the Colleges,” Orations, II, 7 p. 220. Briefly, then., the period of Everett's public life was a turbu­ lent one for American education. The battle for tax-supported, free public schools was being fought by states and with varying degrees of success. Education was widely admired and considered a foundation for citizenship. Science was beginning to be studied in the colleges. The trend toward professional training began to affect the prepara­ tion of teachers. 2. On all these Everett had something to say. The Wide Diffusion of Knowledge In 1835» speaking at Amherst College, Everett commented that "the multiplication of the means of education and the general diffu­ to s sion of knowledge at the present day, are topics of universal remark. He proceeded to mention the means by which knowledge was disseminated as colleges; schools of theology, medicine, and law; preparatory and elementary schools; societies for promoting knowledge; institutes, 9 lyceums, lecture coxirses; and the press, cheap books, and periodicals. A modern scholar, Merle Curti, in discussing "The Popularization of Knowledge," produces a very similar analysis of the means for diffu#10 ing knowledge at that period. "There is probably not a newspaper of any character published in the United States,® Everett said, "which does not in the course of the year, convey more useful information to its readers than is g "Education Favorable to Liberty," Orations, I, 600. 9 Ibid. See Chapter KIT, The Growth of American Thought (Hew York,19U3). 190 to be found in the twenty-one folios of Albertus Magnus, ligit as he was of the thirteenth century* I class all these agencies under the general name of the means of education, because they form one grand system by which knowledge is imparted to the mass of the community, and the mind of the age . • . is Instructed, disciplined, and furn isti­ ll ed with its materials for action and thought*w Everett is perfectly willing to admit that these media for com­ municating ideas result in an age of "cheap fame." In fact, all these means for circulating ideas are "a sort of literary machinery" by which 12 an idea may be given notoriety "miscalled reputation," However, the conditions should not lead to discouragement about the advancement of real knowledge and scholarship, ", . . a t the present day, I am firm­ ly convinced that there is more patient learning, true philosophy, 13 fruitful science, and various knowledge, than at any former time." In all questions concerning education Everett*s sympathies seemed to flow in a democratic direction. The autocratic type of mind might deplore the popularization of knowledge, but Everett would respond; "I deem it mere popular prejudice to suppose that the march of origi­ nal genius to the heights of learning has been impeded by the posseslU sion of these modem facilities to aid its progress." 11 Orations. I, 601 12 Ibid., P« 610. 13 Ibid., P* 612. % lH Ibid., P* 613. _ 191 Enterprising publishers helped the popularization of knowledge by the publication of literary annuals or gift books. One of these literary annuals was called The Boston Book, and in it appeared some of Everett*s short stories and essays, among them the humorous essay 15 entitled "On Shaking Hands." In this same class was the little gift book containing brief selections from his orations and entitled Seau- 16 --- ties of Everett. This was the period when mechanics* institutes and societies for the diffusion of knowledge were being formed. Many American men of property generously responded to the movement for the popularization of knowledge through voluntary organizations of mechanics and apprentices. The fast-disInte­ gra ting apprenticeship system no longer provided adequate sur­ veillance for young employees in the larger cities, and mercan­ tile and mechanics' libraries and institutes seemed all the more necessary if young men in countinghouses and other business es­ tablishments were to be kept off the streets and away from tav­ erns of evenings and encouraged to acquire practical tools for more effective work, the road to business success and the for­ mula for becoming self-made men* *7 On November 17 , 1829. Everett spoke before the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge in Boston on "The Boyhood and Youth of IS Franklin." The theme of the lecture is that Franklin rose to fame and fortune by a pattern of hard work which anyone can emulate. An­ other of his lectures delivered several times for such societies was called "Importance of Scientific Knowledge to Practical Men, and the 19 Encouragements to Its Pursuit." ^ The Boston Book, 1837 (Boston, 1837) * PP. 3^3-8. 16 Boston, 1S39. 17 Curti, p. 350. 18 Orations. II, I-U7 . ^9 Orations, I, 2U6-83* 192 While many business men would aid such societies and a man like John Lowell would establish the Lowell Institute and heavily endow it so that annual lecture courses could be given in Boston at a modest fee, yet some argued that education is a family matter. Men of wealth would claim that the lack of education of the poor was due to their own shiftlessness. cation. But not all men of property opposed popular edu­ And Everett, who served as spokesman for New England indus­ trialists, advocated general education on moral and political grounds. During this period libraries for the people were being estab­ lished. The breakdown of the old apprentice system, with its many rigidities, and the spread "of the philosophy of the diffusion of knowledge" were among the factors which led to the establishment of apprentices' libraries in various cities. Everett contributed much to the creation and early development of the now famous Boston Public 20 Library. According to Curti, "What the mechanics' and merchants' libraries and institutes did for the urban lower middle classes, the lyceum accomplished for the population as a whole in towns and cities and, of particular importance, for the plain men and women in villages and farming communities. These mutual improvement associations assembled books, conducted forums on a wide variety of non-controversial sub21 jects, and supported the movement for improved common schools." In jjq' Erothingham, pp. 363**5» 21 p. 365. 1 actual practice the lyceums established the first system of adult 22 education in America. Such a movement helped to rally support for public schools. The resulting increasing interest in education brought Increased pres­ tige to common-school teachers. *As early as 1S28 the lyceum began advocating county and State boards of education and the county and State lyceums functioned weakly in that capacity. They were not ef­ ficient, nor in any way well organized, but they did function and did widely spread the idea. Edward Everett, who was Governor of Massa­ chusetts at the time of the creation of the board of education, had been a vice president of the national lyceum organization since its 23 formation.” The American Lyceum met annually from 1331 to IS39. Each year Everett was elected one of the vice-presidents, the only 2b officer to be elected each time the American Lyceum met. Everett spoke rather frequently under lyceum auspices in and around Boston. On September 10, IS32 , he recorded his impression of one such audi­ ence: ”1 delivered the same lecture [in Waltham, Mas3^7 which I pre­ pared for the Franklin Course last fall. The hall was crowded and the audience, consisting principally of young men and women from the 25 factories, very attentive.* Everett also aided in the spread of popular agricultural educa­ tion. He spoke frequently at cattle shows and agricultural exhibitions. 22 Cecil B. Hayes, The American Lyceum, Its History and Contri­ bution to Education, U.S. Office of Education Bulletin No.~~12 (Wash­ ington, 1932)t P. 35* 23 Ibid., p. U7 . ^ Ibid., pp. 16-17. ^ Everett Papers IU5, journal. To such gatherings he gave addresses of high intellectual quality, drawing freely tqaon his knowledge of history, and comparing the agri­ cultural conditions of America with those of England and Europe - as in the address entitled MAgriculture” which he gave on October 16, 26 1833» before the Massachusetts Agricultural Society at Brighton. Everett declared that the holding of cattle shows has greatly improved agriculture in the United States. now brought together. "The cultivators of the soil are Their agricultural improvements, their super­ ior animals, their implements of husbandry, the products of their farms, their methods of cultivation, are all subjects of inquiry, comparison, and excitement. • • . Increased prosperity begins to show itself, as the reward of increased skill and knowledge? and thus the condition of the husbandman is rendered more comfortable and honora27 ble." Everett's newspaper and magazine articles also aided the popu­ larization of knowledge. As we previously pointed out, he was the first successful editor of the North American Review. He helped the United States attain a first-class critical review. During his po­ litical career in the 1820 's and 1830 's he contributed many anony­ mous political articles to the newspapers, thus participating in the fervent political discussions of the time. Then, later, just prior to the outbreak of the Civil War, Everett began open journalistic efforts, some of his articles in the Mount Vernon Papers series being of a popular cultural variety. 25 M Orations. I, Uh2-58. 195 3. Value of Education in a Republic On August 20* 1833, Everett spoke before the Phi Beta Kappa 28 Society at Yale on the subject "The Education of Mankind." This address not only shows the idealistic approach he had to education but is a fine illustration of how Everett used his knowledge of his­ tory to draw parallels to clarify a subject. After remarking on the past close relations between Yale and hi8 own beloved Harvard, Everett speaks warmly of the advantages of these annual Phi Beta Kappa meetings. "The preparation for an occa­ sion like this," he says, "is in the heart, not in the head; it is in the attachments formed, and the feelings inspired, in the bright 29 morning of life." He then speaks of the conditions of former times when education was the exclusive privilege of a "learned class" who were given a training that insulated them from the rest of the community and gave 30 than a monopoly of the positions of service in church and state. "I admit," he continues, "that there was something generous and liberal in education, even in this conception of its objects; something pop­ ular, and, if Z may so express it, republican, in the educated class, even at the darkest period. Learning, even in its most futile and scholastic forms, was still an affair of the mind. It was not, like hereditary rank, mere physical accident; it was not, like military pg Orations, I, Holj-Up. 29 IHid., p. >*06. 3° IM4. 196 power* mere physical force. It gave an intellectual influence, de­ rived from intellectual superiority; and it enabled some minds, even in the darkest ages of European history, to rise from obscurity and 31 poverty to be the lights and guides of mankind." He gives three ex­ amples of men who were able under the old conditions of a learned class, to rise from poverty to a position where they could be the 32 "guides of mankind" - Bede, Alcuin, and Roger Bacon. It is not sufficient, however, for us to admit this good in the old system, Everett feels. We must still recognize that formerly education did not touch the great mass of men. "It was the training of a privileged class; and was far too exclusively the instrument by which one of the favored orders of society was enabled to exercise a tyrannical and exclusive control over the millions which lay wrapped in ignorance and superstition. It Is the great glory of the age in which we live, that learning, once the instrument of this bondage, has become the instrument of reform; that, instead of an educated 33 class, we have made some good approach to an educated community." Having taken this general position favoring education as an instrument of reform, he then approaches the question of the general objects of education. point of view. He comes to this question from an interesting He speaks of the pasfeing of generations, the inexor­ able changes in human life by which the individuals carrying on all 31 Orations. I, I107. 32 Ibid. 33 Ibid. 197 the affairs of human life are, one by one, replaced in the course of a general thirty year period. "But this great revolution, which prostrates, not one man, nor one family, in a single nation, but every man, in every family, throughout the world; which bids an en­ tire new congregation of men to start into existence and action; which fills with new incumbents, not one blood-stained seat of roy­ alty, but every post of active duty . . . steals on us silently and 3U gradually, like all the primordial operations of Providence . . The impending revolution is "so much the more momentous for 35 the gradual nature of the process.* 1 If the change were abrupt, we could only have a speculative interest as to what would be the in­ heritance of our successors. But it is Hthe law of our nature" that the generations be closely interrelated and the changes between them be gradual. If public duties are neglected, retribution rarely fails to overtake the individuals or communities responsible. "But this revolution, growing out of the constitution of our nature, points out the business of education as the duty and calling of man, pre­ cisely because it is not the work of violent hands, but the law of 36 our being." It is our children who will soon supersede us and who must by replacing us, carry forward this natural revolution. Educa­ tion is the natural substitute for revolutions by violence which come when " corruption has attained a height beyond the reach of ordinary 37 influencers* ^ Orations. I, ^09* 35 ibid. 36 Ibid., p. HlO. 37 Ibid. 198 Education, than, finds its true 'basis in natural affection. HWhen the subject is pursued to its last analysis, we find that edu­ cation, in its most comprehensive form, - the general training and preparation of our successors, - is the great errand which we have 38 to execute in the world.M This is an exceedingly difficult task. Everett easily admits the difficulties and goes on to state the scope of his thinking. "Considered as brethren of the human race, it looks, 39 of course, to the education of all mankind." He urges a specific in the United States. consideration of what this immediately means He points out the probable growth of the coun­ try in geographic extent and population in the course of another gener­ ation. "The wealth of the country will increase still more rapidly; and all the springs of social life, which capital moves, will, of course, increase in power; and a much more intense condition of existto ence will be the result." The problem is complicated by the fact that knowledge should not be merely transmitted as received. We are not like the doves who build their nests as the dove did who came out of the Ark. Instead, "we are to apply the innumerable discoveries, inventions, and improve­ ments, which have been successively made in the world, - and never more than of late years, - and combine and elaborate them into one grand system of condensed efficacy and quickened vitality, in forming and Ul bringing forward our successors." ^ Orations, I, Hll. 39 ibid., p. Ul2. 1,0 Ibid. ^ Ibid., p. U13. 199 In answer to the question, how much change can education hope to accomplish, Everett, takes a democratic position. "We can make this Inquiry on no other assumed "basis than that of the natural average equality of all men, as rational and improvable "beings. I do not mean that all men are created with a physical and intellectual constitu­ tion capable of attaining, with the same opportunities, the same de­ gree of improvement. I cannot assert that, nor would I willingly undertake to disprove it. I leave it aside; and suppose, that, on an average, men are "bora with equal capacities." To prove the reasonableness of this view, Everett takes examples from two extremes. He describes the appearance and brutishness of "the most degraded savage" who is almost completely devoid of arts and principally passes on the skills of sheer survival. But, Everett says, the savage has "hidden under those brutal manners and vices, at once disgusting and abominable, a portion of the intellectual princi1+3 pie which likens man to his Maker." The other example Everett gives is that of an "enlightened European or American" who sails into an area inhabited by such savages. He describes all the products of ed­ ucation which the European has Inherited through education and which would, under such conditions, sharply differentiate him from the na­ tive. "... will it be deemed extravagant, if I say that there is a greater difference between the educated child of civilized life and the most degraded savage, than between that savage and the orang outang? And yet the savage was born a rational being, like the ^ Orations, I, Hll+. ibid., p. U15. I 200 European and American; and the civilized European and American en­ tered life, like the savage, a helpless, mailing babe. l& is the difference made by education.* This, then, It takes hundreds of generations to accumulate the knowledge we possess, yet it can be mastered in a few years. "Men are bora rich, **5 but not learned." Education must give this inheritance to the in­ fant genius. And when we consider the great power of education, we are led to the conclusion that it is far more an act of the learner than an act of the teacher. " . . . the learner, by the native power •f apprehension, judiciously trained and wisely disciplined, beholds, comprehends, and appropriates what is set before him, in form and or­ der; and not only so, but, with the first quickenings of the intelU6 lect, commences himself the creative and inventive processes.*1 The inventive and adaptive power of the student helps account for the simultaneous act® of discovery and invention in art and science, for "the laws of the human mind are so sure and regular, that it is not an uncommon thing for different persons, in different countries, to fall into the same train of reflection and thought, and to come to results and discoveries which, injuriously limiting the creative pow­ ers of the Intellect, we are ready to ascribe to imitation or plaUy giarism." ^ Orations, I, U17. Ibid., p. UlS. ^ Ibid., p. Ul9. ^ Ibid., p. teO. 201 Education on a large scale is a mutual work. HMan has three teachers - the schoolmaster, himself, his neighbor. The Instructions of the first two commence together; and long after the functions of the first two have been discharged, the duties of the last two go on * * H g together.** School and college can only give us the foundation for self-instruction. The nature of the human mind is the factor which makes for change, progress, and improvement. **A hint, a proposition, an inquiry, proceeding from one mind, awakens new trains of thought in a kindred mind, surveying the subject from another point of view . . . and thus truth is constantly multiplied and propagated by the H9 mutual action and reaction of the thousands engaged in its pursuit.** Everett sees a distinct difference between mechanical forces and intellectual forces. When mechanical forces are put into opera­ tion, they grow slowly fainter until they wear out. Chi the contrary, when intellectual energy is wisely exerted, Hits exercise, instead of exhausting, increases its strength; and not only this, but, as it moves onward from mind to mind, it awakens each to the same sympa­ thetic, self-propagating action. The circle spreads in every direc­ tion. Diversity of language does not check the spread of the great 50 instructor.** Here Everett shows the scope of his reading of history and of his thinking about the forces that mould civilization. ' Orations. I, U20. 7 Ibid. 50 Ibid., p. U21. He 202 sees all human beings united in intellectual potential. The ability of the human mind to respond to truth unites the generations and breaks the barriers of geography and of time itself. The present age is enlightened, and civilisation has advanced to a high point. "But upon the whole, it must be admitted, that a- bout two thirds of mankind are without the pale of civilization, as we understand it; and of these a large portion are pagan savages, or 51 the slaves of the most odious and oppressive despotisms." And when we look at civilization, or what we call civilization, we see much that could be improved. "The broad mantle of civilization, like that of charity, covers much which, separately viewed, could claim no ti~ 52 tie to the name." Everett gives specific examples of conditions in civilized countries which should be removed. In northern Europe peasants are still attached like property to the ground they culti­ vate. In middle and western Europe the laboring classes have little opportunity to improve their minds. "We know that they pass their lives in labor of the most unremitted character, from which they de­ rive nothing but the means of a most scanty support; constantly re­ lapsing into want at the slightest reverse of fortune, or on the 53 occurrence of the first severe casualty." In the great cities of Europe most of the population is "profoundly ignorant with miserably 5b poor, and no small part of it sunk in the depths of want and vice." Orations, I, b22. 52 J Ibid. 53 ibid., p. b23. ^ Ibid. 203 The two extremes of culture and education dwell together in the same cities. "If a man wished to explore the very ahyss of human degrada­ tion . . . He would need only to take a ten steps' walk from Westmin­ ster Abbey or the Tuileries, to strike off for half a quarter of a mile in almost any direction from the very focus of all that is ele55 gant and refined . . . in London or Paris." To these conditions we may add consideration of those parts of the world where civilization has gone backward. All around the shores of the Mediterranean we 56 find the remnants of a great past. Everett declares that this whole melancholy picture does not discourage him. MI am willing to own myself an enthusiast; and all I ask is, that men will have the courage to follow the light of gen­ eral principles, and patience for great effects to flow from mighty 57 causes." We must not be perplexed by apparent exceptions to these great principles of education. Great advances frequently cannot be completed in a lifetime but the combined forces of "humanity, relig­ ion, national character, literature, and the influence of the arts" acting over a long period of time bring great results. 58 of one short life can teach nothing but despair." "The experience Everett feels that optimism about the present and future has a firm basis. ^ Orations, I, U23. Ibid., pp. teU-5. 57 Ibid., p. Us5. 58 Ibid. I 20U We have now in our possession three instruments of civili­ zation unknown to antiquity, of power separately to work almost any miracle of improvement, and the united force of which is ad­ equate to the achievement of any thing not morally and physically impossible. These are, the art of printing, a sort of mechanical magic for the diffusion of knowledge; free representative govern­ ment, a perpetual regulator and equalizer of human affairs, the inequalities of which are the great scourge of society; and, last­ ly, a pure and spiritual religion, the deep fountain of generous enthusiasm, the mighty spring of hold and lofty designs, the great sanctuary of moral power. The want of one or all of these satisfactorily explains the vicissitudes of the ancient civiliza­ tion; and the possession of them all as satisfactorily assures the permanence of that which has heen for some centuries, and is now, going on, and warrants the success of the great work of ed­ ucating the world. 59 Hone of the civilizations of the past - the Greek, the Phoeni­ cian, the Egyptian - were able to disseminate knowledge widely or transmit it thoroughly. "No one thinks that the powerful and pros­ perous nations which flourished for two thousand years, on the Nile and the Euphrates, were destitute of heroes, patriots, end states­ men. But, for want of popular literature, their merits and fame did 60 not, at the time, incorporate themselves with the popular character.# As to the present, the recent successful revolt in Greece is very im­ portant in the extension of civilization. Everett even ventures to commit himself onthe futureby saying that "it litical causes are in operation, destinedat seems to me that po­ no verydistant period to throw open the whole domain of ancient Improvement to the great modern instruments of national education - the press, free govem61 ment, and the Christian faith." ^ Orations, I, te?6. 60 Ibid., p.U27. 61 Ibid., p.U31. I 205 In a paragraph which is much like a statement of faith, Everett summarizes his belief in the project of educating mankind, For myself, I see nothing to put this great work beyond hope. The causes are adequate to its achievement, the times are propitious, the indications are significant; and the work to be done, though great, indeed, is not, in itself, chimerical or ex­ travagant. What is it? To teach those who have eyes to see; to pour Instruction into the ears open to receive it; to aid ration­ al minds to think; to kindle immortal souls to a consciousness of their faculties; to cooperate with the strong and irrepressi­ ble tendency of our natures; to raise out of barbarity and stu­ pidity men who belong to the same race of beings as Newton and Locke, as Shakespeare and Milton, as Franklin and Washington. Let others doubt the possibility of doing it; I cannot conceive the possibility of its remaining eventually undone. The diffi­ culty of civilizing Asia and Africa? I am more struck with the difficulty of keeping them barbarous. When I think what man is, in his powers and improvable capacities; when I reflect on the principles of education, as I have already attempted, in this address, to develop them, - my wonder is at the condition to which man is sunk, and, with which he is content, and not at any project or prophecy of his elevation. ”2 In 1835» on August 25, Everett spoke before the literary socie­ ties at Amherst College on the subject "•Education Favorable to Liber­ ty, Morals, and Knowledge."1 In his opening remarks, he said, "*We must seek to reduce to an exact analysis the great doctrine, that the extension of the means of education and the general diffusion of 63 knowledge are beneficial to society.1 * This is necessary because education is the foundation of liber­ ty, science, and virtue. He explains that “everything else is so worthless when liberty is taken away, that its preservation may be considered, humanly speaking, the great object of life in civilized Orations, I, U3H. 63 Ibid., p. 602. 206 Sk communities.” And liberty Everett defines as "legal security for 65 life, personal freedom, and property." A wide diffusion of knowledge aids liberty "by disabusing the minds of men of thetheoretical frauds, by which arbitrary governments are upheld. It is a remark almost, if not quite, without exception, that all governments unfriendly to well-regulated liberty are founded on the basis of some religious imposture; the arm of military violence 66 is clothed with theenervating terrors of superstition." This sounds like an echo of trierevolutionary ideas of the eighteenth century. The diffusion of knowledge destroys superstitions, "and governments are brought down to their only safe and just basis - the welfare and consent of the governed. The entire cause of modern political reform 67 has started with the establishment of this principle . . . " The great examplegiven byEverett of the destruction ofsuper­ stition by the diffusion ofknowledge is thereformation. "In the solemn loneliness in which Luther found himself," Everett says, "he called around him not so much the masters of the Greek and Latin wis­ dom, through the study of the ancient languages, a3 he did the mass 68 of his own countrymen, by his translation of the Bible." There can be no successful revolutionary change in a country unless the people ----- Orations, I, 602. 65 Ibid., p. 603. 66 Ibid. 67 Ibid., p. 60U. 68 Ibid., p. 605. i 207 enjoy easy access to knowledge. "While the mass of the people re­ main ignorant, to undermine the system of oppression, political or ecclessiastical, under which, at any time, they may labor, is but 69 to stagger darkling from one tyranny to another." The immediate cause of political slavery may be force of some sort, usually military. But if we look back of that force, we find "that fatal inequality which results from hereditary ignorance. 70 This is the ultimate and solid foundation of despotism." Arbitrary power, however, is not the only danger to which liberty is exposed. "That popular intelligence, by which the acquisition of rational freedom is to be made, is still more necessary to protect it against anarchy. Here is the great test of a people, that deserve their freedom. . . . /because7 under a free government, there is nothing 71 but the intelligence of the people to keep the peopled peace." Everett*s statement which follows anticipates by more than a quarter century Lincoln*s apostrophe to American democracy as "the last best hope of earth." Everett saidt "To no people, since the world began, was such an amount of blessings and privileges ever given in trust. No people was ever so eminently made the guardians of their own rights; and if this great experiment of rational liber­ ty should here be permitted to fail, I know not where or when among 72 the sons of Adam it will ever be resumed." "1 JJ* # Orations, I, 607. 70 Ibid. 71 Ibid., p. 609. 72 Ibid. I 208 The dissemination, of knowledge aide the development of science. A new truth, when first stated, may he understood and appreciated by only a few minds. sults. But a process is started which has widespread re­ A new truth "corrects former systems, and authorizes new gen­ eralizations. Discussion and controversy begin; more truth is eli­ cited, more errors exploded, more douhts cleared up, more phenomena 73 drawn into the circle, unexpected connections of science traced . • ." As this process continues, more and more people are prepared to car­ ry on some branch of investigation. When we consider, then, how minds interact, and appreciate the "laws" of the mind, "we must see that it is the necessary consequence of the general extension of education that it should promote the progress of science." Speaking on another occasion, Everett said there were two gen­ eral ways in which systems of education had come to he established. One method was by "after-thought." This happened when a community grew populous and powerful - "an immense body of unenlightened peas­ ants, artisans, traders, soldiers, subjected to a small privileged class" which in turn "let learning creep in with luxury; be itself 75 esteemed a luxury . . . " The other method he proudly called "the Hew England system." He declared that this meant making education Orations. I, 613. 7h Ibid., p. 616. 75 "Education in the Western States," Orations, I, 209 a corner-3ton# of the commonwealth, "to make the care of the mind, from the outset, a part of its public economy; the growth of know76 ledge, a portion of its public wealth,** In ISHS Everett spoke at the dedication of the Cambridge High School, He reminisced about the superficial instruction of the schools during his youth, "A little reading, writing, and ciphering, a very little grammar, and for those destined for college a little Latin and G-reak, very indifferently taught, were all we got at a common town 77 school in my day,** Everett deplored the fact that in some “modern schools** there was a tendency to undervalue what he called the “ele­ ments,*' He described what he felt was the basis of a sound education. I hold, sir, that to read the English language well, that is, with intelligence, feeling, spirit, and effect; to write, with dispatch, a neat, handsome, legible hand, (for it Is, after all, a great ob­ ject of writing to have others able to read what you write;) and to be master of the four rules of arithmetic, so as to dispose at once with accuracy of every question of figures which comes up in practical life, - I say I call this a good education; and if you add the ability to write pure grammatical English, with the help of very few hard words, I regal’d it as an excellent education. These are the tools. You can do much with them, but you are help­ less without them. They are the foundation . . . 78 This sounds like the basic education for an orator or public speaker when we consider reading English with “feeling, spirit, and effect.** Wife the general spirit of this statement, however, we can have little quarrel. It would be difficult to show that these *»tools* are not the foundation of an education. fS , Orations, I, 3^5* 77 wfhe Cambridge High School,** Orations, II, 600. 78 Ibid., p. 601. At a county common school convention held at Taunton, Massachu­ setts, in 1S38* Everett discussed the "Importance of Education in a Republic" and he presented six essential ways in which education pre­ pared for the duties of citizenship. The practical tone of this ora­ tion is in marked contrast to the philosophic hasis for education which he discussed in the Phi Seta Kappa address. Under a system of government where the people are actually called upon to constitute and administer the government "education is uni­ versally and indispensably necessary* to enable them /the citizens7 79 to exercise their rights and perform their duties." Everett proceeds to consider the ways in which education prepares citizens. First, citizens must from time to time exercise their ri^bt of suffrage by voting* "This duty cannot be discharged with rectitude* 80 unless it be discharged with intelligence . . . " Unless a citizen wants to be "the slave of a party," he must learn to make up his own mind on great public questions "or he cannot exercise the right of suffrage 81 with intelligence and independence." Everett feels strongly about the independent-aindedness of the voter. He says that . . . While the constitution necessarily gives as much weight to the vote of the uninformed and ignorant as to that of the wellinstructed and Intelligent citizen, it is plain that the avenues of information should be as wide and numerous as possible; and that the utmost practical extension should be given to a system of education which will confer on every citizen the capacity of ^ 81 Orations, II, 3*6. Ibid., p. 3^7. 211 deriving knowledge, with readiness and accuracy, from books and documents. The whole energy of the state should be directed to multiply the numbers of those capable of forming an independent and rational judgment of their own, and to diminish as much as possible the numbers of the opposite class, who, being blinded by ignorance, are at the mercy of any one who has an Interest and skill to delude them. ^ Everett was governor of Massachusetts when he made this speech, so we can appreciate how free from pettiness he was as we read over this objective of education as training voters to exercise independent judgment. The second duty of education in preparing the citizen concerns the obligation that citizens bear arms in defense of the country. If we may judge from the past, the time will come when this will be neces­ sary. "It will not then be a matter of indifference whether the honor and peace of the community are committed to an Ignorant and benighted multitude, like those which swell the ranks of the mercenary standing armies of Europe, or to an educated and intelligent population, whose powers of reflection have been strengthened by exercise, and who are able to discriminate between constitutional liberty and arbitrary pow83 er on the one hand, and anarchy on the other." The third thing education should do is prepare the citizen for jury duty. This is a very serious duty, since twelve citizens hold decisions of character, property, life, and death. "It appears to me," he explains, "a most imperative duty, on the part of a state which 82 Orations. II, 3*7* 83 J Ibid., p. 318. i calls Its citizens to discharge this momentous office, to do all in Bk its power to qualify them by a general system of education." Fourth, education is needed to prepare cltisens to fill the many various elective offices of the government. Some of these local offices are very small, but taken together with the large ones they make up the system of administration under a free government. In consideration of this problem, Everett sets out the logical alterna­ tives. "Share are three courses, between which we must choose. We must have officers unqualified for their duties; or we must educate a privileged class, to monopolize the honors and emoluments of place; or we must establish such a system of general education, as will fur­ nish a supply of well-informed, intelligent, and respectable citizens, in every part of the country and in every walk of life, capable of 85 discharging the trusts which the people may devolve r©on them." The fifth thing we should expect of education grows out of the condition of our country. Individual enterprise is finding more and more outlets and this naturally leads to the acquisition of wealth. "In this I find no matter of reproach; only let it not be a merely Carthaginian prosperity," Everett says. "Let a taste for reading and reflection be cultivated, as well as property acquired. Let us give our children the keys of knowledge, as well as an establishment 86 in business." And then Everett adds, as if he were particularly §5 Orations. II, 3*9 • 213 disturbed at the Idea of the uneducated wealthy, HA mere hook-worm is a worthless character; but a mere money-getter is no better. It is a great mistake, to suppose that it is necessary to be a professional 87 man, in order to have leisure to indulge a taste for reading. * The sixth and final point is that education ”is the natural basis of a rational belief. It is the peculiarity of Christianity, as dis­ tinguished from other religions, that it addresses the understanding 88 as well as the heart." Education can strengthen religious faith and thus benefit the community. Everett proposed an interesting practical reform when he was a member of the House of Representatives. On December 13, 1828, he wrote to Josiah Holbrook, a leader in education and the lyceura move­ ment, commenting on the way members of Congress from each state have a quota of young men who can enter West Point. Everett wrote! "An education at this national school, is, as you are probably aware a more finished and thorough education, in every thing, except polite literature and the ancient languages, than can be had at any of our 89 private or public institutions." He suggested that appointments might be made by the Secretary of War on recommendation by state governors. • but for Massachusetts I would propose, that an annual examina­ tion should be held, by a Board of Education (or by examiners to be appointed by the governor and council, till we have such a board), of ^ Orations, II, 321. 88 Ibid., p. 32U. 89 Everett Papers dm, letterbook. 1 all the young men, who chooae to offer themselves as candidates for West Point; and that the examiners should present the three or four 90 hest to the Governor for recommendation to the Secretary of War." He added that this plan would eliminate patronage and favoritism and reward merit. On the same day Everett wrote to Governor Levi Lincoln of Massa­ chusetts discussing this proposal. system had considerable evils. He pointed out that the present “It is an unnecessary exercise of executive patronage and all patronage, which is unnecessary is pernieious, and at war with the spirit of our republican institutions. In reference to the members of Congress, it tends to favoritism. They have scarce any grounds of recommendation to go upon, other than those of personal acquaintance or kindred. . . . The substance of the evil is, that the present mode of appointment furnishes no security, that the most deserving and best qualified young men, in the state 91 will be selected." He proposed that a national law be passed where­ by each state executive would recommend young men to the Secretary of War. He then proposed that for Massachusetts a State Board hold an examination open to any young men of the state, in substance the same proposal he had written to Holbrook. MA.s a knowledge of the ancient languages is not required," he explained to Governor Lincoln, "the young men of every part of the Commonwealth would stand on nearly equal footing before the Examiners; and the annual examination would QQ Everett Papers 6U, letterbook. 91 ^ . Ibid. 215 probably bring together a large number of the most promising of our youth, to enter into generous competition with each other, in refer­ ence to their talent for making progress in the exact sciences; in /- -r 91 useful knowledge and the application to £sic/ philosophy to practice*” Unfortunately, this excellent plan of Everett’s came to naught. A few weeks later he wrote again to Governor Lincoln, reporting that he felt such a project would never pass the Congress. "On conversing with Gentlemen . . . from different parts of the Union, I am led to think that this attempt could not now be successfully made; and that 93 generally speaking, it is not a favorable moment.” We can only spec­ ulate as to the reasons which caused Everett to drop the plan. The one thing we do know from this is the practical and democratic qual­ ity of his thinking* U. Knowledge and Morality The enemies of education have always raised the argument that knowledge corrupts the character and is the enemy of religion. Everett firmly opposed this idea. "Knowledge,” he said, Mis the faithful ally both of natural and revealed religion.” In one of his speeches he made a careful defense of education against this charge. He began by stating the preposition ”that there seems in indi­ viduals, no fixed proportion between intellectual and moral growth. __ — Everett Papers 6U, letterbook. Ibid*, 65, letterbook. ”Education Favorable to Liberty,” Orations. I, €30. I 216 Eminent talent and distinguished attainment are sometimes connected 95 with obliquity of character." He goes on then to point out that all the French philosophers of the eighteenth century were, with a few exceptions, notorious "for disbelief in revealed religion? an insen­ sibility to the delicacies of moral restraint; a want of that purity of feeling and character, which we would gladly consider the insepa96 rable attendant of intellectual civilization." Everett is willing to admit the corruption of the French intel­ lectuals, but he claims that it was other conditions and not knowledge that caused it. He lists these as; the feudal partitions of society, 97 cutting off connections between social levels; the patronage of a 98 99 dissolute court ("The great monitors of society were hushed."); and "The pulpit . . . was struck dumb . . . " because of vices in that 100 order; and "The press was mute on every thing which touched the vices of the time. It was not, then, the diffusion of knowledge from the philosophical circles of Paris, that corrupted France; it was the gross darkness of the provinces, and the deep degradation every where of the majority of the people, which left unrebuked the depravity of the capital. 95 101 It was precisely a diffusion of knowledge that was wantedS Orations, I, 628. 96 Ibid. 97 Ibid. 98 Ibid. 99 Ibid., p. 629. 100 Ibid., p. 628. 101 Ibid., p. 629. 217 Everett*s contention was that hoth natural and revealed religion were aided by the diffusion of knowledge. "Natural religion is one grand deduction made hjr the enlightened understanding, from a faithful study of the great "book of nature; and the record of revealed religion, contained in the Bible, is not merely confirmed by the harmony which the mind delights to trace between it and the 'elder Scripture writ by God's own hand;* but revelation, in all ages, has called to its aid the meditations and researches of pious and learned men; and most assuredly, at every period, for one man of learning, superficial or profound, who has turned the weapons of science against religion or 102 morals, hundreds have consecrated their labors to its defence." All this is argument drawn from history and very difficult if not impossi­ ble to refute logically. There is a contemporary application which Everett makes. "What but knowledge is to prevent us, in short, from being borne down and carried away by the overwhelming tide of fanaticism and delusion, put 103 in motion by the moon-struck impostors of the day?" The two "impostors" named by him are Joseph Smith /Everett calls him "Joe Smith^7 and Matthias /Robert Matthews/" who was the temporarily notorious leader of a religious cult. When a person was ready to give credence to either of these, he was "down to a degree of ignorance, on which rea1C& son and Scripture are alike lost . . . " 102 0ratlone. I, 63O. lt” Ibid. 21S In the final analysis religion and morals cannot he separated from the diffusion of knowledge, Ererett felt. velops the spiritual nature of man, Human knowledge de­ HBy knowledge, the wings of the Intellect are spread; hy ignorance, they are closed and palsied, and the physical passions are left to gain the ascendency. Knowledge opens up all the senses to the wonders of creation; ignorance seals them up, and leaves the animal propensities unbalanced hy reflection, 105 enthusiasm, and taste.” 5* Self-Taught Men In our own time examples of self-made men are frequently brought to attention in order to prove that higher education is not necessary. It seems to he a characteristic of a business community that the selfmade man he exalted. During Everett’s lifetime the same charge was brought against education. And again he developed a good, solid de­ fense. He pointed out that the colonists who came to this country trans­ ported with them the developed culture of the Old World. "The great professional institutions of the Old World were substantially trans­ ferred to the New. They carried to the remotest cabin of the settler of English descent, those foundation principles of social right which had been maturing in the common law for ages. The French settler brought with him the still older principles transmitted in the Roman 106 code . . . ” For a century and a half men had an initial struggle Orations, I, 631* ”Academical Education,” Orations, III, ^97• I 219 with nature, hut there was never a “disconnection from the mind of the civilized world; - no intellectual, crudeness in any period of our 107 history.“ American civilization "began in an atmosphere of culture which would in some way affect everyone. Ererett disclaims any lack- of sympathy with “self-taught men.* Precisely because some men have had to struggle “in the face of pov­ erty, friendless obscurity, distance from all the facilities for im­ provement, and inability to command their time" Everett would like to 108 see the means of education multiplied. He would spare gifted indivi­ dual s the bitter experiences of the struggle for success when they have not had any educational opportunities. This premised, I have four words to say concerning self-taught men. The first is, that while a few minds of a very high order rise superior to the want of early opportunities, with the mass of men, that want, where it exists, can never be fully repaired. In the next place, although it is given to a few very superior intellects to rise to eminence without opportunities for early education, it by no means follows that, even in their case, such opportunities would not have been highly beneficial, in smooth­ ing the arduous path and leading to an earlier and more perfect development of the mental powers. Accordingly we find in the third place, that highly intelligent men, who have felt the want of early education themselves are, (without exception, as far as my observation has gone) the best friends of academic education; as if determined that others should enjoy the advantages of which they were deprived. . . . Lastly, this epithet, “self-taught," is subject itself to great misconception. It Is by no means to be supposed, because eminent men, in any department of science or art, passed their first years and earned their first laurels without early opportunities of education, that they remained, more than other men, destitute to the end of their lives of in­ struction from abroad. 107 Orations, III, U97. 10S Ibid., p. 1»99. 1Q9 Ibid. 220 la fact, Everett claims that as sooa as a gifted person learned to read and then had access to hooks "he is no longer self-taught, he is a regularly entered pupil in the great high-school of recorded 110 knowledge, in which the wise and famous of every age are the masters." Everett also objected to the charge that college and university study was "antiquated, and abstract" and far from useful. He said he had no argument against utility, but utility "is in its ordinary ac­ ceptation the handmaid of imperfection and frailty, and carries with 111 it a greasy feel of selfishness, - a brassy taste of self." Materialsim, as such, is not very pleasing, It is true that practical achievement is a product of the mind, but there are heights beyond material achievement. "There are truths and groups of truths, which seem to bind all creation, - the flower of the field, the stars of 112 the sky, and the marvelous frame of man in bonds of strange analogy." To attempt to understand these is right reason for college education. Finally, "the value and importance of collegiate education can be sufficiently vindicated as the appropriate discipline and preparation 113 for . . . the life of a Christian man in civilised society." Orations, III, 500. 111 Ibid., p. 501. 112 Ibid., p. 502. 113 Ibid., p. 50^. 221 6* College Education When Everett “became president of Harvard College, it meant that the most noted scholar in the country had "become head of the oldest and most respected university. One would expect something quite worth-while to come from this. But Everett's experience as Harvard's president was very unhappy. And the experience seemed as devoid of significant ideas as it was full of unhappiness. The inauguration ceremony on April 30, 18U6, where Webster seems deliberately to have stolen the show, was the occasion for an oration entitled "University Education." Everett advocated that the univer­ sity take two steps in expansion - "first, by establishing a philoso­ phy faculty, in which the various branches of science and literature should be cultivated, beyond the limits of an academical course, with a view to a complete liberal education, and secondly, by organizing a school of theoretical and practical science, for the purpose esoecially of teaching its apoHcation to the arts of life, and of furllH ni shing a supply of skilful engineers . . . " This desire to establish a scientific school was one objective which bora fruit. Frothinghara points out that "Conspicuous among his achievements must be counted the establishment of the Scientific School. This was due almost entirely to his unaided efforts, and he was not disposed to have others claim the credit which was his by 115 right." Everett persuaded his close friend Mr. Abbott Lawrence to 114 . ^ OrationB, II, 496. 115 p. 290. 222 make a gift of $5°i000 t0 tiie university for this purpose. established the Lawrence Scientific School. Thus was And for the faculty of this school Everett was able to secure the appointment to a professor­ ship of Louis Agassiz. In the inaugural Everett defined the objectives of a university education as: I. The acquisition of knowledge in the various branches of science and literature, as a general preparation for the learned profes­ sions and the other liberal pursuits of life; II. In the process of acquiring this knowledge, the exercise and development of the intellectual faculties, as a still more import­ ant part of the great business of preparation; and III. The formation of a pure and manly character, exhibiting that union of moral and intellectual qualities which most command con­ fidence, respect, and love. These are certainly general and respectable enough statements. Ex­ cept for the first point, they reflect conditions rather than indicate any great weight of original thought. He did, however, express the conviction that there could be no complete system of education until attention was given to "exercising our physical powers." I omit the consideration of this subject, not because I undervalue its importance, but because I cannot think that such a revolution in manners and opinion will soon take place, as to give to physi­ cal education in our colleges any thing like the degree of atten­ tion which it deserves. I cannot, however, but propose it as a question well deserving more consideration than is usually given it, whether regular provision ought not to be made, at our schools and colleges, for such kinds and degrees of manly and generous exercise as would moat conduce to health and strength, and best develop and strengthen all the wonderful capacities of the human frame. There can be no doubt, that, for the want of 11C "University Education," Orations, II, ^97* 223 these exercises, and from the neglect of the other conditions on which the enjoyment of health depends, the foundations are in many cases early laid of the diseases which condemn so many of the educated classes to a suffering and comparatively inef­ fective career, and to premature decline. We dig our own graves in youth. ' Cubberly points out that the beginnings of interest in physical edu­ cation in this country date from 1275 to 1880 "with the introduction 118 of Swedish gymnastics into this country." So Everett’s statement of 1SU6 takes on added interest in being a plea for physical education thirty years before a real interest developed. But. the bulk of this oration is a collection of professional observations, lacking either the philosophical reasoning or the prac­ tical applications which marked some of the other educational addresses. He states that students must have some knowledge of "the great art of 119 communication." He recognises that students are asked to cover too much ground in a short time "and that, of the branches of study to which his attention is called, all cannot be equally important for 120 the future uses of life in its various callings." He recalls how uni­ versities have tried to remove the exclusive emphasis on divinity, rhetoric, and logic, and claims that in doing so, they have created such a multiplication of academic subjects that a student Cannot give 121 adequate time to any one branch of knowledge. We must not, of course, Orations, II, 498. 113 Public Education in the United States (Boston, 193*0» P* 60S. 119 ._ Orations, II, 499. 120 Ibid., p. 501. 224 Everett says, fall into the “popular error" of assuming that any one "branch of knowledge is mastered in the time spent in getting a uni122 versity education. In these observations there is no consideration given as to pos­ sible studies which ought to be added to the college curriculum. Everett had, at times in the past, thought along these lines, for on August IS, IS36* he wrote in his journal: "It appears to me that a compendious treatise on the law of nations adapted for colleges would prove an excellent work. The illustrations should be principally from history of the last 80 years. 123 at our seminaries," This branch is almost wholly neglected Everett speaks out strongly in favor of mental discipline. "I am disposed to think that the more we meditate on the subject, the more we shall incline to the conclusion that the mental faculties are in some very peculiar manner modified, strengthened, and perfected by 124 discipline." The university carries on the work already started in the family and elementary school "of forming and developing by wise discipline the various mental powers;" this makes the selection of subjects for study extremely important. As to determining whether "the classical" or "the mathematical" classes of study are most im­ portant in university education, Everett approves the general prac126 tice of giving proportionate attention to each. 122 Orations, II, 502. Everett Papers 148, journal. Orations, II, 506. 125 Ibid., p. 507. 126 Ibid., p. 50S. 225 He feels that language study is "extremely congenial" to the minds of most men. Because thought is so closely allied with the symbols used for its expression, "the study of languages in its hi^i127 est form is the study of the processes of pure intellect," The study of languages and of literary criticism aids mental discipline. The study of language makes oossible the enjoyment of eloquence and poe12S try. On the other hand, "an eminently accurate practical mind is 129 hardly to he formed without mathematical training." The chief duty of a college, as of any place of education, is to produce a high standard of character. Everett looked with a jaundiced eye at the religious conditions around him. "I cannot subdue the feel­ ing, that our modem Christendom, with all its professions and in all its communions, is sinking into a practical heathenism, which needs a great work - I had almost said a new dispensation - of reform, scarce130 ly less than the decrepit paganism of Greece and Rome." To offset this he advocates some form of "direct religious instruction." advances this idea with apparent confidence. He "I am not unaware of the difficulty which attends the performance of this duty, in consequence of the differences in doctrinal opinion which prevail in the commun­ ity. . . . In a country, however, like ours, where there is no relig­ ious establishment, and consequently where no one communion has a right to claim preference for its doctrines, the difficulty alluded 127 Orations, II, 508. 12S Ibid., p. 509. 129 Ibid., p. 510. *30 Ibid., p. 5lH. I 226 to exists rather in theory, than in the practical administration of 131 a place of education hy earnest men . . . " The parts of direct re­ ligious instruction which he feels would cause no difference of opin­ ion are "the great truths of natural religion, . . . the principles of Christian ethics, and the evidences of the Christian revelation, under the guidance of text-hooks which unite the confidence, at 132 least, of all classes of Protestant Christians . . ." It was these ideas at the close of the inaugural address which caused Emerson to record in his journal: "The close of Everett’s inaugural discourse was chilling and melancholy. With a coolness indicating absolute scepticism and despair, he deliberately gave himself over to the corpse-cold Unitarianism and Immortality of Brattle Street and Bos133 ton." When Everett spoke before a joint committee of the Massachusetts legislature appealing for aid for Williams, Amherst, and Harvard, he gave chief stress to four practical arguments. First, governmental 134 aid would help reduce “the general expense of education." This would be particularly desirable in the case of students whose parents have only moderate means. scientific equipment,, The second use of aid would be to buy more "New truths and facts, requiring new experiment­ al illustrations, are constantly discovered in natural philosophy." ^ Orations, II, 515* 152 Ibid. x33 Journal, VII, 170. T "’’ I t "Aid to the Colleges," Orations, II, 5^3* 227 Everett reinforced this with an argument designed to appeal to the business mind. "Without taking into account deterioration by use, antiquated apparatus in the lecture-room is as useless as antiquated machinery in a manufacturing establishment. The advancement which has been made within thirty years in spinning and weaving, is not 135 greater than that which has taken place in physical science." The third necessity is expenditure for the library. "I would call it 136 the mp3t important, if I knew degrees in these matters . . finally Everett asked for funds to give more assistance to "meritor137 ious young men in indigent circumstances." 7. Preparation of Teachers Frothingham claims that Everett deserves more credit than he has 138 received for the establishment of normal schools in Massachusetts. However that may be, Everett was as clearly a champion of teacher training as he was of general education. In 1S39 Everett spoke on "Normal Schools" and presented his ar­ guments for the preparation of teachers. The function of the teacher in training young people is all important, he felt. "After all that has been said, in all ages, on the subject, more than justice has not 139 been, and never can be, done to the theme." Some of the first distinct 135 Orations, II, 136 Ibid., p. 5U6. ibid., p. 550. ^ P . 137. 139 Orations. II, 3^. 228 moral Ideas are given to the child hy the teacher. matter?" Everett asks. "Is this a light "If the teacher was to fashion your child's personal proportions, or to remould his features, with what jealousy would you inquire after his qualifications for that taskl Is it of lto less importance how he fashions and moulds the features of the mind?" And when we look around at all the different kinds of human pursuits, we find that all of them require diligent preparation. Consequently, Hno one can seriously suppose that the office of an instructor makes 1^1 an exception." The qualifications of teachers at the present time depend upon a number of circumstances. Natural aptitude will make the difference between a good teacher and a poor one. This is naturally true in every type of work, "and is never thought to supersede the necessity lh2 of education." A teacher's fitness also depends upon the kind of in­ struction he himself received in school. "A good degree of the school- keeping capacity, and I may say, also, incapacity, are traceable to this source. Our schools are under a kind of traditionary discioline. 1U3 . . . Mediocrity is more apt to be propagated than excellence." Everett was certainly under no starry-eyed delusions about the pro­ cesses of education. He declares that if an average teacher has charge of a school for a few years, "he will not be likely to make any i®~ provements, and will do very well if he hands it over to his successor “ xSo . Orations, II, 3^* lla Ibid., p. ^ Ibid., p. 3^5* ll*3 ibid., p. 3^6. I 229 im as good as he found it.” It thus does not take long for a school system In a city to lag hehind everything else. A teacher may qualify himself "by experience. However, good teach­ ers so qualified tend not to he found in the common schools hut in higher positions. Also, it is the nature of some men not to learn anything from experience. ”. . . whether a man’s experience profit him depends upon whether it is good experience, which may he either successful experience, or unsuccessful experience wisely heeded; and it may often happen that the recorded experience of another more ju~ 1% diclous mind will in reality guide a man better than his own.” then, are an important means of qualification. Books, Everett commended the great increase in educational publications in recent years and went so far as to state that "for practical views, what has been written within the last fifty years exceeds, both in amount and value, all 146 that had before been given to the world on the subject of education.” Everett felt there were four chief branches of instruction to be given in the normal schools. First would be a thorough review of all the subjects that are taught in the common schools. ”A good school­ master should be able to read and speak the English language with pro­ priety, ease, and grace; and this cannot be done without a thorough knowledge of grammar* He should possess, at the same time, a clear, shapely, and rapid handwriting, and be well versed in the elemental ^ 1^5 ^ Orations, II, 3^6. Ibid., p. 3^7Ibid., p. 3^8. I 230 lU? principles and operations of numbers." Everett felt that a man who thoroughly possessed these fundamentals was as rare as a man of em­ inence in a learned profession. It is not just the "basic subjects which must be known. "Bare knowledge of a fact" does not qualify a teacher. The teacher must see the truth under all its aspects, with its antecedents and consequents, or he cannot present it in just that shape in which the young mind can apprehend it. . . . It is not an uncommon thing to hear it said of a grown person that he is too learned to teach children; that he knows too much, is too far in advance of their minds, to perceive their difficulties. I imagine the trouble generally to be of the opposite character. The man of learning either never under­ stood the matter thoroughly, or he has forgotten what he once knew. . . . If in this state of things he cannot comprehend the schoolboy's difficulty, it is no.t his superior wisdom, but his ignorance, which is at fault." The second main subject for the normal school is "the art of teaching." This goes beyond a thorough knowledge of the subject matter to be taught. "The subject should be taken up at its founda­ tion, in those principles of our nature on which education depends; the laws which control the faculties of the youthful mind in the pursuit and attainment of truth; and the moral sentiments on the part of teacher and pupil which must be brought into harmonious ac­ tion. The future teacher must be instructed in the most effectual way of reaching untaught mind - a process subtile, difficult, var­ ious. The first thing requisite often will be to ascertain what has 1^9 to be unlearned . . . " The art of teaching reaches its perfection 1 7 Orations, II, 350* ^ Ibid., p. 351* ll+9 Ibid., p. 352. A 231 win hitting the precise point between that which the studious pupil must do for himself, and that which the instructor may do with him 150 and for hlm.w addition to the art of teaching "peculiar methods, applicable to each branch of knowledge" should be studied in the 151 normal schools. The third important area of study concerns "the government of the school." This means the exercise of a moral influence which will bring the most favorable improvement in the pupils. "It is this part of their duty which is probably least considered by themselves or their employers; for the reason, perhans, that qualification in this 152 respect is least capable of being estimated by an external standard." Everett analyzes the difficulties of discipline and what is expected of a teacher. Without the aid of that instinct of natural affection which for­ tifies parental authority, he is expected, with a parent's power, to control alike the docile and the obstinate, the sullen and the gay. While his entire intercourse with his pupils is that of constraint and requisition, he must acquire an absolute control over many a youthful spirit, which has already been irritated by caprice, soured by tyranny, or spoiled by indulgence at home. And he is to do this not by violence and storm, but by wisely threading the maze of that living labyrinth, the affections of the youthful heart. . . • there has been a general call for mor­ al influence, instead of physical power. I do not say that this last should never be resorted to, but I trust the day is wholly past for that ferocious warfare between master and pupil, which was once so general, and with no other effect than that of turning the teacher's office into a hateful tyranny . . . *53 150 Orations, II. 353. 151 Ibid., p. 35U. 152 Ibid., p. 355. 153 Ibid. I 232 It would be easy to rule the school “with a ratan in the hand.*1 To treat each discipline case separately is much more difficult. Disci­ pline is Mthat part of the teacher’s duty which demands the rarest union of qualities, which most tries the temper, and I will add, when faithfully and judiciously performed, is most important in its re15U cults." The fourth study in the normal school would be an actual ’•school of practice." Here the young teacher could have actual "exercise in the business of instruction" under the guidance and direction of the 155 principal. Such a program would build up the common school system. Everett felt that if any individual considered that a "common school educa­ tion" was something to be disoaraged, then he did not appreciate the 156 American political system or the nature of man. "I'or myself I admit, if the admission is desired, that a good system of common school edu­ cation is, next to religious influences, the great and solid founda­ tion of a prosperous state. 157 on straw and stubble*" To build on any thing else is to build With these ideas and principles there can be little argument. They are not original with Everett. His advocacy of them shows his alignment and sympathy with those forces making for development and reform in the educational system* ^ Orations, II, 35&» 155 Ibid., p. 357. 156 Ibid., p. 360157 nSecond Speech on Aid to the Colleges," Orations, II, 618. I 233 8. "Education for Practical Life*1 Around the year 1830 Everett spoke a number of times "before institutions for scientific improvement on the subject of the "Impor­ tance of Scientific Knowledge to Practical Men, and the Encouragements 158 to Its Pursuit." He claimed that the cultivation of the mind was just as important for workingmen as for any other class in society; conse­ quently mechanics ought to be well instructed "in the scientific prin159 ciples and natural laws" on which their work depends. If science is given up solely to the philosophers, then the practical work of life 160 becomes "a matter of traditionary repetition." Everett disliked the dominance of tradition in education. or of education, he declared; At another time, arguing in fav­ "Good husbandry requires that attention should be constantly given to the discovery of improved methods, and the introduction of new varieties raised from the seed. 161 closely allied to degeneracy." Tradition is Although the popularization of knowledge has made the principles of natural science easily available, yetactualinstruction is confined to the colleges, and "it does notseem in them right,that none but those intended for the pulpit, the bar, or the profession of med­ icine, should receive instruction in those principles which regulate the operation of the mechanical powers, and lie at the foundation of 158 Orations. I, 2U6-83- 159 Ibid., p. 2U6. 160 Ibid., p. 2^7. 161 11jformal Schools," Orations, II, 3^7* I 234 complicated machinery . . 162 For this reason Everett declares that there has been hardly anything which might he called Meducation for 163 practical life.M The argument is frequently made that great discoveries and in­ ventions come either from self-taught men or through accident. There is some truth in this, he admits, hut not proof that most men should 164 consequently ignore scientific education. Everett does not advocate that every practical application of science he taught hut that “the general laws and principles should he so taught, as greatly to multi­ ply the numbers of persons competent to carry forward such casual sug165 gestions of improvement- as may present themselves . . ." There are three circumstances in the United States which encour­ age young men to apply themselves to get some scientific education. The first point is that workers in this country are on a "much more 166 liberal footing" than in Europe. The second point is that since America is a new country there are many more opportunities for labor 167 and enterprise* Finally, workers should he encouraged hy the compar­ es atively high rank which they hare in the American political system. Everett concluded that "the man who should in this country express l^Orations, If 24S. Ibid., p. 249. Ibid., pp. 249-50. 165 Ibid., p. 251. 166 Ibid., p. 256. ^ 7 Ibid., p. 260. l6s Ibid., p. 268 . 235 the opinion that the education of the people foreboded ill to the state, would merely he regarded as wanting common judgment and saga- 169 city." 9. Science and Progress Everett was convinced that he lived in an age of progress. "We live in an age of improvement; an age in which investigation is ac­ tive and successful in every quarter; and in which what has been ef­ fected, however wonderful, is but the brilliarifcpromise of what may 170 further be done." Science encourages man "to scrutinize every de­ partment of knowledge, however trite and familiar" in order to dis­ 171 cover new relationships." He seems always to have been fascinated by the interrelation­ ships between forces, between cause and effect. A discovery in one field of knowledge might well lead to some new activity in another. "Thus a mechanical invention may lead to a geographical discovery; a physical cause, to a political or an intellectual effect. A discovery results in an art; an art produces a comfort; a comfort, made cheaply accessible, adds family on family to the population; and a family is a new creation of thinking, reasoning, inventing, and discovering beings. Thus, instead of arriving at the end, we are at the begin­ ning of the series, and ready to start, with recruited numbers, on 172 the great and beneficent Orations, I, 269 170 Ibid., p. 270. 171 Ibid., p. 272. 172 Ibid., p. 271*. career of useful knowledge." 236 There are many truths, now unknown, waiting to he discovered. Vast progress has been made in art and science but the goal is not yet at hand. infinite. "Art and science are, in themselves, progressive and They are moving powers, animated principles; they are instinct with life; they are themselves the intellectual life of man. Nothing can arrest them which does not plunge the entire or173 der of society into barbarism." This firm conviction of the importance of science is reflected in many things which Everett said and did. As a member of the House of Representatives, early in his public career, he was interested in the support of a National. Observatory by Congress. He wrote of his disappointment on this subject to Professor Cleaveland on March 5» 1827: "I am sorry to say that Congress has risen without taking up the subject of a National Observatory. Our violent political conten­ tions prevent the doing of much public and private and public /eicj business of immediate and pressing importance, and put every thing like the encouragement of science out of the question. These things must be left to be brought about by the gradual action of public sen17U timent on our legislators." Clearly this was a subject not to be ad­ vanced by politicians. On October 20, 1833, he recorded in his journal: "Went to town today to attend a meeting of persons in favor of forming an Association 173 Orations, I. 275* vjb Everett Papers 60, letterbook. 237 for the promotion of Science. F. C. Gray chosen secretary. lutions. I was called to the chair and Mr. Dr. Warren brought forward the reso­ They were advocated hy Judge Story . . . It is proposed that the Organization should originate with the American Philosoph175 ical Society.** So persistent was this interest in science that, as already noted, Everett linked the study of science and literature as the first objective of a university education. And we have also seen how he wanted the practical phases of science to he introduced as subject matter into the educational system. On August 28, IS56, Everett was the orator at the dedication of the Dudley Observatory in Albany, New York. ’•The Uses of Astronomy.” He chose as his subject The early part of the oration was devoted to a description of the advance made by astronomy in this country, since it had long since "passed that point where it is content to repeat the 1?6 observations and verify the results of European research.” Americans may well be proud of this progress, "For astronomy, perhaps to a greater extent than any other department of natural science, exhibits phenomena, which, while they task the highest powers of philosophical research, are also well adapted to arrest the attention of minds bare­ ly tinctured with scientific culture, and even to touch the sensibil177 ities of the wholly uninstructed observer." 375 Everett Papers 151, journal. 17^ Orations, III, 177 Ibid., p. U33. I 238 The main part of the address is Everett’s justification for the expenditure of such huge sums of money as are required to erect ob­ servatories. His first reason is that from observatories alone do we get "our only adequate measures of time and our only means of compar- 17g ing the time of one place with the time of another." This time mea­ surement is not only important for the many needs of daily life but 179 for the purposes of history and chronology. The second practical use concerns geography, "latitude and long­ itude, which lie at the basis of all descriptive geography, are de­ termined by observation. Ho map deserves the name, on which the posi- 180 tion of important points has not been astronomically determined." The federal land system, which brought order out of chaos, depends upon astronomy. "At this moment, a most important survey of the coast of the United States is in progress; an operation of the utmost con­ sequence, in reference to the geography, commerce, navigation, and hydrography of the country. The entire work, I need scarce say, is 181 one of practical astronomy." 132 The third use of astronomy concerns commerce and navigation. In discussing this, Everett states his conviction that astronomy is no- 183 where near perfection. He feels that whatever advance is made, theo­ retical or applied, it will be "in connection with an increased com- 18k nand of instrumental power." 178 Orations, III, I+36. x79 Ibid., p. I+38. 150 Ibid., p. I+39. 151 Ibid., p. 1+1+1. 132 Ibid., p. 1+1+3. 1S3 Ibid., p. 1+1+5. 1Sl* Ibid., p. 1+1+8. 239 The ultimate object of all knowledge is "to enlarge and purify the soul," and no other science can claim precedence over astronomy in furthering this end. He declares that "No other science furnishes such a palpable embodiment of the abstractions which lie at the found­ ation of our intellectual system; the great ideas of time, and space, and extension, and magnitude, and number, and motion, and power. How grand the conception of the ages on ages required for several of the secular equations of the solar system; of distances, from which the light of a fixed star would not reach us in twenty millions of years; 135 of magnitudes . . . " All contemplation of this sort furnishes thought for the spiritual nature of man. "Finally, my friends, I believe there is no contemplation better adapted to awaken devout ideas than that of the heavenly bodies; no branch of natural science which brings clearer testimony to the power and wisdom of God than that to which you this 136 day consecrate a temple." 105 Orations. Ill, U57 126 Ibid., p. U63. I CHAPTER 7 THE VOICE 07 STATE STREET Henry Adams has some discerning ohserrations to make about his uncle Edward Everett's eulogy of his grandfather John Quincy Adams* This eulogy Everett gave at Faneuil Hall on April 15 , IgUS, “at the 1 unanimous request of the Legislature of Massachusetts** Like all Mr* Everett's orations, it was an admirable piece of oratory, such as only an admirable orator and scholar could create • • • but already the boy knew that the dead President could not be in it, and had eren learned why he would be out of place there . . . The shadow of the War of 1812 still hung over State Street; the shadow of the Civil War to come had already begun to darken Faneuil Hall* No rhetoric could have reconciled Mr. Everett's audience to his subject. How could he say there, to an assemblage of Bostonians in the heart of mercantile Boston, that the only distinctive mark of all the Adamses . . . had been their inherited quarrel with State Street • • •?" 2 But Everett, whom Henry called "one of the most ambitious of 3 Bostonians," was, by lSHS - the date of this eulogy - an accomplished representative of the patrician Boston viewpoint. With his entrance into politics, Everett assumed, whether consciously or not, the bur­ den of presenting and defending the economic philosophy of State Street. Schlesinger comments, "Among the younger group, the most promising in I83O was perhaps Edward Everett, that pale, courteous and polished man, tall and erect, with his handsome and conventional face and his fatal flow of rhetoric, who was nearly smothered by the ^ Orations. II, 555“97. ^ Education of Henry Adams (Boston, 1913), p. 21. 3 Ibid., p. 23. adulation which surrounded him. . • • Now he shone In politics, a leading member of the House and the white hope of the clubs of BosU ton." 1, Conservative Boston and Everett The second quarter of the nineteenth century brought tremendous economic changes to Massachusetts. Tradition would have us believe that everyone In the state followed the "enlightened conservatism" of the "god-like" Daniel Webster. But this is not true. This was a period of reform, and at the end of it, Massachusetts had entered a 5 new social order. The Massachusetts aristocracy was built on the old shipping trade and the new manufacturing of cotton and wool. The merchant class centered in Boston which had always had an aristocracy anyway. The merchants and bankers controlled financial affairs in the state and, as a group, were the socially elite. Bverett had allied himself with this ruling group through his marriage to Charlotte Gray Brooks, a daughter of Peter C. Brooks. Everett*s cautious nature and his love of formality and the aesthetic graces were psychological factors strengthening the affect of this alliance. His entrance into politics was in 1S2U, with election to the House of Representatives, and this came at a time when intellec­ tual and political life in the state was still dominantly conservative. ^ The Age of Jackson (Boston, 19^6) * p. IH5 . 5 The introductory material on Boston in this section is taken from Darling, pp. 2-3S. 2**2 Part of this conservative atmosphere was due to the fact that Massachusetts did not disestablish the state church until 1833* And in the early 1820*s Everett believed in the system of state support for the churches. On Past Bay. April 5» 1321. he preached a sermon S which he entitled "The Support of Religion by the State." In this sermon he deplored the decreasing emphasis on religion and the in7 crease in party politics. In speaking for state support of religion he said, "The error in our system, the prejudice in our opinions . . . is our neglect to employ the means and resources of the Public State, for the support and encouragement of religion. I think our country is the first and only instance, in the history of the world, either in ancient heathen or in modern Christian or antichristian days of a country, which, in its public and civil capacity, has taken no mea- 8 sures to imho Id the worship of God." Exis entire sermon is a gener­ alized defense of state support, which he declared was "combining the legal protection of the worship of God, with the freedom of private conscience; enjoining on the members of society to contribute to the support of Religion, but leaving them unrestrained as to what fora of it they will support. It is clear that against this system no plea 9 of violated conscience can hold." Such conservatism as this would certainly direct a man’s sympathies toward the ruling classes of Boston. ?---- This is a 29-page, dated manuscript, in Everett’s handwriting. Everett Papers 2Uh, box of manuscripts. ^ Ibid., pp. *M>. 8 Ibid., p. 99 Ibid., p. 18. 2^3 Later, when Everett was governor, he yearned for the older re­ ligious attitudes in a way which shows his fundamental conservatism. He recorded in his journal on Thursday, April 17, 1836: "East Day* Attended church all day. . • • The old strictness with which fast day was observed seems to me to he founded on just principles. It would he difficult with the -universal relaxation which has taken place in every thing else to keep it up; - hut it tended to nourish a reflec- 10 tive temper." ing: On April 24 of that same year, he recorded the follow­ "Attended church all day. Dr. Flint of Salem preached; - stud­ ied and ingenious discourse, too fine for my taste. I daily grow more and more desirous of preaching which brings home to me the van­ ity of this world. - I fear the rationalists are on the wrong track; and I cannot coincide with the opposite party. Would to God there were any course which on sound rational principles would present the 11 great truths of religion in an awakening form to the mind." These are the statements of a man dissatisfied, fearful of present trends and looking backward to a safer and more acceptable time. idea he expressed again on January lU, 1838s The same "It appears to me that the great truths of Natural Theology are too much neglected. Were they firmly and with strong conviction embedded in the mind: - the 12 truths of Revelation would find much easier access." These conserv­ ative sentiments Everett recorded during a time of political success. They sure not just a reflection of outer defeat. 10 Everett Papers 148, journal. 11 Ibid. 12 Ibid., 150, journal. Zkk Webster, too, influenced Everett toward the safe conservative side* In the early years of his political career Everett constantly consulted Webster. Darling claims that Everett wrote to a friend ap­ pealing for a private subscription of $100,000 to be raised by Boston friends, which Everett would hold in trust and use to maintain Webster in public life. "Such gratuities, perhaps, * Darling writes, "were not considered in those times as at all out of the way. Perhaps Webster was not bound to carry out the particular wishes of those benefactors who solved his private financial difficulties, and no doubt he fre­ quently went contrary to their immediate interests. The fact remains, however, that besides his regular salary as Senator and fees from his legal practice, Webster received financial support from his political 13 constituency.* Behind the polished public performance Everett*s per­ ceptive brain found it easy to adjust to political realities. If he could think as clearly as this about political ways and means for maintaining the conservative position, we would expect his orations to explain and defend this position. Parrlngton points out that the War of 1812 brought to an end Ik «the complacent little Boston of Fisher Ames.* Federalism, with its plan for Hew England secession, was gradually put aside, and with it went the old pessimistic attitudes. As the winds of political and economic doctrine veered, there was a noticeable shift in the attitude 13 P. 132. ^ Vernon Louis Parrlngton, Main Currents in American Thought (Hew York, 1927)* II, 296. of Massachusetts toward the great American experiment in republican government. A newer type of conservatism replaced the Usher Ames philosophy. Democracy was now accepted. Property was secure. De­ pendable gentlemen, who owned property and held the right principles, were in control of the state. Everett fitted well into this happier and more confident conservatism. In evaluating the career of Webster, Parrlngton shows that Web­ ster's early political and economic philosophy was in the English liberal tradition. But a change came in Webster's thinking at ap­ proximately the time when Everett first entered politics. After 182U the earlier Webster with his solid understanding, his frank realism, his honest exposition of fundamental princi­ ples, slowly gave way to the lawyer, the politician, the oppor­ tunist of the unhappy later years. With the change the last au­ thentic voice of the eighteenth century was silenced; the break with the old English tradition was complete. Immediate, domestic issues muddied his thought, and Webster and America plunged into a bitter partisanship produced by the new alignments of an equalitarian agrarianism, a capitalistic industrialism, and a feudal slavocracy. Feudalism was dead and in its stead was the Whig party, patched together of odds and ends, devoid of principles, seeking only expediency; and of this party Webster became an out­ standing spokesman. It was an Ignoble time, and his great abil­ ities were not substantial enough to save him from the common meanness. 15 Webster's opportunistic position was not apparent during the first years that Everett was in politics. highly of him. His contemporaries thought His defense of the Constitution against Calhoun's ar­ guments, in 1833, "as 0X1 important legal contribution to the great constitutional argument of this period. compromise" caught up with him. ^ Main Currents. II, 31°* After 1833 "opportunism and He did his best to avoid controversy 2kS on slavery. "It was the unfortunate Seventh of March Speech," Par- rington says, "that proved Webster's undoing - this and the Fugitive Slave Bill in which he was deeply implicated. The situation was des­ perately critical, Webster was pessimistic, and this was a last ges­ ture of reconciliation with the South. Presidential ambitions and runaway slaves were stewing in a common political pot with Abolition societies and northern mercantile interests. Webster was puzzled, hes­ itated, emptied another glass of the wine of the Constitution, and went 16 for the Fugitive Slave Bill. It was a tragic political mistake." From the quiet of Concord, Emerson analyzed Webster as reaction­ ary. "Mr. Webster is a man who lives by his memory, a man of the past, not a man of faith or of hope. . . . What he finds already written, he will defend. Lucky that so much had got well written before he came. For he has no faith in the power of self-government. Wot the smallest municipal provision, if it were new, would receive his sanction. . . . So with the eulogies of liberty in his writings, - they are sentimen­ talism and youthful rhetoric. He can celebrate it, but it means as much from him as from Mettemieh or Tallyrand. . . . All the drops of 17 his blood have eyes that look downward.* But these very qualities, here damned by the chief exponent of transcendentalism, were - with the belief in property and the "persistent realism* - what made Web­ ster so valuable to the champions of industrial capitalism. ---- -.g-— Main Currents. II, 313* ^ Miscellanies (Boston, 1876), p. 203. 2^7 Schlesinger writes, "The nation never gave its heart to Webster. The merchants of Boston did, along with a share of their purses, and also the speculators of Wall Street and rich men everywhere. . . . The people, who trusted Jackson and loved Clay, could neither trust 18 nor love Wehster.* The rising tide of democracy swept Jackson into the White House and brought about a revolution in political values. The conservatives made necessary adjustments to meet the situation, and Schlesinger calls 19 this the *lhig Counterreformation.* "Conservatism,* he writes, "was a political party as well as a social faith; and, while the guardians of the faith were cherishing it in all its purity, the leaders of the party were quietly making a series of minor practical adjustments, en­ tered into piecemeal and prescribed by the technical necessity of get- 20 ting votes. Success rather than doctrinal soundness was their test." The basic adjustment made by the Whigs concerned property. The Hamiltonian theory declared that property and power must remain in the hands of one and the same class; Webster himself had declared this in 1820. This logic was replaced by the vote-getting idea that workers and capitalists had the same class interests. This idea was further developed into the notion that America had no classes at all. became an exponent of this theory. xs of Jackson, p. 8U. 19 Ibid., p. 267. 20 Ibid., p. 268. Webster And Schlesinger goes on to add* 2Ug "If there were no class distinctions* then there were two possibili­ ties: ist. everyone might he a workingman* or everyone might he a capital21 The conservatives adopted hoth theories," Too, the people were reminded of the fact that in America a poor man could become wealthy. In this same vein* the high protective tariff now was argued as essen- 22 tial in order to maintain high wages. Businessmen now developed "a kind of pastoral mythology about the laboring classes" and the conditions of their lot, "The property- less classes, once a menace to social stability, now became the sturdy core of the nation. Manufacturing was portrayed with almost lyric de­ light. Lowell* for example, was transfigured from an early factory 23 town into an idyl," A pastoral literature, extolling these themes, developed. Then, by keen strategy, "there developed the doctrine of internal reform. The main point of this theory was to dissuade human- 2k itarian energies from seeking economic change." Charming contributed to the success of this strategy by his doctrine of the elevation of the soul, nChanning's doctrine enabled men of good will to indulge an honest compassion for the working classes without facing the eco25 nomic implications of the problem." pi Age of Jackson* p, 270. 22 ibid., p. 271. 23 Ibid. 2k Ibid., p. 273. Ibid, 2h9 This patdiTrork of ideas put powerful political weapons into the hands of the Whigs* "This complex of attitudes -" Schlesinger ex­ plains, "the identity of Interests between the classes, the unimpor­ tance of class, the nonexistence of class, the superior happiness of the laborer, the necessity for internal reform - satisfied the feel­ ing of the business community in all the shades of ambivalence, from the compulsions toward power to the lurking intuitions of guilt. It represented a vigorous and versatile strategy, finding enormous sup­ port in the hopes of American life and a certain support in its real26 ities. The Democrats were never quite able to meet it.” But the democrats not only had this combination of ideas to meet. The conservatives took the offensive and charged the Democrats with favoring the rule of a despot. in attacks on Jackson. This made a handy weapon to use With the weapon went a deliberate cultivation of "homespun" by Whig politicians. Davy Crockett for instance was 27 paraded as evidence of the democratic soundness of the Whig leaders. "The metamorphosis of conservatism revived it politically," Schlesinger says, "but ruined it intellectually. The Federalists had thought about society in an Intelligent and hard-boiled way. Their ideas had considerable relevance to the conflicts and tensions of the life around them. But the Whigs, in scuttling Federalism, replaced it by a social philosophy founded, not on ideas, but on 15— 27 Age of Jackson, p. 273* Ibid., pp. 275-9* 2$ subterfuges sad sentimental! ty." The Whig intellectual whose baak- runtey m s most complete under this change of the political line, 29 m s Wehster, Quite rapidly the Whig philosophy became a mere col­ lection of stock appeals. To this political party and to hie friend Wehster, Everett tied M s political future, As we examine his economic views we will he ahle to see the part he played in advancing: the Whig doctrines, 2* Capital and Civilisation On September 13* 1&3S* Sverett spoke before the Mercantile Li­ brary Association in Boston. governor of the state. This was in Everett*s third term as Presumably everything augured well with him politically, so perhaps it was with sore than the usual pomp that he sooke that day on the subject *Accumulation, Property, Capital, Cred30 it.* There was certainly no hesitation in his statement, of the pur­ pose of his orations **. . • it is my object to assist those before whom I have the honor to appear, in forming right notions on import31 ant practical questions.* Everett refers to the fact that recently comparisons had been trifle "between *the producing and the accumulating classes" with strong criticism of the latter. "This view I regard as entirely erroneous. Age of Jackson, p. 279* 25 Ibid., p. 2SQ. ^ Orations, II, 2SS-313* 51 Ibid,, p. 2S9* Accumulation is as necessary to further production* as production is 52 to acctmulation; and especially is accumulation the hasis of commerce," If nohody accumulated anything, there would he nothing to exchange, and therefore no commerce, and this implies that there would he no civilization, Everett tried to show that this was a fundamental ac­ tivity founded in the very nature of man, "Some degree of accumula­ tion was the dictate of the earliest necessity; the Instinctive strug33 gle of man, to protect himself from the elements and from want," He tried to trace this thinking very clearly. Early "in the progress of social man" the discovery was made that no two men had the same tastes or abilities. Each could excel in some one thing. If each concentrated on the skill he possessed, each could bring his specialized activity to a high degree of excellence, covery commerce began," "With this dis- Groups also specialize and produce so much that they have an accumulated extra for exchange, "Commerce per­ ceives this diversity, and organizes a boundless system of exchanges, the object of which is, to supply the greatest amount of want and de­ sire, and to effect the widest possible diffusion of useful and con35 venient products," Everett is almost like a grade school teacher in his efforts to be clearly understood. 32 Orations, II, 2S9* 33 iMd. ^ He points out that few people in his audience Ibid. 35 Ibid., p. 290 . 252 ate their morning meal without the use of articles brought from many different parts of the world. He runs down a list of items, mention36 ing in each case the country of origin. An individual must have pro­ duced something he can exchange before he can get any of these arti­ cles. Uoney Everett defines as "the representative of all other art37 ides.N Money can be used in effecting exchanges because "the system is one of mutual accomodation. No man can promote his own interest, 38 without promoting that of others." Here is the idea that both classes benefit. Or that there is no class. cosmos to illustrate his point. For Everett reaches out to the "As, in the system of the universe, every particle of matter is attracted by every other particle, and it is not possible that a mote in a sunbeam should be displaced, without producing an effect on the orbit of Saturn, so the minutest excess or defect in the supply of any one article of human want, produces a 39 proportionate effect on the exchanges of all other articles." This mutually beneficial system requires that there be safety in the ownership of "articles accumulated." Men had an "early and in­ stinctive" realization of this truth and therefore made laws for the IfO protection of property. "UJhe philosophy that denounces accumulation, is the philosophy of barbarism. Orations, II, 290. 37 ibid., p. 291 . .A 38 TV 3g Ibid, 39 ibid, IM4. It places man below the condition 253 of moat of the native tribes on this continent. tarily sow, that another may reap. No man will volun­ You may place a man in a paradise of plenty,^on this condition; hut its abundance will ripen and decay unheeded." But if you let a man know that his property is safely his own, he will undertake all kinds of risks for it. Having made "accumulation" a natural element of life and having declared that it is instinctive for man to want to own property, Ever­ ett proceeded with a definition of capital. He declared that "Capital is property, which a man has acquired by his industry, or has, under the law of the land, become possessed of in some other way; and which is invested by him in that form, and employed in that manner, which best suits his education, ability, and taste. No particular amount of k2 property constitutes capital." In other words, anything which you accumulate and have for Investment Is capital. and simple. It sounds very clear By starting with the simple idea of accumulation, Everett is trying to build up a sort of philosophy of capitalism. His view of man is certainly not very idealistic, when we consider his claim that if a man is in a land of plenty, he will not work unless he is assured that his property is safe. This is a hard-headed view. Capital is the "mainspring" for the operations of business in a civilized community. Because of this, Everett is "at some loss to ac**3 count for the odium" which has sometimes been attached to capitalists. E — _ Orations. II, 292. Ibid., p. 293* ^3 Ibid. 25^ The history of the United States is such that we may trace hack the sources of American wealth to "industry and frugality." Everyone has an equal chance for economic advancement; "the wheel of fortune is in constant revolution . . . The rich man, who treats poverty with arro­ gance and contempt, tramples upon the ashes of his father or his grandfather; and the poor man, who nourishes feelings of unkindness and 'bitterness against wealth, bakes war with the prospects of his children." Here is the appeal to both classes at once. When a per­ son puts himself in the position where he criticises both sides and yet offers hope to all, he presumably is virtuous beyond reproach. A moment's consideration will show the unreasonableness of a prejudice against capital; for it will show that it is the great instrument of the business movements of society. Without it, there can be no exercize, on a large scale, of the mechanic arts, no manufactures, no private improvements, no public enter­ prises of utility, no domestic exchanges, no foreign commerce. For all these purposes, a twofold use of capital is needed. It is necessary that a great many persons should have a portion of capital; as, for instance, that the fisherman should have his boat . . . But these small masses of capital are not, alone, sufficient for the highest degree of prosperity. Larger accu­ mulations are wanted, to keep the smaller capitals in steady movement, and to circulate their products. If manufactures are to flourish, a very great outlay in buildings, fixtures, machin­ ery, and power, is necessary. ^5 This is a good illustration of the Whig technique of appealing to both classes. capitalist. You can't criticize capital because everyone is a Even if you are only a little capitalist, you should be grateful for the big capitalist because his investments make yours safe. w — . Orations, II, 29^ J Ibid. 255 People cannot have internal improvements without capital. "To effect these objects, capital must go forth, like a mighty genius, bidding the mountains to bow their heads, and the valleys to rise, 46 the crooked places to be straight, and the rough places plain.” To improve agriculture, costly experiments must be undertaken. And now the civilized world is watching the efforts to navigate the Atlantic by steamboat. "It is said that the Great Western was built and fitted out at an expense of near half a million dollars. The success of the experiment will not be more a triumph of genius and of art than of 47 capital.” Naturally the capitalist wants an adequate return on his invest­ ment, but he can get this only if he is willing to sell his product at a price the public is willing to pay. No matter how selfish a capi­ talist may be, he cannot get a return until he has satisfied "the de­ mand of the people for some great article of necessity, convenience, 48 or indulgence." If we do away with the great investments of capital, we place upon society the burden of doing things by hand. "In other words, fewer people would be sustained, and those less comfortably, 49 and at greater expense." We cannot appreciate how much human comfort 50 has been advanced by capital. ^ Orations, II, 295» Ibid. *** Ibid., p. 296. Ibid., p. 297. 50 Ibid., p. 29S. "As it is out of the question for the 256 government to invest the public funds in the branches of industry necessary to simply the customary wants of men, it follows that this 51 must be done by private resources and enterprise." To maintain the basic comforts of life, then, we need the investments of private capital. The interest of both the worker and the capitalist is the same. "Nobody hoards; every thing is invested or employed, and, directly or 52 indirectly, is the basis of business operations." Naturally a person expects to be paid when he lets someone use his money, Evarett explains. But there is nothing unjust or unreasonable about this. It is inherent in the idea of property. It would not be property, if I could take it from you, and use it as my own, without compen­ sation. That simple word, it is mine, carries with it the whole theory of property and its rights. If my neighbor has saved his earnings and built him a house, and I ask his leave to go and live in it, I ought, in Justice, to pay him for the use of his house. If instead of using his money to build a house, in which he permits me to live, he loans me the money, with which I build a house for myself, it is equally Just that I should pay him for the use of his money. It is his, not mine. If he allows me to use the fruit of his labor and skill, I ought to pay him for that use, as I should pay him if he came and wrought for me with his hands. This is the whole doctrine of interest. 53 When economic reasoning is put on such a sinple, straightforward level, it carries with it an aura of plain truth. And Everett has a confession of faith to make about human nature and the capitalist. ^ "On general principles, it may perhaps be safely Orations. II, 299* 52 Ibid., p. 300 . 55 Ibid. 257 said* that the class of men qualified to amass large fortunes, by perseverance and exclusive devotion to business, hy frugality and thrift, are not at all likely to apply their wealth to ambitious or 5h corrupt designs** A few minutes before in this speech, human nature was such that a man would not work under the most favorable condi­ tions unless he could call "mine* what he "accumulated." How, hav­ ing worked hard and devoted himself to business, he is purged of any ambitious or corrupt thought. "Let me not be misunderstood," Everett exclaims. "I regard e- quality of condition and fortune as the happiest state of society, and those political institutions as immeasurably the wisest and best 55 which tend to produce it.,* He believes in laws which prevent the transmission of large estates from one generation to another. And then again he refers to human nature. "Providence has enacted a 56 statute of distributions in the impulses of the human heart." The doctrine of innate generosity and charity he illustrates by reference to Ur. Stephen Girard. "The legitimate province of credit is, to facilitate and to 57 diffuse the use of capital, and not to create it." When trust and confidence are strong, then credit releases capital for greater business activity. ^ But practices involving credit Everett does not Orations, II, 301* 55 Ibid., p. 302. Ibid. 57 Ibid., p. 303* 25s wholly approve. "The eagerness to accumulate wealth, hy trading on credit, is the disease of the age and country In which we live. Something of the solidity of our character, and purity of our name, 58 has been sacrificed to it.* Everett feels that among the many evidences of progress are the developments in commerce. He refers to the development of steam navigation. "The immediate effect of this improvement must he a vast 59 increase of the intensity of international communication.* Business operations are to increase "beyond any scope they attained in the past. *As, in all former ages, it /commerce/ has "been one of the most power­ ful agents in shaping the destinies of the human race, it is unques60 tionahly reserved for still higher functions.* Capitalism, which is based on natural human instincts, and which is really a cooperative enterprise of human beings, has "still hlgier functions* to serve in human history. Commerce has ably served civilisation in the past, Everett con­ tends. The Phoenicians, a commercial people, invented the alphabet, probably as a kind of short-hand to enable them to keep their ac­ counts. A thousand years later when "the Macedonian madman" attempted to conquer all of Asia, the Phoenicians stood in his way. merchants of Tyre delayed him even longer. And the Carthage, another com­ mercial city, furnished the most efficient check to the empire-building ^ Orations, II, 30^* 59 Ibid. 60 Ibid. 259 ambitions of Rome. "But there was nowhere sufficient security of property, in the old world, to form the basis of a permanent com­ mercial prosperity. In the middle ages, the iron yoke of the feudal system was broken by commerce. The emancipation of Europe from the detestable sway of the barons, began with the privileges granted to the cities* The wealth acquired in commerce afforded the first counterpoise to that of the feudal chiefs, who monopolized the land, and, in the space of a century and a half, gave birth to a new civ- 61 ilization." Those communities only can be "signally prosperous" where virtue is the rule of conduct. The great glory of Boston is that the "old 62 standard of morals" is still adhered to. In a rush of moralizing, Everett sums up the desired attitude toward business. "Uever let the mere acquisition of wealth be an exclusive pursuit. . . . Let wealth be regarded as the instrument of doing, as well as of enjoying, good. In a republican government, the mercantile class, in the natural course of things, is the only one whose members, generally speaking, can amass fortune; let it be written on your hearts, in the morning of life, that wealth is ennobled only in its uses. Eons, from the first, a large conception of the character of the liberal and upright merchant. Regard him as one to whom the country looks to sustain her 63 honor, in the hour of trial . . . " ^ Orations. II, 305* Ibid., p. 310* g3 ibid., p. 311. 260 In this fashion Everett tried to advance the Whig economic theories* He three all his abilities into the defense of capital. On September 22, 1852, the merchants of Boston gave a dinner for Thomas Baring, Esq. In the course of a speech given at that din­ ner Everett took occasion to defend capital. "We hear, occasional­ ly, of the supposed antagonism of labor and capital. The dangerous power of what has been called 'the dynasty of accumulated wealth' 6U is sometimes spokenof in our political circles.N He declares that he sees no reason shy antagonism between capital and labor should be assumed as necessary. People who utter such criticisms "are very apprehensive that others may abuse the power which property is sup­ posed to confer; while they pursue themselves, with laudable selfreliance, undisturbed by theory, the acquisition of the shining mis65 chief, particularly when it comes in the shape of a good salary." Who but the capitalist builds hospitals and endows asylums and col­ leges? Capital cannot be antagonistic to other interests in society because investments depend upon promoting "the public accomodation 66 and benefit." Everett spoke frequently at dinners and meetings honoring out­ standing business men. Such occasions gave opportunity to make fur­ ther remarks on his economic philosophy. On October 9, IS56 , he spoke at a dinner honoring Mr. George Peabody of Danvers. Z£-"Dinner to Thomas Baring," Orations,III, 135» ibid. 66 Ibid., p. 137. In the 261 early part of this "brief speech, Everett paid a sweeping tribute to "business. He speaks of commerce being such an important Interest that it is well "to recognize distinguished merit in the commercial career," a career which is as honorable as any other type in the com­ munity. "I deem it not too much to say of commerce in its largest comprehension, that it has done as much in all time, and is now doing as much, to promote the general cause of civilization, as any of the 67 other great pursuits of life." And at the end of the speech he re­ turned to the same theme of the greatness of business as a profession. "I believe that the commercial profession is as capable of being pur­ sued with intelligence, honor, and public spirit, as any other; and, when so pursued, is as compatible with purity and elevation of char­ acter as any other; as well entitled to the honors which a community 6S bestows on those who adorn and serve it . • These professions sound Sincere enough but on examination are seen to be empty of any significant meaning. "Mr. George Peabody," Orations, III, ^67* 68 Ibid., p. ^71* I 262 3* Business and the Declaration of Independence The Declaration of Independence has heen the cause for the ex­ pansion and the economic development of the country, Everett declared this is a Fourth of July speech given at Lovell in 1830. He discussed the migration over the Appalachians and the devel­ opment of new states. "This astonishing growth jjn Tennessee, Ken­ tucky, and Ohio/ has evidently not only been subsequent to the declar­ ation of independence, hut consequent upon its establishment, as ef­ fect upon cause; and this both by a removal of specific obstacles to our progress, which were imposed by the colonial system, and by the general operation of the new political order of things on the mind 69 and character of the country." The spirit of freedom gives energy 70 and motive to the laborers. "I am disposed to think that the history of the world," he says, "would concur with our own history, in prov­ ing that, in proportion as a community is under the full operation of the encoxiraging prospects and generous motives which exist in a free country, precisely in that proportion will its labor be effi­ cient, enterprising, inventive, and productive of all the blessings 71 of life." Thm manufacturing of products from wool, cotton, iron, leather, and wood is connected with the comfort of every family. Tet, be­ fore the Declaration of Independence these manufactures not only go— "Fourth of July at Lowell," Orations. II, 51. 70 Ibid., p, 52. 71 Ibid., p. 53. 263 received no "legislative favor" from the British government, "hut they were from time to time made the subject of severe penal stat72 ntes." Great economic benefits have come from independence. "The es­ tablishment . . . of a prosperous manufacturing town like Lowell, regarded in itself, and as a specimen of other similar seats of American art and industry, may with propriety be considered as a 73 peculiar triumph of our political independence." Ho event since the Declaration has been of such great benefit as the growth of 7^ manufac turing. The first great addition to the wealth of the country has been the development of water power. "The colonial system annihilated it, 75 or, what was the same thing, prevented its application." Thus a vast amount of natural wealth was neglected. Even now, the smallest part of it has been rendered available; and what has thus far been done is Important not so much for its own sake, Everett contends, as for pointing the way and creating an inducement for further achievements in the same direction. There is water power enou^i in the United States, as yet unapplied, to sustain the industry of a population a 76 hundred fold as large as that now in existence. " ^ Orations, II, 5^* 73 iMd. ^ Ibid., p. 55* 75 Ibid., p. 56. 76 ibid., p. 57* 264 A second 'benefit has been the establishment of manufacturing towns like Lowell. "The population gathered at a manufacturing es­ tablishment is to be fed, and this gives an enhanced value to the land in all the neighboring region. In this new country the land often acquires a value in this way for the first time." You can make an in­ teresting contrast, Everett claims, between the present Lowell and this neighborhood twelve years ago. " It is the contrast of production with barrenness; of cultivation with waste; of plenty with an absence 77 of every thing but the bare necessaries of life.*' This rosy picture is by way of Introducing the idea, important in the economics of Hhiggery, that all classes benefit by economic development. community. " . . . a variety of pursuits is a great advantage to a It offers scope to the exercise of the boundless variety of talent and capacity which are bestowed by nature, and which are sure to be developed by an intelligent population, if encouragement 78 and opportunity are presented." Manufacturing aids all the practical arts. Manufacturing encourages the inventive mind and gives it ac­ tual problems to deal with. "The peculiar faculty of the mind to which these wonderful mechanical contrivances of modern art owe their origin, is not likely to be developed in the routine of agricultural 79 operations." It takes the actual mechanical atmosphere of the fac­ tory to give development to the inventive skill. And this skill Orations, II, 58* Ibid., p. 59. 79 Ibid., p. 61 I 265 creates machines which Everett ecstatically calls the "lifeless hut almost reasoning tenants" of the factory. He acknowledges that there had formerly been some fear expressed in this country about the effects of introducing manufacturing, but he affirms that such fears were groundless. "It would seem that the industrial system of Europe required for its administration an amount of suffering, depravity and brutalism, which formed one of the great scandal8 of the age. No form of serfdom or slavery could be worse. Reflecting persons, on this side of the ocean, contemplated with un­ easiness the introduction, into this country, of a system which had disclosed such hideous features in Europe; but it must be frankly 80 owned that these apprehensions have proved wholly unfounded." Lowell illustrates the common interests of the classes and what they can achieve together. He says to the people of Lowell: The alliance which you have thus established between labor and capital (which is nothing but labor saved) may truly be called a holy alliance. It realizes, in a practical way, that vision of social life and action which has been started abroad, in forms, as it appears to me, inconsistent with the primary instincts of our nature, and wholly incapable of being ingrafted upon our modern civilization. That no further progress can be made in this direction, I certainly would not say. It would be contrary to the great laws of human progress to suppose that, at one effort, this hard problem in social affairs had reached its perfect solution. But I think it may be truly said, that in no other way has so much been done, as in these establishments, to mingle up the interests of society; to confer upon labor, in all its degrees of cultivation, (from mere handiwork and strength up to inventive skill and adorning taste) the advantages which re­ sult from previous accumulations. Without shaking that great principle by which a man calls what he has his own, whether it is little or much, (the corner stone of civilized life,) these establishments form a mutually beneficial connection between those who have nothing but their muscular power and those who are able to bring into the partnership the masses of property Orations, II, 63 266 requisite to carry on an extensive concern, - property which was itself, originally, the work of men's hands, hut has been con­ verted, by accumulation and thrift, from labor into capital. This I regard as one of the greatest triumphs of humanity, morals, and, I will add, 'religion. The labor of a community is its greatest wealth - its most vital concern. To elevate it in the social scale, to increase its rewards, to give it cultivation and selfrespect, should be the constant aim of an enlightened patriotism. There can be no other basis of a progressive Christian civiliza­ tion. 81 We could well draw the conclusion from this passage that Everett felt Lowell was a fine example of "progressive Christian civilization." And we would be justified because his many references to business and businessmen are almost always completely sympathetic, and at times al­ most reverential. We have already pointed out his acknowledgement of the economic factor behind the colonization of New England. Later, he looks at the effect on business of the end of the Revolutionary War. "Independence found us, in a great measure, destitute of public establishments; the eyes of the people were unconsciously turned to the merchants, as the chief depositories of large masses of disposable wealth; and they promptly stood forth as public benefactors. . . . In all the great en­ terprises for public improvement, in all our establishments for re­ ligious, moral, literary, and charitable purposes, the genial patron82 age of commerce has been steadily felt." This particular point about the contributions of capital to the religious and educational life of the community Everett used in his defense of conservative economic Orations, II, 6H. "Accumulation, Property," Orations, II, 3°T» 267 opinions. But, nevertheless, it is a point which we cannot pass by lightly "because in contributions of this kind the individualistic Puritan spirit found satisfying social expression all through the nine­ teenth century and into the twentieth. The capitalist seems to have found that he could assuage any sense of guilt for failing to meet social responsibility by setting up a foundation for some charitable, religious, or educational purpose. The key to American economic life is freedom. Everett once com­ pared the position of capital in the United States with its place in Turkey and Persia. In these two Oriental countries the "rich Jews of Bagdad, and rich Armenians at Damascus" have to keep their wealth in precious stones, and the stones hidden. They face the danger of tor­ ture as greedy rulers try to force their wealth from them. But, Everett says, "How different the case in a free country! There capital walks boldly abroad; seeks investment; gives life to commerce, manufactures, and the arts; traverses the land side by side with her sister credit, scattering plenty by the way; /and Everett grows very poetic as he continues/ smites the everlasting hills with her magic wand, and bids their adamantine portals fly open before the 83 loaded train . . . " ^ "Thomas Baring," Orations, III, 136 268 Agriculture - the Basic Industry Everett spoke quite often for agricultural societies. As an as­ piring politician, he could not afford to ignore such opportunities for expressing his ideas. So on October 16, 1833, he addressed the Massachusetts Agricultural Society at Brighton and discussed the ques8U tion of the importance of agriculture in a civilized community. Agriculture provides, directly or indirectly, all the food of a civilized community. It provides the material for our clothing. ’'Ag­ riculture seems to he the first pursuit of civilized man. It enables him to escape from the life of the savage, and the wandering shepherd, into that of social man, gathered into fixed communities, and sur­ rounding himself with the comforts and blessings of neighborhood, coun85 try, and home.” Thus, agriculture is obviously the basic industry. Everett rapidly considers the relative significance of agricul86 ture in each period of history from antiquity to the present. How, he says there are "four principal states or conditions in which the agri­ cultural population of m odem Europe and America is found; and among these four states I do not include that of the West Indian and North 87 American slaves.” 88 The serfs of Russia are the"first and lowest in the scale.” Next comes a considerable part of the peasants of Europe who are "Agriculture," Orations, I, ^+2-58. 85 ibid., p. UUU. 86 Ibid., pp. Ul*5-3. 8? ibid., p. U48. 88 Ibid. 269 "tenants at the halves." This system is pernicious because it does not encourage improvement. "There is a constant struggle, on the side of each party, to get as much as possible out of the land, with the least possible outlay." The third condition exists in England where, under a system of large landlords, the land is cultivated by 90 tenants. "It has been a question much debated in England, whether a sys­ tem of this kind, by which the land is principally held in large farms belonging to the aristocracy of the country, and cultivated by tenants on lease, is more favorable to the improvement of agriculture than the multiolication of small farms belonging to those who till 91 them." Any Improvements under such conditions require large amounts of capital. If this is done, then the rent will be increased. Ever­ ett cannot see how the tenant can be benefited under such circum­ stances. The English system of tenancy "tends to the extermination of the small proprietors, and to reduce the cottagers, peasants, and all those by whom, under whatever name, the labor of cultivation is 92 performed, to a state of abject and servile dependence." The fourth condition is that which exists in the non-slaveholding states of the United States, and especially in New England. This condition is "the most favorable to the prosperity of the state and ®9 Orations, I, U50. 90 Ibid., p. U51. 91 Ibid. 92 Ibid., p. ^52. 270 the happiness of the individual. . . . In a country like ours, where every man's capacity, industry, and good fortune are left free to work their way without prejudice, as far as possible, there will he among the agricultural, as well as among the commercial -copulation, fortunes 93 of all sizes . . . " It is better for a country that almost all its land be cultivated by "an independent yeomanry." When the question why this is better, is raised, it is not easy to formulate the answer. "It involves political and moral considera­ tion; it trenches on the province of the feelings; it concerns the 9U whole character of a people." The key to the answer lies in the con­ cept of property. "The owner makes improvements with zeal and spirit, for he makes them on his own soil, in the assurance that he or his chil­ dren will reap the benefit of them . . . But no person takes a genuine 95 pleasure in improving another man's property." This is a realistic an­ swer premised on man's selfishness. One of the democratic developments of the early part of the nine­ teenth century was progress toward universal manhood suffrage in place of property qualifications. Ewerett apparently must have had this in mind when he advanced the principle: "A very considerable portion of the political power of every country must be vested in the landholders; 96 for they hold a large part of the property of the country." Everett's ^ Orations, I, U52. 9** Ibid., p. U53. 95 Ibid., p. U5U. 96 Ibid., p. U55. t 271 answer to the problem of how much power should be vested In landhalders Is to increase the number of landholders and give as many people as possible an economic stake in society. "There is no way in which a calm, drderly, and intelligent exercise and control of political power can be assured to the people, but by a distribution among them, as equally as possible, of the property of the country; and I know no manner in which such a distribution can be permanently and peacefully affected, but by keeping the land in small farms suitable to be culti­ vated by their owners. Under such a system, and under no other, the 97 people will exercise their rights with independence." The "moral aspect," or, as we would nowadays say, the psycholog­ ical aspect, Everett feels is the most important factor in ownership of property. "The man who stands upon his own soil, who feels that by the laws of the land in which he lives, by the law of civilized nations, he is the rightful and exclusive owner of the land which he tills, is, by the constitution of our nature, under a wholesome in­ fluence, not easily imbibed from any other source. He feels, other things being equal, more strongly than another the character of man 98 as the lord of the inanimate world." The proof of the value of in­ dividual ownership of the land may be found by contrasting America with Europe. Seize the cities of Vienna or Paris, and Austria and Prance have fallen. But during our own Revolutionary War, when Bos­ ton was seized, Massachusetts did not fall because the men who made 99 up the revolutionary army owned the soil they fought for. ^ Orations, I, U55» 98 Ibid., p. 99 Ibid., pp. 1+56-7. 272 Without saying so directly, in speeches such as this Everett hullt up the idea, hy suggestion, that the farmer was a capitalist who should be proud of his class and his position. 5* "Protecting the Arts and Industry of the People" As the friend of and spokesman for the New England industrial­ ists, Everett spoke for protective tariffs. His address entitled "American Manufactures," which was given on October lH, I83I, at the fourth annual fair of the American Institute of the city of New York, 100 is an argument for the tariff. Everett starts building up his case by stating general principles on which all can agree. The useful arts, he says, are the product of civilization, and they in turn help to create and perpetuate civili- 101 zation. If the usual division of industry is accepted - commerce, agriculture, and manufactures, "that country is the most prosperous, which, under good laws and a wise administration of them at home, and in the enjoyment of an intercourse, on liberal principles, with for­ eign nations, possesses these three branches of Industry in their due proportion to each other; so that all flourish together, and neither 102 languishes that the rest may thrive." This reasoning is easy to accept and go along with. Everett goes on to say that these three are all important to the welfare of Orations. II, 69-99» 101 Ibid., p. 71* 102 Ibid., p. 72. 273 the community. If a person were forced to make a comparison as to importance* "we should pronounce agriculture the most important "branch, manufactures the next, and foreign commerce the least important of the 103 three." "The great problem in political economy" is how a due proportion can "be maintained "between these three. obvious: NTo this the general answer is By free institutions of government, - laws affording securi- 10U ty to property, - and the diffusion of education and useful knowledge." The specific answer is not so obvious. To appreciate the reasons for protective tariff, we must careful­ ly consider the problem of building up a national economy. Everett explains it this way: Of these abstract principles, there are certain modifications in practice, which proceed from the division of mankind into na­ tions, - the necessity of securing, at all events, the national independence and safety, - and promoting, in the highest possible degree, the national strength and resources. This necessity of living in nations is partly real, - that is, founded on descent from a common stock, and required for the happiness of the differ­ ent families of man, - (it being found, by experience, that all mankind cannot live under one government,) and it is partly found­ ed on certain generous and noble feelings, which we call patriotic and which impose an obligation not less imperious on all liberal natures. These principles of national origin, feeling, interest, and pride modify the laws of mere public economy. They require, for instance, at times, the establishment of a new and separate government. . . . To every independent state it is absolutely es­ sential to possess, at home, the means of naval and military de­ fence. Ships of war might be hired, certainly they could be bought, abroad; and mercenary troops may be obtained for money. But the honor not less than the safety of a country requires, that, at whatever cost, naval and military establishments, and 103 10H Orations. II, 73 Ibid., p. 75* every thing required for them, should he formed and produced at home. It is accordingly admitted, even hy writers opposed to all restrictions on trade, that the manufacture of fire-arms, gunpowder, and other munitions of war, ought to he established in a country, although it might cost less, in time of peace, to import them. On the same ground, and in order to rear up a navy, a discriminating tonnage duty has been defended by some in this country unfriendly to other protecting duties. *05 This passage contains the chief premises for Everett*s argument. Looking realistically at the question, he says, out of necessity man­ kind is divided into nations, and each national unit must protect the national safety and promote the national strength. Promoting the na­ tional safety demands that the means for defense be produced at home, and this principle has justified restrictions which would encourage the manufacture of munitions. National legislation must assume an occasional war with the at- 106 tendant interruption of foreign trade. **Finally, on the same princi­ ple, whatever is necessary for the increase of the country in popula­ tion, wealth, and general prosperity, - as an independent community, - by a division of labor, an adequate circulating medium, and a con­ version of natural into active capital, must be effected, as far as possible, by judicious laws protecting the industry of the country 107 against the hostile effects of foreign legislation." Everett*s rea­ soning might be put into one sentences legislation which is designed to protect a nation’s industry is legislation which will promote the general welfare and prosperity. Orations, II, 75* Ibid., p. 76. He says that the purpose of such laws is "‘building up and protecting the arts and industry of the 108 people," Everyone will benefit from legislation protecting manu­ facturing, This is a natural corollary to the Whig idea that every­ one is a capitalist and everyone is a worker. The details of such legislation are not so easily stated. Peo­ ple commonly think that the exchange of agricultural products of one country for the manufactured products of another is advantageous. But if there is a refusal to buy agricultural products under such an arrangement, then "judicious legislation" is absolutely required in order to raise up domestic manufacturing which will make the exchange 109 for agricultural produce. Manufacturing is so complicated that "unless there were some protection against foreign competition, in its infancy, no manufacture previously well established in one country 110 could be introduced into another." ■Where the laborer receives a generous portion of the products of his toil and skill, the country is prosperous; and it languishes 111 where his share is mean and inadequate." In Europe labor is paid a subsistence wage. As a result, other countries find it difficult to enter into competition with European countries unless they have some form of protection for their infant industries or unless they are willing to have their own labor depressed to such a subsistence Orations, II, 77* 109 Ibid. 110 Ibid., p. 78111 Ibid., p. 79* i 276 standard* And Everett points out special circumstances that worked in the case of our own history. The situation of our own country is peculiar. The settlements on our coast commenced at a period when the south and west of Europe were in a highly improved condition, when many of the arts of life were greatly advanced, and several of the great manufactures firmly established, skill acquired, and capital largely accumulated in that region. Had other circumstances admitted the establishment of manufactures in this country, these alone would have prevented it. But in addition to this, were the scantiness of the population and the abundance of land, giving a value to labor absolutely incompatible with the pur­ suit of manufactures. *12 These early conditions are now changed. In fact, as Everett points out in an effort to strengthen the patriotic argument in favor of protection, two years before the Declaration of Independence a non-importation agreement was adopted. The provisions of this agree­ ment specifically stated a desire to protect the Infant manufacturing 113 of the colonies. Later, under the Articles of Confederation there were bad economic conditions. Thus was presented the extraordinary and calamitous spectacle of a successful revolution wholly failing of its ultimate object. The people of America had gone to war, not for names, but for things. It was not merely to change a government by kings and ministers, for a government administered by presidents and sec­ retaries, and members of Congress. It was to redress real grievances, to improve their condition, to throw off the burden which the colonial system laid on their industry. To attain these objects, they endured incredible hardships, and bore and suffered almost beyond the measure of humanity. And when their independence was attained, they found it was but a piece of parchment. The arm which had struck for it in the field, was 112 Orations, II, 79 113 Ibid., pp. 83-U. 277 palsied in the workshop; the industry which had "been burdened in the colonies, was crushed in the free states; and, at the close of the revolution, the mechanics and manufacturers of the country found themselves^ in the bitterness of their hearts, independent - and ruined, This historical argument is used to clinch the whole statement in favor of protective legislation. The Constitution itself was adopted, he ar­ gues, in order to achieve a means for creating protective legislation and consequently giving to the American people the fruits of their rev­ olution. Such an interpretation of history was accepted and fashionable in the nineteenth century. Present-day scholars, like Beard, are inclined to attack this view as ultra-conservative reading of American history. Beard writes; *fo the eight years of government- under these Articles of Confederation, the term *critical period1 has been applied and it has become the fashion to draw a doleful picture of the age, to por­ tray the country sweeping toward an abyss from which it was rescued in the nick of time by the heroic framers of the Constitution. Tet an analysis of the data, upon which that view is built raises the specter 115 of skepticism.* The country was improving economically during the period of Confederation, with the exception of shipping and manufac116 turing. Popular movements were underway in some of the new states to check the political power of the conservative and business elements; Orations. II, 86. 115 Rise of American Civilization (New York, 1936)* I* 302. 116 Ibid., p. 303* i 278 117 Massachusetts * for example, had its Shays* Rebellion. Conservatives became alarmed at the democratic tendencies and there was a movement to revise the form of government. HThe early response to this agita.- tion for a constitutional revision was not impressive," Beard points 118 out. Yet none of this is apparent in Everett's economic argument. He says, "She daystar of the constitution arose; and of all the classes of the people of America, to whose hearts it came as the harbinger of blessings long hoped for and long despaired of, most -unquestionably the tradesmen, mechanics, and manufacturers hailed it with the warm119 est welcome." This is the conservative and capitalistic view of American history. That it was successfully sold to the American people may be seen from a fact pointed out by Beardt "At the Republican Na­ tional convention in Chicago, which nominated him ^[LincolmJ growers and carders of wool from Ohio and Indiana joined the spinners of New England and iron masters of Pennsylvania in cheering for the protec- 120 tive tariff plank." 6. Interest in Internal Improvements It was not, of course, mere argument for a tariff which had such an influence on opinion throughout the country. "As quick transporta­ tion carried farm produce to eastern markets and brought ready cash 117 Beard, I, 307. 118 Ibid., p. 309. ^■9 *American Manufactures," Orations. II, 86. Beard, I, 638. 279 in return," Beard writes» "as railways, increasing population, and good roads lifted land values, "brick and frame houses began to sup­ plant log cabins; with deep political significance did prosperity tend to stifle the passion for *easy money* and allay the ancient hatred for banks. At last beyond the mountains the chants of sue121 cessful farmers were heard above the laments of poor whites . . . " Three new types of transportation began in the first half of the nineteenth century to have a revolutionary effect upon the economic 122 development of the country. These were the steamship, the grand trunk canal, and the railroad. Everett was interested in these de­ velopments in transportation and he lent his support to them. His interest in canals may be seen in a letter he wrote on Jan­ uary lH, 1826, to the Hon. Joseph M. White. Everett at this time was a member of the House, and he wrote this long letter to White with the idea that it would be communicated to a Senatorial Committee. Everett clearly saw the relationship between transportation and bus­ iness. "The construction of ship-canals," he wrote, "has from the earliest period of antiquity been one of the most favorite means, to which powerful states have resorted of improving the conditions of 123 their subjects, by an extension of the facilities of commerce." 121 Beard, I, 638. 122 Ibid., p. 636 ff. 1?' Everett Papers, Hew York City Historical Society. i 2S0 This letter shows a familiarity with the obstacles to building canals. He refere to the area of Panama as the most desirable place for constructing a canal which would affect world commerce. "The character of the intervening country is admirably adapted for the opening of such a communication; and it may be doubted whether the surface of the globe presents more than one other region, over which an artificial navigation could be effected, with such general advantage to the commerce of the world; I allude of course to that, which separates, by a narrow isthmus, the Atlantic and Pacific o124 ceans." In the concluding part of the letter, after discussing examples of outstanding canals in Europe, he expresses his approval of the idea of a ship canal across the Florida peninsula. As governor of Massachusetts, Everett made a definite contri­ bution to railroad building. He lent his influence to help the pro­ motion of the Western Sailroad Corporation which had authority to build a railroad from Worcester to Springfield and then westward to­ ward the Hudson River. Money came in so slowly for the project that Everett recommended that state money be invested in it. A bill was introduced into the legislature, passed, and signed by Everett. This provided for the state to invest one million dollars in the Western 125 Railroad Corporation. ^ E v e r e t t Papers, New York City Historical Society. Erothingham, p. lHl. 281 In a speech delivered at Faneuil Hall, October 7* 1835* Everett declared that the great thing lacking to the prosperity of the state 126 was communication with the west. Speaking for support of the rail­ road, he points out that the destinies of the country run east and west. "Intercourse between the mighty interior west and the seacoast is the great principle of our commercial prosperity and political 127 ‘ strength." He feels that already Boston is losing trade with the interior which is rightfully hers. This commercial alienation has gone to a length which I suspect the citizens of Boston are not generally aware of. The entire region west of the hills of Berkshire communicates with New York through the Hudson, and the whole valley of the Con­ necticut, in and out of Massachusetts, communicates with Long Island Sound. I am afraid to say in how large a part of Massa­ chusetts I think a complete non-intercourse reigns with the capital . . ./He tells of a recent trip to DeerfieldJ . . . And what, Mr. President, do you think I saw? We had scarce driven out of the village, and were making our way along through Sotith Orange and Erring's Grant, when I saw two horses straining tip a hill, - the horses' heads to the east, - the wagons laden with crates, casks, and bales of foreign merchan­ dise, which had come from Liverpool, by the way of Hartford, from New Yorki I hold that, sir, a little too much for a Massachusetts man to contemplate without pain. In this fashion Everett, during the time he was governor, lent his presence and his persuasive powers to a meeting designed to sell stock in the Western Railroad Corporation. He apparently did not think it at all beneath his dignity to support a business publicly. "The Western Railroad," Orations, II, lUU. 127 Ibid., p. 1^5• 128 Ibid., p. 1^6. I 282 Certainly, he made no false pretense about the real reason for building the railroad, "This, sir, is the object; to take our share, at some seasons of the year the first share, at all seasons a propor­ tionate share, of the whole business, not merely of the interior of the state of New York, but of that almost Interminable region farther west, which now derives its supplies from the city of New York, A great object surely; to a commercial eye in this city, the greatest 129 that can be proposed." This same point about self-interest Everett made in a speech to farmers at the cattle show at Dedham on September 26, 13^9* He spoke of his conviction that the railroads would do as much for agriculture as they had done for business and manufacturing. The railroads "will put it in the power of the farmer to get his si^jplies from the sea­ board, and to carry his produce to market, much more advantageously 130 than formerly." 7* Attitudes Toward Labor (Hie second quarter of the nineteenth century saw great economic and social changes. As Beard Comments, "With the multiplication of manufacturing establishments and railways came another natural con­ sequence: the rapid growth of a working class separated from the 131 soil and congested in the cities." The laboring class was being 129 Orations, II, lU8. "Cattle Show at Dedham," Orations, II, 65O. p. 6U0. 283 from the farms, "both men and women going into the factories, and through Immigration from Europe. peasants to America. Starvation drove thousands of Irish 8Within two decades, more than one-half the laboring population of that unhappy country was carried across the Atlantic and incorporated into the social and political order of the 132 United States.* Although Massachusetts and Boston remained conservative during this period, yet they felt the impact of these social movements. Darling explains that "Boston had a population composite and contra­ dictory in character. Besides the wealthy upper class there were three different elements: native wage earners, small merchants and hankers, and foreign immigrants. . . . already in 1S2U many newcomers from abroad were settling in Boston. By 1828 Irish immigrants had come in numbers sufficient to compete with native unskilled labor and to form a distinct group whose potential votes attracted the atten133 tion of politicians.8 The labor movement in Massachusetts included the organisation of the Workingmen* s Party which was started at Plymouth in April, 1830, growing "out of a demand by carpenters and ship caulkers for shorter hours. They wished to establish a ten-hour day. Their discontent, however, soon expanded into larger demands for a lien law which would ensure laborers some benefit from the product of their labor, for 132 Beard, I, p. 21. Oil abolition of Imprisonment for debts, for reduction of lawyers1 fees, 13U for public education and industrial training." Everett's only extended statement on labor seems to be the speech given before the Charlestown lyceum in October I83O under the title 135 "Lecture on the Workingmen's Party." He begins his discussion with his customary statement of general principles. active being. "Man is by nature an He is made to labor. . . . /He/ is so created, that, 136 let his wants be as simple as they will, he must labor to supply them." As the standard of civilization advances, man does not work less; on the contrary, he works as much but accomplishes more in the time he 137 works. Next Everett states a psychological truth on which all of modern advertising is based. It is true, as man rises in improvement, he would be enabled by his arts and machinery, to satisfy the primary wants of life with less labor; and this may be thought to show, at first glance, that man was not intended to be a working being; because, in pro­ portion as he advances in improvement, less work would be re­ quired to get a mere livelihood. But here we see a curious pro­ vision of nature. In proportion as our bare natural wants are satisfied, artificial wants, or civilized wants, show themselves. And, in the very highest state of improvement, it requires as constant an exertion to satisfy the new wants, which grow out of the habits and tastes of civilized life, as it requires in Bavage life, to satisfy hunger and thirst, and keep from freezing. In other words, the innate desire of improving our condition keeps us all in a state of want. *3® ^ Darling, p. SB, X35 Orations. I, 283-306. 136 Ibid., p. 283. x37 rbid., p. 2Sfc. *3* Ibid. 285 All this is by way of proving conclusively that man is a working heing hy his very nature. To this, Everett adds some general statis139 tics to show that the daily work men do is immensely valuable. But the real question concerns the recent organization of a workingnen's party. He says: I will observe, in the first place, then, that if, as I have endeavored to show, man is, by nature, a working being, it would follow that a workingmen* s party is founded in the very principles of our nature. Most parties may be consider­ ed as artificial, in their very essence; many are local, tem­ porary, and personal. What will all our political parties be, a hundred years hence? What are they now, in nine tenths of the habitable globe? Mere nonentities. But the workingmen’s party, however organized, is one that must subsist in every civilized country, to the end of time. In other word3, its first principles are laid in our nature. In this fashion Everett approves a workingmen’s party. rather laborious way to approve it. It seems a Perhaps the reason is that Everett the politician wanted to phrase a statement so general in principle that he could stand by it. Certainly when it came to questions about slavery, he tried to take refuge in safe, general principles. Next, he asks what the general object of a workingmen's party 141 is. It certainly is not to win a particular election, he claims. Instead, he feels that the object surely is "to promote the prosperity and welfare of workingmen; that is, to obtain for every man disposed to work the greatest freedom in the choice of his pursuit, the Orations, I, 2S7. 11,0 Ibid. llfl Ibid. I 286 greatest encouragement and aid in pursuing It, the greatest security in enjoying its fruits; in other words, to make work, in the greatest 1U2 possible degree, produce happiness.* This statement comes close to expressing some of the objectives of present-day labor unions. Everett takes up the question of membership. swer here is obvious: "The general an­ All who do the work, or are actually willing and desirous to do it, and prevented only by absolute disability, such IU3 as sickness or natural infirmity." Certain classes of men ought to be excluded. est. First would be bad men, that is, men whose work is not hon­ Idlers, too, should be excluded. A third class, the busybodles, 1UU should be excluded if possible, or admitted only with great caution. While Everett does not come right out and say so, what he is reasoning here is that everyone, with the exclusion of the three group8 named, belongs or should belong to the workingmen's party. All people who work "form one party, one great, comprehensive society, 1^5 and this by the very law of our nature." On careful analysis, we will find that "civilization - that is, the bringing men out of a savage into a cultivated state - consists in multiplying the number of pursuits and occupations; so that the most perfect society is one where the largest number of persons are prosperously employed in the life' Qra^ on8t 288 . Ibid. Ihh Ibid., pp. 2S8-90. ll*5 Ibid., p. 290. 287 l»46 greatest variety of ways** This is another expression of the Whig strategy to claim that everyone belonged to the same class. There Is a philosophical or metaphysical reason for this. ciety is an organism. So­ The men who make up society, Everett explains, are composed individually of body and soul working in harmony. Every single thing done by an individual calls for this harmonious action. The simplest manual action requires the same mental powers as com­ prehension of a high truth of science. God has so constituted the world that action required the harmonious working together of men who carry out specific parts or functions. The building of a telescope, for example, demands the working together of a number of men skilled in different ways. To maintain the harmonious working together which is essential to society in a civilized state, the foundation require­ ment is justice in the relations between individuals, and justice ineludes security of property. As we have already noted, one of the labor complications In Bos­ ton and Massachusetts was the immigration from Europe. In Everett’s eyes, there were strong reasons for anyone coming to America. "Even for persons in comparatively easy circumstances in Europe, there are strong inducements to immigrate to America. Most of the governments are arbitrary, the taxes oppressive, the exactions of military ser­ vice onerous in the extreme. Add to all this the harassing insecur- ihs ity of property and life.* ^ Orations, I, 291. ll*7 Ibid., pp. 391-301. lU8 HDigcoreiy and Colonization of America,* Orations, III, 2lb, 288 Everett felt that the Irish immigration into this country was of great benefit* This "Celtic Exodus," as it has been aptly called, is to all the parties immediately connected with it one of the most important events of the day* To the emigrants themselves it may be regarded as a passing from death to life. It will ben­ efit Ireland by reducing a surplus population, and restoring a sounder and juster relation of capital and labor. It will benefit the laboring classes in England, where wages have been kept down to the starvation-point by the struggle between the native population and the inhabitants of the sister island for that employment and food, of which there is not enough for both* This benefit will extend from England to ourselves, and will lessen the pressure of that competition which our labor is obliged to sustain, with the ill-paid labor of Europe. In addition to all this, the constant flux into America of stout and efficient hands supplies the greatest want in a new coun­ try, which is labor, gives value to land, and facilitates the execut* of every species of private enterprise and public work The remark is made that these immigrants are foreigners* this Everett responds with an historical argument. founder of Virginia was a foreigner or a native. To He asks if the He asked what friendly savages called out, "Welcome, Englishmen!" to the Filgrim 150 fathers. Apparently he has no sympathy for the snobbery implied in this idea* Everett may have been an aristocrat, but he did not have the stock prejudices of that class* Immigration is more than a set of statistics. human problems involved. There are great Most immigrants bring strength and skills, but they have no financial margin for accidents. Coupled with the strangeness of a new country, this means an increase In the demand lSo 150 Orations, III, 220 Ibid., p. 222. 289 151 public and private relief* MThe resources of public and private benevolence are heavily burdened; and when the best has been done, no very great impression seems to have been made on the mass of suffering. Too many mendicants swarm in our streets; and our hos­ pitals, almshouses, and lunatic asylums are crowded with the mis«152 ery of Europe.*1 We should not regard this problem with too much alarm. There is land enough in America for all the inhabitants of Europe. He feels that Congress of the separate states should pass legislation which will make those immigrants who can afford it, bear part of the cost of the pauperism which they bring into the country with them. problem. This, of course, will not completely solve the "It was not intended, my friends, in the great economy of Providence, that it should be /solved/. *Ye have the poor always,* - always will have. It is doubtful whether civilised society will ever exist in a state of such glittering prosperity, that this so­ ber and sobering tint will not cast its shade over the brighter 153 lights of the picture.■ Everett is convinced that we should never expect to have a community without objects of charity. At the same time, it is shameful that there should be large numbers of beggars in a city like Boston. "It is grievous to reflect, that in this great, pros­ perous, and liberal city of Boston, there are not hundreds, *Bffects of Immigration,H Orations, III, 10U* 152 Ibid., p. 106. 153 Ibid., p. 107. but 290 thousands, who, when they Issue from their cellars and sheds in the morning, do not know whence the day*s food is to come. This is a state of things at once reproachful to the community, and ruinous to its victims. It sinks them to the lowest point of depression, physi15U cal and moral.* Everett was witnessing some of the first fruits of a capitalistic-industrial economy. But he did not seem to connect the widespread poverty with the economic causes. The fact that he did not see such connections is further illus­ trated hy his recorded reactions to the Chartist disturbances which occurred while he was American ambassador to England. In an official letter of report to Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, Everett wrote on September 1, 1SU2. He reported that the disturbances were subsiding, and that the police were proceeding to examine those ar­ rested. As far as I have been able to penetrate to the true nature of these disturbances, they are the result of several conspir­ ing causes. The wages of the working classes are unquestionably low, and in a depressed state of trade there is a natural tenden­ cy to reduce them, - and what comes to the same thing, - to con­ tract work. The suffering thus produced is aggravated by the habits of the laborers in this country. Not only do they regard as necessaries of life a quantity of animal food and various other articles of consumption, which would be accounted luxuries by the Irish and the continental peasantry, but a degree of dissipation, unknown elsewhere among the same class, prevails, I am told, very extensively among the English operatives. A considerable portion of the week's earning is spent by the head of the family at the ale house, on Saturday evening, Sunday, and Monday, and the wife and children are punished for the real necessaries of life, the rest of the week. It is plain, that as far as these habits pre­ vail, the distress of this part of the community must be as hope­ less as it is extreme; for any little increase of wages would but furnish the means of protracted dissipation. *55 15^ Orations, III, 108. 155 pigpatch No. 21, Everett Papers U5, bound volume. 291 Careful examination of this paragraph reveals a serious lack of appreciation of the workers* point of view. In a depression it may he "natural*1 to reduce wages, hut is it right or fair? If workingmen should form parties to promote their happiness - if Everett still be­ lieved seriously what he had said about workingmen twelve years be­ fore - then this seems a strangely bloodless commentary on a great social disturbance in England. He comments that the English working­ men like food of a type considered a luxury by the Irish and conti­ nental peasantry. Does this mean then that the English workers have no right to a higher standard of living? And what should our reac­ tion be when Everett praises the American working conditions as so superior to those of Europe? Do American workers have a right to better conditions to which the English have no right? Too, in dis­ cussing here the great intemperance among the workers, he overlooks any psychological causes. Everett fears one possible result of these disturbances. The worst feature perhaps in the late disorders has been, that it has revealed to the rioters the dangerous secret of their power. The principal dependence for food during the suspension of labor, has been forced contributions, - plunder under the name of alms. Mobs of thousands of persons have found out, by a fort­ night *e experience, that they have but to present themselves at the provision shops and at private houses, in parties of seven or eight, to receive whatever they may choose to demand: - and that not an individual passing in the street but might easily be made to purchase with money immunity from insult and violence. The ease with which subsistence was procured in this way was matter of boast in some of the intercepted letters of the rioters. *56 Anything which might harm property is deplorable! ^ Dispatch Ho. 21, Everett Papers k$, bound volume. 292 In the dispatches and letters discussing these disorders there is no evidence of sympathy for the workers. Everett's thinking about social-economic forces was very one-sided. In talking about labor in this country Everett managed an op­ timistic approach which at times can quite successfully conceal a lack of real understanding. Circumstances in the United States should encourage young men to apply themselves to get some scientific education; "it is beyond all question, that what are called the mech­ anical trades of this country are on a much more liberal footing than 157 they are in Europe." For in Europe there are restraints on workers 156 "which almost amount to slavery." In England it is almost impossible for a young man to settle in any spot except where he was born. "Chained to such a spot by chance and necessity, the young man feels 159 himself but half free." The craft or guild organizations which ex160 ist in every part of Europe, place unreasonable restraints. The real criticism of Europe is the lack of freedom. "Whenever governments and corporations thus interfere with private industry, the spring of personal enterprise is broken. ness of living under control. Men are depressed with a conscious­ They cease to feel a responsibility 161 for themselves." "Importance of Scientific Knowledge," Orations. I, 256. 158 Ibid. 159 Ibid., p. 257. lg0 Ibid., p. 258. 161 Ibid., p. 259. 293 Everett felt that the future of the country lay in the west and that it offered opportunities for many people. "This vast continent is, as yet, nowhere fully stocked - almost everywhere thinly peopled. There are yet mighty regions of it in which the settler’s axe has 162 never "been heard." "The balance of the country’s fortunes," he de­ clares, "is in the west. There lie, wrapped up in the folds of an eventful futurity, the influences which will most powerfully affect 163 our national weal and woe," Everett seems firmly to have believed that in America there was real opportunity for the individual worker to make a respected place for himself. "Here, it rarely happens," he says, "that, even for a single generation, an independence can be enjoyed, without labor and diligence bestowed on its acquisition and preservation; while, as a general rule, the place to which each individual shall rise in so­ ciety is precisely graduated on the scale of capacity and exertion, 16U - in a word, of merit," S. Everett’s Gubernatorial Addresses Scblesinger remarks that the Whig party was a majority in Mass­ achusetts and so did not have to adapt itself too much to the demo­ cratic currents, 1S2 „ Orations, I, 264. ^ "Education in the Western States," Orations, I, 350. Igij. "Importance of Scientific Knowledge," Orations, I, 266. 2$k John Quincy Adams, in his erratic way, encouraged various liberal agitations, and the clear if diffident intelligence of Edward Everett perceived plainly that the old Federalism was dead. Un­ der the influence of the Anti-Masonic movement, with which they both flirted, Adams and Everett led a brief revolt against Daniel Webster and the old guard. Adams assailed Webster without mercy in the House, and Everett, remarking that George Bancroft's rad­ icalism was based on a "good principle viz, that the ultra Whig policy would injure the State," sought as Governor to steer a rel­ atively liberal course. But in the last analysis Adams was too unstable and Everett too timid to provide effective leadership. After gestures of defiance Adams went his lonely way and Everett crept back under Webster's wing. Schlesinger quotes a Hew York Democrat as commenting on Everett's gubernatorial message of 1836: "It breathes more of the spirit of 166 democracy than any thing I have seen from that quarter." Let us look at the gubernatorial addresses to see what liberal ideas were expressed in them. The I836 inaugural address contains a statement on democratic government which ranks easily with any similar statements in our hist tory. We derive from our ancestors an inestimable inheritance of civil and religious liberty. As citizens of an independent commonwealth and of a federative republic, we live under a political system of our choice, by which we are secured in the amplest enjoyment of the blessings of government, with the smallest admixture of its inseparable evils. The government of the State is a pure Democra­ cy, unlike most of those falsely so called in ancient times, which, - perpetually convulsed by stormy factions and agitated by ambitious leaders, - sacrificed the great objects of civil so­ ciety, the rights and the welfare of Individuals, to projects of public aggrandizement. Our system looks to the People not merely as a whole, but as a society composed of individual men, whose ige Age of Jackson, p. 288. ^ Ibid., see footnote. i 295 happiness is the great design of the association. It consequently recognizes the greatest good of the greatest number, as the basis of the social compact. As the welfare of the People is the sole object of the Government, their deliberative will is the exclusive source of power. This statement of democratic faith is followed by an analysis of those specific elements of greatest value in the government. To obviate the evils incident to the long continuance of power in the same hands, under a tenure of office independent of popular control, our system has provided for the annual restoration to the People of all the portions of power thus delegated. In aid of these constitutional provisions, the People of Massachusetts have established numerous and powerful legal barriers, against al­ most all the sources of political degeneracy, which have else­ where proved fatal to the happiness of nations. The frequent transmission of large estates . . . is precluded by our statute of distributions. . . . Taught by the wisdom of ages the mischiefs of an alliance of church and state, we have incorporated it into our system, as an article of our political faith, that Religion is a concernment between the conscience of man and his creator. . . . Warned by the fate of other states of the danger of military usurpation, our system is irreconcileably opposed to standing ar­ mies. . . • Having thus rejected and cast down the pillars of ar­ bitrary government, we have laid the corner stone of the social edifice on the intelligence of the People. *685 None of these ideas are new, nor is the statement of any of them par­ ticularly striking. Their inclusion and their clarity lend weight to the effect of the whole address. The federal government makes Americana "one people." Because of the balance between powers given to the federal government and those reserved to the states "we enjoy the benefits of a government strong and respectable, in the aspect which it presents to foreign powers; 7 Address of His Excellency to the Legislature (Boston, 1336), p. Ibid., p. 5* 296 while In